[luckybaer]

Technical Details (from thieaudio.com):

• Drivers: 10mm DD + Sonion & Knowles BA + Sonion ES
• Driver Impedance: 11 ohm
• Driver Sensitivity: 100dB @1kHz
• Cable Specs: 26AWG 5N OCC Silver Plated Litz Cable – 0.78mm 2-pin
• Cable Plug Type: Modular System, 2.5mm, 3.5mm, 4.4mm
• Cable Length: 1.2M

TL;DR: A well-built IEM. Neutral presentation, highly resolving with gobs and gobs of detail. Worth the price!

Unpacking Overview:

Big black box with sleeve. Larger box than the Moondrop Blessing2, Kato, 7Hz Timeless. Contents include the earphones (duh), cable, big case (size of a Wonderbread ham and cheese sandwich with the crust aggressively trimmed), variety of tips (silicone and foam), plugs for modular system as noted in Technical Details.​

Lousy iPhone Photos:

Listening Set Up:

I burned some test tracks as .wav 16/44.1 to a CD-R and this is the chain:​

Denon DCD-1600NE -> Schiit Gungnir MB Gen 5 -> Khozmo Passive Preamp -> AURALiC Taurus MkII​

Test Tracks:

1. Rush – “YYZ,” Moving Pictures [Mercury 800 048-2]
2. Dire Straits – “Sultans Of Swing,” Dire Straits [Warner Bros Records 9 47769-2]
3. Natalie Merchant – “Carnival,” Tigerlily [HD Tracks]
4. The Beatles – “Here Comes The Sun,” Abbey Road [Parlophone CDP 7 46446 2]
5. Jeff Beck – “Greensleeves,” Truth [Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab UDSACD 2223]
6. A Tribe Called Quest – “What?,” Low End Theory [Jive 1418-2-J]
7. The Brothers Johnson – “Stomp,” Greatest Hits [A&M Records 31454 0552 2]
8. Michael Jackson – “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough,” Off The Wall [Epic EK 35745]
9. New Order – “Fine Time,” Technique [Qwest Records W2 25845]
10. Primal Scream – “Don’t Fight It, Feel It,” Screamadelica [Warner Bros Records/Sire 9 26714-2]

Build Quality:

Build quality appears excellent. No rough edges or raised seams on the actual earpieces. The 2-pin cable connector is quite snug and will make anyone nervous if trying to disconnect to swap out a cable. They insert smoothly, but require a firm and steady hand. Good thing the cable quality appears quite high – I don’t think I’ll be fiddling with cable swaps.​

Comfort/Ergonomics:

I tried all the included silicone tips and couldn’t get a good seal. I had some Comply 400 sitting around, and they fit well. I got a good seal, and feel that I’m not making any acoustic compromises with my choice to go foam. Comply tips are quite comfortable. I treat them like I do my foam earplugs for the shooting range: roll them in my fingers, stick them in my ear and let them expand to fill the ear canal. This guarantees a good seal. The shape of the Oracle MkII matches the shape of my ears well. I can wear these for a long time without really knowing I’ve got anything in my ears. Light, yet substantial build. I like these.​

What Brought Me Here:

I had never spent much on IEMs. My first pair were Shure ER4C way back when, and I didn’t think they were worth whatever I paid for them (at least two bills, IIRC) – at least compared to full-sized cans. They had build quality issues, and the sound was not quite right – light on bass, lacking resolution, plasticky, etc.​

​

I would have looked strange wearing full-sized cans (DT880, K-601, HD650... all OG stuff) at work, so I settled on Audio-Technica ATH-CK7. I liked the sound, they were comfortable, and about $80. A few years later, I purchased another pair of sub-$100 IEMs from Massdrop (Drop): EDC and EDC3 (first multi-armature IEM I ever tried). I was quite satisfied – EDC for the gym, EDC3 for work.​

​

I recently made a big change in my life, and decided to reward myself. I splurged on Moondrop Kato, Moondrop Blessing2, 7Hz Timeless, and went all-in on the Thieaudio Oracle MkII. And… here I am.​

Sound Overview:

These are fantastic IEMs for getting lost in the music, or for critical listening:​

Bass: Plenty of bass, but not loose or flabby. Great bass extension. Of the IEMs I listed above, the MkII is similar to the 7Hz Timeless. It is an IEM, so I don’t “feel” the sub-bass like I would with my 2-channel set-up, but it IS there, and I come damn close to feeling it.​

