A bit safe. Elysian Pilgrim REVIEW
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- Опубліковано 14 чер 2024
- If you're familiar with Elysian Acoustic Labs, you're probably familiar with their $1,000+ price tags. But their new Pilgrim IEM is priced at a competitive $400, bringing this boutique brand into reach for a lot more people. And it's pretty good. But... it used to be better.
See the Elysian Pilgrim on Squiglink: squig.link/?share=Harman_Adju...
00:00 Intro
03:30 What's in the box
04:10 Build quality
07:30 Fit & comfort
08:50 Sound quality
11:40 vs. Dusk, Hype 4, Canon, & Studio4
16:15 Conclusion & Rating
On HiFiGo: hifigo.com/products/elysian-a...
On Amazon: amzn.to/3yunY0p
On AliExpress: s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DmT...
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Disclosure: This video is NOT sponsored, but retailer HiFiGo did send these earphones to me free for review. Check them out at hifigo.com/
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#ElysianAcousticLabs #Pilgrim #IEMs #earphones #headphones #audio #audiophile #SuperReview
Graph your headphones, sniff a graph, and share your thoughts in this pursuit 👉 social.squig.link/
Thanks for your honesty. Much appreciated.
Spot on review, I heard the Pilgrim before your review and I feel you've presented it accurately from my impressions. Good neutral set, lovely build, nice cable... but the tuning is too safe, which is disappointing coming from Elysian, who's tuning are usually little edgy but unique sounding.
To me it sounded like a more technical Hexa, which is great, but not worth the price, especially when we have B3, Dusk and Studio4, which do more with their tunings while remaining well-balanced.
I don't count the B3 and the Dusk to be great iems at all.
The B3 has absolutely terrible bass.
The Dusk is basically a 250$ iem sold at a 100$ more for its EQ presets.
It's not incisive at all in its transients and easily inferior to the P8 & the Hype 4 .
The Studio 4 is great for its vocals.
With the recent arrivals of the Project M, DaVinci, EM10 ; i think the Dusk is going to be pretty irrelevant pretty soon.
To be fair, Elysian's other offerings are very unsafe...so I totally understand the safe tuning. The most affordable Elysian being "safe" is a good business decision. What is "nerfed" to you may be "buffed" for others.
True.
but there is a lot of "better" "safe tuned" iem on the market
@@recode8453 Better is subjective. Cheaper? Yes.
@@recode8453This one is for people who want to experience an Elysian.
@@recode8453name one other than simgots
I couldn't get a unit for pilgrim, but definitely want to review this one.
So may be i will buy it in upcoming months.
Nice and detailed review as always
Love the new outro!
It is truly polarizing.
I got the Pilgrim and love they them. They shine, absolutely shine for classical music.
With AK dac rather than ESS I’m guessing these will be a perfect pairing.
I've been waiting for this review since the squig came out. My wallet thanks you for this review.
Not through the review yet, but already peaked at the rating! Damn! I heard many say these are even better for detail retrieval than the IE600. What do you think about that? I'm excited to watch later why you didn't like them all that much. Greetings :)
This is not The DaVinci I was looking for.
Waiting for your video review about the Dunu x Gizaudio DaVanci 😚
Workin' on it 👍 social.squig.link/newsfeed/1640405732526395402
Thanks Mr. Ryan. Love the Gaea but this one looks a bit tame compared to the competition.
Gaea is fun. A bit intense after like... 20 minutes, but certainly impressive.
I don't know, the difference in graphs between the pre-production and tye retail versions looks quite drastic to me.
Personally, I think they've made the right decision to play it safe here. Maybe effectively down shelving everything past 1,5 kHz wasn't the best approach to address the feedback they got, but I guess they were in a hurry.
Love that cable on the Hype 4. It just seems to be so nice.
what would be more fun? The studio 4 or Pilgrim?
Can you tell me which one has the best sound stage and image?
Your Can Jam notes are what I'm hearing from my pair so I'm totally satisfied with them. They do need more volume than my daily iem's which brings more air and highs. As far as being nerfed... I think yes if the Supermix 4/EM10 and Dunu DaVinci wind up having better reviews in a head to head. I have both Simgot on order so I'll find out myself.
Well, if your unit didn't get nerfed, it's either (1) bad QC, (2) your unit wasn't nerfed yet but they nerfed others, or (3) you or SuperReview had a placebo effect. If it's 1 or 2, then Elysian to me can no longer be trusted because even their high end stuff had QC issues affecting build and sound, or revisions (nerfs) affecting sound. If same thing happens to the mass produced Eletech collab too, his brand just can't be trusted.
