[linux4ever]

TIMSOK TS-316 single DD. I figured why not

@Auricon, any impressions on this iem?

 

[emdeevee]

Cross-posting from the Elysian Diva thread:

I recently spent some quality time with both Diva and Annihilator 2023 thanks to the US Watercooler tour, and so, here are my thoughts on Diva 2023:

At the outset, thank you to Elysian Audio and Effect Audio for providing this tour kit, and of course always to our tour guru, @Rockwell75! Second, the disclaimer, I am just a guy who loves portable audio, but not a pro and not a reviewer, just a consumer. As a tour unit, this came with cable only, no packaging or accessories, so I cannot make any comments there.

After not loving my first Elysian demo with the Gaea, I was dubious about Diva 2023 and its expensive ($1600 retail) all-BA (6xBAs) configuration, because at very first listen, I was not impressed at all, hearing a distinct thinness to the sound. Two days of playing around with tips and the bass switch, and I figured out that this iem (along with the Annihilator I was testing concurrently) just needs the right tips and some substantial power to actually perform! Tips were important – AZLA crystal and xelastic sounded best to me. On L&P’s P6Pro, which is not terribly powerful, with Diva (and Annihilator), I needed to go to high gain and often found myself listening at 60%+ volume levels to hear what these can do; story was pretty much the same with Cayin N6ii R01. Bigger flagship DAPs or dedicated AMP/DAC will be best for Elysian products, methinks, though the r2r playback of my DAPs seemed tailor made for Diva. As for fit, the shells are big, no getting around it, protruding from the ear. I had no fit issues at all, however, and being light weight, I found them very comfortable for long sessions. And you either like their blingy look or not - I did, especially when playing with the lighting as colors in the faceplates would just radiate; very nice, but yeah, a bit blingy.

In order for me to find Diva engaging, I had to adjust its tuning switch (which requires a small tool) to the blue position which put some "meat on the bones" and provided a full, rich sound; in white and red positions, the bass was too subdued for my tastes. The blue setting is supposed to increase mid/sub bass and it definitely does. It’s trying to mimic a DD-like bass and like other good BA bass sets, it succeeds to a great degree as it almost feels like movement in my ear. Excellent separation, positioning and stage which seems rectangular, wrapping slightly around the head. Vocals are outside the head and there is plenty of air, even at this bass heavy setting. Bass quantity and quality are really good for BAs. Upfront, let’s say that we’re hearing BA bass and there’s no way around that no matter how well implemented – but it does have slam and you HEAR it, but without the air movement of DDs, you do not feel it as prominently; not a criticism, I am impressed by all-BA sets that can deliver a bass like this! It might not move air, but it slams, is fast and sounds great, so props to Elysian. There is a mids/highs focus with excellent tuning, which to me means the entire FR sounds as it should while adding some excitement in the listen, here it’s warm and “musical” sounding making long listening sessions a joy.

Technically to my ears, Diva has a big, wide stage (better than Aur Neon Pro which I occasionally a/b'd with Diva) and incredibly good separation of instruments and vocals with lots of air across the stage (which sounds like a big rectangle that wraps around your head). Cable is great for a "stock" cable these days, as it should be at this price! This is an Effect Audio Ares II 4w, all copper (which itself is a $150 cable), and it sounds outstanding! I have an 8w version, and while it packs a bit more punch, this one is ergonomically much nicer for obvious reasons without giving up much in the sound department; the Ares 8w did give more volume and "oomph" but was otherwise similar. Elysian use "Pentaconn" connectors so if you're going to cable roll, know that going in. Just nice to get a good stock cable once in awhile!

Diva is certainly one of the best all-BA sets I’ve heard, with a stage, resolution and SQ that all gel into a very fun listening experience with the Elysian secret sauce, a tuning to die for that separates Diva from competition. Most important thing I could say about these is they are really hungry for power in order to truly shine. My other all-BAs are not like this. If you’re working off a phone/dongle combo, I would be wary and get a good try first as these probably aren't fun with low power. While they sound great on both my DAPs, they are pushing them to the limit [edit: I did quickly try them with my new Shanling M9+ and this was exactly what was needed from a power standpoint in a DAP] they pound even harder when connected to greater power. Through my desktop Hifiman EF400, they truly came out of their shells! The mimicking of the air movement of the bass here is quite satisfying as if they snuck a DD inside without telling.

