Fearless x Crinacle Dawn

Crinacle arranged for a review sample to be sent to me for review.


For an unexpected pair of IEMs, the Dawn certainly is that. Tuned by the famous (or infamous, depending who you ask) Crinacle using the Fearless Y2K tuning system, the IEMs were not without compromise, using Sonion electret drivers for the treble, and balanced armatures for the other drivers. The use of the Sonion electrets and the lack of a dynamic driver for the bass were not ideal for Crinacle's preferences, so he had to go with what was available.

It's worth reading the entire FAQ behind the design (https://crinacle.com/2020/03/23/behind-the-scenes-tuning-the-fearless-x-crinacle-dawn/) to understand the background of both the tuning and Crincale's sonic preferences.

If you want the TLDR version: It's a somewhat v-shaped tuning with a fairly lively presentation and not the most high-end treble, even after a few days of continuous use ("burn-in"). It's very entertaining, and quite resolving, even if the bass is a couple of dB higher than I'd prefer. It's like he tried to tune them to sound like the Sony IER-Z1R but with a less than ideal driver set-up.

The longer answer, with music impressions, continue on.

Check out my unboxing video to see what it comes with:



The IEMs themselves have pretty gold inlays inside a CIEM-like plastic shell, terminated with a 2-pin cable. A set of narrow-bore medium tips (the green tips) comes attached, and a variety of wide-bore tips, color-coded by size, is included on a funky 3D printed tray.


The cable itself looks to me to be a bit fragile, and, while the metal parts give a feeling of quality, they are a bit heavy for something that will more than likely used in a portable setting. The grey color contrasts the bling of the metal and gold inlay in the IEMs themselves.


I did most of my listening with the wide-bore JVC Spiral Dot tips, as they tend to improve the sound, except initially, as the treble sounded more harsh until I'd put some hours on them. With some degree of variation depending on driver set-up, wide bore tips tend to bring out more treble, and narrow bore tips more bass. Without a dynamic driver inside, this was less true of the Dawn, the wide bore only bringing out slightly more treble.


Listening was done mostly with a Hugo 2 and Cayin N6ii with E01 module. I would recommend at least an M11 Pro, Mojo or better for use with IEMs at this resolution level.

There is also a video version of the review:


Music Impressions

Taken from my notes comparing multiple sets of IEMs.

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David Chesky - Jazz in the New Harmonic - Quiet Desperation

This album has an astounding level of detail, and to my feeling, requires the very best electronics and transducers to truly appreciate. The subtleties of every note mean everything, and that is easily lost on lesser gear. Thus, it is my gold standard for detail retrieval and the like.

The Dawn was forward-sounding and aggressive through the mids and treble, the latter of which settled down with use. I didn't pick up as much nuance as I did with the Final A8000 or Andromeda MW10, but it was a step above the DITA Dream XLS, even if the DITA presented good depth of soundstage, it lacked width, instrument separation and detail in comparison. The strong bass of the Dawn makes the sound thicker, unnecessarily so on this album.

The Andromeda MW10 in comparison was, even with its darker tuning, better at delivering the nuances, with a superior treble quality, and amazing speed.

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Miles Davis - Doo-Bop - Mystery

This is not as high a quality recording, and, arguably, the mastering is a bit off in tonality, with a thick bass that doesn't balance with the mids and treble correctly.

The less-refined treble of the Dawn was not the most ideal here, and with plenty of bass already in the track, rather overwhelming and ungraceful.

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SEED Ensemble - Driftglass - Mirrors

Modern, punchy jazz.

The overall presentation was quite aggressive, with better dynamics from the drums than the single-dynamic driver IEMs, surprisingly.

The A8000, despite being a bit bright, was good with drums and percussion. Unusually, the Luna didn't work too well here. With Spiral Dot tips on them, the slightly muted treble seemed to damp the impact of drums.

The HiFiMan RE2000 (with Final Type E tips) overdid the V-shape tuning, making the bass too strong, but otherwise does very well with this album.

Funnily enough, the MW10 brought out the kick drum beautifully in this track.

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Marc Ribot - Y Los Cubanos Postizos - Aurora en Pekin

An intense presentation from the Dawn which was very enjoyable, bringing out the guitar just perfectly, even if it doesn't have the remarkable instrument separation and detail of the A8000. The dynamic driver Dream XLS did better dynamics, even if detail nuances were not as good as with the Dawn.

