I'm glad you like the Ravens! A little surprised though at how often the wm1z is mentioned lately... I had the chance a few years ago to listen to it and compare it with the Cowon PL... maybe I missed something but in the end I chose the brand Korean because in different areas it was better and more balanced.. both organic, lately there must be some IEMs out there that have a particular synergy with the golden brick because otherwise I can't explain it...
the Raven with the Cowon sounds very good but technically the Cayin N7 for example is at the next stage..
I am a late golden brick adopter, no doubt. This is the M2, not sure it matters. I am digging the DAPs overall warmth and richness. I have only begun to try the M2 with my collection of IEMs and have a feeling it will be an excellent pairing with the HE1000 Stealth as well, when I work my way to my easily driven headphones.
I am a bit of a A&K fanboy, so this Sony is a departure for me. I have a few DAPs laying around, but this is certainly a Top Tier offering and I am so glad I picked it up. Sony is very clear about it needing to reach maturity at 200 hours, so I want to make sure I allow it time to season.
Raven is very well done, IMO. To my ears, while each of the latest Empire Ears since ODIN has been a different signature, they have also evolved to what Raven is, that includes their collaborations. It is tough to ignore the fact that EE has their bass tuning down, but the Raven is much more.
I enjoyed Odyssey and it's smoothness but wished it was a bit more open, enter Raven.
Loved ODIN and it's bass quality, but I wished for more quantity at that level of quality. I loved its detail, but wished the upper mids could have handled a higher volume without fatiguing me, enter Raven.
I could continue on with EVO and so on...but the point is, Raven appears to take a part of the best characteristics of the past offerings and here we are. The Ravens staging is really on point, excellent width and you can easily hear the depth as well, but I wouldn't mind a touch more holography, if it can be done without hindering the accuracy of the stage.
As I am writing this, I am listening to the Beatles Blue Album Remaster, even crusty subguy812 had tears in his eyes because of the listening experience.
It is a shame Raven will never get the exposure it could have had or deserves because of its rocky start.