[Mimouille]

You are correct and I will be happy to do that...need to experiment with tips and allow my head some adjustment time, then I will A/B for you

I'll give you 10mn.

 

[fuhransahis]

I'll give you 10mn.

10 months?

 

[kakistos]

I just joined the Atlas team... I haven't even heard it yet but I'm really looking forward to doing the review on this based on all of the comments I see.

It seems they're using a different twisting method for the cable just like what they did to the polaris' cable. Feels and looks better imo, wish it was the same on the litz 4.4mm balanced cable I purchased a few weeks back. Would purchase an updated litz again just so I don't have to untangle them every time.

 

[fritz1234]

I'd like to try these. I'll wait

 

[subguy812]

So people are actually spending thousands on these things. Times have changed. I remember when $300US was very expensive for headphones.

I had serious buyers remorse when I bought the Westone UM3X... Which was my first"big" purchase

 

[kukkurovaca]

Was there ever an answer about the nickel question/what kind of steel is used?

 

[subguy812]

It seems they're using a different twisting method for the cable just like what they did to the polaris' cable. Feels and looks better imo, wish it was the same on the litz 4.4mm balanced cable I purchased a few weeks back. Would purchase an updated litz again just so I don't have to untangle them every time.

I really like this cable, nice ergonomics. When I go for my morning walk, tomorrow, I will check for cable noise etc..

 

[ExpatinJapan]

So what's the thread consensus on favorite tips?

Thanks for the PM today.

Got me having a look at a few tips.



I wasnt having much luck with my usual size of JVC Spiral tips and went a size or so smaller. That was good.
No driver flex or suffocation of the music to zero. Also inserted easily for both Comet and Atlas.

Ortofon was also good, slight cone shape. A bit thin in the lows but other wise great and comfortable.

I dug out some Echobox Finder tips - the cone shaped ones. They seemed ok for fit and sound.

Some small double flanges also worked well. Good seal. Great music accuracy.

I tried some foams that were cone shaped and they were good.
I’m not a foam tip user though. Just for science.

Short and fat EB and Foams didnt work.

i also tried the symbio Mandarine tips but didnt have success. I find they are great with the Dorado and ok with the Vega.



I dont have the supplied Final Audio tips with me today but did have a good experience with them at the Tokyo show.

I have different sized ear canals
So sometimes i need a L in one ear and a M in the other for instance.



For example with JVC Spiral Dots I went from my usual L and ML to ML and M sizes.

 

[David Reeves]

In regards to tips, I'm personally firmly in the silicone camp. Foams work well but make my ears sore so I generally never use them. Spinfits, and the included Final tips are my personal two favorites for these. I've oddly had some weird issues where inserting causes a bit of a vaccuum or some kind of pressure that is muffling sound. I've had to insert more deeply into my ear and play with them a bit to get a stable seal that doesn't affect sound. I've never eexperienced this before these, though I suspect it has more to do with my ears than anything to do with the headphone. Once situated they are fine.

 

[Currawong]

The Andromeda is NOT by any stretch disappointing. If your focus for music is purely bass then get an Atlas, the Vega I found to be really v-shaped with too bright highs, great bass, but mediocre highs and poor, recessed mids

What music and tips were you getting bright highs with? I think it's critical to consider what music you like above all else. I've found the Atlas is great with acoustic music, but modern, compressed and distorted music with unpleasant highs aren't a good match, as the Atlas is brighter than the Vega.

So what's the thread consensus on favorite tips?

Roughly so far:
Foamies: Reign in the bass and treble a bit.
Final Type E (included): Extend out the bass.
Spiral dots: Slightly more treble/less bass, but very clean.

The bore size difference between the Final Type E and Spiral dots is huge, but it didn't end up sounding as different as I had expected from experience with dynamic driver IEMs.

What I find them similar to is the HiFiMan RE2000 in both tonality and clarity. However that IEM tends to be super picky about what tips it works with, whereas the Atlas doesn't seem to.

 

[supervisor]

has anyone used Atlas directly out of iPhone X yet?

 

[subguy812]

When my Atlas arrived I immediately went for the Final Audio tips and haven't tried any others. Generally speaking my go to tip is the JVC Spiral Dot tip. I am a huge fan of the Final Audio tips as well and used them exclusively with the Zeus, for example, as I found the narrower bore gave me a less abrupt sound. I always get a good seal with either of the two mentioned above. I have a large ear hole so I generally use the largest size available. I can tell you with the Zeus I used the next size down Final Audio, from the largest, and received better bass because of the deeper insertion, but it is not a bass heavy IEM by any stretch of the imagination. Because of that, I went for the largest Final Audio's for Atlas as it doesn't appear to need any bass assistance. Symbio(Mandarin) give me an inconsistent seal, they receive great comments for sound quality on Andromeda. I generally don't like foamies and believe it or not, have struggle achieving a good seal. I started to think, what does Ken prefer, what were his thoughts when he said ah hah, I am ready to release my latest masterpiece? I know it hasn't been released very long so there may still be a lot of trial and error and tip rolling occurring. I brought the question to the thread for opinions.

I will probably try the Spiral Dots today as I envision the wide bore could be advantageous to the sq, I have ML and L on hand. Please understand, I am only encouraging thought and am not struggling with the Atlas and it's sound or comfort. I only have about one hour of listening time so I will not give a solid commentary on my thoughts, as a reviewer I am cautious. I will say I can certainly hear the technical merit in the Atlas and get the vibe that they are truly a labor of love. I want to make sure I am achieving the experience that Ken intended.

 

[Bones13]

I used foam tips at Axpona, with good enough results to order this IEM (its not like I need another pair),and generally like small Comply Comfort tips. I have liked silicone tips with some of the smaller IEMs, and might find a good set in the sets included with the cans.

My Atlas is at my local FedEx depot. Kudos to the CampFire Audio support folks for getting them here for me today for a trip this weekend. Very nice people! I hope to do some listening this weekend with my Sony DAP. Main comparison will be to JHAudio 13 (v1).

 

[subguy812]

There have been some questions as to how large they are and how they sit in the ear. l am using the Final Audio tips on my morning walk/run and this is how they look.

 

[subguy812]

I also introduced them on my blog...