The Dunu Luna here was the star, with nicely filled bass, no bleed into the mids (which the Dawn can sometimes be guilty of) and with outstanding instrument separation, even if not the very most detailed IEM.

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Merge of Equals - Intoxicating - Clear Blue Sky

A random find, thanks to Roon Radio. Typical of more modern recordings, it is a very punchy album with less than perfect treble mastering which can be too much on bright IEMs.

The Dawn did quite well with this track, filling out the bass nicely, without interfering with the mids or treble at all. Compare that to the Andromeda MW10 which balances the brighter music with its darker presentation, even if doesn't have the punchiest bass. The A8000, despite being too bright for the track (for my tastes anyway) had the most delicious punch and dynamics. The DUNU Luna, on the other hand, sat between the A8000 and Andromeda MW10 delivering clean, punchy bass, with less thickness than the MW10, and less sparkle than the A8000.

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Fleetwood Mac - Rumours - Dreams

The Dawn delivered the punch required here, with a sensible mid-range, but with a slightly tizzy mid-range that was bested in quality by other IEMs, such as the A8000, though not the RE2000, which was too bright for this track. The Andromeda MW10 had the most glorious mid-range of the IEMs, however.

Conclusion



While, like Crinacle, I would have wished for a different driver set-up, the Fearless Dawn IEMs are very entertaining to listen with, and do well as all-rounders that you can pick up and have an enjoyable time litening. Even if they aren't the most refined-sounding out there, their sometimes aggressive presentation can make music more of an event, especially compared to some of the more laid-back-sounding IEMs out there. They held up quite well to the more expensive IEMs I compared them too, if they couldn't match them ultimately. If entertainment, rather than ultimate refinement is high on your list of priorities, and you like plenty of bass, you may find the Dawn to be a good pair to go with.

Introduction

This is a review of the Fearless Dawn x crinacle. It is a $1400 IEM sold by Linsoul that was made in collaboration with Fearless and crinacle, a well known community member (in)famous for his IEM ranking list and large library of frequency response graphs. The Dawn boasts a 6 BA + 2 EST configuration and was made using Fearless' $4400 Y2K tuning system. For this review, I was sent the Dawn as a loaner unit from Linsoul. As the title suggests, I'll give my thoughts on the Dawn from the perspective of someone who has minimal experience with TOTL gear. Hopefully this will be helpful for those looking to move into more expensive gear but are unable to demo IEMs.




What's in the Box?

The box itself is quite large and upon opening it you're greeted with the glitzy black and gold of the Fearless Dawn. Past this initial bit of showmanship is a circular leather case, a cleaning tool, and an interesting star-shaped tip holder with 7 sets of tips. The tips aren't anything special; they're run-of-the-mill stock Fearless tips. Oh, and you get a user manual card to read that's mostly in Chinese I guess. Truth be told, it's a little disappointing that there isn't much more in such a large box but oh well.

The Dawn is meant to be worn over-ear and thus has the usual 2-pin cable with pre-molded earhooks. The cable is actually also sold separately for $80. Anyway, it feels soft to the touch and has no cable memory. There is a bit of cable noise but nothing to really complain about. What is worth complaining about is the extremely heavy connector joints they chose to go with in this cable. The Y-split, cable cinch, and 3.5 mm jack are all made of solid metal that weighs an ungodly amount. It's horrendously impractical for any realistic scenario. Even sitting at my desk, I can barely use it as the Y-split and cinch drag the entire IEM down.

Fit and isolation is about average for me. That is to say, pretty good. A lot of these all-BA resin-shell IEMs tend to isolate quite well since they don't have venting ports but also tend to have larger nozzles to accommodate all the BAs in there. The Dawn is slightly more comfortable in that regard, especially compared to the Fearless S6Pro. No complaints here.





Sound

Overall Impressions:
While I've demo'd a few hi-fi IEMs before, I generally review budget and occasionally mid-fi gear. So I was initially quite impressed when I first listened to the Fearless Dawn x crinacle. So much so that I briefly considered if I should buy it. The large step up in resolution and tuning competency wow'd me. Pretty much every track I threw at the Dawn was a pleasant listen with tons of little details I hadn't noticed before in my cheaper IEMs. But to be honest, over the two weeks I've had with the Dawn, it partially lost its lustre. Other than its tuning prowess and high resolution, it doesn't bring anything unique to the table.

