Value ( Overall Tonality for the price )
Avoidance of Planar Drawbacks
Tall scope in the staging
Construction
Cons:
Approach to Safer Tuning ( Huge Treble Dip )
Lack of Confidence in the Bass ( Authority )
Aesthetics
I got these headphones from a friend and any positive or negative review doesn’t benefit me in any way or form. All thoughts and opinions are mine and honest to my findings.
First Impression of the Brand Letshuoer
The first Letshouer I tried was in an Audio-Meet-Up, and it was S12. It was a planar IEM, and I was not quite impressed by that IEM. It was shouty and had very problematic timbre issues. The first listen left a very bad taste in my mouth for this brand and since then I never opted for any IEM produced by them. After the success of S15, I was intrigued again to try them, so I signed up for the review of S12 2024 Edition. And I can tell you at the start that this IEM is unlike the S12 Original version.
Design and Package
It comes in a pretty good box and all, 10/10 on presentation. The IEM looks flashy and has a premium feeling to it, but we are not here to talk about the package. This IEM houses a 14.8mm planar driver and it fits better than any average-sized IEM, quite comfortable for long listening sessions. The wire comes with changeable termination so it’s a huge advantage at this price point, although IDK who use 3.5mm in 2024. I would’ve liked a well-built case instead of this plasticky one. Sound Quality: Subjective
Now if we come to its sound quality, the first time when I listened to this IEM, it was hard for me to believe that it was a planar IEM. Planar generally always has a distinctive quality to me. They sound different than other driver types and I like the presentation, unlike BA configurations. They sound highly detailed, the sound comes in a tall scope, the bass sounds nice and the overall projection on planar IEMs sounds tall to me. On the other hand, it produces a bit of issues, the treble never impressed me in a Planar IEM and at the same time timbre sounded very lifeless.
The time I played the first song in this IEM, it felt like a dynamic driver. The bass is there, the sound comes tall, projection is big, but the treble didn’t bother me. It is not perfect by any means, but it sounded a lot better than all the other planar IEMs I heard in my past.
The thing is that it comes at a very affordable price, and I hardly notice any flaws that cannot justify the price tag. Now if I start saying everything is good, there is no point in reviewing this IEM so, I am skipping the jargon and cutting straight to the conclusion.
This IEM is extremely natural sounding. The bass is elevated quite a lot. The sub-bass and mid-bass cohesion is there, and nothing feels short in front of others. Although the bass is not very room feeling it feels like a centre blob. The transition to lower mids is very natural too. It offers slight warmth to the lower mids and remains neutral for the most part. The low end does affect the midrange in a good way. The upper mids do sound a bit pushed back in the mix. But the odd part is, the ornamentation of the vocals is very vivid, yet the body of the vocals is a bit distant. Feels airy and sparkly enough. The treble region on this IEM is a bit interesting. On one hand, this IEM sounds upfront, and, in some regions, it sounds way too dark. In the lower treble region, this IEM produces an extended sense of elevation and on the upper treble, it feels safer than usual. I am used to the treble the other way around. But it seems that this IEM adopted the new tuning methodology that is getting popular nowadays.
So, as you can see, this IEM is a very different sound planar I have heard in the past. It feels natural and organic to the most extent, and I am quite happy with it for the most part.
Soundstage
The soundstage is more in-depth than in width. Creating a yolk-shaped stage. The sound seems tall, and it has a bit of an interesting presentation where the vocalist sounds a bit distant but the instruments sound closed in.
Imaging
The imaging on this IEM is not very accurate. The presentation of the tall stage is not very good either. Not that it matters to me, but I know a lot of people who like imaging. Pinpointing instruments and cues are a bit hard, although it doesn’t sound 2D because of the increased depth and vocal positioning.
Dynamics
Dynamics are not mind-blowing, but they justify the price tag.
Timbre
As I already mentioned the Timbre on this IEM is close to natural. The drums sound almost natural but a bit blunted, violin sounded a bit muffled too. The acoustic guitar sounded good, piano sounded average. The saxophone and trumpet sounded very good.
Sound Quality: Objective
The sub-bass of the IEM includes an almost 8dB of bass boost and you can feel the elevation in the sound in terms of the heft and weight. The sub-bass just feels very coherent with the mid-bass. The natural flow of the low-end is there and it doesn’t overuse or underuse this area. The bass on this IEM completes this IEM in a way that is very hard to nail. The ornamentation of the low-end is equally great, texture & details are there, never felt it was lacking any sort of exaggerated sense of decoration.
But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. The bass was not pushing enough air to give the low-end a physical feel which is what I think because of the planar driver. In addition to that the treble tuning didn’t make the bass a super fulfilling experience in overall tonality.
The FRA Graph flushes flat in the midrange while giving a bit of definition in the lower-mids. The tuning in the lower-mids is not something that I can discuss on. It is not bad not extremely good, justifying its price.
The upper-mids are interesting. It rises from 800hz-1kHz instead of 1.5kHz, which I like, gives an extra bit of definition to the vocals. But the problem starts after 2khz. Since it obtains a different pinna-compensation than the norm, which I like but in this IEM it didn’t work. The extension felt a bit missing. The 10kHz dip also made a significant difference in the tonality of the upper midrange.
The 5-8kHz though saves a bit of the issue, which helps the upper mids to add to the ornamentation of the frequency spectrum. But the FR again falls off in the 9-16kHz range.
The 10kHz range dip is important to add depth to the music, since HRTF suggests that, but the refinement should be there which I think there was since this range felt very dark. This might save a lot of music, but it doesn’t sound refined.
All that being said, this IEM costs just $200. All the things I mentioned are said without taking the $200 into consideration due to my transparency towards an unbiased form of subjective analysis. Fortunately, this IEM excels in the value proposition.
Conclusion
I have my full recommendation for this IEM. Considering its price it’s a total banger. Just know that this IEM is not very typical of the planar-tonality IEM. It is very safe and sounds coherent. Looks like Letshouer improved to the moon with their latest iteration of the S12 variant.
