Ziigaat X Jay's Audio Estrella

If you're interested in graph comparison, here's link
Disclamer:

+ I'm a normal asian dude with some music producing background
+ I like clean balanced sound signature with focus on sub bass and lower treble
+ Can consider myself as treblehead
+ 60-68db listening session
+ Avarage 4/10 (Quarks/ 7hz Zero), Good 6/10 (Tanchjim Kara), Endgame 8/10, Bias Endgame 10/10
: Good, but with a catch
: Worth the money
: Specialist at something else
: A Very close to perfection
: Perfect for me

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How to read my review: (Which bold font is x2 in score)

. TONE
- Timbre: How sounds projected, usually free score for most iem. Only GK10 would get a 2 from this
- BASS: (20hz - 500hz)

Depth	How low can i hear (physically, not graph)
" /; \; =" + "number hz"	/: rolloff, \: upward, =:flat after Hz of the highest spot i heard
Decay	Decay + Sustain, usually the mid bass and flexability of driver
Resonance (or Release)	Driver + tune. The bass after kick drum
Air	Flexibility of bass. effect by tune and driver
Tone	Based on how balanced it is
Tech	Detail (Texture, Fastness). Effect mostly by air

- MID: (500hz - 5khz)

Acoustic	Piano, Violin, Strings basically, flute, ...
Electric	Synth, Lead, Pluck, Electric guitar and Bass guitar, ...
Tone	Based on how balanced it is
Tech	Detail (Texture, Separation). Effect by tone

- TREBLE: (5khz - 16khz)

Extension	The upper end of high, quite easy to hear if you don't have hearing loss
Air	Spacing between instrument, cymbal
" /; \; =" + "number hz"	/: rolloff, \: upward, =:flat after Hz of the highest spot i heard
Sparkle	Attack and Decay of cymbal. Is tonality element
Shimmering	Sustain and Release of cymbal. Is tonality element
Tech	Detail (Texture, Separation, Transients). Effect by tone and air

- OTHERS:

Vocals	uhm. Vocals?
Drum	uhm. Drum?
Percussion	most of the clack clack click click lol. Effect by texture in mid
Resonance	The one that will let you know if transducer good with rock or not
Dynamism	Ability to make emotion
Sibilance	10 meant no sibilance.

. TECH
- Detail: Bass + Mid + Treble
- Soundstage: Rough description wall of sounds
- Imaging: {Width, Depth, Height}, {blurry, solid (better than blurry); Phantom (Good microspacing)}
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- Bass: Heavy bass but still have a lot of energy on the top, Good authority on the kick drum, nicely detail
+ Good driver i gotta say
- Mid: Well balanced
+ There's nothing to fault
+ No special sauce either
+ Idk like this is a generic harman iem so you won't find any nitpicking things, but it's not great either
- Treble: BA really do some magic work here
+ Very slight to none BA timbre
+ Extension and air is very good
+ Cymbal have a realist sound to it
- Vocals: Quite natural in position, good sound overall but idk something about high note feels missing, and a tiny bit of sibilance
- Soundstage/Imaging presentation: Big 3D room soundstage with very good spatial cues. Perhaps not the best micro spacing but that's okay!

This IEM is tuned towards mild vshape harman bright, in the same direction as Pula pa02 with similar emphasis on the upper treble. The bass has a fairly large quantity, with good sub bass rumble extension and control. The speed is also quite good.

Unfortunately, the bass texture is not as good as other isobaric IEMs such as ke4, davinci, b3, and tea pro. The mid bass punch feels full, unfortunately the texture feels strange. It feels like there is less bass detail and one note texture.

The mid position feels a bit behind compared to the bass. The mid tends to be slightly boosted in the upper mid. With this boost in the upper mid, the mid feels clean and quite aggressive. The symptoms of sibilance and peak are somewhat felt in the mid. The timbre in the upper mid feels a bit dry when compared to ke4 and cadenza4.

The mid weight in Estrella feels a bit thin, and lacks weight for male vocals. The mid presentation reminds me of the ew300 which tends towards female vocals. And yeah the mid is also similar in the sweet and swinging sensation which is a bit lacking. So it doesn't feel as kicky and addictive as the mid.

The treble has a rather aggressive presentation, especially in the upper treble area which extends to the end. The upper treble boost is similar to the Pula pa02 which gives an airy, light and extended impression. But unfortunately it makes the treble a bit metallic and dry. Fortunately the lower treble area tends to be safe.

Because the difference in timbre from the upper mid and treble areas makes the Estrella a bit less coherent for me.

For the technicalities at 300$ price range, it's good. The detail, resolution, and micro details are on the same level as the b3, davinci, and cadenza 4. Slightly better than the ke4, mp145, and quintet.

The stage is actually quite wide, but unfortunately the imaging doesn't take advantage of this stage presentation. The imaging feels less precise and unable to spread its pin points in all directions. It feels more focused on the right and left of the imaging. The depth and height stage are not filled with the imaging pin points.

Fortunately, the separation is quite good with clarity that is also clear. The transient speed is also fast with good dynamics. For double pedals, this IEM is still capable.

Comparison


Vs letshuoer cadenza 4:

Cadenza 4's tuning direction is more neutral warm sub bass boost. Suitable to be an upgrade for juzear 41t.

Compared to Estrella, the bass quantity of cadenza 4 feels a bit small and thin. Leaning towards its sub bass which is quite extensive. But uniquely the bass texture of cadenza 4 is better, with better control and speed too. Although the bass beat is not as fast as Estrella

The mid presentation of cadenza 4 is more forward. The weight tends to be right and not as thin as Estrella. The portion of male and female vocals is more balanced. What's special about the Cadenza 4 is its sweet, clean, and swinging mid tuning. One of the best vocals at a price of 4 million, competing with Freya 2.

The sibilance and peak on the Cadenza 4 are clearly safer than the Estrella. The coherence and timbre are also better and more natural. Not to the point of being dryish or dry like the Estrella's vocal timbre

The treble on the Cadenza 4 feels smoother, more natural, and more coherent. Minimal plasticky or metallic sensation compared to the BA of the Estrella.

The treble extension on the Cadenza 4 tends to be so-so unfortunately. Not as extensive as the Ekstrella or the 4th. But it still has a nice treble weight and still feels the treble energy.

Technically, the Cadenza 4 is slightly better. The stage is wider with more accurate imaging. The separation is also slightly better.

The details, micro details, and resolution are the same. The clarity is slightly clearer on cadenza 4. The transient speed of both is similar, both fast.

For dynamics, Estrella is better than cadenza 4.

Vs Kiwiears KE4:
Ke4 overall has a more balanced and refined tone than Estrella.

The bass has the right quantity and is not too big like Estrella's bass. But uniquely, the bass texture is actually better than estrella. The bass speed on Estrella is a little bit faster than 4th

The mid position on ke4 feels more forward. Similar to cadenza4, the portion of male and female vocals on 4th feels more balanced than Estrella.

The mid note weight on ke4 feels thicker and warmer. The sweet, swinging, and emotional sensation of the vocals is better in ke4. The peak and sibilance are also more minimal, with a more natural timbre and less dryish.

The coherence on ke4 is also better than Estrella.

For treble, ke4 has the most balance composition compared to cadenza4 and Estrella. Slightly more aggressive than cadenza4, but not metallic like Estrella. It feels more natural and coherent than Estrella.

The treble extension feels good without any excessive peaks. The treble weight is also right. Overall, the tuning of ke4 feels more musical and natural than Estrella

For technicalities in the detail, resolution, and micro detail sectors, Estrella is slightly superior.

But in terms of stage and imaging, Cadenza4 feels better. The stage feels wider with better pin point imaging.

The separation and dynamics are equally good. But for clarity, it feels clearer with a slightly faster transient speed on Estrella.

For technicalities, ke4 is not as good as Estrella or Cadenza4.

Outro:
From yesterday's meeting, what impressed me and really regretted it was the Letshuoer Cadenza 4. How can a tuning that is so mature and refined like this not be hyped? Instead, the one that is hyped is Estrella.

This Ziigat Estrella is actually a good IEM. But its position is really awkward. The meta bass isobaric tuning feels less refined, and I think it's better to add 50$ to get the mangird tea pro which beats Estrella in every way and makes it battered.

Or if you want to save more and don't mind the slightly reduced technical aspects, you can just get the Kiwiears ke4 which has the most balanced tuning for IEM with meta jm1 tuning. Estrella is really cornered, because it is surrounded by ke4, cadenza 4, and tea pro

Collab Talk
There are so many Collab IEMs in the market that it is sometimes hard for anyone to keep up. Almost half of them are HBB Collabs, I mean HBB can make a company himself at this point. Recently I reviewed Timmy’s collab and now Jay came up with his. This one is called Estrella and at first glance, it looks beautiful.

Package
Comes with standard packaging and a set of tips. The cable it comes with is extremely good though. I tried cable rolling this IEM and this cable came at the top every time. Although the cable quality is not very good all that matters to me is SQ and microphonics and it passes all of the qualities I look for in a cable.

Disclaimer
Jay sent this IEM to review, and no I don’t know him well & he is not a friend of mine so there will be no bias. And I am not keeping this IEM. It will be on tour in India for people to audition for themselves.

Introduction to the sound
This IEM is a more V-shaped IEM. The bass is very elevated as well the treble is there with its full glory. The bass is pretty good with this. To a point, I would say this is the most mature bass I heard for under $400. The elevation in the sub-bass is really fun, the texture is there, and it slowly fades in the mid-bass but takes a clean approach to the mids.

Bass
Coming to the bass – In one word it is full. The sub-bass is extremely addictive and almost on the level of something like IE600. I can guarantee you that nothing under $300 can give you the sub-bass that it is giving, in my collection.

Mid-bass on the other hand is very cautiously done. It is not affecting the midrange in any way or form like Penon 10th AE. Nor is it separating the sub-bass from the coherence factor like Pilgrim.

Overall the bass section of this IEM is top-tier in tonality.

Midrange
Now if we come to the lower-mids, there is not much to talk about. The lower mids are clean, textured, a bit dry sometimes and neutral in presentation. It is not a midrange-focused set so I am not expecting a lot of midrange lushness in its sound altogether. It is very dependent on the recording, and poorly recorded male vocals don’t sound good with this IEM. If you listen to old songs a lot this IEM never felt underwhelming in the lower mids.

Upper mids is where it shines. The female vocals felt airy and full of sparkles and shine. The texturing in this region is great as well as the resolution. Trail-ling edges to note falloffs everything sounded extremely good and resolving.

Although the mid-range is nothing that is taking away from the presentation, there might be some songs that would sound not optimal for the tuning. Specifically, there is a peak in the 4-5khz range that creates a bit of spiciness in some tracks at high volume.

Treble
Treble on this IEM is not shy by any means. Full of resolution and intricacies. Certain peaks gave it a very bold signature in the treble, where bad recordings will sound bad and Estrella will extract every bit of information from the treble

The speed is blazingly fast Snappiest than any IEM I tried in this Price point.


Technicalities: Soundstage
Then if we come to the soundstage, it feels huge. I am not a fan or hater of huge soundstages, but this IEM exhibits a very huge sounding stage almost all around your head.

No matter how busy track you give it, it won’t feel claustrophobic.

It is deep and as well as tall. I am glad to see Jay hasn’t used cheap tricks like stretching stereo width to give it more sauce in the stereo imaging which sometimes makes or breaks the tracks.

Albums like Andvevarljod EP – will scare the hell out of you

Technicalities: Imaging
Imaging is excellent as well. Pinpointing stuff in the soundstage is not an issue at all. Layering on the other hand is a bit on the average side of things. Like for an example it somehow manages to get on the level of Pilgrim.

Dynamics
Dynamically again this IEM is very fast. You might like a bit of sloppy dynamic which sounds like an old vintage speaker & it won’t give you that. It is stupidly fast.

Resolution
Resolution is excellent on this IEM, surpassing IEMs like Pilgrim by a long shot. Details and micro-contrasts are impeccable too. On par with something like IE600.So, to summarize the review in a few sentences.

I would rank the things I liked about this IEM in descending order.

1. Imaging on this IEM is by far the most impressive thing for me
2. The soundstage of this IEM wowed me, it felt very vast
3. Details and Resolution and everything involved in that like Texturing and micro-contrasts are excellent
4. The Sub-bass on this IEM is stupidly good
5. Treble is there just to flaunt itself
6. Upper mids are enjoyable
7. Lower mids are not on par with the excellence it offers in both lows and highs, and it is expected since it is a V Shape sounding
8. This IEM is very revealing, so Poorly recorded tracks sound bad.
9. The added ear-tips are kind of trash; I don’t like to tinker around with ear-tips that much.

Conclusion
So, all and all – I will be ranking this IEM very high in my ranking list. The fun elements this IEM exhibits are nothing short of breathtaking. It trades blows with something like IE600 and can be bought blindly.
Huge Recommendation from my side. Good job Jay.



Now coming to the comparisons

Pilgrim
Pilgrim is a very different IEM. The focus on Pilgrim is maturity which sacrifices some fun elements of the sound like the treble and bass. Pilgrim is better in lower-mids and layering whereas Estrella is better in Soundstage, Imaging, Bass and Treble Amplitude and speed. I would say that these IEMs complete each other, and both sound way better than what they are priced at

Dynaquattro
Although Dynaquattro is more bassy in the overall low-end, the amplitude is more in the Estrella, so the bass seems more resolving and detailed in Estrella. Dynaquattro feels boomy and exudes more thump The control on the bass though is better in Estrella. At the same time, Dynaquattro is a lot safer and sweeter-sounding IEM. Estrella is more energetic and engaging. The Dynaquattro exhibits a taller and more natural soundstage, whereas Estrella is more deep and very atmospheric in the sense that it is more open. Resolution & Details are much better in Estrella.

Da Vinci
Both are very different, yet they have a big bass shelf. Da Vinci is more mid-bass focused and lower-mids are better on Da Vinci. But the treble and resolution are far better in Estrella. Micro-contrasts and details are better in Estrella too. Da Vinci is better at producing sweeter sounds in general. It has a more pleasing tonality with a better lower midrange presentation.

Hype 2
Estrella is 2 steps ahead of Hype 2 in all aspects.

Hype 4
Hype 4 is a set that impressed me. I would take Estrella if I want to listen to a more exciting reproduction of the music, whereas Hype 4 is more natural and safer. I like both of the sets a lot, and it's really up to the preference of the tonality.

Targeted Demographic

Estrella is made for someone who is looking to get the worth of each and every penny they spend. At $300 there is nothing else in the market that can give you the level of Detail/Image & Soundstage with good tonality to back it up.

Excellent bass and treble, a bit underwhelming lower-mids and very good Upper-mids. This IEM is an IE600 replacement.



Watch my YouTube video on the tape-mod and other discussions here -

Intro
Ziigaat has been a brand that popped on my radar only as of late. I had my sole experience of their budget offering (Nuo) but looking at their more popular products, the Doscinco and Cincotres - it seems they share some similar design cues with their Linsoul co-brands such as Thieaudio and Kiwi Ears. The faceplate and shell design are very reminiscent of recent Thieaudio releases and their Doscinco/Cincotres twins share the isobaric 2DD design of the Hype series. Now Jay, one of the more up and coming reviewers, have worked with Ziigaat to release his first collab which is what we are going to take a look now. With prior reviews and by the man himself, the Estrella - spanish for star - having been lauded to compete with IEMs even at the kilobuck range, this claim surely raised quite a handful of eyebrows. Since actual accessibility to the product has been difficult early on, finally we have it in our hands. Let's take a look as to how close these claims came to be or at the very least, came out to achieve enough to gather some attention in its price bracket.



Build and Inclusions
The Estrella, comes in a 6-driver (2DD + 4BA) hybrid configuration. With two custom 10mm PET diaphragm coaxial dynamic drivers and utilizing genuine American Knowles 29689 and European Sonion 2345 full-range BA drivers, along with Sonion E50 series BA super tweeters - the tranaducers make you feel you did not get shortchanged. Not to mention the oh so nice and beautiful star-glitter-in-the-night faceplate and shell that lives up tp its name. The production cost though might have ate up the budget as the inclusions leaves a lot to be desired. Packaged in the typical smallish Ziigaat packaging of outer sleeve cover housing a black top-off box. The IEMs look very shiny and polished in a full resin shell that feels premium. The ergonomics do give a comfortable fit. Accessories though are just the following: an average quality (mediocre even) black cable terminated in 3.5mm SE, 3 pairs sizing silicon eartips, and a Ziigaat clamshell zip case. That's it. Could've gone with more Jays branding or design cues on the product case or cable itself for that additional trademark but this is what you can refer as a core IEM package. No bells and whistles.



