[RTodd]

=

GOAT.

 

[twister6]

I think it may not be how many suggest a set but who the few who do are. I remember statements like the “best highs I ever heard” coming from a few I have learned to trust. That kind of hype for me at least does not need lots of repeats, and can be from a while ago.

Still no Annihilator Hype Train going on just a few good comments of praise. Always tempered by mention of the not ideal bass.

Considering that Lee can't keep up with a demand, I think the only way to fix this problem is for him to move forward with EAnnihilator

GAEA was a smart move. Actually, listening to it now and will share my impressions soon. For those who love deep textured bass, especially subs, and enjoy a tastefully done pinna gain with a focus on upper mids, this is a great U-shaped tuned iem. I think it sounds great with pop, rock, EDM. Maybe not so much with classical or jazz where you want fuller body sound, but everybody has their own personal taste and in theory it could work with any music genre.

Also, a clever move, considering EA collab and GAEA using Lee's signature Pentaconn connectors, to use stock cable with ConX where you can switch between connectors.



And GAEA FR measurements:

 

[Rockwell75]

Hi @Rockwell75 ,

what I would like to contribute to your survey top 3 iem that own your heaert now is the following:

1. Trailli - from the first day on it remains one my favorite, because it connects to my heart, great with any genre, preferred paring: LPGT Ti
2. Kr5 custom - silently climbed to second position; my new allrounder (surprisingly good with classic), preferred module: N (silver); he left A18s and A18t behind
3. Lime Ears ANIMA - because of its speaker-like presentation

—————————
I am considering Viking Ragnar; it would become a competitor to my Trailli.

At Highend 2022 in Munich/Germany I had a chance to listen to Supermoon and Trifecta:
Supermoon sounded very coherent and natural, therewith surprisingly good!
I experienced Trifecta as bombastic, bold but resolving, very different form anything else I’ve ever heard.
Looking for an opportunity to listen to it again.

Thank you for this very informative and absolutely entertaining thread.
Although I had no chance to attend Canjam Socal 2022, because of your and your colleagues reports I got the impression of almost being a visitor of this canjam.
For this I am very grateful.

Thank-you for sharing. Always nice to see some love for the Anima. I'm a big fan of the Kr5 also

Interesting points. Bass is the foundation for most music. If an IEM does not do it to well, many will not care for it. That said, usually a great midrange will carry the day as it comprises the most important frequencies and the vocals. The Annihilator is regularly written up for its outstanding treble. I am not sure if most listeners would purchase an IEM mainly for its treble. How are its mids compared to the best?

I read an insightful post on the Headphones.com forum recently from a guy talking about different regional tuning approaches for IEMs and headphones. The idea is that IEM/headphone manufacturers from the US tend to tune with bass as the foundation-- think Audeze, CFA, Fir, EE. European companies by contrast tend to tune with the mids as the centre piece-- think Sennheiser, Vision Ears, Lime Ears, Custom Art etc. Lastly Asian companies tend to tune with the upper mids & highs as a focal point-- think Elysian, Acoustune and I'm sure others who I haven't heard. Now this is of course hardly absolute and there are many companies (64 Audio, Noble, Sony to some extent, Oriolus to some extent) that defy or don't entirely fall in line with this description... but as a general observation I think it's quite interesting and to me suggests a baseline to understand different types of tastes and tuning preferences. Speaking for myself I'm decidedly in the North American-European camp in that I primarily look for bass & mids with the highs almost an afterthought (as long as they pass a certain threshold for quality)...but by and large if either of the bass or mids aren't up to speed for me then it doesn't matter how good the highs are. Conversely there are those for whom it doesn't matter how good the bass/mids are if the highs aren't as good it's not top tier. The point always comes back to the individual and their tastes, preferences, music library etc.

I won't repeat what @Rockwell75 replied, which I mostly agree with.

Curious which part you didn't agree with

Considering that Lee can't keep up with a demand, I think the only way to fix this problem is for him to move forward with EAnnihilator

GAEA was a smart move. Actually, listening to it now and will share my impressions soon. For those who love their bass, especially subs, and enjoy their pinna gain with a focus on upper mids, this is a great U-shaped tuned iem. Also, a clever move, considering EA collab and GAEA using Lee's signature Pentaconn connectors, to use stock cable with ConX where you can switch between connectors.

Nice-- I really enjoyed this IEM in my brief time with it.

 

[Rockwell75]

1) Traillii x25

2) Xe6 x14
3) Jewel x13
4) Indigo x11
5) Odyssey x8
6) Viking Ragnar x6
7) Annihilator x6
8) Supermoon x6
9) Szalayi x5
10) EXT x5
11) Evo x5
12) Odin x5

___________________________________

13) Multiverse Mentor x4
14) IER Z1R x3
15) Mason FS x3
16) Phönix x3
17) TZ700 x3
18) a/u12t x2
19) HS2000MX x2
20) IE 600 x2
21) Diva x2
22) Kublai Khan x2
23) Trifecta x2
24) Turi Ti x2
25) Penon Legend x2
26) Red Halo x2
27) Kr5 x2
28) Pathfinder x2
29) X x2
30) Andromeda x2


31) Thunder
32) VE8
33) Equinox
34) u18t
35) Fusang
36) Fourte
37) F-Audio Mezzo
38) Zen Pro
39) Legend X
40) Elysium
41) Infinity MK2
42) Twilight
43) Prelude
44) IE100
45) Sultan
46) Trio
47) MAD24
48) LCDi4
49) ISN EST50
50) Penon Volt
51) Solaris SE
52) Anima
53) Wraith
54) Fourte Noir
55) S12
56) Turii
57) Variations
58) Duo
59) Blessing 2 Dusk
60) Fiio FD5
61) V16 Divinity
62) Vesna
63) Jolene
64) KSE 1500

EE has 3 IEMs in the top 10-- very interesting. It's worth pointing out that every IEM on this list-- including the multitudes with only one vote-- has achieved something. Unlike the top 12 poll where people are free to include a broad spectrum of their favourites with this poll you only get 3 and need to choose very carefully. So every IEM on this list has set a pretty high bar for someone.

