[PinkyPowers]

My cable woes are gone. This DiY jobby gives me Balanced, SPC Litz, and comfort, all in one.

 

[ThomasHK]

Hello everybody!

I just wanted to post a little bit about how the CanJam show went, what people said, and also want to post my personal impressions and description of the sound signature of our two new flagship iems the tia FOURTÉ and U18tzar. I will post my personal impressions and description of the sound signatures in a second post.

First off, I want to say thank you for everyone who took some of their precious time to stop by our booth to listen and check out our products and the two new game-changing flagships. Shout-out to @DWbirdseye
, @brent75
, @EagleWings
, @nmatheis
, and everybody else who stopped by to listen to our flagships. I know there were a few individuals who stopped by multiple times just to listen and I don't remember everyone's names and Head-Fi usernames but thank you so much for stopping by!

By the way, I know there's a big price discussion on here about the two flagships. I want to let you guys know I can not really comment on pricing and I don't have much pull in that anyway since I work in R&D. So as far as pricing goes I'm not the one to talk to about that.

A few pictures of what went on at the show:

Being very busy we we didn't have much of a chance to take any pictures. Chris snapped a couple when it was less busy. I also borrowed a pic from @brent75

Lower left Vitaliy B is trying on Misha Kucherenko's (Big Misha) gigantic watch! :tongue_smile:  Also, we demoed the tia FOURTE with Whiplash cables and the U18t with ranko acoustics single crystal copper cables.






People's Impressions:

There were definitely three groups of people in terms of what they liked. There were people loved the tia FOURTÉ, people who loved the U18tzar, and some who loved both and were torn between the two! Everyone who tried the two and compared to our older A/U series like the 10's and 12's expressed that the new products were no doubt a good step above our previous flagships. We even had a couple brothers stop by and one loved the tia and the other loved the 18's. The one who loved the tia even said he's buying as soon as it's released in custom form. He had his impressions made so he could be the first to get it in custom form.

Everyone who loved the tia FOURTÉ said there's no comparing it to anything else. Many said that the tia "sounds like its out of your head", "is warm and musical sounding while not compromising detail and transparency", "sounds like speakers", "has very deep and rich bass", "compares with large over-the-ear headphones", "has the smoothest and most coherent transition from low to mids", "is large and still very detailed", "sounds big but still transparent". There were more impressions and opinions about the tia and I can't remember everything that was said, but there was big interest in it.


People who preferred the U18tzar thought it was a big step up from the older A/U series. Some described it as "U10's on steroids", "full sound with smooth highs", "tight fast bass and detailed over all", "very detailed and transparent sounding but not sibilant", "has very good effortless sub bass", "analytical yet still very musical". There were unequivocally many lovers of the U18t. Many stopped by just to see and hear what 18 drivers per ear sounds like.


There were also those who couldn't decided between the two saying "they're both great in their own ways". Some loved them both but leaned to or preferred one over the other.


Well that's it... I think the show went very well. This was my first time at this show and I loved it. I just wish I had more time to check out other companies goodies and listen more iem's that are out there.


My personal impressions of the tia FOURTE and U18tzar are to follow in a separate post. Again thanks to everyone who stopped by.


Vitaliy G.
64 Audio

Since you are from R&D, are you able to share more info on the acoustics of the Fourte? It may help to understand the price

 

[Videl]

Hello again to everyone!


I just posted a little bit about how CanJam went and what happened at the show. If you didn't read that you can check it out a couple of posts back. I said in that post that I would post my personal impressions and description of the sound signatures of our two new flagship models. Having directly worked on these two models closely with Vitaliy B I probably had the most listening time than anyone with these two products. The tuning was done by myself and Vitaliy B. Interestingly enough Vitaliy B. and I both have the same tastes and opinions in sound. So tuning together was very easy in the sense that we pretty much agreed on everything. 