Sound and Comparisons
The Ziigaat Estrella at times can be a showcase of a really nice balanced tonality which suit a lot of music genres. Kinda like a neutral with bass-boost signature or somewhat U-shape due to the nice subbass rumble and well-extended. What's nice about the Estrella is it is quite engaging and you can listen to it for hours without fatigue. The bass is rumbly though might be a bit rounded with a too quick midbass response, just lacking that last bit of punchiness. Mids are just right, not too lean and not too lush. The highs are smooth and not harsh, completementing its overall balanced nature. Then there's the suggested tape mod, which for me is a bit gimmicky and loses its appeal as the low end quantity is already right for my taste and reducing that ruins the overall experience. There's above-average resolution and detail retrieval though imaging is somewhat decent but not overachieving, showing some complexities in handling busy tracks. The timbre though is not for those who favor naturalness and correctness. At times, it does sound a bit artificial but not too much to detract its nicely done tonality. Percussion hits have impact but sometimes does not feel like the true sound of drums and cymbals. Strings execution all the while though are mostly good while both male and female vocals are done well albeit not forward or track-leading. The Estrella gives off a nice sense of spaciousness to its sound, not compressed and intimate but not too wide as well. For comparison at the $299 price tier, it can be a bit of contrast to the DUNU DaVinci, which is the most immediate to come into mind - with its bassy warm-neutral curve, a bit boring and lacking that sparkle and air. The Estrella is a more satisfying listen overall, fits more genres and is more satisfying to listen to for long hours. The DaVinci though may be more attractive as a whole package with its generous accessories and quality cable but focusing solely on the overall sound, the Estrella is the more versatile listen of the two though if you prefer bass-heavy tracks and EDM then go with the former.



Conclusion
Being a star contender on its own, the Ziigaat Estrella could have gone without the overhype and that talked-about tape mod. A versatile, balanced set that is engaging for long listening sessions. No specific trait stands out but the sum of its parts create a musical experience deserving of its own shine. It does not outright compete in the kilobuck league nor outshine those in the $500 all-stars. But it does sound as a solid, shining performer in its tier, more than just another option but as a consideration for your only $300 level set if it wasn't for the lack of extras. Still one of the best sounding at its tier in terms of mass appeal.



Sidenotes:
IEM set has been listened via the Sony ZX-707, Astell&Kern Kann Alpha, and ifi Go Bar Kensei separately using the stock eartips over the course of multiple genres across FLACs (16bit&24bit) and streaming (Tidal). The Ziigaat x Jay Estrella is available through Linsoul for $299 - https://www.linsoul.com/products/zi...dZ5iC4z_1r-_2lEddWtcxdwZMYhrO5gSTYIdQagjuz20T

Introduction:

ZiiGaat is a relatively new iem brand in the Chifi world, first appearing in the end of 2023.

They may be new, but before having a name of their own, they were actually a team of engineers, silently developing OEM and ODM audio products for a lot of consumers and professional brands, so they have a lot of tricks up their sleeves. And now, by working closely with Linsoul as their retailer, they wanted to share their work and products to the community without having as many corporate restrictions as before.

2024 has been a straight up fire year for ZiiGaat. This time they have collaborated with Jay’s Audio – A fairly known reviewer who frequently posts audio reviews on Youtube and Hifiguide. The result of this collab is the Estrella - A hybrid iem with 2DD + 4BA configuration.

The Estrella is selling for 299$ on Linsoul. You can read more about it here: https://www.linsoul.com/products/ziigaat-x-jays-audio-estrella

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Linsoul for providing this iem in exchange for an honest review and impression. Everything I said in this review is my subjective opinion only.

Packaging:



Similar to Doscinco and Arete, the Estrella arrived in relatively simple boxing. The content of the box is also simple. They include the iem, a rectangular carrying case with a few pairs of tips and a cable inside of it.



Overall a very bare bone amount of accessories for the price

Design/Build quality/Comfort:



Rather than going for a full black resin, the Estrella’s shells are made out of some semi black resin with fully infused glistening confetti pieces. With a strong light source, you can see some of the drivers used inside the iem.

The shells are bigger than your average iem. It doesn’t have the usual rear wings like many other universally fit iem, so to me, the Estrella does need a bit of wiggle action and play around with several tips to get a decent fit. Not to mention, the nozzles are on a chonky side as well, measured at around 7mm or less.



Isolation is around average level, heavily depending on the eartips and fit.

Cable wise, it’s very basic. It's the same cable as the ZiiGaat Arete's and Doscinco's. It’s a 4 cores OFC with plastic hardwares. The outer PVC sleeves feel a bit stiff, as opposed to being soft and plush. The strands are only 2mm thick, so it’s not the thickest. The quality of the cable reminds me of some cheaper cable from Kbear or Xinhs. Although it gets the job done, I'd have preferred a thicker, higher quality cable so that it’s harder to tangle up.



Sound impression:

Test gears

Source: Poco F3, Dell laptop

DAC/amp: Chord Mojo, EPZ TP50, Ibasso DC07 Pro, Cayin RU7

Eartips: Divinus Velvet, stock tips

Cable: ZiSin 4.4mm cable



I have opted for a 3rd party cable for 2 reasons: 1/ I want to have a 4.4mm connector cable, to use it with the balance port of my dongle. And 2/ I can easily flip the 2pins around as the cable has no ear hooks, and the iem itself has reverse polarity.

Driveability:

The Estrella is fairly easy to drive. With my DC07 Pro, at high gain + using a 4.4mm balanced port, I only need to use around 55-60 to reach a satisfied volume level.



Tonality: Neutral with subbass boost/Mild V-shaped (stock) / Warm balance (modded)

Bass:

The first thing that immediately apparent to me is how subbass heavy the Estrella to the rest of the frequency. It undoubtedly has a subbass over midbass presentation. On the graph, the Estrella is shown to have around 11db of bass shelf, so 4db shy of the 15db bass level in the marketing material. But, I'd give it the benefit of the doubt and say it’s the difference between the measuring devices.

Anyhow. The Estrella plays my subbass testing tracks splendidly. With “Why So Serious” - Hans Zimmer, the subbass drop at 3:27 has a really great sense of rumbling and deep extension. It feels powerful and not flabby/pillowy. With “Chameleon”-Trentemoller, the 2DD shows a good amount of control over the bass trip. It has the classic DD lingering sense, having good air movement and decay to them. Many other EDM or Phonk tracks sound delightful with the Estrella.

Onto the midbass. There’s a decent amount of bass boost here as well. I'd categorized the midbass of the Estrella as being clean, quick and clear, rather than a meaty, juicy and dense type of bass. Kick drums are well felt, having decent texture, but slightly lacking in their weight. Slightly. Cello when listening to 2CELLOS’s “Pirates of the Carribean” sounds natural, but sounds a bit thin to my taste, like it’s not as “fat” and grippy as I expected.

With fast drumming sessions of “Distress Rehearsal - Every Time I Die” and “Brutal Truth - Sugar Daddy”, the 2DD manage to follow the drummers easily, without having the notes sound like they’re meshing into each other.

Midrange

The midrange of the Estrella are relatively clean and clear, with minimal amount of bleed/muddiness from the bass region. Balance wise, the midrange does feel a bit recessed standing in between the highly boosted bass and treble.

Instruments have a relatively natural timbre and good note weight to them. However, they do have a lot of energy in the harmonics, around the 4-6khz region. I don’t know if it’s just my coupler or if it’s QC or eartips used during measurements, but some Estrella sets do seems to have higher energy around 4-5khz region, which could be fatiguing to many. With “Cold” – Jorge Mendez, piano sounds smooth and clear while violin in the track “Tempest” and “Encounter” of “Blast of Tempest OST”, sounds quite alive and silvery. Movie soundtracks like Transformer’s “Optimus” and “Arrival to Earth” sound very grand, open and engaging.

Vocals wise, the Estrella seems to be more specialized/suitable for female vocals, specifically for the mezzo-soprano and soprano type. It can convey a good amount of energy and liveliness to them, though can sound a bit edgy. I enjoy listening to Black Pink’s songs and a few J-Pop songs with Estrella. They don’t sound THAT shouty (just borderline) as the graph would’ve suggested. Male vocals on the other hand, despite sounding smooth, can sound a bit too clean and too light.

Treble

The treble region is crisp, airy and very extended. There’s a lot of details here. It has good amount of air and brilliance. The Estrella just sounds like a very resolving and revealing set. Treble heads would very likely rock the Estrella’s treble.

That being said, it does sound slightly metallic and can be fatiguing when listening to it at high volume for a long time period. The effect is not that bad, as the bass is also heavily boosted as well so it feels more balance to the treble. Having the treble region roll off just a bit more like 2db would’ve aligned it more to my preference.

With “Caravan – John Wasson”, cymbals strikes have good shimmering and sparkles to them, but it does sit quite forward, having a touch too much sizzling and decaying tail notes to them.

The Estrella also doesn’t have any BA timbre from my listening.

Technicalities

The Estrella has a very open and holographic soundstage. Imaging, layering and separation are pretty much on point as well. It’s well way above average. It’s not perfect by any means, the layering isn't THAT laser cutter, nor the soundstage doesn’t have that much “Out of head” feeling, but this is purely nitpicking for a 300$ iem.

When listening to “Swashers” by Yosi Horikawa, you can almost feel like some of the waves are coming from the back of your ears. Or with the track “Bubbles” and “Timbre”, the Estrella manage to capture the dynamism of the track and all the spatial cues diligently.

Comparison:



1/ Xenns Mangird Tea Pro

The Tea Pro is a hybrid iem, with 2DD and 6BA, so 2BA more than the Estrella. The Tea Pro is selling for 359$ on Linsoul website, so 59$ more.

The Tea Pro has much much better stock accessories, as it has a thick, 2 cores modular cable right out of the box, a lot more eartips and some more other stuff. The shells of the Tea Pro are made out of metal, as opposed to the Estrella’s resin shells.



As for the sound, the Tea Pro overall has a warmer presentation.

The bass on the Estrella, overall feels just a bit better. The bass of the Tea Pro feels more pompous, having more air and pillowy feeling around them. Chunkier in a way. On the Estrella, the bass is more distinct, clearer, having a better sense of depth with better transients. Fast and busy bass lines are better captured and easier to follow on the Estrella.

The midrange is clearer, less colored on the Estrella. The mids on the Tea Pro are warmer, lusher and slightly more forward. Instruments overall sound quite natural on both sets, but I’d lean more towards the Tea Pro here. Violin and piano sounds more natural on the Tea Pro to my ears. Electric guitars have more bite as well. For male vocals, the Tea Pro gives more heft to them, while the female vocals are better, more exciting/less laid back, having better clarity on the Estrella.

Treble wise, the Estrella have more energy up top, cymbals and hihats have a bit more sparkle and shimmering. Having said that, the Tea Pro is not that far behind.

Technicalities wise, the Estrella wins by a decent margin. The Estrella gives me a more open and holographic soundstage, while also improving in the imaging department. Instrument placement just feels a bit more precise.

2/ ISN H60

The ISN H60 is selling for 349$ on Penon website. These 2 iems are very similar to each other, be that both iem have the same configuration: 2DD+4BA

The H60's are made out of a full resin shells, with a clear blue color. The H60 has better and more tips right out of the box, while the cable is around the same level.



Sound wide, both of them have some very distinctive differences.

For the bass, the H60 is a much more midbass focus set, while the subbass is heavier on the Estrella. Both the iems have a very high quality bass reproduction. With the subbass, the Estrella has a better sense of depth and air movements than the H60. EDM and subbass heavy tracks sound more fun on the Estrella.

With the midbass, the H60 is much better than the Estrella to my ears. Kicks and drums sound more authoritative, more defined and just overall sound more satisfied. Both iem’s 2DD have similarly quick transients, with the Estrella’s edges over slightly. Objectively, the H60’s bass is muddier than the Estrella's, but subjectively I enjoy its thicken and juicy bass more. Cello and many other acoustic drums sound more natural on the H60.

Midrange wise, the H60 is better than the Estrella. It’s lusher, more open and natural overall. Instruments like piano, violin and trumpets have a more natural timbre on the H60. The uppermids aren’t as hot as on the Estrella. Male vocals sound fuller and denser on the H60, while female vocals take a slight step backwards and don’t sound as vibrant. The H60 does feel a bit more sibilance than the Estrella.

Treble wise, both sets are very extended and airy. However, there are some distinct differences. Due to the lower 2-4khz region on the H60, it shifts my focus to the 4-7khz region more, so it’s spicier in this region more than the Estrella. The H60 feels more detailed, having more shimmering and sparkle. The Estrella feels smoother in comparison.

In terms of soundstage, the H60 has more width and height, while the Estrella has better depth and feels more holographic overall. The Estrella beats the H60 in terms of stage size and imaging.

3/ ZiiGaat Doscinco

Last comparison is with the Estrella’s brother - the Doscinco. It’s an iem with 2DD+3BA, selling for 269$ on Linsoul - So only 30$ left.

The 2 items have very similar build quality, stock accessories.


Sound wise, these two sounds VERY different, despite having only 1BA and 30$ less.



Tonality wise, the Doscinco has a L shape tuning.

For the bass, the Doscinco has a similar amount of subbass, but more midbass overall. So bass instruments are more emphasized on the Doscinco. Having said that, the Estrella has better bass texture overall, feeling tighter and a bit quicker transients. Bass depth and air movements are better as well.

Midrange and vocals are where the gap between Doscinco and Estrella being the largest. They feel more forward on the Estrella. Instruments sound more natural with more openness to them, noticeable when listening to some movie orchestra tracks, like the “Avenger”’s and “How To Train Your Dragon”’s. Piano, violin, woodwinds instruments sound way more natural, having better texture on the Estrella. Same thing for the vocals. Vocals sound way drier and flatter on the Doscinco. The Estrella vocals are more emotional, livelier and have more body to them.

The treble of the Doscinco is decent, having similar extension. But the Estrella edges over the Doscinco in terms of shimmering and detail retrieval. Cymbals and hi hats have more bite and glistening feeling to them.

Technicalities wise, the Estrella is more open in terms of width and height. Stage size is bigger on the Estrella. The layering and separation is also better on the Estrella. Imaging is on a similar level though.

Bass modification?

If I recalled correctly, during the early days of releasing this iem, Jay - the collaborator - has received some feedback that this set may sound like it has too much subbass to some people. That’s why he has suggested a mod that can reduce the subbass level. It’s to use a piece of micro pore tape, or some sort of filter to put over the back vent of the iem. Here’s the measurements of the Estrella with the mod. I put a piece of clear tape over the back vents.



How different does it make? A LOT

By doing the mods, it cut down a lot of subbass and some midbass so the focus shifted more toward from the mids to the treble. The bass region is still a lot, but it now sounds even cleaner and more incisive, more balanced. Bass texture is slightly better as well. Midrange and treble remains relatively - quantity wise on graph - but now since there’s less subbass pushing through, the mids and treble details are much easier to perceive, more revealing overall. You don’t realize how distracting the bombastic subbass is, until you lower it.



Also, how you modded it also matters. If you use a 2.5mm 500 filter, the subbass still remains around the 20hz region. Or if you use a 2.5mm 350 filter, it lowers the midbass region instead, which is a NO.

TLR: Stock version is more fun but mod version is more technical and brighter

Conclusion

The ZiiGaat Estrella is a very all rounded iem for 300$. If you’re looking for an iem with a neutral with subbass boost tonality, one that has big bass and big treble without affecting too much to the midrange and vocals performance, along with a great technical performance, I’d highly recommend the Estrella. Having said that, if you’re sensitive to the 4-6khz region, or want a more midbass focus iem, a lush and rich midrange, then the Estrella won’t be an iem for you.

That’s it for my review and thank you for reading.

Intangibles/Fit
The cable and the ear tips are alright in terms of quality; it's not bad, nor is it good, just average. The cable isn't microphonic, and it is somewhat light-feeling, but it is a little bit memory-prone. The case that the IEMs come with are a bit on the larger side, but they work for their intended purpose. In terms of appearance, I quite like the look of the faceplates of this IEM. They have a sparkly, shimmering quality to them, and the "stars" on them seem to have a pearlescent finish to them when shone under a light. The glossy finish, however, does make the faceplate a fingerprint magnet. Fit-wise, this IEM is actually quite comfortable, and I didn't have much fatigue when listening to it for a while, which is surprising because I have quite small ears.



