[Tiaa]

Did you see on Instagram? I think it's the astra with a blue faceplate. So beautiful. Is there a way to have them Bob?

 

[NellieG]

Did you see on Instagram? I think it's the astra with a blue faceplate. So beautiful. Is there a way to have them Bob?

I'd say there is a way, buy yourself an Opus Melius.

 

[NoaHimesaka]

Oh crap, Astra is worth the hype and wait! It has sparkly vocal like Wraith, but with much better bass and other parts. Staging is outstanding. 360 degree staging. Very wide all way. Bass is not that much but it's still there, good quality. Overall I love this pair of IEMs. And it's much smaller than Mia and much easier to wear. Especially for me who has really small ear. 11/10 for Anime music lovers.

 

[NoaHimesaka]

Did you see on Instagram? I think it's the astra with a blue faceplate. So beautiful. Is there a way to have them Bob?

I would love to see plates with other colors for an upgrade. Love to see other colors like red & pink.

 

[NellieG]

The Encore Pro

YES i want to know what it is !!!

Give me the pills Bobpheous, Mitsubishi don't only make cars, Doves always fly high. Where are all the leakers when you need them?

 

[jon parker]

Oh crap, Astra is worth the hype and wait! It has sparkly vocal like Wraith, but with much better bass and other parts. Staging is outstanding. 360 degree staging. Very wide all way. Bass is not that much but it's still there, good quality. Overall I love this pair of IEMs. And it's much smaller than Mia and much easier to wear. Especially for me who has really small ear. 11/10 for Anime music lovers.

You will see a big change after 120 hours of burn in - Bass really comes alive, mids and highs really start to smooth out and everything starts becoming a bit more cohesive.

 

[holsen]

The Encore Pro

YES i want to know what it is !!!

Give me the pills Bobpheous, Mitsubishi don't only make cars, Doves always fly high. Where are all the leakers when you need them?

ha ha ha ha L O L ....

 

[jon parker]

It seems there's a few of us who proclaim will-power but have no ability to demonstrate it.... Can't wait.
Hey @jon parker you've been a little quiet lately. any further impressions of the Astra?

Hi, was thinking the same thing today !!
Its been a weird one thus far - Ive experienced some specific benefits from each driver at different times during burn but not that much cohesion. For example, I can get insane 3D 5.1 surround sound & clarity but trying to filter swop to bring bass in just muddies it all. I get some better low end but the clarity and special detail goes
UNTIL . . .
Now - post 120 hours of burn in. Ive been trying every possible filter combo - I went back to my Opus Mia and was blown away by how perfectly the highs, mids and lows integrate with each other and work perfectly as a whole. A perfect 'end game' sound for me in every way . . .
Anyway, after a few days I tried a, as yet new combo - gold bottom and black top and THERE IT IS
That 'Special' sound
I had 2 concerns out fo the box - there was not much bass at all and there was a glass like brittle-ness in the high mis / treble
Well the bass has arrived and 99% of the high tone issues has now gone.
The bass is at present a little bit too intrusive - it always makes itself known which can be a bit tiring after while but at least now I can have a big low end without loosing the clarity.

The sub bass has the most incredible texture and the quality of it is out of this world
What I am VERY interested to hear now is how the Astra sounds 300+ and even 500+ hours of burn in later

At the moment it has settled in to reveal itself to be a very special IEM - almost TOO special at times. A little bit TOO good. The 'special-nous' is a bit too much at times o_0 which is why, at least now Im feeling relaxed and confident in the Astra but am looking forward even more so to how they sound once settled in

The Bone conduction is all about 'Experience' With live music the experience is like the FEELING you get at a concert. Its quite addictive .
Ive been waiting to get over 300 hours to start ranting again but this is a good time to comment half way through the initial burn in

I should end by saying though that I have had experiences with the Astra thus far that I have never had before and heard music at a quality that also I have never heard before.
In terms of listening to them I think though these will be for those special times when all the stars align
I mean the quality is almost too good! so being tired or distracted can make them a bit too much ? If that make sense?

 

[jon parker]

regarding the new pro range. I have a vague memory that bob wanted to create a range specially designed for monitoring. To be continued.

Interesting - I asked Bob about Reference headphones or headphones / IEMs for studio, mixing or mastering use as Im sure he could potentially make something incredible.
You can find a couple of affordable headphones (*coughs see my sig) but then as you quickly start leaping into stupid money like the LCD kinda thing
He seemed quite adamant he would never make at least a 'reference' headphone but I think when I talk about a headphone that as a Sound Engineer would be be perfect for me people automatically think or assume that I want or need something flat neutral and 'boring' which isn't actually true.
There is a place and a time for that but what interests me in terms of Bobs abilities is to create / tune to the degree where I can EQ, compress Master, whatever, basically make decisions that will be accurate to what I am hearing and what I wish for for the end result

Edit: This is why I was a bit annoyed when he changed the companies name to IMR PRO - Its only 'Pro' if its used professionally !
In general if you see a bit of kit for audio work that has the word 'Pro' anywhere on it or in its title it is 99% of the time S***t and should be avoided

 

[holsen]

Just Posted this on the on the Shanling M6 Thread Re RAH Custom vs Elysium so I thought I'd share it here too:

As for the Elysium vs RAH Custom, one doesn't sound better than the other. They are two signatures of the same cocktail. I like a good Manhattan neat with a good Rye Whiskey and equally enjoy American Rye almost as much as Canadian Club. The American is deeper, warmer but still foats across the pallet to deliver citrus woody notes. Thats the RAH. The Canadian Club is full and rich but not as warm. It spreads far and wide across the pallet to deliver crystal clear top end with a bit of zing. That's the Elysium.

