[davidcotton]

Talked to Piotr a bit and if I get a good fit (which I did) with dual flanges then it's perfect (they were designed with that).

@Kerouac dude I'm your biggest fan haha These are the universals, I still haven't decided on the design (mostly between something like the last one posted on facebook or Anime inspired one - Avatar most likely). I listen to a LOT of stuff in general and apparently Spotify is on to my taste better and better - machine learning at its finest hehe

Just to emphasize again, Piotr has a LOT of patience, we reached 7 pages of private messages until I ordered with no design yet.

@davidcotton I almost got the Music Twos too, but really wanted something to take with me anywhere and not worry if my source was good or not; plus they were newer and all that and also managed to sell my previous setup with a decent price

I got my Two's quite a while before the fibae range were announced. Had a couple of issues with them (one was my fault, the other was our old friend sweat and silicone drivers)so decided rather than take a loss on selling them get them converted into universals.

 

[daulagiri]

I'll give you more. I'll do FIBAE Dual vs Ei.xx vs Music One vs ACS Encore vs AAW W500 vs AAW M20. Working on it .

Wow, 3 weeks . I forgot to post my impression.

OK here I go:

I listen to all kind of music, and being an iSheep, on daily basis, I just pick random Apple music playlist and play them at random on my iPhone 6s. So yea, all comparison will directly based on iPhone 6s, unamped, with stock music player, and AAC 256 files.

That said, I played these songs in my arguably quiet room - avg noise of 30db give or take; I measured it! - for fairer comparison:

• Iggy Azalea ft Rita Ora - Black Widow (it's basssss)
• Cash Cash ft Bebe Rexsha - Take Me Home (energy; my main cycling tune)
• Extreme - Get the Funk Out (stage, separation, dynamic range)
• Depapepe - Pachelbel's Canon (midrange, acoustic tone)
• Coldplay - Hymn for the Weekend (bass and treble, that kick drum and cowbell)
• Nobuo Uematsu - Main Theme of Final Fantasy VII (separation, orchestra tone)

Now the impressions:
FIBAE Dual:
The good:

• Sounds very good out of my iPhone!
• Bass goes deep, it can handle deep bass of Black Widow OK.
• Balanced midrange, nice guitar tone --> I play acoustic guitar, so I'm very picky on how it should sound
• Sweet vocals, nice tone for both male and female
• Good energy and musicality I can feel the music, those emotion

The not so good

• Soundstage a bit too intimate, but I'm soundstage nuts so this might be just my bias.
• Its treble, feels a bit harsh in some song; but again, I scream 'harsh' on too many excellent cans so it's definitely my ears.

In 5 words or less
Place your order now!

---
Ei.XX
The good

• DAT BASSSS! Like you have subwoofer in your ears. It eats Black Widow alive.
• DAT ENERGY!! I push myself so hard in my routine spinning class when I listen to the track with Ei.XX. I challenge all IEM maker to beat its energy!
• Fun, effortless signature. V shaped, tuned for pure fun. It lets you enjoy the music, period.
• Soundstage, musicality, it's like attending live concert. Shut your eyes, and the music will let you imagine how those artists act on the stage.

The not so good

• Not so good for acoustic music. Especially studio recordigs. It handles live recording decently though. Acoustic guitar tone a bit off.
• Can't listen to orchestra music with this . Violin tone way off, sounds like viola. That said, cello tone is sublime

In 5 words or less
Perfect for EDM and gym

---
Music One
The good

• Price. Seriously you can't beat the value .
• Isolation. I ordered the silicon version, that might be a factor. But among all my CIEM, Music One offers best isolation, I barely hear noise during my commute, even without playing music.
• Midrange. Upfront vocal, nice instrument tone. Music one doesn't lose with some TOTL cans for live acoustic music. Orchestra also handled beautifully
• Pleasant treble. To me it's decent and nice enough but some people say its treble isn't extended enough. It might be just my ears. Anyways I enjoy it a lot; my win!

The not so good

• No energy. This can be your gym IEM due to its price, but not for me. I need that energy. You need to crank up the volume to really feel the music.
• Dynamic range. Honestly, it's decent. But compared to other CIEM in this list, Music one didn't offer great dynamic range. That said, it's still better vs Ety ER4 - I argue a bit with @piotrus-g about this lol.

In 5 words or less
Cheap cheap with extra quality

---
ACS Encore
The good

• Ergonomy. It took me 3 refits to achieve confortable fit! But it melts and dissapear after you wear it. kudos for ACS team for all that patience dealing with me . It sits flush inside my ear, I wear these religiously on my bed (except when I do overnight test on my new CIEM).
• Dat Bass. The main reason I bought this gem. It handled Black Widow amazingly. Bass goes deep, so deep you can feel it.
• Musicality, tone. Throw any genre to ACS Encore, it sings them nicely for your effortless enjoyment. Call me impressed! Accurate tone also.

The not so good

• Soundstage, too intimate. Nuff said.
• Proprietary cable limits your cable choice to Linum. I'm not complaining though; I only use Linum cable. Once you go linum you can't go back

In 5 words or less
Excellent low profile CIEM

---
AAW M20
The good

• Price . Only Music One perhaps beats the value.
• Balanced signature. Bass is there, very nice midrange, sparkly treble.
• Accurate tone. Listening orchestra, acoustics, and live music is a bliss.

