thanks for the first freya review in the world. i take it that you mean t800 sounds more open compared to freya then?Just got a review set of the Freya.
Beautiful hand painted shell, it is huge though, slightly larger than my Audiosense T800, but quite comfortable and surprisingly very very light.
So OOTB, testing it with a Tempotec Sonata HD Pro:
- I would describe the Kinera Freya as having a balanced mild U shaped sound, with slight boosts in midbass and upper mids/lower treble.
- Bass is very well textured and accurate, with minimal midbass bleed, the subbass rumble is quite good like in well tuned DD sets, but subbass extension is not the deepest. Midbass is of more quantity than subbass, with bass north of neutral, but not at true basshead levels.
- Lower mids are very mildly recessed, but still detailed, with good timbre for a hybrid. From the specs sheet, the Freya uses some Knowles BA for the mids and it does indeed sound well rounded and clean, typical of the Knowles timbre. Note weight is moderate.
- Upper mids and lower treble are boosted slightly but within my tolerances and is not harsh unlike some CHIFI counterparts.
- Upper treble extends quite well and is not too fatiguing (I'm treble sensitive), and sibilance is mild.
- Technicalities are very good for imaging, clarity, instrument separation and details. Soundstage is quite big.
Will do some serious A/B testing with some midfi CHIFI sets, but offhand, it for sure trumps all my midfi Westones that cost more. I think the Audiosense T800 (8 knowles BA) edges the Freya slightly in the technicalities department, though Audiosense T800 is much brighter and more fatiguing for longer sessions. The Kinera Freya is more laid back in tuning, with lesser troughs/peaks in the tuning than the T800. TRI I3 perhaps has a bigger soundstage but has less clarity and details than the Freya, and TRI I3 needs amping to sound good due to the planars inside, whereas Freya is much easier to drive.
I don't give two hoots about how an IEM's looks as long as it sounds good (the Freya is very beautiful though). But I'm pleased the Freya's sound quality internally is as good as the external appearance!
Kinera Earbud Thread
Yes T800 has better soundstage width than the Freya, and is less "congested" as such.
im ordering one right now, somewhat impulsive cause of beautiful design. But damn as a treble head "congested" is the word im avoiding. do you have other iem that you can compare the sound quality? maybe like fiio, bgvp, campfire, or any other brand?
I wrote a more detailed first impressions here: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-discovery-thread.586909/page-3223#post-15745905 in the discovery thread. I'm doing some A/B testing with other midfi CHIFI sets and hope to get a formal review out by the end of the week.
Don't get me wrong, the Freya's soundstage is still quite good and definitely good in width/height (but not so much depth) at this midfi pricing, but I still find the Audiosense T800 is a tinge better in soundstage/technicalities, so maybe it be best to compare it against some other sets as you say. I have a few midfi Westones (Westone 3, Westone W30) which are more expensive, and Kinera Freya is better than these sets technically in imaging, details, instrument separation and soundstage. Though a word of caution: the knowles drivers used in the Freya give a somewhat blunted note definition in the mids and treble, so the I find some notes lack bite. I'm not sure if you get what I mean.
The Freya's soundstage seems to open up with amping or more powerful sources. Will you be using the Freya with just a simple smartphone? It will suit trebleheads for sure, with good treble extension (other than some weird 6 kHZ area dip), with the Freya having boosts at the 8 kHz region (and some mild sibilance); I find the Freya fatiguing for longer listening sessions but it brings quite a lot of microdetails out in the music (with a good source and source file), but I'm treble sensitive, so maybe take this with a pinch of salt.
As this is a midfi priced set, if you can get a set to audition locally that would be best. I think there's another review here: https://everydaylistening.net/2020/07/15/kinera-freya-review-metamorphosis/
And some other headfiers like @RikudouGoku have got a review set, so stay tuned for their impressions. BGGAR also has a set I think.
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that help me so much and i cant thank you enough, i think the sound would be suitable for me. im using a modded zishan dsd, the power was good so i think it would be fine.
anyway the 6k dip is deeper than kinera would like to admit on their promotional pict
cenizas
100+ Head-Fier
IEC711 measurements of local demo units
Freya:
Baldr:
Freya:
Baldr:
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cenizas
100+ Head-Fier
Impressions wise, I really dislike the baldr, hollow sounding through the mids, harsh lower treble and sounds pretty incoherent as a whole. Technicalities are alright though, but the poor timbre and coherence just makes it a non-starter for me.
I hear the freya to be balanced warm and generally midcentric. Bass isn't the fastest and there's some slight bleed into the lower mids, but I find this aids the midcentric signature, creating a richer fuller tone. Bass dynamics and extension are good, but there's some slight smearing of transients on busier passages. Tone through the mids is great, it's very much in line with my preferred signature, warm and with solid texture. Rendering of vocals is excellent, again, fantastic texture, accurate timbre and sibilance free. Treble is smooth, the 8k peak adds some sparkle but overall presentation is laid back. Technicalities are alright, has fairly spacious staging, but can get congested due to the slower bass. Resolution and detailing aren't poor, but aren't great either, but I find this acceptable considering the smoother more laid back presentation. I feel like I may be underselling it a bit but the tone is excellent and it's a really musical listen that's mostly fatigue free yet still engaging with its textured and properly weighted mids.
vs Mangird Tea
The tea's presentation also warm and midcentric but while the tea has a lighter, sweeter presentation, the freya is weightier and richer sounding. Technicalities are better on the tea, with the tea boasting better resolution, wider and deeper stage and better separation. Freya has slightly better stage height though. I do personally prefer the tone of the freya, with its denser sound and heavier note weight, but both are equally likeable and I can see opinions being split on these signature wise. The main issue with the freya is not exactly an issue with the freya but with the stiff competition it faces with the likes of the Mangird Tea and Shozy BG, and even cheaper options like the Tri i3 and Audiosense DT200. It might find a market with individuals like myself who find themselves loving the tone, but with middling technicalities, it might be a tough sell to those who don't.
