Hi guys, i received mine yesterday and decided to post my
straight ootb impressions. Please don't misinterpret, this is not a review. It's just my reaction after a few hours of listening to them. They wowed me and i wanted to share my thoughts. Also please consider this is just my opinion
Just to give some context: I love bass (specially sub bass) and a little emphasis on upper mids, but i am a little allergic to treble and bright signatures. My favorite iems (till i tried these) were the Sony XB90EX and the Trinity Delta V-II.
[COLOR=000000]Overview[/COLOR]
Proceeding then. As you all have analyzed, i concluded that the order of the filters were:
Front nozzles (from higher to lower in treble):
[COLOR=0000FF]Blue[/COLOR] >
Black > [COLOR=00CC00]
Green[/COLOR] > [COLOR=A9A9A9]
Grey[/COLOR] >
[COLOR=FF0000]Red[/COLOR] >
[COLOR=EE82EE]Pink[/COLOR]
Rear ports (from higher to lower in bass):
[COLOR=FF0000]Red[/COLOR] >
Black >
[COLOR=0000FF]Blue[/COLOR]
The only thing weird i found is that the little guide that comes with the earphones to actually explain this wasn't included. Only a folded manual with the warranty and such.
Another weird thing is that although the pink filter is supposed to be the one with less treble, it still seems to have a spike around 8-9 kHz. I tested with Red Velvet's Cool World and sibilance is there alright (on the "sss" and "shhh" sounds). Not to worry because i hated that filter anyway lol it could be that it is faulty but i looked and the damper is there. It seems fine at least.
[COLOR=000000]Cable[/COLOR]
Let's start with the cable.
The cable makes me a little nervous. Not really the cable itself because it has good quality. The chin slider scares me to dead. It pressures the cable so much that i just let it be. The jack is awesome, may be a little bulky for a portable solution but this is also good in terms of resistance.
The main thing that worries me are the MMCX connectors. It is a fact that MMCX sucks, period. With time the connectors deteriorate and a new cable is not always the solution. However, i think that, like all iems, with careful of usage, this doesn't have to happen.
Another thing that usually happens with MMCX is the poor contact after a while. This can be the main weakness of the cable because this is usually solved by manufacturers by keeping the cables connected with locks or other mechanisms. These ones though rotate free like the Shures iems.
Other than that i love the cable and the MMCX has the advantage that there are tons of aftermarket cables if something happens to this one. What's really really important is not to damage the earpiece connectors.
[COLOR=000000]Sound[/COLOR]
Well, let me refer to some individual filters.
| |
| [COLOR=FF0000]Red[/COLOR] | This one is the most impressive one hands down! LZ really aced the bass on this. The sub bass is amazing and mid bass is just perfect. I mean it! There's enough to make the boom i want without getting the mids out of the way too much. This also has to do with the fact i really love bass.Those sweet vibrations made me smile at work like i never did Bass texture is impressive! The soundstage that this provokes if off the charts but i'll get to that later. |
| Black | Now this one has kind of the same level of sub bass of my XB90s but more mid bass. I won't say it's always better than my XB90s according to my tastes but it certainly is most of the times. Since they aced the mid bass in the reds and this one has still more than my XB90s, it sure surprised me a lot. |
| [COLOR=0000FF]Blue[/COLOR] | This one is for the flat lovers. Still not flat though but all the mid bass is removed. Needless to say this one didn't really appealed me still a good signature for combo. |
[TH] [/TH]
[TH] Rear ports [/TH]
| | |
|---|
| [COLOR=0000FF]Blue[/COLOR] | This seems to be the most edgy one. When the Trinity Delta was released i didn't stand the purple filter (which was the most bright one). With this one though, i can live with. Although it's the brighter nozzle, it still presents so much respect for the volume comparing to the other frequencies that i really have to applaud.I think their intention was to make it flatter and balanced so people could hear the treble details in a non intrusive way.I'll go even further, it made me like treble and think twice about my allergy to those frequencies. Again, super impressed The soundstage on these is also amazing because of the clarity. It feels like a live concert since the clarity is so present and yet, non aggressive. It feels amazing that i can feel myself in a huge space if i close my eyes. |
| Black | These seem to be a little bit more controlled, still giving you the sparkle that you deserve. It also seem to reproduce a huge soundstage as well. I noticed that they are forward around the female vocal area (2 kHz) and also a little bit further in order to produce that sense of space (around 4 kHz). This is super clever, it's like an extension to vocals that also captures some of the lightest treble your ear can easily live with ending up with an extended spectrum that doesn't hurt your ears. Serious engineering here. |
| [COLOR=00CC00]Green[/COLOR] | These are the black but a little more intimate. The soundstage is narrower but the vocals are still forward. You have the ability to choose if you want to listen to your singers in a large concert hall or in an exclusive room. I feel so privileged Also, try to listen to some acoustic guitar in these and you'll be in heaven (seriously, it's super good with acoustic strings). |
| [COLOR=A9A9A9]Grey[/COLOR] | This is the one that is meh, it's still enjoyable but since it closes the treble so much, the vocals become affected. Songs start to sound all the same from here on. It may be more appreciated during some afternoons where i don't really want that huge detail in treble, like to just relax and pay attention to nothing. Don't take me wrong, it's still good, it just doesn't retrieve the same detail of the ones above. It works well with strong and powerful voices where the sound is more organic and richer. |
| [COLOR=FF0000]Red[/COLOR] | Hmm, okay this one is too congested for me. I know i'm allergic to treble but this is on another level. I learned that i really need treble to make a music work. It's funny because i refer to this as clarity, but it's all the same thing. Clarity is just treble done right for me. |
| [COLOR=EE82EE]Pink[/COLOR] | Well, no. Lol i'm confused. It's an unnatural sound. It has no treble but it has some spikes that really brings out the sibilance in a track. This was really messy. I don't want this filter lol |
[TH]Front nozzles [/TH]
[COLOR=000000]Some combos i liked (notating as [Back port]/[Front nozzle])[/COLOR]
Ok so this wasn't that hard
firstly, my favorite combo is, of course the Red/Black.
