Always love your photo, my friend. Such a beautiful building‘Met’ my favourite philosopher while visiting Casa de Pilatos in Seville today. His stoic wisdom has got me through many challenging times.
Marcus Aurelius
The Watercooler -- Impressions, philosophical discussion and general banter. Index on first page. All welcome.
- Thread starter Rockwell75
- Start date
Wanted to post some brief impressions from my previous round of demos courtesy of Musicteck, as you may have read, I posted a full review of the Eletech Sonnet of Adam, but I also had on hand the Brise Shirogane 8 Wire and Brise Tsurangi.
I will start by saying, neither of these were very much a tonality that I desire/like and are very far from my preferences. So any hint of negativity is strictly from that, not at the actual product quality but I will attempt to remain as neutral as possible, just a forewarning. These are also rather brief as my listening time with these was limited due to my preferences diverging so far from them.
Brise Shirogane 8 wire:
Technicalities: The overall stage width I felt was very small and rather closed in, across testing with my Ragnar, Tesseract and Red Halo, I noticed a very forward upper mids/vocals presentation which lead to an often shouty and overly in your face delivery which causes the overall width to suffer drastically when compared to cables like the Sonnet of Adam, Centurion, Magnus 8w, Horus/Cleo and CleoII Octa. The depth is good and the height is moderate, nothing to write home about relative to many other top end cables that range significantly cheaper than the shirogane. The background is black....well when you can actually discern it between the giant bass.
My biggest dislike with the shirogane comes from it's timbre in the bass and treble areas. They are far too weighty, big and rounded that they sound extremely unnatural. Bass often comes off all sounding samey despite various drum types interacting together it becomes difficult to discern which due to the overwhelming weight assigned to them by this cable. The same story continues into the treble, especially the mid to upper treble transitions where flutes, certain cymbal hits and others reside, they just become overly hefty and sound tonally inaccurate to me to the point where it felt like an entirely different song than I was used to on my typical test tracks.
Bass: The Shirogane 8 wire has an extremely large quantity of bass, on top of a weighty, large note size that flows across the entire bass spectrum, from sub to mid although the effect is slightly less in the upper mid-bass but it still did contribute to a bit of congestion in the mid range for me, especially male vocals. These qualities contribute a large amount of punch and rumble to the bass and remains very warm for a pure silver cable. The Shirogane is able to fill out even the most "lean" or spacious iems, such as the Ragnar to the point where it honestly no longer sounded like the Ragnar.
Mids: The lower mids are a bit muddied by the bass bloom/bloat for me as mentioned above. There is a large amount of detail when you sit and truly dissect the music but the problem for me is, on casual listening it all just sounds like one big mush. The upper mids are very forward and full much like the entire rest of the spectrum with the shirogane. While i thought they were much more tonally accurate than the rest of the presentation, it was just too forward for me and came off as Odin on steroids (mind you, Odin never once felt overly forward/shouty to me).
Treble: I could not find much to like here, personally but for those who are treble sensitive, you may greatly enjoy the effect. The treble is very rounded, no edges, etching or peaks anywhere throughout. Continuing the trend, everything is severely weighted and big sounding. Despite being large and weighty, the lower treble is tucked behind the upper mids and a lot of detail was lost for me relative to the Centurion and other cables that remain lean, tight and controlled, upper treble gets nudged out by blooming sub bass that echoes across the entirety of the stage. While these are negatives to me I know many, especially in the cooler here, prefer this.
Tsurangi:
Technicalities: Fairly deep and okay width, meh height. Sharing a lot of qualities with the Shirogane, bass is big and mids are forward and treble is smoothened heavily which leads to a stage width that does not compete with the best out there like the Mass Kobo 475 which has great depth, width and height. Transients are kept to the slower side to maintain a more analogue tonality compared to the 475 which is very quick and etched so notes are easily separated. The focus of the Tsurangi is clearly on that analogue smoothness timbre and warm tonality, which, if you like that, this does well but I do feel overall detail is lost in favor of it, even compared to stock, non-amped SP3000.
Bass: Well textured and thumpy, the bass does reach a respectable depth, but in comparison to the 475 it does fall a bit short. I was happy to find there was much less bleed from the mid bass into the mids with the Tsu vs the Shiro, which I was fully expecting given how similar they are tonally. Relative to the 475, the bass is slower, more rounded and doesn't have as much sub bass authority but leans more into a mid bass rumble to capture that analogue warmth.
