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A Star is Born - VOLK Audio ÉTOILE Part 1
We've waited a long time, and finally they're here: The new Volk Audio ÉTOILE IEMs by Jack Vang! Why is this so special, some readers might ask, and I'd like to explain.
Jack Vang is no stranger to the headphone and IEM scene. He was co-founder and part of Empire Ears and has been responsible for some of its most important and successful products over the last 10 years.
VOLK Audio It was initially conceived as a side project, driven by Jack's desire to stand on his own two feet and make his own decisions when developing new IEMs. Now, the time has come: with the ÉTOILE, Jack is launching his first in-ear. This also marks his departure from Empire Ears so he can focus fully on his own projects.
The ÉTOILE is the culmination of over 10 years of experience and is designed to showcase Jack Vang's full capabilities. It has to be, because this product launch will determine whether VOLK Audio has a chance in the highly competitive IEM market.
During our personal conversation, Jack told us that he went all out with his new product and made no compromises: sound, workmanship, presentation - everything had to be as perfect as possible, because Jack is a perfectionist by nature.
The ÉTOILE was supposed to be available much sooner, but then a small problem arose that delayed the product launch: The cables made specifically for the ÉTOILE all looked the same, but according to Jack, not all of them sounded equally good.
Jack complained to his production partner and set about the mammoth task of personally comparing each individual cable with a reference cable via listening tests for all 350 launch editions to ensure that every single cable sold sounded exactly as he had designed it. This little anecdote shows how serious Jack Vang is about the ÉTOILE and how much is at stake for him.
But enough of the introduction. Let's turn to the actual product, starting, as always, with a quick unboxing!
The Etoile comes in a simple, yet high-quality cubic cardboard box, the label of which already reveals that the product is not solely the brainchild of Jack Vang, but was created in cooperation with mastering engineer Michael Graves.
I completely forgot to mention that, because Jack enlisted prominent help for the tuning to achieve a truly reference sound. Graves is a five-time Grammy winner (and has been nominated another fourteen times) and known as one of the best audio engineers in the world. But let's move on to the pictures...
Jack made sure to include a personal thank you message to the buyer on each copy.
In addition to the ÉTOILE, you'll find a high-quality leather case, a truly stunningly stylish (and good) cable, ear tips, and a few other little things in the box.
You can see it in the pictures: the design and workmanship of the entire package are first-class!
We continue with the sound quality of the ÉTOILE in our second part:
A Star is born - Volk Audio ÉTOILE Part 2