Reviews by Lai Weng Ti
CVJ SYYO Konoka: The Experimental Tunable Tribrid
Disclaimer!
This unit was sent by @CVJ. However, they didn’t paid me for any written reviews. I will try my best to review this unit without any bias. Please bear with me that I’m not a professional sound engineer or musician, but I’m just a self-learnt guitarist & vocalist, who do composed my own original music and also self-learnt some mixing & mastering techniques. I am a neutral-head, analytical-head and also liking balanced sounding tunings. And also, I’m using an audio interface named Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen (a kind of DAC/Amp???) pairing for the whole listening impressions. Please take my reviews as grain of salts.
Pros:
- U-shape tuning
- Tight bass
- Minimal sibilance
- Good decent technicalities
- Budget with good value
- Light shell
- Boosted highs for more detail retrieval
Cons:
- Plastic large shell, will having lethargic feeling for long wearing
- Bass slightly bleeding into mids
- The highs could be more refined
- Metallic timbre BA
- Harsh Treble
- Not for relax long listening
Sound Quality
I will describe CVJ Konoka as U-shaped tuning signature. Having warm bass that slightly bleed into mids to enhance fun listening and also boosted highs for more revealing listening experience. Mids will be neither recessed nor too upfront. The whole review will be based on Music Mode (Down, Down) tuning, as it is the most balanced sounding tuning option that my ears told me. Let me briefly explain what did the switches did:
Music Mode (DD): Most Balanced to my ears
3D Movies Mode (DU): Adding some mid bass vibration as the Vibrating Driver is switch on
Monitor Mode (UD): Slightly boosting up vocals highs frequencies, adding vocals sweetness/airiness
3D Esports Mode (UU): Vibrating Driver on, as well as boosting up some vocals highs frequencies
Bass
Bass shelf here is slightly boosted in a mature and controlled manner. Kickdrum and bass guitar are separated, but slightly lacking in texture. Basshead might find it not having enough bass. There is some bass bleed into mids, but the bass quality is consider good. To my ears, it is really some kind of well-cooked bass tuning, which not too much and also not too less bass.
Mids
Mids here might be slightly bright sounding. There is some shoutiness at the upper mid region. Vocals are not recessed, thanks to the tight DD bass. Vocals especially female vocalist, will be occasionally nasal sounding. Sibilances are kept minimal. Instrumental mids, it is having more than enough biteness, as some might really find it harsh. Electric guitar is presence in the mix.
Highs
Highs here is definitely boosted. It is borderline boosted based on my personal preference, or slightly too overed. It is not smooth sounding, and quite aggressively boosted. This kind of highs tuning will surely satisfy treblehead. Highs could really be more refine, the top end is quite splashy sounding and lacking discreteness. Percussive highs such as cymbal crash will be quite pronounce, lively.
Tonality
Konaka is actually a U-shaped tuning signature with boosted highs. Boosted in highs definitely bringing more biteness to mid-range instruments, however it should be aware that it is not overdone. It is not for relax listening. It might be slightly fatiguing sounding and not suitable for long listening. BA definitely having some metallic timbre.
Technicalities
The soundsatge here is decently wide. Instrument separation, imaging and layering are average. Transient speed here is just decent.
Conclusion
CVJ Konoka, to me, it is a budget experimental tribrid, which is really quite innovative to include vibrating drivers in it, but to me, with the vibrating drivers on, it is add up some mid-bass messiness, which is really not that ideal for music enjoying, and as a self-learnt guitarist myself, I personally think that, the vibrating drivers will be not ideal for stage monitoring. Wisely enough, in the monitoring mode, CVJ did realize about it, as they did design to use vibrating drivers for both movie enjoying and also gaming situations. To improve, as most already read about CVJ Konoka reviews, the highs should really be tame up, as with the most balanced mode, music mode (DD), there is still some harshness.
Just a little guess too, with DD mode, actually both BA and Vibarting Driver are off, which means what we heard is just the DD driver? With UU mode, both BA and Vibrating Driver are on, and also adding up the DD driver, which means all three drivers are projecting sounds at the same time? This is just a guess.
Linsoul:
https://www.linsoul.com/products/cvj-konoka?sca_ref=4221004.ifeZSd23LW
Aliexpress:
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_mshLkrO
Disclaimer!
This unit was sent by @CVJ. However, they didn’t paid me for any written reviews. I will try my best to review this unit without any bias. Please bear with me that I’m not a professional sound engineer or musician, but I’m just a self-learnt guitarist & vocalist, who do composed my own original music and also self-learnt some mixing & mastering techniques. I am a neutral-head, analytical-head and also liking balanced sounding tunings. And also, I’m using an audio interface named Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen (a kind of DAC/Amp???) pairing for the whole listening impressions. Please take my reviews as grain of salts.
Pros:
- U-shape tuning
- Tight bass
- Minimal sibilance
- Good decent technicalities
- Budget with good value
- Light shell
- Boosted highs for more detail retrieval
Cons:
- Plastic large shell, will having lethargic feeling for long wearing
- Bass slightly bleeding into mids
- The highs could be more refined
- Metallic timbre BA
- Harsh Treble
- Not for relax long listening
Sound Quality
I will describe CVJ Konoka as U-shaped tuning signature. Having warm bass that slightly bleed into mids to enhance fun listening and also boosted highs for more revealing listening experience. Mids will be neither recessed nor too upfront. The whole review will be based on Music Mode (Down, Down) tuning, as it is the most balanced sounding tuning option that my ears told me. Let me briefly explain what did the switches did:
Music Mode (DD): Most Balanced to my ears
3D Movies Mode (DU): Adding some mid bass vibration as the Vibrating Driver is switch on
Monitor Mode (UD): Slightly boosting up vocals highs frequencies, adding vocals sweetness/airiness
3D Esports Mode (UU): Vibrating Driver on, as well as boosting up some vocals highs frequencies
Bass
Bass shelf here is slightly boosted in a mature and controlled manner. Kickdrum and bass guitar are separated, but slightly lacking in texture. Basshead might find it not having enough bass. There is some bass bleed into mids, but the bass quality is consider good. To my ears, it is really some kind of well-cooked bass tuning, which not too much and also not too less bass.
Mids
Mids here might be slightly bright sounding. There is some shoutiness at the upper mid region. Vocals are not recessed, thanks to the tight DD bass. Vocals especially female vocalist, will be occasionally nasal sounding. Sibilances are kept minimal. Instrumental mids, it is having more than enough biteness, as some might really find it harsh. Electric guitar is presence in the mix.
Highs
Highs here is definitely boosted. It is borderline boosted based on my personal preference, or slightly too overed. It is not smooth sounding, and quite aggressively boosted. This kind of highs tuning will surely satisfy treblehead. Highs could really be more refine, the top end is quite splashy sounding and lacking discreteness. Percussive highs such as cymbal crash will be quite pronounce, lively.
Tonality
Konaka is actually a U-shaped tuning signature with boosted highs. Boosted in highs definitely bringing more biteness to mid-range instruments, however it should be aware that it is not overdone. It is not for relax listening. It might be slightly fatiguing sounding and not suitable for long listening. BA definitely having some metallic timbre.
Technicalities
The soundsatge here is decently wide. Instrument separation, imaging and layering are average. Transient speed here is just decent.
Conclusion
CVJ Konoka, to me, it is a budget experimental tribrid, which is really quite innovative to include vibrating drivers in it, but to me, with the vibrating drivers on, it is add up some mid-bass messiness, which is really not that ideal for music enjoying, and as a self-learnt guitarist myself, I personally think that, the vibrating drivers will be not ideal for stage monitoring. Wisely enough, in the monitoring mode, CVJ did realize about it, as they did design to use vibrating drivers for both movie enjoying and also gaming situations. To improve, as most already read about CVJ Konoka reviews, the highs should really be tame up, as with the most balanced mode, music mode (DD), there is still some harshness.
Just a little guess too, with DD mode, actually both BA and Vibarting Driver are off, which means what we heard is just the DD driver? With UU mode, both BA and Vibrating Driver are on, and also adding up the DD driver, which means all three drivers are projecting sounds at the same time? This is just a guess.
Linsoul:
https://www.linsoul.com/products/cvj-konoka?sca_ref=4221004.ifeZSd23LW
Aliexpress:
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_mshLkrO
Celest Wyvern, The White Gem
Disclaimer!
This unit was sent by Kinera. However, they did not pay me for any written reviews. I will try my best to review this unit without any bias. Please bear with me that I am not a professional sound engineer or musician, but I am just a self-learnt guitarist & vocalist, who do compose my own original music and self-learnt some mixing & mastering techniques. I am a neutral-head, analytical head and liking balanced sounding tunings. I am using an audio interface named Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen (a kind of DAC/Amp???) pairing for the whole listening impressions. Please take my reviews as grain of salts.
Pros:
- Harman Neutral Tuning
- Well done bass
- Good decent technicalities
- Easy to drive
- Budget with good value
- Good fittings
- High craftsmanship
- Lightweight shell
- Decent microphone
Cons:
- Semi-braided cable
- Highs could be more extended
- Slightly harsh upper mids
- Not good for listening to complex tracks
Sound Quality:
Celest Wyvern is having a smooth Harman Target tuning signature. The tonality here is natural balance sounding with decent technicalities.
Bass:
The bass here is mildly boosted just like harman kind of well-cooked bass, fluid kind of bass. It is having more sub-bass emphasis than mid-bass, and the bass is quite clean sounding. Basshead might find themselves wanting more mid-bass warmth. Kickdrum texture could bring up more drum skin rumbling as it is not obvious sounding. Mid bass here is slightly bleeding into the mids, to bring up some bass enjoyment.
Mids:
The mids here is neither too upfront nor recessed. The upper mids here is borderline from harshness. Vocalist is having sufficient airiness and sibilance free. Instrumental mids such as guitars are quite natural sounding. Electric guitar biteness are there, however in certain track, the biteness might be too much for some users. Overall, the mids are quite crystal-clear sounding.
Highs:
Highs here are quite safe sounding, and not as extended. Percussive highs are presence in the mix. The highs are quite refined and free from splashiness, where some low-quality DD drivers are commonly manifesting. Details retrieval here is decent. The treble here is neither too upfront nor recessed.
Tonality:
Celest Wyvern quite balanced sound signature, just like Harman tuning, but with slightly less boosted treble highs and slightly more bass than harman neutral. Timbre is quite correct to my ears, as it is free from any weirdness.
Technicalities:
The soundstage here is average wide. Instrument separation abilities is decent, slightly poor when playing through complex tracks. Slightly congestion. Able to provide some macro-details, micro-details might not be that obvious.
Conclusion:
Celest Wyvern is a balanced sounding IEM. I personally think that, it could be used for stage monitoring, especially when you are a guitarist of vocalist, but it might not suitable for bassist and drummer, as the bass are not that pronounce. The IEM isolation is good, blocking out most environment noise. This IEM could be a good gift choice, as the craftmanship is beautiful looking. Besides that, I personally think that, this IEM will be also a good entry-level choice for audiophiles that are looking to test out balanced sounding IEM. It might be good for doing some mixing jobs too, as there is not weirdness throughout the whole frequency spectrum, however, for more analytical listening, I think it is still lacking in instrument separation ability.
Aliexpress:
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_mL90J1o
Linsoul:
https://www.linsoul.com/products/kinera-celest-wyvern-pro?sca_ref=4221004.ifeZSd23LW
Disclaimer!
This unit was sent by Kinera. However, they did not pay me for any written reviews. I will try my best to review this unit without any bias. Please bear with me that I am not a professional sound engineer or musician, but I am just a self-learnt guitarist & vocalist, who do compose my own original music and self-learnt some mixing & mastering techniques. I am a neutral-head, analytical head and liking balanced sounding tunings. I am using an audio interface named Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen (a kind of DAC/Amp???) pairing for the whole listening impressions. Please take my reviews as grain of salts.
Pros:
- Harman Neutral Tuning
- Well done bass
- Good decent technicalities
- Easy to drive
- Budget with good value
- Good fittings
- High craftsmanship
- Lightweight shell
- Decent microphone
Cons:
- Semi-braided cable
- Highs could be more extended
- Slightly harsh upper mids
- Not good for listening to complex tracks
Sound Quality:
Celest Wyvern is having a smooth Harman Target tuning signature. The tonality here is natural balance sounding with decent technicalities.
Bass:
The bass here is mildly boosted just like harman kind of well-cooked bass, fluid kind of bass. It is having more sub-bass emphasis than mid-bass, and the bass is quite clean sounding. Basshead might find themselves wanting more mid-bass warmth. Kickdrum texture could bring up more drum skin rumbling as it is not obvious sounding. Mid bass here is slightly bleeding into the mids, to bring up some bass enjoyment.
Mids:
The mids here is neither too upfront nor recessed. The upper mids here is borderline from harshness. Vocalist is having sufficient airiness and sibilance free. Instrumental mids such as guitars are quite natural sounding. Electric guitar biteness are there, however in certain track, the biteness might be too much for some users. Overall, the mids are quite crystal-clear sounding.
