Ice Lab Prismatica | 5-Driver Balanced Armature Universal IEMs

- [ ] Bass: 7. Although fairly well-controlled for the transducer topology, it does have an excess amount of mid-bass, leading to a sense of dirtiness that can in turn affect the cleanliness and clarity of the mids. Transient attack can also be slightly hollow, leading to a slight sense of weightlessness to the way the sub-bass hits (though far better than most BA bass). Otherwise, solid.

- [ ] Mids: 9. Uniquely tuned in a highly unconventional way that walks the tightrope between forwardness and thickness. It has the correct properties to correctly render both male and female vocals (has the boldness and creaminess for male vocals, and has enough clarity and shimmer to make female vocals sound appropriate). Uniquely excellent, and so unconventional that I’d be willing to bet money that you can’t find anything similar (except for the Spectrumica).

- [ ] Treble: 9. Also fairly unconventional, with lower-treble elevation, fair amounts of mid-treble, and little extension post-14kHz. However thanks to the excellent transients (well-balanced A&D that gives a textbook-perfect sense of snap), the negative effects of having less upper-treble are mostly mitigated (as usually upper-treble-light IEMs tend to sound dark and muffled, which is not the case with the Prismatica).

- [ ] Timbre: 9. Excellent coherency across the whole frequency spectrum, with bass, mids and treble sharing a similar amount of density. With the Prismatica, there’s no such thing as thinness, lack of body, something-something-light… simply put, the presentation is very fluid. Penalty point for being overly thick for my preferences.

- [ ] Dynamics: 9. exceptional dynamic contrast in absentia of common tuning tricks (including high magnitude treble peaks, peaks and dips within the mid treble to create contrast etc.), powerful in both macro and micro. Though it does have issues with rendering air, as its treble extension isn’t particularly good. It is pretty much as good as it gets with the tuning.

- [ ] Imaging: 9. Expansive, well-layered, precise… the Prismatica has every trait you can associate with “great” imaging. While it doesn’t have the cathedral-esque height like the Z1R, or the vast-not-stage-but-field of the Alter Ego, or the surgical-level positional accuracy like the Cadenza 12/Crimson, it does everything just right, without intentionally accentuating a certain property/axes.

- [ ] Resolution: 9. Very snappy treble, excellent vocal clarity and pouncy bass, the Prismatica has no issues with capturing detail. However, it, like most IEMs, is still unable to present some of the finest microdetails that lie behind every note.

The Ice Labs Prismatica is one of the most coherent IEMs I’ve ever heard. It has a good balance between the volume of the bass, mids and treble (though the mid bass can be ever slightly overpowering, yet it’s fixable via cable/tip-rolling). It also seems like Ice Labs had a core theme going into this project, texture. The Prismatica is a bold, rich, velvety-smooth and captivating earphone, and that theme is reflected in every frequency band. The bass itself has slightly more bloom and growl to it that makes bass notes sound big and more elongated. Vocals have a high-degree of density, thanks to the more-pronounced deep tones. The treble has a textbook-perfect level of snap that allows every note to decay properly, while still retaining a good sense of sharpness to provide solid resolution. And Ice Labs achieved this without playing the usual tricks to boost coherency, such as using phase cancellations and damping to mask the imperfections in certain frequencies, intentionally toning down the treble to give more focus to the texture lying within in the bass and mids, all of which hamper perceived technical performance. The Prismatica still has excellent technicalities, with very strong dynamic contrast despite not having lots of contrasting peaks and troughs in the frequency response, a textbook-perfect spherical stage with excellent layering and positional accuracy, and resolution that is strong enough to render most of the fine details within notes (just not the last bit of microdetails that truly-resolving earphones can). And the most impressive thing is that the Prismatica is a damn simple earphone, be its all-1st-order 3-way RC crossover, its 5 generic balanced armatures that anybody can buy (literally CI-22955, 2x ED-29689, E50DT), its absolute lack of advertising and marketing fluff. It shows an exceptionally-high degree of execution that culminates in a sound that speaks for itself.

