Reviews by Dsnuts

Tri Grace-S

Tri is a sister company of KBEAR and they have reached out to me for my take on how their higher end cables the Grace-S fairs in the market. So Wendy Li of KBEAR has provided me with the Grace S cables for my honest take. You can look up and purchase a set for you here. These here are my thoughts about the Tri Grace S cables.

The cables come with a nice medium sized rectangular zip up case. One can never have too may cases in the earphone game. The cables themselves are made of two types of SPC cables. A 6N crystal copper plated in silver for 1/4th the cores with the bulk of the Grace S being mostly about its 4N pure copper material plated in silver. Both types of SPC cables are then twisted together to form a thicker single core 315 strands of the material forms one core. The higher end 6N material has 63 strands vs the 252 strands of the 4N more copper based SPC. To be honest I would have liked to see the opposite here for the strands to make the Grace-S a bit more resolving than they are as I feel the bulk of the sonic enhancing ability is really more 4N copper plated properties vs the 6N.

A mix between a higher resolving 6N material vs the substance building 4N material is combined to bring out the best of both types of sonic properties in one cable. This cable is a bit unique as it is the first cable I have seen where two types of similar cable material SPC cables with different sound enhancing angles are mixed together. You usually see something like copper and then an SPC type of mix but two different SPC materials are a bit different. I suppose the idea there is to offer more silver based plating from combining both types of cables to bring an added resolving effect from utilizing more silver plating vs something like a copper and an SPC type design.

The cable is a simple two core design that is substantial in looks as each individual cores are thicker with the two cores twisted together to form the cables. A PVC type outer sheathing coats the outside of this hearty IEM cable and while the accessories on the cable itself is a bit plain looking using grey color metal with carbon fiber accents for the plugs. For a $100 cable it could use a bit of an upgrade on the accessories of the cables. Would actually be my only real complaint. If that is the only thing I am gonna complain about, that is a good thing. On the opposite, I have seen much fancier looking cables that while looking like a $100 bucks ends up not really enhancing anything to your earphones sound at all. But you don’t get a cable in the $100 range just for how it looks. You get it to enhance your earphones' sonic ability.

The TRi Grace-S is the best cable I have tried from KBEAR/ TRi. It has to be right, cus it is their most expensive cable. Does it warrant their cost vs their much cheaper offerings?

Cable synergy with your earphones is a real conundrum. On one hand you would like to try so many of the cables that are available that look fancy and even better looking than the Grace-S for much cheaper even. But one thing I have discovered early on in the cable game. Do not judge a cable by the way they look or what color they have. I have seen comments from non cable believers that say. I am getting so and so cables based on its looks and feel ect. Thats all fine and good but why even be looking at $100 plus cables in the first place if that was what you're going for. Nope the Grace-S does have a nice sound shaping form to their function. As you know in the cable industry it all comes down to the materials and how that material meshes with your favorite earphones.

These are observations from testing out the Grace-S with a variety of IEMs. First earphones I tried were their own Tri-I3. These earphones have garnered a few revisions and a newer smaller pro model you can look them up here. The sound of the Tri-I3 has a larger expansive stage and has some amazing mids due to the planer dynamic it is using. With the addition of the Grace-S. I noticed an immediate uptick with a greater expansion of an already larger wider stage for earphones. Grace S seem to add more body to the sounds and enhances dynamics of the earphones. When I say thicker and fuller. It isn't that the sound signature changes drastically but more so enhances or encourages certain sound aspects of the host earphone sound. For the Tri I3. It adds a slight note weight to the sonics, better clarity.

Stock pure copper cable vs Tri Grace-S

Bass seems to have a bit more authority. Vocals have more in the way of range, Treble comes cleaner in presentation vs their stock cables. I can tell the Grace-S has a good balance of technically enhancing your earphones sonics and adds the all important element of adding a fuller body of sound to your earphones sonics.

Now to something a bit more higher end. I recently did a review of NF Audios NE4 earphones you can read about them here, which are using 4 high precision BAs for its sonic characters. I say characters as it uses plates on the housing to change tunings for the NE4 to a drastic degree. Their reference tuning is one of the best balanced, open sounding wide staged tunings I have heard for an all BA design and I feel the sonic character of the NE4 reference tuning is well suited to hear any sonic changes from a cable change.

Stock SPC NF audio cable vs Tri Grace-S

Once again the Grace-S does for the NE4 what it did for the I3. Adding a subtle bit of note weight and fullness to the sonic character, stage gets a subtle enhancement as well, mids imaging and detail seems all enhanced a touch with a clean slightly smoother treble note. Its stage is already wide but with the Grace-S you're getting even a wider stage. Its bass character is full on with the Grace-S. A good resolving SPC type design the Grace-S seems to be very versatile in what it does. It doesn’t smooth out sounds like pure copper does and it doesn’t resolve as good as a pure silver cable but more so gives you a bit of both effects at the same time.

Last earphones I tested the Grace-S is the Tansio Mirai LAND. This tribrid earphone has some excellent stage and dynamics using ESTs for upper trebles 3 BAs for mids to treble with a 10mm dynamic for bass. You can read more about them here. The one knock on the LAND is that Tansio Mirai includes a basic SPC type cable which is valued at around $40 or so. While the included cable is a decent throw in. I soon found out when analyzing the sound that aftermarket cables are way better on the LANDs. This is where the Grace S clearly shows it is an upgrade on the included cable.

LAND SPC cable vs Tri Grace-S

LANDs sees an uptick in stage with a greater mid range fullness and sounds even more expansive vs the stock cables. The stock cable since it sounds thinner makes it sound like it has more treble. I noticed the Grace-S does not enhance treble as much as it does to enhance fuller sound so more copper in properties vs silver but enough silver content to not sound like it is overly smoothing out the treble notes. This fuller and slightly more expansive sound using the Grace S makes for a more immersive sounding LAND. Since LAND is a U shaped sound tuning it benefits from the fuller presentation of the Grace S. A great match up for the LANDs.

Overall I would say the Grace-S compared to other cables I own in the price range hold their own. It is clearly an upgraded cable compared to the better throw in cables you get with your earphones and I can argue much better than some you have to buy at this price range. It has a consistency and a versatility that is essential for such cables. There are cables you get online that will mesh with some earphones and not others I can’t see a scenario when the Grace-S does not enhance your earphone tunings. This aspect is very important when testing out cables and the Grace-S has shown me why Tri is charging the price to play. I know you can buy a bunch of cheaper cables that might even look better but at the same time does the cheaper cable add body and stage to your host sound enhancing its strong suits and there for ending up sounding even better. If not. This is where the $100 upgraded cable exists.

If your in need of a balanced cable in 4.4mm or 2.5mm and are looking for something that will not drastically change what you love about your earphones sound signature the Grace S is very good and versatile like that. The cons of the Grace-S is that it's common material type will not exactly excite the imagination of the earphone enthusiasts that are looking to squeeze every little bit out of their earphones. However the cables are well made, looks good and is not a burly thicker cable that helps with stage and a fuller sounding host IEM. It's got enough silver plating that will clearly let the Grace S not smooth out or hide any details from your favorites while enhancing the mids and bass to be full on. In the end if that's what you're looking for in an IEM cable. These will be a nice upgrade to your nicer IEMs.

Penon Legend + Storm

I am sure you all know Penon audio by now. If not, you will start to see more and more chatter about their goods on headfi. Penon makes some of the best true value audio goods for the sound hobbyist. If you visit their site not only do they have audio goods from leading manufacturers and the big players in all of audio but they carry their own brands. ISN and Penon on their web site.

A bit of an insight into Penon the company. If you have ever bought anything from their site they will have you on their mailing list and unlike that annoying insurance company that keeps sending you reminders to sign up for their services. Penon come Holiday season, you might see a nice card from Hong Kong from Penon. You remember your best friend from High school that promised they will forever be your friend that never send you a Christmas card. You have family members that don’t send you Christmas cards. But Penon does. This little gesture is from the very person that makes some of the best value audio goods in all of audio land. The Christmas card is an extension of how much these folks pay attention to their patrons. One year I got a scarf from them. “Well that's because you review for them?” No I don’t think so Poindexter. This was way before I was doing any reviews of Penon goods. Honest abe. Back to the intro, how many scarfs does your favorite earphone company send you? Ya that's what I thought.

This is a company that is in tune with what drives enthusiasts to be in the hobby. It comes down to making some of the best you can get for personal audio. Case in point their new Legend flagship IEM. If you haven’t tried a Penon made IEM I highly suggest you give them a go. It doesn't matter if you're getting their intro model, the single BA Spheres to the 13 BA flagship in the Legend. These guys are master tuners of earphones. Sound soothsayers folks that are seasoned vets at the earphone game way longer than you think. Even before Penon was an entity. Something like the Legend is not made overnight and they certainly are not something you can pick out of a catalogue. There is a history of workmanship and know-how involved in using 13 high precision BAs in a housing to come up with a sound that continually gets better and better with each new earphone these folks make.

Last year they introduced their Tribrid flagship the Volts and even today they arguably hold their own against some of the very best in the industry. So how to top the Volts? The all BA design is not really exotic, but something that has been established through the years. I am sure you have seen plenty of BA earphone designs in the industry but it comes down to how all them BAs are manipulated, configured and tuned to come up with a sound Penon would call a new flagship. The one aspect I appreciated about their earphones is that they have a tuning philosophy, a house sound they stick to which shows direction and a dedication to a certain type and level of sound design to meet their goals.

Standardly disclaimers: I agreed to a reviewers discount for the Legend and the Storm. 12 higher end Sonion BAs and a Knowles BA cost money and likewise the gold, copper, palladium and silver material of their Storm cable cost money. As they say you gotta pay to play. I did get an early version however to give you the news about them. You can purchase a Legend for you here and the Storm cables here.

This review will have two parts, the initial review here is all about the Legend and what to expect. Then the last part of the review here will be about what the Legend sounds like with Penons new flagship cables, the Storms. Since these two items were created with each other in mind I feel it is important to relay to you what to expect here.

So there is the trend among higher end audio that whether you like it or not forces you to buy a very expensive cable to go along with their flagship earphones and of course you figure you're gonna get some type of discount or a cheaper pack in deal. But not really. We are looking at $4K-$6K plus kilobuck earphones and will these folks part ways with the cable to give you the decision to spend on that particular cable? The answer is not really. You don’t get to make that choice. It is an all or nothing type of deal.

How about giving the end user a choice? Penon is releasing these two items separately and it was like that when they released their Totem cable and the Volts. They never force you to spend the cost of that earphone on an equally expensive cable and then force you to get both at the same time. This does two things. For one it lets you get the Legend by itself. Or it lets you buy the cable unto itself. If you can afford one and not the other. Get the one with the most impact here. Obviously it will be the Legend. I can argue the cable might be worth getting for your other earphones but the cable does not make any sounds. At least it shouldn't.

If you feel you want the absolute top end version of the Legend and would like to support master craftsmen at what they do and feel $1200 for a flagship cable is pocket change in the higher end audio world scheme of things. The Legend and the Storm together is what the intended sound Penon was going for. Will have more to say about this pairing toward the bottom of the review. And likewise I will have a separate review just for the Storm cable. If Penon is gonna give you a choice, so will I. You can always skip the Storm pairing portion. That my friends will be up to you.

So how is the Legend without the Storm cable? Excellent actually. You're not getting a half baked earphone that absolutely requires a $1200 cable to sound optimal. In fact most of my review here will be all about what the Legend and how it sounds with the included cable which has a name unto its own. The Flow.

What you get with the Legend is mostly standard fare; 2 sets of silicone tips,a set of blue colored foams and a pair of what looks like a set of comply foams in medium size. You get their familiar Penon zip up case, a cleaning tool and a switch tool complete the accessories. What separates the Legend from Penon’s previous offerings is a new custom one off handmade higher end pure silver cable to go along with the Legend.

The cable itself utilizes thicker silver cores covered with a dark blue nylon sleeving. The looser twisted weave makes them look rope-like this in turn makes them look and feel premium. Very pliable, no noodling or stiffness to the cables, the cable does a great job synergizing with the Legends. It is most definitely not your garden variety throw in cable Penon has included with the Legend. As of writing the Legend cable, the Flow can be purchased separately on their website here.

Onto the sound. Sound decriptions with all 3 swtiches on.
Legends has been scrutinized by yours truly using my new Ibasso DX300Max, Fiio M15, Shanling M6pro, M5s, M3s, Ibasso DX160, Sony ZX300 custom firmware, Pioneer XDP-30r, IBasso PB3 and IFI Black Label for amping. A weeks worth of burn in was done before evaluating.

Legends have a wider, deeper and taller dimensional stage for earphones. It is the first thing to hit your hearing senses when you hear them. They throw out a larger, well rounded holographic canvas of sound your hearing. Its sound stage dimensions are ideal for a flagship product and it has a stage presentation that is difficult for most IEMs to achieve. I noticed when looking at the nozzle mesh there are 4 distinct holes in the front end of the nozzle.Which means it is using 4 sound tubes connected to their respective drivers that emanate the part of the sound it was taxed with. This design gives a nice clean separation of the 3 zones of the sound tuning. This comes into play especially when you're taxing a lot of drivers.

To be more precise it is using a 4 crossovers, 4 sound tube design, utilizing;. 4 BA or 2X Dual Sonion acupass vented woofers, 4 intermediate Sonion BAs. 4 Sonion high frequency BAs, and 1 Knowles for ultra highs. Then they added 3 tuning switches that give you 8 different slight tweaks for sound enhancements. All housed in high grade resin with a dark carbon fiber look to the plates with PENON LEGEND scribed in gold lettering on both shells. It has a venting out back for the bass element of the tuning. Isolation is a bit above average for all resin designs. Which means these will isolate better than most types of IEMs. Since it throws out a lot of sound elements to your ears I recommend your widest bored tips to bring out the full sound the Legends can do.

Balancing of the Legend is a variation of the W shaped frequency design. This design has an enhanced tuning for dynamic shifts and a bit of an extra for bass, upper mids and treble. Which is accentuated a bit using the included switches or a combination thereof. This tuning is clearly made for music listening. It isn’t an analytical type of design, an overly bassy or a treble first design. In fact I have yet to see Penon make a neutral earphone. It isn’t in the Penon tuning philosophy.

But if you actually listen to music with your earphones. You will love how Penon tunes to enhance your music listening experience. Penon house sound has 3 distinct elements that show on all their monitors. Their tunings are all musical sounding with a richer organic tone, all their earphones have a larger wider stage with dimensional elements to the sound and lastly all of their monitors are balanced. The Legend represents the top Penon made earphone with all these elements and more.

Its balancing has emphasis in all 3 parts of the sound regions but done tastefully to give you everything at once including some added atmosphere with the center switch. I have heard lesser earphones with a lot of BAs that throw out a wall of sound to try to make up for lack of imaging and detail. The Legend has way more in the way of sound sophistication for that. It has a high level of finesse and a dichotomy of contrasts, a tactile resolving ability and recreates an ideal listening environment for your favorite tracks with a huge variety of genres as it is awesomely versatile due to its fundamental balancing. You can tell Penon has laid the groundwork to clearly outdo their previous flagship the Volts with the Legends all BA design.

When you listen to your favorite vocalists. You don’t want to just hear them perform, you want to feel their emotions that come out during that performance, you want to hear all the little details, reverb from instruments that are weighty, when you hear bass infused music you want to hear that rumble and impact with speed and tightness. When you hear extended treble notes you want to get a good sense of air, proper shimmer, clarity and adaptable tonality associated with a well rounded treble end. When you get all three aspects together with a big large dimensional stage, you get the Legend.

Legends 4 Sonion BAs working in unison for the mid bands gives the all important mids a sense of layering and imaging you're not going to get for too many earphones. Its technical ability is the best I have heard from a Penon made earphone. Sound separation, stage, detail, imaging, layering and timbre for using all BAs are top notch. Even better, its sound projection is all consuming to the point where you are immersed in a high quality sound production with a vast stage to pick apart all them fine details from your music. It is more than just the frontal mid and back part of the recording it gives a height and depth on top of it a dimensional sphere of sound with precision of exactly where the track was recorded within that space. It does this element much better than any other earphone I own.

A well rounded treble tuning. Means it has to be one part ability, another part proper tonality, extensive, rangy, shows superior transients, airy, a proper emphasis with balance in the region. These aspects can be great but too much too little or overly imbalanced and no matter how good the mids and bass are, can break an earphone sound tuning. On the Legend, treble enhances and plays an equal footing on the tuning. Treble is easy and clean to listen to due to a healthy dip in the 7Khz range.

The Legend uses the most drivers for the treble tuning. 5 BAs in total. What this gets you is a full on complete treble end that has layers and dimensions to it just like the mids and bass. I noticed on certain tracks with clean recorded trebles in the track.

You can hear the treble reverb or decay that not only sound proper but actually trail off into a background or foreground you will not hear on much lesser earphones. Don’t know if you have ever heard dimensional treble but the Legend has it. Their treble detail is what separates the Legend treble with so many of my other earphones even my more expensive earphones don’t quite do. Micro details for trebles here are phenomenal. At the same time the actual emphasis relative to the sound balancing is not forced even with the treble enhancement switch.

I have heard so many earphones tune to over emphasize the trebles to make up for a lack of resolve or proper extension. The Legends don’t have this problem. You will hear every bit of that detail for the trebles regardless. Its tonality is another aspect I appreciate about the trebles of the Legend. You can make out exactly how much force a high hat note cymbal or something like a triangle that was used for percussive accents gets a proper tone and reverb effect based on what part of the triangle was hit and just how much force the musician applied in great detail. Any type of extra effect the sound engineer lays down for treble be it that little bit of extra sizzle or quicker dryer treble nuanced notes comes through as was intended. This range of ability and sound for the treble area is something I can appreciate as not too many earphones can do precision with that rangy tone and detail quite like the treble end of the Legend. For me the treble emphasis for the Legend hits a sweet spot of not too much and not too little in presence. Again balancing here was key to the Legend sound.

Where the Legend truly shines is their mids presentation. It is tuned to be slightly upper mid forward but it is more how the mids are presented in layers that makes the Legend mids stand out. The mids tuning has what's called an atmosphere switch. When on it is like how the word is described. The sound has a certain airy flow, not to be confused with the cable it comes with, to the sound when combined with its top flight imaging. Don’t know too many mids presentations for earphones that do imaging much better. It isn’t that you just hear what's supposed to be in your recordings. You can hear it on different planes of sound and all around what you're hearing. Something a bit like them chesky directional recordings but no need for special recorded versions of your tunes.


With imaging this good you feel like you're sitting right there with the recording artist and his band, right there. You know you're hearing something special when you take out the Legend and then throw on what you thought was a good sounding earphone and it sounds flat and uninspired. It is unfortunate but since I do reviews for other brands and other earphones. This was the case almost every time after using the Legends. I have to reset and retrain my hearing after using the Legend. You get used to how immersive the sound is and then everything else just falls short.

Dual accupass Sonion BAs are nothing new to the market but when utilized correctly they can do bass with an accurate tone and ability. The Legend uses two of them. This particular set of BAs need venting for its bass ability much like a true woofer does so the need for a vent out back of the Legend. The bass switch or number 3 it is called adds about 3 dbs of added bass from mid bass to sub bass.I am a bass fan so I do prefer the bass switch to be on but some will prefer the bass switch in the off position. Which gives a cleaner mids presentation. The switch aspects will be a matter of preference. The bass ability of the Sonion acupass vented woofer is intriguing on several fronts.

It recreates a solid bass performance with a proper tone and ability but does not have that physicality and texture of a well implemented dynamic. However this does not diminish how good the bass end is on the Legend. Bass tonality is very nicely represented and its definition much like the rest of the sounds are superb. It is bass genres that are the hardest to pull off correctly for an All BA set and I have to say the Legend did just fine in recreating a tactile full bass range from my bass tracks with no issues. Unless you're an absolute basshead and require at least 15dbs of the boomstick.

The bass that is created with these Sonion drivers sounds complete and has very nice ability with a surprising natural sounding sub bass decay. Add the pure speed and tightness of the BA bass and you get a tight well represented bass end that completes the Legend sound. Just know that the bass emphasis here is on the moderate even with the bass switch on. If I was to nitpick about the Legends sound performance It could use a bit more sub bass presence but for what is there. It represents your bass tunes like a champ. Bass end seems to be more complimentary to the Legend sound signature more so than being featured.

In the end.
The sound of the Legend is what happens when years of design and sound balancing come together to create the ideal sound signature for listening to music with. It has quickly become my most listened to earphone in my collection as it has an addictive quality to the sound that I don’t get with sets that cost way more. Penon house sound is full on with the Legend and I feel in using an all BA design Penon has really thrown out a masterwork of sound tuning that utilizes each BA to max potential in unison to get this sound quality.

I know the price tag is steep for such an earphone but I can argue the Legends are easily a better value than other brands so called flagships that include questionable tactics to raise the price tag on their flagships. As a consumer of earphones way before I was ever a reviewer. Having a choice here matters and if you're in the market to get the one earphone that will forever stay with you and give you years of enjoyment. I can’t think of a better earphone than the Legend.

Spoiler: Bonus Storm cable combination.

Bonus Storm cable combination.

What you read up to this point is all about the Legend, what to expect with their highly technical yet musical presentation is a higher end Penon sound, but what they really had in mind was with these cables. The Penon storm.

The cable itself is made of 4 different elements in cable land that all help enhance a base sound. Copper, silver, palladium and lastly a gold coating. There is a reason why this particular cable is Penons most expensive. It adds a tuning element that the base Legends does not have until it gets the Storm attached to it.

The cable itself comes in Penons wood box, The thicker weaved Penon Storm comes naturally twisted, fusing higher end materials. Gold copper palladium and silver. 4 Thicker cores. Each core contains 199 strands of the stuff. Gold plating over copper means it will be more copper in tuning vs a brighter silver or palladium mixed type cable.

I will make one thing very clear though. I am a huge fan of the Penon Flow. I would say with the Flow some might actually prefer the Flow vs the Storms. They are that good. They enhance technicalities including stage, details and imaging on the Legend. It has a very nice higher end sound enhancing ability unto its own. For folks that got themselves a Storm cable you're essentially getting two different versions of the Legends. A bit more dryer sounding in comparison. It is not a dry sound per se but in comparison to the Storm it is.

What the Storm does is adds that Penon richness to it. Penon IEM owners all know your earphones be it the Globe, Orbs, even the lucky folks that own a Sphere and how can I forget the rich mids on the Volts. Their most musical earphones to date.

You can’t be called the Flagship if there is no rich flavoring on that Penon sound. Going back to the Flow which is actually a cleaner presentation but sounds a touch on the plain and dry after using the Storm and legend. Hey we are talking about a $1200 cable to a $300 one. If you don't compare, that statement won't count. The good news there though is that once you get used to the Flow pairing. It is exactly like how I described the sound earlier. Which is not a bad thing at all.

The gold plating element adds a richer darker tone from treble to bass. Copper helps to thicken and adds body to the sonics of the base Legend sound tuning. Silver to add a pure clean sound path for the rest of the cables while adding to the technical elements of the Legend tuning. Palladium to help clean up imaging which adds to a more defined image and added texture with better precision especially for mids and bass.The heavy metals being used gold and copper adds a treble smoothening effect that some who like a more technical leaning sounding Legend would do better using the Flows

The benefit of owning both cables is it really gives you two different sounds. A much more musically rich, bolder, more frontal, image enhanced technically clean yet more analogue flavored sound using the Storm. Or back to the Flows which adds sound stage and technical enhancements treble emphasis and sparkle. A tighter faster sound signature adding superior sound separation a fuller sound vs much lesser silvers cables. Flows enhances details and imaging with a clean sound, a fuller expansive sound element due to its ideal thickness and strand count. You really can’t go wrong with either cables on the Legend.

So why the price difference?
Where these make up for their price point is what it does for the mids and the bass. Due to a more robust body of sound for the Legend tuning using the Storm, music sounds more intimate, more textured vs the Flow. It adds to vocal presence with a greater fuller deeper reach vs the Flows. It adds just that one last bit of lower end definition for bass. Mids sound decidedly richer in tone using this cable. Note definition takes on a whole new meaning using the Storm as it seems to give even a greater sense of note contrast vs the Flow. A neutral tuned source brings out the best of Legend when using the Storm. As all it needs is a clean sound and the Storms will add plenty of flavoring.

The cable itself is surprisingly flexible for using all these metals. It's simple twist braiding is elegant and clean looking. Gold accents let you know you're using a premium hand crafted cable with the best accessories Penon has, gold plated copper for the plugs and carbon fiber accents. Its coloring is very indicative of what the cables do. Richify your sound.

Imaging takes on a different level. With the Flow, the Legend images great actually but Storm adds a higher sense of immersion due to how bold and textured the overall sound is. Sound becomes more meaty, richer, a thick rib eye steak like even more juicy and nuanced. A touch analogue tube ampish in effect. Supremely musical. Its imaging capabilities enhances depth and height of sound more than the Flows pairing and its ability to throw out the width of sound vs the height and depth due to it being much leaner in sound flavoring. Storm doesn’t give the widests of stages for earphones as its main purpose is to add a richer tonal character on the host earphones with greater note weight and increase textures to the sound presentation on the Legend.

This is what makes the Storms unique in that it not only adds a richer more musical tone but also projects a greater definition and a fuller, slightly darkening of the bass tone. Bass gets a touch smoother sounding but fuller at the same time. Smoother in tonality overall the added musical take on the Legends is what Penon had in mind when creating them. This in fact turns them into the clear flagship status. Now the Volts will play second in their line up. If you're curious of what the sound tuners of Penon has been up to.

The Legend and Storm combo is just down right music alchemy at its finest. The synergy between these two are undeniable. By the way I could argue the Volts are right up there with the Legends in performance afterall it has a 10mm bass dynamic providing that physical bass but with the Storm on the Legend it becomes a clear upgrade and this is with the Volt and Totem.

I know this one was a longer read. What I am doing is testing just how much you're into a Dsnut review. If you get this far I would like to officially give you a button that says I read all of Dsnuts Legend review. But you're here. You're the best. I will give you a compliment instead. How is that?

