Gear references
Favourite: D2000
Neutrality: SRH940 (audition experience with the ER4XR and the HD600)
IEM reference: Aurisonics ASG-2.0
Specifications
Packaging and accessories
AAW really steps it up with their luxurious box. It opens up sideways on a hinge, sealed shut with a magnetic mechanism. Inside, you’ll receive your CIEMs (of course), a cleaning cloth, a cleaning tool, two-pin airplane adapter, a ¼” adaptor, with a warranty-and-policy booklet sealed with fancy stamped wax. It also comes with a little card with your name written on it. I don’t much care for it, but you’re the kind who’d like that kind of personalisation, it’ll be a nice treat for you.
Build quality and fit
To put it short: superb. No air bubbles as far as I can see them and consistent translucency throughout the acrylic shell. My selected faceplates, the red and blue Mother-of-Pearl, are very well made, though upon closer inspection you can see the seams where AAW joins individual shells. Which is something I’d willing close an eye for, considering the nature of working with MOP and how they hid the seams very expertly.
As shown above, there is a bass port on the shell due to the dynamic driver. However, given the size of the port, it barely makes a dent in the shell’s isolation. There is hardly any difference in isolation between my custom made silicon plugs and my A3H-Pros.
What AAW did, as far as I can tell, is that they added additional layers to my ear impressions, making it a snug fit rather than a perfect one. This creates additional pressure against my ears, which makes it a very full sealing seal. This is in stark contrast to a previous custom I've had, a reshelled TF10 by a defunct company called Stage93. This reshell was slightly more comfortable as they've used my impressions as they received it, resulting in a more "perfect" fit. However, the seal in those customs broke with the slightly movement in my jaw (turning my head, opening my mouth etc.) which made it very annoying to wear.
Personally I think this fit is a good balance between comfort and seal. Obviously not perfect, but I have not had the seal break on me at all.
The cable is a Null Audio Brevity cable, a soft, smooth silicone-coated braided cable that is feels very comfortable against bare skin. Microphonics are higher than average, though the custom design along with the over-the-ear position makes it a non-issue.
Sound Quality
Frequency response
Slightly bass linear (bass > mids = treble). Bass emphasis all the way into the lower midrange where it valleys, followed by roll-off in the upper treble.
General sound signature
Warm and smooth with slightly laid-back treble, very non-fatiguing sound.
Genre strengths
Jazz and vocals, instruments like trumpets, saxophones and cello
Bass
I would consider it the star of the show seeing as how it’s the first thing that pops up when you first put it on. The bass is slightly emphasised at about 5dB+/- above neutral, valleying at 400Hz and running linearly into the sub-50 frequencies, creating good rumble and pushing air like nothing else. It extends deep into the double-digits and has extremely satisfying volume and texture.
However, it wouldn’t be considered a basshead’s bass. Flatheads would assume that it’s for bassheads, while bassheads would find themselves wanting more. It's a neither-here-nor-there bass that's slightly higher in quantity than the new Ety ER4XR but not as bassy as, say, the SE215. If you’re one who prefers this kind of "on-the-fence" signature, the A3H would be perfect for you.
On another note, the A3H’s bass is not “punchy”. There is a resonant quality to its bass due to its slower driver speed and relative balance between sub-bass and mid-bass. This creates three very obvious qualities:
If anything, the A3H is reminiscent of a tiny subwoofer, not necessarily bringing speed and imapct but rather providing a dynamic and hefty bass experience.
Mids
After the initial awe of the A3H’s bass, there was something else that crept behind its shadow. Vocals, instruments, synths… if the bass was the star of the show, the midrange was its manager. The strict, workaholic manager that occasionally played along with the star’s aloof and showboaty nature. The midrange itself is clear and detailed, but when in tandem with the weight and volume of the bass frequencies creates a much more weighted sound that borrows some low-end heft from the lower-midrange frequencies. The mids and treble are handled by the time-proven and very capable TWFK-30017, a rather premium dual-driver single-bore model by Knowles that does well in retrieving the detail out of the midrange. However, previous experience with TWFK IEMs gives me the impression that TWFK drivers tend to image a rather cold, analytical and, some would say metallic, sound.
The low-end influence of the A3H's dynamic driver over the midrange creates a sound that is very distinct from the signature TWFK mids, giving vocals that added richness and various instruments that much needed volume in their sound. The coherency between the dynamic driver’s bass and the BAs’ midrange is nothing short of amazing, reminiscent of the Aurisonic’s own famous mids.
Onto its shortcomings, the emphasis in the lower midrange (200-600Hz) does result in a "veil" that is similar to the HD650 as well a more congested-sounding space, which weirdly matches with the rather excellent width of its soundstage. Dampening that range with an EQ improves clarity and apparent detail greatly. though at the cost of smoothness and some body.
