Hope I can give it a try one day, that sounds very promising.
flinkenick's 17 Flagship IEM Shootout Thread (and general high-end portable audio discussion)
Hope I can give it a try one day, that sounds very promising.
KuroKitsu
Headphoneus Supremus
The retail cost of all makes my eyes water (and my wallet combust).
But being stuck with them in a 14 day quarantine is almost a dream come true for some of us.
But being stuck with them in a 14 day quarantine is almost a dream come true for some of us.
What's a good upgrade cable for Andromeda that won't break the bank? Should a pure silver cable be a good match?
Edit: Owning/having an IEM is in some ways like being in a relationship. The funny part about having multiple (good) IEMs on hand at once is that if I devote myself to any one of them for any length of time I can fall in love with it on its own terms and for its own great qualities. On the other hand if I switch between them too quickly I find myself not liking any of them.
Edit: Owning/having an IEM is in some ways like being in a relationship. The funny part about having multiple (good) IEMs on hand at once is that if I devote myself to any one of them for any length of time I can fall in love with it on its own terms and for its own great qualities. On the other hand if I switch between them too quickly I find myself not liking any of them.
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KuroKitsu
Headphoneus Supremus
Depends on the model in question. Most of them I would argue the stock litz they come with is in face perfectly fine (coming from a recovering cable addict)
Echoing what @KuroKitsu said, I think the stock super litz is a great pair up for the MW10. Using some 2-pin to mmcx adaptors I was able to try all my aftermarket cables (including PW 1960s, Eletech Plato & EA Horus Octa before I sold them) and I still preferred the super litz over the lot of them. Second favourites were the palladium cables (Eletech Iliad & EA Code 51) as they seem to add a little bit more body and weight to the mids but sacrificed a little bit of bass.
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CFA stuff generally sound pretty good with the stock cable.
KuroKitsu
Headphoneus Supremus
Met up with @riverground in the not quite so cold yet Canadian winter. Stormbreaker is in good hands. He also lent me his OG Layla's so time to see what I think of JH.
riverground
Headphoneus Supremus
It was nice to finally meet you buddy lol
Ended up chatting for quite a bit.
I'm almost home, so I'll have a better listening session with the Stormbreaker soon.
Can't wait to hear your thoughts!
KuroKitsu
Headphoneus Supremus
Zeus > Stormbreaker > X1A on ACG mode in balanced output. Get ready for that big shiteatin grin
Just had to share. Barnie had his first shower yesterday...
Being his cute self again this morning...
Being his cute self again this morning...
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davidmolliere
Headphoneus Supremus
@Wyville Amazing pics love it!
I took the initiative to start a thread for this : https://www.head-fi.org/threads/custom-art-aaw-projet-4-2.950090/
I took the initiative to start a thread for this : https://www.head-fi.org/threads/custom-art-aaw-projet-4-2.950090/
Thanks! Was playing around with my camera in burst mode to see if I could make a gif that way. Just killing some time before the imminent launch of my classical music review series.
Great project! Very curious to see some impressions of those.
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KuroKitsu
Headphoneus Supremus
Revised Odin impressions! (Wrote this while listening to Layla)
The First OrderEmpire Strikes Back 2 Electric Boogaloo Redux
Having acquired the Odin as part of my personal collection I've decided to do a revision of my original impressions after having more time with them. Part rewrite, part new content, totally good use of a Sunday afternoon in lockdown!
Original Impressions can be found here: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/fli...ortable-audio-discussion.826876/post-15836934
Insert original preamble because Odin really was like the Starkiller Laser in SW VII to the rest of the releases this year, but the First Order doesn't really scream Empire. So Death Star laser analogies again.
On the monitors themselves: The lack of a significant lip on the nozzle really does make tip swapping difficult, but after some more tip swapping I found the Azla Sednas were a oerfect match. Whereas the Radius Deepmounts had this feeling that they would push themselves out outer time, the Sednas just sit there. No pressure spots, but due to the shape and the relatively light weight of having 11 drivers, fit was spot on. Spending time with them and seeing the Bifrost catch sunlight at different angles really brings an appreciation for the work put into those, breathtaking to put it at the least (Like analysing the practicalities of whether overthrowing the Empire would make sense compared to the Old Republic). The shorter insertion depth with a chinikier nozzle works really well with the fit, if you had issues with the older shell designs it would definitely be worth a try.
Listening is low gain at 55 on the 1A, but this time with Sednas for tips and a 4.4 terminated 1960s 2 wire in place of the Stormbreaker. While the aesthetics of the Stormbreaker go well with the Valknut theme, overall not coming in 4.4 termination and the point y-split lead to a 1960s from Musicteck on Black Friday. Functionally there's no difference in the sound (Think Death Star vs Starkiller), just that I don't need a pigtail and I just prefer the PW hardware.
