[silvahr]

I noticed that max Gain increase makes Gaea even brighter. The brightness gets even higher. Therefore, this is not an option. The most effective is the equalizer. But I don't like the equalizer and listen to streaming services. Of the available ones, this is the replacement of the cable with pure copper, preferably a large colibre like code23, and the replacement of ear tips. I recently received an Acoustune AET06. M+ size. These are the most bassy ear tips. At the same time, a soft, detailed sound, a great scene, soft and pleasant high frequencies, gorgeous vocals. I managed to boost the bass response very well. It will even be too much... Now punch are very obvious and sensitive.

PS: If you change the cable even to Effect Audio Eros S, you will get a much greater bass response. although it is also a hybrid cable, but there is more copper in it. More punch. Not to mention code23. They had to make an 8-core copper cable in the kit (ares s 8-core). For me, it's a disadvantage to put a cable with silver in bright headphones to enhance their brightness even more. I 'm not a basshead )

Oh, I completely forgot... Source! The source is extremely important! It should be a more warm spring. Either a high-level DAP or DAC. Preferably with an emphasis on low frequencies. I can 100% say that this is from the middle price segment or DAP Cayin N7. It has amazing low frequencies. Or like my DAC\AMP Shanling H7, it also has an emphasis on low frequencies.

Bottom line: source > cable > ear tips

I can agree with that. Source is very very important. I love the Gaea with LPGT but with Ferrum Erco is even better. The timber reproduction and clarity are simply amazing. The best I have ever heard. I'm totally addicted.

 

[TooPoorForHiFi]

Have the GAEA ever been on Sale? if so How much?

 

[Gromu]

Have the GAEA ever been on Sale? if so How much?

I've never seen it on sale, but you can occasionally find it on the second hand market for about $800-1000.

 

[Zaghamkarim]

Have the GAEA ever been on Sale? if so How much?

I've seen it go on sale by £100, $100 at local vendor Hifonix and on Effect Audio's own website, they usually run discounts during Canjam events & other seasonal sales (Easter etc). The Gaea's go on discount and sometimes alongside the Code 23.

 

[redrich2000]

My review of the Gaea…

Firstly, thanks again to @Damz87 for organising, it’s so great to be getting these opportunities in Australia.

Secondly, I basically agree with this excellent review from @o0genesis0o. That is honestly one of the best reviews I’ve read on headfi and way better than what I can do, so please check it out if you haven't already. But not to cop out completely, here are my thoughts:

Build/Aesthetics: The Gaea is beautiful to look at. I’m personally more into under-stated (matt black everything!) but these are tasteful and not too gaudy. I liked the cable, it is thick and sturdy but still light and flexible. I also like the blue, it reminded me of the Moondrop Starfield that I owned a while back. The shells are quite large with thickish nozzles. They were not the most comfortable for me, although I suspect that could be remedied with a bit more tip experimentation.

Sound Quality: My testing was done out of a FiiO M11 plus ESS using the stock cable and a combination of Azla Xelastic and JVC spiral dots.

Bass: The bass on the Gaea is fairly neutral, not emphasised but not lacking. I’m not a basshead and found the quantity fine for me. The bass quality is excellent, they do a fantastic job of rendering bass textures and details. Listening to Changes by Mala (old school dub step) on the Gaea was amazing, enough bass and the spacious resolution really presented the atmospherics of this track superbly.

Mids: The mids on the Gaea are very airy and clear. They are very crisp with a lot of leading edge energy and dynamics. I found them a little thin and hard for my tastes though. Listening to Alice by Tom Waits, I found the vocal and little too thin and hard, it lacked the body I was looking for. Listening to jazz, horns were a touch shouty, again lacking body.

But there is tonnes of detail and separation, they render micro-details superbly. If you like this kind of presentation, these are superb example of it.

Treble: Like the mids, the treble is airy and clear, quite dynamic, even aggressive. I found them a little glary/hard for my tastes. The treble quality is pretty good though, they are not sibilant, just a fraction too hard. Flagship level extension and detail.

Soundstage/resolution: Not much to say here other than they are fantastic, wide, clear and spacious with excellent resolution and imaging.

