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Heir Audio World Tour - Page 5

post #61 of 216
9/5/12 at 5:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by FullCircle View Post

Jaben:

 

 

Jaben at this time, does not have any Ai demo produts.  That said, hey do have CIEM demo products, but one should remember they have 16 differenct locations, and Jaben has been known to rotate their demo products to different locations as they hold promotional events.

 

Wizard

 

thanks for the info!!!

hope that singapore would have one circulating soon.. =)

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post #62 of 216
9/6/12 at 7:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by chesterljh View Post

 

thanks for the info!!!

hope that singapore would have one circulating soon.. =)

 

Singapore Jaben has the 4A on demo. No 3A though sadly :( really wanted to try that one. 

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post #63 of 216
9/6/12 at 7:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by tang63 View Post

 

Singapore Jaben has the 4A on demo. No 3A though sadly :( really wanted to try that one. 

They did have all Heir audio custom demos but recently someone broke the 6.A, 4.A and 3.A demos (when I wanted to audition few days back they said only 8.A demo that is available for now). Idk what happened to that guy lol.

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post #64 of 216
9/6/12 at 7:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by 7nationarmy View Post

They did have all Heir audio custom demos but recently someone broke the 6.A, 4.A and 3.A demos (when I wanted to audition few days back they said only 8.A demo that is available for now). Idk what happened to that guy lol.

 

Thats really strange! I just emailed them 2 days ago. and they said that they still had 4A for demo. 

 

and now you just made me feel like straggling (joking of course) that guy who broke the 3A demo! I really wanted to try it! :( 

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post #65 of 216
9/6/12 at 7:54am
This is my fear of letting "regulars" handle my equipment. What if thy blast songs on it or dont care for it!
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post #66 of 216
9/6/12 at 8:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by chesterljh View Post

hmmm...to be honest, many singaporeans i know are against going to jaben due to their extremely bad service and long turnover...

 

im not sure if i would go there again... even though i went there quite a few times and they ignored my presence...

 

EDIT: this applies to Singapore only

Quote:
Originally Posted by tang63 View Post

I beg to differ. Their service was much better than Stereo IMO. But then again, might be just luck and I happen to be there with just slightly better customer service. 

If I wanted to audition stuff I prefer Jaben a lot more than Stereo. Their staffs are more knowledgeable, and they do not mind you sitting for hours just trying out stuff. Since I know some of their staff, I think they are friendlier than Stereo's. In Stereo the first think they ask is budget. They want and urge you to buy. Auditioning for long periods is not convenient there. 

 

Jaben, however has very very weird pricing. On one hand they do offer good discounts through bundles, but some items have exorbitant pricing. From what I calculated, they benefit at least 200 USD per CIEM. For example they are selling JH13 at around USD 1480. That includes shipping and ear impressions (which I reckon to be at most $100). Now they benefit 1480-100-1099= 281 USD per JH13 made. MG6pro is priced at almost USD 1480 too when it is a lot cheaper buying directly. The Compact Monitor Stage 4 is priced at roughly USD 1950 when it is actually less than USD 1800 (+shipping and impressions). Fitear F111 is priced 550 USD if bought directly from Japan (price at Fujiya Avic) and Jaben sells it at ~680 USD.

 

Now back to the topic, I did asked them about bringing in 4.Ai and 3.Ai, and they cannot confirm anything yet. Let's just wait and see :) Many people will storm in to that tiny store to try them.

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post #67 of 216
9/9/12 at 7:09am

Outward Impressions for the 3.Ai & 4.Ai

 
LLLL
 
Size and Fit. Let me start with a statement that I didn’t expect to make: the 3.Ai and 4.Ai are small. They were quite a bit smaller than I expected them to be.
 
Compared to the analogous TO GO! series of FitEar IEMs, Heir Audio’s universals are a lot more low profile and impart a much smaller footprint. Even photographed size comparisons to my own customs and the FitEar TO GO! 334 don’t do justice to how well-shaped these universal IEMs are. They are effectively barely larger in size than a Westone UM3X/W4, and fit just as well.

“People with smaller conchae (as I do) need not worry in the least bit.”

 

LL

LL

 
Comfort is top notch. Like that of the FitEar TO GO! 334, the sound nozzles of the 3.Ai/4.Ai are very short and positioned approximately perpendicular to the plane of the ear, allowing for a relatively large range of positions within the ear canal. With the single flange tips, I was able to get good isolation nearly instantly and did not feel any fatigue throughout the entire time of my using the 4.Ai.
 
