[Scubadevils]

A new set from Shanling - ME900. The titanium finish looks beautiful… €899

Shanling ME900 High-End Earphones

• Eight-Driver Hybrid System
• Six Custom Balanced Armature Treiber
• Two 6mm Dynamic Driver with Crystal-Plated Bio-Diaphragms
• Aerospace Titanium Shell and Special interlaced Faceplate design
• Audio Tuning switches
• Interchangeable Plugs (2.5mm / 3.5mm / 4.4mm)

 

[piotrus-g]

Thanks!

Not a reply to @mashuto but just adding on. Well, as I mentioned in the review, I would've preferred if the lower-midrange between 250-700Hz was flatter and the 2-4kHz dip wasn't there. The latter would've increased instrument definition and brought it closer to the amount of pinna gain I like but I can see a lot of people preferring the added fullness in the lower-midrange. The mid-treble sizzle on the other hand is like a double edged sword - It needs a small adaptation period for sure but is also necessary to balance out the big bass boost and turn F5 into a fun W-shaped leaning V-shaped IEM than an outright bass head IEM. I'd personally choose a W-shaped tuning over warm basshead tuning 11 times out of 10.

Well, at the end of the day, it's the sum of all parts that makes a signature unique, and tuning an IEM circuit to the intended target with drivers and crossovers is way more complex than wishful thinking and complaining. Even more difficult when you're limited by space and trying to fit multiple different types of drivers and crossover components all into a small shell that you generally like to go for, all the while trying to keep the circuit impedance flat in order to keep the IEM in line with the FIBAE lineup. I can't emphasise enough how important flat impedance design is for us musicians who have to plug our IEMs in a variety of gear with who knows what output impedance and yet there are only a handful of IEM manufacturers who actually make sure to do it in their IEMs! Considering all of that, F5 does really well and kudos to @piotrus-g for making such a nice, fun IEM while keeping the pricing reasonable!

Well thank you!

 

[Andricop]

Wagnus cables are great but it really depends on the IEM you are pairing it with. After all, a trash IEM cannot benefit from cable rolling; furthermore, unless you have a critical listening ear, I doubt it'll benefit most users. It's only for the audiophiles who are looking for the last 10-20% depending.

Also forgot to add the cavet: I get my ears tested yearly and I have 5% hearing loss from when I first started testing 11 years ago.

That said my favorite Wagnus cable pairing is the limited edition Alexandra Sheep (1 of 4 in the world ) with the AüR Audio Alita. Because majority of my library consist of orchestra and instrumentals pieces. I'll keep it simple if you played or heard any instrument in real life, this combo, IMO, reproduces some of the best & most accurate real life sounding instruments I've heard in an IEM so far. There is more about this IEM I could gush about but this why to me its my #1 IEM.

Thanks! First time I heard about the Alexandra Sheep, very interesting, I was able to find some information here https://www.wagnus.jp/wagnus-fest-2022
Congrats for grabbing 1!
May I ask the price of the cable? Looks like it costs more then Alita + M15 together ...

 

[wolfstar76]

First HiFiCon went off without a hitch. There is some lessons learn like make sure to bring a lightning cable dongle for iPhone users but other than that it was great meeting people and talking about IEMs.

Helping others audition gear they thought about buying, finding what they prefer in sound signature and giving opportunities for people to try TOTL IEMs as well as others.

It was great to meet Mark of Super Reviews trying out the Penon Impact & Turii Ti to name a few. I didnt know he was super popular on youtube. Nice to get his impressions and thoughts. Super nice guy.

Also, it was great meeting Theo(Precogvision) and getting his thoughts/impressions of a few of the IEMs. Super chill/Nice.

Overall fantastic event. Wish I had more time to get out of my chair and try out other gear there, maybe next time, I'll go as a spectator.

NorCal Meet?

 

[s2kphile]

Thanks! First time I heard about the Alexandra Sheep, very interesting, I was able to find some information here https://www.wagnus.jp/wagnus-fest-2022
Congrats for grabbing 1!
May I ask the price of the cable? Looks like it costs more then Alita + M15 together ...

