Hercules Audio M16 Review: Full-BA Will Never Dies
Apart from having an audiophile hobby that enjoys jamming to good earphones and cables, searching and seeking new audio brands is another hobby of mine. I always dig through the web now and then to discover new brands, and some of them just somehow come across to me by chance (or the almighty algorithm).
Today I have a relatively new brand that I’m glad to introduce, as most of you may have not heard of them before, called Hercules Audio. So who’s Hercules Audio? While not much information is known about the brand, Hercules Audio was established in Hong Kong a few years ago, and are also the ones behind who made the creation of Effect Audio King Arthur and King Arthur Ltd.
Since the launch of Hercules Audio, the team has been serving the local community for a while and has been gaining good reactions for their products. Hercules currently has three products where each of them are intended for a different price range and sound tuning. Today, we’ll be reviewing the Hercules M16 (or called Master), the 16BA flagship IEM. The Hercules M16 is priced at HKD24800 or about $3199.
- M6 (Mix): The most affordable model (yet still a premium IEM)
- M7 (Mega): Mid-range IEM that threatens its flagship model
- M16 (Master): Flagship model from Hercules Audio.
Packaging: Which are just… the case and eartips.
Despite the IEM being a flagship, high-end product, the Hercules M16 comes in surprisingly simplistic packaging. Well, there’s no packaging! It only comes in with a good leather case etched with a gold-etched cover with the Hercules Audio logo on top. Once opened reveal the IEMs connected to the stock cable as well as 3 pairs of ePro EP00 Graphene eartips.
Personally, and as shown from the photo above, I’ve paired the M16 with the ePro EP01 (the wide bore version) which is also my favorite eartip matching with the M16. Do give it a try as it reveals even more flavor and clarity from these IEMs. Some might say “Well good – they got it all of the unnecessary or flashy packaging that doesn’t have any practical use and cut down the packaging price (although M16 is a costly product), while others would say “But isn’t this far too simplistic for a flagship product especially costing for this much?”
The judgment would depend on different people, though I’m on the latter side – I sure would’ve wished to see a better presentation and more variety of accessories than a simple case packaging. But of course, this is my opinion. Anyhow, it’s the sound that would answer any complaints that I or others may have for the M16, right? Let’s see.
Earpieces: 16 Sonic Machines Per Side
Hercules M16 uses 16 Balanced Armature drivers per side, having a 5-way crossover system with the drivers divided as 4 Lows, 4 Mids, 4 Mid-highs, and 4 Ultra Highs. Hercules Audio states that they’ve fine-tuned even 1dB of frequency response to achieve the subtle yet significant changes in performance and nuance they wanted to out of.
Detailed specs of the M16 are as the following:
Hercules Audio M16 Specifications:
- 16 Drivers 5 Passive Crossover
- Driver Configuration: 4 Low (BA), 4 Mid-High (BA), 4 Mid (BA), 4 High (BA)
- Impedance: 9Ω1Khz
- Sensitivity: 108db SPL@100m V RMS
- Isolation: 26db
- Frequency Response: 20Hz – 20kHz
The earpieces are made of resin with a blue transparent body and has a blue faceplate topped with silver nuggets along with the HA logo. The size and fit of the M16 are quite satisfying despite the number of drivers it involves, providing a comfortable and hassle-free fit for most ears. The M16 also has the right nozzle length and thickness that would work well with most ears even for those with smaller ear canals. Hercules M16 uses standard, non-recessed 2pin connectors which is the general standard for pairing with various custom cables.
But Why this Cable?
My complaint exists with the cable being rather insufficient, and that it’s a 3.5mm unbalanced output. But then again, these are quite sensitive IEMs (not surprising since all drivers are BAs…) so achieving good output wouldn’t be a problem. Though at least it would’ve been better to give a higher-end cable if not an additional/optional 4.4mm stock cable considering its high-end position.
Hercules Audio mentioned that while the M16 is already good enough with its 3.5mm stock cable, another real fun of this IEM is to match with various cables as it’s very sensitive to cable changes, showing a variety of different charms and sound signatures depending on what cable you pair them with, like a chameleon.
While I won’t do in-depth impressions on how particular cable pairs and sounds with the M16, I’ve run the M16 through a dozen cables and I highly agree with Hercules’ statement. In fact, the M16 is very responsive and well reflects the sound of the cable once paired, hence these IEMs have been serving me well as one of my “cable testers”. However, I still fancy a better stock cable for the M16. Ah well. As said, the sound will tell, so let’s now actually jump to the main topic: how does it sound?
Next Page: Sound Impressions of Hercules H16 Master