Traillii vs Mason FS, a strength of the Traillii is that it plays all genres of music well. Leading to this comparison; what various tracks sounded like to me using both IEMs. I did not focus on technicalities or trying to explain them. I was influenced by the recent graph discussion on the Oriolus Traillii thread, cannot unlearn that.
Remembering the fitting words of
@Rockwell75 in reference to the late hype train for the Mest OG “Bone Conductor, something, something, something…” there is “something” going on in the upper mids and highs they sound (maybe even feel) kind of tingly to me.
Traillii and the Mason FS are priced the same, the Mason FS being a limited edition, a standard lower priced version is available, still priced in the upper echelon of IEMs. I believe these both pair well with the P6 Pro. For me the edge goes to the Traillii, the Mason FS just does not have the bass presentation it should have for the price, in my opinion, it has the volume and does create rumble, it lacks control and does not stay put, bass is also a little slow for my taste.
I can see the Mason FS being a good choice for some, if the music that they listen to takes advantage of the strengths of the Mason FS and does not have too much of a negative impact from the bass presentation. On some tracks the slow bass added some gravity to the song.
Volume matching was close here with the P6 Pro on high gain, Traillii 27, Mason FS 30.
Suphala: album The Now, this album is centered around the tabla and percussion, where the quite often electronic drums of dance music are partly replaced by the persistent rhythms of the tabla and other live percussion sounds. This music is quite dynamic with a wide range of instruments vocals and electronic tricks going on.
Track: Secret Language, includes the tabla, various sounds, piano, flute, horns, and fretless bass.
Traillii presents, space and more space between the instruments, percussion never gets painful, bass in the sub region is evident and stays there. The timbre of the tabla high note hits makes me smile.
Mason FS bass is more assertive, slower, encroaches on the mids, though does have nice volume. Piano is a bit further back and more drowned out. The high treble of the flute is nice to my ears. Drums sound slightly less crisp. Not as much instrument separation as the Traillii.
For this music I preferred the Traillii that said the Mason FS flute solo work here sounded better on the Mason FS than it did on the Traillii.
Vladimir Horowitz: album Mozart Piano Sonatas
Track: Piano Sonata #3 Rondeau Allegro
Mason FS the piano has a bit more vibrato, Mason FS seems to be tuned for this. Note weight is good, the high register comes off with great authority. The low keys and low mid bass keys are more present than they are on the Traillii. Looking forward to other people diving more into this type of music with more experience than I have who can better describe how the Traillii and Mason FS handles this kind of music.
I preferred the Mason FS, not by a large margin.
Bill Evans: album Sunday At The Village Vanguard
Track: Gloria’s Step Take 2, Live recording, Piano, Standup Bass, Drums wire brush, wine glasses, chairs moving around, talking.
Mason FS piano high register is clear, lower register and bass mingle a bit too much, snare and symbols remain on top. The Mason FS creates a bit more bass rumble than the Traillii does. The noises from the Village Vanguard are more noticeable, colliding a bit more with the stage, you can more clearly hear sounds like Bill moving on his bench.
Traillii bass notes are fast with good decay, there is more air in the track than with the Mason FS, the piano upper register has less volume. The atmosphere of the Village Vanguard is outside the space of the musicians, creating a feeling of sitting at one of the tables sipping a glass of red, hearing some of the best music ever recorded.
I preferred the Traillii on this track.
Tool: album 10,000 Days
Track 10,000 Days (Wings Part 2), song starts out with a bass line, symbols and a building thunderstorm. What follows a long build up is mania, with muted stretched chords, driving bass, one of my favorite percussion sounds the tabla makes an appearance, at least that is what it sounds like.
Traillii has less bass volume, Mason FS bass notes and thunder hit harder decay slower, making it more ominous sounding. As the guitars stretched notes come in, they are drowned out, it is only when the guitars frequency increases that the guitar comes a little more forward. As the song builds and the vocal volume raises as well as the drumming picks up, guitar starts to rip, the advantages of the Traillii approach becomes apparent.
On this track I preferred the Traillii although I did enjoy that more ominous sounding intro.
Herbert Von Karajan: Berlin Philharmonic album: Holst The Planets
Track: Op.32. H125 – Mars, The Bringer Of War
This is a track that many are familiar with. Traillii plays this track very well, Mason FS in contrast takes the strings and horns a little further. More visceral. The bass bleed that burdens other genres has less impact here, nevertheless, is still present and in this case lifts what is there which I liked.
This one goes to the Mason FS.
Pallers: album The Sea Of Memories
Track: Another Heaven, this is an atmospheric track, electronic keyboard, and restrained vocals, those familiar with the later two albums of the band Talk Talk will find some similarity here.
Traillii is perfect for this track, the bass implementation is beautiful to hear. Mason FS also plays the track well, the vocals come of slightly better on the Mason FS, and some of the higher register electronic sounds shimmer a bit more.
On this track it is a toss up.
The Mason FS loan period is over for me, it heads back to Andrew today. It has left an impression on me. I am already missing the unique presentation.
