GiullianSN
Headphoneus Supremus
Haha I agree. Price wise, soon it will be. But it keeps fighting the big (price) guys and holding its place.And for anyone who thinks LX is entry level, well, they can't be helped I guess.
The Watercooler -- Impressions, philosophical discussion and general banter. Index on first page. All welcome.
- Thread starter Rockwell75
- Start date
They had an earlier prototype of it with clear shells there, and I spotted 1 BCD, 2 DDs, at least 1 EST and at least 2 BAs. It’s a massive, massive quadbrid.
Sonically, one could say it’s the best of all of EE’s previous work in one. It’s got the fun and ease of the LX, the resolving power (and more) of the ODIN and the balanced-ness (and more) of the Odyssey. It’s basically the culmination of all we’ve asked for; LX with more vibrance/air, ODIN with less upper-mids and more air, Odyssey with more clarity and detail, etc.
I’d say they’ve finally pulled off the quintessential, community-feedback-assisted EE IEM.
pierrerush
New Head-Fier
Had a nice time sharing gear with a fellow Head-Fier yesterday in Toronto. I got to audition his PWA First Times, First Times Shielding and Orpheus, as well as the Ode to Laura cables on my IEMs. Although I would need to spend more time A/B'ing cables to make a full review, here were some of the notes I took.
Since this is a bit of a follow-up, here is a comment I wrote regarding my first impressions of the Traillii vs u18t: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the...n-first-page-all-welcome.957426/post-17464203
First Times with u18t
Thickens the sound, but the treble becomes quite bright in this pairing (for my tastes of course). Brings vocals forward, makes the music incredibly dynamic and gives sound a holographic stage over the (outclassed) stock cable. Probably a good choice for someone who feels the 18t is a bit too clinical - but for me it wasn't my favourite pairing. This cable provides the 18t's with better bass overall, as if it "recruits" the BA drivers responsible for bass, which expands the soundstage downwards.
First Times Shielding with u18t
Incredible to report that the shielding makes a big difference, I found it better overall with the 18t than the FT. More detailed and better separation over FT, probably because of the blacker background it creates. Sub-Bass rumble slightly increased. Still bright on the treble but for some reason it’s more manageable than FT (on this pairing), perhaps it's because the treble region is more spacious and airy, which helps when listening. I felt like it was a pretty good pairing but before I make up my mind I am going to wait until a 1950s shielding comes my way.
Orpheus with u18t
The first thing I noticed is that the soundstage grew in height quite significantly. The treble became even more spacious compared to the FTS, mids felt very clear as well. I found that it felt more "effortless" to listen to compared to the FTS; essentially similar to the FTS in terms of detail-retrieval but it loses the excess brightness I described above. Definitely a cool pairing but I cannot afford an Orpheus yet, so I didn't give it much more thought than this (sorry).
Ode to Laura with u18t
This is an interesting pairing. Compared to the PWA cables, the OTL is not as thick sounding in the lower mid - upper mid range. However it gives the bass region a texture that is genuinely unmatched. It was really impressive and I could see this pairing as being preferred for specific genres like progressive rock where tracks can be somewhat "congested" and complicated (OTL would open up the mids there) and to bring out definition in synthesizers and bass guitars. Not sure I would spend the money for the 18t, though.
However, I tried it on the Empire Ears EVO - and that pairing blew my mind. Often when I'm cable rolling I notice tradeoffs where some aspects of the IEM improve but I "lose" something that I liked on the other cable. In this case, the OTL improves the EVO across the board compared to the stock PWA Genesis cable. The bass texture made me melt in my chair, the mids region becomes clearer and the treble more engaging, more defined. That's exactly what I want out of the EVO (my head-bopping IEM of choice) so I immediately purchased a pair off a head-fier who had kindly offered me to buy his OTL. I highly recommend this cable for the EVO.
Onto the Traillii...
