Odin went from extremely hyped, and respected to extremely underrated within the last year lol not sure what happened, but when I had it, I really did love it Definitely a mind blowing iem
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The Watercooler -- Impressions, philosophical discussion and general banter. Index on first page. All welcome.
- Thread starter Rockwell75
- Start date
Had the pleasure of visiting Andrew and Leo at MusicTeck earlier this week where they kindly let me demo some IEMs including: Aroma Audio Fei Wan, UM Amber Pearl, and UM Multiverse Mentor.
Here are some impressions off my iBasso 320MAX Ti:
Aroma Audio Fei Wan (4.7k USD)
Mid-centric set with forward, lush vocals. Midrange resolution was pretty good, maybe a tier under the Annihilator 23's. There was some shout on certain tracks.
The bass was a bit of a letdown. Ill-defined transient edges and lack of slam with average texture as well.
The treble was mostly okay on the tracks I listened to, but there's definitely some treble glare present on some tracks. There's a large peak somewhere that adds definition to the leading edge of guitar plucks but also adds harshness that I found unpleasant.
Stage width and height were decent, but stage depth felt crowded by the more forward vocals. Imaging was pretty good.
Lastly, I have some build concerns with the resin shells. I think Fei Wan could have benefitted from using a sturdier material for the shells.
UM Amber Pearl (8k USD)
Very well-tuned IEM with no obvious tuning flaws. The bass was visceral, well-textured, and very engaging.
AP as a whole had a warm-learning, slightly analogue timbre. Resolution was relative to Annihilator 23's but could be slightly higher or lower. From what I remember of my Storm demo, I think Storm was slightly more technical across the board.
The treble was fairly neutral, so neither dark nor boosted, and it sounded mostly even. I found the dynamics to be very good as well. Staging was decent, similar to Fei Wan's but with a deeper stage. Imaging was pretty good.
As a whole, I found AP to have a very engaging, gripping presentation. The tuning, timbre, and techs combined put it among the best IEMs I've heard to date.
UM Multiverse Mentor (4.5k USD)
Also a very well-tuned set. Neutral/warm timbre with decent bass overall. Resolution was pretty good, relative to Fei Wan's.
The midrange tuning sounded similar to AP's but with less of the warmth and analog timbre.
The treble was slightly more bright leaning than AP's with more sparkle present. Very tastefully done.
Staging was pretty good and felt evenly distributed. I'd consider MM a well-executed neutral monitor. MM was less engaging than Amber Pearl, but it was a very pleasant listen overall.
I find your FW impressions interesting, they’re almost directly opposite as to what I hear especially regarding the bass and “mid centric” tuning. I do agree the treble can come off peaky with certain tips or sources.
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It's the way Head-Fi goes. If something isn't brand spanking new, it kind of falls off.
Ike1985
Headphoneus Supremus
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Most interested in: Amber Peal(would never buy though not DD), Fei Wan and Storm. Top 3 I want to hear. From now on IEMs should not be released if companies are not willing to provide 2 review samples, 1 for the watercooler US tour and one for the EU tour. 
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Honestly almost the opposite in most areas except treble in certain circumstances.
FW to me has some of the cleanest and well defined bass. It isn’t “slammy” with a clean and separated sub bass shelf but it hits very hard and has a good decay and texture to go along with it to stop the mid bass from spilling over. It leans ever so slightly U shaped to me rather than mid centric, but I think the mids are so well done and full that I can perhaps understand why some would hear it as mid centric? Also the staging, I found FW stage to be huge but not artificially large. The way it occupies head space but keeps the notes full and spacious rather than thinner or stretched to me was something very few IEMs can pull off.
Obviously I’m not saying you are wrong, but definitely one of the more contrasting takes I have seen on FW regarding my own experiences with it.
Trifecta is a highly divisive IEM. People either love it or hate it. The haters are so obsessed with it that they will go out of their way to bash it. I actually don't understand that mentality. When compared say to UE Premier, which is an objectively (by its measurements) bad IEM, the same people do not feel the same need to ensure that their negative opinion of it is broadly known. The people who love it have their specific reasons for it. I own one and I love it. I love its grand stage, slow drivers and classic sound. I like it as a specialist IEM for listening primarily to classic rock because it takes me back to a time when I heard this music on pretty bad systems. Will it become a classic itself? Maybe, who knows. The recent water cooler polls suggests that there is a market for it. It is pricey for the sound it offers. I love it because it works for an important part of my library and it is different and I put a high value on unique qualities that I like.
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I think FW did kick drums nicely with good decay and texture but that's about it.Honestly almost the opposite in most areas except treble in certain circumstances.
FW to me has some of the cleanest and well defined bass. It isn’t “slammy” with a clean and separated sub bass shelf but it hits very hard and has a good decay and texture to go along with it to stop the mid bass from spilling over. It leans ever so slightly U shaped to me rather than mid centric, but I think the mids are so well done and full that I can perhaps understand why some would hear it as mid centric? Also the staging, I found FW stage to be huge but not artificially large. The way it occupies head space but keeps the notes full and spacious rather than thinner or stretched to me was something very few IEMs can pull off.
Obviously I’m not saying you are wrong, but definitely one of the more contrasting takes I have seen on FW regarding my own experiences with it.
I found EDM-type bass lacking on FW because I found the mid-bass transient edges to be ill-defined. I think sub-bass was mostly fine. Ultimately, it didn't stand out to me.
