[Yogibear91]

guess who's L9 just finally showed up first impressions are mixed ones but I'll give a quick overview of my opinion in next week or so

 

[SteelCookie]

thanks for sharing. did the sound improve after your first listen?

Whether or not it's hardware burn in or brain burn in, I'll let you decide that. I find that separation between the Bass Guitar and the Vocalist no longer blur together, mids don't overpower or blend to the bass guitar which was my biggest gripe and criticism. I find the low-end has greatly improved over time and gained more detail, just slightly less detailed than the Solaris, slightly more bloated than Solaris but less so than before. Overall I enjoy the L9 more, I enjoy the thick rich vocals, full airy cymbals that shimmer and crash. I think the Solaris still has a wider stage and a noticeably tighter bass but I don't know if it's a by product of the rich and thick sound of the L9 but I want to say it has more depth. Keep in mind it's just my 3rd day with the L9 so perhaps I'm going through a honeymoon phase. But I'd say L9 has a sound that I have an affinity for.

 

[blomman77]

Well i don't think you are wrong. I'm going through the same phase regarding the bass.
It really does feel better separated. Might be brain burn in though.
One thing i really think Thieaudio should do,is to put some wide boar tips in the box,
cause that really changed the L9 for the better to me.

Whether or not it's hardware burn in or brain burn in, I'll let you decide that. I find that separation between the Bass Guitar and the Vocalist no longer blur together, mids don't overpower or blend to the bass guitar which was my biggest gripe and criticism. I find the low-end has greatly improved over time and gained more detail, just slightly less detailed than the Solaris, slightly more bloated than Solaris but less so than before. Overall I enjoy the L9 more, I enjoy the thick rich vocals, full airy cymbals that shimmer and crash. I think the Solaris still has a wider stage and a noticeably tighter bass but I don't know if it's a by product of the rich and thick sound of the L9 but I want to say it has more depth. Keep in mind it's just my 3rd day with the L9 so perhaps I'm going through a honeymoon phase. But I'd say L9 has a sound that I have an affinity for.

 

[IEMusic]

Whether or not it's hardware burn in or brain burn in, I'll let you decide that.

I do believe that burn in can definitely have an effect with DDs. It just makes sense, just like with speakers, but different DDs respond differently, and often times don’t have an audible change. What you’re describing makes total sense, and I would expect those frequencies to change, if any. I don’t think burn in makes a difference with BAs. The most dramatic change I experienced was with the JVC FDX1.

Glad to see you’re liking them more and more.

 

[Yogibear91]

first thought with these l9 are theh could of been epic with 3db less rise in the sub bass alongside a quicker responding dynamic driver. the lower frequencies can sound real loose and almost messy. the sub bass or bass in general ends up being the focal point of just about every track. it doesn't as such bleed into the mids but you loose resolution in mid bass to low mids especially with a double bass or lower octave keys/synths.
such a shame when the mids and especially treble sound ridiculously clean , relaxed and natural as they do. call me crazy but they remind me of an iem version of the philips fidelio x2 with its wide stage, great imaging, amazing treble , coherent mids but overwhelming sub bass. anyway only initial impressions.

 

[IEMusic]

first thought with these l9 are theh could of been epic with 3db less rise in the sub bass alongside a quicker responding dynamic driver. the lower frequencies can sound real loose and almost messy. the sub bass or bass in general ends up being the focal point of just about every track. it doesn't as such bleed into the mids but you loose resolution in mid bass to low mids especially with a double bass or lower octave keys/synths.
such a shame when the mids and especially treble sound ridiculously clean , relaxed and natural as they do. call me crazy but they remind me of an iem version of the philips fidelio x2 with its wide stage, great imaging, amazing treble , coherent mids but overwhelming sub bass. anyway only initial impressions.

hopefully the bass improves for you after some burn-in time.

 

[IEMusic]

I wonder why ThieAudio didn‘t tune the bass of the L9 safer, cleaner, and more mainstream, like the L3. If they wanted to differentiate, which would make sense, I would think that the more balanced presentation belongs on the more expensive IEM, that has 8 BA drivers. The bombastic, bassy one would suit the less expensive L3.....but ultimately, what do I know about their sales projections.

 

[SoundJedi]

L9 owners who want to be a bit adventurous with P-EQ. The attached is my attempt to EQ L9 to loosely match the 64 Audio Fourte Noir FR. The slight reduction in sub bass and the 11k boost make the signature much more balanced and well extended. The stuff in the middle is up to your preference, but I find this EQ quite impressive. Better resolution, better vocals. More subtle and detailed without losing any of the L9 strengths. Still plenty of bass.

I did this because I noticed that the closest sounding iem to L9 in my collection is the 64 Audio Trio, not the ThieAudio V14 as one would expect!

Would love to hear thoughts.

Oh, also, to all L9 owners, get those sedna light tips. You won't regret it.

 

[SoundJedi]

I wonder why ThieAudio didn‘t tune the bass of the L9 safer, cleaner, and more mainstream, like the L3. If they wanted to differentiate, which would make sense, I would think that the more balanced presentation belongs on the more expensive IEM, that has 8 BA drivers. The bombastic, bassy one would suit the less expensive L3.....but ultimately, what do I know about their sales projections.

