Recently, Altec Lansing partnered with ACS Custom, a British earphone and musician monitor manufacturer, to design its first line of custom-molded earphones. The result is a three earphone lineup, topping out at $999.95, and starting at $499.95 (direct) with the Altec Lansing A1 Custom Single Driver Earphone. The key differentiator between the Altec Lansing custom series and competing custom in-ear monitors from Ultimate Ears and JH Audio is the smaller, medical-grade silicone earpiece. Altec's earpiece material choice brings obvious comfort advantages, but also less obvious annoyances. As for the sound signature, the A1 is a beautiful-sounding, flat response pair that neither exaggerates bass response nor ignores it. Unfortunately, at high volumes on deep bass tracks, the A1 distorts slightly?not a deal-breaker, but still surprising given the high price-range.
Design?
The design of the A1 is about as simple and unadorned as it gets, lacking any logos on the earphones. A black cable, with no iPhone controls or microphone, extends from the dark gray, translucent-silicone earpieces. The A1's cable extends upwards, over the top of the ear and behind it, and terminates in a 3.5mm connection. The earphones ship with a hard case, an earwax cleaning tool, a tube of comfort cream (which helps create a more comfortable seal), and a protective pouch.
As with all custom-molded pairs, the A1 requires a visit to an audiologist?Altec will connect you with one once you place your order. The audiologist will create molds of your ear canal and then send them on their way for the manufacturing process.
Altec Lansing isn't the first company to offer soft custom ear-molds. ACS, the company's partner for the custom series, has been doing it successfully overseas for some time now and Etymotic, the flat response earphone specialists, now offer a $100 custom-earpiece upgrade for nearly all of its models.
The earpieces for the A1 are quite small, and unlike the A2 and A3, which respectively house two and three drivers, the A1 only utilizes one balanced armature driver. Obviously, this means that less of the ear is obstructed, but since the ear canal is still sealed off completely, the passive noise reduction is still quite significant at approximately 27dB?these are basically earplugs with earphones built-in. The soft silicone is also quite comfortable, even for long listening sessions, though the smaller earpieces are a bit more difficult to put in your ears properly than larger pairs. The silicone eventually warms to your body temperature and expands slightly in the ear canal, helping maintain a perfect seal. One weird downside to the soft silicone: It acts like a magnet for everything from dust particles to pet hair. I found myself wiping them clean nearly every time I put them in, so it's a good idea to make use of the protective pouch to keep them as dust-free as possible.
One particularly annoying design move is the lack of a detachable cable. Unlike, say, the JH Audio JH16 Pro ($1,149, 5 stars), a far more expensive custom model, or the Shure SE215 ($119, 4 stars), a far less expensive model that isn't even custom-molded, the A1's cable is hardwired. So if the cable gets gnarled or damaged, the earphones must go in for repair. However, the cable is at least reinforced with Kevlar, and seems both stronger than the average headphone cable and less affected by low temperatures.
Performance
Audiophiles who prefer less exaggerated bass frequencies and a generally flat response will enjoy the sound signature of the A1. Like the Etymotic ER-4PT ($299, 4.5 stars), the emphasis here is on clarity in the mids and highs. Low frequencies exist, but subtly. On songs with tremendously deep bass, like The Knife's "Silent Shout," the A1 still adequately covers the sub-bass frequencies, but not with the kind of boosted response that is common in modern earphones. Unfortunately, at high volumes, there is minor distortion on deep bass tracks. Granted, it isn't advisable to listen at such high levels, but earphones in this price range should not distort when used with an iPhone or a laptop.
On classical tracks, like John Adams' "The Chairman Dances," the low-end response takes a backseat to the articulate, crisp presence of the mids, highlighting the attack of middle- and high-register stringed instruments, as well as brighter percussion. Still when a large drum is hit, you definitely experience a fullness in the bass response?it just isn't overdone. The experience is a nice approximation of what you might actually hear in a concert hall when listening to the same piece.
Altec Lansing's clinical approach to audio puts the A1 clearly in the camp of Etymotic and less so with bass-heavy offerings from JH Audio and Ultimate Ears, like the similarly priced, Editors' Choice UE 4 Pro ($399, 4.5 stars). Musicians and music lovers seeking more bass response should probably steer clear of the A1, but fans of flat response and articulate highs will be pleased. Thus far in the custom realm, there just aren't any bad options, only different sound signatures and fits. It's advisable to read all of our custom in-ear reviews from JH Audio, Ultimate Ears, and our reviews of Etymotic pairs with custom-fit options before settling on the A1 or any other pair.
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