[DrewVz]

Curious what others are feeling about the upcoming Titan. From the specs, I'm starting to wonder how the bass will compete with Zenith II (14.2mm DD) and even Semper (15mm DD older tech), both of which have terrific bass quality and quantity. Yet, the description page claims that the Titan will have "thunderous" bass with an 11mm DD. I'm hoping to be impressed, but I'm not sure. One thing I will say that I'm happy about is that Bob seems to be re-using the ACE shell shape, which I find to be extremely comfortable. Not quite as light or comfy as the Zii shells, but overall I give them two thumbs up.

The Zii is just such a fun IEM I'm finding myself listening to it more than my Semper, even though the Semper is by all accounts a superior IEM in just about every category. But the Zii is just so addicting. Slightly heavier bass with more impact, super crisp, airy highs and excellent imaging (not nearly as good as Semper). Overall it's just a really appealing sound signature that entices me to keep listening. And listening... Definitely the most engaging IEM I've had the pleasure of listening to.

As I said, Semper is just better in almost every category. But because it's so "perfect", it is almost boring in a way. When I have them in my ears, I want to dissect the music rather than just experience it. Not sure how else to say it.

The ACE is good in its own right, and in many ways is superior to Zii. But the frequencies are slightly out of balance, the sharpness is very high, but not balanced with the atmosphere, resulting in an odd soundstage. But it's super accurate and clean, although the coloration isn't quite up to snuff. Even cheap single DDs have better instrument accuracy.

In all, I still keep the Zii in my ears more than any other IEM. You can sit back and just relax, or listen to the detailed highs, or experience the pounding bass. Really a great multitasker.

 

[NellieG]

Tuning IMR like

 

[bk123]

Curious what others are feeling about the upcoming Titan. From the specs, I'm starting to wonder how the bass will compete with Zenith II (14.2mm DD) and even Semper (15mm DD older tech), both of which have terrific bass quality and quantity. Yet, the description page claims that the Titan will have "thunderous" bass with an 11mm DD. I'm hoping to be impressed, but I'm not sure. One thing I will say that I'm happy about is that Bob seems to be re-using the ACE shell shape, which I find to be extremely comfortable. Not quite as light or comfy as the Zii shells, but overall I give them two thumbs up.

The Zii is just such a fun IEM I'm finding myself listening to it more than my Semper, even though the Semper is by all accounts a superior IEM in just about every category. But the Zii is just so addicting. Slightly heavier bass with more impact, super crisp, airy highs and excellent imaging (not nearly as good as Semper). Overall it's just a really appealing sound signature that entices me to keep listening. And listening... Definitely the most engaging IEM I've had the pleasure of listening to.

As I said, Semper is just better in almost every category. But because it's so "perfect", it is almost boring in a way. When I have them in my ears, I want to dissect the music rather than just experience it. Not sure how else to say it.

The ACE is good in its own right, and in many ways is superior to Zii. But the frequencies are slightly out of balance, the sharpness is very high, but not balanced with the atmosphere, resulting in an odd soundstage. But it's super accurate and clean, although the coloration isn't quite up to snuff. Even cheap single DDs have better instrument accuracy.

In all, I still keep the Zii in my ears more than any other IEM. You can sit back and just relax, or listen to the detailed highs, or experience the pounding bass. Really a great multitasker.

Thank you for sharing a good brief review of Z-II. I know sound is very subjective and depends on lots of things like recording source, genre, good seal and so on. Just wondering whether you found any peak in 5-6Khz in Zenith-II. A few of fellow head-fiers shared their impression on probable hot treble in Z-II though.

 

[dakchi]

24h after I posted my impressions of ZII and Ace and said that I much prefer Ace, things have changed. Now it is Zenith II that I prefer over Ace. It is crazy how 24h of additional burn-in can change the sound. Using foam tips has also made a big difference. Comparing the 2 again, Zenith has a very good bass and treble. I would put the sound of Zenith in a separate category compared to other IMR IEMs. It does indeed sound like if I was listening to a vinyl, but sometimes it is hot in treble. I couldn't find a solution to that. Ace on the other hand sounds kind of dark compared to Zenith II. Separation of notes is not good on Ace. Sometimes everything is mixed together. I will give more burn-in to Ace and then decide what I will do with it

 

[paggio]

Bob seems to be re-using the ACE shell shape

it's tritely more convenient economically use the same shell indeed almost all last imr iems using shells that were developed in the past: EDP ACE, Sheraph, Seraph+, Elan+, Titan, they all share first EDP shell. Zii have Ozar's shell. Only Na-Le is something new, but they have less complex shapes and the number of produced is big.

