Noble Kaiser K10 – Custom In-Ear Monitor

A while back, after spending a little time with the Shure SE846, I decided to part with my Unique Melody Miracle custom IEMs. In time I came to regret not having a custom-molded IEM in my collection so I began considering a replacement. Somewhere around that time I also had the chance to try the Noble PR universal IEM which, although not to my sonic tastes, showed a degree of tuning expertise that instantly intrigued me – the PR managed to deliver a crisp, super-clean, treble-focussed sound without harshness or sibilance – a huge feat in my experience. With Noble firmly on my radar and a clear sense of the type of sonic presentation I wanted, I started to consider their other offerings and decided eventually on the Kaiser 10 CIEM.

Before I get into the normal format, I wanted to say that the K10 is the first earphone / headphone that has ever left me wanting more… I’ll let you read on to see what that really means…

Overview

In the world of personal audio, the ultimate sound experience generally comes from custom molded in-ear monitors (CIEMs). In recent times, top of the line (TOTL) CIEMs have gone from 3-6 balanced armatures per side to 10 and even 12 BAs per side. The Kaiser 10 is an example of a 10 driver CIEM and has 10 individual drivers in each ear-piece – a pretty awesome piece of spatial design, but also a challenge of epic proportions when it comes to ensuring that all of those drivers are delivering their frequencies in time with and in support of the other drivers in each ear piece.

One of the largest challenges of any multi-driver setup (including speakers) is to have each driver deliver its optimum frequencies without interfering with the frequencies coming from the other drivers. A speaker manufacturer faces challenges with 2-3 drivers so imagine what happens when you get 10!! Add to that the challenge of placing the drivers at slightly different distances from the sound outlets and the possible timing / phase challenges this presents and getting everything right to the level expected of a flagship CIEM becomes a daunting prospect.

To read the rest of this review, please head over to the new Passion for Sound site – it’s sexier and will have more great content coming very soon!

 

Brainwavz R3

I recently had the pleasure to review the Brainwavz S5 IEM and the team at Brainwavz were obviously OK with my objective thoughts (I really liked the S5, but wasn’t shy about its short-comings) and offered to send me their R3 model for my next experience.

Overview

The R3 is a dual driver IEM, but not a dual balanced armature as you might expect. No, the R3 is a dual dynamic driver IEM using two opposed dynamic drivers firing into a single sound chamber / nozzle. It’s an unusual design, but one I had heard good things about so I was keen to check it out for myself.

The R3 model retails for about $139 here in Australia so it’s at the higher end of Brainwavz’ range, but still very affordable in the IEM world and I have to say that it performs exceedingly well for its price – better even than the S5 in terms of price:performance ratio I think.

To read the rest of this review, please go to the new Passion for Sound site. It’s sexier and there’s lots of great new content coming soon.

 

Brainwavz S5

Overview

The Brainwavz S5 is a new IEM priced at around $100 and is getting a lot of exposure thanks to a concerted effort from Brainwavz to push out review units to reviewers just like me. Thank you to Audrey and the Brainwavz team for arranging this pair of S5s for me to review at no charge. I’m really glad that they’ve decided to make this push too because Brainwavz have never been on my radar, but the S5 is a surprising package that has me seriously interested in their future offerings. As you’ll see, being a free review pair doesn’t make the S5s immune from criticism, but they’re honestly a really good budget pair of IEMs even with a few small hiccups.

To read this review please head over to the new Passion for Sound site. It’s sexier and there’s lots of great new content coming soon.

Shure SE846

I’ve been threatening this review for a while now, having had the SE846s in my possession for a number of months. The reason for the delay is not the normal busy-ness or range of other gear requiring reviews. No, the reason for the delay is that it has taken me some time to fully appreciate the SE846s for everything they are and can be. I have been through phases of awe, doubt, wonder, and hesitation with more time spent in awe and wonder, but enough doubt and hesitation that I wanted to be sure that my opinion didn’t swing the other way in time.