Thanks for reading.

Fiio K3 ( 2021)

Fiios line of K devices are made for indoor use mostly for your computers and laptops. The K3 was one of their most successful products for a good reason. Their ease of function and sound quality with a very friendly price means enthusiasts around the world would rather listen to their music and sound through a K3 device instead of the basic onboard sound of your computers.

Portable dac/amps aka the sound cards are a thing in our hobby. We all use computers and some use it exclusively for their music but the onboard sound is not so optimal for music listening. Laptop manufacturers include a very basic way of listening to your music on your laptop which is mostly handled through realtek software. For occasional video watching, zoom calls and playing some games, it is functional but nowhere near what it could be due to hardware limitations.

Hence the need for better sounding/ performing external dac/amps to pump out the sound. My first experience with an external dac amp was my meridian explorer back in 2013, and I still own that unit today. It has provided years of music listening and a much more acceptable sound vs the onboard stuff. Fast forward to today and while there are a lot of options for the external sound card. Fiio has always had a way of improving the sound experience for your computers.

Their previous K3 was a big seller for them so naturally an improved K3 model sees some foundational upgrades that might make you consider one for your laptop or computer. Fiio always seems to improve upon established designs regardless but everyone knows of the AKM fire that saw the decline in use of their AK DAC chips. In response to the shortage of AK chips Fiio has opted to use a very reputable ES9038Q2M DAC chip with a combination of a newer XMOS decoding and the addition of a mature OPA926 for amplification promising lower distortion and higher resolution to the sound.

In comparison to their previous AK4452 chip used on their older K3. Signal to noise ratio sees an increase by 14db with a decrease in distortion at 13dbs. What you're getting is a lower noise floor and a cleaner sound. Signal to noise is increased by about 12% and the distortion decreases to about 12% from the previous AK chip implementation. That, my friends, is an upgrade.

Standardly disclaimers the K3 was provided by Fiio for my evaluation and report. If what I wrote here applies to you and your use case scenario for such a devise. You can look up and get yourself one at their Aliexpress page here.

There are several design advancements that make the K3 a well engineered sound card for your computer. USB type C, an overvoltage protection with a double filter circuit for power supply stability. Analog and digital portions get their own power supply to reduce crosstalk. ADC volume control for a smooth volume pot without any type of imbalance. Next to the volume wheel is a colored RGB with 3 colors, blue, yellow and green that indicates what type of music file you're listening to. Two modes of USB functionality: type 1 where you can listen to 24bit-96Khz audio with a simple plug n play or using downloaded software enjoy up to 384khz/DSD 256 decoding in type 2 configuration.

Use case scenarios are as follows:
Obviously to make your computer sound legit. Hook these up to your laptops or computers for much improved sonic quality. This will enhance everything that has to do with sound coming from your computers. It is as simple as that. You can hook this up to some external speakers for better speaker performance. Use the single or coaxial or optical out to mix with different amplification for different tunings with different power levels depending on how you want to use the cards DAC out performance.

Using a single 3.5mm out and balanced 2.5mm out also has a few external switches that enhance the ability of the K3. Low and High gain. Low gain for your sensitive earphones and easy to drive headphones. High gain for more power and for more demanding headphones. Bass boost which was rated at 6dbs of the stuff. I will be testing with various earphones and headphones.

My personal use case scenario is to use the K3 as a burn in station and sound testers for my earphones and headphones I review. Thus far I have used my old Audinst MX2 on one of my laptops as a burn-in station but I figure it is about time I got a bit of an upgrade. It is my most used DAC/AMP by far but it is good to have an alternative, hopefully an upgrade in sound in the process, something a bit more modern. I will test out how it performs for gaming, another hobby of mine and of course how well it does with a variety of headphones and earphones.

Sound tuning on the K3 is mostly a neutral tuning but has a bold clean large sound foundation The amplification stage adds a whole bunch of dynamics with a natural expansion of stage and presence. I was very surprised with the very low noise floor and technicalities to the sound signature. Its clean background makes for some excellent imaging and detail for anything media related. I noticed it has a great deep bass end, this is without the bass boost. Mids that are thrown out with a smooth even tone and has very good imaging that helps with vocals. Its clean low noise floor that is dead silent to explosive dynamics is optimal for movie watching which becomes very engaging. The sound that is pumping out of this tiny card was not just a minor bump from the onboard sound. It is substantial.

Needless to say the sound production of the K3 was impressive out of the box. Let me put it this way. No way, no how a laptop manufacturer and I don’t care how expensive your laptop is. Will throw in a ES9038Q2M and a OPA926 for your sound to process out of. Compared to the onboard sound out of my ASUS SCAR G733 laptop with dolby sound. There is really no comparison. There is a clear sound upgrade from my laptop especially when listening to music. So the dolby processing out of my laptop is using software to mimic 3D sound but it uses the onboard sound out of the laptop. For onboard sound it is not bad. You will certainly hear your games and music well but the difference is very noticeable. The K3 is playing your sound at a different level. Its clarity, definition, bass and power is clearly separated from the onboard stuff.


Then I tested music out of mediamonkey and my flac and mp3 files.
Music would be the primary reason why you would want to upgrade to something like the K3. The only knock on the unit is that I am fairly certain for more demanding headphones the K3 will struggle but using my Beyer DT1990 pro and Amiron Homes which both are rated at 250 ohms. I had no issue cranking out the sounds out of the K3 in balanced mode even in single ended was enough to power the DT1990 pros in high gain with volume to spare.

I doubt you're gonna need more power especially if you're using IEMs and standard headsets up to 300 Ohms. For most applications using your standard headset or IEM the K3 will provide plenty of power and a clear increase of fidelity for whatever you're listening to. The compact K3 is performing like a champ with everything I throw at it. The sound quality was constant without any type of interference, just pure clean dynamic sound. Not once did I hear an inkling of interference, a crackle, a pop or any type of external noise that would interfere with the pure sound ability of the K3. It is a simple plug and play that makes this card a nice upgrade for any computers lack luster onboard sound.

Using one of my most sensitive IEMS the CA Solaris need no introduction. The output in both single ended and in balanced is less than 1 ohm with a very low noise floor so the Solaris produces a clean clear sound using the K3 with no hiss that I can detect that detracts from hearing with your more sensitive monitors. It sounded just as dynamic and clean as I have ever heard these earphones play. The K3 will be an easy recommendation for folks that demand better sound quality out of their computers. The K3 is highly versatile even using sensitive earphones, especially for folks that use a big variety of headphones and earphones.

Movies: Tested with Blade Runner 2049

Movies much like how games are produced sees plenty of impact for the sonics. It is your personal THX especially with the bass boost. Watching something with a dynamic soundtrack like Blade Runner 2049 is the perfect tester for a sound card. I have a 5.1 set up for my TV set at home I use and while it is not exactly surround sound.

The immersive factor is cranked up due to the nice higher end sound production out of the K3 and here is where I feel bass boost is very acceptable and gives that personal theatre experience. When used with their FH5s large spacious sound and full bass. This gets you into your movies astoundingly well. Again there is no comparison just how much better your media audio will sound using the K3. Your choice of headphone or earphone here appies. On that longer 2+ hour commute or flight, I can’t think of a better way to shut the world out and get into some movie watching to pass the time.

Gaming:

As good as the K3 is for movies. What it does for gaming alone makes it worthwhile.
Playing an older favorite of mine Diablo 3. Its sound has an atmospheric sound design that emanates but using the K3 your sound is very immersive with directional cues adding powerful sound effects. Its the sound design gives one of the most surround type effects as it sounds like your right in the game. Impacts of sound effects clearly stand out and any type of little details from the sound is heard easily. Again using the Fiio FH5s.

DOOM Eternal.


This action shooter is a tour de force when it comes to sound design. Yes it's got gore and copious amounts of violence. Which the K3 actually enhances the sound effects to match its pure graphic adrenaline action fueled fast paced design. I have to admit it is difficult to go back to the onboard sound after using the K3 for DOOM Eternal. Directional cues also apply and I can clearly make out when foes are coming my way and where in the stage they are making sounds, the sound design and dimensional accuracy is uncanny using the K3. Dolby has nothing on the sheer impact and grunt of the guns being fired. The impactful weapon sounds and the effects of splatter and dismemberment of the monster that makes for a smile inducing entertaining good time. I will say if you're into your first person cinematic shooters. K3 is a must own.

Finally Cyberpunk 2077


Much like the sound design for Blade Runner 2049. This game has a sound design that is AAA in design and the sound immerses you in an entirely different world. Its sound design and game design is one based out of the movies as you live the life of a mercenary for hire and all the typical trappings of a futuristic cyberpunk mythos. Guns blazing with action and driving sequences that enhance the sounds of the engine and even music tracks that blair on the radio is that much more realistic. Again as good as you think the sound design is. You don’t know what you're missing till you have a nice sound card representing the sounds you're getting in a AAA title like Cyberpunk. I encourage my fellow audio geeks and gamers to invest in a little sound card like the K3. It will transform how you play your games. Think about why you play these games in the first place. Get yourself a K3 and hear what the designers of these games want you to hear as well as play. It will make you appreciate your favorite games that much more.

Well there you have it. My time with the K3 most definitely made me realize just how lame your onboard audio is on your computers. As good as the latest 8 core processors and an RTX3080 throwing out the graphics on your laptops. Does the sound do that smooth gameplay justice? The unfortunate answer to that is no.

For music listening. No need to spend a whole lot to get better music out of that same media laptop. The K3 performs with its clean low noise floor. Powerful clean amplification that will easily drive most headsets and any IEM with volume to spare. This is exactly the type of sound device your computer needs. Why not treat yourself with a much more acceptable and substantial upgrade from your onboard sound?

In the end not only is the K3 very easy to use device, it is a must own for media fans. It will transform how you hear out of your computers if you haven’t already. The K3 is an easy recommendation for folks that use their computers for travel and even better at home. It will be a reliable excellent sounding card for you If you get into your computer media. Plug it in. Throw your favorite earphone or headphone and push play. As always, thanks for taking the time to read. Happy listening.

Fiio FH5s pro/LC-RC cables

In the earphone industry, the cable that is included can make or break an earphone sound. Too many times I have seen included cables that accentuates issues for the host earphone or worse not resolving enough to accentuate the best parts of the earphones sonics. Earphone and headphone cables have become an industry unto itself with all the major players having a hand at designing the right cable for your personal audio. I know there is a lot of debate whether a cable has any type of sound enhancing effects on a host earphone sound. I am writing this report/ review with no intention to sway the masses about cables. That is a topic unto itself but more so what Fiios newest cables do for their new FH5s pro.

You have seen the recent launch of Fiios FD3 and probably seen the announcement of their upcoming FH5s pro variant. Both the FD3 pro and the FH5s pro versions come with their new LC-RC cables that makes them “PRO” and I am here to tell you both their FD3 and the FH5s are no different in the sound tuning aspects to their pro versions. It just adds these newer modular 8 cored cables the LC-RC in the mix. You gotta figure these cables had to have been something special to warrant a complete name add on and even better called the “PRO” version. Traditionally a pro version of an earphone would have meant that we would have seen some type of sound tweak to the stock sound tuning. Believe it or not Fiio has done just this

Using a new cable.

Before I get into this report I would like to thank @FiiO for the review sample of their LC-RC cables. You can find out more about them and order you a set here. Their new Pro version of the FH5s can be purchased here.

To be honest I was very surprised when I got contacted about the LC-RC. As a cable believer myself as I do cable reviews here on headfi. I was thinking, a new pro version? With just a cable upgrade?

The LC-RC is an all new 8 core version of a higher purity monocrystalline-copper plated in silver cable with a type 2 litz structure. It consists of 19 strands making up each core, 152 wires making up the bulk of the cable. The difference between this one and their included prior cables seems to be that of purity. A higher purity of copper seems to be at the core of these cables and I noticed the sonic properties this cable brings forth is more copper influenced than silver of their prior cables. The strands are Individually isolated with a thermoplastic polyurethane coating for the outer sleeving. These cables also include Fiios proprietary modular plugs which include a single ended 3.5mm and two balanced plugs in 2.5mm and 4.4mm.

The question is does this cable warrant a PRO upgrade to their FH5s?
Absolutely YES!. I have tested the cable out on the FH5s and I can confirm that what you are getting is a nice upgrade for the FH5s sound via cable tuning.

The LC-RC itself is a nicely made boutique style earphone cable that is equivalent to much more expensive cables you see being sold by other manufacturers for much higher prices. Its resolving ability is very high and since the base foundation is one based on copper. It clearly gives an ode to dynamics, note weight, stage, fullness and bass of your host earphones sound tuning while smoothening the treble aspect of the host earphone. When using the LC-RC especially in balanced configuration the sound gives a greater expansion with better note weight to the sonics. This makes a difference in how you perceive the sound on the FH5s.

The FH5s, you can read my initial review of them here. Its sonic foundation is musical with some of Fiios best presentation for mids and bass. The inclusion of the 3 switches that enhances the given parts of their tuning means you can tweak the base tuning by a few dbs. More bass, more mids and a touch more treble if desired or a combination thereof.

Despite what you might have read or seen on the nets about their sonic character. It was their treble presentation that was highly contentious. The treble was debatable in its presentation due to the dual BAs in the nozzle of the FH5s. Its included cable was Fiios older silver-plated monocrystalline cables in 4 cores. While the material base seems similar to the new LC-RC cable there is a clear difference in how the LC-RC shapes the sonic character of the FH5s vs their previous included cable. The included FH5s cable in my prior review, I put it out there that it does not match well with FH5s sound tuning. It accentuates and highlights treble notes. The newer LC-RC cable actually corrects the one aspect I had some issue with and its sonic character now incorporates a bigger change to the host earphone with an even better presentation for the FH5s all due to this cable.

The sound is somehow smoother, a bit more atmospheric, slightly warmer for the mids, wider, deeper and yes it has a positive effect on the trebles. Treble is now cleaner and not as glare prone like thor prior cables had a tendency to accentuate. This new cable does not seem to highlight the treble notes but makes them much more coherent sounding. It is very much an upgrade from their previous presentation of the FH5s as it adds more body and stage to the sound which in effect adds a more fluid, more cohesiveness to the host sound vs being more analytical in approach to their previous cable presentation.

The nice aspect of this cable is that if you own the prior FH5s, I am sure you have been using other aftermarket cables. You can now buy the LC-RC cable to go along with the FH5s. And for folks that are considering a new FH5s. Go for the pro version. It is easily the best version of the FH5s and it has everything to do with this particular cable. I have been testing out Fiios new K3 dac/amp recently and I was very surprised how well the FH5s matches up with the K3.

FH5s vs FH5s pro
What's the difference?
The FH5s pro version now using the LC-RC has a positive and substantial effects on the base sound tuning. It adds fullness and greater note weight to the mids and also adds a greater impact and better more defined bass presentation. LC-RC balances out the treble much more so with the mids and bass this time. It still has a full treble presentation to the base FH5s sound but going back to the stock cable the FH5s sound more lean in general from mids to bass, and it clearly accentuates treble notes. Its stage is not as expansive and loses depth as well.

This makes a huge difference in my book. It adds more body to the sonics and at the same time smoothes and cleans the treble presentation. Treble doesn't stick out on an island like it did with the prior cables. Sound is much better blended and more cohesive with the dynamic drivers of the FH5s.

In fact this was the clear issue for me on the stock FH5s presentation. Their included stock cable enhanced the treble to the point where rock and metal music was really unlistenable. Metal and rock fans rejoice. You can now listen to your rock and metal music. Beyond this it just sounds like an entire overhaul of the FH5s with much better cohesion. And that would warrant a pro moniker..

It was all due to a brilliant move on Fiios part to introduce these cables to the market.These cables are what should have come with the stock FH5s but hey it is never too late to improve upon what you have established.

The FH5s pro is a much better sounding version of the FH5s, more expansive, more cohesive, more dynamic and a more musical sounding FH5s as a result. Vocals especially sound fantastic using the LC-RC. The bass now has clear authority with the LC-RC and sees even better texture for sub bass. I never had an issue with the mids to bass performance of the stock FH5s but the LC-RC now enhances the best aspects of the FH5s and makes the sound much more cohesive and smoother, an upgraded version of the FH5s overall.

The LC-RC is exactly what the FH5s needed even more so than their FD3 pros. FD3 even in stock form has no cohesion issues. The FH5s corrects the one aspect that prevented the FH5s from stardom IMO. Without reservation I can recommend the FH5s in the pro form. It is now one of Fiios best sounding earphones. It still has a full treble end so the LC-RC does not blunt or roll off the trebles but the balancing now is so much better to my ears. The pro version has the treble with a good amount of sparkle that sounds like sparkle and not to the point where trebles start to sound splashy like their prior cables had a tendency to do. This my friends brings the FH5s back into the mainstream and something you should take notice of.

This is how you correct and improve what you have established. The LC-RC is a substantial upgrade to both the FD3 and especially the FH5s. Bravo Fiio..As much as I was surprised with the recent release of the FD3 earphones I am even more surprised about the LC-RC cable and what it has done to transform the base FH5s sound tuning.

If you have been on the fence about their FH5s due to the negative press. As crazy as it sounds, I mean how can a cable change up the sonics that much for a complete turn around? It is exactly this. Get the pro version and if you already own the FH5s. Get the LC-RC cable. It is exactly what the FH5s needed and a clear substantial cable upgrade for the FH5s.

The only real negative on the LC-RC is that it is slightly springy but even less so than their prior included cable. Otherwise get a set and even if you don’t own a FH5s get a set for your other earphones. These cables have more of a higher end copper properties than silver enhancing properties of their prior cables and this adds a certain level of musicality to your host earphones while retaining high levels of detail and imaging for the host earphone sound adding note weight and stage in the process. All I am saying is I can now listen to Rush! Lol

What a turn around for one of the most debated earphones that Fiio has made and yes it was due to the LC-RC. Brilliant and even more brilliant they didn’t have to reinvent the FH5s sonic formula. Just introduce a clear upgrade for the sound via cables. Thanks for taking the time to read.

NF audio NE4 Evolution

One of the benefits of reviewing newer IEMs is that I get to progressively see advancements in our hobby. Much like anything tech related the earphone industry has seen a surge of newer innovative designs beyond using a mix of drivers which now sees quadbrid designs with 4 different types of drivers which back in the day no one in their wildest dreams would have been a reality but beyond that I am seeing more and more manufacturers include some way of changing up the stock sound of the given earphone. The easiest implementation is the two- three switch enhancement. First ever earphone I heard with tunable switches was at the Rocky Mountain Audio Festival in 2018. It was the InEar Prophile 8 earphones on display. I was impressed with a flick of a switch you got an immediate increase in bass and or treble or both.

That was when I realized this might be a thing for future earphones. Advance to today and we have numerous earphones that do the tuning switches. Another way of onboard tweaking would be the tried and true nozzle filters. Which works to change up how we perceive treble and works pretty well but overall these minor switches and nozzle filters have seen moderate at best in actually tuning the earphones base sound.

NF audio has taken this idea one step further in developing an actual way to not just do a minor tweak in sound here and there. They managed to figure out how to actually give you a completely different sound altogether using the outer plates on the NE4 shells. The plates are embedded with crossover circuitry using different parameters, frequency dividers that tax certain drivers on the host housing which changes the emphasis and the use of the programmed drivers it is using for a completely different sound profile. The idea of this is not exactly new as it was implemented to a much lesser degree on the A New X-One earphones with very mild changes to the sonics. NE4s use of this idea is not a minor tweak in each sound tuning. It is giving you an entirely different sound for each of the plates.

Before I continue with my report/ review I would like to thank Penon Audio and NF audio for the review sample. You can find out more and get yourself a pair here. The NE4 has been burned in for a weeks worth of time and sound evaluation was done using my sources; IBasso DX300Max, Fiio M15, Shanling M6pro, M5s,M3s,IBasso DX160,Sony ZX300, Pioneer XDP-30r, IBasso PB3 and IFI Black Label for amping.

NF audio has made some great sounding dynamic IEMS and this being my first go round of an all BA tuned IEM by the group, I was very surprised when the announcement I saw about the NE4 included a way of replacing the plates on the shells which somehow effectively changed the sound tuning to give you a different tuning with each plate. This idea on paper is great. I mean who doesn’t want to be able to change how your earphones sound depending on your mood on the fly. They include 3 different colored plates and each one represents a different tuning and use of the drivers.

The NE4 comes in a larger box as there are a lot of extras you get from your standard earphone package. The inner box contains their 3 CD display with the earphones themselves which had their black reference plate already installed and two extra plates. Red for pop and light blue for neutral transparent signature. It comes with a small allen wrench tool to install the plates with 4 extra screws just in case you lose one. The tool and screws are tiny, a bit like the screws you see on a pair of glasses. Very small so be warned. Comes with 2 sets of silicone tips labelled balanced and atmosphere. A stereo adapter and their proprietary 5N silver plated copper cables in litz format in single ended. Same cables they put in for their NM2+. Rounding out the accessories is their medium sized box using a magnetic lid to carry everything.

This accessories package is pretty much what you got with their dynamic earphones. Which was OK for them but for these? Not so much. There is nothing really to carry around the plates and the tiny tool and screws. A simple lined pouch would have been sufficient but the included box is not ideal to put your plates or the tiny screws and such. Only two types of tips? The earphones have three sounds but they only include two types. The cable is decent but I do notice the level of the sonics on the NE4 greatly benefits from nicer aftermarket cables. So the included stuff is just left overs from their previous earphones. Which is just OK however it seems NF audio has spent an enormous amount of research and development into the NE4 in creating something very groundbreaking, yet they include basic accessories that are more or less left overs from their previous earphones. I was expecting more to be honest. I can tell 99% of their effort was in the design of the sound of the NE4. Not so much what was included.


The use of 4 high precision Knowles BAs was the foundation for the base tunings using a new larger CNC machined aluminum alloy shell. The physical size of the shell is a bit bulky but the ergonomic design makes them very comfortable for my medium sized ears so no struggle with fit or use on them. These are a bit weighty at 360g but not so bad where they feel like heavy slugs in your ears. The plates themselves add some weight due to the circuitry inside them and the plates themselves are not a wafer thin material but you can clearly tell they have some electronics inside them. I would have liked to see this design just a bit more streamlined in design as it is clearly bulky and big. So small eared folks might have some struggles with how these fit.

With all the circuitry and metal the NE4 uses you would figure it has great passive isolation. It actually does not. Which was surprising. I find the isolation about average and I think it was more due to the venting that was required to get the sonics to be correct. So that was a bit surprising there. The trade off is some astounding stage presentation however.

As gimmicky as it may sound because to be honest I have yet to see your garden variety switches and or nozzle implementation drastically change the tuning, these are playing at a different level as far as optional sound from one earphone goes. The first plate you are greeted with is their black reference plate. These are easily my favorite tuning out of the NE4 and I have to give NF audio some credit. I was thinking no way is a 4BA IEM going to be worth the money they are asking for a set. Then I heard these with the black plate.

Reference plate.
SPECS:
Frequency Response: 18-22Khz
Sensitivity: 110/mw
Impedance: 10 ohm


This tuning uses all 4 BAs. 1BA for ultra low + 1BA for full range + 2BA for trebles. The sound balancing and tuning for this particular sound design I can argue is worth the cost alone. These are by far NF audios best sounding earphones easily beating their dynamic counterparts in sound quality. I suppose it will depend on how much of a premium you have about your earphone designs, dynamics vs BAs which can be debated on which one gives you the best sound. But here is the reason why.

For starters the sound presentation is fantastically wide. The NE4 reference tuning easily has the widest stage I have heard out of any of their earphones. The stage presentation is flagship level in presentation. Then there are the fine details of a well implemented BA design that clearly shows its strengths. They call this one reference for a reason. Having a mild 5dbs of bass boost with a reference level clarity and imaging across the sound. Its balancing is superb with the right amount of treble emphasis to cap it of. It is by far their best sound tuning out of the three plates that was included.

Its treble is nicely extended and is balanced well with a good presence for the region. Trebles are moderately imposed and not forced sounding which is a win in my book as it seems more and more manufacturers are all about imposing that treble in the tuning for the high fidelity tuning. Its BA based treble is well defined and has good agility and nicely textured. When called for, has good sparkle and shimmer but just ever so reserved for sparkles otherwise I have no issue with the treble end. The mids have a moderate 10dbs of upper mids presence which gives good clarity for the overall mids presentation.

The single BA used for the region seems to be a very high level Knowles BA as its sound presentation is really spot on with very good range and layering to the mids. It sounds like it is using more than just one BA for the region which is always a good sign. It has good body to the sounds, note weight is moderate and not thin sounding and has a nice seamless tonal balance between the trebles to the bass. The mids head a bit toward lush in tonal quality and sounds very natural with no strange BA timberal issues. Imaging is also a stand out of the NE4 reference tuning. There is really not much to complain about the mids of the NE4 reference as it shows a very high quality sound presentation for the overall tuning, then there is the Bass

Bass end of the NE4 is very surprising, showing similar impact and realistic characteristics that are closer in performance to their dynamic earphones. In fact I bet if you didn’t know NF audio was using a single BA for the bass on these it would have been difficult for you to tell they are using a BA. Its Bass timbre, tone and ability is accurate more than superficial sounding and due to the sheer speed of the BA design. Speedy metal becomes almost a religious experience.


Its sub bass is where you can tell they are using a BA but it is due mostly from not having a proper boost for the sub bass for their reference plate. The pop plate presents with much more authority in the region. As they are, its rumble is moderate in emphasis and decay is fairly quick. So here is where I wished NF audio implemented a very agile dynamic driver to handle the bass notes or if they could have tuned the sub bass with an uplift. I suppose I am spoiled by hybrids that do this aspect well. Otherwise for an all BA implementation NF audio was able to squeeze out every bit of the low end they could using the drivers they are using. I feel overall the bass end actually sounds very natural and its impact and tonality is spot on. It does surprisingly well for EDM and Jazz music even with the reference tuning due to that nice level of bass accuracy for a BA but for something that requires a bit more bass emphasis that is where the pop plate is all about.

