[r1n7r4h]

So, I received my Zeus-XR ADELs with MAM a week ago and I am honestly impressed. First off, the customer service that Jack and DJ provided was exceptional. After my last post, I texted Jack on two separate occasions and he responded within the hour to get me taken care of. Anyways, it's been a week and the Zeus-XRs have blown me away. It is unlike anything I have listened with and beats my current home setup of Beyerdynamic T90s with a Bottlehead Crack + speedball upgrade by many miles. So far, the Zeus XIVs are my go-to sound signature. As Kerouac stated, the forward mids provide an energetic sound signature and its hooked me in.
 
Sorry for the horrible pictures but I am honestly impressed that Empire Ears was able to fit everything into my *tiny* ears. 

 

 

 

 

[tkteo]

  What everyone has said so far is pretty accurate. I'd like to add that the R is more technically proficient. Wider, deeper soundstage, significantly better clarity, tighter bass. However a lot of people prefer the XIV as has a more intimate midrange and slightly more bass which makes it more of a romantic, emotional sound. Personally I don't find the R to be boring or unemotional at all, especially after owning the AKG K3003 at one point in my life. 

 
You really can't go wrong with either. I think they're both great. I personally prefer the R after having owned both.

 
yup, in my opinion too, can't go wrong with both XIV or R tunings. I don't find the R tuning boring even when switching from the XIV tuning.

 

[tim0chan]

spartan iv adel with b1.
sound sig is flat like an air plane runway yet musical

 

[tim0chan]

Review up soon

 

[flipper203]

  What everyone has said so far is pretty accurate. I'd like to add that the R is more technically proficient. Wider, deeper soundstage, significantly better clarity, tighter bass. However a lot of people prefer the XIV as has a more intimate midrange and slightly more bass which makes it more of a romantic, emotional sound. Personally I don't find the R to be boring or unemotional at all, especially after owning the AKG K3003 at one point in my life. 

 
You really can't go wrong with either. I think they're both great. I personally prefer the R after having owned both.

yep I know, the thing is I already own the Zeus R, so going for the XIV would be interesting if the difference in sound signature is important

 

[Jobbing]

So, I received my Zeus-XR ADELs with MAM a week ago and I am honestly impressed. First off, the customer service that Jack and DJ provided was exceptional. After my last post, I texted Jack on two separate occasions and he responded within the hour to get me taken care of. Anyways, it's been a week and the Zeus-XRs have blown me away. It is unlike anything I have listened with and beats my current home setup of Beyerdynamic T90s with a Bottlehead Crack + speedball upgrade by many miles. So far, the Zeus XIVs are my go-to sound signature. As Kerouac stated, the forward mids provide an energetic sound signature and its hooked me in.

Sorry for the horrible pictures but I am honestly impressed that Empire Ears was able to fit everything into my *tiny* ears. 

Congratulations! The internals have an engine-like appearance, I can see Jack and Steve passion for muscle cars here.

Have fun and enjoy!

 

[ludovic]

Hello everyone,

I'm an occasional offline reader of this forum.
I promised Jack I will leave a comment about the purchase of my new Zeus-R universal ADEL B1.

First the configuration I'm coming from is Ak100ii with JH Angie Universal which I used for a year, at the beginning sounded awesome, but more you spend time with your IEM and DAP (or DAC/Amp), more you spot it's weakness, and I felt like a change was necessary cause I was looking for superior.

So I purchased a Zeus-R universal with B1 ADEL and bought at same time a Chord Mojo.

Customer service from Jack was top notch, I completely agree with the general opinion from this thread concerning the service and communication part.

I've been playing with the 4 elements making combinations but I'll just talk about Zeus combinations.

Zeus + Chord Mojo :
First word that comes to my mind is AIRYNESS.
Gosh, it is so amazingly airy, soundstage impressive, fast IEM, great extension of the lows and highs.
Lows are well defined and highs are crisp and not harsh.
When playing a well mastered Hi-Res track, it is a pure DELIGHT.

Zeus + AK100ii :
Loosing some of the airyness compare to Mojo, sounds a little more muffled, lows and highs don't extends as much, mids are more forward
but sounds more artificial.
Lows not as defined, and highs not as crisp and a little harsh at times.
The AK100ii really keep the Zeus from shinning, even though it's still sounds really good.

Zeus + Mojo is really an impressive combo (portable) and I recommend highly.

Thanks Jack and your company for making such a gem.

 

[AndrewCanDo]

Welcome to Head-Fi @ludovic! and congrats on your Zeus 

 

 

[Canyon Runner]

Hey guys, apologies for not throwing up day 3 and 4 pictures. Empire was taking pictures, so I kinda stopped taking photos as my voice started going. I didn't even do demos on Sunday, my voice was that gone. Currently have a cold, which is pretty typical after NAMM (NAMM Plague). But I wanted to throw up a picture of the new Effect Audio Ares II+ cable that I'm running now. I've been pretty skeptical of cables, but this little guy gives me the bottom end that I've been wanting, without killing the top end. Perfecto. 

Trying to get over this cold before flying back out for CanJam NYC! Our posts should be back to more frequency once Jack and I both start feeling better.

 

[NaiveSound]

Had a chance to listen to the T1 by Beyer dynamic 2nd edition.

Zeus XR blew it out of the way in resolution and just abiut everything else.

