[Valiado69]

I’m intrigued. Just got the raven’s today after having a whole bunch of iem’s varying in price from $300 to $3,700 (mentors). Initial impression? Phenomenal. Especially for metal and a great combo with the Hiby R8ii.
Is the stock PW cable all copper? I have a feeling a silver cable would be great even that they have enough sparkle for me which it what I was concerned with at first.

Testing with more copper cables, I also tried it with an Effect Audio 'ARES S 8W' Signature Series, and things were also improved compared to the standard PW Audio, but the synergy with the Raphael was love at first listen. The thing between iem and cable just works.

 

[Squink]

How are the effect audio cables ergonomics wise? The stock raven cable is rather stiff and a bit of a pain when lying down

 

[Valiado69]

How are the effect audio cables ergonomics wise? The stock raven cable is rather stiff and a bit of a pain when lying down

The Ares S 8 W has many qualities, but ergonomics is not one of them. It is a fairly thick cable and not very malleable. Here I put a comparative photo with the ARES II that the Odysseys come standard with.

 

[OhmsClaw]

How are the effect audio cables ergonomics wise? The stock raven cable is rather stiff and a bit of a pain when lying down

Stiff... slightly tangly (in that they do gain some memory in the 2 wire portion twisting to the 2pin connector but not so much it's a paint to wrap/coil just that your iems will start having a favorite direction when laying if you coil on a desk). The ares 2+ is boarderline too thick/heavy to use with smaller/lighter iems and require a snug fit with good tips.

The code 24C LTD/Fir Electron 12/Fir RN6 stock cables are phenomenal (coaxial style). The Code 23/24, 8 wires? Absolute chonkers you might not be able to wrap in a puck comfortably/safely (shells banging/smushed) requiring an electech or similar leather case with the separate wrap section.... or you're gonna abuse your connectors with numerous connect/disconnects.

 

[Hoegaardener70]

Talking about Raven cables, I just compared Raven stock with the Odin‘s Stormbreaker, and i like the latter more. Anybody agrees?

 

[OhHeyItsLou]

I’ve had the Ravens for less than 24hrs and I’m already impressed! I find the stock Final ear tips to be my tuning preference so far. I highly recommend pairing the Raven with The transportable Woo Audio W8 Eclipse the synergy is incredible. The W8 Eclipse adds a beautiful warmth to the overall presentation and really highlights the Raven’s soundstage capabilities. The tube “naturalness” and holographic stage is really something with the Raven. The Mojo2 offers a smaller stage but adds a little more texture and brings the mids more forward in the mix. Things like acoustic guitars and voices have more forward presence. There’s more speed with the Mojo2 compared to the more laid back presentation of the W8 eclipse. Sonically, I haven’t cared for using the Mojo2 as the DAC for the W8 Eclipse. So far the Raven reminds me of a well tuned over ear compared to an IEM. My only critique would be less sub-bass and more bass articulation and texture. I’m sure I can experiment with different tips to dial more of what I’m looking for in terms of frequency response. Out of the box however the Ravens are 95% of the way there for me with no glaring flaws. Nothing in audio is perfect, often it’s a game of trade-offs. For what I enjoy sonically, there’s very little to complain about here. Zero treble fatigue or sibilance. I’m actually hoping with some burn-in I get a little more treble focus. I’m going to try a silver cable to see if that gives me that last little bit of treble detail I’m looking for.

EDIT: AZLA SednaEarfit XSELASTEC Tips have completely cleaned up the sub-bass bloat and added the treble sparkle I was looking for. For anyone struggling with too much bloat, add a wide bore tip.

EDIT: Spinfit W1 are amazing. Removes sub-bass bloat adds treble sparkle and some texture (micro detail) I was missing.

 

[OhmsClaw]

I’ve had the Ravens for less than 24hrs and I’m already impressed! I find the stock Final ear tips to be my tuning preference so far. I highly recommend pairing the Raven with The transportable Woo Audio W8 Eclipse the synergy is incredible. The W8 Eclipse adds a beautiful warmth to the overall presentation and really highlights the Raven’s soundstage capabilities. The tube “naturalness” and holographic stage is really something with the Raven. The Mojo2 offers a smaller stage but adds a little more texture and brings the mids more forward in the mix. Things like acoustic guitars and voices have more forward presence. There’s more speed with the Mojo2 compared to the more laid back presentation of the W8 eclipse. Sonically, I haven’t cared for using the Mojo2 as the DAC for the W8 Eclipse. So far the Raven reminds me of a well tuned over ear compared to an IEM. My only critique would be less sub-bass and more bass articulation and texture. I’m sure I can experiment with different tips to dial more of what I’m looking for in terms of frequency response. Out of the box however the Ravens are 95% of the way there for me with no glaring flaws. Nothing in audio is perfect, often it’s a game of trade-offs. For what I enjoy sonically, there’s very little to complain about here. Zero treble fatigue or sibilance. I’m actually hoping with some burn-in I get a little more treble focus. I’m going to try a silver cable to see if that gives me that last little bit of treble detail I’m looking for.

EDIT: AZLA SednaEarfit XSELASTEC Tips have completely cleaned up the sub-bass bloat and added the treble sparkle I was looking for. For anyone struggling with too much bloat, add a wide bore tip.

EDIT: Spinfit W1 are amazing. Removes sub-bass bloat adds treble sparkle and some texture (micro detail) I was missing.

Try spiral dot++'s for extra width and tamed bass, might make upper treble a little spicy but it's very cool on spatial info tracks.

