[Valrhona]

TiTANS - The Creator and The Bird​

Hi Coolers! Hope you’re all doing well! So recently, I had the chance to demo two of the highly sought out Oriolus Traillii Ti and Fitear Creator (DC Ti), thanks to the super kind and beloved whale Indonesian cooler member @RonaldS86 ! I’m so thankful and grateful for his generosity lending me these two wonderful IEMs! Thanks again bro!

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Y’all might know me as I pop up here and there, but let me just re-state what I use daily and which gears I owned. I’ve used a couple of IEMs previously, but the ones that really had my heart were, Fitear TG334 (Old Ver.), Oriolus Traillii (Yes, the famous “Black & Red” edition that y’all got from Musicteck or anywhere else, that’s originally my design and yes, I’m still so proud of it, also yes, you’re welcome! P.S. Hey Oriolus, I still see that you often use my Traillii design these days for Chinese exhibitions and all that, so where’s my commission huh? Hahaha!), Aroma Audio Fei Wan (Yes the black and gold design, yes many people are also using that design, so still waiting for my commission from Aroma too! LMAO just kidding, please don’t ban me), and now I daily drive Subtonic STORM and Elysian Annihilator Ti 2023 paired with iBasso 320MAX Ti.

My library consists of Female Vocals, Pop, J-Pop, K-pop, K-Indie, K-Hip Hop, C-Pop, Indo Pop, Hip-Hop, Metal, Rock, EDM, Electronic, Jazz, Classical.

My default test track: Baek Yerin – Square (2017)

P.S. My English, writing skill and photography skill is downright terrible. But I will try to better myself one step at a time!

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The Bird Ti (US$8,500) [Traillii Ti > W89 4W (Stock) > Azla Sedna Earfit Standard > iBasso 320MAX Ti]

Okay, I can’t lie that this is an IEM that I’ve set my eyes on for a while ever since they announced it last year. The bird Ti feels premium in hand, very solid build but still very light and very comfortable in the ears, just like the OG. The faceplate design is clean, but I feel like they could’ve made a better design for it, perhaps the Oriolus bird logo instead of just the word “Oriolus” on it? Well no matter, let’s get into the sound.

First thing I noticed about the bird Ti is how neutral it sounded compared to the OG off my memory. It hits me with a cleaner, airier, brighter and more spacious presentation, whilst keeping the thick notes, natural timbre, relaxed and smooth character of the OG. But yes, I kind of expected this when I read and heard some impressions from friends and others, honestly the differences were identical to when I compared Anni Gold 2023 and Anni Ti 2023.. Everything just opens up with more clarity and a better sense of air in between the instruments.

The staging has also changed as the OG had more of a wide staging going on less height, whilst the Ti retains that width and added more height and a bit more depth. Overall, it feels bigger than the OG yet it is still quite 2D with a bit of holography within the space.

Bass is definitely a step up here, it is more textured, good slam, not super punchy but just enough so that it doesn’t intrude into the mids. The mid-bassy quality of the OG bird is replaced with a more sub-bassy bass setup and this definitely gives the Bird Ti a better balance, cleaner feel of the lower end frequency. I do appreciate this retuning of the bass, but is the bass quantity lesser than the OG? No, I think it’s not lesser, but since the focus is shifted to the sub-bass, the mid-bass hump is what’s ‘missing’. Bass has good rumble on the sub-bass, reaches deep with a good attack and decay on the mid-bass, it strikes fast with a solid thump and air. It’s definitely a good and satisfying BA bass, a much better bass presentation than the OG with better quality and definitely complimentary to the overall tuning of the Bird Ti.

MIDS is what I championed the OG Traillii for and it remains that way here in the Bird Ti. The buttery smooth vocals, the pleasant and inoffensive texture is just Oh. So. Good! This is the soul of traillii, the smooth and analog quality of its mid, it’s caramel like. Giving you the right amount of sweet, buttery goodness that leaves you craving for more! Makes you wanna sing along, if not, at least mouth the lyrics along with the singer. With its relaxed and vivid presentation, it just puts you in the seat of an audience watching a live concert.

