Aurisonics ASG-1.5 initial impressions
I have recently discovered the Aurisonics range of IEMs via some seriously discounted promotions on the web (due to their recent acquisition and rebranding by Fender). I have been listening to a few of their IEM range (the 1.5, 1Plus and have a 2.5 to listen to shortly) so as there are so few reviews of their products online, I thought I would add my own views in case anyone is thinking of picking these up. This is my one of first impression/review attempts on HeadFi, so please take it all with a pinch of salt – YMMV.
About me: newly minted audiophile, long time music fan and reasonably inept drummer. Listen to at least 2 hours of music a day on my commute to work – prefer IEMs for out and about, and a large pair of headphones when I have the house to myself and a glass in my hand. Recently started converting my library to FLAC and 320kbps MP3, and do most of my other listening through Spotify Extreme or Tidal HiFi. I am a fan of rock, acoustic (apart from folk) and sarcasm. Oh yeah, and a small amount of EDM. Not a basshead, but I do love a sound sig with some body to it. Apologies if any of the terminology used is basic or un-technical, but I am still learning the ropes
Unboxing
The ASG-1.5 comes in a small, rectangular cardboard presentation box, containing the IEMs (shown at the top of the packaging via a see through plastic panel) and an Otterbox case in the "body" of the box which contains all the other accessories like the included SureSeal eartips, cleaning tool and 2-pin braided cable. Overall the packaging is sleek and professional looking, but aimed more squarely at professional consumers rather than the audiophile market. Think more East Germany in the 80s than Las Vegas in 2016 and you would probably be heading along the right lines. Still, the packaging doesn't actually play the music, so this shouldn't be an issue for anyone who doesn't intend to use the box as a centrepiece of their latest home furnishing project.
Build quality and ergonomics
The ASG series from Aurisonics are an offshoot of their custom IEM business, aimed squarely at the professional stage musician market as well as the audiophile consumer. The shells are molded using a design based on scans of the ear shapes of 1,000s of people (according to their website) for a pseudo-custom fit, and are shaped like a tradition custom IEM (large shell about 1" across at its longest that fills the majority of the ear rather than the smaller "bud" shape seen in most universal IEMs, so they can only be worn over-ear. In practice, the shells fit extremely well into the ear, and stay firmly fixed, so their "95% custom fit" claim is pretty accurate and does make the shells look quite unique for those people not used to customs. Comfort is also excellent - I have racked up a solid 2+hours with these things firmly in place in one sitting without even noticing they were there. Just to note, as a custom shell, the IEM will stick out a little further than a "normal" IEM out of the bowl of the ear ever when fully fitted. The cabling is apparently a standard 2-pin custom braided cable - it is silver grey in colour (and prone to discolouration over time) and comes with memory wire inserts at the connectors to help the cables sit behind your ears in use. The acrylic type material of the shell is a frosted grey, and allows you to see the massive dynamic driver (and the foam padding around it) through the frosting, giving a very "technical" look to the earphones. In terms of durability, while these are acrylic/plastic rather than metal in other consumer IEMs in this price bracket, they do give off the impression of being built to last. The included case will help in this respect - it is an Aurisonics branded take on an Otterbox padded waterproof carry case, and gives the impression that it would probably be up there with the cockroach and the politician in the list of three things that would definitely survive a nuclear war. One criticism of the carry case is the size - it is VERY snug so if you do choose to use it to transport your IEMs, you will need to detach the cables and be very careful closing the box (sealed with a sturdy plastic clip) to avoid accidently turning the plastic shells into a very expensive jigsaw puzzle...
