Heir Audio 8.A

I posted a few pictures elsewhere, but now I’m making a dedicated thread about it. The topic is Heir Audio: a newly launched, high-end custom IEM company.

Some of you may recall HeadFi user FullCircle, aka The Wizard, posting pictures of his beautiful custom creations a while back. His real name is Dr. John Moulton and he’s a Doctor of Audiology. His posts around here were just for fun, to show off his beautiful custom work. I contacted him and practically begged him to let me buy his services. He refused at first, and we took the discussion to email (since selling things in a commercial capacity is not allowed unless you have Member of the Trade status).

After much chatting (and pleading) I eventually convinced him to reshell one of my older customs. I had some LiveWires Trips that were not a perfect fit any longer, though I still loved the sound. I was also sick of the proprietary cable attachment system. I told Dr. Moulton that I was willing to pay whatever it took to make a custom woody for me. We went back and forth dozens of times, discussing wood choices and color options, and eventually it was decided. I sent my LiveWires along with some new impressions and basically forgot about the matter.

A short while later, I received a package in the mail. What I found inside blew me away. I had high expectations based on what I had seen of his other creations, but the finished product I had in hand completely stunned me. I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

Beautiful right? That’s real bamboo inlay, hand-crafted. A huge improvement over the original clear shell with solid black faceplate, the 3-way triple driver LiveWires Trips now sound about as good as they look. Almost. Also notice the traditional cable socket – no more swiveling connector. I’m exceedingly pleased with the way they turned out.

It was at this point that Dr. Moulton shared some information with me – rather than doing this as a hobby when he wasn’t busy with “real” audiology work, he was about to make it his full time gig. The company – Heir Audio, a division of Micro-DSP Technology. Click on the names to visit their respective websites.

Based on what I had seen from the reshell, I wanted more. Through our extensive communication I had developed a trust in Dr. John so I figured I’d go all the way – I ordered the top of the line Heir Audio 8.A customs. This is a 4-way 8-driver design consisting of dual low, dual mid, dual high, and dual super-high drivers. This time I went with a real carbon fiber faceplate on a red shell. Once again the results look incredible.

Triple-bore design, one slightly smaller than the other two.

Carbon fiber has red in it, or maybe has spaces for the red shell to show through.

Hard to capture how good they look.... real life=wow!

Since we don't want the carbon fiber being covered up, the Heir Audio "crown" logo was put into the top section. It is shiny silver, looks great, and again was hard to capture in a picture. 

I’m excited to be able to introduce this new company here. I find the story of a HeadFi member and music enthusiast going “pro” to be really inspiring. I have talked to Dr. John about becoming a Member of the Trade here, and he is very open to the idea, but not quite yet. He figures he has several months of non-stop work to do before he will have some spare time to return to the forums. By then I hope there are a bunch more happy users around here. Apparently I am not the first person to place an order – Dr. John has already sold multiple sets of his various designs to customers from all over the world.

As you can see on the website, Heir Audio has a full line of models to choose from. Their lowest model is the 3.A triple driver at $350. Next comes the 4.A quad driver at $450. After that is the six driver 6.A at $899, and finally the flagship 8.A at $1099. These are introductory prices and at some point will be going up (regular prices listed under each model).

You might be thinking that those prices seem kind of high. It’s true that many of the custom IEM companies we’ve seen launch in the last few years have been focused more on the lower-mid section of the market. Heir Audio is taking a different approach. Their products are unabashedly high-end. They use top quality Vishay resistors and AVX Oxicap capacitors. Build quality rivals, and possibly exceeds, the best I’ve ever seen. And of course there are the custom faceplate options. Woody plates are called the “Timbre Line” and are a $150 option. For the money you can choose from Amboyna Burl, Coconut, Bamboo, Afzelia Burl, or Siamese Rosewood. Timbre Line upgrades also get an extended 2 year warranty, a personalized case, and 2 year storage of your impressions (in acrylic so they will never shrink). Reshells start at a reasonable $180 for “standard” work and increase accordingly with carbon fiber or wood upgrades.

There are so many options that I could not hope to cover them all. The Heir Audio website features an interactive order form so you can build your own hypothetical order and get price estimates. The good thing about the 8.A is that it currently includes your choice of Timbre Line or carbon fiber upgrades at no extra charge. I was initially interested in the 6.A but with upgrades it came very close to the 8.A price, so I figured I’d go all the way.