Having been tuned by crinacle, you'd expect the Dawn to have superb tuning and tonality. Well, it doesn't disappoint. The Dawn has a relatively "balanced" tuning that tilts warm and has a reasonable bass boost. Its frequency response falls within what I would consider an "ideal range". While no IEM will have a 100% perfect match to the listener's preferences, the Dawn's tuning is extremely likely to match an individual's preferences closely with minimal adjustments needed. Or in other words, it's what the Harman IE target should have been. The Dawn is a forgiving, non-fatiguing IEM you could easily listen to all day and not think about it. It plays politely with most every genre but I think rock is best on it. The Dawn is more a jack of all trades, master of none.

I think what makes a great IEM is a combination of three factors: 1) Tuning/tonality; 2) Technical ability; and 3) Presentation. All three work together and enhance each other. The Dawn has 2/3 of them. Tuning is on point. Resolution is great. But the sound of BA bass persists and overall presentation suffers from pitfalls common to IEMs. For me, the Dawn's lack of the last factor is what keeps it from being the very best of the best. It's darned good and deserves its TOTL status but its clear that there are improvements that can still be made.



Bass:
crinacle himself is a bass lover and that shows with the Dawn. There's a satisfying sub and midbass boost that tactfully rolls off into the mids. Thanks to the great seal I get, the Dawn easily extends down to 20 Hz and bass rumble is well presented. I'd consider the Dawn to be boomy rather than punchy and at times, I think the bass borders on being excessive. Tonality and resolution are, as throughout the Dawn, excellent. Subtle bass notes are clearly audible and well resolved where it would otherwise be overlooked or lost. Common bass instruments such as the floor tom, kick drum, and bass guitar have a realistic tonality to them. Low synths have great clarity and nuanced note distinction. Midbass definition is tight and well controlled for rapid bass lines. It neatly wraps up the bass section as it transitions into the mids.

While the Dawn is unfortunately unable to fully escape the pitfalls of BA timbre, it's miles better than the Fearless S6 Pro and other cheaper BA IEMs that I reviewed in the past. Here, there's much more weight and power to the bass notes that makes the Dawn sound big and boomy compared to the dry, sterile notes from cheaper BAs. Although it does sometimes feel like the Dawn overextends when going for a heavy, boomy note and ends up slightly loose with uncontrolled decay.

Mids:
The mids are the best part of the Dawn's tuning. I just adore the tone of electric guitars in the Dawn. It has just the right balance of lower and upper mids for a full bodied, ever-so-slightly warm sound that's absolutely perfect for rhythm guitar and excellent for lead guitar. Vocals sound effortlessly natural, being neither too forward nor recessed. Both male and female vocals are presented equally well. The snare drum is particularly outstanding as the Dawn easily replicates the unique and complex sound of the snare in each track. Honestly, I have no complaints. Its tonality is as good as you're gonna get in any IEM.

Treble:
Treble is good but nothing outstanding. Here I think the Dawn plays it just a little too safe. It seems to be tuned to be as inoffensive as possible but still retain treble presence. There isn't any peakiness, stridency, sibilance, harshness, etc. While hats/cymbals do have a crisp attack and clean decay, it feels lacking in terms of brilliance. The shimmer of cymbals is slightly muted in that sense. The Dawn isn't particularly airy as the upper treble is recessed compared to the modest lower treble. It's a bit disappointing that the Dawn is a touch conservative on the treble but I guess that if you want a tuning that will appeal to the most amount of people that's the go-to compromise.

Presentation:
The presentation on the Dawn is its weakest point. It feels flat and on a single plane. The soundstage is fairly wide horizontally but has little height and depth. There isn't a sense of space needed for more complex layering. Imaging is good. It's nicely nuanced and makes full use of the soundstage. Overall, the staging is a only small step up from a good mid-fi implementation. It's as if Fearless worked on it a bit, ran into a wall, and gave up. I will make a note here that sometimes I do get a glimpse of excellence. On rare occasions, in very well recorded/mastered tracks, I'll hear a couple notes coming from way off the usual stage or with a depth far separated from other instruments. It's a nice little treat when it does happen, rare as it may be.

