QDC Dmagic 3D is available as a custom but it seems the forum has moved on
The Softears Tremelo is newly released so maybe someone will take the plunge
https://hifigo.com/products/softear-tremolo?rfsn=3165508.8b9f6
The M6 U sounds lots better than my M6 Pro 21. the U is full (4) of those nice new AKM chips. Over all, the U is warmer than the Pro 21, but a hair warmer than my M9. M9 also does resolving , stage and other techniques better than the rest of the Shanling line up. The M6 U is sort of an M8 but a hair less warm.
Best way for you to figure this out is to give each of them the proper time to evaluate, I definitely needed to do this with Xe6 and Kr5, whereas I found Ne4 to be the more forgiving and I suppose conventional of the 3.
I'm liking the Xe6 a lot, and it's doing a lot of things right. To me, it ticks all the boxes from build quality to sound to customer service, and I genuinely want to support the company based on interactions alone. It's sort of what I've been after for some time, which is the raptgo hook x but better. There wasn't anything to me, though, this now being the fourth bone conduction set in a row I've heard, that made me go "I've never heard anything like this before"--for better or for worse. I like the tuning, and there's nothing I'm finding fault with. If I had one critique it'd be that I wish there was more of that wow factor in terms of bass impact that the evos had. They're funky and they've got some soul to them, but they're not the visceral gut punch I wish they were and believe they could be if, for example, you added a traditional bone conduction driver on top of their kinetic bass--which, in fairness, would likely defeat the entire point of the tubeless system.
XE6 and KR5 are different. Many prefer one or the other since their tuning is different. KR5 has different treble tuning and it does not have that estat ethereal quality (which I don't prefer) since it has no ESS drivers. When I first heard them, I thought that KR5 had more balanced tuning.
I think I’ve decided on my next DD, I need to find a way to make it happen…
To be honest, it was more fun and surprising than (any) good really. I think I walked into some kind of large family reunion in a restaurant kind of setting where the average was probably > 75 years old. Perhaps they paid homage to the people that put them on the map, had sponsered them, whatever. It was like they played for their collective aunts and uncles, and maybe they did. It wasn't a concert showing off how good they were, but more to show everyone there was equal and could have taken their place.
For me the only similarities they share is that they're awesome, mostly linear, and excellent in portraying room acoustics. But that's about it. Traillii sounds more open and inviting to me but less aggressive. That's good for a lot of music, just not for all. Mentor sounds much warmer, perhaps veiled, and on first impression you will probably shrug your shoulders at them. But prolonged listening makes you discover so many new things in music you thought you knew that you start thinking "Wait, how can this warm, boring tuning, without being very dynamic, and being light on both bass and treble sound so awesome?" Probably because they don't do anything wrong and don't distract you from your music. And I assume it's the BCD that creates a top notch experience PRaT-wise without you being able to point a finger at exactly what's going on.
Linearity, texture, PRaT, and dynamic behaviour would be high on my own list, as the last 2 pull me into the music, while the first 2 can avoid that I'm distracted.
