Introduction
The Craft Ears CRAFT SIX is CE's newest flagship IEM with a 6 BA configuration. Where it differs from your typical multi-BA setup are the resonance chambers attached to the subwoofers and the supertweeters. The subs are attached to a long and low ID spiral shaped low pass filter (ala 846/ACME8 but much longer in length) and the tweeters have a horn to further extend its high frequencies. It also promises a flat electrical phase and impedance which is very rare in the case of multi-BA iems.

Onto the sound. I'd describe CE6 as a W-shaped signature. The troughs (of the W) are at its upperbass-lowmid regions and the low-mid treble. I do hear the subbass (20hz-100hz) as being very cleanly boosted & free of any sign or form of midbass bloat, uppermids (1khz-4khz) seeing a harman/DF-like gain and upper treble (>10khz) being MASSIVELY lifted. The immediate hook is the aggressive and engaging presentation of sound.

Packaging Experience & Accessories


The earphones & its accessories were packed in a simple cardboard box filled with bubble wrap. Nothing extravagant. Nothing extra to comment here.



The CE6 were shipped in a very sturdy aluminium case with desiccants, a cleaning tool and a microfiber cloth. I was also greeted by a pleasant aroma which added a nice touch to the experience. Not sure exactly what flavour was the aroma but it still lingers nicely after weeks of me owning it. It really adds to the unboxing and to the overall experience.



The aluminium case is incredibly sturdy and from what I know, is self-made by Craft Ears themselves. Jedrek (owner of CE) is specialized in the trade of lathing and has the machinery to make his own cases.



The stock cable of the CE6 is an 8-wire braided SPC cable. It's pretty soft with a slightly waxy feeling on its sheathing It's nice as a stock cable but I still do prefer those cheap 4-wire throwaway cables since they are lighter and thinner. Nothing wrong with the 8, just that 8 core cables are thicker and heavier.

IEM Construction and Finish


I requested Jedrek to make recessed 2-pin many months back and he delivered! The previous Craft FOUR that I received had a flushed connected and I provided feedback to Jed. Happy to see a recessed connection here. It's sturdier and feels more reliable.



Immaculately finished with plenty lacquer and a beautiful galaxy-like design that I requested. Absolutely stunning.



Bass
CE6's bass, in my honest own opinion, is some of the very best I've heard thus far in IEMs. Likely the best. The subbass is cleanly extended and boosted without any form of midbass bloat. Bass is on the quicker side of things but still retains great definition and slam for a satisfying experience. If you're a basshead I'd think you might want a little more midbass, but for my own preferences I do think its bass nails it. Compared to multi-BA sets like u12t that are touted with having the best bass, u12t almost sounds sluggish and almost bloated in comparison when it comes to the reproduction of bass. Positionally, CE6's bass is in line and does not overstep or overwhelm the midrange. No bleeding, just clean, well extended bass. I love hearing well recorded bass guitar basslines on the CE6. So tight and clean yet extended.

I do also have to mention that I legitimately prefer this presentation of bass over a dynamic driver's. Dynamic driver bass often sounds overwhelming, bloated or slow. Or maybe a combination of everything.

Midrange
The midrange is somewhat shaped similarly to the Harman target. If you're any familiar with the harman target, some users dislike the shrillness and/or shoutiness of the target. It's thin and leaner sounding which I would describe the CE6's lower and upper midrange as. Due to the aforementioned lack of midbass bloat, the sound takes on a presentation somewhat akin to Harman's. I personally have no problem with it but I can see why someone who's used to thick and heavy lowmid boosted signatures would dislike it. This uppermidrange boost makes brass instruments like trumpets and sax sound aggressive and textured. Outside of the potentially thin midrange, I don't have much to say about the midrange. I don't think its that divisive or offensive. It has good articulation and clarity without any form of suppression/haze/veil.

