First and foremost I want to thank everyone for coming in droves to make our meetup such a fantastic event. I vaguely had an idea about how this could turn out after last year’s pre and post CanJam Singapore meetups with a dozen Cooler regulars, but having 24……… Anyway, in 2 weeks it’s Singapore yet again so if you guys have half the fun we had it’s going to be fantastic!
Then second but not any less important I have to apologize to the friends that I didn’t get to speak. Like, not at
all… 
We’ve been so busy that Mathijn and I probably broke the record of how few IEMs you can demo over
a whole weekend. And with none of them I managed to listen to more than just a handful of songs. Crazy, but at least I have added some new impressions to my musings. Before I share those notes 2 more shoutouts if I may:
@Scuba Devils for his selfless support of this whole idea even before
@MatW came onto the stage, and second (but way more important) to Mathijn’s wife who secured the very best location we could possibly get – ever – and even threw in some food, all just at the cost of our smiles and love for her efforts. Totally awesome to have support from outside of our little community
Sharing the notes on my quick impressions in my usual nitpicky house style now, so be warned. For new readers please note that if I don’t totally burn an IEM down to the ground it was actually quite good - just not my style.
Also, I listened to all IEMs with the cables provided and off my Lotoo PAW6k.
IMPRESSIONS WATERCOOLER EUROPE MEETUP, AMSTERDAM:
DAY 1:
CANPUR CP622b –
I was prepared to have my mind blown by these.
Fantastic balance, not convinced on note weight and impact down low which was more of a permanent bass shelf instead, mids sounded a bit closed in, muffled and diffuse (due to the BCD?), missing a bit of sparkle while “s” sounds and cymbals had a slightly artificial sound, lacking a bit of air, staging wasn’t very convincing, nor were dynamics.
CRAFT EARS AURUM
Good bass definition, lacking a bit of upper bass and lower mids, could use more body in mids, slightly nasal and shouty upper mids, cymbals sounded a bit unnatural, good staging and instrument separation, very dynamic set.
ALAMBIC EARS MENTAWAI –
High hopes after the praise of les français.
Too thick bass with less than optimal resolution for me, too much upper bass, needs more note weight and body in the mids, upper mids on the brighter side, slightly unnatural treble that is a bit too splashy and “s” and “t” sounds being too pronounced. Probably the most musical set I heard this weekend!
CANPUR CP54e –
I knew this one was going to play second fiddle to its big brother.
Except that it didn’t! Too thick bass for me with a rather pillowy attack that could use more definition, the rest sounded just great and very open, even though it could use a bit more air (but much better on this than CP622b), could use slightly fuller mids, not completely convinced by “s” and “t” sounds, misses a bit of resolution but I still prefer it over CP622b. Quite a surprise.
CAMPFIRE AUDIO BONNEVILLE –
I can’t get CA to work for me; unfortunately Cascara wasn’t around.
The 3 B’s: Boomy, Boxy & Bright – sorry… Good mids which was a surprise and it made me wonder how these would sound if they reduced the (for me) excess bass and treble.
NIGHTJAR SINGULARITY –
Demoed this one at CJ SG without a positive result so I gave it (or rather myself) a second chance.
Didn’t work… Bass is too overpowering, slow, and boomy for me, vocals are closed in, rather low resolution in mids and treble, little air. Anyway, I tried.
RHAPSODIO SUPREME V3
Great bass, great mids, resolving, fantastic as a whole weren’t it for its too splashy treble (mostly hi hats and flute) and its terrible weight that I wouldn’t be able to bear as I dislike a deep fit.
DAY 2:
VISION EARS VE10 –
Which together with CP622b was another almost blind buy.
Too much focus on the low end while bass needs better resolution (both due to the stock cable I found out – bad pairing really), needs more sparkle as it sounded too closed in though very pleasant, needs more bite, attack, and openness, overall a lovely balance and I wonder what a Chiron / DX320 would bring.
Courtesy of @Vision Ears who helped us out with sending in VE10 days before the event - very much appreciated!!!
NOSTALGIA CAMELOT
Had some problems with driver flex, great balance, missing a bit of sub bass, vocals sounded a bit closed in, polite treble, sounding very musical, a little tizz in the treble, and could use a bit more air. Very good value for money.
ROSENKRANZ SILVER HB RUTHENIUM –
I really hoped this one wouldn’t work for me at $8k!
And luckily it didn’t as the focus on the lower end of the spectrum was too overpowering for me, slightly forward upper mids but not entirely natural sounding, polite treble. Curious at how it would have sounded with just 2/3rd of the bass.
64AUDIO VOLÜR –
Since I have demoed most 64Audio IEMs I thought “Why not?”
Followed by a
“This is it!” within the first 5 seconds of listening. This is the exact tonal balance I have been looking for for years, even if it comes at the cost of not being the most resolving IEM. I really need to give this one more time with a great cable like 1950s Shielding to see if I can make it more bodied; perhaps throwing in a NuTube DAP to top it off. Not exactly pinpoint positioning so I need to give that a thought. Biggest surprise of the weekend and at a fraction of the cost of some of the other IEMs I tried. Probably the best combination of my previously owned U18t and my Sultan.
Tempted!
SONY IER-Z1R –
Having a love/hate relationship with cheaper Sony IEMs expectations were close to zero.
So it was only fair that those were crushed… Very good bass with the best snare picking details ever, even though the amount of bass permanently attracts too much of my attention, upper mids were slightly lean and nasal and treble a bit unnatural, great staging, very dynamic, terrible fit, and unfortunately witch doctor
@Tokpakorlo literally had to pick the left eartip out of my ear with a tooth pick.
ORIOLUS TRAILLII Ti –
OG had too little bass for me and I disliked the upper mids dip that took away some urgence.
Very short demo as Ti doesn’t have enough bass for me to cover all genres I listen to. The upper mids dip
was instead of
is so that’s a good thing in my book.
Getting itchy – Let’s see what I have on my agenda 2 weeks from now…
drftr
(Apart from 
AMSTERDAM
.
Funny thing, Nic was here a couple of years ago visiting a holiday cottage in the woods where his Lordship Barnie goes for his walkies every day. And yet, to this day, I have not met Nic in person. 
- an interesting time to test after so many toys the last two days! Thank you 
