KBEAR Believe

KBEAR BELIEVE-
KBear has been pretty much known for their Kbear diamond iem which has got great reviews too!!! I use their cables a lot too and they are decent for their price !! Since I know the tuner for believe personally, hence I bought a unit to check what's the hype and how much has he succeeded !!

DISCLAIMER- I ain’t a reviewer or an audiophile , just an music lover !! I wasn’t sent a sample of Believe, I paid for it – then sold it later on for buying something else and regretted it since it went out of production 😞

The second unit that I got was courtesy of HIFIGO since I wanted to have a listen one more time to the classical laid back sound and also as I had more experience with iems, I wanted to see if I change my thoughts!!! Hence, I wanna thank HIFIGO for letting me to have another go at it!! Here’s the link here(not affiliated ofcourse 😁)

I might get the instruments name wrong 😝but I have heard a lot of them during the college and school days 😁 but never bothered to get their names I just loved listening to them!

And lastly – if I make grammar mistakes forgive me😁

UNBOXING EXPERIENCE
On seeing the outer BOX- 😍 they look great!! It took me a solid hour before I started opening the box (it was Hifiman Sundara on my head & I was listening to a symphony) and me just like a painter appreciating others painting- I was appreciating the box and how wonderfully it’s made ( I wasn’t drunk 🤣 , I came home tired and rather heavy work day so I was admiring 🤣)

Opening it , was not let’s say as good as Apple or OnePlus or even my LG phones the outer box didn’t slide off 😅 so I gave it a push !! And it came out 😉
The inner box though slid off albeit not too smoothly but then again it felt so good 😁 and here came the presentation !!!
KBear, you guys just outdid yourselves here!!! You are so much better than the half-eaten Apple and you decked me with accessories too 😍


Then came the iems , the multiple tips and the cable wow !!! And then the iem carrying case (seemed like synthetic leather) but man it feels so nice, wonderful work here 🙏🙏

BUILD AND FIT
KBear Believe first time holding it, I felt the dense weight, it’s heavy (comparing to the likes of kanas pro), solid and wonderful looking, beautiful plates!!
Fit was really good for me and it just went in nicely !!! The stock tips are pretty good and you can definitely use it…

CABLES-
Now the cables are pretty good fit their price!!! Non microphonic and has a supple feel. It's thick but doesn't have any option for adapter or to get the stock cable in any balanced form...

SOUND IMPRESSIONS- Note this is entirely subjective and your experience might differ from me !!!

Now remember this was me reviewing it for the first time…🤣 so cut me some slack 😁

1) ACDC-Thunderstruck: at 1:51sec – the drum beats differentiate and the second hit has an bass extension (sub bass rumble)
Now with Kbear Believe , the bass extension is there but not much profound but it ain’t much clear too with my LG G8X..
Now here comes the amping magic – The sub bass extension extends more, becomes clearer and damn the 2 beats even though milliseconds apart can be felt distinctively .

Amping of choice in decreasing order – Topping d50 with a30s (Burson v5i opamp modded ) > xduoo xd05 basic (Burson v5i opamp modded) > Fiio BTR5 balanced > Fiio BTR5 SE (RCA out to topping a30 ) ~ LG G8X (RCA out to topping a30) > My LG G8X

I would also like to say here that instrument separation is right at point in this and I don’t seem to find any congestion at all 😁 The timbre is average but not too shabby at this price range!!! The tonality is pretty good.

Notes do extend well but mids and others instruments are very laid back so having that emotional feel but not that energy !!! It’s a V shaped iem for sure!!!

2) Kaneda- by Geinoh Yamashirogumi – at 1:36sec -the separation, resolution and imaging 😍😍😍 ohh darn, this Believe made me BELIEVE similar to when I heard the Sundara for the first fking time !!!

3) like you know – Fat Larry’s band (hehe get it , Sir Larry aka the tuner!!! is in there 😝) – the trumpets , the drums – ouuu -an amalgam of bass 😁
Believe just separates them, so nicely with more power( amping just like before) but don’t get me wrong it’s still good with just my phone too and the trumpets ( I think that’s what the instrument is called ) at 3:12sec with the drums and the bass guitar at the back – OMG pure bliss 😍
The bass had a nice body here and it didn’t interfere with vocals so 😘Believe
The bass had good punch but not a great body to accompany it , Subbass was decent enough to have a rumble but not too much tomove you !!!

The decreasing order of preference with more amping remains true !!

