jiamenguk
Head-Fier
- Joined
- Feb 23, 2010
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So recently the jack strain-relief on my Phonaks started to fall apart, absolutely heart breaking after 5 long years, but what was exacerbating was the fact that the Phonaks have been out of production in a while, and not only so there didn't seem to be any easy way to get my hands on a new set of grey filters in England. And thus I had the reluctant job of find a similarly priced (£100-£150) replacement. Having read some good reviews of the ACS T15's, I made the illogical choice of going for the new Evoke Studio's (mainly because I wanted over-ear cabling, so the change would not be too hard on me, though seriously the T15's are on sale at £120 right now on the ACS website, it's probably a bargain). As of writing this, and my purchase, I'd only found one (albeit positive) review of the Evoke universals, so I thought I'd write down a few impressions for others to reference upon. This is also the universal version, since I don't have the money to shell out on custom molds, though I very much wish I did.
Sidenote: ACS also thought it'd be hilarious to name their entire IEM range with words that begin and end with E, two of them begin with the letters "Evo". I'm pretty sure I'd spent a few hours being really confused by why the Evokes were sometimes £150, sometimes £300, sometimes single-driver and sometimes triple-driver, and then I concentrated a bit more and realised one of them was called Evolve. Not only so, each one of them has a custom mold version, while each of the molded version also has a Live! version. Thankfully, I didn't really have the money needed to be concerned with any of the other IEMs.
Nonetheless, given a lack of access to a wealth of earphones (see: no money, feel free to donate though, however why you'd do that, I'm not sure), I thought it'd only be fair to take up the scientific method and compare the ACS Evokes with the only, though similarly priced, baseline I have, i.e. the Phonaks, and hopefully others can more adequately deduce the features of the Evokes by reading reviews of the Phonaks and then reading this.
In terms of set up, it's a straight forward PC (Foobar2000) -> Fiio E7 -> IEMs. I'd also been using the Sony A15 connect directly with the headphones going and coming back from work.
Here a graphical equaliser was used for the Phonak PFEs, with the grey filters, boosting the low bass frequencies by 3dB up to around 60Hz, it gives the Phonaks a bit of a low end kick without muddying up the rest of the frequencies. At other times, whenever an un-intrusive bass boost could be used, they are for the Phonaks. Is it unfair? I'd say no, since one would obviously want their equipment to sound as optimal as possible, as well as the fact bass boosts as well as equalisers are fairly commonplace, and also given that the only way I'd listened to the Phonaks is with the bass boosted, it doesn't make any sense to compare a replacement if I'm not doing what I usually do. Besides, (spoilers) the Evokes still have better bass.
As far as music choices are concerned, I'd been listening to a lot of latter days Porcupine Tree, Tool, She & Him, Brad Mehldau, Moderat, etc. etc. etc. and the first song of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwRm0GLCuLY (it's brilliant). FLACs were used whenever possible and MP3s are 320kbps
Tidbits of Information:
The ACS Evokes are single-driver, BA eaphones that go over the ear with some fancy, thin cables that claim to be incredibly strong, which is presumably justification for charging £40 for replacements of them. I got them with the clear case, as I couldn't be asked to choose a colour, especially when most of them had prefixes of "Flourescent". They come with six sets of foam tips, all of which are colour coded on the innards, allowing you to discriminate between the sizes. It also comes with a nice hardcase, though it's slightly too big for the Evokes, and presumably it's the standard issue ACS cases for even their custom IEMs. Still, big case is better than no case. The hard case packaging is also nice enough that you won't want to throw it away immediately.
Bass:
While the Phonaks were always light on the bass, for many years I'd been using bass boosts or equalisers to compensate for the lack of volume in the bass, as they were not lacking in extension or quality. The Phonaks had always had a tight, impactful bass, in a clinical style that is reflected in other aspects of the earphones, too. The ACS Evokes, however, blow the Phonaks out of the water in that department. So understandably the volume of the bass is there, but they also add a layer of detail you just don't quite get with the Phonaks. The bass in the Evokes are impactful but controlled, while the increased volume doesn't muddle up the speed. However, this does mean a warmer sound, which is fine, except that after 5 years of Phonak lightness, all this feels perceptually more muddy, though any direct comparison shows that instruments are just as well separated, they just all sound richer.
Mids/Treble:
I'd never figured out where treble began and the mids stopped, I mean, you can point me to a frequency, but I genuinely cannot think of what something like 6KHz sounds like on the top of my head. So anyways, the Phonak PFEs, as have been mentioned, are pretty bright sounding IEMs, the sound, in general. Nonetheless, the Evokes make voices shine, just listen to ALA NI's take-away show (yes it's YouTube, but it's also music, don't be a snob), vocals are a notch more powerful on the Evokes than the Phonaks. As with the bass, there feels to be more detail and richness in instruments, though the Evokes are more laid back, especially when it comes to brass instruments, any harsh edges of the Phonaks have been taken off. The soundstage also feels less in your face compared to the PFEs, which is one way of saying a wider soundstage, but is also another way of saying it's less involving.
Sound, Generally:
Overall maybe comparing the Evokes with the PFEs is like comparing apples and oranges, though I'd have no way of knowing, since these are the only two reference points I have. One is light and harsh, while the other takes a step back but delivers more detail. Nonetheless, the Evokes sound absolutely fantastic for pop (which is basically bass and vocals nowadays) and anything that puts strong vocals front and centre. The drawbacks of the Evokes compared to the PFEs, such as the slightly less involvement and loss of the edges on some instruments from the Phonaks that I've grown to like, are overcome by the rich, more powerful vocals, as well as the details that are added to the bass as well as the weight that is being added to other parts of the spectra. So in the end, it's not a straight-forward replacement of the PFEs, but the pros outweighs the cons and I've got plenty to like when the PFEs finally bites the dust.
