It is tricky to photograph the shininess of these while trying to hold the flashlight at just the right angle to make the seashell glowā¦definitely the best sounding and best looking IEMs Iāve experienced. The chin slider on the upgrade cable is a joke though, for those who care about that. Otherwise the upgrade cable seems really nice. The stock cable seems to be the Tripowin C8 with different color sleeves. I havenāt had any hiss running them on my Fiio M11 via the balanced 4.4mm connection.
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Acoustic guitar sounds particularly good on theseā¦the leading edge transients are the best I have heard on any type of audio transducer I have heard. The sound of these kind of reminds me of my ZMF VĆ©ritĆ©ā¦they are the most headphone like IEMs I have heard, with a very wide soundstage
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Is there any way to get these custom, or are they exclusively universal?
They have very much peaked my interest with reviews, and might be the set I will save up for in the long run.
Felix
I emailed linsoul a while ago about a CIEM set and they said that was coming in the near future. Not sure exactly when though.
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These are as detailed as one can get without being fatiguing (I realize this is subjective). An example would be the Tin P1 or Shuoer Tape being exhausting after an hour or so. These seem to have the same level of detail without the fatigue. Tuning feels very natural to me. I think I prefer the up/up switch configuration which sounds like a V tuning where the mids are still present enough. I think I prefer the treble switch up, and the bass switch up or down based on what I am listening to. Timbre wise these sound very natural, kind of like how the TinHifi T4, BLON BL03, or other well implemented dynamic drivers sound natural. Most BA drivers sound harsh and artificial to me, kind of like the difference between synth violin vs the real thing. The Fearless S8F had a bit of that artificial sound to me, which drove me to mostly use the T4 before I got this set. Again, preferences on this sort of thing can be subjective, but naturalness is really important to how music sounds to me, which is probably what drove me to ZMF headphones and to sell my Focal headphones. Transients have a bit of life to them too with really quick leading edge transients and the right amount of lingering decay to sound natural. Crinacle has a writeup that describes attack and decay and these have what he calls short attack and ideal decay, as opposed to balanced armatures or planars often having too little decay.
Bass is deep, tight, and when the bass swich is up, abundant. More bass impact and depth than the S8F. Definitely the best BA bass I have heard, they sound like a big 11mm+ dynamic driver in terms of impact. Mids sound pretty even to me, when the dipswitches are up (the most V shaped configuration), female vocals seem slightly back, male vocals donāt seem recessed though. Very detailed and punchy in the mids. Treble is extended, detailed, natural, and has air. Best treble I have heard in any IEMs. Possibly the best treble I have heard in headphones or speakers periodā¦I would need to listen to these for longer to be sure on that. Comparison points would be the Focal Utopia, ZMF Verite, Hifiman Ananda on the headphones side and on the speaker side I mostly listen to Magnepan 1.6, and Monitor Audio PL300. I really like the treble on these, but that might be me being a treblehead Acoustic guitar sounds particularly good on theseā¦the leading edge transients are the best I have heard on any type of audio transducer I have heard. The sound of these kind of reminds me of my ZMF VĆ©ritĆ©ā¦they are the most headphone like IEMs I have heard, with a very wide soundstage. They donāt sound small, they sound big, more like open back headphones, which either this video or BGGAR mentioned. Vertical stage seems very tall too, however front to back the stage seems more compressed as they donāt feel like they project sound from in front like speakers do, they are more like forehead to back of head. Sometimes, depending on the track, they sound like they are making sounds behind me, which I donāt recall getting from other IEMs. The things that bugged me about the Fearless S8F were primarily recessed upper treble where I wasnāt getting a sense of air, a more compressed sense of dynamics compared to the V14, persistent hiss with my Fiio M11 that grated on my nerves, and finally a certain unnaturalness or artificial sound attribute common to BA drivers. The V14 has none of these flaws. I donāt hear any sonic weakness on the the Voyager 14, and as someone who is an expert nitpicker, that is a strong compliment.
Frequency range wise, the Voyager 14 does have a slightly forward midrange in the neutral (down/down) switch position, which I pretty sure is the setting that BGGAR used when he graphed his set. To my ears, upper male and lower female vocals do feel emphasized when the switches are in neutral. This is not my favorite listening setting. Then I put the switches back up. I ran them through a frequency sweep, keep in mind this against my ears not a graph, so individual sensitivities or dips of my ears and the IEMs combined does add variables. Bump the switches to up/up and mids sound smooth to me. It feels like 2k was cut down a bit, or rather adjacent energy in the bass and treble was brought up so that the mids donāt have emphasis. The small peak around 3.5-4K still sounded present to me, but it is minor, like a couple dB. To my ears, it sounded like the treble switch up gives a boost between 11-13K, which is precisely what I wanted. Again, my ears not a graph so variables are at play. Perhaps someone else with a graphing rig will make a graph of all the switch positionsā¦at the moment BGGAR is the only one I know of who has the Voyager and makes graphs.
