Audeze Euclid Closed-Back Planar IEM

[tinyman392]

Glad you shared this. I found these tips to be quite to my liking. As I too did not care for the "hot" upper mid / lower treble. (Turns out I was able to buy them today after all. Bought the open box Audio46 had, which they just opened to review them. So, how about that! Haha)

It must be due to the exit bore size. Which I find ironic. As with the iSine20 I like the opposite. Disliked spin fit with their smaller bore opening on the iSine; liked any tip with a very large bore opening, mostly comply tips that I pushed extra far onto the shaft which opened the tip end up more.

Awesome to hear you were able to find an open box, I hope with a small discount to help your wallet a bit too! I generally will tip roll with all the tips that are included with a headphone to see which ones sound the best to my ears. Generally if it's a brand I've used before the tip selected doesn't change, but sometimes it does; in this case it definitely did. I remember with my HiFiMan TWS800 none of the tips I normally get great fit out of worked well with it which was odd. And even the one that did work well was finicky to get a proper fit. Form factor makes all the difference sometimes.

 

[Vitaly2017]

Yes, I have the LCD i4 along side the Euclids . . . I think the main differences can be explained by the physical size of the driver and being a closed back. Tuning and technicalities seem broadly similar (ie Audeze), but just can't ignore a 3x larger size driver and closed back.

Flagship . . . depends on the definition. Flagship closed earphone ? Maybe, I haven't heard enough of the true flagships to make an accurate assessment. It will be really interesting to see what Audeze does with this new design, second and third generations could be quite amazing.

FYI I have some more detailed comments vs the LCD i4 earlier in this thread

So seems like the lcd i4 still wins here in sound quality and performance?
Would you say euclid is warmer and bassier then i4?

 

[eyevapor]

So seems like the lcd i4 still wins here in sound quality and performance?
Would you say euclid is warmer and bassier then i4?

Yeah, no question in a quiet environment the i4 wins on all accounts. For me, driving or flying the Euclid wins easily, I'd imagine similar results in any noisy environment.

Also, the i4 is the bassier of the 2, a lot more impact, thickness and extension, more sub-bass.

I don't have an opinion about warmer, I'll need to spend some more time in comparison. Let me know if you have any more questions, happen to try to answer

 

[Vitaly2017]

Yeah, no question in a quiet environment the i4 wins on all accounts. For me, driving or flying the Euclid wins easily, I'd imagine similar results in any noisy environment.

Also, the i4 is the bassier of the 2, a lot more impact, thickness and extension, more sub-bass.

I don't have an opinion about warmer, I'll need to spend some more time in comparison. Let me know if you have any more questions, happen to try to answer

I do appreciate your help mate thanks for that!

See I am in the same position as you said me too I travel a lot and it is the only place where I listen to music.
So isolation is a must. Right now I am using my fourté + sp2000 copper. I am very net picky on sound quality as been spoiled badly by the fourte noir and og to a point that what ever I fit in my ears its an instant rejection lol.
Yep they are that good.

This why I like the euclid idea but might be deceived by performance and it worries me. If its inferior to i4 then might not work

 

[eyevapor]

I do appreciate your help mate thanks for that!

See I am in the same position as you said me too I travel a lot and it is the only place where I listen to music.
So isolation is a must. Right now I am using my fourté + sp2000 copper. I am very net picky on sound quality as been spoiled badly by the fourte noir and og to a point that what ever I fit in my ears its an instant rejection lol.
Yep they are that good.

This why I like the euclid idea but might be deceived by performance and it worries me. If its inferior to i4 then might not work

Totally understand, I'm quite nit picky as well and hope that the Euclids will keep me satisfied for my travel needs.

Curious, have you listened to i4s compared to the fourté ?

I believe Audeze has a 30 day trial period for new (not b-stock) purchases, FWIW.

 

[Vitaly2017]

Totally understand, I'm quite nit picky as well and hope that the Euclids will keep me satisfied for my travel needs.

