[Frankie D]

I'm wondering what people are doing with the gain settings on their daps for the Elysium.
I tend to listen at night at lower volumes and so with my M8 I use low gain and hover around 30 on the volume most of the time. There is the odd album that needs more but mostly this is fine.. I know they say that the estats like power though. Are others using high gain but lower volume or higher volume on lower gain. Excuse my technical ignorance but is there a difference. I'll try to figure it out empirically but I wondered as to others' experiences...

I have a Cayin N8 that I use most of the time. I keep it in High as to me that is where it sounds the best. Sometimes the Ely needs some extra power to come into its own, but still roughly in the 70’s db range, so no issue with danger to your ears. It is also fine in the 60’s. Now I have no special way to measure the volume, I am just using a db app on my iphone and playing the IEM’s into it, so it is not the most accurate, but you are still using your ears to make sure it is not too loud or too soft. Just play with the volume a bit and you can quickly tell if it is not kicking in yet. Tks.

 

[Rockwell75]

Yesterday I received an EA. Leo II Octa and I have to say (as a non-cable guy) that it's an absolutely incredible upgrade-- clarity, weight, transparency, extension & definition on both ends...all have been nicely improved and refined. It's a beautiful "final bit of polish" to what is to my ears an incredible setup.

 

[Tanjiro]

Joined the VE family finally. Thanks @Barra for making the Canadian Tour happened.

 

[Rockwell75]

Joined the VE family finally. Thanks @Barra for making the Canadian Tour happened.

Congrats!

VE8 or Ely?

 

[Deezel177]

I'm wondering what people are doing with the gain settings on their daps for the Elysium.
I tend to listen at night at lower volumes and so with my M8 I use low gain and hover around 30 on the volume most of the time. There is the odd album that needs more but mostly this is fine.. I know they say that the estats like power though. Are others using high gain but lower volume or higher volume on lower gain. Excuse my technical ignorance but is there a difference. I'll try to figure it out empirically but I wondered as to others' experiences...

I don't know if it works the same in DAPs as it does in pre-amps, for example, but the difference between High Gain/Low Volume and Low Gain/High Volume is in the potential or ceiling. With the high-gain circuit, the player technically isn't working as hard as it would in low-gain mode, which is why I feel the ELYSIUM sounds less compressed or more open with more powerful amps. I also listen to the ELYSIUM at 40-45% volume on my Lotoo PAW Gold Touch, but it still sounds more open, airy and tangible out of SMSL's M500, for example.

 

[Tanjiro]

Congrats!

VE8 or Ely?

It's VE8. Ely didn't sound good on my WM1A.

 

[Rockwell75]

It's VE8. Ely didn't sound good on my WM1A.

Yeah Ely likes powah.

 

[Tanjiro]

VE8 ~ 8th anniversary version.

 

[ctop]

Yeah Ely likes powah.

+1
Just tried it with Kann Alpha at High Gain and Ely really scales well with power. Highs are more refined and nothing really missing in the bass department.

 

[SBranson]

I don't know if it works the same in DAPs as it does in pre-amps, for example, but the difference between High Gain/Low Volume and Low Gain/High Volume is in the potential or ceiling. With the high-gain circuit, the player technically isn't working as hard as it would ini low-gain mode, which is why I feel the ELYSIUM sounds less compressed or more open with more powerful amps. I also listen to the ELYSIUM at 40-45% volume on my Lotoo PAW Gold Touch, but it still sounds more open, airy and tangible out of SMSL's M500, for example.

Thanks for the reply. Interestingly enough on the M8 I’m actually preferring the sound of high gain over low gain or turbo. Even volume matched, low gain tends to reduce bass a touch and overall the sound seems more distant. High gain seems to bring a little more life to the sound. Turbo though, for me, seems to induce a bit of a V-shape with emphasis on low and high. Bass sound strong and dynamic but I feel magic of the mids is reduced.. but that was only a very brief experiment.

 

[SBranson]

I’m looking for a cable for my Elysium, to eke out that last bit of magic, and am thinking about the Eletech Plato. Will this be too “thin” sounding? I’ve read lots of reviews but am wondering if I should hold off to get an Iliad. I currently have a Triton Cardas Clear Light which is supposedly the same wire as the PW1960 and I’ve had the Triton version of the 1950. Can anyone comment on the Plato vs the 1950/1960? I’ve seen them compared to the Iliad but not so much the Plato.

 

[Wyville]

For anyone interested, I just posted my Masters of Classical Music series entry of the Vision Ears VE5.

 

[SBranson]

What a review!!... both the music and the VE5.. as a lover of baroque music I'm definitely interested to hear about the VE5

 

[Deezel177]

Thanks for the reply. Interestingly enough on the M8 I’m actually preferring the sound of high gain over low gain or turbo. Even volume matched, low gain tends to reduce bass a touch and overall the sound seems more distant. High gain seems to bring a little more life to the sound. Turbo though, for me, seems to induce a bit of a V-shape with emphasis on low and high. Bass sound strong and dynamic but I feel magic of the mids is reduced.. but that was only a very experiment.

Yeah, I don't know if it maybe got lost in the weeds there somewhere, but I do also prefer the ELYSIUM on high gain. Again, it gives the IEM more headroom, and the amp circuit doesn't have to push as hard. Whereas, on low gain, the IEM sounds trapped with a ceiling, almost.

I’m looking for a cable for my Elysium, to eke out that last bit of magic, and am thinking about the Eletech Plato. Will this be too “thin” sounding? I’ve read lots of reviews but am wondering if I should hold off to get an Iliad. I currently have a Triton Cardas Clear Light which is supposedly the same wire as the PW1960 and I’ve had the Triton version of the 1950. Can anyone comment on the Plato vs the 1950/1960? I’ve seen them compared to the Iliad but not so much the Plato.

From my brief audition of the Plato with the ELYSIUM many, many months ago, it struck me as a cable that emboldened the ELYSIUM's natural colourations. It gave the mids even more glow, and it made the highs a bit wetter-sounding; not as dry, perhaps. I think, if you love the ELYSIUM's flavour already, the Plato is a great option. The Illiad would be more ideal if you wanted to neutralise it a tad and make it sound more laidback or analog. It lends the mids weight and body, rather than sheen, and its imaging is more holographic as well. So, it really comes down to flavour IMO.

 

[SBranson]

From my brief audition of the Plato with the ELYSIUM many, many months ago, it struck me as a cable that emboldened the ELYSIUM's natural colourations. It gave the mids even more glow, and it made the highs a bit wetter-sounding; not as dry, perhaps. I think, if you love the ELYSIUM's flavour already, the Plato is a great option. The Illiad would be more ideal if you wanted to neutralise it a tad and make it sound more laidback or analog. It lends the mids weight and body, rather than sheen, and its imaging is more holographic as well. So, it really comes down to flavour IMO.

Thanks!!! This is what I was looking for. I feel that the M8 already introduced the analog sound to the Elysium and I was actually looking to bring back more of what you say the Plato does. As much as I like the idea of a more holographic image, I feel like that aspect of the Elysium is already present in a very pleasing way so unless the Plato actually ruined it, I think the Plato might be what I'm looking for... Thanks again...