Lucid Audio Interview Covering Westone Audio’s Mach Series
The earphonia.com team are privileged to be interviewing Dave Friesema and Tal Kocen from Lucid Audio primarily to talk about the Westone Audio Mach series as well as some insights from Lucid Audio.
Thanks for taking the time and agreeing to do this interview with earphonia.com
Question:
To start If you could both introduce yourselves and provide a little background to your roles that would be great.
Answer :
Dave: My name is Dave Friesema and I’m the Director of Consumer Audio Products for Lucid Audio. I’ve been an engineer and project manager with Etymotic for 17 years. I’ve been the engineering lead on Etymotic earphones going back to the HF and MC earphones that were released over a decade ago. Since then, I’ve worked on every new ER series earphone including the ER2, ER3, ER4 as well as the recently released EVO. The MACH series represents my first significant design work on the Westone Audio line of earphones.
Tal: I’m the Vice President of Consumer Product Development here at Lucid Audio. I’ve been with the company for 3 years. I came from a background as an audio engineering professional who toured extensively worldwide with artists throughout the aughts and teens. I also successfully started and managed a Pro Audio eCommerce company and was one of the founders of Dekoni Audio. As I like to say, I’m the “KO” in Dekoni. I moved over to Lucid to take the helm for consumer product development in 2019.
Question:
Now the introductions are out of the way, can you tell me a little about Lucid Audio and it’s decision to acquire Westone Audio and some more info about other brands it owns, as well as Lucid Audio’s brand Vision.
Answer :
Lucid Audio Acquired Westone Audio in June of 2020. The parent company, Lucid Hearing, saw in the acquisition of Westone Audio, a path to being a high-end consumer audio market leader. We also see the potential of cross pollinating the brands and finding synergies that can be applied to make each one better.
Question:
So the acquisition of Westone Audio must have been a proud moment considering how influential Westone Audio has been in shaping the audiophile In Ear Monitor industry over a number of decades. Can you let us know why a complete rehaul of the well established Westone ‘W series’ was made and superseded with the Mach Series? How would you say the Mach series differs from the W series, primarily in terms of sound style and tuning?
Answer :
Tal: YES, the acquisition was a proud moment for us. To bring another prestigious company into the fold was an opportunity that could not be passed up. Aside from that, if you go back 30+ years to when there were only a few companies in the business, these 2 brands were at the top of their game. At that time, it was still called the insert earphone or, even further back, the canal phone.
Dave: The inspiration for the Mach series was our ES line of custom earphones, which have proven to be quite popular amongst our customer base. The tuning for each model in the Mach series tracks with the ES line.
For example, a Mach 60 has a frequency response that’s based on the ES60 model. The tricky thing about the W series is that the sound signatures were quite disparate from the customs and that caused confusion at times when trying to sell them.
he path forward is much more straightforward in that there are 8 sound signatures, and they are available in either custom or universal variants.
At the end of the day, the entire line-up is a comprehensive line-up that is designed to appeal to Musicians, which is the core audience of Westone Audio. “For musicians, by musicians” as we like to say.
Question:
So the acquisition of Westone Audio must have been a proud moment considering how influential Westone Audio has been in shaping the audiophile In Ear Monitor industry over a number of decades. Can you let us know why a complete re-haul of the well established Westone ‘W series’ was made and superseded with the Mach Series? How would you say the Mach series differs from the W series, primarily in terms of sound style and tuning?
Answer :
Dave: The ES70 is a very popular model within the customs line, particularly in the Pro Audio space amongst drummers, bassists, and percussionists. It tends to appeal to both performers and listeners that seek out a more pronounced foundation to their music. The Mach 70 provides that listening experience in a universal form factor.
Tal: I’ll add to Dave’s answer to say that the Mach 70 was designed to be the bassier little brother (or sister) to the Mach 80. It shares a lot of the same drivers but has a single, large, Bass driver.
Question:
Can you tell me a little about each of the models in the Mach Series range and the target audience demographic for each.
Answer :
Dave: With 8 models in the line, the goal is to have something for everybody. I tend to look at the line in three tiers.
The first tier is the Mach 10, 20 and 30.
The Mach 10 is a nicely balanced earphone that is relatively flat to bottom.
The Mach 20 has a bit more low end and is likely to appeal to a listener that wants a bit more on the bottom.
