[Objedych]

A small trick to make the sound of Solaris SE even better than it is now: JVC Spiral Dots FX9 (size ML) + foam insert from Symbio W (size L)

 

[Tristy]

A small trick to make the sound of Solaris SE even better than it is now: JVC Spiral Dots FX9 (size ML) + foam insert from Symbio W (size L)

Haha I do this will all my silicone tips. Works very well to help keep the Z1R in place and comfortable with the Acoustune AET07 tips. I use M Symbio inserts with L silicones, works a treat.

 

[NaittsirK]

Haha I do this will all my silicone tips. Works very well to help keep the Z1R in place and comfortable with the Acoustune AET07 tips. I use M Symbio inserts with L silicones, works a treat.

I found this as useful as it is to effect the sound. So keep note.

 

[Objedych]

Well it seems that by this trick the sound get to dry out a little and the resolution and separation of instruments increases (IMHO)

 

[Rockwell75]

I made a summary post around my experience with the MEST, Andro 2020/MW10, Solaris SE if anyone's interested.

 

[NaittsirK]

Well it seems that by this trick the sound get to dry out a little and the resolution and separation of instruments increases (IMHO)

I found it being to the slight detriment if sound quality with the foam inserted. I found the Spiral Dots ++ alone are the best for me but i do put a size M inside to add to stiffness and firmer grip as the L size is slightly too small for the securest fit.

 

[Rockwell75]

Efficient way to a/b two IEMs:

 

[fokta]

Efficient way to a/b two IEMs:

please dont...

 

[Rockwell75]

please dont...

I did do it and it was exactly what you’d expect— you hear Andromeda’s air and sparkle on one side and Solaris’ grandness and thicker low end on the other. It's too jarring to be able to pick up any nuance though.

 

[GiullianSN]

Put the source in Mono. make sure your both ears have the exact same hearing loss level. Use one at a time..........Nah, not a good idea.

 

[whistlebug23]

So the actual release for the LE is Jan. 5th? Shame it isn't now I would have purchased it.

I would have bought them day one, but being the pessimist I am, I don't trust CA to process and ship them in the same week, much less trust shipping during the holidays. I really wish they would have shifted the schedule a month so that limited release was in January and wide release was in February.

 

[NaittsirK]

The trick I use for making the fit more secure and fitting to me.
A Symbio size L tip with cut out bore inserted inside a spiral dot++ L .

 

[Tristy]

So I just did a little 3 x 3 shootout comparison of cables with the Solaris SE, Dorado 2020 and Z1R and thought I'd share my findings on here as the Solaris seemed to be the main beneficiary of this. So I've recently got my hands on a plussound Exo (4 wire) pure copper cable and a Exo SPC via their Black Friday sale. I have been using the PW Audio Loki+ on my Solaris SE since time began so I thought I would try each cable on each IEM to see how it changed the sound. I am a believer in sound changes made by cables (obviously) but not to a huge extent and they mostly reside within the intangibles to my ears. My impressions are below;

Exo copper + Dorado 2020
- Very analogue sound, seems more laidback than the ALO Audio SPC cable with slightly less 'sparkle' in the treble but gains slightly more mid bass (doesn't need it tbh but I'm just enjoying the bass atm). This is the cable that I had bought to pair with the Dorado 2020 as I was more in love with the aesthetics than anything, I didn't think the pure copper was going to do the Dorado any favours coming from a SPC and I was right.

Exo SPC + Dorado 2020
- A punchier bass coming from the pure copper with more layers, treble also has a more crisp, etched feel. A better pairing imo but I had bought the SPC for Z1R with the terminations specific for this purpose. It didn't look as pretty on the Dorado as well and this nagged me (I can get OCD like that).

PW Loki + Dorado 2020
- For those of you that doesn't know the Loki is made up of a mixture of 70% silver and 30% copper alloy. With the Dorado 2020 this made layering much more apparent and the bass seems a lot more impactful and deeper reaching. Imaging also seems to have gotten better with better separation between instruments / vocals placement. This was the best pairing and after the comparisons I had ordered a 4 wire version of the Loki for the Dorado.


