Forte Ears Macbeth: Detailed Impressions
Broadly-speaking, the Macbeth features a balanced (though not neutral) signature, with boundless extension at both ends, and a unique mid-range emphasis that audibly manifests itself - not as aggressiveness - but rather a torrent of textural detail. I wouldn’t call the Macbeth n-shaped, but there is a definite richness throughout the entire midrange, such that nobody would say its mids are recessed.
And while it’s by no means a basshead's IEM, the Macbeth acquits itself admirably with a thoroughly satisfying bass response.
For example, with Beck’s Dark Places, there’s a series of descending sub-bass notes at the end of the bridge’s sixth measure, right around 2:11 in, and Macbeth’s deeply-extended sub-bass renders them seismically.
Moving up to the mid-bass...
...Macbeth did a fantastic job with Billie Eilish’s BIRDS OF A FEATHER, smothering us with its intentionally-suffocating bass notes, thus enhancing that tracks’s portrayal of an overbearing and obsessive psyche at work.
But, by far the most noteworthy component of Macbeth’s signature, is its midrange performance.
Stemming from its implementation of both balanced armature and bone conduction drivers, governed by an impeccably tuned crossover... Macbeth presents us with a very even-keeled midrange, devoid of any distracting boosts or cuts, and laden with a textural richness that needs to be heard to be truly understood.
Vocals are particularly evocative in this plaintive cover of a timeless Dylan ballad — where Sarah Jarosz and Vince Gill share sonic billing — since Macbeth doesn’t favor female vocals over male vocals through the use of upper mid gimmicks or antics.
Instrumentally, and with absolutely no offense to Mr. Gheorghe Zamfir, Master of the Pan Flute, but for me...
The Lonely Shepherd doesn’t truly take-off until the brass section lands in the second verse. As you’d expect, Macbeth articulates fundamentals cleanly for outstanding separation between the two. At the same time, its bone conduction midrange drivers give The Lonely Shepherd’s pan flute overtones and brass harmonics a sense of richness, blending them into a glorious and bittersweet chorus.
When it comes to highs, the Macbeth is simply sublime. The upper harmonics of cymbals and hats have both tactility and tangibility to them — delicately fading out along an infinitely gradual taper — until they finally dissipate into the ether well beyond what you, or I, or any human being can hear.
I haven’t seen the measurements for Macbeth, but based on what I’ve heard, I have no problem believing their specifications about those estats going all the way out to 45kHz. Compared to the Elysian Annihilator, the two are very close, but I would say that Macbeth is both kinder and gentler in its treble presentation.
I am a Detailhead through-and-through. It’s my foremost preference, my biggest bias, that I prefer greater detail and resolution whenever possible — and Macbeth’s detail is exceptional.
Taking a trip down memory lane with Howard Jones, it’s incredibly easy to pick out the steely high tenor, of an early Eighties Phil Collins, handling background vocals in the 1986 version of No One Is To Blame. That might not sound like an especially difficult thing to render, but trust me when I tell you that not all IEMs, even some TOTL IEMs, can make Phil so audibly obvious.
And for those of you who prize staging and imaging as your principal preferences, you’ll be glad to know that Macbeth stages beautifully. I typically don’t listen to full symphonic recordings through IEMs, much less those with chorales. IEMs simply aren’t optimal if you're looking for a wide and expansive headstage.
That said, the Gloria from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Mass in B Minor — performed by the New York Philharmonic and New York Choral Artists, Alan Gilbert conducting — the stage was sufficiently wide, with respectable depth, and even a sense of height, which totally surprised me.
And that carries through to imaging as well.
When Dan Tyminski and company “bid farewell to ol’ Kentucky” - and the crowd went nuts - I could swear that I heard them behind me. Now, headstage is highly psychoacoustic, and fully expect that your mileage will vary. But that’s what I - very unexpectedly mind you - heard with this track.
Now I still prefer full-sized headphones, or better yet speakers, when I want to focus on staging and imaging. But if you prefer IEMs for all of your listening, I think you could do a lot worse than Macbeth in this regard.
And finally, dynamics. This is one area where Macbeth does exceptionally well.
With many headphones and IEMs, Greta Van Fleet’s Heat Above can often come across as a bit soft, and consequently a bit halfhearted. But through Macbeth, it was nothing less than anthemic and it totally rocked.
Daniel Wagner on drums wielded undeniable power, and even Sam Kiszka’s accompanying organ work sounded like a force to be reckoned with, as the entire band was firing on all cylinders - forming a dynamic foundation for Josh Kiszka’s vocals as he summoned the universe to their side.
Up until now, what I’ve described is fully commensurate with what we’d expect or demand of a TOTL IEM. In this golden age of IEMs, you can’t credibly call yourself a flagship without hitting all of those marks. But there are four areas where Macbeth absolutely excels beyond expectations — and for me, all four of those qualities collided in a single track: Cameron Graves’ Adam & Eve.
Resolution: Studio/Setup Noises @ 00:03
We already know that Macbeth elicits detail well, but what I want to highlight here are its powers of resolution — that is, its ability to actually resolve that low-level detail into fully-recognizable sounds.
Right from the start, there are a series of set-up noises in the studio — everything from the jostling of hats due to their stands skittering on carpet, to footsteps on floorboards moving about the studio, to percussionist Ronald Bruner Jr. making final adjustments to his kit — they’re all there and easily discernible for what they are, much as ambient sounds would be in reality. Yes, I realize that’s not musical content, but I love stuff like that.
