[macdonjh]

I have gotten a chance to listen to a pair of Vega. A friend loaned me his pair. I've done a fairly brief comparison between the Vega and my Lyra II. In short, the Vega are better, at least a little, throughout the entire frequency spectrum. The bass, as has been said in 351 of the 352 pages of this thread, is deep and powerful. I think the bass from the Lyra II is very nearly as deep and rumbles just as well, but it lacks the visceral impact (at least impact to my eardrums) of the Vega. The Vega also has more definition throughout the midrange. Actually, across the board, the Lyra II sounds just a bit muddy compared to the Vega. It's the proverbial "veil over the music" that's been described in reviews for decades. The Vega treble is a bit shinier, and forward, than the Lyra II. In that, the Vega addresses my biggest reservation about the Lyra II: treble extension.

There are two surprises I had when comparing the two IEMs:
1: On a whim, I did what I knew I should do every time I compare IEMs: I switched tips. I had been using Spin Fits on my Lyra II, and my friend's Vega had "big bore" Comply foamies. I have been avoiding foamies for a year now because the irritate my ears. What I didn't know is how much difference the big bore made in treble extension. I do now. When I switched tips, the Spin Fits ruined the treble extension I'd been enjoying with the Vega. I think the smaller bore is to blame. Conversely, putting the big bore Comply tips on my Lyra II increased air and extension. So much so that I put the stock Comply foamies back on my Lyra II and will buy some larger Comply as quickly as possible.

2: That revelation about the tips leads me to surprise two, how close my Lyra II can be to the Vega. Now that I'm getting the treble response my Lyra II are capable of I think the Lyra II are 80%, perhaps more, of what the Vega are. I think I'll miss the Vega when I return them, but having my Lyra II will soothe that loss quite well.

What I really want now is the new Solaris...

 

[YCHANGE]

Nice comparison. I also have the Vega and Lyra ll. Currently listening to the Lyra ll with WM1a & Ares 8 wire cable. Lyra ll scales quite well and sounds to me like a more balanced Vega. Lyra ll's bass falls more in line with the music for me. Vega imposes its will for better or for worse with certain recordings.

 

[Aliv3]

How is the vocals on the Vega? I mostly listen to pop/rock and I am undecided between the new Solaris and Vega but I think Vega could be more fun for the music genre I listen to.
Thanks!

 

[MidFiMoney]

How is the vocals on the Vega? I mostly listen to pop/rock and I am undecided between the new Solaris and Vega but I think Vega could be more fun for the music genre I listen to.
Thanks!

The vocals on the Vega are very present and resolving. The overall presentation is very fun, impactful, and engaging. It works surprisingly well for acoustic music IMO. The signature can be a bit much on hot treble, bass heavy, or poorly mixed tracks. A few hundred hours of burn-in absolutely required.

Some people, including myself, have complained about congestion and inner ear pain when listening to the Vega for an extended period of time. My assumption is that it has something to do with the porting and visceral nature of the bass. The only remedy I know of is to use the stock foam tips. They still pretty good but clearly tamed when compared to certain silicon tips. Not everyone will experience this phenomenon. It will depend on the size and shape of your ear canals.

Sonically speaking, the Solaris can do no wrong. It’s not a detail monster but still very resolving and extended at both ends of the spectrum. If I could only have one, it would have to be the Solaris from a sound perspective. However, the Vega is more practical and less conspicuous on the go. Some complain about fitment issues. Once I removed the memory wire, I was good to go.

 

[macdonjh]

How is the vocals on the Vega? I mostly listen to pop/rock and I am undecided between the new Solaris and Vega but I think Vega could be more fun for the music genre I listen to.
Thanks!

Sorry, I only had the Vegas for one night and didn't do a thorough comparison. I used just a couple of my favorite review tracks and didn't really pay that much attention to vocals. That said, since I didn't really notice vocals on a couple of my favorite songs, the Vega couldn't have done anything completely egregious in that department.

 

[macdonjh]

I just wanted to reiterate how important the choice of tips are to the Lyra II (and perhaps the Vega). I listened to my Lyra II for several hours while traveling over Thanksgiving week. The improvement in high end sparkle and resolution, low end rumble and overall immediacy when using large bore tips can't be over emphasized in my opinion.

 

[lmfboy01]

lovin' it...

