[Kitechaser]

Um when Singapore has not just 1, but at least four demos that don't even sound the same, I'm not sure who is trolling.

And even a kid can tell Solaris is large, don't see how growing up will help people who have fit issues.

"Oh Solaris doesn't fit you? Grow up then!"

If it doesn't fit you because you have small ears, wait for it. . .... buy another iem.
It's an IEM designed by an American company, Americans on average have bigger ears.
The people on this thread gave their personal opinions on this iem, to at least one of them they are flawless.
How many times does that need to be repeated before people from Malaysia, who are using burner accounts, will understand that?
Buy what you like. Its a free country last I checked.

 

[gemmoglock]

If it doesn't fit you because you have small ears, wait for it. . .... buy another iem.
It's an IEM designed by an American company, Americans on average have bigger ears.
The people on this thread gave their personal opinions on this iem, to at least one of them they are flawless.
How many times does that need to be repeated before people from Malaysia, who are using burner accounts, will understand that?
Buy what you like. Its a free country last I checked.

Yes, I am fine with the Solaris being large. I mean we have had other large/small/funky fitting iems from other brands too so not harping on it.

It's just that some of us having heard multiple demo units don't even know what the target FR/sound is supposed to be like, so we have a hard time recommending it to others based on what we heard.

I'm definitely sure there are great units around - andro wasn't a fluke, and there are many users who don't have the same issues with sound that the SG demo units have.

So anyway let's all stay civil and enjoy xmas. I'm looking forward to more good things in 2019 from CFA and the rest of the industry too.

 

[theveterans]

Feeble bass extension, only when I see the Atlas DD in the specs. Overall Solaris is a good $1000+ iem, but I feel the Andromeda to offer much more clarity and sharper imaging as a package. Playing between the 1Z, SP1000 and the DX200 Amp4, the Andro is effortless and more enjoyable. Solaris is too shy that you need to play with eq to get the sound you desire.

But this is the limitation of headfi, all we talk is in words and the actual dopamine is in a different dimension. Its a shame that we are unable to test an expensive investment, where I can test a $50 beats POS at every bestbuy. Poor headfiers and greedy brand owners. If they can work on an expensive asian marketing stunt, cant they make their product available in atleast the major cities for testing?

I am sure there will be another version of Stainless Brass or Pacific pink Solaris that will address the current issues..

Hmm, While I do find Andromeda’s extension deep for a BA it still lacks the depth and decay especially on the 20-40Hz region that Vega or Atlas provides. Do you find Solaris thin sounding at the 20-40Hz region or it’s actually decaying fully but not as emphasized as Vega. Andromeda definitely extends to the bottom but my only gripe is the decay and depth that I seriously miss from the Vega or any great sounding subwoofer

 

[marcussmj]

Don't like the sound just roll cables bro, @Kitechaser should have some recommendations for you guys.

 

[patzispatz]

Don't like the sound just roll cables bro, @Kitechaser should have some recommendations for you guys.

But can cables fix few dbs of bass channel imbalance?

 

[marcussmj]

But can cables fix few dbs of channel imbalance?

I will let someone with experience with cables confirm that. After all he who hasn't heard it knows more than those who have.

 

[twister6]

A lot of flaws vs flawless in the discussion above has to do with a personal preference of the sound. From the quantity/extension of the bass to the control and the amount of sparkle in treble, it's the choice made by Ken who tuned it. And it's up to consumers to decide if it's their cup of tea. Indeed, if you want a visceral bass slam or more analytical mids or crisper and more energetic treble - that's just your personal preference, not flaws of the design because Solaris tuned differently.

The size of the shell might not work for everybody due to variation in our ear anatomy. Is that a flaw of the design or our ears? I mean, you could consider universal-only shell design as a theoretical flaw since you don't have a choice of CIEM to customize the fit if UIEM doesn't work for you. The only real flaw (in my book) I file under Cons is that Solaris just like Andro hisses with some of the sources.

 

[toughnut]

The only flaw for Solaris is that it force me to eat ramen for few days, if I decide to pick it up.

 

[papa_mia]

The only flaw for Solaris is that it force me to eat ramen for few days, if I decide to pick it up.

Ramen?
You rich person.

 

[Audiophonicalistic]

A lot of flaws vs flawless in the discussion above has to do with a personal preference of the sound. From the quantity/extension of the bass to the control and the amount of sparkle in treble, it's the choice made by Ken who tuned it. And it's up to consumers to decide if it's their cup of tea. Indeed, if you want a visceral bass slam or more analytical mids or crisper and more energetic treble - that's just your personal preference, not flaws of the design because Solaris tuned differently.

The size of the shell might not work for everybody due to variation in our ear anatomy. Is that a flaw of the design or our ears? I mean, you could consider universal-only shell design as a theoretical flaw since you don't have a choice of CIEM to customize the fit if UIEM doesn't work for you. The only real flaw (in my book) I file under Cons is that Solaris just like Andro hisses with some of the sources.

Yeah just a little on the se100. Seems more pronounced on balanced so I've been listening to SE. But you're right, I let somebody listen to andromeda and they thought skull candies were better. I'm a big fan of solaris, lucky to have them.

 

[Currawong]

Those other circles have a lot of snobbery that goes along with it to be honest.
I just listened to a 60,000 dollar McIntosh floor speaker system. 2 XRT2.1k floor speakers 2x(81 drivers).
I thought it sounded like crap, distorted, disjointed, a complete mess.
Everyone around me was listening to it and praising it, like it was the second coming of Jesus.
You know what I realized, they have gotten used to that sound, like other non audiophile consumers have gotten used to that 128kb mp3.
I realized this weekend that most of these audio reviews are useless, at least for me.
Nothing will replace your own 2 ears.
We all hear things differently, and like you said to me once, no one out there is the keeper of the truth.

