64 Audio - U4s

I have a curse with IEM faceplate, first Moondrop May then the U4s :((

Mega5est bass+ sounded a lot better to me than the OG, the 64audio U4S is pretty great as well.

I just bought the u4s for 2 months now, and my impression is that is was great. Used to own the old u10, and got a perfect autoEQ (for my personal taste) from trial and error. Will bookmark this for future reference should i go for the new u12t (white version) or the volur.

Nice impressions, I have the U4S and nothing comes close in terms of the sense of physicality U4S has, the treble is a tad bit spicy for me on the U4S, interesting to hear that U12T is more refined.

I wanna get the diva, cause I love the studio 4, female vocals are legendary on that set, I've heard great things about the diva, but the fit looks concerning with that chonky shell And is U12T bright? I have U4S and it does get a little spicy with that 16k peak but how does U12T compare with that set.

At $1k there’s definitely a difference in my experience based on what I own, but I’d say going all the way to $2k is unnecessary and really heavily hitting diminishing returns. Try to find an open box set of some solid kilobucks (got my U4s open box for ~$800 for example) and call it a day.

**Introduction** I attended an audio show and had the chance to listen to over 30 IEMs. Rather than going too deep on every single one, I wanted to highlight the 3 IEMs that truly impressed me and share some rapid-fire thoughts on the rest. Do note that these are my subjective impressions, and the rapid-fire takes might not convey everything. **64 Audio U12t** 64 Audio was the brand I had looked forward to the most at the show. And U12t was easily the best IEM I heard there. The first thing that caught my attention was its imaging and soundstaging, it was one of the few IEMs that gave me a true sense of holographic staging. I really liked the treble tuning, it was extended, crisp, and avoided being sibilant. The midrange was on the warmer, lusher side, with upper mids slightly recessed for my taste. I hadn’t expected the bass to sound this good coming from BAs. It was detailed, hit hard, but decayed a tad faster than typical DDs. **Softears Enigma** At first, I thought it was just another ridiculously overpriced IEM that would sound mediocre. But I was wrong, the bass quality was pretty good, better than U12t. I didn’t feel anything special about the mids, they were neither shouty nor recessed. I sensed a dip around 5-6 kHz, as I am quite sensitive to peaks there. This made vocals much smoother to listen to, but there was a lack of excitement, so vocals weren’t the strong suit of this IEM. But it was the treble that hooked me and made me want to keep listening. The treble had an 'ethereal' quality. It felt lighter, extended, refined, and more importantly, exciting. Because of this, I just kept listening and ended up staying longer than I had planned, it was that good. **64 Audio U4s** This is basically a 'baby U12t', with a dynamic driver for the bass, giving it a proper bass thump. It had all the qualities I mentioned in U12t, but the overall technical prowess was slightly lower. I am still confused whether I preferred U12t’s faster bass response or U4s meatier bass response, nevertheless it was good. The midrange had similar qualities to what I described in U12t impressions. But the treble performance was a slight downgrade compared to U12t, it was on the splashier side with touch less refinement. **Top Performers in:** **Bass** * 64 Audio Volur * Sennheiser IE 900 **Mid-range** * 64 Audio U12t/U4s * Mega5EST **Treble** * Softears Enigma * 64 Audio U12t **Rapid-fire impressions** **64 Audio Fourte** * Emphasized bass * Recessed vocals * Non-offensive treble * No wow factor * Overpriced **64 Audio Trio** * Recessed mids, but not as much as Fourte * Non-offensive treble * Third best 64 Audio IEM for me **64 Audio U18t** * Treble presentation didn’t work for me * Not as good as U12t **64 Audio Volur** * Best bass I’ve ever heard in an IEM * Treble is quite peaky **64 Audio Nio** * Darkest among the 64 Audio lineup I’ve tried * Not my preferred sound signature **64 Audio Solo** * Best planar IEM I heard at the show * Bass quality wasn’t the best compared to others * Technical performance not up to the price **ThieAudio Monarch MK3** * Chonky shell, but still comfortable to wear * Emphasized yet controlled bass * Treble was slightly peaky * No wow factor **Sony IER Z1R** * Uncomfortable to wear, lacks proper seal * Because of that, bass suffered, I had to hold it with my hands to get the best seal * Bass quality is great (not the best I’ve heard, can’t say much due to poor fit) **Sennheiser IE 900** * Vocals sounded stuffy, weird, and recessed * One of the best bass I heard at the show after 64 Audio Volur * Lacking in detail and imaging for the price **Sennheiser IE 600** * Better tonality than IE 900, especially in the upper mids * Again, not the best in technical performance **Mega5EST** * Most normal-sounding IEM I heard at the show * Quite bassy for this type of mid-range * Not the best in subjective qualities **Dunu Da Vinci** * Similar impression to Mega5EST * This type of sound signature doesn’t work well with such a bass boost **Letshuoer Cadenza 12** * Fairly neutral with a bass boost * Lacks the wow factor * Treble was slightly on the harsher side **Elysian Pilgrim** * Non-offensive sound signature * Treble is a bit forward and spicy * Lacks excitement **Softears RSV** * Bass quality was good * Vocals sounded strained * Nothing special about the treble **Softears Volume S** * Non-offensive, but somewhat shouty on some songs * Slightly peaky treble (in some songs) **Softears Studio 4** * Sounded okay (but in a good way) * Nothing particularly special **FATfreq Maestro Mini** * Driver flex * Too much bass (works well with engaging songs) * Treble not refined **FATfreq Scarlet Mini** * Driver flex * Even more bass (too much on top of the already excessive bass of Maestro Mini) **FATfreq Grand Maestro** * Didn’t felt as bassy as compared to others * Faced similar fit issues like the IER Z1R **Campfire Audio Andromeda Emerald Sea** * Warm sounding with non-offensive treble * Didn’t felt anything special about the rest **Campfire Audio Trifecta** * Very weird sounding (that’s what I wrote in the notes:) * Overpriced for what it is * But looks stunning though **Campfire Audio Astrolith** * Too much treble * Again, overpriced **Campfire Audio Solaris Stellar Horizon** * Best sounding Campfire Audio IEM in my opinion * Bass quality was good * Mids sounded recessed * Energetic treble response

