[gLer]

There’s always different ways to interpret numbers, but I count 11 total for 64Audio at this point which seems quite respectable, actually.

Will be interesting to see the final totals per manufacturer.

I guess my point was more that they used to be leaders with their flagship IEMs and that's no longer the case, despite those flagships still being excellent IEMs of course.

 

[552609]

Oh man, that's bad. Thank you!

But if you pay with PayPal G&S, you are not still on the safe side?

Those criminals are going to get hit with a hefty self employment tax at the end of the year

 

[Garney]

I guess my point was more that they used to be leaders with their flagship IEMs and that's no longer the case, despite those flagships still being excellent IEMs of course.

Beyond the Blanc release last year (a retool of an existing flagship IEM), when did they last release a new TOTL model? U18s is 2 years old, Fourte is 7 years old… I can certainly appreciate a measured approach to development and product cycle releases, but they do seem to be a bit stagnant. Not trying to diminish the current flagships of course as they’re still great IEMs, but the turn and burn nature of the hobby at the high end means play ball with new tech and semi-regular releases or get left behind. This tendency is both good and bad IMO but is common place in all higher dollar, tech driven hobbies.

To @Neweymatt point, there is clearly some staying power with ~11 votes in 2023. But yeah, I too hope we see something truly new at the flagship level from them sometime in the not so distant future.

 

[maegnificant]

There’s always different ways to interpret numbers, but I count 11 total for 64Audio at this point which seems quite respectable, actually.

Will be interesting to see the final totals per manufacturer.

We also tend to forget that our forum here is not the be all-end-all sign for popularity. Some would even argue we are quite the opposite, sales wise. I don't have any numbers but by the amount of Youtube reviews of the U4s alone, 64 Audio seems to be quite popular in the slightly more "mainstream" section of audiophiles.

Percentages of percentages of an already pretty small market, but we are only one corner piece of the whole picture here.

@Garney

Beyond the Blanc release last year (a retool of an existing flagship IEM), when did they last release a new TOTL model? U18s is 2 years old, Fourte is 7 years old… I can certainly appreciate a measured approach to development and product cycle releases, but they do seem to be a bit stagnant. Not trying to diminish the current flagships of course as they’re still great IEMs, but the turn and burn nature of the hobby at the high end means play ball with new tech and semi-regular releases or get left behind. This tendency is both good and bad IMO but is common place in all higher dollar, tech driven hobbies.

Look at companies like shure. They have a huge market share and they rarely develop anything new at all.

If you get to make a name for yourself, you can make way more profit by further establishing your footprint, or your stake, in the market and be the reliable go-to-point for the already claimed marketshare of people, that grows over word-of-mouth, ads and so on.

You could even make the argument, that with such a solid financial foundation, there are more funds and time available to truly innovate, if desired. Bigger steps take more time.

 

[ian91]

Tansio Mirai RGB Impressions (hot take):



During my meet up with @tgx78 I got a chance to hear the new Tansio Mirai RGB. I was interested in trying it after finding out that it had 9 BA + 8 EST configuration. Yes you heard that correctly. It has 17 drivers each.

RGB comes with switches. l liked it best with the bass switch on.





I was impressed by how much Tansio Mirai could fit in here. Nearly all the space in the enclosure was used up. This probably leads you to wonder: How does it fit?





The shells were surprisingly small given how many drivers were inside. For your reference, some iems that dont fit for me are the EXT, Anima, Phonix. Something that would be on the fringe is Diva. RGB has a shorter nozzle but a wider bore vs XE6. It fits me quite well. It was a smidge smaller than Mentor.


The reason its called "RGB" is because after recieving sunlight / flashlight beams the strips glow like this.

Prelude:

Because I havent heard of this brand, I had my reservations. I'll cut to the chase here. RGB is nothing short of magical. Immersive and cohesive. Enthralling. It's giving me the same type of butterflies that I had experiencing Traillii for the first time. After demoing quite a few summit fi iems in Canjam NYC this was unexpected.

Sonics:
RGB is a W shaped tuning with a mid emphasis. Using a broad stroke comparison to extract value, RGB reminds me of some aspects of the Ragnar and Traillii. Instruments are well layered and separated.

