I had to…
2 Likes
SIMGOT EA500 or How Goober Turned Into a Belligerent Bargain Buyer
So lately there has been a distinct shift in tone on my personal journey through the hobby. Between my own personal buys (Fan 2 and Ripples especially) and the generosity of the forum and the loans that I’ve had access too (Penon Fan/Serial/Vortex, Serratus, the Rikubuds line and Dark Magician in particular) I have been inundated with quality sets, and spoiled far beyond what I could’ve expected. This has left me in a very awkward place on my own journey: I’ve probably experienced too much too fast and now I’m feeling something missing when I listen to many of the sub-$100 or budget range.
A big part of my journey has been about searching out value and inefficiencies where other people aren’t looking. That has proven to be a problem in the sub-$50 sector, where there’s been a market oversaturation of sets that have similar principles and only incremental differences that don’t really separate them from the pack. Preference aside, there’s not much between them. That brings us to today’s review: While I’m jumping ahead of a few sets that are on my list first, this is a review I actually think has value. Because at $90-100 and being a little hard to find, the SIMGOT EA500 is a set you kind of have to go out of your way to buy. I decided to do just that, to see if there is something out there that might inspire me. And this review is the story of my findings. So let’s chat about the SIMGOT EA500.
Songs to Listen to and Follow Along:
As usual, I’m going to write my thoughts in generalities, but I’ll give you a sample of songs that I listen to, that will relate to the concepts I write about. Feel free to ask for specifics, if you don’t keep up with my thought processes.
Playlist
Swashers - Yosi Horikawa (For imaging/detail retrieval :00-1:00, general technicalities check, layering and separation)
The Speedwalker (Live at Madison Square Garden) - The Fearless Flyers (For bass elements, particularly sub-bass/mid-bass interplay, drum kits, soundstage/layering)
DISINTER MY HEART - TRAILS (For treble response and resolution, male vocals, midrange response)
When I Fall (Outta Love) - Kevin Olusola (For Imaging/detail retrieval :00-:07, tonality, timbre, male/female vocal interplay)
Fundamental Elements of Madness - Dax Johnson (For soundstage 1:10-1:26, piano tonality)
You Caught My Truth in the Worst Way, Through the Dirty Lens of a Broken Smile
I’m going to rip a couple of band-aids off right at the beginning here:
- I like the EA500. A lot!
- I’m going to be a little bit of a hypocrite about being tired of safer tunings but liking the EA500. A lot!
- Both things can be true, because the EA500 brings things to the table that actually reinforce my points about why the under-$50 offerings are lazy, boring retreads.
To get to the further point, we need to start at the beginning and talk about what the EA500 is. It’s a 1DD that has tuning nozzles, red and black, that alter the signature of the IEM. The black nozzle has a visible filter on the inside of it, and is touted as following SIMGOT’s own house target. To my ear, this is the more energetic, more upper-midrange focused of the two nozzles. The bass is not a large quantity but I find it to be snappy, with more mid-bass performance than sub-bass. The lower-midrange is a drier presentation (not dry, just drier relative to itself) but presents details very well. Vocals are an emphasis, not recessed or overwhelmed by instruments. The treble is present and accounted for, but smooth. For me, this was a positive but I can see where extremely treble sensitive people may find this to be too much energy and it could push into the area of harshness. This is a YMMV proposition, but I’m on the winning side of this one.
The red nozzle is touted as following the Harman target. I’m going to shrug my shoulders a little at the marketing and just tell you that the red nozzle is the smoother, balanced tuning. The bass gets more emphasis, sub-bass gets to step forward a bit. Overall, the bass gets a little looser, with a weightier, wetter feel. Bass guitars have better pop, male vocals get more husk. Female vocals stay in front of instruments but are more at risk of getting lost in tracks. That is to say, the upper-midrange and early-treble energy gets more refined and there is almost no threat of harshness.
