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Xiaomi Capsule Review by mark2410

Jun 10, 2016 at 7:45 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 16
mark2410

mark2410

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Xiaomi Capsule Review by mark2410
 
Thanks to GearBest for the sample.
 
TLDR? Try here http://www.head-fi.org/t/810895/xiaomi-capsule-review-by-mark2410#post_12642400
 

 
 
First Impressions:  Small box, simple little thing. Getting it open I see that it’s a pretty minimalist bundle, no case, no tips.  Wait what?  No tips??? How can that be, surely there ought to be spare tips?  Okay no it seems not.  The tips on the Capsules are not just weirdly shaped, being all curved, they are physically attached and non-removable.    That is rather a weird configuration.  Mind you so is their being so angled.  The buds feel weird, the back bit, the greyish translucent bit is soft rubber too.  Gosh they feel really weird to the touch.
 
In the ears and instantly I’m having mixed feelings about these curved tips.  It’s a good idea but non removable and no alternate sizes?  I’ve got a pretty good seal on the right but I’m not on the left.  Ahh and they are full sealed things too.  So there we go, I can feel the pressure and suction on my left ear.  This might prove bothersome.  Burn in time.
 

 
 
Source: FiiO E7/E9 combo, Hisoundaudio Studio V 3rd Anv., HiFiMAN HM-650, 1G Ipod Shuffle, Nexus 5, Lumia 735 and a Graham Slee Solo Ultra Linear.
 

 
 
Lows:  The bass is very elevated, no ifs no buts.  But….. Its highly dependant on you getting a good seal and for the life of me on the left I consistently could not.  I could get it just right for a second, or if I held it just so but should I move, god forbid move my jaw, then it was lost.  Otherwise however these are a pretty bass centric sounding IEM.  Big gabs of it, thick, heavy, warm and dominant.  Under most circumstances I’d say great stuff, for the price its great fun but the fit gave me consistent problems.  Only in my left ear, the right was no bother but you need both to be the same or everything sound extremely squeed.  Using these while drinking my morning coffee was a rather frustrating experience.
 
Quantity wise, when you get a tight seal these have tons of bass.  Masses and masses of the stuff, big heavy stuff it is too.  I’d wager mainstream listeners will be well chuffed with their cheap, superb looking phone headset.
 

 
 
Mids:  So so.  The mids have a fair degree or clarity and audibility but they newer stand forward of the bass.  The bass is where the Capsules are at and the mids are an accompaniment.  Very well suited to your typical pop music.  Competent in their rendition and with more than passable clarity.  Still the detail is so so, they are really cheap after all and thus if you’re after something that’s going do justice to some world class vocalist these aren’t what you’re looking for.  These are for mainstream top 40 stuff.
 

 
 
Highs:  Somewhat like the mids these are never centre stage.  Actually they are somewhat muted, the bass is where the core is and the treble rather melts into it.  There is a bit of a dash to keep thinks from getting to darkly oppressive but make no mistake the treble here is in third place.  Personally that’s fine as in something this cheap the treble is never going to be great and better to obscure it rather than play up its brutality.
 
Detail wise they are fine for the price, they are not bad but not especially great either.
 

 
 
Soundstage:  Actually rather well scaled.  Maybe it’s their weird fit that makes them sound further away but the stage felt rather large.  Placement and such was more fuzzy but it’s all very smoothly integrated.
 
Fit:  I had problems.  I just could not get them to fit me perfectly in my left ear, I just couldn’t and with the tips being non removable I couldn’t even sway them for a bigger size (which is what I think I needed) or to try something foam based.  If I moved my jaw in the slightest the sound would change in my left ear.  Tack on that they are sealed half the time I did get a seal there was sufficient air pressure on my ear / the driver so that everything was significantly muted.
 

 
 
Comfort:  Well aside from the air pressure and the constant fiddling with my left ear they were fine.  However the constant playing and the so perfectly tight a seal meant the air pressure got very tiring on my left ear.
 
Microphonics:  Practically nothing.  They have a very highly flexible cable and it absorbed pretty much all vibrations traveling up it.
 

 
 
Cable:  It’s small but it’s very soft and flexible.  In use it was a very pleasant cable and it felt nicely sturdy too.
 
Aesthetics:  They look fantastic, don’t they?  If there is one thing Xiaomi keep displaying is that they know how to make things look pretty.  For the money these look way nicer than anything else I can recall ever looking at.  Very, very attracting looking things.
 

