[Tristy]

I remember you speared Odin pretty quickly too, to great shock and horror in some parts. The latest EE tuning just isn't for you. No shame in that at all, and good to have counterpoints (with actual musical notes and experience).

Watching all of this unfold is very reminiscent of when Odin was first released tbh seems like some divisive tuning choices are being made over at EE. Some just aren't down with more forward upper mids and thats cool. If EVO is anything like Odin however, the upper mids definitely became less prominent as time went on... whether it's my mind playing tricks on me, cable burn-in or something else, I don't know. I don't particularly believe in burn in for BA drivers so.

@gLer and I talked about this a while ago for this very reason. IEMs can definitely be "user-tuned" simply by adjusting volume. But, I feel IEMs like the EVO, where the bass is meant to be the shining star, aren't as flexible in that regard as others can be, though. The reason for that is the Fletcher-Munson curve, which dictates that the low-end is the first frequency component to fall off when you lower your overall listening volume. So, by the time you lower the upper-mids to a tolerable level, the lows would've dropped by an even greater degree. I observed this myself with Vision Ears' EXT, where, with harsher recordings, I had to choose between an awesome bass and a coarser low-treble, or a tolerable low-treble with a weaker bass.

I personally haven't heard the EVO myself, so I don't have any horses in this race. I'm just saying that that's what'll physically happen with IEMs of that nature.

Not to hijack this thread but is this characteristic specific to the EXT for you?

 

[jwbrent]

Playing with new macro lens.. colors came out wild straight from the camera

wow, nice beauty shots!

 

[aaf evo]

I remember you speared Odin pretty quickly too, to great shock and horror in some parts. The latest EE tuning just isn't for you. No shame in that at all, and good to have counterpoints (with actual musical notes and experience).

Odin for me was too bass light, I had zero issues with upper mid harshness/sharpness. I didn’t like how forward they were relative to the lower mids and bass. Evo has bass, lots of it, but now I am hearing what I just can’t help but describe as “average quality” upper mids and treble. You can ask me about any of my gear and I’ll always be honest, but just remember it’s relative to what I enjoy and what I like, nothing more. The way the notes of the upper mids and treble hit my ears comes off as quite sharp. I’m not the only one who thinks this, I’ve spoken to others privately but they are staying quiet.

I don’t know why I am hearing it that way. I’d love to figure it out, I’ve been excited for the Evo since it was first announced months ago. I am more disappointed that it doesn’t seem to be working for me than anything. I’m not here to “bash” it or praise other gear. I’m simply describing what I am hearing using the same variables I put to other IEMs also upon receiving them.

I have nothing against EE. Selling my CIEM LX back in 2019 was one of my biggest regrets of my hobby journey so far, so I was hoping this would come along and be that replacement, so once again, I’m more disappointed it doesn’t seem to be the case for myself.

I still have my Evo. They’re on burn in as we speak. So if I find any changes over time I’ll be sure to report back.

I’m not gonna make any friends saying this but whatever. Most of the impressions of the Evo so far have come from people who got “review” units directly from EE. I’m sorry, let’s not be ignorant here. We know under these circumstances people tend to not really highlight “negative” aspects of an IEM. Maybe my expectations were too high? The Legend X isn’t exactly an easy iem to one-up. It happens with lots of IEMs. I’m sure people saw the Traillii hype and were underwhelmed, and that is okay. Perhaps it’s what’s going on for me here. Who knows. It’s 110% an iem worth checking out. I’d just give a word of caution to anyone with upper mid sensitivity that you may want to demo first if possible. If you haven’t experienced a proper BCD implementation also, it’ll bring a new dimension of sound for you.

 

[efftee]

Like the OG LX before it, the bass isn't an always-on thing, contrary to popular belief. If it's not in the track, you won't hear it. If it's light in the track, you'll hear it light. But when there's a deeeeep EDM drop or kick-ass kick (check out Mr.Kitty's After Dark, for example), it kicks harder than any other IEM (or headphone) I've heard. If it's not doing that with the right music playing, check source, tips and fit.

I don’t listen much to hardcore EDM, but I did choose some pretty deep bassy tracks, DJ Khaled stuff, etc. No denying the EVO rumble, but in totality, I do prefer the Odin. And if it’s all about the bass, then the LX. That said, whilst the source and tips (the Final E ones it came with) were adequate, the fit was not good and it was uncomfortable for me. If/When a custom EVO was to be available, it could be an altogether different proposition.