Well here we are now with a pair of SE846s in my ears, my mind completely made up on them and a blank page ready for audio-induced ramblings. Let’s go!

Overview

The Shure SE846 is Shure’s flagship IEM, sitting a step higher than the older, but still ongoing SE535. The SE846 sits significantly higher in price though at around $1000-1200 depending on where you shop and where you live. There are differing opinions about the SE846’s value compared to the SE535, but that comes down to two things: what you value in sound reproduction and which filter you use in the 846s, but I’ll get to that. Suffice to say for now, the 846s come three pairs of filters to tailor the sound to your tastes.

Read the rest of this review over at the new Passion for Sound site. It’s sexier and has lots of great new content coming soon!

 

Audiofly AF140 – Mini-Review

I’m sitting in bed today feeling decidedly lousy, but with the quandary of also having a pair of Audiofly’s new AF140 IEMs in my temporary possession for a review before I pass them on to another Head-Fi’er so I hope this mini-review can do justice to what I find to be a really enjoyable set of IEMs. Please don’t make the mistake of assuming that the brevity of my review or quantity / quality of photos reflects the quality or performance of the product in any way.

Before I get started, I’d like to thank the team at Audiofly and Billy from Noisy Motel for making this tour possible. I know that the AF140s have received some criticism so far which is always a risk during a tour, but I honestly believe that the criticism is misplaced and a result of personal tastes (which we are all completely entitled to) as opposed to a product design flaw. I believe the AF140s hits its brief as perfectly as the previously reviewed AF180s – it’s just that the brief in question isn’t for everyone and that’s fine. Read on to see if it might be for you…

To read this review please head over to the new Passion for Sound site. It’s sexier and there’s lots of great new content on the way.

 

Audiofly AF180

Ever wondered what happens when you let musicians design an earphone? No, not branding exercises like Beats, Marley, or certain AKG models, but musicians having an actual say in the design and sound of the earphones – in fact  in this case it’s musicians owning and running the company making the earphones.

Well what you get is something practical, sexy, comfortable, and never-endingly enjoyable to listen to. Meet the AF180 from Audiofly…

To read this review please head over to the new Passion for Sound site. It’s sexier and there’s lots of great new content on the way.

FIDUE A83

As I sit to write this review I have a confession to make. I had an assumption about these earphones before I received them and it made my initial impressions of them very confusing. You see, most hybrids on the market (IEMs using both dynamic drivers and balanced armatures) have lots of bass, sucked out mids and sharp, nasty treble. Many of them come close to the fun signatures that many of us are looking for, but none that I’ve heard in the crowded $200-$400 range are yet to achieve that signature without the curse of sizzling, snapping treble.

So when I heard about the upcoming A83 from FIDUE I got really excited. They have received excellent reviews for their A63, a mid-centric budget earphone, so I automatically thought that same warm, fun colouration would be added to the A83 along with the glorious bass of a well-tuned dynamic driver. When I eagerly unpacked the beautifully presented and engineered A83s I was in for a shock. “Where’s all the bass?” I thought, “And what’s with that treble!?” I was completely shocked and found it really hard to figure out what had gone wrong. Where was the fun, musical hybrid I was expecting? Was this another shouty hybrid, but this time without the bass chops?

Um… no.

I just made a really stupid assumption and I feel really silly now because I spent 3 weeks not appreciating the A83s for what they weren’t instead of realising what they are. Would you like to know what they actually are? Read on over at the new Passion for Sound site – it’s sexier and has lots of great new content coming!

