[ranfan]

Noble Vega at #13.

How many hearts must have broken.

45 out of 123 hearts. And this early too.

Spoiler: 6

20/3/17 | 123 voters (up til #220)

nr	iem	point	vote
1	empire ears zeus-xr adel	450	112
2	1964 audio a18 tzar	314	89
3	spiral ear 5-way ultimate	213	69
4	aaw w900	219	68
5	noble katana	135	55
6	campfire vega	121	45
7	jomo samba	81	31
8	ultimate ears ue18+ pro	66	34
9	earsonics s-em9	50	20
10	dita audio the dream	42	17
11	unique melody maestro v2	38	21
12	warbler prelude	33	17
13	lime ears aether	27	10
14	custom art 8.2	21	11
15	hidition nt6pro	18	10
16	rhapsodio galaxy v2	15	5
17	perfect seal deca	6	3
18?	beer cap shaped earphone aep-139	15?	1

Thank you Nic, for the read

 

[jmills8]

Noble makes a Vega? Wizard Vega.

 

[twister6]

Campfire Audio Katana

 

[tangents]

Rank #13: Campfire Audio Vega

 

[vulcanprime]

At this rate you should change the thread title to 2017-2018 IEM Flagship shootout. I appreciate the extremely detailed information.

 

[Kerouac]

​

Which meant that:

a) you don't agree
b) you had to sneeze
c) the combination of the above options
d) something else?

 

[twister6]

Which meant that:

a) you don't agree
b) you had to sneeze
c) the combination of the above options
d) something else?

e) constipation.

 

[tangents]

Which meant that:

a) you don't agree
b) you had to sneeze
c) the combination of the above options
d) something else?

"d" — I was just being silly, visualizing the people that selected Vega in the top 5

Actually when Galaxy was compared to Dream with no mention of Vega, I was thinking maybe Vega would be next.

 

[Kerouac]

"d" — I was just being silly, visualizing the people that selected Vega in the top 5

Actually when Galaxy was compared to Dream with no mention of Vega, I was thinking maybe Vega would be next.

Aaah, I see!

I also saw under your profile information that you had (& sold) the Vega, so I though maybe you had a different impression/opinion (which could have been interesting of course) compared to Nic's.

 

[FastAndClean]

​

still not enough bass

 

[DWbirdseye]

I was shattered with the ranking of my deca, and now with my low ranking vega I'm wondering how I can put one foot in front of the other. I'm searching for a safe place, but I'm sensing this shootout represents nothing more than a series of micro-aggressions.

 

[flinkenick]

You know yesterday I was thinking, with Deca down and Vega next, Bob is the real victim of this shootout. True story.

I hope you have a spare bottle of scotch to make it through these challenging times buddy.

 

[tangents]

Don't let them win, Bob. Don't let them win.

 

[Roscoeiii]

I love my Vegas. But considering their unique tuning of the Vegas, I was not surprised. Not to mention how damn good all contenders are.

Also look at the criteria being used to judge, which is also not capturing the unique aspects that characterize DD IEMs. Namely, the dynamics and impact isn't a criteria that is listed.

More surprising is the low score on the bass, which is among the best I've ever heard, in terms of quality of the bass. I'd like to hear more about the rationale behind that score, as the written description in the review seemed to suggest bass that is higher than it was scored.

 

[Ricky64]

I am fairly new to the IEM hobby and this site, but am absolutely loving this thread, and learning a great deal from the shootout. I recently bought the Vega's, and love them, for some of my music. I really enjoy and respect flinkenick's reviews. I've been a long term home audio hobbyist, and have learned an appropriate skepticism for many reviewers. Finkenick has my trust.
A couple of observations about the Vega. I feel the dynamic driver really benefits percussive instruments, and lower register instruments. Guitar, piano, and cello are reproduced beautifully, with texture and weight. In this spectrum, I find the Vega accomplishes the audio nirvana of warmth with detail. I enjoy the "thickness" of the notes in this range.
The aspects of the Vega that I am less enamored by are the slight metallic edge on female vocals, and a rather sudden dropoff of weight/thickness on upper register instruments. For example, higher violin notes, flutes, etc have more shrill characteristics than would be my preference. My guess is that these tones are in the tuned treble range, but don't have the advantage of also containing the compensatory lower frequencies.
I would say that the high rez version of Kind of Blue on my Vega/WM1Z combo gives me chills. Lots of my favorite hard bop albums are perfect with this combo.
I will be keeping and loving my Vegas, but will also be looking for another IEM for some program material and moods.
BTW, I worked a long time to build a home system with warmth and detail. Ultimately found it with Accuphase, Aesthetix, and Focal Utopia in combo.
In summary, the macro and micro dynamics of the Vega are amazing. The inconsistency of "thickness" of sounds as you climb the frequency ladder is problematic for me on some recordings.
For my favorite music, hard bop, it is a winner.

I find it very successful.
Cheers everyone!