Sound quality
Test gear:
Sony NWz-A15 (unamped and with Fiio E6/Brainwavz AP001)
LG G Flex 2 (as above)
Sansa Clip+ (Rockboxed)
Microsoft Surface Pro 2 (straight from the output jack)
Test tracks (mainly 320kbps MP3 or FLAC/Tidal HiFi):
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats – S.O.B. / Wasting Time
Blackberry Smoke – The Whipporwill (album)
Slash – Shadow Life / Bad Rain (my reference tracks for bass impact and attack, guitar “crunch”)
Otis Redding – various
Elvis – various
Leon Bridges – Coming Home (album)
Foy Vance – various
Blues Traveler - various
Daft Punk – Random Access Memories (album)
Sigma - various
Rudimental – various
Rodrigo y Gabriela - various
Notes on general tuning of the ASG-1.5
As you will see if you read some of the Aurisonics/Fender forums, the ASG-1 series (barring the 1Plus) are tuned in a very specific manner. That manner is best summed up in one word:
DARK. Not just mildly dark, this is the sort of dark Steven Hawking was thinking about when he wrote his famous book about black holes. This is the sort of dark that small children are afraid of. That sort of dark. This IEM is designed to produce powerful bass, some mids and almost no treble as its default tuning, so is aimed at drummers and bassists on stage, where the frequencies emphasised will help them follow the songs being played without burning their ears out with any fatiguing top end. The details in the mid and treble are actually there behind the scenes, but just so recessed as to be practically inaudible on normal tuning. For consumer use this is a very acquired taste which most people might not choose - fortunately, as other people have commented, the ASG range seem to take EQ extremely well so it is possible to produce a more musical tuning to this beast of an earphone using some healthy dollops of EQ. I have found the best tradeoff to get the "signature sound" on these 'phones but still make them enjoyable to listen to via a Rockboxed Sansa Clip+ is to use the simple EQ and boost the Treble by a whopping 12dbs, which pulls the overall volume down by -6dbs to help balance the books. This allows me to get more volume than I need out of the Clip, while bringing out some mid and high sound into the main mix. Unless specifically referenced, the observations below are made with the 12db treble boost and 6db gain reduction "in place".
Treble
The default treble on this IEM is exceptionally dark, and can appear veiled on first listen. Added to the bass emphasis on the general sound signature, this can lead to initial impressions of the IEM being a muddy, muddled mess. Once EQ is applied to lift the treble into audible ranges, the IEM takes on a completely different complexion, however. Even after aggressive EQ, this IEM will always be a dark sounding affair, but the actual presentation and detail in the highs on this phone are quite good. There is a decent extension of sound, but the treble is deliberately rolled off the higher you get, so you will never be savouring a shimmering cymbal solo from Neil Peart of Rush on these earpieces. As mentioned, once EQd the treble is accurate, reasonably detailed and enjoyably non-fatiguing for long listening sessions. For certain genres of music, this presentation actually works quite well (rock, some bass-driven EDM) and allows you to concentrate on the mids and lower ranges - this is particularly noticeable in noisy environments like a gym or on publis transport, where the lack of delicate highs will go unnoticed due to the other background noise levels.
Mids
The mids are slightly more prominent on the "default" tuning, but still not to a level most would consider "normal". After EQ, this turns into a nice, warm soundscape, with vocals prominent. The detail is more obvious in the mids than in the treble, and the massive Aurisoncis driver renders a great timbre and "live" sound to both male and female vocalists. The grain and smokiness present in Myles Kennedy's voice on some of Slash's tracks is particularly well-represented here, giving a nice intimate feel like the singer is sitting just at the top of your skull and crooning directly down into your brain. Guitars crunch nicely, and everything is presented with a lush, thick sound and plenty of impact. Separation isn't at the same level as some of the multi-BA iems in this price bracket, as the syrup dripping from the vocals clogs up some of the sound, but there is a decent sense of the fact instruments are positioned in separate areas of the soundscape, much like at a live gig - you can't tell exactly who is playing what or where through your local pub's PA system, but you always know if the band you are listening to are good or not. There appears to be a little colouration of the midrange from the epic bass produced by these earphones (see below), but when listening to rock or acoustic, this serves mainly to thicken the sound up nicely, giving a very visceral edge to the whole sound presentation.
Bass
The start of the show. Un-EQ'd, this IEM is like strapping a subwoofer directly to the side of your brain - it is dense, hard hitting and of the order of magntitude that you can almost feel your eardrums flexing in and out with the pressure in time with the kick drum beat on some tracks. As mentioned in my intro, I am not a basshead by any means, so some may scoff at my definition of "bass-heavy", but these are legitimately some of the most bassy, slamming sound generators I have ever heard. Once EQ is applied, the bass loses none of its crushing impact, but settles merely into the foreground of the sound, rather than dominating to such an extent that the other notes are afraid to come out and play. The bass extends supremely low, with the sub-bass having a great sense of rumble and pressure, and the mid bass complements that nicely, punching into your brain with each kick drum beat. Like with the vocals, the tonality of the bass delivered is actually very enjoyable and textured, but this won't appeal to people who like a lean sound signature, no matter how hard you hit the EQ buttons. The speed of the bass is pretty decent too, notes lingering just long enough to make their presence felt before the next one arrives to stove the top of your head in. With EQ, this can be a great IEM for gym use or for playing head-down rock, as the whole signature (once your brain adjusts) evokes a sense of power and volume you normally only get at a gig where the amps are turned up just that little TOO loud and you know you will be half deaf in the morning, but at the time you just don't care. As with the mids, visceral is the best way to describe this - bassy as hell, thumpingly powerful and evocative. You just need to enjoy bass with everything, which is the beauty and the drawback of these at the same time.
