[feverfive]

I especially love the circular reasoning among some "reviewers", as well as what sometimes appears to be largely copy-and-pasted reviews. I don't think it's all monetarily motivated. I think some of it is motivated by a desire to get "likes" and such on social media and the forums. <---not a popular take, I'm sure. Sad.

 

[eloelo]

I half expect Billy Mays to pop up at the end of some of those reviews and go "But wait there's more!"

I got really tired of multiple page reviews where literally half of them are just marketing blurbs about the packaging and so on. To be fair, if I wanted that I could visted the manufacturers page and see that there. So I focused on cutting stuff like that out, and making it a more enjoyable read. Glad that people enjoy it.


Not sure about the Nio, but A6t definitely has a bit more warmth than the u12t. Its the same signature essentially but has less of the technical chops and as a result not as laid back. Subbass extension is good but has a bit of roll off in comparison to say the Andromeda, but you really don't notice unless you listen to music more inclined that area.

Vocals are positioned ever so slightly forward, and compared with the clean bass shelf, they're never drowned out by the other frequencies.

Overall it strikes a balance between being technically competent and enjoyable. And having the Tia treble tech trickle down helps a lot in the technical front I might add.

Have you managed to listen to the custom A6t? A6t demo is warm with enough treble to hit the spot, but I wouldn't like it if the custom is warm and dark (like how A12T is quite darker than U12t)

 

[KuroKitsu]

Have you managed to listen to the custom A6t? A6t demo is warm with enough treble to hit the spot, but I wouldn't like it if the custom is warm and dark (like how A12T is quite darker than U12t)

Yes, I owned the A6t for half a year

 

[Precogvision]

Noble Audio Sultan Impressions

Spoiler: FR Graph

I guess I did say I'd post about this one if I had time. This is Noble's first tri-hybrid IEM, and I believe it's the current flagship of their line-up (or the most expensive, at least).

Overall tonality is something of a mild V-shape or maybe a W-shape. Bass is tokened by a dynamic driver with a pronounced sub-bass shelf that doesn't level off until almost 1kHz. Intangibly, it's pretty decent for a DD. Bass texturing and decay are most definitely present; however, the Sultan's DD struggles with transient control. Notes are articulated with too much bloom for my tastes, resulting in mild bloat. So correction: Decent for a sub-$200 DD. I think the ER2XR has better transient control, and the Sony MH755 is just tuned plain better with greater transient density. The Sultan's midrange is fairly thick thanks to the lower mid-range emphasis and the cut to the upper-mids. Certainly inoffensive if not somewhat bloated, but also a bit of a double-edged sword intangibly. It seems to cover up some of the BA timbre, and speaking of which, I think the Sultan is surprisingly decent in terms of coherency. I don't get the impression that it’s particularly disjoint or mismatching note textures.

The problem? This is mostly by virtue of poor resolving capability, and to this effect, the Sultan is heavily circumscribed by its technical chops. It's got that "larger-than-life" quality to its notes, which I don't dislike, but they don't have room to breathe and expand. Imaging, layering, resolving capability, the Sultan is just...average. On Tom Day's "Where Were We," the Sultan struggles with the most basic of passages; the opening bird chirps sound static, sonic-walled, and there's a subsequent lack of ambiance. As the layers progressively stack, the chirps begin smearing, becoming impossible to locate; the Sultan seems to struggle with anything more than surface-level detail. This holds even more true of my usual Sawano Hiroyuki test tracks. Not once did it feel like the Sultan matched my Moondrop B2, an IEM a tenth its price, for technicalities much less the other flagship stuff I have on-hand.

And that's a problem, because we haven't even gotten to my biggest gripe: The Sultan is surprisingly fatiguing. Considering the Sultan doesn't have much extension or air to speak of, it might not be readily apparent what's causing this fatigue. It’s not like the Kaiser Encore’s crazy, 6kHz peak. No, the culprit lies in the Sultan’s lower-to-mid treble emphasis; this awkward balance presents itself more strongly over extended listening, especially on treble-intensive tracks like GG's "Galaxy Supernova". Throw in the aforementioned lack of staging and layering chops, and the Sultan frequently comes off as overly congested.

