64 Audio - Nio

64 Audio Nio was the one that checked all boxes for me.

I listened to the 64 Audio U12T at CanJam and I really wanted one ever since. A used Nio came up on AVexchange and I bought it because it's similar in many ways. No regrets. It's like open back headphones inside your ear canals.

This is so funny because i was about to get the se846 but it was sold out on b&h and was waiting for it to be back in stock. A used pair of studio 64 nio with newly replaced drivers was available on tmr for $1000 and i jumped on it before b&h got their new stock in (and jacked up the price with the new stock so lol). I have only had it a few days, but it really shines with my desktop amps like the ef400 and k7 (carefully voluming up). I was excited to pair it with the new m18i and it was very disappointing. Probably more of an issue with portable amps versus desktop than anything else.

That’s 64 audio’s whole thing. They built a port with filters into their iems. Essentially acts like having a molded earplug with set db filters (believe they have 12, 15, 20, and solid) that passes signal through it.

If you don't practice with IEMs, it would be better to not play with them either. The difference in volume perception, cue mix, and dealing with human interactions is pretty significant compared to the relative ease of sliding down your 'phones. Side note: most people see the visual cue of 'headphones on' and hold back on coming up to the booth - not so with IEMs. They just don't see them! I'm fortunate to have universal ear holes ?!!! so my set of 64Audio are great. Tried the Sennheiser HD-25 and they're good, also but actually did hurt my ears after a long gig. They also seemed to be tuned to clip certain frequencies but that could have just been my perception, Found that the bass was almost always too rich, when I really needed the mids to be in my sweet spot. The other gotcha with wearing IEMs, whether you get a custom fit or get away with the universal fits, is that you have to absolutely know, trust and believe in your FOH music management. You obviously don't need a booming booth monitor but if you're also controlling your own FOH on the fly, IEMs are not good for keeping your overall volume balanced. If you have to manage your own sound, I wouldn't trust my IEMs to not get in the way.