[Steranko]

How many of you are tired of listening to the same old sound again and again and want to try some new drivers in IEM?

 

[Rockwell75]

How many of you are tired of listening to the same old sound again and again and want to try some new drivers in IEM?

Quite the opposite. I'm hoping for more back-to-basics approaches with DDs and planars.

Edit: Just to be clear I am not against or not interested in new driver types or anything but I'm not particularly interested in new for the sake of new and rapidly hopping from one tech to another just to try something new. Many of my favorite IEMs and experiences in recent times have reminded me that, in addition to the new and beautiful there is much joy and value in keeping things simple and taking what we already have to higher levels.

 

[wolfstar76]

How many of you are tired of listening to the same old sound again and again and want to try some new drivers in IEM?

It's natural to be interested in new IEMs or Headphones in this hobby. However, sometimes it happens that when you went back from the new toys to your old friends, you might be surprised that they were so good, still stood up to those newly hyped IEMs.

 

[bigbeans]

Regarding my old flame, the Shanling M8. I do regret selling M8, the sound was unlike anything else however the software issues bugged me quite a bit. Hopefully M9 Plus will bring back this similar sound but with a modern software package.

 

[cn11]

Regarding my old flame, the Shanling M8. I do regret selling M8, the sound was unlike anything else however the software issues bugged me quite a bit. Hopefully M9 Plus will bring back this similar sound but with a modern software package.

I got one almost a month ago... a like new used unit from Musicteck. I'm returning it due to the frequent amp shut off during playback, software bugs, volume wheel not working periodically, incorrect track indexing, etc. Way too unreliable of a device. The sound is crazy good though, no question, and I'll certainly miss that. I'm going to exchange it for a Cayin N7 I think.... maybe that'll help me miss the M8's sound less.

 

[bigbeans]

I got one almost a month ago... a like new used unit from Musicteck. I'm returning it due to the frequent amp shut off during playback, software bugs, volume wheel not working periodically, incorrect track indexing, etc. Way too unreliable of a device. The sound is crazy good though, no question, and I'll certainly miss that. I'm going to exchange it for a Cayin N7 I think.... maybe that'll help me miss the M8's sound less.

The sound of N7 is prob the best DAP I’ve heard under 2k*. Better than N8ii imho. However it’s held back by the lack of thrust of the amplification which you get in spades with Shanling devices.

If you can, hold out longer for M9 Plus. Or try to use the M8 purely as a dongle.

*modern DAP, not including 'obsolete' M8 (as Shanling classifies it)

 

[Rockwell75]

Regarding my old flame, the Shanling M8. I do regret selling M8, the sound was unlike anything else however the software issues bugged me quite a bit. Hopefully M9 Plus will bring back this similar sound but with a modern software package.

That would be miiiighty tempting.

 

[cn11]

The sound of N7 is prob the best DAP I’ve heard under 2k*. Better than N8ii imho. However it’s held back by the lack of thrust of the amplification which you get in spades with Shanling devices.

If you can, hold out longer for M9 Plus. Or try to use the M8 purely as a dongle.

*modern DAP, not including 'obsolete' M8 (as Shanling classifies it)

Thanks for the thoughts on the N7. I don't really need huge amplification drive, anymore that is. I bought the M8 with the idea to properly drive the Maestro SE which it did admirably... that is until it would get too hot and stop playing! But I've sold the Maestro SE in the interest of trying out some other IEMs which aren't anywhere near as hard to drive as the MSE (I've gone down quite a different path). So maybe the N7 would be a good consideration. The other idea is the Hiby RS6. I am definitely trying to stay a fair margin under 2K obviously.

For dongle needs, I recently got in the iFi Gold Bar, which is just fantastic. I did some volume matched comparisons with the M8, and I'd say it's easily 90% there in terms of sound quality. It drove the MSE just fine on turbo gain. Its sound characteristics are even quite similar to the M8. Once I find my DAP, I think I'll have sources covered for a good stretch, hopefully.

 

[ljnew]

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[boromcom]

Any impressions for Mentor vs Annihilator 2023?

I can remember bass is different. I like Annihilator DD for bass.

Any thoughts?

 

[Not so fat head]

You alll read my mind, and I'm not sure that's good... Anyway just for the heck of it, I was looking at the ingredients of my latest Crest tooth past compared to tubes I had in a drawer I bought before Covid.. Different names, new and improved, yada, yada, yada... The INGREDIENTs are the same... Ha!!!
No different with IEM's... Nothing really new under the sun.... Sure they made the shells bigger so they can cram more of the same old BA's in there, but it becomes a network nightmare trying to separate and distribute the proper frequency's to the drivers.

