Brainwavz Omega In Ear Monitors

Thank-you to Pandora of Brainwavz for supplying the Omega for review.
 
 
    Brainwavz has been around for a while now and this isn't my first encounter with one of their products.  In 2011 I purchased my first Brainwavz IEM, the M1.  At the time I was impressed with the M1's balanced sound and reasonable price.  It was sampled and appreciated by a musician friend of mine and became a reluctant gift.  A year later I snagged the R1; this was my first encounter with a dual dynamic driver and despite it not being universally popular I very much enjoyed the bass heavy sound.  It became my gym IEM and for over 8 months it survived very rough treatment including but not limited to cables caught on weights/bars and a slurry of liquid ear wax (yeah, I know 'yuck').  It's been a few years since I've heard a Brainwavz product; not from any lack on their part but simply because there's a cornucopia of options out there and I've been liberal about exploring them.
 
    That brings us to the Omega.  At $15 it's Brainwavz cheapest earphone on offer.  Two years ago that would have bought you a plastic housing and a tinny/flat sound.  Happily things have changed.
 
Build Quality & Aesthetics:  The Omega is a traditional barrel shaped design but like most of Brainwavz IEMs it's a little quirky in a good way.  You get solid steel housings each possessing a nicely finished mesh grill.  The housings are connected to the cables by a plastic strain relief that aids in easy insertion and removal without needing to pull on and stress the cables.  The aforementioned cord is of above average quality for the price.  It's not overly microphonic or sticky and doesn't have much memory (it doesn't want to kink).  The cabling between the housings and the robust Y split are a little thin but still reasonable for the price, if there's a weak point to the build quality this is it.  Below the Y split (which possesses a functional cable cinch) the cable is thicker and appears durable.  The TRRS jack is angled (between straight and ninety degrees), it's gold plated and small enough to work with most phone cases.  It's obvious that Brainwavz believes this IEM will be used with phones because it includes a small plastic three button remote (nice clicky buttons).  I didn't used the Omega with a phone so for me the remote (on the right side) functioned as the L/R indicator.  The strain reliefs on the housings are also engraved with tiny 'R' and 'L' indicators but they're difficult to see.
 
   The Omega is offered in three different versions.  There's the traditional black and white but along with those is the third option, blue and red, or to be more accurate crimson and violet.  That's the model I received and it adds an appealing touch of personality.
 
Accessories: For $15 what's included with the Omega strikes me as generous.  You get three sets of moderate quality silicone ear tips in small, medium and large.  A set of Comply S-400 tips (usually an IEM has to be pricier to include these).  One shirt clip (it can aid in controlling cable noise).  A velcro cable tie (which I promptly ignored).  A small instruction manual and a card presenting you with a two year warranty.  You don't get Brainwavz's superb IEM case, for that you'd have to buy a more expensive model.
 
Fit & Comfort:  The Omega's housings are tiny.  Those with smaller ears (such as myself) can rejoice; this IEM fits quickly, comfortable and easily.  Straight out of the box (with the medium tips) I got an above average fit and seal.  Later I did some tip rolling and had an even better experience using some foreign tips from my collection.  If you're new to in ears I wouldn't be concerned, I think the vast majority of people will get on great with the included options.
 
Isolation: Average to slightly better than average.  Choose the Comply foams and  you'll get a little more noise blockage.
 
Sound Quality:  The Omegas present the listener with a traditional mid-bass heavy consumer friendly sound.  The bass is a little emphasized (though not dramatically so) while the mids are slightly recessed, the treble is present but not bright or forward.  Brainwavz' take on this popular approach is a good one.  The bass isn't tubby or too slow and it's only the tiniest bit intrusive into the midrange.
 
   Before I continue the reader should know that the majority of my listening was done out of an MSI gaming computer coupled with the HRT Microstreamer, a USB based solution to the DAC/AMP question I find very satisfying.  The music I listened to was almost entirely electronic in a variety of sub genres including tropical house, vocal trance, industrial, EBM, EDM, chillout etc...  I also challenged the Omega's dynamics by using it to watch several lossless audio films (horror and action) as well as a few TV shows (which lets me know just how naturally an IEM will perform with the human voice).
 
