[metaljem77]

My impression on this since I had both to A/B ... perhaps from a different angle than already talked about ...

I really enjoyed acoustic music and some of my 90's "band" music with EVO. EVO presents the music as if you are listening in the front row. There is a unique sense of instruments popping out from the darkness. Take Joni Mitchell's "Blue" album. Her voice, acoustic guitar, dulcimer, bass, percussion, etc, all pop out distinctly. The nuances on the instruments, timbre, and decay are right in front of you to hear. If I were to visualize this, each instrument is like a tall building rising from the ground-level background. The realism of instruments is great (I think a few reviews mentioned this also). Take band music like Mr.Big/Anthrax/Europe, fusion like Chick Corea/Fourplay/Bob James, jazz like Charlie Haden/Pat Metheny/Keith Jarrett, and even classical with some of my favorite string quartets/violins (Hahn/Midori)/flute (Galway/Rampal)... the instruments sounded great to me.



Traillii on the other hand gives you a smoother presentation from afar. Maybe you are now back to the mezzanine front row. Instrument timbre and details are great but you may have to actively listen to pick up on the details. It's as if you are listening to the soundscape, not the individual instruments. Although there's plenty of clarity to go dig in. Probably the lack of DD/BCD for not having the punch.


Different flavors I guess...

Thank you! There should be a “love” function to the post lol… brill for me as someone who goes when I read things like “left to right, depth, height, width, more front than back etc hahaha

 

[Rin1990]

My impression on this since I had both to A/B ... perhaps from a different angle than already talked about ...

I really enjoyed acoustic music and some of my 90's "band" music with EVO. EVO presents the music as if you are listening in the front row. There is a unique sense of instruments popping out from the darkness. Take Joni Mitchell's "Blue" album. Her voice, acoustic guitar, dulcimer, bass, percussion, etc, all pop out distinctly. The nuances on the instruments, timbre, and decay are right in front of you to hear. If I were to visualize this, each instrument is like a tall building rising from the ground-level background. The realism of instruments is great (I think a few reviews mentioned this also). Take band music like Mr.Big/Anthrax/Europe, fusion like Chick Corea/Fourplay/Bob James, jazz like Charlie Haden/Pat Metheny/Keith Jarrett, and even classical with some of my favorite string quartets/violins (Hahn/Midori)/flute (Galway/Rampal)... the instruments sounded great to me.



Traillii on the other hand gives you a smoother presentation from afar. Maybe you are now back to the mezzanine front row. Instrument timbre and details are great but you may have to actively listen to pick up on the details. It's as if you are listening to the soundscape, not the individual instruments. Although there's plenty of clarity to go dig in. Probably the lack of DD/BCD for not having the punch.


Different flavors I guess...

Very detailed impression of the IEMs.

Now I want the Bird even more.

 

[gLer]

They are too different to directly compare. They compliment each other well and are tuned for different experiences. Both are top of the line performing.

EVO is half the price. So personally I’d take EVO and if I wanted something similar to trailli tuning, just a bit less finessed, I’d go U18s or U12t and save a fortune. $6000 is ridiculous to charge for an IEM and the second hand market is speaking volumes on that sentiment.

Very similar sentiments here. If I could afford it I'd have both, but if I had to choose, even if they were priced the same, it's an easy pick for me. EVO has the best bass response, on every metric, that I've heard in an IEM (or headphone for that matter), and that's where my priorities lie sound-wise. The fact that EVO follows it up with world-class technicalities and a very dynamic yet highly realistic and tactile tonality (see perfect analogy below), and it's a shoe-in. That said I know many who prefer the city skyline version (and I do too on occasional rotation), so as always, YMMV.

My impression on this since I had both to A/B ... perhaps from a different angle than already talked about ...

I really enjoyed acoustic music and some of my 90's "band" music with EVO. EVO presents the music as if you are listening in the front row. There is a unique sense of instruments popping out from the darkness. Take Joni Mitchell's "Blue" album. Her voice, acoustic guitar, dulcimer, bass, percussion, etc, all pop out distinctly. The nuances on the instruments, timbre, and decay are right in front of you to hear. If I were to visualize this, each instrument is like a tall building rising from the ground-level background. The realism of instruments is great (I think a few reviews mentioned this also). Take band music like Mr.Big/Anthrax/Europe, fusion like Chick Corea/Fourplay/Bob James, jazz like Charlie Haden/Pat Metheny/Keith Jarrett, and even classical with some of my favorite string quartets/violins (Hahn/Midori)/flute (Galway/Rampal)... the instruments sounded great to me.



Traillii on the other hand gives you a smoother presentation from afar. Maybe you are now back to the mezzanine front row. Instrument timbre and details are great but you may have to actively listen to pick up on the details. It's as if you are listening to the soundscape, not the individual instruments. Although there's plenty of clarity to go dig in. Probably the lack of DD/BCD for not having the punch.


Different flavors I guess...

Brilliant analogy. That realism and tactility of sound, which I've never heard before, is a big feature of my upcoming review. I often get the feeling, with EVO, that I'm feeling the instruments or walking in and around the vocals, rather than listening to them. It's a subtle and important difference that won't appeal to everyone , but if it appeals to you, there's nothing else like it.

