EarTech Music Triple Driver Custom Molded In Ear Musician Monitors Headphones

jmikhailAuD

New Head-Fier
Pros: An INCREDIBLE monitor for an INCREDIBLE price.
Cons: Minor distortion in the mid/higher frequencies (around 2kHz-3kHz) when pushing the lead guitar.
Gear Used: Sennheiser EW 300 wireless IEM pack/Taylor 416ce acoustic guitar/Sennheiser E835 cardioid microphone (dynamic microphone)/Made in Mexico Fender Deluxe Jazz Bass/Sansamp Bass overdrive pedal

I have here a pair of Eartech Music Triple Drivers from Eartech in Johnson City, Tennessee. I purchased these monitors independently and have been using them for over a year while leading worship at my church. I’m also a clinical audiologist, so throughout this review I’ll be hitting on topics that discuss the audiological results and implications of the monitor as well as my own personal thoughts related to the accessories, build, price, and customer service. From an objective perspective I will be breaking down the lows, mids, and high frequencies using verification and calibrated pink noise and discuss my findings.

Accessories and Case:
The case that came with these IEM’s is a pelican-like case (I don’t see a name brand on it). It does not come engraved with your name on it but does have the Eartech Music logo on it. It came with a nice simple cleaning tool, as well as a DryCaddy Disc. I’m very appreciative of this. A lot of time, and regular musicians that use IEM’s will know this, moisture and cerumen buildup are an IEM’s worst enemy and it kills the drivers if it collects excessive amounts of these substances. While these typically last 2 months, you can purchase them through Eartech’s website for a reasonable price. They also included a collar clip with the kit. These are typically used to keep the cable from working its way up, behind your head. I personal do not use one, but I know a lot of drummers who are not on wireless packs that use them to keep the cable down.

Eartech also gives you a free T-shirt with your IEM’s. I think that’s a wonderful idea. I know I’ve worn mine out and about, and have had a lot of questions about the shirt and it’s been a nice promotional piece for my clinic as well as Eartech Music.

Build:
The build on these monitors is fantastic. This is a nice medical grade Lucite material. I have had these re-shelled into the clear faceplate and shell with the black cable that you see currently. Previously I had a white faceplate and a white shell, however, was dissatisfied with the colors I had chosen. It had nothing to do with the build in the slightest. Eartech hand makes every part within the monitor. It is a nice clean finish and each driver has their placement. I have large ears so it wasn’t too difficult to fit all the parts in! At times when you look at an earpiece it can seem as if the manufacturer stuffs as much as they can into one mold and it looks like poor planning. This is not the case with these IEM’s.

Fit:
I have 16 pairs of IEM’s. I have extremely expensive devices, and not so expensive ones and the Eartech triple drivers were the first pair I have ever pulled out of the case and it fit perfectly. My left ear has a unique bend in the middle portion of my canal that makes all of my IEM’s sink in at the intertragal notch. This pair sat evenly on both sides while still staying profile to the face. Some IEM companies I have dealt with see my unique bend and end up making the monitor stick out like a BEATS headphone on the left side and bend inward in the right ear (ok I’m exaggerating about the BEATS headphone). In all seriousness, I have never made a single modification to these IEM’s. I have never ground down on them, thickened them, or replaced anything on them to make them fit better. The fit is 100% perfect. Of the ones we’ve done in our clinic, I have also never had to adjust the fit on those. It doesn’t get much better than that! For my technicians in our clinic, this means a lot because it saves them from having to do extra work on a new device.

Subjective Technology Review:
I’ve worked in an audiology clinic for the last 8 years and of those 8 years I have worked as a clinical audiologist for 2. My everyday patient’s deal with hearing loss, but on the side, I work a lot with musicians. Prior to going back to school, I was a full-time musician. I toured the world playing guitar and singing and really enjoyed myself. I knew I wanted to stay in music some way, and IEM’s have provided that avenue for me. I like trying different products to get a true feel on what a patient might see while using IEM’s, both live and as an audiophile.

Before buying my Eartech Music Triple Drivers, I had read some reviews that said that Eartech IEM’s were great but that they were more of a “starter product” for musicians looking for their first pair of IEM’s. As I’ve stated in other reviews that I have written for head-fi and other resources, I’m not easily swayed by marketing ploys or price point. Just because you pay $2000 plus for your IEM’s doesn’t necessarily mean that they are a massive step upward from the $300-500 market IEM’s. By no means am I disrespecting those companies, and I do have pairs that cost that much and they are great IEM’s. I also know the musician life and understand that price is always a factor in any purchase!

