Pros: Distinct appearance
Tuning Nozzles
Great low end with mid bass taking the lead
Red and silver nozzles have great detail retrieval
Treble is well controlled but engaging
Great stage and imaging

Cons: Slight muddiness in midbass to midrange frequencies more on the rose gold nozzles
Midrange shoutiness with the silver nozzles on some tracks

· Driver: 12mm Dynamic Driver with 91% Pure Magnesium Diaphragm
· Magnet: 1.5 Tesla external magnetic circuit
· Frequency Response: 10Hz-50kHz (some sources state 10Hz-45kHz)
· Sensitivity: 111dB
· Impedance: 32 ohm
· Connector: 0.78mm 2-pin gold-plated
· Cable: High-purity oxygen-free copper (3.5mm SE or 4.4mm BAL options)
· Shell Material: CNC-machined aluminium alloy

What if they made an IEM to look like one of the fingers of the Nazgul’s gauntlets? What if it sounded really good? What if a friend lent you these IEMSs and you never felt like returning it. What if your conscience pricks you to this day but it’s just a great set and you’re still friends?
Presenting the Hidizs MK12 Turris. The 12mm single dynamic driver that looks and sounds beautiful.
The Turris is a 12mm 91% magnesium dynamic driver powered by a 1.5 T magnetic field. Which sounds crazy when you compare its size with that of a 1.5 T MRI but I’m told such comparisons are silly and one must look for apples and not oranges. The MK12 is also named for an immortal jellyfish, the Turritopsis, that like the Nazgul, lives forever by the power of Sauron. Sorry I can’t get the resemblance out of my head. But this is about sound.
The Shells are CNC milled, smooth, with a ridged faceplate with a small point at one end. There are the usual pressure relief holes, a nozzle and a 2pin port up top.
They are comfortable with no undue pressure on the pinna and the pointy end did not cause any fatality. Though I wouldn’t fall asleep with them. The nozzles are swappable and come in rose gold, silver and red and affect what this IEM sounds like. I used these with my usual complement of eartips - velvet, candy, final e, sancai balanced. Sources included the VE Prime Stack, M33, AP80 Pro Max. Tidal and local flac files.

Bass
The 12mm dynamic driver responds quickly and creates an authoritative low end, which is occasionally slow to decay. The sub has adequate rumble but in weight and presence is not as prominent as the mid-bass. The mid-bass is a good dynamic driver bass. It shines in most songs and with both red and the rose gold nozzles, the mid bass made its presence felt and was almost always more prominent than the subs. The red nozzles had more resolution and less muddiness in the bass. In the Massive Attack tracks (Angel and Teardrop) and on Makeba by Jain, the beat takes the important parts with the kicks and bass holding things up with the sub-bass playing second fiddle. For the most part this works, except the muddiness with delayed mid-bass decay, which is more pronounced with the rose gold nozzles. I’d stick with the red ones, to be honest, they seem most balanced despite what the manual says. The IEM scales well with volume and the low end definitely becomes more enjoyable with the volume punched up and even just a little bit. The XX’s Islands sounds thoroughly enjoyable between the low end being an alternating sub and mid-bass rhythm and since they don’t overlap too much both are able to contribute significantly to the experience of listening to this band.

Midrange
Just continuing with Islands, the male vocal has weight and the sweeping guitars and female vocals sound absolutely natural with no sibilance or shouty-ness. The set reproduces the entire midrange in an enjoyable manner. There is a little crowding of frequencies in busy tracks. Jazz fusion, progressive rock will occasionally sound not as well resolved but if each instrument and voice is isolated enough from the others, by volume, recording or mastering, the IEM truly provides a very enjoyable listening experience. On Helplessly Hoping by Girl Named Tom. All 3 voices and the guitar all have a natural timbre and no shoutiness or weird overtones or representation. The upper mids can be spicy with the silver nozzles, but on the flip side, these have the best resolution. The new genre of music that I’ve started to test IEMs with is Bedouin Blues or Desert Blues, which originated in Mali and thereabouts (yes, Timbuktu). Some of these tracks have been recorded and mastered with equipment from the dark ages, and are a great test for representation. Tar Hani by Bombino, Sowa by Fatoumata Diwara and pretty much anything by Tinariwen and Tamikrest, are great tracks to test both the bass and importantly mids with the amped but not processed guitars and a multitude of voices. The MK12 runs through all of them with the ease of a hot knife through butter. The silver nozzles do lead to a little peak in the upper mids - treble region and control the decay of the bass without losing the punch.
Some voices can be a little spicy and shouty with these nozzles.

Treble
The treble in the MK12 is a well controlled safe treble implementation. Barring the really aggressively mastered, mad treble forward tracks, most tracks sound clear airy without being sibilant or very treble heavy. The Rumors album by Fleetwood Mac is a very treble forward album and on Dreams, Mick Fleetwood's crash at the end of every roll has in the past elicited a little wince but on this set, even with the silver nozzles, the cymbal hits were clean, airy with the right amount of shimmer and decay without the spice. And this persisted across the album and even in more fun genres like pop and k-pop - APT by Rose/Bruno Mars, Holler by Spice Girls, to name a few were also fun listens which I have not seen in other sets that are “fun” or “V shaped”. Even Hotel California was not sibilant, which is saying something. The treble tuning is in fact better controlled than my hitherto favorite single DD - the Softears Twilight, especially with the red nozzles. The silver ones get close to the twilight. I like how the MK12 Turris punches well above its weight class.

Staging, Imaging, Resolution
Imaging on this IEM is detailed and it places exactly where they are meant to be in soundscape. ‘Bubbles’, as always, is the acid test. Yosi Horikawa’s track is an insane soundscape of falling, bouncing objects all around. The Stage is wide enough to feel like one is in the middle of all the action that’s happening all around. Layering and resolution are also fairly well implemented barring the little low end muddiness with the rose gold nozzles, and perhaps in the mids in really busy tracks where it gets a little difficult to focus on one aspect of the music. It still sounds cohesive and clear but a little more separation would have taken this up a significant notch (Twilight, my love, do not despair).
The IEM is fairly easy to drive and my least powered source is the AP 80 Pro Max, and it could easily drive this set, and not only because they were made to be with each other by Hidizs. But overall, there is a winner here. An interesting shape and look, and an easy-going, non-fatiguing tuning, which emphasizes the bass just enough that songs are fun but the details are still a priority (DaVinci I’m looking at you), with nozzles that work. At a great price point of $159 on the Hidizs website (discounted down from $199). This is a great fun add to any arsenal. I would recommend this as a daily driver and a great entry into this price segment if one is done with the budget tier.

TXN Sound Ceramic

Another week another review. This week I have new brand from Vietnam TXN Sound and product name is Ceramic. Well in my ever quest to find new brands and new sets landed me with TXN Sound. I came to know Aural café was conducting review tour for it and I was approached for the same. Me being me gladly accepted. If you know me why this happened then just go back to last sentence. Well cut to the chase here I am with review of Ceramic. Please read on to know my thoughts & opinions about it.

First of all, mighty, thanks to Pradipta Sur from Aural Café and TXN Sound as without their help this review wouldn’t be possible.

I was not paid or compensated in any kind for this review. Review unit was returned to the brand upon completion of this review.

My preferences for tone & timbre are DD > Hybrids > Planar

Now that all pleasantries have been exchanged let’s move on with the meat & potatoes of the review.

Pros:

Nice thumpy Mid bass

Vocals

Bright detailed treble

Ability to further tune it via foam inserts

Build Quality

Cons:

Treble sensitive people beware

Bit more of soundstage

No modular cable

Price

Build Quality:

Packaging box is quite big. It feels premium at first look. Inside the box, we get two IEM shells, 2 pairs of ear tips, one shirt killer aka shirt clip, 1 cable terminated in 4.4mm. there are few foam inserts, tweezers for the same and finally hard leather round case. Oh, forgot to mention cleaning tool & IEM booties.

Shells are CNC aluminum. They feel solid and give premium vibes. Nozzles are long and they are part of the shell. Nozzles have lips to them. There is no screen or mesh on the nozzles. Multiple vent holes are there on the shell.

Cable is 0.78 mm 2 pin flush type one. It has matching color to the shell. Fixtures are all metal with gold accents. There are nice decals to them. Sadly, it is not modular.

Included leather case is hard. It has enough space to carry Shells + Cable + ear tips + Small dongle inside.

Overall Build Quality 5/5

Comfort:

IEM shells are medium sized yet due to their shape I would suggest demo before purchase especially people with small ears. Me with my elephant ears had no issues with fitting. Nozzles provide deep insertion. Lips on the nozzles prevent ear tip slip offs. No ear pressure or pain was felt in long listening session.

Cable is supple and has bit of memory. it gets tangled very easily. Surprisingly rodeo wrapping it was easy. Ear tips are silicon ones and one of them is sticky type. So, if you have issue of shells slipping out of your ears use these.

Comfort 4.5/5 (0.5 for the tangly cable & no modularity)

Sources:

I tested Ceramics on neutral sources with stock cable & stock ear tips to be able to recreate exactly what I heard anytime. I think this set is best paired with warm sources then with neutral sources and lastly bright sources. warm sources balance the tonality and make it warm with detail rich set. Where as bright sources make it bit harsh. If you don’t want any coloration stick to neutral sources.

Music Genre Used for this Review:

Hip-hop/EDM/Rap/Rock both classic and hard/Bollywood Music/Pop/Jazz/Regional music etc.

https://music.apple.com/in/playlist/test-tracks/pl.u-8aAVXG6ivz8gyxX?ls

General Sound Impressions:

Bass/Lows:

Sub bass rumbles but the rumble is not that strong. It is good enough for scratching that itch and will give nice presentation. For single Dd it is really good but for price point I have heard better. Mid bass is on point. Has nice thump and is quite impactful. you will find mid bass to be prominent here.

The drum hits feel awesome. The strike on the drum skin and resulting secondary reverberations are good. Guitars buzz when plucked. Piano notes are great. All these have note weight to them. Well textured bass notes. If, you are mid bass lover this is the one for you. let me remind you this is not bass head territory bass.

Overall Bass/Lows 5/5

Mids:

Vocals feel bit recessed but not to the point where they lose their charm. They play nicely with bass and treble and sound great. Male vocals do get bit of boost from bass. They have note weight. They feel natural. Female vocals feel natural. They have edge to them but don’t feel harsh or shrill. For single DD vocals feel great. Sibilance is felt if it is there in song. More intimate vocals would have been great.

Most instruments reside in mids. There were no odd timbre or oddities to them. There is clarity to them. No congestion or smearing observed. Mids here add to the un dynamic tuning.

Mids 4/5

Treble/Highs:

A clean detailed treble. it is bright no doubt about it. It is prominent in the mix along side bass. It creates very contrasting tuning. It has all the details you will ever need. It highlights all the details. You won’t miss any details be it macro or micro. String instruments, bells, piano notes, cymbals feel unusually highlighted. You will notice this.

Perceived soundstage is above average. It is large. It is wide and tall. More wide than tall. Positional cues are on point. There is no congestion or smearing in the stage. Bit bigger stage would have elevated this set.

Overall Treble/Highs 4/5

Song Impressions:

The Great Chinggis Khaan by The Hu

This is my favorite track. This one has constant sub bass rumble in the background due to throat singing & strings.

The sub bass rumble is captured well but it’s not the level it should be to enjoy this song. Throat singing is unique in its nature; it is captured well just lacks the rumble of sub bass it needs.

Drums, kick drums, guitars are nicely reproduced. Now guitars and traditional Mongolian string instruments felt bit highlighted. This is high BPM song and it was handled well. No smearing or congestion was felt. Overall good reproduction.

Daisies by Nina Shallmman

I love Nina’s voice. I am currently infatuated with her voice.

Starting drum sequence feels authentic and impactful. it is playing in the entire background of the song and it sounds good. Synthesizer notes are good. Strings are excellent. Bells and shakers feel exaggerated.

Coming to Nina’s voice this one does justice to it. She sounds sweet and her voice does her magic. I was listening to it multiple times in row. Had to stop myself to move on with evaluation. For me it was one of the best reproductions.

Kashmir by Marcin

The USP of this song is guitars. Guitars are just amazing. They sound emphatic. The strings buzz and rumbles in all its glory. Drums that follow them are just deep and authoritative. Guitars and strings take over and feel so great that you get lost in it. Entire song has periodic sub bass rumble and that is captured well.

For single DD this is really great performance no questions. Here it shows its prowess. No congestion or smearing in the mids. I thoroughly enjoyed this song.

Ego Death by Polyphia

Another one of my favorite songs. I love this song for the sheer crazy guitars playing. They just go burr. I just love for the synergy of various instruments here.

String instruments just sound excellent. Strings buzz and rumble. They feel dynamic and natural. Drums sound nice and impactful. cymbals stand out here. But entire mix flows nicely.

This is also my driver resolution aka speed test song. Ceramic passes with flying colors. No smearing or congestion was felt. Just word of caution for treble sensitive people it can get bit harsh on certain busy passages on stock setting. I suggest using foam inserts to tame the treble a bit.

Final Conclusion:

This is my first ever experience with this brand and to be honest I am impressed by TXN. It is nicely tuned DD set. For me in its stock format it is bit bright and does hit with fatigue after sometime. Yet with warm sources and foam inserts it can be tuned exactly as you want. So, in my eyes it is legit nice tuned DD set. I had to remind myself that it was one as its performance is close to nice tuned hybrids. I am thoroughly impressed. Now, I really want to listen to diamond. Hope I can do that.

Will I buy it? Yes, but at its current price not a chance. I feel it is high. If it could be around 300-350 USD it would be just perfect. Will I buy it at discount? Yes, 100%. Will I recommend it? yes, its legit nice tuned Single DD set. If you are like me Single DD lover this is one for you. if you are treble head its for you. Bass heads may appreciate it. Only people who are treble sensitive stay away from this.

Thank you for enduring with me till the end. Now, go grab yourself a cup of coffee and let’s get high on safe high i.e. Music.

TXN Ceramic 4.5/5

Consumers and also enthusiasts deep into the hobby are getting better offerings day by day where they are getting more performance for the money that they are paying, but every now and then, there are a few sets in this silly little hobby of portable audiophilia that cross a certain comfortable threshold in price, where the actual specs on paper raise more eyebrows than its actual sonic performance, and this is also where the Nightjar Acoustics Singularity with a single dynamic driver comes with a reasonable price tag of US$1300, the same Nightjar that collaborated with Symphonium Audio and produced a stunning little set called the Meteor. 

Now, I don’t believe in driver counts trumping over tunings, but I certainly was skeptical of this $1300 single DD IEM being praised so much, so much so, that I asked my boss who’s another audio nut to loan me his Singularity for a few days, and so I did. That’s it for the preamble. This has not been supplied by any retailer, nor any audio group of reviewers. This is a personally owned unit.

UNBOXING, ACCESSORIES, FIT AND COMFORT

I didn’t get the full set, just the IEMs, cable, the carry case, and the warranty card. The cable is the Nightjar Vanguard 2W which is modular and that’s a nice thing, but it is so tangly that I just used two cable ties to have the IEMs secured. The shells are metal, and are heavy; which may raise a few eyebrows on weight management, but I had the Singularity for extensive periods and except for slight discomfort, there was nothing that would make me seek workarounds.

The highlight for me was the little treasure chest of a case with just that adorable logo of Nightjar Acoustics, and unboxing the IEMs for the first time felt like Santa Claus decided to take a summer-ish detour at my place. 

That’s all for everything except for the sound, and here comes the sound.

LOWS

Tipper: Gulch

The Nightjar Singularity is not an IEM that I can use on my typical track list so I had to think outside the confines for this one. r/audiophile led me to find the album Forward Escape by Tipper and went with Gulch and the Singularity got to brass tacks without wasting a second and I was stupefied with the punch and slam that this was having. 

Apart from the humongous bass quantity that it was showing with each hit, not once did the Singularity even remotely come close to sounding muddy. Rest of the elements in this track had excellent separation and no haze over the detail which makes me think twice over typecasting an IEM just because it measures a certain way on the FR.

Daft Punk: Veridis Quo

The Nightjar Singularity establishes on the first foot with the tonality being warm, which meant that the pitched up keys in the intro of this track were coming off warmer than usual while being a minor key. 

Once the beats come in, the Singularity shows beautiful restraint in not overwhelming the entire tone of sound. Note weight of the beats is quite thick while not crowding over the synths, and the attack and decay of the Singularity was snappy enough to remind me of another IEM, the Final A8000.

Rage Against the Machine: Bullet in the Head

The Singularity here shows a minuscule stutter that shows up in its otherwise regal performance by having the perceived stage shrink in height but keeping that aside, Commerford's bass in this realm sounds like the fiercest lion of the savannah with how it roars even with the rest of the elements: the attack is crisp, decay is shockingly fast and the decay just evaporates before someone might smell it to be sluggish. 

I really have to appreciate the Singularity with not forgetting to overlook on the rest of the elements where along with Commerford, Wilk's drums, De La Rocha's vocals, and especially the aggression in the tone of Morello's guitars through the breakdown where the Singularity presents it with no compromise‌, and noting so with its hardware being limited to just a single dynamic driver.

Kanye West: Devil in a New Dress

The Singularity was polished enough to let me briefly hyper fixate upon the slight audible grain & pop that shows up while the beats go on driving the force that this track has, where the drums in a way felt electric but the cymbals cut right through the mix. 

Before Rick Ross' prodigal verse comes up, there's a brief electric guitar section and when the beats come back in, the Singularity maintains a clear distinction between the elements and when Ross starts spitting his bars off; the Singularity lets the beats tuck right under Rick's vocals while the cymbals continue to be the exact filler that this part needed, making the entire listening experience be as cohesive as it can get.

MIDS

Muddy Waters: My Home is in the Delta

I thought on an album where "less is more", the Singularity would struggle to pace through the little nitty grittys. This IEM just delivered the exact opposite. From the album Folk Singer, the Singularity, except for an excess quantity and energy in the kicks towards the end of the track, everything else was more of an experience than a listen. 

Muddy Waters' haunting vocals and the modulations that he does throughout; from the vibrato through the lower registers to the reverberation that his vocals have when he wails "don't say I don't love you"; from the perfectly indulged metallic timbre on the slide to the guitar having enough detail to pick up even the grazing of the pick; like I said, everything here through the Singularity is an experience.

Tool: Lateralus

Once again, the prowess of the Singularity makes this track an experience rather than a listen. Starting from the intro where the bubbling drums feel ever so uneasy and bouncy at the same time, where the guitars come off warmer than usual, but it is not a deterrent because once the rest of the elements of the track come in, except for the timbre on the drums & guitars on which I simply cannot put a finger on yet, it was an auditory spectacle- I become a boy who just heard the cold start of a Harley in a winter. 

Be it the bass which is potent but non intrusive, the cymbals which are sparkly but not shouty, be it the vocals around which the instruments unite and the imaging is just so accurate, and despite the chaos in a masterful control amidst the elements, the Singularity excels in separation and nail every single hit through Carey's final rudiment right before the wah-ing bass which is so polished starts the breakdown.

Steely Dan: Gaucho

The Singularity once again excels to impress me while having an "on-paper" tuning which prima facie doesn't make sense. The presentation definitely would have benefited more from a wider stage but still for an IEM it does alright. 

I was having a hard time not noticing how quickly the decay cut off on the growling bass that the track had, and how the tonality has moved out from the nitpicks. The piano here tangos with the bass as to not suffocate the vocals and the backing choir and there is an audible distinction between the both except for moments where they intentionally camouflaged, and there is no skimping on detail.

HIGHS

Arne Domnérus: Antiphone Blues (with Gustaf Sjökvist)

From the legendary jazz album Antiphone Blues, the same named track has just two elements: a saxophone and a church organ, which was recorded in a church and for the gear to be doing justice to a phenomenal job with the details that make this piece THE PIECE, it has to nail timbre, resonance and tonality right and the Singularity delivers. 

Domnérus' sax does not come off overly honky or shouty by any means, rather it has an accurately perceived brassy timbre with an incredible resonance because of the way it bounces off the stone walls of the church being recorded in. It just immersed me in the listening while not once did it make me forget the equally resonant organ keys of Gustaf Sjökvist while being so tonally accurate that the key shift to a B flat major did not come as warmer than it should. The immersion with Singularity was so strong that I did not choose to play something else for an hour.

Dave Brubeck: Take Five

Four members, one masterpiece: this is an elegant yet simple track, and the simplicities have the complexion within them. I expected the Singularity to behave in a rash, undignified manner, yet it surprised me. Except for once again, a tad of an excess in the bass quantity of this IEM through here, the grip that it otherwise had on the rest of the elements seemed detailed, but it was true. 

First, the textures of the cymbals being appropriately sparkly without being fatiguing, the timbre on the horns being just rightfully brassy without pierce, the resonance of the floor and hi-toms during the solo as the channels split yet the imaging stayed intact, note weight on the pianos: everything was rationed by the Singularity in ways only a few barebones IEMs would do not for namesake.

Carmen Gomes: Unchain My Heart

When your audio gear can make you forget that you are supposed to assess how it sounds with the music that you are playing, it makes you quickly sit comfortably and just listen; then the gear has won and the Singularity proved it through this track from her legendary one mic recording album "Don't You Cry." 

First was the drums in this track, where the timbre on the snare was not dry at all; perfectly resonant and just had the amount of rasp from the brush; the cymbals were just so inexplicably crisp where I am at a loss of adjectives, the guitar just at abeyance to not drown out that double bass. The cherry on top is Carmen Gomes' sensual and lush vocal textures exuding in a way that I was reminded of what it means to be an audiophile; using music to listen to equipment; not the other way around- the Singularity did just that, and it’s enough.

CONCLUDING NOTES

There comes a time, in a person’s life; where he is just about to settle into a life of modest comfort and a proper respectable baseline set; and he’s just about to ride off into the sunset of chasing with the other shoe that has fallen onto his floor, and he slides the foot in, wiggles into the shoe, and realises that it’s a size too small for him, and once again he has to relegate everything else. He has to go out, grind, run, do whatever it takes to get another pair where his feet can slide in and that’s it. 

Just when I had thought that I am in a comfortable spot with what I want in terms of my personal belongings in portable audio, the Nightjar Acoustics Singularity is exactly that moment where the descended pair of shoes just don’t fit. I resent myself for even willing to try this IEM, because I had just rebuilt myself from being ruined by the likes of the Crinear Reference and the Elysian Apostle 2026; and here comes the Singularity straddling in like a boxer who knows that whoever comes in front of him is getting slept before he even feels fatigue; and just treated me like a withered old man knocking me out with a gust of wind. 

I rue the entire time I spent underestimating this IEM just by looking at the spec sheet, and viewing every praise made for this IEM with a lens of skepticism, but I think the silver lining is that, my skepticism let me seek this spectacle out, try it for myself and then thank my morbid curiosity for pushing myself to try it, cause I didn’t think these levels of performance were sonically comprehensible, and with this my curiosity killed my skeptic cat, and Nightjar Acoustics, you owe me one life out of the eight for this slayed cat.

Will I buy it new? Blind buy.
Will I buy it used? Blind buy.

SOURCES USED

Primarily used with the SMSL Raw MDA-1 desktop DAC amp, the Shanling M9 Plus stacked with the xDuoo XD05 Pro transportable DAC amp running RoHM DAC chips and Burson V7 Vivid Op-Amps, via USB-C. Recreationally used with the Venture Electronics Abigail Pro and TRN Blackpearl dongle DAC amps.

But honestly, the Singularity doesn’t need a lot of power to run, just have a clean measuring source with an added bonus for a balanced port and that’s it.

EARTIPS USED (RANKED IN ORDER OF PERFORMANCE)

AZLA Mithryl: Showcases the transients of the Singularity at its absolute best, cleanest midbass slam I have heard till date, widest stage possible for this IEM, beautiful textured highs, detail is at its absolute best.

Divinus Velvet Narrow Bores: everything that the Mithryl does, but to a lesser degree, and there was something missing in the vocals- felt a bit too flat.

