Price & Accessories
Price-wise, the dual BA-driven Prism’s starts at $549USD. While that of course isn’t cheap, you get a lot in return as the list below shows. Most important however is the excellent Exo cable that comes with the Prism, which sells for $199 by itself already. So basically you’re buying a $349USD IEM.
The PlusSound Prism comes delivered with:
1x Prism IEMs
1x Exo Cable
1x Comply Isolation Tip Set
1x Comply Comfort Tip Set
1x Cleaning Tool
2x Amplifier Bands
2x Metal Cases
All of this is delivered in a simple yet nice black box.
Specifications & Origin
Prism
Dual balanced armatures (High/Low) per side
In-house 3D manufactured enclosure made from durable acrylic material
Sensitive enough for use with portable audio players and amplifiers
Detachable MMCX connection
Drivers: Designed and Made in USA
Enclosure: Designed and Made In-House
Assembled: In-House
Cable
Exo Series
UP-OCC Copper Type 6 Litz wiring
MMCX connectors
Varied terminations
Components: Designed In-House
Assembled: In-House
Sound
Prism consists of two USA-made balanced armature drivers (one for high frequency, one for low frequency) that provides a warm low end with extended highs.
The Exo cable came terminated with a 2.5mm plug, so do note most of the impressions below are of the Prism in balanced configuration unless differently noted.
Listening to the Prism took me back to the first time I listened to balanced armatures because you get that typical dark and black background with the clean presentation you get from the BA drivers. The Prism to me sounds a little darker with a tuning that is more musical than it is analytic.
While the separation from top to bottom is good, the presentation of the sound is a more intimate one. The PlusSound Prism has enough space to differentiate everything and to render it in a musical way, but it isn’t the most spacious and airy sounding set of IEMs. That’s not a bad point, that’s just a specific tuning, one which a lot of people actually prefer over a very airy and spacious tuning.
The sound stage is good but the extension at the bottom and the top is lacking a little. Depth and layering for a two-way monitor are good and even though the Prism is using only one driver for treble and one for bass, the mids aren’t really situated in the back. The Prism is fairly linear in that regard and in balanced mode – at least to me – bass, treble and mids have good body and presence overall, something I really like.
In that regard the Prism also has a more neutral tuning but it’s never boring or analytical, think musicality and a touch of warmth with a darker character. The level of detail is good and especially the upper bass, mids and lower treble have a lovely timbre. For a two-driver unit, the depth PlusSound achieved to get is good, but if you compare it to the 8-driver VE8 or Jomo Samba, the layering of course isn’t as impressive. I do love the left/right balance and stereo presentation of the Prism, something the Fiio X7II helps achieve in an impressive way (AM3A).
The bass quantity in the Prism is spot on and bass has good depth and layering too. Bass is never exaggerated but it is there when needed with a good punch. The PlusSound Prism’s bass is the kind of bass that everyone can enjoy: good body – not lacking, or overly present – and with good quality. The only thing lacking a bit is the sub bass extension I mentioned earlier in this chapter as well. The really deep, sub bass simply isn’t very present but at the same time the Prism is tuned in such a good way that you can forgive that. It’s just something to take into account if sub bass is what gets you going.
Bass perfectly flows to the mid bass and the mids overall. Like the bass, the mids have a good presence and level of detail. The timbre, layering and depth is good but again the comparison with the VE8 and Samba is valid here. Some people might want to see the mids more to front or the back but in the Prism it’s right in the middle to me. The voices maybe are a little more upfront but not in a way to call it a vocally forward tuned IEM. While the voices certainly are good, I do miss a little bit of “naturalism” in them but that’s mainly because I’m used to listening to more advanced, more expensive monitors. The only BA-driven monitor that has impressed me in that regard is the Warbler Prelude. The level of sound that IEM achieves to portray ( with only one driver but they don’t like me saying this) is incredible, but back to the Prism.
Even more on sound on Page 3 of the PlusSound Prism review HERE
