CVJ Angel Wings

Specification:
Impedance: 16Ω
sensitivity: 92dB/mW
Frequency range: 10-40000Hz
Interface: 3.5mm Gilded
Plug Type: L curved
Cable Length: 1.25m±3cm
Earphone interface:0.75mm 2Pin
Drivers: 6mm 1DD and 1BA(30095) x2

CVJ is actually an old company, as I have been doing this for many years, I've seen them go from Shenzhen White hoarse electronics technology a large OEM for great companies like TRN and others to there own breakout brand CVJ.

CVJ tried really hard on this one so I gave it the benefit of the doubt, I must say while I like the original first tries the company has not been a favorite of mine since the CS8, it was the last one I really liked and while the CSA and CSN were okay the rest lately have just been meh to me... not because they are bad per say but just not up to the competitions.
The box are is pretty and the cable and tips are decent but I thing it needs a little better ones to shine.
The angel wings is a well made IEM it looks fantastic love the backplate design being an artist I think it would have been better with an aluminum body in contrast to the dark colorful backplate but it looks very pretty as is.
Comfort is excellent as the shape is that ergonomic guitar pick shape we all know well.
Sound:
Without adequate power these sound much different, I do not recommend using from a mobile device or a dongle DAC .. a good portable like the HIP-DAC, IDSD Signature or xDuoo XD-05 ETC is recommended to achieve optimal sound.
Without proper sound these are just non desirable with a warm kind of odd tonality ,thick Bass and overly smoothed out treble too relaxed and lacking in details mids sound muffled but soundstage is good.

Sound 2:
With proper powering!!
These aren't so bad , that said you have to consider the competition and price.

Bass: both Sub and Mid present with control and good speed this by far can be Equalized to give a bigger boom but remains well balanced and all but the diehard Bass heads should be happy.
Mids: Lower Mids present with warmth but still very clear and neutral with a push forward in the upper Mids details are not the most reviling but adequate with all but the most demanding music tracks , rock and pop work well.
Treble: Terble has detail and energy to a point but that said it comes of lazy and rolls off too soon in my opinion, the highs do not get splashy or tinny so they are good in that point but have a lack of extension treble heads will be disappointed for sure.
Soundstage: Is a redeemer here its nice wide and detailed, good for RPG gaming on the go or media. imaging is decent too but don't expect a lot.

Conclusion:
The Angel Wings is a great looking, well made and comfortable IEM. It is not the end all in details and resolution but offers a safe and fun listening experience without fatigue. over all it is a relaxed and smooth balanced warm kind of signature with Neutralities depending on how much power you put in. I think some will like this but most should pass on it because there are much better earphone out the box at this price.
RIP angel Wings

CVJ Angel Wings


Foreword

• This unit was sent to me my CVJ AliExpress Official Store for review purposes
• I never use EQ on any of my audio gear
• At the point of this writing, my Angel Wings has undergone at least 80 hours of usage and burn in time combined. When not used I let it burn-in continuously with synthetic pink noise. I observed that out of the box this Angel Wings does sound a bit fuzzy (imaging) for the first 30 hours
• As per usual, I rolled a few tips selection from my own collection as my personal preferences will always be either slow rebound foamies or Misodiko Mix460
• While the stock cable is already great, I opted to use my own NICEHCK 4n Pure Silver Litz cable with Angel Wings

The Build
I was rather surprised that this Angel Wings are rated at 92db of sensitivity. That’s even lower than the notoriously hard to drive TIN HiFI P1 (95db) or P1+ (108db). Angel Wings comes with two drivers inside, a DD and BA each side. Made of resin, I am truly impressed with the design and build quality which instill a sense of beauty – the faceplate art piece is a real eye candy in real life.

Wearing the Angel Wings is no different from any other IEMs that came in this form factor, a proven design with normal sized chassis. It is easy to wear and will not induce any unsavory fatigue over time.


Driving Power
As noted above, this Angel Wings comes with 92db of sensitivity! That’s like just 1db more than the hardest to drive headphone I have in my possession, FOSTEX T40RP MK3. True enough when I plugged my Angel Wings directly to Xiaomi Redmi 10, the sound was just anemic and “reserved”. It was usable but simply uninspiring even cranked almost to 100% volume. It is apparent to me that anything below 1 Vrms will not cut it for this Angel Wings – the sound quality will just be at approx. 60% from the true potential.

My Angel Wings finally came alive when paired with Ovidius B1, DACport CEntrance HD and VE RAP5 + Questyle M12. All three of them equally powerful enough to make Angel Wings shine 100% with proper fidelity.

With the pair of Avani and Abigail, the results were better than it was with my direct phone out, but I would say it is just approximately at around 80-90% of Angel Wings true potential. So, to get the best of Angel Wings, it MUST be paired with no less than 2 Vrms of driving power. Works perfectly with 4 Vrms and above.

