METAL MAGIC RESEARCH (Thoughts and impressions)
Spent this morning tip rolling with my Thummim and thought I should share my findings given how significantly I’ve been able to improve the sound quality by using the right tip.
I’ve noticed that the Thum is quite sensitive to insertion depth with my ears, and can sound like a completely different IEM depending on whether I use a narrow or wide bore tip. I guess this is true for most IEM’s but I feel like the Thummim is more sensitive than others I’ve tried.
Unfortunately, the stock acoustune tips simply don’t seal at all in my ears. The silicone texture feels firmer and less grippy than other silicone tips I own. Also the narrower bore seems to be attenuating the treble and narrowing the soundstage perception.
So I’ve been rolling between the JVC Spiral Dots, Spiral Dot ++, Azla Sedna Earfit (both light and dark), Xelastec, Symbio Peel, Sony hybrid silicone, e-pro horns, and SpinFit CP100/145/155’s.
After repeatedly rolling between all of these like a mad man, I have settled with the JVC Spiral Dot++. I’ve discovered that wide bore tips are absolutely a must with the Thummim on my ears. As I mentioned above with the acoustune’s, the narrow bore tips all attenuated the treble, narrowed the soundstage, and generally made the Thummim sound too thick and congested. I found that spinfits were the worst culprit.
The Azla Sedna Earfit Lights would be my second choice after the Spiral Dot++, however I did notice that the stiffer silicone material on the Sedna’s were choking the sub bass rumble and making the whole bass presentation a lot more mid bass focused. However the soundstage sounds the most open and expansive with these tips to me.
With the spiral dot++, the soft silicone seals well in my ear which maintains the sub bass, and the wide bore allows for the treble to come through in all its glory. The soundstage sounds slightly narrower compared to the sednas, but it’s still massive compared to the narrow bore tips.
Out of the narrow bore tips, I found the Sony’s to sound the least congested, but it still couldn’t compete with the wide bore spiral dot ++.
Anyway, this is all very subjective as tips are such a personal thing and will depend on your ear anatomy, but I do feel that the Thummim deserves putting in a bit of effort to find the right tip, because once you do, it can sound simply phenomenal. I feel a bit silly for not doing more tip rolling earlier!
I’ve noticed that the Thum is quite sensitive to insertion depth with my ears, and can sound like a completely different IEM depending on whether I use a narrow or wide bore tip. I guess this is true for most IEM’s but I feel like the Thummim is more sensitive than others I’ve tried.
Unfortunately, the stock acoustune tips simply don’t seal at all in my ears. The silicone texture feels firmer and less grippy than other silicone tips I own. Also the narrower bore seems to be attenuating the treble and narrowing the soundstage perception.
So I’ve been rolling between the JVC Spiral Dots, Spiral Dot ++, Azla Sedna Earfit (both light and dark), Xelastec, Symbio Peel, Sony hybrid silicone, e-pro horns, and SpinFit CP100/145/155’s.
After repeatedly rolling between all of these like a mad man, I have settled with the JVC Spiral Dot++. I’ve discovered that wide bore tips are absolutely a must with the Thummim on my ears. As I mentioned above with the acoustune’s, the narrow bore tips all attenuated the treble, narrowed the soundstage, and generally made the Thummim sound too thick and congested. I found that spinfits were the worst culprit.
The Azla Sedna Earfit Lights would be my second choice after the Spiral Dot++, however I did notice that the stiffer silicone material on the Sedna’s were choking the sub bass rumble and making the whole bass presentation a lot more mid bass focused. However the soundstage sounds the most open and expansive with these tips to me.
With the spiral dot++, the soft silicone seals well in my ear which maintains the sub bass, and the wide bore allows for the treble to come through in all its glory. The soundstage sounds slightly narrower compared to the sednas, but it’s still massive compared to the narrow bore tips.
Out of the narrow bore tips, I found the Sony’s to sound the least congested, but it still couldn’t compete with the wide bore spiral dot ++.