Coming out of the prelude and moving into the head, Ronald Bruner Jr. is about to grace us with some truly stunning percussion work.
Impact: Ronald Bruner Jr. (Percussion) @ 02:35
At the 2:35 mark, Bruner Jr. starts laying down an epic groove. It’s simple and sparse at first, subtlety building in complexity throughout the head, but from the first hit we know that he’s here to play. There are no half-hearted strokes or strikes here, as he wielded undeniable power and authority.
Now I can see how some would call this slam, and Macbeth does slam to be sure, but that doesn’t quite cover it because this isn’t just about low-end impact. There’s an amazing sense of speed throughout Macbeth’s entire frequency response. Not only do kick drums come alive, while toms exude attitude — but snares have a whip-like snap, while hats and cymbals have immediate presence and crash, as if they’re in the room with us.
It was like listening to live music, even though Adam & Eve is only a studio recording. It was visceral on a level that I’ve rarely — actually, make that never — heard in an IEM before. In fact, the last time I heard this kind of impact in a headphone or IEM, it was from a DS Tungsten, through a fairly robust Wells Audio amp. Yes, really.
Sounds incredible, right? Well, be sure to have your most dynamic tracks at the ready, and tell me what you hear when you audition Macbeth for yourself.
Now this next part is really going to raise a few eyebrows amongst you, and probably earn me some side-eye as well. Honestly, I don’t blame you, because even as these thoughts are forming in my head, I realize exactly how polarizing they’re going to sound coming out of my mouth.
Better Bass: Hadrien Faraud (Bass) @ 02:51
Despite the fact that Macbeth utilizes BAs for bass output, two of them in fact, Macbeth does NOT have “BA bass.” Nor would I say that it tries to simulate DD bass. Macbeth’s bass is altogether something different, something much better.
This is particularly evident in Macbeth’s mid-bass response, when Hadrien Faraud’s bass joins Bruner Jr.’s kick drums in the head. Together, they build on the already potent groove in progress, right around the 02:51 mark. Attack is instant, with the explosive immediacy on the leading edge of every note that I mentioned previously. But instead of the weak and flabby thuds we typically associate with BA bass, we’re gifted with a rich and robust decay as notes trail off naturally.
It’s not BA bass, nor is it DD bass, but somehow the best of both worlds. It’s incredibly satisfying, and it just keeps sounding better and better as they drive towards Kamasi Washington’s solo.
And I’m not the only one that heard this. NJoyzAudio noted this specifically in his feedback to Forte Ears...
... and Head-Fi Moderator AnakChan felt that Macbeth outperformed the competition in this regard…
Like many of you, I have friends in this hobby that are staunch advocates of DD bass (I’m looking at you there GLer) and I challenge all of them to give this a listen and tell me they don’t love Macbeth’s bass as much as I do.
But how is this kind of bass response possible? Well, I’ve asked Riccardo Yeh at Forte Ears, and he insists that it’s a trade secret… basically, he won’t tell me. That said, I do have a theory in mind, and I’d be happy to discuss that with any of you — but only after you’ve heard it and experienced it for yourselves.
And last but not least, let’s talk about texture.
Texture: Kamasi Washington (Tenor Sax) @ 07:28
If you’ve auditioned Canpur’s CP622B before, then you have some idea of what this aspect of Macbeth sounds like... and you also know just how difficult it can be to describe what you’ve heard.
Imagine, just for a moment, that the sound of your music isn’t coming at you through the propagation of waves — but rather though an infinitely dense synthesis of particles… particles that convey so much textural detail as they crash into you, that you feel as if you can see them, and almost touch them. It’s an incredibly vivid presentation, where notes seem to have tactility and tangibility.
Yes, I know I’m not making too much sense right now. The closest analogue I can come up with is for those who are deeply into 2-ch systems. What I’m trying to describe is not completely dissimilar to what you’d hear from a Scan-Speak driver, something along the lines of their Revelator series. Yes, that’s it! Imagine an array of nano Revelators in each ear, and that would be illustrative of what I'm getting at.
Getting back to Adam & Eve for a moment, this incredible textural density comes into play nicely during Kamasi Washington’s solo work. You can hear it filling in the incredibly smooth transitions between his grace notes, as if they were pitch bends. You can hear it in the leading and trailing edges of his lightning-fast arpeggios, as he manically builds-up to his climax. And of course, you can hear it throughout his entire solo as it helps to voice his overtones.
Honestly, regarding this aspect of Macbeth, you’re just going to have to hear it for yourself to truly understand what it sounds like. I’m not saying it’s impossible to describe, but I’m open enough to admit that such a description is probably beyond my ability to articulate.
Having said all that, there is potentially a considerable drawback to Macbeth’s sonic presentation. As detailed and incisive as the Macbeth is, you can probably imagine that it’s rather unforgiving at times, and you’d be right. The Macbeth is not laidback by any stretch of anybody’s imagination, so depending on what’s in your library, it could be a bit of sonic “overload” with some material. You’ll definitely want to audition Macbeth with your library to arrive at a proper determination for yourself.
I'd definitely be interested in reading that (or watching that - I KNOW you have good camera gear)!
If I had a choice, I would like a tortoiseshell shell, with polished brass or copper faceplates. 