Low Frequencies:

From a subjective perspective I did not think these were “starter pack” IEM’s in the slightest. In fact, I was blown away by the sound. I noticed massive increases in the way I heard the low end of my guitar. I’m not a capo guy, I prefer to make the guitar sound as big as possible, and a way to do that is to not capo. I was hearing the low end of my guitar at an incredible response level. I didn’t feel like I was adjusting my mix too much. Just like my pedal board for my guitar: I want it set and then I don’t want to have to mess with it too much.

Don’t forget that changing the anatomical structure of the ear, i.e. a good seal with the fit of the monitor, is also going to increase the low frequencies. Because the fit was so incredible, from a strictly personal view, I’d have to say that this enhanced the tonality of the low frequencies. Just because you might put in 10-12 drivers throughout the monitor, do not forget that fit is king! It makes all the difference in the world!

Middle Frequencies:
The mids were one of the highest points of these IEM’s. There is a nice warmth to them. One example I can think of offhand is playing in the key of B, which is a higher register on my guitar. When I get to that point on my guitar I tend to see a distortion aspect set in through the monitor. In the case of these monitors I did not get that distortion when it came to the mids. I was very pleased with this. I thought that maybe with extra burn-in that the monitors might wear over time in the mids, but they are still one of the strongest features of this monitor.

High Frequencies:
The highs were adequate. I tend to have a lot of lead guitar in my mix while playing, and I did notice some slight distortion when the guitar player was playing past the 12th fret, but again, I’ve had monitors that this has occurred in. Nothing a little adjustment on the board can’t fix. By no means was this a major issue, it’s just something that I noticed subjectively.

Additional Subjective Findings:
I find the concept of headroom very interesting mainly due to the idea that we are told that more drivers will equal more headroom. I’ve found this to be the case most of the time, but when I truly measure the frequency response, it’s not always true. From an output level, I felt very comfortable with the headroom available on this monitor. As you’ll read in the objective section, I found the highest level of output in the middle frequencies was 111dBSPL, which is what I would expect to see (read on down for extra details). I never felt the occlusion feeling one might feel after plugging up their ear with a device. We’ve heard of the ambient ports that allow crowd sound in, etc. and frankly, I felt that these monitors held their own nicely and I never had to take a monitor out to hear myself or my guitar. I go to a larger church with a very large stage. Typically, I get a very airy sound, and with the output level I was getting at 111dBSPL and the openness of the monitor, I have to say that I felt like I could open up the monitor even more to really push them without getting a mass amount of distortion (outside of the high-pitched tones related to the lead guitar). To get a full view of the monitor I played bass on a few occasions and really pushed the low end to see if distortion would occur. They never once distorted in my ears, nor made me feel that I was missing any bass presence from the keys or my own instrument.

Objective Technology Review:
In our clinic, we use the Verifit by Audioscan, a Canadian company, that helps determine the fit of hearing aids appropriately. We use this mechanism for frequency response testing of an IEM by coupling a binding adhesive to a 2cc coupler and presenting our IEM’s with calibrated pink noise. Unfortunately, due to HIPPA regulations, I cannot put a photo up of the audiogram and the sound pressure level (SPL) output that the monitor presented. I will, however, break it down to an extent.

Most IEM's that I look at when measuring the OSPL90 curve (full on gain as you would with a hearing aid, with no restrictions) have the highest peak in the middle frequencies (2000Hz-4000Hz), which is what we expect. Check out a picture of a Fletcher-Muson Curve to find out more. Total peak in those middle frequencies was around 111dBSPL, which is a great amount of gain. The low-frequencies did not have as much SPL, which is also what we would expect to see. Now, the high-frequency responses tend to taper off as we pass 8000Hz, which again, is what we expect to see when it comes to output. In this case, my subjective opinion was correct in seeing how it is possible that I am getting distortion. This is due to the fact that output is going back down. Once again, this is typical in most IEM’s, no matter how many drivers you put in, you’ll see that tapering occur in the high frequencies. Let's not forget, however, that the highest instrument is a piccolo flute, which only reaches up to 3300Hz, therefore, the added frequency response is associated wit the headroom of the device.

Price:
One of my favorite things about seeing IEM patients in my clinic is when they come in with the idea that you have to spend an arm and a leg on custom IEM’s to get quality. I put my Eartech’s in their hands and they feel the weight, see the monitors and how they fit, look at the build and notice that there are quality solutions for a fair price. Of course, we run a frequency response test to show them varieties of monitors, but Eartech is always in the running because of the quality of the monitor and its great response. Total cost for a triple driver is $399.99 plus $13 for shipping. You’re out the door with a quality monitor that is less than $500 and that will change the way you hear your music.