The Treble is now more airy, more sparkly, well-extended without being too bright and has no harshness. It gives notes in the higher register a bit more twinkle on the edges and space for its resonance. The whole package is fine-tuned with great tech and amazing detail retrieval! The tech on Bird Ti has definitely been supercharged from the OG. I was surprised at the amount of detail, sound imaging, layering, and resolution level that I was presented with, it is definitely a significant improvement upon the OG. The level of tech on the Bird Ti lets it stand among other great IEMs such as Fei Wan or Annihilator, but again the tech doesn’t pop at you, only because of the relaxed nature of Traillii, it sits back but it’s all there to show you what’s up. But is it STORM level? Yea mate sorry nah not that far.. But hey, it is more than enough for the overall tuning.



So TL;DR, is it great? Yes. Still sweet and addictive? Yes. More technical? Yes. Better bass? Yes. So overall it’s a better Traillii? Hell YES! So am I getting one? No. Why not? Okay, first things first, PRICE. Not in my budget to spend that much for a traillii improvement and also the place of a Traillii in my collection would be for when I listen to music whilst doing work. If that was my use case, at this point of my life, I’d just buy my OG traillii back and be done with it. It is because of its smooth and inoffensive presentation is why I would consider this IEM for a ‘Music in the background’ use, it is not distracting as compared to other iems like the Annihilator 2023 or even STORM. Secondly, remember I said I loved traillii for its mids? I need to a/b and test this, but I have a feeling that the OG traillii vocals might have a bit more rawness and emotive quality to it compared to the more ‘refined’ traillii ti. But again, my reasons not to get it is mainly financial. But hey, if you love Traillii’s sound signature and want an upgrade on tech, soundstage, bass quality, and not lose the OG qualities, get it, it is truly a legendary IEM for what it does. Personally, I’d regard this bird as Oriolus Traillii Pro Max and not so much a Traillii 2.0. Maybe one day if I have spare money, I’d get this Bird Ti for my collection.

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Fitear Creator (US$8,500) [Fitear Creator > Creator Clarity 4W (Stock) > Azla Sedna Earfit Origin > iBasso 320MAX Ti]

First of all let me start off by saying, This is the best IEM build I’ve ever held in my hands! Suyama-san’s Titanium is second to none! It’s literally the titanium used for dental implants! Yes it’s shiny and I love it, I don’t mind the fingerprint magnet that it is, it just speaks premium, solid, and beautiful to me. Meanwhile the faceplate cover that you see with the creator logo is made of silver rather than titanium which I believe is manufactured by K2Craft. If you are wondering why I’ve put “DC Ti” next to the Creator name, it’s because Fitear Creator is the Universal version of Fitear DC Ti that only comes in CIEM form. The Fitear Creator is originally made to be paired with Creator cable from HK and it is a HK exclusive IEM. So SQ wise, Creator and DC Ti should be identical, notwithstanding that DC Ti CIEM form might give different focus on different FR, unique to each individual’s ears, also do note that DC Ti, when purchased, doesn’t come with a stock cable, because Suyama-san wanted people to explore and find their favourite cable pairing with the DC Ti.





If I were to oversimplify my impression on the Creator into 3 main points, it would be :

• Musical
• Immersive
• Engaging

It pretty much sums up the character of the Creator. A very masculine and analog IEM that does everything in a grand manner with lots of depth, warmth with tons of expression, long resonances, rich, thick notes, meaty mids and hard hitting transients. The soundstage is wide that feels oval-ish, with more width than height and great depth, giving a grand presentation overall. For me this is a specialist IEM, PRaT here feels unrushed almost ‘slow’ if I can put it that way, where every note is expressed to the most, making it sound especially impressive for female/male vocals or pretty much any track with an ensemble setup such as jazz, acoustic, trios and so on. I love how strings that dwells in the bass clef such as Viola, Cello, Contrabass are so pronounced and the reverb lasts forever, every stroke is full of expression and the resonance lasts awhile without muddying the next notes. In addition to that, the bass quality of Creator.. is something I truly love, a foster DD bass with very deep, visceral, hard hitting, amazing texture, decay lasts and you can feel the air with every attack. But I have to say that it is not the fastest bass out there, with faster Electronic tracks, it does fall behind.

