[riverground]

Welp! That explains it lmao. Thanks bro.

What was your hunch about? Lol

 

[CL14715]

see below fixed drunk post

 

[CL14715]

Don’t leave us hanging lol. What was your hunch?

I’m wondering the same

What was your hunch about? Lol

The tonality. It’s very very similar. Almost too similar. So this makes sense as to how they stretched the image out versus the U18s. They scooped more out of the upper mid / low treble. Then using estats they get some of that extension back in the top end to almost hide the tuning trick.

 

[Calfredo826]

The tonality. It’s very very similar. Almost too similar. So this makes sense as to how they stretched the image out versus the U18s. They scooped more out of the upper mid / low treble. Then using estats they get some of that extension back in the top end to almost hide the tuning trick.

I agree. When I received the U18S I thought they reminded me of the birdie. Glad I wasnt the only one

 

[aaf evo]

When I had the A18s there were quite a few key differences to me:

A18s - more mid bassy and a little more quantity, sub bass didn’t go as deep, I also heard the A18s to have a thicker lower mid range and a warmer upper mid range, as well as more upper treble in A18s. The change in quantity from A18s lower treble to the upper treble “spike” to me also sounded very unnatural and was something I grew to dislike a lot over time.

Based off what I’ve read about the U18s, I’d probably like it more than the custom counter part.

 

[CL14715]

When I had the A18s there were quite a few key differences to me:

A18s - more mid bassy and a little more quantity, sub bass didn’t go as deep, I also heard the A18s to have a thicker lower mid range and a warmer upper mid range, as well as more upper treble in A18s. The change in quantity from A18s lower treble to the upper treble “spike” to me also sounded very unnatural and was something I grew to dislike a lot over time.

Based off what I’ve read about the U18s, I’d probably like it more than the custom counter part.

Yes. I believe the universal is a bit less dark sounding. I also think the attenuated treble spike you mentioned is absent in the universal.

 

[WAON303]

Any chance Precog could review or check out the Tri Starsea? It's a fairly obscure IEM that was largely ignored when it came out last year.

Most reviewers say these have great resolution for the price. It could be one of those budget anomalies like the ER2XR given that above average resolution is not a common sight on budget IEMs (Yet). I want to blind buy these but there aren't enough reviews out there.

Also, many thanks for the L2 coverage! I was going to buy these at Amazon but abysmal technicalities is enough for me to skip on these.

 

[Audio Fun]

Thieaudio Legacy 2 Impressions

Spoiler: FR Graph

This showed up last week courtesy of Linsoul. Presentation and build-quality are a step up from some of Thieaudio's past budget IEMs like the Legacy 3 and Voyager 3; it's always nice to see a manufacturer aiming to improve their game. Of course, sound quality is another matter entirely, and to that end, I think the L2 is just OK.

The first thing that stood out to me was the downwards-compression. The L2’s not a particularly difficult IEM to drive, yet I constantly find myself trying to turn up the volume to milk out more presence from the IEM. Even listening to tracks that I know are lacking in dynamic range, everything sounds ever-so-dampened. And that's just the icing on the cake. Notes on the L2 are soupy and slow; perplexing, really, given that this is the same BA driver being used in the ER4 which is by no means lacking in the resolution department. Am I maybe exaggerating? I don’t think so. To lend context, A/B-ing it with the Tanchjim Tanya, I’d say the IEMs are comparable for technicalities if not the L2 a small step behind. The L2's definitely behind the Moondrop SSR or Aria in the technical department. And all of these IEMs cost less than the L2; heck, considerably less in the Tanya's instance. That's a shame, because the L2's tuning is actually pretty nice - warm, relaxed, and on the darker side. But tuning only gets you so far and, to my ears, the L2 is an IEM that is circumscribed from the outset by its technical performance. It's particularly ironic given that most budget IEMs live and die on their tonality. But hey, at least I don't see the L2 offending anyone, which is a higher bar to clear than one might think.

Score: 3/10

I always thought that technical performance is pretty objective thing, but Antdroid mentioned that “I do feel the Legacy 2 beats it (Aria) in resolution and detail retrieval” in his review, I am bit confused if it does beats the Aria in technical performance or does not.

 

[Precogvision]

I always thought that technical performance is pretty objective thing, but Antdroid mentioned that “I do feel the Legacy 2 beats it (Aria) in resolution and detail retrieval” in his review, I am bit confused if it does beats the Aria in technical performance or does not.

