I’m using the clear stock tips. I tried most of my tips with it, and they didn’t improve fit or sound for me. Stock works fine for me
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you’re lucky, my ear canal fits right in the middle of the medium and large tips included but I ended up settling on either a medium CP145 or white medium kbear07 tips which was the exact thing I did on the 7hz zero.
I love the food analogies, keep em coming
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I’m using medium Spinfit W1 on Cadenza.
Both medium and large fitnbut medium gives me a deeper and more secure fit.
Interesting write up on the Iris. I had a lot of fun reading that one. The “Rank as a Food” section is a great idea and the Avocado Roll rank was perfect. That’s the roll I order for kids when you want to trick them into trying sushi. It gets them past the gross factor, makes them feel grown up, gives them confidence to try the next step up… basically all good things for a starter. Well picked!
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Now I wanna know what you would consider to be the Philly Roll of IEMs/Earbuds. Their delicious simplicity of salmon, cream cheese, avocado/cucumber wrapped around rice and seaweed. Combined with Miso soup to sip along with each bite, it’s absolute bliss…I’ve made myself hungry.
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And here, my work is done 
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I’m glad you get me. That is EXACTLY what I was going for, as an analogy!
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BASN BMaster 2nd Generation or When Reading the Room Goes Wrong
During Black Friday, as I had my eye on other sets (waves longingly to the Performer 5), a set that was vaguely on my radar made a move from its usual $119 price to a sale price of $83. Having a small interest in wanting to check this set out, plus the encouragement that this purchase would get me a little closer to other things I’d want to spend money on was enough of a motivation to give the BASN BMaster 2 a try. God help me…
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.
Hell On Earth - REZZ & Yultron (For Bass elements)
Windows - Abby Gundersen (For piano and violin timbre, resolution and clarity)
Marie Antoinette (2003 Rudy Van Gelder Remaster Edition) - Freddie Hubbard (For imaging, layering and soundstage, brass and woodwind timbre)
Wood Stove Whine - Muhammad Seven & The Spring (For male vocals, resolution, layering, mids focus)
PAPERMOON - Tommy heavenly6 (For female vocals, rock bass and treble elements, layering)
And Therein Lies Your First Mistake
So the unboxing experience started out well enough, and if you’ve read my reviews I’m not one to spend a ton of time on that; Most IEM boxes are just IEM boxes, they aren’t particularly special or noteworthy, and we’re not small children or doggos. We’re not here for the box. Heck, most of us here aren’t even interested in the stock gear because we have all of our own built up collections. But the BASN is making me pay attention because before I got it, I did not realize that it is an IEM with MMCX connectors. This is noteworthy because I do not own any MMCX IEMs. Having experienced this set, I don’t think I’m super interested in dealing with MMCX connections but that isn’t the problem with the cable. This is:
WHAT. IN. THE. ACTUAL BLUE BLAZES. IS. THIS. GARBAGE!!!
Why do I have a One Hundred and Nineteen dollar IEM, that has the cable connected by the metal strip you’d find in a hospital medical mask? This is some unacceptable Tomfoolery!!! I’d expect this kinda crap from KZ, except they know better! The fit of the IEM is okay, probably in the ballpark of the Penon Fan 2, in terms of wanting a deeper fit. It doesn’t bother me, but most fits don’t, as long as I tip-roll properly. So even though I did get the BASNs in my ears, I almost threw my hands up and said no to going further out of principle. But I persisted. God help me…
It’s Not Okay, But At Least You’re Kinda Pretty (and Bassy)
Putting aside my righteous disgust, I’ve been open minded and given the BASNs their fair shake as an IEM. We do have some good, but we also have some not so good. So let’s get into it: The bass on the BASNs is a definite positive. These IEMs graph as a low-bass neutral, but they do not play like that in the ear. There is some sub-bass rumble, but I wouldn’t give them much more than a passably good grade there. Don’t let that mistake you that there isn’t some satisfying bass here because there is quite a surprising thump when you’re supposed to get it. This is different from the completely unrealistic (but hella satisfying) bass you get on an overly elevated set. This IEM does accurate bass really well. I’ll get to it further in the comparison section but as an example, the Olina SE graphs as having equal mid-bass and more sub-bass. The experience does not match those expectations. The BASNs have more bass quantity than Olina SE.