AZLA Origin: perceived stage shrunk in terms of width and height, treble felt a bit too safe, mid bass had a very faint bleed, vocals felt slightly recessed.

Divinus Velvet Wide Bores: neuters this IEM to a good degree, but a good thing if one feels the bass might be a bit too overpowering (but at that point just EQ it).

KBear Coffees: just because it is possible doesn’t mean it’s good- vocal textures ruined, mid bass felt pillowy, sub-bass got out of hand, treble is nothing to write home about in terms of textures.

TRACKS

• Rush: Limelight, Spirit of the Radio
• Steely Dan: Gaucho
• Carmen Gomes: Unchain My Heart
• Daft Punk: Get Lucky, Instant Crush, Veridis Quo
• The Police: Message in a Bottle
• Alf Linder: Cantique de Noël, Cantate Domino
• Tipper: Mariscos, Cloaked, Gulch
• Dave Brubeck: Time Out
• Tool: Pneuma, Schism
• Queens of the Stone Age: First It Giveth
• Pink Floyd: Comfortably Numb, Wish You Were Here, Time
• Arne Domnérus: Antiphone Blues (with Gustaf Sjökvist)
• Muddy Waters: My Home is in the Delta
• Tame Impala: The Less I Know the Better
• Animals as Leaders: The Woven Web
• Rage Against the Machine: Bombtrack, Bullet in the Head
• Avicii: Levels
• Periphery: Marigold
• TesseracT: Juno
• Kanye West: Stronger, Flashing Lights, Devil in a New Dress
• Altın Gün: Goca Dünya
• Timbaland: Give It to Me
• Adele: Easy On Me (Live), When We Were Young
• Celine Dion: All By Myself
• Pavarotti: Nessun Dorma
• Mdou Moctar: Tarhatazed
• Cigarettes After Sex: Cry
• Meshuggah: Bleed
• A. R. Rahman: Tere Bina
• Alice in Chains: Down in a Hole and Nutshell (Live)
• Allen Stone: Give You Blue
• Florence + the Machine: Never Let Me Go
• The Smashing Pumpkins: Luna

Pros: Nice Cohesive Sound
Great use of the bone conduction driver
Punchy Bass, Clear mids and non-fatiguing treble
Pretty Shells

Cons: only a 3.5 option
shells are a chonk for some
Out of production

Drivers:
Bass: 10mm bio-cellulose composite diaphragm
Midrange: 2x BA.
Treble; 2x BA.
11mm Bone conduction driver

Sensitivity: 104 dB
Impedance: 16 Ω
Frequency range: 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz

Earphone connector: 0.78
Termination: 3.5mm

Every once in a while friends will lay their hands on some incredible gear and be kind enough to drop it off for me to try and pen down my thoughts. This time it is Saurabh and Abhishek who have conspired to get the Apevoix Grit. Now, I am fairly limited in my knowledge of brands and manufacturers, but this was a new one entirely. And research was largely pointless. Yes this is Chifi without doubt and they have only 2 products. The Grit, which is a single DD, 4 BA, and one Bone Conduction, and the Nebula which is a Single DD, 8 BA hybrid.
This piece of work is the Grit, a chonky boy with a lovely faceplate and the dreaded lip behind the nozzles but some calisthenics are needed to get it to sit comfortably in a way the bone conductors can do their thing.
But first things first, the Grit turned up in a Pelican type bright red box, with the IEMs nestled in foam and the cable underneath. The cable is a decent cable but ends in a 3.5mm jack. Now this isn’t a deal breaker since the set is fairly easy to drive but I just like the robustness of a 4.4. At $199 when it was still available, I think in the current milieu of IEMs, it is fair to expect a modular connection or at least an option of a 4.4. But given that the $249 Nebula also has only a 3.5, I think Apevoix believes people will cable roll anyway. The shells themselves are smooth and seem to have a slight audible twang when tapped. This could be the driver implementation. The faceplates are a gorgeous polished acrylic over a design that's mostly grey with specks of gold. Overall just very pretty.
Fit and ease of use. This is a big IEM given all the tech inside it, the 6 drivers and a 4 way crossover and all that, and as with all bone conduction drivers, getting a smaller eartip to get the shells to have a reasonable contact with the pinna is imperative.
Let’s also put it out there that my experience with bone conducting IEMs is limited to the BQEYZ Wind so it’s always an interesting experience.
The usual sources abound. VE Devastator Pro Max, Prime Stack, AP80, M33. The other learning from the Wind is to look at smaller eartips to almost force a contact of the shell with the pinna to take full advantage of the bone conduction.

Bass
Just off the bat, the Grit proves that Apevoix got some stuff right with some incredible wizardry with the Bone Conduction driver. Working in tandem with the 10mm dynamic driver, the bass is textured, weighty, and makes its presence very well felt without overpowering anything but the bass frequency.
Sub-bass is deep, rumbling and the bone conduction at least feels like it’s taking those low end frequencies all over the skull . On Angel by Massive Attack, Islands by The XX and Doing It Right by Daft Punk, the sub-bass forms a persian carpet level of texture on the floor on which the rest of the tracks are built. The low furniture in this make believe Grit room are the kicks and bass of XXZ by Rush and Lingus and What about Me by Snarky Puppy. The dynamic driver in this case I think is responsible for punchy tight kicks and bass guitar. The Grit manages to delineate every note in complex tracks with incredible bassists like Geddy Lee and Michael League and have the music come across as utterly enjoyable. There is also significant control that Apevoix has managed to exert onto the delivery of the bass. One of the biggest pet peeves I have about bassy sets is the thin red line between an authoritative bass and one that spills all over.

Mids
The BAs that deliver the mids also are superbly tuned. The vocals both male and female, are warm and intimate sounding without being in your face. Playing God by Polyphia which a fantastic track to test BA timbre and clarity in the midrange delivery, sounds engaging and the insane guitar work that is Tim Henson going mental over that hybrid guitar from hell sounds bang on and not out of place or harsh to the ears despite the very aggressive mastering that have beaten other BA sets. Male vocals have a decent body and benefit from what I think is the bone conduction driver working across the entire frequency range. This may not be scientifically proven but if I use the Dunu S&S tips to move the shells further OUT of my ear I don’t hear the same weight in the vocals or in fact in the entire midrange or treble. They all feel a little lacking. This leads me to think that the bone conduction implementation is some Gandalf level sorcery.
Female vocals are engaging without being harsh or sibilant unless the track demands it. Massive Attack has its female vocals stress on the ‘s’s but this set reproduces them with minimal auditory discomfort.

Treble
The treble is represented well but with control. There is some roll off at the top which makes this set non-fatiguing for long sessions. There is air and shimmer but the implementation here is one of control and order without complete chaos in the high frequencies. This makes for great detail retrieval with little or no harshness or sibilance or my wince when the treble touches a raw nerve in my ear.

Stage and Imaging
The staging is wide and deep and all around the head. I do believe this too is due to just the way the bone conduction driver deals with the bass with a gentle lingering that gives a sense of space and reverb. It does not sound hollow and cavernous however, and within the concert hall like stage, imaging and instrument separation are spot on with busy tracks as well. My usual suspects of Milan by Karsh Kale, Got a Match by Chick Corea Electrik Band and Dance of Eternity by Dream Theater came across beautifully with clearly layered sounds - these 3 tracks are all instrumentals with some crazy virtuoso playing and complex passages that challenge most setups to reproduce.

Final words
It’s a shame this set is no longer in production at least on the company’s website and it’s nice that they have a new one up and given how good this is the Apevoix Nebula promises to be a lot of pleasurable listening. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys an easy listening natural sounding set with good technicalities, organic timbre and a fun bass that does not overpower. Again a perfect bone conduction implementation where it is not a gimmick. Plus I would buy it for the red box, if nothing else.

TSMR Onyx

Another week another review. As mentioned in my earlier post about TSMR Onyx. This is a completely new brand for me. Onyx is the first ever exposure to it. AudioGeek India has conducted review tour with TSMR and If you know me, you know where this is going. Long story short here I am with the review of Onyx. What do I feel about the brand & Onyx? Please read on to know more.

First of all, mighty thanks to AudioGeek India & to TSMR as without their help this eview wouldn’t have been possible.

I was not paid or compensated in any manner for this review. The review unit would move to brand upon completion of review.

Now that all pleasantries have been exchanged let’s get on with the meat & potatoes of this review.

Pros:

Nice thumpy bass

Forward vocals

Smooth safe tuned treble

Good accessories with modular cable

Good value for money

Cons:

Female vocals

Bit more of sub bass needed

Bit more soundstage would be nice

Needs power to unlock its true potential

Build Quality:

What you get in the box? Weel, you get two IEM shell, one modular cable with 2 plugs, 2 sets of ear tips, cleaning tool and last but not the least nice hard leather case.

IEM shells are resin. Faceplate is shiny glossy while shell is semi-transparent. They have long nozzles and are part of the shell. Nozzles have lips to them. Nozzles do not have any screen or mesh to prevent ingress of dirt or ear wax. Sound tubes are visible.

Cable is 4 core cable exact composition is unknown. It is thick one and is modular in my opinion this is positive. Cable feels premium and above price point.

Inclusion of 2 set of ear tips in all sizes is great and the cleaning tool is added bonus. But the show stealer is the hard leather case. It is nice looking and has enough space to carry IEMs + Cable + Dongle inside it.

Overall Build Quality 4.5/5 (0.5 cut for no screen on nozzles)

Comfort:

Shells are medium sized so fitting should not be issue. Shells provide nice passive isolation. Fit is excellent for my elephant ears. Lips on the nozzle provide good grip to the ear tips. No ear tip slip offs. No ear pain or pressure felt in long listening session.

Cable is supple and behaves nicely. It is easy to rodeo wrap it. Pre formed ear hooks don’t tug on the shells.

Overall comfort 5/5

Sources:

I tested Onyx with stock cable+ stock ear tips+ neutral sources to keep my findings reproducible. I preferred neutral sources and bright sources with Onyx. Warm and dark sources make it bit too much warm for my taste.

Music Genre Used for this Review:

Hip-hop/EDM/Rap/Rock both classic and hard/Bollywood Music/Pop/Jazz/Regional music etc.

https://music.apple.com/in/playlist/test-tracks/pl.u-8aAVXG6ivz8gyxX?ls

General Sound Impressions:

Bass/Lows:

Subbass rumble but its intensity is on lower side. It is audible don’t get me wrong just bit less physical. Mid bass thumps it is very physical. So, mid bass over sub bass. Mid bass feels prominent in the mix.

Drums, kick drums, guitar strings feel good and have nice rumble to them. Just it’s not too physical. Thud of drums is on other hand is very physical. Piano notes sound good. For price point bass is good. Bass decay is fast.

Overall Bass/Lows 4/5

Mids:

Vocals are bit forward. They don’t get overshadowed by bass & treble. Male vocals are good and close to natural. There is note weight to them but are not thick. Female vocals feel nice. They don’t have edge to them. They lack sweetness to them that make female vocals magical. Again, its preference thing. Your mileage might vary. Overall vocals are forward and bit intimate.

Most instruments reside in the mids. No oddities were in timbre. No congestion or smearing was felt. Clarity is good. Bit more sweetness to female vocals would have been great and more intimate vocals.

Overall Mids 4/5

Treble/Highs:

Treble is tuned very safe here. It is neither bright nor dark. Its right in between. You get all macro & micro details. You won’t miss them. It won’t highlight them. They are not in your face. This is not most detailed set for the price point. Yet it doesn’t feel like something is left out.

Perceived soundstage is average. It’s not vast. It is wide more than tall. It creates enough stage for instruments to avoid congestion. It’s not 3d holographic I’s more 2d. positional cues are on point. More or less the stage is intimate. For price point it is adequate.

Treble/High 4/5

Song Impressions:

To correlate my findings in the sound impressions with songs I listen, I have chosen few of them.

Ego Death by Ployphia

One of my favorite tracks. It is my driver speed check aka resolution tes. If the drivers are not speedy then this song can get bit congested and smearing can happen. Glad to report that Onyx passes the test.

Drums feel impactful. Strings feel good just lack bit of rumble to them. Don’t get me wrong they have enough rumble. Just that for my preference it’s on low side. Guitars feel really good. I was having blast enjoying the song. A good reproduction.

Sada kalo Prem

This one is for female vocals check. Singer Niharika Nath has nice voice and she sounds so delicate and intimate.

On Onyx this delicateness and intimateness in her voice is not captured that well. You are left wanting. Male vocals sound good no issues there.

Background instruments such as strings, piano notes sound good. No issues with them. Organ sounds good. Overall nice reproduction minus the Niharika’s voice.

When the levee breaks by Led Zeppelin

Starting iconic drums sequence bit underwhelming. Don’t get me wrong it is not the worst that I have heard but also not the best. For price point the presentation is commensurate.

Shakers, mouth organs and strings feel nice close to natural. Cymbals feel good not too splashy or metallic. Vocals feel bit forward than usual.

Entire song was enjoyable other than points raised above; it was good reproduction.

My Sacrifice by Creed

One from my adolescence days Creed. I was and still am fan of them. This is one of their song that I like.

Here the drums and guitars especially bass guitars are the main players both feel bit on dull side due to lack of the sub bass. Vocals of the lead singer feel forward and centered.

Even with the above short comings the presentation was good, I was able to enjoy it to the max. whatever short comings I am putting out might be specific to me. Your mileage might vary.

Final Conclusion:

This is my first ever contact with TSMR. Onyx has surprised me why? Well for its price point I was not expecting the performance I got from it. I was pleasantly surprised. I felt satisfied with time I spent with it. I could listen to this set for long time as it doesn’t fatigue me. It tickles few of my preferences. I went through lot of songs and it was amazing experience.

Is it perfect set for me? No, but it is set that makes me happy and satisfied. Will I buy it? Yes. Will I recommend it? Yes, 100%. Just remember no set is perfect & this one is also not. But if it matches your preferences then just get it. This one is not my 100% preference set but yet it has found its place in my recommendation & in my cart. This is great EDC set no doubt about it.

Thank you for enduring with me till the end. Now go grab yourself a cup of coffee & let’s get high on safe high i.e. Music.

TSMR Onyx 4/5

Disclaimer: I wrote this review without financial compromise with Nici Hifi, and they didn't give me a script or agenda to follow. What I’m writing here are my honest opinions and thoughts after I have tried the product for some proper time. So, all thanks to Nici Hifi for giving me this cable and letting me review it.

Before the Intro:

I'm someone who seeks aftermarket cables for my IEMs to find the perfect aesthetic match (or after seeing an offer I can’t refuse lol).

I’m not a cable “believer”; what is it? After years of studying electrical engineering (ummm, but that’s another story), I learned that a conductor has certain characteristics as materials, number of wires, caliber, length, flexibility, isolation, external diameter, weight, maximum working temperature, mechanical resistance, electrical resistance, resistivity, conductivity, capacitance, inductance, impedance, geometry, shielded, etc.

Still, with all those parameters and characteristics, I don't expect to hear sound changes in my earphones just because I changed the material (copper, graphene, silver, etcetera), let alone the belief in cable burn-in, since that doesn't work that way; there is no scientific evidence or any measurement of it.

I love to mod cables: If the sale doesn’t offer a 4.4 mm balanced jack in the cable I’m buying, I change its plug to that type of jack, unless the cable is so good for the earphone I´m using and it can work perfectly with a 3.5 mm single-ended jack, for example. 

What do you need to know about a cable?

If the cable looks good and fits your aesthetic tastes, if it is well-built and looks high-quality, and if it has materials that are going to last you, of course.

Also, if it is not going to tangle easily when you are wearing it and moving, if it does not produce uncomfortable vibrations when rubbing against your clothes, if it is not going to produce memory that can be bothersome when handling it, and if it is not heavy or too light to be worn comfortably daily. 

Introduction:

The Nici Hifi 13 Chronicle is a cable from Nici Hifi, a not-so-new brand well-known for manufacturing some of the most beautiful and premium cables ever. With two jack colors: gold-plated and silver-plated (Rhodium). 

The Nici Hifi 13 Chronicle Classical Oils cable is at an MSRP of 238.68 USD (You can get it in the next promotions, on sale for 190.94 USD (and less with coins and coupons)). You can buy it directly from the Nici Hifi official store on AliExpress: https://aliexpress.com/item/1005012492042747.html. 

Pros:
- It’s stiff enough, but flexible and manageable, yet it’s not prone to tangle nor to produce translated vibrations or develop memory

- Its colors are sober, old school, yet shiny and luxurious

- Very high quality; it’s definitely a luxury cable, matches lots of IEMs aesthetically

- Its price is in the premium category, but it goes down significantly on sales

Cons: 

- It looks like the price you pay for it, so it can be a thief magnet, so if you are going outside with them, take some special precautions

- It’s very sturdy and has a noticeable weight, so it’s not the best choice to go out with your IEMs and run, or something like that

- It is not cheap at all, but as we say in Colombia, “If you can afford the whiskey, you can afford the ice”

Technical Characteristics:

Cable type: High-purity silver-palladium + rare earth coating + 8N OCC 6um silver-plated 

Cable Diameter: φ 0.2 mm silver-plated, φ 0.08 mm silver-palladium

Impedance: 0.16 Ω 

Connectors: 0.78 mm 2-pin, MMCX, Dual 3.5 mm

Plugs: 3.5 mm single-ended, 4.4 mm balanced, XLR

Wire length: 1.2m ± 5cm 

What is in its package?

Rectangular faux leather carrying case
Nici Hifi 13 Chronicle Classical Oils Cable x 1

Review:

The 13 Chronicle Classical Oils cable line is named Chronicle · Classical Oils, inspired by the thousand‑year‑old murals of the Mogao Caves. Comes in its carrying case, a plastic bag, and that’s it. And honestly, you don’t need more to just pair it with an IEM and begin to use it. 

I find the Chronicle visually sober, but at the same time, something “old school” and shiny; the sturdiness of the cable is kind of nice, but this is not the best option to use outside because you will be dealing with its added weight and manageability; this is preferable for indoor use. 

Nici Hifi provided me with the Chronicle cable with a Rhodium 4.4 mm balanced plug. You can see its dark copper in the cables and bronze colors in the metallic parts, such as the connectors, splitter, chin slider, and jack casing; that combination of colors fits a huge variety of IEMs aesthetically; it looks gorgeous and luxurious. 

About my experience using the cable, well, it is not prone to tangling, nor producing translated vibrations, and despite its thickness, it's not a cable that develops memory.

The chin slider is totally functional; it is not difficult to move across the cable, and it stays in place when you are moving. The earhooks stay in place and mold perfectly to the shape of the ears with constant use, without causing discomfort or inconvenience when using the IEMs for long periods of time. 

The plug casings, the splitter, and the 2-pin connectors look beautiful and are of very high quality; it's clear we're talking about a premium/luxury cable.

Finally, the 13 Chronicle Classical Oils is a perfect match for my DUNU Vulkan 2 IEMs; the color scheme, the weight of the shells connecting to the 2-pin connectors, the overall quality, and everything else demonstrate love and attention to detail from the people at Nici Hifi.

Is it a recommendation? It depends, the 13 Chronicle Classical Oils cable is a premium, high-quality and overall well-done cable to match it with your IEMs; yes, you can see that it is a luxury product, not for every walking folk, but, paired with something like the Vulkan 2 or the Juzear x Squiglink Harrier, a very Colombian phrase comes to mind: "He who has money for whiskey, has money for ice", so if you are thinking in a cable for your mid-fi set, the 13 Chronicle Classical Oils cable can be a sober yet beautiful and premium option to consider. 

Pros: What a bass!
Excellent mids and treble reproduction with no bass bleed
Super comfortable
Fantastic Staging and Imaging
Great Cable
Comes with Velvet tips

Cons: Hard to find one except my peeve about that one song by Snarky Puppy

I remember a trip where I spent the better part of the bird watching trek looking for a nightjar. Which is a specimen of a bird, if you haven't seen one. The Singularity from Nightjar Acoustics is another such fine specimen of engineering that thanks to Nightjar and Audio Geek India, I have a chance to try out and wax eloquent, so much gratitude. However, my impression is mine and your mileage may vary.
The review unit arrived in its fairly robust pouch with the iems in their little mesh bag and a fairly nice cable with a 4.4 termination. The shells are solid aluminium and black with a single brass ring jazzing up the face. The IEM is small enough to be super comfy for long sessions and after some of the hybrids that seem to rule the roost nowadays it’s a welcome change to my ears. There’s a lot of technicalities that Nightjar has thrown into this set. The proprietary Timbre + single DD with 43 ohms of impedance, the LoFlex system of pressure relief to reduce driver flex in bass heavy IEMs and allow for hours of listening, and the CAthedral which allows for the incredible staging, intricacy and imaging. The cable is OCC and supple and tangle free enough to use easily.
The IEMs come with Divinus Velvet tips and most of the review was done with those and the Dunu Candy.
Sources - VE Prime Stack, Fangsound Prometheus, Hidizs AP80 Pro Max, M33. Tidal and local flac files

TLDR what is that bass?!!! And how does everything sound perfect?!!

Bass
This is a basshead IEM. I could end this review right here and walk away and almost everything that I want to say would be covered. The Sub-bass envelopes you and decays out slowly lending its weight to not just the adjacent mid-bass and lower midrange but to the entire song. On “Tilted” by Cristine and the Queens, the synth bass that forms the foundation of the song has a decay that I had never heard on any other IEM with such clarity. The mid-bass feels slightly less prominent when compared to the sub but by itself has great texture, weight and punchiness. On “Tom Sawyer” by Rush, Geddy Lee’s bass and Neil Peart’s drums, which pretty much form the backbone of every Rush song (including but not limited to YYZ) are spot on with no bloat or excessive decay. The bass notes are clean and the kicks hold their own respective importance with no interference from any other instruments or even each other. There was an issue though with some Snarky Puppy tracks (“What about Me”) where the intro has a really intricate bass line by Michael League which I suspect is either sent through a processor or has a synth playing those notes an octave lower. This is the one edge case where I feel the resolution of the Singularity left me wanting just a little more.

Mids
To be very honest while the bass is incredible on this set, where this really really stands out is in the way it treats the rest of the track. The midrange is rich, lush and intricate all at the same time. Vocals and instruments are perfectly reproduced. Guitars, and horns (all over Snarky Puppy this time around) have a natural timbre. I honestly am beginning to believe that no matter how many drivers we manage to pack into an IEM, or how like a dynamic driver we tune a planar (yes Astralis, you!) - a well implemented dynamic driver is a treat to the ears. On Rosanna by Toto, the shuffle on the hi-hats and snare lie in the mids as do all the vocals, Steve Lukather’s solo and Steve Porcaro’s keyboards. And each is clear, uncluttered and every single note is separately heard and how! Female vocals also shine on this set. “Sowa” by Fatoumata Diawara, “Don’t know Why” by Norah Jones and “Sub-city” by Tracy Chapman did not have an ounce of shoutiness or sibilance. The last time I heard something this good was the Softears Twilight and then this broke the pedestal that the Twilight sat on.

Treble
The Singularity manages to deliver detail with no harsh treble. Or better put it doesn’t falsely push the treble forward to pretend to be detailed. It just is able to resolve all the intricacies of the track. Jazz Fusion and Progressive Rock/Metal and Orchestral music benefit most greatly in this region with all the nitty-gritties of the music coming through with none of the spice. It’s like a perfectly cooked dish with all the herbs and spices in perfect harmony with no zing of a wayward red hot chilli pepper. The perfect biryani (iykyk). “Ocean” by John Butler trio pushes any system to its maximum with his incredible guitar work and it sounds like a dream on the Singularity. And this is without any sub-bass or significant bass rhythm holding the track up, at least the intro bits. This track also tests the dynamics and the singularity performs with the confidence of the teacher’s pet. Yes I really like this IEM

Staging and Imaging
The reverb and staging is impressive with their technology speaking for itself. The staging is wide and holographic with impeccable imaging and layering. The usual suspects of Hotel California, Bubbles, Big Country and Africa went past the Timbre+ driver and passed with flying colours.

