are you aware that this subconscious action will be a spark that lights a fire that will burn through all your money?
Toranku's Thoughts and Reviews (and target EQ filters!)
- Thread starter toranku
- Start date
Welcome back, Mim! Haven't seen you around these parts in a while.
I do find that the midrange is a bit too uppermid-centric for my own tastes. I found myself wanting more warmth and lower mids. What really struck out at first with the S8 was the technical ability. The S8 does remind me of Elysium with that amount of air but doesn't have that fast & warm bass like the Ely. On a technical level the S8 are on an even playing field & might even be better but I'll have to listen to the S8 more to confirm.
Against M9, M9 is much warmer and darker. Transients are cleaner and more defined on the S8. To some extent, M9 can be seen as veiled. They're like opposite ends in terms of sound.
Qdc8 (Live/Gemini) is also warmer and darker than s8 but Live/Gemini transients are more impactful & defined if I remember correctly. I'm going to revisit the qdc8 again soon to see whether they still hold up.
Mimouille
Headphoneus Supremus
I have most of what I need already, so I am more looking for non fatiguing these days. Thanks.
I'm actually quite intrigued by your Spiral Ears SE6. It's so mysterious and difficult to obtain/demo..
By him a coffee and the world will finally find out what does this mythical beast sound like.
I've heard that silicone CIEMs can actually be damaged/deformed if one tries to forcefit. Oh well
Raketen
Headphoneus Supremus
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6 bores in the nozzle of a silicon IEM yikes... I think I understand why they are so strict about getting photos of ear impressions etc, would probably get crushed in my ear canals.
it's so expensive...
buonassi
Headphoneus Supremus
..........because it sound good
Mimouille
Headphoneus Supremus
Hum, it is very source dependent. If you are ever around Beijing you can try to force fit mine. My Paris friends were fairly impressed when they did. I doubt they could be damaged. The main risk is more canal shape and orientation. If you force fit there is a chance on or several of the six holes could be obstructed this dramatically changing the sound.
I am having a hard time defining the SE6 sound. This is why I never reviewed it. I don't really know what to say to convey how good they are. They don't really try to impress, but I have not encountered better.
Starting from SE5 ref to ultimate to SE6, I think Grzegorz went for increasing neutrality and technical performance. The S6 retains none of the warmth of the earlier models. I isn't bright per day like my FD01, but fairly neutral, maybe a slight W. It is also not thick at all, bass and subbass have body, but there is no warmth or thickness in the mids, more focused on being delicate and clear. Highs are super extended and well defined.
In general, bad recordings might pierce your ears a bit, I think many recordings could sound better on the ref. Imaging and separation are top class, without the space being unnatural like in the Fourte. To be honest, they are hard to describe, the are super transparent to the file and source, bringing the best and worst out of them. They are not hard to drive but indeed scale quite well. For Instance with AK380SS, the imaging takes a huge bump in quality if you add a good amp.
Tonally, they seem quite close to the KEF LSX speakers I have.
In conclusion, since my other go to are the miffed FD01, and that I don't listen to my VE8 much (uncomfortable to my ears and not really my sound), I have no easy listening stuff.
Mimouille
Headphoneus Supremus
Do you know anything that is strictly non fatiguing but maybe without the M9 "veil"?
Brand Overview: Elysian Acoustic Labs
Welcome to a new series where I just talk about brands/companies as a whole. With this series, I pen down some general thoughts about the brand's house sound (if there is any) and in general some thoughts on their IEMs. Without further ado..
You may or may not have heard of Elysian. Recently in Japan, fostex sold their DDs publicly and held a contest to see which DIYers/companies could implement their DDs best. Elysian won said contest. They've been around for a few years now and this year they revamped their entire lineup.
The founder of Elysian took a trip down to Singapore where I was able to get my hands (or rather, ears) on his new IEMs. Their house sound is simple: warm v-shape. All of their IEMs have a bass boost regardless of whether they are of a multi-BA or hybrid configuration. However where they deviate from your typical v-shape is that they tune for treble extension. Some of their IEMs have an upper treble response that is quite similar to UE's truetone or 64's tia drivers where there's this upper treble spike that may or may not introduce sibilance/harshness. Elysian's main tuning weakness (imo) is that the lower mids region (500-1000hz) are typically recessed across their lineup.
Highlighted Models To Try:
Artemis v2 (3BA): If no one told me that this was a 3BA, I wouldn't have guessed. It's the least v-shaped of the Elysians but still has a moderately v-shaped response. Nice imaging chops and a tone highly suited for energetic genres like Rock. and Metal. They are colored monitors but still have a tone that I can live with. Cymbals here are great due to the excellent extension - plenty of air and shine.
Terminator v2 (8BA): I find that this represents their typical house sound best. Elysian has other models like the Hades v2 (bass knob multi-ba) and Poseidon (Hybrid) where all the 3 models share quite a fair bit of similarities in terms of tuning. The 3 models all have v-shaped tunings and have the tia-like treble spike. May or may not show up in your recordings. They are warm v-shaped monitors.