Got a bit overly excited with the Star Wars references last time, so fewer of that (A New Hope per se). On to impressions!
Bass
I waxed poetic of the control of the dual W9+ like Palpatine loves galactic domination. That hasn't changed, if anything this setup has cemented itself as my favourite DD bass out there. No bleed into the mids AT ALL (Like getting a limb slice off by a lightsaber). But when it does come, it comes in spades. Subbass deeper than the Sarlaac Pit on Tatoonie, mid bass slam and impact iike a poor Imperial cog being force slammed by Vader. Where the LX was fun like Palpatine's obsession with giant super weapons, the Odin is more like a lightsaber: it's there when you need it, it excells at it, and it's never in the way. Prefectly Balanced, which you have figured the Force would be better at given the current state of Disney Canon. End of the day, Odin shows that LX DNA as oppose to Hero,
Mids
This has always been Empire's strong suit and the Odin is no exception. The mids are clear and sit slightly ahead in the mix, but at no time overtaking the other frequencies. While no wallflower, they respect the prefectly balanced adage that is the keystone of this signature. It also has ample room to breath (Like a hangar for the Millennium Falcon to land in) without being too big at times. These are very visible improvements carried over from feedback on the Zeus : overly forward and shouty at times as well as being overly spacious. It's good to see Empire taking feedback to heart when you see them tweaking with signatures like this. The Zeus's DNA here has been visible from the Phantom to the Wraith, I hope to see that progression into the future as well.
Additionally there has been feedback that the upper mids are too much and settle in after burn in. To my ears, Odin is like another iem that has the same kind of tuning in that area: the QDC DMagic, Empire does Odin's in a much more refined way and as less abruptly. Whereas the DMagic causes it to come close to sibilance territory, Odin avoids that but brings the same kind of upper mids sound. As someone who prefers a boosted upper midrange, I know how hard it is to get that area sounding right. QDC came close, Odin nailed it. This however would come down to the genre(s) of music that you listen to and personal preference. If like @mmvRAZ upper mids are an iffy area for you, do not buy before you demo!
Treble
After the astounding performance of the bass and mids, the quad estats would be what made or broke the Odin. Would it be like the Wraith? The anwser is a yes....but actually no. Similar to the Wraith, the treble is buttery smooth. and my first impression was: 'Eh there are 4 estats in here? It doesn't sound like it.....". My expectation was a wow tuning this time around given how Wraith performed in the market, but they opted to stick to their guns and improve on the weakest part of what many people heard on the Wraith. It's worth noting that I demo'd the Wraith in low gain and the advice was that I needed time for the signature to grow on me and perhaps more power for the estats (Also tuning on a Hugo 2 is an odd choice), so it could just have been some issues in the setup I used where the Wraith's treble was boring and felt non existent at times. Again Empire took this to hear, and using the more efficient second gen Sonion estats managed to pull it off. It took a bit of time, but the smoothness of the treble grew on me, power definitely was no longer an issue with driving those estats. Being a huge shill of the Tia high tech done by 64, that has always been my benchmark for how treble should be done. But Odin has matched that and if anything exceeded it.
The Odin was quite a surprise: living up to the years long hype on it's technical and musical chops. Showing a progression of taking customer feedback and improving upon older models. It continues to surprise and wow me and it's hard pressed to find another iem in the market that can live up to this. Weirdly, I felt the marketing of Hero was more suited to describe the Odin itself. Regardless, they took the best parts of the LX and Zeus, refined it and coaxed a spectrum wide coherency out of 3 types of drivers totalling for 11. I heard no coherency issues at all, Odin sounded like just one seamless driver rather than 3 different kinds of tech being mashed together. The result is an extremely nice and polite iem that delivers when you ask for it, but otherwise shows no inkling of that capability on the surface (Like the Alfred Pennyworth of IEMs). For me personally the signature of the Odin is very close to my preference, and pretty much tied for first on my personal ranking. I would still put u12t first sheerly on the price tag of Odin, but if price is no objective or you want to go all in to an "endgame" of sorts, Odin all the way.
Having acquired the Odin as part of my personal collection I've decided to do a revision of my original impressions after having more time with them. Part rewrite, part new content, totally good use of a Sunday afternoon in lockdown!
Original Impressions can be found here: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/fli...ortable-audio-discussion.826876/post-15836934
Insert original preamble because Odin really was like the Starkiller Laser in SW VII to the rest of the releases this year, but the First Order doesn't really scream Empire. So Death Star laser analogies again.
On the monitors themselves: The lack of a significant lip on the nozzle really does make tip swapping difficult, but after some more tip swapping I found the Azla Sednas were a oerfect match. Whereas the Radius Deepmounts had this feeling that they would push themselves out outer time, the Sednas just sit there. No pressure spots, but due to the shape and the relatively light weight of having 11 drivers, fit was spot on. Spending time with them and seeing the Bifrost catch sunlight at different angles really brings an appreciation for the work put into those, breathtaking to put it at the least (Like analysing the practicalities of whether overthrowing the Empire would make sense compared to the Old Republic). The shorter insertion depth with a chinikier nozzle works really well with the fit, if you had issues with the older shell designs it would definitely be worth a try.