4) Dream Theater – the best of times ( black clouds and silver linings album) be ready for “the nun hiding in the background with guitar “ at 2:46 sec—coming right at you 🤣
Here I was checking for treble response with guitars and let me just say it – “ ooouu la la la “ – It’s clear , accurate , sparkly but not too sharp ( for a reference in the property of sharpness – it’s less than Hifiman Sundara and may be same as Kanas pro will update once I get it back ) and man it’s so engaging ,something I missed !!!

The treble is well extended and did have enough energy !!! What it lacks is in the notes microdetails which doesn’t come through much. The electric guitars have decent timbre and tonality but energy is lacking s bit!! There is though his dynamics and it a pretty good difference that can be easily noticed if you look at the notes height differences between different instruments…

Amping didn’t help much here except make it a bit airier and more separated!! It is difficult for my novice ears to come to a proper conclusion about this though 😅 (but it might just as good or maybe better than kanas pro will update by A/B between them)

5) Come together – the abbey road – The Beatles – ohh my from the beginning , the bass guitar.
Just wow, the band outdid themselves here!!

I found the bass from the bass guitar rather right on point with good extension and string distinction enough to get me to listen to the song 4 times 🤣

But yeah similar story continues for the Amping part 👍

6) Diana Krall – The girl in the other room – album the girl in the other room & Must be desire – Mojo Juju
- for female vocals and separation from bass guitars!!

It’s clear as day here that the bass separation even though present, is slightly saying “Touché” to the Mids. But but but it’s with my LG G8X.

Coming to the Amping side if the story – you can literally taste😉or rather hear the difference between them be clear, as sour is from sweet!! Female vocals sound pretty great per se , they are well balanced. Not a hint of sibliance at all. They are well extended with air in their voice which comes through pretty nicely!!

7) King- Lauren aquila & Hello – Adele & Sway – Diana Krall – lovely ladies and lovely songs – Female Vocals mostly – wew, these ladies have already taken my heart, what more do they want !!😍
Believe here makes them sound-Just WOW!! (period)

8) Kiss from a rose – Seal & Where did you sleep last night – Nirvana (MTV UNPLUGGED) & Sweet child of mine – Gun’s And Roses – Male Vocals – They sound like a Man should and damn I feel sad that my voice AINT like that 🥺 Forgetting that , the male vocals had good extension and it’s not lush per se but it’s thick and does a good job!! It's not grainy either or boxy which is a great thing !!!
Believe here does an excellent job for its price!!!

9) Night torch – Denzel Moiz -for the excellent violin (correct me on this instrument please) play at start, I just love that part and then the slow dub step /EDM – I really wasn’t expecting this but it was really great on EDM—a relaxing and engaging type though!! But don’t get me wrong it was NOT slow , it was fast and accurate with the beats !! It was not congested either. The instruments notes had enough timbre to make it feel natural but the energy seemed a bit less ALWAYS.

10) Mozart Garett and Violin concerto No.4- David Garrett – Mozart moods – Believe made every violin proud pretty much!! And damn the concert I wish I could see one in real life one day 😁

The positioning of the instruments were decent!!! They did have a diffuse area of presentation but the timbre and tonality with air around then made it much easier to identify stuff…The depth was good , it was wide but not tall in sounstage!!! The separation is great but too busy passages tends to get a little dicey here !!!

11) Bohemian rhapsody – Queen original soundtrack – I went for this for the piano and drums combo and ohh I loved it 😍😍😍
Believe really works wonders here and amping story remains the same!!!

12) Rap God – Eminem (he is a god of rap pretty much) – I could distinguish him and the music going behind and the lyrics!! But still his rap, makes me so hooked up I went on to listen to Airplanes part 2 and some more songs!! This doesn’t happen with tint2plus or any other iems except BLON 03 and hence Believe is pretty good 😉

The music is well felt in the background and every words coming out of him was just so way to identify , that it was the first time after trying out audiophile stuff I was glad to come to this hobby !!!

