"TOP TIER" IEM Comparison?

[DAPpower]

I just purchased a iBasso DX300 MAX SS (currently at NPAudio for the new EXN2 mod) which I will plan to use around the house and for travel.
I may be interesting in the iem market again, I have been quite on and off between portable hifi audio and home desktop audio but I'm looking at the possibility of being able to do both at the moment.

Here are some top tier iems I have been eyeing as of late,

1. Campfire Audio Trifecta
2. Elysian Annihilator
3. Aroma Jewel
4. UM Multiverse Mentor

For those of you who have owned these iems, which of you would say have the best sub-bass quality and quantity with great bass slam?
Which of these have great resolution without sounding too harsh in the upper treble/treble?
Lasty, which of these have the most organic life-like presentation overall?
I'm not looking for the most open soundstage either, just whatever has a life-like presentation without sounding overly technical but still has great resolution.




Iems have owned in the past,

1.CA Solaris 2020: Decent warm/neutral tuning, rolled off highs with great low end.
2. U12T: Probably the most neutral sounding iem with the best bass implementation I have heard on iems so far.
3. CA Solaris OG: too heavy and big, design did not seat well in my ear, GAVE ME EAR INFECTION.
4. Fearless Audio S87: WAAAY TOO SHARP

 

[Sifo]

For those of you who have owned these iems, which of you would say have the best sub-bass quality and quantity with great bass slam?

Trifecta (without consideration for anything else other than what you wrote)

Which of these have great resolution without sounding too harsh in the upper treble/treble?

Jewel (without consideration for anything else other than what you wrote)

Lasty, which of these have the most organic life-like presentation overall?

Highly subjective to what life experiences have culminated into your understanding of organic and life-like, my personal answer is that Trifecta and MM would be too overly coloured to fit my description of organic and life-like but there are certain qualities they'd do better than the other 2 at. All 4 of these IEMs are incredibly different by the way...

I'm not looking for the most open soundstage either, just whatever has a life-like presentation without sounding overly technical but still has great resolution.

Annihilator I guess, if you're okay with the bass quality? Mentor I guess, if you're okay with the lower mids?

 

[DAPpower]

Trifecta (without consideration for anything else other than what you wrote)


Jewel (without consideration for anything else other than what you wrote)


Highly subjective to what life experiences have culminated into your understanding of organic and life-like, my personal answer is that Trifecta and MM would be too overly coloured to fit my description of organic and life-like but there are certain qualities they'd do better than the other 2 at. All 4 of these IEMs are incredibly different by the way...


Annihilator I guess, if you're okay with the bass quality? Mentor I guess, if you're okay with the lower mids?

Thanks a lot, I realize there are so many qualities that differentiate these iems from one another. These are also not cheap iems and there aren't a lot of reviewers who have all these iems side by side to do direct comparisons so I will have to do more fishing.

Lets try this instead,

Which iem from the list (in your subjective opinion) would probably be best suited for electronic music, EDM or sub genres of electronic music?

 

[Sifo]

That's tough cuz I personally wouldn't pick any of those to main for EDM. I want to suggest Fei Wan instead but not sure if you'd find that fatiguing in the upper frequencies, cuz that's been divisive. Maybe VE X?

If for some reason you are locked to one of the 4, Trifecta's bass would be too slow and might end up sounding muddy with faster music, Annihilator's bass driver is considered to be its weak point, Jewel is often considered to be too "boring" because it doesn't highlight any particular frequency and its treble roll off might not sound right with some EDM tracks that need the extension, which leaves Mentor, decent option but has a thick lower midrange which could lead to weird tonality (at least for me) and despite very good quality bass, does use BA drivers if life-like bass is your main focus. You're gonna have to make a compromise somewhere between those 4. I guess I'd pick Annihilator?

 

[vaporsynthwave]

I'd say to add the Fir Xe6 to your shortlist. The kinetic bass is no joke, and it shines with electronic music. I mostly listened to house, techno, and DnB with it.

 

[Sifo]

I'd say to add the Fir Xe6 to your shortlist. The kinetic bass is no joke, and it shines with electronic music. I mostly listened to house, techno, and DnB with it.

Good call

 

[DAPpower]

I'd say to add the Fir Xe6 to your shortlist. The kinetic bass is no joke, and it shines with electronic music. I mostly listened to house, techno, and DnB with it.

I'll take a look at it, thanks!

 

[DAPpower]

That's tough cuz I personally wouldn't pick any of those to main for EDM. I want to suggest Fei Wan instead but not sure if you'd find that fatiguing in the upper frequencies, cuz that's been divisive. Maybe VE X?

