RAZ's TOTL review and rambles thread... could it be.... alive?

[mvvRAZ]

An exciting development! Spoke to Softears this morning, and I will be reviewing their entry level RSV, as well as their co-TOTLs, the RS10 and the Cerberus!

I've heard rather great things about them so I'm very excited to hear what they're all about

On another note, UM Mason FuSang review close to being done, just waiting for a final listen on the MHA150 next week

Lastly, swapped over to Apple Music from Tidal - never really been discussed on this thread but I guess I might do some small streaming service comparison if there's any interest... not even sure if I am interested myself

 

[Xinlisupreme]

RSV is a VG full BA, amazing mids with a touch of warmth but has good detail retrival.
I love it with voices

 

[KickAssChewGum]

An exciting development! Spoke to Softears this morning, and I will be reviewing their entry level RSV, as well as their co-TOTLs, the RS10 and the Cerberus!

I've heard rather great things about them so I'm very excited to hear what they're all about

On another note, UM Mason FuSang review close to being done, just waiting for a final listen on the MHA150 next week

Lastly, swapped over to Apple Music from Tidal - never really been discussed on this thread but I guess I might do some small streaming service comparison if there's any interest... not even sure if I am interested myself

Very curious what you think about the Cerberus. I feel like @Softears have been unfairly neglected as one of the real TOTL contenders in this industry for a while now. I remember listening to a few of their IEMs at Canjam a couple of years ago and being completely blown away by them. I tried to purchase them there and then but someone else had already nabbed all their samples.

PS Looking forward to you UM FuSang review!

 

[mvvRAZ]

Very curious what you think about the Cerberus. I feel like @Softears have been unfairly neglected as one of the real TOTL contenders in this industry for a while now. I remember listening to a few of their IEMs at Canjam a couple of years ago and being completely blown away by them. I tried to purchase them there and then but someone else had already nabbed all their samples.

PS Looking forward to you UM FuSang review!

I think the absence of audio shows has been a big issue for a lot of new companies that are trying to make a name for themselves. They aren't really represented by any properly large and influential dealers in the USA/EU either AFAIK, so it will be great to post some reviews and impressions of their IEMs

 

[woodcans]

An exciting development! Spoke to Softears this morning, and I will be reviewing their entry level RSV, as well as their co-TOTLs, the RS10 and the Cerberus!

I've heard rather great things about them so I'm very excited to hear what they're all about

On another note, UM Mason FuSang review close to being done, just waiting for a final listen on the MHA150 next week

Lastly, swapped over to Apple Music from Tidal - never really been discussed on this thread but I guess I might do some small streaming service comparison if there's any interest... not even sure if I am interested myself

I swapped to Qobuz after the MQA reveal. Interested to see how you like Apple compared to Tidal.

Looking forward to your FuSang review. The more time I spend with my FS, the more I absolutely love it.

 

[KickAssChewGum]

I swapped to Qobuz after the MQA reveal. Interested to see how you like Apple compared to Tidal.

Looking forward to your FuSang review. The more time I spend with my FS, the more I absolutely love it.

If only Apple Music was integrated into Roon!

 

[Tanalasta]

Always interested in a streaming service comparison.

Having done quite a detailed "internal" comparison ; it is very track/album dependent. However, in the whole I find MQA introduces an unacceptable (to my ears) amount of distortion noise. And that it requires using a device that does the second full unfold for the distortion to disappear. I almost returned a pair of IEM's thinking the BA's were faulty until I realised it was the MQA track.

Most of my playlists are now QOBUZ. Looking forward to see what Spotify and Apple lossless brings although there's a limit to how many subscription services I wish to pay for (which at the moment, is all of the above)

 

[Xinlisupreme]

Qobuz>Tidal HIFI>Spotify premium
Unfortunately I didn’t yes Amazon music and Apple Music…

 

[bluestorm1992]

I also want to chime in and say that my FS seems to have changed quite a bit with burn-in/my extensive use lately, and in a good way. Previously I was commenting that SP2000 was not a good pairing because of the recessed mids and too smooth of an overall presentation, which seemed to suggest a weak control of music from SP2000.

Yesterday I tried out the FS with SP2000 again, and immediately noticed a couple of things:

• I don’t need to raise the volume to as high a level as before to get enough impact from music.
• The overall presentation tightens up quite a bit, and the mids no longer strike me as being too recessed. It is still more recessed than with the P6 Pro.
• I also don’t experience the smooth/soft treble as in my initial listening with this pairing.

Some burn in is definitely happening here, both for the IEM and my brain. An interesting conjecture is that my brain becomes more accustomed to the bone conduction driver as time goes on, and I am therefore better able to pick up the impact from the BCD.

 

[mvvRAZ]

I also want to chime in and say that my FS seems to have changed quite a bit with burn-in/my extensive use lately, and in a good way. Previously I was commenting that SP2000 was not a good pairing because of the recessed mids and too smooth of an overall presentation, which seemed to suggest a weak control of music from SP2000.

Yesterday I tried out the FS with SP2000 again, and immediately noticed a couple of things:

• I don’t need to raise the volume to as high a level as before to get enough impact from music.
• The overall presentation tightens up quite a bit, and the mids no longer strike me as being too recessed. It is still more recessed than with the P6 Pro.
• I also don’t experience the smooth/soft treble as in my initial listening with this pairing.

