That's what I thought. When I signed up for the EXT tour, he mentioned it was still open and since I hadn't heard the Elysium yet, I thought it would be a good time to hear it.
Rank the IEM's you've heard
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SlothRock
1000+ Head-Fier
I also wish I could try the EXT’s due to @Rockwell75 ‘s review haha. Not sure what this whole tour thing is since I’m newer here but not a ton hi fi places for me to try something like the EXT in the Bay Area and certainly won’t blind buy a $3k IEM.
The beauty of EXT imho is that it's a proper bass driven IEM married to VE's signature natural, present and bodied midrange. It's a match made in heaven.
I would listen to EVO, EXT and XE6 to see which one you like best. They seem to occupy similar space.
The EXT and Evo are quite a bit more bassy than the XE6 I'd say. The XE6 has a very big bass presence but its quite linear in its transition into the lower mid range. So that bass shelf comes off as "elevated neutral" rather than something that's cleanly separated from the mids like the Evo and EXT.
You would be able to own all 3 of them without them being too similar I'd say. The EXT and the XE6 share a somewhat similar tonality with the exception of how they do upper mid range and treble.
So they’re similar wrt bass -> lower mids? How do upper mids and treble differ ?
So I heard EXT to position the mid range slightly between the bass and the treble, so as a result it is quite a bassy IEM. It's got a nice mid bass emphasis with a deep sub bass extension and very nice texture. The XE6 for example elevates the lower mid range into the bass shelf so it comes off as an "elevated neutral" type of lows, its different. The upper mid range is positioned just forward enough to keep the IEM from sounding way too bottom heavy, then it just extends all the way through the treble. It sort of tricks your mind into thinking its a warm balanced sounding IEM but in reality it is not. The upper mid range to treble transition on the XE6 follows more of a traditional type of curve where the upper mids are positioned more forward and then it slopes off slightly into the treble and just extends. I heard the EXT to position upper mids linear with treble sparkle/air. so it sort of gave the perception of a pulled back mid range relative to the sparkle and air you get.
The EXT and XE6 are super unique IEMs imo, it's quite difficult to explain how the XE6 sounds without it just coming off as rambling haha.
If bass quantity is your absolute priority you'd be better served going to Evo or EXT. If you want bass quality then ... they are all ridiculously good at that IMO. Unfortunately, I do feel the kinetic bass is quite fit dependent, its noticeably better on my CIEM versus the UIEM.
I would have zero issues owning all 3 of them simultaneously if they fit my criteria because I heard them all to be different enough.
Hah well you'll hear them all eventually. Not that I think you'll buy them all but they are different and offer something new.
Thankfully we have our designated blind buyers and first impressionists in @aaf evo, @Damz87 and @HiFiHawaii808. They perform an invaluable service for this community!
Here's my latest ranking with some movements and XE6 added 
I've included a "bias" column to factor in my personal preferences on a particular tuning from a more holistic view, and I've also added a 'dynamics' column, which tbh, I hadn't really been able to hear or understand as a technical aspect between different IEMs until recently, so I never bothered included it in the past. But now that I can, it's become a technical aspect that actually weighs quite heavilly on my preferences, so I feel its important to start tracking it.
Neither new column scores have been included in the total/average, but as the list grows and I hear more stuff that I can confidently rank, I'll start including them.
I've included a "bias" column to factor in my personal preferences on a particular tuning from a more holistic view, and I've also added a 'dynamics' column, which tbh, I hadn't really been able to hear or understand as a technical aspect between different IEMs until recently, so I never bothered included it in the past. But now that I can, it's become a technical aspect that actually weighs quite heavilly on my preferences, so I feel its important to start tracking it.
Neither new column scores have been included in the total/average, but as the list grows and I hear more stuff that I can confidently rank, I'll start including them.
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proedros
Headphoneus Supremus
great list , seeing that you have (and love) both Odin and NT6 , i want to ask you this
i have (and adore) NT6 , would Odin be a significant upgrade , sonic-wise ?
also , if i love the NT6 sound , would Odin be to my liking ?
listening to pre-2000 well mastered/recorded music , so no trash/overcompressed/loudness wars albums to be used
thanx for any feedback/impressions
DaveStarWalker
Headphoneus Supremus
Just...
An interesting experience (this morning) = https://www.head-fi.org/threads/fli...dio-discussion.826876/page-2534#post-16786790
An interesting experience (this morning) = https://www.head-fi.org/threads/fli...dio-discussion.826876/page-2534#post-16786790
BobJS
Headphoneus Supremus
(re: Dorado 2020)
Honestly, I know a lot of people really like the Dorado 2020, so I really think there must have been something wrong with the pair I bought, because they were truly trash. Unlistenable. So just remove my opinion on this from the sample set and move on.
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