Generally speaking, the dynamics of the Dawn are pretty much what I'd expect good IEMs to have. But it is fundamentally BA-like and a tad compressed. Brick-walled songs sound even more brick-walled on the Dawn. On a more macro level, I sometimes find that some instruments jump out at you for a bit before receding back into the overall track. I haven't heard this phenomenon and the aforementioned rare off-stage staging before in other IEMs so YMMV.

The resolution of the Dawn is worthy of a flagship product. While I haven't heard some of the most well regarded TOTL IEMs for resolution such as the qdc VX or Shure KSE, the Dawn is certainly no slouch. Instrumental separation is solid and detail retrieval is far and away better than any of the IEMs I've reviewed in the past. Compared to budget IEMs, it's like hearing a new note in every five in some cases. Yes, that's how much detail that can be missed. Guitar riffs are so much cleaner and defined with individuality heard behind each note. Little syncopated beats in the hats are peppered in and shows off the drummer's character. I think a lot of people mistakenly look for a night and day difference in resolution for an obvious "wow" moment. But in reality, it's the many little things that add up to separate hi-fi from mid or budget-fi. The subtle couple of notes that breathes life into the background. Or low sound of the bassoon that you've always heard but never truly noticed until it was distinct enough to catch your attention. I think this level of refinement is necessary for the Dawn's tuning to reach it's full potential.





Select Comparisons:
Note: I will denote the ones I've only demo'd, not owned, with a *

Campfire Andromeda* and Solaris*:
Soundstage and imaging are better than the Dawn but that's about it. Tuning and tonality is far, far superior on the Dawn while resolution is notably better from memory. To be honest, I was pretty disappointed when I first heard the Andromeda and Solaris and I don't think they belong in the same league as the Dawn. I include them in this comparison as they are popular hi-fi IEMs due in part thanks to CFA's strong marketing presence.

Sony IER M7* and M9*:
I'd get the Dawn over the M7. M7 was too warm for me, borderlining dark. While staging was better resolution and tonality were not. M9 is a different story. I'd take the M9. The tuning of the Dawn edges out the warmer, more laid back M9 but the M9 has much better staging and comparable or stronger resolution. While they both have BAs for the bass response, the Sony's in-house BAs have a more realistic bass presentation than the Dawn's. The trade-off however is that they can sound slightly bloomy and/or slow.

qdc 8sh*:
It's a bit of a toss-up for this one. The Dawn had more immediate "wow" factor for me but the qdc 8sh kept my attention the longer I listened to it while I find myself tuning out of the Dawn sometimes. The flat presentation of the Dawn really hurts it in my opinion. When it comes to comparisons against the best of the best IEMs, having near perfect tuning and tonality is no longer enough. I'd have to listen to the 8sh again to decide but I think I'd lean towards it.

Etymotic ER4SR:
As you'd expect from something more than quadruple the price, the Dawn beats the ER4SR in pretty much every aspect. The only reason I can see someone getting the ER4SR over the Dawn is if they specifically enjoy the ERSR's unique tuning and laser-focused presentation that I reviewed here. Or I guess if you want the best isolation possible without going into CIEMs.

Moondrop Starfield, Tin Audio T4, Blon BL03, popular budget ChiFi, Fearless S6Pro, etc.:
Although these popular ChiFi IEMs are reasonably well tuned, the Dawn absolutely crushes them with vastly improved resolution and clarity, near perfect tonality, and overall balance. The sheer sense of refinement on the Dawn is just light years ahead in comparison. It goes to show the importance of competent tuning combined with top tier technical ability. The only reason I include this comparison is because I've seen silly comments complaining about the lack of budget comparisons in other reviews. Well here you go. Obviously from a pure price-performance ratio diminishing returns exist and spending 10-20x more on luxury IEMs isn't practical for the vast majority of people. But the improvement in sound quality for someone coming from a budget background (such as me) into TOTL is eye-opening in a way that can only be appreciated by hearing for yourself. Unfortunately, that privilege is not available to many people. And for those who believe that "technicalities" are a made-up term or that EQ can fix everything, well I don't think there's anything I can do to convince you otherwise.