Now on to sound impressions:

The tia FOURTÉ is definitely unlike any iem I have ever heard before. The sound coming from this little beast is insanely gigantic! I absolutely share the opinion of those who said the FOURTE sounds like a large pair of over-the-ear headphones or a pair of speakers. The sound with this iem no longer sound like its inside your head, rather it sounds like its out of your head. Closing your eyes you easily get fooled that you are there in the same room as the music. The sound stage of the FOURTE is ultra wide and equally deep in depth, width and height. In my opinion you don't truly know what stereo is until you hear the tia FOURTE. Listening to recordings with acoustic instruments and ambient mixes pulls you into the space where the recording was made easily fooling you to think you're actually there! The bass on the tia FOURTE is also quite something unique. The bass of the FOURTE, having a dynamic driver for the lows, sounds REAL. Kick drums sound amazing on the FOURTE. It has a very strong and heavy punch. Imagine a large boxer hitting a punching bag. That's the kind of rich and deep low frequency impact the tia caries. Over all the bass sounds rich and very real... much like speakers or a bass cab in real life. This is the kind of bass that you would feel in the chest if it was coming from a nice sub woofer. The quantity of the bass is also tasteful but what amazing is it doesn't cloud or muddy up the mids or anything else in the sound. The bass transitions into the lower mids in a very smooth and extremely coherent way. Over all the FOURTE is on the warmer side with rich milky mids. What's more shocking is how the upper mids and highs are so clean and smooth. The tia FOURTE manages to stay very detailed and the warmth doesn't to take away from the transparency that it has in the highs. The separation and layering is miles deep, unlike anything I've heard, though the U18t comes close. The tia FOURTE handles even the busiest tracks with ease. Incredibly enough you can drive the FOURTE very very loud and it doesn't distort. It also maintains its rich wide sound stage in these loud volumes. Most normal tubed iems start to collapse and the sound starts sounding squeezed or forced in these kinds of volumes and start to be very fatiguing and sharp... Not the FOURTE.. with loud volumes the snares, which would normally sound like ice picks and make you wince or blink your eyes, almost start to sound compressed like analog tape compression and it does not hurt or fatigue the ear! All around the tia FOURTE sounds well balanced and doesn't leave you wanting anything more. 

Unfortunately due to time constraints I have to cut this post short. So I will write up my impressions and description of the U18t in a separate post. There maybe something that will come to mind that I may add to this later.. but so far this sums up what I think of the tia FOURTE.

Vitaliy G.
64 Audio

 

[Videl]

@ThomasHK,

Is my previous post what you meant by "acoustics" ?

 

[ThomasHK]

  @ThomasHK,

Is my previous post what you meant by "acoustics" ?

No, those are subjective sound quality impressions. 
 
I think what people are interested in hearing is what is going on inside this product that makes a 4-way BA cost so much. 
 
E.g., Shure can charge ~900USD for the SE846 because the internal construction is very intricate and the mechanical parts cannot be cheap at all. 
 
So, to go to 3500 USD is a huge jump so there must be something magical going on in this construction. Crazy materials? Or what?

 

[brent75]

  Hello everybody!
 
I just wanted to post a little bit about how the CanJam show went, what people said, and also want to post my personal impressions and description of the sound signature of our two new flagship iems the tia FOURTÉ and U18tzar. I will post my personal impressions and description of the sound signatures in a second post.
 
First off, I want to say thank you for everyone who took some of their precious time to stop by our booth to listen and check out our products and the two new game-changing flagships. Shout-out to @DWbirdseye, @brent75, @EagleWings, @nmatheis, and everybody else who stopped by to listen to our flagships. I know there were a few individuals who stopped by multiple times just to listen and I don't remember everyone's names and Head-Fi usernames but thank you so much for stopping by!
 
By the way, I know there's a big price discussion on here about the two flagships. I want to let you guys know I can not really comment on pricing and I don't have much pull in that anyway since I work in R&D. So as far as pricing goes I'm not the one to talk to about that.

