[Rockwell75]

Maybe the universal tuning is way different? Were your sources all custom versions?

I've heard from people who got the custom, who have demoed the universal demo at Bay Bloor in Toronto and who have demoed the limited edition universal in HK...all impressions so far (save Raz's) have been very positive.

 

[blotmouse]

I've heard from people who got the custom, who have demoed the universal demo at Bay Bloor in Toronto and who have demoed the limited edition universal in HK...all impressions so far (save Raz's) have been very positive.

 

[twister6]

2)The Meze 109 prototype headphone, coming up late this summer. Tuning has been finalized, and it is glorious - incredible dynamics, a deep and textured bass with insane rumble, clean and warm midrange, treble extension for days... Can't pick out a single thing it does wrong, while being very technical and significantly more dynamic than the Meze Elite (although I tried that off some amp that was supposed to be esp good for it and it sounded pretty insane as well). Meze have definitely been doing very well lately, even though their newest IEM release was quite mediocre to me.

Michael, by newest IEM release, you mean Advar, right? Did you try it with stock Final Type-E eartips or another set of eartips? I'm listening to them now, and Type-E kills the sound with treble being too harsh and splashy. I switched them to Azla Crystal eartips and such an improvement. But so far, everybody I talked to who didn't like Advar mentioned about trying them with Type-E eartips.

 

[mvvRAZ]

Michael, by newest IEM release, you mean Advar, right? Did you try it with stock Final Type-E eartips or another set of eartips? I'm listening to them now, and Type-E kills the sound with treble being too harsh and splashy. I switched them to Azla Crystal eartips and such an improvement. But so far, everybody I talked to who didn't like Advar mentioned about trying them with Type-E eartips.

Ummm I had to use the Acoustunes, since the final E’s couldn’t maintain a good seal for me. Obviously it’s in show conditions though so definitely take all impressions with that in consideration

I've heard from people who got the custom, who have demoed the universal demo at Bay Bloor in Toronto and who have demoed the limited edition universal in HK...all impressions so far (save Raz's) have been very positive.

If you aren’t committing to a custom straightaway you might as well get it I think? Should be easy to resell. Worth noting however that @doctorjuggles’ impressions were consistent with mine

 

[Blanchot]

- The disappointments -

1) Meze Liric. Tried it again, was left with a huge meh once again

What is it with the Liric that you find so boring? I'm in the market for a new closed-back and it will be either Liric or Stellia. The DCA Stealth is not available in my corner of the world, so it will have to be one of those two.

 

[productred]

Personal feelings on the IEM: Love love love. I'm not really saying the Aurum is one of the best things you can get around the 1000 euro mark, I'm saying the Aurum is one of the best things money can buy at any price point, and especially so if you enjoy a more forward and aggressive upper treble response which I've come to crave. Stupid technical (might be the most technical IEM I've heard), huge stage, unreal treble, fast and precise bass with some of that DD texture. Midrange can be a touch aggressive at times with albums like Anderson Paak's Malibu, but definitely within the "enjoyable" category still. If you do get one, definitely run it off something warm, the PAW S1 and PAW6000 do well, but the SP2000T is in a category of its own for brighter IEMs. It still isn't SO bright that I need the full tube mode for it - I've run it exclusively on hybrid.

To me the Aurum feels like a "this is what technical ability can be" statement, sacrificing some musicality in the process, but in its niche, it absolutely slaughters. As I mentioned in the infographic it doesn't quite sound natural, but it has an exceptional ethereal quality (a little reminiscent of the Fourte/Fourte Noir but less weird and quirky)

Welcome to the Thummim / A18S family of excitement Aurum, and I look forward to receiving it as a CIEM in a few weeks!

Disclaimer: The Aurum is stupid difficult to drive. I'm hovering between 90 and 110 volume on my SP2000T

Sorry for bring up the "old"er post but hey I just got my Aurum a week ago (not easy to get a pair) and it was like YES after all these years trying and living with the supposedly best iems out there FINALLY near-perfection is achieved with the Aurum. Trebles are a pain in IEM design obviously - the archilles heel in many otherwise great sounding iems - the best parts of the trebles were lost before they could reach your ears, and then the Sonion electrostats and Tia drivers were introduced trying to rectify that but so far no other makers utilize the miniature estat drivers better than Craft Ears - before hearing the Aurum all the other estat implementations sound like a joke.

