Kinera Skuld Hand-Painted Multi-BA IEMs

TONALITY: 8.5/10
TECHNICALITIES: 8.2/10
CONSTRUCTION: 9/1-
SOUND VALUE: 7.5/10

Kinera is a Chinese company specializing in hybrid earphones and also known for its great care in the aesthetic design of these. Having had the chance to test their other mid-range model such as the Freya, I can tell you that their sumptuous design is a real treat for the eyes, as for the ears, the Freya lacked softness and organicity in the musicality for my taste. But Kinera is also known for its evolution in tuning target.
Today I will review their multi balanced armature IEM, the Imperial Skuld which use 3 knowles BA and 2 custom BA.
Priced 550$, the Skuld promise a ''smooth neutral tonality''.

''After tuning and testing by machines, we are surprised to see that our beloved Skuld has a smooth flat frequency response range with a difference of no more than 4dB in the 0-8kHz frequency range. This is our flattest frequency response curve after Kinera Odin. Flat frequency response doesn’t mean it will be dull or less engaging by any means, we have made sure to make the Skuld convey emotions of your favourite music with great clarity, great resolution, and high transient dynamics. We are pretty sure you will love the dynamic and engaging sound will keep you hooked with all its clarity and detailing.''

Their product description promise a mature tonal balance that should be different from more energic and brigh Kinera NorN or Hodur, which I review in the past"

Let see in this review if the Skuld offer an enjoyable musicality that hold it's ground in term of technical performance.

CONSTRUCTION



The Skuld are magnificent looking IEM, they are hand painted so it mean each pair are unique. Shinny, eye catching yet not elegant, we can't understate level of artistry and craftmanship of these beauties. They are made of gih grade resin plastic, which is thick, smooth and very solid. The 2pin connector are just slightly recessed, which secure the connection and promise versatility for different 2pins cables. The shell have an organic shape, is light and extremely comfortable: you forget you wear these after the music begin. The nozzle is long enough to permit deep or not fit.
Talking about this nozzle, it's large, long and have tree hole at it's top, this mean that too small nozzle ear tips might block or interfer with proper sound projection, so i would advice to use the wide bore eartips included in accessories to achieve wide open spatiality with well articulated sound layering.



As always with Kinera, the packaging is a piece of art in its own right. As well it include a generous amoung of good quality accessories. We have 5 pairs of Final Audio eartips, 3 pair of standard silicone ear tips, 3 pairs of short wide bore eartips and 2 pairs of memory foam ear tips. As well as cleaning brush, magnetic leather case and a 4.4mm balanced cable with 3.5mm and 2.5mm adapter.



The cable is of excellent quality, it's an 8 cores silver plated cable with sturdy 4.4mm balanced jack. It feel smooth and flexible as well as very sturdy.
To be honnest, we are never disappointed with Kinera accessories, and this Skuld is no exception. Yet, I would have prefer a modular cable like their more recend model, but all in all, it's very good and the adapter can be use with other cables I have.

SOUND IMPRESSIONS


The Kinera Skuld are nichely tuned, dark and neutral to mid centric with slight warm but well felt mid bass boost.

Those are for vocal lover, those are smooooooth, those are similar to Idun Golden with superior yet understated technicalities and smoother more organic balance.

Dark but not dull sounding since we have fast attack snap and hint of spice mid treble spectrum, but it roll off fast, so, not for treble head seeking vivid highs, nor for basshead, perhaps neutral head but it's a ''romantical neutral tuning'' I would say.

As a mid range addict audiophile that listen to lot of piano, acoustic instrument and female vocal, this type of tuning sure trigger lot of listening joy in me. The fact whole balance is smooth and creamy help this enjoyment too, since when the loudness gain is too raise for female vocal, soprano singer become shouty and fatiguing, lotta harman tuning tend to create that as well as offering thin mids, here it's not the case at all.

Again, fan of Idun Golden 2.0 should at least give a try to those.

The balanced armature has always some kind of trade off when it come to bass, even the fancy one like GSaudio SE12 don't have proper rumble and Skuld is no exception. Yet, firstly, we don't have distortion which is nice, even with rumbly track like No Signal from Muni Long, the rumble here is more about resonance presence but the punch is there, not perfectly define in presence, a warm boom done well that doesn't distract, that warm the mids from the back and add the minimal fun for versatile kick performance. Sure, vocal stole the show and bass stay at the back, glued to mid range but very well layred at the same time, it doesn't mix up messy way and both bass and mids have minimal transparency helping this appealing dynamic articulation.
Its dark in texture too. I was expecting way worst bass performance in fact, Knowles woofer is a good one and has been dampened here to offer a mellow hit that have good speed but not sharp separation and resolution, so, we struggle to get proper positioning of bass instrument in busy tracks and sub and kick can feel a bit sticked togheter in a fluffy, again, pleasant tone-timbre wise.
This is not problematic for acoustic instrument enjoyment, which sound full, warm and natural in tone. Cello and contrabass aren't thin here, but rich in both presence and density vibrance. Again, this underline that the Skuld perform very well with acoustic music and vocal, sure, contrabass extension will not dig down to 20hz in cleanest way, the resonance sustain is a bit scooped-warmed, but very enjoyable still as well as well layered organicaly as we can expect with a 5bas IEM of this price range.

Oh boy, this will be a wordy mid range section: be ready since the Skuld are all about the mids! And not in a clinical or analytical way, nope, it want those mids to be lush, natural, velvety and avoid any balanced armature roughness, grain or metallic sheen and to my ears it succeed well.
So those are dense, rich fowards mids that have both dynamic presence and low harmonic boosted to magnify a gently euphonic naturalness. It's not agressive but smooth in upper mid register, so sibilance free and hint creamy, a hint softed in definiton edge too, so I wouldn't say it's cleanest mid range. In fact, mid bass transition is thick and embrace lower mids.
Both male and female vocal sound full bodied. Piano note are well rounded, fast in attack, but not very clean in natural decay, there a hint of warm sustain to the attack, but piano is never sounding recessed, it's center of the show when recording tell it so and its sens of fullness is highly gratifying musicaly wise.
Its not what i would call high fidelity mid range though, since it's a bit colored to magnify lushness and avoid both harshness and recession of presence without overly boosted the timbre texture details.
I would have love a hint more open mids, but they are envelopping and intimate, as well, audio source you pair with will greatly inflict on the rather sensitive Skuld, clean sounding DAP like Tempotec V6 and Hiby RS6 boost sens of transparency and openess and will improve imaging.
Back to the female vocal, the Skuld are among finest multi BA i've heard for this very task, but not the clearest or most intelligible due to softed upper mids that affect certain word articulation. So for communiting, i would not suggest the Skuld I guess. As said, presence is very centered too, i would prefer wider one, more airy-envelopping and better separated vocal, but this would have come with some drawback surely. I really try hard to nitpick things I like less with the mid range but all in all, I do sincerly adore it, it's both softed in lead attack energy and bite yet weighty in impact, dense in timbre and buttery yummy yummy.

Now, the less interesting part of the Skuld: the treble. Its understated and roll off fast after 10khz, it's not sparkly, nor airy, and do lack brilliance. Add an EST to cover 10-20khz section and perhaps these would become end game!
Its smooth, darkish and thick treble. We have sens of fullness but not alot of micro details, it tend to pick up minimal things, like important part of percussion, their surely a slight treble spike somewhere in mid treble but lower treble is lean and smooth, so instrument like violin or electric guitar will lack excitment in attack as well as abrasive texture for proper excitment but sound dense and fowards enough. Snare is softly snappy as well as overall percussions but they sit in the back and will go darker and darker when their alot of mid range instrument or a vocalist. This is good news for treble sensitive people, since long time listening is rather safe with these, as well, the fast layering of ba's avoid plain muddyness, but don't expect highly resolved music with these, don't expect to find micro details you haven't heard too.
Yet, it's not what i would call bad treble quality, it's rich, I mean, their 2 BA's for highs here, so it's sure no thin and anemic, and the sens of sounds layers is there. With calm jazz trio, i don't struggle to find the percussions and i can hear minimal brilliance and crispness, but it will not open up and tend to have less amplitude to fully blossom the natural sparkle decay, this will make splash cymbals seem hint foggy too.

