[Idsynchrono_24]

Thank you Kunlun, Very well put together Review I enjoyed reading & loved the Photos. You have a great fit there by the looks of your Ear....
Your Description kinda almost remind me of my UM Merlin.......Although... that bass vent is very interesting indeed & its being adjustable, makes this CIEM quite special  enabling you to change for every type of recording.  (NICE) ....
 Wonder how the AS 2 will sound with some aftermarket cables also?
I am also very interested in your coming comparison with the other Custom on my radar the Tralucent. I await......Until then.......

Anakchan has mentioned to me that the upper range can be cleaned up considerably with aftermarket cables. He tried a Tralucent silver cable and said it was very noticeable. He feels the AS-2 reflects a very nice value for what Aurisonics is selling at. I'm looking forward to trying them for myself

Anyway, Soundbear isn't really the only person who finds the AS-2 to be on the warmer dark side. I've encountered a few others just from skimming thru various threads. I think Soundbear is just trying to offer a counter opinion of sorts, to offer the other side of the coin for prospective buyers, as the sound sig wasn't to his taste. As Anakchan shared with me, it all depends on what you're coming from. He places the AS-2 treble as somewhere between that of the FitEar MH335-DW and the Tralucent 1+2. That seems like a good compromise of energetic without coming across as fatiguing over extended listening which is how Kunlun described it.

 

[ericp10]

Quote:

You say his opinion is just as valid and yet seem to.infer the opposite. If the iem is dark, it is nice to know. Either it is or it is not. Saying that a monitor SHOULD have laid back highs is quite news to me. Besides these are now sold and marketed more for personal hearing.

Actually I didn't Infer anything. Both opinions are valid, but having heard the AS-2 myself, I agree more with Kunlun. And my opinion is just as valid. So I disagree with soundbear's description of the sound signature (base on my ears), but I do agree that one will like this earphone (or any earphone) base on THEIR preferred sound signature. 

As for being marketed for personal hearing, many in-ear monitors are because some people like the sound of in-ear monitors. But if you do some research on in-ear monitors (not earphones), you will find that most are designed with laid back highs for the very reason I listed (let me clarify, in-ear monitors mainly designed for professional musicians on stage). Aurisonics stated from the beginning that the main focus for their products were (are) for professional musicians, but many everyday listeners heard the sound and enjoyed it too. Dale and crew have tweaked the sound of their new products so that it serves it's original purpose, yet some audiophiles and everyday listeners can enjoy the sound too. Nothing contradicts anything in the statements I've made.

 

[Mimouille]

Fair enough...I will wait for the comparison with 1plus2, they will be a good reference to see how our close our tastes are.

Actually I didn't Infer anything. Both opinions are valid, but having heard the AS-2 myself, I agree more with Kunlun. And my opinion is just as valid. So I disagree with his description of the sound signature (base on my ears), but I do agree that one will like this earphone (or any earphone) base on THEIR preferred sound signature. 


As for being marketed for personal hearing, many in-ear monitors are because some people like the sound of in-ear monitors. But if you do some research on in-ear monitors (not earphones), you will find that most are designed with laid back highs for the very reason I listed (let me clarify, in-ear monitors mainly designed for professional musicians on stage). Aurisonics stated from the beginning that the main focus for their products were (are) for professional musicians, but many everyday listeners heard the sound and enjoyed it too. Dale and crew have tweaked the sound of their new products so that it serves it's original purpose, yet some audiophiles and everyday listeners can enjoy the sound too. Nothing contradicts anything in the statements I've made.

 

[AnakChan]

Soundbear, you & I PM-ed about the ASG-2 (but you had the AS-2 - I'm not certain if the two can be compared despite one being the universal of the other) and we talked about timbre and air but I realised I failed to respond to your comments about bass.
 
I'm actually curious if your AS-2 has the tuneable bass port or not and if so what setting?
 
