Oriolus Traillii Electrostatic Hybrid IEM discussion thread
May 25, 2021 at 10:57 AM Post #1,891 of 8,095
It’s not official until @aaf evo posts impressions 🤪

I will more than likely share some tonight or tomorrow afternoon ish. I’m listening now. 👀 There are some very noticeable differences to the stock cable but I want to gather all of my thoughts properly before I start spouting nonsense. 😂
 
May 25, 2021 at 11:09 AM Post #1,892 of 8,095
I will more than likely share some tonight or tomorrow afternoon ish. I’m listening now. 👀 There are some very noticeable differences to the stock cable but I want to gather all of my thoughts properly before I start spouting nonsense. 😂
Congrats man! Out of interest, do you know which cable is used to make Orpheus? Is it Cardas, or a combination of various other copper cables? Any other metals in there?
 
May 25, 2021 at 11:11 AM Post #1,893 of 8,095
Congrats man! Out of interest, do you know which cable is used to make Orpheus? Is it Cardas, or a combination of various other copper cables? Any other metals in there?

I legit have no idea. I didn’t even know the 50s 60s were Cardas wire until after I had sold them so I’m sure it’ll be a while until anyone finds out. Lol.

Side note to add: if you find the 1960s 4 wire microphonic I am sorry (i think?) to share that the Orpheus shares those same characteristics. For my use it doesn’t even come close to remotely bothering me, but it is there.
 
May 25, 2021 at 11:15 AM Post #1,894 of 8,095
I legit have no idea. I didn’t even know the 50s 60s were Cardas wire until after I had sold them so I’m sure it’ll be a while until anyone finds out. Lol.

Side note to add: if you find the 1960s 4 wire microphonic I am sorry (i think?) to share that the Orpheus shares those same characteristics. For my use it doesn’t even come close to remotely bothering me, but it is there.
Yeah I think it depends on the type of paracord used, if it's even paracord. Sometimes it's a stiffer nylon fabric like the Bird cable/1960s, which can be quite microphonic. I have to say microphonics, even if I hear it, doesn't really bother me, and the cable doesn't dangle around or scrape on clothing while I listen. But I do get it can be an issue for some.
 
May 25, 2021 at 11:19 AM Post #1,895 of 8,095
Yeah I think it depends on the type of paracord used, if it's even paracord. Sometimes it's a stiffer nylon fabric like the Bird cable/1960s, which can be quite microphonic. I have to say microphonics, even if I hear it, doesn't really bother me, and the cable doesn't dangle around or scrape on clothing while I listen. But I do get it can be an issue for some.

Yep I was cooking my breakfast this morning with my Traillii on and it didn’t bug me at all. But I also don’t listen at like 65db where it’s probably noticeable. I’m more of a 85db listener, I want to feel the music damn it! Lol.
 
May 25, 2021 at 11:22 AM Post #1,896 of 8,095
Congrats man! Out of interest, do you know which cable is used to make Orpheus? Is it Cardas, or a combination of various other copper cables? Any other metals in there?
I don’t believe PW themselves have openly stated the 50s / 60s are Cardas based so not sure they’d advertise the details of the source or conductors out in the open for the Orpheus either.

Maybe one day someone brave will take a knife to an Orpheus to confirm 😜
 
May 25, 2021 at 11:30 AM Post #1,897 of 8,095
Yep I was cooking my breakfast this morning with my Traillii on and it didn’t bug me at all. But I also don’t listen at like 65db where it’s probably noticeable. I’m more of a 85db listener, I want to feel the music damn it! Lol.
Finally, someone who listens to music at proper listening volume! 🎉🎉 So many people claim to want the closest possible reproduction of live music, then listen as if they're wearing earplugs at a recital. 🤔

Though I admit, for the sake of what's left of my hearing, I try keep it under 80dB myself, which is much easier to do at night when it's quiet...
 
May 25, 2021 at 11:31 AM Post #1,898 of 8,095
Finally, someone who listens to music at proper listening volume! 🎉🎉 So many people claim to want the closest possible reproduction of live music, then listen as if they're wearing earplugs at a recital. 🤔

Though I admit, for the sake of what's left of my hearing, I try keep it under 80dB myself, which is much easier to do at night when it's quiet...

