Summary/Details:
Cost: RRP £89.99/’Street’ Price £60/Price at Purchase £37.94
Style: Over-the-ear
Cable Length: 1.25m L-Plug terminus
Driver: Dynamic
Impedance: 18 Ohm
Sensitivity: 110db
Freq. Range: 8-22KHz
First Impressions:
The Eterna comes in a package that is soft on the eye and yet visually attractive at the same time. It features a ‘window’ that allows you to view the IEMs without opening the box – a nice touch, but somewhat unnecessary in my opinion.
In terms of accessories provided, Fischer Audio ship the Eterna with a cloth pouch (branded with the Fischer Audio logo), some over-the-ear cable guides (not featured in the picture), and three sets of tips – two silicon single-flange tips and a set of silicon bi-flange tips – pretty basic and simplistic, especially compared to the offerings from other brands.
On removing them from the packaging I immediately noticed the build quality, the housing – whilst plastic – feels solid, the nozzles have metal filters, and there is more than enough cable relief. The cable itself is thick and feels durable, but does retain some memory properties – not enough to be irritating but certainly noticeable. The cable also features an in-line remote and microphone, housed in the same plastic.
In terms of comfort, the drivers are quite sizeable compared to other IEMs (such as the E10s/PL50s/CX-range/VSonics offerings) but are, assuming you do not possess smaller ears, very comfortable over long periods of time, with the angled nozzle aiding this.
Sound:
This is the area the Eterna’s excel in. They have a ‘fun’ sound signature, with plenty of bass presence. A quick look at the frequency response graph for the Eterna will confirm this – but it will also highlight the warm mids and slightly laidback treble. These headphones are by no means bass-monsters; the bass is there, and in good quantities, but overall the Eterna has a sound that is easy to listen to, so utterly non-fatiguing, and a real pleasure to listen to.
Its soundstage is forward, with good separation (a lot of IEMs can sound distinctly as if they are in your head, the Eternas are more like being 1-2 rows from the front of a gig). They possess good clarity and separation, and neither the bass nor the mid-bass get bogged down in fast flowing tracks, though in some heavily layered or very complex tracks there are moments when the clarity cant quite resolve the full picture.
Bass: Warm, forward and deeply extending. Very little bleed into the midrange.
Mids: Presence of a mild mid-bass hump warms the mids, they are engaging, smooth and sweet.
Treble: Slightly rolled towards the top frequency, which can be noticeable in some tracks and genres. The treble is smooth, however and entirely non-fatiguing.
Isolation is good, they are excellent transport or gym phones – although isolation can be improved by changing the ear tips out for Comply Foam Tips or Shure Olives – neither of these impact the sound to my ears.
These headphones are also easy to drive, I’ve had no issues powering them from a Moto G and they sound excellent through an mp3 player or DAP such as the Sansa Clip+. There isn’t much different at all under amping, you do see a slight increase in the power and clarity of the bass and sub-bass however.
Concluding Comments:
These headphones have become my go-to for portable use. They are light, compact, and comfortable for long periods of time. More importantly, they really do make music sound fun again. I have yet to hear a set of IEMs that can deliver such fun across the board. There really isn’t much more I can say about these without drooling over the keyboard, so I shall end it by quoting a few comments from ClieOS and ljokerl:
“What the Eterna does best is deliver the fun factor in a completely unadulterated form. The sound of the Eterna is big, smooth, and powerful…it doesn’t fatigue and never becomes boring.”
“Eterna is a pair of very musical sounding IEM – it is not about accuracy of the sonic reproduction, but the 110% dedication to fun and music enjoyment.”