Overall tonality: The Gaea is a very clear and detailed tonality, mostly neutral with a upper mid/treble emphasis. They are very energetic and detailed.

COMPARISONS

Gaea v Sony IER-M9: These two are absolute chalk and cheese, polar opposites. The M9 is all smooth, lush, laid-back, whereas the Gaea is energy, clarity, intensity. IMO the Gaea is a level above the M9 in technical performance. If Crinacle rates the M9 an S- for technical performance, I would rate the Gaea an S.

Gaea v Campfire Ara

This is a much closer comparison. Their bass performance is similar, but the Ara has smoother, warmer mids and treble. The Ara is not as spacious/clear but I think that makes it more coherent over all, i.e. it feels more balanced with everything in its right place, the Gaea sounded a bit awkward and unnatural in comparison. But that is somewhat subjective and exaggerated by A-Bing them quickly.

But I would personally definitely take the Ara over the Gaea. It brings the warmth, body and smoothness I was looking for from the tracks I tested. On a technical level I think they’re equal, S-tier level.

 

[o0genesis0o]

My review of the Gaea…

Firstly, thanks again to @Damz87 for organising, it’s so great to be getting these opportunities in Australia.

Secondly, I basically agree with this excellent review from @o0genesis0o. That is honestly one of the best reviews I’ve read on headfi and way better than what I can do, so please check it out if you haven't already. But not to cop out completely, here are my thoughts:

Build/Aesthetics: The Gaea is beautiful to look at. I’m personally more into under-stated (matt black everything!) but these are tasteful and not too gaudy. I liked the cable, it is thick and sturdy but still light and flexible. I also like the blue, it reminded me of the Moondrop Starfield that I owned a while back. The shells are quite large with thickish nozzles. They were not the most comfortable for me, although I suspect that could be remedied with a bit more tip experimentation.

Sound Quality: My testing was done out of a FiiO M11 plus ESS using the stock cable and a combination of Azla Xelastic and JVC spiral dots.

Bass: The bass on the Gaea is fairly neutral, not emphasised but not lacking. I’m not a basshead and found the quantity fine for me. The bass quality is excellent, they do a fantastic job of rendering bass textures and details. Listening to Changes by Mala (old school dub step) on the Gaea was amazing, enough bass and the spacious resolution really presented the atmospherics of this track superbly.

Mids: The mids on the Gaea are very airy and clear. They are very crisp with a lot of leading edge energy and dynamics. I found them a little thin and hard for my tastes though. Listening to Alice by Tom Waits, I found the vocal and little too thin and hard, it lacked the body I was looking for. Listening to jazz, horns were a touch shouty, again lacking body.

But there is tonnes of detail and separation, they render micro-details superbly. If you like this kind of presentation, these are superb example of it.

Treble: Like the mids, the treble is airy and clear, quite dynamic, even aggressive. I found them a little glary/hard for my tastes. The treble quality is pretty good though, they are not sibilant, just a fraction too hard. Flagship level extension and detail.

Soundstage/resolution: Not much to say here other than they are fantastic, wide, clear and spacious with excellent resolution and imaging.

Overall tonality: The Gaea is a very clear and detailed tonality, mostly neutral with a upper mid/treble emphasis. They are very energetic and detailed.

COMPARISONS

Gaea v Sony IER-M9: These two are absolute chalk and cheese, polar opposites. The M9 is all smooth, lush, laid-back, whereas the Gaea is energy, clarity, intensity. IMO the Gaea is a level above the M9 in technical performance. If Crinacle rates the M9 an S- for technical performance, I would rate the Gaea an S.

Gaea v Campfire Ara

This is a much closer comparison. Their bass performance is similar, but the Ara has smoother, warmer mids and treble. The Ara is not as spacious/clear but I think that makes it more coherent over all, i.e. it feels more balanced with everything in its right place, the Gaea sounded a bit awkward and unnatural in comparison. But that is somewhat subjective and exaggerated by A-Bing them quickly.

