Introducing Vokyl & The Erupt Headset

[AudioManNewb]

The headband on my 2nd pair(my original backer pre-order) is really tight and has no stretch for some reason. I emailed them about it, and got no response yet. Seems to be a dead company, now that the campaign has closed. Since I've gotten pretty deep into the IEM world lately, I've been using IEMs for gaming, which absolutely sound better than the Erupt and headphones around its price... But I still feel the Erupt has top-notch sound in the headphone world at its price, or at least great potential with some EQ sweat. Though, for a basic user(FPS gamer) who just wants something good all-around out of the box, I'd say get an HD660.

What IEM's do you use because I am looking into trying some out or ordering some CIEM's?

 

[CT007]

What IEM's do you use because I am looking into trying some out or ordering some CIEM's?

Are you specifically looking for IEMs for gaming? Or anything/everything? For CIEMs of what I've tried, there's only Legacy 3(or 4), which I wouldn't quite put in my Top 3 IEM list. Most recently I've been using ZAX & YBF for music/gaming, and Shuoer Tape Pro only for gaming(these have painful shell edges, and aren't great for music).

My current top 5 IEM recs, in no order, would probably be...
- FiiO FD5 (incredible bass(best I've heard in an IEM, easily), vibrant & full sound, crisp detail, imaging/separation & soundstage(11/10 for gaming), but generally bright, and a bit sharp around the lower treble. If you're looking for a really special, unique sounding IEM that amazes me nearly every listen, you have found it. When the aliens invade, I'm taking FD5 and YBF)
- BGVP DM8 (Buttery smooth, low fatiguing yet still engaging sound. Excellent balance, separation, resolution and natural tone. Pretty much perfect mids & treble(probably the nicest I've heard in an IEM so far), and very solid BA bass)
- FiiO FH3 (great sound overall; excellent bass & mids. But treble often gets too harsh/aggressive, they are weighty in the ears, and have small/average soundstage with not much shimmer/sparkle)
- Urbanfun YBF (*beryllium version, if you want to test your luck/effort into chasing this legendary animal down; I'm not even sure which version I have, though. Great bass, balance, with good stage(nice for gaming!) & mostly smooth top end.)
- KZ ZAX (incredible sound from a KZ! Very nice treble detail & refinement, solid bass, good tone/realism.)
*YBF vs ZAX. YBF = dryer, less splashy/bright/fatiguing, bass quality & extension feels slightly better, less resolution, more stage, warmer, and less natural sounding. I consider them equally good, with obviously different strengths/weaknissis. I would keep YBF, for better stage, fit, and less fatigue)

My next-down 3 would probably be...
- LZ A7 (They sound excellent, very sweet & pleasant, with tons of customizabilitynesses, highly neutral with the correct tuning setup. I think DM8 sounds better at this price mark, more realistic and lively/less dry and less peaky. With the config I like(gold-pop), cymbals and bass sound a little funny/soft/lifeless. All of the tuning options can be either a good or bad thing; I can't say I'm much of a fan of it)
- ThieAudio Legacy 3 (Quite nice, smooth sound and fit with some beefy low end, but with a kind of a dulled, unusual tone that's too far from natural sounding. Enjoyed them for a long time before losing the love)
- KBear Believe (An FH3 Extreme; same great qualities in a stronger V, but too much bass pressure/fatigue (and treble peak?) to be enjoyable)

 

[AudioManNewb]

Are you specifically looking for IEMs for gaming? Or anything/everything? For CIEMs of what I've tried, there's only Legacy 3(or 4), which I wouldn't quite put in my Top 3 IEM list. Most recently I've been using ZAX & YBF for music/gaming, and Shuoer Tape Pro only for gaming(these have painful shell edges, and aren't great for music).

