[BananaOoyoo]

My first impressions of DDs have always been that they tend to "overpower" the mids and high, but are amazing once you past that phase, though the LX is still being the one exception. For me at least the option seems to be go the Valk with fewer W9s, so I hope this isn't a LX situation all over again, where the W9 overshines everything.

I think a lot of us expected the Wraith to be the Tribrid and not the Valk to be honest. Before even the price tag was annouced "2 BA bass" on the Wraith more or less took it out of consideration for me. Especially since it's suppose to be a Zeus sucessor. You really can't call it a sucessor and still retain that anemic bass. I'd take less ESTs and BAs for a W9 or 2.

I specified on a different forum that the single EST in particular seemed to not carry its weight, and maybe I shouldn’t have lumped in the BA with it. Thinking a bit more on this, I guess there have been plenty of 1BA 1DDs that have worked - like some of Sony’s hybrids or even Empire’s own Bravado.

I’m not an IEM designer, but I do make it a point to at least try every IEM I can. The Wraith (4EST 7BA), Jomo Trinity (2EST 4BA 1DD), AAW Canary (2EST 4BA 2DD), Oriolus Percivali (2EST 2BA 1DD), Wavaya Penta (2EST 3BA), Wavaya Octa (4EST 4BA), and even the failure that’s the Shozy Pola (2EST 1DD) all at least double up on the Sonion tweeters, which makes the simpler Valkyrie setup stand out a bit? Simple can be good, but even double ESTs can often feel overshadowed, so I’m not too surprised I felt that way about the Valkyrie.

@rwelles the Wraith is really big - you’re going to need some blessed ears to not have it stick out as a custom

 

[mwhals]

My custom Legend X isolates better now, so I think I got it in better than I did Saturday.

It came out much easier this time too. I guess I got it wrong on Saturday and correct today.

 

[rwelles]

@rwelles the Wraith is really big - you’re going to need some blessed ears to not have it stick out as a custom

Honestly, I don't care if it looks like I have shoulder-wide tumors growing out of my canals, so long as I love the sound and they are comfortable to wear. (apologies for the mental image...)

 

[BananaOoyoo]

Honestly, I don't care if it looks like I have shoulder-wide tumors growing out of my canals, so long as I love the sound and they are comfortable to wear. (apologies for the mental image...)

For such a big IEM, the Wraith is surprisingly comfortable. I think Empire's definitely been improving on that end over the years.

 

[NovaFlyer]

The vent is due to the dynamic driver, not because it’s custom. A dynamic driver can’t move air in a vacuum. My LX universals have a vent.

As some have already stated, the vents are for models with DD. So the X-Series has these ports but not the EP series. Regardless of custom or universal.

Thanks! Since I have the Bravado and the Phantoms that explains the delta I see. I never noticed that difference given all the time I've spent listening to EE offerings at CanJams.

However, I think I may need to buy either a Legend X or Valkyrie in the near future to prove this.

 

[BananaOoyoo]

Thanks! Since I have the Bravado and the Phantoms that explains the delta I see. I never noticed that difference given all the time I've spent listening to EE offerings at CanJams.

However, I think I may need to buy either a Legend X or Valkyrie in the near future to prove this.

Porque no los dos?

 

[NovaFlyer]

It came out much easier this time too. I guess I got it wrong on Saturday and correct today.

It took me some time to get proficient in inserting my CIEMS as well.

 

[NovaFlyer]

Porque no los dos?

Just one step at a time. Seriously, I do like both the LX and Valkyrie and it's a tough call on which one will be next and at some point I could see having both to match to the music I'm listening to at the time.

 

[KuroKitsu]

I specified on a different forum that the single EST in particular seemed to not carry its weight, and maybe I shouldn’t have lumped in the BA with it. Thinking a bit more on this, I guess there have been plenty of 1BA 1DDs that have worked - like some of Sony’s hybrids or even Empire’s own Bravado.

I’m not an IEM designer, but I do make it a point to at least try every IEM I can. The Wraith (4EST 7BA), Jomo Trinity (2EST 4BA 1DD), AAW Canary (2EST 4BA 2DD), Oriolus Percivali (2EST 2BA 1DD), Wavaya Penta (2EST 3BA), Wavaya Octa (4EST 4BA), and even the failure that’s the Shozy Pola (2EST 1DD) all at least double up on the Sonion tweeters, which makes the simpler Valkyrie setup stand out a bit? Simple can be good, but even double ESTs can often feel overshadowed, so I’m not too surprised I felt that way about the Valkyrie.

@rwelles the Wraith is really big - you’re going to need some blessed ears to not have it stick out as a custom

I'll probably have a better idea has a Wraith for demo. Sadly, outside of trekking to CanJam, the Wraith is the only one I'll be able to demo anything EST in a reasonable way. I'll keep that in mind.

How BIG is the Wraith anyways?

It took me some time to get proficient in inserting my CIEMS as well.

I'm now more proficient in inserting my CIEMs than the worship team at church

 

[bvng3540]

I'll probably have a better idea has a Wraith for demo. Sadly, outside of trekking to CanJam, the Wraith is the only one I'll be able to demo anything EST in a reasonable way. I'll keep that in mind.

How BIG is the Wraith anyways?


I'm now more proficient in inserting my CIEMs than the worship team at church

It is about or little bigger than the carbon fiber jh audio Layla

 

[KuroKitsu]

It is about or little bigger than the carbon fiber jh audio Layla

Eh, I can live with that. Though I'm basing it off the FMJs.

 

[BananaOoyoo]

I'll probably have a better idea has a Wraith for demo. Sadly, outside of trekking to CanJam, the Wraith is the only one I'll be able to demo anything EST in a reasonable way. I'll keep that in mind.

How BIG is the Wraith anyways?

It’s pretty fat haha
Fit’s much better than something like a Z1R or any JH IEM though.

 

[BananaOoyoo]

Oof I’m not sure if this should be Empire Ears news or Effect Audio news, but it looks like they cancelled/refunded all orders of the $7000 King Arthur collaboration because it wasn’t satisfactory enough to be sold.

Reviews of it were overwhelmingly negative here, which took me by surprise (someone even said that I should compare it to the $450 Westone B30 and $700 Westone B50). Didn’t even seem to be a price issue, since the original Arthur collaboration and Erlkonig are pretty popular.

 

[olddude]

Especially since it's suppose to be a Zeus sucessor. You really can't call it a sucessor and still retain that anemic bass. I'd take less ESTs and BAs for a W9 or 2.

Anemic bass? The Zeus? Well, to each their own. But as I keep saying, we all listen differently to different types of music and like different kinds of sound signature. I wouldn't call the Zeus anemic at the bottom end because for me, with most (90%) of what I listen to the bass sounds perfect. There are better ways to describe iems (or sources). I would describe the Zeus as incredibly well balanced, nearly reference in all areas, having great detail with excellent upper end extension, wonderful forward mids and bass that is more transparent than slamming. If I wanted an iem that delivered a slamming, solid bass the Zeus would not be for me. We need to find words that appropriately describe what we hear without making value judgements like "anemic." Someone reading your post might decide that the Zeus is crap because it has bass that is not to your taste, never try it, and miss out.

 

[420204]

Here's the full length review of Wraith on Headfonia:
http://www.headfonia.com/empire-ears-wraith-review/