My statement wasn’t an endorsement of the Chu, although it does take well to a 6db boost under 50hz, it was a slight against the ridiculous $4k 64 audio freq graph that tells me everything that I’d dislike about the iem, I’ll stick quite happy with my choice of 7hz timeless/Crinacle zero/Dunu vulkan and AirPods Pro/max.
Precog's IEM Reviews & Impressions
- Thread starter Precogvision
- Start date
My statement wasn’t an endorsement of the Chu, although it does take well to a 6db boost under 50hz, it was a slight against the ridiculous $4k 64 audio freq graph that tells me everything that I’d dislike about the iem, I’ll stick quite happy with my choice of 7hz timeless/Crinacle zero/Dunu vulkan and AirPods Pro/max.
o0genesis0o
Headphoneus Supremus
Have you heard any variation of Fourte at all?
I have the same feeling with the Salnotes Zero... Where is the bass? I need to brutally EQ them to get it.
Nope, never will either as the freq response tells me enough - and $4k…..you having a laugh?, dont actually listen that much to my mojo2 and iem’s as I have a fully acoustically treated room and quite decent Dynaudio studio monitors and sub setup, headphones/iem’s are a very poor 2nd choice for me.
Lol relax, it isn’t that deep. It’s evident both Fourtes price and tuning choice aren’t for you, why are you getting so worked up over it? There’s clearly a market for it as it’s their third Fourte variation in ~5 years. Not everyone wants their IEMs to sound like a Moondrop curve.
For the record I’m not the biggest fan of the Fourte tuning myself but I see the appeal behind it and why people enjoy it. It’s different and an experience.
o0genesis0o
Headphoneus Supremus
Yup, for the record, I don’t like how that IEM sound at all, but it has respectable resolution, treble, and staging (due to that signature 1k dip). Not even want to try an IEM because squiggly line does not look Harman / VDSF? That’s extreme
I didn’t mention Harman, whilst it’s a good baseline i still eq to personal taste if the iem/headphone can take well to it. The price is ludicrous though, but again that’s a personal issue.
Audio Engine HD3 looks good, do they hiss at 1 feet distance ? (most active speakers do at this price point)
Last edited:
goodvibes
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2009
- Posts
- 9,694
- Likes
- 2,124
Never noticed it but these older ears have a higher noise floor, LOL.
same thing for me disapointed by lack of bass (Zero has even less bass than HM), was expecting more bass looking at Zero graph but i notice that if i raise volume on Zero, sounds gets balanced and opens up, too bad i only listen to normal/low volume to protect my hearing
Last edited:
Symphonium Audio Meteor Impressions
Price: $600
Configuration: 4BA
Unit kindly provided for review by Symphonium Audio.
U-shaped tuning. A type of tuning that implies boosted sub-bass and upper-treble. I have a special place in my heart for U-shaped IEMs given my long history with the 64A U12t. To date, the U12t remains - in my opinion - the best rendition of this type of tuning on the market. And for good reason: it’s an extremely difficult type of tuning to emulate. The sub-bass regions are difficult to boost cleanly, and up until a couple years ago, upper-treble extension was something considered foreign to most IEMs. And that’s not to mention even getting a good retention of this tuning. If there was anyone up to the task, then, perhaps it would be the folks at Symphonium Audio; the Meteor is their foray.
The low end of the Meteor is best described as robust, thump-y, and heavily boosted in a good way. At its deepest point, it packs about 10dB of amplitude, and there is a generous thickness from 100-200 Hz as well. The Meteor’s bass, in many respects, illustrates how select manufacturers on the bleeding edge have been able to make “BA bass” and its negative connotations a misnomer. Sure, I can say the Meteor’s bass falls short in the timbre department by still sounding slightly plasticky, as I think it does. But I have to recognize that’s mostly from a) the benefit of sighted knowledge (i.e. lack of vents on the shell), and b) from knowing that dynamic drivers generally do not have a bass curve like the Meteor’s. Ultimately, let there be no question that the Meteor puts on one hell of a show for bass given the tiny drivers it's packing.
The midrange of the Meteor is difficult to put my finger on for different reasons. It never quite sounds entirely wrong, but it does sport some minor quirks to it as most U-shaped IEMs do. In this instance, I would mostly point to a slight recession from 1-3kHz to the way the Meteor rises for its pinna compensation. This tends to steal some authority from male vocals and, indeed, that’s more or less what happens in this case. Granted, there is some warmth to counteract this from the Meteor’s thicker low-end, but the end result is a sort of plasticky effect to timbre. These issues are less evident within the context of the Meteor’s upper-midrange, but this would be expected given that my personal requisites for pinna gain are on the lower side and I listen to a lot of shouty tracks in the first place.
