Disclaimer: this pair of Aurisonics Harmony has been sent to me by Aurisonics for the purpose of a review. I will be sending it back to them once the proper comparisons are made.
A little background on my experience with Aurisonics. I wasn't such a big fan of the earlier models from Aurisonics. In general, I found them to have an overpowering bass, and an overly recessed midrange. That all changed when I heard the ASG1-Plus though.The 1-Plus was a complete deviation from the typical aurisonics sound. It was not a deep V shape, but rather, somewhat mid centric with a seductive, soupy midrange. I was thoroughly impressed.
I was, thus, thrilled to hear that Aurisonics was releasing a new series that actually bested their previous range at a lower price range. Now I didn't quite believe that it might be possible, but Dale has, on many accounts, insisted that the new series edges out the old one. Being such a huge fan of the 1-Plus, I owed it to myself to have a listen to the harmony, which Andy had generously provided for this review.
The Aurisonics Harmony is the pinnacle, the flagship of the newly launched Bravo series. Harmony is also tuned to be the most balanced of the series with a dual BA, one DD configuration.
At the point of writing, the Harmony has been with me for two months. As such, impressions on the Harmony has been quite well formed and is my final take on these kick ass IEMs.
Build
The Harmony has a similar build quality as with the ASG line, the only difference being the paint job. The shells however, are reduced in size, benefitting from the small DD in the IEM. I found it as an advantage as the IEMs fit in my ears better than the ASG1-Plus. The fit however, was pretty finicky. It took me some time to actually find a right tip so that I could fit the Harmony in my canals snugly.
The Harmony has removable cables, with MMCX connectors. As such, third party upgrade cables can be used with it. Along with the Harmony, Aurisonics’ Sureseal tips are also included. Aurisonics has stated that their MMCX connector is slightly modified and improved as compared to the stock MMCX connectors. How so, I cannot tell.
For this review, do note that I have chosen use a Toxic Silver Poison cable, Spinfit tips and Sureseal tips. The Toxic Silver Poison cable brings the mids forward, giving the overall sound a more intimate feel. The Spinfit tips provided the best seal and ensure optimum insertion depth of the IEM to aid in the fitment and isolation. Or so I thought.
The Sureseals were a surprise. Why? I will elaborate later in the review.
Sound
With the spinfit tips attached, the harmony has a somewhat V-shaped presentation. It has a powerful, deep bass, a somewhat leaned out and recessed midrange, as well as a sparkly, slightly accentuated treble.
The resolution across the board is very good. Coming from the ASG 1-Plus, is in the same price rang, I found the Harmony to have a noticeably improved ability to resolve fine textures and spatial cues. The harmony had an overall improved level of transparency over the 1-Plus, and made the 1-Plus feel slightly veiled in comparison.
The highs of the harmony are very well tuned. They are very sparkly, very energetic, well extended, and most importantly, never too harsh. I am personally a fan of more sparkly upper registers, and am somewhat more tolerant to sibilance and harshness. The Harmony, while fulfilling my needs of that bright, energetic upper register, never crosses over into the harsh region, and as such, is probably going to appeal to many people. On certain tracks though, the harmony's treble can get a tad shrill.
The midrange has a certain sense of leanness to it. It is slightly recessed and distant as well. If you're hoping for that lush, soupy midrange of the 1-Plus, you're sorely out of luck. However, the midrange is by no means thin. It accurately portrays the textural nuances in the voice of the singer. The slightly lean nature also creates an illusion of an increased transparency in the midrange. Overall though, it is pretty accurate tonally, just not what you would go for if you were looking for something lush and seductive.
Ahh the bass. The bass is where the Harmony really steps up its game. Now don't get me wrong. The Harmony is an excellent performer across the board. It is extremely competent in all aspects. The bass, however, is something else. It's got that natural, powerful, yet controlled bass that you rarely hear even in the best multi BA earphones. It reaches down really deep, its got lots of impact, and a very natural decay. The sub bass rumble is powerful, present, yet very well controlled. It is able to resolve detail in the bass region like few other earphones in the price range, or at any price, can at all.
The change in the soundstage from the 1-Plus to the harmony is a little bit of a mixed bag as well. The 1-Plus had better depth, while the Harmony has a better width. In my opinion, soundstaging has always been a forte of the Aurisonics lineup. While I never liked most of the old ASG lineup, I cannot deny the immersiveness and the extensiveness of the soundstage that they are often able to create. The harmony, I find, is no exception. In fact, it is one of the widest sounding IEMs at any price that I've managed to hear thus far.