 

Noble PR IEM

I find myself in the enviable position of having way too much gear to review at the moment thanks to a couple of purchases (Mr Speakers Mad Dogs and Shure SE846s) in addition to being included on some product tours for IEMs such as the Audiofly AF180s and these Noble PRs. I also have an upcoming review of the very interesting FIDUE A83s. For that reason I’m going to keep this review brief in words, but hopefully heavy on meaningful content. So here we go…

Overview

The Noble PR is one of 2 IEM models from Noble that include a switch on the IEM body that allows you to change the signature of the IEM on the fly. In the case of the PR, the options are a “Pure” sound (P) or a “Reference” sound (R). This is a first (as far as I know) because it is essentially two IEMs in one. For more detail, please take a look at the Noble website and while you’re there, do your eyes a favour and take a look at the “Wizard” range of universals – they are strikingly beautiful one-off, unique IEM designs that are incredibly affordable as a great sounding piece of artwork!

The only other specs I want to provide here are that these IEMs have two distinct impedances – approximately 240 ohm or 30 ohm depending on the mode.

By the way, before I continue I’d like to say thank you to Noble and Head-Fi’er, d marc0, for arranging this tour!! It’s a great initiative in the community to get people experiencing and talking about gear they might not otherwise try. Playing with the PRs has certainly got me very interested in Noble’s other products thanks to the great build quality and execution of the PR.

To read this review please head over to the new Passion for Sound site. It’s sexier and there’s lots of great new content too.

 

Atomic Floyd Super Darts

The Super Darts are a hybrid IEM from English manufacturer, Atomic Floyd. They boast some of the best build quality and bass quality I’ve ever seen and heard in an earphone, but were recently reviewed rather negatively by a local magazine publication. I was shocked to read the review and promptly asked Billy from Noisy Motel if I could have a lend of the Super Darts to review and to see if I had mis-perceived the Super Darts during my previous auditions. Despite being loaned the Super Darts there is no bias for me to write a favourable review.

Overview

• Sensitivity:  100 dB
• Frequency range:  5 – 25,000 Hz
• Impedance:  16 ohms
• Drivers:  1 x dynamic, 1 x balanced armature per earphone

The Super Darts retail for $299 (AUD) which places them firmly in the sweet spot for the many hybrid IEMs appearing on the market from companies such as Astrotec, Sony, and T-Peos to name a few. The hybrid trend is thriving at present because of the benefits of marrying the very bass-capable dynamic drivers with the more agile balanced armatures for mids and treble. I’ve previously reviewed the Astrotec AX60s which are a 3-driver hybrid that costs $100 more than the Super Darts so they provided a nice reference point for this review.

Design & Comfort

These are easily some of the sexiest IEMs I’ve ever seen and the fact that they’re made from metal and have a beautiful fabric-wrapped cable means that they feel as good as they look. They are built like a tank, but a tank made by Ferrari. Everything from the plug through the Y-split to the shells of the IEMs themselves are made of high quality materials and look and feel like they’re worth every cent of your $299.

Cable

The cable is fabric wrapped up to the Y-split before being replaced by a hard-wearing red rubber to maintain the silver, black and red colour scheme of all Atomic Floyd products.

Incorporated into the left channel cable is a mic and remote control for Apple devices (it doesn’t work with any other brand of device I’ve tried including Windows and Android phones) and the mic housing is also made of metal and high quality rubber for the buttons. Everything about it feels high quality and long-lasting, but the placement leaves me wondering a little.

Using the Super Darts while wearing an open-neck business shirt, the microphone section was constantly catching on my collar and soon drove me quite nuts. It also seems to be a little too high, sitting level with the adam’s apple in my neck. Although it’s probably a good placement for a microphone it is out of sight and in a position that will catch on a lot of clothing I think. Of course, some of this may also depend on your individual dimensions because we all have different length necks, ear heights, etc. It’s not a deal breaker, but I felt it was worthy of noting.

Accessories & Fit

The Super Darts are supplied with a sparse selection of silicon tips – 3 sizes, but that’s fine because they are excellent tips offering great comfort and perform better with the Super Darts than any other tip I tried (including foam, Sony Hybrid, and Monster tips). The tips carry the black and red colour scheme as well so your IEMs will look extra bad ass with the provided accessories.

