[szore]

Picked up the ADI-2 DAC, switching to the ESS DAC over the AresII R2R really brightens up the SZA! Great synergy! Got the ADI feeding my Jot2 amp.

 

[masantaemusic]

How do these compare to the Volt?

I have both, and I think SZA displays more details, way better holographic approach to sound, and better, richer mids (just for me and my musical tastes. Also only burning SZA for almost 80 hours)

 

[cocolinho]

I had the Volt, I really liked them but sometimes they were slightly overly smooth and also the fit was not that great (they are quite big)
Indeed the Volt are pretty intimate sounding.
I was looking at these SZA, now even more

 

[drbluenewmexico]

Picked up the ADI-2 DAC, switching to the ESS DAC over the AresII R2R really brightens up the SZA! Great synergy! Got the ADI feeding my Jot2 amp.

Great dac improves SZA perfomance for sure! My Trudatto by Earmen certainly have! great soundsage, timber and musicality! SZA is now my desktop Fav
Listening device!

 

[Cecala]

I had the Volt, I really liked them but sometimes they were slightly overly smooth and also the fit was not that great (they are quite big)
Indeed the Volt are pretty intimate sounding.
I was looking at these SZA, now even more

Can you further define the bass between the two and sound-stage.

I have both, and I think SZA displays more details, way better holographic approach to sound, and better, richer mids (just for me and my musical tastes. Also only burning SZA for almost 80 hours)

So you are getting more out of head sound and what genres of music do you listen to?

 

[WilliamBlake]

Disclaimer: I purchased Szalayi at a discount at Musicteck two weeks ago in exchange for my honest opinion. As usual, top notch service from Andrew & the team and ensuring fast delivery.

My musical taste ranges from folk, jazz, EDM, D&B, pop, rock to metal.

My introduction to the Oriolus brand occurred a few months back when I bought Isabellae and it did not take long before I smashed my savings account and also obtained Traillii.

I was pleasantly surprised when Oriolus announced the Szalayi with an appealing driver configuration and it’s fair pricing.

Having read some first impressions here I assumed it would be a nice addition to my collection as I tend to listen more and more to D&B so it’s more bass tuned sound signature seemed to fit that bill.

Packaging is very similar to Isabellae but it would have been nice if a case/mesh bag would be included with these. A Peli Case 1010 does the trick to keep them safe.

I do like the cosmetics of the shells and the stock cable and impeccable build quality.

It was burned in for about 100h till I was out of the country this week and I picked that up over this weekend.

I do not have the impression that the sound signature changed a lot after the initial 100h of burn in.

For the below sound impressions the sources used are the A&K sr25 and i-phone 11 with Cayin RU6 (HG).

The low end is the star of the show. It is tuneful, visceral, layered bass and frankly some tunes I know very well get another dimension because of that.
I very much prefer it over the bone conduction tech (BCT) we see appearing more and more. I briefly had the Mest MKii and I considered BCT a nice gimmick but it distracted me from the emotion of the music.

It has a beautiful midrange which seems to be an Oriolus house signature.

Treble can be a bit elevated at times but never up to a point that it bothered me (which it did with the Mest MKii).

This iem has a warm almost analogue sound signature to my ears (YMMV) and it reminds me a bit of the Audeze LCD-XC (1st edition) I had years ago but toss the weight and add just that bit of sparkle to not end up with a dark sounding iem.

I can perfectly understand why Oriolus brought this iem to market as it offers something different.

I would add that if you are looking for a more every-day-carry iem which sounds great with any music Isabellae would still be my preferred option. Yes, it can sound a bit grainy in the treble but as a Grado lover I do not hold that against it . Female vocals do sound a bit more airy compared to Szalayi.

There is however a but….these have fairly large shells and whatever tips I use I end up with pressure pain outside my right ear.

Unfortunately I will have to let them go.

nice write up mate, which one do you consider more suitable for rock/metal, szalayi or mest mk2?

 

[PhenixS1970]

nice write up mate, which one do you consider more suitable for rock/metal, szalayi or mest mk2?

Thank you I would say mest mk2 as it has some extra bite in the top end (make those guitars roooooooooaaaaaaaaar, lol).

 

[WilliamBlake]

Thank you I would say mest mk2 as it has some extra bite in the top end (make those guitars roooooooooaaaaaaaaar, lol).

Great, thanks!

 

[masantaemusic]

Can you further define the bass between the two and sound-stage.

So you are getting more out of head sound and what genres of music do you listen to?

Definitely more headroom, more details (a lot), more mids, more controlled bass. I’ve only rolled out tips to azla sednafit, still using the stock cable.

