KBEAR Dumpling

The KBEAR Dumplings is literally as budget as it can be, with a low price tag, even lower than the Little Q - For only 12 USD! Usually when you're purchasing something for this price you don't expect much, but then again, anything can happen, so let's give this a sort-of in depth review.

Foreword

1. The following reviews of IEMs will always be based on its own prowess relative to its price. When I say something about an IEM is good or bad, it will always be relative to how much is the retail of it.
2. I will be using DACs relative to the price of the IEM to review them. This is because using high end stuff like the Questyle M15 over-exaggerates the capabilities of the IEM itself.
3. This pair of IEM was sent to me by Keephifi, thank you for that. However, they are in NO WAY influencing this review, hence all the opinions are of my own.

If you are interested in purchasing this pair of IEM, you can do so with these non-affiliated link :
Keephifi : https://keephifi.com/products/kbear-little-q?_pos=1&_sid=c21b7944e&_ss=r
Amazon : https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B7NGPMM...bDg6Lg7FiXQq6AKZb0ImtkR7WKsVBLmfRIuI0H8bZ4lz4



UNBOXING & ACCESSORIES
Being identical with the KBEAR Little Q, packaging is as simple as it can be. Nothing much I can say but it gets the job done but also does present it to the consumer very well.




BUILD & FIT
The headshells of the KBEAR Dumpling comprises of a metal design in a piston shape, where the outside portion is kind-of a semi-circle, and the nozzle is non-existent, because the other half of the IEM is identical in diameter. Hence, this pair will be having a more proprietary type of eartip to complement the wide body, in which is not very third-party tip friendly. The
non-detachable cables are average and identical to the ones on the Little Q, where it has some memory when winding it up. Nevertheless (again), it gets the job done.



In terms of fit, personally I feel like there is some weird negative pressure created when fitting it, where my eardrums feel like its being pressured. Maybe it might be my ear canals' anatomy problem because most people on the internet and 2 of my friends did said it fits well, but personally, it seals well, but feels uncomfortable Becuase of that pressure thing I mentioned.

SOUND
Source : Foobar 2000 -> JM10 Dongle (Cirrus Logic CS43131) -> S.M.S.L. SH-6 Amplifier -> stock KBEAR Dumpling
COWON Plenue D2 -> stock KBEAR Dumpling




In general, the KBEAR Dumpling is a V-shaped IEM with maybe an ever-so-slightly warmth to it.

BASS
Comparing to the KBear Little Q, the Little Q will have slightly less bass while this one has its low end more elevated throughout

• Subbass has quite a decent amount of presence and good rumble
• Amount of bass is definitely one of those where I would classify this as a "basshead IEM"
• Kick drums will sound thumpy with a quick airy decay to it
• Occasional bass notes sounding rounded and bloaty
• Midbass of the IEM definitely is boosted in this pair, making fast basslines sound more smooth than more staccato
• Overall note definition on this pair is suprisingly good, which might be helped by its technical prowess
• Bass bleed happens occasionally to the mids (only happened if I do not use the DAC and tested on Plenue, your mileage may vary)

MIDS
Vocals :
With more or less the same consensus as I said with my review on the KBEAR Little Q, the vocal presence for a V shape is definitely considered the least recessed from what I've heard.
Little Q has a warmth signature to it, Dumplings will probably sound more neutral and slightly cold for vocals overall

• Male vocals - overall natural tonality, occasionally might be because of the mix that causes it to sound a little cold
• Female vocals - definitely a little more laid back than male vocals, but still quite enjoyable. Sibilance is occasional but its very vocalist dependent (again, J-pop is a good example)

Instruments :

• Personally from my listening, synths would be the special region the Dumplings are good at. They have enough body to make notes hit when they need to but does the presentation well when its just soft modulations like the typical sine wave synth
• Guitars from Polyphia would sound quite aggresive and in-your-face in a good way, and arpeggios are very enjoyable where every note is distinguishable
• Complementing macrodetailed tracks from gutiar ensembles to choirs all present themselves well, fills up the ambience of songs well
• Pianos and violins sound relaxing but in very rare occasions might have a lack of body/ hollow, if you will.

HIGHS

• Treble region has slight warm characteristics to it but does not affect the crispiness of certain elements
• Hi hats might come off sounding a little hot in certain tracks
• Hats, cymbals and rides have decent treble extension for that feel
• Details in this range

TECHNICALITIES
In terms of technicalities, I think the first thing I noticed with this is almost similar with the Little Q, where its imaging and separation, as well as detail retrieval was definitely up there in the ranks for budget IEMs. Having good imaging followed by the amount of detail retrieval especially nearing the upper-mid region makes songs overall sound full and complete.

