What I really want is a L&P LP7 if only they could get it out of the gate for us.I think it will compliment your IEMs excellently. Maybe somewhat of a mix between Traillii + Elysium.
You also have a variety of DAPs to roll and find an ideal synergy, which I think will be key for many.
Yep...last DAP/DAC/AMP on my to-get list is a R2R and LP7 is the most likely option- unless Cayin makes an updated flagship Android DAP inspired off their R01 R2R motherboard. But I am truly afraid of LP7's likely price
I am ready to pay a fortune for it if it is what I hope for. Stupidly.Yep...last DAP/DAC/AMP on my to-get list is a R2R and LP7 is the most likely option- unless Cayin makes an updated flagship Android DAP inspired off their R01 R2R motherboard. But I am truly afraid of LP7's likely price
To me it takes the best of Elysium and the best of Erlkonig, mashes them together and adds some special sauce. It of course isn’t perfect and there are some potential dealbreakers such as sub bass extension, source sensitivity and how “safe” it’s tuning is. But for my preferences, Phonix is one of the best IEM’s I’ve heard.
I haven’t heard the OG MEST but I can say with certainty that I prefer indigo to Mk2. The imaging, coherence and overall technical performance sounds noticeably improved. Bass texture has proper note weight and the treble sounds more realistic. I’m a fan. This one probably will stick around a bit longer than it’s predecessor.
Year of Gear - 2021 Edition
Well, another spin around the sun is almost done and dusted, and once again, it’s been another 365 days of torture for my wallet. I thought 2020 was going to be my main “discovery” year in this hobby, but my plan for a more financially responsible 2021 quickly went down the drain (literally in the first week of 2021). As some of you may know, a few of us Aussies went through a pretty long, tough period of lockdown due to COVID, so as usual, I turned to audio retail therapy to keep me sane while working from home and homeschooling two little ankle biters.
Lots of IEM’s both old and new, passed through my hands in 2021 so I want to share very brief thoughts on each to maybe help any budding headfi addicts out there that may be remotely interested. Plus lots of photos to keep it interesting for those audiopron fiends
There were a couple of others I got to demo from generous friends which I may add in later on.
I posted a 2020 version here if you wanna check it out: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/fli...ortable-audio-discussion.826876/post-16068504
January
Campfire Andromeda (all the editions. Yes. All of them)
I ended 2020 with a MW10 purchase which spiralled me into a weird Andromeda rabbit hole. I can’t really explain my actions. It was a strange moment in time. I drunk-bought an Andromeda 2019 in the week between Christmas and NY. I sober-bought a 2020 model shortly after. I bought a gold black version. I bought another stainless steel version. I even bought a v1, thinking it might be different to the 2019 version (it’s not). Yeah, I don’t know what was going on. I think Ken Ball laced my MW10 shells with some LSD or something.
Anyway, the main takeaway is that the 2020 model is my favourite of them all. Campfire finally sorted out their muddy midrange tuning and the tonal balance is a lot better imo. If Campfire can improve the bass, dynamics and sensitivity on the next Andromeda, I think we may have a potential keeper on our hands. I’m not holding my breath but stranger things have happened from Campfire!
Oriolus Traillii
Oh boy. Do you guys remember the bird hype around here in the first half of the year? Wow. That was wild. A $6,000 IEM from a (relatively) obscure brand with acrylic shells that comes in a cardboard box that looks cheaper than my breakfast cereal packaging. Yet people around here (myself included) were shilling this thing and actually saying it’s worth the money! That was legit, crazy hype. I’ve never experienced anything like that before in this hobby.
A lot has been said about the bird, and I admit that I still think it is one of the best sounding IEM’s money can buy. The instrument and vocal timbre is absolutely best in class imo, and the technicalities are right up there with the best I’ve heard, especially the soundstage. But ultimately, the BA bass is what killed the bird for me. Don’t get me wrong, Traillii’s bass is great. But at its price point, I expect near perfection and for my music library, the bird ultimately didn’t deliver. I may add another Traillii to my collection one day if the price is right.
FiiO FD5
They’re okay. V shaped sound with admittedly very solid bass and a soundstage that rivals IEM’s in a much higher price bracket. But the mids and treble I had issues with. The mids are quite recessed. I can deal with recessed mids but for some reason, it bothered me on the FD5. The lower treble had a metallic tone to it that also bugged me. Perhaps I was expecting more and benchmarking them against IEM’s out of its price category. But I also own cheap sets that I enjoy more than the FD5 (bl-03, MH755) so I don’t consider myself a mid-fi snob generally. I think the combination of recessed mids and metallic treble is just not for me.
March
Vision Ears Elysium
GOAT mids? Yeah, thereabouts. I think Ely is awesome, and I think it still has a place in VE’s lineup even since EXT & Phönix launched. The bass was my biggest concern when I blind bought Ely, but it’s really not that bad. Sure, it’s no LX or Z1R. But they don’t have the mids and cohesion of Ely. With the right music (female vocal) the Ely is hard to beat, even today.
