How's the sound profile? Because dual Sabre DACs and THX in the desktop world means clinical and cool. Recent FiiO DAPs have also been on the brighter, thinner side. How have they tuned it?
flinkenick's 17 Flagship IEM Shootout Thread (and general high-end portable audio discussion)
bluestorm1992
Headphoneus Supremus
Just to echo this…there has been two popular EVO videos circulating among Chinese users.
They show how EVO plays a drum track and the resulting physical vibration. All of the sound is purely from EVO, not someone banging the desk.
HarveyLowis
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Mar 13, 2016
- Posts
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What is the tips in this video ? thanks
bluestorm1992
Headphoneus Supremus
idk, not my videos.
I am just uploading them to here.
SHOOTINGTECHIE
100+ Head-Fier
woahhh !!! it looks beautiful !!!Finished the third design,
hope you enjoy looking at it.
davidmolliere
Headphoneus Supremus
Totally the opposite : smooth and full sounding, it's actually reminiscent of the R8 but with more bass power, even fuller mids and a bigger stage
Whatever they did was exactly what I was looking for, it's very different from DX220 Max I kept only two months because I had issues with the upper mids.
So much so that it actually pairs better with the likes of Elysium or Spark than thicker warmer IEMs like my Volt (not that the pairing is bad, synergy is just outstanding with Ely)
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That is very good to know indeed. It's now on my list.Totally the opposite : smooth and full sounding, it's actually reminiscent of the R8 but with more bass power, even fuller mids and a bigger stage
Whatever they did was exactly what I was looking for, it's very different from DX220 Max I kept only two months because I had issues with the upper mids.
So much so that it actually pairs better with the likes of Elysium or Spark than thicker warmer IEMs like my Volt (not that the pairing is bad, synergy is just outstanding with Ely)
davidmolliere
Headphoneus Supremus
I took a chance honestly because there was a BF deal at just over 1500€ instead of 1800, and I don't regret it one bit!
(for those who are in Europe it's here they have stock and the BF deal is extended to 6th dec)
EagleWings
Headphoneus Supremus
Looks like Fiio finally caught up to the competition and I am glad they did. Good for us, customers.
davidmolliere
Headphoneus Supremus
Yeah and it gets better I tried desktop mode on DC and it scales further yet!
Now it's just my opinion some people might not like it...
I wouldn't mind hearing it. The M15 was a bit brittle in the treble but if you say this is a warmer overall tone, it would be a first from FiiO. I know I had a difficult time mentally getting over spending that kind of cash on a FiiO which for so many years was a budget brand.
Same, ever since the M11 FiiO has gone for a neutral bright tuning. I was sure the Sabres and THX amp would be the ultimate expression of that tuning, but looks like that assumption is wrong. Look forward to hearing more impressions.
After 2 whole years of not attending a single audio trade show, I had the great pleasure of attending Portable Audio Party Indonesia 2021 just a few hours ago. I stopped by after tons of audio set-up at church, so I didn’t have all the time in the world. But, I did pretty much get to hear the 6 things I wanted to there, so here are my impressions of them below:
Avara Custom’s prototype Tri-brid
My first stop was Avara Custom, a local brand who’ve gone on to achieve international recognition, and one I’ve always admired for never losing their values. They showed off their full-carbon and wood/resin hybrid shells, which they make by hand and offer at an affordable cost. I'm getting my EST-6's remade with them as well, by the way, so look out for pics of them within the next few weeks. And, they also had a prototype tri-brid at the table, which I got to audition and give my feedback on.
The prototype, uniquely, went for a more romantic, organic, intimate tuning that prioritised the size and richness of vocals. This colouration was something its designer Alvon fully intended, and it’s a fairly brave departure from the space (or stage) races we’ve seen from other flagship tri-brids. It’s also supported by a huge, thumping bass - in surface area, not quantity - and it comes from a massive, 14.2mm DD from Foster (Fostex’s parent company). It's a bass that's unique in its broadness, which I was rather taken by. And, there’s also a dial at the top of the shell to configure the low-end from +3dB to -6dB; a bit reminiscent of JH, but more like Kumitate Lab, who also use 9mm Foster DDs.