Curious, have you listened to i4s compared to the fourté ?

I believe Audeze has a 30 day trial period for new (not b-stock) purchases, FWIW.

I have only for 5 min and unfortunately it was not enough to draw any serious definitive conclusion.

What I can say i4 felt light and same time with very deep and visceral bass. It had a very good grunty vibrations in the lower register. Didnt seem treble peaky.
What stoud the most to me was the bass he, I think I felt the planar bass to be very impressive on the i4, definitely different from a DD. Then it was over 5min have run out and couldn't get any further impressions

 

[utdeep]

I’ve had the i4 and now I have the Euclid. I agree that the i4 sounds better and eyevapor captured all the reasons why. In fact, his description was so good that I’m going to check his posts for other headphones that he has looked at because his tastes matches mine.

However, the i4 sounds like garbage without the cypher. The Euclid doesn’t require a special lightning only unit (unless you use a usb to lightning adaptor) to make it sound good. I might prefer it on this basis alone. I am surprised at how much I like it so far although it missed the brassy Audeze house sound.

 

[m8o]

I was happy to see that when I measured DC resistance this is more like 14 ohms rather than the 12 ohms the specs say. (And as it is "voice coil less" dynamic impedance should equal its DCR.) Happy to see it as most DAPs or dac-amps are spec'ed from 16 ohms or higher, and I supposed only 2 ohms less is 'better' than 4 ohms less.

That said, this is still the most 'finicky' headphone or iem that I have -- in regards to the subjective sound quality I get -- to the DAP that I use it with. I was surprised for example that the much less powerful tho newer FiiO M6 sounded way better than the X7 w/the most powerful AM5 module. (Still to try the AM1 and AM3 in unbalanced mode; the latter is the most current limited but maybe I'll be surprised).

The AM5 for example produces a pretty crunchy & grainy upper mid and lower treble, and less bass thickness and body; tho the lowest bass extension seemed deeper/lower. Causing me to turn to the EQ, go by Crinnacle's measurement (ratified by KMann), and pulldown 2KHz a little and 4KHz more, and increasing 500Hz a little and 250Hz a touch. Whereas I didn't touch the EQ in the M6. And the M6 has maybe 1/5 the power.

For any inclined to share, what are your subjective findings regarding good synergy as well as misses with DAPs and/or DAC-amps and/or amps?

My experimentation is early. Ideally I care about portability (and ease therein). But regarding couch or bedside... Still to test with my McIntosh MHA-100, Woo WA-22 & the Perreaux headamp I have. (And Mjolnir v1, but that requires a balanced cable 1st).

In the portable unbalanced realm, MoJo & M9xx (tho these are in storage so I need to go get them) and my Opus #1. What I expect to be the best match however will be with be my E1DA PowerDac V2; lots of power and quality, tho not so convenient requiring an external power bank and specialty usb Y power+data cable; but also for this too I must to acquire a 2.5mm balanced cable for the Euclid first. (and then can test all my other DAPs and amps with balanced out too).

So again, anyone else perform such an exercise? I think it would prove useful to all to hear your findings. Thanx!

 

[eyevapor]

I’ve had the i4 and now I have the Euclid. I agree that the i4 sounds better and eyevapor captured all the reasons why. In fact, his description was so good that I’m going to check his posts for other headphones that he has looked at because his tastes matches mine.

However, the i4 sounds like garbage without the cypher. The Euclid doesn’t require a special lightning only unit (unless you use a usb to lightning adaptor) to make it sound good. I might prefer it on this basis alone. I am surprised at how much I like it so far although it missed the brassy Audeze house sound.

Yeah, for better or worse this has been my first review . . . about a year ago I started updating my audiophile gear and found HeadFi. And during that time have been getting more deeply into the massive variety of choices available. Fortunately (for my ears) I quickly found Audeze and went from an iSine10 to i4 in 6 months. I haven’t listened to a wide variety of current IEMs, other than the Audeze and Clairvoyance, curious if you have any thoughts on how they compare to the 800s. Or perhaps any others you’ve heard that stand out, considering our tastes appear to be similar. I'm quite happy with what I have now, but of course always looking for "better"

As much as the i4 really shines, I'm as well starting to appreciate not having to EQ the Euclids . . . will be interesting to see what I end up listening to most.

