[Ojisan]

Thanks, I’m just on < 1 hour play time haha. I need to get more time to familiarize with the new sets, so I shall refrain from any sound comments until after at least 50 hours or more. However, based on initial listen, I find the U18s is unlike any other 64 Audio universals I have tried. They have a smooth and non-fatiguing sound that should play well with any music. They are not bright sounding at all, and have a warmish but very clear sound; not as warm as Nio but definitely warmer than U12t, Trio as well as Fourte. Will post more impressions later.

Yeah definitely, enjoy the ride! I think mine started to open up around 50 hours.

 

[Ojisan]

Looking forward to impressions as these get into people’s hands. Particularly in regards to the above, as I find Noir amongst the widest IEMs and quite far from intimate. Perhaps second only to the OG at least in the 64 lineup

I tend to interpret Noir to be very deep but not necessarily wide. I believe there is a treble shimmer (I think around 12-15kHz) that helps the impression of width. Reading back in the thread, I think this is also the area where it triggered treble sensitivity to some. It gets me sometimes.

Let's see what others say, I'm probably clueless I expected more impressions of U18s flooding this thread but it's not happening yet it seems....

 

[DavidS11]

U18s shell has a much thicker body. Despite the thicker body, it still fits more or less the same like past universals (for my ears). For me, U12t still has the best fit among all the 64a universals, probably because it has the slimmest body and the longest nozzle among them.

Fourte vs U18s shell size comparison:

 

[xenithon]

Nice comparison photo. Not sure if it was designed this way or just appears as such in the photo but it looks like nozzle to shell distance is very similar (save for a mm or so). So longer shell in 18s is compensated for by a shorter nozzle?

 

[DavidS11]

Nice comparison photo. Not sure if it was designed this way or just appears as such in the photo but it looks like nozzle to shell distance is very similar (save for a mm or so). So longer shell in 18s is compensated for by a shorter nozzle?

They are more or less about the same in total height from faceplate to end of nozzle. Fourte has a thinner main body but bigger hump and a short nozzle, while U18s has a thicker main body but much smaller hump and a longer nozzle. Hard to say as their shapes are different but the U18s looks and feels just slightly chunkier in overall dimension.

 

[Precogvision]

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

 

[Ojisan]

Nice comparison photo. Not sure if it was designed this way or just appears as such in the photo but it looks like nozzle to shell distance is very similar (save for a mm or so). So longer shell in 18s is compensated for by a shorter nozzle?

Good catch! I measured my Noir vs 18s and they were 0.968in vs 0.978in (without the apex module). Sorry, didn't have a metric micrometer around, lol

 

[Vitaly2017]

U18s shell has a much thicker body. Despite the thicker body, it still fits more or less the same like past universals (for my ears). For me, U12t still has the best fit among all the 64a universals, probably because it has the slimmest body and the longest nozzle among them.

Fourte vs U18s shell size comparison:

Ohh wow neet! Congratulations my friend please dont wait to long for impressions you have some very impatient headfiers here awaiting your inputs

 

[gLer]

U18s seems to have a wider stage contrasting from intimate presentation of Noirs.

Interesting, I personally hear the Noir as one of the wider IEMs I've heard. Like the Fourte they sound more Iike an open headphone than a closed IEM, with exceptional width and depth. For the 18s to be wider it would have to be wider than the OG Fourte, which would be quite something.

 

[Vitaly2017]

Interesting, I personally hear the Noir as one of the wider IEMs I've heard. Like the Fourte they sound more Iike an open headphone than a closed IEM, with exceptional width and depth. For the 18s to be wider it would have to be wider than the OG Fourte, which would be quite something.

That requires acoustical air chambers which are missing on the u18s.
I bet u12t and u18s share similar mids presentation which seemed like a microscope zoom in mids when I had the u12t. It didn't felt natural to me as a way to listen music but when artist use it as a tool to hear their voice then yes makes total sense as its zoomed and you hear very high quantity of details.

In fourté line the mids are more in line how we hear in the real world scenario, so it makes them a more audiophile tuned then u12t who is more like an instrument to my perception.

Also I found time space domaine to be very different in fourte very holographic and u12t more like very wide.