Pop plate.
SPECS:
Frequency Response: 9-20Khz
Sensitivity: 104db/mw
Impedance: 6 ohm

The red plate is the most colored sound out of the three plates as it boosts the bass end 15dbs from flat transparent plates and about 10dbs from their reference plates. Pop plate utilizes a single BA handling the lows + a single BA for mids + 2 BAs for trebles. So how NF audio was able to boost the BAs for a massive 15dbs of emphasis from their transparent plate tuning is beyond me. The sound signature now becomes more of an L shaped tuning where bass is going to be a bit pronounced but what is surprising is just how controlled the sound is for being a bass infused tuning. The sound actually has more than a bit of control with some finesse thrown in and not much in the way of compromise to the mids and treble presence with that bigger bass end. By the sheer amount of boost we are talking about, bass is not as tight sounding vs their reference but you bet there is much more impact and sub bass is surprisingly good.

Mids presents with a bit more body and fullness to the sound due to an increase of the lower mids to bass vs the reference plate configuration and does a great job not to throw a big bass shadow for the tuning. The mids are able to maintain a good sense of clarity and show a similar well balanced presentation from the reference tuning. I do noice the mids side to side imaging is a bit more intimate for the pop plate and not as open sounding as the reference plate. This is probably due to that much greater bass emphasis. Mids presentation however is surprisingly clean and mids tonality shows a very slight hint of warmth over the reference plate. Again due to that bigger bass presentation. Bass infused music sounds tremendous with even greater impact which clearly stands out as a bass tuned earphone.

This sound tuning will appeal to fans of bass or when using the NE4 for outdoor use. Bass quantity is pushed to the limit here for what this single BA can do while retaining a good semblance of control and tightness. The issue here is with its very high 6 ohm sensitivity, the Pop tuning must be used on lower output impedance sources or you will not get the full bass effect from them. Somehow this is yet another aspect of the NE4 design that could have been a missed opportunity for NF audio. Don’t know how difficult it would have been to include a nice higher end dynamic inside this larger housing but I do wish they used a dynamic for this tuning vs using a BA.

To be fair, NF audio has a clear mastery of tuning the low end using this particular BA. The BA used for the bass seems again very much higher end as it is able to go from a fairly neutral emphasis to a full bored bass boost with absolute zero distortion and bass here sounds like a well implemented bass end even down to having some real sub bass texture. Pop here is every bit a quality presentation as their reference plate especially for folks that are into their bass. I can see many actually preferring this plate for music listening as this plate gives the best musical sound tuning for all the plates yet retains a high level of technicalities for the overall sound.

The treble aspects of all 3 plates have the most consistent aspect of their sound tunings. Treble is how I described on the reference plate for all three plates of course you will get a touch more treble perception depending on the varying bass infusion on the different plates but for the most part treble is fairly identical in form and function and presence as all 3 plates use two BAs for their treble presentations. .

Transparent plate.
SPECS:
Frequency Response: 20-30Khz
Sensitivity: 110db/mw
Impedance: 22 ohm

As drastic as the Pop plate is on one end, this one goes the complete opposite direction. Utilizing a single full range BA + two BAs for highs. I am sure you have heard neutral earphones before but I am willing to bet, you have never heard anything this ruler flat before. It is literally a straight line from 20hz sub bass all the way to the upper mids where it has the same 10dbs of pinna gain compensation and then its treble presence all the way to 20 khz. Some might actually refer to these as the actual reference sound. It is by far their most neutral tuning out of the three plates.

I can see a use case scenario for the blue transparent plates here for several occasions. First of all as a reviewer I have had neutral earphones in the past but not quite this ruler flat. These will make for perfect reference for just how colored your earphones are in comparison. Even stage monitors have some coloring to their tunings. Not these. For some reason the sound here is literally perfectly balanced from treble to bass but it also has the more intimate sound with an average stage vs the other two configurations. Could be due to utilizing a full range BA more closer toward the ear vs being a BA in the outer housing, also with a drastic impedance shift from 6 ohms in the pop plates to 22 ohm for the transparent plate. This plate tuning can be used with just about any source and even amplification with no problems.

The other scenario is for the sound engineer. I don’t know if there is an earphone out in all of earphone land that has the ruler flat response of these. You can literally tell just how much coloration your other earphones have in comparison. These are literally windows to your music, your hearing. These have the driest, cleanest tonality with the least amount of coloration and not just for the NE4 but any earphone. If you're a sound engineer and would like to get an actual reference tool for sound. These might be what you're looking for.

Needless to say I don’t know if I need to describe the sound on this plate as if you can imagine a straight line from 20hz all the way to 1khz and how that would sound. This is exactly what that is. It will reproduce any studio recording as what it is with zero boost in any part of the sound as it possibly can. So I can see how this plate can be used in such a way. It is surprising that NF audio included this particular tuning aspect as it would have been better to do an intermediate plate from reference to pop instead but since their background is music monitoring. This plate exists as a tool more so than listening to actual music using them. It is a bit too flat to really enjoy real music with, but if used as a monitoring tool, It could be an invaluable tool for the sound professional.

And you can certainly throw on the pop or reference plate for any real music listening.

And there you have it, three very distinctive tunings with three different plates. My time with the NE4 has been very eye opening as it has been interesting to see NF audios tuning prowess at full display here. Three very different sound signatures and with that let me address the hurtle for this actual ground breaking product.

As great as this product is. I will give NF audio every bit of credit on how they developed an actual way to give you three different earphone sounds using one earphone. The price of these are hard to swallow. Its sound is actually worth the price tag believe it or not. The reference plate sound is about on the level of Campfire Audios Andromedas and not only that but you get a bass version thrown in for good measure. However it is the idea of buying an all BA iem with 4 BAs that's the hurtle. These are in many ways groundbreaking, evolutionary, I can even say stupendous in what it does. But the cost to play on these are a bit steep for a relatively unknown product.

Competition ramps up so much in this price range right now, at the asking price these are facing tribrids and hybrids that are getting ever so close to summit fi level sound quality. 4 BA earphones don’t seem all that compelling no matter how well they are tuned at the price.This is a case where if you heard these you will hear the value in what NF audio has achieved.

I heard that NF audio plans to release more tuning plates which will effectively give you even more sound options. NF audio is onto something here and if you would like to take part in what they are doing with these. I can say without reservation the NE4 will be worth it but for the budget minded enthusiast. It will be difficult to see the value, groundbreaking or not. This review has ended up being a longer one as there was so much to cover about the NE4, I appreciate you sticking with me on this one and seeing it though. Whether these will be an option for the enthusiast or not, NF audio has done something very much new in the industry and I can only see this idea blossoming from here. As always thanks for taking the time to read and happy listening always.

Geekfly GF10

You might know these folks for their more recent GK10 they have made but most folks do not know about their newer flagship TWS entry in the GF10. Their previous GF8s showed an excellent sound quality for running out and about while having a very strong clear signal. The GF10 sees an increase of drivers as it is now utilizing two composite BAs handling the mids to highs. Their titanium balltop dynamic for bass and a 14 layer dual Piezoelectric ceramic tweeters to handle the ultra highs.

The design of the GF10 is using the exact same compact housing of their previous GF8S which is actually not a bad thing, the housing is compact and clean looking and is comfortable to use for hours. The new GF10 has some advancements in sound quality which sees an addition of an added BA for the mids and treble from their previous GF8S with a newer 14 layer dual piezo vs a 10 layer variant of their previous GF8S. Otherwise the form function and use scenarios are identical.

Their included smaller box includes the ear pieces which are stored in a cradle box and it comes with a decent selection of silicone tips, 4 different sets and a set of foams to use, instructions and a shorter USB-C charging cable. The charging cradle box incorporates a USB-C charging with 5V/600mA battery inside. The idea there is with the base unit having a larger battery apart from the ear pieces themselves, you can throw in your earpieces which will automatically charge them while in the cradle. Ear pieces themselves use a much smaller 3.7v/70mA which gives an average of 5 hours of listening and a bit shorter if you use it for talking.

I would like to thank Penon audio and Geekfly for the review sample. These were provided for the purpose of a review. You can purchase and read more about them here. These were evaluated using mostly my Fiio M15, Shanling M6 pro, and my LG cell phone for vocal testing purposes.

I know when you look at the price point of these things being at a healthy $299 you might be wondering how on this planet can these compete with the likes of Sony, Bose and Apple all having strong sales of their TWS earphones all with leading edge designs using the latest high res codecs and Bluetooth.

All Geekfly TWS earphones are minimalistic in design and looks. They don’t offer the latest bluetooth 5.2 nor do they include a large variety of codecs for streaming, only utilizing a standard AAC codec which by today's standard is very basic, doesn't have ANC or a standout battery life at only 5 hours of continuous use. So why the price? It has everything to do with how they sound.

Don’t know how many tribrid designs you have seen for TWS earphones but the Geekfly GF10 is utilizing a 7mm titanium balltop dynamic+ 2X BAs+ 2X Piezos that would be 5 drivers for the sound and then they add a type A amplification stage before the sound hits your ears. The end result is something you will not imagine can be heard wirelessly. These will make your other earphones with its 5.2 bluetooth and high res streaming capable TWS earphones sound dull in comparison. These will make your wired earphones sound underpowered in comparison. The amplification here is not a gimmick. It was used for their prior GF8S with the same results.

These don’t sound anything like a wireless product, and here lies the true reason for the price. I asked the designers why they don’t have newer high res codecs.The answer was that they were not able to include anything else due to the sound design of these and apparently there are limitations to the chip implementation and how they are able to tune a full sound using an older more reliable AAC codec vs the newer qualcomm chips with its supposed high res certification codecs. So they are clearly banking on a more simple wireless design but enables the designers to go all out for the sound quality.

I am still very surprised even for their prior GF8S just how good those things turned out sound quality wise, but the new GF10 takes that sound quality to one more level. These are rivaling some of my top earphones for sonics and that is something you would never expect from a wireless product. Sure it doesn't have the fancy bells and whistles of the leading TWS sets but you can look at these as more of a portable amplified speakers in your ears. The sound clearly has more power, more dynamics, more expansive deeper wider stage, basically like your wired sets but amplified.

Fundamental sound design is a moderate v signature with some clear authority in all regions of the sound. Its overall well balanced signature is more consumer oriented in presentation meaning it will have a full bass end, great wider spacious presentation with very good high quality level of mids and treble implementation using BAs and Piezos.

Treble is clean, clear and is not as tizzy sounding as Piezo upper trebles have a tendency to sound, implementation of the dual piezos are everything to get a more natural treble presentation and the GF10 delivers just this. The GF10 utilizes two composite BAs to handle the mids to treble frequencies and the treble is tuned to enhance the overall balancing and shows very good tonal qualities for treble. Treble tuning here shows the Geek folks know how to tune the treble to have the right presence and with a good rangy attack vs being weak or missing in any part of the treble tuning. It is crisp and tight for treble notes and shows that excellent rangy tone that good treble is always required to have. Its upper piezo is not highlighted but works more like an extension of the treble presentation from the BAs. In this instance the Piezo does a great job to infuse some air, extension and upper note shimmer. Love the treble detail and presence here to balance out the sound.

Mids sees a uniform balancing from a mild upper mid boost to a full on weighty male and female vocal presentation. The mids utilizing two BAs shows very good BA precision, the presentation gives a good blend of presence and technicalities. Here is the main difference from their previous GF8S. Sound tuning is not too different between the GF8S and the GF10 but with the use of an extra BA and a light rebalancing, there is less of a wall of sound effect that was how the GF8s had a tendency to throw out its sonics. The mids this time have better imaging with an increase in macro level detail as a result mids dimensional qualities are also enhanced using the extra BA. Mids has a slightly warmer yet mostly natural tonal quality vs being neutral or brighter in tone due to the ample and authoritative bass of the GF10. Its timbre does show BA tendencies but for what it is mids have good solid note weight, good range and are not lacking in any aspect of the mid bands. The full sound of the GF10 was tuned to really let you listen to the little details in the mids of well recorded tracks and the GF10 I can’t complain much of how the mids are tuned. The improvement of the GF10 over the GF8s is mostly in how the mids here are presented and the sound quality is ramped up because of it. BA timbre is not as natural as dynamics in presentation but I don’t find any unnaturalness about the mids well blended design.

Bass using a 7mm titanium ball top dynamic was clearly tuned for street use. Geekfly folks like to tune with bass as a part of their tuning philosophy which was evident from their GK10, their GF8S and now the GF10. I also feel the bass end of the tuning here is more refined from their previous GF8s. GF10 bass tuning does have a bold mid bass to sub bass presence which again is more tuned so you can enjoy bass in a crowded place. The surprising aspect of the GF10 is that even though the GF10 does not have ANC. Its passive isolation is quite amazing. If I was to guess its passive isolation is hovering around 30dbs+ of isolation. According to Geek folks, adding a power supply and an audio filter circuit adds to passive isolation for the unit.

These isolate way better than even all resin semi custom designs and while not exactly at the level of ANC type devices for what it is, this great natural passive isolation allows the bass end to be full on when out and about. Crowd and street noise will drown out bass notes for an earphone so I always appreciate a bit of a bass enhancement when outdoors. The GF10s bass is using a titanium coated dynamic which I have never heard a titanium dynamic not being able to give you that full bass. The bass definition is very good, even better than their previous earphones but you do get a good amount of it so be warned if you're not much of a bass fan. If you have ever amplified your headsets with a good amplifier you know how bass becomes.

This is essentially what the GF10 does as it enhances bass notes with a bit more authority. Big bold beefy bass if I was a guessing man sees around 10dbs of bass emphasis. While this may be a lot of bass for you, for folks that love some weighty bass while walking around these have it. Bass does a great job of staying away from the mids but does have a slight lower mids shadow due to the ample bass presence. Don't find the design to have too much in the way of bloat however. Titanium bass have a tighter note and good speed with very good texture for sub bass. Bass digs deep and can rumble with the best of them with a proper slower decay to boot. The bass dynamic here was clearly chosen for its bass performance and while these aren’t exactly at basshead levels it is most definitely knocking at basshead territory for bass.

Touch user interface for the GF10 works but is not as well implemented as I would have liked. It is difficult at times to forward a track, pause, increase volume and such. It needs a new firmware for the touch interface to be more accurate. Sometimes I would press twice on the right earpiece wanting to increase volume only for the music to pause instead. Answering and using the included mic works well enough with good vocal clarity for both talking and listening. Calls benefit from the very good passive isolation. Works as intended there. On a positive note, the signal from the GF10 to your host device is very strong, much like their previous GF8S. Its signal can transmit up to about 30 ft indoors and about 50ft outdoors. Which enables you to leave your source while doing chores around the house.

So my time with the GF10 was interesting. While I appreciate the upgrade of the sound quality aspect from their previous GF8S these are not exactly a huge step forward in form and function. Geekfly has a huge hurdle ahead of them. As good as these TWS sound, both the GF10 and their previous GF8S. I don’t feel sound quality alone will persuade an apple fan from ditching their airpods and a Sony fan from ditching a cutting edge true ANC with LDAC to get a Geekfly GF10. However I can see a scenario for the audio enthusiasts that want to hear how good a wireless amplified tribrid design can sound, these and or their previous GF8S are a good start.

The elephant in the room however is that no matter how good these sound, not having the latest codecs and Bluetooth version with an average battery and a touch interface that is a hit or miss will limit the true tech junkie from even looking up one of these. Its amplified well balanced full bodied tuning, very good passive isolation and a strong signal allows for a true wireless freedom with a no compromise sound quality.

Competition is so fierce for wireless products. Don’t know if sound quality alone will be enough here. I can see the reasoning behind their design but your average tech guys and gals that enjoy the occasional music out of their phones and think the latest high res codec will bring a higher level of sound quality will be hard pressed to think these are what they need. For the sound enthusiast however, truth be told AAC vs something like LDAC I can’t tell a lick of difference if anything the GF10 using its amplified design sound so complete and full on here for street use. I would rather get that amplified sound every time. As always, thanks for taking the time to read.

Ikko OH1S

Ikko is a brand that I have been aware of but never had the chance to hear one of their earphones until I was reached out from the group to do a review for their new OH1S. Several months ago I was browsing around Amazon and I remember a few of the cable enthusiasts friends on headfi was recommending the Ikko CTU-01 cables as a very solid cable for the price so I went for it and so it did turn out to be a very nice cable and so my curiosity grew as far as wanting to evaluate how they tune and as chance would have it, soon after that purchase I got contacted by the group to check out their new OH1S.

I would like to thank Rebecca of IKKO for the review sample, you can find out more about the OH1s on their official page here. I have burned in the OH1S for a weeks time and for sound evaluation I will be using my Fiio M15, Shanling M6pro, M5s, M3s, IBasso DX160, Pioneer XDP-30r, IBasso PB3 and IFI Black Label for amping. These are my thoughts about their newest earphones, the OH1S.

Their OH1S comes in a slick package and is one that uses high end production values as far as design goes. I notice a trend nowadays to use anime characters in marketing for earphones and Ikko here is following suit with a nice hand drawn female character light on her feet obviously enjoying some Ikko earphones on the box that might appease the younger set in aesthetics.

The OH1S is unique in several ways. It has a unique half metal and half resin ergonomic smaller shell design for comfort and durability. Its smaller triangular shape certainly looks dense with a rock solid feel. The back end of the shell has a textured look and feel that is again unique. This combination of a central resin infusion with the metal makes them look modern with an artistic flare and has grown on me as far as looks goes.

Another aspect of the design that is unique is that the OH1S has an oval shaped nozzle not something you see too much in the industry. So the tips that are included were made for this oval shaped nozzle. The included foam tips are a donut shaped rebound type foams with a medium sized opening that sit shallow on the tip of the nozzle giving me the best comfort, passive isolation and sound. On a side note. You will not be able to use the included silicone set or the foam tips on other earphones. They were specifically designed for the oval nozzle design of the OH1s.

Unfortunately the oval shaped silicone tips that were included will be a hit or miss depending on your inner ear shape. They work well enough for me but I noticed one part of the tips end up losing seal in my ears so it was not the best for me. The good news there is that you can use your aftermarket tips which work fine on the oval nozzles. In rounding out the accessories you get a pocket pouch and an extra set of front nozzle grills just in case you need to replace those.

The included cable is a thinner high purity silver plated crystal copper cable that seems to transmit a very clean pure sound to the OH1S. Ironically seems to be a thinner version of their CTU-01 cables I bought before getting the OH1S sample. I can tell since the CTU-01 has the same exact strands and coloring of the included cables but using much less material.

Fans of thinner/ skinny cables will like the included cables but I do notice the cable is more stiffer than I would have liked, taking on some springy characteristics and not nearly as pliable as it should be, especially coming from a thinner cable.

These cables also incorporate a unique look to go along with the OH1S theme of uniqueness. The thinner braided wires incorporate red blue and silver colored cores using a grey clear PVC type covering. Minus the minor stiffness the cables are certainly a higher grade of cable included vs your standard throw in cables as you're essentially getting a customized thinner version of their highly regarded CTU-01 cables.

So I am a cable guy meaning I do cable reviews and started two very active cable threads on head fi. I don’t claim to be a cable expert or anything like that but I do know my cable matchups and how your earphone cables affect a sound presentation. If you're not a cable believer than what I mention here you can skip but for folks that notice some cables match better with a given sound design over others this little advice is for you.

I have to admit as resolving as their included cables are. It is not the best matchup for the sound tuning on the OH1S. Ikko is certainly not the only manufacturer that is guilty of throwing in a highly resoliving cable for a highly detailed sound design on an earphone. This is just my opinion of course but Ikko would have done better throwing in a thicker copper cable instead, will let you know why a bit later on in the read.

Ikko uses a unique inner housing cavity structure called SVAS or Separating Vector Acoustics System which is touted as enhancing volume, reflection and diffusion angles for maximum optimized sound output from the limited space of the inner housing. A fancy way of saying their drivers was optimally positioned or there could be something to this design either way the sound presentation is highly detailed in nature which goes along with how they were tuned as well.

This detailed nature and clarity is a standout of the OH1S design but the cable also enhances this clean detailed design. Which in the earphone industry a lot of manufacturers are guilty of trying to enhance with a cable what is a base design that is already very etched for their base tuning. That's great if the sound was not so chiseled and detailed in design but since it is. You get extra chiselness. The cable essentially enhances brightness. As a tester go from your copper cables back to the included one and you will understand what I am saying here.

The OH1S is a U shaped sound signature which incorporates a high level of detail with a sharp if not a chiseled type of imaging for the sound tuning. This could be the result of that SVAS inner cavity design but also incorporating ample upper mid gain and a crisp 8Khz upper treble emphasis. Clarity is the first thing you notice for the sonic reproduction. It has a distinct clear sound tuning. Which can also be described as energetic in nature but also showing some good rangy dynamics at times due to how the sound is projected.

Much like how the overall uniqueness factor of the design is how the sound is projected has a uniqueness as well. Sound is projected with ample width of sound and has some good depth but has almost no height to the sonics. It is like your hearing sound using a wider lens on a camera to see a broader image or in this case to hear your music. It is stretched out side to side with not too much in the way of height for a proper holography or dimensional envelopment but more like a 2D painting on a broad canvas. I am thinking this might have to do a bit with that oval nozzle design but to my ears anyway this is how I hear them.

Treble is for the most part very clean but sees the most emphasized aspect toward upper trebles. I can tell the BA was used for the treble as its tonality and timbre aligned with BA treble. Treble has ample energy and has good sparkle and extension. The treble end of the overall design matches well, and for detail lovers will like the energetic sparkly treble of the OH1S. Treble however is also enhanced on top of being above the mids and bass using their stock cable.

This is the reason I suggest using a copper cable as pure copper cables will not highlight the ample treble emphasis as much, smoothing out this aspect giving a more cohesive and smoother performance for the region. As they are, the tuning for the trebles does stand out a bit and is not as smoothly blended or balanced as much as I would have liked. This one will be more for folks that like energetic treble tunings and love them some treble presence to the sound design. I give credit to the Ikko tuners here as the treble tuning is just below the threshold of edginess and just below becoming overly splashy while clearly showing that it is a treble infused sound signature. The mids on the other hand are a bit laid back in presentation vs their treble forwardness in comparison.

The mids has an upper mids enhanced design with vocals that are highlighted and sounds good for vocal performances. Has plenty of detail for instruments, imaged well for the larger scope pieces that shine with the OH1S. Both the 10mm carbon nano dynamic and the Knowles BA used on the OH1S are higher resolving in nature adding a hyped upper mids and enhanced upper treble tuning giving the OH1S an energetic clean detailed sound signature. Again their included cable enhances these aspects which makes the OH1S lack in the way of natural warmth to the sound presentation.

However, going back to the stage element of the OH1S. It's not the most intimate of sounds but more laid back giving a good even spread of its mids presentation. Music notes lack weight and fullness but makes up for it with that clean side to side imaging and an ample depth presence. Sometimes in sound designs, too much of a good thing might be a bit too much. Hence the OH1S needing more of a smoother warmer cable to offset some of that slightly overly hyped clarity of the OH1S but certainly not to enhance it.

Its bass is the best aspect of the OH1S sound design. The 10mm composite carbon nano dynamic is a highly resolving bass specialist. This was the case for the first ever carbon nanotube earphone I can recall in the JVC FX41 which had to this date one of the best bass designs for a budget level set. I still own them and listen to them on occasion, I have yet to listen to a poorly represented carbon nanotube bass design. Difference in tuning yes but overall stellar performers for bass and this also applies to the Ikko OH1S.

Ikko shows a very good ability to tune the low end for their OH1S. Its bass end is tight and dense with excellent agility/ bounce with very good range. It is like the rest of the tuning, detailed in the presentation. Its bass end has a moderate boost but is defined well for the given price point. I noticed since the overall projection of the sound is laid back for the mids, the bass end has better head room to really show a dynamic range for bass infused tracks. Its tonality is accurate while I would have liked a bit more emphasis for its sub bass emphasis, its bass end shows an addictive tactile quality that bodes well with all music genres I have heard on it.

The OH1S can do bass heavy tracks all the way to light bass with everything in between. It has the most natural tone out of any of the sound aspects on the OH1S and while moderate in emphasis gives one of the cleanest renditions of bass notes for the low end. Its tone is matched well with a highly textured low end. Its sub bass needs just a bit more in the way of decay and or sustain but otherwise folks that love a tiger bass presentation will love how agile, snappy and well defined the OH1S bass is.

Overall. The Ikko OH1s with its clean energetic sound, its laid back presentation with a punchy detailed bass will be enjoyable for folks that crave such designs. It has a good technical foundation but some aspects Ikko can improve upon. It needs more body to the sound. Its thinner note weight will most definitely be an acquired taste. The sound reminds me of one of them long distance runners, never seen an overweight long distance runner is my point.

It presents music a bit thin and that might be something that could be attractive to some and not others, but for music to be more natural sounding in presentation it can’t be overly thick and heavy in note weight and the opposite too thin either. The Ikko OH1S sounds just a smidge on the thinner side of note weight overall.

However the OH1S has a highly precise clean sound signature that some folks will be looking for as a premium to how they like a sound presentation. For me anyways, I need a bit more protein in the mix here. Overall the sound is enjoyable and is engaging regardless especially with the right aftermarket cables, for that I consider the Ikko OH1S a success. I also recommend your more musical full bodied warmer sounding sources for the best source synergy. I look forward to future designs by the Ikko team as they seem to know how to design a well made hybrid. As always, happy listening and thank you for taking the time to read.

BQEYZ Summer

The seasonal earphone, is something not too many manufacturers are doing. Idea of having a different themed earphone for each of the seasons brings about some challenges in how the tuner wants to convey the sound for their audience. It is interesting that BQEYZ has done two iterations of the Spring and now Summer but no Autumn or Winter. I suppose most folks don’t want to hear a cooler or even a cold sounding IEM.

The Summer in theory should be about natural warmth with a vivid sound. At least that is how I would like an earphone named Summer to sound. If BQEYZ needs some advice on what type of tuning for an Autumn and a Winter IEM. I suggest something to do with neutrality and or maybe an analytical reference higher end tuning, a flagship for their winter?