I think I mentioned this earlier, but the toughest IEMs for me to review are stuff like the Sultan. I do see how this type of overly-thick sound might appeal to some people. However, while the Sultan's not bad, it's also by no means (what I would qualify) good either. It's in a weird spot between mediocrity and something that had the potential to be good; ignoring the subpar technicalities, the tuning lacks direction and artistic vision in my humble opinion. Noble Audio has unmistakably nailed the aesthetics game, and it's nigh time they hopped on their sound one.

Score: 3/10

 

[KuroKitsu]

Now I'm kinda glad that I didn't try Galaxy Supernova with the Sultan.

Interesting to see that your conclusion was similar to mine.

 

[eloelo]

Yes, I owned the A6t for half a year

Nice, finally found someone with experience! Sounds like A6T could be my thing. Seems like it would be less impacted going into customs than A12T and N8. I wonder about using other modules like M15 and MX with it. Do you think it's muddy or having transients that are too slow? (as what Ive heard others say)

 

[Darkestred]

MMR Thummim and Homunculus Impressions

So, uh, yeah...these showed up today. I'll be blunt - they're disappointing. Very, very disappointing.


Starting with the Thummim, tonal issues aside, what strikes me most is just how damn slow this thing is. Transient speed is comparable to the Shure SE215, possibly one of the slowest IEMs I've heard. Bass is supposed to be mid-bass oriented, but as you can see from the graph, the channels don't really match. Not that it matters, of course, given how blunted and bloated the bass is alone. The midrange is probably the worst part of this tuning, sounding somewhere between sucked out and running hot. Treble is rolled-off hard like most poor EST implementations. And sadly, it's not like the Thummim even has the staging or technical chops to save itself either. Macro-dynamics are dampened. Imaging is fairly average sans some decent diffusal of the image, and the Thummim is not holographic by a long shot. I really don't know where all the talk about the mind-boggling imaging came from. Maybe the 2.5-4.5kHz dip?

Regardless, I can't tell what's more fatiguing - the Tesla-truck shells or listening to how awful this thing has been tuned.


The first thing that struck me as weird on the Homunculus was the midrange. It just didn't sound any sort of right to my ears with one side clearly sounding different. So I slapped it on my coupler...and lo and behold, sans exhibiting an egregious, fat dip, there's also a pretty significant channel imbalance in this region. Speaking of the dip, I enjoy a dip in my upper-midrange, but oh man, not like this. Telephonic, underwater, sucked-out, name any similar adjective and it'll do aptly to describe the Homunculus. Resolution is also completely screwed in the midrange as a result. But since when was I ever one to be a debbie-downer? Looking on the bright side, I guess you could say the Homunculus serves as demonstration of value for the Thummim, if only by virtue of how much worse it is.

Usual disclaimers: I know how bad these impressions sound. Friendly reminder that they're impressions, and I'm not asking you to hear what I hear (as a matter of fact, I wouldn't wish that on anyone with these little gems). I measured both of them several times off my coupler to make sure I was getting consistent results. Frankly, I don't think the tips, cable, or any amount of 'seasoning' are going to save these IEMs - furthermore, I'd argue that a company that can't take the time to get consistent channel matching on units they're sending out for review doesn't really merit my time. But for posterity all listening was done using the stock Elotech cables, stock tips, and an A&K SP1000M.

Score (Thummim): 2/10
Score (Homunculus): 1/10

Noble Sultan impressions tomorrow if I have time to write something up.

I currently have the Humongulous(Homunculus) in my ears. The first thing i noticed how clean and articulate the treble was in regards to hi-hats and cymbals. I enjoy the midrange but there is some oddness going on with vocals. A veil or grain. The whole timbre is "unique." Ahh and now i see why. Estats for the treble oddness.

