Introduction
I’ve always been intrigued by Campfire Audio and have had a few listens to their gear. A couple years ago I met Caleb Rosenau at CanJam London. At this point I finally got to try the Atlas and the Andromeda. I loved both for different reasons. The bass on the Atlas was just delicious. The Andromeda had an easy to love fairly balanced signature. I chatted with Caleb about future offerings coming up for Campfire and kept the communication lines open while the development cycle progressed—or didn’t as it may be. The Ara is my first Campfire Audio review, but it is not the first by the Audio Primate crew. Jackpot77 has a long-standing reviewing relationship with Ken Ball, with reviews of the Solaris, Atlas, Comet, Cascade, Vega, Dorado, Andromeda (don’t ask for a comparison, because he bought that with his own money and didn’t keep it) and Lyra II. He’s got a review of the Solaris 2020 coming up soon, also.

Usability: Form & Function
Unboxing
I’ve posted an unboxing post with some early impressions over here, so go check that out if you want to. I’ll not go over it much here. Long-story short: it’s a nice unboxing with cool touches to make you feel special with a great gift box presentation. It’s Portland meets Japan kind of cool packaging, I only wish the presentation aspects were easier to put back on. A small modification to the centre whorl where the sticker goes would make reclosure easier.



Aesthetics and build quality
The Ara has a dead sexy presentation. That grey titanium makes me feel like I need to do something about my kids. Don’t worry, this is way better than Back to the Future II. Sorry if that’s polarising, I always felt like the movie was too jumbled and self-aware. I do feel like I’ve just won a Mr. Fusion, though. I’m only going to feed it the finest chocolate. The Mr. Fusion should feel as good as I do when listening to the Ara.



That was all to say that the titanium shell makes me feel like I’ve gone back to the future. The cork case feels like I’ve harkened to a past that may have never existed. Was there a time in the past where people made purses out of dyed cork? After doing some research on cork, it is an interesting material. It’s water resistant, it’s abrasion resistant and it’s eco-friendly. It’s pretty damn cool. Now if the zipper was water resistant, the case would be perfect. Soft protective inside, durable water resistant outside.

Ergonomics
The Campfire Audio Ara has the signature hard-edged Campfire Audio shell first featured on the Andromeda. They tried other shells, but have gone back to the original for most of their line-up. The Ara comes with enough tips to find something that you are comfortable with, for me the choice is all about insertion depth. The edges of the shell aren’t just striking to look at, they are also striking in the ear. The shape and feel can have a bit of a Jean Claude Van Damme effect, “the muscles from Burnside?”. I feel the hard edges when I go for deep insertion and medium tips (which gets a touch more stage, but I have a harder time getting a perfect seal) and get physically fatigued after a couple hours of titanium on ear contact. When I use shallower insertion I get bigger drum impact, which I like, and I never feel the shell. Its all about the larger tips for me. I’m normally a medium-large in the Final E-Type tips, but I use large on these. The Marshmallows don’t feel quite as good and don’t sound quite as good as the E-Type tips to my ears.

Audio quality
The Campfire Audio Ara has a balanced signature with thick lower mids and midbass and a seamlessly integrated feel to the presentation. I think the lack crossovers allows the sound to feel more like one speaker per ear rather than a set of components. The Ara feels cohesive and fluid. Music just flows through it to your ears. Resolution is good with excellent note weight, but this note weight can make it feel a touch slow on the trailing edges of cymbals from time to time. Most of the time the cymbals sound smooth and pleasing, where some other IEMs will sound thin. The treble is natural with a pleasing smoothness. On some tracks I find myself wanting a little more bite, but on most of my music I just ease into the comfortable sound of the Ara. Mids are well articulated with good speed and detail. Details are there, but they are never in your face. The tuning is gentle and musical with a naturalness to the presentation. There are some vocals that lose some of their character due to a couple dips in the mids that I would have liked to be a little smaller. Drums are spectacular on the Ara with might impact and delicious body. The same goes for bass guitar. The presentation is immensely satisfying. I love the bass, it has good presence, and presents some texture and speed, but without grit. Sometimes grit that should be there is smoothed. The bass is full and smooth, but is neither fast nor slow. The bass feels better than the frequency response measurements I’ve seen. For the most part, the Ara makes anything you throw at it have a euphonic sound, though sometimes at the expense of prominently displaying some recording noise that you’ll never not notice now. The Ara has extended sub-bass, but compared to some other IEMs I have, I find myself craving more from time to time. The overall sound of the Ara is impactful, euphonic, and full sounding while maintaining an overall balanced signature.

Matchability
I’ll put it right out there, the Ara may send you looking for synergy. Not always for the reasons expected. It will hiss. I got hiss on the balanced outs of the SOUNDAWARE M2Pro (this was a first for me), Questyle QP2R (which is a common occurrence) and N6ii E02 setups. The N6ii T01 setup was the clearest sounding but it didn’t have the treble dynamics of the QP2R. The hiss was so high on the E02 that I couldn’t listen to it. With the stock cable, a 3.5mm single-ended cable, hiss performance on the QP2R didn’t improve and neither did it on the M2Pro. When music is playing, hiss is mostly overcome on both, whether balanced or single-ended.

The Ara is sensitive to other parts of pairing, and not just with components, but with music choice. Old recordings have recording noise in specific bandwidths within the treble (the sound seems about the same frequency as brushwork on cymbals), and the frequency response of the Ara accentuates this recording noise. I threw down some old Pink Floyd albums (original press CD versions) as well as the The Beatles – Abbey Road (Stereo Digital Boxset version). Pink Floyd – Obscured By Clouds showed some of this recording noise, but Animals was pristine. The recording hiss on Abbey Road was bad. Real bad. When switching to another revealing IEM, the AME Custom Radioso, I could hear all the recording noise that the Ara picks up, but at a lesser volume. Modern recordings didn’t tend to have this noise when I listened for it. The Ara also seems to sound better out of balanced mode for me, at the same measured volume. It’s bigger and clearer, irrespective of DAP. My favourite pairing is the N6ii T01 on older recordings, and the Questyle QP2R (after controlling for the hiss) on other stuff. The QP2R gives a more vibrant presentation with more treble energy.

I don’t have a lot of MMCX cables, so I mostly used the 4.4mm Smoky Litz supplied by Campfire upon request with the review unit. I tried out my Double Helix Cables Symbiote Elite SP v3 (eight braid) and found that the stage opened up a little more and that I got even more texture in the bass. I’m using the cable via an adapter. Unfortunately, this means that I can’t make this the regular way of listening outside of my desk, as I don’t want to break any pins from accidental leverage. The quality of the pairing does make me want to get a listen with Campfire’s Pure Silver Litz and SX8 IEM cables. I think a lot of the improvement in stage comes from higher AWG on the DHC cable. If I’d gone for a quad braid set-up on the DHC, it might be a more fair comparison. I am noticing some additional brightness with the pure silver Symbiote Elite when listening to Tori Amos – Pretty Good Year (24-96, 2015 remaster). The Symbiote Elite also has less impact and body, and is more sensitive to recording noise (I never heard recording noise on Carly Simon – I’ve Got To Have You on other pairings) so there are trade-offs. Switching to the currently unreleased new coaxial copper Double Helix Cable I get less impact than either of the other two cables. This isn’t the pairing I’d do. The tonality is overall a bit less vibrant, but there is great depth to it and instrument separation is superior. There is also no recording noise. The Effect Audio Ares II+ has a little more warmth and impact compared to the new coaxial copper Double Helix Cables design. Impact with the Ares II+ is also a touch softer than the smoky Litz 4.4mm cable. Overall, I like the Campfire Audio Smoky Litz cable the best, but I’m certainly curious what Campfire’s other cables would sound like with the Ara. Something for another time, maybe?



As with any cable comparison, take this with a grain or a bucket of salt. Pickle it and put it under the floorboards until it ferments into something better than bitterness and salinity. Maybe use that pickled feeling to de-ice your driveway this winter? I’m going off of human auditory memory, I’m not doing a blinded test (can’t do one actually because they feel different), and my switching time isn’t very short because I don’t have two of the Campfire Ara.



The Ara is sensitive to tip choice and insertion depth. I was all ready to finish this review, and then I read some more stuff in the HeadFi threads that didn’t note the warmth and smaller stage size that I heard in comparisons. I have been using large Final E-type tips (I usually use medium-large) and letting the Ara float a little ways away from my skin (not really touching) as the further I insert, the more I feel the hard edges of the signature Campfire shell. However, using medium tips with deeper insertion lowers the bass quantity (reducing warmth), makes the stage sound a tiny tiny bit bigger, and makes vocals sound a touch more forward in the mix (likely due to reduction in bass presence more than anything), though the difference isn’t huge. It also reduced impact, richness and treble presence. The Ara still doesn’t have the widest stage in its price bracket. Overall, I preferred the Ara with less insertion with the tips I tried. It’s more comfortable and it sounds better to my ear. The small trade-off in soundstage width was totally worth the improved impact and richer tonality. It’s likely that small differences in seal are responsible for the differences and that these are more likely to vary from one insertion to the next with the medium Final E-type tips, bigger tips will have less variability.


When I used the Campfire ‘marshmallow’ foams I was able to get deeper insertion without losing any seal, so got a bit more soundstage and most of the tonality. The ‘marshmallows’ trade a little bit of impact and bass texture to get that slight improvement in stage compared to the large Final E-Type. I found the large Final E-Type to have the best combination of comfort and tonality. I can get a deeper insertion with the ‘marshmallows’ but I also feel them in my ear more. Others may have different findings. Our ears are all different.

Comparisons
Volume matched using Ayre Acoustics – White Noise off their Irrational but Efficacious System Enhancement Disc, using an SPL meter. All IEM comparisons were made using the Cayin N6ii with T01 audio motherboard.


AME Custom Radioso ($1450)
Build and feature comparison
Both of these are well built. The Ara is made of tough titanium. I prefer the recessed 2-pin setup on the Radioso to the MMCX setup on the Ara. It’s probably that I’m just more used to the generally easy cable switching of 2-pin connectors. Switching the cable on MMCX stresses me out. The Radioso shell isn’t as tough and doesn’t feel as secure due to there being a lip between the faceplate and the shell body—I’m hoping they remedy this through a silent revision. The case for the Ara looks much nicer, but probably isn’t any more water resistant than the aluminum press-fit case of the Radioso. The stock cable for the Radioso is superior and balanced options are offered for a $20 fee—personally, I think that AME Custom should just up the price to $1499, include the better case that comes with their customs, and not charge for getting a balanced cable. The Radioso also comes with a leather cable wrap, which is a little touch that Campfire should add. The Radioso will be more comfortable in more ears, as the Ara has some ridges that you may feel, depending on your insertion depth in your ear. I use larger tips to have lower insertion depth and avoid feeling the ridges. It works. Overall, I think the Ara has a small edge in build and presentation.



Sound
I made the comparisons below with large tips and shallower insertion, but many of them held true when I switched to medium tips. Switching to medium tips made the stage slightly wider on Carly Simon – I’ve Got To Have You (DSD64, MFSL), but it also decreased the delightful impact of the drums, reduced treble energy, and made the sound a touch softer overall. To me the trade-off wasn’t really worth it. The slight edge in stage width isn’t worth the loss of dynamics. If you want a less engaging (more reference?) tonality, insert as deep as you comfortably can, which may come with a trade-off on seal; if you want a more sumptuous and impactful tonality, make sure your seal is as tight as possible.

The Ara gives some nice chunky warm bass on Derek And The Dominos – Bell Bottom Blues (DSD64). Hand drum impacts have a nice roundness that matches the expected tone and volume well. Vocals are fluid with great separation between the two vocalists. The track sounds a touch busy through the Ara. The Radioso picks up a bit more recording noise from the track, but conveys a more open stage with better separation and an easy stage. The Ara feels like it is trying harder to convey busy parts during the track, likely due to a little bit smaller width and slightly reduced instrument separation. Eric Clapton’s voice comes out a little more forward on the Radioso, which is pleasing. The Ara has a thicker, more organic feel to it in the bass and vocals. There is more edge to the Radioso. The hand drums are more round and satisfying on the Ara. Bass grooves with similar emotion, but the Ara is a bit wetter and the bass is less separated from other elements due to the smaller width of Ara’s stage.

Rebecca Pidgeon – Spanish Harlem (24-88, binaural) is a perfectly imperfect track. The best representations of the track show off the reverb of the room and all the little snaps and accidental sounds going on in the track. The Ara picks up the little background crackles and snaps as other players get ready and move about the stage. The Ara nails Rebecca’s voice. The reverb is delicious and her voice is warm and welcoming with good body. Little string tweaks on frets are well defined and the sound is wholesome, fluid, integrated and rich. The Radioso is airier, less sumptuous, and because of this, feels like it conveys more depth in the stage. I’m not getting the same rich reverb, it’s more subtle. Piano on the Radioso has sharper edges, while not being fatiguing. Locating the shuffling and cracking sounds of musicians moving is a little easier and overall instrument separation is superior on the Radioso. Instrument locations in general on the Radioso have more precision. I prefer the Ara’s presentation of Rebecca’s voice and the ambience of the reverb, but like the staging of the Radioso better. These two IEMs scratch different itches.

It’s time for the speed test. I always like to have a track that tests speed in every comparison. Daft Punk – Aerodynamic (16-44) works nice for this. The Ara is giving me nice impact on the drums that I really dig while still letting all the subtle electronic instrumentation in the background come through. Those 4 bass drivers are being put to very good work with rich and groovy bass tonality. I find the bass really satisfying on the Ara. The guitar riff has great tonality with all the little intentional distortions coming through. The song just sounds right, impactful and fluid with the right energy level. Switching to the Radioso, the electrical energy behind the bells and drum beats is more palpable and more well defined. The bass on the Radioso doesn’t convey as much texture as the Ara bass, but has good body and extension. The guitar riff is a bit harder sounding, but the ethereal backing sounds during the riff come through more clearly. These are both excellent IEMs that fit specific moods. The Radioso has more air, but the Ara has more emotive mids that are just addictive. I can settle in nicely to either.

Carly Simon – I’ve Got To Have You (DSD64, MFSL) has gentle, vulnerable, vocals, an open stage, a remarkably clear recording, and massive drum impacts. I love all of these elements. That open stage is well-represented by the Radioso. Carly’s voice is delicately conveyed with plenty of interaction with the stage. The drum hits are big and well defined. The drum kit is arranged at the right depth, and boy do you feel the bass drum kick. The treble on the Radioso is effortless in its definition and extension. The movement of the electric guitar around the stage conveys both great depth and width on the Radioso. On the Ara, Carly is also delicate, but a touch thicker. There is a delightful fluidity in the guitar strums accompanying Carly. Bass guitar sounds more textured with good extension. The emotional weight of the Ara is higher due to lusher mids and fluidity. The drum impacts are a bit more satisfying on the Ara, and there is definitely more texture to the bass guitar. The quad BA bass is doing its job well. On the electric guitar solo, the Ara doesn’t convey as much depth or width in the musician’s movement around the stage.

AME Custom Argent ($1450)
Build and feature comparison
All the same things to say about the Radioso, but the Argent doesn’t do recessed pins. The stock abalone faceplate is better looking than the Radioso stock faceplate.

Sound
After doing comparisons between tips on the Ara, I stuck with my original observations with large Final E-Type tips and shallower insertion.

The Ara has great amplitude on drum hits in Autolux – Great Days For The Passenger Element (16-44) and all the tongue movement and lip smacking of Eugene Goreshter’s vocal. The presentation of the track is fluid, dynamic and emotive—the three words I would use to describe the Ara. If I pick a fourth, it’s impactful, because lordy does it nail drum impacts. The Argent sounds comparatively gentle on the vocal and drum impacts. It has great definition and a little bit more edge to the sound. Mids are a touch recessed compared to the Ara, with a bit more of a v-shaped signature. Like the Radioso, the Argent conveys a bigger stage than the Ara. Cymbals have more bite and splash than the Ara or the Radioso, but I don’t know if I prefer it. The decay of the Ara on treble is a better fit for my listening preferences. If I could get a combination of the AME Custom stage and the Ara tone that would be perfect.



Let’s get weird. Sing along. Schizoid Lloyd – Suicide Penguin (16-44) ranges from gentle to insanely aggressive with huge dynamic swings. It’s a good test of how much power is on offer. It’s also a speedy track. With the Ara there is a bit of added ambient warmth that shrinks the stage a little. The track is a naturally busy track, and the Ara makes it feel a little more busy. That said, the texture of instruments has a very refined presentation. Bass has great menace. Drums have great speed and impact. This track is a circus, and the Ara is a remarkably calm carnival barker, given the level of madness in the track. Everything feels nicely integrated. On the Argent, the track feels more restrained, with mids that are back of neutral. The bass is smoothed over a bit and the overall energy level of the track is just taken down a notch. Even turning it up from my reference level doesn’t restore all the energy. It does have a better separated stage, but manages to be less integrated while doing so. The vocal placement on the Argent doesn’t work as well for me as the Ara. The stage width on the Argent is notably better and instruments get more of their own space, but it doesn’t feel as much like they are playing together. The airy backing vocals have better presence on the Argent, but the Ara has better presence on the bass and drum that follow. It’s all trade-offs and preference between these two so far.



The Ara has soul on Leonard Cohen – Leaving The Table (24-48) but the bass doesn’t reach as deep as it can and it doesn’t have the rumble I listen for on this. It conveys most of the texture of Leonard’s voice, but not all of it. There is some smoothing of the sound that gives the track a fluidity. Ken Ball described these as sounding like a really good analogue representation. When I hear that, I think organic, because the use of the word analogue fails to recognise that there is analogue that sounds hard and glaring and digital that sounds warm and welcoming. I’ve always felt that ‘analogue’ is a meaningless description that gets thrown around for the folks thinking back to the first digital mixing and the first affordable CD players to describe the contrast with these new digital sources. Digital has come a long way since then and most ‘analogue’ (read vinyl) is produced from a digital master nowadays. The Ara are organic and rich, with a tasteful amount of warmth. The Argent is airier, more textured, brighter. It isn’t a rich or organic sound, and I wouldn’t call it warm. It also isn’t a cold signature. Like the Ara, bass is a touch smoothed on the intro. The Argent gets a little more texture out of Leonard’s vocal. As previously noted, instrument separation is greater on the Argent.

Before I even put Amber Rubarth – Hold On (24-192, binaural) on, I feel like I know what the differences between the IEMs will be. The Argent will have more space, further back vocals and a touch drier presentation. The Ara will be warmer and wetter with a sound that feels connected and organic. Let’s see if my pre-disposition is right. Argent up first. Recessed vocal, check. Airy presentation with nice breathiness on Amber’s vocal, check. Good depth, check. Switch! Thicker vocals on the Ara. More immediacy in the stage. Richer more organic sound. I didn’t need to do that listening test.

There’s not a clearly superior IEM between the two, but I find myself preferring the tonality of the Ara, with it’s richness and potent impact.

Ultimate Ears Pro Reference Remastered ($999)
Build and feature comparison
The UERR comes with a UE (read Linum) SuperBaX cable, which is an extremely ergonomic cable that also happens to sound nice. To go balanced for either, you have to buy an upgrade cable. The version of the UERR that I have is from when they had 2-pin connectors. I’ve got a SuperBaX 2-pin, but it isn’t balanced, so the tests I did were with a soon to be released Double Helix Cables copper coaxial Litz design (it doesn’t have a name yet, I’ve just called it Symbiote SE v4). The UERR comes with a press-fit, aluminum, water-resistant puck case with personalisation available. Mine says my name and my handle here and on HeadFi. The cork case that comes with the Ara isn’t as tough and I doubt the zipper stops any water, but it is luxurious feeling with it’s lambswool lining, and it looks more luxurious with the beautiful dying of the cork. I think both cases would be considered relatively eco-friendly (if they guaranteed it was from recycled content, it would be awesome). The titanium body of the Ara is instantly classy, but the UERR is a custom acrylic that costs $999+ which means you can get some serious customisation for $1099 (submit your own art, or get fancy materials). Customs also require getting ear-scans or ear impressions, though, which isn’t so easy to do in our current COVID-19 world. Overall, I give the build edge to the current version of the UERR, their IPX connectors are superior to MMCX in terms of durability and water resistance, and I prefer the case on the UERR.

Sound
Bass is up and grooving on Billy Cobham – Quadrant 4 (DSD64) with the Ara. Speedy treble has a bit of smoothing. I’m not hearing all the little bits as clear as is possible on this track (there’s only a couple IEMs that do that in my experience), there is some blending. Drum impact, is as always, great with the Ara. I could use a bit more treble bite. Guitar is warm and smooth. I’d like a little more edge here. The UERR has a bit more edge but also feels a bit colder and less integrated. The UERR sounds airier, but also a bit emptier. There is a unifying warmth that gives the Ara a very pleasing sound in comparison to the UERR. The UERR has a slight edge in treble speed and bite, as well as staging, but I prefer the tonality and impact of the Ara on this track.

On Isaac Hayes – Walk On By (DSD64) there may be some track synergy. The track is warm and rich, but also spacious, so where Quadrant 4 could have used more warmth from the UERR and more treble speed and bite from the Ara, the interaction effect could be very different on this track. Bass in the intro is lean with the UERR, strings have great shape with peaks on the violins well-represented. UERR has good representation of the depth of the stage. When Isaac makes his appearance, there is a bit of dryness to the vocal. The chocolate is still there, but it isn’t as silky as it can be (think bakers chocolate vs. a really nice single origin 70% plus chocolate). The tone is a bit more smooth and silky on the Ara. Intro strings have more body and fluidity. Backing vocals have a bit more presence. The Ara also picks up more of the old-recording hiss artefact (both pick this up, but it’s more present on the Ara). There isn’t an edge in instrument separation between the Ara and the UERR, but the pieces feel like they fit together in a sonic whole better on the Ara. Isaac Hayes has more of that chocolately smoothness that I’m looking for when he comes into the track. At the same time he comes in, there is also a nice bass guitar accompaniment. This is handled better by the Ara. It has more body and texture. Four BA for bass was an incredibly good decision by Campfire. Bass is further back on the UERR with less texture. Treble on the UERR is sharper sounding, which will appeal to those who like treble with some edge. I tend to like my treble detailed, but smooth.

Massive Attack – Teardrop (16-44) is all about whether the transducers can thump, snap and rumble and bring the air while representing a delicate female voice well. The UERR has good snap and thump with airy vocals that veer a little bit towards sharpness. The stage has good depth and excellent separation between instruments. Busy elements within the track are easy to delineate into individual components. The female vocals on the Ara are softer and the bass doesn’t feel as textured, it’s wetter with a bit more volume and impact, but the upper mids and lower treble often lend further texture to bass, and the Ara tuning is less forward in this region. Stage on the Ara feels less wide and less tall. The overall match on this track is better on the UERR.

The soaring female backing vocal is the highlight of the Pixies – Where Is My Mind? (DSD64) for me and the primary thing I’m looking for when I audition headphones using this track. I get some soar with the UERR, but there are definitely IEMs in my collection with more amplitude at more parts of the track. The Ara is thicker through the mids and has denser bass. During the end of the track when amplitude goes highest on the female vocal, the Ara doesn’t soar as much as the UERR does. It is more restrained. It gets the tone, for the most part, but rounds off the tone just a little. Drum impact on the Ara is better than the UERR with a more visceral feel. I also give a slight edge to the Ara on Black Francis’s vocals, which get a little more force to them.

Stealthsonics U9 ($1099)
Build and feature comparison
This isn’t a contest. The Ara is made from better materials, and has a better case. The Ara comes with a nicer tip selection. The main listening cable for the Ara is slightly better, but the U9 also comes with a microphone cable, which is a very nice touch. I use the U9 microphone cable for all my Zoom calls.



Sound
On the Ara, I think there is a dip in the upper mids/lower treble that affects Macy’s vocal on Macy Gray – Slowly (24-192, binaural). She sounds relaxed with a little lack of bite. It actually made me go look for measurements to show what I’m hearing (below). Both the black measurement and Crinacle’s (white background) give some insight. There is a dip at about 2.5kHz on the Ara that likely is responsible for the more laid-back feel of Macy’s vocal. The 6kHz dip, explains differences in the trumpet presentation. The U9 has more air to the signature and Macy sounds a bit more emphatic, as does the bass. The U9 feels airy, but manages to do it without sounding like it has expected depth in the stage. The soundstage is more narrow than the Ara. There is some echo to Macy’s voice which makes me think the noise floor is lower on the U9. The sound on the U9 is vibrant compared to the more easy-going Ara. On the trumpet, the U9 can come across as a bit strident. The Ara does a better job of conveying the trumpet with a pleasing fluidity. Bass on the Ara is also more fluid.



Animals As Leaders – Ka$cade (16-44) is a track that is all about speed and resolving a complex mess of a track. The Ara is keeping up nicely. It has good air for the backing vocal and good separation of the various jumbled elements of the track. The tonality is natural. It’s a good pairing with this track. Nothing comes across strident and nothing comes across muffled. The Ara does an especially good job with sorting out cymbal taps. They have the right amount of body, and when little crash is called for it’s delivered without too short or too long decay. No splashiness here. The U9 sounds more aggressive with sharper transients and a more aggressively textured presentation. The soundstage has less depth on the U9 which leads to a forward sound at the same matched volume and more perception of loudness. I find myself wanting to turn the U9 down a few dB. The Ara is smoother with an easier to listen to sound. The Ara still shows the same technicalities of the track, but it isn’t as in-your-face as the U9.

Why – Strawberries (16-44) has some sweet male vocals from Yoni Wolf and loads of snapping, shaking, and sparkling percussion to go with some nice bass drops. The Ara is nailing this. No fatigue and brilliantly musical tonality, with great timbre to all the instruments, whether chimes, vibraphone or that big chugging bass. The U9 is sharper and more fatiguing with a little more nasally quality to Yoni Wolf’s voice. All the percussion sounds a bit more strident compared to the Ara. There is a feeling of the details being thrown at you, but the effect isn’t always pleasing. Bass on the U9 has satisfying thump and texture. The impact of the bass is less with the Ara and the texture is a bit smoother and thicker. It’s worth noting that the last two tracks have been modern recordings that are mastered a touch on the cold side. The next track goes more old-school.

Pink Floyd – On The Run (24-96, UK quad vinyl rip) has lots of panning and little detailed interludes. I know my friend, the Bad Boy himself listens for the resolution of the announcer. On the Ara, the announcer is a bit back of where I’d usually hear her and the details of the announcement are harder to make out. This is the frequency response dips coming in again. The stage panning is good on the Ara with sound-effects travelling across the screen with a nice wide arc. Depth is also good with nice back to front pans executed well by the Ara. The stage is articulated well on the Ara with a very natural presentation. The U9 is immediately leaner in the mids and treble with more bass rumble and an underlying menace. The U9 handles the announcer much better, with increased clarity and better depth in the stage. The Ara sounds recessed on her voice. The U9 gives me a narrower soundstage, but with sharper images.

Unique Melody Mason v3 ($2699)
Build and feature comparison
The Mason V3 and Ara both share fits that are hit or miss for folks. Whenever I use the Mason V3, I have to tug up on my ears to get a more secure fit with deeper insertion. With the Ara I have to use large tips to keep the angles of the shell suspended away from my ear. The cable on the Mason V3 is heavy, but also comes with two tonalities to make the Mason V3 more flexible. The Mason V3 has the dB-Go module, which allows tuning the bass and the ambience in the mids. The cases for both are very nice, but I prefer the titanium puck of the Mason V3 (don’t know if they are still making this case). The cork case of the Ara is probably more environmentally friendly and also looks pretty sexy, but it doesn’t have the robustness of titanium. It is easier to close though. The Mason V3 titanium puck makes you detach the earpieces if you don’t want to fight for space. The Mason V3 wins on build for me, but it should at $1100 more.

Sound
For this comparison I kept the DB-Go module on the Mason V3 closed to get a bit more bass. This also reduces the stage a little bit. I used the silver option of the dual-tone cable.

The presentation of Tori’s voice on Pretty Good Year (24-96) has a nice breathiness, while not feeling light or wispy on the Mason V3. Stand-up bass bow-work is full of texture and violins sound smooth and well-defined. Piano is gentle and correct with no tonal imbalances or sharpened notes. The swell of piano strikes is beautifully represented. The Ara matches up well with Tori’s vocal, but is a little sharper on her vocal. Piano is more varied in presentation. It is overall smooth, but when Tori really slams the keys, the Ara hits harder than the Mason V3. The Ara has a touch more midbass, which gives the big bass in the middle of the track some more thickness. The Ara has a touch of track hiss that comes out from the recording.



Where Michael is in the stage says a lot about the presentation of mids on Michael Jackson – Billy Jean (24-96, vinyl rip). He should be centre stage both in width and depth on this particular version of the track (vinyl rip from the USA 1st pressing). Both IEMs do a good job of placing him in the middle of the stage. On the Ara, similar to how Macy’s vocal was presented, that little dip at about 2.5kHz reduces the energy of Michael’s voice, making him come across a bit more laid-back. I’d like to see this little dip filled. The Mason V3 comes across a little more even-toned in this area, but the elevation in the treble of the Mason V3 makes the relative emphasis of Michael’s voice similar. The Mason V3 has a bit more texture in Michael’s voice, with more energy in his grunts and breaths. The Mason V3 carries this one a bit better from a textural perspective. I still have to give some props to the Ara for having an imminently pleasing and integrated feel to the sound.



Thump-thump, thump-thump, bass guitar, guitar wail. Bring that s*** in! Rage Against The Machine – Take The Power Back (16-44) is about raw aggression, and both the Mason V3 and Ara have some points of emphasis to overall balanced sound profiles. The Mason V3 can reach down low with some authority, but that level of extension isn’t necessary here as the track doesn’t dip to the deep sub-bass. The Ara has a little bit more midbass which gives a slight bit more weight and texture to bass guitar notes and more body to the thumping drums. The Ara has loads of impact. Drums and bass guitar are immensely satisfying. The Mason V3 has a lighter touch with the bass guitar with faster decay. In general the Mason V3 comes off lighter and faster. The guitar solo starting at about 2:40 into the track sounds faster and lighter with the Mason V3. Notes are a touch smoother and thicker with more body on the Ara which makes it sound less fast, while the Mason V3 is a touch drier and sharper sounding. Both sound good, but are slightly different flavours. The Ara’s additional body extends to the cymbal work after the solos right before getting into ‘no more lies’ and ‘I take it back y’all’. The Ara has more fluidity in the cymbals than the Mason V3, which sounds a touch hard on the cymbal work with more tin to the cymbal sound. Imaging is pretty even between the Mason V3 and the Ara. The upper treble presentation of the two is very similar with a modest bump in air going to the Mason V3. Neither masks Zach’s sibilant ‘no more liessss’ which is good, but the Ara is a little less emphatic in observing it.

Yosi Horikawa – Wandering (16-44, binaural) is all about stage and that deep artificial bass. The Ara has all the bass quantity I need with good texture. It sounds deep and in line with the rest of the stage presentation. It doesn’t loosen your fillings like this track can, but I’ve never known an all BA setup to do that. I can say that this is some of the most satisfying BA bass that I’ve heard. The texture is rich and natural and imminently enjoyable. The stage representation is deep and tall, but not huge on width. It gets outside the ears, but doesn’t wow you with width. It’s par for the course in this price bracket. What it does give is great imaging, and an oh so pleasing tone. The Mason V3 immediately sounds more open and a touch drier. The sub-bass is bigger and more delightful. The overall sound is drier and harder with less fluidity than the Ara. I like both presentations. I’ll also note that the best pairing I’ve had with the Mason V3 is the N6ii with the E02 amplifier, which has great liquidity to it that synergises well with the Mason V3, but the E02 makes the Ara hiss horrifically.

These don’t sound like they are $1100 apart in price. The Mason V3 is technically the better performer, but part of this is due to tonal choices made on the Ara. These tonal choices are what makes the Ara so charming. I don’t think either of these is really better than the other, they are just different, and I have room in my heart for both.

Specifications

Acknowledgment
The Campfire Audio Ara was provided free-of-charge by Campfire Audio. I do not have to return the Ara after the review but it is not mine to do with what I wish. I have received no compensation for this review. All thoughts in this review are my personal opinion.

Conclusions
The Ara is a moreish, infinitely satisfying balanced IEM. The signatures of the sound are impact, refinement, fluidity, and fullness. There are no parts of the frequency spectrum that come off sounding harsh or thin and everything sounds cohesive. It has good soundstage, while not being best in class. Instrument separation and detail are there, but the note weight (which I like) can make details that are there sound less prominent. The four bass drivers are put to work fantastically. Anybody looking at the frequency response and thinking the bass will be anaemic may be surprised by how full and delightful bass can sound on these. Drum impacts blow my mind on these. These are IEMs that I can listen to at any time and never tire of the sound. They have an organic and welcoming sound that just makes me want to keep them in. I found myself listening to the same track over and over because I forgot to switch between IEMs when doing comparisons. They are hard to take out.

Acknowledgment
The WAVAYA Octa was provided free-of-charge by WAVAYA. I have received no compensation for this review. All thoughts in this review are my personal opinion.

List Price: $1590 (€1590)

Product Website: WAVAYA Octa

This review originally appeared on Audio Primate, but we are nothing without HeadFi, mother to most headphone blogs. This is still the best headphone community in the world.

Introduction
My blogmate, Jackpot77 was contacted by WAVAYA asking if he’d like to do a review of their gear, and kindly introduced me to the company also. I’m glad he did, because I’m a total geek for innovation, and WAVAYA is all about doing stuff that nobody else has done. Talking to the head honcho of WAVAYA, Pasquale, painted a portrait of a man steered by his own compass, but flexible to productive detours from the longitudinal.

As far as I know, WAVAYA is the only company offering porcelain custom shells and the first company offering dual electrostatic (total of 4 drivers) super tweeters (from Sonion) for exceptional air and precision in the treble. They also use tubeless construction, which provides more control over resonance and allows the lowest lows and highest highs to be conveyed with greater magnitude. They’ve got a jewelry series that is embellished with crystals from Swarovski™. They don’t have a faceplate, because that doesn’t work with porcelain, they have a top more like the dome of a sarcophagus—no mummies inside, I promise. They will also be debuting signature series IEMs that are tuned for and by specific performing artists that will likely be revealing in a number of surprising ways. These WAVAYA cats are different.

They decided to pour their personal capital into the business, no loans, all personal skin in the game. Their goal was more to pursue an audio business built primarily for musicians, and their first two offerings, the Tria and the Quadra (see Jackpot77’s review here) were designed for stage and studio musicians who generally want a vibrant in-ear monitor when they are playing. However, these same musicians may want something different when they are listening for pleasure, something more refined and subdued, something that doesn’t have the levels set to 11. The Tria Comfort and the Exa (both now discontinued) moved the sound in this direction and the electrostatic/balanced armature hybrid Penta and Octa have moved further into audiophile territory. I feel privileged to take these steps into the unknown.

Producing porcelain IEMs is a more involved process than producing acrylic IEMs. Along my path to receiving my units I was sent pictures documenting what step everything was at, but the video below shows all that better than the pictures I received. The amount of work going into each pair justifies premium pricing. The Octa take a full day to build, that’s a lot of work. I’ve lifted the video from their website, but the website is worth looking at to see further details about the steps. Producing these is a lot more involved with a lot more chance of loss and need to redo the process, so these are very reasonably priced; a bit of a bargain actually.

One final thing to note, as far as I know the Octa were the first in-ear monitor to use 4 electrostatic tweeters about a year ago—Sonion hadn’t even developed a quad tweeter set yet. Others have done it since and are claiming they were first—I think they are probably wrong.

Usability: Form & Function
Unboxing


The WAVAYA unboxing experience is pretty good. They come in a red, light card box sealed with a metallised WAVAYA sticker. Inside the box there is a soft foam top sheet with a polystyrene inner below and another soft foam sheet on the bottom completing the foam sandwich. The soft foam was off-white, while the polystyrene is of course white. I think they could step this up a level by getting black foam for both parts and potentially using a similar density foam throughout. It’s good, secure packaging with a good internal organisation for content, but it could look and feel more premium. I’ve been told they’ll be updating the packaging and including a t-shirt instead of the pins—I support this and hope to advise on the new packaging.



Inside the box are a plethora of business cards, buttons, and other merchandise. There’s even a lapel pin. Personally, I didn’t find all of these necessary, and I think that most users would be unlikely to use them. I’d invest the money that goes into these items into a nicer foam. I did very much like the ‘Wait it’s porcelain’ card, which gives instructions on how to care for the IEMs. I found this very helpful. There is also a card containing a pair of magnets that can be applied to the leather case to affix it to a microphone stand. At their heart, WAVAYA IEMs are designed for live musicians, so this nod is a good one. There is also a branded polishing cloth, which is pretty much par for the course on custom or high-end IEMs (becoming common in mid-tier $150+ IEMs too).





There is an unique addition in the box, an accessory in a dedicated compartment at the bottom with it’s own plastic case: a set of ear cleaning tools. I found their presence a bit odd, though I did try them. A word of caution, audiologists don’t generally recommend sticking anything inside your ear beyond the outer ear as the risk of permanent damage to hearing isn’t worth getting at a hardened piece of wax near your eardrum. Ears are generally designed to be self-cleaning, but if you have excess wax or hardened wax using an ear-dropper with olive oil a couple times a day should help loosen up wax build-up. Some folks use diluted hydrogen peroxide, but while this will clear wax, it can also cause irritation and a defensive mechanism that will increase wax build-up. Treat your ears gently, they are a marvel of biology.



At the centre of the box is the main event—right where it should be. The IEMs are held within a leather calf-skin case; available in red or black, personalised or not; that is held within a black WAVAYA logo box. Also inside the box is an insert that provides information about the warranty, fitting guarantees, and the special leather box.

The leather box is made from Florentine calf-skin leather and will naturally absorb moisture off your IEMs, which is good. Moisture isn’t good for IEMs, and customs need more protection against moisture. The leather box has a decidedly premium feel and the branding of individual units is clear with a good logo for the Octa. The double box is designed to be affixed, open and pointing upward, to a microphone stand (using the included magnetic stickers), which is a thoughtful piece of design for musicians. Inside the leather box is a leather button strap designed to wrap the IEM cable around and place an IEM on each side of the wrap. The wrap is absolutely necessary because it prevents the porcelain IEMs from moving around inside the box, which should mitigate the risk of the porcelain colliding with equally hard objects and becoming damaged. Inside that wrap there is also a cleaning tool. I’ve used the cleaning tool, but find that my wax build-up has decreased with the porcelain IEMs, so I don’t need it after every time wearing them.



I think some audiophiles will feel cautious about using the calf-skin leather case for a few reasons: it doesn’t have any padding, it isn’t watertight (it should be fairly water resistant), and only the smallest of aftermarket cables fit inside the box using the wrap—not using the wrap would almost certainly lead to cracked porcelain IEMs, don’t do it. If you want to change your cable, there is a good chance that a standard size upgrade cable won’t fit in the leather case—I tested. With regards to the first concern, when I shake the leather case with the IEMs inside, they don’t really move. The double thickness of the leather will also provide some cushion for the little bit of movement that happens. It’s objects in motion that break, the case and strap do effectively limit motion. Unless you throw the case against a wall, it’ll probably be fine. Don’t do a Randy Johnson imitation with the case! With regards to waterproofing, this case won’t prevent water getting in if it’s submerged, it will limit ingress, but it won’t prevent it.


For those worried about submersion or their ability to practice throwing fastballs with their expensive IEMs, a nearly indestructible padded box like a Pelican 1010 with pick and pluck foam or a box similar to the Empire Ears Aegis case with individual padded foam compartments for each earpiece might be a good option to pick up aftermarket.

Pelican 1010 (£21.14) Pick and pluck foam (£5.45)

Other companies sometimes use a metal puck style case, but the only way a puck style case would work is if WAVAYA built a custom insert to wrap a cable and place the IEMs in padding in the centre. I think that this would actually be the best option, as the case would be tough, flexible to a variety of cables and easy to transport with confidence. You’ll probably always have to take it out and have it open when travelling by air, but it is a worthy price to pay for a really solid case. It wouldn’t affix to a microphone stand.

Cable choice
When I placed my ‘order’ for the Octa, choosing 2-pin meant getting a Plastics One cable and a discount, or WAVAYA making a special order to Estron to get a 2-pin SuperBaX cable. After I had a listen to the Plastics One and talked with Pasquale, WAVAYA got a deal with Estron to supply the SuperBaX cable in 2-pin as well as the default T2 setup (that tells you all you need to know about the Plastics One cable). Now you will always get an awesome cable with the Octa. They may even stock the balanced version of the Linum SuperBaX soon for no additional cost on the Octa. Lower priced models will come default with the T2 Linum BaX cable, but will come with the Plastics One if you want 2-pin (Estron doesn’t make a 2-pin BaX cable). I recommend getting the T2 Linum BaX on lower models than the Octa. Because of the design of the Florentine leather box, the IEMs need to ship with a cable for security, so I’m really glad that the default is that they come with a good cable.

Pasquale finds the T2 connector to be superior to 2-pin and MMCX connectors for touring musician use, which is their main audience. It is what Ultimate Ears’ new IPX system is based on, and is compatible with the IPX system, because Estron, who make the T2 connector, co-developed the IPX system. The T2 is water resistant, has a strong connection, and should hold up well if treated decently. The Linum cables are known for having high tensile strength, which means that they aren’t likely to break easily inside the wire. However, the wire breaking is usually because of the housing breaking and exposing the wire, not from any pulling force on the wire, and I’m not convinced that any cable housing without an extra layer (for example, pre-formed heatshrink at the ears) will hold up to much abuse at the connection to the earpiece. The SuperBaX doesn’t have pre-formed heatshrink, but they do feel well-made.

There are reasons for audiophiles to go for 2-pin cables. They may already have some cables they like. They may wish to get a balanced cable and options are much more flexible than with a T2 connector on which direction you can go with a cable. After discussion with Pasquale, he sent a Linum G2 SuperBaX and made sure everyone else could get one also. I actually really like the sound and the impeccable ergonomics of the SuperBaX.



I’ve tried the Octa with a variety of cables (even Plastics One, not worth mentioning in detail here).

• Double Helix Cables Symbiote Elite SP v3 (eight braid) ($790) The treble sounded excellent with this pairing but the bass came out sounding a bit anaemic. For tracks that rely on treble and mids to convey most of the feeling, this is fine, but the bass equation wasn’t quite right for me. The soundstage was improved, but the cost for a little bit more width was too high. Ergonomically, the eight braid is never going to be the most ergonomic, but as I said in my DHC Symbiote review, the quad braid likely will feel fine, give almost identical sonic performance and cost half the amount. This was never going to fit in the case.
• Effect Audio Ares II+ ($219.90) The Ares II+ makes the sound a bit richer and increases bass quantity a bit. I really liked the pairing. You still get the amazing treble off the electrostatic tweeters, but you don’t lose bass like on the DHC Symbiote. The price is also a good match for the discount for not going SuperBaX. Ergonomically, the Ares II+ has almost the same ergonomics as the DHC Symbiote, and so will also clearly never fit in the leather case.
• Cross Lambda Mikumo 2 ($65) This is a good basic copper cable with Litz wire (4-braid, about 28 AWG per wire) and a balanced sound signature. The Mikumo II has better bass, both by volume and by definition than the stock Plastics One cable. Mids are also clearer and fuller and treble performance is more nuanced. It is less ergonomic than the SuperBaX and doesn’t fit in the leather case. I was sent this model by Cross Lambda, but have never reviewed it because as far as I can see it was discontinued within a couple months of my receiving it. It is a good stand-in for a basic copper cable that can generally be had for somewhere in the vicinity of $100 (their new version, the New Mikumo Dragon is about $65). It’s a good basic cable that would benefit from a little bit softer and less springy housing. It doesn’t fit in the leather case. It is a pretty standard size cable, which means that standard size cables will rarely fit the leather box case.
• Linum G2 SuperBaX (included) The cable is very balanced. It has a good amount of bass while not losing texture. It has good extension on both ends of the sound spectrum. It has a good soundstage. It is a lot better than the Plastics One. It has fantastic ergonomics because of the lightness and softness of the cable and it fits in the swish leather case that comes with the IEMs. It’s probably the best choice for most people. There might be some wait for the 2-pin version as it may have to be ordered from Estron. If you live in a sweaty environment and need the tougher connection of the T2, this is the standard option. A balanced option is available from Estron, but is not sold by WAVAYA, which is understandable. T2 cables are compatible with Ultimate Ears, but I’m not sure if IPX (Ultimate Ears) cables are compatible with T2 fixtures.

Aesthetics & Build
The WAVAYA Octa I picked out are the mother of pearl lustre finish. It is a nice white rainbow pearlescent effect. Lustre finishes are free on the Octa, but $100 (€100) on other models. When the light catches these right, they are stunning—difficult to photograph, but stunning. They look even better in person than the photos here. Because of how the glaze is applied no two WAVAYA will look exactly the same. Each is a unique artisanal piece. I have now seen several WAVAYA glazes in person, and I think that my favourite is the finish on the WAVAYA Quadra reviewed by Jackpot77 and my second favourite is the mother of pearl effect. The all white Tria Live that I’ll be reviewing later remind me of a dainty teacup and are also quite nice. I recommend having a conversation with the company on what finishes turn out the best of the finishes that you like and go with their recommendation.



Another aspect of the WAVAYA IEMs is that they have tubeless outlets. Instead of a structure defined by tubes snaking around the inside of the IEM they built a structure to guide the sound which they say gives better fidelity and sound magnitude while being more durable.

Ergonomics
Some research before they arrived
I asked Pasquale, the leader of the porcelain posse why the heck I would want to put porcelain in my ear. I mean—won’t it shatter and send little splinters into my temporal lobe to scramble up my mind ala Bob Dylan in Alabama? I didn’t really ask that—I lied to you there. I used to ask the stupid questions that people didn’t want to ask in classrooms while I was growing up because the questions aren’t actually stupid and people need to know this stuff but may be too embarrassed or shy to ask. When I thought about porcelain, I imagined that it was really a hard ceramic with good thermal properties. The most bomb-proof IEMs are made of zirconium ceramic, ceramic doesn’t mean brittle. One of my favourite countries to visit is Turkey, and in the palace and many of the mosques there are the famously decorated Iznik tiles, but what most folks don’t know when looking at them is the tiles are excellent at retaining and reflecting heat, so they are actually quite good insulation.


Rüstem Paşa Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey
The properties of ceramics could be quite different than acrylic customs, so I asked Pasquale to help me define these properties. The testimony on the website that once you go porcelain plastic will never do wasn’t quite specific enough for me.



So basically, acrylics are easier to work with and less expensive to work with, but have differences, may be more comfortable in the ear and can cause contact dermatitis or allergic reactions (in the 1% to 1.5% of people who have an acrylic allergy)—a recent USA study found 2.6% of people undergoing patch tests to be allergic to hydroxyethyl methacrylate—that was a bigger study than the others, but these were people who knew they were allergic to something, so detection rate of allergens would be expected to be higher than the general public.

However, most people haven’t regularly exposed themselves to acrylic, and most people won’t be wearing and sweating in their in-ears for 8 hours in a day, so there may be higher rates of diagnosis of allergy or contact dermatitis in people who regularly use acrylic in-ears in heat, such as musicians and folks living in hot climates. This would mean that more custom IEM users would be expected to have allergic reactions or contact dermatitis while using acrylic in ears. Essentially rates are unknown for contact dermatitis, and methacrylic allergy is rare but not hugely rare; i.e. porcelain is worth trying.

With regard to sweating and wax, I have noticed that my two custom acrylic in-ears do have a tendency to make my ear canals sweat a little bit and my ears are more prone to wax build-up with customs than with other in-ears. This could be attributable to depth of insertion rather than material of insertion.