Soundstage for this pair, is decent for its price. Maybe one thing that's interesting is that there is more depth to the soundstage than anything else.

FINAL THOUGHTS
In my opinion, I would totally recommend this to people who are finding a pair of decent buds to listen to music. It doesn't even have to be audiophiles, like I can literally recommend these to an average Joe for such an acceptable price.

Personally, would call this the alternate version of the Little Q, where it overall sounds more on the neutral and slight cold-ish side.

Again, if you are interested in purchasing this pair of IEM, you can do so with these non-affiliated link :
Keephifi : https://keephifi.com/products/kbear-little-q?_pos=1&_sid=c21b7944e&_ss=r
Amazon : https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B7NGPMM...bDg6Lg7FiXQq6AKZb0ImtkR7WKsVBLmfRIuI0H8bZ4lz4

Build & Fitting:
This is a budget category IEM, with fixed cable, simple & small shell. All good and decently built. Despite being in the budget price tag, KBEar Dumplings actually having quite a unique design, where the 6mm DD drivers actually located near end of the nozzle, probably just few millimetre away from the nozzle filters. Talking about the nozzle, there is no flange, and the nozzle diameter is larger then normal IEM. When plugging it into the ear canals, actually, half of the IEM shell do sit inside the ear canals, don’t get me wrong, the fittings are actually quite comfortable, still the general kind of shallow insertion depth.

Sound:
I would say, this IEM is quite fun to listen to, not for analytical kind of listening, it will be quite good for relax listening. The tuning signature is actually quite balanced sounding, with some boost in bass, quite U-shaped kind of signature. The tonality is actually quite correct to my ears, no weirdness. Technicalities might be a big surprise to some, especially in such price range.

Bass:
The bass is obviously boosted. The bass quantity is actually quite fun sounding. Bass quality is actually quite decent, and also quite controlled kind of bass. No muffling into mids, if not, some might perceive it as bass having slight bleeding into mids. Mostly the bass is mid-bass kind of emphasized. I’m not a basshead, and I would say that, this kind of bass quantity & quality are quite tastefully tuned.

Mids:
Despite being tuned as a U-shaped signature, the mids are neither recess nor forward sounding. Vocals are quite intimate sounding, male vocals do sound alright, nothing weird, good tonal balance. Female vocals will be quite sweet sounding. Electric guitars are having enough bites. I would say, this kind of upper mids will be well-cooked kind, controlled, sibilance-free, where some treblehead might needing more from those airs region. Overall, the mids are quite relax kind of safe tuning.

Highs:
The highs here are well-cooked kind too, not too much, not too little. Cymbals, hi-hats wouldn’t crash the listener’s ears, not recess too, quite neutral sounding. I would say, the treble actually having quite good extension too, especially in such budget price tag. Some treblehead might find it dark sounding, especially when the highs actually kind of needing to fight with the boosted lows, thankfully, the bass are actually controlled and didn’t muffled up mids that much, and also having decent tightness and transient speed.

Separation, Soundstage & Layering:
This 6mm DD drivers with unique shell design and near nozzle drivers location, no doubt, the soundstage will be slightly different and unique sounding to our ears. The instrument separation and layering ability actually are surprisingly good. I would say it is above average kind of technicalities.

Conclusion:
I can see that, this IEM actually will be having good attention from audiophile community, due to the unique design, correct tonality, and decent or above average kind of technicalities.

Hello all: Thanks for reading my review.
I share my impressions as I hear them with my ears.

As all our ears are different shapes & sizes so what I hear as bright you might hear as dull and Vise-Versa; just something to be mindful of.
What makes my ears happy as a sound signature is a aggressive U shape in that I love my Bass Sub and Mid Bass love it all; and in quantity.

With the Bass I prefer a faster decay the faster the better as to not bleed into the mids. Imagine the bass of a 5-10" Sub in a small sealed enclosure (My Preference) vs a 12-30" Sub in a big ole ported 3-4th order - Ported enclosure with the fat, tubby, musical kind of bass.
I prefer the fast speedy bass of the Nano Carbon Driver of my LetShuoer EJ07M there are exceptions as I also find the bass of the Bio Diaphragm used in the Yanyin Canon special - has some special sauce like a 8" subwoofer that feels like a 12" Has the slam and some serious sub bass!

I spent 25 years in the Audio Industry, building , designing , selling and Installation of high end car audio at first and moved on the home and ultra high end home audio at a few boutique stores. I worked with studios and club for commercial sound and worked with a few speakers manufacturers in design, enclosure construction , crossover builds , and sound evaluation.