Customer Service/Turnaround Time:
The rep I have worked with most often was Richard. He is an absolute gem of a guy. He keeps you up-to-date with where the IEM’s are in the process, is always quick to respond, as well as working with you on what would be the best product for your goals you’re looking to achieve. I’m very appreciative of that!

Typical turnaround time that I’ve seen with the orders we’ve put in for Eartech is around 4 weeks. That’s a pretty common turnaround time for many IEM companies, however, I’ve seen plenty of companies that are 6-8 weeks on turnaround time and that goes for repairs as well! When I did my re-shell, it took around 4 weeks as well.

Conclusion:
You don’t have to pay thousands of dollars for a good, quality IEM. In fact, your decision might be easily made by looking at what Eartech has to offer. Yes, sound is the number one priority and Eartech’s IEM is nothing short of a great sound, but they also make great looking shells to accommodate the creative side in musicians. You can do whatever you want on them while still keeping the cost very low.

I understand the allure of big companies. I mean, there’s a reason why they’re big companies. They know what they’re doing. But I also understand the musician budget. And of course, as an audiologist, I know that hearing is the greatest asset for a musician. Sure, you can spend a fortune and get a great product, but you can also choose to NOT do that and still get a great product that will perform equally as high as the expensive devices.
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MikePortnoy

Reviewer at The Headphone List
Pros: Smooth signature, Very good performance for its price, Perfect craftsmanship
Cons: Stage may be larger, Highs may have slightly smoother touches
Introduction:
 
Eartech is an American company located in Johnson City, Tennessee. They primarily produce hearing aids and help people to hear well. They are the parent company of Eartech Music, which makes custom in ear monitors for audiophiles and stage musicians. Eartech is in hearing aid industry for almost 40 years and Eartech Music aims to carry this huge experience into making custom in ear monitors.
 
Eartech Music offers three mains products to their customers: Dual driver IEM, Triple driver IEM and finally Quad driver IEM. They also produce earplugs offering four level of sound reduction as well as selling some accessories such as cases and cables.
 
The price policy is about making affordable custom in ear monitors; the dual is priced at 299 USD, the triple at 399 USD and Quad at 499 USD. As Richard from Eartech said, the triple driver model is their most popular model. According to their website, Quad has a powerful low frequency response and is good for bass players and drummers, while the dual has a clean sound. Honestly, the triple driver IEM has a good performance price ratio.
 
When we look at Eartech Music website, we can see that there is a shell design engine, which is a rare to find and unique opportunity for customers. We can design shells by virtually selecting colors, faceplate logo and wood options. I must say that most companies don’t have this engine, and we need to take a look at their Facebook page and try to catch some ideas by analyzing pictures of monitors. Colors are free to charge, but wooden faceplate is for extra cost, 75 USD.
 
Eartech Music customer service is simply awesome. They reply to my emails within minutes and are very friendly. I chose a wrong faceplate/body color combination at the beginning, but they contacted with me, we discussed and found the right one. I should give five stars to their customer service approach with my special thanks to Richard. In addition, they use FedEx as a company policy, even for international orders.  
 
ear1.jpg
 
Build Quality, Internals and Accessories:
 
The reviewed triple has very nice craftsmanship. Combination consists of forest green body and curly maple wooden faceplate. With an exception of a single error, the faceplate is very well cut and placed on the body. Also, there is no lacquer overflowing sign here, determined simply very well. The fit is also good with a slight tightness, which makes this monitor a perfect solution for stage musicians. No seal breaking at all during jaw movements and there is excellent isolation in crowded places.
 
The triple has three drivers in accordance with its name and also there is a 45-Ohm of impedance with 119 dB of sensitivity. The drivers inside are not small; there are two big drivers and a smaller one. Also, there are two main acoustic bores, one has bigger diameter.
 
The triple comes with accessories such as pelican hard case, cleaning tool, 3.5mm to 6.3 mm converter, shirt clip and a large drier disc. Also, Eartech sent me a nice t-shirt on which their logo is printed. The stock cable is industry standard, very similar to Westone/UM type cable.
 
ear2.jpg
 
Sound:
 
Eartech triple custom in ear monitor has a warm signature in accordance with slight mid-bass lift. Overall presentation is full-bodied and may be considered like V shape due to midrange is a little bit less prominent than other frequency ranges. However, it isn’t an exact V shape, since midrange is not significantly distant compared to others, thanks to its thick and full-bodied notes. In sum it is somewhere between being V shape and balanced.   
 