Treble
Once out of the influence of the dynamic driver, the treble isn’t much to write home about. I can tell that the TWFK has been lightly damped, removing any stray peaks in the 3k-6k regions and resulting in a very smooth and non-fatiguing high-end. As stated above, AAW has left a little sparkle in the treble in its tuning, so I wouldn’t exactly call this IEM dark by any means, but I wouldn’t call it bright either. There is definitely more treble quantity in the A3H as compared to darker IEMs like the SE215 and even AAW's own A2H.
There is a rather heavy roll-off after 9K, making the sound miss some of the “air” that’s ever-so-present in my full-sized headphones. I guess if there is a silver lining to this lack of treble extension, is that combination of the linearity of the upper frequencies along with the early roll-off greatly contributes to its signature non-fatiguing sound.
Soundstage
I’m not too familiar with IEM soundstaging, so I’ll be rather quick and brief on this aspect. Of course, it wouldn’t trade blows with my D2000s, but definitely presents a bigger stage than my ASG-2.0s. It can present a very wide stage, but when coupled with the rather congested midrange creates the illusion not unlike a small band in an orchestral hall. EQing the 250Hz and 500Hz down slightly (special thanks to tz0531 for the tip) really helps to separate the midrange apart, opening up the soundstage very nicely.
If I remember correctly, in width it seems to be on par with the soundstage of the UE900, which according to a quick Google search seems to be pretty well-regarded.
Conclusion
A very solid contender in the realm of entry-level CIEMs, the A3H performs above and beyond its price point, trading blows with well-established veterans of the field. The A3H’s strong points lie in its non-fatiguing sound and well-textured bass, as well as amazing coherency between bass and mids.
The rabbit hole just got a little bigger.
Do visit the main review thread for updates and further comparisons.
Further readings:
Lachlan's review of an older revision of the A3H
tz0531's review of the A3H-Pro
Favourite: D2000
Neutrality: SRH940 (audition experience with the ER4XR and the HD600)
IEM reference: Aurisonics ASG-2.0
Specifications
- 10mm Proprietary Dynamic Driver + dual driver unit Knowles TFWK-30017, dual sound bore design
- TruXross 3 Way Crossover (electrical crossover)
- Frequency response: 20 Hz - 20000 Hz
- Sensitivity: 105 dB SPL @ 1mW
- Impedance: 16 Ohm @ 1kHz
- THD <= 0.5% @1kHz
Packaging and accessories
AAW really steps it up with their luxurious box. It opens up sideways on a hinge, sealed shut with a magnetic mechanism. Inside, you’ll receive your CIEMs (of course), a cleaning cloth, a cleaning tool, two-pin airplane adapter, a ¼” adaptor, with a warranty-and-policy booklet sealed with fancy stamped wax. It also comes with a little card with your name written on it. I don’t much care for it, but you’re the kind who’d like that kind of personalisation, it’ll be a nice treat for you.
Build quality and fit
To put it short: superb. No air bubbles as far as I can see them and consistent translucency throughout the acrylic shell. My selected faceplates, the red and blue Mother-of-Pearl, are very well made, though upon closer inspection you can see the seams where AAW joins individual shells. Which is something I’d willing close an eye for, considering the nature of working with MOP and how they hid the seams very expertly.
The tiny bass port
As shown above, there is a bass port on the shell due to the dynamic driver. However, given the size of the port, it barely makes a dent in the shell’s isolation. There is hardly any difference in isolation between my custom made silicon plugs and my A3H-Pros.
What AAW did, as far as I can tell, is that they added additional layers to my ear impressions, making it a snug fit rather than a perfect one. This creates additional pressure against my ears, which makes it a very full sealing seal. This is in stark contrast to a previous custom I've had, a reshelled TF10 by a defunct company called Stage93. This reshell was slightly more comfortable as they've used my impressions as they received it, resulting in a more "perfect" fit. However, the seal in those customs broke with the slightly movement in my jaw (turning my head, opening my mouth etc.) which made it very annoying to wear.
Personally I think this fit is a good balance between comfort and seal. Obviously not perfect, but I have not had the seal break on me at all.
Null Audio Brevity cable w/ microphone
The cable is a Null Audio Brevity cable, a soft, smooth silicone-coated braided cable that is feels very comfortable against bare skin. Microphonics are higher than average, though the custom design along with the over-the-ear position makes it a non-issue.
Sound Quality
Frequency response
Slightly bass linear (bass > mids = treble). Bass emphasis all the way into the lower midrange where it valleys, followed by roll-off in the upper treble.
General sound signature
Warm and smooth with slightly laid-back treble, very non-fatiguing sound.