In any case the Summer days are passing by and we have their newest earphones the Summer which sees sound tweaks from their Spring tribrid formula with some updated drivers that improve their sound design while being cheaper. A win and more of a win in my book. Granted their previous Spring 2 looked more premium due to the all metal design but hey this game is more than just looks it is about what BQEYZ is doing to improve their sound. The Summer is using an all clear strong but lightweight plastic housing, the color of the unit I received reminds me of them sugary blue colored kool aid drinks that turns tongues blue during the middle of hot Summer days as a kid.

Housing is lighter and probably where the cost savings was in comparison to their former earphones giving the savings to the consumer. They come in a smaller box with a minimum amount of accessories; two sets of silicone tips, a compact square zip up clamshell type case, and a good quality 8 cored silver plated crystal copper cable in single ended. The build is strong and light with such designs having an average amount of passive isolation. Where the value of the earphones comes in is with an upgraded BA doing mids to treble, a larger 13mm dynamic driver utilizing a combination of liquid crystal polymer and polyurethane composite in material for bass, and lastly a 5 layer Piezoelectric unit handling the ultra highs.

Thanks goes out to the BQEYZ team for the review sample, the Summer was provided for the purpose of a review. You can read more about the Summer on their official page on Aliexpress here. And purchase a set for you from Amazon here. The Summer has been burned in for over a week and was analysed using my sources Fiio M15, Shanling M6pro, M5s, M3s, Ibasso DX160, Cayin N5ii,Sony Zx300, Ibasso PB3 and IFI Black Label for amping.

The Summer tuning is not too vastly different from their prior Spring models it seems but more of a minor sound tweak and added definition based on newer drivers to their tribrid formula. I would describe the tuning as a mild V shaped colored tuning based more on clarity and presence vs the slight warmth of their Spring 2 model with an increase of upper mids, and a slight uneven increase of upper trebles for added sparkle and sizzle.

It does seem BQEYZ has a certain house tuning trait for their earphones which happens to incorporate fundamental balancing and dynamics but with an upper treble lift for better sparkle and presence. On one hand I can hear the improvements in their Summers but at the same time why call it Summer it could be called Spring 3rd. My point is if BQEYZ plans on doing a continuation of their seasonal earphones. You can’t have the Fall and Winter earphones have the same tuning with slight tweaks to the same tuning. I suppose that will be up to BQEYZ. The seasons are different and should provide something with more of a contrast in the sound like the actual seasons. Just a suggestion.

The Summer is a step forward in their tuning design using some upgraded drivers. I noticed their house sound always includes some type of treble sparkle and we get that with the use of the single BA and upper treble enhancement using a newer 5 layer design of their Piezoelectric driver. This is the only driver out of the 3 that might not have been an upgrade but in cutting out some of the layers maybe this was a cost cutting measure to use better drivers for the rest of the sound. Just a theory. It certainly performs more or less similarly as their Spring 2 for the design.

It seems BQEYZ loves to tune with a bit of a zing to the trebles. The inclusion of a dedicated Piezoelectric driver for their upper trebles means it will have a different tone vs the BA it is using for the lower trebles. On top of this I noticed a greater upper mids and lower treble lift vs their Spring 2 design to give better presence, clarity, air and definition to the mids area. The treble sees an upper treble spike to enhance the trebles with plenty of spark and shimmer, noticed more so with crash cymbals and upper treble notes end up being brighter with a bit of a thinner note weight vs the more BA treble tone of the lower half of the treble tuning. The treble sounds a touch forced, a bit edgy and not as fluid at times vs having a natural treble presentation.

This treble combo works to give that presence the designers are going for but at the same time this combo is not as smooth sounding as I would have liked. This contrast of tone in the treble highlights upper trebles even more so than just using a single BA or multi BAs. It is a type of coloration to the trebles to give some life and some sizzle to your sound and much like throwing on your favorite meats on your hot grills there is a lot of sizzle going on during hot summer days. So this is the area that might be the best descriptor for the given name. Folks that like a more lively treble presence might like this type of treble tuning. It is not the most even treble tuning but has good presence, extension, good detail, imaging and has plenty of sparkle when called for.

Mids of the Summer is even handed and has good presence with good clarity and here is the aspect of the Summer that sees a slight uptick in space and definition from their previous Spring models. Mids does a good job staying away from the more digitalness aspect of the BA design and sounds mostly natural in presentation with a slightly cooler tone which is the result of the more increase of upper mids from their previous Spring 2 design. Their Spring 2 had a slightly more forward intimate mid range presentation vs the Summers more even broader sounding mids that lends to its more spacious presentation in comparison. Its technical chops for the overall sound is roughly about average showing more the advantages of the BA precision for the mids. The strong suit of the BQEYZ designs has been its presentation of the mid range for their earphones and I feel the mids are balanced well and has a good fundamental technical foundation for its sound. Its tonal character has good note weight and sees a slight uptick in sound separation for a more spacious wider presentation giving even a more musical character for the Summer sound.

Bass sees an increase of definition as well. The newer composite type larger 13mm dynamic is a nice improvement from their Spring 2 earphone where I felt its bass while having good presence was not as defined as I would have liked. The Summer corrects that with an upgraded driver that is tighter, denser and presents a better tonal character for its bass presence. Its bass can show good emphasis when called for but there is room for more improvement in the area. Bass can use a bit more in the way of range. It sounds slightly inconsistent at times, nothing that is a deterrent for the sound presentation but I noticed bass range going from very light sounding to forced depending on what track it is like it is missing the oomph on some tracks and has plenty for others.

Photo shown with Spring 2 copper cable and the included silver plated copper cable to the right.

The bass end is clearly an upgrade however and it shows that BQEYZ has taken the advice of previous reviews and has upgraded the bass dynamic. I applaud BQEYZ for improving the one area I had somewhat of an issue with with their last Spring 2 earphones. The moderate bass emphasis sees a linear emphasis from midbass to sub bass and has good definition in the region overall. Bass texture is about average given the price level but it is most definitely a step forward for their tribrid designs. Bass shows good agility, average speed for dynamics and is most definitely an upgrade in bass texture from their previous dynamic drivers used on their Spring 2.

In the end
The summer days are slowly fading. We are seeing less and less sunlight with crickets chirping about for the cooler evenings and we wait for the inevitable Autumn season. The Summer earphones are a good step toward improving the BQEYZ sound. Beyond slight sound tweaks I would like to see BQEYZ create a higher end earphone for an autumn and maybe a flagship for winter. That would be something.

As they are the Summer has their house tuning down pat with an increase of stage, a clean tonality, good definition with precise imaging and plenty of treble sparkle. Leans more toward a cleaner fun sound signature which if you think about it matches well with the clean fun times we have during Summer times. Well mostly clean. Summer is a good sounding seasonal earphone that shows BQEYZs knack for a versatile sound tuning that will do your music justice. Its an easy phone to like with its energetic tuning, defined bass and a more spacious presentation. I appreciate that BQEYZ has improved aspects from previous designs and in the highly competitive earphone industry that is what it should be all about. Thank you for reading my take on the BQEYZ Summer. Happy listening always..

Yanyin Aladdin

Hybrids in our hobby have evolved and you can most certainly see the progression of the mix of driver types and designs to incorporate them for newer designs. The Aladdin does not stand out as something unique nor does the name of these earphones evoke an insta-buy reaction when you look into the design. What is apparent to me however is that these folks are very serious about their sound they are going for. The Aladdin is the end result of a new group of industry veterans that decided to go their own ways and make something new under the name Yanyin. This group of tuners and designers started the company in 2020 so this happens to be their intro offering. I do believe they have some higher end earphones but not quite available for the international market yet. I was approached by Penon to give the Aladdin a good shake and see how they fall in the scheme of things.

I would like to thank Penon audio, the Aladdin was sent for review purposes. If you feel you need to get a significant earphone at the price you can get yourself a set here. This is how I hear them after a week's worth of burn. Sound was assessed using my sources Fiio M15, Shanling M6pro, M5s, M3s, Ibasso DX160, Pioneer XDP-30r, Ibasso PB3 and IFI Black Label for amping.

First let me get the clear negative out of the way. These are 10 ohm earphones, their low impedance if you're not aware, will not mesh well with higher output sources and amps. This is a case where more power will be a bad thing for these. These are very easy to drive due to that lower impedance but if you're not aware of the sensitivity to higher output devices you're going to get a much different sounding Aladdin and not for the better. It is very highly advised to use the Aladdin with a low output source which most digital audio players nowadays have. For folks that do strictly balanced out using earphones in most cases will see an increase of fidelity and sound but in this case the single ended performance of the Aladdin might actually be more beneficial as single ended out of most players has the lowest impedance out. If you use the Aladdin on a higher impedance out source the sound becomes thin and bass becomes very anemic. Your better, more IEM friendly sources are highly advised when using the Aladdin.

Packaging is a larger rectangular box with not a great variety of accessories. A pouch, 2 sets of silicones with a standard silver plated copper type cable in single ended. A bit basic to be honest but that's ok. That is forgivable if the sound will be worth it. But I do wish these guys threw in more of a variety of tips vs the bare minimum is what you're getting.
Once again your best aftermarket tips and cables apply to the Aladdin.

Build of the Aladdin is the tried and true semi custom resin design but with a vent toward the back of the shells for the 9.2mm bio dynamic being used for bass + 3 BAs, I believe are Knowles varieties doing the bulk of the sound. The official size in my guesstimate vs other similar designs is officially medium shown here.

This universal design is very good and I don’t find any issues with the tight build of the Aladdin. Isolation is about average for all resin designs with a vent for bass, but is more on the good side of isolation. Foams seem to help a bit for better passive isolation. Resin shelled earphones does well with passive isolation in general over other universal designs and that is no different with the Aladdin. Overall I have no issues with the build and or quality of the construction of the Aladdin. Your investment should provide years of daily music enjoyment.

Base tuning of the Aladdin is harmonish with a reference level balancing for the 3 zones critical of a higher end tuning. Again nothing that stands out at this point but when you start analyzing their strong points. It becomes very clear, the Aladdin is a highly refined sounding iem. Not something most earphones sound like at the price point.

I was expecting a well balanced iem which it is, I was expecting excellent dynamics, which it also is, I was expecting good to average technicalities and detail for the design. This is the part that blew away my expectations of the Aladdin.

Even on open listen the Aladdin sounded different than what you would expect at the price level. They sound extremely well proportioned at each part of the sound. Very nuanced, detailed in all the right places. Smooth even fluid with some of the best imaging and layering of sound that I have heard at the price range.

I was not expecting this level of refined sound on the very first listen. Truth be told, most IEMs I have heard on open listen are not a great experience. Seems to be the norm for me but I expect something to be off on open listen. Nasal tonal character or veiled mids a boomy unrefined one note bass, treble that makes your eyes pop out.
I got none of that, instead the sound just flows with the very first track I listened to, sounding absolutely flawless with liquid tonality, velvety smoothness, extremely dynamic and layered beyond what I was expecting.

So fluid in presentation I immediately posted my experience on open listen and promptly started a thread for them here. This is something I knew immediately I was dealing with a different level of sound. This type of sophistication for the sound at this price, to be honest, I never expected at all. Oh boy, yet another hybrid was my thought.

Right away I was thinking I have heard this balancing with these dimensional qualities from one of my earphones, it was the IBasso IT07. An $899 earphone and those were the closest that I can reference this sound against. If you don't know, IBassos IT07 is no joke of an earphone. IBassos best sounding earphones by far. I will have a comparison on the bottom of this read against them.

Technicalities on the Aladdin is a clear stand out. Its wider full dimensional stage qualities is done so well you can hear on well recorded tracks, full on layers to the sound.

Foreground vocals, mid ground instruments, background percussion. This is something that earphones double the price has a difficult time doing. So I was certainly not expecting this level of imaging. Its detail is also a stand out, it does macro details so well, it takes the strengths of the balanced armature precision and maximizes the effectiveness in the Aladdin at the same time emits one of the most natural sounding tonalities for BAs, Its sound separation abilities don’t only stand on one plane of sound it has layers of it.

Stevie Ray's guitars hovers in the air and you can clearly image Stevie's heavy soulful vocals. Imaging like this is why we buy them big boy sets and here you have it on the Aladdin.

I always assumed this level of layering only existed on top tier models of hybrids that use 2-3X the drivers of the Aladdin.The folks that massaged and tuned the drivers on this set clearly know what they are doing to achieve such a superbly crafted dimensional sound. It is due to that impeccable imaging and that layered immersion that enhances detail of the Aladdin naturally and not using some gimmicky forced edgy treble emphasis that tries to accentuate the mids to make up for an uninspiring flat one note mid band. Added to these aspects a dynamic rangy liquid tonality with that balancing and you get yourself one heck of a nice sounding earphone.

The treble tuning also falls in line with how well the Aladdin is tuned. Aladdin has one of the most complete, balanced treble tunings I have heard in the price range with no excessive imbalance or irritating mount spikes that cause fatigue for the treble tuning. Treble is just one of many stand out features of the Aladdin, BA timbre might indicate these might sound a touch metallic and a bit digital for the treble. Treble presentation much like the outstanding mids is very natural in tone, is tight, has clean crisp treble transients, the perfect treble sustain a touch of air and most importantly so cohesive with the mids It is seamless and effortless. This is how you want your treble tunings. Aladdin's treble tuning shows finesse with the right emphasis that once again is difficult to find at this price range.

There is a certain level of sophistication and execution of Aladdin's treble that has two standout aspects to their sound; excellent spectrum of tonal accuracy and with the necessary extension for a higher end sound. A very mild boost at the upper treble design gets the Aladdin treble with just the right amount of shimmer and sparkles whilst remaining clean, crisp and tonally correct. The treble aspect of the Aladdin does not take 2nd place to the mids or the bass. It plays an equal footing for the presentation and I can argue it is just as nuanced as it is for their mids.

Why the name Aladdin? It was because of its spectacular imaging for the mids. It has to be, It is at times magical in how it does the dimensional sound so much better than so many earphones. Some might call it holography or 3D. The only things missing from this presentation is the smell of high end perfume and the cigarette smoke in the background of the lounge bar. Old time well recorded tracks just simply sounds stupendous.

The music induced reverb that flows through the air, little nuances from the venue or studio the track was recorded in comes through easily on the Aladdin.

Live recordings sound amazing because you can literally hear the air surrounding the space it was recorded in. Not only hearing the audience clap, the impromptu mistakes during live takes but reverb picked up from each instrument depending on what part of the stage and where the microphone was placed. The distance from the guitarist to the vocals to the drummer. You're not supposed to pick up something like that on a $245 earphone!. I haven’t heard anything in this price range that does this, until I heard the Aladdin do it. The mids is perhaps its real trump card for the Aladdin. The mids have the right amount of body a healthy note weight, has a broader than average mids presentation due to how clean and tight the bass and treble aspects are to their sound presentation, balancing the mids to be perfectly proportional. Both male and female vocals are superb on the Aladdin. It is very difficult to find any real glaring faults here and that is what is completely surprising.

Then there is its bass presentation. Bass tonality is supremely organic and its impactful timbre spot on. Not to mention it has an outstanding sub bass presence. I had headfier @Acebee reach out to me asking me if there is enough bass. You want an accurate bass portrayal or an over exaggeration?

The Aladdin has the former. Accurate bass is better than overly bassy exaggeration as that just means it will depend on how the bass was recorded. If your track has bass emphasis it will come out emphasized. If it is a light acoustical bass renditions it will sound like what it was meant to sound like. No boomy mid bass hump and most importantly the bass doesn't stand on its own. Much like how well tuned the rest of the sound signature is . Bass is a part of this design with an uplift for the sub bass region. This design allows the Aladdin to have a naturally clean broader sounding mid range.

You all know I am a fan of bass. Weak or missing bass get no play from me. However, there is a clear difference for higher end bass vs the standard pow pow bass you hear in a lot of try hard earphones. Mid bass is tight, speedy, agile tonally correct, much like the rest of the sound and most importantly it's got a healthy amount of sub bass injecting some fun to that tuning. The quality of the bass does not lag behind the quality of the mids or the treble. Bass strings and synthetic sub bass, double drum kicks to 808s all of it sounds spot on like it is supposed to sound. If it rumbles it better rumble well and the Aladdin passes my bass tracks easily with very good definition in the region showing an almost reference like texture for the deep reaching sub bass.

These guys went over each aspect of the design with a fine scope. There is not a part of the sound tuning that was overcooked or overlooked.

The bass dynamic matches up so well with the 3 BAs that are in the Aladdin. It is one of the most cohesive hybrids I have ever heard actually and I own much higher end hybrids and tribrids that don’t have the cohesion of the Aladdin. If you're more of a fan of high quality accurate bass vs having a huge amount of bass just for that extra thump. You’re gonna be a huge fan of Aladdin's bass presentation.

Overall there are only a few products throughout the year I consider significant. I am not gonna lie, the Aladdin here is significant. It is easily my top recommendation at this price range. These folks that are tuning these are masters at what they do. The sound quality for this price is not only fantastic it is just down right stupendous and for that it clearly deserves one of a few 5 star ratings I have given out this year. These are the earphones that will make you clearly understand how expensive higher level earphones truly are in comparison because diminishing returns start with these. These will give you more than a glimpse of much higher end earphones. If they sold these for double the price I would still give these a 5 star rating. I can see a lot of folks selling off their sub earphones in the $500-$700 range to be replaced by these. This level of sound sophistication and mastery for the money they are asking for a set I have never seen before. It just doesn't exist.


Bonus.
Compared to the IBasso IT07
Both sets are very efficient and both sets are balanced extremely well at all 3 zones of the sound. Right away when going to the IT07 its upper mids sounds just a tad cooler in tonality in comparison to the Aladdin. Otherwise how both these sets throw out imaging and detail in the mid bands with a very identical tonal character for the lower mids presentation even though the IT07 uses its dynamic to present the lower mids, sound like siblings. Similarities in balancing, lower mids emphasis and tonal qualities are there.

Treble has some differences in how it was tuned for the IT07 vs Aladdin. Aladdin uses a slight upper treble lift which does not highlight vocals as much as IBassos mild treble shelf at around 6K-8K which gives mids a bit of extra clarity and presence on the IT07. IBasso treble sounds just a pinch forced in comparison to the Aladdin's more natural treble tuning. IT07 does have the upper hand in treble detail and has a bit more in the way of sparkle for the trebles but the Aladdin sounds only just a touch behind the IT07 treble for emphasis otherwise the presentation overall is identical. Both have clean mids and the lower mids to bass transition are very identical. Very similar in bass presence with both having sub bass focus with great bass tonality.
IT07 has a bit more sub bass authority but otherwise these are pretty much trading punches.

IT07 has the slight upper hand in technical aspects like stage and sound separation and a bit more precise imaging, but you would be surprised just how close the Aladdin gets to the IT07 here at almost 1/4th the cost. I shouldn't be comparing the Aladdin to the IBasso flagship here is my point. Either I should be disappointed with the price of the IT07 or there is some supreme value with the Aladdins. Unless something much more significant comes out this year that will blow these away. ( Gonna doubt it especially at this price) These are now my new reference for the price level. Thanks for reading and as always happy listening.

Fiio FD3

You know all about their audio players but they can certainly make some great sounding earphones. Their recent earphones the FD5 and FH5s both have their top of the line designs. Fiio seems to continually get better at their craft and it is the one consistent I admire about the Fiio group. If you folks think these guys don’t listen to feedback from their audience, I present to you the FD3. Any good manufacturer should take the feedback from their patrons and do one better for next time. Doing one better should always be the game and here I am all too happy to report. The FD3 is not necessarily a lesser earphone compared to their two previous offerings. In fact I am gonna try to convey to you why I think the FD3 is an actual step forward.

I have seen Fiio make audio goods and with each iteration improve upon former designs and now with the Fiio FD3 we are seeing something that the group has taken to heart and has brought down the price to be not only affordable but I can tell has revamped their tuning to be more agreeable with a much wider audience of enthusiasts. It is probably one of the most difficult things to do. How do you please the huge dichotomy of enthusiast tastes in sound from a single tuning on an earphone. That is a logistic and technical nightmare but you certainly can't just sit around and say. Well we tried and give up. Nope that isn’t what Fiio seems to be about.

It is about advancing forward and going back to developing one better to advance your name sake. But then if you make something better you better raise prices right? Nope, their newest FD3 has a crowd pleasing $100 price point. Take a good look at what $100 buys you nowadays in earphone land and you will most certainly not say. A high level earphone. A lower end basic mid fi level earphone cable, yes a budget level cable can cost a $100 easily. $100 earphones are still considered budget fi in real world terms. It seems while most manufacturers are trending the opposite way and charging a premium for minor tweaks and advancements to their previous offerings.

Fiio is bucking that trend with their newest release the FD3. Before I continue I would like to thank Fiio for the review sample of the FD3 which was provided for the purpose of a review. You can look up what the FD3 is all about on their dedicated web page here and if you feel the need to buy an accomplished Fiio made earphone you can get one here and or on Amazon here.

The FD3 went through a week's worth of burn in and sound assessment was done using my Fiio M15, Shanling M6pro, M5s, M3s, IBasso DX160 Sony ZX300, Pioneer XDP-30r Fiio E12a, IBasso PB3, and IFI black label for amping. Sound was mostly assessed using the stock balanced filter. I will describe how the treble enhanced nozzle filter sounds on the FD3 in the sound description later on in the read.

The FD3 design has a lot to do with their higher end sibling the FD5. Both utilizing a custom built aluminum-magnesium alloy body. Strong and light is the purpose here. It uses pretty much the same exact shape both utilizing prism baffles and tuning nozzles with a semi open design. The drivers are different and since the new Diamond like Carbon 12mm driver is not coated with Beryllium that savings goes toward the consumer. There seems to be advantages for the Beryllium coating which mostly affects bass and a slightly richer tone but otherwise the DLC 12mm driver is a higher level dynamic you can associate with much higher end offerings. Venting seems a bit different where the new FD3 air vents are at the bottom of the mmcx connector housing while the FD5 uses venting on the back of the shells. Their pro model throws in their highly resolving monocrystalline silver plated cables in 8 cores and uses Fiios version of their modular design. The non pro vision uses a 4 core monocrystalline copper cable in single ended only. The finish is darker pewter grey color with brass accents vs the all chrome look of the FD5. The copper accents that highlight the name Fiio on the glass faceplate looks classy. I have always admired Fiios design aesthetics and the new FD3 you're getting one of their absolute best in house designed CNC machined housings.

Fiios commitment to the end user experience shows as even their base model of the FD3 includes a premium accessories package that you would not expect. Certainly not at the $100 level. Their included tips has very good variety. A silicone set with 3 sizes for their bass tips, vocal tips, balanced tips and also includes two pairs of quality foam tips. Included is their medium sized plastic otter type box to carry all of it. One thing I forgot to mention is their handy mmcx separator tool. Why other manufacturers don’t provide something like this for their earphones I have no idea.

The new FD3 build quality is what you would expect coming from Fiio. They set the design aspect of their earphones on a higher level than most in the industry. The shells to the materials the workmanship, drivers used, the accessories. It is top level stuff always. However recently their earphones had some falling out of sorts with the community. Some loved their FH5s and some reviews not so much. I am a glass half full type of guy and try to report the positives and negatives in a sound and try to relay that message to my readers and how a particular earphone will sound with a very eclectic music variety I listen to. I thought the FH5s had some amazing bass and mids presentation but was debatable how the treble was tuned. I found out that this tuning was catered more for Asian enthusiasts more so than western tastes so that made much more sense in what Fiio was trying to achieve. The FD3 tuning will satisfy much more than the Asian enthusiast community; it should satisfy anyone that listens to music as it actually has two distinct tunings with an easy nozzle change that happens to be a much improved filter design stemming from the FD5 tuning nozzle idea.

The balanced tuning of the FD3 holds some similar aspects from its higher end siblings. It shares the bass impact and tonality of the FD5, the bass extension and rumble of the FH5s. The mids in tonal quality and presence of the FH5s but now has a much more cohesive and smoother treble than either of their previous earphones, especially their FH5s. Bringing down the treble emphasis, this forwards the mid range and bass presence balancing out the sound and tonal qualities and that is what I am hearing from the FD3. By far their best balanced tuning using the balanced filter but the longer I was using the FD3 I realized the new FD3 is much more versatile than what is presented with the tuning nozzles.

Fiio tunes with a variation of the v shaped harmonish tuning philosophy but this time around the mids do not take a step back nor does the treble stand on its own..

Treble this time around is not nearly as pronounced as it was on their previous FH5s. In fact even with the treble filters their much improved cohesiveness really makes a difference. Fiio always seem to incorporate some type of treble spike in the treble tuning but this time around not so much. The balanced filter does such a great job evening out the treble some might actually miss some of that accentuated treble sparkle of the previous earphones. Hence the need for a pro version. The pro version with its more resolving cable enhances upper notes on an earphone but how it sounds with the balanced filter gives by far their best sounding FD3. With the treble nozzle the FD3 takes on more of that V tuning to be pronounced. Treble is enhanced using the pro cable and the treble filter which provide the greatest treble energy and sparkle out of all the configurations. Treble heads would be happy here.

So treble/ detail level goes from most treble emphasized level to a smooth warmer more musically balanced emphasis using the following.

Treble nozzle+Pro cable
Treble nozzle+Pro cable+Foams
Treble nozzle+Standard copper cables
Treble nozzle+Standard copper cables+Foams
Balance nozzle+Pro cable
Balance nozzle+Pro cable+Foams
Balance nozzle+Standard copper cables
Balance nozzle+Standard copper cables+Foams

If you're keeping track, that is 8 different slight tweaks on how you want your FD3 treble to sound. My personal preference is the balanced nozzle and the pro cable to enhance that balancing.