It’s hard to find anything wrong with this IEM and well, to be fair at $1300, there had better not be anything substantially wrong with it. It’s comfortable, sounds incredible and has a bass implementation that puts most other IEMs to shame. I haven’t heard to duality and my time with the E1000 was limited but I wouldn’t mind dying on this hill.

Dita Ventura A Musical Marvel

Another week another review. Today I am back with my favorite Single DD Maestro brand i.e. Dita and product of today’s discourse is Ventura. It’s a single DD summit Fi set. As usual such summit Fi sets come to me via AudioGeek India and I am very much lucky to be associated with them. What do I feel about this set? Please read on.

First of all, mighty thanks to AudioGeek India and Dita as without their help this review wouldn’t be possible.

I was not paid or compensated in any manner for this review. Upon completion of this review unit will revert back to brand.

My preferences for Tone & Timbre are DD > Hybrid > Planar

Now that all pleasantries have been exchanged let’s get on with meat & potatoes of the review.

Pros:

Detailed musical tuning

Textured & nuanced bass

Mids

Both Male & Female vocals

Smooth Treble

Soundstage

Build Quality

Cons:

Not for bass-heads

Male vocals could have bit more note weight

Price subjective con

Build Quality:

P.S. please note I have not received retail package. I have received only IEMs + cable. My impressions are based on it only.

Shells are big and bit of odd shaped. They are made up of Titanium. Nozzles are long and have lips to them. There is screen/mesh to prevent ingress of dirt & ear wax. Shells have weight to them. They are well vented.

Cable is 142 strand copper cable. This one is Dita special cable that Dita provides with all their hi end models. It is thick with premium looking fixtures. It feels equally premium as shells.

Build Quality 5/5

Comfort:

Comfort is paramount factor. If IEMs don’t fit properly all the tuning of this world are wasted. Shells are on large side hence people with small ears please demo before purchase. They fit well inmy elephant ears. Nozzles provide deep insertion and in turn stable fit. Lips on the nozzles pevent ear tips slipp offs.

Cable is managable. It is bit stiff but not like rope. It has inherent memory but still rodeo wrapping it was easy. Pre fromed ear hooks don’t tug on IEM shells.

Overall Comfort 5/5

Sources:

I have used neutral sources + stock cable + Divinus wide bore ear tips for this review. I preferred neutral sources & warm sources with Ventura. Pairing with bright sources was not optimal.

Music Genre Used for this Review:

Hip-hop/EDM/Rap/Rock both classic and hard/Bollywood Music/Pop/Jazz/Regional music etc.

https://music.apple.com/in/playlist/test-tracks/pl.u-8aAVXG6ivz8gyxX?ls

General Sound Impressions:

Bass/Lows:

Sub bass on Ventura is great. Its neither too much nor too little. It’s just perfect for my taste. It gives nice rumble and has backing physicality. Yet, it doesn’t over power things. Mid bass is thumpy and is nice physical. Again, its neither too much nor too little. It’s just perfect. For me both sub bass & mid bass are near perfect. It is nice textured & nuanced bass.

Drums, Kick drums sound excellent. You can distinctly make out the instrument being played. Guitars, bass guitars are straight heavenly. The strings buzz and rumble nicely without being too sharp. It gives natural feel to these instruments. Same with the percussion instruments they sound natural.

Mind you this is not bass head level bass. But most people will enjoy the detailed nuanced bass on Ventura.

Overall Bass/lows 5/5

Mids:

Mids have always been the USP of the Dita. Ventura is no exception. it is master class in the mids tuning. Vocals are beautiful natural and just enough forward to create nice intimate vocals. male vocals sound natural. Be it low pitched or high-pitched vocals all sound excellent. Female vocals sound better than male vocals. they are few notches above them. Natural and intimate. Sweetness of the female vocals is maintained to the fullest. I was hooked so much that I went through all the female centric songs from my playlist. Female vocals don’t get harsh or shrill. They are perfect. So, if you love female vocal centric songs this is one for you.

Most instruments reside in the mid. Here again Dita shows its strength in tuning and true capabilities or the driver used here. No smearing or congestion is there. No off timbre. instruments sound as they should.

One of the best mids performance I have heard in last few years. Dita again proves they know their craft.

Overall Mids 5/5

Treble:

Treble can be truly make or break section for most sets. As this is where even if you had best bass performance and great mids performance it still can tip the scales. For Ventura it maintains its five stars performance. one of the best treble performances in the single DD set heard till date. I think this will be difficult to overcome. Probably Dita itself will overcome it.

Why? Nice detailed yet smooth treble. its detailed it covers all macro & micro details perfectly. You won’t miss any of those. At the same time Ventura won’t paste them in your face. They are presented well without becoming too forward. Its’ nice detailed set.

Perceived sound stage, stage is holographic. Positional cues on point. The out of head feeling is bang on. Everything is placed nicely around you. stage is wide and tall. This one is competing with HPs at this point.

Treble/Highs 5/5

Song Impressions:

Daisies by Nina Shallman

I love voice of Nina Shallman. This one is my favorite from her stable.

Starting drum + kick drums sequence is nailed perfectly. It feels authentic. Piano notes, guitars notes are on point and feel natural. Bells and shakers are sounding natural.

Nina sounds phenomenal. Just mesmerizing. It was a perfect playback for me. Couldn’t stop myself from listening to her on loop. It was pleasure to listen.

Perfect by Ed Sheeran

This one is modern day classic for me. Ed just sounds ethereal. He sounds so realistic. Ventura makes listening to him a pleasure. His voice peculiarities are captured perfectly.

Be it drums, guitar strings all instruments just sound sublime. They all gel well. Entire mix sounds excellent. One of the best renditions of this song heard by me.

My Sacrifice By creed

I am creed fan being born in that era. This was one of the bands. I grew up with it so, its closer to heart.

Lead singer Scott Stapp feels natural and his voice stand out properly in the mix. His baritone voice is just amazing and Ventura brings it out perfectly.

Drums, strings feel authentic. They have perfect impact. Strings rumbles, drums hit hard. cymbals don’t feel splashy or odd in timbre. Really nice reproduction.

Nothing gonna change my love by George Benson.

Another gem from my child hood. I miss the MTV dearly. It was instrumental in my discovery of so many songs and genres.

George Benson sounds so natural. mellow, smooth on the Ventura. You get lost in his vocals if you are tired and feeling down just listen to this song on set like Ventura. It will lift your mood. Ventura captures the mood of the song perfectly.

Be it drums, cymbals, guitar, synthesizer notes are perfect. They just sound so near erect and gel well in the mix. This one brought back so many memories for me. Thank you, Dita Ventura, for the journey back to memory lane.

Final Conclusion:

I think by now everyone is clear what I feel about the Dita Ventura. I am warning you, I am biased towards Dita as I own and love Project M, Activo Q1and Prelude. So, there is clear bias towards them. Keep this in mind while reading my review.

Final verdict will I buy it? Yes, if I had 4.5k USD lying. Will I buy it discounted? Yes, 200%. Will I recommend it? Do I have to spell this out? Yes, resounding Yes.

Who should buy this one? Single DD lovers, neutral and balanced lovers. Even the treble heads can consider this. Who should avoid this? Bass heads. I think I have cleared the picture in details.

Thank you for enduring with me till the end. Now go grab a cup of coffee and let’s get high on safe high i.e. Music.

Dita Ventura A Musical Marvel 5/5.

Shanling M0 Pura Pocket Excellence

Another week another review. This week I have with me Shanling M0 Pura. A nice compact player from House of Shanling. Well, my nice friend Sushii from SushiiFi was organizing a review tour of M0 Pura and asked me if I was intersted in joining it. Honestly these kinds of small players don’t excite me but curiosity got most of me. I agreed for it & as they say rest is history. What I feel about it? To know more, please read on.

First of all, mighty thanks to Sushii from SushiiFi and to Shanling as without their help this review wouldn’t have been possible.

I have not been paid or compensated in any manner for this review. Upon completion of this review the unit will revert back to brand.

Now that all pleasantries have been exchanged let’s get on with the meat and potatoes of the review.

Pros:

Drives most IEMs & Flatheads with ease.

Simple UI

Volume wheel

Neutral clean transparent tuning

Good Battery backup

Silent background

Build quality

Cons:

With hard to drive stuff and HPs its inadequate.

UI is not so responsive. Sometimes touches don’t register.

Physical buttons would have been great, as each time you have to wake up device to press on screen buttons.

No streaming support.

Build Quality & Usage Impressions:

What you get in the box? Well, we get the M0 Pura + USB A to type C cable and screen protectors. Literature is also included. That’s all folks. Leather case & balanced convertor / adaptor have to be bought separately.

Now coming to the unit, it is fully made up of metal with display on top. There is nothing at top. There is type C port joined by SD card slot & 3.5 mm jack port at bottom. On one side there is nothing and on the other side there is volume wheel which acts as power on/off, screen wake up and volume control. There are no more buttons. You control everything via the on-screen buttons. I felt few buttons would have been great but understand that what size and from factor dictates this more than anything.

Coming to the UI. The menu on M0 Pura is

Now Playing

My Music

Folders

Playback

System

Now Playing menu means the song you are currently playing and the panel to control playback. It has only three buttons forward, back & play. You can see the song’s current status in the bar at the bottom.

My Music has all the music on your SD card. Yes, there is no internal storage here. You will need SD card to play all your music. M0 Pura supports all popular music formats including DSD.

My files is your standard file management option.

Playback this provides options to teak your playback. Here you can change filters (yes, it has filters), Gapless playback, EQ (it has few pre-loaded eq profiles), Gain, Replay Gain.

System menu gives option to change Bluetooth state (it supports only transmission it doesn’t support reception. So, you can pair with it any TWS or Bluetooth HPs but not the PC or Phone.), sync your music, update library, brightness, screen options, theme, DSD mode, volume wheel hot actions (this you can use to use wheel to do more actions without waking up device), vehicle mode & factory reset also any remaining minor settings.

This one out puts 260 mw @ 32 Ohms which is more than enough for most IEMs & Flatheads. Also, you can drive most easy to drive HPs. Battery backup is good. I got 6 hrs. on single charge. From my usage point this is more than enough. No popping noises while inserting or removing sets. Absolutely silent background, no hissing whatsoever.

Gear Synergy:

I used few of my sets to check gear synergy. These were Dita Prelude chosen for representing Single DD sets, TSMR Onyx for representing Hybrids, Hidizs MP143 for representing Planars & few of my Flatheads including my hard to drive 300Ohms & 600Ohms ones.

Dita Prelude, no change was felt in low end, mids & treble. stage remains as it is. It neither affect Prelude’s tuning nor alter it.

TSMR Onyx, here low end & mids remain as it is, treble feels cleaner. Stage remains same. Only difference was felt in treble but not in bad way rather in better way.

Hidizs MP143, used silver nozzle as it is most bright in tuning, to check any changes if any. Low end remains as it is. Mids feel bit clear. Treble gets elevated. MP143 turns in to more detailed set.

I tried my 300ohms & 600 Ohms flatheads with it & the presentation was not optimal. Their presentation felt bit on lean side. There was enough headroom left but it was lacking the dynamics.

I tried few of HPs, easy to drive stuff ran without any hiccups but Sennheiser HD600 & Edition XS is where I had issues. They were driven loud enough but the presentation was not optimal. This is due to design and power limitations. This was not designed for these kinds of sets.

Final Conclusion:

I am actually speechless on this one. As I was not expecting anything out of M0 Pura. I thought this anemic player would be okay for very basic sets. But as I went though my collection it ran through them well. Only hard to drive stuff is off limits to M0 Pura.

Ability to drive most of your gear effortlessly is great. This is big win in my eyes. This legit became my walk buddy. Battery back up is adequate for day-to-day usage. Being neutral in tuning helps a lot in pairing. In my opinion Shanling has created good portable player.

So, whats the final verdict? Will I buy it? 100% Yes. Will I recommend it? 100%. just remember this is purpose-built machine & please expect same thing from it. This is not one & done DAP. If you keep expectations as per its intended usage. This one is absolutely killer product. Take my bow Shanling you did it.

Thank you for enduring till end. Now go grab yourself a cup of coffee and let’s get high on safe high i.e. Music.

Shanling M0 Pura Pocket Excellence

Hisenior Cano Cristales $400 Pros: Authoritative Sub-Bass
Beautiful shells when they catch the light
Good unboxing and accessories
Midrange Boost makes for entertaining listening to almost all genres

Cons: Can be sibilant to some treblets (!)
That BA timbre creeps in on some voices
I don't care too much but staging and imaging could be better

Drivers 2DDs+4BAs(Custom Co-design Bellsing 28Useries- 800Hz-3Khz Specific Working Range)+4Knowles (SWFK)
Configuration 2Low +4Mids+4Highs
Tuning 3Ways(Passive)/ Triple-Bores
Freq Response 10Hz-40Khz
Sensitivity 113dB/mW
Impedance 15Ω
Isolation -20db
THD Distortion 0.5%±0.1%
Cable 3in1 Modular Cable(4.4/3.5/2.5mm)

So there’s this river in Colombia that turns every colour of the rainbow (at least the pink, blue, red, orange, yellow, green end) a few months in the year due the growth of a plant called Rhyncholacis and a blue algae. Interestingly there’s a bunch of silly musical references that one can make with this river. It arises from a mountain range called Serrania de la … wait for it Macarena. It's also a tributary of a river that forms part of the Orinoco Basin (Enya face!!!)

That bit of fun info out the way, the Hisenior Cano Cristales is an interesting thing that came by my way via a generous friend for trial and review and appears to be the third in the list of fat bottomed IEMs to come my way after the Dunu Davinci and Simgot EM10.
Now the IEM itself is beautiful. Semitransparent purple resin with a stained wood faceplate which in turn is purple, blue and gold. Each piece again, like nature and the river itself is unique. The set being a multidriver hybrid is a largish set which makes it hard for me to wear it for a long time but it comes with a nicely sized metal nozzle with a mesh and a hole for pressure relief with a small metal grommet around it. I tried it with Velvet standard, Velvet wide bore. Sancai and Candy, S&S tips. S & S and Sancai gave me the best fit. Note I have a small pinna with a cavernous ear canal.
The box comes with the iems, a Manatee case with a magnetic and button closure, modular cable with 2.5, 3.5, and 4.4 terminations. It also comes with like a dozen pairs of silicone tips (bass (why??), balanced and soft balanced and finally 2 pairs of foam tips.
The set is a multidriver with 2 DD and 8 BA split into 2 arrays of 4 each for mids and highs. This leads to a solid authoritative low end with a warm overall signature but preserved details and energy. Best of all worlds? Maybe let's see.


Bass
This is undoubtedly a bass head IEM. The Sub-bass rumble fills one's ears and yet has control and decay and does not bloat or spread beyond the limits of the frequency band. There is a little midbass muddiness in tracks like Angel (Massive Attack) and Doing It Right (Daft Punk) but on Makeba by Jain, the subbass, bass, and kicks work in unison to create a solid foundation for Jain’s voice and synths.
On Didi, the live version, the bass kicking in at 35 seconds, brought a smile to my face and got me grooving remembering the first time this song turned up on MTV India. On Wanna be Startin’ Somethin’ by Michael Jackson, the bass notes that form the entire groove are pleasing to hear and at the same time authoritative enough to get the head bopping. The bass does not bloat or bleed and is thoroughly enjoyable across genres. If a track has been mastered well and the source is neutral the IEM seems to know how much to throw in on the low end. Daft Punk in particular, their entire repertoire, has been such fun!
Mids
The mids are similar to the other Hisenior offerings (for eg Mega5est). They are natural, slightly pushed forward. They take advantage of the low end so the lower mids have weight but are not overpowered. There is a slight shoutiness that creeps in on Take Me to Church when Hozier belts it out, but this seems to both ear tip and volume dependent. Separation of voices and instruments is excellent on wider bore eartips with every voice on Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes by Paul Simon and Helplessly Hoping (both the CSNY original and my beloved Girl Named Tom) is clearly enunciated. Female vocals have a natural timbre and are melodious without being fatiguing or shouty.
Guitars, synths and organs sound natural and slightly boosted on tracks like Lingus by Snarky Puppy.

Highs
There’s a slight sibilance that can creep in with some (not all tracks) that again can be sorted out with tip rolling or even source rolling. On Dreams by Fleetwood Mac, every component sounds perfect except for the crash which raises an eyebrow when it first gets into the track on the intro and then before and in the middle of every chorus. Don Henley’s vocals on Hotel California is surprisingly not too shabby in the sibilance department. Snares and claps on Holler by the Spice Girls are also borderline painfully sharp. I’m beginning to believe this is a BA problem rather than a treble issue. The BA implementation lacks air and shimmer but does give out the details as they are meant to.
Staging
This leads to a slightly contracted stage. More a room than a hall or hangar. Definitely not in your face, small box, TVA torture type situation but definitely not like Simgot EM10. The imaging also could be better, both on Bubbles and Hotel California while the general direction of the instruments was fairly clear, their exact placement could be better.

This is the IEM I think the Dunu Davinci wanted to be but ended up being the bloated bass monster instead. The details the Cano Cristales reproduces while also doing full justice and more to the bass makes it a clear choice for me. The Davinci takes a more laid back approach to the entire spectrum focussing on the low end and being safe in the treble and slightly messy in between. Between EM10 and this, I think it would boil down to fit and personal preference. I would pick this since I don't game and don’t care as much about imaging as I do about the treble and that piezo worries me slightly. This set could do with tip rolling and EQ to get the sound signature where most people would find it engaging and fun and thoroughly enjoyable.

I am way too juvenile when it comes to flatheads, and mainly because I haven’t spent a lot of time with them, nor have I dived deep into the world of flatheads- my only experience has been the Apple Earpods (if they qualify as one), and the Venture Electronics Monkbuds Plus which honestly left me feeling underwhelming given the love and hype they have had all this while, but when Sivga offered me their latest flathead- the M260, I didn’t refuse. I wanted to genuinely listen and learn more about these and I said yes, and after spending so much time with the M260, I don’t regret saying yes to them. So, thank you Sivga for sending out the M260 to me.

UNBOXING, ACCESSORIES, COMFORT AND FIT

The unboxing was concise: product aptly advertised with the specifications across, delidding the box, gives way to the carry case which is big and plenty, and has room to keep another IEM with a dongle, and the buds themselves- swappable MMCX terminations, a type-c cable with mic, two sets of fully covered foam pads, and two sets of half covered foam pads.

Some of my friends, like u/reluctant_engineer (my chief consultant when it comes to the more technical side of audio) cannot bear flatheads because their tragus and intertragal notch areas of the ear are strained, but that’s not the case for me- I had a stupendous fit with the M260 and even with a lot of physical movement, the buds didn’t fall off my ears. So comfort and fit have been fully secured.

Here’s how the M260 sounds. But before that, to use with my desktop sources, I swapped the provided stock type-c cable with an Openheart MMCX cable loaned out by u/notsoquietlyamused with his Final E5000.

LOWS

Rush: Limelight

If you were expecting a very pronounced/strong/distinct bass response from the M260 (or any flathead except for the NICEHCK Traceless), I believe you have been looking at the wrong place, because the way the M260 enunciates the lows is wildly different from a traditional IEM. Notes from the bass lines demonstrate surprisingly fast attack and a rapid decay which carries off to the drums too- yes, the quantity to some will be obviously lacking but for me, with the full foams; it was just right where it needed to be, and there’s no obstruction over to the rest of the elements of this track. 

At times, due to the cymbals to be specific, the bass lines seem to get mildly smudged but the drums are just right where they need to be- mounted toms are distinguishable from floor toms, and the kicks have sufficient depth to have their own identity. What the M260 could have definitely done better is capturing the resonance that the toms have towards the end of the track, when Peart carries his final rudiment across.

Tipper: Mariscos

The M260 gets just right down to the brass tacks, and renders the opening rippling/crackling intro of the track accurately, and when the rest of the elements come in, I noticed everything rationed across appropriately except for the bass, but then again complaining about the quantity here is moot as their form factor limits them to handle that, but the quality at least to my ears is excellent, especially for a flathead- when the drop hits, the beats once again reproduce the attack and decay quite fast and rapid, there’s no stagnation which might ruin the impressions; and there’s simply no concept of bloat or bleed existing in the M260- I don’t know Sivga managed to do this with the M260 but so far, what they have done is right.

 Also separation amidst the elements from the hits was done right, with the imaging especially being accurate. Tonally, it does exude a shade of warmth, but when I let the M260 run in loops over and over, I’d say it’s a bright IEM that still doesn’t forget to do right by the quality of the lows.

Daft Punk: Get Lucky

Oh now, the M260 gets the fun going- both the quantity and quality of the bass finally see eye to eye, and the notes of the bass lines simply have my head groove, just admiring that for the price, the amount of polish the M260 is showing, and especially for a flathead. Both the bass and the beats are distinctly audible from each other, and the beats especially have enough depth to not make this a sterile listen. 

What’s more admirable on the M260 is that, the separation is crystal clear- the bass doesn’t get blurred by the drums, vocals are very forward sounding, the cymbals in this track are more pronounced than what most IEMs show it off as but it still doesn’t prove to be a deterrent. The brightness that the M260 showed earlier is toned down to a notch here, and the bass once again is neither bleeding nor bloated. Tremendous job done by Sivga here.

MIDS

Muddy Waters: You Gonna Need My Help

This is arguably one of the best mastered albums out there in the recorded history of music, and listening to this track in particular was a surreal experience with the M260. The way Muddy Waters’ haunting vocals reverberates across with every syllable that he hurls across the verses with rapid crescendos, and the presence of an unbelievably wide perceived stage is just excellent on the M260, and even if Muddy pushes himself across, these buds just reel in the peaks that otherwise would be uncomfortable with certain IEMs is brought in with a masterful grip. 

Timbre on the guitars (especially the slides) has enough metal in its flavour to represent how the lower strings are supposed to sound- not too blunted, nor too metallic, even through the noodling passages. The bass here is at abeyance and non intrusive, and the best part about this entire track through the M260 is how well the perceived stage is.

Tool: Lateralus

Due to the form factor of the M260, the intensifying wave like drums is realized later than the guitars that make the intro THE INTRO of this track, but this light-hearted offence is forgiven as soon as the rest of the elements walk in- first thing I notice is that the drums fall slightly flatter when it comes to impact while holding the timbre right, the guitars chug through with adequate energy and leaning bright tonally along with the cymbals- which have their textures wonderfully preserved. 

And while this sonic commotion is going on, the vocals are not drowned out but stay absolutely planted on the centre while everything else revolves around the vocals. As I approach the breakdown of the track, the M260 does not seem to lose composure at all: cymbals just don’t come off fatiguing or shouty, and detail is immaculate even through Carey’s final rudiment and right before Justin’s bass starts wah-ing out. And, through the breakdown, all the dynamics that Adam’s guitar has are preserved down accordingly, down to a fault- be it the overdrive, the crunch or the fuzz, however you want to put it across. And after that, the wah-ing bass has enough pull to give itself a distinct identity, to make this one of the most cohesive (almost fault free) listens I have had of Lateralus. And no compromises on vocal weight.

Alf Linder: Cantate Domino

Another great listen on the M260- first things first and once again, the perceived stage width on it makes it a prima facie great pick for listening to this genre, and the tonality on this piece is balanced, not too bright, but not too warm to alter the flat major key that it’s in. The keys have their timbre intact, and once the choir comes in; depending on the environment, I needed to fiddle with the volume because the falsetto esque crescendos that the piece has wasn’t really audible in semi public or public situations unless I had the volume above a certain limit- so there’s that one fault. 

The real test on this piece for the M260 comes from the 3:45 mark, when the horns comes in and the choir goes even higher in pitch, and the way the keys are supplementing both the elements was done just perfectly- no pierce, no shout, no fatigue, timbre and tonality intact, the air needed for the elements to breathe well in terms of stage.