Mids: According to graphs, the mids are slightly recessed, and I guess it shows a U-Shaped tuning. To my ears, the sound across the spectrum is quite balanced. I may have become accustomed to mids being pushed forward in some of my other set-ups, so these are different, but not better/worse. Very natural sounding. Vocals are absolutely gorgeous with a tremendous amount of detail. Timbre is nailed. I advise ignoring the graphs and just listening to the music.​

Treble: Not harsh at all to my tin ears. Highs like cymbals are realistic sounding, not skissssssssssssssh or mushy. The resolution on these things is fantastic. I used to struggle with microdetail and plankton, but these help me understand what those are now.​

Initial Comparison (for reference): Moondrop Blessing2

I dig the Blessing2. Pretty neutral presentation (maybe oh-so-slight goosing of bass to my ears), good build quality, no sins of commission, etc.​

​

No discernable difference in build quality between the Blessing2 and Oracle MkII. The Oracle MkII’s cable does seem to be of a higher quality. Both cables are very flexible, but the Oracle MkII’s is more substantial, and it does use higher quality copper – OFC vs OCC (4 nines vs. 5 nines purity).​

​

I used Comply tips on both IEMs.​

​

The Oracle MkII’s overall presentation is noticeably better to my ears than the Blessing2. The Blessing2 is a wonderful sounding IEM, but the Oracle MkII is on a different level:​

• Bass is cleaner, tighter, without losing any extension or impact. From rock songs like Dire Straits’ “Sultans Of Swing,” to funk like “Stomp” by The Brothers Johnson, to electronic/dance stuff like New Order’s “Fine Time,” the MkII does not disappoint!
• The Oracle MkII makes listening to busy, layered passages effortless. Instead of trying hard to pick out details, I am lost in the music and I can easily separate various tracks/lines/sounds. The separation is the best of any IEM I own. Listening to well-engineered and well-crafted pop songs like The Beatles “Here Comes The Sun,” and Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” is a real treat. The closest analogy I can come up with is an optical illusion of sorts. Remember those funky pictures that contain a picture within a picture? Sometimes I would have to work hard to get my eyes to focus properly to see the hidden picture, and at other times, without any effort, the picture would leap out at me. That’s the Oracle MkII. No effort on my part to hear everything in a song.
• As mentioned earlier, I think I finally understand plankton and microdetail. The texture on notes and sounds comes through clearly with the Oracle MkII. The Blessing 2 seems to “smooth” (albeit slightly) the edges of notes and sounds. This jumped out at me with Natalie Merchant’s vocals on “Carnival” and Jeff Beck’s guitar on “Greensleeves.”

The Blessing2 is US$319; the Oracle MkII US$589. Maybe not a fair comparison, but Blessing2 is pretty popular, well-received, and the closest IEM in price to the MkII that I own. For folks looking for an upgrade to the Blessing2, and not wanting to spend 3X of the cost of the Blessing2, the Oracle MkII deserves consideration.

 

[jwheat09]

Nice review. As someone that has the Blessing 2 and is looking at the Oracle MKII, this was very helpful.

 

[Drock6]

Technical Details (from thieaudio.com):

• Drivers: 10mm DD + Sonion & Knowles BA + Sonion ES
• Driver Impedance: 11 ohm
• Driver Sensitivity: 100dB @1kHz
• Cable Specs: 26AWG 5N OCC Silver Plated Litz Cable – 0.78mm 2-pin
• Cable Plug Type: Modular System, 2.5mm, 3.5mm, 4.4mm
• Cable Length: 1.2M

TL;DR: A well-built IEM. Neutral presentation, highly resolving with gobs and gobs of detail. Worth the price!

Unpacking Overview:

Big black box with sleeve. Larger box than the Moondrop Blessing2, Kato, 7Hz Timeless. Contents include the earphones (duh), cable, big case (size of a Wonderbread ham and cheese sandwich with the crust aggressively trimmed), variety of tips (silicone and foam), plugs for modular system as noted in Technical Details.​

Lousy iPhone Photos:

Listening Set Up:

I burned some test tracks as .wav 16/44.1 to a CD-R and this is the chain:​

Denon DCD-1600NE -> Schiit Gungnir MB Gen 5 -> Khozmo Passive Preamp -> AURALiC Taurus MkII​

Test Tracks:

