Reviews by DarenLee

CCA DUO

First of all kudos to CCA taking our suggestion for not using the random 3 letter model name which many fans and enthusiasts like myself can’t keep track on it anymore.

DUO is an IEM you need to take time to appreciate the tuning.
I believe CCA is going for a more mature audiophile tuning rather than an entry level IEM such as the famous CCA CRA.


MID
Mids & Mid bass does sounds rich & lushful making vocal sounding prominent.

BASS
bass doesn’t lingers too long, the bass is fast and quick making is sounds clean & punchy.

TREBLE
Enough treble but not pitchy.
Treble at its comfort zone.


Notes

• It’s frequency of bass, mid and treble very well separated making it sounds good in instrument separation.
• Amount of the bass sounded polite but punchy. Some (fans of heavy bass) might probably say not sufficient enough.

• Suitable for….For work - as both bass and treble not over powered making using long hours comfortable.

Very suitable for night time listening sessions.
Listeners who listens to wide range of different genre music
People who like loud volume listening, it still feels intimate and not ear aching.

• Not suitable for

People who love to have low rumbling bass

• Impressions from random listeners.

Wong - smooth, for vocal, high treble not pitchy.
Agnes (not audiophile) - nice, good sound, pleasant sound.


COMPARISON
The sound signature reminded me of DQ6s hence I dig out from my archive to compare.
DQ6s - more lower frequency bass.
Duo - better treble, better treble detail.
Duo would be the improve version with more definition and more pin point instrument separation.

SeeAudio Yume Midnight
Duo - more treble, natural analogue sounding treble, punchy bass
Yume Midnight - less treble, cleaner digital treble, more smooth velvet sounding bass. Overall sounded more resolving.
Both really comes very very close sounding, Yume Midnight still sounds more resolving and more details presentation overall.
Take note: SeeAudio Yume Midnight uses 1DD+2BA drivers and they are price around USD200.

Blind test, Agnes (non audiophile perspective/impression)
Midnight vs Duo
Midnight - treble better details, bass is define. Vocal less.
Duo - Overall more full sounding. Treble less details, bass & vocal good.


Listening Sessions worth mentioning.


Axel F. Harold Faltermeyer (the bad boys movie theme song) ️️️️️
Song like this sounds perfect bringing out the nostalgic 80’s Roland Synthesizer & Moog.

Plastic Love - Mariya Takeuchi ️️️️
This track is a city pop genre song which have a lot of instruments arrangement together.
I hear very clearly piano and violin playing which I seldom take note before despite listening to this song many times. This exhibits strong mids and great sound separation.

Say So - Japanese Version (tofu beats remix) ️️️
This track is an up beat bassy pop song.
Despite comparing with other IEM which have more sub bass than DUO listening to this track I still felt much satisfaction and enjoyable.

Don’t Stop Me Now - The Regrettes ️️
Bass kicks seems to be overpowered other instrument. Take note this recording approach is those low-fi very analogue sounding contains grainy sounding in it’s recording process (nothing wrong with the IEM)

I have been listening constantly from 2-3 weeks, 3-5 hours a day with all sort of songs and overall it’s been enjoyable average ️️️ to ️️️️

I have been trying out EQ lately with my Wiim Mini.
EQ works very well with DUO brings out different flavours base on your music genre and likings.

Using a more decent headphone DAC/Amp (iFi Zen DAC v2) give you more sense of head room and wider width and better depth sounding.
But in terms of sound signature this pairing makes DUO sounds more warm/darker (compare to my previous Wiim Mini streamer (with flat - no EQ adjusted).
On Zen DAC Duo can handle iFi bass boost featured without any distortion.

Perform well for vocal tracks.

Believe to be tune close to harman tuning sound signature (some research by Harman institute some sort…)

I would IEM can consider a warm natural close to neutral sounding.

Recommended ear tips Moondrop Spring Tip, I tried the foam tip came with KZ IEM it drowns the treble details.



CONCLUSION
If you love smooth sounding this is a good one.
If I buy this with my own money am I happy with this purchase? Yes.
My personal score 7/10



About me:

• I am a IEM hobby enthusiast who started this crazy IEM journey since 2019
• I am not young hence I am not sensitive to treble.
• My audio setup are mostly minimalist setup (iPhone, IPad Pro & WiiM Mini)
• My interest and goal mostly it’s to find great price with great performance stuff.
• I don’t do this to make a living, it’s just pure hobby.
• I usually try my best not to use too in depth technical terms.
• 60-70% of my write up I buy my own stuff, sometimes community friends and dealer and manufacture send me IEM for write up.
• I love taking photos of IEMs (depending on my time).
• CCA sent me this set for my write up, no money involve.

Gear used
- mostly on IPhone & IPad Pro with usb/lightning DAC (BGVP T01s, Avani, Abigail, CX Pro)
- sometimes desktop laptop with iFi Zen DAC / Megatron from VE Electronic.
- Tidal on iOS App, MQA/FLAC.
- WiiM Mini on Tidal.