April
Campfire Solaris OG
Now I understand why people complained about the thin mids on Solaris. They do sound thinner compared to the Special Edition. But I think the treble sounds better on OG. There’s a lot to like about Solaris and I think it’s actually a little underrated (or forgotten about) these days. In todays TOTL IEM market, the Solaris is a solid option, especially for the used price. It has a great balance, impressive technical chops, and is a very engaging listen. Hope we’ll see continued refinement of the Solaris in 2022 from Campfire.
Unique Melody MEST MK2
I was late to the MEST party. Helluva IEM on first listen. The imaging was unlike anything I’d heard before. But I had some issues with it too. Didn’t like the bass. It lacked substance imo. Bass notes felt hollow. I also didn’t like the driver coherence. I found it quite obvious what frequencies were coming from each particular driver type. It lasted a couple of months before I got bored.
May
Empire Ears Valkyrie Mk2
Veeeeeee shape. Not much lower mids. LOTS of sub bass. Decent-ish treble and technicalities. Ultimately I preferred Odin and other IEM’s so this one only lasted a few months. But damn are those faceplates freakin’ sexy
June
Moondrop Blessing 2: Dusk
One for all those crin fanboiz that I had to hear. Pretty good, especially for the price. Sounds a bit sterile for me though. Picked it up cheap on the classifieds and I’m glad I got to hear it. But the overall feeling I got from these was ‘meh’. To be fair, I haven’t heard much in this price category so I don’t know what the benchmark is. But this certainly isn’t a kilobuck killer imo.
June
qdc Anole V14
This IEM has the best BA bass I’ve ever heard. It SLAPS. Wasn’t a huge fan of the mids and treble though. Also it didn’t sound as technical as the VX, which may be a good thing for some, but I personally was left craving more. But the glowing faceplates were fun!
July
Noble Sultan Damascus LE
I loved the look of this iem. The build quality is outstanding, and the stock cable is probably the best stock cable I’ve used. The sound is very good too, but the treble takes a bit of getting used to, and also needs the right dap synergy imo. Loved it with the SP2K. The problem is the price. For the cost of entry, I think the tuning and technicalities don’t compare to the competition.
Sennheiser IE 900
These are keepers for me. Love the bass, love the build quality, love the form factor. These are basically my future EDC’s when I eventually go back to commuting.
August
64 Audio Tia Fourte
This IEM must’ve blown people’s minds when it came out in 2018 or whenever it was. Holy moly! The technical performance on Fourte is amazing, even my todays standards. And it’s quite a bit more technical than Fourte Noir. But as impressive as it is, I just enjoy listening to Noir more. Noir has more mid bass and thicker lower mids, which warms up the whole tonality compared to Fourte. They’re both really good but I had to choose one.
September
Elysian Annihilator 2021
Trebleheads, look no further. This is the dream treble iem. The bass and mids aren’t too bad either. More mid bass than X, but less sub bass. Arguably a better balanced tuning compared to X, but not quite as technically impressive. I’d be happy with either honestly, but X’s technicalities and more relaxed treble give it the slight edge over Annihilator for me.
Elysian X
My new bae. Although I doubt it will be for everyone. Amazing treble and technicalities and probably the best iem money can buy if you like electronic music.
Final A8000
This one was a catch and release. Didn’t jive with its upper mid tuning but I can appreciate its technical proficiency.
FiR M4
Another brief stay. I liked it, but I found it boring as batsh*t. It basically sounded like a correct (boring) version of Fourte to me without the technical wow factor.
October
Empire Ears Legend Evo
Let’s just say, I got a little excited with this one, and may have said some things a little prematurely. One thing I do know for certain is the quality of EVO’s bass. It is amazing. But unfortunately for Evo, I heard Elysian X around the same time and imo the X does everything better from the upper mids upwards.
November
Vision Ears PHöNIX
Currently working on a review of PHöNIX and EXT with my friend @SLC1966 so I won’t say too much other than I really really like it. Like, really like.
Vision Ears EXT
From the early impressions it’s looking like EXT will be one of those IEM’s that people either love or hate. It’s very different to Elysium imo. I’m hearing a warm v-shape tuning, with insanely good bass. I think it’s incredible that VE have managed to produce some of the best IEM bass I’ve heard from only their 2nd IEM (AFAIK) with DD bass.
December
Unique Melody MEST Indigo
The best MEST
Dita X Final Shichiku.Kangen
I only got this one today so I haven’t got a lot to say yet. It sounds like a better tuned A8000, basically. Not as forward upper mids and more low end warmth. But it’s also not as technically impressive on initial listen. I’ll share more once I get to know it a bit better but I can definitely say I I enjoy it more than A8000. shoutout to my friend @Calfredo826 for recommending this one
Epic!Year of Gear - 2021 Edition
Well, another spin around the sun is almost done and dusted. And once again, it’s been another 365 days of torture for my wallet. I thought 2020 was going to be my main “discovery” year in this hobby, but my plan for a more financially responsible 2021 quickly went down the drain (literally in the first week of 2021). As some of you may know, a few of us Aussies went through a pretty long, tough period of lockdown due to COVID, so as usual, I turned to audio retail therapy to keep me sane while working from home and homeschooling two little ankle biters.
Lots of IEM’s both old and new, passed through my hands in 2021 so I want to share very brief thoughts on each to maybe help any budding headfi addicts out there that may be remotely interested. Plus lots of photos to keep it interesting for those audiopron fiends
There were a couple of others I got to demo from generous friends which I may add in later on.
