Review: Ostry KC06A
 
Updated 04/07/2016
 

 
 
Expected Sound signature
 
Neutral sound with a slightly emphasised lower bass. (I don’t listen to any electronic genres)
 
About this review
 
It's not a highly detailed long review. I will try to state all the important facts without any coloration. 
 
Introduction
 
I was away from my country for 7 weeks, and I had no headphone with me. I just had my Fiio X3 and Sony earbuds which came with my smartphone, and that was the time for me to get my first IEM. So I went to a headphone store and demoed,
 
Ostry KC06A
Shure SE215
Soundmagic iems including E10(I don’t know the others)
 
and I bought Ostry KC06A.
 
Packaging and Accessories 
 

 
 
It comes with 7 pairs of ear tips (3 pairs- broad opening tips, 3 pairs- narrow opening tips, 1 small pair with a filter ), Ear guides, Cloth bag, shirt clip and some paperwork. Ear tips with filters are too small for me. So it's useless to me. They should include 3 pairs. I would love to have a hard carry case for this, because cloth bag doesn’t provide any impact protection. But it protects iem from dust and scratching.
 
Fit and Isolation
 

 
 
 I really like the ear guides, they fit on my ears comfortably. I use largest eartips with broard opening (I always use the largest tip to get highest possible isolation). The tips are made of soft rubber (the tips in my sony’s are harder). Therefore KC06A provides less isolation than my sony’s. Since I don’t have much experience with iems, I can’t comment on the general isolation compared to average iems. 
 
Demo
 
Soundmagic : Ostry’s clarity is noticeably better than soundmagics. And soundmagic’s bass is a bit boomy for my taste.
 
I demoed Vsonic VSD3/S, but I didn’t pay much interest on those because of the negative reviews it had on it’s built quality (cable). 
 
Shure SE215 : Ostry and Shure were my final choices. I compared them carefully. First thing I didn’t like about SE215 is it’s ear guide. I have small ears, so I couldn’t get a proper fit. But I really like the built quality of SE215. It is built very well. Ostry’s built quality is poor compared to SE215. Now the sound>> se215 has a slightly darker sound overall, and that’s because of it’s treble. Treble is slightly reduced in se215. Ostry has more treble; a bit more. Ostry has a solid detailed bass while se215 has a thick bass. As a result Ostry gives more weight to the music while keeping it more balanced. SE215 sounds muddy in comparison. Ostry is clearly better than se215 in resolution, and it has much more detail in upper range compared to se215. Therefore Ostry sounds more balanced and detailed compared to se215.
 
Sound Quality and Comparisons
 
Now I’m home. So I can compare Ostry KC06A to my full size headphones (because I don’t have any IEMs ) such as AKG Q701 and Sennheiser HD600 ( +Schiit Vali/Modi).
 
AKG Q701
 
Here I’m comparing only the sound signature. 
 
Q701 is definitely brighter sounding compared to KC06A. Due to lower treble emphasis on Q701, it sounds splashy compared to KC06A. On the other hand Ostry’s treble is very smooth and slightly reduced. The treble detail is bit low and I'm missing the hi-hats.  Compared to the bass quality, treble is less focused here. I feel like it could be more refined as bass. Q701 has more treble detail which I enjoy a lot. Bass is defined superbly in Ostry, but not overly emphasised or boomy. But still if you are looking for a neutral sound, this may not be it.  KC06A has noticeably more lower bass compared to Q701, only a bit more. It gives more weight to the music. Q701’s mid bass is slightly elevated and then rolling-off towards lower bass. As a result Q701’s bass sounds dry. But not in KC06A. The lower bass is slightly emphasised in Ostry, giving it a more smooth-warm sound. Overall, Q701 has better. But KC06A has a smooth sound with a solid bass compared to Q701. 
Mids are reduced compared to Q701. 
Note: Keep in mind that the Q701 is clearly superior when we consider the sound stage and instrument separation.
 
