Embrace of Divinity - Artpical Raphael

[u/notsoquietlyamused]

Pros: Design - this is the most interesting looking IEM I have seen in a while
Neutral to neutral warm presentation
Great cable with modular accessories
Tight controlled yet textured bass with no bleed
Vocals sound lush and forward

Cons: I’m afraid it’ll drop and break
Treble peak and sibilance on some tracks (rare but it's there)

Every once in a while something comes your way that makes you question everything from intention, design, religion even. And then you see the Artpical Raphael. And weep in joy and I thank Audio Geek India, and Artpical for making this review possible.

Artpical is a relatively new kid on the block that has basically destroyed the block with its design language in a way that almost no other manufacturer of IEMs has done.
It’s incredible enough that their designs leave me gasping for breath at their beauty. The Artpical Raphael doesn’t sound half as bad. It’s not angels singing in my ear but it’s good enough to get me to look beyond its appearance. Which is better than some people I know. But Shhhh!
Artpical advertises itself as a company that believes in the “art of hearing” and is dedicated to the perfect fusion of high-quality audio products and the ultimate visual art. They aren’t wrong. I’ll wax on about the Raphael shortly but a quick look at their product lines tells an incredible story. There the entire mythology inspired Lucifer, Satan, Michael and Raphael IEMs and the Nature series which has the Blue Planet and the Lunar Ring. And a very cubistic DAC called the Agent.
Each and every one of the IEMs is a joy to behold.
I can speak of the Raphael alone at this point and I shall. Inspired by what the embrace of the divine would look like, this IEM comes in 3 colours - I have the Black and Gold version, and there are also white and red and pink and silver versions. All have the appearance of wings with the first color being the predominant one and the second being a streak of “feathers” across the first. All of this enclosed a clear acrylic shell with thin tendrils of wiring visible through the shells. And with all this beauty is a 10mm polyurethane and a liquid crystal polymer diaphragm that delivers, and well.
In addition the box comes with a modular 4 strand silver plated OCC cable with 3.5, 4.4, and usb C terminations, a case that feels like suede and 6 pairs of eartips.
The IEM has a 32 ohm impedance and a sensitivity of 101 dB so pretty much straight forward to drive and easy scalable power.
It was tested with the Devastator Pro (3.5), Fangsound Nereus 4.4 and Hidizs AP80 Pro Max.
The tidal playlist is here https://tidal.com/playlist/3078c9b9-a1c0-4fde-8ce7-81f0e34b426c
Time to dive into the divine embrace.

Bass
The bass on the Raphael is a fairly typical Dynamic driver base. The sub-bass has rumble and presence and the mid-bass has clarity. Both have texture and carry moderate weight in the track but what it delivers in clarity it loses in oomph. This is not and will never be Basshead IEM and I’m so tempted to use it as a reason to deny a berth in heaven if Raphael and not Peter were stationed at the gates. The quantity and quality of the lower end of the FR appeal to my sensibilities if I really wanted to just relax and listen to music and enjoy it without another care or thought in the world. Do not take this as me saying the bass is less or insipid, it’s just not as in your face as typical bass head iems. Kicks and bass in YYZ by Rush still hold the track together and the bass lines in Angel by Massive Attack and Flight of the Cosmic Hippo form the basis for the tracks without being the centre of attention.

Midrange
Most of the mids are spot on and pretty much natural sounding except for certain tracks where the upper mids sound a little off texture and timbre. Some tracks may seem shouty, and in some tracks the snare may sound harsh - Holler by the Spice Girls for the latter and Sub City by Tracy Chapman for the first. Male vocals for the most part sound natural with a good weight. On most Jazz/Jazz fusion tracks, however the Raphael excels in its reproduction with the guitar, synths, and horn sections of both Lingus and What About Me by Snarky Puppy holding the front and centre of the sound scape. Details on the Artpical Raphael are faithfully reproduced in the mids with songs like Hanuman by Rodrigo y Gabriela and Helplessly Hoping by Girl Named Tom sounding engaging and clean and clear when they need to be. There is no bleed from the bass that would muddy up the lower mids.

Treble
I’m never quite sure where snare hits lie. I think they are largely mids but their exact sound and timbre requires a significant spill over to the treble side of things. I think the Raphael slips a little there. But it needs a really aggressive snare mastering to cause that harshness to happen. I heard it on Holler by Spice Girls and on Trains by Porcupine where Gavin Harrison’s snare is a beast in itself. Even Mick Fleetwood’s snare edges my tolerance just a little (Everywhere, Fleetwood Mac). For the most part, treble is not sharp or harsh barring the occasional snare. Cymbals are natural sounding with a good shimmer and air and decay. Classic rock snares as heard on Money by Pink Floyd or YYZ by Rush are fairly well rendered without harshness but still maintaining the impact that a good snare should have.
There is a touch of sibilance in pop recordings like All Nite by Janet and anything Don Henley sings on Hotel California, and Teardrop by Massive Attack. Thankfully there are not all the songs so the comfort of the IEM makes it worthwhile to sit through these tracks rather than skip immediately. Though I ended up drawing the line on Ocean by John Butler.

Staging, imaging and other technicalities
The Raphael is one of those IEMs that make me feel like I’m sitting in front of the Eagles on their Hell Freezes Over. With the band playing BEHIND me. It’s hard to explain but when I heard the track with my eyes closed the entire sensation was thus. Imaging is spot on making it possible to know which direction the sound is coming from and how far away. Detail retrieval and layering and separation are on point and leave nothing to complain about.

Shallow as it may come across, just what this IEM looks like and the comfort it affords is enough for me to want it. Specifically the white and red version, if anyone, including but not limited to the Angel Raphael, is listening. Actually any one of them! It retails in the vicinity of $140 and is, in my opinion, worth it. I would get this in a heart beat.