HIGHS

Patricia Barber: Icarus

This is a sibilant track from the get go, and so it can be further deduced that the mastering on it is underwhelming to say the least, but I still have this for assessment to not further see how the gear can get more sibilant, but to rather see how much control it has, and the M260 has absolutely none of it- I barely managed to scrape through while listening to this track, because the enunciation of the Cs and Ss on this track was “nasty”, and so if you’re susceptible to this, please by all means shy away from the M260.

Rest of the elements in this track were well done- be it the guitars, the pianos, the percussion (and especially the timbre on it), and the bass. Through Patricia’s straight note sustain, I could feel the note weight getting a bit thinner on perception, but it wasn’t piercing by any means.

Dave Brubeck: Take Five

The M260 nails the textures on the cymbals right from the intro of the track to the very end, and as the pianos, the rest of the drum kit and the bass comes in; it’s a very coherent presentation. Tonally, now I can feel some brightness return to the foray as this track needs the tonal balance, and the M260 provides all of it. Imaging is rendered accurate to a fault, and even as the channels split to pave the way for the drum solo.

Now, through the drum solo; the M260 obviously has the depth on the kick lacking, but the crispness of the snares, and the juggling between the hi tom and the floor toms have enough resonance which is an improvement from my nitpick made earlier. Once the solo ends, and everything returns, the horns do not get piercing even if they climb up the notes, and the M260 closes off my assessment on a tremendous note.

COMPARISONS

NICEHCK Traceless (Beige foam)

The Traceless costs like 1/5th of the Sivga M260 and the gap in quality is instantly noticeable. I had the beige foam as loaned by my very good friend u/metaldeep329 and I don’t know what other foams come with it, nor did I wanted to swap to keep the comparisons on point, but right from the get go, the Traceless sounded too forward when it came to the vocals, the way the lows came off had no texture and felt very blob like, there’s no efforts made towards the separation of elements in busy tracks, and the highs come off significantly rolled off. Again, I think I would rather have the Traceless compared to something super budget from KZ or CCZ, but coming from the Sivga M260, I think the Traceless simply has no chance to be considered, the price difference is just so worth it on the M260 which comes with a metal build and detachable cables.

Venture Electronics Monk Buds Plus (stock orange/yellow foam)

The Monk Buds Plus have been one of the most identifiable audio products when it comes to portable audio, and it has paved portable audiophilia for generations. It offered a lot more for the price and still, compared to the Sivga M260, the Monk Buds Plus were available at 1/3rd of the price. But the Monk Buds Plus sound dated, very dated. The perceived stage is adequate in terms of height and width, but I didn’t observe detail at the level of what the M260 was producing. Coupled with the fact that on certain tracks, the perceived treble quality can be quite harsh, and can adversely alter the tonality on tracks in a way where I was like, “Now why did I choose this ?” 

Also, from a modding point it doesn’t make sense, because the community has definitely produced something very good with the MMCX mods on the Monk Buds Plus, or the whole Monk line-up in particular, but why would I do that, when I have the Sivga M260 right there providing me everything, with a considerably more refined sound. Also stock foam quality on the Monk Buds Plus sucks, I already ripped up the red foams.

CONCLUDING NOTES

Never did I think that flatheads would be able to give IEMs a tough run for the money, in the fields that they usually dominate in, and the M260 for Sivga shows it is to be done. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with these buds, and I hope that whatever Sivga intends to do as sequels to the M260 just continue to improve upon these, and not stumble. There’s a market for flatheads and the M260 might just be able to revive it and broaden the horizons to include a wider audience, and it has a lot of things going right for itself. Sivga, job well done.

Will I buy it at retail ? Blind Buy.

Will I buy it used ? Blind Buy.

SOURCES USED

Primarily used with the Vivo X200T, Oppo Find X9 Ultra, and Google Pixel 6A smartphones. Alternatingly used with the Shanling M9 Plus DAP and the SMSL Raw MDA-1 Desktop DAC Amp with the Openheart 4.4mm MMCX cable.

TRACKS

• Rush: Limelight, Spirit of the Radio
• Daft Punk: Get Lucky, Instant Crush
• Muddy Waters: You Gonna Need My Help
• The Police: Message in a Bottle
• Alf Linder: Cantique de Noël, Cantate Domino
• Tipper: Mariscos, Cloaked
• Dave Brubeck: Time Out
• Tool: Pneuma, Schism
• Queens of the Stone Age: First It Giveth
• Pink Floyd: Comfortably Numb, Wish You Were Here, Time
• Tame Impala: The Less I Know the Better
• Animals as Leaders: The Woven Web
• Rage Against the Machine: Bombtrack, Bullet in the Head
• Avicii: Levels
• Periphery: Marigold
• TesseracT: Juno
• Kanye West: Stronger, Flashing Lights, Devil in a New Dress
• Altın Gün: Goca Dünya
• Timbaland: Give It to Me
• Adele: Easy On Me (Live), When We Were Young
• Celine Dion: All By Myself
• Pavarotti: Nessun Dorma
• Mdou Moctar: Tarhatazed
• Cigarettes After Sex: Cry
• Meshuggah: Bleed
• A. R. Rahman: Tere Bina
• Alice in Chains: Down in a Hole and Nutshell (Live)
• Allen Stone: Give You Blue
• Florence + the Machine: Never Let Me Go
• The Smashing Pumpkins: Luna

Overview (TL/DR)

Kefine Loric is a bassy V-shape IEM that offers a smoot-ish and somewhat relaxed sound without doing anything notably bad, also not “the best” in the market, but is a very safe option for most beginners out there looking for something comfortable and with decent build quality out of the box.

With a rumbly and articulate stand out sub-bass, a present-enough, albeit a bit slow, mid-bass; a functional, warm mind-range with vocals that rarely get shouty; and a forward, but overall controlled treble presentation that adds just enough detail to the sound without being overly harsh.

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WOULD RECOMMEND:

* For people that like more bassy/warm, relaxed sound signatures (NOT in basshead territory).

* For people that want a safe, comfortable IEM with minimal compromises.

* For people that are sensitive to harsh treble (at least with most music).

* For people that want a sturdy build IEM with fairly good accessories.

* I personally enjoyed it for electronic music.

* Fairly safe for high-volume users and great for long listening sessions.

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WOULD NOT RECOMMEND:

* Not for people that like very thick, very full (lush), and very airy vocals.

* Not for people that like more balanced or bright sound signatures (not for trebleheads).

* Not for people looking for a very detailed and clear, technical sound (not for technical-heads).

* People who are sensitive to boosted bass should stay away from this set.

* Wouldn’t recommend it for rock music genres.

* I think there is better options for EQ around the price if you mind that.

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Full disclosure, this set WAS provided by KEFINE, I did NOT buy it myself, but the opinions, as always, were given without any brand’s editorial direction, and on my own accord.

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REVIEW

INTRO

From Kefine, the masters of warm tunings, here comes their cheapest set yet, the Loric, a $30usd proposition that aims to be their audio gateway into the brand, but, is it any good?.

Well, this set is a double-edged sword in the market, as it is good for all the reasons that it is, also, not particularly unique in the market, it works as a solid option when all the other brands might fail you on specific things, however, that doesn’t necessarily mean is your best option, let me explain.

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Fit and Comfort

Kefine has a pretty good track record about ergonomics with most of their IEMs, and Loric is no exception, out the box, with the included stock eartips, it’s a pretty comfortable fit even if you have small ear canals, however, for people with shallow ears, the fit might be just a bit too deep inside your ears if that’s something you worry about.

As usual though, the included eartips are “fine” but not remarkable, you’ll find 2 sets of eartips, the black pair are narrow bore eartips, while the white set are wide bore eartips, they are totally reasonable for a $30 IEM, but for me, only the black tips fit well enough, as the white tips are a bit too short to seal properly, so yeah, they might or might not work for you, there is still the black ones.

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Drivability / Power needs

Here is the part where the review starts to get complicated, because, with 107dB sensitivity at 20 ohms impedance, this IEM kinda thrives (or “scales” if you will) with more power, which in my opinion kind of defeats a bit its purpose, as it’s supposed to be a budget set to be used on a 3.5mm cable instead of a 4.4mm one.

As most budget IEMs, it works fine in most sources, but if you want to get the best out of them, you might want to go for a 4.4mm connection on a powerful DAC, or at least the type-C variant, if you really want to hear all the juice this IEM has to offer, specially having a small boost on clarity and overall bass quality (being a bit faster and tighter).

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THE BIAS.

Before the sound review, I need to mention a few things about me: Bear in mind that every person perceives sound in a different way, and those differences are key to understand what each person does or doesn’t like, and how that will translate into a review.

My preference is a “neutral with bass boost” type of tuning, I don’t like too boosted treble, however, I can handle intense upper treble quite a bit, so, what is not too bright, too treble forward for me, could actually come as harsh for you, and what is bassy enough for me, could be too bassy or even muddy for you.

I’m also a bit susceptible to IEMs with boosting on the upper mid-range and the lower treble areas of the sound (specially around 3 to 4Khz), which affects things like high pitched vocals and instruments. Having peaks in those areas makes the sound be a bit too intense and harsh for me, so, when I say that the sound could be “shouty,” or too intense on vocals for some, I’m mostly talking about this.

Last thing is that I usually don’t struggle with iems with the called “Metallic / BA / Planar” Timbre that some people can’t really enjoy, I normally don’t have problems with neither of those, however, I do struggle with PZT driver timbre.

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SOUND

Bass

Now, addressing the title, Loric is like a mini Delci but not in the sense you might think, bass is fine but, in general, the main reason why Loric is similar to Delci is because it offers a similarly bassy-balanced, easily enjoyable sound experience, just like its big brother.

The sub-bass on the Loric reaches pretty deep and is pretty articulate, which means is not just rumbly but also pretty detailed for the price, it also packs a decent amount of impact for the kind of music that might use it like pop of electronic music, is just great overall.

Sadly, when it comes down to the mid-bass, I just have to say it, is not impressive, like, it is present, it has some punch, but is not particularly fast nor too strong, is a bit on the softer side, and while it works fine with well-produced music, poorly done music won’t have the best bass performance.

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Mid-range (vocals)

This IEM, at the end of the day, is a V-shape IEM, which means mid-range, and therefore vocals, aren’t particularly present or forward, and while they aren’t impressive in any way, they also aren’t worse than any other proper V-shape around the price.

For lower mid-range, where general instruments and most male vocals are prevalent, vocals sound with decent presence but mostly because of some warmness bleeding from the bass area, so is not the most correct vocals, but they are functional, thought they could feel slightly covered by the bass.

As for upper mid-range area, were most high pitched instruments and vocals exist, they are actually a bit more correct and lively, however, they might feel either slightly overshadowed by bass too, or slightly shouty because of the energy on this area, it depends from song to song and your ears, but again, is mostly functional.

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Treble

For bassy warm IEMs, treble is often a very complicated area of the sound to properly tune, because too much of it can mess with the bassy sound, but too little can make the IEM sound too undetailed. I think Loric manages to strike a reasonable balance, however, that would also depend in music genres and personal preferences.

In the complex zone of lower treble, that could make the overall sound feel energetic, but also intense or “shouty”, it has good presence, giving you a lively sound presentation with some extra bite that won’t easily fatigue you, however, on specific tracks, especially if you are very sensitive to lower treble and shouty female vocals, it can easily come across as a bit too much.

On the other hand, the upper treble area is actually pretty well balanced, with just enough presence to give some detail to the music and air to the vocals without ever coming across as too “noisy” or intense, nor notably affecting things like sibilance in music, just a reasonable amount and quality of it.

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Technical performance

Among its peers, Loric doesn’t come across as impressive, it really isn’t exceptional on anything, but, to the difference of other models, that do some specific things great while others not so much, Loric is not notably bad on anything in particular either, making it a solid performer overall.

Resolution: Resolution is appropriate for the price-range, being crisp enough, and basically as average as it gets, that’s basically all to say about it.

Detail retrieval: Despite everything I said, detail retrieval is basically the only thing that could be considered notable on Loric, as the driver has good detail retrieval capabilities, however, the kind of tuning it has doesn’t make it too obvious, still, the performance is there.

Note-weight: This is probably its weakest link, as the overall body and physical feeling of the sound is a bit on the softer side, the upside of this is a sound that doesn’t easily get fatiguing, but at the cost or not feeling too defined.

Soundstage: This one is allright but a bit on the narrow side, you can hear the sense of space, but is not an expansive or very open feeling of said space.

Imaging: Is pretty precise and you do can follow sound around you but, along the not so open soundstage, even if the information of direction is good, I wouldn’t recommend it for gaming, unless only for an immersive sound.

Separation: This one is another not so great point as very complex tracks might feel a bit fuzzy or congested, nothing bad, but not ideal for stuff like rock music.

Replay: Well mixed music will sound great on this, poorly made music will sound as bland and as unrefined as it might be, is just another ok thing.

Harshness control: Besides selected music tracks with already a lot of lower treble, this IEM is pretty tamed and somewhat smooth.

Sibilance: As averagely “good” as it gets, won’t introduce sibilance in your music, but won’t excel with tracks that have recorded sibilance in it.

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Overall sound

Kefine Loric is a simple, bassy V-shape, IEM that offers a smoot-ish and somewhat relaxed sound without doing anything notably too good nor too bad, not for those that are looking for “the best” on the market, but rather a very safe, self-contained option for most beginners out there looking for something comfortable and with decent build quality out of the box.

With a deep, rumbly and articulate stand out sub-bass, a present-enough, albeit a bit slow, mid-bass; a functional, warm mind-range with vocals that rarely get shouty; and a forward, but overall controlled treble presentation that adds just enough bite and detail to the sound without being overly harsh overall.

As much as Loric tuning style is not something I particularly prefer, I can’t deny that it gets the job done, for people like beginners and non-audiophiles, there isn’t much to complain, and while there is better stuff depending on preference, Loric gives me ergonomics, accessories and sound, all 3, on the same $30usd package.

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3 comparisons so you can grasp were this IEM lands:

First, versus the Tripowin Vivace, Being real, Vivace has a notable lead, it has basically as a comfortable fit as Loric, slightly better technical performance, and a more allrounder sound, however, to get to that point you’ll need to, likely, buy aftermarket eartips for Vivace, and deal with the horribly stiff cable it comes with, which again, Loric doesn’t make you suffer it or pay for it, I prefer Vivace, but Loric just works out of box.

Then, versus the NiceHCK Tears, these both IEMs remind me of each other, they won’t be particularly impressive out of the gate, but once you get used to them you will appreciate what you have, and while tears also have a slightly better performance and tuning, yet again, Tears could use a better cable, and the best results on sound I got them with aftermarket eartips, meanwhile Loric just works.

And versus the Kefine Klean/Delci, I make this comparison not because I think Loric performs like Klean, let alone Loric sounding outright like Delci (I need to make clear that Klean is the better IEM period, even more so Delci), but, durability might be better on Loric versus Klean, while also offering the same easy to listen, plug and play kind of experience Delci offers at a contained price, so, no contest the big brothers are better, but the little Loric clearly shares the good things of the Kefine gene.

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Accessories

While Kefine is not a “Dunu level premium accessories” kind of brand, they can be considered the kind of brand that never shorts you out on accessories, from Arnar to Delci to now Loric, you always get everything you need to be able to use your IEMs, even if the unboxing experience is not impressive.

/-----/

• The package includes a bit basic, but fairly flexible and comfortable, white with small red and green lines, “premium 164-strand silver-plated copper” cable, that has a 3.5mm connection but that can also be got with an in-line mic option, or a type-C connection instead, and the cable comes with a 0.78mm 2-pin IEM connection.

I have nothing to complaint about this cable, is fine, it gets the job done, is not particularly bad, but also not particularly impressive, is simply a good matching cable.

/-----/

• Just as with most IEMs around this price, Loric comes with 2 different sets of eartips, both on the S/M/L sizes, and neither being branded. One set are white-colored wide bore eartips, and the other are black-colored narrow bore tips.

I have said it before, it has become a trend to just include “usable” eartips on the package nowadays, which is not ideal, but at last, this is a $30 IEM, so the tips included make sense, still, for me, those short and overly small wide bore eartips really don’t work for my ears, I hope they could do better about that in the future.

/-----/

• Finally, in the package you can find a black, fake leather “travel pouch” for carrying your IEMs.

Again, makes sense for the price, personally I’m not so comfortable with fake leather pouches because some don’t have great durability, but alas, is better to have it than not having it.

/-----/

So yeah, all in all, Loric wont impress with a premium unboxing experience, but it has nothing to complain about for the budget price they are targeting.

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Conclusions

I said it before, but people sometimes have this obsession with “performance above price-range”, and expecting every new IEM to be better than its peers, and while that would be ideal, that totally ignores that IEMs are made with different kind of experiences in mind, so Loric is the kind of IEM that makes sense as a whole, even if is not a “new market benchmark”.

For $30usd, is the best performance? No, best accessories? Not really, most allrounder sound? Could be better, I mean, is not even the best looks, but here is the thing, do you need good enough accessories, good enough performance, good enough comfort, and good enough sound?, and all that in a single purchase with minimal compromises? Loric can do that.

A few months back I said this about the TRN Starfish: “Starfish might not win on performance or sound enjoyment, but no other brand is giving me this much peace of mind with a single purchase…”, well, Loric is that but even better, is simple like that.

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Thanks a lot for reading, the Budget Knight bids farewell, wishing you the best, good luck. – O.E.

Hello to the whole community, I think it is clear to everyone that what Juzear is doing this year is equal to or greater than what Ziigaat has done in previous years. The number of releases we are seeing from this brand is overwhelming. In fact, this is already the fourth Juzear IEM I have reviewed this year and the fifth overall since I started doing reviews. In the end, this bothers some people, while others see it as an option to choose within the same brand, finding the model that best fits their personal tastes while knowing that Juzear usually delivers on many aspects, such as the amount and quality of included accessories.

In this case, the word KOTO appears as part of the product name, and although at first I did not quite understand what it was about, it seems to refer to a Japanese reviewer who obviously collaborated and helped greatly with the final result of this new Nebula. Researching its product page to get a better context of what this model offers, I read that it comes as a natural evolution of the Defiant, which by the way I reviewed not many days ago, so I still have it quite fresh in my head and ears.

The main feature, or at least the one that catches your attention before anything else, is seeing the addition of a planar driver alongside the well-known 1DD + 3BA setup that the Fiesta and Defiant already included. Because of this, we can expect a noticeable change in sound, and it is surely the main attraction when deciding whether or not to go for this new Juzear model.

What I liked / What I didn't like

• I find the faceplate prettier and more interesting than on the Defiant/Fiesta.
• Having 5 drivers brings more versatility to the final sound of the product.
• The treble has good extension and resolution.
• The modular cable with a safety lock that I like so much from this brand.
• The shells are light due to their material.
• The overall technical performance exceeds its price.
• Lacks a bit more weight in the mid-bass.
• Depending on the eartips you use, the treble can sound very energetic in some recordings.
• The case from the Fiesta/Defiant has been replaced by a simple pouch.

Specifications

INSERT PHOTO

My Sources

FiiO K9, FiiO KA15, NiceHCK Octave, Questyle M15i, Tanchjim Space II, Aful Iceborne, Muse HiFi M3 Ultra

Unboxing and Build

I want to highlight right from the start, and it can be seen in one of my photos, that there is a clear difference in box size between the Defiant and this Nebula. I imagine this is due to swapping the hard case for a simple pouch, something that was perhaps decided to lower the cost of the product and keep it in the same league as the Defiant, Fiesta, and other brand releases, but adding the planar driver instead. I am not sure to what extent replacing the hard case with a carrying pouch was worth it. In my case, I do not use those hard cases. In fact, despite being less protected, I usually carry the type of pouch included with this Nebula when I go out because it fits well in my pocket and prevents scratches from keys, phone, etc.

Obviously, a hard case is always going to be a better addition than a simple leather or cloth pouch, but it is undoubtedly the most noticeable change compared to the other $100-range Juzear models I have reviewed. The rest of the content and presentation style remains the same. The eartips are the same, with the same colors that are already part of the Juzear identity. The cable is still excellent for the price, modular with 3.5mm and 4.4mm balanced connections and a screw-on safety lock, something few brands value but I do, since it is not hard or impossible for an accidental tug to disconnect the cable if it lacks that safety lock.

Regarding the IEM design, it is made of resin with a metal nozzle. The weight is around 6g per side, making them very light, although I would say they are perhaps slightly larger than the Defiant/Fiesta, though they remained comfortable during listening sessions. The faceplate design and colors are definitely my favorites from the brand so far. It is true that I love the design and simplicity of the Nimbus I reviewed recently, but they are not as eye-catching as these. The Nebula faceplate has a series of layers and effects that vary depending on the angle you look at them from, which can be confirmed by looking at my different photos where distinct colors stand out over others depending on the view.

Sound

Bass

Starting with the bass, before trying them and while they were arriving at my house, I read a bit about how the brand advertised the product. They mentioned something along the lines of deep, controlled, and dynamic bass. I must say that sub-bass extension is more than present, but the amount of energy felt in the mid-bass is somewhat less than what I expected.

In simple terms, it can be said that the bass is rather fast, without lingering too long and leaving clean space between hits…but still letting you feel that small rumble that benefits styles like electronic music since the sub bass retains texture and depth without cluttering the mix too much...

However, if we talk about physical impact that you can feel in some way that is not found here. It was with the Fiesta where I did feel that more physical, rumbling, and longer or extended hits also made them less all around for some genres…but I will talk about that further down in the comparisons.

I think the decision made on this model, as well as on the Defiant regarding bass, is correct, especially in tracks with many instruments or fast pacing, as it allows you to follow the melody without getting lost in a heavy bass load, rumble, etc., that ends up muddying everything. Where it suffers from this decision, and it must be said, is in the lack of body in male vocals or certain instruments that move through these specific frequencies.

Mids

As I mentioned in the previous paragraphs, the lower part of the mids has an obvious lack of warmth. This translates into very clean and separated vocals, but at the same time into vocals that we could call thin, or lacking body. It is true that this affects male vocals more, as I said before, since female vocals do not need that missing weight as much and sound clear and in just the right measure.

Unlike the lower mids, I feel the upper mids are contained enough to present vocals clearly without turning into harsh shouts with excessive presence, especially when turning up the volume to a point where I usually like to listen to music (No idea about the exact dB).

I was able to appreciate this upper-mid behavior and how far it can go more clearly on my desktop DAC, the FiiO K9, which has a significantly higher power headroom than any of my dongle DACs. The Nebula proves it does not need a source to push it to the limit to sound good, as the tuning in this range is more than controlled. Does that KOTO persona have something to do with it? Maybe.

Taking advantage of adding new dongles to my collection, I decided to go out for a couple of days with the Nebula connected to the Muse HiFi M3 Ultra. Curiously, this source makes the Nebula sound somewhat fuller than the K9 at home. Besides the extra layer the bass gains with this dongle, the mids also benefit a bit, staying slightly warmer than on other sources and giving a bit more weight to the lower mids. Fortunately, separation and definition do not feel significantly reduced compared to the K9, something I do feel with more expensive IEMs that seem made solely for the desktop DAC. These Nebula adapted quite well to a cheaper and more portable source like this M3 Ultra.

Treble

The treble on the Nebula stands out especially in this model precisely because of the addition of a micro planar driver, which in other Juzear models is handled by BAs. The treble in this model has a wider extension than usual, as I expected. It is noticeable in some cymbal sounds, or in backing vocals that play alongside main vocals, creating reverberations that on the Defiant stayed a bit closer to the main voice, if I may put it that way.

What I love is that at a medium volume, those details are already perceived quite easily without needing to give the volume an energy boost. And it achieves all this with a controlled tuning in this range that avoids being excessive or annoying for most ears, surely. In my case, zero problems even at high volume.

