Kiwi Ears Cadenza
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- beryllium coated budgetgem iem
Hello all: Thanks for reading my feedback.
I share my impressions as I hear them with my ears.
As all our ears are different shapes & sizes so what I hear as bright or bassy -you might hear as dull and Vise-Versa; just something to be mindful of.
What makes my ears happy as a sound signature is slightly more aggressive U shape. I love my Bass Sub and Mid Bass love it all actually; and in quantity. With the Bass I prefer a faster decay the faster the better as to not bleed into the mids.
I prefer the fast speedy bass of the Nano Carbon Driver of my LetShuoer EJ07M and GS AUDIO SE12 ( Love my Sonion 38D'S BA Sub Bass. ) Of course there are exceptions in the market - as I also find the bass of the Bio Diaphragm used in the Yanyin Canon special - has some special sauce like a 8" subwoofer that feels like a 12" Has the slam and some serious sub bass! And the super cool Copper Alloy Shell IKKO Obsidian OH10 - Only IEM I never considered selling!
That dripple being said:
And as such here is my take on the: KIWIEARS Cadenza (I Paid for my 2 sets $35 USD ea.)
Sources: E1DA SG3, Shanling UP5, Geshelli JNOG J2 with AKM4493 chip.
DAP/TRASPORT: From Lenovo Laptop with Amazon Unlimited ULTRA HD, Hiby R6 2020,Samsung S22 Ultra with DSD Files.
Amps: LoxjiP20 tube amp and Topping A90D
Tips Used for Best Result and subjective: BGVP W01 - my new favorite tip. Love these tips and again fairly cheap. $2.00
Cable Used: JIALAI J2 Silver Plated OFCC $18 USD
PRO'S:
- $35 Killer Price!
- Looks & Feels Solid
- On the smaller side so should fit almost all and with correct tips get a great seal and noise isolation.
- Decent Cable - No Immediate Need to replace.
- Bass and texture quantity and still manages fast transience response!
- No Hint of Sibilance but still manages to balance out the Highs & Bass with enough sparkle to not fault it to much.
- Vocals both Male & Female fantastic
- Can listen to endlessly with a smile.
- That Nozzle Lip keeps a Death Grip on any Tip!
- Sounds like my BELOVED IKKO Obsidian OH10 92% with less sparkle and less forward presentation .
- Can be driven off anything from phone output to high end amps.
CON'S:
- No Cable termination option.
- Red Color looks like Pink
- Tip Selection Sucks - This IEM Screams wide bore to open stage and give the Cadenza a nice stage and upper presence. ( My Rec's - AZLA Crystal, BGVP W01, Moondrop Spring Tips ) W01 was my favorite #1
- That Nozzle Lip keeps a Death Grip on any Tip!
NOTHING ELSE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT FOR $35! - No Case who cares , Tips Suck - Needed to buy a real Wide Bore Tip Anyway. Cable Upgrade helps but not needed.
My Cable take as a generalization; is this - as I detest cable shillers: I can hear a difference not so much in cable to cable but in the materials used. For this I think cables are first and foremost #1 EYE CANDY and #2 distant second If I can hone the sound signature a tad then great. IEM/SOURCE MATERIAL/TIPS/FLOWER STRAIN/DAC-SOURCE/AMP/CABLE that’s my order of importance to what I think makes the most difference.
It has been observed the Pure OFCC Copper gives a nice bottom end and seems to not enhance the high frequencies.
Silver Or SPC seems to enhance the highs. The Golden element seems to make the sound a bit warmer. Palladium, Rhodium and Frozen Litz - Ummm this BS smells a lot like Psychoacoustics kind of funny.
EVALUATION SCORE FOR SOUND IMPRESSIONS: 1-10 ( 1 Lowest - Poor 10 Highest - Mind Blown )
OVERALL SCORE: Out of possible 130 Points : 112.3 / 130 86% Old School Grade A+
BUILD QUALITY: 10 Light & Flawless - My 2 Pairs were immaculate.
SUB - BASS Quantity: 8.5
SUB - BASS Quality: 9.0
MID - BASS Quality: 8.5
MID - HIGH Quality: 7
TREBBLE: 8.5
EXTENTION: 6
STAGE: 7.3
- WIDTH: 8
- HEIGHT: 7
- DEPTH: 7
COHERIENCY (Drivers Blend in together) : 10
MICRO DYNAMICS: 9
- (How well does the IEM convey a emotional and skillful use of change of volume in the musical piece your listening to make it interesting and bring a tear to your eye.)