Exo SPC + Z1R
- Unfortunately I was unable to use the pure copper with the Z1R due to Plussound's standard mmcx design. The SPC however is quite a good match with the Z1R with detail retrieval having a noticeably improvement. This pairing also seems to bring male vocals more forward with possibly a slight decrease in sub bass depth. This isn't very apparent however and its a trade off I can live with given the improvements in other areas. The Z1R seems less sensitive to cable rolling but does benefit a little in detail retrieval. I feel intangibles take hit on most pairings though with the SPC showing the least impact so far but with greater detail retrieving capability over the stock cable. I guess this is a testament to how good the stock 4.4mm Sony cable is. Not really much reason to upgrade unless you are looking to squeeze a tad more detail out of the Z1R.

PW Loki + Z1R
- I noticed a slight increase in detail retrieval again over the SPC but nothing to write home about when compared to the Solaris SE pairing. This makes me think (given the results of the pair up with the Dorado 2020 as well) that the Loki really works well in synergy with BA IEM's. Strangely, the soundstage seems to have taken a hit on this pairing becoming more intimate. Some sibilance was also detected on this pairing, the first time I had heard anything near sibilance with the Z1R! I think this IEM particularly benefits from a copper based cable. The localisation of sounds becomes slightly more apparent however with more precise imaging.


Exo Copper + Solaris SE
- I surprisingly liked this pairing quite a lot. Definitely a less technical cable but seemed to make vocals more intimate and slightly more natural sounding (in comparison to the Loki+). The 3D like effect and 360 soundstage had taken a hit however with it all seeming less prominent. The soundstage characteristics of the Solaris was still there, it was just less etched and precise, seeming more 'blurred'.

Exo SPC + Solaris SE
- Not a bad pairing coming from the pure copper, adding another single dimension to the sound seemingly. Definition became greater but nothing to write home about.

PW Loki + Solaris SE
- Seriously... this was a revelation after listening quite a while with the previous 2 cables. The soundstage, holographic imaging all came back in all its glory and everything seemed so tangible. So much more realistic, feeling like I could reach out and touch the sounds. The sound was no longer made up of just 2 plains but each sound had different distances from one another. Very strange but I think I had become complacent with the sound of this combo over time and forgot how good the synergy is. This really is something special, resolution and detail retrieval also go up a noticeable level. It genuinely seems like an improved iterations of the Solaris formula with this cable on it. I highly rec this cable if you can get your hands on it after hearing quite a few cables (Effect audio Lionheart, Eros II, Plussoud Copper, SPC, Silver + Gold (with 2 pin adaptors), Tri-silver (with 2 pin adaptors) and some other cheap cables) and this is by far the best pairing.

So what I was mostly trying to get across with this is the great synergy I'm hearing with the Loki+ and Solaris SE. It really seems like a match made in heaven and something that needs to be heard if you're looking for more detail retrieval / more precise and holographic imaging and more impactful bass with the Solaris. I am unsure if their is much of a difference between the 'plus' (8) wire version and the 4 wire but I'll be sure to let you know once the one for the Dorado 2020 comes.

Also, just for some reference points, this comparison was done on the SE200 dap using Master quality tracks on Tidal.

Moral of the Story - Get a PW audio Loki cable.

 

[pbui44]

A nice 2021-welcome mix for your Solaris:

 

[NaittsirK]

So I just did a little 3 x 3 shootout comparison of cables with the Solaris SE, Dorado 2020 and Z1R and thought I'd share my findings on here as the Solaris seemed to be the main beneficiary of this. So I've recently got my hands on a plussound Exo (4 wire) pure copper cable and a Exo SPC via their Black Friday sale. I have been using the PW Audio Loki+ on my Solaris SE since time began so I thought I would try each cable on each IEM to see how it changed the sound. I am a believer in sound changes made by cables (obviously) but not to a huge extent and they mostly reside within the intangibles to my ears. My impressions are below;

Exo copper + Dorado 2020
- Very analogue sound, seems more laidback than the ALO Audio SPC cable with slightly less 'sparkle' in the treble but gains slightly more mid bass (doesn't need it tbh but I'm just enjoying the bass atm). This is the cable that I had bought to pair with the Dorado 2020 as I was more in love with the aesthetics than anything, I didn't think the pure copper was going to do the Dorado any favours coming from a SPC and I was right.