@@tor13128 You're more knowledgeable about Elysian products than I am as this is my first one I have nothing to compare too. 👍
Are you gonna review the Moondrop Golden Ages, even if just a short one? Interested because the graph is vaguely similar to the Hexa lol
I don't really like it, treble timbre is nasty.
You're one of the only reviewers that have said that. Interesting for sure but why would they change it after which?
I have heard it is very dependant on source and tips
I tried various tips, don't believe in source memes though.
did hifigo or aful send you an Explorer? super interested in that set
Yeah I think so, not here yet.
Just got my Pilgrim yesterday and have been listening with them for a few hours. I think these are really tips dependent. Since the nozzle is on the short side, Spinfit W1 and Divinus Velvetworked the best for me. Compared to my Yanyin Mahina, the biggest difference is the mid bass and the treble. For me, Pilgrim has more punch if you can get it deep inserted, so if the bass is not there, it likely because of the fit and the tips. IMO, Pilgrim's bass texture is better, but Mahina has more mid bass (which you may or may like it more), and Pilgrim's timbre is better and more natural across the frequency, but they both work for different genres. Since I listen to Kpop, Jpop, and Jazz more, so far, the Pilgrim fit me better.
I chose Hype 4 over it and I am glad I did
@@The_Theist_Scientist I chose Pilgrim over Hype 4 and I am glad I did
Did you ever had the chance to hear the Annihilator? If yes, how did you like it and how would you compare it to the Pilgrim?
I most recently heard Annihilator 2023, it's impressive, though TBH not my favorite. But not much in common with the Pilgrim, the Annihilator is quite bassy and aggressive.
I saw you have measurements for the Davinci on squig! Does that mean you have it on hand?? :D
Yes.
@@SuperReview That is exciting! I am looking forward to your thoughts. I have it on pre-order. I am going to decide if I am going to keep the Davinci or Mega5est!
@@IcarsisTVI'm the same, and then the EM10 has just been released 😭😂
This is actually news to me that they re-tuned the pilgrim for the mass-production version. If I order this now I'm uncertain if the canjam version is ever going to be reproduced again... (and no, I'm too lazy to EQ it back to that version)
Is the canon 2 different enough to the SA6 Mk2 as to make sense to own both? I’m selling my Studio4 because I don’t think it’s too different from my SA6, but prefer the SA6 with bass on for more fun
Studio4 is more different vs. SA6 mk2 than Canon is.
@@SuperReview What about the Mega 5EST, how similar would it be to the ones I own? One to consider for variety, or skip?
It seems I'm the opposite of you. I'm selling the SA6 MK2 and prefer Studio4 because it has much better tonal and more natural timbre 🤭
Atleast going by the graphs,
the Dita Project M might be closer to the canjam version of Pilgrim.
Try that one .
It's cheaper too.
what kind of eartips are u using on these..?
Did you get a chance to audition the new Meze ALBA?
What eartips are those? You said you're not using the stock spinfits that come with it, but not what model those eartips are
They're off an unannounced IEM.
@@SuperReview Spill the beans! LOL those look nice.
Pretty sure Meze Alba
What does he meant by too Safe? i thought its one of the best Bass and treble
Sad to hear the production version of the Pilgrim lost the special sauce that set it apart from other iems in this price bracket 😢
Matches up to what I heard and I was a bit disappointed. I was a bit confused because feedback I read from Canjam NY was that it was a mini Annihilator. And it definitely didn't have the brightness, detail and sparkle the Anni has. Mark's review explains it
Looks like they saved the top end for the Noir. I've heard it too and it's way more emphasized
Where'd you hear it?
@@SuperReviewin Malaysia. My friends know Lee and I had the opportunity to try the final prototypes.
Really? The Effect Audio representative told me "PILGRIM:NOIR is expected to provide a darker and warmer sound as compared to the PILGRIM" in an email, which was disappointing since I prefer brighter IEMs. If the Noir ends up being brighter, it would peak my interest a lot more!
@AverieS820 i heard the noir is the darker tuned version of pilgrim as well. I also remember hearing it has different driver composition as well
Mark what about the noise isolation? Above average?
Yeah, average.
Didn’t hear the Pilgrim
But for me the Dusk can’t compete with Hype4 and the Canon
Thank you for your honest opinion. Now I’m very curious to hear your thoughts on the Noir version once you get a hold of those.
Don't think I'll hear that version any time soon.
