[gLer]

I hope to keep this short and sweet but here goes nonetheless...

A huge and heartfelt thanks to both Bogdan Belonozhko at Fir Audio and Vitaliy Belo at 64Audio for helping me sort out some defective IEMs and getting them repaired and now in my ears in a new, shiny condition!

Long story part:

I picked up a used pair of demo A18s listed in the classifieds but one of them proved to be defective. After trading some emails with 64Audio customer service to get them repaired, I sent them in but the prognosis was not good. They weren't worth servicing but on the bright side, I was offered a generous discount to do a trade-in deal and to pick up something else from 64Audio (one day I will get them Fourtes). Nevertheless, I couldn't swing that deal as I was getting ready to move myself and the family out of Japan. Feeling crappy that my recent purchase was going to be a total loss, I asked Jared/64Audio to just hold them for me until I could figure things out with my trans-pacific move.

In the meantime, one of the members here suggested that I shoot an email to Bogdan at Fir Audio to see if they could have a look at them. Bogdan replied back super fast with his diagnosis/cost estimate and told me to have 64Audio send them over to him. I was thinking, woohoo, my A18s would be fixed and good as new. However, receipt, Bogdan had one of his staff take a look at them and what initially appeared to be a simple re-potting on the defective IEM and not a lot of $$ to fix, turned into much worse. It turned out that the IEM shell had a hairline crack in it and wasn't going to be the simple fix after all. At this point, I am thinking damn and I should have just done the initial trade-in deal with 64Audio and put the loss behind me. Well, to my good fortune, Bogdan was able to work his magic, secret audio engineer handshakes/high signs with the big boss at 64Audio--Vitaliy and some spare shells were procured on my behalf to make the repair. Thank you Vitaliy!

TL/DR:

I just wanted to pass along my sincerest gratitude and thanks to both Bogdan and Vitaliy for their efforts and generous support given to make my defective A18s perfect and received in an even better condition! Thank you Bogdan for your efforts and support to help me get these repaired! And thank you Vitaliy for your generous support with the replacement shells!

Happy Camper

Great story, and I concur, @bogdan belonozhko is a real credit to this community. He saved me a major headache on my Fourtes.

Well as long as you like the sound with the combo. It’s just my personal preference and opinion on the cables.

Fourte is already top iem and an expensive one . I would not pay 6k for an iem haha.

Well, if you think about it, Fourte + Bird cable is the price of a Bird. Not saying the Bird doesn't sound great without the cable, but there's a reason for the pairing. And once I tried it with the Fourte I knew why.

 

[DavidS11]

Great story, and I concur, @bogdan belonozhko is a real credit to this community. He saved me a major headache on my Fourtes.

Well, if you think about it, Fourte + Bird cable is the price of a Bird. Not saying the Bird doesn't sound great without the cable, but there's a reason for the pairing. And once I tried it with the Fourte I knew why.

Not disagreeing with you. But, for me, if an iem (Fourte or others) need a 2k cable to shine, then I guess the iem is not for me. Just my opinion.

 

[gLer]

Not disagreeing with you. But, for me, if an iem (Fourte or others) need a 2k cable to shine, then I guess the iem is not for me. Just my opinion.

Fair enough. The way I see it, I loved the Fourte before the cable and tip 'upgrade' but rolling has refined/tweaked it into a sound that I feel is even better in every way, and even better aligned with my preferences. Because the changes are not subtle, some may indeed prefer it with stock cable/tips. Changes are not always for the better, but in my case they very much are.

Also in my opinion a good IEM should be able to scale with better supporting gear. For example will you find the Fourte as enjoyable with a Mojo as you do a Hugo 2? Same thing with a cable. Every part of the chain can be tweaked, and the Fourte is particularly responsive to tweaks. As always, YMMV.

So to answer your point directly, the Fourte doesn't need a better cable to shine, but a better cable CAN make it shine brighter (not literally - the 2w Clear Light actually controls the OG's inherent brightness and makes it smoother).

 

[DavidS11]

Fair enough. The way I see it, I loved the Fourte before the cable and tip 'upgrade' but rolling has refined/tweaked it into a sound that I feel is even better in every way, and even better aligned with my preferences. Because the changes are not subtle, some may indeed prefer it with stock cable/tips. Changes are not always for the better, but in my case they very much are.

Also in my opinion a good IEM should be able to scale with better supporting gear. For example will you find the Fourte as enjoyable with a Mojo as you do a Hugo 2? Same thing with a cable. Every part of the chain can be tweaked, and the Fourte is particularly responsive to tweaks. As always, YMMV.