Exo SPC + Dorado 2020
- A punchier bass coming from the pure copper with more layers, treble also has a more crisp, etched feel. A better pairing imo but I had bought the SPC for Z1R with the terminations specific for this purpose. It didn't look as pretty on the Dorado as well and this nagged me (I can get OCD like that).

PW Loki + Dorado 2020
- For those of you that doesn't know the Loki is made up of a mixture of 70% silver and 30% copper alloy. With the Dorado 2020 this made layering much more apparent and the bass seems a lot more impactful and deeper reaching. Imaging also seems to have gotten better with better separation between instruments / vocals placement. This was the best pairing and after the comparisons I had ordered a 4 wire version of the Loki for the Dorado.


Exo SPC + Z1R
- Unfortunately I was unable to use the pure copper with the Z1R due to Plussound's standard mmcx design. The SPC however is quite a good match with the Z1R with detail retrieval having a noticeably improvement. This pairing also seems to bring male vocals more forward with possibly a slight decrease in sub bass depth. This isn't very apparent however and its a trade off I can live with given the improvements in other areas. The Z1R seems less sensitive to cable rolling but does benefit a little in detail retrieval. I feel intangibles take hit on most pairings though with the SPC showing the least impact so far but with greater detail retrieving capability over the stock cable. I guess this is a testament to how good the stock 4.4mm Sony cable is. Not really much reason to upgrade unless you are looking to squeeze a tad more detail out of the Z1R.

PW Loki + Z1R
- I noticed a slight increase in detail retrieval again over the SPC but nothing to write home about when compared to the Solaris SE pairing. This makes me think (given the results of the pair up with the Dorado 2020 as well) that the Loki really works well in synergy with BA IEM's. Strangely, the soundstage seems to have taken a hit on this pairing becoming more intimate. Some sibilance was also detected on this pairing, the first time I had heard anything near sibilance with the Z1R! I think this IEM particularly benefits from a copper based cable. The localisation of sounds becomes slightly more apparent however with more precise imaging.


Exo Copper + Solaris SE
- I surprisingly liked this pairing quite a lot. Definitely a less technical cable but seemed to make vocals more intimate and slightly more natural sounding (in comparison to the Loki+). The 3D like effect and 360 soundstage had taken a hit however with it all seeming less prominent. The soundstage characteristics of the Solaris was still there, it was just less etched and precise, seeming more 'blurred'.

Exo SPC + Solaris SE
- Not a bad pairing coming from the pure copper, adding another single dimension to the sound seemingly. Definition became greater but nothing to write home about.

PW Loki + Solaris SE
- Seriously... this was a revelation after listening quite a while with the previous 2 cables. The soundstage, holographic imaging all came back in all its glory and everything seemed so tangible. So much more realistic, feeling like I could reach out and touch the sounds. The sound was no longer made up of just 2 plains but each sound had different distances from one another. Very strange but I think I had become complacent with the sound of this combo over time and forgot how good the synergy is. This really is something special, resolution and detail retrieval also go up a noticeable level. It genuinely seems like an improved iterations of the Solaris formula with this cable on it. I highly rec this cable if you can get your hands on it after hearing quite a few cables (Effect audio Lionheart, Eros II, Plussoud Copper, SPC, Silver + Gold (with 2 pin adaptors), Tri-silver (with 2 pin adaptors) and some other cheap cables) and this is by far the best pairing.

So what I was mostly trying to get across with this is the great synergy I'm hearing with the Loki+ and Solaris SE. It really seems like a match made in heaven and something that needs to be heard if you're looking for more detail retrieval / more precise and holographic imaging and more impactful bass with the Solaris. I am unsure if their is much of a difference between the 'plus' (8) wire version and the 4 wire but I'll be sure to let you know once the one for the Dorado 2020 comes.

Also, just for some reference points, this comparison was done on the SE200 dap using Master quality tracks on Tidal.

Moral of the Story - Get a PW audio Loki cable.

Judging by comments made mostly on this forum thread it would appear that Solaris seems to be best paired with high end silver cables.
Its by this logic I paired my Solaris 2020 with Satin Audio Athena that uses silver and Palladium and the results are just great, in my estimation brining the Solaris up by a whole class level.

Hopefully some time in the upcoming months I can pair it with Eletechs offering namely the Socrates(copper), Plato (silver) and Illiad (silver , paladium, gold) during the 7 days tour period that Ill have them so I could comment furher on this.