As Such here is my take on the: KBEAR Dumpling:
Sources: E1DA SG3, Shanling UP5, Geshelli JNOG J2 with AKM4493 chip.
DAP/TRASPORT: From Lenovo Laptop with Amazon Unlimited UlTRA HD, Hiby R6 2020,Samsung S22 Ultra
Amps: LoxjiP20 tube amp and Topping A90D
Tips Used for Best Result and subjective: Stock: Read Notes Plz.
Cable Used: Non Detachable Stock Cable.
Paid For: YES
Sponsor Provided: KeepHiFi Reembursted me without conditions or expectations on either end.


PRO'S:
- Small & Light
- Comes in Rose Pink ( My Choice ) With or Without Mic.
- Non Fatiguing Sound Signature Can listen to forever
- Super Comfy even for small ears ( Daughter Tested )
- Great For Sleeping In.
- Male Vocals sound meaty and musical.


CON'S:
- Intimate stage ( Does not go wide ,deep or high. ) Like two point sources
- Male vocals can get congested on busy tracks in this case from the lack of balance as it needs more high frequency energy.
- Cable is Non Detachable Cable no complaints on the quality as it seems to tangle free and terminated with a gold plated 3.5mm Single Ended Cable ( Non Balanced )
- EARTIPS - Now here is the big one , the Dumpling comes with 3 sets of different sizes S/M/L as for the tips and they are quite long and accommodate sliding over the entire end of the IEM. The width I measured at 7.25mm huge; and as such it makes tip rolling aftermarket tips a challenge some will work but many others simply not designed to stretch that wide. So really your stuck with provided set.

EVALUATION SCORE FOR SOUND IMPRESSIONS: 1-10 ( 1 Lowest - Poor 10 Highest - Mind Blown )
OVERALL SCORE: Out of possible 130 Points : 51/130 39% Rotten Ears Score
BUILD QUALITY: 5
SUB - BASS Quantity: 9
SUB - BASS Quality: 3
MID - BASS Quality: 4
MID - HIGH Quality: 4
TREBBLE: 2
EXTENTION: 2
SEPERATION: 2
STAGE OVERALL SCORE: 2
- WIDTH: 4
- HEIGHT: 2
- DEPTH: 1
COHERIENCY (Drivers Blend in together) : 4
MACRO DYNAMICS: 2
- (How well does the IEM convey a emotional and skillful use of change of volume in the musical piece your listening to make it interesting and bring a tear to your eye.)
- Elements of good Micro-Dynamics (Drums have the snap and impact your feel in your chest and this was observed to be best achieved with a slower attack on the bass notes to add weight and blend the proper attack relative of the rest of the mix; Also how does the IEM express its ability to replay the song mix in a way you can enjoy the dynamics in different volumes not only with the various different instruments ; but as well as give you a sense of space of whether or not your listening to a live recording or a large , medium, small recording studio.
MICRO DYNAMICS: 2
- (How well does the IEM give you the sense of emotion in the overall relay: Does the emotion of the entire song change tone with verses having various rises? Did the engineer make the choruses feel more powerful?)
SOURCE & RECORDING PLAYBACK QUALITY MAKES A MASSIVE DIFFERECE AND ONLY GOOD IEM'S CAN GET HIGH MARKS ON ABOVE!


MY VALUE SCORE: 10
1-20 ( 1 Nobody Should Buy This - 10 Good Value as over-all package this IEM will appeal to some who will love It - 20 ( SOUND/WALLET/EMOTION/FIT/COMFORT )
- ( My score purely subjective to current selling price and competition at time of review)
SUMMARY FOR : KBEAR Dumpling $15 USD - $20 CDN ( Dec 2022 )
- Although these are not my preferred sound signature - Bass is messy and I like way more sparkel and zip inthe highs.
- That being said as the Dumpling may not be for me and if your listening preference matches mine than the Dumpling is a hard pass.
- But if you want a inexpensive set , don't need or want a detachable cable and are fine with the stocktips then OK.
- If you are looking for a small IEM with a easy to listen to sound. Warmer Male vocals and highs not designed for non treble heads then THIS IS A GOOD ONE TO LOOK AT!
NON AFFILIATED PURCHASE LINK:
KEEPHiFi in-Ear Earbuds-[KBEAR Dumplings] HiFi Earphone, Stereo Wired in Ear Headphones Beautiful Vocals Powerful Resolution Noise Isolating Headsets with HD Microphone (Pink with mic) https://a.co/d/96qV5AU