Alclair Audio Curve Review
Thanks to Alclair for the sample.
First Impressions: Hmm. No nice box, is
that normal? Googling seems to suggest that it is, I suppose the
company being mostly about customs which don’t really come in boxes.
Makes sense I guess, just seems weird. Not that you need a box of
course. So you get a little case, quite nice, Westoneish in
appearance. Inside we have the Curve’s, a cleaning tool, and 2 pairs of
Comply’s. I’m thinking functional rather than fancy.
In the ears they go and thank god they
fit me well. I was worried with their “unconventional” shape. Music
comes on and I’m rather impressed. The lows seem particularly well
extended for a BA, hmm how many are in these again? Gosh these sound
pretty good all across the spectrum. Somewhere in my brain a neon sign
is going off, flashing KC3 at me. Hmm must pull those out but certainly
these have a gently warmed smooth beauty to them. Given that the no
longer made KC3 (Klipsch Custom 3) has been one of my long term personal
favourites it bodes well for the Curves. An hour later and these are
rapidly falling towards the “I could listen to all day long” category.
It’s not a thrill machine, it’s not wild or exciting but I’m falling for
its sweeping and melodic nature. I think we have a contender for the
position of my personal favourite of the year.
Source: FiiO E7/E9 combo, Hisoundaudio Studio V 3rd Anv., HiFiMAN HM-650, 1G Ipod Shuffle, Nexus 5 and Graham Slee Solo Ultra Linear.
Lows: While I am most certainly no
basshead, I’m not adverse to there being a little too much bass. The
bass here is clearly well elevated, well in both the sense that it’s
significantly more but also in that its talented. What I do find
curious that it’s an all BA set up. Sure in the olden days when you
just couldn’t get small dynamics that were any good, to be audiophile
grade you had to use balanced armatures, that’s just not true anymore
though. Today there are masses of dynamics that are excellent, not to
mention the current wave of hybrids. You know, dynamic for the lows and
one or two BA’s for the rest. There is frankly a lot of bass. It’s not
especially BA like in its nature either, it’s relatively dynamic like
in that it’s full bodied and reaches fairly deep. There isn’t the
inclination to be all, lightning fast punch and agility. It’s rich and
laid back. If anything it’s all a fraction slow and weighty. Flicking
back and forth with the Curve, the KC3 and the IE7 the Curve is easily
the weightiest of them and it is not even close.
Playing around with the positioning it
becomes clear to me that the mids and highs are being significantly
muted where the Curves naturally sit in my ear, resulting in a very
warm, dark, rich sound. The bass in particular is abundant in a way I’m
not sure I’ve really come across in a BA before, I thought in first
impressions that the KC3 shared a sound signature, it does, but the
Curves go much further in the lows. They are BIG, pulling out the
Momentum In-Ears they are about equal in quantity but the Senn’s bass is
focused lower down, the Curve’s is more in the middle to upper bass
ranges. I wish I had an SE215 to compare it too, though I remember it
being rather more flabby. Soft for a BA the Curve may be but it still a
BA.
Mids: Lush. Rich, smooth with a hint of
darkness. The mids on the whole aren’t especially forward, the bass
likes to come out to play a little too often but….. you get a track with
great vocals with reasonably sedate bass and they are good. Slapping
on “When You Believe” and it literally is shivers down the spine good.
It’s not the only track either, everything and anything that suits a
very rich, creamy, slightly over thick vocal becomes just so sumptuous
on the ear. Erasure’s Union Street album is a symphony of melting, oozy
almost dark, yet still milk chocolate. If anyone is familiar with
Hotel Chocolat, Supermilk 65 if
you haven’t had it, buy a bar of that and it is the oral equivalent to
the aural experience of the Curve. I’m not sure chocolate is the best
analogy though as my experience with American “chocolate” has, errr not
been positive. This is deeply smooth and achingly creamy. It does it a
little at the expense of clarity and air. The most breathy of vocals
are a little smothered.
Grown up me knows that this is not
“neutral” nor is it even close. It is much too warm, rich and darkly
delicious. So if you’re thinking it could be a “monitor”, well no. In
the sense that your little ears would happily hear it all day long and
never grow tired then perhaps. If you think you’re getting a
non-flavoured midrange then think again.
