Preamble
" A white crow" in Russian language idiomatically refers to someone who stands out of a group, looks different, behaves differently.
This is exactly the case for the S-EM6 V2 and the rest of Earsonics family.
Let me explain where I'm coming from.
First of all, I’m not a professional reviewer. I don’t have a huge "fleet" of various IEMs, sources, and cables.
And this will be my second review in English on head-fi. The first one was dedicated to a Japanese portable DAC/Amp and its Limited version became my "end of the game source".
The 6 driver IEMs from Earsonics have all chances to be my "end of the game" multi-driver IEM.
I was thoroughly moving from one pair to another in search of "my sound" for years. I started with dynamic type of IEMs then moved to BA (single/multi), then to Hybrids, and finally ended up with a single driver IEMs. I found "my sound" among Etymotic ER4 line 1,5 years ago.
So that means I prefer a neutral analytical signature with detailed and transparent sound, and fast bass attack.
Currently I own ER4S, ER4SR, ER3SE. All three are used with different sources / on different occasions and I love all three.
The main challenge for me was to find “proper” multi-driver IEMs which sound close to Etymotic. Real challenge I would say…
You may ask: why do I need anything else if I like Ety?
The answer is very simple - Etymotic can cover 65-70% of my music genres but I still have a huge number of albums of certain sub genres where I want to have more width, depth, space, air, and atmosphere.
This is not my first Earsonics product. I owned SM64, ES3 in the past. 3 years ago I had a chance to listen to S-EM6 and was not very impressed with the sound signature - seemed dark and bassy.
So all my hopes were tied up with this new revision V2 appeared in 2017, basing on two existing reviews on head-fi.
By the way, guys, thank you for that.
Positioning
Here I just talk about my personal understanding of the idea behind. It could be different from the official ES vision.
Imagine: clear focus on details, the most detailed Earsonics IEM so far (shown more details than in S-EM9, EM10)
Signature: the graph says clearly about the tonality approach, almost linear with a little less sub bas presence (which is not typical for ES) and slightly less in High Mid area which I believe was made to eliminate this zone from any possible harshness or sibilants.
When I tried them for the first time I was surprised in a very good way - finally I hear the multidriver IEM which do not change the overall tonality moving right from the ER4SR. Bingo!
Specification:
Sensitivity: 112 dB/mW
Frequency response : 10 Hz -22 kHz
Impedance: 30 ohms
Driver: 6 balanced armature drivers (2 lows, 2mediums, 2 highs), 3-way passive crossover.
Packaging
4 Comply tips
4 silicon tips
1 cleaning tool
Carrying box
User manual
Nice premium minimalistic, I would say. With warm greetings from CEO, I believe (do not speak French, unfortunately)
Fit
Very compact design. Fits my ears very well.
Regarding supplied ear tips, I would prefer to have more size options/ variations with a softer silicon similar to ortofon or spinfit tips.
Sound analysis.
First of all, as it has been mentioned, the S-EM6 V2 are very very close to a neutral signature. I would fully agree with the statement "Neutrality & Fineness" on the official website.
Secondly, they are very source dependent. I could not make them perform with a portable player like Plenue P1, 2 vrms was not enough to drive them well. Yes, they sounded acceptable, but not as 6-driver.
So in case they do not perform with your source do not make any conclusion about their performance, the weak link would be your source in 99% of the time I think. Also tried them directly from the 80 mW Vantam - the same result.
Finally I ended up with a half portable/half stationary set-up to make them perform at the appropriate level:
Venturecraft Soundroid Vantam Classic Master Limited as DAC/Preamp (BB PCM1795 / 2 x BB OPA627SM) + JDS Labs Objective2
(By the way, this is my setup to drive a 100 ohm ER4S)
With two drivers for lows you certainly hear the bass.
On the one hand this is not typical big bass for "Earsonics family" with a strong sub bass presence, not at all. On the other hand this is not the ER4S type of bass, it is bigger but still very linear an accurate with a very good layering and speed thanks to its tuning. It is tight.
Re sub bass, I don't personally care much about this part, to me the less the better. I don't listen to electronic music or the music where instruments go below 35-40 Hz, and it is really strange to hear with some other IEMs a strong sub bass presence in the tracks where it should not exist))
Mids are full and detailed sounding area, never sibilant in high mid region. All details are there. Nothing to add more.
Highs are crystal clear and they breathe freely with plenty of details. Do not seem to be either forced or anyhow impacted. Very natural sounding. I like this area the most.
Soundstage is wide and deep enough.
The fact is 99% of the time I listen to various heavy genres, from ultra-fast technical death metal to a very slow funeral doom. So typically, these are 2-3 guitars + bass guitar + drums. It is not that easy to judge on how deep the IEM are sounding with this type of genres. I'm personally fully satisfied with what they give.
Cables:
Did not play with cables yet.
Since there is nothing to adjust in sound I think a good quality copper (or copper litz) would be perfect. Would not bother with either silver or hybrids. Let's see.
Waiting for the TWcu V3 to try.
Update: Forza Hybrid adds more analytics to the sound and clarity, slightly emphasised treble.
Vesper Audio EVO Insane CLP (High purity litzendraht copper cryotreated ) - no impact on tonality, neutral. Clarity imporved vs supplied cable.
Comparison:
I do not own currently any other multidriver IEM to compare with but I think it does not make a lot of sense. S-EM6 V2 is quite a unique pair of IEM.
The majority of existing multi-driver IEMs on the market are either having U, W, V-shaped tuning or can be even balanced but still far from neutral to please people who prefer a "fun signature".
Summary:
No doubts that these earphones are not for everyone.
They can sound boring and flat for someone (actually they don't with a proper source and amplification).
They can be also considered as an analytical type of IEMs rather than "musical" as well.
I would personally recommend them to Etymotic fans like me who can not sacrifice the neutral tonality.
The S-EM6 V2 to me is exactly the way to go if there is a place for a multidriver IEM in your collection.
Bravo, EarSonics!