[Bitsir]

Its not really that. They just have a kind of odd sound in the midrange that can come across as muffled. That is not to say they are bad, because they arent. Its just that on first listening to them, they definitely sound "off" a little bit. However, a few minutes with them and everything feels natural and normal and they are a very enjoyable listen.

Ah okay. Hmm.

So what could it be then? Maybe having 2 drivers and no crossover lend to an indistinct quality to the sound. Our ears are most sensitive to the mid frequencies and any oddities (no crossover) there are readily picked up.

Zeos from Z Reviews described the mid-range as a sort of pleasant but weird echo which most likely is a result of a slight time delay from having 2 different driver types of different distance and size reproducing the same frequencies twice.

 

[mashuto]

Ah okay. Hmm.

So what could it be then? Maybe having 2 drivers and no crossover lend to an indistinct quality to the sound. Our ears are most sensitive to the mid frequencies and any oddities (no crossover) there are readily picked up.

Zeos from Z Reviews described the mid-range as a sort of pleasant but weird echo which most likely is a result of a slight time delay from having 2 different driver types of different distance and size reproducing the same frequencies twice.

Yea it's possible it's some slight phase issues due to different drivers and no crossover, though that in an of itself isn't necessarily a negative (as has been seen from the likes of the Andromeda gold).

However, don't take this as a negative. The cupid is a pretty unique iem and had a unique sound and is really technically capable especially for the price. It's just that timbre is slightly odd in the midrange, so it doesn't quite sound "normal" at first listen. But given a minute or two on the ears it sounds quite nice and is a rich full sound.

 

[ChrisHeld1989]

Is it possible that there are frequencies in the mids that cancel each other because of drivers playing it at the same time but not in phase? Or maybe the problem not having a crossover with different driver technologies. The dynamic driver has some distorions that the planar don't have and this distorions cancel out some frequencies in the mids. Maybe i'am wrong. But this two therories of the wierd mids comes to my mind. I'am sorry for my bad english i have some problems with languages (dyslexics).

 

[Bitsir]

Is it possible that there are frequencies in the mids that cancel each other because of drivers playing it at the same time but not in phase? Or maybe the problem not having a crossover with different driver technologies. The dynamic driver has some distorions that the planar don't have and this distorions cancel out some frequencies in the mids. Maybe i'am wrong. But this two therories of the wierd mids comes to my mind. I'am sorry for my bad english i have some problems with languages (dyslexics).

It's all good, you come across well.

Interesting ideas.

Something I want to know is in what ranges both drivers are designed to operate in. Are both designed to do full-range duty or is the 6mm Dynamic designed to naturally reach a bit into the lower treble but not furter?

Perhaps it only extends to 3-4kHz while the planar does full range. Double duty down in the bass regions probably works well but once you reach the sensitive mid-range area, any double duty starts sounding strange.

 

[blacksimon]

Quick impressions - Fully burned in - all final impressions are with the supplied comply tips
General music repertoire: Rap, classic rock, hard rock, metal, pre 00s pop, occasional instrumental or classical

Story time:
Unboxing experience was alright given the price point, I am familiar with obravo's higher end packaging (Ra) and obviously this doesn't come close, but everything needed was in the box which was pretty handy

I went straight for the medium comply tips, and they were much stiffer than my usual compy tips that I daily on my acoustunes, and initial sound before burn in was interesting to say the least. the classic obravo sound was there (hard to explain, but if you know, you know) low end slammed like drummers were sitting in your ear canal, and highs were pretty crisp.

It took a great deal of burn in to reduce the recessed mids (mids would just sound like they were in the wrong place), but it got sorted out (mostly)

I tried out the supplied 3.5mm cable - it was terrible, which is strange considering the same cable comes with most obravos, not sure why the supplied one was so bad. Without going into great detail, it completely un-obravoed the sound

Next I tried some tips, softer foam tips (that I usually use) didn't manage to seal in the bass and only made the mids worse. I then tried every supplied tip, some led to some interesting sound profiles that I recommend trying out - they weren't for me. The most interesting tips I liked were the Senda Alza tips (which are pretty famous for being great tips) but nothing came close to the supplied blue comply ones.

