[BokTroy]

Am curious if anyone has heard this and the prophile 8 or the Gaudio Nair? Poking around for a cooler/brighter sounding companion for my IER-M9 (definitely not Z1R).

I listened to the Helios and Prophile 8 at CanJam SoCal. They are almost opposites in every part of the frequency range. The Helios has more and and better bass (at least below 150 hz) and treble. It could pass for a hybrid with the way the bass slams and it also has excellent treble balance and extension. The Prophile-8 is lacking upper treble by comparison but not enough to be a deal breaker. I will say that Helios did come off as more detailed due to it's better treble response. The midrange is where these two flip. The Prophile-8's midrange is pretty much exactly where I like it. So much so that I deemed it one of the best tuned IEMs of the show. It's upfront but balanced enough with the treble to avoid being shouty. It plays great for the vocal music I listen to. The Helios goes the othe direction and dips in the upper mids and, along with the scooped lower mids, pulls vocalists a bit back from where I like. This is also without using the switches on the Prophile-8 because I completely forgot about them. Oops. Keep in mind these were relatively brief show conditions but I'd be hard pressed to choose between the two.

 

[Sharppain]

Yhaaaa, the Helios arrived in the afternoon. Now the stable is full - Z1R, UM Mest, MMk2, Helios. Would they be good friends or it will be a fight!?
Z1R for bass and sound stage.
UM Mest for fun and detail.
MMk2 for neutrality and vocals.
Helios for micro detail and all.

 

[Sebastien Chiu]

Yhaaaa, the Helios arrived in the afternoon. Now the stable is full - Z1R, UM Mest, MMk2, Helios. Would they be good friends or it will be a fight!?
Z1R for bass and sound stage.
UM Mest for fun and detail.
MMk2 for neutrality and vocals.
Helios for micro detail and all.

Complimentary IEMS for sure! Great taste you have. I have 2 out of the three you mentioned.

 

[Sharppain]

Complimentary IEMS for sure! Great taste you have. I have 2 out of the three you mentioned.

Let it be more!

 

[Sebastien Chiu]

Let it be more!

Haha! The Odin is my third pick on that list.

 

[Snowshine]

So, here's an incredibly silly question: how are y'all getting the tips on these IEMs?

I snagged an open-box pair of B-stock that came in with the medium silicon tips already attached. Great, wonderful, sounds fantastic - but the tips are just a liiiiiiiiiittle big for my ears. I figure that there's no problem, and I'll slot on the small foams.

Big problem. I can't slot on the small foams.

The channel simply seems to be smaller that the nozzle of the iem. I've tried stretching them and squishing them between my fingers to try and get the tip over the lip (as well as the brute force approach) and I just can't seem to get the channel of the smaller tips over the nozzle. Is there something I'm missing here? Am I simply a fool damned to suffer at the hands of her small ears?

 

[tombrisbane]

Symphonium Helios Impressions - Australian Tour Impressions

Thanks again to @Damz87 and @Sebastien Chiu for organising the tour, I had the opportunity to have these for two weeks in exchange for my honest feedback, all thoughts are my own as always.

Equipment: I drove these as follows: Tidal -> FiiO Q7 -> 2.5mm stock cable -> Symphonium Helios. Music was my standard eclectic mix from classic to metal to pop, would have listened for around 50 hours. They did need a little more power than I would expect to drive them decently, no issue for the Q7 but not sure how they'd go off dongles (this is also noting that it was a balanced 2.5mm connection, SE would be harder).

Packaging: Small but nice, I've seen better for the price point but also seen much worse. Not a big fan of the metal case but it does keep them safe. Decent tips are included, I used a variety of my own, settling on the Final E tips as per normal as I get a great fit with those (was a little snug on the nozzles lol). Cable had a really nice feel to it, no kinking to speak of, really good quality for where these are priced.

Build and fit: Well built but quite large. Nozzles are big, and go quite deep, so fit was interesting. I had to have them mid-way in, which didn't feel entirely secure, but they didn't fall out so overall quite good.


Sound:

Lows: BA bass, one of the better implementations of BA bass, but still easy to pick for my ears. Sub-bass focussed, decent rumble, lacks the impact you get from a DD but all around pretty decent.