Just saw this recent review, very much agree with the descriptions. https://majorhifi.com/audeze-euclid-review/

 

[m8o]

. I am surprised at how much I like it so far although it missed the brassy Audeze house sound.

Have you tried it with powerful desktop amp? Your subjective description is a good one. But still open to interpretation. If I'm interpreting that correctly, my MHA-100 amp has by far been my favorite compliment to the Euclid, and gives me what I imagine you mean by that description.

I tried it both via the front 1/4" autoformer out -- setting it to the 8 - 40 ohm low gain setting -- as well as straight via the speaker taps (being very careful and judicious with the volume control). Likewise to how the autoformer output vs. speaker tap output gives a noticeably different presentation with my HE-1000 and Ether Flow C, so does it here with the Euclid.

However unlike how I prefer the speaker taps with the big boys, I do prefer the autoformer output with the Euclid. A lot more "dimensionality" and character with the autoformers.

One thing I think the speaker taps have going for it however is the amp is close to idling, with its big blue Mc meters dancing between 0.05 and halfway to 0.5 watts (at 8 ohms, so power is actually closer to half that being drawn by the Euclid at their measured 14 DCR [not 12] ohms. --sidebar: I have a audio toolbox that measure dynamic impedance of speakers; I assume the Z of these equals R; but I'll measure to verify one day.). Getting back to it, at which I assume the amp is biased to operate at Class A. Which came to mind as the musical playback had a fluidity and smoothness not heard from any DAP I'd used before, or even the autoformer output. Made me renew my desire to pickup a headamp that uses one of those THX modules heralded as completely negating switching distortion thru their feed-forward tech.

 

[m8o]

Awesome to hear you were able to find an open box, I hope with a small discount to help your wallet a bit too! I generally will tip roll with all the tips that are included with a headphone to see which ones sound the best to my ears. Generally if it's a brand I've used before the tip selected doesn't change, but sometimes it does; in this case it definitely did. I remember with my HiFiMan TWS800 none of the tips I normally get great fit out of worked well with it which was odd. And even the one that did work well was finicky to get a proper fit. Form factor makes all the difference sometimes.

The discount was what I consider nominal for them. I usually get the same percentage off (or more) for new closed box items. But I guess it's new & in-demand; and I wanted it.

If anyone sees a video or written review by Audio46 on the Euclid, know that I now own that set (incase it is ever found that there is variation in the FR / sound of units and one review does not match another.)

I switched over to the Comply tips in medium btw; more / the most taming of the highs and better/best fullest bass of the three types. Much like how that is usually (*or used to be) my favorite with the iSine20 (tho not the 'isolation' model) I think I'm going to be sticking with the Comply tips on the Euclid as well. (I said *or used to be above, because I'm actually liking the black gummy tips in medium supplied with the Euclid on my iSine20 now. Pretty funny.)

P.s. this iem has me seriously considering selling my Ether Flow C (and I -never- sell anything). This gives me everything I expect from that and more, plus greater isolation than that. I guess I'll have to go back and forth some before making a snap decision. But that's probably the 2nd or third thing that entered my mind when I plugged the Euclid into my MHA-100 and listened to my favorite playlist. ... which made me put off lunch for three hours as I couldn't pull myself away.

 

[tinyman392]

The discount was what I consider nominal for them. I usually get the same percentage off (or more) for new closed box items. But I guess it's new & in-demand; and I wanted it.

If anyone sees a video or written review by Audio46 on the Euclid, know that I now own that set (incase it is ever found that there is variation in the FR / sound of units and one review does not match another.)

