[seamon]

My Photography skillz suk but....

 

[HeartOfSky]

It’s a great album. I don’t even love love Beck, but it’s one of the best mastered and recorded albums of all time. That and Random Access Memories by Daft Punk are two of the best to my ears. Ever.

Ooooh... going to listen to RAM next!

 

[davidmolliere]

It’s a great album. I don’t even love love Beck, but it’s one of the best mastered and recorded albums of all time. That and Random Access Memories by Daft Punk are two of the best to my ears. Ever.

Those are great indeed, but in other genres you have some very nice things...

One of my favorite of all times is Muddy Waters Folk Singer, stunning what they did back then in terms of recording... I have heard it countless times but with the Solaris it felt like a new experience... oh my!

Won't be everyone's taste but as far as live recording go, Arne Domnérus Jazz at the pawnshop 30th anniversary is also quite amazing with the Solaris...

 

[KB]

Just a few albums that are recorded with "wow" factor and will really shine with the Solaris.


Lila Downs, La Cantina - even at 16/44 khz this is one of the most dynamic albums in my collection.


No intro is needed.


Gegrey Allen Isakov, This Empty Northern Hemisphere


Soneros De Verdad, A buena Vista: Barrio De La Habana


Lila Downs, Una Sangre


DJ Cheb I Sabbah: As Far As A JD Mix (mix of artists) but has a a lot of stuff from DJ Cheb I Sabbah (rest his soul) Wonderful fun album.

Kb

 

[ufospls2]

Just a few albums that are recorded with "wow" factor and will really shine with the Solaris.

Kb

Hey Ken,

Any word on when your North American dealers might have the Solaris? I'm in Canada. Will it be a wait until December?

 

[HeartOfSky]

Just a few albums that are recorded with "wow" factor and will really shine with the Solaris.

You, sir, are a gift to this world. What would we do without your artisan approach to technology?

 

[Kitechaser]

The Phantom and Solaris are quite different.The Phantom has more bass impact (at least right now, let's wait until fully burnt in), its mids are thicker and there is much less sparkle in the treble department. The Solaris has a considerably bigger soundstage and in particular depth is just as good as it gets I haven't heard a soundstage like this aside from LCD i4 or U18t. Separation is better than Phantom while remaining just as coherent there is simply more air by way of its treble. Imaging is clearer I mean the spatial cues are so good and so natural. Treble is well... sublime on the Solaris. It bring a lot of excitement without the fatigue... quite a feat!

Last but not least... Solaris has better texture but then I haven't heard any IEM with such textures, it makes for such a richness to the sound...

I am definitely leaning towards the sony. I love the CL2, and I need to pair it with another IEM that has that floor speaker feel with a nice bass impact that I need for some genres.(edm, rap)
Accessory jack is selling them for $1700. So price is about the same.
Will pull the trigger come January, when I get some more impressions from people here.
Hopefully bass impact improves with burn in for the Solaris.
Will be looking forward to your final impressions.

 

[chungjun]

@davidmolliere , burning question...

Wondering what's your take thus far between Solaris and VE8 [technical construction aside (i.e. hybrid vs balanced) and let us ignore the price difference]?

 

[Hanesu]

I have been really hoping that someone would post a comparison of the sound signature of the it04 and the Solaris. No doubt the build quality are as different as different can be. I get it. But what about the sound signature...?

Actually I heard both at the Tokyo headphone festival. Though only for about 10 minutes each and some hours in between, so I could not compare them side by side.
From what I remember the IT04 sounded slightly softer in the treble region and had a slightly slower bass decay. But it sounded very detailed, coherent and smooth to my ears! Instrument seperation was clearly better with the Solaris but it also sounded a bit „edgier“. The IT04 had a more „velvety“ aproach while still sounding very extended. In general both sounded very clear and also bass quantity was similar, a bit more subbass with the Solaris. Mids also were a bit more prominent with the Solaris.
I must say I was very impressed with both phones. With the Solaris for obvious reasons, with the IT04 because, to my ears, it really performed similar as other flagship products, while „only“ costing 500 Euros (I really cannot understand the negative statements about its mids in this thread. In the end I feel it’s all about taste.)
The Solaris has the edge technically and of course also built quality wise, but the IT04‘s price-performance ratio is really, really good imo

 

[Mikelowry]

Isolation is normal for IEMs. Not ety or custom isolation but the same as nearly every other universal iem.

Ok...I apologize in advance for being redundant haha but I guess the question I have then is are they better than the Vegas at isolation. I find that the Orions are better in this regard maybe because of the bigger form factor im not really sure.

But it bothers me that with the vegas I have to crank up the volume when im traveling to block out noise and still I dont quite get the isolation I want. The Solaris sound nearly perfect and seem to be exactly what I want in terms of sound but isolation is of utmost Importance because usually i will use them in a very noisy place

I just want to know are they specifically better than the Vegas at isolation. Would you say they are on par with the Andromedas or Orions as far as Isolation?