I pre-judged Diva thinking it was too expensive for what it is, that I wouldn’t like its bass, etc. But I do like it, and quite a lot. And that “like” grew a lot over my week with it, maybe not into “love”, but certainly into respect and admiration. It’s hard to love this set at full retail $1600 when the terrific Aur Neon Pro is less than half that and a worthy competitor to Diva, though not its equal. The differences between them are small, and come down mostly to tuning (and the perhaps subsequent need for more power on Diva), where Diva has an edge, but at a big premium. I’ve not heard the similarly equipped Penon Turbo which is even less than NP and supposedly delivers a BA bass to be savored. On the other hand, you could spend more on the 64Audio U12t and get double the BA drivers, but in my short time with U12t, my preference would actually go to Diva which was a more exciting listen than I recall U12t. So my feeling is Diva may not provide the best price/performance ratio that some of the competition does, but it's worth it in that Diva does have a very unique package to offer!

These are just my own $0.02 and that's to say that listening to iems is so inherently subjective, please take my comments with a grain of salt.

 

[Auricon]

@Auricon, any impressions on this iem?

Still waiting for delivery

 

[Badlands]

Cross-posting from the Elysian Diva thread:

I recently spent some quality time with both Diva and Annihilator 2023 thanks to the US Watercooler tour, and so, here are my thoughts on Diva 2023:

At the outset, thank you to Elysian Audio and Effect Audio for providing this tour kit, and of course always to our tour guru, @Rockwell75! Second, the disclaimer, I am just a guy who loves portable audio, but not a pro and not a reviewer, just a consumer. As a tour unit, this came with cable only, no packaging or accessories, so I cannot make any comments there.

After not loving my first Elysian demo with the Gaea, I was dubious about Diva 2023 and its expensive ($1600 retail) all-BA (6xBAs) configuration, because at very first listen, I was not impressed at all, hearing a distinct thinness to the sound. Two days of playing around with tips and the bass switch, and I figured out that this iem (along with the Annihilator I was testing concurrently) just needs the right tips and some substantial power to actually perform! Tips were important – AZLA crystal and xelastic sounded best to me. On L&P’s P6Pro, which is not terribly powerful, with Diva (and Annihilator), I needed to go to high gain and often found myself listening at 60%+ volume levels to hear what these can do; story was pretty much the same with Cayin N6ii R01. Bigger flagship DAPs or dedicated AMP/DAC will be best for Elysian products, methinks, though the r2r playback of my DAPs seemed tailor made for Diva. As for fit, the shells are big, no getting around it, protruding from the ear. I had no fit issues at all, however, and being light weight, I found them very comfortable for long sessions. And you either like their blingy look or not - I did, especially when playing with the lighting as colors in the faceplates would just radiate; very nice, but yeah, a bit blingy.

In order for me to find Diva engaging, I had to adjust its tuning switch (which requires a small tool) to the blue position which put some "meat on the bones" and provided a full, rich sound; in white and red positions, the bass was too subdued for my tastes. The blue setting is supposed to increase mid/sub bass and it definitely does. It’s trying to mimic a DD-like bass and like other good BA bass sets, it succeeds to a great degree as it almost feels like movement in my ear. Excellent separation, positioning and stage which seems rectangular, wrapping slightly around the head. Vocals are outside the head and there is plenty of air, even at this bass heavy setting. Bass quantity and quality are really good for BAs. Upfront, let’s say that we’re hearing BA bass and there’s no way around that no matter how well implemented – but it does have slam and you HEAR it, but without the air movement of DDs, you do not feel it as prominently; not a criticism, I am impressed by all-BA sets that can deliver a bass like this! It might not move air, but it slams, is fast and sounds great, so props to Elysian. There is a mids/highs focus with excellent tuning, which to me means the entire FR sounds as it should while adding some excitement in the listen, here it’s warm and “musical” sounding making long listening sessions a joy.

Technically to my ears, Diva has a big, wide stage (better than Aur Neon Pro which I occasionally a/b'd with Diva) and incredibly good separation of instruments and vocals with lots of air across the stage (which sounds like a big rectangle that wraps around your head). Cable is great for a "stock" cable these days, as it should be at this price! This is an Effect Audio Ares II 4w, all copper (which itself is a $150 cable), and it sounds outstanding! I have an 8w version, and while it packs a bit more punch, this one is ergonomically much nicer for obvious reasons without giving up much in the sound department; the Ares 8w did give more volume and "oomph" but was otherwise similar. Elysian use "Pentaconn" connectors so if you're going to cable roll, know that going in. Just nice to get a good stock cable once in awhile!