Another important set of differences is that each filter does have an effect on not just the tuning but the technicalities of the set. While both nozzles show good depth of soundstage, the black nozzle widens the soundstage to my ear, at the cost of technical chops: When playing Swashers or If I Fall, there is little to no sense of panning in the playback. The red nozzle does the opposite: It is a little more closed-in but the technicalities jump up a bit. When playing Swashers, the waves cresting make it all the way from the left ear, into the center image, and meet with the waves cresting in the right ear, and in If I Fall, the wind has dynamic range to billow in each ear and enough imaging to have some panning from left to right, as if the wind is swirling. At sub-$100, this is hard to find and is very impressive to me. The only markdown is that you can’t get both in the same nozzle.
And I Swear I’m Not a Pretender, Sometimes it’s Love Who’s the Biggest Liar
So that is what the EA500 is, in a nutshell. I think the biggest problem with the EA500 is the same problem that I’ve lamented the last month or so: At its heart, this is a safe IEM. It’s tuned near most of the endless variants of Harman-neutral tuned IEMs, that have gotten to the point that I ding them for it, before I’ve even heard them. The black filter is a more energetic tuning, something in line with the litany of Aria-clones, and the red filter’s tuning is more in line with the Cadenzas/Wan’ers/Holas of the world. Except that description is a mild insult to the EA500. This IEM is superior to all of those sets, in my opinion, because of the technical advantage it has. It’s head and shoulders clear of almost everything in the price range. The only IEMs under $100 I’ve heard, that match up with this are the TinHifi P1 Max, Fiio JD7 and Tripowin Olina (I leave space for the Truthear Hexa as I didn’t have enough time with it, but I do believe it’s competitive with Olina, so it probably should get the nod too). This is what hit me most while listening to both JD7 and EA500, and having all three together at the same time: why are we fighting over the endless amounts of sub-$50 IEMs? They deserve a ton of credit for making good tuning and sound quality performance available at a less-premium price, but make no mistake about it. There is not really a great IEM that has sound quality and technical chops at that price. Everything at that price has a compromise to be made. Simply hitting $80 raises the bar that there shouldn’t be such an intense fight over “who is the best budget set”, because it simply shouldn’t matter. Everybody should get 1 (or a couple) budget sets to be good beaters, or use when technicalities aren’t a priority, but then go get an $80-100 set that will actually knock your socks off. Of the three I’ve had time with recently (JD7, Olina SE, EA500), my preference has been EA500.
As far as Olina goes, the longer I’ve had it and the more sets I’ve listened to in comparison, the more I’ve come to a truth for myself: Olina is a fantastic piece of equipment, a great driver with a very good tuning, but it’s missing some life or magic for me. It’s not clinical or analytical, but it’s missing a musicality that pulls me in. Much like the Zero, it’s a very capable benchmark IEM, but not one that inspires me to listen to it.
JD7 vs. EA500 is where the battle for my heart and mind lies, and for me these two sets are extremely close to each other. In my opinion, they are sidegrades that have a lane they share, but different ways of skinning the cat. JD7 is the full-blown spiritual upgrade from the budget sector. If you like any of the Wan’ers/Holas/Cadenzas of the world and want that “but better”, go get the JD7. It is direct kin to the Harman-neutral family, but with technicals and soundstage that raise the bar far past what the budget sets can deliver. EA500, I find, is like a cousin-by-marriage to this tuning. It is, at its heart, a safe tuning, but it takes a few more risks than the JD7. Where I would separate the two is that if you want a slightly safer, smoother tuning of the upper-range with the best combination of soundstage and technicals, get the JD7. If you want to sacrifice just a little bit of the full combination of soundstage and technicals, for the benefit of a more engaging (but still safe) tuning, with the added ability to tilt the signature in a brighter or smoother direction, go with the EA500.
What Does This All Mean?
