When I first heard of Signature Acoustics Elements C-12 on TE and all the buzz of it being the first Indian earphones developed in India , it reminded me of the same pride and curiosity I felt, when TATA Motors announced their first Desi “Made in India†car. Signature Acoustics Elements C-12 is the result after 18 months of R&D by Pristine Note Audio Store of Mumbai. Though the launch of C-12 didn’t appear in the front pages of our dailies, it didn’t stop me from signing up for the review program of the Signature Acoustics Elements Earphone C-12 which proudly carries the made in India tag.
I received the C-12 in the first week of this month. The package was neatly packed in a pristine note cardboard box with sufficient bubble packaging material and shipped via FedEx’s priority overnight service.
The Package
The pack is very simple looking, understated with a silver printing on black colored cardboard box. Since this was the IEM from the loaner program, the pack had signs of usage and was slightly torn near the top area meant to flip the pack in order to pull out the contents. I felt that I should mention this to Pristine Note which I did and surprisingly they replied that they would reinforce the cardboard pack in future batches as they had received similar feedback. Nice to know that they take their customer feedback seriously.
The wooden earphones were tucked in a thick green colored foam material and the cable neatly coiled and tied.
Accessories Included:
· Silicon Ear Tips (S,M,L)
· Earphone Filters ( 1set- dark colored, 1set- grey colored)
· Shirt Clip
· Leather case
Looks
I have never owned wooden earphones, so can’t compare them to other wooden earphones. But I’ll have to admit these are very handsome looking earphones . Absolutely light weight, polished to a smooth finish, with no imperfections whatsoever, nice attention to detail and nicely engraved SA logo on them.
Build
The wooden housing seem sturdy and capable of withstanding normal daily usage( not abuse). The cable is thick of very good quality, very similar to my Future Sonics Atrio MG7. Both have cable memory problem but the C-12s cable isn’t as severe as the MG7. The cable is tangle free which is nice. The strain reliefs near the housings, on the Y-splitter and on the L –shaped 3.5mm audio jack are sturdy. One can notice strands of twisted wires beneath the protective rubber layer, which I feel makes the cable look premium. The cable on the Eterna is thicker with beefier strain reliefs but don’t look premium. Overall the C-12s build quality is good and long lasting.
Comfort & Isolation, Micro phonics
The C-12 won me on the comfort aspect. These are one of the most comfortable earphones I have tried. The light weight and shallow insertion design makes them sit on the ears without causing any pain or fatigue for endless hours. Isolation is average. Fit was elusive at first and needed a little practice to get a good fit and Isolation. The fit issue is mainly on the single flange medium size silicon tip. The HiFiman Double flange tip ensures a better fit and slightly better sound, which I’ll come to later. Cable noise is very low when worn down and almost non-existent when worn over-ear.
Sound
My preferred sound signature in IEMs is usually Balanced/ Analytical. However , occasionally I do like to listen to the musical Sony MH1 and the dark sounding, sub-bass monster Atrio MG7 because for a change, they show music from their perspective. Out of the box listening impressions of the C-12 was biased because of my preference. So I stopped listening to my other earphones for a couple of days. The IEMs have burned-in for roughly 50 hrs. The information booklet recommends a min 30hrs of driver burn-in time for the IEMs to settle down. I cannot comment if driver burn-in really makes the sound to change in C-12, because I’m unsure. I felt it was more of my ears and brain getting adjusted to the bassy sound which was fun. Pristine Note recommends the gray colored filter, which is the default filter on the earphones. The dark colored filter increases bass, so I didn’t change them. The sound impressions are based on the single flange medium size tips. ( If you are already bored & want to skip, do yourself a favor go to the last for the conclusion, pro & cons which summaries everything)
Bass
The C-12s have mid-bass emphasis, bass is not fast, is boomy but not bloated, yet with good punch and impact. Sub-bass extension is ok and doesn’t reach to the lowest lows. The Fisher Audio Eterna have better midbass control and are faster , which makes the bass in them sound more textured. But these are better than the BrainWavz R1, Sennheiser CX270s and much better than Tekfusion Twin Woofer’s Bass. Drums and bass guitars have good decay and there is kind of reverb unlike in earphones with plastic enclosure. House & dub step listeners will be delighted with C-12s bass.
Mids
Midrange is lush, smooth, & never dry. But in some tracks male voices sound nasal or rather veiled because of the slightly boomy bass. Female voices are very smooth, in fact Adele’s high pitch voice is brutally tamed by the C-12.This also makes the electric guitars and strings sound polite and lacking luster when necessary. The Eterna are slightly better here as the mids are upfront Mids on the C-12 is neither upfront nor recessed, but I wish the mids were a little more detailed/clear while retaining the same warmth.