Anyway, this is all very subjective as tips are such a personal thing and will depend on your ear anatomy, but I do feel that the Thummim deserves putting in a bit of effort to find the right tip, because once you do, it can sound simply phenomenal. I feel a bit silly for not doing more tip rolling earlier!
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chickenmcnug
Formerly known as 8481
Spent this morning tip rolling with my Thummim and thought I should share my findings given how significantly I’ve been able to improve the sound quality by using the right tip.
I’ve noticed that the Thum is quite sensitive to insertion depth with my ears, and can sound like a completely different IEM depending on whether you use a narrow or wide bore tip. I guess this is true for most IEM’s but I feel like the Thummim is more sensitive than others I’ve tried.
Unfortunately, the stock acoustune tips simply don’t seal at all in my ears. The silicone texture feels firmer and less grippy than other silicone tips I own. Also the narrower bore seems to be attenuating the treble and narrowing the soundstage perception.
So I’ve been rolling between the JVC Spiral Dots, Spiral Dot ++, Azla Sedna Earfit (both light and dark), Xelastec, Symbio Peel, Sony hybrid silicone, e-pro horns, and SpinFit CP100/145/155’s.
After repeatedly rolling between all of these like a mad man, I have settled with the JVC Spiral Dot++. I’ve discovered that wide bore tips are absolutely a must with the Thummim on my ears. As mentioned above with the acoustune’s, the narrow bore tips all attenuated the treble, narrowed the soundstage, and generally made the Thummim sound too thick and congested. I found that spinfits were the worst culprit.
The Azla Sedna Earfit Lights would be my second choice after the Spiral Dot++, however I did notice that the stiffer silicone material on the Sedna’s were choking the sub bass rumble and making the whole bass presentation a lot more mid bass focused. However the soundstage sounds the most open and expansive with these tips to me.
With the spiral dot++, the soft silicone seals well in my ear which maintains the sub bass, and the wide bore allows for the treble to come through in all its glory. The soundstage sounds slightly narrower compared to the sednas, but it’s still massive compared to the narrow bore tips.
Out of the narrow bore tips, I found the Sony’s to sound the least congested, but it still couldn’t compete with the wide bore spiral dot ++.
Anyway, this is all very subjective as tips are such a personal thing and will depend on your ear anatomy, but I do feel that the Thummim deserves putting in a bit of effort to find the right tip, because once you do, it can sound simply phenomenal. I feel a bit silly for not doing more tip rolling earlier!
I have noticed this over the last week as well, was playing around with my tips and found that there was a significant difference in sound like you mentioned.
Ended up with my classic New Bee tips after months of using spinfit/sony tips. Bass definitely hits deeper with wider bores.
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So we also have been included in the 'hush-hush' soon to be revealed latest MMR product launch - review is in the process but trust me, the other side looks even better 
Sound Eq
Headphoneus Supremus
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very interestedSo we also have been included in the 'hush-hush' soon to be revealed latest MMR product launch - review is in the process but trust me, the other side looks even better
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Wait, are we all posting the back-side of the new secret IEM? Give me 5 minutes 
Watermelon Boi
100+ Head-Fier
Recently had a chance to try Thummim and Homunculus. They had those "majestic" looks that I don't recall any IEMs looking unique as these. Although the short session I had, they were both curiously charming in their sounds. Thoroughly, thoroughly impressed. I'm looking forward to the debut of their new model 
The veil has finally been lifted! MMR's brand-new in-ear monitor is, indeed, a top-down revamp of their 5-BA Gáe Bolg. Now, if you're familiar with my impressions of their entire, opening line-up back from the tail-end of 2019, you'd probably know that the original was the model I found least impressive of the bunch by a fair margin. Well, as you'll see from my initial impressions below, the work MMR have put into this redux has certainly - no pun, intended - changed my tune.
