[Exekuhtor]

Differences between 21 and 23 Anni!

 

[hahachah27]

Has anyone tried the Melodic Artification Alter Ego yet? Wondering how it fares in comparison with the Anni.

Also the Alter Ego being an open back IEM, I'm wondering how bad is the sound leakage. Have been hearing many good things about them though

 

[zlayde]

Has anyone tried the Melodic Artification Alter Ego yet? Wondering how it fares in comparison with the Anni.

Also the Alter Ego being an open back IEM, I'm wondering how bad is the sound leakage. Have been hearing many good things about them though

I own Anni and auditioned the Alter Ego. The Anni is a more engaging/ better tuned iem in my view.

The AE is a good iem but there was really no special sauce. The bass boost switch is nice but the tuning was a bit too safe for my taste.

The open venting didn’t leak much noise in my opinion. Nobody is going to notice you on the street or anything like that.

 

[Tanalasta]

Alter Ego received a lot of hype. It’s not a “bad” IEM although I wasn’t a (personal preference) fan of boosted Bass / low mids (of the bass switched on). The titanium shell is lovely to hold and looks very durable. The timbre is quite nice. You could be happy with it. Techs could be better but not bad for the price point.

Anni is more engaging and has better treble extension. There are not many IEMs that take my attention on a first impression these days but Anni was one of them.

 

[Smirk 24]

Has anyone tried the Melodic Artification Alter Ego yet? Wondering how it fares in comparison with the Anni.

Also the Alter Ego being an open back IEM, I'm wondering how bad is the sound leakage. Have been hearing many good things about them though

I also own Anni and I purchased, but didn’t receive yet, the Alter Ego. I’ve demoed it though.

I agree with @zlayde that Alter Ego lacks the special sauce and engagement that Anni has.

I also agree with @Tanalasta when they said Anni is an IEM that grabs peoples’ attention at first listen.

Anni is additionally, more resolving and dynamic.

All that said, this is precisely why I was taken with the Alter Ego. It has a really nice tone, meets my technical standards, and is exquisitely balanced (with the bass switch off which is how I intend to listen to it most of the time). Aaf likened it to a Trailli and I tend to agree. An in-ear like Trailli doesn’t grab you with its bombastic nature like Anni does, but rather with its subtleties.

Alter Ego has really nicely textured bass (though it lacks some slam) a really nice midrange, also well-textured and with a pleasing tone (I’m a mids-head so this is super important to me), and the treble is decent. The treble is a little too polite for me, but I purchased an Astral Eclipse silver cable to subtly boost the highs.

Personally, I think Anni vs. AE is a bit of an apples to oranges comparison because of how different they are. I think they’re very complimentary.

Hope this helps.

 

[Capunk]

Honestly, I wouldn't have known about Alter Ego if someone from the watercooler group hadn't mentioned it to me on CJ Singapore. The Titanium shell and industrial faceplate (I just realized it's open-back), with two flavor switches. I agree with what others have said here, it's more relaxed and less aggressive compared to Anni 2023. If I had some extra cash, I'd probably consider it too.

 

[orifiel]

Anyone find a good replace cable to anni 2023??
the Martini tends to darken in some places…
there are some replace with better sound (and keep the treble extension) without losing a kidney in the payment process?

 

[Capunk]

Anyone find a good replace cable to anni 2023??
the Martini tends to darken in some places…
there are some replace with better sound (and keep the treble extension) without losing a kidney in the payment process?

My local builder built this for me (Sena Acoustic), the cable has uncanny resemblance to nightjar sovereign but aside from the look, this resolve the connector issue with Martini and ibasso dx300 max recessed port.

 

[ddlo]

i went demo the qdc emperor and also listened to the Annihilator a few days ago. The translucent shell looks really well made and the treble & bass extension of the Anni are both great. when i walked pass a second hand audio shop yesterday, found the Anni Ti at a good price so i bought it home (instead of the qdc emperor).

sounds great but frankly not that much better then the qdc x fitear superior EX i'm using yesterday. I've to dial up the vol quite a bit to get my desirable sound level. the Anni Ti sounds here and there better but i'd say not day and night difference justifying the over 10-fold price disparity.

the build quality is so much better though. the Liquid Links Martini cable also looks and feels very well built, pliable. the suede carrying case is quite big and looks understate.

will listen to it more closely for the next few days to find out whether it will glow on me.