Pros:
Technical Aspects of this IEM is very good for the price ( Especially Imaging )
Resolution is above average but the detail perception is very high
Approach towards a fun sound where it takes the right decision in the tonal choices
Easy Modifications that can easily make this IEM suit your preference a bit further
The value that this IEM provides is extremely high for the cluster it is targeted at
Cons:
The upper-midrange peak might make some recordings sound unrefined
Very transparent about the recording quality which might be troublesome depending on your playlist
The unboxing experience and attention to the package is not up to the mark
A different ear tip ( Tanghzu Sancai or a similar one ) is needed to extract 100% SQ which is not included in the box
Collab Talk
There are so many Collab IEMs in the market that it is sometimes hard for anyone to keep up. Almost half of them are HBB Collabs, I mean HBB can make a company himself at this point. Recently I reviewed Timmy’s collab and now Jay came up with his. This one is called Estrella and at first glance, it looks beautiful.
Package
Comes with standard packaging and a set of tips. The cable it comes with is extremely good though. I tried cable rolling this IEM and this cable came at the top every time. Although the cable quality is not very good all that matters to me is SQ and microphonics and it passes all of the qualities I look for in a cable.
Disclaimer
Jay sent this IEM to review, and no I don’t know him well & he is not a friend of mine so there will be no bias. And I am not keeping this IEM. It will be on tour in India for people to audition for themselves.
Introduction to the sound
This IEM is a more V-shaped IEM. The bass is very elevated as well the treble is there with its full glory. The bass is pretty good with this. To a point, I would say this is the most mature bass I heard for under $400. The elevation in the sub-bass is really fun, the texture is there, and it slowly fades in the mid-bass but takes a clean approach to the mids.
Bass
Coming to the bass – In one word it is full. The sub-bass is extremely addictive and almost on the level of something like IE600. I can guarantee you that nothing under $300 can give you the sub-bass that it is giving, in my collection.
Mid-bass on the other hand is very cautiously done. It is not affecting the midrange in any way or form like Penon 10th AE. Nor is it separating the sub-bass from the coherence factor like Pilgrim.
Overall the bass section of this IEM is top-tier in tonality.
Midrange
Now if we come to the lower-mids, there is not much to talk about. The lower mids are clean, textured, a bit dry sometimes and neutral in presentation. It is not a midrange-focused set so I am not expecting a lot of midrange lushness in its sound altogether. It is very dependent on the recording, and poorly recorded male vocals don’t sound good with this IEM. If you listen to old songs a lot this IEM never felt underwhelming in the lower mids.
Upper mids is where it shines. The female vocals felt airy and full of sparkles and shine. The texturing in this region is great as well as the resolution. Trail-ling edges to note falloffs everything sounded extremely good and resolving.
Although the mid-range is nothing that is taking away from the presentation, there might be some songs that would sound not optimal for the tuning. Specifically, there is a peak in the 4-5khz range that creates a bit of spiciness in some tracks at high volume.
Treble
Treble on this IEM is not shy by any means. Full of resolution and intricacies. Certain peaks gave it a very bold signature in the treble, where bad recordings will sound bad and Estrella will extract every bit of information from the treble
The speed is blazingly fast Snappiest than any IEM I tried in this Price point.
Technicalities: Soundstage
Then if we come to the soundstage, it feels huge. I am not a fan or hater of huge soundstages, but this IEM exhibits a very huge sounding stage almost all around your head.
No matter how busy track you give it, it won’t feel claustrophobic.
It is deep and as well as tall. I am glad to see Jay hasn’t used cheap tricks like stretching stereo width to give it more sauce in the stereo imaging which sometimes makes or breaks the tracks.
Albums like Andvevarljod EP – will scare the hell out of you
Technicalities: Imaging
Imaging is excellent as well. Pinpointing stuff in the soundstage is not an issue at all. Layering on the other hand is a bit on the average side of things. Like for an example it somehow manages to get on the level of Pilgrim.
Dynamics
Dynamically again this IEM is very fast. You might like a bit of sloppy dynamic which sounds like an old vintage speaker & it won’t give you that. It is stupidly fast.
Resolution
Resolution is excellent on this IEM, surpassing IEMs like Pilgrim by a long shot. Details and micro-contrasts are impeccable too. On par with something like IE600.So, to summarize the review in a few sentences.
I would rank the things I liked about this IEM in descending order.
Imaging on this IEM is by far the most impressive thing for me
The soundstage of this IEM wowed me, it felt very vast
Details and Resolution and everything involved in that like Texturing and micro-contrasts are excellent
The Sub-bass on this IEM is stupidly good
Treble is there just to flaunt itself
Upper mids are enjoyable
Lower mids are not on par with the excellence it offers in both lows and highs, and it is expected since it is a V Shape sounding
This IEM is very revealing, so Poorly recorded tracks sound bad.
The added ear-tips are kind of trash; I don’t like to tinker around with ear-tips that much.
Conclusion
So, all and all – I will be ranking this IEM very high in my ranking list. The fun elements this IEM exhibits are nothing short of breathtaking. It trades blows with something like IE600 and can be bought blindly. Huge Recommendation from my side. Good job Jay.
Now coming to the comparisons
Pilgrim
Pilgrim is a very different IEM. The focus on Pilgrim is maturity which sacrifices some fun elements of the sound like the treble and bass. Pilgrim is better in lower-mids and layering whereas Estrella is better in Soundstage, Imaging, Bass and Treble Amplitude and speed. I would say that these IEMs complete each other, and both sound way better than what they are priced at
Dynaquattro
Although Dynaquattro is more bassy in the overall low-end, the amplitude is more in the Estrella, so the bass seems more resolving and detailed in Estrella. Dynaquattro feels boomy and exudes more thump The control on the bass though is better in Estrella. At the same time, Dynaquattro is a lot safer and sweeter-sounding IEM. Estrella is more energetic and engaging. The Dynaquattro exhibits a taller and more natural soundstage, whereas Estrella is deeper and more atmospheric in the sense that it is more open. Resolution & Details are much better in Estrella.
Da Vinci
Both are very different, yet they have a big bass shelf. Da Vinci is more mid-bass focused and lower-mids are better on Da Vinci. But the treble and resolution are far better in Estrella. Micro-contrasts and details are better in Estrella too. Da Vinci is better at producing sweeter sounds in general. It has a more pleasing tonality with a better lower midrange presentation.
Hype 2
Estrella is 2 steps ahead of Hype 2 in all aspects.
Hype 4
Hype 4 is a set that impressed me. I would take Estrella if I want to listen to a more exciting reproduction of the music, whereas Hype 4 is more natural and safer. I like both of the sets a lot, and it’s really up to the preference of the tonality.
