The Watercooler -- Impressions, philosophical discussion and general banter. Index on first page. All welcome.

[yaps66]

Nice to see some good old friends featuring in Noble's CanJam Singapore vid!

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/noble-audio-the-wizard-returns.684787/page-2496#post-18661441

drftr

Wasn't even aware they were filming!

 

[drftr]

Wasn't even aware they were filming!

Better check your mail box for invitations from Hollywood this week! Please let me know should they have a minor role for a drftr, slckr, whtvr...

drftr

 

[Ace Bee]

For the folks who do not know, RUVIEST Prelude is made by the tuner/creator from AüR Audio. He has had this brand in mind for along time, as his own without the co owner from AüR. Not here to make drama, but folks who probably know it has been some problems at times due to him.

It is about to be sold out from first batch, I think its more than just me who was excited for him to start something away from AüR.





This is such a great single DD, one of the better ones in its price range. Nice to see you finally hear it, I do think we have talked in private before about it Next you should try the Letshuoer DX1 once its available, more neutral tuned than TS-316. But awesome new budget champion, I belive the price will be around $169. But price is just wrong, if from a different brand it could have been sold for much more.

The graph of the Prelude is really alluring! I will enquire with him further on this.

Yes we have talked about TS-316 in the past. Now having it will help me understand others' impressions of other iems as well as I believe a fare number of people here owns it and love it.

I checked the DX1 graph, and I believe it is not up my alley. Cadenza 4 most certainly were not, and DX1 is even flatter in bass than that. No way.

Yes i have it on dc elite. On fiios m11 isnt function. But on elite is like straight from bass to highs without thickening overpowered. It is only iem i listen that dont sound blured, blunted against cantor. For better tech from it is better neutral source for sure. What is to me most surprising is with cantor you know details will be there basicaly you know it. With ts 316 is like you dont but there ares layering after layering when you listen more. But to me it isnt easy iem to give that presentation for first source you try it is iem that need finding your and then game begins.

I agree fully. The layers upon layers of details really caught me off guard. It truly is a unique iem, able to generate that much details from a single DD.

 

[Scubadevils]

Met @armstrj2 for a coffee and had a listen to Moses… stream of consciousness thoughts as I listened:

Ethereal, detailed, ultra spacious… incredibly immersive and captivating. Superb control over complex passages, wonderful with D&B or any form of breakbeat. Big deep bass, more than I usually prefer however this is just again so well controlled. Lovely lush mids, crisp and airy treble. Everything I dare say just sounds ‘perfect’. A phenomenal set, the most I’ve been impressed in quite a while

 

[bl00drunzc0ld]

For anyone wanting to support a great guy and engineer:

I just found this on AliExpress: NOK4,405.50 | RUVIEST Prelude 1 Dynamic + 6 Balanced Armature Hybrid HIFI In–Ear Monitor
https://a.aliexpress.com/_EJX7uNe

If you follow his AliEx store and add a AliEx sales coupon price dips below 270 euros. I am certain this is a steal for what we will get

Rip to us Americans. Can’t ship to my address and I also wouldn’t want to pay 145% extra if they could. Thanks Trump.

 

[nikbr]

Funny enough I just had a demo at MusicTeck comparing the FlipEars Legion to the BGVP Phantom SE and others in its price range. My notes below… TL;DR I found the BGVP vastly better sonically and ergonomically.

FlipEars Legion - Very strange fit for my ears. Beautiful build. A bit muddy on busy passages. Recessed mids aren’t working for me.

Alpha Omega Ra - Slow, dark presentation, slightly veiled sound signature. Too dark for me but very comfortable fit. Nice build quality.

Jomo Nautilus - Precise, clean, fast. Missing emotion, reminds me of DCA headphones where technically nothing is wrong. A little too technical and bright for my tastes. Perfect comfort/fit for my ears.

BGVP Phantom SE - Amazing balance between emotion and technicality. Most balanced set of the batch. Bass impact still hits. Kick drums are still quick enough to maintain the song’s integrity. Wow.

EE Triton - Driver flex… I found this annoying having never experienced that before. Similar presentation to Nautilus. Missing something for the price.

Great impressions, thank you. I'm in the process of writing a review for BGVP's more affordable offering, the NS10 Pro. Without spoiling too much, that is a well done set too. You're also not the first one to praise the Phantom SE so convincingly.

For the folks who do not know, RUVIEST Prelude is made by the tuner/creator from AüR Audio. He has had this brand in mind for along time, as his own without the co owner from AüR. Not here to make drama, but folks who probably know it has been some problems at times due to him.

It is about to be sold out from first batch, I think its more than just me who was excited for him to start something away from AüR.

This is BIG for our hobby. I hope Ruviest comes sprinting right out of the gate, everything looks that way this far with 27 sold already - one is coming my way!

 

[drftr]

For those of you planning to send private parcels over $800 to the US using DHL, I just learned DHL doesn't accept this any longer. Business to business still works, and I'm assuming under-declaring private parcels does too. Wouldn't be surprised if other couriers follow suit. As far as I understand it's because of the time consuming new procedure that can add up to 4 days extra.

drftr

 

[Erkil]

Rip to us Americans. Can’t ship to my address and I also wouldn’t want to pay 145% extra if they could. Thanks Trump.