(Might update tomorrow morning when I realise that most of the sentences I've written are completely incomprehensible)
Sidenote: ACS also thought it'd be hilarious to name their entire IEM range with words that begin and end with E, two of them begin with the letters "Evo". I'm pretty sure I'd spent a few hours being really confused by why the Evokes were sometimes £150, sometimes £300, sometimes single-driver and sometimes triple-driver, and then I concentrated a bit more and realised one of them was called Evolve. Not only so, each one of them has a custom mold version, while each of the molded version also has a Live! version. Thankfully, I didn't really have the money needed to be concerned with any of the other IEMs.
Nonetheless, given a lack of access to a wealth of earphones (see: no money, feel free to donate though, however why you'd do that, I'm not sure), I thought it'd only be fair to take up the scientific method and compare the ACS Evokes with the only, though similarly priced, baseline I have, i.e. the Phonaks, and hopefully others can more adequately deduce the features of the Evokes by reading reviews of the Phonaks and then reading this.
In terms of set up, it's a straight forward PC (Foobar2000) -> Fiio E7 -> IEMs. I'd also been using the Sony A15 connect directly with the headphones going and coming back from work.
Here a graphical equaliser was used for the Phonak PFEs, with the grey filters, boosting the low bass frequencies by 3dB up to around 60Hz, it gives the Phonaks a bit of a low end kick without muddying up the rest of the frequencies. At other times, whenever an un-intrusive bass boost could be used, they are for the Phonaks. Is it unfair? I'd say no, since one would obviously want their equipment to sound as optimal as possible, as well as the fact bass boosts as well as equalisers are fairly commonplace, and also given that the only way I'd listened to the Phonaks is with the bass boosted, it doesn't make any sense to compare a replacement if I'm not doing what I usually do. Besides, (spoilers) the Evokes still have better bass.
As far as music choices are concerned, I'd been listening to a lot of latter days Porcupine Tree, Tool, She & Him, Brad Mehldau, Moderat, etc. etc. etc. and the first song of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwRm0GLCuLY (it's brilliant). FLACs were used whenever possible and MP3s are 320kbps
Tidbits of Information:
The ACS Evokes are single-driver, BA eaphones that go over the ear with some fancy, thin cables that claim to be incredibly strong, which is presumably justification for charging £40 for replacements of them. I got them with the clear case, as I couldn't be asked to choose a colour, especially when most of them had prefixes of "Flourescent". They come with six sets of foam tips, all of which are colour coded on the innards, allowing you to discriminate between the sizes. It also comes with a nice hardcase, though it's slightly too big for the Evokes, and presumably it's the standard issue ACS cases for even their custom IEMs. Still, big case is better than no case. The hard case packaging is also nice enough that you won't want to throw it away immediately.
Bass:
While the Phonaks were always light on the bass, for many years I'd been using bass boosts or equalisers to compensate for the lack of volume in the bass, as they were not lacking in extension or quality. The Phonaks had always had a tight, impactful bass, in a clinical style that is reflected in other aspects of the earphones, too. The ACS Evokes, however, blow the Phonaks out of the water in that department. So understandably the volume of the bass is there, but they also add a layer of detail you just don't quite get with the Phonaks. The bass in the Evokes are impactful but controlled, while the increased volume doesn't muddle up the speed. However, this does mean a warmer sound, which is fine, except that after 5 years of Phonak lightness, all this feels perceptually more muddy, though any direct comparison shows that instruments are just as well separated, they just all sound richer.
Mids/Treble:
I'd never figured out where treble began and the mids stopped, I mean, you can point me to a frequency, but I genuinely cannot think of what something like 6KHz sounds like on the top of my head. So anyways, the Phonak PFEs, as have been mentioned, are pretty bright sounding IEMs, the sound, in general. Nonetheless, the Evokes make voices shine, just listen to ALA NI's take-away show (yes it's YouTube, but it's also music, don't be a snob), vocals are a notch more powerful on the Evokes than the Phonaks. As with the bass, there feels to be more detail and richness in instruments, though the Evokes are more laid back, especially when it comes to brass instruments, any harsh edges of the Phonaks have been taken off. The soundstage also feels less in your face compared to the PFEs, which is one way of saying a wider soundstage, but is also another way of saying it's less involving.
Sound, Generally:
Overall maybe comparing the Evokes with the PFEs is like comparing apples and oranges, though I'd have no way of knowing, since these are the only two reference points I have. One is light and harsh, while the other takes a step back but delivers more detail. Nonetheless, the Evokes sound absolutely fantastic for pop (which is basically bass and vocals nowadays) and anything that puts strong vocals front and centre. The drawbacks of the Evokes compared to the PFEs, such as the slightly less involvement and loss of the edges on some instruments from the Phonaks that I've grown to like, are overcome by the rich, more powerful vocals, as well as the details that are added to the bass as well as the weight that is being added to other parts of the spectra. So in the end, it's not a straight-forward replacement of the PFEs, but the pros outweighs the cons and I've got plenty to like when the PFEs finally bites the dust.
(Might update tomorrow morning when I realise that most of the sentences I've written are completely incomprehensible)