There may be some concern about the depth of insertion (or lack thereof). It’s true, such a type of fitment may not be like that of a true custom or an Etymotic, but I do get a deep enough fit for my own ears that the sound is not negatively impacted to a significant degree. Effects on sound will be discussed later.
 
Exterior and Build. For me, the standard for CIEM build quality is set by FitEar. Though straight-laced and plain, FitEar earphones are simply meticulously built. All things being equal, Heir Audio is not at all far behind, and adds a whole lot more aesthetic flair.
 
Not only are the acrylic shells bubble-free, their purple sheen exudes the essence of fleur-de-lis royalty, splashed with a subtle hint of very fine-grained glitter. The entire thing is sealed off with plates of marbled wood.
 
LL
 
From Wikipedia:
Amboyna burl is a particularly expensive type of burl, costing $18.00 b/f to $22.00 per pound, much more than bigleaf maple burl, for example. It comes from Padauk trees (Pterocarpus spp.) of Southeast Asia. Padauk trees are quite common but the burl is extremely rare. The amboyna is usually a deep red, although the more rare moudui burl is the same species but the color is from golden yellow to yellow-orange. The sapwood is creamy white with brown streaks. The common use for amboyna is interiors for luxury vehicles, turnery, cabinets, veneer, and furniture.

 

I did notice that the laser engraved text denoting the model number seemed slightly rough, however, and seemed to jut right up against the wooden faceplate on the left earpiece of the 4.Ai. The wooden faceplate is beautiful, and the clear coat acrylic is smooth and even. However, as I noticed with my own pair of 4.A customs, the clear coat tends to have a couple of very small circle-shaped dents of unknown origin. Also, the boundary where the wooden faceplate fuses with the shell is not perfectly smooth on one single side of the 4.Ai. I suspect that this is a consequence of Heir Audio technicians being just a bit overzealous with keeping the shells and faceplate profile as small as possible.
 
Do keep in mind that these remarks are a result of my tendency to split the finest of hairs. As anyone can see from the beauty shots, any flaws that I’ve alluded to really don’t show up, even under revealing lighting, at high magnification.

"I’m sure could find build quality flaws in a Rolls-Royce if I ever wanted to."

 

Tips. To my pleasant surprise, Heir Audio has supplied the 3.Ai and 4.Ai with a very, very well-selected collection of tips. The single flange tips are particularly excellent because they’re constructed from higher-density silicone and have a wide diameter mouth. The wide opening of these tips prevents any reverse horn effects that may potentially constrict the upper registers of sound, and, despite being slightly stiffer than their low-viscosity counterparts, these tips provide distinct sonic advantages in that they seem to absorb less sound energy than softer ones. I don’t have the research data to back this claim up, and can only speak from experience in exploring different types of tips, but to me, higher density silicone tips clearly preserve the sound better than softer ones.
 
The double flange tips are actually softer than the single flange ones, but since they barely protrude out the front of the sound nozzle, they won’t affect the sound nearly as much.
 
One interesting tidbit about the blue single flange tips is that they have a central divider. At first, I was a bit confused about the purpose of such a divider, and assumed that it had some sort of cosmetic function that visually divided the two sound bores. Then the Wizard told me that the divider actually was designed to hold in acoustic foam, in case anyone needed to tweak the sound of the 3.Ai/4.Ai.
 
The one minor gripe I have with the 3.Ai/4.Ai’s construction and design is the tip berm. While clearly contoured to keep tips in place, it has trouble keeping the softer double flange tips in place. My ear canals are somewhat small and oval; thus, the double flange tips have a tendency to stay in my ears when I remove the earphones.
 
Manufacturing variances also come into play, and one side of the 3.Ai tends to lose grip on even the single flange ear tips. While I’m sure Heir Audio will continually refine the shape/surface texture of the tip berm, they may want to take a page from FitEar and institute a definite ridge that would allow tips to stay on, regardless of tip style, density, or ear shape.

Edited by tomscy2000 - 9/9/12 at 7:48am
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post #68 of 216
9/9/12 at 9:54am

4.Ai and the Westone 4

 

 

 

There’s really no need to introduce the Westone 4. It was the first four driver universal IEM on the market, and is still Westone’s flagship consumer-level IEM (in the removable cable, driver-matched version of the W4, the Westone 4R).

 

 

Incidentally, the 4.Ai uses the exact same driver setup as the W4 --- a TWFK and a DTEC. However, that’s where the similarities end.

