[cr3ativ3]

Nvm...

 

[diadack]

I have a serious decision crisis haha.
Just bought A&K SP2000. Already have Ak&K T8IE, which is great, but have had it for last 4 years and want to change things up a bit as well as get my 1st CIEM.

Deciding between EE Legend X and Valkyre.
Like both a lot for different reasons.
- Treble seems more bright/engaging on Valkyre which is good, but in a way, it might be too much for me. I feel like because Valkyre is so good at both bass and treble, my brain gets confused, too much audio stimulation.
- Legend X, I like it not so much as for bass, I just feel like it sounds more coherent and to the point.

To sum up, when I listen to Legend X I feel like I am listening to very good floor speakers. Valkyrie has the upper hand for immersion/3D kind of sound.
It's tough to choose lol.
Leaning more towards the Legend X as of now though...

I preferred the sound of the Legend X as well. For me it is the more coherent listening experience even with the overwhelming bass bleed at times. I do love how amazingly smooth the LX is, its so luscious and feels like a warm hug. However I did not let them burn in over the 100+ hours recommended by EE. Apparently the bass relaxes a tad and becomes tighter but I'm not sure by how much exactly.
The Valkyrie just felt off to me like it didnt know what it wanted to do tonally, maybe its really genre and mastering dependent but nothing was mind blowing especially for the price. I would say the LX sounds and feels like a TOTL iem and fits well in its price range but the Valks didnt sound much better than the Tinhifi P1. It has some added space and clarity but the price to performance ratio is extremely small on these in ears. I tried burning the Valks in for about a day and there wasn't that much of a difference in sound signature to me. Maybe more would have helped but again I'm not so sure. The tuning wasn't what I normally would prefer either.

 

[mr.karmalicious]

Yeah, there's definitely something to the LX's treble: it's sparkly and present and isn't missing any details, but it somehow manages not to fatigue. I don't know what it is, but I'm thankful for it.

 

[Sifo]

Yeah, there's definitely something to the LX's treble: it's sparkly and present and isn't missing any details, but it somehow manages not to fatigue. I don't know what it is, but I'm thankful for it.

I haven't had this experience but my two times demoing the LX had me overwhelmed by the bass (not much of a bass guy, so makes sense toward my preferences).

gonna give them another chance tomorrow. I'm not trying to like them, just trying to hear what this treble is all about and form a close to objective opinion as I'm sure it's a great iem.

Hopefully picking up my custom Valkyries from straight from Empire tomorrow!

 

[GiullianSN]

If one doesn't like bass, LX is not the one. It is not neutral.

Having the LX just made me realize how much I appreciate a good low end implementation. Both my other IEM became quite boring now (A12t and Anole VX) and I see myself reaching for the LX more ofter than expected.

 

[Sifo]

See I loved the VX immediately when I heard it for the first time. I typically lean toward a more linear sound signature but the Valkyries were so engaging and the mids just... worked for me. At least for the universals that I tried.

Maybe I should have waited for the Odin since that's got my interest as well

 

[mr.karmalicious]

I haven't had this experience but my two times demoing the LX had me overwhelmed by the bass (not much of a bass guy, so makes sense toward my preferences).

gonna give them another chance tomorrow. I'm not trying to like them, just trying to hear what this treble is all about and form a close to objective opinion as I'm sure it's a great iem.

Hopefully picking up my custom Valkyries from straight from Empire tomorrow!

For sure—I like bass a lot, but like @Giullian i didn't realize how much until I'd demo'd the Legends for a bit. My very first time trying them, I was definitely overwhelmed by the pure quantity of bass. It took a little for me to realize that all of the details—and more—that I was used to from brighter sets was still there; my brain had to take some time to adjust to the presence of that quantity (and quality, especially on account of being dynamic) of bass.

There are so many possible forms that treble can take, but maybe try this (lossless or high quality rather than youtube):



to possibly get a sense of the "non-bass" things that the Legends do so well—layered female vocals, imaging, soundstage, detail across the entire frequency range, a bit of piano, subtle little recording noises that you might think are happening outside your head... and there's also some percussion there, so you do get the impactful bass happening at the same time as all of this.

The previous track on the album ("Movies") has a lot of the same positive example qualities, but focuses a bit more on the vocals and is thus is a bit less complex (but still haunting). "Mirror Forever", though, really conveys how good the Legend's technicalities are—at least in my opinion! We all have different ears and preferences, so maybe these wouldn't do it for you. Enjoy the trip to Empire either way!

