[Hanesu]

anyone who bought AP to get a TOTL UN IEM is stupid.

UM didn’t release AP. It’s not a UM IEM. It’s Cayin’s first IEM, co-designed with and produced by UM.

Anyone who didn’t get this, didn’t bother to read.

Cayin has released IEMs before, the YB04 and the Fantasy!

 

[zoidbb]

Cayin has released IEMs before, the YB04 and the Fantasy!

Ah ya, I forgot about those. Well, the remainder of my statement remains true lol

 

[Smirk 24]

Had the pleasure of visiting Andrew and Leo at MusicTeck a few days ago to demo some of their wares including the new $8.5k USD UM Mason FS Soleil Tombé

All demoes were done on a 320MAX Ti and a Shanling M9+.

UM Mason FS Soleil Tombé:
The Soleil Tombé has a neutral to slightly neutral-warm tone. It's more neutral-toned than both Mentor and AP. Soleil Tombé is very clean sounding without sounding dry. It's more detailed than both AP and Mentor by a good margin, and is the second most resolving IEM I've ever heard, second only to STORM. I'm able to pick up trailing tones very clearly, and the transients are very detailed, bordering on sharp.

Soleil Tombé is fairly balanced across the frequency spectrum. The bass is decent, the mids and treble are well-done. Imaging and dynamics are around AP level.
Amber Pearl to me has the superior bass, while the Soleil Tombé outclasses AP in sheer resolution.

Soleil Tombé has a perceived peak in the upper-mids/lower-treble where it can come across shouty or edgy in this region. Mentor had a similar issue to me but the peak on Soleil Tombé sounds sharper. I was able to control the Mentor's peak with tip-rolling but I was unable to on the Soleil Tombé.

For my personal preferences, AP > Soleil Tombé >= Mentor.

MusicTeck is now offering the Soleil Tombé without the stock cable at $6.2K USD: https://shop.musicteck.com/collections/um-unique-melody/products/um-mason-fs-soleil-tombe

 

[berger]

cheap-looking right there.
$8500 iems shouldn't look like this.
@UniqueMelody

 

[zoidbb]

cheap-looking right there.
$8500 iems shouldn't look like this.
@UniqueMelody

I mean… you could just… push the connector in further…

 

[Smirk 24]

I mean… you could just… push the connector in further…

To be fair, the sockets were extremely tight. I didn’t want to damage a $8500 IEM that’s not mine.

 

[zoidbb]

To be fair, the sockets were extremely tight. I didn’t want to damage a $8500 that’s not mine.

sure, my point is that @berger is on crack for saying that a picture of an IEM with the connector not fully pushed in somehow makes the IEMs "cheap."

CHEAP IEMs are the ones that crack when the connectors are tight *coughRavencough* -- UM uses a titanium inner shell on their top-tier models if I'm not mistaken (I know my MMs have a titanium inner shell), which are not going to give a /crap/.

 

[zoidbb]

Had the pleasure of visiting Andrew and Leo at MusicTeck a few days ago to demo some of their wares including the new $8.5k USD UM Mason FS Soleil Tombé

All demoes were done on a 320MAX Ti and a Shanling M9+.

UM Mason FS Soleil Tombé:
The Soleil Tombé has a neutral to slightly neutral-warm tone. It's more neutral-toned than both Mentor and AP. Soleil Tombé is very clean sounding without sounding dry. It's more detailed than both AP and Mentor by a good margin, and is the second most resolving IEM I've ever heard, second only to STORM. I'm able to pick up trailing tones very clearly, and the transients are very detailed, bordering on sharp.

Soleil Tombé is fairly balanced across the frequency spectrum. The bass is decent, the mids and treble are well-done. Imaging and dynamics are around AP level.
Amber Pearl to me has the superior bass, while the Soleil Tombé outclasses AP in sheer resolution.

Soleil Tombé has a perceived peak in the upper-mids/lower-treble where it can come across shouty or edgy in this region. Mentor had a similar issue to me but the peak on Soleil Tombé sounds sharper. I was able to control the Mentor's peak with tip-rolling but I was unable to on the Soleil Tombé.

For my personal preferences, AP > Soleil Tombé >= Mentor.

MusicTeck is now offering the Soleil Tombé without the stock cable at $6.2K USD: https://shop.musicteck.com/collections/um-unique-melody/products/um-mason-fs-soleil-tombe

Souns like AP is really what I should've been trying to get. I decided to wait and see what UM released on their own, hoping to save some $ or get a better overall IEM -- but it sounds like they decided to go with a completely different tuning even from MM.

Well, if any AP owners decide to "upgrade" drop me a note -- I'd like to buy your APs when my bonus comes in next month

 

[berger]

cheap-looking right there.
$8500 iems shouldn't look like this.
@UniqueMelody

I mean… you could just… push the connector in further…

What you see in that photo is not exclusive to that particular Soleil Tombé. I’m sure that it looks like that not because someone chose not to push the connector all the way in, but because the design of the IEMs itself wouldn't allow it, at least not comfortably.

Jewel and Rn6, to name a few, have similar thing, but they’re not $8500.

In my opinion, Soleil Tombé should have better integration of the 2-pin connector to the shell like what we can find in Traillii which is more ideal for me, or at least like the one Mentor has.

 

[zoidbb]

What you see in that photo is not exclusive to that particular Soleil Tombé. I’m sure that it looks like that not because someone chose not to push the connector all the way in, but because the design of the IEMs itself wouldn't allow it, at least not comfortably.

Jewel and Rn6, to name a few, have similar thing, but they’re not $8500.

In my opinion, Soleil Tombé should have better integration of the 2-pin connector to the shell like what we can find in Traillii which is more ideal for me, or at least like the one Mentor has.

I own the RN6. They don’t do this, unless you don’t bother pushing the cable in

 

[berger]

I own the RN6. They don’t do this, unless you don’t bother pushing the cable in

If that's true, then good for you. I dont mind to be proven wrong in this case

 

[deep2285]

There are only 99 Amber Pearls in existence. It’s highly unlikely that they will impact the used market price of MM. In fact we’d have already seen that if it were to happen.

Mentor was on sale at $2,200 in the aftermarket....the unlikely became close to likely.

 

[zoidbb]

Mentor was on sale at $2,200 in the aftermarket....the unlikely became close to likely.

That’s been the low end of the going rate for 6+ months if the cable isn’t included. And if you check the listing, that $2200 MM doesn’t have the cable.

 

[phiemon]

That’s been the low end of the going rate for 6+ months if the cable isn’t included. And if you check the listing, that $2200 MM doesn’t have the cable.

This!

 

[UniqueMelody]

sure, my point is that @berger is on crack for saying that a picture of an IEM with the connector not fully pushed in somehow makes the IEMs "cheap."

CHEAP IEMs are the ones that crack when the connectors are tight *coughRavencough* -- UM uses a titanium inner shell on their top-tier models if I'm not mistaken (I know my MMs have a titanium inner shell), which are not going to give a /crap/.

MM is carbon fiber, the metal inner shell won't work well with BCDs. We have a workshop manufacturing titanium components. Let the titanium work well with BCDs is a task we were and will constantly work on.
The shell of all Mason FS and AP were stabilized cactus roots. We tried to source the material within Asia back in 2019 but no luck. So we explored an American supplier that has the craftsmanship to make the perfect coloration and details we want. Trust me, the direct material of a pair of shells( w/o labor, import taxes, yields, overhead all that) can buy a pair of Mext. I ensure the quality is top notch.
The new 2-pin sockets are tight, very tight. It will be hard to change cables initially. But the shells can hold the force. I have changed the cable several times, they are still shining.