Yes there is a point. Just to know if 64audio has been influenced by the soundwriter or not or to know if the a18s are offering a real new approach or if it's just a bassier warmer a18t...
The midrange on the 18s is much much much better than that of the 18t. Way better texture and somewhat more intimacy/thickness. It doesn’t sound as cold throughout the entire spectrum
I also enjoy the A18S treble tuning a fair bit more where they’ve focused on giving it slow and pleasant decay for that sense of sparkle. In the meantime as aaf Evo said they’ve managed to retain the insane technicalities that the A18t is famous for so it’s an all around success imo
Yes there is a point. Just to know if 64audio has been influenced by the soundwriter or not or to know if the a18s are offering a real new approach or if it's just a bassier warmer a18t...
Hate to drag this further, but as you aware K "person" project was Calvin/MS brainchild of taking the product he liked as a baseline and modding it to his personal preference. A18t was that baseline, where I remember the early version had apex and then later one didn't (thus Daniel's reference to limited production prototypes of both floating around). I think the final version was decided to have no apex module, new custom internal wiring, and high end solder. I don't recall any reference to fancy internal wiring or soldering used in A18s. And A18s uses apex module and LID tech while SW didn't. And from my chats with Calvin 2 years ago, his vision and preference was always for more transparency and higher resolution while it sounds like A18s is going for more musicality with some natural coloring. So, probably apples and oranges
Hate to drag this further, but as you aware K "person" project was Calvin/MS brainchild of taking the product he liked as a baseline and modding it to his personal preference. A18t was that baseline, where I remember the early version had apex and then later one didn't (thus Daniel's reference to limited production prototypes of both floating around). I think the final version was decided to have no apex module, new custom internal wiring, and high end solder. I don't recall any reference to fancy internal wiring or soldering used in A18s. And A18s uses apex module and LID tech while SW didn't. And from my chats with Calvin 2 years ago, his vision and preference was always for more transparency and higher resolution while it sounds like A18s is going for more musicality with some natural coloring. So, probably apples and oranges
Thank you for clarification, bud! I never got a chance to hear it myself, Calvin only mentioned that he will send review sample when everything is finalized and ready for production which never happened. I remember he gave an interview to Linus/Headfonia about Project K in March of 2018, and you also covered it from CanJam SGP (but had to remove that part from your report). At that time all the talks about final version included no apex. So, maybe that was early version, and then updated v2 added it back in. But either way, it's all a history now...
Thank you for clarification, bud! I never got a chance to hear it myself, Calvin only mentioned that he will send review sample when everything is finalized and ready for production which never happened. I remember he gave an interview to Linus/Headfonia about Project K in March of 2018, and you also covered it from CanJam SGP (but had to remove that part from your report). At that time all the talks about final version included no apex. So, maybe that was early version, and then updated v2 added it back in. But either way, it's all a history now...
All this talk about "K" reminds me of the "K9"... I assume no news from any of you in the know? Particularly given the virus etc...I don't expect anything new for awhile.
Speaking of cables, is the Leo II still the hands down best pairing with the u12t? The PW Saladin is a pretty good pairing, but I was wondering if I could push it further.
Anyone else having issues with the universal line ups?
I had an issue before with the right side of my U12t. No sound would come out if I held down the cable socket a little bit. It wasn't the cable issue either, since it did that both sides of cable. I sent it to 64 Audio and had it fixed. Now, I'm having the exact same problem with the left side. Kinda disappointed that this is happening with a $2,000 IEM.
Overall, I prefer the A18t over the tia Fourté. Probably even the U12t.
But when the Fourté matches an album, boy oh boy, then it explodes. While the Noir was still available, I took the demo home many times. The reason is that it just resonated too incredibly well with Michael Jackson. Now that the Noir is not available anymore, I was surprised to find out that the original Fourté does it just as well, maybe is even a bit leaner in the bass (which is to my preference).
so often, we focus on describing individual traits of sound signatures in an attempt to convey exactly what we hear, part by part.
after the Erlky, i realize now that what i've really always wanted was to just get lost in the emotions of the music. i want things to sound real, and frequency response to be wide and pleasing, but musicality is really where it's at.
as much as i love the a18t, musicality is not its biggest strength. between the two top offerings from 64a, it is indeed the fourte that is more focused on delivering the feels...
I can help there, A18s (-17db module from FiR) is a more balanced signature with slightly more end to end extension (its truly incredible on this IEM), more bass quantity than the M5 too (I use the -13 module with my M5 custom, so you can increase that if you desire with a different ATOM module), M5 has a much more energetic presentation, slightly V shaped when side by side to something like the A18s. A18s offers more air in the treble region, M5 to me has slightly better textured bass but the BA's on the A18s are phenomenal. I'd say the A18s has slightly thicker mids too.
I’ve owned the LX and the LX has way more bass than the A18S - you can get the A18S to LX bass with the M20 module and a very very warm source
It has less, and much more controlled/detailed treble than the A18t as well. The sound is also extremely clean with perfect separation so at no point do I feel overwhelmed by it. I tend to crank up the volume on the A18S more so than I do on anything else I own and my listening time can go up to 10-12 hours a day so nah, it’s not fatiguing at all. It also has less bass than the Fourte Noir which is definitely warmer than the FiR M5
there’s also been reports of quite some variation between M5 units, and some have had specifically bloated bass - you might’ve tried one of the “unlucky” ones
Nope the m5 bass was not bloated just super massive and super impactful
For me N8 is already too much. Fourté noir has the perfect quantity for me with slam but fast and clean and with far better control nd resolution than n8
Nope the m5 bass was not bloated just super massive and super impactful
For me N8 is already too much. Fourté noir has the perfect quantity for me with slam but fast and clean and with far better control nd resolution than n8
@mvvRAZ I have just read your review of the A18s and was interested in what you said about cables. There seemed to be no difference whether you used the stock, 1960s or Iliad. Do you know why this might be? I would have thought that the difference between the stock and the two TOTL cables should be quite significant.
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I assume no news from any of you in the know? Particularly given the virus etc...I don't expect anything new for awhile.
