A review of 64 AUDIO tia FOURTE In-Canal Monitors: What voice the queen sings in? Angelic ..

“A song helps us build and live…”. Greetings to all who consider this motto as native. And everyone else is welcome to join our “irradiated by music” campaign. Join in, you will not regret it! Among us there are such fans of live sound as the guys from 64 AUDIO, who spend day and night in search, developing a line of their in-channel monitors. The road to perfection is endless, the main thing is to move forward, not to cut the thread coming from the roots, from the ideal concept of live sound, the one that helps to find yourself in the atmosphere of concerts and studios..

Somebody’s a fan of Spartak and I’m a fan of 64 AUDIO. And today I want to continue the story about the top of the model range of this brand: the hybrid four-driver model tia FOURTE. I’ve already gotten to know her – she’s a real queen with an angelic voice and heart-wrenching sophisticated charm. A worthy pair for the king –

In-channel headphones 18 TZAR

, which we told you about in our last review.

Thanks to 64 AUDIO for the provided sample for the listening

In-channel headphones tia FOURTE

Specifications

Type of headphones: hybrid

Number of emitters: 4 1 Tia High, 1 Tia Mid, 1 High-Mid, 1 Dynamic Low

Crossover: built-in 4-band passive crossover

Impendance: 10 ohms

Sensitivity: 114 dB/mW

Frequency range: 5Hz – 22kHz

APEX: built-in

Cable: removable – 1.2 m, connectors 2pin , jack-3,5mm

Appearance and package

I don’t know who “licked” the packaging design from: the tsar from the tsarina or vice versa? And this time the headphones come in a premium black packaging with two red accents – these are the “ears”, with the logo and model name. On the back side you can find all the technical information you need.

From the paper package immediately comes out quite regal box: it has the same 64 AUDIO logo in muted colors. Not a single letter unnecessary! All regal – weighty and stylish.

Inside the box found headphones with red edging, they are as if inlaid in a foam base. A pair of pairs of nozzles pressed into the foam on top: 3 pairs of silicone and 3 pairs of foam in different sizes, and on the left the queen of wanderings offers a hard plastic case.

What is there much to say! These headphones also have a royal set: inside the case there are all kinds of things “for sound makeup” – brush for sound tube, clothespin, drying capsule. As well as in the tsar’s package, under the stylish box located proprietary stickers with the logo and instructions, which is also a warranty card. No APEX plug-in modules this time around, as the tia FOURTE model has a built-in APEX module.

“The tia fourte has a “regal posture” as it should – almost the same as the flagship model. Its black aluminum body lights up with reddish trim across the khaki oxidized copper outer panel – white “tia” lettering on the left earpiece, the “64” logo on the right. the cable is detachable, pretty twisted, black color, material – oxygen-free copper, 3,5 mm jack Oyaide.

The inside of the case and the drive unit are also in black. The ears are light, beautiful and very comfortable. No fuss! It sits behind the ear.

Reminder: what is the Tia receiver?

Model tia Fourte accommodates two tia receivers. One of them, as well as the “Tsar” is placed directly in the sound tube and serves for working off the high frequencies. The second is aimed at decent midrange reproduction. It is placed in the upper, specially allocated for him chamber – just above the speaker and another BA driver. It turns out that this camera hit right at the junction 2pin jacks with the cable.

In contrast to the king tia Fourte model is available only in a universal case, as to implement a similar design in a custom version, without compromising sound, it is still quite difficult.

The Tia driver is essentially a normal armature driver, but lacks the snubber tube through which a normal “armature” sends a sound wave and also washes the sound with distortion. Other brands, to get rid of a similar “soap opera”, smother the sound with acoustic filters, which is not very effective, cumbersome and costly. Isn’t it better to “cut off” this dead place?? This is the essence of the patented technology: 64 AUDIO headphones use armature driver, which sends the sound to the membrane directly from the eardrum, bypassing any distortion.

