[firesign]

Yeah. I think I need to trial a streaming website to see how much better it can get. My music collection is all MP3 and Wav files anyway for space considerations.

MP3 320 is a good quality. It is very difficult or almost impossible for most people to detect the differences with a FLAC.
But YouTube is usually of much lower sound quality.

 

[deafenears]

I did the same! At $445 it was too good a deal to pass up! I've been scouring everywhere for people's impressions of the Oracle and the few that there are absolutely love them so here's hoping they live up to the hype.

Same, had some Drop reward credit to use up so put in an order for one. Shipping in a month though

 

[Skullar]

So I was listening to some random songs on YouTube last night using my SR25 with my Monarchs. Good songs that I don't own in my collection and I came across AC DC Thunderstruck. My word does that song sound amazing with the Monarchs. Really blew me away.

I have it on amazon HD at UHD. And it blows. Its actually very well mastered which matters the most. It probably sounds well even as mp3.

 

[Jcor]

There, was the price $445? Great! Drop, in my Country they were sold by Drop at the same price as on the official website, about $540. I bought them by aliexpress at 520

I ordered the Oracle as well. They were selling them for full price but you get $95 worth of reward points, so if you buy stuff on Drop it works out as a great deal.

 

[AmericanSpirit]

That is impressive for Monarch! But it depends a lot on what music your friend favors / tested on. I read non-audiophiles are more easily swayed by changes in what they hear (the surprise factor leading to interest), and hence often favor initially more biased renditions as long as there is instrument clarity (which is usually the first surprise when people listen to quality gear and recordings). Hence the Harmon curve was developed with input not from audiophiles per se, but from those specifically trained to listen. Also if one does not listen to instruments much to know what they sound like and when they are distorted, harder to say which sounds "more accurate." Hence many focus on vocals as being what we are all most familiar with, even if not an audiophile or music lover. Myself while I like EDM, I don't use it much when assessing gear.

Right! it was interesting to hear Non-audiophile audience comments. And right Monarch was the best choice for my friend because of vocal-focus and less instruments interference.

While many audiophile tend to listen more technical aspect so instrument separation technicalities gets more weight.
I can say and it was from my old review Monarch was king of the female vocals, which got another vote last night


I didn’t even let my friend to try Softears RSV, obviously that RSV is one of best spacious technically superb, for general vocal song mixing/mastering, those spatial 3D movements and presentation are very rare kind to be found.

 

[CT007]

My Oracle finally shipped! Arrival next ~Friday. Ordered May 11st. Took 15 business days to make/ship, whew. x_x I keep hearing good things about them from the lurkers...

 

[jsmiller58]

My Oracle finally shipped! Arrival next ~Friday. Ordered May 11st. Took 15 business days to make/ship, whew. x_x I keep hearing good things about them...

Looking forward to your thoughts on the Oracle as I await mine!

 

[GDunlop]

Thunderstruck sounds great even with a $5 earbud . I removed it from my testing list a long time ago, because if I leave it there, any IEM or headphone I test sounds good to me.

Thing is, I'm not someone who has any AC/DC albums. They are a band that were always a bit before my time . I grew up in the era of Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana and Pearl Jam and that was always more my style. It's just some times I listen to some random songs on YT and when I came across this it blew my mind. I have always considered it a good song so I have listened to it before but it is just phenomenal with these. I actually bought the song and shoved it on my player too, so I now own one AC/DC song.

 

[GDunlop]

My Oracle finally shipped! Arrival next ~Friday. Ordered May 11st. Took 15 business days to make/ship, whew. x_x I keep hearing good things about them from the lurkers...

I ordered the Excalibur on the 14th so hopefully not far behind then.

 

[Sajid Amit]

Has anyone A/Bed between the Andro 2020 and the Monarch, in terms of technical performance...

 

[lazner]

Has anyone A/Bed between the Andro 2020 and the Monarch, in terms of technical performance...

I have both. Andro 2020 wins in coherency and neutral response. Monarch has better bass and sub-bass and a slightly more sparkle in the treble. The resolution is about the same, but Monarch has clearer vocals or midrange in general. It was only after listening to Monarch I realized Andro has a slight haze mainly in the mids and treble. Fit is better on the Andromeda, Monarch is huge, but still comfortable for me.

 

[darkgod5]

You and me both! I spend enough on Drop that the points were worth it... .

And welcome to Head-fi! Speaking of which, you might as well learn the secret pass phrase for our audiophile club... “Sorry about your wallet!”

No doubt. I also bought the dusk blessings just this year so that's over $750 already gone on IEMs for the year.

Thanks for the welcome!

There, was the price $445? Great! Drop, in my Country they were sold by Drop at the same price as on the official website, about $540. I bought them by aliexpress at 520

It was the same $540 but you also got $95 back in credits to use on other Drop stuff.

 

[blay]

No doubt. I also bought the dusk blessings just this year so that's over $750 already gone on IEMs for the year.

Thanks for the welcome!


It was the same $540 but you also got $95 back in credits to use on other Drop stuff.

Ok, I understand. I only had $10 of drop's reward.
And my order from aliexpress will take one month too, more or less.

 

[IEMusic]

Excalibur graph

Looks mighty impressive to me. Seems closer to warm neutral, with hefty bass boost, rather than outright V-shaped. Regardless, it looks very well balanced.

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

Excalibur graph

Looks mighty impressive to me. Seems closer to warm neutral, with hefty bass boost, rather than outright V-shaped. Regardless, it looks very well balanced.

That looks really good. Treble extension forever.