The Watercooler -- Impressions, philosophical discussion and general banter. Index on first page. All welcome.
Aug 3, 2021 at 6:36 PM Post #2,221 of 88,924
Same here, The M8 is here to stay (famous last words), on another note, the Turii is the real deal, and I'll have the Isabelle here on Thursday for a head to head matchup.

Same here, The M8 is here to stay (famous last words), on another note, the Turii is the real deal, and I'll have the Isabelle here on Thursday for a head to head matchup.
looking forward to hearing your opinion
 
Aug 3, 2021 at 6:54 PM Post #2,222 of 88,924
Received the Oriolus Percivali in for demo from @endless402

30AB732B-8188-47AE-B75F-51ADCC277D67.JPEG
 
Aug 3, 2021 at 7:17 PM Post #2,223 of 88,924
Same here, The M8 is here to stay (famous last words), on another note, the Turii is the real deal, and I'll have the Isabelle here on Thursday for a head to head matchup.
I thought the same thing, but I'll probably be selling mine. Everything is so fleeting when climbing summit fi mountain, I swear.
 
Aug 3, 2021 at 7:19 PM Post #2,224 of 88,924
I thought the same thing, but I'll probably be selling mine. Everything is so fleeting when climbing summit fi mountain, I swear.

I take it you're more satisfied with the n6ii TI?
 
Aug 3, 2021 at 7:33 PM Post #2,225 of 88,924
I take it you're more satisfied with the n6ii TI?
I am.
The Ti and the M2 cover all my sonic bases for now. I have not listened to this much music in years. I guess that's the clue you're where you need to be.
It's all about that audio uptime.
 
Aug 3, 2021 at 8:33 PM Post #2,226 of 88,924
Here's what I'll be salivating over the next little while...possible Traillii contender?

39CA034B-6BDD-446B-A1C6-2305267A94D5.jpeg

@Deezel177 any insider hints or info you can throw our way? :p

I guess contentment doesn't last long in this hobby.. Not a super fan of the look but that driver list sure has promise..
 
Aug 4, 2021 at 12:05 AM Post #2,227 of 88,924
I guess contentment doesn't last long in this hobby.. Not a super fan of the look but that driver list sure has promise..

I actually quite like the look. The potential of this release has had me twitterpated ever since I learned of it. I think there should be more info and specifics by the end of the weekend.
 
Aug 4, 2021 at 8:31 AM Post #2,228 of 88,924
Wildcatsare1, Don't you have a PW Monile 50s? That is what I am running with my Isa.
 
Aug 4, 2021 at 10:26 AM Post #2,229 of 88,924
I've been listening to the Percivali off and on for the last 18 hours or so and honestly I'm struggling with it a wee bit. On the one hand at times it's as good as anything I've ever heard. At its best the sound is lush, full, vivid, grand & clear with the midrange in general possessing in full what I would refer to as "Oriolus magic". On Carmannah's Long Way Home the vocals are angelic & enticing and up there with something like Elysium & Traillii. Often though the upper mids and highs become too much for me overwhelm a wee bit and dominate the whole scene making me totally oblivious to the bass or really anything below about 1K-- and, unlike with the Reborn, this doesn't seem to be something easily fixable with EQ. Lower mids on Perci are less satisfying on the whole-- something like Dire Straits In the Gallery lacks the body & weight that I'm used to with my other IEMs. Bass on these is something of a mystery to me. It's certainly there but it lacks the oopmh, presence & definition that I hear on Reborn & Isabellae.


graph-8.png

This is perhaps the most interesting comparison. I often use the terms "Eastern" vs "Western" tuning to describe differences in how the bass & mids are presented and emphasized. In this light Perci seems to be basically an Elysium with a more "Eastern" FR (ie., more of a sub-bass & upper mid emphasis.

graph-6.png

This to me is another interesting comparison. It seems that Perci has more sub & lower bass presence but that's not how I hear it-- in Perci the bass often gets lost in the mix to my ears so it feels like I'm awash in the upper mids & highs with the bass coming from a across the street or somewhere else. On Isa everything to my ears is where it should be and I'm always conscious of the entirety of the signature when listening to it.

graph-9.png

This I also found very fascinating as it somewhat confirms my feeling that Isa is in many ways a mini-Elysium with different emphasis only in the highs.

The bottom line for me will be to echo some comments made by @ranfan earlier. Perci has shades of greatness-- and often. Within its sound I hear flavors of all the other Oriolus IEMs I've heard (Traillii, Reborn & Isabellae) however in each of those other 3 IEMs I feel they were able to produce a more cohesive & coherent sound. With Perci I feel they struggled a bit to integrate the 3 different driver types so that sometimes, especially with the bass, it feels like I'm listening to two different IEMs at the same time and on the whole the signature, while great in parts often fails to manifest as a unity. The verdict for me at this point is that the Percivali strives for and often attains greatness but it's ultimately not my ideal FR and I feel it lacks the polished perfection of my favorite Oriolus IEMs. As with everything, YMMV.

Edit: I'm also not really a fan of these massive shielded cables. It feels like I'm draping a python over my neck when I put them on. Also, what's that little 3.5 dingus for that sticks out the end of the cable? Never seen that before.
 