I posted a 2020 version here if you wanna check it out: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/fli...ortable-audio-discussion.826876/post-16068504
January
Campfire Andromeda (all the editions. Yes. All of them)
I ended 2020 with a MW10 purchase which spiralled me into a weird Andromeda rabbit hole. I can’t really explain my actions. It was a strange moment in time. I drunk-bought an Andromeda 2019 in the week between Christmas and NY. I sober-bought a 2020 model shortly after. I bought a gold black version. I bought another stainless steel version. I even bought a v1, thinking it might be different to the 2019 version (it’s not). Yeah, I don’t know what was going on. I think Ken Ball laced my MW10 shells with some LSD or something.
Anyway, the main takeaway is that the 2020 model is my favourite of them all. Campfire finally sorted out their muddy midrange tuning and the tonal balance is a lot better imo. If Campfire can improve the bass, dynamics and sensitivity on the next Andromeda, I think we may have a potential keeper on our hands. I’m not holding my breath but stranger things have happened from Campfire!
Oriolus Traillii
Oh boy. Do you guys remember the bird hype around here in the first half of the year? Wow. That was wild. A $6,000 IEM from a (relatively) obscure brand with acrylic shells that comes in a cardboard box that looks cheaper than my breakfast cereal packaging. Yet people around here (myself included) were shilling this thing and actually saying it’s worth the money! That was legit, crazy hype. I’ve never experienced anything like that before in this hobby.
A lot has been said about the bird, and I admit that I still think it is one of the best sounding IEM’s money can buy. The instrument and vocal timbre is absolutely best in class imo, and the technicalities are right up there with the best I’ve heard, especially the soundstage. But ultimately, the BA bass is what killed the bird for me. Don’t get me wrong, Traillii’s bass is great. But at its price point, I expect near perfection and for my music library, the bird ultimately didn’t deliver. I may add another Traillii to my collection one day if the price is right.
FiiO FD5
They’re okay. V shaped sound with admittedly very solid bass and a soundstage that rivals IEM’s in a much higher price bracket. But the mids and treble I had issues with. The mids are quite recessed. I can deal with recessed mids but for some reason, it bothered me on the FD5. The lower treble had a metallic tone to it that also bugged me. Perhaps I was expecting more and benchmarking them against IEM’s out of its price category. But I also own cheap sets that I enjoy more than the FD5 (bl-03, MH755) so I don’t consider myself a mid-fi snob generally. I think the combination of recessed mids and metallic treble is just not for me.
March
Vision Ears Elysium
GOAT mids? Yeah, thereabouts. I think Ely is awesome, and I think it still has a place in VE’s lineup even since EXT & Phönix launched. The bass was my biggest concern when I blind bought Ely, but it’s really not that bad. Sure, it’s no LX or Z1R. But they don’t have the mids and cohesion of Ely. With the right music (female vocal) the Ely is hard to beat, even today.
April
Campfire Solaris OG
Unique Melody MEST MK2
I was late to the MEST party. Helluva IEM on first listen. The imaging was unlike anything I’d heard before. But I had some issues with it too. Didn’t like the bass. It lacked substance imo. Bass notes felt hollow. I also didn’t like the driver coherence. I found it quite obvious what frequencies were coming from each particular driver type. It lasted a couple of months before I got bored.
May
Empire Ears Valkyrie Mk2
Veeeeeee shape. Not much lower mids. LOTS of sub bass. Decent-ish treble and technicalities. Ultimately I preferred Odin and other IEM’s so this one only lasted a few months. But damn are those faceplates freakin’ sexy
June
Moondrop Blessing 2: Dusk
One for all those crin fanboiz that I had to hear. Pretty good, especially for the price. Sounds a bit sterile for me though. Picked it up cheap on the classifieds and I’m glad I got to hear it. But the overall feeling I got from these was ‘meh’. To be fair, I haven’t heard much in this price category so I don’t know what the benchmark is. But this certainly isn’t a kilobuck killer imo.
qdc Anole V14
This IEM has the best BA bass I’ve ever heard. It SLAPS. However, wasn’t a huge fan of the mids and treble. Also it didn’t sound as technical as the VX, which may be a good thing for some, but I personally was left craving more. But the glowing faceplates were fun!
July
Noble Sultan Damascus LE
I loved the look of this iem. The build quality is outstanding, and the stock cable is probably the best stock cable I’ve used. The sound is very good too, but the treble takes a bit of getting used to, and also needs the right dap synergy imo. Loved it with the SP2K. The problem is the price. For the cost of entry, I think the tuning and technicalities don’t compare to the competition.
Sennheiser IE 900
These are keepers for me. Love the bass, love the build quality, love the form factor. These are basically my future EDC’s when I eventually go back to commuting.
August
64 Audio Tia Fourte
This IEM must’ve blown people’s minds when it came out in 2018 or whenever it was. Holy moly! The technical performance on Fourte is amazing, even by todays standards. And it’s quite a bit more technical than Fourte Noir. But as impressive as it is, I just enjoy listening to Noir more. Noir has more mid bass and thicker lower mids, which warms up the whole tonality compared to Fourte. They’re both really good but I had to choose one.
