[aaf evo]

Good things come to those who wait... but I won't be doing a long writeup, I leave that to those with better reviewing/writing skills..

I did a first comparison between Bird and Fourte today, listening to a range of genres, and in many cases I did not have a clear preference for one or the other... They are both exceptional in terms of resolution / detail retrieval, staging and imaging. Fourte has more oomph in terms of sub-bass rumble and weight of low end notes, and sometimes sounds more natural to me. The Bird is very good in terms of instrument separation and layering, always in control, makes you feel like you are inside the music, the treble sounds smoother, eg cymbal crashes, and the overall tuning is impeccable. But overall I found the listening experience remarkably similar... I can listen to both for hours and enjoy every minute of it.

I have to admit that this is kind of sobering... I will do more extensive comparing, but I'm starting to wonder if owning both makes sense, and even if the (substantial) incremental investment vs the Fourte is worth it, for me. It's a different story with the LX for example, where the difference in sound signature is obvious, and I like having it for variety. Time will tell.. It's only been one week now. Not sure if it's fully burned in yet..

Other than @gLer, has anyone else compared these two extensively?

I owned the Fourte for about a year and a half, but it’s been years since I sold it. To me the biggest differences between them come from their tunings. The Fourte has some interesting dips and peaks (imo) that really help create that holographic soundstage and sense of space whereas the Traillii has a more “normal” tuning and still achieves a similar effect. I think due to the Traillii’s more “safer” tuning it might not have as much of a wow-factor upon first listen, whereas the Fourte definitely grabs your attention immediately. If I were to have both IEMs and I wanted a friend to listen to one it would be the Fourte. The Traillii to me is like ultimate refinement and something I honestly feel like would go unappreciated to someone who hasn’t heard a lot of gear or didn’t really know how to pick out certain aspects of a tuning and what not.

That’s about as much as I feel comfortable saying since it’s been too long. Lol.

 

[aaf evo]

Also just to add to my previous post, I don’t believe the Traillii is the type of IEM anyone should buy if they haven’t at least experienced a solid amount of IEMs on the way. IMO, it takes a lot of listening to other gear to appreciate just how refined the Traillii is.

 

[jwilliamhurst]

Also just to add to my previous post, I don’t believe the Traillii is the type of IEM anyone should buy if they haven’t at least experienced a solid amount of IEMs on the way. IMO, it takes a lot of listening to other gear to appreciate just how refined the Traillii is.

I concur with this completely. When I had Odin, I let my (non-audiophile)brother in law try it and he was so awestruck! (The in your face SQ) But when I had him listen to traillii, he was just like “it’s good” but he wanted to listen more to Odin.

 

[xenithon]

I mirror those thoughts. There are a lot of IEMs out there that do a whole light right - some more than others, so often fall somewhere between generalists and specialist. Those that have stood out tend to be those that excel in a few specific areas.

With extended and diverse listening to various IEMs one can one start to understand certain aspects of each and what makes them so special. And as such once you hear the Traillii, it’s the culmination of doing so many things so right that make it so darn special. It’s more than one plus one but rather the cumulative and combined “nail on head” abilities which create the magic.

I recently sold my Noir and like the discussions relating to Fourte, the Noir is also very special and has some unique capabilities. It creates tremendous wow moments that are perhaps more immediately discernible or stand out. But it also has its quirks, as do pretty much all the IEMs I’ve heard to date up until the bird. Again, it’s the way it does so well across the board that makes it so brilliant but at the same time can go under appreciated.

And most importantly - at least for me - I’ve stopped focusing on gear or certain aspects of the sound.....I just focus on the music. Which sounds easier than it is in the hobby and, in hindsight, the goal (which I was after).

 

[RTodd]

I concur with this completely. When I had Odin, I let me brother in law try it and he was so awestruck! (The in your face SQ) But when I had him listen to traillii, he was just like “it’s good” but he wanted to listen more to Odin.

What makes the Traillii incredible is the music, not how it colors it. All though space is larger than other sets, space is not as easy for people to notice like killer bass is.

 

[jwilliamhurst]

What makes the Traillii incredible is the music, not how it colors it. All though space is larger than other sets, space is not as easy for people to notice like killer bass is.

Agreed, hence why I sold Odin

 

[toaster]

I would really like to revisit the fourte sometime.

I remember it being crazy...completely unnatural sound, extremely ethereal, harsh treble, odd mids. (I know of basically two people who don’t feel this way, @gLer and @Vitaly2017)

but despite all that, it’s still the iem that haunts me the most with its unique sound.

looking forward to more time with this one soon...

 

[gLer]

Good things come to those who wait... but I won't be doing a long writeup, I leave that to those with better reviewing/writing skills..

I did a first comparison between Bird and Fourte today, listening to a range of genres, and in many cases I did not have a clear preference for one or the other... They are both exceptional in terms of resolution / detail retrieval, staging and imaging. Fourte has more oomph in terms of sub-bass rumble and weight of low end notes, and sometimes sounds more natural to me. The Bird is very good in terms of instrument separation and layering, always in control, makes you feel like you are inside the music, the treble sounds smoother, eg cymbal crashes, and the overall tuning is impeccable. But overall I found the listening experience remarkably similar... I can listen to both for hours and enjoy every minute of it.

I have to admit that this is kind of sobering... I will do more extensive comparing, but I'm starting to wonder if owning both makes sense, and even if the (substantial) incremental investment vs the Fourte is worth it, for me. It's a different story with the LX for example, where the difference in sound signature is obvious, and I like having it for variety. Time will tell.. It's only been one week now. Not sure if it's fully burned in yet..

Other than @gLer, has anyone else compared these two extensively?

Excellent impressions, thank you! Like you I don't think the gap between Fourte and Traillii is significant, certainly not in technicalities. It's more a difference in tuning and how they present the sound.

