[mvvRAZ]

The EE Odin and MMR Balmung are in the house! Starting with the Odin and impressions shall be posted in a few hours

 

[mvvRAZ]

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/emp...merly-earwerkz.786335/page-1583#post-15812932 - Initial Odin post is up. It should answer most of the questions regarding the comparison with the Thummim but let me know if I can help with anything else

 

[arijitroy2]

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/emp...merly-earwerkz.786335/page-1583#post-15812932 - Initial Odin post is up. It should answer most of the questions regarding the comparison with the Thummim but let me know if I can help with anything else

Good first impressions, waiting for the full review after they have burned in for a while. I'm also interested to know if any cables give the sound a bit more body, I would assume Eletech's Plato would.

 

[mvvRAZ]

Good first impressions, waiting for the full review after they have burned in for a while. I'm also interested to know if any cables give the sound a bit more body, I would assume Eletech's Plato would.

The Socrates does. They sounded really bright on the Plato, I swapped away from that rather quickly

 

[mvvRAZ]

deleted

 

[toaster]

love the delineation between how the music “does” and “could” sound.

great way to separate the neutral/naturally tuned stuff from the more colored tunings.

this will help avoid a lot of pointless "x vs. y...which is better?" conversations, if we realize we're trying to compare apples and oranges.

 

[mvvRAZ]

love the delineation between how the music “does” and “could” sound.

great way to separate the neutral/naturally tuned stuff from the more colored tunings.

I think I’m going to be using these categories more often in the future - they help give a bit more light to what an IEM was designed to do, and how good of a job it does at what it was meant to do

 

[gnahra]

I think I’m going to be using these categories more often in the future - they help give a bit more light to what an IEM was designed to do, and how good of a job it does at what it was meant to do

I love this, as well, coming from someone who is relatively new to the hobby.
I think I came to a similar mental framework, just from a slightly different angle than you did, @mvvRAZ (and perhaps a slightly lower price point
For example, as I'm currently trying to land on a 'steady state' collection (for whatever that's worth, and for as long as I'm actually able to be disciplined enough to stop buying!), I was thinking the following:
-I want one all-BA IEM, to serve as my reference-y IEM; right now, that's the U12t, but I hope to have my hands on an A18s in the next few weeks (which, if I can get it, will supplant the U12t)
-then I want 2-3 hybrids as my "fun" IEMs; I have a Legend X SE on the way, and that will be "basshead" hybrid; I think I want one more hybrid that has a more balanced signature (but not reference-y), if that makes sense. Right now, that's the Solaris 2020 for me, but may be the Hero. The Nio, which I also have, is likely to be on the market shortly.
In my opinion, and for my collection, I'd like each IEM to have a purpose and/or fill a specific niche (rather than just collect a bunch of great-sounding IEMs)...that's my objective.
In any case, apologies for the rambling, but I love your framework and makes me feel more comfortable using it (as a noob) knowing your framework.

Thanks!

 

[mvvRAZ]

I love this, as well, coming from someone who is relatively new to the hobby.
I think I came to a similar mental framework, just from a slightly different angle than you did, @mvvRAZ (and perhaps a slightly lower price point
For example, as I'm currently trying to land on a 'steady state' collection (for whatever that's worth, and for as long as I'm actually able to be disciplined enough to stop buying!), I was thinking the following:
-I want one all-BA IEM, to serve as my reference-y IEM; right now, that's the U12t, but I hope to have my hands on an A18s in the next few weeks (which, if I can get it, will supplant the U12t)
-then I want 2-3 hybrids as my "fun" IEMs; I have a Legend X SE on the way, and that will be "basshead" hybrid; I think I want one more hybrid that has a more balanced signature (but not reference-y), if that makes sense. Right now, that's the Solaris 2020 for me, but may be the Hero. The Nio, which I also have, is likely to be on the market shortly.
In my opinion, and for my collection, I'd like each IEM to have a purpose and/or fill a specific niche (rather than just collect a bunch of great-sounding IEMs)...that's my objective.
In any case, apologies for the rambling, but I love your framework and makes me feel more comfortable using it (as a noob) knowing your framework.

