Custom Art's First Foray into Acrylic CIEMs: Ei.3
Apr 2, 2015 at 4:40 AM Post #16 of 343
So... I believe you've all seen the CA-0001A Ei.3 picture. And you'd like to know how they sound. For some reason, they arrived yesterday at my office. I tried them on as soon as I could, and here is the ensuing chain of emails I sent Piotr. As per his request, I waited until the end of April fool's day to publish.
 
** Disclaimer : I am NOT a basshead, and even am considered a little trebly by my fellow Frenchmen. I listened to those for about three hours straight on my Lyr2+Uberfrost desk combo, then later on with my iPhone 6 on my commute. Those are not even first impressions, but IMMEDIATE impressions, because I wanted to feedback Piotr ASAP. Thus, handle with EXTREME care. I am not trying to hype or unhype. Everyone who knows me knows I appreciate Piotr to the utmost, and believe that he truly understands what customer relationship is about. Everyone who knows me will also tell you that if I don't like it, I'll say it. My experience with in ears started six years ago but I only started to get serious last year. My current lineup is H8p (proud pre-order owner), SE5 (remolded by Piotr), Lyr2+Uberfrost, and iPhone 6+HPP1 (when enough room). I still own SA7 and have owned previously SA6, SM64, SM3v2 for in ears, and DX50, F887 and ZX1 for DAPs. My tastes lean toward precision without analytical sound, ADSR quality, soundstage width and depth. I listen at low volume. I don't talk much about musicality because I find it too subjective a topic at this point of experience **
 
Nuff B.S., here are the unedited emails, based on my testing tracklist, which is still growing, but based on tunes I've listenened to over 300 times at least. Not all are my taste, but all of them are here for a reason. For most of the tunes, everytime I noticed something, I went back and forth in Foobar with H8P and Ei.3, with hand based volume matching. That's why you will find some timestamps below. I tried to not get carried away, but may have on occasions.
2015-04-01 15:07 GMT+02:00 Piotr
Hey,
 
Package has been delivered to your office. Have you got a chance to listen to IEMs?

2015-04-01 15:15 GMT+02:00 J�r�mie
They arrived @ 14:50. Struggled to open them unti 14:55 (tough package!). Put them on immediately. Bass promise is delivered. They sound FAST. In phone conferences since 15:00.
Yes crying my eyes out too.
 
Ps: they re even more pretty in real life.

2015-04-01 15:57 GMT+02:00 J�r�mie 
Back from meetings. On with the listening ! I will compare them with theH8P to be as unfair as possible :D
 
2015-04-01 15:17 GMT+02:00 Piotr
Haha! That's a pity. Well looking forward to more impressions. 
 
And thanks, I tried my best working on your IEMs. :wink:
 

2015-04-01 16:19 GMT+02:00 J�r�mie
Ok I'll make a twitter like feedback, mail after mail. I'm using Lyr2+Uberfrost. I have slight lack of fitting on the right ear. No biggie, but not perfect.
 
Iggy Azalea Black Widow => is it me or there are significantly more subs? 
I feel like a constant rumble when the deep basses are out, but a controlled one - very much what I expected what a real life woofer would sound like when I first heard the song on the H8P.
At comparable sound levels (hand based), the basses seem to bleed on H8P @ 2:28.
The overall separation seems generally inferior to H8P in the sense that the H8P sounds cleaner, more "cut", but it also sounds more "together".
The scene appears to be somewhat larger and quite a bit less deep than H8P.
Globally, the song sounds more dancy and punchy than with the H8P, with more personality, albeit with quite less extension in the highs (that takes a bit away from the rise @1:32 to 1:45 and the same at 2:50-3:15). It is as if the H8P highs are clear (shiny? open?), while the Ei.3 were more "matte" ?
 
2015-04-01 16:58 GMT+02:00 J�r�mie 
Now onto harder stuff : Brahms Requiem (I know, they're not meant for that, but the H8P make me cry on it :D)
It is surprisingly good ! The choirs seem more forward as the clarinette or oboe seems less present. This may actually be even more moving albeit less technical (depth mainly).
 
2015-04-01 17:04 GMT+02:00 J�r�mie 
On with Com Truise - Future World. Now I'm getting it ! Is it me or the scene is more forward ? like the music sounds closer to you ? The first 30 seconds are VERY different on Ei.3 and H8P. Here again, sounds leaner and cleaner on H8P maybe somewhat more defined, but also less "personal", less engaging that with the Ei.3. The fact that the scene appears closer makes the effect sound VERY differently. I wonder how they will sound on live music !
 