Resolution
The transient response / background is super clean. On some tracks, the veil is lifted as if a window was shattered. Echoes, Reverbs, whispers, brushes, trailing end of instruments are clearly defined. Recordings that are layered with space sound more holographic. Ragnar had this aspect, but it came with a few caveats. Because it was treble emphasized strings, female vocals, cymbal strikes could sound sharp for bright music. While it was good for large scale classical, it became a specialist because EDM / House music was fatiguing to listen to.

Timbre


RGB has excellent timbre like Traillii. Vocals and Instruments sound natural. There is this fullness / hardness to the notes that is recognizable on resolving sets like Mentor. However a mild weak point for me with Mentor is its tonality. For reference, I find Mentors timbre good enough for genres like vocal trance. I am comparing it to Traillii which I still find one of the best sets oriented around timbre. RGB sounds more correct here vs Mentor.

Bass:
Coming off the heels of the Fatfreq demos, bass was a tall order for RGB. I did most my testing with the bass switch on. RGB has an ample amount of bass quantity for bassy tracks (House, EDM, rock). While it doesnt have the raw physicality of MSEs, I found it to work well with the rest of the presentation. It is the fast punchy kind. Toms have a good amount of impact "thwak". Kickdrums sound full and convincing. Compared to Elysian X where its bass quality was distracting vs its treble, RGBs implementation sounded more in unison to its mids and treble.

Mids:
So far Traillii and Phonix LE have been my benchmark for mids. Mirai has pristine, airy, but weighty mids. I am getting this clarity from the upper mids reminiscent of Odin without the shrillness or sibilance. The full lower mids adds grit to Celine Dions voice. RGB captures the tiny nuances in her performances.

Treble:
Treble is another strong point on RGB. Off memory, one of the best I have heard next to X. For electronic music, synth rips become lazer beams. Cymbals are well articulated and extended without sounding unnatural. High pitch triangle, xylophone notes stand out without sounding grating. In terms of perceived quantity, it is less than Mentor and more energetic than Traillii.

Application:
I find this to be an all rounder but some of my favourite music genres on it were:
Vocals, Classical, Jazz, Pop, movie soundtracks, Vocal Trance.

I will stop here for now. Because I have shown zeal for this product, I will add that I am speaking from my experience. Your mileage may vary.

Thanks for this. How did RGB compare in terms of stage and layering compared to MM? I found that the strongest appeal of Mentor.

Interestingly on the Penon product page TM have provided some extra information:

When debugging this earphone, we refer to the following devices for tuning

1: IPHONE 13 PRO MAX+ AudioQuest decoder DragonFly Cobalt

2: Lotoo Paw Gold Touch player

To get the original listening experience, you can use standard cable + standard medium green silicone eartips +020 standard tuning

First time I have seen chain recommendations provided by manufacturers. I like this sort of information sharing. Not sure I'll be reaching for the Cobalt though...

 

[Garney]

We also tend to forget that our forum here is not the be all-end-all sign for popularity. Some would even argue we are quite the opposite, sales wise. I don't have any numbers but by the amount of Youtube reviews of the U4s alone, 64 Audio seems to be quite popular in the slightly more "mainstream" section of audiophiles.

Percentages of percentages of an already pretty small market, but we are only one corner piece of the whole picture here.

@Garney

Look at companies like shure. They have a huge market share and they rarely develop anything new at all.

If you get to make a name for yourself, you can make way more profit by further establishing your footprint, or your stake, in the market and be the reliable go-to-point for the already claimed marketshare of people, that grows over word-of-mouth, ads and so on.

You could even make the argument, that with such a solid financial foundation, there are more funds and time available to truly innovate, if desired. Bigger steps take more time.

Oh from a business perspective it makes total sense. And you make a very valid point about how comparatively small our little corner of the market likely is to what appears to be their main focus (professional CIEMs). But to stay atop the discussions here it takes a different approach.

They’re at the other end of the spectrum compared to brands that release retools every other quarter, which I see often times as just a money grab.

Not knocking 64A at all just simply saying they don’t seem to run at the cadence of other, more popular / “height of the talk” at the upper end brands these days.

As a hobbyist, I like following along with the latest and “greatest.” As an engineer in large scale manufacturing, I’m right with 64 Audio and their practices.