Upon arrival
It is not uncommon for custom in-ears, which are made from a direct mould of your ear, to not fit perfectly the first time. My Octa was uncomfortable in one ear and perfect in the other on first arrival and did need a refit. This isn’t a problem unique to WAVAYA—Twister6 had an IEM that needed refitting from a much bigger company. WAVAYA promptly took care of a second set from the same impressions with a more comfort oriented fit, and they arrived with perfect fit within a couple weeks. I was very pleased with the service I received. If you want to have a check on whether your impressions are fit for purpose, WAVAYA does have an online impression checker, which is an innovative feature that should help avoid refits. WAVAYA also offers VIP Service for $199 (€199) that includes the following: pick-up of impressions at your door, fast-track preparation and shipping of plastic shells to test fit (repeated until the right fit is achieved), fast track production of in-ears within maximum of 30 days or whole VIP fee is refunded, priority shipping, and a dedicated customer service representative.

This said, the material does take some getting used to as it is harder than acrylic. My ears are very sensitive—my nerves are sensitive in general, which probably helps my hearing response. I think my ears are more sensitive than average, honestly. Porcelain is harder and heavier than acrylic, which has meant that I note it in my outer and inner ear more under the same fit as an acrylic pair. This awareness of the IEMs does fade over time, and they are less noticeable after nearly a month of daily use, but I don’t think they will become invisible to my senses and that is okay. They are comfortable for me for goodly length listening sessions. I think this will be an experience that varies from person to person.

With regards to ear sweat and wax build-up. I haven’t noticed any difference in ear sweat levels, but I am producing less wax during insertion. The porcelain has been coming out basically clean (can’t stop all wax) for me at each insertion, which is not what I observe with my acrylic customs. I haven’t tested these under extremely sweaty situations, but I anticipate them doing well.

Audio quality
The WAVAYA Octa gives a balanced frequency response with a touch of warmth in the lower mids, silky yet soaring female vocals and refined treble that extends for miles. Bass drops low and drum impacts are palpable in a way uncommon with balanced armatures. You don’t get the rumbling extension of a dynamic driver’s sub-bass rendering, but the balanced armature extends as deep with good quality and natural timbre. Soundstage has good width with nice depth and less pronounced height but has excellent instrument separation and resolution. These have impeccable timing with waves of speed in reserve. Technical performance on these punches above their price-tag. I think these will routinely compete with more expensive IEMs.

Matchability
Source
I didn’t experience hiss on any of the sources that I tried the WAVAYA Octa with.

QP2R & SOUNDAWARE M2Pro
The gets enough power from both units with the same tone. On the QP2R, I went for low gain (high bias, volume 94), but to get the volume matched on the Soundaware M2Pro the gain setting jumped to high gain with a volume setting of 51. The Soundaware M2Pro has a touch of edge in the mids, while the QP2R is a little more supple. Both resolve space well with the Octa.



The QP2R and M2Pro are clearer, with less distortion on Wilco – Handshake Drugs (16/44), than the HiBy R3, with this especially noticeable in the bass and the kick drum when they get high amplitude in the track.

HiBy R3
The HiBy R3 is a little thinner in the mids and treble than the QP2R or SOUNDAWARE M2Pro. On Gordon Gano’s vocals in Violent Femmes – American Music (16/44), Gordon gets a little more nasal tone. Bass on the R3 is a little thicker, but at the cost of some definition.

LG V30
The LG V30 does well, but isn’t as dynamic sounding as the QP2R or M2Pro. I’d happily listen, as it still sounds good with nice depth to the listen. The LG V30 sounds a touch soft through the mids and doesn’t have the same air and extension in the treble. Bass still grooves along nicely, though.

Comparisons
All comparisons were made using the Questyle QP2R in high bias. Volume matching was done using white noise and an SPL meter. Where perceived volume and measured volume did not match multiple remeasurements were made and averaged to address the affect of position on measurement.



WAVAYA Octa ($1590) vs. UERR ($999)
The Octa has nice chunky bass with good texture on Wilco – Handshake Drugs (16/44) and when that kick drum comes in it kicks like a mule. You can actually feel the kick drum, which is some nice amplitude. Jeff Tweedy’s vocals are dead to rights right on. The maracas shaking like a pill dispenser through the whole track are at just the right depth. It’s a really nice presentation. Bass is a little less textured on the UERR and the kick drum doesn’t bash your face. I prefer the face-bashing of the Octa. The Octa has a touch more width to the piano imaging.


On 9Bach – Llyn Du (24-88) The Octa has great presentation of percussion. When sticks snap, when cymbals shimmer, when electronic percussion ticks rapidly, it just gets it right. Female vocals are universally delightful on the Octa, silky yet detailed, emotive but never strident. It’s no different with Lisa Jen Brown’s sung Welsh. When the menacing bass drops in, it certainly carries the menace it needs to in good balance with all the other elements. There are subtle ticks far back in the stage that come out perfectly resolved. The UERR is bit more forward and breathy on the vocals but without the silken quality. Bass also comes across with good texture. Percussion feels lighter with less body. While the vocals are more forward, they don’t sound quite as nice. Both sets do really nicely on this. The Octa sounds like it has a touch more depth to the stage, but I think the UERR gets the advantage in stage height.

The presentation is clean and clear while having some emotive grunt on the guitar and nice slam on the drums on Tool – Forty Six & 2 (16/44) with the WAVAYA Octa. Drums have a roundness and impact to them that makes it feel like the real thing. I think that WAVAYA has underestimated how well these perform with drums among their line up. These might not punch you in the face with impact, but the impact is nonetheless palpable and the quality is excellent. The stage width is quite good and depth is also good but not exceptional. Instrument separation is exceptional. Timbre of instruments just feels right. When the machine gunning drums come in at about 4:45 the transients have good attack and decay, nothing lingers too long and everything arrives on time. The rising shimmer of the cymbal in the background is deliciously refined on the Octa. Drums with the UERR don’t have the same feel or impact. The decay is a touch fast, comparatively which removes some of the roundness of the drum feel. The shadow of the shimmer in the intro is there, but it doesn’t have the same kind of texture to it, it feels partial. Stage width is less. As with 9Bach, the stage on the UERR has a little more height. The WAVAYA Octa retains more feel across the instrument spectrum when there are intentionally overlapped discordant harmonies (bass growl plus crashing cymbal usually), it gets more visceral feel while maintaining superior clarity. Maynard’s voice sounds excellent on both, but has a little bit of sweetness mixed in with the power on the Octa. When comparing bass, the Octa has a more full-throated growl on bass guitar and excellent extension. I do wonder if the newer BaX equipped UERRs (I’ve got the old 2-pin style) will get some of the characteristics the SuperBaX seems to impart on the bass of the Octa.



Jon Anderson’s voice comes across as if carried by angel wings on King Crimson – Lizard(16/44, Steven Wilson Remaster) on the Octa. The soundstage is laid out almost like a theatrical presentation. Jon Anderson’s soliloquy leading us in the beginning from far stage right with the piano diagonal to the rear of stage left and somehow miniature in scale in the intro. When loudness explodes on the stage, Jon comes to the middle of the stage and the individual instruments arranged in space or avoiding a defined space except above (the soaring cellos). The Octa has a way of making everything sound real. Bass is a touch forward of neutral on the Octa, but has good quality and depth and doesn’t sound coloured, it’s just a touch elevated. From oboe to clarinet, to marching drum, to piano, the flourishes of each instrument are refined and separated in space. The electrostatic tweeters work some magic here. I don’t know if it takes four to do it, but four are certainly doing it. Jon Anderson’s voice on the UERR has a touch more lower mids influence, giving a warmer character while strangely also not having as much body. Piano is more forward on the UERR, but bass is further back and not as textured. The Octa just gives me more feel and ambiance than I get from the UERR. At a $1590 base price, this is excellent value.

WAVAYA Octa ($1590) vs. Stealth Sonics U9 ($1099)
For my comparison with the WAVAYA Octa I had each headphone on the same cable, the Effect Audio Ares II+. When I did initial volume matches, I got the same volume for both headphones on the Effect Audio Ares II+. Listening backed up this measurement, though the U9 always sounds a little louder, which is probably due to having less stage depth and more mids emphasis than the Octa—treble tends to eat up some SPL without being as audible. It could easily be measurement error, too. The nozzle angle is difficult for getting good consistent measurements on the U9 and customs always have difficulties, which is why I often measure them multiple times. Because of the volume measurement being the same, I adjusted sound levels as I wished but just made sure they were the same for each, which is a nice benefit. The effect of the Ares II+ was to improve the bass volume and definition on the WAVAYA Octa while boosting clarity a bit, so I expect a similar effect on the U9.

The violins are deliciously rendered on Regina Spektor – Field Below (16/44) and Regina’s voice sounds nice, but a bit forward of neutral on the U9. Piano has great body and texture on the U9 but can be a bit hard and forward. A little more restraint would be good here. It’s overall a very solid performance, especially at $1099. There is a touch of shoutyness to Regina’s voice on the U9. Piano is more delicate and refined on the Octa with just the right amount of reverb. Regina’s voice is still forward but doesn’t get as shouty (still some shouty, probably just track mastering). There is more ambiance to Regina’s voice with the more texture extending out into her overtones and more nuance in the vocals. The refinement of the Octa is superior on Regina’s vocals, giving a more lifelike presentation. The stage on the Octa has more depth and instruments have a more natural presentation in space with better separation than the U9.

Yes – Sound Chaser (24-96, Steven Wilson remaster) is a speed test track for me. The U9 keep up with good impact. All the little treble tings, cymbal shimmers and percussive impacts are rendered very nicely. The soundscape is busy, but individual instruments can be picked out, with a little effort in their own space. Stage depth is not as good as the WAVAYA Octa, but it is still good. Instrument separation is really excellent on the Octa, with different elements of treble finding what feels like their true place and character in the right layer more consistently. Individual vocalists are easier to pick out on the Octa. Tone on drums and bass is accurate on the Octa, but impact is better on the U9 due to having a dynamic driver built in. If the Octa was using a dynamic driver here instead a balanced armature for the lows I think it would give the same kind of effect—assuming the right dynamic driver were used.

Outkast – Sorry Ms. Jackson (16/44) is a surprisingly layered and textured track. The treble on the WAVAYA Octa is superlative with layering, definition, and a sound that sounds ‘just right.’ There is a fundamental correctness to the treble presentation. It pulls out every little detail while still having a good decay and tonal accuracy. The treble just sounds real. On this track the WAVAYA exhibits a bit extra snap in the 3kHz – 4kHz range on the snare job, thrusting the impact hard forward. Bass is tight and controlled while still having some groove on it. Vocals are more forward on the U9 and a touch smoother and sweeter. Stage width and depth are a little bit smaller than the WAVAYA. The bass on the U9 has a bit more feeling, though the frequency response capabilities are pretty equal. The Octa has more roll off at the lowest end of the sub-bass range, which makes me inclined to like the sub-bass presentation of the U9 a little more for this hip-hop track. I like the less forward mids a touch more on the Octa.

I’m getting great texture in the treble on Blue Oyster Cult – (Don’t Fear) The Reaper (DSD64). The guiro comes through with some nice firm texture without being pushed too forward. Cowbell is a touch more forward than usual but not overexposed. There is good width, getting outside the ears and good height presentation. Because of a tendency toward forward elements in the signature, the depth is fairly average. The guitar solo in the middle of the track is silken in its transitions with excellent decay characteristics and good speed on the attack. Cymbals have good definition and remain back of the vocals (this is a good thing). The overall signature of the Octa is less forward. Guiro and cowbell sit at similar depth but vocals are less forward. The sound has a bit more natural delineation of instruments. There is effortless separation, which causes me to notice the separation of individual vocalists in vocal harmonies more than I have before. Bass on the Octa is present, but not emphasized at the lower end like the U9. I personally prefer the U9 bass, but this is because extra sub-bass energy is always welcome and while a balanced armature can replicate the tone and timbre of deep bass well, it can’t match the palpable power that the dynamic driver led setup of the U9 can do. Treble on both is excellent, but the Octa is more refined and effortless which gives a better stage and a more real feel in vocals and instruments. The timing of the Octa treble just has more sonic information.

Yoni Wolf’s vocal comes out with that sweet nasally quality that I’ve come to expect and cherish on Why? – Strawberries (16/44) with the WAVAYA Octa. There is excellent separation and attack in the numerous treble and upper mids percussion instruments with natural decay all around. You can almost hear the individual grains in the maracas. Detail plus on the WAVAYA Octa. The synth bass and claps are a bit bigger on the U9. Yoni’s voice is sweeter and a bit less nasally than the WAVAYA, which means there is a touch of colour in the U9 signature because Yoni should sound a bit more nasal. The stage width is a bit less on the U9 than the Octa. Maracas are rendered just as precisely and decisively on the U9 as on the WAVAYA, which is impressive given the fact that the Octa uses 2 pairs of electrostatic tweeters.

Overall, the WAVAYA Octa was the superior IEM, but the gap is less than the $700 price difference would indicate—diminishing returns and all that. The WAVAYA wins on separation, refinement and the way the mids and treble just sound more real. The U9 has better bass and impact because that’s what dynamic drivers do best.

WAVAYA Octa ($1590) vs. Unique Melody Mason V3 ($2699)
Speedfiends rejoice Billy Cobham – Quadrant 4 (DSD64) delivers some mighty rapid percussion and guitar. The Unique Melody Mason V3 does a great job resolving the rapid-fire cymbal work in the the treble. All other parts of the spectrum are also resolved with great speed on the Mason V3. On the WAVAYA Octa the bass drum isn’t coming off as clean as on the Mason V3. Cymbals have a bit more decay on the cymbals, but still keep up the speed on the cymbals well. Mids seem a touch further up in the stage on the Octa than on the Mason V3. Bass and guitar are further back on the Mason V3, which gives more perception of depth and more space for the cymbal hits to play within. The snare drums come off with a much cleaner rhythm, as does the bass. The Unique Melody Mason V3 does have a resolution advantage at $1000 more in price, but the decay is shorter on all areas of the spectrum, where in some places the listener might want a little less speed and precision.

The sweet violins in the intro on Kate Bush – Cloudbusting (24/96, vinyl rip) carry nice emotional weight while being precise on the Mason V3. Kate’s vocals are more forward, silky, and sweet on the Octa and a touch more breathy on the Mason V3. Violins have a bit more body and drums are more textured. The smacking of Kate’s lips is better revealed on the Octa during the intro, which might not be desirable for some, but is realistic. Both of these have realistic sounding timbre on the drums, but the Octa is more realistic with more tonal detail on drum hits. I love them both, but I get a bit more emotional response on the Octa than the Mason V3. When switching over to the copper cable on the Mason V3, I get a very similar presentation to the Octa. The flexibility is a really nice feature of the Mason V3, it really is like two IEMs in one with a common musical vocabulary but slightly different expression. Even in the copper comparison, the Octa is a bit richer on Kate’s vocals.

Bass anyone? Yosi Horikawa – Wandering (16/44, binaural) has a big deep bass drop that I’d never fully realised until I recently listened to the Stealth Sonics U2, which rattles your brain like a can of pink paint. Continuing with a copper clad Mason V3 I get more detail in the mids but more bass body and depth on the Octa. The sound is more distant and less visceral on the Mason V3. It’s mighty spacious. Stage depth is better across the spectrum on the Mason V3. Instrument separation is excellent on both, but the Mason V3 comes off just a bit clearer.

The bass has nice deep extension on San Francisco Symphony, Michael Tilson Thomas – Beethoven – 9th Symphony; IV. Finale, Ode to Joy (24-96) with the undertones well resolved on the Octa. The male soloist has great power and definition. When the chorus comes in each individual voice is easy to separate in space with the strings backing nicely. Even when it gets busy some individual vocalists are easily picked out among the chorus. The Octa is comparatively warm in the mids to the Mason V3 which has a lighter, airier expression. The Mason V3 (copper cable) does a better job picking up stage depth and horns are more delicately rendered. Stage height is also taller on the Mason V3. Cello plucks and bass plucks are rendered better on the Octa with more weight and texture. These plucks are probably in the same frequency range as drums, which still have better resolution on the Octa with a more realistic timbre. With the copper cable, the Mason V3 doesn’t pick out individual vocalists as well as the Octa. With the silver cable, the sound has a bit more air to it on the Mason V3 and also a bit more ability to pick out individual vocal elements and small groups of vocalists. Strings have a bit more warmth on the Octa, with lower strings having a bit of accentuation. The tonal balance gives a nice natural feel to the instruments, though it would probably be a touch more neutral without the little bit of lower mids emphasis that lends warmth to the sound. I think a lot of people are going to like the combination of slightly north of neutral bass with good sub-bass extension, and the sublime texture and speed that the electrostatic tweeters give to the treble and mids.



The Octa are delightful. While they give up some air and tightness of resolution to the Mason V3, they hold up on speed, are better on drum hits and on resolving individual vocals, and have wonderful timbre. The Mason V3 has less distortion and a little more technical accuracy, but the Octa are more emotive. These are surprisingly well-matched at an $1100 difference (Mason V3 more expensive).

Specifications
WAVAYA have provided a frequency response chart, so I’ll provide that here.





Conclusions
The WAVAYA Octa has absolutely dreamy performance at $1590. As far as I know, the Octa was the first IEM to have an electrostatic quad tweeter setup, and I have to say, the kind of refinement that the quad tweeter gives to the sound is remarkable. Basically from the lower mids to the upper treble instruments just sound deliciously realistic. The bass has good texture, but it is a balanced armature set-up in the bass, so don’t expect that it will rumble you to your core like a dynamic driver can. From a comfort perspective, the harder porcelain material takes some getting used to, and still feels more present than an acrylic, but at the same time doesn’t cause the same amount of sweating or wax build-up, so it is a trade-off. I’m used to it, but it isn’t as comfortable as my best fitting acrylics—might be different for others. My ears are sensitive. The accessories that come with this are exceptional. The Linum SuperBaX is a fantastically comfortable and excellent sounding cable, the leather box securely holds the IEMs and looks classy. Overall, this is an exceptional bargain at $1590. WAVAYA has hit a grand salami here, My Oh My (still a Seattle Mariners fan).



Rating Disclaimer: ratings are subjective. Audio quality and value do not mean the same thing across all prices. A headphone with a 5 rating on audio at $5 does not have equivalent sound quality as a 5 rating at $500. Likewise, value at $5 is not the same as value at $5000 dollars.

Pros and cons are for HiFiMAN RE2000 Silver, value rating reflects full retail price. At time of publication RE2000 Silver was on sale for $799.

Acknowledgment
The HiFiMAN RE2000 Silver and Gold were provided by HiFiMAN for review. I have received no compensation for this review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

This review was originally posted on Audio Primate. We share on Head-Fi because most of the blogger community doesn't exist without it. The Head-Fi community is vital to the world of headphones and IEMs.

Introduction
I’ve had a long smoldering love affair with HiFiMAN technology. The RE0 was my first ‘high-end’ in-ear. I still have it. The HE6 was my first pinnacle level listen. The Susvara is my favourite headphone on earth. Mark over at HiFiMAN is one of the nicest folks that I’ve worked with. I like the company. I like the product. However, there have always been rumblings on the internet about build quality horror stories that I’ve been lucky enough never to see or experience. I’ve defended HiFiMAN on the web and held up their customer service as better than reports would have you believe. I think that Mark has probably helped on that end.

This time I’ve gotten a build quality dud in the RE2000 Silver. None of the cosmetic imperfections of this review unit make it sound bad. Actually it sounds rather excellent. I can find myself grooving to either the RE2000 Gold or RE2000 Silver until my ears get tired (more on that later). Usually, unboxings are a joyous time, but in this review, I’ll be doing good news/bad news. The good news is that you get to have sound quality earlier than I normally do in reviews! Yay!



Audio quality
The RE2000 Silver has a balanced sound with deep bass extension, delicate slightly long decaying treble and a big soundstage with more width than depth or height. The illusion of additional depth is created due to some recession in the mids. The sound isn’t really v-shaped, as this would imply that the treble is more forward of the mids, but this isn’t so, the bass is forward of the mids, but the treble is not very much so. Instrument placement within the stage is generally good. The mids have a breathy quality to them that will either sound airy with some fragility or sibilant, depending on your track and sonic preferences.

DAP/Phone Pairing


As can be seen below in the comparisons chart, the RE2000 Silver is easier to drive. The specifications say they should be exactly the same, but for some reason they do not match for me. I tested this on multiple DAPs using the same Mandarines Symbio W eartips (best match for tips I found, Final E type is also good). With that in mind, I’m going to test the drivability of the harder to drive RE2000 Gold.

First up: phone. The LG V30 is known for doing a pretty decent job driving a lot of things, but the RE2000 Gold doesn’t match up too well when I throw on DSD (might be the lower mastering level of DSD) with Pixies – Where is My Mind? I’m not getting the soar that I expect and the bass sounds muted compared to other pairings. Treble is coming off a bit tinny and thin. When I try an easier track, Weezer – In the Garage (16/44 CD rip, medium loudness master), the V30 does better, but cymbals still sound a bit tinny, could just be the master. Queen – My Best Friend back in DSD has more volume (louder master?), but the cymbals still lack shimmer. Bass is better handled on this track. Overall, I don’t think the V30 can handle the RE2000 Gold. A quick switch to RE2000 silver confirms two things: they are easier to drive (play louder), and they don’t sound the same (more on that later).

On the opposite end of the power spectrum for driving the RE2000 Gold sits the Questyle QP2R. The QP2R is a beast with just about any portable headphone or IEM. The presentation of cymbals on Pixies – Where is My Mind? has more shimmer resulting in a more natural feel. Bass also gets some added prominence as I don’t think the LG V30 could get that bass showing in full. Same effect on Weezer – In the Garage.


Somewhere in between the two poles lies the SOUNDAWARE M2Pro. It does just as good a job as the Questyle QP2R. The RE2000 needs to be well fed. If you are playing off your phone, you probably shouldn’t be considering the RE2000.

Comparisons


For this time around, I’m going to do something a little different. I’m going to do comparisons in single-ended. For all RE2000 listens I used Mandarines Symbio W eartips, as the included tips with the RE2000 Gold and Silver are not suitable for my purposes and the Mandarines Symbio W sound the best of any tips I tried.



I used the QP2R for all comparisons. Since I’d rather just talk about audio, I’ve put my value comparisons in the table below. Onward and upward!



Ultimate Ears Pro Reference Remastered (UERR) vs. HiFiMAN RE2000 Silver
There’s a soft percussion in the background of Daft Punk – Instant Crush in the intro that comes through really nice on the RE2000 Silver. The RE2000 sounds bold and beautiful on this track. Right off, bass on the UERR is leaner. The RE2000 Silver has a touch of reverb on the intro solo. Soundstage has more height, but the RE2000 Silver has more width. The RE2000 Silver has vocals positioned a bit back of where the UERR has them. The RE2000 Silver sounds a bit more integrated. The sound stage just flows and feels natural on the RE2000 Silver.

Geddy Lee is my king of sibilance. On Rush – Spirit Of The Radio neither of these has any problem with sibilance. Only what should be there is there. The overall sound of the UERR is thinner and less natural sounding than the RE2000 Silver. The RE2000 Silver has an immediately more organic and approachable sound. Vocals are further back on the RE2000 Silver than on the UERR, but they also sound clearer.

When comparing the UERR to the RE2000 Silver on Metallica – Master Of Puppets, the UERR comes off sounding sterile. The RE2000 Silver is more energetic, inviting, and to use a term I rarely use: musical. Musical is rarely the right term to use, as it has next to no meaning. Some people use it to say more like vinyl. Some people use it to say more v-shaped. I’m using it here to say more organic sounding. It feels more like music.

I’ve never used this track as a test track, which is kind of a shame, as Pink Floyd – The Thin Icehas some layering in the stage, an airy vocal delivery and a mix of natural and artificial sounds in a simple arrangement. I recently listened through The Wall while contemplating the end of something beautiful. The UERR doesn’t have slightly recessed vocals, which allows Roger Waters to come through a bit louder, but the RE2000 Silver conveys more of the emotional content of his vocals. I also noticed that the crying baby felt more real and present at the beginning of the track. The width of the stage is less on the UERR compared to the RE2000 Silver, as I get more stage to the right where Roger Waters’s ‘if you should go skating on the thin ice of modern life’. Synths sound more accurate on the UERR. The drums have more impact and the guitar solo near the end of the track has more fullness on the RE2000 Silver. Drum impacts are also more convincing on the RE2000 Silver.

Macy Gray – Slowly is off of stripped, Macy Gray’s Chesky Records binaural+ recording. This means that the stage should be natural and sound absolutely fantastic through a good set of headphones. This track also throws guitar and stand up bass at you in nearly the same plane and playing with complementary rhythms that blend together beautifully. There’s also a slow distant drum rhythm. Of course Macy Gray’s voice just bleeds emotion all-over the stage. I love this song. The UERR presents the track more compact with less width and depth. It also doesn’t move me as much, even though Macy Gray and the mids in general are not recessed (RE2000 Silver has some recession in the mids). I know the UERR is supposed to represent neutral, but I like how the RE2000 Silver sounds better.

Unique Melody Mentor V3 vs. HiFiMAN RE2000 Silver
By default in my listening tests with the Unique Melody Mentor V3, I had the dB-Go ports flipped wide open and the silver cable attached, as it just sounds better with silver. I think this is a good time to bring up one of the marketing claims made by HiFiMAN, here’s their marketing picture describing how balanced armatures suck. They claim that balanced armatures yield a flat emotionless sound. This kind of marketing generalisation is an unacceptable gross distortion.



The truth is that all the common technologies out there can be built to be low distortion. Balanced armature set-ups solve distortion problems by running multiple BA in parallel. This issue that HiFiMAN is reporting is actually a non-issue. This isn’t to say that the topology driver can’t have less distortion, but conspicuously HiFiMAN hasn’t bothered to report their distortion numbers or compare them to any high-end BA designs. If you are going to make an outrageous claim, it should be supported with data. Without any evidence, I’m calling bull.

Billy Cobham – Quadrant 4 is a fast frickin’ track. This track blows speed all over the frequency spectrum. There’s so much speed in this track, Pablo Escobar’s estate gets royalties every time it’s played.


For some interesting facts about Pablo Escobar, check the Encyclopedia Britannica.
Who’s faster, the RE2000 Silver, or the Mentor V3? It’s the Mentor V3. The Mentor V3 gives more distinct cymbal strikes in the fast intro. Speed in the mids and bass is roughly equivalent, but the Mentor V3 handles the minuscule cymbal taps with more precision. Sometimes some cymbal action is smoothed over on the RE2000 Silver. It’s just not as fast. The bass on both the RE2000 Silver and the Mentor V3 is groovy. The Mentor V3 has a bit more forward bass, but the RE2000 Silver has a bit more refined bass texture. Both do an excellent job.



This song is perhaps more famous because of Saturday Night Live and ‘I need more cowbell’ than being a humongous hit on several top 1000 song lists, but the percussion instrument I’m more often listening for in Blue Oyster Cult – (Don’t Fear) The Reaper is the guiro. Both instruments are faint, but the guiro (I think that’s what I’m hearing, couldn’t find a listing other than percussion) has more textured presentation so gives some resolution signals that the cowbell doesn’t. The cowbell tells me about depth and a little on frequency response. The Mentor V3 sounds very natural with the track. The full texture of the guiro comes through and the cowbell is at the right depth. The guitar solo sounds precise and tuneful. Vocals have that nice classic warmness typical of the age of the recording. Bass is firm, but not huge with the Mentor V3. The RE2000 Silver has a bit more sustain and menace on the bass guitar without being as loud, due to increased texture. Drums are a touch more forward on the RE2000 Silver, but cymbals or further back. The cymbals on the Mentor V3 are a bit forward of neutral.

If you are feeling vulnerable, Damien Rice – Elephant, may make you feel less vulnerable in comparison. The Mentor V3 presents violins both delicately and with emotion. The mids are a bit more forward than the RE2000 Silver and presented somehow with greater grace and feeling. The timbre of the guitar and the sorrow in Damien’s voice just carry me more on the Mentor V3. Notes on the RE2000 Silver are a bit more ethereal, with a wispiness that belays the weight that the guitar plucks can have. It’s a more mechanical presentation, while the Mentor V3 is more sentimental. I think some of this comes down to how notes are weighted: the Mentor V3 notes have a greater weight to the centre of a note’s attack and decay, while the RE2000 applies greater relative weight to the decay in the upper mids and treble. The slight emphasis on decay on the RE2000 Silver gives it some added airiness, but makes it sound less rounded than the Mentor V3.

2Pac – Changes gives me some nice low-end menace out of the RE2000 Silver. There is really good width in the stage on the RE2000 Silver. Vocals sound clear and sufficiently rich. 2Pac’s vocals sound a little further back in the stage with the Mentor V3. Treble response on the V3 is better on this track too. Bass on the RE2000 Silver has better extension and potency in the sub-bass area with the Mentor V3 wide open in dB-Go module, with the backing bass track sounding better on the RE2000 Silver. Turning the dB-Go module closed ups the sub-bass a bit, but the bass still sounds a little more textured and complete on the RE2000 Silver. I prefer the piano presentation on the Mentor V3.

Why? – Strawberries has a big bass drop and a ton of treble. The treble on the RE2000 Silver is a bit smoother and less forward on this track. The bass impact on this track is much better on the RE2000 Silver. If you want to compare what dynamic drivers do better than balanced armatures for real, most of it is the impact and depth of bass. The RE2000 Silver is outperforming the Mentor V3 in both aspects. It just moves more air, it’s bass you feel, not just hear, and it sounds fuller too.

Lark Studio LSX vs. HiFiMAN RE2000 Silver
OutKast – Ms. Jackson has a lot going on, for real. The RE2000 Silver has some great menace going with the bass guitar, with tight funky plucks. The multi-tracked layered stage is well presented with individual elements easily discernible. However, each element is not entirely distinctive, which will be a function of the treble levels on the RE2000 Silver. With the Lark Studio LSX the underlying bass in the background is pushed well-forward. The bass drum kicks you in the face on the LSX. The LSX, in spite of the bass emphasis, still provides extraordinarily well textured bass. The bass on the LSX is a lot like dynamic driver bass. It actually is bass that you feel, which is uncommon in balanced armature setups. The lower mids and upper midbass have a warmer sound on the Lark Studio LSX. Soundstage on the LSX sounds a little wider than the RE2000 Silver on this track. Individual elements in the stage also feel a bit more distinct with better instrument separation. The sound of the LSX is actually a bit reminiscent of the RE2000 Gold but with better build quality and a bit more separation in the mids. Piano in the intro is less forward as the mids of the RE2000 Silver are a bit back of neutral. This placement of the mids tends to make the sound stage sound a bit deeper. The LSX sounds forward in general due to the elevated bass and the pretty normal emphasis mids. Both of these are fun sounding with natural timbre. The RE2000 Silver has a more neutral sound than the LSX, which is a bombastic but lovely sounding number.

On the RE2000 Silver the recessed mids make Michael Jackson sound like he is way deep in the stage rather than in the middle of it on Michael Jackson – Billie Jean. The LSX has a more front row sound, while the RE2000 Silver sounds like it is further back in the crowd. The RE2000 Silver crowd is a more civil affair, whilst the LSX is a party. The RE2000 Silver is Coldplay (civilised and moving), and the LSX is Bruno Mars + Beyonce (absolutely ridiculously fun). The Lark Studio LSX has Michael where he should be, right in the middle of the sound stage, rather than pushed back. It also pushes bass forward of the mids, which is off of neutral. The bass is big on the LSX. Both do an excellent job of resolving instruments in space, but the LSX’s better formulation of the mids gives more flexibility for instruments that occupy the mids to move deeper in the stage.



The RE2000 Silver presents Kuniko – Pleiades: I. Melanges (Mixtures) with a nice even keel. Nothing sounds over-emphasised or out of place, whether it be xylophone, tympani, or chimes. The increasing aggression of the sound at about 2 minutes in builds beautifully. The LSX gives a similar performance, but the whole sound is more front row than 3 rows back of the stage. The LSX easily goes toe-to-toe on timbre, and might be a bit more sonically precise. Soundstage size is a push, but soundstage positioning is definitely different.

Holy crap is that a forward bass when I throw Wilco – Handshake Drugs on with the Lark Studio LSX. It’s too much actually, the bass is overwhelming Jeff Tweedy’s vocal in the intro. It slinks back a little bit later while still having some presence, like the bass guitarist moved back towards the drum kit or like Jeff Tweedy moved forward in the stage. The bass is tighter and more controlled on the RE2000 Silver, but also has more perceivable extension. The perceived increase in extension is because the Lark Studio LSX has some added midbass that throws the deeper lows out of balance when deeper bass instrumentation and midbass and upper midbass are present. The RE2000 Silver sounds better on this track, though I do still find myself wishing the little bit of recession in the mids wasn’t there.

The breathiness of the RE2000 Silver really suits Tori Amos’s vocals on Hey Jupiter, in my opinion, as it gives even more fragility to the presentation. Some will find the sound sibilant as the breathiness also imbues more weight to her ‘sss’ sounds. In contrast, the LSX presents Tori a bit more solid and rounded with less emphasis on her breathy ‘sss’ sounds. The piano is also more accurately placed right next to her singing with the LSX due to greater accuracy in the mids, overall.



HiFiMAN RE2000 Silver vs. HiFiMAN RE2000 (Gold)
First off, these measure weird for SPL levels. As seen in the volume matching table, across two DAPs the RE2000 Silver seems to play louder. However, when listening, the RE2000 Silver sounds much quieter if I follow the volume matching measurements I made. I tried to do my comparisons using the measurements, but it didn’t seem fair, as generally a louder sounding IEM is perceived as sounding better. So I did my comparison using the same volume setting on the Questyle QP2R.



T. Rex is not general audiophile material, but I love me some T. Rex. It’s just too much fun. T. Rex – Monolith (DSD64) has great space on the RE2000 Silver, with a good wide stage. Marc Bolan’s intoxicating vocals are placed nice and forward in the stage. Depth isn’t huge, but there is sufficient separation between the percussive elements, bass, guitar and backing vocals. So much fun. Switching to the RE2000 Gold, the bass guitar is bigger and more forward. It’s thicker, with a less controlled sound. The RE2000 Silver bass has a more refined sound, with a bit more depth and texture to the bass. This does come at a cost, though. Marc Bolan’s vocals are also less fleshy. The sex-appeal is still there, but not quite as sultry. I’m still in T. Rextacy, but the RE2000 gold gives me a bit more silk bedsheets and come-hither looks.

Speaking of… Eurythmics – Love Is A Stranger is a nice test for vertical resolution. Annie Lennox’s lead vocals occupy a little circle in the middle of the stage, with backing overdubs and the refrain moving depth and location a bit (deeper centre and more to the right on backing overdubs). David A. Stewart is thrusting his voice around the stage like a man possessed of a horny demon in good reproductions of this track, going high and low, front and back and side to side. The RE2000 Gold doesn’t give the most resolving performance on David A. Stewart’s amorous movements. It does well with depth indicators and width indicators, but the stage height is somewhat compressed. Spacial performance on the RE2000 Silver is a little better than the RE2000. It gives me more depth and width and a smidgeon more height. Similar to the effect on Marc Bolan’s vocals, Annie’s and David’s vocals are a bit thinner sounding. Shell housing matters. The RE2000 Gold has a bit more organic sound than the RE2000 Silver. It’s a bit more intoxicating, even if the bass has a bit better definition on the RE2000 Silver.



Isaac Hayes may be one of the greatest bass vocalists to sing to a popular crowd, and the MFSL mastering of his quintessential Hot Buttered Soul album should be required listening. Isaac Hayes – Walk On By has fantastic separation between a variety of instrument types arranged in a brilliant soundscape. On the RE2000 Gold we get a thicker more powerful sound, while the RE2000 silver provides some delicacy and air. Both female and male vocals have more air around them. While sounding a bit airier than the RE2000 Gold, the RE2000 Silver also sounds a bit less energetic. There’s a passion to the RE2000 Gold’s sound that just isn’t evoked in the same way on the RE2000 Silver.



In spite of what Meghan Trainor says, it isn’t all about that bass. Kraftwerk – Kometenmelodie2 is all about the treble. The version of the track I have is a rip of the original German vinyl. The RE2000 Silver is more sensitive to the noise at the beginning of the track from the vinyl. The treble presentation on the RE2000 Silver is lighter than the RE2000 Gold. The Gold has more solidity and weight than the RE2000 Silver.

The Silver is lighter and more delicate in presentation, but loses out in impact and solidity. The RE2000 Gold has a touch of extra weight in the mid-bass, which will actually please many people, but the reinforcement in this bass comes at the cost of some definition and texture in the low end. The RE2000 Silver has the texture in the low end, but a bit less presence. Unfortunately, the reduction in presence also extends to the mids on the RE2000 Silver, where I find that the presentation is a bit on the breathy side. The breathiness of the RE2000 Silver gives the impression of a slightly bigger sound stage, but both IEMs are probably presenting about equal stages, with tonal differences likely creating the illusion of different spaces—it’s similar to how recessed vocals create the illusion of space while the shape and capacity of the stage remains the same as the same headphone with EQ boosting the mids. For my tastes, the RE2000 Gold is the better IEM of the two RE2000 versions. Realistically, the brass probably doesn’t cost too much more than the aluminum to make, so one wonders why they don’t just offer both at the same price with the same accessories and emphasize that the shells give an audible difference in tonality. Some folks will prefer the lighter airier Silver, while some will want the weightier Gold sound. I think these should both be $1500 (or less), and that a few build quality improvements will make them objectively worth that price. At time of writing the RE2000 Silver was on sale for $799 in the HiFiMAN store, and that is probably worth it.

Usability: Form & Function
Over the years I’ve read many complaints about HiFiMAN build quality, but I’ve not experienced any particular problems myself. The RE0, my first HiFiMAN purchase, is still ticking 9 years later. The MegaMini and SuperMini are well built tough and small digital audio players. The HE1000 v2 and the Susvara have beautiful build quality and comfort with excellent attention to ergonomics. The alleged HiFiMAN build quality has always been more myth than reality for me. However, I have had some problems with the RE2000 (both versions), and most of them are related to careless design and production errors that are completely preventable. HiFiMAN can and should do better.

Unboxing


The RE2000 Silver is the new $500 less version of the RE2000 (RE2000 Gold). From a packaging perspective, the contents of the box aren’t particularly different, but the outer box is different. The RE2000 Gold comes in a wooden box with foam insert that smells strongly of glue and/or petroleum-based foam. It’s not a good smell. The wood box has a card sleeve around it to present which headphone is inside. It was an attempt at looking premium, but managed to come off feeling cheap due to the smell. The new box for the RE2000 Silver is made of cardboard with attractive graphic design on the outside. The new box is better, by a lot. They should get rid of the wooden box.



Inside both boxes are a foam insert with three slots for the inner boxes. One inner box has the cable, the other has eartips (I don’t like any of the included tips) and some pieces to terminate a custom cable. Instead of including normal tips, the RE2000 (both Silver and Gold) comes with “special” tips. There is no S/M/L selection of single flange tips, instead you get a weird shaped medium tip, a weird medium biflange, and some normal biflanges. Only the RE2000 Gold comes with Comply tips (not a good sonic match). The RE800 improved the “special” tip selection in the Silver version, but for some reason the RE2000 at more than double the cost has 1/3rd the tip selection and all bad. In an era when many universals come with premium tips: Spinfit, Comply, Final Type E; not even including the standard tip selection that comes with IEMs under $50 is a mistake. If HiFiMAN wants to offer their “special” tips, they should do so in addition to providing normal S/M/L single flange silicone tips. There are others who have loved their tip selection, so your mileage may vary.

The other box of the RE2000 has the cable, some huge ear hooks (these are ubiquitous and I’ve never liked them, they are far less comfortable than just wrapping the cable over the top of your ear) and a tiny zip-lock baggie containing a 2-pin connector and housing apparatus. When the RHA CL2 and the AKG N5005 both offer 3 superior looking cables: 3.5mm, 2.5mm balanced, and Bluetooth; HiFiMAN offering an unattractive plastic DIY connector isn’t a good look. The RHA CL2 and the AKG N5005 are also made in China, and cost $500 less than the RE2000 Silver.



In the middle is the metal case for the RE2000. It is a good size case that does a good job fitting the headphone and cable. The same case came with the Kumitate Labs KL-Sirius ($800) and the Penon IEM v2 ($10). It is a well-functioning case, but decidedly not premium in presentation.

Build Quality
The cable on the RE2000 Silver has some girth to it, but it looks pretty much like any cheap cable you’d get with Skullcandy. I have $25 IEMs from KZ that have far nicer and far more ergonomic cables. There are probably hundreds of manufacturers that could make a double twist cable with built in heat-shrink pre-formed ear guides for next to nothing. Both cables also have a metal chin slider ring. The metal looks premium and matches the shells, but it is also has some weight to it, which could cause wear on the cable over time. I prefer silicone-rubber sliders like Effect Audio uses on their cables. The only difference between the Gold and Silver, cable-wise, is that instead of a $12 Oyaide (might be Oyaide ‘style’ which would be about $1) right angle termination with a stubby insufficient strain relief, they switched to a $0.50 termination with a longer insufficient strain relief. The strain relief on the RE2000 Gold is insufficient due to its length. The RE2000 Silver strain relief is insufficient because it is made of harder material than the cable, which means that the strain relief could actually create a strain point. Basic inspection of material choices would prevent this kind of construction error.


RE2000 Silver ($1500). Lowest quality in this trio of cables.

BQEYZ KB100 ($48), the best cable of the three. Has built in preformed earguides, a silicone slider, and a cable wrap.

KZ ZSA ($25). It’s better than the RE2000 Silver cable.



The body of the RE2000 Gold is made of brass and has a little bit of weight to it. The RE2000 Silver is made of aluminum, which is the primary difference between the IEMs. The RE2000 Silver is a little lighter in the ear, which enhances comfort. A construction composed of a single piece for the stem would have looked and felt superior. As is, on both IEMs the glue used to hold together the IEM is visible at the external seams. Similarly, on the inside of the 2-pin connector stem, the glue is visible there also. The stems on the RE2000 Silvers are not symmetrically glued; one stem is not glued to exactly the same location as the other. This type of variance is preventable by having joints that act as keys, ensuring that part positioning is exactly the same. On the RE2000 Silver, the sound bore is also not glued on evenly on one of the earpieces. This outcome could be prevented by using a screw lock system with Locktite (or similar) to hold the pieces together, or by having a lip on the inside that acts as a stopping point. Design characteristics can be used to ensure consistent construction and minimise error rates.


The gap is about 0.75mm at the widest, and doesn’t affect sound, but this should never happen on a $1500 IEM.
Using glue to join pieces together is not a problem. In fact, it can be an excellent solution to give a seamless appearance. However, if your glue has to go on the outside in ways that make it visible, a seamless appearance will not be the result. I think that HiFiMAN may be able to fix this problem and improve their overall build quality by using ultrasonic welding. Ultrasonic welding bonds materials together using ultrasonic vibration. It makes clean lines and can be done with a variety of materials. It wouldn’t have to be used for all join points. I would suggest that the logo faceplate be joined with glue and the rest joined using ultrasonic welding, this would allow for straightforward repair and warranty service and has a number of advantages over glue, including much better looking joins.


Glue is visible on both units. The RE2000 Silver 2-pin connector stem is clearly glued at a different angle. Neither are flush with the rest of the shell.

Shiny glue can be seen on both 2-pin assemblies. If you look close you can also see glue beads on the RE2000 (Gold) bore joint.

Here the beads of glue are apparent where the body joins, but it can also be seen that the factory worker tried to wipe off some excess glue, creating a rough smear in the process. You can also see shiny glue on the sound nozzle join point.
The RE2000 sounds like a $1500-$2000 headphone, but the build quality is worse than some $50 headphones.

Ergonomics
The rubbery cable on the RE2000 has a tendency to not stay on my ear. It springs up, and requires me to use the chin-slider to make the cable secure on top of the ear. Your mileage may vary. The shell housing is large. However, it’s the shape of it more than its size that is a problem. The shell flares out wider in both width and height at the back end of the IEM. For me, the corner actually creates a pressure point on the lower back corner of my ear that makes it so I can’t listen to the RE2000 for more than a few hours without discomfort. When I received the RE2000 Gold I gave feedback to the company that they should modify the shell to make that pressure point disappear by rounding the shell. This suggestion wasn’t adopted on the RE2000 Silver.

I have demoed the RE2000 to many folks and they have all enjoyed the sound, but I have run across more than a few who couldn’t put it in their ear in the normal way. I had people rotating them forward and having the cable run downward instead of over the ear.

Here’s what HiFiMAN had to say about their shell: “the shape of the housing is again an example of blending industrial design, comfort and striking visual. Providing excellent fit, comfort and isolates, all to give you the most wonderful of listening experiences.” First, I note that HiFiMAN is a global player in the headphone market with more than 10 years in Western markets, they can hire a more proficient English-speaking copywriter. Second, much of what they say isn’t true. Sure, the shell blends industrial design and a striking visual (especially the gold), but this wasn’t designed for comfort. Unless you have large ears, the probability of ear-fatigue due to the edgy fit is high. If you have small ears, there is no way you can wear it. I think the likelihood that this was tested on a variety of ear sizes is next to none. I honestly think they took the visual design of the Edition S and tried to miniaturise it. The fit is not excellent for most people I’ve tested on, including myself. The isolation is fairly average.

Specifications

List Price: $1500 (Silver), $2000 (Gold)

Product Website: RE2000 Silver, RE2000 (Gold)

Conclusions
The RE2000 Silver is an excellent sounding in-ear monitor. It has a more balanced sound than its gold coloured older twin with less and more controlled bass. The extension on the bass is excellent. Mids are a touch recessed and the decay on higher notes in the midrange gives a breathy quality that many will enjoy. Sonically, I think the RE2000 Silver sounds appropriate for its price. However, HiFiMAN has produced a dud on build quality and ergonomics. The build quality is shocking at $1500 (Silver) and even more shocking at $2000 (Gold). HiFiMAN needs to up their game on the cosmetic qualities of their in-ear products. They’ve got the sound down and continue to make excellent sounding products.



Rating Disclaimer: ratings are subjective. Audio quality and value do not mean the same thing across all prices. A headphone with a 5 rating on audio at $5 does not have equivalent sound quality as a 5 rating at $500. Likewise, value at $5 is not the same as value at $5000 dollars.

Introduction
I didn’t know anything about Lark Studio until I was asked if I wanted to be put in contact with them by a friend in the review world over at Simply Audiophile. He tried to put me in contact with Lark Studios via Head-Fi and my email, but I never got any messages. Then the European distributor for Lark Studios contacted me to ask if I wanted to run a tour, and I noticed that I had an old friend request from someone with Lark Studios in their Facebook ID. With that we were off to the races. I’m the first up on the tour, in a change of pace from my usual closer position. Hopefully none of my review tour mates will read this too much, as I’m going full throttle here. Lots of comparisons, lots of variations in set-up, lots of work. After me, there are 6 more people signed up to the tour, so you’ll be getting a variety of opinions.

The Head-Fi thread for Lark Studio can be found here. Each reviewer will have about 24 days to produce their review, with a loan time of 10 days. This should be a lot of fun.

Acknowledgment
The Lark Studio LSX was provided to me on loan from Audio Concierge and Lark Studio as part of a review tour. The LSX will be returned to Audio Concierge after completion of the review tour. I have received no compensation for this review. All thoughts in this review are my personal opinion.

This review was originally published on Audio Primate. Our blog and so many others wouldn't exist without Head-Fi. We love this community and want to give back to it.

A little bit about Lark Studio and the LSX
Lark Studio was formed by a couple audio-fanatics from other IEM labs. They’ve got a good deal of experience in the industry but the LSX is their very first product. The goal of the product was to get people’s attention, and it has. There’s a sprinkling of impressed reviewers all over the interwebs and it has basically wide-spread acclaim. The distributor told me that he thought it was a Noble Encore killer and better than the Unique Melody Mason V3 and Mentor V3—luckily I can test against all three right now as I’m still producing my Mentor V3 and Mason V3 reviews (stay tuned!).