Highs:
Highs here are quite safe sounding, and not as extended. Percussive highs are presence in the mix. The highs are quite refined and free from splashiness, where some low-quality DD drivers are commonly manifesting. Details retrieval here is decent. The treble here is neither too upfront nor recessed.
Tonality:
Celest Wyvern quite balanced sound signature, just like Harman tuning, but with slightly less boosted treble highs and slightly more bass than harman neutral. Timbre is quite correct to my ears, as it is free from any weirdness.
Technicalities:
The soundstage here is average wide. Instrument separation abilities is decent, slightly poor when playing through complex tracks. Slightly congestion. Able to provide some macro-details, micro-details might not be that obvious.
Conclusion:
Celest Wyvern is a balanced sounding IEM. I personally think that, it could be used for stage monitoring, especially when you are a guitarist of vocalist, but it might not suitable for bassist and drummer, as the bass are not that pronounce. The IEM isolation is good, blocking out most environment noise. This IEM could be a good gift choice, as the craftmanship is beautiful looking. Besides that, I personally think that, this IEM will be also a good entry-level choice for audiophiles that are looking to test out balanced sounding IEM. It might be good for doing some mixing jobs too, as there is not weirdness throughout the whole frequency spectrum, however, for more analytical listening, I think it is still lacking in instrument separation ability.
Aliexpress:
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_mL90J1o
Linsoul:
https://www.linsoul.com/products/kinera-celest-wyvern-pro?sca_ref=4221004.ifeZSd23LW
Attachments
KBEar Storm: The Budget Monitoring IEM
Disclaimer!
This unit was sent by KB EAR. However, they didn’t paid me for any written reviews. I will try my best to review this unit without any bias. Please bear with me that I’m not a professional sound engineer or musician, but I’m just a self-learnt guitarist & vocalist, who do composed my own original music and also self-learnt some mixing & mastering techniques. I am a neutral-head, analytical-head and also liking balanced sounding tunings. And also, I’m using an audio interface named Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen (a kind of DAC/Amp???) pairing for the whole listening impressions. Please take my reviews as grain of salts.
Pros:
- V-shape tuning
- Well-controlled/behaved bass without messing up mids
- Good decent technicalities
- Budget with good value
- Light shell
- Wide soundstage
- Metal nozzle
- Boosted highs for more detail retrieval
Cons:
- Large shell
- Bass slightly bleeding into mids
- The highs could be more refined, but it might due to limitation of DD drivers
- Treble sensitive audiophiles might find it harsh sounding
- Slightly shouty upper mids
- Highs might be too boosted for some
Sound Quality
I will describe KBEar Storm as V-shaped tuning signature. I am pairing KBEar Storm with the stock white S-size wide bore eartips as I find it did open up some top end airiness. Storm will be having a tight and boosted bass. It is warm sounding and fun sounding, bleeding into mids are kept minimal. Mids range are not recessed, slightly upfront or harsh for some users. Highs are boosted, airy, lively sounding.
Bass
Bass shelf here is boosted. However, it is well-controlled, tight and fun sounding at the same time. A good DD driver will be able to separate kickdrum and bass guitar well, just like the DD inside KBEar Storm. KBEar Storm will be having mid bass focus to my ears. Although it is indeed a decent DD driver for projecting good bass quality, the bass texture and layering especially the bass reverberation could be better (and this is just a nitpick, especially when considering the price). There is still some bass bleeding into mids, possible analytical head needing some cleaner bass for analytical listening? Drop-D electric guitar tuning will burst your head with those fat palm muting sounds.
Mids
Mids here might be slightly bright sounding. There is sense of shoutiness in the upper mids region. For vocals, it is neither thin nor full-bodied sounding, there is indeed some harshness in the upper mid regions, due to boosted upper mids. Some vocalist did sounded slightly nasally with their singing. For female vocalist, it is sweet sounding, and some female vocalist will be slightly shouty sounding. Luckily, sibilances are kept minimal thanks to the dip in 4kHz - 5kHz region. Instrumental mids, it is having more than enough biteness. Acoustic guitar here is sweet and energetic sounding. Electric guitar here is actually very pleasant to listen to. You will really get crashed by metal-core music when listening to KBear Storm.
Highs
Highs here is definitely boosted too, I will say it is actually quite nearing borderline boosted based on my personal preference. It is not smooth sounding, and quite aggressively boosted. This kind of highs tuning will surely satisfy treblehead. To me, the highs might be not that refine sounding, slightly grainy and splashy sounding. And with such boosted in high frequencies, micro details will be slightly easier to be heard (fake details???). Percussive highs will be quite pronounce, and very lively. Metal core crash cymbal will really burst your head, so do not turn up the volume too much! There are plenty of air reverb, which is quite pleasant to listen to.
Tonality
Storm is actually a V-shaped tuning signature. Electric guitar is pleasant sounding. Boosted in highs definitely bringing more biteness to mid-range instruments. It is not for relax listening, possible an budget analytical set with fun bass. It might be slightly fatiguing sounding and not suitable for long listening.
Technicalities
The soundsatge here is wide, possible due to large shell or maybe large cavities for the DD drivers to breath? Instrument separation, imaging and layering are average. Transient speed here is just decent.
Conclusion
I was told that KBEar Storm was tuned toward the purpose for stage monitoring, however, I had not yet try it out for stage monitoring, indeed, none of my bandmate having that kind of experience too. I do understand why too, as it is having wide soundstage, and instrument are able to space out greatly too, but really dont expect too good in instrument separation, as it is still a budget IEM. As an casual listening IEM, I think KBEar Storm will be quite pleasing sounding too. When I generating this review, I am listening and learning about metal cores, and I am head banging throughtout the whole review, which means, it is a good IEM for music enjoyment. KBEar Storm does having alot of sparkling highs, and also having big fat bass too, with the bass being more controlled than the highs. The highs might be slightly piercing for some, but for treblehead, it is a plus.
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_mNPwnPk
Disclaimer!
This unit was sent by KB EAR. However, they didn’t paid me for any written reviews. I will try my best to review this unit without any bias. Please bear with me that I’m not a professional sound engineer or musician, but I’m just a self-learnt guitarist & vocalist, who do composed my own original music and also self-learnt some mixing & mastering techniques. I am a neutral-head, analytical-head and also liking balanced sounding tunings. And also, I’m using an audio interface named Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen (a kind of DAC/Amp???) pairing for the whole listening impressions. Please take my reviews as grain of salts.
Pros:
- V-shape tuning
- Well-controlled/behaved bass without messing up mids
- Good decent technicalities
- Budget with good value
- Light shell
- Wide soundstage
- Metal nozzle
- Boosted highs for more detail retrieval
Cons:
- Large shell
- Bass slightly bleeding into mids
- The highs could be more refined, but it might due to limitation of DD drivers
- Treble sensitive audiophiles might find it harsh sounding
- Slightly shouty upper mids
- Highs might be too boosted for some
Sound Quality
I will describe KBEar Storm as V-shaped tuning signature. I am pairing KBEar Storm with the stock white S-size wide bore eartips as I find it did open up some top end airiness. Storm will be having a tight and boosted bass. It is warm sounding and fun sounding, bleeding into mids are kept minimal. Mids range are not recessed, slightly upfront or harsh for some users. Highs are boosted, airy, lively sounding.
Bass
Bass shelf here is boosted. However, it is well-controlled, tight and fun sounding at the same time. A good DD driver will be able to separate kickdrum and bass guitar well, just like the DD inside KBEar Storm. KBEar Storm will be having mid bass focus to my ears. Although it is indeed a decent DD driver for projecting good bass quality, the bass texture and layering especially the bass reverberation could be better (and this is just a nitpick, especially when considering the price). There is still some bass bleeding into mids, possible analytical head needing some cleaner bass for analytical listening? Drop-D electric guitar tuning will burst your head with those fat palm muting sounds.
Mids
Mids here might be slightly bright sounding. There is sense of shoutiness in the upper mids region. For vocals, it is neither thin nor full-bodied sounding, there is indeed some harshness in the upper mid regions, due to boosted upper mids. Some vocalist did sounded slightly nasally with their singing. For female vocalist, it is sweet sounding, and some female vocalist will be slightly shouty sounding. Luckily, sibilances are kept minimal thanks to the dip in 4kHz - 5kHz region. Instrumental mids, it is having more than enough biteness. Acoustic guitar here is sweet and energetic sounding. Electric guitar here is actually very pleasant to listen to. You will really get crashed by metal-core music when listening to KBear Storm.
Highs
Highs here is definitely boosted too, I will say it is actually quite nearing borderline boosted based on my personal preference. It is not smooth sounding, and quite aggressively boosted. This kind of highs tuning will surely satisfy treblehead. To me, the highs might be not that refine sounding, slightly grainy and splashy sounding. And with such boosted in high frequencies, micro details will be slightly easier to be heard (fake details???). Percussive highs will be quite pronounce, and very lively. Metal core crash cymbal will really burst your head, so do not turn up the volume too much! There are plenty of air reverb, which is quite pleasant to listen to.
Tonality
Storm is actually a V-shaped tuning signature. Electric guitar is pleasant sounding. Boosted in highs definitely bringing more biteness to mid-range instruments. It is not for relax listening, possible an budget analytical set with fun bass. It might be slightly fatiguing sounding and not suitable for long listening.
Technicalities
The soundsatge here is wide, possible due to large shell or maybe large cavities for the DD drivers to breath? Instrument separation, imaging and layering are average. Transient speed here is just decent.
Conclusion
I was told that KBEar Storm was tuned toward the purpose for stage monitoring, however, I had not yet try it out for stage monitoring, indeed, none of my bandmate having that kind of experience too. I do understand why too, as it is having wide soundstage, and instrument are able to space out greatly too, but really dont expect too good in instrument separation, as it is still a budget IEM. As an casual listening IEM, I think KBEar Storm will be quite pleasing sounding too. When I generating this review, I am listening and learning about metal cores, and I am head banging throughtout the whole review, which means, it is a good IEM for music enjoyment. KBEar Storm does having alot of sparkling highs, and also having big fat bass too, with the bass being more controlled than the highs. The highs might be slightly piercing for some, but for treblehead, it is a plus.
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_mNPwnPk
Attachments
SIMGOT EW200, The MAZE
Disclaimer!
This unit was sent by Simgot. However, they did not pay me for any written reviews. I will try my best to review this unit without any bias. Please bear with me that I am not a professional sound engineer or musician, but I am just a self-learnt guitarist & vocalist, who do compose my own original music and self-learnt some mixing & mastering techniques. I am a neutral-head, analytical head and liking balanced sounding tunings. I am using an audio interface named Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen (a kind of DAC/Amp???) pairing for the whole listening impressions. Please take my reviews as grain of salts.
Pros:
- Harman Neutral Tuning (Bass might be slightly more boosted than Harman Neutral???)
- Well done bass
- Good decent technicalities
- Easy to drive
- Budget with good value
- Metal shell
- Intimate vocal
- Good analytical set
Cons:
- Semi-braided cable
- Slight driver flex
- Highs could be more refine
- Slightly narrow soundstage
- Upper mids could be slightly harsh
- Heavy shell
Sound Quality:
Simgot EW200 is having a Harman Target tuning signature. The tonality here is natural balance sounding. Technicalities are decent especially with such asking price.
Bass:
The bass here is mildly boosted just like harman kind of well-cooked bass, possible having some added warmth too. The sub-bass here did rumble. However, it is not that kind of huge bass that bass-head looking for. Every single kickdrum could be heard, but it is not that full-bodied or it could be described as dry or clean kickdrum sound. Mid bass here is slightly warm, where it could be slightly bleeding into the mids. Bass guitar could be easily heard borderline between analytical & fun sounding bass. Sub-bass is slightly more emphasized than mid-bass. The overall lows presentation is quite unique, imagine that it is a kind of harman target bass, but then, it is not exactly that kind of lean bass from commonly harman tuned bass.
Mids:
The mids here is slightly upfront. The upper mids here could be borderline from sibilance-free. Both male and female vocalist are sweet sounding. Air breathing, sweetness from vocalist is very pleasant, especially female vocalist, it is just like goddess singing to you, very intimate. Instrumental mids such as guitars are quite natural acoustically, where the brightness really benefits from it. The distorted electric guitar sound is quite on-spot, somewhat reminds me the real sound of my electric guitar when I am jamming with my bandmate. The upper harmonics reverberation region from the guitars are tasteful. Strings instrument are quite natural sounding. The whole mids region will be really very good for analytical head, as it is considering quite dry sounding, which is very discrete sounding, free from mess mud.
Highs:
Highs here are quite bright sounding, but not as extended. Percussive highs are impactful, providing some energetic feeling especially when listening to band rock kind of track. Highs sensitive folks might find it slightly harsh sounding. Details retrieval here is decent. Highs here is not as discrete sounding could be slightly splashy sounding, possible needing some refinement. Those that are looking for smooth highs might really need to look elsewhere.