Vocal is Creator’s specialty, it is so textured and so extended, and if I can coin @Deezel177 's words, it has a certain huskiness in its tone. As with its bass, vocals here is so well extended, it resonates long and far till it dissipates into thin air. Vocals are positioned quite forward and intimate, very emotive and lyrics do come to life. The sense of air in the vocals is so life-like, allowing each syllable to travel well. On top of the well-textured quality, there is also a certain smoothness to its vocals. Treble is adequately well extended, airy and has sparkle to balance out the massive lower end of the spectrum.

The Creator is an IEM that doesn’t try to impress you with its technical prowess and it does take a second of brain burn in to understand it. But once you realize what it does, you’re enveloped in a world of texture, weight, resonance, nuance, warmth, and analogue-ness. Above all, it defines what musical means. It doesn’t throw its tech proficient at you but rather does so with endless extension and meatiness in every spectrum. It just pulls you in to the music and gets you emotionally moved from note to note. This IEM literally says, forget everything, let’s just enjoy the music. That’s what Creator or DC Ti is to me.

I haven’t mentioned anything about its technicality, simply because it is technically capable and very resolving, but subpar in its detail retrieval and resolution. But is it enough tech in there? Definitely. Heck, I didn’t even realize what I was missing since I was so deep into the music. Only after a/b‘ing with my Annihilator that I was like “oh, that’s not there, oh where is this instrument? Where’s that synth? Didn’t hear that”. But really, you don’t need that with the Creator. Simply tune in and enjoy, as simple as that. Also, as I’ve said before that it is a specialist, how do I know this? I realized that I kept looking for specific tracks when listening with the Creator, meanwhile I just let my library play on shuffle with the Bird Ti. It’s not that I don’t want to hear other fast paced tracks and only certain ‘slower’ tracks on the Creator, but because it does so exceptionally well on these ‘slower tracks’ that it compels me to select them.

Suyama-san made a truly exceptional IEM here, I’ve never heard an IEM so musical and immersive. But I do feel that the best way to enjoy this IEM fully is to go the CIEM route, that is the Fitear DC Ti. The fit on the Creator is very wonky and not optimal for my ears, it is big, thick and uncomfortable to wear for long sessions. The only reasons why I can see people buying Creator is perhaps the universal shell does fit their ears, or future reselling purposes or catch and release kind of thing or they have no way to purchase the CIEM. Now, the DC Ti is definitely on my Radar as an immersive and vocal-specialist IEM, but we’ll have to see what SG Canjam 2024 has to offer, I have a feeling there will be quite a few surprises. Oh did I mention that Creator or DC Ti is super hard to drive? Yeah, it requires a similar amplification power as STORM if not more. Please do note that before buying, as you might need a desktop amp to fully release its potential.

The header couldn't have been more befitting! Nice work and keep them coming!

I spoke to @AxLvR about this as he was writing his impressions, and there’s reason to believe the Ti has genuine differences - beyond just unit variance - against the Gold and SS Anni ‘23’s. The Ti version has a titanium nozzle, which means the sound waves the drivers produce make direct contact with a few milimetres of raw titanium before reaching your ear canal. Because each material has different resonant qualities, that nozzle will absorb or reflect soundwaves differently if it was made of SS, gold or titanium, which is what causes the differences in sound. How rigid the material is will determine whether it absorbs (and reduces) the bass frequencies, for example, or how how much the highs ring and amplify.

This is actually an old tuning method called waveguides. It’s been used in IEMs from JH, Jomo, FitEar, etc., where they place a small metal tube at the end of the standard, plastic sound tube, so you get the resonant qualities of that material. It’s almost like a metal adapter at the end of the nozzle. In fact, the optional upgrade FitEar offered from the 335DW to the 335DW-SR was simply the addition of these waveguides. It wasn’t that long ago that Jomo released the Trinity with two nozzle materials - SS and Cu - and they measured ever-so-slightly differently like the Anni’s here. So, it genuinely does make a difference.

Interesting insights (as usual)!

 

[salwani8888]

OG Tsuranagis knob was on the hand flimsy side. Another thing that bugged me was instead of a gradual rise in volume, audible volume would significantly ramp up in the 3-4 O-clock position above giving a smaller margin of room to work with being either quiet or loud.

Brise is soon going to start an 'upgrade' programme - change the volume curve and reduce 5db for less noise on sensitive iems.

