The Watercooler -- Impressions, philosophical discussion and general banter. Index on first page. All welcome.

[gLer]

Hey guys, my full and comprehensive review of the 634ears LOAK is now online HERE. Hope you like!​

 

[toaster]

The IEM with the most realistic timbre is the Traillii for me. Jewel will be good as well. Multiverse Mentor would be a third.

I’d put traillii at the top, and mentor a close second. For piano I’d put mentor on top.

 

[ian91]

The IEM with the most realistic timbre is the Traillii for me. Jewel will be good as well. Multiverse Mentor would be a third.

Traillii has great timbre but notes are almost too transparent for me. I describe it as ethereal but this effect isn't always what plays instruments back to their best in my opinion. I want definition, tactility and a weight within the note. I've wondered if this is the particular BAs chosen or due to the upper mids being drawn back from what I hear as 'neutral'.

Mentor had the opposite problem, it was too edgy in the treble and supernatural around 8k for my tastes. I have been told that could be curbed by cable, tip, DAP choice. Still, for the price that could entail it should do more for me.

I have always wanted to hear the Jewel but never had the chance to demo here in the UK. Maybe one day...

Timbre is a tonal problem as much as it is one of driver behaviour and crossover. I need both aspects to be to my tastes to pull something off that's special.

 

[Garney]

Hey guys, my full and comprehensive review of the 634ears LOAK is now online HERE. Hope you like!​

Great review, Guy! Top notch photography as always. I know I’ve mentioned this in the 634ears thread a handful of times but the LOAK-TC is now even more solidly on my radar after reading your impressions

Musashi is pleasure to chat with and his passion and dedication to his craft certainly shines through when you listen to his IEMs.

 

[Frankie D]

Traillii has great timbre but notes are almost too transparent for me. I describe it as ethereal but this effect isn't always what plays instruments back to their best in my opinion. I want definition, tactility and a weight within the note. I've wondered if this is the particular BAs chosen or due to the upper mids being drawn back from what I hear as 'neutral'.

Mentor had the opposite problem, it was too edgy in the treble and supernatural around 8k for my tastes. I have been told that could be curbed by cable, tip, DAP choice. Still, for the price it that might entail it should do more for me.

I have always wanted to hear the Jewel but never had the chance to demo here in the UK. Maybe one day...

Timbre is a tonal problem as much as it is one of driver behaviour and crossover. I need both aspects to be to my tastes to pull something off that's special.

To each his own. What music did you listen to with it?

 

[Rockwell75]

May I ask for more opinions for TOTL iems here. Which IEM get the most realistic timbre for instruments such as violin, piano, and guitar?

Can you remind us what you've been recommended already and what you've crossed off your list (for whatever reason)? Otherwise you're likely to get the same recommendations all over again.

To answer your question I don't listen to a lot of violin but for me the Trifecta is wonderful for piano and guitar (and horns, bass...).

 

[SQ13]

L -> R

Ethan
@klyzon
@SteveK27
@metaljem77
@JordonEA
@Deezel177
@HiFiHawaii808
@yaps66
@Kiats
@drftr
I don't know her name
@Sifo
@AxLvR
@Sajid Amit

i only recognised some of the coolers when they put on the wooden name tag and a few from the photos

 

[s2kphile]

May I ask for more opinions for TOTL iems here. Which IEM get the most realistic timbre for instruments such as violin, piano, and guitar?

Traillii has great timbre but notes are almost too transparent for me. I describe it as ethereal but this effect isn't always what plays instruments back to their best in my opinion. I want definition, tactility and a weight within the note. I've wondered if this is the particular BAs chosen or due to the upper mids being drawn back from what I hear as 'neutral'.

Mentor had the opposite problem, it was too edgy in the treble and supernatural around 8k for my tastes. I have been told that could be curbed by cable, tip, DAP choice. Still, for the price it that might entail it should do more for me.

I have always wanted to hear the Jewel but never had the chance to demo here in the UK. Maybe one day...

Timbre is a tonal problem as much as it is one of driver behaviour and crossover. I need both aspects to be to my tastes to pull something off that's special.

Since everyone is mention the Trailllii, Id like to suggest looking at similar Trailli like Iems that have similar if not better timbre at least to me and cost a fraction of the Traillii.

Penon Impact (10+4)
Alambic Ears Mentawai (1+6+4)
AüR Audio Alita (12)

 

[metaljem77]

Great pic and sounds like it was a great time!

What are your thoughts on the EE Raven?

It is what I have hoped Ody, LX and EVO to be. Powerful bass, rumbling factor through the BCD and clearer mids and treble (mids not in the forefront as much but that’s fine with me). EVO has fatiguing higher mids in particular when I cable rolled with higher sparkling cables (eg PPH8). LX with OTL had cleaner higher frequencies but I missed the BCD a lot. Ody had insufficient sub bass quantity and could be more coherent. Usual caveats apply, I think my sonic preferences have changed as well, I’m particular about what the iems need to do for me. Bassy iems can’t be too warm without giving me a high level of clarity, which latest (bassy) releases seem to be doing better these days

 

[wolfstar76]

Since everyone is mention the Trailllii, Id like to suggest looking at similar Trailli like Iems that have similar if not better timbre at least to me and cost a fraction of the Traillii.

Penon Impact (10+4)
Alambic Ears Mentawai (1+6+4)
AüR Audio Alita (12)

What's the numbers stand for?

 

[Rockwell75]

What's the numbers stand for?

BA-e-stats
DD-BA-e-stats
BA

 

[wolfstar76]

May I ask for more opinions for TOTL iems here. Which IEM get the most realistic timbre for instruments such as violin, piano, and guitar?

Even realistic should be objective, but I am afraid that most people will have a hard time to agree upon which sounds realistic. To my ears, ZMF Atrium has more "realistic" timbre for guitar, violin, maybe piano as well. For IEMs, I like UM Mentor or Mason FS. However, many people will definitely argue that violin, guitar, and piano don't sound realistic with UM IEMs.

 

[wolfstar76]

BA-e-stats
DD-BA-e-stats
BA

Thanks, I should have thought so.

 

[wolfstar76]

Since someone mentioned realistic timbre, it will be interesting to talk about which driver with good implementation will have the most realistic timbre.
I personally believe that DD will be the choice.

 

[MRT-Man]

Thanks for your replies. All the three ones are my current considerations. Tough choice

Ronin also worth considering.