Got the Magic Ones in tonight!
I have them in my ears right now and I truly believe this might be one of the most impressive IEMs I’ve listened to thus far. Not only am I completely forgetting this is an all BA set, I am completely flabbergasted that this is a SINGLE BA set.
Truly stunning work by Aful.
These are keepers for sure 
have to get this one some time in the future before it got axed 
Congrats, they sound great. I like that they are tuned really well, but also not like most of my other favorite sets.
After not buying much for a few months, the last month was huge for me with Deuce, MagicOne, and Que, plus Arcadia is arriving this weekend.
This early MagicOne pimp is glad you dig them! They are unique and special – especially at $65!
Same. I got my mitts on the Fan 3 and might add the Klean and Performer 5+2 this week. 
LOL I have a P7 on the way. I am excited about it; it’ll be my first tri-brid.
I’ve heard great things about the Magic Ones, but it’s crazy to think they’re a single BA set. Sounds like Aful really nailed it with these!
That’s a great group of IEMs you chose, John, I think you really chose well. I know how reluctant you are pulling the trigger on new sets so you buying all those in 1 month is wild to me. I do feel like it gives you an excellent spread, though.
Hey, when you’re right you’re right, Paul, I would say at the OG price of $140, they’re really good, excellent in the engineering front and great in the sound, but like you said, for $65?! I paid $58 after coupons btw… they are absolutely insane value. I’ve been enjoying them immensely the last few days!
They hose the name so well, because it really is like magic. Seriously.
Aful Magic One
It’s been a little while since I got the Magic One in, so I think I’m ready to share some more concrete thoughts on them as I really do think these might be one of the most slept-on pairs of IEMs in 2024.
Yes, they’re a single BA set.
Yes, BAs won’t give you the most visceral bass response.
Yes a single BA set is limited in terms of SQ compared to a hybrid or even a single DD in most cases.
But…
The Aful Magic One is another incredible example of audio engineering that I’ve been lucky enough to experience. I think the name “Magic One”, with the emphasis on the Magic part, is truly fitting of this incredible IEM. I’ve never owned a single BA IEM up to this point, and quite frankly, I used to really shy away from all BA IEMs because of their bass performance when compared to a set with a DD in it. Admittedly, I don’t believe in that anymore, honestly. There are so many all BA sets I’ve experienced that have completely changed my way of thinking when it comes to all balanced armature IEMs. The most important ones are the Symphonium Meteor, U12t, Elysian Diva, and of course, the big Mack daddy of them all, the STORM. All BA sets can be good when they’re done right, for sure. The Hisenior T4 is another good example too, but I owned them for a while, and even though at first they impressed me with their bass performance and their warm sound signature, after comparing them extensively with sets that have DDs in them, there’s really no comparison. I feel like to get an all-BA IEM that performs as well as a hybrid with a DD (bass specifically), you really do have to spend a good amount of money to get that kind of performance.
Enter; The Aful Magic One.
Special thanks to some guys on the Discovery Thread on Head-Fi like @pk500 for totally peer-pressuring me into buying the set…. I blame them 
With an original price of $140, I was able to get this set for only 58 bucks. Fifty-eight… Using some coupons on AliX on top of a sale they were having. Now even at the original $140, I’d still be impressed with this set, but for $58 I’m completely blown away…
I tried the Magic Ones using all of my portable sources, but I ultimately landed on the BTR17 with its superb technical performance and slightly forward upper mid-range.
BASS
The bass is tactile, punchy, and snappy with a very fast decay that I personally very much enjoy. The fast decay is balanced out with an excellent amount of warmth in the overall sound sig. It never sounds overly quick like some planar sets, and I feel like the tubing system that Aful has developed for the set really does work when it comes to the mid-bass specifically. Drum kicks, bass guitar lines, and synthetic bass lines all sound very detailed with more than enough body to them to ensure they’re still very enjoyable and not frail. The weakness of this set really comes down to the sub-bass. It doesn’t have that much of a rumble or reverb to it. This also makes the mid-bass a little one-dimensional with not as much depth as I would like or even, that I’m used to, but since most of my music doesn’t have much sub-bass in it, I’ve learned that this isn’t really a dealbreaker. Definitely not as much as I thought… If you had asked me before I got my hands on the Magic Ones, I would have told you to kick rocks. I need my sub-bass to be rumbly and powerful to enjoy my library… interestingly, I was totally wrong, ha. Like a lot of people, I’ve been bumping the new Kendrick album, GNX, pretty much on repeat. My favorite way to listen to it is with the Estrella off the Muse M4, but a close second is with the Magic One with the BTR17. That album is mastered and produced so well, all the different elements and layers they’ve managed to cram into every song are impressive, and the Magic Ones really does this record justice, which surprised the hell out of me. Between the mid-bass punch and the reverb of said mid-bass, it is satisfying to enjoy the album, but it’s far from the best replay I’ve heard.