Tonality:
To be precise, it is not exactly harman target kind of tuning, instead, my ears told me that, it is kind of a mildly boosted warm well-controlled bass, with some analytical mids and highs, or I shall mention that, only the mids and highs are somewhat reflecting to the harman target kind of signature? It could be an analytical cold kind of signature, but the bass here is having some fun factors, but not bass-head kind.
Technicalities:
The soundstage here is average, intimate, could be quite narrow sounding too? Instrument separation abilities is decent. Able to provide some macro-details, micro-details might not be that obvious.
Conclusion:
Simgot EW200, the MAZE, is quite amazing sounding IEMs. Despite being tuned towards harman neutral target, but it is not exactly harman neutral kind of sounding, the bass did improve slightly from harman kind of lean bass. Bright analytical sounding IEM. Analytical head will be quite liking Simgot EW200. Possible most user might be liking EW200 too, as it is not only meant for analytical head, it is quite balanced overall, tonally correct. The mirror like shell finishing will be very attractive to use it in public too. In conclusion, it is a good recommended set.
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_mrk2SHC
Disclaimer!
This unit was sent by Simgot. However, they did not pay me for any written reviews. I will try my best to review this unit without any bias. Please bear with me that I am not a professional sound engineer or musician, but I am just a self-learnt guitarist & vocalist, who do compose my own original music and self-learnt some mixing & mastering techniques. I am a neutral-head, analytical head and liking balanced sounding tunings. I am using an audio interface named Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen (a kind of DAC/Amp???) pairing for the whole listening impressions. Please take my reviews as grain of salts.
Pros:
- Harman Neutral Tuning (Bass might be slightly more boosted than Harman Neutral???)
- Well done bass
- Good decent technicalities
- Easy to drive
- Budget with good value
- Metal shell
- Intimate vocal
- Good analytical set
Cons:
- Semi-braided cable
- Slight driver flex
- Highs could be more refine
- Slightly narrow soundstage
- Upper mids could be slightly harsh
- Heavy shell
Sound Quality:
Simgot EW200 is having a Harman Target tuning signature. The tonality here is natural balance sounding. Technicalities are decent especially with such asking price.
Bass:
The bass here is mildly boosted just like harman kind of well-cooked bass, possible having some added warmth too. The sub-bass here did rumble. However, it is not that kind of huge bass that bass-head looking for. Every single kickdrum could be heard, but it is not that full-bodied or it could be described as dry or clean kickdrum sound. Mid bass here is slightly warm, where it could be slightly bleeding into the mids. Bass guitar could be easily heard borderline between analytical & fun sounding bass. Sub-bass is slightly more emphasized than mid-bass. The overall lows presentation is quite unique, imagine that it is a kind of harman target bass, but then, it is not exactly that kind of lean bass from commonly harman tuned bass.
Mids:
The mids here is slightly upfront. The upper mids here could be borderline from sibilance-free. Both male and female vocalist are sweet sounding. Air breathing, sweetness from vocalist is very pleasant, especially female vocalist, it is just like goddess singing to you, very intimate. Instrumental mids such as guitars are quite natural acoustically, where the brightness really benefits from it. The distorted electric guitar sound is quite on-spot, somewhat reminds me the real sound of my electric guitar when I am jamming with my bandmate. The upper harmonics reverberation region from the guitars are tasteful. Strings instrument are quite natural sounding. The whole mids region will be really very good for analytical head, as it is considering quite dry sounding, which is very discrete sounding, free from mess mud.
Highs:
Highs here are quite bright sounding, but not as extended. Percussive highs are impactful, providing some energetic feeling especially when listening to band rock kind of track. Highs sensitive folks might find it slightly harsh sounding. Details retrieval here is decent. Highs here is not as discrete sounding could be slightly splashy sounding, possible needing some refinement. Those that are looking for smooth highs might really need to look elsewhere.
Tonality:
To be precise, it is not exactly harman target kind of tuning, instead, my ears told me that, it is kind of a mildly boosted warm well-controlled bass, with some analytical mids and highs, or I shall mention that, only the mids and highs are somewhat reflecting to the harman target kind of signature? It could be an analytical cold kind of signature, but the bass here is having some fun factors, but not bass-head kind.
Technicalities:
The soundstage here is average, intimate, could be quite narrow sounding too? Instrument separation abilities is decent. Able to provide some macro-details, micro-details might not be that obvious.
Conclusion:
Simgot EW200, the MAZE, is quite amazing sounding IEMs. Despite being tuned towards harman neutral target, but it is not exactly harman neutral kind of sounding, the bass did improve slightly from harman kind of lean bass. Bright analytical sounding IEM. Analytical head will be quite liking Simgot EW200. Possible most user might be liking EW200 too, as it is not only meant for analytical head, it is quite balanced overall, tonally correct. The mirror like shell finishing will be very attractive to use it in public too. In conclusion, it is a good recommended set.
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_mrk2SHC
QoA Vesper 2, The Mysterious Blue Sea
Disclaimer!
This unit was sent by @Kinera. However, they did not pay me for any written reviews. I will try my best to review this unit without any bias. Please bear with me that I am not a professional sound engineer or musician, but I am just a self-learnt guitarist & vocalist, who do compose my own original music and self-learnt some mixing & mastering techniques. I am a neutral-head, analytical head and liking balanced sounding tunings. I am using an audio interface named Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen (a kind of DAC/Amp???) pairing for the whole listening impressions. Please take my reviews as grain of salts.
Pros:
- Warm neutral tuning
- Sub-bass is tasteful
- Warm fluid-controlled bass
- No BA metallic timbre
- Sibilance free
- Above average technicalities
- Good instrument separation and wide soundstage
- Premium packaging and accessories
- High craftsmanship
Cons:
- Could be too safe sounding
- Slightly lacking in brilliant and bite-ness
- Slightly muted vocals due to not as boosted upper mids to counteract sibilance
Sound Quality:
QoA Vesper 2 is having a warm-neutral tuning signature, which is unique sounding. The tonality here is quite natural sounding, nothing weird sounding, if needing to nitpick, possible some might need more airs and bite-ness from the highs. Technicalities are above average. Good layering, instrument separation, and wide soundstage. Instrument are spaced out cleanly, can deal with complex passages too.
Bass:
The bass here is boosted, as in it is quite warm, but surprisingly very well-controlled. The sub-bass here is deep & big sounding. It is elastic and fluid, as in I could feel the reverberation and vibration of the kickdrum skin. Mid bass here is lush & warm sounding, like it is engulfing my head with sea of bass. Bass guitar is present in the mix, but it is well controlled, without messing up with the mids, possible minimal bleeding into mids. Bass guitar is agile too. Kickdrum and bass guitar are well separated, cello and double bass are well separated as well. The low end from both cello and double bass are natural and realistic sounding. If you like jazz music, QoA Vesper 2 could give you a soothing relaxing coffee jazz enjoyment. The overall lows presentation is very soothing sounding.
Mids:
The mids are neither recessed nor too upfront. The upper mids here is free from sibilance, and not aggressive sounding, possible too safe or slightly dull for treblehead??? Both male and female vocalist are lush and emotional sounding, thanks to the tastefully tuned low end. Vocals might sound slightly muted due to not that boosted upper mids, to counteract harshness, but surprisingly the important information of vocals wave form are not buried. Instrumental mids such as guitars are neither too dull nor too aggressive sounding, as it is neutral or slightly less boosted than neutral kind of mids??? Thanks to the wide and well layered or good instrument separation ability, the left and right channel electric guitars are very catchy to my ears. However, I might want to swap up with some eartips to boost up some biteness, as I am used to aggressive sounding IEMs, but with stock eartips too, QoA Vesper 2 is good for those that are sensitive with harshness.
Highs:
Highs here are refined, smooth and quite extended too. This proof that, the Knowles BA inside QoA Vesper 2 is no joke. Talking about BA, my ears told me that there is no BA metallic timbre. Percussive highs are slightly shy sounding, which is good long listening sessions and highs sensitive folks. Despite being tuned towards long listening harshness free approach, it is still very details sounding.
Tonality:
A warm neutral tuning signature. Soothing relaxing long casual listening kind of tonality. Lively jazzy bassline.
Technicalities:
The soundstage here is wide. Instrument separation abilities is above average. Micro-details could be heard. Layering is good, just like instrument floating inside the head.
Conclusion:
QoA Vesper 2 a weird? Or shall I say unique sounding IEM, which is not following the harman-target-abused trend tuning approach. To my ears, I think it is a warm neutral tuning signature. This IEM taught me that, frequency response graph might not be the direct translate of how an IEM sounds like, as I am personally an analytical head, and if I see a FR graph that is lacking in highs, I might just pass it. But then, I really learnt from QoA Vesper 2. I had never encountered any IEM that is both having warm big bass and smooth highs, but still able to dig out details from a mix. Just imagine, it is relaxing sounding, but then, you could still use it for analytical listening?! I really think that QoA Vesper 2 is a unique sounding IEM, and it is a good keeper for someone like me, an analytical head. Of course, QoA Vesper 2 do having some flaws too, as it not for treblehead (maybe occasionally, treblehead need to take a rest of try out some smooth sounding IEM?), but then, there is no perfectly tuned IEM in the world. Let’s not just talk about sound only, I mean, look at the craftsmanship of QoA Vesper 2, it is absolutely gorgeous looking! It is just like jewellery, and you could give it to your love one too! Anyways, good job QoA!
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_mOtJecY
Disclaimer!
This unit was sent by @Kinera. However, they did not pay me for any written reviews. I will try my best to review this unit without any bias. Please bear with me that I am not a professional sound engineer or musician, but I am just a self-learnt guitarist & vocalist, who do compose my own original music and self-learnt some mixing & mastering techniques. I am a neutral-head, analytical head and liking balanced sounding tunings. I am using an audio interface named Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen (a kind of DAC/Amp???) pairing for the whole listening impressions. Please take my reviews as grain of salts.
Pros:
- Warm neutral tuning
- Sub-bass is tasteful
- Warm fluid-controlled bass
- No BA metallic timbre
- Sibilance free
- Above average technicalities
- Good instrument separation and wide soundstage
- Premium packaging and accessories
- High craftsmanship
Cons:
- Could be too safe sounding
- Slightly lacking in brilliant and bite-ness
- Slightly muted vocals due to not as boosted upper mids to counteract sibilance
Sound Quality:
QoA Vesper 2 is having a warm-neutral tuning signature, which is unique sounding. The tonality here is quite natural sounding, nothing weird sounding, if needing to nitpick, possible some might need more airs and bite-ness from the highs. Technicalities are above average. Good layering, instrument separation, and wide soundstage. Instrument are spaced out cleanly, can deal with complex passages too.
Bass:
The bass here is boosted, as in it is quite warm, but surprisingly very well-controlled. The sub-bass here is deep & big sounding. It is elastic and fluid, as in I could feel the reverberation and vibration of the kickdrum skin. Mid bass here is lush & warm sounding, like it is engulfing my head with sea of bass. Bass guitar is present in the mix, but it is well controlled, without messing up with the mids, possible minimal bleeding into mids. Bass guitar is agile too. Kickdrum and bass guitar are well separated, cello and double bass are well separated as well. The low end from both cello and double bass are natural and realistic sounding. If you like jazz music, QoA Vesper 2 could give you a soothing relaxing coffee jazz enjoyment. The overall lows presentation is very soothing sounding.
Mids:
The mids are neither recessed nor too upfront. The upper mids here is free from sibilance, and not aggressive sounding, possible too safe or slightly dull for treblehead??? Both male and female vocalist are lush and emotional sounding, thanks to the tastefully tuned low end. Vocals might sound slightly muted due to not that boosted upper mids, to counteract harshness, but surprisingly the important information of vocals wave form are not buried. Instrumental mids such as guitars are neither too dull nor too aggressive sounding, as it is neutral or slightly less boosted than neutral kind of mids??? Thanks to the wide and well layered or good instrument separation ability, the left and right channel electric guitars are very catchy to my ears. However, I might want to swap up with some eartips to boost up some biteness, as I am used to aggressive sounding IEMs, but with stock eartips too, QoA Vesper 2 is good for those that are sensitive with harshness.
Highs:
Highs here are refined, smooth and quite extended too. This proof that, the Knowles BA inside QoA Vesper 2 is no joke. Talking about BA, my ears told me that there is no BA metallic timbre. Percussive highs are slightly shy sounding, which is good long listening sessions and highs sensitive folks. Despite being tuned towards long listening harshness free approach, it is still very details sounding.
Tonality:
A warm neutral tuning signature. Soothing relaxing long casual listening kind of tonality. Lively jazzy bassline.
Technicalities:
The soundstage here is wide. Instrument separation abilities is above average. Micro-details could be heard. Layering is good, just like instrument floating inside the head.
