Having wrested his skin from Heir Audio, Dr. Moulton has found new freedom to express his noble vision of portable HiFi. Outwardly, Tzar 90, Tzar 350, and IEM 5.0 are Heir’s audio children; inwardly, they are sooooo wizard.
NOTE I: shigz balled it. Dr. Moulton is actually American and Tzar is the earphone, not Czar. (You can read the review as is and skip the pizzaz where it crops up.)
Spec
IEM 5.0
· 5 Precision tuned Balanced Armature drivers.
· One Dedicated driver for Low Frequency production
· Two drivers for Middle Frequency production
· Two drivers for High Frequency production
· Dual Bore Design
· Detachable cable
Price: 599$
Tzar 90
· Dual Precision Tuned Balanced Armature Driver
· A) One Dedicated for High Frequency Production
· B) One Dedicated for Low Frequency Production
· Single Bore Design
· Internal Damper
· Detachable Cable
· Quality Ear Tips
· Nominal Impedance at 1K Hz 90 ohms
Price: 369$
Tzar 350
· Dual Precision Tuned Balanced Armature Driver
· A) One Dedicated for High Frequency Production
· B) One Dedicated for Low Frequency Production
· Single Bore Design
· Internal Damper
· Detachable Cable
· Quality Ear Tips
· Nominal Impedance at 1K Hz 350 ohms
Price: 399$
ohmage: the sensitive choice
Back when 3.Ai And 4.Ai were Heir’s Wizard’s only universal products, customers had the choice between three and four balanced armatures. The resultant sound was different, but nothing like they it today. Shuffled simply into a horrid analogy, Tzar 90 is a the flat, semi-attractive sister; Tzar 350 is the always-high, wild one; while IEM 5.0 is mummy and daddy's favourite- the one that's going places.
But that’s too green an analogy.
The Tzars are the singular not-Etymotic, not-Earsonics aspirants in the high-impedance earphone race. IEM 5.0 is the only choice for spec-hungry gear heads, though I'll argue that the Tzar street cred is way higher.
ohmage & porridge: comfort and fit
Prepare the salt and vinegar for this section. (If you have mayo, keep a small dipping bowl ready.) The difficulties I had originally with Heir Audio’s earphones: shallow insertion lengths; unergonomic, perpendicular insertion angles; and slippery sound bore flange, remain. In other words, today's Heir Audio earphones are as frustrating to wear as ever.
Even with eight months waving in the rear mirror, nothing has changed. The included ear tips are just as stiff and uncompromising. The flangeless sound bore still has trouble gripping ergonomic tips. No easy use of ortofon's eQ5/7 silicon tips. No easy use of Victor's super-comfy non-porous foam tips. Comply-lovers: you're in luck.
Insertion angle is too perp., and, in my opinion, too short. Even my wife's elfin ears can grip the Heirs. The good news is that Heir's earphones sit flat. You can bring them to bed with no discomfort. Ditto to wearing your Heir’s under a toque or helmet.
ohmage: kitsch
Dr. Moulton is NOT Canadian. Canadians prefer stripes and plaid to plastic, feathers, or dead animals. Heir's wood veneer fascias and sparkly detailing are flashy, yes, but flashy in the good old-fashioned Canadian way. They evoke memories of a better time - a time before the machines... how each earphone obfuscates the gnarly technology inside. That very same technology threatens our very...
porridge: build quality
Dr. Moulton is NOT Canadian. Canadians don’t mass produce much of anything anymore. Even the iconic Summicrons are German again. Tiny circuit boards, badminton racquets, proper barbecues parties- that stuff has all gone to Asia. And while there are exceptions to the rule, Heir's current line up really reflects the Canadian beneath. Unfortunately, the current line up has got more in line with Molson than with Marinoni.
