Heir Audio 4.Ai - Appreciation/Impression/Review Thread

The Heir Audio 4.Ai

It is likley that by now you have heard of Heir Audio. They are a relatively new company in terms of how long some have been around. They started off as a company dedicated to making customs which were aimed at the audiophile community and head-fi goers. The creator is a head-fier himself who your will likely know as FullCircle. He goes by the name of Wizard and is actually a doctor of audiology. Along with a few other guys at heir such as Dr. David Jiang and Nancy, i have already found the Customer Service at Heir to be great which is needed from a company selling customs.

Now they are based in China which means that distributing customs worldwide is not the easiest thing to do due to the impressions and overall process. So to counter that Heir decided that they would open a new office and start selling to universal IEMs which are just universal version of their customs. They are labeled the 3.Ai and 4.Ai. Here is the post from FullCircle about the new plans.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FullCircle 

News:

 

From the Skunk Works department of Heir Audio

 

At Heir Audio we have always had the goal of making some of the best audio gear available. The trouble is, CIEMs require ear mold impressions which can be cumbersome to the purchaseing process.  Beyond that, we sell products all over the world, from Romania, Greece, Singapore, Kuwait, Taiwan etc etc.  Finding a location to get propper ear mold impressions is sometimes very difficult for some of our customers.

 

To help over come this obstacle we developed the 3.Ai and the 4.Ai. They are also hand crafted, with the same exating standards used to build our CIEMs. Their internal structure is also the same as their respective cousins, the 3.A and the 4.A.

 

We hope that starting August 6th, our web site order menu will be set up to allow for pre-orders to be taken.  The expected shipping date is September 1.

 

Both the 3.Ai and the 4.Ai will come in (no custom variation):

 

Shell Color - Black Mamba

Faceplate - Amboyna Burl

 

Feast your eyes upon the 4.Ai:

 

 

In addition to the release of the 3.Ai and 4.Ai, our North American office/distributorship will be opening September 1st to help facilitate the release and shipment of both custom and non-custom products in the North American territories. This will greatly reduce shipping times and and shipping costs for customers in this area and ourselves as well.

 

Please note that custom products will still be built at the Heir Audio Labs, but North American customers will be expected to send their earmold impressions to the US instead of China.

 

Complete contact information will be posted on our website shortly as well as updated shipping options/instructions for North American customers. For now, you can go ahead and talk to user bangkokkid, who will be heading the North American operation.

 

Wizard

 

From what i know these are now listed on the Heir website and will sell for a reasonable amount at $399.

The technology on them is rather impressive seeing as it uses the same driver as the full custom, the 4.A. The drivers that are used are both from Knowles and are the DTEC for the lows and a TWFK for highs and mids, they also have a 3-way crossover. Both of them are dual armatures. This means that these are a 4 balanced armature IEM and as far as universals are concerned their are only 2 other available which are the Westone 4 (also uses the DTEC and TWFK) and Sony XBA-4 (uses Sonys own drivers).

I have no received a pair and was very pleased with the shipment. They were shipped on the 3rd of the month by Heir using the courier UPS and arrived in the UK from China in just 3 days on the 6th. Very happy with the speed.

Would also like to add how impressive it is to think that these beauties are hand made from top to toe. Wow!

So because i am instantly impressed with the sound and how beautiful they look i feel (as do a few other members) that these deserve there on thread. So getting posting you impression of them, link me to your review and just tell us all what you think!

Enjoy!

Currently in the sponsors section of head-fi, Heir are running a competition to win a pair of these so good luck: Enter to Win an Heir Audio an All New 4.Ai ..... This has now been won!

These can be purchased from the Heir Audio website here.

Head-Fi Head Gear Product Page for the 4.Ai

We have great news from the Wizard and a new Premium version of the 4.Ai (and the 3.Ai) is avaliable!

Quote:

Originally Posted by FullCircle 

Heir Audio News:

 

 

There has been a lot of discussion in regards customization options for the Ai Series, so I thought I should share what is brewing, and will be initiated as soon as the web site is up-dated.

