INTRO:-
Schmitt Acoustics Limited or say, Schmitt Audio operates from Hong Kong and is directed more towards those who want to have Quality products for a more reasonable price. They might not have made huge efforts at making their products shine in the eyes of consumer but have 3 very good Earphones Under their sleeves. (currently looking for distributors Please contact soundwellco@gmail.com if interested)
All of their Earphones use Knowles BA drivers. S10 uses one, S20 uses 2 and S30 uses 3 BA drivers.
I will be reviewing the S10 and S20, but This review is about the S10, the Single BA based earphone, which uses one High quality Full range driver to its best effect, comes in only one color, Blue , is priced very well at $99, reduced from MRP of $129, has standard mmcx interface.
I have reviewed many earphones in this price range and many BA based earphones too, But this one has a tonality (don’t confuse tonality for Sound quality) and balance worth admiring for a single BA earphone.
I will compare this with the TFZ Series 4, Fiio F9 and Earnine EN210.
Easily available at Accessoryjack, Get one for yourself from here.
http://www.accessoryjack.com/schmit...re-driver-in-ear-monitor-headphones-blue.html
ABOUT ME:-
Some of you might know me, I have more than 80 reviews here in head-fi. I admire balanced sounding earphones without much emphasis on bass and specially mid-bass, and if it has mid bass, decay has to be snappy. Sub-bass is welcome.
I have been called a mid-head, was ridiculed for it, but man, for me all the magic happens here. For some mids are not a big deal, they don’t listen to much vocals but I am more of a person who likes a good balance between vocals and instruments.
I like my highs with good amount of spark and energy, it is better if it has good extension. An early roll off is a no no. But then the price of the earphone comes into play. One can't ask an sub $50 earphone to have fantastic extension and that is understandable. You get what you pay for.
I listen to all kind of music, specially soft, alt and pop-rock, some pop (no K-pop, sorry) with good vocals and instruments, I don’t care about the artist, he should make some sense with his words and should not be a bit too cheesy.
ACCESSORIES:-
The S10 comes with a small and tidy retail box. The carry case is lurking out of the box, nothing fancy at all. What is fascinating is all of their earphones come with Two cables, one with mic and other one is a braided audio cable, for an earphone at $99 it’s a huge thing. There are 6 pairs of tips out of the box, Foam (M/L), Single Flange and Triple flange (both S/M), all of them in two sizes. No cable clips out of the box.
BUILD AND ERGONOMICS, COMFORT AND SEAL:-
I like the way the S10 fits, the long narrow nozzle helps with a deeper fit and the curvy Westone like design gives it a nice and comfortable feel in ear. ergonomically its very good.
Build might not be the best thing of the S10 or any Schmitt earphone, it's made of Translucent plastic material which seems like can withstand some abuse if not much.
Thanks to the Long nozzles the S10 seal pretty well and does a very good job of keeping away the outside noises.
Just like all the Schmitt earphones the S10 too ships with two cables, the MIC cables is supple and not much bouncy but has memory problems, the audio cable is really nice with very supple feel to it. The best thing about both the cable is that they don’t have any cables guides to bother about.
SOUND QUALITY:-
The first thing that caught my attention is the way it keeps the notes thick and clear of any type of sibilance, thicker notes make it sound more lush and gives it a more natural timber (slightly thicker than natural). There is not a single area with sharp peaks to make the listening uncomfortable.
With its warm, bright, and forward presentation the S10 is very engaging. The S10 aims for a balanced presentation without being dry, accurate or analytical.
I have burned the earphone for more than 80hrs, using stock rubber tips and my Plenue R for this review. The S10 doesn’t need an amp to sound the best it can.
BASS:-
Being a single BA based earphone its difficult to expect much from the bass region but surprisingly its far more potent than the Nicehck DT300 or even my Final audio F4100.
It has very good body, fairly rounded, moves good amount of air and the decay too is aptly fast. There is good amount of sub-bass presence, specially for a single BA earphone in this price. The extension might not be the best as there are players like Series4 who are deeper with huge bass impact.
There is no mid bass hump one has to worry about and the upper bass is nicely kept nicely under control.
I would not call it the most detailed bass cuz there are better earphones like the EN210 and DT300 with more details.
But the S10 has very good amount of details with an organic touch to it, it doesn’t sound tinny or boxy which in itself is a huge thing from a BA driver. There is nice texture to the notes too.
MID RANGE:-
Mid range is nicely balanced with the bass region with a bit more forwardness to them, vocals do take the center stage.
The S10 tires to be more engaging and pleasing and it succeeds. Smoother vocals with thicker vocal notes make both male and female vocals sound lush and comfortable without a hint of fatigue. There is very good texture to the notes, but the notes could have used a bit more sharpness to be a bit more accurate and natural.