 

[davidmolliere]

@davidmolliere , burning question... Wondering what's your take thus far between Solaris and VE8 [technical construction aside (i.e. hybrid vs balanced) and let us ignore the price difference]?

I knew this would come up
Well, for starters both are fantastic all rounders with a very musical and smooth tuning. The VE8 is faster, with shorter decay. Mid bass is more prominent on the VE8 but sub bass is better extended on the Solaris although both have a smoother attack, neither has hard hitting bass. I think the Solaris bass is more balanced in that respect. Both have great bass texture, but for me the solaris is better in that department, hard to beat a DD.

Mids are interesting, the Solaris is slighgly warmer than the VE8 I find a tad more lower mids on the Solaris and on the flipside a tad more upper mids on the VE8. Notes are bigger on the Solaris, there is more space between instruments by way of its soundstage which is considerably deeper but similarly wide. Maybe the VE8 is a bit taller there. Need more time. The VE8 has slightly more body and weight, don't misinterpret the Solaris mids are not thin by any means but airier if that makes sense : it breathes better. Both have highly coherent mids, no strange peak and a smooth experience.

Treble, oh my both are sublime but with a different take. The VE8 treble is smooth and has good sparkle, with great speed it's airy and feathery a very delicate and refined presentation of the treble. I'd say upper treble are as good as it gets and lower treble is tuned for sparkle with just enough excitement. Decay is fast although notes can linger beautifully when called for. The Solaris has more weight to its treble, but it's not as fast. It's an exquisite treble with an emphasis on lower treble while upper treble while very very good takes a back seat to the excitement and sparkle. IMHO the Solaris walk a very fine line pushing treble excitement as far as it can while never sounding harsh or fatiguing... The VE8 was the first IEM that made me realize I loved good treble. The Solaris does the same, showing me another path to exciting and smooth treble. This makes both IEM very emotional.

 

[emptymt]

I knew this would come up
Well, for starters both are fantastic all rounders with a very musical and smooth tuning. The VE8 is faster, with shorter decay. Mid bass is more prominent on the VE8 but sub bass is better extended on the Solaris although both have a smoother attack, neither has hard hitting bass. I think the Solaris bass is more balanced in that respect. Both have great bass texture, but for me the solaris is better in that department, hard to beat a DD.

Mids are interesting, the Solaris is slighgly warmer than the VE8 I find a tad more lower mids on the Solaris and on the flipside a tad more upper mids on the VE8. Notes are bigger on the Solaris, there is more space between instruments by way of its soundstage which is considerably deeper but similarly wide. Maybe the VE8 is a bit taller there. Need more time. The VE8 has slightly more body and weight, don't misinterpret the Solaris mids are not thin by any means but airier if that makes sense : it breathes better. Both have highly coherent mids, no strange peak and a smooth experience.

Treble, oh my both are sublime but with a different take. The VE8 treble is smooth and has good sparkle, with great speed it's airy and feathery a very delicate and refined presentation of the treble. I'd say upper treble are as good as it gets and lower treble is tuned for sparkle with just enough excitement. Decay is fast although notes can linger beautifully when called for. The Solaris has more weight to its treble, but it's not as fast. It's an exquisite treble with an emphasis on lower treble while upper treble while very very good takes a back seat to the excitement and sparkle. IMHO the Solaris walk a very fine line pushing treble excitement as far as it can while never sounding harsh or fatiguing... The VE8 was the first IEM that made me realize I loved good treble. The Solaris does the same, showing me another path to exciting and smooth treble. This makes both IEM very emotional.

Thx man, I was looking for this kind of impressions. VE8 has been on my radar for a while, but the pricing is a big problem.
I saw you tried Metallica on the Solaris, I don't know how good it will be for extreme metal, but it sounds like it has potential.

 

[davidmolliere]

Thx man, I was looking for this kind of impressions. VE8 has been on my radar for a while, but the pricing is a big problem.
I saw you tried Metallica on the Solaris, I don't know how good it will be for extreme metal, but it sounds like it has potential.

I don't know I don't listen to extreme metal but I'd say it has great potential, the thing you might lack is bass impact (it's not the mean hard hitting bass of the Vega) but too early to tell as it needs further burn in IMHO. The thing is, the Solaris has a BIG sound and instruments have great size which plays well for metal, the soundstage is such that it's never congested and the treble is so lively but never harsh... it won't be fatiguing and there is no upper mids peak your ears won't suffer

This being said the VE8 is very good too with metal, I just think the Solaris has a spectacular soundstage and everything is bigger which plays well into the genre. Also sub bass extension is better.

 

[FangJoker]

I'm thinking that the A12t would be better for metal as the bass impact is fast and they decay doesn't linger or bloom. For other genres of music that I listen to, I think that the Solaris would be the way to go as the DD will sound more natural for certain instruments.

 

[aaf evo]

My Solaris will be here Monday now instead of Tuesday. Woooo!