Treble
Now this should be the most controversial, love it or hate it aspect of the CE6. I do have to mention that it needs some getting used to. It is dipped at the 5-7k region which balances out with some warmth BUT it can rob some tracks of their harmonics. It is in no way muddy but when put next to IEMs with "full" treble harmonics (e.g DF and Harman targets), it can feel like a part of its treble response is audibly dipped. I guess there could be a case for such dips to reduce treble fatigue like with what qdc does on the 5-6khz range but I feel like the dip is of too much a degree here since the larger bandwidth (5-7khz) is dipped. As such the CE6's midrange also does take on a diffuse-y presentation (not to be confused with the Diffuse Field Curve) but rather the literal term of diffusion - being spread out which maay be contributed by this same dip. It has a big sound presentation (which I know some people are big fans of) but I'd like it more focused sounding with less diffusion. It one of my qualms with transducers like the HD800 too.

You might think the 5-7k dip leads to a forgiving sound but I will say this: the CE6 doesn't joke about a last octave (10-20khz) boost. The horn-loaded tweeter boosts the hell out of the region and it is especially unforgiving to poorly mixed and mastered tracks. It makes 64's tia and UE's truetone tweeters sound constrained and held back. It takes all the air, zing and shimmer and throws it at your face, it being at the forefront of the IEM's presentation. If you think u12t is u-shaped... ho ho ho this will show you what a real u-shape is. On Little Sims' Selfish, it pushes forward a recording mistake - Cleo Sol's microphone having some kind of ring/buzz. Try the track yourself - the ringing/buzz at 16khzs starts from 10s into the track. See if your own transducers can play it loudly. The CE6 definitely does. On NPR's live recording of Julien Baker (Julien Baker: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert), try to see if your transducers pick up this ringing/sibilance whenever Julien vocalises. The CE6 picks up this noise artifact like it eats it for breakfast. These are some of the many examples that the CE6 can be incredibly unforgiving. On well mastered & mixed tracks however, this same ringing/noise/cracking/sibilance will not show. I don't know if this is a good or bad thing as an audiophile I am also looking for smooth replayability and rendition of music. I don't need to hear these recording artifacts that the engineer missed out.

Due to the 5-7k dip coupled with the big boost past 10khz, the treble response of the CE6 is uneven. There's much more shimmer and zing to cymbals than their fundemental frequencies. It leads to a highly energetic rendition of cymbals. It's hard to describe how it sounds until you hear it for yourself. I do also think age and hearing ability does play a large part here. If you're younger and more sensitive to ultra high frequencies I do think it the treble response of CE6 can also get too intense past 10khz sometimes.

Technical Ability
The imaging and spatial reproduction of the CE6 is really good. Transients are clean with zero bloatedness and L/R imaging has laser-like precision. Perhaps this laser-like precision is also due to the presence of the ultra frequency boost - the brain needs to compensate less for sound localisation. Layers and separates instruments/voices great. Nothing much to say other than a great job here other than that I would prefer a less diffuse presentation. I do really think the CE6 images better than most stuff out there, and comfortably sits on TOTL levels of imaging and resolution.

Dynamism & Engagement
Usually I don't comment much with regards to dynamics but I do think the CE6 does a pretty exceptional job here which I do need to point out and commend. Loud parts of the song pop out while soft parts stay in the background. IEMs do feel held back when compared to speakers with regards to dynamics but I think CE6 fares very very well. It grabs hold of my attention with great handling of dynamics and has an aggressive presentation that can keep me on the edge of my seat at times. It can be really surprising how it presents sound to me in a way I've never heard before with both IEMs and speakers.

Comparison against the Universal variant
I also got to try the Universal form of the CE6 and was pretty surprised how different the treble response was compared to the custom. The universal is unfortunately much peakier with the midtreble and its peak is very much audible when compared to the custom. I do think further adjustments and refinements to the universal form has to be done to emulate the custom sound better. The universal's treble sounds colder and much peakier.

Subbass response is also noticeably better on the custom due to seal. Bass response is fuller and more satisfying on the custom. Midrange is similar.

Conclusion
I've really grown to enjoy the CE6 and have heard all its strengths and weaknesses in the month I've had them. They make for an aggressive listen with amazing bass


Music Used
toe - For Long Tomorrow Album
Elephant Gym - Elephant Gym on Audiotree Live
Gestalt Girl - Shiryokukensa Album
Via Luna - Wilt EP
BABYMETAL - BABYMETAL Album
Covet - effloresce Album
Unleash the Archers - Apex Album
Julien Baker - Turn Out The Lights Album
Milet - eyes Album
Totorro - Home Alone Album
Lil Simz - GREY Area Album
Julien Baker: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert (2018)

Tips used: Azla Sedna for a deep fit.