Targeted Demographic
Estrella is made for someone who is looking to get the worth of each and every penny they spend. At $300 there is nothing else in the market that can give you the level of Detail/Image & Soundstage with good tonality to back it up.
Excellent bass and treble, a bit underwhelming lower-mids and very good Upper-mids. This IEM is an IE600 replacement.
Watch my YouTube video on the tape-mod and other discussions here -
RoseTechnics QTX is, one of a kind IEM. It differs from most of the IEMs that are in the Chi-Fi market right now, providing a quite unique experience, so much so that I think everyone needs to listen to it at least once.
QTX sounds organic yet extended in the upper registers. It can’t play a few genres very well but most of the popular genres like Pop and Hip-Hop sound very good with QTX. The soundstage of this IEM is very expansive and atmospheric. QTX also excels in the Macro-Dynamic department although it doesn’t produce a lot of micro-contrasts. The imaging on this IEM is precise and resolution is good too. But due to the organic nature of the upper registers, the treble might not sound very crisp yet it produces an ample amount of air frequencies at the same time. The bass is the show-stopper here and can carry genres like Jazz & Orchestra as well as Hip-Hop and EDM.
The best thing about this IEM is, that it comes with an upgraded cable/High Quality Dongle DAC/Extra Eartips with the Deluxe Bundle.
QTX Completed its tour in India and thanks to everyone who participated in the tour.
People wanted HD600 with more bass and a better soundstage. Aune AR5000 provided that with a small catch.
The midrange is where the music lives, so doing a good mid-range in headphones at any price point is crucial. Few companies take the approach to provide a very natural mids through their equipment, few of them just ignore it to achieve a more fun-oriented sound. AR5000 on the other hand takes the responsibility to make the mids richer, lusher and on the face of the listener. But how does it stack up to the legendary 6X0 lineup of headphones? AR5000 has the bass to back the midrange and on the other hand, it tames the treble a bit too. The tech is surprisingly good for the price but gets tough competition from something like HD490 Pro Plus.
If you are familiar with my personal preference, you would know that I like treble. Not in quantity but in quality. Is it worth the sacrifice? How do certain chains affect the treble on this headphone, and lastly why is this headphone so damn cheap? I will discuss everything in my review.
Wireless buds are a nightmare for audiophiles. Not because of the comfort but for the trash-tuning choices brands follow. I never liked TWS because of their poor SQ; still, they are not my favourite by leagues to enjoy audio while commuting. But what if you have only $60 where you can’t even buy a good quality IEM let alone a TWS that sounds OK.
So when RoseTechnics asked me to review the Earfree i5 which costs just $60. I was a bit hesitant, since I have been packed with reviews for the last few months and didn’t want to waste my time with a sub-par-sounding audio product. Well, thanks to the RoseTechnics team, it is unexpected.
Presenting to you Rose Technics Earfree i5 (I will discuss the HiFi tuning only with ANC on, will talk about other tunings in my full review).
To get things straight. It doesn’t sound like a $60 IEM. To give you a reference it sounds better than BLON Z300 but worse than Simgot EW200, if that makes any sense.
The underwhelming factor of this IEM is the soundstage. It has that infamous 3 Blob Effect. The best aspect of the sound is the detail retrieval without being funky in treble to get artificial micro contrast. You will be surprised by how well it resolves.
But how’s the tonality? To my ears, it sounds like a brother of 7hz Zero 2 in totality. It has a balanced presentation. The subbass is very full and has that dense body, mid-bass is not as authoritative as the subbass, and mid-range might be the reason for that because it doesn’t have that bloat, we get with something this cheap. Texturing is not that great in the middle. Upper-mids is surprisingly very good, with a very good balance of elevation to the lower treble. The treble is safe though, safer than neutral but as a $60 audio product it is detailed, although couldn’t compete with something like HEXA. The extension at the extreme upper registers is preserved and will serve you air frequencies, but above 16Khz the frequencies start to get into a very safe territory.
Overall, I never thought I would even own TWS in my life but TBH I am starting to restore faith in me about TWS. The ANC feature is handy, it didn’t cause me any nausea that I felt with other ANC TWS. But the aerodynamics of this TWS is bad. While cruising at 50kmph on a motorbike without a helmet, the wind sometimes creates “hisses”, and that is not something I like. Otherwise, on cars/transport, I haven’t noticed a single problem.
The approach toward a fun sound is done well in this IEM
The overall tuning while being very fun is not snatching away any fundamental sense of naturalness
The authority in both extremes of the spectrum is commendable
The Technicalities are well-implemented
Exceptional Aesthetics and Packaging
Cons
The cost you are required to pay is undoubtedly a premium
Not well accessorised for the price
Somewhat hard to drive
The treble might use some refinement while maintaining the elevation
Not all genres will sound good ( Like - Hindustani Classical & Vocal Centric Songs )
( Not A ) General Chi-Fi Feeling
There are a lot of companies of Chinese origin that captured the market like Alexander. And Chifi comes with its pros and cons. On one hand, some companies come with extreme affordability, but balance is lost in them somehow, and a few of the companies suffer from QC and cheap equipment. This doesn’t feel like one of those species. The overall aspect from unboxing to aesthetics felt very polished and intricate.
Eminent – Ears is based out of Hong Kong, China too. When one of my friends went to Can-Jam, he noticed this IEM - Ruby and brought it back to India. Thanks to Pulkit from Gadget Generation (YouTube). For introducing me to this IEM.
At first glance, Ruby seemed like it was carved from a vertically shattered gemstone. And oh! God, it looks stunning. When the light reflects from its faceplates, it just screams beauty.
What I think about Expensive IEMs
What is the purpose of an Expensive IEM? On the one hand, this amount can be easily spent to get something truly endgame even in headphones. So why would anyone pay this money on an IEM? Is it worth the price? Is it justified to spend this much on an IEM? There are already a lot of people out there who would happily pay this much money for a headphone but not for an IEM. One thing is for sure: when you spend anything above $1500, no compromises can be tolerated.
And IEMs like this never existed a few years ago. The improvement IEMs got in the recent years in pure sound quality, is nothing sort of exemplary. But still, is it wise to spend so much money on an IEM?
