[Malevolint]

Apologies if I came off as judgemental. Wasn't my intention. And I completely appreciate the need for maximum mobility - that's ultimately why I moved away from desktop gear.

I also don't entirely disagree with you; unless you're getting one of the TOTL DAPs, a good dongle is more than good enough, especially for relatively sensitive IEMs like Fourte. If I had to choose between a mid-tier DAP and a dongle I'd probably go with a dongle. As long as the sound synergy is there it's all good. If you do want to upgrade there's probably 'better' dongles like EarMen Sparrow and PAW S1, but that's a small tweak and the FiiO has lots of great features.

IMO usability and portability are just as important as SQ. I said that in my R8 review and I'll stand by it. SQ is not the be all and end all when it comes to mobile gear. But everyone's priorities are different so as always YM1MV.

Oh no, no judgment felt! I just like to give my sermon everytime this comes up lol.

I appreciate the recs, but I'd prefer not to have anything that attaches to my phone. It becomes a huge encumbrance. You got me excited for a second though!

I have a BTR5. It's a nice little device. Sounds decent, too. But, I never use mine anymore for 2 reasons.

1) If I am going to settle for bluetooth sound quality, the Fiio UTWS3 is a better solution since it is actually truly wireless.
2) The sound quality on a good dongle is so much better. Since you need a wire with a BTR5, it's really no different than using a Lotoo PAW S1 or L&P W2 and both of those dongles are huge improvements to sound quality over the BTR5.

In doing A/B testing, the L&P W2 sounds better than my Hiby R6 2020.

iPhone + LPW2 > Hiby R6 2020.

It really is different, though. I put the btr5 in my pocket and can use my phone freely. Having my phone in my pocket with a dongle sounds like trouble to me. The UTWS3 does sound promising, but I have too many Iems I'd have to buy it for lol. Maybe ill get it for my daily.

 

[GiullianSN]

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.

I know a couple companies that has a tiny hole on the side, but none fully open.

 

[Deezel177]

I know a couple companies that has a tiny hole on the side, but none fully open.

Yeah, exactly. Though, I’m aware Soranik (a Vietnamese IEM brand) at one point tried to make their own tia-style drivers by Dremel-ing off the tops of BA tweeters. But, they eventually called it off because it killed too many drivers.

 

[GiullianSN]

Yeah, exactly. Though, I’m aware Soranik (a Vietnamese IEM brand) at one point tried to make their own tia-style drivers by Dremel-ing off the tops of BA tweeters. But, they eventually called it off because it killed too many drivers.

I can imagine the pain. Specially for an small company.

 

[64Audio]

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".

To clear this up, yes the Trio and Fourté are completely tubeless. Both models use a combination of tia drivers, BA, and DD. The BAs used in both models do not have a silicone tube attached the the spout of the drivers the way you would find in traditional IEM design. The sound radiates from the drivers through the acoustic chambers into the ear canal. without the use of tubes. Both models have the added benefit of the tia drivers which reproduce that incredibly realistic experience those models are both known for.

 

[St0rMl0rD]

I'm finding more and more that my A6's are too unreliable for referencing, they're too low end heavy. My producer had a lot of work with the tracks I sent last week because I had to work on the road. In comparison, the Audio Technica m50x's are much more reference-reliable. Wish an upgrade from A6's to something more balanced was possible They've been one of the best purchases of my life, so it's a bummer to have them be so unbalanced that I can't rely on them for referencing.

 

[gLer]

Just to add, the tia high drivers in the Trio and Fourte are also positioned right at the tip of the nozzle, almost coupled to your ear. You can actually see them just beneath the mesh screen (which is why you want to keep the screen clean, ideally with a VAC, otherwise grime can get into those open tia drivers, which would be a costly fix.

@Precogvision I've been meaning to read your shootout all week, just been flat out busy. Will do so shortly. I'm already charging up my lightsaber to take on your assertion that Fourte has the poorest imaging of the bunch. To my ears it's head and shoulders above the rest, though in fairness I haven't heard the U18s, t or the 12t in a while. It's definitely the 'best' of the DD IEMs IMO across the board when it comes to technical excellence.

 

[Vitaly2017]

Just to add, the tia high drivers in the Trio and Fourte are also positioned right at the tip of the nozzle, almost coupled to your ear. You can actually see them just beneath the mesh screen (which is why you want to keep the screen clean, ideally with a VAC, otherwise grime can get into those open tia drivers, which would be a costly fix.

@Precogvision I've been meaning to read your shootout all week, just been flat out busy. Will do so shortly. I'm already charging up my lightsaber to take on your assertion that Fourte has the poorest imaging of the bunch. To my ears it's head and shoulders above the rest, though in fairness I haven't heard the U18s, t or the 12t in a while. It's definitely the 'best' of the DD IEMs IMO across the board when it comes to technical excellence.

