esanthosh
Skilled
Introduction
On the second working day of the second week of the second month of the year at 4 PM, my calling bell rang. This is the second time the UPS franchisee has delivered a package to my address. I eagerly opened the UPS cover, inside which there was a second cover. It contained a Pelican case whose model number had two 10's. The case was packed with two things, first of which is unimportant. The second thing, which is the subject of this post, is the second IEM I have received this month and my second custom IEM ever. The IEM has dual BA drivers in a two way configuration and even has a Two in it's name. It is, as many of you may have guessed is...
Ordering Experience
If you want to know more about the process of ordering Custom IEMs, I have sufficiently covered it here. So, let me just stick to the story of how I got the Music Two (hereinafter referred to as M2 when lazy).
In many ways, Music Two should have been my first and probably only CIEM. Even though I did not know Piotr (or Peter, if you want to stick to English names. He is piotrus-g on head-fi) before this , a few head-fi members who I consider knowledgeable have mentioned that Piotr was instrumental in building their knowledge about Custom IEMs. Just before I began my conversations with Piotr via PM and E-mail, Music Two had been announced. While reviews were available for Music One, no one knew how Music Two would sound, except Piotr. It was a risk, especially with a custom IEM, to buy blind when even those bought based on reviews sometimes do not turn out so well. With the blind faith that Piotr knows what he is doing, I set out to discuss how to go about the ordering process and so on. In fact, I sent photos of my ear impressions (taken for Noble 4C) to Piotr to get his inputs. If it had not been for Piotr's holiday break between 20th Dec and 6th Jan, chances are I would have sent them to Piotr.
One thing I must mention about Piotr is that I never had to wait for a reply. May be it's just the better overlap between waking hours (compared to me and Brannan in US), but I got my replies mostly within an hour or two, sometimes within minutes. I often wondered if he ever sleeps. But after a recent series of E-mails, he did mention it was '3 AM here and I am going to sleep now'. So, I know that at least on some days, he may sleep
. During the course of these E-mail exchanges, I have asked some downright silly questions as well. But, Piotr addressed them patiently, which was great.
I have to say that compared to the ups and downs of my experience getting Noble 4C, Music Two has been such a smooth ride. I had already discussed and set everything up with Piotr before his break. Since both the audiologist and I had prior experience due to Noble 4C, everything was done quickly and smoothly. There weren't any delays, hiccups or anything to agitate my nerves during the entire time period.
Diary of Events
06th Jan: Visited Amplifon to take my ear mold impressions. I sent the photos by E-mail the same night.
07th Jan: Piotr approved the impressions while I was asleep. Sent the impressions through DTDC-DHL to Poland the same day.
10th Jan: Ear mold impressions reached Piotr.
07th Feb: My Music Two was complete and shipped by UPS.
11th Feb: Delivery without any Customs Duty (Huge Lucky Escape!)
17th Feb: My left ear piece reached Piotr (along with ear mold impressions). There was an issue with the socket, which Piotr confirmed. He had already began re-shelling it within a couple of hours of delivery.
22nd Feb: Piotr had sent it back by Priority shipping. Great thing is you only pay for one way shipping. Piotr takes care of return shipping, unless you need speedy delivery and opt for express shipping. He forgot to inform me that he sent it. On the flip side, he saved me lot of $$$ as I'd have opted for UPS had he informed
03rd Mar: Delivery by Postman, a pleasant surprise since I was thinking that Piotr may need more time to fix mine as he has his hands full with other orders.
Cost of Acquisition
CIEM Basic charges
Custom Art Music Two with detachable Cables 1150 PLN
Special Colors for Left and Right - 30 PLN each 60 PLN
UPS World-wide Saver Shipping 175 PLN
Paypal Fees @ 4% 55.40 PLN
________________________________________________
Total 1440.40 PLN
________________________________________________
Other costs
Cost of Ear mold impression: ₹300
DTDC Courier : ₹1700
Total cost of acquisition (rounded) : ₹32,500
Additional Costs
Sending back to fix the Left ear socket: ₹1,700
Notes:
It's all about Variety
Most people have a particular sound signature that they like. While I do have a particular affinity towards something neutral, I have grown accustomed to variety of signatures during my universal IEM journey. Rather than chasing a particular sound signature, I have become a collector of sound signatures, which was and is a worrying factor when it comes to my journey into the wallet reducing world of Custom IEMs.
