Oriolus Isabellae-Single DD
Thanks to crinacle.com for the graph
PREAMBLE:
I posted a Three-Way Impression of the Oriolus iem’s that I own; Traillii, Crassi and Isa. I am now making my way through each one for its own thorough review. I started with Crassi because I have spent quality time with that monitor recently and feel like I really know it inside and out. Since I have released that review to the ether, all of my free time has been with Isabellae. I have remarked that the tuning of Oriolus definitely has a DNA. With each of the three, you can hear the familial resemblance albeit different. I mentioned in my Crassi review how the ‘Isa’ is making the rounds on the forum with a great fondness and how in my opinion is well deserved. The value of this monitor is truly exceptional.
I am happy to report that Isabellae does come stock with a supple and competent balanced 4.4 cable. This was so nice to see and I only hope more brands release this as standard termination or at least start to give us the option to select what we prefer. While I was happy with the cable, the first few weeks of listening with Isa I did start to notice some stridency during busy sections of music, creating a bit of grain. I also noticed this in the upper treble with some vocals and high hats. However, this was only noticeable during my desktop listening sessions. I am pretty sure this is due to my desktop system being more transparent. On my portable set up with Cayin N6ii R01, this stridency with stock cable did not correlate as palpable as with my desktop. I really had to listen with intent and it was subtle to say the least. However a small upgrade to the cable, like the $50 Cema Electro Acousti silver/copper hybrid cable alleviated this for me. No need to spend hundreds to thousands of dollars on a third party cable...Unless you want to.
The build of Isabellae is exceptional and fit is extremely comfortable for me although isolation and fit has been a mixed bag for others. Isa has short and wide nozzles. Which for some makes it very difficult to seal, even with my elephant ears I still struggle getting a perfect seal. The shell of the Isa is small with smooth contours for comfort. Isabellae is such a diminutive beauty. She demands the gaze of the eyes before the lure of the ears.
This “eight years in the making” tuning was worth the wait in my very humble and subjective opinion. The best way for me to describe how Isabellae makes me feel is to use an analogy. As humans, we are deeply sentimental. I keep certain material things that have zero importance or value to anyone else because to me it has mythical or magical powers. I can hold, look, smell said thing and be taken right to the place it renders in my soul. It transcends! For me, this is the lure of the Isabellae. She is like that new song, that feels like it was written just for you, she is like that coin you kept that your grandpa gave to you before he passed away, she is like the blanket your mom made for you as a toddler, that book that changed your life, etc, etc. Isabellae can be an emotional experience waiting for you to lose yourself in the music. Okay, okay, I’ll stop fluffing up the review. Onto the sound signature.
SOUND:
With the Isa, once you hear her for yourself, one becomes enamored. It becomes increasingly difficult to speak of her without using words such as emotional and natural, which are not the easiest adjectives to define in correlation to the objectiveness of a graph. However my ears, my brain and my heart all align in unity when Isa sings her intoxicating song is a welcome affair. The mid’s steal the show, especially in vocals and acoustic instrumentation where this life-like texture and sublime coherency resonate with equal shimmer. This characteristic sends goosebumps down my body in succession to the beautiful timbre and seductive tones reverberating from inside my head. This same feeling washes over me when I meditate. The feeling of being alive and present enabling freedom from the entanglement of thought. These monitors enable freedom from technicality embracing the intimate.
BASS:
The tonality of Isa is hard for me to describe, it’s not a V shape nor is it Neutral. There is a slight emphasis in the treble as well as the mid bass. So maybe a warm, slight U shape. What I can emphatically state is the Mid bass reigns supreme with Isa. There is a great weight to the bass that creates a beautiful playing field for the rest of the frequency response. For the music I listen to most, this emphasis is welcomed. However, the right tips are needed for the correct bass frequency to be represented. I have found the large stock wide bore tips work perfectly. Most tips I tried, lost the bass completely. YMMV. Where I have found the Bass to excel is in music where the bass is real and natural. Upright bass, double bass, cello, all play to the strength of Isa. The mid bass as I mentioned has a slower decay than other monitors I have encountered. This works as an advantage for tracks that allow space within the arrangement. Such albums as Terry Callier and The New Folk Sound and Arooj Aftab’s Vulture prince really show off what the Isabellae is capable of as a whole.
