AlclairImpressions69420
New Head-Fier
I saw a forum post by Crinacle somewhere that spoke well of the Alclair Reference IEM's. I'm currently in the market for CIEM's so I went up to the Alclair HQ to have a listen to their demo units. For context, my main headphone is a pair of HD600's run through a DAC into a Little Dot mkii with rolled tubes. My current IEM's are Sony XM3's. For audio work I've extensively used some *extremely* expensive genelec monitors. (Can't remember the model numbers, but these are $20k monitors) For testing I used Spotify (320kbs Download) with a brand new apple dongle from an Iphone XS
I went in and first listened to the Reference IEM's. Honestly, I was unbelievably disappointed. There was absolutely no clarity or definition and it sounded like mud. It just sounded bad. I didn't even bother thinking about the frequency balance, because it sounded like I was listening through a wet tissue. I listened to the rest of the IEM's they had, and all but two were totally deficient in some way. Like I would put them on and in the opening bar of a song I could tell you they sounded bad. The strange thing is that they were all bad in different ways. The RSM had an overbearing and uncontrolled bass, the Studio 4's were veiled in the upper mids. I didn't bother to keep track of the rest. As a sidenote, I listened to universal versions of their custom IEM's. According to Alclair staff, the sound is extremely similar and the only sonic difference is a slight emphasis on bass due to a better seal with customs.
There were only two models that I enjoyed. (I didn't listen to the Electrostat's however, but I plan to return to try them also)
Studio 3 ($750) - These IEM's were very pleasing to listen to, but shouldn't be used as reference cans. Pretty heavy V shape sound signature. I made a slight cut to the mids in the spotify EQ and this improved the sound hugely. It really improved the clarity of the mids and helped the IEM's shine. Very enjoyable to listen to on all genres of music. Steely Dan sounded just as good as Daft Punk.
RevX ($1500) - These IEM's were pretty much perfect, I've never listened to anything as good as this. Everything was tight, the vocals were amazing, the transients were perfect. Honestly, I can't think of anything I'd consider a deficiency. They wow'd me in an almost understated way. I'd describe them as similar to my HD600's, but with a little less air and a touch more bass. I'd certainly use these to mix with.
In conclusion, I'm going to wait until Black Friday comes up in November before buying anything. I plan to go back to listen to the Electrostats as well, before deciding on them or the RevX. Based on their Black Friday offer from last year, I'm hoping to get 30% off on the IEM's when it rolls around again this year.
As a last thing, I'd like to say that I was extremely impressed by the professionalism shown by the Alclair guys and their HQ. They even make their acrylic mix in house. They can clearly make some amazing sounding IEM's. Also, I got my ear impressions done for free when I visited, which is a nice $50 saving.
I went in and first listened to the Reference IEM's. Honestly, I was unbelievably disappointed. There was absolutely no clarity or definition and it sounded like mud. It just sounded bad. I didn't even bother thinking about the frequency balance, because it sounded like I was listening through a wet tissue. I listened to the rest of the IEM's they had, and all but two were totally deficient in some way. Like I would put them on and in the opening bar of a song I could tell you they sounded bad. The strange thing is that they were all bad in different ways. The RSM had an overbearing and uncontrolled bass, the Studio 4's were veiled in the upper mids. I didn't bother to keep track of the rest. As a sidenote, I listened to universal versions of their custom IEM's. According to Alclair staff, the sound is extremely similar and the only sonic difference is a slight emphasis on bass due to a better seal with customs.
There were only two models that I enjoyed. (I didn't listen to the Electrostat's however, but I plan to return to try them also)
Studio 3 ($750) - These IEM's were very pleasing to listen to, but shouldn't be used as reference cans. Pretty heavy V shape sound signature. I made a slight cut to the mids in the spotify EQ and this improved the sound hugely. It really improved the clarity of the mids and helped the IEM's shine. Very enjoyable to listen to on all genres of music. Steely Dan sounded just as good as Daft Punk.
RevX ($1500) - These IEM's were pretty much perfect, I've never listened to anything as good as this. Everything was tight, the vocals were amazing, the transients were perfect. Honestly, I can't think of anything I'd consider a deficiency. They wow'd me in an almost understated way. I'd describe them as similar to my HD600's, but with a little less air and a touch more bass. I'd certainly use these to mix with.
In conclusion, I'm going to wait until Black Friday comes up in November before buying anything. I plan to go back to listen to the Electrostats as well, before deciding on them or the RevX. Based on their Black Friday offer from last year, I'm hoping to get 30% off on the IEM's when it rolls around again this year.
As a last thing, I'd like to say that I was extremely impressed by the professionalism shown by the Alclair guys and their HQ. They even make their acrylic mix in house. They can clearly make some amazing sounding IEM's. Also, I got my ear impressions done for free when I visited, which is a nice $50 saving.
