That’s definitely true - I don’t doubt MB could cook up something really special considering the IEM can be tuned to my exact preferences.
3 Likes
Waves in Fat Cosmos
Granted mine and another person’s Fat Earths turned into fully custom tunes, but on Glamdring, he will adjust parts of the tuning to highlight the strengths and minimize the weaknesses of your library.
8 Likes
Aür Audio Aure, Aurora, and Neon Pro or Does an IEM By Any Other Name Sound as Sweet?
Next up for me, out of the recent tour IEMs I got to listen to, is going to be the trio of Aür Audio sets I got to hear thanks to @cal_lando and @mmag05. If you’ve followed their journeys, neither of them would have bought their beloveds (Cal with Aure, Mag with Aurora) without a nudge from me, and while Mag also had the Neon Pro, I was lucky enough to have a chance to check all three out (anybody with an Alita out there, holler at us 
). Thanks, once again, goes to the boys for the opportunity to scratch a long-time itch and check a few more of the most hyped IEMs off of the to-do list. But how did that experience go? Let’s take some time to break it all down.
THE SOUND
Been keeping your shit to myself, If I said it out loud you’d be burning in hell; And I can make everybody hate you, almost as much as you hate yourself; But I won’t cause I know one day it’ll come around; But fuck you for now
I Hope You’re Miserable Until You’re Dead - Nessa Barrett
(IEM Tuning Style: Neutral-Warm - Aurora; QDC-Style - Neon Pro & Aure)
Did I get you with the provocative lyric? Yeah? Good! I’m just messing, I’m not going to tear these IEMs apart. They’re pretty freaking good. However, I am going to tear into them a little bit for some of the non-sound reproduction bits. Let’s start out with the good though:
(credit to: mmagtech.squig.link, normalized to 500Hz)
All three sets present an interesting bass playback. Aure is the most sub-bass emphasized to my ear, and while Aurora graphs on the same slope and amplitude, I perceived it to have more midbass energy. Frankly, I could hear the difference between the Aure DD and Aurora DD, and why they discontinued Aure in favor of Aurora. Now I’m not saying Aure’s bass is bad (just that my preference would be Aurora), and it will be a matter of taste. Some will take Aure over Aurora and it’s not that serious of a debate to me. As for where Neon Pro fits in this, it’s got more midbass emphasis than either, but because it’s BA bass, it still has that something that never quite gets me to buy into it the same as I can for DD or well-tuned planar bass. Apparently, I just haven’t gone far enough up the money tree for BA bass to win me over. And I think I’ve had enough experience across the spectrum of BA bass to say it’s not for me, at the price level I can reach. That doesn’t disqualify a set completely though, and Neon Pro does bass at least well enough for me to not call it a non-starter. So that’s something! Things go in a completely different direction in the midrange though.
(credit to: mmagtech.squig.link, normalized to 1000Hz)
While the first graph is the accurate portrayal of how the three play, this second graph is closer to how I hear them: When it comes to Aure, I hear the sub-bass emphasis and then enough midbass, but I hear a lot of space in the lower midrange. For lots of people this will be clarity and clean mids, but for me I just hear them being recessed. The bass and the upper-mids/treble come through loud and clear on Aure, and if you have a bias there, especially to vocals and the upper end, then Aure would make a ton of sense as a set for you. Neon Pro is a very fun tuning, for an all-BA set. There is plenty of bass emphasis, more lower mids than Aure, and a more energetic treble. This is a well tuned party-set. There are other QDC sets I’d point to if you want the most accurate replay, but this strikes a balance of fun and accuracy that a set like Butastur isn’t going to match. As for Aurora, the graph really does tell the story on tonality and energy: Aurora is the most mellow and controlled of the three sets, by a lot. You get enough bass that is good quality but never obtrusive, you get clean forward mids with a neutral vocal emphasis (compared to the more forward vocals of Aure), and a smooth, clear treble. Aurora is an easy step ahead, in terms of tuning, over what the previous generation of Aür Audio sets are doing.