I'm starting to wonder how the bass will compete

Bespoke big driver I'm sure will deliver a huge quantity of bass because they are faster than other DD.

But the frequencies are slightly out of balance, the sharpness is very high

What is your source?

 

[galushsen]

it's tritely more convenient economically use the same shell indeed almost all last imr iems using shells that were developed in the past: EDP ACE, Sheraph, Seraph+, Elan+, Titan, they all share first EDP shell. Zii have Ozar's shell. Only Na-Le is something new, but they have less complex shapes and the number of produced is big.

Bespoke big driver I'm sure will deliver a huge quantity of bass because they are faster than other DD.

What is your source?

OG EDP and EDP Ace are completely different shells, the same as Avalon and DM. They are just visually similar

 

[fablestruck]

Separation of notes is not good on Ace

Not my experience.
Haven't listened to Zenith 2 but I believe the difference you are noticing has to do the wider soundstage maybe Z2 has in comparison to ACE. But I would insist that ACE is anything but unresolving.

 

[ExTubeGamer]

My Z2 had a short moment of bliss. The sound quality suddenly massively improved. A few hours later this achievement was gone. So I decided to send my Z2 to the burning-in rig and use my SOG instead. Let's say a hundred hours more burn-in should make a difference on the Z2.

 

[paggio]

OG EDP and EDP Ace are completely different shells, the same as Avalon and DM. They are just visually similar

I have Avalon and now listening to DM. They almost the same. Avalon are slightly bigger

As well as Rah n PB1 and DM are almost the same

 

[curicat]

Separation of notes is not good on Ace

But I would insist that ACE is anything but unresolving.

I would partially agree with both of you

On it's own resolution is pretty good, but comparing to other resolving iems it's pretty far from the best (especially timeless and avalon).

 

[bk123]

Sorry for spaming this thread. But I couldn't stop myself to post this beautiful rendition. It is one of the example of how even a simple arrangemet with a fewer instruments makes music so beautiful. The singer Morralala Marwada is folk singer in the western state of Gujrat, India famous for singing folk songs of one the greatest sufi poet Sant Kabir. Hope you enjoy this; subtitles included in the video.

 

[dharmasteve]

Sorry for spaming this thread. But I couldn't stop myself to post this beautiful rendition. It is one of the example of how even a simple arrangemet with a fewer instruments makes music so beautiful. The singer Morralala Marwada is folk singer in the western state of Gujrat, India famous for singing folk songs of one the greatest sufi poet Sant Kabir. Hope you enjoy this; subtitles included in the video.

I never knew of Morralala Marwada or Maati Baani, enjoyed it a lot and listened to some of their stuff afterwards, love the deep lyrics of the poetry.

 

[fablestruck]

I would partially agree with both of you

On it's own resolution is pretty good, but comparing to other resolving iems it's pretty far from the best (especially timeless and avalon).

Depends on how you define separation or resolution.
I have timeless and in my opinion it is high range forwardness which adds a perception of resolution. But focus on midrange and ACE is a better performer.

 

[curicat]

Depends on how you define separation or resolution.

For me it's the amount of micro details I hear under normal listening conditions, i.e. without trying to hear them deliberately. That's resolution. And separation is how much imaginary space is between the instruments, though I wasn't really commenting on separtion.

To my ears Ace is not exactly great at both. When listening to it, I don't feel like I lack any, but when directly comparing to other IEMs, then personally I hear quite a difference. And you are correct that it's subjective difference. At the same time I would argue that when it comes to sound, subjectivity is all that matters. And it's pretty clear even from this thread, that sometimes people hear the same iems completely differently for various reasons.

 

[fablestruck]

For me it's the amount of micro details I hear under normal listening conditions, i.e. without trying to hear them deliberately. That's resolution. And separation is how much imaginary space is between the instruments, though I wasn't really commenting on separtion.

Agreed on these definitions. Interestingly to my ears Timeless (on ballanced-output) is great on separation as you define it. But whole frequency range details, no, ACE sounds fuller in resolution (Think analogously a higher resolution TV).
Maybe is a filter thing. Most probably you've already tried it but black-gold and wide bore silicone tips works well with ACE.