Kiwi Ears Astral

Another impeccable tuned Hybrid IEM from Kiwi Ears​

So, after a few weeks with the Astral, it made me realize something that I really like that Kiwi Ears IEM’s. The quality midrange ones in their range all are designed to fill slightly different sound niches, where each seems to have a purpose with their expanding range.

So, rather than a ‘house sound’ that some companies target, like Moondrop Lab’s ‘VDSF target’ where many of their IEMs end up sounding the same, KiwiEars have carefully tuned each IEM. For example, the Orchestra Lite’s is still one of the best midrange focused IEMs, and last years KE4 is still an excellent value with its ‘New Meta’ JM1 tuning.

So now onto the Astral:

So does the Astral follow this tradition? If you spotted my rating above, you will probably already know the answer.

But before I delve into the details of the Astral, I spotted this fascinating video on Youtube of a factory tour of the Kiwi Ears factory showing the full process to make an IEMs. It is well worth watching to get an appreciation of the many people involved in the process of making these IEMs. I do love seeing the technical aspects of how things are put together, and this Video does a nice job showing the various steps required:



But now let’s get onto the unboxing experience:

Unboxing and Build Quality​

The Kiwi Ears Astral comes in nicely designed packaging, very typical of most Kiwi Ears IEMs:

Back box:

Removing the outer sleeve reveals the inner box:


Opening this reveals the Astral:


The side of the box has the various specifications:

The back of the box has the specifications:


Opening the box reveals the IEMs nestled securely inside with a typical Kiwi Ears carry case:

Removing the carry case, you see a small manual:


And inside the carry case you find:

• A 2-pin connector cable with 2 adapters for both 3.5mm and 4.4mm
• A small selection of silicone ear tips in various sizes
• a selection of replacement nozzles (a nice touch)

I think given the price, it is a pity that Kiwi Ears did not provide a larger ear tip selection.

Nice cable​

But the included cable is particularly nice. It’s well-constructed, doesn’t tangle and has a quality feel, and I especially like the fact that it has adapters for both 3.5mm and 4.4mm:


The 2-pin connectors are nicely constructed:


Note: I thought it was interesting that the cable supports recessed 2-pin connections, but the Astral doesn’t have a recess connection, which makes me think this nice cable will be seen in many more Kiwi Ears IEMs, which I think is a good thing as it is a nice and useful cable.

Here is how you swap connectors:


Once connected, you hardly notice you have a cable with alterative adapters:

Astral itself​

The faceplate design is attractive and gives the Astral a premium appearance, there are 2 shell designs a blue and a yellow. I got the blue design and it is nice:

The build quality of the Astral shells is impressive:

Fit and Comfort​

The Kiwi Ears Astral features a shell design very similar to the KE4, which is excellent news for comfort.

The ergonomic opinionated shape contours well to my ear, but it might be a little large for those with smaller ears.

But like the KE4, I found this design was extremely comfortable allowing for extended listening sessions without any fatigue.
The nozzle size and angle are well-designed for a secure fit and proper seal:

Again, it is a very similar-sized nozzle to the KE4. Anyone who already appreciates the comfort of the KE4 will find the Astral provides essentially the same excellent wearing experience.

Sound Quality​

The Kiwi Ears Astral delivers an exceptional sound experience that balances musicality with technical performance. Its V-shaped Harman-inspired tuning with a slightly relaxed pinna presence region (more similar to the JM1 target in that region) creates a signature that works wonderfully across a wide range of music genres.

Bass​

The bass response on the Astral is deep, tactile, and tastefully elevated—striking an excellent balance between fun and fidelity. On Björk’s “Hunter”, the sub-bass growl is palpable, delivering that satisfying atmospheric rumble without bleeding into the mids. The kick drums in Trentemøller’s “Moan” land with precision, showcasing the Astral’s ability to resolve transients cleanly while preserving texture.

What sets the Astral apart from typical V-shaped IEMs is how its bass retains control and articulation even during complex passages. Each bass note has a defined attack and natural decay, avoiding the bloated, one-note feel that often plagues less refined tunings in this category.