As well as tips, Atomic Floyd package in an airplane adapter and mini-jack (6.3mm) adapter. Both are gold-plated with red accents so they look good and they feel like they’re high quality too.

Finally, you also get a rubber clam style carry case which is basic, but very practical and one of the best carry cases I’ve seen for IEMs (from a practicality point of view).

Overall Comfort

The Super Darts are a very comfortable IEM. I’ve mentioned in previous reviews that I sometimes struggle with in-ear comfort because of relatively small ear canals. The small flange on the tip of the Super Darts is just enough to hold the tips securely in place, but puts no pressure on my ears allowing the Super Darts to almost feel weightless.

Despite being made of solid metal, the Darts aren’t heavy or bulky. They have some weight, but they remain comfortable even for long listening sessions. As previously mentioned, the supplied tips are excellent and definitely contribute to the overall comfort.

Sound Quality

The Super Darts are best described as a fun sounding IEM with a U-shaped frequency response. They have perhaps the best bass I have ever heard on an IEM  – admittedly I haven’t heard some of the beasts in the bass department like the SE846 and IE8, but for a $299 IEM to be SO impressive in the bass region is astonishing. Before I carry on about the bass though, let’s break down the sound as usual into some categories for consideration.

Bass

No suprises here. I’ve just told you how exceptional these are here. The Super Darts are able to create rumble below the audible frequencies which is just amazing to me. They have a slight emphasis in the bass, but are not bloated at all. The bass is tight, punchy and full, but not soft or bloomy. Listening to Black Capricorn Day by Jamiroquai I was literally feeling sounds against my ear drums that I couldn’t hear. There are many tracks where I’ve flat-out stopped what I was doing to marvel at the bass from these tiny little bullets of sound.

Other than describing the bass from these as perfect, there’s not a lot more I can say and that’s not hyperbole. Imagine the best bass you could hear from an IEM and you’ll know what the Super Darts sound like in this region. Wow.

Of course, bass alone doesn’t make the perfect listening experience though so read on to see how they fare as we approach the higher frequencies.

Mids

The Super Darts’ U-shaped signature automatically means the midrange is going to be slightly pulled back in relation to the bass and treble, but to my ears the mids are still very good. There’s nice cohesion with all instruments and no signs of conflict between the dynamic driver and balanced armature where they share duties at the crossover point.

The mids are natural and clean overall. I’d probably describe them as neutral and accurate when considered in isolation. Yes, they sit behind the bass and treble in terms of overall emphasis, but the mids aren’t coloured in any way to my ears. There’s no lushness or cream added, but they also don’t get too dry or analytical with vocals – a nicely balanced approach.

Treble

And it was going so well… OK, so it’s no a deal breaker, but the treble is going to be a love hate thing for some people.

The Super Darts skirt the fine line for me between being energetic and dynamic in their treble presentation versus straying into strident and “too hot” territory occasionally. They remind me of some of the beyerdynamic cans with the peaks in the upper treble around 9kHz. If I had to draw a comparison to a headphone, I would point to the beyerdynamic T90 which is just a little brighter than the T1.

Depending on your taste in signatures, your device, and your music choices, the Super Darts could be anywhere from the perfect earphone to an ear-shredding disaster (but the latter exaggeration would only be for those who swear by super dark setups like Sennheiser HD650s with uber warm amplifiers). For most people I think the Super Darts will be much like many of the high-end beyerdynamic headphones – really enjoyable for 90% of your music and just a bit uncomfortable for the 10% that’s mastered too hot or poorly and with harsh treble.