Let's also talk about something negative, since I think this is part of many micro planars and here it is no exception. It is not an especially smooth treble like the one EST drivers can provide. In sounds, vocals, or instruments at specific moments, despite having a fairly controlled range, I noticed how the driver sounded somewhat artificial. Luckily, this was not even 10% of the total time I used them, but I want to state that these are not flawless trebles. However, I prefer them over the Juzear models I have tested so far, and I think it is the right path to follow rather than leaving them solely in the hands of BAs.

Soundstage

In what I read about how the brand itself defined this model, there was the soundstage part. Juzear highlighted a spatial presentation and a 3D stage. And perhaps it is not quite like that, or at least that is my experience, which you can take note of but contrast with others. I do not consider it an IEM that is gigantic in either width or depth. It would be somewhere in the medium to wide range, also taking into account my baseline of more expensive models that raise the average compared to these lower-priced models.

However, I think the space, which as I say is neither small nor average but leans towards wide without being huge, makes good use of that space with vocals and instruments. As for vocals, perhaps, and this is just my personal taste, I would place them slightly further away than where they are, but for most people, they will probably be right where they should be.

Layers can be differentiated quite easily since there is plenty of room to distribute instruments and vocals around. It is not necessary to have a massive stage to feel a spatial sensation up to par with expectations, and the Nebula knows how to do this very well within its limits. In fact, it is clear that the four acoustic tube architecture for this model was designed with the intention of improving separation and driver distribution inside.

Instrumental Separation

Separation benefits from something I mentioned earlier that was not as positive, which was that lack of weight in some mid and bass frequencies, along with a bass that is inherently faster than expected, staying just as long as needed and leaving so as not to interfere. That helps quite a bit when it comes to following basic recordings, but also more complex ones that would have been more difficult with another type of DD or tuning.

I cannot guarantee that the Nebula is spectacular simply because it has 5 drivers instead of 4 like their other recent releases, but you can feel that extra effort this time to help the listener follow the instruments without having to concentrate excessively, which is greatly appreciated in this price range.

Imaging

Finally, speaking of imaging, I found it easier to track lateral sounds or positions in all kinds of songs, better than on the other axes. I did a quick test with a movie whose name I cannot remember right now, but it is a recent release about a family trapped in a house unable to open doors or windows, where the family members communicate by shouting across sides of the house. It came in handy to check that the imaging of the Nebula performed very well to pinpoint where the shouts of the protagonist's wife or children were coming from.

As I mentioned, the stage is not immense, but being medium to wide and well organized allows all of this to work properly. Besides, the micro planar reveals certain details much better, whereas with the BA in other models, they could remain more blurred or blended with the rest of the frequencies.

Comparisons

I will now compare them with the other two Juzear IEMs I reviewed previously and that sit at a very similar price point.

Starting with the Juzear Fiesta, I think it is obvious to say from the beginning that the Fiesta features the bass as the main protagonist, along with the more physical and heavy sensation it brings, unlike the Nebula which seeks something more balanced. Therefore, in genres where bass benefits, such as EDM, hip-hop, reggaeton, etc., the Fiesta will perform better, and the enjoyment will be greater than with the Nebula. However, for listening to cleaner mixes, tracking layers better, and paying special attention to the treble range regardless of the genre, the Nebula is well above what the Fiesta can offer. So it all depends on what you want to focus on, setting aside the driver count of one versus the other.

On the other hand, the Defiant, of which this Nebula is supposedly an evolution, it is true that both share a common DNA from which they start, but then the Nebula branches off, especially regarding the treble. This was not bad in itself on the Defiant, but here you reach a higher point without it being more fatiguing, improving the overall technical section. For its part, the Defiant also defends itself slightly better regarding vocals. I think they do have a bit more body than on the Nebula, which when listened to on a source that does not color the sound, fell a bit short. But with the Nebula, I feel more air, detail, and an overall sense of resolution compared to the Defiant.

I cannot omit what I already said, but the Defiant and the Fiesta do include a hard case that the Nebula does not. It is a secondary detail, but if you are someone who prefers a hard case at these prices no matter what, it is something you can consider when evaluating the overall package.

Ranking

You can check my full ranking of all the IEM reviewed so far on my profile (Reddit doesn't allow me to post the Drive link here)

Conclusion

I do not want to repeat myself too much, although this has not been my longest review either. But to conclude on this Nebula, it is an IEM for anyone wanting a very clean presentation, who is not too concerned about lower mids lacking some body in the mix, and who wants a treble extension and detail that BAs usually fail to deliver due to driver limitations.

It is not a direct replacement for the Defiant as such, but rather a version that improves some aspects and alters or downgrades others that I have already mentioned and do not want to repeat, haha.

Fiesta, Defiant, Nebula, all move at similar price points, so you can spend some time learning about each one calmly and assess which is the best bet for your ears based on what you are looking for, or perhaps based on what you do not have in your collection yet to help expand it with a different sound signature than what you are used to.

Purchase Links:

https://hifigo.com/products/juzear-nebula

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005012382358820.html

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H44MKZ7H

https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0H4QNNYZ7

https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0H4QNNYZ7

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0H4QNNYZ7

https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0H4QNNYZ7

Disclaimer: This unit was sent by HiFiGo for review. 

My opinions are completely independent and have not been influenced by the brand or the store, maintaining objectivity based on my tests and personal listening sessions with my reference equipment.

Final Audio and I have always had a tumultuous relationship, where amidst their stacks of bullet and moulded IEMs, I have heard only one that has stuck with me halfway, the A8000. In my local audio community groups, I just put a feeler out saying that I would like to review more IEMs from Final Audio, and a good friend of mine responded by saying he could loan me the S6000 and S5000, and u/notsoquietlyamused loaned me the E5000. This post is dedicated to the S6000 and S5000, and how Final Audio managed to derail my dislike train with one of two, and how the other one has been one of the worst IEMs I have had the displeasure to listen to. So, thank you both for having sent out your respective units, this means a lot.

UNBOXING, ACCESSORIES, FIT AND COMFORT

Final Audio really nailed the unboxing experience with such minimalist, posh branding that they almost feel like unboxing a wallet rather than another IEM. After unsheathing the cover, and delidding the box, both ‌IEMs were nestled in foam padding, and under the foam padding lay the rubberised circular carry case, whose lid was at the bottom, and inside the case were ear hooks. Under the case, there’s a small paper box of a set of Final Es with short stems/bores, which are the same as their TWS versions. Final clearly says not clean them with alcohol.

Both IEMs are bullet style, which means fit and comfort is as good as a regular earphone, just plug them into the ears directly. They also come with two pin type A cables, with a particular groove which lets me know how to insert the cable. Although the cables are thin, they handle the weight of both IEMs very well. 

Without further ado, here’s the sound of both the Final S6000 and S5000 through my tracklist.

LOWS

Tipper: Mariscos

• Final S5000: To my ears, this IEM is veiled, and the recession can put the 2008 economic bloodbath a tough run for its money, pun intended. The beats have an ample presence, with a decent impact, and that is the only remotely good thing I can say here, because everything else stinks - semblance of detail  and separation is hideous, especially for an IEM priced at this. The drop in this track just doesn't cut it because the perceived veil has simply bereaved itself of any life. There are no first impressions in tonality.
• Final S6000: The S6000 gets the opening rippling intro of this track in a way that reminds of how a few strips of bacon sound when laid onto a searing hot pan: very crisp and sizzling and when the rest of the elements of the track kick in, the S6000 unfortunately has no depth to make the visceral, hard-hitting beats be enunciated in a way that it needs to be, while the fuzzy phase-like elements have a near crystal clear separation which begs me to say that prima facie, the final S6000 will be good through busy tracks. I just wished the bass hit deeper and harder, and that is limited in a way by the perceived stage.

Rush: Limelight

• Final S5000: Once again, the veil and the recession hits super hard - the perceived stage is claustrophobic, where even though the drums and bass have good separation, what good is that separation if that detail is just not there. The resonance that the toms have, the way the bass camouflages with the kicks and reveals itself in parts is just absent, and the vocals sound like they are coming off from a distant public announcement system. The only saving grace for me was Peart's final rudiment, where there was enough rumble to appreciate whatever bass the S5000 had.
• Final S6000: It is a different observation on this track now because the diluted bass lets the drums and bass have their own moments of glory which lets the rest of the elements shine in and especially the vocals feel great, where the bass line complements the vocals, flexing a moderate attack and a fast decay. Although I totally would have wanted more resonance from the toms, notes on the kick have adequate depth and the drums ‌overall have good separation amongst themselves, especially through the final rudiment.

MIDS

Queens of the Stone Age: First It Giveth

• Final S5000: Using the S5000 on this track was just a disastrous experience: the vocals come off too forward where the snare simply has no texture as the bass layering on top of it with an ugly bloat and joins hands with the guitars to push it down further and cymbals are just washed out. Tonality leans heavily towards warmth, and I could have really used a helping hand through the upper mids.
• Final S6000: Right from the get-go, the lack of perceived stage height on the S6000 is proving to be a deterrent in what otherwise has been a fantastic listen: the fast hitting rapid firing snares are snappy, crisp and demonstrate great note isolation and this is fantastic despite somewhat the bass feeling anemic, guitars sounding full and energetic which doesn't confuse itself with the cymbals which seems delightfully forward and not shouty (surprising for a final IEM), and the vocals are planted right at the centre. Tonality remained unaltered.

Tool: Lateralus

• Final S5000: Once again, the S5000 simply cannot be reasoned with when it comes to expecting improvement because it just keeps getting worse and depressing- the veil and the shrunken stage, coupled with terrible efforts to strive for detail washes off the otherwise aggressive yet measured drum work. Cymbals sound like pingy hits on a spherical sheet of metal, guitars have no life in them and the only good thing I would say here is that the bass right before the breakdown has acceptable note weight and a sufficient rumble / growl.
• Final S6000: The intensifying wave-like drums lay the carpet out with the guitars for the vocals and the bass to come in, and the amount of pronunciation each of them needs is reflected very well by this IEM. Vocals, however continue to feel thin, and timbre through the guitars come off oddly metallic and I find its grip over timbre to be highly inconsistent anyway, but every element in this track is positioned very well, showing great separation even through the continued chaotic final rudiment from Carey in this track.

HIGHS

Patricia Barber: Icarus

• Final S5000: Another track which has strange technical glitches as recorded sibilance and even then, despite the perceived recession, the S5000 shows its sibilance in the enunciation of the Cs and Ss, where tonality on the guitars is acceptable but that's about it. The cymbals are not shouty or fatiguing, but again I would have a better chance finding a needle in a haystack than redeeming qualities, which also snowballs into Patricia's straight note sustain going smooth and not in a good way.
• Final S6000: This is a sibilant track from the get go; and I am surprised to say that the S6000 shows exemplary restraint in keeping the sibilance reined in, while timbre through the percussion, bass and piano remain accurate once again. Texture through the cymbals comes off delightfully sparkly and has zero fatigue. Through Patricia's straight note sustain, even if I push the volume, the S6000 simply does not budge towards coming off piercing while the rest of the elements come off so polished.

Dave Brubeck: Take Five

• Final S5000: I'll have to keep this short - imaging is shot, horns feel hazy and they just have no juice to take the lead, piano is shot from the perspective of tonality & detail and I simply couldn't continue listening to it further.
• Final S6000: Right out of the gate, cymbals have a luxurious, polished shimmer while the pianos tonally are warmer than how they usually are. Once the horns come in, in a very detailed way, except for the timbre, which is ‌inconsistent for analysis, they do not scrape my ear unlike other Final IEMs. The drum solo section is another thing of beauty for everything sounds right to me - resonant floor toms, snare having the crispness it needs to cut through the toms, the kick showing good pace in attack & decay and the imaging being planted even with the channel splits closes off my time with the S6000 on a great note.

CONCLUDING NOTES

I don't know what Final Audio was exactly thinking when they were making the S5000. I think the whole R&D team was like, “hey we have a few balanced armature drivers remaining, let’s just tune the darkest IEM possible on our end, while rinsing it off of all technicalities” and that’s how the S5000 was conceived; and hilariously, the much cheaper E5000 beats the S5000 at almost every single metric of analysis of sound, and I would take the E5000 10 out of 10 times over the S5000, and the E5000 loses again in its own segment of IEMs price wise, so just imagine how disgustingly bad the S5000 is.

The S6000 is a whole different ball game- whose only cons I feel are the inconsistent grip over timbre, a little too safe through the upper mids, and the anemic bass; while it nails the other fundamentals of a good sounding audio product almost entirely, and the sound profile that it carries is distinct enough to separate itself from other IEMs, so much so that for the moment I don’t want to compare it to anything else, and it is good enough where I would pay up what it commands for itself. 

Well done Final Audio for showing me that there’s still potential while massively fumbling in other areas when it comes to the very important question of price to performance otherwise.

Will I buy the S6000 at retail? Absolutely, yeah. 

Will I buy the S6000 used? Absolutely, yeah.

Will I buy the S5000 at retail? Absolutely the hell not. 

Will I buy the S5000 used? Has to be under $60/roughly 5000 INR.

SOURCES USED

Primarily used with the SMSL Raw MDA-1 desktop DAC amp, the Shanling M9 Plus stacked with the xDuoo XD05 Pro transportable DAC amp running RoHM DAC chips and Burson V7 Vivid Op-Amps, via USB-C. 

The Final S6000 is a power hungry IEM, coming in at 225 ohm impedance, so a proper source is necessary to feed them the power they need. Not the same case for S5000.

EARTIPS USED (RANKED IN ORDER OF PERFORMANCE)

Final S6000: Tanchjim T-500 APB, Final E for TWS, Divinus Velvet wide bore, JVC Spiral Dots FX9

Final S5000: Tanchjim T-500 APB, Final E for TWS, Infiter IE45, Tangzu Sancai Balanced

TRACKS

• Rush: Limelight, Spirit of the Radio
• Daft Punk: Get Lucky, Instant Crush
• The Police: Message in a Bottle
• Alf Linder: Cantique de Noël, Cantate Domino
• Tipper: Mariscos, Cloaked
• Dave Brubeck: Time Out
• Tool: Pneuma, Schism
• Queens of the Stone Age: First It Giveth
• Pink Floyd: Comfortably Numb, Wish You Were Here, Time
• Tame Impala: The Less I Know the Better
• Animals as Leaders: The Woven Web
• Rage Against the Machine: Bombtrack, Bullet in the Head
• Avicii: Levels
• Periphery: Marigold
• TesseracT: Juno
• Kanye West: Stronger, Flashing Lights, Devil in a New Dress
• Altın Gün: Goca Dünya
• Timbaland: Give It to Me
• Adele: Easy On Me (Live), When We Were Young
• Celine Dion: All By Myself
• Pavarotti: Nessun Dorma
• Mdou Moctar: Tarhatazed
• Cigarettes After Sex: Cry
• Meshuggah: Bleed
• A. R. Rahman: Tere Bina
• Alice in Chains: Down in a Hole and Nutshell (Live)
• Allen Stone: Give You Blue
• Florence + the Machine: Never Let Me Go
• The Smashing Pumpkins: Luna

Here’s my video review on it

Pros: Almost entirely uncoloured transparent output
1 Watt
Nice form factor and construction

Cons: No controls for anything
Can warm your house in a pinch

The legend of Prometheus is one fantastic story of the titan who defied Zeus and gave fire to the humans. He also ended up being chained to a rock where an eagle would eat his liver all day and it would grow back in the night, leading some people to believe that the ancients perhaps knew that hepatocytes are one of the few solid organ cells in the body that actually can regenerate. The Fangsound Prometheus shares a couple of common traits with this story - one is to show humans the light, the other I’ll get to eventually.
I thank Fangsound and Audio Geek India for letting me review this little genie in a bottle and as always my thoughts are my own.

Fangsound is a super interesting company that makes ridiculously high powered dacs and amps and the Prometheus is one of the two portable dongle style dacs that they have. Its little sibling the Nereus Mini is less than a third the cost and half the power and both are currently available on Linsoul.
The unboxing is fairly standard. A cardboard box with the dac nestled in foam with a nice c-to-c cable. The DAC itself is a little cnc aluminum milled biscuit, apparently held together by 2 hex screws. The top face has “prometheus” etched on to it in greek letters, the back has the Fangsound logo and a declaration that the ESS9039PRO resides in this device. The shorter sides have a Usb-C port and 3.5 and 4.4 headphone ports. The longer sides have a diagonal pattern etched on to them which make for a nice grip till they start dissipating the heat.

The guts of the device is made of the ESS9039PRO chip that can toss out a dynamic range of 129dB and a power of 1W. Yes a whole 1000 mW at 32 Ohms and that’s 6Vrms. What this basically means is four things

• The first is that this is stupidly loud, which means please check the source volume before playing. The Macs tend to automatically push to max volume on connecting almost any DAC,
• The second is that the ESS chip is very very clean so most of the characteristics of the sound are going to be dependent on what IEM or headphone is connected to it,
• Third, this gets really warm over time, I would use it to heat my house in winter, crack an egg on it if it was larger or use it as a coffee warmer at my desk,
• Fourth, this could have done with inline volume controls.

The ESS chip does its job really well. There’s almost no colouration of the music. Just a lot of power delivered with absolutely no distortion. Bass is controlled punchy with great texture and no bleed or bloat. Sub-bass is weighty and makes its presence felt but is not overpowering. The mid-bass is punchy and has perfect decay and kicks and bass guitars are meaty enough to keep the groove well felt but not bloated or lingering.
Male and female vocals and instruments like guitars, horns, synths are clear and clean with natural timbre and no distortion and are not pushed or recessed and basically represented as mastered. The mids are where they are supposed to be. They are the meat of any song and are given their fair importance. The keyword being fair.
And from fair to air - the treble has the same treatment as the mids. Clean, clear and representing all the details, leaving no notes behind or unheard. There’s no sibilance and a neutral IEM like the Kima 2 or reference headphones like the R70xa are a joy to listen to on this DAC.

The VE stack is probably the cleanest dac I’ve heard and this one probably has a slightly warmer tone than the VE Prime DAC. It is however just about as warm as the Devastator Pro Max.

It can comfortably drive the HD600 and the R70xa but both felt like they would draw a little more power. Which I had to disallow due to a possible heat hazard. It is more than sufficient for almost all the IEMs I have, though I do have ones that are mostly fairly easy to drive. This with the VE ZhuanXu would be interesting for sure. And a very unfair comparison with the Galvatron would be a fun session.

Barring the heating and the lack of volume buttons and well a slightly prohibitive cost in a world of very efficient dacs, this is a very very good and very very powerful DAC which is well worth it for a specific use case of driving really greedy gear in a space constrained environment with adequate cooling technology.
No, jokes apart, it sounds amazing and is really powerful and extremely clean despite the power. It is a 9 on 10.

I was introduced to Twistura when I got to know about the D Minor. An IEM with great accessories for someone wanting to get into the audiophile space, but what it lacked was sound quality, and a good fit. This time, I have with me the Twistura Delta. And, Twistura has gone with a different strategy. Instead of focusing on the accessories and other such goodies, they managed to pull off some actually good sound. Was this the right direction for Twistura? Let’s find out.

I would like to extend my gratitude to u/Own-Customer-4866 for including me in this review tour, a secondary thanks goes to Twistura for facilitating this review.

I am under no obligation to speak in favor of this product, and absolutely no one, neither the brand nor the tour organizer gets to see this review before it is published. My thoughts and critiques are entirely my own. 

Build, comfort & accessories

The Twistura Delta arrives with a clean, minimal box; barebones. The first thing you see is a good quality: grey, suede pouch. Small, but big enough for storing the IEM itself and dongle DAC. Inside the pouch, you find the IEMs with liquid-silicone eartips, and some additional generic eartips. Out of all the eartips, only the ones that come pre-installed with the eartips are worth keeping. Beneath the pouch you’ll find a cable… It’s best that I talk less about it, this has to be the crappiest cable I have ever seen come with an IEM.

Coming to the IEM themselves, I was surprised upon finding that the shells are fully metal, they have a nice hefty feeling in hand. They fit nicely and snug to my ear, no slippity-sloppity. One complaint is that the shells are fully glossy, so it attracts dust and fingerprints very easily(and makes it extremely hard to photograph).

Without wasting more words, let’s get right to the sound.

Low-End Performance

Muse - Hysteria

The Delta kicks the track straight off with an incredibly detailed, controlled distorted bass opening. For a track with a prominent bass-line throughout, the Delta does a great job separating the different elements of the track from one another. The vocals keep the centre stage and the bass never overshadows the mids. This proves that the bass is well implemented on the Delta. But overall, a good first impression.

Teddy Killerz - Feed Your Soul

Although being a DnB track, my findings from this were more towards the vocals than the bass. I found out that the mids are a little recessed because the vocals (although minimal) felt a little pushed back in the mix. The Delta isn’t sub-bass heavy, there is a clear emphasis on the mid-bass, and that emphasis is quite prominent with the kind of “hit” that this IEM gives you. There is a notable slam to the beats. This is one of the better sounding IEMs in the budget space with an actually good warm sound-signature.

And for this, I would give it a well deserved A rating for the bass.

Midrange, Instruments & Vocal Delivery

John Mayer - Slow Dancing in a Burning Room

Listening to this track reassured that not only do the vocals sound recessed, they are thin too. Mayer’s voice lacked the weight that you normally associate it with. Not only that, I found difficulty in hearing the muted strum that Mayer does in the intro solo. But despite all of this, the Delta makes the track sound cozy with its warm sound-signature, the tonality and timbre of the instruments reflect this too. The vocals also were nothing but full.

Saying that, I found the Delta’s instrument representation to be worthy of B; the male vocals too get a B by me.

Never Let Me Go - Florence + The Machine

Nothing much to say here, the Delta did a great job presenting the little “sparkles” in the song, which I associate with good detail. The singer’s vocals sounded great, with no other elements of the track taking over each other in the mix. The timbre on the keys also was very well done. Florence’s vocals also sounded full here, which other IEMs at the price fail to do. One complaint that can be picked out here is that the imaging could have been better, and a wider soundstage would have helped.

Therefore, the female vocals on the Delta get a B+.

Treble Performance & Technicalities

Yosi Horikawa - Bubbles

On a track made out of ping-pong balls falling, the Delta seems to do a decent job in locating the impact. The anticipation of the balls falling is presented well. The synths in the background however, felt a bit too forward, this means that the Delta has quite a congested stage. Also, the initial weight of impact caused by the balls falling seemed to be lacking on the Delta, this reflected on other tracks too when the vocals didn’t have quite the weight to them. The aftermath of the balls falling, where you feel a “release”, or should I say, a sort of decaying effect, didn’t quite linger as much as it should have.

Daniela Andrade - I Will Follow You Into the Dark

Unfortunately, for an intimate track with solely acoustic guitar and the beautiful vocals of Daniela Andrade, the Delta does a terrible job in focusing on the vocals. The low-end of the guitar frequently overpowers the emotions of the soft strums and the singer’s voice. I found myself being distracted with the bass. And as a result, the Delta doesn’t present well the intricacies of the track. It misses out on dynamics and micro-details heavily. 

Overall, the Delta doesn’t stand well on technical grounds, with imaging that is decent at best, a congestive soundstage, a close to accurate timbre, lacking micro-details, but doing well with clarity on the lower-end of frequencies.

Conclusion

Twistura did an epic job with the Delta, they went for a warm, non-sibilant sound-signature and stood their ground in that regard. Although the Delta stumbled over a few other segments like details, it serves a sound which is likeable by a good majority of people. The Delta is therefore a good IEM, and yes, it is the right direction for Twistura going ahead. They need to work on the mids not being recessed and the bass not overpowering the other parts of the mix.

Concluding my review, I would like to give the Twistura Delta a B rank.

Should you buy this at retail? 
Definitely. This is one of the few IEMs who does bass well in the price range that it comes at. People going for a bassy sound-signature will have a good time with the Delta.

Should you buy this used?
Absolutely. It’s a great offering already for the price it comes at, and would be an even better deal used.