So to answer your point directly, the Fourte doesn't need a better cable to shine, but a better cable CAN make it shine brighter (not literally - the 2w Clear Light actually controls the OG's inherent brightness and makes it smoother).

Cool. That’s why there is no end to this hobby.

 

[Freshmintz]

Cool. That’s why there is no end to this hobby.

Agree with this statement

 

[KuroKitsu]

Not disagreeing with you. But, for me, if an iem (Fourte or others) need a 2k cable to shine, then I guess the iem is not for me. Just my opinion.

How about:

1K for summit
500 for ToTLs

 

[Vitaly2017]

How about manufacturers show us the real numbers! I want to see real benefits between measurements! Why iem manufacturers disagree with expensive after market cables!

64a shows a bit of information with its cables resistance and tell us that the premium silver cable is the lowest resistance cable they offer. YET. They say its an over kill and the stock professional cable is all you need as they find the sound 1000% adequate but not us picky annoying audiophiles

Same shall be done from other after market cable brands! Show us numbers and we will decide. Cause all we get told is more soundstage, more resoluting more this more that... But really? Sounds like a game of words and marketing.

 

[gLer]

How about manufacturers show us the real numbers! I want to see real benefits between measurements! Why iem manufacturers disagree with expensive after market cables!

64a shows a bit of information with its cables resistance and tell us that the premium silver cable is the lowest resistance cable they offer. YET. They say its an over kill and the stock professional cable is all you need as they find the sound 1000% adequate but not us picky annoying audiophiles

Same shall be done from other after market cable brands! Show us numbers and we will decide. Cause all we get told is more soundstage, more resoluting more this more that... But really? Sounds like a game of words and marketing.

The problem is you can't measure cable differences, at least not that I've ever seen done before. And I'm sure there's much more to it than simply resistance. And since every cable seems to react differently with different IEMs, it's almost impossible to say how and where you'll notice the difference.

 

[CL14715]

I'm thinking I need high end DD bass, but will balance throughout. A super Nio I guess.

Trio? LX? Odin? Joleeeeeeeene?

Snatch one of the LX SE that’s being put on a limited run and get the upgraded cable option.

 

[MatW]

Snatch one of the LX SE that’s being put on a limited run and get the upgraded cable option.

Unless he's changed his mind, I believe he wants a custom.

 

[CL14715]

Unless he's changed his mind, I believe he wants a custom.

I know I know… just offered the idea because I’d personally choose the sound profile I like over a custom fit any day. Unfortunately not everything that fits that description has a custom option.

 

[Deezel177]

The problem is you can't measure cable differences, at least not that I've ever seen done before. And I'm sure there's much more to it than simply resistance. And since every cable seems to react differently with different IEMs, it's almost impossible to say how and where you'll notice the difference.

Piotr from Custom Art did an experiment some time ago (years, at this point), which involved measuring cables. Though the changes in a simple FR graph were minimal, he did notice differences in crosstalk, among others, which were visible on CSD or waterfall charts. Personally, my "belief" in cables comes more so from the witness argument. It's impossible for so many reviewers and listeners (who, I must assume, hadn't read each other's work prior to writing theirs) to agree on something that isn't there. But, as far as pure numbers go, there is definitely truth to it there as well.

 

[gLer]

Piotr from Custom Art did an experiment some time ago (years, at this point), which involved measuring cables. Though the changes in a simple FR graph were minimal, he did notice differences in crosstalk, among others, which were visible on CSD or waterfall charts. Personally, my "belief" in cables comes more so from the witness argument. It's impossible for so many reviewers and listeners (who, I must assume, hadn't read each other's work prior to writing theirs) to agree on something that isn't there. But, as far as pure numbers go, there is definitely truth to it there as well.

That makes alot of sense. I started out on my journey being a total cable skeptic. I figured as long as a cable was well made with enough gauge to carry the full signal, and also properly shielded, it should essentially be transparent from source to transducer. Not so, my ears tell me. And I have to trust my ears.

 

[sydneyaudio]

I thought the cable myth was busted years ago? Its not a change in sound, but psychological effects? No one passed the blind test challenges 10-15 yrs ago.
Having said that I changed my 64A cables. I hated the feel of the stock cables.

 

[gLer]

I thought the cable myth was busted years ago? Its not a change in sound, but psychological effects? No one passed the blind test challenges 10-15 yrs ago.
Having said that I changed my 64A cables. I hated the feel of the stock cables.

Not only is it not busted, it's no longer a myth. The only benefit of not being able to hear differences between (TOTL) cables is the savings to your wallet.