[ian91]

You're absolutely welcome. Clear & warm - spot on description. My masculine / feminine comparison was 3DT vs Isa, but to a lesser degree it stands with Traillii too!

 

[snapandslide]

You're absolutely welcome. Clear & warm - spot on description. My masculine / feminine comparison was 3DT vs Isa, but to a lesser degree it stands with Traillii too!

It's also why anyone calling the Traillii 'safe' tuning is quite incorrect - the Bird forcefully sucks you in, it just does it in style. lol.

 

[ian91]

It's also why anyone calling the Traillii 'safe' tuning is quite incorrect - the Bird forcefully sucks you in, it just does it in style. lol.

I only ever appreciated balance and finesse with the Traillii. It was the pure technicalities and great treble extension that captured me and made me pay attention.

 

[Rockwell75]

Has anyone heard the Crassirostris? Despite my best efforts to resist I'll probably wind up dropping $$ on another IEM before too long and I'm hankering for another Oriolus experience. What are some recommendations from their lineup ie., the best example of their tuning not named Isa or Trailli?

 

[ranfan]

Try the Softears Turii for around $1000 - 1500 I'm extremely curious on that one. Or if you want another round of EST, the Cerberus also sounded pretty good

Spoiler

 

[KutuzovGambit]

Oriolus Isabellae

First impressions

Thanks so much for these! Mine are out for delivery, am eager to report back tonight or tomorrow when I've had a bit of time. Sadly my 3DT sold this very morning (to fund the Isabellae) and so it and the Isa will pass like ships in the night, but the 3DT has been my personal favorite for months so I'll offer my impressions though without direct A/B comparison.

 

[ian91]

Thanks so much for these! Mine are out for delivery, am eager to report back tonight or tomorrow when I've had a bit of time! Sadly my 3DT sold this very morning (to fund the Isabellae) and so it and the Isa will pass like ships in the night, but the 3DT has been my personal favorite for months so I'll offer my impressions though without direct A/B comparison.

I think that's a rather safe exchange - don't sweat it! Looking forward to your thoughts .


Edit: Listening to the C9 + Isa I appreciate stage expansion, tighter transients and a more forward midrange than with the M8 alone. This is consistent with other DDs I've tested with C9, but I would say it scales sligthly better than others.

 

[ian91]

@Ace Bee

3DT (filter mod) vs Isa

Isa has greater detail retrieval across the range
Isa brighter generally
3DT greater rumble and bass presence
3DT bass less textured
Lower mids muffled to some degree on 3DT
Technically, very similar to each other - 3DT has a smaller stage
Both great DD timbre, Isa sounds slightly more accurate to my ears.

This is tighter than I initially imagined.

Scenario's to pick 3DT (modded):

• You prefer more bass / rumble / impact
• You're not a detail fanatic / care for critical listening
• You primarily listen to metal/rock/electronic

Scenario's to pick Isa:

• You don't want to play with filters
• You listen to alot of vocals
• You want a more balanced stock tuning
• You want more air and texture
• You listen to a wide variety of genres

Even with mods I appreciate the 3DT as being a more aggressive listen than the very well tempered Isa. I think Isa is a more complete and refined final product.

 

[vanez1985]

@Ace Bee

3DT (filter mod) vs Isa

Isa has greater detail retrieval across the range
Isa brighter generally
3DT greater rumble and bass presence
3DT bass less textured
Lower mids muffled to some degree on 3DT
Technically, very similar to each other - 3DT has a smaller stage
Both great DD timbre, Isa sounds slightly more accurate to my ears.

This is tighter than I initially imagined.

Scenario's to pick 3DT (modded):

• You prefer more bass / rumble / impact
• You're not a detail fanatic / care for critical listening
• You primarily listen to metal/rock/electronic

Scenario's to pick Isa:

• You don't want to play with filters
• You listen to alot of vocals
• You want a more balanced stock tuning
• You want more air and texture
• You listen to a wide variety of genres

Even with mods I appreciate the 3DT as being a more aggressive listen than the very well tempered Isa. I think Isa is a more complete and refined final product.

Thanks a lot!

So if it looks like Isa being more of a minor improvement than next tier upgrade over 3DT, could someone please suggest portable closed cans similar in sound signature to these?

I mainly listen to music using L&P W2 these days and much prefer newly acquired (and several times cheaper) MSR7b over Cascade bass cannon: what could be a decent upgrade to these HPs resembling 3DT/Isa timbre and musicality without sacrificing details and transparency?

D9200 seems to be an obvious choice though their price well exceeds my budget, both D7200 and W900 are too bassy and V-shaped for me, and A2C is too power hungry to be driven by tiny yet great sounding W2 dongle.

 

[Imusicman]

Isabellae Unboxing & First Impressions after listening for a couple of hours..........

The unboxing experience was average to slightly underwhelming for me. Some unbranded tips and your cable and that's about your lot. Think 64 Audio as opposed to Dunu or Fiio for accessories and you won't be disappointed lol.
Cable seems nice enough though. I will swap it out later to see check IEM synergy with my other cables etc but I don't think you would need to upgrade it unless you absolutely wanted to.

The IEM's themselves are even better in the flesh than in the pictures. Really very attractive design.

The Fit. Whilst their form factor is small I did find them a little short and stubby for "MY EARS". I tend to need a slightly longer nozzle to create space between the body of the IEM and my ear canal. This meant I had to find the right tips to be able to get the seal I needed as I couldn't go as deep as I would have liked to. The diameter of the nozzle is a little thicker than Im used to and unfortunately this did limit my choices even though I have a good selection of tips to hand. I finally settled on the Azla Xelastec. I must stress that I have had to sell several good sounding IEM's in the past due to fit issues, esp with my right ear so please take my fit experience with these IEM's with a pinch of salt. Anyone without a freaky inner right ear will be absolutely fine lol.

The Sound. Once I'd achieved the right seal and I was happy I started listening to my usual test tracks...

My first thoughts were that they sounded smooth, natural, organic, very coherent with a slightly mid centric vocal presence. Yer.. the vocals are probably the star of the show here for me. Both male and female vocals sounded very good to me. I would give a slight nod towards male vocals but there's not much in it. Yer, both sound great.
I find the Sub bass is a little bit lacking, they do have a bit more mid bass presence though which is nice. Don't get me wrong they can hit if its in the track but it doesn't feel overemphasised in any way.
I find the treble also smooth but this is smooth done right with details. No sibilance, no veil, no obvious roll off's. I'm not a treble head so this is how I like my treble.
Im not very good at trying to explain soundstage or separation in an IEM so I will leave that up to the experts. Hope thats ok with everyone?


Overall I would say these are the kind of IEM's to just sit back, relax and enjoy your music with. For this purpose I think they are an easy recommendation for the money and well worth an audition

 

[KutuzovGambit]

Well, after settling back with these for a short while, I think I’m ready to say that if the 3DT is a nice bourbon then the Isabellae is a fine wine.

 

[Xinlisupreme]

Simphonio RX10 would be an interesting Isabellae competitor with similar price.
Dunno RX100 and PX100 prices

 

[Rockwell75]

I find the Sub bass is a little bit lacking

I did too at first. Brain burn in took care of that though...curious if it will for you too.

 

[KutuzovGambit]

Man how did you guys fit the Azla tips on the Isa lol. I couldn’t get them on for the life of me. But no worries as Spiral Dots are doing me right.

 

[KutuzovGambit]

The Isabellae really does this album superb justice: technical proficiency to handle the varied orchestral arrangements, an extremely cohesive and organic tonal presentation, and above all a certain refined sweetness in the emotional nuances.