Feliks Audio ENVY

[tunes]

Man, rolling 300B's is expensive, i'm done now.
Maybe i'll get into 12AU7's with adapters at some point in time, but no 300B's or 6SN7's anymore. I got enough now.
Originally i wanted to get the Sophia Electrics because they are blue, but after having read more about them it seemed that they are a class below the WE's and just worse. So i got some different ones.

Some foreign tubes and some better foreign tubes:



Impressions were done with the Melz and my OG Susvara:



Shuguang: Good for their price. Almost like baby WE's. Not as resolving, but wet, warm, somewhat dark, with a nice bass bloom that is actually enjoyable. They are probably on the level of the Performance Edition tubes. They lack the dimensionality, layering, details and impact of those big boys though, as expected. They do sound very musical though. Smaller soundstage, more intimate mids. In the long run they sound boring and too soft. Well, you get what you pay for.
If you only have basic tubes in your Envy, the scaling which you still can achieve is immense.





Takatsuki: I got a good price for a pair so i jumped on them. I really like them. They are crystal clear, but also smooth. Everything is very clear separated but still very musical. It sounds weird, but they strike that perfect balance. They are not wet like the WE's, but the mids are still very impressive and seductive if they need to be, i would probably call them realistic, they are top tier. The bass and dynamics are good, but not exceptional. The treble and highend extension is, they have a special sparkle. They are never harsh or peaky in their boosted treble. They remind me of the MO's in that regard, but those never managed to capture me because of their lack of musicality in the mids, these achieve that. The bottom end extension was better on the MO's though, but the midrange is better on the Taka's. They are also very snappy and fast sounding, no mud to be found anywhere.
If the bass / dynamics would be (even) better, these tubes would be seriously nuts (and an Elrog TM contester), the way they are, they are "only" very good. So yeah, they're a bit too soft in the lowend to be extraordinary, but overall they're very, very enjoyable and a mesmerizing experience. To be clear: Bass & dynamics are not bad, but they're just not as outstanding as other models in that price region.

These will be my #1 tubes with the Valkyria, who is inherently on the dark side and has more than enough bass and slam by itsself.

And no, they don't dethrone the TM's, those are still on a different level. Except in the treble, where i feel the Taka's seriously shine (ha!).
The TM's are still the king overall, as it should be.





You can check out my Immanis review, that's on an Custom Envy (AE) with Elrog TM tubes, and you can also check out my Custom Envy (AE) comparison to the basic Envy in my signature link.

Has any had a chance to compare the Envy AE vs Woo Audio WA24 AE??

 

[tunes]

Man, rolling 300B's is expensive, i'm done now.
Maybe i'll get into 12AU7's with adapters at some point in time, but no 300B's or 6SN7's anymore. I got enough now.
Originally i wanted to get the Sophia Electrics because they are blue, but after having read more about them it seemed that they are a class below the WE's and just worse. So i got some different ones.

Some foreign tubes and some better foreign tubes:



Impressions were done with the Melz and my OG Susvara:



Shuguang: Good for their price. Almost like baby WE's. Not as resolving, but wet, warm, somewhat dark, with a nice bass bloom that is actually enjoyable. They are probably on the level of the Performance Edition tubes. They lack the dimensionality, layering, details and impact of those big boys though, as expected. They do sound very musical though. Smaller soundstage, more intimate mids. In the long run they sound boring and too soft. Well, you get what you pay for.
If you only have basic tubes in your Envy, the scaling which you still can achieve is immense.





Takatsuki: I got a good price for a pair so i jumped on them. I really like them. They are crystal clear, but also smooth. Everything is very clear separated but still very musical. It sounds weird, but they strike that perfect balance. They are not wet like the WE's, but the mids are still very impressive and seductive if they need to be, i would probably call them realistic, they are top tier. The bass and dynamics are good, but not exceptional. The treble and highend extension is, they have a special sparkle. They are never harsh or peaky in their boosted treble. They remind me of the MO's in that regard, but those never managed to capture me because of their lack of musicality in the mids, these achieve that. The bottom end extension was better on the MO's though, but the midrange is better on the Taka's. They are also very snappy and fast sounding, no mud to be found anywhere.
If the bass / dynamics would be (even) better, these tubes would be seriously nuts (and an Elrog TM contester), the way they are, they are "only" very good. So yeah, they're a bit too soft in the lowend to be extraordinary, but overall they're very, very enjoyable and a mesmerizing experience. To be clear: Bass & dynamics are not bad, but they're just not as outstanding as other models in that price region.