Specifications
This IEM consists of 1DD + 4BA + 4EST
The configuration makes this IEM very demanding compared to something like Camelot. And yes, without an ample amount of power, it will lack the bass and dynamics.
Ruby is 103dB in loudness and 60 ohms in impedance.
To give you a reference, Ruby is not well suited for DX180 at high gain. I had to use Rose Technics RT5000 and JDS ATOM to bring it to its true potential. So, this might give you a hint about the power requirement of this IEM. The sub-bass gets very alive with the power, as well as the treble becomes a lot smoother.
(You can see different shades of red because of the different angle of light refraction)
Design
The shell is big, but it is too light for its size. So even though it was too big for my ears, it didn’t hurt me a bit. Although it was not inserted into my ears fully, as it was sticking out quite a bit, I can wear it for 3-4 hours without a problem.
These shells on the other hand look so good. Not up to my ally but for someone who loves flashy designs this one might take the crown for it. Previously I was this impressed by the looks of an IEM when I was reviewing the Verdandi.
Cable Talk
The included cable which is made by Vortex is a nice touch and adds to the whole premium package. This IEM looks like an expensive IEM. Although I have a slight complaint about the cable, that when you touch close to the splitter, it causes micro-phonics.
Also, I did try the Lavania cable too which was also made by vortex, which made the Ruby smoother and fuller. But it costs a bit much so, I decided to review this IEM with stock cable. But nevertheless, if you are a cable guy, this thing will improve things for the better.
Included Package
The packaging of the IEM feels very premium but the case is not. Why would you include such a small case for such an IEM? Half of the time it takes more than 1 minute to arrange it securely in the case.
It also comes with two sets of tips, which felt very cheap. They were very generic ones. I get that when you invest in such an IEM, you won’t use it with stock tips like ever. So, it was not much of a problem with me.
So, I used the Divinus Velvet tips and got a bit of channel imbalance, not because of the IEM or the tips. However due to my left ear being a tiny bit larger than the right side. So when I switched to Stock Red Tips and then the Final E–Tips, the problem got solved.
It is very funny to realize how much length mode resonance can differ the sound quality of an IEM.
Coming to the elephant in the room, Ruby costs $2300 and I already discussed my thought process about expensive IEM in the Camelot Review, if you haven’t watched the review – do check.
Subjective Review
Sub-bass
Coming to the sound the sub-bass is the showstopper in this IEM. The amplitude is huge compared to even bass canons. Not just the amplitude the authority and physicality are immense in Ruby. The sub-bass is textured and detailed through and through. The room-filling effect that I like in my bass is there, although the room for vibrations is a bit small, but apart from that the bass is class-leading. If I must express the sub-bass in one word – it was rumbly unlike anything else. However, one nitpicking that I had was, that the attack was not that fast which would contribute to the bluntness of certain tracks (Electronic Mainly).
In the song – Hollow 16 Bit Remix – Take a listen
[MEDIA=applemusic]us/song/1726638433[/MEDIA]
My brain felt like it was rattling. And my jaw was getting massaged. Although this kind of amplitude is available with a lot of power in hand.
Mid-bass
Coming to the mid-bass, it was not as authoritative as the sub-bass, but it does complement the sub-bass a lot. The mid-bass is elevated to a point that it doesn’t affect the lower midrange. The bass doesn’t make the vocals husky/grunt, what it does is cut off at a sweet spot where it doesn’t affect the vocals and keeps the mids very separated from the bass without sacrificing the coherency.
In the song, Personal: Emotional Oranges, Take a listen
[MEDIA=applemusic]us/song/1461504462[/MEDIA]
The vocals stayed neutral and the bass showed its full potential. Again, it was not as huge as the sub-bass, but it retained all the quality of textures and the quality of the sub-bass. The attacks are somewhat analogue-like and not super speedy unnatural, as well as the decay and falloff, which helps immensely to provide the naturalness even after being V-shaped.
Lower Mid-range
For vocals as I said earlier, very neutral. A lot of details are there in the lower midrange, which is not pushed forward by the treble. The tuning feels natural and organic. No sweetness has been added like lushness, which I love in my music, so it is a kind of trade-off for me, but for most of the people out there it won’t be a problem since they would need Bass and Treble which will inherently make the midrange recessed. Although this range is greatly dependent on the recording, richer recordings will give you a very nice presentation.
Chris Jones sounds lush, thick and rich. And on the other hand, in the song Hey Jude, The Beatles sounded very neutral.
Upper Midrange
Coming to the upper mids, it is done in such a way that it will provide airiness without much sparkle. Unlike Camelot where the air was a bit missing, and the sparkly-ness was there. Although I love the Sparkly nature of IEMs on the other hand it is safely tuned in a phenomenal way. Nothing gets too contrasty and edging.
In the song Somewhere over the Rainbow, take a listen
[MEDIA=applemusic]us/song/1116174194[/MEDIA]
Melissa sounded exceptional, but the sparklines were not there which gave it a vast feeling.
Treble
Treble on this IEM is not something that Eminent Ears can be proud of but, the treble on this IEM is very well managed. There are peaks that you will notice but the snappy nature of the treble is just pure joy. Even if there are 10 notes in front of you, this IEM will project each one of them with confidence and accuracy. This IEM is never tired of showing its speed, the quickest cues are captured with definition. However, I won’t recommend this IEM to a treble-sensitive person.
But to someone who loves treble, in amplitude. This IEM is a great match. Never it run it felt boring or unengaging.
In the song, The Way Up – Opening Part 1, take a listen
[MEDIA=applemusic]us/song/42031639[/MEDIA]
This song came out so spacious and fine-detailed that it never felt mushing up even a bit. Each cymbal hits felt full-bodied which has a distinctive start and end with a clear distinction. Containing all the crunch and snap it can get. The decay and attack are very impressive and fast.
Lavania Cable
Pairing up with Lavania Cable solved almost all the complaints I had with this IEM in the treble section but again, the cable costs a lot, and you might have to play with cheaper cables too.
Technicalities
Soundstage
The soundstage of Ruby is not intimate by any means. It is stretched left to right and even then, provides the very successful frontal image. However, the disappointing factor for me was the height. Layering and all are very nice with this IEM.
[MEDIA=applemusic]us/song/1463873106[/MEDIA]
Imaging
Imaging on this IEM is as you can expect from a TOTL set. It won’t drop your jaws with harshness or resolution at the same time, but it won’t let you complain even a tiny bit. Although there is some lack of presence region definition, but with the precision they achieved is impeccable.