Soundstage/separation
As mentioned above, there is some sense of separation on these IEMs, but the main feeling is of a more live sound, so not the best in this price bracket, and aren't intended to be. Soundstage is very wide (for an IEM - don't expect the Sydney Opera House) and reasonably flat - instrument cues and drum licks pan nicely from outside of your head on the left all the way through to the same space outside your other temple, and lend to the feeling of being at the foot of the stage in a live performance. Probably with the lead singer dripping beer and sweat on you as he leans over the crowd.
Amping
Generally, I have felt no need to amp these as the sound levels from both the Sony A17, G Flex 2 and Rockboxed Clip+ have been louder than I am comfortable listening to, so additional power would be tantamount to saying goodbye to your sense of hearing. These may improve with additional power (and certainly feel like they would have no issue handling it), but I just haven't been brave enough to try.
Comparisons
Trinity Audio Atlas
A tuneable filter IEM. with a dual hybrid setup giving good bass and smooth buttery mids. Even with the bassiest filters in, the Atlas can't move the same amount of air as the 1.5s, so as far as bass is concerned, there is one clear winner. For the mids and highs, the Atlas has a great tuning with bags of clarity and a sharp edge, so offers a completely different sound signature.
Flare Audio R2A
My original "daily driver", and an outright brilliant IEM for my personal tastes. These don't deliver the raw impact of the 1.5s, so if I am in the mood for rock, then I may reach for the ASG, but apart from that the same observations apply as per the Atlas. One area the ASG does compare favourably is the tonality and timbre of the sound - the Flare give a nice, rich bass and mid range soundscape, which is matched by the 1.5s in most cases.
Echobox Finder X1
The polar opposite end of the spectrum in terms of target audience, with the Echobox offering being aimed at the audiophile market with a leaning towards bright sound with a little bass slam to back it up. The bass on the Explorer is good, but in a very different way - it packs some of the "slam" of the ASG, but without the surrounding sub-bass and mid-bass fog that the 1.5 makes part of its core sound signature. In terms of detail and tonality, the Explorer provides a far clearer sound, with instrument separation more "etched" and a generally more clinical approach, even though it can still be a "live" sounding IEM in some instances.
Aurisonics ASG-1Plus
Like the Echobox, the 1Plus is aimed at a completely different listening audience. The classic Aurisonics bass quality is there, but in a much more restrained manner than the 1.5 - the signature growl of sub-bass is brought out by some tracks where it is present in recordings, but the heart-pounding thump of the 1.5 on every recording is dialled right back to almost neutral. As far as mids and treble are concerned, the 1Plus wins quite comfortably with its natural sound signature, the addition of a BA tweeter lightening the sound significantly in the upper registers and adding a great sense of air and clarity to the mid-centric sound. Even with heavy EQ on the 1.5, they can't match the high mids and treble of the 1Plus in quality or quantity, which is unsurprising as they are designed for very different purposes.
Brainwavz S1
The ASG 1.5 is what the Brainwavz S1 probably wants to grow up to be, once it has spent 5 years in the bass gym. No contest there - 1.5 wins hands down as the intended signatures are similar enough to make a more direct comparison.
Overall conclusion
There are very much an IEM I initially thought I didn't like, and then warmed to considerably once EQ'd more to my taste. What they lack in extreme detailing and airiness they make up for with a massively powerful, impactful sound that puts you right in the centre of a nicely textured earthquake of music. To me, music is about moods, and if I am in the mood for a weights session in the gym or some heavy riffing, then these provide a spark to the sound that is strangely enjoyable and not easy to find in my other listening options. These aren't for critical listening, but that doesn't mean that they aren't for enjoyable listening, you just have to be in the mood. Kudos to Dale and the team at Aurisonics for producing something so uniquely tuned in the current market - these may have been built for musicians, but with the right push, they take EQ well enough to fit in with the general public as well. Just not those who like listening to someone hit the high C on their Glee soundtrack.
