[bvng3540]

The price of the Tia is surprising. Makes you wonder what it could possibly sound like for that price. Which might be half the reason they did it, right there.

 
the drivers made out of pure 24k gold

 

[eldss]

Here are the prices folks:

U18 - $3000
Tia Fourte - $3500

That's ridiculous. I guess, they must be going for boutique prices on these devices, but very likely outside of the vast majority of people's budget. 

 

[bvng3540]

Here are the prices folks:

U18 - $3000
Tia Fourte - $3500

it not officially announce yet, at this price it is ASSUMED

 

[Taggerung]

  it not officially announce yet, at this price it is ASSUMED

He is at Canjam, and is probably relaying what Forest said to us.

 

[Deftone]

Holy! 3.5k for a quad

 

[Sound Eq]

that is really not good news about the prices

 

[EagleWings]

Tia Fourte is a quad driver but a totally different approach and design. The presentation was a bit different from what I am used to, so I couldn't form a proper impression and the noisy environment only made it worse. But in terms of technical abilities, they are really amazing.

 

[Rin1990]

Tia Fourte is a quad driver but a totally different approach and design. The presentation was a bit different from what I am used to, so I couldn't form a proper impression and the noisy environment only made it worse. But in terms of technical abilities, they are really amazing.

So how do they sound in general? Any detailed impression concerning bass , mids and treble?

Soundstage and clarity/detail? Just wanna get some clue. Lol

 

[twister6]

Here are the prices folks:

U18 - $3000
Tia Fourte - $3500

 
Is this a show discount price?  I actually heard that MSRP will be:
 
U18-tzar - $3,299
Tia Fourte - $3,999
 
I didn't expect this...

 

[bvng3540]

   
Is this a show discount price?  I actually heard that MSRP will be:
 
U18-tzar - $3,299
Tia Fourte - $3,999
 
I didn't expect this...

wow very expensive, but not as expensive as oBravo's EAMT-1

 

[EagleWings]

So how do they sound in general? Any detailed impression concerning bass , mids and treble?

Soundstage and clarity/detail? Just wanna get some clue. Lol

Clear sound with high resolution and high level of transparency. Precise imaging and excellent separation. Soundstage dimensions if not the best, pretty close to the best.

Not a neutral/flat tuning. Good treble extension and sparkle. Relaxed mids. Couldn't get a good idea on the bass. The whole presentation was a little different from a BA or a DD IEM, not by night/day, but definitely different.

U18 was like the U10 on steroids. It did everything slightly better than the U10. After trying the U18, when I went back to the U10, U10 sounded a bit dull.

I did forget to find out if these IEMs will work fine with low impedance sources. But I did my listening on Mojo and it sounded fine.

 

[iFi audio]

Previous post somehow didn't make it in one piece. Here's the full version.
 
We located this post which is what we have drawn our info from:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/739712/1964-ears-adel-iems/6270#post_12829491
 
It compares one of these IEM's with very low output impedance and with 22 Ohm output impedance. the changes in amplitude with frequency are less than 3dB in the bass and less than 2dB in midrange and treble.
 
The iEMatch has at the max under 3 Ohm output impedance. The respective changes in amplitude with frequency generally pretty much parallel the impedance. 
 
So with the iEMatch at 1/7th of the output impedance of the above case, the amplitude change with frequency due to this impedance would only be around 1/7th, or less than 0.8dB at the maximum, for this specific example. This should be at the limits of audibility and certainly should not cause large changes in sound quality.
 
There are some possibilities though. First, the parts used in the matching network are Vishay MELFs. These do appear to show quite a pronounced "burn in" behavior and often cause a bright and forward sound in the first few hours.
 
It may be advisable to perform a forced burn in using the burn in tracks iFi have made available. 
 
There is no need to keep the headphones or IEM's connected for that. Simply select "high sensitivity" and with a headphone attached set a level for playback that does not cause the amplifier to distort, play the burn in track(s) on repeat for 48 - 72 Hours and then try to listen again.
 
 
Ah, and here's the link to burn-in site: http://ifi-audio.com/audio_blog/burn-in-like-a-pro/
 
Hopefully now the picture is complete!

 

[Rin1990]

Clear sound with high resolution and high level of transparency. Precise imaging and excellent separation. Soundstage dimensions if not the best, pretty close to the best.

Not a neutral/flat tuning. Good treble extension and sparkle. Relaxed mids. Couldn't get a good idea on the bass. The whole presentation was a little different from a BA or a DD IEM, not by night/day, but definitely different.

U18 was like the U10 on steroids. It did everything slightly better than the U10. After trying the U18, when I went back to the U10, U10 sounded a bit dull.

I did forget to find out if these IEMs will work fine with low impedance sources. But I did my listening on Mojo and it sounded fine.

Sounds like one heck of a beast in the making...
 
TIA really seems like a game-changer. 
 
From your description it seems like the Tia Fourte's greatest strength isn't just the coherent mids and treble, but almost-seemingly-pixel-pinpoint accuracy on 3D imaging and soundstage.
 
If there's ever a chance to try them in my country, I can only say I will have very high expectations from your description. 
 

 

[EagleWings]

Sounds like one heck of a beast in the making...

TIA really seems like a game-changer. 

From your description it seems like the Tia Fourte's greatest strength isn't just the coherent mids and treble, but almost-seemingly-pixel-pinpoint accuracy on 3D imaging and soundstage.

If there's ever a chance to try them in my country, I can only say I will have very high expectations from your description. 

I wouldn't say Gamechanging just yet. Until someone can audition in a favorable environment it would be hard to determine how it compares to other TOTLs. With all the IEMs I tried today, the Zeus, Tia, Layla seemed to be best in terms of technical abilities, followed by U18, Katana and FLC Celeste.

 

[Rin1990]

I wouldn't say Gamechanging just yet. Until someone can audition in a favorable environment it would be hard to determine how it compares to other TOTLs. With all the IEMs I tried today, the Zeus, Tia, Layla seemed to be best in terms of technical abilities, followed by U18, Katana and FLC Celeste.

Speaking of Zeus, I've always wondered how does the new ADEL module sounds with it.
 
In fact, I am curious how the entire Empire line up sounded with them on since I only tried them without it during my first audition.
 
I am also curious when will there be a proper audition since this is all done in a noisy environment which is less than ideal of course.