This Blessing 2 unit was loaned to me by crinacle.

I'll cut to the chase. On a tonal level the B2 does come close to my preferences. I find B2 a tad warm and the uppermidrange a tinge too forward relative to my ideal tonality/target.

The Blessing 2's greatest strength, IMO is the level of coherence whilst still managing a competent technical front. The overall timbre is smooth without treble peaks and the music has a flowing quality to it (which I associate with coherence).

Bass
The B2's bass doesn't have enough subbass for me and tilts towards a satisfying but never overwhelming midbass presence. The upperbass/lower mids also showcase a small boost around the 200hz which adds a tinge of warmth. In an ideal world I'd remove this warmth but it does work in balancing out the forward (and emphasised) uppermidrange here. The bass still does have good impact and I wouldn't say its lacking in any way dynamically.

I simply think too many people have unrealistic expectations of some super hard slamming DD bass when in reality, DD bass is mostly just bloated bass overpopularised and overhyped in IEM audiophile circles. I've heard these "dynamics" and "slam" critiques but I do not hear any form of compression. However as mentioned, B2 doesn't have adequate subbass rumble to me which I would associate both with the lack of a strong isolation due to its vented dynamic driver design and in its chosen tuning.

Midrange
Midrange of the B2 leans towards the uppermidrange (1-3khz). There's some shoutiness and shrillness going down here but it's not unbearable due to the warmth balancing things out a little. If I removed the warmth bump with EQ, the uppermidrange instantly sounds too thin and forward. I'd have to reduce the entire 1-10khz region by 1dB or 2 if I were to reduce the 200-400hz. If you're coming from monitors with lesser pinna gain, you may initially find the B2 to be too shouty. However if you're used to more harman-like gains in the upppermidrange, this one would sit nice and comfortable with you. If not, tonality of the midrange is generally accurate.

Treble
Treble of the B2 is nice, smooth and even. However, I'd still say the last octave (10-20khz) could use a little more presence and a more zing quality to it. Cymbals of the B2 sound a little too smoothed out at times when my speakers clearly render them gritty and zingy with plenty texture. The evenness of the treble in the B2 is pretty astounding. Just that I could use a little more energy and zing.

Imaging, Separation, Intangibles
On a technical standpoint, B2 images well better than your average, run-off-the-mill iems. Perhaps the imaging could be sharper with more treble zing, but the spaciousness in depth was pretty surprising for me. It has no issues with layering or separation whatsoever.

Comparison against Blessing 1
I was also loaned the Blessing 1 from crinacle to compare. I actually preferred the tonal balance in the B1 where the bass had more subbass presence (with also more midbass punch) and its lower treble being a little more forward sounding. However, the B1's transients do not sound as clean and crisp. The bass of the B1 has a hollow quality to it and staging sounds restricted compared to the B2 for some reason.

Conclusion
Well done, Moondrop. This is a safe, well tuned, coherent IEM. It comes pretty close to my ideal tonal balance with in-ears. I legitimately think this one redefines the price bracket. When asked to pick an IEM under $1000 that I preferred over the B2, I had trouble giving an answer.

Music Used:

toe - For Long Tomorrow Album
Elephant Gym - Elephant Gym on Audiotree Live
Gestalt Girl - Shiryokukensa Album
Via Luna - Wilt EP
BABYMETAL - BABYMETAL Album
Covet - effloresce Album
Unleash the Archers - Apex Albumu
Julien Baker - Turn Out The Lights Album
Totorro - Home Alone Album

Introduction
Craft Ears is a new CIEM manufacturer hailing from Poland. It is currently a one-man show managed by its founder, Jedrek.

I first chanced upon the brand on Instagram then contacted them for review units. This review was only made possible by Jedrek's kindness and generosity. Most of my content readers know how I roll - my assessment on IEMs tend to be critical and unforgiving. It is honestly rare for brands to decide to work with me due to my style of writing.

