[dizzid]

Just got my A3s yesterday. So far so good. Will post impressions soon.

Looking forward to an opinion in these. I got the A4 but almost got the A3 as well. This thread is almost exclusively about the A12 and makes me feel like i cant afford to be one of the cool kids...

 

[davidmolliere]

I am using my U12 with the DPX1. I only have the stock cable and is only able to listen via SE. What I can say about it is that the sound stage is really immense and precise, details of the tracks are just laid out to you but everything is in a laid back manner. It is very relaxing and fun to listen with. My Balanced cable is on it's way now and will be giving a short write-up with the Balanced output when it arrive.

For cable, I can't recommend much as I'm fairly new into this game too but some of my friends recommend the Forza cables.

 
Look forward to your impressions, I am on the verge of ordering U12 I ordered U12 to go with DP-X1

 

[samdenny101]

Alrighty, this will be impressions of the A3 after about 3 days of use.
 
First, some things about me. I have extensive experience with Universal in ears, specifically Shures line (215, 425, 535 especially) and UE900s (newest version) along with a brief stint with TF10s. When it comes to Over ear comparisons, I own Sennheiser Hd 650s and ATH W5000s and those are my primary cans for home use. I primarily use in ears for stage use at my relatively large church and for music enjoyment on the side.
 
When it comes to tastes and such, I like to think of myself of being a somewhat entry level audiophile.. I cannot stress Entry Level enough. (don't have the money at the moment to be anything more than entry level lol) I listen to literally anything but newer country music. I am personally not a basshead at all. I enjoy relatively balanced sound and that's pretty much it, I just want to hear everything in the mix. Take all that I say as words from a relative amateur because i am by no means a professional; especially at describing the sound of headphones.
 
Alrighty that out of the way. This is my first trek into the ocean of Custom IEMs, and I have to say, so far its been pretty spectacular on all fronts. But really all you guys care about is sound quality so lets get to that. DISCLAIMER: I have gotten approximately 15 hours or so of use out of these but have let them burn in almost 100% of the time I haven't been using them so about 60 hours of burn-in so far.
 
Bass- The Bass on these things is just outstanding. It was quite awe-inspiring coming from the SE-535s because even though they have very very capable bass, they can't hold a candle to the sheer quality coming from these. How I would describe simply it is just straight up thick but not overbearing. They really just have clean sounding bass along with it sounding huge. For my tastes this is about the perfect amount of Bass. Not bloated at all, just clean and dynamic.
 
Mids- They aren't quite as lush as the Se535's but the mids are incredibly clear and are without a doubt of some of the highest quality. Despite them not being quite as lush sounding as the 535s, they do sound fairly more detailed, especially when concerning male vocals. Highly enjoyable.
 
 Treble- I mentioned the TF10s in my bio as having a brief stint with them, and that is because of my treble sensitivity. I really just couldn't handle them or enjoy them. The A3s on the other hand are not sibilant in the slightest. Its really quite glorious. I do sense that there could be more extension, but it really is not a huge deal considering its only that one driver handling the entire treble range. The treble as a whole could be described as detailed but not harsh, quite smooth but not veiled.
 
Soundstage- Wow. That's really all that can be said. Its absolutely INSANE what these things can do when it comes to soundstage. My first test of them left me wanting more considering all the hype i had heard about these on the forums and such, but after some burn in and after about 8ish hours of use (approximate)  IN THE EAR (to loosen the ADEL up) the soundstage really opened up. I would say that with the Auto Module it is approximately 65 to 70 percent as big as my HD650s, which is ridiculous considering those are an open back fullsize headphone.
 
This is all i can comment on so far, but overall i think you can tell that I'm incredibly pleased so far. Will Update more when i get further down the line. Hopefully this was helpful.

 

[davidmolliere]

Quick questions to those who ordered universals at 64 audio recently : is the delay announced on the website accurate (says 1 week)?
 
Thanks!
Can't wait for my U12...

 

[cremebrule]

  Alrighty, this will be impressions of the A3 after about 3 days of use.
 
First, some things about me. I have extensive experience with Universal in ears, specifically Shures line (215, 425, 535 especially) and UE900s (newest version) along with a brief stint with TF10s. When it comes to Over ear comparisons, I own Sennheiser Hd 650s and ATH W5000s and those are my primary cans for home use. I primarily use in ears for stage use at my relatively large church and for music enjoyment on the side.
 
