[Exekuhtor]

I think the Diva is a bit of a different flavour (i haven't heard it), the Gaea is the one that i would call a less expensive Annihilator (i did own one, the Anni is of course superior though). It won't give you the big wow factor like the Anni does though, you will have to pay for that, but i very much enjoyed it and would have kept it probably forever until i got the chance to get the Anni (at that time the re-release was more of a rumor). Imo it's a fantastic IEM.
Nothing comes very close to the amazing treble performance of the Annihilator.

 

[Mangodango369]

Have you tried Diva? Im trying to decided which one to try first, was wondering if the extra price can be justified? Is Diva like 80% Annihilator in terms of sound?

Thanks

I tried it at canjam last month and woah I thought that both are tuned pretty differently and to me it is not 80% of Annihilator.
I spoke to lee a bit and he told me that diva is the sound that derives from what the current industry and trend sees as the standard "best" bass "best" mids and "best" treble. He followed that tone and added just a bit on his house tuning. As for tuning the Annihilator, he told me that he just ignored all trends and went for what he thinks is the best type of sound.
I think you will ave better luck with gaea if you want "mini" Annihilator sound, not as technically competent as Annihilator but comes pretty good yo

 

[chowy]

I tried it at canjam last month and woah I thought that both are tuned pretty differently and to me it is not 80% of Annihilator.
I spoke to lee a bit and he told me that diva is the sound that derives from what the current industry and trend sees as the standard "best" bass "best" mids and "best" treble. He followed that tone and added just a bit on his house tuning. As for tuning the Annihilator, he told me that he just ignored all trends and went for what he thinks is the best type of sound.
I think you will ave better luck with gaea if you want "mini" Annihilator sound, not as technically competent as Annihilator but comes pretty good yo

My understanding is that Lee stopped taking orders for Diva to allow him to fulfil the outstanding orders and put some systems in place to speed up production times. I don't think there's a Diva v2 coming anytime soon.

Hi Damz,

How do you think the Annihilator compares to the Maestro SE? Is it a complementary pair? THanks!

 

[Damz87]

Hi Damz,

How do you think the Annihilator compares to the Maestro SE? Is it a complementary pair? THanks!

Hey there! Yes, quite complementary. Maestro SE has significantly more sub bass, and a fairly linear mid and treble response through to the upper treble. Mids are on the thinner end of the tonality spectrum, and the lower/mid treble region is more relaxed compared to Annihilator.

Annihilator’s bass is less elevated and more mid bass focused. Mids are more prominent and full-bodied compared to MSE, but also lean to the revealing end of the spectrum in an overall sense. Upper mids are a little more prominent on Annihilator. Annihilators treble is still one of the best in the business and a lot more sparkly and airy.

For technicalities, Annihilator I’d say is the more technical overall. Better dynamics, better detail retrieval, better imaging precision and a wider stage. MSE is still quite technical, but not on the same level as Annihilator. That said, MSE is a super fun and engaging IEM and probably more engaging depending on your music taste (or if you’re a basshead lol)

 

[nocturne19]

Demoed the Diva recently and its tuning is so good. The most linear-sounding iem I have heard (not taking sub-bass into account).

I preferred half-bass/min bass, but I can go with max bass as well.

Tested with Cayin N8ii.

 

[chowy]

Yeah, the bass on the Traillii is pretty impressive for a BA, coming from a DD fan. I found the Diva's bass as good, if not better, for sure more natural. Of all the BA bass I’ve heard, I’d have to say I like Storm's most.

Hi there, whats your take on Annihilator vs Traillii? THanks

 

[ciscokid96]

Sad to say that my Elysian X is having driver problems. I noticed that the right monitor sounds noticeably lower than the left and after doing a sine sweep. Sound gets really quiet in the mid frequencies for the right monitor.

In saying this, since the X is a discontinued item, is it possible to have this defect fixed? Will Mr. Lee be able to repair a discontinued item, especially being as busy as he is? Is there any other companies that will be able to fix an iem driver?

Any tips would be appreciated. I don't want $4k USD to go down the drain.

 

[aaf evo]

Sad to say that my Elysian X is having driver problems. I noticed that the right monitor sounds noticeably lower than the left and after doing a sine sweep. Sound gets really quiet in the mid frequencies for the right monitor.

In saying this, since the X is a discontinued item, is it possible to have this defect fixed? Will Mr. Lee be able to repair a discontinued item, especially being as busy as he is? Is there any other companies that will be able to fix an iem driver?

Any help would be appreciated. I'm pretty devastated and don't want $4k USD to go down the drain.

I’d reach ouch to him, I’m sure it can be fixed as I don’t believe the drivers used in X are discontinued. I’m assuming your unit is out of warranty though.

 

[ciscokid96]

I’d reach ouch to him, I’m sure it can be fixed as I don’t believe the drivers used in X are discontinued. I’m assuming your unit is out of warranty though.

Yes, it's out of warranty. I'm assuming that I would pay for the repairs? Which would be totally fine. Much better than having them go to waste.

I'll reach out to him and hope he's able to repair them even if it does take a while given his work load.

Thank you for the extra confidence.

 

[SteeLMinder]

Sad to say that my Elysian X is having driver problems. I noticed that the right monitor sounds noticeably lower than the left and after doing a sine sweep. Sound gets really quiet in the mid frequencies for the right monitor.

In saying this, since the X is a discontinued item, is it possible to have this defect fixed? Will Mr. Lee be able to repair a discontinued item, especially being as busy as he is? Is there any other companies that will be able to fix an iem driver?

Any tips would be appreciated. I don't want $4k USD to go down the drain.

I faced the same situation, the right earpiece began to play quieter than the left one. I noticed that the problem is connected with the connector, I think this is due to the fact that the venom cable is heavy and its plugs are large. I contacted Lee Quan Min and today I'm sending the headphones for repair, I'm also thinking of changing the cable.

 

[ciscokid96]

I faced the same situation, the right earpiece began to play quieter than the left one. I noticed that the problem is connected with the connector, I think this is due to the fact that the venom cable is heavy and its plugs are large. I contacted Lee Quan Min and today I'm sending the headphones for repair, I'm also thinking of changing the cable.

Wow, that is great he is able to repair them. I have yet to contact him about the X since I have an Anni on the way and don't want to put to much on his plate. I plan to contact him after I've received the Anni since he is hard to pin down. I can be patient with this as I have other IEMs to entertain me.

Did you have your model under warranty, or has it passed already?

 

[SteeLMinder]

Wow, that is great he is able to repair them. I have yet to contact him about the X since I have an Anni on the way and don't want to put to much on his plate. I plan to contact him after I've received the Anni since he is hard to pin down. I can be patient with this as I have other IEMs to entertain me.

Did you have your model under warranty, or has it passed already?

I'm not the first owner, so unfortunately my warranty is over I hope the repair will not be very expensive.

 

[ciscokid96]

I'm not the first owner, so unfortunately my warranty is over I hope the repair will not be very expensive.

That's unfortunate. Yeah, I hope it is not too expensive too. I'm glad that the option is still there after the warranty though. I thought Mr. Lee would be too busy.

 

[Wild Boar]

Annihilator clear shell will it be turn yellowed over the time?

 

[SteeLMinder]

I have Elysian X with shell the same Annihilator. I did not notice that they became yellower.