[snapandslide]

1) It's the best IEM I've ever heard
2) It tops Elysium...or at least 95% of it
3) It's out of my range $$ wise
4) I don't love my current IEMs any less because of it

I knew you’d like them - and indeed it should not lesser your like for other IEMs.

Intrigued to know how you think the isa compares tuning wise!

 

[gLer]

1) It's the best IEM I've ever heard
2) It tops Elysium...or at least 95% of it
3) It's out of my range $$ wise
4) I don't love my current IEMs any less because of it

Me word for word. Except I do enjoy some parts of some IEMs more than I do with the Bird. IE 900/LX bass for example. But overall, yeah, nothing comes close to the Bird for excellence in every metric.

 

[Rockwell75]

I knew you’d like them - and indeed it should not lesser your like for other IEMs.

Intrigued to know how you think the isa compares tuning wise!

I would say the tuning is very similar...or at least they were very obviously tuned by the same company. The remarkable thing about the Isa is its perfect balance-- nothing stands out yet everything stands out-- and its total lack of harshness, peaks or fatigue. Traillii basically takes this same sort of mid/vocal centred/impeccably balanced tuning and adds the deepest most vividly holographic stage I've ever heard. It's a perfect synergy of peerless tuning and peerless technicalities. My #1 IEM dream right now is for Oriolus to make an IEM with a Dorado-like driver config, that is to say their DD from ISA doing mids and lows & the e-stats from Traillii doing the highs. This is something I'd consider giving up one of my kidneys for...without even demoing first.

 

[Rockwell75]

IE 900/LX bass for example.

100%.

Your post made me realize that I should have used 5 bullets:

1) It's the best IEM I've ever heard
2) It tops Elysium...or at least 95% of it
3) It's not an "end-all/be-all"-- ie., it won't replace my Dorado or someone's LX for that sort of DD bass driven sound-- but it is the single best "do everything" IEM out there right now as far as I know
4) It's out of my range $$ wise
5) I don't love my current IEMs any less because of it

 

[SBranson]

Me word for word. Except I do enjoy some parts of some IEMs more than I do with the Bird. IE 900/LX bass for example. But overall, yeah, nothing comes close to the Bird for excellence in every metric.

For my part in the meetup I got to try out the CA Honeydew. I miss having a bass cannon for some songs. So much fun.

 

[gLer]

I would say the tuning is very similar...or at least they were very obviously tuned by the same company. The remarkable thing about the Isa is its perfect balance-- nothing stands out yet everything stands out-- and its total lack of harshness, peaks or fatigue. Traillii basically takes this same sort of mid/vocal centred/impeccably balanced tuning and adds the deepest most vividly holographic stage I've ever heard. It's a perfect synergy of peerless tuning and peerless technicalities. My #1 IEM dream right now is for Oriolus to make an IEM with a Dorado-like driver config, that is to say their DD from ISA doing mids and lows & the e-stats from Traillii doing the highs. This is something I'd consider giving up one of my kidneys for...without even demoing first.

Couldn't agree more. If someone was able to make aTraillii with the same tuning and technicalities but switch out BA for DD bass (and possibly mids) it would literally end the IEM game for me. Sadly I don't believe it's possible, and if it is, no-one's doing it, yet.

 

[Rockwell75]

Could t agree more. If someone was able to make aTraillii with the same tuning and technicalities but switch out BA for DD bass (and possibly mids) it would literally end the IEM game for me. Sadly I don't believe it's possible, and if it is, no-one's doing it, yet.

You're always going to take a ding in raw techicalities when you use a DD due to the thicker sound...but for some of us that is worth it.

 

[toaster]

Couldn't agree more. If someone was able to make aTraillii with the same tuning and technicalities but switch out BA for DD bass (and possibly mids) it would literally end the IEM game for me. Sadly I don't believe it's possible, and if it is, no-one's doing it, yet.

Likely not possible.

The perfect balance we enjoy about trailllii would most likely be upset with a dd anywhere in the driver array.

I’ve always preferred ba bass to dd bass, so traillii will be the end for me for a while.

 

[kkugel]

Couldn't agree more. If someone was able to make aTraillii with the same tuning and technicalities but switch out BA for DD bass (and possibly mids) it would literally end the IEM game for me. Sadly I don't believe it's possible, and if it is, no-one's doing it, yet.

Interesting idea...hehe

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

Couldn't agree more. If someone was able to make aTraillii with the same tuning and technicalities but switch out BA for DD bass (and possibly mids) it would literally end the IEM game for me. Sadly I don't believe it's possible, and if it is, no-one's doing it, yet.

I asked Dean at Empire Ears to do exactly that. When you A/B test the Odin and Traillii, you can clearly hear the superiority of the Odin bass. All they need to do is carry out that sound throughout the frequency response and improve the tuning and they are there. It seemed that the cost of the proprietary driver is what would make this unlikely. They would need a scale that may not work for them economically.

 

[kkugel]

I asked Dean at Empire Ears to do exactly that. When you A/B test the Odin and Traillii, you can clearly hear the superiority of the Odin bass. All they need to do is carry out that sound throughout the frequency response and improve the tuning and they are there. It seemed that the cost of the proprietary driver is what would make this unlikely. They would need a scale that may not work for them economically.

A planar driver for bass and mids would be very possible, but idk if that would be an improvement

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

A planar driver for bass and mids would be very possible, but idk if that would be an improvement

Are there any good planar IEMs in the market today? If so, I have not encountered them. Not sure if that is due to where I hang out or if there is a dirth of good planar monitors.

 

[Frankie D]

1) It's the best IEM I've ever heard
2) It tops Elysium...or at least 95% of it
3) It's out of my range $$ wise
4) I don't love my current IEMs any less because of it

Ahhh. So now maybe our tastes are not that much different? Ha!!

There are some folks selling them every so often, so maybe not out of your reach. Hopefully one will come up for you. Tks.

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

Ahhh. So now maybe our tastes are not that much different? Ha!!

There are some folks selling them every so often, so maybe not out of your reach. Hopefully one will come up for you. Tks.

Current market is in the $4500-5000 range. If someone sells it without the 4 wire 1960s cable, probably somewhere in the 3s. Still too high for most people. I have one and it sounds great. Still not sure if it is worth it.

 

[Frankie D]

Current market is in the $4500-5000 range. If someone sells it without the 4 wire 1960s cable, probably somewhere in the 3s. Still too high for most people. I have one and it sounds great. Still not sure if it is worth it.

I am not sure any of my audio equipment is worth it. However, though they are expensive, they are the best IEM I have heard. Some folks have also mentioned the UM Fusang and I auditioned it. For me, it is good, but I prefer the Traillii. I felt like there was a veil over the music ( including the mids ) in comparison to the Traillii. I could certainly live with it, but in comparison I would rather listen to my Traillii.