64audio U12t Re-Visited
Everyone has an IEM that they're partial to or just can't stop singing its merits - this is mine. I bought the U12t with my own money, so I'm biased, subject to cognitive dissonance, the whole shebang. And yeah, despite
two RMAs (one for a finicky connector point and another for a side randomly dying on me) in the span of three months...I can't sell it. The U12t really is like the prodigal son that I can't help but forgive wholeheartedly each time I hear it again.
Bass:
The U12t follow something of a U-shaped frequency response, it has a more laidback, slick, resolving sound. Let's talk about the bass. Quantity with the M15 module is a bit lacking for my preferences. More balanced, certainly, but the M20 module slaps on a small sub-bass shelf which adds that extra "oomph" I'm looking for in my bass. And terrific bass it is. The U12t's bass is more textured, nuanced, than a good deal of dynamic driver IEMs I've heard. Plus that natural decay; I don't think I've heard any other BA IEM that can match the U12t's response here. It's not perfect of course: There's a general lack of density to its notes, and the deepest registers of dynamic slam are notably absent. But it sets the bar impossibly high for most any other BA IEM I've heard, sans perhaps the Sony IER-M9, and it's enough to sate even my admittedly strong taste for bass.
Midrange:
My thoughts on the midrange haven't changed too much. I still think it's just about perfect in terms of note weight between male and female vocals; it's exceptionally safe. Perhaps more importantly, vocals are pushed quite a ways back on the stage. When you listen to the U12t, you're more of an observer - watching it all unfold in front of you - rather than in the mix itself. I've come to recognize that this is one of the key factors that decides whether an IEM breaks the head-stage barrier for me, and it gives the U12t's center-stage a good deal of depth. The U12t's midrange clarity isn't as good as I remember it being when I first listened to it, though. It's still incredibly resolving, don't get me wrong, but the attack takes a slightly blunted nature here, and there's a light haze.
Highs:
If there's one area in which my thoughts have changed quite a bit, it's in the treble. In my previous review I summed it up as being "natural and detailed". That's not quite right. Actually, it's mostly the opposite of the former, as there's a good deal of mid-treble suckout from 8-10kHz.
Then it comes back up for air at nearly 20kHz. What this results in, to my ears, is a more laidback treble response that has excellent detail at the top. Still, it's not at all accurate relative to real-life instruments, and if you can't hear that high up in the frequency range, the U12t will sound rolled-off and lacking extension. Sorry, but this probably isn't the IEM for you if you've got hearing loss.
Technical Performance:
When it comes to technicalities, the U12t is a
monster. It excels at scaling macro-details and very few IEMs come to mind that can match it in this respect. It's also got terrific layering capability; imaging, while not quite "holographic," is pin-point precise. And can we talk about the timbre? It puts to shame most every other BA IEM I've heard. Even some IEMs that I would consider to be the U12t's technical equivalent or even "superior" like the Vision Ears VE8 are marred by all-too-obvious BA artifacts. The U12t has decent density to its timbre, and it's fairly clean sans a thin, warm, blanket coloration.
I do have something of a love-hate relationship with the U12t's transients. Transient speed is fast - more than enough to make the Andro 2020 (an IEM I'd consider fairly quick) sound slow while A/Bing. Still, the transients take something of a blunted, round edge - particularly in the bass and midrange as I noted earlier - and as a result, the U12t lacks a certain crispness to its notes. This does play into the U12t's coherency, as there's a pleasant "mellowness" to its presentation that compliments the mid treble dip. It's the type of sound that you can listen to for hours on end without fatigue; it's decidedly inoffensive, and my issue here is more personal preference than anything.
To this effect, I know some will hold that the U12t is too boring, too analytical, and hey: I can see where some of those criticisms are coming from. But I think it's important to recognize that audio is characterized by a series of compromises. No IEM is going to do everything perfectly, and the U12t makes the
least amount of compromises to my ears. That in itself makes it an IEM that plays at the very top (for me), as well as the gold standard by which I hold other flagship IEMs to. It's somewhat de facto, at least in the circles I hang in, that 64audio peaked with the U12t. And really, what can I say? It's not hard to see why - topping something
this darn good is no easy feat. Now if 64audio could just get their quality-control straight.
Score: 8.5/10 9/10
Original score has been raised to reflect my most recent thoughts. I was a bit more conservative when I first rated it, as I wanted to account for any new-toy syndrome. Blame all the other flagships I've heard since for falling short in one way or another.