MICRO DYNAMICS: 8.5
- Elements of good Micro-Dynamics (Drums have the snap and impact your feel in your chest and this was observed to be best achieved with a slower attack on the bass notes to add weight and blend the proper attack relative of the rest of the mix; Also how does the IEM express its ability to replay the song mix in a way you can enjoy the dynamics in different volumes not only with the various different instruments ; but as well as give you a sense of space of whether or not your listening to a live recording or a large , medium, small recording studio.
- (How well does the IEM give you the sense of emotion in the overall relay: Does the emotion of the entire song change tone with verses having various rises? Did the engineer make the choruses feel more powerful?)
SOURCE & RECORDING PLAYBACK QUALITY MAKES A MASSIVE DIFFERECE. AND ONLY GOOD IEM'S CAN GET HIGH MARKS ON ABOVE!
MY VALUE SCORE: 20 100% I AGAIN BASE THIS ON MY PRECIEVED - PRICING / VALUE EQUASION
1-20 ( 1 Nobody Should Buy This - 10 Good Value as over-all package this IEM will appeal to some who will love It - 20 ( SOUND/WALLET/EMOTION/FIT/COMFORT )
- ( My score purely subjective to current selling price and competition at time of review)
SUMMARY FOR : Kiwi Ears Cadenza,
This next part is undoubtedly a well-deserved SHILLING!
I HAVE SPENT MANY HOURS WITH SOME MINDFULL THOUGHT ABOUT THIS QUESTION:
Not sure If I am the only one who wondered why anyone would buy a cheap IEM when we have or something closer to our TOTL collection already? - I MEAN IT'S CHEAP HOW GOOD COULD IT BE?
ANSWER : CADNEZA and MANY OTHER IEM'S that came out in 2022 broke the mold really; the sound you can get vs the cost keeps resetting weekly.
All the way up the scale for the sheer joy you can get for so little money without to many faults: Makes you ponder the diminishing return scale and where the bar is now set to!
"Hard to believe how far the market has come for the Value / $ Equation" I have heard continuously by many; in all the forums it has been noted many times by many different people.
- I have a TinHiFI C3 Incoming and from I have observed with its pricier fare and very similar sound the KiwiEars it won't DE throw the King.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
I have read more than a few comments in the last week prior to writing my thoughts from unbelievers.
Really? Have you bought one? Heard One? - and gave it some love? Come on its $35 and far from perfect but damn I can now sleep better as I have answered my own question and that brings me some peace.
The KIWIEARS CADENZA , played my , Rock, Pop , EDM , House, Jazz, Vocals, Classical and Reggae with enough special sauce to make me reach for them first! Over the EJ07M, The GS12 , Canon , OH10 and Shimin Li this last few weeks. I did lots of A/B listening as I feel I have a good level of different IEM's and Driver Builds to appreciate each one In the own special way.
It would take a lot to change my mind about the Cadenza to dethrone it for me to crown it - THE DEAF MONK 2022 BEST BUY IEM AWARD!
I share my impressions as I hear them with my ears.
As all our ears are different shapes & sizes so what I hear as bright or bassy -you might hear as dull and Vise-Versa; just something to be mindful of.
What makes my ears happy as a sound signature is slightly more aggressive U shape. I love my Bass Sub and Mid Bass love it all actually; and in quantity. With the Bass I prefer a faster decay the faster the better as to not bleed into the mids.
I prefer the fast speedy bass of the Nano Carbon Driver of my LetShuoer EJ07M and GS AUDIO SE12 ( Love my Sonion 38D'S BA Sub Bass. ) Of course there are exceptions in the market - as I also find the bass of the Bio Diaphragm used in the Yanyin Canon special - has some special sauce like a 8" subwoofer that feels like a 12" Has the slam and some serious sub bass! And the super cool Copper Alloy Shell IKKO Obsidian OH10 - Only IEM I never considered selling!
That dripple being said:
And as such here is my take on the: KIWIEARS Cadenza (I Paid for my 2 sets $35 USD ea.)
Sources: E1DA SG3, Shanling UP5, Geshelli JNOG J2 with AKM4493 chip.
DAP/TRASPORT: From Lenovo Laptop with Amazon Unlimited ULTRA HD, Hiby R6 2020,Samsung S22 Ultra with DSD Files.
Amps: LoxjiP20 tube amp and Topping A90D
Tips Used for Best Result and subjective: BGVP W01 - my new favorite tip. Love these tips and again fairly cheap. $2.00
Cable Used: JIALAI J2 Silver Plated OFCC $18 USD
PRO'S:
- $35 Killer Price!
- Looks & Feels Solid
- On the smaller side so should fit almost all and with correct tips get a great seal and noise isolation.
- Decent Cable - No Immediate Need to replace.
