[davidcotton]

Interesting stuff that, but I have been looking around for homemade molds to make impressions but its a risk anyway. I was hoping to get one done from an audiologist and get the digital file for re-use! But im not sure how many vendors only work on the STL files.

Top of my head :-

Custom Art, Itsfit, Campfire Audio, Fearless, ACS, Rhapsodio (I think). Sure there are others.

 

[davidcotton]

I have problems taking molds - they hurt like hell, and never turn out great because of "longer than normal" canals, so they don't have enough material to get it in and compact as required. That, and the cost of back and forth shipping keeps me from going the CIEM route.

In future, hoping that the 3D scan method becomes available here - much quicker, painless, and apparently more accurate. But alas, I do not see that tech getting here anytime soon.

Tried a different audiologist? Had hell getting some ciems done until I swopped. Also because of your canal issues (again I sympathize) if you can get a decent set of impressions perhaps something from Campfire Audio and the audiophile fit (much shorter canal lengths, barely goes in the ear) might be more suitable?

 

[toaster]

Amazing work by 64 - of course time will tell just how much these enter my daily rotation but I have once again been given that wow feeling from an audio product. Love it

nice!

 

[GiullianSN]

Interesting stuff that, but I have been looking around for homemade molds to make impressions but its a risk anyway. I was hoping to get one done from an audiologist and get the digital file for re-use! But im not sure how many vendors only work on the STL files.

UE CSX is a patented tech from UE. It takes the impression up to the 1st bend. Usual impressions goes pass the 2nd bend. That's why the CSX is a custom, but not a professional Custom. It's easy to insert and remove from the ears. Compared to traditional. They are getting a lot of traction these days.

 

[aaf evo]

The A18s has arrived, a shoutout to @ceeloChamp for shipping them to me and helping me dodge them customs

Now these impressions are quite preliminary as I've only had an hour or so with them, but hey for a first feel that's plenty

64 have done a truly awesome job with these I think - it combines what I love about several different models and is comfortably my favourite overall IEM by 64 so far. To start with the bad, it is that while the timbre has improved significantly, there's no getting around the fact that it's a BA midrange. It sounds significantly more textured and thicker than the A18t our the Fourte, but regardless in that respect it's no Elysium

The good news is that everything else about it is plain exceptional.

The lows are the first thing that needs to be discussed here as 64 have created an extremely DD-like presentation. It still has that BA speed, but the depth and decay that the A18s delivers is some of the best I've heard out of any BA - it is probably similar to that of the A12t though I've only heard the universal version and considering how bad the 64 U series fits me, I can't really comment on it excessively. Either way though, the lifted bass not only adds that wonderful weight to instruments, but serves as its own thing that you can enjoy the crap out of.

The mids are insanely detailed, and have some of the better BA textures out there - just working off memory, I'd say the VE8 is probably the only IEM I've heard that comfortably outperforms them. I also have an Anole sitting on my desk here that I haven't had the chance to try yet because the A18s has kind of stolen the show, but I will report on the comparisons in the full review of the S

Other than that, vocals have significantly more warmth than they do in the original A18t and so does the overall presentation. I think the somewhat reduces treble quantity is helping here as well, as the standard 18t felt like it really overdid the highs and that contributed to the feeling of thinness that I always got when listening to it

The treble execution is spot on - neutral, with extreme extension and wonderful sparkle. Can't say anything here other than pure perfection

The technicalities are pretty much what gave the A18t its name, and I am happy to report they've been preserved if not enhanced - you won't miss a single breath with the A18s, the soundstage is as holographic and wide as any soundstage gets, instrumental separation can only be described as excessive

Amazing work by 64 - of course time will tell just how much these enter my daily rotation but I have once again been given that wow feeling from an audio product. Love it

Looks like your impressions are more or less in line with what I hear too. They’re pretty spectacular, huh? Enjoy man!

 

[mvvRAZ]

Looks like your impressions are more or less in line with what I hear too. They’re pretty spectacular, huh? Enjoy man!

64’s finest!

 

[zachawry]

64’s finest!

now I’m sorely tempted....

cant you say they suck, just to make me feel better?

 

[mvvRAZ]

now I’m sorely tempted....

cant you say they suck, just to make me feel better?

I mean, I definitely can't say it's a monitor that I can just slap a universal recommendation on cause it has quite a lot of bass. With the M20 and a warm source you have yourself a borderline Legend X, but it maintains such high clarity and detail throughout the mids and highs it just doesn't feel like a basshead-only monitor.

The staging is also insanely wide, we're talking original Fourte levels of wide - I can hear stuff playing over my shoulders

 

[zachawry]

I mean, I definitely can't say it's a monitor that I can just slap a universal recommendation on cause it has quite a lot of bass. With the M20 and a warm source you have yourself a borderline Legend X, but it maintains such high clarity and detail throughout the mids and highs it just doesn't feel like a basshead-only monitor.

The staging is also insanely wide, we're talking original Fourte levels of wide - I can hear stuff playing over my shoulders

How similar do you think it is to the 18t? Is it the same soundstage and the same details, but with slightly warmer tuning?

 

[mvvRAZ]

How similar do you think it is to the 18t? Is it the same soundstage and the same details, but with slightly warmer tuning?

I'd actually say the A18t is the 64 monitor that has least in common with the A18s

They both have a similarly unreal level of technicalities, but when it comes to the tuning the A18s might be closer to the N8 or the A12. It also shares the speaker-like presentation of the Fourte, and ceeloChamp, who's one of the sort of oldest fans of the Fourte, found the A18s to be an upgrade on that. It also has significantly more controlled treble

 

[zachawry]

I'd actually say the A18t is the 64 monitor that has least in common with the A18s

They both have a similarly unreal level of technicalities, but when it comes to the tuning the A18s might be closer to the N8 or the A12. It also shares the speaker-like presentation of the Fourte, and ceeloChamp, who's one of the sort of oldest fans of the Fourte, found the A18s to be an upgrade on that. It also has significantly more controlled treble

Time to boot up the shell sim, I guess....

 

[mvvRAZ]

Time to boot up the shell sim, I guess....

Knowing your and @Vitaly2017's preferences I think you'd both love them

 

[zachawry]

Knowing your and @Vitaly2017's preferences I think you'd both love them

Yeah, your description kinda pushed all my buttons

 

[twister6]

Yeah, your description kinda pushed all my buttons

Haven't you been on head-fi long enough? You have to give it 1-2 weeks, and if mvvRAZ won't sell or trade it up after the initial excitement, then it's OK to consider pushing buttons

Pulling your leg, @mvvRAZ

 

[mvvRAZ]

Haven't you been on head-fi long enough? You have to give it 1-2 weeks, and if mvvRAZ won't sell or trade it up after the initial excitement, then it's OK to consider pushing buttons

Pulling your leg, @mvvRAZ

I mean, I do agree I buy and sell a LOT of stuff, but that doesn't really mean my initial impressions of it are skewed - I've disliked tons of stuff that I have bought and/or tried - most recently the Anole. It's sitting on my desk after 15-20 minutes of playing and probably getting sold in the next few days

The Acoustune 1695Ti I'm not loving as much now, but I stand behind my evaluation of it as well

Me keeping and selling stuff has nothing to do with what I think about their sound. I think the Legend X and the VE8 are awesome IEMs for example, and I've praised them plenty, but they aren't ones I wanted to keep myself