The prototype sounded fairly unfinished, I thought, with imaging being my main concern. Alvon felt the same as well. So, we’re yet to see what the in-ear will turn out to be, but it’s a cool glimpse at the variety in tone that tri-brids can have, once the hype to its mere name begins to wear off.
Sennheiser IE900
Now, onto actual impressions, I finally got to have my long-awaited demo of Sennheiser’s IE900!
As has been said numerous times, these are super-tiny IEMs, which was a problem initially for me. I found it easy to insert them too deep and get a poor seal/alignment. I had to pull them out and adjust several times to seat them just right. Once I did get that down and hit Play, though, I listened, and I thought they were… good.
It’s probably my fault for setting expectations a tad too high. I guess I was waiting for something to properly knock my socks off in the bass or the imaging. But, to be honest, what I heard was exactly what I’d expect to hear out of a $1300 IE800S successor. Is that a bad thing? Absolutely not. It’s a very enjoyable all-rounder that throws in enough twists here-and-there to keep things interesting. It’s got good wetness to it, whilst remaining clean, and I wasn’t bothered by the high-mid dip either.
What bugged me more was the 6-7kHz peak, actually. It was close to being worryingly prominent on a few tracks, and it made two of my recent-favourite records borderline-bad: Daughtry’s Dearly Beloved and Oytun Ersan’s Fusiolicious. Hi-hats were wince-inducing on the former and unnaturally sizzly on the latter. As I’ve often said in the past, some tracks and IEMs just don’t mesh, so it’s almost down to just bad luck there. But, yeah, I’d probably stick to foamies on this one.
I was expecting a more flashy or prominent bass with all the hype that’s been given to it, but I found it fairly well-levelled. It’s more of a jack-of-all-trades than a basshead IEM for sure. But, of course, low-end quantity is very subjective. Quality-wise, I echo the sentiments I expressed above. I heard a very good DD bass for a $1300 IEM; no more, no less. And, the same goes for the IE900’s imaging and dynamics as well. I found it very sufficient for most genres, but it’s not gonna blow the roof off the place for ensemble or orchestral pieces, for example.
All in all, I found the IE900 surprising, but unsurprising, if you get what I mean. If you go into it expecting a $1300 IEM Sennheiser made in 2021, you’ll get exactly that. It’s fun, linear with good contrast, moderately safe for genre-skipping at certain volumes, well-built and comfortable to wear. The upper-mids were a non-issue, the mid-treble was a decent issue, and I thought it was gonna give me a bit more to chew on in the bass and imaging. Don’t expect it to blow your socks off if flagships are your barometer. But, again, for a $1300 IEM, the IE900 ought to get your money’s worth if its sig is for you.
Acoustune HS2000MX
I also got a chance to hear what I believe is Acoustune’s new TOTL HS200MX. It had an almost Stark-Industries-inspired look to it, and I barely got to fit them comfortably in my ear. After 20 or so minutes, pressure points started to develop almost exactly where the screws were (not because of the screws, but because they happened to be the widest points of the IEM), so be mindful if you have slightly narrower canal openings like I do.
Sonically, I think this is what you’d traditionally call an Eastern-tuning. It had a fairly flat bass, which flowed into a neutral midrange, then only picked up in energy around 3kHz. It wasn’t a bright or piercing in-ear, thankfully, because aside from peaks around 5 and 8kHz, it didn’t really overdo the treble. It’s simply an IEM with very little meatiness or smoke. So, toms sound like you’re only recording the skin of the drum, male vocals don’t have that depth coming from the diaphragm, etc. It’s a very coloured tone that’s miles away from my preferences. But, it may suit you if you like those Eastern sort-of sigs. I imagine it isn’t miles off of Final Audio’s A8000, for example.
