The timeless is so hard to beat. There's something mesmerizing about the set that keeps making me come back to it, as after the honeymoon period around a new set dies down
I agree that the Timeless is a little bit mesmerizing / special with its sound. I personally haven't had fit issues, but I get that we're all different in that regard.
@@PassionforSound Very true! usually a bit of tip rolling is enough to fix fit issues for me but something about the 7hZ just doesn't sit right with my ears :/ Good IEMs nonetheless!
I own the Hook X and the Elixer’s. I like the Elixers so much I bought 2 sets of Elixers. They are my go to 1st pick for my library. Excellent review. Thank you my friend from across the pond. 😊
I have been considering the Elixir for a while but I'm starting to get too big of a collection of IEMs (if such a thing is ever possible). Given a few of my other $150-200ish sets like the Ikko OH10, Moondrop Kato, Dunu Talos, LetShuoer S12, I'm not sure the difference is enough to warrant the purchase. Of course I have a few upper-end sets as well. Decisions, Decisions :). As usual thanks for the wonderful review. I thank you, while my retirement fund shakes it head.
It's always tough when the options start to pile up. For me, the Elixir is pretty unique due to the detail it delivers while not being bright. I personally prefer it over the S12 if that helps 🙂 At least you'll have a nice set of IEMs during your bankrupt retirement 😉
If you have a look at the box of the Raptgo Hook X, the piezoelectric driver is actually referred to as a bone conduction driver, so perhaps it is not taking just care of the treble, but I think there is limited info on that.
Both are excellent so you can't go wrong. The RU6 is a bit warm so some will want the less warm sound of the Elixir, but I actually used the Timeless when I tested the RU6 and I loved it. Sorry, that's probably not very helpful because both are great 🙂
Elixir graph is the secret to it amazing sound, closer to my target. I have always wondered why these earphones makers start pushing the graph up from 1k when alot of the natural information in music is to 8k.lt doesn't make sense. All earphones and headphones should be graphed ruler flat from factory, people can then add whatever level of bass and highs they desire then l think. Nice review as always mate! Cheers.
I haven't specifically tried all of them with the Elixir, but the M15 is so great that I would go with that. The UA5 is good if you don't want quite as rich/warm of a sound, but the M15 has a bit of magic about it and the Elixir is neutral enough to work well with the M15
To my ears the Timeless and the Raptgo have a similar tonality but I notice more textured, somewhat cleaner... In short, the Timeless is more technical. It surprises me because the Raptgo has an open back and is a hybrid.
I think the Elixir is better balanced tonally, but the OH10 still has some magic about it. With them side by side I'd probably reach for the Elixir first though
They are both great. The OH10 creates a greater sense of space, but isn't quite as well tonally balanced. The Elixir is closer in tonality to the S12 (but still different) so consider that too perhaps if you want two different sounds
Nice review Lachlan, thank you very much, this helps me a lot because I've been wondering if the Hook X would be worth buying seeing that I have the timeless, S12 and Dioko on the planar IEMs already.
Hook and Timeless is a no contest for me. The tonality of the Hook is a bit off due to the additional treble in their tuning. The Timeless does literally everything better so long as you enjoy a slightly warm overall sound. With the KATO and Elixir, I haven't directly compared them and I do like the KATO, but I think the Elixir is the IEM I would reach for out of the two because of its sense of detail while still maintaining excellent coherency and tonal balance. I think the KATO might be just a little too bright in the treble for me still even though I like it a lot.
The IE600 and 900 are on a different performance level, but I think the Elixir is excellent as a lower priced alternative. Not so much with the Hook for my tastes
No, they're pretty easy to drive. The S12 actually is too. I'm not sure where they got the reputation for needing lots of power. They benefit from a quality source, but will work just fine from any good dongle
I think the IE600 is still the better IEM. I'm yet to find a product in this hobby that truly punches way above its price. That's not to say that cheap products can't be equally as enjoyable because they can, but in my experience, the good higher priced products always bring technical improvements that the good cheap products still can't match
They may have the same curve (although I don't recall my measurements matching so compensation and smoothing might play a part). Regardless of the curves, the Timeless is the clearly superior sounding IEM to my ears (which might be different from yours)
@@PassionforSound just curious about iems and did some home work. Not sure how great of an idea to have sone thing shoved in my ear for a long period of time. Maybe on the go that would be an option.
As long as you take care with ear hygiene then IEMs should pose no issue. If you're using them for long periods, just change tips regularly if using foam or wipe down your silicon tips with rubbing alcohol
That's an interesting question. I think the IEM will give you better technicalities like resolution, but the headphone will win on soundstage size so it depends a bit on what you prioritise.