When it comes to tastes and such, I like to think of myself of being a somewhat entry level audiophile.. I cannot stress Entry Level enough. (don't have the money at the moment to be anything more than entry level lol) I listen to literally anything but newer country music. I am personally not a basshead at all. I enjoy relatively balanced sound and that's pretty much it, I just want to hear everything in the mix. Take all that I say as words from a relative amateur because i am by no means a professional; especially at describing the sound of headphones.
 
Alrighty that out of the way. This is my first trek into the ocean of Custom IEMs, and I have to say, so far its been pretty spectacular on all fronts. But really all you guys care about is sound quality so lets get to that. DISCLAIMER: I have gotten approximately 15 hours or so of use out of these but have let them burn in almost 100% of the time I haven't been using them so about 60 hours of burn-in so far.
 
Bass- The Bass on these things is just outstanding. It was quite awe-inspiring coming from the SE-535s because even though they have very very capable bass, they can't hold a candle to the sheer quality coming from these. How I would describe simply it is just straight up thick but not overbearing. They really just have clean sounding bass along with it sounding huge. For my tastes this is about the perfect amount of Bass. Not bloated at all, just clean and dynamic.
 
Mids- They aren't quite as lush as the Se535's but the mids are incredibly clear and are without a doubt of some of the highest quality. Despite them not being quite as lush sounding as the 535s, they do sound fairly more detailed, especially when concerning male vocals. Highly enjoyable.
 
 Treble- I mentioned the TF10s in my bio as having a brief stint with them, and that is because of my treble sensitivity. I really just couldn't handle them or enjoy them. The A3s on the other hand are not sibilant in the slightest. Its really quite glorious. I do sense that there could be more extension, but it really is not a huge deal considering its only that one driver handling the entire treble range. The treble as a whole could be described as detailed but not harsh, quite smooth but not veiled.
 
Soundstage- Wow. That's really all that can be said. Its absolutely INSANE what these things can do when it comes to soundstage. My first test of them left me wanting more considering all the hype i had heard about these on the forums and such, but after some burn in and after about 8ish hours of use (approximate)  IN THE EAR (to loosen the ADEL up) the soundstage really opened up. I would say that with the Auto Module it is approximately 65 to 70 percent as big as my HD650s, which is ridiculous considering those are an open back fullsize headphone.
 
This is all i can comment on so far, but overall i think you can tell that I'm incredibly pleased so far. Will Update more when i get further down the line. Hopefully this was helpful.

Thank you for the review; I've been considering getting the A3 for a couple weeks now, but couldn't find any reviews of it online! I am an entry-level audiophile like yourself; would you recommend getting the A3 or bump up to the A6 (or, conversely, do you think the A3 is sufficient)? Of course, upgrades are always ideally better but I'm still hesistant to drop an extra $500 for 3 more drivers. Of the few remarks I've seen of the two products it seems that people say the A6 is fuller and has more depth and vibrancy.

 

[Canyon Runner]

 
Thank you for the review; I've been considering getting the A3 for a couple weeks now, but couldn't find any reviews of it online! I am an entry-level audiophile like yourself; would you recommend getting the A3 or bump up to the A6 (or, conversely, do you think the A3 is sufficient)? Of course, upgrades are always ideally better but I'm still hesistant to drop an extra $500 for 3 more drivers. Of the few remarks I've seen of the two products it seems that people say the A6 is fuller and has more depth and vibrancy.

That's a pretty accurate way to phrase it. I definitely prefer the 6 to the 3 for those reasons, but I'm used to the 12, so that is probably what you'd expect me to say with that as my baseline. During demos alot of people started with the 3s and then tried the 6s, really liked them even more but if it was a money thing they still seemed really content getting the 3s.

 

[cremebrule]

That's a pretty accurate way to phrase it. I definitely prefer the 6 to the 3 for those reasons, but I'm used to the 12, so that is probably what you'd expect me to say with that as my baseline. During demos alot of people started with the 3s and then tried the 6s, really liked them even more but if it was a money thing they still seemed really content getting the 3s.

Hmmm that's what I figured; thanks for confirming! Would you say the 6 has more balanced mids? The reviewer of the A3 I originally quoted noted they seemed a bit subdued (albeit, all relative to the excellence of the bass/treble), suggesting that it has a slight V-shaped curve to it. I'm hoping to use these for both daily listening and studio purposes, so I'm hoping to find a balanced and yet still vibrant model.

