64 Audio A18s

[Josephina]

TheA18s has a very fierce competition right now if you ask me. We have seen a lot of companies release new flagships in the past year. But most of them were universal only, and since I want to keep this article on customs, I am excluding these here. We will check out how the A18s compares against its stable-mates A18t and A12t. Of course we will also take a look at how the A18s fares up against its competition outside of 64 Audio.

All comparisons are done using the respective stock cables. Mentioned prices are in USD for their custom built variants and correct at the time of writing. Some manufacturers offer their universal versions at a cheaper price.

The mids of the A18s sound more warmed up and more analogue than those of the A18t. The A18t has higher levels of transparency in its mid-range. The A18s has a fuller body and more emotions in its musicians and singers. The A18t on the other hand sounds airier and more open. It gives musicians more space and air to move.

The A18t has a more forward top-end, while the A18s sounds a touch calmer. Both have great clarity, but the A18t gives more energy to the treble. Extension on both is superb. The A18t to me seems a bit brighter tuned, while the A18s is a bit softer and more laid back.

In terms of technical performance these two are sublime performers. The A18t does stretch a slightly wider stage, while the A18s goes more into depth. Both have incredible resolution, but the A18t does edge out the A18s in terms of separation. It makes a cleaner cut and just stands above with its surgical precision. The A18s and the A18t both have impressive imaging values and layering. To me, there is no clear winner in that. Both present a vast amount of micro details, but I think the A18t brings them out just a notch clearer.

Both the A12t and A18s possess a powerful low end, but they do put their attention to different frequency spectrums. The A12t does put sub-bass more in focus, while the A18s gives more light to the mid and upper-bass. The A12t goes deeper with more authority and grunt. It puts more resolution into the lows as well. The A18s is smoother and more natural. It has a bigger body, but the A12t is denser and tighter. The A12t also sounds faster and more energetic in the bass to me.

The A18s leaves the A12t behind pretty much in all technical aspects. It creates a wider and deeper stage, it renders at a higher rate and its layering is superior. They both have excellent imaging and separation, but the A18s does separate instruments better. It also has nicer texture to me.

The Anole VX is one of the monitors that really surprised me last year. It has won me over with its full and engaging sound and flexibility with its changeable tuning. And I was very curious to hear how the A18s fares up against the qdc flagship.

The Anole VX has a more DD-esque low end. It sounds richer and fuller. The A18s has a more powerful bass, that is faster and tighter. It goes a bit lower than the VX, but the Anole creates a lusher bass. The A18s sounds somewhat rawer than the Anole VX to me.

The mid-range of both monitors are of warmer presentation, but the A18s goes a maybe a bit further than the qdc. The Anole VX sounds softer, richer and mellower. The A18s has higher resolution and clarity. It puts more air around the instruments and gives them more space. Both have a very natural sound, but the Anole VX is sweeter and more emotional.

In terms of technical performance, both are superb choices. The A18s however creates a bigger venue than the Anole VX. The VX edges out the A18s in terms of layering to me. Both image incredibly well and place instruments extremely carefully in the constructed rooms.

The A18s provides more mid-range clarity than the Layla. The Layla sounds thicker and richer in tone, but does not come with the same air around instruments as the A18s. Vocals sound cleaner and more precise on the A18s, but the Layla gives them a sweeter and more romantic timbre. Overall Layla sounds fuller, darker and lusher compared to the A18s.

The A18s has a warmer mid-range and sounds fuller here. Its instruments are more organic and natural to my ears. The Khan sounds thinner and lighter. The A18s has better precision and transparency in the mids to me too.

Is the A18s an upgrade to the A18t? No, not to me. The A18t still remains king when it comes to precision and accuracy. The A18s however, builds up on that and goes a slightly different route. In the preview post I called the A18s a blend of the best characteristics of the A18t and A12t. After weeks of additional listening I still stand by that sentiment.

A daytime code monkey with a passion for audio and his kids, Linus tends to look at gear with a technical approach, trying to understand why certain things sound the way they do. When there is no music around, Linus goes the extra mile and annoys the hell out of his colleagues with low level beatboxing.