 

[gLer]

The way the notes of the upper mids and treble hit my ears comes off as quite sharp. I’m not the only one who thinks this, I’ve spoken to others privately but they are staying quiet.

You're definitely not the only one who thinks this. With certain music that's exactly how I hear it too, though it's much better than it was out the box, and now that I've been able to tip/cable-roll it. As for review units, I can't speak for anyone else but if I want to keep my review unit I have t pay for it, and I'm under no obligation to keep it. I'll call it as I see it in my review, and it's not going to score a perfect 10 in every department - far from it. What it does do is one-up the LX in almost every department, but of course tonality/tuning is a very personal preference, so if you happen to prefer LX's tuning, the EVO won't win out here no matter how much it improves the technical perfomance. My current opinion, in a nutshell, is that if you prioritise bass performance (quality and quantity) above all else, there's no IEM that I've heard that can touch it, not even the IE 900 (which was my bass high-water mark before EVO).

 

[Deezel177]

Indeed, which is why the OG LX can be a difficult IEM to master, because its famous bass only really kicks in at higher volume. The advantage EVO has over LX is that it's not only easier to drive, but the woofers actually activate much sooner, meaning I can have a fairly relaxed listen to upper-mid-forward tracks at lower volume without sactificing much bass impact at all. I think Weapon X has quite a bit to do with that.

I don't think it has anything to do with power at all, though, it's just physics. I find this phenomenon to be true on IEMs, headphones, speakers, etc. When you lower the overall listening volume, the lows are always the first to go. If you remember the graphs I showed that time, I measured an A18 at several different volumes and it measured exactly the same each time (apart from overall amplitude, of course). So, it's simply the fact that our ears register relatively weaker low-end information when at low listening levels. Maybe, there's something in the EVO that's compensating for that more than the LX, but it surely isn't because of power or sensitivity. Your second theory that it's the Weapon X driver compensating for that bass drop-off is very likely it, actually.

Watching all of this unfold is very reminiscent of when Odin was first released tbh seems like some divisive tuning choices are being made over at EE. Some just aren't down with more forward upper mids and thats cool. If EVO is anything like Odin however, the upper mids definitely became less prominent as time went on... whether it's my mind playing tricks on me, cable burn-in or something else, I don't know. I don't particularly believe in burn in for BA drivers so.



Not to hijack this thread but is this characteristic specific to the EXT for you?

No, as above, it's true for all listening devices for me. It's just how our ears work. I mentioned the EXT specifically because it's another IEM that has a high-quality low-end, which you won't get the most out of if you lower the listening volume too much.

 

[Calfredo826]

Frenchie time!

 

[gnahra]

At the risk of beating the proverbial dead horse, I'll chime in with some more robust commentary, but by and large:
1) I agree with @aaf evo
2) You all know how I feel about the IEM - ultimately - because I'm selling it

I'll get some of the usual caveats out of the way:
-I did not burn the Evo in
-I did some tip rolling (started with Sedna Earfits, which were horrible; the Earfit shorts and stock Final E's were much better)
-I did not cable roll
-DX300 is my DAP (amp 11 MKII)
-my musical genre of choice is progressive/deep EDM; I listen to lossless tracks on either Tidal or Apple Music
-as I think you all probably know by now, I have what I believe is an extreme aversion to harsh/sibilant upper mids and lower treble; I don't know why or how, but I would say that - by and large - most folks hear the same things I hear, but whereas I cannot tolerate spikes in that particular region of the FR, others can (and oftentimes prefer it); this is probably the most important caveat of all...that I have this extreme sensitivity to this pariticular region of the FR

My hesitation in buying the Evo to begin with was twofold: first, my track record with EE's tuning is not good...chalk it up to a combo of what you may call their "house sound," and my sensitivity to upper mids/lower treble, but I have not really synch'd well with the Hero, Valk, or LXSE, all for the same reason (and frankly I didn't even bother with the Odin given the feedback I read about it). Second, while FR graphs are not the final word, I do use them as a reference point, and the charts of the Evo that I saw and could compare apples-to-apples with other IEMs that I have both liked and disliked, suggested that the Evo could be problematic for me. You all have access to the same charts I do and can easily see the similarities in the 2-5k region between the Evo and IEMs like the LXSE versus (just cherry picking a couple of IEMs I don't have problems with) the U18s or Erkly.

As @aaf evo has said, I also found the upper mids and lower treble to be too peaky and harsh for my preferences (please refer back to the caveats above), although I did not hear any sibilance. I heard them to be softer than the LXSE, but not soft enough for my taste.

