[chemosapien]

Prototypes first impressions: they appear to be made out of pure beauty with fittings from space future 3030, after one song, 38 is smoothing out and adding clarity/detail to the low end, while the 37 seems to be doing the same over the full range... Forward to burn-in!

 

[twister6]

Wow, seems like a few dozen of people received prototypes of a new EA Signature series cables!

Interesting idea of this social experiment where no other info about the spec or the material was provided so that people are more open minded about the performance rather than performance associated with a price tag. I think many will be quite surprised when they will find out details.... EDIT: someone mentioned in another thread, a local distributor in HK provided samples to local stores along with all the details.

So, let's just refer to these as Prototype 38 with a copper-looking cable, Prototype 37 with a silver-looking cable, and a mysterious Prototype 32 with 8-wire grey-looking jacket.

Just got them in today, will put on burn in for a few days, but so far, out-of-the-bag the build quality, hardware, and overall comfort are top notch!

 

[Ufanco]

Wow, seems like a few dozen of people received prototypes of a new EA Signature series cables!

Interesting idea of this social experiment where no other info about the spec or the material was provided so that people are more open minded about the performance rather than performance associated with a price tag. I think many will be quite surprised when they will find out details.... EDIT: someone mentioned in another thread, a local distributor in HK provided samples to local stores along with all the details.

So, let's just refer to these as Prototype 38 with a copper-looking cable, Prototype 37 with a silver-looking cable, and a mysterious Prototype 32 with 8-wire grey-looking jacket.

Just got them in today, will put on burn in for a few days, but so far, out-of-the-bag the build quality, hardware, and overall comfort are top notch!

First I heard of the prototype 32 it looks like the wire cover isn’t see thru like the other 2. Maybe trying to better hide the material used.
It does seem like affect audio has chosen a wide range of people and experience levels for testing these cable. This should better give then feedback across the different spending range of consumers.

Earlier I had added some early thoughts on sound so now adding some on the workmanship. The prototype quality it really well constructed. I feel if the prototype is this good the retail version will be the same or even better.

Mine is the 2pin 4.4 mm connection it’s a great fit with the mest mkii and I don’t see the 2.2 coming detached from iem’s.

When first installed the iem I thought the ear hooks looked like they be uncomfortable due to way there shaped. After extended wear found them to be a fine. I image you could use a hair dryer to custom shape the ear hooks if needed. I would recommend checking with effect audio first before doing this.

The cable clinch is nothing fancy it does what it needs too and keeps the cable in place on prototype 37.

The cable itself that’s used in prototype 37 is of 4 wire construction and is a silver color. It has a nice weight and feel, it’s not stiff and doesn‘t kink easily. The hardware is sliver with carbon fibre ascents used on both the 4.4 and Y splitter.

 

[corgifall]

I’m also jumping in on the impressions/review/roundup of the prototype cables. These are wonderfully made and I really like the quality of these for being “prototypes” haha

 

[chemosapien]

When first installed the iem I thought the ear hooks looked like they be uncomfortable due to way there shaped. After extended wear found them to be a fine.

You know, I was thinking the same thing when I saw the ear hooks, they looked like they were overly tight coils... But after wearing them, they have actually improved the comfort and stability of the iem inside my ear, really impressive

 

[Gavin C4]

Luxury is all I care with this combo.

 

[Andricop]

Thank you @EffectAudio to give me a chance to test your new prototypes!
Impressions coming soon ...

 

[corgifall]

So these are my first impressions but out of the three cables, the grey cable(32(s)) was the most unique sounding. I’ll have better impressions a little later today. My rough notes from yesterday when quickly swapping cables came in as such:

Grey cable(32)- Bass comes in stronger, mids have longer decay, guitars really come through and have more presence,
treble seems to have more splash but with a less speed. Vocals have a bit more sibilance with female vocals specifically. Noticeable longer decay which has an ”echo” to the sound.

Silver cable(37)- Still hefty bass but less bloat and more control, mids sound clear but maybe leas detailed, treble has more sharpness. Staging about average between all three. Vocals seem to have more clarity and come through clean.

Copper cable(38)-less treble extension, less zing, bass has lots of heft, stage feels wide, mids have a bigger focus. Treble is about average in sharpness.

 

[corgifall]

While the grey cable was the most unique cable(reminds me of the Null audio LUNE), I personally like the silver "37" cable the most. I'm doing most of this testing on the Effect Audio Axiom. The silver cable and grey cable seem to pair really well with the Axiom.

 

[saldsald]

Hi guys, received these two cables as a tester from @EffectAudio (Thanks!)