September
Elysian Annihilator 2021
Trebleheads, look no further. This is the dream treble iem. The bass and mids aren’t too bad either. More mid bass than X, but less sub bass. Arguably a better balanced tuning compared to X, but not quite as technically impressive. I’d be happy with either honestly, but X’s technicalities and more relaxed treble give it the slight edge over Annihilator for me.
Elysian X
My new bae. Although I doubt it will be for everyone. Amazing treble and technicalities and probably the best iem money can buy if you like electronic music.
Final A8000
This one was a catch and release. Didn’t jive with its upper mid tuning but I can appreciate its technical proficiency.
FiR M4
Another brief stay. I liked it, but I found it boring as batsh*t. It basically sounded like a correct (boring) version of Fourte to me without the technical wow factor.
October
Empire Ears Legend Evo
Let’s just say, I got a little excited with this one, and may have said some things a little prematurely. One thing I do know for certain is the quality of EVO’s bass. It is amazing. But unfortunately for Evo, I heard Elysian X around the same time and imo the X does everything better from the upper mids upwards.
November
Vision Ears PHöNIX
Currently working on a review of PHöNIX and EXT with my friend @SLC1966 so I won’t say too much other than I really really like it. Like, really like.
Vision Ears EXT
From the early impressions it’s looking like EXT will be one of those IEM’s that people either love or hate. It’s very different to Elysium imo. I’m hearing a warm v-shape tuning, with insanely good bass. I think it’s incredible that VE have managed to produce some of the best IEM bass I’ve heard from only their 2nd IEM (AFAIK) with DD bass.
December
Unique Melody MEST Indigo
The best MEST
Dita X Final Shichiku.Kangen
I only got this one today so I haven’t got a lot to say yet. It sounds like a better tuned A8000, basically. Not as forward upper mids and more low end warmth. But it’s also not as technically impressive on initial listen. I’ll share more once I get to know it a bit better but I can definitely say I I enjoy it more than A8000. shoutout to my friend @Calfredo826 for recommending this one
Great fun reading this one with all the nice pics!Year of Gear - 2021 Edition
Well, another spin around the sun is almost done and dusted. And once again, it’s been another 365 days of torture for my wallet. I thought 2020 was going to be my main “discovery” year in this hobby, but my plan for a more financially responsible 2021 quickly went down the drain (literally in the first week of 2021). As some of you may know, a few of us Aussies went through a pretty long, tough period of lockdown due to COVID, so as usual, I turned to audio retail therapy to keep me sane while working from home and homeschooling two little ankle biters.
Lots of IEM’s both old and new, passed through my hands in 2021 so I want to share very brief thoughts on each to maybe help any budding headfi addicts out there that may be remotely interested. Plus lots of photos to keep it interesting for those audiopron fiends
There were a couple of others I got to demo from generous friends which I may add in later on.
I posted a 2020 version here if you wanna check it out: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/fli...ortable-audio-discussion.826876/post-16068504
January
Campfire Andromeda (all the editions. Yes. All of them)
I ended 2020 with a MW10 purchase which spiralled me into a weird Andromeda rabbit hole. I can’t really explain my actions. It was a strange moment in time. I drunk-bought an Andromeda 2019 in the week between Christmas and NY. I sober-bought a 2020 model shortly after. I bought a gold black version. I bought another stainless steel version. I even bought a v1, thinking it might be different to the 2019 version (it’s not). Yeah, I don’t know what was going on. I think Ken Ball laced my MW10 shells with some LSD or something.
Anyway, the main takeaway is that the 2020 model is my favourite of them all. Campfire finally sorted out their muddy midrange tuning and the tonal balance is a lot better imo. If Campfire can improve the bass, dynamics and sensitivity on the next Andromeda, I think we may have a potential keeper on our hands. I’m not holding my breath but stranger things have happened from Campfire!
Oriolus Traillii
Oh boy. Do you guys remember the bird hype around here in the first half of the year? Wow. That was wild. A $6,000 IEM from a (relatively) obscure brand with acrylic shells that comes in a cardboard box that looks cheaper than my breakfast cereal packaging. Yet people around here (myself included) were shilling this thing and actually saying it’s worth the money! That was legit, crazy hype. I’ve never experienced anything like that before in this hobby.
A lot has been said about the bird, and I admit that I still think it is one of the best sounding IEM’s money can buy. The instrument and vocal timbre is absolutely best in class imo, and the technicalities are right up there with the best I’ve heard, especially the soundstage. But ultimately, the BA bass is what killed the bird for me. Don’t get me wrong, Traillii’s bass is great. But at its price point, I expect near perfection and for my music library, the bird ultimately didn’t deliver. I may add another Traillii to my collection one day if the price is right.
FiiO FD5
They’re okay. V shaped sound with admittedly very solid bass and a soundstage that rivals IEM’s in a much higher price bracket. But the mids and treble I had issues with. The mids are quite recessed. I can deal with recessed mids but for some reason, it bothered me on the FD5. The lower treble had a metallic tone to it that also bugged me. Perhaps I was expecting more and benchmarking them against IEM’s out of its price category. But I also own cheap sets that I enjoy more than the FD5 (bl-03, MH755) so I don’t consider myself a mid-fi snob generally. I think the combination of recessed mids and metallic treble is just not for me.