For me, the midrange was the unequivocal star which is what I meant by "mid-centric". It wasn't intended as commentary on its FR.
As I mentioned, I found stage width/height to be good, but definitely not outstanding imo, and I found the depth to feel crowded on tracks with vocals, which is most tracks.
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CharlyBrown
1000+ Head-Fier
Europe is awesome. I would never ever leave it for another place. We just need to buy TOTL IEMs elsewhere (64audio, EE and Campfire among others are available, though) which is a real 1st world problem and lowering convenience. On the other hand, we can make great deals buying abroad, just need to negotiate a little bit and if you want to sell the used IEM you often get a better selling price because of lower availability here.
Other than our beloved TOTL IEMs there's nothing lacking here.
+1 with @aaf evo here. I heard the FW with its stock cable and tips off the Lotoo PAW Gold Touch. I'd call its presentation slightly U-shaped with vocals sat neutrally. The only thing keeping it from a full-on U was how dense and substantive its mids were. I wouldn't call it mid-centric, personally, and certainly not vocal-forward. I also found its bass quite tight and quick, and it was a bass that articulated more than it bloomed, IMO. The AK x VE Aura, which I tried right after, would fit that less-defined transients description more. Its staging to me was almost entirely out-of-head, save for the lead instrument and kick drum, and its depth was actually the axis I found most impressive. The treble is a toss-up. At my listening level and tolerance (which is usually close to lowest on this thread), I found it crisp-leaning, but neither too bright nor offensive. I can understand if it may seem peaky to some.
Had the pleasure of visiting Andrew and Leo at MusicTeck earlier this week where they kindly let me demo some IEMs including: Aroma Audio Fei Wan, UM Amber Pearl, and UM Multiverse Mentor.
Here are some impressions off my iBasso 320MAX Ti:
Aroma Audio Fei Wan (4.7k USD)
Mid-centric set with forward, lush vocals. Midrange resolution was pretty good, maybe a tier under the Annihilator 23's. There was some shout on certain tracks.
The bass was a bit of a letdown. Ill-defined transient edges and lack of slam with average texture as well.
The treble was mostly okay on the tracks I listened to, but there's definitely some treble glare present on some tracks. There's a large peak somewhere that adds definition to the leading edge of guitar plucks but also adds harshness that I found unpleasant.
Stage width and height were decent, but stage depth felt crowded by the more forward vocals. Imaging was pretty good.
Lastly, I have some build concerns with the resin shells. I think Fei Wan could have benefitted from using a sturdier material for the shells.
UM Amber Pearl (8k USD)
Very well-tuned IEM with no obvious tuning flaws. The bass was visceral, well-textured, and very engaging.
AP as a whole had a warm-learning, slightly analogue timbre. Resolution was relative to Annihilator 23's but could be slightly higher or lower. From what I remember of my Storm demo, I think Storm was slightly more technical across the board.
The treble was fairly neutral, so neither dark nor boosted, and it sounded mostly even. I found the dynamics to be very good as well. Staging was decent, similar to Fei Wan's but with a deeper stage. Imaging was pretty good.
As a whole, I found AP to have a very engaging, gripping presentation. The tuning, timbre, and techs combined put it among the best IEMs I've heard to date.
UM Multiverse Mentor (4.5k USD)
Also a very well-tuned set. Neutral/warm timbre with decent bass overall. Resolution was pretty good, relative to Fei Wan's.
The midrange tuning sounded similar to AP's but with less of the warmth and analog timbre.
The treble was slightly more bright leaning than AP's with more sparkle present. Very tastefully done.
Staging was pretty good and felt evenly distributed. I'd consider MM a well-executed neutral monitor. MM was less engaging than Amber Pearl, but it was a very pleasant listen overall.
What chain did you demo it with?
Thanks for your impressions.
I think I misused the term "mid-centric". FW is definitely U-shaped in its FR. My intention was to say that the mids were the unequivocal star (to my ears).
I heard it off my 320MAX and some PW Audio cable that MusicTeck ships the demos with. I don't think it's stock but I'm also not sure. Maybe @aaf evo knows better, I think he's been sent demos from MusicTeck before.
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By ill defined mid bass transients are you referring to the DDs sounding bloated boomy or too slow on fast bass lines? Because this for me was exactly what FW didn’t do considering how mid bassy it is. In terms of keeping that much mid bass tight with excellent dynamics from a DD bass low end I haven’t quite heard anything like it. Funnily enough I loved the bass for EDM as it handled the fastest bass lines I could throw at it with ease.
The stock cable from the demo is the Aroma Sparkle. It’s wrapped in paracord but it’s not PWA, it’s cheap feeling and quite poor but I’m also cheap when it comes to cables so I doubt I’ll replace it
Cool impressions man, you should ask Andrew to demo the 622 from Canpur. It has some U12t vibes so it may be right up your alley.
I've heard the 320MAX can boost the low-end, so could that be it? Yeah, as @aaf evo said, the stock cable is a PW lookalike.
It was on my demo unit in Hong Kong too. It actually looked and felt really nice to me, but maybe my cable standards are just lower.
Most interested in: Amber Peal(would never buy though not DD), Fei Wan and Storm. Top 3 I want to hear. From now on IEMs should not be released if companies are not willing to provide 2 review samples, 1 for the watercooler US tour and one for the EU tour.
Storm doesn’t have DD bass either. FWIW I found Amber Pearl’s bass to be very good even though it’s “just BAs”, but yeah… I like my DD lows too.
