[Rockwell75]

If I were to buy one, there would need to be a very generous return policy, and the irony of this? "I" really wouldn't want to buy someone
else's returned IEM's, but with headphones sure. Talk about a catch 22...

At the end of the day buying an IEM, especially an expensive IEM, will by necessity, ultimately, be a somewhat of a blind leap unless you are able to demo first. My collective experience in this hobby has taught me that there is simply no substitute-- no amount of PMing people, listening to YouTube videos, reading others' commentary-- for actually hearing something for yourself. If you live in Asia aka the IEM capital of the world this is less of an issue becasue, depending on where you live, there is a good chance you can walk down the street to the nearest shop and demo whatever you want. For those of us in the comparative IEM wasteland of North America or Europe it's a lot more difficult. This is why it is so important to cultivate community, attend meets and shows, participate in tours, and so on. Ultimately there is no escaping some degree of risk-- my advice if nothing else is to work through the used market as, excepting only the latest releases, it's generally always possible to buy something used and sell for a minimal loss if you don't like it.

 

[Junmoe62]

Hi guys,

I hope you’re all doing great!

Today was the headphone show in Shanghai since 3 years I believe (you know… Covid magic…) and I got the opportunity to demo most of the big guns I wanted to try for a while.
I know many of you went to canjam recently so that’ll mostly be familiar IEMs, but I believe I managed to demo few rarities that were not in New York.
So let’s get started.
I won’t go into details, i didn’t take notes, I was there for a short time and demoed a lot of stuff in a noisy environment without being able to A/B much, so not really optimal obviously. So that’s just rough feelings that must be taken with a huge grain of salt!!

All sets demoed through L&P LP6 Gold with their stock cables.

Favorites of the show :

Oriolus Traillii Ti :
The king is back big time! It wasn’t actually for demo, but an owner was kind enough to let me try it so I could compare with my OG Trailliis. I can definitely tell you the difference isn’t only a cosmetic one! They sound absolutely epic! Basically, you take everything that was great on the OG, you make it better and you remove most of the drawbacks (except the price obviousl…).
Deeper and more organic bass, clearer and cleaner (less veiled) mids (still warm and organic), better treble extension and details, significantly bigger and more precise soundstage. I’m truly impressed! I wasn’t expecting that actually… Add to that the most comfortable shell I’ve tried (the shape on the back is different than the OG and really follows the shape of the ear a bit like a custom) and the new cable with nicer hardware and this is an absolute killer set (for an eye watering price ). I think that was my favorite of them all to be honest.

Rosenkranz Silver KA (16k Gold) :

The most expensive set that I tried by a wide margin (about $9000 monitors only) and most likely the most expensive single DD on the market. Here they are plugged onto the flagship Rosenkranz cable (about $4000). They sound quite epic as it should considering the price!!! I think they have the most impressive bass I’ve heard! It reaches super deep with incredible vicerality. It really feels like a subwoofer. Soundstage is really vast and details are quite impressive. The tuning feels somewhat reminiscent of something like XE6 and Radon 6, with a more analog vibe. I feel like it’s the best single DD I’ve tried and one of the best overall I’ve heard. Super fun and emotional sound! I love it

Noble Ragnar :
Another highlight of the show. Fantastic details and soundstage. The bass is actually much more present in quantity than I thought it would reading the different impressions on the forum, and I was expecting something much brighter and aggressive, which imho it is not. I found them really balanced. If anything it feels like a better version of the KK. Also , they are much smaller than I thought they would looking at the pictures. Epic set as well.

Noble Ronin :
Superb as well. I can’t really decide which one I preferred between this one and Ragnar. Both are at the top of the game. But if I had to pick one for myself it would most likely be Ragnar with its metal built, beautiful design, much smaller (ronin are huge) and also, Ronin is not too dissimilar to Traillii which I already own. Als, in that vein of tuning I found Ronin more to my liking overall than Mentor Multiverse which high mids felt a little too aggressive.