The imaging and detail retrieval of the IEM was above-average. It had great stereo spread, and I found panned drums and guitars satisfying to hear. The little rhythm chugs on Mark Lettieri’s Stargazer was an example of that. So, yeah, if you do like that Eastern, A8000-esque sound that's softer, smoother and less hard-edged, this could be the one for you (if your ears can handle its body
).
FiiO M17
This is one I teased earlier on the VE thread, and, by incredible happenstance, I genuinely was sitting down to listen to it as @davidmolliere started talking about it.
To speak briefly about the user experience, it is definitely a desktop player. Though more portable than the Sony one, I can’t feasibly see someone carrying this on their person while out and about. The UI is okay, I’d say. It doesn’t have the sleekness of AK or Cayin, but it’s functional enough. I had a couple issues with how hard I had to press the touch screen to register an input, but it could’ve also been because I was used to the sensitivity of my other DAPs too.
Now, sound-wise, the FiiO M17 has a big, boisterous, meaty sound. If Cayin’s R01 is slightly brighter or clearer, I’d say this one is its warmer big brother with the R2R qualities on steroids. I found the R01’s trademark trait to be this encompassing bigness and drive to the midrange, but without them getting too saturated or intimate. It’s similar to what Effect Audio’s EVO 10 does to the mids. The M17 does the same, but extends it to the low-end as well. There’s a gutsiness to it, and, if the track calls for it, it blooms gorgeously; like biting into liquid-caramel-filled candy.
Now, it worked better on some tracks than others. On tracks like Michael Bublé’s Me and Mrs. Jones, Billie Eilish’s bad guy or Adele’s My Little Love, which hold a fairly constant, comfortable pace, that bulbousness and depth work beautifully. Each instrument is amplified and made more substantial. Where it didn’t work as well for me was on material that had quick, subtle shifts like Michael Bublé’s It Had Better Be Tonight. The added size and oomph made instruments less light-on-their-feet, and it made louder bits (like when the horn section crescendoes) a bit overwhelming as well; like a barrage.
Another quality I found a bit lacking was the treble. Compared to the three-dimensional, beefy mids and lows, the treble was much flatter by comparison. It didn’t have the tactility, depth or substance of the rest of the mix. It was a top-end that tizz’ed, sizzled and left, pretty much. This left ride cymbals, hi-hat work, chimes and strings a bit dull whenever their parts came in.
But, all in all, if you want a desktop player that emphasises the physicality and “virtual movement” of instruments (like when I described images as almost moving towards you on the EXT), then the FiiO M17 could definitely be a winner. Its stage isn’t the roomiest in the world, because of how big its instruments are, even though it wraps the head very nicely. And, I think its treble falls short in quality (not quantity), compared to the mids and lows. But, if you like what the EXT, the EVO 10 and R2Rs in general have to offer, this one should be on your radar.
So, this does it for the in-ear side of my very modest coverage of PAPI 2021. I’ll be posting impressions of a couple flagship headphones I heard there very, very soon to follow. Cheers!
Avara Custom’s prototype Tri-brid
My first stop was Avara Custom, a local brand who’ve gone on to achieve international recognition, and one I’ve always admired for never losing their values. They showed off their full-carbon and wood/resin hybrid shells, which they make by hand and offer at an affordable cost. I'm getting my EST-6's remade with them as well, by the way, so look out for pics of them within the next few weeks. And, they also had a prototype tri-brid at the table, which I got to audition and give my feedback on.
The prototype, uniquely, went for a more romantic, organic, intimate tuning that prioritised the size and richness of vocals. This colouration was something its designer Alvon fully intended, and it’s a fairly brave departure from the space (or stage) races we’ve seen from other flagship tri-brids. It’s also supported by a huge, thumping bass - in surface area, not quantity - and it comes from a massive, 14.2mm DD from Foster (Fostex’s parent company). It's a bass that's unique in its broadness, which I was rather taken by. And, there’s also a dial at the top of the shell to configure the low-end from +3dB to -6dB; a bit reminiscent of JH, but more like Kumitate Lab, who also use 9mm Foster DDs.
