[Tiax]

May I ask why you are selling?

Mostly because of the fit, 64 audio universals are among the many, many other iems that don't work with my weird canals.
But also i like U12t/A12t (and A18s) the most from their lineup.

 

[mungster]

May I ask why you are selling?

You can look at his signature. Fourte.

 

[NCUS]

Awesome, thanks for sharing it! I'll add some notes:

Headphones.com loaned me 5x 64 Audio IEMs, so I got to spend some extended time testing them. U12t, Nio, U18t, Tio, and Fourte. I've heard some of these before, with U12t being the one I've spent most time with and liked the most, so I used that as a sort of baseline for comparisons.

• U12t: Unsurprisingly, I love it. It's bassier than I typically like, but the bass is well done, well isolated into the lower bass regions and doesn't smear up the midrange. That midrange is warm, thick, rich, and still crystal clear. Honestly, this isn't my typical preference for tuning, I generally prefer a more forward presentation, but the detail and imaging of U12t makes up for it. Treble is well extended and never fatiguing. But all this description doesn't really do justice to what makes the U12t so good. U12t is a very engaging sound, with powerful bass slam, textured midrange, and comfortable treble extension that's both exciting and never fatiguing. Pretty impressive. If I had one complaint, I'd say timbre on U12t is the least natural of the bunch, it never quite achieves transparency in its presentation -- possibly down to the frequency response, though it's not the oddest FR of the group so I'm not certain of that.

I recently picked up a pair of U12t and the quantity of bass did strike me as a bit overboard. I settled on using Spinfit CP145s to tame it down a bit, after trying xelastics and sedna earfit light shorts with no success.

 

[Mehran]

Mostly because of the fit, 64 audio universals are among the many, many other iems that don't work with my weird canals.
But also i like U12t/A12t (and A18s) the most from their lineup.

Thanks. Still not interested in trades, right?

 

[DavidS11]

Awesome, thanks for sharing it! I'll add some notes:

Headphones.com loaned me 5x 64 Audio IEMs, so I got to spend some extended time testing them. U12t, Nio, U18t, Tio, and Fourte. I've heard some of these before, with U12t being the one I've spent most time with and liked the most, so I used that as a sort of baseline for comparisons.

• U12t: Unsurprisingly, I love it. It's bassier than I typically like, but the bass is well done, well isolated into the lower bass regions and doesn't smear up the midrange. That midrange is warm, thick, rich, and still crystal clear. Honestly, this isn't my typical preference for tuning, I generally prefer a more forward presentation, but the detail and imaging of U12t makes up for it. Treble is well extended and never fatiguing. But all this description doesn't really do justice to what makes the U12t so good. U12t is a very engaging sound, with powerful bass slam, textured midrange, and comfortable treble extension that's both exciting and never fatiguing. Pretty impressive. If I had one complaint, I'd say timbre on U12t is the least natural of the bunch, it never quite achieves transparency in its presentation -- possibly down to the frequency response, though it's not the oddest FR of the group so I'm not certain of that.
  
  
• Nio: Of the three models here with the Apex modules, Nio is the only one that I prefer with the mX module. TBH I'm not usually a bass guy, but U12t is really fun with the m15 module. The Nio, however, I think sounds pretty bloated and smeared with the m15. Too much bass, the midrange becomes borderline muddy. With the mX module, the Nio does get quite solid, which I think the best timbre of the bunch and a generally pleasant tone that doesn't seem to emphasize much. It's maybe a tad boring -- especially compared to some of the others here -- but for a warm-neutral sound, this is pretty well done.
  
  
• U18t: Imagine U12t with more lower treble presence and more mid-bass. These tweaks add a bit of instant excitement to the sound (and IMO tonally the top end sounds more "correct" to my ear), but the enjoyment is short-lived. The treble emphasis becomes fatiguing, emphasizing sibilance where the U12t sails through it, and the extra mid-bass is just not needed. Unlike the Nio, with its dynamic driver, I think the U18t doesn't do great with the mX module -- needs more body, which means needs the m15, which means it's a bit bloaty and soft. This is honestly not a bad set, but it does lack a hook, a something special.
  
