I was asked to post the group picture of the Paris Meeting here. Et voilà! On top: Here is how I experienced this weekend.
Together with
@gb78 and
@F700 we took the train from Zurich to Paris, a ride a little over 4 hours, packed with stories, laughter and some Rosé. Since we were running late, too late to make it in time with the team for dinner, we decided to look for ourselves. Picking a Korean restaurant with table barbecues was the right decision. Our meal was delicious and the first evening just wonderful.
Getting up in the morning was a little harder than originally expected but we eventually made it to the spot. It was just stunning what
@Andricop had arranged for the team. Him and
@oliveradr were already there, standing in front of the door, ready to get croissants for the masses, when I arrived.
early birds
People then drippled in and it took a while before all hands were shaken and all updates and initial stories were exchanged, which was exactly the right thing to do before bringing it on, eventually... People unfolded (physically, some also mentally) and it always made me smile whenever I overlooked the gear on the table. Simply insane - but in the most positive way.
Luckily I had listened to some sets before. Hence I was able to focus on a smaller number of new (to me) arrivals. I was the most curious to hear the
EXT II, kindly provided by
@MatW , and that was the set I spend the most time with (I had it over night too and for a moment I was intrigued to leave Paris silently ...)
Vision Ears EXT II / Forte Ears Macbeth
They did not disappoint me. Grounded with a massive but very well defined bass layer, the famous VE mids made voices appear very natural. Treble was energetic (very) and sparkling, not rolled off, so I was left with the impression of airiness, definition and details. With a serious sub bass. I listened to some (high-level mastered) tracks where surprisingly the cymbals became boarderline zingy. However, overall, I was not in danger with the treble though and TME its airiness stood out in a positive sense and helped creating the pleasant and somehow bombastic overall appearance. I listened to Electro, Bass and Pop and all genres worked very well. The fit of the EXT II was not the best for me, despite having large ears. The nozzle was no problem at all. (Likewise the EXT V1 nozzles was no problem. And neither were the shells by then). My source was the P6Pro and I think the EXT II is a great set, that works very well with an R2R DAP.
Having missed (or omitted?) the
Macbeth hype train, I gave them a serious listen on Saturday. Thanks again Mat
. And they did not disappoint me either. Beautiful treble and slightly forwarded mids made voices sound very good. The stage appeared not overly wide but high and it fit the tonality very well. The sound was rich, driven by surprisingly full sounding bass. So it had everything I like. Good timbre and close voices pulled me into the songs. They were a pleasure to listen to. Fit was very good and the Eletech cable felt very premium to me. I really enjoyed them. Source P6Pro again.
Looking over to my left neighbour's space, I saw this remarkable pile of gear.
Where is Waldo AP, Anni23, Astrolith, MM
I went on to listen to a couple of other sets, eventually ending up with
APX SE again (thanks
@NYanakiev) . When I first listened, some months ago, I was positively impressed but not enough to fall for them. So I was wondering whether that had changed. It did not. The sound-sphere the APX SE built in my head was impressive. Like a super well defined, wide oval chamber. The sound was crazy tight and accurate. The mids were nice, spot-on, the (mid) bass had extreme definition, it felt like I could sense the surface of its vibration. Unfortunately the APX's hyper-dynamics extended into lower and upper treble too. Which was a bit too much in the end, of course, depending on the music. Listening to lower energy tracks would even this out a bit, I assume. I can see the mood and the tracks where the APX SE are working well. But they are not a fit for longer sessions and they'd remain a specialist set for me. Nitpicking; I felt like I had been let down by sub bass, especially after switching to Miami Bass and oldschool tracks. That was a surprise and hence I hooked up the little but powerful (balanced) amp, the HUM MA-1b (which in notime had become my Birkin bag that I will never leave house without) to the P6 and dug a little deeper, pun intended. And yes, there it was. APX SE has some sub bass capabilities albeit they are not so easy to detect since the mid bass is very powerful. I noted in my little book that it's a very good and impressive IEM with crazy technical capabilities and micro details. Just not suited well for a relaxed 24x7 listening, but 24 minutes instead. I much prefer the Chronicle which renders treble and sub bass more to my liking.
Talking about the
Chronicle, I did some a/b ing on day 2 vs the APX SE (thanks
@hAbIrAbI) and then with the Fei Wan (thanks
@armstrj2). The Fei Wan and the Chronicle are 2 completely different sets and not surprisingly my personal verdict was that they are complementary and each set a joy to listen to, depending on my mood and energy level.
