64 Audio - U12t (Gen 1)

Easily the 64Audio U12T There's something about them that are just right for a wide genre of music. I've demo'd a bunch of IEMs back to back lately and I kept going back to the U12T.

The blank was left for my Zero red which is unfortunately not in my hands. I also had Mest mkii, Variations, S12, Hexa, and Wan'er. I've owned my U12t for nearly 2 years and am quite satisfied with it except for the throat sibilance from those 'n', 'h' etc sounds. Except for u12t, I got the ones from DUSK and above just recently. I most settled down on Monarch mkii, but... after I switch the Diva to the max bass mode, it blows me off... I am happy to answer your questions!

 except for the throat sibilance from those 'n', 'h' etc sounds, even more serious than on the 64 audios.

musictek is great! try absolutely everything they have on offer, no matter the price. must trys: nostalgia camelot, alphaomega omega, ve7, custom art fibae 5 do try out the cables theyre selling too and make your opinion on them based on your experience compared to reddit, asr, and reviews im guessing youre talking about the um mest ii? forget the mk 1 and 3, both are terrible. the mk2 is quite good, especially for the second hand prices theyre going for now the only 64 audio iems i like are the u12t and 18s, the latter being not versatile at all but terrific for rock. quite overpriced but at least theyre an industry giant, and for the ear pressure system

In a nutshell, Tia Trio's wow factor lies in its bass response while U12t's wow factor lies in its imaging. I found the upper treble peak on the U12t its biggest weakness and likely its most controversial aspect, but it's no worse than the IE600's upper treble exaggeration. Truth is, the 'reference-adjacent flagship' sound the U12t targeted has mostly been done better by newer IEMs such as Symphonium Helios or Subtonic Storm. Meanwhile, the Tia Trio's bass is only rivalled by (IMO) the IER-Z1R and the astronomically-priced Brise Audio Fugaku, but both have an even more coloured overall tuning. The common reviewer consensus is that 64audio's A line tends to have excessive bass that makes it sound unbalanced compared to the U line; this makes sense in a loud live session, less so in casual listening. Not exactly an issue if you plan to EQ though. If you've been EQing anyway, may I recommend the dark horse (and my own daily) that is the 7th Acoustics Supernova. Bang-on neutral bass and treble with a relaxed (some would say honky) midrange that could easily be EQed to whatever you want thanks to its smooth frequency response. Resin shell is on the medium-large side but it sits in my ear comfortably, good isolation because of the fit, but even aside from the midrange, its other weaknesses are possible 8k glariness (you need to experiment with tips) and the fact that neutral bass and treble isn't for everyone (Precog mentioned lacking resolution, I'd say it's because he's used to heaps of upper treble in most other flagships. My opinion is if that's the price to pay for balanced tonality, so be it; the resolution isn't that bad anyway). Also, while it's a sturdy resin build, it's also a very small company, so it may be difficult if something does go wrong with it.

Hi OP, they're all in the same range, more or less. The most popular ones mentioned in the comments are the most "Safe" options. ie. Harman/Meta tuned. I live near my local IEM store and I personally did not like anything in this list except the S12 Pro. Not because of the sound signature but because they all lacked detail retrieval and clarity. While the S12 Pro is pure planar, it is a bit "sharper", but being planar-driven means it will be very receptive to EQ. Everything else will not be as receptive. I have the S12 Pro and I daily the 64Audio U12T so I place immense emphasis on detail retrieval and clarity more so than quantity of bass. Quality > Quality in my case. If you're an analytical listener, the S12 Pro is your top pick. If you need more bass or less treble, jus EQ it away. I have a written a piece on the S12 Pro here [https://www.reddit.com/r/inearfidelity/comments/1h1w33s/100\_vs\_2000\_iem\_shoot\_out\_letshuoer\_s12\_pro\_vs/](https://www.reddit.com/r/inearfidelity/comments/1h1w33s/100_vs_2000_iem_shoot_out_letshuoer_s12_pro_vs/) and [https://www.reddit.com/r/iems/comments/1g7bxsi/letshuoer\_s12\_pro\_qdc\_anole\_v14\_64\_audio\_u12t/](https://www.reddit.com/r/iems/comments/1g7bxsi/letshuoer_s12_pro_qdc_anole_v14_64_audio_u12t/)