 

[Lobbster]

@Canyon Runner, noob question; sorry if this has been asked before, I recently purchased Spartan IV with MAMs - I've done some basic searches and read most of the instructions I can get my hands on - I can't find anything on how the MAM's should function other than all the way out for fully closed and tensioned membrane and all the way in for fully open but tensioned membrane. It sounds like the extreme positions are effectively the same.

However, I'm not sure how far "out" out is. I can certainly feel some resistance from about the middle out as I screw the MAM's out but I'm not sure how far it can screw out or when to stop - it seems to tighten but not stop. Conversely, the middle to open end there isn't any resistance until it hard stops. To me the feel of the stops at each end isn't similar. Any links or advice ?

I've seen Ike1985's instructions but they don't tell me what all the way "out" feels like. I hope that makes sense.

Can the MAM effectively replicate the other modules ?
I'm wondering if the G1 has a different/more bottom end than the MAM.

Thanks!

 

[Matte82]

@Canyon Runner, noob question; sorry if this has been asked before, I recently purchased Spartan IV with MAMs - I've done some basic searches and read most of the instructions I can get my hands on - I can't find anything on how the MAM's should function other than all the way out for fully closed and tensioned membrane and all the way in for fully open but tensioned membrane. It sounds like the extreme positions are effectively the same.


However, I'm not sure how far "out" out is. I can certainly feel some resistance from about the middle out as I screw the MAM's out but I'm not sure how far it can screw out or when to stop - it seems to tighten but not stop. Conversely, the middle to open end there isn't any resistance until it hard stops. To me the feel of the stops at each end isn't similar. Any links or advice ?


I've seen Ike1985's instructions but they don't tell me what all the way "out" feels like. I hope that makes sense.


Can the MAM effectively replicate the other modules ?

I'm wondering if the G1 has a different/more bottom end than the MAM.


Thanks!

I'm not canyon runner but might can help a little. My mam's stop both ways. Full stop. Like you know that's as far as it will go.

As far as all the way in vs all the way out. I've still not spent a ton of time with mine. But it does affect how affective the module is at preventing pressure build up. All the way out closes the port and negates any of the pressure relief. It does however offer maximum isolation. So in cases where that is necessary, you do have that option.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1348/5519/files/MAM_Instructions.pdf?14125951039904836164

And for the in between settings, I believe the suggestion is to hum a note and adjust until the occlusion effect lessens. This will tune it to your anatomy. I've yet o take the time to do this.

I also think the mam can get close to the S1 and B1, but can't quite do the G1. I have the S1 and B1 modules also, but have yet to compare and experiment. Been a busy week. Haha

 

[Lobbster]

I've read those resources. I haven't gone far enough out to feel a hard stop I guess. I feel it tightening/resisting, but not hard stop. I read somewhere in a review someone over torqued and damaged it. Call me paranoid I guess. At the other end there is no resistance of any kind when winding the screw from middle to fully opened and it stops hard.
 
Appreciate that info on the other modules. As much as I'm enjoying these Spartan IV's I'm longing for that 70's warm analogue sound to tame the high end a bit - this IEM keeps everything very well controlled, but just a touch too bright for my tastes. The G1 sounds intriguing.
 
The rest of the experience is very, very special indeed ! As an IEM noob I am very satisfied thus far - just need to tame my volume finger a bit, at 58 I need to save what I got left of my hearing.
 
Thanks!

 

[Matte82]

I've not heard the G1, but think it actually adds some top end sparkle compared to the others, and is why it can't be duplicated with the MAM.
 
Well as you screw them inwards, they stop when they run out of threads. This is the setting with the most tension on the membrane. All the way out, where you can see the most threads, closes the port. And causes the membrane tensioner to "bottom out" against the inside of the module. So it should be a fairly firm stop both ways. But I can understand the caution.

 

[EagleWings]

  I've read those resources. I haven't gone far enough out to feel a hard stop I guess. I feel it tightening/resisting, but not hard stop. I read somewhere in a review someone over torqued and damaged it. Call me paranoid I guess. At the other end there is no resistance of any kind when winding the screw from middle to fully opened and it stops hard.
 

 
That is correct my friend. The point at which you feel the hard-stop, is the Fully-Closed position and, the other end is the Fully-Open position. And as you have mentioned, the turns get very tight rather than a hard-stop and, that is normal. As a best practice, I try not turning it beyond, what I feel might be not safe for the module. And I am pretty confident based on my experience, that both L and R reach that tightness at the same spots, so we can be assured, that both L and R MAM modules are closed to the same level. 
 
As for G1, it has 2 ADEL membranes, unlike the B1 and MAM which have only 1 ADEL membrane. Even the S1 module has 2 ADEL membranes, but the the difference between the G1 and S1 was that the G1 had a larger vent opening on the outside, which allowed for the membranes to be more compliant than on the S1. I am guessing, it is due to this difference in construction, MAM is not able to recreate the exact effects of the G1. But MAM is capable of recreating the effects of S1 and B1. If you are looking to tame the highs, G1 may not do that for you. Fully-Closed MAM has the smoothest highs, due to the the warmth added by the slightly enhanced low frequencies, in the Fully-Closed position. 
 
Edit: I had mentioned originally that S1, B1 and MAM have only 1 ADEL membrane. My bad. S1 also has 2 membranes. But S1 has a smaller outer vent when compared to the G1 module. I have edited my post accordingly.