The Chronicle / Fei Wan
It was John who had put me on the hook with the
Fei Wan in March 2024, just one or two months after I finally had received my Raven, after a 6 months ordering odyssey... And even though Raven and Fei Wan sound very differently, to me, they belong in the same IEM quadrant, somehow. Bass monsters with high(est) technical skills, aggressively tuned. Hearing the Fei Wan again, properly amped, it was a borderline dream
Whenever I thought, it was too much for me to take, the other voice in my head said I'd only need to crank up the volume just a very tiny little bit more and by then it would be perfectly fine... I ended up semi deaf but I so very much enjoyed them. Once again I put them highly on my watch list. They are like an earthquake. And in weak moments, I sometime wonder whether I should not just buy one pair and eventually retire with the triad of Mentor, Chronicle and Fei Wan. I currently couldn't think of anything I'd miss, all bases covered. Well ...
Talking about earthquakes... Then there was
Duality: I'd call myself a basshead. Clubs, cars, IEMs, the lower the bass the better. Feel it, baby... And boy, did they deliver in this category. NB: Whenever I read or hear absolutistic statements like "... XYZ
are the best and in case you disagree, either your nervus vestibulocochlearis is broken or you have a bad chain ...", I quickly add the originator to my mental or actual blacklist. Ridiculous.
However, I might consider an one-time exception of this rule, when I'd read about Duality and the quantity of its (sub) bass...
It's just insane. And just right. I did not expect a balanced experience with perfect mids and ethereal treble, supported by a 3D master-spehere. And with that in mind, I could not end up disappointed. It was the opposite. They delivered. So well that I pulled the trigger and ordered my set. Thanks again,
@armstrj2
We were lucky -
NOBLE (and
Vision Ears and
Lime Ears) supported our meet-up by providing the brand new (I'm not even sure it is already shipping?)
Noble AGIS 2, the successor of Spartacus.
Noble - Agis II
Agis II carry some drivers: 2 x BC and 6 x BA per side if I'm not mistaken. And overall they were quite enjoyable. The most remarkable feature is the sonic topology and staging presentation. It's wide, but wrapping around, pointing backwards (to me) to some degree. Truly remarkable, I assume it's the BCs? Also the deeper the bass, the better the music sounds with the Agis II. The mid bass is nothing to write home about, honestly. However, low freq bass tracks come out very nicely. With BAs! The upper mids are clearly detectable, the lower mids are rather neutral - if at all, maybe minimally recessed versus pulled forward. In sum, to me the spatial performance is what I will remember it for the most - plus the fact that it scales well with bass tracks. E.g., Noga Erez - Knockout (DR 5) sounded neatly. Compared to the og Spartacus that I owned for a short while, staging is refined, I'd say from memory.
Noble was kind enough to also provide us a
REX for audition. I guess everybody but me tried it and the one sentence feedback was: The moment you understand how to use the EQ functionality of the app, REX transforms from an already great set to a highly versatile / customizable TWS with deeeeep bass capabilities, if opted for. So, thank you
@FullCircle , Kai & Fumie for your support - much appreciated.
Honorable mentioning: The
Alambic Ears Mentawai was a really great IEM for vocal tracks. They did not click when I was listening to electronic music but certainly did so when switching to vocals. Warm, detailed and cosy. Super easy to like and enjoy. Plus I liked their shells - Magpie-effect, I'd guess? Thanks a lot Guy for letting me hear them.
The last IEM I listened to was the
Lime Ears Maris, and I shouldn't have... Because it was excellent (and I want less than more IEMs). Within 10 minuts of audition, they made it on my watch-list and to be evaluated further. Beautifully balanced, warm with detailed treble and deep bass. Precise reproduction and topology. Nice stage. Very pleasing and one of the highlights of this jam. Once again, thanks
@armstrj2 and Emil.
As nice as the auditioning is, the real deal is hanging out with the team. Friendship arose over a relatively short period time with some of you nice gentlemen. Thanks for that.
One highlight to me this time was the attendance of "The French block". A bunch of very kind, funny and knowledgable gents that contributed in making this event such a success. I'm talking about you @rollk2 ,
@magicguy ,
@RodC ,
@Venura ,
@gmfg1 .
@Vic29 Victor, during one of the dinner breaks you insisted that I reflected about education and the meaning of culture - well done mate, that was not as easy to digest as my main course (which was just excellent) but I very much enjoyed that intellectual exercise. Just the way I did when you shared some of your experiences from the first days of IEMs.
Guy, it was a pleasure to have a little (philosophical) stroll over the benefits of city life versus living in close proximity to the mountains or the sea. Moreover you (and Victor) shared some cool facts about Alambic Ears. Last not least you sport the beautiful olive version of my boringly black HUM - which is a connect, that's for sure. Please get in touch when you want to swap
Venura you made me happy, because Swiss chocolate made you happy during the event. It was a pleasure to meet you.
