Aurisonics Eva (Bravo series) – initial impressions
Picked a pair of these up in the recent Hifiheadphones sale of “old” Aurisonics stock to try out some more of the famous Aurisonics midrange after enjoying the ASG series IEMs I have heard. I picked these up at the same time as the Aurisonics Rockets, and have been splitting my time over the last few weeks equally between them. Any impressions you read below are entirely specific to me and my preferences – I’m still learning the ropes here, so please take all views with a pinch of salt. Your own ears may tell you a different story.
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 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
Unboxing and contents
The packaging is reasonably simple, and in line with the rest of the “Bravo” series from Aurisonics. The box itself is a small rectangle, which contains the IEMs in a nice presentation window, and everything else (SureSeal tips, cleaning tool, lanyard cable) in the lower half of the box inside a grey branded semi-hard case. Aurisonics have moved on fro the thermonuclear-resistant cases from the ASG series made by Otterbox to a small case which is considerably more pocket friendly, if still lacking a little bit in spare room inside. Included accessories are a set of Aurisonics proprietary “SureSeal” tips, and a cleaning brush/tool for the earpieces, along with a standard Aurisonics braided cable, this time using their improved MMCXi connector.
Build quality/ergonomics
This earphone builds on the legacy of previous Aurisonics products, and uses a hard plastic/acrylic build in black and a very dark transparent blue. The shell is part of their “Hybrid Fit” range, which is 3D-printed based on the ear geometry of over 1,000 people they have scanned, to create a “semi-custom” fit. This is the lowest-profile of the current Aurisonics range, with the shells feeling slimmer and lighter than the ASG 1+/2.5 series, and sitting flusher to the ears. IT is an over-ear fit, and provides excellent comfort and staying power – it is still touch and go whether you would be able to wear these in bed (if that is your preference), but in all other aspects the newer 9.25mm dynamic driver powering the sound allows the casing to look like an updated version of the 1+ after 6 months on the Paleo diet – leaner, tighter but still solidly put together and capable of taking some abuse. As with the rest of the Bravo range, the cabling is a black weave 2-pin design common on various CIEM brands these days, and is of reasonable quality. It comes with memory wire (to frustrate the spectacle-wearing section of the listenting audience), but unlike the larger ASG shells, the slimline fit of the Eva does make it slightly less awkward from a fitment perspective. As you can fit more of the shell into your ear, the fit can be slightly deeper than the ASG series if needed to get a good seal. Comfort is also very good, and bests the ASG series in terms of wearing comfirt and duration of wear.
Sound quality
Test gear:
Sony NWz-A15 (unamped and with Fiio E6/Brainwavz AP001)
Sansa Clip+ (Rockboxed, as above)
LG G Flex 2 (as above)
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 for bass impact and attack, guitar “crunch”)
Otis Redding – various
Elvis – various
Leon Bridges – Coming Home (album)
Foy Vance – various
Blues Traveler
Daft Punk – Random Access Memories (album)
Sigma - various
Rudimental – various
Rodrigo y Gabriela – various
Bon Jovi – Slippery When Wet (cymbal test track)
General sound signature
Aurisonics seem to have developed two distinct “house sounds” between the ASG series, the Bravo series and the Rockets, and this pair of IEMs fits squarely into the Rockets/ASG 1+ category of neutral sounding IEMs with a pronounced mid-range vocal emphasis and less focus on the bass and treble elements. This is by far the “thinnest” IEM I have heard from this particular manufacturer to date, with a clean and crisp tone and a slightly less common “n” shaped overall sound signature which works very well for acoustic and vocal music (in plain English, the vocals and guitar tones are front and centre, the cymbals and bass/drums take a back seat). The marketing literature for this IEM mentions the fine texture of the sound, and that is something that is borne out in listening tests – while not presenting all of the fine detail that some of the AS big hitters can muster, there is a definite sense of delicacy about the tones being heard, and a very smooth and overall grain-free presentation.
Highs
The highs on the Eva are an interesting mix – while the sound signature is tilted towards vocals and mid-range presence, the upper end still retains the smooth treble and slightly rolled off top end from previous models. The treble roll-off is an order of magnitude less than on the ASG-1.5s, for instance, but there is still a warm undertone to the higher end that is quite smooth and non-fatiguing. This leads to the thinner sound never seeming too screechy – it is possible to achieve sibilance with these IEMs, but more in the lower end of the spectrum and only if pushing the EQ quite aggressively. In terms of EQ, the Eva share a trait common to all of the Aurisonics earpieces I have tried so far, and do respond very well to tinkering (via phone app or DAP settings). It is possible to sharpen the tone up slightly in the higher end if needed, but as the natural presentation is quite thin to begin with, too much tends to push the IEM too far out of its comfort zone and skew the sound into something less than pleasant, unless you are expecting to be listening to a collection of dentist drill tones. In terms of “air”, the slightly closed in treble does limit the soundstage a little, but it still manages to present music in a slightly “out of head” landscape, with decent sound cues in two dimensions to the far left and right, giving a decent spread of sound. It loses out in comparison to other Aurisonics IEMs like the Rockets or 1Plus in both extension and soundstage, but never feels too claustrophobic due to the overall thinness to the sound. Detail level is decent, but not overwhelming – the smoothness of the treble can paper over some of the finer micro details and harmonics than can be noticed with some other IEMs, leaving you with a hint of what is lying underneath the surface of the music, but not a fully formed impression.