The following sound impressions were done with at least 2 Vrms of output.

Dynamics, Timbre & Tonality
Angel Wings is a very well-balanced sounding unit. Admirably natural and analogue sounding. Definitely not Euphonic or overly vibrant. The timbre is decidedly organic without any hint of being metallic. While not exactly being Diffused Field Neutral sort of flat, I would even describe Angel Wings as a moderate W curved sounding. Bass, Treble and Mids all being presented evenly with perhaps a bit of hump in the Mids. Tone wise I find Angel Wings to be “safe-tuned” with nothing exceptionally unique to differentiate it from others – akin to the sort of tone I get from TIN HiFi P1 or TForce Yuan Li

Mids
The presentation of Mids is a bit forward, but not too intimate to cause for concerns. In rhyme with the overall timbre characteristics, the Mids are presented smooth and clean. Perhaps lacking a bit of crispness and bite. Vocals wise Angel Wings being largely neutral without any added coloration EXCEPT for female Soprano type of vocals, Alison Krauss for example seems to exhibit a bit of pronounced hump which is close to being nasal. Otherwise, Angel Wings worked perfectly fine with Contralto, Baritone, or any other type of vocals. Realistically great with Diana Krall, Sinne Eeg, Morrissey etc.

Treble
The overall approach for Angel Wings Treble is quite inoffensive. It does not offer any outlandish splashy decays or pronounced brightness. So, there’s no chance for Treble sibilance here. However, this also means the Treble frequency range sounds slightly rolled-off. Angel Wings will not work for Trebleheads or any fan of Beyerdynamic/Grado/Heart Mirror. What it does great, Treble remained realistically believable with ample subtle textures and Macro details. Lacking a bit of Micro details due to limited extensions. With these considerations, Angel Wings does not work well for Classical or anything requiring extended Treble precision. But it does sound amazing with Speed Metal, Black Metal, Rock, Shoegazing, Indie, or highly energetic music. Works great for Jazz too

Bass
I like the Bass presentation of Angel Wings. Very well balanced and articulated once powered properly with at least 2 Vrms of driving power. The balance between Mid-Bass and Sub-Bass is admirably sensible, easy to distinguish. Similar to the Treble, Bass seems to be slightly rolled-off too in the extended region. There’s no over emphasis on Sub-Bass seismic sensations but it is still audibly heard – subtle yet present. So yes, I would say Angel Wings will not work for Bassheads too (or any fans of BLON/KOSS type of Bass). Mid-Bass is fast and very well controlled, never a moment Mid-Bass will attempt to bleed into lower Mids or Sub-Bass region.

Technicalities
For one, I admire the speed of Angel Wings drivers. They are fast enough to handle anything I threw at it. As the songs gets more complex or outright fast paced, Angel Wings remained coherent and steadfast. No compressions or congestions observed.

Imaging and resolution are what I find slightly lacking. While there’s overall clarity, I wish it could be a bit more crisp and more refined. The smoothing of edges serves as a double-edged sword here – for those wanting pronounced sharp imaging then it would probably be underwhelming, for those wanting inoffensive sibilant free presentation, then Angel Wings will be as soothing as it can be. So, it depends on the perception of the listener.

Angel Wings soundstage is wide and spacious, with average depth and resolution. Spatial imaging is holographic enough to instill good sense of dimensional placement of instruments. Angel Wings is free from any boxed-in sense of sound

Much similar to imaging (which actually related to imaging), layers separation is clean enough but not as razor sharp.

Last but not least, details handling of Angel Wings are most notable with Macro details and not so much on Micro. This has a correlation with dynamic extensions on both ends which as per described earlier being slightly rolled-off.

Verdict
All things considered; Angel Wings is an IEM that will shine properly when powered properly. Drive it with anything less than 2 Vrms or 300 mW of juices and it will NOT sound as great as it should be. A manner of speaking, I would not recommend Angel Wings if you don’t have powerful source in hand. What liked the most about this Angel Wings is that how inoffensive the general tuning is, it will even work great with Lo-Fi songs. Angel Wings will appeal the most to those seeking sibilant free IEM which is smooth and usable for long listening sessions.

Disclaimer
I would like to thank Kimberly from Fedai via Amazon.com for supplying this unit for review.
Product link:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B09GXTHNXM?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title
The Angel Wings is priced at $48.99 from Fedai.

CVJ is a relatively new company on the IEM scene and their debut model, the CSA, bucked the trend of the popular V-shaped profile with its neutral/bright tuning. The CS8, CSN and Mirror followed, establishing a "house sound" for the company. They then deviated from this with the ensuing V-shaped CSE and CSK models and now we have their latest dual hybrid, the Angel Wings. It employs a 10mm "Titanium Alloy Composite Dynamic Driver" and the trusty 30095 BA.