Simply put, the bass is surprisingly good not only for an all BA set but good in general. Yes, it does lack the depth and texture of a good DD, but I would say this would impress most people and keep a lot of people content. For non-rap or EDM-style music where there’s more of a balance between the entire band, the bass is more than sufficient and enjoyable.
Mids
The mids are where this IEM shines and the mid-range performance is exactly why I decided to pull the trigger on my own set. I kept hearing how good they were and I can confirm that the texture and resolution of voices, specifically female voices, is superb. Even more shocking to me is the timbre, these sound very accurate to my ears with absolutely 0 BA timbre anywhere in the mid-range. I’m telling you… these are impressive. The vocals are slightly forward but I think it’s just enough and perfectly placed - the vocalist is front and center ahead of the band but never shouty or harsh in my listening.
The resolution of vocals and other instruments in the mid-range really did impress me and still does to this day. Even after having them for well over a week and a half now, I still find myself reaching for them daily just because of the mid-range performance. The overall sound of the mids is also fairly open too, the Magic Ones never sound congested or boxed in. All of the instrumentation can breathe more than sufficiently and the layering is very good. Overall, the mids are fantastic and definitely the star of the show. If you have any female vocalists with a powerful voice in your library, the Magic Ones will be a great fit. Some may want their vocals to be more forward, more similar to a Harman-style tuning and if that’s you, these might not have enough bite for that person.
Treble.
The treble isn’t anything to write home about if I’m totally honest. While I think the Magic Ones have very good technicalities, layering, and instrument separation, the treble doesn’t seem to have any special properties I can pinpoint… it’s a safe tune that should appeal to most or at least not offend most. I really do love a little extra energy in the later part of the treble, but I can understand the limitations here with a single BA handling the entire frequency range. I think considering the hardware here it’s very impressive. It’s not lacking anything in the slightest besides maybe a little extra bite.
I’d hate to keep rambling on and take up more of your time, so I’ll wrap it up here. As you can tell, the Magic One is a great set that I very much enjoy and have enjoyed on a daily basis. While the bass and treble aren’t going to be winning any awards, I think the overall warmer tuning coupled with lovely vocals and the detailed and emotional mid-range presentation will have most Audio geeks grinning ear to ear.
They are somewhat hard to drive, with the BTR17 getting to 32/60 in low gain out of the 4.4mm, but it doesn’t seem to need a power plant to drive either. Due to circumstances, I haven’t been able to get these on my desktop rig yet, but I’m hoping to do that soon to see if it improves anything at all about the sound, but as of right now, nothing seems to be lacking when playing these out of the BTR17.
With an impressive hardware implementation, a beautiful shell design in my opinion, overall great sound characteristics, and a very open sound, I can safely say that I’m happy I paid my own money for the Aful Magic One.
Thanks so much for reading and if I missed anything, please let me know!
Cheers 
Great review! I think we hear this more or less equally. If you ever get a chance, check out Kotori Audio Vampire😄
That was a great read! Pretty detailed review, honestly these look stunning as well!
Thats one hell of a deal you managed to get.
Thanks a bunch for reading!
The deal I got these at is ridiculous. If anyone can get these around the same price and they enjoy their fair bit of a vocals then imo it’s a no brainer.
I haven’t heard too much about that set besides their initial release, it seems like the typical flavor of the month type release.
I love their design though, they look really cool and minimalist which I dig.
I just love it. Bought Magic One just to compare😅. MO looks better on graph, but I prefer Vampire just a little more. Not blind to the fact I just might want to like it more😅. While MO was better looking irl than on photos, Vampire is just beautiful.
The Vampire we’re the last thing I got to listen to before having to quit listening. I only listened to them briefly but I thought they were pretty decent.
The packaging and contents are very impressive as well!
Selling a set for $65 G&S or $60 F&F - box/4.4mm cable/carry case but no tips, I can add tips depending on what size a buyer needed though.
Bro! To unlock this IEM, EQ is a must.
With EQ MagicOne turns into a monster.
It seems like the Vampire just has a little bit of a special sauce to it, just from looking at the graph that is. I’m not sure how I’d like the upper mids lift but I assume the vocals come off quite emotional and forward.
I feel that, I’m just not huge of EQ, but I’m open to it. Do you have a profile I can try out? I tried to give them a small bass shelf from 200 Hz back but I found it just muddied the sound too much for my liking. I don’t hear anything that’s lacking when it comes to the tuning aside for the sub-bass so EQ isn’t really a top priority for me if I’m honest.
Thank you, Sensei Riku 
