ClarityOne IEMs

[dfkt]

http://clarityoneaudio.com/

So these things have a "built-in PureSound Processor", next to having too many camel cases in their trademarks. Whatever that means, I'm going to find out soon. Maybe it's real science, like the Digizoid ZO, maybe it's just marketing.

Some Geek Speak

So how can ClarityOne™ earbuds deliver the clearest, truest, best sound on the market today you ask, well here is the short version. Look on our tech page for more in-depth info.

Your music is a signal. Every other speaker in the world is made the same based on ideas dating back to before there were cars. When your player sends the signal to your earbuds a field is built around the voice coil and it robs you of harmonics, volume and creates distortion. Our patented processor holds this field in a magnetic gap and does not allow it to alter the signal in any way so you have all the music that was recorded in perfect Clarity. The industry benchmark for testing this is a square wave test. The reason is the only a square wave has all harmonics and the associated sub harmonics. We are THE ONLY audio reproduction company that can achieve this and promise perfect sound quality. Square wave in, square wave out.

A bonus is that it actually makes your players battery last longer because we can use 8 ohms, less resistance, and we have no counter EMF back to your player.

More about this Puresound thing: http://clarityoneaudio.com/Tech/Tech

The PureSound Processor circuit provides an economical solution for achieving perfect phase unity between amplifiers and multiple driver systems. The PureSound Processor is not a crossover, it is a coupling unit. Unlike traditional crossovers, PureSound Processor´s patented technology cancels out the Counter EMF and at the same time provides a two way magnetic brake on the voice coil which "couple" it to the amplifier, therefore allowing it to operate freely with no added distortions allowing for pure sound to enter the system (at Crossover) and pure sound to exit (to the speaker).

[...]

The Problems in Existing Speaker Performance

Lenz Law states:

"Whenever a magnetic field expands or collapses across a coil of wire, a voltage is created going in the opposite direction to the current that created the magnetic field," also known as Counter EMF.

Our goal is to achieve "Pure sound in - Pure sound out". No added distortions created from Lenz Law. We did not want to have to color the sound in any way. We believe that an audio professional should be able to color the sound in any way he or she chooses. Yet this cannot be achieved with the present day speaker drivers.

[...]

Does the PureSound Processor retain all the harmonics in music and voice?

Quite simply...yes. The PureSound Processor system is the only circuit capable of preserving the harmonics of all music and voice passed through it. It is a fact that a square wave is really a sine wave with all of its associated harmonic. The PureSound Processor system connects the speaker as part of the amplifier circuit so that its two way coil moves back and forth in unison with the signals in the amplifier. In essence it "couples" the speaker to the amplifier.

Unlike single coil crossovers or voice coils alone, (as can be seen in graph one) no aberrant signals are created. The PureSound Processor system is capable of passing a square wave faithfully from amplifier to speaker without adding distortion. (See Graph Two.)

How does the PureSound Processor reduce heat build-up?

The PureSound Processor circuit maintains efficiency of the drivers by reducing heat build-up. It does this because the voice coil is controlled by the Pure Sound Processor system in both directions (not just one). The voice coil is maintained in the region of the audio driver gap where the maximum magnetic field is present and thereby reduces power compression by limiting excessive coiled out of gap current (therefore limiting heat build-up in the driver). Also the amplifier runs cooler because it is not fighting against the Counter EMF generated in traditional audio systems. (For an example see "What is EMF?")

What strikes me as weird is their talk about crossovers. The IEMs have a single dynamic driver, so there shouldn't be any crossover in there to begin with.

[CrowdAds]

[WalkGood]

They don't look bad, maybe a little too shiny for me but not bad overall. From reading it sure sounds like marketing hype or kinda reminds me of the Ultrasone´s S-Logic thingy. Strange how they call it a “puresound processor” and later use the term crossover for it. Regardless, it will be interested to hear what you think after you test them …

[IDvsEGO]

Originally Posted by WalkGood

it will be interested to hear what you think after you test them …

I bet it will blow his mind.

[dfkt]

Well, their market speech is a bit over the top, but it sounds interesting nonetheless. Let's hope for the best.

[dfkt]

You Tube

You Tube

[tienbasse]

The tech part is a bit too polished and doesn't actually show any kind of data related to the product, just theoritical data.
Talking about reducing distorsion is fine, but is there a real need when using a 7.5mm dynamic driver?
And I don't like the mic + track control minipad (touch-sensitive!) that they added and the way they describe the 8ohm choice and still not providing any kind of battery life data to sustain that.

I would gladly give these IEMs a try but the mic + track control thingy is a stopper, as well as the 36$ asked to ship outside the US. When they propose a version without mic, I'll reconsider.

[dfkt]

[WalkGood]

Any first impressions you can relay?

