[o0genesis0o]

Got some solid hours A/B these four IEMs. Here are some of my notes and thoughts in no particular order:

• A/B Gaea against Monarch and U12T makes me see some complaints about Gaea's tuning by @Bosk and others in a new light. Back to back A/B tests make Gaea sounds tinny and hollow, as if the whole lower midrange has disappeared. When I am at home again and listen to Gaea by itself, it is fine and not uncanny. But if I listen to it next to a balanced IEM, that tinny uncanny feeling returns.
• Both Monarch and U12T presents one solid step up to both Gaea and Andromeda in the clarity and definition of the notes, as well as micro details. Going from Gaea / Andromeda to Monarch / U12T feels like going from a well performing IEM like P5 or Blessing 2 to Andromeda / Gaea.
• Monarch reveals even more micro details in violin and flute solos than U12T, likely due to emphasise at around 10-12kHz rather than dipping. Still, the difference is minor. Musical notes feel a bit more incisive with U12T than Monarch, but both are outstanding.
• Monarch has the smallest and flattest soundstage among 4 options.
• Gaea has that "speaker-like" soundstage where the whole "band" is like a square box that is pushed away from my head. All three other options centre the soundstage somewhere in front of my head and expand from there.
• Gaea has snappy yet strong bass punches, with decent texture, but decay quickly (still better than Andromeda).
• Monarch has a lot of rumble but only average bass punch. There is always a rumbly "cloud" of bass with Monarch's presentation, rather than crisp and snappy "boom boom boom" like all other options. Monarch's bass is also quite textureless (for example, cellos has very little texture)
• U12T's bass is *chef kiss*. Punchy, rumbly, and textured. (This is with M15 module).

I think Monarch II present an excellent value. At AUD $1600 (brand new), it's very expensive. But in the context of head-fi geeks where things are even more expensive, Monarch II is an easy recommendation. The tuning is smart, natural, and pretty safe. The detail retrieval it top notch. Yes, the bass is not great, but it's not that deal breaker. It's still BOOM and it rumbles like crazy. The soundstage is another limitation that I'm not sure I can accept, but again, it's not bad. And, as some fellow listeners say "IEM soundstage is a meme", you might have no problem with the soundstage.

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Fourte Blanc. I don't know what's change from the orange Fourte because the feel that the IEM gives me is exactly the same. I personally prefer the Trio or the plain old U12T.

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Noble Kublai Khan. It's nicer and more normal than what I expected, given Noble's often strange graph. I like it. Big but controlled bass, natural sounding midrange, even when tested with Violin and Flute solos. Soundstage feels large with an interesting "wrap around" feeling with some tracks. Treble is well extended and exciting but not as harsh as the graph suggest. Detail retrieval is in the same class as U12T and Monarch.

One complain: driver flex. AUD $3800 with this level of driver flex is quick shocking. And the stock cable is quite poor (feeling, no comment about the sound). At least it is better than the old 64 Audio cable.

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Edit: Got to try Focal Clear (B stock, AUD $800, dropping from I think AUD $2000). Not sure if I like, but very respectable performance. I don't quite get the report of these headphones cracking and snapping, as they feel strong as heck and can take some abuse.

I also tried LCD-3. Nearly broke my neck. 10/10.

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Edit 2: demo units are generously provided by Addicted to Audio Adelaide. Have a visit if you are near an A2A store. The staffs are very friendly.

 

[Natesdailies]

It's always a good day when you need another DAP charge . Loved hearing movie soundtracks on Supermoon this evening. Great micro details even compared to Mentor.

 

[warrenpchi]

No wonder why Gaea is divisive. It's reallyyyy pushing the boundary. But at the same time, hats off to Elysian Acoustic Lab for:

• Knowing to stop at 10dB ear-gain boost rather than going full 12.5dB (or the 20dB insanity that some Chi-Fi tuners do)
• Tuning the upper mid and treble so smoothly. The raw graph of Gaea looks like a smoothened graph, to give you an idea. No peak no dip all the way from 2k to 5k. Just flat.
• Balancing the ear-gain and bass precisely. It mean just look at the balance!
• Boosting air.

If you don't like this tuning, then there is nothing to say to change it. But I've got to say, to me, it's master work. @Bosk mentioned that Gaea is noticeably less resolving than the true TOTL like Anni and even U12T (a claim which I will evaluate today ). If it is the case, then (1) I can't even imagine how resolving the Anni, the bird, and the jewel are, and (2) the Gaea is likely at the limit of what 1 + 4 topology can do. I can't think of any tuning "tricks" to get more, since Gaea already very revealing with zero mud.

It's not set in stone just yet, but I spoke to Effect Audio this morning, and they're working on something to address some of the criticisms levied against the Gaea. If that plan goes into action, I'll mention it in the CanJam Sg preview video.

Fir kit is on its way to @HiFiHawaii808 who is taking it to SG for CanJam so a few Coolers over there can sample it.

The Pan Pacific's lobby of nests is a fantastic place for ad hoc mini meets!

Sadly I am not able to make it this year though I hope to in the future as there are many dear souls I'd love to meet in person.

If it makes you feel any better, I won't be going this year. Let us wallow in our non-attendance together!

Dawww, those beans!

It's always a good day when you need another DAP charge . Loved hearing movie soundtracks on Supermoon this evening. Great micro details even compared to Mentor.