March
Vision Ears Elysium
GOAT mids? Yeah, thereabouts. I think Ely is awesome, and I think it still has a place in VE’s lineup even since EXT & Phönix launched. The bass was my biggest concern when I blind bought Ely, but it’s really not that bad. Sure, it’s no LX or Z1R. But they don’t have the mids and cohesion of Ely. With the right music (female vocal) the Ely is hard to beat, even today.
April
Campfire Solaris OG
Unique Melody MEST MK2
I was late to the MEST party. Helluva IEM on first listen. The imaging was unlike anything I’d heard before. But I had some issues with it too. Didn’t like the bass. It lacked substance imo. Bass notes felt hollow. I also didn’t like the driver coherence. I found it quite obvious what frequencies were coming from each particular driver type. It lasted a couple of months before I got bored.
May
Empire Ears Valkyrie Mk2
Veeeeeee shape. Not much lower mids. LOTS of sub bass. Decent-ish treble and technicalities. Ultimately I preferred Odin and other IEM’s so this one only lasted a few months. But damn are those faceplates freakin’ sexy
June
Moondrop Blessing 2: Dusk
One for all those crin fanboiz that I had to hear. Pretty good, especially for the price. Sounds a bit sterile for me though. Picked it up cheap on the classifieds and I’m glad I got to hear it. But the overall feeling I got from these was ‘meh’. To be fair, I haven’t heard much in this price category so I don’t know what the benchmark is. But this certainly isn’t a kilobuck killer imo.
qdc Anole V14
This IEM has the best BA bass I’ve ever heard. It SLAPS. However, wasn’t a huge fan of the mids and treble. Also it didn’t sound as technical as the VX, which may be a good thing for some, but I personally was left craving more. But the glowing faceplates were fun!
July
Noble Sultan Damascus LE
I loved the look of this iem. The build quality is outstanding, and the stock cable is probably the best stock cable I’ve used. The sound is very good too, but the treble takes a bit of getting used to, and also needs the right dap synergy imo. Loved it with the SP2K. The problem is the price. For the cost of entry, I think the tuning and technicalities don’t compare to the competition.
Sennheiser IE 900
These are keepers for me. Love the bass, love the build quality, love the form factor. These are basically my future EDC’s when I eventually go back to commuting.
August
64 Audio Tia Fourte
This IEM must’ve blown people’s minds when it came out in 2018 or whenever it was. Holy moly! The technical performance on Fourte is amazing, even by todays standards. And it’s quite a bit more technical than Fourte Noir. But as impressive as it is, I just enjoy listening to Noir more. Noir has more mid bass and thicker lower mids, which warms up the whole tonality compared to Fourte. They’re both really good but I had to choose one.
September
Elysian Annihilator 2021
Trebleheads, look no further. This is the dream treble iem. The bass and mids aren’t too bad either. More mid bass than X, but less sub bass. Arguably a better balanced tuning compared to X, but not quite as technically impressive. I’d be happy with either honestly, but X’s technicalities and more relaxed treble give it the slight edge over Annihilator for me.
Elysian X
My new bae. Although I doubt it will be for everyone. Amazing treble and technicalities and probably the best iem money can buy if you like electronic music.
Final A8000
This one was a catch and release. Didn’t jive with its upper mid tuning but I can appreciate its technical proficiency.
FiR M4
Another brief stay. I liked it, but I found it boring as batsh*t. It basically sounded like a correct (boring) version of Fourte to me without the technical wow factor.
October
Empire Ears Legend Evo
Let’s just say, I got a little excited with this one, and may have said some things a little prematurely. One thing I do know for certain is the quality of EVO’s bass. It is amazing. But unfortunately for Evo, I heard Elysian X around the same time and imo the X does everything better from the upper mids upwards.
November
Vision Ears PHöNIX
Currently working on a review of PHöNIX and EXT with my friend @SLC1966 so I won’t say too much other than I really really like it. Like, really like.
Vision Ears EXT
From the early impressions it’s looking like EXT will be one of those IEM’s that people either love or hate. It’s very different to Elysium imo. I’m hearing a warm v-shape tuning, with insanely good bass. I think it’s incredible that VE have managed to produce some of the best IEM bass I’ve heard from only their 2nd IEM (AFAIK) with DD bass.
December
Unique Melody MEST Indigo
The best MEST
Dita X Final Shichiku.Kangen
I only got this one today so I haven’t got a lot to say yet. It sounds like a better tuned A8000, basically. Not as forward upper mids and more low end warmth. But it’s also not as technically impressive on initial listen. I’ll share more once I get to know it a bit better but I can definitely say I I enjoy it more than A8000. shoutout to my friend @Calfredo826 for recommending this one
Agreed. Utopia is very easy to drive. Truly universal headphones. Sounds good on everything. Sound great on some things like a Ferrum Orr amp and Ampsandsound Rockwell.
I wish I could like this more than once. This is an impressive photo journal. I think you may have a hard time beating this is 2022.Year of Gear - 2021 Edition
Well, another spin around the sun is almost done and dusted. And once again, it’s been another 365 days of torture for my wallet. I thought 2020 was going to be my main “discovery” year in this hobby, but my plan for a more financially responsible 2021 quickly went down the drain (literally in the first week of 2021). As some of you may know, a few of us Aussies went through a pretty long, tough period of lockdown due to COVID, so as usual, I turned to audio retail therapy to keep me sane while working from home and homeschooling two little ankle biters.