  
• Trio: I kinda ignored this one for a while, expecting I wouldn't like it much. I thought I had demo'd Trio before and didn't love it (maybe I did? not in my notes), so I had some negative bias going in. But I was pretty surprised to realize I actually love this one. Trio's tuning is definitely odd if you just look at a frequency response, but where I would expect it to sound a bit underwater with vocals the Trio instead sounds perfectly "normal." It is, like some others here, a warm, laid back tune, but it's not as thick as Nio, and the extra treble emphasis here adds a sense of clarity without over-stepping into fatigue. The added detail on guitar transients adds a real tactility. I think the others (above) are pretty impressive for their imaging and staging, but Trio takes it up a notch with a really impressive head stage. Where the others do great horizontally, the Trio seems to blow that out in three dimensions, adding more front-back depth. If I were a bigger bass guy, I'd probably be less satisfied with what's here -- there's plenty of bass volume, it's just not as tight and punchy as a DD can be. But, I'm satisfied with HD 600 bass softness, so not too bothered here.
  
  
• Fourte: OK, this is kinda what I expected with the Trio. I don't like the tuning of the Fourte, the upper midrange is pushed back too far, it sounds underwater, vocals muffled, and the treble presence of the Trio has less to contrast against so it gets an extra degree of emphasis. I think the trade of is that, yes, the Fourte seems to have an even bigger head stage, and the sound generally has a stronger sense of heft to it -- even cymbals ringing have an added weight, in addition to a meatier low-end. But for me, the trade-off isn't worth it, the tonality is too off with the Fourte.

If I'm ranking them, I'd say...

1. Trio
2. U12t (m15)
3. Nio (mX)
4. U18t (m15)
5. Fourte
6. Nio (m15)

And finally, some squigs. You can inspect them closer here: https://squig.link/?share=64_Audio_..._Audio_Trio,64_Audio_Nio_(mX),64_Audio_Fourte

U12t vs. U18t


Nio with mX vs. m15 modules


Trio vs. Fourte

Hey Scott, the Fourte sounds underwater? Looks like your source is not resolving or you have preference for high upper mid peaks/bright signatures. Anyway, I thought the video is nice and I enjoyed it. Cheers.

 

[Tiax]

Thanks. Still not interested in trades, right?

No thanks, i already promised my wife to not get any new iems, at least for a while

 

[Mehran]

Hey Scott, the Fourte sounds underwater? Looks like your source is not resolving or you have preference for high upper mid peaks/bright signatures. Anyway, I thought the video is nice and I enjoyed it. Cheers.

I much prefer underwater to shouty TBH.

 

[Mehran]

No thanks, i already promised my wife to not get any new iems, at least for a while

Ok, cool . Good luck with the sale.

 

[Vitaly2017]

Hey Scott, the Fourte sounds underwater? Looks like your source is not resolving or you have preference for high upper mid peaks/bright signatures. Anyway, I thought the video is nice and I enjoyed it. Cheers.

He is not the first guy to call fourté underwater or nosaly sounding.

I think this has to be with cable, ear tips or source even the music file or the reccording cause I frankly cant hear how the fourté can be nosal
It was in occasions with a wrong cable but not when paired right one! Again you really need to dig it to find that nosalness.... In other hand Fourté Noir has some nosalness it is prone to it actually.

Maybe its a psychoacoustics thing lol? Now everyone finds fourté nosal and not treble peaky lmao

 

[uthood]

He is not the first guy to call fourté underwater or nosaly sounding.

I think this has to be with cable, ear tips or source even the music file or the reccording cause I frankly cant hear how the fourté can be nosal
It was in occasions with a wrong cable but not when paired right one! Again you really need to dig it to find that nosalness.... In other hand Fourté Noir has some nosalness it is prone to it actually.

Maybe its a psychoacoustics thing lol? Now everyone finds fourté nosal and not treble peaky lmao

There was just a good dialog in the flinkenick's thread that I think is relevant here.

It centered around how people have different preferences and how those preferences lead to different interpretation of the same exact sound.

Might be that some people hear fourte as clean and clear (or some other positive description) but others might hear the exact same thing and describe it as nasal or peaky.

 

[Garney]

Great to read your impressions @MRSallee. Do you feel the bass region of the Nio, specifically with the M15 module, is too overpowering for genres such as hard rock and metal? Do the guitars and vocals get buried or do they still cut through even with the elevated bass?

 

[Vitaly2017]

There was just a good dialog in the flinkenick's thread that I think is relevant here.

It centered around how people have different preferences and how those preferences lead to different interpretation of the same exact sound.

Might be that some people hear fourte as clean and clear (or some other positive description) but others might hear the exact same thing and describe it as nasal or peaky.

Yes that could be it too. But man it gets so super confusing now

 

[MRSallee]

Great to read your impressions @MRSallee. Do you feel the bass region of the Nio, specifically with the M15 module, is too overpowering for genres such as hard rock and metal? Do the guitars and vocals get buried or do they still cut through even with the elevated bass?

I would give the same impressions regardless of genre, I have a hard time making generalizations that are genre specific. I find even the same artist can sound different from album to album.

