HuoYuanJia
Previously known as Ultrazino
Member of the Trade: HEDD Audio
I had a listen of the Erlkönig at the High End Munich show. Shows are never a good place to set impressions into stone. But I did get there with fresh ears minutes after the opening and I didn't listen to any other IEMs/ headphones for a few days before that. My source was the Hugo 2, fed with my usual playlist containing everything (first few tracks male and female vocals, then some Pop, Jazz, Metal, Classical, sibilant tracks, badly recorded tracks, superbly recorded tracks, some MP3s, AAC, DSD and 96/24 - I like to mix it up) and a sine generator. As this was my only source, I have no idea how sensitive they are or if they react to higher output impedance. That is stuff to consider for reviews.
Comfort is great. The weight is heavy. The body doesn't look like it is prone to scratches and I didn't notice any scuffs either. The silver body isn't polished so maybe that helps. After some time I can imagine it will show wear. Below the faceplate the Erlkönig was heavily scratched and also the adjustment screw didn't look all that good anymore. That is probably because it was the demo's 3rd day and I can imagine visitors trying to stab the demo or checking how much pressure it can handle. Not sure, maybe it does scratch super easily. I didn't adjust the screw myself but let VE handle it for me. The faceplate sits very tightly, only held in place by a very strong magnet. I am sure VE thought about this and found a solution, but generally it is not a good idea to create a magnetic field around BA drivers. I hope this will not create any damage over time.
The switches are mostly about bass/ warmth. Level one is the bassiest, four the least. But even level 4 does still have more impact than the Ety ER4 or probably even ProPhile 8. This settings did remind me more of a v-shape, actually, that made voices sound thinner and treble more forward.
Setting 3 is the one I initially preferred. It sounds like a refined VE8, not quite that bassy, flatter but still very musical. Extension on both ends is incredible. The bass has great ground and bottom without noticeable bleeding into the midrange. Doing sine swipes I didn't notice any faults across the frequency spectrum whatsoever. Even with the loud environment I had no problem hearing 15 kHz on the generator so I presume the treble extension is fantastic. Of course there is not a hint of sibilance. Really, really enjoyable.
Since setting 3 already had more than enough bass and warmth for me, I skipped setting 2. I jumped directly to 1. Oh boy... Is VE trying to become Campfire's master? This is at least as much bass as the crazy amounts of CA's Vega or even Atlas. It's seriously painful. The bass is so strong, I did not find it enjoyable at all. It really sounds like a subwoofer that is amped to maximum. However, the signal sounded clean for the short time I listened to it. Maybe setting one is only meant as a showcase of how capable the drivers are and how low their distortion is. But with this setting you could clearly tell that the midrange was heavily impacted and it became quite warm and dull. Did I reference Campfire Atlas yet? Yeah, sounds like that with better treble.
I would imagine that sound engineers or people that are used to working in studio environments would not find a setting that gives them the perfectly neutral flat response. But again, maybe the show environment impacts my impressions and setting 3 or 4 actually is flat. For now I would assume that fans of linearity like the ProPhile 8 will not "upgrade". But on the other hand it will be very difficult to find any fault with the very homogenous and musical setting 3. I also really like the idea of interchangeable faceplates. That way you can match your IEMs with your clothes daily.
*Sorry, no pictures. I accidentally must have hit the ISO dial so all photos shot at the VE booth have maximum ISO which looks like crap on a MFT camera. Yes, I cried.*
BTW, since this thread is not only about VE, rhines custom monitors also had a new monitor. It's called Theta (8th letter of the Greek alphabet). I was quite surprised and did not expect that at all. This is a very good neutral monitor, probably aiming more at professionals than the Erlkönig. It was shown at CanJam and not High End, so the hall should have been quieter but just next to it the Teufel booth was amping their mediocre speakers (at a headphone show, What! Minus 10 points for that!). What a bummer. What I did hear was a tonality somewhere between Erlkönig 3 and 4, the neutral response I was always missing from rhines. It sounded like a spiced up ProPhile 8 with deeper bass and better treble extension. Midrange was spot on to me - up front and accurate. While the Stage 7 had some more warmth and a treble peak, I didn't notice any of that with the Theta. The bass extension improved and the Theta seems to be free from any thickness or bleeding at all. A very spacious sound with a lot more headroom than Felix's monitors usually have.
Directly next to that, Ambient Acoustics showed off some monitors and the prototype AM24 was supposed to be neutral. It sounded nowhere as effortless as the Theta, showed a lower treble emphasis and it didn't have such a musical flow. The AM7 sounded dull and slow in comparison, also. Sadly that's the only direct comparison I have right now.
