[davescleveland]

I'm running pb1 and halcyon out of my iPhone via dragonfly cobalt and iAudioGate. I have to say I think I like the pb1 better. Both are on black black. The drums sound thumpier on pb1. Still playing around with it so I don't know but man is it good. Still have to compare to ISN h40 which I love

 

[monsieurfromag3]

Thanks for sharing that, I've always wondered how IMRs sound against top tier IEMs such as the Sony ier-m9, IER-Z1R, 64Audio 12Ut...
I have the Rah and enjoy listening to it a great deal. I am aware however that it probably doesn't come close to TOTL IEMs.
I was thinking of one day getting the Sony IER-Z1R and to be done with this all but if the Semper can be close to or as good as for a fraction of the price, I'd rather do that.

Honestly the IMR come very close on technicalities to $1000 iems - and trounce them on expressivity. I’ve tried the Meze Rai Penta, Campfire Andromeda, Noble Kaiser, to me what these iems do is play back sound with great precision and transparency. But music? That’s an entirely different thing.
I often get along better with mid-range offerings, I’d rather lose detail if it earns me MOAR EMOTION. The Semper may well combine everything.

 

[monsieurfromag3]

I find Sabre sound to work well for me too as it is ussually quite airy and open sounding. This works with my typeof iems as i ussually go for warmer type. I have v30 which as a phone is extremely good. Then dx228 takes it to another level. Specially when amp8 beefs lower end well.
I am definately going with ess9038pro for my desktop dac

Btw anyone ordered Thieaudio Monarch or Clairvoyance?
Just curious how they compare to IMR sound. as they seem to be similar tuning.
At least looking at graphs briefly

Yeah I’m constantly looking at sources, especially since I will switch phones soon, and the DX220 is one the few DAPs I’ve heard under $3K that made a real difference vs the V30.

 

[hlee227]

I find Sabre sound to work well for me too as it is ussually quite airy and open sounding. This works with my typeof iems as i ussually go for warmer type. I have v30 which as a phone is extremely good. Then dx228 takes it to another level. Specially when amp8 beefs lower end well.
I am definately going with ess9038pro for my desktop dac

Btw anyone ordered Thieaudio Monarch or Clairvoyance?
Just curious how they compare to IMR sound. as they seem to be similar tuning.
At least looking at graphs briefly

And an ex owner of RAH, currently I am in love with Monarch, tho with PB1 and Halcyon, I think RAH is sooooo 2019 XD
Overall, I personally had more fun with Monarch than RAH, but your millage may vary as I am a treble head and enjoy bright signature.

I am more curious on how halcyon currently performs and how are those EST drivers are at

 

[Skullar]

Honestly the IMR come very close on technicalities to $1000 iems - and trounce them on expressivity. I’ve tried the Meze Rai Penta, Campfire Andromeda, Noble Kaiser, to me what these iems do is play back sound with great precision and transparency. But music? That’s an entirely different thing.
I often get along better with mid-range offerings, I’d rather lose detail if it earns me MOAR EMOTION. The Semper may well combine everything.

Again. I find nothing wrong with Rah at its price on a contrary, it was such a jump from Zeniths i would not call it mid fi. I actually sold CA Atlas as i preferred Rah by a long shot.

Semper has a good chance make the same jump from Rah.

I like where IMR is going. What i meant was in my currect circumstances in no rush to buy new iems. So i think i will give it time for Pro line up to settle in.

currently I am in love with Monarch,

Interesting. I did not analise the graph much but i thought they will be smoother treble too.

 

[hlee227]

Again. I find nothing wrong with Rah at its price on a contrary, it was such a jump from Zeniths i would not call it mid fi. I actually sold CA Atlas as i preferred Rah by a long shot.

Semper has a good chance make the same jump from Rah.

I like where IMR is going. What i meant was in my currect circumstances in no rush to buy new iems. So i think i will give it time for Pro line up to settle in.

Interesting. I did not analise the graph much but i thought they will be smoother treble too.

I really enjoyed Zenith xD I still have it~ tho it get over shadowed by other iems but I still have it

Semper could be good and I hope it is as big boys need to know that underdogs are catching up.

For Monarch, it does have splashy treble which goes well with the mid range and glorified subbass extension, where RAH upper mid didnt do it for me but i really did enjoy RAH bass

Overall I really hope IMR kills it with Semper

 

[holsen]

Again. I find nothing wrong with Rah at its price on a contrary, it was such a jump from Zeniths i would not call it mid fi. I actually sold CA Atlas as i preferred Rah by a long shot.

Semper has a good chance make the same jump from Rah.

I'm total agreement with you on that. Irrespective of price, I don't find the RAH a mid-fi player at all. It punches way above its weight. And now we're getting the first reports that PB One surpasses it at the same money, but that the newly announced Opus Mia, is another jump yet again. That being the case I'm super tempted to sell my beloved RAH to help finance either Opus or Semper. I mean, RAH / PB One are soooo good, that even a marginal gain through Opus will be worth the wait and the leap to Semper should be monumental, but alas, there's the $$$ and a Covid Economy. Hmmm what to do, what to do?

 

[Skullar]

I'm total agreement with you on that. Irrespective of price, I don't find the RAH a mid-fi player at all. It punches way above its weight. And now we're getting the first reports that PB One surpasses it at the same money, but that the newly announced Opus Mia, is another jump yet again. That being the case I'm super tempted to sell my beloved RAH to help finance either Opus or Semper. I mean, RAH / PB One are soooo good, that even a marginal gain through Opus will be worth the wait and the leap to Semper should be monumental, but alas, there's the $$$ and a Covid Economy. Hmmm what to do, what to do?

If you are looking to upgrade. From my point of view, Semper is a no brainer ifyou have a discount code.

Honestly i had my money on Semper all this time. But when it was announced that it will only be released in 2021 i splashed somewhere else.
If i knew that i will be able to pay up for it in july i would have just waited for sure.

But, it all was a bit unstable with thos covid.

I actually was lucky to get back to work early and did not suffer finacially that much. Some of my friends businnesses are still shut and taking a hit so i feel what you are saying.

There is always an option to wait for a used Semper to surface after it was released.

where RAH upper mid didnt do it for me

This i actually one thing that Rah has got wrong. It was just too shouty at times.

 

[RagnarL]

Folks, who have Halcyons, what are your impressions of the opened and closed filters on the back cover? Which one do you prefer?

 

[davescleveland]

So I succumbed like I knew I would and placed my semper order

 

[monsieurfromag3]

I never link music outside specific threads where I know many will enjoy it. This is just an epic showcase for IMR iems - deep thumping bass, aggressive rhythm nonchalantly delivered, vocals so moving and perfectly pitched. Epic and laid-back, simultaneously.

The track was released seven months ago... Summer in the Southern hemisphere... The epitomy of our Northern summer born old.

 

[NellieG]

@monsieurfromag3 i try to limit linking to music (if you can believe that) and you never know someone somewhere may find a new genre to love.

 

[monsieurfromag3]

@monsieurfromag3 i try to limit linking to music (if you can believe that) and you never know someone somewhere may find a new genre to love.

Very true!

 

[NellieG]

Folks, who have Halcyons, what are your impressions of the opened and closed filters on the back cover? Which one do you prefer?

It’s so peculiar that hardly anybody mentions this aspect.

I can only compare it to (whilst also not owning halcyon) the Zenith where the change is not a huge one and barely perceptible.

 

[NellieG]

Very true!