The prototype sounded fairly unfinished, I thought, with imaging being my main concern. Alvon felt the same as well. So, we’re yet to see what the in-ear will turn out to be, but it’s a cool glimpse at the variety in tone that tri-brids can have, once the hype to its mere name begins to wear off.
Sennheiser IE900
Now, onto actual impressions, I finally got to have my long-awaited demo of Sennheiser’s IE900!
As has been said numerous times, these are super-tiny IEMs, which was a problem initially for me. I found it easy to insert them too deep and get a poor seal/alignment. I had to pull them out and adjust several times to seat them just right. Once I did get that down and hit Play, though, I listened, and I thought they were… good.
It’s probably my fault for setting expectations a tad too high. I guess I was waiting for something to properly knock my socks off in the bass or the imaging. But, to be honest, what I heard was exactly what I’d expect to hear out of a $1300 IE800S successor. Is that a bad thing? Absolutely not. It’s a very enjoyable all-rounder that throws in enough twists here-and-there to keep things interesting. It’s got good wetness to it, whilst remaining clean, and I wasn’t bothered by the high-mid dip either.
What bugged me more was the 6-7kHz peak, actually. It was close to being worryingly prominent on a few tracks, and it made two of my recent-favourite records borderline-bad: Daughtry’s Dearly Beloved and Oytun Ersan’s Fusiolicious. Hi-hats were wince-inducing on the former and unnaturally sizzly on the latter. As I’ve often said in the past, some tracks and IEMs just don’t mesh, so it’s almost down to just bad luck there. But, yeah, I’d probably stick to foamies on this one.
I was expecting a more flashy or prominent bass with all the hype that’s been given to it, but I found it fairly well-levelled. It’s more of a jack-of-all-trades than a basshead IEM for sure. But, of course, low-end quantity is very subjective. Quality-wise, I echo the sentiments I expressed above. I heard a very good DD bass for a $1300 IEM; no more, no less. And, the same goes for the IE900’s imaging and dynamics as well. I found it very sufficient for most genres, but it’s not gonna blow the roof off the place for ensemble or orchestral pieces, for example.
All in all, I found the IE900 surprising, but unsurprising, if you get what I mean. If you go into it expecting a $1300 IEM Sennheiser made in 2021, you’ll get exactly that. It’s fun, linear with good contrast, moderately safe for genre-skipping at certain volumes, well-built and comfortable to wear. The upper-mids were a non-issue, the mid-treble was a decent issue, and I thought it was gonna give me a bit more to chew on in the bass and imaging. Don’t expect it to blow your socks off if flagships are your barometer. But, again, for a $1300 IEM, the IE900 ought to get your money’s worth if its sig is for you.
Acoustune HS2000MX
I also got a chance to hear what I believe is Acoustune’s new TOTL HS200MX. It had an almost Stark-Industries-inspired look to it, and I barely got to fit them comfortably in my ear. After 20 or so minutes, pressure points started to develop almost exactly where the screws were (not because of the screws, but because they happened to be the widest points of the IEM), so be mindful if you have slightly narrower canal openings like I do.
Sonically, I think this is what you’d traditionally call an Eastern-tuning. It had a fairly flat bass, which flowed into a neutral midrange, then only picked up in energy around 3kHz. It wasn’t a bright or piercing in-ear, thankfully, because aside from peaks around 5 and 8kHz, it didn’t really overdo the treble. It’s simply an IEM with very little meatiness or smoke. So, toms sound like you’re only recording the skin of the drum, male vocals don’t have that depth coming from the diaphragm, etc. It’s a very coloured tone that’s miles away from my preferences. But, it may suit you if you like those Eastern sort-of sigs. I imagine it isn’t miles off of Final Audio’s A8000, for example.