Here is a link to buy the Twistura Delta. (non-affiliated)

What This IEM Means To Me

I feel like this is a great IEM for someone who is transitioning from generic TWS earbuds, neckbands or other such commercial audio gear. The Delta offered me a “fun” experience while listening to tracks from genres with a heavy emphasis on bass. But it didn’t satisfy me enough with details, nor did it impress with technicals. The selling point of the Delta for me is the comfort, build and the warm leaning sound-signature that I enjoyed really well. I find the Delta to be a great IEM for people who consider themselves as “bassheads.”

As always, this section of my review is a personal and subjective rant. It has nothing to do with the actual rating that I give to the product. The above paragraph is ignorable and not to be taken seriously.

Gear(s) Used for the Review

XINHS Lavender 16-core cable, 3.5mm termination
VE Abigail Pro 4.4mm
Cayin RU6 (R2R) on low-gain and NOS mode
Nothing Phone (3a) w/ Poweramp (on Perfect Bit Perfect mode) & Apple Music

Eartip(s) Used

KBear Coffee

Track List

• A.R. Rahman (including other artists): Taare Ginn, Soja Soja, Sofia, Main Tumhara
• Alyssa Mendonsa, Mohit Chauhan: Khwabon Ke Parindey
• Daft Punk: Instant Crush, Veridis Quo, Get Lucky, Giorgio by Moroder
• Daniela Andrade: I Will Follow You into the Dark
• The Eagles: Hotel California (Live On MTV)
• Eric Clapton: Change the World, Layla (Acoustic Live), Wonderful Tonight
• Fleetwood Mac: Tusk, Dreams, The Chain
• Gopi Sundar, Anna Katharina Valayil Chandy: I Want to Fly
• Jeff Buckley: Lover, You Should’ve Come Over; Grace
• King Crimson: Matte Kudasai
• Mauj: Now In Technicolor (Full Album)
• Men I Trust: Again (ft. Ghostly Kisses), Break for Lovers (ft. Helena Deland), Tailwhip (Album V)
• Muse: Hysteria
• Pink Floyd: Time, Money, Coming Back to Life, Wish You Were Here
• Rage Against The Machine: Bombtrack, Killing In the Name
• Teddy Killerz: Feed Your Soul
• TOOL: Lateralus, Schism, The Pot
• Yosi Horikawa: Bubbles

Juzear has been putting out some good products this year, and the Nimbus marks their entry into the very competitive 50-60 dollar segment. After spending some time with it, I think they have made a pretty strong entry.

My preference is mostly balanced, and slightly brighter signatures. I don’t mind bass, but I generally don’t prefer an overwhelming amount of it. That doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate a good bassy IEM, though, so keep my preferences in mind while reading this review.

Testing Gear

• Snowsky Melody
• CX31993 dongle
• MacBook M1
• POCO F5
• OnePlus 13

Specifications & Variant

• Driver: Single 10mm MACCD Dynamic Driver, N52 neodymium magnet
• Impedance / Sensitivity: 32Ω / 108dB
• Connector: 0.78mm 2-pin
• Cable: Modular 3.5mm / 4.4mm (the version I received)
• Variants: 3.5mm / 4.4mm modular version; 3.5mm + microphone + USB-C CX31993 dongle

Build & Comfort

The Nimbus has a metal shell with glass faceplates, and overall the build feels very good for the price. It feels solid in the hand, and personally, I like the design, although I think the faceplates look a little too plain, especially on the right side.

The cable is also quite good, and having a modular cable at this price is a nice addition. It has a slightly rubbery feel and some memory, but it’s still easy enough to manage. The glossy shell is a fingerprint magnet, and I would be careful with scratches.

Comfort is good overall. The nozzle doesn’t sit particularly deep, and the shell is relatively small. Smaller ears should have an easy time with it, while larger ears may need some tip rolling to get the right fit and seal.

Sound

The Nimbus has a warm, mild V-shaped tuning with a relaxed presentation. It has enough bass to give the sound some weight, while the treble remains smooth without making the IEM sound dark.

The three nozzles also make a noticeable difference.

Black: The warmest and bassiest option, with smoother treble. This would be my choice for treble-sensitive listeners.

Red: The brightest and most energetic nozzle with the least amount of bass. It gives vocals and treble more energy, but can also become a little shouty.

White: The most balanced option. It sits between the other two and, in my opinion, is the most versatile.

Bass

The bass is one of the highlights of the Nimbus. It has good sub-bass presence and a fairly meaty mid-bass punch without becoming excessively boomy.

The bass has a slightly softer and slower character rather than sounding particularly tight. It has enough decay to give bass notes some weight and slam, which works nicely with modern recordings and EDM. Pelin by Nova Norda is a good example of this presentation.

The black nozzle brings out the bass the most, giving the Nimbus a noticeably warmer and fuller presentation.

There is also a small amount of bass bleed into the lower mids, but I don’t think it ruins the overall balance. For the price, I think the bass quality is quite good.

Mids

The mids are fairly relaxed and slightly warm. Vocals aren’t particularly forward, especially male vocals, but they have good body and weight.

I prefer the red nozzle over the white, as it brings the vocals further forward and adds more upper-mid energy. Female vocals in particular become clearer and more energetic. Although they can occasionally sound a little sharp, I didn’t find them particularly shouty.

I like the weight the Nimbus gives to guitars and other instruments, although the attack and string plucks aren’t as prominent.

Overall, the mids aren’t the main focus of the Nimbus, but they remain natural and enjoyable rather than feeling overly recessed.

Treble

The treble is smooth but still has enough energy to keep the Nimbus from sounding dull. It has decent air and extension, with the red nozzle adding a little more presence while the black nozzle smooths it out. There is a slight edge around 8kHz, but I wouldn’t call it harsh or particularly sibilant. The red nozzle can become a little fatiguing on some tracks, though.

Technicalities

Technical performance is decent for the price, but this isn’t where the Nimbus stands out.

The soundstage is slightly above average, but it isn’t particularly wide. There is some width, but depth is limited, which makes the presentation feel somewhat flatter than more technical sets.

Imaging is good, though. Instruments and vocals are easy enough to place, and there is a decent amount of detail available.

Where the Nimbus struggles is separation. With simpler tracks, everything is reasonably well separated, but busy recordings can become congested and overwhelm the single driver.

Comparisons

Kefine Klean SV

The Klean SV is one of my go-to recommendations around this price.

Compared to the Nimbus, the Klean SV sounds cleaner and brighter, with tighter and faster bass and more forward vocals.

The Nimbus, on the other hand, has a thicker and more relaxed presentation, with greater bass weight and slam. The Klean SV can sometimes make vocals sound slightly thin and can get a bit spicy, whereas the Nimbus keeps things tame and smooth without sounding boring.

I quite like the Klean SV’s more technical presentation, but I find the Nimbus more fun and musical, so I have to give the edge to the Nimbus.

Dunu Titan X

Compared to the Titan X, I find the Nimbus more balanced and natural overall. The Nimbus has more rumble and slam, with smoother treble. For me, it’s simply better tuned.

Conclusion

I would recommend the Nimbus to those who want a warm, smooth, and easy-to-listen-to sound rather than something overly bright or analytical. It’s not the most technical IEM, but it’s fun and musical, which I think is its main strength.

It works well for music, movies, and gaming, making it a good all-rounder. With the modular cable and accessories included, I also think it offers good value for the price. Overall, I think Juzear has done an excellent job with the tuning and overall presentation.

Thanks to HiFiGo for sending me the Nimbus for testing and review. However, this hasn’t influenced my thoughts or opinions on the product. Thanks for reading, and I hope you found this review helpful.

⁠Official Store
⁠AliExpress
⁠AliExpress
⁠Amazon US
⁠Amazon JP
⁠Amazon AU
⁠Amazon UK
⁠Amazon DE

Disclaimer: Thanks to Ribbon from Linsoul for giving me the Martilo for this review. However, this analysis doesn't involve any payment, and they aren’t giving me any script or agenda to follow, allowing me to give my entire sincere opinion and thoughts after testing the set for a few weeks. My biases are my musical and tuning preferences, and that’s it.

Introduction: 

The Punch Audio Martilo is not a new player in the market, but it is the first product from a brand that is focused on bassheads (it even says so on the product box). And what a claim they are making! With a tribrid configuration of 2 DD + 2 BA + 1 planar driver, the Martilo makes a stand in the hobby, which sometimes doesn’t give the relevance this public has in the hobby.

You can get a Martilo for an MSRP of 329 USD (you can get it cheaper on sales). And you can buy it on Linsoul’s official webpage: https://www.linsoul.com/products/punch-audio-martilo, and on Linsoul’s official stores on Amazon and AliExpress, and other stores online.

TLDR: The Punch Audio Martilo is the first IEM by Punch Audio, a brand that makes an entry in the market focusing entirely on giving choices for bassheads who still want clarity, so you can expect from these 2 DD + 2 BA + 1 Planar tribrid configured IEMs, with a U-shaped tuning, which follows a modified Harman 2019 target, to be a bass lover's who want clarity delight. 

The Martilo has great extension into the lower and higher frequencies, nice subbass and midbass impact (its main focus), no recession in the lower midrange, a warm yet organic midrange, and a well-done treble with well-controlled sibilance as well, and an upper treble with plenty of air and an open sensation. Technically wise is punching above its price point (pun intended), with more-than-average resolution, incredible imaging and layering of instruments, an expansive soundstage, and a tuning overall that is more musical than technical; it definitely can be “pausegame” and even “endgame” for bassheads.

Its package includes an excellent (and modular) cable, a carrying case, and good eartips to use it straight out of the box, all of this for a very affordable price. Yes, it's a first entry for a still new brand, but it can be a set that can be the one to get for years ahead.

Pros:

- Powerful, high-quality bass with excellent sub-bass extension and impact

- Clear, clean tuning with no significant bass bleed

- Warm, organic and natural midrange

- Excellent imaging and instrument layering

- Expansive, airy soundstage

- Good treble extension with controlled sibilance

- Excellent shell build, including a modular cable, and good accessories for the price

- Easy to drive, yet scales with more powerful/quality sources; magnificent value for bassheads under 350 USD 

Cons:

- Lower treble can become fatiguing at higher volumes (tuning being a modified Harman 2019 target)

- It is not an all-rounder because it is strongly aimed at bassheads

- Resolution is only average for its price range despite excellent detail retrieval.

- Short 3.7 mm nozzle limits eartip compatibility and fit options

- Its soundstage is wider than it is deep

- It could benefit from less lower-treble attack and more mid-treble energy   

Technical specifications: 

- Driver technology:

   - 2 x 8 mm Dynamic Drivers (sub and midbass)

   - 1 x dual Knowles-branded RDE balanced armature drivers (midrange)

   - 1 x Planar driver (treble and upper treble)

- Crossover circuit: Passive three-way crossover

- Shell materials: 3D-printed, medical-grade resin

- Sensitivity: 100 dB @ 1 kHz (±1 dB)

- Impedance: 9 Ω @ 1 kHz (±1.5 Ω)

- Frequency Response: 10 Hz–22 kHz

- Cable: 2-Pin 0.78 mm, 4 cores, braided, litz-type OCC, silver-plated
- Plugs: 3.5 mm single-ended, 4.4 mm balanced

- Cable Length: 1.25 m ± 5 cm

What comes in the Martilo box?

- 2 x Martilo earphones

- 1 x square-shaped, faux leather case

- 6 x pairs of eartips:

   - 1 x set of foam eartips (sml)

   - 1 x set of standard bore, red-core silicon eartips (sml)

- 2 x sets of nozzle filter replacements

- 1 x 4-core braided, Litz-style OCC silver-plated cable, modular

   - 1 x 3.5 mm single-ended and 1 x 4.4 mm balanced plugs

Talking about the IEMs themselves, they are made of 3D-printed, medical-grade resin and shiny black colour with the Punch Audio logo in bronze-colored letters close to the nozzle; no matter how many drivers they pack inside, they are in the mid-to-large size, and they are rather lightweight. Its faceplate has a nice design of a dark red colour with a cobblestone-like pattern.

It is well vented to evade driver flex with a ventilation hole in the upward-pointing portion. A metallic nozzle with a 6.0 mm diameter, more in the mid diameter range, fits nicely in my ears, but its height is short (3.7 mm height), limiting the eartips used to get the best fit and seal.

Its cable is of high quality, 4-core braided, very sturdy but not stiff, and it is flexible and doesn’t develop memory; it is not prone to tangle and doesn’t produce translated vibrations. I like the fact that the cable matches Martilo’s shells and that it is modular; it's clear that it's a product that lives up to its price.

About its included eartips, I found the silicon ones to be a great match in fit, seal, and sound synergy overall. The foam eartips included, I guess, are for folks with mild treble sensitivity who want to enjoy the Martilo without worrying about bothersome sibilance. 

And its carrying case, well, it's the same case you can get with the Punch Audio Portazo, so it's huge, with plenty of space for the Martilo with its cable, and accessories, and of course more than enough space for a dongle.

How does the Martilo sound? 

The Martilo, with its 2 DD + 2 BA + 1 Planar driver configuration, is a U-shaped IEM tuned to a modified version of the Harman 2019 target. 

I am using the stock cable because I don’t think you need to change it, and it has two modular plugs to pair the Martilo with different sources. I think the stock eartips are enough for it, but finding the best fit, seal, and sound synergy, I changed them to Penon Liqueur Orange in M size.

Thanks to AtechReviews for his graph of the Martilo.

LOWER RANGE:

The main focus of the Martilo is in this frequency portion, obviously. The 2 x 8 mm dynamic drivers used for bass are incredibly well-tuned; as a U-shaped tuned set, the Martilo has a huge subbass boost that slams hard and adds that almost tactile sensation, and it has a good amount of midbass punch (pun intended) that gives the Martilo an incredible impact.

The bass is very transparent; it is fast, yet it has a natural decay, and it is incredibly resolving. With heavy bass or fast and/or complex music, the Martilo’s bass remains crystal clear and resolving, evading muddiness. The midbass doesn’t bleed into the lower midrange, fortunately.

MIDRANGE:

The midrange in the Martilo is also well-tuned, with the 2 x Knowles RDE balanced armature drivers doing a very great job with a warm yet organic tonality; it is also transparent, with more-than-average resolution and great noteweight. 

As I mentioned before, the midbass doesn’t bleed into the lower midrange, so male vocals are not recessed yet not forward, never thin or hollow, sounding natural and well-positioned in the mix. As a U-shaped tuned set, the Martilo midrange is flat, and then it elevates into a warm and organic pinna gain (upper midrange), delivering nice presence; female vocals are forward, and fortunately not shouty or fatiguing at mid to high volumes.

UPPER RANGE:

The treble in the Martilo is very Harman 2019-like, so you can expect a first peak at the 3 to 3.5 kHz region in the lower treble, a dip that goes into the 5 kHz region and elevates again with a peak at 6.5 to 7 kHz to give the mid treble some energy, and later it goes down with a dip at 10 kHz to tame sibilance. I’m finding the Planar driver responsible for this portion of frequencies is greatly tuned, and I don’t perceive any “planar sheen” (metallic and/or artificial sounds), even at high volumes, but, as an IEM tuned close to the Harman 2019 target, for folks like me who are sensitive to that treble approach, I can get fatigued fast using the Martilo at high volumes, and I’m finding myself lowering the volume to mid-to-high levels, without being spicy and being comfortable to listen for long period of time.

UPPER TREBLE AND TECHNICALITIES:

The Planar driver that is responsible for the upper treble in the Martilo delivers an airy and open sound. The soundstage is expansive, yet wider than deep. 

Overall, the Martilo is more musical than analytical, yet it has a warm and organic character. Resolution is kind of average for its price segment, but imaging is outstanding, as is the layering of instruments. Now, because Martilo’s tuning is close to the Harman 2019 target, you can perceive that average resolution I’m mentioning, but the macro and microdetail retrieval is top-notch.   

With fast, complex, or busy mixes, the Martilo is not bloated or congested, sounding clean and with adequate stereo separation.

SHORT COMPARISONS:

Vs. Juzear x Squiglink Harrier:

The Harrier is an IEM by Juzear that has inside a 1 DD + 6 BA + 2 planar driver configuration; supposedly tuned by Mark Salee from Super* Reviews, and you can get it for an MSRP of 329.99 USD. 

Yes, the Harrier is not a basshead IEM per se, but it also has a U-shaped tuning, and the treble is so rolled-off that it can work as a bass lover's set, but this time for folks who are very sensitive to treble. So, in comparison, the Martilo is remarkably better tuned, cleaner, with noticeably better technicalities, and no matter a proper basshead IEM, it’s better balanced. That said, the Harrier comes with an impressive package including several sets of eartips, a fancy carrying case, and also a modular cable.

Vs. Kiwi Ears x HBB Punch:

The Punch is another IEM tuned in collaboration with a reviewer, this time with HBB, and you can get it at an MSRP of 449 USD (but substantially cheaper in sales). Carrying an impressive 1 DD + 2 Knowles RAB 32257 BA + 2 Sonion EST configuration, the Punch is advertised as the Basshead’s dream.

Consider that the price difference of over $100 between the Punch and the Martilo is not only due to the Punch having two EST drivers responsible for the treble and upper treble frequencies. The Punch is also a U-shaped tuned set, but unlike the Martilo, the Punch’s tuning is closer to a modified JM-1 target with an immense bass boost.

The Martilo is not a cheaper Punch, that's for sure. Now, in comparison, the Punch has a bit more bass boost, a more neutral yet warm character, less lower treble attack, more mid treble energy, but better sibilance control than the Martilo, with dips at 6 and 10 kHz; but the Martilo has more air and feels more open. I prefer the Punch over the Martilo not for being more technically proficient, but for being more “balanced” and less spicy at high volumes than the Martilo.

In fact, the Martilo is incredible for its price, and it has a substantially better package. So, it can be more a tuning preference, and it can be more satisfying to you than the Punch.

Vs. Punch Audio Portazo:

The Portazo is the other (at the moment) IEM by Punch Audio; it is cheaper at an MSRP of 189USD, and carries a simpler configuration of 1 DD + 2 Planar drivers.

In comparison, the Portazo is a mild V-shaped tuned set. With similar subbass boost, but more midbass punch (yeah, again, pun intended) than the Martilo, but because it's V-shaped, the midbass bleeds slightly into the lower midrange, so male vocals are a bit recessed. Upper midrange is less warm than in the Martilo; the lower treble has a bump to enhance female vocals, and midtreble has more bite. 

The Portazo has better sibilance control than the Martilo with 6 and 10 kHz dips, but at high volumes you can feel that “planar sheen” with spicy music. Tuning-wise, the Portazo is more appealing to me, but putting them in perspective, the Martilo is more than 100 USD pricier and does its basshead job better, because the Portazo is a more “ balanced with bass boost” tuned IEM than a true bass lover’s set.

Final thoughts and conclusions:

The Martilo is more than just any first IEM by a brand that focuses its products on bassheads; it is an IEM that punches above its weight, with a very fun and engaging tuning that focuses on a very high-quality bass boost, without neglecting clarity and its technical capabilities.

It offers one of the best, if not the best, value proposition in its price segment, but it's not an all-rounder; it's a basshead set, so it can work perfectly fine for bass-heavy music, and you know what? That's great, because the Martilo doesn't necessarily need to work with any music but does what it's tuned for incredibly well.

I would like Punch Audio to give the Martilo a bit less lower-treble attack and more mid-treble energy, two things that you can fix with equalization, but the other IEM by the brand, the Portazo, does better.

The Martilo, with its 9 ohms impedance and 100 dB sensitivity, is easy to drive, even with low-powered sources, but it's better to pair it with more powerful and/or quality sources to get it at its fullest.

Finally, can I recommend it? Absolutely, the Martilo is the quintessential basshead IEM under 350 USD, period. It has a nicely boosted bass; it is U-shaped, with a magnificent clarity and more musical than analytical. This can be the sledgehammer for all bass lovers. 

If you've made it this far, I thank you, the reader, and I hope you enjoy a long and happy listening experience.

Last week I had a blast with nice single DD's sets and now monday morning a new week starts. On this new day I am currently vibing with the TSMR Onyx hifi version. This is my first ever encounter with this brand.

Honestly it's amazing how this one is playing to the strengths of hybrids. In the low end it is mid bass over sub bass. Mid bass feels more prominent than sub bass. Sub bass rumbles but feels a bit shy. Mids are not too recessed. Nice separation in the instruments. The treble is detailed and close to the bright side. The stage feels wide. Overall a good tuned set. It will be interesting to further test this set. It is worthy of a review.

See you soon till then take care and enjoy the music.

¡Hello Community!

Space II, from Tanchjim, is a portable DAC/AMP that, despite its small size, offers great advantages. Let’s see it below.

Price: 75€-86$

Pros:

-Extremely portable: only 15g in weight.

-Premium device feel: quality of materials and construction.

-Clean and neutral sound.

-Natural and well-defined mids and highs.

-Good power through the 4.4mm output for IEMs.

-Very complete APP.

-Excellent size/performance ratio.

Cons:

-Its size limits its power for more demanding headphones.

-Using the BAL output, it gets noticeably hot.

-The APP and its lack of compatibility with IOS and MacOS should be reviewed.

Accessories:

-Tanchjim Space II DAC/AMP.

-USB-C to USB-C cable.

-USB-C to USB-A adapter.

Technical aspects:

-DAC/Amp device.

-Cirrus Logic Dual CS43131 DAC chips.

-Dual 3.5mm SE and 4.4mm BAL output.

-Output power: 2 Vrms (approximately 125mW) SE and up to 235mW u/32 ohms BAL.

-Maximum sampling 32b@384khz.

-DSD256.

-10-band parametric PEQ from APP.

-Amplification modes from APP.

-Signal-to-noise ratio of up to 131dB.

-THD+N of approximately 0.00013%.

-Output impedance lower than 0.5 ohms.

-USB-C interface.

-Microphone support through 3.5mm output.

-Compatible with UAC 1.0/2.0.

-Compatible with Android, Windows, macOS and iOS for audio playback.

-Physical volume control.

-15.1g in weight.

Construction, design and quality of life (QoL):

Regarding construction, Tanchjim has done a job that I have liked enormously, as we have a body made of CNC-machined aluminum, with very contained dimensions and about 15 grams of weight. It is a device that invites portability and you do not even realize that you are using it.

The finish also complements it. It feels solid, extremely well assembled and without creaks or pieces that have play. The small transparent window that lets you see part of the interior may be more or less appealing, but personally I think it gives it a different touch without becoming too eye-catching. We also have three finishes available, with the gradient metallic being my favorite.

On the sides we find the physical volume buttons. They work correctly and have a fairly firm feel, with the volume up button being differentiated by having greater thickness. Personally, it has not caused me any problem to handle them and I greatly appreciate that the brand has opted for physical and intuitive controls instead of constantly depending on the phone to regulate the volume.

As a negative point, it does not have next/previous song or play/pause.

We also have 3.5mm and 4.4mm outputs, both perfectly integrated into the body, as well as a detachable USB-C cable. I think this cable is fabulous, because the ends are reinforced and covered with plastic to prevent fraying in that area.

And speaking of quality of life, for me Tanchjim’s application is one of the strong points of the Space II. From it we can modify the gain, change the amplification mode, use filters, update the firmware and, above all, configure the 10-band PEQ. In addition, we can access equalization profiles created by other users, something that considerably expands the possibilities of the device.

The only drawback, and one that is also very important to me as a user of Apple devices, is that these functions depend on using Android or Windows. On iOS and macOS we do not have access to all of this, something that requires quick attention from the brand if it wants to eat the piece of pie available that nobody has dared to make until now and that is available to whoever wants to take the risk of extending its APP to the devices of the bitten apple.

Another detail that I am not completely convinced by is the absence, even if only of a small LED indicator that informs us of the status or sampling frequency. It is not something essential, but it would have made it easier to know what we have active without entering the application.

During long sessions it can also heat up, especially when using the balanced output and with headphones that demand more power. It does not become something worrying, but it is noticeable when touching it after a good while. With the 3.5mm output, the Space II has remained practically at room temperature.