But I would personally definitely take the Ara over the Gaea. It brings the warmth, body and smoothness I was looking for from the tracks I tested. On a technical level I think they’re equal, S-tier level.

Thanks for mentioning, you are too kind!

Interesting that you mentioned Ara, though. Such a beautiful IEM.

 

[redrich2000]

Thanks for mentioning, you are too kind!

Interesting that you mentioned Ara, though. Such a beautiful IEM.

Yep, I absolutely love it. I got it only a couple of days ago, just in time for a couple of sessions comparing with the Gaea, which was interesting.

 

[jjb3]

I just got the Gaea and think they are amazing for EDM.

 

[corgifall]

Gaea is still pretty good. I go back to it here and there. Definitely a bright IEM but still competitive in the $1k range

 

[Rockwell75]

I love Gaea. With a bit of EQ to drop the upper mids and boost the lower a bit it's nice and balanced-- and the treble tuning is sweet, nuanced and divine. I like it just as much as Anni's treble.

 

[magicguy]

How do you compare resolution/definition of Gaea against TOTL like 64 Audio Fourté, Fir RN6/KR5/XE6, Noble Viking… ?

 

[DJ Core]

But it's tracks like Mariah Carey - My All - Butterfly: 25th Anniversary Expanded Edit that really sound amazing. Yes Gaea and female vocals... Listen up.

And after this track, let someone say that there are not enough low frequencies in Gaea . Or after the Billie Eilish tracks, where a musical subwoofer appears in Gaea. In tracks where there is an emphasis on LFE or there is an emphasis on low frequencies, Gaea fulfills them perfectly. This does not only apply to tracks with female vocals and male sounds wonderful. Listen up Desert Rose (My Songs Version) Sting - My Songs (Deluxe) or Fields Of Gold or Shape Of My Heart (FIP Session Live in Paris at the Pantheon) Sting - The Bridge (Super Deluxe) Everything depends heavily on the content. Where there is and you need to show bass, there it is and is shown.

Only complete tips W1 should be removed. I don't know why they were put on Gaea. They fit perfectly with the Monarch MK2, but they don't fit Gaea in any way. Even cheap TRI Clarion plays better with Gaea.

Very source dependent indeed. Sometimes reviewers are "reviewing" the sound out of their DAPs, not the IEM. When the IEM is really good due to the speed, implementation, and sensitivity of drivers, etc, and shows these "truths" about the DAP. The IEM gets blamed most of the time. Others with DAPs with a leaner or fuller sound will also have different opinions / Review conclusions. Using various sources is so important these days.

Personally really noticed this when I swapped new capacitors into my DX240 AMP8 MKII. Going from stock 0.47uf caps to Audiophile "10V ELNA Silmic II 47uf" capacitors.

This made the sound full of deep rambling bass + full mids + a much much wider 3D stage that's way outside your head + instrument separation and excellent decay. It's very evident when using my daily drivers OG Monarch + Synphonium Audio Meteor + FatFreq Maestro Mini.

Going to add this IEM since I don't have anything tuned like this.

 

[grumpy213]

Shoutout to @Damz87 and @EffectAudio for arranging the Australian tour of the Gaeas!

My review is available here and the gist of it is that it is a very unique and sparkly sounding IEM!

Probably not my first choice for a daily driver but definitely something that has a certain X factor to it!

 

[LithiumEars]

Shoutout to @Damz87 and @EffectAudio for arranging the Australian tour of the Gaeas!

My review is available here and the gist of it is that it is a very unique and sparkly sounding IEM!

Probably not my first choice for a daily driver but definitely something that has a certain X factor to it!

Do cables really make a difference with the Gaea? I'm quite skeptical since in theory it shouldn't really make one. I plan to buy a copper or silver oe audio cable if it does though since I find effect audio cables a bit too expensive.

 

[grumpy213]

Do cables really make a difference with the Gaea? I'm quite skeptical since in theory it shouldn't really make one. I plan to buy a copper or silver oe audio cable if it does though since I find effect audio cables a bit too expensive.

This is definitely a controversial topic on various forums but I feel like they did but whether they are worth it and whether your particular brand of cable will imbue the differences I highlighted is another question.