 

[Pluggedin]

I've been eyeing the vega and lyra 2 for some time now. I would use these as my main headphones and they would get a lot of use every day. I've read that they have very good build quality. I currently have the se846 and love the durability of them. After the se215 and the se846, I've been put at ease when it comes to them breaking in some way. How do the vega and lyra compare when it comes to overall toughness and build? I have some Pinnacle p1 where the mmcx connector needs to be played with to restore sound. I hate the idea of my everyday headphone developing this issue. What kinds of things cause this issue? I doubt any iem is immune to this problem but are the campfire iems known to develop this issue more or less than others? I would very rarely disconnect the cable in hopes that this issue would not arise, but I assume that some connectors are better than others. Any other common issues regarding these iems would be greatly appreciated. Thank-you!

 

[GTMarauder46]

The vocals on the Vega are very present and resolving. The overall presentation is very fun, impactful, and engaging. It works surprisingly well for acoustic music IMO. The signature can be a bit much on hot treble, bass heavy, or poorly mixed tracks. A few hundred hours of burn-in absolutely required.

Some people, including myself, have complained about congestion and inner ear pain when listening to the Vega for an extended period of time. My assumption is that it has something to do with the porting and visceral nature of the bass. The only remedy I know of is to use the stock foam tips. They still pretty good but clearly tamed when compared to certain silicon tips. Not everyone will experience this phenomenon. It will depend on the size and shape of your ear canals.

Sonically speaking, the Solaris can do no wrong. It’s not a detail monster but still very resolving and extended at both ends of the spectrum. If I could only have one, it would have to be the Solaris from a sound perspective. However, the Vega is more practical and less conspicuous on the go. Some complain about fitment issues. Once I removed the memory wire, I was good to go.

How did you remove the memory wire, is it easy? Been afraid of attempting this because I don't want to ruin a very nice cable..

 

[nealh]

How did you remove the memory wire, is it easy? Been afraid of attempting this because I don't want to ruin a very nice cable..

Very easy. Need a small slit in the sleeve and gently lift off the outer sleeve then snook the wire. Best mod. I made

 

[nealh]

I've been eyeing the vega and lyra 2 for some time now. I would use these as my main headphones and they would get a lot of use every day. I've read that they have very good build quality. I currently have the se846 and love the durability of them. After the se215 and the se846, I've been put at ease when it comes to them breaking in some way. How do the vega and lyra compare when it comes to overall toughness and build? I have some Pinnacle p1 where the mmcx connector needs to be played with to restore sound. I hate the idea of my everyday headphone developing this issue. What kinds of things cause this issue? I doubt any iem is immune to this problem but are the campfire iems known to develop this issue more or less than others? I would very rarely disconnect the cable in hopes that this issue would not arise, but I assume that some connectors are better than others. Any other common issues regarding these iems would be greatly appreciated. Thank-you!

I think it’s a very durable connector with appropriate care

 

[MickeyVee]

Very easy. Need a small slit in the sleeve and gently lift off the outer sleeve then snook the wire. Best mod. I made

There are two sleeves and the memory wire is is between the two. Just removing the outer sleeve and pulling out the memory wire while leaving the inner sleeve worked for me. [with the camber that came with the Lyra II] Just need a pair of nail scissors and a small pair of pliers to pull the memory wire out. Done is less than a minute a side. As said, best mod!

 

[nealh]

Very easy. Need a small slit in the sleeve and gently lift off the outer sleeve then snook the wire. Best mod. I made

Lol not snook. Snip. Not sure how that was autocorrected by my phone

 

[MidFiMoney]

How did you remove the memory wire, is it easy? Been afraid of attempting this because I don't want to ruin a very nice cable..

I used an X-acto knife and a nail clipper. You have to cut through two layers of heat shrink. Take your time and make sure you have good lighting. Once that was removed, I just clipped the wire as close as possible. It's not perfectly clean but I didn't want to risk damage to the connector by trying to completely remove the wire. I took a bit of advice from headpie and twister6. This was also helpful but I didn't follow it step by step: https://www.headpie.net/2018/06/alo-audio-sxc-8-mod-like-surgeon.html

Good luck!

 

[Signal2Noise]

Another order from Null Audio arrived yesterday. Lune MKV with MMCX and 4.4mm Balanced which I'm using for the Lyra II. Fit is perfect, hybrid sleeving provides zero microphonics. NA packaging has become more "premium" over the last few orders I have made. Reasonable pricing make NA cables a worthwhile consideration.