The Prismatica shows just how good balanced armature bass can be. The crossover implemented in this set is spot on. This has been often compared to the ThieAudio Monarch mkIII and I can see why having owned both. If you are familiar with the mkIII this set offers the same sound signature in the price range . Decent resolution when paired with the right source. I listen to classic rock/metal and I’m very happy with this set in my stable. I can definitely give the Prismatica a recommendation.

The other reviews have touted the greatness of these, so I’ll do something
Different.
My original review gave these a 3…(now here is why customer service is so great at Bloom audio). Having read my less then stellar review of these, Matthew took the time to contact me to see why our reviews were so opposite.

So this is for all the guys who didn’t read or pay attention to instructions…ie…like on ikea furniture Assembly and then built it with the help of their wives…you know how well that goes😖🤬
Very important!! If you haven’t done so already……watch Matthew’s review of the Prismatica on YouTube. 2 pay attention ( being head phone junkies…imo I’d say most of us look at reviews mostly for the sound breakdown, the graph and comparison tests…the rest is just filler..right?🤦‍♂️). The thing with these is they sound as amazing as described…here’s the attention part…he clearly says that these are very tip dependent!!!….so make sure you try the different types of eartips provided or ones you may have on hand ( kinda sure we all there are few laying about :).I have a stubborn fondness for Comply tips, so naturally I just shove those on just about every iem I own, and that’s somewhere north of 40….
When I first tried these with my Comply tips…they sounded nothing like as described..so of course, instead of doing the easy ‘try other tips’ as suggested I went with the more difficult complex and time consuming option…for those of you playing along…. if you guessed let’s play a game of musical Dacs/Amps…that’s right I brought out the fleet…guess what…it didn’t help.
Now Matthew, for what ever reason ( because he maybe evil or he just likes to screw with those of us that didn’t pay attention 🤷‍♂️)suggest the SpinFit Omni.
I can’t be the only sausage fingered guy out there….cause these things are definitely evil for fitting on a wide nozzle ( one size fits all my behind)…he even has a short video ( that he will gleefully provide you) showing how easy they are to put on…either way I managed to get these on eventually…the sound is as great as the the all reviews say‼️
Like turning on a switch everything filled in and came to life…now these are the IEMs I was expecting…I did change out the Omni for a pair of Symbio tips with no loss in sound and as a bonus not only do they sound great, are solidly built and very comfortable but also have one of the nicest cases I’ve ever seen ( with over 40 IEMs mid to top $ range) this case kicks ass the of most other iem cases…it’s just stands out👍
I have to thank Matthew again for all his time, emails and advice provided.

Was looking for a more full sound signature and with help from Caleb was able to narrow it down to what I like versus not. The Ice Lab Prismatica checked all the boxes. The sound I was looking for, the comfort and the price. Thank you!

Searched a long time for a high-quality all-rounder IEM upgrade, that was 'energetic/engaging' with hard hitting but controlled bass. Disappointed w/prior test models (Thieaudio Oracle MK3,etc) while decent, felt 'boring' for my library (Alternative/Rock/Pop/Country/Orchestral Scores). Came across Matthew's superb review of the Prismatica and was intrigued. Chatted online w/Bloom Audio & purchased the Prismatica on the spot.

Build Quality/Comfort provides the best I have used to date (ergonomic/smaller size fits perfectly for my difficult ears). Zero ear pressure, can listen for hours with no pain, but tips are key (these are wide-bore nozzles-6mm). Tried multiple brands(ex. Divinus Velvet), best results with Spinfit Omni (while not considered 'wide bore' they do fit, but have patience).

Pairing w/Ibasso DC-Elite (usb from Win11 pc) was magical. Thumping bass elevated Kick-drums/Electric Guitars to sound rich/full with no bleed-over. Male & Female vocals were spot-on authentic/accurate and just enough treble sparkle on the top. While not the treble detail monster, never felt I like missed anything. This IEM works perfectly for cranking up loud/quick/fast dynamic swing tracks or those beautiful, intimate & delicate. Cannot stop listening to this IEM & could not be happier!

Special shout-out to Matthew for his perfect guidance/pairing options & helping me locate this gem!