 

[MSwiss]

I found that Mentor synergies best with DX320 MAX TI - not only it would allow its technicalities shine at their maximum potential including BCD, but it also gels with MM tuning very well making it more balanced. You’ll get some boosting in sub bass, more linear upper mids and well extended treble while retaining Mentor character.

Thanks for your reply.

For further thoughts , I’ve just been doing some A-B testing with the Sony DAP and the Hugo using the Utopia’s.

Straightaway I prefer the Hugo delivery, it has a more crisp detailed sound. More analytical than the Sony. The Sony has a warmth and depth to the sound, which by no means is a bad thing but I feel it doesn’t quite deliver the detail the Hugo does. It’s a very good DAP but the Hugo picks up the background detail and gives the little nuances you don’t hear with the Sony. The sound stage with the Hugo is wider, it narrows with the Sony and bass is a little more muddy with the Sony. Now sound is very subjective as we all know and I’m just starting on my headfi journey but that’s my impression.

So, after the ramble above I guess I prefer a more detailed delivery ? So a DAP that can match the sound and delivery of the Hugo is more what I’m after.

 

[MatW]

Thanks for your reply.

For further thoughts , I’ve just been doing some A-B testing with the Sony DAP and the Hugo using the Utopia’s.

Straightaway I prefer the Hugo delivery, it has a more crisp detailed sound. More analytical than the Sony. The Sony has a warmth and depth to the sound, which by no means is a bad thing but I feel it doesn’t quite deliver the detail the Hugo does. It’s a very good DAP but the Hugo picks up the background detail and gives the little nuances you don’t hear with the Sony. The sound stage with the Hugo is wider, it narrows with the Sony and bass is a little more muddy with the Sony. Now sound is very subjective as we all know and I’m just starting on my headfi journey but that’s my impression.

So, after the ramble above I guess I prefer a more detailed delivery ? So a DAP that can match the sound and delivery of the Hugo is more what I’m after.

At the start of the headfi journey most people are after maximum details and resolution, so your preferences make sense at this point. Further down the road you may want to add warmer sources and/or transducers for variety, choosing one or the other depending on mood (focused listening with an analytical sound or relaxing with a warmer setup) and music genre you choose to listen to on a given evening. If this happens, sorry for your wallet. But some folks simply stick to one or the other. So many choices and no wrong answers.

 

[fabio19]

I really like the RN6, but it's definitely more of a midbassy and thick low mids specialist offset with a lot of low and mid treble attack/ energy. It can be "shouty" when it comes to female vocals and electric guitars, but it's very lush with male vocals and instrument fundamentals. The treble is definitely quite bright and energetic, metallic.

It's slightly more technical than Volur in the treble, and arguably in the midrange but Volur is one of the best bass in an IEM ever, and the overall tuning is more to my preferences. (Sure call me boring, but it's just a well-tuned monitor, which is plain, but offset with a really nice bass slope). Volur needs extensive tip rolling to help linearize its treble response - the narrow and long nozzle paired with the Tia driver makes for a tricky upper treble coherency in some gear pairings.

If you have very healthy high-frequency hearing, the Volur's Tia driver can make things sound artificially shimmery & shiny in the 10kHz + air (but so does RN6, though EST's are more ethereal (forgiving) whereas the Volur's Tia is more dynamic (unforgiving)).

Here's how both sets graphed on my coupler with preferred tips (Volur has M15 & M20 squigs):



And here with matched tips (Volur M15):



For 90% of music, cutting the graph upper limit at around 12kHz paints an accurate picture, but I do believe that the huge Air boost does trickle down harmonically into lower registers of the treble, or at least morphs the lower and mid treble.

RN6 is a more versatile tuning out of the box for multiple genres, but Volur sounds more timbrally accurate and neutral. Volur has the advantage of more significant tonal shifts swapping through the Apex modules than the Fir's Atom modules.

RN6 has a great stock cable. Volur's is more generic. Ironically, I use the RN6 cable on my Volur and find the combination extremely dynamic and very resolving.

Hope that's helpful!

Which of the two is more technical.....and which of the two has more advanced voices?

 

[MSwiss]

At the start of the headfi journey most people are after maximum details and resolution, so your preferences make sense at this point. Further down the road you may want to add warmer sources and/or transducers for variety, choosing one or the other depending on mood (focused listening with an analytical sound or relaxing with a warmer setup) and music genre you choose to listen to on a given evening. If this happens, sorry for your wallet. But some folks simply stick to one or the other. So many choices and no wrong answers.