Treble
Treble has enough presence and mainly in lower treble. Treble is smooth and rolls off making you miss some details in upper treble. But the treble is good and enough sparkle to ensure the C-12 doesn’t sound dark.
Presentation
The C-12s have spacious presentation for a bassy earphone. Making it sound slightly out of the ear, enveloping with more width than depth. Instrument seperation is good with decent imaging. To me these are more spacious sounding than the MG7 but not better than the Eterna in presentation. In normal paced tracks there’s no problem in pointing the placement of instruments. But in some complex tracks & very fast paced tracks like Welcome to the Black Parade -My Chemical Romance & Manic street Preachers-Faster, the C-12s feel slightly dragging & congested when things become busy. It’s a bassy, smooth, airy , fatigue free IEM with enough treble making it fun and never boring or dark sounding.
Tips rolling, EQing, Amping & Source.
Another interesting aspect of the C-12s is that, the bass presentation can be changed effectively with EQing. Mid bass boom can be reduced with some fiddling in the low frequencies , down a few decibles to one’s liking. Similarly treble can be increased with EQing.
The medium size silicon tip would be perfect to many but as mentioned I had some trouble getting a good fit in the beginning. It might be because of the thin flanges which made me loose, the correct fit if I tried to adjust the housings make quick movements. The solution for me was, Hifiman’s white double flange, which gave me the correct fit without any changes to the sound. Pristine note should include a set of bi-fanges in their next batch of C-12.
I tried the medium size sony silicone tips, the fit is good, but didn’t like the sound as it increases the midbass and seems less spacious and dark. Next, I tried the Ultimate Ears medium tips, great fit and better isolation than the others but bass quantity increases overall which I didn’t like too. May be bass heads might want to try these two tips if they have and would like to experiment with bass. The difference is there but not huge.
The C-12 doesn’t need an amp to drive them, my Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini and the Sansa Clip+ was powerful enough to drive them loud. But a good neutral amp like my O2 made them more clear throughout the frequency, tight bass with better control , mids & treble become more clear making them sound faster. That unclear snare in the track Surrender-Billy Talent becomes more convincing after amping the C-12. The C-12 sounds right & better when paired with neutral sounding DAP like the Clip+ and were excessively bassy with Rocco-P DAP.
Conclusion.
Signature acoustic elements C-12 are very good if you want a musical sounding, bassy earphone which doesn’t sound dark. Also these are easily likable by anybody who wants a good sounding, well built earphones, in Rs 1,500-Rs.3000 range. The C-12 doesn’t require an amp to sound good and the fact that these are wooden, and comes with a leather case makes them even more appealing.
I heartily congratulate pristine note for their effort, their passion and their foresight in creating a multi –genre earphone which has been well received by many reviewers here and globally.
So, here’s a earphone made in India ,which I feel is unique in many ways and has room for improvements to take it to the next level. Hope the C-12s next version further improves whatever is good in them now and address to the shortcomings. Hopefully “others†also recognize the potential of a growing market of VFM , good quality and better sounding earphones in India. We need more “Made in India†audio products .what say?
Well! For now this one’s a keeper for me for many reasons though I still prefer balanced/Analytic sounding IEMs ;-)
THE SIGNATURE ACOUSTICS ELEMENTS C-12
Pros
-Good Mid-bass with nice punch and impact
-Smooth Mids
-Enough Treble presence
-Enveloping, airy, fun presentation.
-Decent separation & Imaging
-Comfort & Price.
Cons
-Slightly bloomy bass
-Less sub-bass
-Veiled mids.
- Fit better with Double flange tips (which are missing)
Track List- My Chemical Romance- Welcome to the black parade.
A Perfect Circle- 3 Libras
Blue Rodeo- Five days in may.
Billy Talent-Surrender
Billy Talent- Fallen leaves
Adele 21- Turning Tables
Adele 21- Set fire to the rain
Alanis Morisette- Hand in my pocket
Manic Street Preachers- Faster
Andy McKee- Everybody wants to rule the world
Bombay Bicycle club- Rinse me down
The Grid- The swamp thing
The Grid- Floatation (Subsonic Grid Mix)
Grand Nelson- Brave New World
Feed Me-Trichitillomania
Nick Thayer – Face Palm
Sub Focus- Let the Story begin
Earphones- Sennhieser CX 270, Brainwavz R1, Future Sonics Atrio MG7, Fischer Audio Eterna.