I haven't spent much time with the ASG-2 as I'd like and when I did this weekend I have to admit my ears hadn't really settled - I have my good and bad ear days which is usually why I'd like to spend many days listening to the same track, same setup, etc. then average my thoughts. So my opinions of the ASG-2 is still in flux.
 
To me (with the bass port set to minimal), I kinda agree with the Kunlun about it being "polite" especially compared to IEMs I'm more familiar with, namely the RDB+ v1, 1Plus2, TG!334, and MH335DW. However with the bass port dialed, this is where my thoughts on the bass start to differ from Kunlun's (no disrespect to him). For my ears, I find them somewhat boomy and in the sub bass level. I think the max I can go that's acceptable between boomy and polite is just shy of the 25% mark of dialing in. In addition I found that it didn't fill in the mid and upper bass as much as I liked.
 
But I do agree that it's not technical (well at least not 1Plus2 technical anyway). With the stock cable, I felt the overall signature wasn't "clean" or polished, but that was highly improved by merely swapping cables.

 

[Aurisonics]

Quote:

Actually I didn't Infer anything. Both opinions are valid, but having heard the AS-2 myself, I agree more with Kunlun. And my opinion is just as valid. So I disagree with his description of the sound signature (base on my ears), but I do agree that one will like this earphone (or any earphone) base on THEIR preferred sound signature. 

As for being marketed for personal hearing, many in-ear monitors are because some people like the sound of in-ear monitors. But if you do some research on in-ear monitors (not earphones), you will find that most are designed with laid back highs for the very reason I listed (let me clarify, in-ear monitors mainly designed for professional musicians on stage). Aurisonics stated from the beginning that the main focus for their products were (are) for professional musicians, but many everyday listeners heard the sound and enjoyed it too. Dale and crew have tweaked the sound of their new products so that it serves it's original purpose, yet some audiophiles and everyday listeners can enjoy the sound too. Nothing contradicts anything in the statements I've made.

[size=medium]The dual tweeters are in the canal but are not running at full volume as they are padded down electrically (resistor). Very minute changes to this change the sound immensely. The bass port is also very useful at taming the lows if you close it off.[/size]
 
[size=medium]How you perceive high frequencies is directly correlated to the amount of bass response you have or perceive as it masks the highs easily. I guess next I will need to make the tweeter level adjustable for those who want to run the bass open and need more highs.  Before anyone emails me for a price on that, one thing at a time please. [/size]
 
[size=medium]Kunlun has a version we are about to release with the valve that is in the ASG-2 in the cover to allow much more adjustment. As he noted you have a lot of area (sound sig) you can cover with that valve. We will be offering that as an option and upgrade. Pricing TBD as it is a lot harder to implement in the customs as the cover size and shapes vary greatly from person to person and sometimes from ear to ear.[/size]
 
[size=medium]And yes these have always been for the pro-musician market but a lot of people find that they like the sound for listening to music as well. We are humbled and honored that the audiophile community has embraced them also. [/size]
 
[size=medium]Opinions are all valid as each person's perception of sound will be somewhat different depending on the shape and air volume of the ear, age, amount of hearing loss and a hundred more reasons. [/size]
 
[size=medium]Great discussion on the AS-2...[/size]

 

[Mimouille]

Oh it all makes sense now...the ones who find them too dark have the old version....silly them.

 

[tomscy2000]

Quote:

  I'd be the Van Gogh of reviewers!

 
Maybe this review will only be taken seriously after... er... okay, let's not go there...

 

[Aurisonics]

Quote:

Anakchan has mentioned to me that the upper range can be cleaned up considerably with aftermarket cables. He tried a Tralucent silver cable and said it was very noticeable. He feels the AS-2 reflects a very nice value for what Aurisonics is selling at. I'm looking forward to trying them for myself

Anyway, Soundbear isn't really the only person who finds the AS-2 to be on the warmer dark side. I've encountered a few others just from skimming thru various threads. I think Soundbear is just trying to offer a counter opinion of sorts, to offer the other side of the coin for prospective buyers, as the sound sig wasn't to his taste. As Anakchan shared with me, it all depends on what you're coming from. He places the AS-2 treble as somewhere between that of the FitEar MH335-DW and the Tralucent 1+2. That seems like a good compromise of energetic without coming across as fatiguing over extended listening which is how Kunlun described it.

