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

[wolfstar76]

Coming from a old man who's been listening to metal for nearly 50 years...

in order of price (lowest to highest) :

CCA Trio
7hz FIVE
Tangzu Wu Zetian
Softears Volume S
ISN H60
ISN EBC80
AFUL Cantor
Lime Ears Terra
Sennheiser IE900

ALL ARE METAL BOSSES, and will more than adequately immerse you in the power and energy of metal music, with every detail, without breaking your bank. For those of you with the ability to buy them all? Please do. You'll thank me later.

The history of Metal is only 50 years or so .

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

The history of Metal is only 50 years or so .

Yeah, I'm an old man. The foundational genesis of heavy metal (though it's been argued it happened even sooner, but for the sake of focused timeline) started with Black Sabbath - Self Titled (1970). So 55 years ago. So 4 years after my birth.

 

[wolfstar76]

Yeah, I'm an old man. The foundational genesis of heavy metal (though it's been argued it happened even sooner, but for the sake of focused timeline) started with Black Sabbath - Self Titled (1970). So 55 years ago. So 4 years after my birth.

Actually I am just one year younger than you .

 

[drftr]

Yeah, I'm an old man. The foundational genesis of heavy metal (though it's been argued it happened even sooner, but for the sake of focused timeline) started with Black Sabbath - Self Titled (1970). So 55 years ago. So 4 years after my birth.

I'd vote for Led Zep's Dazed And Confused from '69. Still one of the heaviest songs I know.

drftr

 

[Takeda`1537]

Yeah, I'm an old man. The foundational genesis of heavy metal (though it's been argued it happened even sooner, but for the sake of focused timeline) started with Black Sabbath - Self Titled (1970). So 55 years ago. So 4 years after my birth.

Not far age-wise too and grew up with metal all along too ..

 

[Rolu]

Initial impressions?

I had a very short demo of the Valhalla at the HifiCon Bay Area's ThieAudio booth but that was enough for me to want to buy them. Big clear step up from the other well-regarded Thie IEMs Monarch Mk3 and Prestige Ltd that I also auditioned.

Now that I've heard them for 2 days, I am really really liking the Valhallas! They sound to me a lot like a spiritual successor to the u12t but with better staging height and width, more even upper treble, and more full and impactful bass. The vocals are forward enough to keep me engaged and the treble is never harsh at all. The tuning is fantastic overall.

I've been told the titanium shell is CnC finished, and is pretty light in my ears and fit nice and snug. Excellent noise isolation on the road. Oh and the faceplate looks even better IRL.

There are no weaknesses I can spot in the way they sound off of my LPGT2. Honestly, I wouldn't have blinked an eye if these were priced at $3,500.

I'm waiting for a company to pull these in and I'm going to order them. ThieAudio does great stuff and would love to hear their new flahship. How are the lows on it? Do they sound superficial?

I'm no bass connoisseur, but the bass is excellent. The sub-bass res and depth is one of the best I've heard, irrespective of the driver type.

I heard it briefly last week and spontaneously I quite liked it: fun, dynamic, warm and very good technicalities. What struck me negatively was the brighter coloration of the bass compared to the rest and thus a general coherence problem. However, it was just a first impression, I wasn't able to listen to it for longer, maybe it wasn't that coherent either–which should come as no surprise when you consider how many drivers it has (19!)–, I don't know.

I am not sure what you mean by brighter bass coloration, but I got no complaints with the bass over the last couple days. And yes the 19 drivers do a good job and fantastic detail retrieval- probably the best out there at the ultra-competitive $2k price point.

 

[phiemon]

I am not sure what you mean by brighter bass coloration, but I got no complaints with the bass over the last couple days. And yes the 19 drivers do a good job and fantastic detail retrieval- probably the best out there at the ultra-competitive $2k price point.

I had the impression that the coloration of the midbass was slightly disconnected, a bit brighter, compared to other frequencies. But yeah, I liked the tuning and technicalities for the price point.

 

[drftr]

The story of perfection, for Steely Fan fans and recording / mixing afficionados.



Is this how you do it @Deezel177?

drftr

 

[Leonarfd]

I had a very short demo of the Valhalla at the HifiCon Bay Area's ThieAudio booth but that was enough for me to want to buy them. Big clear step up from the other well-regarded Thie IEMs Monarch Mk3 and Prestige Ltd that I also auditioned.