While you can always buy two similar sounding universal IEMs, choose to keep one and sell the other, such a strategy would not work out well in CIEMs unless you are prepared to lose money, lots of it. So, I wanted my second CIEM to be something different in every way to my first CIEM. Let's see how far it has worked out.
1) Material: Acrylic vs Silicone
Instead of reading about the differences between Acrylic and Silicone, I decided to experience it myself. Since you typically need more Silicone to hold things in place compared to acrylic, Two is a tad larger than my 4C (See size comparison between 4C and Two in the post below).
2) Price Range
Noble 4C was a Mid-tier CIEM in terms of price at $700. I wanted to check out what CIEMs at the $400 offer.
3) Sound Signature
Since Noble 4C was neutral, I thought I'd check out something a bit more 'musical' to provide some contrast. As good as 4C is, it is neutral and a bit too smooth at times. With it's slightly enhanced bass, energetic yet non-troubling treble and good mids, Music Two adds that liveliness and foot tapping when you need it.
4) Fit and Seal
My Noble 4C does not extend deeper into the canals. But, Music Two extends deeper. Compared to the 'find the canal, insert, twist' fitting motion of the acrylic (which gets easier after a few tries), it is a bit more harder to insert the Music Two (twist, push, twist). I find M2 to be far less obtrusive than the acrylic 4C when I make chewing motion, but I still won't try eating with it inside my ear. But once inside the ear, Silicone is more comfortable than Acrylic.
5) Maintenance
My first thought as soon as I received the Music Two was "How am I going to keep dust off this thing?". No matter how clean I try to keep my house, dust is always present as a result of the surroundings. Silicone material when combined with the transparent black color presents a greater challenge than keeping the acrylic 4C clean. I feel it is going to be like my black work table. No matter how often you clean it, specks of dust will show up worse than before.
Technical Aspects
Though I only care about the final sound, for those who are interested, here are some details about Music Two.
Drivers:
Music Two uses AcuPass driver (See Video) which is innovative product form Sonion - built on specially created version of 2300 driver (as tweeter) and 1700 as woofer. Additionally, woofer shoots sound through very very tiny spout built into unit, that works as an acoustical low pass filter - hence the name AcuPass.
Impedance: 75 ohm at 1 Khz (22 Ohm at 4200 Hz)
Sensitivity : 109 dB at 1 Khz, 0.1 V
Frequency Response of Music Two
tomscy2000's take on sources
More information can be found in this thread.
Initial Impressions
The build quality and finish of Two is really good. The colors actually came out better than I expected and hence, it looks better than the photos. Even though my 4C is a Wizard design and all, I like the looks of Music Two a tad more. Music Two, at times, feels a bit more sensitive as I can observe some hiss when plugging it into Clip+. Being a CIEM, it has admirable low volume listening experience, much like 4C. Depending on the track, it needs a slight 1-2dB more on my Rockboxed Clip+ compared to 4C.
Most of the impressions were formed during Casual listening. Some comparisons were done, of course. Since my time for using IEMs in general and CIEMs in particular is restricted to 2-4 hours per week, my aim was not an accurate, critical review, but rather a quick ball park impression to provide an idea.
In short, I'd say Music Two is 'musical'. It forms a good contrast to the neutral, balanced, smooth Noble 4C. As far as I've heard, I find it hard to find a universal that sounds similar to Music Two. But then, I have been out of touch with the IEM market for the last couple of years, so you never know if there is something that hits very closer to Music Two in universal form.