Man if music doesn’t have my tapping my feet then I don’t see the point in it. 😂 I did not spend multiples of thousands of dollars to play at low volumes.
 
May 25, 2021 at 11:45 AM Post #1,899 of 8,095
Ha, I've never tried to "measure" listening volumes, but if the saying is that the volume shouldn't be more than a normal speaking voice, then yep...I'm screwed.

I notice my volume "accidentally" goes up in between gym sets too. Need that extra boost.
 
May 25, 2021 at 5:07 PM Post #1,900 of 8,095
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 do own both as I had first purchased the Fourte a long time back. My impressions are different then yours. I find the Traillii bass tighter, the mids way more accurate and lifelike and the timbre is no comparison at all. On some tracks there is just no comparison, especially good jazz and female voice. On my hi def metal it is just Traillii all the way. I think highly of my Fourte, but for me, there is no comparison.

This is why we all need to hear things for ourselves. I will also mention that for me, my Traillii was not up to snuff till 100 hours and my Sedna short light tips were added. I use the same tips on my Fourte. Now Fourte can provide more bass, especially on some EDM, but the Traillii has much tighter bass. More lifelike in my estimation.
 
May 25, 2021 at 5:57 PM Post #1,901 of 8,095
I do own both as I had first purchased the Fourte a long time back. My impressions are different then yours. I find the Traillii bass tighter, the mids way more accurate and lifelike and the timbre is no comparison at all. On some tracks there is just no comparison, especially good jazz and female voice. On my hi def metal it is just Traillii all the way. I think highly of my Fourte, but for me, there is no comparison.

This is why we all need to hear things for ourselves. I will also mention that for me, my Traillii was not up to snuff till 100 hours and my Sedna short light tips were added. I use the same tips on my Fourte. Now Fourte can provide more bass, especially on some EDM, but the Traillii has much tighter bass. More lifelike in my estimation.
Thanks for your perspective, much appreciated. Could you pls provide some test tracks that you feel the Bird is much better on? I look forward to more listening and comparing.

Putting on the sedna shorts now.. :)
 
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May 25, 2021 at 6:03 PM Post #1,902 of 8,095
Okay so I have spent about 4 hours or so with the Orpheus and the Traillii. Enough time for me to feel pretty confident about sharing some initial impressions and how i perceive the sound relative to the stock Traillii cable. I did do one quick A/B with the stock cable after some hours to confirm what I was hearing as differences between the two.

Some key words that come to mind when I hear the Orpheus: natural, organic, analogue, musical, smooth

So relative to the stock Traillii cable, the Orpheus brings the Traillii towards a thicker and smoother sound. The sound comes off as incredibly natural and analogue sounding to me while still being able to slice and dice up the music and present it in its finest level of detail. So as a result I perceive this to come off as more musical than the stock cable whilst still retaining the technical capabilities.

Again, anything I write is based off of a comparison to the stock configuration.

The bass to me with the Orpheus comes off as a bit more mid-bass oriented where the stock cable goes more for the sub bass, here is where I almost immediately preferred the stock cable. I was still using the stock tips and wasn’t a fan of the extra mid bass boom as I really love the way the Traillii does sub bass and it’s something I didn’t want to give up. I had to tip roll a bit and landed on the azla sedna light shorts and that managed to take the Traillii back to a more sub bass oriented signature whilst retaining the added mid bass of the Orpheus. So with the adjustments I made to tips this is a welcome’d change for me as I currently love my bass to be presented as a sub bass emphasis with quantity and quality.

The mid range on the Orpheus relative to the stock Traillii cable comes off as thicker, more musical, and smoother. There is added weight to the lower mid range which adds more body to male vocals and the upper mid range is SMOOTH as butter. Overall, I do hear the mid range to be pushed slightly more forward compared to the stock cable, as a result I perceive the overall soundstage to come off as slightly smaller than the stock cable but I think the trade-off here is more than worth it. Now the stock cable by any means to me does NOT come off as unnatural or smooth, but this manages to take it up a notch. Again, as a result of the extra body in the mid range and what I hear to be smoother transients, I feel the overall layering and separation of the Traillii is a little behind the stock cable (not sure if that’s something that will change with “cable burn in” but we will see).

I don’t have a whole bunch to say about the treble. It is almost identical to me, I hear the lower treble to be slightly less emphasized which as a result makes me hear a little more air in the upper treble. Overall, nothing crazy here or super noteworthy. Still stays in line with the rest of the signature retaining that smooth and musical sound.