The short is this:
No counter-sunk coaxial earphone connector
No grippy flange on the sound tube
Nothing to grip onto when changing ear pieces
Heir are still using the Westone-style coaxial cable. It’s a good, tried-and-true bit of plastic and rubber that isn’t prone to plug or cable breakage. The pins are buggers, but whatever. It’s practically a staple in this industry now.
ohmage: quality of finish
Strangely (and very likely NO thanks to the Canadian penchant for plaid), Heir Audio’s earphones look great. Amazing, actually- and I’m not even keen on the choice of wood in the fascia. The gang under Moulton put sparkle in the right spots, brand each earphone with a clean serial number, write logos in clean- even the Wizard scrawlography is charming. Personal opinions aside, Heir's stuff is more coherently designed and branded than 90% of its competition.
sound
Stirring with the same design schtick does not the same sound make. Despite this, there is a distinct Heir thread that sews up the series.
Let’s break it down:
Crispness
IEM 5.0: This earphone is very much the child of the Heir X.Ai series. Its mids are forward. Vocals are strong, taught energy directs everything from guitar to drums. Speed is of no concern. It's not quite as clear sounding, though. In the transition to highs, mids flatten out a slightly, losing forward shimmer in cymbals. The highest strings round off a little early. Sitting in a quiet room, this effect is possibly the first thing you will notice. This normalisation gives everything, even live music, a studio sound (if that studio is hidden by a semi-closed door).
Tzar 90: The sculpting continues with Tzar 90. But, bass is tighter, mids are further opened, and the door to the studio is open. Not surprisingly, Tzar 90’s sound is reedier by comparison. Guitars are rawer, percussion slightly splashier. It more closely resembles the traditional benchmark ideal of flat, and honed for cymbals and higher vocals. Back are edges, shimmer, and, for the upper-midrange junkie, fun.
Tzar 350: If the 90 was crisp, 350 is Korean-fried chicken. (No chicken, anywhere, compares to what the Koreans can do to a gaggle of chicken.) Crunchy crunch. 350 is all about the upper mids. At first blush, you might think it reedy. It’s not. It’s just got a lot of upper midrange and high frequency energy. The door is ripped off its hinges. The gauze is off. This Czar may well be a disciple of the excellent Etymotic ER4. It is also probably the most addictive of the series.
Space
IEM 5.0: This earphone’s stuffing of gauze in the upper mids extracts dividends. Its sound stage is tight. Too tight, maybe. Vocals, bass, percussion, brass and all the rest twist and turn in the same, basketball-shaped space, like a teeshirt and sandal party in your head. Vocals win out in most face offs. Placement is natural- rather like sitting in a measured room’s sweet spot between two speakers and a subwoofer; sound from every frequency comes from the same, coherent direction. In another sense, it is aggressively compact. Yet, this compact presentation yields a live, wall-of-sound feel that works for popular music.
Tzar 90: Crispness and apparent space hae taken a step forward. Vocals still jump forward, but are supported, not flanked, by other elements, as they are via IEM 5.0. Percussion cuts in and out around the sides, guitars strum in up, and to the rear. Panning drums thwack with precise air. It’s not the level of air and space you hear in, say, the Audio Technica CK10, but back to back with 5.0, it is open indeed.
Tzar 350: Superficially, the 350's sound is roomier than either 90 or 5.0. This is due to the keen legerdemain dealt by its high frequency orientation. The high end shimmers and shimmers and shimmers. Cymbals, drum kits, high hats, tambourines, Classified's spliff lighting, Mariah Carey- dear god, shaky shaky tizzy, pother, tizzy. The contrast between lows and highs is high but the basketball isn't any larger. The wall-of-sound is still up, but it's easier for the brain to paint with what your ears hear.
Make no mistake though: this tizzy energy is sibilant. Tsch-tsch-tsch is a sound you will learn to love. Or else.
Bass vs. Mids
IEM 5.0: While bass is round, full, and detailed, it occupies the same space as the mids. Bass details are driven through with riveted precision, gelling with whatever's around. The spatial marriage works. While there’s not much space between the two frequencies, neither oversteps the other, either. Bass isn't especially chalky or organic. It does go low, though, but not with crazy sound pressure. The bulk of its weight hits above the fun fun fun 70Hz line. You won't get the same impact you get from large-driver dynamic earphones, but there is enough of the good stuff in there. Without a doubt, 5.0's bass trumps, in pressure and whammy-factor that of the 90 and the 350.
