[blotmouse]

These definitely cater to those that prioritise musicality, timbre and enjoyment imo… but as has been said many times on these forums, people derive enjoyment from different things I guess

I just want the freedom of an open music library with the highest fidelity possible.
I don't want TOTL iem's to be so opened up the only things that sound good on them are perfectly mastered and recorded material from the upper echelon of audiophile artists no one else knows about. That easily takes away 40% of the current champs. Their forward mids are depressingly bad on most material.
In that circumstance, the quest for detail is a losing one. Of course, ymmv.
And I would even say my Noir is about as far out I'll get on that limb. It sits waiting for material enough already. Same thing with 2-channel, and why I gave up on it entirely. I need that space between, and I am pretty excited for the EXT because of this.

 

[normie610]

I may have mine early next week, fingers crossed

Hah, this is one impression I’ve been waiting for!

 

[uckexk]

I don't get it then. I disliked them to the point of acknowledging the great bass response and the build, fit and overall design and putting them back in the box in about 2 hours. Tried them with my SP2000, DAVE and Hugo 2.

To me they were lacking on most fronts, as far as sound quality is concerned. One of the very few IEMs I have tried that provoked such a response too...

I share the same sentiment.

Spoiler: Critical; skip if you enjoy EXT

I said after Elysium anything from VE with DD mid and EST high might mean automatic pre-order. I did. I was one of the first who pre-ordered it, with a great price too, if nothing went wrong I should've received it weeks ago. Yet I cancelled it two hours after hearing the first demo, so that speaks how disappointing it was to me personally. I wish I could like it, but after two demos I knew I couldn't listen to it.

What I really don't get is the bass. It's not good in my book. It's just so so slow, almost dragging. Like some posts mentioned. DDs tend to have this problem, but still it feels slower than IE900's and many others' DD bass, and IE900 bass is much more refined. EXT's bass sounds blunt and gives me a headache.

It has a good treble but lacks in mids. Midrange sounds extremely thin. So when it's got a very elevated bass and a great amount of air, but not enough meat in the midrange, the whole thing feels disjointed, hollow and lifeless.

It's a trend on head-fi to hype new releases like they are all somehow the next best thing. Well they can't all be great. If EXT is already at 9/10, where should PHöNIX, which is much better, be placed at? 11/10? Crin also mentioned in one of his videos how hyped up things are in the audiophile world and how small the range of the scale reviews use. I'm worried the hype will drive some consumers to make decisions they'd later deeply regret. I certainly would if I didn't get a chance to hear it.

At least I learnt my lesson not to pre-order anything, even from the same house.

 

[gLer]

I guess we all gel with different sound signatures and perhaps the EXT was just not for you.

I do wonder actually if the EXT will split opinions down the middle. I could see people either loving it or disliking it.

I think any IEM that dares to delve into boosted bass territory (to the point where bass is warming the signature and adding real power to the music) is going to divide opinions. The same way, but to a lesser extent, that a treble-centric IEM splits opinions. From everything I've read about it, though, EXT seems to be fairly well balanced, so yes, big bass, but on an even keel with mids and treble. The only way to know for sure it to hear it.

I maintain that the only ultra high-end IEM that garnered virtually unanimous appeal to date is Traillii, and continues to do so.

 

[Deferenz]

I think any IEM that dares to delve into boosted bass territory (to the point where bass is warming the signature and adding real power to the music) is going to divide opinions. The same way, but to a lesser extent, that a treble-centric IEM splits opinions. From everything I've read about it, though, EXT seems to be fairly well balanced, so yes, big bass, but on an even keel with mids and treble. The only way to know for sure it to hear it.

I maintain that the only ultra high-end IEM that garnered virtually unanimous appeal to date is Traillii, and continues to do so.

I agree with all that and I’m curious to see how the EXT fairs in the community once more people get to listen to it.

Regarding the Traillii, it was due to the unanimous praise that I felt confident enough to buy it blind.

 

[kevin638880]

I agree with all that and I’m curious to see how the EXT fairs in the community once more people get to listen to it.

Regarding the Traillii, it was due to the unanimous praise that I felt confident enough to buy it blind.

I'd never buy anything blind, this hobby is just too subjective to do that - especially so when factoring in music tastes.

I have a friend that actually likes hearing sharp "s" sounds and nasal qualities, for example....

OK well another major reason is the price lol.

 

[Deferenz]

I'd never buy anything blind, this hobby is just too subjective to do that - especially so when factoring in music tastes.

I have a friend that actually likes hearing sharp "s" sounds and nasal qualities, for example....

OK well another major reason is the price lol.