- Bass and texture quantity and still manages fast transience response!
- No Hint of Sibilance but still manages to balance out the Highs & Bass with enough sparkle to not fault it to much.
- Vocals both Male & Female fantastic
- Can listen to endlessly with a smile.
- That Nozzle Lip keeps a Death Grip on any Tip!
- Sounds like my BELOVED IKKO Obsidian OH10 92% with less sparkle and less forward presentation .
- Can be driven off anything from phone output to high end amps.
CON'S:
- No Cable termination option.
- Red Color looks like Pink
- Tip Selection Sucks - This IEM Screams wide bore to open stage and give the Cadenza a nice stage and upper presence. ( My Rec's - AZLA Crystal, BGVP W01, Moondrop Spring Tips ) W01 was my favorite #1
- That Nozzle Lip keeps a Death Grip on any Tip!
NOTHING ELSE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT FOR $35! - No Case who cares , Tips Suck - Needed to buy a real Wide Bore Tip Anyway. Cable Upgrade helps but not needed.
My Cable take as a generalization; is this - as I detest cable shillers: I can hear a difference not so much in cable to cable but in the materials used. For this I think cables are first and foremost #1 EYE CANDY and #2 distant second If I can hone the sound signature a tad then great. IEM/SOURCE MATERIAL/TIPS/FLOWER STRAIN/DAC-SOURCE/AMP/CABLE that’s my order of importance to what I think makes the most difference.
It has been observed the Pure OFCC Copper gives a nice bottom end and seems to not enhance the high frequencies.
Silver Or SPC seems to enhance the highs. The Golden element seems to make the sound a bit warmer. Palladium, Rhodium and Frozen Litz - Ummm this BS smells a lot like Psychoacoustics kind of funny.
EVALUATION SCORE FOR SOUND IMPRESSIONS: 1-10 ( 1 Lowest - Poor 10 Highest - Mind Blown )
OVERALL SCORE: Out of possible 130 Points : 112.3 / 130 86% Old School Grade A+
BUILD QUALITY: 10 Light & Flawless - My 2 Pairs were immaculate.
SUB - BASS Quantity: 8.5
SUB - BASS Quality: 9.0
MID - BASS Quality: 8.5
MID - HIGH Quality: 7
TREBBLE: 8.5
EXTENTION: 6
STAGE: 7.3
- WIDTH: 8
- HEIGHT: 7
- DEPTH: 7
COHERIENCY (Drivers Blend in together) : 10
MICRO DYNAMICS: 9
- (How well does the IEM convey a emotional and skillful use of change of volume in the musical piece your listening to make it interesting and bring a tear to your eye.)
MICRO DYNAMICS: 8.5
- Elements of good Micro-Dynamics (Drums have the snap and impact your feel in your chest and this was observed to be best achieved with a slower attack on the bass notes to add weight and blend the proper attack relative of the rest of the mix; Also how does the IEM express its ability to replay the song mix in a way you can enjoy the dynamics in different volumes not only with the various different instruments ; but as well as give you a sense of space of whether or not your listening to a live recording or a large , medium, small recording studio.
- (How well does the IEM give you the sense of emotion in the overall relay: Does the emotion of the entire song change tone with verses having various rises? Did the engineer make the choruses feel more powerful?)
SOURCE & RECORDING PLAYBACK QUALITY MAKES A MASSIVE DIFFERECE. AND ONLY GOOD IEM'S CAN GET HIGH MARKS ON ABOVE!
MY VALUE SCORE: 20 100% I AGAIN BASE THIS ON MY PRECIEVED - PRICING / VALUE EQUASION
1-20 ( 1 Nobody Should Buy This - 10 Good Value as over-all package this IEM will appeal to some who will love It - 20 ( SOUND/WALLET/EMOTION/FIT/COMFORT )
- ( My score purely subjective to current selling price and competition at time of review)
SUMMARY FOR : Kiwi Ears Cadenza,
This next part is undoubtedly a well-deserved SHILLING!
I HAVE SPENT MANY HOURS WITH SOME MINDFULL THOUGHT ABOUT THIS QUESTION:
Not sure If I am the only one who wondered why anyone would buy a cheap IEM when we have or something closer to our TOTL collection already? - I MEAN IT'S CHEAP HOW GOOD COULD IT BE?
ANSWER : CADNEZA and MANY OTHER IEM'S that came out in 2022 broke the mold really; the sound you can get vs the cost keeps resetting weekly.
All the way up the scale for the sheer joy you can get for so little money without to many faults: Makes you ponder the diminishing return scale and where the bar is now set to!