Lots of IEM’s both old and new, passed through my hands in 2021 so I want to share very brief thoughts on each to maybe help any budding headfi addicts out there that may be remotely interested. Plus lots of photos to keep it interesting for those audiopron fiends
There were a couple of others I got to demo from generous friends which I may add in later on.
I posted a 2020 version here if you wanna check it out: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/fli...ortable-audio-discussion.826876/post-16068504
January
Campfire Andromeda (all the editions. Yes. All of them)
I ended 2020 with a MW10 purchase which spiralled me into a weird Andromeda rabbit hole. I can’t really explain my actions. It was a strange moment in time. I drunk-bought an Andromeda 2019 in the week between Christmas and NY. I sober-bought a 2020 model shortly after. I bought a gold black version. I bought another stainless steel version. I even bought a v1, thinking it might be different to the 2019 version (it’s not). Yeah, I don’t know what was going on. I think Ken Ball laced my MW10 shells with some LSD or something.
Anyway, the main takeaway is that the 2020 model is my favourite of them all. Campfire finally sorted out their muddy midrange tuning and the tonal balance is a lot better imo. If Campfire can improve the bass, dynamics and sensitivity on the next Andromeda, I think we may have a potential keeper on our hands. I’m not holding my breath but stranger things have happened from Campfire!
Oriolus Traillii
Oh boy. Do you guys remember the bird hype around here in the first half of the year? Wow. That was wild. A $6,000 IEM from a (relatively) obscure brand with acrylic shells that comes in a cardboard box that looks cheaper than my breakfast cereal packaging. Yet people around here (myself included) were shilling this thing and actually saying it’s worth the money! That was legit, crazy hype. I’ve never experienced anything like that before in this hobby.
A lot has been said about the bird, and I admit that I still think it is one of the best sounding IEM’s money can buy. The instrument and vocal timbre is absolutely best in class imo, and the technicalities are right up there with the best I’ve heard, especially the soundstage. But ultimately, the BA bass is what killed the bird for me. Don’t get me wrong, Traillii’s bass is great. But at its price point, I expect near perfection and for my music library, the bird ultimately didn’t deliver. I may add another Traillii to my collection one day if the price is right.
FiiO FD5
They’re okay. V shaped sound with admittedly very solid bass and a soundstage that rivals IEM’s in a much higher price bracket. But the mids and treble I had issues with. The mids are quite recessed. I can deal with recessed mids but for some reason, it bothered me on the FD5. The lower treble had a metallic tone to it that also bugged me. Perhaps I was expecting more and benchmarking them against IEM’s out of its price category. But I also own cheap sets that I enjoy more than the FD5 (bl-03, MH755) so I don’t consider myself a mid-fi snob generally. I think the combination of recessed mids and metallic treble is just not for me.
March
Vision Ears Elysium
GOAT mids? Yeah, thereabouts. I think Ely is awesome, and I think it still has a place in VE’s lineup even since EXT & Phönix launched. The bass was my biggest concern when I blind bought Ely, but it’s really not that bad. Sure, it’s no LX or Z1R. But they don’t have the mids and cohesion of Ely. With the right music (female vocal) the Ely is hard to beat, even today.
April
Campfire Solaris OG
Unique Melody MEST MK2
I was late to the MEST party. Helluva IEM on first listen. The imaging was unlike anything I’d heard before. But I had some issues with it too. Didn’t like the bass. It lacked substance imo. Bass notes felt hollow. I also didn’t like the driver coherence. I found it quite obvious what frequencies were coming from each particular driver type. It lasted a couple of months before I got bored.
May
Empire Ears Valkyrie Mk2
Veeeeeee shape. Not much lower mids. LOTS of sub bass. Decent-ish treble and technicalities. Ultimately I preferred Odin and other IEM’s so this one only lasted a few months. But damn are those faceplates freakin’ sexy
June
Moondrop Blessing 2: Dusk
One for all those crin fanboiz that I had to hear. Pretty good, especially for the price. Sounds a bit sterile for me though. Picked it up cheap on the classifieds and I’m glad I got to hear it. But the overall feeling I got from these was ‘meh’. To be fair, I haven’t heard much in this price category so I don’t know what the benchmark is. But this certainly isn’t a kilobuck killer imo.
qdc Anole V14
This IEM has the best BA bass I’ve ever heard. It SLAPS. However, wasn’t a huge fan of the mids and treble. Also it didn’t sound as technical as the VX, which may be a good thing for some, but I personally was left craving more. But the glowing faceplates were fun!
July
Noble Sultan Damascus LE
I loved the look of this iem. The build quality is outstanding, and the stock cable is probably the best stock cable I’ve used. The sound is very good too, but the treble takes a bit of getting used to, and also needs the right dap synergy imo. Loved it with the SP2K. The problem is the price. For the cost of entry, I think the tuning and technicalities don’t compare to the competition.
Sennheiser IE 900
These are keepers for me. Love the bass, love the build quality, love the form factor. These are basically my future EDC’s when I eventually go back to commuting.