[size=medium]I am usually not one to get on the cable band wagon. However,  after auditioning the ASG-2 with various cables ranging from our stock cable to a gold cable that cost over $1000US at the NY meet I can definitively say cables do make a difference. Out of all those I auditioned Ted's cable (AnakChan's cable)  that Dimitri brought to the meet I found that it enhanced the overall energy, clarity, and precision of the ASG-2. Each cable made differences but for what I prefer that cable really brought out the best in the ASG-2. It stands to reason that this would hold true for the AS-2 as well. IMHO [/size]

 

[Deviltooth]

A few people have mentioned the AS-2 is 'not technical'.  Does this mean aural details are smudged, unbalanced or lost in the mix?  Also, there are some conflicting reports on sound stage.  Does the AS-2 present a full and 3D sound stage (compared to other custom IEM)?

 

[kyuuketsuki]

Quote:

[size=medium]I am usually not one to get on the cable band wagon. However,  after auditioning the ASG-2 with various cables ranging from our stock cable to a gold cable that cost over $1000US at the NY meet I can definitively say cables do make a difference. Out of all those I auditioned Ted's cable (AnakChan's cable)  that Dimitri brought to the meet I found that it enhanced the overall energy, clarity, and precision of the ASG-2. Each cable made differences but for what I prefer that cable really brought out the best in the ASG-2. It stands to reason that this would hold true for the AS-2 as well. IMHO [/size]

 
You and me both. I thought cables were snake oil until the NY meet. But dang was I wrong. I do find the idea of cable burn in ridiculous still though. But headphone burn in, if these change as I've been told, I'll be a believer. So far I've not heard it.
 
I'll be doing an update on my ASG-1 review when I reach 200 hours, and then again when I switch to Silver Dragon. Not sure if there will be a difference. I already tried switching and thought I heard a difference but that might be expectation vs actuality. 

 

[vocalist]

Quote:

 
See,  disagree with you. Whereas the bass is very present and detailed (and can make bassheads smiles), the mids are very present and forward in the AS-2 too. Kunlun did a good job in explaining that highs are dialed back a bit because these are in-ear monitors (having dialed up too much will render the in-ear monitors effectiveness useless and ruin the musician's ears). That's not to say the highs are recessed or not extended, because it is. 

Yes, your statement is probably accurate in regards to the AS-2 not being your sound signature, but that doesn't mean the AS-2 isn't a great a product, or that Kunlun didn't render an accurate description of the sound he's heard out of them. Again, his opinion is just as valid as yours. You're not wrong in how you hear the the AS-2. It's all subjective. But in my opinion, it's unfair to call the AS-2 a "basshead" earphone, although the sound signature can be manipulated to make "bassheads" feel the product was designed just for them. 

I heard no bloating of the bass or need to pull up the mids via eq-ing when I spent a significant amount of time with the AS-2. 

I agree with this.  Not to say soundbear is wrong, in the very least!  I think it's just the matter of how we all hear things differently and all have very different preferences.  I hear almost precisely what Kunlun and Eric have described although I'm going to wait a bit longer to make my final comments.  It turns out my fit may not have been quite as tight as it should have been so they are on their way back to Aurisonics.  Once my 1/2 marathon is done (this weekend!) and I actually have a few weeks off of racing I am looking forward to doing a LOT of listening. 
 