Staging & Imaging

I expected the treble profile of the Super Darts to make for some epic staging and imaging, but they aren’t quite as incredible as I hoped. They’re not bad by any stretch, but they’re probably just average. You wouldn’t pass these up because of their staging and imaging because they’re respectable and solid, but they aren’t world-beaters in this department either. Imaging is clear, well located and cohesive and the stage is moderate in size, extending from ear to ear and slightly forward. The stage is also nicely semi-circular too whereas some other IEMs sometimes create a centre section and side sections with nothing at the angles, but the Darts perform well in that regard.

Summary

So what does all this mean and would I buy a set of Super Darts?

If a friend asked me about the Super Darts I would highly recommend that they try them out. In other words I think very highly of these earphones, but also recognise that they won’t be for everyone. If you like a dynamic sound, epicly awesome bass and sparkly treble you will absolutely love these earphones. If you run screaming from anyone who says the word “treble” then you probably shouldn’t bother with the Super Darts, but everyone else should definitely give them a go and make sure you try a track with some bass – you won’t regret it!!

Just to clarify all of this for anyone on the fence, I am general a bit treble shy. I use tube amps to smooth out my heaphones and lean away from bright / analytical gear towards more musical and slightly warm presentations, but I still REALLY like the Super Darts. If I didn’t already own a set of custom Miracles I would buy the Super Darts in a heart beat. For my ears I would pair them with slightly warmer sources (the Fiio X3 and RWAK100 would both be great combos) and love every second of time spent with them. I’m almost tempted to buy a set of these just because they are such a sexy, high quality product.

 

Signature Acoustics C-12 IEMs

The C-12s are hand-made IEMs made from Indian company, Signature Acoustics. A newcomer to the scene, it seems Signature Acoustics is creating some differentiation by creating hand-made, wooden IEMs.

Overview

• Driver:  8mm dynamic
• Impedance: 18 ohms
• Frequency:  17 – 20 kHz
• Sensitivity:  102 dB

For around $60 (AUD) these are a budget earphone that performs very well for its price and are a little bit special due to their wooden construction. Of course, there’s more you’ll want to know than just that though so read on for all the details…

Design & Comfort

I’ve already mentioned that the C-12s are made of wood so I won’t harp on it. It is worth noting though that being handmade does mean there will be some minor variation from one unit to the next and the casings may not be 100% perfect. For example, you may be able to see in the image above that the groove around the earphone at the front of the photo is of varying width because the earphones haven’t been assembled perfectly. It seems to have no impact on the sound and is only noticeable if you look closely so I really don’t think this matters and it’s always nice to know that someone has personally put their care, attention and expertise into creating a product so I’m fine with the minor aesthetic imperfections. It’s also really nice having a beautifully crafted wooden Y-split complete with a slider so that earns points in my book.

In terms of comfort, the C-12 comes with a fairly basic range of silicon single-flange tips and the sound port is the same as the HiFiMan earphones so there are plenty of tips around that will fit the C-12s. My ears are fairly tricky to get a comfortable fit with when using a universal so it’s no surprise that the C-12s aren’t perfectly comfortable, but the Re-272s and Shure SE535s are the only universals I’ve found so far that were 100% comfortable so this is more about me than the C-12s. Overall, I would expect the C-12s to be as comfortable as the majority of other IEMs for most people. If you struggle to get a comfortable fit, these might not be for you, but if most earphones are OK for you there’s no reason to not consider the C-12s.

Supplied Accessories

In addition to the range of tips, the C-12s come with a beautiful brass storage case. I doubt you’d use it as a carry case because it’s really heavy, but it’s a really nice storage case to keep on a desk or in a draw with your earphones safe and sound. I wonder though if it’s a bit of a mismatch to have a fairly deluxe style container for a relatively budget IEM. Perhaps a cheaper case and some extra tips would be a better inclusion.

The other things provided with the C-12s are a lapel clip to hold the cable and 2 different sets of filters to tweak the sound to your personal preferences. I’ll discuss these in more detail below.