Highs: Treble junkies, I suspect you
have guessed by now that the Curve isn’t for you. The Curve is
moderately clear in the highs, it’s capable and nuanced. In raw
technical merits its pretty good. In quantity though, it’s very muted
in the uppers. The Curve is all about the beautiful melange of notes
coalescing to a velvety pile of scrummyness. If you want a citrusy
sharp bight to cut through at the top then go look elsewhere. For me,
being quite treble sensitive it’s perfect. I love rich, warm IEM’s with
tame treble. I can still pick out the detail with some ease but I know
that many haven’t the same acuity in the upper ranges that I do. If
you want treble and detail that stands clear you will be disappointed.
The treble is detailed but it is highly reticent to expose its fullest
detail levels.
The initial impacts do retain a BA like
speed with a faint metallic edge before quickly rolling in to a more
delicate and smooth dance. It can’t shimmer as a good dynamic can but
it’s fairly good in detail terms. Still it’s a rather shy treble that
many will find it too reticent and too diffuse for their tastes. One
plus though is that it’s very forgiving to meh mastering and bit rates.
Northern Kings “My Way” is actually enjoyable to hear with these
despite the tracks terrible treble.
Soundstage: There would seem to be
distinct distance zones. Vocals on the whole are beautifully intimate
and direct. Instrumentation seems to be on a layer a bit further out.
Highs and bass both seem to be on a level even further out. This lends
to the faint delicacy of the treble but makes the bass seem like its
coming of you from a distant wall of subwoofers. It’s a really
interesting layering effect that adds to the overall instrument
separation. Everything quite separate yet still being well integrated
and coherent. I can’t help but wonder how the dual BA’s are set up
here. I don’t think there is a crossover between them.
Fit: There is no mistaking from even a
cursory glance at the Curve without noticing its somewhat atypical
shape. I admit I had reservations about its weird shape. However it
went in my ear, it fit me great, not just great but for all intents
perfectly. I know I’ve said before that because something works for me
that it may not for all, looking at it, I cannot possibly imagine that
everyone will get along as well with it as I have. They just can’t,
cannot possibly fit everyone perfectly. I have yet to read of anyone
having a problem with them but surely someone will eventually.
Comfort: Fit and comfort go hand in
hand. If the fit sucks then things can get uncomfortable but…… they fit
me perfectly and so they in terms of comfort they were perfect. I will
admit that they did feel a little weird in the ear. The way they fill
the whole of my inner ear is rather curious feeling. They are however
completely comfortable. There is no way on earth that everyone will be
the same but hey, fact is for me they were awesome.
Aesthetics: I kinda love the look of
them. Weird they are, for sure but there is something I find curiously
appealing about them. Plus it doesn’t hurt I’m a sucker for silvery
cables. Though there is one odd point, why the grey plastic backing and
not make them all clear?
Microphonics: None really. I got the
foot fall resonances that you get with a sealed IEM that’s fairly
shallow fitting. Though there was no cable noise so it’s pretty much
all as you would expect.
Amped/Unamped: They worked pretty well
out of any old source. They however very much enjoyed getting more
power thrown their way. Everything snapped up and grew more defined.
Detail levels were high even out of the crappy Nexus 5 but the dynamics
and instrument separation were sooooooooooo much nicer out of the Solo
Ultra. I intellectually accept and am aware that the differences are
not huge but if you have a Curve I would want to amp it as it just feels
that much more alive and vigorous. It still sounds very nice out of a
phone but you know, its just plain better when driven well. Although I
should note that out of the softly warm Iphone they were distinctly
softer than out of the snappy Lumia 735. Warm IEM suits colder dap
better, shocker.
Isolation: While the isolation isn’t the
most of any BA IEM ever, it’s a sealed BA IEM so the isolation beats
pretty much every dynamic based IEM out there. Being a bit of a shallow
fit it’s a bit less than is usual but it’s still plenty.
Cable: Not only is it highly flexible,
braided and then with a transparent plastic sheath. It would seem that
the Curve is supposed to come with the cable in black but given to buy
the black and “clear” cables cost the same I assume they could come with
the silvery one if you ask Alclair.
Build Quality: Very nice as best I can
tell. The cable I especially like, I’m a bit of a fan of braided and I
love its silver then transparent coating effect. Only time can ever be
the final arbiter but it looks all very nicely stuck together.
