[marklivia]

Anyone able to tell me how the Venom and Martini cables sound in comparison to the stock Trailii cable? Thanks

 

[Alexzander]

@marklivia Venom adds more clarity, separation and resolution compared to stock. It has also a perfect synergy with stock tips but lacks stock cable organic warmth and lush majic.

 

[Amadeo Nospherathu]

Great combo.

 

[Amadeo Nospherathu]

Anyone able to tell me how the Venom and Martini cables sound in comparison to the stock Trailii cable? Thanks

It may sound snobbish, but the stock Traillii cable costs more than almost $2k. I do not believe that the cable for 350 will be better.

So leaves Venom. Alex @twister6 made the comparison in the Venom review. I think it will help.

 

[Tanalasta]

I've preferred rolling the sources than the IEM cables. But YMMV

Tonight listening to the Hugo 2 -> Cayin C9 (using the PW Audio RCA to 4.4mm adapter).

Magical. Just magical. The Trailii deserves the very best source you can throw at it.

The only criticisms are that it's so revealing I discern the plastic BA coloration with piano notes which I don't always notice (however subtle) and the imaging isn't close to full sized headphone or two channel setups.

 

[Shawnb]

If anyone is interested I've listed my Trailii in the classifieds

 

[FujiwaraMokou]

Chiming in, I am also not hearing what Crin hears, if we blend his S and A we have a good list of top choices. And then it comes down to personal preferences. For me, so far the only S rankings would be Traillii and Mason FS, everything else below. Admittedly I have not heard everything in that grouping.

My take is, Crin’s rankings are largely based on how well the IEM FR fits to what I think, is the Harmon curve; I could be wrong but that’s what it looks like to me. There are some subjectivity that affects the scoring, like price, niche tuning, etc, but by and large, 'balanced' and 'reference sound' IEMS will rule his list. Right or wrong, those are bases of his methodology and the guy pretty much sticks to his guns there. Whilst it's certainly not the be all and end all by any standards, the consistency makes the list reliable and useful. In my opinion, regardless of preferences, a good IEM has to be technically sound, well tuned without any need for EQ, void of peaks, clippings, etc. I have found that Crin's A entries and up are generally indicative of IEMS that, for lack of a better word — worthy of consideration. YMMV though.

You obviously like the EVO, which has a lot to do with Weapon X, something that no FR can measure. In fact, the full experience can only be felt if the IEM or, at the very least, the part where the Weapon X is housed is in contact with the ear, making it a very exclusive sensation for the rare few until and unless EE offers it in customs — I am at the head of that wait list. For now though, and as disappointing as it is to you and other EVO lovers, I don’t see how he would rank the EVO higher.

He also tends to be exponentially more critical of IEMS that are expensive, so it’s not surprising to find lower priced 'decent' IEMS ranked higher than a higher priced IEM of equal performance. Is there any other explanation for the highly rated Thieaudios and qdcs? The way I see it, for him to rank the $3K+ and up IEMs (Annihilator, X, Odin, Erlkonig, Traillii, LX SE…) at the lofty A+ and up brackets, they must be something real special and indeed, they are!

Crinacle ranking on IEMs are based upon the execution of the sound signature they try to achieve. However, what's true is that he values tonal balance and he will prioritize it as a part of his metric.
FWIW, and the reason he would be critical of IEMs that are highly priced because he doesn't believe in higher priced product having a strong correlation to the best sound. There are IEMs that are expensive but wasn't mostly preferred in sound quality for most people so this is seen to be fair. Moreover, for a high price he also believes anything should offer summit status of sound or anything unique enough to be worthy.

 

[Frankie D]

Crinacle ranking on IEMs are based upon the execution of the sound signature they try to achieve. However, what's true is that he values tonal balance and he will prioritize it as a part of his metric.
FWIW, and the reason he would be critical of IEMs that are highly priced because he doesn't believe in higher priced product having a strong correlation to the best sound. There are IEMs that are expensive but wasn't mostly preferred in sound quality for most people so this is seen to be fair. Moreover, for a high price he also believes anything should offer summit status of sound or anything unique enough to be worthy.

Crin also likes his treble. The Traillii has a softer treble that is highly detailed. I will say that I do like his top picks. I just may not agree that one should be higher than the other. He is excellent to help build a short list. Traillii for me is still the best as I prize an accurate Timbre above all else and require a tight bass with an accurate and detailed treble that is not harsh. For example I find Traillii’s bass superior to the Evo, especially when attached to Orpheus.

The only concern I have with his picks is the same I have with most people doing reviews and giving ratings: What are they using for comparison? Most do not go back to a set source for comparison and this will inevitably shift their reviews in one direction or another. Yes, you may really love the sound you are hearing, but will you still love it once you go back to an accurate reference ( live concert sound, your own piano, or a top 2-channel system). Inevitably I have a very short list of people I will listen to when they do a review.

 

[RTodd]

Crinacle ranking on IEMs are based upon the execution of the sound signature they try to achieve. However, what's true is that he values tonal balance and he will prioritize it as a part of his metric.
FWIW, and the reason he would be critical of IEMs that are highly priced because he doesn't believe in higher priced product having a strong correlation to the best sound. There are IEMs that are expensive but wasn't mostly preferred in sound quality for most people so this is seen to be fair. Moreover, for a high price he also believes anything should offer summit status of sound or anything unique enough to be worthy.