I think that they wanted for something different from the V14 "reference" tuning. V14 was supposed to be the technical iem, L9 the fun sounding iem. I guess whoever had an input in the tuning also contributed to it being a bass heavy set. I'd make a wild guess and assume that it's someone who likes the EE LX

I would have also preferred a tighter, more controlled and less boomy bass on the L9. Even a 2-3db reduction in sub-bass makes a big difference, see my previous post above.

Maybe this more balanced iem will happen down the road with more customer feedback. The good thing with Linsoul is that they are super responsive to customer input. The L9 remains an exceptional iem for the price and it takes EQ like a boss, just as V14 does. I know many iem owners don't like EQ, which is surprising giving that EQ is the norm for headphones, including TOTL ones.

 

[DeadpoolRJ]

first thought with these l9 are theh could of been epic with 3db less rise in the sub bass alongside a quicker responding dynamic driver. the lower frequencies can sound real loose and almost messy. the sub bass or bass in general ends up being the focal point of just about every track. it doesn't as such bleed into the mids but you loose resolution in mid bass to low mids especially with a double bass or lower octave keys/synths.
such a shame when the mids and especially treble sound ridiculously clean , relaxed and natural as they do. call me crazy but they remind me of an iem version of the philips fidelio x2 with its wide stage, great imaging, amazing treble , coherent mids but overwhelming sub bass. anyway only initial impressions.

That's a real shame. They got so close. I think for those who like that bass presentation that's a gift, but for us who expected a more refined/balanced presentation that was almost there.

I wonder why ThieAudio didn‘t tune the bass of the L9 safer, cleaner, and more mainstream, like the L3. If they wanted to differentiate, which would make sense, I would think that the more balanced presentation belongs on the more expensive IEM, that has 8 BA drivers. The bombastic, bassy one would suit the less expensive L3.....but ultimately, what do I know about their sales projections.

I was wondering the same thing. Make the L3 bass and mids quantity with better resolution and with the highs of the L9 and you had a almost perfect set. Such high expectations I had with this these.
Even BGGAR seems to like the tuning presentation of the L3 more.

 

[SoundJedi]

That's a real shame. They got so close. I think for those who like that bass presentation that's a gift, but for us who expected a more refined/balanced presentation that was almost there.



I was wondering the same thing. Make the L3 bass and mids quantity with better resolution with the highs of the L9 and you had a almost perfect set. Such high expectations I had with this these.
Even BGGAR seem to like the tuning presentation of the L3 more.

It can still happen. ThieAudio are just getting started. L9 is for people who like ample amounts of bass, it was never destined to be a "reference" iem. It's not a flaw, it's a very conscious choice IMO.

In my ideal world, V14 would be retuned with more sub bass and less 2k peak, forget the switches. L9 would be returned with a better controlled bass and bit less sub-bass.

I haven't sampled the L3 yet but I hopefully will quite soon. The force seems strong with that one hehehe

 

[DeadpoolRJ]

It can still happen. ThieAudio are just getting started. L9 is for people who like ample amounts of bass, it was never destined to be a "reference" iem. It's not a flaw, it's a very conscious choice IMO.

In my ideal world, V14 would be retuned with more sub bass and less 2k peak, forget the switches. L9 would be returned with a better controlled bass and bit less sub-bass.

I haven't sampled the L3 yet but I hopefully will quite soon. The force seems strong with that one hehehe

I don't know if that was conscious or not. But I think that they were worried or didn't wanna put out a set that could supposedly sound better than the V14 and for little more than half the price haha

 

[jwbrent]

first thought with these l9 are theh could of been epic with 3db less rise in the sub bass alongside a quicker responding dynamic driver. the lower frequencies can sound real loose and almost messy. the sub bass or bass in general ends up being the focal point of just about every track. it doesn't as such bleed into the mids but you loose resolution in mid bass to low mids especially with a double bass or lower octave keys/synths.
such a shame when the mids and especially treble sound ridiculously clean , relaxed and natural as they do. call me crazy but they remind me of an iem version of the philips fidelio x2 with its wide stage, great imaging, amazing treble , coherent mids but overwhelming sub bass. anyway only initial impressions.

The driver needs some play time, I’ll be interested in hearing whether after 100 hours if the sub bass settles down somewhat.

 

[battosai]

For those who prefer slightly less bass, how about a cable switch? Going silver would tighten the bass even more and extend the treble a little more. I myself don't think there is too much bass. I think it's controlled but it is a little slow. Which source are you guys using to listen to it? Balanced should be the only way to go for expensive iems...
I am still waiting for a cable I ordered on Aliexpress sale, almost 2 months ago...

 

[IEMusic]

For those who prefer slightly less bass, how about a cable switch? Going silver would tighten the bass even more and extend the treble a little more. I myself don't think there is too much bass. I think it's controlled but it is a little slow. Which source are you guys using to listen to it? Balanced should be the only way to go for expensive iems...
I am still waiting for a cable I ordered on Aliexpress sale, almost 2 months ago...

Here’s one inexpensive option. TRN T3 silver cable. I like it a lot.