But for whatever reason, Aurora does not bring the staging or technical chops of the others. The soundstage came off more forward overall, than the others, and that keeps the sound rather flat to my ear. On top of that, there’s not a lot of width so you’re getting an intimate “singing to you” performance. For people that are not fans of that inside-your-ears playback, Aurora can be a tough sell. Aure and Neon Pro are better than that standard, but I would still say that they are not more than average in soundstage either. I would also give Aure and Neon Pro a slight advantage in technicalities. Aurora has good imaging and layering, but the way the tuning keeps everything tight also restricts things like dynamics to an extent, where the balls bouncing in Bubbles don’t have quite the dynamics as they do on Neon Pro, and can’t give me the effects in songs like Swashers that the others can achieve. On pure tuning, Aurora wins going away; Putting the whole picture together closes the gap.
THE GOOD
- Universal: Care and craftsmanship in the build quality
- These sets are very well done
- Aurora: Set is a tuning master-class in balance (outside of a lack of midbass)
- Aure: Vocal emphasis that is hard to beat
- Neon Pro: Possibly the most fun BA set I’ve had to hear (SA6U was long ago enough that I don’t remember it clearly now)
THE BAD
- Universal: Price (imo) for reasons I will go into
- Aurora: Is lacking in soundstage and technicalities relative to how well tuned they are
- Aure: Too strong an emphasis on the vocals leaves the lower-mids recessed away
- Neon Pro: BA bass still won’t win over skeptics. Jack-of-all-trades, master of none for me
WHO ARE THESE SETS FOR?
- Universal: Fans of boutique-style IEM companies, that are willing to pay the premium to patronize them
- Aurora: Someone looking for the easiest-listening, most finely tuned IEM and cares about tonality and timbre above all else
- Aure: The person who wants a forward and emphasized vocal experience with enough of the other things to not fall apart
- Neon Pro: Someone looking for the most balanced, but energetic set, doesn’t have an aversion to BA bass, and wants a competitively priced entry into the higher-end BA world
WHO ARE THESE SETS NOT FOR?
- Universal: Budget-conscious buyers. You can get sound that competes with any of these sets, for cheaper than this (relative to taste and preference of course)
- Aurora: Anybody who doesn’t want to sacrifice soundstage performance to get the best tuning
- Aure: Anyone who has no patience to wait for a secondhand set to appear; Someone who needs a balanced tuning overall
- Neon Pro: Someone looking for a tame set (energy-wise), that wants a better long-listening or smoother overall option
WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
If you’ve followed me for any amount of time on my journey, I think you know what’s coming: Aür Audio makes very good IEMs that I do not recommend unless you satisfy certain conditions: You have to be willing to spend the money to buy boutique wares and not feel a pull to dissect what you have against cheaper Chi-Fi offerings. Take Aurora for example: On pure tuning, it’s one of the best IEMs I’ve heard and if I was only considering that against other sets it is a very competitive offering. For me, Dunu Vulkan has a slightly different style of tuning that is done just as tastefully for me, and it costs $200 less than Aurora. And even THAT price was too much for me to fully justify spending on myself. So how am I going to suggest someone spend more money on a sidegrade, IMO?
That is the meat of the situation, to me. Sets like these aren’t really about the sound quality and breaking down bass/mids/treble/soundstage/technicalities. These sets are not about value. If value was all we are after, then you could stop on Simgot EA500, Kiwi Ears Quintet or any number of IEMs between their prices and be done. No, at the end of the day, IEMs like Aür Audio build are about the feelings they produce. They did not connect with me in a way that my feelings were accessed, but ask Cal about how Aure makes him feel or how Mag feels about Aurora. To them, the price paid is completely worth it because of what the IEMs make them feel, not how they break down what they do. At the end of the day, my descriptions are hopefully able to help people get a feel for what they should have on their radar. I’m but a support, that maybe gets your foot in the door to trying a set that you wouldn’t otherwise blind buy. But once you go beyond that, it’s up to you to decide what the value of a piece is or isn’t. For me, Aür Audio sets didn’t click that visceral feeling that would make me drop $600+ on their IEMs. For the people that will ride or die with Aür, they would strongly disagree with me. At the end of the day, we’re all looking for the sound that moves us and the tribe we belong to audio-wise. If Aür is your tribe, congratulations! To me, I have to admit, I find them to be a company that takes care to provide a high-end version/vision of their product, that’s a little expensive for my taste, can be discontinued/hard to find, and ultimately just isn’t quite my cup of tea. And that’s going to be it for this review. Enjoy your days, and take care till next time!