Other sets I liked :

UM Mentor Multiverse

Noble Sultan Prestige

Fir Radon 6 (I liked it a bit more than XE6 and the cable is much nicer)

Fir XE6

Xanadu Kopensh Pharaoh

Dita Perpétua C (kinda romantic easy listening tuning missing bass. Very beautiful design and built)

Camelot

Solaris 2023 (pretty nice overall but as indicated in a review I found also it has a slight metallic timber on voices of some artists like The Weeknd, but nothing serious)

Not really sure what these are but it’s written on it I guess Interesting design and nice sounding copper single DD.


Alright! That’s it for today!

Cheers guys,

Julien.

 

[Not so fat head]

At the end of the day buying an IEM, especially an expensive IEM, will by necessity, ultimately, be a somewhat of a blind leap unless you are able to demo first. My collective experience in this hobby has taught me that there is simply no substitute-- no amount of PMing people, listening to YouTube videos, reading others' commentary-- for actually hearing something for yourself. If you live in Asia aka the IEM capital of the world this is less of an issue becasue, depending on where you live, there is a good chance you can walk down the street to the nearest shop and demo whatever you want. For those of us in the comparative IEM wasteland of North America or Europe it's a lot more difficult. This is why it is so important to cultivate community, attend meets and shows, participate in tours, and so on. Ultimately there is no escaping some degree of risk-- my advice if nothing else is to work through the used market as, excepting only the latest releases, it's generally always possible to buy something used and sell for a minimal loss if you don't like it.

Good point... I sure am enjoying my AKG N5005's, just a small taste of the high end, given a proper fit. In fact, I ordered and received a second pair from AKG!

 

[Rockwell75]

Hi guys,

I hope you’re all doing great!

Today was the headphone show in Shanghai since 3 years I believe (you know… Covid magic…) and I got the opportunity to demo most of the big guns I wanted to try for a while.
I know many of you went to canjam recently so that’ll mostly be familiar IEMs, but I believe I managed to demo few rarities that were not in New York.
So let’s get started.
I won’t go into details, i didn’t take notes, I was there for a short time and demoed a lot of stuff in a noisy environment without being able to A/B much, so not really optimal obviously. So that’s just rough feelings that must be taken with a huge grain of salt!!

All sets demoed through L&P LP6 Gold with their stock cables.

Favorites of the show :

Oriolus Traillii Ti :
The king is back big time! It wasn’t actually for demo, but an owner was kind enough to let me try it so I could compare with my OG Trailliis. I can definitely tell you the difference isn’t only a cosmetic one! They sound absolutely epic! Basically, you take everything that was great on the OG, you make it better and you remove most of the drawbacks (except the price obviousl…).
Deeper and more organic bass, clearer and cleaner (less veiled) mids (still warm and organic), better treble extension and details, significantly bigger and more precise soundstage. I’m truly impressed! I wasn’t expecting that actually… Add to that the most comfortable shell I’ve tried (the shape on the back is different than the OG and really follows the shape of the ear a bit like a custom) and the new cable with nicer hardware and this is an absolute killer set (for an eye watering price ). I think that was my favorite of them all to be honest.

Rosenkranz Silver KA (16k Gold) :

The most expensive set that I tried by a wide margin (about $9000 monitors only) and most likely the most expensive single DD on the market. Here they are plugged onto the flagship Rosenkranz cable (about $4000). They sound quite epic as it should considering the price!!! I think they have the most impressive bass I’ve heard! It reaches super deep with incredible vicerality. It really feels like a subwoofer. Soundstage is really vast and details are quite impressive. The tuning feels somewhat reminiscent of something like XE6 and Radon 6, with a more analog vibe. I feel like it’s the best single DD I’ve tried and one of the best overall I’ve heard. Super fun and emotional sound! I love it

Noble Ragnar :
Another highlight of the show. Fantastic details and soundstage. The bass is actually much more present in quantity than I thought it would reading the different impressions on the forum, and I was expecting something much brighter and aggressive, which imho it is not. I found them really balanced. If anything it feels like a better version of the KK. Also , they are much smaller than I thought they would looking at the pictures. Epic set as well.

