I would like to ask which level of the original filter?
I love the Springtips as well, on my Monarch Mk3 and MTW4. For me, on those IEMs, they give the best seal, comfort and sound (they seem to tame bass somewhat).
My initial reaction to Pilgrim was at CanJam NYC 24 where I got to demo a pre release version. When I heard the impossible news that Elysian was going to price this at $399, I thought, "there goes the ChiFi market" ...those moondrops and dunus were about to get pulverized by Elysian.
However, while awfully good, it still sounded a little bright and thin in the mids for me and my snobby tastes and criticisms. But by just a little, and honestly not enough to care if they were truly going to sell at $399, because something I also heard was a similarly engaging tuning as I heard on the Anni and Diva 23, but somehow with better bass. So at $399, I thought that was like the entry point to the Elysian tuning, a gateway Elysian!
As I waited for release, CanJam Singapore happened, and low-and-behold, another Pilgrim appeared at a rumored 2x price with similar internals but a different finish and tuning, and an EA cable. Rumor and talk around these threads, combined with news from Singapore, was that this was an Elysian/EA collaboration version, with some influence from EAs founder in the tuning. They were going to finish it in black, as opposed to the stainless steel look of Pilgrim, and give a minor retune to add bass, reduce brightness, and thicken mids while still sounding inherently like Pilgrim. This was going to be called the Pilgrim: Noir as everyone now knows.
At first I thought, "that's confusing", but I also thought those retuning tweaks might work for me even better than the OG did based on my initial impressions. And since this would still be an Elysian gateway drug under a kilobock, I was definitely in on the Noir the day I read about it.
Thanks to the awesome folks at EA and Hifigo, and the whole EA support staff, which has probably grown tired of me by now, I have been listening to Pigrim: Noir for several days now since receipt and burn in last week. I bought it that very day I read about it, blind with my own cash because I had a feeling that any improvement on the Pilgrim would be worth it, and a good EA cable with the package would be icing on the cake.
Tldr, I was (luckily) not wrong (this time!) as the rumored tuning changes and included EA cable were true, to a fault. The EA Eros 8w cable in its matte black finish matches perfectly with the Noir, not only aesthetically but sonically as well. This is a high grade cable, certainly no average stock cable. And the returning...wow, exactly what was rumored and reported from Singapore, thicker mids and especially deeper bass. What a package!
I have also recently received a tour unit of the OG Pilgrim from HiFiGo, and will begin listening to it to try and discern if these differences are really there or if I've got some good, old confirmation bias
Very exciting times for the sub kilobuck category! Was everyone ready for Elysian to do this!? I was, so thanks Elysian, EA, and HiFiGo!
Haha get out of my head. Same thoughts and feelings. I m truly enjoying going back and forth between the two. And shocked at really what we have gotten out of both. Great stuff.My initial reaction to Pilgrim was at CanJam NYC 24 where I got to demo a pre release version. When I heard the impossible news that Elysian was going to price this at $399, I thought, "there goes the ChiFi market" ...those moondrops and dunus were about to get pulverized by Elysian.
However, while awfully good, it still sounded a little bright and thin in the mids for me and my snobby tastes and criticisms. But by just a little, and honestly not enough to care if they were truly going to sell at $399, because something I also heard was a similarly engaging tuning as I heard on the Anni and Diva 23, but somehow with better bass. So at $399, I thought that was like the entry point to the Elysian tuning, a gateway Elysian!
As I waited for release, CanJam Singapore happened, and low-and-behold, another Pilgrim appeared at a rumored 2x price with similar internals but a different finish and tuning, and an EA cable. Rumor and talk around these threads, combined with news from Singapore, was that this was an Elysian/EA collaboration version, with some influence from EAs founder in the tuning. They were going to finish it in black, as opposed to the stainless steel look of Pilgrim, and give a minor retune to add bass, reduce brightness, and thicken mids while still sounding inherently like Pilgrim. This was going to be called the Pilgrim: Noir as everyone now knows.
At first I thought, "that's confusing", but I also thought those retuning tweaks might work for me even better than the OG did based on my initial impressions. And since this would still be an Elysian gateway drug under a kilobock, I was definitely in on the Noir the day I read about it.
Thanks to the awesome folks at EA and Hifigo, and the whole EA support staff, which has probably grown tired of me by now, I have been listening to Pigrim: Noir for several days now since receipt and burn in last week. I bought it that very day I read about it, blind with my own cash because I had a feeling that any improvement on the Pilgrim would be worth it, and a good EA cable with the package would be icing on the cake.
Tldr, I was (luckily) not wrong (this time!) as the rumored tuning changes and included EA cable were true, to a fault. The EA Eros 8w cable in its matte black finish matches perfectly with the Noir, not only aesthetically but sonically as well. This is a high grade cable, certainly no average stock cable. And the returning...wow, exactly what was rumored and reported from Singapore, thicker mids and especially deeper bass. What a package!
I have also recently received a tour unit of the OG Pilgrim from HiFiGo, and will begin listening to it to try and discern if these differences are really there or if I've got some good, old confirmation bias
Very exciting times for the sub kilobuck category! Was everyone ready for Elysian to do this!? I was, so thanks Elysian, EA, and HiFiGo!
Great explanation and summary of hearing perception. Some of the reasons I take all comments and impressions with a grain of salt. On top of all that you still have, music preferences, library, environment (I mostly ignore Shows impressions due to the loud and distracting environment)… I could keep going on enjoying and brainstorming on your comments…SUBJECTIVITY OF TREBLE.
So we frequently see on forums that person A says "this IEM is sibilant and shouty like a banshee", whereas another person B says, "no, this same IEM is as smooth as silk".
Actually, both may not be wrong. We all hear differently in the treble due to these reasons, so it is really a case of your mileage may vary (YMMV):
1) Hearing Health
Generally the treble frequencies are first to be lost with older age (presbycusis > 50 years old).
I work in the medical line and perform and sign off on audiometry tests daily - please see the graphs below on the general hearing for each age band. It is a physiological phenomenon to lose the higher frequencies as one gets older, sadly. A 17 year old is gonna hear treble very differently from a 70 year old.
To complicate matters, some hobbyists suffer from noise induced hearing loss (from occupational or leisure induced), and they lose the 4/6 kHz areas first, as the hair cells that transmit these frequencies are found nearer to the outer ear and are the first to die with prolonged loud noise.
2) Fletcher Munson curve - aka volume played at
https://ehomerecordingstudio.com/fletcher-munson-curve/
Music is perceived to be more V shaped (ie boosted treble and boosted bass) at louder volumes. The treble is less pronounced at lower volumes.
Consumers and reviewers hardly mention the volume they use their gear at, so this may be a huge area that affects how we perceive treble.
3) Sources
Some sources are not neutral, and are brighter or warmer, which can influence treble.
4) Eartips
Like sources, some tips boost or tame treble. For example, stuff like the Final E Black tips or foams tame treble.
Not everyone uses stock tips with the Pilgrim for example.
5) Ear anatomy
Different ear anatomy may influence sound at the upper mids (pinna gain) in addition to affecting how eartips affect the sound.
There's an interesting post from Precog about this if you are interested: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/precogs-iem-reviews-impressions.937468/page-94#post-16524009
So in summary, treble is subjective for the above reasons, and how someone hears the same IEM may be drastically different from you.
It would also be helpful if you could follow a reviewer or fellow hobbyist who you know shares the same hearing impressions as you do.
Hey. Would you like to trade your 4.4 Pilgrim Cable for my 3.5?
Not just better, different. This IEM (pilgrim) is not a low-res and cheaper anni. It’s just tuned differently.