Accessories, Build Quality, Process

Lets talk about the accessories and overall experience. Craft Ears uses 3D printing for their shells. They also accept .stl files and their shell customization is really affordable. The fit on my CIEMs were very good on the first try (also props to Zeppelin & Co for doing my ear molds!) due to the accuracy of the scanners and printers that Craft uses. However I have to criticize the shells (not the faceplate) here. The clear transparent shells are thin and they exhibit some form of cloudiness. Honestly I asked for them in clear so I could peep the internals and to see what's going on internally. As of the time of this review I recommend that you order opaque shells should you purchase an IEM from Craft Ears. The IEMs are very light and are comfortable. The standard wires used here are plastics1 I think.


The standard storage case is your typical OEM case. I recommend that you purchase the Pelican case upgrade if you're going to use this on the daily. The standard case is too small. You're going to struggle hard if you use thicker third party cables or have big CIEMs. The UIEMs also came with a full set of final E eartips (5 sizes). Very nice. Both come with cleaning tools but the CIEM has a tool that has a brush.

Sound
Now, onto the sound. The Craft4 is first and foremost designed for stage musicians but I will analyse it from an audiophile perspective.

The CIEMs and UIEMs sound different. I'll describe the CIEM first since Craft - to my knowledge - tunes the CIEM first then tries to match the UIEM. The Craft4 in CIEM aims for a v-shaped sound signature with the recession at the lower mids. I'd say it is brighter than warm/bassy.

Bass
The bass of the Craft4 is well executed, with a focus on the midbass rather than the subbass. Midbass is never overpowering here. It has the speed to back itself up and the definition on toms and snares can be downright amazing on well produced tracks (Paramore's Let The Flames Begin has nice drums at the start). However I'd say the subbass is a tad rolled off relative to its midbass. It punches rather than rumbles. The presence of the upperbass surprisingly isn't bloated here. It lends moderate warmth to the CIEM.

Midrange
The midrange is more focused on the uppermidrange. Due to the lower mid recession, vocals, especially male, can find themselves behind in the mix. Guitars also aren't as forward due to the dip. The lowermidrange does also show some form of veil (not muddy, its a tonal thing) and is more "diffuse" in presentation where the sound feels more spread out and larger rather than being small and focused. I prefer more focused imagery so it does take away some enjoyment from the presentation. If you come from reference studio monitors (which usually are a tad midforward) you're going to notice a midrange dip. The midrange is behind relative to its bass and treble. Typical for v-shaped IEMs.

Treble
Treble is the Craft4's make or break. It can be polarising. Cymbals render themselves thin, forward, clear and aggressive. Yes, they have great treble extension but I do think it can be too thin sounding for some due to the forwardness of treble in the lower treble and upper treble region. They do showcase the metallicness with cymbals well (which CIEM pick up better than UIEM) but it may be too much for some.

Technical Ability
The strongest aspect of the Craft4 is its technical ability. Transients are fast, hard and sport great clarity. Imaging is sharp and precise. Layering and separation is done very well here. Daft Punk's Lose Yourself To Dance has a part where the vocals go "Come on, Come on, Come on..." around your head and the Craft4 images that very well. Stormzy's Sounds of the Skeng is also very well layered here with its synths. Instruments are panned wide and perhaps there is a feeling of depth due to the midrange recession.

CIEM vs UIEM
The UIEM is actually tuned to be warmer to try to emulate the CIEM's bass after the fit. However I'd personally say that the UIEM does end up sounding warmer and bassier and its bass isn't as tight. The treble on the UIEM also differs - to my ears the CIEM is quite boosted in upper treble whereas the UIEM has less presence in that region. I actually prefer the treble in the UIEM as the CIEM can sometimes be harsh sounding with the amount of energy it has way above 10khz. The UIEM's treble does sound more even to my ears and it sounds "colder" compared to the CIEM with its cymbal tonality.

I also found the CIEM to be rather harsh with its upper treble for the first and second day after I received it. Seems like I got accustomed to it and the harshness is alleviated. I let my friends try the UIEM and CIEM and they reported no such harshness issues. Seems like its a me-thing. Would also like to highlight that the CIEM images better with a more encompassing soundstage/presentation, where the UIEM sounds more constrained with its dimensions and doesn't image quite as well.

