Shozy Djembe

Shozy Djembe

Djembe is a goblet type hand drum made in West Africa.

Also the name of Shozy’s newest. The Djembe is a new dynamic earphone from Shozy. With this new release I can officially say Dynamics are not only making a comeback but they seem to be the new rage. Everyone is making new dynamic earphones using newer type dynamic drivers and newer tunings. The sound quality of newer dynamic earphones are some of the best I can recall in recent history for earphones. The Djembe is something a bit different than your harmon tuned or overly v signatures.

The Djembe is nothing groundbreaking, but you are going to get a well designed earphone for the bucks. I have seen numerous posts of enthusiasts that want an earphone they can fall asleep using them with, meaning they want the earphones small enough so it sits flush within your ears and comfortable enough to keep in the ear for hours. Or how about the active type that bikes to work everyday or enjoys the long 10 mile hike on weekends. The Djembe is calling for you. You want to be semi hearing your environment when out in public anyway is my point.

Djembe comes in three colors, transparent, black and amber. The review sample I got was transparent which allows me to take a good look inside the design of the Djemebe. Toward the end of the nozzle sits the single dynamic flush against the nozzle and the rest of the shell is used like a sound chamber for the dynamic to breathe. On the bottom portion of the shell are several well placed vent holes which makes the Djembe a semi open design. The shell in of itself is a physically smaller size, the only other earphone that comes to mind that is this small is the Rose QT9-MK2.


So out of these two guess which one is the most comfortable. Hmm.
Its size is worth noting as not too many earphones are this small and fit this well. At least for me. The entire earphone sits inside the concha of my ear. If you take a premium for comfort and ease of use and want a dynamic earphone you can keep in your ears for hours. These might fit the bill for you. So what is interesting is that even though the diaphragm inside the shell clearly sits inside the ear, again right at the end of the nozzle. You would figure by design this would mean a very narrow stage. Truth is the stage is not what I consider wide for earphones, but it does have a surprisingly spacious medium level stage as I can tell the housing is designed to be a sound chamber of sorts. The sound has a surprising roominess to it that you would never expect given the compactness of the design.

Standardly disclaimers. I would like to thank Penon audio for the review sample. The Djembe was provided for the purpose of a review. If you feel the need for your next sleeping IEM. You can get yourself a set here on Penon web site here. They have been burned in for a weeks time and are ready for evaluation using my IBasso DX300Max, Fiio M15, Shanling M6 pro, M5s, M3s, Ibasso DX160, Sony ZX300, Fiio K3 2021, IFI black label for amping.

A side word about burn in. By nature, dynamic earphones in general all need burn in for full sound. This statement is not by me but more the makers of the IEMs. As a burn in believer and practitioner of the idea that all things audio related should be burned in. Some phones do nothing with burn in and some like the Djembe absolutely require it. I highly recommend you burn in the Djembe for best performance as I can clearly hear how they improved over burn in period. These will not sound great out of the box. The sound will be compressed and the stage will be narrow, sq is about as average as it gets. The Djembe reveals their much better qualities after a week's worth of burn-in.

Build of the Djembe is using hard as nails plastic but with a standard 2 pin connector which is a good design choice. This allows the Djembe to use much better cables. The cable it comes with is about as minimal as it gets. As small as the Djembe is, so is its silver plated copper cable. It looks like 2 cores of the stuff in single ended. Having tried some aftermarket cables. I can confirm the stock cable is actually restrictive of the full sound qualities of the Djembe. Your better cables are highly recommended over the included cable.

Shozy provides their hexagonal zip up grey case and a bare minimum single set of silicone tips to finish off the package. These hard plastic shells are tough and light and looks are subjective, I bet the amber color looks a bit more premium but the all clear one here is like they forgot to color it with something. It just looks a bit incomplete. Otherwise I have a few IEMS using this type of hard plastic for an earphone housing and I have yet to see any issues with this type of housings.

Sound.
The Djembe is a mids focused IEM with the bass and then the treble that plays a role in completing the sound. Despite the graph of the Djembe which make them look like a bright signature, the Djembe is not a bright sounding IEM. On the contrary they have a vocal forward mids sound signature that will win lovers of vocal music. The one negative aspect of the Djembe sound is that they have average technicalities. Specifically sound separation and detail with a moderate stage. It has greater depth than height but again with a more intimate medium stage for sound. Within that sound field is where I can say their technicalities are good enough but nothing groundbreaking at the same time. This will be even more evident on open listen hence the need for them to actually open up with burn in. But as crazy as it sounds they have a euphoric vocal presentation, good timbre with a slight mid forwardness that actually makes them sound engaging. They almost remind me of vocal monitor tunings due to the vocal forwardness. Not so forward as to sound shouty or uneven, then there is that comfort level that gives the Djembe a plus factor.