 

[mvvRAZ]

A note on the N8II - over the HE Munich I tried it side by side with a bunch of IEMs incl the Erl and Thummim, the new CFA TOTL etc - it’s lowkey bright as **** - the Erl sounded like a U18t while it’s kinda my reference for a warm and thick IEM

I think it just pairs exceptionally well with 64 and FiR stuff, which all have the LID tech, so it can’t unleash the entirety of its brightness power on them. I realized after trying 5-6 different models, having them all sound stupid bright and then swapping back to the LPGT and enjoying them substantially more because of the more controlled treble

 

[doctorjuggles]

1) Super super cool to finally meet @doctorjuggles and @gryphonos in person!

The pleasure was all mine! Awesome to meet you and @gryphonos - what a pair of dudes you both are!

 

[productred]

Personal feelings on the IEM: Love love love. I'm not really saying the Aurum is one of the best things you can get around the 1000 euro mark, I'm saying the Aurum is one of the best things money can buy at any price point, and especially so if you enjoy a more forward and aggressive upper treble response which I've come to crave. Stupid technical (might be the most technical IEM I've heard), huge stage, unreal treble, fast and precise bass with some of that DD texture. Midrange can be a touch aggressive at times with albums like Anderson Paak's Malibu, but definitely within the "enjoyable" category still. If you do get one, definitely run it off something warm, the PAW S1 and PAW6000 do well, but the SP2000T is in a category of its own for brighter IEMs. It still isn't SO bright that I need the full tube mode for it - I've run it exclusively on hybrid.

To me the Aurum feels like a "this is what technical ability can be" statement, sacrificing some musicality in the process, but in its niche, it absolutely slaughters. As I mentioned in the infographic it doesn't quite sound natural, but it has an exceptional ethereal quality (a little reminiscent of the Fourte/Fourte Noir but less weird and quirky)

Welcome to the Thummim / A18S family of excitement Aurum, and I look forward to receiving it as a CIEM in a few weeks!

Disclaimer: The Aurum is stupid difficult to drive. I'm hovering between 90 and 110 volume on my SP2000T

Likely the first time I'd say a marginally bright-sounding iem is not sounding bright cos of an exaggerated presence range / high mids (Odin........Tia Fourte.........you name it) but is cos of it is actually producing some real trebles and overtones instead. Life is good with the Aurum. Unbelievable achievement to have some shamelessly but not overly pronounced sub bass and trebles added to the vastly neutral everything else, close to what you would expect from a decent home speaker system.

It is one of the very best things out there that money can buy, can't agree more with that one. All the difference in price goes down to the literally non-existence of any meaningful (and meaningless) packaging and accessories. You can just tell all the investment, heart and soul goes into the sound and the beautiful design.

 

[mvvRAZ]

Prototype timeeeee #blessed

 

[Xinlisupreme]

Prototype timeeeee #blessed

Eletech L series?

 

[mvvRAZ]

Eletech L series?

Yes the Ode to Laura prototypes

 

[mvvRAZ]

What is it with the Liric that you find so boring? I'm in the market for a new closed-back and it will be either Liric or Stellia. The DCA Stealth is not available in my corner of the world, so it will have to be one of those two.

Sorry I just saw this

It's more of an issue with how much it lacks technical ability to me - it sounds very dull, almost like Bose came up with what's by their standard an expensive headphone. All Meze's I've heard have boring tuning, IEMs and HPs alike - not a single thing they've made sounds too different from any other thing they've made and I think that's fine as long as they have the technical ability to back that up.

The Elite does, and Imo so does the 109. The Empyrean is just kinda a worse Elite to me, so I am not including it in this list.

The Stellia from memory is a hot mess, the frequencies are just all over the place, they sound like something a child would come up with while smashing EQ bands

I haven't heard a single closed back that's had me 100% convinced yet, but yeah I'd love a good one. Verite Closed is the closest I came to enjoying one

 

[gLer]

Sorry I just saw this

It's more of an issue with how much it lacks technical ability to me - it sounds very dull, almost like Bose came up with what's by their standard an expensive headphone. All Meze's I've heard have boring tuning, IEMs and HPs alike - not a single thing they've made sounds too different from any other thing they've made and I think that's fine as long as they have the technical ability to back that up.

The Elite does, and Imo so does the 109. The Empyrean is just kinda a worse Elite to me, so I am not including it in this list.

The Stellia from memory is a hot mess, the frequencies are just all over the place, they sound like something a child would come up with while smashing EQ bands

I haven't heard a single closed back that's had me 100% convinced yet, but yeah I'd love a good one. Verite Closed is the closest I came to enjoying one

Have you tried the Sony MDR-Z1R off a TA-ZH1ES?

 

[mvvRAZ]

Have you tried the Sony MDR-Z1R off a TA-ZH1ES?

I have tried the Sony but it's been too long and not off the TA