I can confirm that while the Voyager is extremely detailed it doesnāt make one cringe if there is a bad recording. My Magnepans and most planars I have heard HATE bad recordings and sound harsh on some tracksā¦the Voyager seems oddly forgiving to me. Also I can identify specific similar instruments with this set better than any other IEM I have heard.
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What else to say, if this aināt perfect iem I donāt know what is? Fantastic info @pinnaclephotography great job you did in describing V14. I guess all it needs is upgrade cable as I think V14 deserves the best and not just Tripowin C8 or āLinsouls upgrade cableā Difference in cables can be marginal or none to some but no doubt it certainly not all cables are the same. I have perfect example of insane build quality cable with sonics to match.
Yes, this cable turns out to be a beast.
First off exceptional build quality, connectors and all the parts used are top notch you can feel the quality in the hands. Good strain releaf ensures confidence, working chin slider. Only negative I can mention build wise is that cable is not the softest thus have some microphonics when rubbing against clothes. But itās very light and ear-hooks are damn comfy and stable. Not to mention it looks like a jewelry. I got 8 core version with 2.5 termination and matching 3.5 adapter.
Sonics are amazing, due to the low resistance cable I found less noise with S8F and high powered source but still present (none with ES100 and BTR5). Bass has excellent depth and control while keeping the mids / treble clear and detailed. Itās not cheap but very well worth to be paired with high end gear.
I feel V14 + this cable is endgame material.
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Thanks progdvd, that cable looks gorgeous. Here are some more thoughts.
BGGAR made another video on the Voyager 14 and he still has it as his top ChiFi set, with only the Sony IER-Z1R as better overall, but again, different price range. I agree with his assessment.
Iāve gotten about 30 hours into the Voyagers and I agree with what he is saying, the Voyager 14 is a stunning set that sounds natural, fun, lively, and extremely detailed without being clinicalā¦this set might kill the hobby for me, as it ended the upgrade itch for me and I legitimately cannot think of how this could be sonicly improved. The entire audible range is presented excellently and Iām noticing details that I hadnāt heard before, not with the Focal Utopia or ZMF Verite.
All my critical listening has been through the THX AAA 789 amp (4.4mm used with an XLR adapter) fed from my HoloAudio Spring āKitsune Editionā, which is my endgame R2R ladder DAC. Iām using JRiver and playing FLAC or DSD for the most part. Musical genres would be everything except country, rap, and hip-hop. Fiio M11 sounds good too, no hiss unless it is present in the recording (I can hear the hiss of the microphones of various youtube channels with theseā¦these are really revealing).
Switches:
Neutral (down/down): there is a little emphasis in the mids, peaking about 2kHz, with 1.5-4kHz being lifted overall. If you want emphasized vocals this does a great job while still having bass with about the same level of presence as the Fearless S8F.
Bass up, treble down (up/down): sounds bass heavy while still having air. Mids are very recessed but detail still comes through, but the life of the mids has been pulled out. My least favorite switch configuration.
Bass down, Treble up (down/up): sounds the most accurate to the music. Bass is extended and present but not emphasized. Mids and treble sound very even to me, I donāt hear any major dips or peaks in this configuration. Based on memory, this setting has has slightly less midbass than the S8F but slightly more extension. Bass impact has similar or slightly better dynamics than S8F in this switch setting. Almost tied for favorite setting, it just depends on the music.
Bass up, Treble up (up/up): Sounds like the Bass down, Treble up setting but with perhaps 5-6 dB more bass from 250 Hz and below. This is the most fun setting. Bass rumble and impact are excellent; no bloat or detail loss. Mids donāt get drowned out, treble is clear and retains air. Bass can be a little much sometimes depending on the track but this is probably the setting most will want to use for the bulk of their listening. Favorite setting overall.
Again, all of my listening has been through the upgrade QDC cable (4 core) that came with the preorder. Linsoul didnāt provide any details on the cable but I think it might be silver wire and not silver plated copper. The upgrade is a more resistant to bending than the default Tripowin cable and it can hold minor bends or kinks, so if you like a limp cable the Tripowin one with the soft 8 core braid might be your preference for braid types.
Here is the english version of the Aliepress link of the CEMA Electro acousti that progdvd is recommendingā¦it does look really nice.
My set arrived before the retail packaging was resolved, so I just had a plain brown box with two of the Theiaudio aluminum canisters, with stock and upgrade cables, the IEMs themselves, and a small set of tips. I could care less about unboxing experiences as long as my item arrives securely without damage, but I am curious how the final packaging will turn out and if anything else is included.