 
 
Build Quality:  Very, very good.  They feel extremely nicely made and the rubber all makes them feel like a really quality item.  Tack on their looks and these look waaaaaaaaaaay more expensive than they are.
 
Amped /Unamped:  Actually they got quite a bit nicer when plugged into a beefy amp.  However their price point and that they have a mic, means they destined to be plugged into phones.  So they clearly don’t need power but I can tell you that the bass increases a touch in quantity but quit e lot in quality.  It really cleans up and firms itself up too.  Not that it’s bad out of a phone it’s just that if given more power they improve.
 

 
 
Isolation:  When you get a tight seal then they isolate very well for a dynamic however, I found that seal broke constantly on the left ear.    Thus for me there aren’t something I’d want to take for out and about but assuming you do get a good seal all the time then there are great isolators for the price.
 
Accessories:  Well you don’t really get anything.
 

 
 
Phone Use:  Plugging it into the Z3+ I have on my desk and everything instantly worked.  Yes even the volume controls worked, yey!  Trying the Nexus 5 and once more everything worked, play / pause / skip and the volume controls too.  The same thing for the Huawei P8 too.  Great stuff!!!  In use for call’s I was told that I sounded rather bassy.  I really don’t know how to judge that but that’s what they said.
 

 
 
Value:  Well for the money, a headset with controls that seems to work great, looks fantastic and has a very, very hearty bottom end I’m sure is due to be a great value crowd pleaser.
 

 
 
Conclusion:  Ahh the Capsules. They look like such fantastic little beasts, they look good in photos but they are even more nicely looking in front of you.  They look great, then you touch them and they feel great too.  That back which you just assume is plastic is actually rubber and it given the Capsules a most unique texture in the hand, it’s so strange and different.  I really very much like it as a physical object.
 

 
 
Then we come to the sound, the sound is so dependent on the fit as it is with all IEM’s and sadly I just could not get a good fit on my left ear.  No matter what I did they would not get a seal and be able to hold that seal.  The slightest move and it would break, the rubber ear tip was just too small for me but with them being non removable I couldn’t put a bigger one on.  Thus with no seal the sound quality for me in a partially broken state.  While it was I felt nice and consumer friendly bassy for the price / target audience I personally couldn’t get on well with it.
 

 
 
So should you buy one?  Well it looks like excellent value to me, as cheap headsets go it looks fantastically good.  Its sound signature is likely to also be one very pleasing to its target demographic, it’s a got a seriously beefy bottom end on it.  So if you need controls and you don’t want to break the bank these are a serious option, especially if you have smaller ears.  Presumably these would work great for girls.  To be honest though they are so cheap you don’t have much to lose by grabbing a set even if you end up giving them to your sister or a lady friend.
 
Jun 10, 2016 at 7:46 AM Post #2 of 16
Xiaomi Capsule Quick Review by mark2410
 
Thanks to GearBest for the sample.
 
Brief:  Bent ear capsules.
 
Price:  £11 or about US$16
 
Specifications:  Connectivity : Wired, Application: Mobile phone, Portable Media Player, Plug Type: 3.5mm, Cable Length (m): 1.25m, Driver unit: 7mm, Sound channel: Two-channel (stereo), Frequency response: 20-20000Hz, Impedance: 32ohms, Sensitivity: 93dB
 
Accessories:  None.
 
Build Quality:  Fantastically good for the money.  They look and feel like a proper quality item despite their extremely low price.
 
Isolation:  When you get a good seal they isolate very well as though they may be dynamics but they are very tightly sealed.
 
Comfort/Fit:  Comfort, they were nice mostly, being all rubber they were pretty gentle on the ear.  Fit though, sadly I just could not get a good fit/seal in my left ear.  I could get a brief seal but it wouldn’t last and then the constant playing about meant there was constant pressure then suction on my ear and it became quite wearing.  Sadly they just didn’t fit me well and with their tips being non changeable there wasn’t much I could do about it.
 
Aesthetics:  I think they look bloody fantastic.  So seriously nice there is no way you’d ever guess these are anything like as cheap as they are.  They look great to me.
 
