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The UM Lab basically fell apart in the quality control and customer service departments. It got so bad that some of their dealers dropped them. I believe the dealers are back now, so that, combined with what could be a ciem that isn't a flop like the mentor and several before it and maybe UM will turn things around.
Ok, UM screwed up my Mage's fit a few times and when they got it right there was channel balance issue, sounds leaning to the right side. It's crazy how an established ciem maker could make such mistake, and this is not the first time I encountered this issue with UM. Eventually, when I saw them got the fitting right I then placed an order to the Legacy asking them to use the exact same mold they used with my Mage. When they are done making the ciem, I got the Legacy together with my refitting Mage, this time they totally screwed up the driver and the L side of the ciem was muted! UM, what were you doing?! My Mage was on its way back to China for the fourth time!
Back to the topic, first impression of the Legacy, sounds fantastic. I don't know how to score them but I can put in some keywords to its characteristics.
Highs are extended as expected, no sibilance, snappy, quite close up almost as close as the mids, not much decay, slightly grainy, has good attacks, similar to Mentor, maybe a hint more prominent, could be due to the leaner bass. Note that the demo universal fit unit of Legacy sounds to have more treble, could because of more distant drivers position from our ear drums making them sound brighter and colder. The custom version to my ears having the right amount of treble.
Mids are forward, I love the positioning of the mids, vocals are close up, no "U" shaped and distant mids like the Miracle. This is by far the biggest difference with Mentor and Miracle. Mids are also smooth, a little wet, a little like how Shure will tune their mids. Full of details, my favourite part of the sound here.
Bass is lean, quick, not much decay, a little distant, goes very low, can hit very hard on bassy tracks. I like it's positioning too, it's right behind the treble and mids being the closest.
Sound stage is huge, happy with it. Seperation is great, this is expected with a setup of this many drivers. The Legacy just able to produce complex tracks effortlessly.
Overall, Legacy is a quick, kinda flat ciem and finally a ballanced ciem for me. I have tried many so called "ballanced" ciem and they end up not balanced at all, for instance the Miracle. if really wanna pick an area that stands out in Legacy, i'd say the mids, and maybe the bass.
I love this beast!