Midrange​

Despite its V-shaped curve, the Astral’s midrange is still nuanced. The tuning choice to soften the pinna gain—somewhere between classic Harman and the more recent JM1 target—pays off in spades when listening to vocal-centric tracks. Norah Jones’ “Don’t Know Why” comes through with a gentle warmth and clarity, where her voice retains intimacy without any trace of sibilance or nasality.

Instruments such as acoustic guitars in Eagles’ “Hotel California (Hell Freezes Over - Live)” sound lively yet natural, with a good sense of body and string texture. The relaxed upper mids prevent shoutiness, making Astral ideal for longer sessions where vocal fatigue might otherwise be a concern.

Treble​

Treble is also excellent refined with just enough airiness but never fatiguing. On Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams,” the cymbals shimmer with realistic decay, adding a sense of openness and polish. The Astral excels at rendering micro-details like the subtle brush strokes on snare drums in Miles Davis’ “So What”, without sounding analytical or etched.

The upper treble has enough extension to provide “air” and layering without becoming piercing, making the Astral easy to enjoy even with bright recordings. It walks a careful line between sparkle and smoothness.

Soundstage and Imaging​

While not class-leading in sheer expansiveness, the Astral delivers a convincingly wide stage for an IEM, with good depth and layering. Listening to Daft Punk’s “Contact”, instrument placement is impressively accurate, with sounds moving cleanly across the stereo field.

Imaging is sharp, making it easy to follow individual elements within a dense mix—such as in Radiohead’s “Everything in Its Right Place”—where the Astral keeps each synth line and vocal echo distinct and well-separated.

Comparisons​

vs. Kiwi Ears KE4​

The KE4 represents Kiwi ears’ take on the “new meta” tuning (JM1-inspired), offering a more neutral, reference-like presentation compared to the Astral’s V-shaped signature. While the Astral has more pronounced bass and treble emphasis, the KE4 provides a more linear response across the frequency spectrum.

The KE4 excels at accuracy and technical performance, making it ideal for critical listening and those who prefer a more neutral sound. The Astral, with its V-shaped tuning, delivers a more engaging and fun presentation that works exceptionally well for casual listening and genres that benefit from enhanced bass and treble.

Both share similar excellent build quality and comfort, so the choice between them comes down primarily to sound signature preference. The Astral’s slightly relaxed pinna presence region (similar to the KE4’s JM1-inspired tuning in that specific area) makes it a bit of a hybrid between traditional V-shaped and newer reference tunings.

vs. Kiwi Ears Orchestra Lite​

The Orchestra Lite offers a more balanced, slightly warm presentation compared to the Astral’s V-shaped signature. With its all-BA (Balanced Armature) configuration, the Orchestra Lite delivers exceptional midrange clarity and detail, making it particularly well-suited for vocal-centric music and acoustic performances.

The Astral, with its dynamic driver, provides more natural bass impact and decay characteristics compared to the Orchestra Lite’s BA bass. While the Orchestra Lite excels in midrange presence and detail, the Astral offers more subbass extension and more pronounced treble sparkle.

In terms of technical performance, both are excellent, with the Orchestra Lite perhaps having a slight edge in resolution and the Astral offering a more dynamic and engaging presentation. The choice between them would depend on whether you prefer the Orchestra Lite’s more balanced, midrange-focused presentation or the Astral’s more energetic V-shaped signature.

vs. Meze Alba​

The Meze Alba shares some similarities with the Astral in terms of its slightly V-shaped tuning, but the Alba has a warmer overall character with a more organic midrange presentation. The Astral offers more sub-bass extension and treble energy compared to the Alba’s more relaxed approach.

Build quality is excellent on both, though they take different aesthetic approaches – the Alba with its distinctive Meze design language and the Astral with its transparent shell revealing the internal components. Both are comfortable for extended listening, though their shell shapes differ somewhat.

The Astral tends to present a more technically precise sound with better detail retrieval, while the Alba offers a smoother, more forgiving presentation that works well with a wide variety of recordings. The choice between them would come down to whether you prefer the Astral’s more energetic, detailed presentation or the Alba’s warmer, more relaxed character.