QC Issues
Immediately after unboxing the IEM, I noticed that one of the shell's nozzles was missing a mesh filter. Although this doesn't appear to affect the sound to my ears, I think it's still worth mentioning as a potential warning for some buyers. Also, inserting the IEMs into my ears, some driver flex occurs, but I wouldn't say it's unbearable by any means (at least for my unit), and the tape mod seems to get rid of the driver flex (if you want less bass, explained later).



Tonality
I would describe the sound of this IEM as a high-contrast, V-shaped sound. It's a pretty energetic and exciting-sounding set in its overall sound, as the bass and treble is pretty emphasized compared to the mids. The bass has quite a big amount of quantity but manages to have great sub-bass extension and slams well, without bleeding into the midrange. The mids sound clean and overall well-tuned but perhaps a bit spicy to my ears at times. They highlight all vocals pretty well, but I found that female vocals shine the most on this set to my ears. Although this IEM doesn't sound weird by any means in its timbre, I wouldn't say that it's the most realistic/natural sounding timbre that I've heard, and at moments has an artificial feeling to it. The treble is really emphasized on this set, and has a ton of energy to it, with lots of sparkle and "detail". The amount that it has really highlights the micro nuances in vocals/instruments, and it has that effect you hear in a lot of treble-heavy sets where it's like you're drawing an outline over everything. However, I would definitely say this treble is on the spicy and potentially harsh side for some. For me, my ears are quite treble-resistant, so it doesn't sound sibilant or overwhelming for me at all, but I know that this type of treble can be a bit much for some. Now this IEM can be modded by putting a piece of tape over the vent holes on the shells of the IEMs, which reduces the bass a bit. Though with the tape mod, it's kind of the same story for the treble. With even less bass, the treble stands out even more, and again, although I don't have an issue with it, treble-sensitive people are going to hate it.



Technicalities
This IEM as I've mentioned previously, has pretty good detail retrieval for this price point, thanks to the amounts of energy in the upper treble. As a result, quivering, shaky, or breathy qualities in vocals and overall texture can be heard pretty easily on this set. However, I personally found the imaging, separation, and layering the most impressive to me on this set. Imaging is precise and displays the instruments all around the stage in a somewhat big area. Each instrument sounds well-layered and separated from another, and gives this IEM that extra wow factor. Staging-wise, I would say it's above average in height and width, but it sounds average in depth. Vocals sound quite in your face, due to their forward nature, and thus, center-imaging, positioned right in front of me seems to lack depth. I found the macro dynamic contrast on this set really impressive in almost all tracks. It has a bit more of an explosive feeling than some other sets I've heard and scales decibel shifts pretty well to me.



Compared to the Dusk (DSP)
This is probably the most sought-after comparison to this IEM, and in my opinion, I don't think it's fair to compare these two, as they both seem to specialize in two different styles of tuning. The Dusk to me seems like it's meant to be a more natural, tonally balanced, well-done listening experience, while the Estrella is trying to impress, excite, and have a ton of that wow factor. But if I really had to compare the two, I would say, mids sound much more natural and effortless on the Dusk, and I think the bass has a bit better sub-bass texturing. But, the Estrella has it beat in separation/layering and imaging and does a better job of overall dynamics. The Dusk's treble, although it's still on the bright side, is much less energetic and out there compared to the Estrella. Whether that's a good thing, is up to preference. Detail-wise, I would say the Estrella gives the feeling of extra detail more than the Dusk. But again, I want to reiterate that I do not think this is a good comparison due to the difference in nature between these two. I personally would use them interchangeably, one for a balanced and natural (perhaps more tonally correct/accurate) listen, and the other for a thrilling, exciting adventure.

Compared to the IE600
I feel like this is a much more fair comparison since these two are both V-shaped IEMs with lots of treble. The IE600's treble sounds a bit splashy to my ears in comparison to the Estrella, where I find its treble presentation a bit more focused in the initial transient. The IE600 has much more treble energy than the Estrella, which can be good or bad for some. The bass on the IE600 hits deeper and slams harder than the Estrella for me, and I find the mids also a touch more natural than the Estrella. I also find the detail on the IE600 a bit better, as it feels like the detail (although still having that "outline" effect) is revealed a bit more effortlessly compared to the Estrella. However, when it comes to staging/imaging, I think the Estrella is just flat-out better than the IE600, which sounds cramped in comparison. Dynamics honestly sound roughly the same to me between these two.

Conclusion
Overall, I think the Estrella is a really solid set, especially for this price. The amount of performance you're getting in this set for this price stands out, and I think it makes the Estrella, quite a competitive set in its price point (if you're looking for an aggressive, energetic set). Definitely give this IEM a try if you're looking for an IEM with a ton of wow factor to it, lots of excitement, and stand-out imaging, separation/layering.

Introduction:-

Hey guys today I am going to review the Ziigaat Estrella, it’s a collab IEM between jaysaudio and Ziigaat.

I have also shared a video version of the review at YouTube any support there in form of a view, A like or A subscribe is greatly appreciated. But if you so wish to read the written version you can read this.






A big thanks to Jay and Linsoul for arranging this review unit, Please check my unaffiliated links below to Linsoul. Linsoul also has many others iem and other audio gears you might need. All the thoughts and opinions you are about to hear are my own.

Buy it here (Unaffiliated Link) :-

Amazon USA - https://www.amazon.com/Linsoul-ZiiGaat-Jays-Audio-Audiophile/dp/B0DD42M3NX

Linsoul Website - https://www.linsoul.com/products/ziigaat-x-jays-audio-estrella

Linsoul/DD Audio Aliexpress Store -

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3256807327603231.html?

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3256807328023664.html?

I will be as usual following my bullet style format for better readability for those who are dyslexic and in general find it hard to read long paragraphs. I follow this guide in general from the British Dyslexia Association.


Lets get started!

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Review:-



1. The packaging of the Estrella is really simple and you can see the packaging below






2. The price of the Estrella is $299 in Linsoul


3. What can I say about the face plate, its very pretty and I really like it. I personally would have like to see just the design rather than the ziigaat logo again this is just a nitpick from me.





4. The cable provided is a very simple and terminates to 3.5mm, At this price I would have expected but I am actually ok with it because if all the money towards the good driver this has. Also I love the case ziigaat has included as I can easily keep a dongle dac and the iem.


5. Talking about the drivers, these have 2DD and 4BA. They have genuine American Knowles 29689 and European Sonion 2345 full-range BA drivers, along with Sonion E50 series BA super tweeters along with the 2DD.


6. Now the supply of eartips is quite sparse too. But the inclusion of foam tip is nice as they give a nice fit.


7. Sadly these have major major driver flex issues, This seems very annoying specially at this price. I don’t know if this an issue with my unit or with everyone.


8. They are quite easy to drive but they do scale with power and they sound really good with a good dac and more power.


9. The comfort of the Estrella is fantastic and also they seal so good. It attenuates quite a bit of the surrounding noise and the attenuation is quite close to some good budget ANC TWS.


10. For me the Estrella seemed a bit source picky as something warmer made it sound a bit different and something neutral made it sound something a bit different. I will talk about them later in the review when I also talk about the different mods


11. One of the biggest noticeable thing for me was that the fit for me was quite iffy, the stock eartips didn’t fit me at all and I am not a fan of foam tips that much.


12. I resorted to other tips, divinus velvet, velvet wide bore, sancai, sancai wide bore, dunu s&s and many others. For me the best one was the Dunu S&S and the Divinus Velvet wide bore for fit and comfort. I highly suggest trying third party tips as the Estrella is very tip dependent.


13. There were minor sound differences between the Dunu S&S and Velvet wide bore, I will talk about them later in the review when I also talk about the different mods.


14. Yes as you might know the Estrella has a vent, where in you can apply a tape and mod the sound alternatively you can also micropore tape for sort of a third variation of sound.


15. For my main review of the sound I will be using the velvet wide bore tips and the stock cable and no tape mod whatsoever.




16. Now up until now I have complained about some things about the Estrella but when I talk about the sound everything changes.


17. The overall sound of the Estrella is what you would consider as a V shape and it is done very tastefully here. It’s a bit hard to explain but please stick on for my detailed sound impressions


18. Sub bass of the Estrella has a great texture and is boomy without sounding too boomy and bloaty.


19. When listening to the song Crack crack crackle by Classy the Sub bass section in the starting 1 minute of the song is done such perfectly. It has the right amount of the punch and boom here.


20. Unlike some harman iems, the mid bass here has some meat. This mid bass doesn’t make the sound muddy but it is done fantastically well here and goes very well with the sub-bass


21. In the Hollow 16 bit remix by Bjork, the initial minute of the song has a lot happening. And the fantastic mid bass sounds very right and meaty with sounding well hollow unlike most harman tuned iems.


22. The juxtaposition of the Sub and the mid bass is done fantastically in the Estrella. And for the fun V shape iem lovers like me this is the biggest draw of the Estrella, but that doesn’t mean it muddies up the mids.



23. When coming to the mids the male vocals do take a step back in the entire mix but the richness and the thickness of voices like Chris Cornells and Bill Withers is done quite good.


24. The Female vocals again was surprising to me, because when listening to my varied J-Pop playlist the female vocals were done perfectly and sounded natural without being shrilly even at higher volumes.


25. For example when I am listening to the Ikkimongakari, Vocalist Kiyoe Yoshioka has a very strong vocal presence in certain songs like Sakura and Hanabi. Estrella didn’t fall apart even at higher volumes and it maintained its composure here.


26. Treble is done very well for my taste here, as the treble doesn’t follow the typical harman curve that much hence the balance between the bass and the treble is done very well


27. The treble is absolutely fantastic, when listening to the 1985 Live album by Cassiopea specially in the song Asayake its more evident. The treble could be a bit shrilly and piercy for some at higher volumes, specially in the mid treble area. Treble sensitive folks might find it to be a bit piercy or spicy sometimes although this is only apparent at higher volumes.


28. Air region of the treble is done very well too.


29. As someone who loves a wide and spacious soundstage the Estrella is my top pick, because when it comes to soundstage it has that wide spacious feeling which I really like.


30. When listening to the 1985 Live version of Galactic Funk, the instrument positioning and the claps of the audience sound so fantastic and it has pin point accuracy. Both the width and depth of the soundstage is absolutely fantastic over here.


31. Imaging too is done fantastic, and watching movies and TV shows is a treat in the Estrella. The left to right and right to left transition is really good, the scenes in top gun movie where the planes fly off it sounds really good here.


32. For gaming these sound really good as expected. The spacious soundstage and the fantastic imaging makes this a great choice for gaming. When there are bomb explosions in the stock tuning it doesn’t too boomy or overwhelming.




33. Now first lets talk about the different eartips and how they change the sound. Well the velvet wide bore gives the overall bas a nice roundness and both the sub and mid bass works well in tandem. With the S&S tips it sounds a bit more mid bass heavy and although it does improve upon the already fantastic soundstage of the Estrellla I didn’t find it to be that good. I personally didn’t like the foams either as the treble doesn’t shine well with it and I don’t think the BA gets to flex its muscles. I also tried the tangzu sancai tips and saw no improvements for me, but it did reduce the driver flex by quite a bit and also the bass saw a tad bit of a reduction which is a nice tuning for those who like the stock tuning but finds the bass to be a bit too much.


34. Now talking about source, This was actually a nice surprise. As neutral or neutral leaning source like the Fiio KA17, Ibasso DC07 pro (By the way stay tuned and subscribe as my review of the Ibasso DC07 pro will come soon) does change the overall sound of the Estrella and the attack and decay of the bass are a bit better and the treble sounds a bit more spicy in a good way.


35. With a warmer sounding source like the Hiby FC6, Ifi go bar kensei the bass attack and decay are bit sluggish and the treble sounds a bit more polished and rounded off.


36. Now depending on the type of source or how many source you own this could be seen as good or bad thing. I like that I can change the flavour of the sound by tad bit with different source I have been using the dc07 pro and the go bar kensei with it.


37. As for suggestion which source I would suggest? it’s a bit tough. In my opinion a neutral sounding source for Estrella’s stock tuning is better for most people as the bass and treble seems more alive and the dichotomy between them is more apparent. But if you like warm or something more analogue sounding then a warmer source seems better.


38. I want to iterate that although there is a change in flavour of the sound of the Estrella specially when compared to other iems, The change is subtle and it shouldn’t be a top priority when considering to buy the Estrella.


39. Now coming to the tape mods. Well to be honest I actually didn’t like the clear tape mod that much, because there is this peak of treble which becomes more apparent to me and I don’t personally like it. Also the soundstage seems a bit more cramped here which I am not a big fan of too.


40. But for people who likes more neutral sound this would be a nice addition as the Sub bass reduction and it being more aligned with the mid bass does sound nice in many classical songs and some vocal heavy J pop songs. The mids sound even more livelier and the treble flexes its muscles even better and they sound very sparkly. But again with this mod the treble could bit a fatiguing for some treble sensitive folks out there, specially at higher volumes.


41. There is one more mod you can do, which is the micropore tape mod. It lands somewhere in between the normal sound and the complete tape mode.


42. With this the overall bass is tad bit lower the stock tuning, but what this does is it also lowers the mid bass. It sounds a bit harmany for my taste. Although it still sounds good, I prefer the stock sound over this in my opinion.


43. So if you get the Estrella do try these two tape mods, one good thing is they aren’t permanent. Also please do try atleast different tips as the tips are essential for a proper fit. If you have access to different source please do try them and see which you like.




44. Some comparison to different iem


45. v/s S15 – It’s a bit difficult, the S15 is something unique of an iem. Not many people like it but I really like it as it’s a great everyday iem for comfort and also the overall tuning is very chill and sort of an all rounder so works great for background listening. The Estrella has more punch more contrast between the bass and the treble which makes it more exciting, but that also means it isn’t suited for some genres. Where the S15 beats the Estrella is the S15 is a fantastic low volume set while the Estrella needs to be played at higher volumes.


44. v/s Cadenza 4 – The cadenza 4 was overlooked by many, it’s a very good neutral sounding iem with a focus on upper mids. The comfort and the fit of the cadenza 4 is unmatched. The Estrella can be seen as the anti-cadenza 4. So it depends on what kind of tuning you like.


45. v/s EM10 – The EM10 is harman supercharged, with copious amount of bass and quite a bit of upper mids while the treble being quite mellowed out. It’s a great iem for those who want super fun sounding iem and a lot of bass, but the lack of mid bass in the EM10 is a bit meh for some songs. The Estrella in my opinion performs better than the $450 Em10 for most genres, but the bass quality specially the sub-bass is better in the EM10. Also treble sensitive people and people who listens at low volume mostly will prefer the EM10 over the estrella


46. By the Way EM10 is a personal unit I bought with my own money, shall I make a review of it? I don’t plan on making a review of it if you want me to do comment below I will make a review on it.


47. Well overall I really like the Estrella. It certainly does have some drawbacks like I mentioned, like the serious amount of driver flex I get everytime I wear them or it being very tip dependant or the meh cable at $299 price point or also the flavour of the sound changing depending on the type of source flavour.




48. A con which I forgot to mention is that the Estrella does seem like a high volume set. As someone who is a low volume listener this was a bit disappointing, as I very rarely do loud volume music sessions.


48. Even after all these cons I mentioned I think so the Estrella is fantastic iem, its my favourite iem now period! Because for the genres of music I listen to this performs really well. And as someone who loves a good wide soundstage the Estrella is always something I would pick.


49. I suggest the tangzu sancai wide bore tips, velvet wide bore tips and some micropore and normal tape. And try them with different combinations to see if they fit well.


50. Jay and Ziigaat has a done really good job with the sound here, I just wish there was less driver flex everytime I insert the iem T_T


51. So that is my review of the Ziigaat Estrela, If you have any question please do comment below and I will try to help you out. Like and subscribe to my YouTube channel as it helps me a lot in making these reviews! Its free and its a great way of supporting me. I hope you have a great day ahead, bye!

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If you have any questions please feel free to ask me and also if you have any issues regarding this format of review please do comment I will try to mend it. Also sorry to those who are used to reading long paragraphs of review in headfi. I hope my review was upto the mark, I appreciate any feedback.

Again a big thanks to Linsoul & Jay for making this review possible.

Have a great day ahead, Bye

TLDR version on YouTube: TDLR - Ziigaat x Jay Estrella

The Zigaat x Jay Estrella were sent to me by Linsoul but the unit was arranged by Jay through Linsoul. I have had a couple of private messages about this set with Jay but his only request was that I try different tips to those included, more on that later in the review. Other than that, there have been no requests from Jay or Linsoul and, as always, I will do my best to be as unbiased as possible in my review.

Ziigaat official page: https://www.ziigaat.com/products/ziigaat-x-jays-audio-estrella

I have also left the direct link to the Estrella via Linsoul in the version of this review published on my blog.