Thanks!

On the contrary - I love the input

I generally wouldn’t recommend you to limit yourself to driver tech alone. Every month I’m seeing new driver implementations that very often go against what the driver has been used for traditionally

you've got an epic collection in the works though. I’m glad to hear you found the LX SE!

 

[gnahra]

On the contrary - I love the input

I generally wouldn’t recommend you to limit yourself to driver tech alone. Every month I’m seeing new driver implementations that very often go against what the driver has been used for traditionally

you've got an epic collection in the works though. I’m glad to hear you found the LX SE!

Thanks!
And, great counsel from a vet to a relative rookie regarding driver tech. I appreciate it!

 

[Deferenz]

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/emp...merly-earwerkz.786335/page-1583#post-15812932 - Initial Odin post is up. It should answer most of the questions regarding the comparison with the Thummim but let me know if I can help with anything else

That was a good set of first impressions.

Do you think the sound will change much during burn in? One thing that seemed to be present in the write up was how it was brighter and sparkly. I didn’t necessarily get this impression from reviews/impressions from others, but more a case of them saying everything works together really well. I think you also said this too, but I must admit that words like bright and sparkly do scare me a bit

How did you find the cable with the Odin? Stormbreaker is I believe a PW Audio 1960s 2w. I know it’s early days yet, but is it a good match or were you cable rolling?

I’m looking forward to your full review a bit later.

 

[mvvRAZ]

That was a good set of first impressions.

Do you think the sound will change much during burn in? One thing that seemed to be present in the write up was how it was brighter and sparkly. I didn’t necessarily get this impression from reviews/impressions from others, but more a case of them saying everything works together really well. I think you also said this too, but I must admit that words like bright and sparkly do scare me a bit

How did you find the cable with the Odin? Stormbreaker is I believe a PW Audio 1960s 2w. I know it’s early days yet, but is it a good match or were you cable rolling?

I’m looking forward to your full review a bit later.

The changes I've experienced with burn-in have usually been absolutely minimal, and easily attributable to me adjusting to the signature more so than the drivers actually changing how they're performing. I'm really not a big believer in that respect.

The Odin is a really good neutral, reference-y IEM with a bass bump, but the way the A18t was bright for some, so will the Odin IMHO. It has more and better bass than the A18t, and the treble is really well controlled - there are no peaks or splashes or whatever, but it's just an overall brighter monitor

I haven't been able to test the Stormbreaker yet as it comes only in 2.5 and I have no sources or adapters that are able to do that - I picked the Eletech Socrates as it has a similar sound to my ears, and in the meantime I've ordered an adapter. I don't expect any fundamental massive changes but yeah it might be a bit different with that. I've never been a huge fan of the PW1950s and 1960s but hey, it might be an especially good pairing as EE says

 

[Deferenz]

@mvvRAZ Can you let me know how the SR25 stacks up against other A&K Daps? I have been considering getting an A&K but do not know whether to go towards entry route or TOTL route.

 

[mvvRAZ]

@mvvRAZ Can you let me know how the SR25 stacks up against other A&K Daps? I have been considering getting an A&K but do not know whether to go towards entry route or TOTL route.

I've only tried the SP2000 once and it was pretty brief, and I owned the SP1000M for a while but I really didn't like how overloaded the upper midrange was. I'll let you know how the SR25 does but I'm afraid I can't really provide too many comparisons to other DAPs

 

[Deferenz]

I've only tried the SP2000 once and it was pretty brief, and I owned the SP1000M for a while but I really didn't like how overloaded the upper midrange was. I'll let you know how the SR25 does but I'm afraid I can't really provide too many comparisons to other DAPs

The reason the SR25 peaked my interest is because I think there is someone on the EE board that is running the Odin out of one and seems to be pleased with the setup.