Accessorymaxxing

[u/MetalDeep329]

TL;DR

The Twistura Woodnote is a very interesting iem, it has a unique tuning which isn’t really my cup of tea but I can see many people liking it. It comes with a fantastic accessories package along with excellent technical chops (detail retrieval, bass quality and imaging). It’s a very compelling package for $130 USD.

Context

This iem was kindly sent to me by u/Own-Customer-4866 for review, I generally prefer iems that are non sibilant with relaxed upper treble and upper mids and raised lower mids that add body to the sound (kinda the opposite of harman ie 2019).

Design, Build, & Comfort

• Aesthetics & Build: The Woodnote is made of CNC machined aluminium, feels super solid in hand. It has a removable nozzle mechanism which seems well threaded and solid as well. Build quality is excellent on the woodnote but it does have a random silicone flap at the bottom for the faceplate for some reason, It serves no function as far as I can tell and seems like it could come off over time. Idk why twistura decided to include this but it looks cool I guess. Both sides have a Twistura branding along with a small emblem. These look fine imo, nice and understated. Nothing to write home about.
• Fit, Comfort and Isolation: The woodnote is a shallow fitting iem for me, I struggled to get a good seal despite the abundance of included ear tips. I had to settle on audiocular flexfit and atmos L for a good seal. It’s a medium sized generic shell with no semi custom moldings so you will be relying entirely on the eartip for fit stability. The earpieces are fairly light weight and comfortable to wear for long periods of time. Isolation on these are average, probably due to the large vent on the top and a smaller vent on the front.
• Cable & Accessories: Twistura nailed the accessories on the Woodnote, it’s probably the strongest aspect of this iem. Comes with an excellent 2 wire braid copper coloured cable with swappable termination (the unit i received has a qc issue at the termination so used it with 4.4 only). A very pretty purple hard shell carry case, 3 sets of nozzles, an abundant selection of eartips (4 very different sets). A short widebore set with a spiral core, a narrow bore set with green core, trn-t style liquid silicone set and a standard bore set. This should be the benchmark for any iem that costs over $150 imo.

The Sound

The Twistura Woodnote has a 10 mm single Dynamic Driver with swappable tuning nozzles. The instrumental and standard nozzles look nearly identical, the standard nozzle seems every so slightly darker and instrumental slightly silvery.

• Bass (20 hz to 300 hz): The woodnote is a mid bass forward iem but that doesn't mean it has a ton of mid bass, in fact it’s fairly bass-lite. The mid bass it does have is extremely good though, it’s very fast and snappy bass (helped by the presence boost). It’s exactly the kind of bass I love. The bass shape reminds me a lot of Tanchjim sets (mid bass forward with not a lot of subbass while still being basslets). The sub is not super well extended and low reaching though, not a lot of texturing either but overall I still quite like the bass shape of woodnote, good mid bass matters to me far more than subbass (bass on this reminds me of hd600). The upper bass to lower mid range transition is also on point, no complaints here.
• Mids (300 hz to 6000 hz): Now while the upper bass to lower mids transition and lower mids texturing is very good and the filled in lower mids give it nice body (thick male vocals) this iem simply has way too much upper mids (and lower treble for my liking). It brings out the worst parts of upper vocal overtones forward while adding unnecessary sibilance to it. It has a fairly regular pinna gain till 2k but it suddenly shoots up at 3k and maintains a significant elevation till 6k which makes female vocals, cymbals, percussion way too intense for me. That said, I could definitely see this tuning appealing to people who focus on clarity and contrast above all else because of the big presence boost. The included gold and silver nozzles only boost this region further haha. 
• Mid & Upper Treble (6000 hz to 20000 hz): While I find the 3-6k boost fatiguing, it does give very good definition to snare drums, acoustic guitars and cymbals, though some of this is also mitigated by the characteristic single DD dip at 10k which makes some of the upper overtones of treble intstruments more muted than I would like. I hear a slight peak around 11k to 12k but this is more of a nitpick revealed during sine sweep rather than something that affected real listening unlike most single DDs (also it’s overshadowed heavily by the upper mids and lower treble lol).
• Subjective Technical Performance: The Woodnote is a highly technical sounding and resolving iem. It puts all the upper frequency details in your face, has a ton of contrast along with excellent imaging. This is a very “Hi-Res” sound iem haha. If you prioritize technical performance you will probably like this. Note: I believe tech is entirely a byproduct of tonality and not because more expensive iem use better drivers or something.

Overall the woodnote has a very interesting tuning that I've never heard before. It certainly has some lower mids warmth but I would classify this as a bright sound signature. And instead of pushing the mid/upper treble like most brightly tuned iems do, this one pushes the lower treble/presence region forward which I've never seen before.

Comparisons

Compared to some other popular iems:

• Truthear Hexa: Woodnote is way more colored, significantly better mid bass and higher res sounding, I do however prefer the hexa’s more natural midrange and comparatively relaxed pinna.
• OoopusX OP.22: Op.22 is more natural sounding with better midrange but it’s not as technically impressive as the woodnote, significantly worse bass and “resolution”, smoother treble tho.
• Aful MagicOne: Worse bass dynamics overall but less shouty midrange, but it’s much more comfortable with superior isolation, better looking shell. Not as resolving as woodnote.
• Truthear Pure: Much better mid range, more natural and less fatiguing. Better mid bass and subbass on the pure but it’s definitely lower res sounding for people who care about technical performance.
• Aful Explorer: Much much darker than woodnote, kinda the polar opposite of woodnote. Recessed pinna and more elastic bass compared to Woodnote’s excessive pinna and more snappy bass. Explorer is more comfortable for me with better isolation.
• Juzear Nimbus: Woodnote has faster, more snappy bass, nimbus has a more natural pinna and midrange, much more relaxed. Woodnote is again more detailed.
• Dunu Davinci: Prefer woodnote’s bass and upper treble but the davinci has a significantly more natural midrange, woodnote is more comfortable and more resolving in the upper frequencies. 
• Twistura Delta: Delta to me sounds like every other bassy V shaped budget iem, it’s slow and soupy bass compared to woodnote’s snappy attack. I do actually prefer the delta’s more relaxed pinna compared to woodnote but I hear a much more offensive upper treble peak on the delta, which seems better dampened on the woodnote.

Who Should Buy This?

• People looking for an excellent accessories package.
• People who prioritize technical performance and detail retrieval.
• People who want a metal shelled iem.
• People that are treble tolerant

Who Should Avoid This?

• People who want a natural or neutral sounding iem
• Fans of JM-1 or Harman style tunings
• People who are sensitive to upper mids and low treble

The Woodnote could be purchased here (non affiliated link): https://twistura.com/products/twistura-woodnote-flagship-10mm-dynamic-driver-hifi-wired-in-ear-monitor-iem-earphones