July 2014 saw the advent of an oddity in the ciem world: the first ever 8-drivers silicone iem. Not only was it a technical feat (stacking drivers in silicone is more complicated than in acrylic), but it was a two-headed monster (Harmony 8 was soon joined by Harmony 8 Pro) which quickly put Custom Art on the map.
After two years, including a venture into acrylic iems (Ei.3) followed by an ongoing collaboration with Massdrop (Ei.XX), Piotr has decided that now is a good time to re-up Harmony… with an incredible marketing name : Harmony 8.2.
The goal is clear: get more punch in the subs, and a little less stinginess in the highs (the two main buffs people had against Harmony 8 Pro). I was part of the lucky team that worked on previewing Ei.XX, and we’re back.
Upgrades
Piotr is now well known for his 46.8 seconds email response time, whatever time zone you’re in, for reasonable prices (in view of the industry practices), as well as for being one of the few companies to offer ciems a second life market (reshells never performed before by Custom Art are charged €175, and €75 when they are on a product shelled or previously reshelled by Custom Art).
Harmony 8.2 is taking it to a new level, by offering the option of upgrading from Harmony 8 or Harmony 8.2, for a fraction of the price (€260 for the upgrade, €1000 for the full price). The only company I know of which has such a policy is France-based Earsonics, with the advantage that the upgrade is available throughout the whole catalog, but with the disadvantage that they don’t provide any kind of reshell service.
This picture is HDR to show how the silicone filling interacts with the acrylic shell
Technically speaking, there is another major upgrade brought up with Harmony 8.2 – the option to choose between full silicone, or acrylic shells with silicone. And that’s just awesome.
Harmony 8 Pro was my first ciem, and I loved silicone and the way it’s a tight yet smooth fit. I felt at home in the same way with SE5. Yet, when I encountered Ei.3, then Ei.XX and finally Aether, I can’t deny that my (and I stress the “my”, as I believe this is totally personal) best comfort comes with acrylic.
Basically, with this option, Custom Art offers the best of both worlds to all users. And to make the choice between the two even harder, just know that each offers specific personalization possibilities which are unique.
This picture is HDR to show how the silicone filling interacts with the acrylic shell
While Custom Art has now a respected craft in acrylic shells, and while amazing effects can be achieved by mixing a transparent acrylic shell with the silicone filling, they are largely rivaled by the swirls, and various other finishes which can be achieved with full silicone. Don’t ask me – I suck at choosing designs, and I’m always at a loss, but Custom Art’s gallery and their new Instagram account will help you I’m sure.
[size=24.57px]The sound[/size]
[size=24.57px]The sound[/size]
Yes no packaging paragraph – it’s an industry standard now and it’s superfluous. What I will say though, is that the following is based on 150+ hours of listening, with a 60-30-10 repartition between QP1R, Gungnir MB and Lyr2, and iPhone 6S. Genres are mainly rockfish, with a lot more classical lately (Shostakovitch and Bach’s Suites for cello being my darlings), and a little electronic music here and there (a lot of Keeno, Etherwood and Daft Punk for the most part). I tested stock, Linum BaX and Music, but did not perceive significant signature changes, so I stuck to my Linum Music.
So I guess the question that everyone is asking now is “what’s the deal”? Is it really better? Is it more Harmony 8 or more Harmony 8 Pro?
As you may know, I was wowed (and it’s no small word I was really flabbergasted) by Lime Ear’s Aether. I mean, to me, Aether was really a prowess in terms of technicality and musicality. I have since then heard Unique Melody’s Mavericks which have also impressed me a great deal. I haven’t had the chance to lay my ears on Campfire Audio’s Andromeda, AAW W500H or Empire Ears’ Zeus (though Penta did impress me).
My point here is that iems seem to have really crossed a quality threshold, and are really amazing now. How can you top that? Does the notion of “toping that” even make sense? I had such a hard time separating Aether and Harmony 8 Pro, especially with the latter being my first love. It was also hard because Aether has this amazing air to its signature, which really makes its technical qualities shine.
When I first put Harmony 8.2 on, I wasn’t overly wowed. I was very positively surprised because the bass quality immediately jumped to my ears – think of the perfect child of Harmony 8 Pro (for the resolution) and Ei.XX (for the extension and impact). The mids also sounded quite silky and dense. But apart from that, it made me think more of Harmony 8 than anything. Hardly the eye popper that Aether was.
But the devil lies in the details (as a patent lawyer I should know ). And he really does. I went back to my routine, and decided to be rigorous about it. Meaning the disgusting three weeks with my review playlist. I must confess that I did mix in a little bit more normal music than I usually do (my job has been too hard this year to be all work and no play). And it paid off.
Bass
Man, am I happy. This feels like the love child of Ei.XX and Harmony 8 Pro. Think resolution, lovely ADSR, but with impact. I think the comparison with Ei.XX should not be pushed too far – Harmony 8.2 remains a lot more balanced in its signature than Ei.XX is, and this is not a basshead ciem. But you’re going to love focusing on the bass lines of your favorite rock albums, bobble at the rhythm of the drum kick, and dig the texture of the electronics bass waves.
In this compartment, Harmony 8.2 simply blows out any other ciem I’ve ever listened to before. Keeping in mind that I am not a basshead, but that Ei.XX really made me realize what I was missing, I feel that the balance achieved by Harmony 8.2 is nearly perfect – I get both the impact I craved for and the resolution that I got so endeared with from Harmony 8 Pro. Some of my EM32 and Penta loving buddies find that there could be more. But to me, that would really take the Harmony 8.2 south of neutrality.