This will eventually turn into a review and impression thread. I’ll post my in depth thoughts about the 8.A, and hopefully some other customers will show up and discuss their models as well. In the limited time I’ve spent with the 8.A I can easily say it has a world class sound. I’m excited to hear other impressions as well. We’ve seen audiologists enter the custom IEM world (LiveWires, Kozee) with good designs but limited business skills. I’m happy to see that Dr. John has aligned himself with a larger company (Micro-DSP) that has the staff and resources to give quality service. The “one-man show” type operation is great for a small business, but once HeadFiers start showing up they can easily get overwhelmed. Heir Audio seems well equipped to handle that sort of situation. At this point see great potential for them to become a big player in the custom IEM game, right alongside JH Audio, Westone, Ultimate Ears, and Unique Melody. 

More to come soon. 

UPDATE  1-9-2012

Since the above basically tells the story of Heir Audio and how I came to own their flagship 8.A model, I’m going to move forward by posting my impressions. Kunlun has also written an excellent review of the 8.A which I will link to at the end of this post. He and I haven’t always agreed in the past, but I respect his opinions, and in this case we seem to hear the same things. Between his review and browsing the Heir Audio website, it should be easy to get all the info you could want about warranty, pricing, options, etc. So I’m not going to spend a lot of time duplicating efforts here. I will post a few highlights which I feel are significant and worth mentioning again:

• Extreme build quality – possibly the best I’ve ever seen based on my small sample of two. The hand-carved wood faceplates are just spectacular looking, and the acrylic parts are about as clear and smooth as I’ve ever seen on a custom. The carbon fiber is also very nice; I’ve got real carbon fiber faceplates on my 1964 Ears customs which look great, but Heir is just on another level. Bottom line – these are the best customs you can buy, from an appearance standpoint.

• Responsive customer service – Dr. John Moulton has gone out of his way in our exchanges to communicate his doctorate level expertise in layman’s terms that I can understand. We have gone back and forth dozens and dozens of times, day and night, over the course of several months. This is beyond what I consider good customer service. Ordering customs will never be as straight forward as ordering standard IEMs. It just isn’t possible. But I have every confidence in Heir Audio, and the experiences others have had with them point in the same direction.

• Unique designs – Dr. Moulton doesn’t seem to follow the usual routes with his custom creations. For example, his most neutral design, the 4.A, is a quad design with dual bass drivers, single mid, single high. That configuration is normally used by other brands as a bass heavy model. Or consider the 8.A with an even distribution of dual lows, dual mids, dual highs, dual super highs. That would normally be considered a balanced offering, but Heir uses it for a more fun, musical sound. So it seems that Dr. Moulton is not just doing the same things that other companies do, but rather he starts with a design goal and uses whatever configuration of drivers will get him there, however unconventional it may seem. I like that. He also uses a few tricks which I believe are unique to him, and will be discussed later.

• Warranty – Heir offers a standard 30 day refit and 1 year warranty as a base-line. That part is in line with industry standards. On the higher models (6.A and 8.A) it extends the warranty to 2 years. That is also in line with others such as Unique Melody, for flagship models. Where Heir Audio deviates from others is their Ownership Transfer Service. This comes standard with the 6.A and 8.A and can be added to the other models for $70. With this service, if you ever needed to sell your Heir customs for any reason, the new owner would be entitled to a complete inspection and remold for just $70. This is much cheaper than even the cheapest remold services from other companies, and it includes full testing to ensure that the new owner gets just as good of a product as if they had ordered brand new. This adds value to the 2^nd hand Heir Audio custom, and therefore adds value to the original purchase.

• Size – Heir Audio is a new arrival in the world of custom IEMs. But their parent company, Micro-DSP, has been around for 12 years. It’s a fairly large international company with lots of resources. What that means is that Heir Audio is less likely to have some of the usual problems associated with small business startups. Folks who have been around here for a while should be able to think of one or more examples of this sort of situation. When you have a sort of “one man show” operation, things can easily get backed up or worse. Heir Audio comes right out of the gate looking more like Ultimate Ears or Westone rather than LiveWires or FreQ.

The big question – how does the 8.A sound? And nearly as important - how does it compare to some of the other high-end customs out there? I intend to answer both of those questions in a rather more focused approach compared to my usual long-winded ramblings. I’ve already discussed a bit of this in a few places so pardon me if some of this seems repetitive.

EQUIPMENT

Associated gear used to evaluate the Heir 8.A

Source: JF Digital HDM-03S music server, Rocoo-D Power Edition, Sansa Clip+, iPad2 with CLAS

DAC: Anedio D1, Violectric V800, Yulong Sabre D18, Kao Audio UD2C-HP

AMP: Violectric V200, Analog Design Labs Svetlana 2, TCG T-Box, Audinst AMP-HP

Cables: stock, Beat Audio Cronus, Beat Audio Supreme Rose

I burned in the 8.A with music for well over 100 hours prior to doing any serious listening. Music ranged from 320k mp3 and MOG, to 24-bit/192kHz lossless, and everything in between.

