Hello everyone, I am Jiuduan.
In the past one or two years, the IEM market has been booming, with new brands and new flagships emerging one after another. Although they have their own characteristics and their voice performance is different, there is one thing that everyone is very consistent, that is, the price is getting more and more expensive, and it is embarrassing to take it out if you don’t sell it for tens of thousands of yuan. It is not uncommon for expensive works worth tens of thousands of yuan.
retail price soared, but most flagship works are not flat-out. In addition to making a fuss about the number of units, special units that were rarely used in IEM in the past were also included in the design by some brands. The most works are using Shengyang's new electrostatic units. Of course, there are also works like Feiduo Artemis that use piezoelectric ceramic units.
How many units does an earbud with extreme sound performance require? Does it require a mixed configuration of different types of units? Can earbuds that are sold at a price of tens of thousands or even tens of thousands of yuan be worth the fare? Today, Jiuduan will use a little technical analysis and subjective listening experience to make some brief analysis.
Static? It is different from what you think
09 is a loyal static headset enthusiast. In addition to owning most flagship static works of Japanese STAX, he has also played with classic works such as Sennheiser Orpheus, Beyerdynamic ET1000, KOSS ESP950 and other long-term works. So when high-end earplugs containing electrostatic units appeared on the market, Jiu Dan's enthusiasm was immediately ignited, but after researching it, it was found that the actual situation was not very similar to the imagination.
Older enthusiasts mostly have the impression of electrostatic units from the headsets, while younger carry-on enthusiasts have the impression of electrostatic earbuds from Shure and STAX homes. However, no matter which one is, they have a common feature: a separate electrostatic headset amplifier is required to be used normally, and cannot be directly plugged into our regular headset interface. This is because the electrostatic headphones we usually come into contact with generally use an extremely thin diaphragm material, which is arranged in the middle of the two electrode plates. It is necessary to generate static electricity by driving the electrode plates to drive the diaphragm to move back and forth to make sound.
In terms of actual sound performance, the diaphragm of the electrostatic headphones is extremely light in quality, which can capture extremely subtle changes in the music signal, so it has excellent resolution. However, it is precisely because the diaphragm of electrostatic headphones is extremely light and thin, early diaphragm materials often withstand weak deformation capabilities, resulting in poor bass performance. At the same time, in order to allow the diaphragm to generate a larger vibration amplitude in the electrostatic field to show a better dynamic effect, the electrostatic unit often requires a larger diaphragm area and an independent high-voltage transformer to provide a higher driving voltage (the driving voltage of the electrostatic headphones is generally in the 350V-750V range). If the diaphragm is too small, it is often difficult to generate a wide enough frequency response range, and distortion is easy to increase. This is why this type of product we often see on the market is head-mounted electrostatic headphones rather than electrostatic earbuds. Finally, due to the precision of the electrostatic sound structure, its production difficulty is much higher than that of other common diaphragms.
Follow the common earplugs on the market that use electrostatic units, and they mostly use electrostatic units produced by Shengyang. Perhaps we should call this unit an electrostatic high-frequency unit, because all earplugs on the market that use this unit are used in the treble part. The sound speaker unit also requires an additional electrostatic transformer for driving, but it is smaller in size, so it can be arranged in the earplug cavity like a normal moving iron unit. On the other hand, due to the limitations of volume and driving voltage, this unit seems to be different from the traditional electrostatic unit that we commonly use double-sided electrode plates. It only uses one electrode plate (if you have the opportunity to disassemble and confirm it), so its vibration amplitude and frequency response range will be relatively limited compared to traditional electrostatic units. This is one of the reasons why it can only be used in the ultra-treble part rather than the full frequency band.
Another piezoelectric ceramic unit
In addition to earplugs using ultra-high sound electrostatic units, some of the mainstream flagship works on the market use piezoelectric ceramic units. This type of unit may sound unfamiliar to enthusiasts, but in fact its technology is very mature. It was already released in the 1950s and has many mature applications in ultrasonic detection, medical care, aerospace and aerospace. It was not until recent years that audio designers discovered its excellent performance in ultra-high audio bands.