[MEDIA=applemusic]us/song/1467959116[/MEDIA]
Resolution
The resolution of Ruby. I would say. In terms of resolution, it is quite apt. It might not beat every single IEM because it doesn’t produce aggressive detail with the help of FR. Detail and Resolution comes to this set very naturally even though the treble is not refined to a point where I can fall or love.
[MEDIA=applemusic]us/song/1513483239[/MEDIA]
Timbre
The drums sound good and enjoyable, saxophone sounds organic. The piano sounds crunchy, although the bit was missing a bit. The violin sounds smooth and relaxed. The original timbre is not there being too soft on certain genres.
[MEDIA=applemusic]us/song/1453925093[/MEDIA]
Conclusion
Eminent Ears Ruby is an interesting IEM that came to my radar this year. I did everything well for the tonality it is targeting, and if you are chasing the V-shaped signature this IEM might actually give you something valuable.
Excellent Tuning and Sense of Neutrality
The Value of The IEM is Very High
Excellent Gaming IEM
Fit and Comfort are Very Good in IEM & Cable Both
Cons
The Packaging is Not so Great
Need a decent Burn-In time to Sound Good
Technicalities in Every Genre Might Not Resolve Well in Music
Aesthetics are Very Bland
INTRODUCTION
This is my introduction to Kiwi Ears. I never used their products before, so I didn’t have any idea what to expect from them, so I approached the review of KE4 while having a black state in my mind. Saying so, I know KE4 is a hyped-up product in current scenario, and it dictates a tuning choice that is called “New Meta” which is the given name of IEMs that are tuned while keeping JM1-DF in mind.
What is JM1-DF? (The NEW META)
As we all know we hear sounds very differently, and so do Couplers. Recently B&K introduced their newest coupler 5128 on the market. Which is supposed to be a more accurate version of the Coupler IEC 711, still getting used largely in the community. There is a huge jump in the accuracy of the graphs in 5128. But due to some reason there are still some slight abnormalities that can be seen in the upper-mids / lower treble.
So JM1-DF is simply the corrected version of the 5128 Diffuse Field to give you a more natural sound (on an average ear).
[We all hear IEMs differently even if they produce the exact same sound (due to acoustic impedance and anatomy related to that). This is what we call HrTF (Head Related Transfer Function), which simply makes us distinguish spatial information generally and contributes to the individual liking of the headphones/earphones (Example – Some might find a headphone peaky, and some are not). So, to continue studies in audio we can’t rely on a single person or single direction (Remember, every direction represents a different curve), thus we use average of a sample. Which is called diffuse field (In other words, average of all directions). And We are talking about 5128’s diffuse field in the name JM1-DF].
UNBOXING
The KE4 comes in an average box. It’s neither too appealing nor too cheap to call it an issue. Apart from IEM and cable then comes with -
Case – The case is well thought out to hold the IEM. It fits perfectly with a dongle DAC. Small enough for every pocket, be it Jeans or trousers. It imprints Kiwi Ears Logo in the front and feels like cloth, made from rugged material which is one of the best-case materials. It houses a net to keep accessories in the case separated from the IEM.
Eartips – The ear tips are very average though. It feels extremely comfortably to my ears, but the seal was not that good, although I had zero problems would rate it above average for its comfort. The best thing it had is the earwax guard which I think is a much-needed practice to follow in the audio since people have dirty ears. But it does interfere with the sound a bit. Divinus Velvet is a somewhat better upgrade over the stock ear tips which gave me a bit of the detail boost as well as the more open upper registers.
Mesh Filters – I don’t think that they have moisture absorption capabilities, that you must confirm from somewhere else, but the added filters are a good touch to the overall package. I wish more companies would start to include filters along with the IEMs.
STOCK CABLE
Stock cable on the KE4 is average too. It is not too thick, which is a good thing for me. I only experienced tangle once in 10days. The splitter is extremely well built. Ear-hooks are flexible enough not to cause me even a bit of discomfort. Microphonics are not there in the cable. My set came with a 3.5mm termination and lastly, I have no complaint about the memory of the cable. The cable doesn’t look that appealing but does the job where I don’t have any problem.
FIT
The buds are on the medium side, and they properly fit my ears. The contour is not that aggressive, which helps in the fit too. The nozzle is a tiny bit larger than the average and on the same ballpark as the Hype series. Nozzle is not too long or short and provides a great seal with fitness. Although it is not comfortable while sleeping sideways.
DESIGN
The design of KE4 is very minimalist. Bland, simple and works. Personally, I am not a fan of the look of the IEM but who cares if it fits properly? Although I previously thought that the branding on the faceplate might look a bit ugly but in real life, it looks quite good. I wouldn’t have liked the blank faceplate even a bit. I love good looking IEMs and unfortunately this IEM didn’t pass the bar.
One thing about the design I liked a lot is the vent position. I ride bikes and IEMs come in handy while riding on long highways, which keeps me awake and aware. But due to the vent position I can get quite comfortable while riding the bike since I don’t have to worry about dirt/moisture getting into the IEM with wind.
POWER REQUIREMENTS
I have heard about KE4 being dependent on very high power but to my surprise it does sound good on all my devices. More power does give it a much-needed heft, but it does sound OK on low-powered devices. Let’s talk about the power requirements of the KE4,
Sources -
POCO X2 – Just does the fundamental tonality current. The dynamics felt missing, and the soundstage seemed on the face.
Moondrop Dawn Pro – The dynamics got restored, the bass got more confident and richer. The details and spatial effects got a huge booth.
JDS ATOM 2 - KE 4 sounded very full, and the resolution seemed the same as the Moondrop Dawn Pro. The heights seemed clearer and airy above 10Khz.
RoseTechnics RT5000 – The soundstage for a massive boost. It sounded like a $500 IEM; the only drawback was the detail retrieval and sense of positioning.
KAEI TAP1 – Extremely pleasing and organic sound. Beautiful tonality, OK tech but these two are made for each other.
SOUND
Coming to the single most deciding factor of the worthiness of an IEM for me, we will be discussing the Sound Quality of KE4 in two sections, Subjective (Which is personal to me and might not affect you unless you share same taste with me) and another one is Objective (Should be applicable to everyone). Before starting this section, I must declare that I am conducting this review after evaluating this IEM for more than 50 hours (After burn-in). Anything I say in the review is completely honest with my findings and no one paid or influenced me to say anything good or bad about this product.
