[Tristy]

Thank you for your impressions

That's good to hear because I recently bought an EXT and wasn't shure about my decision because of the upcoming VE X. The Treble on the EXT is top notch for me - it never gets exhausting for my ears. That ESTs are superb. My hearing goes also up to 15,5khz so I'm sure treble would be to much for me on the VE X.

You aren’t missing out… heard VEX at Canjam London and I feel that EXT is a superior “experience”. VEX is much more in the vein of the VE8 - not a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination but doesn’t grab you like EXT (IMO)

 

[Tristy]

Anybody had the chance to compare Raven to Grand Maestro?

Or how about Mentor Soundstage vs. Ravens?

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.

 

[tjzurlaaa]

Agreed! especially about the xe6

 

[phiemon]

+2 I'm starting to get a fetish for soundstage.

I have the same fetish and I tell you: you should try the Xe6!

@Tristy I would like to read other opinions too. Please don't get me wrong. But Raven has been out for some time and so far I haven't found a test or comparison that is that serious (for me). That doesn't really speak for Raven. In the past I've seen it differently with other new TOTL-releases. The only thing that has really been talked about is the quality issues, that's pretty disturbing.

Ah still very important. I read somewhere that Raven should have a "slightly" better soundstage and holography compared to Odyssey. But again, Odyssey is supposed to be (significantly) behind in this area compared to Mentor. According to logic, Mentor should still be (quite) ahead compared to Raven.

 

[Tristy]

I have the same fetish and I tell you: you should try the Xe6!

@Tristy I would like to read other opinions too. Please don't get me wrong. But Raven has been out for some time and so far I haven't found a test or comparison that is that serious (for me). That doesn't really speak for Raven. In the past I've seen it differently with other new TOTL-releases. The only thing that has really been talked about is the quality issues, that's pretty disturbing.

That’s fine, I’ve yet to see a comparison between the two soundstage wise so thought I’d point you to mine others are welcome to share. I’m sure there will be more as Raven become more widely available.

 

[phiemon]

Anybody had the chance to compare Raven to Grand Maestro?

Or how about Mentor Soundstage vs. Ravens?

+2 I'm starting to get a fetish for soundstage.

That’s tough umm I only tried the mentor handful of times but ravens soundstage definitely was more noticeable to me

I forgot that I already spoke privately with an headfier which has among other things Raven, MM and Anni. About the soundstage: "Mentor > Anni > Raven". Yep, he shared a family pic in which all were on it.

Maybe I may share his impressions?

Raven vs MM
"Raven is better in terms of bass which is no surprise. Highs are on par I would say. Mids are more recessed in the raven and more straightforward in the mentor. Both are totl but in a different way."

Raven vs Anni
"I cannot say which one I prefer to another. Both are great, however so far I enjoy Ani more in terms of fit and sound signature. I mean Ani is more resolving, highs are definitely better yet not piercing like Ragnar’s. Ani has less bass impact which is on the plus side for me. Detail retrieval is better with Ani. However when it comes to Raven it has more engaging, more fun and musical sound. I would say more like a speaker experience. Also Raven is tip dependent and I was only able to get the best sounds for me with the tips having the widest bore so the bass impact becomes less. Nad talking about the bass it is not like XE6 bass. It is not overwhelming or boomy. It is proper dynamic bass but just not something I truly enjoy. Hope it was helpful!"

if I am not allowed to share all this, i will delete it immediately ...

 

[Tristy]

Spoiler: I forgot that I already spoke privately with an headfier which has among other things Raven, MM and Anni. About the soundstage: "Mentor > Anni > Raven". Yep, he shared a family pic in which all were on it.

Oh you weren’t the person that asked for the comparison in the first place? in that case, don’t talk for others. I’ll share my impressions where I see fit and if I feel it adds to the conversation.

 

[phiemon]

Oh you weren’t the person that asked for the comparison in the first place? in that case, don’t talk for others. I’ll share my impressions where I see fit and if I feel it adds to the conversation.

Yeah, I forgot I already asked him

 

[Progisus]

+2 I'm starting to get a fetish for soundstage.

For me, 64Audio Fourte and Blanc are summit soundstage.

 

[tjzurlaaa]

For me, 64Audio Fourte and Blanc are summit soundstage.

I have a fourte heading my way. Curious to test this out now

 

[haci]

The definition of sound stage is also important here. With music played with physical instruments, we can talk about a stage where instruments are placed and how big it is and where things are placed and seperated and so on.

Then there is electronic music with electronic instruments and effects. Here sounds get created in different places as well, but they have the liberty to travel through a volume and within that volume they divide up, join up, echo and do all kinds of vonderous things. That volume is the stage.

So in the second sense of stage I did an a/b/c between raven/mentor/ronin. All three were comparable, but I’m expecting Raven to grow to have the largest over time as it burns in, an expectation developed from experience with EVO.

 

[RickInHouston]

Holly Shizzle.

I've always felt 'balance' was skewed to my left ear. I'd have to play with the right custom Valkyrie to help. I took my in ears to my office (dentist) and rounded the very ends of them and openned the three openings a bit more. DAMN! Right square in my head no matter HOW I put them in my ears, now.

New found love. No wonder I didn't think they were all that.

And with the iFi bluetooth adaptor - brilliant.

 

[Tristy]

Holly Shizzle.

I've always felt 'balance' was skewed to my left ear. I'd have to play with the right custom Valkyrie to help. I took my in ears to my office (dentist) and rounded the very ends of them and openned the three openings a bit more. DAMN! Right square in my head no matter HOW I put them in my ears, now.

New found love. No wonder I didn't think they were all that.

And with the iFi bluetooth adaptor - brilliant.

I have something similar with my custom LX in my right ear… not sure how I feel about doing some DIY though.

 

[RickInHouston]

I have something similar with my custom LX in my right ear… not sure how I feel about doing some DIY though.

Look really good at them side by side. We're pretty symmetrical, usually. The ports on my L bud angled out and the R were straight up. Also. there was a lip around the area where the ports are. Simply rounding that off might do it.

Yes, you must be careful not to get shavings inside the ports. I was very careful and was able to take root canal files into the ports and not go deep enough to risk busting the driver.

I had to always push the monitor around. I thought, at first, it was a short in the connection.

If you get to your wit's end, you can contact me. I'm in Houston, TX Or mail them back to Empire. They probably can fix it easily. Don't let it go. Well worth fixing and it's easy with the right tools.

 

[spwood]

Glad to see I am not the only one who experienced this. This cable might as well be fixed and not removable at this point.

People freak out when their smart phones don't work properly. This really is not acceptable for a $4k IEM, but I do have confidence that EE will address it. As mentioned in other posts, i've had 4 EE TOTL IEM's now and none of them have had any problems. I do keep my IEM and DAP in a tumi pouch, but it's not like I baby them.

Ugh. I wish I had seen this thread before just now.I received my brand new Ravens last night and promptly destroyed them before I ever listened to them.

I tried to remove the OEM cables to replace them with Moon Audio Silver Dragons. When I tugged a bit at the connector - and not very hard - the shell cracked in my hand, severing the wire connections between the cable and the internals of the IEM!

I have 3 other pairs of EE IEMs, and I have switched out cables on them (and other IEMs) many times with no problems. I don’t know what went wrong here but just in case this was a problem caused by the design of the Raven (as opposed to my own mistake) if you switch out the cable BE VERY CAREFUL.