Conclusion
As you can probably guess that from the majority of the review, I do not enjoy the tonality of the Craft4. However it objectively does perform well with its technical aspects like imaging and layering as well as its hard, fast and excellent transient response. From an audiophile perspective I do want a more reference-level tonality since I place a lot of emphasis on tonal balance. I genuinely think Craft Ears has potential here. They've the fundamentals down with its technical ability & just need to target a more reference tone to match my preferences.

Introduction
Hello, you may have recognised who I am - I write impressions on IEMs I hear on my thread that I update regularly. I usually don't really write reviews so this is my first review on head-fi. The SH3 was bought 100% with my own money. I'm writing a review because I think the IEM deserves high praise.

P.EAR.S is Switzerland's first CIEM manufacturing company. The team behind PEARS is an army of three - Samuel Harsch, Stephane Rochat & Roberto Piacenti. You may have heard of Mr Harsch prior to this - he was an acoustic engineer at Phonak where he developed the Phonak universal IEMs. He's also involved in the speaker scene by coming up with the Harsch crossover.

With IEMs, PEARS' belief is that the best sound is achieved by minimizing the number of drivers with a perfectly optimized acoustic design. Companies like Etymotic and HUM share similar beliefs when it comes to driver count. My first encounter with PEARS was more than a year back where I purchased a universal version of the SH3. I sold it away in pursuit of a better reference monitor but here I am back with the same IEM but now in custom form a year later.

Technical Specifications

• Triple Driver dual mid-low/single high
• 1 passive crossover
• 117dB @ 1kHz, 1mW
• 25 Ohms

The SH3 is very sensitive so make sure it's paired with a DAP/amp with a low noise floor.

Customs Process
After my ear impressions reached Switzerland, PEARS 3D scanned my impressions and finished building my CIEMs in just a week (website states 3-5 weeks). Since they 3D scanned impressions, the ear impressions are sent back without being trimmed down or having anything done to them. Communication with PEARS was done mainly on instagram in my case. Replies were professional and fast (within minutes during working hours sometimes).

What Comes In The Box?
The package comes in a cardboard packaging. Inside the packaging it contains their new aluminium box (similar to Vision Ear's), instruction manuals, warranty certificate, ear impressions, a small pouch for the IEMs, microfiber cloth, cleaning solvent and a earwax removal tool as accessories. The default stock cable is okay, it's those Plastics1 stock cable with memory wire. PEARS are available in both 2pin and MMCX.

In the aluminium case, you will find a top compartment for the cleaning tools and cloth to be stored. The main compartment can fit the IEMs and perhaps a DAP.


Build Quality and Fit
PEARS fully fills their IEMs so their IEMs are a solid chunk of acrylic. Bubbles in the acrylic are extremely minimal and the build quality feels solid. Now you might have noticed that there are some bubbles at the very center of the IEMs, just outside of the drivers. I believe that is actually glue. PEARS seem to encase the drivers in an enclosure of glue then adds acrylic to secure it. Very similar to how my pair of Future Sonics customs are built. In terms of fit, they isolate and seal very well like how customs should. They're my best fitting pair of customs and isolates the best.


Frequency Response Analysis
I would like to mention that the SH3 seems to have had a retune. Since I owned the universal previously, the new SH3 measures with 2dB more bass and more gain at 1-4kHz to balance out the extra bass. My customs now have what is the new single port design which according to PEARS, smoothens out the frequency response even further up in the highs compared to the old 2 bore version. Check out this new port:



Here we see a QC with about 1dB variance from the L and R channel. This is fine and inaudible. Sound wise, the broad 4dB boost from 100-500Hz provides a warmer tone that pushes vocals forward. Subbass doesn't roll off here - there's still enough at 20hz so it does not sound like subbass is rolled off. At 2kHz, there is a 8dB gain, similar to Etymotic ER4SR's 8dB gain at 2kHz. Due to the amount of energy at 2kHz, it helps lift vocals even further providing a leaner tone. At 4kHz the same 8dB gain is maintained. After 4kHz the gain starts to drop and ends at 6.5kHz. Personally I think it can use a bit more acoustic energy at 6-8kHz. That area is a bit dipped so cymbals stay a little behind and can sound slightly dark. Won't talk about the graph further after 8kHz since graphs are unreliable past 8k.
Past 8k, I can hear excellent, smooth extension of the treble. Where many IEMs start to roll off after 10kHz, the SH3 has great acoustic energy from 10-15kHz. The extension here is definitely audible.