 

[Rin1990]

Despite being 5 years old, they haven't quite lost their shine.

I'm kinda happy that they still look pristine as ever.

I have a feeling that even if I do have better IEMs I may never part with this one, like, ever.

 

[MatW]

My impression on this since I had both to A/B ... perhaps from a different angle than already talked about ...

I really enjoyed acoustic music and some of my 90's "band" music with EVO. EVO presents the music as if you are listening in the front row. There is a unique sense of instruments popping out from the darkness. Take Joni Mitchell's "Blue" album. Her voice, acoustic guitar, dulcimer, bass, percussion, etc, all pop out distinctly. The nuances on the instruments, timbre, and decay are right in front of you to hear. If I were to visualize this, each instrument is like a tall building rising from the ground-level background. The realism of instruments is great (I think a few reviews mentioned this also). Take band music like Mr.Big/Anthrax/Europe, fusion like Chick Corea/Fourplay/Bob James, jazz like Charlie Haden/Pat Metheny/Keith Jarrett, and even classical with some of my favorite string quartets/violins (Hahn/Midori)/flute (Galway/Rampal)... the instruments sounded great to me.



Traillii on the other hand gives you a smoother presentation from afar. Maybe you are now back to the mezzanine front row. Instrument timbre and details are great but you may have to actively listen to pick up on the details. It's as if you are listening to the soundscape, not the individual instruments. Although there's plenty of clarity to go dig in. Probably the lack of DD/BCD for not having the punch.


Different flavors I guess...

Interesting analogy. I have not yet heard the Evo, but I feel like using either of these photos to portray the Bird does not do it justice. The Traillii puts me inside the music, in amongst the band so to speak, due to its large but immersive soundstage, which fits with the first photo. At the same time you still get the whole picture, which would fit with the second photo. So in my mind, it's a combination really, but no such picture exists I guess.. Which is what makes the Traillii unique.

 

[gLer]

Interesting analogy. I have not yet heard the Evo, but I feel like using either of these photos to portray the Bird does not do it justice. The Traillii puts me inside the music, in amongst the band so to speak, due to its large but immersive soundstage, which fits with the first photo. At the same time you still get the whole picture, which would fit with the second photo. So in my mind, it's a combination really, but no such picture exists I guess.. Which is what makes the Traillii unique.

I would describe EVO in a similar way actually, because despite the emphasis on certain sounds, the foundation of the bass stretches far and wide and lets me take in the whole soundscape while other sounds rush towards me. That's said it's a very different experience to the more sedate (yet also enveloping) Traillii, even though I'm never quite as inside the music with the Bird as I am with EVO. That's why I think for some people EVO is too much, whereas I can't imagine Traillii being too much for anyone, sound-wise anyway.

 

[Rin1990]

I would describe EVO in a similar way actually, because despite the emphasis on certain sounds, the foundation of the bass stretches far and wide and lets me take in the whole soundscape while other sounds rush towards me. That's said it's a very different experience to the more sedate (yet also enveloping) Traillii, even though I'm never quite as inside the music with the Bird as I am with EVO. That's why I think for some people EVO is too much, whereas I can't imagine Traillii being too much for anyone, sound-wise anyway.

Have you listened to the Valkyrie? What would you describe the sound as?

 

[gLer]

Have you listened to the Valkyrie? What would you describe the sound as?

I have not, but from everything I've read it's Empire's take on a true V-shaped sound. I'm sure others that have heard it can confirm.

 

[SHOOTINGTECHIE]

My impression on this since I had both to A/B ... perhaps from a different angle than already talked about ...

I really enjoyed acoustic music and some of my 90's "band" music with EVO. EVO presents the music as if you are listening in the front row. There is a unique sense of instruments popping out from the darkness. Take Joni Mitchell's "Blue" album. Her voice, acoustic guitar, dulcimer, bass, percussion, etc, all pop out distinctly. The nuances on the instruments, timbre, and decay are right in front of you to hear. If I were to visualize this, each instrument is like a tall building rising from the ground-level background. The realism of instruments is great (I think a few reviews mentioned this also). Take band music like Mr.Big/Anthrax/Europe, fusion like Chick Corea/Fourplay/Bob James, jazz like Charlie Haden/Pat Metheny/Keith Jarrett, and even classical with some of my favorite string quartets/violins (Hahn/Midori)/flute (Galway/Rampal)... the instruments sounded great to me.



Traillii on the other hand gives you a smoother presentation from afar. Maybe you are now back to the mezzanine front row. Instrument timbre and details are great but you may have to actively listen to pick up on the details. It's as if you are listening to the soundscape, not the individual instruments. Although there's plenty of clarity to go dig in. Probably the lack of DD/BCD for not having the punch.


Different flavors I guess...

loved the analogy i use similar too but I compare it like sitting in front of the singer to something like in the 4-5th row of a theatre.