Yes, it was $1,300 USD. And that's a deal considering their Zillion Sheep line is over $1,400 USD and doesn't incorporate all their solding techniques and technologies they have learned over the years.

NorCal Meet?

Correct. I'll be attending the next one and I should have more new goodies for everyone to try.

 

[twister6]

Is that me, or does this shanling ME900 has some qdc Tiger vibe from a distance?

 

[wolfstar76]

Is that me, or does this shanling ME900 has some qdc Tiger vibe from a distance?

Is it possible that QDC actually is the OEM for Shanling?

 

[raylu]

Wagnus cables are great but it really depends on the IEM you are pairing it with. After all, a trash IEM cannot benefit from cable rolling; furthermore, unless you have a critical listening ear, I doubt it'll benefit most users. It's only for the audiophiles who are looking for the last 10-20% depending.

Also forgot to add the cavet: I get my ears tested yearly and I have 5% hearing loss from when I first started testing 11 years ago.

That said my favorite Wagnus cable pairing is the limited edition Alexandra Sheep (1 of 4 in the world ) with the AüR Audio Alita. Because majority of my library consist of orchestra and instrumentals pieces. I'll keep it simple if you played or heard any instrument in real life, this combo, IMO, reproduces some of the best & most accurate real life sounding instruments I've heard in an IEM so far. There is more about this IEM I could gush about but this why to me its my #1 IEM.

im wondering where can we buy the wagnus cable ?：）　

 

[main character]

First HiFiCon went off without a hitch. There is some lessons learn like make sure to bring a lightning cable dongle for iPhone users but other than that it was great meeting people and talking about IEMs.

Helping others audition gear they thought about buying, finding what they prefer in sound signature and giving opportunities for people to try TOTL IEMs as well as others.

It was great to meet Mark of Super Reviews trying out the Penon Impact & Turii Ti to name a few. I didnt know he was super popular on youtube. Nice to get his impressions and thoughts. Super nice guy.

Also, it was great meeting Theo(Precogvision) and getting his thoughts/impressions of a few of the IEMs. Super chill/Nice.

Overall fantastic event. Wish I had more time to get out of my chair and try out other gear there, maybe next time, I'll go as a spectator.

Thanks so much @s2kphile !
Really enjoyed demoing your iems and hearing your thoughts!

This weekend, I visited local Schiit meet up (Bay area) and demoed some IEM that S2kphile brought..
Turi Ti(My favorite#1)
Sooo good(ethereal)high mid and treble! Like Type7 Erua secret flagship sound sig.
Bass is slightly less but tight, good shaped.

Aur Audio Alita(My favorite#2)
Balanced, good performance across FR, great soundstage, Bass is on-par with dd bass, very good treble/mid, really impressive)(I liked its fabric-sleeved stock cable too, sig like PW Attila (?) it added depth and lifelike staging)

Aur Audio Alita $ 1,057.25 USD
DRIVER CONFIGURATION

Bass (4): Knowles Dual Woofer
Midrange (4): Sonion Midrange Driver
Treble (4): Knowles Dual Tweeter
HOUSING MATERIAL
Shell: Acrylic Resin

Penon impact (good stock cable. Very good high mid and treble(but I prefered Turi Ti’s high performance better). Bass is definitely good but I could tell it was BA bass, so not the best) were among my favorites!

I did not know Penon inpact was Penon’s newly released flagship that has similar FR compared to Trailli. S2kphile casually handed it to me, to try 4 EST implementation. It needs some aging/burning to extract the full potential per him. As he is Penon VIP, he could get some discount.

