o0genesis0o
Headphoneus Supremus
Got some solid hours A/B these four IEMs. Here are some of my notes and thoughts in no particular order:
- A/B Gaea against Monarch and U12T makes me see some complaints about Gaea's tuning by @Bosk and others in a new light. Back to back A/B tests make Gaea sounds tinny and hollow, as if the whole lower midrange has disappeared. When I am at home again and listen to Gaea by itself, it is fine and not uncanny. But if I listen to it next to a balanced IEM, that tinny uncanny feeling returns.
- Both Monarch and U12T presents one solid step up to both Gaea and Andromeda in the clarity and definition of the notes, as well as micro details. Going from Gaea / Andromeda to Monarch / U12T feels like going from a well performing IEM like P5 or Blessing 2 to Andromeda / Gaea.
- Monarch reveals even more micro details in violin and flute solos than U12T, likely due to emphasise at around 10-12kHz rather than dipping. Still, the difference is minor. Musical notes feel a bit more incisive with U12T than Monarch, but both are outstanding.
- Monarch has the smallest and flattest soundstage among 4 options.
- Gaea has that "speaker-like" soundstage where the whole "band" is like a square box that is pushed away from my head. All three other options centre the soundstage somewhere in front of my head and expand from there.
- Gaea has snappy yet strong bass punches, with decent texture, but decay quickly (still better than Andromeda).
- Monarch has a lot of rumble but only average bass punch. There is always a rumbly "cloud" of bass with Monarch's presentation, rather than crisp and snappy "boom boom boom" like all other options. Monarch's bass is also quite textureless (for example, cellos has very little texture)
- U12T's bass is *chef kiss*. Punchy, rumbly, and textured. (This is with M15 module).
Fourte Blanc. I don't know what's change from the orange Fourte because the feel that the IEM gives me is exactly the same. I personally prefer the Trio or the plain old U12T.
Noble Kublai Khan. It's nicer and more normal than what I expected, given Noble's often strange graph. I like it. Big but controlled bass, natural sounding midrange, even when tested with Violin and Flute solos. Soundstage feels large with an interesting "wrap around" feeling with some tracks. Treble is well extended and exciting but not as harsh as the graph suggest. Detail retrieval is in the same class as U12T and Monarch.
One complain: driver flex. AUD $3800 with this level of driver flex is quick shocking. And the stock cable is quite poor (feeling, no comment about the sound). At least it is better than the old 64 Audio cable.
Edit: Got to try Focal Clear (B stock, AUD $800, dropping from I think AUD $2000). Not sure if I like, but very respectable performance. I don't quite get the report of these headphones cracking and snapping, as they feel strong as heck and can take some abuse.
I also tried LCD-3. Nearly broke my neck. 10/10.
Edit 2: demo units are generously provided by Addicted to Audio Adelaide. Have a visit if you are near an A2A store. The staffs are very friendly.
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