[Rockwell75]

But you have Anni?

Yes. Anni will likely be my stay at home set once I get a better source for it. It gives me that holodeck like experience like Traillii where the longer I listen there it totally pulls me into it's blissful world of sound. Gaea is close but sufficiently distinct from Anni to have a charm of it's own-- I just love how pleasant, forward and well articulated the highs are.

 

[F700]

As an early Christmas present, I bought these days the A&K SP3000 and the Aroma Jewel + PWA First Times

You know how to treat yourself! Well done

 

[weexisttocease]

Next survey. I dare starting one.

Which IEM or DAP are you most likely going to purchase before the end of the year?

From my end: Hiby RS8 and Custom Fibae 5

I already have too much gear but probably I will buy the RS8 and some earbuds from @tgx78.

 

[Doug2507]

As an early Christmas present, I bought these days the A&K SP3000 and the Aroma Jewel + PWA First Times

Congrats, great setup there!

 

[F700]

Potential/inbound purchases until the end of 2022:

IEMs:
- Fibae 5 CIEM or UIEM x2
- Jewel x2
- Z1R
- Odyssey
- Noble Sultan
- TGX78 buds

DAPs:
- RS8 x3
- SP3K
- WM1ZM2
- M6 Ultra

 

[Wyville]

I must be the only one but no matter how much I tried I couldn't stand them for acoustic music as the lows put too thick a blanket on the mids for my taste. It's a pity they didn't use Atom modules like I had expected. Still think that could have sealed the deal.

drftr

Thanks for sharing that! That doesn't sound ideal. The Wraith are actually really well balanced and the imaging is superb, just a shame they are so underrated because of the power they require to fully engage the estat drivers. Not sure actually if EE made some kind of successor to them already to keep the Zeus heritage going. That would be perfect for classical.

Received this slipped into the box... @Eric Chong is one classy dude,

Eric is such a nice guy. He sent this as a gift after my wife was finally awarded a big grant of research funding from the national cancer fund, something that took years and dozens of grant applications (competition for research funding in science is murderous). He also supported an earlier fundraiser for her research by allowing me to use my Leonidas II review sample (he was still working at EA at the time) as the prize in a charity raffle. Real class!

 

[Doug2507]

And that's exactly the type of business I like to support.

 

[Andricop]

Just Ear. One of the brand that only can be bought at Japan.

Hong-Kong and Taiwan also

 

[Andricop]

Pretty sure can be purchasing HK and Taiwan too, I’m not sure it’s available in Singapore.

It is not available in Singapore

 

[Ojisan]

FAudio Mezzo LE first impressions:

Generally has a warmer sound signature with a very pleasing tonality. They're not hard drive but they escalate pretty well with power. I think it has a fantastic coherency for a tribrid.

The bass is big with great quality. I think the midrange is a little bit recessed, not much, but still has a great amount of details. The treble is clean and resolving. This set has great dynamics and energy. I'm also impressed with the soundstage, it's wide and offers a good amount of air between instruments.

The good thing is that you can fine-tune the sound signature with switches. I will need more time to discover the best tuning for my library.

Final note for the packaging and excellent craftsmanship. The design is exquisite, excellent build quality and a great cable.

Congrats! Good to see another Mezzo user!

 

[Scubadevils]

Congrats! Good to see another Mezzo user!

The shells look rather large in pictures, how are they in reality? My experience with Kublai Khan has me nervous to try anything above a medium size. Intrigued by Mezzo however as I really enjoyed Dark Sky.

 

[weexisttocease]

The shells look rather large in pictures, how are they in reality? My experience with Kublai Khan has me nervous to try anything above a medium size. Intrigued by Mezzo however as I really enjoyed Dark Sky.

The shells are not very compact, maybe due to the number of implemented technologies, but at least for me is a ergonomic IEM. From pictures I would say the Kublai Khan is a larger IEM. The fit is more or less like the Annihilator. I think you owned the Elysian X which uses the same universal shell.

 

[Ojisan]

The shells look rather large in pictures, how are they in reality? My experience with Kublai Khan has me nervous to try anything above a medium size. Intrigued by Mezzo however as I really enjoyed Dark Sky.

The color does that but it's almost identical in size and shape to Traillii side by side. Although I would note that I don't have a problem with KK, nor Z1R.

I auditioned Major and Mezzo side by side and Mezzo is substantially more dynamic and resolving. I believe it's a different character than Dark Sky.

 

[Ojisan]

Nice how are you liking it?

I'm enjoying it so far! It's quite different from my current rotations (Mezzo/Traillii/ZP). SM's bass, to my surprise based on the impressions here, is leaner and less impactful than my collection. I'm still trying to understand what I'm hearing but it seems to be U-shaped, slightly compressed, very fast decay, A&K style neutral/flat tuning. There were some moments where timbre sounded off. There were also some moments where treble/soundstage seemed to expand unbelievably large. I will be hooked for a while

 

[Rockwell75]

I've been fortunate to hear a lot of great IEMs in 2022. Since I don't think I'll be hearing anymore-- here is a snapshot of my favorites. Only pictured are IEMs I heard for the first time in 2022.

Edit, for the uninitiated:

Row 1 (L-R): AK/EE Odyssey, Fir Kr5, Aroma Jewel, Noble Viking Ragnar
Row 2 (L-R): JVC HA-FW10000, Campfire Supermoon, Vision Ears EXT, Unique Melody Multiverse Mentor
Row 1 (L-R): Elysian Diva, Campfire Trifecta, Elysian Annihilator, Fir Xe6
Row 1 (L-R): Elysian X, Elysian-Effect Gaea, Softears Turii Ti, Vision Ears Phonix