The Mach 30 is a true 3-way design and is a bit less mids-focused than the 10 and 20. Historically, the bottom three earphones tend to be more price-point driven, with the 30 being the popular all-around model in the line that works for most users, particularly within the Pro Audio space.
The middle tier is the Mach 40, 50 and 60.
The Mach 40 is has a neutral bass response with a smoother high end. It’s likely to appeal to a listener that finds many earphones fatiguing.
The Mach 50 has more low end than the 40, with a more pronounced midrange but still retaining a smooth high frequency response.
The Mach 60 in similar in some respects to the Mach 50 but has more high-frequency detail. Overall, this might be the most balanced earphone in the line.
The top tier is the Mach 70 and 80
The Mach 70 has the most low end output of the entire line. In the Pro Audio space, this one is, by far, the most popular with percussionists, drummers and bass players. I’ve found that many hi-fi listeners consider this the most “fun” earphone in the line.
The Mach 80 is a flat and revealing earphone. That will appeal to listeners that want to really hear the recording, particularly if they have a good sounding system upstream.
Question:
Taking the flame from such a well know brand and taking it to the next level, while staying true to its loyal established audience, must have been a delicate balance. How has the Westone Audio ‘house sound’ evolved yet remained true under the steer of Lucid Audio?
Answer :
Dave: This is a difficult question to answer in that I’m not sure I’d say it has really evolved yet. The design of the Mach series is rooted in the legacy of the ES series, which is definitively the Westone Audio house sound.
The wonderful thing about Lucid Audio owning both Etymotic and Westone Audio is that it allows both products to keep their identity despite operating in the same space. Ultimately, I expect we’ll see both brands stretch their legs a bit but not fundamentally stray from the approach that has made both successful.
Tal : Our intention is not to change the brands “house sound” but to help them evolve while using our in-house acoustic engineering prowess to refine them both. They’ve both been around a long time and have well established roots that we have no intention of abandoning.
Question:
One of the fundamental changes that are apparent from a functional perspective is that the MMCX connection is now replaced with a T2 connector, can you tell us why this decision has been made and some info about the benefits the T2 offers.
Answer :
Dave: From my perspective, the T2 is a better connection system. The T2 has springs in each corner of the socket the socket to maintain the ground connection, so even if the plug is tilted directly away from one ground spring, it pushes directly into the one in the opposite corner.
The ground connection on MMCX connectors is nowhere near as robust and the connection is more prone to intermittency. While it is a fundamental change, it is not one that is unique to Westone Audio and Etymotic.
More and more manufacturers are implementing the T2 connection (sometimes referred to as IPX). On a long enough timeframe, I think it’s possible that T2 becomes the new standard.
Question:
The Mach Series has a slick more futuristic shell design than the ‘W Series’, can you expand a little on the process of ergonomic development and user testing. Did the shell shape go through many previous iterations before the final choice.
Answer :
Dave: We did play around with the ID for the shell for a bit before we settled on the final design, but the ergonomics were a strong point of the W series as well. Part of the focus of the Mach series was a standardized shell geometry so that all of the models in the line have precisely the same fit, whether it’s a single driver Mach 10 or an eight driver Mach 80.
Tal: We started with an old and abandoned unused design similar to the W series that was meant to, at some previous point in time, be a metal W series. As we evolved that to fit the updated driver packs and T2 socket it slowly took on a life of its own. The key was to remain the smallest, lightest, and most comfortable fit on the market.
Question:
Our team at earphonia.com are big fans of analogue wired connections but there seems to be a trend in the industry, in general largely driven by phone manufacturer to move to more wireless connections.
The original ‘W Series’ provided Bluetooth MMCX cables. Are there plans to provide similar wireless connections for the T2 series or has a conscious decision been made no to do this and follow a more purist wired approach?
Answer :
Tal: We’ve had various projects in the works and you could see some new wireless options in the near future. The wireless market has a lot of competition and we need to make sure the products we create are competitive on the broader market, not just within our own product base.
We are, however, offering our Etymotic Etymotion Bluetooth cable with T2 connectors for use with all the Westone Audio products. This is one place where we see a benefit of having 2 brands.
The Etymotion utilizes an AKM 4331 DAC and Amp chip so you are getting the best audio possible out of the Bluetooth protocol.
Question:
Can you tell us a little about the product development process and sound tuning process. Does it start with a Vision and target FR curve that you iteratively work towards?