I can sort of see where you are hearing the under water type. I had to swap cables (no balanced) from my crappy 3.5mm 2pin to a silver cable 3.5mm. The sound change completely.

I am noticing that bass drums get lost in the mix. No weight. The other thing is this is a peaky iem.

As i listen to all these high-end offerings it makes me appreciate my Anole VX much more than i did. It has its flaws but im not missing much and so far what i like in others (18s) it only does what i miss in one end of the spectrum and thats not enough reason (yet) to upgrade.

 

[IEMusic]

See Audio is putting out a lot of fascinating IEMs, and seem to be trying to compete with qdc. Unfortunately, little seems to known about them outside of Asia.

 

[eloelo]

Maybe it's a qdc ex-employee but Im a little tired of qdc-like tunings, and those seeaudio graphs look like they have too much treble for my taste

On another note, U12T is on sale now, and I'm so tempted lol but my spendings on audio this year have been too sinful.. It's an iem that I can't fault and I prefer it over Nio, VX and other totls. I'm treble sensitive so I'm appreciative of how it's slightly dark and smooth

 

[Darkestred]

Super disappointed with the MMR Thum. I am single ended with a thor+ effects cable. This has an odd soundstage, narrow and imaging is off. I think hi-hats sound incredible on this unit and maybe the best implementation of them from any iem ive heard to date. Treble is smooth and rolled off a bit. This is a W signature, correct? I feel heavy emphasis on the middle of the W. But vocals are not very upfront. Recessed. As others said bass is super slow. Its a super strange listen. Definitely unique.

Oh and this thing has some horrible distortion of bass on songs like Dream Theaters 6:00 (vinyl flac) and clipping on Living Colour's Ignorance is bliss (flac). Never heard the distortion on 6:00 before.

Snares all sound off center. Like left of hi-hats (or right depending on hand). Very rare unless an anxillary snare is being used.

 

[Precogvision]

Maybe it's a qdc ex-employee but Im a little tired of qdc-like tunings, and those seeaudio graphs look like they have too much treble for my taste

On another note, U12T is on sale now, and I'm so tempted lol but my spendings on audio this year have been too sinful.. It's an iem that I can't fault and I prefer it over Nio, VX and other totls. I'm treble sensitive so I'm appreciative of how it's slightly dark and smooth

Consoooom. 8sl doesn’t have to be endgame....come join the best IEM gang

Super disappointed with the MMR Thum. I am single ended with a thor+ effects cable. This has an odd soundstage, narrow and imaging is off. I think hi-hats sound incredible on this unit and maybe the best implementation of them from any iem ive heard to date. Treble is smooth and rolled off a bit. This is a W signature, correct? I feel heavy emphasis on the middle of the W. But vocals are not very upfront. Recessed. As others said bass is super slow. Its a super strange listen. Definitely unique.

Oh and this thing has some horrible distortion of bass on songs like Dream Theaters 6:00 (vinyl flac) and clipping on Living Colour's Ignorance is bliss (flac). Never heard the distortion on 6:00 before.

Snares all sound off center. Like left of hi-hats (or right depending on hand). Very rare unless an anxillary snare is being used.

Thanks for the impressions! Yeah, it’s something of a W-shape. I’m sure it does some stuff competently or people wouldn’t like it; I’m just not very good at singling out stuff to praise haha. You seem to prefer Homunculus more, which is interesting as I outright abhor it, but I know a couple of others have said the same.

See Audio is putting out a lot of fascinating IEMs, and seem to be trying to compete with qdc. Unfortunately, little seems to known about them outside of Asia.

Can only find them on Facebook, no kidding. I see what you’re saying about competing. Their Neo flagship’s got a similar tuning to the VX and SA6 with that 5kHz dip. Hope they cook up something good.