Lark Studio will have additional IEMs coming out in the upcoming year designed to appeal to different audiences than the fun-tastic LSX. A four driver with more of a reference tuning and a new 12-driver flagship focused on superior technical performance.



Usability: Form & Function
Unboxing


The LSX comes in a large-ish black box encased in a matt black card sleeve, the box inside the sleeve is emblazoned with Lark Studio in red on the outside. Th box has a magnetic clasp closure. It is of average quality. On the inside, the earpieces are shipped connected to the cable, which is a single ended copper cable from Rhapsodio. The cutout for the earpieces is twice as deep as it needs to be, which is why the earpieces in my picture are in little baggies. The depth of the cutout should be reduced. A large selection of tips are included with the LSX and sent in a display box. While there is a large variety, people with very small ear canals aren’t catered for, as there are only three tip sizes. Accessories include the ubiquitous airline adaptors and a 3.5mm to 6.3mm adaptor, both of which are displayed prominently. It always humours me when components that cost under $1 on the open market are displayed like prizes.


I actually put one of these in a Christmas stocking once. I’m a mean one, Mr. Grinch.
All the other accessories are inside a hard jewelry style cardboard box. These accessories include: a faux leather pouch that is conspicuously long (looks like it is for children’s sunglasses), two amp stacking bands (I doubt people would use the LSX with a dedicated amp), a polishing cloth, and a cleaning tool.



I get what Lark Studio was going for here. They wanted a premium unboxing experience. They didn’t quite get it. This is what I would do instead:

• Ditch the amp stacking bands, faux leather bag, and the jewelry box.
• Include a small hard travel case
• Make the box more compact. This may save the company on shipping.
• Put accessories inside the small travel case

Aesthetics & Build


The 2-pin connector on the IEMs (female side) is completely external and leaves a tiny bit of the pins exposed. Having a slight indent into the body would allow for a more secure fit and would reduce breakage risk via stress on the pins. Even 1mm into the body would likely make a difference in the security of the connection while not changing the profile of the IEM at all.

The sound bores appear on the nozzle appear to be directly drilled into the IEM body with white acrylic seen right behind the glossy black shine of the IEM, I anticipate that sound tubes in the internal structure lead to the very front of the IEM, with the rest of the distance traversed by the body.

The included cable is a very nice what appears to be 24 AWG type 2 Litz copper cable manufactured by Rhapsodio. This cable was based on a retired Rhapsodio design and customised for Lark Studio. The cable is good quality with a nice lustre, but was not available in balanced terminations at the time of review. The company founders are looking into whether Rhapsodio will do this. The cable itself is very well built with a nice tight braiding all the way along the cable that gives it excellent flexibility. The terminations appear to be good quality and the 2-pin connectors have some grip to them instead of being metal slide-fests. Many cable manufacturers make the mistake of using polished chrome-effect 2-pin connector housings which are hard to grip when you need to. The cable is a really good cable. However, I think there is some risk in having a cable that is based on a retired design. I would suggest that given that they already partner with PWAudio for the Saladin cable (SPC and copper, available in balanced, $200 extra on IEM price), they should consider striking up a full partnership with PWAudio, and maybe get their No. 5 cable in bulk. Just looking at pictures, the PWAudio No. 5 is not to the same build quality as the retired Rhapsodio, but predictable supply may trump the value of the Rhapsodio cable’s better build quality. The No. 5 cable is not likely to disappear in any significant way and may allow an even better partnership to form. Manufacturers like Empire Ears and Jomo Audio already partner with Effect Audio, so clearly there is some benefit to be had from these partnerships for both sides.

Ergonomics
For the most part the Lark Studio LSX presents a pretty comfortable ergonomic fit. The size of the IEM is incredibly small for having an outlay of 10 balanced armature drivers inside of it. It is smaller and lighter than the Noble Encore (10 drivers) and the Unique Melody Mentor V3 (12 drivers) universal versions. The Noble Encore has a compact size, but the weight makes choice of tips very important as the tips have to have excellent stability and grip. I’ve found that the Final Type E tips are the best for the Encore and haven’t had slippage problems since switching to the large versions of these.

The included Spinfit CP155 & CP230 (bi-flange) and the Comply T-500 tips might be the only tips that really fit the nozzle of the Lark Studio LSX, so your tip choices may be limited to what is in the box. Given that I’m not into a hugely warm sound, I knew immediately from my CP155 listening that the tendency of the Comply foams to attenuate treble and ramp up mid-bass would not be to my liking. My final tip choice was the CP155. These are long flange tips that can isolate really well if you give a little tug on the top of the ear and wiggle the IEM.

The ergonomics of the included cable are excellent. In my experience the best type of earguide is a light preformed ear-guide that has a tiny bit of spring to it. These types of earguides fit to the ears without causing pressure. They don’t have the extra bulk and pressure points of memory wire, and they don’t have the sheer mass of solutions like what HiFiMAN do with the RE2000 Silver (and Gold) wherein they have an external massive plastic rubber cradle for the cable that basically nobody would ever find comfortable on their ear, especially with glasses. In other words, the earguide on the Lark Studio LSX is just about perfect.



Audio quality
The LSX has a fun signature with a healthy helping of bass and warm sound. It has smooth treble while still having good detail in the mids. The mids are silky smooth and inviting. Bass is present, but has a focus on the mid-bass, with less prominent extension than some other in-ears. The bass gives some dynamic driver like impact and has a long decay. The soundstage is average to a little below average for the price point and has a notably forward signature that causes some reduction in depth.

Matchability
When I did initial listening test with the Questyle QP2R I did so straight out of the single ended jack. When I went to do my comparison work with the Noble Encore, it wasn’t possible to do the Noble Encore with it’s stock cable from the single-ended jack as this would result in excessive warmth in the midbass and likely some hissing—I’d previously observed these when working with the Noble Encore. So to tame the mid-bass bump I went and grabbed the Ultimate Ears Buffer Jack with the thought that this would work just like the iFi iEMatch 2.5mm worked to make it so I could use the Encore with the QP2R. It worked. This also made me think that the QP2R may have been causing extra bloom with the LSX, so I tested. It was.

When listening to Wilco – Handshake Drugs (16-44) I noted that the bass in the intro was better controlled with the buffer jack and that the mids were a hair clearer. I think that there is improvement in the treble/upper mids that leads to enhancement of the bass and mids. The differences weren’t huge but were noticeable. With Daft Punk – Instant Crush (24-88), the bass drum remains palpable with the UE Buffer Jack and the bass guitar is a touch tighter. Mids are also slightly more forward giving better sonic balance with the placement of the bass. On Pink Floyd – The Thin Ice (16-44) I note a little more stage width with the buffer jack and that same improvement in bass control. Without the buffer jack the bass on Macy Gray – Slowly (24-192, binaural) overshadows Macy Gray’s voice a bit. The buffer jack brings better balance and also gives cymbals better presence. QP2R with buffer jack was my preferred sound, but there will be plenty who crave the additional warmth that I was looking to tame, so your mileage may vary. I didn’t observe hiss with the Lark Studio LSX on the QP2R at all, with or without the UE Buffer Jack.

The sound from the SOUNDAWARE M2Pro without buffer jack sounded indistinguishable from the QP2R plus buffer jack, which was good for me, and confirmed my belief that the current mode amplification was affecting the sound on the QP2R without the buffer jack. The M2Pro is a fantastic sounding player, but the QP2R is much easier to review on and sounds virtually identical, so the QP2R is the primary reviewing rig for this review, with accessories.

I found the LG V30 to drive the LSX just fine, but also found that it had a little bit extra warmth compared to what I get from the SOUNDAWARE M2Pro or the Questyle QP2R plus UE Buffer Jack. I tried using the buffer jack with the LG V30 and it did mostly fine but sometimes clipped in the treble region. This led me to listen mostly without the buffer jack when using the LG V30.

Cables


The cable that comes with the basic Lark Studio LSX is a Rhapsodio cable and isn’t available in balanced implementation. Lark Studio does offer a balanced Cable made by PWAudio called the Saladin for $200 more, which is an increment that is less than if you bought the cable on it’s own. Unfortunately, Lark Studio did not send the review unit with a PWAudio Saladin, so testing alternative cables will fall completely outside of those offered by Lark Studio.

In order to compare with the stock Rhapsodio cable I ran each balanced aftermarket cable through a 2.5mm to 3.5mm convertor and then used the UE Buffer Jack hooked up to the single-ended output on the QP2R. I’ve previously identified that there are no significant impedance mismatches between the cables through volume matching, which means when I do cable tests I don’t have to volume match, I just need to be super quick on my switches so that the miniscule differences are noticeable. Cable switching runs huge risks of confirmation bias and I can’t guarantee I’m immune. The ideal situation would be to have two identical IEMs with different cables playing out of a neutral splitter. There would be next to no lag time. As is, my lag time is generally around 30 seconds, which is pretty fast when having to pull out 2-pin cables re-insert new cables and then get the IEMs in ear and play.

I really like the pairing of the PlusSound X-Series Gold-plated copper (GPC) cable with the LSX, the primary effect of the PlusSound X-Series GPC that I’ve noticed is a strengthening of the middle of notes which gives them a little added focus and smooth transients. It pairs very nicely with the LSX, just as it does with the Noble Encore.

The most expensive accessory I have in my review cave is the Double Helix Cables Symbiote Elite SP (8-braid). I don’t recommend most people spend their money on an $800 cable if they can spend that money on a better DAP or headphone, but it absolutely makes a difference in terms of maximising performance of a high performing IEM. Bass is a touch smaller but tonally the same with the Symbiote Elite SP when listening through the extended intro of Isaac Hayes – Walk On By (DSD64). Sound stage has a bit more width and depth. The stock cable is a touch warmer, but most of the warmth is coming from the tuning. Switching to Saturday Looks Good To Me – Sunglasses (16-44), bass is a touch tighter with the Symbiote Elite SP with little difference in bass presence (less), but the bigger difference is the openness of the stage. The elements in the stage have better definition and there is more overall space in every dimension (height, width and depth). This is my favourite pairing. Switching up to balanced amplification with volume matching (vol. 98, 78.4 dB) on the Questyle QP2R with the iFi iEMatch 2.5 gives a small incremental boost in the characteristics the cable is already revealing. The wire isn’t adding anything, it’s getting out of the way.

Comparisons
All comparisons were done using stock cables with some use of the UE Buffer Jack where necessary. Volume matching was done using white noise and an SPL metre. I provide this information so that if people want to do the exact same comparison, they can repeat my observations without an SPL metre. Repeatability is the heart of scientific enquiry.



Ultimate Ears Pro Reference Remastered (UERR) ($999) vs. Lark Studio LSX ($1699)
The UERR has a bit of extra thickness in the lower parts of Damien Rice’s voice in Elephant (16-44). The Lark Studio LSX presents Damien’s voice with more delicacy and air while packing a touch more emotional payload. The LSX carries Damien’s breath a little better and makes the track that much more intimate. That said, the UERR has greater stage height. With the LSX I get some absolutely beautiful fine level bow on strings detail on the cello when it’s in isolation. Bass presence is lower on the UERR. Both accurately convey the somewhat distorted mastering of the flurry of activity near the 4:30 mark in the track. The UERR captures a tiny bit more treble detail from the strings than the LSX.

The LSX is giving me big beautiful groovy bass out of Blue Oyster Cult – (Don’t Fear) The Reaper (DSD64). The bass is forward of neutral, but without disappearing the mids further back in the stage, which gives the song a very engaging sound. It also ensures that the cowbell and guero aren’t lost in the stage. The stage depth is somewhat compressed to accomplish the engaging sound, but for many this will be a worthy exchange. The UERR has a bit more depth, with more separation of instruments. This make the UERR a fine tool for monitoring a mix. I don’t think I’d use the Lark Studio LSX for that kind of spatial accuracy intensive activity. The LSX gets the timbre of instruments right, but placement isn’t as honest as a reference monitor like the UERR. That isn’t what the LSX is designed to do. Personally, I get great enjoyment out of precision over power. This is reflected in my day job as a health economist, also. I’ve spent several days looking at Hierarchical Related Regression, and the potential for more precise measurements of effect using all available information from a variety of trial designs has had me practically giddy. The UERR fits my precision desire on this track with its fantastic instrument separation. The Lark Studio LSX has a warmer more emotive feel with towering bass.

Saturday Looks Good To Me – Sunglasses (16-44) begins with a big satisfying rumbling artificial bass that the LSX delivers up in full glory followed by a chunky electric bass guitar line and and two widely panned guitars. The track is busy as heck and the LSX’s 10 drivers are keeping up well. This poppy fun track perfectly matches what the LSX does well. The UERR doesn’t get the bass volume or the bass feel. It’s a tight controlled bass with excellent depth, but without the presence or body of the LSX bass. The rest of the sound is more open and precise sounding, especially the rocket fire clap sounds. On the UERR every element of the track can be picked out with precision, which is where the fun comes from. Everything is presented honestly on the UERR and it elevates my favourite album of 2016 (Saturday Looks Good To Me “One Kiss Ends It All”). The LSX has intoxicating bass, but the UERR has intoxicating scientific precision.

The variable depth of instrumentation in Isaac Hayes – Walk On By (DSD64) is an impressive recording feat. The UERR is all over the depth with the intro sound effects dancing all over the stage. Swells of strings come in at markedly different depth than the bass guitar and the backing vocals. The tapestry is full of little details. The LSX sounds darker, warmer, and less detailed with less stage depth. Isaac Hayes’s vocals come in like smooth brown butter with the LSX. Violins are silky. There’s romance to the LSX sound. Sometimes a little romance makes up for a short deck in terms of depth. The UERR has more of every dimension of stage size (height, depth and width) but the technical precision won’t necessarily set the mood in the same way that the LSX will. The LSX, for a warm sound, doesn’t sacrifice much in the way of mids clarity, which is unusual. It has a pretty good balance of tone and technical performance. The tone is really good.

I like both a lot. Given my particular listening preferences, I’d probably pick a UERR style signature on more days, but if I want to listen to pop or hip-hop, or any bass-driven music, my choice may very well be the LSX.

HiFiMAN RE2000 Silver ($1500) vs. Lark Studio LSX ($1699)
OutKast – Ms. Jackson has a lot going on, for real. The RE2000 Silver has some great menace going with the bass guitar, with tight funky plucks. The multi-tracked layered stage is well presented with individual elements easily discernible. However, each element is not entirely distinctive, which will be a function of the treble levels on the RE2000 Silver. With the Lark Studio LSX the underlying bass in the background is pushed forward. Compared to the drum power on the RE2000 Silver, the bass drum kicks you in the face on the LSX. The LSX, in spite of the bass emphasis, still provides extraordinarily well textured bass. The bass on the LSX is a lot like dynamic driver bass. It actually is bass that you feel, which is rare in fully balanced armature IEMs. The lower mids and upper midbass have a warmer sound on the Lark Studio LSX. Soundstage on the LSX sounds a little wider than the RE2000 Silver on this track. Individual elements in the stage also feel a bit more distinct with better instrument separation. The sound of the LSX is actually a bit reminiscent of the RE2000 Gold but with better build quality and a bit more separation in the mids. Piano in the intro is less forward as the mids of the RE2000 Silver are a bit back of neutral. This placement of the mids tends to make the sound stage sound a bit deeper. The LSX sounds forward in general due to the elevated bass and the pretty normal emphasis mids. Both IEMs are fun sounding with natural timbre. The RE2000 Silver has a more neutral sound than the LSX, which is a bombastic but lovely sounding number.

On the RE2000 Silver the recessed mids make Michael Jackson sound like he is way deep in the stage rather than in the middle of it on Michael Jackson – Billie Jean. The LSX has a more front row sound, while the RE2000 Silver sounds like it is further back in the crowd. The RE2000 Silver crowd is a more civil affair, whilst the LSX is a party. The RE2000 Silver is Coldplay (civilised and moving), and the LSX is Bruno Mars + Beyonce (absolutely ridiculously fun). The Lark Studio LSX has Michael where he should be, right in the middle of the sound stage, rather than pushed back. It also pushes bass forward of the mids, which is off of neutral. The bass is big on the LSX. Both do an excellent job of resolving instruments in space, but the LSX’s better formulation of the mids gives more flexibility for instruments that occupy the mids to move deeper in the stage.

The RE2000 Silver presents Kuniko – Pleiades: I. Melanges (Mixtures) with a nice even keel. Nothing sounds over-emphasised or out of place, whether it be xylophone, tympani, or chimes. The increasing aggression of the sound at about 2 minutes in builds beautifully. The LSX gives a similar performance, but the whole sound is more front row than 3 rows back of the stage. The LSX easily goes toe-to-toe on timbre, and might be a bit more sonically precise. Soundstage size is a push, but soundstage positioning is definitely different.

The bass is most definitely forward when I throw Wilco – Handshake Drugs on with the Lark Studio LSX. It’s a bit too much actually, as the bass is competing too much with Jeff Tweedy’s vocal in the intro. It slinks back a little bit later while still having some presence, like the bass guitarist moved back towards the drum kit or like Jeff Tweedy moved forward in the stage. The bass is tighter and more controlled on the RE2000 Silver, but also has more perceivable extension. The perceived increase in extension is because the Lark Studio LSX has some added mid-bass that throws the deeper lows out of balance when deeper bass instrumentation and mid-bass and upper mid-bass are present. The RE2000 Silver sounds better on this track, though I do still find myself wishing the little bit of recession in the mids wasn’t there.

The breathiness of the RE2000 Silver really suits Tori Amos’s vocals on Hey Jupiter, in my opinion, as it gives even more fragility to the presentation. Some will find the sound sibilant as the breathiness also imbues more weight to her ‘sss’ sounds. In contrast, the LSX presents Tori a bit more solid and rounded with less emphasis on her breathy ‘sss’ sounds. The piano is also more accurately placed right next to her singing.

Unique Melody Mentor V3 ($2099) vs Lark Studio LSX ($1699)
The Mentor V3 provides a clear and well delineated presentation of the Rolling Stones – Salt of the Earth (DSD64). Each instrument has great spacing around it. Bass has great tone, but not huge presence. Turning the dB-Go switch to closed enhances bass impact slightly. The female vocal chorus has individual vocals that are separated without much difficulty on the Mentor V3. Right off in the track, guitar and vocals are more forward with a nice organic sound on the LSX. The overall sound is more forward on the LSX. Bass has a lot more presence and sustain. The decay on the mid-bass is a touch long, the Mentor V3 is faster. The LSX trades some precision for increased presence. The overall stage depth is reduced on the LSX with the presentation more like two closely arranged planes rather than several layers as with the Mentor V3.

Billy Cobham – Quadrant 4 (DSD64) is the Speedy Gonzales of music tracks. The Lark Studio LSX keeps up well for the most part but smooths over a bit of detail on bass and treble. The Mentor V3 is faster and more open sounding with individual drum beats resolved more completely with less blending. The presentation is a bit more distant on the Mentor V3, whereas the LSX puts you right in the thick of it. Bass is tighter on the Mentor V3, but less present. The Mentor V3 is the technically superior performer while still being fun. If a more forward signature is what you are looking for, the LSX will likely suit better. The Mentor V3 also has the ability to switch cables without buying a new cable. Switching to the copper cable gives a more forward sound that is like a more controlled version of the LSX with less bass slam.

With DB-GO open on the Mentor V3, the vocals on Daft Punk – Fragments of Time (DSD64) are airy with good clarity. Bass is back in the stage with good definition. Treble is forward on the Mentor V3, but not as forward as the vocals on this particular track. Decay on the variety of cymbals is good on this track. When switching to the LSX, the bass is huge with good texture on the lower notes and dynamic driver like depth, but with a hint of bloom. The ambiance is great on the LSX with a bit more decay in both the bass and the treble. The extra decay is primarily in the midbass for the bass section of frequency response. Vocals sound great on both, just more forward on the LSX. Switching from silver to copper on the Mentor V3 brings the bass forward a little, but it still has the same tight controlled presentation. The LSX has a little extra ambiance. I think people will enjoy both sounds. One has to recognize that they aren’t trying to do the same thing. The Mentor V3 is a fun-reference tuning, while the LSX is a fun-fun tuning with big bass and smooth emotive mids. The Mentor V3 is less fun in all its set-ups vs. the LSX, but is a better technical performer all-around. I think most folks listening to Fragments in Time would pick the LSX as the signature fits pop music really well.

Norah Jones – Feeling the Same Way (24-192) has a beautifully delicate presentation with the Mentor V3. The wide-panned guitars are very well defined, the central stand-up bass and the piano and drums at the back of the stage are just delightfully distinctly presented. Mmmm delicious in silver with dB-Go open. The LSX is warmer and softer, with a less wide stage. On this track I prefer the Mentor V3. The LSX slightly compresses the stage depth and slows down the activity in the track some.

Unique Melody Mason V3 ($2699) vs. Lark Studio LSX ($1699)
The comparisons here were done on the SOUNDAWARE M2Pro as the Mason V3 doesn’t sound quite right out of the single-ended output of the Questyle QP2R.

The Mason V3 really lays out the stage beautifully on Macy Gray – Annabelle (24-192, binaural). The distance between the band members feels like a real stage with Macy sitting a bit back of the bassist and the lead guitarist, while the drummer sits well into the back slightly left of centre. On the LSX, bass and Macy Gray’s vocals are slightly more forward, but Macy’s vocal sounds a bit stuffy. The Mason V3 sounds cleaner and clearer on Macy’s vocal, and overall on this track. The cymbals sound like there is a bit of a haze between them and the listener on the LSX. The LSX out does the Mason V3 on bass weight with dB-Go open and closed, but the gap is less when the dB-Go module is closed as this gives a bit more weight.

Metallica – Master of Puppets (24-96, Vinyl Rip) has great speed on the Mason V3, but a slightly more forward sound usually benefits metal, and the Mason V3 isn’t a front row kind of IEM. I find myself wanting it louder on this track. When I jack up the volume a bit that sounds more like it. It can certainly make it sound like I want it to. Bass extension is good on this track, but there isn’t any emphasis, so these could be interpreted as bass light with the dB-Go open. Closing the dB-Go gets a bit more bass ambience and makes the sound a bit heavier in general. The desire for additional loudness is repeated on the LSX (this is just a quietly recorded track). Vocals feel a tiny bit more distant due to some emphasis in the lower mids. Doing a similar volume boost works on the LSX also. The cymbal taps on this track have longer decay on the LSX, in contrast, the Mason V3 sounds a touch fast on the cymbals on this track. Guitar solos sound smoother on the LSX, but more refined on the Mason V3.

Why? – Strawberries (16-44) with the LSX has some big nicely textured bass. It gets some serious slam in the intro. Yoni Wolf’s vocals sound nice and silky with the LSX. Instruments have good layering. These work really well for this highly active alt-rap track. Nice sparkle in the percussion too with the LSX. The Mason V3 does just as nicely with Yoni Wolf’s vocal. Bass comes in with really nice definition, but the slam is less palpable on the Mason V3. Percussive elements like the maracas or the clapping are more in balance on the Mason V3. The sound isn’t as fun on the Mason V3, but it is probably more honest to the recording. Fans of hip-hop will probably prefer the bigger bass of the LSX.

There is some voice echo in Tori Amos – Silent All These Years (24-96, Vinyl Rip) in the verse vocal sections that is very subtle and soft. The Mason V3 does an excellent job picking this minute detail up. The vocals on the Lark Studio LSX are more forward, but it doesn’t pick up the echo vocal with quite as much definition. It’s still there, but I can’t pick up the full resolution of the vocalisations. It’s like it’s half there. The LSX is louder in the mids and has a silky texture to Tori’s vocals. Piano has a slightly softened timbre on the LSX. Low notes on the piano have slightly exaggerated body on the LSX. Cello has similarly lengthened decay. On the Mason V3, stage depth is deeper, but mids are also presented deeper. Cello and flute are more precise and correct sounding on the Mason V3. The violins have a beautiful soar to them. Tori’s voice isn’t as silky on the Mason V3. Low piano notes and cello are more controlled on the Mason V3.

With the Mason V3 the silver cable gives a leaner presentation, as does having dB-Go open. When dB-Go is closed and the copper cable is engaged, the Mason V3 retains a resolution advantage on the LSX, but has a closer tonal presentation to the LSX. The LSX still wins on bass impact, and still tends to have silkier sounding vocals (vocals depend on the singer). The Mason V3 is more flexible, and more technically proficient with the accompanying sonic precision, but is not as emotive as the LSX.

Noble Kaiser Encore ($1850) vs. Lark Studio LSX ($1699)
It’s worth noting that most times that the Encore appears in my reviews, I’m using the PlusSound X-Series gold-plated copper. For this comparison, I was using the stock cable. That cable could use an upgrade to its pretty basic standard. It had been a long time since I’d listened to the stock cable.

On Pixies – Where is My Mind? (DSD64) I’m not quite getting the soar in the female backing vocal that I’m used to with the LSX. The sound of the soaring vocal is somewhat distant and slightly concealed. On the Kaiser Encore the soar is bigger. However, bass doesn’t extend as deep and drums strikes aren’t as tactile. Both the LSX and the Encore have some elevation in the midbass, but the feel is better on the LSX. The LSX and Encore have different points of emphasis on the upper mids. The Kaiser Encore emphasizes higher frequencies in the mids more while the LSX goes lower in the upper mids. This gives the Encore greater soar and air, while the LSX has more richness and body. Both are good sounding so signature preference will probably determine which is preferred rather than any measure of objective superiority.

The Noble Kaiser Encore is smooth on Leonard Cohen – Leaving the Table (24-44) when it comes to the bass and his vocals. The backing strings have great weight and texture. Bass extension on the Encore is somewhat muted. The deeper frequencies are present, but the overall tactile sound isn’t. This is pretty normal for fully balanced armature setups. They don’t normally push enough air to make you feel the bass. In contrast, the LSX accomplishes something really rare in balanced armature setups, you feel the bass. It also extends lower. Leonard’s voice has more body on the LSX and more texture. Strings are a touch less precise on the LSX than on the Encore but have a nice fullness. Full is a good way to describe the LSX sound. For this track I think the LSX has a more pleasing presentation. The tactile feel of the bass is a big accomplishment for a $1699 fully balanced armature IEM. The $4k Vision Ears Erlkönig gets bass feel like this, but this is remarkably rare for balanced armature setups. It’s very impressive.

The presentation of the cymbals is a strong point on the LSX. Many balanced armature setups have sharp cymbals with tight attack and decay that sounds just a touch unnatural. The LSX extends that decay a little. On Natalie Merchant – Carnival (24-96) mids sound thick through Natalie’s vocals on the LSX. Bass drum impact in the intro is impressive on the LSX. On the Noble Encore, the bass isn’t big but it has a tightness that lets a bit more funk develop. The space in the stage and instrument separation are better on the Encore. Natalie’s voice isn’t as rich as the LSX but it has greater texture and depth. The organ in the upper mids has better dimensionality with sound extending well from back to front of the stage. Layers in the stage are easier to pick out on the Noble Encore. The organ presence is greater in general on the Encore—it’s that difference in expression of the upper mids again. Stage is a touch narrower on the LSX.

The LSX presents the sonic landscape of King Crimson – Lizard (16-44, Steven Wilson Remaster) brilliantly. It has a very natural and organic sound. Jon Anderson (of Yes) sounds more delicate on the Noble Encore, and a touch more forward. The percussion is a bit more fulsome on the Encore due to its frequency placement in the upper mids/lower treble. Upper midbass is also slightly more forward on the Encore. The overall sound is fuller on the LSX. Both IEMs have good sustain on the tubular bells. As expected, bass body is bigger with longer decay on the LSX.

Both the Noble Encore and the LSX are fun signatures. The Encore is a bit more balanced, while the LSX has more emphasis on the lower end and more warmth. Treble has more emphasis on the Encore. The Encore has better technical performance in the treble and upper mids, while the LSX has better technical performance in the bass. Both are excellent IEMs, that I’d be happy to reach for frequently. Your sonic preference will determine which one you like more. The LSX is slightly better value for money.

Specifications
Specifications
Price $1699 (custom or universal)
Driver type 10 balanced armatures (3 bass, 4 mids, 2 treble, 1 super treble)
Frequency response 20Hz to 20KHz
Impedance 19-20Ω
Sensitivity 109-110dB
Construction Acrylic body, 2 pin connector (non-recessed)
Accessories Spinfit CP230 Bi-flange (S), Spinfit CP155 (S/M/L), Comply T-500 (M/L), protein leather display case, protein leather travel bag (oddly shaped), 2 armbands/amp stacking bands, airline adaptor, 3.5mm to 6.3mm adaptor, cleaning cloth, cleaning tool.

List Price: $1699 (£1499, custom or universal)

Product Website: https://www.audioconcierge.co.uk/portfolio/lark-studios-lsx-bespoke-universal-earphone/

Conclusions


The LSX provides a rich, lush listen with a focus on the bass and the mids. Treble performance is smooth without losing much in the way of mids detail. This full BA setup has accomplished a rare feat of presenting with bass that is very close in impact and feel to a dynamic driver set-up. The sound is warm overall with a healthy serving of midbass.

For $1699 for either custom or universal the LSX has a very good value proposition. If you are into a warm sound with big bass and lush mids, this one’s for you.




Rating Disclaimer: ratings are subjective. Audio quality and value do not mean the same thing across all prices. A headphone with a 5 rating on audio at $5 does not have equivalent sound quality as a 5 rating at $500. Likewise, value at $5 is not the same as value at $5000 dollars.

List Price: $800.00 (¥90,000 JPY)

Product Website: http://www.kumitatelab.com/kl-sirius/?sl=en



Rating Disclaimer: ratings are subjective. Audio quality and value do not mean the same thing across all prices. A headphone with a 5 rating on audio at $5 does not have equivalent sound quality as a 5 rating at $500. Likewise, value at $5 is not the same as value at $5000 dollars.

Acknowledgment
The Kumitate Lab KL-Sirius was provided to me free of charge by Kumitate Lab. I do not have to return the unit, but I cannot sell it or give it away. I have received no compensation for this review and the thoughts contained within are my honest opinion. Thank you Kumitate Lab for supplying the review unit.

This review originally appeared on audioprimate.blog, and is now being shared with our followers on Head-Fi. This community is still at the heart of the headphone world.


Introduction
I first ran into Ito Ryosuke, the leader of Kumitate Lab at the 2017 Indulgence Show. They really caught my eye at the show with their gorgeous Raden pieces, and they really captured my ear with their KL-Ref. After hearing the KL-Ref I made sure to get in contact with Mr. Ito to try to arrange a review and/or review tour, and after some persistence, he agreed to send a review unit, but not the KL-Ref, the KL-Sirius.

Kumitate Labs isn’t well known outside of Japan, but when I saw them, I thought they should be. They started as a DIY lab experimenting with drivers and custom acrylic shells inspired by videos of how to make a CIEM on Youtube from 1964 Ears (the old name of 64Audio). Over the years they’ve developed a huge following in Japan, where some folks own a dozen custom IEMs—they wear custom IEMs like earrings, apparently. Kumitate Labs has such demand that Mr. Ito has to open and close orders taking periods as he fills up his production queue a few times per year. I feel very privileged to review the KL-Sirius.

The KL-Sirius is one of two entry-level ¥90,000 JPY custom IEMs from Kumitate Lab (the other is the KL-Meteo). The sound signature is described as infinitely flat, with delicate high frequency expression. I take that to mean that this is the entry level take on a reference signature from Kumitate Lab.

Usability: Form & Function
Unboxing
Japan has a reputation for elaborate packaging with clever use of paper folds, specially textured containers and prize-worthy gift boxes. When I received my package from Kumitate Lab I was excited to see what kind of lavish presentation would be in the box. There wasn’t any. Inside the box was a small black press-close case (same as HiFiMAN RE2000 without the painted letters) surrounded by butcher paper arranged to protect the IEM. It felt a bit like I was being sent a wrench rather than a high end headphone. Monkey see, monkey use.


There was no retail box with artfully designed compartments, no fascinating textures, no pomp and circumstance. There weren’t even any accessories. It was a bit disarming and unexpected.

The package is no more than it needs to be and nothing else. Inside the non-descript tin, however, magic is concealed.



Aesthetics
When the simple press-close metal case was opened I was greeted by solid acrylic custom IEMs with flame tempered titanium faceplates. Titanium burnishes to rainbow colours if this is the chosen effect, but Kumitate Lab’s choice on these gives them a purple hue with some brown undertones. They look lovely. The gold writing provides more description than most custom manufacturers I’ve seen, where frequently you can’t list what headphone model you are decorating your ears with. The Kumitate Lab options allow me to choose from several fonts and to choose whether the model name is listed.

The number of options for what you can do with your customs at Kumitate Labs is nearly unrivalled. I suggest checking out their lookbook. Also, their Raden gallery. Raden are special units that use seashells to create works of art in an in ear that are unique to Kumitate Lab. Too much gorgeous. Check them out on twitter and instagram, too. They are always tinkering with new designs.

The acrylic construction is perfectly smooth with a bit of sheen. There are no bubbles or imperfections. The craftsmanship from a hand-made acrylic shell is better than what I see on the 3D printed UERR in my headphone stable.

Inside the Sirius there is silvery wire—this is not silver. I asked Mr. Ito what it was and to my surprise it was tin-plated copper. The gauge of the wire is quite high for internal wiring on an IEM and the silvery sheen is a nice effect. Inside my unit the four drivers and crossover are clearly seen.





Ergonomics
The Sirius is custom and has a more robust feel to the ear-tip than the UERR. The UERR has a long extended taper at the end of the ear-piece, while the Sirius terminates earlier in a thicker more full tip. I found that both took some getting used to, but now the Sirius tends to be more comfortable than the UERR and has better isolation.

The Sirius has three sound bores, each with a filter inside the bore preventing ear-wax from getting into the inner workings of the IEM. It’s a pragmatic design that I imagine is part of the sonic tuning also. The Sirius does not come with an brush and earwax tool, which is standard with most custom IEMs. Mr. Ito told me that he recommended people use a toothbrush. Personally, I would have included the tool and a basic retail box.



The cable that the Sirius came with consists of 4 wires of relatively thin gauge arranged in a double twist configuration. The cable has pre-formed heat-shrink ear-guides with good springiness, this is my favourite type of ear-guide. The cable is light and comfortable on top of the ear and grips the top of the ear without being imposing. The connectors on the top appear don’t appear anything out of the ordinary. They are silver, with smooth exteriors that were initially hard to remove from the IEM, a little grip on the outside would help. There are no explicit marks for right and left. I used the direction of the groove on the IEMs to determine right and left. I would use the standard colour-coding scheme that is out there, red = right and blue = left. There is also a metal Kumitate Lab logo bead on the left earpiece. The y-split is made of two layers of heat shrink, with a Made in Japan label. Apparently a large amount of the IEM is made in Japan. The wire is from a Japanese company that is well known in pro-audio in Japan, the 2-pin connectors are made by a company called Bispa (well known in Japan), and the assembly of the cable is done by Kumitate Lab hands with 10 years of experience. A heat shrink chin slider is above the y-split. The cable I received was terminated in a good quality verified Oyaide 2.5mm termination (there are lots of ‘Oyaide style’ terminations).

I tried multiple aftermarket cables with the Sirius, but the one that I’ve settled on as the best cable is the Double Helix Cables Symbiote Elite SP (8-Braid). The DHC Symbiote Elite extracts more detail than the basic cable that the Sirius comes with, and sounds fuller, with a bigger stage. It takes the IEM to a whole new level. The Sirius is probably the most sensitive IEM to cable change that I’ve tried.

Audio quality
Overall sound impressions
Overall the KL-Sirius is tuned more to the reference side of the spectrum. It has light but accurate bass with good extension and no particular bands emphasized. The mids are silky smooth and more organic sounding than your average reference tuning. These mids are liquid, smooth like butter, baby.


Cable Rolling
I’ll start with some brief cable rolling impressions. Truth be told, I wasn’t going to do that here. I was going to save it for another review, but then after I’d already determined that I liked the DHC Symbiote Elite SP (8 Braid), I decided to do a quick switch back to the stock cable that I hadn’t listened to since the first couple days I had the KL-Sirius. The difference didn’t feel as big. The DHC Symbiote Elite is much prettier, maybe that has been driving my impressions. Attractive food tastes better then the same ingredients with no presentation. Our brains are wired for expectation bias. Maybe I’ve had a bit of that. So I decided to go back with doubt, and listen again.

For this little exercise I checked to see if there were any major impedance deviations through some volume matching. There weren’t. If there are differences in impedance, it’s resulting in less than 0.2dB difference in sound, so all the differences in sound will be due to cable construction.

I start out with the DHC Elite and Smashing Pumpkins – Mayonaise, and then switch down to the stock balanced cable that came with the KL-Sirius. The stage shrinks in on the switch, cymbals sound thinner, and the mids sound thicker and more forward. Billy Corgan’s voice loses some breathiness. Bass gets a touch more midbass. There is a reinforcement of the centre image. The biggest losses were in overall resolution and stage. In the past I’ve observed that the amount of wire matters, it could be that if the cable guage were higher this would sound more even. I think even a switch up to 28 AWG would make a difference. I think the current wire is around 32 AWG. Switching back to the DHC Elite, there is also more bass texture and note depth. The stock cable sounds comparatively laid back and fuzzier.

I wish my comparisons could be blinded, but that is probably impossible given the different feels of the cables. In this brief face-off, the DHC Elite won, but it is an $800 cable with better conductors and more of them, so there is that.

All the impressions in this review are done with the KL-Sirius paired with the DHC Symbiote Elite SP (8-braid) cable. Short story on the cable, the Sirius is capable of more than the cable it comes with. Review comparisons were made with volume matching. Volume matching was done using an SPL metre and white noise. I position my IEMs in my home-brew coupler with the IEMs perpendicular to the ground. I’ve found this allows the most consistent measurements and ensures that the dB in custom in-ears match up to universals. I’ve listed the comparators in the table below.



Comparisons


When I went to use the Kumitate Lab KL-Sirius with the Soundaware M2PRO, the mids sounded hollow, so I hooked up the iFi iEMatch 2.5mm and that fixed the problem. The fun thing about balanced armature based IEMs is that each armature has a different impedance, and the differences can be extreme. I’m not convinced that sources listing their output impedance have the same impedance across the frequency range either. So maybe a mismatch explains the hollow sound I got out of the M2PRO. I have not had any problems with matching the Kumitate Labs KL-Sirius on any other rig. In fact, I found it worked equally well on the QP2R with and without the iFi iEMatch2.5.

Unless otherwise noted, I used the QP2R for comparisons. In all comparisons using iFi iEMatch2.5, the setting was high. I find most IEMs clip if I turn the setting to Ultra sensitivity on the iEMatch2.5. I don’t like clipping.

UERR ($1049 with balanced cable) vs. Kumitate Lab KL-Sirius w/ DHC Symbiote Elite (~$800 + $800)
Metal! Slayer – Necrophobic is a showcase of speed, and it’s short, which means I can switch back and forth or listen to the whole track repeatedly. Luckily, it’s a great visceral track that I like listening to repeatedly. The mids on the UERR have a harder character while also being airier. The UERR feels faster through the lower mids and midbass. The vocals are a touch further back on the Sirius. The guitar solo about half-way through the track is faster and better defined on the UERR. The smooth silky sound of the KL-Sirius is not as good during speedy guitar solos as it is during female vocals slow jazz riffs.

When I want some sultry female vocals, Natalie Merchant – Carnival is always a solid standby. She’s got a heavy, rich voice. The rest of the track is laid out very well too. On this track, I prefer the voicing of the Sirius. It has a tighter snap to the percussion, and the silkiness of the mids works well with the slow guitar and female vocals. As with Necrophobic, the vocals are positioned a little further back on the KL-Sirius than vocals on the UERR. On both IEMs, bass grooves with good definition, but neither emphasises it. The UERR has a touch more bass.

The edges of the stage are nicely populated on the KL-Sirius when listening to Macy Gray – Annabelle. The stand-up bass has accurate timbre, but isn’t as pronounced as the track should call for with the KL-Sirius. The sound is very well integrated, just a pleasing tuning. Bass is a little more forward on the UERR, but the overall stage has less depth. Guitar is really gorgeously presented on the UERR.



These are both such capable and good IEMs, I really can’t pick one. They have slightly different tonal and technical profiles. The UERR has a more immediate feel, and is more resolving during fast complex passages. The overall timbre of the KL-Sirius is neutral organic, and quite lovely. From a technical perspective, the KL-Sirius and UERR are a push on stage width, but the Sirius has greater depth. The UERR has a taller stage. The UERR has a resolution advantage, but it isn’t a night and day comparison. The UERR costs a bit more, but not more as tested. I think that with a $200 upgrade cable, the KL-Sirius likely still competes. I think folks wanting a more silky musical version of neutral who like easy going music will go for the KL-Sirius. If you are looking to portray classical music, or speed metal, the UERR is the better choice.

Noble Encore w/ PlusSound X-Series GPC ($1699 + $399) vs. Kumitate Lab KL-Sirius w/ DHC Symbiote Elite (~$800 + $800)
I start out getting my dance rhythms on with some STRFKR – Tape Machine. The KL-Sirius has liquid mids, delicate treble, and a slightly warm chugging bass on this track. The track doesn’t have a ton of depth, but I’m getting just slightly outside the ears width with on the Sirius. Treble is a touch harder with the Noble Encore, a little more forward, with a touch more detail resolution. The bass is bigger with more rich and full timbre on the Encore. The Encore gets more texture out of this track. Soundstage is a push between the two. The Encore has more of a v-shaped inflection to the tuning. It’s more fun, while the Sirius tilts more towards a reference tuning.

After getting FKed up in space, I decide to stroll to a decidedly more earthen location and throw on some Stevie Ray Vaughan – Tin Pan Alley (aka Roughest Place in Town). This track has an underlying electrical noise, while still exhibiting some intricate blues guitar work. The Sirius has very fluid mids with good detail layered into vocals from Stevie. The bass guitar is tuneful without extending remarkably deep. The bass is neither forward, nor recessed on the Sirius, but many would interpret it as such. It’s got kind of an HD600 kind of feel to it. Mids are more airy on the Noble Encore. The whole sound is more lively and realistic feeling. Bass is elevated on the Noble Encore, but satisfyingly so. The bass on the Encore has more texture, but it has decidedly more mid-bass than sub-bass. The sub-bass on the Sirius sounds more balanced due to lack of emphasis on the mid-bass. Clarity around the 5 minute mark in the track is similar between the two. I really like the mids presentation on the Sirius.

Can I get some sibilance? Rush – The Trees, is generally good for that. The Sirius doesn’t accentuate sibilance, what’s there is an accurate amount. Geddy Lee loves to elongate his ‘s’ sounds, so if there isn’t sibilance it’s from heavy-handed downtuning of the sibilance range between 6kHz and 8kHz. Cymbal strikes sound harder on the Noble Encore, with less fluidity. The decay is slightly shortened on the Encore. The Encore slightly reduces sibilance compared to the Sirius.

The Noble Encore exhibits good hard rock power when thrashing on Rage Against the Machine – Know Your Enemy. The Sirius has more natural sounding cymbals. The Encore rocks the crap out of the Sirius, with the Sirius sounding comparatively dull on this track. Easy win for the Encore on this track.

If soaring female backing vocals is what you are looking for when listening to Pixies – Where is My Mind? you’ll get it with the Encore. It has great clarity and separation in the upper mids. I get the same soar with the Sirius, but it has greater depth in the representation and is silkier. It’s hard to pick a winner on this track. The Noble Encore has those enhanced bass notes that give a more lively feel, but my oh my are those female backing vocals alluring on the Sirius. Both give similar stage width, but the female vocals project and expand from deeper in the stage on the Sirius. I’m enthralled with both.

What about Bob—I mean jazz. On Miles Davis – Spanish Key the Noble Encore has more immediacy, but sounds a bit busier due to pushing some bass and treble elements forward in the mix. The more neutral tuning of the Sirius is a better match for this complex and busy track, stylistically. The Encore has more resolution on this track, but misses on the ambiance.

I think the Noble Encore has a more resolution, but the Sirius has a touch more stage, so the advantage on technical aspects is slightly in the Encore’s favour. The Sirius has silky alluring mids and a non-fatiguing reference-like signature. It has a more fluid treble, while not losing detail in the treble. The bass is more balanced than the Encore, but also what would be considered a touch light for many. The Encore rocks much harder, so if hard is what you are looking for, the Encore might as well be a little blue-grey pill. I like both, a lot, but given my usual listening habits, I’d probably reach for the Encore more often, even though I think the Sirius is probably more timbrally accurate. In a 10 driver competition versus 4 driver competition, it was a lot closer than I expected.

Unique Melody Mason v3 ($2699) vs. Kumitate Lab KL-Sirius w/ DHC Symbiote Elite (~$800 + $800)
I decided to do this comparison using the Soundaware M2PRO as the volume setting difference is only one point, but on different gains, which means that switches should be fast. The switch isn’t as close on the QP2R. For this comparison I had the Mason v3 set with the dB-Go switch turned to the back, and the silver cable on, which is my preferred setting.

2Pac – Troublesome ’96 shows some nice bass texture with the Unique Melody Mason v3. The Masons are not bass light. They have nice fully developed low bass notes. 2Pac’s vocals are a little back of where I’m used to. Bass texture is still good on the Sirius, but the Mason reaches deeper. The Mason has more resolution through the mids, with more texture to 2Pac’s voice. The slight dip in the mids gives a bit more feeling of depth. I’m a little surprised to detect the dip in the mids on the Mason. Stage depth is more pronounced on the Mason v3.

The Mason v3 delicately arranges the stage on Bob Dylan – Like a Woman. The slight recession in the mids creates some illusion of additional depth, but when considering the rest of instruments, depth is still extremely impressive, so one wonders why not just tune the vocal bands completely neutral? Bass is more prominent on the Mason v3 than the KL-Sirius. Bob Dylan’s voice is silkier and more prominent in the stage on the Kumitate Lab KL-Sirius. This song sounds better on the KL-Sirius. It just sounds more whole and real.

A band that far too few people think of as audiophile listening fodder is Wilco, especially their a ghost is born album. On Handshake Drugs, the Sirius gives nice clear presentation to vocals; the bass chugs along nicely without overpowering anything; and the drums are exactly where I want them to be. The bass guitar is better represented on the Mason v3, with much more full sub-bass development and more texture to bass. The stage has an effortless breadth to it with incredible instrument separation. Every instrument really gets to shine on the Mason v3, with all sounding at appropriate depth. The only exception is the slightly recessed male vocal from Jeff Tweedy. The Mason v3 is better at taking on the complex interplay of instruments on this track.





Katherine Bryan – Flute Concerto: II. Alla Marcia presents a complex sonic landscape that will expose over-bright treble and inadequate driver speed. Katherine Bryan has some masterful flute trilling. The Mason v3 doesn’t miss a beat with any of the broad sonic range of expression in her flute vocalisations or in the various individual instruments. The scene never sounds busy on the Mason v3, and every instrument is well-resolved. Mmm, those silky mids on the KL-Sirius. The Sirius sounds a bit sharper on flute, but also a bit fuller. The overall speed of the KL-Sirius doesn’t match the Mason v3. Complex notes are more fluid and less delineated. They have a little bit more heft to them, whereas the Mason v3 is more light on its touch. Stage width isn’t close to the Mason v3 on the KL-Sirius, and the Sirius’s instrument separation is similarly bested by the Mason v3.