Specifications and Measurements​

• Driver Configuration: Dynamic Driver
• Frequency Response: 20Hz-20kHz
• Impedance: 32Ω
• Sensitivity: 110dB/mW
• Cable: Detachable with 2-pin connector

Frequency Response​

The frequency response measurements show how well the Astral matches the Harman target for the bass and midrange yet follows the JM-1 Target almost perfectly in the treble with a little bit of extra airness in the upper treble:

Note: I don't think I have seen better channel matching in an IEM - showing Kiwi Ears are doing some great work in that factory (hence why I included the video of the tour of the factory earlier).

Since I had a comparison with a few IEM’s above, I thought it might be useful to do a detailed FR comparison and highlight a few things:

1. The Orchestra Lite has the weakest sub-bass but the Astral and KE4 tie with deep bass.
2. The KE4 has that JM-1 upper bass emphasis - just enough to be interesting but not bloated, the Astral provides that classic Harman ’tuck’ clearly separateing the bass from the midrange. I think this is what makes me like the bass better on the Astral than the KE4. The Alba has a slightly warming mid-bass.
3. The Orchestra Lite pushes that midrange slightly forward for its interesting tuning the other follow a more classic tuning in this area.
4. The Alba is the only one to follow a more traditional Harman in the presence region; the others have that recessed tuning here which is very popular in JM-1 like tunings. The Astral is more JM-1 here than Harman.
5. Finally, the Astral has a decent upper treble possible too safe for some, but I think this is a good choice as you can see with recent IEM’s like the Truthear Blue 2 that too much energy in that region can be bad.

I thought as a quick experiment, I would try a few different eartips (including a double flange and a triple flange) to see the change in a treble region, as I thought people might want to fill in that presence region:

But in my experience while the 711 Clone coupler show this change with eartip, your own ears will probably be affected differently as our ear canals are all various lengths. So it is always worth experimenting.

Distortion Measurements​

The distortion measurements for the Astral show excellent performance, with very low distortion across the frequency spectrum:

Showing the distortion as a percentage, we can see that it remains well below audible thresholds:

Rating​

The Kiwi Ears Astral earns a 5-star pragmatic rating based on its exceptional performance:

1. Sound Quality: Excellent V-shaped tuning with a slightly relaxed pinna presence region that balances engagement with listening comfort
2. Build Quality: Solid construction with comfortable fit for long listening sessions
3. Accessories: Great cable with adapter support, though I would have liked more eartips
4. Value: While slightly more expensive than the KE4, it is still a good value in this price range.

As mentioned earlier, Kiwi Ears does an exceptional job of offering a range of excellently tuned IEMs with various sound signatures.

Conclusion​

The Astral stands out as one of the best-tuned IEMs reviewed in recent months, completing IMO a “triple play” of quality IEMs alongside the Orchestra Lite and the KE4.

By incorporating a slightly relaxed pinna presence region (more similar to the JM1 target in that area), the Astral delivers an engaging, detailed sound while maintaining excellent listening comfort.

The build quality, comfort, and included cable especially, further enhance the value proposition, making the Astral an easy recommendation for anyone seeking a high-quality IEM with a fun yet refined sound signature.

Kiwi Ears Astral Review: Hybrid Personalities​

Kiwi Ears is a popular ChiFi brand, best-known for the blistering pace at which it releases new IEMs. Today we’re covering the Astral — a member of the newest wave of Kiwi Ears products. The Astral chases a true U-shaped sound signature, and does so while bringing undeniably impressive technical performance to the table. It is not, however, a perfect IEM. Let’s get into it.

You can find the Astral for sale on Linsoul for $299, here.

About My Preferences: This review is a subjective assessment and is therefore tinged by my personal preferences. While I try to mitigate this as much as possible during my review process, I’d be lying if I said my biases are completely erased. So for you, my readers, keep this in mind:

• My ideal sound signature would be one with competent sub-bass, a textured mid-bass, a slightly warm midrange, and an extended treble.
• I have mild treble sensitivity.