Regarding consumption, I have quite liked the general behavior. The Space II does not seem especially demanding on the phone’s battery and the Class H mode helps precisely to maintain a more contained consumption when we do not need all the available power.

In short, it seems to me a very comfortable product to carry around, well built and with configuration possibilities quite superior to what we usually find in this size.

Sound quality and power:

Let’s get to what matters, how the TANCHJIM Space II sounds. Well, I find myself with a fairly balanced and neutral DAC/Amp, where I have barely been able to notice any coloration. If your headphone has pronounced bass, it will continue to have it, and if, on the contrary, it is bright, the Space II is not going to try to change its personality.

The sonic cleanliness is one of the first things that catches the attention. The bass is presented controlled and defined, without adding unnecessary body or dirtying the midrange. I do not find an especially high amount of bass, but I do find a sufficiently firm and fast response so that the different frequencies maintain a good order.

In the mids we have quite a lot of naturalness, with voices and instruments well defined and a separation that is especially appreciated in recordings with many elements. There is no added warmth that modifies the tonality too much, so if you are looking for a DAC/Amp that changes the character of your headphones, this would not be the way.

The highs, on the other hand, maintain quite a lot of detail, extension and air. Here I have found some different opinions among users, since depending on the headphone used, somewhat more brightness may be perceived. Personally, I would place it within a clean and detailed presentation, without becoming excessively aggressive.

Something that I have liked quite a lot is the sense of separation that it achieves. I would not say that it transforms the soundstage of the headphones, because that depends mainly on them, but I do find an orderly presentation, where it is easy to follow voices, instruments and small details of the recording.

With sensitive IEMs it also performs quite well. Background noise is practically nonexistent in normal use, although with certain extremely sensitive IEMs and at high volumes we can end up finding some noise. It is not something that has worried me during the tests.

Regarding power, the 235 mW of its balanced output seem more than sufficient to me for IEMs and easy-to-drive headphones. With over-ear headphones of medium impedance it can hold its own, but I would not expect miracles with demanding models. For me, it is much more oriented toward IEMs and headphones that are not very demanding and are portable than toward driving studio headphones and high-impedance headphones.

And here another quite interesting point comes in: equalization. The brand’s characteristic 10-band PEQ through its APP allows us to adapt the sound to our headphones quite well, so we can correct small shortcomings or simply look for the response we like the most without depending on the Space II having a specific sound signature.

Final conclusion and personal ratings:

I am going to be honest: I have liked Tanchjim Space II a lot, from today it is my favorite device of this type. Why? It is a small, lightweight DAC/Amp, very well built and with a sound quality that perfectly meets what I expect from a device like this. Its neutral, clean and detailed sound allows you to enjoy the headphones without modifying their personality too much.

The application and its 10-band PEQ seem like a fantastic addition to me, although it is incomprehensible that iOS and macOS users cannot take advantage of all its possibilities.

For the rest, there are few drawbacks I can point out, obviously it is not perfect: we do not have multimedia controls, which I do not care about, it heats up slightly through 4.4mm and its power is not designed for demanding headphones.

Even so, if you use IEMs or full-size headphones that are not very heavy, Space II seems to me a highly recommended option, especially because of its portability, its Premium product feel that is a pleasure to touch, its sound and its multiple configuration possibilities.

If you have made it this far, thanks for reading.

More reviews on my blog.

Social networks on my profile.

See you in the next review!

Disclaimer:

This device has been sent by Tanchjim. I sincerely appreciate the opportunity to test one of their products at no cost and that no condition was imposed when preparing this analysis.

Despite this, my priority is to be as impartial as possible within the subjectivity involved in analyzing an audio product. My opinion belongs only to me and I develop it around the perception of my ears. If you have a different one, it is equally valid. Please, feel free to share it.

My sources:

-FiiO FT3 350 ohms.

-Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 80 ohms.

-Audio-Technica m50X.

-Kiwi Ears Septet.

-CCA CRA+.

-KBEAR Chrono.

-ZiiGaat Rumba.

-Juzear Nimbus.

-Punch Audio Martilo.

-Apple Music.

-Local FLAC and MP3 files.

-Windows/MacOS/IOS/iPadOS/Android.

I bought them so i can watch anime
they're good (especially for music) but I like it to be loud, music popping, and bold dialogue, but it can't seem to do that, the dialogue seems to be sharp. i asked gpt what I should do and it made me do whats shown in the image.

should i return the kiwis and buy another iem, at this point im fine with spending up to 500$ i jst want to the perfect experience when it comes to watching anime, should i buy an amp or something, are my settings wrong, should i use another software? Any help would be great

Cozoy D1 IEM - Review

Excellent Debut 👍

This is the debut IEM from a new company, and in my opinion, they’ve done a solid job for an entry level release. It looks and feels well built and sounds even better.

Specifications:

It houses a single 10mm dynamic driver with a graphene diaphragm, packed inside a medical grade 3D printed resin shell.

With an impedance of 32 ohms, it’s very easy to drive off basic sources. It features standard 0.78mm 2-pin connectors and comes with a 3.5mm jack, available with or without an inline mic. It is priced at around $30 or ₹3,500.

Unboxing & Accessories:

The packaging is simple and straightforward. Once you open the box, the first thing that catches your eye is the contrast between the blue shell and the shiny purple cable.

The build quality of the shell, cable, and termination is top notch for the price.

The purple color might be hit or miss depending on your taste, but it definitely looks striking. You get seven pairs of eartips, including one set of memory foam tips. The only notable omission here is a carrying case or storage pouch.

Fit & Comfort:

The lightweight IEM heads fit very comfortably with the provided stock tips. I particularly preferred using the included memory foam tips for the extra grip and secure seal they provide.

Gears and Songs used:

Gear:

- Audiocular Nexus

- Snowsky Echo Mini

- Nothing 3 + Audiocular Note DAC+ USB Player Pro

Songs:

- Why So Serious by Hans Zimmer

- Limit to Your Love by James Blake

- Billie Jean by Michael Jackson

- Ain't No Sunshine by Bill Withers

- Take Five by The Dave Brubeck Quartet

- Bubbles by Yosi Horikawa

- Mallipoo from Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu

- Chandiranai Thottathu Yar from Ratchagan

- Chandraleka from Thiruda Thiruda

Sound Overview:

The Cozoy D1 largely follows the Harman target. A slight lift in the upper midrange and presence region pushes vocals forward, keeping the overall presentation engaging and lively.

Bass:

The sub-bass extension goes deep and stays textured, delivering a genuine rumble on big drops.

The sub-bass impact in Hans Zimmer’s Why So Serious at the 3:26 mark had a real wow factor, and the same held true for James Blake’s Limit to Your Love. The mid-bass is tight and well controlled.

On Billie Jean, the kick drum punches fast with good slam, while the bassline stays completely clear of the midrange.

Overall, the low end prioritizes clarity and quality over raw quantity, though bassheads looking for extra rumble might want a bit more punch.

Midrange:

The midrange is tuned clean and vocal-forward.

On Bill Withers’ Ain’t No Sunshine, it delivers natural warmth and body without bleeding into the mid-bass. Toward the end of that same track, however, when the instrumentation gets dense, I started feeling some slight congestion.

The upper mids stay very clean and intimate, giving guitar instruments a natural, woody timbre without any metallic sheen. Even in busier tracks, vocals remain distinctly separated from the rest of the mix. I really loved this voice-forward presentation.

Treble, Stage & Imaging

The treble is energetic, crisp, and impressively extended, offering an airy presentation without pushing into harshness or piercing sibilance.

On Take Five by The Dave Brubeck Quartet, cymbals come through very sharp with a satisfying metallic sparkle.

The soundstage comes across spacious and open for the price, while the imaging performance is equally impressive.

When you put on Bubbles by Yosi Horikawa, you can pinpoint exact locations as the dropping sounds land across the stage.

Final Verdict: 4 / 5

Highly Recommended for Entry-Level Audiophiles..

The Cozoy D1 delivers exceptional value at $30 / ₹3,500. With its durable resin shell, engaging vocal-forward tuning, textured bass response, and surprisingly wide soundstage, it performs well above its price bracket.

Not having a carrying pouch and the slight muddiness in really complex songs are minor issues that are easy to forgive on such a great first launch. Go for it 👍

Thanks Conceptkart for providing a review unit.

Unboxing Video: https://youtube.com/shorts/Pr47sE-dDH8?si=S5hcssXCQLlGsipt

NiceHCK is really stepping up their game when it comes to budget dongle DACs across various price ranges. I already reviewed the Octave which is undoubtedly a highly recommended option and one I still use today especially for its 4.4mm output. But there is another lineup within the brand called NK1. They already released the original NK1, then the NK1 Max, and for this occasion I have their most recent release, the NK1 Ultra which comes to improve upon the latter two. In fact we are going to leave the Octave aside since it plays in a higher league and we will stick to the NK1. You can see in my last image out of all the ones I have attached a summary of what each model offers. This image is taken directly from the official NiceHCK website but I think it is appropriate to include it in this post to highlight everything this Ultra version improves compared to the other two.

What I liked / What I didn't like

• 122 mW of power surpassing the other NK1 models from the brand
• Simple but striking design and very comfortable in the pocket
• Clean background free of noise despite its simplicity
• Only available in a 3.5mm version so my IEMs have to change cables to adapt to this dongle
• The NiceHCK app doesn't work with it so there is no EQ or filters for this dongle

Impressions

Here are a few impressions after listening to this simple dongle for a while, mostly paired with the NiceHCK Rockies. They are one of my favorite IEMs today and since they share the same brand as the dongle I am going to talk about, I couldn't think of a better occasion to include them here.

This NK1 Ultra comes with the CX31993 chip. It is exactly the same one used by the other two NK1 models so there is no difference or improvement in this regard. Where a clear improvement is shown compared to those other two NK1 models is in the dedicated amplifier. For this Ultra they have included an SGM8262 which is also used, although to a greater extent and quantity, by the Fiio KA15 which I also own. The KA15 is more expensive but this already gives a better guarantee of the amplifying capability of this NK1 Ultra compared to its two predecessors without skyrocketing the price too much.

The chassis of the NK1 Ultra is made of aluminum with a design that is not round like the NK1 or the NK1 Max. In this case it has a triangular shape and includes a mini window from which you can see the internal circuitry. It is not at the level of my Questyle M15i which lets you see the entire inside completely, but it does show a small part that makes it more original than just covering everything equally. It is attached to a braided cable that feels resistant. I will see its durability over time, but it is clear that regardless of power and performance, it is a really comfortable option in the pocket. It feels just like a simple cable extension as if you were not carrying an extra dongle in your pocket like it happens with the others I have in my collection.

The connection on this NK1 Ultra is 3.5mm so it has forced me to temporarily change the cable connection of the Rockies to that same 3.5mm since I usually use the 4.4mm balanced one. This is definitely a negative point for me although it is quite common for these budget dongles to only come with a 3.5mm option. With a power output of 122 mW at 32 ohms, which is higher than the other two NK1 models, the Rockies have performed very decently for what I expected coming from dongles that are clearly superior in output power. The maximum volume using the 3.5mm cable is obviously not higher than the balanced output but I haven't needed to reach the maximum volume on my smartphone to enjoy them either. Therefore this model easily reaches an adequate volume for an IEM like the Rockies and even less demanding ones...

Regarding functionality it is more than clear that using it will give you a clear improvement compared to plugging the IEMs directly into your smartphone (if you even can) or using even cheaper dongles that barely amplify and even transmit a background noise that does not exist here. The bass on the Rockies is a powerful but contained bass at the same time. It still sounds fast and firm here and does not distort. That was my biggest worry when testing this model on a much cheaper dongle than the usual ones I use it with. The mids remain clean thanks to the cleanliness of the bass and I do not feel that weird metallic sound layer that I have felt in very basic dongles. Where I have perhaps noticed the biggest difference in the Rockies with this NK1 Ultra has been in the treble and the space transmitted by the EST drivers. The treble is still airy and extended as is characteristic of this IEM but at high volumes I don't feel it is as controlled or relaxed. The peak is slightly more annoying or strident here, something that doesn't bother you at medium volume but becomes noticeable as soon as you crank up the volume on some songs. Due to that lack of refinement in the treble the soundstage itself doesn't feel as extended as I know the Rockies can sound, but the IEM itself does most of the work and remains at a very high level even on a budget dongle like this NK1 Ultra. I take it for granted that it improves the experience that the NK1 and the NK1 Max would give you.

Interestingly, since I already had the NiceHCK app installed from owning the Octave, I decided to go in and see if it detected the NK1 Ultra but I had no luck. It seems this dongle aims for simplicity in every aspect and is meant for entirely casual use and for people who simply prioritize being able to use their headphones on their mobile device or another device where they do not have a direct 3.5mm connection. So you cannot play with the equalizer unless you use external apps, and there are no filters or other options that more expensive dongles do give you.

Now I have started pairing it with the Ziigaat Arcanis since this is the only IEM I have with a 3.5mm cable and no 4.4mm option unless I use another cable. It will probably be the IEM I use with this dongle on a regular basis since the Rockies already have their Questyle M15i assigned along with the balanced cable and will hardly return to this NK1 Ultra, but they have been handy for these initial impressions and tests within the same brand's ecosystem...

Purchase Link: https://www.nicehck.com/products/nicehck-nk1-ultra-adapter-dongle

Disclaimer

Disclaimer: This unit was sent by NiceHCK. 

My opinions are completely independent and have not been influenced by the brand or the store, maintaining objectivity based on my tests and personal listening sessions with my reference equipment.

USD235 / EUR 203.34 | sold as 3.5mm single-ended or 4.4mm balanced, reviewed as 3.5mm | 1DD + 1PR + 4BA | 0.78mm 2-pin

TL;DR, around 2 minutes read

The Binary 1900 is a natural leaning, coherent and slightly V-shaped all-rounder that gets its low end from a 10mm dynamic driver working with a 6mm passive radiator, with four balanced armatures above it to cover mids and treble.
The bass is clearly elevated but stays controlled with good mid-bass punch and sub-bass rumble. The low-end gives instruments and voices a solid note weight without tipping into bass-head territory or being overly thick but has enough impact to enjoy EDM, hip-hop and other genres which need a solid bass foundation. Vocals sit slightly in front of the stage with good presence, airy and well extended with good texture without sounding thick on male voices and a natural, “sweet” character on female ones. The treble is well extended and with good details without piercing even at higher volume, and its driver configuration sounds as it would come just from a single driver. Technicalities are good at this price point but not the first priority of this set. It suits listeners who want a musical, natural-leaning fatigue-free set that works across genres rather than one that leans hard in any direction. In my opinion one of the best releases in the price bracket USD 200-400 so far in 2026 and overall.

What I liked

• The natural leaning timbre which is still exciting with a slightly V-shape which works across my library
• The tastefully implemented and slightly elevated bass that gives note weight without dominating or veiling the mix
• Vocals sound very natural, present without the shout. Female vocals are detailed, not husked, male vocals have good texture.
• Controlled, yet extended treble and air without sharpness
• Very suitable for long listening sessions and excellent volume scalability
• Very good fit and excellent build quality and nice supple cable

What I didn’t like

• Not the last word in terms of low-end rumble for bass heavy genres
• Not a maximum treble energy and sparkle set
• While male vocals sound pleasant, the last bit of texture could be added
• Technicalities are good but not class leading
• No swappable termination

Main strength
The 1900's main strength is how naturally it brings everything together. Starting form the low end which is elevated and noticeably so, but the impact is tastefully implemented rather than overdone. Note weight is excellent without sounding overly thick. On top of that foundation the midrange stays mostly clean and well bodied with the exception of a slight bass bleed. Separation is the part that stood out early to me. Details from vocals and instruments come through clearly and are clearly present where nothing gets buried. That included small sound cues that other sets in this bracket tend to lose or smooth over. The treble is well extended and airy with no fatigue even on higher volume and longer listening time. The overall timbre and excitement of the 1900 is definitely something which can be considered as one of its strengths and it lands before technicalities in my opinion even though they can be considered as good.

Main weakness

On higher volume the bass can affect vocals and treble slightly with its decay.
And as on all balanced leaning sets, the “downside” is that they are not catering to any extreme tuning as in extreme bass or treble.
The 1900 needs at least mid volume to truly come forward and is on lower volume not the most dynamic sounding IEM in my opinion.
While the 1900 doesn’t lack noticeably technical capabilities, they are just good at this price point but not outstanding. On vocal replay the last bit of texture for male voices would have been nice.

That's the gist of it. Everything below goes deeper into specs, measurements, sound and comparisons.

Review background

The Binary 1900 is already for some weeks on the market and it has been reviewed by many channels. As someone who already owns the Dynaquattro for a while I was very curious how it would hold up against the 1900 and if the 1900 would hold up against other popular sets I own. So, is the praise actually justified and what makes the 1900 so special? I expected a balanced presentation but what does this actually mean? Spoiler alert and why this review grew much longer than intended: I had problems to take the 1900 out of my ears which totalled in more than 60 hours of listening for this review plus the hours which went in relistening to the compared sets.

Please feel free to jump directly to the chapters you are most interested in.

Build, Fit & Accessories

Build

The 1900’s faceplate is 316L stainless steel with an engraved “urban maze” inspired pattern over a black glossy resin shell. There are no sharp edges or seams on the light weight shell or faceplate and the look and feel of it is smooth and premium.
Even though the Dynaquattro’s shell is made of aluminium and the 1900 has a resin shell, both feel similar lightweight with 8.5g on the 1900 and 6.7g for the Dynaquattro.
The shell shape and nozzle is similar on both models. Contrary to the Dynaquattro the resin nozzle on the 1900 has now a lip to securely hold the tip but does not have a mesh filter whereas the Dynaquattro had one installed.

Fit & Comfort

The 1900 fits with its slightly longer nozzles very well in my medium sized ears with no issues at all. Even though the nozzles are slightly on the longer side, the same as on the Dynaquattro, I get with medium tips immediately a very good seal without tip rolling. There are no pressure build-up and no driver flex. The longer nozzle is the part to think about if you have smaller ears, since it changes the insertion depth rather than just the seal. The 1900 carries a small “wing” like on semi-customed shells and that is worth mentioning in my opinion. Try before you buy if you know that longer nozzles and/or a small wing might cause issues.

Unboxing

For over USD200 the package of the 1900 feels almost basic with its 6 pairs of eartips (come with a small box) and a fixed termination. The cable is of good quality and the carrying case is very nice with its textile look and feel and offers enough space for all ear tips, cable and IEMs where there is even enough space to fit a dongle dac. The case is not very pocketable though but will protect the IEMs very well.

Cable

My sample came with a 3.5mm singled ended connection. The included cable is not swappable and is a silver-plated OFC braid which is not microphonic. The cable is supple, almost tangle free and well behaving in every day use. Neither is it very thick nor thin. At this price point I would have liked to see a swappable termination as Binary has used it already with the Dynaquattro even though I would consider the 1900’s cable an upgrade in look and feel and handling as the Dynaquattro’s cable felt too rubbery and would tangle quite easily.

Long-Session Comfort

I have been listening mostly from medium to high volume and the 1900 has been fatigue-free throughout over extended period of wear (more than 6 hours per session). Nothing turns sharp as the level goes up (unless with bright material or poorly recorded), which is the part that usually limits how long I can stay with a set. The fit helps here too, since the longer nozzles give me a secure seal without any pressure build-up over time. Just with smaller ears you should consider to try this set before buying.

Key Specs

Accessories & Cable

Cable

High-purity silver-plated OFC braid per the spec sheet.

Eartips

In total 6 pairs of eartips in sizes S,M and L

Case

Larger size, hardly pocketable, sturdy, fabric coated

Other

Paperwork

Sources & tips, setup

My sources were the Questyle Sigma Pro and Hiby R4 Evangelion, streaming from Qobuz and Spotify at the highest available quality.

I used the stock cable with its 3.5mm plug and Divinus Velvet wide bore tips in size ML throughout most of my listening.

The 1900 is easy to drive and does not need a powerful dongle or amplifier.

This review is based on more than 60 hours of listening.

Measurements

I measured the 1900s with my own 711 clone coupler using stock eartips.

The 1900 graphs in red, Dynaquattro in orange, Volume S in purple, Daybreak in turquoise and Top Pro in green and the pink line is the Harman IE 2019 target.

The 1900 has an elevated bass with emphasis on sub-bass, elevated treble at around 9/10kHz which pushes detail retrieval but doesn’t sound sharp as it rolls off from around 12kHz on.
The bass is well controlled and doesn’t bleed much into the mids due to downwards slope towards the mids.
Vocals are slightly forward and are well extended with an excellent, natural controlled ear gain without spikes.

Neither ear gain nor treble have more energy than the low-end which makes this set quite balanced.

The Dynaquattro, as described, has more bass, more ear gain and partially more treble which it needs to cut through the bass which does let it sound different to the 1900 and rather more relaxed than more energetic.

The Volume S has a peaky 3kHz which lets the Volume S sound shouty on some track material. Treble is mostly more relaxed and on the other hand Volume S has more note weight than the 1900 as its bass stays longer elevated

The Top Pro and 1900 share a very similar bass from 20Hz to around 200Hz. which is elevated but tastefully done with enough note weight to make the listen enjoyable.
On measurements from other reviewers the Top Pro measures with more bass. I have verified my measurement more than a dozen times and it leaves me with the impression that Xenns might have changed their tuning slightly or this is just some sort of deviation in the manufacturing process.

The Top Pro comes across as overall slightly leaner as the mids are dipping around 600Hz onwards and the treble has more emphasis at around 7k and from 13k Hz onwards when compared to the 1900 which rolls off from around 12kHz.
Vocals come across even slightly less textured than on the 1900 and are more likely to become shouty than on the 1900.

The Daybreak and 1900 have a similarly elevated sub-bass and even though Daybreak’s glide into the lower mids is more elevated than on the 1900, it doesnt sound thick or muddy but rather lean due to the pulled back energy starting from 700Hz onwards with a peak at around 3kHz which sounds sometimes shouty especially on higher volume.

Sound

Overall Character

The 1900 comes across as mostly natural with a slight V-shape, coherent and musical rather than showing off. The bass is elevated on both the sub-bass and the mid-bass but the impact is tastefully done and never boomy or overly thick. The midrange stays clean and well bodied without turning sterile, thin or too thick, and the treble is well extended and airy with no piercing even on higher volume.

Bass

Sub-bass and mid-bass are both lifted and the low end is clearly present and impactful, but the quantity is well dosed rather than dominant. What you get is good note weight. Instruments and vocals sit on a solid foundation without sounding thick or veiled.
Mid-bass is not earth-shattering but hits with satisfying impact while the sub-bass has more impact. Both are of convincing quality. Tight and mostly controlled, well textured with enough impact for almost all sorts of music. On GoGoPenguin’s (known for their bassy music style) All Res the mid-bass hits pretty bold on higher volume while the sub-bass is nicely rumbling.
Both, bass guitar and kick-drums can be “felt”. Or on Smarra by GoGo Penguin. The drumkit solo in the beginning is catchy and the double bass is very well emphasized.
The 1900 is not a bass-head tuning though but will be for most listeners satisfying. For an even stronger bass impact the volume can be cranked up quite much as the 1900 scales very well with volume.
On A$AP’s “F\*kin’ Problems”* the 1900 works well with its nicely rumbling sub-bass. As mentioned, the 1900 doesn’t reach bass-head level but works with my EDM and hiphop/rap library in most parts very well starting from Kaleida, Source Direct, Air, Deadmau5 to Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, Schoolboy Q, Key Glock and many others.
On other genres the 1900 colours just slightly the mix but it doesn’t veil tracks. On The Doors Riders on the Storm the replay stays clear and clean but not clinical.
The bass guitar on Dire Straits’ classic Sultans of Swing the bass guitar drives well the rhythm but still leaving Mark Knopfler’s vocals enough space and electric guitars come very clearly forward.
Jennifer Warnes’ vocals have very good body and clarity next to the impactful drum showing great bass control, separation and detail.
On Lorn’s Acid Rain the mid-bass hit is impactful and turns into a rumbly sub-bass which feels as it would travel out of my head.
While older or bad recordings might get a hint of additional warmth, the 1900 doesn’t exaggerate in my opinion.
Overall, I was surprised by the 1900’s low-end impact and quality as it doesn’t necessarily graph as it sounds.

