Willsound MK2 Rev. 2

Willsound MK2 is a quite popular budget earbud on Head-fi and on Earbuds Anonymous group in Facebook. So many people recommended this earbuds that I could not resist buying them. In fact, I went ahead and purchased the MK1 Rev. 2 as well.
http://www.rholupat.com/custom-earphone/willsound-mk2-new-batch.html

The earbuds have a nice, branded, zippered case and come with 4 pairs of thin, black foams. The foams are of good quality as well.


The housing is the usual MX500 shell, which fits me perfectly, but those with smaller ears may find it uncomfortable. The shell material is of good quality. While some people get a black baffle face-plate, mine was all-white. Unlike the MK1 which have a nice, flexible cable, the MK2's cable while robust, is a bit stiffer and can get tangled at times. The wire splitter and 3.5 mm jack are of great quality; the jack is particularly big and looks premium.


So how does it sound?

Here's the setup for my evaluation - FLACs (16/44.1, 24/48 and 24/96) on my LG G6 with ES9218p DAC SOC and Tidal Desktop app on my laptop.

I use all my earbuds without foam covers - I feel that foam covers, thick, thin or with a hole in the center, affect the airiness of the highs and sounds claustrophobic

The other key factor that is to be considered while reading my opinion below is that earbuds may sound different to different individuals based on the shape and size of your ears and how the earbuds fit and how they are positioned and your hearing sensitivity itself. So while I may be able to hear a good amount of sub-bass, others may not; while I may find the highs perfect for longer sessions, others may find it fatiguing during a long session.

So, with all that said, let's get into the actual performance of the MK2.


Track 1 - Shibuya by Covet - The track sounds warmer than usual - bass guitar is a bit more forward in the soundstage, but the texture is just right; the snare drums sound very realistic and when the medley of the snare drums, bass guitar, ride cymbal and electric guitar play together, you can spot each instrument separately. The only bit where separation is lacking is between the bass guitar and kick drum. The ride cymbals have a nice air to them and very fast attack. The bass bleeds a bit into the snare drums at around 500 Hz but the clarity of these drums at the upper mids are intact. The drum fills sound magical and it feels as you, the listener, are the drummer with the other musicians playing around you.

Track 2 - Two Against Nature by Steely Dan - The first thing you'll note on this track is the decent width and excellent separation offered by the MK2. The next thing is the well rendering of the layering of various notes together. The bass note is well textured and has the right amount of weight and displays fast decay. Vocal is right where it ought to be - neither too forward, nor recessed.

So, it looks all good so far, but the bass which seems a bit ambitiously boosted in the upper region and bleeds into the lower mids.

Track 3 - Royals by Lorde - This track emphasizes the observation mentioned above. The sub-bass frequencies are well rendered and texture is crisp but mid-bass bloom is quite evident. Lower notes of Lorde's voice are impacted by the bleed. Since, there is nothing else noteworthy to test on this track, moving one to the next one (one of my favorites).

Track 4 - Madness by Muse - The perfect track for bass and vocal quality. MK2 excels on this tracks - bass texture is rendered very well as in the above tracks, but attack is bit slower than expected, while it demonstrated good bass speed in other tracks. Matt Belamy's vocals shine on this track and MK2 renders it nice and intimate with oodles of texture. In fact, MK2 handles both male and female vocals with much aplomb.
At around the 3 minute mark when the track unleashes euphoria, the layering and sound stage width are excellently rendered, giving a nice "surround" experience while displaying decent instrument separation - Every note and instrument does not stand out with lots of air in between the instruments, but neither does it get lost in the crowd.

So, lets get more into instrument separation

Track 5 - The National Anthem by Radiohead - The MK2 does well on the track - Nice, weighty bass, excellent sound stage width and depth demonstrated. No other budget earbud delivers this well at the beginning of this track - the MK2 sound surrounds the listener. In fact, MK2 will make you like this track, which otherwise, on incompetent earbuds, sounds flat and as a cacophonic pile-up of instruments. The vocals have a nice haunting feel to it, as intended. At around the 3 minute mark, when the cacophony increases and gradually reaches its peak, the MK2 still holds its ground to a decent extent - I can no more say that each instrument is well separated and stands-out on its own, but I can still here the number of different instruments in play. This does not mean that MK2 is lacking in separation; in fact, it is quite decent in this aspect, but at the end of the day, it is just a budget earbud that punches way above its weight.

Now that almost all aspects are tested, let me throw in a bonus track

Bonus Track - Bubbles by Yosi Horikawa - Close your eyes and try to ascertain where each sound is coming from. The MK2's sound stage has good width, depth and height. And on binaural tracks, you can also feel the sound coming from the front of your head, which is quite good.

Conclusion
Willsound MK2 performs quite well, whether the price factor is taken into account or not. For a regular listening session, it offers more than sufficient performance. In fact, I use them as one of my daily drivers at home and at work. The sound signature of this bud is quite likeable, though a few, like me, would prefer a bit less of the mid bass.
And for all those who are happy with their sub $10 earbud, this one is a perfect upgrade.