Did you, by any chance, try out the Effect x Bloom Perseus at CanJam NYC? I found to be particularly intoxicating for soundtracks

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In other news, the RN6... Well f * * k me, where did the last four hours go?

 

[Ryokan]

For those that own Oriolus Traillii try a narrow bore tip like the Symbio W, without the foam, if you haven't already. I prefer this type with the Mellianus than the wider bore ones supplied.

 

[CodenameBK201]

In other news, the RN6... Well f * * k me, where did the last four hours go?

I knew I wanted an xe6 set of my own since I demoed them...until the rn6 came out, and now I'm legitimately torn. Stayed up way too late pondering between the two last night.

 

[wazzupi]

There is an issue where MQA tracks will stutter or scratch playing at full 768K unfold. When you okay MQA at 704K, this doesn't happen. And it's more evident in UAPP than the Tidal app.

If you disable bitperfect you can't play MQA in UAPP.

Yeah, I've really tried to like Neutron. The minute I see that UI it's like...no!

The most dangerous double-edged sword in the hobby. Once you hear the resolution of a top IEM, you can't unhear it. The only silver lining is that TOTL resolution is not always what you want, especially if you're listening to compressed or lossy streaming non-electronic music.

How do I get it to not ?!?

 

[gLer]

How do I get it to not ?!?

You don't, it depends on the track. Not much you can do, other than switching off the MQA decoder in Audio Settings, in which case you only get the 48kHz original file in UAPP or 96kHz in the Tidal app.

 

[wazzupi]

It's not set in stone just yet, but I spoke to Effect Audio this morning, and they're working on something to address some of the criticisms levied against the Gaea. If that plan goes into action, I'll mention it in the CanJam Sg preview video.



The Pan Pacific's lobby of nests is a fantastic place for ad hoc mini meets!



If it makes you feel any better, I won't be going this year. Let us wallow in our non-attendance together!



Dawww, those beans!



Did you, by any chance, try out the Effect x Bloom Perseus at CanJam NYC? I found to be particularly intoxicating for soundtracks

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In other news, the RN6... Well f * * k me, where did the last four hours go?

Can I join in on the wallowing ? Hehe
I'll just live vicariously through the watercooler team repping @ singapore xD

 

[wazzupi]

You don't, it depends on the track. Not much you can do, other than switching off the MQA decoder in Audio Settings, in which case you only get the 48kHz original file in UAPP or 96kHz in the Tidal app.

Is this specific to rs8 ?

 

[gLer]

Is this specific to rs8 ?

I've heard chatter about if being an issue with some other Android 11/12 players, but can't be sure. It's not a major issue for me as I steer clear of MQA where possible.

 

[boromcom]

Aroma Air is quite good as portable. I like this so much and use it more often than my RS8 with Porta Pro. Sometimes I use Air for youtube and Netflix. Not only for music. It is better than my expectation.

My concern is the battery is quite hard to remove. Even I can find alternative battery, I’m not sure I can remove it.

 

[Natesdailies]

I just don’t understand the hypersensitivity. My view is that every comment on this entire site is given with that

I agree. I feel that there's always going to be an inclination for us to defend our purchases. Some of us just word it with more zeal than others. When I read an impression, I just assume that it comes with the territory that it's their opinion. I find both honest opinions (negative and positive) valuable because it gives me data points to triangulate future purchases.

A bit more expensive than plastic dust covers but couldn’t resist blinging up my Cayins

Cayin Custom Headphone Jack Dust Plug
PVD gold plated brass.

The engraved pattern is borrowed from the volume control knob on N8ii and N7

Thanks for the rec. Ordered these as well for my SP3K. Entirely for the aesthetics of course

Morning all, departing this morning for Japan for my first vacation in…a very very long time. Packed some audio gear for the trip. Chilling in the lounge, looking forward to the JAL food

Have fun! Are you still looking into the Fitear Titan?

Did you, by any chance, try out the Effect x Bloom Perseus at CanJam NYC?

Not yet but I might be able to in Socal Canjam.

Gaea does seem to be tuned with a view towards enhancing technical capabilities, in that sense they reminded me of the A8000s. It's definitely possible to increase perception of detail by boosting the upper frequencies but does this constitute actual "resolution" on the part of the drivers, or merely the illusion of it?

I posted snippets of this on another thread when someone asked me why Mentor was #1 for me. When I think of some of the most resolving IEMs I've heard Ragnar, Elysian X, Jewel, Storm came to mind. What did these have in common? They were neutral / bright tuned.

With Ragnar, I felt it came at the expense of its bass quantity, thin note weight and treble emphasis. XE6 is a warmer tuning set that has great resolution but falls short of Elysian X. Still TOTL level but noticible on well recorded tracks.

Mentor stands out for me because it has sharp transients while having lush mids and denser sounding notes. Like you said in another post, a photographs detail will be sharper if the contrast is boosted up. However if you bump it up too much the colours will look unnatural.

 

[LabelH]

Great catch, but it looks more like EVO to me.

Do you prefer natural or boosted contrast in this photo?

 

[Auricon]

Did you, by any chance, try out the Effect Eletech x Bloom Perseus at CanJam NYC? I found to be particularly intoxicating for soundtrack's

Got your back @warrenpchi, quick edit before ET’s @Eric Chong sees this

 

[Andricop]

Kiats apart, it doesn't look there are many Softears Tremolo custom DD around?
They look really interesting and they are reasonably priced.