Pleasantly Fun IEM (my own person score 7/10)

You know what? The ”Sound Signature” is pretty same as the old Tin Hifi T2 with better bass and treble details.
Of all the songs tested I heard bass was good but one particular track bass was crazy punchy and heavy but I love it hahahaha, August - Intelligency https://songwhip.com/intelligency/august


Listening Session Highlights
https://songwhip.com/weezer/weezer1994
Weezer’s Blue Album ️️️️️
Alternative Garage Album - consist of fat thick buzzing raw guitar distortions and old skool drum kicks.
“Perfect” match IEM for the old Weezer sounds.

https://songwhip.com/youngmc/bust-a-move2000
Bust A Move - Young MC ️️️️
Good old skool bass, the vocal raps still stays clear as the leads.

https://songwhip.com/salt-n-pepa/push-it
Push It - Salt-N-Pepa ️️️️️
Lots of details in this track yet hard kicking bass grooving thru.

https://songwhip.com/the-bar-kays/freakshow-on-the-dance-floor
Freakshow On The Dance Floor - The Bar-Kays ️️️️
80’s break dance music evolving from cassette tapes and mini-compo.
Kai does perform well sounding balance between fun and analogue just like the old days.

https://songwhip.com/red-hot-chili-peppers/blood-sugar-sex-magik
Blood Sugar Sex Magik - Red Hot Chili Pepper ️️️️️
Dynamic rocking drum kicks & snares while Flea’s bass guitar grooving thru.
Being a bass IEM Anthony Kiedis manly husky voice on the verse sounds so close right beside ears.

So far I am enjoying Kai so much fun but can’t be all rainbows and candies, I need to find some tracks that does not perform in excellent.

Classical Music ️️️
Piano sound a little warm and thicker at times, instruments separation however sound good enough.

Vocal focus music ️️️
Just like the exotic fruit durian, You either love it or hate it.
Love it - better weight on the notes. Deeper depth sounding.
Hate it - if you care about how natural & accurate the vocal suppose to sound.

https://songwhip.com/radiohead/packt-like-sardines-in-a-crushd-tin-box
Radiohead - Packt Like Sardine In A Crushd Tin Box ️️️️️
Kai performs excellent in all areas throughout this track.
A great tripping electronic track for details and bass sounding kicks accompanied Modular Synths floating in a wide open space.
This song starts with a supple percussion then comes in a VERY heavy deep bass kicks, bass wasn’t to fast to recess and not too slow to linger around, it’s just the right amount.
Throughout the track trippy sound sample placed all over in wide space sounded good enough for Kai‘s sound separation.
(this is my “highly recommended” track for testing)


Kai sounds signature does reminds me of KZ ZES hence I did a head to head comparison.

Kai vs KZ ZES (bass comparison)
Both bass quantity almost the same.
Kai better resolution & detail, mid bass more.
ZES more treble, more v-shape tuning, lower bass more.

Kai vs CCA CA10
CA10 harder punching bass.
CA10 more treble.
CA10 trebles could sound a little digital.
Kai sound more open wider sound stage.
Kai more clean resolving sounding.
Kai better sound slightly more natural.
Tuning wise Kai more balance than CA10 v-shape signature.
These two IEMs really have similar “sound signature”, CA10 is cheaper half its price, Kai of course you are paying for the quality build, design and “technicalities” compared.


Pairing recommendations. (Doesn’t goes well with dark/warm DAC)

On the go - simple dongle DAC like CX-Pro (31993 ChipSet) on a phone is sufficient for enjoyment. However if you want to get more out of Kai you can bring it to the next level to a so-called desktop setup.

Scaling-Up / Making the best out of it. (Please take note it’s just my humble setup as I am kind of OCD and a minimalist and don’t do big expensive audio setups)

• Balance KBEAR Cable (rhyme 8 core UPOCC single crystal copper silver coil cable).
• iFi Zen DAC v1 Balance Output (Tidal MQA) - put KAI in a balance output definitely benefits as it already carried enough bass to open up the rest widening the sound.
• Windows Laptop, Tidal MQA
• Eartip Moondrop Spring (if you feel there too much bass, this is the way to go), sound opens up and better sound separation and clearing any cluster at the mid upper bass and overall improve sound stage.
• Drastic Improvement to Score:8/10

Who will love it?
People who love energetic bass genre like EDM, HipHop, R&B, Rock, Synth, Reggae, Electro Samples.
Personal note: I do enjoy very much on genre like trip-hop, psychedelic electronic newage music.

Who would probably not like it?
People who prefers neutral tuning and non elevate bass/mid bass.


Conclusions.

Kai is a fun IEM with a hint of detail definition.
It’s sound signature falls between mainstream and hifi sounds.
A beautifully crafted metal design which favors most people.

Recommend it to people who love David Guetta & the mainstream brands like Beats, Bose etc earphone and have money to splash on a cool unique impressive lifestyle looking earphone that stands out, you can recommend this to them and they would super love it.


Gear involved
Devices: iPhone 11, IPad (usb-c) & Laptop(Windows)
Streamer: Tidal & Apple Music.
DAC: CX-Pro, Avani, Odyssey HD, iFi Zen DAC, Hidizs S3 Pro.


The usually part of my courtesy for KeepHifi, (Thanks for sending this unit to me for my write-up)
https://keephifi.com/products/tri-x-hbb-kai


Quick note about me: I started this hobby about 2 years ago when I was intrigued stomping upon low price IEMs performing impressively over the mainstream popular brands.
In short, I fell into a rabbit hole hence I am here, been doing write-up on social media platforms ever since.
I decided to still do my write-up in manner non-audiophile would understands, trying my best to use more general terms, trying not to dive too deep in technical specs (I don’t do graph, numbers & charts), reasons mainly to introduce more mainstream target audience to the Chi-Fi IEM world.

Lastly, I love taking macro shots with my old iPhone as a hobby, I am not a professional photographer (hence don’t judge). I love various genre of music, I love bass (who doesn’t) and I am doing all these purely as a part time hobby.