Overall the Mason v3 is technically superior, though the slightly recessed mids turn it off of being a full-on reference tuning. The Sirius has a more reference tuning but can’t match the stage, instrument separation, resolution, speed or bass depth of the Mason v3. The Mason v3 and Sirius are from the same signature family, but the Mason v3 is the higher technical performer.
Specifications

Conclusions
The Kumitate Lab KL-Sirius has liquid mids that are to die for, given the right circumstances. Speed metal with over-complicate for the KL-Sirius, but smooth bluesy presentations absolutely shine. They extoll the virtues of female singers, and do an excellent job resolving a good size stage with impressive depth and width. The build quality is excellent, but they could use more in the way of accessories to make the overall buying experience stand out as a more boutique experience. They scale with better cables and better sources, and can run with more expensive IEMs. These are artisanal IEMs, and I really appreciated the design and performance.

List Price: £3499 (UK, Audio Sanctuary), $4000 globally

Product Website: https://www.focal.com/uk/headphones/home/utopia

Acknowledgment
Thank you Matt, at SCV distribution, for supplying a Utopia on loan. I really wanted to compare this to the Susvara, you made it happen. The opinions expressed in this review are my own and in no way influenced by SCV distribution or anyone else.

This review was originally published on Audio Primate.

Introduction
The Focal Utopia is widely regarded as one of the best headphones on the planet for technical capability and sound quality. I’ve reviewed what I believe is the best headphone on the planet under $50k, the HiFiMAN Susvara, but I hadn’t spent any time outside of shows listening to the Focal Utopia. At shows, I’d found that I didn’t like it out of everything I listening to. I thought it paired well with the Naim amp I first heard it on, and badly with the Dragon Inspire IHA-1 tube headphone amp. Next time I heard it, it was another Naim amp, and it sounded different once again, with north of neutral bass and a bit of lift in the lower treble.

I’ve got a good relationship with SCV distribution, so I was able to get a loan of the Focal Utopia for some time.

Useability: Form & Function
Unboxing


The box looks fancy, nice leather display box with excellent padding throughout and compartments for each component, but no case, and only one Manute Bol (he was 7'7") sized cable. Where is all the good stuff that comes with the Clear? I’m of the opinion that after releasing the Clear with a travel case, one normal sized cable, and two over-sized cables (including a balanced cable), all the other Focal headphones should have immediately got the same treatment, but this did not happen. The $1500 Focal Clear has better accessories than $4000 Utopia. Fix it Focal.

Again, the presentation and packaging are excellent, but the functionality of what’s in the box is kind of nonsense. The included cable is 3 meters long. Did they actually talk to headphone users, or did they just assume that the Utopia would be used in the same position as their 2 channel speakers (which are really nice by the way)? Focal went to the trouble of making it so the Utopia can be adequately powered off most decently endowed DAPs, but then they didn’t include a 3.5mm terminated cable or for that matter a cable made for humans. I’m imagining Wun Wun wearing this cable and thinking it’s perfect length and girth (expressed as a deep rumble). There is also not a balanced cable included. Sometimes, it’s the little things that kill.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] The 3 meter cable would make a nice sports cable for Wun Wun.[/caption]


More unboxing pictures can be found here.

Build, Aesthetics and ergonomics
The cable is a good thickness cable with excellent conductors and it is built balanced, just without a balanced amp connection (why!?). It’s a high quality cable, just not pitched to the audience this headphone is really for: headphone audiophiles. I don’t think that the Utopia is really pitched for music producers, and balanced connectors are basically ubiquitous in top tier cans for audiophiles. I kind of understand why they don’t have two cables with the Utopia, Lemo connectors are expensive ($70 to add them to a Double Helix Cable Prion 4). Lemo connectors are of extremely good build quality, there’s a reason why the connectors cost so darn much. They have well-built moving parts and are basically impossible to remove without intent. Lemo connectors are sturdy with a very secure and a good contact surface area.

The Focal Utopia comes in all the colours you want if you want black, but it is stylishly done, with nice silver accents on several nicely placed bevelled edges, steel screws holding the carbon fibre gimbals to the drivers, and a precision stamped silver grille exposing the eye of the beast—the driver looks like a beast eye looking out at you with a grey centre and red spider for the 40mm solid beryllium driver. The pads are made with a high quality leather with perforations for ventilation and sound tuning. The cups have a small pivot built into the headband (probably 20⁰ front and back). I found this pivot inadequate to get the full surface of the cups flush with my head. The head pad is also perforated and nicely cushioned. The left and right side of the headphones are labelled on the headband, and faintly noted by the Lemo jacks. I would have very much liked if they used red colour coding to signify right. Much of the cup assembly is made of high quality plastic, which is probably necessary due to the weight of the magnets in these.



I found the Utopia to cause pressure points on my jaw where the clamp force is focused due to my inability to get the cups to sit completely flush due to the limited range on the cup swivelling. I can’t just put the headphones on and forget about them like the HiFiMAN HE-1000 v2, HiFiMAN Susvara, or the Sennheiser HD600. These are comfortable enough for a normal listening session (couple hours), but we are audiophiles, we aren’t normal. We listen for stupid lengths of time. I’m on hour 5 at 2AM as I write this.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1024"] These two stands are nearly identical, note HiFiMAN Susvara sits flush, while Utopia applies more pressure at the bottom.[/caption]
Audio quality
The desktop setup:

• Dell Inspiron running JRiver (source)
• Vertere Acoustics D-Fi DD 2 wire USB cable (split power and signal)
• iFi Micro iUSB3.0
• LH Labs Lightspeed 2G (split power and signal)
• Questyle CMA600i or Aune S6
• Vertere Acoustics D-Fi XLR to RCA interconnect
• XIAUDIO Formula S (Eleven Audio) or Aune S6 (no interconnect) or Questyle CMA600i (no interconnect)
• Headphone cables: all Atlas Zeno.

I started my listening using the Wire-on-Wire Experience 680 RCA interconnects and switched to the Vertere Acoustics DFi after I was noting a hardness in the upper mids/lower treble of the Utopia. I was getting fatigued quickly. I think the Utopia has a little bit of emphasis in this area, and the added emphasis of the bright Wire-on-Wire cable was too much. The Vertere Acoustics DFi cable is less bright, while still maintaining excellent detail resolution. I could have also tried the Wire-on-Wire spacers (they lower treble output), but I didn’t do that.

For listening with the Focal Utopia low gain was always used. I never had to take the volume past about 30%. The Focal Utopia is easy to drive as flagships go. The HifiMAN cans were played on High Gain (on the Formula S only). As volume matching open cans is hard to do via measurement, I did it by ear. Feel free to take my observations with a grain of salt, but I recommend you try using only an SPL meter to volume match open cans with different dispersion patterns. I think that you’ll probably find that you'd do the same as me.



Amplifier/DAC Pairings
All amplifier pairings were done using the balanced output on each amplifier, except for the Questyle QP2R. The cable used with the Utopia was the Atlas Zeno cable with termination in two 3-pin XLR with a dual 3-pin XLR to 4-pin XLR Vertere Acoustics Pulse HB adaptor, except on the pairing with the Questyle QP2R. Even though the dual 3-pin to 4-pin XLR conversion is unnecessary on the XI Audio Formula S, I maintained this connection for consistency. For the Questyle QP2R pairing, the stock cable was used with a Sennheiser 6.3mm to 3.5mm adaptor. I used white noise to volume match, holding an SPL meter in one hand and the Utopia in the other, being careful to try to replicate microphone position on the SPL meter and grip on the Utopia to try to make the measurements as consistent as possible. Here is the volume match table for all sources, so that you can at least attempt to replicate my observations should you have a similar set-up.

Source Gain Volume SPL
XIAUDIO Formula S Low 1/3 78.1
Questyle CMA600i -- 6.75 78.2
Aune S6 -- 59 78.3
Questyle CMA600i -- 8 78.2
Questyle QP2R High 102 78.3


Aune S6
Listening to 2Pac – God Bless the Dead, the bass has great richness on the S6. Deep and bold. Nice. The S6 drives the Focal Utopia with plenty of headroom. Compared to the Questyle CMA600i, the stage is more forward with less depth on the S6. The S6 still allows picking apart the image, with the excellent resolution characteristics still showing. The S6 isn’t quite refined enough for the Utopia. The CMA600i is better.

Questyle CMA600i
The mids are a bit clearer on the CMA600i on God Bless the Dead, but the lows don’t have as much body as the S6. On Leonard Cohen – Leaving the Table, the bass has more texture and the separation in the mids is greater with better detail. The CMA600i drives the Utopia effortlessly with great space in the stage. On Outkast – Ms. Jackson, the details pop beautifully on the track with excellent separation in the tightly layered mids. Dog barks, laughing, layered guitars and percussion are all nicely separated. I love the funky bass guitar line here. Instruments have remarkable spacing, better than the S6.

Compared to the XIAUDIO Formula S, the Questyle CMA600i is more forward. Kate Bush’s vocals are thrust upon you in Cloudbusting more than on the XIAUDIO Formula S, where they are a touch further back. Bass is nice and chooglin’ on The Beach Boys – Sloop John B (DSD64). Because the stage depth is less than the XIAUDIO Formula S, it the reproduction sounds more forward.

When listening to Why? – Sod in the Seed there is little difference between the presentation of the CMA600i and the QP2R, which leads me to believe that both drive the Utopia equally well.

Questyle QP2R
Why? – Sod in the Seed comes off a bit sharp in the high guitar notes. The detail is spectacular, as with every other pairing. Fleetwood Mac – Dreams has a bit forward sounding cymbals, and the decay is a bit quick, leading to a bit of a tinny sound, this is replicated on the CMA600i in single-ended operation. I think these probably benefit from an upgrade to the included cable, as the Utopia with Atlas Zeno sounded better on the CMA600i.

XIAUDIO Formula S


The XIAUDIO Formula S, fed by the Questyle CMA600i as DAC (unity gain), is smoother and less punchy than the CMA600i as the DAC and amplifier. Stage depth is a bit greater on the XIAUDIO Formula S. The stage width is also greater on the XIAUDIO Formula S compared to the CMA600i when listening to Kate Bush – Cloudbusting. Likewise, the stage width and separation are more impressive on the XIAUDIO Formula S. Tonally both the Formula S and CMA600i produce a similar presentation. I think the difference are primarily due to better stage performance on the Formula S, though if I had to state any tonal difference I would say that the sound is more forward on the CMA600i. Rush – The Spirit of the Radio further highlights the differences in stage depth between the two amplifiers. Neil Peart’s drum kit is further back in the stage with much more separation from Geddy Lee’s vocals and the ambuscade of drums has more resolution and spacing. On Pixies – Where Is My Mind, the stage is bigger and more clearly defined on the Formula S than the CMA600i. The observation was replicated when listening to Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours album. The Utopia does benefit from a better amp, in spite of not being incredibly demanding as flagships go.

Headphone Comparisons
All headphone comparisons were done on the Formula S using Atlas Zeno cables. The Focal Utopia was hooked up with dual 3-pin XLRs (appeared to be silver pins). The HiFiMAN HE-1000 v2 and the HiFiMAN Susvara were connected via 4-pin XLR (brass pins). It would have been nice to have the same connector, but you work with what you got. Thanks for the loaner cables SCV and Atlas Cables.

HiFiMAN HE-1000 v2
First up, some non-sonic stuff. The HE-1000 v2 are way more comfortable than the Utopia. The larger swivel radius of the cups on the HE-1000 v2 means there are no pressure points, the cups sit flush even pressure distribution. The larger pad surface area and grill surface area also means that weight and heat are better distributed. The HE-1000 v2 are lighter, with a better distributed load due to the design of the strap. They don’t look as tough or prestigious as the Utopias, but they are more functionally minded in their design.

Overall sound impressions. The HiFiMAN HE-1000 v2 is smoother and more natural sounding than the Utopia. It has a more open sound with a wider and taller soundstage. It has a very real feeling. The Utopia has a deeper soundstage than the HE-1000 v2. The small size of the soundstage gives a clear disconnect from the feeling of reality over headphone simulation. The Utopia has a remarkably black background. When listening to the Tom Waits – The One That Got Away the silence between instruments and notes is impressive. So clean and clear. Love the stand-up bass accuracy and separation between the instruments. The whole album has a live feel to it and it’s especially apparent on this track. The HE-1000 v2 has a little lighter touch on the mids. On the Utopia, the decay is stand-up bass is more natural, it’s a touch fast on the HE-1000 v2. Saxophone sounds a little rougher and reedier on the HE-1000 v2, the Utopia is smoother through the mids with a bit more body. There’s a bit more texture in Tom Wait’s voice on the HE-1000 v2.



Listening to Slayer – Necrophobic the mids are a bit thicker and less textured on the Utopia. The decreased width of the soundstage reduces the ability to resolve the band in space. With Talking Heads – Psycho killer the Utopias have a bit of thickness in the vocals that deadens a little bit of the dynamics in David Byrne’s voice. The HE-1000 v2 are more natural and timbrally accurate. They also have a wide stage.

Listening to Shostakovich Symphony No. 1, the Utopia does a beautiful job of rendering the depth of instrumentation. Instruments are clearly separated in y-axis (moving from the listener perpendicular to the face), but the width (x-axis) is not sufficient to get a good idea of the scale of the orchestra, the stage height (z-axis) is also not exceptional. The HiFiMAN HE-1000 v2 has better stage dimensions. There is a nice sweetness to the violins. Strings in general sound beautiful with just the right amount of weight given to each part of plucked and struck notes.

Roger Waters’ album Amused to Death is one of my all-time favourite albums for sound quality. When listening to the album I found that the 40mm dynamic driver gave my ears a pretty good thrashing at similar volume to comfortable listening on the HE-1000 v2. I think that because the driver area disperses the sound more on the HE-1000 v2 that there is less pressure on any given area of the ear, while the Utopia is a piston driving pressure directly at my ear-drum. The HE-1000 v2 also imparts more breathiness into Roger Waters – Three Wishes. However, it should be noted that the Utopia sounds more impactful on Three Wishes.

Overall, I think that in most areas, the HE-1000 v2 is more to my liking than the Utopia. It has a bigger stage, it is more comfortable, it causes less listening fatigue. It is also less expensive. Matched with essentially the same aftermarket cable, the Atlas Zeno, the HE-1000 v2 is the better buy at $2999 and, to my ears, the better sounding headphone. Some will prefer the more impactful and intimate sound of the Utopia. Both headphones are very detailed but the HE-1000 v2 sounds more natural to me.



HiFiMAN Susvara
This isn’t likely to go well for the Utopia, as the HE-1000 v2, which isn’t as stellar as the Susvara just beat the Utopia. I’ve given this a couple days rest to wipe clear my memory. The amp is on, warmed up, and my ears are ready to make the attempt at volume matching by ear—I don’t have the set-up to match two different open cans, dispersion differences change measurements.

Listening to Why? – Waterlines the bass is a bit less punchy on the Susvara. The overall ambience of the Susvara is bigger. The harp strings pluck in space with delicious delicacy, whilst wood blocks have a rounder impact, and snare snaps have more air dispersion around them. The opening strings are in a more compact space listening to the Utopia, whilst strings are more enveloping on the Susvara. Tambourines are more present on the Utopia and Yoni Wolf’s vocals are also more forward. Wood block hits are more compact and snappy. Overall the sound is sharper and more compact on the Utopia, and more expansive and inviting on the Susvara.

Stepping into Dave Brubeck – Take Five, the Utopia is tighter with greater impact on drums, but a bit hard sounding compared to the Susvara. The Susvara presents similar detail and shape but the thunderous drum solo in the middle of the track doesn’t have the same violence that the Utopia displays. The Utopia fires off the drum riff like a volley of machine gun fire in a thunderstorm. These are alternative tonal presentations of the same sounds, and both headphones call up the same detail and maintain the same speed. When listening to cymbals the Utopia is a bit more forward with shorter attack and decay. As with the previous track, the stage width and depth are superior on the Susvara.

Diana Krall’s voice smacks with tiny details as her dry mouth draws breath between notes on the Susvara. Little clicks of her tongue percolate to the surface on The Girl In The Other Room. Those same little clicks are there too, on the Utopia. The soundstage is smaller and Diana Krall’s voice is more forward on the Utopia. Cymbals on the Susvara sound soft and smooth compared to the Utopia, whilst not being particularly soft. Upper mid and lower treble percussion is more snappy on the Utopia. Both headphones have a realistic feel.

Outkast – Ms. Jackson has some surprisingly complex mixing, and the Utopia does a modestly better job keeping everything in the complex scene organised and clear. The track can get confusing, and the Focal Utopia keeps up a bit better with the dispersed signal.

Bass test time. Kick it Pac. Bass on the Utopia is tight and controlled on Troublesome ’96. Such a groovy bassline. Never gets old, especially when listening on such stellar headphones. The snare drum retains the violence observed on other tracks. There’s a touch more texture in the bass on the Susvara. It’s actually revealing some unpleasant distortion artifacts in the bass. It’s harder to listen to than the Utopia. The bass is cleaner, without distortion showing up as much in the bass on the Utopia. The bass line has more weight. The distortion is still there, but it isn’t as clear on the Utopia. Piano has nice delicacy on the Susvara. On Max Richter – Dream 1 (before the wind blows it all away) the Utopia goes impressively deep and handles the power of the bass piano notes, including the low sub-bass notes with nice gravity. The Susvara is richer with more developed bass texture. It goes just as deep but gives more texture and amplitude in the lower sub-bass while being a bit less impactful in the upper sub-bass. The sub-bass on the Susvara has more rumble than the Utopia. I don’t have measurements, but I would guess that the Susvara has more energy between 10Hz and 40Hz than the Utopia, but the Utopia has more energy between 40Hz and 60Hz. The structure of the bass notes is just a bit different. The Utopia has a more clean and precise sound, while the Susvara is deep with natural sounding linearity. I think while the Susvara has more rumble, the clarity of the Utopia bass puts it on par.

When I reviewed the Susvara, I found that a bright interconnect, the Wire On Wire Experience 680, gave the Susvara that bit more detail throughout the spectrum, but added a touch of fatigue. The Experience 680 made the Utopia sound harder with some tones entering into harsh territory, it was not an ideal pairing. I think that both headphones have quite a bit of potential for synergy with different set-ups. I think if I put the Wire On Wire Experience 680 back in with the Utopia, the distance between the two headphones will be larger as the synergy with the Susvara of the Experience 680 is excellent (and can be tuned to drop out the tiny bit of fatigue on the pairing). As is, with the Vertere Acoustics D-Fi XLR to RCA interconnects they are fairly close. The Vertere Acoustics softens the Utopia somewhat, and I think it is doing the same to the Susvara. When I put the Wire on Wire Experience 680 back in with the Susvara, the Susvara burns up the quarter mile and takes those pink slips. Instrument separation is on par or better, complex passages are handled with the same intricacy as the Utopia. The sound is more natural than the Utopia. The bass detail is substantially better than the Utopia with some serious rumble. The soundstage is still superior on the Susvara.



For long-term listening, the Susvara is more comfortable from an ergonomic and listening fatigue perspective. The more impactful sound of the Utopia, whilst engaging, can also be fatiguing. It will get your toes tapping like mad and your head banging or grooving (as is appropriate to your choice of music), but not for as long as the Susvara. I think the Utopia has a hair more detailed and precise sound, but the Susvara has more linearly extended bass and a significantly larger sound stage. I find the sonic portraiture of the Utopia to be vibrantly engaging, whilst the Susvara is more neutral and absorbing. The Susvara lets you melt into the sound a bit more than the Utopia, which demands your ears stand at attention for the next spat of violence.

Cable Pairings
Headphone cables
The stock cable is a good heavy-duty cable. It’s just too darn long. It has right and left sides, but you’d be forgiven for not knowing as the markers are in faintly imprinted small impressions on the rubber strain relief of the Lemo connectors. There is no colour coding for right and left and no physical cues. Focal clearly didn’t expect that people would disconnect the cable often. That’s actually a pretty reasonable assumption. How reviewers interact with gear is not at all normal.

Cables were volume matched using an SPL meter. Volume matching on the same open headphone between amps and cables is consistent. The amp was the XIAUDIO Formula S. There was no volume difference between the Atlas Zeno (£250-£300, couldn’t find price with Lemo connectors) and the Vertere Acoustics Pulse HB (£1400). Both the Zeno and the Pulse HB used dual 3-pin XLR connectors. The connectors on the Zeno appear to be silver, whilst the Pulse HB uses gold-plated brass.

The switching time was substantial as the Lemo connectors are right bastards to deal with if you want to switch between setups quickly. They need to be flawlessly aligned and they have little spring-loaded rings that are a bit finicky. I didn’t have two Focal Utopias on hand, so I did the best that I could switching between them, but the time lag means that you have to trust my hearing and hearing memory over my process, so take any observations salted to taste.

To be honest, given the cables that I’m working with, I just don’t have confidence that my memory is good enough. I did repeated switches back and forth between the Zeno and the Pulse HB, but my observations were inconsistent, which in the absence of any other evidence is reason to conclude that it is likely that the sonic difference between the cables is either non-existent, or tiny. If I had to say anything about sonic differences with low confidence it would be that the Pulse HB sounds a bit drier.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Atlas Zeno, Utopia cable champion in this review[/caption]

From a build quality standpoint, both the cables are beefy, with very nice looking build quality. The Pulse HB is a bit tougher looking, and has chunky-super-heavy-why-am-I-so-damned-heavy-because-it-screams-premium XLR connectors. They are stupidly heavy. They do not need to be this heavy. This is silly. The Atlas Zeno has normal weight 3-pin XLRs, which is to say lightweight. The Vertere Acoustics XLRs use the right and left labelling on the strain reliefs to tell you which way is up on the 3-pin XLR connectors, while the Atlas Zeno uses the screw to show you which side is up. I found that the Vertere Acoustics way of marking was harder to use than the Atlas method. The right and left indicators are potentially covered by your hand when you are inserting the XLR, while the screw on the Atlas connectors is not. I like ergonomic and well thought out designs. Neutrik XLRs use imprinted branding to show which way is up on their jacks. Clearly, the best place to mark which way is up on an XLR is to do so on the upper half of the connector, the part you are looking at when you insert it.



The Pulse HB has beefier wires, but this probably doesn’t matter too much to the Utopia, as it is relatively easy to drive, so doesn’t need a bigger highway, so to speak. I think that this might not be the case with the Susvara if I were try the Pulse HB for it. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a Pulse HB terminated for the Susvara on hand. As is, I’m not hearing a significant enough difference between the Pulse HB and the Atlas Zeno to put forth any substantial claims with the Vertere Acoustics DFi interconnects running in-between the CMA600i and the Formula S. This would mean that spending £1400 for the Vertere Acoustics Pulse HB cable is likely not justified for the Focal Utopia. The Atlas Zeno does an excellent job at substantially less money and doesn’t have paperweights at the end of each wire.

Interconnects
But what about with the aforementioned Wire on Wire Experience 680 interconnect? I found that the sound was more revealing and more bright with this pairing, on any headphone cable connected. Listening to Kate Bush – Running up that Hill the sound was immediately much more detailed and impactful than the Vertere Acoustics DFi. When the thunderous drums come in, the Vertere Acoustics DFi sounds more distant while also having less overall depth. The noise floor of the recording is also more apparent on the Wire on Wire Experience 680. The Experience 680 also makes the Utopia more fatiguing, so with the Utopia, I prefer the Vertere Acoustics DFi interconnect over the Experience 680 in default setting. It should be noted that the Experience 680 can be tuned by adding spacers and that the spacers basically tune treble presence (see impressions from Indulgence Show 2017), but without having two of the cable, I wouldn’t be able to make reliable comparisons at home.

Specifications
Specifications
Price $4000
Driver type 40mm pure Beryllium dynamic driver
Impedance 80Ω
Sensitivity 104dB SPL / 1mW @ 1kHz
THD <0.2% @ 1kHz / 100dB SPL
Frequency Response 5Hz – 50kHz
Weight 490g (17.28oz)
Accessories 3M 6.35mm single-ended OFC cable terminated with Lemo connectors (balanced wire configuration, single ended termination), padded display box, manual and warranty cards


Acknowledgment
Thank you Matt, at SCV distribution, for supplying a Utopia on loan. I really wanted to compare this to the Susvara, you made it happen. The opinions expressed in this review are my own and in no way influenced by SCV distribution or anyone else.

Conclusions
The Utopia has outstanding instrument separation and stage depth, but limited stage width and height. The Utopia has excellent frequency extension with sub-bass notes driving deep, and highs well extended. The bass extension on the Utopia, while impressive is not as linear as the HiFiMAN Susvara. The Utopia falls a bit short of the Susvara in technical performance (stage, frequency linearity) and signature neutrality. The Utopia is less natural sounding than the HiFiMAN HE-1000 v2. Both HiFiMAN sets are more comfortable than the Utopia.

I found that the Utopia was sensitive to interconnect changes in my set-up. The Wire On Wire Experience 680 made the Utopia sound hard and a bit harsh, leading to relatively quick fatigue. This same pairing with the Susvara is bright, but not overly fatiguing and gives more resolution and texture throughout the frequency spectrum. With a softer, smoother interconnect like the Vertere Acoustics D-Fi, the Utopias more emphatic tendencies were tamed somewhat.

The Utopia is a technically proficient headphone that gets deep into details on tracks and is very engaging to listen to. Sometimes it borders on too engaging. While I enjoy the Susvara and the HE-1000 v2 more, as I prefer a more organic neutral sound, I could easily see preference going the other way. I don’t think the Utopia is the best headphone under $50k for me, but it is a spectacular headphone that will put a smile on your face and keep your toes tapping.



Rating Disclaimer: ratings are subjective. Audio quality and value do not mean the same thing across all prices. A headphone with a 5 rating on audio at $5 does not have equivalent sound quality as a 5 rating at $500. Likewise, value at $5 is not the same as value at $5000 dollars.

List Price: $69

Product Website: https://ifi-audio.com/portfolio-view/accessory-iematch2-5

Introduction
I’ve been wanting to get an iEMatch ever since the first one was released. I was surprised that iFi didn’t send me one to review, given how much we’ve worked together. I’ve got a few hiss monster DAPs in house, including my favourite DAP, the QP2R. Beyond the QP2R, the HiFiMAN SuperMini and the HiFiMAN MegaMini are hiss cannons. When iFi sent me the press release for the 2.5mm version of iEMatch, I had to get it. So, when I saw them at Sound & Vision 2018 in Bristol, I bought one on the spot.

This review was originally published on audioprimate.blog.



Usability: Form & Function


The box that the iEMatch2.5 comes in is iFi’s standard small item box. They use the same box for their Purifier series, and I have to imagine they use it for their Defender and other USB paraphernalia. Inside the box are the iEMatch2.5 with a formed slot cut out of the foam, a pair of earplugs, the cloth bag, and a tasty tasty silica packet. Mmmm anhydrous! Underneath the earplugs, there is a smiley face thank you. Also in the box are a conveniently sized and folded instruction manual and a warranty card. The box has all kinds of fancy pictures on the outside, which is standard for iFi. They are good with the graphic stuff.



The iEMatch itself is tiny. I was able to easily fit it in side the Noble Encore Pelican hard case with a bulky aftermarket cable. It’s really a life-saver with the Noble Encore.

The iEMatch2.5 has a lower output impedance than the version built into the iDSD Nano Black Label (under 1Ω versus 4Ω) but the same as the original iEMatch. In practice, what this means is that I don’t notice any colouration of the sound signature on the Noble Encore with the iEMatch2.5, but I do with the iDSD Nano Black Label. I get to listen with the best DAP I have in house, which is excellent. With the Noble Encore, I only have ever needed to use the High sensitivity setting, but if you are an Andromeda fan, I’d wager the Ultra sensitivity setting would have you covered.



One thing that I noted was that with the Questyle QP2R, the Ultra setting on the iEMatch was a bad idea, as the volume had to be turned up too high and it caused a little clipping. So you may not be able to use the iEMatch2.5 with every IEM source combination. If it sounds wrong and you have to jack the volume knob up to insane levels, stop. Use your sense.

On the iEMatch2.5, the 2.5mm jack plug has a collar. It has been my observation that 2.5mm plugs are very brittle, which is one of the reasons that I'm all gung-ho for 4.4mm balanced jack plugs to take over the DAP world (my 4.4 make sure all y'all kids don't grow, to homophone a great one). The best way to strengthen a 2.5mm jack plug is increase the contact area around the plug. Using a collar decreases this area and makes the plug vulnerable. Similarly, the end your aftermarket cable plugs into is not flush with the magnesium body of the iEMatch2.5 so also has a point of vulnerability that could have been mitigated. That said, moving your aftermarket cable plug away from the 2.5mm jack on the DAP reduces the amount of pressure, thus reducing the likelihood of a busted jack plug on your [expensive] aftermarket cable. This issue is why I docked the build quality 0.5 points.

I only have one other gripe, and that is the price differential between the standard iEMatch, and the iEMatch2.5. The regular iEMatch can be had for around $50. I think this is actually a more appropriate price, which is why I had to dock the value 0.5 points.

This was awfully close to being my first ever perfect 5 review. If I'd beta tested this, it would have got the 5 star rating, because I would have addressed the only issues. My cons would then read: none.

Specifications
Specifications
Price $69
Sensitivity adjustment Ultra (24dB), High (-12dB)
Input impedance 16Ω
Output impedance
< 2.5Ω (High-Sensitivity)

< 1.0Ω (Ultra-Sensitivity)

Weight 12.2g
Total length 116mm
Waranty 12 months
Accessories Fabric travel pouch, 1 pair soft-foam contoured ear plugs (-37dB)


Acknowledgment
I acknowledge that I bought the iEMatch my own darn self. No acknowledgment necessary. I got a show discount.

Conclusions
The iFi iEMatch is a hissbusting miracle worker in a diamond-dusted magnesium suit. It’s worth every penny. Buy it!



Rating Disclaimer: ratings are subjective. Audio quality and value do not mean the same thing across all prices. A headphone with a 5 rating on audio at $5 does not have equivalent sound quality as a 5 rating at $500. Likewise, value at $5 is not the same as value at $5000 dollars.

List Price: $3499

Product Website: http://www.theevolutionofsound.com/xiaudio-formula-s/

Acknowledgment
The XIAUDIO Formula S was provided on loan by XIAUDIO. The length of the loan was not specified. I have received no compensation for my review, and the opinions represented are mine. I’d like to thank Michael Xiao for giving me the opportunity to experience this amp.

This review originally appeared on Audio Primate. Now we are sharing with our friends and fans on Head-Fi.

Introduction
Alex Twister introduced me to Michael Xiao, proprietor of Eleven Audio, formerly of Lotoo. Alex doesn’t have any particularly demanding cans and knew that I had the HiFiMAN HE-1000 v2 in house, and a HiFiMAN Susvara on the way (review here), so he kindly introduced Michael to set up a review of the XIAUDIO Formula S. I’m glad he did.

The version that Michael sent me was the original design (only ever available in Asia). The new design has all the same guts but comes in an all black finish that I think matches the Abyss AB-1266 Phi a bit better. The Eleven Audio Formula S was designed to power the Abyss AB-1266 perfectly and contains JPS Labs Alumiloy wires inside. Here are some pictures of what the amp you would get if you were to purchase looks like.





The differences between the two looks are cosmetic: different printing, black colour, different more grippy volume knob (looks more industrial). Pictures in this review will all be with the silver 1.0 looks, rather than the black 2.0 looks.

Usability: Form & Function
The XIAUDIO Formula S comes well packed with foam all around, a thick double-walled inner box and a thick double walled outer box. This is how high end electronics should be packaged, and is similar to how the Airist Audio Heron 5 was packaged, with one exception. The Airist Audio Heron 5 came with a power cable and a manual. The Eleven Audio Formula S sent to me came with neither. An AC cable is not included, standard. Their website recommends the JPS Labs PAC Lite. This is probably due to the development partnership between the two companies. That power cable will set you back about $500. If you do the recommended configuration, the amp is about $4k, the same price as an Audeze LCD-4 or a Focal Utopia. I didn’t run this set-up. I used a shielded cable from MCRU that I had on hand, it was less than $50.



The Formula S that arrived on my doorstep has a single set of RCA inputs, which is the default configuration. When ordering, you can request XLR inputs instead. If I were purchasing, this is probably how I’d roll. My Questyle CMA600i has lower distortion on the balanced line-out and I noted it sonically when I reviewed it. The rear inputs are directly linked to the volume knob. Short paths are good engineering practice, the less circuitry in the way, the better opportunity to prevent distortion. The amp has a switching power supply and two gain settings. I like both features. Though I live in Britain, I like having the option to take my gear with me if I should ever return to my native land. Having two gain settings allows better matching with headphones which will lower the potential for distortion.

The outputs on the amplifier include all the most common full-size outputs—but not for long. There are two 3-pin XLR jacks, one 4-pin XLR and one 6.3mm jack. It would have been nice to see the dual 3-pin XLR replaced by a 4.4mm TRRRS, but one can’t have everything. The outputs are all equipped with protection circuits and turn on/off delays to protect headphones.

The amp promotional text on the website says that the volume goes from 0 to 11, but that isn’t exactly true. The volume on the amp actually starts at 11 and goes on to an unnamed number. Zero to 11 is for chumps.


I played the amp at all sorts of volumes with all sorts of loads. For the Focal Utopia, it never went past a quarter of the volume knob. For the Susvara, I never needed more than 3/4s of the volume capability. This amp can handle the demanding cans you throw at it. However, it should be noted that I am a madman, and decided to plug in sensitive IEMs. Predictably, it hisses. This amp is for cans. You don’t need this kind of power for an IEM. It’s like cutting your hair with a chainsaw.



Audio quality
The amp has an incredibly black background with extreme levels of detail and texture. The Susvara could be driven using the Questyle CMA600i to sufficient volume, but it was a different beast—a tamer smaller beast, think housecat versus tiger. The soundstage was small and spherical, and details didn’t emerge like they do on the Formula S. The Formula S pushes the stage way out of head with especially impressive depth and instrument separation. The sound is natural—nothing added or taken away. The amp gets out of the way and lets the headphone speak, which is exactly what a headphone amp should do.

When the XIAUDIO (Eleven Audio) Formula S drives the Susvara it sounds effortless. The stage is airy with a smooth flow between its areas. The soundstage is tall, with exceptional depth and an impressive out of head width. Imaging is precise and sonic cues are detailed. The background is black and completely silent.



Compared to the CMA800R Golden Reference monoblocks, the XIAUDIO Formula S has greater stage depth and a more neutral presentation. The monoblocks have a bit of a warm tinge to their sound and a bit weightier tones. I preferred the sound of the Formula S.

The Focal Utopia is pretty easy to drive, as flagships go. It takes next to nothing from the Questyle CMA600i to get it up to volume. It is easily driven by the Questyle QP2R. However, like the Susvara, the Focal Utopia benefits from the added transparency and drive of the Formula S. When listening to Leonard Cohen – Leaving the Table with either the Susvara or the Utopia, the Formula S brings more micro-texture to the sonic landscape. Leonard Cohen’s voice is just dripping with texture and emotion, and the Formula S brings a level of micro-texture (especially with the Susvara) that lesser amps can’t equal. It’s spine meltingly good.

The Formula S has greater resolution than the CMA600i, better texture, a bigger soundstage, greater precision and speed with an effortless delivery. I guess there are reasons to go beyond one box, if you are getting to the top tiers of headphones. The CMA600i can’t showcase what the Susvara or Utopia can do. The Formula S emphatically does.

My standard interconnect setup when the Formula S arrived was Atlas Element Integra RCAs. They are good interconnects that I previously noted to be brighter and more transparent than the Van Den Hul interconnects I have in my living room setup. I did the blinded wife test and got the same observations—I know, not very scientific, but can be done while watching a two-year-old. When I went to the Indulgence Show (October 2017), I lucked out and won some Wire on Wire Experience680 interconnects. I doubted they’d make much difference, but when I plugged them into the setup they upgraded transparency and soundstage width over the Element Integra, but at the cost of a little bit more brightness that can be fatiguing. That fatiguing effect seems to have lessened over time. Upgrading the interconnects showed that the Formula S had some previously untapped potential. The resolution is simply spectacular. Laser sharp focus emerges from the prog rock synths of Rush – Tom Sawyer. Drums snap and slam with convincing air and motion at the end of Neil Peart’s drumsticks. The sound is like being there, but slightly shrunken down so that it fits in your home. It’s a miniature reality a bit bigger than the confines of your head.

Specifications
Specifications
Price $3499
Output 6W @ 16Ω, pure Class A
Input Z 10 KOhms
Input Sensitivity 1000 mV
Gain 10 dB (low), 16dB (high)
THD 0.0006% @ 300mW, distortion character compensated for high-end music playback
Noise floor -110 dBV
Weight 4.8 kg (10.5 lbs)
Dimensions 24 cm (width) x 29.3 cm (length) x 13 cm (height)
Power 100-115/230 VAC, 50/60 Hz, CE certified

Conclusions
Of all the amps I tried with the HiFiMAN Susvara, the XIAUDIO Formula S is the best at showcasing the Susvara’s talents. It holds nothing back on power. It is transparent as a caldera lake of a long dormant volcano. It allows air between instruments to be felt and heard and the air movements of drum strikes to prickle the skin. The timbre and texture of bass notes is awe inspiring with the Susvara, and it didn’t do it without the Formula S in my setup. I observed similar gains with the Utopia compared to driving it on lesser amplification.

The XIAUDIO Formula S is a spectacular enabler of audio bliss. It’s expensive and excellent.

List Price: $759.00 (at Musicteck)

Product Website: http://en.uniquemelody.org/detail_185.html

Acknowledgment
I’d like to thank Unique Melody for loaning me the ME.1 for review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

This review originally appeared on audioprimate.blog. I'm now sharing it with the awesome community on Head-Fi. It's the place to be.

Introduction


My first interactions with the Unique Melody brand were on Head-Fi. I had seen several reviews that basically said that the original Merlin and Miracle were awesome. Then I saw that they were doing something ambitious and potentially game changing: the ME.1. I was so enthusiastic about the ME.1 that when looking for folks to interview from British headphone companies, I set myself down the path of confusion, as Unique Melody is based in China, but used to have a good market in the United Kingdom. I’ve had a previous interview with Unique Melody’s Lawrance, and have also reviewed the Miracle v2. I have found Lawrance to be an excellent fellow and quite liked the Unique Melody Miracle v2. It was a fortuitous mistake. Here are some snippets from that interview with Lawrance regarding the development of the ME.1:

Lawrance: The idea of an in-ear planar has been around for a while. In fact, I know of at least 3 other companies that were interested in such a design, of course, I don’t know the details of where they are along that path now.

There’s certainly a lot of thought that went into the ME.1.

User experience is important, so we’ve made a big commitment to ensuring that the unit fits well and has a reasonable profile

While it does leak sound and does not isolate amazingly well, we’ve also made it a point to make sure that the product is still usable in environments such as a quiet space.

…

The part of the ME.1 that has gotten a good bit of questions is our use of a hearing protection filter in its design.

A lot of people have been asking, hey aren’t you just copying ADEL and such?

We certainly respect ADEL as a unique design and solution to hearing protection, but UM have been in the hearing protection business for quite some time ourselves. Of course, our founders and chief engineers all being from the hearing aid industry helps with that.

Our sister company, Rooth, has actually been making sound attenuating earplugs for quite a while now, and we implemented some of that technology here.

A planar driver’s ability to move air, even with an open design, has led us to believe that we need to find ways in which to normalize the pressure within the ear canal, which allows a more natural sound reproduction compared to if the canal was sealed off.

Glass Monkey: Does this mean that what your ME.1 is doing is leaking out the harmful low-frequencies that cause resonance and stapedius reflex? Basically, killing bad vibrations.

Lawrance: Yes, and at the same time, it’s an acoustic filter that attenuates the outside noise at specific frequencies.

So, in summary, there is a lot of cool tech to be interested in here. It’s an open planar magnetic in-ear that protects your hearing. Cool beans. Let’s see how it performs.

Usability: Form & Function
Unboxing


The Unique Melody ME.1 comes with a new upgraded wooden box wrapped in light cardstock. Embossed on top is some fancy cursive writing declaring the ME.1. On top of the wooden box a thick plastic Unique Melody logo is affixed. Inside the box there are two foam trays with ribbon lifts to take out the top tray. The top tray contains a case that is shaped like an oversized pill or lozenge made of silicone rubber. It is round and tapered with a core that flips out to show a cable winder and a compartment in the centre for the headphones and the 3.5mm jack plug. The compartment below has a soft case that holds all the accessories. I never used the soft case for the headphones and found the elastomer case too large, but apparently it is a big hit in the East. The soft case felt a bit flimsy to me. The headphones and cable have some girth, so I think the soft case needed more padding.









Aesthetics and Ergonomics
The ME.1 has a stately build to it. It has clean lines and a good tapered shape that I think will allow it to fit most ears. It won’t win any beauty contests in the headphone world, but it isn’t ugly in the slightest, to my tastes. If you have small ears or ears without much depth, fit may be a little difficult. The cable is oriented in an over the ear direction, with memory wire to hold the cable to your ears, which helps with fit. The included white Comply tips also help with fit, and sound good on the ME.1. The connector is sturdy. I never disconnected it, as I didn’t have another cable to try for the ME.1. UERR told me not to use their balanced cable for Unique Melody IEMs—different polarity, maybe? I never felt like the ME.1 weren’t secure.



The cable is composed of 8 cores, with half of them silver plated copper, and the other half plain copper. The wires are in twisted pairs with 4 pairs on each channel. The cable looks very nice and has a sturdy y-split and slider. In fact, I think they are too sturdy. I frequently found myself worrying about them clanking around and damaging things. I would suggest that lighter material would be better. I think these are steel, maybe the right material is aluminum. The chin slider is especially heavy feeling and sometimes draws down of its own weight. Due to the weight of the cables and the over-ear design, I had no problems with microphonics.

The bore for the IEM is large, and has a spring inside it—I presume to help catch wax. The Miracle v2 had two wide open bores that looked like a wax superhighway to the drivers. The new design is an improvement. I was able to try a lot of tips with the ME.1, so people can rest-assured that you can find a tip that fits your sound preferences. There is a high likelihood that it will be the included Comply tips. If I hadn’t attended CanJam London 2017 and stopped by HiFi Headphones’ booth, I wouldn’t have Final’s E-type tips and I would have gone with the Comply tips.



These are open IEMs, so don’t expect the isolation to be great. That said, they do have some isolation. In a positive, I found that they aren’t very leaky. I think these are fine for in the office. In fact, I think they are ideal for in the office.

Tip Rolling
I tried the stock Comply tips, Spinfit CP100s, Spinfit CP240, Symbio Mandarines, and Final Audio Design Type-E silicone tips (clear, medium-large). The best tips were the Final Audio Design Type-E tips. The Comply tips sound less clear in the mids with some loss of resolution (probably due to taming some clarity bringing treble), whilst the Type-E tips gave the most well-defined mids while not having the treble get too sharp. The Spinfit CP100s were a bit too bright for me. The Spinfit CP240s weren’t comfortable due to the bore size. Similarly, the Symbio Mandarines were also too bulky and inflexible for the ME.1. For this review, I used the Final Type-E (clear) silicone tips throughout.

Audio quality
I think I may be beginning to see the house sound of Unique Melody a bit clearer. Both the Unique Melody Miracle v2 and now this ME.1 have been fairly smooth with a bit of extra weight in the mids that gives them a touch of romance. The ME.1 are very smooth indeed.

The ME.1 has a bass character that is led by its mid-bass expression. Bass extends down into the sub-bass, but it doesn’t have the rumble that strong bass performers have. The bass here, along with some emphasis in the lower mids, serve to warm the sound a little bit. Bass has some texture. Lower mids when listening to Leonard Cohen – Leaving the Table are a bit airy and the full complexity of his vocal tones isn’t expressed (I’ve been spoiled with the HiFiMAN Susvara, these do quite well actually). Mids are forward, slightly warm and smooth. These aren’t toasty like a hot toddy by the fire, more like a Christmas jumper on a cool winter day.



The treble on the ME.1 is and not very sparkly and has some smoothed peaks. It shimmers wonderfully on hi-hats, but has a little bit slow decay. On Kraftwerk – Kometenmelodie2 the sharp peaks that should be a bit shrill on the recording I have are smoothed out. The treble is not perfectly accurate, but is tuned in a way that will ensure that there isn’t a person who will ever find a note harsh. The truth about treble is that sometimes a real instrument produces a harsh sound. You won’t get that here. The treble is euphonic. The overall signature is euphonic. These are quite pleasurable to listen to, but will rarely challenge you.

If I had to visualize signature by bass/mids/treble, it would be like this: XXx. Bass and mids are emphasised, whilst treble is smoothed and tapered, reducing emphasis.

The sound stage on the ME.1 has above average width, excellent height, and average depth. The forward mids and mid-bass reduce perception of stage depth in addition to the natural characteristics of the stage. The sound stage is excellent given the sound signature’s emphasis in bass and mids and smoothing of the treble. In my experience, increasing treble increases sound stage perception. These accomplish an excellent soundstage without having treble emphasis.

Matchability
I found that the ME.1 benefits from a source with a little treble emphasis, as the main weakness of the IEM can be a bit of slowness in the mids that smooths over some detail and can make the mids sound a little stuffy. I was happy to have the Opus #3 back in house for this review, as I think it pairs excellently with the ME.1 given that it is a touch on the bright side and is very airy sounding. The Questyle QP2R has a bigger stage, but a weightier sound and denser sounding mids with the ME.1.

I tried some other pairings. The Shanling M2s did a great job in the mids and provided a little extra bass weight. Soundstage was not as wide. I’d have no problems with this pairing being primary, these sound excellent together. The Hidizs AP200 slants a bit too much toward the bass and lower mids with the ME.1 with not enough treble presence. Drums really kick with it, but the soaring female vocals in Pixies – Where is My Mind get lost, which is a darn shame. The Echobox Explorer sounds a little thin on the ME.1.



Comparisons
After some listening, I noted that the measurements for the ME.1 were producing louder playback than the comparators when I did my normal routine of measuring to 78.2 or so with white noise and an SPL meter. This is probably due to the open design of the ME.1 and quite possibly due to the hearing protection port. It is really hard to volume match open headphones vs. closed headphones with an SPL meter, as perceived volumes just don’t match. I had to drop the ME.1 volume down substantially to make the sound more comparable. I ended up matching the ME.1 by ear, which is less than ideal. The ME.1 sounds a lot louder than what it measures. The figure I came to is that my other volume-matched IEMs were about 4dB quieter than the ME.1 at the same measured level.

Unique Melody ME.1 vs. UERR
On Pixies – Where is My Mind, the ME.1 has chunky drum hits with some slam, but limited texture. The ME.1 is rich with some mid-bass and mids emphasis. Black Francis’s vocals are more immediate on the ME.1, where they are a bit further back in the stage on the UERR. The UERR on the same track sounds comparatively lean, but more detailed. Treble is cleaner, clearer, and more extended on the UERR. The treble presentation on the ME.1 could be described as smooth. Bass texture extends further into the sub-bass on the UERR and the bass tones are more balanced. Tonally, the ME.1 will be more pleasing to more individuals with its little bit of added warmth from the mid-bass to mids and smooth treble. I think this is actually the sound profile most normal folks prefer (maybe not Western audiophiles). It won’t work as well for detail freaks or treble heads.

In terms of technical capabilities, the UERR doesn’t have as tall a soundstage as the ME.1, but it has more depth and greater instrument separation. Width on both is similar. The UERR also has greater resolution. When listening to the hi-hat on Macy Gray – I Try, the shimmer is more realistic on the UERR. The shimmer is less textured on the ME.1 and the decay is a little too smooth. The UERR has more precise decay (not too quick), whilst the ME.1 is a bit lingering and emotive.

The listening above was done in the most beneficial environment for the ME.1, but not the most beneficial environment for the UERR. The UERR can sound a bit thin on the OPUS #3 (source for most observations above) but has a bit more body whilst listening on the QP2R. On the QP2R (medium gain, high bias), the ME.1 sound is a bit thicker, but also has better layering and detail through the bass and lower mids. The ME.1 scales to higher resolution sources.