Should you be interested do reach out to Abel through the Ali shop. He have promised to extend the intro promotional discount for when, (hopefully), things calms down. This was for customers that reach out inside the 48 hour promotional time period. The exact shipping problem mentioned was to Germany, but no harm in reaching out

 

[Vamp898]

YouTube thought i might be interested in this 11 year old Video. It was uploaded to Armins personal account, probably Vision Ears did not have an YouTube Account back then

 

[gLer]

For those of you planning to send private parcels over $800 to the US using DHL, I just learned DHL doesn't accept this any longer. Business to business still works, and I'm assuming under-declaring private parcels does too. Wouldn't be surprised if other couriers follow suit. As far as I understand it's because of the time consuming new procedure that can add up to 4 days extra.

drftr

All US inbound gear is now capped at $799. Vendors take note

 

[Leto Dal]

UPS Express is still fine I believe?

 

[Rockwell75]

Last day for the survey. Just a dozen more votes needed to make 100

https://forms.gle/erTBWYWUYtXQQ9JJ9

 

[SbassX]

For those of you planning to send private parcels over $800 to the US using DHL, I just learned DHL doesn't accept this any longer. Business to business still works, and I'm assuming under-declaring private parcels does too. Wouldn't be surprised if other couriers follow suit. As far as I understand it's because of the time consuming new procedure that can add up to 4 days extra.

drftr

Well i knew eventually that was gonna happen. And these procedures might keep changing and hopefully the situation improves!

 

[zikarus]

Should you be interested do reach out to Abel through the Ali shop. He have promised to extend the intro promotional discount for when, (hopefully), things calms down. This was for customers that reach out inside the 48 hour promotional time period. The exact shipping problem mentioned was to Germany, but no harm in reaching out

True, could not order but contacted Abel and he found out why and will resolve the issue...

Cross post from the EU tour for UM MEST Jet Black:

I recently participated in the EU tour organized by @mikaik together with Pierre (@Delacaff) and @UniqueMelody whom I firstly like to thank very much for this opportunity!

I may start confessing that I seem to like Unique Melody's way of tuning IEMs as their Maven II is the most favourite item in my gear park (have a look in my sig if you like). Actually the Maven II is my top dog for quite a while now. Nonetheless the MEST Jet Black is only the second UM IEM I had the chance to listen to. That's why I was really looking forward to this tour and the opportunity to compare the JB with my Maven II.

Here are my impressions from the few days with this beauty:

The JB is beautifully crafted and the glossy black ceramic shells are among the most beautiful I have ever seen. All in all I might have preferred a more silvery look instead of the golden touch to the JB but that is nitpicking and personal preference. The same goes for that little knob on the faceplate which was a bit irritating to me at first and does not seem to have any function.

Like some of the previous speakers I also held my listening sessions with the Dreamy cable attached to the JB, as I preferred that one over the Link cable too (but not by that much). As I use foamies on my Maven II I decided to use the same Comply's with the JB.

What struck me most on the first listening session was the JBs balanced presentation and very large soundstage. To my ears it appeared to be a safer tuning when compared to the more adventurous Maven II timbre. The Maven II was a touch brighter with more engaging and upfront mids and a bass with slightly more resonance / reverberation to my ears.

The longer and more often I heard the JB though the more I came to the conclusion that my listening impressions varied with different genres I threw at them. Some songs were more to my liking with the Maven II, others I preferred on the JB. The main difference between those two - imo - remained the advantage of the JB when it comes to technicalities. The Maven II - to me - has an advantage in atmosphere and musicality.

When listening to Aretha Franklin's version of People get ready


I could hardly decide which one to prefer. The Maven II sounded more intimate whereas the JB presented quite a larger stage but still managed to impress with coherence and precision. In the end the JB was more convincing to me as the Maven II - in direct comparison - sounded a tad colored, less 'correct'.

For Nina Simone's He's got the whole world in his hands


though I preferred the Maven II because of the airier, more open and atmospheric - call it touching and moving - impression it left behind (despite the JB's less bright tuning its treble is still not significantly less present, borderline sibilant btw).

And so it went on - sometimes I liked one over the other, other times vice versa. My first verdict pro Maven II got less clear the more (and more various) music I tried. It would have needed more time with the JB for me to come to a valid final conclusion tbh. All I can say for now after some very enjoyable hours with UMs latest IEM is that I really liked what I heard. Obviously the UM house sound is up my alley and the JB will not be the last one of theirs I will have to listen to. My wallet does not like that...

 

[szabb27]

Met @armstrj2 for a coffee and had a listen to Moses… stream of consciousness thoughts as I listened:

Ethereal, detailed, ultra spacious… incredibly immersive and captivating. Superb control over complex passages, wonderful with D&B or any form of breakbeat. Big deep bass, more than I usually prefer however this is just again so well controlled. Lovely lush mids, crisp and airy treble. Everything I dare say just sounds ‘perfect’. A phenomenal set, the most I’ve been impressed in quite a while

looks absolutely stunning and based on your impressions the sound is as well not letdown either
Based on a few impressions I read here, Moses should be somewhat of an upgrade from Anni23
Any upcoming review we might expect for this beauty ?! ... would love to read more about it