The imaging and detail retrieval of the IEM was above-average. It had great stereo spread, and I found panned drums and guitars satisfying to hear. The little rhythm chugs on Mark Lettieri’s Stargazer was an example of that. So, yeah, if you do like that Eastern, A8000-esque sound that's softer, smoother and less hard-edged, this could be the one for you (if your ears can handle its body
).FiiO M17
This is one I teased earlier on the VE thread, and, by incredible happenstance, I genuinely was sitting down to listen to it as @davidmolliere started talking about it.
To speak briefly about the user experience, it is definitely a desktop player. Though more portable than the Sony one, I can’t feasibly see someone carrying this on their person while out and about. The UI is okay, I’d say. It doesn’t have the sleekness of AK or Cayin, but it’s functional enough. I had a couple issues with how hard I had to press the touch screen to register an input, but it could’ve also been because I was used to the sensitivity of my other DAPs too.
Now, sound-wise, the FiiO M17 has a big, boisterous, meaty sound. If Cayin’s R01 is slightly brighter or clearer, I’d say this one is its warmer big brother with the R2R qualities on steroids. I found the R01’s trademark trait to be this encompassing bigness and drive to the midrange, but without them getting too saturated or intimate. It’s similar to what Effect Audio’s EVO 10 does to the mids. The M17 does the same, but extends it to the low-end as well. There’s a gutsiness to it, and, if the track calls for it, it blooms gorgeously; like biting into liquid-caramel-filled candy.
Now, it worked better on some tracks than others. On tracks like Michael Bublé’s Me and Mrs. Jones, Billie Eilish’s bad guy or Adele’s My Little Love, which hold a fairly constant, comfortable pace, that bulbousness and depth work beautifully. Each instrument is amplified and made more substantial. Where it didn’t work as well for me was on material that had quick, subtle shifts like Michael Bublé’s It Had Better Be Tonight. The added size and oomph made instruments less light-on-their-feet, and it made louder bits (like when the horn section crescendoes) a bit overwhelming as well; like a barrage.
Another quality I found a bit lacking was the treble. Compared to the three-dimensional, beefy mids and lows, the treble was much flatter by comparison. It didn’t have the tactility, depth or substance of the rest of the mix. It was a top-end that tizz’ed, sizzled and left, pretty much. This left ride cymbals, hi-hat work, chimes and strings a bit dull whenever their parts came in.
But, all in all, if you want a desktop player that emphasises the physicality and “virtual movement” of instruments (like when I described images as almost moving towards you on the EXT), then the FiiO M17 could definitely be a winner. Its stage isn’t the roomiest in the world, because of how big its instruments are, even though it wraps the head very nicely. And, I think its treble falls short in quality (not quantity), compared to the mids and lows. But, if you like what the EXT, the EVO 10 and R2Rs in general have to offer, this one should be on your radar.
So, this does it for the in-ear side of my very modest coverage of PAPI 2021. I’ll be posting impressions of a couple flagship headphones I heard there very, very soon to follow. Cheers!
blotmouse
Headphoneus Supremus
M17 is not R2R, it's ESS. Why the R2R comparisons? It reads like this is R2R, or do I need more coffee?After 2 whole years of not attending a single audio trade show, I had the great pleasure of attending Portable Audio Party Indonesia 2021 just a few hours ago. I stopped by after tons of audio set-up at church, so I didn’t have all the time in the world. But, I did pretty much get to hear the 6 things I wanted to there, so here are my impressions of them below:
Avara Custom’s prototype Tri-brid
My first stop was Avara Custom, a local brand who’ve gone on to achieve international recognition, and one I’ve always admired for never losing their values. They showed off their full-carbon and wood/resin hybrid shells, which they make by hand and offer at an affordable cost. I'm getting my EST-6's remade with them as well, by the way, so look out for pics of them within the next few weeks. And, they also had a prototype tri-brid at the table, which I got to audition and give my feedback on.