My current top 5 IEM recs, in no order, would probably be...
- FiiO FD5 (incredible bass(best I've heard in an IEM, easily), vibrant & full sound, crisp detail, imaging/separation & soundstage(11/10 for gaming), but generally bright, and a bit sharp around the lower treble. If you're looking for a really special, unique sounding IEM that amazes me nearly every listen, you have found it. When the aliens invade, I'm taking FD5 and YBF)
- BGVP DM8 (Buttery smooth, low fatiguing yet still engaging sound. Excellent balance, separation, resolution and natural tone. Pretty much perfect mids & treble(probably the nicest I've heard in an IEM so far), and very solid BA bass)
- FiiO FH3 (great sound overall; excellent bass & mids. But treble often gets too harsh/aggressive, they are weighty in the ears, and have small/average soundstage with not much shimmer/sparkle)
- Urbanfun YBF (*beryllium version, if you want to test your luck/effort into chasing this legendary animal down; I'm not even sure which version I have, though. Great bass, balance, with good stage(nice for gaming!) & mostly smooth top end.)
- KZ ZAX (incredible sound from a KZ! Very nice treble detail & refinement, solid bass, good tone/realism.)
*YBF vs ZAX. YBF = dryer, less splashy/bright/fatiguing, bass quality & extension feels slightly better, less resolution, more stage, warmer, and less natural sounding. I consider them equally good, with obviously different strengths/weaknissis. I would keep YBF, for better stage, fit, and less fatigue)

My next-down 3 would probably be...
- LZ A7 (They sound excellent, very sweet & pleasant, with tons of customizabilitynesses, highly neutral with the correct tuning setup. I think DM8 sounds better at this price mark, more realistic and lively/less dry and less peaky. With the config I like(gold-pop), cymbals and bass sound a little funny/soft/lifeless. All of the tuning options can be either a good or bad thing; I can't say I'm much of a fan of it)
- ThieAudio Legacy 3 (Quite nice, smooth sound and fit with some beefy low end, but with a kind of a dulled, unusual tone that's too far from natural sounding. Enjoyed them for a long time before losing the love)
- KBear Believe (An FH3 Extreme; same great qualities in a stronger V, but too much bass pressure/fatigue (and treble peak?) to be enjoyable)

I saw those Fiio FD5 where getting great reviews do those provide any isolation or are they open backed?

 

[CT007]

I saw those Fiio FD5 where getting great reviews do those provide any isolation or are they open backed?

They're "semi-open", which is probably why they have such good separation, imaging & soundstage. Most IEMs aren't noise cancelling, so usually not full silence. These aren't like wearing Stax or AD900X, where you can hear totally through.

 

[AudioManNewb]

They're "semi-open", which is probably why they have such good separation, imaging & soundstage. Most IEMs aren't noise cancelling, so usually not full silence. These aren't like wearing Stax or AD900X, where you can hear totally through.

Sweet something is better than nothing. I see you have the vokyl what do you think of those headphones? I have not heard anything good about them.

 

[CT007]

I see you have the vokyl what do you think of those headphones? I have not heard anything good about them.

Haha, well they don't sound perfect! (and they sound terrible with stock pads) But what does at such a price..? Not even IEMs yet. Erupt has some very good qualities, like the soundstage, deep bass, vivid sound and detail. The problem is balance and a big dip in the mids, that you probably wouldn't notice in-game. You can EQ to repair it, if you like. Overall, I think it's a pretty cool headphone compared to the hum-drum Sundara, DT990, HD599, X2 etc out there from all the big companies, and I love that it's designed for gaming/soundstage in a regular "non-gaming" headphone. It should have turned out better, and I hope they make an Erupt 2 that is. I'll always support a quality/hifi, positional audio oriented headphone like this, being sold for a fair price(unlike the ridiculous LCD-GX), since there are so few still.

 

[AudioManNewb]

Haha, well they don't sound perfect! (and they sound terrible with stock pads) But what does at such a price..? Not even IEMs yet. Erupt has some very good qualities, like the soundstage, deep bass, vivid sound and detail. The problem is balance and a big dip in the mids, that you probably wouldn't notice in-game. You can EQ to repair it, if you like. Overall, I think it's a pretty cool headphone compared to the hum-drum Sundara, DT990, HD599, X2 etc out there from all the big companies, and I love that it's designed for gaming/soundstage in a regular "non-gaming" headphone. It should have turned out better, and I hope they make an Erupt 2 that is. I'll always support a quality/hifi, positional audio oriented headphone like this, being sold for a fair price(unlike the ridiculous LCD-GX), since there are so few still.

Seems like it could have been something but covid ****ed them pretty bad. As for what I'm looking for anything really. Currently looking ar the Beyer TYGR 300 R, Shure 1540 fumbled around with the idea of IEM's. I bought the Final Audio VR3000 iem and compared them to the Final Audio Sonorous III. Being able to here the direction and how far or near was better and easier to discern on the IEM.