 

The W4 has a single sound bore opening; both of the driver units are dampened by a single red damper (2200 ohm, though it is unclear whether either/both the TWFK and/or DTEC are internally dampened as well). The W4 also has proprietary drivers made to Westone’s specifications (which may or may not vary in certain aspects of sound and drivability). Conversely, the 4.Ai (and 4.A) outputs the DTEC-30008 through a red damper (2200 ohm) and the TWFK-30017 through a white damper (680 ohm).

 

What’s the difference, and what does it all mean?

 

Well, in the case of the W4, if the sound that a TWFK outputs needs to travel through a red damper as well, its high frequencies (especially its harmonic peaks) are significantly smoothed out and reduced. Thus, for the W4 to have the type of response it is tuned to have, the DTEC needs to be attached to a very strong resistor, in order to lower its output. There are also other ways to increase the impedance of the DTEC driver, including (but not limited to) altering coil impedance and/or diaphragmatic stiffness, so the exact method of Westone’s tuning of the crossover is unknown. The other thing of note is that a red damper will smooth out the first peaks of the TWFK much more than will a white damper. Of course, tuning also depends on the circuit combination attached to the drivers themselves, but depending on tuning preferences, this may or may not be a good thing.

 

Personally, I believe that the single bore design scheme has technical limitations and a designer is unable to set drivers to the best possible output range. Therefore, I believe the largest differences between the W4 and the 4.Ai stem from the W4’s technical limitations in its single bore design, despite Westone’s ability to order custom-spec drivers.

 

Yes, certain textures sound very similar, especially in the bass region where impact feels similar, but the midrange and treble peaks are distinctively different.

 

Regardless, the W4 is noticeably harder to drive than the sensitive 4.Ai. Despite just being 6 ohms higher in impedance (sensitivity difference is unknown, as Heir Audio has not published these figures), the W4 had to be driven nearly one hour later on the volume pot in order to match volumes.

 

 

One of the most contentious points about the W4 is that it is extremely tip-sensitive. It has a very short sound tube, and thus much of the sound is dependent on the type of tip used and the diameter of the tip opening. Therefore, with most types of tips, the W4 tends to sound slightly congested in the lower midrange and upper bass, with a dip in the treble region as well, causing people to sense a bit of a bass hump and faraway treble.

 

To get the W4 to sound as similar to the 4.Ai as possible, I had to do a whole lot of massaging, which included selecting a pair of tips that almost no one I know uses, the Westone bullet tips. These tips are the firmest silicone tips that Westone provides, with the widest-sized opening. With the sensation of the mid-bass hump minimized and the highs reinforced, the W4 brightens up and sounds much more like an earphone built for neutrality.

 

Nevertheless, when directly compared, the 4.Ai still maintains better control of the bass region, extending further while maintaining tightness. With the right tips, however, the W4 still sounds stellar for a universal IEM, and the bass hump that used to be fairly prominent is now minimized. Its main issue is the still slightly congested midrange (a sign that the bass hump isn't gone) and slightly recessed lower treble (amplifies the sensation of a congested midrange). As a consequence, the W4’s soundstage seems average at best. With the 4.Ai, I hear a superior instrumental separation, a wider, taller, and deeper soundstage, and better treble extension. In addition, most likely due to the differences in peak smoothing, certain musical elements sound more realistic, such as chiming bells. Voices seem more three-dimensional on the 4.Ai. With the extra isolation and contact points of the fully-custom 4.A, these differences are even more apparent.

 

When I switched the W4 back to the default grey flex tips, there really was no contest. The W4 sounded more inaccurate in every major part of the musical spectrum, especially in the upper treble. It was as though someone applied a high pass filter to the WBFK portion of the TWFK driver; 4-6 kHz was far away, while the region above 10 kHz was overly prominent. The mid-bass hump returned to prominence, and I was reminded of why I was never too impressed with the Westone 4 when it first came out.

 

Anyway you cut it, the 4.Ai is a superior IEM to the Westone 4. It is $50 more affordable, has the exclusivity of being hand-made and adorned with natural wood, and most importantly outperforms the W4 in every major subjective metric that enthusiasts value. Heck, the 4.Ai even fits better in my ears than does the W4.

 

Simply put, if someone wrote out a wishlist of how to ‘perfect’ the Westone 4, the 4.Ai would tick all the boxes.