SOUND

As I’ve mentioned elsewhere in threads and PMs – the 8.A is not a neutral sounding IEM. It has a big, bold sound that is geared more towards overall musical enjoyment rather than strict accuracy. That’s not to imply that it goes completely overboard, but rather that strict neutrality is not the main focus. I’ve heard from people who seem under the impression that a flagship headphone (especially IEMs) needs to be perfectly flat, balanced, and neutral, to the point of being potentially bland. I don’t know where that idea came from. Yes, there are some quality neutral IEMs out there such as the ER4S, UM Miracle, and UE Reference Monitor. But other flagships like the UE-18, UM Merlin, JH16, and ES5 are not strictly neutral. And that’s okay, because we all hear differently (literally!) and we all have different preferences for what we like to hear.

The bass is undoubtedly one of the biggest reasons why someone would be attracted to the 8.A: it sounds phenomenal. It goes deep, and hits very hard, but still has plenty of control. I’ve owned many of the top custom IEM over the past few years and I have to say – this is the best sounding “bass-heavy” type sound I’ve yet heard from a balanced armature IEM. The Unique Melody Miracle also has excellent bass reproduction but it is much less prominent in the mix, so the comparison doesn’t work. The UM Merlin has “big bass” similar to the 8.A but it uses a vented dynamic driver to achieve that. I wasn’t sure how the 8.A would possibly be able to keep up, but somehow it does.

Dr. Moulton tells me the key to getting these results is a combination of careful driver selection as well as very specific construction. He uses three separate tubes to carry sound from the drivers to your ear. One is dedicated to the mids, one combines the highs and super highs, and the last one is for the lows. As you can see in the pictures, one of the three bores is smaller than the others. This is the one that carries low frequencies, and the sound tube has an internal diameter of less than 1 millimeter. Dr. Moulton says this allows for a more controlled bass response. This design appears on the 8.A and 6.A models but not the 4.A and 3.A designs. The downside to this tiny tube is that it could more easily become clogged with wax. For this reason, Heir builds these models with a sort of concave tip, which is more easily shown than explained (see the pictures please). In practice I find that the small bore does collect a bit of wax but with regular cleaning it is not an issue.

I don’t find the bass to be overbearing in the least, but it certainly is a personal preference as to how much might be “too much”. There is a generous amount of midbass here as well – not bloated or stepping on the mids at all, but still a bit more present than something like an LCD-2. This warmth sounded pleasing on all types of music, from classic rock to bass heavy electro, without messing up vocal or acoustic performances. It’s a sound that I think many people would really enjoy. But certainly if your preferences lean towards, well, lean, then the 8.A might seem a bit overwhelming.

Mids on the 8.A are somewhat different from a lot of the high end customs I’ve encountered. They have what I’d almost call a “full-sized headphone” style presentation. This is a phenomenon I’ve mentioned before, but allow me to explain: to me, IEMs tend to sound more immediate, more connected to your brain in all aspects of the sound, but especially in the mids. In contrast, full-sized headphones have more distance between the driver and your ear, both literally and figuratively. This isn’t necessarily a good thing or a bad thing. It’s just a slight difference that I feel is inherent to the way each type interacts with the auditory system. It’s a minor thing and some people may think I’m crazy for spending so much time bothering with it.

The point I’m making is that these mids have character. I wouldn’t call them forward or in-your-face, nor are they recessed. It’s almost hard to explain. There is just an abundance of energy, with everything being warm yet smooth, and at the same time being casual in the mix. They won’t demand your attention. It’s like the mids are saying “I’ll just be over here sounding awesome, if anyone is interested”. This is one area where a poor source will really affect the 8.A sound signature. When I use my Android-based phone with MOG, the mids come across as somewhat lazy or detached. Switching to the iPad, which I consider a better source than my phone, things improve, and it only gets better as you move up the chain.

Highs are ultra-smooth, with great extension, and a sense of ease that few IEMs or headphones can match. This was the first custom IEM I’ve heard with dedicated super-high frequency drivers in addition to the standard high drivers. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this type of setup. Surprisingly, it really didn’t seem to have a big impact on the quantity of highs, but rather the overall airiness and ease of delivery. I’ve speculated that the super-high drivers allow the regular high drivers to focus on a smaller range, rather than attempt the full 20kHz spread, which is what allows them to sound so smooth and well focused. This is just a theory and I could be way off – but the results are the same no matter how it is being accomplished.

My first assumption was that I’d be getting some seriously sharp, sparkly highs, considering the 4 drivers involved. That isn’t the sound that Heir audio was going for. The 8.A does have great extension, with plenty of clarity and detail. But above all it is smooth, to the point where listener fatigue is only possible with the most heinous of recordings. 

