[jmotyka]

So I've had my quad drivers for about two days now and I'm actually quite pleased with its performance.

I have previously owned the triple drivers and was stunned by the price to performance ratio. And used them as my goto daily drivers.

Then the quad drivers come along. They were announced at the beginning of the year and I see impressions from shows here on the forums and on YouTube videos before it's release and man they were getting some cred! I thought to myself at first, man if these come in at $150 that's perfect!! Then they were announced at the $200 price point. I thought to myself hmmm these better be $100 better than the triples. I've read many reviews from all over the web about these quads and most are praising them, some are not.

Now do I think these are worth the extra $100 over the triples? I'm going answer with a yes and no. I'll explain in detail why I feel this way.

My first impressions (without burning them in) was ok, these sound almost exactly as the triples did with a little more refinement and less bass impact. The bass on the quads have more rumble and dig a bit deeper but impact in the mid bass region is lacking. I thought I could remedy this with a bit of bass boost and found out that's a bad idea. When I applied bass boost the midrange became highly colored by the boost and I mean highly. Then I wanted to why this was, then I read somewhere that the dynamic driver handles both the bass and lower mids. Which would make sense. But the bass is no slouch, it is fast with decent decay and lots of detail.

The mids....ahhh the mids. The mids sound to my exactly like the triples but with more refinement and detail retrieval. They are actually quite lovely to be honest. Impressive for the price range. I just wish the lower mids were pushed up ever so slightly with the rest of the spectrum.

The treble is where the quads have the triples beat hands down. Amazing extension, amazing detail. But a little bright at times. Don't confuse bright with sibilance, there isn't any sibilance to my ears it me just too bright for my liking. If they could bring down the treble and keep the detail that would be splendid. Nothing a little eq can't fix.

Soundstage

I keep reading other reviews on the quads and hearing people used the term 3D like soundstage. I'm not quite sure what those people are hearing. I'm not getting that big of a soundstage here. The width is nice. The depth and height are not there. These sound intimate to my ears. They are not by any means a soundstage slouch, they just are all they're cracked up to be in this department. Don't get me wrong I understand in ears can't Mimic over ears. What I do think those people were hearing was the added sparkle and air in the treble.

After all that, do I love them? Yes I do, I think 1more has got something here. They have refined and redefined what a v shape headphone should sound like with a price point that should scare the crap out of its competitors. But I somehow feel they just weren't worth the added $100 over the triples. Maybe I'm just thinking in terms of sound, Because build quality is top notch her, most notable is the cable. The accessory package was identical to the triples.

I rambled a lot here because 1) I'm on the go and on my phone. 2) I'm not an English major or grammar nazi so please don't judge me!

I'd like to know what everyone else thinks.



Oh one more note, I am hearing that problem with the cohesiveness between the dynamic driver and the BA's. i will update this as I go along.

 

[zhubajie]

I received my Quad Drivers today and after reading so many positive revieuws I was very disappointed actually.
I have been listening to it on my Cayin N3 for a while and from the first second I found it muffled and dark.
The Fiio EX1ii, which are my favourites atm. are so much better and brighter.

The detail is there, the highs are there but the darkness is spoiling it.
I'll give it some more time but I'm no believer in burning in. I only belief you burn in your head by getting used to the sound and that's not what I want. I'll check back.

Edit, a few hours later.
I have been trying it with different earbuds, on my Shanling M1 and on the brighter Benjie X1 and still stand by it. Dark in such a way that it spoils the rest.
I won't send it back but the EX1ii's will stay my favourites.
Не для меня.

 

[Jimster480]

I received my Quad Drivers today and after reading so many positive revieuws I was very disappointed actually.
I have been listening to it on my Cayin N3 for a while and from the first second I found it muffled and dark.
The Fiio EX1ii, which are my favourites atm. are so much better and brighter.

The detail is there, the highs are there but the darkness is spoiling it.
I'll give it some more time but I'm no believer in burning in. I only belief you burn in your head by getting used to the sound and that's not what I want. I'll check back.

Edit, a few hours later.
I have been trying it with different earbuds, on my Shanling M1 and on the brighter Benjie X1 and still stand by it. Dark in such a way that it spoils the rest.
I won't send it back but the EX1ii's will stay my favourites.
Не для меня.

Dark? Its definitely not dark, and the sound you get largely depends on what sort of seal you have.

