[Vitaly2017]

Ok, still learning about 64 tech... from what I can gather, Trio, Fourte, and Fourte Noir are the only ones with the acoustic chamber element of tia?

Yes that is correct and I also think fourte and trio are 100% tubeless while the u12t and u18s/t has some tubing to port threw the 8 mid drivers and the 8 lows. Which adds more realism to the fourté and trio being less drivers.
Also trio uses the DD to play some mids range

 

[Kimiifrit]

I also concur that Noir has one of widest soundstages, the widest among what I've owned.

Although I sold it earlier this year I could still clearly remember how vast its stage sounds, it "haunted" me from time to time...

 

[macdonjh]

Well, the Trio, Fourté and Fourté Noir are the only ones that are fully tia, so all of their drivers are tubeless and vibrate in their own little chambers. The other tia IEMs only have that tech in the treble, which is the tia tweeter that @Precogvision is referring to. It sits in the tia single bore at the end of the nozzle, which is its own acoustic chamber. The other drivers then fire into tubes or 3D-printed structures that eventually lead to that single bore. On the A18t and A18s, they have 3D-printed contraptions that look almost like funnels, and that's what the 8 mid drivers and 8 bass drivers are firing into. In addition to the tia tweeter, the N8 or Nio has elements of a tia woofer as well, since its dynamic driver is tubeless and uses the IEM's chassis or shell as an acoustic chamber.

Yes that is correct and I also think fourte and trio are 100% tubeless while the u12t and u18s/t has some tubing to port threw the 8 mid drivers and the 8 lows. Which adds more realism to the fourté and trio being less drivers.
Also trio uses the DD to play some mids range

That isn't quite right. According to the 64Audio website, Trio has a tia tweeter (mid-range is apparently BA) and Fourte has a tia tweeter and tia midrange driver (high/mid is apparently BA). So neither is "fully tubeless".

 

[DavidS11]

Hey all,

My 64 Audio IEM shootout has just been published here: https://www.headphones.com/blogs/news/64-audio-flagship-shootout-nio-u12t-tia-trio-u18t-tia-fourte

I compare and contrast the Nio, U12T, Tia Trio, U18T, and Tia Fourte - so pretty much the entire flagship lineup minus the newly released U18S. The U18S will get a separate review. I think this is the longest write-up I've done so far, but I'll be the first to admit this is one of my favorite companies, so I couldn't put the pen down (or rather, stop typing!). Hope you'll enjoy it just as much, and I'll have a video review up later this week too



I couldn't fit the U18t on top which is why it's not pictured LOL

Thanks for the 64a shootout.

Btw, Fourte only have two tia drivers, not three - 1 tia mid and 1 tia high (the 3rd one is just regular ba for high mid). And I still disagree with you that the Fourte mid have nasal sound . Actually to me U12t mid sounded thinner than Fourte. I agree U12t bass is one of the best ba bass but is, in my opinion, just surpassed by the new U18s

 

[Vitaly2017]

That isn't quite right. According to the 64Audio website, Trio has a tia tweeter (mid-range is apparently BA) and Fourte has a tia tweeter and tia midrange driver (high/mid is apparently BA). So neither is "fully tubeless".

Well let me explain by starting with the Tia Trio.
With trio you have 3 drivers 1 tia high, 1 mid-high and 1 DD that does low-mids...
Trio design is tubeless as there is 0 tubes used to port the sound to the bore.. the only tube you see in trio is the one that seems to give air or control the DD and it goes behind the drivers.


Tia Fourte is quadruple driver 1 tia high, 1 mid-high, 1 tia mid and 1 dd.
Fourte has 3 chambers I think for the 3 ba's and the DD is somehow places there within the first chamber.
So all 100% tubless as well...

So where am I wrong?

 

[Ojisan]

Thanks all for the info!!! Very informative!!!

@64Audio Unfortunately, many of the technology links on the first post is broken. It would be nice if those were pointing to somewhere useful.

 

[Vitaly2017]

In comparison here is the new u18t vs u18s.
You can see here that u18t uses 2 tubes to port the multi ba drivers into the bore.
And the u18s has a new system where it seems to use not a tube but some sort of new tunele to port all of the bas into the bore in 1 single path...

So I guess u18s could be almost considered as a tubeless but u18t I am not so sure.

 

[Precogvision]

@Precogvision I preferred the M15 by a far margin on both units of the u12t that I owned, as well as on my A12t. I found that the A12t has a more prominent sub-bass focus than on the u12t.

Not to say the u12t doesn't have that, but it seems to be more balanced with the midbass than the A12t in that different cables from the stock would alter that balance (ie. Forza Hybrid vs PWA Saladin ). Whereas with the A12t the bass retains that subbass focus regardless of the cables that I've tried on it so far.

How much would you say the focus skews toward the sub bass from the mid bass to your ears?

I’d say it’s more sub-bass than mid-bass oriented. But I also use the M20 with the U12t which is going to boost the sub-bass exclusively. It’s just too zingy up top for me with the M15. Cables aside - which I don’t play around with haha - Crin’s graph does seem to show more sub-bass with the A12t which would corroborate your findings!

Thanks for the 64a shootout.