Mids: Detailed but lacking any air to them. Vocal placement is well centered but in no way better than the 475 which is also well placed. There is little separation between notes throughout the lower to upper mids which allows for a very nice cohesive presentation especially with slower/theatrical type music. Upper mids can become slightly shouty with the wrong music/cable/iem pairing though but does not go as far down the shout rabbit hole as the shirogane, which was nice.
Treble: Smooth and tucked neatly under the upper mids and bass. There is little that could offend even the most treble sensitive listener here. The Tsu keeps the entire region, from lower to upper treble well smoothed, rounded but not weighty or tonally "off" as the shirogane felt. There isn't much sparkle and even less air especially when compared to the more "V" shaped 475, which presents a treble that I am much more inclined to like, being basically the exact opposite of the Tsu, etched, well separated and airy and with a great sparkle in the lower regions without ever experiencing any bass/mid coverage.
While neither of these products from Brise are my cup of tea, I do know many coolers who love and swear by these. I would recommend them highly to anyone who has a treble sensitivity while loving big, bold, weighty but smoothed sounds. They both excel at textured bass and lower mids while making sure that the upper mid vocal range is elevated enough to not be muddied. Their overall technical strengths are below their asking price, personally, when things like the Sonnet of Adam and 475 do exists as competitors but this is done in favor of an analogue smoothness and warmth. So for all analogue lovers, these are products for you.
I will start by saying, neither of these were very much a tonality that I desire/like and are very far from my preferences. So any hint of negativity is strictly from that, not at the actual product quality but I will attempt to remain as neutral as possible, just a forewarning. These are also rather brief as my listening time with these was limited due to my preferences diverging so far from them.
Brise Shirogane 8 wire:
Technicalities: The overall stage width I felt was very small and rather closed in, across testing with my Ragnar, Tesseract and Red Halo, I noticed a very forward upper mids/vocals presentation which lead to an often shouty and overly in your face delivery which causes the overall width to suffer drastically when compared to cables like the Sonnet of Adam, Centurion, Magnus 8w, Horus/Cleo and CleoII Octa. The depth is good and the height is moderate, nothing to write home about relative to many other top end cables that range significantly cheaper than the shirogane. The background is black....well when you can actually discern it between the giant bass.
My biggest dislike with the shirogane comes from it's timbre in the bass and treble areas. They are far too weighty, big and rounded that they sound extremely unnatural. Bass often comes off all sounding samey despite various drum types interacting together it becomes difficult to discern which due to the overwhelming weight assigned to them by this cable. The same story continues into the treble, especially the mid to upper treble transitions where flutes, certain cymbal hits and others reside, they just become overly hefty and sound tonally inaccurate to me to the point where it felt like an entirely different song than I was used to on my typical test tracks.
Bass: The Shirogane 8 wire has an extremely large quantity of bass, on top of a weighty, large note size that flows across the entire bass spectrum, from sub to mid although the effect is slightly less in the upper mid-bass but it still did contribute to a bit of congestion in the mid range for me, especially male vocals. These qualities contribute a large amount of punch and rumble to the bass and remains very warm for a pure silver cable. The Shirogane is able to fill out even the most "lean" or spacious iems, such as the Ragnar to the point where it honestly no longer sounded like the Ragnar.
Mids: The lower mids are a bit muddied by the bass bloom/bloat for me as mentioned above. There is a large amount of detail when you sit and truly dissect the music but the problem for me is, on casual listening it all just sounds like one big mush. The upper mids are very forward and full much like the entire rest of the spectrum with the shirogane. While i thought they were much more tonally accurate than the rest of the presentation, it was just too forward for me and came off as Odin on steroids (mind you, Odin never once felt overly forward/shouty to me).
Treble: I could not find much to like here, personally but for those who are treble sensitive, you may greatly enjoy the effect. The treble is very rounded, no edges, etching or peaks anywhere throughout. Continuing the trend, everything is severely weighted and big sounding. Despite being large and weighty, the lower treble is tucked behind the upper mids and a lot of detail was lost for me relative to the Centurion and other cables that remain lean, tight and controlled, upper treble gets nudged out by blooming sub bass that echoes across the entirety of the stage. While these are negatives to me I know many, especially in the cooler here, prefer this.