Diva is certainly one of the best all-BA sets I’ve heard, with a stage, resolution and SQ that all gel into a very fun listening experience with the Elysian secret sauce, a tuning to die for that separates Diva from competition. Most important thing I could say about these is they are really hungry for power in order to truly shine. My other all-BAs are not like this. If you’re working off a phone/dongle combo, I would be wary and get a good try first as these probably aren't fun with low power. While they sound great on both my DAPs, they are pushing them to the limit [edit: I did quickly try them with my new Shanling M9+ and this was exactly what was needed from a power standpoint in a DAP] they pound even harder when connected to greater power. Through my desktop Hifiman EF400, they truly came out of their shells! The mimicking of the air movement of the bass here is quite satisfying as if they snuck a DD inside without telling.

I pre-judged Diva thinking it was too expensive for what it is, that I wouldn’t like its bass, etc. But I do like it, and quite a lot. And that “like” grew a lot over my week with it, maybe not into “love”, but certainly into respect and admiration. It’s hard to love this set at full retail $1600 when the terrific Aur Neon Pro is less than half that and a worthy competitor to Diva, though not its equal. The differences between them are small, and come down mostly to tuning (and the perhaps subsequent need for more power on Diva), where Diva has an edge, but at a big premium. I’ve not heard the similarly equipped Penon Turbo which is even less than NP and supposedly delivers a BA bass to be savored. On the other hand, you could spend more on the 64Audio U12t and get double the BA drivers, but in my short time with U12t, my preference would actually go to Diva which was a more exciting listen than I recall U12t. So my feeling is Diva may not provide the best price/performance ratio that some of the competition does, but it's worth it in that Diva does have a very unique package to offer!

These are just my own $0.02 and that's to say that listening to iems is so inherently subjective, please take my comments with a grain of salt.

Thank you for sharing your impressions of Diva which match my assessment having owned them for a month. Great overview. I too noticed that Diva required power as I was not impressed with it out of my RU7. Chord Mojo 2 brought it to life with terrific vocals, clarity and separation. Kenzie 2 added further refinement and euphony without any tube background hiss or hum which I actually loved about Diva. Bottom line, definitely plan to employ a source with some power for that IEM.

 

[moltening]

Cross-posting from the Elysian Diva thread:

I recently spent some quality time with both Diva and Annihilator 2023 thanks to the US Watercooler tour, and so, here are my thoughts on Diva 2023:

At the outset, thank you to Elysian Audio and Effect Audio for providing this tour kit, and of course always to our tour guru, @Rockwell75! Second, the disclaimer, I am just a guy who loves portable audio, but not a pro and not a reviewer, just a consumer. As a tour unit, this came with cable only, no packaging or accessories, so I cannot make any comments there.

After not loving my first Elysian demo with the Gaea, I was dubious about Diva 2023 and its expensive ($1600 retail) all-BA (6xBAs) configuration, because at very first listen, I was not impressed at all, hearing a distinct thinness to the sound. Two days of playing around with tips and the bass switch, and I figured out that this iem (along with the Annihilator I was testing concurrently) just needs the right tips and some substantial power to actually perform! Tips were important – AZLA crystal and xelastic sounded best to me. On L&P’s P6Pro, which is not terribly powerful, with Diva (and Annihilator), I needed to go to high gain and often found myself listening at 60%+ volume levels to hear what these can do; story was pretty much the same with Cayin N6ii R01. Bigger flagship DAPs or dedicated AMP/DAC will be best for Elysian products, methinks, though the r2r playback of my DAPs seemed tailor made for Diva. As for fit, the shells are big, no getting around it, protruding from the ear. I had no fit issues at all, however, and being light weight, I found them very comfortable for long sessions. And you either like their blingy look or not - I did, especially when playing with the lighting as colors in the faceplates would just radiate; very nice, but yeah, a bit blingy.

