[music-meister]

A12 @ $1200...all of you should be getting A12 immediately, don't even consider the U.

Officially, the A12 is $1600 for any kickstarter backer who wishes to upgrade. That extra $400 is just a bit too much for many/most of us. $1600 for custom vs $959 for Universal.

 

[Ike1985]

Officially, the A12 is $1600 for any kickstarter backer who wishes to upgrade. That extra $400 is just a bit too much for many/most of us. $1600 for custom vs $959 for Universal.

Sell something, you'll regret it.  For me this is the last IEM/headphone i'll ever buy.

 

[music-meister]

Sell something, you'll regret it.  For me this is the last IEM/headphone i'll ever buy.

I have nothing I can sell for $640. I'm happy for those who do, but I'm not one of them.

 

[digitalzed]

Officially, the A12 is $1600 for any kickstarter backer who wishes to upgrade. That extra $400 is just a bit too much for many/most of us. $1600 for custom vs $959 for Universal.

Yep. I agree. I already almost doubled my initial pledge. Not complaining but the wallet's empty on this one.

 

[eldss]

 
Yep. I agree. I already almost doubled my initial pledge. Not complaining but the wallet's empty on this one.

I'm on the same boat. I upgraded to the U8 (I already have another balanced IEM), but my wife would kill me if I swiped that credit card for the U12 or A12. But then I don't think we'll get another chance to purchase the A12s that cheap. 

 

[Ike1985]

If you guys with nice CIEMS/headphones want to test the sound stage/3d capabilities of your listening devices, check these videos:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXQP015HBaw
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbAy9MwBR-I

 

[Alpc]

   
I listened to the V6, and A6 at the Seattle meet. To me they sounded quite similar in terms of the FR, however the V6 lacked an expansive soundstage due to not having the Adel module, whatever you call it. The A6 sounded more like an expensive pair of headphones with a nice soundstage, while the V6 was a lot more closed in, and sounded like an IEM would normally sound.
 
KaminKev was also there with me, and since he bought the A6 he can probably give more detail between the two.

 
 

  I can't really comment on the V6. I elected to not listen to it, as I was really wanting something that wouldn't fatigue my ears (I have issues with fatigue from treble, but I really enjoy treble, so it's been a struggle for me.) and I wanted something that sounded balanced. Now, I can't comment on the V6, but I certainly can comment on the A6 and compare it to what I've heard about the V6 and I can compare to the SE535, so hopefully you've listened to one at some point so you can have some point of reference. 
 
Now, first off, it really should be pretty similar. The A6 is a very, very balanced and neutral sound signature. When I listened to the SE535, I found that it would fatigue my ears within about ten minutes due to the treble energy (and they don't have especially bright treble). The A6, I would say, had treble with more energy than the SE535, but (and I assume that the Adel module is the culprit here) the A6 had no noticeable fatigue for me, and sounded absolutely excellent. To my ears, it sounds as natural, more so even, than the HD650, and it was incredible. Very detailed, and well balanced. Balance between all frequencies was above something like the HE-500, and the detail was amazing. The Adel module makes a VERY noticeable difference to my listening, and I was incredibly impressed by it. In my listening, the Adel module does everything 1964 says it does. I haven't had a chance to listen to the A6 for hours on end, as I don't yet have mine in hand, but I doubt I would have any issues leaving them in my ears, playing music for 12 hours or longer (and I plan to do just that on an international flight I have planned for this Thanksgiving). Let me put it this way: They sound better to me than anything else I've ever listened to, with the only exception I can think of being the $40,000 full size 2.1 floorstanding speaker setup that my family used to own. The only things I can think of that tie the A6 for me are some very nice speaker setups at my local speaker shop. (disclaimer: They didn't have the A8 on hand at the meet, and I didn't listen to the A10 because I didn't want to be influenced into buying something far outside of my already stretched budget, and I was already $100 out of budget for the A6...)
 
Oh, the bass... I forgot to mention that... It's very flat sounding, as far as quantity goes, but the quality is astounding, and it reaches down to the deepest depths. It went as low as my Denon D7k (which goes really, really low) but it was much better balanced than the aforementioned Denons. The bass never reached into the mids, and never affected the treble. And mids are wonderfully natural, and vocals are some of the best I've heard. Very, very impressive. 
 
I certainly preferred it to the A12, which to me has too much bass, and has a slightly weird sound. I'm not sure why I find it so odd, but something doesn't seem quite right about it. (Note: That may very well be due to the fact that I've never listened to $2,000 headphones much before, so I don't really have anything to compare to in that price range.) 
 
