[SteveKiwi]

Others would say that Odin and the Z1R still hold the bass crowns but different strokes for different folks.

I have all three, they all have exceptional bass there's no doubt about that.

The IE900 (with the medium size silicon tips) have the best bass for my particular taste.

They seem to be massively tip dependant btw.

 

[64Audio]

He had some other issues well beyond being able to put in IEMs: pouring a drink and not drinking it, taking a lot of time to set up a record player (even cleaning it) to listen to them through his Kef speakers and then switching to a laptop to put music on through his Duos, etc. Pretty funny. He's as scatter brained as I am.

This day was actually one of the rare gorgeous days on the Oregon coast. A fun day of shooting the video and listening to music. In reality he did listen to that Nils Frahm Album (Erased Tape Records) on Vinyl through the stereo (KEF LS50, Parasound HINT6, and MusicHall MMF1). Once we opened that huge wall to the ocean view with that beautiful ocean sound (you can hear in the background of the video), he switched to listening to that same record on the laptop through the Hugo2 into the Duo. The "model" guy in the video is a friend of the company, a music supervisor and producer in Portland. There was a great shot of him breaking a smile when he first pressed play using the Duo for the first time, but just didn't work for the final cut

 

[rantng]

I’d imagine the more logical comparison would be between the U6t & Duo, just a $100 difference (and the most recent releases)...

 

[GiullianSN]

I know its always always smart to either wait for reviews or a demo.

But...

My thought process at the moment is kind of that price isnt necessarily an indicator of performance, and performance alone, as you say, is absolutely not an indicator of enjoyment. And given that my Nio aren't being used much at the moment, I am not enjoying them. Theres enough that sound interesting about these that I could get them and try them out, and if they work for me, great, sell the Nio, cost fully recouped. If not, sell at a bit of a loss and move on. And lately the idea of moving to cheaper IEMs in general (even though $1200 isnt cheap) has been rather appealing, especially since I really find myself doubting just how much objective improvements some of the real expensive stuff actually provides and if I personally can hear those supposed differences. Feels like they could be a nice "downsize" so to speak without potentially sacrificing much if anything. And semi open back from 64 sounds unique enough to potentially give them more value than otherwise.

Hopefully though some impressions start to trickle in soon.

I have to agree on this one, I’m constantly finding myself question if the best new multi $k is really worth it, compared to what I already have. (Different people have different “worthiness scale”)

I will probably give the Duo a try.

 

[mwhals]

I have to agree on this one, I’m constantly finding myself question if the best new multi $k is really worth it, compared to what I already have. (Different people have different “worthiness scale”)

I will probably give the Duo a try.

Same with me. I won’t buy anything over $2000, IEM or DAP. All my IEMs were purchased on sale.

 

[Wildcatsare1]

Usually it’s around 6 months for the Tiger

That's a lifetime compared to some folks around here, err...cough..Raz.

 

[KuroKitsu]

That's a lifetime compared to some folks around here, err...cough..Raz.

Eternity.

 

[xenithon]

I hear a pretty good match in sub-bass rumble and quite a similar mid-bass impact. Duo has a fuller body lower mids which blends better with a bass while Nio has a leaner mids, still full bodied sound, but relative to Duo, Nio's lower mids are a bit leaner. And Duo does have a little more air and slightly better treble extension in comparison to Nio. Actually, Duo has a touch of that metallic she

Thanks for the comparison. So looks like bass weight may be similar - how would you compare the quality aspect? Nio I found relatively slow and thick, with midbass sometimes drowning out some of the midrange detail and finesse.

Would you say Duo has a similar style or bass or does that open back design help it in any way (speed, punch, decay, etc). Or maybe asked differently - if one finds Nio “bloated” might they feel same about Duo?

 

[riverground]

Thanks for the comparison. So looks like bass weight may be similar - how would you compare the quality aspect? Nio I found relatively slow and thick, with midbass sometimes drowning out some of the midrange detail and finesse.

Would you say Duo has a similar style or bass or does that open back design help it in any way (speed, punch, decay, etc). Or maybe asked differently - if one finds Nio “bloated” might they feel same about Duo?

Interested in this as well.

 

[Damz87]

That's a lifetime compared to some folks around here, err...cough..Raz.

To be fair to @mvvRAZ - he’s had A18s and A12t for a pretty long time now

 

[mvvRAZ]

Hey I’ve had the A18S as my main IEM for an year and a half now! The cables and DAPs keep changing but it’s looking like I’ve found my audio home with it <3

 

[Tristy]

I have all three, they all have exceptional bass there's no doubt about that.

The IE900 (with the medium size silicon tips) have the best bass for my particular taste.

They seem to be massively tip dependant btw.

I haven’t heard the IE900 so I can’t pass judgement… I like to go off of the impressions of some of the heavyweight juggernauts on here like Damz with his ranking list https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MrRNemgcXxJYd7vXWhUNV_Rb6spZJKNy/view?usp=sharing

His impressions seem to match up with mine closely, and seeing as I own both the Z1R and Odin and my impressions align with his rankings on the bass of both, I am able to deduce that the IE900 is very good… but not quite the king of the hill in that regard *zips up flame suit*

Anyway, back to Duo… I’m getting CA Atlas vibes from the bass In the graph but with a less peaky top end that is better extended.

EDIT: and the more I think about it, the more the Duo is seeming attractive to me in signature and in its use case

 

[macdonjh]

I’d imagine the more logical comparison would be between the U6t & Duo, just a $100 difference (and the most recent releases)...

Actually, the comparison I'm most interested in is between Duo and Trio. How much of Trio's sound is captured by Duo? I also realize Duo may have completely different tuning, but it's easy to assume otherwise since the driver compliment is superficially so similar.

 

[xenithon]

Actually, the comparison I'm most interested in is between Duo and Trio. How much of Trio's sound is captured by Duo? I also realize Duo may have completely different tuning, but it's easy to assume otherwise since the driver compliment is superficially so similar.

This may be of interest then, from earlier in the thread…

think of it as Trio with a deeper sub-bass and more organic richer tonality mids and smoother top end. Still the same airy extension of treble (as Trio), but Trio is just too V-shaped and piercing at the top while Duo is a noticeably smoother.

 

[macdonjh]

This may be of interest then, from earlier in the thread…

I saw that. Pretty early in @twister6's process. I'm sure he'll have more to say after he's had more time with them.