In order for me to find Diva engaging, I had to adjust its tuning switch (which requires a small tool) to the blue position which put some "meat on the bones" and provided a full, rich sound; in white and red positions, the bass was too subdued for my tastes. The blue setting is supposed to increase mid/sub bass and it definitely does. It’s trying to mimic a DD-like bass and like other good BA bass sets, it succeeds to a great degree as it almost feels like movement in my ear. Excellent separation, positioning and stage which seems rectangular, wrapping slightly around the head. Vocals are outside the head and there is plenty of air, even at this bass heavy setting. Bass quantity and quality are really good for BAs. Upfront, let’s say that we’re hearing BA bass and there’s no way around that no matter how well implemented – but it does have slam and you HEAR it, but without the air movement of DDs, you do not feel it as prominently; not a criticism, I am impressed by all-BA sets that can deliver a bass like this! It might not move air, but it slams, is fast and sounds great, so props to Elysian. There is a mids/highs focus with excellent tuning, which to me means the entire FR sounds as it should while adding some excitement in the listen, here it’s warm and “musical” sounding making long listening sessions a joy.

Technically to my ears, Diva has a big, wide stage (better than Aur Neon Pro which I occasionally a/b'd with Diva) and incredibly good separation of instruments and vocals with lots of air across the stage (which sounds like a big rectangle that wraps around your head). Cable is great for a "stock" cable these days, as it should be at this price! This is an Effect Audio Ares II 4w, all copper (which itself is a $150 cable), and it sounds outstanding! I have an 8w version, and while it packs a bit more punch, this one is ergonomically much nicer for obvious reasons without giving up much in the sound department; the Ares 8w did give more volume and "oomph" but was otherwise similar. Elysian use "Pentaconn" connectors so if you're going to cable roll, know that going in. Just nice to get a good stock cable once in awhile!

Diva is certainly one of the best all-BA sets I’ve heard, with a stage, resolution and SQ that all gel into a very fun listening experience with the Elysian secret sauce, a tuning to die for that separates Diva from competition. Most important thing I could say about these is they are really hungry for power in order to truly shine. My other all-BAs are not like this. If you’re working off a phone/dongle combo, I would be wary and get a good try first as these probably aren't fun with low power. While they sound great on both my DAPs, they are pushing them to the limit [edit: I did quickly try them with my new Shanling M9+ and this was exactly what was needed from a power standpoint in a DAP] they pound even harder when connected to greater power. Through my desktop Hifiman EF400, they truly came out of their shells! The mimicking of the air movement of the bass here is quite satisfying as if they snuck a DD inside without telling.

I pre-judged Diva thinking it was too expensive for what it is, that I wouldn’t like its bass, etc. But I do like it, and quite a lot. And that “like” grew a lot over my week with it, maybe not into “love”, but certainly into respect and admiration. It’s hard to love this set at full retail $1600 when the terrific Aur Neon Pro is less than half that and a worthy competitor to Diva, though not its equal. The differences between them are small, and come down mostly to tuning (and the perhaps subsequent need for more power on Diva), where Diva has an edge, but at a big premium. I’ve not heard the similarly equipped Penon Turbo which is even less than NP and supposedly delivers a BA bass to be savored. On the other hand, you could spend more on the 64Audio U12t and get double the BA drivers, but in my short time with U12t, my preference would actually go to Diva which was a more exciting listen than I recall U12t. So my feeling is Diva may not provide the best price/performance ratio that some of the competition does, but it's worth it in that Diva does have a very unique package to offer!

These are just my own $0.02 and that's to say that listening to iems is so inherently subjective, please take my comments with a grain of salt.

Thank you for sharing!
I too think the Diva is a case study of "driver set up doesn't tell the whole story."
For the sound, I think the Diva is relatively good value.

Other $$$ IEMs that extract great sound from a lower driver count all-BA setup I can think of are the Helios, VE7, and QDC Gemini.
...and the SA6 Ultra/Mk2 as well!

 

[wolfstar76]

Cross-posting from the Elysian Diva thread:

I recently spent some quality time with both Diva and Annihilator 2023 thanks to the US Watercooler tour, and so, here are my thoughts on Diva 2023:

At the outset, thank you to Elysian Audio and Effect Audio for providing this tour kit, and of course always to our tour guru, @Rockwell75! Second, the disclaimer, I am just a guy who loves portable audio, but not a pro and not a reviewer, just a consumer. As a tour unit, this came with cable only, no packaging or accessories, so I cannot make any comments there.

