Nothing else I have uses 2.5mm and only the A&K SP3k DAP (which runs $3,600) has a 2.5mm that I’ve used. Who sends their cable with a 2.5mm? Seriously? 4.4mm is far more common, and I’d even rather have a 3.5mm. The only problem is that the balanced connection is 2.5mm. It’s flexible, doesn’t have much memory retention, is a nice silver-plated copper, and comes with a balanced connection. I don’t have much of a cable rant on this one because the cable that comes with the Elysium is pretty nice. That said, I can get the W1s fit on here and they still give great isolation and seal FWIW.

So, small-ear people stay away – more on that in comfort. They make the Aroma Thunder’s nozzles seem small. The W1s barely fit on the Elysium – these are the largest nozzles I think I’ve ever encountered. I’m using the Spinfit W1s because stock ear tips on used IEMs gross me out (Here if you want a pair. The stock included ear tips are really nice and match the aesthetic of the IEMs. More about that later, on with the review! Other than that, it comes with a single BA driver for the lows, a DD for the mids, and two electrostatics for the highs (I think, VE’s own site doesn’t really tell you.) Odd to see BA for the lows and DD for the mids, but VE has tuned it to sound amazing either way. The Elysium has a High Precision Acoustic Leveling Chamber (HALC) which finely tunes the DD for the highest accuracy – their words, not mine. That said, some people LOVE the EXT, so I’ll have to reserve final judgment until I actually hear the EXT (feel free to send me a pair.) I received these in a trade.

The Elysium retail for $2,280 and I see no real reason to get the Barney ones over the really nice-looking blue and green ones. That one supposedly has more bass, though I’ve never heard it and it only comes in purple, which just really isn’t a color I’d spend $3,000 on. Yes, there’s another, more expensive, version of this that comes in purple. Up for review today is the spiritual upgrade to the Vision Ears VE8 (completely different layout), the VE Elysium.

Shades of elysium u18