HAKUGEI Sea-elf

Hakugei Sea-Elf



https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100....order_list.order_list_main.29.21ef1802Dy6Tsk

Hakugei is most known for their cables, and I was intrigued by this offering due to the IEM having a LCP driver while also getting a modular Hakugei cable.

Hakugei has cables ranging from the Skyrim 600$ to the cheap Kuro 15$

They are very good in the aesthetic part, some of the cables are works of art to me.

They also have some other IEM releases:

• Hakugei Mist 312$ 4BA 1DD
• Hakugei Midnight 270$ 4BA 1DD
• Hakugei Night Sky 164$ 1DD
• Hakugei Tac Bone TWS Bone Conduction
• Hakugei Redpoll MX500 40$ 1DD Earphone

Then it is the new release Sea-elf, the AliExpress sales page is typical google translated. With bold words explaining the different aspects, so take my descriptions from the site as something that can be wrong. It uses LCP Diaphragm together with N52 magnet, another member here told me it actually uses this in dual config. This did completely fly by when looking at the AliExpress listing.
This is still a single DD design, but it uses two of the magnets and diaphragm in each ear. If I understand this right. It is 16ohm and has a sensitivity of 108dB. I have a feeling this is wrong as it's harder to drive than some other sets I have with lover sensitivity.



Opening experience

First when opening the pack, I noticed the cramped tin box almost popping open since too much is put inside here. Also the tin box was almost too small for the case that's tucked in the bottom. Had to rough some feathers to get it out to say it like that.


You get a set of tips, the modular cable, case and the IEMs itself. There's nothing wrong with what's included, just maybe a little lackluster in the experience and what's in accessories and tips.



Build Quality

The cable I will write about under, build quality is great on mine.

As for the IEM the resin is black, and there is some type of printed inlay under clear resin on top. There is no seam I can notice and no hard edges, the shell itself is quite big. I have big ears and have no problem using them for hours with good comfort. The nozzle has average length and average width and should fit most IEM tips out there. It's also ventilated with no sign of driver flex.

It still looks kinds cheap, you can get cheaper stuff that looks more premium than this

Biggest design downside is that the inlay looks cheap.



About me and my gear used

I have not had any Hakugei product prior to the Sea-elf, and I bought it with my own money. My audio preference is neutral with sub and mid bass boost, mids can be forward but not excessive. Main music genres I listen to are Metal, Electronica, Jazz, indy rock/metal, R&B, Pop. I am a music lover, and can listen to almost all the genres out there. I have been into music gear since the mid to early 90s, gifted some big speakers at an early age. Then moved more and more into headphones with the Koss Porta Pro and a Sony DiscMan and MiniDisc.

I have tried playing many instruments over the years from piano to sax and have a feel for what's a natural tone. My wife also has played many instruments from string instruments to wind.

My current standard in iems is SA6 and Penon Serial. One all BA with near perfect tonality for me, and the Serial with also a near perfect tonality for me.

Gear used on the main rig is Topping E70 DAC together with the Topping A90 Discrete headphone Amp.
Portable gear has been Tempotec Sonata HD II Dongle, Hiby R3 Pro Saber 2022 DAP, Quidelix 5k DAC/AMP and Xduoo XD05 Plus DAC/AMP.



Impressions on the cable first

The cable is probably the Lucky Voice cable from Hakugei with a modular connection. I bought only the 2.5mm, 3.5mm, 4.4mm connections. You can also get it with USB C or Lightning connection with a DAC inside.
Reasoning for believing its the Lucky Voice is going by the pictures showing the sleeving on the cable and the type of connections. If so then it is a LITZ 7N OCC 25AWG 60cores*0.05mm with 4 strands so a total of 240cores. Sleeve is in cotton or nylon and is very soft and flexible, it has some microphonics. Microphonics can often be a problem with cloth material cables, it's not the worst but I can notice it when playing more silent music or when i'm not playing anything. It's not the cable I would pick when moving around to say it like that. But for sitting still and relaxing to music it's good, with its softness and no ear guide it's very comfortable around the ear. It's also very light, this has one downside due to no ear guide making the cable fall off the ear when moving around.

The quality is top notch, the craftsmanship is excellent. The connectors on the modular part are tight and sit firmly, also the same can be said for the part going into the headphone jack. The connectors look also quite premium above the price point.

As for the sound there is nothing wrong with it, it's a copper cable not changing anything to the signal. When comparing it to something more expensive like ISN C2 you will notice it lacks some note weight and detail. And compared to the NiceHCK PurpleSE, a similarly priced china cable. They sound the same when going back and forth, as for the testing I used the Sea-elf itself. Also tried the cable on ISN EST50, Dunu SA6 and Penon Serial.




Sound Impression of Sea-elf

First impression when just plugging it into my dongle was OK, nothing that screamed wrong and nothing that made me overflow with joy. I used it for some days first without clinically listening or comparing it to other gear. This is also what it's best for, but back to that later. I have used them for around 20 hours while at home or work, also burned them in through the nights. They are having close to 100h hours burn in and usage.

Bass

The low end in this goes very deep, and when listening to something that uses sub bass like DOOM Eternal Soundtrack or The Dark Knight Soundtrack with Why So Serious. You will get that full rumble engaging you to have fun in games or movies.
And when listening to Mezzanine by Massive Attack the bass goes deep and has a surprising attack. The bass
The mid bass is also elevated compared to the Harman 2019 target, personally I find Harman tuning boring and wrong. The mid bass gives energy to most Electronica music or music in general, the only downside is some small bleed into the Mids.

The bass is also on the looser side with not the best definition, that's why I'm surprised by the amount of kick in Mezzanine. It's not bad by any means, and a type of bass that is fun and engaging to tap your foot to.