The prototype, uniquely, went for a more romantic, organic, intimate tuning that prioritised the size and richness of vocals. This colouration was something its designer Alvon fully intended, and it’s a fairly brave departure from the space (or stage) races we’ve seen from other flagship tri-brids. It’s also supported by a huge, thumping bass - in surface area, not quantity - and it comes from a massive, 14.2mm DD from Foster (Fostex’s parent company). It's a bass that's unique in its broadness, which I was rather taken by. And, there’s also a dial at the top of the shell to configure the low-end from +3dB to -6dB; a bit reminiscent of JH, but more like Kumitate Lab, who also use 9mm Foster DDs.
The prototype sounded fairly unfinished, I thought, with imaging being my main concern. Alvon felt the same as well. So, we’re yet to see what the in-ear will turn out to be, but it’s a cool glimpse at the variety in tone that tri-brids can have, once the hype to its mere name begins to wear off.
Sennheiser IE900
Now, onto actual impressions, I finally got to have my long-awaited demo of Sennheiser’s IE900!
As has been said numerous times, these are super-tiny IEMs, which was a problem initially for me. I found it easy to insert them too deep and get a poor seal/alignment. I had to pull them out and adjust several times to seat them just right. Once I did get that down and hit Play, though, I listened, and I thought they were… good.
It’s probably my fault for setting expectations a tad too high. I guess I was waiting for something to properly knock my socks off in the bass or the imaging. But, to be honest, what I heard was exactly what I’d expect to hear out of a $1300 IE800S successor. Is that a bad thing? Absolutely not. It’s a very enjoyable all-rounder that throws in enough twists here-and-there to keep things interesting. It’s got good wetness to it, whilst remaining clean, and I wasn’t bothered by the high-mid dip either.
What bugged me more was the 6-7kHz peak, actually. It was close to being worryingly prominent on a few tracks, and it made two of my recent-favourite records borderline-bad: Daughtry’s Dearly Beloved and Oytun Ersan’s Fusiolicious. Hi-hats were wince-inducing on the former and unnaturally sizzly on the latter. As I’ve often said in the past, some tracks and IEMs just don’t mesh, so it’s almost down to just bad luck there. But, yeah, I’d probably stick to foamies on this one.
I was expecting a more flashy or prominent bass with all the hype that’s been given to it, but I found it fairly well-levelled. It’s more of a jack-of-all-trades than a basshead IEM for sure. But, of course, low-end quantity is very subjective. Quality-wise, I echo the sentiments I expressed above. I heard a very good DD bass for a $1300 IEM; no more, no less. And, the same goes for the IE900’s imaging and dynamics as well. I found it very sufficient for most genres, but it’s not gonna blow the roof off the place for ensemble or orchestral pieces, for example.
All in all, I found the IE900 surprising, but unsurprising, if you get what I mean. If you go into it expecting a $1300 IEM Sennheiser made in 2021, you’ll get exactly that. It’s fun, linear with good contrast, moderately safe for genre-skipping at certain volumes, well-built and comfortable to wear. The upper-mids were a non-issue, the mid-treble was a decent issue, and I thought it was gonna give me a bit more to chew on in the bass and imaging. Don’t expect it to blow your socks off if flagships are your barometer. But, again, for a $1300 IEM, the IE900 ought to get your money’s worth if its sig is for you.
Acoustune HS2000MX
I also got a chance to hear what I believe is Acoustune’s new TOTL HS200MX. It had an almost Stark-Industries-inspired look to it, and I barely got to fit them comfortably in my ear. After 20 or so minutes, pressure points started to develop almost exactly where the screws were (not because of the screws, but because they happened to be the widest points of the IEM), so be mindful if you have slightly narrower canal openings like I do.
