Charlyro222
500+ Head-Fier
Let's go for another awesome DD iem.
Oriolus Isabellae DD IEM discussion thread
- Thread starter Charlyro222
- Start date
drbluenewmexico
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2009
- Posts
- 2,006
- Likes
- 1,276
Incoming......go musicteck.....
Charlyro222
500+ Head-Fier
On preorder.
Shippment est. end June
Shippment est. end June
Cross-post from Oriolus Products thread! This thread deserves more activity.
First impressions, 1-2hrs listening time, stock tips (wide, shallow bore) & stock cable, Shanling M8 (high gain).
Cable supple and without memory. No issues with fit, very comfortable, despite initial concerns regarding nozzle diameter.
Bass: Well extended, textured, impactful, tight and well controlled.
Comment: Reaches deep enough with a mid-bass focus, rumble may be slightly lacking for electronic genres for my tastes but is perfect for instrumental. The bass has a wonderfully natural touch with plenty of texture to convey the lower frequencies.
Mids: Detailed and warm without grain or shout. Placed forward in the presentation and with vocals sitting about 1-2cm away from the ear
Comment: Bright-leaning, wonderfully expressive midrange. I’m finding it very hard to fault for my tastes. Vocals, instruments of all sorts, very well done.
Treble: Smooth, no sibilance and catching plenty of detail and air without feeling artificially air bringing out grain.
Comment: retains the warm cohesion of everything below it, rarely offensive. I’m not a treble head and don’t have great demands in the first place – certainly plenty here for me.
Technicalities:
Staging does not feel restricted, good lateral extension, minimal forward extension, some height to it. Impression is of a 10cm plane around the head. Things do not feel congested, separation is very good, imaging is also very good. Does great with ambient. This is a very snappy DD which helps convey the complexities of busier tracks in my electronic collection.
Comparisons:
Traillii – Isa’s big sister trumps her in technicalities across the board. Isa exceeds Trailli in coherence and timbre. Isa has a lighter touch throughout and conveys nuance in the midrange better. Traillii has much more air but sometimes at the expense of intimacy which I value highly.
BL-03 – The Blon has a cooler approach with the sub-bass focus which I do like but there is a lack of control in the driver with much less detail in mids. Sluggish driver in the 03 limits technicalities. Both equally coherent, but the 03 has a cooler tonality.
BL-A8 (KBear filters) – My newly acquired friend, timbral accuracy with better technicalities than the 03 at the expense of bass quality – a quantity over quality situation. The Isa is much more refined and has far better tuning – as you would expect for the price. The A8 is my go-to fun IEM for electronic where bass texture is less important and I just want to feel the thump
3DT (Tanchjim filters) – I haven’t listened to my 3DT in a while as I may be selling it. From recent memory however, both are technically proficient (maybe 3DT slightly better with instrument separation, maybe due to having 3 drivers?). The 3DT has a more sub-bass emphasis and a cooler, less gracious and more forward mid-range. I would choose Isa for vocals/acoustic many times over. I would still probably choose 3DT for metal/rock for its more ‘exciting’ emphasised bass. Both are very respectable IEMs and I think Isa vs 3DT will be an ongoing debate. I believe there is room for both in a collection and I may yet hold onto the 3DT. However, I do have to give due credit to the tuning of the Isa which is just hands-down more thoughtful and towards my preference.
Conclusion:
Having owned the Traillii I can hear The Old Mans tuning expertise in this set and can appreciate why it may have taken years to produce. I was stunned by Traillii’s effortless expression of whatever I threw at it, it was able to capture the heart of most tracks regardless of genre. The Isabellae feels similarly capable across a wide repertoire of music. While I was left with a lingering need for the timbre of a DD driver in the bass with Traillii, I’m no longer left wanting with the Isa. In very broad terms: timbre, coherency and intimacy is more important to me and I’ve found that here.
If I had to describe Isabellae in a few words it would be ‘grace & refinement’. From the bass to the treble, detail is captured and presented with a tenderness that brings out emotion and momentum of the music.
I’m looking forward to more burn-in, tip rolling and playing with the Isa + C9!
First impressions, 1-2hrs listening time, stock tips (wide, shallow bore) & stock cable, Shanling M8 (high gain).
Cable supple and without memory. No issues with fit, very comfortable, despite initial concerns regarding nozzle diameter.
Bass: Well extended, textured, impactful, tight and well controlled.
Comment: Reaches deep enough with a mid-bass focus, rumble may be slightly lacking for electronic genres for my tastes but is perfect for instrumental. The bass has a wonderfully natural touch with plenty of texture to convey the lower frequencies.
Mids: Detailed and warm without grain or shout. Placed forward in the presentation and with vocals sitting about 1-2cm away from the ear
Comment: Bright-leaning, wonderfully expressive midrange. I’m finding it very hard to fault for my tastes. Vocals, instruments of all sorts, very well done.
Treble: Smooth, no sibilance and catching plenty of detail and air without feeling artificially air bringing out grain.
Comment: retains the warm cohesion of everything below it, rarely offensive. I’m not a treble head and don’t have great demands in the first place – certainly plenty here for me.
Technicalities:
Staging does not feel restricted, good lateral extension, minimal forward extension, some height to it. Impression is of a 10cm plane around the head. Things do not feel congested, separation is very good, imaging is also very good. Does great with ambient. This is a very snappy DD which helps convey the complexities of busier tracks in my electronic collection.
Comparisons:
Traillii – Isa’s big sister trumps her in technicalities across the board. Isa exceeds Trailli in coherence and timbre. Isa has a lighter touch throughout and conveys nuance in the midrange better. Traillii has much more air but sometimes at the expense of intimacy which I value highly.
BL-03 – The Blon has a cooler approach with the sub-bass focus which I do like but there is a lack of control in the driver with much less detail in mids. Sluggish driver in the 03 limits technicalities. Both equally coherent, but the 03 has a cooler tonality.
BL-A8 (KBear filters) – My newly acquired friend, timbral accuracy with better technicalities than the 03 at the expense of bass quality – a quantity over quality situation. The Isa is much more refined and has far better tuning – as you would expect for the price. The A8 is my go-to fun IEM for electronic where bass texture is less important and I just want to feel the thump
3DT (Tanchjim filters) – I haven’t listened to my 3DT in a while as I may be selling it. From recent memory however, both are technically proficient (maybe 3DT slightly better with instrument separation, maybe due to having 3 drivers?). The 3DT has a more sub-bass emphasis and a cooler, less gracious and more forward mid-range. I would choose Isa for vocals/acoustic many times over. I would still probably choose 3DT for metal/rock for its more ‘exciting’ emphasised bass. Both are very respectable IEMs and I think Isa vs 3DT will be an ongoing debate. I believe there is room for both in a collection and I may yet hold onto the 3DT. However, I do have to give due credit to the tuning of the Isa which is just hands-down more thoughtful and towards my preference.
Conclusion:
Having owned the Traillii I can hear The Old Mans tuning expertise in this set and can appreciate why it may have taken years to produce. I was stunned by Traillii’s effortless expression of whatever I threw at it, it was able to capture the heart of most tracks regardless of genre. The Isabellae feels similarly capable across a wide repertoire of music. While I was left with a lingering need for the timbre of a DD driver in the bass with Traillii, I’m no longer left wanting with the Isa. In very broad terms: timbre, coherency and intimacy is more important to me and I’ve found that here.
If I had to describe Isabellae in a few words it would be ‘grace & refinement’. From the bass to the treble, detail is captured and presented with a tenderness that brings out emotion and momentum of the music.
I’m looking forward to more burn-in, tip rolling and playing with the Isa + C9!
Last edited: