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7/20/2025, 2:08:58 PM
Productive weekend impressions part 1:
For the sake of brevity I used Azla Crystals for every set.
>Thieaudio Hype 10
Classic Thieaudio V-shape house sound. Surprisingly it is not as bassy as the Hype 4 – both pos graph similarly – but I didn’t get that distinct “Hype 4 bass slam” with the Hype 10, which resulted in a more tonally neutral timbre. Treble extension is also surprisingly good, to my ears it is smoother and more extended than the Hype 4’s.
There’s nothing to nitpick: Mids are tonally correct, there’s no weird resonance peaks, and it is perfectly resolving. Very underrated set, I’d pick this over the Monarchs, Prestiges, Divinity, Valhalla etc. 10/10.
But I’m retroactively lowering my rating of the Hype 4 to a 9/10. The Hype 10 is an audible improvement and a more balanced take on the V-shape sound signature.
>Thieaudio Hype 2
Relatively “flatter” and more neutral than the Hype 4 & 10. Female vocals sounds a little laid-back, and its treble air isn’t as extended. The Hype 2 is also the thinnest-sounding of the bunch, and its bass quality/texture suffers as a result.
As a standalone set the Hype 2 is decent, but having A/B’d all three Hype pos back-to-back, the compromises are quite audible. 7/10.
>Artpical Blue Planet
Bright V like a planar. Very enjoyable sub and mid-bass: it’s “fast”, punchy, and controlled. The Blue Planet is allegedly some custom double-sided planar driver (that’s what I was told but Artpical’s site claims a 12mm ribbon driver?), but it doesn’t have the typical chifi planar zing like the S12, Timeless etc. I still get some of that 7.5kHz peak and sibilance in the “S” and “SH” of female vocals but I’m willing to tolerate it because the treble presentation of the Blue Planet is to die for: shimmery and detailed, from the initial transient to the decay. Imo it’s even better than the likes of the Annihilator/Traillii/Volk Etoile. Truly summit-fi resolution. 11/10.
For the sake of brevity I used Azla Crystals for every set.
>Thieaudio Hype 10
Classic Thieaudio V-shape house sound. Surprisingly it is not as bassy as the Hype 4 – both pos graph similarly – but I didn’t get that distinct “Hype 4 bass slam” with the Hype 10, which resulted in a more tonally neutral timbre. Treble extension is also surprisingly good, to my ears it is smoother and more extended than the Hype 4’s.
There’s nothing to nitpick: Mids are tonally correct, there’s no weird resonance peaks, and it is perfectly resolving. Very underrated set, I’d pick this over the Monarchs, Prestiges, Divinity, Valhalla etc. 10/10.
But I’m retroactively lowering my rating of the Hype 4 to a 9/10. The Hype 10 is an audible improvement and a more balanced take on the V-shape sound signature.
>Thieaudio Hype 2
Relatively “flatter” and more neutral than the Hype 4 & 10. Female vocals sounds a little laid-back, and its treble air isn’t as extended. The Hype 2 is also the thinnest-sounding of the bunch, and its bass quality/texture suffers as a result.
As a standalone set the Hype 2 is decent, but having A/B’d all three Hype pos back-to-back, the compromises are quite audible. 7/10.
>Artpical Blue Planet
Bright V like a planar. Very enjoyable sub and mid-bass: it’s “fast”, punchy, and controlled. The Blue Planet is allegedly some custom double-sided planar driver (that’s what I was told but Artpical’s site claims a 12mm ribbon driver?), but it doesn’t have the typical chifi planar zing like the S12, Timeless etc. I still get some of that 7.5kHz peak and sibilance in the “S” and “SH” of female vocals but I’m willing to tolerate it because the treble presentation of the Blue Planet is to die for: shimmery and detailed, from the initial transient to the decay. Imo it’s even better than the likes of the Annihilator/Traillii/Volk Etoile. Truly summit-fi resolution. 11/10.
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