Sonically, I think this is what you’d traditionally call an Eastern-tuning. It had a fairly flat bass, which flowed into a neutral midrange, then only picked up in energy around 3kHz. It wasn’t a bright or piercing in-ear, thankfully, because aside from peaks around 5 and 8kHz, it didn’t really overdo the treble. It’s simply an IEM with very little meatiness or smoke. So, toms sound like you’re only recording the skin of the drum, male vocals don’t have that depth coming from the diaphragm, etc. It’s a very coloured tone that’s miles away from my preferences. But, it may suit you if you like those Eastern sort-of sigs. I imagine it isn’t miles off of Final Audio’s A8000, for example.
The imaging and detail retrieval of the IEM was above-average. It had great stereo spread, and I found panned drums and guitars satisfying to hear. The little rhythm chugs on Mark Lettieri’s Stargazer was an example of that. So, yeah, if you do like that Eastern, A8000-esque sound that's softer, smoother and less hard-edged, this could be the one for you (if your ears can handle its body
FiiO M17
This is one I teased earlier on the VE thread, and, by incredible happenstance, I genuinely was sitting down to listen to it as @davidmolliere started talking about it.
To speak briefly about the user experience, it is definitely a desktop player. Though more portable than the Sony one, I can’t feasibly see someone carrying this on their person while out and about. The UI is okay, I’d say. It doesn’t have the sleekness of AK or Cayin, but it’s functional enough. I had a couple issues with how hard I had to press the touch screen to register an input, but it could’ve also been because I was used to the sensitivity of my other DAPs too.
Now, sound-wise, the FiiO M17 has a big, boisterous, meaty sound. If Cayin’s R01 is slightly brighter or clearer, I’d say this one is its warmer big brother with the R2R qualities on steroids. I found the R01’s trademark trait to be this encompassing bigness and drive to the midrange, but without them getting too saturated or intimate. It’s similar to what Effect Audio’s EVO 10 does to the mids. The M17 does the same, but extends it to the low-end as well. There’s a gutsiness to it, and, if the track calls for it, it blooms gorgeously; like biting into liquid-caramel-filled candy.
Now, it worked better on some tracks than others. On tracks like Michael Bublé’s Me and Mrs. Jones, Billie Eilish’s bad guy or Adele’s My Little Love, which hold a fairly constant, comfortable pace, that bulbousness and depth work beautifully. Each instrument is amplified and made more substantial. Where it didn’t work as well for me was on material that had quick, subtle shifts like Michael Bublé’s It Had Better Be Tonight. The added size and oomph made instruments less light-on-their-feet, and it made louder bits (like when the horn section crescendoes) a bit overwhelming as well; like a barrage.
Another quality I found a bit lacking was the treble. Compared to the three-dimensional, beefy mids and lows, the treble was much flatter by comparison. It didn’t have the tactility, depth or substance of the rest of the mix. It was a top-end that tizz’ed, sizzled and left, pretty much. This left ride cymbals, hi-hat work, chimes and strings a bit dull whenever their parts came in.
But, all in all, if you want a desktop player that emphasises the physicality and “virtual movement” of instruments (like when I described images as almost moving towards you on the EXT), then the FiiO M17 could definitely be a winner. Its stage isn’t the roomiest in the world, because of how big its instruments are, even though it wraps the head very nicely. And, I think its treble falls short in quality (not quantity), compared to the mids and lows. But, if you like what the EXT, the EVO 10 and R2Rs in general have to offer, this one should be on your radar.
So, this does it for the in-ear side of my very modest coverage of PAPI 2021. I’ll be posting impressions of a couple flagship headphones I heard there very, very soon to follow. Cheers!
It isn't. I was just comparing it to the R2R qualities I'm hearing from the R01; that organic sort-of swell to the midrange, but in the lows as well on the M17. It's actually gotten me curious to see how an R2R player on the M17 or MAX's scale would perform.
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