Spatiality is quite wide and tall enough, not very deep, it act like an holographic tapestry envelopping you. It feel dense in layer and that you are part of these layers too, so it's an intimate cozzy and wide enough soundstage.

Imaging wise, it's not plain bad due to more than decent sound layering capacity of these 5 balanceds armatures driver, but a bit foggy in definition accuracy making spacing not very clean for static instruments positionning. As well, you are quite near the instrument, as if you were playing with the band some time, so


SIDE NOTES

The Skuld is very ear tips picky due to its big nozzle with 3 tubes hole in it that most not be block. Using a short wide bore silicone ear tips is highly suggested, or something similar wide bore. This kind of ear tips models are often necessary for multi-BAs only IEMs, so it doesn't compress spatiality and mess up with BAs resonance amplitude…
And, yes, they are sensitive to impedance output of your audio source, so lower than 1 or even 0.5ohm is greatly suggested as well, to get proper clean and dynamic sound rendering.


COMPARISONS

VS KINERA NORN (1DD+4BAs-500$)

Norn are brighter, bassier and more V to W shape. Notably less neutral to mid centric, less smooth and more foward and agressive in dynamic. Bass hit harder, have more rumble and more weight in impact, it seem to extend deeper too, which is to be expected from a dynamic driver. Mids are brighter and more recessed, less full and natural in timbre, it have more upper mids presence and bite, texture is more boosted hint more grainy too. Female vocal are thinner and more shouty, they can create fatigue unlike the Skuld. Treble is more detailed, way more detailed in fact it can feel saturated with details and sounds layers, Skuld is darker here but both lack sparkle and sens of air on top.
Soundstage is less wide than the Skuld, but a notch deeper due to recessed center stage where mids happen. Imaging of both these IEM aren't very impressive, I would say on par.

All in all, Skuld is better balanced, have a more natural tonality but less brightly resolved sound. There no doubt i prefer them even if technicalities aren't as boosted and in your face.

VS PENON FAN2 (2DD+2BAs)

Ok, these aren't really similar, and the Penon is about 2 times cheaper but this is an interesting comparison because Fan2 isn't bad at all. Here the Fan2 is more W shape to crisp neutral, with similar mid bass boost that isn't over powering, bass is better define and more flexible and dig deeper, it have more headroom in resonance impact too. Then the mids are brighter in presence but not agressive, yet, less warm and thick than the Skuld and sens of transparency is higher due to less euphonic rendering. Timbre is not as ''colored natural'' and charming as the Skuld and sens of mid range note weight is lighter, airier, this make overall sound more open with the Fan2, and deeper...again, due to part of mids being more recessed and lean. So we have more lower treble bite and presence too with the Fan2, overall clarity-resolution is superior to Skuld, it's less dark, airyer, snappier, but hint spikier too. In other words: less smooth and organic in macro resolution and balance.
Spatiality is notably more open, wider and deepr with the Fan2. Imaging is crisper, more accurate and spacious in separation and positioning.

All in all....i'm quite surprise by this comparisons and would conclude something surprising: technical performance seem superior with the Fan2 but tone-timbre is feeling more natural and appealing with the Skuld....but is it guilty pleasure after all?

CONCLUSION

The Kinera Skuld are charming my ears, but it doesn't mean it will charm your since it's a dark, dense, rich mid centric tuning that make plunge the listener in a colored form of ''neutrality'', not one i would call ''high fidelity''. Imagine a darker Final E4000 with better layering performance or a smoother Kinera Idun Golden and your not far from what you'll got from the Skuld.
This is an IEM for creamy musicality seeker that favor tone and timbre density and ''naturalness'' as well as warm layering richness.
This is an IEM that don't lack soul, nor lack dynamic fullness.
But might lack treble crispness for some.
Yet, I do find the Skuld very appealing and immersive, and these are among my favorite Kinera IEM I try.
They are as sweet and thick as honey.

Enthusiastly suggested for those that favor natural mid range, for vocal lover as well as treble sensitive audiophile.

Kinera is a well known audio brand famous for its very good-sounding IEMs. They always name their IEMs referring to the figurines in Norse mythology. They have been on a spree of producing exceptionally well build, good-looking and exception sounding IEMs like Odin, Idun, Seed, BD005, Idun Deluxe etc. where Imperial Skuld is their latest offering.

Kinera Imperial Skuld is a beautiful IEM having shades of Blue & Green with Gold & Silver colors in between on black background acting as base. These color brings out little more shades depending upon the how the light or reflections are falling onto it making it really fascinating to keep your eyes glude at them & praise the looks in varied lightning conditions. To see how these gorgeous IEM actually looks scroll down for the many shots below. According to Kinera Blue-Green colors represents hope, represents the future. Future needs to be bright, needs to be great that’s what the design of Kinera Skuld represents. The shiny flacs of gold and silver all over the IEM represents the fascination we have for our future. And so does it name “Skuld” following the tradition of naming it’s IEMs based on Norse Mythology Skuld here means “Goddess of Future”.



Skuld adopts a full BA configuration housing two of Kinera’s in-house customized BA units and three Knowles highly renowned BA drivers, tuned by Kinera to deliver a smooth flat frequency response with a difference of no more than 4dB in the 0-8kHz frequency range. It comes with High-Quality Silver-Plated Copper Cable with Balanced 4.4mm Termination but also includes high-quality 4.4mm-3.5mm and 4.4mm-2.5mm adapters. The cable has PVC insulation coating to reduce any microphonic issues. Kinera says Skuld has the flattest frequency response curve after Kinera Odin & we are here find it out about it.

Before I proceed further, I would like to thanks Kinera Audio to involve me in the ongoing review-tour handled by HifiGo. You can get the Skuld by clicking here. I would like to inform that this is not sponsored nor has been paid by Kinera or HifiGo or anyone else. All impressions mentioned below reflects my personal experience with Kinera Imperial Skuld.



Source : Fiio Alpen E17 Dac/Amp; Vivo X60, Direct Laptop Output.

When it comes to sound, I would say it is nothing short of Fantastic. It’s just beautiful, that’s the first word will come into your mind when you will put the Kinera Skuld into your ears. The way it portrays the music is just amazing. It has a big sound having great deal of transparency as well as putting out a lot of details kinda like a detail-whore. The music is presented in a very engaging manner & captures the emotions very well. The presentation is just attention grabbing. At First, I listened it directly from my Vivo X60 smartphone and Laptop & was still impressed with its overall detail, neutral bass & great mids, a nice smooth treble along with big instruments & quite a big soundstage. I felt that resolution could have been just a tad more considering the price range it is in and felt that sometimes few instruments tend to go too much inside the depth of the stage though that can be also felt because of its own superb dynamics but both of these concerns were blown away when I used it with a dedicated DAC/AMP .

