Audeze’s Euclid In-Ear Planar Magnetic Headphones are like no other. Priced at $1299/£1099, they’re the best.These are meant to be god-level audiophile in-ears for music and more, but this is Digital Foundry – so we focus on their gamble Performance in our testing regime. Is it worth spending that much money on in-ears for this purpose – are there cheaper alternatives worth considering?
We’ll provide that information shortly, but let’s start from the beginning: Who is Audeze anyway? The California company isn’t a mainstream gaming brand like your Corsairs or Razers, but the company has built a reputation for great-sounding planar magnetic and gaming headsets that justify the premium price point. In fact, we rate Audeze’s Penrose and LCD-GX as the best in class. The Penrose, Penrose X and HyperX-branded Cloud Orbit S are full-fat gaming headsets that support modern consoles and PCs, while the LCD-GX is an ultra-premium audiophile headset that can also be used for gaming — a descriptor closer to gaming The essence of Euclid’s in-ear headphones.
However, even trying these headphones didn’t prepare me for Euclid – it’s one thing to wear comfortable large over-the-head headphones and get great sound, but it’s another to shrink the same technology down to a suitable size It’s in your ears.
I’m not sure how this can be done without making major sacrifices, but the engineering here is impressive to say the least. The relatively modest in-ears contain an 18mm planar magnetic transducer with magnets and waveguides, an impressive feat of miniaturization that doesn’t seem to sacrifice much in terms of audio quality. Of course since this is a closed-back in-ear design you won’t get the soundstage or immersion of an open-back and/or in-ear headphone but you’ll at least get some soundstage measurements the accuracy of distinguishing planar magnetic headphones from dynamic headphones and bass response.
Euclid In-Ear Headphones are extremely comfortable to use, with eartips in a variety of materials including silicone and foam, and in a variety of sizes to ensure you find the right combination for your pinna and ear canal position. I found that my left ear was a slightly different size than my right ear, but glad this was easy to accommodate.
To connect these in-ear headphones to your PC, console, or other device, you have a choice of detachable MMCX cables terminated with 3.5mm unbalanced or 4.4mm balanced plugs. I opted to plug the 3.5mm end into the Sound Blaster X1 USB DAC/AMP, which is good enough to drive 12 ohm in-ear headphones to a comfortable volume, but probably on the low end of what you want for the DAC/AMP to use with the Euclid – after all, I’m sure using something like a high-end tube amp would have been more spectacular. However, with this impedance, you don’t have to worry about using them with an integrated sound card, laptop or smartphone when needed.
Interestingly, the Euclid can also be used wirelessly, though I don’t think that should be the primary use case for a pair of in-ears in this price range. This is achieved via a cable with an integrated Bluetooth receiver, but even with AptX HD support, the in-ears don’t have quite the same sound signature when you’re using them wirelessly. Eight hours of battery life is reasonable, but requires Micro USB charging — not ideal in 2023, but you can work around it.
The Euclid comes in a handsome Pelican-style clear plastic case that leaves room for the earphones and their accessories – although the Bluetooth adapter needs to be folded a bit to fit in. It’s definitely overkill compared to the tiny cases we’re used to for our AirPods-style in-ears, but I imagine you’d want the extra protection for a pair that costs much more. I fear the box is too bulky to be avoided entirely, so it also makes sense to include a smaller hard case here instead of a simple soft fabric pouch.
So are these IEMs worth the money?For 99% of people, definitely not – you can get the Antlion Kimura Duo, a dynamic IEM that offers a similar sound profile, and included microphone Just £165, then spend the extra £1000 on something you need more – like a whole gaming PC? Gas and electricity for a month (if you’re lucky)?
If money is no object, then Euclid is worth considering. These in-ears cancel out distractions better than anything I’ve used in their class, with incredible technical accuracy and excellent low-end performance, and they’re not even close. I’ll let more experienced audiophiles than I say the exact nature of their quality, but suffice it to say these in-ears sound great; listening to music with them is a transformative experience, both out of the box and With some careful EQ tweaking for top quality, the same technical features make game audio and soundtracks shine.
So: what’s it like to game and work with high-end in-ear headphones like the Euclid? To find out, I use them as my go-to headset for Zoom meetings, competitive Counter-Strike matches, and more relaxed Fire Emblem Engage games.
The first thing that struck me from my notes was how difficult it was to get these IEMs in and out of the ears. While the fit is pretty natural, I had to really get the hang of getting each side into the ear, swiveling it into place, and looping the cable over the ear. That means I’m fumbling with IEM for the first 30 seconds of a Zoom meeting or Counter-Strike match, which can be an awkward feeling for everyone involved. It’s more of a song and dance than an over-ear headphone than an in-ear wireless headphone, and the introduction of Bluetooth into the equation slows things down even further.
However, once the Euclids are actually in place, I find them to be very comfortable and block out background noise with ease, allowing me to really focus on what I’m doing. That’s great for productivity or hearing subtle sounds in competitive gaming, but not so great for listening to the mailman knocking on your door. It’s only after a few hours of use that my ears get a little sore, but that’s normal for me for in-ear headphones — I think about four hours is my limit.
For gaming, the Euclid excels due to its relatively neutral, unfatiguing sound signature and extremely developed low end. I’ve found them to be more suited to single player games where I’m immersed in the game rather than competitive shooters as I don’t have time to appreciate them, but in both cases you still benefit from the ability to: pick up Lots of detail, whether it’s a single instrument in the soundtrack or flanking enemies. Of course, from a competitive standpoint, headphones that emphasize highs in a more prominent (and less natural) way might be better; something like the Fnatic React is a good example of this.
So if you’re considering Euclid I’d recommend starting with the much cheaper IEMs – the Antlion Audio Kimura Duo I mentioned earlier is nearly £1000 cheaper at around £150 and offers a very similar experience in terms of usability, if It’s not the absolute audio quality, and there’s a helpful microphone attached if you want. That makes it a significantly more valuable option, especially for gaming, but if you want something that pushes the enthusiast envelope in a similar form factor, the Euclid is spectacular.
I just wish we’d seen more of Audeze’s planar magnetic technology in more mainstream in-ears – at around £300 they could be an excellent alternative to high-end over-ears for those who prefer immersive headphones Product sound field. For now, though, the Euclid are an impressive high-water mark, at least for in-ear audio quality, even if they’re too expensive to recommend.