When I received my 4C and started listening to it, I knew for a fact that it was a solid upgrade over all of my existing IEMs. When I listened to Music Two, I did not feel it was a great upgrade. If you want a numerical indicator, 4C scored 9.9 on ljokerl's thread. I'd peg Music Two around 9.4 or thereabouts. In the absence of reference IEMs, especially CIEMs at similar price point, it is harder for me to gauge exactly where Two stands, just that the difference between 4C and my good universals is larger than the difference between M2 and my good universals. However, it is worthwhile to remember that 4C cost me twice as much (base price of silicone version, 4S @ $1000 is 2X the price of Music Two with detachable cable @ ~ $494 at today's conversion rates), has twice as many drivers (though number of drivers usually has no bearing on the final sound quality) and is tuned differently. Custom Art's Pro line-up, especially something like Pro 330 v2 could make for a more meaningful comparison.
The other thing I can say about my two customs is that they have less glaring faults (apart from great strengths like isolation, low volume listening and lack of necessity for tip rolling). Let's take a 'fun' IEM like TF10 (Not sure about UE900 since I haven't heard it and it's highly doubtful whether I'll buy it). Music Two is technically better on every front - tonal balance, bass quality, mid range, treble quality and coherency. That makes it a much more pleasurable listen compared to TF10.
When we think 'fun', we typically associate it with a V-shape - heavy bass, slightly recessed mid range, bumped up treble. But, Music Two hits closer to my idea of fun - which is slightly enhanced bass and treble, but without compromising on the quality of the mid range. When I started out in the IEM world, I was a treble-head. I absolutely loved my DBA-02 and CK10. Then, I found that bass, even if it has loads of quantity can be quite enjoyable when done well (DDMs, FX700, especially EX1000). Call it ageing or maturity, I find it hard to enjoy music without a good mid range these days.
The bass of Music Two is linear with a slightly longish decay and does not bleed into the mid range. It is not bass heavy IEM by any means. While it has a touch more quantity than 4C, the quantity and depth is less than a good dynamic like EX1000. It sounds slightly fuller and carries more quantity and impact than 4C, but loses to 4C in tightness and finesse. During casual listening, the bass appears more in line with mids compared to treble, but I think it is a slight notch boosted compared to the mid range.
The mid range of Two is clear, smooth and to borrow a word from it's web site, organic. The mid range sounds a touch fuller and warmer next to the 4C. I would not say that Two lags too far behind in terms of mid range clarity or engagement, just that 4C sounds a touch more nuanced. 4C's lower mids are a bit more forward, which when combined with slightly better resolution and realistic note weight makes 4C a bit more likable.
The lower treble of Two has a slight boost, a touch more than how the bass is emphasized compared to the mid range. It has bit more body and sparkle and thus, sounds livelier compared to 4C. 4C's treble on the other hand, is much more in line with mids, feel more linear (you know about my HF hearing, so this is a speculation), smoother and accurate. But, when the track calls for it, Two's extra treble energy makes the sound more engaging and fun.
The sound stage of Two is well rounded in width and depth. While separation and imaging of Two is nothing to fault about, I feel more like I am listening to a good universal. 4C feels more spacious with each instrument in it's own location. When combined with excellent layering, 4C makes Two sound a touch blended in comparison.
Overall, Two is a bit U-shaped compared to 4C. But due to the slight emphasis on bass and treble, it sounds a bit more dynamic and livelier, a touch more fuller and warmer. When I bought Music Two, my aim was to get something that complements 4C, something I could prefer over universals when I can afford the isolation and time to insert and remove of the CIEMs. I would say, on that front, Two ticks all the right boxes.
<More comparisons if and when I get time>
On the second working day of the second week of the second month of the year at 4 PM, my calling bell rang. This is the second time the UPS franchisee has delivered a package to my address. I eagerly opened the UPS cover, inside which there was a second cover. It contained a Pelican case whose model number had two 10's. The case was packed with two things, first of which is unimportant. The second thing, which is the subject of this post, is the second IEM I have received this month and my second custom IEM ever. The IEM has dual BA drivers in a two way configuration and even has a Two in it's name. It is, as many of you may have guessed is...
