MMR iem thread, Gae Bolg / Balmung / Homunculus / Thummim

IEMs & In Ears
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Absolutely loving these so far, definitely want to do a proper write up at some point but here are a few brief thoughts so far:

Soundstage is very interesting so far, it feels quite like a circular stage around my head like I’ve seen stuff like Focals being described and I’m really enjoying that.

I can’t quite tell whether it has a larger bass quantity than the Graces or not so far, but I think it has more impact.

They’re very engaging and that’s what I love in items/headphones.

The shell on these is beautiful, I love the finish and the design, they are very comfortable when using them in a shallow insertion depth, I did try them at a deeper insertion depth but it was quite fatiguing on my left ear after a while.

Waiting for my Spiral Dot tips to arrive to see what they are like with different tips. Hopefully should be with me soon.

Been using them mainly off of the iFi Diablo so far which is quite a nice pairing especially since there is no hiss compared to the Monotor/Ares that I am borrowing.

I’m probably gonna try them with the Plussound cable I have soon, but I think I’d maybe get a cable specifically for these that sounds good and maybe matches the design too.

Admin note: edited thread to include all mmr iems

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to hear that you are enjoying the gae bolg. def sounds very interesting, with an interesting name to boot. Howe are the mids on it so far btw? and glad to hear that it pairs well with the ifi! must be a color thing lol

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They seem to have relatively good mids, I always find it harder to define how good mids are since bass and treble tends to jump out at me but mids less so :sweat_smile:

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How would you compare the overall signature of the blog to the grace?

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I’ve not really listened to the Graces a lot since the MMR arrived, but I’d say that they are relatively similar in terms of signature, the Grace may be a little bit brighter and I think that the MMR has a bit more impact, similar quantity of bass though.

I’d say that the Grace is more relaxed overall with a possibly wider stage and the MMR is more engaging with a similar soundstage presentation to how I’ve seen Focals described, where it is more of an intimate and round stage. I kinda needed to use the MMR with a deeper mount to get that effect to properly work though, not used to deep mount so it feels really odd.

I need to properly sit down at some point and write down my thoughts on them as I do really like them.

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I’ve owned the Gae Bolg for a few days now and I feel like I should say /something/ about them, but these ones have been kinda tough to pin down. My unit only came with a 3.5mm cable, so the first thing I did was try them out of the single-ended output of my L&P W2, and to be honest, they sounded pretty dang lackluster.

After that, I tried them on the headphone out of my Exogal Comet+ (the DAC itself has a very low-noise 1/4" output) and suddenly, they sounded awesome. As others have said, they stage outside of your head (though not super-far outside of your head), they’re nice and punchy, the bass sounds full, and they definitely had a “fun” tuning—honestly, it’s more fun and bassy than I would actually want for listening all day during my work day, but it’s not too bad for the way I actually use IEMs. (I tend to use IEMs while doing things like cooking or washing dishes or going for walks, etc.)

My biggest complaint with the sound so far is the lack of texture, which is something I mostly notice with acoustic music or live performances or whatnot, but in those cases, I really do feel like something is missing. (These do have good detail, and you would think detail and texture would be the same, but I don’t know how to explain why it has one and not the other.)

My Eletech cable still hasn’t even shipped yet, so I grabbed a cheap Moondrop balanced cable that I had around and tried the W2 again over its 4.4mm output. The sound was much better than it was over single-ended (not as impressive as the Exogal, which is to be expected), but interestingly, the sound signature was also less fun and more balanced, which made for a pretty different listening experience.

So yeah, this is a weird one: I like it, but it’s sounded different on pretty much every source I’ve tried, so I don’t have a super-coherent opinion on it yet! …and yeah, still waiting for that cable…

Okay, other random thoughts: They feel much lighter than they look. I don’t know if they’re particularly light compared to other IEMs, but I was definitely surprised at their weight the first time I picked them up. They come with a case that’s a big cube with a belt loop and I really don’t like the form factor of the case. I wish the case was more something that made sense to put in a pocket or a bag. The IEMs are really nice and comfy to use, though if you get a little too excited about pushing them deep into your ear, they can irritate after a while since they don’t have the thinnest stem.

The most expensive IEMs I’ve owned so far are the DUNU Zen, and before getting the Gae Bolg, I was mostly using the DUNU EST112 (sold the Zen). However, now that I’ve gone pretty far with my desktop setup, the disparity between music-listening on my desktop versus my IEMs was pretty huge, so I wanted to step up my IEM game just a little. So in /that/ sense, the Gae Bolg is definitely doing it’s job, it’s a noticeably solid step up from the EST112. (Maybe some day, I’ll go ham and buy an Infinity Mk2 and a P6P, but I’m definitely not there yet.)

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You mentioned the bass being like a big thing in the sound, extremely bassy but that you are not sure that you would want to hear for listening all day but I head the Dunu zen is apparently super bassy right? So is the gae bold more bassy? :eyes:

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The DUNU Zen is a single dynamic driver and so one of it’s selling points was that it has really good quality bass, but I don’t know that the actual tuning of the Zen was particularly bass-elevated at all really? So in that sense, yeah, I would say that the Gae Bolg has a bassier tuning than the Zen. (Maybe @elementze can weigh in?)