Noble Ronin :
Superb as well. I can’t really decide which one I preferred between this one and Ragnar. Both are at the top of the game. But if I had to pick one for myself it would most likely be Ragnar with its metal built, beautiful design, much smaller (ronin are huge) and also, Ronin is not too dissimilar to Traillii which I already own. Als, in that vein of tuning I found Ronin more to my liking overall than Mentor Multiverse which high mids felt a little too aggressive.


Other sets I liked :

UM Mentor Multiverse

Noble Sultan Prestige

Fir Radon 6 (I liked it a bit more than XE6 and the cable is much nicer)

Fir XE6

Xanadu Kopensh Pharaoh

Dita Perpétua C (kinda romantic easy listening tuning missing bass. Very beautiful design and built)

Camelot

Solaris 2023 (pretty nice overall but as indicated in a review I found also it has a slight metallic timber on voices of some artists like The Weeknd, but nothing serious)

Not really sure what these are but it’s written on it I guess Interesting design and nice sounding copper single DD.


Alright! That’s it for today!

Cheers guys,

Julien.

Big ups for the LP6 Gold...currently my bae

Glad to hear some impressions of the Traillii Ti and quite interesting to know there are some sonic differences.

That Rosenkranz IEM looks insane. Incidentally I've never been able to take that brand seriously becasue of those stickers which they claim enhance soundstage or something. Do you know what is significant about that IEM that it fetches a price tag of $9K? What size driver, and is it proprietary?

 

[s2kphile]

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.

What are they planning to do with the OG buyers who still have their sets? Will the fix be something that can remedy it either via eartip/cable change or will they just re-release it with a better tune?

 

[aaf evo]

Hi guys,

I hope you’re all doing great!

Today was the headphone show in Shanghai since 3 years I believe (you know… Covid magic…) and I got the opportunity to demo most of the big guns I wanted to try for a while.
I know many of you went to canjam recently so that’ll mostly be familiar IEMs, but I believe I managed to demo few rarities that were not in New York.
So let’s get started.
I won’t go into details, i didn’t take notes, I was there for a short time and demoed a lot of stuff in a noisy environment without being able to A/B much, so not really optimal obviously. So that’s just rough feelings that must be taken with a huge grain of salt!!

All sets demoed through L&P LP6 Gold with their stock cables.

Favorites of the show :

Oriolus Traillii Ti :
The king is back big time! It wasn’t actually for demo, but an owner was kind enough to let me try it so I could compare with my OG Trailliis. I can definitely tell you the difference isn’t only a cosmetic one! They sound absolutely epic! Basically, you take everything that was great on the OG, you make it better and you remove most of the drawbacks (except the price obviousl…).
Deeper and more organic bass, clearer and cleaner (less veiled) mids (still warm and organic), better treble extension and details, significantly bigger and more precise soundstage. I’m truly impressed! I wasn’t expecting that actually… Add to that the most comfortable shell I’ve tried (the shape on the back is different than the OG and really follows the shape of the ear a bit like a custom) and the new cable with nicer hardware and this is an absolute killer set (for an eye watering price ). I think that was my favorite of them all to be honest.
Alright! That’s it for today!

Cheers guys,

Julien.

Cool post, thank you. Every time I see that Traillii Ti part of me dies inside because I find it SO appealing even though some people find it too bland. I wish it was more attainable just so could own it to check it off the list. What a classy looking IEM. If this was back in 2020/2021 there’s absolutely no way I would have resisted buying that

 

[toaster]

Hi guys,

I hope you’re all doing great!

