XE6 is here
These are great looking IEMs in person. I really like the build quality and photos don't do them any justice at all. Unfortunately the faceplates and gold metal shells are fingerprint magnets, so if you're slightly OCD like me, you may want to get your cleaning cloth ready. The cable feels pretty high quality and I'm glad to see it terminated in 4.4mm. I'll do some cable rolling in the coming weeks and report back if there's any worthwhile changes.
I had a quick listen out of the box and immediately I thought wow, these are quite warm sounding IEMs. Lots of bass, rather thick midrange notes and some congestion in the upper regions. I realised pretty quickly that I needed to change the atom module to something less isolating, so I switched out the stock silver to the black modules. I also changed my DAP from the Shanling M9 to my iBasso DX300 Max Ti, which is a lot more analytical and brighter than M9. I then tip rolled and settled on the Azla Sedna Light Shorts. These three changes drastically improved the tonality to my ears. It still sounds warm, bassy and slightly L-shaped, but now the treble sounds more open and the whole FR has enough balance and space to breathe.
I can already tell the kinetic bass is XE6's special sauce. This IEM has some
very high quality and unique sounding bass. Bass hits slam hard and fast, with very thick note density, texture and realistic decay. The midrange sounds skewed to the lower midrange to my ears, so the timbre is warm and bold. Vocals sound clear and sufficiently forward but I think the upper harmonics are a little bit recessed, so vocals don’t generally sound as airy compared to more clarity focused monitors like EE Odin or Elysian X, but I don't feel they are dipped to the point of sounding muddy either. Treble is smooth and well extended. It sounds somewhat reminiscent of Tia treble to my ears. I'm guessing there's also a slight mid-treble dip and a rise again in the upper treble frequency like some of the 64 Audio IEMs.
Technicalities are very good. Not the absolute best I’ve heard, but certainly more than acceptable performance for the XE6's price bracket. Imaging is a little hazy compared to UM MEST Indigo and Elysian X, but still very much within the realm of TOTL performance. The stage is quite large in width and has great depth. Height is about average I'd say. Detail retrieval again I'd say is on par with other sets around its price range. I think XE6's standout technical feature is its macro-dynamics. The way it rises and falls through contrasts is very lively and engaging.
I'll keep going with my source, tip and cable rolling and provide an update in the coming days and weeks
