[morndewey]

I’ll

That’s a good description of how I felt. It’s not an iem that necessarily draws attention to itself. My “wow” moment was tha instrument textures and timbres sounded more real than I had ever heard. The wow came from the music then by extension the Elysium... and still does.

I’ll sure be listening for those timbres an textures as I get settled in

 

[frestoinc]

sorry to ask but does ibasso dx220 with amp8 enough to drive elysium?

 

[SBranson]

sorry to ask but does ibasso dx220 with amp8 enough to drive elysium?

I had the DX220 with the amp8ex before the Shanling M8 I currently have and it needed more volume but I feel like it had plenty of power for the Elysium. It’s a very detailed combination and one I quite liked though I found the pure mango mode a bit too bright.

 

[Quantom88]

I'm thinking quite hard of getting the Elysium but worry about the whole talk of the power required to drive them and also their sensitivity to output impedance. While I understand the whole importance of having source synergy, IEMs are intended to be portable and I would hope for them to at least be adaptable to less-than-ideal sources away from the desktop or high-end DAPs.

With that said, has anyone tried tried plugging the Elysiums directly to their laptop or smartphone? How significant was the change in audio quality, especially in terms of clarity (i.e. treble, air) and tonal balance?

Also, I've always found it hard to understand the physics of earphones that are "hard to drive" and yet come with rather generous sensitivity ratings. For example, the Elysium is rated at 16.4 ohms, with a sensitivity of 105dB at 1mW. Comparatively, the Etymotic ER4XR is rated at 45 ohms, with a sensitivity of 104dB at 0.2V. From that alone, it appears that the Elysium should be easier to drive than the ER4XR (which works happily out of a smartphone), but given the numerous reviews on this thread I'm inclined to think that's far from the truth. Does anyone have any views on this?

 

[Mehran]

I am considering VE8 and Elysium, could someone tell me please which one is better for rock and blues, and male vocals in general? Would something like a BTR5 drive them to a decent level?

 

[Frankie D]

I'm thinking quite hard of getting the Elysium but worry about the whole talk of the power required to drive them and also their sensitivity to output impedance. While I understand the whole importance of having source synergy, IEMs are intended to be portable and I would hope for them to at least be adaptable to less-than-ideal sources away from the desktop or high-end DAPs.

With that said, has anyone tried tried plugging the Elysiums directly to their laptop or smartphone? How significant was the change in audio quality, especially in terms of clarity (i.e. treble, air) and tonal balance?

Also, I've always found it hard to understand the physics of earphones that are "hard to drive" and yet come with rather generous sensitivity ratings. For example, the Elysium is rated at 16.4 ohms, with a sensitivity of 105dB at 1mW. Comparatively, the Etymotic ER4XR is rated at 45 ohms, with a sensitivity of 104dB at 0.2V. From that alone, it appears that the Elysium should be easier to drive than the ER4XR (which works happily out of a smartphone), but given the numerous reviews on this thread I'm inclined to think that's far from the truth. Does anyone have any views on this?

Many folks on the forum over emphasize power for IEM’s. An IEM is easy to drive. They all run on milliwatts, not watts as on sone hard to drive HP’s. You will have no issue. I have also used my iPhone X Max and have had no issues. In fact, if you connect an Audioquest Dragonfly Red to the iPhone ( or even the Lotoo Paw S1) you get into hairs between it and the kilobuck Daps. I still like my N8 and Hugo 2, but they DragonFly is pretty close.

As I am writing this I just connected it to use with iTunes and my Dragonfly Red. I set the volume on the iPhone as 8 clicks from 0 which is halfway. It sounds excellent. I tried going higher and you can literally blow out your ears, so there is more than enough gas in an iPhone as an example.

My Ely is a custom, but same specs as the universal. Good luck with your final choice. Tks.

