Tybot
500+ Head-Fier
I have a couple other Murakumo 6 items and they are great. A Murakumo 6 interconnect is on my dream list. I can't imagine there are too many floating around.
The Watercooler -- Impressions, philosophical discussion and general banter. Index on first page. All welcome.
- Thread starter Rockwell75
- Start date
Harking back to Auricon's poll the other day about what we have in our Astute cases...I wanted to wait until I'd received this M6 Pro from @yaps66 before sharing mine. Just came in this afternoon and I've heard a bit of it so far. I've really missed the Shanling sound...this is a baby M8 to my ears & from memory. Gaea and Annihilator so far sound great...both IEMs but Annihilator in particular really appreciate the extra juice compared to the SR25ii.
Oh LOL not my poll – @Progisus: Post #41,593 of 41,927
started and I haven't filled mine up yet. I'm not cool enough to start polls, meow
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Oh LOL not my poll – @Progisus: Post #41,593 of 41,927
started and I haven't filled mine up yet. I'm not cool enough to start polls, meow
Thanks for the correction...not sure why I had it in my head that it was you who asked that.
Haha, no worries. I am a bit of an Eletech fan boi, LOL
I need a single DD in my collection. If Isabella has better isolation I'd buy another as that would allow me to kill the great mids bird & the single DD bird for my collection with the same stone.
drftr
Headphoneus Supremus
I love your cleaning up act but there's still a lot work left!
Did you attend? No need to be specific...
I'm off to a Perpetua demo seconds from now. Have you heard them by any chance? I wonder if it's going to be the best single DD that I ever heard. But it would have to be really really good to beat Acoustune for that. More later.
drftr
Just one really. I have been planning to try the Storm the entire time. But that one is still a bit away, maybe late January.
drftr
Headphoneus Supremus
Decided not to demo the Storm while in Singapore. They reached out last week but apart from not being my favourite tuning I don't have too much faith in a first model that is delayed for so long already. Not worth the risk for me. But no doubt it will be good and beautiful once it finally arrives. Which I guess is before or at CanJam Singapore, right?
drftr
@drftr first units should be to customers in a week or two.
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Stu Paddasso
1000+ Head-Fier
With all this talk of DAPs, how does one carry a Dap in his pocket when the volume wheel is on top and the headphone ports are on the bottom? I don't see any good way for this to work. 
"Whatever you are be a good one." ~ Abraham Lincoln
The Effect Audio-Elysian Gaea is the latest in a long list of IEMs I've fallen in love with despite the fact that on paper they are almost exactly the opposite of what I normally go for. What something is, I have found, is far less important than how well it is executed. In the case of Gaea it provides a sonic perspective very different than what I normally go for-- but it does it in a very refined and captivating way. It's far more skewed to the highs than it's more even keeled older brother the Annihilator. Sonically it's the polar opposite of the Dorado 2020. That IEM seems like it was tuned to monitor and sink your teeth into juicy basslines, even if it comes at the expense of the mids & highs at times. Gaea is completely the reverse-- tuned to allow you to immerse yourself in the lush mids & highs, coming at the expense of the bass at times. Both are polarizing IEMs both for me are so good at what they do that they have an almost timeless addictive quality to the sound that allows me to fall in love with them even though they're clearly not for everyone, and not really all rounders.
This sounds seductive and beautiful on Gaea:
Edit: On a non-audio related note as someone with an orange cat who minored in philosophy this made me laugh:
The Effect Audio-Elysian Gaea is the latest in a long list of IEMs I've fallen in love with despite the fact that on paper they are almost exactly the opposite of what I normally go for. What something is, I have found, is far less important than how well it is executed. In the case of Gaea it provides a sonic perspective very different than what I normally go for-- but it does it in a very refined and captivating way. It's far more skewed to the highs than it's more even keeled older brother the Annihilator. Sonically it's the polar opposite of the Dorado 2020. That IEM seems like it was tuned to monitor and sink your teeth into juicy basslines, even if it comes at the expense of the mids & highs at times. Gaea is completely the reverse-- tuned to allow you to immerse yourself in the lush mids & highs, coming at the expense of the bass at times. Both are polarizing IEMs both for me are so good at what they do that they have an almost timeless addictive quality to the sound that allows me to fall in love with them even though they're clearly not for everyone, and not really all rounders.
This sounds seductive and beautiful on Gaea:
Edit: On a non-audio related note as someone with an orange cat who minored in philosophy this made me laugh:
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It's kind of too bad you didn't demo it just for posterity. Given all we've watched you go through in the past year as we've all tried, individually and collectively, to get a clear sense of your tastes and preferences your perspective on Storm would have provided a very interesting data point, especially for the majority of us who'll probably never get to hear it.