Rank for Aür Audio Aurora, Aure, and Neon Pro: B
Rank With Personal Bias: Aurora: B+; Aure & Neon Pro: B
Recommendation Level: Aure - Discontinued (QDC-Style); Aurora & Neon Pro - Lukewarm Recommendation Based on Other Options (Aurora - Warm-Neutral; Neon Pro - QDC-Style)
Rank As a Food: David’s Tea
15 Likes
@GooberBM wore me down finally
I got a pair of KBear Rosefinch today. Even before taping the vent, it is still a very good sounding IEM, with enough bass to be fun to listen to. It isn’t too bright, and doesn’t get shouty, which is unusual in the price range. The pinna is a bit later than most IEMs and I think that helps to tame the highs a little. They have satisfying slam with the bass, and really good rumble in the sub.
This is easily a top 3 in the under $30 range for me. The HBBxQKZ and the Tanchjim One DSP are the other two. The DSP has the programmable cable and for that reason is probably still my top pick for USB-C on phones.
The Rosefinch has more sub-bass, and the late pinna gain, the QKZ has more mid bass, they both have their strengths, but I think the good but atypical tuning is a win for me.
13 Likes
Recommend you also try the KZ Castor Bass version (Black not standard version which is silver)
Sound appeals to me a bit more than the Rosefinch.
Bought the Castor because @ToneDeafMonk, I had neither a double DD nor a set with switches for customization and the fookin’ price.
Still like the Rosefinch
1 Like
Not sure what you mean the the Double D ref but I would definitely recommend the Castor Bass version over the Rosefinch. Better quality bass, mids and non peaky highs as much as Rosefinch.
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Double Dynamic Drivers = Dual Dynamic Drivers
Doh, neglected to say Bass version.
Happy you agree 
1 Like
I appreciate the look and hope it’s helpful to others, but I don’t personally fuck with KZ, so I pass on their sets. There’s more than enough budget sets that I don’t need to bother
7 Likes
Wait, there is a difference between them?
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Yeah the silver one sucks lol bass enhanced version is good it’s shiny dark metallic grey.
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Understand your position regarding KZ.
I didn’t own a dual DD set nor one with switches, $19 was painless enough if it didn’t deliver, but fortunately it did.
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Yep, make sure you order Black Castor.
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Hopefully someone will find your feedback and opinion helpful 
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Snark received, lol.
ToneDeafMonk, Akros, PaulWasabi certainly concur to budget value. Fun punchy bass, easy to drive and checked what I picked it up for, $15.99
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That was genuine. I don’t try out KZ sets but if it helps someone I’m glad. Not everyone has the same list of “I won’t touch them” sets after all
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Gotcha, sorry misinterpreted. Written word sans facial expression sometimes difficult to read 
Always, always appreciate your opinions and input.
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I was looking at the Dunu Vulcan for $228, or the Juzear 41T for $106.
Can’t decide. Any arguments for one vs the other, disregarding price?
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Vulkan looks more energetic/fun compared to the 41T.
41T looks smaller on pictures so perhaps a better and more comfortable fit with it.
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I’d get Vulkan but I will make the case for both:
Vulkan
- Has better technicalities IMO
- Both sets have soundstage tricks to sound less in-your-head but Vulkan has an. Amphitheater-style U-shaped staging that’s very deep
- Vulkan has a better bass quality
41T
- Has sneaky good bass quantity and quality
- Has very good imaging capabilities
- Is smoother in the uppers where Vulkan has 3k and 8k bumps that are audible and harsh if you’re sensitive there. It’s an easier listen.
I think fit is a wash, neither is hard to wear for me. Accessories is a wash too, both have great stock cables I wouldn’t change.
The only reasons not to get Vulkan are you don’t have the budget or you know 3k and 8k bumps will be ice picks to you.
Other than those caveats, Vulkan smashes 41T for me
7 Likes
Thanks for the summary. So hard to choose. You read a glowing review of one of them, click on a different page, and then read a terrible review. These two are especially bad when it comes to that, but for some reason I think I need one of them.
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