Genre strengths
Jazz and vocals, instruments like trumpets, saxophones and cello
Bass
I would consider it the star of the show seeing as how it’s the first thing that pops up when you first put it on. The bass is slightly emphasised at about 5dB+/- above neutral, valleying at 400Hz and running linearly into the sub-50 frequencies, creating good rumble and pushing air like nothing else. It extends deep into the double-digits and has extremely satisfying volume and texture.
However, it wouldn’t be considered a basshead’s bass. Flatheads would assume that it’s for bassheads, while bassheads would find themselves wanting more. It's a neither-here-nor-there bass that's slightly higher in quantity than the new Ety ER4XR but not as bassy as, say, the SE215. If you’re one who prefers this kind of "on-the-fence" signature, the A3H would be perfect for you.
On another note, the A3H’s bass is not “punchy”. There is a resonant quality to its bass due to its slower driver speed and relative balance between sub-bass and mid-bass. This creates three very obvious qualities:
- It’s not very impactful but rather very volumetric and rumbly, making its bass very smooth and easy to listen to.
- This overlap between of the sub-bass over the mid-bass creates a lot of resonance at the cost of speed, making the A3H struggle with very fast tracks.
- Bass extension is superb, very easily picking out details from the lowest reaches of the bass frequencies.
If anything, the A3H is reminiscent of a tiny subwoofer, not necessarily bringing speed and imapct but rather providing a dynamic and hefty bass experience.
Mids
After the initial awe of the A3H’s bass, there was something else that crept behind its shadow. Vocals, instruments, synths… if the bass was the star of the show, the midrange was its manager. The strict, workaholic manager that occasionally played along with the star’s aloof and showboaty nature. The midrange itself is clear and detailed, but when in tandem with the weight and volume of the bass frequencies creates a much more weighted sound that borrows some low-end heft from the lower-midrange frequencies. The mids and treble are handled by the time-proven and very capable TWFK-30017, a rather premium dual-driver single-bore model by Knowles that does well in retrieving the detail out of the midrange. However, previous experience with TWFK IEMs gives me the impression that TWFK drivers tend to image a rather cold, analytical and, some would say metallic, sound.
The A3H's tiny TWFK-30017
The low-end influence of the A3H's dynamic driver over the midrange creates a sound that is very distinct from the signature TWFK mids, giving vocals that added richness and various instruments that much needed volume in their sound. The coherency between the dynamic driver’s bass and the BAs’ midrange is nothing short of amazing, reminiscent of the Aurisonic’s own famous mids.
Onto its shortcomings, the emphasis in the lower midrange (200-600Hz) does result in a "veil" that is similar to the HD650 as well a more congested-sounding space, which weirdly matches with the rather excellent width of its soundstage. Dampening that range with an EQ improves clarity and apparent detail greatly. though at the cost of smoothness and some body.
Treble
Once out of the influence of the dynamic driver, the treble isn’t much to write home about. I can tell that the TWFK has been lightly damped, removing any stray peaks in the 3k-6k regions and resulting in a very smooth and non-fatiguing high-end. As stated above, AAW has left a little sparkle in the treble in its tuning, so I wouldn’t exactly call this IEM dark by any means, but I wouldn’t call it bright either. There is definitely more treble quantity in the A3H as compared to darker IEMs like the SE215 and even AAW's own A2H.
There is a rather heavy roll-off after 9K, making the sound miss some of the “air” that’s ever-so-present in my full-sized headphones. I guess if there is a silver lining to this lack of treble extension, is that combination of the linearity of the upper frequencies along with the early roll-off greatly contributes to its signature non-fatiguing sound.
Soundstage
I’m not too familiar with IEM soundstaging, so I’ll be rather quick and brief on this aspect. Of course, it wouldn’t trade blows with my D2000s, but definitely presents a bigger stage than my ASG-2.0s. It can present a very wide stage, but when coupled with the rather congested midrange creates the illusion not unlike a small band in an orchestral hall. EQing the 250Hz and 500Hz down slightly (special thanks to tz0531 for the tip) really helps to separate the midrange apart, opening up the soundstage very nicely.
If I remember correctly, in width it seems to be on par with the soundstage of the UE900, which according to a quick Google search seems to be pretty well-regarded.
Conclusion
A very solid contender in the realm of entry-level CIEMs, the A3H performs above and beyond its price point, trading blows with well-established veterans of the field. The A3H’s strong points lie in its non-fatiguing sound and well-textured bass, as well as amazing coherency between bass and mids.
The rabbit hole just got a little bigger.
Do visit the main review thread for updates and further comparisons.
Further readings:
Lachlan's review of an older revision of the A3H
tz0531's review of the A3H-Pro