The Angel Wings is attractively presented. There is a white slip cover with an outline drawing of an anime type girl with angel's wings and the product name in a brush script. The reverse features a frequency response chart and specifications. Removing the cover reveals a plain black box with a CVJ logo. Inside, the IEMs are displayed in a foam cut-out along with the spare tips and a faux suede pouch with a black CVJ logo. The silver-plated cable with QDC connectors is pre-fitted to the IEMs along with the medium size silicone tips.

The box contains:
* Angel Wings IEMs
* 4-core 4N Silver plated copper cable
* Medium bore silicone tips (S, M, L)
* Faux suede pouch
* Velcro cable tie
* Documentation

The IEMs are formed from black resin and are fairly bulky and there is a vent on the rear surface for the dynamic driver. The faceplates are decorated with a colourful design of iridescent peacock feathers or butterfly wings and the words "CVJ Angel-Wings" in silver. The 2 pin sockets stand proud of the surface. The earpieces seem solid and well made.

The cable is a 4-core silver plated 4N copper type with clear plastic QDC connectors which have channel identification. There is a plastic 90° 3.5mm plug but there is no chin slider which makes it prone to tangling.

The Angel Wings was tested with an Xduoo X20 DAP. A burn in period of 100 hours was carried out. I found the Angel Wings to be power hungry; there was insufficient power via a smartphone and a higher volume setting was needed on my DAP.

First Impressions
Initially, the Angel Wings displayed a warm, gentle sound with a mid-bass emphasis, a pleasant midrange which was not recessed and a soft treble which rolled off with somewhat reduced extension and detail. There was some bass bleed and the soundstage was large and spacious with good imaging. There was the impression of a "vintage" type of sound, reminiscent of vinyl or valve amplifiers and the integration of the two drivers was seamless. After burning in, the bass did tighten up and the tonality became more open. I then added a Topping NX1a amplifier via line out, switched to a KBEAR Limpid Pro pure silver cable, and replaced the stock tips with Spiral Dots. These changes brought significant improvement and this was the configuration used for the review. Once the above changes were made, the lacking treble was largely restored, resulting in a well-balanced profile.

Bass
The Angel Wings displayed a powerful bass with good texture and detail and a warmer than neutral tonality. The focus was on the mid-bass but sub-bass was also present, though the lowest notes were a little rolled off and the profile was fairly linear. The bass did intrude into the lower mids and affected them with some extra warmth.

Aaron Copland's famous "Fanfare for the Common Man" was quite impressive with the bass drum possessing good impact and speed. The decay and reverberation of the skin in the performance by the Eos Orchestra under Jonathan Schaffer came over very convincingly with good timbre and atmosphere.

The character of synth bass, too, was well reproduced. In "Skyland", the opening track from Tony O'Connor's "Windjana", the deep bass drone created a perfect foundation for the didgeridoo, strings and guitar and the texture and power of the bass here was extremely effective.

Nick Mason's percussion in Pink Floyd's "Cluster One" from "The Division Bell" also impressed with good weight and impact and contrasted well with Rick Wright's keyboards and Dave Gilmour's somewhat menacing guitar solo. The bass drum and bass guitar were well separated.

Midrange
The midrange continued in a linear fashion from the bass, carrying with it some warming influence which softened the transients. The timbre was generally pleasant, but this did affect the detail retrieval which was a little blunted. Nevertheless the overall effect was warm, relaxing and musical.

"Spanish Harbour" by Vangelis from "Oceanic" is a good example. It begins with a prominent drum beat and synth chords and a dramatic solo resembling a guitar makes its appearance. This lost just a bit in attack with the "analogue" nature of the tonality reducing the excitement. The percussion also lacked that vital edge, but the wide staging and relaxing warmth was still attractive.

Classical pieces benefited from the excellent soundstage and timbre. Schubert's beautiful String Quintet was suffused in a soft glow and sounded full and rich, but the incisive nature of the playing was slightly softened. Even so, the message of the music was conveyed well through the musicality of the Angel Wings' presentation.

Debussy's "Claire de Lune" received a wonderful performance from Ikuyo Nakamichi. The tonality of the piano in this superb JVC K2 recording was very convincing with the harmonics and decay of the notes authentically realised. It was only in the more percussive passages that a little more attack was wanting to provide some drama and contrast.

Treble
The treble was smooth, natural and free of harshness with no evidence of sibilance. This appeared to result from significant damping of the HF driver and although sounding smooth and gentle, the upper frequencies did lack sparkle and extension. However, there was no trace of a metallic or BA timbre.

