64 Audio U12t Review (IEM)

[Rottmannash]

I have tested others. I use them all the time during summer to block out noise. Regular headphones are either too hot if closed, or don't block noise if open. I also wear them outdoors.

Agree- In the gym, doing yard work, when I want a very intimate and enveloping sound-otherwise speakers or HP's.

 

[sq225917]

I picked up a set of fiio fh9 yesterday. Out of the box they're good, better than the Oracles. I spent the evening making a composite of all the available measurements to build a peq for Nuetron.

Left them running on repeat all night, then spent the morning fine tuning, going back and forth making small adjustments to the peq and now I have them sounding about as neutral as I can judge, which of course probably isn't very good at all.

Swapping between speakers and iems in my music room they do sound rather close, at least in terms of tonal balance. But it's just so much easier to home in on any aspect of the music with my speakers than with the iems.

They'll do well enough though.

 

[lewdish]

Is there anything that we can take away from here in terms of the how it achieves its technicalities? U12T is noted for its sound-staging and imaging capabilities and you are able to pull out tremendous detail out of them? In addition looking at it the the distortion is actually pretty well controlled, at 114db you're actually going to pretty painful areas already where nobody would be using them. Almost all BA drivers have specifications that list a THD up to 7% generally some a few less, but it is compliant w/ what the driver specifications would be. So the question is within IEMs is there something to be said in regards to the relativity of distortion measurements when you're injecting sound beyond the ear's concha? I'm curious how useful a waterfall plot would be as well to see if we notice anything in particular~

 

[Kevbaz]

Are these made in America or Europe, if so the higher labour costs would explain a higher price
Kev

 

[Pe8er]

@Kevbaz they are made in the US, although I wouldn't rule out a dose of "audiophile tax" too

I just got these in custom form (a12t) and I can confirm that without Amir's EQ they sound muffled and congested. Once applied, highs open up and they're much more enjoyable. The bass is very powerful! Overall sound reminds me of LCD-X. Instrument separation is good but soundstage / imaging…I don't know anymore, having spent time with Genelec speakers all headphones now sound flat in that regard

Price does suck without a doubt, but I'm really happy to finally have earphones that sound great, are easy to travel with, isolate well, don't hurt my ears and don't fall out. I'm done obsessing over equipment and back to enjoying music - at least until someone figures out how to do speaker-like imaging in headphones, if that's possible at all!

 

[don'ttrustauthority]

I don't get the positive review. Check out the crinicle x planar for 100 bux! Only too flat.

Here distortion is too high at sensitive points (2 - 3 kHz).

 

[NoteMakoti]

I finally got to demo these at Canjam NYC and was blown away by them. Not just for how pleasant they sounded, but that they didn't come with gigantic nozzles, so they were actually comfortable to listen to for more than a few minutes. I might end up splurging on a pair of these down the road.

 

[Docmoggy]

Very interesting review and it is quite enlightening to see the level of "blemishes" to potential performance from the data. I would say it is pretty much unacceptable to have a product that costs $2000 to have that level of, shall we say, "imperfection"? At these prices auditory perfection should be an unquestionable given. For example, the Truthear Zero and Hexa offer perfection for their representative cost that are approximately 30 times less than these mooted IEMs. I do believe there are some IEMS that cost over $3000 and I would hazard a guess that IEMs such as the Hexa give them a good run for their money. Amir has done us all a big favour, saving us the embarrassment of spending thousands for sub perfect devices, by revealing Truthear Zero to us - the benchmark.

 

[NoteMakoti]

At these prices auditory perfection should be an unquestionable given. For example, the Truthear Zero and Hexa offer perfection for their representative cost that are approximately 30 times less than these mooted IEMs.

Gonna be real with you, these did sound better -to me- than my Zeros when I demoed them. Maybe I just have it out for highs.

The best thing about getting the Zeroes, aside from their being great IEMs in their own right, is I have something I can actually compare these frequency response graphs to.

 

[ThatSoundsGood]

I can tell you that I have measured many custom sets of these and the frequency response can differ a bit on them, but the phase trace is always really good. Most of them don't have the 3KHz dip. These are the best sounding CUSTOM IEM's I have ever used in a live music environment. They are worth every penny for live musicians on stage.

 

[Zerviscos]

As far as I know the upper mids dip around 3k there was more for the sake of having a more wider stage at the cost of the vocals sounding bit off center, so they adjusted the treble to peak more to compensate while also at the cost of sounding more sharp and have that sense of fatigue due to the treble and airiness after the 11k region. I personally get fatigued in some tracks due to this, though it's tolerable, it's definitely there.

