[toaster]

Greetings from the latest leg of the Erlkonig tour - San Juan Capistrano. I'm only an hour in, but these are clearly the best IEMs I've ever heard. Every part of the spectrum is represented beautifully. Unbelievable detail: vocals, strings, percussion, everything! They bring extraordinary life to the studio albums I've sampled so far. I was listening to the American Beauty album and, for a minute, was convinced that Jerry had come back for a final encore. I'm hooked.

not bad, right?

what other iems have you heard?

what setting do you have the erlkonig on?

 

[aaf evo]

Elysium order is on hold as my local audiologist is closed right now due to the virus.

 

[Barra]

Elysium order is on hold as my local audiologist is closed right now due to the virus.

Bummer, but we could see this one coming.

 

[aaf evo]

Bummer, but we could see this one coming.

Hoping my A18s doesn’t get delayed, but safety first!

 

[Barra]

Coronavirus Caution
We are all concerned by this Coronavirus outbreak and we are all taking precautions, but thought I would address it here. I am not a doctor or an expert of any kind so I am open to suggestions from our participants. If things get too bad, we may need to consider suspending the tour out of an abundance of caution but I am not sure if we are there yet. What do you think?

Suggestions:

1. 24 Hour Package Quarantine: It has been suggested that we allow our delivery packages to sit for 24 hours as the virus is supposed to die off after 16 hours on all surfaces. Plastics and metals are supposedly the most friendly to the bacteria with metals being offering virus survival for 16 hours. Since our CIEMs and the kits are mostly metal and plastic, I am offering an additional 8th day to allow everyone to quarantine the kit for a day out of precaution.
2. Communicate Virus Concerns: Please communicate with the participant you are shipping too if you feel there are any virus exposure concerns. This allows the next person to take any extra care that they deem necessary.
3. Clean Prior to Shipping: As always, please clean the kit thoroughly before shipping to minimize the risk of passing on germs. This should include careful but thorough use of disinfectant wipes on the CIEMs and down the length of the wires as well as cases and any other kit items that you have touched. Once dry please package and seal before reintroducing germs.
4. Clean Prior to Use: To be double sure that the kit is clean, please clean it thoroughly before using it to minimize the risk of any germs passing through the prior cleaning efforts. This should include careful but thorough use of disinfectant wipes on the CIEMs and down the length of the wires as well as cases and all other kit items that you will handle.
5. Input: If have missed anything, please offer suggestions and I will update.
6. Pause: I am open to input about pausing the tour until this virus has passed if you deem necessary. You can also request to be pushed down the list if desired.

 

[dleblanc343]

Can I be added to the tour (despite this COVID situation probably slowing things down).

None of Z1R, U12t, Solaris or VX were able to take me away from the Shure KSE. But I want something less cumbersome

Will write my impressions with pleasure

 

[Barra]

Can I be added to the tour (despite this COVID situation probably slowing things down).

None of Z1R, U12t, Solaris or VX were able to take me away from the Shure KSE. But I want something less cumbersome

Will write my impressions with pleasure

Absolutely, just follow the instructions in post 1 and 2 to get set up and verify and you are then qualified for any of our tours.

The SQ of these CIEMs are likely to blow your mind. I tried the 1500 and loved it, but I liked these CIEMs better as better all-rounders. However, they are very different from the 1500 and would serve a different purpose for me. This is why I have a collection of different CIEMs for different moods/purposes.

 

[Tristy]

Can I be added to the tour (despite this COVID situation probably slowing things down).

None of Z1R, U12t, Solaris or VX were able to take me away from the Shure KSE. But I want something less cumbersome

Will write my impressions with pleasure

impressions between z1r, U12, Solaris,vx and Kse?

 

[dleblanc343]

impressions between z1r, U12, Solaris,vx and Kse?

I don't want to hijack this thread but here is my order of preference and short description of each:

KSE1500: Unbeatable transparency, detail, treble and dynamic range. 2nd best bass I've ever heard (nobody expects this but ask any kse owner, it goes LOW). Needs EQ for musical enjoyment; fine with stock tuning with great recordings. Not much soundstage height, good width, above average depth. KSE1200 is not good unless you EQ at your source (quite an ordeal of fine tuning). Just buy kse1500 if you can. Only in-ear that holds up to flagship level over-ear headphones like Susvara, Raal in terms of "sounds real" factor.

U12T: Incredible bass for BA, overall reference tuned with touch of fun - superb tuning. Superb 3D stage and proportioned in all 3 axis'. Best plug-an-play I've tried.

Z1R: Exraordinary bass (best yet for me), although boosted for my taste and lingers a touch too long. Tuning is mediocre, but technicalities overshadow it in a way and makes for an easy to listen and forgiving iem across any material you throw at it. I prefer my M9 for its tuning, and even that is a bit too warm to be called reference. Very open and expansive sound. NOT a reference iem.

Anole VX: I tried this one for about 20 mins, A/B'd with the KSE1500, sou my experience was a bit "disappointing" given its hype. Tremendously well-tuned and definitely the most "Reference-tuned" I've heard. Proportional in all 3 axis', but not as open as U12t. Bass is quick and punchy, but not the same realism as any in this list, yet arguably cleaner than everything (a bit dry). Great evenness across Fr with a bit too much sparkle for my taste (i like reference tuned but in iem's I tend to be more sensitive to treble, VX is doing its job, it's just a bit too technical sometimes). Great iem but hard to justify for musical enjoyment. Playing with the switches always take away from its magic more than anything.