Listening is low gain at 55 on the 1A, but this time with Sednas for tips and a 4.4 terminated 1960s 2 wire in place of the Stormbreaker. While the aesthetics of the Stormbreaker go well with the Valknut theme, overall not coming in 4.4 termination and the point y-split lead to a 1960s from Musicteck on Black Friday. Functionally there's no difference in the sound (Think Death Star vs Starkiller), just that I don't need a pigtail and I just prefer the PW hardware.
Got a bit overly excited with the Star Wars references last time, so fewer of that (A New Hope per se). On to impressions!
Bass
I waxed poetic of the control of the dual W9+ like Palpatine loves galactic domination. That hasn't changed, if anything this setup has cemented itself as my favourite DD bass out there. No bleed into the mids AT ALL (Like getting a limb slice off by a lightsaber). But when it does come, it comes in spades. Subbass deeper than the Sarlaac Pit on Tatoonie, mid bass slam and impact iike a poor Imperial cog being force slammed by Vader. Where the LX was fun like Palpatine's obsession with giant super weapons, the Odin is more like a lightsaber: it's there when you need it, it excells at it, and it's never in the way. Prefectly Balanced, which you have figured the Force would be better at given the current state of Disney Canon. End of the day, Odin shows that LX DNA as oppose to Hero,
Mids
This has always been Empire's strong suit and the Odin is no exception. The mids are clear and sit slightly ahead in the mix, but at no time overtaking the other frequencies. While no wallflower, they respect the prefectly balanced adage that is the keystone of this signature. It also has ample room to breath (Like a hangar for the Millennium Falcon to land in) without being too big at times. These are very visible improvements carried over from feedback on the Zeus : overly forward and shouty at times as well as being overly spacious. It's good to see Empire taking feedback to heart when you see them tweaking with signatures like this. The Zeus's DNA here has been visible from the Phantom to the Wraith, I hope to see that progression into the future as well.
Additionally there has been feedback that the upper mids are too much and settle in after burn in. To my ears, Odin is like another iem that has the same kind of tuning in that area: the QDC DMagic, Empire does Odin's in a much more refined way and as less abruptly. Whereas the DMagic causes it to come close to sibilance territory, Odin avoids that but brings the same kind of upper mids sound. As someone who prefers a boosted upper midrange, I know how hard it is to get that area sounding right. QDC came close, Odin nailed it. This however would come down to the genre(s) of music that you listen to and personal preference. If like @mmvRAZ upper mids are an iffy area for you, do not buy before you demo!
Treble
After the astounding performance of the bass and mids, the quad estats would be what made or broke the Odin. Would it be like the Wraith? The anwser is a yes....but actually no. Similar to the Wraith, the treble is buttery smooth. and my first impression was: 'Eh there are 4 estats in here? It doesn't sound like it.....". My expectation was a wow tuning this time around given how Wraith performed in the market, but they opted to stick to their guns and improve on the weakest part of what many people heard on the Wraith. It's worth noting that I demo'd the Wraith in low gain and the advice was that I needed time for the signature to grow on me and perhaps more power for the estats (Also tuning on a Hugo 2 is an odd choice), so it could just have been some issues in the setup I used where the Wraith's treble was boring and felt non existent at times. Again Empire took this to hear, and using the more efficient second gen Sonion estats managed to pull it off. It took a bit of time, but the smoothness of the treble grew on me, power definitely was no longer an issue with driving those estats. Being a huge shill of the Tia high tech done by 64, that has always been my benchmark for how treble should be done. But Odin has matched that and if anything exceeded it.
The Odin was quite a surprise: living up to the years long hype on it's technical and musical chops. Showing a progression of taking customer feedback and improving upon older models. It continues to surprise and wow me and it's hard pressed to find another iem in the market that can live up to this. Weirdly, I felt the marketing of Hero was more suited to describe the Odin itself. Regardless, they took the best parts of the LX and Zeus, refined it and coaxed a spectrum wide coherency out of 3 types of drivers totalling for 11. I heard no coherency issues at all, Odin sounded like just one seamless driver rather than 3 different kinds of tech being mashed together. The result is an extremely nice and polite iem that delivers when you ask for it, but otherwise shows no inkling of that capability on the surface (Like the Alfred Pennyworth of IEMs). For me personally the signature of the Odin is very close to my preference, and pretty much tied for first on my personal ranking. I would still put u12t first sheerly on the price tag of Odin, but if price is no objective or you want to go all in to an "endgame" of sorts, Odin all the way.
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