 

[samdenny101]

Hmmm that's what I figured; thanks for confirming! Would you say the 6 has more balanced mids? The reviewer of the A3 I originally quoted noted they seemed a bit subdued (albeit, all relative to the excellence of the bass/treble), suggesting that it has a slight V-shaped curve to it. I'm hoping to use these for both daily listening and studio purposes, so I'm hoping to find a balanced and yet still vibrant model.

I have not tried the A6s but believe me, from a standpoint of coming from the 535s and the other universals I stated above, the A3s have absolutely brilliant mids. Yes the A3 does have a very slight V-shaped sound to them, but I have yet to feel like I'm missing any mids at all, and that's with me coming from the 535s which are known for their lush/rich mids. If anything, the A3s without a doubt have more detail (imo), but just a slightly less thick sound to the mids. I honestly think you would be perfectly happy with these from what you're describing as your target sound. (Also keeping an extra 500 bucks in your pocket doesn't sound bad either )

 

[Canyon Runner]

Hmmm that's what I figured; thanks for confirming! Would you say the 6 has more balanced mids? The reviewer of the A3 I originally quoted noted they seemed a bit subdued (albeit, all relative to the excellence of the bass/treble), suggesting that it has a slight V-shaped curve to it. I'm hoping to use these for both daily listening and studio purposes, so I'm hoping to find a balanced and yet still vibrant model.

I do find the 6s to be a bit more balanced. But I think the 3's would really hit the spot youre looking for, without feeling required to shell out the extra bucks. In other words it's worth it, but don't feel like you're getting something second rate by going to a model that is more cost effective.

 

[cremebrule]

I do find the 6s to be a bit more balanced. But I think the 3's would really hit the spot youre looking for, without feeling required to shell out the extra bucks. In other words it's worth it, but don't feel like you're getting something second rate by going to a model that is more cost effective.

I have not tried the A6s but believe me, from a standpoint of coming from the 535s and the other universals I stated above, the A3s have absolutely brilliant mids. Yes the A3 does have a very slight V-shaped sound to them, but I have yet to feel like I'm missing any mids at all, and that's with me coming from the 535s which are known for their lush/rich mids. If anything, the A3s without a doubt have more detail (imo), but just a slightly less thick sound to the mids. I honestly think you would be perfectly happy with these from what you're describing as your target sound. (Also keeping an extra 500 bucks in your pocket doesn't sound bad either )

Thanks for the advice guys! It looks like the A3s are the way to go. Super psyched to experience the ADEL technology!

 

[djvkool]

Listened to the Mojo just recently with my A12. Enjoyed the bass & soundstage and was disappointed with the softness of the treble. Some of the comments on the A12 signature that didn't match my experience make a bit more sense now.

Granted I don't own a DAP to compare against. This is in contrast to my desktop rig of an MHDT DAC and Project Ember amp (at a combined cost ~20% more than MJ).

If you don't need a portable aetup (I know, I know, we're talking iems and many of you are on the go) the Ember is very much worth consideration. Great product, sound, value for $, and exemplary customer service.

Find yourself a decent pure silver cable mate, it will take care of it - it adds some sparkle into the lower treble/upper mid, makes it sound much, much better
 
I am using Beat Titan at the moment, and am waiting for Ted's pure silver balanced cable.

 

[vtkc]

A negative for me as well...best case scenario is it will be fixed in a DP-X1 firmware update.

It has already been fixed in the latest update from Onkyo.

 

[davidmolliere]

  Quick questions to those who ordered universals at 64 audio recently : is the delay announced on the website accurate (says 1 week)?
Thanks!

 
Sorry to bump this, I have sent an email yesterdat morning to get the confirmation of delay but had no reply yet... what is your experience with 64 audio customer support?

 

[LoryWiv]

It has already been fixed in the latest update from Onkyo.

New DP-X1 firmware allows browing and playing by folders?
Sorry to stray off topic but that wasn't noted at all in the DP-X1 forum.
Thanks vtkc!,  Enjoy your U12's!

 

[davidmolliere]

New DP-X1 firmware allows browing and playing by folders?
Sorry to stray off topic but that wasn't noted at all in the DP-X1 forum.
Thanks vtkc!,  Enjoy your U12's!

 
No it does not... yet.