Well, you asked about the the best IEM in our personal opinions. But, a serious answer: If I were you I'd steer away from the IEMS in the 5-6k INR range. They're mostly just meta/harman tuned and sound more or less identical. If you want something that lasts really long, has impeccable sound and build quality, easy to drive, and will play just about any genre really well, go for the Letshuoer S12 Pro. It's about 13k INR, more than twice your budget but packs more than twice the quality of IEMs in the 5-6k INR range. I daily the 64A U12T, and despite the S12 Pro being more than 10x cheaper, it's about 90% of the U12T. I have both, and in many instances I would reach for the S12 Pro. I use it for gaming and various listening.

Extreme Metal only sounds great on BA/Planar IEMs. The problem with EM is that that it doesn’t have the V-shape sound that most budget sets are tuned for. Niche genres need niche IEMs. For EM, the IEM needs to have exceptional treble. Hence BA/Planar sets. Anything with DD for bass = muddy since transient response of DD is simply not enough for the kind of speed you need. That is a limitation of DD. For budget I recommend S12 Pro, kilobuck Andromeda 2020, or multikilo U12T. I’ve tested all sorts from all budgets in accordance with the hype, these are the only three sets that sound good for Metal.

Mega5ests, monarch mk3/mk2, oracle mk3, u12t used. Really depends on what you want in a sound profile

I just got the 64 audio u12t. IEM for the win bro

Happy it helped! I think pro gamers double up to block out crowd noise haha. I'm just thinking of CS pros, so my knowledge on that is limited. >Drivers, what are the pros and cons of single, dual, hybrid, etc.? I'll give the **pros** for each first. So the most common driver for IEMs out there is the balanced armature (BA) driver. It was the first major alternative to dynamic driver (DD), and allowed makers to put multiple drivers into a small form factor like the IEM. Each driver than concentrate on a specific frequency range instead, given the manufactured cared enough to put enough crossovers and tune them. Otherwise you have a bunch of drivers doing the exact same thing, defeating the purpose of having a multi-driver setup. These days it's hard to find an IEM without BA involved. Hybrids typically refer to a combination of BA and DD. One *seemingly* weakness of the BA design is its bass. Actual "weakness" is interesting and not an actual auditory weakness: [/u/oratory1990 made a great post about it](https://www.reddit.com/r/oratory1990/comments/nk243a/comment/gzdlw80/). DD is far more forgiving, so you can have it handle the bass while the BAs handle the rest. Tribrids are usually DD, BA, and electrostatic (EST) drivers. EST on paper is very accurate which translates to great detail retrieval. DD for bass, BA for mids, and EST for highs. More recently we have quadbrids. Uncommon so multiple flavors. Usually begins with the tribrid, then adds bone conduction (BC), piezo (PZT), etc. All have their quirks in terms of sound, but I wonder if that's inherent to the drivers themselves or not. The outlier is planar magnetic drivers. On paper planars are extremely fast, can reproduce the entire spectrum very well. These days they're typically packaged in tribrid and quadbrid flavors. Of course there are other driver combos, but these are the most common. Now, the **cons** of each. In terms of sound? Nothing. There are fantastic IEMs for every driver configuration out there. 64Audio U12T is all-BA, Sony IER-Z1R is a hybrid, ThieAudio Monarch Mk. II is a tribrid, and ThieAudio Origin is a quadbrid. I think it has less to do with what kind of drivers and more to do with how the manufacture designed/tuned it. Also it depends on your preference of sound. In terms of fit? All BA tend to have few fit issues because the drivers are tiny. Hybrid/tribrid/quadbrids can have fitment issues due to the large DD--some of the most uncomfortable IEMs feature the DD (IER-Z1R, Monarch Series, etc.) Planars are large, too. Single DD IEMs tend not to have fitment issues, either. Price is an issue. EST and planar drivers are more expensive, and it reflects in the price. **Original post category examples:** Not a comprehensive list, just rattling off the top of my head. - neutral tuning: Etymotic ER4XR/ER4SR, Hidition NT6 - mild-V/U+V/U tuning: Sony IER-Z1R, ThieAudio Monarch Mk. III, Symphonium Crimson, UM MEST Mk. II - bassheads: Sony IER-Z1R, FatFreq Maestro SE, FatFreq Grand Maestro - trebleheads: Letshuoer S12 (I think people don't like "spicy" sounds...)

