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

[Onurb8690]

I’m pretty happy with Moses so far, I was really debating selling it a few weeks after I got it, but it’s been hitting all the right spots lately

I have way too many IEMs but don’t really want to sell any of them, collection feels wholesome atm

Will probably end up selling WM1A M2, Mojo2, W2 Ultra, W4 though, now that I have the SP3KM CN. Might get a DC Elite if I get around to posting all this for sale, I liked it better than the W4, which was kinda sterile in comparison

Have you heard of Omnium Ti?

 

[Animagus]

Hello everyone! Another review I've managed to belt out in the thick of an overly swamped schedule. This is Symphonium x Elise Audio Europa, a 4BA collaboration flagship IEM, which is supposedly a tuning and shell re-tweak of the Crimson which came out last year. I haven't tried the Crimson yet, so sadly can't tell you how differently Europa performs compared to it but have instead written an elaborate comparisons section with some of the popular IEMs in and around its segment, which should make for a fun read. The article includes detailed impressions as well as graphs as usual. Enjoy!

Symphonium x Elise Audio Europa​

 

[Tabikinoya Cephas]

Have you heard of Omnium Ti?

i have heard it during canjam. Its suppose to have more bass than the OG, but I still find it bass lite. The focus is more on mids and treble to my ears.

 

[Mastew]

The Plussound Tri-Hybrid is a no brainer. It is a world class cable.

Is tri hybrid still worth buying in 2025? I am planning to buy this cable.

 

[mvvRAZ]

Have you heard of Omnium Ti

I’ll get a demo in a few weeks. Definitely interested considering they can do it as a CIEM

 

[Rockwell75]

I think it’s a bit more complicated than a simple yes no

Tuning you connect with allows you to appreciate technical ability so much more, and tuning that doesn’t appeal to you - or doesn’t work with your music makes it very difficult to appreciate anything else the IEM does

One of the worst sounding IEMs I’ve ever tried is the OG Elysian X. To my ears that had no midbass and no lower mids, the upper mids were way in your face and there was too much treble all around. There’s no point in me even trying to comment on technical ability, when I feel like the IEM is missing like 1/3 of the FR. That’s not to say that it’s a bad IEM, it’s just such a bad IEM for me, that I can’t appreciate anything that it does well

The opposite holds true for almost all 64A IEMs I’ve tried

You can see my signature is literally littered with them, and it’s because the tuning just clicks to obnoxiously well with my preferences, that everything else ends up sounding better to me than it actually is

If I were to compare it side by side with the APX SE, the APX has better imaging, better bass and mids, slightly inferior treble quality IMHO, but a more balanced tuning. That’s before even getting to the dynamics which are out of this universe on the APX

That doesn’t make me enjoy the Volur any less though, it’s just such a good IEM to my ears, and does so many things right. It’s not even a value for money kind of good, it’s an IEM I could comfortably quit the hobby with if they offered a CIEM

I'm of the same opinion of the Elysian X. I'm a lower mid/mid-bass junkie and it just doesn't work with music I like to listen to. I understand why so many folks like it for electronic though. That said I never could figure out why HBB rated it so highly given his music preferences.

Great points on tuning also. Incidentally this is why I've never really connected with a 64 Audio IEM-- the overall tuning aesthetic has never really connected with me. Campfire Audio, on the other hand, seems to do for me what 64 does for you. I just really resonate with their house sound to the extent that I'm generally able to overlook whatever weaknesses this or that IEM may have. 64 and Campfire are like the yin and yang of American IEM manufacturers.

 

[drftr]

I'm of the same opinion of the Elysian X. I'm a lower mid/mid-bass junkie and it just doesn't work with music I like to listen to. I understand why so many folks like it for electronic though. That said I never could figure out why HBB rated it so highly given his music preferences.

Great points on tuning also. Incidentally this is why I've never really connected with a 64 Audio IEM-- the overall tuning aesthetic has never really connected with me. Campfire Audio, on the other hand, seems to do for me what 64 does for you. I just really resonate with their house sound to the extent that I'm generally able to overlook whatever weaknesses this or that IEM may have. 64 and Campfire are like the yin and yang of American IEM manufacturers.

So far I'm finding myself in the self-imposed Noble - 64Audio - Unique Melody camp. Most of their creations are a hit for me one way or the other.

drftr

 

[Rockwell75]

So far I'm finding myself in the self-imposed Noble - 64Audio - Unique Melody camp. Most of their creations are a hit for me one way or the other.

drftr

Noble is another brand I struggle connecting with. I could appreciate the Viking but it was a little too sharp up top. Chronicle, however, is one of the greatest IEMs I've ever heard.

In terms of brands that most consistently hit for me I'd say Campfire, Oriolus, Vision Ears.

 

[mvvRAZ]

I'm of the same opinion of the Elysian X. I'm a lower mid/mid-bass junkie and it just doesn't work with music I like to listen to. I understand why so many folks like it for electronic though. That said I never could figure out why HBB rated it so highly given his music preferences.

Great points on tuning also. Incidentally this is why I've never really connected with a 64 Audio IEM-- the overall tuning aesthetic has never really connected with me. Campfire Audio, on the other hand, seems to do for me what 64 does for you. I just really resonate with their house sound to the extent that I'm generally able to overlook whatever weaknesses this or that IEM may have. 64 and Campfire are like the yin and yang of American IEM manufacturers.