DAP- Sansa Clip+, Rocco-P & Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini.
Headphone Amp- JDS Labs O2, SoundMagic A10
DAC- Firestone Fire Eye
Laptop- Compaq Presario CQ42, Asus X55U.
I received the C-12 in the first week of this month. The package was neatly packed in a pristine note cardboard box with sufficient bubble packaging material and shipped via FedEx’s priority overnight service.
The Package
The pack is very simple looking, understated with a silver printing on black colored cardboard box. Since this was the IEM from the loaner program, the pack had signs of usage and was slightly torn near the top area meant to flip the pack in order to pull out the contents. I felt that I should mention this to Pristine Note which I did and surprisingly they replied that they would reinforce the cardboard pack in future batches as they had received similar feedback. Nice to know that they take their customer feedback seriously.
The wooden earphones were tucked in a thick green colored foam material and the cable neatly coiled and tied.
Accessories Included:
· Silicon Ear Tips (S,M,L)
· Earphone Filters ( 1set- dark colored, 1set- grey colored)
· Shirt Clip
· Leather case
Looks
I have never owned wooden earphones, so can’t compare them to other wooden earphones. But I’ll have to admit these are very handsome looking earphones . Absolutely light weight, polished to a smooth finish, with no imperfections whatsoever, nice attention to detail and nicely engraved SA logo on them.
Build
The wooden housing seem sturdy and capable of withstanding normal daily usage( not abuse). The cable is thick of very good quality, very similar to my Future Sonics Atrio MG7. Both have cable memory problem but the C-12s cable isn’t as severe as the MG7. The cable is tangle free which is nice. The strain reliefs near the housings, on the Y-splitter and on the L –shaped 3.5mm audio jack are sturdy. One can notice strands of twisted wires beneath the protective rubber layer, which I feel makes the cable look premium. The cable on the Eterna is thicker with beefier strain reliefs but don’t look premium. Overall the C-12s build quality is good and long lasting.
Comfort & Isolation, Micro phonics
The C-12 won me on the comfort aspect. These are one of the most comfortable earphones I have tried. The light weight and shallow insertion design makes them sit on the ears without causing any pain or fatigue for endless hours. Isolation is average. Fit was elusive at first and needed a little practice to get a good fit and Isolation. The fit issue is mainly on the single flange medium size silicon tip. The HiFiman Double flange tip ensures a better fit and slightly better sound, which I’ll come to later. Cable noise is very low when worn down and almost non-existent when worn over-ear.
Sound
My preferred sound signature in IEMs is usually Balanced/ Analytical. However , occasionally I do like to listen to the musical Sony MH1 and the dark sounding, sub-bass monster Atrio MG7 because for a change, they show music from their perspective. Out of the box listening impressions of the C-12 was biased because of my preference. So I stopped listening to my other earphones for a couple of days. The IEMs have burned-in for roughly 50 hrs. The information booklet recommends a min 30hrs of driver burn-in time for the IEMs to settle down. I cannot comment if driver burn-in really makes the sound to change in C-12, because I’m unsure. I felt it was more of my ears and brain getting adjusted to the bassy sound which was fun. Pristine Note recommends the gray colored filter, which is the default filter on the earphones. The dark colored filter increases bass, so I didn’t change them. The sound impressions are based on the single flange medium size tips. ( If you are already bored & want to skip, do yourself a favor go to the last for the conclusion, pro & cons which summaries everything)
Bass
The C-12s have mid-bass emphasis, bass is not fast, is boomy but not bloated, yet with good punch and impact. Sub-bass extension is ok and doesn’t reach to the lowest lows. The Fisher Audio Eterna have better midbass control and are faster , which makes the bass in them sound more textured. But these are better than the BrainWavz R1, Sennheiser CX270s and much better than Tekfusion Twin Woofer’s Bass. Drums and bass guitars have good decay and there is kind of reverb unlike in earphones with plastic enclosure. House & dub step listeners will be delighted with C-12s bass.
Mids
Midrange is lush, smooth, & never dry. But in some tracks male voices sound nasal or rather veiled because of the slightly boomy bass. Female voices are very smooth, in fact Adele’s high pitch voice is brutally tamed by the C-12.This also makes the electric guitars and strings sound polite and lacking luster when necessary. The Eterna are slightly better here as the mids are upfront Mids on the C-12 is neither upfront nor recessed, but I wish the mids were a little more detailed/clear while retaining the same warmth.