As I’ve said, the choice is the EA500 for me. If the JD7 had me questioning the budget bracket, the EA500 has just about killed it off for me. To wit:
Who Is This For?
- EA500 is for people who want to upgrade on their sub-$50 IEMs, without breaking the bank
- EA500 is for people who want to stay in the safe, balanced tuning space, and not take big risks
- EA500 is for people who want to have options between two functional tunings, to figure out what they want
- EA500 is for people that want more energy from their Harman-neutral style tuning, but don’t want TOO much energy
Who Should Pass?
- EA500 is not for people who are looking for a “cheap Dark Magician”. This ain’t it. KBear Ormosia is closer to what you want (but that’s not it either) TinHifi P1 Max is DEFINITELY closer to giving a Dark Magician vibe (I can’t make that full comparison from memory).
- EA500 is not for people who are looking for a more daring sound.
- EA500 is not for people who need strong bass emphasis.
- EA500 is not for people who aren’t looking for a Jack-of-all-trades type set. This is the epitome of a “master of none”
As good as it is that solid tuning has made it down to the cheaper sets and you can get a good enough IEM in a basic set, there is something different about getting all that goodness, with that little extra that kicks it up a notch or two. Rather than playing tag with your 3rd, 4th, (or more) budget set, just step up to the next level that is an actual jump ahead in quality. One thing I do have to address is the first pass point. While there are some similarities and allusions to the Dark Magician in the EA500 graph, this will not scratch the itch of a “DM-like” sound.
(credit to hbb.squig.link) Normalized at 1000Hz
As you can see (putting aside the bass and lower-midrange differences), the upper-midrange and treble are certainly not in the same ballpark. The expensive sets I think this graph comes closest to emulating are the Moondrop Illumination and Softears Twilight.
(credit to hbb.squig.link) Normalized at 700Hz
Now I haven’t heard either of those sets to be able to confirm my hypothesis, but I can say confidently I would believe EA500 mimics them far more than it does the Dark Magician. Unfortunately, the search continues for something approaching that mythical beast. But that potentially sore spot aside, I have no problems recommending the EA500, and say with no uncertain terms that this is the set that finally ruined the budget bracket for me, for good. And that’s going to be it for this review. Enjoy your days, and take care till next time!
Rank For EA500 (on both nozzles): B+
Rank With Personal Bias: A
Ranks As a Food: Hot Buttermilk Biscuits Drizzled With Honey
10 Likes
That’s nice, which one you think is more detailed between the two? Just trying to imagine
It’s hard to make the comparison from memory, but I’d say they do details differently. DM is probably the best 1DD I’ve heard at those kinds of technicalities, but planar is planar for a reason. I can’t say which one does better without a chance to A/B them together, but I would say both handle details in a very satisfactory way
2 Likes
Love the review thanks for taking the time and your impressions. I am excited to get mine in. 
1 Like
Sick write up bro. I love me some Honey Buttermilk biscuits 
And looks like I’ll need to check out the Pandas for sure now.
What can I say, I am a bit of a prophet myself 
3 Likes
Does that mean you quit reviewing the budget segment?
I won’t stop reviewing things in the near-term. I think what’s going to change a little bit is that unless something actually amazing comes around, I’m going to compartmentalize certain brackets a little more from others.
For example, I’ve heard a lot of sub-$50 IEMs at this point. The best IEMs in that bracket don’t touch the best of even $80-100 sets. So I’m going to reserve enthusiasm for things like Hola or SGOR Venus (review incoming soonish), because while they’re good enough in their price bracket, they are not on the same level as an Olina or a Hexa or a JD7. So I’m done with touting them as these amazing sets.
Cause if I’m being honest with my opinion, they’re not amazing. They’re good sets at cheap prices. And that is okay.
5 Likes
That is okay, but I agree someone has to tell what few reviewers have told lately: good sets for 20$ aren’t as good as good sets for 80$. With all the superlatives the likes of Chu, wan’er and so on have received, one could forget this simple fact: you still gain many things when going upward in the price ladder.
