Looks like it uses the same BCD as Mason Red Halo / Le Jardin.
Mentor has a different BCD.
The Watercooler -- Impressions, philosophical discussion and general banter. Index on first page. All welcome.
- Thread starter Rockwell75
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Mentor has a different BCD.
If I were you I'd consider a source upgrade before a cable upgrade for Trifecta, which I think would benefit from a more dynamic source than the 1AM2.
What would you advise for a portable player? Anything I can get away with without a separate amp?
Post CanJam top 10. Thought I'd share this while the excitement/impressions of many IEMs I heard for the first time are still fresh in my mind...caveat being that a lot of this can/will change pending time and further demos.
1) Campfire Trifecta
2) VIsion Ears Pink prototype
3) Fir Radon 6
4) Subtonic Storm
5) Vision Ears Phonix LE
6) Elysian Annihilator
7) Campfire Supermoon (through the LP6...OmG)
8) Campfire Solaris Stellar Horizon
9) Nightjar Singularity (prototype)
10) Elysian/Effect Audio Gaea
1) Campfire Trifecta
2) VIsion Ears Pink prototype
3) Fir Radon 6
4) Subtonic Storm
5) Vision Ears Phonix LE
6) Elysian Annihilator
7) Campfire Supermoon (through the LP6...OmG)
8) Campfire Solaris Stellar Horizon
9) Nightjar Singularity (prototype)
10) Elysian/Effect Audio Gaea
Phones with RU6 will be cheapest way to have R2R flavor for your Trifecta
I have just cleared out some funds for Radon 6. Gimme gimme.
I think the best "bang for buck" option on the market right now is the Shanling M6U.
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Hiby RS6 is $1200 right now too.
I love UAPP for everything except battery consumption. Well, and some stability issues when going back to a previous screen but I can get around it. I think something is wrong in the app and that it doesn't quit in the correct way. The following has happened dozens of times: I play an album just before going to bed, I close the app through its menu, and in the morning my phone is down 15% while it has been off the whole night. If I do a restart of the phone after using the UAPP then it's down 2% instead. But for normal playing I'm down about 6% for an hour which is quite okay I think. Poweramp is a bit more efficient energy-wise and hits me with 4% instead.
Looks like the drop-off after 4kHz is extreme too. That's like 12-13 dB.Sorry to change the topic from CanJam, wish I had been able to go. This is really bugging me though. I got a new coupler to take my own measurements and set up a squig.link account (woot), and all of my measurements are coming out pretty darn good, except the Elysium. As the group who's likely heard the Elysium the most, any idea why it is bassy AF? I'm pretty sure these are known to be low on sub-bass/bass, not the other way around. I've tested it multiple times with both sides of the IEM and keep getting the same results... It's showing more bass than the Mentor, the Meteor, the JHA ROX and 16v2, and the Aroma Thunder. Very confused.
Depends on your goal. Since I only have/want 1 pair of IEMs I bought the Sultan as the best compromise for classical/jazz/pop/world/metal/prog and without thinking it would be the absolute best choice for anything. But even before buying I knew exactly which areas needed to be improved to make me a happy camper and that's where my uphill battle started. I'm having demos today for Ronin, Ragnar, Mentor, Allegro, and Storm and had planned to pick up at least 2 of them for overnight listens in my hotel room, but after trying a few great DAPs yesterday I am getting Sultan exactly where I aimed for. As a result I decided not to pick up any of those IEMs for an intimate drive and I won't do it either tonight. So I will only demo them in the shop out of curiosity as I think Sultan and I have come to a long-term agreement. I mean, if I'm still deeply in love after 4 months... That just never happens with anything or anyone. Maybe I should do something with that information!
Back to your comment: Perhaps the trick is aiming for very small steps in the direction you want to take the sound. Perhaps my choice of eartips, cable, and possibly DAP got me in tiny steps from 90% to 95% and in my book that is probably as close as I will ever get with an all-rounder.
I hope to find the time to complete my DAP hunt write-up tonight or tomorrow at the latest. It's a bit of an overview what forking over more money can and can't bring you, as my demo range was $400 - $2,000.
No matter how much I like my RU6 it's definitely not the tightest one in the bass and has some rough edges in lower treble. If Trifecta can handle that then he's all good, but if it amplifies some unwanted nature like it does for Sultan then there may be better choices, even dongle-wise.
drftr
Liquid Venom vs 1950s (Clone from Cardas Clear cable)
Just sharing my listening notes between these popular low/mid(?) tier cables. Source is TT2 and Iem is Jewel.
1950s clone + sleeve:
Punchier, better bass texture, more pronounced and defined vocal, more body/meatier, more intimate.
Venom:
Soundstage is more spacious/wider, treble is more forward. Bass does not have as big slam as 1950s but its still quite punchy.
Detail wise, they’re very close - 1950s maybe has a tad better instrument separation.
In term of aesthetic, Venom gold+black colour simply looks stunning. Venom however feels like a catheter- it’s relatively thick and has rubbery feel.
Just sharing my listening notes between these popular low/mid(?) tier cables. Source is TT2 and Iem is Jewel.
1950s clone + sleeve:
Punchier, better bass texture, more pronounced and defined vocal, more body/meatier, more intimate.
Venom:
Soundstage is more spacious/wider, treble is more forward. Bass does not have as big slam as 1950s but its still quite punchy.
Detail wise, they’re very close - 1950s maybe has a tad better instrument separation.