Instruments too have similar presentation, they don’t bite, that’s a good thing as it keeps the signature smooth but that takes the shine off them which for someone looking for details and accuracy is not the best thing. Needless to say the S10 lacks details, specially micro details.
Separation and layering is just above average, there isn't much air between the instruments but its still better than something like the Nebula one.
The best things about the mid range is its stage, which is bigger than most of the BA based earphones in this price range. It's very tall and wide with good depth, married with the smoother and thicker notes it delivers a very engaging sound with good quality imaging. Another good thing is the way it keeps the lower and upper mid ranger energy intact.
HIGHS:-
Highs are a miss here. There is some extension till 8-9k, after that there isn't much energy to write home about. Overall all the highs lack energy, there isn't any spikes or uncomfortable sibilance to worry about.
There isnt much to write here. It’s a clear miss. Everything sound pale and veiled. If the EN210 was lacking energy, the S10 lacks much of the extension.
AGAINST THE ODDS:- (source - plenue R)
TFZ Series4 VS :- ($95)
The series 4 is a more capable earphone from every aspect, it has bigger bass(a bit mid-bassy), more accurate vocals with clearer instruments, have more extended and energetic highs and better spectrum wide details. Has bigger stage too.
Isolation is average and can be sibilant at times.
Fiio F9 VS :- ($109)
The F9 lacks sub-bass by a margin, there is better mid range details but with sharper notes presentation it sounds very tinny and the treble lack any type of extension, leave alone energy. S10 has slightly better extension.
Tonality is very bad, can be sibilant at times. Stage is smaller from every dimension.
EN210 VS:- ($119)
The EN210 is superior in every way expect the stage size (bass is on the leaner side but still has more sub-bass). It has far better details and micro details, sonically it’s the best of the bunch.
Only downside is the cables are not removable.
The EN210 lacks Removable cables.
CONCLUSION:-
Now as I had mentioned before, the S10 doesn’t try to be accurate, precise or analytical hence there is not plenty of details to gaze at, instead the overall presentation is very involving and engaging, it’s an earphone for those who want to enjoy the music, not to analyze it. It’s a very unique sounding BA based earphone.
Thicker notes without much sharpness to them leaves a very soothing impression, specially with vocals. The S10 delivers a very inoffensive, involving and engaging sound.
If you like to enjoy vocals and keep your earphones on for a long time (even when doing other work) this earphone can serve you very well.
Enjoy your music, Cheers.
Schmitt Acoustics Limited or say, Schmitt Audio operates from Hong Kong and is directed more towards those who want to have Quality products for a more reasonable price. They might not have made huge efforts at making their products shine in the eyes of consumer but have 3 very good Earphones Under their sleeves. (currently looking for distributors Please contact soundwellco@gmail.com if interested)
All of their Earphones use Knowles BA drivers. S10 uses one, S20 uses 2 and S30 uses 3 BA drivers.
I will be reviewing the S10 and S20, but This review is about the S10, the Single BA based earphone, which uses one High quality Full range driver to its best effect, comes in only one color, Blue , is priced very well at $99, reduced from MRP of $129, has standard mmcx interface.
I have reviewed many earphones in this price range and many BA based earphones too, But this one has a tonality (don’t confuse tonality for Sound quality) and balance worth admiring for a single BA earphone.
I will compare this with the TFZ Series 4, Fiio F9 and Earnine EN210.
Easily available at Accessoryjack, Get one for yourself from here.
http://www.accessoryjack.com/schmit...re-driver-in-ear-monitor-headphones-blue.html
ABOUT ME:-
Some of you might know me, I have more than 80 reviews here in head-fi. I admire balanced sounding earphones without much emphasis on bass and specially mid-bass, and if it has mid bass, decay has to be snappy. Sub-bass is welcome.
I have been called a mid-head, was ridiculed for it, but man, for me all the magic happens here. For some mids are not a big deal, they don’t listen to much vocals but I am more of a person who likes a good balance between vocals and instruments.
I like my highs with good amount of spark and energy, it is better if it has good extension. An early roll off is a no no. But then the price of the earphone comes into play. One can't ask an sub $50 earphone to have fantastic extension and that is understandable. You get what you pay for.
I listen to all kind of music, specially soft, alt and pop-rock, some pop (no K-pop, sorry) with good vocals and instruments, I don’t care about the artist, he should make some sense with his words and should not be a bit too cheesy.
ACCESSORIES:-
The S10 comes with a small and tidy retail box. The carry case is lurking out of the box, nothing fancy at all. What is fascinating is all of their earphones come with Two cables, one with mic and other one is a braided audio cable, for an earphone at $99 it’s a huge thing. There are 6 pairs of tips out of the box, Foam (M/L), Single Flange and Triple flange (both S/M), all of them in two sizes. No cable clips out of the box.
