Tag Archives: Audéo

Review of the P.EAR.S SH-2 CIEM – A truly fantastic earphone!

Pros: Overall sound quality, looks and design, microphonics, comfort, isolation
Cons: Fit and location of P.EAR.S for refitting (if you live outside of Switzerland), accessories

Packaging & Accessories: 5/10
Build Quality: 9/10
Design & Look: 10/10
Microphonics (higher ratings means lower cable noise): 10/10
Isolation: 10/10
Comfort: 9/10
Sound Quality: 9/10 (rating is separate from universal earphones)
Value: 8.5/10
My final Rating: 9/10

Review Date: December 2015
Review Price: [CHF 550 / £370] +80 CHF for Swiss walnut finish = CHF 630 / £425 (not including in-ear impressions)

It should be noted that the company ‘harschacoustic‘ was renamed to ‘P.EAR.S‘ – the review has been updated to reflect that, as the product (The SH-2) has remained the same!

harschacoustic SH-2 - Looks

First of all, I would like to thank Samuel from P.EAR.S for sending me the SH-2 for review.
P.EAR.S was created and founded by Samuel Harsch, also known as the co-inventor of vital audio characteristics of the  Audéo PFE series. To this day, the best universal earphones I’ve owned and reviewed is the Phonak Audéo PFE 232, a set of MSRP £400 universal earphones, which only housed two Balanced Armature drivers, but had such an amazing crossover that the two drivers in the PFE 232’s compete with 4-6 driver BA drivers found in other earphones.

Therefore, when I saw Samuel created his own earphone, I was excited to see if I could review it – as I wondered if he improved/added to the PFE 232s sound and created it into a CIEM of his own.

Before getting into the review, I would like to state that this is my first CIEM review, I have previously reviewed/heard a lot of earphones (in excess of 100 different earphones), but never ventured into the CIEM world, as I’ve previously had problems with fit. For example with the 1964-SLV Universal IEM Custom Sleeves, the Custom Art custom tips and even tried going to a professional audiologist in London as an attempt to get a good fit for custom sleeves for the PFE 232s. No matter who I tried or how many times I tried redoing the impressions they didn’t work – and I always had the impressions done by a professional audiologist.
I was therefore going to give up trying until I saw the SH-2s, where I thought to myself – I have to give this one more go and if it fails, then I’ll give up for good on CIEMs.
I was lucky enough to get good impressions at my local Specsavers for only £29 – which I was sceptical about. I will expand on this in the comfort section.

More information on the SH-2s, including specs can be found on P.EAR.S’s website!

To complement the written review, here’s my video review of the earphones:

Let’s get into this written review!

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1964-SLV Universal IEM Custom Sleeves for Phonak Audéo PFE 232

Introduction

In summer 2012, I was visiting my family in California, USA for a month of sunny holidays.
Whilst I was out there, I thought to myself to get some custom sleeves done. I had previously, from the UK emailed 1964 Ears to see if they would do the PFE 232’s – The reason being, is because the PFE’s have a slightly larger nozzle than your standard earphones like the Shure Se535’s ones. Thus I couldn’t find a reputable custom earphone company within Europe that would do them. All of them that I called, emailed, either hadn’t heard of the PFE 232’s nor would do them. For example, I got in contact with ACS in the UK, and they said they were unavailable to do it; I’m sure there are other companies out there, that could have done it, but I wasn’t aware of them at the time.

1964-SLV Custom Sleeves - Good U.S. ear impressions & 1964 sleeves

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Review of the Phonak Audéo PFE 232 – The Best Universal Earphones I’ve Heard to Date

Pros: Highs, Mids, Bass response for BA drivers, comfort, build quality
Cons: Sibilance, price, isolation, needs to be driven

Packaging & Accessories: 9/10
Build Quality: 10/10
Design & Look: 10/10
Microphonics (higher ratings means lower cable noise): 10/10
Isolation: 8/10
Comfort: 10/10
Audio Quality: 10/10
Value: 7/10
My final Rating: 9.5/10

Purchase Date: April 2012
Purchase Price: £400

First and foremost, I would like to send out a huge thanks (and hug?) to David, over at Phonak Audéo in sending out the PFE232’s to me, for review!

I would also like to point something out about the PFE232’s in relation to the P-Series tips – this was made aware to me by Comply:
“This tip series has a threaded core. While this core is fairly flexible and may stretch to accommodate the sound port of the PFE232 – there is a significant risk that attaching or disengaging a P-Series tip would damage the sound port. I highly discourage any customer from using the P-Series tip with this earphone. Any time you force a tip that is too small onto a sound port, you risk stressing that sound port in such a manner that could cause damage. We have heard of, and have experienced, cracking or breaking of sound ports in these situations (not speaking of Audeo specifically, but of forcing or attempting by force to put a tip onto, or remove a tip from a device that is not compatible with the Comply™Foam tip used in the attempt.)”
(Thus, please do not use the P-Series tips with your PFE232’s)

The Phonak Audéo PFE 232, also known as the PFE232’s are one of the best earphones I have heard to date. These earphones define for me the best universal fit earphones I have ever heard. That said, these do have some slight flaws, such as their sibilance, their isolation and most of all their price tag.
Apart from those few things, the PFE232’s I find are a class-leading earphone, whilst maintaining only 2 Balance Armature (BA) drivers in each ear piece.
Without further ado let’s get on with this review!

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Phonak Audéo PFE 112 – Unboxing & Review

Pros: Brilliant mids and highs, cheap price for a BA, very light weight
Cons: Lacks real bass impact

Packaging & Accessories: 9/10
Build Quality: 9/10
Design & Look: 10/10
Isolation: 9/10
Comfort: 10/10
Audio Quality: 8.5/10
Value: 8/10
My final Rating: 8.5/10

Purchase Date: January 2012
Purchase Price: Was won in a competition – RRP £120

Here is an unboxing video of them:

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