Eartech Music Hex 6-driver Custom IEM

Background:

After trying several universal iems with none of them fitting/working properly for me I finally broke down and went to an audiologist, got fitted for and bought a pair of the 4 driver “Quads” from Eartech Music.

The thing is, you cannot listen to custom in ear monitors before you buy. So you have to do a good job researching before you order a pair. I chose Eartech Music because they make ciems for musicians and do so on a reasonable price basis, a very “value” oriented approach.

So I got my Quads and love them! I am a wanna be audiophile and have a lot invested in my home theater and music listening.

My ciems are for listening when exercising and late night listening without disturbing my darling. But the ciems must sonically measure up to what I hear with my GoldenEar Tech Triton One tower speakers, and music reproduced by my HiFiMan HE 400i headphones.

I was thrilled to report that the Quads did measure up in every way that I believe ciems can compared to speakers and good open back headphones with a good amp. I stay in communication with Richard Trent from Eartech Music and let him know how totally pleased I am with my Quads. The great fit makes all the difference in the world for great sound! It almost entirely eliminates outside sounds, isolating me a great deal from the sounds along the country highway where I walk. And there is no leakage whatsoever when listening next to my wife in bed or on the plane.

Audiophile quality listening on the go and late night! I shared with Richard that although these ciems are made for bass players and drummers, I find them totally satisfying for purist audio listening. But did admit that I am a 'bass-head' and more bass would be welcome.

I want to say that Richard is very professional and helpful, super responsive when emailed. He makes dealing with Eartech Music a joy. He wrote some time later and told me that my Quads were top of the line when I bought them, but had been superseded by a five driver, Quint and that now they were looking at introducing a six driver Hex as their top model, and it would have more bass. Did I want to be a Beta tester for a pair? Heck yeah!

Richard knew I would give them a good work out, and part of my testing was for reliability/durability during exercising and extended use, which is great BTW. But I hope he was wanting me to review them for their musicality as well.[/B]



In use:

You can customize the colors and look, the fit and finish is super impressive! Love the look! I got mine with wood to be totally unique, but they do whatever laser art, etc. you might want. The ciems arrive in a great little pelican case, very well protected. The cable is a smallish, twisted cable with a 90 degree plug, with a bit of clear plastic tube shaped for over ear wear, perfect. The cable sounds very good, is not noisy, not too prone to tangling either. They are packed with a desiccant and ear wax cleaner. I played them constantly for over 400 hours to burn them in, but the sound did not really change noticeably after around 25 hours.

I will not compare them to my previous iems, the Shure SE215 and RHA MA750, both good sounding iems when I hold them manually pushed into my ears, but since they never seal/fit, and customs do perfectly, there is no comparison!

I had just retired my iBasso DX90 in favor of my newer Cowon Plenue M2 DAP. The PM2 is way smoother, less fatiguing, more analog sounding, MUCH more musical to me. The fact that it has almost world class Jeteffect7, BBE, and equalization has sometimes come into play with my EM Quads, occasionally improving the sound. BUT is never needed AT ALL with the new Hex! I did play the Hexes with both the iBasso and the Cowon, heck, I even connected them to my Galaxy Tab S (big phone) and could not believe how great my Tab could sound! The Tab only has FLAC files on it, so it should sound OK, but I was amazed at how well that little power was able to move me through the new Hexes. The iBasso was clean, articulate and powerful sounding, but just too analytical and harsh for my tastes. That is my take through the Quads as well, the reason I went for the Cowon PM2. The sound with the PM2 is rich, full, round, sweetly musical, balanced and without fault.

Yes, I said, balanced, even though the bass and sub bass are amazing, deep and full. And the treble is a tad laid back, lacking any sibilance but also lacking some “air”. I do not like dry, analytical sound, I prefer music! Poorly recorded “digital” sounding recordings still sound poor and harsh with the Hexes, just not quite as painful as they could sound. Vocals and mid range music comes through wonderfully, voices are reproduced perfectly.

When I first heard the bass though, compared to my beloved Quads, I thought the Hex was bass heavy. I REALLY enjoyed the bass, but there was a depth I was not used to hearing. Yet, the more I listened, the more I realized that this is what music is supposed to sound like, it needs, must have this foundation to be grounded and sound right. This is balanced to me!