So all in all let’s summarise -
This is an all-around musical, laid back and kinda analytical iem , you would just engorge yourself in music and forget what’s going on in the entire world. It’s costly at what price it’s is going on, but it will grow on you slowly and surely…The staging and laid back experience with good mids presentation in V shaped iem is a rarity and this even after trying so many iems still gets my recommendation if you can buy one now 😅 (out of production but that means price will be less for who is selling it 😁)

COMPARISON
SPRING 2
Better taller stage
Better extended treble
Better Subbass
Better micro-details
Better female vocals
More energy in mids
Better separation
BELIEVE
Wide stage
More mid-bass punch
More laid back and longer listening experience
Better imaging
Smoother treble

INTRODUCTION:

KB-Ear is a major game player in the chi-fi industry earphones market producing a lot of audio gears ranging from budget range to the high end stuff including earphones and cables. Their recent flagship variant is the BELIEVE model which looks similar to the Diamond model which launched a few months back. I reviewed the diamond a few days back and I really loved its sound for the price, it had a nice timbre with good bass response. The internals are completely changed now, adopting the new BERYLLIUM diaphragm imported from Japan for delivering outstanding sound quality. In this review let’s see whether Believe really lives up to the Beryllium sound signature.

NOTE: Now BELIEVE has been discontinued by the KB-Ear due to the resource constraints and currently not available for sale in the market.



DISCLAIMER:

This unit has been provided by the HIFIGO team as I’m being part of the HIFIGO review circle. This review is completely based on my opinion and I’m not influenced by any person to manipulate the review. Thanks to Pulkit Chugh for taking me in this review circle and the HIFIGO team for arranging this review circle. This review is completely subjective and it’s based on my sources and experience with IEM’S with similar configuration.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Unit: 9mm Pure Beryllium Diaphragm Dynamic Driver (Imported from Japan)

Cable: 4 strands of 6n single crystal copper Litz

Interface: 2 Pin 0.78mm

Plug: 3.5mm

Frequency Response Range: 20Hz-20 KHz

Sensitivity: 98Db

Impedance: 17 ohms

Color: Black with blue

DESIGN:

The design is similar to that of the Diamond but now it is slim. Now the earpieces got slimmer with reduced weight and the total profile got lean. It still got the gradient carbon fiber panel with the brand logo on it. The theme is based on the Sea where the faceplate has blue stripes resembling the waves and nature. The shell is made of aluminum cavity with five axis CNC aviation technology. This technology effectively suppresses the resonance and enhances the sound cohesion



The front and rear chamber balance pressure relief technology has been implemented to ensure a distorted sound output yet maintaining the natural sound output since the beryllium diaphragm is extremely light.

The nozzle is of medium length and gold plated with wide enough apertures covered with mesh. The whole shell is matt finished hence no more fingerprints. The cable is really nice and thankfully they don’t get tangled! The color is nice with a supple texture. The 4 core looks good; I would have appreciated it if they had provided 6 or 8 cores since the lower priced diamond comes with even nicer textured cable. The ear guides are soft and nice. Thankfully they went with the 2 Pin and not the troublesome MMCX.



FIT:

The fit is nice overall, the kb-ear team claims that their design isolates up to -26db which is quite nice. They fit well with decent isolation and with perfect ear tips you can get a nice fit in your ears. I found a perfect fit with the L size ear tips since my ears are big.

SOUND:

Sources: iPhone, FiiO Q3, Apple Lightning to 3.5mm dongle

The overall sound output is slightly U shaped with excellent bass extension and smooth yet detailed treble. The mids are placed forward with nice engaging vocals. They are quite energetic in sound output. There is a slight hint of sibilance which is like genre specific especially female vocals but not troublesome or fatiguing. In fact this is one of the best non fatiguing earphones I have tested.

This is quite power hungry hence a nice portable DAC amp is required to unleash the full potential of it. I have used the FiiO Q3 in this review hence the sound may vary with the sources.

BASS:

Nothing short of extraordinary! I just love the bass in it. Most of the bass head earphones lack in the resolution department even though they have a larger quantity of bass. This Believe has an adequate amount of Bass with nice resolution, separation, texture, quality etc. The separation and resolution are the biggest aspects of this earphone. They sound expansive with nice layering in the background.

1. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT SAVING THE WORLD – HANS ZIMMER

What an experience listening to this! This track just sounds amazing in the Believe. Those sub bass kicks are pretty awesome. Most of the earphones I have tested struggle to get a separation between those sub bass kicks and the mid bass kicks but this one just easily clears it. The resolution is excellent. At 1:45 see the separation this will just blow away your mind. 2:22 will just create goose bumps all over your body because of that separation and resolution you are going to experience. At 4:37 the separation will just make you stunned.

1. INSTANT CRUSH – DAFT PUNK

Those starting drum beats kick nicely with a nice impact. When the vocals start they are clearly separated out with forward placement. There is no mid bass bleed and hence the resolving factor is 10/10. At 1:27 those sub bass kicks are nothing short of wonderful.