On music, very eclectic: Jazz (big bands, trios and quintets), contemporary choral, a cappella vocal groups (think of Take6, Singers Unlimited, Rajaton). 70’s, 80’s and 90’s pop & rock (ELO, Queen, PFM, etc). Some folk music tracks (Nick Drake, Crosby & Nash); Latin Jazz (Irakere, Esquivel -this you need to listen to if you want to test imaging, any of his tracks!!!). Most of these tracks are DSD-ripped by me with XLD ripper in Mac, some Flacs and few mp3s.

My listening is currently on A&K SE200 (both DACs outputs) and Fiio M11 plus Ltd (double AKM dacs). Around 90 hours burning

 

[lycos]

So, is SZA a V-shape iem?

However, I also read from few impressions here that it has good mid? I thought v shape normally sacrifices mid?

 

[drbluenewmexico]

SZA more W shaped. Mids are great!

 

[rattlingblanketwoman]

Received Szalayi today. "Palate" cleansed as I've been at camp with middle schoolers, so no listening for several days.

I am usually a M or MS eartip, the Szalayi fit using the smallest provided tips, I would worry for anyone who is usually a S or SS.

The dynamic and planar make a good combo. There is some of the planar eeriness of "I can hear this clearly but my eardrum isn't *feeling* it, but anything that should be felt has plenty of physicality.

Lost my treble long ago - Vulfpeck has no shortage of visceral impact.


Ay luna que reluzes with Jordi Savall (obv. not the only artist involved) starts off with distant (accurately staged) but clear sounds, very subtle, when the main singer's voice comes in it was *very* moving, hard to do mids any better than that, and also a perfect contrast with the volume/placement of the secondary singer.


Take back by Green Day, almost a metal song, very full-force and like a live concert.


Plenty of cases of there being the perfect level of "bite" to guitars, Pigs by Pink Floyd being one.

The Good Son by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - the lowest singing notes give a lovely warm hum at a low level and great detail in the organ. Timbre is on point with the guitars, at least, no better or worse than how an EST would handle it.


Why Didn't You Stop Me by Mitski, one of the first tracks to let me know dynamic impact, guitar bite, and intimate (but not overly forward mids) would all be fine. The mids level seems to be on the perfect balance for a fantastic vocal experience.


Easily way up there as one of the most holographic IEMs to date.

I would say that like listening to the Volt, there is a sense of coloration, of there being almost too much resonance. It's a wonderful experience, but clearly a little "extra". If you like the "extra", it's like putting a great sauce on just about anything. Its size might add to the very rich resonance it has. There's no masking/crowding of harmonics though.

The only possible criticism that I haven't even checked out yet, as I haven't listened to the track on a different set to see if it's just the recording, is cymbals seemed a little subdued on an old Beatles recording - let's see, it was To Know Her is to Love Her from LIve at the BBC (one of my all time favorite Beatles ballads)


It's not a set that has very obviously more sub bass than mid bass or vice versa. For example the Volt excelled at mid bass, many other sets these days have a clearly elevated sub bass, but in listening so far, both are strong.

And that "listening so far" has *not* been long. At all. About a half hour.

I don't know how long the previous owner burned in for, but I haven't added to that. For those that care about source chains, I'm using a Qudelix 5K at high gain, and a Penon CS819 2.5mm balanced cable (came without a cable and these had deep blocks to insert). BT streaming from an iPhone 11.

EDIT: Wow. "Bye" by Lorn - sub-bass is "window shaking" for my ears, with the mids of the synth really gliding around in a full bodied and expressive way.


EDIT: I don't want to be "that guy" who harps on and on about one IEM, but after doing some volume matching (like I say no IEMs for days, started off pretty loud with the Szalayi - which for sure takes, if not invites volume hikes like a champ) I'm still content with the Serial given the price difference. YMMV.

 

[SQ13]

i have the Serial too but looking for something different. i wonder how Szalayi compared to Dark Sky, DD/planar vs single DD. physically, the DarkSky is much smaller and fit smaller ears

 

[Hanesu]

It has the lovely Oriolus house mids and imo is the legitimate heir to the Mk2 at pretty much the same price point and with better treble extension and better refinement all round

Might really be my cup of tea in terms of sound! Gonna have the chance to try them out soon

If they just were’t so ugly with their somehow cheesy looking blue shell and glitter on top
I much much preferred Oriolus‘ former very simplistic design approach (Mk 2, Traillii etc) . Or, if blue, I like something like my IT07.
But maybe that’s just me

 

[Hanesu]

Sorry double post