Custom Art Music Two
Ordering Experience
If you want to know more about the process of ordering Custom IEMs, I have sufficiently covered it here. So, let me just stick to the story of how I got the Music Two (hereinafter referred to as M2 when lazy).
In many ways, Music Two should have been my first and probably only CIEM. Even though I did not know Piotr (or Peter, if you want to stick to English names. He is piotrus-g on head-fi) before this , a few head-fi members who I consider knowledgeable have mentioned that Piotr was instrumental in building their knowledge about Custom IEMs. Just before I began my conversations with Piotr via PM and E-mail, Music Two had been announced. While reviews were available for Music One, no one knew how Music Two would sound, except Piotr. It was a risk, especially with a custom IEM, to buy blind when even those bought based on reviews sometimes do not turn out so well. With the blind faith that Piotr knows what he is doing, I set out to discuss how to go about the ordering process and so on. In fact, I sent photos of my ear impressions (taken for Noble 4C) to Piotr to get his inputs. If it had not been for Piotr's holiday break between 20th Dec and 6th Jan, chances are I would have sent them to Piotr.
One thing I must mention about Piotr is that I never had to wait for a reply. May be it's just the better overlap between waking hours (compared to me and Brannan in US), but I got my replies mostly within an hour or two, sometimes within minutes. I often wondered if he ever sleeps. But after a recent series of E-mails, he did mention it was '3 AM here and I am going to sleep now'. So, I know that at least on some days, he may sleep
. During the course of these E-mail exchanges, I have asked some downright silly questions as well. But, Piotr addressed them patiently, which was great.I have to say that compared to the ups and downs of my experience getting Noble 4C, Music Two has been such a smooth ride. I had already discussed and set everything up with Piotr before his break. Since both the audiologist and I had prior experience due to Noble 4C, everything was done quickly and smoothly. There weren't any delays, hiccups or anything to agitate my nerves during the entire time period.
Diary of Events
06th Jan: Visited Amplifon to take my ear mold impressions. I sent the photos by E-mail the same night.
07th Jan: Piotr approved the impressions while I was asleep. Sent the impressions through DTDC-DHL to Poland the same day.
10th Jan: Ear mold impressions reached Piotr.
07th Feb: My Music Two was complete and shipped by UPS.
11th Feb: Delivery without any Customs Duty (Huge Lucky Escape!)
17th Feb: My left ear piece reached Piotr (along with ear mold impressions). There was an issue with the socket, which Piotr confirmed. He had already began re-shelling it within a couple of hours of delivery.
22nd Feb: Piotr had sent it back by Priority shipping. Great thing is you only pay for one way shipping. Piotr takes care of return shipping, unless you need speedy delivery and opt for express shipping. He forgot to inform me that he sent it. On the flip side, he saved me lot of $$$ as I'd have opted for UPS had he informed
03rd Mar: Delivery by Postman, a pleasant surprise since I was thinking that Piotr may need more time to fix mine as he has his hands full with other orders.
Cost of Acquisition
CIEM Basic charges
Custom Art Music Two with detachable Cables 1150 PLN
Special Colors for Left and Right - 30 PLN each 60 PLN
UPS World-wide Saver Shipping 175 PLN
Paypal Fees @ 4% 55.40 PLN
________________________________________________
Total 1440.40 PLN
________________________________________________
Other costs
Cost of Ear mold impression: ₹300
DTDC Courier : ₹1700
Total cost of acquisition (rounded) : ₹32,500
Additional Costs
Sending back to fix the Left ear socket: ₹1,700
Notes:
- One thing to keep in mind is that this was the Pre-order price. Now the regular price for a Fixed cable option is 1300 PLN and the one with a detachable cable is 1500 PLN.