As with all links that I publish, these are non-affiliate links.

To avoid being repetitive in my reviews, you can find all the info about how I create the reviews, equipment used, how I receive the products and how to interpret my reviews by visiting: About my reviews



Intro…

For those of you that don’t know who Jay is, he is the person behind Jays Audio, a review channel on YouTube (you can find the channel here: Jays Audio). The Estrella are his first collaboration and have been created together with Ziigaat, a company that have seen quite a bit of popularity in recent times.

Although I haven’t really spoken with Jay too much, I know him from HifiGuides, where he is quite active, and have exchanged a couple of private messages with him regarding the Estrella. Apart from actually arranging the review unit, the other messages were in relation to me trying different tips (he recommended wide bore or Sancai tips) and some clarification to what I may have read in other comments or reviews about the Estrella.

Regarding other comments and/or reviews, as usual, as soon as I knew I was going to review the set, I have not read any further reviews or in depth opinions on the Estrella. I told Jay this and let him know that I didn’t need any clarification, as I hadn’t read anything about them since they were released and received by the first reviewers.

On the tip subject, I have to agree that the included tips are not the best option for these IEMs, at least in my opinion (and Jay’s opinion also, based on the message). Usually I always use a set of tips from the included ones that come with whatever I am reviewing, unless they are terrible or I just can’t get a correct fit/seal. In this case, the included tips are not great but they are not terrible but, as I was requested to tip roll, I did so and I ended up settling on the Sancai tips as recommended by Jay.

Other than that, my review of these IEMs follows my usual procedure. In other words, I spent the office time during the week using them and then sat down and spent a few hours doing some more focused and critical listening with my usual test track.

Just as a last comment, before moving on to the review, let me mention that the Estrella are a dual dynamic driver paired with 4 balanced armatures and are currently available via Linsoul for $299 (around 270€), so they are not a budget set of IEMs but they are not in a high price bracket either.



Presentation…

The packaging is nothing really special, although it is a little more exciting than other Ziigaat sets I have received in the past. The cover shows the IEMs sitting in front of the moon over a galaxy background, which makes sense as they are called Estrella (star in Spanish).

Removing the outer cover reveals the typical Ziigaat inner box, inside of which we find the IEMs in their sponge cut outs and another box containing the accessories. The accessories consist of a storage case, the cable, a set of foam tips and three sets of silicone tips in 3 sizes.

Not really an amazing unboxing experience at the price point but if the build and sound are good, this can be forgiven.



Build and aesthetics…

Let's get the negatives out of the way first. The tips are not terrible but are not great, especially when paired with the Estrella, but the included cable is not exactly brilliant either. I mean, it does get the job done but it feels rather cheap and plasticky.

As far as the IEMs go, they are well built, comfortable and rather good looking. They have a black shell and faceplate but there is a silver glitter in the black shell and a sort of diffused glitter finish to the faceplate, fading from a coloured glitter on one side to a black center and a silver glitter at the other side, with a very subtle glitter to the whole background. To the naked eye they don’t stand out much but when they are hit with the right lighting, they seem to come alive, making them look much better than my photos can make them look.

I think the IEMs deserve plenty of praise and the storage/transport case is decent also. They may not be the most beautiful IEMs I have ever seen but I do think they are good looking and I have absolutely nothing negative to say about them. I did find it strange that there is no mention of Jay on the IEMs.



Sound…

All tracks mentioned are clickable links that allow you to open the reference track in the streaming service of your choice (YouTube, Tidal, Qobuz, Spotify, etc.)

Before getting to my opinions on the sound, here is the usual graph of the Estrella in comparison to my personal preference target as usual:



As I mentioned previously, I did some tip rolling as recommended by Jay and after trying various options, I settled on the Sancai, which are what I have used for this evaluation.

Starting with my usual “Chameleon” test for the subbass, there is certainly a boosted presence in those lows. It is not to the point of being fatiguing but it is north of my personal comfort zone. Saying that, it doesn’t become too bloated in the low end, it still lets the other frequencies do their thing, it just has that extra rumble that will please those who like a nice thick low end.

With my other usual bass test, “No Sanctuary Here”, the extra emphasis on the low end works nicely to give it a more impressive low end, especially because it cleans up rather nicely into the midbass, avoiding things being muddy. It is like filling the lowest notes out and turning them into a think presence that doesn’t interfere with the low bassy vocals of the chorus, which manage to stay rather clear in that midbass zone.

Testing for midbass fatigue with “Crazy”, there is once again a thick low end but it is far from being too boomy in the reverb, keeping it clean enough for me to avoid fatigue and nausea. Daniela’s vocals are also nice and clean, with body to them and no real harshness in the upper ranges that can be found on so many sets. Her vocals may not be quite as up front as I would choose personally but they are still clear and have a very nice musicality to them.

I find that acoustic guitars have a nice amount of body to them which is smooth and while I wouldn’t call them a neutral representation of said instrument, at least what I consider neutral, they are a warm and lush representation which I find very enjoyable. I do find that at times, that warmth can place the vocals behind the guitar but it is not a bad experience, just a different way of hearing the tracks that can be very pleasurable.

Maybe the midrange is where things do take a step back, not in quality but in presence. Again referring to that low end that can “fill” the soundstage, vocals seem quite relaxed, missing maybe a little more sharpness to cut through. Once again, this is not necessarily a negative, depending on personal taste, but it does take vocals away from front of stage and place them further back into the mix.

The thing is, the upper mids are lovely and smooth, I have no complaints with them, they are just a little overshadowed by that low end in many cases. This does work very well for keeping harshness out of vocals in tracks that can become very harsh on many sets, such as Beth in “Don’t You Worry Child”.

Sibilance is also reduced in tracks such as “Hope Is A Dangerous Thing”, giving a smoothness to Lana Del Rey in the intro that I am quite a fan of. With the usual “Code Cool” sibilance test, I would say that Patricia Barber is at a sibilance level of -3 (on my non-scientific -12 to +12 scale).

Although the overall sound is rather smooth, the Estrella still manage to do a fairly competent job with detail. While the decay of the intro in “All Your Love” may not be amazing, it is still pretty good in comparison to many other sets. The vocal layers in “Strange Fruit” have enough separation between them to be clearly identified when focusing but at the same time, enough of a smoothness to be one very musical chorus when listening to the track as a whole.

As far as soundstage goes, with “La Luna” I find spacing and placement to be also very competent, with a nice separation between the surrounding instruments. The rear left guitar may be little more left than rear but it is still enough to give the sensation of coming from the back left. With something a little more complex, such as “Bubbles”, the placement is very good and the width of the stage is more than adequate to enjoy this track for what it is.



Conclusion…


The Estrella are a very competent set of IEMs that come from a company that may not be the most known, collaborating with a reviewer who may also not be the biggest of names, but they have done a very respectful job.

The included accessories are not great but the IEMs are well built and the aesthetics work for them, which is a plus. You don’t need to change the cable (although it is cheap feeling) but I would certainly suggest playing around with different tips. I tried 6 or 7 types and landed on the Sancai but I honestly think that maybe trying more tips would probably give them even more of a nudge in the right direction for me.

There is an overall smoothness to the sound that is not lacking detail but does make things seem a little less lively. This is going to please some and not others. Personally I like just a little more aggressiveness to my vocals, especially when listening to things that are vocal and acoustically focused, but that does not mean I don’t enjoy the different “flavour” that the Estrella gives to many of these tracks.

The additional presence in the low end does fill out the sound quite a bit, which is something that I am sure that many will enjoy (I know I am in the minority with my bass preferences) and it does it without creeping into the midbass and lower mids, managing to keep things clear. It also gives a lot more body to certain instruments, even without boosting the midbass too much, which can once again be a positive or a negative, depending on personal preference.

Again, I feel that the Estrella are a competent set of IEMs that will work for a lot of people, especially those who like a bit more body to their music.

___
As always, this review is also available in Spanish, both on my blog (www.achoreviews.com) and on YouTube (www.youtube.com/achoreviews)

All FR measurements of IEMs can be viewed and compared on achoreviews.squig.link

All isolation measurements of IEMs can be found on achoreviews.squig.link/isolation

Hey guys,

today i wanna write a few words about Estrella.


Thank you so much Jay for making this happen and providing a unit for our german review group, we are grateful for this opportunity!
Not everybody in this group is registered here but I will post all reviews here with a link to the original.

First of all I wanna say that I am not a professional reviewer, neither is anybody else within our group
We are simply audio enthusiasts sharing the same hobby and are sharing our honest opinions.

I´m not big into writing flowery descriptions so don´t expect anything special, I will mostly keep it short and simple.

I´ve spent the last week listening to Estrella and here is my summary:

• beautiful, small shell with great fit and comfort for my ears.
• cable is good and ergonomic but nothing special

I would describe the sound signature as an energetic V-Shape and not necessarily as an overall balanced tuning.
The bass and treble stand out quite a bit but balance out each other, so in that way it is a balanced tuning but not across the whole range imho.

Estrella sounds open, exciting and very impressive at first listen.

Bass is very fast and thunderous with a nice texture to it.
I particularly enjoyed it with fast technical metal but also techno and psytrance

The sub bass can get a little bit much sometimes, same as the treble but then again on other occasions it is just perfect how it is and adds some sweet sauce and excitement to Estrella.

Overall i probably would have prefered a little less V.

Midbass is there but I did not find it to be as impressive and textured as the subbass. Midbass presentation would benefit from lowering sub bass a bit.

The midrange is pretty well done and vocals, especially female, come across lively, natural and engaging.

Upper mids can be a little edgy on certain occasions but overall i very much enjoyed vocals with Estrella.

A song that stood out was Joss Stone - The Choking kind, it sounded very lifelike and direct…loved it!



Treble is very well extended and together with the sub bass it gives Estrella that wow factor which is very exciting but it can also sound a little unnatural from time to time and can become fatiguing especially in the upper treble.

Technically Estrella is really impressive, especially for its price.

It´s a highly resolving and very detailed set and can compete with or beat stuff like EJ07m/Mahina/Top/Meteor

Seperation is an absolute standout and I would say it beats EJ07m here

It can produce very nice 3D like effects on certain tracks and made me go “wow” a few times.

The panning effect in “Kasphitzky - Infection” starting at ~1:24min is very easy to pick up, much easier than with EJ07m, i found that pretty impressive.



The stage is very open and wide enough, I don´t need any more to be honest.
It´s a little wider and deeper than EJ07m imho.

In conclusion I would say that Estrella is a very fun sounding and technically capable set and can absolutely compete with sets costing twice as much.

Even though I´m not 100% satisfyed with the tuning I enjoyed listening through my playlist and very much enjoyed what i was hearing most of the time.

For certain occasions a little EQ can come in handy but that is true for most IEMs and I personally eq every IEM or headphone I own to get the last bit of enjoyment out of my gear.

With all that in mind and at that price point it is pretty hard to not recommend Estrella.

Of course it´s always best to demo before buying but you can not really go wrong with that set, especially if you use a little EQ (just in case)

Well done Jay and Ziigaat!

TL;DR: Warm, musical, detailed - A great all rounder IEM regardless of it being a collaboration effort

Overview/History
Hi all.

This is actually one of the quicker reviews I've done (from unboxing to paper/Notepad++) but it's because I've been listening and taking notes for extended periods of time with this set.

After being lost in a bit of limbo, I felt like I needed to make up for it with in ear time especially since we're coming up to a few more releases and SoCal CanJam. I didn't want the Estrella review to be lost in limbo.

Enter the ZiiGaat x JaysAudio Estrella (pronounced Eh-stray-Ah) if you care about pronounciations. Or, if you don't, call them the Es-trell-a. Or call them the newest contender into the mid-fi scene where it's been a bloodbath recently.



The ZiiGaat Estrella is a collaboration effort with JaysAudio. Per the Linsoul website:
The ESTRELLA is a hybrid in-ear monitor (IEM) that combines two advanced driver technologies with a total of six drivers per side. It features two custom 10-mm PET diaphragm coaxial dynamic drivers, delivering powerful and impactful bass. Additionally, four independent balanced armature (BA) drivers provide rich, detailed mids and trebles. The Estrella utilizes genuine American Knowles 29689 and European Sonion 2345 full-range BA drivers, along with Sonion E50 series BA super tweeters, ensuring an immersive and high-fidelity audio experience.


*stock photo from Linsoul*

Here are the Estrella Specifications so you don't have to go looking:

• Impedance: 7Ω@1kHz
• Sensitivity: 108dB (±1dB) @1kHz
• DC Impedance: 10Ω
• Driver: 10mm PET DD*2+Knowles 29689 * 1+Sonion 2345 * 1+Sonion E50 * 1

Disclaimers: I would like to thank JaysAudio and Linsoul for this reviewer copy that I received in exchange for my honest review. Linsoul has not said a single thing to me about it and JaysAudio has not given me any instructions, opinions, or asked me to inflate my opinion. Everything is all of my own opinion on my experience with the Estrella.

Build Quality, Comfort and Accessories
Photo dump time!









The packaging comes with a set of eartips, a cable, a carrying case and the IEMs. The Estrella are gorgeous! Absolutely love the shells, personally, with the glitter/bling but I think it mainly fits the motif.





The Estrella are a very comfortable size. Nozzle lip is manageable at 6.1mm measured so most ear tips will work well. Overall, the IEM itself is fantastic and one of the few times where the underside gets some love vs being just dark resin.





The only other thing to note about the Estrella is that the tips and cables are bad. It was clearly included for the sake of being included but, spoiler alert, bring your own tips/cables.



Tip Rolling
Yeah, so the tips are flimsy and not good. Unpacking them felt like it was an afterthought. Thankfully, I've got a handful of tips.

Rather than go through all my sets and flooding the review, if anyone has any questions about other synergy with tips, I can answer separately. I'm going to condense my tip section to just my top 3 + stock tips.



Stock tips: Stock tips are not that great; I think they made the treble unbearable and seemed to dull the sound. It felt almost lifeless. Pass.
Spinfit W1: Without applying any EQ, the Spinfit W1 do a great job of tilting the sound tuning towards more of the mids/treble side, keeping the bass still full sounding but less full on the mid-bass side. Recommended for someone who may find the Estrella too bassy for their ears.
Final Type E - Clear/Red: Probably my favorite combination with the Estrella. Bass is impactful and deep while the rest of the frequency response is largely left intact and neither overly elevated or blunted.
Radius Deep Mount: Another great combination here. The Deep Mount slightly deepen the sub-bass, tighten up the mid-bass but also keeps everything else intact as the Type E Clear/Red with maybe slightly better upper-mids by a small smidge.

Either way, I think there's a lot of room to explore for a good with and the Estrella's 6.1mm nozzle lip will work with a good variety of tips. Just recycle the stock ones.

Cable
The cable is not good. Maybe it's due to being spoiled by a lot of fantastic cables (3rd party or otherwise) but I really did not like the Estrella's stock cable. It also felt like an afterthought. I think the ZiiGaat Nuo cable is like... as good as the Estrella cable.



But, given that ZiiGaat was trying to keep the Estrella to a certain price bracket, it makes sense that there were some cost cutting measures taken.

First impressions were not the greatest but the accessories situation is solvable. Slapped on my Xinhs Purple & Gold cable. And did some ambient lighting for fun.





Sound
So, how do the Estrella sound?


*Yes, this is an All Star reference, and it's not the only one*

The ZiiGaat Estrella sound bassy and musical yet with enough elevation on the upper mids/treble to compensate for the bass notes. To my ears, I would argue it as being closer to the U-shape signature vs a V-shape as I don't think the mids rise too harshly nor are too scooped out.

Gear Tested On: Primarily streamed music via either dedicated Streamer, Laptop or Phone
Phone chain: Pixel 8 Pro -> Abigail Pro
Phone chain: Pixel 8 Pro -> Shanling Onyx XI1
Streamed Music Chain Workstation: Laptop -> JDS Labs Element 3 MK2 (Boosted)
Streamed Music chain: WiiM Mini -> JDS Labs Atom DAC+ -> JDS Labs OL Switcher -> Geshelli Labs Archel 3 Pro

*My Audio Preference and Score Disclaimer*: To preface my breakdown, here's my sound preference. I tend to prefer warmer sound. I enjoy good sub-bass extension with enough mid-bass to feel the music. I prefer more fuller sounding mids to match my library. My preference is for smooth treble extension; while I'm not treble sensitive, I'd probably lean more towards 'safer' treble tuning for longer listening. I also tend to listen at either medium to louder listening volumes (reasonably loud).

In addition, all scores listed below are typically (unless otherwise stated) rated/scored as it relates to it's peers in the same price group.