Conclusion:
QoA Vesper 2 a weird? Or shall I say unique sounding IEM, which is not following the harman-target-abused trend tuning approach. To my ears, I think it is a warm neutral tuning signature. This IEM taught me that, frequency response graph might not be the direct translate of how an IEM sounds like, as I am personally an analytical head, and if I see a FR graph that is lacking in highs, I might just pass it. But then, I really learnt from QoA Vesper 2. I had never encountered any IEM that is both having warm big bass and smooth highs, but still able to dig out details from a mix. Just imagine, it is relaxing sounding, but then, you could still use it for analytical listening?! I really think that QoA Vesper 2 is a unique sounding IEM, and it is a good keeper for someone like me, an analytical head. Of course, QoA Vesper 2 do having some flaws too, as it not for treblehead (maybe occasionally, treblehead need to take a rest of try out some smooth sounding IEM?), but then, there is no perfectly tuned IEM in the world. Let’s not just talk about sound only, I mean, look at the craftsmanship of QoA Vesper 2, it is absolutely gorgeous looking! It is just like jewellery, and you could give it to your love one too! Anyways, good job QoA!
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_mOtJecY
CVJ KE-S, A budget Warm V-Shaped IEM
Disclaimer!
This unit was sent by CVJ. However, they did not pay me for any written reviews. I will try my best to review this unit without any bias. Please bear with me that I am not a professional sound engineer or musician, but I am just a self-learnt guitarist & vocalist, who do compose my own original music and self-learnt some mixing & mastering techniques. I am a neutral-head, analytical head and liking balanced sounding tunings. I am using an audio interface named Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen (a kind of DAC/Amp???) pairing for the whole listening impressions. Please take my reviews as grain of salts.
Pros:
- Warm V-Shaped Tuning
- Sibilance free
- Warm boosted bass shelf, perfect for soothing jazz tracks
- Good decent technicalities
- Easy to drive
- Budget with good value
- Light shell
Cons:
- Basic unbraided cable
- Slightly recession in vocals
- Highs could be more refined (limitation of budget DD driver)
- Will get congested with busy tracks
- Slight driver flex (??)
Sound Quality:
CVJ KE-S is having a warm V-shaped tuning signature. As it is a DD drivers, the tonality here is quite natural sounding, nothing weird sounding, if needing to nitpick, mid-bass could be a tad cleaner sounding or tighter and as a details head myself, I would like to have more biteness in the highs too. Technicalities are surprisingly decent especially with such asking price.
Bass:
The bass here is boosted, it could be a good bass-head set for bass lovers. The sub-bass here did rumble quite deeply. Every single kickdrum hitting could be easily heard, as it is punching inside the head. Mid bass here is warm, where it could be slightly bleeding into the mids. Bass guitar could be easily heard and might be a good IEM for monitoring bass guitar. The overall lows presentation is very fun and soothing sounding, perfect for enjoying jazzy tracks.
Mids:
Due to slight mid bass bleed, the mids are slightly recessed. The upper mids here is safe from sibilance, and not aggressive sounding. Both male and female vocalist are lush sounding. Air breathing, sweetness from vocalist is kept minimal, where analytical head might really find that it is somewhat lacking in biteness. Instrumental mids such as guitars are moderately present in the mix, neither dull sounding, nor too aggressive sounding. As a guitarist myself, I would like the guitar to be having more biteness, especially the upper harmonics reverberation region (just a nitpick). Strings instrument are quite natural sounding, maybe a tad more brightness at the top end will be more perfect?
Highs:
Highs here are quite airy sounding but did behave quite well too. Percussive highs are neither shy nor too aggressive sounding, if not, highs sensitive folks might find it slightly harsh sounding. Details retrieval here is just average, so detail head might need to look elsewhere. Highs here is not as discrete sounding, as it is a huge limitation of a budget DD set, but CVJ KE-S did manage the highs quite well, where the highs are not messy or splashy sounding.
Tonality:
A warm V-shaped tuning signature, with natural sounding DD. Soothing relaxing fun casual listening kind of tonality, with some added airs in the highs.
Technicalities:
The soundstage here is average, intimate. Instrument separation abilities is average. Able to provide some macro-details but not that much of micro-details. Suffer a bit in handling complicated track.
Conclusion:
CVJ KE-S is a well-tuned set for V-shaped and bass lovers. It is a neat, simple, sibilance free, natural sounding IEM. One could easily pick it up and listen for hours, as it is light weight, fits easily, soothing, and free-from harshness. Bass guitar player could also consider this set from their on-stage monitoring too, especially those that lacking in budget. Good job CVJ for generating such a budget friendly product for the audiophiles & musicians.
Disclaimer!
This unit was sent by CVJ. However, they did not pay me for any written reviews. I will try my best to review this unit without any bias. Please bear with me that I am not a professional sound engineer or musician, but I am just a self-learnt guitarist & vocalist, who do compose my own original music and self-learnt some mixing & mastering techniques. I am a neutral-head, analytical head and liking balanced sounding tunings. I am using an audio interface named Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen (a kind of DAC/Amp???) pairing for the whole listening impressions. Please take my reviews as grain of salts.
Pros:
- Warm V-Shaped Tuning
- Sibilance free
- Warm boosted bass shelf, perfect for soothing jazz tracks
- Good decent technicalities
- Easy to drive
- Budget with good value
- Light shell
Cons:
- Basic unbraided cable
- Slightly recession in vocals
- Highs could be more refined (limitation of budget DD driver)
- Will get congested with busy tracks
- Slight driver flex (??)
Sound Quality:
CVJ KE-S is having a warm V-shaped tuning signature. As it is a DD drivers, the tonality here is quite natural sounding, nothing weird sounding, if needing to nitpick, mid-bass could be a tad cleaner sounding or tighter and as a details head myself, I would like to have more biteness in the highs too. Technicalities are surprisingly decent especially with such asking price.
Bass:
The bass here is boosted, it could be a good bass-head set for bass lovers. The sub-bass here did rumble quite deeply. Every single kickdrum hitting could be easily heard, as it is punching inside the head. Mid bass here is warm, where it could be slightly bleeding into the mids. Bass guitar could be easily heard and might be a good IEM for monitoring bass guitar. The overall lows presentation is very fun and soothing sounding, perfect for enjoying jazzy tracks.
Mids:
Due to slight mid bass bleed, the mids are slightly recessed. The upper mids here is safe from sibilance, and not aggressive sounding. Both male and female vocalist are lush sounding. Air breathing, sweetness from vocalist is kept minimal, where analytical head might really find that it is somewhat lacking in biteness. Instrumental mids such as guitars are moderately present in the mix, neither dull sounding, nor too aggressive sounding. As a guitarist myself, I would like the guitar to be having more biteness, especially the upper harmonics reverberation region (just a nitpick). Strings instrument are quite natural sounding, maybe a tad more brightness at the top end will be more perfect?
Highs:
Highs here are quite airy sounding but did behave quite well too. Percussive highs are neither shy nor too aggressive sounding, if not, highs sensitive folks might find it slightly harsh sounding. Details retrieval here is just average, so detail head might need to look elsewhere. Highs here is not as discrete sounding, as it is a huge limitation of a budget DD set, but CVJ KE-S did manage the highs quite well, where the highs are not messy or splashy sounding.
Tonality:
A warm V-shaped tuning signature, with natural sounding DD. Soothing relaxing fun casual listening kind of tonality, with some added airs in the highs.
Technicalities:
The soundstage here is average, intimate. Instrument separation abilities is average. Able to provide some macro-details but not that much of micro-details. Suffer a bit in handling complicated track.
Conclusion:
CVJ KE-S is a well-tuned set for V-shaped and bass lovers. It is a neat, simple, sibilance free, natural sounding IEM. One could easily pick it up and listen for hours, as it is light weight, fits easily, soothing, and free-from harshness. Bass guitar player could also consider this set from their on-stage monitoring too, especially those that lacking in budget. Good job CVJ for generating such a budget friendly product for the audiophiles & musicians.
Disclaimer!
This unit was sent by @CVJLove. However, they didn’t paid me for any written reviews. I will try my best to review this unit without any bias. Please bear with me that I’m not a professional sound engineer or musician, but I’m just a self-learnt guitarist & vocalist, who do composed my own original music and also self-learnt some mixing & mastering techniques. I am a neutral-head, analytical-head and also liking balanced sounding tunings. And also, I’m using an audio interface named Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen (a kind of DAC/Amp???) pairing for the whole listening impressions. Please take my reviews as grain of salts.
Pros:
- Balanced sounding
- Mild U-shape tuning
- Well-cooked bass
- Very nearing Harman-neutral target with hints of mid-bass warmth
- Pleasant sounding electric guitars with enough bites
- Metal nozzle and mesh filter
- Tunable switches
- Better fit due to fins shell design (subjective)
Cons:
- Can’t seal ears well with stock eartips
- Switches did not alter sound signature obviously
- Potentially harsh sounding highs for some (??)
- Bass might be too lean for some (??)
Sound Quality:
CVJ TXS will be having a kind of mild U-shape tuning signature. To be honest, I could hardly tell the differences between all three modes (Phone Mode, Game Mode, HiFi Mode). I do perceived that both Phone Mode and HiFi Mode are somewhat similar, but with Game Mode, I could tell that it is slightly different from both Phone and HiFi Mode, where the highs in Game Mode is slightly boosted, somewhat having better details compare to the other modes. Since it is really a budget price tag IEM, the tunable switches still really need to improve and undergo some R&D to make it workable, but then, luckily, the tuning here is surprisingly quite pleasant sounding.
Bass:
Bass shelf here is adequately boosted, not too much, not too less in quantity, I would say it is well-cooked kind of bass. Bass quality here too, it is decent. Therefore, bass head might find themselves needing more bass punch from CVJ TXS. The bass here is slightly lean sounding, and slightly boosted compare to flat-neutral kind. Bass guitar and kickdrum here might be shy sounding, hiding behind the mix. Therefore, it might not be ideal to use it for bass monitoring. The bass note weight here is indeed quite lean sounding.
Mids:
As an analytical head myself, I’m quite liking this kind of mids. Mids here are neither recessed nor too forward sounding. However it might potentially harsh sounding for some. Despite being slightly harsh sounding in upper mids, it is still well controlled and sibilance free. The mids here is quite sweet sounding, with adequate sparks and airiness. Instrumental mids such as electric guitars are very pleasant sounding, it will be a good kind of IEM for electric guitar monitoring. The space reverberation is quite well presented, even some micro-details could be heard, thanks to the well-cooked clean bass that didn’t interfer the mids too much. Strings are quite natural sounding, with adequate upper harmonics to boost up some overall biteness of the instrument.
Highs:
Highs here is quite extended. It could be bright sounding. Percussion highs here are quite clean and having good transient speed. Cymbals, hi-hats, rides, etc. are neither hiding behind nor to upfront within the mix. It is quite well refined, smoothed, but not dull sounding. It is not like those cheap DD with splashy highs, but it is quite well behaved. Reverberation are quite airy sounding. Vocalist breathing could be heard easily, even some lips microdetails could be heard too.
Tonality:
Quite natural sounding, with a hints of brightness. It could be in between cold and warmth kind of sound presentation, but with slightly towards cold sounding, which is kind of good for analytical listening.
Technicalities:
Decent soundstage, decent instrument separation abilities, decent layerings. No congestion. Good micro-details retrieval. Good transient speed.
Conclusion:
As a tunable IEM, I think CVJ should really reiterate it as to do more R&D to make every single switches to be workable. As an IEM itself, I think CVJ TXS is a well tuned IEM, especially it is for those that liking balance sounding signature, or maybe it could be good for some analytical listening too. The overall IEM design is quite good, material used, it is not that kind of cost saving approach, eventhough it is a budget IEM. CVJ did really took a good effort on designing a quality product, as the overall package still included metal nozzle and filter mesh, as well as braided detachable cable, and don’t forget about the tunable switches, which really needing some technical effort to solder it precisely without affecting the overall electronics. Anyways, it is a well-tuned IEM, but still need to improve from the tunable switches.[/JUSTIFY]
This unit was sent by @CVJLove. However, they didn’t paid me for any written reviews. I will try my best to review this unit without any bias. Please bear with me that I’m not a professional sound engineer or musician, but I’m just a self-learnt guitarist & vocalist, who do composed my own original music and also self-learnt some mixing & mastering techniques. I am a neutral-head, analytical-head and also liking balanced sounding tunings. And also, I’m using an audio interface named Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen (a kind of DAC/Amp???) pairing for the whole listening impressions. Please take my reviews as grain of salts.
Pros:
- Balanced sounding
- Mild U-shape tuning
- Well-cooked bass
- Very nearing Harman-neutral target with hints of mid-bass warmth
- Pleasant sounding electric guitars with enough bites
- Metal nozzle and mesh filter
- Tunable switches
- Better fit due to fins shell design (subjective)
Cons:
- Can’t seal ears well with stock eartips
- Switches did not alter sound signature obviously
- Potentially harsh sounding highs for some (??)