[dfkt]

Well, guess I could post my hastily scribbled together first impressions... beware, maybe they change after magical "burn in".

build: typical chinese oem aluminum housing - could last a long time, could break soon. seem to come from the same oem factory as the v-moda vibe - same silicone tips, same strain relief "balls", same looking clear cable. if it really is the same cable, that would be *very* bad - cable might get extremely stiff over time and break within a year or less. clear silicone tips will probably get yellow over time. there are no protective filter meshes in the nozzle, driver is visible. claritone only come as an iphone mic cable version, no version without mic. they look better in the press photo, with the sans serif font and the titanium colored housing - the ones i got have cheesy script font and a reddish-purpleish housing (depending on light situation).

regarding "puresound processor" marketing speech - for me, a processor is an active component, i doubt there's something like that in the iems.

first impressions:

bass quantity: plenty. not quite basshead territory, but almost. similar to hje900.
bass quality: good. quite tight and punchy, textured, extends deep.
midrange: above average. fairly good instrument separation. slightly nasal and honky with some tracks. not the best detail/resolution, but better than many cheaper dynamic driver iems.
treble: average. more grainy than sparkly, sibilant with some tracks. quite clear, but not the best resolution/detail either. not overly refined.
stereo imaging: good, wide. clarityone are vented at the front and back of the driver, similar to soundmagic e10.
dynamics: good. quite punchy at louder listening levels, not bad at quieter volume either.
clarity: what all their marketing speech is about. well, it's slightly above average for a mid-tier dynamic iem. not bad, but nothing special at all - somewhat disappointing after reading all their sciency hogwash. precise armature iems like the pfe or w4 have better clarity - so do dynamic driver ones like the ex1000 or fx700.

battery saving claim due to 8 ohm impedance: will test it against standard 16 ohm iems with rockbox battery benchmark on a sansa clip.

8 ohm: severe roll-off with players that have caps in their output path (like cowon, samsung, etc). higher channel crosstalk with most sources. http://rmaa.elektrokrishna.com/Compa...oda%20Vibe.htm

maybe more background hiss as well (needs to be tested with crappy sources)?

clarityone basically appear to be in the same league as the pana hje900, more or less, slightly above the soundmagic e10/e30.

[dfkt]

So I've been using the C1 over night, while sleeping (they're quite comfy, no sore ears). Being relaxed and all, with a fresh ear in the morning, I noticed what they do exceptionally well - instrument separation at very low volume levels. Dense, difficult to reproduce stuff like Howard Shore's LOTR soundtrack sounded really "clear" at whisper quiet levels. Of course instrument separation is just one aspect of "clarity", but it's an important one. As for other aspects that fall under "clarity", the C1 didn't extract the tiniest details, texture, or timbre from the soundtrack, and their treble still sounded somewhat harsh and unrefined to me, but what they did at quiet volumes sounded still very cohesive/coherent, regarding instrument separation, dynamics, and general frequency response.

[dfkt]

Battery benchmark results, regarding their claim that 8 Ohm saves battery life compared to other phones. Rockboxed Clip v1, looping a LAME -v0 encoded album.

08:23:18 - 60 Ohm KSC75
08:17:15 - 32 Ohm SE530
08:16:31 - 16 Ohm Vibe
08:20:32 - 8 Ohm C1

No relevant difference at all, all impedances give the same battery life at the same settings. I repeated the 8 Ohm test twice, nothing suspicious within a +/- 5 minute margin.

[steinburger1109]

Originally Posted by dfkt

No relevant difference at all, all impedances give the same battery life at the same settings.

I assume this means you kept the volume level the same. Wouldn't the difference be more noticeable considering you have to turn up the volume on the player using 60 ohm phones versus an 8 ohm set to get the same relative loudness coming out of the phones?

[dfkt]

Yes, the 60 Ohm KSC75 sound noticeably quieter at the same volume level on the Clip. However, the 16 Ohm Vibes and the 32 Ohm SE530 both are louder than the 8 Ohm ClarityOne.

The test just shows that ClarityOne's impedance claim is utter bollocks - sensitivity matters more for battery life, and even then it's only a marginal difference. ClarityOne however don't mention that in their advertising text. Even on the box they came in, there's a big fat caption that 8 Ohm saves battery life...

[IDvsEGO]

Theoritically if sensitivity is the same the lower impedance drivers would take less power to reach the same percieved output. I am sure that is the logic they are using. That doesn't translate to much real world difference, especially in the portable market where impedance varies wildly. Car audio it is a little more predictable.

[tienbasse]

Working in R&D myself, I'm always suspicious when people only show theoritical data about a product. If you've done your R&D work correctly, you must have gathered data versus competitors to prove your concept. Otherwise, it is not science anymore, just marketing BS.
It is certainly not a bad product, but given the pricerange, it all looked too good to be entirely true.

One note for you, Dfkt: if you have time and luxury to do it, please get some spherical Comply foams (Ts-400 or Ts-500, medium size, they're big enough even for large ear canals). They are a huge improvement over the T-400 that you tested on a number of IEMs including those ClarityOne. Better fit, better seal, and since they're spherical, they're a bit shorter than the conical foams = less risk of weaker treble and muddy bass.