[Rockwell75]

Went by my "dealer" today and tried some stuff. Sounds like I'm talking about drugs, but let's face it guys, that's exactly what this is.

On the menu there were: Solaris #1, Solaris #2, Fourte, Fourte Noir, U12t and my very own Z1R. Was planning to to add a couple more IEMs, but I ran out of time. 90% of the time I listened to the same song: The Rolling Stones - Anybody Seen My Baby, the remaining 10% being the beginning of Master Of Puppets (2017 remaster).

My focus was initially on the Solaris: do the 2 samples sound the same and how does it compare to the Z1R? Casual swapping back and forth a couple of times and no clear differences were heard. I left at that and moved on to the "vs Z1R" part. Here are my very brief impressions:
- I liked the Solaris almost as much as the Z1R and I could see situations where one might be better than the other, but I'd say that they are much more similar than they are different.
- The Solaris has more cohesion between the lows and the mids while the Z1R has more cohesion between mids and highs (you can kinda tell that from their rspective FR curves as well).

On to 64... To be quite honest I never liked any of the 64 offerings before, the U12t being the one that offended me the least. But for some reason today I actually enjoyed all 3 IEMs. I must've been in an agreeable mood. I might've liked the Noir more than the regular Fourte, but it's hard to say from a single song. The U12t was also quite nice and balanced.

I think if today's experience was all I knew, I would've been happy to have any of the 4 IEMs as my only set. But it has to be the lack of sleep speaking because the Z1R is clearly leaps and bounds above the rest.

My dealer even joked asking what happened to me. You see, I have a bit of a reputation as a poor man's @aminus, because I too hate almost everything and everything sounds wrong to me, save for a couple of things.

And of course, pics or it didn't happen.



Sealed reserved Solaris SE.



64 Audio's excellent fit & finish and general attention to detail (that you would expect from a $2k+ product).

Thanks for sharing man...what an epic day of demoing it must have been. I wish it was easier for me to demo the 64 Audio stuff. In particular I would love to hear the U18t. Happy listening!

 

[Tristy]

Went by my "dealer" today and tried some stuff. Sounds like I'm talking about drugs, but let's face it guys, that's exactly what this is.

On the menu there were: Solaris #1, Solaris #2, Fourte, Fourte Noir, U12t and my very own Z1R. Was planning to to add a couple more IEMs, but I ran out of time. 90% of the time I listened to the same song: The Rolling Stones - Anybody Seen My Baby, the remaining 10% being the beginning of Master Of Puppets (2017 remaster).

My focus was initially on the Solaris: do the 2 samples sound the same and how does it compare to the Z1R? Casual swapping back and forth a couple of times and no clear differences were heard. I left at that and moved on to the "vs Z1R" part. Here are my very brief impressions:
- I liked the Solaris almost as much as the Z1R and I could see situations where one might be better than the other, but I'd say that they are much more similar than they are different.
- The Solaris has more cohesion between the lows and the mids while the Z1R has more cohesion between mids and highs (you can kinda tell that from their rspective FR curves as well).

On to 64... To be quite honest I never liked any of the 64 offerings before, the U12t being the one that offended me the least. But for some reason today I actually enjoyed all 3 IEMs. I must've been in an agreeable mood. I might've liked the Noir more than the regular Fourte, but it's hard to say from a single song. The U12t was also quite nice and balanced.

I think if today's experience was all I knew, I would've been happy to have any of the 4 IEMs as my only set. But it has to be the lack of sleep speaking because the Z1R is clearly leaps and bounds above the rest.

My dealer even joked asking what happened to me. You see, I have a bit of a reputation as a poor man's @aminus, because I too hate almost everything and everything sounds wrong to me, save for a couple of things.

And of course, pics or it didn't happen.



Sealed reserved Solaris SE.



64 Audio's excellent fit & finish and general attention to detail (that you would expect from a $2k+ product).

Did you get to try the Solaris SE or was there not an open box demo unit?

 

[Fishdo]

Thanks @fokta

I started to type out what sort of SS I like but I ended up confusing myself so god knows what you guys would have made from it...

I liked the SR15 and although different the WM1A as well with the Solaris...

I am not looking to compare on a price level or any other sort of pros and cons... like battery, streaming etc

I have the iems I want to keep, I have the cable I really like and I have the ear tips... I have no ability to use a DAP for anything but portability as in I have no desk top set up nor intend to in the future...

I am not concerned about the size of the DAP as I get about generally in a wheelchair and I am pretty immobile in that sense too...

I want, no that’s not quite right, I am hoping to find a DAP that will pair well with the Solaris and will give me the sound that was imagined when the Solaris was designed... or rather as close as I can given the subjectivity around this type of subject.

