I suppose the biggest complement I can give the Audeze Euclid is that I forgot these were closed-back IEMs soon into my listening experience. I know it is careful tuning and driver selection/manufacturing, which the brand has worked on getting done in-house for further control, but it might as well be magic in how precise the imaging is and how wide the soundstage gets. These are not the first planar magnetic IEMs out there. In fact, Audeze's own prior attempts resulted in some hilariously large earphones that ended up functioning more as on-ear headphones with a protruding nozzle similar to the Nuraphone, and there have been a couple of other smaller driver attempts since, including from TinHiFi with its P-series using micro-planar drivers that just did not justify the use case. A few others have tried creating such a solution situated somewhere in between, but mostly unsuccessfully, as with the RHA CL2. I do not have enough experience with similar planar magnetic IEMs to really say more, but it does seem obvious that Audeze saw a niche market to be tapped and grabbed on to it hard.

At $1300, these are not your average set of IEMs, and I already know many will skip straight to this page, see what it goes for, and scoff immediately. I hope I can at least convince you to go through the whole review before deciding either way, but it is no doubt simply priced out of many wallets to begin with. If you do go through the review, the first impressions might be disheartening for those expecting a fancy unboxing experience, goodies included, and an arguably better-looking cable than what we get. I suspect we would be looking at a price tag closer to $1500 had Audeze gone that way. There is certainly merit to spending the resources on what will be used daily, be it the patented planar magnetic driver setup created solely for the Euclid, individually hand-tested checks to match the two channels, burn-in done at the factory followed by another personal check to ensure all works well, and, of course, that tuning, which is what most customers will pay for. There is also some merit to the argument that at $1300, people expect more from the unboxing experience and cable even if it is purely indulgent and for aesthetics alone.

When it comes to the actual IEM design, personal tastes will differ as well. I think Audeze did a really good job. The precision-milled aluminium shells are complemented by a gold trim accent and carbon fiber face plate. It is a decent mix of understated branding and unique appeal. The shell design is also quite novel owing to the need to fit relatively large 18 mm transducers and the associated Fluxor magnet and Fazor waveguide, meaning you get a curvaceous acoustic chamber that is still quite ergonomic. Audeze could have gone the route of the likes of Dunu, which would have made the Euclid look like the Starship Enterprise from Star Trek and also somewhat match the Star Wars TIE fighter-inspired LCDi3/i4. But in its current design, it is quite comfortable without looking like you are inspired by Frankenstein's Monster yourself.

I haven't spoken much about the tuning and audio performance here because there is a lot to say about it, so I truly urge you to read the audio performance section. These are only my second planar magnetic devices tested to date, let alone just as IEMs, and I have to say that the Euclid is better-tuned than the LCD-2 Classic over-ear open-back headphones. In fact, I would definitely listen to these over the LCD-2C even disregarding the size and weight differential. The amount of detail these things can resolve even in the sub-bass is extraordinary. The accurate response also makes the Euclid more amenable to monitoring than the LCD-2C, although you may occasionally find yourself thinking the bitrate of the playing song is a bottleneck. The Euclid is also very good for general media consumption thanks to fantastic tonal separation, but also since these feel effortless to listen to. It is one of the things that often goes unmentioned, mostly because there isn't as much a difference between IEMs in particular in this regard. But the tight tuning, excellent fit, relatively lower mass density, good seal when inserted properly, and what may well be the Fazors reducing distortion all work harmoniously in producing a listening experience that is greater than the sum of individual parts.

If you can afford it and are in the market for a good set of IEMs, try these out at a show or retailer. I suspect most people will be pleasantly surprised. There remain a few issues, as mentioned above, which stop me from completely recommending it at the price point. I do acknowledge the innovation with the driver system and design of the acoustic chamber surrounding it, which has me gladly give the Euclid our Innovation award.