 

[GiullianSN]

See I loved the VX immediately when I heard it for the first time. I typically lean toward a more linear sound signature but the Valkyries were so engaging and the mids just... worked for me. At least for the universals that I tried.

Maybe I should have waited for the Odin since that's got my interest as well

Will always have something new to wait for, if we keep waiting we miss to enjoy now. I'm pretty sure you will be happy with your Valkys.

 

[fsi22]

I haven't had this experience but my two times demoing the LX had me overwhelmed by the bass (not much of a bass guy, so makes sense toward my preferences).

gonna give them another chance tomorrow. I'm not trying to like them, just trying to hear what this treble is all about and form a close to objective opinion as I'm sure it's a great iem.

Hopefully picking up my custom Valkyries from straight from Empire tomorrow!

The bass was overwhelming for me as well, as good an iem as it is, it's the reason I chose the Valkyrie.

Hope you enjoy yours, very enjoyable experience for me so far.

 

[Van Gogh]

I preferred the sound of the Legend X as well. For me it is the more coherent listening experience even with the overwhelming bass bleed at times. I do love how amazingly smooth the LX is, its so luscious and feels like a warm hug. However I did not let them burn in over the 100+ hours recommended by EE. Apparently the bass relaxes a tad and becomes tighter but I'm not sure by how much exactly.
The Valkyrie just felt off to me like it didnt know what it wanted to do tonally, maybe its really genre and mastering dependent but nothing was mind blowing especially for the price. I would say the LX sounds and feels like a TOTL iem and fits well in its price range but the Valks didnt sound much better than the Tinhifi P1. It has some added space and clarity but the price to performance ratio is extremely small on these in ears. I tried burning the Valks in for about a day and there wasn't that much of a difference in sound signature to me. Maybe more would have helped but again I'm not so sure. The tuning wasn't what I normally would prefer either.

I agree with your description word by word.

The only other observation I will add is the following.
When I first tried Valkyre and Legend X on my phone (LG G8, which is supposed to be best sounding phone, but of course nowhere near high-end DAP's), I liked Valkyre more, Legend X I actually didn't like.
But as soon as I plugged them both into A&K SP1000, Legend X became my favorite.
I felt Legend X really came to life with a proper source!

 

[Wyville]

I haven't had this experience but my two times demoing the LX had me overwhelmed by the bass (not much of a bass guy, so makes sense toward my preferences).

gonna give them another chance tomorrow. I'm not trying to like them, just trying to hear what this treble is all about and form a close to objective opinion as I'm sure it's a great iem.

Hopefully picking up my custom Valkyries from straight from Empire tomorrow!

The physicality of the LX's bass is something quite special, but it can't be "unheard" and if you are not much of a bass guy then LX is never going to fit your preferences. It also depends on the music you use because I am personally a huge fan of the LX's bass, but would never use them for classical music, which is something I listen to very often. For classical music I am actually very curious how the Wraith would do. I have not had a chance to demo the new models, but hopefully the opportunity will come up at some point.

Enjoy your Valkyries!

 

[singleended5863]

For classical music I am actually very curious how the Wraith would do

@Wyville
You might be right since I heard the Wraith has better SQ than Phantom. I did have a chance to listen to Wraith at CanJam SoCal not longer than to Valkyrie which made my taste so excited.

 

[Wyville]

@Wyville
You might be right since I heard the Wraith has better SQ than Phantom. I did have a chance to listen to Wraith at CanJam SoCal not longer than to Valkyrie which made my taste so excited.

From the description I suspect the stage and amount of air would work well with symphonies, although in terms of tonality I always love the Phantom. Considering I have also always been very interested in hearing the Zeus (and never did), the Wraith is very high on my 'to demo' list.

 

[cr3ativ3]

I agree with your description word by word.

The only other observation I will add is the following.
When I first tried Valkyre and Legend X on my phone (LG G8, which is supposed to be best sounding phone, but of course nowhere near high-end DAP's), I liked Valkyre more, Legend X I actually didn't like.
But as soon as I plugged them both into A&K SP1000, Legend X became my favorite.
I felt Legend X really came to life with a proper source!

Yes .. lx needs a decent source / power to shine

 

[Focux]

See I loved the VX immediately when I heard it for the first time. I typically lean toward a more linear sound signature but the Valkyries were so engaging and the mids just... worked for me. At least for the universals that I tried.

Maybe I should have waited for the Odin since that's got my interest as well

tried VX, Z1R, Valkyrie and Wraith;

personally feel Z1R and VX are ahead of Valk & Wraith