After not loving my first Elysian demo with the Gaea, I was dubious about Diva 2023 and its expensive ($1600 retail) all-BA (6xBAs) configuration, because at very first listen, I was not impressed at all, hearing a distinct thinness to the sound. Two days of playing around with tips and the bass switch, and I figured out that this iem (along with the Annihilator I was testing concurrently) just needs the right tips and some substantial power to actually perform! Tips were important – AZLA crystal and xelastic sounded best to me. On L&P’s P6Pro, which is not terribly powerful, with Diva (and Annihilator), I needed to go to high gain and often found myself listening at 60%+ volume levels to hear what these can do; story was pretty much the same with Cayin N6ii R01. Bigger flagship DAPs or dedicated AMP/DAC will be best for Elysian products, methinks, though the r2r playback of my DAPs seemed tailor made for Diva. As for fit, the shells are big, no getting around it, protruding from the ear. I had no fit issues at all, however, and being light weight, I found them very comfortable for long sessions. And you either like their blingy look or not - I did, especially when playing with the lighting as colors in the faceplates would just radiate; very nice, but yeah, a bit blingy.

In order for me to find Diva engaging, I had to adjust its tuning switch (which requires a small tool) to the blue position which put some "meat on the bones" and provided a full, rich sound; in white and red positions, the bass was too subdued for my tastes. The blue setting is supposed to increase mid/sub bass and it definitely does. It’s trying to mimic a DD-like bass and like other good BA bass sets, it succeeds to a great degree as it almost feels like movement in my ear. Excellent separation, positioning and stage which seems rectangular, wrapping slightly around the head. Vocals are outside the head and there is plenty of air, even at this bass heavy setting. Bass quantity and quality are really good for BAs. Upfront, let’s say that we’re hearing BA bass and there’s no way around that no matter how well implemented – but it does have slam and you HEAR it, but without the air movement of DDs, you do not feel it as prominently; not a criticism, I am impressed by all-BA sets that can deliver a bass like this! It might not move air, but it slams, is fast and sounds great, so props to Elysian. There is a mids/highs focus with excellent tuning, which to me means the entire FR sounds as it should while adding some excitement in the listen, here it’s warm and “musical” sounding making long listening sessions a joy.

Technically to my ears, Diva has a big, wide stage (better than Aur Neon Pro which I occasionally a/b'd with Diva) and incredibly good separation of instruments and vocals with lots of air across the stage (which sounds like a big rectangle that wraps around your head). Cable is great for a "stock" cable these days, as it should be at this price! This is an Effect Audio Ares II 4w, all copper (which itself is a $150 cable), and it sounds outstanding! I have an 8w version, and while it packs a bit more punch, this one is ergonomically much nicer for obvious reasons without giving up much in the sound department; the Ares 8w did give more volume and "oomph" but was otherwise similar. Elysian use "Pentaconn" connectors so if you're going to cable roll, know that going in. Just nice to get a good stock cable once in awhile!

Diva is certainly one of the best all-BA sets I’ve heard, with a stage, resolution and SQ that all gel into a very fun listening experience with the Elysian secret sauce, a tuning to die for that separates Diva from competition. Most important thing I could say about these is they are really hungry for power in order to truly shine. My other all-BAs are not like this. If you’re working off a phone/dongle combo, I would be wary and get a good try first as these probably aren't fun with low power. While they sound great on both my DAPs, they are pushing them to the limit [edit: I did quickly try them with my new Shanling M9+ and this was exactly what was needed from a power standpoint in a DAP] they pound even harder when connected to greater power. Through my desktop Hifiman EF400, they truly came out of their shells! The mimicking of the air movement of the bass here is quite satisfying as if they snuck a DD inside without telling.

I pre-judged Diva thinking it was too expensive for what it is, that I wouldn’t like its bass, etc. But I do like it, and quite a lot. And that “like” grew a lot over my week with it, maybe not into “love”, but certainly into respect and admiration. It’s hard to love this set at full retail $1600 when the terrific Aur Neon Pro is less than half that and a worthy competitor to Diva, though not its equal. The differences between them are small, and come down mostly to tuning (and the perhaps subsequent need for more power on Diva), where Diva has an edge, but at a big premium. I’ve not heard the similarly equipped Penon Turbo which is even less than NP and supposedly delivers a BA bass to be savored. On the other hand, you could spend more on the 64Audio U12t and get double the BA drivers, but in my short time with U12t, my preference would actually go to Diva which was a more exciting listen than I recall U12t. So my feeling is Diva may not provide the best price/performance ratio that some of the competition does, but it's worth it in that Diva does have a very unique package to offer!