What I can say is that vocals are forward - there's no question about that.  I didn't find a lack of sparkle in the highs at all and bear in mind, I listen to a lot of classical vocalists with some of my favorites being cololoratura sopranos. I personally found instruments to be very detailed to the point where I started picking up on the breaths or bow movements of string players in certain pieces, as well as smaller instruments (percussion, chimes, bells, etc.) I had never heard in prior listening sessions. I did not adjust my bass valve at all and felt it was just right for my tastes as to me it really brings out the depth of the bass guitar, cello, upright bass, etc. The timbre is one of the best I have personally heard and when I've listened back and forth (briefly) with my PFE-232's I prefer the sound of the AS-2 every time.  There's a richness to the sound, without anything being added in or anything being bloated, that really makes the AS-2 a match for my personal tastes.  I had really liked the Westone 4's and to my ears, the AS-2 reminds me of the sound but it's clearer, more detailed and more energetic.  That's all I'm going to say for now - until I get my set back.  I think Kunlun's review was really well done and hit the nail on the head.  
 
**Edit: and because I'm curious (to a fault) how much do the cables in question run??  

 

[kyuuketsuki]

Quote:

 
 
**Edit: and because I'm curious (to a fault) how much do the cables in question run??  

 
 The gold cable ran for $1300, if I recall correctly. The one Dale preferred was part of the Tralucent 1P2. I don't think they are for sale separate. I think they were the silver variant. But I can't say for certain.

 

[Kunlun]

Maybe this review will only be taken seriously after... er... okay, let's not go there...

I'll have to give up one of my 9 lives!

 

[kenman345]

Quote:

 The gold cable ran for $1300, if I recall correctly. The one Dale preferred was part of the Tralucent 1P2. I don't think they are for sale separate. I think they were the silver variant. But I can't say for certain.

As Dale said in a post a little above, he preferred Ted's cable, a pure Silver IEM cable from the maker of Chris_Himself cables. It was on the Rhapsodio RDB+ (or whatever they were) and it is owned by AnakChan.
 
Their was a $1300 cable there? How come I didn't see that? Or was it the Tralucent cable? I thought the only cable that expensive was the Crystal Piccolino IEM cable
 
 

[size=medium]Great discussion on the AS-2...[/size]

Yes, I am glad it's finally a discussion

 

[Kunlun]

I agree with this.  Not to say soundbear is wrong, in the very least!  I think it's just the matter of how we all hear things differently and all have very different preferences.  I hear almost precisely what Kunlun and Eric have described although I'm going to wait a bit longer to make my final comments.  It turns out my fit may not have been quite as tight as it should have been so they are on their way back to Aurisonics.  Once my 1/2 marathon is done (this weekend!) and I actually have a few weeks off of racing I am looking forward to doing a LOT of listening. 

What I can say is that vocals are forward - there's no question about that.  I didn't find a lack of sparkle in the highs at all and bear in mind, I listen to a lot of classical vocalists with some of my favorites being cololoratura sopranos. I personally found instruments to be very detailed to the point where I started picking up on the breaths or bow movements of string players in certain pieces, as well as smaller instruments (percussion, chimes, bells, etc.) I had never heard in prior listening sessions. I did not adjust my bass valve at all and felt it was just right for my tastes as to me it really brings out the depth of the bass guitar, cello, upright bass, etc. The timbre is one of the best I have personally heard and when I've listened back and forth (briefly) with my PFE-232's I prefer the sound of the AS-2 every time.  There's a richness to the sound, without anything being added in or anything being bloated, that really makes the AS-2 a match for my personal tastes.  I had really liked the Westone 4's and to my ears, the AS-2 reminds me of the sound but it's clearer, more detailed and more energetic.  That's all I'm going to say for now - until I get my set back.  I think Kunlun's review was really well done and hit the nail on the head.  

Thanks!

Between you, Ericp10 and me, we are beginning to develop a concensus on how the AS-2 sounds. Anakchan and I aren't so far off, sure if you bring the bass vent open you intentionally give yourself a bassy sound, but dialing it down gives a sound as I described. So, things are coming along! Thanks, guys.