Mids

Mids I always go back to Rolling in the Deep by Adele, if the mids are too forward it will sound tiresome. This is borderline with the Sea-elf, Adele’s voice sounds like you sit too close to her performing making it sound too loud and raspy compared to the background piano.
While Adele is something I always check, it's not my favourite artist by a long shot, a true favourite female vocalist is Agnes Obel. Let's take Stretch Your Eyes, this track has her voice shown wonderfully while the cello also plays. On the Sea-elf her voice sounds also here to forward and to close in my head, it's not tiresome in the same way as Rolling In the Deep. It just sounds off, same with the cello it sounds a little wrong.

For male voice Opeth with the album Damnation is something I often use, his voice is a little veiled here while at the same time being a little hot. It's still better than the female voice, my standards are higher.

This also reflects itself when listening to jazz with Sax, the sound is too hot and not an enjoyable experience. While it doesn't sound very wrong it's too forward and the saxophone shows that as its already an instrument that tends to be too forward on many recordings.

Treble

Treble region is pleasing and gentle, it has a dip from 4K to 8K removing any treble sibilance. Also have some air and treble extension that's not too bad to be a lower end single DD model.
Don't have much to say here, it's not bad and not perfect. I do think the sibilance dip is too much, taking away a little too much of the details. I use different classical recordings when testing treble and air, and also listen to acoustic music overall.


Speed, Details, Imaging and Soundstage

Maybe if you read the parts before you know where I'm going with this, this is just average in technicalities and detail. I do think you can get sets that are cheaper with better details.
Imaging and where sounds come from is actually not bad, I can pick apart where instruments are in the horizontal plane. While the vertical plane or depth is again not the best. The soundstage is average in its depth making the sounds to be either in front of your face or in your head.

When trying busy music for example heavy metal it sounds too congested and not enjoyable. The only thing helping the Sea-elf is that it softens the sound if you like metal but find it too much. Good track to test this is Intronaut by Cubensis.




Comparisons

I don't have that many IEMs so I will compare to 2 other single DD IEM’s with a price point under and one hybrid that are closer in price. The Tipsy TTROMSO would have been a good contender but the drivers are now loose inside due to bad construction, and it's the better IEM of the 2 going by sound and technicalities.



Reecho SG-01 OVA3
It has an all metal build that feels very premium for the price, and has a cool effect of changing from blue to purple colouring. Biggest downside in the build is the short Nozzle. The cable and tips here are quite good.

For sound the first thing I notice is that the sound is clearer on the Reecho, bass is faster but with a lighter note weight. Mids sound more natural in both male and female voices. The lower/mid treble is a tad too hot for me on Reecho, this is better on Sea-elf. Upper treble has a more clear sound with more presence that makes them not as veiled compared to Sea-elf. Soundstage is a little deeper on SG-01 OVA. Going back and forth I do prefer SG-01 OVA, sounds more right, less veiled, less fatiguing.


Blon 03
Same can be said here: it looks and feels premium compared to the price with the all metal build. Biggest downside in the build is the short Nozzle. Also the supplied cable is nothing to brag about.

For sound this is very much the same as SG-01 OVA, the biggest difference between them is that Blon 03 is slower. Bass is better on Sea-elf with about the same attack and speed but has more note weight. Mids are also better on 03. Lower treble is very much the same as Sea-elf, maybe lacking some presence. Mid treble has less 4k energy than the SG-01 OVA and more 8k presence. But it's the same in that it's less veiled and has more detail than Sea-elf.

What I find the Blon lacks the most here is note weight.

Here I actually would have picked up the Sea-elf, it's more enjoyable. But this depends on the music also. For music with brass instruments Blon is a little better compared to Sea-elf. While with metal I'm not a fan of the Blon since it lacks some note weight in the lower treble. For voice it's very equal for me, I slightly prefer Blon.


Shozy Form 1.1
This looks and feels premium, the form factor is very good and an all resin build. This is not a DD, it is a hybrid with 1DD and 1 BA and sits at the same price as Sea-elf. Supplied with an excellent fabric cable that has no microphonics.

Form 1.1 is a IEM with a dark approach, bold mid bass, recessed lower treble but while still keeping some good upper treble and air. The bass on Sea-elf has around the same mid bass impact. The sub bass is better extended on Sea-elf, Sea-elf also has less mid bass bleed. I'm not a huge fan of male voices on Shozy since it's too pronounced, while female voices are pleasing and better on Shozy. The lower treble is under what's neutral on Form 1.1, while this is not right it sounds pleasing on music that was recorded to hot with brass. The mid treble is very close to Sea-elf with the same amount of veil. It has perhaps some better treble extension on the Shozy.

Which I prefer is the Sea-elf, the better extended low end. With better lower mids make it a better allrounder. Still since both of them are out of what I prefer in sound I will keep the Shozy. And this is because they fill a niche for me when I listen to some electronica or jazz that are too aggressive in the lower treble presence.


Conclusion
When I first opened the Sea-elf nothing really popped out. I still enjoyed them, especially when throwing on some bass heavy Techno while doing my work. They have good note weight and a fun sound. When critically sitting down to pick it apart it falls short, my IEMs standard is higher price bracket than this. Still I feel you can be better off with buying a well regarded IEM under 40$ and then buying an entry level modular cable by itself.

This is probably a sound that would please many beginners that are moving from the cheaper sets that are included with their phones or the TWS sets(some of these are starting to become really good).
The best part of the Sea-elf is actually its cable, only downside being some microphonics.

Would I recommend it, maybe. If you need a modular cable and want something with a hefty low end. I do think it sits a little too high in price, with the connectors 2.5m 3.5 and 4.4mm it should have been closer to 50$ than 80$.

Going to rate it 3 of 5 and that is generous.