Lime Ears Aether R – Review

SPECIFICATIONS

 

The full specs of the Aether R are actually not openly available but we do know that the Aether R features a hybrid crossover. That means the low tones are split using LE’s TrueSub acoustical crossover. The split between lows/mids/highs is achieved via an electrical crossover.

Driver-wise the balanced armature configuration is: double woofer, double low, single mid and single high.

VariBore – Acoustical design utilizing sound bores of different diameter for each frequency band. Use of 2mm bore for high frequencies in combination with internal acoustical damping results in open sound and smooth highs.

TrueSub – Unlike in the standard electrical filtering (done with electrical crossover), the lowest frequencies in Aether are filtered by custom-designed filter, 3D printed in XHD resolution. Use of precise acoustic filtering results in powerful yet extremely clear, textured and dynamic subwoofer frequencies.

Breakdown

In contrary to a normal review I will use the same breakdown as I always do for my custom inear reviews:

  1. Build quality & Comfort
  2. Personalization
  3. Cable
  4. Price & Accessories
  5. Customer Service
  6. Sound
  7. Source & Cables
  8. Competitors/Comparisons

1. Build quality & Comfort

Technology nowadays with scanning and printing is so good that once you have a good set of impressions (scanned), you just know your next CIEM from that company will be great again.

My original Aether was great regarding build and comfort, and the new Aether R is no different.

The fit is perfect but at the same time it is also very tight. That means they’re a bit harder to insert in your ears, but once in, you’ll experience a perfect fit with an unbreakable seal. And even though they’re tight, the comfort still is superb, as it should be with a well-built custom monitor.

Build quality-wise the Aether R is flawless. The short canals are nicely round, the face plate closing is smooth and the 2-pin connector sits perfectly flush in the IEM body. The switch on the bottom of the face-plate is also perfectly integrated, so there’s really nothing to complain about here.

Because of the design I can’t see the internal structure and how clean it is, but I’m convinced Lime Ears pays pays attention to that as well.

2. Personalization

Like all CIEM companies, Lime Ears offers a whole series of personalization options for the shells and face plates. Lime doesn’t have one of those fancy IEM designers yet however and they work with a list of the most popular customizations and boxes you can check.

You can find the configuration page right here: https://limeears.com/product/aether/

At the same time Lime Ears does state in their FAQ that you can basically do anything you want, all you have to do is email them with your artwork. It’s what I did and I’m very happy with my set.

So design-wise I opted for a clear shell mixed up with chips of the local charcoal, and I really like the end result. As a surprise (he said it wasn’t possible at first) Emil also printed on the Cheshire Cat smile on the left earpiece and the famous “We’re all mad here” quote on the other. The nice thing about it is that it doesn’t show too hard if you don’t know what you’re looking at.

It’s like a stealth design, except at night as it’s done with “glow in the dark” material. Coolness! I hope it’s visible in the pictures, it’s pretty awesome but this is one of the hardest CIEMs to photograph.

If designing isn’t your thing you can always have a look at Lime’s lookbook. There are plenty of ideas there to base your design upon. https://limeears.com/lookbook/

3. Cable

Unlike most of the popular CIEM companies, Lime Ears doesn’t work with a fancy aftermarket cable supplier for their flagship monitor. The Aether R is shipped with very basic, stock cable, probably some kind of OCC version. I immediately replaced by the Effect Audio Leonidas, which is the cable used in this review.

There cable-wise certainly is margin for improvement here. Maybe Lime Ears could offer an optional high-end cable at a price, I’m sure many customers would go for a better cable when buying a flagship monitor. With the very acceptable price of the Aether R, there really is room for this.

4. Price & Accessories

The Aether R comes in a nice Pelican case to protect your monitors and it comes with a drying capsule, a cleaning tool and that stock cable we just talked about. There were also some Lime Ears stickers and a business card. A rather basic package compared to some of the competition but the Aether R is selling for a lot less money compared to the more luxurious CIEMs.

You get a basic custom Aether R version for €1200 and that price can go up depending on the personalization options selected. Compared to the competition this is a very fair price for a flagship monitor.

5. Customer Service

As said earlier Lime Ears now has a simple monitor building app which already reduces the communication with the company. I myself have always been in contact by email and I never used the configurator but Emil and co as usual are always quick to reply to questions and suggestions.

I’m convinced Lime Ears’ customer service is nothing to worry about, au contraire. The posts in the different Head-Fi threads also prove this over and over: Lime Ears is a pleasure to work with.

On Page Three you’ll find out everything about the Aether R’s sound, click HERE

4.5/5 - (39 votes)
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Lieven is living in Europe and he's the leader of the gang. He's running Headfonia as a side project next to his full time day job in Digital Marketing & Consultancy. He's a big fan of tube amps and custom inear monitors and has published hundreds of product reviews over the years.

1 Comment

  • Reply January 22, 2020

    SC

    Thanks Lieven, wonderful review! I can’t read this review without wondering how this Lime Ears Aether R flagship compares to the other Polish flagship, the Custom Art FIBAE 7 (the review of which I think I also commented on, heh). They seem to share a lot of similarities: Both are in approximately the same price bracket, both are described as aiming for (and hitting) a natural/shades of neutral sound, both are somewhat spartan in terms of packaging and accessories but high in terms of value, customer service, and fit. Are there any comparison points that stand out to you between these two Polish flagships?

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