Elysian Acoustic Labs x Effect Audio Pilgrim Noir & OG

Sound Analysis.

I analyzed Pilgrim’s sound performance paired up with P6 Pro while playing a variety of test tracks, such as Agnes Obel’s “The Curse”, Sandro Cavazza’s “So much better” (Avicii remix), C-Bool’s “Never go away”, Ed Sheeran “Shape of you”, Alan Walker “Darkside”, Galantis “Hunter”, Iggy Azalea “Black widow”, Indila “Boite en argent”, Dua Lipa “Love Again”, Counting Crows “Big yellow taxi”, Bob Marley “Jamming”, David Elias “Vision of her”, and Michael Jackson “Dirty Diana”. By force of habit and considering its use of DD drivers, I had these IEMs on burn-in for about 100 hours before I started to collect my impressions. I was using corresponding stock cables and SpinFit W1 eartips.

Pilgrim OG

I found Pilgrim OG to have a neutrally balanced sound signature with a clear natural tonality. I was on the fence if I would consider its sound sig to be balanced or neutral, but after many extended listening sessions decided that it would be more appropriate to refer to it as neutrally balanced due to a less aggressive bass impact, more transparent mids, and relatively clear and detailed treble. The sound has plenty of natural clarity with moderate coloring and good retrieval of details without being too anemic or analytical. I was also very impressed with the coherency of Pilgrim’s multi-driver tuning and how seamlessly well its fast DD driver blends in with BA mids and treble, almost making you question if this is a hybrid or all-BA design.

The bass is fast and punchy. Not your typical DD-driver bass, especially since we are dealing here with a bigger 9.2mm dynamic driver. Sub-bass does have a nice texture, but it is not as elevated, giving more focus to a fast punchy mid-bass. And it does have a fast articulate bass with shorter attack and decay. I wouldn’t call the bass lean or neutral, it packs a fast punch and has a noticeable presence. But it doesn’t have the extra weight of the sub-bass or the fullness. I like how tight and articulate it sounds, yet it still has this nice analog texture to it.

Mids have a neutral quantity and quite a clear natural tonality. Lower mids are not thin or lean, more neutral, without adding any extra body to the sound, helping to keep upper mids more transparent and less colored. As a result, the tonality of mids is natural, but not warmish or organic. They are detailed but in a natural way rather than being micro-detailed or colder in tonality. Mids do have a proper pinna gain, but they are not pushed too forward, rather being perfectly balanced with lows and highs.

The treble also has plenty of natural clarity with a very well-controlled sparkle. I found treble extension to be good, with not too much crunch or airiness, and plenty of clarity that gives natural resolution to the mids. Don’t expect the Annihilator-type of the treble, the Pilgrim treble is smoother in tonality, but it still has plenty of clarity and natural resolution.

The soundstage expansion is spherically shaped, spreading evenly in width, height, and depth. It is not super expanded or holographic, but noticeably above the average, bringing you closer to the stage, to the music, and to the performer. Despite not having too much air between the layers of the sounds, the actual layering and separation of the sounds is well done and helps the listener to easily distinguish everything in the mix, preventing any congestion or veil. Again, everything feels natural and realistic without any exaggeration.

Pilgrim Noir

As probably expected, before I jumped into Noir analysis, I focused on its comparison to OG. Right away I found Noir to have a stronger mid-bass impact while maintaining a similar sub-bass rumble. I can also hear fuller body mids, especially noticeable in lower mids that give more coloring to the sound, resulting in a more soulful tonality of vocals and a warmer undertone in instruments. I also noticed a bit more sparkle in the treble which could be the result of a bigger contrast in tonality between warmer mids and treble. The soundstage expansion feels a bit different as well, with Noir’s left/right spread being a touch narrower (due to stronger bass and warmer mids) which makes the soundstage have more out-of-your-head extension. The sound changes are not that extreme, but noticeable.

As a result of these changes, the Noir sound signature becomes more balanced with a smoother natural tonality. Here, I didn’t need more listening time to form my opinion about the sound sig since stronger impact and more weight in the bass, with fuller body mids, and extra sparkle in treble yielded a more balanced and slightly colored tuning. The sound still has plenty of natural clarity, even so, it has a bit more coloring. Also, the retrieval of details is still pretty good without being veiled or congested. But unlike Pilgrim OG where you can mistake it for a 3xBA driver config, extra weight in the low-end gave Noir a more hybrid-like sound performance even though all the drivers are still in a coherent harmony.

The bass is still punchy but has more weight, and more bloom, scaling up the rumble of the sub-bass and giving mid-bass a stronger punch. The bass attack is a little slower than in the OG version, making the bass sound more like it is coming from the DD driver rather than the BA driver, even though both IEMs use the same DD driver. In Noir, the bass has more texture, a bit slower attack, and a longer decay of notes. It still sounds articulate, but a bit more relaxed.

Mids have a fuller body and a little more coloring, but still with a clear, detailed, and natural tonality. Lower mids are now slightly north of neutral, giving the sound its fuller body, more soulful tonality, and analog texture. OG Pilgrim is not analytical, but I did notice spending more time analyzing sound details listening to OG while with Noir I noticed being drawn more into the music, paying more attention to emotions in sound rather than details.

Treble is where I found more similarities between the Noir and OG versions, having plenty of natural clarity and well-controlled sparkle. But I did notice that the Noir version had a bit more sparkle, perhaps as a contrast between warmer mids and its treble. The treble is still quite natural, nowhere near being harsh or grainy, just having a bit more sparkle relative to OG tuning.

The soundstage expansion of Noir is also similarly spherically shaped, but the warmer nature of the mids and stronger impact of the bass creates the perception of a slightly narrower left/right spread, resulting in more soundstage depth with out-of-your-head extension. The layering and separation of the sound is well done, similar to the OG version, though the Noir sound is a bit thicker.