Simply put, a piezoelectric ceramic unit is equivalent to applying a certain voltage to the two stages of a conductive ceramic crystal unit. At this time, the ceramic crystal unit will experience strong deformation under the driving of voltage. By controlling the applied voltage and current, the amplitude and intensity of this deformation can be controlled to generate the sound waves we need. This is how the piezoelectric ceramic unit generally emits sound. Compared with diaphragms made of traditional materials and structures, as a capacitive device, the piezoelectric ceramic unit is not considered by the rated power, but is based on the voltage withstand value in applications. Therefore, it is very easy to drive, has extremely high conversion efficiency similar to that of the electrostatic unit, and is very easy to achieve a wide frequency response, especially in the reduction of high-frequency signals and ultra-high frequency signals. It can generally achieve ultra-high frequency extension above 100kHz. At the same time, the piezoelectric ceramic unit has a small structure and is extremely light in mass, and there will be no problems such as electrostatic units being easily disturbed by electromagnetic fields.
The more units the better? And the problem of multi-unit connection
In addition to the placement of new diaphragm structure, various expensive earplugs also have their own pursuits in terms of unit count. In the early years, the era when 3 units and 4 units could be called flagships has long ended. Now if you don’t have ten or twenty units, don’t say that you are a family Flagship, and you will be ridiculed by enthusiasts.
is really the more units the better? The first thing to be clear is the unit type. Friends who have some understanding of dynamic iron units must know the difference between independent units and composite units. Our common multi-unit dynamic iron earphones are mostly medium and low frequency independent units + composite high frequency unit structures, and the number of units is generally based on the composite units of the medium and high frequency parts.
Why can’t a dynamic iron unit be used to design a flagship? The advantage of single-moving iron is that the sound cavity design of the earbuds is small, and the unit itself does not have matching problems with impedance, tone, and frequency division connections. However, due to the limitations of the unit's volume and material and the sound structure of the moving iron, the sound emitted by a single-moving iron unit is difficult to cover all the frequency ranges we need. At the same time, it cannot guarantee the sound accuracy of the covered frequency, and it cannot resist mutual interference between various frequency bands well. Although each unit brand is independently developing single-action iron unit products that can solve the above problems, due to technology, such products may have to wait for a while before they can be released.
is based on the above, and multi-unit and multiple combination solutions are used by most advanced works on the market. This can be seen from the multi-unit speaker design. Multi-units solve the problem of full-band sound playback well, and can ensure sufficient distortion and tone restoration in each frequency band. In these multi-unit designs, they are divided into the same type of multi-unit and hybrid multi-unit structure. The advantage of similar units is that it is easier to match the tone, but its disadvantages are also prominent. For example, the structure of the multi-moving coil takes up more space, while the structure of the multi-moving iron is limited by the sound principle of the dynamic iron unit. The extension of the high and low frequencies will be poor and the sound is not natural enough. It is very challenging for the designer to design an excellent product. As for the hybrid multi-unit structure, it can also be learned from multi-unit speakers. Due to different unit types, the sound principle and tone are also different. Therefore, in acoustic design, it is necessary to take into account the tone matching of different units, and by finely controlling frequency division and connection, as well as designs such as cavity separation, in order to reduce sound interference of different units, reduce standing waves, and thus produce more natural and pleasant sounds.
judges from subjective experience. Are the expensive earbuds worth recommending in multiple units?
Jiudan As an avid music enthusiast and an audio commentator, he has more opportunities to get involved in various types of multi-unit flagship earbuds, and he has also bought some interesting models to play with. Through a period of actual experience, from Jiudan’s personal experience, most multi-unit flagship IEM products with higher prices or even more than 10,000 yuan have the ability to surpass ordinary single-unit or several-unit works. However, when the price continues to increase from 10,000 yuan and then continues to leap forward, the hard quality of these expensive works will be very small, and more of them will be different from sound style and tone bias.