- Bass might be too lean for some (??)
Sound Quality:
CVJ TXS will be having a kind of mild U-shape tuning signature. To be honest, I could hardly tell the differences between all three modes (Phone Mode, Game Mode, HiFi Mode). I do perceived that both Phone Mode and HiFi Mode are somewhat similar, but with Game Mode, I could tell that it is slightly different from both Phone and HiFi Mode, where the highs in Game Mode is slightly boosted, somewhat having better details compare to the other modes. Since it is really a budget price tag IEM, the tunable switches still really need to improve and undergo some R&D to make it workable, but then, luckily, the tuning here is surprisingly quite pleasant sounding.
Bass:
Bass shelf here is adequately boosted, not too much, not too less in quantity, I would say it is well-cooked kind of bass. Bass quality here too, it is decent. Therefore, bass head might find themselves needing more bass punch from CVJ TXS. The bass here is slightly lean sounding, and slightly boosted compare to flat-neutral kind. Bass guitar and kickdrum here might be shy sounding, hiding behind the mix. Therefore, it might not be ideal to use it for bass monitoring. The bass note weight here is indeed quite lean sounding.
Mids:
As an analytical head myself, I’m quite liking this kind of mids. Mids here are neither recessed nor too forward sounding. However it might potentially harsh sounding for some. Despite being slightly harsh sounding in upper mids, it is still well controlled and sibilance free. The mids here is quite sweet sounding, with adequate sparks and airiness. Instrumental mids such as electric guitars are very pleasant sounding, it will be a good kind of IEM for electric guitar monitoring. The space reverberation is quite well presented, even some micro-details could be heard, thanks to the well-cooked clean bass that didn’t interfer the mids too much. Strings are quite natural sounding, with adequate upper harmonics to boost up some overall biteness of the instrument.
Highs:
Highs here is quite extended. It could be bright sounding. Percussion highs here are quite clean and having good transient speed. Cymbals, hi-hats, rides, etc. are neither hiding behind nor to upfront within the mix. It is quite well refined, smoothed, but not dull sounding. It is not like those cheap DD with splashy highs, but it is quite well behaved. Reverberation are quite airy sounding. Vocalist breathing could be heard easily, even some lips microdetails could be heard too.
Tonality:
Quite natural sounding, with a hints of brightness. It could be in between cold and warmth kind of sound presentation, but with slightly towards cold sounding, which is kind of good for analytical listening.
Technicalities:
Decent soundstage, decent instrument separation abilities, decent layerings. No congestion. Good micro-details retrieval. Good transient speed.
Conclusion:
As a tunable IEM, I think CVJ should really reiterate it as to do more R&D to make every single switches to be workable. As an IEM itself, I think CVJ TXS is a well tuned IEM, especially it is for those that liking balance sounding signature, or maybe it could be good for some analytical listening too. The overall IEM design is quite good, material used, it is not that kind of cost saving approach, eventhough it is a budget IEM. CVJ did really took a good effort on designing a quality product, as the overall package still included metal nozzle and filter mesh, as well as braided detachable cable, and don’t forget about the tunable switches, which really needing some technical effort to solder it precisely without affecting the overall electronics. Anyways, it is a well-tuned IEM, but still need to improve from the tunable switches.[/JUSTIFY]
Sound Quality:
Basically, TRN MT1 Max could have 4 types of tuning signatures, from mild-U shape (balanced) to nearing neutral-bright (treble-enhanced), then also with the maximum bass presence or potentially dark sounding (Bass-enhanced) and balanced with sub-bass boosted (Xtra-bass). As it is a DD drivers, the tonality here is quite natural
sounding, nothing weird sounding, if needing to nitpick, strings instrument did sounded not nearly realistic due to lacking in upper harmonics. Technicalities are surprisingly decent especially with such asking price. Timbre here is neither cold or warm sounding (depends on which tuning switch being activated).
Bass:
Depiste having 4 switches to play around, there are only three kind of bass shelf (quantity):
(Bassiest to less bassy switches will be rate as following)
Xtra-Bass = Bass Enhanced > Balanced > Treble Enhanced
As a neutral-head/analytical head myself, I find myself liking the bass with Treble Enhanced mode, as it is the least boomy and good for analysing music without being too affected by the bass. Don’t get me wrong, with even the bassiest tuning activated, the bass will be indeed fun sounding, but then, thanks to the decent DD drivers
with well-controlled/behanved transient, the bass didn’t bleed into the mids that much, which is still consider a clean mid-bass. Even with the Treble Enhanced mode, the bass here is not too lean sounding, the bass is still quite present within the mix. For better bass monitoring, it is not advisable to use Treble Enhanced mode, as the
bass here is not that present compare to the other tuning modes. For a short summary, use Treble Enhanced mode if you are allergic to bass, Balanced mode if you liking well-cooked punchy bass, and if you’re a bass head, just boost the bass all the way up with Bass Enhanced or Xtra-Bass mode.
Mids:
With 4 possible tuning from TRN MT1 Max, the mids will be having different perceive forwardness.
(Most in-your-face mids to less or slightly dull mids rating)
Treble Enhanced > Balanced > Xtra-Bass > Bass Enhanced
As a treblehead myself, of course, I am liking Treble Enhanced mode the most. But then, high sensitive folks might find it slightly harsh sounding, and also, there is slight sibilance presence with some tracks. As a self-learnt electric guitarist myself, I will like to hear a lot of electric guitar melodies, rhythms, etc. Therefore, I find myself
wanting some more bites with the Bass Enhanced mode, and also do find that this mode is somewhat dull sounding, and it is my least liking mode, but then, for high sensitive audiophiles, it will be a good mode from relax and casual listening, with soothing warm bass. Both male and female vocalist here are not recess sounding,
except for the Bass Enhanced mode. For instrumental mids such as electric guitars, piano, strings like violin, viola, cello & bass, even with Treble Enhanced mode, the upper harmonics of these instrument is less presence, or it could be most realistic with slightly more bites. If you don’t need too much details to be overloading your head, Bass Enhanced mode will be a good relaxing listening choice, but if you needing some critical listening, just stick with Treble Enhanced mode.
Highs:
With 4 possible tuning from TRN MT1 Max, the highs could be perceived differently.
(Most airy to less or slightly dull rating)
Treble Enhanced > Balanced > Xtra-Bass > Bass Enhanced
If you are a drum playing that needing to monitor your crash cymbals, hi-hats, rides, etc. you will need to turn on the Treble Enhanced mode. This mode is the most airiest sounding compare to the other tuning mode. As it is a decent budget DD drivers, the highs here is not that airy, and also not super clean/refined kind of highs, but then,
it is not that kind of messy splashy highs too. If you are the type of listener that liking some sparkers in the top end of the frequency spectrum, you will need Treble Enhanced mode too, as all the other three modes might be too polite in highs, with Bass Enhanced mode being too dull or dark sounding to my personal own preference.
Tonality:
As promised, TRN MT1 Max with 4 tuning switches, it could have 4 type of sound signature, from L-shape dark bass, to balanced, and also to analytical neutral-bright tuning. However, it is still not that natural sounding due to slightly lacking in upper harmonics of some instrument, but then, it is nearing natural sounding pairs.
Technicalities:
The soundsatge here is decently wide. Instrument separation abilities are decent. Able to provide enough details or clarity except for Bass Enhanced mode. Could handle busy complicated track decently.
Conclusion:
If you ask me, do I recommend TRN MT1 Max, I would reply, why not? For such budget price tag, you will get 4 different type of tunings. It is really a bargain, especially for those that still not yet knowing their own preference tuning signature yet. Back then, IEMs with tunable switches will cost a lot, but nowadays, we could grab it at budget price tag too. Overall, I think TRN MT1 Max is a well-tuned IEMs, but then there are still a lot of room for improvements.
Basically, TRN MT1 Max could have 4 types of tuning signatures, from mild-U shape (balanced) to nearing neutral-bright (treble-enhanced), then also with the maximum bass presence or potentially dark sounding (Bass-enhanced) and balanced with sub-bass boosted (Xtra-bass). As it is a DD drivers, the tonality here is quite natural
sounding, nothing weird sounding, if needing to nitpick, strings instrument did sounded not nearly realistic due to lacking in upper harmonics. Technicalities are surprisingly decent especially with such asking price. Timbre here is neither cold or warm sounding (depends on which tuning switch being activated).
Bass:
Depiste having 4 switches to play around, there are only three kind of bass shelf (quantity):
(Bassiest to less bassy switches will be rate as following)
Xtra-Bass = Bass Enhanced > Balanced > Treble Enhanced
As a neutral-head/analytical head myself, I find myself liking the bass with Treble Enhanced mode, as it is the least boomy and good for analysing music without being too affected by the bass. Don’t get me wrong, with even the bassiest tuning activated, the bass will be indeed fun sounding, but then, thanks to the decent DD drivers
with well-controlled/behanved transient, the bass didn’t bleed into the mids that much, which is still consider a clean mid-bass. Even with the Treble Enhanced mode, the bass here is not too lean sounding, the bass is still quite present within the mix. For better bass monitoring, it is not advisable to use Treble Enhanced mode, as the
bass here is not that present compare to the other tuning modes. For a short summary, use Treble Enhanced mode if you are allergic to bass, Balanced mode if you liking well-cooked punchy bass, and if you’re a bass head, just boost the bass all the way up with Bass Enhanced or Xtra-Bass mode.
Mids:
With 4 possible tuning from TRN MT1 Max, the mids will be having different perceive forwardness.
(Most in-your-face mids to less or slightly dull mids rating)
Treble Enhanced > Balanced > Xtra-Bass > Bass Enhanced
As a treblehead myself, of course, I am liking Treble Enhanced mode the most. But then, high sensitive folks might find it slightly harsh sounding, and also, there is slight sibilance presence with some tracks. As a self-learnt electric guitarist myself, I will like to hear a lot of electric guitar melodies, rhythms, etc. Therefore, I find myself
wanting some more bites with the Bass Enhanced mode, and also do find that this mode is somewhat dull sounding, and it is my least liking mode, but then, for high sensitive audiophiles, it will be a good mode from relax and casual listening, with soothing warm bass. Both male and female vocalist here are not recess sounding,
except for the Bass Enhanced mode. For instrumental mids such as electric guitars, piano, strings like violin, viola, cello & bass, even with Treble Enhanced mode, the upper harmonics of these instrument is less presence, or it could be most realistic with slightly more bites. If you don’t need too much details to be overloading your head, Bass Enhanced mode will be a good relaxing listening choice, but if you needing some critical listening, just stick with Treble Enhanced mode.
Highs:
With 4 possible tuning from TRN MT1 Max, the highs could be perceived differently.
(Most airy to less or slightly dull rating)
Treble Enhanced > Balanced > Xtra-Bass > Bass Enhanced
If you are a drum playing that needing to monitor your crash cymbals, hi-hats, rides, etc. you will need to turn on the Treble Enhanced mode. This mode is the most airiest sounding compare to the other tuning mode. As it is a decent budget DD drivers, the highs here is not that airy, and also not super clean/refined kind of highs, but then,
it is not that kind of messy splashy highs too. If you are the type of listener that liking some sparkers in the top end of the frequency spectrum, you will need Treble Enhanced mode too, as all the other three modes might be too polite in highs, with Bass Enhanced mode being too dull or dark sounding to my personal own preference.
Tonality:
As promised, TRN MT1 Max with 4 tuning switches, it could have 4 type of sound signature, from L-shape dark bass, to balanced, and also to analytical neutral-bright tuning. However, it is still not that natural sounding due to slightly lacking in upper harmonics of some instrument, but then, it is nearing natural sounding pairs.
Technicalities:
The soundsatge here is decently wide. Instrument separation abilities are decent. Able to provide enough details or clarity except for Bass Enhanced mode. Could handle busy complicated track decently.
Conclusion:
If you ask me, do I recommend TRN MT1 Max, I would reply, why not? For such budget price tag, you will get 4 different type of tunings. It is really a bargain, especially for those that still not yet knowing their own preference tuning signature yet. Back then, IEMs with tunable switches will cost a lot, but nowadays, we could grab it at budget price tag too. Overall, I think TRN MT1 Max is a well-tuned IEMs, but then there are still a lot of room for improvements.
Attachments
Tinhifi C2
Disclaimer!
This unit was sent by @tinhifi. However, they didn’t paid me for any written reviews. I will try my best to review this unit without any bias. Please bear with me that I’m not a professional sound engineer or musician, but I’m just a self-learnt guitarist & vocalist, who do composed my own original music and also self-learnt some mixing & mastering techniques. I am a neutral-head, analytical-head and also liking balanced sounding tunings. And also, I’m using an audio interface named Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen (a kind of DAC/Amp???) pairing for the whole listening impressions. Please take my reviews as grain of salts.
Disclaimer!