Btw, Fourte only have two tia drivers, not three - 1 tia mid and 1 tia high (the 3rd one is just regular ba for high mid). And I still disagree with you that the Fourte mid have nasal sound . Actually to me U12t mid sounded thinner than Fourte. I agree U12t bass is one of the best ba bass but is, in my opinion, just surpassed by the new U18s

Thanks, you’re right! I just noticed that looking at the specs. While I still think the Fourte’s one of those IEMs that should be demoed first, there’s no doubt it has “wow” factor and flavor in spades. If there’s one thing I’ve noticed, it’s that the people who love the Fourte really love it. Regarding the bass on the U18S, I hear a major improvement over the U18T, but we might have to agree to disagree on it beating out 12t

 

[Ace Bee]

Hello all,
I have not yet been familiar with any 64 audio iems, but I am certainly considering them for my far-in-the-future upgrade. I have a query. I auditioned Campfire Audio Andromeda, and I found it extremely source sensitive. Many have told that it was because the extremely low impedance of Andromeda, it needs proper source pairing. Is it the same case for 64 Audio iems as well? I found that Tia Trio is 5.5 ohm, Fourte 10 ohm, Nio 6 ohm, U12T 12.6 ohm. So do all of them require proper source pairing as well?

 

[xenithon]

Hello all,
I have not yet been familiar with any 64 audio iems, but I am certainly considering them for my far-in-the-future upgrade. I have a query. I auditioned Campfire Audio Andromeda, and I found it extremely source sensitive. Many have told that it was because the extremely low impedance of Andromeda, it needs proper source pairing. Is it the same case for 64 Audio iems as well? I found that Tia Trio is 5.5 ohm, Fourte 10 ohm, Nio 6 ohm, U12T 12.6 ohm. So do all of them require proper source pairing as well?

One of the benefits of 64 Audio IEMs is their LID technology. In essence this counters for wild impedance swings and the resulting impact on sound attributed by sources or varying output impedance. Or more simply put, what you hear is purely the IEM / source pairing without variation or wonkiness introduced by impedance mismatches.

Different sources will make the IEM sound different but that’s a factor of the source’s sound signature and synergy with the IEM. You won’t get hissing or dramatic variances in the sound.

Not all of their IEMs have LID though. From your list I believe Trio, Nio and U12t have it but not Fourte.

 

[Ace Bee]

One of the benefits of 64 Audio IEMs is their LID technology. In essence this counters for wild impedance swings and the resulting impact on sound attributed by sources or varying output impedance. Or more simply put, what you hear is purely the IEM / source pairing without variation or wonkiness introduced by impedance mismatches.

Different sources will make the IEM sound different but that’s a factor of the source’s sound signature and synergy with the IEM. You won’t get hissing or dramatic variances in the sound.

Not all of their IEMs have LID though. From your list I believe Trio, Nio and U12t have it but not Fourte.

Thank you. That put my mind at ease. Thank you again.

 

[Deezel177]

That isn't quite right. According to the 64Audio website, Trio has a tia tweeter (mid-range is apparently BA) and Fourte has a tia tweeter and tia midrange driver (high/mid is apparently BA). So neither is "fully tubeless".

Perhaps, the reason why only the tweeter is labelled tia is because it's their lidless tia driver, while all the other drivers are your ordinary balanced-armature drivers that fire through a spout. Still, though, those balanced-armature drivers fire through the spout and into an acoustic chamber, rather than a tube, like in the exploded images @Vitaly2017 showed. I think the Trio is the only one that's a bit debatable, because you do see a tubed apparatus called FXC in its exploded image:

Though, it's also possible that FXC stands for Frequency Crossover or something like that, in which case the "tubes" in that image would actually be wires that connect the drivers to the crossover components. Whatever the case may be, it's all semantics at this point. All that matters at the end of the day is how they sound.

In comparison here is the new u18t vs u18s.
You can see here that u18t uses 2 tubes to port the multi ba drivers into the bore.
And the u18s has a new system where it seems to use not a tube but some sort of new tunele to port all of the bas into the bore in 1 single path...

So I guess u18s could be almost considered as a tubeless but u18t I am not so sure.

I think the system's the same. The U18s just uses 3D-printed structures to replace the tubing used in the U18t, similar to how JH have done the internals of their AION IEMs. This is so its internals are tidier, and manufacturing becomes quicker, more consistent and more reliable as well. It's much easier to slot in drivers into a custom-made enclosure than it is to glue the drivers onto a funnel, then glue that funnel onto a tube. Functionally, it does the same job. It's just easier and faster for 64 to put them together now.

 

[GiullianSN]

Isn't Tia the name of 64a' fully open BA? No tubes "needed" for it.

Other companies has their own open BAs, but I think 64a is the only one with a fully open side BA.

 

[Deezel177]

Isn't Tia the name of 64a' fully open BA? No tubes "needed" for it.

Other companies has their own open BAs, but I think 64a is the only one with a fully open side BA.

Yeah, most tubeless BAs nowadays fire through a tiny slit at the front of the driver, while 64's tia driver has one side fully-open for the armature to radiate from. I don't know whether the tech's fully-exclusive to them, but that is my understanding at the moment.

 

[DisC]

Well let me explain by starting with the Tia Trio.
With trio you have 3 drivers 1 tia high, 1 mid-high and 1 DD that does low-mids...
Trio design is tubeless as there is 0 tubes used to port the sound to the bore.. the only tube you see in trio is the one that seems to give air or control the DD and it goes behind the drivers.


Tia Fourte is quadruple driver 1 tia high, 1 mid-high, 1 tia mid and 1 dd.
Fourte has 3 chambers I think for the 3 ba's and the DD is somehow places there within the first chamber.
So all 100% tubless as well...

So where am I wrong?

The mid high driver is not a TIA driver, it’s the same driver they use in all of their In-ears with the exception of the A2e and A3e as I understand it.