The Totem really does turn the Volt into a new beast. It’s no small expense, but its effect on any IEM is more pronounced than I’ve heard from many other “boutique” cables I’ve auditioned.
Remind me why I managed to own the Volt for more than a year and a half before succumbing to the Totem as well…
The Totem really does turn the Volt into a new beast. It’s no small expense, but its effect on any IEM is more pronounced than I’ve heard from many other “boutique” cables I’ve auditioned.
Remind me why I managed to own the Volt for more than a year and a half before succumbing to the Totem as well…
Sadly (for my bank account), my conclusion is that it was more worth the expense than the various $100-$200 cables I bought while trying to resist its call. I would have saved more, had I just sprung for this straight away and hastily left headfi after that.
Sadly (for my bank account), my conclusion is that it was more worth the expense than the various $100-$200 cables I bought while trying to resist its call. I would have saved more, had I just sprung for this straight away and hastily left headfi after that.
Ah, I meant with a customised faceplate etc as well. I occasionally wish I got a CIEM Volt. But the Volt looks so good I’ve actually never thought of getting it in a different design.
Whats the biggest difference on the Volt when comparing to the EST50? If someone got both of them.
From memory the mids are fuller, with better controlled and faster bass but in lower quantity and it has more air. But this can be assumption since its months between listening to the volt before I got the EST50.
Whats the biggest difference on the Volt when comparing to the EST50? If someone got both of them.
From memory the mids are fuller, with better controlled and faster bass but in lower quantity and it has more air. But this can be assumption since its months between listening to the volt before I got the EST50.
Accurate. Only broad strokes, as I’m listening to neither at the moment but for me, the biggest differences are that EST50 has the bigger fatter bass that goes deeper, but slower. EST50 also has greater lower treble energy. Yes, it’s what I used to wish Volt had more of, but at the end of the day, Volt just sounds more balanced and natural. EST50 is a lot of fun though.
Whats the biggest difference on the Volt when comparing to the EST50? If someone got both of them.
From memory the mids are fuller, with better controlled and faster bass but in lower quantity and it has more air. But this can be assumption since its months between listening to the volt before I got the EST50.
In my opinion, volt is a bit more technical, a bit more soundstage, volt offers a bit more treble detail, est50 is close but presents them smoother, the mids are meatier and fuller in Volt, again the difference is not huge, finally the bass, in Volt, however good they are, they exhibit a completely insufficient amount in terms of extension and Impact for me, in fact as I mentioned before, it seems that they do not reach correctly until 20-30Hz, lacking any punch of sub-bass, on the contrary, EST50 has bass of quality and in quantity, perfectly reaching the deepest notes.
Such is the difference for me, that first I had EST50, I sold it and bought the Volt, then it was the other way around, I sold the Volt and bought the EST50 again.
They both crave a lot of power to get the most out of it.
Ah, I meant with a customised faceplate etc as well. I occasionally wish I got a CIEM Volt. But the Volt looks so good I’ve actually never thought of getting it in a different design.
I briefly compared my Elysian X vs Penon Impact. My impressions:
Overall the Impact has a more intimate, engaging and natural presentation. The tuning tilts towards the warmer side. X tilts more towards the ethereal. The first thing I noticed was that the bass was more present. If these two were characters in a video game, X maxed out its level up points on treble, and most of the rest on soundstage. Impact spent a lot of it on mids and the rest evenly.
Soundstage: X has the one of the widest soundstage I have heard next to Ragnar. It is the deepest. Impact has a decently wide stage but theres a perception that it is closer in and "zoomed in". The depth is nowhere close to X but goes deeper than Turii Ti and Supermoon.
Imaging: Imaging is quite close. Neither are at UM Mentors level. Right and left pans quite well on Impact similarily to the Traillii. This is helped by the fact that transients are cleanly distinguished and separated.
Bass: Neither have the best bass I have heard. This would go to the XE6. I prefer DDs for my bass but X is using older gen foster DDs. X has good sub bass already but I felt more quantity of it on Impact. The mid bass is a lot thicker on the Impact. Kickdrums for go deeper and feel more natural on X. The BAs on Impact are executed well. Electric guitars have great texture. As a whole, I like the bass on the Impact because it sounds more uniform vs the rest of the frequencies. The bass is the weakest frequency on the X so it sticks out.
Mids: X has a v shaped tuning so the mids are tucked back while Impact is W shaped. Vocals are pushed up. I prefer the lush note weight created from the mids on the Impact over X.
Treble: Impact has its work cut out for it. X has the most breathtaking treble I have heard. It seems to extend forever. Cymbals such as hi hats, toms are crystal clear. Another IEM that treble like this was the Viking ragnar which has a drier more analytical treble oriented tuning. The difference is X' treble gets the clarity without ever sounding fatiguing or course. Impact is a step down in terms of extention but not by a signifcant margain. As far as the quality goes, if X was a 9.5, Impact is an 8 or 8.5. On the tuning side, Impact has enough treble quantity for energetic genres.
These two IEMs are quite complimentary for the collection. X is ethereal. It has a thinner sound that focuses on detail pairing well for electronic music. Impact goes for more of a natural silky mid range with the right tonality for genres with instruments. It makes a good all rounder because it does electronic decently as well.
OG FAN arrived yesterday. Immediately put the CS819 on. Airy treble, nice deep subbass, above average soundstage. I like this V shape a lot and that's straight OOTB. I'll enjoy hearing it develop with some burn-in.
H2 came in same package, will put that on the Serial later.
Looking forward to a new midtier product, Impact will never be an option for me.
OG FAN arrived yesterday. Immediately put the CS819 on. Airy treble, nice deep subbass, above average soundstage. I like this V shape a lot and that's straight OOTB. I'll enjoy hearing it develop with some burn-in.
H2 came in same package, will put that on the Serial later.
Looking forward to a new midtier product, Impact will never be an option for me.
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