The 8.A is one of the highest scaling customs out there, but not in the usual analytical fashion. It has a tendency to make the most of whatever source you pair it with. Starting with a Sansa Clip+, then moving up to an iPad/CLAS/portable amp system, then going all the way up to a multi-thousand dollar desktop rig, the 8.A just keeps on getting better. They can be somewhat underwhelming when played from a basic DAP with low quality pop music and such. The mids seem a little too distant and the bass isn’t the tightest. They aren’t terrible, but you may question where your $1100 went. But this is true of most upper level customs I’ve tried. Give the 8.A something a little nicer to work with, and it will really start to shine.

Soundstage is really incredible when played with a decent source and quality music. It’s among the most expansive and accurate soundstage reproduction I’ve yet heard in a custom IEM. I can clearly distinguish the width and depth of the performance venue. The whole thing is just a bit less intimate than some others – again, the unique “full-size headphone” style presentation.

COMPARISON

Notice that word being singular rather than plural? There is really only one custom IEM that I own which demands comparison to the 8.A – the Unique Melody Merlin. The JH16pro is a direct competitor, and Kunlun already posted his thoughts on that. And the Westone ES5 could possibly be an alternative, though it has somewhat of a different focus (specifically with bass presentation). I haven’t heard the ES5 so I can’t comment other than to say I highly respect Westone and their designs.

I do need to explain my situation with the Merlin – the version I have is a prototype design, which has somewhat lighter bass compared to the final design (which I’ve also heard). It is still a bassy IEM overall but not as extreme as the Merlin. But I spent a good deal of time with the final tuned version, and still have my listening notes. When I talk about the Merlin here, I’m referring to the final version rather than my prototype.

The Merlin and the 8.A have very different presentations overall, yet there are some individual aspects which are quite similar. Starting with the bass – both have big, fun, extremely hard hitting bass which really dominates the presentation. The Merlin has less midbass, which draws attention to the deepest part of the bass impact. Sometimes this is more accurate sounding. Other times I appreciate the Heir presentation as it warms up tracks which could otherwise be a bit dull. Both models have plenty of texture and articulation on the lows, on par with some of the best headphones I’ve ever heard.

I’ve had people ask if the Merlin sound more “real” or speaker-like since the dynamic driver and vented shell can actually push air. The answer is both yes and no.

When you focus on just a single low note or bass drum strike (this is made easier by finding a song where there isn’t much going on – perhaps the intro or breakdown section of some dubstep or other electro type music), the Merlin does seem more lifelike. It gives the effect of pressurizing your ear, and in that way could be said to have more accurate timbre. The 8.A sounds great in this area, but can’t quite match the Merlin.

On the flip side, the 8.A (when taken as a whole) is better as a total package when it comes to simulating the bass aspect of a live performance. I often feel the illusion of a chest-pounding, physical response taking place when listening to the 8.A at high volume. It’s as if the 8.A convinces my body it should be feeling something and it starts to feel like it actually happens. It’s really an immersive experience, unlike any IEM I’ve ever encountered. Note that I did use the word “illusion” – obviously there is no room pressurization taking place, and no real vibrations through the body. It’s purely a mental thing.

I find it difficult to explain the differences I’m getting at. It definitely has more to do with the entire presentation of each model rather than strictly the lows. It’s a matter of Micro versus Macro listening, with the UM winning on the former and Heir dominating the latter.

Mids are quite different in presentation. Though more relaxed than the Miracle, Merlin is still more forward than the 8.A. It presents vocals as more up front and present. The 8.A places them further back into the mix, though they remain similarly detailed and lifelike. Both models are very smooth with little to no sibilance where possible. If you were determined use specific music and equipment to get them to sound harsh, the Merlin would get there quicker, but neither should have issues with that under most circumstances.

Highs on the Merlin are more sharp and distinct than the 8.A. This could be better or worse depending on your source, amplification, music, and preferences. I don’t mean to imply that the 8.A is dull or rolled off in any way – it isn’t. But the focus on the 8.A is on smoothness, while the focus on the Merlin is more towards ultimate detail retrieval. Both are still very smooth and both are still detailed, but each has its own specialty.

Soundstage – here the Merlin is still champ. I assume it is the vented aspect that does this, but who knows? The result is that the Merlin is more spacious sounding from left to right, though the 8.A perhaps matches it in depth and layering. The venting of course means less isolation, so it’s a bit of a trade off.

Which one do I prefer? They are both amazing performers and both deserve serious consideration. Ultimately I like the 8.A more but I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend either one, depending your preferences. The Merlin is cheaper, has a larger soundstage presentation, renders vocals in a more forward manner, has a focus on the lowest bass with less midbass, and has more “crispness” to upper mids and highs. If any of that appeals to you, consider the Merlins. If my earlier description of the 8.A sounds more to your liking, then the choice is obvious.