Folks that are treble sensitive would do well to change out the treble filters for their balanced filter. Then when you add the highly resolving Pro cable. Now we are talking. You can always increase the definition of a well balanced tuning but to use a highly resolving cable to enhance a bright treble tuning is a no no. That was my real gripe from both their FD5 and even more so the FH5s.
So is it worth getting the pro version just for the cable? YES it is. The pro cable vs their base model copper cable enhances detail, imaging and stage. Once you hear the balanced configuration with the pro cable and back to their copper cables. That little bit of enhancing ability is lost and therefore it is something you can’t get back once you go back to the stock copper cable. It is the difference between a slightly warmer smoother tonality to a more resolving with better imaging for the FD3 sound that easily approaches their own FD5.

However the stock monocrystalline copper cables are by no means just a throw in. What this cable does is actually makes the treble filter listenable for maximum sparkle and shimmer. While still having more treble presence for folks that want a bit more treble presence and bite than the balanced filter try using their base cable with the treble filter it actually matches better than their pro cable. Whew. I know that was a lot of information. Just know the real value is with their pro version is that it includes a cable that matches extremely well to use with that balanced nozzle. If you own a variety of higher end aftermarket cables you might be better off just getting the base model and using what you have.
Just know the FD3 scales incredibly well with better cables.

Mids and bass for the most part are not too affected with the filter change but it does affect their tonality to be slightly brighter to warmer depending on what configuration you are using. Mids here I found to have better balancing from their previous FD5. Rich in tone with a good note weight to the sound. Mid bands have really never been an issue for Fiio tuning. FD3 for vocal performance is very good with excellent range and space. Has an above average sense of dimensions to the sound at the price range and stage to its sound giving the mids the room it needs to fully portray a variety of music types. In fact due to the well balanced signature of the FD3. It can do rock and metal music just fine with gusto to spare. Not something I can say was possible on their previous FH5s. More versatile than the FH5s while having just a good mids performance again using the pro cable.

Bass for all Fiio earphones has been a strong point for their tunings and the FD3 does not disappoint. Never heard a neutral Fiio earphone so bass is always a part of their house sound. Music is not music with a gimpy bass end and here the FD3 performs excellent. While their FD5 and FH5s both take on a bit more dense, more textured deeper bass ends, the FD3 is most definitely satisfying for bass. Bass has got a good solid impact for mid bass and shows a deep reaching rumble when called for for modern genres of music. Speedy punchy for faster metal music and well textured sub bass for hip hop which shows its versatility.

The bass end is well rounded in form and shows good detail in the region much like their previous higher end offerings. Your perception of bass might change a bit based on which nozzle filter you're using. The balanced filter, might seem like you're hearing a bit more bass presence but really the only thing that filter changes is the trebles. The bass end is very good at their given price point as I have never heard a carbon based dynamic not do well for bass actually. Graphene, Carbon nanotubes, carbon coated all of them. Tuning is different for them all but weak bass is not a part of the carbon based dynamic DNA.

Its technical ability is a stand out as the stage is wider than your average dynamic earphone and with that wide stage has very good fullness with a good sense of body and note weight to the sonics portrayed on the FD3. The resolving ability of the 12mm DLC dynamic is evident with a very well imaged portrayal of your favorites. The mids have good fundamental spatial layering, timbraly accurate but is slightly smoother and warmer in tone for a more natural sound presentation than anything edgy or sharper in tone compared to something like how BAs present your tunes. Sound separation and imaging is above average here in performance add to these aspects absolutely zero issues with coherency for both tuning nozzles.

In the end.
If you think Fiio doesn't read and listen to criticism from enthusiasts about their earphones you're wrong. There are direct design elements for their new FD3 that was suggested by the numerous enthusiasts on the threads and I have personally suggested the addition of a copper cable from my previous reviews and they did so on their new base model. For that I have to say thank you to Fiio for considering the end users needs and wants in a sound design. I applaud Fiio in what they have achieved for their new FD3. I am all too happy to report just because the price tag might indicate these are possibly a lower tier of earphones than both their previous efforts. Nope, give me the FD3 all day long it is exactly what Fiio needed to right the ship. Not only is the design taken from their previous successful FD5, it is an actual improvement in tuning but at a 1/3rd the cost to own an improvement? Wait, that don’t happen in the earphone industry does it?

Fiio just did.

Reecho Spring with a bonus impression of the Summer.


Aha the seasonal earphone. There are currently only two manufacturers that I know of that has done the seasonal earphone. The idea of having seasonal earphones makes a lot of sense. Much like how colors convey a certain emotion or mood. So does the seasons of the year. How does one convey a season in the form of an earphone?. I can see a bunch of sound folks sitting at a table throwing out ideas. Well for one you gotta have a colorful design. The sound has to be colorful as well because we are talking about Spring.

The design of the Spring jumps out with its light blue, aqua blue,lime green and golden orange pattern. It is most definitely a looker and has what looks like a hand painted semi custom resin design. The size of the Spring is compact and has a smaller form factor comparative to other similar designs. These are very comfortable to use for hours due to their physically smaller shell size and shape. Not only is the earphones themselves premium in looks but the entire package is excellent.

A larger roomy zip up case which I appreciate as most cases in the price range are so compact they barely fit the earphones and the accessories that go with them. Not the Spring, the larger brown case is again something you get with a much more premium package. The tips selection is good as it incorporates 3 different sets of silicone tips and two pairs of foams to use.

The cable is a good silver plated OFC copper cable in 8 cores. Though the color does not really match the shells as it is brown and black. Otherwise the set of accessories for the given price point is done really well.

Disclaimers: I would like to thank Penon audio for the review samples. If you feel the need to get yourself a set you can purchase the Spring here and the Summer here which are on sale as of this review. These are my interpretations of the Reecho Spring. The Spring was burned in for a week and sound analysis was done using my DAPs. Fiio M15, Shanling M6pro, M5s, M3s, Fiio X3ii,Ibasso DX160,Sony ZX300, IBasso PB3 and IFI Black label for amping.

The Spring incorporates a hybrid design utilizing a coaxial 8mm dynamic doing the bass to mids and a composite BA for the treble with a dual crossover design. Each driver that represents the sounds are clearly divided giving a clean separation from treble to the mids. I recognize this particular sound design on their higher end Reecho insects awaken for their bass BAs one for doing sub bass and another doing mid bass to lower mids. For the most part the sound is seamless but I do notice the treble has BA timbre for treble and the dynamic has dynamic timbre. Taken as a whole the sound you're gonna notice crisp detailed extended trebles and a smoother dynamic mids to bass presentation so not all that different from most hybrid designs so nothing out of the ordinary for hybrids.

Spring tuning leans more toward a neutrally tuned design which was a surprise to me as most of their earphones incorporate some bold bass including their summer earphones. The Spring here has the least amount of bass emphasis out of all their earphones making them sound a bit monitor-like which is not a bad thing. It is more a tuning based on balance, detail, precision and imaging. I like that Reecho explores different sound signatures in their designs which will appeal to enthusiasts that like these types of signatures.

Its sound design has good balancing with a moderate upper mids gain. Otherwise I am hearing equal footing for bass mids and treble for the Spring. Neutral tunings are great to pick off more details in the mids and treble and hence sound excellent for acoustic and instrumental scores that require accuracy, good timbre and detail. However the one aspect that I think could have been better, more due to the compact design but the difference between a higher end neutral design and an intro level neutral design has to do with stage presentation.

This exact tuning with a much wider grander stage and these would have clearly separated itself as something truly exceptional. As they are, the stage is somewhat intimate if not average for in ears, otherwise the tuning aspect of the Spring is solid with a lot of great attributes to the sound.

Treble sees the most emphasis toward the mid treble frequencies but also has some good extension for the upper trebles. While not the most accurate and capable of treble designs the treble has good presence and details well for the overall sound and blends nicely with the presentation of the Spring.

Mids sees a moderate upper mids emphasis for good clarity and presence. I find their technical performance to be average in scope and lacks a touch of depth, fullness and height to the mid bands but that also has to do with the neutral nature of the overall presentation. Otherwise It has very good timbre for the mids but comes off a bit lacking for dynamism. Mids do portray a good detailed nature and sounds complete but due to the relative flat monitor-like imaging for the sound, its presentation is not as layered or nuanced as I would have liked.

Much like how more neutral presentations goes the mids lack a dimensional character; more advanced designs have a tendency to do better. Its imaging is more relegated to a single plane of sound vs having layers of it. And this is what I meant by the more monitor-like neutral tuning that is on the Spring here reveals. If accuracy is more your style of earphone these will most certainly be attractive in sound design for you.

Bass end is fast tight and has a moderate emphasis out of the three frequency ranges. Its linear bass quantity lines up with how I hear the tuning to be. Bass has no influence over the mids and is clearly defined in the region. Mid bass has a tight clean and agile but is not quite punchy enough for bass fans. Sub bass has a roll off in the sub regions and has what I consider a more accurate less colored bass end. It has a good but not world class level of texture for the sub bass but due to the lack of a real impactful bass tuning, bass comes a bit reserved on the Spring by design. You can’t have excessive bass for a neutrally tuned earphone so the bass tuning lines up for this type of tuning.

For folks that take a premium for dynamic timbre and treble clarity with the bass end to be complimentary more so than featured, that is how I am hearing the Springs bass performance.
Its stage, while more intimate than overly spacious or wide, is nicely imaged in being wider than deep or tall sound presentation. It's a more intimate presentation but not so dimensional in sound projection. There are no parts of the sound that sticks out hence the balancing for the Spring is done better than most of their other earphones including their much more premium Insects awaken. For the given price point I feel these are worth exploring as they have an easy to listen tuning yet detailed enough to not be missing out on any given part of the music you're listening to.

If you are a fan of neutrality there are not too many earphones in this price range that does neutral well like the Spring. Reecho has proven to me that they can tune different types of signatures which shows versatility and a know how to tune such earphones. I would love to see an evolution of this particular sound design they have done with an update.

Overall the Reecho Spring is most definitely worthy of consideration at their given price point especially for those that take a liking to more neutral presentations. They are very attractive, has decent passive isolation and are solid by design with an excellent accessories package. The Spring is Reecho's smallest semi custom ergonomic shell design and are comfortable for hours of listening. Overall you will get your money's worth in sound and comfort. As always thanks for reading.

Bonus review. Reecho Summer.


Sound signature of the Summer is a mild V shaped signature. This makes a lot of sense for the sound to be representative of hot days and cooler nights. How many evenings have you partied during warm evenings with friends and family with a neutral sound. No, you want that bass pumpin them clear details and a sound that is dynamic. Not too many folks are gonna party with a neutral tuned sound if you know what I mean. Their more neutral balanced take on sound is more what the Spring is going for. Not so much the Summer.

Summer is tuned a lot like their higher end Reecho insects awaken which also has a v shaped tuning but that one uses all BAs for its sonic reproduction. The Summer uses the tried and true dynamic driver in a dual format. One for upper mids and treble, another for bass and mids for its sonic reproduction and in doing so the strengths of the dynamic drivers are at full force on the Summer. Its got greater bass emphasis, impact and extension for its bass end vs their much more balanced neutralish Springs earphones.

What you get in the box is a very good set of accessories and a customized color themed 8 core Silver plated oxygen free copper cable in 8 cores. I find it interesting as this cable color would have actually matched better with the Spring color motif and the Spring cable would have matched better with the dark blue color for the Summers. I suppose if you own both sets you can interchange the cables for a proper color match up. I am a fan of the quality of the accessories Reecho has thrown in for both their Summer and their Spring. Not all manufacturers are going to give you tips that work well or a nice boutique like cable that enhances the sound of the Summers. This does not necessarily mean it is a good match for the tuning of the Summer however. Some careful thought was done for the whole thing. The tip selection is commendable. You get 3 sets of usable silicones and two pairs of foams to use. The best aspect of the accessories package is a nice and roomy brown zip up case. This case is great as not only all of the accessories fit in there but you can throw in a small DAP in it too.

Summer has an energetic brighter tuning with a good amount of treble emphasis and just as energetic for the bass end.

The 8mm dual dynamic being used for the sound for the Summer has good resolve and has the ability to reproduce fundamental technical performance for the Summer. Its stage is not particularly wide but gives a good overall picture of your tunes with an accurate yet brighter tonal flavoring to the sound. Its shaper tonal character is a bit unforgiving of badly recorded material. Its imaging is good and there is no part of the sound on the Summer that sounds dull or veiled. The stage comes off as wider with decent depth but lacks a bit of height in its presentation. Sound separation is average for the price point but its macro details and timbre is a standout on the Summer sound signature.

The trebles of the Summer are tuned to enhance details therefore casts a brighter tonal shadow upon the upper mids with a moderate treble spike somewhere between 5- 6Khz. This causes the overall sound presentation to have a brighter tonal character. Clarity is good on the Summer but has a slight edgy effect on vocal performances due to a moderate spike in the area. Stringed instruments benefit from the clean tonal influence of the treble tuning adding a sharper influence for timbre and has an overall clarity in detail but comes off a bit forced. Trebles has a slight metallic overtone but has good extension and imaging for the region. For what is there it is competent, rangy and extended in what it does but sounds just a touch edgy in the process.


Like you don’t do stuff in the Summer time that is just a bit edgy, especially with them no good friends of yours, I am just saying.

Upper mids take on a cooler tonal character and are highlighted more for female vocal performances. Not so much for male vocals. The lower half of the mids is not necessarily recessed but it certainly is not forward sounding. It sounds a bit laid back in the mix for the region and for folks that do not enjoy a forward sounding IEM the Summer overal does not project the sound to be forward or is it overly dimensional. Mids has an undertone of clarity and timbre is good but lacks a bit of body and fullness to the mid bands.

Mids does a good job presenting your music with a clear brighter tone but for an earphone that goes by the name of Summer it is most definitely brighter than warm at any region of the sound excluding the bass end. Perhaps it is trying to portray the rays of the sunshine via sound. The included cable I can tell is a resolving SPC type cable but does not compliment the Summer for a better tonal balance. It makes them sound a touch brighter than it already is actually. The cable is resolving so you do get a better sense of definition and the sound is even cleaner using this cable but it also seems to accentuate the treble end a bit too in the process.Trying out a less resolving pure copper cable matches better. The included cable enhances details alright which the stock tuning does plenty well enough without an enhancing cable.

The bass end is tight, fast and while enhanced, sounds accurate for the most part and I do like the bass end of the Summer more than the moderately emphasized Spring. But at the same time I have heard what Reecho can do for bass in their SG-03 to really separate itself from the rest of the pack when it comes to bass. Sub bass is the best aspect of the Summer bass presentation as it has good impact and reach but at the same time the bass end is not exactly spectacular or does it stand out as being something different. Bass is blended well with the tonal character of the Summer but it isn't the last word in authority or texture. I suppose I was expecting a bit more from the bass end but for the given price point it is a good bass end but nothing outstanding.

Summer has a moderate V shaped signature which fits well with Summer nights blasting them tunes but at the same time is not so refined a sound as I would have liked and with Reechos very first cable mismatch for the tuning I have seen from the group. Its brighter tonal character will not be for everyone and folks that are particularly sensitive to brightness would do better with Reecho's Spring earphones. There are redeeming factors to the tuning as they sound very good for female vocals that are recorded well and exhibit good timbre for instruments with a clean presentation. The Spring I feel is a more mature better balanced product. The Summer represents Springs' younger brother who is not quite ready for the spotlight. You figure for a product called Summer it would have a part of the sound with some warmth to the tuning but they went the opposite and did bright instead. Summer is not all about warm hot days. It also has bright sunlight that casts its brighter morning rays across the globe and I suppose that was the angle Reecho has taken. Thanks for taking the time to read.

NF audio NA2+

NF audio need no introduction as I feel most know about these folks by now and the outstanding earphones they make. I have seen a steady progression of their dynamic designs ever since reviewing the NA1. These guys are masters of the technical sound and all their earphones shows this particular aspect in sound design as a strength to their tunings for all of their dynamic earphones.

I am now seeing what has become consistent with how NF audio likes to tune their earphones. Their designs do not stray too far from a neutral angle for sound tunings so you can say most of their earphones have an analytical edge to the sound. These folks are used to tuning stage monitors so precision seems to be of the utmost importance for their house sound.

The NA2+ is an ongoing continuation of their dynamic series which all incorporate some highly refined sound tuning utilizing a very resolving, code named MC2L- 10mm dynamic driver to conform to the level of sound tuning they are looking for. A Tesla rated dual magnetic circuit with a dual cavity housing design helps the NA2+ and its siblings with some of the most cleanly defined sound for your music listening. The NA2+ here is touted to be made for music listening vs being a more monitor focused counterpart tuning of the NM2+.
What is interesting about NF audio sound is it seems all these dynamics are slight tweaks of their original NA1 design/sound signature and does not depart too much from that original tuning philosophy. So the consistency of how these earphones sound are all there. You will never mistake one of their dynamic earphones in sound to another in the price range.

Standarly disclaimers. I would like to thank Penon audio and NF audio for the review sample. The NA2+ was provided for the purpose of a review. If you want to get yourself a set you can check them out here. I have burned in the NA2+ for a week and for sound analysis I am using my sources. Fiio M15, Shanling M6pro, M5s, M3s, Ibasso DX160, ZX300, Pioneer XDP-30r, Ibasso PB3 and IFI Black Label for amping.

What comes in the box is their standard silver plated OFC cables in single ended. Which I think was a good choice as it is NF audio saying you need to upgrade this cable. It is in the good enough category of cables to check out your earphones but by no means does it optimize the sound of the NA2+. 2 sets of silicones a fairly small clam shell round case barely big enough to fit the earphones, and a stereo adapter. Nothing fancy in other words.

What makes the NA2+ more music infused vs the more monitor/ analytical NM2+? For fans of the NM2+ precision. This aspect is very similar for how the NA2+ is tuned. The sound tweak comes in the form of lesser upper mids and a smoother treble performance and in doing so also emphasizes a slight uptick for the bass end as well. This minor tweak in the sound tuning enables the NA2+ to sound a touch less rigid and a bit smoother sounding vs the NM2+ adding a balancing tweak more so than anything.

The NA2+ sound roots are still very highly technical in approach and for enthusiasts that have never heard an NF audio tuned earphone. The NA2+ seem to be a fine tuning of many aspects of their previous earphones all in one. To put it simple your really not gonna find too many earphones that has the technical edge of an NF audio dynamic earphone and there is no mistaking that crystalline like sound quality from the NA2+

Treble has a fine line of precision, with a slight touch of edgy involved. Not so much as to ruin your music but I can understand how some folks that might be a bit treble sensitive might not take a liking to NF audio earphones. NA2+ has a high level of detail in all parts of the sound, nicely executed clarity and air which make the sound overall have a certain intense precision of imaging that is crucial for more complex music that requires it. While not as analytical as their NM2+ I can see why the tuners of NF audio decided to tone down the lower trebles by a few dbs here but does not lose any detail or transparency from the treble end. It is just better balanced. In accordance the upper mid range is not as pronounced as it is on the NM2+ but still has a healthy amount roughly 12dbs of pinna gain in the upper mids.

Clarity has always been another house sound trait for NF audio and as such has an overall glass like clarity working together with it’s imaging for how the sound is portrayed. This type of transparency and clarity you can associate with much higher end reference like tunings in the headphone industry and certainly something you don’t get on a sub $200 level earphone.

That transparent sound signature of the NA2+ has mids that sees a slight uptick in texture with some added depth. Upper mids are more pronounced but has good balancing overall for the mid band. Note weight is not thin and it certainly is not thick which helps maintain a very precise imaging of your music added a stage that has excellent proportions wider than deep or in its height of sound. Imaging for the most part is actually done better with BAs but the NA2+ shows an amazing ability to chop socky your tunes every little layered portions with an imaging that is really second to none for single dynamics especially at the price range.

Its resolving ability is a clear stand out, It now seems to be a house tuning aspect for NF audio. I do believe their NM2+ was their most successful earphone and their follow up in the NA2+ is actually closer to the NM2+ sound design than I would have liked and on careful thought why change too much of what was a success for you right?

If they were going for a musical touch on the NA2+ I would have liked to have seen a touch less upper mids still and more sub bass authority vs being a slight tweak on the NM2+ sound signature.

Mids tuning on NF audio earphones all have a clarity and are more neutral in performance than overly colored or saturated in any way. Mids this time around is less neutral in tone and adds a slight smoother sound quality which is welcomed while still maintaining that high level of technical sound tuning that serves as a basis for their tunings. When I did my previous review of the NM2+ I posted there that I didn’t feel their specialized cable was a real benefit to the sound tuning of the NM2+ and so they went with their standard silver plated OFC cable here. Again they should have included a good copper cable instead but the stock cable is good enough to hear what these are about but I do recommend a good resolving copper cables to really bring out the best in the NA2+. They went for clarity for the mids but in doing so is not as musical as I would have liked. I would still categorize the tuning to be more analytical in approach than musical what they are supposed to be.

Bass is good here but nothing that is award winning. Bass perception is better than their previous NM2+ but only very marginal and it is due mostly from the upper tuning reduction more so than being more emphasized in the region. It has good presence, tightness, speed and digs deep for subs but still sounds more monitor like in presentation than what I consider musical. As they sound the bass end plays more of a supportive role than being featured in the presentation. This aspect is helped out the most with the mids with a good copper cable which was a 100% necessity on their previous earphone NM2+. My point is the tuning has not really changed so much where the base tonality is fairly similar in execution. Hence the need for a better copper cable for better tonality on the NA2+ as well.

NA2+ does sound to my ears better tuned than the NM2+ but again it is such a minor rework of their previous NM2+ I can’t help but think they are trying to piggyback on the success of the NM2+. I think for a first time buyer of NF audio phones these are the ones to get over their previous offerings but for fans of NF audio line of dynamics that own their previous offerings. The NA2+ should have been a bit more.

If you're a fan of the technical approach to sound, these earphones are amazing in what they do, as you will be getting a highly resolving earphone with great detail, separation, stage and imaging but for previous owners, I can’t say these are an actual upgrade to what you already own. It is more like a side dish with a slight different flavor. Taken for what they are, there is absolutely no mistaking that precise sound signature from the NA2+. But this time around I feel they could have done just a bit more to really bring a musical full bodied sound signature that would have given a greater reason for the NF audio fan to shell out their hard earned cash to get a greater music focused earphone that is more different than being a slight balance tweak.

The design is solid as usual in an all metal build and the accessories are adequate but the tuning, while better for music listening as it claims. I feel it is a bit of a lost opportunity for NF audio to bring out something that sounds even more musical than what they are. To be fair These are clearly worth their asking price to get a set and I do believe these are actually tuned better than the NM2+ for music versatility, especially if you have never heard a NF audio earphone. I would recommend the NA2+ without reservation.

NA2+ has a neutral tone with a highly detailed resolving nature to its sound foundation, its timbre performance is clean, its stage very nicely imaged with a wider sideways oval shaped imaging. It is a clean sounding earphone but somehow NF audio's prior monitor design roots shows to be more similar than not and I hope on their next offering they try something a bit different. Something a bit bolder with greater note weight fullness and better dynamics. Maybe my expectation of what set the NF audio made earphones was now at such a high level it was difficult to reach after the NM2+. There is no question the NA2+ adds the sound tweaks necessary for music listening its just that it is not exactly all that different from the NM2+ I appreciate you taking the time to read my thoughts. As always happy listening.

NiceHCK HB2

TWS is gaining ground on the tried and true wired earphones given the huge popularity of leading TWS designs Apple airpods, Bose, Sony and the like that seem to keep on introducing newer models. What better way to introduce wireless ability to your favorites than a bluetooth adapter to get them to be wireless. I have to admit I have been ignorant about wireless products and ever since doing my first TWS review I have learned a lot of where the technology is going and why folks choose wireless. I get it, no wires and you're not tethered to your phone or player. Not to mention they include a mic so you can speak to another person if need be. But mostly it is that freedom of movement and the ability to not have anything dangerously hanging from your ears ever close to yanking out your expensive monitors causing a tragic end to them. Using wireless products when you're out and about clearly has its advantages.

The disadvantage is the inability to cable roll obviously, and for cable enthusiasts this is a cardinal sin. Then there is the non ability of using more powerful, better amplified sources. Also the fact that these TWS adapters have a shelf life as they run on batteries that your average enthusiast will have no idea how to replace once the batteries run out. However for folks that have never truly been happy with the sound tuning on a dedicated TWS product. What better way to get the best sound in a wireless format than using a wireless dongle/ adapter. Case in point the HB2 comes with 3 types of connector arms; mmcx, .78mm 2 pin and QDC type 2 pin arms that allows you to connect your favorite wired sets to it making them completely wire free and with an included mic w remote controls of your music. The hardware specs are as follows.

1.Brand:NiceHCK
2.Model:HB2
3.Product type:True wireless HiFi Bluetooth receiver
4.Bluetooth chip:Qualcomm QCC3040
5.Bluetooth version:5.2
6.Bluetooth protocol:AptX, SBC, AAC
7.Connection distance: 10m
8.Noise reduction: CVC 8.0
9.Battery capacity: 100mAh
10.Charging time: About 1.5 hours
11.Charger port: Type-C
12.Charging voltage and current: 5V 90mA
13.Battery life:Talk about 10 hours, music about 13 hours
14.Connector:MMCX, 0.78mm 2Pin, NX7 2Pin connectors


These things in person are much smaller than they appear in photos. They fit snugly around your upper ears and include an easy touch interface which allows for touch controls of the device which includes power on off, pairing, volume up and down, next track, last track, and a mic for talking on your phones. Each side has its own battery and comes with a double USB C type charger cable. The build is all plastic here which is standard on such devices and are very light yet ergonomic for hours of comfortable use.

The pairing of the two sides are immediate once powered on and pairing up to the source be it a bluetooth enabled DAP in my case using my Fiio M15 or a phone device is easy. Once paired you are getting very excellent quality wireless transmission to your favorite earphones. With 3 different wireless codecs. APTX,SBC and AAC. My M15 automatically connects via APTX and sounds fantastic. Music comes in nice and clear with excellent detail. My earphones sounds like they should. I perceive just a bit of a downgrade in dynamic range but for the most part the sound comes in loud and clear from the earphones I have tested which include.