These will be my #1 tubes with the Valkyria, who is inherently on the dark side and has more than enough bass and slam by itsself.

And no, they don't dethrone the TM's, those are still on a different level. Except in the treble, where i feel the Taka's seriously shine (ha!).
The TM's are still the king overall, as it should be.





You can check out my Immanis review, that's on an Custom Envy (AE) with Elrog TM tubes, and you can also check out my Custom Envy (AE) comparison to the basic Envy in my signature link.

Link please for Immanis review with Envy??

 

[Exekuhtor]

In my signature, "My reviews", scroll down until you see the Immanis.

 

[tunes]

How does the Envy Anniversary Edition compare to the Woo Audio WA24 AE? Is the sound stage much larger on the WA24? With Susvara or Immanis??

 

[tunes]

In my signature, "My reviews", scroll down until you see the Immanis.

Great.

So if you already have an OG Susvara and wanted another compliment to your collection, with no financial considerations would you reach for Sus unveiled, Immanis, Magna or something else. My main amps at the moment are Envy AE, ENLEUM 23R, HSA-1b (sold SR1a…no bass).

Thanks

 

[Exekuhtor]

Great.

So if you already have an OG Susvara and wanted another compliment to your collection, with no financial considerations would you reach for Sus unveiled, Immanis, Magna or something else. My main amps at the moment are Envy AE, ENLEUM 23R, HSA-1b (sold SR1a…no bass).

Thanks

I don't own my OG Susvara anymore and don't miss it.
I think that the old 2 best headphone combo was 1266TC and OG Susvara. The two new Raals are better than either Susvara. I think the best two combo package is Immanis + Susvara Unveiled, if you can only have one, i would own the Magna. I wrote a lot in the Susvara Unveiled thread about it and did a review on how i feel about it. It's very good, i think it's an overall upgrade to the OG Susvara, but a small one, and it's not that much of an allrounder anymore. It really shines when you complement it with another headphone. The Raals demolish it, in everything except intimacy (tonality) factor.
The Magna is very close to the OG Susvara in tonality, but better in everything, i A/B'ed them directly for days.
The Immanis is the king, it truly is. But it lacks that one thing the Unveiled does better than any other headphone: Intimate vocals (Valkyria can also do that but it's sitting at a joke price and the new versions have... bass problems...)
If you really want to keep your OG Susvara, i don't know, i would probably still get the Immanis, but there will be overlap, so in the end you might not find a reason to grab the OG Sus anymore that often.

 

[Hiker816]

Has any had a chance to compare the Envy AE vs Woo Audio WA24 AE??

How does the Envy Anniversary Edition compare to the Woo Audio WA24 AE? Is the sound stage much larger on the WA24? With Susvara or Immanis??

I did briefly in my SoCal and Dallas CanJam impressions. I will try to find and edit to add the links later today when I get to a computer.

Update: SoCal Impressions; Dallas Impressions

 

[TheMiddleSky]

For more about Immanis and Envy Perfromance, I copy paste my finding from Immanis thread.

3-Way Amplifier Comparison. Gear use: Raal 1995 Immanis (32 Ohm Interface), Rockna Wavedream Signature, connection through RCA Cable.

- Cayin 170HA use Triode and Dynamic Mode, with Mid Impedance Out, standard tube.

- Feliks Envy Performance use the highest gain setting, standard tube (Full Music + PSVane)

- Riviera use Low Impedance Out (Mullard NOS)

"TLDR" Not in particular order:

Riviera AIC-10: Master of Technicalities

Feliks Envy Performance: Master of Midrange

Cayin Soul 170HA: Master of Soundstage

To give more detail about my impression:

Riviera clearly excel in term of resolution, effortlessly provide the smallest micro detail and transparency feeling, with better layering/separation than the other 2 tube amps. At the same time, Riviera also become the punchiest amp as well. Percussion notes hit really hard, it creates rock solid feeling. Sparkle treble is in between Cayin and Feliks with bite Upper Mid and Midrange become the most energetic among all of amps here.

Feliks Envy Performance has more midrange presence than the other 2 amps, with more gentle and rounded high notes, make overall presentation become "classic" tube notes with warmth and "wet" feeling, but uniquely still provide solid attack notes for percussion and bass. While Riviera does wider soundstage, but Envy feel slight more "surround" to project depth soundstage, with a little bit better height. Last minute detail seems a bit blurry compared to Riviera, but character wise, Envy also produce more rounded notes.