These are just my own $0.02 and that's to say that listening to iems is so inherently subjective, please take my comments with a grain of salt.

Good review, looking forward to demo this in my desktop amp.

 

[ljnew]

Sadly this is par for the course with FF. Hopefully they get back to you soon.

Ben said the Fatfreq grand maestro was sent on Saturday and would send a tracking code by now. They didn't, hopefully i hear something soon.

 

[Valrhona]

Cross-posting from the Elysian Diva thread:

I recently spent some quality time with both Diva and Annihilator 2023 thanks to the US Watercooler tour, and so, here are my thoughts on Diva 2023:

At the outset, thank you to Elysian Audio and Effect Audio for providing this tour kit, and of course always to our tour guru, @Rockwell75! Second, the disclaimer, I am just a guy who loves portable audio, but not a pro and not a reviewer, just a consumer. As a tour unit, this came with cable only, no packaging or accessories, so I cannot make any comments there.

After not loving my first Elysian demo with the Gaea, I was dubious about Diva 2023 and its expensive ($1600 retail) all-BA (6xBAs) configuration, because at very first listen, I was not impressed at all, hearing a distinct thinness to the sound. Two days of playing around with tips and the bass switch, and I figured out that this iem (along with the Annihilator I was testing concurrently) just needs the right tips and some substantial power to actually perform! Tips were important – AZLA crystal and xelastic sounded best to me. On L&P’s P6Pro, which is not terribly powerful, with Diva (and Annihilator), I needed to go to high gain and often found myself listening at 60%+ volume levels to hear what these can do; story was pretty much the same with Cayin N6ii R01. Bigger flagship DAPs or dedicated AMP/DAC will be best for Elysian products, methinks, though the r2r playback of my DAPs seemed tailor made for Diva. As for fit, the shells are big, no getting around it, protruding from the ear. I had no fit issues at all, however, and being light weight, I found them very comfortable for long sessions. And you either like their blingy look or not - I did, especially when playing with the lighting as colors in the faceplates would just radiate; very nice, but yeah, a bit blingy.

In order for me to find Diva engaging, I had to adjust its tuning switch (which requires a small tool) to the blue position which put some "meat on the bones" and provided a full, rich sound; in white and red positions, the bass was too subdued for my tastes. The blue setting is supposed to increase mid/sub bass and it definitely does. It’s trying to mimic a DD-like bass and like other good BA bass sets, it succeeds to a great degree as it almost feels like movement in my ear. Excellent separation, positioning and stage which seems rectangular, wrapping slightly around the head. Vocals are outside the head and there is plenty of air, even at this bass heavy setting. Bass quantity and quality are really good for BAs. Upfront, let’s say that we’re hearing BA bass and there’s no way around that no matter how well implemented – but it does have slam and you HEAR it, but without the air movement of DDs, you do not feel it as prominently; not a criticism, I am impressed by all-BA sets that can deliver a bass like this! It might not move air, but it slams, is fast and sounds great, so props to Elysian. There is a mids/highs focus with excellent tuning, which to me means the entire FR sounds as it should while adding some excitement in the listen, here it’s warm and “musical” sounding making long listening sessions a joy.

Technically to my ears, Diva has a big, wide stage (better than Aur Neon Pro which I occasionally a/b'd with Diva) and incredibly good separation of instruments and vocals with lots of air across the stage (which sounds like a big rectangle that wraps around your head). Cable is great for a "stock" cable these days, as it should be at this price! This is an Effect Audio Ares II 4w, all copper (which itself is a $150 cable), and it sounds outstanding! I have an 8w version, and while it packs a bit more punch, this one is ergonomically much nicer for obvious reasons without giving up much in the sound department; the Ares 8w did give more volume and "oomph" but was otherwise similar. Elysian use "Pentaconn" connectors so if you're going to cable roll, know that going in. Just nice to get a good stock cable once in awhile!

Diva is certainly one of the best all-BA sets I’ve heard, with a stage, resolution and SQ that all gel into a very fun listening experience with the Elysian secret sauce, a tuning to die for that separates Diva from competition. Most important thing I could say about these is they are really hungry for power in order to truly shine. My other all-BAs are not like this. If you’re working off a phone/dongle combo, I would be wary and get a good try first as these probably aren't fun with low power. While they sound great on both my DAPs, they are pushing them to the limit [edit: I did quickly try them with my new Shanling M9+ and this was exactly what was needed from a power standpoint in a DAP] they pound even harder when connected to greater power. Through my desktop Hifiman EF400, they truly came out of their shells! The mimicking of the air movement of the bass here is quite satisfying as if they snuck a DD inside without telling.