If for some reason you are locked to one of the 4, Trifecta's bass would be too slow and might end up sounding muddy with faster music, Annihilator's bass driver is considered to be its weak point, Jewel is often considered to be too "boring" because it doesn't highlight any particular frequency and its treble roll off might not sound right with some EDM tracks that need the extension, which leaves Mentor, decent option but has a thick lower midrange which could lead to weird tonality (at least for me) and despite very good quality bass, does use BA drivers if life-like bass is your main focus. You're gonna have to make a compromise somewhere between those 4. I guess I'd pick Annihilator?

Yes compromise, thats the lesson of the day.

Thanks for your quick highlights of each iem.

I guess I'm torn between the Trifecta and the Annihilator at the moment, either of them can be what I'm looking for. Maybe inching towards the Annihilator but I will fish for more impressions, thanks!

 

[vaporsynthwave]

I'll take a look at it, thanks!

definitely wouldn't describe them as organic and life-like though. a top-tier specialist. hopefully you can make it canjam nyc in a few weeks to help make your decision!

 

[zephyrstar]

Empire Ears Raven should be in there. IMO it is exceptional.

 

[DAPpower]

definitely wouldn't describe them as organic and life-like though. a top-tier specialist. hopefully you can make it canjam nyc in a few weeks to help make your decision!

I'm located in NYC, but I will definitely visit this year!

 

[KinGensai]

If you think the U12T had the best bass implementation thus far, Canpur 622B is probably what you are looking for. The closest analogue is probably the Mentor since both have BC drivers supplementing woofer BAs.

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

I just purchased a iBasso DX300 MAX SS (currently at NPAudio for the new EXN2 mod) which I will plan to use around the house and for travel.
I may be interesting in the iem market again, I have been quite on and off between portable hifi audio and home desktop audio but I'm looking at the possibility of being able to do both at the moment.

Here are some top tier iems I have been eyeing as of late,

1. Campfire Audio Trifecta
2. Elysian Annihilator
3. Aroma Jewel
4. UM Multiverse Mentor

For those of you who have owned these iems, which of you would say have the best sub-bass quality and quantity with great bass slam?
Which of these have great resolution without sounding too harsh in the upper treble/treble?
Lasty, which of these have the most organic life-like presentation overall?
I'm not looking for the most open soundstage either, just whatever has a life-like presentation without sounding overly technical but still has great resolution.




Iems have owned in the past,

1.CA Solaris 2020: Decent warm/neutral tuning, rolled off highs with great low end.
2. U12T: Probably the most neutral sounding iem with the best bass implementation I have heard on iems so far.
3. CA Solaris OG: to heavy and big, design did not seat well in my ear, GAVE ME EAR INFECTION.
4. Fearless Audio S87: WAAAY TOO SHARP

I own all 4 of these IEMs.

Of those 4, Trifecta has the best subbass quality and quantity of slam. Only issue is some people love it and others hate it. Make sure you hear it before you buy it. Others I would consider are NightJar Singularity, Fat Freq Maestro SE, Sony IER-Z1R

Best resolving would be Jewel, but Anni and Mentor are great, too. Other considerations would likely win you over more than just the resolution alone.

Jewel would be my most lifelike and natural of those 4.

I would go Jewel based on the criteria you laid out. But, if you want to go with a more modern version, I would pick Aroma Fei Wan. Or, wait for Elysian Dio. NightJar Duality might be a dark horse for you. Neither Dio, nor Duality have been released yet.

 

[DAPpower]

So I've been looking around and researching more IEMs and I have refined my list of IEMs of interest.
My new list in no paticular order,

1. Campfire Audio Trifecta
2. Elysian Annihilator
3. Symphonium Crimson

Ultimately which of these 3 (for those of you who have tried them) have the most biggest soundstage width and height, give a full bodied presentation without sounding harsh and are the most impactful? I base my IEM tastes to the full sized headphones that I like, I love ZMF headphones (Verite Closed, Caldera) and headphones like the HD650 and Oppo PM1/ Audio Zenith PMx2). I personally don't care for resolution too much but will need some sort of resolution along with imaging and presentation like the Caldera/HD650. I'm a bit sensetive to treble glare but if there are beneficial tip rolling options that can effectively lower treble glare while improving the other frequencies I'm down for that.
Which of these 3 IEMs would most likely fit my headphone examples the best?

 

[PixelSquish]

EDM I would go for a Volür or RN6