Lows/Bass: The bass for the Estrella has been one of the better presentations in it's price bracket.

There is a full, deep sub-bass but with a fast enough decay to keep it detailed. The mid-bass is tastefully punchy with good, visceral slam. The mid-bass is tamed enough to reduce bleed but cohesively blend towards the mid range.

The Estrella walks that fine line between being 'boomy' and harmonious with the rest of the sound signature. Where a music track calls for bass, the Estrella gives you more than ample enough bass. Where a track calls for more restrained bass, the Estrella will effortlessly present the bass without feeling inflated.

Bass Score: 9/10 - TL;DR: Absolutely great bass - more than competes with it's peers without being a one trick pony

Mids: The midrange for the Estrella is extremely balanced and capable. It strikes the right balance between being full, lush, warm yet retaining lots of details for instruments and vocals.

Both male and female vocals sound great with no detected deficiency in either. Male vocals have a good depth and deepness that comes from the solid mid-bass carrying over while female vocals sound properly airy without being shouty.

Instruments like guitars and pianos sound detailed and clean without any indication that there's something missing. For some ears that may be sensitive to the upper mids/lower treble side, it's very borderline pushing to that point where it may be hard to hear but, to my ears, they sounded very balanced with the bass.

Mids Score: 9/10 - TL;DR: Smooth, musical presentation with plenty of elevation where it makes sense - walks the line of being close to almost too much elevation but it keeps the Estrella from being 'boring' or 'safe'

Treble: Typically, I like safer treble extension (though I'm not entirely treble sensitive - unless it's really elevated planar) but the Estrella is extremely capable on it's implementation of the BA drivers.

Music has very good air and details. The Estrella can be situationally sparkly but, as quickly as those sharp notes come in, they're gone and balanced by the bass. The Estrella is never sibilant or too harsh with just enough energy to wake you up but not enough to easily fatigue.

I would say that if you are a bit more sensitive to the treble side, the bass does a great enough job of balancing it out so that it's not treble murder.



Otherwise, I think it can be easily compensated for with a warmer source or tips.

Treble Score: 8.5/10 - TL;DR: Detailed, energetic, may be borderline much for some ears but works extremely well here without being treble-murder

Detail, Separation, Imaging, Overall Timbre, Etc.: There is a lot to like with the overall technicalities that the Estrella has.

Detail and imaging are very good in it's price bracket (overshadowed only by a few of it's competitors). Instrument separation is great and plays back busy tracks with great results.

Soundstage is very open and wide though not necessarily leading in it's class. I would not classify the Estrella as a very technical nor analytical set but it's more than sufficient while providing a great musical experience.

Technicalities Score: 8.25/10 - TL;DR: Great overall technicalities - not leading but not anemic at all

Library Hit List: My library was well represented in this case with a wide variety of music sounding great on the Estrella. Some standouts, where I think the Estrella shine:

Fleetwood Mac - "Dreams"
Bastille - "Good Grief" (Live from Capitol Studios)
SUNEOHAIR - "Waltz"
Death Cab for Cutie - "Everything's a Ceiling"
Boston - "More than a Feeling"
Camille - "Le Festin"
Florence & The Machine - "Dog Days Are Over"
AC/DC - "You Shook me All Night Long"
Dire Straits - "Sultans of Swing"
The Rolling Stones - "She's a Rainbow"

Comparisons: Here's some comparisons to break out with a quick note and difference/why I like an IEM better. Spoiler alert:



Elysian Pilgrim: I think the Pilgrim is better for someone looking for a more neutral/balanced/detailed sound but I prefer the Estrella with fuller bass and more musical tonality. Estrella > Pilgrim.

Dunu x Gizaudio DaVinci: The Estrella strikes me as a more elevated DaVinci with better treble, technicalities and comfort. DaVinci has better accessories. Estrella > DaVinci.

Thieaudio Hype 4: I don't think it's a secret but I'm not the biggest fan of the Hype 4. While it's elevated on bass and generally full sounding, it sounds overly sharp/quick on notes and too detailed/analytical sounding to me. I think the Estrella more than competes and I actually prefer the softer, slower notes of the Estrella more as it sounds more pleasing and musical to my ears. I think there would be many that may prefer the Hype 4 (especially someone with a tendency to prefer more clinical leaning listening) but I prefer the Estrella > Hype 4.

Moondrop x Crinacle Dusk:




Given the history of JaysAudio with Crinacle (though I believe that may be water under the bridge), this was going to be the biggest 'showdown' in my comparison breakdown. I prefer the Estrella > Dusk DSP > Dusk Analog. I think the Dusk Analog is still a great IEM listening experience, I think the Dusk DSP sounds phenomal and smoother than the Estrella but the Estrella doesn't require the DSP cable and has fuller/deeper bass without playing around on settings. Dusk DSP though is still very close, though, but I would give the nod towards the Estrella for it not being fussy to deal with (once you swap tips and cables).



Other Things to be aware of:
I touched on it a bit but for as elevated as the Estrella is on bass/treble, there's a softness to the notes or roundness to the notes that I could detect more than a lot of other IEMs. I think it provides that more musical/warmer sound as the notes come through quickly but linger so replay can sound a bit slow at times.

The Estrella are low impedance with higher sensitivity (than it's peers) - source rolling or finding the right sources may be in your best interest. Some have reported hearing a hiss at times but I didn't notice anything in my set ups. YMMV.

Tape Mod: So, rather than go through and talk about the 'Tape Mod' through every line, I'll confess that I used the tape mod for a handful of songs before taking off the tape. Yes, it does bring down the bass but I think it loses a lot of balance by doing so and makes the treble sound closer to being sharp than without it the 'tape mod'. I also prefer not to modify/EQ typically beyond maybe tip rolling so there's that. YEMV (Your Ears May Vary)

Marketing Hype: So the other thing I want to bring up is the marketing hype that came around. Jay has 'welcomed all competition' under $1k. He's made claims that the Estrella one of the best technical performers under $500. Does that mean that Jay thinks the Estrella are better than everything up to $1k? Likely, yes. He should. These are tuned exactly to what he wanted. Has he made claims that the Estrella -are- better than everything up to $1k? No.

This is kind of an interesting soap box to get on but hyperbole runs rampant in the audiophile market but it stems from a subjective take. Where one person's ears may hear the Estrella as being a great all-rounder, someone else may say "Too bassy for me", "Not enough extension for me", "Need it to hit faster and be more detailed". Always remember that even a reviewer or person talking about a product are still speaking from a subjective place.

In my amateurish take, I think there was a lot of hype in building the Estrella up as a new top contender. While I think it extended pretty far from what the likely intended baseline was, the Estrella -is- very good for my ears. And it may not be the same for you.

Accessories: The only other thing I can note is that Jay dropped the ball completely on packaging. There were no meme glasses either. Thankfully, the Estrella sounds great but huge missed opportunity for not including something he wears in all of his videos. Be better, man.



Special Sauce/Personal Bias Score: 8.75/10 - TL;DR: There's a lot to like with the Estrella. Points down for bad accessories (tips and cable) and lack of meme glasses (not a serious demerit)

Conclusion: The ZiiGaat x JaysAudio Estrella is a great release for ZiiGaat and an excellent first collaboration effort for JaysAudio.

The Estrella is a gorgeous IEM that strikes a great balance by providing satisfyingly deep bass with warm, full vocals and just the right amount of treble energy to liven the entire sound package. In an audio market where there's so many releases and competition, the Estrella called it's shot and hit it out of the park.



Final Weighted Score: 8.70/10 - This puts the Estrella, on a 5 scale, at 4.35 which is good enough to round up on.

Thanks for reading!

Specs And Driver Configuration

• 2 DD + 4 BA Driver Setup Per Side
• 10mm PET DD*2 + Knowles 29689 * 1 + Sonion 2345 * 1+ Sonion E50 * 1
• Three-way crossover
• Impedance: 7Ω@1kHz
• Sensitivity: 108dB (±1dB) @1kHz

Before starting the review, I want to thank Linsoul and especially Jay, for sending this IEM in for review. I've been a fan of his channel and have followed him since the start of his content journey. However, I’ll be sharing my honest thoughts and opinions, as the feedback I provide can help both him and the brand improve their future products and collab respectively.


Unboxing Experience and Accessories Package


The unboxing experience is good for the price but could have been better. The outer sleeve has space themed print on it similar to the faceplate, it looks very cool and beautiful.



After removing the sleeves you get the main box, after removing the box lid, the Estrellas are present in front of you. Below that there is a flap, opening that reveals the zipper carry case which holds the cable, and bags of eartips.



The accessories provided are decent. Things provided in 1. Cable 2. Zipper carry case 3. Three sets of silicone eartips 4. One set of foam eartips. The cable provided could have been better, it's on the thin side but it behaves quite well, it has no memory and is very tangle resistant as well. The lacks a modular termination system many iems in the price segment offer that functionality.



The Carry case is good, it is of a good size you can easily fit your iems and a dongle dac in it.



The Silicon eartips provided are on the harder side and the foam tips are good but there is only one size provided, wish they provided more sizes of foam tips inside the box.




Design, Fit, and Comfort

Estrella’s design and looks are one of its highlights. It looks dam gorgeous. The first thing I did after getting the Estrella was take them out into the sun. Man, it looked beautiful, no amount of photos can do justice to Estrellas’s beauty, you have to see them in person to grasp its full beauty.



The faceplate features speckles and glitter in various colors, adding depth to its appearance. The shells also have glitter in them which gives them a sense of chatoyancy to them. Estrellas’s design creates a perfect balance between class and bling.



The iem features a full resin build. The build quality of this iem is very good. The iems is lightweight yet feel very robust and sturdy.

The fit and comfort of this iem is very good. The shells are on the larger side yet they are shaped in a way that provides good fit and comfort. The nozzle of the iem is medium sized, due to this, I had no comfort issues. I wore this iem hours on end without any hint of discomfort. but, I won’t recommend this iem for lying down and sleeping as the shells jut out of the ear a little bit.



The iem has no pressure buildup inside the ear canal and the isolation provided is also very good. But, the iem has driver flex issues, when you insert the iem into the ear or adjust it you can hear the DDs crinkle. I wish they worked on that, and alleviated the issue. This would have made the experience even better.


Drivability

Estrella is a very efficient iem. First, I plugged it into a Samsung dongle and it powered it fine. Then I plugged it into ibasso DC07 pro and it scaled and reached its true potential. After that, I plugged it into topping nx7 and it didn’t scale much. So, if you have a decent dongle dac that will be fine for this iem.


Frequency Response

I used Azla sednaearfit max tips for sound evaluation. Estrella has a Fun V-shaped sound signature in its stock form.



Bass

The bass is one of the highlighting points of this iem. The bass profile is sub-bass over mid-bass. The bass glides smoothly from sub-bass to mid-bass. The bass region overall is very dynamic and punchy.
The sub-bass hits deep and low. The sub-bass rumble and texture is also very good for the price. The sub-bass has sense of depth to it, it's like it envelops around you. It plays the triple drop in the track Kill Jill by Big Boi easily.
The mid-bass thumps and slam is also good. But mid-bass could have hit with more authority. I find the mid-bass’s decay to be on the faster side. This made the bass less satisfying to me. But it is still very good. The bass never gets too much or bleeds in the low mids. Estrella keeps its composure in bass despite having this much amount of bass.

Mids

Mids are also very good on Estrella. I find the lower mids to be slightly recessed, but to balance this out the upper mids are slightly boosted. I wished Jay added a little bit more lower mids to balance out the mid bass. Due to this vocals lack weight to them it's like they lack chest voice. But, due to the upper mid range tuning, vocals have excellent head voice.
Male vocals have enough heft to sound natural but I find male vocals to be slightly pushed back. On the other hand, female vocals are very good, they feel open and extended. The mid-range push makes the female vocals extra sweet and extended. But, due to the peak at 5k vocals can sound sharp to people who are sensitive to that region. But, for me, it never crosses the boundary of sibilance for me. It's energetic for sure, but not sibilant. The instruments sound natural enough. Due to the presence region boost instruments in that region sound is little emphasized, especially acoustic guitar. All in all, I can say jay did a commendable job tuning the mids to sound extended despite having this much amount of bass.

Treble

Treble is one of my favorite part of this iem. It's energetic and smooth-sounding. It presents each and every micro and micro nuance in the track. It has a sense of sweetness to it. The extension is also excellent, it sounds airy and open, increasing the sense of stage. Jay did an excellent job tuning the treble.

Detail retrieval and Technical Performance

The detail retrieval is top of the class, as mentioned in the treble segment Estrella extracts each and every micro nuance from the tracks. The technical performance is excellent for the price. The stage feels wide with good front and back depth. Instrument separation and laying is also excellent. Imaging performance is also top class. You can easily pinpoint where each instrument is placed and how far is it. Estrella also handles busier passages of the tracks well, everything feels distinct.

The Tape Mod

I think estrella review without mentioning tape mod is incomplete. In Jay’s own video he mentioned, tape mod was an integral part of his tuning process to provide 2 tunings.





I used painters tape, for my tape mod testing. During he process of applying the tape on the vents make sure you do not left any buddle or air gap, press the firmly near the hole for it seal well. Now, let’s talk about sound. After tape mod I see improvements in all parts of estrella.

Let’s start with Sub - bass. The amplitude of sub - bass is lower after tape mod, yet it still hits with same authority. It retaints its excellent sub bass rumble and texture. The main Improvement I saw was in Mid bass quality. The amount is lower, yet it punches harder than before. The issue I had I faster decay is also almost eliviated. After the mod, mid bass hits with better authority and flaunts a better sense puch and slam to it.

Mids also saw and imprevement, due to the reduction of bass the now we can hear the mids more clearly. Lower mids do not sound as recessed as before.

The upper mids and treble do not see any changes after the mod. So the estrellas sound characteristics changed from fun sounidng to more analytical and detailed sounding signature. One so called that can happen after the mods is, upper mids and presence region can get a bit much on poor recordings, as there the amount is not there to fully balance it out.

In terms of detail retrieval I saw an improvement in this regard as well. The details jump out more in tracs after the mods. Both macro and micro detail retrieval showed noticeable improvement, building on the already excellent performance. All aspects of technical performance like imaging, laying and instrument separation showed improvements.


Ziigaat Estrella vs Dunu Davinci


I think Estrella vs Davinci is the apt comparison, as both lie in the same price category. A lot of people will be cross shopping between the two. So, let’s start with this comparison.



When it comes to the unboxing experience and accessories I straight up prefer davinci here. As we all know by now davinci is the king of accessories. The davinci’s carry case is slightly bigger but it is built better. There are three types of eartips provided in davinci’s box and all are excellent, my personal favourite being S&S tips. In terms of davinci’s cable is built better feels more robust and is better built. It also has a threaded interchangeable termination system as well. So, all in all, this round goes to Davinci.

In terms of design and aesthetics, it is a toss-up between the two some may prefer the look of Davinci and some may prefer the look of Estrella. Davinci looks more royal and professional with its stabilized wood faceplate and Estrella is more eye-catching, its aesthetics have a sense of depth to them.

Both are equally excellent in terms of build quality. Davinci is slightly on the heavier side when compared to estrella, but both feel equally well sturdy and robust. When it comes to fit and comfort Estrella edges ahead, Davinci's thick nozzle and lack of molding on the shells can make it a little uncomfortable, you have to rely on tip rolling for optimal fit and comfort. On the other hand, estrella has an excellent shell shape and medium-sized nozzle which make it very comfortable to wear for a longer period of time.

Now, to the main point sound comparison. Davinci is a laid back bassy sound signature with very good mids whereas Estrella has an energetic V-shaped sound signature.



In terms of Sub-bass, estrella is better. Estrella’s sub bass has better texture and rumble to it. The sub-bass on the Estrellas carries a deep, immersive quality, giving it a sense of depth. On the flip side, Davinci’s mid bass is better. Davinci mid bass feels more dynamic and punchy. Davinci mid-bass has better thump and slam when compared to estrella. Davinci’s mid bass feels more natural with more natural decay when compared to estrella’s faster decay.

The lower mids are better on davinci as well. They feel more hefty and natural when compared to slightly scooped lower mids. Davinci has a thicker note weight as compared estrella. To combat the lower mids Estrella’s uppermids are slightly boosted. Davinci plays both male and female vocals well but still slightly leans towards male vocals on the other hand estrella plays female vocals better. The instruments sound more natural on davinci in my opinion. The presence region is slightly boosted on estrella which adds to its energetic nature, whereas davinci is more laid back in this region. To me, davinci’s mids sound more natural.