After having quite a nice time with it I used it with Fiio Alpen E17 portable Dac/amp. And have to say everything just improved in a perfect manner. Imaging was much more discrete now, not only the timber of various instruments could be felt but also the texturing of instruments was much more proper. Bass gained the little needed tightness, Mids were rich & Treble as usual was showing details of all manner. Have to say that while listening via Skuld you will be hearing a lot of detail in your music. You will be amazed listening to a song & finding new details which you might have heard 100th times before or the manner you can easily visualize each and every instrument with the new-found timbre & texture. The transient characteristics of Skuld are top notch and so is the Dynamics. The earlier feeling of some instruments going too deep into stage-depth in certain sections of the track were having a more rigid & defined space now. Bass is tight & good and is quite on the neutral side of the things. Mids are transparent, fluid and sublime. Treble is smooth with a touch of sparkle bringing out a lot of detail. Imaging is top-notch and soundstage is quite holographic, airy, out of the ears & bit unique in some instances. Kinera Skuld has great width which you will not be easily finding in other IEMs, a nice depth & good height.



Call of Silence from Hiruyuki Sawano was a treat to listen on it. The slow drumbeats, the amazing violin along with small but nice piano work was presented in a holographic manner. The mood which Skuld conveyed with this track was top-notch. If there was something which I would have wanted was a little more texture in the bass-drop when the first section of piano ends and the beautiful violin starts with in the middle of the track. Another track “Jungle” by Trenzer was just sublime and was another treat to hear on it with precise instrument separation and holographic soundstage it was presented with. Skuld put me right into the front gear with “Give In to me” from King of Pop Michael Jackson and lets you enjoy the music. Just close your eyes and listen to it. Michael Jackson – “Jam” , it starts with sound of a glass falling onto floor and all pieces of glass being shattered (atleast that what I thought until I saw the video years ago where it’s actually a window glass getting broken) the sound of the glass breaking into pieces and the glass pieces falling just goes from your ears to below your nose like following your jaw line, that’s how awesome Skuld makes you feel or say perceive with its amazing soundstage. Listening to “Dust to Dust” from Masashi Hamauzu the fading slow bass beats were amazing in the ending part of the track. “Ape-Titan” from Hiroyuki Sawano was presented with superb dynamics and smooth transitions. The Texturing of Sitar in “Alibaba” from Karunesh was just superb and the transients, dynamics, vocals were just flawless. Width in this song was just too amazing & that extra width becomes apparent when echoes of the female singer are presented in. I went through many other Bollywood songs and there wasn’t any song where I can say that its short of great.



Whatever track you will bring, it will dissect it in such a beautiful way that you will be able to hear each and every part of the beat, each and every single instrument, each and every nuisance the song has. Its ability to present everything is just fabulous. Be it a fast track, bring to it a classical piece of music, with its great width, nice depth it will just amaze you.

I have been praising for Kinera Skuld for its gorgeous looks & amazing sound but that doesn’t mean it not without shortcoming. Firstly, if you compare the bass with the quality of Mids & Treble it has then it’s not in the same league. Bass needs a little more resolution. It is on balanced end so the bass-heads will not find it interesting. Also, the sub-bass feel is little bit lacking. Genres like or Dubstep/EDM will sound good but not great. Similarly, on very energetic tracks some may find lacking energy in the lower regions. Another point is with its Soundstage or say the ability to present the music. Remember earlier I mentioned something that its soundstage is unique. The problem here is that with certain tracks the soundstage is really holographic but with others especially the non-vocalic or instrumental tracks you may find that center-stage is not much occupied where generally the vocals take place. Instruments tend to be too much on either side but the center region feels shallow. Now that is quite not correct but the presentation feels a little unique and fun to listen to. Lastly for some the treble could be just over the line but that perception will vary from user to user.

Moreover, in my testing I found that those users who just not only listen to music but also spend time watching Movies or Gaming will be in treat with Kinera Skuld for its details and spatial effects. Watching Uncharted 4 first gameplay trailer the direction of gunshots were indeed accurate but also you could hear all the details be it the sound of air moving around, birds chirping above you, the slow movement of your or enemy footsteps in grass, falling water-droplets in caves & corresponding echo etc. Also watching Final Fantasy XIV Stormblood first CGI was awesome. The Airy presentation along with all 3D effects & the intensity with which it was brought up was breathtaking. Only drawback here was that some effect were so dynamically put up by Skuld that you might need to keep tinkering with the volume button as the scene switches dramatically between low & high musical sequences.



Overall, I am very happy with the performance of Kinera Imperial Skuld. I wish I was currently having my high-end amps to check how much Kinera Skuld scale-up further especially in the lower frequency range. Still these Kinera Imperial Skuld produces one of the most transparent, sublime & beautiful mids which is hard to come over by any other IEM in its price range. And it just doesn’t stop there. It has very smooth & detailed treble, produces superb dynamics & transients and has excellent Imaging, layering and soundstage. It’s really hard to find an item these days which has so many parameters ticked on the right end. If you are looking for an IEM in this price range then you should check Kinera Imperial Skuld as it is one of a kind and is hard to pass on to.

Introduction:
Kinera is a brand of YuTai Electronic Acoustics, that has been in the business for more than 10 years now. Based in Dongguan, China, YuTai is a pioneer in 'Bone Conduction' technology. In last few years , Kinera has produced a series of exceptions products which include Odin, Idun, Seed, BD005, Idun Deluxe and single dynamic driver SIF. Skuld is the latest jewel in crown. It is a 5 BA driver in-ear monitor with stunning looks and killer design.

It is interesting to know that Skuld takes its name from Norse mythology, in which is means "Goddess of the Future" whose job is to decide fates of people. Kinera left no stone untuned to ensure that the packaging and presentation of Skuld reflects grandeur of its name. The ear-pieces are an absolute delight to look at. The hand painted faceplate is absolutely stunning with its blue and green patterns, shimmering golden dots fill the blackish background behind this pattern, resulting the feel with a nicely lit night sky. The magnificence of this design increases manifold with the name "skuld" etched across this faceplate in golden. Its lightweight and comfortable on ears due to its acoustic structure.

It is bundled with an 8 core-192 strands Silver-plated copper alloy cable with soft PVC outer insulation. The cable feels sturdy and compliments the shells perfectly in look and feel. The cable is equipped with universal 0.78 mm 2-pin connectors and a balanced 2.5 mm termination plug. The package also comes with one unit each of 2.5mm to 4.4mm and 2.5mm to 3.5mm connector and a very premium looking carry case.



Disclaimer:
I have received as part of review circle sent from HifiGo in exchange of honest reviews. All impressions of sound are subjective to my own listening and my sources and is based on my experience with IEMs of similar hardware configurations and price range. One can purchase it from the following link.

Sources:
For this review the unit has been paired to A&K SE100 (ES9038 Pro) and Shanling M6 (AK4495EQ).

Highs:
Treble has been tuned fantastically in Skuld, the highs has good extension in them but they are extremely relaxing, buttery smooth with no unwanted peaks or harshness in them. These are just perfect for the ones who are treble sensitive. The lower treble has again done very well making female vocals and the instruments sound fuller. One can feel a darker side in mid and upper treble region, and its again depends on personal preferences. To me it's just perfect the way it has been tuned and I really loved listening to it.

Mids:
The mids are very tastefully done and has a feel of relaxation to them. It has that dreamy factor which indulges the listener to another level. It's more of a unique signature of its own. The male vocals carry nice weight in them. The female vocals sounds as good as the male vocals, They have nice texture and decay. Jazz music just fantastic on it.

Lows:
The bass on Skuld is on the neutralish side. The mid bass is bit more focused as compared to the sub bass. The sub bass has a minor presence factor but yes in some tracks a decent rumble is present. There is not bleed into mids at all. Bass control is again buttery smooth and blends into nice transitions.

Technicalities:
Soundstage is above average, Its stereo but well extended. The soundstage is not much wide but the depth and the height its very good giving more of a grandeur presentation specially to the jazz and orchestral music. It has above average imaging and very nice layering to it. The sense of direction is average. The micro-details and resolution is also average. The transitions are smooth and precise.



