To start I want to say I have been a KEF headphone and earphone fan for several years, owning every models of product that have released except the newest Space One Wireless. But I have also had issues with ergonomics which often out weighed their sonic prowess.So when I saw my local Visions Electronics store had the Space One Wireless and the Motion One on sale I had to make a hard decision as I could not justify buying both. In the end the lower price of the Motion One combined with the fact I already own the Space One wired lead me to grab the Motion One.
Man, am I ever glad I bought the Motion One!
This IEM offers the best KEF sound I have heard of all their products except maybe the M500 along with the best comfort of all their IEMs.
The IEM comes with an almost too beefy case for carrying the IEM and Neck ring. A standard selection of tips and a regular wire cable that can be used in place of the bluetooth module (not recommended).
Sonically speaking the Motion One is one of the most engaging IEMs I have owned, which is all the more impressive given the fact it is a Bluetooth device that is not using the latest version of bluetooth or the highest codecs available offering only APTx and AAC. Not to mention being only a single dynamic driver versus all the Multi BA / Hybrid offerings on the market.
So how good do I think it is? Well let's just say I prefer it to my $400 Sony WI1000X, my Brainwavz B400, Firefly AF140, and several other products I no longer own such as the Logitech UE900. I am not saying it's better than all of them but I definitely prefer its signature and 3D presentation to all of them.
In fact I find it as engaging as my now defunct Sony XBA-Z5. Again I am not saying it's better than the Z5, but it as engaging albeit in a different way as they have significantly different signatures. The Z5 has a larger than life movie theater type quality to it while the Motion One is more true to life / audiophile quality with a similar immersive 3D presentation.
Here is a sonic breakdown.
Bass - The bass is lightly emphasized but not egregiously over the top. It has a slight midbass hump but still manages to go quite low and the hump does not overshadow the sub bass or overly color the midrange.
Midrange - the midrange is slightly warm but not enough to overly color the sound. I never noticed female vocals to sound off pitch which is something I did notice with the Z5. I also find the midrange excellent for guitars and stringed instruments as a whole, conveying crunch, grit, and delicacy in equal amounts.
Treble - The treble similarly is airy and complete without crossing the line in to shrillness or sibilance.
Soundstage and imaging - This is the area that impressed me the most and brings this IEM to its magical status. The 3D qualities of this IEM are right up there with the XBA-Z5 which is a $700 IEM. This quality combined with a natural complete signature just captured my mind and ears more than anything I have owned since my XBA-Z5.
So now that have painted a picture of sonic perfection what are the warts?
Well thankfully comfort is not one of them. This is KEF's most comfortable IEM to date. It has pretty standard rubber tips and a more normal size nozzle as compared to the M200. It also allows for 3 positions of the nozzle to accommodate over ear and hanging down configurations. The neck ring is also pretty comfortable around the neck.
But speaking of the neck ring it is wrapped in a rubber material to help make the IEM IPX5 rated. The material is soft and pliable which adds to comfort but unfortunately it also makes the controls awkward to use and the power plug tricky to open and then reseal after charging. This is the biggest area of frustration for me and I wish it was better implemented. But I can live with it since these sound so good.
So, why is no one talking about this IEM? I think this boils down to KEF entering the fray a bit to late and not offering enough technical bells and whistles such as higher resolution codecs such as APTxHD and LDAC, or multi driver configurations. In their defence though, now that I have heard their product I can understand why they have done all that. Their product simply sounds so good it didn't need to. Unfortunately though, people read and place more value on specs when they can't try a product out first hand. Secondly this product has had very little retail exposure as compared to Beats, Sony, Sennheiser and other popular brands. Until these were available at Visions Electronics in Canada the only other way to buy them was from KEF direct here in Canada.
So are there any other issues? YES and it's a whopper! This IEM uses MMCX connectors and comes with a straight none BT cable option that can be swapped out for the BT neck ring. My best advice is to IGNORE THIS OPTION AT ALL COSTS! I have owned multiple MMCX IEMs and they simply can not take multiple connect/disconnects or they will lose connection and short out. My $700 XBA-Z5 are a broken pile of rubble due to this and that was after a warranty replacement. I have other MMCX IEMs with the EXACT same issue. Just use this IEM as it was intended as a bluetooth model and lose that other cable. If you look online many people have failed Motion Ones and I can almost guarantee you this is because they swapped their cables.
KEF if your reading DROP that extra cable and stop promoting this flawed feature!
So there you go. If you like the KEF sound you will LOVE LOVE LOVE this IEM. If you want a natural yet engaging IEM experience you will love this IEM. You just have to be OK with a ring style Bluetooth implementation. Given the EXTREME LOW PRICES these can be had for, at least here in Canada. This is one of the best sonic deals I have seen in many years.