Sound
Enough about graphs. FR is just a part of how it sounds and can't explain everything. The SH3's signature to my ears, has a warm sound with a slightly boosted uppermidrange. Bass levels sound neutral. Due to the warmth and more forward uppermidrange, vocals sound forward and are on the leaner side of things. I do feel the tone of the vocals is nice here with adequate amounts of warmth. The boosted uppermids adds this sense of precision in transient response and helps vocals and electric guitars sound exciting with great energy. The uppermids are not overwhelming - they're balanced out by the warmth. In Joe Satriani's "Crowd Chant" (Super Colossal) and Steve Vai's "Tender Surrender" (Where The Wild Things Are), electric guitars sport great bite and are always well separated at the front.

When it comes to vocals, Stacey Kent's "The Ice Hotel" (Breakfast On The Morning Tram) has her vocals leading with a sweet and soulful presentation. I know some would prefer a more lowermids here with more chesty vocal presentations but I think the SH3 works well with female vocals. Hayley Williams from Paramore has a pop-punk, spunky type of vocals. She's best known for her husky voice. In "Misery Business" (Riot), I can hear that there is perhaps insufficient lower mids that best displays her timbre. The SH3 captures more of her upper harmonics better. The same goes to male vocalists - lower harmonics of their vocal range can sound a bit scooped out which lends vocals a thinner, leaner timbre. Suits female vocals best I'd say.

How about the treble? I mentioned that the 5-7kHz frequencies can sound a bit dipped. Since this is where the lower harmonics of cymbals can be found, cymbals can sound a little behind in some track. However this also means the SH3 plays damn well with tracks that have cymbals mastered too forward or poorly mastered tracks in general. In Dream Theater's "The Enemy Inside" (Dream Theater), cymbals are always kept well controlled and sound well extended despite it behind a bit behind. Extension above 10kHz is really the best part of the SH3 - it captures the shimmer and decay of cymbals very well. With Chon's "Fall" (Grow), cymbals have a beautiful splash and shimmer in the background. They really never sound like they are too much and allows me to hear that captivating extension in cymbals.

I don't think I've talked much about the bass. They just sound fast and present with adequate midbass and subbass. Never boomy or overwhelming. There's really more warmth than bass here. I think SH3's strength lies not in the individual parts of the tone like its bass, midrange or treble. It's all about how it comes and mashes together. Lead instruments and vocals are kept forward in the mix and sport excellent separation from everything else. Cymbals sound a bit behind but perhaps you can say it aids with depth. Layering is the SH3's strong suit and it never sounds congested, keeping all instruments in check behind the leading vocals/instrument due to the uppermid and warmth boost. With Daft Punk's "Lose Yourself To Dance" (Random Access Memories), the "Come On, Come On, Come On" synth travels slowly from the side of my head. The spatial cues are well imaged with a great sense of precision and detail.

Transient response is sharp and fast like typical BAs. In Judas Priest's "Lightning Strike" (Firepower), the SH3 sounds coherent and handles the track well no matter how fast things can get. There's no room for bloat and muddiness with the SH3.

Conclusion
The SH3 manages great technicalities with forgiveness which makes it a very pleasing, easy going monitor with little to fault. It's a nice take on a reference monitor with its own character and sound profile that is distinct from other reference monitors out there without sounding unnatural. Well done to the team at PEARS. Waiting on the next SH which is releasing early next year. The SH3 does not fall anywhere short with its lower driver count compared to the multi-multi-driver IEMs out there. There's a serious emphasis on maximising what they can achieve in terms of sound whilst keeping it simple to get the basic fundamentals right. Hell, at their current pace and capabilities, the next SH might not even need to be a 4 driver.