Noble is another brand I struggle connecting with. I could appreciate the Viking but it was a little too sharp up top. Chronicle, however, is one of the greatest IEMs I've ever heard.

In terms of brands that most consistently hit for me I'd say Campfire, Oriolus, Vision Ears.

I loved the Andromeda, and would still own one, but didn't click with any other IEM of theirs. I should on paper click pretty well with their house sound, but I've kept trying their stuff over the years and nothing did it for me

Vision Ears is another that I basically loved one release, appreciated but didn't love another, and then everything else flopped for me

Noble is hard for me to say, I've always really liked their stuff, love on first sight, but I also never ended up actually keeping them for long. I'd always find another brand that did something similar, but to my ears - better

I'm super interested in hearing the Chronicle, and I've seen a few for sale, so it might be procurable at the moment. I think the shell is similar to the Viking though, and that was one of the worst fits I've ever had (and I owned the Thummim )

 

[LFC_SL]

Noble is another brand I struggle connecting with. I could appreciate the Viking but it was a little too sharp up top. Chronicle, however, is one of the greatest IEMs I've ever heard.

In terms of brands that most consistently hit for me I'd say Campfire, Oriolus, Vision Ears.

Don't you hear the sharp and super fast transients on CFA? Clara is the first acceptable presentation (for my taste) since CFA hit the jackpot with the early Andromedas. Yes, from my perspective its been a really long span of time for CFA to come up good again. That is not to say there has not been desirable traits in this or that release, of course there has, but everything in life is more expensive now so I am increasingly choosy with IEM

 

[Rockwell75]

I loved the Andromeda, and would still own one, but didn't click with any other IEM of theirs. I should on paper click pretty well with their house sound, but I've kept trying their stuff over the years and nothing did it for me

Yeah I've followed your journey pretty closely as it's more--or--less tracked exactly with my own in terms of timeline. We've lived somewhat parallel lives in different corners of the audio galaxy. Funny story but in about mid-2022 in the buildup to the release of the Trifecta (which at the time I was very much anticipating) the first show people were able to get ears on it was in Munich some time in the spring. The first few reports that came in weren't that positive. At the time I'd just fallen in love with the Supermoon and wondered if this ambitious new IEM of theirs was going to be a misfire. Then you left these impressions which, while not exactly a glowing review, were balanced & fair (and in retrospect more-or-less on point-- though I've never had any issues with the treble through the WM1Z) and got me properly excited to finally hear this IEM for myself. That said I had no idea at the time how polarizing the Trifecta would be, and how it would more-or-less end my audio journey for some time.

I think ultimately-- in terms of the whole "objective/subjective" element of this hobby-- for any IEM you can make a list of its objective qualities that everyone can agree on, but no two people will necessarily attach the same value to any of those qualities. This is how you can sometimes get people who may have the exact same taste in music, but totally different taste in IEMs.

 

[mvvRAZ]

Yeah I've followed your journey pretty closely as it's more--or--less tracked exactly with my own in terms of timeline. We've lived somewhat parallel lives in different corners of the audio galaxy. Funny story but in about mid-2022 in the buildup to the release of the Trifecta (which at the time I was very much anticipating) the first show people were able to get ears on it was in Munich some time in the spring. The first few reports that came in weren't that positive. At the time I'd just fallen in love with the Supermoon and wondered if this ambitious new IEM of theirs was going to be a misfire. Then you left these impressions which, while not exactly a glowing review, were balanced & fair (and in retrospect more-or-less on point-- though I've never had any issues with the treble through the WM1Z) and got me properly excited to finally hear this IEM for myself. That said I had no idea at the time how polarizing the Trifecta would be, and how it would more-or-less end my audio journey for some time.

I think ultimately-- in terms of the whole "objective/subjective" element of this hobby-- for any IEM you can make a list of its objective qualities that everyone can agree on, but no two people will necessarily attach the same value to any of those qualities. This is how you can sometimes get people who may have the exact same taste in music, but totally different taste in IEMs.

I don’t think I’ve ever come across anyone whose preferences are as similar as mine FR-wise, while at the same time we’ve never both GOATed any IEM at the same time

I think the Elysium is the closest we got to it

Have you ever tried the APX SE? I would guess that’s a little cold or metallic for you off a neutral source

 

[Rockwell75]

I don’t think I’ve ever come across anyone whose preferences are as similar as mine FR-wise, while at the same time we’ve never both GOATed any IEM at the same time

I think the Elysium is the closest we got to it

Yup you were the one who turned me on to it. I remember at one point you ordered a second one just in case something happened to your first one.

Have you ever tried the APX SE? I would guess that’s a little cold or metallic for you off a neutral source

I heard @wazzupi's in NYC. I didn't get a long enough demo to really get a sense of it but I enjoyed it through the WM1Z. I found it to be something of a baby Fugaku. In terms of my preferences at the ultra summit level I would definitely lean to the likes of APX SE or Chronicle over something like STORM. I'm wondering where HEX will fall for me personally if I ever get to hear it.

 

[goldwerger]

I'm a lower mid/mid-bass junkie

Noble is another brand I struggle connecting with.

Chronicle, however, is one of the greatest IEMs I've ever heard.

Have you tried the Sultan? It’s warmer with great note weight in the bass and mids (can bring for you to SoCal)

 

[drftr]

Have you tried the Sultan? It’s warmer with great note weight in the bass and mids (can bring for you to SoCal)

Can't work. By design. Jeff and I have never liked a single IEM together

drftr