Testing equipment and standards can be found here.

Tech Specs​

• Drivers: 1x Dynamic Driver, 6x Balanced Armature Drivers
• Sensitivity: 105dB SPL/mw
• Impedance: 23 ohms
• Cable: 0.78mm 2-pin Detachable w/ Modular 3.5mm + 4.4mm Termination

Sound Signature​

Sonic Overview:​

The Astral is an IEM with an uncommon tuning. Its frequency response is U-shaped and leans heavily into this niche sonic style. The Astral features an emphasized sub-bass and upper-treble, with the mid-bass, midrange, and “lower” treble playing fairly linearly between them. The Astral’s midrange is neutral and isn’t warm. It features a responsible emphasis in the upper treble to aid with intelligibility, but avoids becoming outright sharp.

Sonic Breakdown:​

Treble: Songs used: In One Ear, Midnight City, Outlands, Satisfy, Little One, Show Me How To Live (Live at the Quart Festival), Bittersweet Symphony

The Astral’s treble is energetic, resolving, and smooth. It is quite emphasized, and sits at the forefront of the Astral’s presentation. This brightness gives the Astral a detail-oriented and analytical presentation. Synthetic treble elements, like those in Little One or Midnight City, are captured with painstaking detail and texturing.

Sharply-mastered tracks like Satisfy are somewhat overwhelming to me, owing to my treble sensitivity. I wouldn’t classify the Astral as a “sibilant” IEM. Instead, I’d say that it has a treble energetic-enough to toe the line of sharpness when a track isn’t well-behaved. Actual discomfort with the Astral’s treble was rare for me, but those with harsher sensitivities than me should be aware.

Tracks with chronic treble-congestion such as Bittersweet Symphony play nicely through the Astral’s treble. It manages to layer the complex and competing layers of string instrumentation and metallic percussion with care. Speaking of metallic percussion, the Astral is shockingly good at resolving the decay of high-hats and cymbals. Take those within In One Ear: the track is littered with slamming and crashing. The Astral manages to capture authentic-sounding texture and a striking amount of decay detail, even when the upper-register is busy.

Midrange: Songs used: Flagpole Sitta, Jacked Up, I Am The Highway, Too Close, Little Black Submarines, Bohemian Rhapsody, Cash Machine, Chasm, Dead!, The Parts

The Astral’s midrange is fairly neutral. It portrays details clinically and without color or warmth. There’s a small recession in the lower midrange that facilitates this detached and analytical presentation. Conversely, the upper midrange has a mild emphasis in the 2KHz range that aids in vocal intelligibility and instrumental separation. The most intriguing aspect of the Astral’s midrange is, without a doubt, its cohesion with the rest of the sound signature. In spite of needing to blend into both a dramatically-emphasized sub-bass and highly-energetic treble, the Astral's midrange sounds organic and unstrained.

Both male and female vocals are highly intelligible. Female vocals posses a pleasant sweetness, likely owing the midrange’s slightly-recessed lower-midrange. Male vocals are well-textured and expressive, but lacking a small amount of weight and heft. Higher-pitched male vocals, such as those from Cash Machine are somewhat resistant to this weight deficit, which is a nice plus.

Bass: Songs used: Moth, Gold Dust, In For The Kill (Skream Remix), War Pigs (Celldweller Remix)

Unlike many other “bassy” IEMs, the Astral does not have a universally-emphasized bass. Instead, it features (very) forward sub-bass and linear mid-bass. This leads to many tracks having a “split personality” where the mid-bass elements are polite, even clinical, while the sub-bass elements are assertive and powerful. For those who are seeking reference-style tuning, just with a ton of sub-bass, this is likely an ideal configuration. But, for those who want a more-traditional bass tuning, it may take some getting-used-to.

Tracks with diverse bass elements such as War Pigs (Celldweller Remix) allow the Astral to flex its impressive ability to articulate the full lower register and layer bass elements. While its not as bombastic is it might sound through a more bass-head-oriented IEM, the Astral’s rendition of the track still produces quite a bit of deep rumble and depth. Other electronic tracks like In For The Kill rumble and shake the listener as though the Astral had a subwoofer within its shells.