   The most common issue I have with budget earphones (and some that are more expensive) is a lack of refinement.  What might sound good for a few minutes can, over hours of use, grow tiring or grating.  When  I start to feel fatigued or irritated it makes me want the IEMs causing it out of my ears.  A good example are some of the Omega's competitors from KZ.  The KZ-ATE can be initially impressive, as can the KZ-ED9.  The problems are realized later; the ATE lacks bass control and the ED9's treble has spikes that (for me) are a little too harsh.  The Omega competes well.  Initially the Omega didn't 'wow' me like the ATE did.  Then I compared each of them during an hour and a half movie (switching every 20 minutes).  The Omega has a more natural presentation with voices and other familiar sounds; it doesn't tire the ear.
 
   Something else you couldn't get two plus years ago for $15 was an out of the head sound stage.  Though it's not dramatically wide or deep, the Omega does have an (slightly) out of the head sound.  You won't get a holographic sense of instrument placement but it's present enough to imbue the Omega with a little more dimensionality than you'd normally guess a budget IEM would present.
 
Conclusion:  For $15 the Brainwavz Omega offers the prospective buyer a better than average build quality, a charmingly quirky but practical aesthetic and  an easily listenable, above average (for it's price) quality of sound.  It's both cheap and comfortable.  For those with a limited budget or as a gift for your phone loving friends who are still using the headsets included with their phones, it's a solid choice. 

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Intro:-
 
 We all know about Brainwavz, it’s one of those brands that believe in bang for bucks more than anything else. Let it be headphones or earphones or even Bluetooth headsets, they have them priced cheaper than possible. Quality BT devices with plenty of accessories are not a thing to be considered cheap but Brainwavz prices them really cheap.
 
 I have reviewed many of Brainwavz devices, amps, pads, BT earphones, this time I have the Brainwavz Omega, priced just $15 makes it Brainwavz’s cheapest earphone till date. Has a 3 button remote which works with apple and android devices flawlessly. It’s their first futuristic looking earphone (to my eyes at least), comes in 3 colors, black, white, blue with red. I have the one in blue with red.
 
 I assume it’s one of their one off earphones they make like Delta and jive, one of their kind and has its own distinctive design, it’s a nice looking earphone too, housing a 6mm dynamic driver, first from Brainwavz, in a machined high quality metal housing.
 
 Basically it’s a entry level earphone/headset targeted towards the youth and will face tough completion from earphones like ES-18s, Piston 3, Signature acoustics BE-09, KZ earphones and many more.
 Before I move on I would like to thank Pandora and Brainwavz for this review unit.
 
  
 
  
 
Accessories and miscellaneous:-
 
 Now being the cheapest Brainwavz offering Omega don’t ship with a carry case anymore but comply tips are intact. It ships with 4 pair of tips, 3 pairs of silicon and one pair of medium sized comply S-400 tips. There is a cable clip, a Velcro tie and a warranty card.
 
 This tiny earphone has awesome build quality. Earpieces are short, small and the body is of metal, still light weight, stress relievers are made of hard plastic, there are no visible vents on its body. Ergonomics has never been a problem with straight barrel designs. Omega is comfortable and doesn’t have any irritation even when worn over ear.
 
 The cable is just like any other one-off models from Brainwavz, exactly the same type we can find on Jive or delta, 60 degree jack, 3.5mm obviously, Brainwavz style Y splitter and cable slider. The cable is strong and not much bouncy.
 
 Microphonics is there and slightly bothering when worn cable down, not as much as Delta or S0 though, use the cable clip to keep microphonics down. And when worn over ear, microphonics is not a thing to worry about.
 
 Isolation is average at best with silicon tips, slightly better with comply tips.
 
 
 
Remote and mic:-
 
 It has a 3 button remote to control music and pick or end calls. My Redmi has feature to assign volume buttons to skip tracks or control volume. When it’s set to control volume, middle button does everything else. Picks calls, ends calls, plays and stops music when not in call, skips ahead with a double tap and goes back with 3 clicks. Works fine with all android phones.
 
 When volume buttons are assigned to skip tracks back and forth, you can’t control volume from your remote.
 
 Mic’s voice quality is acceptable but sounds slightly hollowed to the person on the other end. Clarity is okay too.
 
