As an enthusiastic Elysian Pilgrim Noir fan, I was anxious to get my hands on the Apostle, especially after reading a couple of early 5-star reviews, so I did a blind buy to get the early bird discount and I have not been disappointed. As the Noir, IMO, is one of the best neutral sounding IEMs available under a kilobuck, the Apostle adds a bit of everything to that for its higher price: deeper & more impactful bass, better imaging & layering, a great soundstage, a bit better tonal accuracy and clarity from lows to highs, with a fabulous midrange & vocals, and plenty of “twinklies and sparklies” in the treble without any sibilance or fatigue. It’s probably my favorite all-rounder, and a top “desert island” pick for the long term. My only critical comment is about the chin slider, which is so loose as to be useless - a pretty small nit to pick but frustrating on a $2000 IEM nonetheless.
I’ve been chasing detail for a long time — and finally, I found it. The Empire Ears Odin is where musicality and detail meet perfectly for my taste. The layering and soundstage are breathtaking; the bass is powerful yet controlled, the mids are rich and natural, and the treble sparkles without harshness. It feels like rediscovering my entire music library. It's truly a flagship IEM worth every penny! And the MucisTeck team is very proactive during the ordering process. Kudos to them!
The more time you spend listening to it the better it gets! This set does not disappoint. Warm sounds with a bass boost. Sub bass shines but does not muddy mids and highs. Everything sounds great and I can definitely say this is an all arounder !!
I only have 45 minutes under my belt with these IEMs, but oh my, these are special. The Space, the natural timbre, the drum impacts, the separation. It is an experience. Definitely has a bright leaning neutral experience. I am feeling the Senn HD800s in mind, with honestly, better bass in a comfortable package. They have almost disappeared in my ears.
I paired these with the Astral Acoustics Pulse 4.4mm Cable. Tight fit for the 2 pins, it is never coming out. But it is truly a beautiful pairing.
If you were on the fence like me, get the last few before they are gone at this price, you will not regret it.
The sound is amazing. The display turned out to be more useful than I thought it would. NOS is great but... If the display says 48 Khz when you are playing a 44.1 Khz track, you have a problem. The only player, besides using "aplay" in Linux to directly play the file I found that would simply play the file without upsampling to 48Khz was Audacious with careful attention to the settings. VLC and Strawberry have what amount to bit perfect settings but they don't work. This is a problem in Windows and Android as well. I can't speak for Apple products.
I am listening with 102 db/mw sensitivity headphones in NOS mode. There is no noise issue and the bass is amazingly clean.
It can't be overstated what damage is done to micro-dymamics with non power of two upsampling.
Very nicely done set from Elysian as always. Can check my full review here https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/elysian-acoustic-labs-apostle.27776/reviews#review-37400.
It was the best sound that I've ever heard in my life and a huge upgrade in my Head-Fi system.
This is a great cable that punches above its price bracket. It's one of my favorite cables so far.
I’ll be honest, at first these were not good. Bright, shrill, piercingly sharp highs and a deeply recessed midrange with little bass, although what low end they did have was tight and clean. In short, if you hear these and that’s your initial impression, give them time. A lot of it. These took at least 100 hours to fully start to break in. They are still pretty V shaped (I only recently saw Crin’s graph and it does align with my sonic impressions) and the upper bass and mids could do with being slightly more fleshed out and fuller bodied IMO. But with much tip swapping (I tried foams but wound up with Type E’s and W1’s) and replacing the stock cable for an inexpensive OCC copper cable these started to improve drastically.
They still have some recession in the midrange, but the high frequencies greatly smoothed out while still retaining ample detail and clarity. Muted or veiled these are not. They are also not basshead IEM’s. The low end is tight and with good punch and well defined with excellent pitch accuracy and zero bleed in to the lower mids, but they aren’t sub bass monsters. I have other less expensive single DD sets that dig deeper in that area and it’s one thing I think that holds these back a little along with the midrange dip.
Even with the recession in the midrange making vocals (both male and female) sound a little thin on occasion they are remarkably clear and clean. I don’t get much sibilance on these, but I find myself riding the volume control more often to hit that sweet spot. A warmer source device is probably also a good idea here, but I favor more neutral sources and “flavor” my sound with the transducer itself.
What really sets these apart for me personally though from others I’ve heard in similar price points are the pinpoint imaging and staging. Both laterally and fore and aft. There is good layering here not just a flat 2 dimensional sound stage. But the imaging is just outstanding and they are soundstage champs.