Packaging / Unboxing​

The Astral’s unboxing experience is standard and, in true Kiwi Ears fashion, austere. The IEM’s packaging is designed to protect its contents and not much more.

Build​

Construction Quality​

The Astral’s build is solid. It feels fairly sturdy in the hand and features a resin shell with metal nozzles.



The Astral’s nozzles are precisely-cut and have debris-filters pre-applied. These filters are not actually a part of the nozzle, rather they’re affixed with a small amount of adhesive.


The top face of the Astral is home to a pair of 0.78mm 2-pin sockets. The block that houses the sockets is molded flush to the shells and is sturdy.


Kiwi Ears did manage to include a modular cable with the Astral, which is nice. Users can choose between a 3.5mm and 4.4mm termination, meaning listeners who make use of 2.5mm jacks are left to their own devices. And while I’m glad to see a modular cable in the box, this particular implementation of modularity is lacking. Firstly, the mechanism that connects the termination to the cable is insecure — it’s held in place solely by friction. Secondly, the length of the termination, once secured to the cable, is too long. This cumbersome lengthiness affects the Astral’s usability with devices like hand-held PC’s, laptops, etc.

The cable itself is constructed nicely, though. It utilizes a simple 4-core braid that splits into a twist-braid above the Y-splitter. The wire is lightweight and pliable, with a medium amount of body. The Astral’s cable has minimal microphonics and can be used while walking with little disruption. The termination, Y-splitter, chin-cinch, and 2-pin shells are all made of metal, which is a nice touch that adds to the hand-feel of the cable.

Comfort​

Disclaimer: comfort is a highly individual metric — no two people will have the same experience.

I found the Astral to be very comfortable. I can wear it for multiple consecutive hours without issue. I was able to nap on my back with it as well. Listeners with small ears may experience discomfort, however, as the Astral’s shells are fairly large.

Power​

At a mere 23 ohms and a pedestrian sensitivity of 105dB SPL/mW, the Astral is demonstrably easy to drive. Any reasonably competent integrated DAC/amp combo can drive it. Likewise, decent dongles will be more than sufficient to eek out most, if not all, of what the Astral has to offer. I was unable to detect any delta in performance between my usual smattering of sources.

Warranty and Repair​

The Astral features the standard Linsoul warranty of 1-year for the IEMs themselves and 3 months for the cable. For $300, I would have liked to have seen a longer warranty, but this about the best you’ll get from a ChiFi brand.

Accessories​

A common theme among Kiwi Ears IEMs is that they come with anemic, if not down-right incomplete, accessory packages. The Astral comes with 3 pairs of silicone eartips, a semi-hard carrying case, 3.5mm and 4.4mm cable terminations and… that’s it. For $300, Kiwi Ears can do better. Firstly, even the $89 Kiwi Ears Canta came with 9x pairs of eartips. That’s three times the quantity that comes with the much-more-expensive Astral. While the Astral’s eartips are of tangibly higher-quality, the IEM still lacks wide-bore and foam options in the box — something that many a cheaper IEM include.



The Astral’s case, as mentioned above, is much too cramped for the IEM. Its long-as-heck modular cable design combined with the Astral’s large shell volume makes it very difficult to properly store within the case. The picture above shows the Astral stored without being connected to the cable. This is not the way I recommend you store your IEMs, so I strongly suggest that owners of the Astral immediately swap to a good carrying case, like the Pelican 1010 (or similar).

Comparisons​

Comparisons are selected solely based on what I think is interesting. If you would like me to add more comparisons, feel free to make a request in the comments below!

1: KBEar KB16 Cepheus ($269)

The KB16 has less-pronounced sub-bass, stronger mid-bass, slighter warmer mids, and increased vocal presence compared to the Astral. Its treble is also tuned differently, prioritizing an emphasized, but linear, presentation. The Astral, by comparison, highlights the upper-treble while leaving the “lower” treble more in line with the midrange. These are both DD + BA hybrids, so they have similar psychoacoustic properties.

