Astrotec AX-60

There are 2 pieces of opening information required to help contextualise this review. Firstly, Astrotec may sound like a new name in the business, but they’ve actually been making headphones and earphones for many well-known brands for a long time and their standards of quality and build are very good.

The second thing to know is the difference between dynamic, balanced armature and hybrid design in-ear monitors (IEMs). These three types of earphone descriptors are based on the drivers (speakers) used inside the shell of the earphone. Dynamic drivers are very similar to what we’re used to seeing in full sized speakers. Balanced armatures (BAs) are a special driver originally designed for use in hearing aids. Hybrid refers to an IEM which combines both dynamic and BA drivers in the same shell to make a multi-driver IEM with the aim being to maximise on the benefits of each driver type and to circumvent the drawbacks of each driver. Sometimes it works a treat and sometimes it doesn’t…

Overview

The AX-60s are a 3 driver hybrid design using a dynamic driver for the bass (because this is where dynamics consistently out-perform regular BAs) and two BA drivers for the mid-range and treble. This makes sense because the BAs were originally designed to reproduce vocal frequencies in hearing aids so they tend to excel in the mid-range and treble areas.

• Driver: 10mm Dynamic + Dual-Balanced Armature
• Frequency response: 8 Hz – 28000 Hz
• Sensitivity: 110 dB / 1mw (S.P.Lat 1KHz)
• Impedance: 12 OHM
• Cable: 1.2m +/-0.3m Galaxy cable
• Connector: 3.5mm gold plated connector
• Max input: 10 mW

Design & Comfort

The AX-60 shells are made entirely from aluminium which makes them look and feel very high quality. They feel like the premium product they’re meant to be. They are finished in dark grey or blue anodising which both look good.

I’m personally not a fan of the shape of the housing as I find they don’t sit particularly nicely in the ears, but they’re not uncomfortable – it just seems like they were designed on their own without consideration for how they might nestle into the ear of the listener. This doesn’t affect the comfort or listening experience in any way whatsoever, it’s just an aesthetic thing.

Cable

The marketing info for the AX-60 claims that the cable is made using a range of special, high grade materials, but there’s no way to really know exactly what they are without pulling it apart (and I don’t think that would go down well when these are a loan pair for review).

What matters though is that the cable is supple and feels good. It’s terminated with a nice, slim but sturdy feeling metal headphone jack and the Y-split and cable cinch are made with the same metal and finish. The cable then is easily on par with the great look and feel of the housing materials and finish.

The cable connects to the housing with some rubber strain reliefs that look like they’re well up to the task of extended use, but the cables are non-detachable so for those who like to cable-tweak, this may not be the earphone for you.

Personally, I think an earphone with a high quality non-detachable cable (like the AX-60s and VSonic GR07s) is preferable to an earphone with a crappy quality detachable cable so to me the AX-60s are doing just fine in the cable department.

Accessories & Fit

When you open the AX-60 box you might think you’ve been duped because all you can see is a pair of earphones with the default silicon tips and a metal plate with some weird metal pieces screwed into it. Your first thought could easily be “Where’s the rest of it?”

Well don’t worry, the rest is hiding underneath the top layer of foam.

Lifting up the top layer reveals the goodies below.

The AX-60s come with a nice metal tin which looks like it should contain mints or lollies, but instead holds a wide selection of tips including single and triple flange silicon options as well as foam tips similar to the Comply brand. There is also a pair of cable guides very similar to those supplied with the VSonic GR07s.

I found the tip selection to be excellent, especially because the small size triple flanges actually fit me! That never happens so kudos to Astrotec for actually having truly small triple flanges rather than just medium and large like every other brand I’ve tried. The single flange silicon tips were also available in a nice range of sizes and are comfortable to use. I didn’t try the foam tips, but if you have any experience with Comply tips, these will be much the same.

In addition to the tin of tips, you’ll also find a nice little leather pouch for storing and carrying your AX-60s. The pouch looks and feels like it’s good quality, but I couldn’t say if it’s real leather or not (mainly because I don’t think it matters and didn’t take the time to work it out). What does matter is that it’s small, but appropriately sized for the earphones and would be a comfortable thing to carry around in your pocket.