I don’t love Nio with the m15, too bloated and congested. Just my opinion.

 

[Deferenz]

Awesome, thanks for sharing it! I'll add some notes:

Headphones.com loaned me 5x 64 Audio IEMs, so I got to spend some extended time testing them. U12t, Nio, U18t, Tio, and Fourte. I've heard some of these before, with U12t being the one I've spent most time with and liked the most, so I used that as a sort of baseline for comparisons.

• U12t: Unsurprisingly, I love it. It's bassier than I typically like, but the bass is well done, well isolated into the lower bass regions and doesn't smear up the midrange. That midrange is warm, thick, rich, and still crystal clear. Honestly, this isn't my typical preference for tuning, I generally prefer a more forward presentation, but the detail and imaging of U12t makes up for it. Treble is well extended and never fatiguing. But all this description doesn't really do justice to what makes the U12t so good. U12t is a very engaging sound, with powerful bass slam, textured midrange, and comfortable treble extension that's both exciting and never fatiguing. Pretty impressive. If I had one complaint, I'd say timbre on U12t is the least natural of the bunch, it never quite achieves transparency in its presentation -- possibly down to the frequency response, though it's not the oddest FR of the group so I'm not certain of that.
  
  
• Nio: Of the three models here with the Apex modules, Nio is the only one that I prefer with the mX module. TBH I'm not usually a bass guy, but U12t is really fun with the m15 module. The Nio, however, I think sounds pretty bloated and smeared with the m15. Too much bass, the midrange becomes borderline muddy. With the mX module, the Nio does get quite solid, which I think the best timbre of the bunch and a generally pleasant tone that doesn't seem to emphasize much. It's maybe a tad boring -- especially compared to some of the others here -- but for a warm-neutral sound, this is pretty well done.
  
  
• U18t: Imagine U12t with more lower treble presence and more mid-bass. These tweaks add a bit of instant excitement to the sound (and IMO tonally the top end sounds more "correct" to my ear), but the enjoyment is short-lived. The treble emphasis becomes fatiguing, emphasizing sibilance where the U12t sails through it, and the extra mid-bass is just not needed. Unlike the Nio, with its dynamic driver, I think the U18t doesn't do great with the mX module -- needs more body, which means needs the m15, which means it's a bit bloaty and soft. This is honestly not a bad set, but it does lack a hook, a something special.
  
  
• Trio: I kinda ignored this one for a while, expecting I wouldn't like it much. I thought I had demo'd Trio before and didn't love it (maybe I did? not in my notes), so I had some negative bias going in. But I was pretty surprised to realize I actually love this one. Trio's tuning is definitely odd if you just look at a frequency response, but where I would expect it to sound a bit underwater with vocals the Trio instead sounds perfectly "normal." It is, like some others here, a warm, laid back tune, but it's not as thick as Nio, and the extra treble emphasis here adds a sense of clarity without over-stepping into fatigue. The added detail on guitar transients adds a real tactility. I think the others (above) are pretty impressive for their imaging and staging, but Trio takes it up a notch with a really impressive head stage. Where the others do great horizontally, the Trio seems to blow that out in three dimensions, adding more front-back depth. If I were a bigger bass guy, I'd probably be less satisfied with what's here -- there's plenty of bass volume, it's just not as tight and punchy as a DD can be. But, I'm satisfied with HD 600 bass softness, so not too bothered here.
  
  
• Fourte: OK, this is kinda what I expected with the Trio. I don't like the tuning of the Fourte, the upper midrange is pushed back too far, it sounds underwater, vocals muffled, and the treble presence of the Trio has less to contrast against so it gets an extra degree of emphasis. I think the trade of is that, yes, the Fourte seems to have an even bigger head stage, and the sound generally has a stronger sense of heft to it -- even cymbals ringing have an added weight, in addition to a meatier low-end. But for me, the trade-off isn't worth it, the tonality is too off with the Fourte.

If I'm ranking them, I'd say...

1. Trio
2. U12t (m15)
3. Nio (mX)
4. U18t (m15)
5. Fourte
6. Nio (m15)

And finally, some squigs. You can inspect them closer here: https://squig.link/?share=64_Audio_..._Audio_Trio,64_Audio_Nio_(mX),64_Audio_Fourte

U12t vs. U18t


Nio with mX vs. m15 modules


Trio vs. Fourte

Really interesting to read your impressions. Good write up.

 

[Deferenz]

No thanks, i already promised my wife to not get any new iems, at least for a while

First rule of headfiers, never ever tell your wife about your audio gear.

Second rule of headfiers, never ever tell your wife about your audio gear.