In testing the connectivity which is reported to be good for 10 meters. I find this to be true. Outdoors is much longer more like 15M but indoors for the most part wireless transmission is strong even through several walls. I did get an occasional static when moving about but that was due to being too far from the source, overall transmission of signal was clear with predictable results. I have tested them using one of my favorites the UM MEST while cutting the grass and it made for perfect way to listen to some music while I finish up some household chores. I have yet to experience the adapter running out of battery as it is reported to have roughly 13 hours but I am guesstimating real world use to be more like 10 hours give or take an hour depending on how much talking one does on the phone vs listening to music. Included mic comes in loud and clear and my vocals on the other end seems to give clear transmission of my voice. So far so good. However there are some minor quibbles.

These do not have a dedicated cradle or housing of some sort to recharge them or carry them. Issue with that is, they are small enough to fit in a shell case that most earphones come with but since the included arms are separate pieces. I can see a scenario where on vacation somewhere if you end up losing one of the smaller arms they use which in effect the whole adapter becomes useless. The 2nd issue is that the charging cable is way too short and they have to be pretty much connected to the wall or your computer for them to be charging. Then the USB-C connection is so stiff it took some serious forced pressure to connect them to go all the way in to charge. If you don’t see a red light that means they are not charging. This could have been done a bit better. I am no noodle-armed man and it took some serious effort to connect their charging cord to the base of the adapter so I can see folks having issues with this.

Otherwise this is an ideal adapter to use to get your favorite earphones to become wireless and sound fantastic in the process of doing it. I hope in their next version of these if they will consider making a pop in housing for the battery to recharge on the go which seems to be a good idea for something that has pieces to it not to mention it would be easier to charge a housing cradle of some sort vs plugging in two separate charger cables.

For what it is, I am a big fan of this device. It is the perfect companion to turn your favorite in ears into a wireless version and sounds fantastic. I do perceive a bit less dynamic range for my music vs being wired on the same earphones but for the most part the convenience of no wires outweigh that very minor drop off in dynamics.

It isn’t perfect but for the hours you can listen wirelessly it is very awesome to be able to do that especially for folks that have a good variety of in ears in their collection. There is a very minor drop off in sound quality if at all and it simply just works well. Don’t need much more than that from your wireless adapter. I never realized just how awesome it is to turn some of my best earphones into a wireless phone. Thanks for taking the time to read.

CCZ Plume

CCZ is a newer brand out of China that has designed some new earphones for the masses and today we are taking an in depth look into their newest hybrid the Plume.

I would like to give a hearty thank you and a shout out to Ann @ keephifi for the review sample of their Plume. You can get yourself your very own Plume on various sites on aliexpress and for western audiences you can get one on amazon here. Sound was assessed after a week of music burn in and using my DAPs Fiio M15, Shanling M6 pro, M5s, M3s, Ibasso DX160, Sony ZX300, Pioneer XDP-30r, IBasso PB3 and IFI black label for amping.

Hybrids or the use of two different types of drivers seems to be more of the norm than an exception nowadays and just about every manufacturer from every brand has some type of hybrid design. Of course the idea there is to utilize the strengths of two types of drivers for a higher end sound. Plume uses two dual BAs and one larger 10mm dynamic with dual magnets housed in an all metal larger housing.

The weight of the phones are not as heavy as they look however I would put the physical shell size as being at officially large. Take note of how big these shells are before you decide the size will be ok for you. They fit well enough for my medium sized ears but I can see smaller eared folks having some trouble with their sheer size.

A bit of nitpick about the shell design, their housing design has a larger protrusion on the back bottom end to have the housing fit snug into your ears. I have an average sized ear and shape or at least I think I do. I don’t have any issue with just about any universal shell types and size for example and that is based on 100s of earphones. After initially putting in the larger shells the protrusive portion of the bottom back end of the Plum point causes a slight hot spot on my upper ear lobe after about 10 minutes of use. I can feel that there is a point pressing against my upper ears as a result. This is the first time I have actually gotten an actual hotspot or a pressure spot from a universal housing. Don’t know if others will get this issue but it is a slight annoyance for me unfortunately. As I notice it presses against that part of my ears whenever I use the Plume. I think if your ears are in the shape of a clam shell you should be fine but my ears are a bit flat in shape and that is probably the reason why I can feel the back end of the shells on my ears. I can put up with it but it is something worth mentioning as this little aspect I think could have been a bit better designed with a lesser protrusion. Onto the review.

Sound signature is more of a consumer oriented V frequency design meaning these have a larger bass emphasis with treble emphasis followed by the mids presence. What immediately jumped out at me when I heard these for the first time was a nicely large wide stage. Which I expected given their larger housing design.

Their packing is nicely done for the price point. You are treated with an upper tier accessories package: a nice case, 7 pairs of tips and more importantly a 6N crystal copper designer cable that is in a 2.5mm balanced configuration out of the box. Reason being as it also includes two plug in adapters that make the cable single ended via a 3.5mm adapter or a larger 4.4mm balanced adapter. While not the most ideal way to get the cable to be somewhat modular as this design makes plugging into your sources not so ideal as it extends the stem plug by adding another extender plug. Not ideal for walks but more for stationary listening I suppose. A pigtail adapter would have been a better choice here. The tips are usable and are decent silicone tips. I do prefer the KB EAR tips shown above in the tip sockets that was included which matches well with the Plume.

Sound balancing for the Plume is decidedly a V shaped signature. Which unto itself is not a bad thing I suppose most earphones nowadays incorporate some variation of the V shaped sound tuning. These clearly let you know they have some bass and treble.

Trebles are balanced well with the mids and have a good fundamental precise nature to the trebles. The treble of the Plume is separated by two distinct treble shelves and has the bulk of its treble emphasis toward lower to mid trebles. Upper trebles are lower in emphasis to not fatigue but does have a treble spike at around 14Khz to highlight and give air and presence to the trebles. Plenty of sparkly treble as a result. I don't particularly find the treble to be overly hyped or accentuated to irritate or poke your ears out at the same time it is not the most articulate or dimensional treble tuning given the price range.

Treble and mids have a distinct BA timbre which gives the treble to mid bands a slight digital quality to the sound and not as natural as I would have liked. Treble is executed well enough here and to my ears seems more a limitation of the BA driver quality CCZ seems to be using more so than the actual tuning itself. I think they extracted what they could using this particular set of dual BAs for the treble and for the most part has good range, clarity, sparkles when called for and is extended well enough to give good presence and ability to the trebles. Treble emphasis is secondary to the sound of the Plume, the first being bass.

The mids of the Plume takes a step back in the sound presentation and the cohesion from the trebles to the mids is presented seamlessly. It does help that both the trebles and mids are using dual BAs. The advantage of using BAs and better yet two BAs is that it gives a better sense of imaging and enhances technicalities of the given sound it is representing. It does give a good sense of dimensional fullness to the mid bands but at the same time is not the most holographic of presentations as I would have liked. It is half dimensional and half wall of sound effect. Which gives a varying degree of precision for your music.

BA performance here does a good job portraying your music in a grander scale for IEMs and perhaps this is the most attractive aspect of the Plume design. Its sound presentation has a grander, bigger stage for an earphone and makes other earphones sound a bit confined sounding in the process. Not the most open sounding but makes good use of that larger housing for this presentation.

Mids presentation has a slightly smoother tonality in quality and detail that is not forced for a more musical approach to the sound design. Imaging for the mids while average for dual BAs is proportioned well for its grander dimensions to its sound. Its mids presence however is tertiary to how the sound is emphasized and not as clean as I would have liked. Due to the steady rise toward a larger bass presence the lower mids has more emphasis in the mid bands and sometimes vocal presentations do not sound forward but more even with the instruments in the background. You're not getting a particularly forward mid range; but for what is on the Plumes given the whole of its larger presentation the mids have enough presence to not sound lacking or overly recessed. The Plumes have a good but not outstanding technical foundation to its sound ability with a fundamental layering to the mid bands that is done well enough for the design but again you have to clearly know mids are not what these are going for. What it is going for is an authoritative bass end.

The Plume by design clearly lets you know it is using a dual magnetic dynamic driver dedicated for bass. It has 12dbs of bass emphasis which is a good healthy amount of bass. The bass end of the Plume relative to the moderately reserved mid bands in comparison is big and bold. Bass folks will certainly enjoy a big helping dose of bass for the Plume and since it has the stage to pull this sound signature off correctly these will most definitely appeal to bass fans. They do cast a bass shadow for the lower mids and on certain recordings you will have that bass that plays in the forefront of the sound design. Cohesion of the tuning suffers due to the helping heaping of loving bass end on the Plume as you get this brawny full bass end with a reserved mids and a lively treble presence on top.It is indeed your classic V shaped sound tuning.

Bass is not particularly tight or as speedy as I would like. It is difficult to have speedy bass for 12dbs of emphasis so while they don’t particularly lack in bass acumen or ability they do lack a bit in finesse and tightness. But again this is due to the highly V shaped signature. Its technical ability is good here and shows decent clarity but with a big full bass end the lower mids casts a warmer tone while the treble and upper details can sound slightly brighter. These are clearly made for bass fans so be warned that they do have a good healthy amount of bass whether you like it or not in your tunes.

For a first time offering from a new manufacturer I get what the Plumes are going for here. It is trying to capture a younger enthusiast audience. It is one of the blingiest earphones in the industry. Look at me I am drenched in gold. Shinny and what part of gold is not blingy? The shells are fairly comfortable minus the overly extended protrusion for the back end of the shells. It is a fundamental V shaped sound design so folks that love their bass first and some lively treble these are a good offering at their price point. Their choice on the cable is well matched and the overall design is impressive for what it is. I wish nothing but the best for new manufacturers and I hope their next design sees a better balanced and more even handed tuning vs the crowd pleasing V shaped signature of the Plumes. The grand stage and full bodied presentation is commendable but that bass is always looming on the sound design so know this before deciding you need a set for you. These are once again made clearly for folks that love their bass. As always I appreciate you taking the time to read. Happy listening always.

Reecho SG-01

Reecho don’t seem to produce a lot of IEMs but what they do roll out I can tell just from the attention to their packaging just how much they pay attention to the little things that count. Case in point, you would never guess their SG-01 costs a mere $39 on Penon web site here. The package is more than sufficient even for earphones that cost 10X as much. What was included with the SG-01 is 3 different types of quality silicone tips, a standard 4N OFC cable but this time with a mic included in single ended and a clam shell case.

What impressed me about this particular packaging is the sets of tips they included with the SG-01. 99% of my reviews I will throw the included tips that come with earphones into a larger box and use my set of aftermarket tips for that earphone and call it good. I am sure most of you reading this can relate. However I would pay particular attention to these tips they included with the SG-01.


Reason being. It is not every day the quality of the tips you get is just as good as the earphones themselves especially in the budget sector for earphones. This set of tips is a bit unique in that it is the widest bored tip I have seen included with earphones since JVC includes their famous spiral dots with their higher end earphones. These included tips for the SG-01 is the type of tips you would actually buy separately to have so you can use on other earphones they are that good. In fact if Reecho ever decided to mass produce these tips for folks to buy extras of. I would easily buy several sets of them. Hope this reaches out to them.

In any case they are most definitely worth mentioning. The included thinner cable is a micd standard 4N OFC cable sleeved in a nylon covering. Good for standard use and even conversations which are in the good enough category, tested and worked great on my LG phone. However testing out some aftermarket cables on the SG-01 clearly shows how limiting the stock cable is to the sound of the SG-01. The SG-01 sounds markedly better with aftermarket cables. It makes the SG-01 go from a decent budget offering to fantastic for sonics with a change to a more resolving higher end copper cable. You can’t expect Reecho to throw in a nicer cable for a $39 earphone. There is a reason why these are in 2 pin after all.

Disclaimers. I would like to thank Penon and their pursuit of audio happiness for their patrons in sending me a sample to let my peers know what is good and or bad about a $39 earphone. The SG-01 was provided for review purposes. If you would like to spend your hard earned $39 for a set if only just to have a set of these tips I mentioned but then you also get the benefit of owning one of the best sounding single dynamic earphones anywhere near to the price range. You can find out more about them here.

Sound analysis was done using my DAPs. Fiio M15,Shanling M6pro,M5s, M3s, Ibasso DX160, Sony ZX300, Pioneer XDP-30r, IFI Black label for amping.

No matter what level you're at in the hobby. Don’t let the price tag of the SG-01 make you think you're getting a budget or intro level sound because what the SG-01 sounds like and what it has to offer those brave enough to dig deep into their pockets for a set. You're gonna be pleasantly surprised. The sound of the SG-01 is actually very capable. It has to be one of the best sounding earphones in the price range as I have compared them to some of the best sets I have reviewed and owned at the price range and the SG-01 clearly stands out as being a very capable, well tuned, even remarkable sounding earphone at any price. It is just a bonus that they don’t cost so much.

Sound design
Is a moderate w shaped tuning from what I am hearing with at least 10dbs of pinna gain for upper mids which brings about a good level of clarity with a slight vocal lift for fans of vocals. The SG-01 is very good for vocal renditions, be it male or female. They have an energetic treble tuning yet not so forward to sound overly saturated or too lively added to these aspects a punchy deep hitting quality bass. These are more consumer tuned but at the same time have enough technical chops and a fundamental balancing for the more discerning listener to leave a positive impression.

Graphene enhanced dynamics, plated or composite have been around for a while and in general graphene presentation is more resolving than your standard dynamic offerings with enhanced technical aspects like imaging, detail, better timbre and speed vs your standard dynamic transducers. It turns out to be a great choice for a budget offering as the sound is not only complete with a surprising proficiency and balance but has some very excellent dynamic qualities with a slightly forward mid range, treble and bass. I don’t perceive any recession or missing parts to the sound tuning which clearly shows the attention to the tuning aspect of the SG-01. Sound is very versatile for the vast majority of my eclectic music collection.

Treble has surprisingly good extension with detail which presents with a moderate level of energy, presence and is balanced well in how it is tuned vs the rest of the sound signature. SG-01 has a full range treble but is not so emphasized for the trebles to overshadow or step out of boundaries like a lot of lesser tuned budget level earphones have a tendency to do. I don’t hear an overly dampened or uneven treble as macro details from the lower trebles to upper trebles notes are clearly defined. Treble tonality is accurate and rangy yet delicate enough to shine for Jazz renditions.



I recently did a review for a much higher end all beryllium dynamic earphone, the SG-01 did amazingly well with my tester tracks for treble. Not so much the higher end dynamic beryllium earphone. Which proved to me just how complete the tuning is for the SG-01.

With the stock included cable music notes sounds decidedly thinner and does not sound as dynamic as the SG-01 can actually do. If the SG-01 sounds a touch splashy in the treble for you it is probably due to the underwhelming stock cable they threw on here. Thinner notes including the treble means sharper more edgy treble as well.

Lower treble emphasis has the most energy with a gradual decrease in emphasis toward the upper trebles. While not particularly airy for the treble notes, what is there is much more complete than a lot of higher end earphones so folks that would like a full range treble with no real discernible roll off. The SG-01 passes with flying colors.

The mids do not take a step back in the presentation like most V shaped IEMs in fact mids are projected slightly forward due to the tuning and I have not heard much better vocal renditions from a budget offering since the old Zero Audio Tenors. Look that up if you don't know what that is. Technicalities for the overall sound are definitely above average here with a very good sense of stage in width, height and depth projecting an excellent sense of fundamental layering to your music. Descriptions of the graphene diaphragm suggest it is a very thin 6micron thick composite dynamic which supposedly enhances details with less resonances and distortion. The levels of details are much more apparent than your standard dynamic earphones. Imaging and timbre is clearly above average for this level of earphone with nicely done sound separation showing great ability to hear all parts of a given track clearly in their own space and that to me is a nice accomplishment for a budget offering.

Graphene bass.
Bass ability and presence seems to be a specialty for Reecho engineers as all their earphones include a full bass end and the SG-01 has very good bass in both presence and ability. I always thought graphene bass was good if not outright great for dynamic earphones. Again if you have ever heard an earphone utilizing carbon drivers like CNT or carbon nanotube dynamics and the like. I have yet to hear a carbon based earphone that is weak in the bass department and the SG-01 while not as stout in the bass arena like their bigger brother the SG-03, you can read my take on them here. It has plenty of low end grunt that gives your music some soul and some dynamics to the nethers. Graphene bass in general has a richer full bodied tone for bass and here the SG-01 has very good definition, tightness, fullness, speed and body for a proper bass. Subbass does justice to bass genres and has plenty of punch for rock and metal music. What is really surprising about the SG-01 is just how complete the sound is from the highest of treble notes to a full low end rumble that will impress.

In the end the SG-01 for the little bucks I feel is Reecho saying check out what we can do with a very capable dynamic driver at this price. A trojan horse of an earphone as these will make you curious about their other offerings. Reecho Spring, Summer, Insects awaken, and their newer SG-03. The SG-01 is touted as an intro level earphone. These don’t sound like intro anything and certainly are superior to most earphones at the price. These are easily turning out to be one of my favorite budget dynamic earphones and if you need a no compromise sounding comfortable earphone that has a solid all metal build. They are easy to drive and sound great for hours due to their smaller shell size, best of all the sound quality is not just good but great at this price. The SG-01 is an easy recommendation. These will surprise a lot of people, the only catch is please for the love of god use a better cable to really hear them. Thanks for taking the time to read.

Geek Wold GK10

These folks introduced a triple dynamic driver IEM called the GK3 several years ago in 2018 and it was for the most part overlooked by the headfi community. Even though it was unique at the time in the budget sector of earphones using 3 dynamic drivers. Its tuning was not so favored among the few impressions I have seen which was good enough for the collective to move on to other offerings.

However what caught my attention to their new GK10 is that this is by far the cheapest tribrid to utilize 3 different types of drivers for the asking price of $45 which by this sheer fact alone you have to take notice. Then there is what they are actually using for each of the drivers. In reality the Geek team is using 4 different types of drivers. An 8mm dome type titanium coated dynamic for the lows, a 7mm graphene plated dynamic for the mids, single BA for treble and two piezoelectric ceramic tweeters doing the ultra highs. If you're keeping count, that is 5 drivers stuffed in a fairly smaller heart shaped all plastic shell. A heart shaped shell is a bit odd and is nothing you see normally for earphones unless you are talking about toy earphones for little girls but hey at least they are using a unique stabilized wood face plate for decorating the shells and again in a heart shape.

Heart shaped shells. Either you're OK with it or you are not. I am a middle aged man and I am all too happy to dawn some heart shaped shells in my ears and let my colleagues at work make fun. But that is ok. They aren’t hearing the sound these things make. In the end I am proud to wear the heart shaped GK10. You never know, these guys might be onto something new in the wold of IEMs.

Build of the GK10 is nothing special minus the stabilized wood, what looks like basically a glued-on stabilized wood plate on the outside of the shell, is made out of plastic. It is fairly light too because of the all plastic build but the saving grace here is that Geek folks decided to go 2 pin for these making cable swapping a breeze. By the way, the included accessories are what you would expect for a sub $50 earphone. Cheaper looking cable and even cheaper looking tips, it does include a pouch to throw everything in. Otherwise the GK10 is fairly bare bones. But that is not why I am writing this review. It has to do with the sound of these things.

Sound was analyzed using my DAPs Fiio M15,M3ii,X1,Shanling M6pro, M5s, M3s, Ibasso DX160, Pioneer XDP-30R, IBasso PB3, IFI Black Label for amping. The GK10 was provided for the purpose of a review. You can order yourself a set here.

Sound design of the GK10 has to do with balance and utilizing each driver to their full potential. Using two dynamic drivers to do the meat of the base sound the GK10 has a punchy full bass line and has the graphene dynamic throwing out the detailed mids. The balancing of the sound is superb. Which unto itself is not so remarkable but it is how the overall sound is portrayed that is. These don’t sound anything like a $45 earphone in fact I have yet to hear a $100 earphone sound this complete and balanced this well and defined at every part of the sound like these. There is some trickery going on here, it has to be right?

I know being on the threads most folks get jaded by claims of earphones that are supposed to sound like a million bucks that are way cheaper. Hype be damned, these things perform regardless. I immediately posted about these on the discovery thread and I have it on good authority that these are selling at an alarming rate. So there will be a host of Headfiers that will be writing reviews and scrutinizing the GK10 soon enough. But for now you all have to take my humble opinion on why it is that you have to pay attention to what the Geek team has accomplished with this design.

How many times have you seen a very nice looking shell for a hybrid or tribrid only to be disappointed with the actual sound it produces. Let's face it, just because an earphone looks like a million bucks, it don’t mean the sound will be a million bucks. I present to you the exact opposite of what that is.


The GK10 is kinda funny looking, like a kids toy more specifically for young pre teen girls that are into their my little pony dolls and cartoons.

Cuz nothing says your an extreme audiophile like a heart shaped earphone!
You just can’t take a shell that looks like this seriously right? I mean this must be a joke. Who in their right minds are gonna be wearing these out into the public.

I already have and have been listening to them ever since I got them. They are indeed curious if not unique looking. 2 pin design lets you swap out cables with ease as just about anything you bought with your hard earned cash cable wise will be an upgrade on the very budget cable they threw in the package. This being said the included cable which is described as a 6 cored twisted silver plated copper cable is not bad and actually meshes well with the sound tuning on the GK10. However this is a case where the nicer you want to throw on cable wise the better these are gonna sound for you. These do well with better aftermarket cables as the sound is way more resolving than you would expect for the price point.

Actually tested, pic here with Penon Golden Armour you can look up more info on the cable here.

I usually don’t break my own rule of not using a cable that costs more than the earphones themselves but since these are so cheap why not. Plus like I mentioned before they sound even better. I am using an aftermarket cable for my sound descriptor but the included cable sound is pretty much the same as I am describing the sound. I am breaking conventions here as nothing about these are conventional. Just know if my sound descriptions about the GK10 does not align with how you're hearing them. Check a different cable and better tips.I highly suggest at least an overnight of burn in as well before taking a good listen. I never used the included tips either. I am breaking all sorts of rules here about reviews and such. That's ok, this is my review and not yours.

Like you're not going to use better cables and tips when you get yours.

Base tuning of the GK10 has got a solid fundamental balancing to the sonics. I don’t perceive an overhyped pinna gain, a big booty bass or treble spikes that poke your ears out. None of that is happening for the sound design of the GK10. You can never judge just how good these are tuned based on how they look or their packaging. These are right up there with some of the best designed tribrids that I have been fortunate to have heard. I did a comparison of the LZ A7 on the discovery thread here. And it was astounding to me that the GK10 does not sound like a complete downgrade from a phone that cost 6X more than them.

You would figure just based on the price these are sold at they would have the typical try hard budget sound where they might be too bassy or too trebly for an artificial high end tuning or not enough of another with recessed mids for your typical cheap V shaped signature. Nope you're not getting any of that either. The even sound performance of all the bands on the GK10 is just that. Everything sounds even. Treble does extend to the upper realms where you're not gonna hear it much but that just helps the sound become lighter in presentation and even airier. An airy treble presentation from a $45 earphone? That is just crazy talk.

What is apparent to me is the designers went above what they thought was just OK and really tuned each driver on the GK10 to take full advantage of their strengths.

I will say coherence here could be better but coherence for my UM MEST earphones could be better too. The treble region uses a single BA for the lower trebles and two dedicated piezoelectric ceramic tweeters doing upper trebles. That is 3 drivers just doing the trebles. The results are pretty surprising actually. Sure piezo treble notes are not the most natural or is it the best drivers that take care of the upper trebles. BAs and even EST drivers do this aspect better with better note weight and tone in performance but hey you can’t expect a $45 earphone to be using some highly regarded and expensive Sonion ESTs that's just not realistic. In a way you can look at piezos as the cheap man's version of Sonion EST drivers as it essentially does the same thing.

GK10 treble does an amazing job at recreating what you would hear from much higher end EST implemented tribrids. Micro details with quick transients and little treble shifts in tone and emphasis are easily heard, this just doesn't exist at this price. Treble end here does not sound forced with too much in one area of emphasis with a big spike from what I am hearing. It is marvelously even handed the tuning they did for the treble here is the middle porridge for emphasis and details that far exceeds what's considered budget fi. It isn’t the most natural of trebles, can sound just a touch splashy at times. Not the most silky or the most detailed but I bet you're going to be surprised with how capable the trebles are for the GK10.

How many sub $50 earphones do you know that use 3 dedicated drivers just for trebles? Is my question. The answer to that would be none, but that doesn't mean a thing if they are tuned to be wince inducing with too much or too little treble emphasis. I bet most manufacturers would give up on such a design for something they're charging $45 for and this is the reason why I gotta give credit to the Geek team for making it work. It is like let's take all these drivers and see what we can do with them. The tuning is excellent for this level of earphone. If you're not used to extended trebles. It is an aspect that is hard to tune for a lot of earphones and not every higher end earphone can do it either. So to hear that on a budget offering is nothing short of an accomplishment. They claim their trebles can reach up to 30Khz. I believe it actually does.

But wait there's more. The mids of the GK10 has a natural tone, smoother even a bit lush in character and if I was to nitpick a bit about the mids, its presentation is not as dimensional as I would have liked. For the most part, mids are fine the way they are with very good timbre of instruments, especially acoustic guitars with an even presentation.

Graphene is a highly dense rigid material which is a type of carbon based material similar to carbon nanotubes. Mid bands are closer to neutral in presentation and forwardness. Not recessed but not exactly forward either. At the given price again you can’t expect world class mids. However the mids here shows a surprising resolving character portraying very good details for the mids. Vocals sound good on the GK10 but not the best again it is due to not being superficially lifted via a larger pinna gain and could use a bit more range and fullness but for what is there it does line up well for the rest of the tuning.

Imaging is surprising on the GK10, you don't expect world class imaging for the GK10 but surprise surprise. Imaging is very good on the GK10 approaching some of the more refined mids I have heard in the sub $100 category for earphones. Instruments have clear placement in the sound field while average for sound stage. It does come off as a spacious sound due to the nicely advanced treble presence for the sound mixed with a resolving graphene dynamic. Mids have ample presence but since there is a very moderate pinna gain you don’t get that artificial sweetener for the tones on the GK10. The best aspect of the tuning on the GK10 has to be how seamless the sound presentation transitions from the mids to the bass. It helps that both the mids and bass ends are using dynamics for the sound presentation for the GK10.