Annihilator (EST Tribrid): Elysian's flagship. Has a DD bass, multi-BA mids and 2EST for highs. As of recent the market has been flooded with these sonion ESTs. They are hard to implement due to the low SPL nature of the tweeters. It requires proper dampening of the more sensitive DD and BA counterparts to balance well in the spectrum. Too little dampening on the bass and mid drivers means the tweeters have barely any SPL (i.e Roland). The sonion ESTs are capable of great extension in the highs but most manufacturers can't seem to tune it well yet.
There are only two ESTs IEM that exhibit good treble extension and they are V.E's Elysium and Elysian's Annihilator. Until Sonion can create a more efficient EST unit, the dead giveaway to how well implemented the EST drivers are lies with the power requirements of the IEM. If the IEMs are sensitive, the tweeters will barely have any SPL.
The Annihilator has a serious love/hate type of tuning that may or may not sit well with you. It is VERY recessed at the lower mids but has an impressively extended treble response and a smooth textured, deep reaching DD bass. Soundstage is on the smaller side of things but the imaging and transient response are great. The treble is elevated but in a mostly smooth, non-peaky manner.
My main qualm lies with the tuning of the midrange. There are barely any lower mids and due to this heavy v-shape skew, nothing sounds remotely natural. It has this "digital" edge to every instrument and vocal and as such, I prefer Elysium's tuning much more although the Ely's technical ability is not as good.
Give this brand a try if you ever come across it. I think it's worth your time.
Welcome to a new series where I just talk about brands/companies as a whole. With this series, I pen down some general thoughts about the brand's house sound (if there is any) and in general some thoughts on their IEMs. Without further ado..
You may or may not have heard of Elysian. Recently in Japan, fostex sold their DDs publicly and held a contest to see which DIYers/companies could implement their DDs best. Elysian won said contest. They've been around for a few years now and this year they revamped their entire lineup.
The founder of Elysian took a trip down to Singapore where I was able to get my hands (or rather, ears) on his new IEMs. Their house sound is simple: warm v-shape. All of their IEMs have a bass boost regardless of whether they are of a multi-BA or hybrid configuration. However where they deviate from your typical v-shape is that they tune for treble extension. Some of their IEMs have an upper treble response that is quite similar to UE's truetone or 64's tia drivers where there's this upper treble spike that may or may not introduce sibilance/harshness. Elysian's main tuning weakness (imo) is that the lower mids region (500-1000hz) are typically recessed across their lineup.
Highlighted Models To Try:
Artemis v2 (3BA): If no one told me that this was a 3BA, I wouldn't have guessed. It's the least v-shaped of the Elysians but still has a moderately v-shaped response. Nice imaging chops and a tone highly suited for energetic genres like Rock. and Metal. They are colored monitors but still have a tone that I can live with. Cymbals here are great due to the excellent extension - plenty of air and shine.
Terminator v2 (8BA): I find that this represents their typical house sound best. Elysian has other models like the Hades v2 (bass knob multi-ba) and Poseidon (Hybrid) where all the 3 models share quite a fair bit of similarities in terms of tuning. The 3 models all have v-shaped tunings and have the tia-like treble spike. May or may not show up in your recordings. They are warm v-shaped monitors.
Annihilator (EST Tribrid): Elysian's flagship. Has a DD bass, multi-BA mids and 2EST for highs. As of recent the market has been flooded with these sonion ESTs. They are hard to implement due to the low SPL nature of the tweeters. It requires proper dampening of the more sensitive DD and BA counterparts to balance well in the spectrum. Too little dampening on the bass and mid drivers means the tweeters have barely any SPL (i.e Roland). The sonion ESTs are capable of great extension in the highs but most manufacturers can't seem to tune it well yet.
There are only two ESTs IEM that exhibit good treble extension and they are V.E's Elysium and Elysian's Annihilator. Until Sonion can create a more efficient EST unit, the dead giveaway to how well implemented the EST drivers are lies with the power requirements of the IEM. If the IEMs are sensitive, the tweeters will barely have any SPL.
The Annihilator has a serious love/hate type of tuning that may or may not sit well with you. It is VERY recessed at the lower mids but has an impressively extended treble response and a smooth textured, deep reaching DD bass. Soundstage is on the smaller side of things but the imaging and transient response are great. The treble is elevated but in a mostly smooth, non-peaky manner.
My main qualm lies with the tuning of the midrange. There are barely any lower mids and due to this heavy v-shape skew, nothing sounds remotely natural. It has this "digital" edge to every instrument and vocal and as such, I prefer Elysium's tuning much more although the Ely's technical ability is not as good.
Give this brand a try if you ever come across it. I think it's worth your time.
You tried the M9 yet? You should give it a shot if you haven't. It's one of the more forgiving, laid back monitors that perform at a higher level that I know
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