TRAILLII:
I am glad there is a dedicated thread now. I did post on the Flinkenick's thread a comparison of the Traillii and the Erlkoenig a day after I got the Traillii.
Now that I know the Traillii better (2 week in and a ton of time with it) I feel more qualified to to talk about it. I will refer to the Traillii as "T" for the rest of this post.
I use the T with mainly DX300 on D5 or D3. Medium gain with Tidal. I also have used it with the Jotunheim on balanced low gain. Using Tidal also. I roughly listen to 40% jazz, 40% Ben Howard, Alexi Murdoch, Jose Gonzalez type stuff, and 10% classic rock i.e. Steely Dan, Fleetwood Mac, etc......
4 years ago I started a Headphone quest. Three and a half years ago I moved into an IEM quest. I started to prefer IEMs over HPs due to portability and intimacy. Not walk around portability but around the house or take to work for the day or grab one of numerous IEMs during the night from the nightstand drawer next to the bed,
I am over 60 IEMs into the quest. Ridiculous in itself. With any passion none of this has been planned. Just following a passion.
I love IEMs but the T is different than any other IEM I have owned. It really sounds like the best, most engaging, most clear, most natural open back Headphone on the market. It is an open back headphone that does not have the issue of hearing sounds around me.
Due to the wide stage and clarity of the T, at times I feel like I need to stop listening so the sound is not annoying those around me. Then I realize I have an IEM in my ears with excellent isolation and no sound is bleeding to others around me. Extremely mind boggling at times.
The staging of the T is the most prominent thing that comes to me at first. The stage is super wide. In a good recording I can pick out where every instrument and the vocals are on the stage. Very far left and right and a little front to back. What a joy. The notes are so spread out and clear but still super engaging. Nothing jumps out with the mids, the bass and the treble that distract from the enjoyment of the music.
The timbre is extremely natural. This is an unbelievably well tuned IEM. With other IEMs things jump out as not blending together well. That does not exist with the T. Everything blends together extremely well.
The T is not like an IEM. Therefore it is not as intimate as other IEMs. Erlkonig or Elysium come to mind for intimacy. This is an IEM to enjoy and live the music. It is an extremely engaging IEM.
I know I have said this already but it is not an IEM that has the sound produced within the space of your head. It is the most amazing "Open Back Headphone" I have ever heard. The music is not just in your head but is in and all around your head. The music is not colored. To me the music is true to how it was meant to be heard. Whatever the hell that means. A better way to say it is that the sound is true to how I think the sound is supposed to be heard.
I can of course easily add the Traillili to the list of IEMs I thoroughly enjoy. I need variety and the Traillii is such an enjoyable addition. So different to any other IEM I have heard.
That is my take for the moment.