Final Verdict:
Kinera Skuld looks gorgeous and comes with all the premium accessories. At this price point if one has to go for all BA setup, I would say they are worth the money. It has the most smooth tuning I have heard at this price point. The highs are sweet, mids are dreamy and bass response is just smooth just like fine aged scotch. There are definitely not meant as studio monitors as of average resolution and micro dynamics but for a relaxing lounge type of experience one craves after an hectic day at work to help you sleep or meditate with its buttery smooth grandeur presentation.

Kinera needs no introduction. They already have an impressive lineup. This is the second Kinera Product that I will be review after Norn.

Disclaimer:

Skuld was provided to me as a part of an ongoing Review tour organized by hifigo.com in India. The following review is a product of my honest experience with the Skuld. You can get the Skuld by clicking here.

Technical Specifications:

• 3BA Knowles Drivers + 2 BA Kinera Customize Drivers
• Impedance: 23 Ohms.
• Sensitivity: 120 +/- 2 dB.
• Frequency Response Range: 5Hz-50kHz.
• 8 Cores Silver Plated Copper.
• 4.4mm Termination Plug.

Package Contents:

• One pair of Kinera Imperial Skuld in-ear monitors.
• One Copper silver-plated cable with 4.4mm termination plug.
• Five pairs of Final Audio Type E ear tips.
• Six pairs ( RS-B45 & JH-FY009-B ) of Kinera Custom ear tips.
• Two pairs of Foam tips.
• Premium Storage Case.
• 4.4mm to 3.5mm & 2.5mm adapter.
• Cleaning Brush.

Build and Fit:

The Skuld is a beauty to hold. The shells are handcrafted and the attention to detail will catch you off guard. The Overall build of the shells is based on resin and that gives it a light feel to the whole body of the iem. The gold foils add a shining touch to the shells.

The nozzles are well thought of as well. The length is sufficient and if you are into tip rolling, you will have no difficulty while changing the tips.

The Cable is 8-core with 192 strands of silver-plated copper. The default termination is 4.4mm and you get adapters as well. I felt no microphonics while using the cable so overall a good quality cable.



Sources:

• Ifi Nano BL (Primary source).
• Nobsound TDA 1387.
• Samsung dongle Dac.
• Samsung Galaxy S10.
• Sony Discman.

Sound:

The overall sound signature is neutral. The overall flat signature gave Skuld the option to adapt itself to the sources it was used to play with.


Lows:

Test Tracks:

• Raavan By Amit Trivedi (https://tidal.com/browse/track/157460324)
• Marhaba from Janasheen (
  )
• Jalwa (Original Remix) from Jalwa Dance Hungama (https://mega.nz/file/IxRWFDAY#t5rL2MDUzJRfDn3sGTDYTzYBmYOh1BW7eYKCuqRUG6M)

The Low-end performance is typical BA. The overall flat signature means the Bass has a flat response as well. This doesn’t means that bass is absent. The mid-bass appears neutral. The decay is swift. The sub-bass rumble…if that is your thing…it’s not there. The IEM is designed to compliment Kinera’s another superb offering: NORN and it does exactly that. While Norn is fun in the lower frequencies…Skuld is like the more serious big brother whose job is to do everything just right. In all the test tracks mentioned above, Skuld is able to bring out just enough bass. But it will still leave you wanting for more.

Mids:

Test tracks:

• Shaam Se Aankh Me Nami Si Hai By Jagjit Singh (
  )
• Who Khat Ke Purze Udaa Raha Tha by Jagjit Singh (
  )
• Aankhon Me Jal Raha Hai Kyun By Jagjit Singh (
  )
• Teri Khushboo Mein Base Khat By Jagjit Singh (
  )
• Tum Hamare Nahi By Jagjit Singh (
  )
• Pyar Zinda Rahe By Bhupinder & Mitali (
  )
• Apna Koi Mile By Bhupinder & Mitali (
  )
• Virah from Bandish Bandits (
  )

You can see by the test tracks…I feel that to test an iem for mid-range, Ghazals are the best bet. And so I referred to Jagjit Singh ji. If an iem can do justice to his voice, then it is a good one. Refer to any one of the tracks above and get back to me if you feel differently. Skuld has one of the best performances that I have come across, specifically, in the mid-range. The vocals are to die for… be it Jagjit Singh or Bhupinder Sing or Mitali.

Skuld has excellent presentation for both, Female and Male vocals. No Peaks…No harshness. Please note that I am not looking for micro dynamics in this frequency range as my test tracks are more for laid-back listening sessions.

Highs:

Test Tracks:

• Noor-Un-Ala-Noor from Meenaxi (
  )
• Naadan Parinde from Rockstar (
  )
• Sadda Haq from Rockstar (
  )
• Sindbad The Sailor from Rockstar (
  )
• Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (Rock Version) (
  )

The Highs are smoothened. Like I said, Skuld is pretty much serious at its job, the highs have just about enough energy and because of that, it will not appear bright. So people with treble sensitivity…need not be afraid.

The detail retrieval is average and the treble extensions are rolled off. The microdynamics is present but they could have been improved a bit. But the overall performance is very organic and that is enough for me and should be the same for most of the users.



Soundstage:

The spacing is wide enough for most of the track and with nano bl, the imaging was on point as well. The soundstage has both wideness and depth present to it and that presents a holographic feel to the presentation.



Conclusion.
Skuld is a serious iem and Norn is fun-sounding and that is an intentional step taken by KInera. The main point of attraction for Skuld is its power to adapt itself to whatever source you throw at it. This makes Skuld a versatile IEM with lush vocals, smooth highs, and just about enough bass.

Disclaimer:-

The Kinera Skuld was sent to me by HiFiGo.com as part of a review tour in my country, in exchange for my honest opinion. I am neither paid by nor affiliated with HiFiGo or Kinera in any way and have no incentive whatsoever, for writing anything positive or negative about the IEM. The views shared in this article are my personal views based on the week or so I spent with the Kinera Skuld.

Kinera Skuld can be purchased from HiFiGo through the following link:
https://hifigo.com/products/kinera-skuld-in-ear-earphone?sscid=91k5_nkw23&

After being mighty impressed by the Kinera BD005 Pro and Kinera Norn, I was really excited when I received the Skuld for an audition. In order to avoid hefty customs, we requested Hifigo to send us an unboxed unit. Hence, I will not be able to cover the unboxing experience or talk about the accessories and ear tips included in the package. That being said, let’s have a quick look at the specs before getting into impressions.

Technical Parameters:

• Three Knowles premium BA drivers.
• Two customized BA drivers from Kinera.
• Impedance: 23 ohms.
• Sensitivity: 120+/-2dB.
• Rated Power: 3mW.
• Frequency Response Range: 5Hz-50kHz.

Features:

• Hand-Painted ear cavities
• Ergonomic cavity design
• 0.78mm 2-pin Silver-Plated Copper cable 4.4mm balanced termination
• Adapters for 2.5mm balanced and 3.5mm SE

Aesthetics:
In terms of aesthetics, the Kinera Skuld is gorgeous. The hand-painted resin shell with its black base topped with blue and golden hues is eye-catching. The choice of colors and aesthetic synergy with the stock SPC cable is pleasing and tastefully done. The stock cable (0.78mm 2-pin with 4.4mm BAL termination) complements the IEM quite well both aesthetically and sonically. Kinera has also included adapters to change the termination to 2.5mm BAL and 3.5mm SE.