X-FACTOR
The X-FACTOR of KE4 is the neutral nature of the sound. Audiophile community is divided into two parts as of my understanding. A part of the community chases the truest nature of the sound and another part of the community chases fun. And I envy the later ones. But if you ask me for my own/personal preferences I always chase neutral/natural sound signatures. And KE4 provides that with decent coloration in the low-end. And this is what separates it from the rest of the IEMs at this price range.
If I must describe the Sound of the KE4 by just a word it would be “Neutral”.
OBJECTIVE SOUND QUALITY
BASS
The bass of KE4 is elevated quite a bit for a neutrally tuned IEM. The bass is not enough for someone who likes bass since the midbass is not that prominent, but it does provide the midrange with a neutral tune.
Sub-bass: The subbass of KE4 is quite authoritative. It has the quality of feeling atmosphere is the rumble. Feels physical and deep at the same time. But there is a feeling in complex songs where the sub-bass does portray a laid-back approach in the mix, but rarely does it. KE4 doesn’t unnecessarily extract/amplify low-end of the songs, it projects them quite naturally and honestly. I would’ve liked a bit more texture from the low-end but it’s unfair to nit-pick because it costs just $199. Overall, it was a quite good experience for me in the Sub-bass section. I enjoyed digitally recorded music with them, and they did a good job of performing the tracks without losing the fun elements.
Music – Hollow (16-Bit Remix)
The bass lines in the song felt full of air and thump. The dual dynamic drivers seem to be working well. The middle part where the mid-bass presence overtook the sub-bass region felt a bit soft, but the sub-bass stayed authoritative throughout the song.
Mid-bass: Mid-bass is not as elevated as the sub-bass, but it still is on the fun side of things. Although the sub-bass to mid-bass transition is quite good for doing justice with the lower-mids, but as an Indian I wanted a bit more mid-bass than the sub-bass if we talk about my personal library. But most of the genres sounded just fine. This is what I think is the weakest section of KE4. The details felt a bit rounded off and the texturing also kept me craving for a bit. Let’s take a few examples to understand the mid-bass of KE4. In Hip-Hop tracks KE4 just felt very natural, as well as the Pop and rock. But in Electronic music, after delivering a wonderful sub-bass authority KE4 falls a bit short in the mid-bass. Contrary to that, the mids get a very natural feeling and don’t encounter any bloat or bleed.
Music – We All Have Dreams
When the bass-drops, where you would expect a bit of authority it feels very Neutral, and it doesn’t pair up with the sub-bass that it has. The vocalist feels extremely well done as the sub-bass.
Is KE4’s Bass Pillowy?
No, it’s not. Let me take 2 IEMs that sounded way Pillowy to me 1. Dunu DaVinci and another one is 2. ThieAudio Hype 4. Compared to them, KE4 is nowhere pillowy and has that authority and thump to call it a better than average Bass Experience in my opinion.
MIDRANGE
The mid-range on KE4 is beautiful and took the safest approach in the sense of providing a good balance. To dig deeper let’s jump in the lower mids.
Lower-mids: The lower-mids of KE4 hint a very natural yet full sounding experience. The male voices do sound natural and not overly elevated or toned down. The timbre of the instruments is very good for the price. (One of the best Timbre I heard under $500). The texturing of the instruments, including vocals, are apt. No artifacts or imperfections I get to notice in this region. I fairly enjoyed the lower mids on this IEM. Although if I must nitpick one thing, it would be the transience nature. The dynamics are excellent but KE4 is not coming out as a fast IEM till this range.
Music: Time Alone with You
In this song, Daniel and Jacob Both sounded very full and textured along with instruments. This track has a special feature where it can reveal any bleed or bloat in the sound, and I am happy to say KE4 passed it with flying colors.
Upper-mids: The upper-mids on KE4 is PHENOMENAL. There is not even a single fault that I can notice in the upper mids. If I have to say something, I have to say that I like elevation in this range a bit more but if I am judging from an average listeners perspective, the treble on KE4 is beautiful. It feels safe where it needs to be, it feels airy where it needs to. The overall projection of neutrality is simply excellent here.
Music: The Raven
Rebecca’s voice sounded airy and extended with getting harsh even a bit. The tonality is very lifelike and neutral. Texturing and details are apt for the price. KE4 never disappointed in the upper mids, even once in my listening sessions.
Treble
The treble on KE4 is well implemented as well. The first thing that you will notice is the amplitude is very well controlled in the spectrum. It never felt fatiguing nor even a hint dark. In some songs it might come as a bit of a bright tone, but it’s just there to prevent sound from getting boring. The airiness is ample in the songs. The transient nature is present. Relatively faster speed can be observed here.
All in all, I was quite impressed by the treble as well. With all the intricacies and details, KE4 does provide a middle way to enjoy every type of music.
Music: The Way Up
The cymbals came out detailed, the speed is more than enough for this track. I could’ve used a better attack though; I am not going to lie. But except that there is not many flaws and this comes from a $199 set which is unthinkable to me.
Subjective Sound Quality
Now coming to the subjective side of things this IEM does show its price tag. Well, you can’t have everything at $199 I guess, so they decided to cut corner in a few of the technical/subjective aspects of the sound which I am OK with since I don’t care about them that much to be honest.
Soundstage: Fairly spacious sounding and it can recreate atmosphere well. The bubble is spherical and sometimes it might feel like a single capsule, but I would call it a good sound staging IEM for the price.
Imaging: Imaging is OK. I have seen better imaging at this price. It has that typical stereo stretch more than a holographic/pinpoint precision in music. But in gaming it changes a lot, and I will discuss that at the later stages of the article.
Resolution: The details and resolution of KE4 is just average for the price. It resolves better than Letshouer S12 2024, but it does sometimes remind you of its price tag.
Dynamic Range: KE4 has a very dynamic sound. The fluidity and speed respect each other very well in this IEM.
Timbre: Drums do sound authentic, the low-end seemed a bit blunted but all the other parts are well executed. The violin sounded extremely good. Steel String Guitar sounded OK, but I would’ve liked a bit more crunch and transience to make it sound like real life. Piano sounded very good, it has that earthy weighted tonality, although I would’ve liked a bit more upper-treble elevation. The Saxophone sounded alright, although it is very lifelike and natural.
