[Ike1985]

Barra has reported that there is a considerable step up in bass with the customs. The mids and treble were enough for me to place an order!

I really like an IEM that puts enough weight into downtuned sludge metal guitars. The mid bass has to have a bit of heft.

Mission accomplished. It isn't as heavy as A18t but it satisfies, custom will only be better. I'd say the universal is just a bit less mid bass oomph than A18t with m15.

Right now I've got the Elysium in one ear, the VE8 in the other and I've balanced the volume between the two so that they are even and everything is properly centered. Interesting comparison here.

Also just to confirm, my tour kit only had 2 IEMs, Elysium and VE8. Was it supposed to have the Erlkonig as well?

 

[fiascogarcia]

I really like an IEM that puts enough weight into downtuned sludge metal guitars. The mid bass has to have a bit of heft.

Mission accomplished. It isn't as heavy as A18t but it satisfies, custom will only be better. I'd say the universal is just a bit less mid bass oomph than A18t with m15.

Right now I've got the Elysium in one ear, the VE8 in the other and I've balanced the volume between the two so that they are even and everything is properly centered. Interesting comparison here.

Also just to confirm, my tour kit only had 2 IEMs, Elysium and VE8. Was it supposed to have the Erlkonig as well?

No, the Erlkonig was sent on a separate tour schedule. I think you have to request to get on that mailing list. I passed, as I knew I wasn't going to spend that much in the near future.

 

[BulldogXTRM]

Got the kit in and started trying them out. I'm really really liking the VE8. Might be an issue though with the Elysium, I'm pretty sure someone said the Elysium had a volume balance issue between the left and right monitors. Did anyone else notice this on the West Coast kit?

edit... nevermind. I'm just not getting a good seal with the Elysium. Got them now.

 

[Jalo]

Erlkonig on the way to @Todd1.

Not going to say too much, but I will say this...

The Erlkonig is the best all-ba iem i've ever heard. It makes me rethink the listening experience that is possible with a universal iem. It also makes me re-evaluate my perspective on what a detailed and engaging signature can sound like. It is a truly remarkable and refined piece of technology with an undeniably robust and well-thought aesthetic.

If these fit your ears the way they fit mine, it's hard to imagine anyone not falling in love.

I am truly impressed.

Very well said. But to me the Erlkonig is the best iem, all ba or otherwise. I keep buying totl iems with my recently added Final A8000, but the Erlkonig is still occupying the top spot. With regard to the Bass, four special BA bass tuned right is no joke. Since I owned the Erlkonig seven months ago, I still have not gotten myself out of setting 2. I have single DD, hybrid, tribrid etc, but the Erlkonig beat them all.

 

[toaster]

i agree. aside from being the best all-ba iem, it is simply the best iem i've heard to date.

the tuning is incredibly detailed (i daresay even more than the a18, which is hard to believe,) with a somehow even grander and massively powerful stage and presence. the musicality and engagement is also through the roof.

i have already begun to sell some things off...

 

[aaf evo]

I cannot wait to hear the Erlkonig but knowing my small ear canals it won’t play nice. Stoked regardless though. What is the VE order process for the Erlk like? Average dispatch time too?

 

[SilverEars]

i agree. aside from being the best all-ba iem, it is simply the best iem i've heard to date.

the tuning is incredibly detailed (i daresay even more than the a18, which is hard to believe,) with a somehow even grander and massively powerful stage and presence. the musicality and engagement is also through the roof.

i have already begun to sell some things off...

It actually sounds like the details from the track, not the type of details particular to BA.

 

[toaster]

I cannot wait to hear the Erlkonig but knowing my small ear canals it won’t play nice. Stoked regardless though. What is the VE order process for the Erlk like? Average dispatch time too?

heard it can take up to a month or longer to get a new one.

on their website, it says you can just email them to order. i've been in contact with ve for quite some time, so i'll just email reach back out to my contact whenever i'm ready to pull the trigger.

unless a used one pops up somewhere...

