Got a set of the Dunu S&S tips to try out because they were cheap and I've been curious about that weird shape. Out of all my 8 or so pairs of IEMs, they work best on the Quintets for me personally. I think because of that long nozzle. Overall though they improve on what was already pretty excellent isolation in my ears.
The Kiwi ears Quintet Thread:
- Thread starter Redcarmoose
- Start date
lilhaiti
New Head-Fier
Just recieved my Quintets 2 days ago and have been enjoying them quite a bit. I listen to a wide variety of music and a good portion of it is Hip-Hop and R&B. I can honestly say that I was pretty impressed how well they handle most of that catalog. Although it's not a basshead IEM, there is plenty of bass on tap. The mids and highs needs no explanation here. I have tried several different tips and I have landed on some old TRN silicone medium bore tips, they are comfy and sound the best so far, I will order some Dunu S&S tips to try.
GlenAppleton
1000+ Head-Fier
If you haven't already, you might want to try the Divinus Velvet tips too. I tried the Dunu S&S, Moondrop Spring Tips, and Spinfit tips, but landed on the Velvets for both comfort and sound for the Quintets.Just recieved my Quintets 2 days ago and have been enjoying them quite a bit. I listen to a wide variety of music and a good portion of it is Hip-Hop and R&B. I can honestly say that I was pretty impressed how well they handle most of that catalog. Although it's not a basshead IEM, there is plenty of bass on tap. The mids and highs needs no explanation here. I have tried several different tips and I have landed on some old TRN silicone medium bore tips, they are comfy and sound the best so far, I will order some Dunu S&S tips to try.
lilhaiti
New Head-Fier
I tried the Divinus Velvets, they were ok as well, oddly enough these cheap TRNs sound better to me.
I read that the IE600 is on another level than the Quintet. So there are no smaller sized Chifi - IEMs which are equally good?
ext23
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2010
- Posts
- 311
- Likes
- 196
My friend loves the treble of the Quintet, but they're a bad fit for her with their massive long nozzles, and she doesn't want to spend $200ish on IEMs.
Is there anything else that has treble like the Quinet for a lower price...?
Is there anything else that has treble like the Quinet for a lower price...?
The Aful MagicOne has terrific treble extension and detail but definitely less bass than the Quintet. Overall a much purer sound out of the Aful. I like both for different reasons though.
ext23
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2010
- Posts
- 311
- Likes
- 196
Less bass is OK but what do you mean by pure? I didn't think the Quintet sounded artificial or bass-heavy.
Kiwi Ears Quintet Impressions
Have had the Quintet for over a week. Early impressions are highly favourable. This is an outstanding IEM. Coming from a Blessing 2, Focal Utopia, HD600 and many other references I can say that the Quintent is neutral, but is more vivid. However, this vivid aspect, brings a quality of life and realism to its presentation. From a purely acoustic perspective, when considering classical, jazz and other recorded music, the Quintet could be characterized as having north of neutral bass, both in mid-bass and rising to sub-bass. When in a room environment, you will feel bass resonances on the body, but there will be only a small amount of bass SPL hitting your ear. Of course, with iems, we exaggerate the bass a bit, to make up for this emotional and tactile response we would get from direct and standing waves in a room space. Much of this will be subjective to the listener, as well as their perception and reference for different audio presentations - real or imagined.
The Kiwi Ears Quintet is still very much a 'audiophile' tuning, that is to say, it is a frequency curve that is still going to benefit the best from highly dynamic recordings. The Quintent pulls no punches on its top end, so for some music genres that don't have a lot of variety going on and have very intense or repetitive strikes on the top end you may see some fatigue. Still, even for electronic music where there is a fair bit of dynamic compression on basslines/kick drums with more open dynamics for instruments, the Quintet shines in providing a spacious detailed listen, with just enough oomph and authoritative kick down low to keep you engaged.
So sonically very versatile, but they shine with acoustic, vocal, classical, jazz, rock and detailed electronic works. I recently passed on a set of Blessing 3, as I knew that for the IEM experience and as a daily driver, the Quintet was more of what I was looking for. If I didn't have other neutral references, I may have gone for the Moondrop offering; however, my past experience with the Moondrop B2 left a bit to be desired. I prefer a tip on the nozzle like the Quintet, B2 faceplate could come off, and ended up gluing my Blessing together but I still enjoyed them. But honestly, the Quintet sounds better to my ears than the B2, with better air and presence, and the bass seems more defined and separated. Sounds like the recent Blessing 3 has the sonic technical improvements but is lean in the bass, leading to a more traditional reference sound.
The other thing that really surprised me about the Quintet is that their profile, smaller than large IEMs like the Blessing 2, is flush. At least for myself and my large nog, this means I can comfortably rest my head on a pillow on my side. This is huge for me, especially to have something of the Quintet's quality and being able to listen and lounge is just bliss. My gotos in the past for this type of listening would be the Tanchjim Tanya, Moondrop Quark and even my CCA HM20 - all fantastic iems in their own right.
The Quintet frequency curve is fantastic for spatial audio and cross-feed applications. Outside of music, for gaming with modern 3d audio engines, you will get very accurate audio cues and engagement from this set. Possibly no better in its price range. Some of this may be from the performance of the micro-planar and PZT drivers. I don't want to oversell the technicalities of this iem, they are very well done and it's hitting its target curve with aplomb. But I still find that you can get incredible transient detail from single planar drivers (P1 Max, S12) or hybrids (BA and dynamic). However, the more time I spend with the Quintet I can honestly say the top-end is addictive and you'll notice it missing from your other sets.