 

[maegnificant]

Oh from a business perspective it makes total sense. And you make a very valid point about how comparatively small our little corner of the market likely is to what appears to be their main focus (professional CIEMs). But to stay atop the discussions here it takes a different approach.

They’re at the other end of the spectrum compared to brands that release retools every other quarter, which I see often times as just a money grab.

Not knocking 64A at all just simply saying they don’t seem to run at the cadence of other, more popular / “height of the talk” at the upper end brands these days.

As a hobbyist, I like following along with the latest and “greatest.” As an engineer in large scale manufacturing, I’m right with 64 Audio and their practices.

I understand and agree. They seem to try to walk both lanes with their A/U series and also the nio/trio/fourté line-up, but the U4s seems like the first major breach of this philosophy. Signs were there before with the U18t for example, of course.

I also do kinda hope that if they decide to give us something "truly new", that it's not going to be a U21t/s. Suprise us again, @64Audio

Take the time you need.

 

[552609]

Beyond the Blanc release last year (a retool of an existing flagship IEM), when did they last release a new TOTL model? U18s is 2 years old, Fourte is 7 years old… I can certainly appreciate a measured approach to development and product cycle releases, but they do seem to be a bit stagnant. Not trying to diminish the current flagships of course as they’re still great IEMs, but the turn and burn nature of the hobby at the high end means play ball with new tech and semi-regular releases or get left behind. This tendency is both good and bad IMO but is common place in all higher dollar, tech driven hobbies.

To @Neweymatt point, there is clearly some staying power with ~11 votes in 2023. But yeah, I too hope we see something truly new at the flagship level from them sometime in the not so distant future.

It probably doesn't help that they all look the same either. Nothing to really differentiate between their models visually.

 

[552609]

Thanks for this. How did RGB compare in terms of stage and layering compared to MM? I found that the strongest appeal of Mentor.

Interestingly on the Penon product page TM have provided some extra information:



First time I have seen chain recommendations provided by manufacturers. I like this sort of information sharing. Not sure I'll be reaching for the Cobalt though...

I didn't like the Cobalt. It tried to blow out my eardrums at random quite a few times. Returned it. Original Dragonfly had no issues.

 

[twister6]

Indeed. One takeaway so far is just how far 64 Audio has fallen from mainstream popularity at this end of the market. Hope to see them pay attention to the higher end audiophile market again soon.

I look at it from a different perspective when I see the Top 5 here, it's more about the reincarnation of 64audio in a form of Firaudio

 

[Deferenz]

I thought that Jewel would be a lot higher in the poll but it only has two mentions so far. In the last poll we did it was right up near the top I seem to recall.

 

[maegnificant]

I look at it from a different perspective when I see the Top 5 here, it's more about the reincarnation of 64audio in a form of Firaudio

In all seriousness, Firaudio do seem to try to establish their own sound and defining features. They share lots of similarities with 64Audio, but they really target a different audience with their sound and build-design I would say.

 

[552609]

I look at it from a different perspective when I see the Top 5 here, it's more about the reincarnation of 64audio in a form of Firaudio

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. They're almost the same shape and size even. Definitely some major differences these days though.

 

[SoundFlow]

Quick question since I am a noob with IEM's and they graph different than headphones or so it seems. So, I have heard the Legend X a good bit thanks to a generous friend and find it almost perfect with tonal balance for its explosive low end. The remaining sound through mid range is about as close as I would want to come to crowded with gelatinous thick sound. I know graph's don't tell the whole story but it's all I have as a reference for the time being. Does this mean the XE6 has an even thicker or blunted low mid to upper mid tonality than Legend X?

 

[552609]

Quick question since I am a noob with IEM's and they graph different than headphones or so it seems. So, I have heard the Legend X a good bit thanks to a generous friend and find it almost perfect with tonal balance for its explosive low end. The remaining sound through mid range is about as close as I would want to come to crowded with gelatinous thick sound. I know graph's don't tell the whole story but it's all I have as a reference for the time being. Does this mean the XE6 has an even thicker or blunted low mid to upper mid tonality than Legend X?

Someone will correct me if I get this wrong, but no. It means that the mids on the XE6 are less pronounced since all this shows is the decibel level at each frequency. It won't tell you how an IEM sounds, it'll only tell you where the emphasis is for the tuning.