[snapandslide]

Spending a large portion of my Monday holiday afternoon with some initial comparisons - focus on Dark Sky, ZEN PRO, and IE900 - possibly Isa too. Being off work, I felt it was quite necessary to crack open a beer too The current scene at my kitchen table - my wife just threw a bewildered smile at her nerdy husband!

Seems like an ideal way to spend the afternoon for the single DD shoot out!

 

[gLer]

Spending a large portion of my Monday holiday afternoon with some initial comparisons - focus on Dark Sky, ZEN PRO, and IE900 - possibly Isa too. Being off work, I felt it was quite necessary to crack open a beer too The current scene at my kitchen table - my wife just threw a bewildered smile at her nerdy husband!

That's the way. I've also been juggling between my gear, deciding which DAP/s stay or go, preparing classifieds listings, and working on the final three reviews for the year. Busy week ahead, but I could think of worse ways to while away some downtime. I'll be back here with plenty to share in the coming days and weeks. Enjoy your shootout and look forward to your writeups.

PS. Cool Miter cases. I've just now managed to fill mine perfectly with what I expect will be my current and hopefully final portable system for the year ahead.

 

[ian91]

That's the way. I've also been juggling between my gear, deciding which DAP/s stay or go, preparing classifieds listings, and working on the final three reviews for the year. Busy week ahead, but I could think of worse ways to while away some downtime. I'll be back here with plenty to share in the coming days and weeks. Enjoy your shootout and look forward to your writeups.

PS. Cool Miter cases. I've just now managed to fill mine perfectly with what I expect will be my current and hopefully final portable system for the year ahead.

That feeling when you fill a case perfectly with perfect contents.

 

[drftr]

@Xinlisupreme Have you been able to compare the RU6 with the W2-131?

drftr

 

[davidmolliere]

So... it took me even more time than I would have imagined... probably the longest time I spent on writing... very ambitious and I hope I was up to the huge task
https://iem.reviews/2021/12/27/vision-ears-elysium-vs-ext-brother-in-arms/

 

[Xinlisupreme]

@Xinlisupreme Have you been able to compare the RU6 with the W2-131?

drftr

Sorry I own W2 og only and I’m not going to buy another dongle because I use it few times

 

[drftr]

Sorry I own W2 og only and I’m not going to buy another dongle because I use it few times

Fair enough. Thought you were upgrading because of the link you recently shared. Tnx...

drftr

 

[gazzington]

That's the way. I've also been juggling between my gear, deciding which DAP/s stay or go, preparing classifieds listings, and working on the final three reviews for the year. Busy week ahead, but I could think of worse ways to while away some downtime. I'll be back here with plenty to share in the coming days and weeks. Enjoy your shootout and look forward to your writeups.

PS. Cool Miter cases. I've just now managed to fill mine perfectly with what I expect will be my current and hopefully final portable system for the year ahead.

Which daps are you keeping?

 

[Xinlisupreme]

No right now I’m waiting new daps comparison with m17

 

[Scubadevils]

Ok, so three hours later and several pages of notes taken. I'm just going to give a view now for one track, I plan a full review of Dark Sky and hope to conclude this week which will include my many thoughts on various genres - then ZEN PRO and hopefully Isa too - along with IE900, I will have then reviewed all of my single DDs - well, except BLON-03!

Important caveats: I'm still learning how to articulate and very much welcome being questioned, corrected, challenged (gently!) to help me better describe what I hear - and indeed improve my ability to extend impressions to a broader context. Goes without saying but however, YMMV!

Track: Matthew Halsall - Harmony with Nature (spiritual jazz)

This has become a go-to track for testing lately. I love the wide range of instruments to include some electronic elements. The opening sequence is great to get a sense of stage and layering of instruments - equally how the various instruments are introduced and ultimately seek space on the stage. I picked this track and jazz in general as the first shoot-out - reason being, I was very confident Dark Sky would win...

Dark Sky:

Smooth, vibrant, and wonderfully rendered instruments. The upright bass digs deep with incredible timbre, the best I've heard in any IEM - there is a huge sense of realism, and you can hear and (importantly) feel the strings being plucked giving the impression of attending a live performance - I'm clearly no expert but looking at Dark Sky versus IE900 graphed, they have similar sub bass (IE900 has more) but Dark Sky pushes further in the upper mids, I'm wondering if this is where the extra energy for picking up the string plucking is coming from as I don't hear it as clearly or as lifelike on IE900 (circled below, I'd love folks thoughts on this hypothesis to help me learn!). Likewise, percussion again sounds spectacular and the most lifelike in this shoot-out, reading THIS article seems to suggest that same 5-6k region for snare drum shells, I anticipate also other percussive elements from jazz drumming likely benefit from this energy peak. Dark Sky leans bright and has a cool 'hue' to its signature, I feel this supports a wide but coherent stage with jazz. Sax and string instruments sit very nicely on the stage, never any sense of congestion and plenty of air to allow them to play together or sit in the spotlight as appropriate. When playing jazz on Dark Sky, I don't want to take them out of my ears - I can just keep going for hours.