The decision to go with a titanium plated dome dynamic for bass was a good one. Titanium bass is very akin to some of the best dynamic bass abilities for our hobby for earphones. If you guys have ever owned some of the older Dunu or Fiio earphones with titanium plating. This was a thing way before the beryllium plating craze. Some of the best bass performers I know of come from using titanium. Should be used more often imo and here we have it on the GK10. Bass much like the mids has good presence through to the mid bass and has a steady rise to the sub bass from what I am hearing with not much in the way of drop off. Bass emphasis has an enthusiastic punch while not overly cooked, is balanced well from mid to lower bass. Titanium bass has very good speed, tightness, detail, texture and ample punch with an excellent sub bass presence that is again surprising. You would never hear how good the bass is for the GK10 until you land on a track that utilizes the need for good bass attack and decay.



Bass has surprising authority and ability which is some of the best I have heard for anything under $100. It's got raw power and excellent agility when needed. Again something you're more accustomed to hearing in much more expensive sets.

You see the recurring theme here? These are the sets you got to pull out for your family and friends. Have them listen to take an uneducated guess on what the price is on these things just based on sound. Tell them they cost $45 afterwards. If I was you reading this. Just get a set already. You're gonna want a few sets for gifts for the same friends and family during the upcoming holidays and or even birthday gifts as they will have never heard anything sounding so good for so cheap.

As a reviewer and and someone that is active in our headfi community there are earphones that come out once in a while that sets a benchmark for the sound it has in the price range and I feel the GK10 is such an earphone. Sure the GK10 is not the most refined sounding earphone or does it have the best stage, detail, nor does it sound as dimensional as higher end offerings. But it is hard to not like the GK10 for pulling off a sound you just don’t get in this price range. These not only mimic much higher end sound qualities but actually pulls it off. I have heard and owned my share of budget fi offerings that try so hard to be something it isn’t but these on the other hand has the necessary components to actually do it. That is the difference. I can see the Geek team here having a sense of accomplishment as these are selling like hotcakes on a cold winter's day as I am currently typing. Already sold out several times on the Penon sales page here. That is a good thing as we want to support substantial efforts in the industry because all that will do is fuel one better for next time and with the success of the GK10. There will be a next time.

A suggestion to the GEEK team.
Please consider a GK10 pro or MK2, whatever you're gonna call it. These need a newer shell, even if the same drivers were put into a much pricier housing. I am certain most folks will be OK to spend a bit extra on a nicer more universal shaped earphone housing. I realized the reason why the GK10 could be at this price was due to the cheaper housing it is using but at the same time. If your core enthusiast is willing to pay a bit more for something not so heart shaped. Why not. I would like to see a follow up to this design with a better, more substantial universal housing and I think I am not the only person who feels that way. These are so good but you have to admit having a heart shaped housing in the ear for a serious enthusiast is a bit strange borderline comical. If only for my coworkers to not make fun as I have a heart shaped earphone in my ears. Great job on the earphones nonetheless and I hope you guys make one better next time. Surprise us with a $100 offering that sounds like $500 earphones. Thanks for taking the time to read.

NiceHCK Lofty

Beryllium is what's for earphones. This exotic material used for sound is nothing new but at the same time produces some astounding sonics for earphones. It has been a while since NiceHCK has introduced a new earphone and it was interesting to see their newest earphones called the Lofty is using what is supposedly a pure 10.1mm Beryllium dynamic driver. Can’t confirm or deny that they are using a pure Beryllium driver but I do know that to tune and utilize such a driver requires quite a bit of work and some trial and error.

Lofty has a very nice all CNC machined aluminum alloy shell which is light yet very sturdy so build is as you would expect is solid with the inclusion of a flat 2 pin design. NiceHCK included a nice variety of tips, a clam case and a new higher end 6N OCC pure copper cable with a blue colored nylon outer covering. The inclusion of this particular cable is for the most part good but not exactly a perfect match up for the sound the Lofty produces.

What you get with a set of Loftys is in the good but not great level of accessories provided for the level of earphone. I have certainly seen flagship models that provide less so the set of accessories is nicely done here. Two sets of different type of silicones, a nice square magnetic case and a newly designed cable just made for the Loftys. However all is not 100% great with what was included. Marketing on their sales page will tell you it is rare to see such an included higher end cable as a pack in for the industry. This is a true statement but as long as it matches the sonics of the earphone tuning then all is well.

Unfortunately that is where the issue lies. It isn't that the cable is a bad quality cable, in fact it is an excellent quality higher end 6N OCC cable all be it due to design is a bit on the stiff side with the nylon covering but a great cable nonetheless. Best part of this cable is that you can purchase it in any termination you want be it single ended or balanced when ordering. I am big on my cables and consider the pack in cable an essential part of the sound experience. So in turn I do tend to get a bit more critical with included cables than most. To me it shows that the designers are paying attention to what they are doing or not at all when an included cables matches or not match up well with the included sound characteristics of the earphone it comes with. As nice as this higher end cable they included with the Lofty, the Loftys is a slice on the warm side of tonality and going all copper is actually not the best choice of cable matchups for the Lofty’s tuning imo. What they should have used is a more resolving silver plated cable of some type. Something like their own C4-1 or Litz pro 8 core pure silver cables would have been a better match up.

A word about burn in.
Some believe in it, some don’t. Some earphones need it and some don’t. For the folks that don’t believe in burn in. I present to you the Lofty out of box experience. You will never be more disappointed for an out of box experience in sound quite like the Lofty. The sound out of the box could not possibly be worse. In fact you're gonna wonder what happened to your investment when you hear these out of the box. Nasal, muddy, one note bass and almost no treble. Yes it just doesn't get much worse. I have $20 earphones that sound better than the out of box experience of the Lofty. However Beryllium even plated Beryllium drivers needs a solid burn in so therefore.

Burn is absolutely required and important. I challenge anyone that thinks they don’t hear a difference with burn in. Try one of these for your own knowledge. They happen to sound good but only and I say only if you burn them in. If you don’t believe in any of that and think burn in is nonsense. You should look past this review and forget about getting the Loftys. I am gonna give you a stern warning.

Standardly disclaimers. Thanks goes out to Jim and the nice folks at NiceHCK for providing a sample for review purposes. If how I describe the sound is attractive to you. You can get yourself a set of Loftys here. But again only if you actually believe and will do burn in on them or are willing to try.

Beryllium sound
Has a certain ambient airy characteristics combined with power and top dynamics to the sound which the Loftys got going on. While this does not prove that they are fully Beryllium they certainly sound like pure Beryllium. You can clearly tell the quality of the drivers NiceHCK is using on the Lofty. This being said it is how they tuned the drivers that count.

Sound was analyzed using my DAPs Fiio M15, Shanling M6pro, M5s, M3s, Ibasso DX160, Cayin N5ii, Pioneer XDP-30r. Ibasso PB3 and IFI black label for amping.

I had them burn in for a good 150 hours straight non stop. The sound from out of the box to where they were after 150 hours was very different. This is a case where I wish more manufacturers would burn in their own earphones before selling them. My sound description is based on after burn in so if you get one and hear something completely different look at my description previously on out of box sound and see if that description fits more of what you're hearing.

NiceHCK went conservative on this one. Folks that had some issues with previous NX7 treble emphasis will be happy or sad to know the Loftys do not have a similar type of treble emphasis in fact they actually have somewhat of a reserved upper treble tuning which is my only real gripe about the sound. It is actually done tastefully with most of the treble emphasis from the lower trebles that gradually lessens energy toward upper trebles. This design is fundamental for a non fatiguing sound on a lot of earphones but in designing an easy going listening experience, they included a rather large anti sibilance dip from 5Khz to about 8.5Khz and then yet another large dip all the way to much weaker 12Khz peak according to their graph which in turn makes the Lofty a bit lacking for brilliance sparkle and air.

The upper trebles are basically the area of concern here. Your super high pitched rings bells chimes, ride cymbals, little upper treble details and such if your tune has it in the recording will unfortunately not be as easily heard on the Loftys. Jazz especially suffers from this little bit of conservative tuning for the upper treble area. This is not a real deal breaker but at the same time folks that have heard nicely extended trebles with ESTs or BA based earphones will clearly notice the drop off.

Treble for the Loftys can sound a touch blunted at times due to this aspect. With that out of the way the rest of the tuning is actually done nicely with a fairly larger 12dbs of pinna gain for upper mids. Mids have good presence, moderate clarity with good body and that roomy textured Beryllium sound. Timbre for the mids is very good and sounds natural, lower mids is not as pronounced as the upper mids but mids for the most part shows a typical lush beryllium prestation and is layered well . As you can guess it is the mids and bass that are really the main focus for the Loftys.

Bass end is more mid bass vs sub bass as it does show a bit of a roll off not too bad here but the bass end is enthusiastic in impact detail and reaches easily to 20hz. Speed is not the fastest I have heard for Beryllium but is fairly tight and is not lacking for balance. Beryllium bass always has a solid footing on earphones that use them; it is a matter of tuning of the bass end that shows their ability and the Loftys have a moderate amount of emphasis for bass and does not sound lacking. Tonality for bass is very natural and sub bass emphasis sees a moderate amount of decay. Bass is fairly punchy and for the sound design is a good solid bass end.

BUT!
The sound is actually done really well here but that upper treble emphasis or the lack thereof is really hampering what these drivers should be able to do. Overall the design is original and the sound is surprisingly resolving due to the much higher end driver being used but then you have this reserved upper treble. To be fair I would say 95% of your music will not be affected too much, give or take a few % depending on how much Jazz you listen to. It was easy for me to notice this missing aspect of the treble tuning as I just got done reviewing an EST hybrid earphone with some very nice extended treble. So this is where I am coming from. I think for the most part for folks that like a bit of a rolled off treble for easier listening the Loftys are most definitely easier listening. To be fair, there is ample lower to mid treble presence; it's just that the super high notes are very reserved, if not just out right missing.

Technicalities are very good regardless, even great for the given price range showing more evidence of the superior drivers the Loftys are using. Loftys have a spacious sounding stage which to my ears is above average in width and depth and good height of sound, imaging and layering of that Beryllium sound is evident topped off by a very natural tonality. In fact the entire sound is good including a full ranged bass end. BUT that upper treble dip skews the sound to be ever so slightly on the warm side of tonality and lacks a bit of treble articulation and air. Their included cable actually does nothing to help with the sound tuning here but more enhances what the tuning is. Which I suppose is the goal for the tuning and design so not a complete fail. But you see what I am saying here. A warm copper cable for a warmish tuning, warm plus warm does not equal synergy imo.

This might or might not be a deal breaker depending on your sensibilities. Folks that are treble sensitive and want an easy going smooth Beryllium sound. These will be ideal for you. But for folks that demand a complete treble presence in their earphone sound with extension, air and plenty of sparkle. These will be a difficult one to embrace. Personally, I am a fan of NiceHCK and what they have done throughout the years. Some of the best value earphones and cables are to be had by the NiceHCK crew. It's just that the Loftys could have been something truly special but as they are they are very good given the type of sound tuning and ability the Loftys have however due to that conservative upper treble, it is not exactly perfect. It is so close, so very close to being something astounding for the price. Again it will most definitely come down to how you like your trebles to be.

There is a lot to like about NiceHCKs newest dynamic earphone. Given the competition for pure Beryllium single dynamics at this price range or the lack thereof, your only real choice for a cheaper Beryllium earphone is the Loftys and the Loftys. The KB EAR Believe came out last year with some fanfare but those have been discontinued. Periodic Be earphones have never really been received all that well so it is an opportunistic move by NiceHCK to bring out a pure Beryllium dynamic earphone in this price range. For the most part there are lots of great aspects about the sound and build of the Loftys. They have great dynamics, a spacious sound, very good imaging, natural tonality and stand out for vocal performances be it male or female with excellent timbre for instruments especially guitars. Sound is tight and very musical. Only if they had just a bit more emphasis for the upper trebles the Lofty would have become an instant classic. I still think the Loftys are worth owning for budget minded enthusiasts as they provide an easy listening yet dynamic full on immersive sound experience. You don’t develop something this substantial with a new housing design and a premium driver and not have the sound design be deliberate. So close.

Loftys have decent passive isolation due to the all metal build and NiceHCK's own HB2 TWS adapter here transforms the Loftys to a every day walking companion. Lofts actually end up sounding better here as there is no warm copper influence to the Lofty sound signature making the Lofty have a cleaner overall sound as a result.

ISN EST50

ISN is a brand that was introduced by Penon audio which initially started with more affordable earphone cables on Penon web site. My first IEM cable I bought from Penon actually was an ISN cable, I believe it was the old ISN C16 which is still to this day one of the most unique copper cables in the market that is only on Penon web site.

ISN C16 shown with EST50
Then they started to make earphones and I think the community is very aware of the ISN H40 which to this day is one of the most successful releases for ISN. With great success comes the responsibility of advancing what was set. However the type of sound the H40 was and still is one of the best value hybrid earphones in the market. To truly do one better, ISN is gonna have to step up.

So how does ISN advance the H40 design? They had to go tribrid and utilize some of the best drivers in the industry and that is how you one up the H40. However it is not all about just adding drivers it has to do with that musical tuning of the H40 the reason why folks gravitated toward that sound. The good news here is they actually were aiming for much higher end sound in the EST50 with the same pedigree as the H40 sound tuning. So what happens when you throw in two highly regarded Sonion ESTs and a unique potent 10mm dynamic with the inclusion of a single Sonion BA for mids and a Knowles BA for treble.

Before getting into this review standard disclaimers. I was provided with a review sample from ISN and you can purchase a set for you here. Their website here.

What makes the personal audio hobby interesting is that there are always new advancements in the types of drivers produced that promise advancements in 2 channel stereo for our ears. Just the sheer variety of dynamic driver types, BAs types and now Sonion has made some waves with their relatively newer Electrostatic drivers. Hybrids are so yesterday. It is all about the tribrids nowadays. EST drivers are interesting as they seem to be utilized for just the upper treble portion of a earphone design. I was told Electrostatics have some difficulty with lower treble frequencies so the upper trebles seems to be where they are utilized the most and this is the case with most earphones that utilize EST drivers. EST sound is a bit different than your standard BA for upper treble designs which is best described as the perfect sound sauce for the treble region. What I mean by that is ESTs innate ability to add air dimensional ques with precision and nuanced details to treble notes is uncanny. There is a reason why some of the highest end earphones in the industry are all gravitating to use the Sonion electrostatic driver for their designs.

What's included.
The shells, the ISN S8 cable which is your standard SPC 8 core variety of cable the good news is this cable matches up well with the sonic ability of the EST50. Even better you can choose single ended or balanced termination when ordering a set of EST50s The bad news is I wasn't expecting a treasure trove of tips but 2 sets? Again it is not all bad as the green silicone tips they included matches up well with the EST50 here again. I suppose as long as they include something that works well. The new green case they included is a magnetic lid clamshell case which reminds me of the old Sony cases that was included with the old XBA earphones. Nice newly designed case is much better than the generic zip up rectangular cases they used to provide. To be honest I am a bit disappointed with the accessories here but that is not the reason you are reading this review.

Drivers are the foundational aspect of the sound design but then it comes down to the type of tuning each manufacturer decides to grace these drivers with and then you get the final product. It has dawned on me that ISN does not go for a ruler flat type of sound but more so the type of tuning that allows for full music immersion. Some may call it analogue in quality, old timers will love the tuning that ISN has bestowed on the EST50 as the tuning incorporates a lot of what makes them older studio recordings shine.


But then utilizing some of the best drivers available for the cost means these have the technical ability to get you into your music no matter what you listen to.
Sound tuning is best described as a balanced L shaped frequency design with a modest 6 dbs or so of pinna gain with the most emphasis toward the lower end especially sub bass. This particular design and the choice of drivers here has a lot to do with how well received last years H40 was and still is. It is clearly an attempt at doing one better than the class favorite and here we have a continuation of that classic musical design of the H40. Now utilizing premium drivers.

It is what you would expect. More of everything that counts the EST50 is a no holds barred full bodied musical sound signature that has everything to do with enjoying everything about our music. It is what I would imagine a true successor to the H40 can only be. Heralded as their flagship model the ISN EST50 has upgraded more than just the sound tuning.

Sound analysis was done using my DAPs Fiio M15, Shanling M6pro, M5s, M3s,Ibasso DX160, Sony ZX300, Cayin N5ii, Pioneer XDP-30R, Ibasso PB3 and IFI BL for amping.

A word about burn in.
Truth is some earphones don’t do a damn thing with burn in and some do. The EST50 clearly does. Out of the box you're greeted with an overly warm sound and a bass end you best be prepared for. Lets just say I thought the bass driver was broken. I have heard flabby thud one note bass before but I was not expecting it on the EST50. But that is what you're greeted with but alas burn in will and does changes everything about the sound on the EST50. You better believe the silicone dynamic and the EST drivers need a good burn in. Not so much the BAs. You can tell how the sound is going to be but no way does the open box experience result in what you're actually gonna get at the end. So I highly advise folks to run some music at moderate to lower volumes through the EST50 for a week and then take a listen.

EST50 sounds.
So it was apparent to me even on open listen that this tuning was going for a bold sound and has nothing to do with an analytical approach. There is nothing on the sound that is neutral or flat. You don’t buy a mid fi category tribrid with 3 different types of drivers for the design to analyze your music, you buy it so you can enjoy your music to take full advantage of the three driver types. This is what these are all about. Big bold musical, richly dynamic and very immersive, The EST50 is clearly the successor to the H40. These are optimal ear speakers to listen to your eclectic music collection. It is personal audio at its finest and I am glad that ISN has approached the EST50 with this angle.

EST50 has a touch of warmth to its tonality as did the H40. I would put the sound of the EST50 into a technically balanced presentation with an underlying design of musically dynamic in the category of sound profiles. No point in the tuning are they overly analytical but at the same time these are clearly showing advancements due to the premium drivers ISN is using. I will do a more complete comparison with the older H40 toward the bottom of the review but for now just know these are clearly an update on what made the H40 so good. You get a similar stage expansion but each part of the sound design gets a dedicated upgrade and refinements..

Boldness
Earphones have this or it doesn't. The EST50 could be called EST50 the Bold. Cus bold sound is what is going on with the EST50, be warned however that the EST drivers don't really fully open up till you get that burn in to take effect. Once it does you get the traits of what EST drivers do. A potent deep reaching bass and a lush rich mids presentation. That dimensional quality to the treble is full on and has excellent smooth quality extended trebles that inject some air with pinpoint presence to the trebles, this in turn results in some of the best quality treble in the price range. By the nature of the design the lower trebles are not as accentuated as a lot of chifi earphones and hence the EST50 are an easy listen yet treble details abound with a type of sound you can get lost in for hours with no fatigue.

Electrostatic treble, when utilized well, adds a sense of space for treble notes with better nuanced details than your standard BA treble or a well implemented dynamic treble. Sounds decidedly more natural vs something like a piezoelectric ceramic tweeter, with the ability to extend extremely well injecting air and articulation to treble notes to the upper mid portions of the sound profile. A well implemented EST can be the difference between dull treble to sparkly extended crisp dimensional treble that completes a tonal quality to the fullest. EST50s has a refined treble end as it is utilizing a single Knowles BA to do lower treble notes and two ESTs for the ultra highs. This combination of ability and natural tuning for the highs make all the difference. Treble sounds absolutely superb with the right sparkle and shimmer on the EST50 using 3 higher end dedicated speakers just for the region. This allows the EST50 to have a higher level of treble many earphones are lacking in.

The transition
To the mid bands are seamless and here is where the older H40 shares some similarities to the new EST50. Mids have always been great on the H40 and here we see an uptick for the mids ability due to an upgraded Sonion BA doing the mids duties. Sonion BAs have a tendency to have a richer tonal character and this is clearly evident even on open listen. A single bore of the EST50 is dedicated for the mid bands hence mids are full on. There is no mistaking that tonal quality of this Sonion BA added a full rich sound. Folks that love their mids to have good, body, weight/ substance and fullness in quality, the EST50 mid bands are right up there with the best the designers have ever made. Folks that have heard how good mids are for the Penons own Spheres, Orbs, Globes, and Volts will immediately recognize the tonality and presence of the mids. The EST50 has nothing to do with a thin skinny sound. How many times have you read a review of an all BA set sound description where mids take the crown and the treble and bass are a step back in quantity and quality. On the EST50 you're essentially getting it all. There is nothing holding it back. You're gonna get the full monty experience for sound.

You can’t call an earphone a flagship level with anything held back is my point. The sound is full on with the EST50 and you're going to appreciate not just the balancing act to get that sound right but just how capable each portion of the sound bands truly are in the EST50.

Technicalities on the EST50 are supreme and has great layering to instrument placing/ imaging in the sound field you're listening to. This aspect clearly shows the refinements for the mids that their previous earphones showed aspects of but is not quite as good as it is on the EST50. Mids are more than just the best aspect of the EST50 but then if you have basslines for your music you listen to that is where things get really interesting.

A potent BASS
Bass has always been a foundational aspect of ISN design. All their earphones have bass emphasis but here we get a highly specialized 10mm liquid silicone diaphragm for bass on the EST50. This isn’t your garden variety bass we are talking about here. Bass has a presence, roundness, a supreme elasticity, authoritative rumble and reach. Bass is the foundation for a lot of music I listen to, be it rock and metal to jazz to hiphop and EDM. And I can tell you. Bass is not an afterthought or does it play a supporting role in the sound design for the EST50. It is featured.

ISN managed to squeeze bass potency, presence and ability all through one of the 3 bores to your ears. This bass takes that musical bass of the H40 into a different level. Again burn in is highly recommended for the dynamic driver to really strut its stuff. The difference in tone from out of box to where I have the EST50 bass drivers firing off now is remarkable and completely different. The quality seems to get better and better as they age. Here we have bass presence to the likes of some of the best bass performers I can think of for hybrid/ tribrid designs.

Mid bass has a bit less emphasis vs the sub bass but both are represented extremely well for your music. I can say if you're the type that purposefully are looking for a weak limp bass tuned IEM then you should most definitely look elsewhere. Again nothing is neutral on the EST50. Bass has clear coloration and a boost to it that makes your music come alive with a lower note that has some extreme qualities.

This rounded bass has a mid and sub bass presence with a steady increase of sub bass to about 12dbs. That is not really extreme per se but since the dedicated dynamic here seems to excel at bass, it sounds more emphasized than the graph shows. I own plenty of earphones with what looks like similar or more bass emphasis but the bass end of the EST50 makes you take notice.

Its tonality is absolute. Defined bass notes of the EST50 has a rawness and power to the bass notes that is akin to an amplified dedicated woofer. It does sound more like speaker bass and that is amazing coming from earphone bass that is only 10mm in size. Texture of the subs here is nothing short of remarkable with a tighter yet beefy bass note from mid bass and sub bass authority. Sub bass decay is some of the most realistic I have heard and is comparable to the best I own, even my IER Z1R. However with bass authority comes the complaints that there might be too much bass emphasis. I don’t think so, the sound design has a large enough stage to encompass a stout bass end and here in the EST50 the bass dynamic is clearly a bass specialist. Bass punch for bass punch I bet the EST50 punches a bit harder. Rumbles a bit more than yours. Sub bass sustain with a slower decay and sounds like you have dedicated subs in your EST50 and you can most certainly look at it that way. Bass is a part of the EST50 sound design so you should clearly know this before buying a set. You're not going to hear a brawny bass for every type of genre you're listening to. It will come down to how much bass your music has in the recording. With that bass authority and good passive isolation of the EST50s I find them perfect for outdoor activities. Last thing you want when out and about is a limp noodle bass end from your tribrid. I am happy to report the EST50 has a good healthy amount of bass but nothing that is going to ruin your orchestral scores or vocal tracks but you will get a nice ear lobe rumble when listening to EDM and hiphop.

In the end
The EST50 is a compelling product. I can clearly tell what the designers of the EST50 are going for. It is more than just one aspect of the design that shine on the EST50. You are really getting all of it. They are more than just catering to bass enthusiasts it is catering to mids fans and capped off with a complete treble that has high quality and extension capped off by a large immersive stage. It is personal audio with a no holds barred sound signature. Yes it is a colored tuning but I bet your earphones will sound boring after hearing the EST50s. The big question is. Are the EST50s a true upgrade on the previous H40? Not only are they a true upgrade. These will be an upgrade to many earphones that are hovering around this price range. Especially if you love your bold full bodied sound. There really aren’t too many choices for earphones in this price range that does exactly what the EST50 can do. That saying you can have your cake and eat it too. This is essentially what the EST50 is. It has great treble, it has great mids, it has great bass, it has a great stage. What more do you want? As always, thanks for taking the time to read and happy listening.

BONUS
Here on this section I would like to put on here what it is that the EST50 actually does better than the H40 cus many will ask.
VS the H40

First off, even by today's standards the H40 is a supreme value. One of the best hybrids your hard earned money can buy at the price. Both earphones have excellent wider stages, both are balanced well for their given sound designs but when you really start listening to each part of the sound designs that is where the differences start to appear. The biggest being the mids and how they are presented. H40 is not a thin sounding earphone but compared to the EST50 mids there is a drop off in micro details, layering and sound separation in the mids. EST50 has the better depth, a richer tone with better timbre of instruments. There is no question the quality of the mid bands sees a jump in quality here. Hence the mids portray with more realism with better atmosphere and air, so the higher end mids Sonion BA is clearly showing what it can do. Bass especially sub bass has more authority and out rumbles the old H40. Mid bass sounds tighter and more defined even though both have comparatively similar impact for bass. Treble is also more advanced in the EST50 as you would expect. Better treble articulation and detail. More dimensional sounding with better extension and air the EST50 sounds more complete for treble and again it isn’t like the H40 treble is lacking but it is clearly outclassed by the Knowles BA and two Sonion EST drivers.

So from what I am describing it is a more refined experience all around but that is what you would expect.