I pre-judged Diva thinking it was too expensive for what it is, that I wouldn’t like its bass, etc. But I do like it, and quite a lot. And that “like” grew a lot over my week with it, maybe not into “love”, but certainly into respect and admiration. It’s hard to love this set at full retail $1600 when the terrific Aur Neon Pro is less than half that and a worthy competitor to Diva, though not its equal. The differences between them are small, and come down mostly to tuning (and the perhaps subsequent need for more power on Diva), where Diva has an edge, but at a big premium. I’ve not heard the similarly equipped Penon Turbo which is even less than NP and supposedly delivers a BA bass to be savored. On the other hand, you could spend more on the 64Audio U12t and get double the BA drivers, but in my short time with U12t, my preference would actually go to Diva which was a more exciting listen than I recall U12t. So my feeling is Diva may not provide the best price/performance ratio that some of the competition does, but it's worth it in that Diva does have a very unique package to offer!

These are just my own $0.02 and that's to say that listening to iems is so inherently subjective, please take my comments with a grain of salt.

A man really enjoyed reading it.

 

[RonaldS86]

Sorry for the Over Ears post, but just have to share. Nobody does woodies like Fostex, and I oh boy do I HAVE WOOD...

Got the new Anniversary TH616 in yesterday. Just a thing of absolute beauty.



Fostex designed the grating to look like the sun's rays through trees. Stunning Japanese craftsmanship!

Allow me to have a wood too
That's stunning craftmanship indeed

 

[LFC_SL]

I have a lot of difficulty with comfort on larger IEMs, so this was a pleasant surprise for me because based on the shape alone I would have suspected a pressure point in the usual spot for me. I think it helps here that as a single DD they arent all that large. And the aluminum construction definitely helps with weight.

Its not perfect though. Doesnt quite reach that level of disappearing in my ears, but few if any have done that for me, not even the customs I have. I am pretty aware of them in my ear and longer sessions definitely leave my ears just tiny bit sore. But overall I am pretty happy with how they fit for me.

This is exactly what I've gleaned from reading reviews of this IEM which has kind of nerfed my interest in it for the time being.



I'm glad the fit is working for your. The only size issues I have is when IEMs are too small. Gigantic IEMs like Storm, Odyssey, Raven & Maestro SE have never posed a problem with me fit wise. Smaller IEMs like the Singularity, IER M9 etc. are more likely to give me a challenge.

I would contribute not only size also the shape of earpieces for pressure points and angle of where they sit, cable construction, and cable strain relief all matter against each person's unique ears. For example I usually veto spherical or round earpieces, springy cables and aggressive strain relief guides

 

[waveSounds]

@Scuba Devils I'm always excited when you share an album, your genres are very similar to mine. I love ambient, new world, modern classical, Psy dub and so on, as well as Tibetan and Japanese ambient works - lots of calming stuff that I see more as auditory landscapes which I use to meditate to, they act as mental diffusers for me, helping to let the day's chaos gently distill down from the whirlwind that is my mind, and percolate into my soul. It's almost guaranteed at this point that when you post one it goes straight into my Tidal faves. Keep sharing man, I love 'em! Giving that album by Globular a listen through now and it's ace.

 

[Onurb8690]

Hello Guys, which European distributor do you usually use to make your purchases, example Dap's Hiby

 

[WDitters]

Hello Guys, which European distributor do you usually use to make your purchases, example Dap's Hiby

I would actually check Hifishark to find good pre-owned DAPs

 

[haci]

May a man recommend some freshly made kaya to go along.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_jam

Malaysian, are we? -)

 

[mgsu]

@Scuba Devils I'm always excited when you share an album, your genres are very similar to mine. I love ambient, new world, modern classical, Psy dub and so on, as well as Tibetan and Japanese ambient works - lots of calming stuff that I see more as auditory landscapes which I use to meditate to, they act as mental diffusers for me, helping to let the day's chaos gently distill down from the whirlwind that is my mind, and percolate into my soul. It's almost guaranteed at this point that when you post one it goes straight into my Tidal faves. Keep sharing man, I love 'em! Giving that album by Globular a listen through now and it's ace.

Maybe you like this one