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2022 Year of Gear
Well, it’s been another journey around the sun while in this hobby so it’s time for me to reflect on 2022 and see what new IEMs came and went. If you’re interested, I’ve done similar posts for 2020 and 2021 which can be found here:
2020
2021
This year’s been a little quieter for me for new IEM purchases. This year, more than any other year in this hobby, I’ve been able to demo new stuff rather than playing the ‘blind buy and eventually sell if I don’t like it’ game. This is mostly due to covid restrictions being relaxed down here in Melbourne, so I’ve been able to utilise my local dealer (Addicted to Audio) far more often than in the past and probably saved a ton of cash in the process.
Furthermore, I’ve still got a few IEMs in my collection that I still love and have lasted since earlier days in this hobby, so I guess I’m moving further away from the “discovery” phase of this never-ending portable gear setup chase. I've also spent more time and funds on discovering DAPs and trying out different synergies with what I already own. Perhaps I’m finally getting close to that mythical oasis called EnDgAmE?? Probably not… But one can dream!
Fir XE6 – January
It took me a while to gel with XE6. Probably the longest out of any IEM I’ve owned. Initially I found it too warm, too mid-bassy and somewhat cloudy/hazy sounding. I experimented with different DAPs, cables and used the most open APEX module (black) to counter the warmth as much as I could. But as time passed, I began to appreciate Xe6 for what it was, an extremely coloured but highly technical IEM that brings a different flavour to my collection.
Aroma Jewel – April
Jewel essentially replaced Traillii in my collection, even though they are quite different in most respects. I like how Jewel sounds so “complete”. A well balanced, reference tuned IEM with TOTL technicalities. My biggest gripe with Jewel is its treble. If I’ve been listening to energetic sets like Annihilator, it takes a while for me to adjust to Jewel’s more delicate treble tuning.
Sennheiser IE 600 - May
This was a short-lived one. Basically, it sounds like a safer tuned IE 900 that got boring to me real quick. This would be my choice if I were to recommend a high-quality IEM to someone that didn’t care about the portable audio hobby and simply wanted something that sounds great with lots of different genres. But for me, my “boring” IEM is the U12t and I’ll take that over the IE 900 10/10 times.
Noble Audio Kublai Khan – June
Easily my favourite sounding Noble to-date. I wrote a review for it here. I only sold it because it felt a bit redundant with some other IEM’s I’ve got (I prefer Indigo ever so slightly more)
Campfire Audio Supermoon – August
My first foray into single-planar IEMs, and one that’s seen plenty of hype for the latter part of 2022. I think it’s a good IEM, but I probably haven’t enjoyed it as much as others have. I like its bass and how detailed it is, but over time the mids and highs have progressively become intolerable. I’ll keep it around for now, but it may be on the chopping block some time in 2023.
Elysian Acoustic Labs Diva – September
I’ll admit it, I’m an Elysian fanboii. I probably didn’t need to add a Diva to my IEM inventory with X and Annihilator already around, but a friend was selling his one and I thought it was a good opportunity to pick one up without having to wait forever for Lee to make one. That said, I really love the Diva, especially using the maximum bass setting. It has the high-clarity Elysian house sound with a huge amount of sub bass that’s just super fun for most of my library.
Softears Turii Ti – October
This one was getting lots of hype and I’d never heard a Softears IEM before, so I thought I’d give it a crack. It’s a nice IEM, very natural sounding with impressive single-DD technicalities. The jury’s still out on whether I keep it long term, though. I only want to keep 1 high-end single DD and honestly, I prefer my IE 900 even though its not the better tuned nor more technical IEM. The IE 900 has incredibly addictive bass that’s hard for me to give up.
Unique Melody Multiverse Mentor – October
Ahhhh, my new GOAT. Love this IEM. Don’t see this one leaving anytime soon (but never say never in this hobby)
Astell & Kern x Empire Ears Odyssey – November
I’m so glad to have another EE W9+ driven IEM in my stable. I sold Evo not long after getting Xe6 earlier this year because of its mediocre treble, and thankfully Odyssey rectifies that somewhat. To my ears, Odyssey feels more like a successor to LX/LXSE than Odin or Evo. I’m enjoying it a lot, although its probably not got the attention it deserves while I’ve been on a honeymoon in the Multiverse.