Summit sound means different things to different people. Fast music heavily synthesized and pure pop will drive a certain profile, acoustic music with a few musicians where silent moments matter as much as melody will drive another, and there are more. For people with a fairly wide set of likes then defining a preference gets even trickier.

Traillii was a great set to cover a broad appeal still maybe not what every single person wanted though I consider it a worthwhile investment and a critical step in my own personal journey.

 

[Frankie D]

Summit sound means different things to different people. Fast music heavily synthesized and pure pop will drive a certain profile, acoustic music with a few musicians where silent moments matter as much as melody will drive another, and there are more. For people with a fairly wide set of likes then defining a preference gets even trickier.

Traillii was a great set to cover a broad appeal still maybe not what every single person wanted though I consider it a worthwhile investment and a critical step in my own personal journey.

Yes, but it also excels in the midrange and crisp tight bass.

 

[Tanalasta]

Crisp bass. And balanced. My (very few) criticisms of the bird are the subtle BA idiosyncrasies of that bass.

The multiple drivers give the bird a rich, full and well tuned sound. I imagine a DD mixed implementation may have overly complicated that balance.

Reference? I often alternate between my LCD5 and the bird depending on circumstance.

Whilst I respect Crin’s effort and exposure I find his review style somewhat impolite

 

[Frankie D]

Crisp bass. And balanced. My (very few) criticisms of the bird are the subtle BA idiosyncrasies of that bass.

The multiple drivers give the bird a rich, full and well tuned sound. I imagine a DD mixed implementation may have overly complicated that balance.

Reference? I often alternate between my LCD5 and the bird depending on circumstance.

That is very high praise.

 

[Amadeo Nospherathu]

Once again, I'll say that I don't consider Crin's reviews to be anything worth paying attention to, so I don't care.
It is only necessary to bear in mind that he appreciates what is sent to him for free. When this does not happen - of course, he is disappointed and the model receives a bad rating.

But the truth is, he makes money, and no reviewer's review can replace a personal hearing.
So I don't care about his grades, etc.
And it frankly confuses me when someone takes them seriously.

In fact, it reminds me of the modern hyper-attention to, say, Musk's tweets. The difference is that he can collapse the shares of his companies with them, and a bad rating does not make the model bad.

So all I can say is that you should listen for yourself.
Seriously, man? Do you have a mind of your own to make a lot of money, which is worth Traillii and other top, but you don't want to use your mind when choosing IEMs for you? Well, that's strange.

Are Bird still among the best? Sure.
Are they universal? No, because there is no single model that suits everyone.

My personal preferences usually lie outside of traditional Traillii tuning, but they do what they do very well. Someone may prefer a different tuning, but for me, their naturalness, timbre transfer, emotional accuracy and attention of recording make them number one in my collection.

 

[Oniemtilt]

Once again, I'll say that I don't consider Crin's reviews to be anything worth paying attention to, so I don't care.
It is only necessary to bear in mind that he appreciates what is sent to him for free. When this does not happen - of course, he is disappointed and the model receives a bad rating.

But the truth is, he makes money, and no reviewer's review can replace a personal hearing.
So I don't care about his grades, etc.
And it frankly confuses me when someone takes them seriously.

In fact, it reminds me of the modern hyper-attention to, say, Musk's tweets. The difference is that he can collapse the shares of his companies with them, and a bad rating does not make the model bad.

So all I can say is that you should listen for yourself.
Seriously, man? Do you have a mind of your own to make a lot of money, which is worth Traillii and other top, but you don't want to use your mind when choosing IEMs for you? Well, that's strange.

Are Bird still among the best? Sure.
Are they universal? No, because there is no single model that suits everyone.

My personal preferences usually lie outside of traditional Traillii tuning, but they do what they do very well. Someone may prefer a different tuning, but for me, their naturalness, timbre transfer, emotional accuracy and attention of recording make them number one in my collection.

Amen. The other thing I don’t think people appreciate enough is the difference tips make. A terrific iem can sound like crap with the wrong tip - and even more frustrating is the perfect tip won’t be the same for two different people. So it’s really hard to take reviews too seriously. Yes, something that legitimately gets a great review probably has a better chance of sounding good for me than something that gets a terrible review - but when you are trying to differentiate among the top ten or so great iems its about tips and personal taste for me.

 

[Amadeo Nospherathu]

Amen. The other thing I don’t think people appreciate enough is the difference tips make. A terrific iem can sound like crap with the wrong tip - and even more frustrating is the perfect tip won’t be the same for two different people. So it’s really hard to take reviews too seriously. Yes, something that legitimately gets a great review probably has a better chance of sounding good for me than something that gets a terrible review - but when you are trying to differentiate among the top ten or so great iems its about tips and personal taste for me.

Yes, this is a very valid point.

I used to do a big post about Traillii sound on various tips. And there is, of course, a difference.

Good example - I will note that for me personally, Final Tips Type E, which can be found, it seems, in the set of every second pair of IEMs, do not suit me in 99% of cases. But many consider them really good.