KE4 IS THE BEST GAMING IEM I TRIED UNDER $500
KE4 had a unique quality, and I almost missed that but fortunately I played “Disco Elysium” before posting the review and I had to include this section.
What do we need in a gaming IEM?
Lifelike Representation – KE4 is sounded so natural that few things like, glass and wood sounds made me uncomfortable. It sounded lifelike, like I was listening to 8K equivalent to Audio. “Uncharted 4” sounded like I was
Spacious Representation – KE4 sounded so open in games that it was scary in few games like “Outlast”. Spatial cues are very realistic.
Neutral Upper Registers – The upper registers are so beautifully tuned that gunshots and firearms never sounded peaky. KE4 is very safe in that case.
Excellent Midrange – Games like “Batman – Telltale Series” & “Wolf Among Us” so authentic and pulled me in the game unlike any other IEM.
Comparison
AFUL PERFORMER 5
These two IEMs especially found a good balance between being affordable and being mature in their tonality at the same time. But they do differ a lot even then.
Performer 7 is a braver approach to the sound. By the word brave, I mean it’s a riskier and bolder take on the tonality. Yet, P7 somehow smoothes out the harshness in the music whereas KE4 will give you the truest form of that representation. The upper half on KE4 reminds me of HD600 with a half-worn pad. Where P7 seems like a worthy upgrade to the P5.
The bass is more textured on the P7 with better body. But the physicality of KE4 is a touch better as well as it is more rounded. Resolution is better in P7, but tonality is better in KE4.
Mids are a bit forward on the P7, especially the lower mids. With a bit more texturing and details. But KE4 presents the mids in a very open fashion. The overall range feels like it is open and not on the face like P7 with a good amount of sense of space around the spherical stage and seems more holographic too. It creates such an odd position that half of my library sounds good on P7 (Vocal Centric) and others on KE4 (Instrument Centric).
In the treble KE4 is a total beast. It doesn’t have the same resolution as the P7 but the way it handles treble is extraordinary. It’s like neutral but given extra flavours here and there so that it doesn’t seem boring, even with my HRTF this thing just takes the cake for natural sound. P7 is a safer approach where the treble is smooth and reminiscent of AFUL house sound & not to mention the 10khz dip in my HRTF which makes the sound even smoother.
Although both IEMs are exceptionally good for their price and punch way above their price tag, it’s up to you to choose your flavour. Do you want a natural sound or a bit coloured?
JM1-DF BASED IEMs Ranked According to me: (In terms of my personal preference)
(Top is better)
ThieAudio Monarch MKII
Hisenior Mega5EST
Kiwi Ears KE4
ThieAudio Hype 4
Dunu DaVinci
Conclusion
I wholeheartedly recommend Kiwi Ears KE4. Not only at its price point but it can confidently compete with IEMs under $400. But the only thing you need to consider if you love raw music itself or not, because you can’t magically make your music sound good with this IEM not it will extract inaccuracies to give you a microscopic view of your music.
And lastly if you are looking for a Gaming IEM, please don’t look further and pull the trigger.
Simgot is not one of those brands that never trusted the formulae of “Clay Pot”. From their first IEM EA500 Simgot broadcasted in the Audiophile world that they are here to stay. The quality of drivers they provided with the EA500 is almost revolutionary. Then the Fermat came which again redefined the price bracket, after that EM6L and at the end EA500LM. I have hardly seen such a track record of successful releases by one brand in the past (Softears Territory).
I owned EA500LM for quite a while and I was stunned by the number of details it can resolve as well as the imaging capabilities. It might not suit my preferences that well, but it exceeded in the technical aspects for sure. EW300 seems to offer a completely different experience altogether.
Package
Simgot EW300 comes with a huge variety of accessories, take a look at my unboxing video.
The quality of the accessories is commendable. The thought they’ve put into packaging is really nice to see.
Simgot EW300 Comes with –
Red Nozzle
Pink Nozzle
Gaskets
Tuning Foams
IEMs
Standard Simgot Cable
Standard Simgot Carry Case
3 Sets of Standard Simgot Ear tips
I have seen IEMs come at 5X the price and not include even half of the accessories. It is such a nice gesture from the Simgot to include those tuning nozzles.
Introduction
I used this IEM with Divinus Velvet Tips which gave it a good treble experience from the stock ones, although I do like the stock tips since they don’t feel cheap in any way or form.
I also used the red nozzle explicitly to review this IEM since the pink nozzle seemed very tonally disoriented to my ears. Matter of fact it came with the red nozzle attached to the IEM so it’s best to use it as stock according to me.
EW300 do require some serious power. Although most of the modern DAC/AMPs might power it well but it sure does get benefit from a good power source. I explicitly used my Desktop Setups to review this as well as the Moondrop Dawn Pro and it played nice on every device.
PLACEMENT
EW300 seems to be an upgrade to the EW200 which is considered a great value for money IEM under $50. I never actually got the fortune to try one for myself, but I heard highly of that IEM from my friends and fellow reviewers. EW300 is said to have a more relaxed approach to the sound of EW200.
Sometimes few IEMs make you take a backseat and just think about audio in general. Previously I tried the Letshouer S12 2024 and I was quite surprised since it is a huge leap from the OG S12 that everyone loved (But I didn’t, hence the surprise). Surprisingly I prefer EW300 even more than that set which costs more than 2X the price.
I am not denying that the S12 2024 doesn’t have anything better to offer, it does have few things like tall stage in height and better resolution. But to me these aspects matter very little. I am more interested in the fundamental tuning and the overall presentation where EW300 hit out of the ballpark.
I have already uploaded my review to my YouTube channel. Please take a look at it.
Few thoughts regarding my review style and distribution of the price-range
• Good Sounding IEM vs IEM that has no bad things
There are two kinds of IEMs that I cover mostly. Some sound just straight out good. And some of them sound OK which might not evoke same excitement in me as the first kind of IEMs, but they do reproduce sound with very low errors. EW300 is one of those IEMs where it might not surprise you with extremely good.
• How Budget Affects the sound
I think it is clear now that budget and especially the age of an IEM doesn’t have a direct effect on the sound quality of an IEM. Off course there is a huge correlation between price and sound quality, but it seems to fade away day by day. If we take this IEM into consideration, it wasn’t possible to get this performance (Tonally) at this price few years ago.
