BananaOoyoo
1000+ Head-Fier
So after two weeks of experiencing something of a dark night of the soul(aris) I'm officially back in the club. At the end of last month I ordered a Sony IER Z1R, entirely out of curiosity and love of Sony products in general and not due to any inherent dissatisfaction with the Solaris. Upon receiving the Z1R I was deeply impressed with its bass and treble extension and overall sexiness-- to the point that I was prepared to make it my main IEM. Fortunately I didn't rush into anything and I kept my Solaris on hand for the last couple weeks.
Long story shortened-- yesterday, after two weeks of struggling with the fit and just over a week of listening exclusively to the Z1R, I switched over to the Solaris and I was struck by how much I'd missed its beautiful balanced sound, robust midrange, detail retrieval and holographic soundstage. Another thing that jumped out at me after many days of not hearing the Solaris was how coherent and "whole" its presentation of sound is. The Z1R is a great sounding IEM, but after switching back to Solaris I found myself really noticing the recessed midrange and comparatively confined soundstage. In addition to that I remembered how well Solaris fit me-- I can wear them for hours comfortably whether on the couch or out and about. They are substantially lighter than the Z1R and I can easily forget they're there. For a few hours yesterday I did some a/b'ing between the two with some of my favorite tracks I found that I actually preferred the sound of the Solaris a significant percentage of the time. I think that in a rush to embrace the Z1R initially I glossed over many of the strengths of the Solaris. This method of switching to one IEM exclusively for a period of time and then back to the other to see what I notice is a good way to ascertain the strengths of each in a more definitive way. Ultimately they both have their strengths-- for me it's treble/bass extension and definition on the Z1R & balance, a more robust midrange, resolution and an airy and holographic soundstage on the Solaris-- however I'm finding that lately my preferences tend more towards the balanced presentation of the Solaris to the mild V of the Z1R. Factoring in the fit issues, and what are imho certain superior technicalities, and the balance has tilted decisively in favor of the Solaris for me. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise-- the Solaris is a TOTL IEM on par with the best on the market and if balance and coherence combined with delicious DD bass is your thing, then I'm not sure there's anything better out there right now. Sometimes we need to branch out for a bit to really appreciate the greatness of the things that we have. In a nutshell: Solaris FTW!
Glad you found the IEM that works for you. I think at that level of performance, there aren’t too many bad options but rather differences in preferences.
A robust midrange is something I didn’t get with the Solaris though - will have to try it again and see how my impressions change.