 

[Ojisan]

Interesting, I personally hear the Noir as one of the wider IEMs I've heard. Like the Fourte they sound more Iike an open headphone than a closed IEM, with exceptional width and depth. For the 18s to be wider it would have to be wider than the OG Fourte, which would be quite something.

Interesting I may have to do more controlled tests...

My impression is that U18s is more like HD800. Few rows back with a (loosely speaking) even view of the soundstage and spectrum. Noir to me is more like Focal Clear/Utopia (it doesn't have the treble energy of the Utopia...) where the instruments pop forward from the darkness and punches pretty hard. They are not the widest (you can argue about Focal soundstage) but it has got a nice spherical image around your head with amazing depth. That's Noir to me...

 

[Ojisan]

That requires acoustical air chambers which are missing on the u18s.
I bet u12t and u18s share similar mids presentation which seemed like a microscope zoom in mids when I had the u12t. It didn't felt natural to me as a way to listen music but when artist use it as a tool to hear their voice then yes makes total sense as its zoomed and you hear very high quantity of details.

In fourté line the mids are more in line how we hear in the real world scenario, so it makes them a more audiophile tuned then u12t who is more like an instrument to my perception.

Also I found time space domaine to be very different in fourte very holographic and u12t more like very wide.

Ok, still learning about 64 tech... from what I can gather, Trio, Fourte, and Fourte Noir are the only ones with the acoustic chamber element of tia?

 

[Precogvision]

Interesting, I personally hear the Noir as one of the wider IEMs I've heard. Like the Fourte they sound more Iike an open headphone than a closed IEM, with exceptional width and depth. For the 18s to be wider it would have to be wider than the OG Fourte, which would be quite something.

At least for me, I don't think I'd say the U18S is wider than the Fourte. It images much closer to the U12T to my ears. So not the greatest soundstage height (the Fourte has very impressive height by contrast), while maintaining decent width, depth, and strong positional cues. The Fourte and Trio make use of more pronounced recessions in FR and have acoustic chambers which lend to crazy open, holographic presentations at the expense of positional accuracy. Haven't heard the Noir though, so I can't comment specifically on that.

Ok, still learning about 64 tech... from what I can gather, Trio, Fourte, and Fourte Noir are the only ones with the acoustic chamber element of tia?

Yup, I believe so. The other 64 Audio IEMs have the tia drivers mounted directly to the spout of the IEM. With these IEMs, I'd say that most of the staging chops are attributable to their recession after 10kHz and sharp rise for air. It lends to some very unique treble reverb; by extension, the way the stage is "imaged" around the listener. They will certainly sound more open that most IEMs as a result, although (at least to my ears) not to the degree of the ones making use of the acoustic chambers.

 

[KuroKitsu]

@Precogvision I preferred the M15 by a far margin on both units of the u12t that I owned, as well as on my A12t. I found that the A12t has a more prominent sub-bass focus than on the u12t.

Not to say the u12t doesn't have that, but it seems to be more balanced with the midbass than the A12t in that different cables from the stock would alter that balance (ie. Forza Hybrid vs PWA Saladin ). Whereas with the A12t the bass retains that subbass focus regardless of the cables that I've tried on it so far.

How much would you say the focus skews toward the sub bass from the mid bass to your ears?

 

[Deezel177]

Ok, still learning about 64 tech... from what I can gather, Trio, Fourte, and Fourte Noir are the only ones with the acoustic chamber element of tia?

Well, the Trio, Fourté and Fourté Noir are the only ones that are fully tia, so all of their drivers are tubeless and vibrate in their own little chambers. The other tia IEMs only have that tech in the treble, which is the tia tweeter that @Precogvision is referring to. It sits in the tia single bore at the end of the nozzle, which is its own acoustic chamber. The other drivers then fire into tubes or 3D-printed structures that eventually lead to that single bore. On the A18t and A18s, they have 3D-printed contraptions that look almost like funnels, and that's what the 8 mid drivers and 8 bass drivers are firing into. In addition to the tia tweeter, the N8 or Nio has elements of a tia woofer as well, since its dynamic driver is tubeless and uses the IEM's chassis or shell as an acoustic chamber.