[Rockwell75]

That's what she said...

 

[ian91]

Come on lads, new page (2129), new leaf...ok?

 

[gLer]

And we wonder why there are so few female audiophiles

 

[ranfan]

Spoiler: DD

Got to try at the store today. Man, Isabel was awesome! It wasn't hard to drive, but it scaled well with stronger amps. I tried it with my phone, PEE51, SP2000, and DX300. And it improved consequentially. DX300 medium gain at 40 was my personal favorite.
First, some basics:
- It has a giant 9.8mm dynamic driver handling all frequency
- 4.4mm plug, with cable resembling the ALO Smoky Litz of Campfire
- A frequency range of 10Hz up to 40kHz
- Described as equipped with a custom inertial dynamic driver unit with CCAW (?) voice coil, and some weird magnetic stuff
- 30 ohm impedance
- 13 gram per side
Fit felt very comfortable, you can see how snug it is on her

Spoiler: Fit

ear

Onto the sound. This has got to be the best single DD application I've heard. From the bass to treble. The careful minute attention to detail to the sound tuning is just incredible. The Old Man did it again.
The bass sounded full, complete without sacrifice throughout the range (sub, mid, upper). And the size was huge too, with plenty of meat/body or density contained inside. It arched with quantity something like 4.5/5 for sub, 5/5 for mid, 4/5 for upper bass. An elegant balance.
Speaking of elegance, vocals sounded very realistic and clear. Mids were really beautiful, with slight tendency to the brighter side in tone, albeit having enough warmth and weight in the lower mids. Not submerged/drowned by the bass. The Isa I think has a somewhat w-shaped sound overall. But with the bass and treble slightly more elevated than the mids. It didn't sound v-shaped to my ears. Very coherent due to it being a 1 driver, and highly resolving. A18t level stuff resolution. Coming from a single DD. So yeah, amazeballs. That said, it doesn't have a large soundstage, more medium sized. More deep than wide. And with weaker source like my phone, I could hear some ch, ts sound being slightly too much. Possibly due to lift in its lower treble area. But with a higher powered output, it's no longer the case. Especially with a warmer source.

Regardless of price the Isa is right up there in my estimation. And for less than $700 too, that's just bonkers

 

[ranfan]

Such a reasonable price...I suspect this or Senny's new one will be my next IEM.

I tried the IE900 too at the store.
It has a good punchy bass. But the mids felt off, and the treble a bit spiky.

 

[aaf evo]

Spoiler: DD

Got to try at the store today. Man, Isabel was awesome! It wasn't hard to drive, but it scaled well with stronger amps. I tried it with my phone, PEE51, SP2000, and DX300. And it improved consequently. DX300 medium gain at 40 was my personal favorite.
First, some basics:
- It has a giant 9.8mm dynamic driver handling all frequency
- 4.4mm plug, with cable resembling the ALO Smoky Litz of Campfire
- A frequency range of 10Hz up to 40kHz
- Described as equipped with a custom inertial dynamic driver unit with CCAW (?) voice coil, and some weird magnetic stuff
- 30 ohm impedance
- 13 gram per side
Fit felt very comfortable to my ears, you can see how snug it is on her

Spoiler: Fit

ear

Onto the sound. This has got to be the best single DD application I've heard. From the bass to treble. The careful minute attention to detail to the sound tuning is just incredible. Regardless of price, the Isa is high up there in my estimation. The Old Man did it again.
The bass sounded full, complete without sacrifice throughout the range (sub, mid, upper). And the size was huge too, with plenty of meat/body or density contained inside. It arched with quantity something like 4.5/5 for sub, 5/5 for mid, 4/5 for upper bass. An elegant balance.
Speaking of elegance, vocals sounded very realistic and clear. Mids were really beautiful, with slight tendency to the brighter side in tone, albeit having enough warmth and weight in the lower mids. Not submerged/drowned by the bass. The Isa I think has a somewhat w-shaped sound overall. But with the bass and treble slightly more elevated than the mids. It didn't sound v-shaped to my ears. Very coherent due to it being a 1 driver, and highly resolving. A18t level stuff resolution. Coming from a single DD. So yeah, amazeballs. That said, it doesn't have a large soundstage, more medium sized. More deep than wide. And with weaker source like my phone, I could hear some ch, ts sound being slightly too much. Possibly due to lift in its lower treble area. But with a higher powered output, it's no longer the case. Especially with a warmer source.

Regardless of price the Isa is right up there in my estimation. And for less than $700 too, that's just bonkers

From a tonal standpoint, how does it compare to the Traillii?

