IEMusic
Headphoneus Supremus
I must say, Lord Barnie is a perfect name for him."Barnie! Don't chew my gear!"
"No, don't look at me with those puppy eyes..."
"...oh, alright. Just one set of IEMs, okay."
Those eyes are pure extortion.
flinkenick's 17 Flagship IEM Shootout Thread (and general high-end portable audio discussion)
Very PG Wodehouse, indeed.
RPKwan
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Did you try the Erlkonig with either of the Crystal Cables? I haven't tested them and there are very few reviews. Lots on the second hand market here in Hong Kong so wonder what the reason is... Thanks.
Curious to hear your thoughts on them!
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KuroKitsu
Headphoneus Supremus
Here goes KuroKitsu's VE Virginity (Sorry 64!) with the VE8 or as I prefer: VE(W)8!
Credit is due to @Barra for gauging Canadian interest and setting up a Canadian tour for the VE8 and Elysium. Without stuff like this, stuff like VE ends up being a fairytale. Slightly more tangible than the Toronto Maple Leafs winning a Stanley Cup. I wasn't comfortable with having so much personal info in the wild, but good friend @Colors lived close enough signed up and made some time for me to try the stuff. Getting that VE cherry popped was definitely a bucket list item.
So anyhow, remember my waxing poetic about the u12t and it being a nigh impossible to attain? VE stuff is the European equivalent of that. Mainly sticking to customs only until recently and no demo tours with the universals in the great white north made the possibility of that being a nil. Until now. Not much else to say besides VE being highly regarded and a wait and see to "Will KuroKitsu pour dog's blood on the VE8 and Elysium like the Sultan?"
Looking at the shell, I really wished the VE8 was made in universal. VE has done a really good job with the demo. Purple sparkly faceplates, relatively small and light for 8 BAs. Nozzle is a bit on the chonky side, but goes straight in and is snug. No fit issues at all (at that moment a sunbeam came through the clouds and a unicorn came down). My only concern was the warmth I kept hearing about, I lean towards a slightly warmer than neutral signature with plenty of technicalities. These impressions will be slightly different since I did some listening with both 4.4 and 3.5 jacks on my 1A (Volume at 55 on low gain) with the HFS Silver and the Stock copper respectively. This will tie into the warmth people talk about and I'll do similarities and differences between the 2 cables
Bass
Similarities: Good sub bass extension, the mid bass slam and impact seems to be dialed back a little bit to let the sub bass come through. An interesting choice rather than boosting the sub bass to showcase it. No bleed at all, which makes me a happy boy. Bass is on the neutral side rather than bass boosted, it hits the top 5 list for BA bass for me, but having joined the D(D)ark side, I don't really feel qualified in judging BA bass as much since it feels lacking in some minor way.
Differences: The mid bass has slightly more body plus the slam and impact is bumped up a little bit making it close to my cup of tea when using the copper. The warmth does make the mid bass slightly more enjoyable than the load back feeling with the silver.
Mids
Similarities: Slightly forward, the lower mids are fuller and have more body in comparion to the upper mids, which could use some more body. Upper mids are by no mean recessed but a more laid back presentation than I'm use to. Man the DMagic has really spoiled me in that area......
Differences: Mids are interesting with the copper. The lower mids get a tad bit more fuller and body in comparion to the silver. The upper mids get a much better boost in this situation. They end up sitting between the laid back of the silver and the boosted upper mids say of the DMagic.It appears that copper balances out the mids in a way closer to my preferences.
Treble:
Similarities: No sibilance at all, in fact it's rather smooth and extensions is good. There's really not much to say, it's treble done well but ends up being boring.
Differences: None really, the treble doesn't change between the 2 and is quite consistent.
