KBEar Ink
TOTAL SCORE: 32.5 out of 50
WHO THIS UNIT IS FOR:
- Dirty V-Shape Enjoyers
- People who like microdetails in the upper frequencies
- People who are immune to shout and sibilance
- People who like a well built IEM
- People who want a lot of accessories
WHO THIS UNIT ISN’T FOR:
- People who like a lot of details and wide stage
- People who are sensitive to treble
- People who don’t like recessed and dry-sounding mids
- People that like a lot of bass texture and details
- People who hate thick cables and hefty IEMs
FAVORITE GENRES ON THE SET
- HipHop
- Certain JPOP
- EDM and other electronic music with an emphasis on bass and treble
- R&B
“When the world tells you to change, it pays to be yourself to be different”
With the current state of the budget in-ear market, it really makes one wonder what the future holds for us. It's exciting to see what companies are doing now to keep up with the competition. Whether that would be implementing the newest driver technology or revolutionizing the certain targets that have been around. Others, on the other hand, follow a simpler philosophy. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Will such philosophy prove to stand the test of
tough competition?
𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐒:
𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘧𝘪 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘳. 𝘌𝘪𝘫𝘪 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦, 𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘌𝘔 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘌𝘔. 𝘓𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘳; 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵. 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦’𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦.
SOURCES USED:
- Zishan U1
- Not-by-VE Abigail
- Poco M3
OTHER ACCESSORIES:
- Stock KBEar07 in medium
- Stock cable
TEST TRACKS:
NOTE: The playlist below may contain a mixture of MP3, FLAC and potentially DSD Files
Spotify Playlist:
Document explaining what to look for in each track:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oMa7GPLaqtpnnoR9tixvWI4aK-7tXMyTEZCJAVkIZx0/edit?usp=sharing
According to HifiGo, KBEar is a HiFi earphone brand founded in 2014 by the Chinese company Shenzhen Lingyin Technology Co., Ltd. They were formed by a young team of audiophiles with an aim to design high-fidelity audio earphones and cables at affordable prices. They are known for their quite wide array of products ranging from cables and other accessories to multidriver IEMs. They also have a subbrand named TRI which focuses more on cables.
So far, the only KBEar product I've spent a considerable amount of time with is the KBEar Little Q which I found to be a considerable bullet-in-ear option under the $20 segment. I have heard from other reviewers that KBEar has a house sound that may or may not be for you. So let's find out together whether the KBEar Ink can also be an option in the under $80 segment.
UNBOXING
Before we view the IEMs themselves, let's take a look at the box and its contents
The box comes in a pretty considerable size, coming in at 22 x 11.5 x 4.5 cm. With this size, you’re bound to expect that it would come with a lot of goodies.
Looking at the form and design, the box is covered with a square cardboard sleeve. The top shows the KBEar Logo, a tactile hexagon design, and INK printed on the very right. The sides of the cardboard are plain and the sides are open for access to the box. Under the cardboard sleeve are the necessary details such as the address of KBEar, certifications, and the specs of the IEM and cable
Opening the sleeve reveals the box with a nicely textured design that feels grippy to the touch. On top of the box is KBEar’s logo in gold print while the sides have KBEar’s website printed in the same gold color.
Opening the box splits the box into two pieces. The top cover and the bottom contains the IEMs and the bottom compartment that holds all the unit and the accessories
As I received this unit already opened, my initial experience with the presentation was with the Ink’s inside the leather pouch and the entire top section clean besides the leather pouch. So for aesthetic purposes, I have laid out what I would assume the position of the initial unboxing experience would be.
The box includes a nice-looking faux leather pouch with KBEar’s logo embedded on the middle. Under the leather pouch, the tips, cleaning brush, and cloth are located. In total, there are 8 pairs of silicone buds that come with the unit. There are 3 wide-bored in the SML sizing while the rest seems to be their famous KBEar 07 in S, M, L, and XL sizes. Under that is the warranty card
Overall, the unboxing experience was quite the treat and I would say it has got to be one of the most jam-packed unboxing experiences I’ve had so far. I would go as to say that this is one of the most keepable boxes out of all the IEMs I’ve had so far as it would be a great showpiece to display in your living room or bedroom. The combination of the cardboard sleeve and the minimalist box offers quite a premium presentation. If I were to nitpick, I would say that they could have also used a cardboard or velvet material on the inside of the box to really sell that premium unboxing experience.
BUILD AND FIT: 7 out of 10
Starting with the cable, its technical specifications describe it to be an 8-core OFC silver plated wire of about ~1.2m in length.
The jack comes in 3.5mm and is gold plated with the body painted in black. KBEar’s name is printed on the side with small creases on the sides separating the 3.5mm jack and the jack tail.