[COLOR=FF0000]Red[/COLOR][COLOR=000000]/Black[/COLOR]
I mean this is so perfect. The bass is, and i state again, perfect. Sub bass in super quantity and mid bass in the absolutely right quantity as well. The texture is just amazing. This combined with the forward female vocals and a little extension to that to produce a realistic soundstage make this my dream signature. It is just that good.
I always knew that sub bass is essential to a good soundstage (the XB90s don't have a wonderful soundstage by accident) but what impressed me the most was that little extension from 2 kHz to 4 kHz, such a huge difference.
[COLOR=FF0000]Red[/COLOR]/[COLOR=00CC00]Green[/COLOR]
Really close to the previous but, as stated above, it becomes more intimate. This is where the bass preferences vary through the day. Since it doesn't have a super soundstage like the previous signature, it may not be necessary to have such amount of bass. Never worrying though, the black rear port was invented for a reason
The bass produced by the red back port it's never too much though.
Due to its intimacy, it becomes perfect with string acoustic instruments like the acoustic guitar and the violin. Seriously, it's so good. The bass is super fun on those fully acoustic songs with many instruments.
[COLOR=000000]Black/Black[/COLOR]
This was also awesome. After listening to the Red/Black combination, it makes me wanting a little more bass. But for a more calm session, ballads for example, it works even better because it takes a little bit of the mid bass compared to the red back port. I will use this once in a while for vocal sessions, i'm sure of it. When the beat comes in you can feel it strong thanks to the sub bass and, at the same time, non intrusive and perfectly aligned. Loved it.
[COLOR=000000]Black/[/COLOR][COLOR=00CC00]Green[/COLOR]
Again, really close to the previous but more intimate. Since the mid bass is a little less like the previous case, it turns out to be perfect in acoustic songs with little instruments. 1 or 2 guitars and a sweet voice. I'm probably gonna find more uses to this
[COLOR=FF0000]Red[/COLOR][COLOR=000000]/[/COLOR][COLOR=0000FF]Blue[/COLOR]
Just a last one, this is the edgiest one. It works well on many genres but, you have to make sure that the recording has super quality. It's unforgiving with bad quality files.
I can't listen to this combo for too long though, i'm a little sensitive to all what's going on. However, it produces a full experience - wonderful bass (this makes your volume controlled), mellow mids and slightly forward female vocals and, finally, full treble extension. It's still v-shaped though, which means that it may be a little harsh sometimes.
[COLOR=000000]Soundstage[/COLOR]
I referred the soundstage through the sections above. Let me just add that i usually try to listen to a concert in order to see how the iems behave besides the usual files.
I listened to this using my FiiO K1 on the computer with the red back port and black front nozzle. It really was like having a full sound system inside my ears (it really sounded like that).
Seriously, good sub bass quantity and texture combined with well tuned treble does wonders. I was super impressed.
[COLOR=000000]Final thoughts[/COLOR]
I'm definitely keep these. The twin BA that this has is really well tuned and even if you put your ear next to it without filter, you'll find that it is really made for this type of sound signature. The filters are just little adjustments.
This is what a BA sound should be in my opinion. Till this day, i was always afraid of BAs because of how aggressive they were (i tried a few), well not anymore, now i know it's possible.
I take my hat off to whoever tuned these. I was reluctant to give so much money for these but i'm more than happy. No more iems for me, not for a long time at least.
A toast for a long life on these
Yes the A4 are certainly better than the Pros BUT they aren't GIGANTICALLY better. The A2 Pro is rather formidable on its own. Less definition, smaller soundstage and with a somewhat over all darker signature, but still quite good. My wife would steal the Pros in a minute being a bass head.....