As far as dynamics go, yes, this is the darkest background cable I have heard. Now it is impossible for me to even quantify or say how much better it is over the stock cable as it’s already incredibly good at doing that. I notice a little difference in smaller details in the sound popping out at me over stock. All I can say is that there is an improvement but it’s not as drastic or noticeable as the tonal differences between the cables themselves.

The Orpheus/Traillii combination reminds me VERY MUCH of the P6 Pro tonality, except here paired with the DX300 I hear a wider and more separated stage as well as more treble presence. For me personally, this is like a dream pair up as that type of sound is what I’ve been hunting for in the P6 Pro for so long but I never pulled the trigger because of the UI.

Some non sound related things:

- if you find the 1960s 4 wire uncomfortable or microphonic, you will find the same with the Orpheus
- no noticeable weight difference over the 1960s 4 wire, I am used to the weight of that by now so maybe coming from a smaller/thinner cable to the Orpheus would be more drastic, but no issues or discomfort or me.
- I have no clue what’s going on with the shielding part of the cable but you can legit bend and form it like it’s play-doh, there’s some interesting stuff going on in there, lol.
- the dark blue of the paracord is darker in person than in pictures, basically looks black from far away

TL;DR / Conclusion:

The stock cable 110% does not need changing and I fully understand why Oriolus have chosen it as the default cable, but there is plenty of wiggle room to adjust the sound if you feel the need to.

If you are looking for a smoother and more musical presentation for the Traillii which still manages to retain about 95% of the “analytical” presentation of the IEM, this is for you. To elaborate on this for example, say the stock cable puts technicalities and musicality at a 9 and 8 respectively, I would rank the Orpheus on like an 8.5 (lower in my honest opinion due to the thicker and smoother sound) for technicalities to a 10 on musicality.

Here’s a low quality photo of the pair together on my bed cover that I hope one day will be as famous as Twister’s countertop:

C955D83D-9906-43D4-B2F9-0349CF884605.jpeg
 
May 25, 2021 at 10:08 PM Post #1,903 of 8,095
The black 2-Pins look much better than the standard silver connectors which also look terrible on the Odin.
 
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May 26, 2021 at 8:48 AM Post #1,905 of 8,095
As I don’t feel to do a full review, I don’t have the musical ear for that, I will leave my impressions here, hoping it can help future buyers as this thread helped me.


After my first day with the Traillii, I admit I had my moment of doubts. Thinking “what have I done??”

At the beginning, I did my A/B testing, using the Fiio M15 - C9 and specific songs I listen when testing IEMs in store.
The Spoils – Massive Attack
Sounds of Blue – Morcheeba
The Pretender – Foo Fighters
Dirty Mercy – Gin Wigmore
Smells like Teen Spirit - Nirvana

The problem was, I was often thinking how the Odin or MEST mkii could outperform on some aspects of the songs. The Traillii sounded good but flat.

-Changed the cable for the Effect Audio Janus B (cause microphonic drives me insane)
-Changed tips for the Sedna Xelastec (They are my go to for all IEM)


I slept on it and brought the Bird for a 2 hours walk, with a random playlist, promising to not choose songs. Just taking the L&P W2 as source.

That’s where the magic started.
I was able to enjoy each song and could hear the talent of the bird. The stage, the details, the balance. Even in a non perfect listening situation.
Suddenly the bass and sub were great and appropriate. While during A/B testing I was not convinced.

I could suddenly understand the comments on this Thread better.

Once back to the desk, I continued to listen using the ifi pro IDSD, Tube+, GTO filter, I could get a great listening experience. Whatever the genre, the Traillii was up to the task

Cake By The Ocean – DNCE
Hallelujah California – Luna Shadows
In One Ear – Cage The Elephant
Cyanide – Creeper
Shine a little Light – The Black Keys
Trouble’s Coming – Royal Blood
Love is Dead – Kerli
Crossing (Lonely Bells) – David Elias

Just perfect.
I switched to the L&P W2 teamed up with the C9 and it was still punchy and spacious.

Yesterday I was questioning my choice, today I am packing the Odin for the last time.

Thanks to the community for convincing me to adopt the Bird, music makes me happier with it.
 

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