UM Multiverse Mentor
I just got my new UM Multiverse Mentor IEMs. These are more vocal/mid forward along with treble forward. The bass is good for a Balanced Armature driver and is completely adequate for most music. However, it's not a bass head kind of hard-hitting bass. I'll get right to the point. These have the best implementation of Bone Conduction that I have tried when it comes to creating a wide 3D holographic soundstage. It really accentuates the "3D holographic" part where you feel the sound surround you. These IEMs can be used for any genre of music, but to me their strength is in the Acoustic music(guitar), Heavy Metal, Rock, and vocal/singer's voice being focused on tracks. These IEMs are at the very top of endgame IEMs for these types of music genres where the vocals are the focus and any type of Acoustic guitar songs with instruments that benefit from extra treble detail.
*If you want the best pair of IEMs for Rap, EDM, or any other Bass heavy music. These are not for you. Having said that, these are an essential part of anyone trying to gather a collection of endgame "TOTL" set of different IEMs that cover the various genres of music.
I shall not write the detail review for MM here. There are 2 review from @twister6 , @Visceral in headfi which is pretty close to what I heard from MM.
Just want to shout out to Andrew a big Thank you for the excellence customer service and accomodate to my request. Will definitely patronise/deal again if I have any upcoming item in my wishlist (:
Comfort/build quality/cable: The MM is extremely comfortable for my medium sized ear canal, the fit is very secure, especially with the included AZLA tips. The passive noise isolation is also great. I find myself using iems as an earplugs in loud environments quite often and these work nicely for that.
The build quality is outstanding, the shells feel very premium and look absolutely stunning in person, probably my favorite looking iem to date.
The cable doesn't seem to be microphonic to me. It isn't light but not heavy either, the weight is just right. Very comfortable for hours and it does feel extremely premium, just like every other top of the line PW AUDIO cable.
The sound: Just like the Mason FS, the vocals and string instruments presentation on there are on another level, way above everybody else.
I've never heard an acoustic guitar and violin sound so authentic in any IEM. It actually sounds like you are playing the thing without the vibrations of it against your body. The vocals sound like the person is singing detectly to your ears and you can feel it in a way. I've never had so much fun with any headphones in my life, let alone an iem.
The tonality on MM is unmatched. I often do prefer there over my Genelec studio monitors for pure musical joy that UM bone conduction gives me and that is saying something. Even amazing sounding speakers can sound somewhat lifeless after these.
Overall the MM are extremely nuteral, dynamic, crisp, enjoyable, fun and everything in between.
The low end is extremely well controlled, very balanced and as punchy as you want it to be even for metal/djent/thall type of genre.
The soundstage is stupid wide. Wider than Mason FS, Mext and my trusty U12t's. Imaging is spectacular, I would say The best on any iem that I've heard in recent years.
The course: depending on the source, you could or couldn't feel/hear the UM bone conduction properly. With some daps/amps these become just a great sounding IEMs, with some it completely transforms and makes you feel and hear the music like never before. I do find them to pair best with the Cayin products (N8 II, C9 amp, HA-300 MK2, RU6 etc) and LP6. The better the source, the better they will sound. I personally run them through my Cayin C9 amp with an external dac and I'm very pleased with the sound.
Negatives: There is one negative for me personally.
I do find them unusable for tracking, It just doesn't feel right. I often do prefer to wear an iems when I'm tracking and practicing guitar so that was a little bit of bummer, but I already knew what I'm singing for after purchasing my very first UM product.
Conclusion: If you can afford these, please do yourself a favor and buy a set, I'm extremely happy with mine after 9 months of having it and can't recommend them enough.
Otherwise please do consider getting the MEXT, both are fantastic, the MM just gives you way more and has a better control over all of the frequency spectrum.
Amazing technicalities
Very coherent tuning without flaws
Best BCD implementation I ever heared
Superb bass quality
Big and holographic soundstage
Gripping representation
Great design and build quality
The UM Multiverse Mentors are simply the best IEM’s I’ve ever owned. I couldn’t be happier about the purchase. I was stunned about what a major step up in performance these were from my Empire Ear Odin’s. Thank you to Andrew for all his help and MusicTeck for getting this shipped out so quickly. Highly recommended.
Preamble:
I spent a lot of time with the Triton source, tip, and cable rolling.
I’m not going to go into detail on every source, tip, and cable I rolled, but, offer the following as a general overview of my experience.
👉🏻 Source device sensitive. Warmer sources enhance the sub bass focus of the tuning.
More resolving sources tighten up the bass a bit and adds some definition between sub and mid bass.
👉🏻 Responds accurately to the recorded source. Bass heavy tracks fill the head stage with powerful bass, but, while the bass remains prominent, it eases off to very respectable levels on non bass heavy tracks.
👉🏻 Ear tips do as expected. Wide bore open up the mids, vocals and highs. Head stage opens up a bit.