 

[zhubajie]

Dark? Its definitely not dark, and the sound you get largely depends on what sort of seal you have.

Well mine are way too dark so I guess not all quad drivers are the same. Maybe I have a bad set.
I tested them with 6 different DAP's and all kinds of music so I'm sure of it.

At this price for a quad driver IEM you can't expect them to be too critical which drivers to use and which to discard.
With my expensive single driver Etymotics ER4's I received a performance graph and certificate for the driver. Many drivers that aren't good enough are discarded.
Don't expect that to happen with these quad drivers.

I'm glad for you yours are not dark.

 

[donato]

Just bought them this past week. I also find them to be pretty dark. i.e. bass is strong relative to treble. The bass certainly makes things exciting and having it a bit tame on the top end makes it not fatiguing on poor recordings. It's fun, but to me they don't seem neutral either. I actually wondered if I had a defective pair since so many comment on the airiness of the treble, but I wouldn't think it likely that both channels had the same "defect" so I assume this is the way it is voiced. it's just so interesting to me how people have such different descriptions, but maybe it does come down to the seal/fit. if you don't get a good seal, I assume the bass will be weaker so will have a less bass heavy presentation(?).

 

[Jimster480]

well I have to well I have to tell you that I do not wear them with a snug feel. Mine are worn with one size smaller so that they are not like earplugs. Therefore they have a lot more flat sound for me

 

[zhubajie]

Just bought them this past week. I also find them to be pretty dark. i.e. bass is strong relative to treble. The bass certainly makes things exciting and having it a bit tame on the top end makes it not fatiguing on poor recordings. It's fun, but to me they don't seem neutral either. I actually wondered if I had a defective pair since so many comment on the airiness of the treble, but I wouldn't think it likely that both channels had the same "defect" so I assume this is the way it is voiced. it's just so interesting to me how people have such different descriptions, but maybe it does come down to the seal/fit. if you don't get a good seal, I assume the bass will be weaker so will have a less bass heavy presentation(?).

I stopped using them and went back to my Fiio X1ii's. These are MUCH more neutral (and are a great combination with my new bought Moonlight Box Z6).
The quads are way too dark to my liking. I like balanced, like with my Etymotic ER4's.
The Fiio's are more for casual listening when I have to remove them from my ears quite often. The soundstage is a bit better too (logical).

 

[moonpen]

So far I have enjoyed the Quad Drivers and I find them to be more "fun" than neutral as they seem to pop on most songs but can be more fatiguing.

 

[donato]

well I have to well I have to tell you that I do not wear them with a snug feel. Mine are worn with one size smaller so that they are not like earplugs. Therefore they have a lot more flat sound for me

Yeah, the shallow insertion took some getting used to. I have small ear canals and have almost always used deep insertion IEMs. With these I don't get a perfect seal, but pretty close with the largest foam tips (first IEMs that I preferred the foam tips over the flanged).

 

[donato]

So far I have enjoyed the Quad Drivers and I find them to be more "fun" than neutral as they seem to pop on most songs but can be more fatiguing.

That's interesting because I find it fun for what sounds like the reverse reason...it's fun for the bass for me. It's when the top end gets too bright esp. sibilant, that is very fatiguing for me. That's why I find the reviews/responses to the Quad so interesting because it seems like so many have such different experiences with them.

 

[Jimster480]

That's interesting because I find it fun for what sounds like the reverse reason...it's fun for the bass for me. It's when the top end gets too bright esp. sibilant, that is very fatiguing for me. That's why I find the reviews/responses to the Quad so interesting because it seems like so many have such different experiences with them.

Its because its all based on your ear size and how good your seal is, and then what kind of sound signature you like.

 

[headfirst]

Just got my pair today. Enjoying them for the most part... is it just me, or do they kinda muddle up vocal sibilance? I've tried them on a few devices and artists, and everyone comes out sounding like they have a lisp. Primarily, I'm using them with a Hidizs AP80 DAP (hence my profile pic, hah). The MSEB functionality on the DAP really allows for fine tuning these earbuds quite well, which I'm actually super impressed by. However, I still struggle to clear up the vocals...

 

[Left Channel]

@headfirst for me they match very well with my AKM-based FiiO X5iii DAP and Q1mkII DAC/amp. I have no complaints at all. Perhaps they're not the best match for your DAP amd your ears.