"Hard to believe how far the market has come for the Value / $ Equation" I have heard continuously by many; in all the forums it has been noted many times by many different people.
- I have a TinHiFI C3 Incoming and from I have observed with its pricier fare and very similar sound the KiwiEars it won't DE throw the King.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
I have read more than a few comments in the last week prior to writing my thoughts from unbelievers.
Really? Have you bought one? Heard One? - and gave it some love? Come on its $35 and far from perfect but damn I can now sleep better as I have answered my own question and that brings me some peace.
The KIWIEARS CADENZA , played my , Rock, Pop , EDM , House, Jazz, Vocals, Classical and Reggae with enough special sauce to make me reach for them first! Over the EJ07M, The GS12 , Canon , OH10 and Shimin Li this last few weeks. I did lots of A/B listening as I feel I have a good level of different IEM's and Driver Builds to appreciate each one In the own special way.
It would take a lot to change my mind about the Cadenza to dethrone it for me to crown it - THE DEAF MONK 2022 BEST BUY IEM AWARD!
Attachments
Fahmi Misbah Bangsar
yeay im really excited and happy that i hv ordered it yesterday, local ready stock will be at my doorstep in two days
jerryjose46vr
This was cool to read. I am looking for a budget iem to replace my ikko oh10 and this might be it. Gonna take advantage of the 11.11 
There is a hype about this Cadenza. I heard it, bought it myself, compared it with various sub$50.
Here is TL;DR.
My personal conclusion is, “Cadenza is not sub $50 king” as claimed by notable youtube reviewer. Actually it’s behind Tripowin Lea priced at $23, but not bad. If you are considering buying Tripowin Mele x HBB for $50, this is as good as Mele”
I usually do not publish any “OK, not bad” level IEMs.
The sole purpose is to provide point of view for a possible “oh..that’s it? I’ve spent my hard earned $35 on this” type disappointment.
Not all of listeners are fortunate enough to have capabilities to spend $35 on a hobby IEM.
If this is your “to be, or not to be” choice, my advice is to read following.
Not bad. Not a game changer.
If you own good $50-class single DD, it’s not worth to buy. If not, it’s a fair offer. But there will be better choice, like Tripowin’s Lea that could be found as low as $23 vs Cadenza’s $35.
Cross-comparison with Warm-Harman siblings
Technical expressions:
Aria>Lea >>Cadenza
Overall tonal balance:
Cadenza > Aria > Lea
Timbre consistency : harmonic distortion
Aria > Lea >>Cadenza
My preference: tuning x technicality
Aria > Lea ≧ Cadenza
All used stock cable, and Softears UC(L) to reveal technical performance.
*My Aria is modded (dumper filter removed)
In-depth review performed score for
Modded Aria (81/100: A-)
Random quick rating
Lea ( B+ ) ; slightly behind Aria, but fairly close. 90% Aria spec.
In-depth review performed score for
Moondrop Starfield (75/100: B)
Cadenza (B- ); Tonality-wise well balanced, driver spec is just the average or slightly above average DD
Cross-comparison with sub$50 benchmarks
Technical expressions:
Truthear Zero >> Chu > Lea > Cadenza ≧ Salnotes Zero > CRA+
Overall tonal balance:
Salnotes Zero > Cadenza >Truthear Zero > Chu > Lea > CRA+
Timbre consistency : harmonic distortion
Truthear Zero > Chu > Lea > Salnotes Zero ≧ CRA+ ≧ Cadenza
My preference: tuning x technicality
Truthear Zero > Salnotes Zero > Chu > Lea ≧ Cadenza > CRA
More details?
①| Cadenza out of box impression
②| Cadenza post burn-in notes
③| Attention calling; Conflict of Interest (collaboration (consultation) vs Unbiased Review (Audit)
AmericanSpirit
@mlsstl if you find Cadenza better than you expected, you probably have your mind blown by Truthear Zero, it belongs to a different league when comparing those two, it’s $49 and you can expect an upgrade in every spectrum
Bitsir
+ 3dB at 50Hz
+ 2dB at 150Hz
+ 2dB at 300Hz
+ 3dB at 500Hz
+ 3-6dB at 8000Hz
It becomes more impactful and thicker in the lower and upper range.
+ 2dB at 150Hz
+ 2dB at 300Hz
+ 3dB at 500Hz
+ 3-6dB at 8000Hz
It becomes more impactful and thicker in the lower and upper range.
H
helloh3adfi
Are they peak filters? I wonder which Q they have
Bitsir
Yup peak filters. Not messing with Q value, my EQ program isn't that sophisticated it turns out 
Have a go at it and see if you like it.
Have a go at it and see if you like it.
