[mvvRAZ]

hmmmm, what new 64 releases? the 18's? Also curious about Thummim vs Sultan for the fun side of things.

The 18S I already have and absolutely love - they teased another two releases in their video though, those are the ones I was referring to

On Thummim vs Sultan - they aren’t too dissimilar, the thummim is a little bolder and more exaggerated with less lower treble but better extension, and larger staging

Considering darker/warmer sound nature of Thummim, you will probably like pair up with a brighter tuned S1, since W1/W2 are smoother and more naturally tuned (typical L&P). In terms of technical performance, W1 and S1 are close enough, while W2 is noticeable step forward with a bigger soundstage and much lower noise floor. W2 technical performance is nearly the same as Cobalt, and tonality similar as well. But Cobalt has a little different signature, lacks balanced and no other bells'n'whistles (no volume control, no EQ presets, etc). One thing that I can't live without anymore is a volume control on these usb dac/amp dongles. Unless you go into the app and adjust the volume from there, changing the volume on your smartphone using side buttons has no precision. Having volume buttons on these dongles helps with micro-adjustment of the volume in smaller steps.



Romi Audio dac/amp looks interesting, aside from no volume or no eq. But the power output is a little less than W1/W2, which is still OK for IEMs. But one red flag is 200mA playback current. This will cause you problems with iPhones because they limit external devices to 100mA, and with Android phones will cause a higher battery drain.

the thing about the W2 is it does have that natural tuning but the midrange is really pushed quite forward, so while it sounds wet and inviting, I end up being unable to really experience that staging that you mention. Seems super vocal dominant, and places the mids in front of both the bass and the treble. Overall, big meh

 

[bluestorm1992]

The 18S I already have and absolutely love - they teased another two releases in their video though, those are the ones I was referring to

On Thummim vs Sultan - they aren’t too dissimilar, the thummim is a little bolder and more exaggerated with less lower treble but better extension, and larger staging



the thing about the W2 is it does have that natural tuning but the midrange is really pushed quite forward, so while it sounds wet and inviting, I end up being unable to really experience that staging that you mention. Seems super vocal dominant, and places the mids in front of both the bass and the treble. Overall, big meh

The forward mid could also be a MMR synergy thing. I experience this strongly with the Gae Bolg - W2 pairing. GB is already an intimate IEM to my ears, but I find its pairing with W2 to push the vocals even more forward.

 

[mvvRAZ]

The forward mid could also be a MMR synergy thing. I experience this strongly with the Gae Bolg - W2 pairing. GB is already an intimate IEM to my ears, but I find its pairing with W2 to push the vocals even more forward.

Honestly most of my impressions come from the pairing with the A12t, and that has a suuuuper inoffensive upper midrange - almost hollowed out

 

[gLer]

Someone needs to explain the point of elevated upper mids to me.

 

[aaf evo]

Someone needs to explain the point of elevated upper mids to me.

To shove vocals into your eyeballs!

 

[tawmizzzz]

Someone needs to explain the point of elevated upper mids to me.

I know this is rhetorical but:

Adds excitability (or anger in Michael’s case) to the overall sig! The smoother the boost in upper-mids, the more sweet/ethereal/exaggerated vocals become, and when it’s harsh, well as @aaf evo said, it’s like someone yelling at you non-stop on 11 out of 10 scale. Some people are masochists I guess

 

[bluestorm1992]

I know this is rhetorical but:

Adds excitability (or anger in Michael’s case) to the overall sig! The smoother the boost in upper-mids, the more sweet/ethereal/exaggerated vocals become, and when it’s harsh, well as @aaf evo said, it’s like someone yelling at you non-stop on 11 out of 10 scale. Some people are masochists I guess

Speaking of this, I do find the Gae Bolg + W2 pairing to have a sweet sound signature. I was not sure about where this was coming from, and now it seems that it could be due to the combination of the elevated upper mids from W2 and GB's smooth mids.

 

[KuroKitsu]

the thing about the W2 is it does have that natural tuning but the midrange is really pushed quite forward, so while it sounds wet and inviting, I end up being unable to really experience that staging that you mention. Seems super vocal dominant, and places the mids in front of both the bass and the treble. Overall, big meh

I'm not in the W2 thread and I'm still being sold the W2, ahhhhhhhhhh

To shove vocals into your eyeballs!

I know this is rhetorical but:

Adds excitability (or anger in Michael’s case) to the overall sig! The smoother the boost in upper-mids, the more sweet/ethereal/exaggerated vocals become, and when it’s harsh, well as @aaf evo said, it’s like someone yelling at you non-stop on 11 out of 10 scale. Some people are masochists I guess

Aw crap, I've been exposed *sweats*.

Y'all got some more of those upper mids?

 

[riverground]

Aw crap, I've been exposed *sweats*.

Y'all got some more of those upper mids?

Count me in with some more of those upper mids

 

[ranfan]

The Odin sounded pretty good straight from phone, even better to my ears than DX300, which hissed a bit balanced out.
I'm curious how it'd sound with the 6000

Edit: WM1A seems to be my favourite pairing for the Odin so far. The 6000 came close. But after trying most DAPs at the store; between the 1Z, 1A, and DMP, I like the 1A best. There was no noticeable hiss, and soundstage felt big. The upper-mids also felt smoother. The 1A also gave the Odin some more definition and thickness to its sound.

 

[mvvRAZ]

MMR hype!

The Balmung apparently comes with 3 interchangeable shells that will sound a little different from one another due to the acoustic chambers - I love this company, the amount of thought they put into design and aesthetics is incredible

 

[MrLocoLuciano]

 

[KuroKitsu]

The Odin sounded pretty good straight from phone, even better to my ears than DX300, which hissed a bit balanced out.
I'm curious how it'd sound with the 6000

Edit: WM1A seems to be my favourite pairing for the Odin so far. The 6000 came close. But after trying most DAPs at the store; between the 1Z, 1A, and DMP, I like the 1A best. There was no noticeable hiss, and soundstage felt big. The upper-mids also felt smoother. The 1A also gave the Odin some more definition and thickness to its sound.

Hiss on the1A decreases going from Zeus > Wraith > Odin.

Sadly I didn't have them when I had the Paw6k.

 

[LabelH]

This one looks like P***mon easter egg

 

[mvvRAZ]

This one looks like P***mon easter egg

This design was the jaw dropper for me, I’ve already messaged Joseph about how and when I can get one