Custom Art's First Foray into Acrylic CIEMs: Ei.3
Apr 1, 2015 at 1:59 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 343

tomscy2000

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**Note: NOT an April Fool's Announcement**
 
I'm a big fan of Custom Art. I have both the Music One and the Music Two silicone CIEMs. To me, they represent some of the most well-rounded silicone CIEM products on the market. The company itself, begun by fellow head-fier @piotrus-g in Warsaw, Poland, is a feel-good story about success driven by pure enthusiasm and hard work.
 
Now, after a couple of years doing silicone CIEMs to great reviews around the community, Custom Art is now stepping into the acrylic realm, however, and in an aggressive way, by offering a $300, triple driver, three-way IEM in the Ei.3:
 
 
Peter's been experimenting with acrylic for some time, and by his own admission, for a long time he could never get his shells as pristine and clean as could be. That's why Custom Art has largely stuck with silicone, with the exception of a few one-off projects, often with the collaboration of neighboring Lime Ears. A few months ago, he confided in me that he finally got the hang of getting consistently clean and bubble-free acrylic shells. For CA to be announcing an acrylic shell product means that he's ready to put that experience to the test, up to standards he's willing to stand behind.
 
Having been @piotrus-g's friend for some time, I know he has several things he insists in for his products. While these points are my own, I think they align with his value system:
  • Value. Almost all of Custom Art's products, with the exception of the flagship Harmony line, are value-driven; they're made for almost anyone with a desire to experience custom IEMs to afford. I sincerely believe the Music One is one of the best all-around values in CIEMs around, silicone or acrylic.
  • Fundamentally-Driven Acoustic Performance. All of Custom Art's products don't stray too far from acoustic accuracy. While each monitor projects unique sound qualities, they all exhibit frequency response profiles that preserve characteristics of a accuracy-based, monitor-like quality. While the Ei.3 is said to have a "big and bold sound, perfectly tuned for electronic music and all bass-lovers out there," I trust that the Ei.3 won't be too far from the truth.
 
I didn't learn about the Ei.3 until yesterday, but the revelation that it is a sub-$300 custom-molded IEM with triple drivers, is exciting for anyone to see. In a time where companies like UE and Unique Melody/Rooth are turning to 3D printing for more cost-effective shell solutions, it's nice to see a small, boutique CIEM maker like Custom Art step up to the plate and deliver a hand-made product at such a low price point. For Custom Art to deliver a CIEM at this low a retail price, I'm pretty sure there will be a number of concessions, such as limited color availability and faceplate options. However, for the starving musician, my guess is that the Ei.3 will be a great choice.
 

 

User Impressions

 
@xSteves: (1)
@MrButchi: (1)
 

Custom Art's In-House Measurements of the Ei.3

 
Apr 1, 2015 at 5:45 AM Post #5 of 343
  How many bores are there?

 
Oh, there are plenty of bores, here on head-fi!
etysmile.gif
 
 
Apr 1, 2015 at 6:32 AM Post #6 of 343
Peter's tuning is so super, for me his CIEM tuning sound better tuned than both my UM Miracle and UM Mentor. 
 
Apr 1, 2015 at 6:57 AM Post #7 of 343
Interesting...
 
Apr 1, 2015 at 10:27 AM Post #8 of 343

Now that the announcement has been made and after confirming with Piotr i can post about me owning this. I've had the pleasure of listening to an early version of the Ei.3 (Piotr has told me that mine is slightly different in terms of hardware but very similar sound-wise) for about a month now due to certain circumstances regarding me and my disagreement with silicone. Long story short, i had a state of art music two that died, Piotr replaced it with another which also died and we both came to the conclusion that silicone was just too fragile for me and so this acrylic beauty was born. Piotr was awesome to deal with and even transferred my state of art design to the acrylic and i must say they look beautiful. My pair has 3 drivers and 2 bores.
I'm not too adapt at describing what i hear but i'll try my best.
You can definitely hear the music series influence in these, they are very fun to listen to with the bass hitting deeper and harder compared to the music two from what i can remember. The tuning is perfect so that the lows don't bleed into the mids.
Vocals are clear and forward with female vocals sounding amazing (electronic music with female vocals sounds absolutely divine with these). Highs are crisp and sharp yet had no harshness. Overall the sound is warm much like the music two.
I'd recommend this to anyone that enjoyed the music series from Piotr as to me these are a straight upgrade from the music two. Anyone that loves electronic, rock (heavy/metal/post-hardcore/alternative/all kinds), rap, hip hop and bass will definitely enjoy this. That's not to say they sound horrible with songs that don't have bass as i highly enjoy them with acoustic songs. Fitment is top notch and isolation is brilliant though i can't compare as these are my first acrylic customs.
Piotr has done it again and released yet another value ciem with great sound. I'm just sad that my ear canals are too narrow for the Harmony 8 
frown.gif
 
 
Apr 1, 2015 at 10:44 AM Post #9 of 343
Glad to see you happy man, Peter always want to see an Audiophile enjoying, even if he have to create something special or a new series, for him all must get the best quality for the best value. 

 
 
Apr 1, 2015 at 11:03 AM Post #10 of 343
  Glad to see you happy man, Peter always want to see an Audiophile enjoying, even if he have to create something special or a new series, for him all must get the best quality for the best value. 

 

I agree! But he obviously did not create this series just for me. When my music two died for the second time back at the end of 2014 Piotr already had plans to release an acyrlic and he told me about it in a reply to my email suggesting that he could make me an acrylic due to the fact that silicone seems to hate me. Either way Piotr will go out of his way to provide the best service and product to his customers.
 
Apr 1, 2015 at 11:52 AM Post #12 of 343

Hmm sorry i don't have any universal iems that are similar. I did own a Hippo VB a long time ago which had crazy amounts of bass and from what i can remember the VB had more quantity but vastly lower quality. Though obviously they cannot be compared. From reading reviews and impressions the Sennheiser IE8 and UE Triple fi 10 seem to be similar to my pair of acrylics (i'm not sure what to call them as they're not Ei.3) with the IE8 seeming to be the most similar. Of course take this with a grain of salt as i have not even listened to the IE8 or the Triple fi 10 for a single second.
 
Apr 1, 2015 at 12:13 PM Post #13 of 343
Nice to see Peter venturing into acrylic territory (commercially, I mean).
 
I'm not a big fan of silicone, personally. Hope this venture proves successful.
 
Apr 1, 2015 at 8:25 PM Post #15 of 343
These sound absolutely amazing. :D I just recently got my first customs and want something with more bass for my next ones. So I've been looking at the 1964 Qi and V8 and the newly launched Earwerkz Pentas. Well this is an amazing deal and I'd much prefer to spend as little of my little cash as possible if the bass is good. It probably wont be as good as the others I mentioned but price/performance I believe will be way better :D So hope I can get a pair this year! 
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