Oriolus Monachaa

A Unique Oriole!

PROS: 4xDD drivers inside of a compact shell design, natural detailed hi-res tuning, deep analog bass, big holographic soundstage, durable PWA cable, VanNuys storage case.

CONS: universal only, the sound is very eartips and source dependent.

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

Manufacturer/product website: Oriolus/Cyras. Available for sale from authorized retailers like Musicteck.

Intro.

It’s a Bird, it’s a Plane, it’s a… new Oriolus Bird? Just a bare mentioning of a new Oriolus release gets the attention of many audiophiles in hope of the updated Traillii, aka the Bird. 3+ years after its release, and people are still talking about that mega-kilobuck Bird which continue to tops user polls in Watercooler thread on Head-fi. Regardless of how some initially felt about its price, Oriolus did raise the bar and even got to the point where they had to raise the price because they couldn’t keep up with a demand. Plus, the Bird is often being blamed for other manufacturers following Oriolus footsteps and raising their own IEM prices.

Of course, as soon as I hear the name of a new Oriolus IEM model, I have to Google it to see what bird they are representing this time. All their names, from Oriolus brand to Mellianus, Traillii, and Szalayi models do represent birds. Thus, I was not surprised to find Oriolus Monacha bird, though it is spelled with just one “a” at the end. The new Oriolus IEM release is named Monachaa, and this new bird features 4 different Dynamic Drivers. Of course, I was curious since I’m more familiar with multi-BA or hybrids IEMs, only tried a few multi-DD IEMs in the past and found those to sound more BA-like rather than DD.

Some will probably recall I already shared brief impressions of Monachaa a few months ago in my CanJam SoCal ’23 report covering new IEMs Musicteck showcased at the show. But I thought a short time with this pair of IEMs wasn’t enough, and I didn’t even know how much burn in time it had (more about it later). So, when the opportunity knocked on my door to spend more time with these new birds, I welcomed it for a 2^nd round. Here is what I found after having these Oriolus Monachaa birds singing into my ears for the month.

Unboxing and Accessories.

The unboxing experience of Monachaa is identical to Traillii. Arrived in a smaller size plain brown carboard box, inside you will find a premium VanNuys storage carry case which is pretty much the whole packaging of the product. VanNuys (Japan) are well known in audiophile world and usually hard to find outside of Japan. This ballistic nylon multifunctional case with Oriolus name on the cover has a padded poly mesh inner lining and adjustable Velcro partition to make a separate pocket for storage of other accessories like eartips. Plus, it comes with a twin-tube double sleeve (in red) to separate earpieces so you can keep them apart and secure during transportation. I do really like this VanNuys storage case, though it is not exactly pocket friendly.

Other included accessories were a set of S/M/L regular wide bore silicone eartips, a set of M size double-flange eartips, and a set of S/M/L foam eartips. You will also find a cleaning tool, and a removable cable shirt clip, though its spring-loaded mechanism was big enough to only clamp to 2 out of 4 wires of the stock cable.

The included cable is a new brand name PWA (Peter Wong Audio) Ensembl copper cable. It has all the typical PWA cable hardware with a shaped headphone plug and a balanced 4.4mm gold plated connector, a shaped y-split with a matching retractable chin slider, pre-shaped heat-shrink earhooks, and slim metal 2pin connectors. Wires have pvc jacket, and I didn’t detect any microphonics. It’s not exactly a fancy looking cable, but it has a durable build and a comfortable fit.

Overall, while the packaging is far from being fancy looking, the included accessories are very practical.

Design.

Two things surprised me right away about the Monachaa design. We are talking about 4 Dynamic Drivers, yet its deep-purple shell with gold-accent sprinkles on the faceplate had nearly the same compact shape/size as Traillii. And the second thing, despite a quad DD design and only a single vent near 2pin socket, I detected no driver flex.

Based on what I was able to find about Monachaa, they are using 4 Dynamic Drivers, including 10mm Carbon with nanotech coating, 10mm with Inert material, 5mm Titanium coated diaphragm, and one more with a square diaphragm. The crossover partitions drivers into 1 bass, 2 mid-range, and 1 treble, and the tip of the nozzle had one large bore opening, one medium size, and two smaller ones, probably corresponding to sound tubes from each DD driver.

Typical of other Oriolus IEM shells, including Traillii, the nozzle is rather short but has a distinct lip ring for a secure eartips fit. The inner part of the shell is a bit bulbous, just a touch more than in Traillii, but still lightweight and very comfortable to wear during extended listening sessions. And I was pleased to see Oriolus continued with a recessed 2pin socket which makes the cable connection more secure.