[Frankie D]

I’ve heard them all, side by side. I have an affinity for EE products (besides phantom) so I’m just waiting and hoping someone else can answer these comparison questions.

I am smiling at your response. The wise fellow!

 

[Yefry]

Edit

 

[Yefry]

That's a really challenging statement for me as a soundstage feticist. Please excuse my skepticism: have you ever heard or even compared UM Mason FS, UM Mentor, The Bird and Xe6 for example? And how does the soundstage compare between Raven and Ronin (which also has a fantastic soundstage) or Raven and Viking Ragnar (which has an even better soundstage)?

Another question: can you please post pictures of Raven compared to Ronin? That would be very important to know.

In the watercooler thread he specifically mentions that he has many models to compare including Radon 6, Ronin, Viking Ragnar and many others, he doesn't mention Mentor or Trailli but if any of the others have a great soundstage I think we can take his statements as valid

 

[phiemon]

Thanks to Tom (audioessence) I did an a/b/c between raven, mentor and ronin. Ended up ordering raven.

All three are pretty impressive. Stage wise they are all comparable, raven was not burned in so it can get a bit ahead as it opens up

In the watercooler thread he specifically mentions that he has many models to compare including Radon 6, Ronin, Viking Ragnar and many others, he doesn't mention Mentor or Trailli but if any of the others have a great soundstage I think we can take his statements as valid

C'mon guys, excuse my criticalism and skepticism, but please be less judgmental and try to make this a little more objective or factual. First of all, Mentor and Ronin are for me personally not at all comparable in terms of soundstage, I have both here with me. Or at least you would have to explain here where the similarity is for you. Now, I am still waiting for @stephenkostas to answer my questions. Again, such a statement should not be made just like that in my opinion - let alone by such an authority as Bloom Audio, which I respect very much by the way. So I am curious to hear an explanation.

 

[haci]

C'mon guys, excuse my criticalism and skepticism, but please be less judgmental and try to make this a little more objective or factual. First of all, Mentor and Ronin are for me personally not at all comparable in terms of soundstage, I have both here with me. Or at least you would have to explain here where the similarity is for you. Now, I am still waiting for @stephenkostas to answer my questions. Again, such a statement should not be made just like that in my opinion - let alone by such an authority as Bloom Audio, which I respect very much by the way. So I am curious to hear an explanation.

Well, I’m not affiliated with any commercial setup.. If you think the stages aren’t comparable then perhaps you need to listen to raven yourself, it seems we have different ears.

If you can give a template asking questions with objective/factual answers, happy to fill. The memory of IEMs is still fresh (a couple hours old).

Apart from that, I used a couple tracks to reach most of my conclusions, you can try and see if we are aligned through them maybe.

Why - MFG
Lysistrata - Aes Dana
Dimension of Sound - E-S-P

 

[phiemon]

Well, I’m not affiliated with any commercial setup.. If you think the stages aren’t comparable then perhaps you need to listen to raven yourself, it seems we have different ears.

If you can give a template asking questions with objective/factual answers, happy to fill. The memory of IEMs is still fresh (a couple hours old).

Apart from that, I used a couple tracks to reach most of my conclusions, you can try and see if we are aligned through them maybe.

Why - MFG
Lysistrata - Aes Dana
Dimension of Sound - E-S-P

I don't know Raven, I was referring to the fact that Mentor and Ronin - contrary to what you wrote - don't have a comparable soundstage for me personally, so I was curious to know how you see it. Both have their own strengths and weaknesses, but I really wouldn't say comparable. This perception certainly depends among other things on the source. I use the SP3000.

 

[stacey]

Shameless plug, but I am selling my odyssey here. Can possibly ship internationally depending on wire.

 

[CL14715]

I don't know Raven, I was referring to the fact that Mentor and Ronin - contrary to what you wrote - don't have a comparable soundstage for me personally, so I was curious to know how you see it. Both have their own strengths and weaknesses, but I really wouldn't say comparable. This perception certainly depends among other things on the source. I use the SP3000.

Raven has the deepest and largest stage that I have heard. That being said much of that is dependent upon fitment, cymba, cavum (concha) and antihelix contact etc.

 

[haci]

I don't know Raven, I was referring to the fact that Mentor and Ronin - contrary to what you wrote - don't have a comparable soundstage for me personally, so I was curious to know how you see it. Both have their own strengths and weaknesses, but I really wouldn't say comparable. This perception certainly depends among other things on the source. I use the SP3000.

I was refering already to mentor and ronin since you said you had them.

Here are some specific pointers you can compare:

Lysistrata - The intro part until bass starts sets the limits of the stage in which the track takes place. They both (and raven) present it similarly: vast.