Having spoken about the different aspects of the sound, then, how does the Harmony actually sound when you put all of it together? The wide, immersive soundstage, coupled with the V-shaped tuning and the deep, powerful bass, really helps create a spacious, open, powerful and authoritative sound with a huge sense of scale. It doesn't bring the singer in front of you like the 1-Plus does. Instead, it transports you to the concert hall, and immerses you deeply in a powerful, truly lifelike performance.
This brings me to my next point. The Harmony really excels with acoustic music and large orchestras. It brings to life every single strum of the guitar, gives power to every single drum beat. It accurately recreates the space and the air in the concert hall. It portrays the scale of Berlin Philharmonic, or the London Symphonic. It is not a jack of all trades. It doesn't do everything, but what it does, it does excellently.
Now as I had previously mentioned, Those were my experiences on the spinfit tips. I never actually liked the sureseal tips from aurisonics, but I decided to give them a go anyway. I didn't expect much, so what came next really really surprised me.
The sound was changed rather drastically, and in a very good way. The midrange was brought forward, given more presence and authority. The very wide stage took a very slight hit (It's still pretty darn wide though), but a dimension of depth was added to the sound. Isolation was top notch as well.
Don't get me wrong, it's a very different beast from the 1-Plus, you're still not going to get that lush, enthralling midrange that you did from the 1-Plus, the mids are still lean, but the Harmony became much less polarising with the sureseal tips, much more versatile. the more forward midrange and the improved depth perception also created an even more immersive experience.
The Harmony is, without a doubt, one of the best hybrid earphones that I have ever had the pleasure of hearing. They definitely are a pair of very technically proficient IEMs, extracting even minute details effortlessly. The tuning is masterful, and very impressive indeed.
Now, at this point where I'm posting this review, I understand that the Bravo line has been replaced with the new Fender line, which, according to Jude, seems to be a slighly retuned version of the bravo line. Now, I haven't heard the new Fender line, but if the Harmony is any indication, the new flagship of the Fender line (which incidentally, should be a retuned harmony), should be a real winner, and I will readily recommend anyone in the market for a pair of reasonably priced, quality IEMs to seriously consider the new Fenders.
A little background on my experience with Aurisonics. I wasn't such a big fan of the earlier models from Aurisonics. In general, I found them to have an overpowering bass, and an overly recessed midrange. That all changed when I heard the ASG1-Plus though.The 1-Plus was a complete deviation from the typical aurisonics sound. It was not a deep V shape, but rather, somewhat mid centric with a seductive, soupy midrange. I was thoroughly impressed.
I was, thus, thrilled to hear that Aurisonics was releasing a new series that actually bested their previous range at a lower price range. Now I didn't quite believe that it might be possible, but Dale has, on many accounts, insisted that the new series edges out the old one. Being such a huge fan of the 1-Plus, I owed it to myself to have a listen to the harmony, which Andy had generously provided for this review.
The Aurisonics Harmony is the pinnacle, the flagship of the newly launched Bravo series. Harmony is also tuned to be the most balanced of the series with a dual BA, one DD configuration.
At the point of writing, the Harmony has been with me for two months. As such, impressions on the Harmony has been quite well formed and is my final take on these kick ass IEMs.
Build
The Harmony has a similar build quality as with the ASG line, the only difference being the paint job. The shells however, are reduced in size, benefitting from the small DD in the IEM. I found it as an advantage as the IEMs fit in my ears better than the ASG1-Plus. The fit however, was pretty finicky. It took me some time to actually find a right tip so that I could fit the Harmony in my canals snugly.
The Harmony has removable cables, with MMCX connectors. As such, third party upgrade cables can be used with it. Along with the Harmony, Aurisonics’ Sureseal tips are also included. Aurisonics has stated that their MMCX connector is slightly modified and improved as compared to the stock MMCX connectors. How so, I cannot tell.
For this review, do note that I have chosen use a Toxic Silver Poison cable, Spinfit tips and Sureseal tips. The Toxic Silver Poison cable brings the mids forward, giving the overall sound a more intimate feel. The Spinfit tips provided the best seal and ensure optimum insertion depth of the IEM to aid in the fitment and isolation. Or so I thought.
The Sureseals were a surprise. Why? I will elaborate later in the review.