For such a hyped iem (and one I was looking forward to demoing). impressions seem rather short you say? I have bit more to say about the VE8 as a whole in 3...2....1
So...the timbre.....is amazing, beyond the Viento, I don't I've heard anything that good. If I was judging on that criteria alone, the price tag would be justified, but alas there's more beyond that. The signature is north of neutral with some warmth concentrated in the mid bass to lower mid range, for me this solidly lands itself to being particularly suited for Rock over other genres in a JH kind of way. But unlike JH, it can handle female vocals without making them feel like nonexistent after images of a ghost. Soundstage is a good size and wider than the average, but the Andromeda beats it slightly. Cables seem to be an important part of the signature, with copper bringing out the best in the tuning. Had to check the driver distribution given the shell size of the sound, kudos to VE for making an 8 driver BA sound more than it has any business sounding (Athena ran crying out of the room at that) I don't think I've heard another 8 BA setup that comes close/ Given the prices that reshell universals have gone for, I'd much rather go for the MW10 since it's much closer to my preferences in the bass and treble and there's no fear of the reshell messing with the intended signature.I generally prefer all rounder iems for specialists, so at MRSP this is too much of a specialist for rock that I would pass. A the same time it performs technicallity proficient for a neutral warm signature (much better than Viento in terms of the warmth as well over all that I would seriously consider buying a reshelled despite my misgivings about them at the market price.
Good Night/Morning/Afternoon to every one in different time zones.
Elysium impressions will come tomorrow. Expect something involving Elysium Fields
Credit is due to @Barra for gauging Canadian interest and setting up a Canadian tour for the VE8 and Elysium. Without stuff like this, stuff like VE ends up being a fairytale. Slightly more tangible than the Toronto Maple Leafs winning a Stanley Cup. I wasn't comfortable with having so much personal info in the wild, but good friend @Colors lived close enough signed up and made some time for me to try the stuff. Getting that VE cherry popped was definitely a bucket list item.
So anyhow, remember my waxing poetic about the u12t and it being a nigh impossible to attain? VE stuff is the European equivalent of that. Mainly sticking to customs only until recently and no demo tours with the universals in the great white north made the possibility of that being a nil. Until now. Not much else to say besides VE being highly regarded and a wait and see to "Will KuroKitsu pour dog's blood on the VE8 and Elysium like the Sultan?"
Looking at the shell, I really wished the VE8 was made in universal. VE has done a really good job with the demo. Purple sparkly faceplates, relatively small and light for 8 BAs. Nozzle is a bit on the chonky side, but goes straight in and is snug. No fit issues at all (at that moment a sunbeam came through the clouds and a unicorn came down). My only concern was the warmth I kept hearing about, I lean towards a slightly warmer than neutral signature with plenty of technicalities. These impressions will be slightly different since I did some listening with both 4.4 and 3.5 jacks on my 1A (Volume at 55 on low gain) with the HFS Silver and the Stock copper respectively. This will tie into the warmth people talk about and I'll do similarities and differences between the 2 cables
Bass
Similarities: Good sub bass extension, the mid bass slam and impact seems to be dialed back a little bit to let the sub bass come through. An interesting choice rather than boosting the sub bass to showcase it. No bleed at all, which makes me a happy boy. Bass is on the neutral side rather than bass boosted, it hits the top 5 list for BA bass for me, but having joined the D(D)ark side, I don't really feel qualified in judging BA bass as much since it feels lacking in some minor way.
Differences: The mid bass has slightly more body plus the slam and impact is bumped up a little bit making it close to my cup of tea when using the copper. The warmth does make the mid bass slightly more enjoyable than the load back feeling with the silver.
Mids
Similarities: Slightly forward, the lower mids are fuller and have more body in comparion to the upper mids, which could use some more body. Upper mids are by no mean recessed but a more laid back presentation than I'm use to. Man the DMagic has really spoiled me in that area......
Differences: Mids are interesting with the copper. The lower mids get a tad bit more fuller and body in comparion to the silver. The upper mids get a much better boost in this situation. They end up sitting between the laid back of the silver and the boosted upper mids say of the DMagic.It appears that copper balances out the mids in a way closer to my preferences.