Sound:  Going by when I got them sealed they were pretty good.  They were extremely bassy as you might expect from their price, they are going for a very mainstream populist sound signature.  So gobs and gobs of bass.  Not the most solid bass perhaps but big and weighty.  The mids are fine, clear and clean enough for pop like vocals to come through with.  The treble is a bit on the subdued and subtle side but if you’re pairing with a meh source and not the best bit rates the last thing you want is abundant crisp treble.  They are tuned exactly with their price tag and the likely pairings in mind.  Pairings including the listener and what music they are listening to too.  Over all its nothing that I can fault, it’s a styling choice.  Not one for me perhaps but I’d wager my sister would love these in spades.
 
Value:  Great, a dirt cheap headset with controls that seems to work great with everything I tested, they look fantastic, they are stupidly cheap, thy roar out a massive amount of bass.  What else would someone buying a headset at this price be looking for?
 
Pro’s:  Looks awesome.  Super bassy.  Super cheap.
 
Con’s:  Super bassy.  Can’t change the tips.  Fit maybe hit or miss.
 
Jun 12, 2016 at 4:37 PM Post #3 of 16
I just received mine, unfortunately I cant get a nice seal. I kinda figured this might happen and just took a shot ordering them anyways. I think offering a couple sizes of tips would have helped, my ears are too big! Just as a FYI I use comply large t500's usually. Thanks for the review.
 
Jun 13, 2016 at 6:33 AM Post #4 of 16
jakeface1 said:
  I just received mine, unfortunately I cant get a nice seal. I kinda figured this might happen and just took a shot ordering them anyways. I think offering a couple sizes of tips would have helped, my ears are too big! Just as a FYI I use comply large t500's usually. Thanks for the review.
Click to expand...


ahh thats a shame,  iagree though with the tips, maybe chinese ears are smaller?   though what did you make of them otherwise, they are nice little things in the hand arent they? 
 
Jun 14, 2016 at 5:09 PM Post #5 of 16
I saw these and i also saw 1More makes a higher end version, Im very curious about them and how they sound.
http://www.gearbest.com/earbud-headphones/pp_362338.html
 
the higher end model seems to be better tuned and has a armature, as well as having normal tips instead of the funnels on the Xiaomi Capsule, but at 90 U$D the 1More triple Driver might be a better buy,
 
Jun 14, 2016 at 5:53 PM Post #6 of 16
I have the capsule for 3 weeks now, and I gave up from the beginning the idea of inserting them deep into my ears to get a good seal. Instead, I just let them sit loosely in my ears with minimal insertion. Yes, I won't get lots of bass wearing them this way, just enough, but I actually enjoy the clarity this brings to the music.
 
Jun 14, 2016 at 11:29 PM Post #8 of 16
mark2410 said:
ahh thats a shame,  iagree though with the tips, maybe chinese ears are smaller?   though what did you make of them otherwise, they are nice little things in the hand arent they? 
Click to expand...


I think this may be the case, because chinese clothes sizes run smaller than US sizes on average as well. Cool looking buds, adjustable size somehow would be cool for elephant eared mutants like myself.
 
Jun 15, 2016 at 8:34 AM Post #9 of 16
Well, decided to give the Capsule a try.  I liked the Piston 2 & 3, but didn't like the Paperback, and never got around to trying the Hybrid.  Gearbest's price for the black is real inexpensive (there was a sale involved, not sure if it's still going), and just a few more for the white, so opted to get the less expensive of the two.
 
Jun 15, 2016 at 1:13 PM Post #11 of 16
i have a mixed feeling about this thing.. even i can't decide whether they're earbud or iem.. 
the problem is the only freq i can hear through these are only about the low mid and/or upper bass... making these a dark sounding iem/earbud but without a deep bass..
 
unconventional looking
inconvenient sound
 
Sep 14, 2016 at 9:14 AM Post #13 of 16
audionoob said:
  Would these be good for sleeping in? It's hard to tell how small/comfortable they are for laying on.
Click to expand...


​potentially I suppose but for me they would be to too easy to nudge and break the seal.  however, they are so cheap you could always give them a go and the worst that happens is you gift them to a small eared friend
 
Nov 12, 2016 at 8:14 AM Post #15 of 16
petes said:
  Thanks for the review, they look really nice, at Geekbuying they have them on flash sale for $9.99. I think about getting a pair.
Click to expand...

for the price they are intersting little things but they are rather little, still at 10 bucks theres not a huge amount to lose
 
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