Closer Examination

Custom Art pairs its FIBAE 7 Unlimited IEMs with the excellent Null Audio Arete cable, that can be customized to have different connectors on either end including options of 2.5 or 4.4 mm balanced or the default 3.5 mm single-ended on the source side. My sample came with a 4.4 mm Pentaconn connector and I am a fan of the anodized aluminium alloy housing used on the plug that also confirms the Null Audio collaboration. A short section of strain relief leads to four cores, 100 strands of ultra- high purity OCC (Ohno Continuous Cast) copper conductor of 24 AWG each. The black and rose gold colors on the metal hardware work well with the copper finish seen through the clear and flexible insulation, that makes for an easily routed and shaped cable with no microphonics in use. The splitter employs a similar design language as the plug housing and there is a functional, clear plastic cable cinch that allows you to retain the two split channels against the back of your head or under the chin, depending on how you route the cable. There are pre-formed ear hooks on the other end which ultimately lead to the two channels marked L/R for easier identification. This particular cable uses 0.78 mm 2-pin connectors although you can choose to go with MMCX, recessed 2-pin, or even in-line microphone versions as desired. The metal plugs all come 24k gold-plated for oxidation resistance. The Arete cable sells separately for $109 in this specific combination and certainly punches above its asking price in terms of aesthetics, functionality, and build quality alike.


At this point I would encourage you to go through this article first, which talks more about the nature of custom-fit IEMs (CIEMs) and how they differ from more typical universal fit versions. CIEMs typically allow two modes of customization including the fit itself that requires you to have ear impressions, and also the very design of the IEMs given they are being custom made for you anyway. Some companies allow for universal-fit IEMs to be customized for aesthetics but in general CIEMs are the way to go for the most comfortable and secure fit. You will see how these FIBAE 7 Unlimited shells are clearly CIEMs based on my own ear impressions that I had scanned and sent over to Custom Art. The company took a look at the scans and confirmed they would work fine, and then the waiting game began. It took ~3 weeks for these samples to be ready and shipped out and now you know why I was eager to get these out in my hands even before I started the photography process. See, the LETSHUOER EJ07M CIEMs I tried previously had an issue on the left side whereby it was not fitting my ears well. I had to send them back along with the physical molds of my ear impressions and that led to even more downtime before they all came back—funnily just a over a week before these FIBAE 7U IEMs did—and I was happy enough with the fit to proceed with testing that set. Custom Art is a step above LETSHUOER in this regard in better communication throughout the process, as well as getting it absolutely spot on the first time itself. I could not believe how well these fit my ears and almost wired them in for a quick listen before I realized I should take photos first—it was a sad moment when I took them out of my ears then!


Now that the custom fit aspect was achieved in a more-than-satisfactory manner, I can focus on talking about the aesthetics and design of these shells. Custom Art has a handy configurator on the product page of the FIBAE 7 Unlimited, whereby you can decouple the design from the fit allowing you to go with fancier universal-fit versions too, although the default design is quite striking if I say so myself—you can see it on page one in the title photo. I also liked that Custom Art allows you to not only go between various shell finishes ranging from colors and transparency, but also doing it on a per-channel basis and also having the ear canals be different from the shells too! This allows for up to four different parts even before we get to the face plates, and that's where things go up a few notches. I went with "White Solid" for both shells and canals to keep it clean and also differentiate from the deep black on the EJ07M, and this also helps photograph these nicely against the black background used here. For the face plates I once again wanted to have it clean and classy and went with the "Icewood White," which is a section of wood in this gorgeous color and finish. You can choose between various acrylic, wood, carbon fiber, or brushed aluminium here, although Custom Art has been known to also show off its capabilities with other materials and finishes including abalone and metal powders if you contact them. The logos on the face plates can be customized too, or even removed entirely, although for the sake of this promotional article a minimalist white logo seemed apt. The finish on these IEMs is exceptional, to where I need to dig out the macro lens and zoom in to see where the face plates are glued onto the shells, which in turn come polished nicely too. On the side are flush 2-pin cable connectors and the underside features the serial number of the units in blue/red colors to also help identify the left and right channels. The ear canal sections become the de-facto nozzle here which also mean no ear tips are in use, given these simply slide into your ears. There is also no filter on the end where you see the sound tubes coming from the acoustic chamber and thus you do need to be more careful about the maintenance and upkeep of these CIEMs with a soft microfiber cloth, to wipe the shells and then use the provided brush to remove ear wax/dust stuck onto the nozzles.


Re-connect the cable by reversing the steps from the previous page and by also ensuring the ear hooks are accounted for properly. Now simply connect the IEMs to your preferred source, such as the excellent Questyle M15 with its 4.4 mm headphone output that comes in handy with the balanced Arete cable provided here. Seen above are also my two CIEM sets in the form of these Custom Art FIBAE 7 Unlimited and the LETSHUOER EJ07M, to where I quite like the duality of colors and minimalism vs. the busier face plate on the latter.