A few pictures of what went on at the show:
 
Being very busy we we didn't have much of a chance to take any pictures. Chris snapped a couple when it was less busy. I also borrowed a pic from @brent75
Lower left Vitaliy B is trying on

Misha Kucherenko's (Big Misha) gigantic watch! 

 Also, we demoed the tia FOURTE with Whiplash cables and the U18t with ranko acoustics single crystal copper cables.
 
 

 
 

 
Thank you very much for the great demo and fantastic hospitality at your booth! I really liked the IEMs. I can't remember which one I tried first, but that was the one I preferred (the second one was a bit too warm for my tastes).
 
I was actually in the selfie I took while Tyll was doing the interview, but I cropped myself out b/c no one wants to see my ugly mug. I did just realize that is my backside in the top right picture. 

 

 

[bvng3540]

No, those are subjective sound quality impressions. 

I think what people are interested in hearing is what is going on inside this product that makes a 4-way BA cost so much. 

E.g., Shure can charge ~900USD for the SE846 because the internal construction is very intricate and the mechanical parts cannot be cheap at all. 

So, to go to 3500 USD is a huge jump so there must be something magical going on in this construction. Crazy materials? Or what?

@Videl "by the way, I know there's a big price discussion on here about the two flagships. I want to let you guys know I can not really comment on pricing and I don't have much pull in that anyway since I work in R&D. So as far as pricing goes I'm not the one to talk to about that"

 

[rovietka]

  I like the UE one too, order together to save some shipping?

Hi @raychak thanks for the offer, but I honestly still don't think its worth it.  For something that cost HK$80, the shipping is HK$270 if we split it.

 

[Jalo]

Hello again to everyone!


I just posted a little bit about how CanJam went and what happened at the show. If you didn't read that you can check it out a couple of posts back. I said in that post that I would post my personal impressions and description of the sound signatures of our two new flagship models. Having directly worked on these two models closely with Vitaliy B I probably had the most listening time than anyone with these two products. The tuning was done by myself and Vitaliy B. Interestingly enough Vitaliy B. and I both have the same tastes and opinions in sound. So tuning together was very easy in the sense that we pretty much agreed on everything. 

Now on to sound impressions:

The tia FOURTÉ is definitely unlike any iem I have ever heard before. The sound coming from this little beast is insanely gigantic! I absolutely share the opinion of those who said the FOURTE sounds like a large pair of over-the-ear headphones oa pair or speakers.s. The sound with this iem no longer sound like its inside your head, rather it sounds like its out of your head. Closing your eyes you easily get fooled that you are there in the same room as the music. The sound stage of the FOURTE is ultra wide and equally deep in depth, width and height. In my opinion you don't truly know what stereo is until you hear the tia FOURTE. Listening to recordings with acoustic instruments and ambient mixes pulls you into the space where the recording was made easily fooling you to think you're actually there! The bass on the tia FOURTE is also quite something unique. The bass of the FOURTE, having a dynamic driver for the lows, sounds REAL. Kick drums sound amazing on the FOURTE. It has a very strong and heavy punch. Imagine a large boxer hitting a punching bag. That's the kind of rich and deep low frequency impact the tia caries. Over all the bass sounds rich and very real... much like speakers or a bass cab in real life. This is the kind of bass that you would feel in the chest if it was coming from a nice sub woofer. The quantity of the bass is also tasteful but what amazing is it doesn't cloud or muddy up the mids or anything else in the sound. The bass transitions into the lower mids in a very smooth and extremely coherent way. Over all the FOURTE is on the warmer side with rich milky mids. What's more shocking is how the upper mids and highs are so clean and smooth. The tia FOURTE manages to stay very detailed and the warmth doesn't to take away from the transparency that it has in the highs. The separation and layering is miles deep, unlike anything I've heard, though the U18t comes close. is miles deep
64 Audio

Well I like 64audio iems and I purchased the u12, I can also understand the excitement of a new pair of totl iems, but to use words like "a pair of speakers" or "the separation and layering is miles deep" etc is pure hype and exaggeration. No iems can sound like a pair of speakers regardless of how good they are. I am not saying these iems do not have potential, but we need to keep our description in check and be realistic.

