[SBranson]

I've thought about this question for a while. The short answer is that there isn't an IEM that Ive heard that sounds like the Serratus. Because fundamentally, one of its charms is its speaker like presentation. What it reminds me of is a lower resolving HD800s with better timbre and tonality. Paired with the RS8, it gives me that fuzzy radio analog feeling spun off vinyl.



When I listen to this set, the left side of my brain turns off. I don't need all the details. The music becomes the focus.

In the briefest of comparisons I came away with something akin to this sentiment. As much as I want to find one thing that does it all, I keep finding that that search is futile.

 

[Natesdailies]

Not sure why the line Life without suffering isn't worth living suddenly popped up... Tnx N/Mate - it'll keep my mind spinning for a while.

drftr

Mister Drftr,

Im not Twister6, but I whisper,
For something crisper,
Consider a different transducer

-Nate/Mate

 

[drftr]

In the briefest of comparisons I came away with something akin to this sentiment. As much as I want to find one thing that does it all, I keep finding that that search is futile.

In the truest sense of being an audiophile that is correct. However, I prefer to simplify things a bit if I can't find something that is 100% perfect and will redirect my search to something that doesn't do anything wrong instead. Although the words compromizing and audiophile perhaps shouldn't show up in the same sentence it leaves a lot of time for enjoying the music. Although compromizing sounds boring, for a minimalist it becomes an art of and by itself.

drftr

 

[drftr]

Mister Drftr,

Im not Twister6, but I whisper,
For something crisper,
Consider a different transistor

-Nate/Mate

Heartfelt my friend...

drftr

 

[Marat Sar]

Meet my personal, unexpected Trailli-killer. After 14 months of Trailli, it's... the Fourte Noir?

Yup! This combo is better than I got any chain with the Trailli in it to be. It finally makes the Noir work too. So what is it?

It's: SP3000 - 1960s interconnect - c9 - Orpheus - Fourte Noir. (You can do the same thing with Fourte Blanc if you have PW Orpheus, but it won't look as pretty). I've had the Noir for 3 years and always thought it was a mistake to buy it. Its weaknesses are conflicting: a piercing treble and a soundstage that isn't large enough to compete with u18t, let alone more modern IEMs like Trailli. Those are hard to fix problems, as usually a bright, thin sounding cable gets a fat bassy IEM like Noir to be more holographic, but then that makes Noir's treble problems worse, as they accentuate treble. Even Orpheus, which at face value should be the perfect solution -- colossal soundstage and an utterly smoothed out treble -- just wasn't enough to make the Noir wow me, in competition with other IEMs. Sure, it went some way toward solving Noir's problems, but Orphy makes the Trailli, the u18t -- anything, really -- sound even better than the Noir.

In comes the sp3000 - c9 combo. The c9 plus AK's latest DAC equals a soundstage that's UTTERLY RIDICULOUS. Like really. With Orpeus-Trailli what you get is so wide, wrap-around, and holographic that you can't even call it music any more. It's just too extreme. I liked it for a day or two but nope, it's too crazy. Well, change the Trailli out for Noir and it's perfect! The sharpness of Noir's treble counters the "double amped" silkiness of the sp3000/c9 source perfectly. That ridiculous soundstage is reigned in by thge Noir -- but still very dramatic and colossal. Just not too large.

Man, the Noir is a strange IEM! Took 3 years and an 18.000 USD source and cable combo to finally make it sing. But sing it does. That DD bass is just incredible. So 3D and enjoyable. The best bass I've ever heard on any IEM. And the extra detail and depth provided by the SP3000 Digital Audio Resampling (set up to DSD) is also a nice combo with the Noir, making that bass texture even more detailed. The timber is so natural and analogue -- it's just as realistic as Trailli with this como. Yup. Trailli the timber realism king. Equalled. The background is to me even blacker with the Noir than Trailli. None of that Trailli "woolliness". (From any other source the Noir is too warm to me, a little hiss between all instruments, but the extreme space here totally destroys that). And all this -- with an APEX module! The Noir is exceptionally well vented, so no pressure issues like the Trailli.