I did not have an issue with fit, as some others have noted. The shells are large, but they fit very nicely in my ears.

I loved everything else about the Evo (and the BCD is super slick), but for me personally, if that particular region of the FR curve is tough to handle, the rest of the sound sig is moot. It's a wonderful wonderful IEM in many ways...and if you like more forward upper mids/lower treble and/or aren't particularly sensitive to that region, I would wholeheartedly recommend at least a demo.

 

[toaster]

Banzaiii!

 

[Sifo]

Listening to a demo EVO right now with SR25 and stock small tips + Genesis cable. My thoughts and impressions are gonna be all over the place here so apologies! I only really got 30 or so minutes with these too, so by no means a review, just first impressions.

I think this unit just came into the store so I'm not sure if there's been much burn in. I'm not particularly sensitive to upper mids, EE seems to favor having them forward in their flagships, not hearing anything particularly off putting. It's definitely not as smooth as some other IEMs but it doesn't offend my ears at least.

Fit not as bad as I thought, pretty similar to Odin if I recall. They are some chonkers though.

I was also expecting more rumble quantity like OG LX too but this is actually more preferable to my tastes, definitely there when called for. A little less punchy than Odin, but still top notch quality as expected of the W9+s.

Vocal staging a little closer than I was expecting but the instrument separation and imaging is very precise. Hearing a few details here and there that I miss out on even with the Zeus which had been touted as the resolution king. Sound stage not as grand as I was expecting with the BCD, but I've never heard one before. I'm pretty sure it's working though, nothing sounds off or weird in the overall presentation. That's not to say it's bad or that I dislike the sound stage.

Highs are not particularly bright, sounds close to neutral to me, if not the tiniest bit rolled off. Acoustic guitars don't sound as airy or "sweet" as I'd like. Cymbals are sharp but don't resonate. I'm not getting sibilance, so that's always good in my book, but treble hasn't been the star of the show in any way. Again, not bad, just nothing to highlight.

I think I'm most surprised by how well it all comes together, probably the one thing that consistently makes me happy about EE iems. They go for these unconventional tunings but it works so well across the board. I'd call the EVO somewhat relaxed as far as mids (maybe not upper mids) and highs go, but the bass will bring all the energy you need when called for. Technicalities are superb.

I know EE loves their Asia customers and I have to say I'm probably such a big fan because it works so perfectly with the music that's popular there.

 

[mungster]

At the risk of beating the proverbial dead horse, I'll chime in with some more robust commentary, but by and large:
1) I agree with @aaf evo
2) You all know how I feel about the IEM - ultimately - because I'm selling it

I hope to demo the evo when a buddy of mine gets them tomorrow and see what's all the fuss is about. Hopefully it gels well with my preference.

 

[Sifo]

It's good to read the reasons why people don't like the EVO, as much of an EE fanboy as I am myself we all know there's no such thing as perfect in this hobby, I value reading other people's perspective. I can't say if I'd buy the EVO (well, I won't unless they figure out how to make it in custom) since I didn't get much time with it, it didn't particularly wow me but I don't dislike it. I definitely like what it does and appreciate the effort that EE put into developing it and staying true to their goals.

 

[tawmizzzz]

Epic bass track to try on EVO . Seasick inducing I imagine too

 

[subguy812]

In regards to tuning, one factor hasn't been mentioned yet. Everyone listens to music at different volumes. It is a long-established fact that the FR of our hearing changes with volume. I'm not saying this is the only or most important factor, but it should be taken into account.

I've had my Odin customs back for about a week now after the first refit (they need to go back a second refit; I'm picky!). Yes, they do have noticeable bump in the upper mids. I only notice it on certain songs at very loud volumes (>90 dBa). Once I bring the volume back down to a non-injurious level, the upper mids no long bother me.

Just saying differing volume levels should be taken into account when discussing tuning...

Yes sir...I mentioned that any track that steps into an uncomfortable upper mid can be easily alleviated by a lower volume. I have only had fatigue from Traveling Wilburys and I lowered the volume and any issue went away. These are no where near as hot as ODIN apparently could be to some. I made reference to lower volumes when discussing ODIN as well.

My EVO is fairly well seasoned at this point and has settled down quite nicely. Using the stock Final tips, not a wide bore and logging many hours of listening time vs. a couple of hours, and I am having a wonderful experience, obviously folks experiences may differ.

 

[Skullar]

Interesting guys. Much good info, if i ever need extra info about Evo i will always refer to these 2 posts:

Frenchie time!

Banzaiii!