The A6 are very, very good, and to my ears, they punch above their weight for what I would expect for their price (even at their MSRP).

 
Thanks for the review and info. I just found out there is a demo set at the distributor here for A10 and A12. So I am trying to figure out how to test it out as my time schedule can be tight, even for a weekend. I am wondering when will the other range especially A6/A8 will be out - I can only aim for this budget range as it would already have gone up twice the amount I would have paid for my current CIEM (2 driver livewire). I am looking to upgrade as I am having some issues with the cable and it is tough to find a replacement cable (ok, that is the excuse I am sticking with for the change... Although I have been eyeing V6 for a while after my rounds of testing different brands of IEMs and the Adel technology ads came out, so I decided to wait).

 

[KaminKevCrew]

   
 
 
Thanks for the review and info. I just found out there is a demo set at the distributor here for A10 and A12. So I am trying to figure out how to test it out as my time schedule can be tight, even for a weekend. I am wondering when will the other range especially A6/A8 will be out - I can only aim for this budget range as it would already have gone up twice the amount I would have paid for my current CIEM (2 driver livewire). I am looking to upgrade as I am having some issues with the cable and it is tough to find a replacement cable (ok, that is the excuse I am sticking with for the change... Although I have been eyeing V6 for a while after my rounds of testing different brands of IEMs and the Adel technology ads came out, so I decided to wait).

No problem! If you happen to like a very slight bass accentuation, I would definitely recommend either the A8 (which I haven't listened to, but it seems to be a common trait of BA IEMs with a multiple of four drivers) or the A4 (which I did listen to, and aside from slightly less treble energy sounded very similar, with a slight boost in bass. It sounded like it was *maybe* a 1 DB boost, so nothing excessive.)
 
Also, although they don't advertise it, I think they can reshell and upgrade an A4 to A6, etc. etc. (If you would be interested in that though, I would contact them to confirm!)

 

[vitaliy belo]

 
Thanks. Now if anyone knows for sure if the parts are the same for the corresponding models? A6=U6, A8=U8, etc. I tried asking 1964 twice and received only vague replies stating they would be almost identical but never received any real information. Maybe no one knows?

The driver setup and sound signatures are the same. the U-Series work very well as demos for the Custom A-Series.

 

[digitalzed]

  The driver setup and sound signatures are the same. the U-Series work very well as demos for the Custom A-Series.

Thank you Vitaliy. I appreciate it very much hearing directly from you.

 

[vtrinidad87]

Anyone else having trouble upgrading from a U12 to an A12?
 
I've tried multiple times finishing the design, confirming the upgrade and everything, only to have a popup tell me that there was and "error processing [my] upgrade." I've sent an e-mail earlier today but haven't gotten any response.

 

[KaminKevCrew]

  Anyone else having trouble upgrading from a U12 to an A12?
 
I've tried multiple times finishing the design, confirming the upgrade and everything, only to have a popup tell me that there was and "error processing [my] upgrade." I've sent an e-mail earlier today but haven't gotten any response.

What do you mean by "earlier today"? It's 2:30 in the morning here (I'm in the same time zone as 1964) and they are open from 8am to 5pm Mon-Fri. If you emailed them close to closing, I wouldn't expect a response until Monday. They have been good about getting at least one email in to me per day, if I email them by about 3pm. I'd wait until Monday and send another email if they don't get back to you. So far though, I would definitely say that for me, they have been very, very good about prompt replies (They even let me change my design entirely through email yesterday, with only one email). I just wish I had been able to pay the rush order processing... The wait is absolutely killing me... 

 

[tmorterlaing]

A12 @ $1200...all of you should be getting A12 immediately, don't even consider the U.

You can't get the a12 for $1200? I'm a KS backer and for me to upgrade from the u12 would put it at about 1600?
Also, what's your logic? The u12 is virtually identical, just a universal fit instead of a custom fit...

 

[KaminKevCrew]

You can't get the a12 for $1200? I'm a KS backer and for me to upgrade from the u12 would put it at about 1600?
Also, what's your logic? The u12 is virtually identical, just a universal fit instead of a custom fit...

For me (if I were a backer, and doing this...) It's an issue of the fact that I've never had a universal that fit properly. That's actually 60% of the reason I went and got a custom.

 

[music-meister]

Universal vs custom aside, does anybody have any insight as to how well these 8/10/12 driver models will sound without an amp to better drive them? Just curious...