 

It is flatter through the bass region, flatter through the midrange, and flatter through the treble. The Wizard may have begun his design quest by seeking out a ‘better’ Etymotic ER4P, but I’d say that what he got in the end was also a ‘better’ Westone 4. In terms of personal preference, I’m sure there are going to be some people (especially current W4 owners) who might prefer the sound of the W4, but in terms of technical performance, the 4.Ai definitely has the upper hand.


Edited by tomscy2000 - 9/9/12 at 9:58am
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post #69 of 216
9/9/12 at 10:50am

Excellent impression/comparison/reviews!

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post #70 of 216
9/9/12 at 12:16pm

Nice.

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post #71 of 216
9/9/12 at 12:36pm

Thank you very much for the review and comparison, tomscy2000, I especially appreciated the comparison of the technical aspects of both IEMs - I think that's a very nice (and more objective) addition to the usual sound impressions. I really like what I am reading about the 4.Ai so far. A Westone 4-like IEM with even more clarity and soundstage sounds like a dream come true for my tastes.

 

Does the 4.Ai have textured bass like the W4? That is one thing I really appreciated about them. How about the quantity? EDIT: Nvm, read your post in the 4.Ai thread. 

 

Can't wait to audition the Heirs later this month. redface.gif


Edited by zloy loup - 9/9/12 at 12:59pm
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post #72 of 216
9/9/12 at 12:43pm

Yeh love all of this tom and so hpaay about the W4 comparison. I have been trying to get my hands on a pair and will hopefully get to demo at the head fi meet soon but until then this has answered all the questions i was curious about thanks a lot! Also glad you liked the 4.Ai, well it looks that way anyhow ;)

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post #73 of 216
9/9/12 at 2:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tinyman392 View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by cue003 View Post

I would be very interested in hearing impressions of the 3ai vs the westone 4. I know it is 3 driver vs 4 but I am still very interested in this comparo.

Thx

Will do this by the weekend smily_headphones1.gif

Awesome.... Thank you.
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post #74 of 216
9/9/12 at 2:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tomscy2000 View Post

4.Ai and the Westone 4




Thanks for is comparison. It has been very helpful.
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post #75 of 216
9/9/12 at 4:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by zloy loup View Post

Thank you very much for the review and comparison, tomscy2000, I especially appreciated the comparison of the technical aspects of both IEMs - I think that's a very nice (and more objective) addition to the usual sound impressions. I really like what I am reading about the 4.Ai so far. A Westone 4-like IEM with even more clarity and soundstage sounds like a dream come true for my tastes.

 

Does the 4.Ai have textured bass like the W4? That is one thing I really appreciated about them. How about the quantity? EDIT: Nvm, read your post in the 4.Ai thread. 

 

Can't wait to audition the Heirs later this month. redface.gif

 

You're welcome. I should clarify that bass quantity and impact are actually on near equal terms with each other if the bullet tips are used on the W4, and if the mushroom tips are used, impact is stronger on the W4. Because of better fit and a flatter bass response, people will more easily hear better extension on the 4.Ai, though extension is quite similar.

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Swimsonny View Post

Yeh love all of this tom and so hpaay about the W4 comparison. I have been trying to get my hands on a pair and will hopefully get to demo at the head fi meet soon but until then this has answered all the questions i was curious about thanks a lot! Also glad you liked the 4.Ai, well it looks that way anyhow ;)

 

Well, I think it was pretty much a given that I would like the 4.Ai, since I have a 4.A --- on the other hand I'm not at all a fan of the 3.Ai (whose impressions I've not finished with yet). Unfortunately, this set of impressions has been the most disorganized for me in a very long time. Technically, the goal is for people to read the contents of the impressions in the order that I have it in below, but I'm really busy these days, and so I have to write these things out of order. People will unfortunately not get the whole picture here, since they won't know before the W4/4.Ai comparison that I actually find the 4.Ai not quite measuring up to the custom 4.A. I also basically wrote the W4 comparison under the assumption that people knew the general signature of the 4.Ai, and the W4, for that matter.

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by tomscy2000 View Post

Heir Audio World Tour | Impressions by: tomscy2000

 

Table of Contents:

  1. Outward Impressions for the 3.Ai & 4.Ai
  2. 4.Ai and the 3.Ai (COMING SOON)
  3. 4.Ai and the 4.A (COMING SOON)
  4. 4.Ai and the Westone 4
  5. 4.Ai and the FitEar TO GO! 334 (COMING SOON)
  6. 4.Ai and the Etymotic ER4B (COMING SOON)
  7. Stock Cable and the Magnus-1 Cable (COMING SOON)
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