Disclaimer: All listening was done using a balanced cable on iFi xDSD Gryphon with IEMatch on, Topping NX7 and Qudelix5k.
Table of Contents
Prologue
Today I bring you a set from a brand most won’t recognize: AüR Audio. As far as I could gauge, it was founded by two experienced guys in the scene that just got together. It got some underground attention, but nothing major so far. The brand was brought to my attention, so I delved.
During private talks with Nicholas, the face of the brand, he told me the following:
AüR Audio is a relatively new business formed by two friends, Nicholas Teo and Abel Hsu. It is a small business where Abel handling the R&D and makes the IEMs by hand and Nicholas manages the sales, marketing and distribution.
Despite being a business of only six months old, Abel who has been hand making IEMs himself has had about 5 years experience.
Abel has been making custom IEMs for customers for a good many years before forming AüR Audio with Nicholas – both of them being Chinese
AüR Audio’s mainstream business is portable audio. In Singapore, user specified custom sales are direct, and they are looking at expanding their distribution channels to other electronic stores in the future. They are seeking for distributors in the SE Asia, Americas, and European regions.
AüR Audio’s philosophy has strong foundations in balance characteristics. We believe this signature can helps tremendously when trying to achieve a more pleasing listening experience
AüR Audio IEMs are 100 percent handmade, using the best components to craft its IEMs. AüR Audio produces approximately only two pairs of IEMs per week at the present moment.
I was also told that there are 2 current models for sale and one more on the way:
I was also told that there are 2 current models for sale and one more on the way:
- Neon – 10 BA per side and costs around 600 usd;
- Allure – 5 BA per side and costs around 400 usd;
- Volt – 10 BA + 4 ESTs, still on the works and price TBD;
A friend requested me to take a listen of Neon, so I asked @Tonytex_Teixeira to do so, which he kindly loaned me his own set, and to whom I deeply thank for.
Before we delve into sound properties, a note on build: they are very big, but the nozzle is average so no problems with fit for me. They pseudo custom-fit shell make them very comfortable, so I had zero problems with these. For people with very small ears, there might be a problem, but as always, YMMV.
As per usual full-BA sets, they aren’t vented, creating some pressure build up (I’m ok with this) and isolation is great due to that.
Shell feels nothing but premium and looks very nice, although it’s a pain to get a good photo of its plate.
Tuning
There’s no way around it: Neon is ruthless V-shape. To quote Crinacle, “F*** you, bass” kind of IEM. I’m not talking a mildly bleed for a fun and warm signature – I’m talking goodbye mids kind of V. I would also comment that it is a VERY loud IEM, leaving me no choice but to reduce volume by a lot, compared to other IEMs.
The sub-bass is impressive for a BA. It has great extension, rumble and texture. Tracks like Hans Zimmer – Why So Serious? prove all of this. It is fun, impactful and creates a great first impression, leaving me on the edge to say that it might be the best BA sub-bass I’ve heard to date, from memory, maybe beating 64audio U12T’s.
And this is the part I’d like to end this review, as I have a feeling I’ll just go down the spiral from here.
Mid-bass doesn’t bleed… it’s all over. This is where the imbalance in tuning starts. Although I find the IEM coherent, I can’t help but that the feeling that mid-bass starts at 20hz and ends at 5khz. It’s in your face, and it’s all you gonna hear if the track calls it out. Using Red Hot Chilli Peppers – Throw away your television as an example, the drums and bass guitar just take over of all the frequency, leaving no room for other instruments to shine, while also sabotaging themselves as the amount of warmth added was too much. Impact is fine for a BA but the decay leaves out a hint of BA timbre, as in it’s lack of natural feeling.
Mid range and vocals are, as expected, your typical KZ-V-SHAPE-03-PRO style. Hania Rani – Glass made me rethink about the price of this set: I couldn’t clearly hear the piano key strokes in the entire song, which made me increase volume and well, we all know this ends up with V-Shape sets. To put it mildly: mids lack definition/detail, are way too recessed and lack layering/separation. Female vocals are actually forward (Agnes Obel – The Curse), due to its pinna gain elevation, but suffer from the same problem as the other part of the mid-range frequencies. It comes out as veiled and undefined, lacking bite but way too thick.
The male counter-part is way too forward, too meaty and husky, sounding unnatural, as can be heard on Frank Sinatra – My Way. Sinatra’s voice, that is already too low and warm to start with, just gets a bloomy presentation, making it less detailed and just blended with the rest of the song.
Treble is hard to gauge. I like the presentation of it has and I found nothing agressive. But, once again, it feels liveless and lacking some bite due to all the warmth and it just can’t keep up with. Cymbal strikes (Larell Lewis – Change your mind) sound good and with nice decay, but set to the background of the music, while the kickdrums just come out instead. Joe Satriani’s guitar on Crowd Chant just lacks bite and feels like the background melody while kickdrums take the main course, fogging bite and definition. Upper treble is well extended, but the story keeps going as always – small and blured zings come across as faded in the back.
In a word, even for a V-Shape set, I think it lacks balance. A great comparition would be Xenns UP, as it as all the warmth but still pulls some mids and details, especially in the treble area. Muse – Kinights of Cydonia intro felt so strange I thought the IEM was badly plugged into the amp.
Technicalities
Due to the tuning’s nature, stage is straight right borked. It lacks depth and height, making the presentation a straight line in your head. Width is average. Imaging is not the best, around average to below average I would say. Resolving power is low, which I didn’t expect for a 10 BA. Detail level is average. There’s some BA timbre, noticeable more in the upper frequencies. I also didn’t find this set very dynamic, even a bit compressed maybe.
Verdict
As you might have guessed by now, I’m not a fan of this set. I know the tuning is not my taste, but inside the world of V-Shapes, I would still not recommend it. A good bass is not enough to do a good set, unless your metrics are upside down. It’s also nowhere near the worst set I’ve heard, so keep that in mind. The reason I was harsh with it relates to price. You ask for big boy price of the shelf, you be ready to be judged accordingly. If the price was half, I wouldn’t blink an eye, but giving we are talking benchmarkers range at this point, like EJ07m and Moondrop Variations, you get my point. For a little bit more (I in fact paid less on sale) you could have Softears RSV, and I don’t think thats even a fair comparision, and the reason I avoided doing any comparision on this take.
I enjoyed talking to Nicholas and I’m curious for the future releases, I just think I got the wrong one to start with, factoring my preferences and needs. I will try to listen to Allure and Volt in the future as I’m sure they will be getting some love real soon. These guys are really passionate and they only deliver what they consider is good to be sold, else they throw it out, which I respect and support.
Value ranking: 1/5 Overall ranking: D
Thanks for reading!
Post review update:
After my review was first posted, Nicholas has triend to slander through PMs and behind my back since I didn’t like their IEMs. There was also more contorversy between him and other people after that event. Given that, AüR is now blacklisted for me and I won’t discuss anything regarding them other than this review.
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