In terms of treble, I straight up prefer Estrella over davinci. The Estrella’s treble sparkles despite the hefty bass, while the DaVinci’s treble complements its rich, bass-forward sound signature, it does attract your attention towards it. As mentioned above Estrella's treble is energetic yet smooth. It has a sense of sweetness to it. Estrella is also airier sounding when compared to davinci, which makes it sound more open.

In terms of detail retrieval, estrella is slightly better, especially in the micro detail pickup department. You can better pick up certain micro nuances in the tracks on estrella. The stage is also wider on estrella when compared to davinci. I find the laying performance to be neck to neck. And estrella edges davinci in instrument separation and imaging performance.


Conclusion

I think Jay knocked it out of the park with his first collab. This makes me excited to hear what he can do with his other collabs. Estrella is a very strong contender in 300 dollar segment and you should have a look at this while shopping for an iem in this price range. Estrella gets a huge thumbs up from my end. If you want to watch the review video of estrella please subscribe to my youtube channel - https://youtube.com/@sushiifi?si=n9hiSooKmHtLVJ6k

ZiiGaat x Jays Audio ESTRELLA - Jays first collaboration IEM


Disclaimer

I got the ESTRELLA for free in return for a review, I am free to say whatever I want.

I reached out to join as one of the reviewers for the collaboration between ZiiGaat and Jays Audio, this is my first time trying a ZiiGaat IEM and also my first interaction with Jays Audio.

All impressions are my own subjective thoughts after having used them for a good time. These are my thoughts at this moment, and as time moves I might change my opinion.
This is also a very subjective hobby where everything from experience, anatomy or age will affect what we hear. Also keep in mind that it is easy to use bold words when talking about differences, while it may be perceived as a small change for you.
While I can perceive something as natural sounding, I do believe we can never get a perfect performance similar to what is achieved live.

Ranking System:
1 Very bad or unlistenable
2 Listenable but not good
3 Average
4 Very good
5 Exceptional or having a special sauce

My rating system highly values what is musical for me, so my rating will always be a subjective opinion.








What is the ZiiGaat x Jays Audio ESTRELLA

The ESTRELLA is a hybrid IEM costing $299, this is a collaboration with the reviewer Jays Audio. The configuration is 2 DD and 4BA, the DD is in custom 10-mm PET diaphragm coaxial design and the BA is a mix of Knowles and Sonion. I will not go deep into what each model does, for that you can read more on the website of ZiiGaat and the manufacturer.

https://www.ziigaat.com/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7XjMH7aI1TsKoe-EFonGcg



The design is beautiful in a subtle way, black resin shell with glitter on the faceplate and the body.



The faceplate is well done with nice glitter effects, the design having more on the sides is neat.



The shell is also sculpted carefully without too big grooves or wings, with some roundness to accommodate most ears.



Nozzle is average size at 6.1mm width, and the shell size being on the average side also.



The packaging is clean and minimalistic, but the included accessories I find lacking. The included tips are not very good quality, and it is hard for me to get a good seal.



The other complaint I have is that the included cable is thin and feels not up to par with the IEM itself, the sound itself is good enough to get you going.




Sound impressions

The sound of ZiiGaat x Jays Audio ESTRELLA is dynamic and fun, has a good mix of technicalities and a full bodied sound.

Going to use the ranges here in review:


Details and soundstage

Detail in IEMs is down mostly to quality of the driver and how it amplitudes the frequencies, also when the driver is faster it also increases the resolution you hear.

This is slightly above average in how technical and resolving it is, it does well for its price range and is among the better ones at $300. There is some softness to transients making music more smooth, this does take away some of the clarity and note definition. But it also helps that the midrange is cleanly tuned and has good treble extension, and the balance of the two make it very easy to listen to while also being adequate resolving.

Soundstage is very personal, I find ESTRELLA quite good in depth and width. It's not lacking in any way, but neither does it showcase anything exceptional be it holographic or being very wide etc.



Bass

The bass is deep and has good quantity, lots of bloom and detail into every deep bass note. The bass kicks have punch to them but are a little soft on the rebound and affects the speed a little, this is both positive or negative depending on what your preference is. And it's not slow by any means, this impression is compared to other sets with more speed. The bass also comes much more alive being played loud, and this can be important for some to know.

The quantity of bass is great and is a good balance to keep music warm against the clear upper frequencies, would not call this basshead but more a tasteful bassy set.

Mids

The midrange is clean and has some extra warmth from the bass into the lowest of the mids, ESTRELLA is still flat early around 350Hz. This also affects how the bass is, as it doesn't sound as separated and blends more in with the midrange.

I would say that darker instruments like guitars male vocals are better than more high pitched elements, they are full and also smooth in a good way. The smoothness of the mids goes a little in the way of making the clarity of females as nice, same for some instruments like sax or trumpet. But this can also be a nice thing as it makes music more relaxed and easy to listen to.

Treble

I find this to have both clean and very good treble, among the better BA deliveries of highs. Music sounds maybe a little more airy than what some can find natural, the same quantity would be better if it had EST for treble as it makes it more pleasant and shimmery. But I am nit-picking here, and there's no doubt that this is excellent and most should be very happy.



Synergies

Most of my time has been with Divinius Velvet tips and DUNU DUW-03 cable, the source has mostly been iBasso DX180. The most important change is to use other tips, stock tips have a stiff core and are hard to get a nice seal with.

I have tried other tips also, but this had the best balance and worked well for me. I also have not used the tape mod to change the sound of the ESTRELLA, I prefer to use IEMs stock without having to modify.

Another change I recommend is going for a better cable, the stock cable for me sounded a little thin. Can also be a change I'm hearing since the cable is thin looking and affects my impressions, even a cheap 16 core NiceHCK seemed like an upgrade.

The sound is quite warm but natural on ESTRELLA and it's easy to change the sound by different sources, for example on the DEW4X dongle it sounded okay but never impressed me as much as with the HIBY R8 that made it all more euphonic and full sounding. I don't expect people to use a $2000 DAP with a $300 set, so another nice pairing that's cheaper is the HIBY FC6 dongle and does something very similar.

And together with the iBasso DX180 I feel that ESTRELLA can do everything naturally without coloration, also why it has been my main source in the review.



Comparisons

When evaluating the sets I use each of them over longer periods and also some shorter sessions swapping back and forth, it takes a long time and is not done in one sitting. The most critical comparison is done on my desktop setup that is highly resolving, with volume matching to take away loudness variance. I will make a short description here of the differences, with more notes under the music section later.







The spider chart is slightly exaggerated on some points to show differences.





Thieaudio Hype 4

This has the same hybrid configuration as ESTRELLA being 2DD and 4 BA, the drivers are different combinations except they have the same treble driver being Sonion E50. It retails at $390 and is slightly more costly, you do get better accessories included and can be seen as some of the price difference. The shell quality is the same as ESTRELLA, both look gorgeous.

Resolution is slightly better on Hype 4, a part of this is the tuning but maybe also the BA used as its cleaner. Soundstage is wider on Hype 4 than ESTRELLA, but not by much. Both have good imaging and have a more oval type of stage with average height.

Bass is slightly less than Estrella in quantity, but sometimes Hype 4 sounds more punchy with better attack. Reason to this is since the decay sounds slower on ESTRELLA, on some music it affects the slam and also the speed. Texture is great on both, but overall I think the Impact2 driver is the best..
Midrange is cleaner and more resolving on Hype 4, it also has more weight in the music and balance. The midrange of ESTRELLA is also more soft, if this is because of the tuning or the driver used I'm unsure of.
The treble is equally impressive and nice, and not possible to pick apart.

I think they both are rivals around this price and are equally good, depending on music one could prefer one over the other.



Thieaudio Oracle MKIII

This is a little unfair to have as a comparison, but I figure it's good also since it showcases what you get for twice the cost of ESTRELLA at $589. Oracle MKIII uses the Impact2 driver that's 2DD for the bass, the midrange and treble is run by 2 BA while the ultra highs is covered by EST drivers. If we look at it like this we pay twice as much to exchange two BA for two EST drivers, but similar to HYPE 4 this has better accessories.
The shell quality is the same as ESTRELLA, ESTRELLA looks nicer on the black shell due to the sparkle effect. But that is also a subjective opinion,I also think since the faceplate is more classy on Oracle MKIII the black suits it well.

This is very similar to HYPE 4 when we look at the bass and midrange, just even better clarity and resolving sound with Oracle MKIII. Bass can sound less at times in quantity, but same as with Hype 4 it sounds slightly better quality than ESTRELLA.
Where the change is from HYPE 4 is the upper midrange having more bite on Oracle MKIII, making vocals pop more on Oracle MkIII than ESTRELLA.

The highs have an equal amount of bite as ESTRELLA, but the Oracle MKIII is more ethereal and pleasant to listen to. Has that little extra that you only get through EST.

I can like both of these sets, I do love the EST and the higher clarity on female vocals with Oracle MKIII and make it my top pick around this pricerange.



Sound Rhyme SR9

This is the newest hybrid IEM from Sound Rhyme costing $299, you get a decent cable and tips and is overall better accessorized than ESTRELLA. The IEM has 1DD and 8BA, here there have been used unbranded custom drivers unless I have this wrong. The shell quality is a step below ESTRELLA, both in design and how the comfort is. Especially due to the venting system that works perfectly on ESTRELLA, here air gets trapped and I need to fiddle more with tips or let the air pressure out manually.

The resolution is not as good and sounds like a tier below the ESTRELLA, the soundstage is wider and deeper on SR9.
Overall the sound is more thick and warm than ESTRELLA, and lacks some clarity due to this and the drivers.
Bass is stronger and has more quantity on SR9, in general feels more impactful and also is the fastest of all the IEMs in the comparison. It also uses the glide style that goes far into the midrange, this makes the low mids more thick and husky.
So midrange is not as natural and clean as ESTRELLA, it also has some BA timbre and grain that is better in the Thieaudio models and ESTRELLA.
The treble is sharper than ESTRELLA, and has some extra air. But the highs aren't that pleasant and nice to listen to, almost like there's some noise into the air.

I would pick ESTRELLA almost every time over SR9, just on some few tracks the added thickness would be better.



Music

https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/fc4b0a6a-be85-48c3-bea4-ef7a32142f38

When comparing IEM to other sets I have used the tracks listed here and some more, I will provide some notes under each track.



https://tidal.com/browse/album/239351110?u
Belmont by Snarky Puppy

I love Snarky Puppy, the opening here is wonderful to listen to after bass quality and quantity. Thick and big bass kick on ESTRELLA, it's a little soft and lacks some attack due to its softer decay. But this isn't wrong as it depends what people prefer, I find the bass driver Impact2 of Thieaudio a little faster than ESTRELLA and due to this sound better. The SR9 is the one with the strongest bass kick here and fastest speed of the bass, but I don't think it has the same quality of texture to the bass of the other 3. And if I go by the track as a whole the ESTRELLA sounds maybe the most smooth, the way I often like it when listening to Snarky Puppy.

Preference: OMK3/H4/ ESTRELLA - SR9



https://tidal.com/browse/track/267372746?u
Hypnopaedia by Apostrophe

My track to listen to treble quality and air, ESTRELLA have among the best BA IEMs of clean treble and airy sound. Its shimmery and airy with lots of sparkle, it lacks the extra element of EST that Oracle MKIII have here that is both more pleasant and more ethereal. But for BA this is really good, also better quality than SR9 while the HYPE 4 is equally good in the treble. The amount of highs goes to SR9, but it is also too much and not as controlled.

Preference: OMK3 - ESTRELLA/H4 - SR9



https://tidal.com/browse/track/2570512?u
You And Your Friend by Dire Straits

Being one of my long-time tracks to check overall tonality of audio gear, it's well recorded and has great elements to evaluate the IEM as a whole. The ESTRELLA sound really good here, the balance of everything is very nice, just maybe a little lacking in the midrange and stuff like the guitar lack some clarity and sound darker. The sound is less clear on ESTRELLA than with Oracle MKIII and Hype 4, but this can also be a good thing to soften the music. The SR9 is not as pleasant to listen to and sounds like a league below the ESTRELLA, it sounds more metallic and sharp.

Preference: OMK3 - H4 - ESTRELLA - SR9





https://tidal.com/browse/track/13152059?u
Born to Die by Lana Del Ray

Lana Del Ray sounds good on ESTRELLA, but can be a little sharp and intense at times. It is also not as clean and open as I prefer, for example the Oracle MKIII and Hype 4 have better control and sound more clean. SR9 dont have the same quality BA for midrange, and can get tiresome fast.

Preference: OMK3 - H4 - ESTRELLA - SR9



https://tidal.com/browse/track/184898675?u
To the Hellfire by Lorna Shore

I am a person who enjoys intense metal, this might be too heavy for you. I often use music like this to check how well the set handles speed and being open, but also for listening after fatigue or how full it sounds.
The ESTRELLA lack some speed here, but it's not bad. And the tonality and speed does soften the intensity. The HYPE 4/Oracle MKII is more open and less busy and handles the speed slightly better, but with them I can get fatigued faster as it's more intense. SR9 sounds the darkest here and also the one that's thickest and most easy to listen to, this is personal as I prefer thickness for metal. SR9 is the least resolving and isn't as open as the others.

Preference: SR9 - ESTRELLA - OMK3 - H4



https://tidal.com/browse/track/227095354?u
Playing God by Polyphia

Just an epic track to check many things, bass, mids and overall clarity through the cymbals and guitars. The ESTRELLA have a good mix of being clear while also having a good amount of fullness, the treble is in good control and have the attack that is needed to sound realistic on the cymbal. Bass is deep and rumbly and the quality is on par with the IMPACT2 driver here, and since ESTRELLA has a little extra body it sounds more fun. SR9 showcases here its intense treble, it gets too much on the cymbal strikes but also the bass can get too much.

Preference: ESTRELLA - OMK3 - H4 - SR9



Conclusion

My first entry into ZiiGaat been enjoyable with the ESTRELLA, I believe the collaboration between them and Jays Audio is successful. If anything has ruined the launch of ESTRELLA it is the $1000 hype claim, or maybe not and it has carried even more hype into the launch.

I don't find the $1000 claim true, it's an excellent hybrid and is among the better hybrids under $500. Going above this bracket we can get more resolving sets and also sets with EST that can deliver better treble. It goes toe to toe against the best hybrids around its price, this is no small feat and says something about ESTRELLA being a very nice IEM.

It delivers a colored tuning that's dynamic and fun, still has good clarity without being either too thick or bright. Bass that goes deep and can deliver a full bodied experience, with natural mids not being peaky or shouty. The highs is also among the better hybrids, delivering an airy and clean treble. The ESTRELLA has some softness to the note definition making it easy to listen to, but still is resolving and quite capable of showing microdetail.

I recommend the ZiiGaat x Jays Audio ESTRELLA, I will give it a solid 4 star rating. And congrats Jay with your first collaboration.

Easily one of the most impressive product in 2024 for me


using 2DD + 4BA this iem is a bit thick in size but the angle and length of the nozzle feels just right in my ears to wear em comfortably for hours


tonality wise i categorize this as mild V with noticeable elevation on bass with contrast-y clear mid and extended treble,

if you find the bass is too much to your liking, just give them a simple tape mod to cover the vent hole and you will decrease the bass qty quite significantly while retaining the same clear vocal and treble (Jay himself recommend to try this for different tonal)

this iem immediately gives macro WOW sensation, right from the moment i tried them, they feels sooo immersive with rumbly deep majestic bass, and the vocal comes clearly separated from the bass without being shouty and the treble sparkle is flying and circling on the ceiling of my head

soundstage, imaging, bass = those 3 combined will give this immersive sensation that sucked you into the music dimension, try hearing some orchestral music or movie soundtrack and feel the immersion


wait…. it feels like im really shilling this iem, let’s talk about the minuses now

because of how this iem is tuned, after long period of time i do find them quite fatiguing due to this contrast-y sound,

even with tape mod the vocal and treble could still come as energetic and still quite fatiguing for me after long period of listening

i find myself reaching for a more neutral/laidback iem after listening to them

quick comparison :
vs simgot EM10 : em10 also have this macro immersion sensation but it sounds even more contrast in vocal making it more prone shoutiness, estrella has much bigger stage with more pinpoint imaging with safer non shout tonality but em10 comes as more “layered” for complex music (guessing because of the BA count)

vs IE600 : ie600 has tighter and deeper bass with sharper resolution on every notes but Estrella has much bigger stage , better separation with more pinpoint imaging with less sharp treble

vs Annihilator : if you’re asking me what is mini annihilator for under $1000 i will say estrella…. this bold kind of sound, wow effect, even the fatigue after long period of listening…. only annihilator is definitely still on the higher level on technical aspect

as an overall this iem is TOTALLY recommended if you seek this kind of wow immersive sound that has technical that could fight toe to toe with higher priced competitor, and currently it is one of my most used collection

This is a sample sent to me by Linsoul. I try not to let that influence how I write my reviews, but wanted to be honest and clean with how I got the set.