I know Ken is very complimentary about the Cube and in his opinion it is the best pairing with the Solaris.... and I am probably thinking at the moment that’s the way I should go... but it is a big commitment fund wise and I would like to think I could make a choice that I will be happy with for the foreseeable future... like all of us I hate the idea of wondering if the grass is greener on the other side...!

I know the WM1A is pretty much at the end of its design life but it is a very nice sound in its own right... so are the AKs generally...

I know that I will not be looking to get anything above the price range of the SP1000m and over here it is within a couple of hundred of the Cube price currently...

I was hoping perhaps that someone could let me know their thoughts on the Solaris compared with the Cube or the SP1000m or possibly the WM1A strictly as a pairing with the Solaris.... I am trying to make a decision based on getting the best possible pairing... I want to get the most out of my Solaris first then the rest follows when considering the options...

I hope that makes sense...

I think right now I am more minded to go for the Cube but that’s simply because of what Ken has told me /is in respect of the Solaris... I have not had much luck finding other opinions... so I thought I would get a number of opinions from guys whose opinion I respect and who are also owners of the Solaris...

Thanks again

 

[candlejack]

Thanks for sharing man...what an epic day of demoing it must have been. I wish it was easier for me to demo the 64 Audio stuff. In particular I would love to hear the U18t. Happy listening!

I was also looking to try the U18t again, but his demo was with someone else. And unfortunately it was just 2 hours of epic demo'ing, although I'm sure that I had a full day, I'd find a way to keep busy.

Did you get to try the Solaris SE or was there not an open box demo unit?

My guy got only 4 units. This was the last one left, which was already reserved for someone, so no way to try it out.

 

[Malevolint]

Aint that the truth lmao...thanks for the words of support man. I can also vouch for Candlejack's sincerity and earnestness...I've very much enjoyed all of our interactions this year, even if sometimes we don't see completely eye to eye.

Regarding the faceplate on the Solaris it says "natural inlaid abalone" though I'm not exactly sure what that entails. I'm not sure that it's actual shell, but it doesn't look or feel cheap or printed either. Suffice to say I love the look and it was part of the appeal for me.

Abolone is a mineral rock, so it's just as I suspected. That's so freaking cool! Here's a picture of the rock itself:


That makes it a pretty special iem to me!

My absolute favorite is labradorite because of its subtle but rich coloring:



If someone makes an iem with it inlaid I might be tempted to buy it just for that alone lol.

 

[McMadface]

Abolone is a mineral rock, so it's just as I suspected. That's so freaking cool! Here's a picture of the rock itself

Abalone is a mollusc. The inner liner of their shells, also called mother of pearl, have this rainbow iridescence that is used in jewelry and decorations. Maybe it gives the SSE a more organic sound than gold.

 

[Malevolint]

Went by my "dealer" today and tried some stuff. Sounds like I'm talking about drugs, but let's face it guys, that's exactly what this is.

On the menu there were: Solaris #1, Solaris #2, Fourte, Fourte Noir, U12t and my very own Z1R. Was planning to to add a couple more IEMs, but I ran out of time. 90% of the time I listened to the same song: The Rolling Stones - Anybody Seen My Baby, the remaining 10% being the beginning of Master Of Puppets (2017 remaster).

My focus was initially on the Solaris: do the 2 samples sound the same and how does it compare to the Z1R? Casual swapping back and forth a couple of times and no clear differences were heard. I left at that and moved on to the "vs Z1R" part. Here are my very brief impressions:
- I liked the Solaris almost as much as the Z1R and I could see situations where one might be better than the other, but I'd say that they are much more similar than they are different.
- The Solaris has more cohesion between the lows and the mids while the Z1R has more cohesion between mids and highs (you can kinda tell that from their rspective FR curves as well).

On to 64... To be quite honest I never liked any of the 64 offerings before, the U12t being the one that offended me the least. But for some reason today I actually enjoyed all 3 IEMs. I must've been in an agreeable mood. I might've liked the Noir more than the regular Fourte, but it's hard to say from a single song. The U12t was also quite nice and balanced.

I think if today's experience was all I knew, I would've been happy to have any of the 4 IEMs as my only set. But it has to be the lack of sleep speaking because the Z1R is clearly leaps and bounds above the rest.

My dealer even joked asking what happened to me. You see, I have a bit of a reputation as a poor man's @aminus, because I too hate almost everything and everything sounds wrong to me, save for a couple of things.

And of course, pics or it didn't happen.



Sealed reserved Solaris SE.



64 Audio's excellent fit & finish and general attention to detail (that you would expect from a $2k+ product).

Oh man.. An agreeable day is why I regrettably bought the u12t. I'm jealous that you have such easy access to awesome IEMs.. but my wallet is at ease at least lol.

Abalone is a mollusc. The inner liner of their shells, also called mother of pearl, have this rainbow iridescence that is used in jewelry and decorations. Maybe it gives the SSE a more organic sound than gold.

