[hi-fi amateur]

Those are two pretty good IEMs to emulate.

 

[pomegren8]

From your comment, you probably liked V-tuning so, the forward vocal is what you didn’t find it with your taste, so it is understandable, each one got their own favorite That forward vocal is rather standard tuning across Moondrop’s house sound, so I find it be more suitable. Did you removed whole dumper filters (iron+mesh) or just outer iron part? I tried both, and once all filters are removed the sound went out of control, the mesh filter needs to stay to keep minimum compliance.

There will be a tonal difference by changing cable I’d suggest just try and you will notice. Either SE or balanced, stock cable is not recommended. It only tune Aria to Harman curve with sacrifice of muffled midrange.

What do you mean by V-tuning? I'm not a fan of V tunings. Especially when vocals start to sound recessed and I don't like elevated bass especially when it starts to get muddy or bleed in the mids, especially with faster music. (as an example I did not enjoy the blon bl 03, bass too elevated for anything imho)

I prefer my SSR over the Aria. (both have been burned in well btw almost 100 hours if not more)

The Aria is just there for the wider soundstage (altho sometimes I find it kind of a faux width extension and imaging isn't as precise as the SSR). Instruments really suffer with the Aria when there's a singer in the very center image as I feel the Aria is tuned for the vocal intimacy as it really excels by separating the vocals from the mix (a little too much sometimes). Hence the sense of thinness in the mix when listening to the Aria.

But with less busy tracks, such as violins or pianos and acoustic instruments, the Aria seems to be okay for those kinds of timbres. Also for certain tracks like Rage Against the Machine (self titled album), the Aria gives a better sense of space and is more enggaging while the SSR just flattens the stage of the mix. But for the most part I still prefer the tuning and presentation of the SSR most of the time as it just is a more cohesive with the mix as a whole.

The Starfield with its warmth would have been nice if it wasn't smeared with the details and slower and muddier bass. I'm still interested in the KXXS, but maybe I should check out something else more different and cheaper first to widen my options (rather than a sister of the Aria) like the HZSound Heart Mirror which I heard has good mids, controlled bass and pretty much neutral with a slightly less bright presentation compared to the SSR). and apologies if it's inappropriate to mention another brand in this thread.
Or maybe I should start with some cable upgrades first? any suggestions on what kind of specs or even brands to look out for?

I removed the iron grill but not the mesh underneath. I think I read it somewhere on a youtube comment or here somewhere, not sure if it was from you that it was just out of control with both filters out. Anyways, I'll try to give it another go sometime to see what happens with other genres. Last night was just a quick test for me with prog metal tracks, coldplay, and kurt elling.

 

[nymz]

Crinacle's Variations Unboxing

 

[FastAndClean]

treble seems to be extended, good implementation of the electret drivers, big sub bass lift, looking good so far

 

[Apex Eight]

Sidenote for anyone here just for Blessing 2 lol. I EQed them to Dusk using these settings using PEQ on my Qudelix 5K. Enjoying them a lot and it's nice to be able to switch between the two.

 

[Banbeucmas]

treble seems to be extended, good implementation of the electret drivers, big sub bass lift, looking good so far

Ngl, that's an incredibly clean graph.

 

[morndewey]

Crinacle's Variations Unboxing

Fortunately, no premature death-by-Crin

 

[drspeter]

Graph looks really tempting. But collecting some early impressions says Variation doesnt look like an killobuck slayer though.

 

[hi-fi amateur]

^ Impressions from where?

 

[SteveK27]

Graph looks really tempting. But collecting some early impressions says Variation doesnt look like an killobuck slayer though.

That may be true, but you need to understand Moondrop's standpoint where they are effectively trying to fill in the void to compete in the mid $400~500 market.

The Variations is $460 in China, which clearly shows their intent in trying to provide a competent mid-range iem.

Crinacle stated the Variations to have a higher resolution over Oracle, which in and of itself is an accomplishment.

I'll be getting my Variations sometimes next week and I'll be providing my own review then.

 

[mico1964]

Crinacle's Variations Unboxing

Any of you have information about when ShenzhenAudio will begin shipping?

 

[nymz]

Graph looks really tempting. But collecting some early impressions says Variation doesnt look like an killobuck slayer though.

Well, just read a comment from BGGAR stating "Oracle or Clair >EJ07 > Variations > Monarch". If it performs better than monarch for 200+ usd less, then they probably done something right

Edit: nvm, he just switched variations and monarch order...

 

[etlouis]

Looks like Dusk V2.0. Slightly more V-shaped than its earlier brethren.

Bass is about 2-3dB higher than usual. A little more than Dusk. I hope the bass has good timbre.

At around 200hz which is where vocals would be... I would be a little worried about vocal thinness. Which was already an issue with B2 / B2Dusk.

I think all in all it depends whether fans would enjoy the 3khz and 6khz peaks. It can be said that 4khz-8khz to be the Moondrop house sound and their "Diffused-field tuning" on top of their presentation of the Harmon Standard. If we took out the 3/6 peaks we would arrive at something like a QDC tuning, which I'm fond of as well. Probably getting into the realms of "Total Inoffensiveness". Of course there are well established opponents in this arena: Andromeda / QDC Anole VX / Dunu SA6.

Eventually I would like to see Moondrop release a TOTL iem with those peaks removed. Slap a better DD and cable in there. I would then order a custom and retire from the hobby forever.

 

[SilverEars]

variations measurments looks better than what Moondrop posted earlier. Is this the lowest priced iem that includes EST?

 

[Banbeucmas]

variations measurments looks better than what Moondrop posted earlier. Is this the lowest priced iem that includes EST?

I believe EST 112 is cheaper at about 4x0$ ish