Is it form over function or function over form for you? While the eventual preference varies depending on the circumstantial needs, one deciding aspect is the desire to go above and beyond the supposed form or function. Having reviewed a fair share of earphone design cues geared toward providing comfort and most did great with some notorious bad apples for comfort so I was delighted when LX Ear, a Custom In Ear Monitors company hailing from Romania founded by a passionate sound engineer way back 2016 and has since been a staple among the Romanian community.

What we have to realview now is the company’s flexible and discrete CIEM, the Jupiter, which is created exclusively using 3D printing technology off your very own ear impressions. The LX Ear Jupiter is made of highly flexible material and covered with a soft, antibacterial and bio-compatible lacquer that becomes soft in the ear at body temperature, LX Ears “promises” the highest degree of comfort that can be achieved for a personalized headset at the moment. The LX Ear Jupiter was sent in by LX Ear for an honest review and need not be returned (it’s a CIEM so would be awkward too), there is no monetary factors involved as well. The LX Ear Jupiter currently retails for € 329 and you can check it out from the official LX Ear website and on the LX Ear Facebook and Instagram pages.

The LX Ear Jupiter is spec’d out with a single BA driver by Knowles, 70 Shore A hardness, 20Hz to 18kHz Frequency Response, 111dB SPL @ 1kHz @ 1mW Sensitivity, 50 Ohm @ 1 kHz Impedance and a Total Harmonic Distortion @ 100 dB SPL of  0.4%.

Packaging and Build Quality

The LX Ear is all about simplicity when it comes to its packaging presentation. It came in a plain predominantly green and black gingham patterned compact hard zipper case with the LX Ear branding coming in its white cardboard sleeve. Inside this hard case is a black plastic IEM/Cable/Ear wax cleaner keeper which was a great storage solution for a discrete CIEM like the LX Ear Jupiter. A product manual is also neatly tucked on the case which also serves as the (1-year limited) warranty card.

The LX Ear Jupiter is unapologetically designed for your ears which invites other people who happens to see your Jupiter’s to really ask if it’s indeed an earphone, a hearing aid or just a regular earplug. That was refreshingly welcome for me as people often see me tinkering and using earphones on a daily basis and to be asked specifically what an earphone really is makes for a good reason to teach them about the benefits of getting audiophile grade earphones.

The LX Ear Jupiter utilizes transparent and flexible resins for its overall body with a hard plastic faceplate which is mainly designed as a handle to allow a secured fit on your ears specifically its external auditory meatus unlike the usual CIEM design which takes into account the concha and the concha cavum.

This design is personally my first encounter with such and it’s surprisingly comfortable, not to mention that LX Ear’s flexible resin becomes a wee bit softer at body temperature. I used this on my office for almost 3 weeks with the AC both turned on and off and the Jupiter’s barely felt annoying or uncomfortable, I also brought it along during my routine commutes and comfort was still stellar.

Just as how the Jupiter’s CIEM body did great for both comfort and specification was cancelled out by the rather lack-luster standard cable that it came with, it isn’t inherently bad and still does its job great of making sure there is minimal noise and retain the Knowles driver’s inherent sound signature. It just reminds me of the time when KZ was using an almost identical standard cable for its IEMs which ironically spelt demise to 1more’s Quad driver IEM by using the same standard cable. To keep it short, LX Ear can do a better job for the Jupiter’s stock cable.

Tonality and Isolation

I found myself appreciating much more than I ought to as to how simply relaxing and laid back the LX Ear’s Jupiter sounded overall. It presented its sonic abilities in an organic and balanced performance with good distribution of attention to respective frequencies and with its low-key design coupled with what a CIEM can offer gave the LX Ear great isolation performance which LX Ear even claims an isolation of up to 35 dB, no waste of time finding that right ear tips for the perfect seal and comfort. We would be using the Sony CAS-1 desktop system off the MSI GF62-8RE laptop via Foobar2000 v1.4 and Sony A46HN outputting various FLAC files which would be mentioned along the realview.

Lows

The LX Ears Jupiter’s low-end performance was tested using Deftone’s Needles and Pins in 16/44 FLAC and right off the bat it floods you with a smoothly presented sub bass delivery which came out soft and rather thin sounding. There is however a better performance on the midbass which came out tight even when sounding less than impactful than I have expected. The attack is also reserved in its delivery and decay was slow which resulted on that tinge of warmth and relaxing ambience feel. Those looking for snappier and much more impactful bass performance will find the Jupiter lacking but for those that love lingering low-end presence, the Jupiter’s will engage you to your heart’s desire.

Midrange

There are times when we find something we were never looking for and that was what happened with the LX Ear Jupiter’s midrange performance when I pumped out a collection of Westlife tracks specially Mandy and My Love in 16/44 FLAC. The lower midrange presentation exhibited a full-sounding feel which complimented what little instrumental notes that accompanied such boy band tracks. The Jupiter made me smile hearing Westlife sounding this lush and composed, a controlled liveliness which often comes out in the upper midrange is present on the LX Ear Jupiter. If you don’t want to waste your time smiling on your old school boy band tracks, you better skip getting the LX Ear Jupiter, it will stop you from doing what you ought to finish in time just by listening to songs which you thought you forgot but unfortunately is already etched word by word for life in your brain. But at least you now have a reason to hit play numerous times on your teenage tunes, feeling old didn’t feel so right.

Highs

The LX Ear’s Jupiter’s highs has a clean presentation to it. I decided to roll with Supertramp for the treble test for the Jupiter and their Take the Long Way Home track in 16/44 FLAC was rendered with crisp and well-articulated performance. Even Supertramps constantly dishing out high frequency tones didn’t make the Jupiter to sound harsh and fatiguing, sibilance is also absent on this CIEM. There is a tinge of sparkle on its highs, enough to make tracks to be rendered with energy and clarity. Cranking up the volume on the Jupiter won’t bleed your ears as much as most IEMs do, not that you’d do it though.

Soundstage and Imaging

The LX Ear Jupiter’s soundstage performance leaned on the more intimate side of things with an emphasis on the depth and layering of tones than extension and width. It is able to create an accurate sense of instruments which lead to a great perception of attack and pacing of tones. Panning is observable and left to right and right to left sound transitions are done with great resolution. Pair this with a dark sounding source and fans of precise imaging would be pleased.

Conclusion

The LX EAR Jupiter is indeed made for those that are after top-notch comfort and isolation and with a balanced sound that has little to nothing to be disappointed or desire with makes it an easily recommendable earphone. Custom In Ear monitors have been around for a long time and while most have been gearing towards cramping the latest technology and design innovations, the LX Ear Jupiter offers a way back to the CIEM basics, just don’t stare too long on its stock cable.