Ok to start, these are the first iem I have ever purchased. I am not an iem guy at all. My ears are sensitive to high tones, pressure levels
I have only had these a few days, so no “break in period” yet.
Quick summary: bright at higher listening levels, balanced with slightly recessed mids in low to moderate levels.
I really like these iem over all despite them being unusable to me at higher volumes. I rarely listen loud anyways so its not all that much of an issue for my personal needs.
Fit n Finish: These things feel solid. Really solid. And they are huge, like HUGE. Iem is almost an ironic joke to describe these. they are on the verge of being on ear with buds. I have dumbo large ears and they barely fit. They also take me a few minutes to put on as I am not used to the earhook cables or iem’s in general. So i fail(facepalm) a few times each ear installing them =D Also the fact that i refer to putting them on as installing, big clue on awkward HUGEness of them. Once i have them hooked and in ear, then have to wiggle them around some to “find the spot” to get a good seal. The cable is horrendous, going to order @heartaudio cable and get a real one. The one it comes with is a tangle monster. Quiet cable tho, I do not hear anything moving around with it. Looks do not much matter to me to be honest, so that is a personal taste if you like the stainless steel finish. I personally think there are much worse looking iem out there.
Source: The only source/amp I have listened to these on so far is my google pixel 2 phone with included dac/adapter. But i have also listened to meze noir’s, hifiman he35x and monoprice retro’s with the same setup. All 3 headphones driven to at least moderate level’s with the noir’s getting the loudest. Point of reference for amp power, dac is meh lol. Not bad, not all that good either.
Sound: Overall I am enjoying the sound signature on these.
The highs: clear and powerful. There is not any real decay that I can tell though. You get a crisp sound then the drivers move on. They sound good to me in the high range at low to mild listening levels. After that is where I start to have bad times. When I start to get into the moderate to loud listening range, they become overly bright at moderate to outright shrill at loud. Personal taste and preference there, but to me it’s sound signature changes dramatically from somewhere in the mild/moderate range above and below. The drivers do not scale equally with juice would be my guess.
The mids: detailed and slightly recessed. The mids sound good, but lack any weight. Rob Thomas for instance sounds clear, but without the usual heft or whatever you want to call it, that is in his voice and makes him sound so good. Outside of vocal situations, the mids are decent for music reproduction. The mids are the weakest part of the iem.
The lows: powerful with just enough punch. I would guess because of the one piston driver. The lows are very fast. They keep up with the treble easily. They have a fair amount of punch behind them as well. Not so much though that heavy hitting bass really hits your eardrum with a sound pressure blast. I am sure there are heavier hitting bass iem’s out there, but I personally like the right amount of weight it has behind the low end. I also rarely listen to any electronic music of any kind. I can see these falling short for those genre. The lows comes through clean. I have not encountered any muddyness with them yet.
Overall: The 6 drivers per ear blend together very well for me at the low end of moderate listening levels and below. At moderate to loud levels they are almost the polar opposite becoming to harsh for my tastes.
I purchased these for 20$+ shipping off of massdrop when they had them. I had a coupon to use on something, so it made the price right to try them. I would buy them again for the same price or for the 40ish $ they retail for normally off of like aliexpress for instance. I do not listen above mild listening levels anyways when I use them. I work in a loud factory and use them to listen to relaxing music on break at mild levels and lower.