Mids
Mids are by far my biggest and most appreciated surprise with Harmony 8.2. I suck at describing or judging mids. And when I read my Aether review again in view of Harmony 8.2 it shows. What I wrote was basically “I dunno how to judge mids, but Aether’s are good”. And it’s true.
But when I hear Harmony 8.2, I think I should have been a little harder on Aether, because the former really bring density and thickness, something that I realize now was a little lacking with Aether (a little more so maybe than with Harmony 8 Pro).
I mean… violins, cellos. They sound so ******* good. May it be on Adam Cohen’s “Put your bags down” (a little after 3’00), or just simply listening at Bach’s Suites for cello (told ya they were my darlings), mids really shine. Voices start to take back some prominence, and this serves the music well.
Highs
Well it is hard to have it all. Or is it? Well, yeah it is I guess. The enhanced bass and mids have taken some of the Harmony 8 Pro air out.
This is really the first thing that screamed to my ears at first – “Wow, there is significantly less air”… but in the end it’s good (to me), because that’s the result of more continuity in the musical spectrum. I don’t know how to say it properly, it’s just that the whole is denser, there is more beef to it, and in the end it seems logical that there is less air.
Does it mean that the highs are less stingy than Harmony 8 Pro? I have a hard time saying so because they never stung me to begin with (yeah, lucky man I am, I know). I can however say that, at first sight, Harmony 8.2 appears less technical than say Aether or Harmony 8 Pro.
Except that “at first sight” is paramount. Because in the end, I have the impression that it is really a question of focus. Because the bass and mids strike you a lot more with Harmony 8.2, and because you feel less air, I think that my brain sort of was distracted a little more from the highs, and didn’t pay as much attention at first.
Now for sure, due to the presentation, there is clearly less focus on the highs than there might have been, or than there is with Harmony 8 Pro. Is it for better or for worse? That is up to your tastes gentlemen. But to my greatest surprise, it is for better in my case.
In order to say it in another manner, when I reviewed Aether, I wrote how surprised I was that the highs were at the same time so round and soft and yet so precise. After a few months, there are a few occasions where that’s actually not good – call me crazy but I sort of like some highs to be a little piercing, because well, that’s what highs are, piercing. So I found myself regretting a little of the roundish nature of Aether’s highs. With Harmony 8.2, I don’t feel that roundish nature, and I get less stinginess than with Harmony 8 Pro, but not to the point that I regret it. Take that with a grain of salt though, as I’ve been with Harmony 8.2 for only 2 months and a half, and what I mentioned only appeared with Aether after close to 4 months.
Soundstage and signature
The great mystery at first. Well not so much but still. I’m a soundstage whore, and I’ve always confessed it. And as far as scene goes, Aether is really amazing to me. So big and deep, yet so coherent. The air is not a stranger to it by the way.
When I first started listening to Harmony 8.2, I immediately found the width I was used to from Harmony 8 Pro.
I mean it really sounded good, passed with flying colors all of my soundstage tests (think details in Dire Straits’ “Telegraph Road” or “On Every Street” after 3’00, the choirs in Brahms “Ein Deutsches Requiem”, or the separation on Daft Punk’s “Contact”). But I wanted more. I wanted that depth that Piotr had promised me he’d deliver.
And it’s there. It’s not as obvious as Aether, because of the lesser air, but it jumps at you on anything that involves an echo or a background. The precision of the scene is amazing, although it did take me some time to get used to it, whereas Aether wowed me with it. To me, Harmony 8.2’s scene is clearly the equivalent of Aether’s. The separation is just as good, except that it sounds a little more “together”, and that’s actually a good thing.
[size=24.57px]Conclusion[/size]If I’ve made any sense in the above, you’ll understand that I find Harmony 8 Pro’s signature north of neutral, Aether’s overall signature neutral to slightly north of neutral, whereas Harmony 8.2’s signature will be a little south of neutral.
And to my greatest surprise, I love it. I always thought of myself of an analytic guy craving for that precision that only bright signatures provide. Turns out I’m a man of compromises.
Anyway, congrats to Piotr, because he keeps delivering and amazing me when I thought there was little possibility of doing so. And to tell you how humble a man he is, when I told him that my first assessment was that Harmony 8.2 and Aether boxed in the same category quality wise, he was thrilled. Like honestly happy of his achievement. In a world so full of egos, you won’t meet that many guys like that.
As a last word, I would like to full circle on something that I said a little earlier: it appears that we have crossed a quality threshold with iems. We have reached a quality level that makes me think that we’re entering a world in which it’s becoming a lot less about compromise and a lot more about tastes. And that’s a great thing for us audiophiles.
Ps : Thanks to Piotr again for the trust. I apologize for the not-so-good pictures, but this is all I could mutter with the time I currently have. Also, I have decided to drop the tunes-based face to face comparison because I was unable to properly volume match between Harmony 8 Pro, Aether and Harmony 8.2, and I don't want to be misleading.
You were one of the few that made me jump on the H8.2 and so far I still think I made the right choice. I'm not such a treblehead myself, but I can highly enjoy good (sub)bass / soundstage / imaging => can't wait to hear it myself