- Prior to this, EMS at 150 PLN was the quickest delivery method, while UPS was an unlisted option. Going forward, considering that EMS and UPS costs are not that far apart, Piotr will replace EMS option with UPS.
- Currency fluctuations are part of the game when making international purchases. But, it isn't a huge factor in the context of the overall costs. May be psychologically, it can help keep the overall costs a little less (like Bata pricing, ₹31,900 may seem less than ₹32,300).
It's all about Variety
Most people have a particular sound signature that they like. While I do have a particular affinity towards something neutral, I have grown accustomed to variety of signatures during my universal IEM journey. Rather than chasing a particular sound signature, I have become a collector of sound signatures, which was and is a worrying factor when it comes to my journey into the wallet reducing world of Custom IEMs.
While you can always buy two similar sounding universal IEMs, choose to keep one and sell the other, such a strategy would not work out well in CIEMs unless you are prepared to lose money, lots of it. So, I wanted my second CIEM to be something different in every way to my first CIEM. Let's see how far it has worked out.
1) Material: Acrylic vs Silicone
Instead of reading about the differences between Acrylic and Silicone, I decided to experience it myself. Since you typically need more Silicone to hold things in place compared to acrylic, Two is a tad larger than my 4C (See size comparison between 4C and Two in the post below).
2) Price Range
Noble 4C was a Mid-tier CIEM in terms of price at $700. I wanted to check out what CIEMs at the $400 offer.
3) Sound Signature
Since Noble 4C was neutral, I thought I'd check out something a bit more 'musical' to provide some contrast. As good as 4C is, it is neutral and a bit too smooth at times. With it's slightly enhanced bass, energetic yet non-troubling treble and good mids, Music Two adds that liveliness and foot tapping when you need it.
4) Fit and Seal
My Noble 4C does not extend deeper into the canals. But, Music Two extends deeper. Compared to the 'find the canal, insert, twist' fitting motion of the acrylic (which gets easier after a few tries), it is a bit more harder to insert the Music Two (twist, push, twist). I find M2 to be far less obtrusive than the acrylic 4C when I make chewing motion, but I still won't try eating with it inside my ear. But once inside the ear, Silicone is more comfortable than Acrylic.
5) Maintenance
My first thought as soon as I received the Music Two was "How am I going to keep dust off this thing?". No matter how clean I try to keep my house, dust is always present as a result of the surroundings. Silicone material when combined with the transparent black color presents a greater challenge than keeping the acrylic 4C clean. I feel it is going to be like my black work table. No matter how often you clean it, specks of dust will show up worse than before.
Technical Aspects
Though I only care about the final sound, for those who are interested, here are some details about Music Two.
Drivers:
Music Two uses AcuPass driver (See Video) which is innovative product form Sonion - built on specially created version of 2300 driver (as tweeter) and 1700 as woofer. Additionally, woofer shoots sound through very very tiny spout built into unit, that works as an acoustical low pass filter - hence the name AcuPass.
Impedance: 75 ohm at 1 Khz (22 Ohm at 4200 Hz)
Sensitivity : 109 dB at 1 Khz, 0.1 V
Frequency Response of Music Two
tomscy2000's take on sources
More information can be found in this thread.
Initial Impressions
The build quality and finish of Two is really good. The colors actually came out better than I expected and hence, it looks better than the photos. Even though my 4C is a Wizard design and all, I like the looks of Music Two a tad more. Music Two, at times, feels a bit more sensitive as I can observe some hiss when plugging it into Clip+. Being a CIEM, it has admirable low volume listening experience, much like 4C. Depending on the track, it needs a slight 1-2dB more on my Rockboxed Clip+ compared to 4C.
Most of the impressions were formed during Casual listening. Some comparisons were done, of course. Since my time for using IEMs in general and CIEMs in particular is restricted to 2-4 hours per week, my aim was not an accurate, critical review, but rather a quick ball park impression to provide an idea.