Hard disagree with the U12T. Nothing stood out with those iems to warrant the $2000 price tag.

Yea I don’t get them at all. They sounded pretty mid to me. Also most reviewers no longer consider them TOTL, but its not like that matters.

Monarch MKIV came in last week and I've really been enjoying them. I've been in the iem game for quite a few years, starting with the KZ ZS3, Moondrop Starfield, Etymotic ER2s, etc. I think I've finally found something that checks all the boxes for me. Like many of you here, I initially struggled to find out what my preference for tuning was. I thought I liked a lot of bass until I tried Etymotics. I realized I liked a leaner sound, but felt something was missing. Tried the og Moondrop Blessing 2. Loved them and the DD bass, but overall still wanted more. Ran a pair of Dunu SA6 for a couple years. Loved the tuning there, but with all BA bass, found myself missing the physical oomph down low. Something else I want to mention other than sound is comfort. People talk about comfort here and there, but its always just a small part of a review. For me, and I think a lot of people, comfort can make or break and iem. The Etymotics fit were pretty much a dealbreaker right from the start. Any tug of that cable was instant pain. When I finally landed on the Dunu SA6, they were the most comfortable iems I ever wore, and might still be. Small, perfectly contoured, they disappeared into your ears. Yet, I wanted more sound wise. Eventually led me to the 64 audio U12Ts. Of course, they sound amazing. Maybe lacking in the treble range for me, but nothing an EQ profile couldn't fix. Bass even amazing. But comfort eventually was a big downside for me on the U12Ts. They offer no contour on the shell, and after a couple years trying different tips and whatnot, I still could never get them to fit. I thought about getting custom A12ts, but with the price and release of 4th Monarch, I decided to take the leap. I've been eyeing the Monarch ever since the original release. A lean signature with thicc DD subbass really appealed to me on paper, and thankfully, it also very much appeals to me for real. The MKIV feels like the true final evolution of the series. So to continue with the comfort feel, I was initially worried about the size of the shell, and yeah, they're freaking huge - BUT they are contoured well, and because I have fairly large ears, they fit me perfectly. I don't have to keep adjusting or pushing them back into my ears like I did with the U12Ts. Anyway, as for sound, well like the original Monarchs, they are indeed a somewhat lean, but the MK4 has the addition of the "rumble" switch that adds a +3db shelf to the subbass region. This versatility really makes this thing shine. As a metalhead, there are times where lots of bass can be overpowering and ruin the mix, so leaving the rumble switch off is perfect for certain styles or songs. But for those slow hard hitting drops the rumble switch adds a needed big physical impact. As for audio, I finally found the tuning that I really prefer, a slight V shape with thicc DD bass and the ability to raise or lower the shelf right on the iem itself. Technicalities more or less on par with the U12Ts - maybe not as fast with decay and transients, but its 90% of the way there. Timbre on some parts can be a bit unnatural/plasticky compared to the U12T, but it depends a lot how the song is produced. Got this paired with the Questyle M15i or the Qudelix 5k with Tidal via UAPP on my phone - about as good as it gets for mobile audio bliss. And as for comfort and everything else, these things disappear in my ears with the included M size tips. The main drawback for this iem is the included cable. It does have 4.4 and 3.5mm modular terminations, but it feels and looks like it was made in the 70s - brown, kinda sticky, and kink prone. Had to replace that with a nice blue Kinera Lara cable to match the faceplate. I'm not a fan of the flashy looking iems, so these look amazing to me. Anyway, thanks for reading this wall of text, I'm not much of a reviewer, but seeing as there aren't many posts about the MK4 yet, I just wanted to share how happy I am with the sound, fit, and looks of my current setup. Finally feels like I've solved every issue I've had portable audio wise.