The bass specifically has room to have a longer life and it works in conjunction with this style of music. Wrapped up in a warm blanket but never bloating or bleeding out the other tones. The mid bass is not uncontrolled or loose. It is well defined and textured, albeit with some softness to bass drum kicks/tom toms. Sub bass is less prominent and has a quick decay, which is needed to balance out the mid bass and keeps it from becoming sloppy, muddy or bloomy. The bass is not here to be the star of the show. But it is indeed here to support the rest of the FR, a perfect stage for the treble and mid’s to dance upon.
MID’S:
Isa has a slight upper mid boost starting to rise from 1k to 2.5k that highlights female vocals with power, authority and texture.
The lower mids are almost neutral with enough scoop to sound full and clear allowing harmonic undertones to push through a linear black background. Stringed instruments are as glorious as female vocals although the upper mids are more accentuated so the male vocals aren’t as textured and growling as I would want. But nonetheless are quite remarkable yet slightly subdued.
Although this is a warmer monitor, it is not dark and has a healthy dose of clarity. Its midrange is tuned to be the centerpiece. It is wide open and allows not only for vocals too transcend but also for subtle nuance to cut through the mix. For instance, I can hear Terry Callier moving in his seat and the creaking of wood through the body of his guitar. His lips opening to let out a beautiful full bodied note on Cotton Eyed Joe, or his fingers moving upon the fret board. Acoustic instrumentation, especially guitar has such great note weight with Isa and while Isabellae may not irk out every single detail in the mid range, any spaces are filled with textured mid bass note body. This allows for any nuance of detail in the midrange to be clearly displayed. I mentioned in my Crassi review that instrument timbre is some of the best I’ve heard and this proves accurate for Isa as well. Seems to me, something Oriolus is keen on.
Coming from a month long excursion with Crassi, Isa absolutely makes me want to turn my back on Crassi from a purely emotional standpoint. I am infatuated all over again. Listening to Donny Hathaway and Roberta Flack’s, I (Who Have Nothing) tells me immediately that Isa was made for this. I have listened to this album on many monitors and it has never sounded better than it does now. It is intimate and I feel as if these two are singing directly to me in the room I am writing this review. Isa makes this music palpable. Like I can reach out and touch it. The natural texture of the Isa plays well to Male vocals, although they can come off a bit less husky, less weighted than I would normally prefer. Female vocals take off and while a little on the sweet side, the sparkle and bite from the upper mid’s cuts through the sweetness and leaves a dry but full and weighted vocal. Vocals are the reward with Isa. I have found myself endlessly scrolling for vocal tracks to test with Isabellae. If vocals are in the track, Isa will highlight them front and center while the bass and treble fall in line. The midrange is the boss.
The only misstep with this wide open midrange is the sense of some grain, especially in busy or bombastic parts of a track. This is most noticeable to me with Damien Rice’s I Don’t Want to Change You. Near the end of the song, the full band plays in crescendo and Isa cannot resolve these layers fast enough and it turns to grain. Even with an upgrade cable, the grain remains although alleviated some. This is important to note if you listen to music such as Metal, EDM, Hip Hop, Etc.
TREBLE:
The treble quality of Isa is smooth and slightly rolled off. Just enough to keep the monitor sounding warm yet clear with detail. Do not get it twisted, the Isa is not a technical monster by any means but it is clear, concise and has enough air to create some nice natural reverb around instruments.
The Isa is not a neutral iem but more of a U shape, with subtle boost in the mid bass with a peak at 8k in the treble. Similar to the Crassi, of course with different driver and tuning. The tuning is to promote the midrange frequency. Which is engaging and very wide with a rich warmth across the frequency that induces a sense of analogue feel to the sound. If you have ever listened to a great turntable with a tube amp, or a guitar tube amp then you will understand the euphonic tones coming from Isa. When I first heard Isa I described it this way to a friend. And that friend ended up with one. Hah!
I have not encountered any sibilance or fatigue even with that 8k peak. It is one of the most natural and smooth trebles I have listened to. Due to the open landscape of the midrange, the treble doesn’t need extra air or extension to shine. The midrange lucidity allows for the treble to ring through with the utmost clarity. And while clarity does not mean technicalities, you would never miss the detail here due to the lighter touch of the tuning as a whole. Unless one was seeking pure detail than I would say, steer clear of Isa. She doesn’t want to hurl every detail at you all at once. She would rather encapsulate you with a subtle grandeur.
