In-a-Snapshot: Melodic Artification Alter Ego

A Second Self in a Switch!

PROS: solid build Titanium alloy shell, balanced tuning with a natural tonality, powerful dynamic bass, a bass boost switch, premium packaging, reasonably priced.

CONS: sound leakage (due to open back design), eartips sound dependency.

I received the product on a short-term loan for review purposes in exchange for my honest opinion.

Available for sale from authorized retailers like Musicteck.

Intro.

Anybody who follows closely CanJams probably noticed a lot of discussion after the latest SGP show with many talking about the new Alter Ego IEMs. I was a bit surprised that some people refer to these as a release from a newcomer, Melodic Artification, considering their 2xDD Eclipse from last year was one of the highlights of the CanJam NYC ’23 show. Eclipse stood out to me with its unique shell design, natural organic tuning with a deep bass, and a premium brand-name cable. So, as soon as I heard about the new Melodic Artification release being the highlight of CanJam SGP ’24 and saw its eye-candy faceplate design pictures circulating the Watercooler thread on Head-fi, I had to hear!

Naturally, I pinged Musicteck and asked them if they heard of these new IEMs, getting a reply back they are already waiting for a demo unit to arrive soon. I was too excited to hear it since I haven’t read even a single negative comment about these, especially considering AE’s open-back design. As many are aware, people usually complain about auditioning open-back full-size headphones at loud CanJam shows, while here the sound isolation wasn’t an issue (more about it as you read the review). Now, after spending a few days and already shipping them to the next lucky listener, here is what I found. Please, keep in mind that it will be a short review due to the brief time I spend with these.

Unboxing and Accessories.

The packaging AE arrived in was compact but still had a premium presentation. It is cube-shaped with a silver outer shell and a black box inside with a diagonal vertical split which opens up to reveal two tray boxes attached magnetically on the inside. One labeled “IEMS” is on the left side, and the other labeled “ACCESSORIES” is on the right. The IEMS tray had a dense foam insert with cutouts for monitors to keep AE secure inside. ACCESSORIES had two smaller boxes, one labeled TIPS and the other CASE and CABLE. TIPS contain a set of Final Type-E eartips and 2 small velour draw-string bags for IEM shells. CASE/CABLE box has a nice quality, roomy, velour rectangular storage box with a cable inside.

While not much info is available about the cable, unlike their previous Eclipse model which came with Liquid Links cable, I was told that stock AE cable has premium-quality Silver-Plated Copper (SPC) wires. The cable looks nice and durable with a solid build and soft non-microphonic PVC jacket. It comes with a matching titanium finish multi-facet design of a headphone plug (4.4mm BAL), y-split, and a chin-slider. The hardware of the cable matches nicely the titanium shells of AE. Even the 2-pin connectors have a matching titanium finish rounded housing and black/red markers for left/right sides.

Design.

Considering my recent review of Traillii Ti, that was my first reaction while looking at AE’s TC4 titanium alloy shells with a solid build, on par with the Titanium Bird. AE shells are not too big, relatively lightweight, and have a very comfortable fit with an average-length nozzle that is not too shallow or too deep. The inner part of the shell has a smooth custom-like contour, comfortably fitting inside my concha-cavum area of the ear. The faceplate has a cool industrial-looking open-back design with cutout shapes over the mesh cover and a recessed switch in the middle.

I assume the switch controls the internal crossover which affects the mid-bass and lower mids FR region, covered in my Sound analysis. While being recessed, it is still easy to access with a fingernail to toggle it, but it does require a bit of force so you won’t flip it by accident. There is a tactile response as you toggle it, and you don’t need any special tools for that, but overall it felt solid and secure as you move it forward to keep at a default sound tuning or move it back to lift the bass. The internal driver config is DD, 4xBA, and 4xEST, with an average Impedance of 25ohms and Sensitivity of 104dB.