He used the wrong ear tips thats why the results where not what we expected

 

[Precogvision]

@Precogvision I've been meaning to read your shootout all week, just been flat out busy. Will do so shortly. I'm already charging up my lightsaber to take on your assertion that Fourte has the poorest imaging of the bunch. To my ears it's head and shoulders above the rest, though in fairness I haven't heard the U18s, t or the 12t in a while. It's definitely the 'best' of the DD IEMs IMO across the board when it comes to technical excellence.

Uh-oh haha. In my defense, I do say the Fourte and Trio have the most holographic imaging and open staging. Indeed head and shoulders above the other IEMs for these metrics. But to my ears, for spatial cues and accuracy specifically, they are not quite up to par with the other 64A IEMs. I value consistency above all else, so unfortunately I had to take points off despite their terrific “wow” factor!

 

[sxcjack]

Greetings. I thought I'd share a a picture of this great duo. The U12t has won me over with its detailed and smooth sound. On the other hand, my Tia Trio is approaching one year and it's still going strong. It's one of those IEMs that makes you forget you are listening to your gear. Also, I must say I really like the understated designs of 64 Audio IEMs–at least for the U12t and the Trio. I don't have the prettiest cables for these IEMs, but they work just fine for me

I'm really excited about the upcoming 64 Audio IEMs. Fingers crossed for a true-wireless IEM!

 

[Deezel177]

Just to add, the tia high drivers in the Trio and Fourte are also positioned right at the tip of the nozzle, almost coupled to your ear. You can actually see them just beneath the mesh screen (which is why you want to keep the screen clean, ideally with a VAC, otherwise grime can get into those open tia drivers, which would be a costly fix.

@Precogvision I've been meaning to read your shootout all week, just been flat out busy. Will do so shortly. I'm already charging up my lightsaber to take on your assertion that Fourte has the poorest imaging of the bunch. To my ears it's head and shoulders above the rest, though in fairness I haven't heard the U18s, t or the 12t in a while. It's definitely the 'best' of the DD IEMs IMO across the board when it comes to technical excellence.

Yeah, it's the same on all of 64's other IEMs as well. In fact, it's something that just about every company who use open-faced drivers have chosen to do at the moment. Whether it's AAW's NOVA driver, or FiR's Direct Bore driver, or Unique Melody's Open-Air drivers, etc. I think it's what the tech simply requires, so kudos to 64 for being the first out on the gate on that front.

Uh-oh haha. In my defense, I do say the Fourte and Trio have the most holographic imaging and open staging. Indeed head and shoulders above the other IEMs for these metrics. But to my ears, for spatial cues and accuracy specifically, they are not quite up to par with the other 64A IEMs. I value consistency above all else, so unfortunately I had to take points off despite their terrific “wow” factor!

I basically said exactly this in my head as I read @gLer's post.

 

[DavidS11]

He used the wrong ear tips thats why the results where not what we expected

He did mention he used CP145 in the shootout. In my opinion, the CP145 is not a good match with the Fourte. It will lighten the mid and accentuate the treble too much.

 

[KuroKitsu]

I'm already charging up my lightsaber to take on your assertion that Fourte has the poorest imaging of the bunch.

Lightsabers? Audiophiles dueling with laser swords to assert dominance? I could get behind that!

He used the wrong ear tips thats why the results where not what we expected

Bad Tiger, downnnnn

Uh-oh haha. In my defense, I do say the Fourte and Trio have the most holographic imaging and open staging. Indeed head and shoulders above the other IEMs for these metrics. But to my ears, for spatial cues and accuracy specifically, they are not quite up to par with the other 64A IEMs. I value consistency above all else, so unfortunately I had to take points off despite their terrific “wow” factor!

Given that they have those are the "audiophile" models, I would assume that spatial cues and accuracy wouldn't be as big of a focus and those would be reserved for the "pro" line. Nothing else in my collection beats my A12t in that regards.

 

[Barone Birra]

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

I'm a bit surprised you rate so low the detail of the U18t, in comparison (could it be because of the absence of LID?). It seems to me very high, especially in the mid-treble range.
But I use it mainly desktop, feeded by a Benchmark HPA4: it is very comfortable in a long run.
Nice work, anyway.

 

[tariqi]

Hey all, I'm hoping to get a DAC/amp or DAC + amp recommendation for my A18s. I have a Chord Mojo, which I've used since I had a pair of A12. I love it, but I find that it takes quite awhile to warm up and really sound its best, and I don't use it on the go anymore, so I'd like to find something with a fixed power source. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.