[jlbrach]

7000 dollars for a cable just doesnt compute...the cable cant possibly be worth significantly more than the IEM

 

[Frankie D]

I have to agree that I notice the noticeable improvement in SQ in the very first minutes listening to Orpheus. The vocal is much more textured and detailed, the black background makes the notes heavier and more dynamic. It increases both macro details and micro details, whereas keep the same or even more smooth and analogue tonality. It makes me wonder that Orpheus is especially tailored for Traillii ? Or it also sounds great on other IEMs such as RH or Jewel ? At this highest level, the synergy is even more important than the price.
Have you ever tried Orbit Saga pair with Traillii and compare to Orpheus ? I wonder at the same price (7000 usd), does it bring the same huge improvement for Traillii as Orpheus does or not ?

I have only recently heard of that cable. I think you are the second person I have read that mentioned it. The 8-wire version is $7299.00. I am not aware of who in the US sells it and at what discount.

 

[efftee]

I have only recently heard of that cable. I think you are the second person I have read that mentioned it. The 8-wire version is $7299.00. I am not aware of who in the US sells it and at what discount.

No one anywhere other than the brand itself is selling this cable, well, outside of China, that is. There are customization possibilities that I suspect a potential buyer would tap on, at this price point, to make the purchase a bespoke experience.

7000 dollars for a cable just doesnt compute...the cable cant possibly be worth significantly more than the IEM

Someone posted somewhere recently about how value/affordability is relative; there are folks who think nothing about dropping $1M to rent a yacht for a week, while others think being charged $0.50 for water in a restaurant is robbery. There is no denying the status symbol or bragging rights that would invariably come with something like the Orbit Saga. Beat Audio is a Chinese company and catering to the privileged population in the domestic market may be all they care about... or maybe, it is an astute marketing move to elevate the brand positioning to such level as to lift the perceived value of the other models in their collection! If for nothing else, the free publicity of people talking about Beat Audio Beat Audio Beat Audio due to the outrageously priced Orbit Saga, or Astrolabe, would be well worth the PR exercise. After all, companies do not make money from selling a mere 10 units of a cable, no matter how much it commands, nor would it move the needle on revenue really...

[Edit: Oh I stand corrected on retail channels outside China, it seems they have a few resellers listen on their web site. I didn't know that.]

 

[quocdong]

No one anywhere other than the brand itself is selling this cable, well, outside of China, that is. There are customization possibilities that I suspect a potential buyer would tap on, at this price point, to make the purchase a bespoke experience.


Someone posted somewhere recently about how value/affordability is relative; there are folks who think nothing about dropping $1M to rent a yacht for a week, while others think being charged $0.50 for water in a restaurant is robbery. There is no denying the status symbol or bragging rights that would invariably come with something like the Orbit Saga. Beat Audio is a Chinese company and catering to the privileged population in the domestic market may be all they care about... or maybe, it is an astute marketing move to elevate the brand positioning to such level as to lift the perceived value of the other models in their collection! If for nothing else, the free publicity of people talking about Beat Audio Beat Audio Beat Audio due to the outrageously priced Orbit Saga, or Astrolabe, would be well worth the PR exercise. After all, companies do not make money from selling a mere 10 units of a cable, no matter how much it commands, nor would it move the needle on revenue really...

[Edit: Oh I stand corrected on retail channels outside China, it seems they have a few resellers listen on their web site. I didn't know that.]

I think Beat Audio is from Japanese, not China. Even if Chinese brand, they still have many good brands such as Luxury&Precision. The price is for some marketing purposes, yes, but it does not mean that a brand can set at any price as you want with unreasonable quality standard.

 

[Frankie D]

No one anywhere other than the brand itself is selling this cable, well, outside of China, that is. There are customization possibilities that I suspect a potential buyer would tap on, at this price point, to make the purchase a bespoke experience.


Someone posted somewhere recently about how value/affordability is relative; there are folks who think nothing about dropping $1M to rent a yacht for a week, while others think being charged $0.50 for water in a restaurant is robbery. There is no denying the status symbol or bragging rights that would invariably come with something like the Orbit Saga. Beat Audio is a Chinese company and catering to the privileged population in the domestic market may be all they care about... or maybe, it is an astute marketing move to elevate the brand positioning to such level as to lift the perceived value of the other models in their collection! If for nothing else, the free publicity of people talking about Beat Audio Beat Audio Beat Audio due to the outrageously priced Orbit Saga, or Astrolabe, would be well worth the PR exercise. After all, companies do not make money from selling a mere 10 units of a cable, no matter how much it commands, nor would it move the needle on revenue really...

[Edit: Oh I stand corrected on retail channels outside China, it seems they have a few resellers listen on their web site. I didn't know that.]

So they actually want full retail? And we really know nothing about how good their cables are unlike PW.

Cables cost very little to make. I got the Orpheus because I got a good deal, no way I would pay retail. This very much sounds like marketing. Time will tell.

 

[efftee]

I think Beat Audio is from Japanese, not China. Even if Chinese brand, they still have many good brands such as Luxury&Precision. The price is for some marketing purposes, yes, but it does not mean that a brand can set at any price as you want with unreasonable quality standard.

Nah, Beat is Chinese. That's what I am trying to say -- it may be unreasonable to you (and me too!), but reasonable to others. Even for LP, some would think the LP6 AETi is outrageously priced for no real improvements.