EW300 is inherently a fun-sounding IEM. Although it doesn’t have very exciting treble to offer but the bass performance sure does make this IEM a hint more fun than something that is neutrally tuned.
• The tonality is safe yet fun. If we look at the treble, we can realize how well it took feedback from EA500 and the LM version of the same.
• The sense of timbre is not compromised. Even though it is a colored IEM, I wouldn’t say it is timbre dishonest. As we can see a correlation between neutrally tuned IEM with better timbre characteristics, EW300 is such a joy to listen to.
• No cheap tricks used. Like the sense of detail and resolution is extremely organic. It didn’t use any treble tricks to play with psychoacoustics which might give a better perception of the sound but ultimately losses on the whole presentation of the music.
Full sounding – It gives an overall atmospheric sense of weight to the presentation.
Textured – Very well layered and detailed but a bit low on resolution.
Authoritative for the price – The factor of believing that the bass is coming out of a larger driver (In a Psychoacoustical way), is not super believable but I never heard this kind of authoritative subbass from an IEM at this price point.
Excellent sense of organic attack and decay – The note falloffs and emerging of low-end notes are very organic which might not suit a few genres but do sound very organic.
Has that rumbling feeling – The extreme low-end which gives the physical sensation of the 20-50hz frequency range is there.
Not overly forward - Unless you called for it EW300 doesn’t magically make every song fun and engaging in the low-end.
Resolution is good for the price
Midbass
It inherits the same quality as I described in the sub-bass section.
Not as textured as the subbass where I can find it a bit blunted on some mixes.
It is thumpy enough to pull a few genres like Digital Music and EDM whereas it goes well with Pop and Rock at the same time.
Attack and decay are natural although I would’ve liked less decay in the bass since it carries the aftertaste of the well-implemented sub-bass.
No overuse or overextension of the mid-bass to cause any bloating in the midrange. The bass had very little effect in the midrange.
The mid-bass is very balanced in the mix where it not only compliments the sub-bass but also performs extremely well with the upper registers too.
A bit less in resolution which is not something a beginner would notice but it is evident enough to want that extra clarity in the resolution of the mid-bass.
Lower-Mids
Lower mids are very natural in the mix. It does not promote a warm presentation, nor does it cause any anemic nature of the lower-mids. Everything sounded very coherent and well put out while being very natural.
Well-textured lower-mids not only gave the lower-mids a very authentic sense of presentation which we didn’t get in the mid-bass, but it also resolves a bit better too.
No nasalises, or paperiness can be observed here since the upper registers are kind of rough without being harsh, and to my surprise it never got any artificial flavour in the mix.
The lower mids portray a very balanced nature in the mix where it goes well with upper mids, which adds to the whole cohesion factor of the sound.
The male vocals are very open-sounding and don’t have a one-blob / in-the-head sensation. They sounded airy and open.
Lushness is there when it must be, in few songs when the male vocals are mixed with a lushness in mind, this IEM is adapted every time. But if the track is mixed in a very generic fashion, lushness goes away.
Upper-Mids
The upper-mids are safe throughout the whole range. EW300 never got harsh or sibilant with any songs in my library and believe me I have pretty hot-sounding songs. EW300 is very easy for long listening sessions and can listen to female vocals for a whole day easily.
A bit of forwardness is missing, which I love and have a personal preference towards. Thus, not to my liking, female vocals are not spicy enough for me to enjoy and at the same time, it is good for someone who struggles with treble.
Could’ve used a bit of air, since the corresponding treble area which is reasonable for making this region sound spacious is not there for the safe nature of the tonality.
A bit darker than the neutral, which might serve well for few genres like rock and but it is kind of boring at the same time and not in a good way. Again, it might be beneficial if you hate spiciness in the music, and I don’t.
Treble
The treble on the EW300 is not super lively. It is extended but in a safe fashion so that it never hurts the eardrums in any way or form.
The ranges that are reasonable to cause any discomfort for most people are subdued like 8khz.
EW300 is not too dark where I get problems since there are certain peaks in the FRA which kept the treble engaging.
It is detailed, but it can’t compete with IEMs upwards of $120
Sometimes note ends get rounded off, where you can’t hear the trailing edges and note ends very precisely.
EW300 is inherently made for long listening sessions where it stayed on my ears for long hours without any kind of discomfort.
• Not super wide if we talk about overall spaciousness.
• The depth is not too extended.
• The stereo stage is spacious.
• Yolk-shaped presentation is very noticeable instead of a spherical head stage.
Imaging (Imaging never sounded good in budget IEMs <$300)
• EW300 is very OK for the price in terms of imaging capabilities.
• EA500LM is better in every way if we compare it with the EW300
Resolution
• No Forced Resolution can be observed, the temporal resolution seemed very organic.
• No Treble trickery can be noticed since it is a trend to get more details as an illusion through FRA tricks.
• If we talk about the resolution, it is apt for the price. Not too good and not too bad. It resolves popular genres very well but falls on very high resolution and complex tracks.
Dynamics
• I was surprised by the dynamics of this IEM. It sounded organic and the transitions were fluid. I enjoyed high dynamic range tracks with zero issues with EW300.
• No overlapping of notes can be noticed, the overall representation is very Organic sounding.
Timber
Timbre reproduction is OK for the price it is coming at. The best thing about timbre reproduction is that it doesn’t sacrifice anything to get an edge over other Instruments. Each and every instrument sounds OK and good for the price. Drums, Violin, Piano, Saxophone, and Guitars all of these instruments got a mellow-down version of their authentic timbre. Which is faithful in the lower registers but a bit coloured in the upper half of the FRA graph.
My personal raking of Simgot IEMs (Tonally – Higher is better)
EM6L
EW300
EA500
Fermat’s Last Theorem
EA500LM
Conclusion
This IEM sounds way too good for the price. The maturity it offers at just $70 is exemplary.
Although I might have a craving for more treble but most of the people I know had no problem with this IEM. And truthfully speaking EW300 didn’t surprise me as EA500LM if we talk about technicalities only. But,
I care about tonality and EW300 passed the test with flying colors. If all you want is a budget set that is organic sounding, has a very decent low-end, and midrange – I can’t recommend this IEM enough for the price of $70.