2.5mm cable was miles better than the supplied 3.5, at the loss of some comfort, the connectors are very long and poke out much further than they should before wrapping around the ear - this is the case with obravo mmcx cons in general, but hey, it sounded fine

The supplied 2.5 to 3.5 adapter is decently high grade and I heard no sq loss or changes when using it

After all of this, I burned the iems in for over 100 hrs


Impressions:
Solid, given the price point. The low end is what you would expect from obravo, but mids still suffer after a great deal of burn in - I will try using a cable with a different impedance at a later time and hope that can resolve it further.

Sub bass is good, very responsive and decisive - the decay is very fast and it sounds great when listening to (real) drums
Bass is spectacular (with the stiff comply tips) - Bass guitar reproduction (as well as normal guitar) is exactly what I was looking for from a planar driver
Mids aren't great, they're definitely there, and in some tracks - sound perfect, while in others it will sound too recessed or just in the wrong spot
Highs are good, like the sub bass, decisive - but not sharp enough to annoy. These are much easier on the ears for treble heavy tracks versus my daily 1650CUs

The overall sound profile is unique, as to be expected from obravo - some of their iems sound like speakers, and some simply can't be explained - these sit somewhere in the middle

From a clean SS source (Plenue 2 or ADI2 iem port) they are great - but do ask for quite a bit of power to shine, on some tracks the iems are lively and you'll find yourself lost in the music tapping your foot, while on other tracks they sound a little dry and boring

From a clean tube source (Lyr3) these sounded spectacular, and I will be looking at getting my hands on an alo CDM specifically for these iems. If you have access to a tube amp with low enough noise to drive iems, please give it a try. I found myself sitting at my desk preferring the cupids to my ether c flows

Soundstage is on the high end of good for a closed iem, with a spacious +5 inches in all directions for normal recordings (instead of forced far away sounds) Soundstage opens up even more on tubes as expected. Imaging and clarity seem to not suffer from this soundstage, intimate recordings have great imaging, and standard ones seem to be handled just fine

TLDR:
unique sound
very fun listen
recessed/lacking mids
2.5mm cable good sound, poor comfort
3.5mm cable poor sound, good comfort
pairs well with a variety of sources
good soundstage
shines on a tube amp
fiddle with tips
GREAT VALUE!

if you guys have any specific questions, feel free to poke me

 

[Jackpot77]

@blacksimon - nice impressions. If you have any JVC Spiral Dots (any of the different varieties) then I definitely suggest trying them out on the Cupid. They have the best overall combination of bass presence and clarity for me.

The Cupid is probably the most sensitive IEM I have come across to tip changes and bore width - definitely prefer wider bore tips with mine.

 

[blacksimon]

@blacksimon - nice impressions. If you have any JVC Spiral Dots (any of the different varieties) then I definitely suggest trying them out on the Cupid. They have the best overall combination of bass presence and clarity for me.

The Cupid is probably the most sensitive IEM I have come across to tip changes and bore width - definitely prefer wider bore tips with mine.

Will definitely give them a go, thanks for the suggestion - I also noticed that wider bore sound much better (the included comply ones stretched out over a week or so and sounded far better)

 

[Bitsir]

Got my Cupids today.

These ****ers are hilariously tip and fit sensitive, holy moly.

For a perfect fit:
You have to push them in and upwards at an angle, not have the cable lay flat against the skull. Also pull the tips as far in as you can so that the nozzle grill protrudes out-and-through the tip fully. (I recommend the whirwind tips)

Then you shove them in so that they barely seal but not further in, that way you preserve stage size, openness, effortlessness and the bass retains tautness. You must eliminate any ear vacuum or the sound collapses.


Bass: It is so incredibly whip-like. It is basically as taut as a BA but with the naturalness, decay and weight of a dynamic driver. It is the standout range of Cupid. A 6mm Bass driver and a 8mm Planar driver working together to deliver volume and slam. It has no right being this good. I am only missing that last bit of monstrous force and power that a bigger dynamic driver provides.

Midrange: It is overall good but there is some quality that may bug you. Mids feel a tad indistinct and indifferent, if that makes any sense. It stays emotionally neutral, not passionate, but also not particularly cold or uninviting.
Perhaps "compressed" is the word I am looking for. The parallell driver thing makes it sound sort of inflated (but not unclear per say), but I say that more as a description than a criticism. Other than that, it is a pretty fine midrange as far as I can tell.

