[Frankie D]

Not sure I started all this. Nor which statement got it rolling. As for where it has gone they are in China and having things made for you is quite easy there, tricky to hold the sub makers to a high quality standard. The Traillii is not the only high priced IEM out there so not sure the $6,000 price was such a trend setter, most of us actually paid $5,000.00. I was joking when I said conspiracy, to state what I thought was an obvious joke, joke like all the IEM mfrs. got together and said we will keep our TOTL at a lower performance level, Oriolus you go first release a TOTL that stands ahead in performance at this $6K price, the rest of us, we wait a little while, and then release our new TOTL at that new performance level and we all win now that we can sell them for another 2-3K. Ridiculous I know.

It’s our NY/NJ humor.

 

[bluestorm1992]

Why do you assume they can't produce more? I give it 80% probability of being a false assumption. I agree that if they are production limited, then raising the price is the right move. If they aren't production limited or they can address the production issues, then my idea is the profit maximizing plan. I understand that anyone who buys a Traillii wants to believe that they have access to a relatively exclusive product, so that is why they could offer a lower priced product that is less exclusive and more accessible by a larger market.

Oriolus has a mid-tier IEM retailing for $2500. In fact, there is one on sale in the classified right now for $1200 and it has been there for quite a while.

 

[HiFyAK2020]

Why are we still talking about the price....

EXACTLY !
I do agree b.t.w. with those who responded that most likely the producer of Traillii is NOT set up for larger volume production. None of us KNOWS so we are all only speculating, but if i was the manufacturer of Trailli and had planned to sell 20 outside of China and now sell more than 100 of them - I would already be stretched to produce that many. You need to source the materials, pay them (most likely upfront) so there is quite some "pre-investment" to be made. Small companies are rarely cash rich (unless they sit in California) and so they juggle the balls up in the air.
Maybe some think this all happens by some magic - but reality is - to ramp up production, especially for rather expensive items is not easy and takes time. As to my own judgment - I think the manufacturer of Traillii is happy to sell more, but not massively eager to do so either - Oriolus has quite a range of products and many of them are in the very affordable range and still good. They have some more "mass market suitable" IEM's for the Chinese market and some products in the 1K to 3K USD range - for those who can't let go to criticize the flagship IEM. AND they are also very good as per reviews.
A flagship product is by definition reserved for a smaller audience -be it by price prohibition, be it by market access prohibition, be it by simple keeping as a secret...

Can somebody now please produce a new IEM that costs more so that those who keep annoying us with the price discussion can move on to the next item they can critizise ?
It's really not fun to keep having this popping up.
It is so much more interesting to have those discussions about cables, DAC's and so forth and how maybe a better benchmark system for IEM's can be implemented - two of us made suggestions - but not much reaction to it... sadly.

 

[HiFyAK2020]

Oriolus has a mid-tier IEM retailing for $2500. In fact, there is one on sale in the classified right now for $1200 and it has been there for quite a while.

I.e. Oriolus Finschi for <200 USD or Mellianus for < 2500 USD - that is what i wrote just now - they have a whole range - why on earth does anybody complain about the Traillii if there are anyway so many good alternatives !

For those who are willing to convert and stop pounding the price discussion - i offer the link below to buy something that you can feel really good about:

https://www.xtenik.com/product-category/oriolus/

Voila

 

[RTodd]

Just got the set of SednaEarfit Short, a clear winner. Think the search may be over for an isolating secure fit with no sound compromise. Any way gets one vote.

 

[aaf evo]

I did some listening and some comparisons to the EDM recommended by @aaf evo . I started with the iLan Bluestone tracks. Listening to “I Believe” the Elysium sounded wonderful. Then I switched to the Traillii and heard additional punch in the bass with no loss of detail or added warmth. Just terrific and excellent.