Sony MDR-EX1000:
The EX1000 is my current daily driver and I reviewed it before writing this review. When pitted against the Dawn, its age certainly shows. The EX1000's detail retrieval and tonality are almost pitiful in comparison. But the EX1000's major advantages lie in high dynamism, beautiful presentation, and of course, a 16 mm DD for phenomenal bass reproduction. These strengths make up its X-factor that keeps me coming back to it. So while the Dawn is undoubtedly a better overall IEM, I don't feel too sad when I need to let it go to the next person in the loaner tour.





Should You Buy It?

Yes, if you're coming from a more budget background looking for a safe, all-rounder IEM to upgrade into hi-fi and you aren't too nitpicky about presentation. The Dawn's tuning and tonality is a near-perfect fit for most anyone and the step up in resolution and refinement is sure to be a significant upgrade coming from mid-fi. $1400 is "affordable" in terms of TOTL IEMs and I think the Dawn is worthy of a spot among the top even if it has a significant (relatively speaking) weakness in staging and presentation.

In terms of options, the most notable ones are likely to be the Hidition Viento (which I have not had a chance to demo) or the Sony IER-M9, both of which are quite a bit cheaper than the Dawn. This places the Dawn in a bit of an awkward position. At the end of the day, I think the choice comes down to this: how much do you value tuning. If all you truly care about is wanting a TOTL that has the best tuning and tonality possible, the Fearless Dawn x crinacle is it. It is by far the best tuned IEM I have heard. But if you're more flexible with your tuning options in favor of technical ability, the Dawn starts to face some serious competition.

Ultimately, I think the Dawn represents the concept of the TOTL "normal" IEM. By that I mean the Dawn has practically an ideal frequency response, near perfect IEM tonality, and excellent resolution, the primary pillars of any IEM. It handles all genres without a hitch and doesn't ever get fatiguing. There's no doubt that it's a great IEM. But it also showcases some of the flaws seemingly inherent with many IEMs, such as BA bass and flat-ish staging. What the Dawn truly lacks is an X-factor to really separate it from other great IEMs over time. Unlike IEMs like the Etymotic ER4 or Sony EX1000 which have followings despite being decade old, I imagine the Dawn will be superseded and mostly forgotten in a few years as the market progresses.

The Dawn in-ear monitor (IEM) from Fearless Audio is a collaboration effort between the Chinese audio company and famous IEM reviewer, Crinacle. Some may know Crinacle from his extensive measurement database that originally was started on head-fi.org and later became In-Ear Fidelity at http://www.crinacle.com. He has a large enthusiast following, and the measurement database is well-used and well-liked by the community, including myself.

A few months back, he was offered a chance to work on the tuning of a new IEM project with Fearless Audio, which use their own tuning system called Y2K. This system is explained in more detail on Crinacle’s blog post at https://crinacle.com/2020/03/23/behind-the-scenes-tuning-the-fearless-x-crinacle-dawn. The gist of it is that the tuner turns a set of dials on this system which changes cross-over positions of known driver setups. The final tuning configuration can then be used to create a customized in-ear monitor for that user. In this case, the personal tuning configuration that Crinacle chose is going to be produced and sold on Linsoul.com at $1399 USD starting now.


Disclaimer: This is a North American tour unit, which I was lucky enough to be the 1st on the tour. Thanks to Crinacle and Lillian of Linsoul for giving me the opportunity to be the first reviewer of this IEM.

Design

Dawn comes in a black shell with gold flakes and a simple text logo, “Crinacle,” on one side. The design is flashy, yet elegant and stunning at the same time. The design fits my ears pretty well, with only minor discomfort after a long period of use. It’s not as comfortable as the qdc Anole VX, but comfortable enough to wear for long periods of time for most people, I’d imagine.

The shell uses recessed 2-pin connectors, which is common in-case you want to change out the cables. I mention this, because the cable is extremely heavy. It’s a great looking cable, however. The cable is made with an appealing gray-colored braided design, with beautiful connectors and splitter. The only bad part is that these connectors and the splitter are made of a chunk of metal, which weighs the cable down significantly, and that can cause some issues wearing it over a period of time. After a couple days of using the packaged cable, I opted to switch out to a different cable that was lighter-weight and also of the 4.4mm pentaconn balanced variety to use with my Sony Digital Audio Player.

