[rawrj]

I wondered if those were BC drivers of some sort. I'm pretty set on making this or the (upcoming?) Sound Rhyme my last set for a bit but I'll have to hope the price is reasonable. Even if it's over 1k I just hope they remember that $1800 SR Prado that I dont think many people bought.

 

[microzyma]

Honestly, if used in conjunction with other drivers it is ok, but to hear it alone, it is NOT high fidelity. They are getting better, but they haven't refined it enough yet to be more than like listening to an old school mono radio...

Generally, it is really tough to get any sort of good bone conduction via an IEM because there is no good place inside your ear to get good contact with bone. If you do a search for bone conduction earphones, the most common are the ones that make contact with your jaw bone below your ear. And even if it DID work this way, every time you moved or open/closed your mouth, you would lose the sound that it makes temporarily.

Just my $.02, but I think that it isn't "ready for prime time network" yet (as they used to say about Saturday Night Live).

I wonder if it even can be refined much beyond that. That's the quality of bone conducted sound. I've played with various bone conduction headsets through the years and the best of the ones I've heard still sound as you describe.

According to Tomatis, normal hearing is a combination of air and bone conducted sound. We privilege the air conducted sound because there's more of it, but for all the virtues of headphones, I've always felt something missing from the presentation, something visceral. Maybe better to say, something skeletal. I'd much rather listen to music in a room. Maybe this can add a measure of realism to the iem experience.

 

[Leonarfd]

Most IEMs that have a BC implementation is for the mid bass or mids, like the CP622B, Noble Spartacus, Kinera Verdandi etc. Should be some models/brands that have instead gone the route of full range BC. Just reviewed the verdandi, and found the BC a fun and different experience.

The Aehta will then be of the same type as Verdandi used for the low end(if I understand correct), this also means to it will not appear on all music.
Music that are more bass heavy made it appear, then you get an extra sensation to the sound that is more tactile and engaging. Verdandi was tastefully implemented, hope this will be the same.

Good seal and contact point with the IEM is important for it to work well, if not you will listen to the music without the BC in action.
The measurement we have seen don't show the BC in action on Aehta, this since it's not measurable by a coupler.

 

[microzyma]

Most IEMs that have a BC implementation is for the bass/low mids, CP622B, Noble Spartacus, Kinera Verdandi etc. Should be some models/brands that have instead gone the route of full range BC. Just reviewed the verdandi, and found the BC a fun and different experience.

The Aetha will then be of the same type as Verdandi used for the low end(if I understand correct), this also means to it will not appear on all music.
Music that are more bass heavy made it appear, then you get an extra sensation to the bass that is more tactile and engaging. Verdandi was tastefully implemented, hope this will be the same.

Good seal and contact point with the IEM is important for it to work well, if not you will listen to the music without the BC in action.
The measurement we have seen don't show the BC in action on Aehta, this since it's not measurable by a coupler.

Can passersby hear the sound from these bone conduction IEM? When I'm on a leisurely hike I can hear a bit too much 80's Top 40 from the joggers coming down the hill. It hurts my soul.

 

[nikbr]

Can passersby hear the sound from these bone conduction IEM? When I'm on a leisurely hike I can hear a bit too much 80's Top 40 from the joggers coming down the hill. It hurts my soul.

LOL. But even if they could, all they'll be hearing is a muffled bass rumble, just like a teenager's car audio with bass setting turnt up to +9dB - of course, blasting his ears off with windows up. Oh wait, yeah, they usually lower the windows too, for us all to enjoy their exquisite music selection ...

 

[Stu Paddasso]

My Evo has BC and I heard Mentor with BC. It's for real. It adds body to the music and helps you feel the music.

 

[BS5711]

When BC is done right. It will bring on another level of tactility. The Canpur 622B comes to mind. There is no buzzing where your ear vibrates. What you get is a crispy quality at the bass edges. Like bacon. Too crispy, it’s a crunchy oil stick. Not crispy, it’s just soggy. Just right and it’ll never be the same again.