Treble:
Similarities: No sibilance at all, in fact it's rather smooth and extensions is good. There's really not much to say, it's treble done well but ends up being boring.
Differences: None really, the treble doesn't change between the 2 and is quite consistent.
For such a hyped iem (and one I was looking forward to demoing). impressions seem rather short you say? I have bit more to say about the VE8 as a whole in 3...2....1
So...the timbre.....is amazing, beyond the Viento, I don't I've heard anything that good. If I was judging on that criteria alone, the price tag would be justified, but alas there's more beyond that. The signature is north of neutral with some warmth concentrated in the mid bass to lower mid range, for me this solidly lands itself to being particularly suited for Rock over other genres in a JH kind of way. But unlike JH, it can handle female vocals without making them feel like nonexistent after images of a ghost. Soundstage is a good size and wider than the average, but the Andromeda beats it slightly. Cables seem to be an important part of the signature, with copper bringing out the best in the tuning. Had to check the driver distribution given the shell size of the sound, kudos to VE for making an 8 driver BA sound more than it has any business sounding (Athena ran crying out of the room at that) I don't think I've heard another 8 BA setup that comes close/ Given the prices that reshell universals have gone for, I'd much rather go for the MW10 since it's much closer to my preferences in the bass and treble and there's no fear of the reshell messing with the intended signature.I generally prefer all rounder iems for specialists, so at MRSP this is too much of a specialist for rock that I would pass. A the same time it performs technicallity proficient for a neutral warm signature (much better than Viento in terms of the warmth as well over all that I would seriously consider buying a reshelled despite my misgivings about them at the market price.
Good Night/Morning/Afternoon to every one in different time zones.
Elysium impressions will come tomorrow. Expect something involving Elysium Fields
Yeah, he is growing really fast. At the puppy training you can see every week how much quicker he is growing then the rest. By now he is much bigger than any of the other pups and if the others are too hyper for his liking he just pushes them aside. The owner of one of the more energetic ones seemed to like how Barnie did that: "Hey, did you see the Leonberger? Just put his shoulder into ours and pushed him aside. Now he's finally calmed down a bit!"
Met up with his half-brother yesterday and there you can see how much he still has to go before he is his proper size...
Haven’t tried the erlkonig with crystal cables yet, but on the VE8, the crystal cable dream duet made the VE8 sound like a completely different iem.
RPKwan
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Super curious though I'm not a huge fan of the colors of either CC cable. Very surprised to see so many in the second-hand market.
I will be getting back to reviewing properly soon so I will be able to make regular contributions again as well.
Got the Ara in and the excellent FiiO EM5 earbuds. Just can't listen as much because I need to hear whether or not Barnie is chewing the furniture. 
I will be getting back to reviewing properly soon so I will be able to make regular contributions again as well.
I’d like to make my own contribution to the doggo thread. This is Ramsey (AKA the mad dog who thought my MrSpeakers Alpha Prime was a chew toy
):
mvvRAZ
Headphoneus Supremus
Petition to rename this to the dog thread
proedros
Headphoneus Supremus
every dog pic gets a like from me , no questions asked
VE makes good stuff! I agree that it’s mainly the price-to-performance that leaves me underwhelmed every time I hear their stuff. Good to see you like the VE8; frankly, I think that’s the best in their lineup. Despite the treble roll-off and very warm timbre, it’s incredibly technical; just a very solid IEM overall. Killer for male vocals imo. I was a bit meh on the Elysium, although it’s a decent IEM too. Looking forward to reading your thoughts on that one
Lots of good bois in this thread I see. Guess I have to stack on my own pic too haha
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Loving the bandana! We need to get Barnie one of those.I’d like to make my own contribution to the doggo thread. This is Ramsey (AKA the mad dog who thought my MrSpeakers Alpha Prime was a chew toy
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