Solaris: Honestly, I've heard 3, and there is a bit of variance. Mine was the most "analytical/ transparent/ clean" I've heard, but it was also a double edged sword. Frequency response-wise, love it - honestly the best reference-like response with touch of fun of the lot, but sadly a grade below in resolution, imaging compared to all the above. Mine was a bit too energetic in the upper mids and highs, a bit too much bite in the crunch area, but my friend's was more tame there. Soundstage width is amazing and wide, height tall, but barely any depth. Bass sounds a bit limp/ too dry like the VX.


So I really really want to get on this iem tour !

 

[hamhamhamsta]

Just received VE8 & Elysium yesterday,

Initial review, Elysium specialty like everyone says its vocal. Feels like in a lounge, spot is on the singer, with the spotlight shining on it, all the musical instruments play the supporting roles. Vocal seems more forward compared to the rest, vocal has greater clarity and resolution compared to the rest. It sounds like analogue kind of sound. Softer, more gentle. Vocal powerhouse iem specialty.

As for VE8, it sounds very balanced, I want to say its loud, clarity and resolution sounds pretty close to Erlkonig, except Erl has greater realism, greater emotional sway. I didn't play a lot with all the different settings with Erl, used setting #2. I really like Erl, but VE8 is very close to it. Considering price, I would probably consider getting VE8; but I think it depends on synergy with the rest of your gear. For me, VE8 matches very closely to my preference.

 

[seamon]

Received VE8 and Elysium East Coast Tour Kit from @Todd1

 

[SilverEars]

Just received VE8 & Elysium yesterday,

Initial review, Elysium specialty like everyone says its vocal. Feels like in a lounge, spot is on the singer, with the spotlight shining on it, all the musical instruments play the supporting roles. Vocal seems more forward compared to the rest, vocal has greater clarity and resolution compared to the rest. It sounds like analogue kind of sound. Softer, more gentle. Vocal powerhouse iem specialty.

As for VE8, it sounds very balanced, I want to say its loud, clarity and resolution sounds pretty close to Erlkonig, except Erl has greater realism, greater emotional sway. I didn't play a lot with all the different settings with Erl, used setting #2. I really like Erl, but VE8 is very close to it. Considering price, I would probably consider getting VE8; but I think it depends on synergy with the rest of your gear. For me, VE8 matches very closely to my preference.

I didn't find VE8 close to Erl in terms of performance. VE8 just sounded so much worse after Erl, and I generally find VE8's resolution lacking. I kept the bass setting at #2 as well, and didn't find the other settings useful at all. On one end, it sounded bloated, and other end, sounded lacking.

The thing about Erl is, when you first hear it, it's impressive, but when your ears adjusts, you get used to the sound.

 

[toaster]

I didn't find VE8 close to Erl in terms of performance.

agreed...not even remotely close. i wouldn't say the ve8 sounds bad, I think it’s very intimate and musical, however, it is far outperformed by ve's newer stuff, at least to my ears. That’s progress, I guess.

erlkonig and elysium are my favorite ve iems...and the erlky is my favorite headphone, period.

 

[SilverEars]

agreed...not even remotely close. i wouldn't say the ve8 sounds bad, I think it’s very intimate and musical, however, it is far outperformed by ve's newer stuff, at least to my ears. That’s progress, I guess.

erlkonig and elysium are my favorite ve iems...and the erlky is my favorite headphone, period.

It's easy to compare side by side (too obvious when compared like this), but by memory, it can be a bit fuzzy. I don't believe people can recall sound qualities over a long period of time, but they can recall stuff abstractly noted when they heard the item. Comparing quality of what you immediately heard to notes from memory is difficult to have confidence in. By memory, it's probably easy to see similarities in terms of tonality, but technicalities are far apart. Technicalities are specific qualities focused in on when analyzing iems by hearing, and to be reliable, must be done quickly side by side. Elysium also surpasses VE8 in terms of technicalities, but I didn't like the way the universal's tonality was.

 

[seamon]

Elysium:

Spoiler: Hope I don't get banned from future tours for this

Some of the worst bass you can get in a flagship. Bass is straight up trash. Bass is flabby, lacks impact, lacks extension, bad to decent texture and is just generally bad. Like it astounds me - how can bass be this bad? It is so bad. So very bad. If I were an IEM maker, I would be ashamed. Bass Speed is the only thing that gets a pass.

Some of the most resolving mids I have ever heard in an IEM. That said, lower midrange sounds nasally, this is probably because of pinna compensation done wrong. Male vocals make me cringe every time I hear them on the Elysium. It's akin to the feeling when you have to sneeze but the sneeze just won't come out. Tonality is off. Upper midrange is great. Some of the best in fact. I wish the tonality wasn't so off because the midrange is actually the one good thing about this.

My Treble preference is towards the darker side so I find Elysium a little bit bright for my tastes especially the 8kHz peak which I find fatiguing but I reckon this won't be a problem for most people.
That said, Treble is super fast and airy. Treble weight is on the lighter side around the VE8 level, maybe lighter courtesy of its speed. Treble is faster than VE8.

Soundstage is decent, nothing special. This is the absolute minimum soundstage I would accept in a flagship IEM. Separation and Imaging is good. You are not getting pin point accurate Imaging you get in IEMs such as Zeus but there's nothing to complain about.

I am sorry. This is just not my thing. I hope no Elysium fans are offended. We all hear things differently, have different ear structures and prefer different sound signatures. Elysium at the end of the day was just not the IEM for me.

Edit: Source is RME ADI-2 DAC Headphones output.