 

[Ike1985]

Guys now that I've had a little more time I feel like I can give more solid first impressions. Again subject to change in the final analysis as I take more comparisons into account. The Elysium doesn't have the biggest stage, in fact it's smaller than most of the other TOTL monitors I've heard. It doesn't have the blackest background either, that award always seem to go to Empire Ears without a doubt in my book. It doesn't have the best layering and separation I've ever heard, A18t and especially Wraith are on another level in that regard. What it does better than any other monitor though is present an absolutely brilliant midrange. Resolution is very good but that's not what makes this midrange good. It's the emotion, realism, tuning and complete and total transparency and realism. It might be the most transparent monitor I've ever heard. This thing just wants to disappear and leave nothing but the music and powerful emotions that the Elysium is exceptional at conveying. Layering and separation is good but again the stage is small so images won't be super far apart but that's part of the magic(keep reading) Mid bass is sufficient for me, I thought I would miss the powerful sub bass but this midrange is just so beautiful it makes me want to cry sometimes, seriously. Like that meme if the guy crying with headphones on. Images are big, some of the biggest I've heard because the stage is very intimate which also increases the emotive power here. Up close, highly detailed, tonally accurate and extremely visual images. I was listening to a track that had a fire snapping and crackling in the beginning, guys I could see the flames. Again totally transparent, incredible realism, intimate and emotive. Voices are out of this world. I've heard more detail in the midrange in other monitors but the magic is not in the detail with Elysium, it's in the realism and tuning. Great monitor and something truly different from most I've heard. It has the ability to transport you somewhere else more than any monitor I can remember hearing. Powerful emotion, enough to make me not miss a thunderous sub bass. If you want to cry over a long lost love this one will do it. It's an absolute joy of a listen and I can imagine it only gets better in custom.

 

[Jalo]

I cannot wait to hear the Erlkonig but knowing my small ear canals it won’t play nice. Stoked regardless though. What is the VE order process for the Erlk like? Average dispatch time too?

VE is selling the Erlkonig very well in Asia. I suspect it may take up to two months to process new orders now.

 

[aaf evo]

VE is selling the Erlkonig very well in Asia. I suspect it may take up to two months to process new orders now.

Oh wow that is quite the lead time.

 

[Jalo]

It actually sounds like the details from the track, not the type of details particular to BA.

You are so right, it doesn’t sound like BA at all when I first heard it. Furthermore, I cannot believe the sound came from 13 drivers. The sound is so smooth and consistent that it sounds like it is coming from one driver. I have many iems with DD as bass, but the Erlkonig bass is special, it gives a clear and definitive bass that you can feel. I heard VE engages an outside person to tune the Erlkonig or may be other models also, I am not sure but I wish I know more about the tuning, like what is tuning model after etc.

 

[SilverEars]

You are so right, it doesn’t sound like BA at all when I first heard it. Furthermore, I cannot believe the sound came from 13 drivers. The sound is so smooth and consistent that it sounds like it is coming from one driver. I have many iems with DD as bass, but the Erlkonig bass is special, it gives a clear and definitive bass that you can feel. I heard VE engages an outside person to tune the Erlkonig or may be other models also, I am not sure but I wish I know more about the tuning, like what is tuning model after etc.

It doesn't have typical BA timbre. I wonder how they achieved the timbre like that with BA?

I didn't think the bass was anything extraordinary, but the upper frequencies definately was. I don't think there is BA iems out there that sounds like Erlk.

If you listen to LX, you clearly hear BA timbre.

I've never been so engaged with music on an iem like this one. You can't pry it off me.

 

[toaster]

Voices are out of this world. I've heard more detail in the midrange in other monitors but the magic is not in the detail with Elysium, it's in the realism and tuning.

Really nicely written, Ike. Vocals are indeed off the charts and by far the best I've ever heard.

What strikes me most about both the Elysium and Erlkonig is just how good VE is at tuning monitors; the emotion and engagement with both of these, especially the erlkonig, is just so good.

I've never been so engaged with music on an iem like this one. You can't pry it off me.

It is so gd good...

 

[Rockwell75]

Any VE8 hype in here...or is everyone all about the Elysium and Erlkonig?