HiFi Mai Tai

It might just be me but I really struggle with the name Artti R1. Firstly, and I am probably alone on this but I keep wanting to write Arrti R1. Is Arrti a thing?Is there some hidden message speaking to me? Calling out to me? Doubted it. Most likely I am just not very good at reading. I think people will understand the second cause of my troubles and this is the R1 part of the name. In every sane universe (X-men timelines included) R1 would be the name of a single driver IEM. You would think right? But no. No it is not a single driver IEM it is in fact a multi-driver IEM using 3 dynamic drivers of two different types. There are no 1s to be seen. Maybe Artti miss named it and by the time they realized it was too late. Maybe they haven’t yet realized. Or maybe its a secret. Maybe we aren’t supposed to notice and anyone that does mysteriously vanishes. Hopefully someone reads this. At least someone needs to know what happened to me. Anyway for now I am still here so lets get to the Bartender’s Artti R1 Review.

Artti R1 Review – The Cocktail:

Sometimes very little detail is given about the drivers in an IEM. They can be treated almost like hot-dogs. You want to know for certain that it is a hot-dog but you don’t want to know any more than that. You certainly don’t want to know what is in the hot-dog. Could be anything. Artti on the other hand have given a lot of detail. Lucking this isn’t a hot-dog its a £38 IEM with interesting ingredients specifically two small 6mm dynamic drivers and a larger 8mm driver all made of interesting exotic materials. There is no dubious unknown meat to be found here.

The quality of the ingredients maybe exotic but the resulting dish is fairly conventional. Its a tried and test recipe and potentially one to know and love.

Drivers: 8mm custom composite beryllium diaphragm driver, 2x 6mm PU suspension edge with titanium dome drivers
Frequency: 20 to 20,000 Hz
Impedence: 20.4 Ω
Sensitivity: 102 dB/mW

Artti R1 Review – The Taste Test Setup:

Its a new cocktail but this is the same old beach bar. This is a good thing. Don’t want to introduce to many variables.

DAC/AMP: SMLS M20
Cable: 4.4 mm Tripowin C-01
Eartips: Stock (Silicon)

Artti R1 Review – The Non-Audio:

The Artti R1 package includes a semi-hard storage case that isn’t big enough to contain even the smallest dongle DAC and the IEMs but its a good size for just the IEMs. It does fit in your pocket unless of course you are one of those unfortunate people who suffer with the seemingly incurable condition known as Fockets. The case is a pretty unassuming grey case that lacks its own style but will complement pretty much anything else. The R1 also comes with a set of (S,M,L) of wide/bore tips and a complimentary set of normal-bore eartips. The cable isn’t bad but its color matches neither the IEMs nor the case. This is almost certainly a cable leftover from another project.

For quite a large IEM shell the comfort is pretty good. Upgrading to more premium eartips will definitely allow the R1 to be used for long sessions. But this review is for use with the standard stock eartips so ultimate comfort wasn’t quite achieved. This not the economy seating on a budget airline, invest in a good travel pillow and you will feel like you are in first class.

At this price point metal shells are not common. The Artti R1 is a fully green, fully metal shell. It basically is a tank. Of course this metal construction does add weight but for me at least this didn’t impact comfort significantly. The green paint coating does actually feel delicate. I suspect the R1 is not as scratch resistant as a tank.

And lastly we come to style. I think there are people that are really going to like how these look. I can’t decide if they a dads will delusions of being in the military but are actually middle managers in insurance and think golf is a great adventure or if they are peace loving youths who despite their best efforts cannot keep a garden plant alive and whose sole life ambition is to own a cat. These are two very different groups of people. I guess all I can say for certain is that neither group is for me and I don’t really like how these look. I think they are pretty boring and the strange shape formed on the surface is not mad enough to be interesting but is too irregular to be pleasing.

Artti R1 Review – The Audio:

This time I am actually going to start with the treble as I think this is the aspect of the sound that will make or break these IEMs for people. The Artti RI have a very softened, relaxed treble. One of the most relaxed trebles I have encountered in this price range. For me too relaxed. I like my treble energetic and full of life. I don’t mind if its bouncing off the ceiling and eating so many sweets that it becomes a matter of when will the vomit start rather than if. In comparison I view the treble of the Artti R1 as having already died. For me it has given up. Its put on its grey suit, bought a grey car, and is prepared to spend the rest of its life going to work, doing a good but not excellent job, coming home, going to bed, sleeping without dreams and repeating this the next day and the next and the next for ever and for always. The treble is just too safe.

Of course the upside to such a relaxed treble is that it is not fatiguing. However, I found that to get some enjoyment I just used more volume at which point the IEMs become fatiguing anyway. If you like long low volume listening with almost no treble then the Artti R1 could be for you. But they certainly aren’t for me.

The bass is pretty good and certainly present. There is a nice impact and good thickness. The bass doesn’t really bleed into the mids despite being quite dominant in the sound. The mid bass slam is not super punchy and forceful but this is key to allowing for that sub bass rumble and weight that adds body and texture to impacts stopping them sounding like a microwave falling down the stairs.