I've always found Fourte to sound very natural, and it definitely has the 'wow' factor when it meets a track that's mastered in a way that highlights its strengths. I also don't find it fatiguing at all, and can listen with it for hours on end.

When I compared it to Traillii, I found the Bird more consistent in its tuning from track to track. I could almost predict how something was going to sound even before I switched to Traillii, because it doesn't deviate much from 'just right'. Vocals sound right, instruments sound right, timbre, balance, space. Tick, tick, tick.

Whereas with Fourte I'm often surprised at how it presents certain tracks (or even parts of tracks or individual instruments). So a familiar song will come on and I'll be 'ooh, that's new, or...whoa, that's a cool place to put that guitar'.

That rarely happened with Traillii, but at the same time, it was like 'yep, perfect, nice' song after song. Like many of you have said already, that's much easier said than done and if you know your IEMs, you'll know just how hard it is to find this level of consistency.

So long story short, I concur. If, like me, you find Fourte more consistent than not, and enjoy its tuning (more hits than very rare misses), then I can see how picking between the two might be tough. If ever I were to get my own Bird it'll likely be the Fourte that makes way, though ideally I'd keep both if only for the stuff the Fourte does better for me, bass volume and tactility being one, and that wow factor that still hasn't got old after 6 months of almost daily use.

Edit: forgot to add, I need to re-listen to the Bird and Fourte together now that I've upgraded Fourte's cable to the @doctorjuggles Clear Light. To my ears it's refined and improved the Fourte sound significantly, so it'll be interesting to hear what effect that has on my opinion of the Bird side-by-side again.

 

[gLer]

I would really like to revisit the fourte sometime.

I remember it being crazy...completely unnatural sound, extremely ethereal, harsh treble, odd mids. (I know of basically two people who don’t feel this way, @gLer and @Vitaly2017)

but despite all that, it’s still the iem that haunts me the most with its unique sound.

looking forward to it.

Four if you count @MatW and @DavidS11

 

[CL14715]

So, courtesy of @saltyfr0g I was able to demo the L&P W2 today.

I stacked it up against my Lotoo S1, using both the LX and Traillii to interpret the sound characteristics. This was using my iPhone and respective USB-C to Lightning cables. Volume matching was as close as I could perceive without the use of a dB meter lol.

Immediately off the bat I feel like I’m getting more bass detail and depth from the S1. The mid range of the S1 also seems a bit more vivid and separated from other frequencies. Treble is similar but I heard more of it when paired with the S1.

Is it possibly the iPhone is not powering it properly? Considering it’s a mobile type dongle I would assume phones would be provide plenty of juice to achieve the intended sound delivery. I ask this because I have seen on numerous occasions people swearing by the W2 paired with Traillii. I felt the S1 was doing both IEM’s more justice.

Either my lack of knowledge about this device has got the best of me or it’s not powered properly. Thoughts?

 

[Mehran]

Four if you count @MatW and @DavidS11

Haven't spent much time with it yet. But I'm really enjoying them so far. The treble is A LOT but I wouldn't call it harsh at all. It can be fatiguing but I haven't experimented with tips to be fair. So I think you can add me to list of Fourte Lovers.

 

[toaster]

Four if you count @MatW and @DavidS11

I stand corrected...four people.

 

[Vitaly2017]

I would really like to revisit the fourte sometime.

I remember it being crazy...completely unnatural sound, extremely ethereal, harsh treble, odd mids. (I know of basically two people who don’t feel this way, @gLer and @Vitaly2017)

but despite all that, it’s still the iem that haunts me the most with its unique sound.

looking forward to more time with this one soon...

Sometimes you need to recheck what caused those issues as it might be faulty pair, cable, ear tips even the reccording or the file got bad. Maybe its the dap?

1 fact for sure I can confirm it as I know fourte well! The old og and the new ! 64a fixed the tuning very very slightly. No they didn't reduce the treble or bumped the bass they did something with the coherency of the sound.

Also Fourté is extremely sensitive if it detects siblance it will throw siblance at you! So you type of music here plays a roll!

You need to fine tune it with dap, cable and tips!
For me stock silicon are the best. I also really like the compliment c with fourté.
I just got janus b but not enough time yet to tell impressions as I also sold my aka copper!
I am back to 1z!

 

[aaf evo]

I liked the Noir more than the OG Fourte because the thicker midrange helped mask that dip a little compared to the OG, it’s not as close as technically impressive though.

If the Orpheus sucks with the Traillii I may grab another Noir to go with it.

 

[FooFighter]

So, courtesy of @saltyfr0g I was able to demo the L&P W2 today.

I stacked it up against my Lotoo S1, using both the LX and Traillii to interpret the sound characteristics. This was using my iPhone and respective USB-C to Lightning cables. Volume matching was as close as I could perceive without the use of a dB meter lol.

Immediately off the bat I feel like I’m getting more bass detail and depth from the S1. The mid range of the S1 also seems a bit more vivid and separated from other frequencies. Treble is similar but I heard more of it when paired with the S1.

Is it possibly the iPhone is not powering it properly? Considering it’s a mobile type dongle I would assume phones would be provide plenty of juice to achieve the intended sound delivery. I ask this because I have seen on numerous occasions people swearing by the W2 paired with Traillii. I felt the S1 was doing both IEM’s more justice.

Either my lack of knowledge about this device has got the best of me or it’s not powered properly. Thoughts?

Exactly
Known issue with IPhone voltage restrictions on W2.
Go for Android and UAPP and you will feel like listening to another device suddenly. For the sake of testing you can also use one of your Android DAPs as digital transport and hook up W2 to it,I have tried that with M8 for example.
More decent on IPhone vs Android phone is using Amazon Music HD or Neutron for local hires flacs