 

[Darkestred]

Thanks for the impressions! Yeah, it’s something of a W-shape. I’m sure it does some stuff competently or people wouldn’t like it; I’m just not very good at singling out stuff to praise haha. You seem to prefer Homunculus more, which is interesting as I outright abhor it, but I know a couple of others have said the same.

You bet. I really only care about drums but i do hear other things but not deal breakers. The Thum just sounds odd. its a unique listen for sure and does some things right. If i had only these two as a choice, yes; Homunculus.

 

[mvvRAZ]

Super disappointed with the MMR Thum. I am single ended with a thor+ effects cable. This has an odd soundstage, narrow and imaging is off. I think hi-hats sound incredible on this unit and maybe the best implementation of them from any iem ive heard to date. Treble is smooth and rolled off a bit. This is a W signature, correct? I feel heavy emphasis on the middle of the W. But vocals are not very upfront. Recessed. As others said bass is super slow. Its a super strange listen. Definitely unique.

Oh and this thing has some horrible distortion of bass on songs like Dream Theaters 6:00 (vinyl flac) and clipping on Living Colour's Ignorance is bliss (flac). Never heard the distortion on 6:00 before.

Snares all sound off center. Like left of hi-hats (or right depending on hand). Very rare unless an anxillary snare is being used.

Just out of curiosity - are those based on the tour unit as well? I’m going to try the dream theaters track in a bit but what you guys are describing is just an entirely different IEM from what I have over here haha

 

[Darkestred]

Just out of curiosity - are those based on the tour unit as well? I’m going to try the dream theaters track in a bit but what you guys are describing is just an entirely different IEM from what I have over here haha

Yup. Tour unit. I wonder if going balanced would make a difference but i do not have that capability.

There is a caveat - I am wondering if my schiit dac needs to be reset. I started to hear it on satellite by DMB on my VX. Also, never heard that before on that set. I may have to go back and try them again.

double edit* ok on 6:00 at the 23 second mark i can hear some "grain" from the VX. The Thum portrayed this as heavy distortion (not guitar pedal/amp distortion) which came off as i was bass. On the anole im not sure if its grain, the actual guitar or the master. It doesn't sound awful but almost like an effect.

 

[eloelo]

Consoooom. 8sl doesn’t have to be endgame....come join the best IEM gang



Thanks for the impressions! Yeah, it’s something of a W-shape. I’m sure it does some stuff competently or people wouldn’t like it; I’m just not very good at singling out stuff to praise haha. You seem to prefer Homunculus more, which is interesting as I outright abhor it, but I know a couple of others have said the same.



Can only find them on Facebook, no kidding. I see what you’re saying about competing. Their Neo flagship’s got a similar tuning to the VX and SA6 with that 5kHz dip. Hope they cook up something good.

Ah got me XD

I'm starting to understand why Rush said VX was just a phase lol. Qdc tunings were really amazing for me in the beginning when I was trying various totls to find my "endgame". They can force out alot of detail in vocals(tho a little chesty), and had a unique slowish decay that made vocals seem to ring longer. Their imaging felt top notch (and lurker's mod to bypass DX160 android layer puts 8sl in overdrive), and back then as a newbie I would have picked a qdc totl over U12T, not realizing I had not accounted for my treble sensitivity and the QDCs' forward treble/recessed mids/lower pinna than my preference.

I get tired after work easily so I don't find myself reaching for 8sl often because of it's boosted treble + midbass relative to the mids. I have a Monarch too and Monarch actually stayed just nicely below my treble tolerance so it's more easy on the ears. So many of S/S-/A+/A rank on crin's list have too much treble for me. Some exceptions would be U12T, M9 (too warm for me) and VE8 (bad for female vocals). Hidition line of violet, viento, NT6, Waltz have too much treble too. Even Nio with amazing tonality for me was either too bassy with M15 or too trebly with MX. I'm accepting the fact that I like dark iems and U12T keeps a balance between dark and detail retrieval nicely. hhhh only 1 day more to decide...