I went looking for tracks with deep bass. My old standby reference music, Jesse Cook, Blue Guitar Sessions sounded better than ever! Gary Karr “Super Double Bass—The Artistry of Gary Karr” came alive like I never heard before. I could finally play Virgil Fox and hear the organ as it SHOULD sound even with ciems. I found Johannes Moser “Works for Cello and Piano” playing Rachmaninov and Prokofiev on a DSD file, just amazing! I found an album by the Aeon Trio called “Elegy” as a DSD download, featuring the cellist Maya Fridman, just blew my socks off!

Full on orchestral music never gets congested, it is all presented with layers of sound texture. Like the latest Reference Recordings Mahler's Sym #8 with the Utah Sym Orch. and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir with two SATB choirs and lots of soloists, the sound is HUGE but well articulated.

I could go on, I have discovered the most wonderful sounding music with these Hexes. I never play low quality recordings, but CD quality and better, Hi Resolution FLACs or DSD files really bring out the best in both player and ciems. Now I haunt labels like Pentatone, Channel Classics records, TRTPK, and sites like nativedsd.com, or HD Tracks.

Again, the main customer for Eartech Music is a stage musician. And for these ciems, drummers and bass players. Check out those instruments on Alabama Shakes “Sound and Color” the whole album. Not only the power, resolution and clarity of those instruments, but the separation and soundstage, the WIDTH of the performance is awesome. Beth Hart's “Fire on the Floor” from that album, and “Love Is the Baddest Blues” on Bang Bang Boom Boom. Kaleo A/B the whole album but especially “Way Down We Go” what fun! Guitar players, piano/keyboards, vocalists, heck everyone in the band needs these Hexes!

Audiophile quality:

And so do audiophiles. Music through these sound like my great speakers and headphones. Really for two channel music, these ciems have made me virtually retire my speakers (used now only for multi-channel) and headphones.

Comparison:

Let me draw a comparison to headphones if I may, that may help. IF you love the sound of the Audeze or the HiFiMan (planar magnetics) or the Fostex TH 900 Mk 2 headphones, then I believe you will love the Eartech Music Hexes!!! IF you love the sound of the Sennheiser HD 800s then I don't think you will like the EM Hexes, or the Quads for that matter.

That is just my opinion, and remember I am not representing Eartech Music, nor speaking for them, not affiliated except as a satisfied customer.[/B]



How to compare the new Hexes to my BFF Eartech Music Quads? That is difficult as the Quads are way more efficient, running at around 16 ohms. Whereas the six driver Hex is more like 30 ohms. (The Quints, which I have not heard are around 20 ohms I am told). So volume matching before comparisons is quite difficult and hard to do on the fly. The Quads are probably what most audiophiles would call a balanced or flat frequency response from top to bottom. I love music through them, could have been totally well-satisfied with them forever. Until I heard the Hexes, there is just more refinement there, a little more micro detail, more fun there. And more bass. I am sure there will be some premium to pay for the extra bass as well when these come out. They will be more expensive, and they should be. The Quads are great, the Hexes are AWESOME!

Sound summary recap:

Treble-- with my Cowon DAP is thrilling, musically delineated, never dry or clinical, but absolutely ALL THERE! What is missing, IF you want it is the last bit of “AIR”. No hiss, no sibilance and yet harsh digital recordings still come through as just that, especially through the iBasso DAP. But Hi Res files shine!

Midrange/vocals-- sound sweet and just right. Here is where you might think the Hexes a bit laid back and yet piano plays evenly up and down the keyboard. AND female vocals are to die for. Male voice for Tenors and Baritones sound spot on. No chestiness whatever. See next for the big boys.

Bass/sub bass—The likes of Leonard Cohen or Johnny Cash never sounded so good, and natural. Bass instruments are the real treat here, upright basses, electric basses, bass drums, tympani, organs all form the fundamental the foundation of the music. Rock solid bass. Not exaggerated to me, natural.

Highly Recommended:

For the performing musician and audiophile alike, custom in ear monitors are the way to go, and Eartech Music makes some excellent ones. I love the Quads, great all around players. But the new Hexes are giant killers, world-beaters. Play at least good quality files, or better yet, Hi Res files, with a well capable DAP and you will have fantastic sound for traveling, work, exercise and might even find you prefer them to a full sound system. They are just that good!