Ive demo’d the mega5est before in Japan. It’s a fantastic all rounder, there’s no genres it performs poorly in. But as others have said, it lacks any specific tuning oddities to be especially exciting to listen to. I own a SA6 mkII. It is well tuned for female vocals and most genres where you aren’t looking for bass impact and slam. The lack of a dynamic driver makes the more anemic BA bass noticeable. Other than that however, it is a well tuned iem. I have tried someone’s pair of meteors a while back, so these impressions are a little more fuzzy. I wasn’t too happy about how there was no venting in the iem. As a result, the isolation was excellent, but the pressure feeling in the ear was unpleasant enough for me to dismiss owning a pair altogether. I will say however that I probably liked its tuning more than the SA6mkIIs. It has a U shaped tuning with more emphasis on the bass and treble, which can make it more engaging to listen to. As a result, this one has more coloured tuning compared to the previous 2 iems. I prefer iems with this type of tuning, as my favourite pair is the 64audio u4s. However, it is less natural sounding than the others due to this. To be honest, I personally would just get a pair of Hype4s. I find them more interesting to listen to, and they have enough technical performance to satisfy most people. However, if you want something that sounds mostly neutral and safe, the mega5ests are good. You might want to include what kinds of music you listen to, and what are you looking for in an iem when asking for a recommendation

This isn’t recommended enough. And the used market price for these is so good.

They were sold out on Amazon for inthink 2 days and then they were back for a day. I'm waiting on the tea pros now. I have the arete and a 64 audio u4s ATM. I like the aretes for gaming alot but supposedly the tea pros are better. So when they come the arete goes bye bye lol. I'm also pretty new to iems myself. Congrats on the arete.

Scarlet mini by far. Love the bass. Ive only tried 6 iems so far : arete(returned but were fine), tea pro(returned too big for me), thieaudio origin(returned also too big), duece(returned not enough bass) 64 audio u4s(is my all arounder and used for gaming), and fatfreq scarlet mini(my favorite for music) Dac: currently using btr17 but plan on returning as I ordered a hiby r4. In the past I used a fio k3 for my open backs.

I was at Axpona yesterday, listened to a lot of iem’s, and I was kind of amazed at how much everything mostly sounded the same. I tried every item from Thieaudio and while I had favorites, I would be completely happy with the hype 4, with the Divinity 14 and Origin being my favorite, but it was shockingly close. Same with 64 audio, liked all of their offerings favoring the u18t, followed buy the velour and u4s. At the Bloom audio table, they had almost everything to try. Crazy how much sounded the same. At the campfire table, I a/b’d the supermoon and astrolith, with the latter being better, but not $2k better. Diminishing returns really kick in super fast in this hobby.

I would recommend avoiding shopping by driver configuration as the final tonality and sound is not directly determined by the quantity / variety of drivers present in the IEM, it's a little more complicated then that. As for direct suggestions, if you already like the sound of the FH5, which I have tried for a while and enjoyed a lot as well, I would recommend you the following ones: - Dunu SA6 Mk2 - - > probably my favorite Iem of all, the semi-custom shell design helps a lot with the isolation and the sound is extremely balanced and spacious I've been using them for about 2 years at this point, pretty much my default daily driver (aka the one I most easily pick from my collection when I don't know which one to chose for the day) - 64audio U4s - - > almost a direct upgrade of the SA6 mk2, with a lot of tuning options for the bass (64audio apex modules, which are interchangeable plugs that tune the amount of sub-bass and bass) I've used them for about a few months, but even tho they sounded better overall than the SA6 mk2, I payed for them over double and the comfort and isolation was inferior to them. Ended up selling them to make budget for other iems to try - Unique Melody MEST Mk2 - - > probably my endgame iem, the sound is pretty much perfect for me, the bass hits hard, the spacial presentation is amazing, the amount of detail is astonishing. The comfort is better than the u4s, but lesser than the sa6mk2 Still have them, I keep them as my office iems (so I get to use them often without needing to move them around) They're hella pricy tho... Quick relative recap: Dunu sa6 mk2: Sound 8,5/10 Comfort & isolation 9,9/10 Price 9/10 64audio u4s: Sound 9/10 Comfort & isolation: 6,5/10 Price 7/10 UM Mest mk2: Sound: 9,9/10 Conform & isolation: 8,5/10 Price: 5/10 Sound measurement of all the iems mentioned: https://squig.link/?share=Harman_Adjusted_Target,Super_22_Target,IEF_Comp_Target,Fiio_FH5,Dunu_SA6_mkII_(off),64_Audio_U4s_(m20),Unique_Melody_MEST_mkII (the sa6mk2 have a little bass switch that enhances slightly the bass quantity, the u4s has the apex modules which tune the bass, you can select them from the graphing tool) Final suggestion, which I have just thought of: Custom iems, such as the A-line from 64audio, which would give you the best possible fit, comfort and isolation by giving you an Iem made EXACTLY for your ear. The price goes way up and reselling them would be complicated.