BUILD AND ERGONOMICS, COMFORT AND SEAL:-
I like the way the S10 fits, the long narrow nozzle helps with a deeper fit and the curvy Westone like design gives it a nice and comfortable feel in ear. ergonomically its very good.
Build might not be the best thing of the S10 or any Schmitt earphone, it's made of Translucent plastic material which seems like can withstand some abuse if not much.
Thanks to the Long nozzles the S10 seal pretty well and does a very good job of keeping away the outside noises.
Just like all the Schmitt earphones the S10 too ships with two cables, the MIC cables is supple and not much bouncy but has memory problems, the audio cable is really nice with very supple feel to it. The best thing about both the cable is that they don’t have any cables guides to bother about.
SOUND QUALITY:-
The first thing that caught my attention is the way it keeps the notes thick and clear of any type of sibilance, thicker notes make it sound more lush and gives it a more natural timber (slightly thicker than natural). There is not a single area with sharp peaks to make the listening uncomfortable.
With its warm, bright, and forward presentation the S10 is very engaging. The S10 aims for a balanced presentation without being dry, accurate or analytical.
I have burned the earphone for more than 80hrs, using stock rubber tips and my Plenue R for this review. The S10 doesn’t need an amp to sound the best it can.
BASS:-
Being a single BA based earphone its difficult to expect much from the bass region but surprisingly its far more potent than the Nicehck DT300 or even my Final audio F4100.
It has very good body, fairly rounded, moves good amount of air and the decay too is aptly fast. There is good amount of sub-bass presence, specially for a single BA earphone in this price. The extension might not be the best as there are players like Series4 who are deeper with huge bass impact.
There is no mid bass hump one has to worry about and the upper bass is nicely kept nicely under control.
I would not call it the most detailed bass cuz there are better earphones like the EN210 and DT300 with more details.
But the S10 has very good amount of details with an organic touch to it, it doesn’t sound tinny or boxy which in itself is a huge thing from a BA driver. There is nice texture to the notes too.
MID RANGE:-
Mid range is nicely balanced with the bass region with a bit more forwardness to them, vocals do take the center stage.
The S10 tires to be more engaging and pleasing and it succeeds. Smoother vocals with thicker vocal notes make both male and female vocals sound lush and comfortable without a hint of fatigue. There is very good texture to the notes, but the notes could have used a bit more sharpness to be a bit more accurate and natural.
Instruments too have similar presentation, they don’t bite, that’s a good thing as it keeps the signature smooth but that takes the shine off them which for someone looking for details and accuracy is not the best thing. Needless to say the S10 lacks details, specially micro details.
Separation and layering is just above average, there isn't much air between the instruments but its still better than something like the Nebula one.
The best things about the mid range is its stage, which is bigger than most of the BA based earphones in this price range. It's very tall and wide with good depth, married with the smoother and thicker notes it delivers a very engaging sound with good quality imaging. Another good thing is the way it keeps the lower and upper mid ranger energy intact.
HIGHS:-
Highs are a miss here. There is some extension till 8-9k, after that there isn't much energy to write home about. Overall all the highs lack energy, there isn't any spikes or uncomfortable sibilance to worry about.
There isnt much to write here. It’s a clear miss. Everything sound pale and veiled. If the EN210 was lacking energy, the S10 lacks much of the extension.
AGAINST THE ODDS:- (source - plenue R)
TFZ Series4 VS :- ($95)
The series 4 is a more capable earphone from every aspect, it has bigger bass(a bit mid-bassy), more accurate vocals with clearer instruments, have more extended and energetic highs and better spectrum wide details. Has bigger stage too.
Isolation is average and can be sibilant at times.
Fiio F9 VS :- ($109)
The F9 lacks sub-bass by a margin, there is better mid range details but with sharper notes presentation it sounds very tinny and the treble lack any type of extension, leave alone energy. S10 has slightly better extension.
Tonality is very bad, can be sibilant at times. Stage is smaller from every dimension.
EN210 VS:- ($119)
The EN210 is superior in every way expect the stage size (bass is on the leaner side but still has more sub-bass). It has far better details and micro details, sonically it’s the best of the bunch.
Only downside is the cables are not removable.
The EN210 lacks Removable cables.
CONCLUSION:-
Now as I had mentioned before, the S10 doesn’t try to be accurate, precise or analytical hence there is not plenty of details to gaze at, instead the overall presentation is very involving and engaging, it’s an earphone for those who want to enjoy the music, not to analyze it. It’s a very unique sounding BA based earphone.
Thicker notes without much sharpness to them leaves a very soothing impression, specially with vocals. The S10 delivers a very inoffensive, involving and engaging sound.
If you like to enjoy vocals and keep your earphones on for a long time (even when doing other work) this earphone can serve you very well.
Enjoy your music, Cheers.