Accessories: Erm, a case, a karabiner
and a 3 pairs of Comply’s. Actually it’s all a very curious bundle.
Alclair are primarily a custom’s maker so there really wouldn’t be a
“box” as there is no generic product. So these come like a custom
would, in its little case in a cardboard box. It seemed so unusual at
first but then seemed so eminently obvious I wondered why everyone
doesn’t do it that way.
Value: They retail at US$250 which today
is apparently £161. That puts them at the upper end of what I think of
as the secondary tier of IEM’s. Does that mean they are “better” than
others at this tear? Nope, it does not. So in raw money for sound
quality these are not the best you can get but I so don’t care. These
are all about enjoyment for me and I have hugely enjoyed my time with
them. Their sound signature is just about perfect for me, okay so
they’re a too bassy but a big bass IEM that isolates at BA levels? From
memory that’s SE215 territory and while I can’t A/B them these should
stand well above the Shure’s in audio quality. These sound like a bassy
IE7 or KC3 but neither are practical, the IE7 offers negligible
isolation and the KC3 (if you could even find one) had the worst cable
in history. The Curve is very easy to live with, practical yet
retaining a delectable bassy rich gooeyness.
Conclusion: When I do the conscientious
A/B’ing of things, the Curve and others I deem to be in a similar realm I
find that they Curves are just too bassy. They out bass the KC3 and
IE7, neither of which were known for being bass light. They have a
sound signature that offers a richly warm envelope in which to explore
music, at a slow and relaxing pace. Then the audio world found new,
cheap dual BA’s like the DBA-02 which were all about the “detail” and
hurling it at you. Something that was so dazzling and cutting, like a
crystal decanter exploding in your face. Some loved that brutality, I
did not. Then we graduated to the age of the “hybrid” where you get a
dynamic in for the bass and let a BA or two do the mids and highs.
Often you get a pretty V shaped sound as is easy to dazzle first timers
with. Again that is not something as a rule I love. If something is
too wild or too dazzling I find them exhausting. My ears can’t stand
too much of a roller-coaster ride before they need to have a little
rest.
The Curve I really didn’t ever need to
take a break from. The bass is a smidge too much but it’s excellently
controlled, not giving into that dynamic pitfall of bloating. BA’s do
bass better than any dynamic. Dynamics are slower, fatter, more flabby
and have a tendency to bloom. BA’s stay tight, solid (sometimes too
solid) and are always speedy. The reason they don’t get used all the
time is they just can’t move as much air as a dynamic. So I do wonder
at what Alclair have done here. I wonder if both BA’s are contributing
to the lows and only one crosses over to play the uppers? Could the
bassy one be one of the so called “moving armature’s” rather than a
normal BA? I can’t figure out what they have done but I’m convinced
there is some low end sorcery at work. I just don’t know what.
So often I come down to a simple, have I
loved the item in question. In this case the Curve’s. The answer to
that is yes, a slightly caveated yes but a great big yes. These are
fantastic things and I’ve had them for ages, oh god I’ve had them since
March. I know I like to spend longer than most with things for
reviewing but come on, that’s 3 months. These are so good in the mids
and the bass, so tame in the highs that my ears could just revel in
their lusciousness and never grow tired. Maybe a smidge less bass but
otherwise these are perfect for me. I do pause for a moment to look at
the word “monitor” in their description, hmm yeah but no but yeah. No.
If anything I like these too much. Their
sound signature is practically perfect as far as my heart is
concerned. Head says too much bass but frankly it can shut the hell
up. This is good, BA bass, nimbly articulate yet with such a fullness
yet….. it doesn’t move so much air it makes me queasy. Oh hell yes!!!
Dual BA IEM’s that aren’t lobbing crystal clays*(see bottom) at you
before they explode showering you with razor sharp shards. (Yes DBA-02
I’m looking at you.) A dual BA that can pick up the baton from where
the KC3’s left off. It had been one of my, long-time favourite IEM’s
and the Curve I like more in practically every way. I don’t have a
single “favourite” IEM as I have too many and they all do different
things but the Curve sure as is right up there. Plain and simply put, I
love it, I love it bucket loads!!!
*It was brought to my attention that
clays are not something widely immediately known. Clays are the flying
disc’s used for clay pigeon shooting. I had assumed everyone knew they
were called clays, apparently they don’t.
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