This leads into the absolute highlight on this set; The BASNs have a very good lower mids performance. My usual descriptions about clean lows, with no mud but with warmth between the Fan 2 and the Olina SE are present here. Frankly, I’d say if you only listened to music from 20Hz-1000Hz, this would be a very satisfying IEM. That, however, is not how any of this works…
The upper mids are a damn mess. They peak too sharply, with too much amplitude. An early rise is doable, particularly for hybrid IEMs (sets like KZ ZAS, Tri Starsea, and TRN ST5 all have this kind of profile) but it’s a tricky sound signature to pull off. When it has worked well, the early peak of the pinna gain is followed by a slope through the rest of the upper-mids to cut the potential harshness down. In the 2-4k region, the BASN either has too much elevation after the pinna gain, or it has a second peak that makes things sound scratchy and bordering on harsh. I wish it ended there, but no, it keeps going. The treble is a disaster, it is wonky and overly enhanced. There is nothing natural about the response here, and we kind of end up getting the worst of all worlds: Vocals always sound stepped forward, sharp and pitchy, and then extend too far unnaturally. Technicalities are generally fair for the price and the driver configuration, but the soundstage is awkward: It’s not very wide but it has a weird amount of height to it. You don’t feel claustrophobic, but the problem is the soundstage feels narrow and not too deep, but right on top of you. It is a different kind of presentation, but not exactly an enjoyable experience.
But Why Aren’t You as Good as the 7Hz Zero?
To keep it short and sweet: The BASN has a better bass response with a hefty note weight, which I approve of. The mids are pretty solidly even between the two where I would nudge the BASN a touch ahead overall. Then the BASN falls off a cliff. Upper mids and treble are just not good enough on the BASN. I certainly would not take the BASN over the Zero.
Versus KBear Rosefinch - This is an interesting exercise in looking at imperfect IEMs; one that I would say is flawed versus one that I enjoy because of its imperfections. The Rosefinch is unapologetically V-shaped. It’s not trying to carry any balance, it’s all bass and treble. You can take it or leave it, but there is a coherence in the plan for Rosefinch. What I think is the flaw with the BASN is that everything in the bass and lower mids says this set is trying to aim for being a neutral set that wants to create a harmony between the bass response, the mids, and treble. But while they tuned the bottom half well, the upper mids and treble are completely out of balance. I love the synergy in how big the Rosefinch goes in bass and treble, but I think there’s a massive dissonance in how the BASN was tuned.
What Does This All Mean?
What this all means is the BASN is ultimately a pass. I couldn’t, in good conscience, suggest this IEM to anybody really. I think it’s got terrible accessories, at any price let alone the price they’re asking, and while I think the bass and lower mids response is fine (as well as having passable technicalities), the tuning of the upper mids and treble is far too much. The fact that there is some good in this IEM doesn’t make up for the shortcomings that are prevalent. So with that, I’m going to have to say no to the BASN BMaster 2nd Gen. That’s going to be it for this review. Enjoy your days, and take care till next time!
Rank: C+
Rank With Personal Bias: C+
Rank As a Food: Dry, overcooked turkey
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A shame that the tuner took lunch right after getting the bass and lower mids done - must of had a deadline and got lazy!
Great article, my friend. The thought of dry, over cooked Turkey has me reaching for my seltzer water 
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Someone out there likes dry turkey, so I’m not as mad at that.
Getting a coat hanger wire for ear hooks has me feeling a WAY, though!
Kiwi Ears Cadenza or Acknowledging the Head of the Table
We are back with a new review, and I can barely even contain myself long enough to write a pithy opening. So I’m just bypassing all of that to say we are going to talk about the Kiwi Ears Cadenza and we have a LOT to go over. This set is a legitimate game changer and we need to process this together.
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.
Hell On Earth - REZZ & Yultron (For Bass elements)
Windows - Abby Gundersen (For piano and violin timbre, resolution and clarity)
Marie Antoinette (2003 Rudy Van Gelder Remaster Edition) - Freddie Hubbard (For imaging, layering and soundstage, brass and woodwind timbre)
Wood Stove Whine - Muhammad Seven & The Spring (For male vocals, resolution, layering, mids focus)
PAPERMOON - Tommy heavenly6 (For female vocals, rock bass and treble elements, layering)
You’re Just Too Good to Be True, Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You
This little $35 set comes hot off the griddle with a massive amount of hype, and the first impressions live up to it; It’s a beautiful shell that is easy to love and is classy in a way that you don’t have to feel embarrassed about it. I was particularly drawn to the blue and green variants before deciding on the blue one for myself. I am very satisfied with my choice in this matter. Then the fit is great. It’s small, like a slightly thicker, resin Olina/Mele. I think the smaller shell can be an issue for some, but this is nothing for me. I enjoy it a lot.