First of all I am a cable believer (for sure!) and I believe in cable burn-in although some cables might show little to no change after burn-in so everying I post for now would just be my early impression. I am a collecter of more budget friendly IEMs and I have around 50 cables for rolling. The reason for me to have this number of cables is that I find that for most IEMs it is essential to synergize with the cable to allow them to shine and I find single DD IEMs best for testing cables.

Anyway, while I consider cables to have their own "sound", we will still need the right IEMs to let them sing. I briefly tried the cables and I find the "silver" one to have a almost pitch black background with NiceHCK's Topguy giving a very calm sound and both of them sound very balanced and smooth to me. The "copper" one matches very well with TRN's new BAX which is again very smooth with great FR and excitment.

Great looking cable with very nice transparent skin I say!
But there is one thing I think someone here has already mentioned that the 2-pins are slightly short and the connection is not as secure thou they are absolutely fine.

 

[Loquah]

I've got the 32 (grey) and 38 (copper) prototypes here now and I'm equally impressed by the build quality - two lovely cables. Great connectors and fittings plus solid, but not heavy braids.

As for sound, brief listening has me speculating that the 32 cable is a pure silver vs the obvious copper in the 38 cable. The two IEMs I've tried so far are the 7Hz Timeless with the grey cable and it's a BIG upgrade over the stock Timeless cable. The sound is smoother, more tonally balanced and has a better sense of resolution too.

The 38 cable has so far only gone on the Custom Art FIBAE 3x3 and is also a nice upgrade over the stock cable, but not as big of a change on this one. Basically it seems to provide a little more resolution/detail and a touch more refinement to the sound as well. It sounds like going from a basic copper cable to a higher quality copper cable (which is what it looks like it is too).

I need to do further listening with some other IEMs, but will share further thoughts as I explore.

 

[Ufanco]

Hi guys, received these two cables as a tester from @EffectAudio (Thanks!)

First of all I am a cable believer (for sure!) and I believe in cable burn-in although some cables might show little to no change after burn-in so everying I post for now would just be my early impression. I am a collecter of more budget friendly IEMs and I have around 50 cables for rolling. The reason for me to have this number of cables is that I find that for most IEMs it is essential to synergize with the cable to allow them to shine and I find single DD IEMs best for testing cables.

Anyway, while I consider cables to have their own "sound", we will still need the right IEMs to let them sing. I briefly tried the cables and I find the "silver" one to have a almost pitch black background with NiceHCK's Topguy giving a very calm sound and both of them sound very balanced and smooth to me. The "copper" one matches very well with TRN's new BAX which is again very smooth with great FR and excitment.

Great looking cable with very nice transparent skin I say!
But there is one thing I think someone here has already mentioned that the 2-pins are slightly short and the connection is not as secure thou they are absolutely fine.

Haven’t tried prototype 38 yet but looking at your picture it does appear that one of the 2 pin connection isn’t normal. The ones in the prototypes I received are average size and have a secure fit. I would check with effect audio since it looks like one of yours is much shorter than I seen in any of the other prototypes pictures.
Hopefully this doesn’t affect there sound quality since I found value in your reviews. I’m still using the cable you recommended with the moondrop variation

 

[saldsald]

Haven’t tried prototype 38 yet but looking at your picture it does appear that one of the 2 pin connection isn’t normal. The ones in the prototypes I received are average size and have a secure fit. I would check with effect audio since it looks like one of yours is much shorter than I seen in any of the other prototypes pictures.
Hopefully this doesn’t affect there sound quality since I found value in your reviews. I’m still using the cable you recommended with the moondrop variation

Yes that's very well spotted, you are right the 2-pin of the right channel of P38 is slightly shorter but I think it's fine.
Thanks for the compliment! I do my cable reviews with a more statistical approach and hope that can bring more truth to those who read them!

 

[corgifall]

Below will be a mini impressions/review/overview of the cables after a few days of testing. Sorry for the long post haha

Looks and Feel​

So all these cables look and feel amazing. Even though these are in a prototype form, I really dig the way they look and I think they look stunning. They all feel wonderful with nice texturing on the cables. The cables are a little thicker and they have a bit of weight but both the standard 4 braid cables come in about the same weight as my other 4 braid cables from other companies. The 8 braid is heavier with some extra thickness that adds a little extra weight on the ears but It never bothered me for long sessions. All the prototypes have a silver and carbon fiber set of furniture for the Y split and connector/plug. The furniture does have the EA logos imprinted and while I prefer wood furniture, I think these do look good and I like the nickel or possibly rhodium plating the 4.4mm pentaconn plugs use. The 2 pin connectors all look the same but they have a quality mirror finish with the EA logo on it. These are a CIEM 2 pin so they will work with recessed plugs on IEMs. While I used to buy cables to see if they sounded different. Most of the cables I get these days are purely for looks and feel and these are wonderful examples of good looking cables.