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How is the Voyager 3? And have you tried KZ ZS10 for comparison? I am looking for a headphone with beautiful detail/ stage etc that has more bass then ZS10 (which I would consider to be a neutral bass boosted headphone but not quite a basshead iem) i loved the zs10 but it lacked bass and could use even more detail which I would defiantly pay for.
I still havenāt received the Voyager 3 yet, nor have I tried any of the KZ line. I will be glad to give my impressions once I do get my hands on them, though!
I ordered mine and like a newb i am, i got hit with a bunch of facts that scare me. Can you talk about their 2pin and QDC connections? some say the QDC option is not really QDC. they say its reversed polarity. So whats the difference between 2pin and reversed QDC then? If i want an upgrade 4.4 balanced cable, what should i get? I dont wanna fry my portable dac/amp and i dont wanna connect the wrong pins and fry my IEMs. Please help.
Soroosh,
Iām not overly familiar with the polarity issue, I think redrol on the head-fi forum might be the one to ask about specifics.
Iām not sure if the situation was:
A) the internal wiring of the IEM is reverse polarity and a reverse polarity cable addresses the issue
B) someone tried listening with a cable that was wired in opposite polarity as the IEM and something sounded off
C) The stock blue-ish cable that looks like a Tripowin C8 is not correct polarity and he used a different cable and it was fine.
Redrol might be able to shed some light on this and I would be curious to know too.
My copy is the QDC version and Iām using the V14 with the upgraded silver colored cable that came with the preorder and it sounds fantastic to me. Iāve been listening to the V14 more than my full sized headphones these days (ZMF Verite and Hifiman Ananda) if that is any indication of how much I like these.
If the QDC aspect worries you, you could always request Linsoul to change you order to the 2-pin version which is easier to invert cable connections in case the 2-pin build also has a polarity issue. Linsoul has been quite responsive to my communications in the past.
pinnaclephotography,
Thank you so much for your response. I will see if i can ask them to convert to 2pin. On an odd chance that they couldnt get 2pin done, what are some of the top of the line balanced cables 4.4mm QDC type upgrades do you suggest I get ? since i did not get the pre-order upgrade cables.
You could also ask Linsoul to clarify the polarity of the QDC version of the Voyager 14 (and report back to the community so we have clarity on the polarity topic). If the polarity is normal for QDC then proceed with whatever QDC cable you want, if it is reversed you could ask a custom cable maker to wire a QDC cable with reversed polarity to correct the issue.
Progdvd has been really pleased with this cable, he commented about it earlier in the thread. It looks like they are made to order with pretty much every connection option available.
The best cable I have personally is a Han Sound Audio ZEN 8ā¦it is literally a piece of artā¦and is fun to OCD fiddle with that cableā¦but since it doesnāt have preformed earloops the extra weight makes it less comfortable for long listening sessionsā¦If I was in the market for a really nice cable I would probably look at the aliexpress link above thoughā¦personally, I find cables to have a pretty minor impact (if any) compared to other components in an audio systemā¦jumping to a 4.4mm mono instead of 3.5mm single ended is usually noticeable though.
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It seems that another wrench has been thrown into the works with the ThieAudio Voyager 9ā¦the graph is very similar to the Voyager 14.
V9 has 8 BA and 1 DDā¦BGGAR really likes itā¦the question is will it go the path of the Fearless Roland and be controversial or will it deliver Voyager 14 quality at 50-60% the price. Based on the graph, Iām inclined to the think that this looks really really promising.
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Really curious about the V9 also. Iām a guy that loves some dynamic bass so I was never too interested in the current offerings. If the V9 brings the goods at a sub $500 price point it will be very interesting.
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I believe BGGAR said its gonna be around $600. For the most part i trust his opinion but I think Legacy 9 (Voyager 9) is going through its honeymoon phase. For the sake of transparency I should say that I bought the Voyager 14 because of his repeated praise so I may be biased but i would like to see if the Legacy 9 will stand the test of time. If it does then save yourself some money and go with that instead of V14. Its pretty much just as good.
Couple of things to consider is that V14 uses both Sonion and Knowles BAs which appears to be the best in the business. Additionally, V14 has 2 dip switches that can dynamically change the sound signature a bit. I think thats something to think about.
Yeah, it looks like the Voyager 9 name got changed to Legacy 9ā¦and the price set at $549
No pictures of them yet, but it says they are going to be wood shells (rather than just wood faceplates)ā¦Iām really curious what these will look like and if the wood shell (vs acrylic/resin/metal) will impart a different sonic characteristic or if the routing of drivers through bores toward the nozzle means the shell material doesnāt affect the sonic characteristics like it does for headphones like ZMF.
The Linsoul preorder page is up:
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The legacy 9 has both Knowles and Sonion BAās. The wood housing will only serve the DD driver as the rest will be with soundbores and therefore the wood casing should not have such a great impact on the sound of these.
Final wood pictures are out.
They look amazing imo!
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