While they are decent all rounders, smaller jazz quintets and chamber music are sometimes jaw droppingly good in all the right ways. Even rock, jazz, and soul & funk records sound great on these. They have the bass to propel a wide variety of genre’s, but metal heads should probably look elsewhere. As mentioned, they will reveal brighter source material as being such, and they don’t really hit hard enough in the bass to balance the rest of the frequencies to make that kind of music really kick IMO. Although AC/DC sounds marvelous on these. Slayer, not so much.
They aren’t a set that makes everything sound good, but they will reward with higher quality source material. I appreciate that they’re not making all my music sound the same. That’s the job of a good transducer. So they’re revealing, but not at the expense of limiting everything you play be “audiophile” recordings.
But I can’t stress enough just how important the tips and cable are with these. What comes with them will not show their true measure. And be patient with letting them break in. For some reason this set seemed to take an abnormally long time to smooth out and reveal their true character. Once they do though you wind up with something truly special.
I also have to mention the fit of these because for my ears at least, they fit like a glove. I know it’s just an aluminum shell version with the same profile and shape of the original Qdc Superior, but for some reason these just fit me perfectly.
A set that’s definitely worth owning, but not without flaws and probably not for everyone, but still one I keep reaching for almost instinctively. They just feel right to me. Huge thanks to MusicTeck for being the only place in the US to get these very special and unique IEM’s and their excellent customer support and service.
With the high quality silver wire, the sound is clear, accurate, comfortable. It deserves the price. A very good wire. Recommend to all.
I was at Can Jam NYC looking at the Vertex cable and the rep show me the Thunder Storm, as soon as I put the cable on I told the rep I want one not knowing the cost, impressive with the huge sound stage, great bass and clarity. That day I purchased the vertex Nadia and the Flash Acoustic Thunder Storm. Thank you for making my day
Super black, the darkness in the back ground is amazing, sound stage is great the weight in the bass is very satisfying, so much details. I am so happy with Vortex
This is the best headphone for the money in this price range. The design is in pair for what I paid for and the sound is one of the best , regardless of the price. Thanks MusicTech!!!
My expectations were high for the Volume S. I haven’t heard a bad set from Softears (RSV, Twilight, Studio4), and almost all of the initial reviews for Volume S were positive. To my ears, it’s a very well tuned set that easily competes with or betters the competition in the price range. I much preferred the low impedance setting, and that’s tuning used for this review
What I like: Vocals really sound great. There’s enough warmth to give some weight and body to male and female vocals. Detail retrieval is excellent. Stage size is also a cut above sets at this price. It’s a very fun tuning.
My favorite set that I own in the $300 to $400 range is the Hype 4. These sets compliment each other very well. The hype 4 has better treble extension and imaging, but vocals and stage are better on the Volume S. The hype 4 and Volume S differ in low end tuning. The hype 4 has more and tighter bass due to the bass tuck. The Volume S has more midbass, but the low end is still tight with minimal bleed into the mids. Both bass guitar and kick drums sound full with good weight. I have a pretty wide range of music in my library and with the addition of the Volume S my library is fully covered. The Volume S is an easy recommendation.
These look fantastic and have a full balanced sound.
I have 52 IEMs in this price range, above and below and rarely have I had nothing negative to say about them….I’m totally surprised, but there is not a bad thing or deficiency that I can comment on.
Out of all my units I can count 4 that fall into…I got nothing…they are that good!
Awesome sound, ergonomy and design. Could not be better. Thanks to Music Tec for great interaction and ultra fast delivery
Great cable! Excellent resolution, well-extended treble, and bombastic bass. Extremely dark background gives notes pop and allow for an exciting listen.
These phones have no weaknesses and deliver a dynamic, clear sound. The design seems to stress neutrality and not emphasize any particular aspect of the audio spectrum
This thing rocks the sound quality is threw the roof
These are really well balanced and full sounding IEMS. The entire package feels premium. I think I might like these more than Symphonium Helios or some other top IEMS.
i love it the sound is great sounds great on my Focal
I love the Cayin RU6!!! It is super easy to use and it sounds incredible!!!
This is an absolutely excellent DAP. It is very user friendly and has awesome features in terms of music apps you can download tot he R6 III 2025! I love it. It plays HI- Res music beautifully!