This then leads to the quite beautifully braided black 8-core cable that leads to the splitter. The splitter is colored the same black as the jack and has the KBEar logo. It sports a similar crease over the entire splitter similar to the jack. This is also where a pretty standard-looking and feeling circular chin cinch is. The chin cinch thankfully has sections that hug each strand which helps in holding the cable down more efficiently
The wire splits to a 4 core per side that leads to the well-done pre-formed ear hook to the relatively standard-looking 2-pin modules.
Now, to the unit themselves.
KBEar Ink sports a 2.5D arc high transparent epoxy resin faceplate, one-piece molding alloy cavity, and a “precision” brass nozzle.
Observing the units further, the faceplate includes a hexagonal design with a predominantly grey color. Blue lines appear near the outer hexagons and the KBEar name is printed on both sides with a yellow/gold color.
Under the faceplate is the metal shell or “cavity” that is akin to their previous releases, namely the KBEar Believe and Diamond. According to KBear, it was optimized to give full play to the 8.8mm DLC Diaphragm that is at the heart of the Ink. A single vent is located across the sunken 2-pin connector which also has the side indicator printed between the two. The overall shape is on a smoother side as the shell is devoid of fins that other IEMs have to compensate for the shape of the ear. Lastly, we reach the brass nozzle which is a completely separate piece from the shell.
The overall build quality of the KBEar Ink is outstanding. From the cable to the IEM itself, I was completely astonished by how well-built the unit is.
Unsurprisingly coming from KBEar, their cables are robust. They are thick and durable feeling without being too overwhelmingly heavy or stiff. Each strand feels just right without being too thin to compensate for the thicker braid. Speaking of the braid, it feels very smooth and well braided with no visible kinks in both the 8-core and the two 4-core sections. The jack, splitter, and 2-pin connectors are also well made with the small creases offering a better grip when removing and plugging the jack or adjusting the chin cinch. The preformed ear hooks are also comfortable as I never felt any pressure points regardless of how long I wore the Ink.
The IEMs themselves were no slouches either as the combination of a resin faceplate and aluminum shell made it feel very premium to the touch. Holding the Ink for the first time completely shook me, especially coming after the BQEYZ Topaz and the Tangzu Zetian Wu which were primarily using resin material for their shells and metal faceplates. If I’ll be honest, this is one of the most premium feeling IEMs I’ve tried purely for how well built it feels. The fitting is also very good as the absence of the fins allowed for fewer pressure points in my ear. Lastly, the brass nozzle is just the right length and radius for my ears in combination with the included tips (both the wide-bore and KBEar 07). Overall, I have to commend KBear for a very well-made IEM with the KBear Ink. If I were to nitpick, the hexagon design on the faceplate could have definitely been executed better as I found the design to be pretty underwhelming.
Sound: 25.5 out of 40
Sound Signature:
Drivability:
- Very easy to drive but makes the treble more bearable and the mids less thin sounding on a powerful source.
Bass: 7 out of 10
- An elevated overall bass section in the frequency
- A good amount of rumble, but not basshead level
- Sufficient midbass kick, but slightly lacks in texture and detail making instruments like bass guitars, cellos, and lower registers of electric guitars sound a bit dull or muffled
- Elevation in the bass slightly bleeds into the lower mids
Pretty traditional v-shaped tuned bass with its entire spectrum boosted significantly enough to affect the rest of the frequencies. Despite the sacrifices it has made to boost that bass, it still doesn’t sound enough for me to be a proper basshead set as the rumble and texture of instruments. Particularly on tracks like Savant’s Witchcraft which usually has a very well-textured and layered bass that you really can both feel and hear, the KBEar Ink does only a decent job of depicting such complexity. Thankfully, it can still make a track like Sustainer by Savant sound dynamic and quite satisfying (possibly thanks to its upper mids emphasis but we’ll get to that later). Overall though, I expected this kind of elevated but somewhat subdued bass quality coming from KBEar, but I would love for them to try something more along the lines of truly a dirty bass. If they were to keep this somewhat smoother, sub-bass-oriented tuning, improvements in detail and quality of the bass speed are definitely needed as I find the bass to have just a sufficient amount of sub-bass for the amount of texture and detail is achieved
Mids: 5 out of 10
- Very dry and recessed overall sounding
- Male vocals are pulled back and occasionally lack body even with the midbass bleed
- Details are very subpar in this region, particularly anything guitar, synths, pianos, and vocal nuance in the lower registers
- Unnaturally forward and borderline shouty upper mids that make female vocals not only sound unnaturally forward and occasionally shrill and shouty
Yikes. I feel as if this had a larger driver, this would be borderline unlistenable and I would have had a bad time reviewing the unit. But thankfully, my shout-exposed ears just managed to hear through this mids of Ink as it was overall unbearable to listen on certain tracks. I will give credit where it’s due if you come from the old KZs, CCAs, or TRNs, this would not be far off from your experiences. But whether you enjoy that is beyond me. Lower mids are distant and unbodied especially on busy tracks while upper mids have an insanely forward presentation that even for someone like me who likes a forward upper mids to make female vocals shine, was way too much. Necry Talkie’s “You Should Head North” which is my primary shout test track was not a good experience as Mossa’s vocals were both dry and scratchy sounding due to her high notes being overly forward and shouty which forces you to lower the volume quite a significant amount when listening to that and the rest of the tracks in their album, “ZOO!!”. Overall, not a good experience. Only saved by the fact that lower mids don’t sound as bloated as I expected them to be and I can get a decent experience with instrumentals and naturally forward male vocals and the details that the upper mids can occasionally offer. Tracks that have the upper mids pulled back sound good with the Ink, especially when synths and electric guitars are concerned as they pull out the microdetails in those instruments.