9 Duan Take Feiduo Virgo and Artemis as an example. Virgo is a three-unit hybrid structure earplug launched by Feiduo for advanced price users. The configuration of a double iron is derived from Feiduo's years of experience in hybrid headphone design. In works of the same price, it can be said that it has a crushing advantage in terms of quality and sound style. However, when the price is pushed to more than 10,000 yuan, the virgin star is almost powerless in front of the family flagship Artemis. Feiduo Artemis is a hybrid structure earplug that uses graphene dynamic coil unit + multi-unit dynamic iron unit + piezoelectric ceramic unit. In the past six months, Jiudan consulted a lot of design information about this earplug and did some practical auditions. According to the official introduction, in order to properly handle the sound wave superposition and standing wave problems of each unit, Artemis used a sound cavity airflow strengthening technology called "C.A.F.E." It is designed with the CNC-finished titanium alloy integrated molding cavity and the headphone cavity with special proportion mixed compressed silk cotton fiber tuning cloth, which takes into account sound insulation and breathability, improves the headphone sound insulation, effectively maintains damping balance, avoids excessive deformation of the diaphragm and improves low-frequency distortion. Of course, Jiudan believes that the most distinctive thing about Feiduo Artemis is that it integrates a piezoelectric ceramic unit in the cavity to be responsible for the ultra-high frequency band reduction after 10kHz. In actual use, you can feel that in addition to the frequency extension performance far exceeding ordinary dynamic iron works, it also has very real and natural high frequency correspondence and rich overtones.
What is the difference between the two earplugs? First of all, the difference in difficulty of pushing. Virgo stars can easily push through their mobile phones. If they can replace with an advanced player like Haibei R5 for matching, it will be better. The basic hard qualities do not have obvious shortcomings, and the application range of music is also very wide. As long as you do not force the details to be excessively perfect, it is enough. Artemis is not the case. Although it can also be pushed with a mobile phone, or even with a mobile phone, you can find that its quality is far superior to that of a Virgo, because you will hear a lot of musical details that a Virgo can't give. However, the Artemis sound is quite calm, even dull, and you will always feel that the sound is not enough, which is a clear lack of musical infectivity. Change the player, such as AstellKern KANN Cube, listen to Eiji Oui conducting the Minnesota Orchestra to perform Copland's "The Horn of the Ordinary People", and the big drum and timpani drum really hit people's hearts. Coplan only wrote the score for the big drum, timpan, and copper tube, plus a big gong. Although the compilation is simple, the music has the courage to be powerful. When you are in a bad mood, you can get a shot and let you see the sun and the sky light reappear. KANN Cube let Artemis beat the drums firmly and vigorously. The low-frequency impact of the drum is quite powerful at the moment of hitting, but it will disperse later. The low-frequency sinks rapidly, which is a physical continuous impact, and then disperses an air-like emotion. The copper tube pulls out a brilliant trumpet sound. Although Artemis looks cold and low-key, the glossiness of the sound is not less. The trumpet and trombone that are pulled up stimulate the adrenaline in the body, which makes people really excited. This is a feedback of infectiousness.
listen to the music starting with drums, "Brahms' First Piano Concerto", Korrong's piano performance, and Seer conducts London Symphony Orchestra version. Sail's command is often angular and straight, with a strong masculine smell.This style plays the Bráms First Piano Concerto, and the beginning of the track is really interesting. With a fierce and chaotic beginning, the timpani drum beats quickly, causing the listener to fall from the light sky of the ordinary horn into the dark abyss. Artemis's hard quality is particularly powerful at this time, and the strength of all frequency bands is just right. With the excellent extension of the high and low ends and the performance of close to the real and natural listening, the picture of the entire song appears to be extremely transparent, and the chaotic music is clearly sorted out. This 1962 recording was written by Kenneth Wilkinson, whose recordings create a broad, profound and transparent stage picture that is difficult to reach in all other versions. On weekdays, if you really want to hear the recording of this album, you really need a medium and large audio system. I didn’t expect that today’s high-end earbud systems can also have such deep strength. Jiu Duan really sighed at the advancement of audio technology.
continues, the strings are in a gentle place, and both earplugs show a smooth texture. Unlike Virgo, the Artemis, which uses a piezoelectric ceramic unit, has a smoothness. The entire high frequency band looks extremely soft, and then continues to be endless, with a rich sense of air, which is what Virgos deserve. Keep listening, when the strings are playing together, the momentum suddenly comes over. At this time, the strong grainy feeling of notes instantly expresses the entangled emotions in Brahms . Artemis, which just seemed extremely soft, suddenly becomes rough again. The versatility of this style is also something that ordinary earplugs cannot show. The most exciting thing is the bass strings. The lower plate of the music can be described as solid on both plugs, which may be related to the natural low-frequency characteristics of the dynamic coil unit. The older generation always teaches us that music should sound like a pyramid, and that the lower plate must be stable and solid. AstellKern KANN Cube promotes Artemis, the music is calm but not solemn and sluggish. When the string music at the beginning of the second movement plays the theme, the bass strings behind it gently cover it with the singing wooden pipes, which is really romantic. Listening to the wooden pipe, it is soft and has a soft halo. If a virgin star can be rated as good sound quality, then the top mixing unit Artemis is a perfect combination of sound quality and sound. Jiuduan suddenly felt that Feiduo did not blindly pursue technology and parameters in flagship design and ignored his own voice taste. They moderately laid their aesthetics on Artemis, which is a special color. Added, it gives the music a Feiduo look and emotions. and this may be the biggest difference between many expensive multi-unit flagship earbuds and ordinary earbuds.
