Kinera Earbud Thread
teesui
Head-Fier
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Guess I'll be experimenting with foams for my buds too!
chaiyuta
1000+ Head-Fier
If I can use without fitting and comfort issue, I always use without sponges. So I use Kinera Buds without sponges.
teston
100+ Head-Fier
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I tried rolling many foams on the kinera buds and end up having the ABnormal blue foams installed. Very spacious sounds with intimate mid-range. I don't feel the thinness in vocal anymore. The bass is reduced though it has pretty good texture and punch. Treble is brilliant too with good attack and extension without feeling piercing.
I got the blue foams along with the ABnormal Duotres. I read on their fb page that they will sell the foams and metal cases alone if anyone interested.
I got the blue foams along with the ABnormal Duotres. I read on their fb page that they will sell the foams and metal cases alone if anyone interested.
Love how user friendly these buds are, Pk2 shells fits me best, braided wires with no microphonics, and sound quality is very good especially for the price. It's my go to for going taking it to work or out of the house. However, it's been mentioned from Kinera that you must use high quality dac/amp for these, I'm wondering what I'm missing as I only have a basic setup with Fiio BTR1, and amped with Walnut F1 doesn't add much noticeable bass or change in sound.
chaiyuta
1000+ Head-Fier
@ExpatinJapan : No, this thread is reserved for only kinera earbuds, not kinera iem.
Apologies
Heres my Kinera Limited Edition earbuds review
https://headpie.blogspot.jp/2017/12/kinera-limited-edition-earbuds.html?m=1
Regards
Expat
(Not uploaded to head-fi review section as it was a limited run and unavailiable)
ngoshawk
Headphoneus Supremus
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Kinera SEED
(Is there a SEED thread?)
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/new-kinera-seed-hybrid-iem.874353/
I've not tried a Kinera earbud before, but they look quite pretty.
Seems Kinera is launching 2 new models soon, seems to be based on some Norse mythology?
1) Kinera Freya - https://www.facebook.com/kinera2017/posts/2688988644714332
Looks like an airy set based on the FR?
2) Kinera Baldr - https://www.facebook.com/kinera2017/posts/2689781124635084
Seems to be 4 electrostat drivers based on their FB post. Wicked stuff! No FR unfortunately.
Seems Kinera is launching 2 new models soon, seems to be based on some Norse mythology?
1) Kinera Freya - https://www.facebook.com/kinera2017/posts/2688988644714332
Looks like an airy set based on the FR?
2) Kinera Baldr - https://www.facebook.com/kinera2017/posts/2689781124635084
Seems to be 4 electrostat drivers based on their FB post. Wicked stuff! No FR unfortunately.
B9Scrambler
Headphoneus Supremus
Baldr looks pretty killer, but it's the Freya I'm most interested in. Looks, price, nice FR, and good specs. I'm in
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!
EDIT 20/07/20:
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.
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!
EDIT 20/07/20:
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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IEMusic
Headphoneus Supremus
The KINERA FREYA IEM is currently on Drop for $215.
@baskingshark, your impressions may be the only ones thus far.
@baskingshark, your impressions may be the only ones thus far.
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$215 is a good price!
As mine is a review set, they only passed some normal generic eartips, stock cable and the IEM itself.
Apparently from this unboxing vid, there's much more goodies inside the packaging:
It even comes with a USB DAC/AMP and a 1/4 inch jack and Final E type tips!
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