IE900

An immediate warmer hue but with a bit of a gulf in the mids. As noted above, the bass reaches to very similar levels and a bit further on IE900 but if I hadn't heard Dark Sky, I would be perfectly satisfied with IE900 in this context. The stage is about the same width, but Dark Sky seems taller, this could be the brighter or more airy tuning. IE900 always sounds 'pristine' in presentation when I switch from another IEM - to my ears and with this track, more like listening to a SACD (I still have a couple of these!) as opposed to a live performance with Dark Sky.

ZEN PRO

Similar stage to IE900, again less air versus Dark Sky and also more of a CD-like rendering of the album versus a live performance. The bass is impressive but doesn't dig as deep versus Dark Sky or IE900, the length of the notes seem to drop off in comparison and nowhere near the sense of realism on Dark Sky from a timbre perspective. I've had the comments about metallic timbre in my head since noted here over the last few days and I now understand that sentiment listening to the various instruments in this track - if not for Dark Sky or indeed reading this view, I may not have picked it up due to my tendency to listen to more electronic music on IEMs.

Conclusion

This was a knock-out to my ears for Dark Sky and, as previously noted, pretty much a foregone conclusion from my time with them over the last few weeks. The same rings true for a variety of other instrument based / vocal genres - it gets complicated when testing electronic music, especially more aggressive styles, where in some cases that upper mid region can become harsh. In addition, the bass potentially less controlled for faster passages and a greater emphasis on both mid and sub bass (take D&B for example or electro). But more to come on that, I'll probably do the same tomorrow for another track where Dark Sky didn't do as well.

 

[gLer]

Which daps are you keeping?

It's a straight choice between the HiBy R8 (which I've had for about a year and thoroughly appreciate) and the new RS6 (which I've had for a few months and am appreciating more and more as HiBy tweaks the sound and the R2R board burns in - 200h+ and I feel it's still improving). On first listen the RS6 didn't stand a chance, but I'm now leaning more towards keeping the RS6. It has a more immediate sound than the R8, perhaps a touch less refined but also more natural and 'musical', plus it has better synergy with my 2021 'endgame' IEM duo.

I'm wondering if this is where the extra energy for picking up the string plucking is coming from as I don't hear it as clearly or as lifelike on IE900 (circled below, I'd love folks thoughts on this hypothesis to help me learn!).

5-6khz is right on the cusp of lower treble, if not inside the treble region already, whereas upper mids are usually around 3-4khz (where Dark Sky has more energy than IE 900 but doesn't look to be boosted either). That's what I'm told anyway, and the boundaries seem to shift depending on who you ask. For me it's not so much about energy in that region, but also quality. You can have boosted upper mids/lower treble that still sounds smooth and silky, and you can also have some harshness, hardness or sibilance if there's too much going on or the drivers aren't quite up to it. Not sure where Dark Sky falls, but it seems you're liking this particular track and the energy in that region so the driver must be decent. IE 900 is almost always pristine, like you say, but some upper mid sounds can appear a but distant by comparison - though I find when I'm not comparing, IE 900 never sounds veiled or recessed to my ears. Look forward to reading more from your shootout, great job here!

 

[ian91]

Great write up, thanks for putting in the time.
I'm looking forward to reading more.

it gets complicated when testing electronic music, especially more aggressive styles, where in some cases that upper mid region can become harsh.

This region of the FR is a tricky devil. There's so much sweetness and presence here for instrumental music, especially jazz, but the second things become slightly too aggressive as in metal or certain electronic tracks, or even certain viol & violin recordings, I usually have to drop the volume (I prefer to listen loud).

I've got my sets with a slightly warmer tuning and less emphasis here for longer sessions and while it adds variety to my line up this has certainly become a problem area for me to navigate.

 

[gLer]

Great write up, thanks for putting in the time.
I'm looking forward to reading more.



This region of the FR is a tricky devil. There's so much sweetness and presence here for instrumental music, especially jazz, but the second things become slightly too aggressive as in metal or certain electronic tracks, or even certain viol & violin recordings, I usually have to drop the volume (I prefer to listen loud).

I've got my sets with a slightly warmer tuning and less emphasis here for longer sessions and while it adds variety to my line up it's certainly become a problem area for me to navigate.

I also find recording quality and/or loudness compression shows up as flaws in this region more often than others. It takes a really good driver/IEM to keep things civil in this region with poor or bright recordings, especially one with boosted presence. Like you say, it can be mitigated by lowering the volume, and I can only assume some IEMs are tuned for optimal playback at lower or 'safer' volume.

 

[Xinlisupreme]

@Ace Bee Dark sky isn’t brighter IEM I had but on highs it’s neutral and never offending with RS6, Acoustune has a bit more extension but most of all more air and sense of space.
On mid bass Dark Sky is neutral and more focused on sub bass where Acoustune 1677ss has more midbass and funny approach.
I’ll keep both

 

[ian91]

Like you say, it can be mitigated by lowering the volume, and I can only assume some IEMs are tuned for optimal playback at lower or 'safer' volume.

I hadn't really considered that. Maybe I need to start dropping some dB and learning to enjoy at a lower volume.

And agreed, very recording dependent. For example I've yet to hear an IEM play back Tool or Rage Against the Machine to my satisfaction. Some recordings are very raw in these regions and difficult to tolerate.