Hey guys! Iâm gonna share my impressions about The Variations after using it for about 2 weeks! I wonât be sharing my usual Kpop tracks in this post, cause I wanna put the variations to the test with some of my other favourite korean tracks. Will be focusing more on the Korean Hip Hop, Rap, RnB, and 90s Disco genre side of it.
Tips: Spinfit CP145 (M)
Audio Source: M1 Macbook Air (Volume Bar 5) via Apple Music & Sony NW-A55 (MrWalkman DMP-A50 FEv2 Plus) (Volume 70/120)
I donât have an IEM thatâs in a similar price range to the Variations so Iâll compare it to my FD5 instead. Overall, itâs obviously a better IEM for me, especially for KPOP. In terms of soundstage, I felt it to be kinda same-y to the FD5 which caught me by surprised how lucky I am to be able to experience the FD5 first to understand what Soundstage and Imaging are all about. The big improvement comes in the Imaging. While the Soundstage is the same, Imaging is such a huge improvement and I am able to listen to vocal placement and instrumental separation clear as day.
The Mids and Vocals are just exactly what I want in my music library. It just slays in all of my favourite korean tracks, especially with female vocals. Treble was also tamed which is exactly to my liking. It may not be for Treble heads but this fits just right for me. The Sub-bass of the variations is just perfect for my korean music library. The rumble it gives is heavenly. The mid bass, guitar, and drums took a bit of a back seat in a few songs (for ex. Final Fantasy 14 Shadowbringers Theme) but I wonât be focusing on that in this post right now.
I do want to note that I am not that good in explaining the technicalities of it, but I left some timestamps in the songs that I am showcasing in this post, so you can try give it a listen with your own IEMs!
EPIK HIGH âBORN HATER ft. Beenzino, Verbal Jint, B.I, MINO, BOBBYâ is a korean hip hop/ rap track. Itâs very much a sub-bass and vocal focus song. I donât listen to a lot of male vocal tracks but this one really got me on a groove as the vocal dubbing and background vocals are just damn clear. Itâs very hard to find a highlight in this track due to how fun it is to listen to from start till finish.
At the 0:12 - 0:52 mark just showcase how the male vocal and the instrumental backing doesnât overlapped with one another and his vocals just sound crystal clear compared to FD5âs recessed mids. At the 1:32 - 2:10 mark is also another highlight of the maleâs fast rap. While his rap is pretty quick, Iâm able to pinpoint the details in his rap and it doesnât distract me from the sub-bassy instrumentals.
Lee Jin Ah âRUN (With GRAY) is another sub-bass focus song. It is also a duet track. I used to find in the FD5, the male vocals took a back seat but with the variations, he sounded much more clear here. The sub-bass rumble throughout the entire song is quite a joy to listen to and doesnât sound dirty. At the 0:41 - 0:53 is a good example of making both male and female vocals mixed real great together.
At the 0:56 - 1:11 mark shows how good the sub-bass rumble can be in the variations. At the 2:06 - 2:34 mark is just me wanting to highlight that keyboard solo. It just sounds so good lol. At the 3:16 mark onwards until the end of the song, while FD5 has this detail of having able to hear the keyboard solo keys on the right channel, The Variations is able to have a more pronounced detail it, making it easier to listen to.
EXID âLADYâ is a 90s disco-like track. Overall, listening to the FD5 with this track gave me a bit of trouble listening to the vocals as the instrumentals just overlapped it a lil bit even though it sounded good. That is probably due to the recessed mids of the FD5, but The Variations is able to remedy that to bring the vocals in a forward manner and made it more fun for me to listen to this song.
There isnât much to highlight here, but at the 0:00 - 0:22 mark just instantly greets you to their backing vocals in both left and right channels in a very clear manner. One last highlight at the 0:41 - 0:58 just shows that not only is imaging quite important in the background vocals side of it, but also accompanying the vocals in the mids which makes it more fun to listen to.
And finally we arrived to Wonder Girls âLike thisâ. This is just one fun song to listen to. While this track has a lot of sub-bass element, this is very much a vocal focus song. The background vocals in both the left and right channel kinda played a big role throughout the entire track, especially during the chorus.
At the 0:18 - 0:38 just shows how detailed the vocals in both left and right channels with the sub-bass being very clean in the mids before transitioning the vocals into the mids at the 0:39 mark onwards. The vocals in their respective verses are just crystal clear throughout the entire track and this is one of the songs thatâs been in my constant repeat ever since getting the variations. Itâs just so fun to listen to again.
Thatâs pretty much it for now! I may have accidentally left out some key details in their respective tracks but you can give the songs that I have shared a listen! I might be going back to kpop songs in my next impressions but itâs been fun listening to all of my music library so far and thatâs already a wonderful thing for me! Thank you so much for reading!
Well done, keep it up
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