Now that I've heard them for 2 days, I am really really liking the Valhallas! They sound to me a lot like a spiritual successor to the u12t but with better staging height and width, more even upper treble, and more full and impactful bass. The vocals are forward enough to keep me engaged and the treble is never harsh at all. The tuning is fantastic overall.

I've been told the titanium shell is CnC finished, and is pretty light in my ears and fit nice and snug. Excellent noise isolation on the road. Oh and the faceplate looks even better IRL.

There are no weaknesses I can spot in the way they sound off of my LPGT2 and are definitely a keeper for me for now. Honestly, I wouldn't have blinked an eye if these were priced at $3,500.


I'm no bass connoisseur, but the bass is excellent. The sub-bass res and depth is one of the best I've heard, irrespective of the driver type.


I am not sure what you mean by brighter bass coloration, but I got no complaints with the bass over the last couple days. And yes the 19 drivers do a good job and fantastic detail retrieval- probably the best out there at the ultra-competitive $2k price point.

I actually ordered one myself, together with a discount as I will review it for Linsoul. After having heard many of their releases last year I have high hopes for a all BA flagship from Thieaudio. Also it have titanium shell that make it even more tempting, yes I love titanium Make it look way more premium than its siblings with black resin shells and faceplate thrown on top.

 

[Rolu]

I had the impression that the coloration of the midbass was slightly disconnected, a bit brighter, compared to other frequencies. But yeah, I liked the tuning and technicalities for the price point.

I thought 'bright' is a treble characteristic but on the mid-bass coloration I can't tell if I hear anything off yet. But again, I'm generally a happy camper with bass

I actually ordered one myself, together with a discount as I will review it for Linsoul. After having heard many of their releases last year I have high hopes for a all BA flagship from Thieaudio. Also it have titanium shell that make it even more tempting, yes I love titanium Make it look way more premium than its siblings with black resin shells and faceplate thrown on top.

These Ti shells are lighter than Clara Ti, which were bit too heavy for me. So yeah I am very impressed with the hardware here.

 

[Erkil]

I’ve seen this a few times now, but I just noticed that the shell has raised letters that say “6 2 2 B”

I worry about fit because I had issues with the original’s fit…

You sir, have good eyes for details! That is really cool!!

 

[drftr]

That's actually a lovely channel!

Anyone knew The Beatles recorded their debut album and also my favourite album of all time Revolver in just one single day??? Holy crap!



drftr

 

[wolfstar76]

That's actually a lovely channel!

Anyone knew The Beatles recorded their debut album and also my favourite album of all time Revolver in just one single day??? Holy crap!



drftr

Very different among musicians I would guess. For example, legend says when One afternoon while sitting at a cafe in Paris, Dylan asked Cohen how long it took for him to write "Hallelujah." For some reason Cohen decides to lie and states, "A couple years," and follows up by asking Dylan how long it took for him to write "Like a Woman." Dylan responds, "15 minutes."

By that time when Beatle first started, there was probably no producer sit aside and constantly yelling "cut!".

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

I'd vote for Led Zep's Dazed And Confused from '69. Still one of the heaviest songs I know.

drftr

Yep. That fine line between early hard rock and metal, but I'd say since most of that early Zep was blues, and the majority of Sabb's tunes were Dazed & confused +, i'd lean in with Sabb, but yeah, you are correct, as well as Blue Cheer.

 

[fejnomit]

oh

That's actually a lovely channel!

Anyone knew The Beatles recorded their debut album and also my favourite album of all time Revolver in just one single day??? Holy crap!



drftr

Actually if you listen to the whole report, it wasn't the entire Revolver album, it was just the last song to be recorded, She Said, She Said, that was done in one day. When I first read what you wrote, I scratched my head given all the non-band instruments and players on the album, I just couldn't picture all that coming together in a day. Still impressive that they did She Said, She Said in a day, though!

Very different among musicians I would guess. For example, legend says when One afternoon while sitting at a cafe in Paris, Dylan asked Cohen how long it took for him to write "Hallelujah." For some reason Cohen decides to lie and states, "A couple years," and follows up by asking Dylan how long it took for him to write "Like a Woman." Dylan responds, "15 minutes."

By that time when Beatle first started, there was probably no producer sit aside and constantly yelling "cut!".

George Martin was no walk in the park, however. Pretty producer-y producer...