Now, the treble of the Meteor is also interesting. It is slightly dipped in the lower-treble around 5-6kHz, slightly recessed in the mid-treble, and then boosted strongly somewhere after, say, 14kHz. I won't say it sounds natural, as it can make certain recording artifacts pop in a sizzle-y manner and I'd prefer a hair more impact on snares. But for the most part, the execution here is good and this is a boon to my preferences as someone who craves upper-treble. Playing around with tips also usually proves fruitful with IEMs that have boosts like this. In any case, I'm fairly confident that there are not any IEMs at this price point that have their treble done like the Meteor does - that is, with this much pseudo-air, yet striking a (mostly) good balance.
Moving to technicalities, the Meteor is not the most detailed IEM to my ears for $600, likely owing to the heavy bass boost and slightly recessed lower-treble. It’s certainly not to the point of which I would say it’s an issue by my standards, but it has to be noted when comparing the Meteor to top-dog competition like the Moondrop Variations. What the Meteor does have going for it is its imaging. It is surprisingly open sounding and notes have a pleasant palatableness to them on the stage. It is also a fairly punchy IEM for a sense of macro-dynamics, owing to its extra dash of mid-bass and boosted upper-treble.
No point in beating around the bush when it comes to considering competition; might as well stack the Meteor against the Moondrop Variations again. It’s clear to me that the Variations generally has an edge for technicalities in A/B, at least for a sense of detail. I think the Variations would also be considered the better all-rounder in general. But I’d be remiss to note that I don’t actually listen to my Variations very much. It’s a vanilla sounding IEM, if you will, that’s been refined to a high degree, and I only use it for comparisons. I think there’s a strong argument for the fun sound of the Meteor appealing to listeners (such as myself) who don’t enjoy that type of sterile tuning as much. Comparatively, something like the DUNU SA6 Ultra might be considered the middle ground between these two IEMs.
I’ve said a lot of good things, and some bad things, about the Meteor. But ultimately, I think that a lot of my nitpicks are just that…nitpicks. Even more likely, a product of there being so few good renditions of U-shaped tuning on the market in the first place. And I think that’s exactly what the Meteor is: it’s a good, perhaps even great rendition, of this more fun and unusual style of tuning. Disregarding sound, I should also point out that Symphonium has taken a lot of criticisms of the Helios' build to heart. Basically, the Meteor reminds me of if someone hit the Helios with a shrink ray. Internally, the Meteor's entire four drivers take up roughly the same space as two of the Helios' bass drivers. The protruding 2-pin connectors have been eschewed for flush ones. Sure, I'm not a huge fan of the Meteor's faceplate personally, but I'll take what I can get and these improvements are by no means shabby at all.
Bias Score: 7/10
All critical listening was done off of my iBasso DX300 and iPhone 13 Mini (about 30% volume using the Apple dongle).
Price: $600
Configuration: 4BA
Unit kindly provided for review by Symphonium Audio.
U-shaped tuning. A type of tuning that implies boosted sub-bass and upper-treble. I have a special place in my heart for U-shaped IEMs given my long history with the 64A U12t. To date, the U12t remains - in my opinion - the best rendition of this type of tuning on the market. And for good reason: it’s an extremely difficult type of tuning to emulate. The sub-bass regions are difficult to boost cleanly, and up until a couple years ago, upper-treble extension was something considered foreign to most IEMs. And that’s not to mention even getting a good retention of this tuning. If there was anyone up to the task, then, perhaps it would be the folks at Symphonium Audio; the Meteor is their foray.
The low end of the Meteor is best described as robust, thump-y, and heavily boosted in a good way. At its deepest point, it packs about 10dB of amplitude, and there is a generous thickness from 100-200 Hz as well. The Meteor’s bass, in many respects, illustrates how select manufacturers on the bleeding edge have been able to make “BA bass” and its negative connotations a misnomer. Sure, I can say the Meteor’s bass falls short in the timbre department by still sounding slightly plasticky, as I think it does. But I have to recognize that’s mostly from a) the benefit of sighted knowledge (i.e. lack of vents on the shell), and b) from knowing that dynamic drivers generally do not have a bass curve like the Meteor’s. Ultimately, let there be no question that the Meteor puts on one hell of a show for bass given the tiny drivers it's packing.