Alita was S2kphile’s favorite.
@Precogvision (Theo) and his friends stopped by and Theo started listening to iems.
Post in thread 'Precog's IEM Reviews & Impressions'
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/precogs-iem-reviews-impressions.937468/post-17374294

He felt lower offering(Aur Aure)was the best among Aur iems.. Check out at https://www.auraudio.store/
(No discount available per S2kphile. No haggle price. )

I felt Aur Aure has direct, close vocal range but detail was lacking. It was better than Gaea though. Somehow, I was disappointed at Gaea(stock 4.4 cable, my Azla crystal or Spiral dot ++ tip, Sp2000ss, Pw1960s adapter). Sound extension was not as good as above iems. Vocal was distant. Sound was “muffled”?. DD bass was apparent but not cohesive and sticking out too much. Elysian treble was good but not excellent. Felt it sounded like $1000 iem but not more. I may try again with Azla W1 tip and Liquid venom cable when the tour unit comes.
Aur audio is located in Singapore. Never heard of this company before. Their iem has high impedance so lots of potential for amping / high power sources!

I asked precogvision Mentor vs Ragnar.. He said he does not recommend Viking Ragnar for this big low-treble peak. Mentor will be good but he is unsure if it is worth the asking price. Probably good for used price.
He lent me

This iem-7th acoustics Supernova. It has quite good vocals, in-your-ear type, direct, but treble/detail reproduction was not so good(smudged). I agree it punches above its price $700 and felt it was worth $1400.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/precogs-iem-reviews-impressions.937468/page-191#post-17226896

Also asked him why there are no Fir Frontier reviews. He tried them all and did not really like it~
BTW, he told me he really liked Subtronic storm and indeed, it is now his #1 in his ranking list. He also loves U12t.

I moved on to Xmems booth where you could hear a new tech, silicon weifer based driver iem. 2 of those drivers in each iem. (They make these special drivers but not iem itself). Interestingly, it had good bass, accurate, like DD. It operates with special version(voltage drive I think) ifi signature dac/amp. I could only hear one song but good mid and treble performance per Precogvision~. Slightly dry, detailed, dense, like EST driver implemented tribrid, I felt. But it was very accurate with good bass as well. Lots of potential, for sure.
Mike at Xmems will present in following Canjams so check it out when you have a chance!

I tried Wagnus alexsandra sheep spiral - thinner pink/green cable (S2kphile had one with him yesterday) and felt bass was too weak compared to Turii Ti stock silvery cable. Unsure if 8w thicker one will be much better.. it may be similar to Erua Miro or Erua Type 7 cable in sound signature(emphasis in high mid to treble) I think~

 

[s2kphile]

im wondering where can we buy the wagnus cable ?：）　

On their official website: https://www.wagnus.jp/

Just shoot them an email and they can make an order for you. Its better than going thru checkout on their website because the Japanese to English translation issues.

Thanks so much @s2kphile !
Really enjoyed demoing your iems and hearing your thoughts!

This weekend, I visited local Schiit meet up (Bay area) and demoed some IEM that S2kphile brought..
Turi Ti(My favorite#1)
Sooo good(ethereal)high mid and treble! Like Type7 Erua secret flagship sound sig.
Bass is slightly less but tight, good shaped.

Aur Audio Alita(My favorite#2)
Balanced, good performance across FR, great soundstage, Bass is on-par with dd bass, very good treble/mid, really impressive)(I liked its fabric-sleeved stock cable too, sig like PW Attila (?) it added depth and lifelike staging)

Aur Audio Alita $ 1,057.25 USD
DRIVER CONFIGURATION

Bass (4): Knowles Dual Woofer
Midrange (4): Sonion Midrange Driver
Treble (4): Knowles Dual Tweeter
HOUSING MATERIAL
Shell: Acrylic Resin

Penon impact (good stock cable. Very good high mid and treble(but I prefered Turi Ti’s high performance better). Bass is definitely good but I could tell it was BA bass, so not the best) were among my favorites!

I did not know Penon inpact was Penon’s newly released flagship that has similar FR compared to Trailli. S2kphile casually handed it to me, to try 4 EST implementation. It needs some aging/burning to extract the full potential per him. As he is Penon VIP, he could get some discount.