 

[efftee]

So they actually want full retail? And we really know nothing about how good their cables are unlike PW.

Cables cost very little to make. I got the Orpheus because I got a good deal, no way I would pay retail. This very much sounds like marketing. Time will tell.

Who knows what they will accept, maybe more if the bespoke choices run the bill up!

In business, the cost of material, and sometimes labor too, has little to do with the final retail price. Many other costs often drive up COGS that consumers wouldn't know about. Moreover, businesses do not exist to break even; if it's not profitable, they shut down, which may trigger chain reactions that put companies and customers into a lose-lose situation! Anyway, without digressing further, it's great that people like you (and me) could benefit from catching good deals in the secondary market for commodities that we wouldn't otherwise part our cash for.

 

[PhenixS1970]

(Brand new) PW Audio First Times is now available in classifieds.

 

[efftee]

In case anyone is looking, I’ve just put my Traillii up for sale here.

 

[fabio19]

Traillii is number one.

 

[Amadeo Nospherathu]

Dear all,i read this beautiful forum since many years,but i subscribed only yesterday,because i wrote mainly in another big usa forum for hifi and hiend.
I read all these 428 pages about Traillii and i will buy in may.
I have A&K 380 with his amp and Empire Wraith and i wanted to buy Traillii after reading all this pages and i contacted Andrew,very nice and kind.
My idea was to buy also another top iem and i bought UM Red Halo Fe arrived this morning and i will compare in may with Traillii.
I can say that RH is really fantastic and much better than Wraith in every parameter.
Happy to start with this fantastic and nice comunity
Sorry my bad English

Oh, I also have a Wraith. These are beautiful IEMs.
The problem is that Traillii does not know about it, so they bypass EE in all respects)

 

[PhenixS1970]

For those who are (still) looking I have updated my classifieds listing giving some options (i.e. buy the bird without wings ).

 

[Kiats]

Sime late Friday night pleasure

 

[Kiats]

Nah, Beat is Chinese. That's what I am trying to say -- it may be unreasonable to you (and me too!), but reasonable to others. Even for LP, some would think the LP6 AETi is outrageously priced for no real improvements.

Interesting how they would know considering it is not a DAP that has lots of demo units around...

 

[Marat Sar]

I, uhm... "totally lost my mind" is, I think, an apt term... I totally lost my mind and ordered the Red Halo FS, the one with the cactus wood and the red First Times cable. You know, the unreasonably expensive one. Love my Mason FS and really intrigued what that would sound like with a more bone conduction leaning driver setup and wider soundstage. It just looks beautiful too, and got some kind of crown collector instinct going in me. I'm turning into an... IEM collector now. Constantly shifting between Mason FS and Trailli is so much fun, they fit different albums.

So in a week or two I'll have the Red Halo and can share opinions too. This thread seems to be the only place online where people seriously discuss it, the RH thread is a graveyard of ten pages of people complaining about the pricing (I get it, it's heinous, it's for bourgeois people -- but how does it sound like?) Not a lot of reviews, especially the Final Times cable version, the confusingly shorter titled Red Halo FS. What I heard here got me very curious though. Trailli is great, and with Orpheus, it's just perfect. It's very hard to improve on it. (With the original cable I don't much like it. Attila is another cable that makes it much better for me, but Orpheus and Trailli are just... they're just so logical. You hear that sound for the first time, you go: ah, okay, so that's what the best sounds like. Sure. Yeah. Kinda thought it would be like that too.

But... it doesn't have that bone conduction realism and subtle 3D effect.

Really interested to see how RH works with its FT cable and with Orpheus too. What got me buying is -- in reverse order of importance:

1) They look gorgeous, like Mason FS. That cactus wood filled with plastic is spellbinding design. There's a jewellery angle to this hobby and the UM cactus wood IEMs are the most beautiful I've ever seen (or held, they feel amazing to hold too). Gotta have the red one too, c'mon. Gotta have it. Can life without the red one really be called a life?

2) Super interested to see what the 3D effect of bone conduction does to a show-off wide-tuned soundstage (Mason FS is famously, stubbornly circular). Trailli-like vastness and bone conduction 3D and weight... That sounds amazing.

3) Once you get very used to Mason FS's bone conduction -- once you let your brain get used to it that is, at first it's very meh -- other IEM's start sounding artificial. Like, even with Trailli, it's not really the sound of those instruments, is it? It's the e-stat treble doing its wispy magic and the mids too etc -- but I don't feel like I'm hearing "natural" sounds. I feel like I'm hearing a magical, comic book WOW impressive representation of the sounds, produced by a huge bunch of unspeakably well tuned drivers. Built to wow the hell out of me. And it works, so so well. But it's not what it was "like in the studio". I've been in the studio. I've also heard sounds, they don't sound like the trailli e-stat (for good or ill). Mason Fs sounds like: yeah, that's Thom Yorke from Radiohead singing. In a booth, in the studio. That's an electric guitar playing. I completely believe it, travels through my skull too. You know, like all sounds do a bit (except IEMs). This kind of "believability" in a different soundstge -- please, yes.

Gonna take a long time for them to come, just so excited I had to already write a post, just to kill time. LOTS of comparisons incoming.