I hate the carrying case that comes with both IEMs, but the KB16 is smaller, and thus fits better, into its case. I prefer the thicker, heavier resin in the Astral’s shells, but think that the difference in hand-feel is minimal when accounting for the price delta. The KB16, with its lower price point, offers a more compelling price-to-performance ratio. That said, there are micro-details that were more intelligible in the Astral’s upper register. These elements were so fine that they were imperceptible on both IEMs when used in public or walking, so the diminishing returns here are pretty strong if you use your IEMs in anything less than a totally controlled environment.

My preference between these two IEMs lies with the KB16. It has a more ergonomic cable, more eartips, a lower price tag, and a more natural tuning (particularly in the lower register).

2: Rose QT-X ($329)

The QT-X features less-emphasized sub-bass, increased mid-bass presence, warmer mids, and less-emphasized upper-treble. This tuning is more towards my preference, as it more-organically renders punchy bass elements that lean on mid-bass emphasis and control. That said, there’s a distinct loss of sub-bass depth and power compared to the Astral, something that I wasn’t expecting to show through as much as it did. Treble-wise, I find that the Astral’s brighter, more analytical upper-register is more detail-oriented, though I still prefer the comfort and sublime smoothness of the QT-X’s tuning.

Both IEMs have resin shells and metal nozzles. The QT-X comes with a nicer cable, though it lacks modularity. It also includes a competent USB-C dongle and a solid suite of eartips — fronts on which the Astral doesn’t even attempt to compete. And while I am not a huge fan of the QT-X’s case, it’s at least large enough to comfortably house the IEM without compressing the shells.

The delta in “performance” between these two IEMs is minimal, though tipped in the Astral’s favor. If you’re partial towards sub-bass and bright treble, then the Astral will certainly be your preference. If you like W-shaped sound signatures, or value warmth and mid-bass balance, you’ll likely go with the QT-X.

3: BQEYZ Frost ($179)

The Frost has a sharper, less smooth treble. Its midrange is more linear with a flat upper-midrange. The Frost has a more-pronounced mid-bass than the Astral, but has a lighter, less-focused sub-bass. Between the two, the Astral’s tuning is likely to appeal to a wider audience thanks to its more-mainstream midrange tuning. That said, there’s a significant savings to be had with the Frost, and those who like its unique approach to true midrange linearity will also get the added benefit of a nicer cable and an actual accessory package. It also has metal shells, which is a nice plus.

That said, I am more likely to pick up the Astral on a random day than the Frost, simply due to its more-impressive sub-bass performance. The increase in mid-bass emphasis on the Frost’s side doesn’t entirely make up for its less-articulate lower register and grainier upper-treble.

Conclusion​

The Astral is an interesting high-performance IEM. Its U-shaped sound signature has multiple appealing sonic properties, but ultimately deviates from my preferred bass tuning more than I’d like. Its accessory package is incomplete and disappointing, both in terms of fit-and-finish and breadth-of-offering. So, while I do think that the Astral has a lot to offer sound-wise, its important that you understand who this product is suited for, and who it is not.

Who This is For​

• Listeners who want true U-shaped sound
• Those who prioritize sub-bass quality and quantity
• Buyers who want bright treble and extreme bass extension
• EDM fans who demand strong technical performance

Who This isn’t For​

• Buyers who want a complete out-of-the-box experience
• Listeners with small ears
• Those who want cohesive sub and mid-bass implementations
• Listeners who crave warmth
• Those with strong treble sensitivities

As always, happy listening!

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• 1DD + 6BA Driver Configuration;
• Impedance: 23Ω;
• Sensitivity: 105dB;
• Frequency response range: 10Hz-22kHz;
• Connector: 2-pin 0.78mm.;
• Cable material: OFC cable with PU sheath;
• Price: 299$.

• IEMs themselves - Kiwi Ears Astral;
• 2 pin modular OFC cable, 1.2m length;
• Detachable plugs: 3.5 mm and 4.4 mm
• 3 pairs of silicone eartips (S / M / L);
• Carrying case;
• User manual.

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