If the multi-unit earbud works priced at over 10,000 yuan are only the above, their CP value still cannot make Jiu Duan tempted. Continue our subjective review and see what other differences can be discovered. After listening to classical music, we will change to some music types with huge styles to test them, such as metal and rock music. Listen to the album of the same name by Metallica, the famous guitar director at the beginning of "Enter Sandman", both the virgin star and Artemis can bring out a rich ending voice, making the guitar sing charmingly and movingly. Afterwards, Lars Ulrich's drum sound came in, heavy, heavy, fast, full and powerful, and even rich in details. This kind of drum sound is exclusive to Artemis, and the virgin star cannot interpret it so well. Jiudan turned the KANN Cube volume higher and louder, and it felt like it had reached the loudness of the concert site. At this time, the virgin star seemed a little noisy, while Artemis was still as stable as before, with clear and distinct musical levels, loud but not noisy. This is really a manifestation that only strength can determine. Perhaps some enthusiasts will ask, does metal also have levels? Yes, first of all, the recording quality of this Metallica album is very good and has layers; secondly, the skills of the KANN CUBE+Artemis system are the power of the system, which shows the layering that can only be sorted out in medium and large audio systems in a small earbud. The biggest feeling brought by this performance is that it makes the audience feel that the music scene is too exciting and enjoyable.
listen to Michael Jackson's album "Dangerous" again. KANN CUBE+Artemis can sing Metallica well. What's the problem with singing MJ? The sound effect of breaking glass at the beginning of "Jam" is very realistic, the rhythm of electronic music is fierce and vigorous, and the layered mixing effects are not only not messy but also clear and orderly. Michael's depressing and hard-working singing style is not hidden in the layered soundtrack. On the contrary, his voice style has a distinct sense of entity, which penetrates and shows the three-dimensional level of the music. In "Black White", the conversation between the son and his father was vivid and lively at the beginning, Artemis had a slightly bright tone, but the virgin star did not perform this way. This brightness made the son's voice sound more exciting. The play begins and ends with the songs, and the vocal performance is as mentioned above. The drums and rhythms here are sharper, and they unfold quickly and vigorously. With the rich African-style percussion soundtrack, the gorgeousness of the music arises naturally. The electric guitar and the cunch were like oiled, and seemed to be particularly shining. Artemis has a cold and restrained appearance, but its voice is flexible and changeable. It can be ethereal and calm, or hot and gorgeous.
was written at the end
article came to the end, and made its own analysis from the technical level and subjective listening experience. The portable audio market has grown explosively in recent years, and the audience of high-end earbuds is no longer an absolute niche. Driven by the market environment, more and more brands have begun to enter the field of high-end earbuds. The newer technology, better configuration and self-trait tuning have made this market the most exciting interpretation, but because of the higher gross profit, some shrimp soldiers and crabs will be mixed in. Jiudan’s consumption suggestions for expensive earbuds products of multiple (multiple) units are the first choice for technology-based brands. Do more auditions and comparisons, and do not blindly pursue configuration and unit quantity. At the same time, it is recommended that enthusiasts who are not particularly rich in pockets choose mainstream high-end earbuds of 10,000 yuan. Most earbuds with excessively high-priced units cannot provide quality improvements that match the price, and are more different in terms of tone and tuning style. In terms of the selection of different unit configurations, putting aside the sound, Jiudan prefers piezoelectric ceramic units. Compared with electrostatic units, its size is smaller and its structure is simpler. Of course, the most important thing is that the durability is relatively better, and the later maintenance cost of earplugs will be lower.
I am Jiudan, see you next time! (end)