 

[ThatSoundsGood]

Are these made in America or Europe, if so the higher labour costs would explain a higher price
Kev

The customs are made in Vancouver, Washington. I think the non-customs are made there too so yeah, there's a lot of labor involved.

 

[gamer1995]

We have discussed this to death in the past. This is the only official, published curve from Harman. The only other version came from listeninc and there is no confirmation of research being based on it.

 

[MacClintock]

This review is now almost two years old and it is incredible how overpriced, superfluous and unnecessary these so-called flagship IEMs have become. They have high distortion, peaks, and worse target compliance than some $20-50 IEMs. The chinese manufacturers are wiping out the market in a brutal storm. It looks almost like an antiquity.

 

[Chagall]

This review is now almost two years old and it is incredible how overpriced, superfluous and unnecessary these so-called flagship IEMs have become. They have high distortion, peaks, and worse target compliance than some $20-50 IEMs. The chinese manufacturers are wiping out the market in a brutal storm. It looks almost like an antiquity.

I was thinking the same thing. It was expensive then with way less competition, but now it's outrageous. Still, it is not a bad-sounding IEM and people who own it shouldn't feel bad...it's just progress.

 

[markanini]

This review is now almost two years old and it is incredible how overpriced, superfluous and unnecessary these so-called flagship IEMs have become. They have high distortion, peaks, and worse target compliance than some $20-50 IEMs. The chinese manufacturers are wiping out the market in a brutal storm. It looks almost like an antiquity.

I don't have any personal interest in premium IEMs. But I'll defend the existence of western brands and manufacturing when the alternative relies on asymmetric tariffs and slave labor.

 

[Somafunk]

By all accounts and reviews I’ve read/watched it seems the 64 Audio U4S is the pick of the bunch, I’d like to hear them but they’re £900 out of my budget.

 

[majingotan]

I don't have any personal interest in premium IEMs. But I'll defend the existence of western brands and manufacturing when the alternative relies on asymmetric tariffs and slave labor.

Agreed. There's nothing worth more than $20 for sonic performance in IEMs, however I do see value of western companies such as 64Audio giving young people in the states an opportunity in innovating over-engineered products that will last for a lifetime if taken with good care.

Same for Campfire Audio which I had become a fan of since their early years as a small company because they go outside of the Harman tuning norm in tuning their IEMs whereas every other manufacturer goes for the same FR target thus sounding the same (doesn't have an identity sonically). I do repeat, beyond $20 (the true value in sonic performance and BOM), you're just donating all the extra for a company that you'd like to support for personal reasons (disclaimer: I don't work for Campfire and just a die-hard fan of their house sound tuning wise)

 

[markanini]

Agreed. There's nothing worth more than $20 for sonic performance in IEMs, however I do see value of western companies such as 64Audio giving young people in the states an opportunity in innovating over-engineered products that will last for a lifetime if taken with good care.

Same for Campfire Audio which I had become a fan of since their early years as a small company because they go outside of the Harman tuning norm in tuning their IEMs whereas every other manufacturer goes for the same FR target thus sounding the same (doesn't have an identity sonically). I do repeat, beyond $20 (the true value in sonic performance and BOM), you're just donating all the extra for a company that you'd like to support for personal reasons (disclaimer: I don't work for Campfire and just a die-hard fan of their house sound tuning wise)

View attachment 345804

Lot's of western audio tech consumers love far-eastern brands, me included. It's nice to see the favor returned!

In the end my argument is ultra simple. Local tech and manufacturing industries dying is never a good thing on the whole. Some people think it's the consumer that wins long as the products are more cost effective. But the bigger winners in that situation are the investors and the governments, and they are not your friend.

 

[MacClintock]

I don't have any personal interest in premium IEMs. But I'll defend the existence of western brands and manufacturing when the alternative relies on asymmetric tariffs and slave labor.

Well, if you take it as western vs chinese, there are for sure ways for a decent western company to produce well tuned and engineered IEMs for maybe $100-200. For amps, headphones amps and DACs there are quite good competitive products (JDS labs, Schiit, Geshelli labs,...), western headphones are currently, still even superior for the price. So why not for IEMs? Nobody can tell me that 64 audio are not cashing in massively on brand reputation (in my view not justified), history and their pro audio costumers. Campfire and Noble are other ridiculously overpriced brands. Their days are counted, they will only live on by the audiophool clientele.