The Can jam version is black ? 😂
Timmy and you seem to have a totally different view on this IEM... so I am a bit confused right now. But considering your review of Hexa, I am leaning towards your opinion.
Yeah just watched his review now that mine is published. His description of the treble reminds me of the NY CanJam version moreso than this production version.
@@SuperReviewA revised review of this IEM could be uploaded soon, if Timmy reviewed the NY CanJam version.
@@user-pc7yu6di2k I assume he has the production version and that they retuned it already for CanJam Singapore.
Anyway we could get the numbers so that we could tune it via dsp to the canjam version if we wanted to. I just received mine and I'd really like to hear the differences. I also think It's very balanced and has no standouts
It's on Squiglink: squig.link/?share=Harman_Adjusted_Target,Super_22_Target,IEF_Comp_Target,Elysian_Pilgrim,Elysian_Pilgrim_CJNYC24
Navigate to the EQ tab, remove the targets, and then use Auto EQ.
@@SuperReview For some reason i can't get it to work. It says there's no target
figured it out, sorry. Thanks
I have to say, After to using DSP on my Dap, I much prefer the Canjam version of the tuning. It was definitely too safe. I said the same exact same thing to a friend of mine. It was very balanced and nothing stood out. But now it's very detailed and a little sparkly. Thank you for this!
I don't know why but I love reading those raw listening notes lol
Future videos are just dramatic readings of listening notes :P
Mark do you make those available? I also find them useful precisely because there’s less drama lol
Supporters on Discord can access them 🙊
Timmy said it’s good
I guess we are 100% sure about the retune ? I mean it is not a unit variance?
It sounds significantly different, graphs significantly different, and from conversations at CanJam it seems like they got feedback that it was a bit hot up top so I'm not surprised that it was tweaked since then. Though TBH I haven't confirmed the tweak with anyone behind the scenes.
Yeah, Gaea was zesty yet still enjoyable during my first impressions. Diva is my top Elysian pick, having a/b tested against their flagship Annihilator. Cool to see Pilgrim in a more reasonable price bracket so Elysian can get some more exposure, though they tamed it; haven’t heard it though.
Similarly, Aful Cantor was basically perfect to me at CJ SoCal, now I hear Aful has retuned it, smh.
Gaea is kinda like Takis. Like whoa, what are you doing. I kinda like this. I can't eat a whole bag but... tomorrow I'm gonna want some again.
May I ask if you a/b tested Diva OG or new version, and was annihilator OG or new version? Thanks.
@@tor13128 Can’t recall. It was whatever they had on-hand at that particular CanJam. I’ll say Diva was a clear favorite for my prefs.
@@audio_tron ah thanks. i only asked because they all sound different. The 2021 Diva used the Liquid Links Conti cable while the 2023 version uses the Effect Audio Ares S cable. Any chance you still remember what the cable looked like or what year the canjam was? Thanks.
@@tor13128 it was 2023. Effect Audio rings a clear bell in my memory.
Another great one in the books. I wasn't a fan of the Gaea tuning. Too bright for me. Seems they've tamed it a bit. I'm just looking to see why the Noir version is so much more expensive than the silver version? I don't see any difference in the drivers. I think it's just the black shell and the Noir Cable upgrade, but it makes it twice the price.
It's an Effect Audio cable, they pricey.
Why they decided on those glossy rings that obviously are prone to scratches is beyond me. This cuts the aftermarket value of the IEM literally in a week.
I'm hoping I love em
Me too!
@@SuperReview Been a day and so far I do love em, if you ever see this I do want to ask.
Do you consider this far enough from Gaea to warrant buying that if I ever come across a deal? Noir seems up my alley too but that one I'm a bit hesitant to
Hello Mark, I had a comment under Dunu Mirai review, you probably didn't read it. So I 'll try again, check out the Dita audio Project-M, love it...✌️ 😁 ♥️
If I get a chance I'd love to.
I’d say specialy you, more I listen to it, just get it… You don’t want to miss this one❤️🙋♂️
Timmy hyped it to the end game level which I have my reservation. 🤔
It's normal that different people have different opinions.
Timmy also said he didnt like the tangzu Nezha and that is a very goood iem 🥴@@Sam_l1f
Noir ??
It makes a lot of sense to "butcher" the tuning given that this is aimed at a much broader audience than any of the previous Elysian IEMs due to the price.
Bummer! We all thought this was going to be the technical king under $400
It is. But not as engaging as say Hype 4 or others. More technical and clean but not as full
Timmy reviewed the canjam version
Looking at this graph on Squiglink, looks to me like he has the same production tuning I have.