I have more impressions of StereoPravda, oBravo, Campfire and Dita IEMs, but Erlkönig was probably the one IEM that interested me the most (and which did not disappoint) and coincidentally Theta was the most positive surprise. If you read my reviews you might have noticed that I criticize a lot because I always start with high expectations and then mention the flaws. These two, Erlkönig (3) and Theta were the only two products at the show for with 30mins each weren't enough to bring out the German nagging. To be continued...
Comfort is great. The weight is heavy. The body doesn't look like it is prone to scratches and I didn't notice any scuffs either. The silver body isn't polished so maybe that helps. After some time I can imagine it will show wear. Below the faceplate the Erlkönig was heavily scratched and also the adjustment screw didn't look all that good anymore. That is probably because it was the demo's 3rd day and I can imagine visitors trying to stab the demo or checking how much pressure it can handle. Not sure, maybe it does scratch super easily. I didn't adjust the screw myself but let VE handle it for me. The faceplate sits very tightly, only held in place by a very strong magnet. I am sure VE thought about this and found a solution, but generally it is not a good idea to create a magnetic field around BA drivers. I hope this will not create any damage over time.
The switches are mostly about bass/ warmth. Level one is the bassiest, four the least. But even level 4 does still have more impact than the Ety ER4 or probably even ProPhile 8. This settings did remind me more of a v-shape, actually, that made voices sound thinner and treble more forward.
Setting 3 is the one I initially preferred. It sounds like a refined VE8, not quite that bassy, flatter but still very musical. Extension on both ends is incredible. The bass has great ground and bottom without noticeable bleeding into the midrange. Doing sine swipes I didn't notice any faults across the frequency spectrum whatsoever. Even with the loud environment I had no problem hearing 15 kHz on the generator so I presume the treble extension is fantastic. Of course there is not a hint of sibilance. Really, really enjoyable.
Since setting 3 already had more than enough bass and warmth for me, I skipped setting 2. I jumped directly to 1. Oh boy... Is VE trying to become Campfire's master? This is at least as much bass as the crazy amounts of CA's Vega or even Atlas. It's seriously painful. The bass is so strong, I did not find it enjoyable at all. It really sounds like a subwoofer that is amped to maximum. However, the signal sounded clean for the short time I listened to it. Maybe setting one is only meant as a showcase of how capable the drivers are and how low their distortion is. But with this setting you could clearly tell that the midrange was heavily impacted and it became quite warm and dull. Did I reference Campfire Atlas yet? Yeah, sounds like that with better treble.
I would imagine that sound engineers or people that are used to working in studio environments would not find a setting that gives them the perfectly neutral flat response. But again, maybe the show environment impacts my impressions and setting 3 or 4 actually is flat. For now I would assume that fans of linearity like the ProPhile 8 will not "upgrade". But on the other hand it will be very difficult to find any fault with the very homogenous and musical setting 3. I also really like the idea of interchangeable faceplates. That way you can match your IEMs with your clothes daily.
*Sorry, no pictures. I accidentally must have hit the ISO dial so all photos shot at the VE booth have maximum ISO which looks like crap on a MFT camera. Yes, I cried.*
BTW, since this thread is not only about VE, rhines custom monitors also had a new monitor. It's called Theta (8th letter of the Greek alphabet). I was quite surprised and did not expect that at all. This is a very good neutral monitor, probably aiming more at professionals than the Erlkönig. It was shown at CanJam and not High End, so the hall should have been quieter but just next to it the Teufel booth was amping their mediocre speakers (at a headphone show, What! Minus 10 points for that!). What a bummer. What I did hear was a tonality somewhere between Erlkönig 3 and 4, the neutral response I was always missing from rhines. It sounded like a spiced up ProPhile 8 with deeper bass and better treble extension. Midrange was spot on to me - up front and accurate. While the Stage 7 had some more warmth and a treble peak, I didn't notice any of that with the Theta. The bass extension improved and the Theta seems to be free from any thickness or bleeding at all. A very spacious sound with a lot more headroom than Felix's monitors usually have.
Directly next to that, Ambient Acoustics showed off some monitors and the prototype AM24 was supposed to be neutral. It sounded nowhere as effortless as the Theta, showed a lower treble emphasis and it didn't have such a musical flow. The AM7 sounded dull and slow in comparison, also. Sadly that's the only direct comparison I have right now.
I have more impressions of StereoPravda, oBravo, Campfire and Dita IEMs, but Erlkönig was probably the one IEM that interested me the most (and which did not disappoint) and coincidentally Theta was the most positive surprise. If you read my reviews you might have noticed that I criticize a lot because I always start with high expectations and then mention the flaws. These two, Erlkönig (3) and Theta were the only two products at the show for with 30mins each weren't enough to bring out the German nagging. To be continued...