Soranik DES Reference electrostatic IEM

Discussion in 'IEMs and Portable Gear' started by Bill-P, Feb 6, 2019.

  1. Bill-P

    Bill-P Level 42 Mad Wizard

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    So, I have had the pleasure of doing listening tests for Soranik's new entries into the IEM world, code named D.E.S., which stands for Dual Electro-Static IEMs, or something like that. This was a long journey, starting from around mid-October all the way into late January, and now I have with me a final retail D.E.S. Reference unit.

    Disclaimer: I paid the full price of $1199 to own the IEM. Soranik offered the purdy shell design as a thank-you for the effort.

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    Soranik's D.E.S. is actually a line of IEMs, spanning from the local Vietnamese market unit that is simply D.E.S., to the 2 IEMs that will go international: the Reference and Signature models. Signature basically sounds like the local VNese market model with less upper midrange emphasis but it's still more or less the "Asian sound" per se. Reference is the one that piqued my interest as it's a departure from the usual "Asian sound" that Soranik went for with all of their other IEMs. The Reference was supposed to sound like how HD600/650 should sound like in IEM form.

    As for how the Reference actually sounds like, my take is that it's basically ProPhile 8 done right IMHO, or UERM without 10 kilobucks of treble, if what I can remember from the demo universal pair still holds true. Next to my Andromeda, the Reference basically sounds like… less bass thickness, same-ish midrange but a bit more forward, and somewhat equal treble that's a bit smoother from having e-stat powah. Soundstage is still IEM but more along the lines of Andro than PP8, and detail retrieval is… more or less equal to Andro to my ears. Basically, it sounds like if Campfire sat down and retuned PP8 with e-stat drivers. I would say... it's a bit more neutral to my ears than PP8 and Andro, taking cues from both.

    What it's not doing well is... funny enough, anything that an e-stat can't. It's not as sensitive as Andro for instance. I need like an extra 50% volume headroom to drive the Reference. It's not at the point where I feel like I need an amp to drive the IEM but it definitely needs a lot more volume headroom than Andro. Bass has good solidity and texture but lacks extension and a bit of weight that I can hear with Andro, midrange is still a little thin-ish like Andro, and treble can sometimes sounds like it's lacking the last bit of extension in the top octave (note: Andro does this, too). Putting the Reference on something like GOV2+ in balanced mode kinda helps a bit with extension so I feel like it's a matter of the e-stat drivers needing moar powah than what most portable sources can handle. That's not surprising considering each one has its own transfo and there are 2 e-stat drivers per side.

    Thanksfully, Reference doesn't seem to change as much as Andro when it's plugged into different sources, so I end up using it more than Andro for the odd sources like my Nintendo Switch and stuff. Even then, I find myself maxing out the volume slider on some of these sources.

    Yet despite the slightly bigger shell (bigger than Andro, somewhat equal or smaller than Solaris), I don't find the fit on the Reference as awkward as Solaris, so there's that. It's still not as fit as Andro, but its plastic shell is more comfy than Andro's hard aluminum edges.

    When I had the chance to do a direct comparison, I thought Reference actually sounded pretty darn close to Solaris in tonality, just that it tended to smooth things over a bit more than Solaris, and bass didn't have as much physicality as Solaris. In exchange, fit was (is) a billion times better, and where I felt Solaris could sound a bit "crowded" trying to present more solidity and texture with complex music, the Reference just sounded smoother, more elegant, not as textured but pretty well separated and it kept things purdy clean. It's like both IEMs were trying to do different things but both with the same-ish end goal. I would be happy with either one depending on the music. However, Solaris does one-up the Reference with its far higher sensitivity, requiring no extra amplification whatsoever.

    So in conclusion, I'd say... the Reference is a pretty good IEM. It's still an IEM, but at least better than some others in its price range. Just that there are also other Campfire IEMs in this price range, and I think... pricing the Reference around the same range as Andromeda and Solaris is a good move.

    The Reference is worth a look if you are on the fence about Solaris... either because of its fit, or because you want the same tonality but different sound. If you are an Andromeda owner, here's something else that can compliment your Andro. It basically does what Andro doesn't, while Andro does what it doesn't.

    P.S.: Soranik said they were interested in sending over a demo unit to go on SBAF loaner. I've asked them to join the forums and contact our gear masters to set this up.
     
    Last edited: Feb 6, 2019
  2. Panohm

    Panohm Friend

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    Really exciting to see more of Soranik's work, i still have a pair of there Ion which is a very solid performer, stunning build quality. Good to see they're taking a departure from the "Asian neutral" sound and branching out.
    They have always seemed to take there sweet time developing models, a far cry from the current yearly release cycle of iem companies.

    And they finally updated their damn website! http://soranik.com/
     
  3. Augmentin

    Augmentin MOT - DUNU IEM Company

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    Heard the Reference, Signature, and VN domestic model a couple days ago, albeit briefly and in a loud restaurant environment. The Reference was definitely my favorite of the 3.

    While the overall tonal balance of the Signature model was pleasant, I felt it smoothed over a few too many details in the midrange and upper midrange for my tastes. The VN domestic version has a very typical "Japanese tuning", with a boosted upper midrange and lower treble, and thinned out 500-2k. I don't dislike it but it can get fatiguing.

    The Reference has a more orthodox, almost Ety-like midrange, which is a good thing. Detail retrieval is good for the most critical frequencies of music. I may not have gotten an ideal fit with the non-finalized shells, but I feel its main drawback is bass extension, though it's not much worse than most other models I've heard with a similar kind of signature. Unlike most other people I know, I wasn't a big fan of the ProPhile-8. I definitely prefer the DES Reference to the ProPhile-8. I didn't get to do any comparisons to the UERM or to the Klipsch X20i + 90 ohm adapter, however.
     

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