Heir Audio World Tour - Page 6

Thanks Tom for the in depth review of the 3Ai and 4Ai. The 4Ai really sounds sweet. Sorry for not making the meet in Taipei as was too busy. :(

Thanks

would love to have them circulated for reviews/impressions/demo in our country ( philippines ) =(

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomscy2000 

 

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.

 

 

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.

 

Waiting for the review of 4A and 4Ai.

Stock Cable and the Magnus-1 Cable

A couple of high-profile members have already ready reviewed the Magnus-1 cable thoroughly, here and here, so I’ll be brief with this.

There’s not much more to comment on, other than to parrot the fact that it’s a great cable. The Magnus-1 cable is, in a nutshell, flexible. It exceeds the stock cable in flexibility while being thicker and stronger with its Kevlar-reinforced interior and four-braid robustness. The connector heads are tubular metal, but don't contain material of questionable IP-infringement like the DIY ‘UE’ plugs out there on the market.

Left to Right: Stock Cable, Heir Audio Magnus 1, Whiplash Audio TWag V2 OM

On the cable I was sent, there was only one thing that I found issue with. The Y-split was a small, single layer of thin heat-shrink --- not exactly what I’d call confidence-inspiring. In addition, the neck cinch would easily sink below its boundary, making it difficult to raise back up. I spoke to the Wizard about this issue, and he told me that they’d refined the design since sending out the World Tour package. He then sent me a second cable that was more representative of the current iteration of the Magnus-1, featuring a reinforced, enlarged (over the original, but by no means large or bulky) y-split. So, problem solved.

Top: Revised Y-Split, Bottom: Pre-Revision Y-Split

Well, let me offer up one big thing beyond the regular ‘better build quality’ argument. The biggest issue that I’ve always had with the stock cable used by the likes of Heir Audio, Unique Melody, 1964Ears, JH Audio, etc. is that the ear guides are way too long. They often extend way past the length of the memory wire (not always true, as some batches have shorter ones) and are very microphonic. I like cinching the cable behind my head performer-style when I’m out and about, but when I do this with the stock cable, the long ear guides and cable scrape against the mastoid process of my skull. For those not familiar with human anatomy, the mastoid process of the temporal bone of the skull is a major area of bone conduction. When performing bone conduction hearing tests (Rinne), an ENT physician or audiologist will often place a tuning fork at the base of the mastoid process. You can imagine the same type of effect happening when a cable scrapes against the head while walking, except instead of a 512 Hz tone, you hear highly amplified rustling of the cable ear guide.

An elephant models the 4.Ai, with Magnus 1 cable attached.

The Magnus-1 cable mitigates this problem by shortening the ear guides. The profile of the memory wire is also lifted out and above the ear, such that a much less microphonic and stable soft twisted cable rests securely against the head when the neck cinch is tightened, instead of a vibratory plastic body. Obviously, bone conduction microphonics aren’t completely solved, and will never be solved on the simple account of physics, but the Magnus-1 cable definitely helps minimize the issue, and I suspect Heir Audio’s expertise in audiology helped immensely in making these ergonomic refinements to the cable.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomscy2000 

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).

...

 

thanks for your great impression

do you try shure olive foam on w4?

Quote:

Originally Posted by heart banger-97 

thanks for your great impression

do you try shure olive foam on w4?

Sorry no; my whole goal was to get the W4 to sound as close to the 4.Ai as possible; the Westone bullet tips were the best bet.

To everyone waiting for the other impressions; I'll try my best to finish writing them by Friday --- I've been really busy and just haven't had time to work on this stuff.

i wanna get the 4.AI but i didnt had a credit card.... and prepaid credit card is also not available at my country,,,,,,, anybody hlp me pls!!!!!!!!!! 

Quote:

Originally Posted by williamchua8 

i wanna get the 4.AI but i didnt had a credit card.... and prepaid credit card is also not available at my country,,,,,,, anybody hlp me pls!!!!!!!!!! 

where do you stay??

Malaysia.........

Quote:

Originally Posted by williamchua8 

Malaysia.........

Any relatives in Singapore? If you have can always bank transfer, purchase from Treoo.com. If not then idk whether Malaysia has any local seller of the 4.Ai.

non at Malaysia.. i contacted the Heir Audio..... and can i order one pair from tat website and bank in from Malaysia?? 

Quote:

Originally Posted by williamchua8 

non at Malaysia.. i contacted the Heir Audio..... and can i order one pair from tat website and bank in from Malaysia?? 

Oh if you have a bank account, create a paypal account. Bank transfer to you paypal account then you can use paypal to purchase stuff online.

Quote:

Originally Posted by williamchua8 
non at Malaysia.. i contacted the Heir Audio..... and can i order one pair from tat website and bank in from Malaysia?? 

I think you should wait for Heir's reply. They have very responsive service, and I'm sure they'll try to help you with the purchase. However, things are going to be tough without PayPal.