Earphone Review

Vision Ears Elysium

Get lost in music!

PROS: tri-hybrid design with BA/DD/dual-EST, beautiful shells, natural revealing tonality, captivating mids/vocals, soundstage approaches holographic level, premium packaging and accessories.

CONS: price, the sound (bass and treble) is impacted by eartips selection.

The product was provided to me free of charge for the review purpose in exchange for my honest opinion.

Manufacturer website: Vision Ears. Available for sale directly or from authorized retailers like Musicteck.

Intro.

Introduced over a year ago as part of their Premium Line, Vision Ears Elysium (Ely) is not exactly the new kid on the block. But due to its popularity and overwhelming feedback from audiophiles who tried the universal demo of their original custom model, recently, Ely got re-introduced as universal version. I never had a chance to test any other VE model, though heard great things about their popular VE8 and ultimate Erlkonig. And, I can’t really say that VE flew under my radar, but I was still hesitant about custom versions due to my not-so-ciem-friendly earcanal shape of left ear.

After a number of questions from my readers about Ely and being curious about their design choice of BA/DD for bass/mids, I finally contacted Amin, one of the co-founders of Vision Ears (you have to read their Handcrafted in Cologne story how VE started). It took a while before I got my ear impressions done which worked out to my advantage since then I was made aware about upcoming universal version and finally had a choice. It was a bit of a torture waiting for the final product packaging to be ready before Ely could be shipped, but the wait was definitely worth it! Now, after spending a few months with Ely, I’m ready to share about my experience!

Unboxing and Accessories.

I didn’t understand at first why Amin asked me if I want to receive Ely by itself or wait for the final packaging. But after reading other impressions describing unboxing of VE products as an experience you don’t want to miss, I decided to be patient.

When the box arrived, it was surprisingly big. We are talking about 14” x 8.5” brown cardboard box, probably 2-3 times bigger than what you would expect for universal pair of IEMs. The cardboard packaging kind of reminded me of boxes you get with laptops. It had their own branded packaging sealing tape around it, a printed label with product info and my name, and a side pocket with a handwritten warranty card and confirmation of 2-year warranty from the date of purchase. One interesting detail, the inner flaps of the box were cutout just enough to have a clearance around magnetic latch of the product box.

Inside, you get the actual product box with a truly jaw dropping giftbox presentation: from silver ELYSIUM print on each side to a glossy top cover with a weaving pattern (kind of reminding me a bit of Ely’s faceplate artwork) and magnetic latch with VE VISION EARS label holding both sides of the top cover together. But the real Wow-factor is when you open the halves of top cover which brings up the suspended inner tray with “Purity of Sound” printed on the side and the rest of the goodies inside of it. The effect of raising the suspended tray was very clever, making me forget for a second about the actual IEMs.

(video only, the sound is muted)

From the top you can see Ely on display of a sturdy board cutout with a cable wrapped around it. Next to it was another compartment with additional accessories, such as 3 pairs (S/M/L) of SpinFit CP145 eartips, 3 pairs (S/M/L) of EPros horn-shaped tips, microfiber cloth, 6 wax-stop replacement meshes, Thank You card with a detailed info about EST drivers used inside Ely, and a VERY detailed manual booklet.

With a top tray removed, at the bottom you will find VE branded round blue leather carry case with ELYSIUM model name stamped inside, a matching blue leather snap-button cable tie with a stamped VE logo, and a cotton VE branded draw-string cotton bag. The top cover of the leather carry case also had a weaving pattern reminiscent of Ely’s faceplate artwork design.

As many of my readers aware, I do enjoy talking about unboxing experience of products I review because from my discussions with manufacturers I know how much effort they put into packaging. Plus, it is always helpful to know what accessories are included stock with a product. VE unboxing experience was unlike anything else I have seen to date. Period.

ve-elysium-06

Page 2 – Cable, Design.
Page 3 – Sound Analysis, Eartips Selection.
Page 4 – Comparison, Pair up, Cable rolling, Conclusion.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4

32 thoughts on “Vision Ears Elysium”

    1. It’s a good, but I do hear Ely to sound more v-shaped in this pair up, not as balanced as with LPGT. With PAW6k mids are smoother and pushed a little back, bringing forward more bass and treble, making the sound more v-shaped as a result.

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  4. Can you please compare this to iems such as campfire andromeda,solaris and final audio a8000 if possible thanks.

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    1. A8k bass is too neutral and the signature is too mid-forward and bright/analytical. Andro/Solaris mids are smoother and more organic in comparison to Ely which is more layered and a little more revealing. Ely’s treble is more vivid and brighter, even in comparison to Solaris treble. With bass, Ely is somewhere between Andro and Solaris. Solaris has more impact and Ely bass is more articulate and tighter than Andro. Overall, Ely sounds more refined and brighter due to its more vivid treble.