Treble.
Djembe treble is interesting. The bulk of the treble tuning here is its mid treble bands with two distinctive treble spikes, one around the 6 Khz and another lesser spike at around 9Khz. I know the dreaded 6khz spike. Which again would make you think these will have a bright sounding treble. Some high notes do show a slight splashines but for the most part the treble while accentuated is not fatiguing and I think it is due to a quick treble decay I am hearing. What fatigues for treble is when you get a longer sustain for treble notes that overstay their welcome. Not so much the Djembe treble. It hits the high notes just fine but I do notice it does not have the best extension of treble notes with that short decay which ultimately makes treble notes sound a touch dry. Treble sounds slightly blunted at times and more focused on macro vs micro detailing. But it is not the treble that makes the Djembe what it is as it is more tuned to support the mid bands and balancing out the sound signature.

The Djembe has a forward lower mids presentation with a mild upper mid roughly 8dbs of pinna gain and this early lower mid rise seems to counter the slight brightness in the treble region. Treble is clean for the most part but lacks some micro fine detailing and air for the treble region. It's got a fairly uneven treble tuning but does have good macro ability and treble seems to be more about highlighting the mid bands more than sticking out. Which is important for earphones that you want to hear for hours on end. I can tell the driver being used for the Djembe is not the most resolving as the treble tonality and ability is just there. Again much like the technical aspect of the sound the treble here is well, average. The good news there is that the treble is not as fatiguing as the graph of them might show. This is a case of you gotta hear them to understand.

Mids of the Djembe is what the Djembe is really about. Folks that love to fall asleep to your favorite vocal tracks. You of all people will appreciate the Djembe sound presentation. Vocal forwardness is one aspect but the mids presentation makes very good use of the limited space that is provided. It is the type of sound that you can most definitely drift away with. For fans of vocal performances these will be a very good edition to your collection. The sound of the Djembe has just enough proficiency with the technical aspects to the sound to not make them sound too dull or hampered. It has a good fundamental layered sound presentation and while it doesn't have world class of anything it doesn't sound like anything is really lacking at the same time.

It is the mids that folks should take an interest in for the Djembe sound. While imaging is generally good the sound is hampered a bit by the lack of a real good instrument/note separation. Presentation is more intimate than vast but again this just bodes well for what it does best which is vocal texture with a rangy performance. Its timbre is also done well and there is just a hint of warmth to the mids tonality making them sound natural in the process. The Djembe makes good use of its hollow smaller shell that has them vented holes in the bottom. This semi openness gives the Djembe dynamic the ability to breathe freely, giving the sound a bit of space to work with which helps also for its bass performance.

Bass is mid bass focussed and hence most music will benefit from its musical bass presentation. The bass definition here is as you can imagine about average for dynamics in this price range. I have heard better but I have also heard worse. Bass impact is good but the more technical aspect to the bass is as you guessed it, average. Sub bass is rolled off but has just enough presence to complete the sound here. I suppose to give a bit of extra to the treble regions the sub low end had to be sacrificed a bit. Bass is not necessarily beefy but they are not weak either. It has roughly 10dbs of bass boost in the mid bass regions and tapers off when digging into the sub regions. It has decent impact to the bass area to make the Djembe sound complete but it's not a sound specializing in its bass ability or the treble ability. The bass end much like the treble enhances what the mids are doing more than being the star attraction. For what it is, bass notes have decent impact, good definition but lacks speed and texture of a higher end dynamic offering. The bass end here is once again kinda average for the price point.

In the end
Djembe is tuned a bit like how single BAs are tuned. Which are all about the mids. But what makes the Djembe interesting is that it has really excellent vocal infused mids projecting sound signature.The sound tuning for the most part is balanced. Its intimate size and sound makes for an interesting angle on the in ear phone that you can be comfortable using for hours on end. I do wish the djembe had some better technical aspects to its presentation but their vocal forwardness makes them have a unique engaging sound profile some will gravitate to. For folks that love them some vocal music, these are going to be right up your alley. As they are, the Djembe is a good phone to use for casual or relaxed listening to your favorites for hours with great comfort. Its average technical aspects keeps them from reaching a higher level of sound performance but when you get your favorite vocal artists all up in your grill. It makes up for these aspects. They fill a niche that is not too common in the marketplace and that is the small comfortable good sounding earphone as most earphones are medium to large in size. Casual listeners and especially folks that listen to vocal performances will love the Djembe. Thanks for taking the time to read and happy listening always.

Optimized Djembe. Finale E tips w ISN G4 cable.



Truth is just about anything aftermarket cable wise will be an upgrade on the included cable