Well guys, I just met up with Dale today in madison, wi. Even though they shut down for the day, Dale was patient enough and waited for me to get off work and showed me the Aurisonic ASG-2's. He waited roughly an hour. He even offered to come to my work place! But then again I'd get fired if something like that happened haha, so I just met up with him at the original spot. He did say that he liked the attention Aurisonics was getting by the audiophile crowd even though his products are more for musicians. And by talking to him, I got a sense that he really cared about customers and potential customers. Bottom line, he's an outstanding guy who just unfortunately can't please everyone, but he sure tries!
Anyway I'm not a pro reviewer, and I only have my xba 40's to compare with, but I did get to try out the ASG-2 for about 30-45 minutes. I also bought along my JDS C5 amp, Ipod nano 7th gen and a Fiio LOD cable.
Quickly I just wanna say that the fit is really comfortable, Dale said he took comparisons/scans of thousands of ears(or did he say skulls? can't remember haha) and made a mold of what would fit most peoples ears. Well, it worked for me.
Also I have heard the as-2's through a friend of a friend whom I paid 20 bucks before, they sound almost the same. But the difference was that Dale allowed me to play with the bass ports which was really awesome. Basically the Bass is extremely powerful with the ports fully open + JDS c5 bass boost. The iems actually shook and rattled in my ear, its just that powerful. It's got a strong punch. With a bass heavy track, there was no distortion with listening levels. It did start to distort when I turned up the volume to dangerous levels, but nobody will listen to them that high. Compared to the sony xba 40's the bass was definitely stronger and punchier, and did feel very dynamic. And with the bass ports fully open, the tracks did get pretty warm and the treble took a step back. Also I felt that it had more midbass and less sub bass than my xba 40's. Or maybe the sub bass was there, but my brain was just too rattled up to detect it.
With the bass ports fully closed, there was NO distortion with the JDS c5 bass boost with volume on full blast, with a bass heavy track which was really refreshing, because the bass was still pretty powerful. In the closed position, the music was very clear, and there was definitely no sibilance even at high volumes. I did play some classical and acoustic music (ports closed, no bass boost on), and compared to my xba 40's they sounded neutral and maybe even a bit warm which I don't think is really good for this genre of music. In other genres though, the singers are put up front and the voices were very clear and just sounded excellent.
The ASG-2 felt like a different iem with the bass ports fully open vs fully closed. And even though I consider myself a bass head, I preferred the ports fully closed, not even a bit open. Hearing the ASG-2's, I can definitely say that it's a great IEM, but it's not for everyone. I found that music with lots of bass, and vocals sounded great on these iems just because of the way the voices are presented. If you want screeching highs and really powerful treble, you wont like these. If you are looking for neutral-ish with a bit of bass, then perhaps the asg-2's are right for you!
Did I like these more than my sony xba 40's? I wanted to say yes, but sorry Dale -- after thinking over it for a few hours, I prefer my xba 40's. And it really made me think that maybe I am a treble head AND a bass head. The main reason for me preferring the 40's is just because I like the bass control and detail of BA drivers, and classical/accoustic just sounded a bit more musical. But I'll say this again, perhaps I'm just one of those guys that like a V/U shaped sound. The ASG-2 sounded very neutral/flat in comparison (Which I know alot of people do like), except with more powerful bass.
Also, this testing was done with a JDS c5 amp, an ipod nano 7th gen + a LOD cable. I didn't want to hold Dale up, so I didn't bother not using an amp because an ipod isn't exactly the best source. That being said, the ASG-2 sound may be different without an amp.