Mids
Aurisonics have a well earned reputation for the quality of their mid-range, and these are a prime example. This is an IEM for people who like to listen to music where all the action takes place in the soundscape between the singer’s voice and his or her acoustic guitar, or the gentle woodwind and saxophone of some late night jazz. Vocals present beautifully, with a smooth and textured tone that lends itself very well to low level listening. The overall thinness and analytical nature of the sound is still mildly noticeable here, which lends a crispness to some genres of music that make them quite enjoyable. Listening to guitar based music, the lack of “meat” in the mid-range can push the emphasis towards the crunch and attack of the lead guitar, lending itself well to intricate tracks where a wall of sound isn’t required but clarity of delivery is important. Music needing more “thump” in the mid-range can feel a little hollow compared to other IEMs in this bracket, where the mid-forward presentation can highlight the lack of bass and treble underpinning the music. Separation is reasonable for an IEM in this price range, but nothing spectacular, and can start to feel slightly congested when there are multiple moving parts to a passage of music (some classical or multi-layered rock arrangements) as the soundstage gets more cluttered. The overall impression given is one of a clean, smooth sound, with voices up front and the rest of the band sitting behind them, which works well for some genres and not so well for others.
Bass
Compared to the bass heavy tuning found in the rest of the Bravo series and the previous ASG models, this is definitely a bass-light IEM, The tone, texture and speed are good (as expected), but it can lack in extreme bass extension, and certainly lacks emphasis and qunatity for certain genres of music. This IEM is almost the tonal opposite of the ASG-1.5 series, which is tilted 80% towards bass with almost no treble – in this case, the Eva is 70% mids, 20% treble and a small portion of very well-behaved mid and sub bass that sits around at the bottom of the soundstage wondering when the rest of its friends will turn up. This can be altered with some judicious EQ, and in an almost total reversal of the EQ that needs to be applied to the ASG 1.5 to bring the treble out, applying a heavy bass boost on your DAP or amp will bring out some decent bass kick from the 9.25mm Aurisonics driver in the mid-bass region, and a smattering of sub-bass. Once EQ’d up into the mix, the crispness of the overall sound adds a nice crack to proceedings down low, with the bass taking on a punchy tone and decent timbre and extension. It seems that the driver can actually produce some very good low end sound (if not in massive quantities even when enhanced), but Dale and his team just chose not to tune it that way to begin with. I know some people are firmly for or against EQ, but personally I find the flexibility of the driver very useful, as EQ can bring this IEM more into line with my sonic preferences and make it quite enjoyable for certain types of music.
Soundstage/separation
As mentioned above, soundstage is average for this price bracket, with a decent range of presentation just outside of your head, but a tendency to start getting cramped the more instruments you try and put on the small stage.
Amping
This IEM takes EQ very well, and this also extends to amping. It is easy enough to drive from my Sony DAP or my LG, but adding a small portable amp like the E6 or AP001 does bring out a little more power and thickness to the low end (with bass boost applied through either), allowing for a more enjoyable sound for most of my music listening.
Comparisons
Trinity Audio Atlas
A tuneable filter IEM. These are a great set of buds, with a dual hybrid setup giving good bass and smooth buttery mids. The treble is slightly sharper and more etched than the Eva, with slightly better separation and musicality in the meat of the sound to my ears. The mids of the Eva are better suited to acoustic and vocal-only passages, but can be overshadowed on other types of music compared to the Atlas if you are after a meatier presentation. The bass quantity is far greater on the Atlas (partially down to the different tuning filters available).
Echobox Finder X1
My current daily driver. This is a far closer sound signature, with the crisp treble-led sound of the Echobox units being somewhat similar in certain areas. The Echobox has far more bass in its reference or bass tunings, with a lower bass extension (unamped). Mids are comparable in quality, with the Eva being more forward in presentation compared to the slightly more laid back X1. Again, the thinner sound of the Eva lends itself better to certain types of music than the X1, but the X1 is more rounded overall with a larger number of genres. Treble is taken by the Echobox, but only if you prefer a very sharply defined sound. Build quality is also won by the Echobox team – to be fair, there isn’t much on the market that can compete with beautifully machined titanium as a housing so not really a fair contest there.
More comparisons to follow
Overall conclusion
I was very surprised by the default tuning of the Eva, and more surprised that for some of the faults outlined above, I actually quite like it. It is unashamedly mid-centric, and with certain genres, that “specialism” allows you to drift fully into the music without any outside distractions (Bass, you say? That’ll never catch on!). It is similar in many ways to the Aurisonics Rockets, but with slightly less bass and treble, and not as much thickness to the sound, so leaving it feeling a little anaemic in comparison. With EQ added, I find the IEMs enjoyable enough, and would certainly suggest them if all you are looking for is something to listen to Tracy Chapman or Joni Mitchell in a quiet room somewhere, this would fit the bill nicely. Aurisonics tune their IEMs mainly for the stage and studio musician, so this product fills a niche in tuning that most companies don’t offer, so does deserve to find a faithful following somewhere.
Thanks for sharing your impressions and clarifying the niche of the Evas in the Aurisonics pantheon!!!