Sound
With the spinfit tips attached, the harmony has a somewhat V-shaped presentation. It has a powerful, deep bass, a somewhat leaned out and recessed midrange, as well as a sparkly, slightly accentuated treble.
The resolution across the board is very good. Coming from the ASG 1-Plus, is in the same price rang, I found the Harmony to have a noticeably improved ability to resolve fine textures and spatial cues. The harmony had an overall improved level of transparency over the 1-Plus, and made the 1-Plus feel slightly veiled in comparison.
The highs of the harmony are very well tuned. They are very sparkly, very energetic, well extended, and most importantly, never too harsh. I am personally a fan of more sparkly upper registers, and am somewhat more tolerant to sibilance and harshness. The Harmony, while fulfilling my needs of that bright, energetic upper register, never crosses over into the harsh region, and as such, is probably going to appeal to many people. On certain tracks though, the harmony's treble can get a tad shrill.
The midrange has a certain sense of leanness to it. It is slightly recessed and distant as well. If you're hoping for that lush, soupy midrange of the 1-Plus, you're sorely out of luck. However, the midrange is by no means thin. It accurately portrays the textural nuances in the voice of the singer. The slightly lean nature also creates an illusion of an increased transparency in the midrange. Overall though, it is pretty accurate tonally, just not what you would go for if you were looking for something lush and seductive.
Ahh the bass. The bass is where the Harmony really steps up its game. Now don't get me wrong. The Harmony is an excellent performer across the board. It is extremely competent in all aspects. The bass, however, is something else. It's got that natural, powerful, yet controlled bass that you rarely hear even in the best multi BA earphones. It reaches down really deep, its got lots of impact, and a very natural decay. The sub bass rumble is powerful, present, yet very well controlled. It is able to resolve detail in the bass region like few other earphones in the price range, or at any price, can at all.
The change in the soundstage from the 1-Plus to the harmony is a little bit of a mixed bag as well. The 1-Plus had better depth, while the Harmony has a better width. In my opinion, soundstaging has always been a forte of the Aurisonics lineup. While I never liked most of the old ASG lineup, I cannot deny the immersiveness and the extensiveness of the soundstage that they are often able to create. The harmony, I find, is no exception. In fact, it is one of the widest sounding IEMs at any price that I've managed to hear thus far.
Having spoken about the different aspects of the sound, then, how does the Harmony actually sound when you put all of it together? The wide, immersive soundstage, coupled with the V-shaped tuning and the deep, powerful bass, really helps create a spacious, open, powerful and authoritative sound with a huge sense of scale. It doesn't bring the singer in front of you like the 1-Plus does. Instead, it transports you to the concert hall, and immerses you deeply in a powerful, truly lifelike performance.
This brings me to my next point. The Harmony really excels with acoustic music and large orchestras. It brings to life every single strum of the guitar, gives power to every single drum beat. It accurately recreates the space and the air in the concert hall. It portrays the scale of Berlin Philharmonic, or the London Symphonic. It is not a jack of all trades. It doesn't do everything, but what it does, it does excellently.
Now as I had previously mentioned, Those were my experiences on the spinfit tips. I never actually liked the sureseal tips from aurisonics, but I decided to give them a go anyway. I didn't expect much, so what came next really really surprised me.
The sound was changed rather drastically, and in a very good way. The midrange was brought forward, given more presence and authority. The very wide stage took a very slight hit (It's still pretty darn wide though), but a dimension of depth was added to the sound. Isolation was top notch as well.
Don't get me wrong, it's a very different beast from the 1-Plus, you're still not going to get that lush, enthralling midrange that you did from the 1-Plus, the mids are still lean, but the Harmony became much less polarising with the sureseal tips, much more versatile. the more forward midrange and the improved depth perception also created an even more immersive experience.
The Harmony is, without a doubt, one of the best hybrid earphones that I have ever had the pleasure of hearing. They definitely are a pair of very technically proficient IEMs, extracting even minute details effortlessly. The tuning is masterful, and very impressive indeed.
Now, at this point where I'm posting this review, I understand that the Bravo line has been replaced with the new Fender line, which, according to Jude, seems to be a slighly retuned version of the bravo line. Now, I haven't heard the new Fender line, but if the Harmony is any indication, the new flagship of the Fender line (which incidentally, should be a retuned harmony), should be a real winner, and I will readily recommend anyone in the market for a pair of reasonably priced, quality IEMs to seriously consider the new Fenders.