This unit was sent by @tinhifi. However, they didn’t paid me for any written reviews. I will try my best to review this unit without any bias. Please bear with me that I’m not a professional sound engineer or musician, but I’m just a self-learnt guitarist & vocalist, who do composed my own original music and also self-learnt some mixing & mastering techniques. I am a neutral-head, analytical-head and also liking balanced sounding tunings. And also, I’m using an audio interface named Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen (a kind of DAC/Amp???) pairing for the whole listening impressions. Please take my reviews as grain of salts.
Pros:
- Harman neutral tuning
- Natural sounding
- Sibilance free
- Airy highs
- Clean bass, no or minimal bleeding into mids
- Budget DD drivers with fast transient speed
Cons:
- Lean bass, not for basshead
- Un-braided cable
- Squared IEM shell, fatigue for long term wearing
- Some might find that the upper mids are slightly harsh sounding
- Slightly unnatural highs due to fast transient
Sound Quality
Tinhifh C2 is tuned toward harman-neutral approach, which can be classified as a birght U-shaped tunings. All three frequencies, bass, mids and highs are balanced, nothing being too forward/upfront. Tonality is natural, free from weirdness. Technicalities are quite surprisingly decent especially with such asking price. Timbre is slightly cold sounding than neutral.
Bass
The bass-shelf here is slightly boosted, with sub-bass being more focused than mid-bass. The mid-bass here is clean sounding, without messing up the mids region, but some bass lovers might find it too lean sounding. The bass here is tight sounding, agile. Due to lean mid-bass, bass guitar player might find it hard to monitor the bassline within a mix. Kickdrum here is tight and engaging. Overall, the whole bass region did behaved well, without coloring up the mids region too much.
Mids
This might be the spotlight of Tinhifi C2 tuning, as the mids here is pleasant sounding. The mids here are neither recessed nor too forward sounding. The mids here are not smoothed, but also not too harsh sounding, but potentially harsh sounding for those that sensitives to upper mids region. Male vocalists are not too thin sounding, and also having enough note weight. Female vocalists are definitely more sweet sounding than male vocalists, which is quite engaging. Both male and female vocalists are quite airy sounding, and surprisingly free from sibilance too, if not quite borderline to sibilance, which is really well-cooked kind of upper mids tuning. Instrumental mids such as acoustic guitars, electric guitars, strings instrument are natural sounding, where the upper harmonics of these instrument did remained bright and having good biteness. As a self-learnt electric guitar player, I personally think that, Tinhifi C2 is good for monitoring electric guitars playing.
Highs
Highs here did extend quite well especially being priced at such price range. It is quite bright sounding. I would say that the highs here is quite well-cooked in term of quantity. Percussive highs such as cymbals, hi-hats, rides are not shy sounding, it is not hiding behinds the mix, and did provide good enough splashiness to bring up the climax part of a given track/song/mix. The highs did decay faster than average, which is good for analytical listening, but some folks might find it too sharp sounding, and natural-head might find it too zingy sounding.
Tonality
Indeed, Tinhifi C2 is a natural sounding IEM due to being tuned toward harman neutral target. However, the highs here did somewhat takes away some naturalness due to slightly faster transient than average.
Technicalities
The soundstage here is decently wide. Instrument separation abilities are good for analytical listening. Layerings are good. Spaces between instrument are well-separated, not congested, having enough spaces to breath. The DD transient speed here is decently fast.
Conclusion
I tried to review Tinhifi C2 as unbiased as I could, because I am a sucker of balanced sounding, harman neutral tuning. Tinhifi C2 actually ticks most of my preferences, as it is potentially good for critical listening. If you are liking bright sounding IEM, Tinhifi C2 is no doubt a good choice, where the highs here is well-cooked, free from sibilance, and also free from fake details. If you are a balanced-head, Tinhifi C2 will be a good choice to satisfy your preference. Well-done Tinhifi!
- Harman neutral tuning
- Natural sounding
- Sibilance free
- Airy highs
- Clean bass, no or minimal bleeding into mids
- Budget DD drivers with fast transient speed
Cons:
- Lean bass, not for basshead
- Un-braided cable
- Squared IEM shell, fatigue for long term wearing
- Some might find that the upper mids are slightly harsh sounding
- Slightly unnatural highs due to fast transient
Sound Quality
Tinhifh C2 is tuned toward harman-neutral approach, which can be classified as a birght U-shaped tunings. All three frequencies, bass, mids and highs are balanced, nothing being too forward/upfront. Tonality is natural, free from weirdness. Technicalities are quite surprisingly decent especially with such asking price. Timbre is slightly cold sounding than neutral.
Bass
The bass-shelf here is slightly boosted, with sub-bass being more focused than mid-bass. The mid-bass here is clean sounding, without messing up the mids region, but some bass lovers might find it too lean sounding. The bass here is tight sounding, agile. Due to lean mid-bass, bass guitar player might find it hard to monitor the bassline within a mix. Kickdrum here is tight and engaging. Overall, the whole bass region did behaved well, without coloring up the mids region too much.
Mids
This might be the spotlight of Tinhifi C2 tuning, as the mids here is pleasant sounding. The mids here are neither recessed nor too forward sounding. The mids here are not smoothed, but also not too harsh sounding, but potentially harsh sounding for those that sensitives to upper mids region. Male vocalists are not too thin sounding, and also having enough note weight. Female vocalists are definitely more sweet sounding than male vocalists, which is quite engaging. Both male and female vocalists are quite airy sounding, and surprisingly free from sibilance too, if not quite borderline to sibilance, which is really well-cooked kind of upper mids tuning. Instrumental mids such as acoustic guitars, electric guitars, strings instrument are natural sounding, where the upper harmonics of these instrument did remained bright and having good biteness. As a self-learnt electric guitar player, I personally think that, Tinhifi C2 is good for monitoring electric guitars playing.
Highs
Highs here did extend quite well especially being priced at such price range. It is quite bright sounding. I would say that the highs here is quite well-cooked in term of quantity. Percussive highs such as cymbals, hi-hats, rides are not shy sounding, it is not hiding behinds the mix, and did provide good enough splashiness to bring up the climax part of a given track/song/mix. The highs did decay faster than average, which is good for analytical listening, but some folks might find it too sharp sounding, and natural-head might find it too zingy sounding.
Tonality
Indeed, Tinhifi C2 is a natural sounding IEM due to being tuned toward harman neutral target. However, the highs here did somewhat takes away some naturalness due to slightly faster transient than average.
Technicalities
The soundstage here is decently wide. Instrument separation abilities are good for analytical listening. Layerings are good. Spaces between instrument are well-separated, not congested, having enough spaces to breath. The DD transient speed here is decently fast.
Conclusion
I tried to review Tinhifi C2 as unbiased as I could, because I am a sucker of balanced sounding, harman neutral tuning. Tinhifi C2 actually ticks most of my preferences, as it is potentially good for critical listening. If you are liking bright sounding IEM, Tinhifi C2 is no doubt a good choice, where the highs here is well-cooked, free from sibilance, and also free from fake details. If you are a balanced-head, Tinhifi C2 will be a good choice to satisfy your preference. Well-done Tinhifi!
Celest Pandamon
Disclaimer!
This unit was sent by @Kinera. However, they didn’t paid me for any written reviews. I will try my best to review this unit without any bias. Please bear with me that I’m not a professional sound engineer or musician, but I’m just a self-learnt guitarist & vocalist, who do composed my own original music and also self-learnt some mixing & mastering techniques. I am a neutral-head, analytical-head and also liking balanced sounding tunings. And also, I’m using iFi Hip DAC pairing for the whole listening impressions. Please take my reviews as grain of salts.
Pros:
- Warm-neutral signature
- Wide soundstage
- Unique opened-back design
- Light weight
- Aesthetically good looking stock cable
- Laid-back and sibilance free
- Well-cooked bass quantity
Cons:
- Not suitable for noisy environment usage due to opened-back design
- Environment noise will leak in
- Slightly lacking in highs extensions
- Not for bass-head
- Not for stage performing monitoring
Sound Quality
Overall, this IEM is having a warm-neutral signature with unique opened-back design that enhances the perceived soundstage wideness. As it is nearing neutral kind of tuning, the tonality here is actually nearing perfect, with slight bass boost. The SPD 2.0 drivers, which is the revised SPD version from Celest Gumiho, is a new noble drivers type, and it is my first time listening to such unique drivers.
Bass
The bass shelf here is slightly boosted, and it is well-cooked kind of bass tuning. The sub-bass is tight and tactile to listen to. The bass here is quite fluid sounding, thanks to the opened-back design that allowed the rear part of the drivers to “breath-in” more airs, I guess?? The kickdrum and bass guitar are well separated and could be easily distinguished. Sub-bass here did having slight presence than mid-bass. Mid-bass here is not entirely lean sounding like some completely flatten bass response tuning IEMs, there are still some fun warmth mid-bass. Bass bleeding is kept minimal, but not cold analytical kind, as the bass regions are still consider quite fun to listen to, but not bass-head level kind of fun bass.
Mids
There is no recession detected throughout the whole mids region, if not, the mid-bass warmth did colored up slightly the mids, bringing some warmth to the lower mids. The upper mids region did having slightly more boosted than neutral, where some highs sensitive folks might find it slightly harsh sounding, but for analytical head and treblehead, it will be a big plus to them. The male vocal is natural sounding, quite full-bodied sounding. Female vocal here is crystal clear sounding and also sibilance free, thanks to the dip in 3kHz - 6kHz region. Instrumental here is neither dull nor too bright sounding, slightly hiding behind the vocals. The dip in 3kHz - 6kHz did effectively removed sibilance from vocals, however, it did takes away some instrumental biteness too, where treblehead and analytical head might find themselves wanting more biteness from instrument such as electric guitar, acoustic guitar etc. Don’t get me wrong, the instrumental are not blunted sounding, but smoothed sounding, and free from fake-details, and it is tuned towards neutral kind of upper mids.
Highs
As mentioned above, Pandamon is tuned towards neutral kind of highs, where it is indeed free from fake details, but my analytical head side did find that, the highs are slightly lacking in extensions. Percussive highs such as hi-hats, cymbals etc. are doing a supporting role within the mix, not in-the-face/upfront, but stays gently behind the vocalist. Treblehead might find themselves needing more airs from Pandamon. Treblehead might not be pleased by such tunings, however, it will be a perfect suite for folks that like smoothed & relaxed kind of highs presentation, if not, neutral-head might be also appreciating the uncolored neutral tuning approach from Pandamon.
Tonality
As Pandamon is tuned towards neutral-warmth signature, the tonality here is quite natural sounding, free from weirdness, if not, the slightly boosted in upper mids might be slightly harsh sounding for certain folks.
Technicalities
As it is opened-back design, the soundstage here is really quite huge sounding, especially the left and right perceived wideness. Normally, a huge soundstage IEM might suffer from layerings and instrument separations, however, it is not the case in Pandamon. Thanks to the decent transient speed of the SPD 2.0 drivers, the instrument separations ability is still decent.
Conclusion
Do you need to try out the newly released noble SPD 2.0 drivers from Celest? Do you curious about how will an opened-back IEM sounds like? Or do you want to try out some near neutrally tuned IEM with slight warmth at the lows? Who is this IEM for? Let me answer your doubt, it is meant for folks that appreciate balance sounding tuning signatures, and sucker for wide soundstage. The opened-back design, it is not good for those that wanting to isolate themselves and enjoy their music quietly, but then, environment noise did leaks into the ears. Or shall we take it as a good “Ambient mode” feature? So ya, if you want to stay aware when using an IEM, Celest Pandamon is a good choice too. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the chance to try out Celest Gumiho, and really unsure how well of the revised SPD 2.0 progressed from the first version, but then, I do hope that, Celest could keep on working hard on improving the SPD drivers, as there are still more room for improvement. Nevertheless, I do like the Celest Pandamon, and I do think that, Celest is doing a good job in researching and producing such unique sounding IEM.
Disclaimer!
This unit was sent by @Kinera. However, they didn’t paid me for any written reviews. I will try my best to review this unit without any bias. Please bear with me that I’m not a professional sound engineer or musician, but I’m just a self-learnt guitarist & vocalist, who do composed my own original music and also self-learnt some mixing & mastering techniques. I am a neutral-head, analytical-head and also liking balanced sounding tunings. And also, I’m using iFi Hip DAC pairing for the whole listening impressions. Please take my reviews as grain of salts.
Pros:
- Warm-neutral signature
- Wide soundstage
- Unique opened-back design
- Light weight
- Aesthetically good looking stock cable
- Laid-back and sibilance free
- Well-cooked bass quantity
Cons:
- Not suitable for noisy environment usage due to opened-back design
- Environment noise will leak in
- Slightly lacking in highs extensions
- Not for bass-head
- Not for stage performing monitoring
Sound Quality
Overall, this IEM is having a warm-neutral signature with unique opened-back design that enhances the perceived soundstage wideness. As it is nearing neutral kind of tuning, the tonality here is actually nearing perfect, with slight bass boost. The SPD 2.0 drivers, which is the revised SPD version from Celest Gumiho, is a new noble drivers type, and it is my first time listening to such unique drivers.
