[wldcohso]

With the string of (well justified) U18 & A18 lovefest posts over the last few days it seemed good to chime in with another opinion:

Almost all of my listening time is spent with the Tia Fourte, even though I have the A18.

We need more posts regarding Fourte. You are just the person I need to speak to. Having both,

1.) Do you find yourself switching between the two depending on what genre of music you’re listening to?

2.) If you could do it all over again, would you get both?

3.) What lead you to purchasing both?

4.) You mentioned you primarily use Fourte, any reason you don’t include A18 in your rotation often?

 

[jscmd2000]

This might be an over generalization but...
I think you tend to like the Fourte if you are artistic, extroverted, and outgoing.
A/U18 if you are analytical, detail oriented, and introverted.
Haha, might be wrong tho (sorry!)

 

[wldcohso]

This might be an over generalization but...
I think you tend to like the Fourte if you are artistic, extroverted, and outgoing.
A/U18 if you are analytical, detail oriented, and introverted.
Haha, might be wrong tho (sorry!)

Nice analogy lol

 

[pfurey89]

For what it’s worth, I listen to a lot of electronic type music (Bonobo type stuff, not club music), some rap, John Mayer-y types (m15 module works well for this!), orchestra (m15 module) ambient, on rare occasion rock (but not too often). Sigur Ros, Olafur Arnolds. I’m all over the place. Thus my love for u/A18t’s chameleon like character.

 

[wldcohso]

For what it’s worth, I listen to a lot of electronic type music (Bonobo type stuff, not club music), some rap, John Mayer-y types (m15 module works well for this!), orchestra (m15 module) ambient, on rare occasion rock (but not too often). Sigur Ros, Olafur Arnolds. I’m all over the place. Thus my love for u/A18t’s chameleon like character.

How did the Fourte stack up for your various genres of music when compared to U18?

Rate clarity, sound stage, resolution, bass, vocals.

 

[ericr]

I'm torn between the Fourte and A18t. Could you please provide me with your own personal opinion of both? It will be very much appreciated.

We need more posts regarding Fourte. You are just the person I need to speak to. Having both,

1.) Do you find yourself switching between the two depending on what genre of music you’re listening to?

2.) If you could do it all over again, would you get both?

3.) What lead you to purchasing both?

4.) You mentioned you primarily use Fourte, any reason you don’t include A18 in your rotation often?

My flight home to Seattle is just about to depart.

On Saturday I'll have time to answer you guys with some thought.

- Eric

 

[pfurey89]

I know this may get me some flack here, but we all hear things differently, so take this as you may.

The Fortes soundstage was not as wide and imaging not as pinpoint precise and fast as the u18t was. From all my time with dynamic drivers, my ears find their BA equivalents wider. The Vega vs Andromeda came to mind for me immediately with regard to the Forte vs u18t. The Forte is wide no doubt, but I would say it’s less wide than my a12 ADEL was, and I would say the u18t was about 10-15% wider then my a12 was.

Clarity was similar between the two, the mids of the Forte sounding more natural and realistic, with the highs sounding better and more natural on the u18t.

Without question I preferred the Fortes bass impact, it was extremely impressive and fast, with a natural decay. The u18ts bass is faster, and to my ears has more detail, but feels much less in terms of impact and emotion.

Vocals of males I vastly prefer the Forte. Female vocals sounded sweeter on the u18t. With some men vocalists, the u18t lacked the same body and impact in vocals.

The Forte has more bite. More dynamic. U18t is more precise, fast, articulate. It’s not as in your face - more subdued.

Again, I really think the best comparisons for general purchase recommendations would be this: Andromeda vs. Vega? Elear (if it wasn’t weird with its midrange) vs Utopia?

Your mileage may vary. I am not a reviewer, have received nothing for free from 64 Audio, and don’t plan on being in the industry in any way. Just a regular dude with mild OCD who had to spend $2500+ very wisely.

 

[RobertP]

Is fourte too bright for classical music? I don't want the sound to be like live performance and not too colorized.

 

[pfurey89]

Is fourte too bright for classical music? I don't want the sound to be like live performance and not too colorized.

With foams, I find the Forte very good treble wise. It’s a mild U shape to my ears. The bass and treble are immediate and fun, but neither fatiguing.

For me regarding both classical and orchestra, I prefer a wide soundstage. I want to hear layering and speed between various groups playing together and I preferred the u18t for such. You are able to pinpoint the exact location and space in which something plays. A flute randomly appearing in a passage floats along the top of the rest of the track, for example, and your ears can track it's notes nearly perfectly on the u18t. I've never been as drawn into listening to random orchestra or movie soundtracks before getting to try out the u18t.

 

[wldcohso]

Anyone else has both?

 

[twister6]

Anyone else has both?