Rod, unfortunately we did not get to speak much, but this will change over time, I'm convinced.
Leaving France for a moment,
@mikaik thanks for the little chats we had, particularly over what is a healthy speed limit you should keep in Switzerland, opposed to Germany... Oh - and thanks for letting me try that beautiful IC! I hope you and your family made it home safely.
habirabi
@hAbIrAbI thanks for sharing your experiences of the various IEMs, the impact of different cable and the secret sauce of the construction of the APX SE. And everything else. I'm really sorry your return flight just turned out to become a little disaster, once again. Hopefully you have recovered and your gear was undamaged.
@DaveStarWalker @gb78
David, it was a real pleasure to meet you. Thanks a lot for helping me to understand the landscape of Paris a little better. And for impressing me with your knowledge about cables and the fact that it does not require a €5000 DAP to audition any IEM well. Oh and I was impressed how precise your verdict was when you handed back the Noble to me. à bientôt!
@gb78 - Gili - where do I start?
Nowhere. Nothing I'd need to write here. Thanks a lot for being such a great friend. See you soon at Cafe Noir. Or around the corner.
@MatW
Thanks Mat for being such a nice, kind and funny chap. Thanks for sharing your views, inputs and gear so generously - as usual. I never asked you - but I'd be interested in your original metal tour t-shirts, please. See and talk to you soon.
@armstrj2
John - the one and only! Thanks a lot for all the time and effort you put into this hobby and to develop our little group but also to give many aficionados access to great gear by organising the demo tours. Priceless. I enjoy every minute hanging out with you and your lovely wife (my regards!). Alright, with that, let's get skit done and up to organising the next meetup
Thanks again my friend.
@LFC_SL Cheers Steven, it's always a pleasure to hang out with you, talking about all the various things we do. Once again, my apologies in case I had upset you intially
- looking forward to catching up soon again. SACD rule!
@F700
Mighty Julien, let's keep it simple: I'm really happy you live close around the corner that we can easily spend time on our hobby, dinning, annoying Gili and everything else. Oh and thanks for your generosity when paying the missing, unbalanced piece of the team dinner bill (an additional €150) ... no further comment. Ok, maybe this one: Putting it with Usura - Open your
mind wallet - it's sad...
unknown person relaxing at our spot
@drftr Calling Joop for help. Amigo since you probably have some of the widest spread-out network (geographically and relevant for six degrees of separation), please help to identify this gentlean. We found him enjoying himself on one of the couches in the lounge. He was so non-intrusive and seems to have vanished afterwards... Jokes aside - not much to write here other than I'm always enjoying our precious air time, face to face. Cheers mate! And always travel safely.
@oliveradr
Oliver, my neighbour from teenage and early electro days - it's really great to have you around. Explicitely not only for the hifi topics but much more so for being able to randomly drop in artists and tracks that kickstart funny memories and nerdy discussions. I was looking for the Rico Sparx 12" and I found it.
It's great to know you're around.
@MSwiss Matt! It was fantastic catching up again. I can't even remeber which of our little discussions I enjoyed the most. Probably the burglary, as serious as it is otherwise. Lausanne is around the corner, more or less. Let's do it mate - we have more notorious headfiers lingering around, around Zurich, waiting for you...
@lafeuill It was brilliant catching up with you again Simon. You (& Victor) immediately identified the little powerful Arrow / Headstage amp, without even looking twice. You not only know your stuff but are such a great guy to hang out with. I hope your event on Sunday went very well and you had a wonderful time. Best of luck with your house and hope to see you soon again.
@NYanakiev Nick, bud, I still owe you those 7€ for the cab ...
Thanks for letting me try your precious gear and for being so easy (to anybody) with sharing your stuff. I'm really sorry that this time you lost the Eletech companion case contest, but you were close! Cheers mate.
@Andricop - the architect of this masterful event. Thank you so much for making all of this happen and for your friendship. Smoking unfamiliar looking cigarettes (with pure and only tobacco in them), discussing about IT business challenges, running, CABLES or anything else - it was pure joy again. You're a hero!
To anybody else I couldn't spend time to talk to - thanks for contributing to making this such a great event.
And with that, here comes the picture everybody probably waited for from the first line of this post. I hope you could appreciate and bear the arc of suspense ...
Paris - 2025-03-22, Team Europe
. About the finitions, well... It's... spartan, not at all appealing, it seems fragile, but the fit is excellent. 
...