Sennheiser HD600
 
Ostry sound is noticeably darker here. HD600 has more mid-bass than Ostry, although Ostry has more lower bass in comparison. Therefore HD600 is more enjoyable with a bit of bass-kick. HD600 has more balanced sound, while Ostry sounds darker(it’s noticeable, but I get use to it after a minute of listening). KC06A's sound leans towards HD600 more than Q701.(It’s really hard to compare this with HD600, since I can’t get HD600 off my head when I put it on to compare lol.. )
 
Soundstage 
 
I was surprised by the soundstage of this IEM (It's my first IEM). Having used to Q701 and HD600 this is still enjoyable without a doubt. But I'm unable to comment regarding average IEMs in comparison.
 
Sensitivity 
 
Ostry KC06A is a very sensitive/efficient IEM. I compared the volume levels using Fiio X3 ( Gain setting->Hi ), with each Headphone as follows. 
Note: This would not be highly accurate,  because it is really hard to match volume levels on IEM vs Open-back HP.
 
KC06A       -14
HD600       -47
Q701         -40
 
Things I don’t like about Ostry KC06A
 

 
 
This is mainly about the built quality. I don’t really expect it up to the level of SE215. KC06A comes with a straight plug (which I don’t like), and the strain relief is really weak. I’m not asking for a military grade construction like in SE215, but Ostry please use a better strain relief in your next model and include a hard carry case ( like Havi ). Y splitter seems to be okay for the moment. I am really concerned about the strain relief on the straight plug. I always pay attention to that when handling.

 
 
 
Verdict
 
Ostry KC06A  has a fairly neutral (warm-neutral) sound with a clean, solid bass. It’s not for bassheads by any means. Treble is smooth(slightly reduced) with good amount of detail. Mid-range sounds natural with a hint of warmth.
 
Is it the best IEM to buy under $60 ? I really don’t know. But it’s one of the best indeed. Because, it can easily out perform (in SQ) some higher priced IEMs like SE215. I am more than happy with my purchase.
                    Happy listening! 
 
 
 
 
 

I've been looking for an amp to pair with my AKG Q701, and Vali was highly recommended by the users.Now I know why....Before vali,I was using Fiio e12/X3 combo.(yeah I know it's portable)
 
Fiio e12 and X3
 
There was a noticeable improvement this combo over my smart phone's hp-out.The sound stage got bigger, and the music was slightly realistic sounding.I used e12/x3 over six months, and it was time to upgrade!!!
 
Schiit MODI/VALI
 
 Okay...I got my Schiit package,then I opened it. And my first impression was " Hmm..Smaller than I thought.Instead of pairing my q701 with schiit, I listened for 15mins with Fiio combo. "Then I hooked my AKG Q701 and gave it a listen. Honestly,..I couldn't hear any difference at first.So I gave it a 3hour listen straight.After that I switched back to my Fiio combo, and all the music  was "lifeless" .Soundstage got narrower, overall sound became rough,bass got lightened.So I think that it needed some burn-in time.I gotta say that this amp is fabulous! It's an addictive sound.
 
So vali/modi gave q701 
                                       1.Wider soundstage with a great 3 dimensional realism and instrument separation
                                       2.Smoother sound overall
                                       3.Enhanced bass response
                                       4.Great detail retrieval 
                                       5.smooth treble  
 
Sound signature in vali is neutral.It's a smooth overall presentation.It will work well with even bright headphones imho.
 
 
Microphonics
 
You can hear a ringing sound when you turn it on; plugging a headphone.Although Schiit has said that we would hear it when we move vali or tap on it.But I didn't have any issue in that regard.Ringing will remain for 30 seconds. Sometimes it will appear with out any reason stated above, and it'll be annoying.It won't go away until you turn it off.Yes... that's a bad thing.But don't worry fellas! After playing with it a week, I found a solution for that.This is the most important tip I can give you.Plug your headphone,before you turn on the Vali.
 
I don't have any other headphone to pair with Vali. So this review will be mainly for Q701 owners who are looking for a great sound at a low price.
 
 
 
Conclusion
 
If you're looking for an amp to pair with a Q701, just buy this little beast and enjoy your music.Cheers!