Tip rolling:
After my usual ritual of tip rolling, I decided to proceed with the Flare Audio Audiophile memory foam ear tips for the Kinera Skuld. Not exactly the same for each case, but as a thumb rule, I’ve usually found this pattern for most of the IEMs I’ve tried these tips on:

• Sony Triple Comfort (EP-TC50) – Enhances the boominess of the bass, tends to de-emphasize the treble.
• JVC Spiral Dots SF (EPFX11) aka mushroom tips – De-emphasizes the bass, elevates treble.
• Flare Universal – Lays good emphasis on the bass, making it sound natural for the most part. Doesn’t de-emphasize the treble either. Pretty much transparent in terms of passing the sound from the IEM to the ears.
• JVC Spiral Dots ++ (EPFX10) – Almost as good as Flare Universal, but the bass quantity was less
• Dekoni Mercury – Same as Spiral Dots ++
• Flare Audiophile – Similar to the mushroom tips, but with better bass presence

Amping:
Just like the Kinera Norn that I had reviewed recently, the Skuld too requires a considerable amount of power to be driven to potential. It seemed underpowered with the Sony NW-ZX507. However, it sounded excellent once I connected the ZX507 to an amplifier (HUM MA1B in this case). For those who are aware of my love for TWS adapters, I’m happy to report that the Skuld sounds excellent when connected to the FiiO UTWS-3.



Sound:
Coming to the sound of the IEM, the Skuld is quite neutral sounding with a good balance across the aural frequency spectrum. The Skuld is mid-centric and the tonality reminded me of the Shure SE535. Skuld however, has a far greater presence in the treble region and the soundstage is not only wider but perceivably taller in comparison. Vocals sound lifelike and lush. Female vocals especially sound very pleasing without sounding shouty. One can truly immerse themselves in the vocals of a track like “Shelter – the XX” () or “Aankhon Mein Raho – Company” (). There is a good amount of presence in the bass region as well. Though I felt that the sub-bass is inadequate, perhaps because this is an all BA IEM. The scarcity of rumble was especially noticeable in “Beat 1 – Nucleya” (). I guess this is because there is too much beat grinding in this track and such grinds are usually handled better by a DD (Dynamic Driver) IMO. However, tracks like “Let me go – Eli Kazah” () sound good on the Skuld, and the bass seems to be well done.

In terms of treble, Skuld has a good presence here as well. The energy of a track like “Sinbad the Sailor – Rock On!” () is conveyed beautifully by Skuld. Though the treble may seem inadequate for some, personally I found it to be just about right considering the overall tonality and my treble-sensitive ears. Separation wise the Skuld is adequate and the details are quite good considering the price point.



Conclusion:
Apart from some minor issues like the lack of an L & R indicator on the earpiece, I think the Skuld is a good IEM for the price segment. In conclusion, I’d say while the Norn is more suitable for someone who prefers bass and somewhat of a mild V signature, the Skuld is better suited for those who crave good mids and rich vocals. Kinera has done a good job here by offering 2 very distinct sounding and looking IEMs in the same price range. While the Norn is the more fun sounding of the two, the Skuld is more neutral and balanced in terms of sound signature.

INTRODUCTION:

Kinera, the brand which needs no introduction in the first place since they are one of the well established brands in the ChiFi. The models that they have launched received a great amount of response from the audience. The Norn is the in ear monitor which I personally liked a lot and that striking design language of the Norn continues here too! Kinera are specialists in making the earphones very eye-catching and the Skuld is another example for it. As the design looks gorgeous does the sound too? Lets see that in this review.



DISCLAIMER:

This unit has been provided to me as a part of a review circle organised by HiFiGo and I'm very thankful to the team for considering me in this review tour. This review is completely based on my experience with this product and no one has influenced me to manipulate the review by any means. The views may differ from person to person and this completely depends on the gear and the source you use to test them out.

If you are interested in purchasing this check out this link (non affiliated) : https://hifigo.com/products/kinera-skuld-in-ear-earphone

SPECIFICATIONS:

>Three Knowles premium BA drivers per side.

>Two Kinera’s customized BA drivers.

>Beautiful Hand-Painted ear cavities.

>Ergonomic cavity design.

>0.78mm 2-pin Silver-Plated Copper balanced 4.4mm cable.

>Premium set of accessories including Final Audio Type E ear tips and 4.4mm-3.5mm, 4.4mm-2.5mm connectors.

>Smooth & Natural sound tuning.

>Impedance: 23 ohms.

>Sensitivity: 120+/-2dB.

>Rated Power: 3mW.

>Frequency Response Range: 5Hz-50kHz

PACKAGE AND CONTENTS:

Since this is a unit which is sent to me as a part of a review circle I haven't received the full package hence for all those details please refer to the official retail website.

The things that i received along with the earpieces are the cable, 2.5mm and the 3.5mm termination adapter and the final audio eartips.

DESIGN AND FIT:

The design of the Skuld is just Magnificent! The whole look is just eye catchy and it's a love at first sight. The whole body is made out of resin but the faceplate is handcrafted thus giving this a nice premium look. The faceplate looks absolutely gorgeous and I can stare at it for as long as possible but the time will not permit it! The crushed gold foils on the edges of the earpiece and the sparkling colourful glitters which change the colour based on the lightning is just mesmerizing to look at.

The whole shell appears to be a semi custom shaped shell hence the fit is perfect for me. The isolation is pretty great and if not the best where the outside noise is 90 percent blocked out. The tips that came with the earphones are pretty great, giving a nice seal in the ear canal and the nozzle is pretty good in length to aid the isolation. The 2 pin connector area is nicely tucked inside the body and no protrusion is observed. There is a single pressure vent and is situated in the back of the earpiece.

The shells are completely lightweight thus providing nice long time listening sessions. Even though they are lightweight they don't feel cheap at all since the body is nice and glossy providing smooth and soft touch.

The included cable is very nice and supple in nature thus giving a nice feel in the hands and the microphonics are null in this. The braiding is done very well and feels soft to touch, the 2 pin connector area and the wire splitter are metal enclosed. A nice chin slider is given which looks very premium. The ear guides are very soft and nothing intrusive is noticed, they nicely get adapted to the ear shape. The termination area has a nice strain relief which prevents the damage to the cable in the long run. The additionally given 4.4mm and 2.5mm connectors are really useful hence no need to change the cable frequently to match the source.

The provided tips are the usual Final Audio eartips which provide nice isolation and quite sturdy enough.



SOUND:

The sound signature of the SKULD is pretty flat in nature. Initially when i listened i was not surprised by it since the track i used is a bass heavy track which is not justifiable at all for an all BA driver earphone hence after switching to a midrange focused track i was just amazed how good the Skuld is. The flat nature of the earphone helped a lot in bringing out all the details and nuances in the tracks. In this review let's dive into each frequency and how they are performing.

Source: iPhone + Zorloo Ztella MQA + FiiO Q3

LOW END:

The low end in the skuld is pretty fast and it's the usual BA bass. The bass is tight and controlled with slight sub bass presence and lean mid bass body. The bass is pretty flat, not punchy or attacking but its very nice for an all BA iem. The sub bass is very subtle giving ncie rumble in the low end only when the track calls for it. In the tracks like “WHY DO WE FALL” by Hans Zimmer the sub bass is felt very light but that lightness also brought out the essential details in the background which i liked it a lot. Even though the sub bass is not that prominent I liked the way it compensated just by bringing out the details. In the tracks like the “BAD GUY” by Billie Eilish the sub bass is brought out well and hence this is very good in the sub bass too but only when the track call for it.

The mid bass is lean in nature thus lacking the mid bass body but as i mentioned in the above that is leanness also helped in bringing out the clarity in the midrange without any bass bleed. The lean mid bass made the Skuld a clean sounding pair by bringing out the clarity and the details. The bass overall is well resolved and tight. The bleed is mostly null and the clarity it brings out in the midrange due to that subt;le bass response is magical and excellent.