3 Likes
Like dude, I’ve gotten to demo sets that I have no business having in my possession at home.
I’ve learned it very quickly: the gap between a great $20 set and a great $100 set is bigger than the gap between a great $100 set and a great $500 set.
In 2023, $100 is all you need to spend, and if you max out at up to $300 you can probably find an endgame.
(If you’re not addicts like us that just have to know what’s out there)
7 Likes
Personal case in point has to be the Serial (when the nozzles aren’t blocked!)
It’s $300 new but I’ve always found/bought it at about 2/3 of that used.
When I returned to it after listening to 2 legitimately kilobuck sets for a week or two, it wasn’t just “good enough”, in multiple ways I preferred it.
4 Likes
I can’t remember if I already told you or not, but I very much (and selfishly) appreciate your quest for different tunings. After having chased neutral all-rounders, I currently am in a mood for “special” sets: earphones that may not be perfect, but have something special that make them loveable (I guess the rosefinch, OG Yume and oh10 could all fit in this category). If I understand it well, your mindset and your selection of reviews are about finding such oddities. So I thank you for being different too. 
I can say your work is useful, at least for me.
5 Likes
I think the best way I’d describe my mindset is that I want to be as prepared as possible so that when someone asks “I have $XX to spend, I like this kind of music, what should I get?” that I can answer that question best, and not just chase the FOTM.
I do love finding the weirdos, and sharing them because while there’s nothing wrong with Hola, or Olina, or Blessing 2, and the many sets that have earned their reputation, there’s a Tea, or a Serial or Fan 2, or a SIMGOT that’s out there that nobody knows about.
I like trying stuff out, I like helping people out and the community part of all this, and somebody’s gotta find those weirdo sets. Why not me?
5 Likes
DR hits hard. (diminishing return)
3 Likes
man, you missed the good old Senfer DT6 era.
DD + BA + Piezo = 20 usd ish
(well, I never heard it either though lol.)
3 Likes
Your unprecedented and consistent love for Serial, especially knowing how many great sets you have heard is THE SOLE reason that this IEM is on my top 3 have-to listen list along with 2 kilobucks: Z1R and Monarch MK2.
4 Likes
Wow!
I just hope it isn’t too heavily a “my ears” thing, and that it has universal merits for lots of listeners.
2 Likes
After my time with Penon’s sets I will say one thing. Not every Penon will/has to vibe with you. But when you find your Penon, it hits hard.
Fan 2 hits me the same way Seriak hits RBW. And the best thing about Penon is they don’t really do redundant sets. Each new set is complimentary to the ones that came before, AFAIK
5 Likes
I think I have not seen any single person in this hobby so persistent in a love for one particular piece of hardware 
also “famous Penon sauce” is something I would like to get a taste of and their IEMs sets are REALLY rare in EU, not even mentioning Poland.
Interestingly it is surprisingly close in tuning to cadenza and all of those new kids
2 Likes
Which is why I tried the Cadenza, and didn’t really care for it at all. 
As far as anything I can actually identify, and it’s really clear to me vs the Canon, is sub-bass isn’t just a blooming cloud of tremors, it has a clear moment of attack the same way mid-bass does. It has a slowish decay which I enjoy, but a very distinct hit. The sub-bass graphs like many others, but sounds unlike any other cheap/expensive IEM I’ve tried. It also doesn’t feel separate to the rest of the tuning like a “bassy” FiiO.
If anything that’s where I don’t hear the “old school 3 part stereo system” that Tony hears, though I love and respect his impressions and that he shares them, the Serial is much more coherent about its bass than most sets IMO.
No separate woofer hanging off the bottom like the EJ07M sounded to me. Everything that’s good about a dedicated woofer, but not a “bass” under there, then “mids” in the center, then “highs over here” listen. Plenty of room to it though.
I should probably stop 
7 Likes