The String Sonata No.1 by Rossini is a bright and breezy piece with a strong melody and clever counterpoint. In the version by The Age of Enlightenment Orchestra, the Angel Wings gave a warm and inviting rendition with good separation and the character of the various instruments was presented well, but more urgency and incisiveness would have been welcome to provide an extra bit of colour to the proceedings.

"Hands of Sacred Light" by Patrick Bernard is a track from his "Angel Reiki" album. Delicate zither and harp-like tones populate the stage backed by deep bass drones and warm harmonies. The finest details were discernible but were just a little soft and did not cut through the mix as a more proficient treble response might have done. However, everything was pleasant and mellifluous in keeping with the genre and produced a very relaxing atmosphere.

Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells 2" is a 1992 reworking of the original. In the first track, "Sentinel", the main theme is played on an acoustic guitar, and it then segues into a full production with the delicate high frequency sounds dancing across the stage. There was plenty of detail on offer from the Angel Wings, and although displaying a soft tendency, everything remained clean and clear enabling the complex arrangement to be appreciated. Once more, the performance would have been improved with a little more "bite" in the treble.

Soundstage
The soundstage was perhaps the best feature of the Angel Wings. It was large in all three dimensions and displayed very good imaging, layering and separation. The ambience of recording venues was nicely reproduced, preserving the atmosphere of the piece.

The first movement of Roy Harris's Symphony No. 6 is a broad evocation of the American landscape. In the version by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra under Marin Alsop, the Angel Wings presented the orchestral colour in a sumptuous fashion with the character of the various instruments clearly differentiated. The imaging in this piece was particularly good with each instrument seemingly surrounded by its own space, and the sense of perspective was faithfully reproduced.

Isao Tomita is best known for his "Electronic Realisations" of classical pieces. His interpretation of Bach's famous "Ave Maria" appears on the album "Bach Fantasy". A prominent lead synth voice states the melody, accompanied by electronic arpeggios in the left and right channels. Brass and string samples ensue and fill the stage. The Angel Wings portrayed the whole piece in a spacious manner with the interweaving of the various elements very well handled.

"I Robot" is the title track from the Alan Parsons Project's second album. It begins with vocal samples and a synth sequence in the left channel. This is joined by guitar chords and another sequence in the right channel. More layers are added including male and female choral parts. Percussion then adds a punchy rhythm. The Angel Wings managed to sort all these out and present them in a coherent way. A bright cimbalom solo comes in next and is layered over the top. This was also very effective and the whole gelled together in a musical way.

Comparisons
CCZ Emerald
The Emerald is another dual hybrid with a 10mm DD and a proprietary BA. It has a well balanced and warm/neutral tonality. The bass has good weight and is smooth in nature and the mids are open and expressive. The treble is also well tuned with good detail and no harsh peaks. The soundstage is very spacious. The Angel Wings sounds broadly similar but more laid back in nature with a softer treble and a more linear bass. The Emerald has more detail but both share a musical, rather than technical presentation and a similar, large and expansive soundstage. As with the CCA CSN, the Emerald is driveable from a smartphone and the stock cable and tips are acceptable.

CCA CSN
CCA's CSN is, like the Emerald and Angel Wings, a 1DD + 1BA hybrid. The bass driver is the new KZ XUN DD which has an acoustic chamber. Like the CVJ, it is paired with a 30095 type BA. It displays a V or W profile with excellent bass from the XUN unit, present mids and a bright energetic top end. The treble is much more evident than in the Angel Wings but does occasionally exhibit some harshness and BA timbre which are absent in the CVJ model. The bass is much more powerful than the linear bass of the Angel Wings. The CSN is easy to drive and does not require amplification or a change of cable.

CVJ CSA
CVJ's debut model, the CSA is also a dual hybrid with a 10mm DD and a "custom" BA. It has a very neutral/bright or linear tuning which established CVJ's "house sound", rare in this price sector compared with the more commonly found V profile. Easy to drive, the bass is firm and well textured, mids are forward and clean and the treble is clear and extended with an absence of peaks. Compared to the Angel Wings, the treble is much more evident and the resolution is finer and more accurate and especially good for vocal music. Its even handed approach also suits many other genres, especially classical music, in which it excels.

Conclusion
In its stock form and used with a low-powered source, the Angel Wings does not fulfil its potential and cannot be recommended but it is capable of good performance when adequately powered and furnished with a high quality cable and wide bore tips. I would also recommend a bright/neutral source. Thus equipped, it does repay the effort with a linear, warm/neutral profile which is relaxing and musical. Of course this will add to the cost so those without such spare equipment may have to look elsewhere but if you are treble sensitive and enjoy a broad soundstage, these may be for you, bearing in mind the above.