 

 

Introduction of the 4.Ai - P and 3.Ai - P

 

P = Premium Package  (or "pimped" as Sorensiim would call it)

 

The Premim Package Ai products will come with the following:

 

1) Magnus 1 cable

2) Engraved Carrying case

3) "Wizard" Engraved Shell

4) Choice of 3 Face plate options

 

 A) Standard Face plate (burl currently used)

 B) Buck Eye Burl

 C) Black Mamba Face Plate with engrave Heir Audio Logo

 

Premium Package Fee is an Additional $199

 

Buck Eye Burl Photo Below

 

 

Reviews:

SwimSonny's Review - http://www.head-fi.org/t/622235/review-heir-audio-4-ai-could-we-have-perfection

Sorensiim's Review - http://www.head-fi.org/t/624873/review-heir-3-ai-and-4-ai

BloodAddict's Review - http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/headphones-earphones-portable-media-devices-314/heir-audio-4-ai-review-there-simply-so-much-talk-about-3875833.html

Swampax's Video Review - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM7V2CTjOlk

CNET Review (Steve Guttenberg) - http://news.cnet.com/8301-13645_3-57513146-47/heir-audio-headphones-the-new-kings-of-clarity/

HideousPride Review - post #570

Audio-Head Review - http://audio-head.com/heir-audio-4-ai-universal-in-ear-monitor/

Swimsonny's YouTube Comparison Review with the Shure SE535 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smd6-ue4Qu0

Elnero's Review - post #851

TheGrobe's Review - post #951

PCMag Review - http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2411360,00.asp

Rinchoi;s Review - http://rinchoi.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/heir-audio-4ai.html

Impressions:

SwimSonny's Comparison with the Aurisonics ASG-1 - post #25

SwimSonny's Comparison with the Sony MDR-EX1000 - post #38

Swimcoleby's Impressions - post #65

Sorensiim's First Initial Impression's - post #85

Sorensiim's First Comparison with the 3.Ai - post #100

SwimSonny's Comparison with the Fischer Audio DBA-02 - post #142

Polimandres Impressions - post #226

Librarian's Comparison with the Etymotic ER4s - post #305

Darinf's Impressions - post #328

Tomscy2000 Comparison with the 3.Ai - post #67

Tomscy2000 Comparison with the Westone 4 - post #68

SteveKiwi's Initial Thoughts - post #113

Tomscy2000's Brief Comparison with the Fit Ear ToGo 334 - post #468

Tomscy2000's Full Comparison with the Fit Eat ToGo 334 - post #91

SixthFall's Impressions - post #526

SteveKiwi's Comparison with the UE IERM - post #116

Vkvedam's Comparison with his Custom Moulded Shure E500 - post #116

Sinocelt's Heir Audio Round Up - post #3

Esuhgb's Comparison with the Sennheiser IE80 - post #603

zloy loup's Impression - post #114

Zenpunk's Impressions - post #120

Bokyung's Impressions - post #787

Omastic's Impressions - post #936

Ink's Impressions and comparisons:

1. 
   
2. 
   post #809
   
3. 
   post #811
   

DMS541's Impressions - post #960

Jason36's Impressions - post #1027

Unboxing Videos:

SwimSonny's:

Heir Audio 4.Ai Earphone Unboxing

Relevant Threads:

Heir Audio - The Appreciation Thread

Heir Audio World Tour (will Feature Impressions of the 4.Ai)

Were It Ranks in SwimSonny's Round Up Thread:

Reserved for my full initial impressions!

Quote:

Originally Posted by rubick 

cant wait for sept for mine to be ship out!

Oh cool, did you purchase some? Be sure to get on this thread right away with some impressions when they come in! Are they to be shipped on the first?

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by AyeCee 

Awesome, can't wait to see some reviews!!

Should not be too long :D

The magnus cable looks cool. Let us know the difference of it and the stock cable. Both on sound and build will be appreciated.

I am thinking of putting a owners section in the OP so we can see who has one etc? What do you reckon?

Quote:

Originally Posted by rubick 

Sure why not. can consolidate how many owners there are.

i wonder will the stock cable be included. or it will just ship with the magnus 1 cable only

Yes, thats what i was thinking so people can see who are the owners of them as well. If i put the date that they received them as well we can see how long they have owned them for as well, gonna add that now.

Now i would thing that it would make sense to receive both but can not confirm that, maybe that is why you get the discount off of the cable? Well we will see shortly enough!

Quote:

Originally Posted by rubick 

 

Yup. Another month of waiting. This will be a cold and hard period for me. Hopefully will receive both cable to do a comparison.

Good luck, stay strong. I struggled with my 3 day wait :/

Yes that would be great, i would love to see a comparison piece unfold.

I have just made a product page in the head gear of this site for the 4.Ai!

http://www.head-fi.org/products/heir-audio-4-ai (adding to OP)

Haha it is not but i still got rather impatient hehe :P

Yes, i know Sorensiim is getting one as well as having purchased a 3.Ai. I hope a few other members will jump in to let us know they have purchased or have a demo unit coming!