Today, we review the Flame Universal In-Ear Monitors from Soundz. The UIEM version starts from €990 EUR.
Disclaimer: The Flame was provided at no cost by Soundz Custom for the purpose of this review. We thank them for the opportunity. As always, the article reflects my unbiased opinion.
SOUNDZ
SOUNDZ is an innovative company founded by Alexios Papatasios, an experienced hearing care professional. The company’s origins date back to 2011 under the name Earmedical. Mr. Papatasios, a graduate in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Thessaly in Greece, furthered his expertise in Hearing Health Sciences at the International Hearing Society in Michigan and in Audiology & Neurotology at the Medical School of Athens.
With an initial focus on hearing rehabilitation and protection, Soundz was officially launched in 2016 with the goal of creating premium custom earplugs for professional DJs and musicians. This initiative quickly gained international momentum through collaborations with popular DJs and Soundz ambassadors.
In 2018, Soundz made a significant breakthrough at the Frankfurt Musikmesse, establishing wholesale partnerships in India, Israel, Australia, and the United States. The event also spurred the company to explore the manufacturing of in-ear monitors, drawing inspiration from its engagements with manufacturers of drivers, cables, and components.
By 2019, Soundz had established one of the most advanced 3D printing labs in Greece, equipped with state-of-the-art 3D printers, professional microphones, sound measurement tools, and specialized software. The COVID-19 quarantine further accelerated research and development, resulting in the creation and refinement of the first three Soundz in-ear monitor models.
Today, Soundz offers a portfolio of seven advanced in-ear monitor models tailored for professional musicians, studio producers, and audiophiles, as well as a premium line of earplugs designed for a variety of hearing protection needs. With over a decade of experience, Soundz continues to evolve.
Soundz Flame
The Soundz Flame Universal features eight balanced armature drivers per side and a 4-way crossover. It is available in universal and custom form, and the universal version starts at €990 EUR. The review unit here is the ”Tiger Edition” a limited edition version that is available at an additional cost.
The Flame is powered by the SoundzCore2™ technology, which essentially means that Soundz utilizes the industry’s latest, most up-to-date balanced armature drivers. Flame uses exclusively Sonion drivers and SoundzCore2™ tech, which is only available for the high-end range of Soundz: the Wave, Flame, and Avant. The Flame’s configuration is as follows: four Sonion BA woofers for the lows and the mid-bass, two BA drivers are responsible for mids and upper mids, and two BA drivers handle the highs and ultra highs.
The Flame features the Soundz’ Immersive Mode™, which provides a user-controllable bass enhancement for a more visceral and powerful low-end via a switch on each faceplate. The Flame also features a propriety tech called Complex™, a crossover design tech that allows Soundz to eliminate issues and optimize phase response, THD, and excellent L/R matching.
Specifications
Driver Type/Count: 8 Sonion BA drivers per side
Driver Configuration: x4 bass / low-mids, x2 mid+high, x2 super high
Frequency Response: 5Hz – 24kHz
Sensitivity: 103 dB/mW @ 1kHz
Impedance: 16.6Ω
Crossover: 4-way Complex™
Nozzle: Three sound bore design
Isolation: Up to -25 dB
Ordering Process & Customization
The ordering process is simple and straightforward. The universal fit versions are usually shipped within 1 to 3 business days after the order is placed if you don’t want anything bespoke or customized. For custom models, the build time is approximately 5 to 15 business days from receipt of physical/digital ear impressions, depending on the workload of the Soundz lab. Alternatively, you can submit 3D ear impression files, as I did before.
The Soundz website features a configurator tool for personalizing CIEMs. They are quite flexible and easy to talk to so if you want anything special, you can describe it and see if they can do it to your UIEMs. There are also more complicated and bespoke faceplate designs, such as the Galaxy, or you can go with the Tiger Edition, which is what the faceplates on my Flame UIEM feature. Soundz is continuously expanding its range of customization options, so it is better to keep an eye on the configurator.
Soundz Flame UIEM – Sound Impressions
The Flame features a very efficient configuration that can be easily driven from nearly any source. Of course, to get the best of it, I am pairing it with my trusty daily driver, the Hugo 2. Around %10 volume is enough to reach 75-80dB, which is my usual listening level. Right from the start, I noticed that the bass is very similar to the Avant, which we took a look at a couple of months back. Despite being an all-BA design, the bass is voluminous, airy, and has an excellent impact along with satisfactory definition. I don’t know what Sonion are these, but some wizardry is afoot here. Low mids feel a little less emphasized compared to subs. However, the tone weight I’m hearing suggests that there is plenty to provide an organic foundation for the brass and percussion instruments. Turning on the immersion mode allows you to get a little bit of both, but the majority of the affected region is the subs. The bass is surprisingly quick despite moving a lot of air into your eardrum, which is just the way I like it.
Moving on to the midrange, the Flame is linear and transparent. It has an energetic upper midrange / lower treble. The detail retrieval is very impressive, and so is the resolution. The upper midrange is vivid and precise. The extension of the cymbals and hi-hats is impressive. Sources such as Alpha XI1 match the Flame better, especially if you listen to a lot of sibilance-prone tracks. The upper midrange can get sizzly and slightly uncomfortable with analytical sources, so I recommend paying attention to source synergy. Avant is smoother in the upper midrange region, Flame is more honest and conveys as-is, so badly mastered tracks are easily discernible. The treble follows the upper midrange recipe but from a more conservative standpoint. The highs sound clear and resolving with a very good extension. The high frequencies are adequately splashy, not too much, so the dispersion feels natural and articulate.
Overall, Flame is a nicely tuned monitor that I can put somewhere between reference and neutral-warm. It’s a nice monitor that you can actually do some remastering/sound engineering with, but the bass is a bit elevated for it to be a true monitoring earphone. That way, it’s both enjoyable and technically proficient at the same time. Nice!
Technical Capability
The Flame has a relatively wide stage with medium depth. It is not as impressive as Avant in this regard, but it’s no slouch either. The instrument separation and imaging are excellent; you get a nice sense of layering and separation. There is a good amount of space and air between instruments, and you can easily follow individual elements within the stage. The instrument positioning and vocal placement feel accurate.
Moreover, just like the Avant, Flame’s PRaT is also very good due to its similar bass tuning and armature-based configuration. The only time I ran into congestion issues was when it was paired with analytical sources, so I recommend pairing it with neutral-warm sources such as the iBasso D16 or the Alpha XI1.
The review continues on the next page. Click here or use the jump below.
Page 1: Soundz Brand, The Flame, Ordering Process & Customization, Sound Impressions
Page 2: Packaging & Accessories, Design, Build Quality & Fit, Comparisons, Last Words
