Elysian Pilgrim

Pilgrim
one who journeys in foreign lands

Elysian venture into the middle of Mid-Fi, how did they fare?

The Pilgrim comes in a small but effective package, the unboxing experience is what you would expect from something priced a little higher, the two buds are beautifully presented to you when you open the package, with the case, cable, and ear tips underneath. All up very nice and better than the box with sleeve which is common at this price point.

The included cable feels decent, the case is also OK (it’s the same as the 7hz Aurora one, just a different logo on top), the included tips are also Spinfit which is a nice surprise, they didn’t work with the Pilgrim for me but I will use them on other IEMs.

Fit and comfort:

These feel nice in my ears, the shell is metal so when you initially put them in your ear they may be a little cold but they warm up pretty quickly and then I can easily forget about them for the rest of the day. Tip wise I found these to be a little odd, my normal sizing did not work, and I couldn’t get a good fit. In the end I used the Final E largest size in my right ear, and ML in the left, which is +1 size on each side. With these there were no issues at all, but for new buyers suggest that you might need to play around with different sizes until you find one that works. They also work well with the Velvets.

Sound:

These are smack bang in the Mid-Fi bracket. There is a lot of competition. Do they stack up? Are they at the top of the pile? Let’s find out.

TL;DR – They’re a perfect all-rounder, I generally shy away from all-rounders, preferring sets that have something unique in their presentation, but these just hit the all-rounder tick boxes without sounding bland or boring. Whilst they are an all-rounder, they bring detail that you generally wouldn’t find in this level and you’d be pushing into the > $1k bracket to get something comparable.

Starting with the lower frequencies, the bass has good impact; bass head this is not, but it isn’t light or lacking. The DD looks after the lower frequencies and does a fantastic job, the bass is fast (resembling a BA at points), but has the deep bass feel that only a DD can deliver, exceptional at its price point. A lot of other sets around this price are going with the dual driver approach, I prefer that for some genres, but for 90% of tracks this does everything I want.

Mids are extremely well done, the bass doesn’t interfere at all for me, vocals are extremely well done. Female vocals remind me a little of Diva which were arguably my favorite female vocals ever. Nothing strange, better than nearly everything else I’ve heard at this price point.

The treble is probably the weakest point, there are better sets at $400, but it’s still absolutely above average. Some people touted this as a mini Anni, not for my ears, but it gets the job done. I guess safe is probably the best way to put it, it’s not going to annoy anyone, but on some tracks it does leave you wanting a little more (if that’s your thing).

Detail retrieval, as I mentioned earlier, is crazy. This is punching over twice its price point in this respect. Imaging is good, I had no issues placing instruments or differentiating between them, but when it comes to stage I’d say that it’s fairly decent horizontal, however lacking depth and verticality. It works well as an all-rounder, but you’re not going to be listening to an orchestra in a three-dimensional space around you with these. There are others that will do that at this price point, but you’ll be making other sacrifices, to get this sound with the 3d imaging you’re heading well up in price.

Source wise I used these from a few dongle’s (iBasso DC04 Pro, DC06 Pro, L&P W4), FiiO Q7, and Sony TA-ZH1ES. It scales quite well up the chain.

Subjective thoughts and conclusion: I love these, I’ve had these for three weeks now and there hasn’t been a single track that I’ve put on where I felt I should switch to another set, for that to happen at this price point is unheard of for me. It’s going to take a lot for something to come along and challenge this set at this price point. I generally find IEMs at this price grab my attention for a few genres, when they attempt to be an all-rounder they don’t hold my attention for very long, Pilgrim is the exception. At this price point the name is correct, if you’re starting your IEM journey and you’re after a single set around this price point to find out what it’s all about, get this. Perhaps the perfect everyday carry? That’s what it has become for me.