In term of aesthetic, Venom gold+black colour simply looks stunning. Venom however feels like a catheter- it’s relatively thick and has rubbery feel.
fejnomit
Headphoneus Supremus
I think you would like the Allegro. Maybe not ideal for your lifestyle but signature-wise... Give some time to tips and it can be quite comfortable and isolating. And curious what cable they have with it. If they have the Hybrid+ or the Silver+, I would go for those over the Copper+...
Liu / Unique Melody came back to me re Mentor face plates and sent me pics of the 3 available options that offer no new surprises. Uploading here for the sake of completeness only. I also asked if they would accept custom designs and they responded they do for MEST III so that didn't help much. Once I get a better answer I will post it.
drftr
drftr
you can still choose different shell color as i know and the titanium shell have 3 different colorsLiu / Unique Melody came back to me re Mentor face plates and sent me pics of the 3 available options that offer no new surprises. Uploading here for the sake of completeness only. I also asked if they would accept custom designs and they responded they do for MEST III so that didn't help much. Once I get a better answer I will post it.
drftr
Good idea Jeff. I'll follow suit with my top picks post Camjam as well.
Best at any price point:
1. Multiverse Mentor $4500 [W shape ] - BA bass, Warm Mids bright leaning highs. Best in class imaging, Big circular soundstage, S tier resolution. It ticks all the right boxes for me after sources / cable swaps.
2. Xenon 6 / Radon 6 $3900 [W shape ] - DD/BA bass, Thicker mid bassy sound, Class leading soundstage depth and dynamics, S- tier resolution. Radon 6 if one wanted a leaner presentation of XE6.
3. Ronin $3900 [ W shape ] - BA bass, Lush Mids, balanced signature with great acoustic timbre, S tier resolution
4. A. Elysian X $4500 [ V shape ] - DD bass (Sub bass leaning), EST highs, class leading treble extention and soundstage, S- tier resolution
B. Elysian Annihilator for a linear tuning. More mids with better timbre for acoustics. My preference is still X because I found the treble less fatiguing.
5. Noble Ragnar $4000 - Leans reference tuning (bass light). Satisfying DD bass. One of the most resolving sets out there with a treble emphasis. Big stage, super clean transients. The treble was high quality but for my preferences I would like it tucked below bass or mids.
Best under $2500:
1. Maestro SE $1900 [ L shape ] - This set stands out at this price point. Bass heavy (especially the sub bass) but it sounds clean with minimal bleed into the other frequencies. Really fun tuning pulled off well. This is a great complimentary set to an all rounder W shape set.
2. Mest 3 [ W shape ] - Sounded like a complete set and a good all rounder. Resolving hybrid set with trickled down BCD technology, sounded more refined than Mest 2, balanced tonality for acoustics. Not too far from Mentor but it was missing some of that X factor imaging and soundstage.
3. Penon Impact $2500 [ W shape ] - Trailliesque sweet mids with the technicalities to boot. Slightly tapered off highs compared to Multiverse Mentor but similar to Ronin in how good its timbre is
4. Turi Ti $2500 - Single DD. Reference tuning with lean bass. Great coherence like you would expect from a single DD. Quite revealing with sharp transients. This would be higher up for me if the staging was bigger.
5. Serratus [ W shape ] - Single DD. Reference tuning with a mild bass boost. Unique to me with a speaker like soundstage. Fantastic natural tonality for acoustics.
Best at any price point:
1. Multiverse Mentor $4500 [W shape ] - BA bass, Warm Mids bright leaning highs. Best in class imaging, Big circular soundstage, S tier resolution. It ticks all the right boxes for me after sources / cable swaps.
2. Xenon 6 / Radon 6 $3900 [W shape ] - DD/BA bass, Thicker mid bassy sound, Class leading soundstage depth and dynamics, S- tier resolution. Radon 6 if one wanted a leaner presentation of XE6.
3. Ronin $3900 [ W shape ] - BA bass, Lush Mids, balanced signature with great acoustic timbre, S tier resolution
4. A. Elysian X $4500 [ V shape ] - DD bass (Sub bass leaning), EST highs, class leading treble extention and soundstage, S- tier resolution
B. Elysian Annihilator for a linear tuning. More mids with better timbre for acoustics. My preference is still X because I found the treble less fatiguing.
5. Noble Ragnar $4000 - Leans reference tuning (bass light). Satisfying DD bass. One of the most resolving sets out there with a treble emphasis. Big stage, super clean transients. The treble was high quality but for my preferences I would like it tucked below bass or mids.
Best under $2500:
1. Maestro SE $1900 [ L shape ] - This set stands out at this price point. Bass heavy (especially the sub bass) but it sounds clean with minimal bleed into the other frequencies. Really fun tuning pulled off well. This is a great complimentary set to an all rounder W shape set.
2. Mest 3 [ W shape ] - Sounded like a complete set and a good all rounder. Resolving hybrid set with trickled down BCD technology, sounded more refined than Mest 2, balanced tonality for acoustics. Not too far from Mentor but it was missing some of that X factor imaging and soundstage.
3. Penon Impact $2500 [ W shape ] - Trailliesque sweet mids with the technicalities to boot. Slightly tapered off highs compared to Multiverse Mentor but similar to Ronin in how good its timbre is
4. Turi Ti $2500 - Single DD. Reference tuning with lean bass. Great coherence like you would expect from a single DD. Quite revealing with sharp transients. This would be higher up for me if the staging was bigger.
5. Serratus [ W shape ] - Single DD. Reference tuning with a mild bass boost. Unique to me with a speaker like soundstage. Fantastic natural tonality for acoustics.
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