[phiemon]

@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.

Thank you very much for the answer. In fact, this answer changes for me the way to interpret your previous statement. I now understand how you meant it, and I now have the impression that Raven is not unsurpassed in the soundstage per se, but just offers another alternative that seems to be technically on top level.

Is there any possibility to compare the size of Raven and Ronin? That would help a lot with a possible purchase.

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!

... and here we have it. Although it is a demo, you give a very good impression for me, thank you!

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.

I have in no way forced anyone to answer. Rather, I have asked to elaborate the strong opinion given.

 

[stephenkostas]

Is there any possibility to compare the size of Raven and Ronin? That would help a lot with a possible purchase.

Both are large. The size isn't too far off, but the angles/ergonomics are pretty different. I'd imagine that some people who find Ronin uncomfortable would be fine with Raven, while others who find Raven uncomfortable will be fine with Ronin.

 

[575241]

Thank you very much for the answer. In fact, this answer changes for me the way to interpret your previous statement. I now understand how you meant it, and I now have the impression that Raven is not unsurpassed in the soundstage per se, but just offers another alternative that seems to be technically on top level.

Is there any possibility to compare the size of Raven and Ronin? That would help a lot with a possible purchase.


... and here we have it. Although it is a demo, you give a very good impression for me, thank you!


I have in no way forced anyone to answer. Rather, I have asked to elaborate the strong opinion given.

You have no way to force any one anyways. Lol don't act like that's an option.

 

[Joshyy73]

Empire Ears Raven IEM Launch Edition feat. Gold Gold Gold
Photo credits: @TomKorn

 

[aaf evo]

That case is lovely!

 

[javahut]

Eh... IMO, silver plated and silver embossed would have been so much better than gold. Even better, a nice shiny pewter (color) plating.

But Raven Standard black version looks great, so my order's in and I'm happy.

 

[Stu Paddasso]

Is that Real Gold???

 

[575241]

Is that Real Gold???

Unfortunately not, however its colored PVD coating. Which is pretty nuts by it self.

 

[Chill iLL]

Empire Ears Raven IEM Launch Edition feat. Gold Gold Gold
Photo credits: @TomKorn

ooohhh these look gorgeous

 

[CL14715]

ooohhh these look gorgeous

Yea it’s classy not loud and gaudy.

 

[RonaldS86]

Empire Ears Raven IEM Launch Edition feat. Gold Gold Gold
Photo credits: @TomKorn

So just as I suspected. It's the same case like the one on standard edition, but with the gold accent.

 

[phiemon]

Both are large. The size isn't too far off, but the angles/ergonomics are pretty different. I'd imagine that some people who find Ronin uncomfortable would be fine with Raven, while others who find Raven uncomfortable will be fine with Ronin.

That's great, thank you very much for the effort!

You have no way to force any one anyways. Lol don't act like that's an option.

I really don't know what you think you read on me. But please I certainly don't want you to get the impression that I have in any way claimed or given to understand that I would force to do something. I would never do that in my life. I just politely asked for an explanation. If you don't see the difference, that's your problem.

 

[Tristy]

Got to try Raven today at Canjam London and it’s the real deal. Came back to it 3 times throughout the day to make sure my comparisons were on point and it stood up to the competition. It’s more of a ‘W’ type signature rather than the Odyssey’s ‘L’. It certainly has more air and headroom than Odyssey but odyssey is thicker and more bass centric overall. The holography and staging is very good on these though, a very cool presentation and a surprisingly good fit! No ear fatigue at all and probably the most comfortable EE IEM I’ve tried.

 

[timeslip]

Eh... IMO, silver plated and silver embossed would have been so much better than gold. Even better, a nice shiny pewter (color) plating.

But Raven Standard black version looks great, so my order's in and I'm happy.

If I had a choice and was a little more patient, i'd go for the standard black too. But i'm not and I guess the gold is tolerable. At least it will match the wm1zm2

 

[Tristy]

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.

Raven sounded as, if not more holographic than the mentor to me today. Mentor was wider on the horizontal axis but Raven had more of a wrapped around the head type spherical staging going on with more verticality. Ronin didn’t impress me in staging, it was quite wide but no where near as tangible and holographic as Raven or Mentor, sounding relatively two dimensional in comparison. I’d say it’s fairer to compare Kublai Khan as that had this really ethereal quality to its staging going on but not as clear cut in its imagining which adds to that sense of things zooming over / behind you lol. XE6 is just its own thing don’t know how to categorise that IEM but I love it.