Tsurangi:
Technicalities: Fairly deep and okay width, meh height. Sharing a lot of qualities with the Shirogane, bass is big and mids are forward and treble is smoothened heavily which leads to a stage width that does not compete with the best out there like the Mass Kobo 475 which has great depth, width and height. Transients are kept to the slower side to maintain a more analogue tonality compared to the 475 which is very quick and etched so notes are easily separated. The focus of the Tsurangi is clearly on that analogue smoothness timbre and warm tonality, which, if you like that, this does well but I do feel overall detail is lost in favor of it, even compared to stock, non-amped SP3000.
Bass: Well textured and thumpy, the bass does reach a respectable depth, but in comparison to the 475 it does fall a bit short. I was happy to find there was much less bleed from the mid bass into the mids with the Tsu vs the Shiro, which I was fully expecting given how similar they are tonally. Relative to the 475, the bass is slower, more rounded and doesn't have as much sub bass authority but leans more into a mid bass rumble to capture that analogue warmth.
Mids: Detailed but lacking any air to them. Vocal placement is well centered but in no way better than the 475 which is also well placed. There is little separation between notes throughout the lower to upper mids which allows for a very nice cohesive presentation especially with slower/theatrical type music. Upper mids can become slightly shouty with the wrong music/cable/iem pairing though but does not go as far down the shout rabbit hole as the shirogane, which was nice.
Treble: Smooth and tucked neatly under the upper mids and bass. There is little that could offend even the most treble sensitive listener here. The Tsu keeps the entire region, from lower to upper treble well smoothed, rounded but not weighty or tonally "off" as the shirogane felt. There isn't much sparkle and even less air especially when compared to the more "V" shaped 475, which presents a treble that I am much more inclined to like, being basically the exact opposite of the Tsu, etched, well separated and airy and with a great sparkle in the lower regions without ever experiencing any bass/mid coverage.
While neither of these products from Brise are my cup of tea, I do know many coolers who love and swear by these. I would recommend them highly to anyone who has a treble sensitivity while loving big, bold, weighty but smoothed sounds. They both excel at textured bass and lower mids while making sure that the upper mid vocal range is elevated enough to not be muddied. Their overall technical strengths are below their asking price, personally, when things like the Sonnet of Adam and 475 do exists as competitors but this is done in favor of an analogue smoothness and warmth. So for all analogue lovers, these are products for you.
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I would disagree. 1950’s and 60’s are great cables. The 1950’s remain a favorite of mine along with EA’s Horus and Horus 8-wire. I prefer Orpheus, but they also have excellent qualities IMHO.
I'm trying to sort out Trifecta. I have genuinely never heard something so dynamic. These things sound different with every set of tips I put on them, same with stock vs eletech cables, and not mildly so. Same for the Sony post-processing on the am2 vs direct source. I have other more technical IEMs that do not seek to change sound as much as these do with tweaking.
There are songs in my library that really, really jive with these. I miss a more extended treble...but then the instrument separation is insane, where they're bassy but there's still air and space. I'm hoping these aren't a quick catch and release, but they may be. Might be listing them on the classifieds. I'm not sure enough of my library works with them.
There are songs in my library that really, really jive with these. I miss a more extended treble...but then the instrument separation is insane, where they're bassy but there's still air and space. I'm hoping these aren't a quick catch and release, but they may be. Might be listing them on the classifieds. I'm not sure enough of my library works with them.
Glad you had fun. It must be nice to do something different once in awhile.The product of my afternoon jam music/painting session. I don't know who needs to hear this, but Batman thinks you're doing just great.
(also, no, the hands aren't a perfect tone match. In hindsight they needed a black base coat first. Future learnings)
salwani8888
100+ Head-Fier
take a look at sony zx707 too. just got it myself as my travel dap. Its not bit perfect for streaming apps, battery life with wifi on is not great but it does sound decent, its lightweight despite its 5" screen. SR35 as @Rockwell75 suggested is another good option. Much smaller in the hand than 707, but feels a few grams heavier. 707 sounds crisper (but not bright) than SR35 which is warmer and bassier. Ibasso DC-Elite is a surprisingly good dongle option - quite neutral sounding but good dynamics and decent soundstage / separation for a dongle.