Treble
Treble has enough presence and mainly in lower treble. Treble is smooth and rolls off making you miss some details in upper treble. But the treble is good and enough sparkle to ensure the C-12 doesn’t sound dark.
Presentation
The C-12s have spacious presentation for a bassy earphone. Making it sound slightly out of the ear, enveloping with more width than depth. Instrument seperation is good with decent imaging. To me these are more spacious sounding than the MG7 but not better than the Eterna in presentation. In normal paced tracks there’s no problem in pointing the placement of instruments. But in some complex tracks & very fast paced tracks like Welcome to the Black Parade -My Chemical Romance & Manic street Preachers-Faster, the C-12s feel slightly dragging & congested when things become busy. It’s a bassy, smooth, airy , fatigue free IEM with enough treble making it fun and never boring or dark sounding.
Tips rolling, EQing, Amping & Source.
Another interesting aspect of the C-12s is that, the bass presentation can be changed effectively with EQing. Mid bass boom can be reduced with some fiddling in the low frequencies , down a few decibles to one’s liking. Similarly treble can be increased with EQing.
The medium size silicon tip would be perfect to many but as mentioned I had some trouble getting a good fit in the beginning. It might be because of the thin flanges which made me loose, the correct fit if I tried to adjust the housings make quick movements. The solution for me was, Hifiman’s white double flange, which gave me the correct fit without any changes to the sound. Pristine note should include a set of bi-fanges in their next batch of C-12.
I tried the medium size sony silicone tips, the fit is good, but didn’t like the sound as it increases the midbass and seems less spacious and dark. Next, I tried the Ultimate Ears medium tips, great fit and better isolation than the others but bass quantity increases overall which I didn’t like too. May be bass heads might want to try these two tips if they have and would like to experiment with bass. The difference is there but not huge.
The C-12 doesn’t need an amp to drive them, my Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini and the Sansa Clip+ was powerful enough to drive them loud. But a good neutral amp like my O2 made them more clear throughout the frequency, tight bass with better control , mids & treble become more clear making them sound faster. That unclear snare in the track Surrender-Billy Talent becomes more convincing after amping the C-12. The C-12 sounds right & better when paired with neutral sounding DAP like the Clip+ and were excessively bassy with Rocco-P DAP.
Conclusion.
Signature acoustic elements C-12 are very good if you want a musical sounding, bassy earphone which doesn’t sound dark. Also these are easily likable by anybody who wants a good sounding, well built earphones, in Rs 1,500-Rs.3000 range. The C-12 doesn’t require an amp to sound good and the fact that these are wooden, and comes with a leather case makes them even more appealing.
I heartily congratulate pristine note for their effort, their passion and their foresight in creating a multi –genre earphone which has been well received by many reviewers here and globally.
So, here’s a earphone made in India ,which I feel is unique in many ways and has room for improvements to take it to the next level. Hope the C-12s next version further improves whatever is good in them now and address to the shortcomings. Hopefully “others†also recognize the potential of a growing market of VFM , good quality and better sounding earphones in India. We need more “Made in India†audio products .what say?
Well! For now this one’s a keeper for me for many reasons though I still prefer balanced/Analytic sounding IEMs ;-)
THE SIGNATURE ACOUSTICS ELEMENTS C-12
Pros
-Good Mid-bass with nice punch and impact
-Smooth Mids
-Enough Treble presence
-Enveloping, airy, fun presentation.
-Decent separation & Imaging
-Comfort & Price.
Cons
-Slightly bloomy bass
-Less sub-bass
-Veiled mids.
- Fit better with Double flange tips (which are missing)
Track List- My Chemical Romance- Welcome to the black parade.
A Perfect Circle- 3 Libras
Blue Rodeo- Five days in may.
Billy Talent-Surrender
Billy Talent- Fallen leaves
Adele 21- Turning Tables
Adele 21- Set fire to the rain
Alanis Morisette- Hand in my pocket
Manic Street Preachers- Faster
Andy McKee- Everybody wants to rule the world
Bombay Bicycle club- Rinse me down
The Grid- The swamp thing
The Grid- Floatation (Subsonic Grid Mix)
Grand Nelson- Brave New World
Feed Me-Trichitillomania
Nick Thayer – Face Palm
Sub Focus- Let the Story begin
Earphones- Sennhieser CX 270, Brainwavz R1, Future Sonics Atrio MG7, Fischer Audio Eterna.
DAP- Sansa Clip+, Rocco-P & Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini.
Headphone Amp- JDS Labs O2, SoundMagic A10
DAC- Firestone Fire Eye
Laptop- Compaq Presario CQ42, Asus X55U.
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