On “Will We Remain” the Elysium was again excellent, but the Traillii just had deeper and more powerful bass. This is a power track and then some nice vocals. Traillii gave up nothing in the vocals, and just wowed me with its bass impact and detail. Unbelievable how great a listening experience this was! I then brought out my Fourte, and I think the Traillii was hitting with more impact than even the Fourte. However, while the Fourte could hang with the Traillii on the bass, when the female vocals hit, they were too recessed for my taste. The Traillii had them more upfront and even with the bass and had a much better timbre to the vocals, and overall. As I have said before, the Trailli is in another class in comparison to these two IEM’s. I still like them both very much, but Trailli is a step up. Sometimes I think I forget that, especially as I am usually using the Traillii along with my Erlkonig where both are on the same level to my taste.

Using the Erlkonig on this same track I heard a slightly different timbre on the vocals compared to the Traillii which was also awesome, the vocals were also kept on the same plain as the bass and the bass might have been tighter on the Erlkonig. Anyway, back to the Traillii.

On “Homesick” by MitiS (featuring SoundR doing the vocals) and especially “Love Like Us” by Last Heroes (with vocals by RUNN), the timbre of the vocals, tight bass and overall integration was just a step above the Fourte. The Fourte was not bad, but the bass was not as tight, and it just cannot match the overall timbre. The VE-8 did a very nice job, but again, both it and the Ely just don’t match the Traillii overall. A bit closer hear as these tunes are not as powerful as “Will We Remain.”

Great tunes from @aaf evo and a thrilling ride using the Traillii. Thanks for the fun!

I’m glad you enjoyed the tracks @Frankie D , I love this hobby and sharing my music tastes

 

[tawmizzzz]

I am more of a value oriented buyer than pure TOTL experience type. So, I make the majority of my purchases for IEMs around the $1000-1500 level. There are so many good choices in that range that you can create a portfolio of listening experiences pretty easily without guilt.

For full sized headphones, I think the sweet spot is around $2000-2500. You can get a Utopia, Verite Closed, Hifiman HE 1000 in that price range.

I feel you, and I see the concern with the new benchmark for TOTL. But as anyone who has actually listened to the IEM, the cost starts to seem more appropriate-priced when you compare it to other summit-fi IEMs that are near in price, factoring in cable etc.

Man, I swear all negative connotations (not talking about you but in general) come from people who have NOT heard the bird. Not a single person I know that’s heard it hasn’t agreed the sound seems to be on another tier. So discussions of perceived value are getting a bit tiring lol.

I'd love for you and others to be able to demo it and let us know if that shifts the 1 ultra TOTL VS mid-fi great value IEMs for same combined price. I was more of the latter, but like @aaf evo, its "ruined" many of the other IEMs for me sadly. If money was no obstacle and I had to have just one, it'd definitely be Traillii.

Yes there are great value IEMs but if you’re looking for pure “maximized” IEM SQ, and enjoy the bird's tonality (why are we comparing headphones), I can’t imagine Traillii will disappoint. That's all.

I absolutely love it. I listen to mainly melodic bass and the Trailliis tuning to me just makes it sound so euphoric. The vocals, treble extension and sparkle, and sub bass rumble creates such a good sound, on top of that the separation and layering is the cherry on top.

+1 for EDM. In fact, I don't know any genres that I tested where it seemed to fall short, including metal, alternative, indie, rock-it's really a jack-of-all-trades but in a very high level. I just pair it with a warmer source if I want a bit more warmth for genres like rock.

 

[Strifeff7]

Other iems thread discussion:
- How does it sound
- What is the pro/cons
- How does it compare to other iems
- How to properly drive it ?,source matching etc
- How about cable rolling? tips rolling?
- How well does it plays specific music? jazz? orchestra? metal? pop? vocal? edm?
- How about the comfort? build quality?