The midrange of the Meteor is difficult to put my finger on for different reasons. It never quite sounds entirely wrong, but it does sport some minor quirks to it as most U-shaped IEMs do. In this instance, I would mostly point to a slight recession from 1-3kHz to the way the Meteor rises for its pinna compensation. This tends to steal some authority from male vocals and, indeed, that’s more or less what happens in this case. Granted, there is some warmth to counteract this from the Meteor’s thicker low-end, but the end result is a sort of plasticky effect to timbre. These issues are less evident within the context of the Meteor’s upper-midrange, but this would be expected given that my personal requisites for pinna gain are on the lower side and I listen to a lot of shouty tracks in the first place.
Now, the treble of the Meteor is also interesting. It is slightly dipped in the lower-treble around 5-6kHz, slightly recessed in the mid-treble, and then boosted strongly somewhere after, say, 14kHz. I won't say it sounds natural, as it can make certain recording artifacts pop in a sizzle-y manner and I'd prefer a hair more impact on snares. But for the most part, the execution here is good and this is a boon to my preferences as someone who craves upper-treble. Playing around with tips also usually proves fruitful with IEMs that have boosts like this. In any case, I'm fairly confident that there are not any IEMs at this price point that have their treble done like the Meteor does - that is, with this much pseudo-air, yet striking a (mostly) good balance.
Moving to technicalities, the Meteor is not the most detailed IEM to my ears for $600, likely owing to the heavy bass boost and slightly recessed lower-treble. It’s certainly not to the point of which I would say it’s an issue by my standards, but it has to be noted when comparing the Meteor to top-dog competition like the Moondrop Variations. What the Meteor does have going for it is its imaging. It is surprisingly open sounding and notes have a pleasant palatableness to them on the stage. It is also a fairly punchy IEM for a sense of macro-dynamics, owing to its extra dash of mid-bass and boosted upper-treble.
No point in beating around the bush when it comes to considering competition; might as well stack the Meteor against the Moondrop Variations again. It’s clear to me that the Variations generally has an edge for technicalities in A/B, at least for a sense of detail. I think the Variations would also be considered the better all-rounder in general. But I’d be remiss to note that I don’t actually listen to my Variations very much. It’s a vanilla sounding IEM, if you will, that’s been refined to a high degree, and I only use it for comparisons. I think there’s a strong argument for the fun sound of the Meteor appealing to listeners (such as myself) who don’t enjoy that type of sterile tuning as much. Comparatively, something like the DUNU SA6 Ultra might be considered the middle ground between these two IEMs.
I’ve said a lot of good things, and some bad things, about the Meteor. But ultimately, I think that a lot of my nitpicks are just that…nitpicks. Even more likely, a product of there being so few good renditions of U-shaped tuning on the market in the first place. And I think that’s exactly what the Meteor is: it’s a good, perhaps even great rendition, of this more fun and unusual style of tuning. Disregarding sound, I should also point out that Symphonium has taken a lot of criticisms of the Helios' build to heart. Basically, the Meteor reminds me of if someone hit the Helios with a shrink ray. Internally, the Meteor's entire four drivers take up roughly the same space as two of the Helios' bass drivers. The protruding 2-pin connectors have been eschewed for flush ones. Sure, I'm not a huge fan of the Meteor's faceplate personally, but I'll take what I can get and these improvements are by no means shabby at all.
Bias Score: 7/10
All critical listening was done off of my iBasso DX300 and iPhone 13 Mini (about 30% volume using the Apple dongle).
Last edited:
PotatoMEZE
100+ Head-Fier
https://headphones.com/blogs/reviews/effect-audio-x-elysian-acoustic-labs-gaea-review
It's the only one I agree with Precog. Thanks to Precog for review this.
It's great according to the price.
Love it. Prefer than Monarch MKII and Mest MKII.
The new benchmark at the price point !!!
Don't like cable , beautiful but there microphonics.
It's the only one I agree with Precog. Thanks to Precog for review this.
It's great according to the price.
Love it. Prefer than Monarch MKII and Mest MKII.
The new benchmark at the price point !!!
Don't like cable , beautiful but there microphonics.
Last edited:
hevelaoak
100+ Head-Fier
I don't like the color scheme of the cable and I don't want to purchase another cable just to get my vision fixed. but the Gaea itself is really intriguing
PotatoMEZE
100+ Head-Fier
If I'm not mistaken, cables made from Ares S + Cadmus.
However, the color and beauty depend on the person.
Users who are viewing this thread