Instruments such as the upright harp and piano have great note body that decays with a natural reverb. One that can catch you off guard, however without stealing the show and letting the midrange take precedence. Piano timbre is some of the best I have heard. The notes sound authentic and whole, even as they fade away. Listening to Keith Jarrett’s Koln Concert feels like I am sitting next to him on the piano bench. If I close my eyes, I can actually visualize Keith striking each key hunched over in full abandon to his craft. The transparency of this treble allows for the micro dynamics to shine in more intimate tracks. Especially bells, chimes, vibraphones, etc, ring through with sparkle and life-like timbre. Breathtaking to say the very least.
This is actually the most difficult part of the frequency response to speak too due to the inoffensive and smooth nature of the treble. There is some stridency in the upper treble area, especially with female vocals rising to up that area in the frequency response. Although, an upgrade cable did remedy some of this but not all because this is partly due to the tuning.
TECHNICALITIES:
Isabellae is a subtle monitor. She will not impress you with fast transient dynamics or with a whirlwind of technical detail. Isa is definitely a transducer for the heart. What this means to me, is that I am moved when I listen to music. I am engaged with my emotions. This is my preferred listing method albeit not possible when reviewing. I will be the first one to say that I do indeed love a wide-open soundstage, separating each element with ease, hearing every nuance. It is definitely something to experience and although Isa cannot compete with that; vocals, strings and acoustic instruments are what she excels at. The Isa’s most rewarding characteristic is her correct tonality and coherence across the FR. I often find myself getting sucked into entire albums, most recently Black Acid Soul by Lady Blackbird. This is not to say that Isa has problems with dynamics, she is just playing a different hand.
Isa does separate well and although intimate, nothing feels congested. While the decay across the spectrum is on the laid back side, the midrange is full and displays vocals upfront, dancing upon the steady floor of mid bass. Every drum and cymbal strike ring through with clarity. Vocals soar with vigor and vivid texture without sibilance or harshness, especially the ladies and higher register male vocals. The bass is articulated, blooming and decaying naturally. A very pointed tuning. Layering/separation is on the slower side which falls in line with Isa’s overall laid back vibe. However Isa gives you subtle detail; the creaking of Lady Blackbird in her chair, moving the page of her music, her breathing. To me this creates a soundstage that is alluring, romantic and one that I want to stay wrapped up in for as long as I can.
If you have paid attention, I have used the word subtle many times as well as clarity. The Isa does not shy from its intimacy, she embraces it completely and wholly hence the romantic terminology. YES, I do believe a transducer has the ability to romanticize and even romance is not perfect. Onward to the comparisons...
SELECT COMPARISONS
SOFTEARS TURII:
As soon as I put these in my ears after the Isa, I immediately notice a difference in response. Turii comes off open, clean, resolving and detailed with an almost flat and linear bass. Lifting ever so slightly to support the mids and treble. This is a polarizing feeling coming from the laid back Isa with its Mid bass boost and ultra smooth treble. The treble with Turii is also smooth but much more crisp, dry and extended allowing more detail to be heard, but this treble can be fatiguing at higher volumes. The Turii has better control across the spectrum. The mid range does have that ‘je ne sais quoi’ as it does with the Isa however the Turii still has a grain to the trailing edge of the midrange. While the Turii is very similar to Isa, it is a layered monitor with a wider soundstage, making it a great partner with Classical. And where Isa resolved better with Female vocals, Turii shines with Male vocals (the audiophile’s dilemma and the never ending trade off). I have found them to be a great compliment to one another, Isa being warm and intimate with sublime emotion and Turii leaning lean with a colder note and less weight across the spectrum due to its linear and flat neutral bass. The caveat here is not that Turri is much more detail oriented with better layering and dynamics. The true caveat is that Turii does not have the emotional pull that Isa has. The Turii does not keep me searching for tracks to listen to, the Turii makes me want to put the Isa back into my ears. With the exception of Classical music, Turii dominates over Isa in this regard. Turii extends much better giving classical music the gravitas it needs to elevate and articulate each instrument in the pit.