Metal Magic Research’s 2020 Gáe Bolg is an in-ear I’d classify as having an articulate, dynamic warmth. It’s chock-full of dense, chesty-sounding instruments that cut back on those brighter, nasally-er, (potentially) shouty-er 3-4kHz frequencies, before achieving their cut from a clear, yet equally-bodied treble; almost like a Marshall cabinet with the Presence knob turned down. It’s not an in-ear for those after tight, truncated, compact-sounding instruments, or those after bright, zingy horn stabs. Yet, because of its quick, snappy mids and its sufficiently-extended treble, it’s capable of superb layering, separation and punch all the same. The lows are on the brighter side with a tight, jab-y mid-bass and a more relaxed sub-bass. Though it isn’t the deepest-sounding IEM I’ve ever heard, it still sports enough stereo spread to fill the head. And, again, it draws detail out of the tiniest crevices about as well as you could expect from a signature like this; slightly better so, even.
As Ryan mentioned, it also sports a silhouette that’s far less out there in terms of its contours, though, as you can see, it surely hasn’t stopped Joseph and co. from getting pretty… creative with the overall design.
So, if you have Christmas funds saved up, and you’re looking for an IEM with exactly the tuning described above, this should very much be a release worth waiting for. If you're interested in more info on the 2020 Gáe Bolg, or you're confident enough in it to place your order, you can do so on MMR's website here: https://metalmagic.co/products/gae-bolg
Look out 'til the end of the month for the first wave of reviews to come out, which reminds me: I gotta get back to work. Cheers!
Metal Magic Research’s 2020 Gáe Bolg is an in-ear I’d classify as having an articulate, dynamic warmth. It’s chock-full of dense, chesty-sounding instruments that cut back on those brighter, nasally-er, (potentially) shouty-er 3-4kHz frequencies, before achieving their cut from a clear, yet equally-bodied treble; almost like a Marshall cabinet with the Presence knob turned down. It’s not an in-ear for those after tight, truncated, compact-sounding instruments, or those after bright, zingy horn stabs. Yet, because of its quick, snappy mids and its sufficiently-extended treble, it’s capable of superb layering, separation and punch all the same. The lows are on the brighter side with a tight, jab-y mid-bass and a more relaxed sub-bass. Though it isn’t the deepest-sounding IEM I’ve ever heard, it still sports enough stereo spread to fill the head. And, again, it draws detail out of the tiniest crevices about as well as you could expect from a signature like this; slightly better so, even.
As Ryan mentioned, it also sports a silhouette that’s far less out there in terms of its contours, though, as you can see, it surely hasn’t stopped Joseph and co. from getting pretty… creative with the overall design.
So, if you have Christmas funds saved up, and you’re looking for an IEM with exactly the tuning described above, this should very much be a release worth waiting for. If you're interested in more info on the 2020 Gáe Bolg, or you're confident enough in it to place your order, you can do so on MMR's website here: https://metalmagic.co/products/gae-bolg
Look out 'til the end of the month for the first wave of reviews to come out, which reminds me: I gotta get back to work.
Cheers!
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mvvRAZ
Headphoneus Supremus
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/razs-totl-review-and-rambles-thread.916021/page-75#post-16037001
Here go my impressions of the Gae Bolg!
Here go my impressions of the Gae Bolg!
normie610
Headphoneus Supremus
The veil has finally been lifted! MMR's brand-new in-ear monitor is, indeed, a top-down revamp of their 5-BA Gáe Bolg. Now, if you're familiar with my impressions of their entire, opening line-up back from the tail-end of 2019, you'd probably know that the original was the model I found least impressive of the bunch by a fair margin. Well, as you'll see from my initial impressions below, the work MMR have put into this redux has certainly - no pun, intended - changed my tune.