The Multiverse Mentor and Viking Ragnar are going to have to be seriously magic to outcompete this beast. (Still gonna check those out too .

 

[Scubadevils]

I've thought about this question for a while. The short answer is that there isn't an IEM that Ive heard that sounds like the Serratus. Because fundamentally, one of its charms is its speaker like presentation. What it reminds me of is a lower resolving HD800s with better timbre and tonality. Paired with the RS8, it gives me that fuzzy radio analog feeling spun off vinyl.



When I listen to this set, the left side of my brain turns off. I don't need all the details. The music becomes the focus.

I had my Serratus in work during the week, and suggested my colleague have a listen as he's a big fan of music, but not gone down this route yet (I of course had spare foams with me!) - he had a listen to some classical music for about 20 minutes and when he was done he exclaimed "you've just ruined my B&W PX8" - $700 bluetooth headphones

 

[Scubadevils]

Saturday morning combo: iBasso DX320X with amp11mk2, and MA Eclipse - sessions like this make me wonder why I even consider buying more sets.

 

[CharlyBrown]

I simply cant go back to any non DD bass IEMs.

Understandable but Planars can spill out some nice bass, as well.

 

[Damz87]

Meet my personal, unexpected Trailli-killer. After 14 months of Trailli, it's... the Fourte Noir?




Yup! This combo is better than I got any chain with the Trailli in it to be. It finally makes the Noir work too. So what is it?

It's: SP3000 - 1960s interconnect - c9 - Orpheus - Fourte Noir. (You can do the same thing with Fourte Blanc if you have PW Orpheus, but it won't look as pretty). I've had the Noir for 3 years and always thought it was a mistake to buy it. Its weaknesses are conflicting: a piercing treble and a soundstage that isn't large enough to compete with u18t, let alone more modern IEMs like Trailli. Those are hard to fix problems, as usually a bright, thin sounding cable gets a fat bassy IEM like Noir to be more holographic, but then that makes Noir's treble problems worse, as they accentuate treble. Even Orpheus, which at face value should be the perfect solution -- colossal soundstage and an utterly smoothed out treble -- just wasn't enough to make the Noir wow me, in competition with other IEMs. Sure, it went some way toward solving Noir's problems, but Orphy makes the Trailli, the u18t -- anything, really -- sound even better than the Noir.

In comes the sp3000 - c9 combo. The c9 plus AK's latest DAC equals a soundstage that's UTTERLY RIDICULOUS. Like really. With Orpeus-Trailli what you get is so wide, wrap-around, and holographic that you can't even call it music any more. It's just too extreme. I liked it for a day or two but nope, it's too crazy. Well, change the Trailli out for Noir and it's perfect! The sharpness of Noir's treble counters the "double amped" silkiness of the sp3000/c9 source perfectly. That ridiculous soundstage is reigned in by thge Noir -- but still very dramatic and colossal. Just not too large.

Man, the Noir is a strange IEM! Took 3 years and an 18.000 USD source and cable combo to finally make it sing. But sing it does. That DD bass is just incredible. So 3D and enjoyable. The best bass I've ever heard on any IEM. And the extra detail and depth provided by the SP3000 Digital Audio Resampling (set up to DSD) is also a nice combo with the Noir, making that bass texture even more detailed. The timber is so natural and analogue -- it's just as realistic as Trailli with this como. Yup. Trailli the timber realism king. Equalled. The background is to me even blacker with the Noir than Trailli. None of that Trailli "woolliness". (From any other source the Noir is too warm to me, a little hiss between all instruments, but the extreme space here totally destroys that). And all this -- with an APEX module! The Noir is exceptionally well vented, so no pressure issues like the Trailli.

The Multiverse Mentor and Viking Ragnar are going to have to be seriously magic to outcompete this beast. (Still gonna check those out too .

Orphy and Noir is an incredible pairing. Noir was the second IEM I tried with Orphy, after Trailli. I still remember clearly how huge and textured the sound was. It felt like a much more noticeable impact to the sound compared to Traillii. With SP2K, it was one of my favourite combos.