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Aug 4, 2021 at 12:06 PM Post #2,230 of 88,924
Agreed. I had to use the Acoustune aet08 to get the bass lift. Otherwise I felt the treble overwhelmed the bass.
The 3.5mm is a ground for 4.4mm devices without grounding like the wm1a and wm1z which does make me wonder if it was designed with that player in mind
 
Aug 4, 2021 at 1:25 PM Post #2,231 of 88,924
I've been listening to the Percivali off and on for the last 18 hours or so and honestly I'm struggling with it a wee bit. On the one hand at times it's as good as anything I've ever heard. At its best the sound is lush, full, vivid, grand & clear with the midrange in general possessing in full what I would refer to as "Oriolus magic". On Carmannah's Long Way Home the vocals are angelic & enticing and up there with something like Elysium & Traillii. Often though the upper mids and highs become too much for me overwhelm a wee bit and dominate the whole scene making me totally oblivious to the bass or really anything below about 1K-- and, unlike with the Reborn, this doesn't seem to be something easily fixable with EQ. Lower mids on Perci are less satisfying on the whole-- something like Dire Straits In the Gallery lacks the body & weight that I'm used to with my other IEMs. Bass on these is something of a mystery to me. It's certainly there but it lacks the oopmh, presence & definition that I hear on Reborn & Isabellae.


graph-8.png

This is perhaps the most interesting comparison. I often use the terms "Eastern" vs "Western" tuning to describe differences in how the bass & mids are presented and emphasized. In this light Perci seems to be basically an Elysium with a more "Eastern" FR (ie., more of a sub-bass & upper mid emphasis.

graph-6.png

This to me is another interesting comparison. It seems that Perci has more sub & lower bass presence but that's not how I hear it-- in Perci the bass often gets lost in the mix to my ears so it feels like I'm awash in the upper mids & highs with the bass coming from a across the street or somewhere else. On Isa everything to my ears is where it should be and I'm always conscious of the entirety of the signature when listening to it.

graph-9.png

This I also found very fascinating as it somewhat confirms my feeling that Isa is in many ways a mini-Elysium with different emphasis only in the highs.

The bottom line for me will be to echo some comments made by @ranfan earlier. Perci has shades of greatness-- and often. Within its sound I hear flavors of all the other Oriolus IEMs I've heard (Traillii, Reborn & Isabellae) however in each of those other 3 IEMs I feel they were able to produce a more cohesive & coherent sound. With Perci I feel they struggled a bit to integrate the 3 different driver types so that sometimes, especially with the bass, it feels like I'm listening to two different IEMs at the same time and on the whole the signature, while great in parts often fails to manifest as a unity. The verdict for me at this point is that the Percivali strives for and often attains greatness but it's ultimately not my ideal FR and I feel it lacks the polished perfection of my favorite Oriolus IEMs. As with everything, YMMV.

Edit: I'm also not really a fan of these massive shielded cables. It feels like I'm draping a python over my neck when I put them on. Also, what's that little 3.5 dingus for that sticks out the end of the cable? Never seen that before.
Great impressions. Graphs and everything. Thanks for hilariously touching on the cable. It looked massive in pics, but I thought maybe it could be supple? Its more like a cloth jacket instrument cable though, lol.
 
Aug 4, 2021 at 1:42 PM Post #2,232 of 88,924
My PW Audio 1950s Century Series.
 

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Aug 4, 2021 at 5:15 PM Post #2,233 of 88,924
Inspired by some other Head Fier's I've been working on attaching some numerical values to my personal rankings. The categories are all different things that matter to me and are weighted according to their relative importance-- ie., Engagement & musicality gets a score out of 20 and technicalities only 10 because ultimately the former matters a lot more to me. It may be the opposite for you, but that's ok. Let me emphasize again that I have no pretence of this being my attempt at an objective ranking, rather it's just me trying to quantify my subjective preferences. This is just a first attempt and is very much a work in progress. Following are some rankings for what I consider to be the 15 best IEMs I've yet heard.


Screen Shot 2021-08-04 at 2.04.31 PM.png
 
Aug 4, 2021 at 6:49 PM Post #2,234 of 88,924
Just received the Miter case. I think suits perfect with our beloved iems.

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Aug 4, 2021 at 6:58 PM Post #2,235 of 88,924
Inspired by some other Head Fier's I've been working on attaching some numerical values to my personal rankings. The categories are all different things that matter to me and are weighted according to their relative importance-- ie., Engagement & musicality gets a score out of 20 and technicalities only 10 because ultimately the former matters a lot more to me. It may be the opposite for you, but that's ok. Let me emphasize again that I have no pretence of this being my attempt at an objective ranking, rather it's just me trying to quantify my subjective preferences. This is just a first attempt and is very much a work in progress. Following are some rankings for what I consider to be the 15 best IEMs I've yet heard.


Screen Shot 2021-08-04 at 2.04.31 PM.png
This is an excellent reference, especially for those of us who find it difficult if not impossible to audition some of these.

If you could add in the $RRP of each, that would also help with a relative price/performance grade...
 

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