Sound Quality

The price tag of the C-12s might leave you expecting little, but there are various budget IEMs out there now offering great performance and the C-12 seems to be targeted at the same market. The overall signature of the C-12s is warm and smooth with a slight emphasis on bass. It’s an inoffensive sound and easy to enjoy, but let’s look more closely…

Treble

This is probably the weakest part of the C-12s signature. The treble is just a bit too rolled off and it leaves the overall sound feeling a bit murky and thick. The provided filters (the mesh you can see on top of one of the IEMs in the image to the right) allow you to tweak the sound, but none of them really open up the treble quite enough. It’s very hard to tell if the pre-fitted filters are the middle of the 3 or the most open. One set is definitely for a much darker sound, but the other is so similar to the pre-fitted ones that I had a hard time distinguishing the difference by the time I removed the IEMs, change filters and got them back in my ears.

In the end, what really matters is that there is no configuration of filters or tips that could produce quite enough treble extension to make these sound as open and detailed as they probably should. With no filter at all, the C-12s start to approach a better balance of treble energy, but I imagine just one small amount of ear-wax in a tiny driver like this could be curtains so I wouldn’t recommend filter-free use and only tried it myself for the briefest time to see what the starting signature is like. Doing so showed me that the C-12 probably started a little too dark before the filters were applied and it had nowhere to go. Had the starting sound included just a little more treble energy, these could have been really magic. As it is, despite the quoted 20kHz frequency peak, it sounds like there is fairly significant roll-off before about 16kHz and it leaves the C-12s lacking that little bit of air that would help them feel more spacious and alive.

I know I’ve just spent 2 paragraphs bemoaning the C-12s treble, but all is not lost. The treble that is present is of great quality – smooth and refined – and the relative lack of treble energy means there’s zero fatigue from the C-12s. For people who enjoy a laid-back listening experience, the C-12s are still worth considering so read on!

Mids

The C-12 offers a nice, creamy mid-range with plenty of detail and texture. It’s a little bit coloured and not entirely even across all mid-range frequencies, but it’s enjoyable nonetheless. These aren’t IEMs you’d use for analysis or monitoring – they’re IEMs purely for relaxed listening to music.

Vocals are clear and present with good body whether it’s a male or female vocalist. Overall, the tonality of the mids is quite neutral the majority of the time with the exception of some slight upper bass bloat which can muddy the mid-range on some tracks, but this is more an exception than the rule. All-in-all I find the C-12’s mid-range enjoyable and a little seductive. I wonder if the wooden housing is the cause for the overall warmth and the nice timbre of most vocals and instrumental presentation.

Bass

The C-12s were clearly tuned to have a nice prominent bass with punch and presence, but not too much bloat. They’re not the final word in bass control, but the bass is really good for the most part. Bass lines sing through the music, you can feel some kick and thump in your ears and with a few exceptions (as mentioned above), the bass mostly stays in its own lane and doesn’t interfere with higher registers. There’s plenty of extension down deep and on some tracks, the depth and subtlety of the rumble I was hearing and feeling was really impressive.

Summary

If this is the first foray into earphones from Signature Acoustics (which I believe it might be) it’s an excellent start. They probably need to make a few adjustments (like starting with a brighter driver to put inside their beautiful, but warm sounding wooden shells), but this first effort is very well priced for its quality of build and sound.

I wouldn’t recommend this for people who enjoy bright, airy sounding ‘phones, but it’s worth checking out if you’re looking for a well-priced, laid-back cruisy earphone with great bass. Think of the C-12 as a budget earphone representing something similar in overall signature to an LCD-2 or HD650 (not that it performs to the same level, but it has the same laid-back type of signature).

I’m keenly waiting to see what Signature Acoustics might offer up next because the value for money of the C-12 is excellent, their design is really nice, and the overall result is only a few adjustments from being a serious giant killer. To get a better sounding, but similarly voiced earphone you need to spend nearly twice as much on something like the thinksound TS01 so it’s a really good start from Signature Acoustics!