While the Quintet is versatile, having a smoother set in reserve (or being able to EQ) may make sense. Kiwi Ears own Orchestra Lite will allow you a smoother response to turn up a bit more. The Quintet, you might be wincing at higher volumes. So I find myself listening a bit lower than usual - a good thing - and turning it up once and while.
It looks like there are a number of IEMs out there now that are hitting close to this target curve, and so those looking for even a bit more or less colour/emotion in the lower mids and bass have options.
Have had the Quintet for over a week. Early impressions are highly favourable. This is an outstanding IEM. Coming from a Blessing 2, Focal Utopia, HD600 and many other references I can say that the Quintent is neutral, but is more vivid. However, this vivid aspect, brings a quality of life and realism to its presentation. From a purely acoustic perspective, when considering classical, jazz and other recorded music, the Quintet could be characterized as having north of neutral bass, both in mid-bass and rising to sub-bass. When in a room environment, you will feel bass resonances on the body, but there will be only a small amount of bass SPL hitting your ear. Of course, with iems, we exaggerate the bass a bit, to make up for this emotional and tactile response we would get from direct and standing waves in a room space. Much of this will be subjective to the listener, as well as their perception and reference for different audio presentations - real or imagined.
The Kiwi Ears Quintet is still very much a 'audiophile' tuning, that is to say, it is a frequency curve that is still going to benefit the best from highly dynamic recordings. The Quintent pulls no punches on its top end, so for some music genres that don't have a lot of variety going on and have very intense or repetitive strikes on the top end you may see some fatigue. Still, even for electronic music where there is a fair bit of dynamic compression on basslines/kick drums with more open dynamics for instruments, the Quintet shines in providing a spacious detailed listen, with just enough oomph and authoritative kick down low to keep you engaged.
So sonically very versatile, but they shine with acoustic, vocal, classical, jazz, rock and detailed electronic works. I recently passed on a set of Blessing 3, as I knew that for the IEM experience and as a daily driver, the Quintet was more of what I was looking for. If I didn't have other neutral references, I may have gone for the Moondrop offering; however, my past experience with the Moondrop B2 left a bit to be desired. I prefer a tip on the nozzle like the Quintet, B2 faceplate could come off, and ended up gluing my Blessing together but I still enjoyed them. But honestly, the Quintet sounds better to my ears than the B2, with better air and presence, and the bass seems more defined and separated. Sounds like the recent Blessing 3 has the sonic technical improvements but is lean in the bass, leading to a more traditional reference sound.
The other thing that really surprised me about the Quintet is that their profile, smaller than large IEMs like the Blessing 2, is flush. At least for myself and my large nog, this means I can comfortably rest my head on a pillow on my side. This is huge for me, especially to have something of the Quintet's quality and being able to listen and lounge is just bliss. My gotos in the past for this type of listening would be the Tanchjim Tanya, Moondrop Quark and even my CCA HM20 - all fantastic iems in their own right.
The Quintet frequency curve is fantastic for spatial audio and cross-feed applications. Outside of music, for gaming with modern 3d audio engines, you will get very accurate audio cues and engagement from this set. Possibly no better in its price range. Some of this may be from the performance of the micro-planar and PZT drivers. I don't want to oversell the technicalities of this iem, they are very well done and it's hitting its target curve with aplomb. But I still find that you can get incredible transient detail from single planar drivers (P1 Max, S12) or hybrids (BA and dynamic). However, the more time I spend with the Quintet I can honestly say the top-end is addictive and you'll notice it missing from your other sets.
While the Quintet is versatile, having a smoother set in reserve (or being able to EQ) may make sense. Kiwi Ears own Orchestra Lite will allow you a smoother response to turn up a bit more. The Quintet, you might be wincing at higher volumes. So I find myself listening a bit lower than usual - a good thing - and turning it up once and while.
It looks like there are a number of IEMs out there now that are hitting close to this target curve, and so those looking for even a bit more or less colour/emotion in the lower mids and bass have options.
Hi all, I recently published a review of the Kiwi Ears Quintet
https://www.headphoneer.com/kiwi-ears-quintet-review/
Found your review useful ahead of purchasing these, especially as I owned the FH5S prior and it was great reading your comparisons between these. The Fh5S indeed has incredible bass, I think in part due to its semi-open back design. I actually loved the FH5S signature but wanted to see it go to a close friend. The FH5S managed to have presence but never harsh. The S12 has a similar profile and while fantastic could be a bit 'tizzy'. The Quintent pulls off a more realistic presentation than both the s12 and FH5S while sharing their strengths. Was surprised with the Quintet's bass, though I think the FH5S still has more slam or prat, but the Quintent's bass is surprisingly full with punch and depth while remaining low distortion.
Happy you found it useful
As for your comments on the S12, FH5S and the Quintet, I totally agree
superuser1
Headphoneus Supremus
The more sets i go through the more i enjoy and appreciate the Quintet.
GlenAppleton
1000+ Head-Fier
100% agreed and they've become my daily driver for many reasons, but I do still enjoy my planar IEMs quite a bit for jazz and other more spacious music.
I published a comparison between the Moondrop KATO and the Kiwi Ears Quintet on The Headphoneer recently, in case anyone is interested
https://www.headphoneer.com/kiwi-ears-quintet-vs-moondrop-kato-comparison-review/
https://www.headphoneer.com/kiwi-ears-quintet-vs-moondrop-kato-comparison-review/
superuser1
Headphoneus Supremus
Indeed like i experience a different flavour while I had a loaner Dunu Falcon Ultra and the Neo 3 I own.
Users who are viewing this thread