August
64 Audio Tia Fourte
This IEM must’ve blown people’s minds when it came out in 2018 or whenever it was. Holy moly! The technical performance on Fourte is amazing, even by todays standards. And it’s quite a bit more technical than Fourte Noir. But as impressive as it is, I just enjoy listening to Noir more. Noir has more mid bass and thicker lower mids, which warms up the whole tonality compared to Fourte. They’re both really good but I had to choose one.
September
Elysian Annihilator 2021
Trebleheads, look no further. This is the dream treble iem. The bass and mids aren’t too bad either. More mid bass than X, but less sub bass. Arguably a better balanced tuning compared to X, but not quite as technically impressive. I’d be happy with either honestly, but X’s technicalities and more relaxed treble give it the slight edge over Annihilator for me.
Elysian X
My new bae. Although I doubt it will be for everyone. Amazing treble and technicalities and probably the best iem money can buy if you like electronic music.
Final A8000
This one was a catch and release. Didn’t jive with its upper mid tuning but I can appreciate its technical proficiency.
FiR M4
Another brief stay. I liked it, but I found it boring as batsh*t. It basically sounded like a correct (boring) version of Fourte to me without the technical wow factor.
October
Empire Ears Legend Evo
Let’s just say, I got a little excited with this one, and may have said some things a little prematurely. One thing I do know for certain is the quality of EVO’s bass. It is amazing. But unfortunately for Evo, I heard Elysian X around the same time and imo the X does everything better from the upper mids upwards.
November
Vision Ears PHöNIX
Currently working on a review of PHöNIX and EXT with my friend @SLC1966 so I won’t say too much other than I really really like it. Like, really like.
Vision Ears EXT
From the early impressions it’s looking like EXT will be one of those IEM’s that people either love or hate. It’s very different to Elysium imo. I’m hearing a warm v-shape tuning, with insanely good bass. I think it’s incredible that VE have managed to produce some of the best IEM bass I’ve heard from only their 2nd IEM (AFAIK) with DD bass.
December
Unique Melody MEST Indigo
The best MEST
Dita X Final Shichiku.Kangen
I only got this one today so I haven’t got a lot to say yet. It sounds like a better tuned A8000, basically. Not as forward upper mids and more low end warmth. But it’s also not as technically impressive on initial listen. I’ll share more once I get to know it a bit better but I can definitely say I I enjoy it more than A8000. shoutout to my friend @Calfredo826 for recommending this one
Add me to the list as another vote for a Wow button. So we can do something more than just like a post.
Dang, rolling up to your house must be like...Year of Gear - 2021 Edition
Well, another spin around the sun is almost done and dusted. And once again, it’s been another 365 days of torture for my wallet. I thought 2020 was going to be my main “discovery” year in this hobby, but my plan for a more financially responsible 2021 quickly went down the drain (literally in the first week of 2021). As some of you may know, a few of us Aussies went through a pretty long, tough period of lockdown due to COVID, so as usual, I turned to audio retail therapy to keep me sane while working from home and homeschooling two little ankle biters.
Lots of IEM’s both old and new, passed through my hands in 2021 so I want to share very brief thoughts on each to maybe help any budding headfi addicts out there that may be remotely interested. Plus lots of photos to keep it interesting for those audiopron fiends
There were a couple of others I got to demo from generous friends which I may add in later on.
I posted a 2020 version here if you wanna check it out: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/fli...ortable-audio-discussion.826876/post-16068504
January
Campfire Andromeda (all the editions. Yes. All of them)
I ended 2020 with a MW10 purchase which spiralled me into a weird Andromeda rabbit hole. I can’t really explain my actions. It was a strange moment in time. I drunk-bought an Andromeda 2019 in the week between Christmas and NY. I sober-bought a 2020 model shortly after. I bought a gold black version. I bought another stainless steel version. I even bought a v1, thinking it might be different to the 2019 version (it’s not). Yeah, I don’t know what was going on. I think Ken Ball laced my MW10 shells with some LSD or something.
Anyway, the main takeaway is that the 2020 model is my favourite of them all. Campfire finally sorted out their muddy midrange tuning and the tonal balance is a lot better imo. If Campfire can improve the bass, dynamics and sensitivity on the next Andromeda, I think we may have a potential keeper on our hands. I’m not holding my breath but stranger things have happened from Campfire!
Oriolus Traillii
Oh boy. Do you guys remember the bird hype around here in the first half of the year? Wow. That was wild. A $6,000 IEM from a (relatively) obscure brand with acrylic shells that comes in a cardboard box that looks cheaper than my breakfast cereal packaging. Yet people around here (myself included) were shilling this thing and actually saying it’s worth the money! That was legit, crazy hype. I’ve never experienced anything like that before in this hobby.
A lot has been said about the bird, and I admit that I still think it is one of the best sounding IEM’s money can buy. The instrument and vocal timbre is absolutely best in class imo, and the technicalities are right up there with the best I’ve heard, especially the soundstage. But ultimately, the BA bass is what killed the bird for me. Don’t get me wrong, Traillii’s bass is great. But at its price point, I expect near perfection and for my music library, the bird ultimately didn’t deliver. I may add another Traillii to my collection one day if the price is right.