Cable Sound Impressions(EA Axiom)​

Like most things in this hobby, cable rolling is super subjective to me. These impressions will be what each cable sounded like when paired to the EA Axiom using the silver MU module. IEM selection, source selection and ear tip selection will possibly add very different results vs what I hear personally. I spent the better half of three days straight(after work) really analyzing everything so take my initial impressions any way you wish.

Copper Cable(38)​

Starting out with the copper cable! I felt the copper cable really brought out the Axiom’s stock MU tuning when paired with this cable. The lows come in fairly strong and thick. It’s a nice sounding low end. While strong, it still felt well controlled and never bloated. Sub bass hits really come through well with nice impact/slam. The mids are a little recessed sounding but they have good speed and decent detail. Vocals never sound quite loud enough for my personal preference but instruments still make it through just fine. Treble has the same issue of not coming in loud enough to match the Axiom’s boosted bass. The treble was actually really clear though it was missing some of the extra brightness that the silver cable has. Staging was probably the widest of the three cables but I felt there wasn’t much depth compared to the other cables and this very much felt closer to a wall of sound to my ears. Imaging was fine however and I could pick stuff out without too much effort. This was my least favorite cable for the Axiom but that doesn’t mean this won’t be a nice cable for other IEMs.

Silver Cable(37)​

The Silver cable goes the polar opposite route of the copper cable and has less bass presence but sounds a little more accurate with better control. Bass impact was still strong but the bass notes didn’t linger which made for a leaner bass overall. In the case of the Axiom(MU module) this was welcome as the Axiom comes in strong with heavy bass. The mids are clear with a bit of energy but they didn’t feel overly fast or detailed. The instruments such as guitars and pianos sounded accurate but with just a hint of artificial sound to them. The treble however was noticeably more intense with a noticeable sharpness that made everything sound more accurate and detailed. Cymbal hits all had an extra zing with no lingering decay which made everything sound very fast and clean. The soundstage was rather average compared to the other cables. It’s not bad but the copper cable is wider with less depth and the silver cable has a good balance. Imaging in this balanced stage made things easy to pick out. I liked this cable when paired with the Axiom and this was probably my favorite in terms of cleaning up the bass heavy Axiom.

Grey 8 braid cable(32(s))​

I found the Grey cable to be the most interesting. The lows still have a slight boost with good impact/slam. There’s a longer decay that gives it a nice full/airy sound down low. The lower mids sound about the same as the copper cable but the rest of the mids are very prominent and focused. Things like guitars and vocals really stand out against the rest of the frequencies. I really liked the extra energy here, though some female vocals did get slightly sibilant at times which I had never experienced with the Axiom to this point. The treble comes in clear but feels a little behind the silver cable in terms of presence and sharpness. The mids have a bigger focus when I listen so I have to put extra energy into listening for details in the upper frequencies. I would throw the treble somewhere between the copper cable(38) and silver cable(37). The soundstage is the most unique part about the cable. After much back and forth swapping, It was very noticeable the stage felt about as wide as the copper cable but it had a bit more depth than the silver cable. The slightly longer decay within the whole frequency range may be the reason for this but there is a nice echo within the stage and while it's not dramatic, it’s neat and it made for a nice listening experience. The imaging was good and I was able to pick things out fairly easily within the stage and nothing ever got congested. I can’t quite tell if this is the best cable of the bunch or if it's just the most unique sounding cable of the three. I will happily admit I’m a huge Null Audio fan and while I have their copper(Tiburon) and hybrid(Hakone), I also have their entry level Lune cable which is their most unique sounding cable(to me). I like this grey “32(s)” cable and I’m interested to learn more about what it's made of material wise closer to launch day.

 

[saldsald]

Tested P37 and P38 with serveral single DD IEMs. It seems that P38 have better extension in both the bass and treble departments and also being more natural with more decay, stage is also wider due to the natural decay. Whilist the P37 has relatively weaker bass, less rumble and there is an extra emphasis in the upper-mid-lower-treble region as if there is an extra layer there. Will continue with the my very slow in-ear burn-in of the cables.

Edit: the P38 really sounds quite amazing. (but not for darker or less efficient sets)