 

[xenithon]

Spoiler: DD

Got to try at the store today. Man, Isabel was awesome! It wasn't hard to drive, but it scaled well with stronger amps. I tried it with my phone, PEE51, SP2000, and DX300. And it improved consequently. DX300 medium gain at 40 was my personal favorite.
First, some basics:
- It has a giant 9.8mm dynamic driver handling all frequency
- 4.4mm plug, with cable resembling the ALO Smoky Litz of Campfire
- A frequency range of 10Hz up to 40kHz
- Described as equipped with a custom inertial dynamic driver unit with CCAW (?) voice coil, and some weird magnetic stuff
- 30 ohm impedance
- 13 gram per side
Fit felt very comfortable to my ears, you can see how snug it is on her

Spoiler: Fit

ear

Onto the sound. This has got to be the best single DD application I've heard. From the bass to treble. The careful minute attention to detail to the sound tuning is just incredible. Regardless of price, the Isa is high up there in my estimation. The Old Man did it again.
The bass sounded full, complete without sacrifice throughout the range (sub, mid, upper). And the size was huge too, with plenty of meat/body or density contained inside. It arched with quantity something like 4.5/5 for sub, 5/5 for mid, 4/5 for upper bass. An elegant balance.
Speaking of elegance, vocals sounded very realistic and clear. Mids were really beautiful, with slight tendency to the brighter side in tone, albeit having enough warmth and weight in the lower mids. Not submerged/drowned by the bass. The Isa I think has a somewhat w-shaped sound overall. But with the bass and treble slightly more elevated than the mids. It didn't sound v-shaped to my ears. Very coherent due to it being a 1 driver, and highly resolving. A18t level stuff resolution. Coming from a single DD. So yeah, amazeballs. That said, it doesn't have a large soundstage, more medium sized. More deep than wide. And with weaker source like my phone, I could hear some ch, ts sound being slightly too much. Possibly due to lift in its lower treble area. But with a higher powered output, it's no longer the case. Especially with a warmer source.

Regardless of price the Isa is right up there in my estimation. And for less than $700 too, that's just bonkers

Dear heavens that sounds enticing. Been thinking about the possibility of a single DD. Nothing in the market talked to me until the IE 900 announcement. And that was sorely tempting. But now this thing appears. And the OCD appeal of an every-day Oriolus to partner the dedicated listening Traillii...

 

[Rockwell75]

Spoiler: DD

Got to try at the store today. Man, Isabel was awesome! It wasn't hard to drive, but it scaled well with stronger amps. I tried it with my phone, PEE51, SP2000, and DX300. And it improved consequently. DX300 medium gain at 40 was my personal favorite.
First, some basics:
- It has a giant 9.8mm dynamic driver handling all frequency
- 4.4mm plug, with cable resembling the ALO Smoky Litz of Campfire
- A frequency range of 10Hz up to 40kHz
- Described as equipped with a custom inertial dynamic driver unit with CCAW (?) voice coil, and some weird magnetic stuff
- 30 ohm impedance
- 13 gram per side
Fit felt very comfortable to my ears, you can see how snug it is on her

Spoiler: Fit

ear

Onto the sound. This has got to be the best single DD application I've heard. From the bass to treble. The careful minute attention to detail to the sound tuning is just incredible. Regardless of price, the Isa is high up there in my estimation. The Old Man did it again.
The bass sounded full, complete without sacrifice throughout the range (sub, mid, upper). And the size was huge too, with plenty of meat/body or density contained inside. It arched with quantity something like 4.5/5 for sub, 5/5 for mid, 4/5 for upper bass. An elegant balance.
Speaking of elegance, vocals sounded very realistic and clear. Mids were really beautiful, with slight tendency to the brighter side in tone, albeit having enough warmth and weight in the lower mids. Not submerged/drowned by the bass. The Isa I think has a somewhat w-shaped sound overall. But with the bass and treble slightly more elevated than the mids. It didn't sound v-shaped to my ears. Very coherent due to it being a 1 driver, and highly resolving. A18t level stuff resolution. Coming from a single DD. So yeah, amazeballs. That said, it doesn't have a large soundstage, more medium sized. More deep than wide. And with weaker source like my phone, I could hear some ch, ts sound being slightly too much. Possibly due to lift in its lower treble area. But with a higher powered output, it's no longer the case. Especially with a warmer source.

Regardless of price the Isa is right up there in my estimation. And for less than $700 too, that's just bonkers

Damn...I think you just sold me on this.

 

[RTodd]

lmao

"If you're going after the Clitoris make sure you've got a big DAC to do the job right."

And use your case.

 

[snapandslide]

From a tonal standpoint, how does it compare to the Traillii?

Really interesting to know too! Be a good to get a taste of the bird sound (obv not going to be anywhere near the rest of the Bird qualities).

 

[xenithon]

@ranfan I don't suppose you got to spend enough time with it to get a feel for whether it may be fatiguing? The one thing I always worry about is pressure in my ears (which is why I used 64A with Apex for so long) and the thought of a big DD, and without a visible port of any sort, scares me.

 

[ian91]

Wouldn't turn down a DD bird! Sounds just up my street

 

[bluestorm1992]

Wouldn't turn down a DD bird! Sounds just up my street

C9 + Isabellae has been immensely popular in Chinese C9 user group.

1DD scales up BIG with power.

 

[aaf evo]

C9 + Isabellae has been immensely popular in Chinese C9 user group.

1DD scales up BIG with power.

Is someone using a shielded 1950s on that IEM?

 

[ian91]

C9 + Isabellae has been immensely popular in Chinese C9 user group.

1DD scales up BIG with power.

Thanks for the tease!

I've no doubt it scales. The 3DT + M8 + C9 is an absolutely incredible combination to my ears. So much rich body to the mid & low end, and then from my phone + BTR3K...so meh.