Today was the headphone show in Shanghai since 3 years I believe (you know… Covid magic…) and I got the opportunity to demo most of the big guns I wanted to try for a while.
I know many of you went to canjam recently so that’ll mostly be familiar IEMs, but I believe I managed to demo few rarities that were not in New York.
So let’s get started.
I won’t go into details, i didn’t take notes, I was there for a short time and demoed a lot of stuff in a noisy environment without being able to A/B much, so not really optimal obviously. So that’s just rough feelings that must be taken with a huge grain of salt!!

All sets demoed through L&P LP6 Gold with their stock cables.

Traillii Ti with a "much bigger" stage?!

...and those goldies are a wild set.

Great report!

 

[Andricop]

and the new cable with nicer hardware and this is an absolute killer set

Great post and pics, thanks Julien!

I was wondering if the cable on the Traillii Ti is still the 4 wire PW Audio 1960s ?

 

[Auricon]

Hi guys,

I hope you’re all doing great!

Today was the headphone show in Shanghai since 3 years I believe (you know… Covid magic…) and I got the opportunity to demo most of the big guns I wanted to try for a while.
I know many of you went to canjam recently so that’ll mostly be familiar IEMs, but I believe I managed to demo few rarities that were not in New York.
So let’s get started.
I won’t go into details, i didn’t take notes, I was there for a short time and demoed a lot of stuff in a noisy environment without being able to A/B much, so not really optimal obviously. So that’s just rough feelings that must be taken with a huge grain of salt!!

All sets demoed through L&P LP6 Gold with their stock cables.

Favorites of the show :

Oriolus Traillii Ti :
The king is back big time! It wasn’t actually for demo, but an owner was kind enough to let me try it so I could compare with my OG Trailliis. I can definitely tell you the difference isn’t only a cosmetic one! They sound absolutely epic! Basically, you take everything that was great on the OG, you make it better and you remove most of the drawbacks (except the price obviousl…).
Deeper and more organic bass, clearer and cleaner (less veiled) mids (still warm and organic), better treble extension and details, significantly bigger and more precise soundstage. I’m truly impressed! I wasn’t expecting that actually… Add to that the most comfortable shell I’ve tried (the shape on the back is different than the OG and really follows the shape of the ear a bit like a custom) and the new cable with nicer hardware and this is an absolute killer set (for an eye watering price ). I think that was my favorite of them all to be honest.

Rosenkranz Silver KA (16k Gold) :

The most expensive set that I tried by a wide margin (about $9000 monitors only) and most likely the most expensive single DD on the market. Here they are plugged onto the flagship Rosenkranz cable (about $4000). They sound quite epic as it should considering the price!!! I think they have the most impressive bass I’ve heard! It reaches super deep with incredible vicerality. It really feels like a subwoofer. Soundstage is really vast and details are quite impressive. The tuning feels somewhat reminiscent of something like XE6 and Radon 6, with a more analog vibe. I feel like it’s the best single DD I’ve tried and one of the best overall I’ve heard. Super fun and emotional sound! I love it

Noble Ragnar :
Another highlight of the show. Fantastic details and soundstage. The bass is actually much more present in quantity than I thought it would reading the different impressions on the forum, and I was expecting something much brighter and aggressive, which imho it is not. I found them really balanced. If anything it feels like a better version of the KK. Also , they are much smaller than I thought they would looking at the pictures. Epic set as well.

Noble Ronin :
Superb as well. I can’t really decide which one I preferred between this one and Ragnar. Both are at the top of the game. But if I had to pick one for myself it would most likely be Ragnar with its metal built, beautiful design, much smaller (ronin are huge) and also, Ronin is not too dissimilar to Traillii which I already own. Als, in that vein of tuning I found Ronin more to my liking overall than Mentor Multiverse which high mids felt a little too aggressive.