Mids: My least favourite part, very lean to my ears. Really did not engage me at all, vocals came across without the depth I enjoy and quite dry. This is certainly a personal preference, and I could see some people really enjoying what's on offer here. They are very tidy, and the mids do work in with the overall sound I imagine they were going for, just not what I enjoy.

Highs: The high point (pun intended), excellent presentation and a joy to listen to. No sibilance to speak of, no eardrum piercing. Really smooth and I had a great time with regards to the highs. Superb.

Soundstage, Imaging, Detail: Well implemented, I got a very defined sphere / 3D image out of them, but not an overly big sphere. If you're after a lot of depth you won't find it here but I think most people would be happy. Very detailed sound with great instrument placement, some of the best imaging I've heard from an IEM, probably the best I’ve heard at this price point.

Overall: These were an interesting listen for me. They do a lot right (more than I originally thought when I've tried to consolidate my thoughts down), but the leanness of the overall sound kills it for me. Like most things these will be perfect for some and not for others. I'd put them around a 3.5/5 which is me taking a full point off for the mids, with that improved it would be an easy 4.5 and I'm sure that they would be a 4.5 for some. Absolutely worth a listen if you're in the market for an IEM around this price point.

 

[grumpy213]

Thanks to @Damz87 and @Sebastien Chiu for arranging the tour of the Symphonium Helios!

My review is here and unfortunately, the Helios are out of my wheelhouse when it comes to sound signature but one thing cannot be denied and that is the treble response is pretty great.

Not for everyone (myself included) but technically a great kilobuck choice!

 

[areek]

Has anyone tried cable swapping for the helios? I was thinking if cable materials or higher quality copper cables will alter/improve the sound on these or not?

 

[Sharppain]

Has anyone tried cable swapping for the helios? I was thinking if cable materials or higher quality copper cables will alter/improve the sound on these or not?

I swapped a lot of cables but the only one improving the replay for me, vs the stock, is Kinera Leyding: https://www.kineraaudio.com/product/kinera-leyding
Improvement I find is in the bass (slightly more prominent) and in the male vocals (more body).

 

[areek]

I swapped a lot of cables but the only one improving the replay for me, vs the stock, is Kinera Leyding: https://www.kineraaudio.com/product/kinera-leyding
Improvement I find is in the bass (slightly more prominent) and in the male vocals (more body).

Thanks, this is just the answer I needed. Just for query, did you try more expensive cables as well? Any changes with using spc/silver cables?

 

[Sharppain]

Thanks, this is just the answer I needed. Just for query, did you try more expensive cables as well? Any changes with using spc/silver cables?

Yes, I tried the Dromi from Kinera but it increased the brightness and Helios got unbalanced. Also I tried Dunu Hulk Pro but I didn't capture any difference to the Leyding. And I did experiment with the stock cable from Thieaudio Monarch Mk2 - according to me, this is the best cable in sonic and tech parameters but the comfort with it on Helios is even worse than on Monarch Mk2, so I kept it to Monarch Mk2 where comfort is manageable for me but I cannot find an improvement.

 

[Danx3k]

Got these today

They’re much smaller than I expected. They sound great with the right music, but I wasn’t expecting the mids to sound quite so lean and the midbass to sound almost non-existent.

I read from a few impressions that the HSE had a little more mid bass and warmth versus the standard OG Helios, so I was a little surprised. The MMK3 sounds like a warm iem in comparison.

The sub-bass is really impressive, especially for a BA.

I was on the fence about the HSE or Crimson, I decided on the HSE as I already have the MMK3, and felt the tuning of the Crimson would be too similar, and I want a rounded collection of iem’s, rather than have several with the exact same tuning, as it seems kind of pointless.

 

[Sharppain]

These demand lots of power. I run them always on high gain from daps. Additionally, a warmer source is quite beneficial - I don't have the dap on the photo but running them from Cayin RU6, Hiby RS2 gives me very enjoyable replay w/o FR 'gaps' (for my liking). Mojo2 is also a great pair since its power, resolution, dark background and soundstage are amazing, plus its DSP (if you need it at all) is superb.
For me the round-up collection is Z1R, Helios, Monarch Mk2 and Mest II for fun.

 

[Danx3k]

I’ve gelled with the HSE now and really enjoying the set. Very happy with them.

I’ll have to try the Crimson eventually.