Let's see more votes!

 

[gryphonos]

I read an insightful post on the Headphones.com forum recently from a guy talking about different regional tuning approaches for IEMs and headphones. The idea is that IEM/headphone manufacturers from the US tend to tune with bass as the foundation-- think Audeze, CFA, Fir, EE. European companies by contrast tend to tune with the mids as the centre piece-- think Sennheiser, Vision Ears, Lime Ears, Custom Art etc. Lastly Asian companies tend to tune with the upper mids & highs as a focal point-- think Elysian, Acoustune and I'm sure others who I haven't heard. Now this is of course hardly absolute and there are many companies (64 Audio, Noble, Sony to some extent, Oriolus to some extent) that defy or don't entirely fall in line with this description... but as a general observation I think it's quite interesting and to me suggests a baseline to understand different types of tastes and tuning preferences. Speaking for myself I'm decidedly in the North American-European camp in that I primarily look for bass & mids with the highs almost an afterthought (as long as they pass a certain threshold for quality)...but by and large if either of the bass or mids aren't up to speed for me then it doesn't matter how good the highs are. Conversely there are those for whom it doesn't matter how good the bass/mids are if the highs aren't as good it's not top tier. The point always comes back to the individual and their tastes, preferences, music library etc.

I share your opinion and I think that the "abstraction" that speaks from your wording can certainly serve as a good orientation.
Thanks!

 

[toaster]

^ this and this v ( courtesy of @Junmoe62 ) are now my two favorite traillii memes.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/fli...dio-discussion.826876/page-1919#post-16227395

 

[acuinus]

My new toy in action...

Best complements: L&P Pro Obsidian +
Softears Turii Ti + PWAudio №10 + Azla
Xelastec

xelastec honestly middling tips, but for
thess IEM they are just a lifesaver because
my ear canals like some kind of treats but
azla is hard candy ) sweety sound with
great aftertaste that I never heard before

 

[Rockwell75]

^ this and this v ( courtesy of @Junmoe62 ) are now my two favorite traillii memes.


https://www.head-fi.org/threads/fli...dio-discussion.826876/page-1919#post-16227395

There's another great one in here somewhere of the Bird sitting on the iron throne.

 

[Deezel177]

Same here. My 2c: The purple, brown and turquoise are too similar in hue and clash with each other. From a design aesthetic, it would have been better for the purple part of the aesthetic to be either distinctly lighter or much darker. Indigo & Red Halo Fe nailed it.

Feel free to take your pick.

 

[SteveK27]

Feel free to take your pick.

Could be a nightmare to those with trypophobia @metaljem77

 

[drftr]

Could be a nightmare to those with trypophobia @metaljem77

Soon to be renamed mentaljem in that case!

drftr

 

[metaljem77]

Could be a nightmare to those with trypophobia @metaljem77

Oh goodness, that was bloody awful to see, I wish I could “unsee”

 

[Frankie D]

If you read my comments, not once did I say the Annihilator does not do well in bass. They are good, just not as good as others which are known for their bass e.g Z1R, EE, Fir, etc. I find the Annihilator’s bass as good as U12t. Do you still consider that bad? Maybe you do, but not to me. I still find U12t competitive among the top tier.
The mids are more towards the leaner side compared to many who prefer lush and warm. If that signature doesn’t rock your boat then it doesn’t matter how well it does in the mids. I still find it emotive for me, and female vocals especially stands out. Male vocals maybe not so much.

While not my absolute favorite IEM, I consider the U12T a top IEM. So if its bass equals that of the 12T, that is pretty good. We will see how it holds up over time.

 

[Rockwell75]

While not my absolute favorite IEM, I consider the U12T a top IEM. So if its bass equals that of the 12T, that is pretty good. We will see how it holds up over time.

YMMV and all that but imho the bass on the 12t is better than the bass on the Annihilator...as is the bass on the Traillii. Classic case of something you'll need to hear for yourself to decide.

 

[stacey]

I am also unsure if BC can actually provide much more than a hint of timbre in certain frequencies if it's put into the back of an IEM shell and further dampened by a metal nozzle and silicone tips. If you look at actual BC ear phones, they work a lot differently than the ones that are put into IEM's lately, both in placement and design.

I would greatly appreciate @UniqueMelody to provide some more information on their BCD technology and it's development progress, maybe some actual FR graphs, as vague as they might be to protect tuning secrets, to compare the output of the last 3-4 BC driver generations and the (theoretical) sonic transfer of said output through the shell.

It would be very interesting if there was a way to deactivate all the drivers inside some IEM's beside the BCD and then comparing what we can actually hear... Not sure if we really want to know that though, actually, same as the equations behind the pricing formula.

Well the entire shell as well as the placement of the BCD, eartip, nozzle , etc affects the response of the BCD. My guess is that UM wasn’t going for a super strong BCD effect to augment the otherwise all BA setup. But if you look at the “explosion” of the Mentor:

Vs the Red Halo:

Similar design, similar layout and placement for both (RH has resistors however) but the Mentor does have a different material build for its own BCD. And if you take UM’s word they use carbon fiber shells for both the RH and Mentor. They really didn’t spare much expense here.


As a side note, here’s the new Odyssey
Notice how big the BCD is as well as placement ( Closer to ear than UM) ? It’s similar to how the Evo was placed.