In this feature, Thomas reviews the Lime Ears TERRA, a hybrid 7mm titanium diaphragm dynamic driver and 5 BA universal IEM priced at €1099.00.
Disclaimer: This sample was sent to me in exchange for my honest opinion. Headfonics is an independent website with no affiliate links or status. I thank Lime Ears for their support.
Click here to learn more about the Lime Ears products we previously discussed on Headfonics.
Note that this article follows our current scoring guidelines which you can read here.
The TERRA is Lime Ear’s newest IEM and part of a brand-new series from the company so watch this space. This is a ‘midrange model’ in their universal fit lineup, slotting between the Model X and Aether R.
For this review, we have been provided the standard TERRA model including a limited edition (30 pairs only) custom Effect Audio copper cable in “Kermit Green” priced at €1,099.00. The standard TERRA stock cable will have a copper cable with transparent insulation.
You can also purchase upgraded bundles through Effect Audio including enhanced cable options that alter the signature in specific ways.
The standard TERRA I am reviewing will be compared with competitors such as the Supermoon from Campfire Audio and the Astrotec Pheonix 6. Continue reading to see how the TERRA performs.
Features
If ever there was a product packed with buzzwordy features, it would be the TERRA. Check this out: TiTE, HERO, VariBore, SAAS, and PISO.
If you’re familiar with Lime Ears, you might know some of these, like the SAAS Core, a.k.a., an aluminum shell. Or maybe VariBore caught your eye since it highlights the variable bore sizes used to manage the frequencies output by the various driver technologies.
Those are cool, but when things get TiTE we’re referring to the 7mm titanium dynamic driver originally found in the ANIMA. Lime Ears selected titanium for the weight and rigidity, giving the driver a warm, organic, power-rich bass presence.
Just like Martian Manhunter, the TERRA is HERO-ic thanks to the Super Tweeter Lime Ears used for the highs. It is one of Knowles’s newest generation RAU balanced armature drivers.
Distortion is low, transient response is increased over a standard armature, and it does this while being extremely efficient.
Last but not least, we have my favorite feature, the Polymer Impregnated Synthetic Opal (PISO) Multi-Tone Crystalline Bello Opal faceplate. Say that a couple of times fast.
Translated, the TERRA has a simulated opal faceplate with flecks, flakes, and other stuff inside that catches the light in spectacular ways. It looks cool as heck and even has the model’s name and lime-shaped logo stylistically inset in the left and right earpieces respectively.
Design
With the TERRA, Lime Ears has created a visually stunning IEM. The colorful, reflective faceplate grafted to the vibrant green, aluminum shells is an instant attention grabber.
The emerald-green sheath of the cable pulls your attention next, with your stare then drifting to the carbon fiber-infused hardware. It is a good-looking earphone that stands out next to the usual shades of black and grey that make up the colorway options for much of its competition.
Eyes back up to the earpieces, we see they’re large and bulky with a long, wide nozzle, 6.4mm around the lip, and 6.2mm the rest of the way. It’s a substantial-looking earphone.
That was why I had a genuine “wow” moment when I picked them up for the first time since they were nowhere near as heavy as they looked.
The TERRA is exceptionally light at only 6g (earpiece only) which is substantially less than the similarly sized and shaped Campfire Audio Solaris which comes in at 7.9g, hardly a heavyweight itself.
The build quality is also wow-worthy with each section of the housing fitting with flawless alignment and extremely tight seams. The fine mesh protecting the variable bores is neatly installed and the 0.78mm 2-pin ports sit flush with the shell.
My only complaint about the build is how tight the ports are for the cable. The first week was spent stretching the receptacles with 3rd party cables so they could accept the stock cable without feeling like you were about to break something.
Aside from that one qualm, the unique design and impressive build quality are what I would expect from a 1,199 USD earphone, but not all brands can pull it off as successfully as Lime Ears have with the TERRA.
Comfort & Isolation
While the TERRA has an amazing visual design and fantastic build quality, the ergonomics for my ears do not keep up. It’s a good thing the TERRA is extremely light, given the bulbous shape and thick nozzle it was tricky getting a good fit and reliable seal for my ears.
A combination of a thick and quite long nozzle meant getting a deep seal was uncomfortable since it carried most of the earphones’ weight. This caused hotspots in my ear after a short period.
The body of the earphone lacks features that help it conform to the shape of my outer ear didn’t help either. It did not have the stability to avoid losing the seal when I moved around.