Narrow bore tips, specifically the included Final E Series tips, favour the bass region and the sub bass is the star of the show.
👉🏻 The included Monarch cable pairs very well with Triton.
But if you find the sub bass focus to be a bit too much (it can be overpowering on bass heavy tracks) I found swapping on a silver plated copper cable gave the mid bass more impact and presence, and, lifted the mids and highs.
Sound:
Bass is the obvious focus of the Triton and for this evaluation I have Triton set up as Empire Ears intended, stock cable and stock ear tips.
I also choose a warmer source device to maximize the bass experience.
The bass is sub predominant and it fully fills the head space.
Mid bass lacks impact on most tracks and is easily over shadowed on sub bass heavy tracks.
Mids, vocals, and highs have very good presence, but they don’t present elevated or forward.
Vocalists for example sound like they are mid stage and pushing forward from there, rather than front of stage and elevated.
Mids have good detail retrieval, but not exceptional.
Highs are clear and bright, but again, not often elevated or overly airy and sparkly. Micro detail retrieval is limited.
The head stage is wide and tall with good depth as well, which gives it a decent holographic presentation.
The tamed presence of the mids and highs does limit imaging and layering.
Instrument placement is not overly precise.
Summary:
It took me some time to come to grips with what I believe Empire Ears was trying to achieve.
A true bass head IEM. No apologies.
Compared to other bass prominent IEM’s I’m familiar with like the Theiaudio Hype 10, 64Audio Volur, and even Triton’s older sibling the Legend EVO.
All of these iEMs have very strong bass presence, but they are configured and tuned to also have a strong mids and highs presence to balance things out.
These are all outstanding IEM’s, but, when you hear a bass heavy track and you crank up the volume for that extra bass boost, the mids and highs can at times become over energetic along with.
With Triton, on bass heavy tracks, you can crank it up to near brain mashing levels without the upper end becoming overbearing.
If EE’s plan was to have a true bass focused IEM with enough mids and highs to work well with a broad range of genre, I’d say they nailed it.
I find Triton works well with most of my library, the exceptions being symphonic and acoustic. Still good, but not the best fit.
Classic rock, blues, pop, rap, certain jazz and even most country sounds very good.
Electronic really shines.
At $1800 usd the Triton is a significant investment.
I typically prefer a more balanced “audiophile” tuning. But I do love my bass as well.
I can listen to Triton for multi hour sessions and enjoy every minute of it.
Triton is definitely for bass enthusiasts.
IS A VERY GOOD CABLE ESPECIALLY ON TH BASS, AS I WAS LOOKING FOR. NOT VERY DETAILED SO NOT GOOD FOR MY VIKING Ragnar or cipur 622b
I mainly compare it with Raven, but as I listened to it, I felt that it was in a different category from Raven. Each has its own merits, so people's preferences may differ. Specifically, Novus has less bass than Raven, making it tighter, and the mids are clearer and more voluminous, making the vocals stand out. The highs are more flexible and a little sparkly. In short, I thought it was a mix of Raven and AK. Novus is also clearer than Reven, with less reverberation and more of a monitor-like feel. Therefore, I thought Novus is more versatile and can be enjoyed in more genres than Reven. In that sense, I thought it was an IEM that was a legitimate evolution of Odin. Novus will demonstrate its potential and produce a better sound when paired with SP3000. Please give it a try.
Dita Project M impressions
The Dita Project M is a hybrid IEM (1 DD & 1 BA) and impresses with it´s beautiful build quality.
The shell is made of clear resin that looks stunning. The MOCCA cable comes with a interchangeable AWESOME plug (APV-2). It´s constructed of 16 strands of Cardas conductors per cable, it´s light and nice to wear.
Bass
The bass is precise and controlled without being overpowering. It reaches deep down, but does not overemphasize the lower frequencies. The clean and crisp sub-bass is particularly noticeable, adding foundation to the sound without overpowering the other frequency ranges.
Mids
The mids are clear and detailed, resulting in an excellent reproduction of voices and instruments. They appear natural and have a warm note that makes them particularly musical without overemphasizing them.
Treble
The treble of the Dita Project M is finely resolved and offers a lot of airiness without sounding sharp or strained. Even at higher volumes, they do not become unpleasant.
Sound stage
The sound stage is wide and offers a realistic spatial representation. You have the feeling of being in the middle of the music, with a good staggering of the instruments and clear separation of the individual elements. The imaging is precise and allows to localize the position of the individual instruments exactly
Conclusion
The Dita Project M offers balanced and detailed sound with outstanding build quality.
The bass is controlled, the mids and highs are clear and clean, and the soundstage offers an impressive depth.
The Project M is particularly impressive in terms of imaging and offers a great listening experience for audiophiles who value precision and detail at a great price. After 3 months of enjoyment, I can say that I will definitely keep them.