Some burn in is definitely happening here, both for the IEM and my brain. An interesting conjecture is that my brain becomes more accustomed to the bone conduction driver as time goes on, and I am therefore better able to pick up the impact from the BCD.

The FuSang has taken that "this is what music sounds like to me" spot. Up until now the A18S had it, and I do find that there are some similarities between the presentations of the two. The FuSang is in some ways what the Elysium would sound like if it were made by 64A

I haven't actually listened to anything but the MEST briefly since I got it, it's just such a good, no-brainer, everyday pick of an IEM - I can focus on the sound and get blown away by what it does to the midrange as well as that crystal-clear, crisp treble, or I can turn my brain off and just listen to whatever on it with the PAW S1

I look forward to mostly cable rolling on it for now, I don't really feel like the Iliad is all that optimal for its sound signature and especially in what it does to the bass, but the Aeneid or Plato might do great.

 

[Tanalasta]

I also want to chime in and say that my FS seems to have changed quite a bit with burn-in/my extensive use lately, and in a good way. Previously I was commenting that SP2000 was not a good pairing because of the recessed mids and too smooth of an overall presentation, which seemed to suggest a weak control of music from SP2000.

Yesterday I tried out the FS with SP2000 again, and immediately noticed a couple of things:

• I don’t need to raise the volume to as high a level as before to get enough impact from music.
• The overall presentation tightens up quite a bit, and the mids no longer strike me as being too recessed. It is still more recessed than with the P6 Pro.
• I also don’t experience the smooth/soft treble as in my initial listening with this pairing.

Some burn in is definitely happening here, both for the IEM and my brain. An interesting conjecture is that my brain becomes more accustomed to the bone conduction driver as time goes on, and I am therefore better able to pick up the impact from the BCD.

Looking forward to the review and comparisons... and have you added the C9 to the chain?

Despite perceived misgivings we occasionally see on these forums regarding A&K ; the SP2k remains one of the best DAC/Amp portable implementations I've had the pleasure of listening ; and rivals many desktop solutions. And so it should at the price point. I actually quite enjoy the SP2k with the bird also.

 

[bluestorm1992]

The FuSang has taken that "this is what music sounds like to me" spot. Up until now the A18S had it, and I do find that there are some similarities between the presentations of the two. The FuSang is in some ways what the Elysium would sound like if it were made by 64A

I haven't actually listened to anything but the MEST briefly since I got it, it's just such a good, no-brainer, everyday pick of an IEM - I can focus on the sound and get blown away by what it does to the midrange as well as that crystal-clear, crisp treble, or I can turn my brain off and just listen to whatever on it with the PAW S1

I look forward to mostly cable rolling on it for now, I don't really feel like the Iliad is all that optimal for its sound signature and especially in what it does to the bass, but the Aeneid or Plato might do great.

Totally agree here. FS’s neutral and reference-style presentation have also become the standard to me. Whenever I listen to any of my other IEMs, I always find myself comparing it back to FS - and find that there is a missing part.

This is different from what I have experienced with Traillii. There, I was like “OK, this IEM does not sound as enjoyable as Traillii”. With FS as the benchmark against other IEMs, I am like “the music produced by this IEM sounds a bit off (in certain aspects) compared to FS”.

 

[bluestorm1992]

Looking forward to the review and comparisons... and have you added the C9 to the chain?

Despite perceived misgivings we occasionally see on these forums regarding A&K ; the SP2k remains one of the best DAC/Amp portable implementations I've had the pleasure of listening ; and rivals many desktop solutions. And so it should at the price point. I actually quite enjoy the SP2k with the bird also.

With the recent development of FS, I want to wait a bit to collect my thoughts; also, possibly wait until my custom Traillii arrives.

Yes I have tried C9 with it, but with SP2000 that was a while ago when I found it to lack the overall control of music, and C9 helped tremendously in this aspect. I will do some more sessions with SP2000+C9.

 

[gLer]

Totally agree here. FS’s neutral and reference-style presentation have also become the standard to me. Whenever I listen to any of my other IEMs, I always find myself comparing it back to FS - and find that there is a missing part.

This is different from what I have experienced with Traillii. There, I was like “OK, this IEM does not sound as enjoyable as Traillii”. With FS as the benchmark against other IEMs, I am like “the music produced by this IEM sounds a bit off (in certain aspects) compared to FS”.

So the question is, do you ever listen to the FS and think "ok, this does not sound as enjoyable as Traillii"? And at the same time, I take it you don't don't consider Traillii a reference tuning?

 

[bluestorm1992]

So the question is, do you ever listen to the FS and think "ok, this does not sound as enjoyable as Traillii"? And at the same time, I take it you don't don't consider Traillii a reference tuning?

My last demo session with Traillii was a long time ago, and I would want to spend some more quality time with it to draw the conclusion.

Maybe the question is: If an IEM is identified as being “musical”, does this automatically mean that it is not referencing tuning? I have seen similar arguments on the reverse side - U12t and VX are both accepted as reference tuning and music production-focused, and both are far from being musical.