Our latest YT video and first look of the Audeze Euclid In-Ear is live!
We also announced with the support of Audeze we will be giving away one Euclid to one lucky winner! The Contest link is in the video description. Good luck!
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Thatās what I read on many forums. Iām a Canadian and everything is so pricey and thatās why I was looking at the NW-A55 with Mr.Walkman mod! I have a large FLAC music library and donāt really need Android. I prefer a good sounding DAP and a long lasting battery.
Does it have enough to power Olinas? 
Whatās the next single DD on your list as an Olina improvement? (no matter the budget) 
I prefer isolation. When commuting or working, music is a way to get in my own world, disconnected from my environment. Iāve been using openback headphones and earbuds for a while now and they donāt offer the same experience as IEMs.
How much is the rikubuds?
In my opinion A55 would drive every IEM fine apart from maybe some very hungry planars like P1. I would check S12 when I would be back home, to confirm how it handles that, but it played ok straight of my 3,5mm phone jack as well, so I canāt imagine that being a problem.
Then there is āscaling with powerā concept, but I never experienced that myself, so cannot tell. If you calculate the raw power needed for some SPL you would see that most of IEMs do require only a fraction of PO that most DAPs and dongles can provide.
You have stuff like this Questyle M15 with rated 80mW@32Ohm which supposedly powers Sundara, but it costs 250$, so it could be taken more lightly by some reviewers/user because of that fact 
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Dark Magician, Zen Pro. IE600 if you want that more V-Shaped, but I doubt it with your library.
With your library I would go Zen Pro + R2R (like Cayin RU6 dongle) and call it a day. Or earbuds.
Fiio FD7 might be a consideration but Iāve yet to hear it.
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I wonder how the Elixir or Vortex would compare to the options you listed.
Short impression - Elysian Diva
- vocals are magical, otherworldly even. Iād say very āimmersiveā/ācaptivatingā
- treble is wonky for me. I think it sounds like noise, dunno how to descrbe it
- bass is impressive for BA, but Iāve been spoiled by planars. adequate
I wish this was a tribrid, but then I probably canāt afford it. Briefly compared it to Monarch MK2 and the latter doesnāt have the wow factor to entice me - all around good/āsafeā
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The A55 with the aftermarket firmware is pretty nice imo. Not a bad pic! 
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There are many choices and since it single dd are not real costly on the average. You read reviewers and as you try iems they like you can decide if your taste in sound is similar. I have a tendency to wait for Chris to review because we may not agree all the time I am confident if he recs it I will like it. NYMZ appears to be very good but I have to try one of his top recs to evaluate how we evaluate sound.
Itās been a long time since I had the DM in earā¦ but Iām pretty sure the Vortex pulls off much of the same magic from my memory. Different focus to the Vernus, and I prefer it to the Vernus. So itās officially the best single DD I have any useful memory of.
Very strong magnets, solid driver material, very skillful tuning. Full of energy (bite) and detail, but yet hasnāt been sibilant once for me, whether that be with vocals, cymbals, etc. I canāt actually say that for the DM, but then I never got a super good reliable fit with them. Vortex has one of the best fits for me because of the small shell and the nozzle length being just right.
As you know, I donāt shill Penon for Penonās sake. Iāve found their thread uncomfortable lately for how much praise the Globes have been getting as for me they have a few compromises.
Edit: I havenāt listened to the Serials since I got the Vortex because I want to build up a clear idea of the Vortex, and because Iām enjoying the way it handles my library - maybe more of my library than the Serial is truly strong for. When I do listen to them again Iām expecting them to be on par, just with better sub bass and a more laid back tuning. Complementary giants, that can both be owned for less than many EST tribrids.
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I probably wonāt get my Vortex for another week so would love your thoughts on the Serial and Vortex. My gut tells me they will be very complimentary.
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I find the praise on the globes a bit odd too. In the price range I think there is so much better stuff.
It wasnāt bad per se but it only jived with like 10% of my library.
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+1 about head-fi. Its a great resource for information but new releases are always crazy hype trains. I only started looking into the Vortex after your review cause I trust your opinion.
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What shell design/colours did you go for? Canāt really tell what the darker version looks like from the crap images on Penonās website.
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There are better pictures of the head-fi Penon thread.
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Yeah probably - but I canāt tolerate half the shilling crap that contaminates the thread, so Iād rather avoid it as much as I can tbh. No reflection on Penonās IEMs though, bought the Serial because the driver config had me curious to see how it would differ from the UM 3DTs and really like it for a fair bit of my library. And the Vortex definitely has my interest.
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That means an awful lot. I hope it meets your expectations!
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Here mate, I went for dark blue. A lot of it is more or less a black fill which takes a grey sheen. There were examples in head-fi which looked better than mine tbh. Here are some quick photos with lighting from a street in Edinburgh!
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that nozzle looks chonk
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I wonder if it just looks big cause the iem is so small
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