Both the UERR and the Unique Melody ME.1 use proprietary connectors (though the ME.1 can be used with standard 2-pin, they just look vulnerable), but Ultimate Ears sells a 2.5mm balanced version of their cable ($49), whereas Unique Melody does not—something that may not be corrected due to Unique Melody moving to another proprietary connector on their v3 line-up. The cable is bigger and more premium looking and feeling on the ME.1. Both IEMs are comfortable.

In a few words, the UERR is a detailed and precise whilst the ME.1 is smooth and soulful with lingering ambience. The ME.1 is headphone that you just melt into. It’s wonderfully organic sounding. Planar magnetic relaxation.



Unique Melody ME.1 vs. HiFiMAN RE800
The Unique Melody ME.1 has a smooth slightly warm signature. The HiFiMAN RE-800 is an exercise in contrast, with a V-shaped signature and big detail resolution.

The RE-800 has more extended sub-bass, which gives more texture to the bass, holistically. The mid-bass is more emphasised on the ME.1 whilst the sub-bass has more body on the RE-800.

Mids are distant at volume matched levels which makes the RE-800 sound a bit thinner, and treble is more extended. The tuning sounds thin after listening to the Unique Melody ME.1. However, when listening for vocal texture and detail on Leonard Cohen – Leaving the Table, the RE-800 has greater resolution than the ME.1. There is more grip to Leonard’s voice. The mids have a more technical sound on the RE-800, whilst they are more fluid (but less detailed) on the ME.1.

Treble has faster decay on the RE-800, which means that transients are more intact with less blending. Treble is a little more extended and sharp peaks are a bit more shrill when they should be on Kraftwerk – Kometenmelodie2 with the RE-800.

The RE-800 are really made to be played loud in loud places, not at reasonable listening levels. My testing volume is lower than what I would listen at with these. Cranking up the RE-800 would surely make them sound better, but it also risks hearing damage. The ME.1 reduces the risk of hearing damage.



Unique Melody ME.1 vs. PlusSound Spectrum
The ME.1 and the Spectrum share some characteristics. Both have round but not deep bass with a mid-bass focus. The ME.1 has more texture in the bass and a bit more quantity. Both have some thickness to their mids and a relaxing warmth. The Spectrum is a little warmer (this may be due in part to Comply tips on the Spectrum). This results in the ME.1 being the clearer of the two IEMs. Both have smooth treble, but the ME.1 is a bit more extended with a bit more shimmer to hi-hat hits.

The ME.1 has a larger soundstage with better instrument separation. The advantage on stage dimensions is especially obvious on width and height. Where the Spectrum gets just outside the borders of my ears, the ME.1 is comfortably outside my ears. Height on the ME.1 is just over my head on Norah Jones’ vocals on Feelin’ the Same Way whilst Norah is in my forehead on the Spectrum. Resolution is also higher, partly due to having less warmth in the sound signature compared to the Spectrum.

What the Spectrum does with a single balanced armature driver is very impressive, but it is not the technical equal of the ME.1. It shouldn’t be at a little more than half the price.



Comparison Table

Specifications

Conclusions
The Unique Melody ME.1 is an excellent headphone that protects your hearing whilst having a sound signature that manages to be engaging and relaxing at the same time. It accomplishes this by having a smooth tonal character and a broad and tall stage that draws you in to compositions nicely. The emphasis in the ME.1 signature is on the mid-bass and the mids, an emphasis that usually shrinks the soundstage, but the ME.1 still has an impressive soundstage for an IEM.

I think that if Unique Melody decide to build an ME.2, their focus should be on extending the treble and bass along with resolution improvement. This ME.1 is a very nice headphone. If you are looking for a euphonic sound signature that never fatigues, has an impressive sound stage, and protects your hearing, the ME.1 should be strongly considered. I think these are perfect for work, as they are smooth enough to make music not a distraction from work.

List Price: $6000

Product website: http://store.hifiman.com/index.php/susvara.html

Acknowledgment
Thanks to HiFiMAN for providing the Susvara on loan for this review. The views expressed here are my own.

This review originally appeared on my blog, and I'm now sharing it with my HeadFi readers. This community rocks.

Introduction
I’ve been a big fan of HiFiMAN for a while. My first legit headphone was the HiFiMAN RE0. My very first post on HeadFi was a silly three way ‘review’ that included that HiFiMAN RE0 against two pairs of cans. It did alright. I’ve generally enjoyed the heck out of HiFiMAN gear, but it isn’t universal. I’ve reviewed the MegaMini and SuperMini digital audio players (DAPs) and have several HiFiMAN reviews forthcoming for the HE1000 v2, the RE2000 and the RE800.

When HiFiMAN offered me the opportunity to review the Susvara, I did the Curly shuffle.

Useability: Form & Function
Unboxing
An unboxing and initial impressions post can be read here. You can see the Youtube unboxing video below and in the linked post.


The unboxing experience with the last few HiFiMAN products I’ve opened has been a similar one. Each has a wooden box (RE800, RE2000, HE1000 v2, Susvara). Two have had faux leather wrapped wooden boxes (HE1000 v2, Susvara). All have had full-colour manuals, but only the Susvara’s ‘manual’ is a hardcover. The RE800 and RE2000 come with travel cases, whilst the display cases are the closest that HiFiMAN gets on the two full-size cans. The RE2000, HE1000 v2 and the Susvara all came with detachable cables (RE800 now does too). None of the cables have a premium feel or appearance. All feel like inexpensive afterthoughts. The Susvara comes with a balanced 4-pin XLR cable and a 6.3mm single-ended cable, whilst the HE1000 v2 has a 3.5mm single-ended cable also. There is no way that the Susvara was going to be adequately driven by a 3.5mm single-ended output. Good on HiFiMAN for recognizing that and not putting a useless cable in the box.



The cables that are in the box are gummy feeling and not very professionally finished. One of the cables appears to have a flimsy y-split connection to the upper part of the cable. I don’t think it will break, but it doesn’t look reassuring. HiFiMAN would do well to reconsider their cable construction. The cables feel like they are made from medical tubing rather than audiophile grade materials. The y-split is light and made of black plastic. The Sonically, these cables don’t have any problems (more on that later), but aesthetically they are quite lacking. The length of the cables is 3M, which is fine. The connectors are generic black connectors with the XLR from Yong Sheng. Seeing a Neutrik connector for the XLR would have been reassuring, but it probably makes little to no difference. I think most people who get the Susvara will be buying an aftermarket cable, both to get a shorter cable length and to get a cable that looks like it belongs with their luxury purchase.

There is one additional accessory in the box that is just baffling, a faux velour bag that looks cheaper than the one that comes with your bottle of Crown Royal—only the best for your inexpensive blended Canadian whisky. My dad was a bartender for a goodly portion of my childhood, so I’ve seen a lot of Crown Royal bags in my day. They are good little bags, but they are essentially a throwaway on a $20-30 bottle of blended whisky, they are not coming as an accessory on a $6000 headphone.


I asked HiFiMAN and some friends about the silly little faux velour bag that comes with the Susvara. Both told me that the HiFiMAN HE-6 came with a similar bag, sans orange contrast stitching. HiFiMAN intended the bag to be a bit of an inside joke. I don’t think it was a terribly successful one. The bag highlights the fact that it would be nice to have a carrying case for the Susvara and the HE1000 v2 and HEX, to be honest. Since coming out with the HE560 and HE400i (2014), the first of the headphones from HiFiMAN to have the new Headband, they haven’t updated the case that they sold to fit headphones like the HE-5 to HE500 (2009-2011). This means that they haven’t created a headphone case for their big cans since probably 2009-2010. This oversight is a bit of a disappointment. The attempt at a joke emphasises this disappointment, several years in the making. The lack of a case for HiFiMAN’s most popular headphones is a substantial oversight, as I couldn’t find an aftermarket case that fit them well due to the girth of the headband. Personally, I think the company that is doing the best job with packaging is MrSpeakers. All their headphones (as far as I know) come with a hard carrying case. The Aeon’s even come with an attractive carrying case that isn’t a nasty shade of hard brown leather.

HiFiMAN needs to release a new durable travel case for their big cans.

Aesthetics and ergonomics


The aesthetics and ergonomics of the Susvara are excellent. The gold electroplated nano thickness diaphragm shines like a rainbow’s end reached—take that Leprechauns! The grille design is understated and classy with matte colouration throughout. The wood veneer on the driver housing is the same as that found on the HE560 and it is used to similar visual effectiveness. The contrasting tones and textures of organic wood, plush leatherette pads, muted metal on the drivers, industrial spring steel on the headband, suede head strap, and shiny gold on the diaphragms is visually stunning. The mix of textures and tones is a thoroughly enjoyable feast for the eyes. I think that the only headphones I’ve seen that are more beautiful are the Kennerton Audio Odin in Zebrawood, but those headphones don’t have anything on the Susvara in comfort. The Kennerton Audio Odin are about as comfortable as wearing two bricks on your head suspended by a leather strap. They are for people with robust rugby necks, not for sissynecks like me.



The Susvara has kingly comfort. The headphone band is thoroughly adjustable with a wide perforated leather band that distributes weight beautifully whilst also preventing your head from getting sweaty. The angled pads provide excellent seal and appropriate levels of clamp with good depth for fitting your ears in. These are quite possibly the most comfortable flagship headphone I’ve ever tried.

One of my old-time favourite headphones is the HE6, but that headphone was uncomfortable without modification. Funny enough, the total weight of the HE6 is only 1.8oz more than the Susvara, roughly the weight of a McDonald’s cheeseburger patty—I don’t recommend field testing this, but the headband design doesn’t distribute weight as effectively. The Focal Utopia is about 10g heavier than the Susvara but feels like it is more of a difference than that. The HE1000 v2 is lighter, but the long drivers are not quite as ergonomic. Headphones like the LCD-4, Kennerton Odin, and Abyss are made for people with cyborg necks. They all sound lovely, but I’d never own any of them because I wouldn’t want to wear them for more than an hour.




The Susvara is like a crown.



The LCD-4 has a weight fit for cyborg necks.
Audio quality
I previously titled another headphone review “balanced bliss distilled into a soaring aerie of superlatives” so now I’m left scrambling for a series of superlatives that captures how the best sounding headphone I’ve had the privilege of reviewing should be described. I’ve spent a bit of time in academia writing boring factual statements that would make a shark sleep.


A sleeping shark is a dead shark
Unfortunately [fortunately?] for my audience, I don’t like writing this way, so prepare for some synaesthetic metaphors and similes. I used to do a lot of these back when I was writing just for fun of it. Let’s kick it old school.

Sonically the Susvara has a neutral response with a bit of upper mids emphasis that brings details into sharp 4k resolution without having the artificiality of an electronics store floor model. You won’t hear any ultra-saturated tones or surrealistic sonic landscapes. This isn’t a painting, it’s a National Geographic photograph. The Susvara excels in capturing the music realistically and honestly without any special inflection to warm or sterilise the sound. Sometimes reality is poetic and beautiful, effortlessly enrapturing us or showing us real-life landscapes akin to dreamscapes.


Image from National Geographic. These are penguins under Antarctica.
When I listen to the Susvara driven out of the XI Audio (Eleven Audio) Formula S, it has an effortlessness, an airy borderless vision. The soundstage is tall, with exceptional depth and an impressive out of head width. Imaging is precise and sonic cues are detailed. This said, I don’t think that I’ve gotten the maximum that is possible out of the HiFiMAN Susvara.

The Susvara can be played loud off the Questyle CMA600i, but you don’t get much glimpse of what the Susvara can do. The Susvara still sounds excellent out the CMA600i. It is still detailed. It is still honest. It is still thoroughly enjoyable, but it doesn’t have the potency that it can have when you add a dedicated headphone amp. The CMA600i playing the Susvara has a closed in feel that doesn’t allow details to emerge from the tapestry of Leonard Cohen – Leaving the Table off his brilliant final album, You Want it Darker. The soundstage is small, spherical, and mostly in your head. It has decent height, but every other dimension pales in comparison to what adding a dedicated amplifier brings to the CMA600i/Susvara pairing. Tonally, the CMA600i sounds a little bit harder than other pairings. I think that this is because while the CMA600i doesn’t struggle to get the Susvara to ear-splitting levels of volume, it does struggle to get to mind-bending dynamics. It’s simply too much of a magic trick to expect from 2W of amp, no matter how impressive the current output. I routinely find that Questyle’s amps do a surprisingly effective job at driving demanding cans—the volume here is good on this Susvara pairing and I do find that the QP2R can drive the HE1000 v2. In this case, the CMA600i performs admirably, but it won’t be what you’d choose to drive your $6000 cocaine replacement. If you’re monetarily enough to be considering a Susvara, you need to consider an amp that fits your presumably still thick wallet.



When I added the Questyle CMA800R Golden Reference monoblocks to the equation the monoblocks expanded the stage in every direction and gave a bit more punch. The monoblocks had the best stage width of all my listened to Susvara pairings. The monoblocks also slightly altered the sound. They have a very slight warm tinge with a little added note weight. This was pleasant, but I prefer the addition of the XI Audio (Eleven Audio) Formula S on a tonal basis. The XI Audio Formula S doesn’t change the tone, and doesn’t provide much in the way of width enhancement, but the depth improvement is greater—tried this with Wire on Wire Experience680 interconnect vs. Atlas Element Integra that I was using; gets added width, but sound also more fatiguing. The XI Audio Formula S has laser precision in it’s layering and instrument separation. Listening to Rush – Tom Sawyer I’m struck by the gorgeous resolution on Neil Peart’s drums. Each drum strike has space and air around it. The outstanding recording and play of Rush absolutely shine with a convincing soundstage portrayed—it is miniaturised reality, like being there. The XI Audio Formula S has effortless delivery.



With both amps, I get the distinct impression that the Susvara can still do more, even though I’m not lighting up the volume knob. I think that one of the limitations of the CMA600i is that it doesn’t have huge soundstage width. It very well may be that with an upgraded DAC I may get even more performance. Other friends who are reviewing the Susvara are veterans of the HE6 and have monster amps to drive the Susvara and the HE6.

When using the CMA600i by itself and when acting as the pre-amp for other amps, especially when using it with the monoblocks, from time to time gives out a soft staticky pop. This generally occurs during sonic passages with a lot of treble energy. I think that this is a feature of the current-mode amplification, and also potentially due to not having the monoblocks in fixed output mode—the switch was internal and they were loaners, I wasn’t about to open them up. Double amping could be responsible, but I found that when I maxed the volume of the amps, the clicking happened a bit more. I theorise that it may be clipping in the ultra-sonic range showing up as distortion in the sonic range. The staticky nature of the sound would seem to indicate that it is multiple frequencies playing simultaneously, but I’m just conjecturing, maybe a more scientifically informed reader can let me know what I’m hearing.

I also gave a try of the iFi Nano iDSD Black Label as the DAC with line-out feeding the XI Audio Formula S. I quite liked this combination, but found that some tracks exhibited a low-level static noise that I didn’t hear with other sources. Almost all my tracks were fine, but a good deal of my Chesky binaural tracks exhibited this noise and I use those recordings quite a bit for reviewing. When I use the Nano iDSD Black Label with the Formula S I don’t get as big a soundstage as the pairing with the Questyle CMA600i, which tells me that the pre-amplification of the Questyle is likely the difference. The iFi iDSD Nano also doesn’t exhibit the staticky pop that I get with CMA600i pairings (Formula S, CMA800R Golden Reference Monoblocks). It’s a generally good pair-up, but the pairing with the CMA600i is superior.

The review unit came with a speaker-tap setup to allow hooking up to 2-channel setups, which are more likely than a headphone amplifier to have enough output to drive the beastly requirements of the Susvara. Unfortunately, my Cambridge Audio amplifier was not up to the task. The sound was loud enough but it lacked definition. It sounded warm, muffled, and inflexible like that kid from A Christmas Story, it was cry worthy in the same way.


Comparisons
I really only have one headphone that could be considered in the class of the Susvara, and that their in-house competitor, the HE-1000 v2. For the sake of seeing what multiplying your costs by more than 30x will get you, I’ve included here a comparison to the Sennheiser HD600. I think many folks will also find a cable comparison of relevance, as the the cables used for the Susvara look like they belong to a $150 headphone, not a $6000 one.

When I do in ear monitor (IEM) and digital audio player (DAP) reviews, I volume match with my trusty SPL meter. When I do reviews of closed cans, my method still works, but when I’m working with open cans I’ve found that whenever I switch headphones I have a bloody difficult time getting the volume to match with an SPL meter. I do much better by ear. All the volume matching in the comparisons to follow is done by ear. I’ve tested my ability to match loudness to using Audiocheck.net and found that I consistently could hear a 0.5dB difference. I could hear 0.2dB at a rate better than random chance, but not good enough to advertise, my 0.5dB discernment was near 100%. For comparison to the HD600, the HD600 has a WyWires Red cable and has had the acoustic foam removed from the front (opens stage a bit and enhances treble, lifts any veil that exists). For comparisons to the HE1000 v2, I used the same cable, the Atlas Cables Zeno. All comparisons will have the following components in the chain:

Dell laptop running JRiver → generic usb 3.0 cable → iFi Micro iUSB3.0 → LH Labs Lightspeed 2G USB cable → Questyle CMA600i

In my tests I tried the Questyle CMA600i by itself and with feeding the XI Audio Formula S with Wire on Wire Experience 680 interconnects (no tuners). I found the Wire on Wire Experience 680 to give me a bigger soujndstage, and a bit more dynamic energy than the Atlas Element Integra I normally have in the system, so I’m switching permanently. When using the XI Audio Formula S, I tested maxing out volume CMA600i and maxing out volume on the Formula S with the other component then acting as the main volume control. Maxing out the volume on the CMA600i and using the Formula S as the main volume control gave the best results with the highest clarity and power. I never had to take the Susvara volume past 50% with the XI Audio Formula S in high gain mode.

HiFiMAN Susvara vs. Sennheiser HD600
How much does multiplying the price of a headphone by 20 times do for sound? A lot, actually. This competition is stupid. It’s like a teenager having a race with a toddler.

The HD600 has a tiny stage compared to the Susvara with images more centrally focused. When listening to Yosi Horikawa – Wondering, a binaural track with good dimensional spread, the HD600 gets out of the head in width, but just barely. The sound feels closed in. I immediately regret taking off the Susvara. The Susvara has a vast soundstage extending well out of the head in all dimensions. The Susvara’s image has gorgeous layering and separation. These are two completely different beasts on even a low dynamic range modern mastered track (still an incredible track). The animal sounds all have their own space in the track with precise instrument separation. With Wager-Åstrand – Fasten Seat Belts, a DSD track from Opus 3 records, the HD600 has more immediacy because the stage has substantially less depth and width. The image is much more larger with greater separation between instruments. It’s not really a contest, it’s a whuppin. When the percussionist transitions between instruments on the the track there is a palpable feel of the new location of the musician on the Susvara, whilst on the HD600 it just sounds like small shifts within the same space.

Tonally, the HD600 doesn’t have bass quantity at a neutral level and the bass quality is also lower than the Susvara. The bass hits that drive the rhythm of Yosi Horikawa – Wandering are muted with no sustain or rumble to them. They have lost most of their texture and realism. The bass drive when putting on the Susvara is full-throated. Percussive notes from wood blocks to that bass note all have more realism.



There is a common difference across all frequencies between the HD600 and the Susvara across the whole frequency range, that difference is timbre. The Susvara absolutely nails timbre, all notes have their full attack and decay in a completely natural way. It doesn’t matter whether your looking for the slam of a drum hit, or the sustain of a guitar chord, the Susvara gives you a miniature reality in it’s presentation. The HD600 feels truncated in the bass and in the treble. It’s mids are excellent and compete with just about any headphone out there, but when the triangle is being struck or when a driving bass note is plucked, it sounds good, but not precisely like the real thing.

HiFiMAN Susvara vs. HiFiMAN HE1000 v2
Does double the price mean a substantial improvement in quality from the same manufacturer? Yes, and no.

When I throw on The Pixies – Where is My Mind, the Susvara has larger stage dimensions. The most notable difference is enhanced stage depth, but height enhancement and width enhancement are there too. When switching between the two headphones, the HE1000 v2 sounds more present, more engaged. This is because it has more bass quantity, slightly more forward mids, and the aforementioned reduced depth compared to the Susvara. The Susvara is technically superior, but there will be plenty of people who prefer the more engaging sounding HE1000 v2.

Wager-Åstrand – Fasten Seat Belt is a great test of a headphone’s ability to keep up with fast and precise instrumentation. Neither headphone disappoint, but the transients are just a little bit more precise and distinct on the Susvara.



Both the HE1000 v2 and the Susvara have what could be called neutral tunings. They don’t throw anything into emphasised territory, but they are not exactly the same tone. The HE1000 v2 has greater bass quantity, but less textured bass when listening to Leonard Cohen – Leaving the Table. Midbass has more quantity, but the sub-bass extension of the Susvara isn’t matched. There is more deep down rumble in the Susvara.

The mids between the two are a bit of a push. The HE1000 v2 is a touch more forward. The mids are a bit clearer but Leonard Cohen’s voice is also a touch airier on the Susvara, whilst the vocals are smoother on the HE1000 v2. Micro details of vocal tones and little breathy elements of Leonard Cohen’s voice shine through the track on the Susvara, but are slightly smoothed over on the HE1000 v2. You can hear Leonard’s clothes moving clearly on the Susvara, which makes him as a person just that much more present on the Susvara.

Listening to Saturday Looks Good to Me – Negative Space reinforces impressions of both the bass and mids. The bass has deeper rumble on the Susvara and both the mids and the bass have greater detail and texture. The Susvara is technically superior, and it is clearly perceivable on LoFi and HiFi tracks.

The Susvara is better than the HE1000 v2, but it also comes with more amping requirements. I can drive the heck out of the HE1000 v2 on the Questyle CMA600i, it really doesn’t need the Formula S. The Susvara needs the extra amping. The Susvara will never be amenable to being driven off a DAP like I’m doing off the Questyle QP2R in balanced mode right now. I’m listening to Amber Rubarth – Washing Day off the QP2R right now in High Gain with High Bias (volume 107 out of 120) and nothing sounds strained, nor does the soundstage sound compacted in any way.



The HE1000 v2 is half the cost of the Susvara for about 88% of the performance.

Atlas Cables Zeno vs. stock cable
The stock cable looks pretty crappy, but that may not matter if what is inside it conveys the music flawlessly. Luckily for me, I was able to arrange an aftermarket cable from Atlas. The Atlas Zeno is made of high purity Ohno continuous cast (OCC) copper and does not use solder at the connectors. When I discussed Atlas’s cables with the makers at The 2017 Indulgence Show they told me that they use a high copper content paste at the clamp point to ensure that there is no air in the clamping of contacts. Atlas does not use solder, their primary contact is wire to contact plate.

I did my testing with same volume switching. Any differences in resistance on the cables should be small, so I don’t anticipate volume match problems. Comparisons were sighted, meaning I knew what cable I was listening to, and switching time caused considerable lag. To switch cables music had to be paused, the cable disconnected from the amplifier, the cable disconnected from the headphone, and then the reverse steps for the new cable. Switching had to be frequent, so the limitations of audio memory clearly come into play here. It is quite possible that anything different I’m hearing is in my head and not in the material, so take my observations with a grain of salt and a splash of lime. There may be bias here.

I started my switching with Rush – Tom Sawyer with the Atlas Zeno. I noted when I switched to the stock cable the stage depth was reduced and the mids were a little less textured. The stage depth difference was not subtle. The difference in mids tone was subtle. Overall, the sound on the stock cable is a bit more muted, whilst the Zeno is more vibrant. With Leonard Cohen – Leaving the Table, the stage is more closed in on the stock cable. Width, depth, and height are all less. The clarity of the sound is also not as good as with the Zeno. That intimate feeling of being there in the room with Leonard singing to you dissipates a bit when I am listening with the stock cable versus the Zeno. The guitar on the track is less clear, with a more muted tone.

The stock cable has more immediate sound with less stage depth, width and instrument separation when I listen to Macy Gray – I Try off here Chesky Records recorded Stripped album. Whilst the stock cable is more immediate, it isn’t more energetic. The Zeno does a better job of giving a live feel to the music.



The tonal characteristics of the two cables have little difference. Overall, the sound when using the stock cable is closer to the HE1000 v2 with more immediate mids, and less overall texture. The Susvara still has an edge in terms of texture over the HE1000 v2 even with the stock cable, but if you’re going to buy the Susvara and use only the stock cable, you’d probably be better off with the HE1000 v2 and an Atlas Zeno. The Atlas Zeno allows the technical superiority of the Susvara to be much more apparent. If you are buying a Susvara, you owe it to yourself to upgrade the cable that comes with it. There is clear improvement to be had.

Specifications
Specifications
Price $6000
Driver type Planar magnetic (nanometer thickness diaphragm)
Impedance 60Ω
Sensitivity 83dB
Frequency Response 6Hz – 75kHz
Weight 450g (15.9oz)

Acknowledgment
I’d like to thank iFi for loaning me the Nano iDSD Black Label and a pre-production unit in return for my honest opinion. It was a lot of fun being one of the first folks to get their hands on a retail unit, though I wish I could have been at the launch event. I still haven’t tried Johnny Walker Black.

This review was originally posted on my blog, and I'm now sharing with the wonderful community on Head-Fi. You folks rock.

Introduction
Anyone who’s been following me for a while knows that I’ve reviewed two full sheds of iFi gear. I might be the person with the most iFi reviews, I’m not sure. This one makes six after the following: iFi Micro iDSD Black Label (Micro iDSD BL), iPurifier2.0, iDAC2, iCAN SE, Micro iUSB3.0. I’ve also spent some time with the original iDSD and the original iCAN. I’ve been offered a couple more reviews, and will probably do some, time allowing.

Up to now, the most ‘WOW!’ product I’ve heard from from iFi is the iDSD Micro BL. It was also the classiest and most decked out offering. It’s a desktop dynamo with a Swiss Army knife of audio features, but I have to emphasize that while it can be transported, it isn’t really what people think of as portable. For that, I’m now having a look at the brand spankin’ new iDSD Nano BL’s pocketable frame.



Usability: Form & Function
Unboxing




I’ve unboxed a lot of iFi gear over the years, but this is the first piece of gear from iFi to actually surprise me. Anyone who has been following iFi for any length of time or bought any of their Micro or Nano series DACs or amps has received the same box, with quite often the same components and compartments inside. It’s a roughly 10” x 3.5” x 3” oblong rectangle—a sort of less streamlined coffin-box. In the past, it hasn’t mattered whether you were buying a Nano or Micro series, the only thing different on the top level was how big the cut-away in the foam insert was. Below the presented DAC or amp would be some mix of the following accessories, a red 3.5mm aux cable, a short purple set of RCA interconnects, some adaptors (most likely), rubber stacking bands (for your DAP/phone), and a blue USB cable (sometimes USB3.0).

This time around we get a half-height box, which I very much like. The wasted space of previous Nano series boxes has been eschewed in favour of a more efficient DAC apartment. You’ve got your bed of foam on the left, and your closet box of white accessories on the right, all the cooking happens when the DAC gets out of bed. The box is still surrounded in a tight-fitting card sleeve, and still has the same silver iFi logo filigreed onto the top of the now slimmed down white heavy card box. Some things change, but others stay the same.






Aesthetics and Ergonomics
The major ergonomics critique of the iFi Micro series is that calling them portable is a bit of a joke. They are portable like your laptop and less convenient to carry, as there just aren’t any bags that really work for iFi’s unique signature shape. I loved the iFi Micro iDSD Black Label, but it was about as transportable and ergonomic as a pet brick. Don’t throw your Black Label, it’s so much better than Father Jack’s brick. It’s a shape that grows on you. Love who your Micro be, iFi.



That said, the Nano series is smaller, a little smaller than a minimum size deck of Magic the Gathering cards, with penny sleeves. Previous iterations of the iFi Nano series haven’t had any of the genetic make-up of the iDSD Micro Black Label in the looks and functionality department. Now that has changed. This isn’t your 2014 Nano iDSD. That version was silver, with big faceplates ridges on the front and back, whilst the new one has tapered edges to make it more pocket friendly. It doesn’t really feel like something you’d throw in your coat pocket due to the ergonomics. Those two RCA jacks sticking out the front and the coax coming off the back coupled with the aforementioned anodized aluminum ridges left lots of things to poke you from inside your jacket pocket.



From an ergonomics perspective the new Black Label is smoother, sleeker, with more attractive printing and a more durable frame. I say more durable for a different reason than one might think. It is made of the same aluminum, it has the same anodized finish (albeit in black), but it has some key differences. The iFi iDSD BL is rocking out with three 3.5mm jacks set flush and not directly by the volume knob. Making the 3.5mm jacks flush makes it so there isn’t anything to snag on, which is more pocket friendly. The placement of 3.5mm output right next to the volume knob didn’t just make the front of the original Nano iDSD a bit busy, it made it so turning the volume knob whilst listening to headphones would require navigating your headphone cable. An additional pocket friendly addition is switching from the USB B input of the original Nano iDSD to the USB A OTG input of the Micro iDSD series. The connection is very stable which reduces stress on the jack. All these smoothing factors add to reduced wear and friction on the case elements, and the more secure USB connection will minimise damage to the USB connection, meaning this is a daily driver that should hold up to a bit of rubbing, but I’d still not drop it or toss it around roughly.



Function
The original iFi Nano iDSD was full of firsts (DXD and DSD256, super lightweight, 10 hour pure battery running) and was the best-selling DAC in Japan for a while, but it was for a different use case. That iDSD was about being a pint-sized capable home DAC with a lightweight amplifier that only output 130 mW into 16Ω. It had a digital out, and full-size RCA outputs to hook up to your home amplifier—great features, but not pocket friendly. The iFi Nano iDSD BL has some serious upgrades under the sleeker casing. Much like the Micro iDSD BL, this Nano iDSD BL has iEMatch built in and iPurifier built in. Like the Nano iDSD (original) the Nano iDSD BL runs on battery for 10 hours and throws down some DSD256 and DXD, but it also has MQA in-built now too.

MQA
Now, I’m not sure about this MQA thing (ars technical article that is well worth a read). Some have said it’s a sneaky backhanded route to a new form of DRM (record companies have to license equipment, consumers pay for special equipment, streaming services get charged for royalties, etc…). Whatever I might think about the likelihood that MQA gives me better than just streaming 24/96 FLAC directly or listening to real master quality PCM (Archimago’s Musings), MQA certainly didn’t sound bad. That said, I was listening through the XI Audio Formula S and a pair of HiFiMAN Susvara headphones with the Nano iDSD BL as the DAC to start. I listened to 2L recordings DXD tracks in both DXD and in the MQA down-coded versions. I don’t know if I would be able to tell the difference. Both sounded bloody excellent, but those are excellent recordings. Chicken/egg dilemma. Did the tracks sound excellent because the format captured the quality of the recording, or would any lossless format of CD quality or above capture the quality of the recording? I don’t know. I also took an auditory stroll through Tidal’s ‘Masters’ library. Beyonce’s Lemonade album sounded awesome—why did Adele 25 win best album? That decision makes no damn sense as Lemonade is a triumph from start to finish (though some parts had some hardcore derivations, like the transparent Eurythmics inspiration on Don’t Hurt Yourself) and 25 is Adele singing three good songs plus some filler.

The difficult part of MQA listening is its hard to compare to actual redbook CD. I’ve always found that Tidal sounds a bit ‘enhanced.’ I’m convinced that there is DSP to make it sound a bit more vivid. Who’s to say this doesn’t also happen with MQA? Most of the albums that Tidal has MQA ‘Masters’ of, they also have standard ‘CD Quality’ versions. So I stepped right up and made a quick playlist of some stuff I’m familiar with:

1. Nick Drake – Thoughts of Mary Jane
2. Nick Drake – One of These Things First
3. Counting Crows – Anna Begins
4. Norah Jones – Shoot the Moon
5. Beyoncé – Don’t Hurt Yourself
6. Led Zeppelin – D’yer Mak’er
7. The Supremes – Where Did Our Love Go
8. Beck – Guess I’m Doing Fine

With Thoughts of Mary Jane the volume levels between the tracks aren’t the same. I have similar experiences on Counting Crows – Anna Begins. The Masters versions seem a little more restrained, but they also have a touch more depth to the sound, but this additional depth sounds like it is all in front of the stage. The stage sounds moved, not factually deeper. Turning down the volume on the HiFi version of Norah Jones – Shoot the Moon gives a good approximation of the Master. I am noting a bit more texture in the bass on the Shoot the Moon Master version. It sounds a bit fuller with rounder attack and decay. I think there may actually be differences, but that some of it is difficult to judge due to volume effects. I observe similar improvement in the kick drum on Beyoncé – Don’t Hurt Yourself. Well it’s either confirmation bias, or a trend, the bass on the Master version of D’yer Mak’er is more textured and rich. Transients in the cymbals also take on a bit more weight. Overall the sound is just a little weightier and more textured. On The Supremes – Where Did Our Love Go the Masters version is the louder version. Unfortunately two Where Did Our Love Go tracks sound so different, I’m pretty sure they aren’t from the same master. I can’t do a real comparison. This may end up being a problem for anything that has a remaster. Provenance is important, but it may be even more important on MQA albums as essentially they are having multiple operations done on the material. On Guess I’m Doing Fine slide guitar and bass sound a bit richer with fuller note edges without sounding fat. The bass sustains just a little bit longer.

So inconclusion (intentional), the results are inconclusive on MQA. With 2L songs off their test bench I couldn’t distinguish MQA from DXD Masters. On Tidal, MQA sounded generally a little quieter, but also sounded like the notes were a bit fuller and richer, especially in bass notes, which got some plus texture. I couldn’t discern any differences in sound stage. I didn’t do my tests blinded, but I also didn’t always know the order of tracks and was able to pick out the MQA track on a couple of occasions without having visual confirmation (D’yer Mak’er, Guess I’m Doing Fine), which could easily be random chance. Without repeated blind testing, the null hypothesis would be that I guess right 50% of the time. Two cherry-picked right guesses does not a strong observation make. How much do you trust my ears? How much do you trust your own? The next time I listened to D’yer Mak’er I guessed wrong. I also wasn’t consistent on Norah Jones – Shoot the Moon. I think I’d have to have perfect volume matching to have confidence in any comparisons over time.



One thing I can say for MQA, it doesn’t appear to make sound quality worse. Whether real or imagined, the sound seemed different, but it seemed generally better than the CD quality version on Tidal and not worse than the DXD when listening to 2L tracks (with a substantially smaller file size). I’ve done previous tests with DXD and lower bitrate formats and found that I generally preferred the DXD to everything else and couldn’t tell it apart from DSD128 and DSD256 on DSD mastered tracks. Generally, DXD is as close to the master as you can get. Top masters are in 32bit DXD (352kHz), commercial DXD just drops 8 bits on the word length.

iEMatch


To test out iEMatch I whipped out my most sensitive IEMs, the Noble Kaiser Encore. When no music is playing there is low level hiss out of both the Direct and the iEMatch outputs, but the iEMatch output is virtually silent. The hiss on the iEMatch is way way down. Hiss is inaudible on either of them when any music is playing, including silent portions of music. The iEMatch comes with a sound signature toll. Because it raises output impedance (from under 1Ω to under 4Ω), it does exactly what you would expect it to do, it pushes up the bass a bit. The effect isn’t bad, but it definitely colours the sound.

On the Micro iDSD I found that the main advantage of iEMatch was allowing greater use of the volume control with sensitive IEMs, and this is still the case here. On Direct, the Noble Kaiser Encore gets loud fast.

Driving Power
As previously highlighted, the Nano iDSD BL does just fine with sensitive IEMs, thank you very much. It also handled the RHA CL750 with aplomb. But what about the HD600, you say? What about those teasers on the twitterverse?

The stats say it should be able to pull it off. I’ve previously done the HD600 driven well from a 280 mW into 32Ω source. That measurement just happens to be right about where this Nano iDSD BL sits (285 mW into 30Ω), so theoretically, it should do it.

Is theory replicated in practice? Absolutely. Actually, I think it drives the HD600 better than it drives the RHA CL750. When comparing to the XI Audio Formula S (in balanced output) fed by the Nano iDSD BL driving the HD600 vs. the Nano iDSD BL in Direct drive mode, I get a little bit more depth on the Formula S, but the differences aren’t much. The iFi Nano iDSD BL gets out some serious performance. It will drive the HD600 to plenty of volume with plenty of dynamics.

For laughs, I hooked up the HiFiMAN HE1000 v2 for a little try. The Nano iDSD BL gives enough volume, but it lacks the dynamic punch of the XI Audio Formula S and can’t match the imaging. Unsurprisingly, the HE1000 v2 needs more juice to thrive. You can play the HE1000 v2, but it’s wasted on the iFi Nano iDSD BL. It was, surprisingly, not a laugher.

I also used the 3.5mm out to the XI Audio Formula S (review upcoming), and it provided a super clean output. The system is straight up transparent. I loved this combination with the HiFiMAN Susvara, and I also dug it with the Unique Melody ME1.



Audio quality
You know what is really strange? I really don’t have much to say about the sound quality of the iFi Nano iDSD BL independent of comparisons. It is transparent. It has excellent resolution. It doesn’t output a coloured sound. It has an accurate, well-defined, reasonably sized soundstage. I think the key here for the BL is actually how it compares to other DAC/Amps and DAPs. I’ve got a few of those on hand. DAC comparisons used the following signal chain, designed to get the best out of a DAP (you may not get as good using these on your rig):

Dell Inspiron 13 → Generic iFi USB3.0 cable → iFi Micro iUSB3.0 → LH Labs Lightspeed 2G split power and data usb cable → DAC/Amp (potentially with adaptor first)

I used a Lindy USB3.0 B to A adaptor instead of the iFi one included in the packaging (one more thing to send back to iFi in perfect condition). Since iFi doesn’t produce their adaptors and they don’t appear to be audiophile grade, it doesn’t really matter which adaptor I use, so long as it isn’t junk. I’ve used the Lindy for a long time. It does the job.

All comparisons were done using the Ultimate Ears Reference Remastered (for general timbre and DAC capabilities), the Sennheiser HD600 for driving power, and the Noble Kaiser Encore for hiss. Volume matching was performed using an SPL meter and a listening level of ~78.2 dB calibrated with white noise for comparisons using the UERR. I didn’t bother to volume match the Noble Kaiser Encore because the listening tests were for answering relatively simple yes/no question does it hiss during silence or during quiet music? For that question I just need to listen at a similar volume, not a precisely calibrated volume. For the HD600, my question was similarly simple to the Noble Kaiser Encore: can the player drive it? To know this, all I needed to do was check volume and listen for dynamics and spacialization. My listening level is 78.2dB, approximately, and I can usually get within 0.2-0.5dB by ear. I’ve had a goodly number of times where I set the volume on an IEM, measure it, and then discover that the SPL measurement is 78.2 dB with white noise. For all listening tests the Nano iDSD BL was on the ‘Measure’ filter.



I played the following tracks:

1. Cyndee Peters – House of the Rising Sun (fantastic track from Opus3 records, DSD128)
2. Hoff Ensemble – Blågutten (2L track with huge space, DXD, available for free)
3. Wager-Åstrand - Fasten Seat Belts (another Opus3 track, DSD128)
4. Pixies – Where is My Mind (24/88.2)
5. Why? – Sod in the Seed (16/44.1)

iFi Nano iDSD BL vs. LH Labs GO2A Infinity
From a features standpoint, the Nano iDSD BL has a number of advantages: it draws normal current off of a USB source (LH Labs Draws a bit extra), it has 10 hours of battery, and it has a true and excellent fixed line-out. The Nano iDSD doesn’t have a balanced output, but the balanced circuit inside it gives the same sonic benefits. The Nano iDSD BL is more matchable and doesn’t rely on external volume control.

UERR
The sense of space in both players is similar, with the GO2A Infinity having a slight advantage in height and width, but depth goes to the Nano. The GO2A Infinity has harder edges and more firm impact, but it can be sharp and unforgiving at times. The Nano iDSD BL is smoother and more forgiving, whilst the GO2A can be hard and sharp at times. The upper mids on the GO2A are sweeter, but can overheat at times. The iDSD doesn’t soar as much as the GO2A does on Where is My Mind, but it has more depth on Sod in the Seed and has an overall less exuberant sound. On Sod in the Seed, the high glockenspiel notes are a bit piercing on the GO2A, and more natural on the Nano iDSD BL. Treble is hiked up a bit, which is probably what creates some of the extra height in the GO2A sound, and more edgy impactful sound in the upper mids. The sound on the GO2A can become fatiguing with its exuberance, even if it is totally inspiring in a collection of moments. If the hard edges and exuberance irritate you even a little, the echo-chamber of your mind will get to you when the track playing back has what some would view as flaws. Some will find the exuberance inspiring and worthy of praise whilst others will be immediately turned off on the GO2A Infinity, the Nano iDSD BL doesn’t have these hard edges, it’s smooth. It is still detailed, but the treble isn’t enhanced, so no divisive screams.





Noble Kaiser Encore
Out of both the Direct and iEMatch outputs, the Noble Kaiser Encore sounds as special as it should. Hiss is effectively controlled on both outputs, but there is some minor hiss during silence on the Direct output. You may not even hear it. If the Kaiser Encore is hooked up to the iEMatch output, it gets a bass boost. Maybe you want a bit extra midbass, maybe you don’t. When using the Kaiser Encore on the GO2A Infinity, even at the lowest gain, it hisses like an Indiana Jones nightmare.



HD600
The HD600 is my stress test for portable players and the both of these players pass. The HD600 sounds full with all dynamics intact. Soundstage was not crushed and nothing sounded softened.

iFi Nano iDSD BL vs. Questyle QP2R
I know. This comparison is not really fair, right? The QP2R is more than 6x the price. As anyone who’s been around the block in audiophile-land more than once will tell you, the law of diminishing returns hits like crotch-punching circus dwarf. There are some features that the Nano iDSD BL has that the QP2R doesn’t: a fixed analog line-out, and iEMatch. Of course the QP2R also throws down some features that iFi doesn’t, mostly about being a DAP and not a portable DAC/Amp. They both rock 10 hour (tested) battery life and excellent sound.



UERR
The UERR has brilliant spatial presentation on both the Nano iDSD BL, it’s a friggin’ monitor after all. However, the QP2R has greater depth, width and height as well as better layering. The soundstage has an effortlessness to the separation of the instruments on the QP2R. It’s really friggin’ brilliant. Tonally, the Nano iDSD BL is a bit soft in the midrange, whilst the QP2R is more impactful and sharper. On Where is My Mind, there is more soar, more space, more layering. The QP2R is just superior with the UERR. Listening to other tracks

Noble Kaiser Encore
The QP2R has hiss with the Kaiser Encore, more so on the balanced out. The hiss is lower and less obtrusive than that found on the GO2A Infinity when on single-ended output, but it is noticeable. I tried messing with some adaptors like the 75Ω impedance adaptor from DUNU or the UE Buffer Jack. The UE Buffer Jack reduces hiss by adjusting damping factor in favour of the IEM. It doesn’t cause frequency response modification like an impedance adaptor, but it does lower the hiss level, whilst not eliminating it completely in this case. The 75Ω adaptor eliminated the hiss, but messed up both the bass and the treble, making the treble thin and the bass flabby. The Nano iDSD BL is superior with the Noble Kaiser Encore. It has been my experience that none of Questyle’s gear plays well with multi-BA, sensitive IEMs. I’ve tried using the QP2R, the CMA600i and the CMA800R Golden Reference amps, and all have problems with the Noble Kaiser Encore. Questyle gear likes headphones and IEMs that have some impedance.

HD600
The Questyle QP2R likes the 300Ω Sennheiser HD600 headphones. The Questyle QP2R, on paper, shouldn’t drive the Sennheiser HD600, but current mode amplification is magic, and it somehow manages to drive it with space to spare on the settings dialled into high gain and high bias settings with the balanced output. I had to turn it up to 99 out of 120 on volume, which means plenty of overhead was still there.

With regard to the sound characteristics of the two players, the QP2R has a clearer and more forward midrange with stronger edges. The iFi Nano iDSD BL has a smoother more soft feel, which makes it feel a little less resolute, but will have people really digging the ambiance once they settle in. Much like the Hidizs AP200 below, the Questyle QP2R has greater impact to it’s sound, but it never sounds like it is trying too hard or tipping the frequency response out of balance. The Questyle QP2R is delightful, and I prefer it’s sound to the iFi Nano iDSD BL. It is 6x the price, though, so on a value for money level the Nano iDSD Black Label wins easily.

iFi Nano iDSD BL vs. Shanling M2s
The iFi Nano iDSD BL and Shanling M2s might be considered direct comparators. Both do DSD256 and DXD. Both are small and capable. Both are useable with your phone (iFi via USB OTG, Shanling M2s via Bluetooth). Both can be used as external DACs with a computer. Both are under £200 with the iFi Nano iDSD Black Label coming in at £199 and the Shanling M2s dropping in at £189 (on Amazon.co.uk). The Shanling M2s has the best screen on any DAP I’ve been privileged enough to use. The Nano iDSD BL doesn’t have a screen, but does have iEMatch, a true fixed line-out and MQA.

UERR
The Shanling M2s has a softer midrange on the The Pixies – Where is My Mind and doesn’t soar with female vocals like the iFi Nano iDSD BL can in Where is My Mind. It lacks the amplitude. On Why? – Sod in the Seed the midrange is cleaner and clearer with better defined edges on Yoni Wolf’s slacker rap musings. Claps and woodblocks lack the impact and definition on the Shanling M2s. Bass on the Shanling M2s is a bit more present with a warmer overall sound. There is a bit of a gauziness to the Shanling M2s sound, a slight veiling. On the fast percussion of Fasten Seat Belts, the M2s just can’t keep up with the track in the way that the Nano iDSD Black Label does. The Black Label has excellent speed and precision. The Shanling M2s just sounds slower. Listening with the iFi Nano iDSD BL on Cyndee Peters – House of the Rising Sun, it’s like a morning mist has been pierced by the rising sun and forced to retreat back into the wooded hollows from whence it crept. The background is black and clear. Excellent. The Shanling M2s, whilst good doesn’t have the kind of clarity and resolution that the iFi Nano iDSD Black Label can muster.

Noble Kaiser Encore
There is a slight elevation in the bass on the Shanling M2s because of the output impedance. Some will like this ‘enhancement.’ The added bass is still nice, but this is not neutral playback. The Noble Kaiser Encore does not hiss on the M2s.



HD600
The Shanling M2s can play loud enough with the HD600 only if you max out the volume meter. This player will do in a pinch, but really shouldn’t be used for the HD600. Dynamics are crushed a bit and the soundstage gets a little smaller, but the overall sound is still good.

iFi Nano iDSD BL vs. Hidizs AP200
Interestingly both the Hidizs AP200 ($299 suggested for aluminum 32GB) and the iFi Nano iDSD BL ($199) have balanced amplification inside with a single ended output. The Hidizs is more expensive, but you do get yourself a full-on touch screen DAP with full Android, Play Store, and friggin’ killer sound. In practice the iDSD gets better battery life. I’ve been averaging around 7-8 hours on the Hidizs AP200.

UERR
On Where is My Mind, the Hidizs soars a little more and has a little more impact. It is a very punchy player without having the sharpened treble claws of the LH Labs GO2A Infinity. Image size and clarity are pretty similar between the Nano iDSD BL and the Hidizs.



If I had to give any edges, it would be that the Hidizs AP200 has a little bit more height and the iFi Nano iDSD BL has a little more width. Depth is even, as far as I can tell. Tonally the Hidizs AP200 is a little more bright. What listeners prefer will really come down to tonal preference. Overall presentation is a little more energetic on the AP200 than the iFi iDSD Nano Black Label. Again, whether you want a more relaxed sound like the iFi or a punchy stand up and get noticed sound like the Hidizs will come down to listening preference. Personally, I’d be happy to have both options. Sometimes you want more relaxing, sometimes you want energy. Are you feeling laconic today?