 

[lolhero]

I've recently did quite a bit A/B of Anni 23 and Fei Wan which was my latest purchase. I must say that hands down, Fei Wan beats it in most of the places, it just is a better listen, more full sounding, better bass, specially behind some note weight. The only thing where I see Anni being better is the Treble, but not by a lot. After coming back to it from FW, Anni feels a bit thin, there is some bottom end missing, although the bass is a bit more blooming, the presentation is a bit smaller, and sometimes mid feels a bit recessed. However it really excels in fast distortion I feel, where its glorious treble and fast transitions shine.

My 100th post, feels like I need to add a lovely picture

 

[phiemon]

I've recently did quite a bit A/B of Anni 23 and Fei Wan which was my latest purchase. I must say that hands down, Fei Wan beats it in most of the places, it just is a better listen, more full sounding, better bass, specially behind some note weight. The only thing where I see Anni being better is the Treble, but not by a lot. After coming back to it from FW, Anni feels a bit thin, there is some bottom end missing, although the bass is a bit more blooming, the presentation is a bit smaller, and sometimes mid feels a bit recessed. However it really excels in fast distortion I feel, where its glorious treble and fast transitions shine.

My 100th post, feels like I need to add a lovely picture

A big criticism of FW seems to be that it is too energetic in the upper mids. What is your opinion on this?

Further, which source did you try?

 

[lolhero]

A big criticism of FW seems to be that it is too energetic in the upper mids. What is your opinion on this?

I didn't notice this in particular, however if I focus on it now, I can see this could be a problem for somebody who wants a more relaxed listening experience, I don't think FW is a right choice for that. I however love exciting, energetic presentations - also in the mid, and I am a huge treble head also, so I might be bit biased . For me Anni was really a dream, but where FW really brings it on is it adds that missing bottom end to the notes, like if you listen to some of the fat guitar solos.

One example is this song, on 2:06 the song slows down, and there is a really nice melodic guitar solo, the bass behind is just magical on FW, it blends with the guitar notes adding to it's fullness, its making it so big sounding. When I swap back to Anni, it falls a lot more thin, although it still sounds good, but its a bit more sharp sounding without that blended bass feeling.

https://tidal.com/browse/track/52327845?u

 

[phiemon]

I didn't notice this in particular, however if I focus on it now, I can see this could be a problem for somebody who want's a more relaxed listening experience, I don't think FW is a right choice for that. I however love exciting, energetic presentations - also in the mid, and I am a huge treble head also, so I might be bit biased . For me Anni was really a dream, but where FW really brings it on is it adds that missing bottom end to the notes, like if you listen to some of the fat guitar solos.

One example is this song, on 2:06 the songs slows down and there is a really nice melodic guitar solo, the bass behind is just magical on FW, it blends with the guitar notes adding to it's fullness, its making it so big sounding. When I swap back to Anni, it falls a lot more thin, although it still sounds good, but its a bit more sharp sounding without that blended bass feeling.

https://tidal.com/browse/track/52327845?u

Greats thank you for the helpful impressions.

Which source did you try? Hugo 2? Of course, this can also make a big difference, especially as Anni is very difficult to drive. Hugo 2 could be too analytical for Anni, I suppose.

 

[lolhero]

Greats thank you for the helpful impressions.

Which source did you try? Hugo 2? Of course, this can also make a big difference, especially as Anni is very difficult to drive. Hugo 2 could be too analytical for Anni, I suppose.

Oh, yeah thanks for reminding me. No the source is Mojo 2, which is a pretty fun tonality not that analytical as my memory of Hugo 2. I think it fits pretty well with Anni, however I am sure that there could be some more benefits if I had a nice amp added to Mojo 2 for Anni. You're very right that Anni is much harder to drive then FW, the volume on Mojo I am using with FW is quite low, I can listen to it on low gain modes, while Anni is almost silent there But Mojo2 can get Anni to bleeding volumes as well if one wants.

I've got Mub1 on the way by the way, it's going to arrive to me on Monday. I'll be able to share some more impression from a more powerful source after.

 

[phiemon]

Oh, yeah thanks for reminding me. No the source is Mojo 2, which is a pretty fun tonality not that analytical as my memory of Hugo 2. I think it fits pretty well with Anni, however I am sure that there could be some more benefits if I had a nice amp added to Mojo 2 for Anni. You're very right that Anni is much harder to drive then FW, the volume on Mojo I am using with FW is quite low, I can listen to it on low gain modes, while Anni is almost silent there But Mojo2 can get Anni to bleeding volumes as well if one wants.

I've got Mub1 on the way by the way, it's going to arrive to me on Monday. I'll be able to share some more impression from a more powerful source after.

Yes, a comparison with a stronger source would also be interesting, thanks for the effort!