It was a risk, but there was no way to hear it beforehand. I just had to put my faith in the usual posters here In this case it paid off and I’m happy.

With regard to the EXT I think it may be worthwhile trying it first as it may not suit everyone. Right now though I think if you bought it and didn’t like it then it should sell quite quickly on the classifieds.

 

[Tristy]

Honestly... I've blind bought every one of my IEM's and I can't say I have out and out regretted any of them. My biggest dissapointment was probably the U12t but again, this is more down to subjective preference reasons more than anything. I still recognise it as a TOTL IEM with admirable traits but it just wasn't for me. If you do enough research and read enough impressions / comparisons with knowledge of the impression givers preferences etc I don't think you can really go wrong.

 

[gLer]

Honestly... I've blind bought every one of my IEM's and I can't say I have out and out regretted any of them. My biggest dissapointment was probably the U12t but again, this is more down to subjective preference reasons more than anything. I still recognise it as a TOTL IEM with admirable traits but it just wasn't for me. If you do enough research and read enough impressions / comparisons with knowledge of the impression givers preferences etc I don't think you can really go wrong.

True, though I must say EXT is proving to be an enigma. Like @Deferenz says though, once more people around here get hold of it, the picture should become clearer.

 

[Deezel177]

I think any IEM that dares to delve into boosted bass territory (to the point where bass is warming the signature and adding real power to the music) is going to divide opinions. The same way, but to a lesser extent, that a treble-centric IEM splits opinions. From everything I've read about it, though, EXT seems to be fairly well balanced, so yes, big bass, but on an even keel with mids and treble. The only way to know for sure it to hear it.

I maintain that the only ultra high-end IEM that garnered virtually unanimous appeal to date is Traillii, and continues to do so.

I remember one review that wasn't very nice towards the Trailli, but, yeah, all positive otherwise.

 

[Skullar]

I think any IEM that dares to delve into boosted bass territory (to the point where bass is warming the signature and adding real power to the music) is going to divide opinions. The same way, but to a lesser extent, that a treble-centric IEM splits opinions. From everything I've read about it, though, EXT seems to be fairly well balanced, so yes, big bass, but on an even keel with mids and treble. The only way to know for sure it to hear it.

I maintain that the only ultra high-end IEM that garnered virtually unanimous appeal to date is Traillii, and continues to do so.

I just dont understand what people expect.
They buy a DD/hybrid iem with elevated bass and expect it to sound like BA.

Clearly if i liked fast less physically present bass. I would have looked the other way the minute FR graph surfaced for EXT.

 

[Deferenz]

I remember one review that wasn't very nice towards the Trailli, but, yeah, all positive otherwise.

I think I only remember one specific review that gave the bird a bit of bashing.

 

[Deezel177]

I think I only remember one specific review that gave the bird a bit of bashing.

Yeah, that was the major one, aside from the odd "I found them a bit too light" impression every now and again. I didn't want to specify, as I didn't want to spark any sort of debate, and it's not the thread to do so either. What this is the thread for, though, is posting a measurement I just took of the PHoNIX.

Now, as usual, measurements don't dictate quality and yadda, yadda, yadda. My rig is also calibrated differently to Crinacle's or Alex's. Mine tends to have less sub-bass and is smoother in the treble. But, all those usual disclaimers aside, my word... if that isn't one of the prettiest, most linear, most even-looking slopes I've seen out of an IEM:

 

[gnahra]

Yeah, that was the major one, aside from the odd "I found them a bit too light" impression every now and again. I didn't want to specify, as I didn't want to spark any sort of debate, and it's not the thread to do so either. What this is the thread for, though, is posting a measurement I just took of the PHoNIX.

Now, as usual, measurements don't dictate quality and yadda, yadda, yadda. My rig is also calibrated differently to Crinacle's or Alex's. Mine tends to have less sub-bass and is smoother in the treble. But, all those usual disclaimers aside, my word... if that isn't one of the prettiest, most linear, most even-looking slopes I've seen out of an IEM:

That sub-bass roll-off though....
Any chance you can graph the EXT on the same chart to compare?

Thank you!

 

[Deezel177]

That sub-bass roll-off though....
Any chance you can graph the EXT on the same chart to compare?

Thank you!

To be honest, that sub-bass roll-off may just be my set-up. It's on literally every IEM I've measured (to slightly varying degrees, of course) except for the EE Valkyrie. Even the ODIN has a bit of it. I've tried measuring the EXT, and I'm not getting that reliable of a result, because of the SpinFit tip that's on there. I may try again with other tips, but I don't wanna spend the minutes and Joules to get it on that huge, oval nozzle. We'll see about it later.