Both, U18t and Fourte? I think the main decision will come down to your sensitivity to treble and desire for more bass From my Fourte review conclusion: "... I like the strong authoritative impact of U18 bass, but I also like the deeper analog texture of Fourte bass. I’m a fan of U18 smoother, resolving, natural upper mids and lower treble, but I also enjoyed Fourte with its more transparent, revealing, detailed mids/treble that wasn’t too fatiguing." You want more bass and smoother treble - U18t, leaner more revealing/analytical sound - Fourte.

I haven't listened to UE18+ Pro for awhile, need to refresh my "ears", so will look for it. UE18+ Pro was an upgrade to a neutrally tuned UERR, where it lifted the mid-bass and added more sparkle to treble, but it nowhere near the tuning quality of either U18t or Fourte.

But it all comes down to a personal preference. I'm obsessed now with Trio and its bass

 

[wldcohso]

I know this may get me some flack here, but we all hear things differently, so take this as you may.

The Fortes soundstage was not as wide and imaging not as pinpoint precise and fast as the u18t was. From all my time with dynamic drivers, my ears find their BA equivalents wider. The Vega vs Andromeda came to mind for me immediately with regard to the Forte vs u18t. The Forte is wide no doubt, but I would say it’s less wide than my a12 ADEL was, and I would say the u18t was about 10-15% wider then my a12 was.

Clarity was similar between the two, the mids of the Forte sounding more natural and realistic, with the highs sounding better and more natural on the u18t.

Without question I preferred the Fortes bass impact, it was extremely impressive and fast, with a natural decay. The u18ts bass is faster, and to my ears has more detail, but feels much less in terms of impact and emotion.

Vocals of males I vastly prefer the Forte. Female vocals sounded sweeter on the u18t. With some men vocalists, the u18t lacked the same body and impact in vocals.

The Forte has more bite. More dynamic. U18t is more precise, fast, articulate. It’s not as in your face - more subdued.

Again, I really think the best comparisons for general purchase recommendations would be this: Andromeda vs. Vega? Elear (if it wasn’t weird with its midrange) vs Utopia?

Your mileage may vary. I am not a reviewer, have received nothing for free from 64 Audio, and don’t plan on being in the industry in any way. Just a regular dude with mild OCD who had to spend $2500+ very wisely.

Nice explanation, thank you.

 

[wldcohso]

Both, U18t and Fourte? I think the main decision will come down to your sensitivity to treble and desire for more bass From my Fourte review conclusion: "... I like the strong authoritative impact of U18 bass, but I also like the deeper analog texture of Fourte bass. I’m a fan of U18 smoother, resolving, natural upper mids and lower treble, but I also enjoyed Fourte with its more transparent, revealing, detailed mids/treble that wasn’t too fatiguing." You want more bass and smoother treble - U18t, leaner more revealing/analytical sound - Fourte.

I haven't listened to UE18+ Pro for awhile, need to refresh my "ears", so will look for it. UE18+ Pro was an upgrade to a neutrally tuned UERR, where it lifted the mid-bass and added more sparkle to treble, but it nowhere near the tuning quality of either U18t or Fourte.

But it all comes down to a personal preference. I'm obsessed now with Trio and its bass

The Trio really got you by the ball ️ ’s lol.. which is a good thing because you don’t have to be indecisive unless you’re so wealthy you can get them all. We should see more impressions of it soon but based on what I was told, the mids are a little recessed, but everything else is great that’s the only thing that kind of put me off from them.

I gotta demo U18+ Pro soon.. I’ve heard really good things about it. Thank you for your detailed impressions of them

 

[Omega139]

Both, U18t and Fourte? I think the main decision will come down to your sensitivity to treble and desire for more bass From my Fourte review conclusion: "... I like the strong authoritative impact of U18 bass, but I also like the deeper analog texture of Fourte bass. I’m a fan of U18 smoother, resolving, natural upper mids and lower treble, but I also enjoyed Fourte with its more transparent, revealing, detailed mids/treble that wasn’t too fatiguing." You want more bass and smoother treble - U18t, leaner more revealing/analytical sound - Fourte.

I haven't listened to UE18+ Pro for awhile, need to refresh my "ears", so will look for it. UE18+ Pro was an upgrade to a neutrally tuned UERR, where it lifted the mid-bass and added more sparkle to treble, but it nowhere near the tuning quality of either U18t or Fourte.

But it all comes down to a personal preference. I'm obsessed now with Trio and its bass

Thank you for the in depth explanation. Would you be able to provide such a breakdown of the fourte vs the a18t?

 

[wldcohso]

Thank you for the in depth explanation. Would you be able to provide such a breakdown of the fourte vs the a18t?

U18/A18 pretty is the same thing, just better isolation with customes... Would be redundant information