ThieAudio Elixir Review

Today we review the ThieAudio Elixir In-Ear Monitors. It sells for $209 USD.

 

Disclaimer:Linsoul sent us the ThieAudio Elixir for this review, free of charge. As always, I am here to honestly convey my thoughts about the product to you. If you’d like to know more about the IEM, you could do so by clicking here.

ThieAudio

ThieAudio is a company that specializes in the research & development of audiophile in-ear monitors as well as headphones. The brand was established in 2019. According to their statement, their goal is to serve as a creative platform by bringing together the best teams of engineers to design & manufacture high-performance, high-end audiophile products.

Their statement continues by saying that for each project, they hand-select the most innovative and renowned engineers in their respective fields to oversee the design, engineering, and manufacturing of the products. In a very short period of time, they managed to become a great company that designs products for every price range on the market.

ThieAudio Elixir

The Elixir is the latest budget In-Ear Monitors from the renowned In-Ears company, ThieAudio. We have reviewed a lot of ThieAudio gear before, here on Headfonia. You can check those reviews out through this link. The Elixir features a new type of driver that ThieAudio engineers call “3D Velocity Transducer”.

According to the ThieAudio, the diaphragm of this DD is composed of beryllium-coated interweaving layers of multi-walled carbon nanotube sheets, which creates an extremely dense and rigid membrane capable of higher tensions and resulting in more responsiveness. They also state that the internal design of this driver is different compared to the traditional DDs, it uses stronger pole magnets and a full copper voice coil actuator. This is their first unit featuring this piece of technology and together we will be looking at its performance today.

Driver Configuration: 3D Velocity Transducer

Socket: 0.78-2Pin

Housing: CNC Aluminum Shell, Artisan Faceplate

Cable: 1.2m SCC & SPC Litz, 3.5mm GP Termination

Impedance: 18Ω 

Sensitivity: 112db

Packaging & Accessories

ThieAudio Elixir comes in a medium-sized cardboard box. The box cover is simple, with no artwork or specifications list. Upon sliding the top cover off, you’re greeted with a plain black cardboard box. Inside the box, the Elixir is held securely by a foam compartment, and the accessories that come with the earphones are in a second compartment just below this foam. 

The Elixir comes with a navy blue faux leather carrying case and that is the first accessory you encounter with. The case is well-built and designed. It looks and feels premium in hand and it is not very large so you could carry it in your jacket pocket. The inside of the case is suede and it looks much better than the case that comes with the much higher-priced Monarch MKII. As for tips, the Elixir comes with 6 pairs of different-sized foam tips and 3 pairs of silicone tips.

Additionally, the Elixir comes with a well-made upgrade cable out of the box. According to the ThieAudio, it is a hybrid litz cable that is made of Single-Crystal Copper and Silver-Plated OCC Copper strands. Just like the navy blue faux leather case, the upgrade cable looks and feels premium. The cable features a great jacket that has low microphonics and offers great flexibility. 

Although the packaging of the Elixir looks quite plain and simple from the outside, the contents of the box are much more important to us and Elixir does not disappoint us in this regard. The build quality of the accessories is pretty impressive for this price bracket and the inclusion of a great case is always welcome. 

Design, Build & Fit

The Elixir features a full metal shell and unique burl wood cut faceplates. The copper-colored metallic ring around the faceplates adds character and the earphones look like they are priced higher than their relatively budget retail price. The faceplates are cut from a whole block of burl wood and they are unique to each set. The matte black metallic finish matches the dark burl wood faceplates and the design looks uniform.

Size-wise, the Elixir has a compact shell and offers a great fit with its low profile form factor. I quite like the included foam tips, they provide solid passive isolation and sit tight in my ears. I’ve been using Elixir for over a month now and even after long listening sessions, I haven’t experienced any discomfort.

The craftsmanship of the unit is top-notch, especially compared to the units in this price bracket. I always appreciated ThieAudio’s attention to the build quality and QC. The Elixir is no exception. Great job all-around.

 

The review continues on Page Two, after the click HERE or by using the jump below.

Page 1: ThieAudio, The Elixir, Specifications, Packaging & Accessories, Design, Build & Fit

Page 2: Sound, Low, Mid, High, Technical Performance, Comparisons, Last Words

4.4/5 - (245 votes)
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Long time Tech Enthusiast, an ambitious petrol-head, Yagiz likes his gadgets and always finds new ways into the tinkerer's world. He tries to improve anything and everything he gets his hands onto. Loves an occasional shine on the rocks.

1 Comment

  • Reply August 6, 2022

    Diego Rojas

    Hola buenos días …. sonará bien con el Fiio M11LTD?… si tuvieras que elegir entre el Moondrop Kato y el Elixir con cual te quedarías ?…..poseo los Fiio Fh5s Pro y quiero un sonido diferente…..mi DAP es un Fiio M11LTD…. gracias

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