This was an interesting comparison to do – there are similarities between them, yet the differences are very large. I’d start by listening to the Merlin, then switch to the 8.A and it would sound terrible. Where did the mids go? What’s with all the midbass? After a while though, it would start to sound really great. Eventually I’d switch back to the Merlin, and now it would sound terrible! Why are those singers so far in front of the band? Why does every sound seem like an isolated event, independent of the rest of the performance? Eventually it would start to sound good again, as my brain adjusted. But then I’d switch back to the 8.A…. and the whole thing would repeat.

CONCLUSION

The Heir 8.A is currently my favorite custom IEM. With a big, bold sound that is very easy to listen to, it distinguishes itself sonically from all of my other IEMs. With top shelf construction and customization options from a true artist, it distinguishes itself visually as well. That Heir Audio could come out of the gate with such a strong offering is a testament to the experience Dr. Moulton has – this may be a new company but he certainly isn’t new to the game (he’s even designed IEMs for other companies in China, an activity which I assume he’ll discontinue now that Heir has launched).

Is the 8.A the ultimate custom for everyone? Of course not. No headphone or IEM can cater to all tastes. But the 8.A makes a convincing statement for those interested in a more musical sound. Assuming this is the signature you are going for, I can’t imagine anyone being disappointed with the sound. And the external design and workmanship sets a new benchmark for aesthetic appeal. I’ve described the 8.A as “world class” on several occasions and I find that to be more true each time I listen to them.

Inspired by the quality of the 8.A, I’ve decided to pick up the 6.A as well. I’m finalizing the order now, going for the Amboyna Burl faceplate with an amber or light brown shell. I’ll post my impressions of that once I have some time logged. 

And now for some more eye candy:

Outer box

Storage case

Triple bores

Note that I'm using a Beat Audio cable here. Stock cable is Westone/JH style

Crown logo

Notice how the carbon fiber has red accents which change based on the light

Lots of drivers in there

Well here are my 8.A and 4.A, sorry if it's not a pic of just the two ciems, I posted this pic in the portable rigs thread, and I'm posting it here again because I really don't know when am I going to have time to make a photo shoot of just the ciems! Project86 have this  same design on the 8.A, pure coincidence o.k.!

Well this is my first review ever and I am doing it because it would be unfair of my part not to talk about this two excellent pieces of audio after THE  EXCELLENT customer service I received from John, and I know some of you might get mad about this review since I am not going to focus just on their Sound Quality, why? because It's been said enough about the sound signature of these two iem’s that you pretty much have an idea about their sound  but  the main reason being that  since music gear became my hobby I did not enjoy music that much because I was always  looking for the perfect sound in headphones or earphones and I came to realized that there is not a perfect headphone or earphone since  every time  I got a new pair of iem’s or headphones I was like “the mids of this iem does not compare to the mids of this other iem”, etc etc etc so I always ended up not enjoying  the music but analyzing it.

So I just wanted a good set of iem’s that would WoW me and that I could take with me every place I went, so I decided to get a flagship custom iem and to sold my Seinnheiser HD800  and Ultrasone Edition 8,  I am someone who likes to take long walks and to think about life and I could not take with me the HD 800  besides I was tired of dealing with desktop amps and the later because I was afraid of scratching them and I did not like to draw too much attention to myself especially here in Miami , and having had the Shure 535 I knew that by getting some custom flagship model things could only get better.

So I started investigating about them and sending e-mails different ciem companies, asking them questions about their products, and that’s how I got to meet John , he responded every e-mail within hours and sometimes within minutes I had sent them; as a matter of fact, sometimes I was the one who could not reply to him, and this was important to me because of the investment I was going to make, the other companies I e-mailed replied to me a week after or a couple of days later, I won't say who they are since I don’t  know how busy they were also because I work in a custom glass shop and I know it's not easy to keep up with the customers, but the help I got from John was enough for me to go with Heir Audio that I decided to get the 4.A and the 8.A, and it was the best decision I made in 2012 music wise.

  I have them since March this year and I am writing this review now because this was my last year of college and it was a busy one I barely could keep up with going to school and having two jobs at the same time,  I got to confess that the 4.A are my favorites ones because to my ears the bass, the mids and the highs are in sync with each other and they make me forget about everything else I just enjoy that moment when I’m listening to my favorite tracks, and every time I listen to the 8.A I am  thinking "damn I wonder how this song would sound with the 4.A", and there you go I become analytical  again lol, I listen  to my 8.A when I listen to pop, techno or Latin music because  of the many music instruments used with those  genres but because I    am a rocker and most of the bands I listen  use the basic instruments you know guitar, bass, and  drums and obviously vocals the 4.A   gets    most of my time, TO MY EARS they sound neutral and that’s MY SOUND.