Or is it consumer driven via constant feedback? Or something completely different? Can you give us some insight to how this unfolds, from idea to reality.
Answer :
Dave: As mentioned earlier, the Mach series is a bit different in that it started with an established goal of making universal versions of an existing custom product line. Every model in the Mach line started with a target respond and we worked towards achieving that goal.
The challenge with the Mach series is that we had to replicate the sound signature of a custom line that, with the exception of the Mach 10, utilizes dual sound bores. Beyond that, the sound channel lengths were different as were the driver coupling mechanisms.
From a design standpoint, this presents some challenges as the acoustics are fundamentally different, even if the same drivers are used.
Tal: Who knows what the future will bring but I would love to do a more “crowd sourced” approach and see what we can come up with. It would be a fun experiment, if nothing else.
Question:
I know that accuracy in driver tuning signature and shell paired consistency is paramount to the end user experience and brand reputation. Can you tell how this is achieved?
Answer :
Dave: Drivers are a critical part of any earphone design, but they are only one piece of the puzzle. Beyond just the driver, you have the acoustical and mechanical design that is just as important. It’s kind of like boiling down an aircraft design to just the engines.
Without the engines, the plane certainly isn’t going to take off, but without proper engineering of the rest of the plane, it won’t be very effective either.
This can be achieved in multiple ways. For example, lets say you have a bass driver and you want to make a low pass filter to roll off all the frequencies above a certain point.
This can be done a few different ways. You can do it mechanically to choke off the high frequencies, you can use an acoustic resistor to dampen the high frequencies, or you can do it electrically via the crossover.
Sometimes all three approaches are used in the same earphone. It’s all part of a system that fits together to achieve something beautiful.
Question:
In understanding the importance of the technicals when developing a sound signature, I was curious how the human element of listening is included in the process. Can you expand of this aspect please.
Answer :
Dave: As an engineer, I always appreciate the value of empirical measurements to confirm that things are behaving as expected. As a music lover, I always find I need to listen to make sure that it sounds good to my ears. For me, the two are always intrinsically linked and necessary. While working on a design, I listen and measure constantly along the path.
Question:
As there are always leaps in technology progressing, do you envisage significant changes that will shape the next 5 to 10 years in the industry.
New Materials? New Protocols? Smaller faster chips? Any insight to the ‘next level’ for the sector and for Lucid Audio.
Answer :
Dave: In the IEM space, we’re seeing more effort put into expanding driver technology (new balanced armature designs, electrostatic drivers, MEMs based drivers, etc).
For a long time, the hearing aid industry was the primary focus of driver manufacturers as that was the volumes were large enough to justify the expense of tooling and setting up assembly lines.
This was particularly notable in the balanced armature industry, where setting up production for a particular driver model is not a trivial endeavour.
The earphone category has grown to the point that it’s now able to attract more attention from driver manufactures and I expect we’ll see growth and innovation that directly pertains to that space.
Tal: I think the front end of way we listen is also a very important part of the puzzle. It is always evolving and will continue to do so.
Historically we went from wax cylinders to vinyl to cassette to CD to SACD (remember those?) to digital files (and all the bit rates) to digital streaming (with all it’s acronyms) and now we have Dolby Atmos (or Spatial Audio) added to the mix*.
As those things change the devices we listen with must also change. When will wireless built directly into the earphone be a requirement of the data we are trying to access?
If Atmos/Spatial audio really takes hold there’s going to be a real requirement for firmware/software development just to enter the earphone space. Most of today’s audiophile brands don’t have that capability in house.
It won’t be enough to solder some wire on a speaker and plug one end into a device and the other into your ear. We’ll need to be able to produce a product that is end to end in order to take advantage of the growing technologies.
We’re almost there already. I feel the pull of technology begging us to advance and constantly grow.
*I skipped some formats for brevity.
Question:
If you had to sum up the ‘Westone Audio Mach Series’ in a single sentence, what would you say.
Answer :
Dave: I believe the Mach series are the most comfortable universal fit earphones available and that there’s something in the line that will appeal to almost anyone.
Tal: If you want to hear music the way your favourite musicians do when they are on stage, the Mach is the way to go. It’s what they use.
Thanks again Dave and Tal for sharing your insights on the Mach Series and the Lucid Audio journey, I’m sure the earphonia.com followers/readers will find this interview extremely useful, I certainly did!
