Design.

Even so I’m not a big fan of CIEMs due to issues with a fit and my ear canal anatomy, in some cases there is no other choice and as of now N8 available in CIEM shell only. But I’m pleased to say that fit of N8 was perfect, they got it right from the first try. Once 64 Audio has your impressions and stores it digitally (though scanning), they can recall and edit it using a proprietary software, and 3D print it whenever you are getting a new pair of CIEMs.

But everything starts with 64 Audio Designer where you have a plethora of choices, starting with half a dozen of 3D printed shell colors, and a huge selection of faceplates (22 standard, 8 glitters, 4 glows, 8 wooden, 4 wooden burls, and 11 exotic material). You can also customize the logo with either 64 Audio or Nathan’s “NE” signature initials in either gold or silver, or upload your own custom artwork. I’m sure, if someone has a custom color in mind, you can contact their customer service. Don’t forget, you can also customize the storage case with a user name and initials. Also, once the order is placed, you get a login to track every step of CIEM development and manufacturing, something I haven’t seen with any other company. There is no instant gratification with CIEMs like you would have with a faster availability when ordering universals, but at least you are not in the dark when waiting for your monitors.

The shells I received were all black with a glossy piano finish of hypoallergenic hard acrylic material. Faceplate was black as well with a gold logo of 64 Audio (left) and NE signature initials (right). I found Nathan East “NE” initials to make a really cool custom artwork. Another addition to the faceplate is a replaceable apex module (providing a fatigue-free listening experience with no ear pressure build up), finally a hybrid design from 64 Audio where the module can be replaced, unlike Fourte and Trio.

2-pin socket is recessed, making cable connection more secure, especially for performing musicians on stage. Furthermore, I also find a tighter seal of a recessed socket to provide more protection in keeping moisture and dirt away from cable pins. On a side of the shell, close to the socket, you will also find a large vent for a dynamic driver. Last, but not least, inner side of the shell has a model number, serial number, and owner’s initials, in red (on the right side) and in blue (on the left side).

Inside the shell you have a hybrid design with a 4-way crossover partitioning 9mm low Dynamic Driver (DD), 6 mid BAs, 1 high-mid BA, and 1 tia high BA. The total number of drivers is 9 while this hybrid CIEM has “8” model number. Balanced Armatures (BA) are typically self-enclosed with a single opening port, while you can think of tia as an open BA driver where one of the enclosure walls is removed, to enable direct-radiating of the inner diaphragm which no longer has a 4-wall confinement. Tia driver is usually positioned in the nozzle, next to the grill since it has to be closer to your earcanal. As a result, N8 doesn’t have sound tube bores going to the nozzle, and instead has a mesh covering it up.

Another tech included with N8 is their Linear Impedance Design (LID) of crossover where despite a low impedance (6ohm), N8 should be compatible and sound the same when paired up with different sources, regardless of their output impedance.

The fit.

Sound Analysis.

I analyzed N8 sound performance across different sources while playing a variety of test tracks, such as Agnes Obel “The curse”, Sandro Cavazza “So much better” (Avicii remix), C-Bool “Never go away”, Ed Sheeran “Shape of you”, Galantis “Hunter”, Iggy Azalea “Black widow”, Indila “Boite en argent”, Robin Schultz “Oh child”, David Elias “Vision of her”, Michael Jackson “Dirty Diana”, and Nathan’s own “Daft Funk” as well as Daft Punk “Get lucky” where the man himself played the bass. Also, considering hybrid design of N8, I let it burn in for 100hrs to make sure its dynamic driver is fully conditioned, though I didn’t hear too many changes, except for the bass settling down just a bit.

N8 has a very smooth natural musical tonality with a signature on a borderline of balanced and a tilt toward L-shaped due to enhanced bass emphasis. The sound is organic, smooth, full bodied, and still manages to be resolving with a great retrieval of natural tonality details. N8 doesn’t have a high level of audiophile clarity one would expect due to high res tia driver, certainly not an analytical level of detail retrieval due to a musical natural tonality. But the sound never gets muddy or congested unlike some other similarly tuned IEMs

Soundstage is very wide and open, approaching holographic level. As a result, the imaging of the sound is pretty good with a convincing positioning of instruments and vocals where you can easily pin point everything.

The sound has a natural transparency, and while being smooth and leaning toward the warmer tonality, I don’t hear as much coloring. The sound is clear and without veil or muddiness. I hear a good separation of instruments, but not necessary the best layering.

In more details, bass hits with a noticeable authority, and has a deep visceral sub-bass extension with a powerful analog rumble, and a strong rounded mid-bass punch with surprisingly decent decay control. Lower mids are not too thick, more toward a neutral leaner side, while upper mids sound natural, detailed, a little laid back and still resolving. Treble is well defined and well controlled, not too bright, natural and with a moderate level of airiness.

At the time of wring this review, N8 was listed on-line with M15 module only, but 64 Audio mentioned on Head-fi that soon an option for M20 will be available as well. My review unit arrived with both M15 and M20, thus I figured to compare them. For those who are not familiar, M15 gunmetal color module has 15dB isolation and 2 venting holes under the cap, while M20 silver color module has 20dB isolation and a single-vent pinhole.

While in other 64 Audio IEMs, M15 vs M20 can make a more drastic sound difference, here the difference was rather small. What I’m hearing is a very subtle change where with M20 the mid-bass hits just a little harder, while with M15 soundstage is a little wider. I personally preferred M15 due to a slight reduction in bass slam and more open and airy soundstage. In terms of isolation, I found N8 CIEM to offer a similar level with either of the modules.

Page 3: Comparison, Pair-up, and Conclusion.