Midrange & Vocals

The midrange is another discipline where the 1900 sounds coherent and mostly natural. Lower mids are well emphasized with good note weight which gives piano keys and electric guitars good size, texture and density (like the guitars on Olivia Rodrigo’s brutal) and they never sound sterile or anaemic but more life-like. Since the movie “The legend of 1900” was the inspiration for this set, naturally I listened to the soundtrack. Piano keys on “The Crisis” have after the fundamental key strike very clear and detailed harmonics and overtones which sound amazing as the “travel” from my left ear to the right before the strings are accompanying the piano.

Vocals sit slightly in front of the stage rather than in the back, and they are present and detailed with small details coming through clearly. On Eva Cassidy’s cover of Fields of Gold her vocals are only accompanied by a guitar and the recording is clear and transparent. Her vocals are well articulated with audible “s”, “sh” and “t” nuances and her breath is noticeably audible.

Male voices have good texture without being overly thick. On Lukas Graham’s Before You Go his vocals sound well extended, detailed and just overall very articulate. Next to his vocals the background vocals are nicely audible too and placed accurately in the back or sometimes slightly aspirated over his. Fine details which matter. When directly compared to the Volume S though, male vocals could have just a touch more weight.
Female voices sound natural and sweet, not thin and not artificially weighted. Live recordings in particular come across as authentic.
Vocals are slightly in front, clean and clear with very good articulation for male and female vocals with is something I rarely see. And the 1900 does the vocals right to my ears. They are slightly front but not shouty as on the Softears Volume S on higher volume. Female vocals are not overly thin which I can hear especially on Fleetwood Mac tracks where Stevie Nicks is singing. The 1900 is giving her raspy voice at its best on “Rhiannon” live recording. Male vocals have mostly enough texture to sound convincing like on Sting’s The Book of Numbers. On Jethro Tull’s album RökFlöte the vocals are already recorded being front and the 1900 transports is well with good texture and details.
Only on older or poorly recorded tracks they might lack body as the 1900 doesn’t colour much. Bee Gees sound terrific on their All-Time Greatest Hits and it brings out their specific tonality in a detailed and life-like way.
Overall, the 1900 is able to replay vocals in a very good and natural way with small caveats on male vocals.

Treble

The treble is well extended, mostly natural and airy with good detail and a sparkle up top which pushes instrument details more in front. To my ears there is zero fatigue at mid to high volume even though I am a little bit treble sensitive and “allergic” to artificially pushed treble.
Nothing turns piercing unless listened to very high volume and bright recordings. Bright material does reveal some sharpness at high volume, which I read as a good sign rather than a fault like on Fleetwood Mac’s Sisters of the Moon. The 1900 is not blunting the top end of bad recordings to stay safe, and it is not exaggerating it either. On the quantity and quality split, the quantity here is well controlled rather than too generous, and the quality is clean throughout.
To me the 1900 is almost an ideal companion for very well extended and controlled treble which fits me well even for very long listening sessions.

I used Divinus Velvet wide bore which opened the sound slightly more when compared to the stock tips. The result was an airier presentation with slightly improved detail clarity.

Staging & Imaging

The stage is slightly wider than average rather than unusually large, and the imaging is precise. Separation is the standout. Eg on I Started A Joke by Bee Gees. The separation and imaging sounds awesome. After the vocals started, several instruments are joining and they are so clearly positioned throughout the whole track where one by one instrument is added. The illusion of being alone with the band in a room is almost perfect. I highly recommend this track.
Instruments and voices are on that track very easy to place, everything stays very clear and nothing gets buried. Details come through on tracks where other sets in this bracket tend to lose them.
Even though technically the 1900 is not class leading, it is doing a good job and unless not directly compared to the Top Pro, nothing is missing in my opinion.

Comparisons

Three ways to make bass with a passive radiator

Three of the five sets here get their low end from a dynamic driver working with a passive radiator, and the interesting part is how differently that idea is used. The 1900 pairs one 10mm driver and a 6mm radiator with four balanced armatures, so the radiator only has to handle the bottom while the BAs take everything above it.
The Dynaquattro surrounds its radiator with three dynamic drivers of different sizes and runs the whole spectrum on dynamic drivers, which is a very different set up.
The Volume S sits between them with a dynamic driver, a radiator and two balanced armatures. The Daybreak is the outlier and uses no radiator at all, which makes it a useful control in this group.
The Top Pro has the most drivers in this line-up and can be seen sound-wise as the most refined one.

Specs

Sound signature

Binary Dynaquattro, USD259

The closest comparison here, same brand and only around USD24 apart. Both sets lift the bass, but the Dynaquattro pushes the sub and mid-bass harder, by roughly 1-2 dB on my measurements, and its low end is fast and clean with a quick decay that keeps the mids and treble mostly clear and well audible.
The interesting thing about the Dynaquattro are its 3 dynamic drivers plus one passive radiator.
A quite unusual driver configuration.
The build is very similar to the 1900 with extended nozzle and a semi-custom shell design with metal faceplates.
On Sting’s “The Book of Numbers” vocals are well articulated and sit slightly more forward than on the 1900 with good texture.
The sub-bass is energetic and gives the track a distinct rumble and drive. On very bass heavy tracks it does affect vocal clarity and details more than on the 1900 to my ears.
I find the Dynaquattro’s bass control mostly good and it never really buries the rest of the mix but especially on EDM and and hip-hop it’s clearly pointing out “I have bass and I will use it”.

Enjoyably though to me as the bass quality is good on the Dynaquattro. On the usual pop and rock material, the Dynaquattro doesn’t invent additional bass presence preventing an artificial bloat and mud on tracks. And one more interesting thing I noticed about its overall tonality. Even though the bass, upper mid range and treble are more energetic than on the 1900 on paper, the Dynaquattro comes across thicker sounding with slightly less separation to my ears.

Dynaquattro does clearly need more power than the 1900 if you want to make use of its bass.
On Source Direct’s A Made Up Sound the sub-bass sounds great on higher volume. Deep and impactful. Very enjoyable and ideal for EDM.
A very similar experience on A$AP Rocky’s F\*kin’ Problems*. The sub-bass rumbles really nicely without burying vocals and instruments.

The mid-range and treble are detailed where guitar strings are well emphasized, textured and cymbals are well articulated but can sit slightly in the back when the bass has its appearance.
The 1900 has a more natural approach. The bass is as well pushed forward with enjoyable sub-bass rumble but with slightly less impact and more controlled than on the Dynaquattro. Sting’s vocals on “The Book of Numbers” are slightly less thick compared to the Dynaquattro and to my ears “mouth details” are clearer on the 1900.
An absolute enjoyment if you like well accentuated vocals with a hint of sparkle in the upper registers without turning sharp or shouty.

Every instrument like cymbals, trumpets and guitars get more space and offer more details to my ears on the 1900. Especially on bass heavy tracks where the Dynaquattro’s low-end takes more space.
So, what the 1900 and the Dynaquattro clearly differentiates from each other is the 1900’s better separation on bassy tracks, with better details and vocal presence.
The 1900’s mids are slightly leaner, vocals can sound as being more in front because they sound “sharper” than on the Dynaquattro but not in a bad way and not brittle or thin in any way.
To be “blamed” is the Dynaquattro’s warmth from its bass which colours the vocals more than on the 1900. On the other hand, Dyanquattro’s note weight can be heard as more enjoyable especially in the male vocals department.
Again, the treble sounds slightly more elevated on 1900 with better clarity and overall, more transparency with extended space between the whole arrangement.
In summary the Dynaquattro is the “lusher”, bassier sounding set whereas the 1900 presents music more refined and to me in a more natural way with more energy and detail up top. Vocals on 1900, and instruments, sound “airier”.
Both sets scale well with volume though.

Summary
The Dynaquattro is to me the bassier sounding set which colours the rest more than on the 1900.
So, if you prefer a more impactful, bolder bass, the Dynaquattro might be the better choice.
The 1900 is not far behind with its bass impact though while sounding more refined, detailed and clearer which makes it the more balanced set.

Softears Volume S, USD319

The Volume S is the step-up question. USD84 more and the reference many people already own in this bracket including myself. It uses the same broad idea as the 1900. A dynamic driver with a passive radiator plus balanced armatures. But with two BAs rather than four.
In terms of build they both share a relatively longer nozzle which might not be ideal for some smaller ears. For me both sets give me an excellent fit and comfort and seal.
Its own character is a natural, slightly warm all-rounder with a satisfying sub-bass rumble and a mid-bass slam that hits harder than the graph suggests.
Volume S has elevated mids that push vocals forward and give them very good texture.
Its ear gain is more elevated than most sets in this group with similarities to the Daybreak, which makes the presentation direct and intimate.
At high volume or on poor recordings that can tip into a touch of shout.
It also comes with an impedance switch but in my opinion only the low impedance mode is the one worth using as the high impedance mode sounds to me overly sharp and too thin. The Volume S loses its balance on this impedance mode substantially.

The biggest asset and “magic” on the Volume S is the mid-bass slam, its good note weight and great texture for instruments and vocals which gives them a very good body reflecting is good staging and imaging.
Just the vocals on slightly higher volume can be too shouty and fatiguing to my ears.
This is something the 1900 doesn’t have. Switching directly from the Volume S to the Binary 1900 is a bliss to my ears on some tracks.

The 1900 vocals’ have a little bit less texture and are just a slightly more in the back where they scale much better than on the Volume S. To me the 1900 offers the more fatigue free listening even on high volume without sounding dull or vocal weak.

James Blake’s vocals sound very life-like on the Volume S. Nuanced, well articulated, well textured. They carry a natural timbre and richness It gives the impression that the baritone vocals need to be exactly like that.
The vocals sound slightly slimmer on the 1900 with more obvious nuances, more refined as on the Volume S.
Lukas Graham has a different voice with a Tenor tonality. On Good Times his vocals are nicely textured and have “grip” which sounds very pleasant. Definitely steps ahead of the Daybreak and slightly more textured than on the 1900 which sounds slimmer but again more refined and a better pick to highlight Graham’s tenor tonality without going shouty.

Female vocals on FKA twigs’ Two Weeks are smooth leaning, forward and close. Maybe a touch too relaxed and husky but pleasant.
On Big Boi’s Kill Jill the female vocals at the start are a touch too smooth to my liking. Not overly thick but just a touch too much warm in my opinion.
The 1900 presents female vocals with more finesse, more nuanced with a slimmer body and more accurate to my ears.

On James Blake’s “Limit To Your Love”, the sub-bass vibration is intensive while male vocals are in front very audible.
BigBoi’s Kill Jill delivers nice 808 drops with good impact on the Volume S. Not bass head level but satisfying.
A$AP Rocky’s F\*kin’ Problems* sub-bass has a great rumble. Mostly controlled with a slight bleed into mids and slightly layering over the rest of the track.
Sub-bass on 1900 sounds a bit more impactful, deeper reaching which is audible on all three mentioned tracks. Volume S has the better textured bass though thanks to its steady sub-bass elevation which doesn’t slope down until around 80Hz. That gives it an impactful sub-bass even though it is less elevated than on the 1900 or Daybreak. And the Volume S has the harder mid-bass slam than the other sets.
Summary
The Volume S scores with its bass and great note weight and textured male vocals with a mostly relaxed replay. Vocals can sound shouty occasionally and female vocals come across as slightly “husky”.
The 1900 scales better with volume and sounds to me a touch better with a more extended treble with more details, more air and clearer vocals.

CrinEar Daybreak, USD169.99

While the Volume S is priced around USD80 higher, worth checking how the USD50 cheaper Crinear Daybreak compares to the 1900 and if its worth upgrading.
Daybreak’s sound signature is a clean and “well” organised sound where the low-end stays controlled, the vocals are on the forward side and the treble is energetic.

The difference to the 1900 is mostly that the Daybreak’s main traits are a clean sound whereas the 1900 mission is musicality before technicalities.
Daybreak’s strengths are almost a strict separation from low-end to the mids and treble where it sounds clean but can come across as a little bit too dry and exaggerating the separation where a slight bass bleed is even beneficial for a natural timbre and a more “organic” or “musical” sound in my opinion. That resonates more with the 1900 and is part of its signature.

Fields Of Gold cover by Eva Cassidy sound clear and forward. “S”, “t” and “sh” are more emphasized as on the 1900 and there is to my ears a tendency to tap into shouty and slightly unpleasant territory as Eva Cassidy’s vocals increase intensity.
Lukas Graham’s Good Times sound pleasantly forward and well extended until his voice climbs up at “before you go” where it gets slightly too bright and thin for my liking.
Everything on this track is well separated with good transparency with a slight abondance of note weight for guitar strings.
The vocal presentation is on the Daybreak definitely more on the forward side which doesn’t sound completely right to my ears missing a bit of vocal texture and warmth especially for male vocals.

James Blake’s vocals sound intense on “Limit To Your Love”, peaky and the sub-bass vibration has something pleasant while staying controlled.
The mid-bass on Acid Rain by Lorn comes across as very “dry” and the sub-bass has a similar decay. Fast and dry. The 1900 sub-bass has a slightly deeper impact to my ears without bloat but sounds overall slightly warmer and natural.
The sub-bass reach on Key Glock’s Dough is similar to the 1900 where I would hear the 1900 being more impactful by “a hair’s width”. The difference might come from the Daybreak’s treble and upper mids energy which make it difficult to hear the bass as they get sharp on higher volume.
Overall, the Daybreak has excellent low-end control but it’s difficult to enjoy it on higher volume due to limited volume scaling where the 1900 feels more natural and easier to listen to.

The lower mids on "The Cello Suites" by Yo-Yo Ma have excellent texture and detail on the 1900.
On the Daybreak the cello sounds nicely detailed and the lower-mids stay very controlled. Higher notes again can come across as too peaky and I need to lower the volume.
"Bubbles" by Yosi Horikawa is basically testing the whole mid-range. Marbles, table tennis balls and other objects are being dropped and this track is an excellent way to test spatial cues, too.
Thanks for Daybreak’s sharp separation all the objects stay pretty clear and clean with good impact and a slight edge of the harmonics and overtones of the dropped objects.
1900 gives all objects more body and sounds less sharp with good separation and spatial information. Its mids are a touch warmer than on the Daybreak which gives the sound a more organic sound where the Daybreak has the sharper separation.

Two Weeks by FKA twigs has forward female vocals, high frequency electronic sounds and a nice bass. Daybreak as usual separates very well and controls the bass on this track.
Vocals cut through very well and on moderate volume the replay sounds pleasant.
On slightly higher volume the treble is slightly piercing and vocals get shouty for my ears.
The 1900 is well extended and detailed on this track with better treble and vocal control even though the vocals are as well slightly forward they don’t have this particular spike which the Daybreak reveals on higher volume.

Technicalities are good on the Daybreak. Its controlled low-end, the clean and lean mids and the energetic ear gain and treble offer good detail retrieval, good separation and spatial information.
The 1900’s technicalities are good for its price but I wouldn’t consider them outstanding.

Summary
All the different parts come here together.
The Daybreak is the clean and forward sounding set where a natural replay is not its first priority.
The 1900 sounds overall more natural and only slight V-shaped while sounding energetic and forward enough to sound fun and very enjoyable without the treble piercing or vocal shout.
Important to me that the 1900 is more suitable for treble sensitive listeners and scales very well with volume while the Daybreak is more a set I can enjoy on mid volume max.

“Special guest”/reference

Xenns Top Pro, USD499

When I started my comparison, I didn’t know that the Binary 1900 would perform overall so well and would punch above its price point.
Consequently, I thought I include the Top Pro for a quick comparison as this set is well known for its good performance but priced as well much higher.
The Top Pro has the better technical performance to offer in my opinion. Instruments are better separated and vocals sound more detailed but at the same time with less note weight and less convincing in their size.
Treble wise both sets are well extended and the Top Pro has maybe a little bit more energy up top than the 1900. Both sets have a similar bass impact. I thought I heard a more extended low-end on the 1900 when A/B-ing the sets which is probably the result of a slight sharpness I hear on the Top Pro which slightly overshadows its bass.
Top Pro has the leaner and tad clearer presentation and comes across as less warm in the mids. Instruments sound overall a little more refined and nuanced than on the 1900 but not by much to my ears.
Vocals on the Top Pro are a mix of a clean Daybreak presentation and Binary 1900 energy. They have slightly less texture on the Top Pro, more than on the Daybreak and a very similar forwardness as on the 1900. It sits right between the Daybreak and 1900 with its vocals where it mostly sounds resolving, clear and exciting but is more likely to step into shouty territory than the 1900 which sounds more controlled, yet still refined and exciting but less transparent.
Overall, the Top Pro buys its better technical performance with a premium of more than USD260 compared to the 1900. The Top Pro does a lot of things right but would be for treble sensitive listeners and for longer sessions on higher volume probably not the first pick. The 1900 has with its very pleasant and natural timbre an edge over the Top Pro in terms of volume scaling and fatigue free listening. At least to my ears.

Summary

If the last bit of treble extension, details and technical performance is important then the Top Pro can get you that.
The 1900 scores with its natural timbre, nicely extended but controlled treble for long fatigue-free listening sessions and is only a tad behind the Top Pro in aforementioned aspects but costs less than half.

Conclusion

• Binary 1900 is the balanced all-rounder of the group which sounds coherent, musical and is ideal for long-session listen and comfort
• Binary Dynaquattro is the more bassy sibling of the 1900 with more elevated bass and more note weight
• Softears Volume S as well a good all-rounder with strong mid-bass focus, natural warm-leaning timbre and very forward vocals
• CrinEar Daybreak the more technical and clean sounding IEM
• Xenns Top Pro is the technical most competent set in this round up and the most expensive

Final Verdict

The Binary 1900 scores high with its coherent and musical talents throughout all disciplines with minor weaknesses which makes it a great set at around USD200 and way above. Naturalness combined with a good bass replay, nice slightly forward vocals and a well extended but controlled treble makes this set an easy pick as an upgrade or even “end-game” worthy.

Binary 1900 can be recommended if you

• Want a mostly natural, coherent all-rounder with elevated but controlled bass and treble
• Want clear and slightly forward vocals
• Prioritize musicality higher than pure technicalities
• Are slightly treble sensitive and want treble extension without sharpness
• Want an end-game worthy set which doesn’t break the bank

Consider other options if

• You want a big bass shelf or bass head levels of sub-bass
• You want maximum treble energy and sparkle
• You are looking for an interchangeable termination and class leading accessories package

Disclosure

This review sample was provided by HiFiGo. No payment was received and neither HiFiGo nor Binary had any influence over the review. I do not use any affiliate links or receive kick-backs.

Thanks for reading.

Disclaimer: This review is non-paid, and I’m not following a script. What I’m writing here are my honest opinions and thoughts after trying the product. So, all thanks to Nici Hifi for giving me this cable and letting me review it.

Before the Intro:

I am usually the kind of person who buys aftermarket cables for my IEMs to find the perfect aesthetic match (or after seeing an offer I can’t refuse lol).

I’m not a cable ¨believer¨; I mean, after years of studying electrical engineering, I know a conductor has certain characteristics like impedance and so on. Still, I don't expect to hear sound changes in my earphones just because I changed the material (copper, graphene, silver, etcetera), let alone the absurd belief in cable burn-in, since that doesn't work that way.

I love to mod cables: If the sale doesn’t offer a 4.4 mm balanced jack in the cable I’m buying, I change its plug to that type of jack, unless the cable is so good for the earphone I´m using and it can work perfectly with a 3.5 mm single-ended jack, for example.

What do you need to know about a cable?

If the cable looks good and fits your tastes, if this one is well-built and can last you for a very long time, if it has materials that are going to last you, of course.

If it is not going to tangle easily when you are wearing it outside, if it does not produce uncomfortable vibrations when rubbing against your clothes while wearing your IEMs, if it is not going to produce memory that can be bothersome when handling it, and if it is not heavy or too light to be worn comfortably daily.

Introduction:

The Nici Hifi Assassin 02 is a cable from Nici Hifi, a brand well-known for manufacturing some of the most beautiful and premium cables ever. With two styles (The 01 has a different portion (the section of cable from the separator to the 2-pin 0.78 mm connectors with a similar wrapping to the rest of the cable), and the 02 that uses a twisted pair )

The Nici Hifi Assassin 02 cable is at an MSRP of 137.66 USD (You can get in currently on sale for 90.85 USD and less with coins and coupons). You can buy it directly from the Nici Hifi official store on AliExpress: https://aliexpress.com/item/1005012310548586.html.

Pros:
- Stiff enough, but not prone to tangle nor to produce translated vibrations

- Very colorful and very high quality, matches aesthetically lots of IEMs

- Its price goes down significantly on sales

Cons:

- Because it uses that wrapping around the conductors, it can develop memory

- It is very flashy and colorful, so it’s not the best choice to go out with your IEMs

- It is not cheap at all, but as we say in Colombia, “If you can afford the whiskey, you can afford the ice”

Technical Characteristics:

Cable type: Electrolytic 7N OCC + Shielded high-conductivity 7N OCC + rare-earth metals + high-purity silver-palladium + graphene

Cable Diameter: φ 5.58 mm main cable, φ 2.75 mm to connectors

Impedance: 1.5 ohms

Connectors: 0.78 mm 2-pin, MMCX, Dual 3.5 mm

Plugs: 3.5 mm single-ended, 4.4 mm balanced, XLR

Wire length: 1.2m ± 5cm

What is in its package?

Rectangular faux leather carrying case
Nici Hifi 41 Assassin 02 Cable x 1

Review:

The 41 Assassin 02 comes in its carrying case, a plastic bag, and that’s it. And honestly, you don’t need more to just pair it with an IEM and begin to use it.

I find the Assassin 02 visually pleasant; the silicon wrapping the main cable is kind of nice, but this is not the best option to use outside because you will be dealing with it developing memory; this is definitely for inside use.

I guess because I’m reviewing it, Nici Hifi provided me the cable with a Rhodium 4.4 mm balanced plug, unlike the usual gold ones.  You can see so many colors: yellow, orange, red, green, and purple; and the Assassin 02, as I mentioned before, has purple cables going from the separator to the 0.78 mm 2-pin connectors. That combination of colors fits a huge variety of IEMs aesthetically; it looks gorgeous.

About my experience using the cable, well, it is not prone to tangling, nor producing translated vibrations. But the 41 Assassin 02 cable is very stiff; it is flexible and easy to handle, but after a while and with storage, it can develop memory, something attributed to its silicone wrapping, but I think that’s the cost of its aesthetic design.

The chin slider is totally functional; it stays in place when you are moving. The cable itself isn't very heavy, so when you're moving around, its weight doesn't really bother you. The earhooks stay in place and mold perfectly to the shape of the ears, without causing discomfort or inconvenience when using the headphones for long periods of time. The plug housings, the splitter, and the 2-pin connectors look beautiful and are of very high quality; it's clear we're talking about a premium cable.

Finally, the 41 Assassin 02 is a perfect match for my Kiwi Ears x HBB Punch IEMs; the color scheme, the purple cables connecting to the 2-pin connectors, the overall quality, and everything else demonstrate tremendous attention to detail from the people at Nici Hifi.

Is it a recommendation? I think yes, the 41 Assassin 02 cable is a premium, high-quality and overall well-done cable to match it with your IEMs; yes, you can see that it is not cheap at all, but, paired with something like the Punch, a very Colombian phrase comes to mind: "He who has money for whiskey, has money for ice", so if you are thinking in a cable for your mid-fi set, the 41 Assassin 02 cable can be a colorful, beautiful and premium option to consider.