 

[slumberman]

2019 Andro - sounds great. The Stellar Horizon is really good, especially for the price. I shouldn't say that it sounds a lot like the Trifecta, but it kind of does. I've yet to listen to them critically to pick out the differences, so that opinion might change if I ever care to review these. Campfire definitely has a house sound, which I am admittedly a huge fan of. Right now I'm just enjoying all of the different flavors of ice cream. I have a Solaris 2020 coming soon and that will likely be my last IEM purchase for a very long time.

Wow! I have both as well and I couldn’t see them being more different from each other. Always fascinating how we all hear these things different!

 

[nocturne19]

Any impressions for Mentor vs Annihilator 2023?

I can remember bass is different. I like Annihilator DD for bass.

Any thoughts?

Please take this comparison as a grain of salt coz this is based on my memory:

Bass: Arguably similar to my ears, focusing more on mid-bass. Mentor has more rumble though because of its bcd.

Mids: Similar to my ears, both leaning on upper mids. Mentor has noticeably more upper mids/lower treble though. Vocals on anni 2023 have better 'shape', as I would describe.

Treble: Both are excellent, but Anni 2023 is just exceptional. Subjectively the iem with the best treble in the market, by no means harsh with astonishing extention. Just amazing. Don't get me wrong, Mentor has excellent highs as well, just gets a bit hot sometimes.

Separation: Mentor wins a bit, but not too far off actually.

Soundstage: Both have excellent width, but Mentor has more depth imo. Mentor is that iem with a holographic soundstage, reminiscent of the legendary Z1R.

Resolution: Similar tbh, but I would say Anni 2023 extracts details effortlessly. You dont have to focus on the music to catch details, its all just there, amazing.

Dynamics: Anni 2023 wins a bit, but again not too far off.

 

[Deezel177]

is the red similar to erlkoing, as i already own erlkonig

I haven't heard the Erlky in a while, so I can't really comment in specifics. But, compared to the PHoNIX LE (which is a bit like the Erlky, AFAIK), the Red is more intimate and lush-sounding with bigger, richer notes. It's more like ELYSIUM or VE8 than Erlky, really. And, you can really hear the EST treble and DD bass on the Red too. Relative to the Red, the PHoNIX LE sounded more same-y across its FR, and you can really tell it's an all-BA set-up. You'll get more liveliness, texture and contrast from the Red, especially up top and down low.

Any impressions for Mentor vs Annihilator 2023?

I can remember bass is different. I like Annihilator DD for bass.

Any thoughts?

The Anni has much more vibrant and airy high-mids and highs. It's more like fresh, chilled water, while the Mentor's more like honey IMO.

 

[boromcom]

Please take this comparison as a grain of salt coz this is based on my memory:

Bass: Arguably similar to my ears, focusing more on mid-bass. Mentor has more rumble though because of its bcd.

Mids: Similar to my ears, both leaning on upper mids. Mentor has noticeably more upper mids/lower treble though. Vocals on anni 2023 have better 'shape', as I would describe.

Treble: Both are excellent, but Anni 2023 is just exceptional. Subjectively the iem with the best treble in the market, by no means harsh with astonishing extention. Just amazing. Don't get me wrong, Mentor has excellent highs as well, just gets a bit hot sometimes.

Separation: Mentor separates wins a bit, but not too far off actually.

Soundstage: Both have excellent width, but Mentor has more depth imo. Mentor is that iem with a holographic soundstage, reminiscent of the legendary Z1R.

Resolution: Similar tbh, but I would say Anni 2023 extracts details effortlessly. You dont have to focus on the music to catch details, its all just there, amazing.

Dynamics: Anni 2023 wins a bit, but again not too far off.

I haven't heard the Erlky in a while, so I can't really comment in specifics. But, compared to the PHoNIX LE (which is a bit like the Erlky, AFAIK), the Red is more intimate and lush-sounding with bigger, richer notes. It's more like ELYSIUM or VE8 than Erlky, really. And, you can really hear the EST treble and DD bass on the Red too. Relative to the Red, the PHoNIX LE sounded more same-y across its FR, and you can really tell it's an all-BA set-up. You'll get more liveliness, texture and contrast from the Red, especially up top and down low.


The Anni has much more vibrant and airy high-mids and highs. It's more like fresh, chilled water, while the Mentor's more like honey IMO.

Thanks both. I just ordered Anni to fill in my collection (Mentor, Xe6 and MSE) But somehow, I have concerned that it might duplicate Mentor