 

[CT007]

Seems like it could have been something but covid ****ed them pretty bad. As for what I'm looking for anything really. Currently looking ar the Beyer TYGR 300 R, Shure 1540 fumbled around with the idea of IEM's. I bought the Final Audio VR3000 iem and compared them to the Final Audio Sonorous III. Being able to here the direction and how far or near was better and easier to discern on the IEM.

Pretty sure all of the Erupt stuff happened pre-covid. I got mine in October 2019, I wanna say, and ordered them early 2018 or so.

If you're reaching around the $500 range, I think HD660 are a great pick(wish I had one now). Or possibly the GL2000, though I've never heard it, so it may not be great for soundstage and depth and such. On the very affordable end, AD700X/900X are always a really exciting headphone for gaming, that I'll never sell. Definitely not much a fan of the 300 R, since they still have that same, typical, uber dry and bright Beyer sound, and comfort sucks. I would grab an 880 for Beyer, or 1990(or pass entirely).

 

[CT007]

Now that I have a Bifrost 2 and G111, my Erupt sounds amazing... o_o I liked it before, but it's like 4x better now. Zero complaints. Permanent collection headphone, along with AD700X/900X.

 

[Twizzleshnizzle]

Hey all, just trying the Erupt for the first time today. I expected these to sound pretty divisive. Overall I think they're decent sounding, and they're really responsive to pad swapping. I've been trying my perf. leather ZMF Aeolus pads on them and they work well (very similar pads to the Dekoni perf. Beyer). In all honesty I think these might be better for music/movies than for gaming, the tuning for gaming is a bit too dark and is easily beaten by the Sennheiser PC38X (just going for gaming headsets).

Biggest issue, well the pads are pretty cheap and nasty, but by far the very worst thing (that I cannot believe they supplied with this headset!!!) is the cables. Wow, they're shockers. I thought Hifiman was bad, these are atrocious. There was no point in developing this as a gaming headset, to then include a mic'd cable this bad. They were almost on to something with this headset, and the pads I can excuse. But the stock cables makes them a complete no go for me, they're not easy to replace, in fact having a mic attached to a dual 2.5mm input is impossible to replace. Real shame as I like them otherwise.

 

[Twizzleshnizzle]

Quick follow on to my last post. ZMF Perforated Universal Suede earpads work really well with these. They're pricey but if you're paying for the Dekoni then I honestly think the perf suede are a step up again in honing the tuning and well worth it. Helped clean up the muddy vocals that the leather was causing. The only downside, they are quite loose, but a stitch or two to tighten the opening of the earpad should sort that out. I'll try to get my hands on some decent velour pads to try as well.

 

[Twizzleshnizzle]

Last earpad update from me, the Balanced Velour pads that come with the Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro work well also (the Analytical pads not so much - Analytical are the ones with just 4 holes in the back of the pad). Obviously reduce the bass, but the vocals become much cleaner without destroying the low end or mids. Makes them much better for gaming I think.

 

[CT007]

. But the stock cables makes them a complete no go for me, they're not easy to replace, in fact having a mic attached to a dual 2.5mm input is impossible to replace.

Hart Audio cable + ModMic (or desk mic), easy.

Stock cables are a total joke, agreed I really hope they make another, higher-end "gaming" headphone, with no corner-cutting BS this time. I'm 100% supporting more stuff like this.

 

[Twizzleshnizzle]

Hart Audio cable + ModMic (or desk mic), easy.

Stock cables are a total joke, agreed I really hope they make another, higher-end "gaming" headphone, with no corner-cutting BS this time. I'm 100% supporting more stuff like this.

Seems the Hart cables are out of stock. I think the expense of a Hart cable and the modmic are a bit excessive in this case.

Agreed, no corner cutting would be lovely. I have an Audeze LCD GX arriving very soon, let’s see how that compares. For now back to the SHP9500 and boom mic.

 

[CT007]

I think the expense of a Hart cable and the modmic are a bit excessive in this case.

You're just making up for the corner-cutting they did, and you can use the ModMic/desk mic for any other phones.

GX, cool! Wish I could hear it! It's HD660 (& K712) for me for now =p