64 Audio U12t Review (IEM)

[markanini]

I don't mean to beat a long dead and decomposing horse, but I just read through the entire thread and wanted to throw in my 2 cents.
I owned maybe 15 different IEMs over the last two years. I sold or gave away what IEMs I didn't care for and I'm holding on to a few that I actually regularly use.
I'm a frugal person and I know my way around audio and measurements. I classify myself as a trained listener and don't spend money I don't need to get the performance I want.
Seeing how the published FR graphs often don't really reflect my personal impressions, and Youtube reviewers are not a good source of recommendations, I bought the passes to the CanJam in NYC earlier this year and made a point of listening to many IEMs as to have a better insight into the market.

I eventually made my way to 64 Audio table and got to listen to the U4S and the U12T. U4S sounded OK but definitely not worth the asking price, but the U12T was indeed special.
My U12T impression was actually the opposite of what the graphs show. The female vocals in a really congested tune that I often use for evaluation were well defined and right in my face, whereas typically on textbook IEMs they are more thin sounding and further back in the mix.
The measured dip at 3kHz would suggest the vocals would be disadvantaged, but that's not what I heard. Whatever psychoacoustic effect was at play was very beneficial to my ear. The music overall sounded full and warm and pleasant without loss of detail. It might not be the most analytical IEM, but it's what I would want as my daily driver. I totally understand the high rankings it gets from reviewers. 64 Audio got the euphony right here.

The asking price for the U12t (even on the used market) is more than I like to spend on an IEM, but a used 64 Audio Nio came up for sale for less and I bought it. The Nio is very similar to the U12T, it replaces the 4 BA's responsible for bass with one DD. The midrange and treble are the same configuration from what I can tell. It's not quite the same experience as I remember from the U12T at CanJam, but it still is subjectively better than my Hype 4 and my Dusk which measure better.

It's theoretically possible that a deviating looking frequency response can be viable and preferable to some listeners based on their specific habits and taste. I try not to be reductive and say that something is bad just because it doesntt conform with an established curve. We are talking about an ear canal coupled transducers at the end of the day, and the science is not that granular as steady state devices such as amps or DACs. A wide range of individual anatomy variability can substantially affect the in-situ frequency response that the graph can represent in a singlular curve. My only remaining qualms with 64Audio is that they demand a premium for their unique tuning, and the less than standard FR increases the risk of being a bad fit for many users if they choose to blind buy. One user a few years ago shared his journey in a thread, blog style, about acquiring a 64 Audio IEM which he went into with unrestrained optimism. But things turned sour for him due to QC issues and a restrictive return policy (he should have negotiated about this prior to purchasing IMO). In your case you had a good experience it seems, and you were able to demo the product beforehand to determine if it was worked the asking price and things turned out well for you. I would say you should enjoy them and ignore shallow criticism.

 

[ryaneagon]

I don't mean to beat a long dead and decomposing horse, but I just read through the entire thread and wanted to throw in my 2 cents.
I owned maybe 15 different IEMs over the last two years. I sold or gave away what IEMs I didn't care for and I'm holding on to a few that I actually regularly use.
I'm a frugal person and I know my way around audio and measurements. I classify myself as a trained listener and don't spend money I don't need to get the performance I want.
Seeing how the published FR graphs often don't really reflect my personal impressions, and Youtube reviewers are not a good source of recommendations, I bought the passes to the CanJam in NYC earlier this year and made a point of listening to many IEMs as to have a better insight into the market.

I eventually made my way to 64 Audio table and got to listen to the U4S and the U12T. U4S sounded OK but definitely not worth the asking price, but the U12T was indeed special.
My U12T impression was actually the opposite of what the graphs show. The female vocals in a really congested tune that I often use for evaluation were well defined and right in my face, whereas typically on textbook IEMs they are more thin sounding and further back in the mix.
The measured dip at 3kHz would suggest the vocals would be disadvantaged, but that's not what I heard. Whatever psychoacoustic effect was at play was very beneficial to my ear. The music overall sounded full and warm and pleasant without loss of detail. It might not be the most analytical IEM, but it's what I would want as my daily driver. I totally understand the high rankings it gets from reviewers. 64 Audio got the euphony right here.

The asking price for the U12t (even on the used market) is more than I like to spend on an IEM, but a used 64 Audio Nio came up for sale for less and I bought it. The Nio is very similar to the U12T, it replaces the 4 BA's responsible for bass with one DD. The midrange and treble are the same configuration from what I can tell. It's not quite the same experience as I remember from the U12T at CanJam, but it still is subjectively better than my Hype 4 and my Dusk which measure better.

Totally agree with your take. I have the A12t, and I’ve spent time comparing it with the Thieaudio Monarch MKIII. The MKIII definitely has more air and brightness, but to me, it just sounds a bit unnatural—almost too “hi-fi” for its own good. The A12t, on the other hand, is one of the most natural-sounding IEMs I’ve ever heard. It’s got that realism, but it still slams when it needs to—deep bass, tight kick, solid sub-bass.

I also have a custom MEST MKII, which is probably my favorite IEM overall. It’s not the most accurate of the bunch, but man, it’s fun. Engaging, exciting, and just super enjoyable to listen to. It’ll play anything you throw at it and make it sound good.

The A12t is a bit pickier—it doesn’t sugarcoat poorly recorded or mastered music—but when the source is good, it shines. I actually love having both, because they complement each other perfectly. Totally different tunings, but both bring something special to the table.

I will say, it usually takes me about 20–30 minutes to recalibrate my ears when switching between them. But once I settle in, I honestly love them both equally—it just depends on my mood and what I’m listening to.

 

[JamoBroGuy]

The A12t, on the other hand, is one of the most natural-sounding IEMs I’ve ever heard. It’s got that realism, but it still slams when it needs to—deep bass, tight kick, solid sub-bass.