Alita was S2kphile’s favorite. @Precogvision(Theo) stopped by and he felt lower offering(Aur Aure)was the best among Aur iems.. Check out at https://www.auraudio.store/
(No discount available per S2kphile. No haggle price. )

I felt Aur Aure has direct, close vocal range but detail was lacking. It was better than Gaea though. Somehow, I was disappointed at Gaea(stock 4.4 cable, my Azla crystal or Spiral dot ++ tip, Sp2000ss, Pw1960s adapter). Sound extension was not as good as above iems. Vocal was distant. Sound was “muffled”?. DD bass was apparent but not cohesive and sticking out too much. Elysian treble was good but not excellent. Felt it sounded like $1000 iem but not more. I may try again with Azla W1 tip and Liquid venom cable when the tour unit comes.
Aur audio is located in Singapore. Never heard of this company before. Their iem has high impedance so lots of potential for amping / high power sources!

I asked precogvision Mentor vs Ragnar.. He said he does not recommend Ragnar for this big low treble peak. Mentor will be good but he is unsure if it is worth asking price. Probably good with used price.
He lent me


This iem-7th acoustics Supernova. It has quite good vocals, in-your-ear type, direct, but treble/detail reproduction was not so good(smudged). I agree it punches above its price $700 and felt it was worth $1400.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/precogs-iem-reviews-impressions.937468/page-191#post-17226896

Also asked him why there are no Fir Frontier reviews. He tried them all and did not really like it~




I moved on to Xmems booth where you could hear a new tech, silicon weifer based driver iem. 2 of those drivers in each iem. (They make this special drivers but not iem itself). Interestingly, it had good bass, accurate, like DD. It operates with special version(voltage drive I think) ifi signature dac/amp. I could only hear one song but good mid and treble performance per Precogvision~. Slightly dry, detailed, dense, like EST driver implemented tribrid, I felt. But it was very accurate with good bass as well. Lots of potential, for sure.
Mike at Xmems will present in following Canjams so check it out when you have a chance!





I tried Wagnus alexsandra spiral sheep- thinner pink/green cable (S2kphile had one with him yesterday) and felt bass was too weak compared to Turii Ti stock silvery cable. Unsure if 8w thicker one will be much better.. it may be similar to Erua Miro or Erua Type 7 cable in sound signature(emphasis in mid high to treble) I think~

Thank you! It was nice meeting you. And I'm glad you could enjoy these IEMs. I wish we had more time to have a discussion but being the only one with IEMs, I had to worry more about hosting. Turii Ti is tuned so well you forget it's just a single DD. IEMs and cable need synergy, wish I had the opportunity to have you try the Wagnus with the Alita & M15 dongle (favorite combo).

Glad you had a good time and at the next meet I'll bring more goodies and we can have longer more in depth discussion. It's always great to hear people's thoughts, feedback, and make new friends.

 

[s2kphile]

The best part after a big event. Sanitizing, cleaning, drying each IEM before putting them away. I really need more than 1 UV drying box.

 

[Rockwell75]

If I may point out, you're being very selective here, tagging and tying a particular IEM or a few IEM's sound signature to the Harman curve and choosing to ignore ALL the other IEMs that follow/take inspiration/come close to it

Sorry I should not have spoken so dismissively and yes it is true that my perception has been colored (haha) by my limited experience. Power to those who are interested in or inspired by Harman research but for me the idea of some sort of fundamental target curve is as unappealing to me as having my diet reduced to a protein bar that has been optimized for nutrition and to appeal to as many people as possible in place of a variety of inspired culinary dishes (the analogy is crude but I think there are some similarities. YMMV and all that but for me I regard tuning IEMs as more of an art than a science.

 

[main character]

wish I had the opportunity to have you try the Wagnus with the Alita & M15 dongle (favorite combo).
Glad you had a good time and at the next meet I'll bring more goodies and we can have longer more in depth discussion. It's always great to hear people's thoughts, feedback, and make new friends.

Thanks so much! Can’t wait to try Wagnus limited sheep + Alita from Questyle M15

 

[Natesdailies]

Ordered the U.M. Mentor! Couldn't get the imaging out of my mind. Thanks to @MusicTeck for the support as always

 

[drftr]

Ordered the U.M. Mentor! Couldn't get the imaging out of my mind. Thanks to @MusicTeck for the support as always

Keeps floating around my head too. I keep repeating I don't need it - I don't want it and hope it helps.

drftr