[Tommy C]

Guys....any news on icarus IV....???

No, they don’t exist and probably will never make it to production.

 

[Sylean]

No, they don’t exist and probably will never make it to production.

That is somewhat really affirmative.

 

[fearlessleader]

Guys I've been out of the loop for quite some while now. Any ideas about the Icarus I? Kieran told me shipping will commence next week, but I have very little faith in anything that comes from Trinity nowadays. Thinking about cancelling my order, any thoughts?

If you didn't mis-type and really meant the Icarus ONE (BT adapter), then (a) wow, they always used to say "two weeks", and (b) bzzzzt, it's been more than two weeks (let alone "next week") and no sign of 'em. I figure that if I cancel, the exchange rate loss would be close to the 10 quid they cost. Who knows... maybe 2018 will be the year they ship

 

[andrewwardell]

A while ago i remember asking if i can use different cables with my Phantom Master 4 since trinity is unable to manufacture a decent cable that will stay on the damn earpiece without falling off or disconnecting (this is after i went through the 3 cables that came with the IEM and another set i got sent from Trinity started showing the same issues.

I got told by the community that they were proprietary cables and that i shouldnt try other cables, Now i understand that the actual company tells you "only use our cables" since of the warranty issues and liability if you use a low quality cable,

But the community parroting the same response... That truly hurts, I had my phantom masters 4 in a box trying home remedies like bending inwards or flattening a bit the pins on the cables.

I was playing around with the Phantom Masters i got to replace them seeing which filter works best and out of curiosity i pulled the cable off my cheapo KZ-ZS5´s and plugged them in to my Phantom Master 4´s... and guess what ? im listening to them now.
.

...so what you’re saying is that the KZ-compatible upgrade cables will work with the PM4? I’m running low on the TA cables and I too would like to keep these sonic oddities going.

 

[Torment]

...so what you’re saying is that the KZ-compatible upgrade cables will work with the PM4? I’m running low on the TA cables and I too would like to keep these sonic oddities going.

I too have tried that cable and yes it works for me too, as does the Bluetooth cable from KZ

 

[Aevum]

Actually Im currently using my Phantom Masters 4 with the bluetooth adapter cable since they are the only one that WONT FALL OFF, the IEM´s wont hold on to any other cables including Trinity´s own cable.

The phantom master 4 has a design flaw where the connector expands on the IEM sided and basically dosnt grip the cable correctly, it varies from IEM to IEM, to be it mostly happens with the left pod.

Its "fixed" using a cable with wider pins.

 

[andrewwardell]

...0.78mm as opposed to 0.75, yes?
EDIT: or just whip the superglue out and say goodbye to detachable cables.

 

[Litar]

I've been having issues with my Icarus III for close to a month now, for some reason the right ear doesn't work anymore when the cable is plugged in all the way into the female connector. I have to fiddle around to find a spot where I either hear a faint sound in my right ear or a somewhat balanced sound with my left ear.
Has anyone else experienced this issue ?

 

[posnera]

I've been having issues with my Icarus III for close to a month now, for some reason the right ear doesn't work anymore when the cable is plugged in all the way into the female connector. I have to fiddle around to find a spot where I either hear a faint sound in my right ear or a somewhat balanced sound with my left ear.
Has anyone else experienced this issue ?

Are you using the balanced cable? Try the other one.

 

[Snodge]

Hi Everyone,

Just thought I'd chip in regarding my Hunters. They definitely required burn in time, and I noticed during that period that when listening, after 30 mins or so the sounds would change and get better. Now it seems they stay at that level all the time. Took me a while to find the correct tips to use, but finally got a good seal with the foam filled tips, and using with the silver undamped filters, everything now sounds how I was expecting the Hunters to sound. As they are my first IEMs of any value, it has taken me some time to get right, and using them with my Opus #1 makes the daily commute a lot more tolerable!

I'm still waiting for my balanced cable, which I've been advised should be shipped towards the end of the month, so when I get them, it will be interesting to see how things change.

 

[Aevum]

btw, are the Phantom Masters the same as the phantom masters 4 ? 2BA + 2DD ?

has anyone compared them ?

 

[andrewwardell]

Mechanically, yes. they're both 2xBA+2xDD.

Sonically...I will do a proper A/B test tonight, but I can tell you from memory that the peak in the lower treble in my PM4 was absent from my Master.

 

[Aevum]

Mechanically, yes. they're both 2xBA+2xDD.