Beneath the exterior of the shell are 6 balanced armature (BA) drivers and 2 electrostatic tweeter (EST) drivers. What is interesting about this driver selection is that this wasn’t the intended driver configuration when this project started with Fearless and Crinacle. The Y2K system was designed around an all-BA setup, and so this ended up becoming a slightly custom iteration of the original driver configuration.



Sound

So -- the question that’s been on a lot of people in the portable audio community’s minds. How does it sound?
Well for me, it sounds pretty good. Tonality-wise, it’s solid. Very solid. Crinacle fiddled some switches and came up with a sound signature that is similar to a treble-tamed Harman In-Ear Target curve, which gives this a very listenable and balanced presentation that should appeal to many people and will work across multiple genres of music.



The low-end has a boost that begins around 200Hz, although the mid-range is down-sloped until about 900Hz. Although this boost does bring up the measured frequency response up towards Sony IER-Z1R and 64 Audio U12t levels of bass gain, I don’t find it as impactful, sustained, or slammy (is that a word?) as the aforementioned IEMs. The Dawn has a quick and articulate bass response, more commonly found in balanced armature drivers (because that’s what it uses), and has less of a natural decay level than that of the other two. The U12t, for example, has more rumble and a deeper perceived sub-bass extension, despite also being a multi-BA setup.

This doesn’t necessarily mean the Dawn is bad though. I find that it still has good resolution in the bass region, and hits when needed. I think I came in expecting it to hit harder, like how the IER-Z1R was, but it doesn’t and that’s not necessarily a bad thing for my personal tastes.

My initial impressions of the lower mid-range mentioned that it was a little thin. I don’t know if I totally agree with those initial thoughts anymore, especially after changing the ear tips out to the Crinacle-recommended Azla Sedna tips, and in my case, the Sedna-Light tips. These do run slightly larger than expected, so you may want to consider getting them a half-size smaller than you normally would. I think the thick walls and stiffness play a role in how they fit and conform.

That aside, the lower-midrange seems to have been improved in terms of having a richer and warmer sound to it, which I didn’t feel before. Some of the complaints centered around male vocals, and maybe it was due to getting good seal or the wall thickness of the tips, but now I find that male vocals, particular some country-type songs I enjoy from say, Chris Stapleton and Jason Isbell or Orville Peck, have a bit more power behind them. The same can be said about the instrumentation that feels more engaging.

The upper-midrange does start to rise early and some may find it a little shouty. In my listening, I never found that to be a problem – I am also used to listening to IEMs that have similar early rises like the Anole VX, which begins even earlier, and other IEMs like the Viento, I recently reviewed, Etymotic, and even the aforementioned U12t. Female vocals are well-in-line with male vocals in terms of forwardness, though higher ranged voices may sound a bit more prominent due to the lower treble gain and extension.

Going back to the beginning again, I found the tonality of the Dawn to be nearly spot-on and should cast a wide net of users. I do think that some of the technical abilities of the set are lacking slightly compared to some other flagship-level IEMs – whether that be the lack of natural decay occasionally, or somewhat flatter dynamics. It’s not going to be widely noticeable if you are coming from lower-end gear, but when you go and compare these side-by-side with other IEMs, it does become a little more apparent.

Soundstage is wider than what I’d call intimate with just above average width, but not necessarily large depth. I found transient response to be fast and agile, which gives these a good amount of resolution and it’s comparable to many other others I’ve listened to before.




Music

Tool – Fear Inoculum
The initial ringing in this sound has a lot of zing to it and can be a considered a little sharp, although exciting. The panning cello-like bass guitar produces a good amount of rumble and the slam of each kick drum has some weight to it. Imaging is laid across more up front than scattered within deep layers as I may hear on the Anole VX, but there is a good amount of resolution that comes across at the end of each panning motion – with the barely audible noises off the sides quickly entering the scene and leaving. Drums are hit with decent authority and sound crisp and fast. Maynard Keenan’s voice sounds accurate and smooth. The entire song sounds very well structured with this IEM, although lacking some layering and perhaps too aggressive sounding.