Bass
The bass shelf here is slightly boosted, and it is well-cooked kind of bass tuning. The sub-bass is tight and tactile to listen to. The bass here is quite fluid sounding, thanks to the opened-back design that allowed the rear part of the drivers to “breath-in” more airs, I guess?? The kickdrum and bass guitar are well separated and could be easily distinguished. Sub-bass here did having slight presence than mid-bass. Mid-bass here is not entirely lean sounding like some completely flatten bass response tuning IEMs, there are still some fun warmth mid-bass. Bass bleeding is kept minimal, but not cold analytical kind, as the bass regions are still consider quite fun to listen to, but not bass-head level kind of fun bass.
Mids
There is no recession detected throughout the whole mids region, if not, the mid-bass warmth did colored up slightly the mids, bringing some warmth to the lower mids. The upper mids region did having slightly more boosted than neutral, where some highs sensitive folks might find it slightly harsh sounding, but for analytical head and treblehead, it will be a big plus to them. The male vocal is natural sounding, quite full-bodied sounding. Female vocal here is crystal clear sounding and also sibilance free, thanks to the dip in 3kHz - 6kHz region. Instrumental here is neither dull nor too bright sounding, slightly hiding behind the vocals. The dip in 3kHz - 6kHz did effectively removed sibilance from vocals, however, it did takes away some instrumental biteness too, where treblehead and analytical head might find themselves wanting more biteness from instrument such as electric guitar, acoustic guitar etc. Don’t get me wrong, the instrumental are not blunted sounding, but smoothed sounding, and free from fake-details, and it is tuned towards neutral kind of upper mids.
Highs
As mentioned above, Pandamon is tuned towards neutral kind of highs, where it is indeed free from fake details, but my analytical head side did find that, the highs are slightly lacking in extensions. Percussive highs such as hi-hats, cymbals etc. are doing a supporting role within the mix, not in-the-face/upfront, but stays gently behind the vocalist. Treblehead might find themselves needing more airs from Pandamon. Treblehead might not be pleased by such tunings, however, it will be a perfect suite for folks that like smoothed & relaxed kind of highs presentation, if not, neutral-head might be also appreciating the uncolored neutral tuning approach from Pandamon.
Tonality
As Pandamon is tuned towards neutral-warmth signature, the tonality here is quite natural sounding, free from weirdness, if not, the slightly boosted in upper mids might be slightly harsh sounding for certain folks.
Technicalities
As it is opened-back design, the soundstage here is really quite huge sounding, especially the left and right perceived wideness. Normally, a huge soundstage IEM might suffer from layerings and instrument separations, however, it is not the case in Pandamon. Thanks to the decent transient speed of the SPD 2.0 drivers, the instrument separations ability is still decent.
Conclusion
Do you need to try out the newly released noble SPD 2.0 drivers from Celest? Do you curious about how will an opened-back IEM sounds like? Or do you want to try out some near neutrally tuned IEM with slight warmth at the lows? Who is this IEM for? Let me answer your doubt, it is meant for folks that appreciate balance sounding tuning signatures, and sucker for wide soundstage. The opened-back design, it is not good for those that wanting to isolate themselves and enjoy their music quietly, but then, environment noise did leaks into the ears. Or shall we take it as a good “Ambient mode” feature? So ya, if you want to stay aware when using an IEM, Celest Pandamon is a good choice too. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the chance to try out Celest Gumiho, and really unsure how well of the revised SPD 2.0 progressed from the first version, but then, I do hope that, Celest could keep on working hard on improving the SPD drivers, as there are still more room for improvement. Nevertheless, I do like the Celest Pandamon, and I do think that, Celest is doing a good job in researching and producing such unique sounding IEM.
KBEar Little Q
Disclaimer!
This unit was sent by @Keephifi. However, they didn’t paid me for any written reviews. I will try my best to review this unit without any bias. Please bear with me that I’m not a professional sound engineer or musician, but I’m just a self-learnt guitarist & vocalist, who do composed my own original music and also self-learnt some mixing & mastering techniques. I am a neutral-head, analytical-head and also liking balanced sounding tunings. And also, I’m using an audio interface named Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen (a kind of DAC/Amp???) pairing for the whole listening impressions. Please take my reviews as grain of salts.
Sound Quality
Overall, KBEar Little Q is actually a V-shaped tuning IEM skewed towards warm bass. I personally find that the stock eartips are kind of too safe in the highs area, and I had swapped the eartips to Tri Clarion eartips S size, with slightly deeper than normal insertion depth. This results in overall sound quality improvement, especially it does opening up the highs and also slightly improved the soundstage too. Therefore, the following review about KBEar Little Q will be purely based on pairing with Tri Clarion eartips.
Bass
The bass here is definitely boosted, bass-head will be liking this amount of bass-shelf. But don’t get me wrong, despite having such quantity of bass, the bass quality here is still well-controlled, with slight bleeding into mids.If not, some user who preferred clean bass might find it muffled, as the drivers speed here is not too fast. The sub-bass region here is very satisfying fun kind of feeling. I find that, KBEar Little Q is actually good for bass guitar monitoring, the bass lines could be easily heard. The bass here is really fun and boomy kind of bass, therefore, bass allergic users should really avoid it, but if you enjoy bass, this will be a good head banging set. Besides that, Little Q is also a good set for movie enjoyment as I find that, the bass here do somewhat reminds me of those kind of “cinematic bass” where explosion kind of sound will be very pulsating!
Mids
Due to boosted in bass-shelf, the lower mids here are warm sounding, having full-bodied note weight. Just like other V-shaped IEMs, the vocals here are having slight recession, but with Tri Clarion eartips, it tightened the bass and also bring up some highs, causing vocals to be not as recessed. Male vocals are full-bodied, warmth and soothing. Female vocals are safe from sibilance, which is good for users that dislike harsh/shouting sounding upper mids. However, treble-head might be wanting more “airs” from those regions. For instrumental mids, electric guitars and acoustic guitars do slightly lacking in those upper harmonics regions, or in a more simple term, the tails part of the acoustic and electric guitars, where as a self-learnt electric guitarist myself, I find myself wanting more bites from electric guitars, but don’t get me wrong, it is not dull sounding at all, and also, as mentioned, Little Q is a good set for bass guitar monitoring, but might not be a perfect pair for electric guitar monitoring? I guess? The palm muting and power chords in electric guitar will be having satisfying note weight and full bodied sounding. Overall, the mids here is tuned towards relax, chill kind of listening.
Highs
As an analytical-head myself, I find that, the upper highs extension are slightly lacking, but not to say that it is dull. To me, it is really a kind of well-cooked highs tuning, not harsh, and also not dull. But possible that, with stock eartips, it might be slightly dull sounding. The highs are not grainy and not splashy and quite well-refined, which is quite surprising especially when it is priced at such price tag. Users will not be pierced by those percussive highs, such as hi-hats, cymbals, ride, etc. There are still some micro-details, however, it is not as presence as some analytical set, as Little Q is actually tuned for relax and casual listening. However, if really needing some more highs from Little Q, do try out some wide-bore eartips to open up those lively highs.
Tonality
The tonality here is actually very organic sounding, with slightly more bass presence than mids and highs. Everything sounded quite natural sounding, no weirdness. If the bass could be tightened a bit more, Little Q will be a good budget balanced sounding set.
Technicalities
Soundstage here is just decent or average. Imaging, instrument separation and layerings are just average. Transient speed here is also not that speedy but good enough to space-out instrument within a song. Overall, KBEar Little Q is having decent technicalities, being limited by the cost-effective driver materials.
Conclusion
KBEar Little Q is a good relaxing casual listening warm V-shaped tuning set. It could be a budget set for bass guitar monitoring too. Bass-head will find a lot of pleasure from this set. Highs sensitive crowds might be liking this kind of safe tunings too. Overall, Little Q is a good budget entry recommended set.
Comparison
KBEar Dumplings:
Design wise, KBEar Dumplings are very different compare to Little Q, however, both are using the same type of DD drivers??? (Correct me if I’m wrong) KBEar Dumplings did not have nozzle flanges on the earphone nozzles, which is kind of hard to find a perfect fitting replacement after market eartips. The DD drivers in KBEar Dumplings did located at the most outer or nearer to the ear canals, which is kind of unique DD drivers location, as it will somewhat introduced a deeper insertion kind of sound projections, but it can be done with swallow insertion depth??? So, those who curious about deep insertion sound projections but afraid to try out deep insertion, maybe (???) KBEar Dumplings will be a good budget choice to try it out???? By the way, Dumplings did sit inside my ear canals deeper compared to Little Q.
Actually, both KBEar Dumplings and KBEar Little Q are having surprisingly quite similar kind of listening experience, both having tasteful fun bass and also no harsh in highs. When I check the measured frequency response graphs of both IEMs, the bass-shelf are really similarly boosted. I find that, KBEar Dumplings having slightly more treble presence compared to KBEar Little Q. The bass in Dumplings are having more control and tighter than Little Q. Bass in Little Q is having warmer kind of ambient compare to Dumplings. So, those who prefer more highs in their music could choose KBEar Dumplings and also, for those who sensitive to highs, KBEar Little Q will better choice.
Despite having similar drivers and sort of similar bass-shelf shown in the frequency response graph, the bass in Dumplings did somewhat sounded more tight than Little Q. I’m guessing that it might due to the slightly deeper DD drivers location of KBEar Dumplings, which somewhat reduces the sound dispersion inside the ear canals, and projecting a more focused kind of sound projections (???), but it is really an interesting differences.
IEM Links (These are not affiliated links):
KBear Little Q:
https://keephifi.com/products/kbear-little-q
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804719301602.html
Disclaimer!
This unit was sent by @Keephifi. However, they didn’t paid me for any written reviews. I will try my best to review this unit without any bias. Please bear with me that I’m not a professional sound engineer or musician, but I’m just a self-learnt guitarist & vocalist, who do composed my own original music and also self-learnt some mixing & mastering techniques. I am a neutral-head, analytical-head and also liking balanced sounding tunings. And also, I’m using an audio interface named Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen (a kind of DAC/Amp???) pairing for the whole listening impressions. Please take my reviews as grain of salts.
Sound Quality
Overall, KBEar Little Q is actually a V-shaped tuning IEM skewed towards warm bass. I personally find that the stock eartips are kind of too safe in the highs area, and I had swapped the eartips to Tri Clarion eartips S size, with slightly deeper than normal insertion depth. This results in overall sound quality improvement, especially it does opening up the highs and also slightly improved the soundstage too. Therefore, the following review about KBEar Little Q will be purely based on pairing with Tri Clarion eartips.
Bass
The bass here is definitely boosted, bass-head will be liking this amount of bass-shelf. But don’t get me wrong, despite having such quantity of bass, the bass quality here is still well-controlled, with slight bleeding into mids.If not, some user who preferred clean bass might find it muffled, as the drivers speed here is not too fast. The sub-bass region here is very satisfying fun kind of feeling. I find that, KBEar Little Q is actually good for bass guitar monitoring, the bass lines could be easily heard. The bass here is really fun and boomy kind of bass, therefore, bass allergic users should really avoid it, but if you enjoy bass, this will be a good head banging set. Besides that, Little Q is also a good set for movie enjoyment as I find that, the bass here do somewhat reminds me of those kind of “cinematic bass” where explosion kind of sound will be very pulsating!
Mids
Due to boosted in bass-shelf, the lower mids here are warm sounding, having full-bodied note weight. Just like other V-shaped IEMs, the vocals here are having slight recession, but with Tri Clarion eartips, it tightened the bass and also bring up some highs, causing vocals to be not as recessed. Male vocals are full-bodied, warmth and soothing. Female vocals are safe from sibilance, which is good for users that dislike harsh/shouting sounding upper mids. However, treble-head might be wanting more “airs” from those regions. For instrumental mids, electric guitars and acoustic guitars do slightly lacking in those upper harmonics regions, or in a more simple term, the tails part of the acoustic and electric guitars, where as a self-learnt electric guitarist myself, I find myself wanting more bites from electric guitars, but don’t get me wrong, it is not dull sounding at all, and also, as mentioned, Little Q is a good set for bass guitar monitoring, but might not be a perfect pair for electric guitar monitoring? I guess? The palm muting and power chords in electric guitar will be having satisfying note weight and full bodied sounding. Overall, the mids here is tuned towards relax, chill kind of listening.
Highs
As an analytical-head myself, I find that, the upper highs extension are slightly lacking, but not to say that it is dull. To me, it is really a kind of well-cooked highs tuning, not harsh, and also not dull. But possible that, with stock eartips, it might be slightly dull sounding. The highs are not grainy and not splashy and quite well-refined, which is quite surprising especially when it is priced at such price tag. Users will not be pierced by those percussive highs, such as hi-hats, cymbals, ride, etc. There are still some micro-details, however, it is not as presence as some analytical set, as Little Q is actually tuned for relax and casual listening. However, if really needing some more highs from Little Q, do try out some wide-bore eartips to open up those lively highs.