Sonically...I will do a proper A/B test tonight, but I can tell you from memory that the peak in the lower treble in my PM4 was absent from my Master.

so the PM4 is more natural or more sibilant ?

 

[andrewwardell]

so the PM4 is more natural or more sibilant ?

TL;DR the Master to my ears is both more natural and more sibilant. Careful with the filter and tip selection.

Sorry to keep you waiting, I blame the kids.
I’m A/Bing both pairs as I type this, both are using the gunmetal filter with foam tips and I’m just running them off my iPad with “extreme” quality Spotify streams. I’m going to write about the PM4 first then swap out for the Master. There will be inappropriate use of commas.

Here we go...

On The Gaslamp Killer track ‘Dead Vets’ there’s a Hammond organ that doesn’t sound immediately shrill but gives me earache in my right ear every time I listen to it on the PM4. I’m a little rusty with my GoldenEars training, but I’d put the painful bit around 4kHz. The drums in that piece also feel like they were recorded inside a damp cardboard box on the PM4. The Master seems to require a little less power to get to the same volume and that Hammond is exponentially more pleasant to listen to. The treble peak in the Master is further up the spectrum I think, because the drums have a lot more air on this pair than the PM4. I also thing the lower mids are more restrained on the Master making the frequency response more neutral.

On a different note, the Boris track ‘Farewell’ which in simplest terms is a huge wall of guitar with some reverb-heavy vocals laid over the top sounds great on the PM4, no earache, or apparent peaks to induce said earache, and the vocals are largely discernible. The Masters, however, turn the detail up to 11. Moving that treble peak further up and pulling those low mids results in much more hard-hitting guitar but you can hear more detail in the guitar wall. I can say I wouldn’t want to use these undampened though because the treble accent...I’m placing it between 6&8 kHz, really does hurt on some recordings...not this one, but when I’ve had EDM tracks on without dampened filters I’ve always regretted it. The red dampened filter gives a good L-shaped curve if you’re into that. The Masters are also, by extension, far less forgiving to lossy Audio.

Changing things up again, playing Dame Kiri Te Kanawa’s version of ‘Ruhe sanft, mein holdes Leben’ (I don’t know if you like Opera, but I don’t know that you don’t) the PM4 does push her voice dangerously close to earache levels for me, but the details it retrieves about the space she is singing in and the orchestra behind her, right down to the key clicks of some of the oboes in the orchestra is genuinely impressive to me and what made me want to keep these on in the first place. The Masters, again, make this a significantly more polished performance. The sense of the recording space is still there but the instruments sound much more realistic thanks to the restrained low mids/upper bass. Those key clicks are still present too.

On ‘Recover’ by CHVRCHES, the PM4 make Lauren’s voice sound...hyper-real and the electronic drums start to bring that earache back. The Masters...damn, that’s a punch in the face. The treble on this song is still bordering on troublesome for me, but I can hear so much more about them than I could on the PM4...just have to knock the volume back a click.

Last song, ‘The Rip’ by Portishead. The PM4 make Beth sound pretty intensely good, that treble peak that made my ears ache in other songs give the vocals exquisite detail here, you can tell they’ve been bathed in spring reverb, they are not robbed of the emotional connection they make with the listener on lesser systems. The Masters do an interesting thing here, with the lower mids being pulled back Beth’s voice is again exquisitely detailed, but compared to the PM4 it doesn’t have the same holographic quality. On the 4 she really pops out the front of the mix, I’d liken it to her singing to me on the opposite side of my living room. On the Masters she sounds more like a part of the recording.

If I had to run from a burning building with one pair (let’s hope it doesn’t ever come to that) of these two I’d go with the Masters. I like the Master+gunmetal setup enough that I’m aiming to get custom sleeves made up for it in the new year. Your mileage may obviously vary, so I hope you’ve found this blabber helpful

 

[Isssma]

Hi everyone. I knew about Trinity Audio a bit too late, when the company is already full of chaos. I plan on buying the Icarus III. I have been browsing this thread for hours, and would love it if someone would do a comparison and a short review (even a link to a prior comment would be nice). As a background, I have a few decent gears, like LZ-a2, Aurisonics Rockets, KZ-ZS5, and my favorite IEM, Dita The Answer (Truth Edition). I'm curious to how it compares to my Dita Truths, or any other famous Midrange to high end IEMs.

Thanks a lot! Meanwhile, I'll continue to lurk in this thread .