Overall the bass may not be a strong aspect of the Skuld but considering all BA the bass is really nice and even i loved it quite a bit considering myself a bass head. The bass here is less in quantity but excellent in quality. It’s well resolved, tight, faster, flat and separated. The separation of the instruments in the low end region is very impressive and nice. They have plenty of air in between the instruments hence they sound very spacious and deeper providing nice depth in the track. The bass gets even improved a lot by using the Bass Boost mode in the FiiO Q3 or the XBASS mode in the Zen Dac. Overall im just admired by the flatness of the Skuld thus the bass can be versatile and made to be sound to your liking.

Tracks Used:

1. BigFoot – MALFNKTION
2. Why Do We Fall – Hans Zimmer
3. Jet Lag Corporation – Aes Dana
4. Kashmir - Marcin

MIDRANGE:

The Midrange is the star show here. The vocals and the instruments are brought out really very well. The flatness in the midrange helped the skuld in reproducing the nice details. There is an excellent amount of air in between the instruments and hence they sound very spacious and wide. The vocals are three dimensional hence the intimate presentation is absent here which is pretty nice. The piano notes and the kick drums sound very natural and percussion instruments sound crisp and clear. The tinality is pretty neutral and no colouration is done here. They just produce the sound as it is when it's recorded.

The timbre is neutral and I'm very surprised by this since most of the BA iem’s that I have tried have the weird timbre issue that might be metallic but this one sounds absolutely neutral and with no colouration.



Both the male and the female vocals sounds very nice and crystal clear with enough amount of air moving in between. Even the breath of the singer and the acoustic strings switching are heard very clearly without the need of raising the volume. The Vocal placement is adequate in distance thus providing the listener a good sense of separation along with the instruments. They are neither too forward nor laid back but are positioned at a sweet spot. The amount of detail this just retrieves is just amazing and I'm very much impressed by it. The all 5BA does a very good job in producing this amazing sound. In the track like “ THE BLOWERS DAUGHTER “ they sound very detailed where the string switching are clearly heard and the DAMIEN RICE breath in between the lines are heard very clearly.

The lower and the upper midrange are equally balanced hence no harshness or unwanted peaks that might cause fatigue in the longer listening sessions.

Overall the midrange is very wide and spacious with neutral tonality and timbre also with excellent detail retrieval. The linear response in the midrange is appreciated very well thus making the listening experience very smooth yet very detailed. The amount of air it has in the midrange is enormous thus providing that nice depth and width in the soundstage.

Tracks Used:

1. The Blowers Daughter – Damien Rice
2. Sirens Of The Sea – Above And Beyond
3. Makin My Move – Easy Wanderlings

TREBLE:

The treble is pretty inoffensive and sweet here. The treble energy is very subtle hence the brightness is slightly tamed out which is pretty nice for longer fatigue free listening. The treble is pretty spacious and wide enough bringing the instruments presenting very nice. Sibilance is literally nonexistent here and even while testing out extreme treble energy tracks like the “MOVE YOUR BODY” by Sia the Skuld exhibited no sibilance.

The detail retrieval is above average and very good for the price it quotes. The extension is however pretty average but it just brings out all the enough details out of the extended frequency. The airiness in the treble is very good and the electric guitars sound very natural and not congested.

The cymbal crashes are pretty natural and organic. The cymbal ends adequately and sounds precise. The uncoloured signature of the Skuld is the key part in providing the organic and natural sound.

Overall the treble is very smooth and inoffensive yet brings out a lot of details with a wide sense of stage and the instrument separation. The extension is average though but as a whole sound the treble is nice and smooth.

Tracks Used:

1. Dreams – Fleetwood Mac
2. The First Time – Treble Charger
3. Suffer – The Smashing Pumpkins

TECHNICALITIES:

SOUNDSTAGE: The soundstage is also another star show of the Skuld providing a nice sense of depth and width. The tallness is average though but the depth is the main show here. The drum impacts are very depper thus creating that nice sense of theatrical experience. The depth is very immersive thus giving a nice sense of stage sensation. Especially after listening to the tracks like the “SIRENS OF THE SEA '' the depth of the soundstage can be felt evidently.The sub bass just digs deeper and gives that nice sense of deepness.



IMAGING: The imaging is pretty neat and precise here. Since the bass is not that heavy and since it's being very fast the imaging is not fuzzy or hazy at all rather it's very precise and accurate. The instruments nicely sweep from one channel to the other without any stutter. The three point imaging is absent thus providing that smooth transient response.

The detail retrieval and the instrument separation are above average and nice. The good amount of air in between the instruments makes the percussion instruments sound very natural and airier.

Tracks Used:

1. Global Gear – Punya Srinivas
2. Themyscira – WW84
3. Crossing – Yosi Horikawa

VERDICT:

Skuld, the latest offering from Kinera is an excellent choice for the people who like a flat frequency response to use it for a wide variety of genres. Previously I used the Kinera Norn which is pretty polar opposite where it sounded very energetic and bassy. Personally I liked it a lot. The skuld however is a no slouch hence the Norn and the Skuld compliment each other well. The Skuld is a versatile one thus it can be eq'd to your liking to match the genres you are listening to. The midrange is very sweet here by providing excellent details and the forward positioning made the whole experience engaging and energetic. The treble is well done here with a nice amount of air and the separation through the frequency is pretty nice. The low end here may not be the star show here but it's done well for an all BA iem, it's fast, tight, controlled but not the most punchiest, weighty or attacking one. The bass here is tuned in terms of technicalities hence the fun cant be expected here.

Overall the Skuld is an excellent choice for people who need some flatness and neutrality and thus retains the name AN UNCOLOURED CHAMPION.

Disclaimer : The unit was provided by Hifigo as a part of a review tour but all thoughts and opinions are my own. You can purchase the Skuld here.

Build & Fit
It's a kinera IEM. What more do you want me to say about the looks? They are all lookers. To add to the pile of goodness, these are hand painted according to Kinera. This being an all BA, its shockingly light and comfortable to wear. The 8 Core SPC cable comes with a 4.4mm termination equipped with separate 3.5mm and 2.5mm adaptors which is a must at this price point.




Amp Needs
23 ohms @ 120dB/mW, these are rated at 3mW input, so it can run off virtually anything.

Sound Quality
Skuld is all about the BA timbre, and that can be good or bad news to you. It shouldn't come as a surprise though, as all BAs always have some trace of the BA Timbre in them no matter
how hard the designer tries to eliminate it. But for people who like a smooth, relaxing and laid back sound signature, the BA presentation is all that they can ask for. It is mostly a mid-centric sound with gentle roll offs on both ends. The midrange is rich and lush (not as rich as the HD600) and natural sounding. The midrange is clean, no hint of shoutiness and what's more is that the Skuld has a relatively black background which makes the mids appear cleaner.
Vocal focused, old school music sound very relaxing through the Skuld. The tonal balance in the midrange is excellent. Upper midrange is relaxed and laid back. A positive in other situations, but I'd wish there was a bit more bite to the upper midrange here to balance out the smoothness in the sound. The bass is what you'd expect from an all BA - reasonably textured, but lacks punch & slam. Subbass extension is lacking, not a deal breaker but it's just decent.
The entire top end is absolutely and unashamedly smooth and buttery. It's like when you start juicing the fruits but forget to stop, you are left with a smoothie. Even for someone who likes toned down natural/smooth treble, it is too smooth for my taste. It is not dark per se, but it does not have the snap and zing that is needed to balance out the overall tonality of the iem. Because of this smoothening, all artefacting, rough edges, sibilance, thinness are banished, but so are a few micro-details and overall resolution to some extent. Like all things in audio, pick your poison. The technicalities of Skuld are unfortunately not the best I have heard, and that is unfortunate because of the price tag. Instrument separation and soundstaging capabilities not that great even excluding price. This is in part due to the midrange focused tuning. The soundstage is mostly confined between your ears, and the images are kind of congealed and lacks finesse when it comes to showing the different layers of music. If the Skuld were more technical, the tuning could have been taken advantage of much more to present a surreal old school experience.