By this point I was getting a bit saturated from all the choices; I want to come back one day and do some more in depth A/B'ing so please take these impressions with a grain of salt. I did not try the Traillii's with the PWA Orpheus out of fear that it would compel me to buy one, since most people on this thread have had experiences where they weren't planning on spending the money at first -> auditioned Traillii + Orpheus -> bought the Orpheus.
However, I can report that I personally did not enjoy the FT with the Traillii because it removed the analog sound of the Traillii, making it more linear, less smooth, but more detailed (which could be what you want). The FT essentially turned the Traillii into a more analytical IEM and removed a bit of its warmth, which ends up making it more comparable to the 18t funny enough. I found the vocals lost some of their incredible timbre, though, so it is not what I am looking for.
The FTS with Traillii is where things got interesting for me. It increased the level of details, opened up the mids in a pretty enjoyable way, made the Traillii slightly brighter (more sparkle) and tightened up the bass - yet the vocals remained smooth. It's probably the better pairing compared to the stock cable BUT I need to try the comparison again because I still felt the stock cable, by virtue of making the Traillii darker, was the more analog sounding of the two. The question in my mind was "does the FTS remove the incredible timbre of Traillii, in a way that I would regret not using the stock cable?" I'm curious to hear what others in this thread think about this, more testing needed on my end.
Since this is a bit of a follow-up, here is a comment I wrote regarding my first impressions of the Traillii vs u18t: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the...n-first-page-all-welcome.957426/post-17464203
First Times with u18t
Thickens the sound, but the treble becomes quite bright in this pairing (for my tastes of course). Brings vocals forward, makes the music incredibly dynamic and gives sound a holographic stage over the (outclassed) stock cable. Probably a good choice for someone who feels the 18t is a bit too clinical - but for me it wasn't my favourite pairing. This cable provides the 18t's with better bass overall, as if it "recruits" the BA drivers responsible for bass, which expands the soundstage downwards.
First Times Shielding with u18t
Incredible to report that the shielding makes a big difference, I found it better overall with the 18t than the FT. More detailed and better separation over FT, probably because of the blacker background it creates. Sub-Bass rumble slightly increased. Still bright on the treble but for some reason it’s more manageable than FT (on this pairing), perhaps it's because the treble region is more spacious and airy, which helps when listening. I felt like it was a pretty good pairing but before I make up my mind I am going to wait until a 1950s shielding comes my way.
Orpheus with u18t
The first thing I noticed is that the soundstage grew in height quite significantly. The treble became even more spacious compared to the FTS, mids felt very clear as well. I found that it felt more "effortless" to listen to compared to the FTS; essentially similar to the FTS in terms of detail-retrieval but it loses the excess brightness I described above. Definitely a cool pairing but I cannot afford an Orpheus yet, so I didn't give it much more thought than this (sorry).
Ode to Laura with u18t
This is an interesting pairing. Compared to the PWA cables, the OTL is not as thick sounding in the lower mid - upper mid range. However it gives the bass region a texture that is genuinely unmatched. It was really impressive and I could see this pairing as being preferred for specific genres like progressive rock where tracks can be somewhat "congested" and complicated (OTL would open up the mids there) and to bring out definition in synthesizers and bass guitars. Not sure I would spend the money for the 18t, though.
However, I tried it on the Empire Ears EVO - and that pairing blew my mind. Often when I'm cable rolling I notice tradeoffs where some aspects of the IEM improve but I "lose" something that I liked on the other cable. In this case, the OTL improves the EVO across the board compared to the stock PWA Genesis cable. The bass texture made me melt in my chair, the mids region becomes clearer and the treble more engaging, more defined. That's exactly what I want out of the EVO (my head-bopping IEM of choice) so I immediately purchased a pair off a head-fier who had kindly offered me to buy his OTL. I highly recommend this cable for the EVO.
Onto the Traillii...