The not so good

• Bass. Bass tone feels unnatural for me. Not smooth, attack swiftly, then gone. Almost no decay.
• Treble, somewhat fatiguing after long listening session; which is everyday for me. I can't live without background music.
• Protrude quite a bit. I can't use this CIEM while sleeping on my side.

In 5 words or less
Entry level CIEM to consider

---
AAW W500 (Non AHMorph)
The good

• DAT BASSS!!!!! Best bass I ever heard for IEM. It's impact, it's decay, so natural. I said Ei.XX gives you subwoofer inside your ears. W500 gives you TOTL subwoofer inside your ears!
• Separation and detail. Not only I can differentiate
• Soundstage: WIDE, airy. Very pleasant. The feeling when listening Hymn for the Weekend, wow.. pleasant, I can lose myself in the music.
• Sparkling treble, yet not fatiguing. Great stuff, considering my sensitive hearing. Surely impressed.

The not so good

• Protrude quite a bit. I can't use this CIEM while sleeping on my side. I think this involves AAW molding process, the top bit always has this extra protrude for more cable clearance (?). Enabling you to use thicker cable, perhaps?

In 5 words or less
Surround sound in your ears

OK, there goes. Feel free ot throw your comment/questions/criticisim/money

 

[piotrus-g]

• Soundstage a bit too intimate, but I'm soundstage nuts so this might be just my bias.

• Its treble, feels a bit harsh in some song; but again, I scream 'harsh' on too many excellent cans so it's definitely my ears.

I think the soundstage might be silicone thing - notice how you ranked ACS similarly. Acrylic gives more airy feel IMHO.
As for the treble, it's really funny because me personally am always wondering if I shouldn't have done FIBAE2 highs more prominent.

Thanks for review/comparison!

PS: Black Widow is my test song for bass, it was one of the bench mark FIBAE 1 had to pass during the tuning

 

[msiekkb]

Treble in FIBAE 2 and 1 is awesome, more prominent will be amazing for me, but maybe not for most people.

 

[daulagiri]

As for the treble, it's really funny because me personally am always wandering if I shouldn't have done FIBAE2 highs more prominent.

Lol lucky me!! Any more highs will be too much for me.

Still, FIBAE is game changer. No more tinkering with EQ on different source. Now I think I'll skip harmony and prepare my wallet for TOTL FIBAE. Sorry, lol.

Oh btw, I sent my FIBAE . About things we've discussed over PM. Thanks!!

 

[Wyville]

Still, FIBAE is game changer. No more tinkering with EQ on different source. Now I think I'll skip harmony and prepare my wallet for TOTL FIBAE. Sorry, lol.

Could be a long wait...

Well one thing I can tell you is that it's going to be some time before we have official replacement for 8.2 with FIBAE tech.
The amount of work required for adding another driver to the FIBAE system is basically exponential

But yeah, very tempting nonetheless.

 

[davidcotton]

I think the soundstage might be silicone thing - notice how you ranked ACS similarly. Acrylic gives more airy feel IMHO.
As for the treble, it's really funny because me personally am always wondering if I shouldn't have done FIBAE2 highs more prominent.

Thanks for review/comparison!

PS: Black Widow is my test song for bass, it was one of the bench mark FIBAE 1 had to pass during the tuning

Don't know if it's obvious or not but I generally tend to equate the differences between silicone and acrylic ciems to that between open and closed back headphones. Silicone ciems always seem to me to have a slightly thicker sound, whilst the acrylic tends to a lighter, airier one.

 

[piotrus-g]

Don't know if it's obvious or not but I generally tend to equate the differences between silicone and acrylic ciems to that between open and closed back headphones. Silicone ciems always seem to me to have a slightly thicker sound, whilst the acrylic tends to a lighter, airier one.

Yeah quite a good analogy

 

[tipperstwo]

@daulagiri , thanks for this awesome and detailed review!

I'm considering the Ei.xx / Ei.3 / Fibae 2 myself. I personally listen to lots of orchestra (i.e. Two Steps from Hell), female vocal-heavy tracks and Top 40 pop. Which would you say would be a better pick?

Also, which would you consider your go-to CIEM for a daily basis?

@piotrus-g , would love to hear your thoughts too. Thanks!

 

[piotrus-g]

@piotrus-g , would love to hear your thoughts too. Thanks!

Of those three FIBAE2 acrylic in my opinion.

 

[daulagiri]

@tipperstwo yep, FIBAE2 for sure.

Today I use Ei.xx daily but I can see it'll be replaced with FIBAE2.

 

[NewEinstein]

I am kind of surprised that there is still no product page for the FIBAE series on the CustomArt webpage ... the FIBAE IEMs only exist in the shop so far

 

[piotrus-g]

I am kind of surprised that there is still no product page for the FIBAE series on the CustomArt webpage ... the FIBAE IEMs only exist in the shop so far

Unfortunately day has only 24h and you can only get so much done.

We have to have a page before end of June though so it's going to happen some time.

 

[Kerouac]

Unfortunately day has only 24h and you can only get so much done.

We have to have a page before end of June though so it's going to happen some time.

June only has 9 days left after today, so that's pretty quick imo. Unless you meant June 2018

 

[piotrus-g]

June only has 9 days left after today, so that's pretty quick imo. Unless you meant June 2018

Yeah it's going to be quick built, then again we are aiming at very simple design for FIBAE pages.