The best analogy to compare these two ciems would be like loving your wife(8.A) and having an affair with that pretty lady(4.A) you still love your wife but you just can’t stop thinking about the pretty lady and you don’t know what to do other than being slick and keep them both !!!

In conclusion if you get any of these to iem's you won't regret it! I will upload pics of them in a few days!!!

I paid for the 8.A  $1500 (checkboard inlay), and for the  4.A $500,  I am not including shipping and handing and customs fees

I gave them 5  stars  in    value since many people do not appreciate  what it takes to  make      something custom, anything you name it, and I know what I am talking about, as I said before I work in a custom glass shop and I know how hard it's to make something custom from scratch! and the checkered board I got for my 8.A is TOP QUALITY AND CRAFTSMANSHIP!!!!

Synopsis: The Heir Audio 8.A is the flagship custom-fit in-ear monitor (ciem) from Dr. John Moulton at Heir Audio. It's tuned for a supremely warm, rich sound. This very well designed ciem manages to combine this lush sound with excellent precision and clarity. The bass is very well extended into the sub-bass with a lot of well-controlled mid-bass for a fun sound. The midrange is quite warm with a thick resonance to notes, while still maintaining clarity. The treble is very precise and non-fatiguing. It avoids sibilance while shining beautifully and has excellent extension. Everything comes together nicely for an organic, engaging sound. The Heir Audio 8.A is very well crafted. It both looks and sounds great.

Introduction: Dr. John Moulton is an audiologist with a love of making beautifully crafted custom in-ear monitors. He's displayed his work on head-fi and discussed his philosophy on engineering ciems there as well. These discussions and images drew a lot of attention and many people (including me) wrote him about the possibility of making ciems for sale to audiophiles. He's made that happen with Heir Audio. You can see the work he has done on his facebook page (click) or on the Heir Audio website (click).

I have the dynamic driver ciem Future Sonics MG6Pro Ear Monitor, which I'm very happy with. I was curious about what a top-tier balanced armature based ciem would sound like. You can read about the different types of drivers (the transducers which produce the sound in an earphone) here (click). However, I was disappointed by one of the options out there when I had a chance to listen. Dr. Moulton's superior technical expertise combined with his artistic craftsmanship made him seem like the perfect person to work with. I knew I wanted the best he had to offer--his flagship ciem, the 8.A.

Disclaimer: I think it’s important to be open and up-front about the way one has received the product reviewed, so everyone can be clear about any underlying motives which might bias the review. Right now, there is a promotional price of $1099 for the 8.A which will go up to $1299 in the future. I received a discount from John for being one of the first to purchase an 8.A in exchange for losing a year off the warranty and losing the excellent resale and remold feature, which I'll talk about below. I also couldn't choose the appearance of the custom, which is a big concession. In addition, I agreed to contribute to the Heir Audio appreciation thread here on head-fi. So much for that. My review will be my honest take on the 8.A and my usual approach is that a good review gives you a well-rounded take so you have reasons not to choose it as well as reason you might choose to buy it for yourself.

Customer Service: This is a huge part of a custom fit in-ear monitor as each one is molded to your unique set of ears. Bad customer service can sour the whole experience and several big name ciem companies have fallen down on this. On the other hand, excellent customer service can be a wonderful thing, becoming a relationship that lasts and greatly adds to the value of your purchase as you are truly in good hands. Dr. Moulton is off to a great start, I'd say, in terms of good intentions and responsiveness. I'll be frank: I am a difficult customer. I ask a lot of questions, I complain and I generally am a pain in the rear end. John handled my questions excellently and he was very responsive. I also spoke with another of his colleagues and she was great as well.

However, I will say that that the folks at Heir Audio are new at this and sometimes it shows a bit. Things didn't go as smoothly as I would like when it came to shipping to and from China. I spent extra money to use FedEx and I'm glad I did because they were on top of things when Chinese Customs decided to throw a wrench in the works. Heir Audio dropped the ball a bit and weren't as clear and informed as they should have been, forgetting to give me a phone number which apparently Chinese Customs needed, things like that which will get much better quickly with a little more experience. I want to emphasize that they did their best to take care of things--the key point is that they care. Overall, it was a very good customer service experience and I think it will be even better for people who follow after me.

One other thing: Apparently I have small ears and 8 drivers need a fair bit of space. John worked with me and my customs stick out a few extra mm to accommodate the extra space needed. That is an example of excellent customer service.