 

[Deezel177]

I'm thinking quite hard of getting the Elysium but worry about the whole talk of the power required to drive them and also their sensitivity to output impedance. While I understand the whole importance of having source synergy, IEMs are intended to be portable and I would hope for them to at least be adaptable to less-than-ideal sources away from the desktop or high-end DAPs.

With that said, has anyone tried tried plugging the Elysiums directly to their laptop or smartphone? How significant was the change in audio quality, especially in terms of clarity (i.e. treble, air) and tonal balance?

Also, I've always found it hard to understand the physics of earphones that are "hard to drive" and yet come with rather generous sensitivity ratings. For example, the Elysium is rated at 16.4 ohms, with a sensitivity of 105dB at 1mW. Comparatively, the Etymotic ER4XR is rated at 45 ohms, with a sensitivity of 104dB at 0.2V. From that alone, it appears that the Elysium should be easier to drive than the ER4XR (which works happily out of a smartphone), but given the numerous reviews on this thread I'm inclined to think that's far from the truth. Does anyone have any views on this?

I think a large part of it is a case of perception. For example, if I drove the ELYSIUM through an amp, would I perceive a more stable, more out-of-head stage with more tactile instruments? Yes. But, would I be perfectly happy with the ELYSIUM driven by a DAP or a smartphone? I would, as well. So, some added juice is nice, and it's required to get the absolute best out of it, I feel. But, as far as getting it to show its quality, or getting it to live up to its price tag, I think portable sources can do it justice just as well.

As far as the physics of it go, I can't really say for sure what it is. I'd love to see what changes - in the treble, especially - when you give the ELYSIUM some power. But, to me, at least, it's definitely audible. I don't know if I mentioned it on this thread or not, but I did write a post about headroom and potential being different from volume. I can get the ELYSIUM perfectly loud out of my Lotoo PAW Gold Touch; albeit, with more clicks on the volume wheel than all my other IEMs. But, there's always the slightest hint of compression to its stage; again, not a flaw by any means, but a sign that it can do a bit better.

Again, though, at the end of the day, it all depends on what you can perceive, and what you're willing to give up for what. Whenever I listen to the ELYSIUM, I certainly don't make the effort to turn on my desktop amp and tie myself down to a chair to listen to it. I'd much rather listen to it conveniently through my DAP, even when I'm just sitting at home. So, yeah, the way I've always seen it is: You'll be able to drive the ELYSIUM just fine out of a portable set-up, and it'll offer you that extra level as a bonus should you ever wanna hook it up to more juice.

I am considering VE8 and Elysium, could someone tell me please which one is better for rock and blues, and male vocals in general? Would something like a BTR5 drive them to a decent level?

For a bolder, warmer, more soulful sound with those genres and male vocals, the VE8 surely takes my pick.

 

[morndewey]

I think a large part of it is a case of perception. For example, if I drove the ELYSIUM through an amp, would I perceive a more stable, more out-of-head stage with more tactile instruments? Yes. But, would I be perfectly happy with the ELYSIUM driven by a DAP or a smartphone? I would, as well. So, some added juice is nice, and it's required to get the absolute best out of it, I feel. But, as far as getting it to show its quality, or getting it to live up to its price tag, I think portable sources can do it justice just as well.

As far as the physics of it go, I can't really say for sure what it is. I'd love to see what changes - in the treble, especially - when you give the ELYSIUM some power. But, to me, at least, it's definitely audible. I don't know if I mentioned it on this thread or not, but I did write a post about headroom and potential being different from volume. I can get the ELYSIUM perfectly loud out of my Lotoo PAW Gold Touch; albeit, with more clicks on the volume wheel than all my other IEMs. But, there's always the slightest hint of compression to its stage; again, not a flaw by any means, but a sign that it can do a bit better.