Civil Wars – Poison & Wine
This duet has a well-controlled bass line that doesn’t necessarily sustain as long I like, but it has a good amount of “feels” to it. The vocals of Joy Williams and John Paul White are both accurate and perhaps a tad shouty at times. The details in their voices are put together very well on this IEM with distinguishing sounds made apparent. My only critique of this song using this IEM is that there isn’t enough depth and everything is presented very forward.

Olafur Arnalds & Nils Frahm – 21:05
This live improv track between these two musical geniuses has a lot of background noise and clicks and clacks from being recorded in open-air live. These little details do come across well on the Dawn. The piano sounds natural, though perhaps a tad bright, and a little forward. I believe this is Nils Frahm’s specific portion of the song, sounding a bit more forward than what I’ve heard on other headphones and IEMs, but still sounds really good. Separation of all the various background sounds and the two pianos is not a problem either in this simpler piano duet.

Tegan & Sara – Boyfriend
This is one of the songs that has a lot of sibilant sounds in it and is also very compressed in sound. But I still like the band despite their bad recording techniques. Despite having a slightly elevated treble response, I don’t have any issues with listening to this song, as I did on the Hidition Viento-R Universal and the qdc Anole VX. The U12t handled this song the best of the 4, but it also sounds the most muted in terms of treble response. The Dawn doesn’t have any sibilance or any strange artifacts, and does handle the overall song well. It’s not a song that displays a lot of technical areas but is one that I use to check for how it handles modern pop songs.

Comparisons


64 Audio U12t
The U12t is an IEM that I feel this will be heavily compared to since they are both multi-BA IEMs, although the Dawn does have 2 EST drivers as well. They also share very similar shapes and sound signature. The U12t is $600 USD more than the Dawn however. Both come with a variety of accessories, however the U12t does come with modules that can affect tuning which is handy to change out sound flavors.
I found the U12t to have better presence and subbass impact and texturing with a more natural decay. Both have similar mid-range qualities, however the U12t comes across much smoother and perhaps darker compared to the Dawn in the treble region. I find that this makes the Dawn have a little more air and excitement to its sound. Resolution-wise, I think they are on-par with each other, as well as soundstage and what not. I think the U12t has a more overall laid-back soft tuning.



qdc Anole VX
The Anole VX is a 10-driver, all-BA IEM from qdc and comes with 3 switches to provide 8 tuning profiles in total. This gives the VX a lot of subtle flavor changes to choose from, however its most popular and my personal favorite tuning is the original default one, which is a U-shaped signature that doesn’t differ a lot from both the U12t and the Dawn. The Dawn has, in my mind, a better even and balanced tonality, with no major peaks or valleys and a generally smooth sound. The VX does have a bit of a dip in the lower treble, and then a rise between 7-9KHz that can be a bit harsh depending on the music you’re listening to and the volume you listen at. It can also cause a bit of an artificial sound that some may dislike. While the Dawn does not have these noticeable issues, I found it does lack some of the decay and layering and depth that the VX possesses more of. The qdc Anole VX is also one of the best fitting IEMs I’ve ever tried and one of the big reasons I really like it a lot.



Hidition Viento
The Hidition Viento and Dawn are a bit further apart in sound style. The Viento is more of a Diffuse Field tuning where the bass to mid-range is generally more flat and less weighted, with general note weight being much lighter than the Dawn. I find the Viento’s soundstage to sound grander and imaging and coherency a step above, though I find it above most IEMs I’ve tried. The Dawn will have a warmer and richer presentation with a boosted lower bass region, and more extended treble. Just like the U12t and VX, I find the Dawn a better suited IEM for rock, modern pop and electronic dance music, while the more acoustical-type music like classical, jazz and folk/country-type music will perform better on Viento, for my preferences.




Overall

I do want to reiterate, that I really enjoy the sound signature a lot. It’s well-balanced and I think many people will enjoy it. The Dawn comes in a beautiful package full of goodies, and a stunning design. The cable is a bit heavy and some may want to look at alternatives.

In terms of general sound, it is on par or maybe a small step down technically-savvy-wise as some IEMs above or at it’s price point, but it does provide above average qualities all-around and should be an easy one to pick up and enjoy. I do prefer the dynamics to be a bit better, and imaging to be it's biggest weaknesses.

Tuning is one of the most important parts of enjoying music, and the other stuff are important for those who really want to discern and critically listen to everything, and in practical listening, this IEM is going to get you most of the way there anyway.