1. FLIGHT – HANS ZIMMER

I mostly use the Hans Zimmer tracks to test the sub bass because they have nice impact and attack. BELIEVE just stole my heart. At 1:31 the sub bass and the mid bass are separated nicely with superb resolution. At 1:52 I always look for that skull rattling subtle rumble when testing out all the earphones and this BELIEVE gave me that subtle rumble at ease.

1. EVEN HEAVEN – AIMER

This is amazing! At the start of the track the low end kicks are very nice and addictive. The sub bass extension is fantastic, the rumble just rattles your skull and I literally rewind that section to feel the rattle in my head! The mid bass and sub bass separation is in a different league.

In precise words the bass is attacking, resolving, detailed, controlled with excellent separation and textured response. 10/10 for bass



MIDS:

The mids are placed slightly laidback since it adopts a U shaped sound signature. The vocals are nice and crisp with good enough details in the mid section. The drums, strings and background instruments are well layered and have nice space between the instruments. Both the male and female vocals sound nice with a little bit of warmth. Since there is no mid bass bleed the vocals sound very clear and separated from the background instruments.

1. SULTANS OF SWING – DIRE STRAITS

This is kind of a complex track where a lot of instruments are in the background. Even in this track the BELIEVE does a good job by bringing out the vocals as natural as possible by maintaining the natural tonality and separated from the cluster of instruments. All the three frequencies are represented clearly without mingling anything.

The coherency of the sound is amazing in the Believe and that’s the thing I always like in the single DD iem’s because they never fail to do that. Believe does a good job in bringing all the frequencies in a single motion and it’s a pleasant treat to the ears.

1. WHEN YOU SAY NOTHING AT ALL – SUSAN WONG

The guitars are portrayed very well in the background. Susan's vocals just shine! It Sounds very smooth and nice. The guitar strings are separated out well from the vocals. At 2:00 when both the male and female vocals strike they sound coherent and under control. The layering and the soundstage is impressive in this track when listening via the Believe.

In precise words the mid section of Believe is slightly laidback giving a nice sense of wider soundstage and is very spacious in between the instruments. They sound very coherent and natural. The timbre and tonality are brought out excellent.

1. CAPSIZE – FRENSHIP

The female vocals sounded precisely well with no hint of harshness. The high end also sounded very open and spacious. The details are good with nice extensions.



TREBLE:

The treble is neatly extended with nice detail retrieval and resolution. There is nearly null sibilance observed and in rare cases they feel sharp in certain female vocals. The brilliance is tuned to perfection and that’s the magic of single DD’s. They give that coherent sound better than the hybrids. The high notes sound natural and no harshness is observed for the most part.

1. OUT FOR BLOOD – SUM 41

This track is kind of a rock/metal based genre and good for testing out the harshness and sibilance since a lot of electric guitars are played here. Believe has nice texture and resolution in the treble region and this track shows it. The complex guitar strings are nicely separated out without losing the detail. When the vocals start to cry out loud they are still under control and never disturbed the listening experience. Overall they have a nice extended treble region with excellent resolution and separation.

1. SHOOTING STAR – ANNA YVETTE

In this track the vocals normally appear sharp and it’s a good one to test out the sibilance. Believe easily passed this test and sounded nice and smooth. There is a bit of sibilance when the vocals really cry out loud but for the remaining part they sound nice.

1. MR.BRIGHTSIDE – THE KILLERS

This is a very complex track where a lot of instruments are placed in the background. Most of the earphones struggle to portray them clearly and even cause harshness but Believe is able to deliver them precisely and smoothly.

In precise words the treble is well extended, detailed, slight sibilant with specific genres which also adds a lot of brilliance in the top end which gives nice sparkle.



SOUNDSTAGE AND IMAGING:

The soundstage is pretty wide and large here and that’s the key aspect of the Believe. As this being laid back vocals they have a massive soundstage which is very attractive for the price. They have nice depth and width with enough height too. There is a lot of space present between the instruments.

1. HIDEAWAY – JACOB COLLIER

This track is composed of a lot of instruments in the background and has a lot of air and space between the instruments delivering a massive soundstage presence. The whole setting of those instruments appeared as if I’m sitting in a big massive hall. Overall I’m very pleased with the soundstage of Believe.

1. GLOBAL GEAR – PUNYA SRINIVAS

This indie classic is always good to hear at any point of time. The whole experience in Believe is very amazing with a good amount of air in between the instruments. This is well represented with a big sense of soundstage.