Treble: Impressively inoffensive and behaved. You can EQ without regard to achieve a sense of greater extension which is already very decent. It is faster and especially much cleaner than a dynamic driver treble.
BA treble might be faster still but as a consequence has an unnatural "plastic" timbre more or less.

Stage: I almost want to say amazing. Instruments play quite close around you, not just between the ears inside the head. Things seem to originate sort-of in front of your face and outside your ears. Sound propagates outwards
which makes it very difficult to tell where the stage ends. This is an ABSOLUTELY essential quality as far as I am concerned as it allows you to drown in the music and make you forget that you are listening to music through IEMs.

Width is really good. Depth is also really good. There are no obvious walls to the stage. Height is also surprisingly good. Imaging is good but takes a small hit due to parallell drivers. (It's like seeing double with your ears)

All in all, it achieves the sensation of wearing a helmet of sound. PS. There is some inkling of speaker-presentation to the sound.

 

[vincent1]

Cables

Hi As I only have a midfi dap with a 3.5 jack (Activo ct10) can users comment on the quality of what I will call the standard cable with 3.5 - is it adequate, good, horrible? . I see the fancier cable with 2.5mm has a long adapter to go to 3.5 which is physically large so if the standard cable is ok then that would be physically more convenient for me. Thoughts welcome. Thanks

 

[jhog]

I used the 3.5 cable for a couple of weeks when I first got it and it’s fine. Not great, not horrible, just fine. I now use the 2.5 cable with a Fiio adapter and it’s also fine. A bit nicer quality, maybe better sound maybe not, but not lifechanging, and definitely a bit bulkier. I would thus say don’t stress too much over the cable.

Cables

Hi As I only have a midfi dap with a 3.5 jack (Activo ct10) can users comment on the quality of what I will call the standard cable with 3.5 - is it adequate, good, horrible? . I see the fancier cable with 2.5mm has a long adapter to go to 3.5 which is physically large so if the standard cable is ok then that would be physically more convenient for me. Thoughts welcome. Thanks

 

[holsen]

I used the 3.5 cable for a couple of weeks when I first got it and it’s fine. Not great, not horrible, just fine. I now use the 2.5 cable with a Fiio adapter and it’s also fine. A bit nicer quality, maybe better sound maybe not, but not lifechanging, and definitely a bit bulkier. I would thus say don’t stress too much over the cable.

I would say that the the only real.discernable difference with the cable is when using the the balanced cable in a balance output. Using the balanced cable with the 3.5 adapter produces pretty much the same result as using the 3.5 cable itself. The difference is from the increased output power of the balanced output.

 

[opiumhum]

In case someone is looking for a deal - I'm selling mine!

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/fs-obravo-cupid-planar-magnetic-hybrid-iem.916247/

 

[rishabhgkp]

How do these fare against Fiio FH7?

 

[Matpar]

Do the Cupids need as much power as Tin Audio P1?
Would love to see a comparison with Tanchjim Oxygen, both around the same price.

I second that: I own the Oxygen and would like to see if in case the "swap" would benefit and where..

 

[holsen]

I don't have the Oxygens, but I do have both Cupid and P1. The Cupids are much easier to drive than the P1s. Just as a simple illustration, if a certain track requires volume of 50 out of 100 with P1, I can listen to the same track on the same device with the Cupid at 30. I fly a lot and have used both with airline in flight systems. I can use both bth but the P1 requires much more power but I can get decent sound when watching a movie.

The cupids while easier to drive do benefit from higher power. So on my Shanling M5s I play them with the balanced cable and high gain. Moving to an SE connection they still sound nice but they are fuller and crisper with the balanced connection.

So the simple answer to your question, no, the Cupids do not require as much power as the P1s. But now I need to be completely honest and some will crucify me but I still prefer the P1s to the cupids, with 1 caveat: when make a lot of EQ adjustment. The P1s are more detailed, more resolving and more transparent with a crisper and more sparkly top end. The Cupids are fuller with sensational bass, but for me, that bass crowds out some of the mid and doesn't give anywhere near as much of the Top end siblilant free sparkle. I like them both. I use the the Cupids if I want to go nuts o. ZEPPELIN for example and rock out to John Bonham going crazy on the skins....

The P1s are great with Jazz, world, pop and blues when I boost 30 to 60 hz and lift 4 to 16khz..