Ooh interesting. I thought it was an earth mineral but that is more bad ass.

Everyone knows that Abolone gives a more textured bass and lively highs man!

 

[candlejack]

Everyone knows that Abolone gives a more textured bass and lively highs man!

True, but only when paired with a silver cable and a 2000 mW amp.

 

[Rockwell75]

Abolone is a mineral rock, so it's just as I suspected. That's so freaking cool! Here's a picture of the rock itself:


That makes it a pretty special iem to me!

My absolute favorite is labradorite because of its subtle but rich coloring:



If someone makes an iem with it inlaid I might be tempted to buy it just for that alone lol.

Yeah like @McMadface said it's a shell, and one that's harvested and revered where I live...it's very beautiful and I'm pretty sure it helps with soundstage expansion They look a lot nicer in person.

 

[McMadface]

Oh man.. An agreeable day is why I regrettably bought the u12t. I'm jealous that you have such easy access to awesome IEMs.. but my wallet is at ease at least lol.


Ooh interesting. I thought it was an earth mineral but that is more bad ass.

Everyone knows that Abolone gives a more textured bass and lively highs man!

That Labradorite would look amazing as an inlay. It's kinda like Abalone but more subtle. Love it.

 

[fokta]

True, but only when paired with a silver cable and a 2000 mW amp.

The new Fiio M15... the power is quite big...

hehehe...

 

[Malevolent]

Went by my "dealer" today and tried some stuff. Sounds like I'm talking about drugs, but let's face it guys, that's exactly what this is.

On the menu there were: Solaris #1, Solaris #2, Fourte, Fourte Noir, U12t and my very own Z1R. Was planning to to add a couple more IEMs, but I ran out of time. 90% of the time I listened to the same song: The Rolling Stones - Anybody Seen My Baby, the remaining 10% being the beginning of Master Of Puppets (2017 remaster).

My focus was initially on the Solaris: do the 2 samples sound the same and how does it compare to the Z1R? Casual swapping back and forth a couple of times and no clear differences were heard. I left at that and moved on to the "vs Z1R" part. Here are my very brief impressions:
- I liked the Solaris almost as much as the Z1R and I could see situations where one might be better than the other, but I'd say that they are much more similar than they are different.
- The Solaris has more cohesion between the lows and the mids while the Z1R has more cohesion between mids and highs (you can kinda tell that from their rspective FR curves as well).

On to 64... To be quite honest I never liked any of the 64 offerings before, the U12t being the one that offended me the least. But for some reason today I actually enjoyed all 3 IEMs. I must've been in an agreeable mood. I might've liked the Noir more than the regular Fourte, but it's hard to say from a single song. The U12t was also quite nice and balanced.

I think if today's experience was all I knew, I would've been happy to have any of the 4 IEMs as my only set. But it has to be the lack of sleep speaking because the Z1R is clearly leaps and bounds above the rest.

My dealer even joked asking what happened to me. You see, I have a bit of a reputation as a poor man's @aminus, because I too hate almost everything and everything sounds wrong to me, save for a couple of things.

And of course, pics or it didn't happen.



Sealed reserved Solaris SE.



64 Audio's excellent fit & finish and general attention to detail (that you would expect from a $2k+ product).

Interistingly, my opinions on these IEMs, save the Fourte Noir, are about the same as yours. The Z1R and the Solaris are at the summit of the portable realm for me, and I greatly enjoy listening to them.

On the topic of the 64 Audio IEMs, I've always loved the U/A12t. They have a very grand sound, with some excellent bass to boot. Nevertheless, everytime I'm close to pulling the trigger on them, I end up getting distracted by something else. It was the Zeus the first time around, then the Kaiser Encore, and this year, it was the Solaris.

What I've learned in the last 1.5 years, though, is that once you hear a well-tuned hybrid, it's hard to revert to an all-BA affair. I'm just in love with that DD bass.

 

[Rockwell75]

Interistingly, my opinions on these IEMs, save the Fourte Noir, are about the same as yours. The Z1R and the Solaris are at the summit of the portable realm for me, and I greatly enjoy listening to them.

On the topic of the 64 Audio IEMs, I've always loved the U/A12t. They have a very grand sound, with some excellent bass to boot. Nevertheless, everytime I'm close to pulling the trigger on them, I end up getting distracted by something else. It was the Zeus the first time around, then the Kaiser Encore, and this year, it was the Solaris.

What I've learned in the last 1.5 years, though, is that once you hear a well-tuned hybrid, it's hard to revert to an all-BA affair. I'm just in love with that DD bass.

Indeed...that's been a particular highlight of switching back to Solaris from the Anole VX.

 

[fzman]

True, but only when paired with a silver cable and a 2000 mW amp.

So, what you're saying is that they are full abalone ?

 

[genck]

So, what you're saying is that they are full abalone ?

full of bologna

get it, hurrr