These things wouldn’t be as much of a problem if the cable had a chin chinch that could be used to tighten up the fit, leaving the ear guides to help distribute weight around the ear. Unfortunately, that feature is missing.
Isolation is decent though, mostly down to what I think is a sealed shell. Obvious ventilation is absent, and I haven’t been able to locate any hidden vents around the faceplate, nozzle, or 2-pin port.
The TERRA does a good job of reducing the volume of cars passing by and the chatter of nearby people. A volume increase is still required, especially in high-traffic areas where you’d also benefit from foam tips.
The TERRA isolates well, but its fitting did not work for me, your experience might differ from mine.
The Campfire Audio Solaris has a similar shape and fit and isn’t ergonomically great for me either. However, the nozzle design and cable features help mitigate my fitment issues.
Tips
The included SpinFit W1 tips are high quality, but barely fit onto the nozzles of the TERRA.
Once you’ve managed to angle and push them onto the nozzle, sliding them the rest of the way into place takes a lot of effort, and removing them from the nozzle needs to be done carefully to avoid tearing them.
Audbos’s medium-sized clear silicone with black shaft tips that came with the almost decade-old K3 have been my favorite pairing with the TERRA.
Their sticky silicone flanges provide a level of secureness lacking from every other tip, they require the fewest re-seating attempts during listening sessions, and their thick silicone and larger size fit perfectly over the broad nozzles.
Their wide bore also helps raise the mid-range, lessening the strength of the u-shaped signature present with the stock W1 tips. The upper ranges lose some of the smoothness of the SpinFits, though the effect is minimal.
Of the other tips I tried (Final E-Type, Sony Hybrid, JVC, other SpinFit models, etc.), most were too short to fit me properly, falling down the shaft far enough to sit nearly flush or below the lip.
The rest were either too tight a fit for my ear and slipped off, or wouldn’t seal reliably once inserted, or made the entire setup too thick to feel comfortable.
Hopefully, others have better luck in finding suitable tips for the TERRA. The stock SpinFit W1 fit poorly and sealed unreliably, and most other options tried were barely usable.
Stock Cable
Lime Ears has partnered with Effect Audio for TERRA’s cable options. Note that the two-pin fit was concerningly tight out of the box but has loosened with time and is now only uncomfortably tight.
The stock cable utilizes a UP-OCC copper core with 10 multi-sized bundles and a solid core design containing 23AWG 2 wires. The sheath uses Effect Audio’s Ultra Flexi™ Insulation technology.
The build quality is impressive with a metal sheath surrounding the two-pin plugs. They are adorned with L/R markings and the Effect Audio logo and fitted with short but useful strain relief.
Heading down to the y-split we find a metal cylinder fitted with a carbon fiber sleeve. The bottom can be screwed off revealing the individual components and a neatly done heat-shrink support where the cable splits off into the two channels.
This cable is equipped with a 4.4mm balanced plug, which is also thick and matches the carbon fiber aesthetic of the splitter. Strain relief is absent but given the qualities of the sheath, I’m not worried.
The cable works fine but a few qualities keep it from being my ideal pick. The sheath is dense, overly stiff, and transmits quite a lot of noise to the listener when it rubs or bumps against anything.
There is also no chin cinch to reduce cable noise and tighten the fit. Given the ergonomics of the TERRA are below average, a chin cinch is desired and would limit the number of times the TERRA needs to be re-seated to regain a good seal.
There is no question the stock cable is a quality piece of kit. However, on the rare occasions I took the TERRA out of the house, I swapped to a lighter, better fitting, more flexible, less noisy, more delicate third-party option.
Packaging & Accessories
The TERRA arrives in a moderately-sized, green cardboard box similar in design to a watch box. TERRA is written on top while Lime Ears is written on the front.
To the rear, you find written “Explore the Uncharted”, with a wavey pattern surrounding the base of the box on all sizes. Everything is written in gold foil.
Lifting off the lid you see the TERRA’s earpieces set tightly within a foam insert covered in a cloth fabric. Remove the insert to reveal a cardboard box containing some documentation and extras, while underneath this insert is the carrying case.
You should expect to receive the following with a full retail copy of the TERRA.
- TERRA In-Ear Monitor
- Standard copper cable
- Premium transport case made of high-quality cowhide
- SpinFit W1 ear tips
- User Guide
- Cleaning set
- Cotton bag
Click on page 2 below for my sound impressions and recommended pairings.
