[Carlsan]

I live in New Jersey and agree to the tour terms and guidelines.
I would do short impressions.

 

[rantng]

Coming early you may have missed that you can cut to the front of the line if you wish to do a full review. Just mention it in your participation request which you can edit.

Thanks for the heads up, but I think I'll stick to impressions for now with the possibility of a full review later on.

 

[SciOC]

I live in Iowa and would love to participate, I agree to the terms of the tour.

 

[rwelles]

I live in Oregon. I agree to the the terms of the tour. I am NOT a reviewer. I will send my info later today.

 

[Ike1985]

Full review guaranteed, I agree to the terms. Add me to the list. Wraith is the only IEM catching my IEM other than what I already have A18t, nothing I've heard so far has been able to surpass it. This is the only one that I see having a solid shot. Let's get it on, hell yea.

 

[lotech]

I still live in Texas and would love to participate in this tour.
I will abide by all Tour rules, regulations and restrictions .
y'all have all my information from previous tours.

 

[fallooffie]

I live in Odessa, TX and would like to participate in the tour. I agree to follow the terms of the tour.

 

[Tybot]

I live in Albuquerque, NM and would like to participate in the tour. All my information submitted for the last four is identical and unchanged.i also agree to abide by all rules.

 

[BulldogXTRM]

Gonzales, LA. In for a full review. You have all of my info and I agree to the terms.

 

[bvng3540]

I live in Bothell, WA and would like to participate in the tour. All my information submitted for the last tour is identical and unchanged. i also agree to abide by all rules, I have my eyes set on a pair of custom valkyrie, but would like to listen to it again before place order, thanks

 

[SeeSax]

Oh man @Barra this is fantastic! I hope for the chance. You already have my information.

I live in San Jose, CA and would like to participate in the tour. I agree to follow the terms of the tour. I will have emailed my required ID verification documentation to billb@cleardiff.com some months back but am happy to do it again.

Cheers,

-Collin-

 

[Barra]

Tour Kit Received
Wow, Wow, and Wow - the kit is in and I took a quick listen last night to each.....just WOW! They look great and sound better. This is my first time with electrostatic inears so I am still getting my ears wrapped around these signatures, but they are both very impressive. I have been hard-pressed to have my ears torn away from my Legend X via 1950 cable to my Sony WM1a which is stunning - but these two have my full attention now. I have posted an unboxing video for the tour kit on YouTube for everyone to get an idea of what they got themselves into. All i have to say is this is these are definitely worth a formal review, so if you want to move to the front of the line, just let me know you want to do a review and I will move you to the head of the line. Enjoy!

 

[Barra]

Quick First Impressions
As I just said above, WOW, WOW, and WOW. These are stellar. However, I should point out that as I have been hearing, electrostatic hybrids are source sensitive. My typical favorite - the Calyx M - has an impedance issue that has not been an issue for me before, but it is with the electrostatics...more so with the Wraith than the Valkyrie. The higher M impedance just makes the Wraith sound weird and the Valkyrie less exciting. However, moving to the Hugo 2 or the Sony WM1a and booooooooooom there is the sound I was hoping for. BTW, the iPhone 6 was ok too, but my favorite right now is the Sony. The Hugo 2 is great as well bringing the bass out even more for those bass lovers like me, but the Sony's darker signature seems to balance the clear/brightish electrostatic sound quality better to bring that perfect pairing. Don't worry when I say brightish as this is a new treble, not sibilant, but very smooth and way more transparent/detailed than I am used to.

• Valkyrie: Boom, pow....that bass is more forward than my legend X. That treble chisels out the fat bringing a very tight bass response. But that bass is forward vs. the more laid back X bass. People may disagree, but for me the Valkyrie feels stronger in the bass department even with a single subwoofer to the X's two. I think the entire presentation if more forward and more exciting. This is a forward signature that puts you into the party and makes you want to dance - very nicely played Jack! The electrostatic driver offers a nice sizzle to the treble in a very good way. The cymbals splash very naturally. Live music sounds more live on the Valkyrie than any other CIEM I have heard to date. Live is a big treat on these - do yourself a favor and try it. No, the mids are not missing as everyone is eluding to while pointing to the graphs that prove it. There is an entire one of three BA driver for that. A third of the sound is dedicated there. Voices are wonderful, guitars are great. The sound is spacious and wide, more so than deep given the forward signature. The detail is outstanding.
• Wraith: Sony and the Wraith are magic together. Still wrapping my ears around that electrostatic clarity, but wow the detail is immense. I was worried that the lack of the two Legend X subwoofers would make this CIEM feel bass light, but no, driven with the right source it is wonderful and big. I will be spending a lot of time with this one over the next week to get it figured out, but I already know that this will be one to beat.

The hard part of this tour is that these are both very different and both extremely good. With only 7 days to play with them both....how will we divide our time.

 

[FangJoker]

I live in Las Vegas and would like to join this tour. My information should be on file. If you need me to send it again, I will send it again.

 

[Barra]

More Impressions
Can I say WOW again?

Having played with these CIEMs for a few days now, there are more impressions to be had. First, the Valkyrie requires considerably more juice than the Wraith to drive at the same volume. Second, they both really like power to get the best SQ, scaling very nicely with desktop equipment. With that out of the way, these both are outstanding CIEMs and firmly TOTL at the top of the charts. When driven correctly, the Valkyrie is forward and fun and the Wraith is lavish and detailed. The Valkyrie definitely has more bass presence, and like mentioned before, IMO it feels more pronounced than my Legend X that has double the subwoofers. I feel both are way deep in sub territory so both are sensitive to the fit to get all that sub goodness, but the Wraith feels more extended on both ends of the frequency spectrum and balanced in between where the Valkyrie sub also offers some mid-bass making it less sensitive to fit. The Wraith has incredible bass as well even without the benefit of the subs offering a stellar full frequency presentation like a total headphone. The wraith on my desktop is ear popping good!

Now the elephant in the room - the treble. The electrostatic drivers are very different at first listen and take a while to get used to before you can effectively judge the performance. Once you are used to them, the normal BAs sound muffled in comparison. There is an extraordinary amount of detail in this treble and it is very smooth. Some songs can push it to sibilance in some cases when the recording is bad, but less so when you get used to the new signature. After wrapping your head around the treble, and you drive the correct power, and you get the right seal, the results are stellar. The wraith is the love child of the 009 and the Abyss. The Valkyrie is just flat out fun and your new party buddy.

I am anxious to hear what everyone else thinks. We will be closing up the tour and shipping out by next weekend so sign up now if you haven't already.