A present bass and relaxed treble may sound like a dark tilted IEM sound but I wouldn’t describe these as dark as the mids are balanced with both some warmth and a little brightness overall preventing the sound from being too dark. There is good clarity in the mids and a nice balance between sharpness and weight but not really excelling in either. Stringed instruments don’t really have that full weighty sound and possibly because of the rolled off treble the mids don’t have sparkle or shimmer either. The mids are balanced, they are likable and they are certainly smooth but I do think they lack a little character. But again this is both a good and a bad thing.

The technical performance is not bad. In my opinion its probably pretty average for this price point. The soundstage certainly doesn’t expand like the QoA Bijou I last reviewed but it isn’t tiny either. Its somewhere between a 2 bed flat and a medieval castle. Imaging is also pretty average. Its not really lacking in spatial information but it can’t really wow you either. Its a like looking at a map of a football stadium. Sure you know where everything is but its not the same as being in the stadium and hearing everything around you.

Artti R1 Review – The AI Opinion:

This a new feature that I am trying out. How well will it work? I don’t know but here goes anyway.

In this section I have asked Google’s AI mode to predict a score for the to be reviewed IEM prior to publishing my review. To get this prediction I have asked that it predict a score based upon the scoring system employed by me here at the HiFi Mai Tai beach bar. That’s it. It is as simple as that. I could be doing myself out of the job here. But got to embrace the modern world etc. And if AI is gonna take my job I am going to go down fighting. Hopefully it proves itself rubbish and there is nothing to worry about.

So the Artti R1 What does AI think?

I think we should just take a moment to appreciate the agreement on the details. I don’t think AI and I have ever been closer. Though we are certainly not in agreement this is perhaps one of the closest reviews. Generally AI has rated the Artti R1 higher than I, often about 10% higher. We both agree that the bass is a strength and treble is a weakness but I think we are going to need a lot of therapy to agree on anything further.

Artti R1 Review – Comparisons

First up the KZ Vader Pro this is KZ’s established triple dynamic driver. The KZ Vader Pro has a much thinner sound. It gives female vocals a sharpness and there is a lot more sparkle and shimmer in the treble. The bass of the KZ Vader Pro is a much cleaner but also duller thud and male vocals lack the weight of the Artti R1. The Timbre of the Artti R1 is much better than the Vader Pro which often has a metallic artifical sound particularly in the treble. The Technicals of the Artti R1 are also vastly superior with much better imaging. Though I appreciate the more forward treble of the KZ Vader Pro the Artti R1 is undoubtedly the better option here.

Next up the CVJ Nightelf. Its been a while since I listened to the Nightelf. I have only pulled it out here as its another budget triple dynamic driver IEM. These two IEMs have fairly similar bass. There is a little more bass in the CVJ Nightelf that gives a really full baseline. The Artti R1 has a little bit of a harder hit. In isolation I think I prepare the bass of the CVJ Nightelf but this bass is not as well contained and bleeds into the mids more than the Artti R1. The mids are equally good but differently so. The Artti R1 is weightier and warmer with the Nightelf being fuller and deeper. Okay maybe there isn’t that much difference. The treble of the Nightelf is much sharper and this sharpness impacts the vocals with female vocals having so much more presence. Male Vocals are however another story. The bleeding bass of the CVJ Nightelf can muddy the lower mids and prevent male vocals from really popping. For male vocals the Artti R1 is a better option. The technical performance between the two is very similar. Considering all this for female vocals I would easily chose the CVJ Nightelf, for male vocal focused tracks I would take the Artti R1, for tracks already bass heavy I would take the Artti R1 and for everything else I would take the CVJ Nightelf. I think I am chalking this one up as a win for the CVJ Nightelf but even I am not really sure.

And finally. Hmm want should I do. I know how about the KBEar KB02. Why? Well… Why not? This is an IEM in a comparable price range (Though cheaper), has a bass focused tuning and is probably actually a sensible alternative. In back to back listening the brightness of the KBEar KB02 really jumped out at me. I don’t remember them being this bright. I can’t remember what eartips I used for the review but for this back to back the KB02 had TRN T-Tips on. I had to go and look at a frequency response graph to check I wasn’t going mad. On a graph the bass and lower mids of these two IEMs are pretty similar (ignoring the narrow dip in the KB02) but there is a lot more treble in the KB02 than the the Artti R1. The result of this is the KB02 sounding brighter. Sometimes its funny how you remember things. Despite the ratings I have given them at least with T-tips on the KB02 I prefer the bass of the Artti R1 but I think overall because if its extra treble energy the KBEar KB02 would be my choice and the larger soundstage is defiantly a key part of why.

Artti R1 Review – Overall:

This is the first time I have broken out the comparisons from the ‘Overall’ section. This means I am going to have to work out what it actually is I should be saying in this section. It will probably take me a few attempts to finalize what this section will be but here goes my first attempt.

The Artti R1 is a warm, bass focused tuning that relaxes the treble to create a surprisingly dark but fatigue free listening experience. Amongst treble sensitive listeners this could be the ultimate budget option but for me the treble is just too relaxed and never manges to rise above the rest of the music. There is a lot to like about this IEM but possibly nothing to love. You could do a lot worse at this budget and if this is your preferred tuning there may not be that many other options but for me I am going to keep looking. This just isn’t an IEM for me.