Badlands
100+ Head-Fier
Like you, I’ve only had limited time with Trifecta. It is so different than any other IEM I’ve heard. Its vast soundstage envelops your entire head in a vivid and highly textured soundscape which was a bit disorienting for me at first. Perhaps that’s where you‘re sensing a feeling of weirdness? It did take time for me to adjust to it, but once that occurs, it takes you through a musical journey like no other IEM. @gLer mentioned Lana Del Rey’s A&W in his review of Trifecta and gave it a 10 out of 10 for how it rendered that song. I liken it to being on a roller coaster slowly ascending to the peak for the first 4:30 or so when the focus is on Lana’s vocals. Then you hit the peak when the bass kicks in and you’re on your flying through auditory rush of bass, vocals and dissonant sounds so visceral, you feel as if you could reach out and touch them. I still am getting to know Trifecta and looking forward to more of your impressions as you discover its strengths and weakness.My kiddos daycare reopened today and I finally got a chance to unbox my Trifectas. I have...so many feelings about these. Like, paragraphs and paragraphs of feelings. I've been running them for an hour out of the box and I absolutely understand why these were so polarizing.
My face listening to the stock cable and tips:
Then putting on eletech baroque tips:
Then putting on Eletech Victoria over the stock cable:
There is going to be a review--like, a lengthy review, because I have pages of thoughts on the aesthetic alone, but--man. These are weird. When they don't work, they don't work, and when they work, they slap. I genuinely have to think through how I want to articulate this.
Also, for those eyeing the golden sunset edition, there is this purple undertone running through the shells that renders them more amethyst tint than black. Which is to say:
1. Do not go by the product photos--lighting is tricky
2. I really need someone to sell me their Tyrion cable now, because as good as the eletech victoria sounds (and it sounds stupid good with these), the blue with the purple is absolutely killing my OCD.
(Stock cable above, in case anyone was wondering about the look)
I think @Rockwell75 is an absolute madman for having these as a daily driver, but man, these are just so weird. Like wonderfully, strangely weird. I did not expect to like these with electronica, but, no, there's something working here. I'm not entirely sure what it is, but it's working.
I kept the Tyrian and sold Victoria. That purple is really gorgeous, but in any event, even if I were considering to sell, it’s in 2 pin. I find these recent colour releases of Trifecta enchanting… which they had some kind of exchange programme hahahaMy kiddos daycare reopened today and I finally got a chance to unbox my Trifectas. I have...so many feelings about these. Like, paragraphs and paragraphs of feelings. I've been running them for an hour out of the box and I absolutely understand why these were so polarizing.
My face listening to the stock cable and tips:
Then putting on eletech baroque tips:
Then putting on Eletech Victoria over the stock cable:
There is going to be a review--like, a lengthy review, because I have pages of thoughts on the aesthetic alone, but--man. These are weird. When they don't work, they don't work, and when they work, they slap. I genuinely have to think through how I want to articulate this.
Also, for those eyeing the golden sunset edition, there is this purple undertone running through the shells that renders them more amethyst tint than black. Which is to say:
1. Do not go by the product photos--lighting is tricky
2. I really need someone to sell me their Tyrion cable now, because as good as the eletech victoria sounds (and it sounds stupid good with these), the blue with the purple is absolutely killing my OCD.
(Stock cable above, in case anyone was wondering about the look)
I think @Rockwell75 is an absolute madman for having these as a daily driver, but man, these are just so weird. Like wonderfully, strangely weird. I did not expect to like these with electronica, but, no, there's something working here. I'm not entirely sure what it is, but it's working.
Club music is insane on these, as are live acoustic recordings and pretty much anything vintage (Beatles Come Together being an immediate thought). But so much of my stuff is orchestra with violins and delicate strings. I knew this going in, but still, I'm not sure my library matches it. I'm trying to give it another day. I may put these up on the classifieds. I don't know. I can definitively say these are not like anything else I have heard or demoed, and not in some subtle "oh they've tweaked the frequency response a little bit here". I mean in the sense that these are different.
linux4ever
Headphoneus Supremus
The blue faceplate is so good to look at in person and the sound is topnotch. Songs with sub-bass shine without pushing out the mids & highs. Especially with eletech Raphael, the MSE sings beautifully. Mine is universal and at some point have to convert it to a CIEM.Really looking forward to spending some time with these MSEs, which eluded me all year. First impression is pretty optimistic...achieving the difficult goal of adapting an eastern tuning to a more western taste by providing a rich, deep and quality bass that doesn't intrude on the FR, but also doesn't come off thin sounding or fatiguing.