Edit: I'll add some silly tracks for examples when I was swaping between crystals and ++ on the EVO
IU - Holssi 1:23 mark; whispered lyrics seem like they're arm's length behind you very Left/Right separated. On crystals, just great separation and still kind of get the effect.
Bibi - Hongdae R&B; second verse talk/sung 1:24 on crystals its ASMR style at the ear with backtracked whispers even further away. On ++, makes you feel like someone's in the room kinda surprisingly far away.
Young Posse - Macaroni Cheese; intro whispering only. Big difference in width between ++ and Cyrstals. This song is a meme. It's trash. But I did listen to it.

Overall I went back to the AZLA Crystals because they still have excellent all-around performance and the tonality is better with all tracks having more focus. The ++ made some female vocals a little grating on the EVO and threw off the tonality of string instruments a tad, but this could just be a brain burn-in issue you won't mind after sticking with a switch. The ++ make everything wide when sometimes it doesn't need to be but its really cool when stuff is recorded that way and you're like "woah".

 

[Tristy]

Try spiral dot++'s for extra width and tamed bass, might make upper treble a little spicy but it's very cool on spatial info tracks.

I concur with this, I think these are my favourite with Raven. Also, Azla origins are quite good. Azla vivids are great for making that BCD work overtime.

 

[Valiado69]

I’ve had the Ravens for less than 24hrs and I’m already impressed! I find the stock Final ear tips to be my tuning preference so far. I highly recommend pairing the Raven with The transportable Woo Audio W8 Eclipse the synergy is incredible. The W8 Eclipse adds a beautiful warmth to the overall presentation and really highlights the Raven’s soundstage capabilities. The tube “naturalness” and holographic stage is really something with the Raven. The Mojo2 offers a smaller stage but adds a little more texture and brings the mids more forward in the mix. Things like acoustic guitars and voices have more forward presence. There’s more speed with the Mojo2 compared to the more laid back presentation of the W8 eclipse. Sonically, I haven’t cared for using the Mojo2 as the DAC for the W8 Eclipse. So far the Raven reminds me of a well tuned over ear compared to an IEM. My only critique would be less sub-bass and more bass articulation and texture. I’m sure I can experiment with different tips to dial more of what I’m looking for in terms of frequency response. Out of the box however the Ravens are 95% of the way there for me with no glaring flaws. Nothing in audio is perfect, often it’s a game of trade-offs. For what I enjoy sonically, there’s very little to complain about here. Zero treble fatigue or sibilance. I’m actually hoping with some burn-in I get a little more treble focus. I’m going to try a silver cable to see if that gives me that last little bit of treble detail I’m looking for.

EDIT: AZLA SednaEarfit XSELASTEC Tips have completely cleaned up the sub-bass bloat and added the treble sparkle I was looking for. For anyone struggling with too much bloat, add a wide bore tip.

EDIT: Spinfit W1 are amazing. Removes sub-bass bloat adds treble sparkle and some texture (micro detail) I was missing.

Ravens need quite a bit of break-in to reach their full potential. At 60-100 hours mine have already deployed their full performance. Enjoy

 

[OhmsClaw]

I concur with this, I think these are my favourite with Raven. Also, Azla origins are quite good. Azla vivids are great for making that BCD work overtime.

How do you like the Origins vs Xelastec or Crystals? I see they're upgrades to the OG earfit lights which I used to swear by and now have so many extras

 

[Tristy]

How do you like the Origins vs Xelastec or Crystals? I see they're upgrades to the OG earfit lights which I used to swear by and now have so many extras

I prefer the origins… they are less intrusive and I don’t feel them in my ear as much. They still aren’t the most comfortable however, the vivids are the most comfortable Azlas I’ve tried, they just melt away. But in terms of sound I’d say that the origins are most alike the OG ear fit lights

 

[Silverlinings]

You guys should try the Eletech baroque’s with the raven. I think they are it for me.

 

[Tristy]

You guys should try the Eletech baroque’s with the raven. I think they are it for me.

I don’t like them with Raven… I find they neuter the bass a little too much for me.

 

[Silverlinings]

I don’t like them with Raven… I find they neuter the bass a little too much for me.

Ok. I feel like they give me a good balance where bass in not overwhelming and it takes a touch of the fatigue I get in the upper mids and treble. I listen to metal so that’s bound to happen with poorly recorded material.

 

[goatkidbaahcity]

Dug up some spiral dot ++'s I had laying around in ye olde tip bag and been listening a bit at work this morning. Some initial thoughts:

*Bass slightly reduced, but Raven has bass to burn. I still get those "omg I think I feel this in my spinal column" moments.
*Bass reduction has resulted in better mid clarity/separation. I think I'm also hearing them to be a bit more smooth through the upper mids.
*As mentioned above, Raven rides the line of treble harshness/sibilance with wider bore tips, and these are no exception. Strong "s" noises, underlying breathiness in female vocals, some cymbal ringing, bits of stick impact etc can be highlighted a bit too much now.
*Spatial aspects are strongly enhanced.

I switched back to Final E's and they felt claustrophobic in comparison. I think I'll keep the spiral dots on for now. I only had M's, so I've ordered the next size down to see if I can get a deeper fit and mess with that peak a bit more. Overall I think the spiral dots do a good job of highlighting what Raven does well, and nudge the sound signature in a more energetic or exciting direction (although at a cost). One thing is for certain, Raven certainly tip-rolls quite well. Much yet to be explored.