[jwilliamhurst]

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays Cooler Friends
May it be a joyous, peaceful and cheerful time for all of you!
Thank you for making this my favorite place on the internet!

 

[Daniel70928]

Doesn’t Elysian not have good enough qc standards though?

 

[Rockwell75]

Doesn’t Elysian not have good enough qc standards though?

Their QC is top knotch as far as I know and as far as my experience goes.

Edit: In the past they had issues with wait/build times, communication etc. But their linking up with EA seems to have sorted that out. QC has always been top tier though, I think consensus is pretty solid on that.

 

[wolfstar76]

Question: What's the first IEM you expect to buy in 2024?

The first IEM I expect to buy in 2024 is not yet finalized, but currently I am looking at Bellos X4 and Canpur 622b, however, both will be a blind buy.

 

[Daniel70928]

Oh ok nice

 

[maegnificant]

Question: What's the first IEM you expect to buy in 2024?

The Tribrid that Timsok is working on as well as the Elysian Pilgrim seem very enticing so far.

 

[wolfstar76]

Merry Christmas fellow Watercoolers I would like to share some impressions of a recent mini audio show hosted by our local dealer:

(Source: SP3000)


Dita Audio Project M. Spotlight of the show. I hear this iem to be neutralish-bright. We have extra energy in upper-mids and middle-treble which suits jpop/anisong vocals really well. Bass is sufficient, Mids are full-sounding albeit on the brighter side, Highs have good extension with plenty of sparkle. Odd treble peaks are minimal, so I guess it can be used for long listening sessions. Technical-wise, resolution, dynamics and staing are on line where soundstage is pretty impressive - it spreads really wide without being artificial or odd. Not really what I expect an iem in this price range can achieve: I consider this to be one of the highlights of Project M.

are flagship-level, probably not the best in resolution but undoubtedly one of the widest stages I have heard. What a surprise from Empire, I do enjoy this iem a lot.

"Neutralish-bright" and "Bass is sufficient" are both deal breaker for me, I don't like bright, I need more than sufficient bass

 

[Smirk 24]

Their QC is top knotch as far as I know and as far as my experience goes.

Edit: In the past they had issues with wait/build times, communication etc. But their linking up with EA seems to have sorted that out. QC has always been top tier though, I think consensus is pretty solid on that.

I’ve heard that Lee takes QC very seriously.

I and a few other early adopters did have issues with the Diva 2023 where the nozzle cap would fall off when tip-rolling. To my understanding, this happened because the group Lee outsourced Diva production to used the wrong glue. I believe this has since been rectified.

I’ve also owned the Annihilator and I had no issues with that.

 

[theintention]

Dita Audio Project M. Spotlight of the show. I hear this iem to be neutralish-bright. We have extra energy in upper-mids and middle-treble which suits jpop/anisong vocals really well. Bass is sufficient, Mids are full-sounding albeit on the brighter side, Highs have good extension with plenty of sparkle. Odd treble peaks are minimal, so I guess it can be used for long listening sessions. Technical-wise, resolution, dynamics and staing are on line where soundstage is pretty impressive - it spreads really wide without being artificial or odd. Not really what I expect an iem in this price range can achieve: I consider this to be one of the highlights of Project M.

Ah, I can’t wait for this set. Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[Rockwell75]

"Neutralish-bright" and "Bass is sufficient" are both deal breaker for me, I don't like bright, I need more than sufficient bass

Same here. In addition I've learned to avoid sets that seem tuned for J and K Pop...not that there's anything wrong with that genre or IEMs tuned for it...but I've learned that it's generally outside my preferences. All of that said my #1 rule still applies and I'll suspend judgement until I hear it...I just probably won't go blind on it now. Perpetua is arguably IEM of the year for me, and I've heard some pretty great sets this year. Dita certainly has my undivided attention at the moment.

 

[Rockwell75]

Yeah and I won’t keep buying every single DAP that releases..

What are you onto now...n30LE? I saw you sold your WM1ZM2.

 

[theintention]

Question: What's the first IEM you expect to buy in 2024?

Considering I had to wait to return from vacation, Penon Quattro will be the first set of the year. After the Neo 5, they have my attention for newer sets.

 

[aaf evo]

What are you onto now...n30LE? I saw you sold your WM1ZM2.

Gotta keep up man! No I sold the N30 LE a little after CanJam Dallas because I almost had a stroke that weekend trying to use it “on the go.” On top of that I didn’t find N30 + Fei Wan synergy to be that great so I sold it to basically put some $ towards the FW and BH 4 wire cable. I bought the HiBy R8 II, still a brick but there’s some QoL improvements over N30 LE that make it much more enjoyable for portable use, and the price/performance of it is fantastic.

 

[dkar]

This has been quite the year for me getting back into DAPs and IEMs. While I still love my desktop Susvara stack, IEMs have been getting a lot more use lately.

I just wanted to thank everyone here for the great discussion, impressions, and recommendations.

@Rockwell75, thank you for helping build and drive this community, including facilitating the many tours. I honestly didn't think I'd have a chance before year's end to listen to the RN6 or XE6, but you made it happen.

I'm ending the year on a high note with the Aura + FTS + SP3000 + Tsuranagi.

The Aura continues to impress me as I've fine-tuned them over the past couple of months with tip rolling, cable matching, and throwing the Tsu into the mix. I couldn't be happier with the combination that I've settled on and I'm looking forward to taking this with me to some warmer weather in a couple of days.

As I look towards '24, I can't wait to start it with the Campfire Trifecta + OTL (which is currently stuck in customs). Hopefully, I can make it out to a CanJam next year to meet some Coolers in person.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season and a very happy new year!

 

[tjzurlaaa]

This has been quite the year for me getting back into DAPs and IEMs. While I still love my desktop Susvara stack, IEMs have been getting a lot more use lately.

I just wanted to thank everyone here for the great discussion, impressions, and recommendations.

@Rockwell75, thank you for helping build and drive this community, including facilitating the many tours. I honestly didn't think I'd have a chance before year's end to listen to the RN6 or XE6, but you made it happen.

I'm ending the year on a high note with the Aura + FTS + SP3000 + Tsuranagi.



The Aura continues to impress me as I've fine-tuned them over the past couple of months with tip rolling, cable matching, and throwing the Tsu into the mix. I couldn't be happier with the combination that I've settled on and I'm looking forward to taking this with me to some warmer weather in a couple of days.

As I look towards '24, I can't wait to start it with the Campfire Trifecta + OTL (which is currently stuck in customs). Hopefully, I can make it out to a CanJam next year to meet some Coolers in person.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season and a very happy new year!

That is an awesome set up!! I see you went back to the stock tips with aura I keep going back to them as well haha so good