Oriolus Reborn first day impressions.
Earliest of early impressions after just a few test tracks were that this is another work of characteristic Oriolus magic. First thoughts-- very well balanced and pleasing tuning. Think Solaris with more sub-bass, a bit less mid-bass (a little less thump but more woob), not quite as spacious or layered but with more forwardness & even temperedness in the mids combined with The Old Man's peerless affinity for extracting nuance, emotion and subtle textures out of vocals and bringing the whole upper mid-range forward without overshadowing the lower mids, sacrificing weight and body or veering into anything too shouty (it did come a bit close on one of my tracks but that could have been the recording) or sacrificing sweetness in the highs. So far, huge thumbs up.
Some more notes after a few hours. Something I've been surprised about: these things are sub-bass beasts. Not in quantity but in quality-- the bass is quick, thick, very well extended, nicely nuanced & detailed...all in all possibly the most satisfying pure sub-bass experience I've had since the IER Z1R. On the flip side mid-bass oomph, as I noted earlier, is not as strong and at first-- coming right from something like the Dorado or even the Isabellae-- I find myself missing that presence, however invariably after some time passes and my brain adapts to the sound I stop noticing/minding...it's funny how our minds work and what we can adapt to. Not unlike walking into a bright room from the dark-- it's overwhelming at first but after time your perception adjusts accordingly.
On any of my tracks that benefit from a good sub-bass emphasis the Reborn absolutely knocks it out of the park-- I was not expecting the sub-bass to be this good.
Mids are fantastic-- sometimes upper mids veer into "almost too sharp" territory but they never quite get there. I think this is a consequence of missing mid-bass presence I am used to as well as adjusting to, what is in my experience generally sharper, BA midrange timbre. Male vocals are some of the nicest I've heard.
Staging is fairly wide and tall but quite deep-- this is where Reborn's hybrid elements allow it to surpass something like Isa. There is a really nice sense of holographic rendering here and you get the inklings of a tangible 3-d presence-- something that The Old Man perfected in the Traillii.
I listened to the following to the following on Reborn:
...and it's probably my favorite rendering of the song I've ever heard in an IEM (I didn't try it on Traillii though)-- the vocals are pitch perfect & seductive and the bass is super well defined and satisfying. Reborn is definitely skewed a little more towards sub-bass compared to the mid-bass emphasis of Isa..which in the context of Reborn's tuning as a while just works...and it makes the two IEMs very complimentary (for that and other reasons).
All that said this IEM has already won me over. My only real reservations so far are 1) re-adjusting back to BA timbre in the mids, 2) not as much mid-bass presence as I usally like, and 3) upper mids come within a hairbreadth of too strident at times...though I must also say that after I've been listening for a while my awareness of all these things vanish as I find myself melting into the inviting, open and embracing tuning of the Oriolius Reborn.
Comparisons
Oriolus Isabellae
Isa: more balanced, slight mid-bass emphasis over sub-bass, less technical, more romantic, intimate & coherent, a smoother listen overall, more natural timbre in the highs & mids, single DD charm
Reborn: Maintains a nice balance but is a more fun & musical sound, sub-bass monster, less mid-bass emphasis, which allows it to get away with more bass without sacrificing mids anywhere, more technical (layering, separation & resolution is better), can be a little sharper up top
Both: Bright leaning, open seductive midrange, enticing vocals, Oriolus magic.
Dorado 2020
Totally different tuning-- Reborn is a W shaped sub-bass beast with more even keeled mids beast whereas Dorado is a mid-bass monster dedicated to bodied thumping rhythms & driving beats. I use Reborn when I want more balance and to sink into the mids, Dorado is for when I just want to boogie with a smile on my face. Apples & oranges really. The mids on the Dorado are still fantastic imho-- but they are not the star of the show
Reborn definitely has the more consistently open midrange whereas on Dorado everything is so incredibly disciplined considering how much bass there is, which is something to note-- on Dorado the mid-bass definitely can seem to crowd out the mids at times. It's another one of those things, like the upper mids & comparative lack of mid-bass on the Reborn that is jarring at first but after time you just adjust to it.