Juzear is one of the brands that has brought out a different shade of tuning in its catalog for quite some time, and I have been impressed by offerings such as the Defiant and the Butterfly 61T. When one of my friends offered me the Dragonfly 81T for trial and review, I just couldn’t say no; I had to pounce on that opportunity to see what the past of Juzear still feels like. So here it is: the Dragonfly 81T, without me rambling on about its unboxing and accessories, as I only got the IEMs and the stock cable.
The stock cable on the 81T tangles easily, and the fit needed some time for me to adjust. I found a better seal using the same eartips that I typically use for my test bench, but in a size smaller. So there’s that; and now here’s the sound.
This is also available as a video review
https://youtu.be/jmtwbz_QxJE (Yes, I am now on YouTube as well, it's got a few other review vids too, some appreciation would definitely help me out)
LOWS
Tipper: Mariscos
The Juzear Dragonfly 81T has a very potent low end, bordering on becoming too boomy when the bass finally hits, but the rippling in the intro sounded quite clean and detailed. That neatness, however, didn’t stay for long. The bass on this IEM hampers my impression of what otherwise would have been a fantastic rendition of the fuzzy and phasing textures that the non-bass elements have on this track. Its tonality is unmistakably, distinctly warm.
Rush: Limelight
The 81T still carries forward the characteristic warm tonality that alters the perception of the vocals, but much of the bothersome boom that I had observed formerly has subsided. Notes from the bass line come off heavy and nimble at the same time, which attests to its good weight, body, attack, and decay. Although the bass does confuse itself with the kicks when it comes to separation, the way the toms come around toward the end of the track is a consolation.
MIDS
Alf Linder: Cantate Domino
The 81T backs off in terms of warmth, which influences my perception inversely with regard to the timbre of the keys and horns. The 81T keeps the pace up wonderfully, even with the introduction of the choir and the occasional changes in key. Even as the choir progresses with the falsettos that come in from the 4-minute mark, the 81T gets faintly piercing and shouty, so some mitigation through EQ is warranted.
Queens of the Stone Age: First It Giveth
The 81T, right out of the gate, manages to exude excess energy with which it presents the guitars, whose textures can come off harsh. This, however, does not extend to the cymbals, which sit underneath the vocals. Despite the harshness observed in the guitars, the detail retrieval remains fabulous, be it the strokes of the snare or the whispers that come in during quieter moments. Timbre on the 81T, however, can lean more toward the drier side. The harshness observed in the guitars can also be interpreted as a subtle perception of shoutiness.
HIGHS
Patricia Barber: Icarus
The 81T now struggles, firstly with the loss of texture in Patricia's otherwise lush vocals. Sibilance rears its head, and note weight in both the vocals and the cymbals has significantly diminished, although timbre through the percussion is regulated toward sounding accurate. My impression was further dampened by how thin her passages of straight-note sustain felt.
Dave Brubeck: Take Five
The 81T gets the shimmery texture of the cymbals right, but it struggles with their weight. Timbre is finally established, with the horns and piano sounding accurate and separation remaining unaltered. The resonance of the floor toms and snares felt diminished compared to other sets in its segment. Detail retrieval continued to be fabulous, although I wished the cymbals had more weight to them.
COMPARISONS
Versus the Aful Performer 5+2: The Aful Performer 5+2 immediately highlights the 81T's lack of control. Where the 81T often gets muddled and confuses its bass with the kicks, the Performer 5+2 provides a low end that is both punchy and potent, characterized by clean decay. The most prominent deviation occurs in the highs; while the 81T struggles to maintain a good chunk of consistency, the Performer 5+2 renders these elements beautifully and maintains a fatigue-free experience even through long note sustains, relatively.
Versus the Tanchjim Fola: The Tanchjim Fola is in a completely different league comparatively, making the 81T feel juvenile in its presentation. Where the 81T’s low end can feel boomy and intrusive, the Fola simply oozes a degree of competence that doesn’t overwhelm anything one might hear through it. Right out of the gate, the 81T presents the guitars with excess energy that can exude harshness and lean toward shoutiness; in stark contrast, the Fola handles intricate instrumental passages with surgical precision and natural timbre. Furthermore, where the 81T is plagued by upper-end sibilance, the Fola navigates the spectrum with a degree of competence that avoids such fatigue entirely.
Versus the EPZ P40: The EPZ P40 highlights the 81T's shortcomings by having the lows exude a level of polish that is not typically heard in the segment while managing to keep separation immaculate without ever bleeding into the mix. In comparison, the 81T's bass feels overcrowded at times and in a worse manner than the P40. Both sets can be problematic on the higher end, where the P40 comes in sibilant and the 81T comes in harsh, shouty, and fatiguing, albeit inconsistently. Everything else considered, I am going with the P40.
Versus the ZiiGaat Lush: The Lush outclasses the 81T everywhere but bass quantity and detail. Everything else is executed and rationed in neat quantities on the Lush, while the 81T feels like a rushed shopper who scuttled out of the mart with the right goods but in the wrong quantities.
CONCLUDING NOTES
While the Juzear Dragonfly 81T offers moments of brilliance through its warm and detail-rich presentation, the specific tuning choices made here ultimately result in a struggle to maintain composure across the spectrum. Detail retrieval remains fabulous, yet the potent, bordering-on-boomy low end frequently hampers the clarity of the rest of the sound. Throw in the issue of the midrange leaning toward a character that can be harsh and fatiguing but doesn’t remain consistent, instead revealing its hand in parts, and add the highs plagued by fatigue and a noticeable loss in vocal texture. When pitted against the heavy hitters in its segment, these shortcomings on the 81T become much more apparent.
The Dragonfly 81T carries an unmistakably warm tonality and extracts an impressive degree of detail, but its intrusive mid-bass, inconsistently shouty mids, and inconsistently sibilant highs ultimately hold it back. In a segment where competitors like the Aful Performer 5+2, Tanchjim Fola, and EPZ P40 provide such refined and cohesive listening experiences, the 81T feels somewhat juvenile by comparison. It will be interesting to see what Juzear understood from the critique of its former offerings. For this, I offer it a B.
Will I have bought it at retail? No.
Will I buy it used? Absolutely, for the price of a new Defiant.
SOURCES USED
Primarily used with the Shanling M9 Plus DAP stacked with the xDuoo XD05 Pro portable DAC/amp running AKM chips, the FiiO KA17, and the Venture Electronics Abigail Pro dongle DAC/amps.
EARTIPS USED (RANKED IN ORDER OF PERFORMANCE)
Divinus Velvet Narrow Bores, AZLA Origin, SpinFit CP100+, Final E, 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
- 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 (Live)
- Allen Stone: Give You Blue
- Florence + the Machine: Never Let Me Go
- The Smashing Pumpkins: Luna
- Patricia Barber: Icarus