This thread:
- How to learn the basic economy
- Learn how does low product demand affect pricing
- How politic work in the industry
- What is the true value of a product
- How to debunk a conspiracy theory
- How to prove alien have visited the earth
- Learn how market your product to a targeted customer
- How to calculate the Return on Investment (ROI) to measure / evaluate the efficiency or profitability of an investment
- How to take over the world with an army of 500 puppies

 

[RTodd]

Other iems thread discussion:
- How does it sound
- What is the pro/cons
- How does it compare to other iems
- How to properly drive it ?,source matching etc
- How about cable rolling? tips rolling?
- How well does it plays specific music? jazz? orchestra? metal? pop? vocal? edm?
- How about the comfort? build quality?

This thread:
- How to learn the basic economy
- Learn how does low product demand affect pricing
- How politic work in the industry
- What is the true value of a product
- How to debunk a conspiracy theory
- How to prove alien have visited the earth
- Learn how market your product to a targeted customer
- How to calculate the Return on Investment (ROI) to measure / evaluate the efficiency or profitability of an investment
- How to take over the world with an army of 500 puppies

Do you know this one;
“Too many puppies are being shot in the dark
Too many puppies are trained to bark
At the sight of blood that must be spilled so that we may maintain
Our oil fields”
Primus

 

[tawmizzzz]

Other iems thread discussion:
- How does it sound
- What is the pro/cons
- How does it compare to other iems
- How to properly drive it ?,source matching etc
- How about cable rolling? tips rolling?
- How well does it plays specific music? jazz? orchestra? metal? pop? vocal? edm?
- How about the comfort? build quality?

This thread:
- How to learn the basic economy
- Learn how does low product demand affect pricing
- How politic work in the industry
- What is the true value of a product
- How to debunk a conspiracy theory
- How to prove alien have visited the earth
- Learn how market your product to a targeted customer
- How to calculate the Return on Investment (ROI) to measure / evaluate the efficiency or profitability of an investment
- How to take over the world with an army of 500 puppies

To be fair, the ones who further perpetuate the price arguments are the ones who have never even listened to it

 

[riverground]

To be fair, the ones who further perpetuate the price arguments are the ones who have never even listened to it

And here I am still waiting for the chance to just even listen to these

I’ll reserve my judgement once I listen to them. But my broke ass isn’t really helping

 

[Frankie D]

Just got the set of SednaEarfit Short, a clear winner. Think the search may be over for an isolating secure fit with no sound compromise. Any way gets one vote.

Glad to hear you like them. They are my personal favorites when they fit. Tks.

 

[Frankie D]

I’m glad you enjoyed the tracks @Frankie D , I love this hobby and sharing my music tastes

Keep them coming please.

 

[Frankie D]

A question for @bigbeans and any other Susvara owners on this thread. I have some interest in HP’s and I am trying to gauge how the Susvara sounds. Listening to the track recommended by @aaf evo called “Will We Remain” by iLan Bluestone ( it is on YouTube ), I found the Traillii to be just as good, maybe better than my Empyrean. The bass was almost as powerful and tighter and I liked the Timbre of the Traillii better. This was the first track that ever hit me with that impression. I was wondering if you could please compare the Traillii to your Susvara using the same track to hopefully give me a better idea of how the Susvara sounds?

I was only using my iPhone and a Dragonfly Red, so I am sure that will be another variable as I am fairly sure neither will drive the Susvara. But still curious if you get the chance. Tks.

 

[bigbeans]

A question for @bigbeans and any other Susvara owners on this thread. I have some interest in HP’s and I am trying to gauge how the Susvara sounds. Listening to the track recommended by @aaf evo called “Will We Remain” by iLan Bluestone ( it is on YouTube ), I found the Traillii to be just as good, maybe better than my Empyrean. The bass was almost as powerful and tighter and I liked the Timbre of the Traillii better. This was the first track that ever hit me with that impression. I was wondering if you could please compare the Traillii to your Susvara using the same track to hopefully give me a better idea of how the Susvara sounds?

I was only using my iPhone and a Dragonfly Red, so I am sure that will be another variable as I am fairly sure neither will drive the Susvara. But still curious if you get the chance. Tks.

Funny you should mention that, I'm thinking of getting an Empyrean. Is this an advisable combo, Traillii and Empy?