 

[ericr]

My cable woes are gone. This DiY jobby gives me Balanced, SPC Litz, and comfort, all in one.

Spoiler: Hidden Pics

 

 
Nice looking cables!

 

[zachchen1996]

Well I like 64audio iems and I purchased the u12, I can also understand the excitement of a new pair of totl iems, but to use words like "a pair of speakers" or "the separation and layering is miles deep" etc is pure hype and exaggeration. No iems can sound like a pair of speakers regardless of how good they are. I am not saying these iems do not have potential, but we need to keep our description in check and be realistic.

He's sponsored by 64audio, of course he's going to describe them with over the top hyperbole LOL.
For the 3k price they are potentially asking for, it better be a noticeable step up from my SE5 Ultimate.

 

[Videl]

Well I like 64audio iems and I purchased the u12, I can also understand the excitement of a new pair of totl iems, but to use words like "a pair of speakers" or "the separation and layering is miles deep" etc is pure hype and exaggeration. No iems can sound like a pair of speakers regardless of how good they are. I am not saying these iems do not have potential, but we need to keep our description in check and be realistic.

 
"A pair of speakers" was something a couple of people described them as at the show. I just happen to agree. At least as close as you can get for now anyway..

"the separation and layering is miles deep" miles deep is a figure of speech. Obviously its not "miles" deep but it is deep. 

@zachchen1996

I'm not so much "sponsored by" than I work for.... I tuned these things with Vitaliy B.

I believe I stated a couple of times that these are my personal impressions. These are my personal opinions and thoughts. And even if you think I'm biased... believe me I'm trying not to be as much as possible... I'm comparing to other things Iv'e heard. I think I can safely say compared to our older A/U series its a big leap above that. So if you have doubts about my opinions you can at least believe that lol People who went to the show have their own impressions I'm sure. And they can either agree or disagree. If there's someone who listened to them at the show you're more than welcome to chime in with your thoughts!

Plus you'll never know till you hear em yourself.. then you can either agree or disagree with my or other peoples assessments

 

[Videl]

  No, those are subjective sound quality impressions. 
 
I think what people are interested in hearing is what is going on inside this product that makes a 4-way BA cost so much. 
 
E.g., Shure can charge ~900USD for the SE846 because the internal construction is very intricate and the mechanical parts cannot be cheap at all. 
 
So, to go to 3500 USD is a huge jump so there must be something magical going on in this construction. Crazy materials? Or what?

 
 @ThomasHK,
 
Maybe I'll touch on this a bit later and write a detailed description of what goes on behind the shell of this special iem... For now all I can say is custom front-vented drivers
 

 

[Rin1990]

 @ThomasHK,

Maybe I'll touch on this a bit later and write a detailed description of what goes on behind the shell of this special iem... For now all I can say is custom front-vented drivers

 

If possible I'd like to read about it too. I am really interested in whats your detailed imprrssions on these new flagships as I am one of those who don't have the luxury to try them in Malaysia.

If possible do tell me more about the Tia Fourte. Through PM if you're more comfortable with that.

 

[Videl]

I would like to clarify that my personal impressions are just that.. personal thoughts and opinions. I was not told to post that...  it is just personal excitement that drove me to write what I thought I heard. I work for 64 so you guys are aware and know that I may be biased (which I am trying as hard as possible not to be). So please keep in mind my impressions and opinions are just that... subjective personal opinions. So I advise you take them with a grain of salt.
 
I highly recommend you guys hear and decide for yourselves if opportunity presents itself for you guys to demo them.

There will definitely be more opportunities for you guys to demo them so I highly encourage those that can to do so and to form their own impressions and opinions.

It would also be very nice to have people that have already demoed them to post their own impressions and descriptions... that would be awesome!

Thank you guys for understanding.

Vitaliy G.
64 Audio