Warranty and Owner Transfer Service: The warranty is 2-years, which is very good, but it's the owner transfer service which is the exciting part. The problem people sometimes have with custom iems is that if you don't like what you've bought, it's hard to sell them. The next person has to have them remolded to fit their ear, which means going to an audiologist for earmolds and then having someone remold the ciems--and there's no guaranty that the remolded customs will sound like the originals if done by a third party! Here's where John's awesome service comes in. With Heir Audio (and the warranty card--hold onto that!) you can transfer ownership to another person. John will take the new owner's earmolds and he himself will remold the custom iems, testing and tuning it himself for perfect sound--AND he gives the new person a 1-year warranty. You can read about it here (click). It's excellent and should greatly increase the resale value of the ciems. Not that you'll want to sell them if you're smart about the knowing the sound signature you want. The info below should give you what you need to make a good decision if you take the time to understand the sound you want.

The 8.A: The 8.A has 8 balanced armature drivers. It might be useful to contrast the 8.A's set up with that of another 8-driver custom, the Jh16. The Jh16 uses two double-driver armatures for the bass--for a total of four. These two doubles are called the DTEC and each of the four TEC drivers is rather small. Dr. Moulton uses a much larger driver for the bass, called a CI. This driver has a much larger frequency range--and John uses TWO of these larger drivers. In addition, he uses a unique damper to give this extra bass capability and range an extra measure of control. For the mids and treble, the JH16 uses a Sonion brand double armature for the mids and a double armature DWFK for the treble, giving a total of 8. Dr. Moulton, on the other hand, uses a double armature TWFK for the midrange, another TWFK for the treble and yet another TWFK to handle the upper treble--giving a total of 8 drivers well distributed to handle each part of the frequency range with power and perfect control. There are three sound tubes for bass, midrange and treble, all perfectly done.

These drivers, acoustic filters and crossovers (a 4-way design) are housed in a typical closed acrylic shell. What is not so typical is the craftsmanship with which John makes them.

Here are mine, made of wood and horn, a very classy and stylish look.

An in-ear view, the picture doesn't do the organic quality of the horn justice.

(my ear is for display purposes only and is not included with purchase of the 8.A)

Craftsmanship and Build Quality: Outstanding. There's very little more to say, these are simply very well made and done with an industry leading level of skill and care.

Isolation: Good, these will have the same isolation as any other closed-shell acrylic ciems.

Sound: This is a fun sound with extra mid-bass and a quite warm midrange done with excellent control. The overall sound is quite warm, lush and smooth with excellent extension above and below. There is no brightness or harshness to speak of, although the treble can still sing appropriately to the recording. While John has told me he has tuned for a mild V-shape which dips a bit at about 500hz (which is a common tuning for a lot of headphones) for a fun sound free from any muddiness, I don't hear a recessed or de-emphasized midrange, on the contrary, the warmth of the presentation gives the mid-range instruments and voices a richness with no loss of clarity that many people will love. The combination of a very lush sound which still has excellent detail (without putting it at the expense of musicality) is perhaps the keynote of the 8.A.

One aspect to the sound I'd like to mention is the coherency. This is the ability of an earphone to depict all the instruments and voices in a piece of music as each playing one together as part of greater whole. The 8.A does this well, depicting good instrument separation while providing a holistic sound. When done poorly, such as the Jh16, it can sound as though each instrument was artificially mixed in separately, giving a fake hyper-separation to the sound, which some people may prefer if they don't like how live music sounds. The 8.A avoids this and a rich cohesive sound which give everything its proper place and ties it all together nicely. Complex, fast music is handled effortlessly with great smoothness by the 8.A.

The sense of a space in a recording, the soundstage, is good for a closed-shell BA-based ciem. I would say that the 8.A does very well in comparison with similar closed acrylic shell ciems.

Treble: The 8.A is the ultimate in a non-fatiguing, very well controlled treble. It's very smooth and so non-bright it will sound dark at first to those accustomed to hyper-bright and glaring treble presentations found in some earphones. Some people might want a treble that has an exciting "bite" to it or a lot of energy, you won't find that here. What you will find is a treble that is not recessed, takes its place with nice presence and sparkles and sings appropriately in a piece of music with superior extension and very good detail. You could listen for hours and never grow tired of the way soprano voices, violins, etc. are portrayed. I will say that the TWFK driver and its relatives don't do perfectly with the realistic reproduction of subtle resonances in instruments and voices (timbre). Cymbals are a particular issue, as they can be hard to reproduce accurately for many headphones. The Jh16 was poor at this, and the 8.A has a related driver with the same issue. However, the 8.A does a little better--perhaps due to Dr. Moulton's skill at tuning and the better coherency of the 8.A. On the other hand, voices, flutes and violins sound great. I'd say it's a minor weak area, which you may not notice (and it's probably on par with many top-tier BA based ciems), but those who want the very best timbre may look elsewhere.