Other sets I liked :

UM Mentor Multiverse

Noble Sultan Prestige

Fir Radon 6 (I liked it a bit more than XE6 and the cable is much nicer)

Fir XE6

Xanadu Kopensh Pharaoh

Dita Perpétua C (kinda romantic easy listening tuning missing bass. Very beautiful design and built)

Camelot

Solaris 2023 (pretty nice overall but as indicated in a review I found also it has a slight metallic timber on voices of some artists like The Weeknd, but nothing serious)

Not really sure what these are but it’s written on it I guess Interesting design and nice sounding copper single DD.


Alright! That’s it for today!

Cheers guys,

Julien.

Enjoyed all the pics, especially more pics of the FiR Audio Rn6 LE with new cable – they've stepped up their 5th anniversary

The press release to the dealers mentioned there will be a special cable shipping with the Radon 6. “Not your fathers stock cable.”

– Bogden

 

[CodenameBK201]

Xanadu Kopensh Pharaoh

 

[warrenpchi]

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.

Oh that's an easy decision for me. Preferences aside, It seems that the Atom modules can bring the Rn6 closer to the Xe6 if you want, but not so much the other way around. Also, there'll only be 300 of the Rn6, making it more scarce in case you ever decide to sell it. And you'd save $600.

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

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

I hope they still have some left then, only 30 units made.

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

You mean Eletech? I saw that on the Bloom Audio website.

lol, autocorrect? I've actually said it wrong straight to his face before. It's hilarious when it happens!

Hi guys,

I hope you’re all doing great!

Today was the headphone show in Shanghai since 3 years I believe (you know… Covid magic…) and I got the opportunity to demo most of the big guns I wanted to try for a while.

----

Alright! That’s it for today!

Cheers guys,

Julien.

Thanks for the report!

What are they planning to do with the OG buyers who still have their sets? Will the fix be something that can remedy it either via eartip/cable change or will they just re-release it with a better tune?

Hmm, good question... I'll ask!

 

[wazzupi]

Imo it's said

Hi guys,

I hope you’re all doing great!

Today was the headphone show in Shanghai since 3 years I believe (you know… Covid magic…) and I got the opportunity to demo most of the big guns I wanted to try for a while.
I know many of you went to canjam recently so that’ll mostly be familiar IEMs, but I believe I managed to demo few rarities that were not in New York.
So let’s get started.
I won’t go into details, i didn’t take notes, I was there for a short time and demoed a lot of stuff in a noisy environment without being able to A/B much, so not really optimal obviously. So that’s just rough feelings that must be taken with a huge grain of salt!!

All sets demoed through L&P LP6 Gold with their stock cables.

Favorites of the show :

Oriolus Traillii Ti :
The king is back big time! It wasn’t actually for demo, but an owner was kind enough to let me try it so I could compare with my OG Trailliis. I can definitely tell you the difference isn’t only a cosmetic one! They sound absolutely epic! Basically, you take everything that was great on the OG, you make it better and you remove most of the drawbacks (except the price obviousl…).
Deeper and more organic bass, clearer and cleaner (less veiled) mids (still warm and organic), better treble extension and details, significantly bigger and more precise soundstage. I’m truly impressed! I wasn’t expecting that actually… Add to that the most comfortable shell I’ve tried (the shape on the back is different than the OG and really follows the shape of the ear a bit like a custom) and the new cable with nicer hardware and this is an absolute killer set (for an eye watering price ). I think that was my favorite of them all to be honest.

Rosenkranz Silver KA (16k Gold) :

The most expensive set that I tried by a wide margin (about $9000 monitors only) and most likely the most expensive single DD on the market. Here they are plugged onto the flagship Rosenkranz cable (about $4000). They sound quite epic as it should considering the price!!! I think they have the most impressive bass I’ve heard! It reaches super deep with incredible vicerality. It really feels like a subwoofer. Soundstage is really vast and details are quite impressive. The tuning feels somewhat reminiscent of something like XE6 and Radon 6, with a more analog vibe. I feel like it’s the best single DD I’ve tried and one of the best overall I’ve heard. Super fun and emotional sound! I love it

Noble Ragnar :
Another highlight of the show. Fantastic details and soundstage. The bass is actually much more present in quantity than I thought it would reading the different impressions on the forum, and I was expecting something much brighter and aggressive, which imho it is not. I found them really balanced. If anything it feels like a better version of the KK. Also , they are much smaller than I thought they would looking at the pictures. Epic set as well.