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  5. Thanks for the reply Mr Twister , but I had few other questions , out of the ones I have stated which would you consider your favourite, which would you consider the best value for money and which would you consider to be best for mid-range. I am huge mid-head and I like a good amount of bass and a little treble. My current iem is fitear togo 334 and the etymotic er2xr. I used to have ie80s, ie60s, campfire andromeda, earsonics velvet, earsonics sm64, hifiman re2000, phonak audeo pfe 232 . Each of them had something unique but never let me get lost in the music apart from andromeda which was good but I had a really bad fit. Thank-you for your reviews and answers they are really amazing. *Would you also put worth any other iems that you think would fit my listening style from the iems I have listed (I listen to mostly jazz, rnb, trip-hop, old school hippop, rock)

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  6. Hi Twister

    Quick question if you had the money to buy either the u18 or this, which one would you get?

    Thanks
    Peter

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    1. not an easy question to answer (and this is not a cop out reply). I like both of their bass, so it’s a draw. With mids, I like Ely better, more natural, with treble I probably prefer U18t more since it is not as vivid, a bit more relaxing. So, honestly, I don’t know what to say 😦

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  7. Thanks for your reply Mr Twister, this is my final question haha i am not sure if you have heard fitear togo 334 thats what I have as my current mid high end iem do you think the ely can beat it and is ely the best mids you have heard. I basically want the best iem with the best midrange. Thanks for all your reviews they mean a lot to up and coming audiophiles.

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    1. Sorry, I heard of them, but not them actually. They don’t attend Canjam shows, don’t have distributors in US (not that I’m aware of), and typically don’t send out review samples outside of Japan.

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  8. I just got my Ely a few days ago and compared with the Tia Trio (with EA Leo II 4wire) which is the IEM I used most.

    I like the mids and upper present of Ely (stock cable, SpinFit eartips) but I found the bass is punchier and little deeper with Tia Trio. Maybe it’s because Ely goes with a BA for the lower part?

    Since the stock cable of Ely is silver, do you think the bass of Ely can be changed towards “Trio taste” by paring with an after market cable? Any suggestions? Maybe I will give Leo II a try first. 😀

    Thanks.

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      1. Thanks! I will try the eartips. Many of my previous eartips for trio is hard to put on Ely because of the size .

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    1. I only had v3+ on loan, don’t have it anymore, but still have v3 and took good analysis notes 🙂 In general, Ely’s sub-bass goes deeper and their BA driver bass sounds more like DD drivers, while v3/v3+ has quality of BA bass. Both have a nice natural mids, but the tonality of Ely is just more realistic and the presentation is more forward. With treble, both are on a brighter side, but Ely can be fine-tuned better by switching eartips, while in case of Mason v3/3+ I had to switch to Phanes cable. Personally, I prefer Ely because of their mids tonality, very natural and resolving at the same time, great move by VE to use DD driver for mids.

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  11. Hi Twister6, I was at NYC Canjam 2020 when i was traveling in the States, and i believe you was sitting next to me at Dunu booth, with a dignis bag full of gears!

    I had my VE Erlkonig with me and i was about to ask if you were Twister6, but before i reached out, you left. I was about to share with you my Erlkonig and PW/EA/OC studio cable collections. (Ten of them!)

    To my surprise, everyone seemed to be curious about Erlkonig and i had to wait there until all of them gave it a try!

    Vision Ears is so popular in China and other asian countries, and i was surprised to know it is not here in the States. Glad that you enjoy Elysium! I still use my VE6 Silver Limited Edition and it sounded just unbelievably good back to 2017, and still is competitive at its price.

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    1. Hahaha, it’s a small world. Yes, i was talking to Tom at DUNU table and did have my dignis HAKO organizer with daps, cables, iems and other goodies 🙂 That is my kit I bring to Canjam shows, always prepared to listen and to take notes 🙂 Sorry I didn’t get a chance to meet you in person and I would have loved to hear Erl. VE products will be sold by Musicteck soon, but I’m not sure about Erl since it is discontinued and LE is sold out. Let’s hope for something new?

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      1. Erlkonig LE looks and feels good as usual. I bought LE as well because i love the combo of rose gold faceplate and the black shell. Who doesn’t like a limited edition!
        Thanks for all your reviews posted here. Although I’ve returned to China, i still keep following your posts here and on headfi. They’re of great help! I really wish that US could get reopened soon. Canjam is something unique and I will definitely attend Canjam Shanghai 2020:)

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  13. Thank you so much for your help, I ordered Elysium Universal. I owe you one lunch, let me know if you pass by Qatar. One final question , I need one totl cable for Elysium and Odin, almost pulled the trigger on code 51 but still not sure, please help me with this one as well.

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    1. For Odin, it already comes with a totl PWA 1960 cable which has the best pair up and ergonomics with Odin. For Ely, stock cable is not that great (in terms of the sound), and if you are looking for totl best pair up, I haven’t found anything to surpass C51.

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      1. Hello Twister6
        thank you for your reviews as always.
        I am also wondering which cable to choose between C51 and Horus X.
        I mainly listen to female vocal songs,
        could you please recommend? cheers 🙂

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  15. Nice and comprehensive review. Glad that u mentioned the impact of tip selection on IEMs. That’s probably the reason why there are a lot of positive and negative reviews of the Elysium. I personally listen my cm Elysium with my sp2000. And I love it.

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    1. and not just with Ely, but other IEMs as well. I get pinged by people telling me they don’t hear the bass or the treble is too shrill, just to find out later they still use default eartips when their received their IEMs and never bothered to try one size bigger to improve the seal.

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