Low Frequency:
 
The triple has prominent low frequency response with a warm tone. Sub-bass has medium area of impact with tight notes; it hits from a distant place and this helps to create a good stage depth. The texture and hitting to depth ability is not on par with TOTLs monitors, but it has a very good performance for its price.
 
Mid-bass has a warm tone here; it is not located too close to listener, but it may tighten the stage depending on quantity of mid-bass in tracks; it is a rare problem when we look at its general presentation. On the other hand, mid-bass has a nice resolution and tone; this is the best part of low frequency performance of the triple.
 
Overall quantity of lows is enough for audiophiles who want to hear more bass, but I must say that it is not completely a bass-head ciem.
 
Mid Frequency:
 
As I mentioned in general description of the triple above, listener feels midrange a little bit distant in accordance to highs and lows’ quantities. However, midrange is weighty and full-bodied with a natural tone overall. Transparency and clarity level is not very high, but it isn’t fatiguing at all during long listening sessions. In addition, average note thickness is on the thick side. Not very thick, but may have some problems in creating lower midrange notes due to mid-bass full-bodied presentation.
 
Upper midrange is nicely detailed; it is not too bright, but not completely smooth. There is coloration here and this may result in sibilance, but is below acceptable levels. Overall midrange resolution is not on par with TOTLs, but apart from instruments, vocals have a very good resolution performance and listener can catch most of throat movements of singers.  
 
ear3.jpg
 
High Frequency:
 
Overall high frequency is a little more prominent than midrange. It has a good amount of detail with a nice balanced energy. Even if its tone is not very natural, it has a non-piercing note releasing. Extension is not on par with my other monitors, but it has a good speed. During fusion jazz track, speed is enough, while resolution level slightly goes down in fast metal tracks. Even there is slight coloration on highs, transparency level is good and highs have a good body; they also give a slight airy feel to the general atmosphere.
 
Soundstage and Separation:
 
The triple doesn’t have a very wide stage, but depth is very nice for its price in accordance with a little distant mids, background location and starting point of sub-bass hits.
 
As there is no overly wide stage, focusing is easy, but imaging ability is not the best among my others. I must say that the background stability and blackness is very impressive for its price and creates a separation at very good levels. The width is enough to avoid congested presentation and easily locate bodied instruments on the stage.
 
 
Selected Comparison:
 
Eartech Triple vs Hifiman RE-600 (Both have 399 USD MSRP at their release dates)
 
ear4.jpg
 
Re-600 has less low frequency presence as well as less impact on sub-bass. Re-600 has slightly better texture, but the triple hits deeper with more power and authority. Location of sub-bass is similar on both, while the triple has more prominent and detailed mid-bass presentation. Due to mid-bass tone and quantity, Re-600 has more neutral one, while the triple has significantly warmer atmosphere.
 
Both have non-piercing midrange presentation, but the triple has more full bodied performance with thicker and more resolving notes, while Re-600 is a little more transparent. The triple has slightly detailed upper midrange, while Re-600 has a bit smoother tone here. Overall the triple has a bit less stressed note releasing in midrange.
 
Re-600 has slightly less high frequency quantity with a smoother tone; on the other hand the triple has fuller, more detailed but slightly brighter tone. Both have a non-piercing presentation.
 
Re-600 creates less warm stage with similar width, but the triple has significantly deeper stage with its more distant background. In addition, the triple has blacker and more stable background with a better layering ability and instrument separation.
 
Final Words:
 
Eartech Music Triple Driver IEM can be considered as an entry-level custom in ear monitor. I must say that I am impressed with its smooth sound and background blackness/stability. They sound very nice for its price and they remind me Westone UM30 sound signature in accordance with the general atmosphere, but the triple slightly betters it overall. Also, Eartech is able to make monitors with a very good craftsmanship and their customer service is top notch. I can recommend the triple without hesitation to audiophiles who are looking for a smooth sound and an affordable entry-level custom in ear monitor. Well done!
 
Here is the link to Eartech:
 
http://www.eartechmusic.com
 
Here is the link to the triple:
 
http://www.eartechmusic.com/eartech-triple-driver-custom-iem/
flinkenick
flinkenick
Great review, very clear!
MikePortnoy
MikePortnoy
Thank you buddy. 
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