graph courtesy of crin
RHAPSODIO EDEN:
The Eden is very much a mix of Isa’s musicality and open midrange sensibilities with Turii’s elicit, crisp and extended treble. The Eden would be my top pick for a single DD. It can play just about any genre with strength. The Eden I have on loan did not come with a stock cable so I am using the Ares II from Effect Audio. This is the definition of a neutral monitor. This monitor has had a lot of play time and the bass has seasoned so well. Many of the reviews I have read about this iem from years back all tell of the linear and ultra flat bass but I am not hearing this. The bass is neutral as to say it supports the midrange with a natural decay, just enough to allow the midrange to soar open in width and depth. The bass is natural and very intoxicating with its mid bass thump. Much like the Isa in this manner but the Eden being more resolving, potent and layered in the bass. Male Vocals have a heft and huskiness that is spot on tonally. Not so heavy that they are anchored to the stage but just heavy enough to impart texture and a chestiness while being just smooth enough to image the vocalist in the center. Soundstage is less width than Turri but deeper than Isa or Turii. Stage width is on par with the Isa with the Ares II. Upgrading the cable does spread the stage width wise. Female vocals are much like the Turii, sweet and a bit diffused, although natural and full, the bite in the upper registers is rolled off. Acoustic instruments here are just as appealing as on the Isa. Textured and nuanced with a nail on the head timbre! The Eden is the most balanced of the three. And now I will have to devote an entire review just to the Eden.
edit: no graph of Eden available on the web
CABLE SWAP
I swapped each iem cable with an upgrade cable to hear any subtleties in sound. I used the Eletech Iliad with each transducer after writing my findings with the stock cables. I know this is a controversial topic, but I am a believer that a cable, like an equalizer is a tool to tease the most out of your monitors. Below are my impressions with each iem paired with the Iliad.
Isabellae with Iliad, offered some considerable benefits to the sound signature. First of all, the upper treble grain was removed as the layers with the Iliad where more filled in with detail than texture. The Iliad removed the texture and smoothed out the entire FR. I did miss some of the texture in male vocals but overall the Iliad tightened up the bass teasing out more sub bass while keeping the same level of mid bass. The stage opened up in all directions. However, even the Iliad could not correct the stridency during busy sections of music.
Turii with Iliad was not a good match at all. The treble became too intense and fatigued me within minutes. Turii seems to pair best with stock Isa cable. My Turii did not come with stock cable. I used the Isa stock and the Legend X stock Ares II. Iliad did spread out the stage in all directions but the note weight was much too cold and thin.
Eden with Iliad is sublime. This is synergy. The bass tightens while the stage widens and deepens. Iliad creates a deep black background that allows details to jump seemingly out of nowhere and separation becomes more articulate, layering to an impressive degree. Iliad resolves this monitor in the most natural and emotional way without rolling off technicalities and detail. Iliad will not be leaving this monitor. They are made for one another.
Closing Thoughts:
Isabellae was my first foray into a single DD transducer, the Turii and Eden following soon after. The coherence and timbre of these monitors is something so special and not to be taken for granted. The midrange is where the emotional aspect of sound lies. It is the midrange after-all, where we hear the voices of others. The voice of your parent, loved one or even your enemy can and often does elicit an emotional response, so it only makes sense that these monitors would trigger that same response within me. I am a true believer of the single DD. I am now on the quest to find the most resolving, coherent with correct tonality DD I can get my hands on.
Isabellae is the Queen of subtlety. She really took my by surprise when I first heard her. I couldn’t understand why I loved the sound so much at first. After all, I did own the Traillii. What I discovered is that the main music I listen to, really synergies with Isabellae and this is where preference really comes into play. As other reviews of Isa have stated. Preference is key. This is not an all rounder.
Tracks Used:
Terry Callier and The New Folk Sound
Aroj Aftab- Vulture Prince
Damien Rice-I don’t want to change you
Joshua Redman-Moe Honk
Joni Mitchell-All I Want
James Taylor-Fire and Rain
Lady Blackbird-Black Acid Soul
Gregory Porter-Brown Grass
Art Blakey-Free For All
Mahler-Symphony no.9
Mongo Santamaria-Miedo
Richie Havens-Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen/My Sweet Lord
GoldFrapp-Lovely Head
Esmerine-Lost River Blues Pt.1
Suphala-Transport
Arne Domnerus-Jazz at the Pawnshop
Keith Jarrett-Köln Concert
Gaspar Claus-Tancade
Peter Gregson-Patina
FKA Twigs-Cellophane
Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway-(I) who have nothing
Edit: pictures taken with final e tips as I was testing them out on Isa when I took the pictures
I used the large stock tips for the review*
Also when tip changing I had to exert a lot of force due to the fattened lip & found it quite impossible until I inverted the tip flange first.