The sound is something crazy, for $35. I’ll get to the frequency as a whole, but I have to start out with the standout feature of the Cadenza: Its timbre and tonality. At worst, I’d put the timbre and tonality at top-3, of all the IEMs I’ve heard. Everything about it is impeccable. I love the note weight, the forwardness and energy of the mids (without overcooking them), the extension of the treble. Everything sounds accurate. Not necessarily the most fun, the most engaging, the most whatever. But I can’t point to anything else I’ve heard (for more than a song or two, hi Monarch MK II) and say that it is more correct sounding than Cadenza. I haven’t talked about it before, but the reason I showcase Muhhammad Seven & the Spring so much is that my friend’s husband is the guitarist for the band. He’s played bass, rhythm, and slide guitars, and I went to every show of theirs in the in Boston-area for years (until Muhammad Seven, the frontman, moved this year). I know the music intimately, and listening to them on the Cadenza feels the same as if I was sitting in when they recorded. Not that I’m listening to a good recording of them, that I am listening to them recording it. Nima’s voice is pitch perfect to hearing him live, it’s uncanny. I don’t even know how to describe it beyond that.
As for the frequency, to have that kind of tonality, you have to be on point throughout the sound signature. The bass is really good. It has a solid, mostly satisfying sub-bass. I think of it as being where it’s supposed to be when it’s supposed to be there but without an over emphasis. The mid-bass is full, not too thick but never ever lacking. Cadenza’s bass is in line with Kai (which is some of my favorite sub-$100 sub-bass) in the sub-bass and Aurora (some of my favorite mid-bass), which is special because it combines the best of both together in one package. The lower-mids are fantastic, which has been a real hallmark of the sets I’ve been listening to lately. I’m starting to feel very spoiled by having forward mids that are clean, without the overly recessed playback you get from a QKZ or unmodded Rosefinch. The body on Cadenza is exquisite and just plays right to my ear. The upper mids are beautifully tuned. They don’t lack energy but they are also not pushed artificially forward. They destroyed a set like the BASN I just reviewed, where the elements that should be forward in the mix move forward as they’re called for, but they’re not in competition with another part of the range when doing so. EDM plays differently than jazz, plays differently than rock, which goes without saying. But on the Cadenza, the bass is the star of EDM, the mids are the star of jazz, and the upper mid harmonics control the way rock replays. These are not specialty IEMs that make a genre sound the most amazing ever, but has genres it cannot handle. This set allows every frequency its time and space to shine, in a wonderful balance.
But Why Aren’t You as Good as the 7Hz Zero?
This is what you all are really here for though. I’m waxing poetic about this set (and the title is a spoiler, of course), but you wanna know how it stacks up against the competition. Well, against the Zero there are a ton of similarities. The mids performance are close to identical, overall between the two sets. There is a SMALL amount of difference in the upper-mids though. While there are some scant times in my listening to the Zero where they can just hit a little harsh or overly energetic, I don’t hear any missteps from the Cadenza. It is exactly the right amount of energy for me to get all the presence, but not cross the line. And that further is benefited in the treble: While the Zero may have a little bump in the early treble compared to Cadenza (and the benefits to clarity that entails), Cadenza is better balanced through the mid-treble and beyond, so you get a touch more naturalism to the sound. The other place this shows up is the biggest difference point between the two sets: The bass-to-mids relationship. Cadenza has a better bass response. It’s slightly bigger in the sub-bass, but it’s plainly evident in the mid-bass. There’s just that much more thump, force, and especially warmth. But none of that is a negative. It is correct, and it gives a proper weight to the music, that I never can get past with the Zero, when it’s compared to other sets. Both sets are very good for the budget range, but Cadenza is simply more mistake-free.
Versus Olina SE - I’ve made comments about this comparison, and really hyped up this matchup, and now I have to pay up on that. The highlight of listening to these two sets is that there is NOT much between them. The biggest separators between them, in timbre and tonality, is that Olina is a little bit brighter deep in the upper-mids and Cadenza has a little bit more energy in the deep bass. If I handed them to you blind, you probably wouldn’t be able to tell them apart without me telling you what nits to pick out on them. I was and still am gobsmacked that the Cadenza has such pitch-perfect tuning, that it does something on this level and can actually outdo Olina in pure tuning. That said, Olina is superior in most of the other technicalities. You’re going to get a little bit better soundstage, imaging and such from Olina. But it is not night and day. Cadenza valiantly trades blows with Olina.