Overall Comfort

The AX-60s are a comfortable earphone once you find the right tips and insertion methods, but I wouldn’t say they’re among the most comfortable I’ve used. To me they’re on par with the VSonic GR07 (I keep mentioning these, don’t I?) and other straight / barrel shaped IEMs I’ve tried. They don’t quite compare to the comfort of some of the more molded IEMs I’ve tried like the HiFiMan Re272 or  Shure SE535. Having said that, they’re not uncomfortable so if they sound as good as or better than the other slightly more molded earphones then I’d still choose these, but we’ll get to the sound shortly…

One final thing to mention is that these manage to cram a lot of technology into a small space and still manage to make it a comfortable earphone so that’s saying something. There aren’t a lot of hybrids around (but there are a few and the numbers are growing) and it seems to be a challenge to fit them into a good sized enclosure while maintaining both comfort and sound quality. For that reason alone, the AX-60s should be applauded.

Sound Quality

As always the sound is what matters.

With a hybrid earphone you expect 2 things: great bass courtesy of the dynamic driver and smooth, detailed mids and highs courtesy of the BA drivers. Let’s step through the frequencies to see how the AX-60s performed.

Bass

Wow! The AX-60s have some great bass… depending on the filter.

When you first open the box you’ll see a metal plate which holds 4 filters (2 pairs). The 2 sets have slightly different sized mesh in them so when they’re screwed into the bore of the AX-60s, they change the sound significantly. With the open mesh the bass is a bit sloppy and slow to my ears. It’s impressive in its mass and weight, but just a bit too bloated. Changing to the finer mesh produces a very different (an impressive) bass experience.

With the finer mesh installed, the bass from the AX-60s is impactful and detailed. It’s not as fast as the bass from some other IEMs I’ve tried, but none of those have the body and impact of the AX-60s so it’s a slight trade-off. In terms of what I prefer, I think I would choose the AX-60 as my bass presentation of choice. It produces bass which is much more on par with a full-sized headphone or speaker and that lends an extra degree of toe-tapping fun to the listening experience.

Texture in the bass is good and it never bleeds into the mids so the overall listening experience is very clean and detailed despite the powerful bass. What’s extra impressive is how deep the bass goes. While I was writing this review, Hail Mary by 2pac came up in my playlist and I couldn’t help but be impressed with the deep rumble in the bass. Despite the deep, authoritative rumble coming from the AX-60s’ dynamic drivers, the bass always remained behind the rest of the track where it belongs.

Mid-range

I’ve heard some people suggest the mids of the AX-60s might be a little recessed, but I never felt like I wanted more. Certainly the treble and bass are prominent, but mid details don’t suffer and vocals are clear and present.

I love a BA mid-range. It has a certain texture and clarity that you rarely hear from a dynamic driver. Listening to acoustic guitars on the AX-60 you can hear and feel the strum on each string. Although not quite as refined as the Unique Melody Miracles (which cost more than 2x the price of the AX-60), the mids remind me a lot of the Miracles in terms of detail and texture. Overally, the AX-60s sound very different to the Miracles so I’m only talking about the mids here.

Vocals are clean and present. They’re also natural and without any tilt towards dryness or creaminess. In short, I really like the mids from the AX-60s!

Treble

OK, here’s where it gets a little tricky. As with many BA setups, the AX-60s can tend towards a bit harsh on some treble notes, but they are also very dependent on the tips you choose. I found that open tips (i.e. with wider and shorter sound tubes) were much smoother to listen to. Narrower tips like Sony Hybrids caused the treble to spike to uncomfortable levels on certain frequencies and really detracted from the listening experience. Of the tips I tried, I would recommend sticking to the stock single flange tips or possibly the foam tips (which I didn’t try, but have past experiences with similar tips).