Of course it’s all conjecture by moi at this point. It’s a good guess since the charts show a focus on the bass area. If you’re going to create a bass head IEM and throw in a BC. Abel is not going for big bass, but erection inducing quality bass. Yes. It sounds wrong. Abel giving you an erection. You know you want it. Crispy bacon and all.

Also, fun stuff. Go check how much the Canpur 622 costs.

Reasonable assumption that might be the first and last time erection and crispy bacon have appeared in the same place at the same time on Head Fi, or possibly any place for that matter

 

[BS5711]

This is the response curve of the stated BC driver from the Sonion website. Looks like the response is heavily weighted towards the region a little over 2khz.

If I understand what the graph is indicating it would seem pretty inefficient at enhancing bass but much better at enhancing the very central part of the midrange with an abrupt drop off in efficiency either side.

I assume there a BC drivers that focus on different frequency ranges ?

Am I missing something ?

 

[Leonarfd]

This is the response curve of the stated BC driver from the Sonion website. Looks like the response is heavily weighted towards the region a little over 2khz.

If I understand what the graph is indicating it would seem pretty inefficient at enhancing bass but much better at enhancing the very central part of the midrange with an abrupt drop off in efficiency either side.

I assume there a BC drivers that focus on different frequency ranges ?

Am I missing something ?

When I talked with Musicteck about the Canpur CP622B they mentioned the BC being there for the low mid-range, this is the same BC as that one. Unless it's tuneable for a different range it's for the range you shown here.

 

[o0genesis0o]

Most IEMs that have a BC implementation is for the bass/low mids, CP622B, Noble Spartacus, Kinera Verdandi etc. Should be some models/brands that have instead gone the route of full range BC. Just reviewed the verdandi, and found the BC a fun and different experience.

The Aehta will then be of the same type as Verdandi used for the low end(if I understand correct), this also means to it will not appear on all music.
Music that are more bass heavy made it appear, then you get an extra sensation to the bass that is more tactile and engaging. Verdandi was tastefully implemented, hope this will be the same.

Good seal and contact point with the IEM is important for it to work well, if not you will listen to the music without the BC in action.
The measurement we have seen don't show the BC in action on Aehta, this since it's not measurable by a coupler.

I’m almost sure that BCD in both Kinera and UM IEMs work around 1kHz up

 

[ian91]

I don't think any of these BCs actually contribute significantly to true bass energy but to note definition in the midrange (and enhance imaging by the same mechanism). It could feasibly add to psychoacoustic 'impact' / sense of attack.

This Sonion BC, distinct from UM turbo 'full freq' definitely seems to operate in the midrange. I doubt one can tune it to operate outside of that. That does not mean to say it won't add to our perception of bass.

Having said all of this, Abel is a magician, so I'm looking forward to seeing what he is able to do with this driver config!

 

[o0genesis0o]

I don't think any of these BCs actually contribute significantly to true bass energy but to note definition in the midrange (and enhance imaging by the same mechanism). It could feasibly add to psychoacoustic 'impact' / sense of attack.

This Sonion BC, distinct from UM turbo 'full freq' definitely seems to operate in the midrange. I doubt one can tune it to operate outside of that. That does not mean to say it won't add to our perception of bass.

Having said all of this, Abel is a magician, so I'm looking forward to seeing what he is able to do with this driver config!

This.

The perception of bass by, say snare or kick, has an element upper mid / lower treble region. If you try to dip 4kHz, the bass might feel less snappy.

 

[firesign]

This.

The perception of bass by, say snare or kick, has an element upper mid / lower treble region. If you try to dip 4kHz, the bass might feel less snappy.

But this is very different from saying that BC drivers are used for bass.

 

[Leonarfd]

But this is very different from saying that BC drivers are used for bass.

Probably just a misconception by many people, I for one thought the BC types often where more low in frequency than on the paper here. Dont think Nicolas have mentioned where the BC is aimed at either

 

[ian91]

But this is very different from saying that BC drivers are used for bass.

Agreed. More information should be shared by the companies implementing this tech but I think many are closely guarding their own BC driver and implementations. As for 'off the shelf' drivers like this Sonion, there's really no need to guard things closely. Hopefully Abel/Nic will shed more light on what it adds as we near release.