I switched over to the Comply tips in medium btw; more / the most taming of the highs and better/best fullest bass of the three types. Much like how that is usually (*or used to be) my favorite with the iSine20 (tho not the 'isolation' model) I think I'm going to be sticking with the Comply tips on the Euclid as well. (I said *or used to be above, because I'm actually liking the black gummy tips in medium supplied with the Euclid on my iSine20 now. Pretty funny.)

P.s. this iem has me seriously considering selling my Ether Flow C (and I -never- sell anything). This gives me everything I expect from that and more, plus greater isolation than that. I guess I'll have to go back and forth some before making a snap decision. But that's probably the 2nd thing that entered my head when I plugged the Euclid into my MHA-100 and listened to my favorite playlist. ... that made me put off lunch for three hours as I couldn't pull myself away.

Comply would take highs even more, that’s true. I never use foam tips since I find it a little time-consuming to push them in then compress them for my small ears. Plus silicone tends to last longer. but Comply would work very well for these. I should note I haven’t tried them myself yet.

 

[Owludio]

This is the most expensive IEM that I currently own. And it's as controversial as Legend X, but instead of too much bass it has too little, sort of. Technically the bass is all there and goes deep but to me, it's reminiscent of all BA iBasso AM05, which has among the most anemic sub-bass in my collection.
The first thought after listening to Euclid out of the box was, - "I might need to take advantage of that 30 day trial return policy by Audeze."
I think this IEM going to take the crown of most polite bass, beating all the BA IEMs I've heard to date.
Audeze boasts "Euclid earphones have very low distortion, and an ultra-high maximum SPL of 120dBEuclid earphones have very low distortion, and an ultra-high maximum SPL of 120dB"
I don't think so, especially at the low end where dynamic compression is glaring. This cannot be fixed by EQ. No, it's not true that you can push it for about 6db, like one of the reviews stated. When you push it, all it does is - only pulls up background rumble until it smothers resolution, but amplitude won't badge, same like with BA. So if you input 120 db signal in it, you're simply not going to get 120 db dynamic range on the output. Maybe 70db at best. Yes, it won't distort 120db input but won't reproduce it either.
MMCX connector is ok quality, still not up to the standard of the ones Fiio uses, with protected central pin. Built quality is otherwise solid, literally. I didn't use stock cable because from my experience with RHA CL2,- without burn-in treble would be lacking, and now, 20 hours of high volume (about 50mWt) later, I notice top end is increasing, and soon I might swap this SPC cable for something less bright.
Now, why I'm thinking that I might consider keeping it:
1. Natural timbre, very similar to Fearless Tequila but with a lot more polite bass and less dynamic. Accuracy of vocals and imaging of instruments(dynamics notwithstanding) maybe the best I've ever heard.
2. Isolation is among the best of any IEM including all BA, comparable to Shure se846 with triple flange tips.
3. Soundstage is something I've never heard before, not overly wide or deep (or tall?). It's just getting as deep or wide as it needs to, just sounding natural, alive and out of the head, not even like open headphones, like being there. I've heard open full size Planar, and they're abnormally wide and holographic, not natural. Not Euclid. Realism is the name of the game here.
4. Fit is very secure and comfortable for my, used to resin universals average sized ears. These are NYC commute worthy despite lack of sub-bass.
So, the only contender I have is IMR Semper that I need to tune for the most neutral setting possible, which I'll do this weekend. Semper has 15mmDD-12mmPlanar-2EST-Piezo. It has that not explicitly large but very natural rendering. Problem with it, that huge DD there is getting in the way with unruly bass.

As time goes, I keep switching to other IEMs that get notably punchier bass but then quickly start missing that natural sound and soon switching back. I don't know. When I don't hear it, I don't understand, why would I leave super fun MEST and go back to Euclid, but then I try and Ahhh, - this is why - and it all comes back. Not explosively impressive, but subtle perfection, only ruined by lack of dynamics, but addictive nonetheless.