My wallet has been crying for a few years since I got back into my hi-fi, this is just an extension of the pain lol.

What you say makes sense, but just for a little more detail on my preference, on my hi-fi I went away from B&W as it was too bright and I couldn’t do sustained listening periods.

I tried Focal Sopra 2 next but before I pulled the trigger went for an extended test using the same amp but not the same dac or source. I absolutely loved them on some songs and hated them on others. Again they had a brightness that I just couldn’t get on with.

I then tried Kef R3 and really liked them but even though they were a much more rounded sound I changed them for the reference meta 1s. They have a beautifully balanced sound, great detail and soundstage. The sound isn’t dissimilar to the Utopia, perhaps why I liked them so much.

I think the Sony will be going up for sale even though it’s very new to me but that’s the journey we take with our music passion

 

[MSwiss]

Oh and i think the Sony works better with IEMs than full size for what it’s worth.

 

[pradiptacr7]

Oh and i think the Sony works better with IEMs than full size for what it’s worth.

I would agree. Except for WM1AM2/MZ

 

[tjzurlaaa]

I would agree. Except for WM1AM2/MZ

Only for easy to drive headphones or if you’re using it as strictly a dac/source into a standalone amplifier … it is amazing

 

[pradiptacr7]

Only for easy to drive headphones or if you’re using it as strictly a dac/source into a standalone amplifier … it is amazing

Yes only easier HPs

 

[Alexzander]

Thanks for your reply.

For further thoughts , I’ve just been doing some A-B testing with the Sony DAP and the Hugo using the Utopia’s.

Straightaway I prefer the Hugo delivery, it has a more crisp detailed sound. More analytical than the Sony. The Sony has a warmth and depth to the sound, which by no means is a bad thing but I feel it doesn’t quite deliver the detail the Hugo does. It’s a very good DAP but the Hugo picks up the background detail and gives the little nuances you don’t hear with the Sony. The sound stage with the Hugo is wider, it narrows with the Sony and bass is a little more muddy with the Sony. Now sound is very subjective as we all know and I’m just starting on my headfi journey but that’s my impression.

So, after the ramble above I guess I prefer a more detailed delivery ? So a DAP that can match the sound and delivery of the Hugo is more what I’m after.

Well, if you prefer a more detailed delivery - than yes, DX320 MAX definitely worth it.

 

[tjzurlaaa]

Sony Dap as a main source/Dac lined into a big amp system is phenomenal from my experience! Highly recommended

 

[Leto Dal]

Now after burn in, still in absolute awe by Annihilator 2023. A friend came by with his collection of IEMs (unfortunately only read only on headfi, yes you), been comparing Anni with Mentor, Mason, Fei Wan and Radon 6.

I listen to a lot of analog music, meaning lots of jazz, bluegras, folk, rock, metal and experimental. Ocassionally some electronic and hiphop but its like 10% of my playlist at the most.

From all of them we agreed that Anni comes out on top, while I really liked the mids of Mentor and the 3d stage, the treble region and the bass of Anni with burned in drivers, just puts them far ahead, couldnt enjoy Mentor as much as hoped to, especially directly after listening to Anni 23 highs. Same with Radon 6, its a great allrounder but nowere close in the treble to Anni 23, overall it was just bit too safe of a tuning for my liking. To be honest Anni made me appreciate treble more, usually it was something that did put me off since I am rather sensetive to the 8hz peak. Fei Wan was technically maybe even more resolving that Anni but ultimately too fatiguing fo my taste. Anni got plenty of energy already, Fei Wan had subjectivly twice as much. Mason while looking stunning (subjectivly one of the best IEM designs outthere) was technically not quite in the same league as the rest. What did put Anni ahead for me is not just the resolution and the treble, but the overall energetic but not too energetic tuning, great balance in the treble region, while maintaining very lush mids with plenty of note weight in the lower region. Anni just marries good tuning with great technicalities, which is a trait that I very enjoyed with my Traillii in the past and couldnt find that often with IEMs and over ears alike.