FiiO FD5
They’re okay. V shaped sound with admittedly very solid bass and a soundstage that rivals IEM’s in a much higher price bracket. But the mids and treble I had issues with. The mids are quite recessed. I can deal with recessed mids but for some reason, it bothered me on the FD5. The lower treble had a metallic tone to it that also bugged me. Perhaps I was expecting more and benchmarking them against IEM’s out of its price category. But I also own cheap sets that I enjoy more than the FD5 (bl-03, MH755) so I don’t consider myself a mid-fi snob generally. I think the combination of recessed mids and metallic treble is just not for me.
March
Vision Ears Elysium
GOAT mids? Yeah, thereabouts. I think Ely is awesome, and I think it still has a place in VE’s lineup even since EXT & Phönix launched. The bass was my biggest concern when I blind bought Ely, but it’s really not that bad. Sure, it’s no LX or Z1R. But they don’t have the mids and cohesion of Ely. With the right music (female vocal) the Ely is hard to beat, even today.
April
Campfire Solaris OG
Unique Melody MEST MK2
I was late to the MEST party. Helluva IEM on first listen. The imaging was unlike anything I’d heard before. But I had some issues with it too. Didn’t like the bass. It lacked substance imo. Bass notes felt hollow. I also didn’t like the driver coherence. I found it quite obvious what frequencies were coming from each particular driver type. It lasted a couple of months before I got bored.
May
Empire Ears Valkyrie Mk2
Veeeeeee shape. Not much lower mids. LOTS of sub bass. Decent-ish treble and technicalities. Ultimately I preferred Odin and other IEM’s so this one only lasted a few months. But damn are those faceplates freakin’ sexy
June
Moondrop Blessing 2: Dusk
One for all those crin fanboiz that I had to hear. Pretty good, especially for the price. Sounds a bit sterile for me though. Picked it up cheap on the classifieds and I’m glad I got to hear it. But the overall feeling I got from these was ‘meh’. To be fair, I haven’t heard much in this price category so I don’t know what the benchmark is. But this certainly isn’t a kilobuck killer imo.
qdc Anole V14
This IEM has the best BA bass I’ve ever heard. It SLAPS. However, wasn’t a huge fan of the mids and treble. Also it didn’t sound as technical as the VX, which may be a good thing for some, but I personally was left craving more. But the glowing faceplates were fun!
July
Noble Sultan Damascus LE
I loved the look of this iem. The build quality is outstanding, and the stock cable is probably the best stock cable I’ve used. The sound is very good too, but the treble takes a bit of getting used to, and also needs the right dap synergy imo. Loved it with the SP2K. The problem is the price. For the cost of entry, I think the tuning and technicalities don’t compare to the competition.
Sennheiser IE 900
These are keepers for me. Love the bass, love the build quality, love the form factor. These are basically my future EDC’s when I eventually go back to commuting.
August
64 Audio Tia Fourte
This IEM must’ve blown people’s minds when it came out in 2018 or whenever it was. Holy moly! The technical performance on Fourte is amazing, even by todays standards. And it’s quite a bit more technical than Fourte Noir. But as impressive as it is, I just enjoy listening to Noir more. Noir has more mid bass and thicker lower mids, which warms up the whole tonality compared to Fourte. They’re both really good but I had to choose one.
September
Elysian Annihilator 2021
Trebleheads, look no further. This is the dream treble iem. The bass and mids aren’t too bad either. More mid bass than X, but less sub bass. Arguably a better balanced tuning compared to X, but not quite as technically impressive. I’d be happy with either honestly, but X’s technicalities and more relaxed treble give it the slight edge over Annihilator for me.
Elysian X
My new bae. Although I doubt it will be for everyone. Amazing treble and technicalities and probably the best iem money can buy if you like electronic music.
Final A8000
This one was a catch and release. Didn’t jive with its upper mid tuning but I can appreciate its technical proficiency.
FiR M4
Another brief stay. I liked it, but I found it boring as batsh*t. It basically sounded like a correct (boring) version of Fourte to me without the technical wow factor.
October
Empire Ears Legend Evo
Let’s just say, I got a little excited with this one, and may have said some things a little prematurely. One thing I do know for certain is the quality of EVO’s bass. It is amazing. But unfortunately for Evo, I heard Elysian X around the same time and imo the X does everything better from the upper mids upwards.
November
Vision Ears PHöNIX
Currently working on a review of PHöNIX and EXT with my friend @SLC1966 so I won’t say too much other than I really really like it. Like, really like.
Vision Ears EXT
From the early impressions it’s looking like EXT will be one of those IEM’s that people either love or hate. It’s very different to Elysium imo. I’m hearing a warm v-shape tuning, with insanely good bass. I think it’s incredible that VE have managed to produce some of the best IEM bass I’ve heard from only their 2nd IEM (AFAIK) with DD bass.
December
Unique Melody MEST Indigo
The best MEST
Dita X Final Shichiku.Kangen
I only got this one today so I haven’t got a lot to say yet. It sounds like a better tuned A8000, basically. Not as forward upper mids and more low end warmth. But it’s also not as technically impressive on initial listen. I’ll share more once I get to know it a bit better but I can definitely say I I enjoy it more than A8000. shoutout to my friend @Calfredo826 for recommending this one
I think he'll have a good stab at it
