Yes that makes sense. I have noticed a lot of people including myself enjoy the cleanliness and presentation of vocals on those IEM’s. Like you explained, the dip removes some of the diaphragm push from vocals but also doesn’t kill the tonality too much.
Well, for my taste it does give ethereal voice and therefore a lack of emotions, especially on the Noir.
What if ethereal makes you emotional? It doesn't work for everything but does for some.
I concur. I find that sense of holographic sound where the voice is clearly distinct is what I enjoy in the 64 Audio IEMs - especially the Noir, the OG (though it’s tuning isn’t to my taste) and to a lesser extent the U12t (which is a little fuller).
Yup! Here you are:
These are both with the M15 module and matched at 1kHz. Anecdotally, I would agree that the U18S's pinna compensation leans even more relaxed than the U12T's. You can also see the U12T has more lower-treble energy which is part of why I said the U18S comes off as darker in comparison. I'll have to sine-sweep them to confirm more differences in treble, though, as the resonance peak area is finicky.
I'm mostly associating mid-treble with instrument crash. Unfortunately, I don't know the names of all the instruments I hear, and I'm sure someone else can do a better job of explaining it than me! Someone like @Deezel177 comes to mind, his explanations are top-tier.
Anyways, the problem with this stuff - and so much in audio - is just how darn subjective it is. Everyone has their own interpretation of what falls under each frequency range. For example, I recently learned that audio engineers consider the upper-midrange to fall under 2kHz, whereas I'd say it goes up to around 4kHz. The latter is more colloquially accepted, but the reality is that much of the female vocal fundamentals are under 2kHz. When you listen to a sine-sweep at 3-4kHz, you don't think midrange; it's much higher-pitched than that. So really, it's just female vocal upper-harmonics that extend into 4kHz and beyond. You can use this excellent chart for a quick reference, but again, there's lots of overlap and it's pending your own interpretation.
@Precogvision thanks for the great preview of U18s. Clear and detailed as usual!
@Precogvision and @Deezel177 , that’s extremely valuable information that you guys are sharing! Thanks a lot for that! I do enjoy quality sound and I believe I can tell when something sounds good or off (to my ears at least...) but I have very poor knowledge of the technical aspect & science behind it. So understanding which bandwidth affects what and how it translates in real use case is very helpful!
I do have a question regarding the graph shared by @Precogvision . I’m not sure to understand what the different colors mean on each instruments bars? Like, the red, yellow and sometimes black areas? Could anyone help clarify this?
Thanks
Kinda crazy but I feel like the U12T has a more agreeable measurement. If that fully translates to the sound signature I’m not sure I’d be too crazy about the U18s.
And then here's the U18s with all the various Apex modules:
No worries! Measurements after 10kHz shouldn't be considered entirely accurate. But yes, I will say that this dip exists in actual listening and if you run sine sweeps. Same goes for the peaks for air at 15-17kHz.
I believe that red is the fundamental frequencies, yellow is the harmonics, and black is the low fundamentals and air. Can't offer any more in-depth explanation than that though.
Maybe. It’s of course very personal.
I’ve heard everything but the upcoming U18s.
I ran the Code 51 with the Trio for a while. I didn’t really notice any added depth or clarity. As you’re aware, the Tia drivers are pretty damn sparkly and crisp. I didn’t perceive any added brightness or bump in the upper mids either. Sounded pretty similar to the 64 Audio premium silver cable and my custom SPC cable.
I have tried a18s with Athena. I would not recommend. The imaging just get destroyed IMO. I would only recommend copper or spc for 64audio for the natural sound.