Midrange: If you like a thick, quite warm midrange that you can just wallow in, this is the earphone for you. This is a tuning that gives strings, guitars and voices that extra helping of richness to make them even more euphonic. The achievement here is that the 8.A manages this while still providing excellent detail. The added warmth is something that isn't for everyone. People may want things a little more natural for the sound of pianos, for example. In particular, those who want a dryly detailed colder presentation won't care for the warmth, but many people crave a lush sound and it's truly well done on the 8.A.

Bass:  Oh yes, the bass. There is a lot of well-controlled mid-bass here, ready to go. There is a lot of sub-bass here as well as the 8.A has excellent bass extension. Here's where those two large bass drivers and their special acoustic filter really are glorious. There is great detail and color in the bass of the 8.A, it is simply superb. Bass-heads will love it and audiophiles who don't mind their bass north of neutral but still very well controlled will love it as well.

Music Genres: The 8.A rocks with, well, rock. Some may want more treble energy, but the 8.A handles the strum and thrash of music with such fun and smoothness that I think it works well. Electronica and trance are immersive and the 8.A gives a greatly textured sound that still comes together for the right atmosphere. Dupstep has met its match with the great sub-bass. Classical symphonies are done well as the warm and bass come with a degree of control and balance and detail which works to bring out the feeling in the music, although recordings that already warm may be quite a few degrees north of neutral with the 8.A. Jazz, solo instruments and string quartets often do very well with the warmth accentuating their resonance. I would say archival recordings tend to sound phenomenal with the 8.A. Old Miles Davis recordings have met their perfect earphone. A less warm earphone with a bit more treble energy can sound a little more naturally lively with some of these genres, but the way the 8.A's smoothly euphonic tuning, detail and dynamic, powerful yet controlled sound can be compelling with just about everything.

In Conclusion: The Heir Audio 8.A has a beautiful warm, rich sound that compromises nothing in terms of detail and clarity. The warmth and bass definitely have a perfectly controlled something extra added to give music more, while the treble is a marvel of non-fatiguing, smoothly singing extension to match. It all comes together very nicely and it's a sound that will suit many people, but it's not for everyone. Some will want a less warm or lush presentation, or a brighter treble. That's okay, John has other ciems with different tuning! No seriously, Heir Audio has a full line of customs. For those who want what the 8.A offers, though, you won't find anything more capable and the 8.A makes some of the competition look outdated. For incredible craftsmanship, great customer service and a lush sound that just gives more and more enjoyment with each hour, look no further than the 8.A.

As the other reviews have covered most of the 8A's sound signature related qualities, I want to focus on its outstanding merits which I believe to be unique only to the 8A.

The sound signature is supremely rich and musical yet Heir have managed to allow the 8A to portray incredibly high levels of detail. I would assume this is somewhat paradoxical, and would be seemingly impossible to achieve. Yet, the magicians at Heir have managed more than accomplish this 'seemingly impossible feat'.  

In addition, a rich and musical sound signature is correlated with a poor soundstage. This is not the case for the 8A. The 8A has an amazing impressive soundstage that is very expansive and spacious. Listening to Mahler's 8th symphony aka the symphony of a thousand, it feels as if I am inside a hugh concert hall and can pinpoint the entry and location of every instrument with ease. 

The 8A has extremely powerful bass that will literally send vibrations through your torso and above. But this is not to say that it is lacklustre in the other frequency ranges. In fact it can go endlessly low as well as endlessly high without any loss of control or depreciation in sound quality. Listening to lossless recordings of violin duets, I am thoroughly impressed at how clear and beautifully presented the treble range is on the 8A as well as how effortlessly it can produce the higher pitches and still maintain timbre and not sound harsh. 

As powerful as the bass is, it never overwhelms. I never expected it but the 8A is an absolute delight to listen to classical recordings of chamber orchestras, duets, quarters, quintets and so on. Last but not least, the 8A truly shines when it comes to reproducing large scale romantic orchestral works. Very difficult to describe in words, but it is truly astonishing. All embracing, holistic and supremely warm yet detailed and expansive are the words that constantly come to mind. 

You can see from my profile that I own a lot of high end audio gear. This is because my father is an audio maniac. In our basement resides the Focal Grande Utopia EM. What is amazing is that I rank the 8A alongside the Utopia as my favourite audio gears.

The isolation has a lower rating as nothing beats my Shure olive tips!

And last but not least. The aesthetic qualities of the 8A is well.... Need I say more? Have a look at some of Wizard's works!

Sonically, the 8.A is nothing short of perfect for me.