Treble: 7 out of 10
- Decent extension
- Instances of sibilances that may be unbearable for some
- Surprisingly nice amount of microdetails
- Good amount of headspace and air
As someone who can bear a significant amount of treble, I will say this is almost close to how I like my treble done. Weird to say after absolutely disliking the mids I know. Regardless, I should state that the treble is definitely peaky and sibilant to some tracks that are most likely unbearable for some. Personally, this elevated treble is fine for me. This leads me to the surprisingly good amount of microdetails in the lower to middle treble. This is most likely due to its elevated nature which forces some instruments to be forward and shows pretty great detail. This comes at the cost that it sounds unnatural, but treble heads may enjoy this quality of treble. The air region is sufficient enough for me as there is a sense of headroom that makes pulls some instruments out of your head. Cymbals, hi-hats, and air instruments have a surprisingly nice amount of micro details but may come across as splashy to some. But overall, the treble response may be too hot and intense to some while being just right to people like me. It’s not clean and sibilance is quite frequent, but its hefty microdetail capabilities and a good sense of air make the treble quite enjoyable to listen to particularly on tracks with recessed treble.
Soundstage, imaging, and separation: 6.5 out of 10
- Good height and depth, but width needs work
- Imaging is a hit or miss depending on the instruments at hand
- Good separation on less complex tracks, but suffers on busier tracks
Its overall technicalities surprised me both in a good way and a bad way. The lower registers were quite disappointing with how details, separation, and staging were handled (with the exception of a decent amount of bass depth) but the upper registers offered an expansive feel (probably due to the treble elevation). I would still say it's about average in its total detail retrieval, but that treble really makes up for its microdetails. Separation is surprisingly nice on synths and guitars are I can quite easily separate those particular instruments, due in part to the recessed mids which makes some songs sound uneven in terms of separation.
COMPARISON:
vs BQEYZ Topaz ($89)
- Topaz sports an almost L-shaped tuning while the Ink is Bright V-Shaped
- Bass texture and quality are better on topaz while Ink offers a smoother, sub-bass-oriented sound
- Mids sounds more bodied and detailed on Topaz without any noticeable peaks while Ink offers a more forward and engaging upper mids (which is essentially a double-edged sword)
- Treble is better extended but also more prone to sibilant on the Ink while the Topaz sounds duller but smoother
- Technicalities are better on the Topaz with better overall detail retrieval, staging, imaging, and separation on all aspects compared to Ink
vs Tin T3+ ($79)
- T3+ is closer to a Harman style tuning compared to Ink’s V-Shape
- T3+ bass is overall smoother and better detailed than Ink
- Mids are also smoother, better body, and less recessed on the T3+ compared to the Ink.
- No shout on the T3+ while still providing good body and forwardness for female vocals compared to Ink
- Treble is better extended but also more sibilant on Ink compared to T3+
- Overall technicalities besides microdetails are better on T3+
VERDICT:
As I personally enjoy a taste of V-Shape myself every once and a while, I found myself to be enjoying the KBEar Ink during my first few hours of listening. But due to the aggressive upper mids and occasionally sibilant treble, I found myself unable to listen to the Ink for long periods of listening. The very dry and recessed mids also make certain genres sound flat and unengaging to listen to, particularly vocal-centric tracks. I was honestly expecting more note weight for how commanding the bass region was, but mid-bass generally lacked authority and detail.
Coming back to my question earlier about whether the philosophy of not fitting with the trends of the time would prove to be sustainable, it would definitely fall to the consumer to judge as to whether their needs align with their needs. KBEar Ink offers a familiar but also aggressive V-Shaped tuning that we have heard years prior while providing accessories that are very generous even for the under $80. But it’s very clear that KBEar will struggle if we’re talking about the just IEMs themselves, I personally think that the Ink is not competitive in terms of technical ability against those that precede it. Regardless, the Ink still provides an option for those who like a nice bass experience and spicy upper mids. If anything, this will at least write itself in ink for being a complete package that offers a lot!
If you're interested to buy the KBEar Ink, you may get buy one through a non-affiliated link to Keephifi
https://keephifi.com/products/kbear-ink
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