Noble Kaiser Encore
There is a very soft hiss with the Hidizs AP200 that becomes inaudible in most music. Listening to Cyndee Peters do House of the Rising Sun with the UERR there is no hiss on the track, it’s clean as a surgical theatre. When switching to the Kaiser Encore, there is hiss on the track but it is light and may actually be the IEMs being more sensitive to the noise of the tape. The Cyndee Peters recording is a tape transfer direct to DSD, so it is possible that the Kaiser Encore could be picking up non-musical information from the recording method. The impedance output of the Hidizs didn’t cause any perceptible bass elevation, which is a pro in my book. Performance compared to the Nano iDSD in Direct mode is pretty similar, with slightly more hiss on the AP200.

HD600
Much like the Shanling M2s, it takes everything the Hidizs AP200 has to get to a good volume level on the HD600 (97 of 100). In this case, I think it sounds a bit better than the M2s. The soundstage has significantly less width and depth than the Nano iDSD BL, and the Nano iDSD BL clearly outplays on clarity, separation and driving power. It also handles the speedy percussion of Fasten Seat Belts with outstanding resolution that the Hidizs AP200 does not match. The Hidizs AP200 gives good tone, generally, but the technical capabilities of the Nano iDSD BL are superior. At times the Hidizs struggles and distorts on some low bass notes, whereas the iFi Nano iDSD BL withstands the assault of low bass notes without distortion. The Hidizs does have a bit more focus and slam in the mids, which could be due to slightly elevated upper mids compared to the Nano iDSD BL. Punchy like the talented Mr. McGregor.



iFi Nano iDSD BL vs. Aune M1s
The Aune M1s is quite simply one of my favourite DAPs to work with. It doesn’t change the sound of any IEMs I play with it. It stays out of the way, maintaining the most consistently neutral presentation of any of the DAPs in my stable (more than a few). It’s a simple beast, and it doesn’t have a ton of power for output or a ton of features. It doesn’t have a fixed line-out. It will not play the HD600. It does have balanced output. It also doesn’t mess with the sound of the Noble Kaiser Encore at all. I’ve spent a lot of time previously talking about the Aune M1s, so you can check out it’s review.

UERR
Listening to House of the Rising Sun, there is more width to the stage on the Nano iDSD BL than on the Aune M1s. Both keep a nice tone, but the Nano iDSD BL has a bit sweeter treble when the bells and cymbals come in, with a bit fuller presentation.

Noble Kaiser Encore
The M1s is perfectly clear with the Noble Kaiser Encore. It is a beautiful pairing that lets the Encore shine. There is no hiss, and the bass isn’t elevated due to impedance mismatches.

HD600
Can’t do it. Sound is drained and feeble. Frequency response isn’t accurate either.

Specifications
General Specifications
Price: £199 ($199)
DAC: Burr Brown
Formats Supported: DSD64-DSD256, DXD384/352.8kHz, PCM 44.1-384, MQA 88.2/96/176.4/192kHz filters
Filters: Listen (transient optimised minimum phase filter), Measure (frequency response optimised filter)
Inputs: USB Type A “OTG” socket with built in iPurifier® technology
Battery Life: ~10 hours (tested)
Dimensions: 96 x 64 x 25.5mm
Weight: 139g (0.31 lbs)
Warranty: 12 months

Headphone Amplifier
Outputs: Dual Mono 2 x 285mW Direct Drive, coupling capacitor free circuit, 2 x 3.5mm outputs: 1 Direct and 1 iFi iEMatch integrated (for sensitive IEMs)
Max Output Level (<10% THD): >3.5V @ 600Ω load (Direct; 20mW into 600Ω), >2.9v @ 30Ω load (Direct; 285mW into 30Ω), >1.7V @ 15Ω load (Direct; 200mW into 15Ω)
Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise: < 0.005% @125mW/30R
Dynamic Range (DNR): >109db (A-weighted) @ 3V (Direct), >107db (A-weighted) @ 0.5V (iEMatch®)
Output Impedance: ≤ 1Ω (Direct), ≤ 4Ω (iEMatch)
Channel Separation: > 79dB @ 600Ω load (Direct), > 79dB @ 15Ω load (Direct)
Volume Control: Analog 2-track Potentiometer with power switch, < 2dB tracking error – 40dB…0dB attenuation

Line Output
Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise: < 0.004%
Dynamic Range (DNR): >109db (A-weighted)
Output Voltage: 2.15V (±0.05V)
Output Impedance: < 240Ω
Channel Separation: > 99dB @ 1kHz
Jitter (correlated): Below set test limit

Conclusions
If you are looking for an upgrade to your two channel living room setup from something more basic, and potentially from something considerably more advanced—as a straight-up DAC the iFi Nano iDSD Black Label was superior to my Questyle CMA600i in the same signal chain (playing into the XI Audio Formula S feeding HiFiMAN Susvara); or you are looking for something that drives a wide variety of headphones with no problem, or maybe you are staring into the abyss of format wars like the potential impending ascendancy of the newest format darling (MQA), then you may want to check out the iFi Nano iDSD BL. The Nano iDSD BL drives headphones from the Noble Kaiser Encore (very minimal hiss that disappears with music) all the way up to the Sennheiser HD600 without distortion through the Direct port. In the case of the Noble Kaiser Encore, I did notice a little tonal change on the iEMatch port, that change was pretty similar to what I experience when listening to the Kaiser Encore out of the Shanling M2s, both sound good with the Kaiser Encore.

If I had to cite any weaknesses, it would be that sometimes the midrange can sound a little meeker than I expect. Some will find this of benefit, and I find it to be a very minor detractor that varies in infinitesimally small effects with the changing of my mood. This softening of the midrange is specific to the headphone amplifier component as the line-out maintains firm tone through the midrange when feeding the XI Audio Formula S.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a DAC/Amp combo at £199 ($199) with more features and better sound. Just as the iFi Micro iDSD Black Label was unfair to it’s competitors, the Nano iDSD Black Label should make some DAPs in the £200 range nervous. It’s got better sound quality than the all of my under $200 DAP stable, and kicks out sound on par to significantly better than some more expensive DAPs that I have or have played with.

Pros: Beautiful, a bit more airy and detailed than stock cable, smoothed some sharper treble on Kaiser Encore, perfect size pins, precise tight bass with good impact, bigger stage than stock

Cons: chunky, a bit heavy on the ear, paint wears off easily, 2-pin connector shell is glued

List Price: $219.90



Acknowledgment
I received the Effect Audio Ares II+ through a giveaway on HeadFi. I was not required or asked to write a review. I wanted to.

Introduction
I’ve been aware of Effect Audio for a while. I saw their cable designs around on HeadFi. Like any good custom cable they are always shiny, with shimmering metallic beauty and interwoven links of wire braided like strands of maiden’s hair. I’m not sure you could release Rapunzel with these locks, but throw her a Kaiser Encore and an Opus #3 loaded with music and she just might forget her captivity for a bit.

Useability: Form & Function
Cable reviews are mostly about useability, convenience, and aesthetics, to my mind. In my experience, sonic differences between cables are there, but subtle at volume matched levels. I haven’t tried any multi-metal variants yet, but in comparisons later between pure metal (so far as I know) cables I haven’t heard big sonic changes. So in my mind whether a cable is worth buying comes down to the following things:

• Do you want a balanced connection?
• Do you find your stock cable boring looking?
• Are you looking for that last 1% in audio quality that you can squeeze out?
• Do you have money to burn (for higher priced “luxury” cables)?
• Are you incompetent with a soldering iron?
• Are you clumsy with your hands?
• Can you be bothered to make your own?
• Is there any value in making your own?

Maybe the last four questions should really be first, because pure silver and pure copper wire are the best signal transmitters available, and high quality OCC litz wires are not difficult to come by (in my UK market at least). It’s been known since 1885 that gold makes silver far less conductive. This is not to say that the effect cannot be pleasing of making complex alloys, but I think it is more likely that plating or filling with gold is done in very small amounts (less than 1%) that may not have a substantial effect on the sound. In fact, a chemical analysis of a famous Silver/Gold cable found that the cable’s gold amount was far less than claimed, and was closer to being pure silver of a 2N variety. I’ve listened to that cable, it sounds absolutely excellent and I was able to tell the difference with my HD600 between that cable and others in the range without knowing which cables were which (the manufacturer didn’t label the samples). It was the only cable in that range that had gold, so I’ll not make a claim that gold doesn’t effect sound, I just don’t have the evidence to confirm this yet. I think that most of the use of gold in cables is about looks and luxury, and for the most part so are cables.



Value
That was a bit of an aside, but it comes down to this: if you have the time and capability to make cables, you can do it for similar or lower prices than custom-made cables by companies. I personally wouldn’t do this, and I can tell you why. Consumer rates for wire are expensive. If I want to make a 1.2 meter quad braid wire of a quality similar to Effect Audio’s Ares II+ this is what I have to buy from my suppliers in the UK and the USA:

Component
Cost

1. 5 meters of Cardas 21.5 AWG OCC Litz wire (cost converted from GBP)1
$53.50

2. WBT 4% Silver Solder (cost converted from GBP)1
$34.60

3. Eidolic 2-pin connectors (model E278PG) (plus VAT)2
$16.35

4. Eidolic splitter (ESX4) (plus VAT)2
$11.75

5. Eidolic 2.5mm TRRS jack (plus VAT)2
$14.75

VAT 3-5
$8.57

Shipping 1-2
$4.35

Shipping 3-5
$11.50

Total
$155.37

1HiFiCollective.co.uk; 2Norne Audio

All of this is assuming that you already have a soldering iron, and sufficient expertise to braid the wire and then solder the ends. This also doesn’t include your labour costs or the difference in quality or sexiness between what you will produce and the professional fit and finish that Effect Audio produces. Since I don’t have soldering expertise, braiding expertise, or a lot of time, buying a cable makes a whole helluva lot more sense. Effect Audio’s costs are surely less than what mine would be, but that is the nature of economies of scale and having the ability to buy wholesale. I don’t begrudge Effect Audio being a successful business, in fact, I’m cheering for them. I consider the price of the Ares II+ very reasonable. Even if I were to get hit with VAT, which may or may not happen, I think the $219.90 price of the Ares II+ is reasonable. The components aren’t cheap, and the labour and overhead costs are totally reasonable.

Aesthetics
Here’s the real reason a lot of people buy cables, and it is also one of the reasons that people hear differences between them. A better looking cable sounds better. The same margarine in a square tub doesn’t taste the same as margarine in a round tub. Our visual interpretation colours our total interpretation, this is one reason why people call for blind tests. This is why placebo pills look exactly the same, down to the lettering, as the real thing. This is why when a drug trial tests injections vs pills, people receive sham injections and placebo pills in addition to the real treatment. What you see affects your results in things as serious as how a medicine works to things as trivial as how a cable sounds.

The Effect Audio Ares II+ is beautiful. The strands in the wires have a gentle vertical alignment. Many Litz wires have more of a horizontal bundling with a kind of striped appearance. The wires in this are definitely different from those found elsewhere. The visual effect is to make the cable look as if it is corrugated, I have no idea what the sonic effect is. On the Ares II+ the entire length of the wires outside of the y-split can be followed, it isn’t lost in the tight coils of your standard Litz wire seen elsewhere.



Beyond this, I note that when I’m wearing the cable in the sun and look down, I see a bit of purple sheen. I’m not sure what causes this effect, but it is a pleasing effect.

I think that a large part of why people buy aftermarket cables is luxury, and luxury is defined by an item’s appearance and the materials used in it’s construction. Whilst the Effect Audio Ares II+ doesn’t have gold plating or any other elements of that sort, it does exude a luxurious appearance. Those looking for luxury on a budget can be quite happy with the Ares II+.



Ergonomics
This cable is chunky. When I compare this cable’s total diameter to that of the Double Helix Cables Symbiote SP Elite 8-braid cable (comparison will be in the forthcoming review of that cable), the Ares II+ is thicker before the y-split and has a larger contact area on top of the ear. Both cables are of similar comfort. For me, the comfort isn’t as high as a stock cable. The cables are heavy and the tops of my ears are sensitive. After a few hours listening in a day I have to take a break from the cable as my ears get a bit irritated on top. This is made worse when I have shaggy hair, which I do right now. The cable weight everywhere except the top of the ear is not burdensome, but I’m somewhat eager to compare to a thinner four braid cable.


This is the width of cable that will go on top of the ear. Left to Right: Double Helix Cables Symbiote SP Elite v3 8-braid, Effect Audio Ares II+, Noble Audio Stock cable.
Build Quality
The build quality of the construction is solid, but there are a couple material elements that could use improvement (when I got it). The cable is tightly braided with good consistency. Construction is solid and even. The braid does retain some shape from looping for storage. I attempted a quick tug to straighten it out, but it remained wavy—this may be a problem with all such heavy cables. The connectors are solid and attractive. I love the cable slider. It is perfectly sized and its transparency makes it look really unobtrusive. The rubberised material means that it stays in place, which is exactly what you want on a slider above the y-split. The 2.5mm is a good size with a solid base. Not everyone has a Rhodium 2.5mm, and I definitely appreciate it. I also got a right angle adaptor from Effect Audio. It is compact and works very well at preventing jack strain on 3.5mm. I prefer this type of adaptor to straight adaptors. Effect Audio is one of only a couple places I’ve seen that makes these right-angled adaptors.

I have two primary complaints that cause me to significantly lower the build quality grade:

• The 2-pin connector covers at the ear are glued, and require some force to remove from the IEM due to snug fit (not a bad thing, these aren’t too big). This led to the left connector cover coming off on my cable. I have to fight with it every time I remove or insert the connector. By being slower and more careful since that happened I’ve avoided it happening on the right, but this isn’t something I should have to do. I think a larger threaded or twist-lock cover is a better design and would prevent what happened with mine while being just as easy to work with.
• With a threaded design, a bit of locktite on the thread would mean you never have to worry about what happened on mine happening elsewhere. Not printing on this connector would also probably be better if using a threaded cover, as a screw type would lead to inconsistent logo location. I’ve seen other manufacturers use heat-shrink here, which would allow precise location of logos and left/right indicators while also functioning as a strain relief. If using a twist lock design (much like bayonet fix light bulbs common in the UK), then printing could still be on the connector as location of logos and emblems could easily be fixed. I would suggest tougher printing or a using a clear coat after logo printing.
• The printing on the metal components is not wear resistant. If these weren’t banging around with the sharp metal Noble Encore, this might not be much of a problem, but the Encore has scraped off the lettering on the y-split completely and at the earpieces significantly. These aren’t nearly as pretty to photograph as when I got them.

Note the wear on both connectors. When the R and L go, it will be difficult to put these in the correct earpiece.

I’ve had conversations with Eric at Effect Audio about the printing, and he has told me that they are now using laser-engraving and have switched producers and upgraded materials on jack plugs—I didn’t ask about the 2-pin connector housings. I’m curious to see if this improves wear characteristics. At this point, the negative elements above force me to significantly lower the build quality grade. Without the pin housing and printing issues, build quality would be a 4.5 for me.


This originally had writing on it, not now. Still attractive and nicely compact.

Audio quality
I’ll be basing the sound off of the comparisons I make here. I compared this cable on the Noble Kaiser Encore, with alternative cables being the Effect Audio Excalibur, and the stock cable. All cables were volume matched at ~78dB using white noise and an SPL meter. The source was the Aune M1s (firmware 1.5, aggressive), the IEM was the Noble Kaiser Encore. The table below gives full matching information.

Cable SE/Balanced Gain Volume ~SPL
Effect Audio Excalibur Balanced Low 62 78.1
Effect Audio Aries II+ Balanced Low 62 78.3
Effect Audio Aries II+
(Effect Audio 3.5mm adaptor) SE Low 72 78.1
Stock SE Low 78 78.2

For useability, the Excalibur is markedly better. This is likely due to the Excalibur having 24 AWG wire instead of the 22 AWG wire on the Ares II+. The thinner wire was more comfortable whilst maintaining a high level of sound quality. The tops of my ears are sensitive, and I get some irritation after having the Ares II+ on my ears for several hours, but I never experienced this with the Excalibur.

On looks, both the Ares II+ and the Excalibur are stunning, but the Excalibur takes it to a whole new level. The micro-coiling of the Litz wire in the delicate sheathing, and the easy twirling of the cable has a visual and tactile evocativeness akin to a diamond dust encrusted silver chain. It positively shimmers, I feel like a hip-hop superstar rocking bling 20 times my paygrade. The cable is a piece of art. It isn’t just a headphone cable, it is jewelry, and a statement piece at that. The warm copper and chunkier presentation of the Ares II+ are not nearly as arresting to the senses—visual or tactile.

For sound, differences are very subtle. I listened in a volume matched comparison, but without having duplicate IEMs for switching, the time between switches, due to unattaching and re-attaching cables, makes it so I can’t guarantee the veracity of my hearing. What I hear is just as likely to be bias due to the more refined looks of the Excalibur as real difference—we hear with all our senses, and our eyes can bias us. With that huuuuuuge caveat, this is what I think I hear: the Excalibur is a bit more open, while also having slightly more immediate mids. Both have open sounds, but the Excalibur may be slightly more so. On Where is My Mind the female backing vocal soars a bit higher. The Excalibur sounds a tiny bit more precise, while the Ares II+ is a bit smoother. Both are excellent. It took me several back and forth switches and several tracks to really feel out the differences between the cables. Tracks I used: Pixies – Where is My Mind, Fleetwood Mac – Dreams, Eagles – Hotel California, Rebecca Pidgeon – Spanish Harlem.

Stock Noble Cable
The stock Noble cable has the standard 4-wire twisted pair set-up you see on many stock cables (Noble, Unique Melody, Ultimate Ears, RHA C series, Vibro Labs, to name some I’ve used). I’m not sure what material the cable is made out of, but it is probably decent quality. Because there are four wires, it would be easy to make this cable available in balanced varieties. Noble has not done this. Ultimate Ears does offer their stock cable with a 2.5mm balanced termination. Unique Melody should and Noble should do the same. They may even have their cables made by the same shop in China. I bet the order would be easy.

Comparatively, the Ares II+ looks more swish and has a lot more terminations available. When we go to sound, the Aries II+ has fuller body and smoother treble. The stock cable is more strident on the treble peaks in Kraftwerk’s Kometenmelodie 2. The soundstage also has more height, width, and instrument separation. I think more metal makes a difference here. This test was in single-ended out of the Aune M1s, switching to balanced had the same result.

Switching to the binaural Chesky Records recording of Macy Gray – I Tried, notes are noticeably tighter on the Ares II+. This is especially noticeable in the stand-up bass, which sounds a bit dull on the stock cable compared to the Ares II+. Those big bass notes are much more incisive on the Ares II+. The width, and depth of the soundstage is also substantially boosted. The sound has more subtlety with the Ares II+ allowing small imaging details to pop much more precisely.

After two tracks, it is clear that there are definite sonic advantages to an upgrade to the Ares II+. I don’t need to do any more testing, as the difference is that clear. Even used with a single-ended adaptor on the Aune M1s the advantage was clear in volume matched comparisons. Sound just flows more freely and openly with a bigger stage, better note definition, and less strident treble on treble intensive tracks.

Specifications
Specifications
List price $219.90
Length 4 ft (customisable)
Wire 22 AWG OCC Litz copper (Litz configuration not defined, purity of copper not specified), Proprietary Multi-Size Stranded design within single encapsulation, quad braid is standard (8 braid bespoke only)
Insulation material Not specified, listed as same as Leonidas
Earphone connectors 2-pin CIEM, ATH, FitEar (Right Angle), FitEar (Straight), JH24, JH24 with Bass Control, MMCX, Sennheiser IE
Jacks 3.5mm TRRS (Straight, Gold), 3.5mm TRS (Right Angle, Gold), 2.5mm TRRS (Straight, Gold), 2.5mm TRRS (Straight, Rhodium), 3.5mm TRS (Straight, Rhodium), 4.4mm TRRRS (Straight, Gold), RSA/ALO Kobicon
Y-Split Carbon Fibre Mini, Carbon Fibre Rugged (Big), Musicians (heatshrink)
Optional Accessories 2.5mm TRRS to 3.5mm TRS $50 (Right Angle), 2.5mm TRRS to 4.4mm TRRRS $70 (Straight)

Conclusions
The Effect Audio Ares II+ is big and beautiful with a clearly improved sound over the Noble stock cable, which is generally well-regarded. If you have a look around you’ll find plenty of reviews where folks end up going back to Noble’s stock cable after looking at other aftermarket cables. I wouldn’t do that with the Effect Audio Ares II+. I would miss the bigger stage, better note definition, and more precise imaging. The value is excellent at $219.90, as demonstrated by the cost breakdown of what it would take me to make something similar. I’m never going back again.

List Price: $399



Acknowledgment
Thanks go to FiiO for organizing a worldwide tour of the X5iii and letting me join it. After this is all over, this player will be heading back to ea audio, FiiO’s UK distributor. You can buy the player there too.

This review originally appeared elsewhere in the blogosphere.

Introduction


I have done a little bit of FiiO listening in the past at shows. I liked the X3ii. I thought the X1 was excellent value for money. I wasn’t really into the sound of either the X5ii or the X7. When I last met FiiO folks I was interested in reviewing their newly released (at the time) balanced cables. I didn’t like them. They had terrible ergonomics and a bit of a thin treble happy sound—consequently other reviews of gear that I like a lot more have taken precedence for writing up instead of the balanced cable reviews. I let FiiO know that I wasn’t likely to review those samples, but I’m a bit disappointed to not have done so. I may still do it.

My history with FiiO is one of not generally liking their house sound, but when I saw that they were releasing a DAP that was Android, with two microSD slots, Quick Charge, WiFi, Google Play Store enabled, and rocking two AK4490 chips I was more than intrigued. We’ll see if the intrigue carries on to affection.


Useability: Form & Function
Unboxing


The unboxing experience was somewhat reduced due to this being on a tour. Folks just slam things back into the case and I have no idea what it originally looked like. What is included though is quite impressive. You get two cases, one pleather and one TPU. I’m not really a fan of either, but it’s a good include. Of the two cases I liked the pleather best, but it doesn’t have the kind of quality that the optional Opus #3 case has.

The player comes fitted with a tempered glass, which is a first for me. Good thing too, as when I took off the case I thought that one of the previous reviewers had cracked the screen whilst practicing their circus routine. Luckily it was just the screen protector.



In addition to the screen protector and cases FiiO includes a 3.5mm to coaxial female adaptor, and the ubiquitous micro-usb cable. Personally, I prefer having an optical out, and if an optical out isn’t provided, I’d rather have a direct to coaxial adaptor rather than one that makes me supply my own cable. It’s a portable device, I’m not likely to be carrying around a full-size coaxial cable and I’m not likely to need a big length. In this position, the approach that iBasso took with the DX-50 is preferable—I don’t know if they still supply 3.5mm to coax adaptors.

Aesthetics
The lines are striking and etched lines from the Astell & Kern school of DAP design, though applied only on one side of the DAP. The rest of the DAP is just like any other rectangular brick of metal. The material choice of Zirconium and the sand blasted surface give a nice texture to the body.



The asymmetrical design may be partly responsible for the awkward fit of the pleather case, as the single sided hump makes it difficult for the structure to pull even. The alternative TPU case also suffers in the aesthetic department. First because TPU is rarely very attractive and second because the plugs for the outputs and inputs on the bottom of the DAP can easily have memory effects that make them swing out of their proper slots and just wave around saying ‘hi’ like the really drunk girl at prom.



The glass sandwich front and back are reminiscent of the Cayin i5, another fine Android player, but one that I didn’t have for this review. The front and back have understated designs with a nice dot matrix adorning the front and a four-pointed star motif gracing the back.

Ergonomics
The FiiO X5iii has a good size in the hand with a nice weight. The sandblasted texture feels delightful in hand, but this baby was mostly in cases for me, just to protect it.

I had problems with the button arrangement. The power button and play/pause button are directly parallel one another and the fast-forward button was extraordinarily close by in terms of where your fingers go when you grip. On more than one occasion this arrangement led to pausing or skipping tracks whilst switching between DAPs or pressing to turn the screen on. I prefer layouts where the power button is on the top, like the following: Shanling M2s, TheBit Opus #3, Echobox Explorer.

I also was not a fan of having every input and output on the bottom. This can lead to a very crowded layout. I would recommend moving the line-out, if possible.



I use DAPs in a blazer inside pocket quite a bit, and I found the volume hard to reach in this use instance. There are two reasons for this: the headphone jacks are at the opposite end of the player from the volume control, and because of this must be pointed down; and the orientation of the knob means it cannot be turned anywhere but from the side. The best implementation of a volume knob on a DAP for this type of use goes to the Cayin i5, with the Echobox Explorer not far behind. The Cayin i5 only requires one finger in the pocket to turn the knob. Nice.

Build Quality
The build quality is excellent. The metal is solid with a good grippy surface due to the sandblasting. The headphone jacks and line-out do not protrude far, but are not flush. With 2.5mm TRRS plugs, flush matters, as the plug is not very strong due to its diminutive size. The X5iii does well here in almost getting flush, but the Aune M1s does a better job on this as it is completely flush, allowing the plug body to lend reinforcement to the jack.

Operating System
The X5iii has a full Android operating system with the music player as an app. Google Play store comes included right out of the box which is refreshing after seeing both the Echobox Explorer and the TheBit Opus #3 fail to do this. The interface is mostly stock Android with a little theming. Installing apps is simple and they work intuitively with all the standard Android buttons not stomped on.

I like being able to listen to Tidal, and share my listening habits via Facebook and Twitter.

One of my biggest dislikes was the lock screen. I want to open up the player and immediately be in the player. FiiO should build in the ability to disable the lock screen.

Where I spend most of my time is the music app, and there is good and bad here.

Good:

• Search function. Everyone should do this.
• Genre tab with option to be organised as Albums or Songs. Everybody needs to do this.
• Relatively easy to navigate
• DLNA works okay for CD quality and under
• USB DAC works excellently and is easy to access via drop down menu of Android
• Loads of options: display album art, VU meter, lyrics

Bad:

• Hypersaturated colour scheme, album art and text is a bit unnatural looking. It’s basically like a TV shop display with no way to make it have more normal settings. Neon grass forever, crap. Opus #3 looks natural.
• Player doesn’t start in a music playback view, or even library navigation. It has a start screen with access to playlists, library and DLNA sources. Some may like this. I’d rather have one screen and a scrolling option bar.
• No scrolling option bar. If I am playing an album and want to play a playlist, I have to back up in the menus multiple steps.
• I prefer having text based menus instead of icons. I understand the reason for icons (better international compatibility), I just don’t like them.
• Tapping back on a track doesn’t take you to the beginning of the track and slide scrolling with fingers is restrained by case edges. It’s too hard to get to the beginning of the darn track, which can be a pain for reviewers like me. It may be less of a pain for people who aren’t repeatedly listening to the intro of Hotel California and Time.
• DLNA stutters on high bitrates and has lag issues. Sometimes it just doesn’t work. Not enough memory or processor speed, methinks. 2GB RAM is not expensive, folks. C’mon.
• Album art view is zoomed and cropped. This sucks, and it is because of button arrangement. This could be fixed by putting the track time in the track scroll bar, and making the scroll bar thinner. Tiled buttons would also allow for a more visually compact layout that would allow the full album art to be displayed.
• Lots of purchase options for the Viper effects. I would have just left this off, as this is pretty lame.

Most of the problems in the OS I describe could have been resolved through beta testing. Send me your next DAP before it comes out FiiO, I’m not asking for a freebie. I want to help you.



Audio quality
The X5iii is not what previous FiiO DAPs and products have been like for me. Whilst it isn’t a neutral reference due to it’s little bit of bass lift it is transparent with excellent detail. It doesn’t feel laconic like the X7 did and it doesn’t feel dark and brooding like the previous X5 series numbers did to me. This DAP may be exactly what many people are looking for and at a fraction of the cost of many other Android based players, including the Opus #3 referenced in this review. In fact, this player costs the same as the Opus #1 and has far more functionality. It has been too long and too many firmwares since the I listened to the Opus #1, so no comment on the rest of that comparison.

Sound positives:

• Full bass and mids
• Good open sound
• Good level of detail
• Speedy
• Not reference bass (positive for many)

Sound not so positives

• Vocals can be shouty
• Sometimes guitars get a bit strident
• Not as speedy as some competition
• Some details smear
• Not reference bass (negative for some)
• Not enough power for HD600, not even close.

As there is only so much time with one of these tour units, I’m going to let the comparisons speak most for audio quality. Everything is relative anyway.



Matchability
The X5iii did not do well with higher impedance IEMs. I threw both the RHA CL1 and RHACL750 at it and it sounded a bit sucked out in the mids and lacking in bass compared to what these can do with better power. I didn’t try to pair the X5iii with the HD600, as the poor performance with the RHA CL series seems a good predictor of poor performance with the HD600. I don’t recommend trying this for demanding cans without an amp.

The Noble Kaiser Encore, Unique Melody Miracle v2, and the UERR all played very nice with the X5iii. Dropping down from the top tiers of headphones the X5iii played nice with the Meze 11 Neo and Meze 12 Classics.

With Bluetooth, I found that the transmitter was not very good. I have had better quality with my cell phone (Asus Zenfone 3) and with my Avantree Priva II transmitter (best transmitter I’ve found). I tested both with the Lear BTC-01, which I’ve had good results with elsewhere.

Comparisons
Comparisons began with the UERR matched at 76.2 dB using an SPL meter and DIY coupler. Comparisons began in Android Mode and moved to Pure Music mode on the X5iii. All other players do not have a separate setting for ‘pure music.’ Midway through testing I switched headphones to the Noble Kaiser Encore.

Aune S6
First, to be fair, I’ll list off the signal chain for the S6. The S6 was connected to my laptop with the following chain:

Dell Vostro to iFi supplied generic USB 3.0 to iFi Micro iUSB3.0 to LH Labs Lightspeed 2G cable (split power and signal)

I find that this signal chain generally enhances soundstage and note resolution, so the S6 is already getting a leg up, but this would be my use case.

Sloop John B (DSD64). The S6 has a much more transparent and natural sound. The treble sounds clearer and the space in the soundstage is larger. Mids are clearer on the S6 and bass has a more natural feel. The FiiO X5iii sounds veiled in comparison with a bit of recession in the vocal range. Bass is less emphatic on the X5iii.

Georgio by Moroder has a smoother sound on the X5iii, but this also means it has a slightly lower resolution. The S6 has more power and body in every part of the spectrum.

The sound of the S6 is full and organic. The chugging bass on D’yer Ma’ker really shines on the S6. Comparatively, the X5iii sounds restrained. I like the extra body on the S6. However, the X5iii has better definition on those signature chugging bass notes, and the stage seems a little bit more defined. I think in this situation I prefer the pairing with the S6.

On Damien Rice – Elephant the strings have greater body and emotion with very natural decay and timbre. The X5iii is very clear and breathy, but the S6 is soulful. The timbre picture on this comparison is becoming quite clear. The S6 has a more lush, organic sound, but the X5iii is by no means dry on these tracks. Details are excellent on both.

Katherine Bryan — Flute Concerto Alla Marcia, the S6 has an effortless and natural depth to the stage. The width is also greater. This track used to be my treble torture test. Executed right it doesn’t pierce your ears, but has some very high notes on the flute. It also has some fantastic timpani strikes. Both the S6 and the X5iii pass the treble torture test for this track. No shrill moments on either.

On Infected Mushroom – Heavy Weight. The S6 has much greater depth and width and a far more natural flow to the music. It matches the X5iii punch for punch in detail. The sound is just dripping with power. With the power differential in the comparisons, I felt the need to try listening to the X5iii at a much louder volume. So I jacked it 10 points in volume, this should be a roughly 4 dB boost. The S6 was still fuller sounding, but it was a lot closer. It is quite possible that measurement error accounts for some of the differences in sound, but I think it unlikely that it accounts for all of the differences between the two. The X5iii has better detail resolution and precision. Note definition is tighter on all the digital percussive elements that this song has going. The X5iii is a bit faster too. Jacking the volume a bit helps with definition on the X5iii, unsurprisingly.

Audio Opus Opus #3
The soundstage is quite wide on the Opus #3 on Infected Mushroom – Heavy Weight. The Opus #3 might be the most detailed DAP I have listened to and it doesn’t disappoint here. The sound presentation is clear and uber transparent on the Opus #3. The X5iii sounds more restrained with less width in the stage and less height. The sound is also less transparent and textured. Win for the Opus #3 on this one. Trying the jack the volume test, I find that the Opus #3 still outpaces on details and soundstage width and height. The sound is just far more transparent.

The announcer is further back in the stage and the overall stage dimensions are smaller for the X5iii on Pink Floyd – On the Run, similarly on Time there is more space between the clocks and greater width on the Opus #3. The moving drummer also has greater depth to use. The Opus #3 appears to be outclassing the X5iii when both are operating in Android. Switching to pure music mode the soundstage width of the X5iii improves some. The Opus #3 still edges it here, but it is a closer battle. It’s very close, in fact. On depth after the switch, the X5iii has a less immediate presentation, but the sound stage isn’t really bigger, it’s just further away from you.

Let’s torture some treble. Kraftwerk – Kometenmelodie2 should work nicely.



Both players let the sound get to the piercing levels it is supposed to achieve. Test passed. The X5iii sounds a bit veiled in comparison, though (we are in pure music mode now).

At this point, to insure that my sound interpretations aren’t just due to having a different volume measurement on the user error prone customs, I switched to the Noble Kaiser Encore and ran through some tracks again. Heavy Weight’s intro sounded a little veiled on the X5iii. The Opus #3 is more transparent with better resolution. The presentation is a bit more intricate on the Opus #3. On the repeat of On the Run the two players are about even. The announcer has equal clarity in both. If anything, I’d say the Opus #3 is a little airier with more spatial resolution, whilst the X5iii has a bit less width and a little bit firmer presentation. On Time there is a bit more depth in the presentation of clocks with greater differentiation in the stage depth on the Opus #3. The Opus #3 is crisper. When the drummer comes in the there is more impact on the X5iii. Both do an excellent job depicting his movement around the stage—the drummer’s dance is full of motion on both players.

So far for me it’s been largely about the treble differences between these two, the bigger stage of the Opus #3 and the greater immediacy and impact of the X5iii in the mids. But what if Meghan Trainor is right? Is it All About That Bass?


To find out, I’m going to throw a couple of my favourite test tracks at it: Massive Attack – Teardrop and Why – Strawberries. As expected, the X5iii has a firmer and fuller bass presentation on Teardrop. The electronic drums and bass have firmer and fuller body. For bassheads, the X5iii is definitely superior. The bass is still there on the Opus #3, but not nearly as full as the X5iii. Likewise on Strawberries, the Opus #3 has tight and resolved bass, but not the physical or emotional weight of the X5iii. The Opus #3 still has the wider soundstage on this track and the more articulate and detailed presentation, if not more emotional presentation.

Does emotional weight carry on to the mids? We’ll see. For testing emotional weight I like throwing Damien Rice’s 9 album down. I don’t know if there is a male singer who can make my waterworks just flow like Damien Rice. He may have the most emotional male vocal I’ve heard, and those lyrics don’t help either. When testing with Elephant, the Opus #3 is more airy. Guitar picks have more definition, vocals are more delicate while still maintaining emotional weight. Vocals on the X5iii had a tendency to feel a bit more shouty at the same SPL. The Opus #3 is just the more refined player of the two.

Aune M1s
The Aune M1s has a significantly wider and deeper soundstage. It has better note resolution, it is clearer. It sounds better. This is beginning to be a pattern. The X5iii just can’t win any of my duels. Good thing the battles are more like fighting with pool noodles than a real duel.


The X5iii is on the left. Poor kid’s about to be decapitated.

At this point I just don’t have the heart to subject the X5iii to another comparison, so I decide to leave it alone vs. the Echobox Explorer. In the past I’ve found the Echobox to sound as good or better than the M1s, so the FiiO X5iii didn’t really have a chance anyway.

I had some tables in here, to show volume matching, but the Head-Fi transition appears to have eaten tables for breakfast. That was my breakfast, Head-Fi. Give it back. In the meantime, those wanting image tables, volume match tables, and tables of specifications should look go to the blog in my signature.


[Missing volume matching data table and specifications table, an earlier table had a feature comparison across three DAPs. Tables are awesome.]

Specifications
Here are some selected stats. For full stats, go to FiiO’s website. They have done a really impressive job listing stats and their methods of measurement. This is something that should be applauded. Applaud by going and having a look at their fine work here.


Conclusions
The FiiO X5iii sounds acceptable to good, but the DAP is more about bells and whistles than sound. When I compared the X5iii to other DAPs and DAC/Amps it invariably lost on sound quality. It doesn’t have the audio capabilities of the Aune M1s at $249 and it lags far behind TheBit’s Opus #3 at $899 (I think this price will come down). It has better features than all the DAPs I compared it to, but if I was looking for features over sound I could probably just listen to my cell phone on plenty of music with plenty of headphones. The DAC chips are good in the X5iii, so if you feed it into an amp, the sound does improve, but if you were planning on using the X5iii as a transport, you’ll be disappointed in FiiO’s choice of a coaxial connection over an optical connection.

If sound is your most important criteria in an audio player, there are significantly better options available at price levels below and above the FiiO X5iii. Before doing this review I was hoping that FiiO had finally made a real giant killer. Some reviews out there made it seem that way, but my experience was different. This device is a great DAP shackled by an average amp. It is no giant killer.

 
[size=24.57px]Acknowledgment  [/size]

Thank you Lear for providing this review sample in exchange for my honest opinion.

This review may also be viewed on my blog, here.

List Price: $65 at time of review plus shipping

Introduction

I took an interest in the BTC-01 as soon as Lear announced it on HeadFi. In the last year and a bit I’ve reviewed more Bluetooth headphones than I ever thought I’d even listen to. After all, Bluetooth sound quality is definitely exceeded by wired sound quality. When I enquired about reviewing the BTC-01, Apple hadn’t yet put out their 3.5mm jackless iPhone 7. I hadn’t yet panned them for ignoring all us audiophiles.

What I later realised was that Apple nailed their consumer use-case. They were way ahead of the game when it came to what their consumers wanted and how their consumers were using Apple devices with headphones. Most folks using their phone as a source (which is 95% of people) are using their headphones on the go or in the gym. These are not critical listening settings. Even if you have a highly resolving headphone or two, and I certainly do, when you are on a bus or train, or running on a treadmill, that resolution advantage doesn’t come into play as much. Bluetooth sounds good enough for most times for most people. I now find myself applauding Apple for their move on sheer business acumen.

If you walk down the street, you’ll see a crap-ton of people wearing Frankenstein’s monster costumes—big-ass Bluetooth IEMs sticking out of their ears of probably questionable quality. Headphones that may be from Beats, or may be random pieces of kit from a grocery store or high street shop that is genuinely clueless when it comes to sound quality. It is really hard to find Bluetooth in-ears that don’t look stupid, especially from Apple (Apple owns Beats).





While making these observations, I’ve also observed that the average consumer does know a really good headphone when they hear them. They just haven’t heard them. I love to share this hobby with strangers and friends, but most of them will still be listening to crappy Bluetooth headphones because wires suck for use on the move. The Lear BTC-01 gives people the option to listen to good headphones with a lightweight detachable cable with built in balanced amplification. With the BTC-01 the need for bulky Frankenstein Bluetooth in-ears disappears. This is why I was so interested in it and products like it (there are a few now).

Useability: Form & Function

The BTC-01 is lightweight, flexible and comes in almost as many connector varieties as you could possibly have. They even do connectors for rarities like FitEar. Nice. That said, I had problems with my particular connector choice, 2-pin standard CIEM (2-Pin CM in Lear ordering parlance). The pins are on the large side and will loosen any standard 2-pin jack you put them in. I tried with three top-tier brands: Noble, Empire Ears, and Vibro Labs. I was able to get the pins to go in all the way on the Vibro Labs Maya, but I felt uncomfortable the whole time. It was not possible to get the pins all the way into the Noble Kaiser Encore. I gave up in fear. I was able to get sound out, and it sounded truly excellent, but I wasn’t about to risk more than ¼ insertion. As soon as I put the pins at the entry on an Empire Ears IEM, I knew that the pins weren’t going in and stopped. These problems with pin fit were why this review has been delayed so long.

On principle, a cable review is a relatively simple thing: how does it feel, how does it sound. That’s it. This review has dealt with some roadblocks, and that is why I’ve bitten the bullet and bought the least expensive most-reputable 2-pin IEM I could find: the KZ ED12. I got it off of Amazon.co.uk for £12.78 with Prime shipping. The KZ ED12 is a steal—a mind-blowing steal. It’s an excellent panacea for people who don’t know they are suffering from good audio withdrawal. The KZ also had fit problems with the pins—but the information on pin size for the KZ headphones isn’t there. They might have smaller Ultimate Ears sized pins with a Unique Melody polarity. I had to use all my might to fully insert the pins—I wasn’t worried about killing a 12 quid IEM, there was still a little bit of room at the end. After trying 4 brands of IEM manufacturer and having pin fit issues with all of them, I'm inclined to conclude that the Lear 2-pin has too much girth. My recommendation would be for Lear to buy a pair of Eidolic 2-pin connectors, measure those, and then make all their 2-pins that size. I’ve found Eidolic 2-pins to fit all the ‘CIEM’ type headphones. Barring that, it may be advisable to get some weight-watchers and lay off the KFC. Maybe some Sweatin’ to the Oldies might be in order. It appears that all the jacks by major manufacturers have already made the trip to Slimming World.

 

Pairing

I had no problems pairing the BTC-01 with most sources. I paired it with my ancient phone, my new phone (after old phone bricked), with several 3.5mm to Bluetooth dongles (Avantree Priva II is the best), my laptop, and the Echobox Explorer. Only the Echobox Explorer had problems. I’m inclined to think the source is the problem on this one, not the cable. The cable was also tested with an iPhone 7 when I let a friend use it with the KZ ED12.

Range

Something I have noted is that the range of a Bluetooth device is as dependent on the transmitter as the receiver. I think folks who make judgements against a Bluetooth headphone's range should always make sure their source has adequate range characteristics before blaming the headphone. Almost all my Bluetooth sources have about a 8-10m unobstructed range. That is about the range that I got with the BTC-01. No problems with max range here.

Audio quality

I’m going to start by saying something about bitrates. There is basically no audible difference between standard aptX and well implemented SBC. I’ve tested this on multiple headphones with multiple transmitters. The major sound differences in Bluetooth are due to the DACs inbuilt on the chips and the amplification associated at the headphone end. I’ve never seen any manufacturer disclose what they use for amplification. Lear uses an SBC capable chip, but you can’t hear the difference between approximately 320mbps and 348mbps, I can almost guarantee that. It is a myth that aptX is CD-quality. There is a reason that advertisements for aptX only say CD-like quality.

So some things to note: I’ve not encountered perfectly silent background Bluetooth, Bluetooth is not as good as wired, and in the typical Bluetooth usage situation, neither of these matter. You can generally hear the noise floor during critical listening with any Bluetooth IEM. The BTC-01 also exhibits a noise floor, but it is softer than other IEMs. The amplification is cleaner, with no distortion at any volume. High quality Bluetooth headphones from 1MORE that I have reviewed do not have clean amplification up to higher volumes, the same has been true of other Bluetooth headphones I’ve reviewed. Distortion sets in fiercely at moderately high volumes on other Bluetooth headphones. When using the BTC-01, I didn’t experience this.

The BTC-01 provides the clearest Bluetooth experience I’ve yet had, and the fact that you can use the cable with high end headphones means that these will scale. I had brief listens with the Maya and the sound of the Maya was nicely preserved. I observed similar quality preservation with the Noble Kaiser Encore, but I couldn’t fully insert the pins, I gave up at ¼ in. It was not a good enough insertion to even photograph. The KZ ED12 sounded excellent with the BTC-01.

Specifications

Specifications
Price	$65 plus shipping
Bluetooth version	4.0
Output power	30mW into 15Ω with balanced class AB amplification
Output impedance	≤ 0.9 mOhm
Battery Life	3-4 hours
Charging Time	30-50 minutes (can be used while charging)
Materials	OFC cable, Murata capacitors
Microphone	Built into the cable
Weight	~8g
Compatibility	Windows/Mac/iOS/Android (tested with all but Mac)

Some graphs from Lear:









As can be seen from the graphs, the output impedance is always under 1ohm, with lower impedances at lower frequencies but very linear output impedance for the most part. This should work well for almost all headphones as if we follow the rule of 8, headphones with an impedance of 7Ω or more should be compatible with no effect on the sound signature. Also in the graphs, we can see that the BTC-01 is tuned with a bit of a boosted high treble, this is likely responsible for the maintenance of an airy character in the sound. We can also see that the output power is higher than the referenced smart phone (unfortunately anonymous referenced smartphone). I would have like to know what the smartphone was, or to have a pool of averaged smartphone headphone outputs recorded with the models disclosed but only the average of all models shown—in this way there can be no perceived attack on any manufacturer’s headphone output.

Total harmonic distortion plus noise characteristics of the cable are good and fairly linear even under a heavy load. It is readily apparent that the BTC-01 handles load exceptionally well. What hasn’t been shown in the THD +N graph is what a typical Bluetooth headphone does when the volume is jacked up. From my experience, I would expect the distortion to be jacked up much higher, as it has been very audible and unpleasant on almost all Bluetooth headphones I’ve listened to. Given that people often will play their Bluetooth headphones loud, due to the listening environment that Bluetooth is used in, the stable amplification performance of the BTC-01 is very reassuring.

Conclusions

The BTC-01 is a very nice Bluetooth cable with clear sound and amplification that performs well under standard IEM loads. I had some significant problems with the pin size on the BTC-01 2-pin CM model, but I believe that this will be isolated to this size, is not all on Lear due to variance in the industry, and is easily remediable. For $65 plus shipping, I can certainly recommend it.
 

 

[size=24.57px]Acknowledgment  [/size]

Thank you Eric at Effect Audio for making the HeadFi tour of the Arthur and Excalibur pairing possible and letting me join in. I was provided the Arthur/Excalibur on loan in exchange for my honest opinion.

This review was originally published on my blog.

Introduction

I’ve had the recent privilege of getting extended listening with some truly excellent IEMs. In my listening there seems to be an almost continuous forward progression toward infinite expenditures. The Effect Audio Arthur and its bespoke Excalibur cable follow this trajectory. The Arthur and Excalibur combination is the result of research and development in partnership between two companies: Empire Ears and Effect Audio.  Jack Vang and the crew at Empire Ears designed and built the Arthur IEM in the United States with tuning and design input from Effect Audio, and Effect Audio designed and constructed Excalibur in Singapore. Some folks must have racked up some pretty sweet frequent flyer miles.

Useability: Form & Function

Packaging and accessories

The Arthur box is mirrored cardboard and very hard to photograph without showing the clutter in my home office/anywhere-else-in-my-house.

Inside is a magnetic latching case with a ribbon release. Accessories included a heavy duty case with cut foam compartments for the IEMs, the cable and the cleaning tool; two soft velvet bags (one large and one small), a polishing cloth, a cleaning tool, and a quick start guide that tells you how to maintain your new flagship headphones and how not to blow up your ears. The Arthur is very sensitive, so I would heed the listening volume advice.

Arthur

The Arthur is beautiful to look at. I really like the slight lavender hue to the transparent shell, and the red jade like finish of the faceplate is equally lovely. When combined with the Excalibur cable the setup is truly a show-stopper on looks. So much better than a knock-out punch. I believe more options are available for finish, as Empire Ears is the maker of the IEM portion and they do lots of customisation.

When it comes to fit though, I had troubles.