Once you get the right tips on the AX-60s they really sing, but they are still bordering on bright. Interestingly, the thing they most remind me of is the Beyerdynamic T1 or T90 headphones. I’m not saying they’re as good as the T1s / T90s, but that their treble is reminiscent of the high end Beyers because of a spike around the 10kHz mark and can sound a bit harsh on certain tracks / sources. The thing with this type of treble spike is that it also seems to reveal information in the music that I don’t hear on ‘phones without such spikes.

To describe the treble from the AX-60s I’m going to focus on the sound with the finer mesh tips installed. The treble is clean, crisp and detailed, but slightly boosted compared to the mids. You could describe the AX-60s as having a slightly “V” shaped sound. It makes for a dynamic sound, but may be fatiguing to some people and is why the tip selection and source selection is important. There is also the importance of “brain burn-in” because I found once I got used to the sound I really enjoyed it and actually missed it when I returned to the Miracles.

Cymbals, percussion and consonants (in vocals) are present and defined, but jut slightly raspy at times. I think any shortcomings in the treble are really only noticeable because of the outstanding quality of the bass and mid-range, and that means that the treble is actually still very good. Where the bass and mid-range are well above standard for the price of the AX-60s, I think the treble maybe falls just a hair short of what I expect at this pricepoint. Don’t be discouraged though because one small issue doesn’t necessarily destroy the whole experience.

Staging & Imaging

I absolutely love how these things image! They have a really spacious presentation that is beyond any other earphone I’ve tried, except possibly the Miracles. It’s not that they create a massive soundstage, although it’s larger than average for an IEM. Where the AX-60s excel is the space in between all the instruments. Every sound is separated and placed in the soundstage perfectly. None of the instruments blend together and all have their own space and character.

If I had to nit-pick regarding the staging and imaging it’d be to say that the instruments can sometimes sound like their on their own. A guitar in my left ear sounds like it was recorded separately from the rest of the music rather than being a coherent part of the whole picture. I think the AX-60s might place the mids just a bit too far forward in these cases, but it doesn’t happen often and can actually be quite fun and engaging to hear things presented differently. It’s not ideal for critical listening and accuracy, but it’s doesn’t detract from enjoyment and is all about how you use the earphones.

I mentioned the stage being spacious, but not huge. Just to clarfiy, the stage doesn’t extend very far forward, but has plenty of space from left to right and a reasonable sense of height for an IEM.

Summary

The AX-60s aren’t a perfect IEM from a technical / accuracy standpoint, but they are brilliant fun and great value. They do everything very well and excel as a fun, dynamic listen. Don’t buy them if your goal is analytical accuracy, but definitely take a listen if you’re looking for an engaging musical experience with outstanding, but well-controlled bass (using the right filters of course)

At the time of writing, Noisy Motel, who lent me this loan pair, are selling the AX-60 for $399 (AUD). At that price, there are few other earphones I would choose over the AX-60 (if any). Others I would consider are the HiFiMan Re-400 which is cheaper, but will not even begin to match the bass performance of the AX-60. I also haven’t tried the new design of the HiFiMan earphones so don’t know if they would match the comfort I came to enjoy with the Re-272s and one of the reasons I loved the HiFiMan earphones.

Having owned other comparable earphones costing more and less than the AX-60s I can comfortably say that I would choose the AX-60s over the Shure SE535 Limited Edition, the VSonic GR07 MkII, and the Fischer DBA-02.

The AX-60s sit in an interesting spot in the market where they’re priced above some of the most popular IEM models, but less than high end IEMs and customs. For the money, I think they’re very good value as a venture into higher end sound without pricetag approaching $1000. They don’t match the performance of earphones approaching $1000, but I believe they are better value than the other earphones I’ve heard in the midrange $300-$500 range.

If you have a chance, take a listen to the AX-60s, but make sure you try them with an open-bore tip (i.e. not Sony Hybrids) and give them a bit of time to adjust to their dynamic sound if you’re coming from something more subdued. Oh, and don’t expect them to be an analytical, mastering earphone because they’re not. They are fun, exciting and enjoyable, and to me that makes for a great listen when I’m on the go. To me, these are the best earphone I’ve heard (under $400) to get my foot tapping and head bobbing.