Again, though, at the end of the day, it all depends on what you can perceive, and what you're willing to give up for what. Whenever I listen to the ELYSIUM, I certainly don't make the effort to turn on my desktop amp and tie myself down to a chair to listen to it. I'd much rather listen to it conveniently through my DAP, even when I'm just sitting at home. So, yeah, the way I've always seen it is: You'll be able to drive the ELYSIUM just fine out of a portable set-up, and it'll offer you that extra level as a bonus should you ever wanna hook it up to more juice.


For a bolder, warmer, more soulful sound with those genres and male vocals, the VE8 surely takes my pick.

Hi. What would consider minimum mW needed to power Ely properly or to full potential?

 

[Quantom88]

Thanks for the replies. For those who have gone the way of customs, how do you keep your Elysium clean of ear wax? I notice that unlike the universal model which has replaceable mesh filters, and other manufacturers such as 64 Audio which come with a built-in mesh filter, there doesn't appear to be any such wax barrier on the Elysium custom.

 

[Frankie D]

Thanks for the replies. For those who have gone the way of customs, How do you keep your Elysium clean of ear wax? I notice that unlike the universal model which has replaceable mesh filters, and other manufacturers such as 64 Audio which come with a built-in mesh filter, there doesn't appear to be any such wax barrier on the Elysium custom.

You can use the brush and then wipe with a Cleaning towelet ( on amazon ) to disinfect and clean it. Then, when necessary use a Jordivac to thoroughly clean it. Go to Jordivac.com and order the consumer version. It may also be on amazon. They also sell different inserts for different size holes on your IEM’s. This will work with any IEM, even universals. I consider it a must have with IEM’s.

 

[Deezel177]

Hi. What would consider minimum mW needed to power Ely properly or to full potential?

I'm not entirely sure, but you don't have to go too crazy with it either. Something like SMSL's SP200 powers it beautifully.

Thanks for the replies. For those who have gone the way of customs, How do you keep your Elysium clean of ear wax? I notice that unlike the universal model which has replaceable mesh filters, and other manufacturers such as 64 Audio which come with a built-in mesh filter, there doesn't appear to be any such wax barrier on the Elysium custom.

Customs with small, individual sound tubes typically don't come with wax filters. You'd typically just fish any debris out of the sound tubes with the included wax pick, and they usually just sit at the end of the nozzle anyway. But, as @Frankie D mentioned, it's best to get an IEM vacuum for a full, deep clean. I probably would recommend FiR Audio or 64 Audio's vacuums over the Jodi-Vac, though, because it comes included with all the different heads @Frankie D mentioned. They even have one specifically for tia bores. FiR's and 64's vacuums are identical as far as I know, because FiR are 64's OEM for them. So, I'd say pick whichever one's most convenient or looks better to you. And, the more IEMs you have, the more value you'll get out of that investment too.

 

[Wildcatsare1]

A quick update on the VE Meister, damn I love these things. Now with some proper burning in, the bass performance is awesome, listening to the interplay of G. Baker and J. Bruce (Cream) is spectacular. Highs are articulate, extended without a hint of stridence. The Meister clearly bests the 64Audio Trio, at least in the music listen too. Next up, the Rhapsidio Eden.

 

[MrLocoLuciano]

Finally got my hands on a VE8 for deep test.


Fearless S8Z - Ambient Acoustics MAD24 - Vision Ears VE8 - Campfire Audio MW10

 

[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....

Can’t really say it better.. My cable arrived yesterday and it’s like the first day I heard the Elysium when I knew the sound was unlike anything I had heard before and matched exactly what I wanted from an iem. The Plato takes the Elysium’s strengths and highlights them. A gentle but not subtle nudge further towards my personal sense of perfection. What a great iem and the M8 and Plato show how good it can be. (and vice versa)

 

[morndewey]

E Pro Horn, medium tips seem like the best to me so far with Ely. It confuses me though. The included tips couldn’t be more of a contrast, narrow bore, deep insertion vs e pros. The medium e pros provide extra length between iem tip and inner ear. I think I wrote that right. A seeming trifle like this can make a huge difference in perceived sound, no?