Dimension of sound - The horn that blows around 2:15 and how its sound diffuses through the ongoing sounds. Both IEMs (and raven) present this in 3d; a rare feat

 

[stephenkostas]

Stephen is from Bloom Audio. He is a good guy and fun to speak with at shows and on the phone. However he does not sell UM, Fir and Oriolus so no comparisons to the Bird or Mentor.

@phiemon

That's mostly correct.

We do carry FiR Audio now I've only had the chance to directly compare Raven to Rn6, not Xe6 though...

I've only heard Mentor and Bird at a CanJam, but my listening that day was Mentor, Jewel, Trailliilii, Xe6, Rn6, and Raven Prototype all with the same 4 tracks (Beatles: "Golden Slumbers/Carry that Weight/The End," Coldplay: "Hymn for the Weekend," Daft Punk: "Get Lucky," Coltrane: "Blue Train" – I didn't listen to all of each track except for Beatles and Coldplay). Specifically in terms of bass delivery that's natural, lifelike, and powerful, I have a small preference towards the FiR Rn6 (or Xe6 for a more "basshead" experience) over bone conduction. In terms of the imaging, Traiailliillii still has the edge in the vocal imaging and dynamics, but I'd give Raven the prize for all around imaging and soundstage.

The disclaimer is that I didn't have any super incredible soundstage tests on my playlist that day – and again – CanJam is not ideal listening environment. It's possible that Mentor or Traiaiaillliiillilii could edge out Raven in some aspects with more listening time.

 

[Overkill Red]

I've been looking to get a Traillii but compared it with a Raven with an older bass-light tuning today and it convinced me to wait and give the final tuning a chance. Not sure how helpful this will be given it isn't a final tuning, but quick rambling:

- Traillii has sweeter mids, probably the most natural I've heard till date, but the Raven's mids are more than enough considering the rest of its sound signature is more upfront compared to Traillii. Just missing that sweetness that the Traillii has, especially for female vocals.

- In general I'd say the Raven has a more 'natural'/general sound signature compared to the Traillii, which I love more for vocal-heavy tracks but falls short compared to the competition in genre diversity. This was a main factor that made me decide to wait.

- Traillii treble is much smoother and extends more gracefully, whereas Raven's treble goes for the more bright and upfront signature. Quality of the Raven's treble is good, and I think people will end up picking depending on their treble sensitivity and music choices. For my music, both worked similarly well.

- Bass wise, Traillii is really good for BA, but can't deny that the Raven's bass was really nice, punchy and exciting. The demo I tried had, apparently, much less bass than the final tuning will have, and I felt that the bass was sliiightly loose which seemed to affect the clarity in the mids and treble slightly. Was told that the final tuning will have much more controlled bass (albeit much more quantity as well) so am looking forward to hearing that.

- Hesitant to comment on soundstage and imaging because of the demo's bass, but I felt like Traillii had better imaging in the mids and seemed more effortless overall. I am inclined to think the bass being a bit too uncontrolled on the Raven affected my impressions of the staging/imaging, because it seemed to be very close to the Traillii everywhere besides the mids, where I agree with some other posters in this thread the Traillii takes the edge. Would have to listen again to the final tuning to give final judgement.

I'd not owned an EE IEM since the Zeus because the tunings sort of deviated from my preferences, but the Raven has brought me back into the fold.. Hope these short impressions help anyone in a similar spot to me. Kudos to Jack, Dean and the team, the Raven is lovely!

 

[575241]

C'mon guys, excuse my criticalism and skepticism, but please be less judgmental and try to make this a little more objective or factual. First of all, Mentor and Ronin are for me personally not at all comparable in terms of soundstage, I have both here with me. Or at least you would have to explain here where the similarity is for you. Now, I am still waiting for @stephenkostas to answer my questions. Again, such a statement should not be made just like that in my opinion - let alone by such an authority as Bloom Audio, which I respect very much by the way. So I am curious to hear an explanation.

no ones obligated to give you a response you know that right? you are coming off as really demanding. There's quite a few of us here that can answer your questions about weights and size but it seems like no one is coming forward. Maybe consider asking nicer and being just like 5 percent less demanding.

 

[fejnomit]

In the watercooler thread he specifically mentions that he has many models to compare including Radon 6, Ronin, Viking Ragnar and many others, he doesn't mention Mentor or Trailli but if any of the others have a great soundstage I think we can take his statements IMPRESSIONS as valid WORTHY OF CONSIDERATION

 

[ahossam]

Comparison between Raven and Rn6 would be great.

 

[Yefry]

@fejnomit

I use the translator and English is not my native language, if there is a word that does not fit correctly I am sure that you will be able to perfectly deduce what I mean, write in Spanish and I will be happy to correct you too Regards!