I hear the freya to be balanced warm and generally midcentric. Bass isn't the fastest and there's some slight bleed into the lower mids, but I find this aids the midcentric signature, creating a richer fuller tone. Bass dynamics and extension are good, but there's some slight smearing of transients on busier passages. Tone through the mids is great, it's very much in line with my preferred signature, warm and with solid texture. Rendering of vocals is excellent, again, fantastic texture, accurate timbre and sibilance free. Treble is smooth, the 8k peak adds some sparkle but overall presentation is laid back. Technicalities are alright, has fairly spacious staging, but can get congested due to the slower bass. Resolution and detailing aren't poor, but aren't great either, but I find this acceptable considering the smoother more laid back presentation. I feel like I may be underselling it a bit but the tone is excellent and it's a really musical listen that's mostly fatigue free yet still engaging with its textured and properly weighted mids.
vs Mangird Tea
The tea's presentation also warm and midcentric but while the tea has a lighter, sweeter presentation, the freya is weightier and richer sounding. Technicalities are better on the tea, with the tea boasting better resolution, wider and deeper stage and better separation. Freya has slightly better stage height though. I do personally prefer the tone of the freya, with its denser sound and heavier note weight, but both are equally likeable and I can see opinions being split on these signature wise. The main issue with the freya is not exactly an issue with the freya but with the stiff competition it faces with the likes of the Mangird Tea and Shozy BG, and even cheaper options like the Tri i3 and Audiosense DT200. It might find a market with individuals like myself who find themselves loving the tone, but with middling technicalities, it might be a tough sell to those who don't.
Just got a review set of the Freya.
Beautiful hand painted shell, it is huge though, slightly larger than my Audiosense T800, but quite comfortable and surprisingly very very light.
So OOTB, testing it with a Tempotec Sonata HD Pro:
- I would describe the Kinera Freya as having a balanced mild U shaped sound, with slight boosts in midbass and upper mids/lower treble.
- Bass is very well textured and accurate, with minimal midbass bleed, the subbass rumble is quite good like in well tuned DD sets, but subbass extension is not the deepest. Midbass is of more quantity than subbass, with bass north of neutral, but not at true basshead levels.
- Lower mids are very mildly recessed, but still detailed, with good timbre for a hybrid. From the specs sheet, the Freya uses some Knowles BA for the mids and it does indeed sound well rounded and clean, typical of the Knowles timbre. Note weight is moderate.
- Upper mids and lower treble are boosted slightly but within my tolerances and is not harsh unlike some CHIFI counterparts.
- Upper treble extends quite well and is not too fatiguing (I'm treble sensitive), and sibilance is mild.
- Technicalities are very good for imaging, clarity, instrument separation and details. Soundstage is quite big.
Will do some serious A/B testing with some midfi CHIFI sets, but offhand, it for sure trumps all my midfi Westones that cost more. I think the Audiosense T800 (8 knowles BA) edges the Freya slightly in the technicalities department, though Audiosense T800 is much brighter and more fatiguing for longer sessions. The Kinera Freya is more laid back in tuning, with lesser troughs/peaks in the tuning than the T800. TRI I3 perhaps has a bigger soundstage but has less clarity and details than the Freya, and TRI I3 needs amping to sound good due to the planars inside, whereas Freya is much easier to drive.
I don't give two hoots about how an IEM's looks as long as it sounds good (the Freya is very beautiful though). But I'm pleased the Freya's sound quality internally is as good as the external appearance!
Hi friends, I just spoke to Kinera today, apparently the sample @RikudouGoku and I got are beta sets, so they went to change the tuning for the final production units which just shipped recently.
Apparently Kinera says the beta sets are more bass heavy, whereas the final production sets are brighter and have better technicalities such as instrument separation, imaging etc. So please forget my early impressions! It is all gonna be thrown out the window, best wait for someone to get a final production unit to see what they say! I think BGGAR has gotten a set too, not sure which version it is. Nymphonmaniac seems to have gotten a set here (https://www.facebook.com/groups/2356925341002367/permalink/3685159438178944/), from the way he describes it, it looks to be bright and technical.
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cenizas
100+ Head-Fier
I've been informed that the unit I heard was also a preproduction unit, there was some miscommunication between the retailer and kinera and he's since clarified with kinera that the unit was in fact a preproduction unit and was not meant to be used as a demo unit. So same, disregard my impressions. Hope the final tuning just improves the technicalities without overly hampering the tone, I really hope it doesn't turn into a harsh treble monster like some of the older kineras were..
Tis a pity so many of us got passed preproduction units. I kinda liked the tonality of the preproduction unit, but I'm treble sensitive and will probably give the final production boosted treble sets a miss if they are tuned as such.
Kind of hard for purchase decision if the reviewers are given pre-production sets that have nothing to do with the actual units. Also would probably need to discuss with retailer what version they are selling 
IEMusic
Headphoneus Supremus
And especially if the final production changes seem to be controversial, being brighter with less bass. Time will tell, but they need to get the final production units in reviewer’s hands ASAP.Kind of hard for purchase decision if the reviewers are given pre-production sets that have nothing to do with the actual units. Also would probably need to discuss with retailer what version they are selling
cenizas
100+ Head-Fier
Yeah, I'm also treble sensitive. Would be sad if they aggressively boosted the treble. The tonality of the preproduction set was pretty great to my ears.
sounds like a good news to me lol, bright and analytical. bought this on a whim because how beautiful it was, but now im actually hyping it.
bought mine since 17 july yet they still havent seen mine, really hope it worth every penny and wait
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