Conclusion
The tuning and presentation of Skuld is heavily dependent on preference and essentially caters to a niche segment. No amount of reviews will convey the full picture and it is advised to hear before you buy. The Skuld will be a very good (although expensive) option for those who lust for the lush and natural midrange and care not for much technicalities, but want to enjoy a laid back experience.

KINERA SKULD- Another Fate!!!
The story of Kinera stats from 2011, when the YuTai Electronic Acoustics was officially established in Dongguan, China. The most notable was their Kinera Nanna in 2019 which got very good reviews everywhere. Now they improved upon it and delivered a Nanna 2.0 which also has great reviews. But today I am getting to review another IEM of theirs- THE KINERA SKULD- knowing kinera, this is named after the Goddess SKULD. Skuld makes up a trio of Norns (ahmm!!! Kinera NORN) that are described as deciding the fates of people.

DISCLAIMER- The Kinera Skuld is provided by the courtesy of HIFIGO as part of review tour in INDIA. But this subjective review of mine are my own thoughts and I am not being paid anything to say positive or negative about this iem. That said I want to thank HIFIGO for giving me an opportunity to hear it!!! You can find the store link here (not affiliated, of course LOL)

UNBOXING EXPERIENCE
The Kinera Skuld came in a small package (not the original one) with a pair of L-sized Final audio E tips and nothing more haha!!! Ohh!! I did forget, two more adapters too, one for 4.4mm to 3.5mm and 4.4mm to 2.5mm.

PACKAGE CONTENTS

• One pair of Kinera Imperial Skuld in-ear monitors.
• One Copper silver-plated cable with 4.4mm termination plug.
• Five pairs of Final Audio Type E ear tips.
• Six pairs (RS-B45 & JH-FY009-B) of Kinera Custom ear tips.
• Two pairs of Foam tips.
• Premium Storage Case.
• 4.4mm to 3.5mm & 2.5mm adapter.
• Cleaning Brush.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:

• 3BA Knowles Drivers + 2 BA Kinera Customize Drivers
• Impedance: 23 Ohms.
• Sensitivity: 120 +/- 2 dB.
• Frequency Response Range: 5Hz-50kHz.
• 8 Cores Silver Plated Copper.
• 4.4mm Termination Plug.

PRICE TAG
550$ (wew!!!)

BUILD AND FIT
These seem sturdy with a beautiful blue green shell (Blue-Green colours represents hope, represents the future at least according to Kinera) and I am happy they just nailed it with the colours – these looks beautiful!!!
The build is quite good. They are light yet they feel sturdy enough for me to drop them once or twice (no I didn’t drop them LOL)

CABLE
The cable is pretty good and its a 4.4mm pentaconn too, which is nice!!! Then, they have adapters for 3.5mm and 2.5mm too which is great to have!!! The cable is supple and is not microphonic at all!!!
The cable can be improved, I did find some improvement with my stock POLA cable and its a copper cable too to add the required stuff (hehe not gonna spoil it here )

NOTE- MY SOURCE IS

1. PORTABLE -N6II WITH T01 MODULE, BTR5 AND LG G8X
2. DESKTOP- DAC- N6II WITH T01 LINEOUT
3. AMP- TOPPING A30 MODDED WITH BURSON V5I D OR TOPPING L30 OR XDUOO MT602(NOT USED HERE FOR REVIEW BUT HEY IT DOES HELP TO ADD A BIT OF TUBE TOUCH)

SOUND SIGNATURE (P.S-This is subjective and may not match with yours )

BASS
Bass on this is iem is decent. There is good amount of texture in mid-bass with good punch. It’s not too much mid-bass boosted but sounds as a more neutral tuned. It has good tonality with very fast decay!!! Hence the timbre suffers quite a bit in this especially considering the snare drum which just is way too fast to die The atmospheric feeling hence becomes subdued too. The notes have a larger beginning with very quickly encroaching likes a triangle body and top end. Also, the bass notes are not much dynamic but the resolution and tonality of different hits on the drums do pop up easily given the faster tuning It feels a bit hollow but given that the soundstage of this iem is such liked you are sitting on the 4th-5th row, I guess it’s a given then

SUBASS
The Sub-bass is what you would expect of a neutral tuned iem. It's there where it needs to be!!! It’s not that well extended into the depths of bass. It's does have some rumble but it comes in different recordings differently but yes, the quantity is very less. Tonality wise it seems accurate. It keeps true to being neutral tuned.

MIDS
Let's start with the vocals it's pretty good! It’s tuned in a balanced way where it doesn’t feel either too much lush or too much lean. The male vocals are great!! They are well controlled and have that thickness that male vocalists have. Female vocals on the other hand are beautiful. They are well controlled and really have that beautiful non sibilant voice. Even opera singers sound smooth There is not a hint of grain here and vocals are the best part of the show.

The instruments in the mids like piano’s, guitars etc, have very good tonality. They are well separated with having a hint of air in them, giving them a good space in headstage. The notes all have a faster decay throughout and hence timbre takes a hit. There is a very large beginning to the notes but the body and ending seems lacking a bit. The ending is well differentiated though which is great. They lack a bit of dynamism in the notes. The details are decent but there is a lot of competition here at this price range and this lacks a bit there for sure with some microdetails missing!! But the coherency takes the crown here since it's very musical with not too much energy so as to overtake the other parts of the song. It’s balanced or slightly v shaped…

TREBLE
The treble is on the smoother side and a bit neutral too. The resolution helps a lot here. The trumpets are pretty smooth with not a hint of ache when they blast off. The treble is nicely extended and tonality seems a spot on lest it’s a little less sparkly. The treble notes are similar as before with them not having too much dynamics rather sounding like every instrument note hitting a wall at top. They have enough air and it comes through in wind blowing instruments. There’s no congestion at all and everything is well separated and has good space. The decay is fast again, hence decreasing timbre but it helps in too fast songs. The details lack a bit given its competition but it’s pretty good nonetheless.

IMAGING, SEPARATION AND RESOLUTION
So imaging is pretty good here with each instruments taking part of the headstage with some air. Separation is great in every note and has a decent amount of space in them. Resolution is decent with each note being heard differently but not too much separated. The small bell rings and all do come through but they are difficult to take note. The microdetails like whisper in the background etc, don’t come through much and it's lacks here.

HEADSTAGE
It’s a big stage with you sitting at the 4th -5th row feeling. But the mids seem a bit more foreward compared to the rest of the spectrum. Now it’s neither a very wide iem nor a very tall one. What it lacks, is in notes dynamics hence different notes don't reach different heights. The stage depth is decent too. There is a very tiny real depth but it's there. Seems to be a balanced staging or slightly V shaped depending upon recording though…

COMPARISON

DUNU ZEN
Pros-
Better dynamics and timbre
Better staging
Better details
More air
Better separation
Visceral bass and better Sub-bass rumble
Cable is better

Pros of Skuld-
Better vocals (especially male vocals)
Much smoother treble
Bass has more beginning notes thickness

CA MMAMMOTH
Pros-
Better bass and sub-bass
Better details
More dynamic and musical
Better staging
Intimate
Good sparkly treble

Pros of Skuld-
Better vocals
Better wide stage
Better vocals
Smooth treble
Better connectors

SUMMARY
Given the lots of competition at this price range, this does have its pros and cons but the biggest pro for me is, its vocals and coherency. For pop, edm etc it be would do well if you can forgive the notes dynamics. And as for me I liked Norn more than this , but if you like vocals and smooth treble, this is very good!!!