1. Rush – “YYZ,” Moving Pictures [Mercury 800 048-2]
2. Dire Straits – “Sultans Of Swing,” Dire Straits [Warner Bros Records 9 47769-2]
3. Natalie Merchant – “Carnival,” Tigerlily [HD Tracks]
4. The Beatles – “Here Comes The Sun,” Abbey Road [Parlophone CDP 7 46446 2]
5. Jeff Beck – “Greensleeves,” Truth [Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab UDSACD 2223]
6. A Tribe Called Quest – “What?,” Low End Theory [Jive 1418-2-J]
7. The Brothers Johnson – “Stomp,” Greatest Hits [A&M Records 31454 0552 2]
8. Michael Jackson – “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough,” Off The Wall [Epic EK 35745]
9. New Order – “Fine Time,” Technique [Qwest Records W2 25845]
10. Primal Scream – “Don’t Fight It, Feel It,” Screamadelica [Warner Bros Records/Sire 9 26714-2]

Build Quality:

Build quality appears excellent. No rough edges or raised seams on the actual earpieces. The 2-pin cable connector is quite snug and will make anyone nervous if trying to disconnect to swap out a cable. They insert smoothly, but require a firm and steady hand. Good thing the cable quality appears quite high – I don’t think I’ll be fiddling with cable swaps.​

Comfort/Ergonomics:

I tried all the included silicone tips and couldn’t get a good seal. I had some Comply 400 sitting around, and they fit well. I got a good seal, and feel that I’m not making any acoustic compromises with my choice to go foam. Comply tips are quite comfortable. I treat them like I do my foam earplugs for the shooting range: roll them in my fingers, stick them in my ear and let them expand to fill the ear canal. This guarantees a good seal. The shape of the Oracle MkII matches the shape of my ears well. I can wear these for a long time without really knowing I’ve got anything in my ears. Light, yet substantial build. I like these.​

What Brought Me Here:

I had never spent much on IEMs. My first pair were Shure ER4C way back when, and I didn’t think they were worth whatever I paid for them (at least two bills, IIRC) – at least compared to full-sized cans. They had build quality issues, and the sound was not quite right – light on bass, lacking resolution, plasticky, etc.​

​

I would have looked strange wearing full-sized cans (DT880, K-601, HD650... all OG stuff) at work, so I settled on Audio-Technica ATH-CK7. I liked the sound, they were comfortable, and about $80. A few years later, I purchased another pair of sub-$100 IEMs from Massdrop (Drop): EDC and EDC3 (first multi-armature IEM I ever tried). I was quite satisfied – EDC for the gym, EDC3 for work.​

​

I recently made a big change in my life, and decided to reward myself. I splurged on Moondrop Kato, Moondrop Blessing2, 7Hz Timeless, and went all-in on the Thieaudio Oracle MkII. And… here I am.​

Sound Overview:

These are fantastic IEMs for getting lost in the music, or for critical listening:​

Bass: Plenty of bass, but not loose or flabby. Great bass extension. Of the IEMs I listed above, the MkII is similar to the 7Hz Timeless. It is an IEM, so I don’t “feel” the sub-bass like I would with my 2-channel set-up, but it IS there, and I come damn close to feeling it.​

Mids: According to graphs, the mids are slightly recessed, and I guess it shows a U-Shaped tuning. To my ears, the sound across the spectrum is quite balanced. I may have become accustomed to mids being pushed forward in some of my other set-ups, so these are different, but not better/worse. Very natural sounding. Vocals are absolutely gorgeous with a tremendous amount of detail. Timbre is nailed. I advise ignoring the graphs and just listening to the music.​

Treble: Not harsh at all to my tin ears. Highs like cymbals are realistic sounding, not skissssssssssssssh or mushy. The resolution on these things is fantastic. I used to struggle with microdetail and plankton, but these help me understand what those are now.​

Initial Comparison (for reference): Moondrop Blessing2

I dig the Blessing2. Pretty neutral presentation (maybe oh-so-slight goosing of bass to my ears), good build quality, no sins of commission, etc.​

​

No discernable difference in build quality between the Blessing2 and Oracle MkII. The Oracle MkII’s cable does seem to be of a higher quality. Both cables are very flexible, but the Oracle MkII’s is more substantial, and it does use higher quality copper – OFC vs OCC (4 nines vs. 5 nines purity).​

​

I used Comply tips on both IEMs.​

​

The Oracle MkII’s overall presentation is noticeably better to my ears than the Blessing2. The Blessing2 is a wonderful sounding IEM, but the Oracle MkII is on a different level:​