And that transparency thing analogy is correct when you add them to the stage, but some iems like Thieaudio monarch and holocene eventhough different, have nearly equal transparency , so they are anomalies mostly haha

EE Hero when i tried it with IFI signature was really good since it kept the timbre more natural than the Monarch eventhough they have same stage, so it feels like everything just adds on to give a beautiful sound.

And TBH I cant decide which I like most, I just like both depending on my mood haha !!!

 

[Rin1990]

I have not, but from everything I've read it's Empire's take on a true V-shaped sound. I'm sure others that have heard it can confirm.

I see.

If that's true then it might be my guilty pleasure type of IEM. Since I do like V shape that's tuned tastefully too.

 

[gLer]

I see.

If that's true then it might be my guilty pleasure type of IEM. Since I do like V shape that's tuned tastefully too.

You should check out Bravado MkII. That I've heard and it's more balanced than V but still potent. Half the price of Valk II. @CL14715 can tell you all you need to know about B2. You can also read my review here.

 

[Jasonaudio23]

My impression on this since I had both to A/B ... perhaps from a different angle than already talked about ...

I really enjoyed acoustic music and some of my 90's "band" music with EVO. EVO presents the music as if you are listening in the front row. There is a unique sense of instruments popping out from the darkness. Take Joni Mitchell's "Blue" album. Her voice, acoustic guitar, dulcimer, bass, percussion, etc, all pop out distinctly. The nuances on the instruments, timbre, and decay are right in front of you to hear. If I were to visualize this, each instrument is like a tall building rising from the ground-level background. The realism of instruments is great (I think a few reviews mentioned this also). Take band music like Mr.Big/Anthrax/Europe, fusion like Chick Corea/Fourplay/Bob James, jazz like Charlie Haden/Pat Metheny/Keith Jarrett, and even classical with some of my favorite string quartets/violins (Hahn/Midori)/flute (Galway/Rampal)... the instruments sounded great to me.



Traillii on the other hand gives you a smoother presentation from afar. Maybe you are now back to the mezzanine front row. Instrument timbre and details are great but you may have to actively listen to pick up on the details. It's as if you are listening to the soundscape, not the individual instruments. Although there's plenty of clarity to go dig in. Probably the lack of DD/BCD for not having the punch.


Different flavors I guess...

Great explanation! Thank you !

 

[Rin1990]

You should check out Bravado MkII. That I've heard and it's more balanced than V but still potent. Half the price of Valk II. @CL14715 can tell you all you need to know about B2. You can also read my review here.

I just did.

And wow. Sounds like something I would want to take a dive into with powerful or energetic tracks.

The midrange bleed kinda worry me a bit but I guess it depends on how much degree by then.

I love bass but not so much that it drowns out everything. I learned my lessons from the experience that is Sony's MDRXB50AP.

 

[subguy812]

I think it was pretty obvious you meant that audio gear was evolving rapidly. If it was taken offensively someone should evaluate their sensitivity.

No one is sensitive here...c'mon. You kidding?

 

[subguy812]

Having owned both the Traillii and EVO, still have EVO. I logged many hours on my Traillii, it was my travel companion for quite a few months. There is a lot price bias involved in the psyche with Traillii. I can remember my first day with Traillii I was texting Chris and was like huh, where is the magic with this 6K IEM. Soon there after I started to get the magic. Still too high priced, but I understood the magic. I am not sure a novice listener would really fully appreciate Traillii for what it is, especially at first.

Traillii does nothing wrong, absolutely nothing. Is it an exciting listen? To me no. Yet it delivers music in a glorious fashion. Your playlist never sounded better, generally speaking, in an all-arounder kind of way. There are other IEMs that sound better with certain genres or tracks, but on the whole you can't go wrong with the signature of Traillii with all of your music.

The Traillii requires nothing but to sit back and enjoy it. IMO the source pairing is not a make or break either, even though I enjoyed Traillii with the SP2K more than the 3Max. I feel at this point I do have bias toward the SP2K, so YMMV.

If you can get the Traillii for 3700 or under it is a top tier purchase, IMO. It may be the only IEM I have seen that folks did not vehemently disagree on the SQ. Most dislike the price and the unboxing experience, but that is a different story.

EVO is more exciting, more dynamic to my ears. My EVO is well seasoned by now and I enjoy the entire EVO experience on the whole, more than I did Traillii. It may not be the all-arounder that Traillii is, to me it is fine with all of my musical tastes. A few folks feel EVO is too hot in the upper mids, that is a personal thing whether it bothers you or not. I don't hear it that way, I did more so with ODIN than EVO, but neither bothered me. EVO is more of an experience and I would classify Traillii as more of a refinement.

Subjective yes, but EVO wont leave my flock for a while. If you are the type of person that can breathe and settle, with both the Traillii and the EVO you should be more than content. I am content with EVO. If you have both you are golden.

One thing that has caught me about the EVO is the fact that no instrument or sound gets trapped in the mix, as mentioned in a previous post, some rather obscure sound will pop out at you and get your attention when it may have been partially muted by another IEM. The ability to have such stellar bass and yet keep the rest of the sound clear and detailed is a testament to the tuning.

I am going to start to prepare my EVO review soon...sort of a preview above I guess.