Inside Audio Interviews featuring The Custom Art

 

Hi. Thanks for taking the time out of your schedule to partake in this interview.

My pleasure!

So before we dive in, tell us a little bit of background about Custom Art, how did it start? How did it evolve over time to what it is now?

Custom Art started as “one man show” back in 2012 and quickly became respectable brand within audiophile community. In 2016 we introduced FIBAE (Flat Impedance Balanced Armature Earphone) technology, which is breakthrough in IEM design that improves listening experience for customers. Right now Custom Art is one of the major custom IEM manufacturers in the world. In near future we will focus on incorporating 3D printing system in order to produce even more IEMs at even faster pace.

Your current lineup, tell us about the current products you offer, and the direction they have in terms of who they are for or what they provide.

Our current standard line up consists of FIBAE1, FIBAE2, FIBAE3, Ei.3, Pro330 and Harmony 8.2. Each of the model offers different tuning – FIBAE1 is flat neutral, FIBAE2 offers full, smooth, darker signature, while FIBAE3 provides again more flat signature with an exceptional end-to-end frequency extension. Ei.3 is a member of the old line up – this IEM is meant to be a budget option offering great sound that is true “bang for buck”. Pro330 is dedicated for on-stage vocalists as it is fast, detailed with “creamy” midrange.  Harmony 8.2 is our flagship model that offers natural sound – it is ranked among the best IEMs in the world.

One of the most notable things about Custom Art is FIBAE so can you tell us the story of how it came to be? Were you looking to develop balanced armatures with those characteristics or was it a development you came upon and decided to continue to work on?

FIBAE is an effect of just trying to do something different than everyone else. It wasn’t developed on purpose – we stumbled upon it while playing around with various electrical designs for our IEMs. Once we realized game-changing effect of this discovery, there was no doubt about exploring it further and incorporating it into our products.

Specifically the FIBAE 1, it is more or less the entry point in your products, the way you have designed and tuned the FIBAE 1, what decision were made to make sure it caters to possibly first time CIEM buyers?

FIBAE 1 is fairly simple design based on its predecessor – Music One – with FIBAE technology and some other minor adjustments added to improve overall sound quality. Music One has been one of our bestsellers for years and that’s why we decided to continue with similar approach to sound. FIBAE 1 simply does a lot of things correct – it’s not too bright or too dark, it gives healthy amount of bass and smooth but detailed highs. For an IEM based just on a single Balanced Armature, it just sounds good.

How about your process’ in making your products, what is your approach in developing a new product?

Typically it starts with general idea about number of drivers and desired sound signature. The whole idea evolves during the design stages and, sometimes, requires scrapping an entire project and starting from the very beginning. It’s a long process that exercises your patience. We look at it as any other form of creative process like writing music, painting etc. Every time we try to improve on our designs and make them unique.

How about the creation process for orders? What are the challenges with the custom nature of many of your products and different needs or wants the customers may have?

We try to accommodate to any customers’ requests. Our most stunning pieces have been created when customer gave us freedom for visual design of the IEMs. Only then can our team really release their artistic minds. We always appreciate the trust that customers put in us. If, however, a given request is very specific, we always consult it with a customer, send visualizations, sample pictures, make every effort to make sure that the customer is happy with the final product.

Do you have plans to expand your product range? Or if no hard plans even certain concepts you want to be able to develop?

Naturally! We are in process of expanding the FIBAE line-up and replacing older models. We are also developing universal fit IEMs, which should become available by the end of this year.

Anything else you’d like to add?

Every product in our portfolio is based on the feedback gathered from all of the people we interacted with over the years, and the fact that at Custom Art, we are all different in many ways. We have different sense of creative expression, different manner of looking for inspirations. Our clients are widespread all over the world and listen to various music genres. Some of them are world-class artists, while others have just started their careers. Some are audio fanatics and some are tech nerds. All this combined together gives a remarkable mixture of unique energies and characters who experience design, technology, music and world from their own individual perspective. This is what pushes us to create one-of-the-kind products and is the reason why we keep on searching for new solutions or just new approaches to the process itself. I think that is why we are able to adapt to different customers’ needs and can meet their expectations. We embrace that spirit.

That concludes the interview, thank you again for taking the time to answer the questions. Have a great day!

Thanks!