Cross posting from the Watercooler thread:
I’ve spent this week getting to know Raven. And what a great set it is! Here are some impressions, and comparisons with two other sets with very similar profiles and use cases.
Raven is fast becoming the favorite on my roster (many thanks to
@KuroKitsu!). I find the gold plating great to look at, and not problematic to keep clean. The fit is surprisingly very good, given my struggles with EVO in particular. EE has figured this part out.
Its sound is fantastic in many ways, which I am making the most of with Raven’s perfect fit with a lot of my library that is centered on rock of all types. I find it to have superb technicals across the board. In particular it excels in staging, resolution, separation, and dynamics. It is easy to get lost in Raven with all these qualities.
I hear Raven to have a V shape. Its bass is among the best I’ve heard, with a thunderous, vast, yet detailed sound. Its mids are not too recessed and reasonably detailed. I can hear male vocals for example well but they are not the stars like bass and treble. I also don’t hear any “mids oddities” as suggested here recently, search as I might. As I have gotten to know the treble more, I don’t find it coming in hot as I did at first. Brain burn must have done the trick, along with adjusting the chain. Now I find the treble to be very detailed, a little sparkly, airy, a bit sweet, very well extended, and not sibilant for the most part. It still occasionally gets overly perky treble though. Its high end overall is a great complement to the tremendous bass.
Raven does not scale that well with music that is subtler, quieter, or more relaxed. I’m not finding it as well-suited to jazz vocal or singer songwriter for example. Despite being a very lively set, I don’t find the Raven to be fatiguing at all.
Loki shares lots in common with Raven. They are both very energetic and shine with robust, loud and fast music. If I had copy-pasted my above impressions and swapped Loki in for Raven, it would have felt true to what I hear for the most part.
Loki is a great IEM in many ways. But side-by-side, Loki has just a bit less of everything that Raven does so well. Loki’s a slight downgrade on technicals: in particular, it shows a bit less detail, a bit less separation, a smaller stage, a slightly less “big” sound. Its bass is less cavernous than Raven’s, though still brings its own strong punch and rumble, just not quite as much. Its mids are similarly good quality but overshadowed by great bass and treble. Loki’s treble is more relaxed, softer around the edges, and less extended.
Loki is a really good pairing for any more urgent music. With its more pronounced upper mids energy, I find Loki to be more fatiguing than Raven.
Fei Wan is similar in different ways to Raven. It takes high octane to another level, but they are closer than I expected. As technically superior a set that Raven often is, Fei Wan has just a bit more – detail, separation, stage, speed, dynamics: all a slight level up. Raven is by comparison slightly kinder and gentler.
Fei Wan's bass is similarly pounding, with clear sinew on its muscles. But its bass is not as vast as Raven’s and not quite as deep. With its more U shape, Fei Wan’s mids are more evident. Its treble is spicier, brighter, a bit sharper, and more extended. It is not generally sibilant with the right chain. With its more forwarded upper mids energy, even with optimized cable, tips, and DAP settings, I find I need a breather from Fei Wan after an hour or two. But what an incredible, propulsive few hours those are!
Do all three of these have room on the same roster? That depends on how deep your bench is. For me, I will only keep two, possibly only one, since I’m aiming for a diversified short-and-sweet bunch at the moment. That said, Raven, Loki and Fei Wan each put a smile on my face every time I listen to them.