The demo unit only came with three sizes of Spinfits and none of them held firmly enough with the bulk of the Arthur’s shell. It isn’t heavy, but it is distributed enough to require some grippy tips to stay in. Usually when I need grippy tips, my favourites are the Spinfit CP220 biflange tips. I tried these and could get a secure fit and seal, but I had to jam them in so deep that it wasn’t terribly comfortable. I then moved on to my Comply T400 Isolates. I tend to prefer silicone tips for most IEMs as they are more neutral than foam tips. Foam tips generally soften treble and boost midbass, in my experience. There was no way to avoid using foam if I wanted comfort and secure fit and seal with the Arthur. However, my go to Isolate series, and the white foamies that came with the Unique Melody Miracle v2 have too wide bores for the nozzle on the Arthur. This is a significant oversight, in my opinion, as the Comply Isolates are some of the most popular aftermarket tips. They are the tips that are included with most IEMs that include Comply foam tips (generally 300-500 series). Luckily, I’ve got a lot of tips on hand, and my RHA gear came with Comply TSX-200 tips that have a little bit smaller bore. For this review I will use the TSX-200 throughout. Because the 400 series tends to be the standard size for high end universal IEMs, it might be a good idea for the nozzle size to be updated, or to include a few pairs of T200 Comply foam tips. Most folks will be reaching for T300 to T500 series tips for their high end universals. The sheer size of these can be seen in the image below.

For folks buying at this end of the price spectrum though, the best bet is likely going for the custom version of the Arthur. Customs will have none of the fit issues or tip rolling trials that I ran across. No need to toss Arthur in the lake.

Excalibur bespoke cable

Lucky for me, I’ve got the Effect Audio Ares II+ as my standard cable on the Noble Kaiser Encore and know the Noble Kaiser Encore combo with the Ares II+ very well. For useability, the Excalibur is markedly better. It uses the same gauge wire (24 AWG) but uses a more delicate casing that is both more flexible and lighter. When sitting atop the ear it has the feel of a smaller gauge wire. The tops of my ears are sensitive, and I get some irritation after having the Ares II+ on my ears for several hours, but I never experienced this with the Excalibur.

On looks, both the Ares II+ and the Excalibur are stunning, but the Excalibur takes it to a whole new level. The micro-coiling of the Litz wire in the delicate sheathing, the easy twirling of the cable has a visual and tactile evocativeness akin to a diamond dust encrusted silver chain. It positively shimmers, I feel like a hip-hop superstar rocking bling 20 times my paygrade. The cable is a piece of art. It isn’t just a headphone cable, it is jewelry, and a statement piece at that. The warm copper and chunkier presentation of the Ares II+ are not nearly as arresting to the senses—visual or tactile.

For sound, differences are very subtle. I listened in a volume matched comparison, but without having duplicate IEMs for switching the time between switches, due to unattaching and re-attaching cables, makes it so I can’t guarantee the veracity of my hearing. What I hear is just as likely to be bias due to the more refined looks of the Excalibur as real difference—we hear with all our senses, and our eyes can bias us.  With that huuuuuuge caveat, this is what I think I hear: the Excalibur is a bit more open, while also having slightly more immediate mids. Both have open sounds, but the Excalibur may be slightly more so. On Where is My Mind the female backing vocal soars a bit higher.  The Excalibur sounds a tiny bit more precise, while the Ares II+ is a bit smoother. Both are excellent. It took me several back and forth switches and several tracks to really feel out the differences between the cables. Tracks I used:  Pixies – Where is My Mind, Fleetwood Mac – Dreams, Eagles – Hotel California, Rebecca Pidgeon – Spanish Harlem.

Audio quality

Wooo hooo!

The highest praise I can give a headphone, is that when it plays well-recorded music, it sounds like a miniature version of being there. The best headphones sound like live music when fed the best music, not like a recording of music. The Arthurs have this kind of realistic representation. I turned these onto Chesky’s 30^th Anniversary set and just didn’t want to take them out of my ears for four hours—that’s a lot of jazz. I’m not even that into jazz. They were the most impressive headphone I listened to at Headroom, and I listened to HiFiMan’s Shangri-La—I got busy and missed my HE-1 session on accident. Doh!

The sound is light, breathy, full of air—to match a full-size planar magnetic. I compared these against the HiFiMAN HE-1000 V2 at Headroom and found that I actually preferred these. They punched even with the HE-1000 V2, which were my previous favourite current production headphone. They matched them on soundstage and had a midrange that was a bit more fulfilling for me. The meet setting noisy room caveat does apply for the HE-1000 V2 comparison. I didn’t do a Noble Kaiser Encore comparison due to limited time and so much to see—should have done it.

Comparisons

As usual, I did volume matching using an SPL meter at 78dB for universals, and 76dB for the UERR as it sounds louder due to deeper insertion depth. All comparisons were done using the Aune M1S (using firmware 1.3 with the more linear volume option), but not all comparisons were in balanced mode, so some differences may be due to differences in amplification (vs. Unique Melody Miracle v2).

Headphone	Cable	SE/   Balanced	Gain	Volume	~SPL
UERR	Stock 2.5mm	Balanced	Middle	66	76.4
Noble Kaiser Encore	Effect Audio Ares II+	Balanced	Low	59	78.2
Unique Melody Miracle V2	Stock	SE	Middle	66	78.2
Effect Audio Arthur	Excalibur	Balanced	Middle	42	78.2
Effect Audio Arthur	Ares II+	Balanced	Middle	40	78
Effect Audio Arthur	Excalibur	Balanced	Low	53	78.2

Unique Melody Miracle v2

Why – Strawberries less stage depth on the Unique Melody miracle. Sound is bigger and more forward but with less natural staging. Bass is a bit thicker on the Miracle. Mids are forward on the Unique Melody. There is a lot more depth and width in the Arthur. The forwardness of the signature makes the Miracle v2 less realistic sounding. Both have excellent technical capability, but the Arthur is noticeably superior. It should be for nearly 4x the price and more than double the drivers.

Listening to Carlos Heredia – Chachipen-Bulerias. The Arthur’s dimensionality and resolution is stunning. The acoustic guitar, percussive claps and singing are like being there. Tonally, the Miracle v2 is a pretty good match on this track. The whole sound is feels louder, which may be due to a boost in the mids on the Miracle v2 or recession in the mids on the Arthur. The soundstage height is impressive on the v2, but the Arthur wins easily on depth and width. Both are truly excellent headphones that have a very natural timbre.

On Led Zeppelin – D’yer Mak’er bass and mids are smoother and bigger on the Melody v2. As observed on previous tracks the sound is more forward with less stage depth and width at the same SPL. Drums have a bit more hollow sound on the Melody v2. The Arthur has a more distant presentation, with less relative weight, increasing the volume 3 clicks, which is probably a little over a decibel, brings the mids to the same weight as the Miracle v2. Unsurprisingly, this also makes the Arthur win even more on dynamics and stage. I think people will listen to the Arthur a little louder than other headphones, but when they do, boy does it step up. My normal listening level is about 78dB. I think I’d listen to the Arthur at 80dB to bring those mids forward a little bit.

The Arthur soundstage is huge on Amber Rubarth – Tundra. Hot damn.

On Yosi Horikawa – Bubbles (thanks to Warren P. Chi for the recommendation), the sound is much more delicate and nuanced on the Arthur. The Melody v2 is in your face with nuances not quite having the same delicate delineation. The Arthur is more refined. The Melody v2 is thicker sounding, but thick only in relative terms to the Arthur. The Melody v2 is not a thick sounding headphone.

Victor: On sound quality, the Arthur. It is more refined has a huge soundstage and a natural timbre and resolution. The Miracle V2 does firmly show what kind of value can be had for around $1000.

UERR

After listening to the Miracle v2, I switched to the UERR for Yosi Horikawa – Bubbles and the mids sound more like the Arthur. As the UERR is meant to be a reference headphone, I’ll take this to mean that the Arthur mids are more neutral. The UERR is a bit forward of the Arthur, so a little bit of recession in the mids is likely there. The stage is a bit wider and deeper on the Arthur. Height advantage is tight. Let’s check the Pixies – Where is My Mind for ye’ olde height difference.

Height advantage goes to the UERR for the female backing vocal on Where is My Mind. However, the tone is more natural and musical sounding on the Arthur. The UERR doesn’t make me think of live music, it lacks the lush sonic tones and richer pallet. Those mids are a little recessed on the Arthur, though, so I do believe I’m not the only one hitting volume a little. All the mids details like the little male vocals—the quiet where is my mind questioning in the back drop, are still there but quieter. I’d guess the vocal range of mids is one or two dB down from neutral. Over time your ears adjust a little bit, but the drop is definitely there.

On Strawberries by Why? Yoni Wolf’s vocals are silky smooth and emotive. The bass has great kick and the chimes and piano absolutely sparkle and splay on the Arthur. The instrument separation and bass character are phenomenal. There is definitely less width to the stage on the UERR. Resolution is good on both, but hand claps have a little bit of a thin sound to them with the UERR, like the decay has been truncated a bit. The sound is a bit thicker and firmer on the Arthur.

On D’yer Mak’er (Led Zeppelin) the sound stage is much more congested sounding on the UERR. There is less separation between instruments and a more immediate sound. It sounds louder than the Arthur, but the soundstage difference is still apparent. This louder character has me questioning whether my volume matching was perfect, but I’m not sure I can completely eliminate the potential measurement error.

Victor: Conclusions are similar to the Miracle V2. The sound quality edge goes to Arthur, but the UERR are an unquestionable value.

Noble Kaiser Encore

I listened to some of the same tracks, but included a couple curve balls when doing comparisons with the Kaiser Encore. I also used the Encore with the Effect Audio Ares II+ aftermarket cable instead of stock. This means that the total cost for the Kaiser Encore setup is about $2070 instead of $1850 (£1699). First I loaded up some Daft Punk.

On Too Long, there is some delicate high trill electronic effects and subtle static. The Arthur does a better job resolving these special effects. Similarly, after the 7 minute mark in the song—long indeed—there is some grooving bass. The Kaiser Encore has longer decay on the bass with more power. The Arthur is more compact in its bass notes. Sound preference on this bass expression will vary from person to person, but I imagine that more folks will prefer the Encores expression here. Arthur was airier for the whole track.

On Why – Strawberries the Noble has that same strong bass expression we heard on Too Long with longer decay and more presence than the Arthur. The Kaiser Encore also has smoother mids that are more forward. As noted in the UERR and Miracle V2 comparisons, the Arthur has some recession in the mids. However, treble-centric instruments like violins sound better on the Arthur. Violins are smoother and more enjoyable on this track with the Arthur. This track has some prickly violin, and that is still there on both, but the Arthur is a bit nicer.

Bubbles is a fantastic track. The Encore presents the sound in a more lush manner, whilst the Arthur is more precise, neither goes overboard on either side. The Encore is never woolly, and the Arthur is never surgical and sterile, both have wonderful musicality. The Arthur gets the resolution edge here, but the Encore has the edge on soul.

I mentioned earlier that I listened for 4 hours straight to jazz with the Arthur, which is something I just don’t do. Silly Samba by Clark Terry is a standout track on a standout 30^thAnniversary Compilation from Chesky. The Arthur excels technically on this track with more air and faster bass. However, the Encore sounds a bit more organic. It has lusher horns, whilst the Arthur sounds a bit drier.

The Encore’s extra weight in the mids gives extra emotional force to tracks. I find much of the emotion in tracks lies in the mids, so the Encore’s lush brushstrokes really paint a beautiful picture.

Like on other songs, Encore is more aggressive and forceful on Rage Against the Machine – Take the Power Back. Drums have more kick and push more air. The mids have fuller body and lusher dynamics. The Arthur is precise with calculated crunchy guitars and sharp focus. Because of the recession in Arthur’s mids, the mids on the Encore sound clearer.

Verdict: This is very tight. The Arthur has greater technical capabilities (bigger soundstage, better detail resolution), but it costs almost double what the Encore does. It has a bigger soundstage and better resolution. However, it lacks the emotional weight that the Encore carries and the raw power in the lows and low mids. The Arthur can rock, but not like the Encore rocks. On tracks that require complex spatial resolution and precise instrumentation, the Arthur wins, but this isn’t a huge amount of my more rock-oriented library. Signature wise, I think I narrowly prefer the Encore, but it wouldn’t be on all tracks and I miss the soundstage and perfect clarity and resolution of the Arthur already. Winner, by a hair: Noble Kaiser Encore for better value and a sound signature that fits more of my music.

Specifications

Much like with the Noble Kaiser Encore, Empire Ears and Effect Audio aren’t providing a whole lot of information. There is no frequency response curve, no data on sensitivity, and a throwaway 20hz to 20Khz frequency response range given. I tested the frequency response with tones and I can hear 10hz and 23Khz with the Arthur. It is not lacking in any way in extension on either end of the spectrum.

Specifications
Price	$3799
Drivers	14 drivers per ear (2 low, 6 mid, 6 high)
Crossover	8 way passive crossover
Frequency Response	20hz to 20Khz
Noise Isolation	28dB ± 2dB

Conclusions

The Effect Audio Arthur is a special piece of kit. I found it competed with the full-size open ear HiFiMAN HE-1000 V2, which is quite a feat. I haven’t heard a more technically competent IEM than the Arthur. It’s soundstage is spectacular with jaw-dropping width and depth. It has precise imaging and exceptional resolution. The accompanying Excalibur cable is a work of art well-executed by Effect Audio and premium in every way. The Silver-Gold Litz wire oozes luxury with glittering facade, and presence when it coils coils round the top of your ear akin to the lightness of a silken. The Arthur is a statement piece in every way. The Excalibur cable makes you feel like rich person, even if you are of more modest means.

Whether the Arthur is your ideal headphone likely depends more on the type of music you listen to. If you are into Jazz and Classical, I think the Arthur will be nearly perfect. If you listen to more rock, like myself, you may find that you want a bit more emotional investment in the mids and lusher fuller bass character like that found on the Noble Kaiser Encore. I haven’t heard better for soundstage in any IEM than what the Arthur accomplishes. It is truly astounding.

 

[size=24.57px]Acknowledgment[/size]

Thanks @BangkokKid, otherwise known as Brannon Mason, for sending this review unit to me in exchange for my honest opinion. Thanks @FullCircle, otherwise known as Dr. John Moulton or the Wizard, for making this piece of art and all the other magic you do.

This review was originally posted here.

List price: $1850 (£1699)

Introduction

I’ve been watching Noble for years, mostly from the sideline, silently admiring the many creations of the Wizard in the Wizard Returns thread on HeadFi. I haven’t read every single page, but I’ve read a lot. The Noble crew mix it up nicely in the thread with a blend of honesty, courtesy, some California cool, and swagger. The many miscreants and mobile audio enthusiasts mixing it up there tell jokes and generally create a fun environment. It is one of the most interesting corners on HeadFi and part of what attracted me to the brand before I ever heard their gear.

I first heard a Noble IEM at Canjam London 2015. Brannan was manning the stand single-mannedly, as he often does. He was courteous, but had a silent confidence that made him seem a bit beyond me. So I didn’t try to make conversation—I was intimidated. I just asked to listen to the Noble 6 and the Noble Savant. The 6 didn’t do it for me—too much bass. That Savant was a black shell-o-goodness (RIP, Savant; long live the Sage). It was balanced, musical, and lovely, and this was before the new cases that make the Noble line look even more premium and poised to disown you of your coffers.

A couple months post Canjam, I started my reviewing journey, over the past year and ½ I’ve averaged 2 reviews a month while working full time and having a family life. Never think that hobbyist reviewers like myself aren’t working hard. I hoped that reviewing would give me the opportunity to hear exotic pieces of gear I’d otherwise not have the chance to hear outside of meets—a pretty limited place to audition due to time constraints and noise levels. I put in the work, joining tours, contacting manufacturers, making friends, writing reviews.

A year after my first Canjam I returned to Canjam London 2016 with business cards and tried to project confidence and, I dare say, some of that Noble thread swagger. I didn’t have it when I was at the Noble stand. Brannan is still intimidating in person. He helped me with auditions of the Kaiser 10 and the Katana. I told him that a cross between the two would be just about perfect—something less lush than the Kaiser 10 and less razor sharp than the Katana (very fittingly named). I gave him a business card, followed up, and after some patient waiting, the Noble Kaiser Encore arrived at my door over here in old blighty. Brannan never told me what he would send me to review, but I knew that something new was coming in the beginning of September. It was a very pleasant surprise to see the newly anointed King.

I’m so excited to review a headphone that I think was designed specifically with my tastes in mind (though not specifically for me, of course), a magical crossbreeding of two majestic beasts, the Kaiser 10 and the Katana. The pedigree is plenty apparent. It’s more magical than a Liger and more badass than a Pegasus. Roar and soar.

Napoleon Dynamite​	Pegasus don’t give a…​

Or for a reality based imaging…

Noble Kaiser 10 Aluminum Universal​	Noble Katana​

I think it is valuable for readers to know as much about their reviewers as possible, so in the interest of full disclosure check out my about me (in the linkie).

Form & Function

The Noble Kaiser Encore comes inside two boxes, a sturdy outer box with the Noble emblem on top and a lovely inner box with black fine textured paper. Before I opened the box, I thought I was reviewing the Sage. I had a good feeling when I saw the intriguing centrally textured black grey swirls with deep glossy black embossed Noble logo and text.

The Noble Kaiser Encore is a beautifully sculpted IEM. It is formed through the joining of two precisely CNC machined, anodized aluminum halves. The former edition had a rocket red half and a bright silver half. The Encore is more muted, dappled in blue-grey and a softer silver tone than the previous generation Kaiser 10.

The sharp contoured edges decisively sweep from the fascia toward the nozzle. Those lines meet in the imprinted logo in the centre of the fascia giving a muted starburst effect. The headphones look absolutely lovely.



 
The headphones come with a ton of accessories crammed into the Pelican 1010 case. There are four varieties of ear tips in three sizes and I found them all to work very well. I preferred the ‘blue’ tips sonically, but found that I had the most firm and consistent fit was with the foam tips. The foam tips are the best foam tips I’ve encountered. They grip extremely well in the warmth of your ear and the smooth outer shell seems easier to keep from getting grubby. There was little difference sonically between the different tips, but I’m sure that without going to outside tips, you’ll find a tip that you like in the package. I tried my Spinfits—normally my go to tip—and went back to the Noble ‘blue’ silicones tips.



 
Functionally, there are a couple ‘rough edges’ to note. The anodized surface is not as hard as the edges of the design. The edges are strong, so you’ll want to keep the earpieces from rubbing against each-other or other metal. These headphones require more careful handling than a pair of custom Encores would need. The rewards for this quirk of the aluminum shell and anodized finish is the ability to try the headphones, buy and walk out in the same day; and the ability to share them. I can tell you, it is an absolute joy to watch people’s eyes light up when they hear their music in a whole new way. It is one of the greatest joys of the hobby. It is the reason why local meets with your friends like the upcoming UK HeadFi Meet in Milton Keynes are so much fun. I hope to be sharing the Kaiser Encores for a long time into the future.

I also found that the pinholes on the IEMs are on the tighter side. Noble recommends avoiding switching cables, as this can result in stretching of the sockets. There are a lot of 2-pin manufacturers, and there is a lot of variance in tolerance control. It isn’t likely that any one headphone will have a perfectly snug fit with all cables, so this problem is far from unique to Noble. I recommend being careful and not trying to force a cable to fit that is resistant to insertion. Be gentle when attaching the cable to the shell, don’t force something that doesn’t fit right as you may loosen the pinholes. Unless you can test out a bunch of cables on a shop unit, resist the temptation to partner your Noble IEMs with a room laden with exotic cables.

Audio Quality

 
The Encore is special. They are absolute speed and detail monsters. They aren't as warm as the K10UA as some have observed and from memory they don't have the massive soundstage of the Katana (don't have either on hand, so memory may be biased). Vibro Labs coined a phrase to describe their new MAYA flagship: ideal neutral. I think that is actually what is happening here. These have a nice natural timbre with a superbly layered and lifelike presentation. They have a little extra body in the mids and a bit extra treble energy and shimmer. The extra mid body gives these soul. The treble shimmers and sparkles but doesn’t spike. There is great focus and air, but no harshness. Treble notes linger exactly as they should. Light percussion strikes are light, sustained notes sustain, everything sounds startlingly realistic. Bass is full and lustrous. On 9Bach – Llywnog and Led Zeppelin – D’yer Ma’ker the bass guitar licks are satisfyingly groovy with perfect attack and decay—never dry, never woolly. I just love the tight little hits. Perfect attack and decay on that bass note. I loved them so much I had to rip a friend away from his book to share. He didn’t mind one bit. I had never used D’yer Ma’ker as a test track, but when the Encore ripped out such good bass guitar licks I had to add it to my playlist immediately. Oh, that space around the drum hit. Yes. On Why – Strawberries, the bass drops deep while still nailing the xylophone percussion elements and the high synth, piano and chimes. The complex arrangement of this track is flawlessly portrayed. Listening to Camera Obscura was just achingly good, Lloyd, I'm not ready to be heartbroken—I hope these get to stay around for a bit.

There are other in-ears with bigger soundstage from oBravo, but these are no slouch at all in that element, cost less, have a more customizable sound (aftermarket cables, non-comply tips), and aren't Halloween costume garish hangin' out of your ears. The in-ears from oBravo are nice, but why must I be made to look like Frankenstein’s monster?



One really impressive thing for me about the soundstage was that it has an arc to it. It's like being in the front row, with the concert speakers hanging with just a little bit of curvature to their sound plane. It's a live kind of experience. Many IEMs put you in the center of the stage, I feel more like I'm just at the edge of it. Soon I'll be leaping off and surfing back. Catch me. I need my head for listening to the Encore's some more.

Listening to the Animals as Leaders album, Joy of Motion on these is bliss. Not a single transient smeared, not a single detail missed. Micro micro micro detailed. They are also revealing of the reduced dynamic range of the track, as instruments don’t have a ton of depth in the stage. The depth in the sound is clearly artificial in its creation, much in the way that electronic music creates stage depth when there is no stage. This does not take away from the accomplishment of the Kaiser Encore, as even within this limited stage on the track there are a ton of elements, and the Encore misses none of them and portrays them all with absolute clarity.

They are definitely a step up from my UERR, the big question is always whether the step up is worth it to you? The resolution is higher on the Encore, more defined edges, more precise location. I've also found that I like them more with the Effect Audio Ares II+. There can be some treble fatigue for me with the stock cable, but the big copper cable from Effect Audio smooths the peaks a little. No detail lost, just eliminating some fatigue. The only problem with the Effect Audio Ares II+ is its sheer mass, it feels heavy on the ear and my sensitive ear skin gets irritated after a while wearing it.

I only had a brief comparison between the Katana and the old Noble K10UA and I thought the Katana was more airy and more precise, but a bit sharp--like it's name. The Noble K10UA was full and lovely, with robust body. I preferred it. The Encore to me has a bit of both, kind of a perfect in between sandwich of awesome. The Encore is the muffaleta of headphones, full and delicious with lots of tasty detail and complexity, but without the gut-busting heaviness. Pass the olive and carrot salad. Yum.

Matchability

The Noble Encore has low impedance in its curve. I don’t know what impedance the bass is at, but I know that when I play it out of the RHA DACAMP L1 balanced output with an adapter, the sound gets messed up and wrong. It lacks soul and dynamism. It is bloody wrong. The Encore also hisses on many sources. It hisses on the DX50, the LH Labs GO2A, the HiFiMAN SuperMini, the HiFiMAN MegaMini, the Echobox Explorer, and my phone. It doesn’t hiss on the Aune M1S either in balanced or single-ended; the iFi Micro iDSD Black Label, and the Cayin i5 passed with flying colours too. I am more sensitive to hiss than some others, so you may not have the experience that I have had. Or you could just get a player known to not cause hiss with very sensitive IEMs like the Noble Encore.

Crap, Damien Rice just came on. Grown-ass man tears a flowin’.​

Headphone Comparisons

Because I compare a lot of intersections of gear, I’ve decided that it is about time I keep a volume matching database. As the Aune M1S is still my best sounding player, I have used it for comparisons. First, a little bit about methodology:

1. I’ve got an SPL meter, I’ve got a DIY coupler,
2. I’ve got a white noise track from Ayre Acoustics, when I combine these I get volume matching,
3. I press the IEM onto my coupler firmly,
4. I generally use foam for measurement and silicone for listening (foam seals better on the coupler),
5. For the UERR I find that they sound louder than universals if I use matched volume, so I’ve dropped the volume 2dB on the UERR—it seems to work.
6. I don’t use pure tones for volume matching because that doesn’t make any sense.

 

We already know from frequency charts that headphones don’t have the same response at different frequency values, using noise eliminates potential biased matching due to frequency response mismatches between headphones. I use white noise because it is has equal intensity at all frequencies. Listening to white noise will also tell you if your headphone isn’t neutral, the noise definitely sounds different with a very coloured headphone like the RHA CL1 than it does with a neutral IEM like the UERR or mostly neutral IEM like the Noble Encore. For the base comparison I used only stock cables.

Headphone	Cable	SE/Balanced	Gain	Volume	SPL
UERR	Stock	SE	Middle	78	76.2
UERR	Stock 2.5mm Balanced	Balanced	Middle	66	76.4
Noble Encore	Stock	SE	Low	79	78
Noble Encore	Effect Audio Ares II+, with SE adaptor	SE	Low	75	78.2
Noble Encore	Effect Audio Ares II+	Balanced	Low	59	78.2
Unique Melody Miracle	Stock	SE	Low	81	78
Unique Melody Miracle	Stock	SE	Middle	66	78.2

In my UERR review, I did some comparisons against the CL1 and the Noble Encore. For this review, the CL1 has been omitted as it just wasn’t competitive, and new tracks used for comparing the headphones. For this comparison, I’ve picked out Why – Strawberries for bass and treble presentation and extension, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra performing Lou Harrison’s Concerto for Organ with Percussion Orchestra Allegro for loads of percussive complexity, Clark Terry – Silly Samba for the sweet binaural Jazz stage and good variety of instruments, and Led Zeppelin – D’yer Ma’ker—you know why. Picking out more tracks for quick comparison is just too time consuming.

UERR

The bass on Dy’er Ma’ker is taut and well-defined on the UERR and the Encore with a little bit more decay on the Encore giving a bit more natural presentation. The treble is more satisfying on the Encore with nicer sounding cymbals and hi-hat. Instrument separation is a bit better and the sound just has a more whole feel to it. The overall sound is a bit more natural on the Encore, but both of these do a fantastic job with D'yer Ma'ker.

The mids on the Encore are airier than the UERR, which I found really helped on Silly Samba’s horns. Both the UERR and the Encore do an excellent job with the piano and chimes in the treble of Strawberries. There treble is a bit faster and more delicate on the Encore. Both have fantastic layering. Piano has a little more body on the UERR.

The depth of stage on the UERR is a little greater, but the Encore has a more natural feel to the instrumentation. I think I prefer both the Miracle and the Encore on presentation of the percussion orchestra. Both keep up with the speed of the percussive elements and maintain excellent imaging. The UERR has a little bit larger image, but the Encore has a bit more lifelike image. I tested increasing the volume on the UERR a little bit, and it still had the a bit deeper presentation. The Encore dealt with a greater concentration of instruments slightly better with more focused sound.

Verdict: Noble Kaiser Encore. More airy mids, more pleasing bass decay, and the delicacy of the treble really do it for me. It is worth noting that the UERR cost about 40% less than the Encore. An individual’s willingness to pay for the marginal, but imminently noticeable differences in performance will vary by the individual.

Unique Melody Miracle

A funny and surprising thing happened when I was testing the Unique Melody Miracle V2. I tried it on low gain on the Aune M1S and found that overall the Miracle V2 came across as laconic with a biit of a veiled effect. In comparison to the Encore it was diffuse in the bass (though still extending well), smooth and soft in the treble while retaining some good sparkle on Strawberries and Silly Samba, with smooth mids. The sound never challenged me, it was relaxing, but in need of some energy. On D'yer Ma'ker the bass edges, the defining characteristic of the song were soft and vocals sounded tame.

On the percussion orchestra piece, the race was tighter between the two IEMs. Both did an excellent job of depicting many simultaneous instruments in space with excellent separation and definition on the percussion orchestra and Silly Samba. Neither lose the mix of instruments and placements at all. You can definitely track every instrument. The Encore had a more focused attack and decay in the bass, which I preferred.

The Encore was airy with excellent extension in both the bass and treble. Bass body was full, not thick, with appropriate weight in the deep bass notes of Strawberries. D'yer Ma'ker’s bass guitar sounded real and lifelike. The soft edges of the Miracle gave way to firm well rounded bass with perfectly defined attack and decay on the Encore. D'yer Ma'ker sounds better on the Encore than anything else I’ve tried.

Now something special happened when I upped the gain on the M1S for the Unique Melody Miracle, it filled out and lost some of the softness that I observed, there was more energy, but it remained a smooth and easy-going signature. The Miracle V2 is great for long fatigueless listening sessions. The Miracle v2 isn’t as focused as the Encore, and doesn’t have as much stage depth, but it is a very satisfying listen. When adequately amped, the Miracle v2 is outputting firm bass with a bit more quantity than the Encore, but it isn’t outputting with the same quality. Bass texture, attack and decay are all more accurate to my ears. The Encore wins on depth and height, and has a slight edge (could be expectation bias) on width. The depth and height advantages are definite.

The Miracle V2 has a bit better isolation due to it’s pseudo-custom shell shape. I found that this shape also helped me with fit.  The bores on the Kaiser Encore are protected with a thin plastic around the edges. This should help keep the headphones operating at peak form for longer with lower maintenance. The Miracle v2 has two large offset bores that are difficult to keep clean. I would prefer that these have a sonically transparent screen over them. Over time the Noble tips get slippery and the insertion depth can make them slide a little bit, affecting the bass quantity. My advice is to clean the tips using alcohol wipes. When I did this the tips regained their nice firm grip. The plastic shell of the V2 is more pocketable as they won’t scratch themselves or other items. I find I like to put my IEMs in my blazer or jacket pocket when I’m getting on or off transit or when someone wants to talk to me, so pocketability is a good feature.

Verdict: Noble Kaiser Encore, due to better technical capabilities in space, and more refined bass. If sound is your main thing, then you can’t do much better than the Kaiser Encore. On aesthetics, the Kaiser Encore wins easily. On ergonomics, the Miracle v2 is a bit better. The Miracle v2 will be a better value for many.

The Spoils

To the victor go the spoils. In this little armatures race, the Noble Encore takes top place, but those looking for a better ‘value’ at the top end may wish to consider either of the competitors in this mini-shootout. In the end, the victor here is me, as I’ve gotten to spend so much quality time with these wonderful headphones.

Cable Musings

The Noble cable is a good one, but whilst reviewing the ENCORE I won an Effect Audio Ares II+ IEM cable. If the Noble has one weakness it is that the treble can become fatiguing on some tracks. In my experience, the Ares II+ helped with this. The Effect Audio Ares II+ is also a balanced cable, and while the Encore doesn’t need extra power, I find that the Aune M1S balanced out has better technical performance than the single-ended output. The Kaiser Encore is fully capable of showing this subtle difference between the two outputs.

My daily driver set-up is as follows:

Aune M1S (balanced) — Effect Audio Ares II+ — Noble Kaiser Encore

Specifications

All Noble IEMs on official Noble Audio sites provide little information about the measured characteristics about their IEMs. I can tell from listening that the Kaiser Encore is very sensitive, and it does hiss on lesser pieces of gear. I would also guess that the impedance is very low. I’ve been told under 30, but I’d guess well under 30 for the Encore. I’ll not hazard my guess and I haven’t measured.

I’m lucky to have a superior DAP in the Aune M1S that doesn’t hiss one bit. I have noted that audible distortion occurs on a 4.4Ω but not at 2.2Ω. The rule of eight (your output impedance should be 1/8^th your headphones impedance) likely gives us some clues as to what the impedance is on the Kaiser Encore, but we don’t have a specific value. All I can advise is you want your output impedance below 1Ω, as I’ve had hiss on 1Ω output impedances.

Specifications
Price	$1850 (£1699)
Drivers	10 BA, configuration unknown
Shell	Anodized CNC-machined aluminum
Accessories	Cleaning tool, Noble Wizard sticker, Pelican 1010, Noble branded gear bands, ‘Blue’ silicone tips (S/M/L), ‘Red’ silicone tips (S/M/L), coreless foam tips (S/M/L), biflange silicone tips (S/M/L), stainless steel tip holder, Noble warranty card, velvet pouch
Warranty	2 years

Conclusions

The Noble Kaiser Encore is simply the best in-ear headphone I have had the privilege of listening to. It has excellent extension in the bass and treble with natural bass decay and fast and realistic treble. The soundstage is big with beautiful instrument placement. The mids are airy, but not arid. The whole sound is natural and evocative of live music, not recorded music. I love these headphones and I think you will too.

The Noble Kaiser Encore Universal IEMs are not without limitations. The metal edges can be a hazard. This can be solved by getting one of the Wizard’s brilliantly beautiful custom designs, but you won’t be able to share the sound with your incredulous non-audiophie buddies. You could also get a Wizard Encore, which you could share. Treble can cause fatigue during long listening sessions with the stock cable if you are sensitive to this, which I am. The Kaiser Encore hisses with many sources. Whilst it can most certainly sound excellent out of an iPhone, you’ll want a really clean source to avoid hiss. The biggest negative for many will be price.

For many, $1850 (£1699) will be out of their reach or considered exhorbitant, and there are options that give you 80 to 90% of the Noble Kaiser Encore’s performance for around $1000, but I think you will know the difference once you’ve compared. I think they are worth it. It is up to each individual buyer to decide what they are willing to pay for the ever diminishing returns at the top of the price scale. There are certainly more expensive headphones than the Kaiser Encore, and if you are hunting for an IEM in this range, you would be doing yourself a great disservice if you didn’t try the Kaiser Encore before buying something in this price range and above.
 

 

[size=24.57px]Acknowledgment  [/size]

Thanks iFi for lending me this review unit in exchange for my honest opinion. It was a good few weeks.

This review was originally posted on audioprimate.blog.

Introduction

This is my fifth review of a piece of iFi gear. I’ve previously reviewed the Micro iUSB3.0 (own it), the Micro iDAC2, the Micro iDSD Black Label and the iPurifier2 (extreme value for money and good performance) (links are to the reviews). I’ve also had brief listens to the Micro iDSD and the Micro iCAN, so I feel like I’ve got a good idea of what iFi has to offer now, and it’s generally good, though only the Micro iDSD Black Label has reached anywhere near the wow factor of the first product I reviewed, the Micro iUSB3.0. That thing is audio voodoo and I don't practice Santeria.

I think it is appropriate that reviews begin with an introduction to the author. While we who take up the click-clack board in front of the insomniac blue light glow of the monitor are not generally great writers of fiction or journalistic endeavours, our perspective is often as important. While our bias won’t shape the world like the bias of a talking head, a reviewer’s bias can lead to one miscalculating the value of expensive purchases. So make sure to check out my bio before reading on.

Useability: Form & Function

The iCAN SE comes in the same 2 ½ pack of cards size as the rest of the iFi Micro product line. This consists of a uniquely contoured aluminum chassis, some rubber stick on feet, and cables coming out the back and the front. The inputs on the back include a 3.5mm input and a pair of RCA jacks, all you need for some ear-blastin’ fun. The iPower adaptor feeds into the back of the amp, which I like much more than the front orientation on the iDAC2. On the front of the amp we have an iFi standard aluminum volume pot, the aforementioned switches for XBass and 3D HolographicSound, and a 6.3mm headphone jack. On the review unit that I received the switches weren’t perfectly flush with the front face of the case, one faced slightly down and the other slightly up. This cosmetic blemish had no effect on performance.

The box includes the following:

1. iPower 15w
2. Generic 3.5mm to 3.5mm flat cable
3. Generic RCA to RCA cable
4. The Micro iCAN SE
5. 4 clear rubber feet (thou shalt not countest 3…, and 5 is right out)

 

 
The Micro series has two camps on portability, units requiring external power that aren’t really portable in the way I think of portable; and units that don’t need a wall wart that are on the big edge of portable. The iCAN SE falls into the former category for me. It needs the big wall wart and either an RCA cable or a 3.5mm to 3.5mm (or RCA) cable, which makes it something you can move about, but that you’ll most likely just keep at home. The iDAC2 and the Micro iDSD are truly portable, the iCAN SE is not, in my opinion.

The gain is adjusted by some switches on the bottom. I found the switches to be clearly explained and the effect of the switches noticeable, but not always positive. With the HD600, 24db gain caused loud buzzing with the volume pot at zero. Even when driving the HE6, I didn’t switch the gain past 12db as it caused degradation of the sound. These have power to spare, that 24db gain is totally unnecessary. On more sensitive headphones and IEMs, I don’t think that the gain should be turned up. I heard buzzing and there was very little play in the volume pot. The volume pot has buttery smooth volume control; cheers, iFi, on a very well-selected component. The Heron 5’s stepped attenuator is not nearly as smooth with volume going in little leaps.

This is where I would normally insert a table of all the sexy pictures, but “my dog at my homework.” Whilst sorting pictures of surfing and climbing the Cheese Ring with Trekasaurus on a recent visit to Cornwall and Devon I didn’t realise that I hadn’t already transferred my pictures of the iCAN SE to my computer and so deleted them from my memory card. This means I’ve only got one of my own pictures…from another review…heavily cropped…quite blurry—ick.

However, life is about taking the lemons you got and making sweet sweet lemonade. There are a few other people who’ve reviewed the iCAN SE on HeadFi, so the pictures below function as citations to these other reviews. It’s good to read a variety of perspectives.

From @thatonenoob’s excellent comparative review of iCAN and iCAN SE (my favourite of the current reviews)

Ostewart’s very positive review	Dadracer’s quick impressions	More Ostewart, that guy takes great pictures.

Audio quality

I should start with a caveat to this section. At the same time that I got the iCAN SE to review, I also had the Airist Audio Heron 5 on loan ($1000 desktop amp), which I loved so much that I bought it. The iCAN SE is something beautiful, but the Heron 5 just wanted to destroy it.



The ample shadow of the Heron 5 probably biased me a little against the iCAN SE. I enjoyed the iCAN SE and think it is good for $299, but it didn’t make me look at my sagging empty wallet and ask “what happens to a dream deferred?”

I tested the iCAN SE with some upper echelon headphones, and my humble HD600. Headphones tested during this review included the following: HD600 (tights/panty-hose mod), HD800 (modded and improved), HE6 (grills removed), the AKG K1000, and the ERIB-2a. I did comparisons between the iCAN SE and the Heron 5 diligently, and with a buddy.

I found the iCAN SE to have a good soundstage that left me wanting more without engaging the 3D switch, my preferred sound was basically always with the 3D switch on. I found that I basically always wanted XBass and 3D switched on. It appeared to me that how 3D works is by boosting parts of the treble to make the sound more airy, but I don’t have the tools to measure this; it would be nice if someone who does, like Tyll Herstens had a go with these. I think that XBass works in a similar way, it boosts a few selected frequencies. I think iFi did well on their targeted ranges.

Since the Heron 5 and the iCAN SE arrived on the same day, I basically went back and forth between the two amps at the beginning. When using the same headphone this can even be done with some crude volume matching. I did volume matching at ~80db using white noise when I compared with the HE6, and ran both out of the Chord Mojo fed from my Micro iUSB3.0 with a LH Labs Lightspeed 1 Micro USB cable. This means that each amp was being fed about as good material as was possible. Other setups won’t reach the level of clarity or soundstage you get with this combo.

My initial listening with the iCAN SE was with the HD600 (without volume matching), which did not need any gain. In fact, applying gain was detrimental to the sound. At 0db gain the sound was clear and well-textured, 12db gain lost some clarity, and 24db introduced buzzing at low volumes. The 24db gain wasn’t necessary on the HE6 or the K1000, so I’m not sure it even needs to be a feature unless you just like to explode your ears into Nickelodeon slime. There is no question that the amp has lots of power. I found that the Heron 5 was more transparent, balanced, and had a larger more holographic soundstage, but it should for $700 more MSRP. The iCAN SE had more forward vocals that I think many people will enjoy, as I quite enjoyed them.

On one of my favourite test tracks, Roger Waters – Late Home Tonight, Part I, I can hear a cow about 25 seconds into the mix with the Heron 5, I don’t notice it with the iCAN SE. The song has a domestic scene unfolding in Tripoli with transitions between rooms and the street. These transitions are less distinct on the iCAN SE and I can’t pick out the placement of subtle details anywhere near as well. After listening to the Heron 5 the sound of the iCAN SE isn’t as revealing. The iCAN SE was more forgiving of poorer source material, though, like The Darkness.

Using the iCAN SE, the HE6 needed 12db gain to sound natural. The HE6 sounded muffled without it. The iCAN SE has an energetic signature with the HE6 and is forgiving of source material. Perla Batalla – Bird on a Wire from the I’m Your Man Official Movie Soundtrack exhibits some recorded hiss on the Heron 5, but not on the iCAN SE. Transitioning to Why – Strawberries the soundstage feels a bit flat on the iCAN SE, instruments share space rather than having their own designated position in the mix.

City of the Sun – To the Sun and All the Places in Between sounds much better on the Heron 5. The iCAN SE doesn’t have nearly as deep an image or as refined a sound. It does do the ethereal backing vocals on this track beautifully. The iCAN SE will drive the HE6 to earbleeding volumes. It is all I want for volume at a bit past noon on the volume pot. Switching to the AKG K1000, the volume pot is jacked to 2/3 on the same 12db gain. The iCAN SE gives the K1000 all the power it needs. The HD800 sounds best on this track. It has the best soundstage, the most precise crisp notes, and the ethereal backing vocals absolutely soar. At this point I started doing more experimentation with the switches. The 3D switch made the sound more engaging, and was consistently an improvement. It also improved soundstage depth. Another listener observed that the sound was ‘dull’ without the 3D switch. I didn’t think it was dull (with the HD800, at least), but it was much more interesting with it engaged. XBass to one dot was an improvement in the sound, especially on drum strikes. XBass at three dots was overbearing and unpleasant to me with the HD800, specifically (ERIB-2a liked three dots). I like lean muscular bass—Brad Pitt bass, not lasagne eating Garfield on the couch bass (Trekasaurus challenged me to work lasagne into a review, victory is mine). Don’t worry, the iCAN SE isn’t flabby like Garfield, and it’s smarter than Odie or John Arbuckle. It also has some punch like our dag slinging caravan selling friend in Snatch.

Brad:

Garfield:

I only had a short amount of time with the HE6/K1000/HD800 pantheon of headphones, but I did have a lot of time with one of my favourite IEMs, the oBravo ERIB-2a (a polarizing IEM, listen before buying). The ERIB-2a’s notable characteristics are an open-headphone expansive soundstage, well defined beautiful mids, excellent instrument placement, with nice treble sparkle, but a bit bass shy. The bass has good quality (texture, decay, etc…) but is low in quantity. My initial listening with the iCAN SE was with the LH Labs Geek Out V2. It took about 52% on the volume knob with 0db gain to power the ERIB-2a to where I like them. I cycled through switch settings more when doing this listening session.

With no switches engaged, the sound is a touch bass light. The soundstage has good width, but is a bit flat. The treble sounds a touch dull. Flipping the 3D switch to one dot makes the sound a bit brighter. Flipping the switch to three dots makes the sound airier with better depth and height and crisper treble. Three dots is a big improvement, I really enjoyed the amp with full 3D engaged. One dot on the bass gives a slight increase in drum presence. Three dots makes the ERIB-2a sound more like I want them to sound, the ERIB-2a would definitely be described as bass shy and need a good pairing. On City of the Sun – Brothers the iCAN SE sounds a bit dull without the switches flipped.

I did further comparisons with some stuff that is more in the price range of the iCAN SE. Compared to the LH Labs Geek Out 1000, the iCAN SE has better soundstage depth and clarity. It sounds pretty darn good. I like both of these amps, but the iCAN SE is better. Listening to the not great recording of The Darkness – Black Shuck, the guitars sound brittle on both amps (again, not a great recording, not the fault of the amps), but better on the iCAN SE. Here I note that 3D enhances width more than depth, and that the central image benefits most from the depth increase. When listening to The Beats, Man – Yummmmm, I need to have the switches engaged. The sound feels a bit dull without them, and truly lovely with them. The sound without the switches is almost like the music has been turned down. So I tested turning the volume up and it confirms this observation. I think that the switches selectively raise the volume of some frequencies. iFi has generally done a very good job placing these boosts.

I also preferred the iBasso DX50 without the iCAN SE to the DX50 feeding the iCAN SE, regardless of iCAN SE settings when listening to the ERIB-2a, but I think the ERIB-2a had some synergy going with the DX50 that I didn’t get on other sources.

Specifications

The folks at iFi Audio do a fantastic job describing their tech, and the tech description always sounds like foreign governments will be contracting them for their latest espionage endeavours. With all their stealth technology, I think they might actually be ninjas.

For the full skinny on the fat amplification power of the iFi Micro iCAN SE, you can check out iFi’s website—they have better graphics than me anyway. Here’s what iFi has to say, in brief:

The iCAN – Special Edition is a ‘specially-tuned’ version of the top-selling micro iCAN. Sonically, it boasts Class A, DirectDrive® and TubeState®. Features wise, it features a newly-refined XBass®, 3D Holographic® for headphones and 0dB, 12dB and 24dB Gain adjustment. Powered by the all-new iPower (15V), the special Turbo headamp® circuit pumps out 4,000mW to drive even the most demanding of headphones.

So let’s go over the differences:

1. iCAN SE has ten times the wattage of the original iCAN (4000mW versus 400mW)
2. The iCAN SE has cleaner power due to active noise cancellation on the 15w iPower that comes with the iCAN SE. The iPower tech is based on some French fighter jet technology designed to cancel out the sound of a jet engine. What chance does noisy wall power have?
3. The 3D HolographicSound® feature has been tweaked to not just expand the soundstage width, but also give a more ‘frontal location’. The claim is that this reduces fatigue in listening.
4. Class A tubestate: the sound is meant to emulate the sound of tubes in a solid state amp

Some elements are shared:

1. DirectDrive®: there are no output coupling capacitors in the signal path, and output impedance is 0.1 ohms.
2. XBass: a switch to boost normal bass headphones and bass shy headphones
3. Class A amplification for always on pure amplification

Specifications
Gain	0, 12, and 24 dB
Signal to noise ratio	>123dB(A)
Total harmonic distortion	<0.003%(400mV/150R)
Frequency response	0.5Hz to 500KHz(-3dB)
Output impedance
Output power	>4000mW(16Ω)
Output voltage	>10V (>600Ω)
Input voltage	AC 100 – 240V, 50/60Hz

Conclusions

I have mixed feelings about the iCAN SE. The price is excellent, and the performance is pretty good for a semi-portable amp with 4w of power. At its best it has a good soundstage with more width than depth. It is fairly clear and has a good sound. It has shedloads of power (two-sheds full at least) Given the great power of the iCAN SE, and there can be no doubt of that, I expected the top-of-the-line headphones to sing a bit more, but I was left in search of more blackbirds.

Yes, you can drive an HE6 or a K1000 with this (and probably the Abyss and LCD4), but if you are printing money to buy those headphones, you probably want to hear them at their best and probably have heard them at or near their best. I can’t imagine using my top-tier power hungry full-size cans while traveling, unless I had an amp that made them sing enough to make me feel like I couldn’t part with them. The iCAN SE is not that amp for me. It is an excellent amp for $299, but it is probably unreasonable to expect it to make the rare beasts above sound their best.

It’s a good amp. The XBass is a very nice feature for helping with slightly bass light headphones like the HD600. Whilst 3D sounded good, I didn’t like that I felt the need to have it on no matter what.

For me, the amp wasn’t at its best driving demanding headphones in spite of its copious amounts of power. This leaves the amp being judged on what it does with headphones that don’t need 4000mW of juice. While it outperforms my LH Labs Geek Out 1000 with less demanding headphones and not by a little bit, it didn’t outperform the DX50 for me on the ERIB-2a (which likes a lot of power).
 