Same production tuning as Mark's
But Timmy version on Squiglink has more upper mids and treble 🤔
EQ is love, EQ is life
To be completely honest, the retail version being "safer" is probably not the best choice in hindsight. Sure more people are going to like it, but Dusk and DaVinci exist, so losing the niche could make Pilgrim "just another balanced iem". I know someone who was really excited about Pilgrim over the Dusk and DaVinci because he wanted something that's "different". I'm afraid he's going to be disappointed.
im also that guy😓
Lol... another revision (or unreliable QC) from Elysian? I thought this time with a mass produced product + collab with Eletech the nightmare would be over, but the guy actually put a good version at canjam then sales units are bad QC or nerfed once again? No more chances, I no longer give that guy the benefit of the doubt if the mass produced Pilgrim with Eletech still can't be trusted. His brand would be low on the tier list. His high end stuff have QC issues in the tuning and keep getting "upgrades" that ppl think are nerfs. Now his Pilgrim once again has QC issues in sound (or outright nerfed). Either way, can't trust his brand. The only way you can guarantee buying a good IEM from this guy is if you buy the review unit.
You seem to be coming into this with some preexisting beef with Elysian, I don't think you've understood what I'm saying about it.
@@SuperReview I didn't say you badmouthed Elysian, I simply gathered what u said as a part of my buyer's research/due diligence. I don't have any beef with Elysian, I have pre-existing disappointment, not beef. There's a very important difference. Beef assumes I am out to get them, disappointment means they have disappointed the customer in the past. This is not beef, but ongoing observation as a customer on the company, evaluating whether I can keep giving the company the benefit of the doubt or not.
Like I said, there is no beef, but there was higher expectation for change as this time it was mass produced with Eletech. My disappointment is only expected when the sales units now sound different, either due to QC or revision. Either one is just like the past, which is disappointing.
Are you saying this is not disappointment and loss of trust, this is beef?
For example, Moondrop refuses to acknowledge multiple dBs of channel imbalance calling it within acceptable perimeters. I likewise have no beef with Moondrop but I am not going to risk or gamble with channel imbalance. This is not beef, but protecting myself from misspending on products that have a high chance of being worse than expected.
For example, if I trust a company with good QC and no revisions, it does not mean I am a mindless fan of them, it only means they are a brand I can trust. There is no beef, only ongoing observation and evaluation of trustworthy brands.
I clearly stated that I came into this expecting their redemption arc. The fact that they disappointed me again does not mean I came into this with beef, it does mean that I become even more disappointed given that I thought this time there would be a low chance they could disappoint me.
Nothing says "I don't got beef" quite like 5 paragraphs of saying you don't got beef.
@@SuperReview But what beef do I have? You cited response length as evidence from what I understand, ignoring the content that explains clearly it's not beef. That is crazy. I had to write 5 paragraphs because you forced me to defend against false beef allegations. You made me write 5 paragraphs and you ignore the content and use response length to completely do it again! Why are you doing this?
I write down my disappointments for any company if they exist. There is no targeted effort on Elysian. Why must you force the beef narrative down my throat. For what reason. I want to complain, you want to invalidate my complaint with a false accusation for some reason.
You sure sound like you have beef with Elysian when SuperReview clearly stated that what he heard was a pre-production unit and what he has right now is the production unit. Even Timmy from Gizaudio confirmed (in the comments here somewhere) that he has the similar measurements of the production unit, so it is clearly not a QC issue, but it seems like you strongly believe it is a QC problem? I guess you cannot please everyone when some people just refuse to accept what they believe is wrong. ("either way, can't trust his brand", "the only way you can guarantee buying a good IEM from this guy is if you buy the review unit" man is paranoid or what)
Face plate looked scratched. :(
Patina 🤌
Super mix 150$ for 90% of deez
Deez nuts
I hate the outro 😒
🤣
Dead on arrival, Simgot SuperMix4 is much better and cheaper.
You've heard both?
There’s no way you believe that 😂 sm4 isn’t even out yet. You’re going off of what a reviewer (who always hypes Simgot for some reason) said
Maybe petty, but I'm not considering these after learning about the cable connection. There are so many great IEMs with 2 pin.
I'm the same, I'd be fine with MMCX either but this connector is just too niche. I get it's technically better, but this also means you're locked into expensive aftermarket cables if you want a different termination.
@@blorg8206 there are pentaconn to 2-pin converters you can buy