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To me, the whole story of the Gae Bolg is good enough bass, good enough tamber/tonality, good enough extension on highs and lows, but really great sound stage and imaging. Not crazy wide, but more Focal style sound stage where it’s out in front of you and wraps around your head. It’s not “3 blob” or “flat wall”. Good separation, good layering, good imaging. They are the best spacial presentation IEM I’ve heard (in my limited experience)

To be honest, I didn’t keep my Dunu Zen for very long. I liked the idea of them as a single DD, but I didn’t find their tuning very engaging. I picked up the VxV shortly after the Zen and enjoyed them a lot more. The VxV was more detailed/resolving without being bright. On a lot of tracks I found the Zen to lack tonal balance end and sound a little lean. But for bass heavy music the Zen was fast and punchy. I can see why people like it, just not my preference in tuning.

Comparing the Zen to the Gae Bolg is a little harder for me, I didn’t have both at the same time. But in general I find the Gae Bolg bass to be good, but it is BA bass, not DD. Similar to the low end of the Andromeda. The bass is extended well enough, and detailed. But not as fast and punchy as a DD. The VxV with a hybrid DD BA setup does better on the low end being both extended and punchy. I’ve found the Gae Bolg to be in the same ballpark of detail retrieval as the VxV, which I think both are a step up from the Zen in that regard.

I like going between the VxV and the Gae Bolg. Keeps them both sounding fresh. Kind of like going between my Focal Clear and Audeze LCD-X - both great in different ways and compliment each other.

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Regarding cables on the Bolg, mine came with the 3.5mm as well. I don’t know if it’s the cable or my dap, but I like the sound much better on my balanced Effect Audio Origin cable. It’s not a great cable, so I suspect it’s the DAP doing better balanced. The difference is enough that I think I’ll upgrade to a better balanced cable sometime soon.

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I’m looking forward to your opinion of these cables. If they don’t work out for you, let me know. I’ll buy 'em off you.

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I’ll definitely let you know! The order got delayed due to Chinese New Year, so it’s taking longer than usual.

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Okay, major caveat that I’m definitely still sick and I don’t quite trust my ears, but here’s some quick first impressions. Before the Eletech Prudence cable came in, I’d been using a $60 Moondrop cable just so I could use the Bolg on balanced sources. (I don’t own a Moondrop Variations, but I think it’s the Variations stock cable?)

Switching to the Eletech cable, the two biggest things that jumped out at me are 1) a very noticeable increase in low-level detail and 2) a noticeable decrease in forwardness. So in one way, it’s really good! I’m getting more out of the recording, and since the sound started off being /very/ forward to my ear, relaxing the presentation a bit was also a welcome change. (Though I could imagine someone else preferring the more in-your-face presentation.)

On the other hand, the cable doesn’t seem to correct for any of my complaints: it doesn’t seem to make the presentation much more organic or add back much of the texture that I felt was missing, and it also doesn’t seem to tamp down the warmth.

I guess it sounds like I’m complaining, but I do like the cable and I do think the Bolg sounds like a better version of itself when paired with the Prudence.

Okay, wrapping up with some ergonomics: the cable is really nice. It looks gorgeous and it doesn’t hold its shape at all really, so it handles wonderfully. My literal only ergonomic complaint is that it’s shorter than I’d prefer. My setup is right next to my desk and so most of the cables I buy are only 1.5m-ish long, but this cable is even shorter than the already short cables I’m used to. (I’d guess it’s around 1.2m long?)

I reserve the right to change my opinion in the near future, but yeah, I thought I’d try to write /something/.

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Nice seems like a upgrade overall, eletech cables are some seriously nice stuff. One thing to note is you might gain some of the technicalities that you feel are missing/lacking with more burn in, I’ve definitely noticed increases in texture and tonality shifts on some of my cables after a lengthy burn in :grin:

also more listening time after you recover from the cold won’t hurt as well :stuck_out_tongue:

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Very interesting observations!

What gear are you sourcing the Bolgs from?

I’m using just a basic Effect Audio Origin cable (balanced). Mostly from a Hiby R6.

They don’t come across as overly forward to me. Certainly not relaxed either. But they don’t distract me when I want to ignore them and let the music blend into the background.

I agree that there is a lack of organicness or maybe just an odd tonal balance to them. Instruments don’t sound exactly right, and it’s hard to put my finger on what it is.

But I love the spacial presentation, and I find them to be very engaging and fun (toe tapping). It gives me a sense of being in the middle of the music.

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Ah, I forgot to mention that, most of these impressions are from listening on an RNHP/BF2 combo. (I’ve been using the L&P W2 as my portable setup recently, but I haven’t been very “portable” lately and the RNHP is right next to my bed.)

It’s funny, the Bolg does have by far the nicest spacial presentation of any IEM I’ve heard, but it’s also the only kilobuck IEM I’ve gotten to hear.

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From memory, I don’t recall the RNHP doing all that well with IEMs while I had it, but I didn’t have many IEMs to try with it at the time either. I do really enjoy the W2 with a wide range of IEMs, though. I’d say it is above something like a Hiby R5, but not Cayin N6ii level, which are my entry and mid DAP references prior to getting the P6P.

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Oh, cool. I have that combo. I’ll set it up and try it for comparison to your notes.

Not too big of a deal, but the RNHP is SE, so not much benefit to a balanced cable.

Yeah, my experience is limited too. But compared to VxV and Andromeda, the Bolg is the best spacial presentation. And I think they are generally known for doing really well at this for each price point they have.

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The Balmung looks super cool to me (also a .hack// nerd, there’s a character named Balmung / Azure Balmung in that anime as well lol), I recently saw a listing for it on Head-fi at a pretty decent deal, but the size of the shells kept me away since I’d probably not be able to be as comfortable with them as I’d like to be due to my ear size.

Maybe one day I’ll be balling enough to pick one up to try them lmao.

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I just put the Gae Bolg back on after about 2 weeks away… I love these IEMs!

And I still need to compare them on the RNHP+BF2…

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