Noble Ronin :
Superb as well. I can’t really decide which one I preferred between this one and Ragnar. Both are at the top of the game. But if I had to pick one for myself it would most likely be Ragnar with its metal built, beautiful design, much smaller (ronin are huge) and also, Ronin is not too dissimilar to Traillii which I already own. Als, in that vein of tuning I found Ronin more to my liking overall than Mentor Multiverse which high mids felt a little too aggressive.


Other sets I liked :

UM Mentor Multiverse

Noble Sultan Prestige

Fir Radon 6 (I liked it a bit more than XE6 and the cable is much nicer)

Fir XE6

Xanadu Kopensh Pharaoh

Dita Perpétua C (kinda romantic easy listening tuning missing bass. Very beautiful design and built)

Camelot

Solaris 2023 (pretty nice overall but as indicated in a review I found also it has a slight metallic timber on voices of some artists like The Weeknd, but nothing serious)

Not really sure what these are but it’s written on it I guess Interesting design and nice sounding copper single DD.


Alright! That’s it for today!

Cheers guys,

Julien.

Did you try the atom modules ? For fir xe6

 

[NiteRiter]

At the end of the day buying an IEM, especially an expensive IEM, will by necessity, ultimately, be a somewhat of a blind leap unless you are able to demo first. My collective experience in this hobby has taught me that there is simply no substitute-- no amount of PMing people, listening to YouTube videos, reading others' commentary-- for actually hearing something for yourself. If you live in Asia aka the IEM capital of the world this is less of an issue becasue, depending on where you live, there is a good chance you can walk down the street to the nearest shop and demo whatever you want. For those of us in the comparative IEM wasteland of North America or Europe it's a lot more difficult. This is why it is so important to cultivate community, attend meets and shows, participate in tours, and so on. Ultimately there is no escaping some degree of risk-- my advice if nothing else is to work through the used market as, excepting only the latest releases, it's generally always possible to buy something used and sell for a minimal loss if you don't like it.

Here in Upstate, NY there also is an audio wasteland. I'd have a 5 hour drive to NYC in order to demo anything but consumer TWS Headphones and whatever Guitar Center is peddling. All my iem buys have been blind , both used and new. I don't have anything I'd need a second mortgage for, but I have made a few expensive blind buys based on conversations, reviews, research, and sometimes gut instinct. I can fortunately say the only set I haven't been pleased with is the Campfire Onyx due to its wonky tuning.

 

[552609]

Cayin N7, beautifully made, ugly yellow, a bit heavy, great user interface, great sound so far.

 

[MaggotBrain]

not IEM related but music related so here goes ….

A funny things happened on vacation in NYC yesterday. Was walking through SoHo with two of my kids and passed a guy carrying a guitar in nyc and thought to myself, must be tough being a street musician here. So anyway I get to window shopping then notice my son taking a picture of a couple. And I thought awww that’s cute. Then I realized it wasn’t a couple at all. It was my daughter and the street musician dude! And the Protective Dad in me thought what the heck, and approached .. and heard my daughter saying she tried to enter the lottery for his show, and he replied in a charming British accent that he was only given one ticket for him mum. As he left, I was a bit confused but also alarmed as my daughter was now gasping and walking as if her knees had turned to jello. She then explained to this old fuddy duddy that the street musician was Matty Healey, the lead singer of the 1975, one of the biggest rock bands on the planet, who are playing on Saturday Night Live tonight!
At first I felt embarrassed, but then I thought to myself that if mom had seen Axl Rose walking down the street she probably would have clutched her purse and scooted along.