Watercooler tours are so awesome. I listened to this for 30 seconds at CanJam and wrote it off. But after an hour, from my DAP, at home with no noise or distraction, this is sounding awfully divine. And it's not too bad to look at, big chonky boi!
Thanks for the impressions. Maybe I'll get one, but are those 4.4mm connector a PW original and not pentaconn?Right, so...this happened.
(The mirror finish actually is not that gold looking, and under different lighting conditions/angles can result in different colours. I like it more than the satin finish which adamantly stays very gold at any angle.)
Raven impressions are quite well covered so I'll not repeat what everyone has said.
This is the Orpheus Lite....which is quite a misleading name because this is supposed to be a co-flagship with the Orpheus. I guess you could interpret the "Lite" as in size/weight. Anyway, this uses the same copper material as the Orphy but with a different geometry/build structure, and is even more shielded than the OrphyS (the parts above the Y-split is also shielded. Peter said in one of his videos that this is the highest level shielding out of any of his cables). It is noticeably more ergonomic and is thinner, leading to much better portability.
Packaging is only that metal case akin to the Orphy, so without the bad quality leather briefcase. I really don't mind since I don't use the case/box anyway so it saves a lot of space.
The silver polishing cloth that comes with it is supposed to be for the 4.4 connector, which is uncoated/coated with rose gold or sth, and the coating may fall off over time if you twist the connector a lot, according to Peter (but doesn't affect sound quality).
Sound wise it is somewhere in between FTS and OrphyS - still a warmish cable but is less analog than OrphyS because the sound is faster, especially in the bass regions. Bass slams harder on the Lite with better subbass extension but a bit less midbass quantity and the decay is faster. Mids are similar, extremely resolving, a touch less thick. Biggest difference is treble, which is noticeably better extended on the Lite with more air, whereas Orphy is a bit pulled back. As a result it is a touch more resolving than the OrphyS with better layering/spearation between instruments.
Soundstage stretches even wider (by a bit) on the Lite, but depth is not as prominent, so the OrphyS is still a bit more "holographic) due to more noticeable depth perception.
Both are pitch black - maybe the Lite is even blacker, if that is even a thing.
Overall I think the Lite's signature is a less warm, faster and a more modern sounding OrphyS - IMO it is not as classic analog sounding as the OrphyS so it is less "special" so to speak, but I think it is a much better all-rounder. I actually find the OrphyS not very versatile because it makes everything sound the same - warm, wet, analogue, even slow....which sometimes might not be a good thing. The Lite will be able to show the characteristics of the IEM much better as it is a bit more "natural". For example, I find OrphyS a poor match for the Raven due to its laid-back treble and slower sound, which takes away the Raven's inherent advantages. It is also not a good match for the XE6 since it is already very smooth sounding. Both IEMs match well with the Lite on the other hand because of the more "modern" sound, and especially on the treble side.
Love the idea that it sounds between OrphyS and FTS
Yeah. A good and reasonable idea
Badlands
100+ Head-Fier
The importance of libraries has come up often lately. Glad you mentioned that. Mine mainly comprises of singer/songwriter, some jazz and of course Springsteen. Listening to Darkness on the Edge of Town now which can be classified as vintage.
The drums and Bruce’s vocals are rendered in a way I haven’t heard before. I‘m definitely in the honeymoon phase. We’ll see how things transpire as I listen to more of my library.
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Same with me. Trying it on all of my collection, UM AP, FW, Apx and all sounds bad with baroque. After I paid so much and in the end it stays in the box for who knows how long
I feel bad that you went out of your way to get the exact (very rare) iteration you wanted only for it to not work out. That said one of the main pillars of my "audio credo" is: if it's not doing it for you, let it go. Sometimes we build things up in our heads and highly anticipate a piece of gear-- only to get it and find out it isn't quite what we expected, that our tastes have changed, or that it isn't really setting your world on fire like it should. I've had that happen a few times over the years-- a couple times with very storied IEMs. It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that eventually you'll come around or that the right moment just to strike and then it will click. All of this to say, I sincerely hope you find a way to get it sorted-- but if you put it through its paces and its still not doing it for you then best to just cut the chord and move on.