 

[JSBachFan]

In the truest sense of being an audiophile that is correct. However, I prefer to simplify things a bit if I can't find something that is 100% perfect and will redirect my search to something that doesn't do anything wrong instead. Although the words compromizing and audiophile perhaps shouldn't show up in the same sentence it leaves a lot of time for enjoying the music. Although compromizing sounds boring, for a minimalist it becomes an art of and by itself.

drftr

After a LONG break from watercooler, this was the first post that I read and I like the approach. It is why I have been absent for a while. After having tried a lot of stuff I reduced my gear to what I still find the most musical sounding for classical music and finally just sit back and enjoy listening to music.
But it is nice to see, that Watercooler is still the place where everybody can express himself freely and without being judged. I will be back

 

[drftr]

After a LONG break from watercooler, this was the first post that I read and I like the approach. It is why I have been absent for a while. After having tried a lot of stuff I reduced my gear to what I still find the most musical sounding for classical music and finally just sit back and enjoy listening to music.
But it is nice to see, that Watercooler is still the place where everybody can express himself freely and without being judged. I will be back

That is very nice to read from another classical music lover, and I wonder if it's partly because of classical music. Not sure how, but if you have thoughts on this please share.

drftr

 

[Marat Sar]

Orphy and Noir is an incredible pairing. Noir was the second IEM I tried with Orphy, after Trailli. I still remember clearly how huge and textured the sound was. It felt like a much more noticeable impact to the sound compared to Traillii. With SP2K, it was one of my favourite combos.

Mhm, I've heard that combo, it's good. Have you considered "throwing in" a c9? That takes it up a notch, and then the sp3000 takes it up one more

 

[Damz87]

Mhm, I've heard that combo, it's good. Have you considered "throwing in" a c9? That takes it up a notch, and then the sp3000 takes it up one more

C9 would be cool, but it doesn’t really fit my use case I’m afraid. I prefer using just a DAP for convenience and portability, even if it means a little bit of sound quality being sacrificed.

Since selling Noir in favour of Blanc I’ve mostly been pairing it up with either N8ii or SP3K. I’ve gotta try Blanc with Orpheus eventually, but I really like the stock cables ergonomics and aesthetic

 

[twister6]

Mister Drftr,

Im not Twister6, but I whisper,
For something crisper,
Consider a different transducer

-Nate/Mate

While I wasn't officially tagged, I feel like I should reply anyway since I heard something new that might be showcased at upcoming CJ

Im that Twister who hears a whisper
For something less crisper
Visit big apple CanJam, dear Mr.

-Alex/Tw6

 

[JSBachFan]

That is very nice to read from another classical music lover, and I wonder if it's partly because of classical music. Not sure how, but if you have thoughts on this please share.

drftr

Not sure everybody is interested, but I will share some of my thoughts anyways.
First of all I listen to a lot of music genres, also very modern stuff. But classical music is the one, that sometimes manages to deeply touch me. And this might be the reason, why it also manages to calms me down and resort me internally after a stressful day.
When it comes to music reproduction in all the non classical genres, I find it extremely difficult to find a perfect set of DAP, cable, tips and IEM that fits all different aspects of all this different music. That is because it is difficult to define, what is the "correct" sound.
In classical music and for someone, who has a family member playing the viola and has been to a lot of concerts, things are much easier.
The recording techniques have varied over time (e.g. Decca tree vs. Deutsche Gramophone) but from going to a live concert, you know pretty well, what you want to hear. Even the most modern concert halls (like the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg in my case) doesn't deliver better music details than the recordings played with my actual setting. So that aspect is met for me. Check!
Of course the instruments should halfways sound like in reality, but a lot of the modern equipment is good enough to cover that. Mine too. Check!
Way more difficult is to meet the same level of musicality which here I would describe as: Does the reproduction bring me to the same emotional level as in a live concert. IMO a lot of equipment completely fails in this aspect. Only some devices manage to keep the level of emotions, that the composer, conductor and musicians put in a specific concert. And my set is doing that as good or better as anything else I have heard. Check!

To sum it up, yes, feeling to have arrived is for sure partly because I mainly listen to classical music. But also because some producers of Hifi gear seem to listen like me ... or I just have luck and found MY perfect combo. For now ...

PS: I am using Indigo for all other genres than classical