2015-04-01 17:25 GMT+02:00 J�r�mie 
Daft punk - Contact : on the rise starting from 3:10 on, the subs take over. The line of bass is less present, and the drums highs also. The feeling is more overwhelming (although I love the technicality of the H8Ps on that track). The brain is shaken as you wanted it to be ! It's definitely what you are describing : "For the sound stage Harmony 8 will sound more outside of head and a bit recessed in comparison, obviously Harmony will be more technical and clearer sounding.", and "Harmony will be more technical and clearer sounding".
 
I will post a summary of all the mails tomorrow on HF. And TN will have to deal with English - I'm not reverse translating ! I am amazed : these totally obliterates SM64 or SA7 (which were released @250), and I LOVED my SA7's !
 
Dire Straits - Telegraph Road : Oh and about the highs : they still get the highs in from the first second on "Telegraph Road", which I haven't seen in many cases (often, no sound for the first 3 seconds). Is it me or the drums (toms and cymbals mainly) are somewhat less precise, specifically is the sustain and decay (shorter for the Ei.3) ? See 5:50 to 6:00. The bass drum is more lively on the Ei.3, but the cymbals are so much more natural on H8P. Different focus. All of the details of this hard to reproduce song are there. I like this song because it has so much test material in it : single instruments, acoustic guitar, bass lines, mix up, piano, the voice on Mark Knopfler cannot stand a poor placement. Overall, I'd still take the H8Ps on that one, but it is a very lively reproduction.
The depth seems closer to that of H8P than with the previous tracks.
 
2015-04-01 17:41 GMT+02:00 Jérémie 
Dire Straits - On every street : here again, a somewhat unbalanced fight because this songs favor technicality. The sax appears more "moving" with the H8p. The cymbals reproduction of Ei.3 appears much better than with Telegraph Road, despite the even higher complexity. I still like the better ADSR on the cymbals from the H8P, but the matte bell sound starting at 2:50 in the background as well as the "rice box" (I dont know the French name of that instrument, but it sounds like shaking rice in a wooden box) is here too. Many IEMs fail there, including TotL IEMs. I'm very impressed by the level of detail restitution : it is not necessarily perfect, but it is here !
 
2015-04-01 17:48 GMT+02:00 Jérémie 
Massive Attack - Angel : The Ei.3 shine, as you'd expect with the deep bass.
Panda Dub - Myopie : Some pretty good dub stuff. Try it free @ http://pandadub.bandcamp.com My only slight disapointment so far : the tuba starting @ 1:50 is really not as deep. Ony H8P it is a real trip : it seems as if the tuba is coming from 50m away, closing in on you with depth. Here it is fun. But no as fun. In fact, I like to say that H8P are so excellent for "watching the music", enjoying it in a very contemplative manner, which is perfect with Myopie. I'd say that, on the opposite, Ei.3 are made to live the music, live the moment. Need to test them with good rock music.
 
 
2015-04-01 18:03 GMT+02:00 Jérémie 
Savant - Fat Cat Shuffle. Now try that one www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggXVkhkzS-0
 
The texture of the bass is a little less controlled than H8P but it is very physically engaging.
 
The Killers - Mr Brightside : THERE YOU GO! It's exactly the energy I missed on that track from the H8p. (still miss the H8P cymbals though :D)
 
It's interesting what you said earlier - I do tend to feel more "speed" from the Ei.3 than the H8p. I know that Joe considered that "has a bit shorter/faster note through the bass and midrange.  The treble notes are sharper and more analytical, possibly from a faster decay.  The H8P can keep up with the speed of any track with excellent punch and dynamic range that again are near the top of the performance charts.  Overall coherence is very good, but the treble region at times can reduce the overall frequency response coherence due to the different note ADSR." Imho, the bass attack of H8p is not the fastest (or it is the highs attack which is faster I dunno), which gives this "not as fast" impression. Anyway. Not the case here.
 
Well congrats. You did it. And yes I see what you mean when you say that electronic music "it's not overly complex." : it isn't in the way that due to the synthetic nature of the music, the sounds tend to be relatively "mono harmonical", and not as complex as live instruments can be.
 