• Bass is cleaner, tighter, without losing any extension or impact. From rock songs like Dire Straits’ “Sultans Of Swing,” to funk like “Stomp” by The Brothers Johnson, to electronic/dance stuff like New Order’s “Fine Time,” the MkII does not disappoint!
• The Oracle MkII makes listening to busy, layered passages effortless. Instead of trying hard to pick out details, I am lost in the music and I can easily separate various tracks/lines/sounds. The separation is the best of any IEM I own. Listening to well-engineered and well-crafted pop songs like The Beatles “Here Comes The Sun,” and Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” is a real treat. The closest analogy I can come up with is an optical illusion of sorts. Remember those funky pictures that contain a picture within a picture? Sometimes I would have to work hard to get my eyes to focus properly to see the hidden picture, and at other times, without any effort, the picture would leap out at me. That’s the Oracle MkII. No effort on my part to hear everything in a song.
• As mentioned earlier, I think I finally understand plankton and microdetail. The texture on notes and sounds comes through clearly with the Oracle MkII. The Blessing 2 seems to “smooth” (albeit slightly) the edges of notes and sounds. This jumped out at me with Natalie Merchant’s vocals on “Carnival” and Jeff Beck’s guitar on “Greensleeves.”

The Blessing2 is US$319; the Oracle MkII US$589. Maybe not a fair comparison, but Blessing2 is pretty popular, well-received, and the closest IEM in price to the MkII that I own. For folks looking for an upgrade to the Blessing2, and not wanting to spend 3X of the cost of the Blessing2, the Oracle MkII deserves consideration.

I read the Headfi review for the 64 Audio u12t. I'm considering upgrading to it from my Oracle Mk2. Do you think that's a worthy upgrade? I find my Oracles a bit too spicy up top.

 

[luckybaer]

I read the Headfi review for the 64 Audio u12t. I'm considering upgrading to it from my Oracle Mk2. Do you think that's a worthy upgrade? I find my Oracles a bit too spicy up top.

I'm not familiar with those headphones you mentioned.

 

[Methos777]

Could not agree with you more on the comparisons. I too had the blessing 2 dusk and the left driver all of sudden went out and I barely used it and baby them. They were a little too large for my ears at times, so that always stopped me from using them like I could have. I also used things like the Final Audio B3, ie200, and even the Kato’s. I have never not found amazing sound out of any of the IEMs. But this Thieaudio Oracle MkII is different level. Even the reviewer Zeos said this was his top five IEM he’s ever heard. And while I don’t have near the amount of different IEMs he has, I will say I have never heard such quality, realism, timbre, tonality, and or a better use for the EST drivers as this IEM. They absolutely nailed it. No bleeding, vocals purity, sub bass and mid bass, absolutely the best mids ever, and perfect treble extension is just done so great that I can’t say I could ask for anything more. Even the comfort is on point and disappears thanks to the perfect cut, design, and vent system for these IEMs. And that gorgeous look and cable is done so well in my opinion. I literally think this might be my End Game.

 

[KinGensai]

Oracle mk2's decent, but IMO loses the identity it had from the original Oracle. These are much closer in tuning to the Monarch mk2, which is fine I guess, but I far preferred the niche the OG Oracle occupied. The treble is also a bit too hot, at least on my unit, and it plays out in super's graph as well.

 

[Methos777]

Oracle mk2's decent, but IMO loses the identity it had from the original Oracle. These are much closer in tuning to the Monarch mk2, which is fine I guess, but I far preferred the niche the OG Oracle occupied. The treble is also a bit too hot, at least on my unit, and it plays out in super's graph as well.

100% agree. Problem is, the monarch mk2 is also a departure of the original and this is why they made MK2’s. It wasn’t to be the same of the previous ones. And if one was really happy with the signature just stay with or by the Mark 1. Subjectively the main complaint on the original Mk2 was the lack of sub bass. But if this is what you like then the Mark 2 would not be your direction. But if you wanted that better treble entension and better sub bass, the the Mark 2 is the direction. And that’s why I love it.

 

[od375]

I wonder how happy are people who have used Oracle MKII for some time (a few months)? About to make a move into some IEM and looking at these.

 

[chicoluko]

Guys, this is so hard haha belive me now to chose between Ie 600 and Oracle Mk2, need good vocal, instrumental music, and bass. Thinking more that Oracle will be better for this.
Won't how Oracles sound with electronic music, EDM, HipHop too.