 

List price: £399.00 ($499)

Acknowledgment

Thanks @RegularIan (formerly known as @RHA Iain) and Niketa of @RHA Team for sponsoring this wonderful tour and giving me the honour of overseeing and organizing the UK leg. Thanks to all the people on the tour before me for putting in such wonderful performances. I was provided the DACAMP L1 as a sample at the end of the tour. This review was originally published here. 

Introduction

I first met Iain, formerly of RHA, at the Cambridge UK HeadFi meet. Iain joined us for a meetup and listening session in the TraveLodge and joined us at a restaurant for beer and vittles, in addition to giving us a listen to the pre-production RHA T20 during the meet. That pre-production RHA T20 was really piercing in certain parts of the treble—I think our feedback from the meet helped make the RHA T20 more approachable. You’re very welcome world.

RHA is the acronym for Reid Heath Audio, a Scottish company out of Glasgow that has been producing headphones since roundabout 2012. The headphones are designed in Scotland and manufactured in China, because China kicks butt at manufacturing of all qualities and costs a whole lot less than Western manufacturing. You couldn’t get RHA’s build quality for double the price or more if it were manufactured in Scotland. RHA is known for a tendency towards fun sounding headphones that lean towards bright. They also have ridiculous warranties.

Since that Cambridge meet, RHA has taken the world by storm. I personally have reviewed the s500i and the ma750, both excellent headphones with stellar build quality. I first heard about the DACAMP L1 when it was still strictly confidential, but didn’t get to try it out till after all the UK tour folks finished their reviewing—that’s six months’ wait. In this review we’ll see if the DACAMP L1, RHA’s first step into the source arena, lives up to the reputation of its headphone predecessors.

I think it is valuable for readers to know as much about their reviewers as possible, so in the interest of full disclosure check out my about me (in the linkie).

Useability: Form & Function

I’ve reviewed a lot of DAC/Amps and DAPs, and I’ve generally found that they sound good, but some do sound better than others.

The DACAMP L1 comes in a stunning box with individual compartments for every piece, and loads of manuals. This thing is really planned for worldwide dissemination, loads of languages of instructions. I like this, but wonder if this couldn’t have been done as an online thing.

Build quality (physical characteristics)

The overall aesthetic of the DACAMP is industrial. The DACAMP L1 has a nice looking shape to it, but I think I would have preferred a flat edge instead of the rounded edge. Sometimes the best use of space is to have a DAC on it’s side. With the current design, this isn’t really possible without making the gain and tone controls inaccessible.



 


I like the volume knob. It has a good knurled feel and the labelling is helpful for knowing what kind of volume you are outputting. It turns really smoothly and I like its orientation. Others have complained that they would like the volume to increase by turning away from the top of the device; however, given my primary use on a desktop, the DACAMP L1’s current orientation allows me to post a finger on the top of the player and turn towards it in kind of a pinching motion. It feels really comfortable to me that way and allows really sensitive adjustments.

The tone controls and much of the outer part of the device are made of a smooth silken plastic. The smooth lines of the DACAMP L1 are interrupted by a vertical seam in the plastic near the headphone outputs showing where two piece of plastic meet. This isn’t the design choice I would make on a device being sold as premium. I’ve seen the choice of plastic on a number of cheap headphones. It feels silky, but my experience with it being used on inexpensive devices makes the DACAMP L1 feel inexpensive. It may just be me. I think Sennheiser used a similar plastic on their latest Bluetooth headphone.



I had a lot of problems with the USB micro input. This thing is picky on cables because of the deep inset of the USB micro slot—it’s kind of drilled into the face of the plastic and recessed. I had to frequently re-adjust cables that fit and some cables just didn’t work with the device. My recommendation is to stick with the included cable and take it everywhere with you, at least you can be confident it will work. A half millimetre less depth would have made all the difference. I had three USB cables not work at all. I had the best success with Anker cables, followed by my LH Labs Lightspeed USB Micro, but the latter required having it sit perfectly. The included USB cables worked. However, I found that my phone had decreased battery life when attached to the RHA DACAMP L1. It would be nice if the phone’s battery was left completely alone. If you hook up the phone after powering on the unit, you’ll use a lot of battery power from your phone quickly. Make sure your follow the instructions in the manual and hook up everything before powering the unit on; power drain is still there, but much more reasonable.
 

 
I had no problem connecting the DACAMP with my Android phone or any Windows computer (Windows 7 and 10). On my Note 2 (gawd it’s ancient), I was unable to get Tidal to play through the DACAMP L1, but music on my phone played beautifully. I noticed that the volume was much louder when playing from Android than when playing from my Windows 10 laptop. I don’t know the reason, but it is mildly annoying, as it messes up conclusions on the amplification a bit. How powerful the amplifier is depends on the source for me.

Audio quality

I listened to several headphones with the DACAMP, including the new RHA CL1 and CL750. I won’t be analysing those in this review much, as they will be getting their own reviews and will be paired with the DACAMP L1 in those. For this review I used the Noble Kaiser 10 Encore (K10E) with Effect Audio Ares II+ balanced cable and adaptors; as well as the HD600 with WyWires Red balanced cable with adaptor, and the Ultimate Ears Reference Remastered (UERR) in balanced (Ultimate Ears stock balanced cable) with an adaptor.

The best pairings I had with the DACAMP L1 were with decidedly non-neutral headphones, the Meze 99 Classics (balanced cable, does reduce bass distortion), and the RHA CL1. The Meze 99s are bass heavy with forward mids, and the DACAMP L1 sounds a touch more forward in the mids than my neutral reference (the Aune M1S). It’s a really strong pairing for tracks with strong bass and vocal components. Listening to some 2Pac, God Bless the Dead just thunders and rolls out of the DACAMP L1 and the Meze 99 pairing. Layering of vocals is clearly and beautifully rendered. That’s some serious hip-hop potency. How do you want it?

Just like that if you are a fan of hip-hop. What’s more, low gain and a volume setting of 2 drives the crap out of the Meze 99, I had to listen lower on some tracks. It sounded fantastic with hip-hop and dynamite with the chiptune reveries of Anamanaguchi. I highly recommend this highly coloured pairing. It’s a bitch slap to your ears just when you need it.



When I listened with the Meze 99 Classics with the iFi Micro iDSD Black Label (link is to the review), I found that I like a bit of treble boost to balance out the bass a little. You can do that on the DACAMP L1 too. There are of course trade-offs between the two. The DACAMP L1 is legitimately portable, but the iDSD Black Label has way more power and is a more flexible device that can drive sensitive IEMs all the way up to big cans without any hiss or distortion.

The DACAMP L1 is just made for the RHA CL1. These products were obviously tuned together. Some have observed scooped out mids on the CL1, but it didn’t feel that way on the DACAMP L1. They are a touch recessed, but still have good presence. I like the sound of the CL1, period, but I like it best out of the DACAMP L1.

I gave the DACAMP L1 a run through with the Aune M1S feeding it using the DACAMP only as an amplifier, and the reports of it not sounding as good as an amplifier are widely exaggerated. The amplifier was clear and well defined with the UERR on low gain. The image cast was a little bit improved from the Aune M1S alone or the DACAMP L1 alone. I think the M1S essentially acted as a pre-amp, which gave greater stage and clarity to the presentation. It is quite possible that other folks are hearing their sources' line-outs exposed.

Positive things I noted on sound:

1. No hiss with Noble K10E on single ended, which is a surprise given the 2.2Ω output impedance
2. Excellent clarity and instrument separation
3. Good range of gain for IEMs, including high impedance IEMs like the CL1 and CL750
4. Volume control is smooth and distortion free
5. Tone controls provide meaningful adjustments from subtle to really noticeable.
6. The bass boost is potent (bassheads will be happy)
7. The treble adjustment is equally noticeable. For those wanting a sharper treble, you’ll get it with the adjustments.
8. Turning treble and bass down works, too, but is more subtle than the boosts.

Things I wasn’t so happy about:

1. Volume swings are too large with my resident low impedance sensitive IEM, the Noble K10E. It was very hard to volume match—like doing the micro-adjustments necessary to get the precise perfect temperature in a shower (I’m finicky on water temperature).

 

 

1. It doesn’t have enough juice to do an adequate job with the HD600. There is no way that it will adequately drive 600Ω cans. Maybe it can do 600Ω iems, but I highly doubt it. That spec is straight up false. There is no reason to set unknowing people up for disappointment like that.
2. 4ohm output impedance on the balanced headphone output makes many headphones not an option in balanced mode. I opened up my custom adaptor to see if something was wrong when listening to the Noble K10E out of the balanced jack. Unfortunately, I was clumsy and now have to have the adaptor repaired.
3. The single ended jack doesn’t sound as good as balanced with headphones with appropriate impedance. I tested this using the CL1 with the balanced Ag4 cable and a custom made 4-pin mini XLR to 3.5mm TRS (single ended) adaptor with volume matching. The stage width and imaging are better on Amber Rubarth – Tundra in balanced.
4. Mids are a little forward on the amp

Comparisons

Comparisons were done using the UERR for reference, volume matched at 72dB. I’ve since discovered that I was lowering too much for the UERR, 76dB is about right; however, because I was comparing sources, not headphones, it didn’t matter for this comparison. I find that the UERR is louder in ear than universals, which I usually match at 78dB. I made comparisons to the Aune M1S, HiFiMan SuperMini and iBasso DX50 in single ended mode. White noise is random, so there isn’t a set dB level, which means that my dB measurements are objectively monitored but subjectively averaged over a period of observation. I also compared the balanced operation of the Aune M1S and HiFiMAN SuperMini to the single ended operation of the DACAMP L1 using a 2.5mm  TRRS to 4-pin min XLR adaptor and a DIY 2.5mm TRRS to 3.5mm TRRS adaptor made by my friendly local wire and amp wizard. I have the UERR official Ultimate Ears balanced cable. I also made comparisons using the Noble K10E with the Effect Audio Ares II+ balanced cable using the same adaptors. Comparisons using the K10E were done with volume matching at 78dB, my standard listening level. The table below gives my settings information. I give this information so that people can replicate my observations, this removes some subjectivity, which is a good thing.

DAP	Headphone6	Gain setting	Volume DAP number (~dB)
Single Ended
RHA DACAMP L11	UERR	Low	~1.9 (72.4)
Aune M1S (firmware 1.03) 1	UERR	Middle	70 (72.0)
HiFiMAN SuperMini1	UERR	--	21 (72.5)
RHA DACAMP L11	Noble K10E	Low	~1.75 (78.1)
Aune M1S1	Noble K10E	Low	78 (78.2)
RHA DACAMP L1	RHA CL1	High	~2.2 (78.0)
Aune M1S	RHA CL1	High	77 (78.1)
RHA DACAMP L1	Meze 99 Classics	Low	~2.2 (78.0)
Aune M1S	RHA CL1	Middle	78 (78.1)
Balanced
RHA DACAMP L12	Noble K10E	Low	~1.9 (78.1)
Aune M1S	Noble K10E	Low	69 (78)
HiFiMAN SuperMini3	Noble K10E	--	16 (77.2)
RHA DACAMP L1	UERR	Middle	~1.9 (72.1)
Aune M1S	UERR	Middle	58 (71.8)
HiFiMAN SuperMini3	UERR	--	18 (72.3)
RHA DACAMP L1	RHA CL1	High	~2.1 (78.0)
RHA DACAMP L14	Sennheiser HD600	High	3.1 (78.1)
HiFiMAN SuperMini	Sennheiser HD600	--	27 (77.7)
Aune M1S5	Sennheiser HD600	High	74 (78.1)
UERR Ultimate Ears Reference Remastered, K10E Noble Kaiser 10 Encore 1With Venture Electronics 2.5mm TRRS to 3.5mm TRS adaptor 22.5mm TRRS to 4-pin mini XLR adaptor 3With Venture Electronics 2.5mm TRRS to 3.5mm TRRS adaptor 4With 4-pin XLR to mini 4-pin XLR adaptor 5With XLR to 3.5mm TRRS and 3.5mm TRRS to 2.5mm TRRS adaptors 6UERR with Ultimate Ears stock 2.5mm TRRS cable, Noble K10E with Effect Audio Ares II+ 2.5mm TRRS, CL1 both with Ag4 and Ag4 plus mini 4-pin XLR to 3.5mm TRS, Meze 99 Classics with stock 3m cable

I am the adaptor king!

Whilst testing I observed that the single ended and balanced were likely the same power, as HeadFi’s @Brooko has previously measured, but that my 2.5mm to mini-4pin XLR adaptor likely adds a small amount of impedance, as observed by the volume levels on the UERR out of single ended and balanced. I may want to make a new adaptor or buy RHA’s adaptor when they get around to releasing it. However, I was able to confirm from RHA that the output impedance of the balanced output is 4.4Ω, which is totally inappropriate for most IEMs and caused audible distortion on the Noble K10E. There is simply no need to have such high output impedance as increasing damping factor has universally positive effects on sound by reducing the potential for distortion. Generally, output impedance should be as low as you can possibly make it. 2.2Ω is high, 4.4Ω is inappropriate for most IEMs but may be okay for a good variety of full-size headphones.

For the comparisons below, the DACAMP L1 was fed with the following signal chain:

Dell Vostro — LH Labs Lightspeed 2G — iFi Micro iUSB3.0 — LH Labs Lightspeed 1G Micro — RHA DACAMP L1

Observations about amp power should be taken with a grain of salt, because I did observe that when I used my phone as a source the volume levels were higher. For instance, fed from the above chain the gain was set to high for the RHA CL1, but from my phone the gain for the CL1 was low. I don’t understand why there would be a difference, but this is what I’ve observed.

Aune M1S

The M1S destroys the DACAMP L1 and the SuperMini when listening to Fleetwood Mac – Dreams with either the UERR or the K10E. The DACAMP L1 has a smaller stage and lower detail resolution. The M1S strikes me as an excellent neutral reference. I had similar observations listening to the Noble K10E with Pixies – Where Is My Mind. The soundstage is bigger in all dimensions and the sound has greater clarity in single-ended. I couldn’t do a fair balanced connection comparison as the balanced output jack has far too high impedance at 4.4Ω for the K10E. In my experience doing volume matched comparisons between single ended and balanced on the M1S, the balanced connection is clearer, with even bigger soundstage, so I would anticipate a more severe beating but can’t do more than predict due to lack of empirical observation. This isn’t really a contest.

I also tested the M1S with the CL1, and it does an excellent job of driving it, so it’s capability to drive more demanding IEMs matches the DACAMP L1. The single ended output of the M1S outperforms the DACAMP L1 with the CL1. When I switched to balanced, it was closer, but the M1S was still sonically superior with the stage feeling more natural and the details being more discrete on the M1S. The M1S also sounded slightly better with the HD600 and Dragonforce—this really surprised me. It didn’t have quite enough grunt on bass, but the treble was well articulated and the soundstage was bigger than the DACAMP L1. On paper, the M1S shouldn’t do even acceptable with the HD600, given its power output, in practice, it sounded okay, but not nearly as good as the SuperMini.

HiFiMAN SuperMini

The SuperMini drives the HD600 much better than the DACAMP. When playing Dragonforce – The Fire Still Burns, the SuperMini gives a full, clean, dynamic sound with a good size soundstage. The DACAMP L1 sounds closed in and muffled. The soundstage is miniscule—like listening to IEMs. It simply doesn’t have enough power to do a good job with the HD600. The HD800 is easier to drive than the HD600, but I can’t see the DACAMP L1 having enough for the HD800 either—at least not out of my computer. The power I get out of the HD600 predicts a poor showing with the HD800, but I don’t have it on hand (big caveat!). In my experience with switching between amps for the HD600 and HD800, I’ve found that if an amp does really poorly with the HD600 it does poorly with the HD800 and vice versa. The DACAMP L1 does poorly with the HD600. You get sound, but that isn’t saying much. I get sound for the HD600 out of my laptop headphone out.

With the Noble K10E, the SuperMini hisses, like many DAPs. It also has some electrical buzzing from time to time, which isn’t good. I don’t recommend the K10E with the SuperMini.

Specifications

Every manufacturer has some advertising copy and specs that they provide to the public. Sometimes the copy is informative, sometimes it is just adspeak. Here’s a summary of the useful stuff that RHA had to say about the DACAMP L1 on their website:

1. High-Resolution Audio certified by Japan Audio Society
2. Fully balanced circuit configuration
3. 12 step bass and treble control (-3dB to 9dB) for personalized sound
4. Compatible with Android, iOS, Mac, Linux and Windows (driver required)

 

Specifications
Price	£399 ($499)
DAC chip(s)	Dual ESS SABRE32 ES9018K2M DAC chips with dual class AB amplifiers
Output power	16Ω 300mW; 300Ω 28mW
Output impedance	2.2Ω on single ended, 4.4Ω on balanced headphone output
Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise	0.0018%
Dynamic Range	111dB
Input connections	3.5mm line in, USB A (for iOS), USB micro-B, mini-Toslink optical
Output connections	3.5mm line out, 3.5mm headphone out, 4-pin Mini XLR (balanced) headphone out
Headphone impedance recommendation	12Ω - 600Ω
Battery	4000mW, ~10hr life
Format support	PCM 44.1-384kHz (16, 24, 32 bit); DSD64-DSD256 (single to quad DSD)
Dimensions	118 x 73 x 20mm
Weight	233g
Warranty	3 years

Conclusions

I highly anticipated the DACAMP L1 and performed pretty darn well, it just got sonically beat by something less expensive. What the DACAMP L1 does as a package is unique in truly portable DACs, providing treble and bass controls that have both cuts and boosts, a wide variety of inputs and outputs, compatibility with all OS’s and specific design features to simplify implementation, and playing DSD256 and PCM384 (Cozoy REI also does this). The DACAMP performed admirably, but the soundstage was rather not terribly impressive and the overall power of something sold as necessary amplification didn’t sell me too much. I really wanted to see it pull HD600 power out, but didn’t expect it to given its modest specifications. The 4.4Ω impedance caused distortions to the sound of the Noble K10E in balanced mode, and that high output impedance rules out using sensitive headphones in balanced mode with an adaptor.

Overall, the DACAMP L1 is a competitive package that feels like it falls just a little short of other options out there in a similar price range. If given the choice, I’d take the iFi iDSD Black Label over the RHA DACAMP L1 every time, even with the higher cost and large footprint. Right now, I’m perfectly happy with the Aune M1S, which bested it on overall audio quality, but it isn’t nearly as multipurpose as the DACAMP L1.
 

 

[size=24.57px]Acknowledgment[/size]

Thanks Mike Diaz at Ultimate Ears for supplying these as a review sample, with special thanks to David Guitierrez for his excellent customer service. These are going to kick butt and take names in lots of upcoming reviews. They already have in a few. This review was originally posted here.

Introduction

Ultimate Ears and Capitol Studios strike gold again! I’ve never heard the original Ultimate Ears Reference Monitor, but I hear tell that it was a beauty. I’d never had an experience with custom in ears, so when my buddy ejong7 on HeadFi asked me if I’d like to participate in reviewing the UERR my response was immediate and decisive. You kidding me? Of course I’ll review that monster of audiophile goodness. Now, off to get some impressions. Lets get this thing on!

There’s nothing wrong with ears

Full of goop, ah ah no no

And putting these in your ears can never be wrong

If the music’s true

Yes, verily let us get this thing on.

I don’t think that Ultimate Ears or Capitol Studios need any introduction, but here’s some stuff to satisfy those who disagree:

Ultimate Ears (stolen from Wikipedia)

1. Ultimate Ears was started up by Jerry Harvey in 1995. Jerry Harvey started making designs for in-ear monitors using balanced armatures so that Alex Van Halen could hear what was going on when performing. Westone manufactured Jerry Harvey’s designs. Westone owned all the patents and trademarks. Eventually that relationship went sour. This led to Ultimate Ears bringing a new designer to run their manufacturing and Ultimate Ears breaking up with Westone. Jerry Harvey eventually left in 2007, claiming he was forced out. All three companies are doing just fine now. Drama, drama, but all in the past.
2. Holy crap, 31 years and counting making custom monitors. Ultimate Ears are truly some of the grand-pappies of the industry.

Capitol Studios

1. Capitol studios was founded in 1956, and recorded titans like Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and the Beach Boys. They also were the studio setting for Elliott Smith’s Figure 8, probably his best album; and Green Day’s American Idiot, probably their best album (in my opinion, but I’m a political junkie, so pay no mind).
2. In 2010 they first collaborated with Ultimate Ears on the Reference Monitor
3. In 2014, they upgraded their studios to become completely state of the art.
4. Soon to follow they partnered again with Ultimate Ears to develop the Reference Remastered (released December 2015)
5. Unless you’ve been under a rock for your whole existence, you’ve heard some Capitol Studios productions.

 

If you want to know more about me, you can take a look here. Each reviewer has their own set of biases, preferences and beliefs, so it is often worthwhile to know these before you commit yourself to following the opinion of a reviewer.

Form & Function

Lets have a start at this with the unboxing. The UERR comes in a nice magnetic close presentation box with print materials that welcome you to the group like you’ve just joined a really friggin’ exclusive club. You better have your belt match your boots, or you might be out on the street. Inside the box is a velveteen fabric gently crumpled into a circular indent wherein lies all the fun—a personalised metal case that has totally turned me around on the idea of metal cases. This little puck is perfect for storing 2 Ultimate ears cables (2.5mm balanced and plain Jane 3.5mm), the buffer jack, a cleaning tool and the UERR themselves.

When the UERR arrived, I had some touch and go moments when trying to put a cheapie aftermarket cable on. The cable that the UERR comes with is jammed on there like it is trying to keep the weight of the sea from flooding the undersea laboratory. It’s tight. Damn tight. So tight that I had to email David at UE to make sure I wasn’t going to break the headphones minutes after I got them. When you go to try different cables, use pliers to get the stock cables off. They have a little lip on them that helps with using the pliers. I never would have thought of using pliers. I went at the cables for a long time wiggling and jerking on them, and I’m sure that was the reason that my initial 3.5mm cable had cut-outs on the right channel. UE took care of me and replaced the cable quickly. It’s a good warning to have though, use pliers to get the cables off for at least the first time. With repeated cable switches the fit gets a bit more fluid, still firm, but fluid. I have no problems switching between the SE and balanced cables now. Don’t do what I did, I hurt myself and the cable getting it off.

The workmanship is generally good. I have a clear shell, so you can see all the gubbins pretty good. My wife thinks they’re pretty, and so do I. I don’t think most people in public even have a clue that the weird things in my ears are headphones. The people who do notice think they look stunning though. Make yours awesome too. They’ve got some really great designs.

With regards to fit, I find that my ears aren’t always exactly the same shape depending on weather factors, so I sometimes my ears get a bit of fatigue, primarily in my right ear. This may just mean that my digital impressions weren’t perfect. I also had to learn early on that being gentle with the CIEMs was the way to put them in. Initially I tried to push them in a bit. Just rotating them and leaving them be is the way to go. It takes a bit to get used to having hard plastic way inside your ear. I may just never really get used to the sensation. When my ears are right, these are seamless, and do an incredible job isolating noise.

The case is solid metal make. When I reviewed the Fidue Sirius, I was pretty hard on their case, noting that it was heavy and pretty good for smashing stuff in your bag. Now that I’ve had a ton of time with a metal case, it doesn’t really smash things all over, but it will find the bottom of your bag and it will scratch other metals found therein—don’t put your phone in your bag with this, that’s just asking for trouble. The metal puck is easier to put in my backback than a Pelican case. It is just the right size for transporting the IEMs and the circular shape minimizes memory effects on cables. There is also some foam rubber inside the case, so it may have some modicum of weather resistance when the lid is pressed all the way down. After having this I’m now seeing the light on metal cases, but softened edges would be a boon, though less aesthetically striking.

For this review, I had both the stock cable and the stock 2.5mm balanced cable. These cables are the same cable, with a different termination. Each cable consists of two twisted pairs. These cables are not braided, and after seeing a friend braid some adaptors for me, I totally understand why. A machine can twist cables really tight, braiding is time consuming and it is harder to see which lines are ground and live, hot and cold. So all you folks and manufacturers calling twisted cables braiding, please stop. It is not the same. Both cables are good quality lightweight cables. Nothing really to see and nothing to complain about. You can get the cables in silver or black. I’ve got black.

Audio quality

The UERR have astonishingly good sound quality. Many folks hear reference and think library books, musty tomes with mustier librariens, boring intonality, a lack of life, a place for analysis. The UERR are none of these library analogues. These are not reference like a library, these are reference as in authoritative representations of a state of the world; these are a neutral reference, a tool made for analysing music, but these manage to do so without sounding detached, etched or boring. These have good transients with accurate attack and decay across all frequencies which gives a great sense of realism.



The UERR have natural sounding bass with good texture and accurate timbre. They aren’t high on bass, but I don’t feel that these are bass light. These have good bass with all the things I’m looking for: some violence when called for, dynamic texture, speed and accurate timbre. The bass is only as warm as bass instruments themselves, no colouration here, and I like that.

The mids are flat, in the right way, no peaks and valleys giving fake dynamics or messing with instrument presentation, for the most part. I say for the most part because I have noticed these to have a little thickness in the vocals from time to time. This observation is quite possible the source being revealed a bit. I think many some sources push mids forward a little, so when that happens with the UERR, it can sound a bit thick. These excelled with any kind of instrument thrown at them, and any kind of vocalist.

The treble is special on these. Sparkle is there when called for, for instance on the delicate tings of the xylophone in Time, but the sound isn’t piercing or overly bright. The presentation is natural and fulfilling. It has excellent extension and realism with stellar instrument placement and impressive stage height, depth and width. For me, the most impressive element of the stage presentation is the height. Very few IEMs I have listened to have achieved out of your head height, these do. Similarly, the stage width is beyond the ears by a good margin. Instruments are well layered with excellent ability to pick out detailed location information.

What really sets apart top level headphones from midfi headphones is resolution. By resolution I mean the ability to reveal small details, subtle notes below the noise floor of many headphones, minor inflections, room reflections, instrument placement, correct leading and trailing edges of notes. Whilst the UERR aren’t the top I’ve heard in resolution (Noble K10E for that), they are damn impressive. Damn damn, but not in a bad way like Doc Brown below. In a good way, like a punch in the face making the future all roses, McFly.



Rebecca Pidgeon’s Spanish Harlem (24/96) is dripping with reverb on the vocal, but also has precisely placed instruments and interaction with the studio environment apparent on the recording. The placement of the stand-up bass, the violin, percussion and piano fan beautifully around her. The sound is beautiful and infectious.

When listening to Daft Punk’s Fragments of Time (24/88), the depth of the sound is not as great as the Chesky Recording of Rebecca Pidgeon, which is expected, as the dynamic range is much lower on the Daft Punk recording, but separation between the funky bass and the steady snare drum rhythm is good and all the elements in the stage are easily picked out in space with a natural coherent presentation. The image is never jumbled, just precision rendered.

The UERR will not forgive poor mastering. I love Wolf Parade, but the mastering on Apologies to the Queen Mary is craptastic. The low level hiss from the heightened noise floor, the compressed soundstage, the aggressive sharp treble mastering on cymbals, and boosted distorting guitars are all apparent. When listening to badly mastered music, a warm headphone like the Fidue Sirius will be more forgiving. I can listen to Wolf Parade with the UERR, but it’s a much more pleasant experience with the Meze 99 Classics.

Also playing well in the UERRs favour, it isn’t hard to drive, and doesn’t pair badly with anything reasonable. If you’ve got a nasty shade of colour on your equipment, the UERR won’t lie about what you are doing to the audio. You may or may not like the truth.

Comparisons

For this review I made all comparisons using the Aune M1S in single-ended mode with stock cables, except for the RHA CL1 which used an adaptor from the stock silver cable. I’ve noted that the UERR sound louder than comparable headphones at the same volume. I believe that this is due to the deeper insertion they offer. To adjust for this I play the UERR 2dB lower (76 db) in comparisons. This makes the volume levels sound more matched, but this may introduce imprecision and bias as I have depended on my ears to come up with this reduction. The table below contains the volume match settings.

Headphone	Gain setting1	Volume   DAP number (~dB)
UERR	Middle	78 (76.2)
Noble K10E	Low	78 (78.2)
RHA CL1	High	74 (78.1)
Meze 99 Classics	Middle	79 (78.3)
UERR Ultimate Ears Reference Remastered, Noble K10E Noble Kaiser 10 Encore   1All comparisons were made using the Aune M1S in singled ended with stock cables

 

RHA CL1

Listening to Charles Mingus Fables of Faubus (24/88 SACD rip), there is hissing in quiet passages. The soundstage has good width. The mids are a bit recessed which leads to a slightly off-kilter presentation. Cymbals are lively with excellent shimmer but are thrown too far forward in the stage. On the UERR the stage is set back further from you, and instruments have more natural placement with cymbals and the rest of the drum kit being in the same plane. Instrument heights are also better matched in the stage. The UERR has a more coherent representation. Notes sound much more natural for instruments playing in the mids and lower mids. The stand-up bass especially benefits from the switch to the UERR with more correct placement in the stage and more full, organic sounding notes. The UERR doesn’t have a hissing noise like the CL1.

Damien Rice – The Animals are Gone. The hissing is heard on this track too. This song has a mid-forward presentation, which is partly what gives it such heavy emotional weight. The CL1 has an airy delicacy on this track. Damien is certainly not robbed of emotional weight, and the violins are beautifully rendered. At about 2:30 soft swept and tapped percussion comes in. The soft cymbal drags are forward on the CL1. Violins really soar on the CL1 but have more emphasis on the upper reaches of the violin notes. The UERR gives a little richer intonation to Damien’s voice. Violins have a fuller sound with more representation of the lower elements of their notes. The cymbals are placed further back in the stage, with more emphasis on the mids. This isn’t surprising, as the CL1 is a v-shaped IEM, whilst the UERR is neutral. I will note that the volume levels sound very well matched, the 2dB measured difference isn’t perceptibly different on volume.

Hotel California is most notable for the first minute of the song for reviewing purposes. It is a good test for instrument separation, tone, and soundstage. After that, the bass drives the sound. On the CL1, the guitar and bass are a bit recessed. The stage has good width, but the airplane is lost in the stage due to the recession of the mids without a full representation of the sound. The mids feel sucked out on this track. It feels lifeless with the CL1. The mids are in their right place with the UERR with good delicacy on elements of the sound. The kick drum at 40 seconds thumps naturally, whilst with the CL1 it lacked presence. Bass grooves are right on the UERR with good thickness.

Verdict: UERR. Not close.

Meze 99 Classics

On Fables of Faubus, the soundstage doesn’t have particularly electric depth, but instruments have a nice full tone. There is some hiss in this track on the Meze, too. The stand-up bass is forward and really winsome. 36-24-36 action on that bass. Soundstage width is average, height is good, depth is not deep but there is good separation. The stage is definitely more cube than traditional theatre stage shape. Mids on the 99 are very present with excellent texture. Piano has a nice feel, too. The UERR is a bit more restrained, mids are more distant, as is bass, but the treble splashes of the cymbals have a bit more voice. The depth of the stage is greater on the UERR, which allows instruments to breathe a bit more and lays out a bit more realistic musical presentation.

When Damien kicks in, his vocals are sweet and syrupy. Rich pancake breakfast coming up. Unfortunately when the bass comes in, it swamps him a bit. The lack of stage depth makes it a competition for space, jumbling the presentation somewhat. The Meze sounds loud, partly due to emphasizing bass and mids. Both Damien’s vocal and the female backing vocal occupy almost the same space, which gives an intimate impression, as if breaking from an embrace. It’s a nice effect. The UERR doesn’t have the immediacy or warmth of the Meze, and due to the forward presentation of the Meze doesn’t sound as loud. There is far more depth in the sound though, and a bit more width. The Meze wins on height. The female vocal is a bit more fragile and breathy on the UERR, which is also a nice effect. She isn’t as forward in the UERR’s representation. Instruments have a lot more separation on the UERR.

The bass is big and bloomy on the Meze 99 in the intro to Hotel California. The airplane flying over head has good presence and is definitely not lost in the mix. The Meze 99 chugs firmly with a bass forward sound, but vocals and other instruments still have good presence. The treble sounds a touch thin compared to the weightiness of the mids and especially the midbass, but the tones are accurately represented. Greater width on the soundstage still goes to the UERR. Don Henley’s vocal tone sounds better on the Meze 99. There is more fullness to the tone on the Meze 99. The UERR is definitely more accurate, but there is something addictive to the sound of the Meze 99. It just has soul.

Verdict: I like both, but the technical capabilities of the UERR put it out in front for me. In practice, this would come down to mood.

Noble Kaiser 10 Encore

Delicate sounds around the bass are nicely revealed on the Noble K10E. The stage height on the K10E is comparable to the Meze 99, but the stage width more closely matches the UERR. Instruments on the periphery of the stage have excellent presence and all instruments have their own little bubble of space. Truly excellent resolution. The bass is a bit forward on the K10E compared to the UERR. The UERR has a bit more stage width. Instruments sound a little less refined on the UERR, and less real and alive. Resolution is excellent, but the Noble K10E is better.

The clarity on The Animals Were Gone is higher on the Noble K10E, there is just more feeling of space around the sonic elements. Vocals sound more natural. It feels like Damien is singing right to me. The bass sounds natural and warm with good delineation from where notes originate. Attack, decay, body, tone—on these the Noble K10E substantially beats the UERR. The female vocal in the refrain is much more emotive and present too with a cozy presentation with Damien’s vocal, whilst maintaining a separation that the Meze 99 couldn’t accomplish. The descriptor for the Noble K10E is natural. It is wondrously natural. This song breaks my cold little heart on a normal headphone, but the emotional content of the K10E just destroys my pitiful little sensibilities.



On Hotel California, the airplane is a bit more distant. Don Henley’s voice is more natural and the thump of the kick drum a bit more present. There are areas of the mids that are more present than the UERR, but nothing is overdone. In fact, I prefer the little boost in musicality. Vocals especially benefit from this. All instruments in the mids have a more organic feel to them. There is just more resolution and instrumental feel on the K10E. The bass notes sound flatter on the UERR, by flatter I mean they have less texture. I prefer the bit of romance and texture on the K10E. The stages are similar, but the K10E sounds airier.

Verdict: Noble Kaiser 10 Encore is the winner. The UERR is not sterile sounding, but it lacks the supreme resolution and emotional content of the K10E, the improved body and airier feel of the K10E set it apart. There is no shame in losing to the K10E, it does cost $850 (£600) more. You can buy an HD800 for the difference in price between these two. You could also just skip the HD800.

Specifications

Manufacturers have lots to say about their products, and they should! The audiophile market is big, competitive and a lot of what differentiates product success and failure is how well they talk about their products. Here’s what Ultimate Ears had to say about their UERR:

Quote:

Designed For Producers And Studio Engineers

Record and mix. Anytime, Anywhere.

Mix, Produce, Enjoy

The Ultimate Hi-Res listening experience. Featuring True Tone technology — providing expanded highs and lows, defining our commitment to fidelity.

The Ultimate Sound Remastered

The second collaboration with the engineers from Capitol Studios. Based on the sounds of their state-of-the-art facility.

UE Pro True Tone Drivers

Proprietary True Tone Drivers extend the frequency range and deliver a flat response to 18KHz.

Commitment To Fidelity

Hear the harmonic structure and overtones that are usually missing from most headphones

Not much in that description. Kind of like, hey these sound nice and are excellent tools. Whilst there isn’t much in the description, Jude has some good coverage on HeadFi which shines a little more light. Check it out.

Specifications
Price	$999 (£870)
Drivers	3 proprietary balanced armatures with multiple passive crossover points and triple bore sound channels.
Frequency response	5 Hz – 25 kHz
Impedance	35 Ohms@ 1 kHz
Sensitivity	100 dB @ 1 kHz, 1mW
Noise isolation	-26 dB
Shell	Custom acrylic, I went for legos, as this is a building block piece.
Accessories	Personalised metal carrying case, cleaning tool, buffer jack, 3.5mm to 6.3mm adapter (1/8” to 1/4″), display box with velvet insert
Warranty	1 year

Conclusions

The Ultimate Ears Reference Remastered gives me about 80% of the sound quality of the Noble Kaiser 10 Encore at 54% of the price. That is excellent value for money. The sound is neutral and revealing, with natural musical tones and an encompassing soundstage. There is now an official universal version of these (UERR To Go, I think), so if you aren’t ready to make the jump to custom and all that entails—including not being able to share how lovely these sound—then Ultimate Ears now has you covered.

 

[size=24.57px]Acknowledgment[/size]
This review unit was provided to me in exchange for my honest opinion by Penon Audio. This review was originally published here.

Introduction

I’m a regular watcher and poster on HeadFi’s Facebook page and when I saw Penon Audio announce that they had the M1S available for presale, and when I saw the stats for $249 in what I thought would be a small player, I was more than intrigued. I had to hear it. Penon Audio graciously made this happen. Penon Audio is a store based out of Hong Kong that sells gear worldwide. They’ve been around for just a few years (established in 2013) but get quite a bit of mentions on HeadFi. This is probably due to their reasonable prices, good inventory and worldwide shipping. Aune Audio is the HiFi brand of As Ao Lai Er Technology, below is what Aune’s website has to say about their brand:
 

As Ao Lai Er Technology’s high quality HiFi brand, Aune has been devoted to developing and producing desktop, portable and car audio products. Founded in the year of 2004, Ao Lai Er owns the largest Chinese audio technology website - HIFIDIY.NET and high end audio brand TITANS. HIFIDIY.NET has 700 thousand members. It’s always been a platform for the most advanced HiFi technology communications and practice. We gained lots of experience from the long-term accumulation, and have released hundreds of kits and parts from independent R&D, which are well received around the world! Aune team is a group of audiophiles who only pursue the best. We use our products in daily life and we love each and every one of them! Superb sound is Aune’s goal; great user experience and satisfaction is what Aune pursues. We are striving to make Aune one of the world’s famous audio brands in the future!

Click to expand...

 

Click to expand...

Useability: Form & Function

 

 

 
 
The Aune M1S comes in a simple box with two screen protectors and a USB cable as accessories. The packaging is non-descript and not memorable in any way. Neither screen protector is applied to the device. In my opinion, all manufacturers should apply a screen protector if they are going to include one. Most electronic manufacturing facilities are dust free, which is something that most homes cannot claim. Anyone who’s applied a screen protector knows how much of an advantage that is. I feel sorry for anyone who lives in a completely dust free home, as it probably means a neurotic lives in the house.
 

 
 
It still may be better than my house. At least it would be sparkly clean.
 

 

Physical characteristics

The M1S is a pretty solid brick with six edges. I personally don’t mind the edges, but other folks will be scrambling for one of their not included silicone cases. Penon Audio has them for ten bucks a pop—in three colours even.
 

The player is a bit long for my tastes. It is longer than the Cayin i5, and probably just about every other DAP out there. The width and thickness give it a big candy bar form factor, but I’ve never had a candy bar with this kind of girth. If they can reduce the length on future players, that would be awesome, but I have a feeling the form has something to do with the insanely low distortion on this thing. The distortion and dynamic range specifications on the M1S are better than those on the M2Pro, their much more expensive offering. That player is a bit chunky too.
 
Overall the profile is utilitarian in aesthetic with little to make it look particularly appealing. This player just gets down to business. The ‘wheel’ in the middle is not a wheel at all. It has five buttons. The centre button is the standard OK button, whilst the other buttons have multiple functions, including the standard playback controls and adding tracks to favourites (the M1S version of playlist) and changing the digital filter. I didn’t play much with digital filter as I’ve found that I generally prefer slow roll-off filters on previous DAPs I’ve listened to. The centre button plays or pauses tracks during playback and selects menu items when not controlling playback. The left and right buttons are for skipping and reversing tracks. They also allow fast-forward and rewind by holding down. I found that my unit has very specific engagement points for the buttons. I need to press dead centre to get them to work right, so make sure you are doing that before you think you have malfunctions. I only had problems with the left and right buttons, top and bottom were fine. Short presses on the top button change the repeat/shuffle modes. Shuffle and repeat are tied to folders. Options include shuffle folder, repeat one (has disk in left part of icon), repeat folder, and no repeat (has x in bottom left of icon). Tapping the bottom button stops playback. Just like an old CD player, it loses your place in the track when you press stop. Holding down the top button will add a track to favourites, whilst holding down the bottom will change digital filters. Above the ‘wheel’ there are two buttons, with obvious use and universal symbols. The left one takes you to the main menu and the right takes you back one screen. Volume and power buttons on the right side are straight forward. I found myself wishing I had some controls on the left side, but I imagine the circuit design didn’t allow it.
 
I tested the line-out in comparison to my LH Labs Geek Pulse X-Infinity DAC. I could not tell the difference when switching in between the two with volume matching done by ear. That is damn impressive. It should be noted that the LH Labs gear and the Aune M1S share the same DAC chip, but I didn't expect the Aune to go toe-to-toe with the X-Infinity and do as well as it did. With regards to some measurables, I get about 10-11 hours battery life and charge times are around 3 hours. Time to scan my music library on my 200GB microSD card is under 1 minute.
 

Operating System

As shown above, the controls are fairly intuitive—they also include instructions with the player. The menu system is pretty straightforward. Left and right will scroll options, as will up and down. When in the settings menu pressing the centre button changes the option you are currently on. The OS is minimal, but functional. The screen lays out everything in black and white with a touch of brown-grey tones. The screen is capable of colour, as indicated by the bright green battery charging emblem, but they haven’t deployed much of it in the interface. I’m perfectly fine with this, as the Spartan image of the OS fits the player well. The OS is really quick to navigate. When going through folders or settings options you can go down or up one entry at a time with the down button or up button, or advance to the next page or previous page with right and left. Volume and remaining battery power are clearly displayed at the top of the screen while track information and track progress follow as you read down the screen. The file name is displayed as whatever you've left it. My Positive Feedback DSD Sampler has Pos~1 for every track. I have most of my files in folders but I do have one lonely file sitting by itself in the root folder with no album name in the file name. When I went to play this file it knew artist and album, so the player is reading tags, but it is using them only minimally. I suggest that Aune should add tag-based browsing if possible, as it is something I really love and I don’t think I’m alone in this.
 
I think that Aune could take some lead from the HiFiMan SuperMini on having a simple interface but with full tag browsing for artist, album, and genre. Folder based browsing is fast and foolproof (nothing goes wrong with folder names), but tag browsing is usually a nicer organisation. There is no EQ on the M1S, so those who like to tweak will not be happy. I like a player that is dead to rights neutral, and the Aune M1S gives me that. I tweak with headphones. Other things you won’t find, a digital line-out port, USB-DAC functionality, USB-OTG, WiFi, Bluetooth, or any other fancy bits. The M1S is all about its core function, playing music as honestly as possible and thinks that all other things a DAC might do are unimportant. Now let Paula Abdul out of that music box looking thing.
 

 
Anyone looking for this to be their only DAP/DAC should move along, this player won’t fill your needs. I’m lucky to have a variety of DAPs and DACs, so the lack of USB DAC function isn’t a conversation ender for me.

Audio quality

In a word: stellar. The Aune M1S has a spacious, crystal clear sound with no particular emphasis to any part of the frequency spectrum. It is detailed, with impeccable timing. It has excellent extension in bass and treble and makes every reasonable headphone I’ve thrown at it sound wonderful. If you want your portable gear to sound it’s best, the M1S is a good choice. The M1S didn’t do terribly well when I hooked up an HD600 to it, but it wasn’t an utter failure. The HD600 is kind of my stress test on DAPs. I’ve only had two DAPs do what I would consider adequate on the HD600, the HiFiMAN SuperMini and the Echobox Explorer. Many portable DACs fail to do adequately with the HD600, including the Chord Mojo. I hope to try the Shanling M5 in the future with the HD600, but that hasn’t happened yet. I did try the Aune M1S with the new 150Ω, 89 sensitivity RHA CL1, and the M1S powers it beautifully. The M1S really shined with my neutral headphones, the UERR and the Noble K10E. When I start listening, it is truly difficult to stop. I’ve tried a lot of DAPs and DAC/Amps. The Aune M1S is one of the best sounding and only costs $249. The price to performance ratio is just crazy talk.
 
As usual, I did volume matched comparisons between players. For my methodology, you can read pretty much any of my reviews in the last six months. Briefly, I match using an SPL meter and white noise. I use a coupler for IEMs that I’ve made out of toilet roll cores and packing tape—cheap but functional. For full size headphones I press the foam ball that came with it into the cup and try to be steady. My methods are imperfect, but fairly consistent.

Comparisons

Cayin i5

The M1S has a similar tonality to the i5. On Pink Floyd – On the Run, the two players are very similar in presentation of stage, but the i5 has a bit better definition on the train announcement near the beginning of the track and in general. Stage height is a little better on the M1S. On Pink Floyd – Time, the clocks are more in your face and instrument separation is greater, the stage is also wider and deeper. The drums are bigger and bolder through the i5, there may be a little lift in this frequency range as the drums are further back in the stage on the M1S compared to the i5. Both have good full sounds to the drums, but the i5 is fuller in single-ended. When switched to balanced mode, the M1S pulls ahead with bigger stage and better definition.
 
The Aune M1S, like the i5 doesn’t hiss with the Noble K10E. With the Noble K10E and some good old Surfer Rosa highlights, Where is My Mind, the Aune M1S has a touch more subtlety with the restrained almost hiding male almost echo muttering backing vocals, but it doesn’t have quite the same amplitude on the ethereal female vocals. It climbs, but not quite to the height of the i5. The stage is significantly wider and a bit deeper on the M1S. Both sound amazing. The Aune M1S has a similar library scan speed, but doesn’t have any frills in the OS. Both players have excellent volume controls, but the feel of the i5 control is much more premium. Both have distortionless volume adjustment. I narrowly prefer the sound of the M1S and like that it has a 2.5mm balanced jack, but every other comparison goes to the i5. The i5 has USB DAC functionality, tag based browsing, Bluetooth, WiFi, the Google Play store, and many more features. The M1S is a top notch audio player, that is all.
 

HiFiMAN SuperMini

The soundstage on the SuperMini isn’t the match of the M1S or the i5 in size, but it is just as well defined as either. The OS on the SuperMini doesn’t compete with the i5, but easily bests the M1S. The SuperMini doesn’t have adjustable gain and has one of the worst volume controls I’ve ever seen on a DAP, 32 steps is bad—it’s iPhone volume levels bad. It does drive the HD600 well, which, to my surprise, the i5 does pretty well too. The Aune M1S doesn’t drive the HD600 as good as the SuperMini. It sounds a bit thin and sharp as the bass on the HD600 recesses a bit without the power to push it forward, but the sound is clean and clear. The SuperMini drives the HD600 more fully and with a bigger sound stage. With the Noble K10E, the SuperMini hisses, like many DAPs. It also has a more muted sound and a smaller stage than its two primary competitors in the i5 and the M1S. Because of a little bit of veiling the dude-quiet vocals don’t pop out from hiding as much. The amplitude of the female vocal doesn’t reach the aeries of the i5 or the M1S. Again, you can’t make the Noble K10E sound bad in my experience, but the SuperMini wasn’t competitive versus the i5 or M1S here.
 

Specifications

 

Conclusions

I’ve had the privilege of listening to and reviewing a lot of DAPs and DACs, none has impressed me quite as much as the Aune M1S. The Aune M1S is my new reference DAP. It is a sonic marvel at $249, with sound that is better than most DAPs on the market, including the current toast of the town, the Cayin i5. The Aune M1S has truly special clarity with a background as black as the inside of a singularity. The soundstage is wide and deep with above average height. The price of the M1S makes it a no-brainer for anyone who doesn’t care about anything but audio quality--it delivers audio quality in spades. Aune M1S will be joining me for my upcoming reviews of the UERR, Noble K10E and the Empire Ears/Effect Audio Arthur.