The Noir and the A18s sound more alike than the Tia Fourt and the A18s. Both have a warmer signature, but the Noir to me sounds a bit fuller and thicker. The bass on the Noir is also denser and thicker. It has more impact and punch as well. The A18s is a bit thinner in the mids, but not too much really. The Noir is just a hint fuller bodied. In treble I think both are pretty similar. The staging is also rather on par with them. The Noir however presents the musicians more in front of you than the A18s.

Thanks for your detailed answer Linus, seems you have a preference for the Noir which, from what you say, has a bit more of everything. Is that a correct understanding or A18s has also area were it does things better than the Noir?

congratulations on the Analysis, I am undecided between A18s and A18t, my favorite genres are Rock, Pop, Hip Hop, some Rap and Electronic, what do you recommend? I want a Ciem de Topo and excellence. By the way, if you had to give a score from 0 to 10, which one would you give? Another issue is passive isolation good?

While A18t/U18t was designed for mastering engineers and audiophiles, and later adopted by live performers, A18s was designed for the most demanding live performers in the world and now being adopted by engineers and audiophiles as well.

It all started with a special artist request. A long time A18t user was hoping to implement a thinner/lower-profile cable which had a higher resistance. Because A18t does not have LID technology, plugging into a wireless pack with that cable would potentially change the frequency response (while monitoring). Adding LID turned into experimenting with different drivers and crossover techniques, eventually coming together as A18s. The three main additions that set it apart from A18t is higher maximum output, warmer tonality, and LID technology.

A18s outperforms all of our IEMs (and most competitors) when it comes to maximum output, or max SPL. This refers to how loud the IEM can operate before audible driver distortion. While the two are often confused Max SPL is different than sensitivity.

A real world example: while using a wireless body-pack, going between two IEM models. With your volume knob at a certain position switch to a different IEM model. Without changing the position of your volume knob, if that new IEM is louder it has a higher sensitivity than the previous IEM, if it is quieter is has a lower sensitivity. The way to properly correct that is usually adjusting the gain staging upstream of your pack, so rather than just turning the knob up you either adjust the transmitter volume or boost the signal going into the transmitter.

It displays the additional driver headroom that will accommodate less dynamically processed inputs and mixes without saturation and distortion. Thanks indeed for working to lift the product offering to a better level than what is already in my opinion the best suite of product available to the market.

For one, 64 Audio claims to have made the A18s more efficient. I cannot confirm that claim because the A18t is 2-3 dB louder with all of my amps at the same volume setting. However, the A18s have less treble and thus create less fatigue at higher listening volume. I guess that is what 64 Audio was trying to say.

This is a raw and uncompensated curve. It gives us information about the tonality and the sound tuning of an IEM. (Not necessarily about the sound quality.) If you are not sure how to read it, here is an introductory post: Understanding Raw Frequency Graphs

The demo shell of the A18s is different to the A18t. The new S version has the same universal design as the Nio, which is a bit more comfortable but makes it a little trickier to get the exact same fit for detailed A/B-comparisons with the previous U18t. Anyway, here is a visual representation of what my IEC picked up.

The bass shifted stronger to the sub-bass area. For 64 Audio, the U18t was very unique in this regard. While the U18t have a warm and full-bodied bass, all their other models have a sub-bass heavy curve similar to the A18s, including U12t, N8, A6t, A4t, tia Tri and tia Fourt.

Personally, I actually prefer the U12t over the U18t in terms of tuning of the bass. So the changes to the A18s are for less bloat, snapier punch and more rumble. However, the U18t is better for bass texture and also for a more relaxed presentation. Consider this in case that bass can be fatiguing to you.

How would this translate to the custom-fit? As mentioned, I have noticed some differences of the custom-fit and universal demo of 64 Audio IEM. Due to perfect fit, the bass is tighter. I believe with CIEM the whole audio system is more stable and creates less movement on its own, resulting in a cleaner output. (Consider people use speaker spikes and marble plates for a similar effect.) This also helps to improve the soundstage and resolution overall.

How suitable are the 64 Audio A18s for audiophiles? In short: Very! The 64 Audio A/U12t are probably one of the most popular high-end IEM of all time. Professionals, on stage and in studio, as well as audiophiles share their preference with this model. Ultimately, the A18s is a refined A12t.

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