Turning the RAH into CIEM brought it a bit more warmth without altering the Deep Punch and excellent control from the bass or sub bass. With the Planar + Piezo the RAH has excellent cohesion and reaches both high and low exceptionally well, with buttery smooth mids from that planar connecting it all. Because its in a custom shell, the contact patch has increased, and while that doesn't make up entirely for the missing Bone Conduction, it's close. The Elysium (at 100+ hours) is more neutral. Doent get me wrong. IMRS are not neutral, but its more open, more present in the vocals but both providing the smooth natural fluid sound that only a planar can. I dont think I have a preference. If I had to choose, it would probably be the RAH custom only because of the fit - and it's the RAH custom vs the Elysium that inspired the purchase of the Astra. I think moving forward, I'll likely sell the Elysium (but dont know that yet) simply because of the overlap with the RAH. The Astra will give me the mezmerizing crazy detail presentation + the Bone Conduction and the Electrostat I've needed / wanted to round our my collection.

At the moment, I've got the $320 3DT in my ears and honestly, if this were the only and last IEM I ever got, I'd be perfectly happy - it's that good.

 

[roygbiv6]

Interesting - I asked Bob about Reference headphones or headphones / IEMs for studio, mixing or mastering use as Im sure he could potentially make something incredible.
You can find a couple of affordable headphones (*coughs see my sig) but then as you quickly start leaping into stupid money like the LCD kinda thing
He seemed quite adamant he would never make at least a 'reference' headphone but I think when I talk about a headphone that as a Sound Engineer would be be perfect for me people automatically think or assume that I want or need something flat neutral and 'boring' which isn't actually true.
There is a place and a time for that but what interests me in terms of Bobs abilities is to create / tune to the degree where I can EQ, compress Master, whatever, basically make decisions that will be accurate to what I am hearing and what I wish for for the end result

Edit: This is why I was a bit annoyed when he changed the companies name to IMR PRO - Its only 'Pro' if its used professionally !
In general if you see a bit of kit for audio work that has the word 'Pro' anywhere on it or in its title it is 99% of the time S***t and should be avoided

When mine haven't been in my ears they have been burning in as I am wanting to get to the 300+ hour mark as soon as possible and hear them in their full glory.

I would say there is a plateau around 200 hours where sound has noticeably improved that I am putting down to the estats burning in more.

But I would say that your experience so far reminds me of my time with the Semper. The Astra reminds me a lot of the Semper so I was a bit more ready for them this time. There is a lot to take in both in terms of quantity and quality and it can be like you said too much at times.
There were enough flashes of brilliance with the Semper to make me persevere, but there was a time before they had fully burned in and I hadn't got my head around them where I would put them on and think these sound great but am I enjoying them? I had the same with the Elysium.

I think a degree of brain burn in is required to take it all in too as whatever part of what you are listening to is there in perfection. It took me a while to listen to it all if that makes sense.

 

[roygbiv6]

Just Posted this on the on the Shanling M6 Thread Re RAH Custom vs Elysium so I thought I'd share it here too:

As for the Elysium vs RAH Custom, one doesn't sound better than the other. They are two signatures of the same cocktail. I like a good Manhattan neat with a good Rye Whiskey and equally enjoy American Rye almost as much as Canadian Club. The American is deeper, warmer but still foats across the pallet to deliver citrus woody notes. Thats the RAH. The Canadian Club is full and rich but not as warm. It spreads far and wide across the pallet to deliver crystal clear top end with a bit of zing. That's the Elysium.

Turning the RAH into CIEM brought it a bit more warmth without altering the Deep Punch and excellent control from the bass or sub bass. With the Planar + Piezo the RAH has excellent cohesion and reaches both high and low exceptionally well, with buttery smooth mids from that planar connecting it all. Because its in a custom shell, the contact patch has increased, and while that doesn't make up entirely for the missing Bone Conduction, it's close. The Elysium (at 100+ hours) is more neutral. Doent get me wrong. IMRS are not neutral, but its more open, more present in the vocals but both providing the smooth natural fluid sound that only a planar can. I dont think I have a preference. If I had to choose, it would probably be the RAH custom only because of the fit - and it's the RAH custom vs the Elysium that inspired the purchase of the Astra. I think moving forward, I'll likely sell the Elysium (but dont know that yet) simply because of the overlap with the RAH. The Astra will give me the mezmerizing crazy detail presentation + the Bone Conduction and the Electrostat I've needed / wanted to round our my collection.

At the moment, I've got the $320 3DT in my ears and honestly, if this were the only and last IEM I ever got, I'd be perfectly happy - it's that good.

I wanted to sell the Elysium at around 120 hours too as they just didn't sound good. I would say that they were a chore to listen to around then and I was forcing myself to listen to them. They came together at around 170 hours and they aren't going anywhere now.

I do want to hear the 3DT tho. I have nearly bought a pair a couple of times but its hard to make a case for buying them. I got the KZ DQ6 to hear a 3 dd set up and they were awful out of the box but pretty special after a day of burning. They have a lot of energy so I use them for workouts.

 

[jon parker]

I think a degree of brain burn in is required to take it all in too as whatever part of what you are listening to is there in perfection. It took me a while to listen to it all if that makes sense.

Agreed - That's why Im so happy to own the Astra and Opus Mia - Both equally impressive but in different ways
Like you Im just waiting on teh 300+ mark

 

[cleg]

Next stop is Opus Melius

 

[Jawis]

My Elan is on it's way! So excited had to post!