By this point I was getting a bit saturated from all the choices; I want to come back one day and do some more in depth A/B'ing so please take these impressions with a grain of salt. I did not try the Traillii's with the PWA Orpheus out of fear that it would compel me to buy one, since most people on this thread have had experiences where they weren't planning on spending the money at first -> auditioned Traillii + Orpheus -> bought the Orpheus.
However, I can report that I personally did not enjoy the FT with the Traillii because it removed the analog sound of the Traillii, making it more linear, less smooth, but more detailed (which could be what you want). The FT essentially turned the Traillii into a more analytical IEM and removed a bit of its warmth, which ends up making it more comparable to the 18t funny enough. I found the vocals lost some of their incredible timbre, though, so it is not what I am looking for.
The FTS with Traillii is where things got interesting for me. It increased the level of details, opened up the mids in a pretty enjoyable way, made the Traillii slightly brighter (more sparkle) and tightened up the bass - yet the vocals remained smooth. It's probably the better pairing compared to the stock cable BUT I need to try the comparison again because I still felt the stock cable, by virtue of making the Traillii darker, was the more analog sounding of the two. The question in my mind was "does the FTS remove the incredible timbre of Traillii, in a way that I would regret not using the stock cable?" I'm curious to hear what others in this thread think about this, more testing needed on my end.
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This officially has my interest as the most anticipated IEM of the year, barring any surprises from SonyThey had an earlier prototype of it with clear shells there, and I spotted 1 BCD, 2 DDs, at least 1 EST and at least 2 BAs. It’s a massive, massive quadbrid.
Sonically, one could say it’s the best of all of EE’s previous work in one. It’s got the fun and ease of the LX, the resolving power (and more) of the ODIN and the balanced-ness (and more) of the Odyssey. It’s basically the culmination of all we’ve asked for; LX with more vibrance/air, ODIN with less upper-mids and more air, Odyssey with more clarity and detail, etc.
I’d say they’ve finally pulled off the quintessential, community-feedback-assisted EE IEM.
They had an earlier prototype of it with clear shells there, and I spotted 1 BCD, 2 DDs, at least 1 EST and at least 2 BAs. It’s a massive, massive quadbrid.
Sonically, one could say it’s the best of all of EE’s previous work in one. It’s got the fun and ease of the LX, the resolving power (and more) of the ODIN and the balanced-ness (and more) of the Odyssey. It’s basically the culmination of all we’ve asked for; LX with more vibrance/air, ODIN with less upper-mids and more air, Odyssey with more clarity and detail, etc.
I’d say they’ve finally pulled off the quintessential, community-feedback-assisted EE IEM.
Too bad they didn't have it in NYC.
Stu Paddasso
1000+ Head-Fier
Yeah, I can completely see how this description & sound analysis would destroy any reviewer's thunder!!! Yeah for sure alright LOL /s
They had an earlier prototype of it with clear shells there, and I spotted 1 BCD, 2 DDs, at least 1 EST and at least 2 BAs. It’s a massive, massive quadbrid.
Sonically, one could say it’s the best of all of EE’s previous work in one. It’s got the fun and ease of the LX, the resolving power (and more) of the ODIN and the balanced-ness (and more) of the Odyssey. It’s basically the culmination of all we’ve asked for; LX with more vibrance/air, ODIN with less upper-mids and more air, Odyssey with more clarity and detail, etc.
I’d say they’ve finally pulled off the quintessential, community-feedback-assisted EE IEM.
Any mention of potential release date?
I didn’t ask. Maybe one of the other Coolers know. Jim (who I can’t seem to tag here for some reason) or @Sifo?
Any mention of potential release date?
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Jeff, what about Chicago in June?Just booked my ticket to SoCal for CanJam in Sept
Sadly no. June is one of the busiest months of the year at work for me and every single weekend is already spoken for in terms of commitments.
So were the two prototypes shown off at NYC something entirely different than the Raven? Is the Raven more akin to a Legend Evo MKII, or something entirely different?
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