Compared to AME Mousa (Review link)
I’ve figured AME has given a nickname for Igris as “the son of Mousa”, and that nickname fits very well in terms of rich bass, but beyond that, Igris quite differs from Mousa in many ways. Both Mousa and Igris share a bass that is lush and fulfilling – the sort of bass that fills the atmosphere with a deep, weighty body. However, the way Mousa and Igris express such fullness is almost the opposite. Mids and highs are tighter on Igris, as well as being more resolving.
Overall, Mousa emphasizes stronger reverberation and the BA’s characteristic tight, punchy impact, while Igris, with its dynamic driver diaphragm pumping along a dynamic curve, pursues a chewy texture and tighter, cleaner decay. Simply put, Mousa delivers the BA flavor, while Igris stays faithful to the DD flavor. Each model reflects the nature of its drivers, and both are committed to showcasing those inherent characteristics.
Compared to AME Raven (Review link)
Raven is one of the best sellers of AME that sports 8BA+4EST drivers. For the overall sound signature, Raven is a bit more linear and smoother in timbre. What’s interesting is that although both IEMs have similar brightness, and Igris being more resolving and revealing, Igris nonetheless sounds more comfortable to listen to. It’s due to the way Raven delivers the sound that feels more straightforward and linear – or a musical, penetrative power. It also has to do with Raven’s sound texture being rigid and rock-solid. Igris is more relaxed and fluid in sound delivery, expansive in headroom, as well as a softer, silkier texture.
Both IEMs are incredibly resolving, yet the core differences lie in the nature of sound characteristics, being either BA-based or DD-based, each being Raven and Igris. AME’s sound is about speed, clean organization, and rigid BA-tightness, being the royal analytical type. Igris feels like a hybrid of Mousa and Raven, inheriting a great portion of Raven’s analyticity but much more musical like Mousa.
A welcoming threat to the Flagship IEM Market
It really wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Igris’ performance and tuning are explosively skillful. The raw performance alone threatens the summit-fis that are much higher in pricing, though Igris doesn’t halt there – it doesn’t imitate others but pursues its own type of charms all along. AME Igris, in a nutshell, can be described as I’ve titled this review; it’s that giant, absolutely bulked guard testing all flagship IEMs that contest to move to the higher summit-fi level. I would confidently recommend Igris to anyone looking for a flagship endgame IEM. Whether Igris is lower or above your budget, I’d still highly recommend you to put your IEMs and ears to the gladiator fight with Igris; the presence of Igris is a threat to flagship IEMs that are priced similarly or higher, and those who can’t match up to Igris’ power shall fall…
