[jleewach]

I'll keep this short. As many of you may know, Futuresonics has recently updated the driver on their Atrio universals to what they call an MG7. My understanding was that they did this to address a valid criticism of past Atrio models that they lacked & clarity/detail/treble of other higher end universals. I've owned the past Atrio models & recently got my hands on the new MG7 model. I try very hard not to over-hype a new product w/o intense listening, and I'm being completely honest when I say the improvement of this driver over the past models completely caught me by surprise. These things actually sparkle; an adjective I NEVER thought I'd use when describing the Atrios. Burn in has not occurred yet, but out of the box, the Atrios now sound better to my ears than the TripleFi 10s. Bass has always been better, but now, mid-range is better, and treble/soundstage are about equal to the TF10's (head to head comparison.) I'd say the SQ has become quite close to that of the IE8's.
 
To anyone who was interested in past versions of the Atrios, but was turned off by the lack of detail on the high end, I VERY strongly recommend giving the new model a try.

 

[jleewach]

Not a problem. I'm trying not to gush too much over these since the sound & my perception of it may very well change over time, but I guess part of me just forgot how much fun it is to listen to the atrios. It takes some time to get used to the massive bass after being mainly on leaner iems, but I must say, the bass is exquisite once it sinks in. For the first time, I actually noticed a mistake from the bass-player, playing an extremely low note in the wrong key one a live version of a song on my DAP. These things dig DEEP.

 

[Kunlun]

They will only get better with burn-in.
 
The sub-bass is great and the new Atrios really do compete well with the monster turbine pro (gold, copper and miles davis), as well as the ortofon e-q7.

 

[ClieOS]

The new MG7 sure sounds interesting. I hope it'll hit Asia soon so I can try it out myself.

 

[cactus_farmer]

When were the changes made to upgrade to the 'new' drivers? I bought a pair in 2008 and I swear back then they were also claiming it had a 'newly designed driver'!?
 
Also, if there is definately a new driver as compared to 2008, how drastically has the sound signature changed? Is it still basically warm in midrange with a slamming bass and sub bass but with a cleared up treble and midrange? Or is it so different that people are going to start calling it cold and analytical and sounding like an ER-4P? Just want to know the magnitude of the changes... Incremental or revolutionary?
 
Thanks.

 

[jleewach]

I'm fairly certain the MG7 driver was brought to the Atrios in 2010. From my early listening, they are definitely not cold or analytical; still very warm w/ pretty massive bass impact. It's massive, but it's not bloated/farty bass, it's accurate & deep. Midrange is still warm & lush, seems slightly improved over older versions, but that may just be my perception since treble has improved so significantly. I'd say, at this point, they're more similar to the IE8's or Triple.fi 10's than cold iems like ety or re0. Just try to picture an old Atrio w/ actual treble that sparkles. Definitely not perfect treble like an er4 or re0, but at least as good as the TF10's, and MUCH better than the old Atrio. 
 
Hope to spend more time with them. I'm sure things will change for better or worse w/ burn in...
 
Edit: Starting to notice that they can become a little fatiguing (treble wise) on some more intense, rock style music. Nowhere near as bad as Denon iems or the S4, but still noticeable. Can't believe I'm saying this about the Atrios...

 

[Kunlun]

 
Quote:

I'm fairly certain the MG7 driver was brought to the Atrios in 2010. From my early listening, they are definitely not cold or analytical; still very warm w/ pretty massive bass impact. It's massive, but it's not bloated/farty bass, it's accurate & deep. Midrange is still warm & lush, seems slightly improved over older versions, but that may just be my perception since treble has improved so significantly. I'd say, at this point, they're more similar to the IE8's or Triple.fi 10's than cold iems like ety or re0. Just try to picture an old Atrio w/ actual treble that sparkles. Definitely not perfect treble like an er4 or re0, but at least as good as the TF10's, and MUCH better than the old Atrio. 
 
Hope to spend more time with them. I'm sure things will change for better or worse w/ burn in...
 
Edit: Starting to notice that they can become a little fatiguing (treble wise) on some more intense, rock style music. Nowhere near as bad as Denon iems or the S4, but still noticeable. Can't believe I'm saying this about the Atrios...

The MG7 started shipping in November 2010.
 