Also I am Jaytiss, a dude from California with a wife and two kids. Jay is a guy from Canada, we are 100% different people. XD this is me!

See, Jaytiss. Jaytiss is the name of my favorite Dungeons and Dragons character. When I started my channel I decided to keep it simple and while only being open 10 and a half months we’ve done well to get 1.5k subs. (Which I’m proud of) I knew is might be confusing, but as it’s my reddit name and Headfi name, I thought it’d be easier as this is all a hobby not a 2nd career. So it’s funny I get to review Jays iem today.

So, let me be like crystal, freaking clear….. This isn’t my collab. I’m just a guy doing a review who likes headphones, so let’s get into it!


Let me share what music that I listen to:

Song Choice: Tidal list here:
I listen to a wide variety of music. I pick the songs because of various reasons. But I picture myself locked away like Andy Dufresne from Shawshank blasting music and shut off from the world. It’s a blissful image.
The Marriage of Figaro -The opera song from Shawshank Redemption, terrible recording but fun and gets me in the mood to listen to music.
O mio Babino caro -This is a modern less operatic version but a song with great female vocals.
Video Rigoletto - “La donna e mobile” Sung by one of the three Tenors, great song for high-performing male vocals. Pavarotti is the greatest classic singer maybe ever. Fight me!
Iron man - The sound at the beginning is hard to make sound great, great drums, and cymbals, and if done right it feels like an old-school band.
I Will Survive (1981 recording, I like her voice, and the old vocals, the drums, and various natural instruments really make this a favorite for me.
There is a light That never goes out - Smiths ( A classic, I just love it. It’s mellow, and I can tell a lot of the tuning if this song is done right.)
Jump (I like how the sound effects are in this!)
Star Child Someone recommended this song to me, and I like how funky it sounds and has nice vocals and a mix of music and things going on.
Dicke Titten Ramstein The beginning is amazing and the bass hits hard. Great song. I love rock and metal. The German language fascinates me
Master of Puppets: Very fast song. Helps me determine if the driver can keep up.


This is a newer version of my 10 favorite songs that also work for audiofile music.

This is a copy of a bunch of good audiofile music. Some are on my favorites, but all are great to test headphone tracks. (70+)

This is my favorite overall music. 300+ songs (needs to be edited a bit)


The CABLE!
It’s pretty thin, but the texture is nice, and it’s light. It’s the standard of the other Ziigaat sets. This isn’t bad per say, but lack luster and focuses on the sonic value. It’s a black wire that has a nice texture and feels good on my ears and doesn’t easily tangle. I think this is a fine cable, but does lack a 4.4 option which for our cable believers that is a negative. I kinda don’t care, but all my gear is set up for both, so it’s not a huge deal. (I’m big on 4.4 on dacs.) The iem is overall easy to drive, so there isn’t a massive need for a 4.4 or extra power.

TIPS
The tips are fairly basic and easy. Nothing too impressive but acceptable. I like them.



Bass (20-60 Sub Bass, 60-250 Hz Mid Bass)

The details of the bass is strong I feel like it has good quality and quantity, but I do find it to be slightly less impactful than what I might want out of an iem. The bass seems well-controlled and acceptable, almost tame. To my basshead ears it is fantastic and one of my favorite bassy sets and I am super excited about it. It’s clean and appropriate. This hits the almost bass exactly how I want it, and I find it great, yet I don’t find this set to be overly bassy.


Midrange (250 HZ to 800 HZ Low Mids, 600-200 Hz Mids, 2000-5000Hz Upper Mids)

The midrange of this set is good. I would want more energy at 3k, and feel at times this set lacks a vocal bit that I might want. It’s solid, and enjoyable, but the mids are the weakest link in this set for me. Vocals as a whole could be more energetic. I often times find myself raising the volume a little bit wanting more, yet this isn’t a bad thing as this set scales well at high Volume.



Treble (5000- 10000 Trebble/Highs, 10000 ++ HZ Upper Trebble & Air)

The 5-6k region which is still fairly accurate on a 711 coupler is clean, and very clean at that. I really like this iem in that 5-6k region and helps my sense of enjoyment. I find this set to be less harsh in the upper treble. The upper air is strong in this set, but overall is a slight weakness in this set. It doesn’t have the extension that an EST set has, but is very nice.

Gaming

Gaming is great on this iem, as it has a nice tonal balance and is pretty relaxed. The stage isn’t too wide, but just right. Detail retrieval during fights is immaculate, and the imaging vertically and horizontally is fantastic. It has great imaging and a good sense of where I am.

Gaming is somewhat of a meme for ranking, but if a friend wanted a cozy iem to game with good bass and treble. This could be an easy win.

Shell -
The shell is pretty, and the faceplate and shell sparkles. It’s excellent fitting and a much more premium feeling than most and I find them light and easy to fit in my ears. But overall it is excellent, and a great feature of this iem. It’s a very pretty clean looking shell to which I’m a huge fan of..


Case- The case is beautiful and premium. It’s the same case included in Ziggat’s other iems even up to the 1600 dollar Jupiter, so in a sense, it’s a nice value add. I personally really enoy it.




Comparisons:
Vs Binary Dynaquatro
This is tough. Dynaquatro is cheaper by a few dollars, has a better cable, and case. I like a lot about both, but the air of the Estrella and overall execution seems to be a little bit better to my ears. I think the Estrella has better air, both have similar bass, the Estrella has a sense of Space and detail that the Dynaquatro doesn’t have, but the dynaquatro is bassy and richer. It’s a close battle to which I’d say go with what you want. Better tech and air on Estrella, better bass and packaging on the Dynaquatro, better shell on Estrella, a lot of what will boil down to is how you want your mids. Estrella is a very tiny bit better, but it’s close.

Vs Pilgrim
I find the Estrella to have better upper mids and I enjoy it a bit more. The Pilgrim is a bit bright for me, the Dynaquatro has a better shell, and it’s easier to cable swap. Having said that some like the penntaconn connector of the Pilgrim, but I don’t think it really adds value.

VS Dunu Davinci
This is a very tough competition. Both have similar graphs, but the Davinci wins in the upper mids, but the Estrella has better bass, more energetic air, with the Davinci having better mids and more of a meta tuning. It’s close, but for me I’d go Estrella on overall sound quality, shell quality and is just a better fit.

VS JUZEAR 61T

This is tough, as the Juzear 61T is a fun set with a better cable and, the Juzear is a little cheaper at $220. I like the Juzear 61T and think this is a close battle for those looking to save money. I think the Juzear 61T has some mild air issues and is overly dark. It’s a hard tune to pull off and the estrella has gone in a unique direction while the Juzear 61T feel like a want to be bassy set all arounder that lacks some incisiveness in the upper air and air detail. I think the Juzear has merit and I enjoy it as an iem and find it an appropriate value, but from a technicality standpoint, it isn’t near what the Estrella is.


VS Simgot EM10
I like the Simgot EM10 but it’s a Harmon, meaning that it has some minor issues that are fixed with the Estrella. The air of the Em10 and extension aren’t as good as the Estrella, but if you are looking for a slight V the em10 provides a great deal of a fun, yet is a bit devian from neutrality.
Vs ITSELF aka the tape mode
The tape mod is very enjoyable, ti’s a little less boomie and a more relaxing sound. It’s not something that I prefere but it’s nice.

Conclusion:
This is a strong iem with a clever tuning that is different enough and unique on the market that already feels saturated with dozens of

Graph:


Sound - Final Impressions

Welcoming all competition under 1000 is rough, lots of fantastic options. This is a well-tuned iem that is impressive and well worth the price at 300. It's unique, and it’s supporting a Youtuber and content creator. This is a very good Midfi option that has a tuning that I fully endorse, and is competitive in the realm of many iems being very good. I could die happy with the Estrella and find it one of those set that I think will hold its weight. The issue I see is that many might think it a forgetable set, but I find it a remarkable listen and a unique set with a lot of beauty and depth. Our opinions are always different, but with many iems I would give hesitant recommendations or weary recommendations. I’ve reviewed a lot of iems and keep a spreadsheet or ranking list, and I feel this iem is a solid pick with the few caveats that I’ve mentioned. It has a nice price, and good value proposition, yet I wish the upper mids were done slightly differently, but overall things sound lovely on it, and it’s a remarkable signature for the price and competes with its peers.

Is it the best iem under 1000? I don’t think so, but I think it’s top 5 under 1000 which says a lot. I think it's up for debate, and the fact that that is possible is a beautiful thing indeed for the hobby.


Recommended EQ: I use Peace APO to EQ on the PC. This EQ is done to my preference. I recently set up a preference curve on My Squig. So for at least iems, I can use my own graphs now. Please feel free to use the measurements as you want.. Jaytiss.squig.link
Overall this is an amazing iem that could easily be a game for most. The goal for me with an iem is to have an iem that doesn’t need EQ. This iem, does sound better to me with this eq, more neutral and less colored. This iem has very little adjustment in, save some in the upper mid-region, the rest is incredibly close to my target, weirdly so. This iem doesn’t need EQ, but I could see people wanting some EQ with it.

Preamp: -1.7 dB
Filter 1: ON PK Fc 120 Hz Gain -2.6 dB Q 0.700
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 140 Hz Gain 1.0 dB Q 2.000
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 660 Hz Gain 1.9 dB Q 1.100
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 1300 Hz Gain -0.8 dB Q 2.000
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 2000 Hz Gain 0.7 dB Q 2.000
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 3400 Hz Gain 1.2 dB Q 2.000
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 5700 Hz Gain -4.0 dB Q 1.500
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 9000 Hz Gain -1.5 dB Q 0.800
Filter 9: ON PK Fc 9500 Hz Gain 4.3 dB Q 2.000
Filter 10: ON PK Fc 15000 Hz Gain -7.8 dB Q 1.900








Gifting/who is it for: I think this is a nice hifi iem to gift to someone, but as its packaging is a little basic you might want to go with something a little more economical. This is really for those looking for a clean sound with few issues and who want to support Jays, and who want a solid iem for the cost. It’s not the flashiest set, but it’s a good set, so it’s for your Jays fanbase or for those who want a good iem with a one-and-done awesome clean tuning that is fairly neutral but fun.

Pairing: I used a Quidelix 5k for mobile, my dongle Dac iBasso DC04 for my laptop, and my JDS lab Atom 2 with a SMSL 6d-s for my Desktop PC. I also tried the iem briefly on the Apple dongle as well. This iem had no issues being driven. Typically I only find overears to really have a hard time being driven and maybe some planar iems. (I am not a huge mmcx or planar fan.)

Summary-

I think this iem is the one to beat under 500, and competes with many iems in the 1000 dollar range. It’s a nice tune with fantastic base and beautiful shell that has good drivers and a unique tuning.
If I went to a show and tried a ton of iems and someone said this was 300, I’d be kinda shocked and try to withhold excitement and buy it on the spot. I own a few expensive sets and am happy to pay big money for the best that I love so my opinion may be a little slighted to midfi/higher priced iems.


I am also releasing a video on Youtube at the same time.

So I was afforded a pretty sweet opportunity because I live close by to @domq422; I’ve gotten an opportunity to try a retail version of Jays Audio’s virgin collaboration, named Estrella. I know there has been a lot of collaboration fatigue in some parts of the hobby, and it’s like “OMG, even someone like Jay can get one now. What even is the point of this? Well Imma tell you what the point is, because from my time with Estrella I can tell you that this is an IEM the hobby would be less off if we didn’t have it. How did I get to this thought? Let’s talk about it.

Songs to Listen to and Follow Along:

I’m going to write my thoughts in generalities, but I’ll give you a sample of songs that I listen to, that will relate to the concepts I write about. Feel free to ask for specifics, if you don’t keep up with my thought processes.


THE SOUND

Friends say "Shut up about it" I can't stop, It's written all over my face; You got me realigning my faith, That's the kinda thing that needs praise
Praising You - Rita Ora (Feat Fatboy Slim)

So Estrella has a very balanced sound in both of its configurations. The second configuration is a tape mod, over the back vent, which depresses the bass levels and gives a more vocal/midcentric balance. I’ll be speaking mostly about the stock configuration, unless I specify talking about the tape mod config.

Estrella gives good emphasis to the bass, mids, and treble, but makes tasteful decisions on where to sacrifice in order to have the best overall presentation, because it is impossible to do everything perfectly. The bass is strong and present, notably in the sub-bass. There is good rumble and growl, as the sub-bass is full and impactful. Relatively, the midbass is less emphasized. It’s certainly not completely lacking, but it’s a fast and clean implementation. The vast majority will be extremely satisfied with the boom-boom, but if you are not a fan of too much bass, the tape mod is here to your rescue. Using basic scotch tape will give the most effect, dropping the sub-bass into a linear equilibrium with the mid-bass allowing the midbass to be more the star of the show. If you want your guitar plucks and drum kit to be the focus, slap on the tape. I actually prefer to use micropore tape, which is kind of a Goldilocks between the two and gives me the best of both without the penalty of either. But the beauty is that Jay gives us the option to choose our own adventure. It’d behoove you to play around till you find your bliss.

The midrange is pretty straightforward: Stock configuration favors the lower-mids because of the sheer amount of bass. It’s clean and spacious, and the vocals don’t suffer at all but the atmosphere of the sound is more important overall. There’s no dryness, flat sound, or lack of dynamics. The sound is big and I’m sure some would be able to describe it as 3D or wrapping around the head. I think I hear some of that but not enough that I’d jump out to say so. But the mids truly bring dynamic sound that we usually only get at much higher price points. Vocals will pop more with the tape mod configuration, if you’re worried you won’t get that at all. There is some resemblance to Elysian Diva, to my memory, and the graphs would bear this out. Honestly, if you said Estrella was a little cousin to the Diva in that way, it wouldn’t be totally out of line.

The real tour de force on Estrella is the treble. It’s pitch perfect for my HTRF: The tone and timbre is in the elite tier for what I’ve heard. It stands its ground with sets like Oriolus Isabellae, Subtonic STORM, you name it. Vocals, instruments, pick what you’ve got and Estrella reproduces it effortlessly and does it with elite resolution. Technicals are also on point: Layering and separation are absolute highlights. Imaging doesn’t blow me away but it is more than competitive with most anything I have to compare it to. This is a jack-of-all-trades, that might actually be a master of some.

THE GOOD

• Has No Glaring Weaknesses
• Immersive Bass Response
• Top-Shelf Treble
• Soundstage and Layering/separation
• Versatility
  • Tape mod gives more vocal emphasis
• Good, Universal Fit

THE BAD

• May not appeal to the extremes - Might not satisfy adamant Bass/Neutral/Trebleheads
  • You don’t have the budget for $300, so you might have to miss out?

WHO IS THIS SET FOR?

• Everybody that can get to the $300 price point

WHO IS THIS SET NOT FOR?

• I honestly do not know who this wouldn’t appeal to

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?

I usually post my thoughts about IEMs elsewhere and have never done a review on Head-Fi, but when Jay asked if I would, I said you got it, so here I am. Jay has made some bold claims about the level Estrella can meet. Two that most stand out are that Estrella can compete with $1000 IEMs and that it shuts down the $300 price marker. So is Estrella more of a KZ Krilla, talking all the way out of its ass or is there muscle behind the hustle? Well, I’ve put Estrella through its paces while listening to two other IEMs that provide performance that can challenge Estrella; Vision Ears EXT, on loan from @sonofholhorse and a Michael Bruce creation, the Shortbus Audio SBDM. The EXT is a $3100 IEM and the SBDM is a prototype Shortbus 1DD IEM using the fabled driver found in the MIM Dark Magician. So this is some elite company for Estrella to prove itself against.

Estrella definitely trades blows with SBDM: Estrella has a little bit better sub-bass and overall bass quantity, but SBDM counters with amazing midbass. Even in the Tape Mod configuration, Estrella doesn’t quite match up with SBDM on things like bass guitars and drum kits. This is fair, because if you’ve had experience with a Shortbus IEM or had a retune done by Mike, you know he’s going to make sure that low end is fully put together. The tonality of vocals sounds pretty similar but the overall timbre is where a bit of difference comes in. Estrella is a weightier sound in totality while SBDM has a bit of wispy overtones in the mids. In this prototype it is the weak point, where on the right song it's amazing but is overcooked when it goes wrong. While Estrella has superior treble, SBDM outputs the Shortbus calling card of stupid, unquantifiable soundstage and 3D staging in particular. Only Mike can explain how he pulls such a spacious, dynamic sound out of the sets he works with, and just a single DD per ear at that, but he’s an absolute artisan. He’s untouchable at that. That said, there’s a reason why the SBDM is still a prototype and Estrella is a finished retail product. The mids aren’t up to snuff on the SBDM and that holds the set back overall, even though it’s much closer to done than not in this state. The Estrella is a fully polished product, end of story.