1. HOTEL CALIFORNIA – EAGLES

This good old track is always a favorite for everyone. In the beginning the guitar strings are represented well with distinct directions and when the drum kicks in the whole experience is wide and represented well.

The imaging is good and sweeps from the extreme right to the left. Each instrument can be pointed out easily even in busier tracks and sweeps smoothly from right to left.

1. CROSSING – YOSI HORIKAWA

This is the go to track for testing out the imaging technicalities of an earphone. In the beginning the auto crosses from the right to left and it’s well represented in the Believe.

1. SEPTEMBER IN THE RAIN – CAMILE THURMAN

The guitar strings in the left side and the drums in the right side are represented well clearly. The whole composition sounds very nice with nice coherency.

VERDICT:

BELIEVE, the flagship earphone from the KB-Ear brand is really one of its kinds. The amazing bass response which is well controlled, resolved, detailed combined with a laidback mid section and sweet vocals, again combined with a well extended non sibilant treble section, which is again resolving and detailed enough is worth the reason why Believe is one of its kinds. The instrument separation is done well and that huge soundstage makes believe the NO: 01 earphone in this price range according to me.

From the build to the sound output everything is fantastically done. It’s sad to see that KB-Ear has stopped the production and the sales of Believe. I hope the team is going to plan something in the future to give life again to the Believe to continue its legacy in some other way! But only time will tell and as for now don’t stop believing in the Believe cause it’s the HOLY GRAIL.

Disclaimer:

The KBEAR Believe has been sent to me by Hifigo as a part of a review circle. I am not working or affiliated to Hifigo and I am not being paid or influenced otherwise to say anything positive or negative about this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Note: Please note that my opinions and ratings are based on price, category, market competition and personal expectations and are subjective in nature.

Build Quality and comfort

Believe has a good build quality. The black shells are well built with beautiful faceplate, the IEM fits well and are not heavy, long listening sessions does not cause any stress on the ears. Believe features a 9mm pure Beryllium diaphragm dynamic driver.

The cable is a 2pin 0.78mm 4 strands 40 core 6N Furukawa single crystal copper litz structure with 3.5mm plug. It is flexible and no microphonics were observed. The included carry case looks premium with the KBEAR logo.

Score: 4.5/5

Sources Used

Cayin N6ii (A01) via 3.5mm phone out

Cayin N6ii (A01) Line Out to Pico Power

PhiDeca DAC with DIY Sapphire v4

Sound

The lows in the Believe are deep and slams hard, the sub bass has got good body and has decent extension. The bass is a highlight for the Believe and is definitely quite enjoyable. There is a slight lack in texture, but the bass has slow decay and has a good resonance to the sound signature.

The mids are laid back and has a good texture. The mids have a thick body to them supported by the lows. The overall sound signature of the IEM is warm. The upper midrange has some peak but are not fatiguing, rather makes the sound signature exciting.

The treble is smooth but has a slight peak adding to the fun signature of the IEM. For some people it might sound sibilant, but for me with Cayin N6ii with A01 which is a warm source I didn’t notice the sibilance.

However, with the PhiDeca DAC and Sapphire, the sibilance was slightly noticeable which was expected since PhiDeca DAC is neutral sounding and sapphire is extremely transparent.

With Cayin N6ii with A01 line out to Pico Power is where Believe shined. The lows became tighter and precise, the soundstage became holographic and the highs were detailed but not sibilant, and well extended.

Score: 4/5

Soundstage, Imaging, Separation

Soundstage on the Believe is pretty wide and has good depth. The imaging is good and has fairly distinct positioning. The layering is good and music, even with busy sections are being rendered correctly without sounding too congested, instrument separation is pretty decent for the price point.

Score: 4/5

Source and drivability

Believe is rated at 17ohms@98dB/mW, does require a bit of power to be driven. Portable sources like phone or even a DAP’s 3.5mm phone out might not have enough juice but adding a portable amp or desktop setup surely helps. The sound does scale up with power to be more dynamic with better punch in lows and good extension in the highs, the soundstage, layering and separation also improves when the Believe is driven with adequate power.

Conclusion:

Believe is a capable iem with lot of good points. the sound signature is laid back but quite enjoyable. It has average detail retrieval but has the brownie points for tonality. One point of concern would be the power requirement, but a portable amp can drive them pretty easily. For the current price of 180USD they are quite capable if you can satisfy its power requirements.

Overall rating: 4/5