 

Just one reaction from Piotr (I hope you won't mind me quoting you) :
Black Widow => is it me or there are significantly more subs? 
I feel like a constant rumble when the deep basses are out, but a controlled one
 
YES!!! First time I heard this song with Ei.3 I was like ...wow... there's constant bass there! really surprised - that's why I told you about that song. 
 

Overall yes, your impressions are spot on and what you "should" hear from it. Harmony 8 will have less sub bass that's for sure, but will have better control and better texturing. With Ei.3 accuracy was not a priority I simply wanted something that will shake your brain good. 
For the sound stage Harmony 8 will sound more outside of head and a bit recessed in comparison, obviously Harmony will be more technical and clearer sounding. 

 
Overall, I would say that Ei.3 is definitely less technical than H8P (but that was a given). This shows up particularly in the highs ADSR (at least I think I noticed it on the cymbals, where sustain and decay are much better for H8P). The scene appears to be closer to you, as if the H8P scene was a bit recessed, which changes things dramatically on some tunes (see Drydeck above). The bass is really really fun, without ever getting boomy. Taking into account the price point, my first feeling is that this Ei.3 is a killer. I wish I had listened to Music 2 to give better price based comparison, but I haven't.

 
 
Apr 2, 2015 at 5:48 AM Post #17 of 343

Great read! I took a listen to black widow on my pair of acrylics. And the constant rumble really hit me. I've owned the SA7 before, what tuning do you use on yours?  I remember my favorite combination was a - Bass and a = Treble. With this combination the SA7 bass was tight and had little decay like an instantaneous hit of bass. Saying that i also agree that my acrylic pair dominates over the SA7. Judging from what you've said, we're probably hearing similar things from our acrylics though it's kind of hard to say as you're comparing them to a H8P which i have not heard.
 
Apr 2, 2015 at 6:03 AM Post #18 of 343
I really tried them all on the SA7, and ended up on =/=. The - bass was really too little bass for my tastes. MrBrightside was really spectacular on the SA7, and was my only remorseful song with the H8P :D
ps : thanks for your comment
 
Apr 2, 2015 at 5:58 PM Post #19 of 343
 
Now that the announcement has been made and after confirming with Piotr i can post about me owning this. I've had the pleasure of listening to an early version of the Ei.3 (Piotr has told me that mine is slightly different in terms of hardware but very similar sound-wise) for about a month now due to certain circumstances regarding me and my disagreement with silicone. Long story short, i had a state of art music two that died, Piotr replaced it with another which also died and we both came to the conclusion that silicone was just too fragile for me and so this acrylic beauty was born. Piotr was awesome to deal with and even transferred my state of art design to the acrylic and i must say they look beautiful. My pair has 3 drivers and 2 bores.
I'm not too adapt at describing what i hear but i'll try my best.
You can definitely hear the music series influence in these, they are very fun to listen to with the bass hitting deeper and harder compared to the music two from what i can remember. The tuning is perfect so that the lows don't bleed into the mids.
Vocals are clear and forward with female vocals sounding amazing (electronic music with female vocals sounds absolutely divine with these). Highs are crisp and sharp yet had no harshness. Overall the sound is warm much like the music two.
I'd recommend this to anyone that enjoyed the music series from Piotr as to me these are a straight upgrade from the music two. Anyone that loves electronic, rock (heavy/metal/post-hardcore/alternative/all kinds), rap, hip hop and bass will definitely enjoy this. That's not to say they sound horrible with songs that don't have bass as i highly enjoy them with acoustic songs. Fitment is top notch and isolation is brilliant though i can't compare as these are my first acrylic customs.
Piotr has done it again and released yet another value ciem with great sound. I'm just sad that my ear canals are too narrow for the Harmony 8 
frown.gif
 

 
Could you please tell us how your silicone CIEMs "died"? Under what kind of "heavy use"? I thought the silicone shells would be more resilient to any problems due to its impact absorption nature...
 
I have the UM Mentor and it has a small crack and I've never dropped them. I talked to the manufacturer and they said it could be probably the format of my ears that changed too much while eating/talking that could have forced that small crack. No sonic changes though and I'm not willing to stick 2 months without them just for some aesthetic problem.
 
Apr 2, 2015 at 6:41 PM Post #20 of 343
Hey everyone, sorry for a bit of late reply but you cannot imagine the flood of emails we are getting about Ei.3. I'm are really excited about it!!!
 
Quote:
  Sub'ed.
 