Moving on to the main event, Estrella vs. VE EXT is quite a battle, even though Estrella is punching up 10x the price ladder. In my opinion, the sounds of Estrella and EXT are quite similar, rather than all that different. I’d say Estrella has a little bit better bass overall; they follow a similar path of emphasizing sub-bass over midbass, but I think Estrella has a little bit more quantity, but also hits with more dynamic technicalities in the low end. EXT is tight and satisfying but it sounds a little drier in comparison. The next difference is in overall tonality: Estrella is cleaner and brighter while EXT is more bodied in the bass-to-low mids transition. Both do what they do well, it simply is a matter of preference on which you’d choose. The EXT has an emphasis around 1.5Khz that pushes vocals forward more than Estrella, which may be a dealbreaker for some. The other big difference comes in the treble where EXT comes in a little darker and Estrella has more extension. Estrella comes off having better layering/separation, thanks in part to the more gradual gain area, while EXT is smoother and the ESTs provide that extra treble air the way the best EST implementations do. Some will prefer the EXT and some will prefer Estrella, and I honestly told @domq422 that if you took the Ziigaat labeling off of Estrella and said it was Vision Ears putting out an entry level IEM, I wouldn't have batted an eye at that. Taking that into account, if Jay’s mission statement was to be able to compete with the best out there, at $300, $1000, or $3000 then mission accomplished.

So what this means is that I’ve got one of the best IEMs your money can buy in my ears. Around the price range I’ve heard current darlings such as Ziigaat’s Cinco brothers, the Thieaudio Hype 2 and 4, Dunu x Gizaudio DaVinci, and the Elysian Pilgrim. Above the price I’ve heard older bangers like the OG Yanyin Canon, Oriolus Isabellae, UM Mest MK II, Thieaudio Monarch MK III and Prestige LTD, the entire Symphonium lineup (Meteor, Crimson, and Titan), many of Aür Audio’s lineup (Aure, Neon Pro, Aurora, and Ascension)...suffice to say I have a good grasp on what the market can produce, and Jay’s Estrella is amongst the cream of the crop I’ve heard. I’m not making any proclamations that Estrella bests all of these sets, but it does beat many of them for my tastes, and competes with the ones it doesn’t outright beat. In the search for the intersection of performance and price that I can stomach, it is incredibly hard to think of a commercially released IEM that is better than this. While I haven't heard everything in and around the price range, I am well versed enough to know that unless something comes to me later, I would have to say the Estrella is THE go to set for $300, and bit beyond as well. Getting such a delightful, refreshing treat is just what the summer time calls for, and I’m going to enjoy the time I have left with this demo, and start counting down the days till I can get it for myself. And that's all I have to say about that.

As of August 8th, I cannot speak on the unboxing experience or the included accessories, but looking back on Ziigaat’s previous releases, it should be serviceable but nothing to write home about. That could change with the Estrella, but I am unsure as of the time of writing this.

Full Disclosure; Jay from Jay’s Audio is a really good buddy of mine, we met on the forums probably about 2 years ago and we’ve both been a part of a tour group for well over a year now. We have discussions, conversations, and general banter with one another pretty much every day. I’d like to think we’ve become friends over the last few years so of course, there is going to be a strong bias here for his first collab IEM. It’s pretty amazing - at one point, Jay had decided to take a step back from reviewing and focus on another aspect of his life, which we were all in favor of if that meant Jay would be happier or more comfortable in his day-to-day life. In our tour group and on his YouTube comments, I felt like we were all as supportive as we could be, but there was no denying that we were all collectively a little disappointed.

Fast forward to today, which is literally exactly a year and a week since then and… Wow. I am honored and proud to call Jay a friend and I truly believe he put so much work into this project with Ziigaat. He also welcomed so much input not only from the tour group and his immediate personal friends up in the Great White North but the Audio community as well. He really wanted to make a good IEM and it shows with everything he’s done up to this point. The backstory behind this IEM and the tuning is fascinating and I, along with our other buddies in the tour group had a front-row seat on the journey. I assume all of our collective preferences played a role in the decisions made in the tuning of this IEM, and it shows because even after listening to them for over a week, I still could find very little to no fault in their sound. I know I know, I get it - It makes sense. It’s my friend’s IEM… how could I find fault? Wouldn’t I shill the hell out of this IEM? I see your point. But truly, I let Jay know from the beginning that I was going to still have to keep it real and he not only understood, but he hoped my review wouldn’t be too glowing and positive, but instead show a little more objectivity….

With all that being said, I was provided this very special pair of Estrellas in order to capture some images for marketing as well as a full write-up evaluation, which will be one of the very first I believe. Outside of the dudes at Ziigaat, Jay, and his buddies up in Canada, I’m the first person to get ears on the Estrella, which just feels so special to me. This particular pair has gone on to the next stop in the first leg of the reviewer tour, so I no longer have them but I wrote plenty of notes during my listening and quite frankly, it’s just a very memorable IEM, period. Side note; my wife chose the name Estrella, which I think is just so cool… Needless to say, this is and will probably be the most important review/write-up/article/impressions I ever write.

So, without further ado, here’s my full write-up on the Ziigaat X Jay’s Audio Estrella.

Test tracks and Sources used

- Give Life Back to Music - daft punk - Overall clarity
- Infinity Repeating - daft punk - Lower mids control
- Voyager - daft punk - Bass line clarity/busy track layering
- Overnight - Parcels - mid bass punch
- Tieduprightnow - Parcels - bass line/sibilance test
- Justice - Neverender - Sub bass rumble and mid bass impact with treble sparkle balance
- Daytime - Lunar Vacation - Staging/female vocals w/ heavy bass
- Days - No Vacation - Vibe test/treble energy
- Fruiting Body - Goon - Sub bass
- Wavy Maze - Goon - Mid bass
- Together - Maggie Rodgers - Female Vocals
- Slide Tackle - Japanese Breakfast - Sibilance test/consonants harshness
- Decode - Paramore - Vibe test/stage depth
- Vinta - Crumb - Stage depth/layering
- Kim’s Caravan - Courtney Barnett - Female Vocals/resolution test
- Small Poppies - Courtney Barnett - Distorted Guitar
- Lifelong Song - Men I Trust - Sub/mid bass texture
- One and Only - Adele - Female Vocals/consonants harshness test
- Waves - Wild Painting - Overall Enjoyment and stage depth/width/Bass guitar speed
- Not the One - Highnoon - Female Vocals
- Cowboy Killer - Varsity - Layering
- Alone in My Principles - Varsity - Distorted female vocals
- Summer Madness - Kool & The Gang - Treble Harshness
- They Are Growing - Renata Zeiguer - Mid bass impact
Sources
- Apple Music Streaming Hi-Res Lossless when available
- Topping D10s/Earmen ST-Amp stack
- Muse HiFi M4
- Fosi DS2
- FiiO BTR7 BT

Pricing will be $299.00 and the pre-orders are open right now!

Tech specs;
2DD + 4BA Hybrid IEM
Impedance
7Ω@1kHz
Sensitivity
108dB (±1dB) @1kHz
DC Impedance
10Ω
Driver
10mm PET DD*2 + Knowles 29689* 1+Sonion 2345 * 1+Sonion E50 * 1

If you’d like to pre-order the Estrella, you can follow this unaffiliated link below;

https://www.linsoul.com/products/ziigaat-x-jays-audio-estrella

Fitment note; The Estrellas fit my ears like a glove. For context, the most comfortable IEM I own is the Monarch MK2… I have big outer ears for sure and the Estrella exhibited fantastic isolation, fit security, and absolutely no pressure build-up or long-term discomfort for me. I’d say the shells are about a medium size and the nozzle length is slightly shorter, maybe even shorter than I’d like, with an average nozzle opening size of 5.5mm so tips should have no issues going and staying on.

If you'd like to compare IEM sizes, visit https://www.iemfit.com/compare to check out how other IEMs compare to one another in terms of size and dimension!

TLDR; Where do I begin? The Estrella is an IEM that is special to me in a lot of ways as I highlighted above but over everything else, the sound is damn near my perfect EDC tune. It has a deep, textured sub-bass that rumbles with speed and impact. The mid-bass amount is perfect for my preferences with 0 bleed into the mid-range which is nicely textured, detailed, and just at the right spot within the mix. The more gradual pinna gain + the small 4k bump is just a genius tuning decision. With the very easy and very reversible tape mod, the mids and vocals specifically become even more textured and detailed rivaling my Monarch MK2 in terms of natural timbre, tone, and detail. No kidding. The treble is some of the best I’ve heard at this point and I’ve heard some of the best treble this hobby has to offer in my humble opinion. It is just wonderfully executed with just the right amount of sparkle and energy, it gave me chills the first time it hit me, which I’ll dive into in just a second. The technicalities, the resolution, detail retrieval, staging, and layering are all above its price bracket and that’s not hyperbole. I’d say the layering rivals kilo-buck sets. Every instrument is clearly heard, felt, and experienced. If I had 1 nitpick of the Estrella, I would prefer a little less upper-mids here, to allow the bass and treble to breathe a little more but that’s highly subjective. I’d say that for most folks, this tune might be a perfect all-arounder with some extra sauce thrown in the treble.



Bass

The bass of the Estrella is deep, textured, and fast. On songs like Neverender by Justice, the bassline is clear and impactful with a strong sub-bass rumble that isn’t just a bass tone, but rather, a constant vibration that doesn’t quite mimic them live, but it is well balanced in the mix. My ultimate sub-bass test, Fruiting Body by Goon was passed and absolutely smashed. I remember putting that song on for the first time with the Estrella and feeling super hesitant to do so because, well, quite frankly, once an IEM doesn’t pass that song as a test it gets multiple points knocked off. I know that sounds silly, but it’s such an important aspect of that song to me. I am so happy to say that the Estrella not only passed that test, but it literally made me fist pump in the air with joy. It digs deep, rumbles properly and doesn't get muddy like most IEMs in and around this price bracket. The speed of the bass is something that impressed me as well - fast bass guitar Lines like in the song Waves by Wild Painting are wonderfully rendered. The timbre and tone is extremely well done too. It feels like the bassist is perfectly placed in the mix for that song and each pluck can be distinctly heard and evaluated. All in all, I’d say the bass sector is extremely well done. The only knock I could give the Estrella is a slight lack of texture in the mid-bass, especially with bass kicks and bass hits specifically, but I think that’s a product of the tune here. The 2 DDs in this thing are well-implemented and give a thumpy, meaty, and powerful experience.

Mids

From the lower mids to the upper mids, I think the Estrella is trying to be as balanced as possible and succeeding - There’s a little bit of warmth and thickness from the lower mids but then there’s ample energy in the upper-mids so nothing ever sounds soupy or overly thick, but then also nothing ever sounds too bright or thin, it’s a wonderful balancing act in my opinion. Instruments sound as natural as can be, vocals are very natural sounding timbre-wise and are placed just a smidge forward in the mix and most likely where most folks would find that sweet spot. I mentioned the more gradual rise in the pinna followed by a small bump at 4 being a genius tuning decision earlier and I mean that - when you have them actually In-ear, you’ll see what I mean. For everyday use and for every genre, every artist, there’s never any sibilant nasty-ness or overly thin vocals for female singers but rather lovely resolution, details, and smooth tones. Male singers have similar strengths too, they have a little more body and husk due to those lower mids being nice and filled out, just enough to give that extra oomph. If you want ULTRA clean vocals, it’s a 10-second mod away. Putting a small bit of either scotch tape or micropore tape over the back vent lowers the bass levels quite a bit, cleaning up the lower mids and showcases a vocal presentation that rivals some of the best I’ve heard; Symphonium Crimson, Elysian Diva, OG Dark Magician… etc. etc. No joke - The vocal texture and simply how much emotion comes through the mix is stunning. I just prefer the stock configuration due to the heightened contrast in the overall presentation but it’s amazing to know that damn near TOTL vocals are here as well with just a quick patch of scotch tape.

Emotional vocalists like from Lunar Vacation, No Vacation, Maggie Rogers, Hayley from Paramore, and Wild Painting all are just stunning on the Estrella. It never once was harsh in any way, even when cranking up the volume a bit to get a more dynamic sound - oh, and the scalability of the Estrella is another amazing aspect. To summarize the mids, it’s a wonderful tune, with the techs to back it up. The only subjective thing I’d like to throw in there is that I would prefer a little less overall amplitude over the entire upper-mid range but that’s just me - I’m particularly sensitive to 3k so I have a thing for really low Pinna sets, but those always tend to be specialists in their respective lanes, whereas the Estrella is trying to be a beast everywhere it touches and it does that! Rest assured, these are not shouty in the slightest! I just love me some low pinna.

Treble

The Main event on the Estrella is the treble - I won’t ramble on this part; The Treble tuning, tone, and timbre on the Estrella is some of the best I’ve ever heard. Period. The only other IEMs I have heard during my time in this hobby that had a treble response that I preferred over the Estrella are the Elysian Annihilator, the Subtonic STORM, and maybe the Symphonium Meteors… the Estrella might even be above the Meteors and that’s saying a lot because the treble and mids balance on the Meteors I thought was a genius tuning choice but somehow here, on the Estrella its even better? You name a song I listened to over the past week with the Estrella, doesn’t matter which one, and the treble tuning blew my mind. Seriously, this part of the IEM is what has set it apart from literally every other release under $1000 that I’ve heard, outside of the Meteors. I even prefer this treble tuning over my pair of Monarch MK2s. I don’t know what else to say besides that, if that doesn’t get your blood flowing a little bit then I don’t know what will.





Technicalities

All across the board, I think the techs on the Estrella are top of their class and that includes overall resolution, detail retrieval, layering, timbre, and tonality. The only part I can’t really speak on, just because I hard time experiencing it, is the staging and how 3D or non-3D it is. I would say the layering and the overall speed and quality of these drivers in this IEM is nothing short of amazing, considering the price tag, it competes with sets I’ve heard that cost three to 10 times more… no joke. Imaging is another strong sector on the Estrella, when I first had them in hand I played a few hours of Warzone with them - I had 0 issues on that game which has horrible audio cues as it is, so IEMs and headphones with blurry imaging are simply un-usable. The Estrella was more than usable and showed great sound placement, height, depth, directions cues, you name it. I had no issues with comfort either! Dynamics are another really strong aspect of the Estrellas, there was never a dull moment listening to my music and when the song called for it, a strong sense of 'fun' washed over every part of the mix.

Conclusion

The Estrella is obviously the advancement of technology in this hobby, along with some extra effort and sweat embodied in an IEM that completes one's collection from beginning to end. This release will move the goalposts very far ahead, so far in fact I don’t think a lot of companies will be able to keep up. I feel like Simgot did this when they released the EA500, you guys remember that? If anyone, and I mean anyone was looking for an IEM and they had $100 to spend, the EA500 was the default rec, I mean it was nuts! The only thing was, the Simgot house sound has a more aggressive upper-mids tune, the fit could be weird for some people, and it had those tuning nozzles that some people don’t like yadayadayada…. Think of the Estrella as THE default rec under $500, except, it has no major flaws at all. It’s not boring. It’s not overly energetic. It’s not uncomfortable. It doesn’t have weird switches or tuning nozzles that get lost. I mean… as far as I’m concerned, this is THE default rec for under $500 as of right now and I feel as though it will be for the foreseeable future. Amazing tech, ultra-balanced tuning with powerful and rumbly bass, smooth clean and clear mids with top-notch texture and resolution, along with some of the best damn treble you will hear under $1000 and maybe even above it too. Trust me when I say, you cannot go wrong with the Estrella. It's safe in the sense of not many people will get offended by it's sound quality or tuning, but also a little risky due to the upper-mids and treble tuning. The good news is, it all paid off.

Congrats to Ziigaat and more importantly to Jay for his first collaboration project with a manufacturer. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that this couldn’t have gone any better, at all. The only thing to worry about now is keeping up with the production demand because while the upcoming HBB collaboration might steal the spotlight at first, I have a strong feeling that once people start getting their sets in and sharing their experiences with the rest of the forums, the steam shall be picked up.

What a wonderful pair of IEMs, thank you for the chance to listen to them first, Jay, you’re a legend <3 Thank you for reading everyone and happy Estrella day!





#BuyEstrella