Dynamic compression is actually useful in a noisy environment, but music genres that depend on dynamics don't sound natural, so I disagree that Euclid does very little wrong. Dynamic range is important part of audiophile experience.
So, ahead are classical music sessions to see how much of the problem dynamics really is.
Sorry for possibly raining on the parade, but I'm not a reviewer, and if something bothers me, - ain't holding it back!

 

[tinyman392]

This is the most expensive IEM that I currently own. And it's as controversial as Legend X, but instead of too much bass it has too little, sort of. Technically the bass is all there and goes deep but to me, it's reminiscent of all BA iBasso AM05, which has among the most anemic sub-bass in my collection.
The first thought after listening to Euclid out of the box was, - "I might need to take advantage of that 30 day trial return policy by Audeze."
I think this IEM going to take the crown of most polite bass, beating all the BA IEMs I've heard to date.
Audeze boasts "Euclid earphones have very low distortion, and an ultra-high maximum SPL of 120dBEuclid earphones have very low distortion, and an ultra-high maximum SPL of 120dB"
I don't think so, especially at the low end where dynamic compression is glaring. This cannot be fixed by EQ. No, it's not true that you can push it for about 6db, like one of the reviews stated. When you push it, all it does is - only pulls up background rumble until it smothers resolution, but amplitude won't badge, same like with BA. So if you input 120 db signal in it, you're simply not going to get 120 db dynamic range on the output. Maybe 70db at best. Yes, it won't distort 120db input but won't reproduce it either.
MMCX connector is ok quality, still not up to the standard of the ones Fiio uses, with protected central pin. Built quality is otherwise solid, literally. I didn't use stock cable because from my experience with RHA CL2,- without burn-in treble would be lacking, and now, 20 hours of high volume (about 50mWt) later, I notice top end is increasing, and soon I might swap this SPC cable for something less bright.
Now, why I'm thinking that I might consider keeping it:
1. Natural timbre, very similar to Fearless Tequila but with a lot more polite bass and less dynamic. Accuracy of vocals and imaging of instruments(dynamics notwithstanding) maybe the best I've ever heard.
2. Isolation is among the best of any IEM including all BA, comparable to Shure se846 with triple flange tips.
3. Soundstage is something I've never heard before, not overly wide or deep (or tall?). It's just getting as deep or wide as it needs to, just sounding natural, alive and out of the head, not even like open headphones, like being there. I've heard open full size Planar, and they're abnormally wide and holographic, not natural. Not Euclid. Realism is the name of the game here.
4. Fit is very secure and comfortable for my, used to resin universals average sized ears. These are NYC commute worthy despite lack of sub-bass.
So, the only contender I have is IMR Semper that I need to tune for the most neutral setting possible, which I'll do this weekend. Semper has 15mmDD-12mmPlanar-2EST-Piezo. It has that not explicitly large but very natural rendering. Problem with it, that huge DD there is getting in the way with unruly bass.

As time goes, I keep switching to other IEMs that get notably punchier bass but then quickly start missing that natural sound and soon switching back. I don't know. When I don't hear it, I don't understand, why would I leave super fun MEST and go back to Euclid, but then I try and Ahhh, - this is why - and it all comes back. Not explosively impressive, but subtle perfection, only ruined by lack of dynamics, but addictive nonetheless.

Dynamic compression is actually useful in a noisy environment, but music genres that depend on dynamics don't sound natural, so I disagree that Euclid does very little wrong. Dynamic range is important part of audiophile experience.
So, ahead are classical music sessions to see how much of the problem dynamics really is.
Sorry for possibly raining on the parade, but I'm not a reviewer, and if something bothers me, - ain't holding it back!

Interesting impressions. I don't think anyone in this thread (so far) is a reviewer or has been given a review sample (those that have already posted their full reviews).

 

[tinyman392]

One interesting I should note is that if I compare them to my ER4SR the Euclid actually sound slightly V-shaped. It's more of a reduction in the lower midrange, level bass (to give an idea of bass quantity/level) and slightly elevated treble (especially upper treble which the ER4 seems to tame quite a bit IMO).