What I wish from the next Anni revision is slightly better bass texturing (the current is still pretty damn good after burn in) and slightly more mid emphasis, but as it is, its already pretty close to a perfect IEM. Very impressed after comparing to other totl flagships.

Only things I am really curious atm are Xe6, Trifecta, Raven and Amber Pearl. Maybe the new Mason FS. But when it comes to a perfect allrounder I might keep Anni for quite a while now. Considering Anni is often at half of the price of its competetion - its helluva revolutionary IEM in my books.

 

[tjzurlaaa]

Now after burn still in absolute awe by Annihilator 2023. A friend came by with his collection of IEMs (unfortunately only read only on headfi, yes you), been comparing Anni with Mentor, Mason, Fei Wan and Radon 6.

I listen to a lot of analog music, meaning lots of jazz, bluegras, folk, rock, metal and experimental. Ocassionally some electronic and hiphop but its like 10% of my playlist at the most.

From all of them we agreed that Anni comes out on top, while I really liked the mids of Mentor and the 3d stage, the treble region and the bass of Anni with burned out drivers just put them ahead, couldnt enjoy Mentor as much as hoped to directly after Anni highs. Same with Radon 6, its a great allrounder but nowwere close in the treble to Anni 23, overall it was just bit too safe of a tuning for my liking. To be honest Anni made me appreciate treble more, usually it was something that did put me off since I am rather sensetive to the 8hz peak. Fei Wan was technically maybe even more resolving that Anni but ultimately too fatiguing fo my taste. Anni got of energy, Fei Wan had subjectivly twice as much. Mason while looking stunning (subjectivly one of the best IEM designs outthere) was technically not quite in the same league as the rest.

What I wish from the next Anni revision is slightly better bass texturing (the current is still pretty damn good after burn in) and slightly more mid emphasis, but as it is, its already pretty close to a perfect IEM. Very impressed after comparing to other totl flagships.

Only things I am really curious atm are Xe6, Trifecta, Raven and Amber Pearl. Maybe the new Mason FS. But when it comes to a perfect allrounder I might keep Anni for quite a while now. Considering Anni is often at half of the price of its competetion - its helluva revolutionary IEM in my books.

When it comes to resolution and treble anni is damn near as good as it gets so far

 

[MatW]

Now after burn in, still in absolute awe by Annihilator 2023. A friend came by with his collection of IEMs (unfortunately only read only on headfi, yes you), been comparing Anni with Mentor, Mason, Fei Wan and Radon 6.

I listen to a lot of analog music, meaning lots of jazz, bluegras, folk, rock, metal and experimental. Ocassionally some electronic and hiphop but its like 10% of my playlist at the most.

From all of them we agreed that Anni comes out on top, while I really liked the mids of Mentor and the 3d stage, the treble region and the bass of Anni with burned in drivers, just puts them far ahead, couldnt enjoy Mentor as much as hoped to, especially directly after listening to Anni 23 highs. Same with Radon 6, its a great allrounder but nowere close in the treble to Anni 23, overall it was just bit too safe of a tuning for my liking. To be honest Anni made me appreciate treble more, usually it was something that did put me off since I am rather sensetive to the 8hz peak. Fei Wan was technically maybe even more resolving that Anni but ultimately too fatiguing fo my taste. Anni got of energy, Fei Wan had subjectivly twice as much. Mason while looking stunning (subjectivly one of the best IEM designs outthere) was technically not quite in the same league as the rest. What did put Anni ahead for me is not just the resolution and the treble, but the overall energetic but not too energetic tuning, great balance in the treble region, while maintaining very lush mids with plenty of note weight in the lower region. Anni just marries good tuning with great technicalities, which is a trait that I very enjoyed with my Traillii in the past and couldnt find that often with IEMs and over ears alike.

What I wish from the next Anni revision is slightly better bass texturing (the current is still pretty damn good after burn in) and slightly more mid emphasis, but as it is, its already pretty close to a perfect IEM. Very impressed after comparing to other totl flagships.

Only things I am really curious atm are Xe6, Trifecta, Raven and Amber Pearl. Maybe the new Mason FS. But when it comes to a perfect allrounder I might keep Anni for quite a while now. Considering Anni is often at half of the price of its competetion - its helluva revolutionary IEM in my books.

Glad the Annihilator worked out so well for you. You describe it exactly as I hear it, well done.