64 Audio Tia Fourte Blanc - November
It’s basically a white Noir. I’ve been a Noir owner for a pretty long time now and had no intention of selling it. But it’s completely redundant now with Blanc, so it’s gone to @snapandslide
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jwilliamhurst
Headphoneus Supremus
EPIC POST and PICS! Thank you so much for sharing. Thank you for letting us be a part of the journey.2022 Year of Gear
Well, it’s been another journey around the sun while in this hobby so it’s time for me to reflect on 2022 and see what new IEMs came and went. If you’re interested, I’ve done similar posts for 2020 and 2021 which can be found here:
2020
2021
This year’s been a little quieter for me for new IEM purchases. This year, more than any other year in this game, I’ve been able to demo new stuff rather than playing the ‘blind buy and ultimately sell if I don’t like it’ game. This is mostly due to covid restrictions being relaxed down here in Melbourne, so I’ve been able to utilise my local dealer (Addicted to Audio) far more often than in the past and probably saved a ton of cash in the process.
Furthermore, I’ve still got a few IEMs in my collection that I still love and have lasted since earlier days in this hobby, so I guess I’m moving further away from the “discovery” phase of this never-ending portable gear setup chase. I've also spent more time and funds on discovering DAPs and trying out different synergies with what I already own. Perhaps I’m finally getting close to that mythical oasis called EnDgAmE?? Probably not… But one can dream!
Fir XE6 – January
It took me a while to gel with XE6. Probably the longest out of any IEM I’ve owned. Initially I found it too warm, too mid-bassy and somewhat cloudy/hazy sounding. I experimented with different DAPs, cables and used the most open APEX module (black) to counter the warmth as much as I could. But as time passed, I began to appreciate Xe6 for what it was, an extremely coloured but highly technical IEM that brings a different flavour to my collection.
Aroma Jewel – April
Jewel essentially replaced Traillii in my collection, even though they are quite different in most respects. I like how Jewel sounds so “complete”. A well balanced, reference tuned IEM with TOTL technicalities. My biggest gripe with Jewel is its treble. If I’ve been listening to energetic sets like Annihilator, it takes a while for me to adjust to Jewel’s more delicate treble tuning.
Sennheiser IE 600 - May
This was a short-lived one. Basically, it sounds like a safer tuned IE 900 that got boring to me real quick. This would be my choice if I were to recommend a high-quality IEM to someone that didn’t care about the portable audio hobby and simply wanted something that sounds great with lots of different genres. But for me, my “boring” IEM is the U12t and I’ll take that over the IE 900 10/10 times.
Noble Audio Kublai Khan – June
Easily my favourite sounding Noble to-date. I wrote a review for it here. I sold it simply because it felt a bit redundant with some other IEM’s I’ve got (I prefer Indigo ever so slightly more)
Campfire Audio Supermoon – August
My first foray into single-planar IEMs, and one that’s seen plenty of hype for the latter part of 2022. I think it’s a good IEM, but I probably haven’t enjoyed it as much as others have. I like its bass and how detailed it is, but over time the mids and highs have progressively become intolerable. I’ll keep it around for now, but it may be on the chopping block some time in 2023.
Elysian Acoustic Labs Diva – September
I’ll admit it, I’m an Elysian fanboii. I probably didn’t need to add a Diva to my IEM inventory with X and Annihilator already around, but a friend was selling his one and I thought it was a good opportunity to pick one up without having to wait forever for Lee to make one. That said, I really love the Diva, especially using the maximum bass setting. It has the high-clarity Elysian house sound with a huge amount of sub bass that’s just super fun for most of my library.
Softears Turii Ti – October
This one was getting lots of hype and I’d never heard a Softears IEM before, so I thought I’d give it a crack. It’s a nice IEM, very natural sounding with impressive single-DD technicalities. The jury’s still out on whether I keep it long term, though. I only want to keep 1 high-end single DD and honestly, I prefer my IE 900 even though its not the better tuned nor more technical IEM. The IE 900 has incredibly addicted bass that’s hard for me to give up.
Unique Melody Multiverse Mentor – October
Ahhhh, my new GOAT. Love this IEM. Don’t see this one leaving anytime soon (but never say never in this hobby)
Astell & Kern x Empire Ears Odyssey – November
I’m so glad to have another EE W9+ driven IEM in my stable. I sold Evo not long after getting Xe6 earlier this year because of its mediocre treble, and thankfully Odyssey rectifies that somewhat. To my ears, Odyssey feels more like a successor to LX/LXSE than Odin or Evo. I’m enjoying it a lot, although its probably not got the attention it deserves while I’ve been on a honeymoon in the Multiverse.
64 Audio Tia Fourte Blanc - November
It’s basically a white Noir. I’ve been a Noir owner for a pretty long time now and had no intention of selling it. In fact, just before Blanc was announced, I sent my Noir back to 64 Audio to get serviced and have the faceplates replaced with new logo versions. But it’s completely redundant now with Blanc, so it’s gone to @snapandslide
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