Versus Penon Fan 2 - These two are a very interesting comparison. As much as I’ve hyped up Cadenza’s tone and timbre, it should have an advantage in it’s balance over a bass-forward neutral tuning like Fan 2. But it doesn’t at all, they are very much equals, which I think comes down to the tight window in which ALL the sound plays on Fan 2. In some ways, Cadenza has a difficult needle to thread because just a little bit one way or the other can take the tonality from near-perfect to great but short of. Fan 2 has more room to be forgiving in that way because no one part of the signature will ever outdo the rest, because everything is tightly tuned together. But in other ways, that’s a challenge for Fan 2 because it can be hard to emphasize what should be emphasized if everything is equal. But each IEM produces its signature masterfully! Cadenza is a cleaner overall sound, because the mid-bass is pulled back more accurately, but what Fan 2 does with its mid-bass is special. Too much mid-bass can take a sound from warmth to dragging in the mud. Fan 2 is a VERY warm IEM, but it’s more about making the mid-bass more present and forward, not about idly jacking up the amplitude of mid-bass beyond what is correct. Because the rest of the frequency is tuned so expertly, the excess amount of mid-bass adds weight and force. It does not muddy or cloud up the sound. If I could put the two together into an analogy, Cadenza would be the extremely accurate and correctly tuned IEM, while Fan 2 is the IEM version of an iFi x-bass boost on the Cadenza. As far as the technicalities, these two are straight up in different weight classes. Fan 2 is superior in details, resolution, you name it. And even more impressively, all of those technicalities are put into a bigger, more immersive soundstage that allows those technicalities the space to shine in. This is where the train stops for Cadenza. It’s a masterfully tuned IEM, but it could do with a TOUCH more sub-bass, and the soundstage and technicalities don’t go further than average. In that way, it’s a no-brainer that Fan 2 is an upgrade on Cadenza for me.
What Does This All Mean?
What this all means is I could ramble on and on about how utterly impressed I am with the Kiwi Ears Cadenza. This is an extremely good IEM practically being given away at an astonishing and ludicrous price. This IEM has a lot of versatility for me; it could be my EDC, it is a great IEM to clear out brain burn-in when switching between sets, it’s small enough to be an in-bed set. TL;DR this set is a staple in my IEM diet going forward. There are main dishes, desserts, drinks, etc. Lots of different flavors of everything out there, but at the end of the day, how satisfying your meal is comes down to the base that fills you the most. For me, and my musical appetite, I have a base that I don’t think can easily be beat. That’s going to be it for this review. Enjoy your days, and take care till next time!
Rank: B
Rank With Personal Bias: A
Rank As a Food: Rice and Beans
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Glad to see you integrated food on reviews. Guess I teached you well!
I have a question for you, mr. reviewer!!!
How do you find female vocals on Cadenza?
Ostensibly identical to Olina SE. Cadenza is Olina SE’s $35 doppelgänger in tonality.
Hmm, interesting take I guess
I took extra time, and even A/B’d it to Wan’er to be sure about how I felt before I said it with my chest. I’m looking at sets I’d like to try in 2023, based on what follows Cadenza’s graph, particularly from 1-6k
Big pinna no mid-treble?
I’m really curious how everyone will react once everyone pours out cadenza reviews, tbh. Either that or I’m a special snowflake.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great IEM for its price… But I have my reservations.
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These are all the sets I most want to spend time with in 2023 (As of what is released or announced). Vulkan is the only REAL weirdo in the group. The rest either rise up to 3-3.5k the same, or are short risers that have lower amplitudes in the upper-mids.
My biggest problem with QKZ is how relaxed the upper mids and treble energy are. It has good extension but is missing resolution for my taste.
(Side note: Xenns Top looks like something I’d really like at that over-$500 price point).
Edit: I think I’m very clear at this point that 6-8k is more important to me in the treble, compared to anything past that. If I could only have one, I’d give up air and extension for clarity and presence
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Top is reaching me next week and HeyDay hasn’t been released, and I can’t speak on those.
As for the others… Nothing alike around past ~2k compared to Cadenza.
Sine Sweep Cadenza around that area, you might be surprised. Either that or I have a turd, which is a great possibility.
I’m totally going by ear based on what I’ve heard, which is way less than you. So in that way I would defer to what you hear and not argue that point. I’m curious now, how you’ll respond to my Wan’er/Cadenza comparisons because I find them similar but they definitely have tonality differences I pick up on.
Olina and Cadenza were so close in the lower mids and the early upper mids that it made the bass and late upper mids/early treble differences stand out. But it did nothing to change the fundamentals from 300ish-2kish for me