Cayin Soul 170HA definitely perform the most spacious soundstage in all direction. Just a little bit wider than Riviera, but has more apparent advantage at depth and height. Attack notes from treble/midrange/bass are the softest here, and midrange area somehow also feel the least "meat on the bones". Lots of airy feeling on top, but bass bass still feel heft, full body and tight. There's a constant of sweet tube character through all spectrum, like instrument decay lingering around in really natural way before disappear.

All in all, I can vouch these 3 amps perform excellent for Immanis. It's back to the subjective listener taste and set up to decide which amp is the best. As these 3 amps rather transparent with set up, synergy of the whole chain really play big roles here.

P.s: My personal preference is Feliks Envy Performance. While all spectrum of frequencies are important, but Midrange area is one aspect that I truly enjoy the most to convey emotion feeling from singer. I can easily understand if others may pick different amps here, especially as they are truly excellent as well!

I just done another extensive comparison again between Envy Performance and Riviera today. This time Envy use RCA 5692 and Elrog Mo, not really my type of tonality, however it's still edge the Riviera in overall satisfaction. Each notes on Envy felt more "pop out", more holographic in depth, with more organic feeling. Riviera felt a bit "hard" on each notes, but it's definitely provide more complete micro details and textures though. Personally Envy project more "live" feeling.

The reason I write impression here because I tested them specifically with Immanis. If I changed to other headphone (Caldera for instance) my impression could be so different.

After another back to back comparison between Envy Performance and Riviera, I feel there is something "special sauce" on Envy that really click on me.

The reason finally I choose Envy Performance:
1. Envy provide more "pop out" instrument. Feel like there is more depth/holographic feeling at instruments. Riviera has wider soundstage, but a bit at flatter plane
2. There is an extra of sweetness of vocality. Riviera does amazing clean and smooth midrange, but there is just extra touch of emotion from Envy's vocality, especially at lower midrange area. I can sense the "hardness" note from Riviera, even though I have to admit it's not a bad thing at all, just depend on the preference. Riviera that I tested already use Mullard NOS tube that "supposed" to be one of the most melodious tube.
3. More affordable price. Based on satisfaction level, I would put both amps at the same level. Yes Riviera is more detail and separate better at orchestra songs, but Envy also excel at some other points (especially vocal) with less than half the price of Riviera.
4. I can tweak the sound with more tubes selection

 

[Somatic]

Quick question, seeing if guys can help me.

Is it better to use RCA or XLR to connect from DAC?

• Input impedance:
  – For IN1 i IN2 (RCA) 100kΩ
  – For IN3 (XLR) 10kΩ

Is the output power the same for the XLR and 1/4"?

*Ordered an Aeris Silver cable. But wanting to use it for portable use and on the Envy. Trying to figure out which termination to use. Also, probably get an adapter to go with it. For portable, I was thinking a Mojo2 + (Cayan c9 or HPA-23RM) ... thoughts?

 

[kajetanjazz]

Is it better to use RCA or XLR to connect from DAC?

That mostly depends on the dac you have, from balanced ones it should be the better option most of the time. Given the voltage is not too high

Is the output power the same for the XLR and 1/4"?

Yes identical

 

[TheMiddleSky]

Quick question, seeing if guys can help me.

Is it better to use RCA or XLR to connect from DAC?

• Input impedance:
  – For IN1 i IN2 (RCA) 100kΩ
  – For IN3 (XLR) 10kΩ

Is the output power the same for the XLR and 1/4"?

*Ordered an Aeris Silver cable. But wanting to use it for portable use and on the Envy. Trying to figure out which termination to use. Also, probably get an adapter to go with it. For portable, I was thinking a Mojo2 + (Cayan c9 or HPA-23RM) ... thoughts?

By default Envy is Single Ended Triode amp, and by use RCA will connect through shorter path. In my case I always prefer RCA for Envy, but depend on your DAC's topology, XLR may result better.

Edit: I just read that you use Dave. RCA all the way then.

 

[duas2noites]

Where I can find Elrog 300b tubes for sale online? Like TM300B or Mo.

 

[Kirklandia]

Where I can find Elrog 300b tubes for sale online? Like TM300B or Mo.

https://www.elrog.com/products/

 

[Somatic]

So is Cradle to the Grave - Max Richter able to be reproduced at higher volume levels with any headphone? I tried the Susvara and Stealth off the Envy and it couldn't do it. Tried Stealth off Dave direct. Similar.

Around 1 min mark the bass gets intense.

 

[nwavesailor]

I think the best two combo package is Immanis + Susvara Unveiled,

NICE!
That is the only 2 hp I now have after thinning the herd.