I'll throw my first impressions also, I ordered the UE18 and since its arrival yesterday I've been wearing it all day. In terms of fit/seal my left one is perfect, and the right earpiece sticks out slightly more, but still 98% comfortable and not really enough to warrant a re-fit. Maybe it'll become more comfortable as time goes on, maybe not, but I sometimes (sub)consciously use my fingers in attempt to nudge the earpiece in deeper (lol). It's much more comfortable than universals with Comply tips.
The packaging is the same as Shane's, but my carrying case is the larger version with a hinge (see Shane's pic with the foam-cut out), and I found that too large to be carrying around. I'd actually prefer the smaller carrying case. Accessories-wise, its surprisingly bare - aside from the personalized case, the only other thing was a cleaner tool. The TF10s came with a 1/4 adaptor and a flight attenuator, so I thought maybe those would be standard on the customs too. No big deal though.
Build & cable: Solid craftsmanship. No visible defects, cracks, or bubbles. The tips where the the tubes end are a bit rough/unsanded if you rub your fingers on it, but this had no bearing on comfort. The color is translucent slate grey. Being an artsy guy, I was very specific and demanding on my custom art, and emailed Todd a lot on the details of what I wanted. The result came out very good, but not as ideally perfect as I wanted. The colors aren't perfectly spot-on, the white is every slightly greenish, and I suspect this to be because I ordered them in a translucent color. I wanted to see the inner components of my monitor; if you changed the backplate or ordered a solid shell color the results would definitely be better. In terms of detail, it's as detailed as it'll ever be with a less-than-an-inch high space. My art was pushing the boundaries of acceptable complexity, and I would recommend others to have more simplified art in their future orders.
From this artwork
to this comp
The art department took the liberty of resizing and moving the art to fit inside the printable area, which was fine.
I ordered them with a 64" cable. The cable one of the best I've ever seen, and completely outclasses the TF10 cable (which frankly is crap). Double twisted cable, very sturdily built, flexible, and not super prone to microphonics. When I move around most of the extraneous sound is from bone conduction and my pulse (the seal is just too good), not the brushing against my clothes. I found the 46" TF10 cable just a couple inches too short if worn from the back to reach my iPod & amp, but 64" is more than enough but will require cable ties for extra length management. I don't see these cables going bad anytime soon, and will probably perform fine for the next few years of wear & tear.
Sound: Of course, very impressed. Of Cowboy Bebop's Tank! live recording by Seatbelts, the imaging is deadly accurate - it's now super easy to locate instruments. The soundstage is very open and airy, plenty of depth and height. I'm noticing more of the "room dimensions" and the sound reflections from walls/stage, compared to the other gear I own. The soundstage is also exceptionally wide. I think the air is what surprised me the most - when I listened to the piano intros of Shokkaku no Hyouhon Hako from xxxHolic OST or My Soul, Your Beats from Angel Beats! OST (not the most technical songs, I know, just happened to be the songs on the iPod at the time), the space was just phenomenal, very natural sounding. I could play that on a grand piano and get the same exact sound, no walls or invisible barriers there.
I can also reaffirm Jude's impressions on the UE18; it's definitely north of neutral, with a lot of emphasis on midbass. Not as much as the UE11 I demo'd at the meet, but definitely very present. While this makes the UE18 sound very full bodied and present with classical music, I found with electronic/industrial (notably, Fukui Kenichiro's Badlands from Einhander OST, one of go-to demo tracks) the lower end to be overpowering, and will most definitely require EQing to bring down the bass to more acceptable levels. But! The low end is quick and detailed, plenty of resolution, so it's good bass, just a tad louder than usual. The overall signature is warm, sort of like my ESW9. The mids are sometimes overshadowed by the low end, but it's still a great performer. I feel if the midbass got smoothed out some decibels, you'll get a truly phenomenal IEM that's beautiful across the entire spectrum. The extensions are great both ends, it's very accurate at the very low end, and just the same at the high end, but I feel it is a tad light at the very highest treble. I need to do some more in-depth listening to make any solid conclusions though.
There's plenty of details as expected of UE's flagship. It's very clean detail; it's fun to pick out individual voices from Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody overdubbed/lip syncing parts, or the Guitar squeaking and picking by Ferenc Snetberger's solos - those fingers brushing against the strings, etc.
Overall 9 stars out of 10. Here's a requency graph of what I *think* the UE18 sounds like, so it'll be like a TL;DR version:
By no means when I say "weaker" that it's bad, it's amazing in its own right but just compared to the other phenomenal aspects of the UE18 it seems not as great.
I'll do a much more thorough review when I've devote more time listening an dsettle in to these magical IEMs.
@ PANGES: I was able to sleep with the UE18s on, although not very well, but because of a different reason than usual. I'd get annoyed (eventually) when I have headphones on because I'd be very tired and the sound prevents me from falling asleep, but last night was different; I was awake at 3AM listening to the details and sparkle and had to physically force myself to remove the earpieces, otherwise I wouldn't catch any sleep.
- tengen