The A12t is a bit pickier—it doesn’t sugarcoat poorly recorded or mastered music—but when the source is good, it shines.

Unsurprising, since it’s a studio reference monitor.

For those who don’t know, 64 Audio tunes their universals differently than their customs to please audiophiles. The U12t is not flat, the A12t is. Most pro companies don’t do this (for rather obvious reasons), but 64 does.

 

[Mixo]

Guys, im new here, so hello to everyone. Ive just ordered u12t for 850$ used and im waiting for it's arrival. But i have a problem. I cant get my head around what does the "resolution" mean. This is not my first IEM. Ive owned softears rs10, which i sold off to a priest from Tiwan and currently i have monarch mk2 and ier-z1r in my possession. I have read that softears rs10 is the most resolving iem in the world. But i couldn't understand why. Those 2 iems of mine had as good detail as softears. So im confused, could you explain?
Also i bought aripods pro 2 and it sounds pretty darn good. My iems doesnt sound twice or three times better. Max 20% at best.

 

[RandomEar]

Guys, im new here, so hello to everyone.

Welcome to ASR!

Ive just ordered u12t for 850$ used and im waiting for it's arrival. But i have a problem. I cant get my head around what does the "resolution" mean. This is not my first IEM. Ive owned softears rs10, which i sold off to a priest from Tiwan and currently i have monarch mk2 and ier-z1r in my possession. I have read that softears rs10 is the most resolving iem in the world. But i couldn't understand why. Those 2 iems of mine had as good detail as softears. So im confused, could you explain?

Technically, you should ask the people who claim stuff about "resolution" what they mean with that. But I would bet that you're going to get a dozen different answers if you asked a dozen people. It's not a defined or objective term, it's a subjective impression.

I'm pretty sure that for most people, their impression of "resolution" is increased with a higher amount of treble. Maybe just certain narrow bands in the treble, but definitely in that region. The more high frequencies are present - even if they are exaggerated above what a neutral and faithful reproduction demands - the higher the perceived "resolution" will likely be. At least up to a certain point, past which it just sounds sh*tty again.

I also think that descriptions like "most resolving in the world" are just made up by people trying to justify why they just spend over 2000 $ on an IEM. You can get absolutely excellent IEMs for around 100 $ in the current market. Spending more does not necessarily give you better sound. It gives you more options and it may result in higher build quality.

Also i bought aripods pro 2 and it sounds pretty darn good. My iems doesnt sound twice or three times better. Max 20% at best.

Suggestion: Try a Truthear Zero:2, a Zero:Red or a 7 Hz Zero 2 and be surprised.

 

[staticV3]

Hi @Mixo! Welcome to ASR.

I cant get my head around what does the "resolution" mean.

Resolution in simple terms is the absence of distortion.

Imagine you had a perfect microphone and you record a track played back through various IEMs.

The more resolution an IEM has, generally the harder it would be to distinguish the recording of the track from the original WAV or FLAC file that you were playing back.

Some important caveats:

-an IEM's frequency response can feign resolution, because our hearing is easily tricked. Boost the treble response of your IEM and roll off the bass a bit and generally people will perceive high resolution.

-frequency response in IEMs is still being researched, because the geometry of your ear canal is part of the playback system (similar to how your room is part of your stereo system).

Therefore, measuring an IEM's resolution by checking its recording against the original track will work only if we remove frequency response from the equation.

Thankfully this is pretty easy to do and would allow us to judge the resolution (sum of all nonlinear distortion) separate from the IEM's tonality/timbre which is still subject to research.

 

[Mixo]

Thanks for the answers my friends. And what volume do you listen to? I used to listen at pretty high volumes and it scared me after i got some kind of ear irritation from ier-z1r, i tried so hard to achieve a good seal i irritated my poor ear canal. This is a u12t thread so what should i expect from them? I know i will not be blown away (please god let me be blown away by them), but that won't happen, because most of the time im dissapointed in this hobby. i love good dynamics but never seem to get that, or it depends on my mood. Once i was high on weed and listened to my ier-m7 (which were fantastic but i sold them for 150$ on head-fi) and ibasso dx160 and man that was a trip. It seems weed really opens up your ears in some magical way. So my reccomendation? Ditch your high end cables and get some weed.

 

[Mixo]

So i ve had u12t for a week now... and well im dissapointed. It sounds hardly any better than airpods pro 2. And overall im slowly coming to conlcussion that high end audio staff is mostly scam. I have nw-wm1z and yulong d-100 as a source, hifiman ga-10 as an amp. My iems consist of monarch mk2 and origin, also aformentioned u12t and ier-z1r. I have also an audeze lcd-2c, open back planar. And they are hardly any better than airpods pro 2. I dont know, i feel very dissapointed.

 

[lewdish]

So i ve had u12t for a week now... and well im dissapointed. It sounds hardly any better than airpods pro 2. And overall im slowly coming to conlcussion that high end audio staff is mostly scam. I have nw-wm1z and yulong d-100 as a source, hifiman ga-10 as an amp. My iems consist of monarch mk2 and origin, also aformentioned u12t and ier-z1r. I have also an audeze lcd-2c, open back planar. And they are hardly any better than airpods pro 2. I dont know, i feel very dissapointed.

Thats wild i think the exact opposite.... The Monarch mk2 is good but its nothing special LCD2C is to me has always been the most undetailed planar you can have as well imo, but I also think the AP Pro 2 to me just sounds like any other harman tuned bud from JBL but the. U12T has a massive stage and imaging i dont get that at all from AP Pro 2. I dont think theyre really comparable either in terms of sound signature as the AP are super bassy in comparison like general harman. None of these are really comparable cases imo as everything youve told seems like vastly different directions each w/ their own demographic.