Tzar 90: While not as full as IEM 5.0, bass is just as round and detailed. The upper midrange is far more fleshy. That entire band is detailed and energetic, pushing forward. This Tzar’s verve fulcrums around vocals and guitars. Beautiful edges, taught lines, well-delineated elements. The sound is more ‘live’ than it is sculpted.
Tzar 350: basically the same as the 90, but slightly harder to pick out against the upper mids. Its upper midrange has enough pother and sibilant, crispy edges that you would be forgiven for missing the bass. You'd be wrong, but you'd be forgiven. Amen.
Bass vs. Highs
IEM 5.0: Neither frequency edges the other out, and both are well threshed-out in relation to mids. The only proviso here is the gauze that covers over detail. Highs glide in and out effortlessly, drawing absolutely no unnecessary attention. And there is no sibilance. A negative shigzeo might call it somewhat boring, and best placed at the end of today's pop music.
Tzar 90: There’s not much to say here. 90 is the most centrally-balanced of the bunch. Upper midrange deadening is ameliorated by a leaner bass. Highs are both spacier and clearer than those of the 5.0. The overall effect is one of comparable width, range, and freedom. This is the earphone that should appeal to classical, trance, EDM, and experimental listeners first, and to everyone else second.
Tzar 350: Dear god, that treble- no no no, not treble: high mids. So much shimmer, so much shake, so much sibilance. Clean sssss sounds inherit t's, ch's, and every few beats (and depending on the genre), a wince or two. Due to the rather high levels of sibilance dirt, the definite clear bass lines shine through rather well. It's not even a pitched battle. Bass, while possessing much less pressure than the upper midrange, hits the eardrums with much more clarity.
5.0 boasts a meaty, muscular sound that edges out upper midrange detail. Disciplined, controlled, but overly gauzy, it is best for music that lacks much of a dynamic range- or, if dynamic range isn't your thing, for early folk rock records that could benefit from a little interpolation.
90‘s overall balance will keep it in the ear for years. Its only problem is that in comparison to 5.0 and 350, it is boring. It is done very well, but you've heard it before. Reference fans will dig this.
350 is shrill for the shrill lover. Upward mobility over coherent substance. Absolute bragging rights for the true audiophile gearhead. If you can get by its sibilance, you will have uncovered a rare gem. If, however, is a big word.
ohmage: drivability
A true adherent to noblesse oblige, Wizard has tossed everyone a bone. If you own a decent, modern player with a low enough output impedance, you should be able to enjoy stable sound at almost any volume from each earphone. The 350 may show up nasty modern recordings with clipped dynamic ranges by fluttering at the odd bass-heavy track. 90 doesn't do this. Neither does 5.0. A portable amp may help by a little current, but I'd not worry too much about it.
ohmage: sensitivity
Each earphone is supremely sensitive. If borderline loud volume is achieved on IEM 5.0 at eight clicks from zero, Tzar 90 needs only one more click to achieve roughly the same sound pressure. 350 is just a few up fro there. Not once have I felt I needed to bump up to the halfway point on my iPod nano 6G.
What can you say? Heir Audio have a way of creating things all their own. And each creation has its own fans. I was out with a couple of über portable geeks last night. Both loved the 5.0. We were in a smoky, loud izakaya nibbling on chicken and sausages and a strange creamed egg sauce. They were after the meaty mids. I wanted another round of cabbage and miso. We were half durnk. Still is.
But their finely honed senses of hearing dug right into the goods: taught bass lines, forward lower mids, and speed over timbre. The two were decidedly against the Etymotic sound and passed over my Sleek Audio SA7's and even the Tzar 90, which I think is the bee's knees. The 350, then, just might be the stinger: dangerous and prone to pricking though it may be, it is the earphone you will never forget.
ohmage: 6
porridge: 3
