The Effect of Elysian state!

PROS: lightweight shells with a comfortable fit, beautiful faceplate design with stabilized wood material, textured deep bass, clear, detailed, transparent sound tuning, quality cable.

CONS: PEI connectors.

The product was loaned to me for the review purpose in exchange for my honest opinion.

Manufacturer:  Effect Audio.  Available for sale directly or authorized retailers like MusicTeck.

Intro.

It’s not uncommon to see a collaboration between IEM and cable manufacturers where one chooses a specific cable to be packaged with their IEMs or uses a specific cable to tune their IEMs and then include it with a product.  But it is less common to see a true collaboration where both share resources and work together on the design and the tuning.  The latter one is an example of the latest collab between Effect Audio, a well-known premium cable manufacturer, and Elysian Acoustics Labs, makers of highly regarded Annihilator IEMs.

Named after the Greek Goddess of Earth, GAEA, I wasn’t surprised since Effect Audio likes to use Greek mythology names.  Though I couldn’t help but notice that last two letters happened to be EA, applicable to both Effect Audio and Elysian Acoustics which I think wasn’t a coincidence.  These IEMs made their debut at a recent CanJam SoCal, displayed by MusicTeck at their table.  Hearing a lot of positive feedback from the show, I asked Andrew (MT) if I can borrow it, and now ready to share what I found after spending a few weeks with Effect Audio x Elysian Acoustics Labs GAEA.

Unboxing and Accessories.

Since I received the final GAEA packaging after publishing the review, it’s time to update this section.  Keeping up with a theme of Goddess of Earth, that is the main image featured on the cover of the product box.  Under the cover, which wasn’t as easy to remove, you will find beautiful GAEA shells like a jewelry on display in velour lined foam cutout.  The cable was already attached.  After removing the top tray with IEMs, you will find a rectangular storage box and a set of accessories, such as a cleaning cloth, a cleaning tool, and a set of SpinFit eartips, their new W1 type.  These are all the essential useful accessories.

Of course, it makes sense for GAEA to arrive with EA cable, and to have the internal wiring by EA as well.  The cable is a hybrid which uses premium UC-OPP Copper litz and premium UP-OCC Silver Plated Copper litz wires.  You have a total of 4 conductors, each with a thicker 24 AWG gauge wires and EA Ultra Flexi insulation.  But the most important spec here is ConX modular connector with PEI connector included by default, giving you a chance to expand it with other connectors.  This way you can use GAEA cable with other IEMs by switching to 2pin, mmcx, or IPX.

The cable itself has wires with brown and blue jackets, probably corresponding to copper and silver plated copper.  The balanced headphone plug and y-split housing (with a retractable chin-slider) have a black hardware and swirling earthy-color insert to match the shells.  The IEM plug housing is also in black, with EA logo on outside and L/R marking on inside.

Design.

GAEA IEMs have a beautifully crafted compact size shells with a very comfortable fit.  They have a blueish/purpleish marble-like faceplate featuring stabilized wood (a mix of wood and resin).  EA logo is on the right side and Elysian Labs logo is on the left, with glossy piano-finish shells underneath.  The unit I received had logos in gold, while pictures on MusicTeck site show it in black (the final shell design).  Nozzle length is average with a lip to keep eartips secure from sliding off, and also 3 open bores at the tip.  Considering only one DD driver, while the rest are BAs, I was a bit surprised to find 2 plated vents, one by the connector and another one on the side of the shell aligned with a nozzle.  According to EA/Elysian, dual venting is part of the “…second generation of the DiVe Pass technology which eliminates reverberation of the back chamber and provides optimal pressure relief in the front chamber thus reducing driver-flex issues from diaphragm compression.”  And indeed, there was no driver flex.

The connector itself is not your traditional 2pin or mmcx, but rather an improved mmcx derivative called Pentaconn Ear Interchangeable (PEI) connector, marked red on the right shell.  Lee used PEI in his Annihilator and other IEMs.  It is more robust and more durable then mmcx.  Various IEM manufacturers have been trying to explore connectors outside of mmcx and 2pin, and I’m noticing more Linum IPX (T2) connectors being introduced lately.  Using PEI does limit the cable rolling unless you find an adapter.  But the good news, Effect Audio includes PEI as part of their ConX modular packaging thus you can use any of their other cables that have ConX.

As I already mentioned, this is a hybrid design, featuring single DD from Foster and quad BA drivers from Sonion.  According to GAEA product page, the internal 4-way crossover system is partitioned into 2BA high, BA mid-high, BA low-mid, and DD low drivers.  But considering 3 bores at the tip of the nozzle, I assume the drivers are grouped three ways with a more basic partitioning of DD lows, 2 BA mids, and 2 BA highs.  As far as the spec goes, impedance is 10 ohms and sensitivity is 102dB.

Page 2 – Sound analysis, Eartips, Comparison, and Conclusion.