Tonality
The tonality here is actually very organic sounding, with slightly more bass presence than mids and highs. Everything sounded quite natural sounding, no weirdness. If the bass could be tightened a bit more, Little Q will be a good budget balanced sounding set.
Technicalities
Soundstage here is just decent or average. Imaging, instrument separation and layerings are just average. Transient speed here is also not that speedy but good enough to space-out instrument within a song. Overall, KBEar Little Q is having decent technicalities, being limited by the cost-effective driver materials.
Conclusion
KBEar Little Q is a good relaxing casual listening warm V-shaped tuning set. It could be a budget set for bass guitar monitoring too. Bass-head will find a lot of pleasure from this set. Highs sensitive crowds might be liking this kind of safe tunings too. Overall, Little Q is a good budget entry recommended set.
Comparison
KBEar Dumplings:
Design wise, KBEar Dumplings are very different compare to Little Q, however, both are using the same type of DD drivers??? (Correct me if I’m wrong) KBEar Dumplings did not have nozzle flanges on the earphone nozzles, which is kind of hard to find a perfect fitting replacement after market eartips. The DD drivers in KBEar Dumplings did located at the most outer or nearer to the ear canals, which is kind of unique DD drivers location, as it will somewhat introduced a deeper insertion kind of sound projections, but it can be done with swallow insertion depth??? So, those who curious about deep insertion sound projections but afraid to try out deep insertion, maybe (???) KBEar Dumplings will be a good budget choice to try it out???? By the way, Dumplings did sit inside my ear canals deeper compared to Little Q.
Actually, both KBEar Dumplings and KBEar Little Q are having surprisingly quite similar kind of listening experience, both having tasteful fun bass and also no harsh in highs. When I check the measured frequency response graphs of both IEMs, the bass-shelf are really similarly boosted. I find that, KBEar Dumplings having slightly more treble presence compared to KBEar Little Q. The bass in Dumplings are having more control and tighter than Little Q. Bass in Little Q is having warmer kind of ambient compare to Dumplings. So, those who prefer more highs in their music could choose KBEar Dumplings and also, for those who sensitive to highs, KBEar Little Q will better choice.
Despite having similar drivers and sort of similar bass-shelf shown in the frequency response graph, the bass in Dumplings did somewhat sounded more tight than Little Q. I’m guessing that it might due to the slightly deeper DD drivers location of KBEar Dumplings, which somewhat reduces the sound dispersion inside the ear canals, and projecting a more focused kind of sound projections (???), but it is really an interesting differences.
IEM Links (These are not affiliated links):
KBear Little Q:
https://keephifi.com/products/kbear-little-q
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804719301602.html
KBEar Rosefinch
Disclaimer!
This unit was sent by @Keephifi. However, they didn’t paid me for any written reviews. I will try my best to review this unit without any bias. Please bear with me that I’m not a professional sound engineer or musician, but I’m just a self-learnt guitarist & vocalist, who do composed my own original music and also self-learnt some mixing & mastering techniques. I am a neutral-head, analytical-head and also liking balanced sounding tunings. And also, I’m using an audio interface named Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen (a kind of DAC/Amp???) pairing for the whole listening impressions. Please take my reviews as grain of salts.
Sound Quality
This unit was sent by @Keephifi. However, they didn’t paid me for any written reviews. I will try my best to review this unit without any bias. Please bear with me that I’m not a professional sound engineer or musician, but I’m just a self-learnt guitarist & vocalist, who do composed my own original music and also self-learnt some mixing & mastering techniques. I am a neutral-head, analytical-head and also liking balanced sounding tunings. And also, I’m using an audio interface named Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen (a kind of DAC/Amp???) pairing for the whole listening impressions. Please take my reviews as grain of salts.
Overall, this IEM is a bass-head kind of warm V-shaped tuning signature. I find that, with stock eartips, Rosefinch is kind of dark sounding. Therefore, I had swap the eartips to Tri Clarion S size eartips. I find that Tri Clarion eartips are good for taming down some bass quantity and also bringing up some highs that KBEar Rosefinch lacks. This is a good set for monitoring bass guitar. Bass-head will be having great pleasure with this IEM.
Bass
Bass
The bass shelf here is definitely boosted. It is fun and full-bodied, and also quite deep and dark kind of bass, and the sub-bass did extend quite low too. Rosefinch could be a good head banging set for bass lovers, so bass allergic users should really look elsewhere. Despite being boosted in bass, the bass quality is surprisingly good as it is tight and decently speedy, which does not muffled up mids that much, however, the warmth from mid-bass did bleed into mids. The bass guitar here is really emotional. The bass lines are easily heard and very profound, just like listening to live band at small venue. Rosefinch will actually be a good set for bass guitar monitoring. If the listener wanting to try out the feeling of being soothed up by bass frequencies, Rosefinch will really bring such pleasure, as the bass reverbs are really good for a slow romantic jazz music enjoying.
Mids
Bass boosted, mids muffled up, recessed mids???? Erm, not exactly what you guessed. The warmth from the bass did slightly bleed into the mids, but then, thanks to the decently speedy DD drivers, the bass is still tight sounding, which does not mud up the mids that much. Bear in mind, I am using Tri Clarion eartips on Rosefinch, therefore, the mids are slightly open up and less recess sounding. Male vocals do having full-bodied note weight. Female vocals here do having well-cooked kind of sweetness, if not, treble-head might find that it is lacking in the “airs” presence. No shoutiness, no sibilance, safe from harshness. As a self-learnt guitarist myself, I find that electric guitars and acoustic guitars did slightly lacking in the upper harmonics region. Due to good presence in the lower mids, palm muting, power chords in electric guitars are huge sounding, which is very enjoyable, especially when listening to rock tracks.
Highs
Highs here are slightly recessed, and safe-tuning. However, in stock eartips form, the highs are really dark and somewhat too safe and dull sounding. Therefore, it is really recommended to use wide bore eartips to fix such issues. Percussive highs such as cymbals, hi-hats, rides etc. are just gently ringing wiithout pierces. There is no graininess and splashiness in the highs regions. Treble-head might wanting more airs from Rosefinch, as the treble are not that extended towards the most right side of the frequency response graph. Overall, the highs are aim towards relaxing, chilling and casual kind of fun listening experience.
Tonality
If the bass shelf of KBEar Rosefinch can be tamed down abit more, I believe this IEM will be a good balanced sounding set. There is not weirdness in tonality, except the bass here is really quite upfront compared to mids and highs. Just imagine that kind of bass sound impression when listening to jazz live band in a pub. Definitely warm sounding v-shaped tuning signature.
Technicalities
Actually, KBEar Rosefinch did having quite a decently capable DD drivers. The transient speed of such DD is decently fast. Soundstage here is quite wide sounding, possible slightly above average kind of soundstage presentation. Instrument separation, imaging and layering are just decent, as this set is meant for casual/relaxing listening. Analytical head will really need to look elsewhere.
Conclusion
KBEar Rosefinch is a V-shaped tuning IEM with huge bass-shelf. Or I shall state that, it is a warm V-shaped IEM??? Bass guitar player will be liking it for stage monitoring. (I guess?) Liking pub live band kind of feeling and also wanting to get soothed up by bass reverbs? Here you go, KBEar Rosefinch will give you these pleasures. Analytical head and bass allergic user should really avoid this set, as the bass here will really bring headaches to you guys, if not, bass-head will be head banging with this set.
IEM Links (These are not affiliated links):
https://keephifi.com/products/kbear-rosefinch
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804518211849.html
Mids
Bass boosted, mids muffled up, recessed mids???? Erm, not exactly what you guessed. The warmth from the bass did slightly bleed into the mids, but then, thanks to the decently speedy DD drivers, the bass is still tight sounding, which does not mud up the mids that much. Bear in mind, I am using Tri Clarion eartips on Rosefinch, therefore, the mids are slightly open up and less recess sounding. Male vocals do having full-bodied note weight. Female vocals here do having well-cooked kind of sweetness, if not, treble-head might find that it is lacking in the “airs” presence. No shoutiness, no sibilance, safe from harshness. As a self-learnt guitarist myself, I find that electric guitars and acoustic guitars did slightly lacking in the upper harmonics region. Due to good presence in the lower mids, palm muting, power chords in electric guitars are huge sounding, which is very enjoyable, especially when listening to rock tracks.
Highs
Highs here are slightly recessed, and safe-tuning. However, in stock eartips form, the highs are really dark and somewhat too safe and dull sounding. Therefore, it is really recommended to use wide bore eartips to fix such issues. Percussive highs such as cymbals, hi-hats, rides etc. are just gently ringing wiithout pierces. There is no graininess and splashiness in the highs regions. Treble-head might wanting more airs from Rosefinch, as the treble are not that extended towards the most right side of the frequency response graph. Overall, the highs are aim towards relaxing, chilling and casual kind of fun listening experience.
Tonality
If the bass shelf of KBEar Rosefinch can be tamed down abit more, I believe this IEM will be a good balanced sounding set. There is not weirdness in tonality, except the bass here is really quite upfront compared to mids and highs. Just imagine that kind of bass sound impression when listening to jazz live band in a pub. Definitely warm sounding v-shaped tuning signature.
Technicalities
Actually, KBEar Rosefinch did having quite a decently capable DD drivers. The transient speed of such DD is decently fast. Soundstage here is quite wide sounding, possible slightly above average kind of soundstage presentation. Instrument separation, imaging and layering are just decent, as this set is meant for casual/relaxing listening. Analytical head will really need to look elsewhere.
Conclusion
KBEar Rosefinch is a V-shaped tuning IEM with huge bass-shelf. Or I shall state that, it is a warm V-shaped IEM??? Bass guitar player will be liking it for stage monitoring. (I guess?) Liking pub live band kind of feeling and also wanting to get soothed up by bass reverbs? Here you go, KBEar Rosefinch will give you these pleasures. Analytical head and bass allergic user should really avoid this set, as the bass here will really bring headaches to you guys, if not, bass-head will be head banging with this set.
IEM Links (These are not affiliated links):
https://keephifi.com/products/kbear-rosefinch
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804518211849.html
L
LikeHolborn
whats like it but better/more accurate? (not dull nor sibilant at all)
Build & Fitting:
This is a budget category IEM, with fixed cable, simple & small shell. All good and decently built. Despite being in the budget price tag, KBEar Dumplings actually having quite a unique design, where the 6mm DD drivers actually located near end of the nozzle, probably just few millimetre away from the nozzle filters. Talking about the nozzle, there is no flange, and the nozzle diameter is larger then normal IEM. When plugging it into the ear canals, actually, half of the IEM shell do sit inside the ear canals, don’t get me wrong, the fittings are actually quite comfortable, still the general kind of shallow insertion depth.
Sound:
I would say, this IEM is quite fun to listen to, not for analytical kind of listening, it will be quite good for relax listening. The tuning signature is actually quite balanced sounding, with some boost in bass, quite U-shaped kind of signature. The tonality is actually quite correct to my ears, no weirdness. Technicalities might be a big surprise to some, especially in such price range.
Bass:
The bass is obviously boosted. The bass quantity is actually quite fun sounding. Bass quality is actually quite decent, and also quite controlled kind of bass. No muffling into mids, if not, some might perceive it as bass having slight bleeding into mids. Mostly the bass is mid-bass kind of emphasized. I’m not a basshead, and I would say that, this kind of bass quantity & quality are quite tastefully tuned.
Mids:
Despite being tuned as a U-shaped signature, the mids are neither recess nor forward sounding. Vocals are quite intimate sounding, male vocals do sound alright, nothing weird, good tonal balance. Female vocals will be quite sweet sounding. Electric guitars are having enough bites. I would say, this kind of upper mids will be well-cooked kind, controlled, sibilance-free, where some treblehead might needing more from those airs region. Overall, the mids are quite relax kind of safe tuning.
Highs:
The highs here are well-cooked kind too, not too much, not too little. Cymbals, hi-hats wouldn’t crash the listener’s ears, not recess too, quite neutral sounding. I would say, the treble actually having quite good extension too, especially in such budget price tag. Some treblehead might find it dark sounding, especially when the highs actually kind of needing to fight with the boosted lows, thankfully, the bass are actually controlled and didn’t muffled up mids that much, and also having decent tightness and transient speed.
Separation, Soundstage & Layering:
This 6mm DD drivers with unique shell design and near nozzle drivers location, no doubt, the soundstage will be slightly different and unique sounding to our ears. The instrument separation and layering ability actually are surprisingly good. I would say it is above average kind of technicalities.
Conclusion:
I can see that, this IEM actually will be having good attention from audiophile community, due to the unique design, correct tonality, and decent or above average kind of technicalities.