In short, I'd say Music Two is 'musical'. It forms a good contrast to the neutral, balanced, smooth Noble 4C. As far as I've heard, I find it hard to find a universal that sounds similar to Music Two. But then, I have been out of touch with the IEM market for the last couple of years, so you never know if there is something that hits very closer to Music Two in universal form.
When I received my 4C and started listening to it, I knew for a fact that it was a solid upgrade over all of my existing IEMs. When I listened to Music Two, I did not feel it was a great upgrade. If you want a numerical indicator, 4C scored 9.9 on ljokerl's thread. I'd peg Music Two around 9.4 or thereabouts. In the absence of reference IEMs, especially CIEMs at similar price point, it is harder for me to gauge exactly where Two stands, just that the difference between 4C and my good universals is larger than the difference between M2 and my good universals. However, it is worthwhile to remember that 4C cost me twice as much (base price of silicone version, 4S @ $1000 is 2X the price of Music Two with detachable cable @ ~ $494 at today's conversion rates), has twice as many drivers (though number of drivers usually has no bearing on the final sound quality) and is tuned differently. Custom Art's Pro line-up, especially something like Pro 330 v2 could make for a more meaningful comparison.
The other thing I can say about my two customs is that they have less glaring faults (apart from great strengths like isolation, low volume listening and lack of necessity for tip rolling). Let's take a 'fun' IEM like TF10 (Not sure about UE900 since I haven't heard it and it's highly doubtful whether I'll buy it). Music Two is technically better on every front - tonal balance, bass quality, mid range, treble quality and coherency. That makes it a much more pleasurable listen compared to TF10.
When we think 'fun', we typically associate it with a V-shape - heavy bass, slightly recessed mid range, bumped up treble. But, Music Two hits closer to my idea of fun - which is slightly enhanced bass and treble, but without compromising on the quality of the mid range. When I started out in the IEM world, I was a treble-head. I absolutely loved my DBA-02 and CK10. Then, I found that bass, even if it has loads of quantity can be quite enjoyable when done well (DDMs, FX700, especially EX1000). Call it ageing or maturity, I find it hard to enjoy music without a good mid range these days.
The bass of Music Two is linear with a slightly longish decay and does not bleed into the mid range. It is not bass heavy IEM by any means. While it has a touch more quantity than 4C, the quantity and depth is less than a good dynamic like EX1000. It sounds slightly fuller and carries more quantity and impact than 4C, but loses to 4C in tightness and finesse. During casual listening, the bass appears more in line with mids compared to treble, but I think it is a slight notch boosted compared to the mid range.
The mid range of Two is clear, smooth and to borrow a word from it's web site, organic. The mid range sounds a touch fuller and warmer next to the 4C. I would not say that Two lags too far behind in terms of mid range clarity or engagement, just that 4C sounds a touch more nuanced. 4C's lower mids are a bit more forward, which when combined with slightly better resolution and realistic note weight makes 4C a bit more likable.
The lower treble of Two has a slight boost, a touch more than how the bass is emphasized compared to the mid range. It has bit more body and sparkle and thus, sounds livelier compared to 4C. 4C's treble on the other hand, is much more in line with mids, feel more linear (you know about my HF hearing, so this is a speculation), smoother and accurate. But, when the track calls for it, Two's extra treble energy makes the sound more engaging and fun.
The sound stage of Two is well rounded in width and depth. While separation and imaging of Two is nothing to fault about, I feel more like I am listening to a good universal. 4C feels more spacious with each instrument in it's own location. When combined with excellent layering, 4C makes Two sound a touch blended in comparison.
Overall, Two is a bit U-shaped compared to 4C. But due to the slight emphasis on bass and treble, it sounds a bit more dynamic and livelier, a touch more fuller and warmer. When I bought Music Two, my aim was to get something that complements 4C, something I could prefer over universals when I can afford the isolation and time to insert and remove of the CIEMs. I would say, on that front, Two ticks all the right boxes.
<More comparisons if and when I get time>
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