Metal Magic Research’s 2020 Gáe Bolg is an in-ear I’d classify as having an articulate, dynamic warmth. It’s chock-full of dense, chesty-sounding instruments that cut back on those brighter, nasally-er, (potentially) shouty-er 3-4kHz frequencies, before achieving their cut from a clear, yet equally-bodied treble; almost like a Marshall cabinet with the Presence knob turned down. It’s not an in-ear for those after tight, truncated, compact-sounding instruments, or those after bright, zingy horn stabs. Yet, because of its quick, snappy mids and its sufficiently-extended treble, it’s capable of superb layering, separation and punch all the same. The lows are on the brighter side with a tight, jab-y mid-bass and a more relaxed sub-bass. Though it isn’t the deepest-sounding IEM I’ve ever heard, it still sports enough stereo spread to fill the head. And, again, it draws detail out of the tiniest crevices about as well as you could expect from a signature like this; slightly better so, even.
As Ryan mentioned, it also sports a silhouette that’s far less out there in terms of its contours, though, as you can see, it surely hasn’t stopped Joseph and co. from getting pretty… creative with the overall design.
So, if you have Christmas funds saved up, and you’re looking for an IEM with exactly the tuning described above, this should very much be a release worth waiting for. If you're interested in more info on the 2020 Gáe Bolg, or you're confident enough in it to place your order, you can do so on MMR's website here: https://metalmagic.co/products/gae-bolg
Look out 'til the end of the month for the first wave of reviews to come out, which reminds me: I gotta get back to work.
It looks like an IEM which I can buy based on aesthetics alone
I guess this one would go head to head with Fir’s VxV. Look forward to that comparison.
It looks like an IEM which I can buy based on aesthetics alone
They're definitely lookers, indeed. I don't think I can get the VxV in in time for a comparison in the Gáe Bolg review, but the latter will surely appear in a future VxV review, whenever that is in the future.
Craftsman1511
100+ Head-Fier
The veil has finally been lifted! MMR's brand-new in-ear monitor is, indeed, a top-down revamp of their 5-BA Gáe Bolg. Now, if you're familiar with my impressions of their entire, opening line-up back from the tail-end of 2019, you'd probably know that the original was the model I found least impressive of the bunch by a fair margin. Well, as you'll see from my initial impressions below, the work MMR have put into this redux has certainly - no pun, intended - changed my tune.
Metal Magic Research’s 2020 Gáe Bolg is an in-ear I’d classify as having an articulate, dynamic warmth. It’s chock-full of dense, chesty-sounding instruments that cut back on those brighter, nasally-er, (potentially) shouty-er 3-4kHz frequencies, before achieving their cut from a clear, yet equally-bodied treble; almost like a Marshall cabinet with the Presence knob turned down. It’s not an in-ear for those after tight, truncated, compact-sounding instruments, or those after bright, zingy horn stabs. Yet, because of its quick, snappy mids and its sufficiently-extended treble, it’s capable of superb layering, separation and punch all the same. The lows are on the brighter side with a tight, jab-y mid-bass and a more relaxed sub-bass. Though it isn’t the deepest-sounding IEM I’ve ever heard, it still sports enough stereo spread to fill the head. And, again, it draws detail out of the tiniest crevices about as well as you could expect from a signature like this; slightly better so, even.
As Ryan mentioned, it also sports a silhouette that’s far less out there in terms of its contours, though, as you can see, it surely hasn’t stopped Joseph and co. from getting pretty… creative with the overall design.
So, if you have Christmas funds saved up, and you’re looking for an IEM with exactly the tuning described above, this should very much be a release worth waiting for. If you're interested in more info on the 2020 Gáe Bolg, or you're confident enough in it to place your order, you can do so on MMR's website here: https://metalmagic.co/products/gae-bolg
Look out 'til the end of the month for the first wave of reviews to come out, which reminds me: I gotta get back to work.
Holy..! Is that texture on the shell real or photo edited? Crazy good vibes on this one. This is definitely on my wishlist without even reading about the SQ!
It's been enhanced in the photo, mostly because I don't have a 150mm macro lens or something to naturally capture the almost-powder-coat-look of the anodised finish. But, as you can see on the Gáe Bolg's official photos on MMR's site, the texture's definitely there.
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