 

[jant71]

More treble is great but another criticism of mine is the speed and decay. Keeping up with fast paced stuff especially down low. When things get complex/busy do they hold up better than before? They have tight bass and really didn't smear but started to cut notes short on the low end. Being quite a tough marker but adding some treble fixes some issues but not all. Still tempting to try at that price since I could sell them and not lose any money.

 

[jleewach]

I don't have a set of the old Atrio's handy, so it's tough to compare speed. If I were to guess, I'd say speed & decay are roughly the same. I don't think they're horribly slow by any means, but one can definitely tell they're listening to a dynamic iem in that sense. Not terrible, just not quite up to the speed of many BA iems. 

 

[jant71]

Thanks! Yep, not horribly slow by any means just a step for my particular tastes. Still, depending on the source and certain tips and/or a bit of EQ, they might be just fine. Can't argue with the bass quality and extension! Keep us up to date on the burn-in progress

. 

 

[cn11]

Subscribed. 

 

[PsiCore]

The only chance I can get them for a reasonable price is from zolton2 on eBay - 179$. I know it's hard to answer this kind of question, but do you guys think the're worth the money? I currently own UM3X and I'm very happy with them, but wish to have more great quality sub-bass. Are the new Atrio a good choice or better try to get a good deal for Monster MD (it's even harder than with the Atrios with all the fakes out there)?

 

[Kunlun]

Quote:

The only chance I can get them for a reasonable price is from zolton2 on eBay - 179$. I know it's hard to answer this kind of question, but do you guys think the're worth the money? I currently own UM3X and I'm very happy with them, but wish to have more great quality sub-bass. Are the new Atrio a good choice or better try to get a good deal for Monster MD (it's even harder than with the Atrios with all the fakes out there)?

Ecost won't sell to you?
 
Have a good American friend buy them and carefully ship to you. Don't use ebay for Monster iems--fakes are not a good thing and you're better off buying from an authorized dealer to have the warranty.  
As for it being worth it, I think it depends on you. The Atrios will have something the um3x don't, so it could be a good complement.

 

 

[Starsky5000]

Quote:

I'll keep this short. As many of you may know, Futuresonics has recently updated the driver on their Atrio universals to what they call an MG7. My understanding was that they did this to address a valid criticism of past Atrio models that they lacked & clarity/detail/treble of other higher end universals. I've owned the past Atrio models & recently got my hands on the new MG7 model. I try very hard not to over-hype a new product w/o intense listening, and I'm being completely honest when I say the improvement of this driver over the past models completely caught me by surprise. These things actually sparkle; an adjective I NEVER thought I'd use when describing the Atrios. Burn in has not occurred yet, but out of the box, the Atrios now sound better to my ears than the TripleFi 10s. Bass has always been better, but now, mid-range is better, and treble/soundstage are about equal to the TF10's (head to head comparison.) I'd say the SQ has become quite close to that of the IE8's.
 
To anyone who was interested in past versions of the Atrios, but was turned off by the lack of detail on the high end, I VERY strongly recommend giving the new model a try.

I'm so glad to hear your positive experience with the Atrio with the new MG7 drivers. I'm dying to get one of these.

 

[jleewach]

They've burned in for several days now, and I can gladly say, the initial slight harshness I noticed in the treble is gone. That's not to say the treble is gone, its just smoothed out a bit. The more I listen, the more I start to notice just how smooth the midrange is, and usually, that's a difficult thing for most iems w/ this much bass quantity. Bass seems to have tightened up a bit, almost to the point where I'm getting the impression that it's tighter/more punchy than the previous Atrio. When I first listened to the MG7 version, the bass quantity seemed a bit more unnatural/boomy (slightly resembling the lower regions of skullcandies, or some other cheaply made, bass-heavy iem.) Now, it just seems extremely natural & effortless. I'm still caught off guard at how easily they handle the lowest of bass-notes. Acoustic music is fantastic and, while the treble quality is definitely not the best I've heard (ER4, PFE, RE0,) the smooth mid-range & extremely realistic bass more than make up for it. I've gotten to the point where I even prefer some acoustic songs on the Atrios than my beloved ER4's, just from the slam of that first bass note. It adds a whole new layer to the song. 
 
I dunno, but I think I've found something I really like. I'm sure others will have different opinions and, since I've not been gifted with exceptional review-writing skills, I'd really like one of the more veteran reviewers re-visit the new Atrios. For me personally, ER4 > Senn IE8 = Atrio MG7 > Westone 2 > SE530 > RE0 > TF 10.