Yeah, we were joking about that earlier because I was surprised too.

Spoiler

In all fairness, I don't actually have the Aria for A/B right now; it's just my KXXS. From memory, I think KXXS is comparable to Aria for technicalities, and I know (that at least for me) L2's behind the SSR and KXXS in technicalities from direct A/B. At least in terms of sheer resolution, it goes SSR > KXXS > L2.

Technicalities also encompass a lot of things - dynamics, detail retrieval, and basically everything outside of frequency response - which makes it difficult to draw 1:1 "objective" comparisons under an umbrella term. For example, KXXS has significantly better dynamic range than the L2 to my ears. While that's something I might weigh heavily as an aspect of technicalities, Ant might not care as much; you can see he only mentioned "detail retrieval and resolution" specifically. Then you could also simply have a difference of hearing between two people - to a certain extent, at least. Because if someone tells you that "x" IEM has airy, sparkly treble, but you look at the measurement and see it rolls off a cliff after 5kHz, they're more than likely spouting BS or have some interesting hearing.

 

[iDesign]

The tonality. It’s very very similar. Almost too similar. So this makes sense as to how they stretched the image out versus the U18s. They scooped more out of the upper mid / low treble. Then using estats they get some of that extension back in the top end to almost hide the tuning trick.

Valuable post. If the Traillii is even remotely similar to the U18s it would not suit my preferences. I also agree with @aaf evo‘s impressions of the A18s and there is something inherently wrong with the tuning or design that makes them sound unnatural. I also think the differences from the A18s to U18s are often overstated. In my experience, they are extremely close but it’s the universal tips and fit that alter the perception of sound more than units themselves. At any rate my thoughts about the A18s are well known by now— I tried so many times to get on with them and I needn’t say more about that (link in sig).

 

[CL14715]

Valuable post. If the Traillii is even remotely similar to the U18s it would not suit my preferences. I also agree with @aaf evo‘s impressions of the A18s and there is something inherently wrong with the tuning or design that makes them sound unnatural. I also think the differences from the A18s to U18s are often overstated. In my experience, they are extremely close but it’s the universal tips and fit that alter the perception of sound more than units themselves. At any rate my thoughts about the A18s are well known by now— I tried so many times to get on with them and I needn’t say more about that (link in sig).

I can’t say. I just know the U18s, to me, is far from the disdain you express towards the A18s. I’m assuming you’ve never heard the U18s?

 

[iDesign]

I can’t say. I just know the U18s, to me, is far from the disdain you express towards the A18s. I’m assuming you’ve never heard the U18s?

I have heard both. After I returned my A18s to 64 Audio for testing, I obtained a U18s to evaluate alongside the A18s. In my opinion there is a tuning or engineering issue with the A18s and U18s that @aaf evo has described very well in several posts and messages we exchanged. The perception of sound with IEMs can vary significantly from each person due to their their hearing, shape of the ear, sources, music genres, and many other factors. And its within the combination of those differences that some listeners have perceived the sound of the A18s and U18s to have problems while others may have not. I do like the U12t and 64 Audio had more luck with its engineering given how well it has been received across the board.

 

[CL14715]

I have heard both. After I returned my A18s to 64 Audio for testing, I obtained a U18s to evaluate alongside the A18s. In my opinion there is a tuning or engineering issue with the A18s that @aaf evo has described very well in several posts and messages we exchanged. The perception of sound with IEMs can vary significantly from each person due to their their hearing, shape of the ear, sources, music genres, and many other factors. And its within the combination of those differences that some listeners have perceived the sound of the A18s and U18s to have problems while others may have not. I do like the U12t and 64 Audio had a stoke of luck with its engineering given how well it has been received across the board.

It makes sense, Alex has a similar issue with customs from 64 Audio.

 

[iDesign]

It makes sense, Alex has a similar issue with customs from 64 Audio.

I actually found the issue to be present in both the universal and custom versions of the 18s. I would consider sending my A18s off to someone who can conduct proper measurements of both 18s versions using a G.R.A.S to better understand the woes with the tuning (outside of Jude I’m not sure who has the equipment and expertise). As I move on from the A18s, I’d like to test the Odin but ideally alongside the Traillii and U12t. Its been very difficult to get loaners of all three.

 

[CL14715]

Have you ever heard the Legend X @Precogvision ?

I ask because I see you don’t have its squiggles in your library.