Vs Penon Globe

I did this comparison against the Globe due to Globe owners wanting me to shed some light vs the two. These two earphones have a lot in common. Sound balancing for one and both are using similar Sonion BAs for mids with similar tonal and dynamic qualities.

You can call the EST50 an evolution of the Globe sound signature. Globes utilize two bores out the nozzle the EST50 has 3. Just by design the EST50 shows better separation of the 3 zones of sound. Both do vocals amazingly well but since treble is completely separated from the mids, the mid bands have better overall definition as a result. Both sound very dynamic and full on. Globes has a touch more upper treble emphasis but it is the EST50 that has the better treble extension and sounds more complete for treble with a better sense of air due to the EST upper treble sounds more rounded for treble notes.

On graph it shows that the Globes might have more bass emphasis but it is actually the EST50 seem to have a slight edge in impact, bass extension and texture.Globe bass end sound more like full bodied earphone bass. The EST50s are more approaching speaker like bass. EST50 simply has more authority, a bit more in the way of quantity and most definitely an upgrade in quality.

EST50 shows a slight uptick in imaging and sound separation, an enhanced Globe technically. The EST50 and the Penon Globes are closer in tonality, stage and ability vs the H40 but the EST50 does have the upper hand against the Globe when it comes to micro details, a more dimensional extended treble and shows a bit more authority for sub bass performance with an increase of texture.

EST50 vs Volts

I consider the EST50 Volts younger brother. They share some striking similarities in sound balancing using similar type of drivers too. Volts are like the grown up version of the EST50 sound design. Both earphones leaning more toward musicality, fullness and immersive qualities of sound balancing.

Both earphones use a 3 bore design so more similarities there but the Volt has more refinements for its sound design, a wider deeper stage vs the EST50. To be fair it isnt like the EST50 has a weak or closed off stage. It is just that these higher end IEMS do put focus on stage and depth of the sound. In fact EST50s has a remarkable surround like stage due to how musical they sound that is in no way claustrophobic or closed in sounding. EST50 stage is actually pretty excellent about par with the ISN H40 actually.

The difference are in how the drivers were utilized, On the volts the mids are using both Sonion BAs, the EST50 uses a single Sonion BA for the mids and one knowles for treble. The Volt is using the quad ESTs for treble. It is known EST drivers struggle a bit in the lower trebles so by default EST drivers are more about extension, air, dimensional qualities to your treble.

Since the EST50 has a dedicated BA doing lower treble it was tuned to be proficient there but the sound tuning has the treble not being so prominent which again is a fine balancing act here. Where the EST50 stand out from the Volt is its bass presence. Volt has some good bass but to my ears is a bit more even handed with the balancing.

EST50 bass is not so much more emphasized but this silicone dynamic being used is most definitely catered toward bass fans. Sub bass especially has emphasis to the likes of some of the best sub bass performers I can think of including my IER Z1R. Mids strike a very similar tonality and forward presence but the difference again is a bit like how they are compared to the Tansio Mirai LAND and how those were tuned with two BAs doing mids. Volts has better imaging and detail in the mids due to both Sonion BAs being used there and mids has more of an airy quality as the stage is more enhanced on the Volts as well. Treble presence and extension is the most identical between the two with Volts exhibiting a bit more airy quality to upper treble notes. Volts shows a more tonally balanced and basically more refinements and again more technical yet uses a very similar sound balancing as the EST50.

Essentially your getting 90% of the Volts performance at almost half the cost. Laws of diminishing return is happening here. EST50 with a upgraded cable comes even closer to the Volt. Volt with an upgraded cable takes off into a different stratosphere in sonics however so if I was comparing both units with upgraded cables it would not be a fair match but as they are the EST50 comes strikingly closer to the Volt in performance and is also able to show some uniqueness due to the bass driver that is again Stout in what it does. For folks that have never owned the Volts the EST50 will surprise in many ways if you end up getting the EST50 your really getting a bit of the Volt magic with them. Both are supremely musical in their presentations. If you can imagine what the EST50 would sound like with even better refinements that is in fact what the volts are.

As similar as the EST50 are to the sound balancing to the volts they clearly have their own sound and tuning involved at a bit over half the cost of the volt the EST50 I can say is got some good value to what your getting. Especially if your a bass fan.

Cables match ups.
Stock cable is the exact same cable that was included on the ISN H40. The ISN S8 which is a classic ISN cable and one that matches up well with both the H40 and the EST50s however. No way is this basic cable going to optimize the EST50 to its full ability. Here are some cables suggestions that can really bring up the strengths of the EST50 and make the sound even better than what was provided.

First off, don't be afraid of using pure silver on the EST50. Due to the moderate treble emphasis and ample bass emphasis of the EST50. Pure silver matches up extremely well with the EST50. Of course not all silver cables are the same. So the sound comparisons using these cables are against the stock ISN S8 cables. As good as the stock cable is. EST50 sounds better with higher end cables.

First we have the Penon Mix. I did a review here. The Mix turns out to be a great match for the EST50 as it is half crystal copper and half pure silver. This cable enhancing ability is very well balanced in what it does and I noticed an uptick in clarity due to the pure silver while maintaining the great mids and bass presence due to the copper aspects. You also get a benefit of a more expanded stage when using the Mix. The Mixs highly resolving ability for a moderate sum is ideal for well balanced tribrids like the EST50. Better resolving with excellent dynamics and an expanded stage is what you get on the EST50.

Next is the ISN AG8, review shown here.

When I mentioned not all silver cables are the same. Take a look at this bad boy. One of the very best unique pure silver cables in the market. Unlike a lot of pure silver cables that thin out a sound. The sheer physical makeup of the thicker cored AG8 matches up with the EST50 as it adds an element of a thicker sound vs your standard pure silver cables. The AG8 enhances everything about the EST50 with a tighter bass note, a cleaner sound and the widest stage possible. Silver does enhance detail and you get that with the EST50. The AG8 was the very first cable I threw on the EST80 and it will be a tough choice if I want to keep the AG8 or the Mix on the EST50 once I am done with my review. Good news there is I can always switch up when I want to. Choices are always a good thing.

Last but not least A flagship earphone deserves a flagship cable
ISN Solar. I did a review for here

Now we are talking true higher end level sonics. Solar enhances with even a richer tonal character due to the gold plated cores. Enhances stage, not quite like the AG8 but more like the Mix and adds a more rounded note definition for trebles. Bass sees a slight uptick in rumble and imaging is enhanced, treble is smoothed out but clearly defined. The Solar costs almost as much as the EST50 but when you combine these two. It is like a long lost puppy that found their way home. The match up is undeniable. Solar enhances that musicality with an enhanced richness, better instrument separation and adds a more tangible air to the sonics that none of the other cables can do. You want maximum EST50. You gotta pay to play. I would say with the inclusion of the Solar on the EST50 I can see how the EST50 will put up a fight with your more expensive in ears. The EST50 is clearly enhanced and takes a liking to more better cables.

Tansio Marai Sparks

TSMR line of earphones has up till this point made some outstanding all BA earphones which are all hand made semi custom to custom designs that use premium BA drivers in each version. Recently Tansio Marai has added newer driver configurations to their line up the LAND introduces their first tribrid with a new 10mm dynamic and dual Sonion EST drivers. You can read about them here.

I heard some rumblings since last year that they were hard at work producing what was to become a new flagship for the group and today I am happy to report that this new flagship is a reality in the new Sparks. Tansio Marai is consistent in what they do as they seem to tune with each driver's innate ability to recreate music for each region of sound bringing out strengths of each driver methodically placed in the earshells for their designs.

All of their builds are consistent being all resin designs and all of them incorporate 3 tuning switches. 1 for bass 2 for mids and 3 for treble. Each switch effectively enhances the region of sound giving a bit of a personal touch to each earphones tuning in the way we like our earphones to sound. The tuning switches are all slight in what they do as it adds a mild 2-3 dbs of enhancement for the regions.

So far I have seen a steady increase in quality from their intro model the TSMR-2 with each successive model incorporating more drivers with an increase in BA quantity and quality to enhance the sound tuning even further from their previous models all the way to their former flagship the TSMR-Zodiac which uses 12BAs per housing. So how do you go one up the previous flagship? You add 4 highly regarded Sonion EST drivers for the upper treble of the new Sparks and 7 of their best BAs mostly using Sonion drivers to handle the rest of the sound. This driver combination has been done by other manufacturers but is entirely new to Tansio Marai. They were able to get a very good sound of the LAND. Now utilizing 2 more EST drivers I will get into the difference between the recent LAND and why the Sparks are what I consider a masterclass in multidriver tuning.

First I would like to thank Tansio Mirai and the Penon audio group for sponsoring this review. I was provided with a review sample for the purpose of this review. I am in no way affiliated with Tansio Marai or Penon. I am reporting to my fellow enthusiasts what is good and bad about their newest.

Their recent LANDs has been a departure of design for the group since it is the first Tansio Marai to use a full blown 10mm dynamic and then they started using EST drivers in the mix to enhance upper details and treble notes. I knew about the Sparks actually even before the LAND which was a surprise to me as I had no idea about the LAND at all until I got contacted about them. The Sparks I knew about since last year actually and it has been cooking in the oven as they say for months, maybe years. You don’t make a flagship level earphone overnight. One thing for certain: the tuning on the Sparks is meticulous. I can clearly tell they took their time to fine tune the earphones sonics to a sheen. It is their best effort yet and what was really surprising is why they didn’t include a dynamic for their Sparks. Instead they are using two sets of Sonion dual acupass vented BAs. 4 BAs in total to cover the low end for the Sparks. I suppose they had their reasonings and I will most certainly cover how the bass was done for the Sparks but just know for now it could have been a design choice for better cohesion or fluidity of the tuning. Just a guess but the sound most certainly has excellent cohesion.

What you get
This is where some disappointment lies, and it is with this package. More of a concern than really a disappointment as I have gotten lavish boxed sets for earphones that cost much less that did not amount to the sonic qualities for the earphones themselves. To be honest if the sound is worth the money the sound is worth the money if you know what I mean. The packaging happens to be a bonus if the included set of accessories is lavish as well but with the Sparks you get a package that is very average at best for a flagship category of earphone. While that would be a valid concern for mega buck earphones in this case, I am gonna clearly look the other way.

But why so you may ask? Cus the sound is all that, that's why. You're not gonna care less how many sets of tips or how average the cable it comes with, when you hear these things. You're just simply not going to care. I bet it was something they knew. Tansio Marai knows these are good. They don't have to throw in anything to make them look or be more lavish. The Sparks are most certainly not going to win the presentation for open box experience of the year. Nope you're not gonna get drawers filled with a king's ransom of tips, you're not getting a high end case. Heck you're not even getting a premium cable in here. What it comes with is a very basic set of tips, though you do get a decent variety, a case that's a bit small and a cable that is too average to be included with a flagship level earphone.

SPARKS+ISN Solar

But let's be real you don't invest this amount of money for this level of earphone to not be using your favorite aftermarket cables and tips anyhow. I am being completely honest. Unless these things come with a $500 plus premium cable that was included as a design choice, you're not gonna use the cable that comes with them regardless and you're certainly not going to use the tips that was included though the tips are actually usable. If you need a reviewer to tell you, use your best cables and tips. I am gonna tell you the better your tips and cables are, the better the Sparks are going to sound for you. This was the exact same case for their LANDS as well as those include a similar set of average accessories.

Onto the sound
Sound of the Sparks was evaluated using my players Fiio M15, Shanling M6 pro, M5s, M3s, Ibasso DX160, Sony ZX300, Cayin N5ii, Pioneer XDP-30r, Fiio E12a, IBasso PB3, and IFI Black Label. After a good break in.

The sound of the Sparks is spectacular!
There I said it, it is in every way a flagship level sound. I mean I knew it was going to be good just based on their prior earphone history. I knew it was going to be on a level that would compete with or eclipse the best that I have heard but the reality sets in with the first listen that I am dealing with something special for sound. The sound presentation is the most refined listen I have heard from a Tansio Marai phone to date and that was easy to tell. The sound was pure liquid pouring into my ears and I was addicted to the first hit of that rich airy precise presentation. I have heard musical presentations and then there is the Sparks. The sound balancing is exquisite, the imaging, ethereal dimensional larger staging, the tonal qualities so absolute, so rich so natural, and ever so immersive. It has the type of sound that will leave a lasting impression on your psyche and then has you wondering if you can believe what you just heard.

Listening to one more track becomes 10 more tracks which becomes one more album then two more. You lose all sense of time when listening to the Sparks as you have to hear your favorites with how the Sparks portray sound. You know it is a good sign when you have to go to bed for the night but getting in one more track has you staying up just to hear one last album and you wake up groggy late for work.

At this point I was thinking of what earphones I own and or heard that mimics the qualities of the Sparks The Mids certainly reminds me of the rich tonal qualities on the Penon Volts which also use higher end Sonion BAs for mids, but seems a bit more airy to my ears. The treble has very good detail and again airy with very nice sparkle. Maybe a hint of the MEST treble but with better treble balance. The detail in the bass was very reminiscent of some of the best BA bass I have heard. Dunu SA6 interestingly enough is using the same type of BA drivers for the bass but doubles the driver count for bass in the Sparks. Taken as a whole, there was not a part of the Sparks that I felt that wasn’t refined. Larger sweeping sound tracks just sounds mesmerizing.

Sound balancing of the Sparks is ideal, with an ever so engaging mids signature. Vocals both male and female has a spacious rich atmosphere added to that BA precision, a dimensional imaging and you got a recipe for some of the best instruments and vocal performances on any earphone. Looking inside the shells there are a lot of Ss in there meaning Tansio Marai is taking some liberties using a lot of Sonion’s best drivers. Higher end Sonion BAs are known to have more of a richer tonal quality more so than their Knowles counterparts. If they are using Knowles I am betting it is their single lower treble BA that might be utilizing it otherwise I would say most of the drivers being used are Sonion including 4 of them for bass and of course the 4 Sonion EST drivers.

All them drivers won't mean a thing if they don't equate to a sound that is worth it. And I can honestly say you're going to be getting more than just a good looking earphone. It has to be one of the best all around versatile tunings and sound I have heard for any earphone at any level. I have yet to hear some of the lauded summit fi offerings being discussed on the threads but I have a feeling the Sparks are playing on a similar level to those. I can’t imagine the sound quality for earphones getting too much better to be honest.

Even the bass end is highly refined.
Sparks bass has the ability to recreate any type of bass note down to a textured rumble for low hitting sub notes to a speedy punchy bass drum notes for metal music. This bass presentation is enough low end grunt to make even hip hop sound proper. Punchy with enough meat to reproduce speedy aggressive double kicks with precision and accuracy.

There is not a bass note the Sparks cannot replicate to the fullest and yes I do prefer the sound of the sparks with the bass and mids switch on with treble off. I have always felt TSMR earphones all have well executed treble and really don't need more enhancement however with the switch on in the treble area this creates a touch bit of extra sparkle and shimmer for the region and there is nothing wrong with that. It will come down to how you like your Sparks in the end.

Bass has a surprising level of sophistication, agility with the right amount of impact. Some of the best tonally accurate BA based bass I have ever heard. While it lacks a pure physicality from a good dedicated vented dynamic it does a great job replicating every nuanced detail of every type of low end bass note for the region. Bass sustain and decay are variable dependent on the type of bass that is emphasized and that is something you don’t get with a lesser bass presentation. The bass end in design seems to me more well defined to compliment the vivid mids presentation vs the other way around and that is what you want for a higher end sound. No way does the bass end lag behind the rest of the very reference sound tuning of the Sparks. It plays more of a higher end BA bass supporting role vs being the star of the show.

You can’t call a flagship earphone Sparks and not have any treble sparkle and shimmer. Utilizing 4 Sonion ESTs for upper trebles. Treble detail and imaging is very well executed on the Sparks once again to compliment the mids of the Sparks much like the bass. Sound balancing is superb for the Sparks and has a very good extended treble. Treble is precise, clean,sparkly, dimensional and airy and has the ability to complete the high notes to the fullest degree. Treble has a slightly slower decay and has a lingering effect which ultimately adds to a sparkly shimmery treble note that is addictive as any other part of the Sparks. Treble on the Sparks don't stand on their own which a lot of hybrids tend to do. One thing for certain you can clearly tell Tansio Marai has toiled over each portion of the sound with their absolute best effort for their version of the reference tuning. The end results are about as good as you would expect and an earphone that I can honestly say leaves little to be desired. Not in the bass and certainly not in the treble.

The trump card
Mids balancing is absolute with a very satisfying slightly forward presence, I say slight as the mids switch to the on position provides the best balanced sound signature for the Sparks. If you're a vocal lover and are an eclectic music listener. Sparks' mids prowess is something to behold.

I always thought Tansio Marai tuned for excellence in vocal clarity and detail in all their earphones and the Sparks goes several steps well beyond just this aspect of the sound presentation. The choices for mids BAs here is clearly evident. Mids tonal qualities are a richly defined mids experience that has a superior level of layered immersion factor. These sound so dimensional at times how this sound comes from earphones without some type of dolby processing is beyond me. You're gonna wonder why your other earphones sound so flat and uninspired after hearing the Sparks. Sparks has imaging in layers that simply don’t exist for lesser earphones. And hence this is what separates the Sparks from anything I have heard from the group previously. It takes the traditional Tansio Marai experience and then cranks it up several notches for a supreme sound quality. To put it simple, if you are not immersed in your music with the Sparks. It is time for a new hobby.

Taken as a whole
The Sparks sonics are undeniable. Its tonal qualities sound so natural yet full bored all the time, every time. It will leave you wanting more and more. Addiction is real in aural euphoria and here that is exactly what the Sparks portray. The sound is utterly so engrossing it will make you realize just how limiting your other earphones sound in comparison and that is what you want in an earphone that is considered a flagship. Earphones in this price range are all good, heck they better be as the cost is not exactly cheap but I have yet to hear one that is as complete sounding with no real weakness in sound like the Sparks.

I suppose the sound will not be for bass guys hence the LAND will be more suited for you. The sparks however are for the sophisticated discerning listener that wants every bit of that layered immersion factor to be cranked up to 10 using some of the best higher end drivers in the industry. It is what a true flagship sound should be. It is what the Sparks sound like. These are simply a masterpiece of tuning with the sound it portrays. Get your best sources, your best cables and your best tips and I am willing to bet you will agree. The Sparks are special and are most definitely worthy of their cost much more so than a lot of earphones I own at a similar cost level. A value earphone that cost $1500? Tansio Marai thinks so. I was told these are their best sounding earphones to date. I have to completely agree. As always, thanks for reading and happy listening.

Geekfly GF8S Bluetooth 5.0 TWS earphones.

So I am an admitted noob when it comes to TWS earphones. I have some wireless dongles I have used in the past but my experience with such devices is very limited as I always assumed bluetooth phones would never sound as good as their wired counterparts. But as all things in our hobby, there are advancements in sound design regardless of being wireless or not. The Geekfly GF8S is not only my first real TWS unit I have reviewed but also one that I can honestly say sounds fantastic even if it is wireless.

I would like to thank Penon audio for the review sample. I consider all review samples the rightful owners are the folks that provide them. This is my take on the Geekfly GF8S. You can read up on them more on their website here and or purchase a set for you here.

GF8S comes in a smaller box with an included cradle for the ear pieces which houses the GF8s for instant charging when not in use. A USB-C charging cord, 3 sets of silicones. Standard connection to bluetooth devices is easy. In my case I have been using them on my Fiio M15 and my LG cell phone and it was easy enough to connect without too much fuss. Once you have the ear pieces paired, your player or phone will recognize the GF8S. As per instructions you have some controls of your music by tapping on the ear pieces for next track, previous track, volume control, pause and included mic turns on or off automatically when on a call. I had some struggles with the controls initially as it did not seem to work perfectly at first, however after some practice it was fairly responsive. After getting used to the controls it becomes 2nd nature and intuitive to use.

Passive isolation is what is used on the GF8s which is above average due to housing 3 sets of drivers and the electronics involved in a fairly compact medium sized shell. So not bad isolation considering it does not have ANC. The housing cradle has two slots for the ear pieces and will charge them both when closed. The cradle itself uses a USB C to charge it with a light that indicates the level of charge. Cradle holds a larger 800mA battery and the ear pieces are supporting a much smaller yet efficient 70mA battery. I did get some solid battery time using the ear pieces and never once did I use it long enough for them to run out of battery. It is stated that the ear pieces will last a good 5 hours on a single charge; this seems to be roughly what I am getting in real world usage. The other stand out feature of the GF8S is that it has some stout signal. I can leave my Fiio M15 playing on my desk in my office and I can move about my larger 4,000sq ft home and never have it cut out on me even when I go down to the basement or into the corner room upstairs. I am guessing the signal indoors to be solid 50-60ft of signal without the phones cutting out and this is through rooms and walls. Outdoors is another matter easily doubling that of indoor spaces to 100ft or roughly 33 yards. These are perfect for cutting the grass with basically which I actually used them for.

Wireless sonics.
GF8S is intriguing as it is using 3 types of drivers in the mix: a titanium-plated 7mm dynamic doing bass, one full range composite BA handling the mids to the lower high frequencies and a dual 14 layer piezoelectric ceramic tweeter reaching upper treble to 40khz. According to the sales page, it utilizes an internal class A amplification for maximum sonics on the go. I don't know how many tribrid formulas are out there in TWS land but this driver mix is certainly more intriguing.

Sound has excellent balancing with a slightly warmer tilt in tone to the sonics due to the outstanding punchy bass of the GF8S with a slight forward mid range. An ambient fuller smooth mid range and some clean crispy precise extended treble. These don't sound anything like how I thought wireless earphones should sound. In fact I was very surprised just how dynamic and full range the sound was. The bold sound of the GF8S is a perfect companion for media lovers on your phones as sound that they emit is immediate, clear, full bodied and immersive. Not a huge movie watcher on my phone but the GF8S was perfect for movie streaming and the occasional gaming on the go. Vocals for the mic was tested with my family and my voice comes in loud and clear according to my wife. GF8s sound superb for vocal clarity and general ease of use on a phone.

Dual Piezoelectric ceramic tweeters I have heard before from several wired earphones, LZ-A7, NiceHCK NX7 MK3, BQEYZ Springs to name a few, so I knew what to expect. The implementation on the GF8S is seamless and does not tend to stand out. I believe the mids and treble was done with the single composite BA and then the upper treble portion done with the layers of piezoelectric tweeters. This configuration is interesting as it helps bring about a crisp detailed treble note which enhances the sonic ability to pick off minute details on the go. Treble overall is well executed and while not the most natural of tonalities for treble. It does a fine job to mimic a higher end detailed treble tuning using this configuration. No complaints really about the treble of these in fact it compliments this full bodied sound signature extremely well with very good extension and clarity for the treble. No weird spikes or roll off was detected on my end and treble sounds crisp airy and while not the most detailed treble I have heard it is surprising how capable the treble end is on these. It has to be one of the better Piezoelectric infused trebles I have heard surprisingly complete airy sounding treble notes besting a lot of the wired versions I have reviewed.

Mids implementation using a single composite BA shows ample clarity, body and definition for a wireless set with excellent well balanced slightly mid forward mid range. Vocals and instruments sound fantastic since the BAs full strength lies in the mid bands and I can tell the GF8S takes full advantage of each drivers strengths here.Music comes full on with a thicker/bolder than average note weight, possibly due to the amplification and I feel this musical tuning is perfectly suited for wireless applications as the last thing you want is a thin boring sound on the go. The tuning does vocals justice for both male and female vocals with its full bodied, rich mids section and therefore perfect for watching movies and listening to podcasts on the go. I think the internal amplification here helps project this sound as it does sound like the sound is being amped at all times. Very cool for a bluetooth earphone to have its own amplification in my book.

Bass is where these earphones are stout. These are not bass shy by any means in fact going along with the musical presentation of the GF8S. You gotta have some stout bass. The Titanium plated dynamic these are using is showing every bit what a Titanium plated dynamic can do. I recently reviewed another earphone using a larger 10mm version of this type of dynamic and those had some crazy stout bass in the Reecho SG-03.
The GF8S has some outstanding punchy and deep rumbling potent bass. I was genuinely surprised these had the bass response of wired sets and again that internal amplification seems to really excell the sonics forward for the GF8s. What you are getting is an amplified bass note. But don't mistake this bass with an overbearing fatiguing mid bass hump of lesser sounding IEMS these are well controlled, speedy tight and while it has an enthusiastic amount of bass emphasis it is nowhere near bloat city or headache inducing. Musical bass is what I like to call it and it shows very good ability and has to be the best bass presentation and ideal for on the go. It is true that ambient noise will drown out a bit of bass end for any earphone you're listening to so these have the ideal emphasis for out in public. In real world usage the bass sounds more balanced to the mids and treble end more so than being overly forward. So the sound designers of the GF8S definitely field tested these to maximize sonics on the go.

One negative of the sonic quality is that since it is being amped at all times there is little if any headroom for the sonics meaning you can’t really tweak the sound to your liking more than what it is portraying. I suppose you can add a bit of EQ to shape the sound but it does sound like the sonics are being pushed to their limits in the sound presentation. However what is there is a good one and very immersive for what it is and that is what is amazing to me. These don't sound anything like what I thought a wireless earphone could sound like. They sound more like a fully realized wired set to my ears and with amplification on top of it. This was probably the reason why I stayed away from wireless earphones as I had this bias of them thinking there is no way the sound quality of such devices can be as good as my wired sets.

The Geekfly GF8S has proven to me that I was completely wrong. I know this is a company you may not have heard but for me, its strong signal, ease of use, ample battery life, and most of all it’s outstanding dynamic full bored sound makes them a good deal at their asking price. These are literally the perfect companion to cell phones especially if you enjoy a punchy full sound when listening or watching media on your phones. If these had ANC it would have been even better but I do believe they made up for it by implementing an amplified sound for on the go. Geekfly may not be a household name and these seem to be their first wireless offering. These are worth considering as they sound stupendously musical and full bodied for on the go and I couldn't ask for a better sounding unit for when I am out and about. Thanks for reading and as always happy listening.