Introduction:-

Over the past few months, Kinera has been launching beautiful hand-painted earphones and musical sound tuning that are grabbing the attention of audio enthusiasts all around the globe. Earlier this year they announced their latest multi-BA IEM, the Kinera Skuld. Priced at around 550$, Skuld brings a combination of five Balanced Armature drivers on each side(three Knowles+two Kinera Customized) fitted inside stunning hand-painted ear cavities. It is priced similar to their hybrid driver Norn that is available for 509$. Today, I am gonna share my impressions on the Kinera Skuld that I recently acquired and will also share a comparison with the Kinera Norn.


Back Story:-

Kinera’s recent products are designed with inspiration from characters from the famous Norse Mythology, they are also named after that character too. The Skuld here is no different. According to the Norse Mythology, the three sisters that are the goddess of fate are known as Norn. Skuld is the youngest among the three. She is the one who keeps an account of the future sins and warns the gods for them.

Source: Kinera.

Disclaimer:-

Kinera Skuld here is bought with my own money at a discounted price from HiFiGo in return for this review. You can buy this from the HiFiGo store for 550$. (None of the links attached here are affiliated)

Please Note: In order to avoid heavy custom charges, I asked HiFiGo to ship me the Skuld without its retail packaging(I do this for all my recent orders as customs are nowadays opening up the packages). So I will be skipping over the unboxing part here.

Design, Build Quality, & Fit:-

Kinera Skuld's build quality is very much similar to the Norn. But the design is entirely different. While Norn was stellar on its own, the Skuld is one step above it with an even better design. The pair has got a black base with aurora blue and golden shapes topped with a golden glittery finish that gives it an eye-catchy look. If you believe you have a beautiful set of IEMs, you seriously have to see how beautiful the Skuld looks in real life.

About the build, the shell is made up of solid, sturdy resin material in an ergonomic shape. The pair has an air vent hole on the side of the earpieces and the two-pin connectors are located at the top. The pair comes bundled with a 4.4mm balanced cable. This cable is softer than the one bundled with the Norn. Also, the Norn cable has a 2.5mm termination while the Skuld has a 4.4mm termination. There are also 4.4mm-2.5mm and 4.4mm-3.5mm adapters included with the pair for easy connectivity with different sources.

With an ergonomic shape and lightweight aesthetics, Kinera Skuld has a very comfortable fit for me. The pair sit firmly on my ear providing a very comfy fit. They cover the ear canal completely providing good noise isolation from environmental noises. I use JVC Spiral Dots with the pair most of the time, using the stock silicone tips had no issues either.

Kinera Skuld & It’s Pairings:-

Kinera Skuld is a very easy to power IEM. It runs well off a normal smartphone/tablet as I paired it with my Samsung S6 Lite where it is adequately loud at only around 60% volume. I also paired it with Shanling M3X where I never had to go above 25/100 volume on low gain mode and xDuoo XD05 Bal DAC/AMP where Skuld was getting more than enough juice at just 1/9 volume.


Kinera Skuld performs really well even straight off a smartphone but pairing it with a hi-res player like M3X brings better dynamics and clarity to the output. My favorite pairing for it is with Shanling M3X.

Skuld & It’s Sound:-

Kinera Skuld is heaven for people who love a smooth and balanced sound. The pair packs an utterly smooth tonality presented with great precision and high-resolution clarity for both vocals and instruments. Magic with the Skuld lies in its beautiful mid-range and smooth treble portion. The pair produces some of the smoothest vocals I have heard in this budget(between EST112 and Norn). Texture and clarity of vocals are simply top-notch. Another attraction is its treble-frequency response, It is smooth, it is non-fatiguing, it shows no sibilance or shoutiness even at loud volumes.

Bass/Lower-End:-

Lower-end is not as deep diving as a DD or Hybrid IEM, but it maintains its presence with quick punches and well-textured bass response. I can say it is the exact opposite of how the Kinera Norn presents bass response for its users. Sub-bass has a very refined presentation, it can be easily felt in tracks such as Bad Guy by Billie Eilish, Royals by Lorde, and more. Different bass thumps even in complex tracks such as Billie Jean by MJ can be identified easily. Though Basshead’s don’t expect a deep-diving bass response, rather expect a smooth and quick presentation with the Skuld.

Mid-Frequency:-

Coming to the star of the show, the mid-frequency response with the Skuld is simply said, Outstanding. Kinera Skuld produces some of the best vocals I have heard in the 500$ price segment. They are smooth, they maintain good clarity even at loud volumes, they have a natural touch to them. Both the male and female vocals are pretty damn good with the pair, it doesn’t matter whether you listen to Damien Rice or Gloria Gaynor or Taylor Swift, you are in for a beautiful experience with the Skuld. Acoustic instruments have a well-detailed presentation with good amounts of air on the stage. Listening to acoustic songs such as Canyon Lines by Amber Rubarth is an amazing experience with the Skuld, I have listened to this song on repeat so many times on the pair that I forgot I have to write more haha. Another beautiful experience for an acoustic track with the Skuld is, Flightless Bird, American Mouth by Iron & Wine.

Treble-Frequency:-

As I stated earlier, Kinera Skuld has a smooth yet highly detailed treble-frequency response. Though I must say initially out of the box the pair had a slightly congested presentation for complex tracks but it went away after about 50-60 hours of burn-in with the pair. Now, after the burn-in period, different instruments such as Cymbals, Electric guitars, Violins have a nicely detailed presentation on the Skuld. Refinement in the treble portion can be felt in complex tracks such as Californication by RHCP or Castle of Glass by Linkin Park. Windowpane by Opeth also has a pretty good presentation on the Skuld. I personally feel the treble portion on Skuld has better refinement in comparison to Norn.

Soundstage & Imaging:-

Kinera Skuld presents our music with a wide soundstage. It is kind of opposite to Norn in this aspect too, Norn on one hand has an intimate presentation, the Skuld on the other produces a wide, tall soundstage with decent enough depth. Imaging and other dynamics of the pair are also excellent.

Kinera Norn & Kinera Skuld:-

Coming to the comparison between the two mid-level IEMs from Kinera. One has a rich hybrid configuration(Norn) while the other has a premium multi-BA configuration(Skuld). Here are my thoughts between these two:-

>Norn has a fun and engaging sound while Skuld has a smooth, balanced sound. Both are polar opposites in terms of sound in my opinion.

>Norn has a deep-diving, powerful lower end, Skuld has a quick, smooth lower end. Bassheads will love the Norn.

>Skuld has a rich, lovely mid-range while Norn has an accurate yet recessed mid-range response.

>Treble on the Skuld has a very smooth, non-fatiguing presentation while Norn has an energetic treble, No signs of sibilance on both of them.

>Soundstage has better width on Skuld.

>Both are easy to drive.

>Both are extremely beautiful and have a similar build yet different hand-paint design.

>Skuld has a softer cable with 4.4mm Bal termination, Norn comes with a 2.5mm terminated cable.

If you ask me, I liked both of them. One has a fun, engaging, immersive sound(Norn) while the other has a soft, smooth sound(Skuld). In my opinion, both of them complement each other. Based on Genre’s Norn complements genres that benefit with a punchy lower-end like EDM, Hip-Hop, and more while Skuld complements genres such as Pop, Rock, Acoustic, and more.

A Few More Words:-

What can I say more, almost everything I have already said in this review. But to summarise it all, Kinera Skuld is a brilliantly designed pair of IEMs offering a smooth and balanced sound. The pair produces some of the best vocals I have heard in this price segment with a non-fatiguing yet detailed treble response. Bass response is not as punchy or deep-diving as a Dynamic IEM but it marks its presence with its rich, refined presentation. I know the 500$ segment has some tough contenders to beat such as the DUNU EST112 or the DUNU SA6. I would say Skuld maintains its position with its smooth tuning and beautiful looks.