I was just reading reviews by a certain HR in a well-known hi-fi mag -- SP, and he prefers the sound of NOS DACs -- I totally get why, but it's much as you describe. To his credit, the editor said that he had thought that digital was "solved" many years ago, but was obviously wrong, and freely admits that NOS DACs and the like are really lying to you. I think on the other end, it has been a different kind of lie, at least until recently, though that's a whole other discussion.

In a way, given our interest in IEMs, to be truly excellent, they have to both tell the truth and lie to us at the same time. The former, because we want precision, but the latter, because we don't have "soundstage" when our pinna is not involved, so that aspect has presented with a bit of sonic trickery.

Reddit is majorly an objective forum while Headfi is still subjective.

I'd describe Reddit as being overwhelmed by people who are jealous of people who can afford expensive gear, so they compensate by trashing it. Since people who are like that degenerate into personal attacks when confronted by facts, or often even opinions contradictory to their narrative (sound familiar?) they were driven out of Head-Fi.

Overall Solaris is a good $1000+ iem, but I feel the Andromeda to offer much more clarity and sharper imaging as a package.

What might help here are some impressions of particular music tracks so we can get an idea of what you are hearing. The tips you use when listening would help as well.

Enter Utopia. Awesome clarity, dynamics, detail, detail, detail. But a neutral tuning. I want more bass. Throw a 4-5 dB bass eq boost and it’s my daily at home driver. You can listen to hours without fatigue.

For mobile, Vega was super fun for commutes. It will rip your face off with bass intensity. If you want to slay dragons then boy does this one slay.

To me, Solaris is like a portable utopia. That’s good company imo.

The fault the Utopias have, IMO, is the too-strong upper mids. If you listen to the new Stax SR009S, they get it right. Switching to Elear or Elex pads also helps. The Solaris also has a stronger bass than the Utopias, but I do appreciate that both highlight instruments strongly and clearly without harshness.

Though tonally it's not a good comparison, the Solaris reminds me a lot of Sony's Z1R, as I liked how it distinctly highlighted vocals and instruments while maintaining the soundstage and presenting a realistically strong bass. The treble of the Z1Rs were wrong for me though.

 

[seamon]

I'd describe Reddit as being overwhelmed by people who are jealous of people who can afford expensive gear, so they compensate by trashing it. Since people who are like that degenerate into personal attacks when confronted by facts, or often even opinions contradictory to their narrative (sound familiar?) they were driven out of Head-Fi.

Case in point

 

[Kitechaser]

Did you listen to each of the iems and headphones for more than 200 hours before making a conclusion or do you only hold others to standards so high? And no, an active imagination and a right hand doesn't count.

The difference between you an I is that I am not on the threads of the iems that I didn't like, harassing people for their preferences.
And if you do not know that cables bring with them their own tonality and flavor of sound, you should probably stop talking about iems period.
Peace.
To everyone else, Merry Christmas
Hope you have a fun night, or day, wherever you are.

 

[davidmolliere]

A lot of flaws vs flawless in the discussion above has to do with a personal preference of the sound. From the quantity/extension of the bass to the control and the amount of sparkle in treble, it's the choice made by Ken who tuned it. And it's up to consumers to decide if it's their cup of tea. Indeed, if you want a visceral bass slam or more analytical mids or crisper and more energetic treble - that's just your personal preference, not flaws of the design because Solaris tuned differently.

The size of the shell might not work for everybody due to variation in our ear anatomy. Is that a flaw of the design or our ears? I mean, you could consider universal-only shell design as a theoretical flaw since you don't have a choice of CIEM to customize the fit if UIEM doesn't work for you. The only real flaw (in my book) I file under Cons is that Solaris just like Andro hisses with some of the sources.

Words of wisdom, at last.

That thread is derailing on xMas, probably why otherwise busy moderators did not lock it... what I do find interesting is how polarizing the Solaris in particular appears to be, probably has a lot to do with « challenging » the Andromeda but I still don’t get the animosity from Andromeda owners when people say they like the Solaris better. I sure don’t take any offense from the other way around.

I am actually among the rare people who have spend time with the Solaris before even getting a good audition of the Andromeda. I think both are superb IEMs that caters to different tastes. I actually like the Andromeda, but my taste is such that I just love the Solaris better. I don’t and have never thought in terms of X is better than Y, if you go past technical foundations which both have then it’s really a matter of signature and preferences as @twister6 wrote.

So yeah, Andromeda (v2) has a better fit, it’s a fact that it will fit more people than the Solaris. And yes the Solaris has the qualities of a dynamic driver in terms of bass that the Andro can’t have and vice versa. Treble wise interestingly I think the Solaris have more sparkle in the lower treble while the Andromeda have more upper treble presence so overall more air than the Solaris. I can see why people would interpret the Andromeda as having better resolution but to me that’s more an advantage of its signature : resolution is more apparent. I don’t think it’s fundamentally the case there.

We can probably agree to disagree, and remember that this hobby is about enjoyment of music, not gear.

Gear is a conduit to the music, nothing more, that provides different flavors.
For example I love the KSE1500 but I love the Solaris just as much and they’re pretty different! And I plan to get a Prophile 8 so... why always talk and think in absolutes where there clearly aren’t!

 

[szore]

I listened to Solaris off my 1000M tonight at Audio46 and admittedly they were not burned in, but I found the sound to be very 'thick'. The bass was impressive, I could feel it in my throat for crying out loud, but I was very disappointed by the treble and the soundstage and the treble extension. Also the mids were very thick. I told them I would be back when their demo unit had a few more hours on them.