 
 
Sound quality:-
 
  Now it reads high fidelity audio, crisp clean sound on the box, but forgot to mention its bass prowess, is it a bassy earphone? Definitely. Omega has an inoffensive signature, dark still warm and easy on ears.
 
 I have burned these in for more than 50hrs and using stock medium sized tips. This earphone doesn’t need an amplifier to sound at its best and can be easily driven by all of these modern day smart phones.
 
  Here are some of the tracks that I used,
  James blunt – 1973(my favorite track),
  Adele - set fire to the rain,
  Paul lindford and Chris vrenna – most wanted mash up.
  Plan-B – playing with fire.
 Jessie J- sweet talker,
The Avener – Castle in the snow (feat. Kadebostany)
 Tinie Tempah- wonderman feat Ellie Goulding,
 George Barnett- super hero in a ball and Down on me (this guy knows what he is doing).
 Breaking Benjamin- Who wants to live forever (Queens Cover, new mix).
 Lupe Fiasco- Adoration of the magi Feat. Crystal Torres
 John Newman and Calvin Harris – blame.
Imagine dragons – Roots and Amsterdam.
 
 
 
Bass:-
 
 As I said, Omega is bassy, not super bassy but still bassy. It doesn’t overwhelm anything though. It moves plenty of air and has good amount of slam too. It doesn’t hold back when summoned, it goes boom!! Now it’s not slow but it doesn’t show awesome pace too, decay is just as good as it should be and better than other bassy earphones, I would have liked a bit better decay though. It’s full bodied and feels rich, good quality bass I must say. Has plenty of sub bass and mid bass presence. Extension too is really good for its price.
 
 Omega can sound loose and wooly at some times but noting serous and nothing that one will not enjoy unless one doesn’t like bass. It has enough bass to keep a bass head seated. Have enough details too. One thing that I liked is it doesn’t lag or stutter or drop frames, keeps up nicely with the pace of the track. Doesn’t have good control but its not bad.
 
 Yes it bleeds slightly, nothing serious. You just can’t ask for much at this price. And to me this bass is better than S0.
 
Mids:-
 
 Yes sir, I love mids!! Got some problems with that? Even when Omega is bassy it doesn’t lack mid range presence. For me, omega is V shaped. This V is not as big as FX-40 or CKX-9 though, it’s a smaller dip. Omega is not as detailed as something like jive but jive is targeted at different consumers and then Omega sounds more organic and more natural. Adele sounds really good!! Sam Smith too sounds really nice. Vocal notes are not deep but have nice clarity and have good thickness to them.
 
 Omega falls short when it comes to instrument clarity and precision, still it sounds full and cohesive with nice texture. When compared to similarly priced Piston 3, Omega loses hands down. It just doesn’t have that type of precision or accuracy to it.
 
 For an earphone this small, Omega doesn’t feel small when it comes to sound stage. Its not big like Titan-5 or even VSD-5 but its better than SHE3580/90. Doesn’t have much depth, has good width and height.
 
 Now this is not the best midrange one can get at this price point but it should be a sacrifice one has to be willing to pay for a bassy earphone.
 
Highs:-
 
 Thank god it’s just a budget earphone. It does lack any kind of spark and lacks much top end extension. Its not terrible though, there is some presence with guitars and cymbals, nothing exciting to be exact. Instruments are there but they lack bite and transparency. It’s a bassy and the cheapest offering from Brainwavz, keep that in mind.
 
 This type of sound signature does helps with longer sessions and makes it comfortable for long listening sessions.
 
 Good thing is separation, placing and layering is not all messed up, in fact it’s acceptable.
 
  Let’s face it, these highs are not up to the scratch.
 
Conclusion:-
 
 If you are in the market for an inexpensive, good looking still with acceptable sounding earphone for your bass loving friend, kids or even for yourself, Omega will make a nice introduction to this mad world of earphone and an with its MIC unit it has more than one uses too.
 
 Omega is not an earphone that will win you over with its details or for its packaging. But it looks really nice and will attract the crowd with its simple and sweet design. SQ is what you will pay for, it has plenty of bass, stage is not bad too and it’s got rhythm and beats!! You are not getting much for $15, are you?
 
  For this price, Omega doesn’t need any improvement, its fine the way it is.
 
 Thanks for reading guys!! Cheers.
 Have a nice day, enjoy.

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  Some more images.