Please share more info!
 
Thanks!

 
As per request:
Custom Art Ei.3 is REAL and we are so excited about it!
This our first step into acrylic monitors and we brought our A-game to make this very enjoyable-sounding IEM for affordable price.
What to expect? Ei.3 sounds BIG, we have incorporated one dedicated sub-woofer, one full-range and one tweeter. Everything has been carefully tuned to make sound coherent and effortless.
Bass is the foundation of the signature, there's plenty of sub-bass vibration and texture without distortion, we didn't forget about good control so despite warm presentation there's no mid-bass bump. Mids are smooth, intimate, Upper frequencies are airy and spacious but tamed accurately to be smooth with hints of precision.
You'll definitely hear Custom Art's house sound in this monitor, slightly more powerful than before.
For customization we will offer 4 basic colors, 6 special colors and possibility of custom color.
All options like canals, faceplates etc. will still be available.
Ei.3 comes with detachable cables only.
Specs:
- Three Balanced Armature per earpiece
- 3-way configuration
- 118dB @1kHz @0.1V
- 65 Ohm @1kHz
- 10Hz-17000Hz (+-20dB into IEC711 coupler)
- Acrylic body

 
  How many bores are there?

2 sound bores
  These sound absolutely amazing. :D I just recently got my first customs and want something with more bass for my next ones. So I've been looking at the 1964 Qi and V8 and the newly launched Earwerkz Pentas. Well this is an amazing deal and I'd much prefer to spend as little of my little cash as possible if the bass is good. It probably wont be as good as the others I mentioned but price/performance I believe will be way better :D So hope I can get a pair this year! 
L3000.gif

Glad to have you on board!
 
@MrButchi Thank you for your early impressions!
 
 Could you please tell us how your silicone CIEMs "died"?

Moisture damage to driver - the biggest enemy of silicone IEMs :frowning2:
 
Just some additional info
@xSteves's IEMs are simply very early concept of Ei.3;it's based on CI+TWFK combination whereas Ei.3 is based on Sonion drivers exclusively. Sound-wise they may be similar but not identical.
 
There were some question about pre-order period and price. We take pre-orders simply because we are awaiting for some parts to Ei.3. and it looks like turnaround for Ei.3 will be around 6 weeks cut to regular 4 weeks once we get the parts. The price you see it not a discounted price, this is regular price for Ei.3 and it will not change once pre-order stops and regular orders begin.
 
Apr 2, 2015 at 11:26 PM Post #21 of 343
If I use a proper case and add some silica packs to store it, will I be ok? I live in Brazil and I sweat a lot...
 
Apr 6, 2015 at 2:15 AM Post #22 of 343
hey Peter,
I've never owned a ciem before. but i recently lost my ue900's and have been looking to pickup a pair when you announced these. 

would you suggest the ie.3 over the cm1? (everyone raves about the CM1)

I'm also in canada and have no idea how impressions etc would work.. but i'll b researchign soon haha.
 
Apr 6, 2015 at 3:27 AM Post #23 of 343
  hey Peter,
I've never owned a ciem before. but i recently lost my ue900's and have been looking to pickup a pair when you announced these. 

would you suggest the ie.3 over the cm1? (everyone raves about the CM1)

I'm also in canada and have no idea how impressions etc would work.. but i'll b researchign soon haha.

Hi @Deviver
 
I think if you like UE900 Ei.3 could be good upgrade/side grade. If "CM1" is Music One then Ei.3 is more full sounding, with much bigger bass, going into sub-bass easily. Music One is more flat, will not shake your brain like Ei.3. Ei.3 has also bigger soundstage and better imaging.
 
Look for audiologist or places selling hearing aids they will be able to do ear impressions for you.
 
Apr 6, 2015 at 4:36 AM Post #24 of 343
Yes indeed i meant the Music One's I've been itching to try anything from you since I saw the reviews from Joker and the other guys who did the comparisons.
 
Hopefully I'll scrounge up enough cash to pick them up the exchange rate isn't doing Canadians any favors recently
 
Apr 11, 2015 at 5:27 AM Post #30 of 343
Since this is (as per the thread title) CustomArt's first foray into acrylic CIEMs, I'll venture to post some (Gabriele) Fauré as a suggestion of something civilised for Ei.3 customers to listen to
etysmile.gif
:
 
 

 
(John Rutter's version is also nice, by the way)
 

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