With sound isolation and in these headphones did not happen special miracles: sound isolation is the same as in U18 TZAR, that is not worse, but not better than in other in-ear headphones.

Sound

Listening was done with MyST DAC 1866OCU V.2, iBasso DX200, Lotoo paw Gold, and iFI micro iDSD Black Lable. With all devices the headphones played back at a very high level.

The handwriting varied a little depending on the equipment used, but without any global differences. The tia Fourte played best with the stationary MyST DAC 1866OCU V.2 and Lotoo paw Gold.

Recently I was asked this question, who sings better – a king or a queen? After scratching my head in the back of my head, I answer as follows: until now, I could not decide what to choose. Some compositions come out better with 18 Tzar, and some with tia Fourte. And it’s not the genres and albums but the compositions, which often make the advantage more or less to one side. So, it all depends on personal preferences. For me personally: Both models are first, both are royalty!

I would describe the sound of tia Fourte as neutral, clean, very detailed, with a slight accent in the low frequencies and an extraordinary musicality. From the first notes the ears impress with their airy sound delivery, good speed characteristics, quality macro and micro patterns, high resolution and extraordinary precision.

The musical canvas is massively rendered, with the smallest nuances very detailed. Sometimes it even seems that the sound is everywhere and everywhere. It reminds me of a painting full of small and large images, painted with large and small strokes at the same time. The virtual space is quite spacious, it lines up perfectly, both in depth and in width.

Example. Let’s listen to David Bowie “SoulLove” again

Unlike U18 Tzar, the Fourte play this song with more ease and ease. The melody becomes something full of life force. Bowie’s voice is clear and uninhibited, sings casually and unhurriedly. The percussion is timbrically varied, and the bass part, how shall I put it in letters, lays down, its own separate layer. Well, very cool!

But I like strings, acoustic guitars, a little more than the “tsar”. What they lack here is the slightest bit of stiffness and aggression, I would say also the sense of touch of the plectrum…

With tia Fourte, acoustic guitar strings sound more like nylon, not silver… Although I should not hide, and such sounding is also very spectacular and beautiful. Hear the saxophone? The saxophone player’s voice is not as pedantic as the U18, but more improvisational and driving. Saxophone sounds more spirited and relaxed – here it is, a real immersion in waves of happiness… Just some kind of plague!

In general, so: the excessively hard moments are better with the “tsar”, though not everywhere, and the “tsarina” captivates and charms you, and it happens, you will come to yourself not at once..

And that bass, holy crap – what it sounds like! This is probably the best bass I’ve ever heard in an IEM!

Bottom line

Bass – clear and massive punch, distinguishing speed, the bass – relief, harsh, as if alive. It breathes, honestly!

The midrange is smooth, clean, very detailed, with excellent resolution. The pitch is layered, with each sound-instrument in its own specific place in the space. And vocals! Just amazing, natural reproduction of the vocal tones.

The tweeter is smooth, just a little crumbly, but still quite accurate, with no obvious accent or any annoying factors. They’re beautiful! The Tia driver transmits the tweeters so airy and light, as if the headphones use AMT or isodynamic tweeter. In some aspects, the sound of tia Fourte resembles the sound of a good isodynamic headphone, and a high class one at that.

Conclusion

Without a doubt, we are faced with a true masterpiece! The guys at 64 AUDIO have tripled the duel between their flagships, in which there can be no losers, and thus set the highest bar in the portable audio market. In fact, just as cool with the stationary MyST DAC 1866OCU V.2 no IEMs sound – except for two exceptions: the U18 TZAR and the StereoPravda SPearphone SB-7.

In the end of the review – the inevitable bitter pill: how much such masterpieces cost nowadays? The price tag is terrific for many: $3599 on the manufacturer’s website. But if you have some possibility to save some money, if you also like music so much, nothing is impossible in this life. Day and night with the queen is worth it!

So, I went to listen to the younger models of 64 AUDIO and save for my dream..

SOUND, kit, convenience, build quality and materials.

Price