[keanex]

Hello all, thank you for clicking this review. I purchased these IEMs new from Amazon, and am reviewing these connected through a Qudelix 5k, using Spotify’s ‘Very High Quality’ setting for downloaded files. I have used these primarily at the gym or for long walks, while listening to various music genres. The review is being written primarily from analytical listening sessions using my 50 Songs playlist.

Packaging & Accessories

Taste is subjective, but I adore the art on the box. I find it to be classy and tastefully executed. . Inside of the box are 4 pairs of the clear narrower tips, 3 pairs of the wider black tips, a cleaning cloth with matching box art printed on it, removable cable, and the Wan’er themselves.

I purchased the clear/white Wan’er, and think that they look equally classy when compared to the box.

Feel and Fit

The Good

• The IEM feels put together well. Pin connectors feel solid, and the nozzle doesn’t seem to have weak points.
• * QDC connection feels more secure, and less prone to breaking, than standard 2 pin connectors.

The Okay/Indifferent

• Fit was best for me on the shallow end of medium depth. I prefer something a bit deeper.
• Large nozzles may not play well with some ear canals.

The Bad

• Cable has an awfully stiff rubber guide. The cable sided ends started pushing away from my head, it was like they were expanding outward like wings looking to fly away. I used beard trimming scissors to remove all of the stiff rubber guide, which let the cable hang loosely around my ears. That helped. I eventually bought a third-party cable instead, which I am much happier with. The cable lasted me about 2 weeks at the gym, getting progressively worse. I don’t know why guides are needed, cables are perfectly fine without them.
• Fit was impossible for me to get perfectly secure and comfortable with the stock tips. I must have spent an hour total during my listening time re-adjusting them at the gym, and trying all of the included tips to get the best fit. I eventually moved to Moondrop Spring Tips and DUNU S&S in order to get a secure enough fit.
• Fit is not comfortable with stock tips. I couldn’t listen to the Wan’er for more than 20 minutes without feeling discomfort on some level. I had to move to the Moondrop Spring Tips in order to wear these for 30+ minutes with some comfort, DUNU S&S increased this to an hour of listening time with decent comfort.

Grade: C- - Not completely unusable out of the box, but if I had to use these stock every single day as my main audio source then I would have given up on listening to music in my day-to-day life. They were a constant hassle for fit, and comfort. Constant re-adjustments, and cable issues were highly bothersome.

Sound

Reviewed with a mix of stock tips, DUNU S&S, and Moondrop Spring Tips when noted in the spreadsheet. It wasn’t possible to get a consistent fit to review these with the stock tips. Spring tips notably sounded the worst to me, while DUNU S&S were the overall winner.

Bass

The Good

• Bass extension is good, digging down plentiful enough for even heavy bass songs like James Blake’s *Limit to Your Love*.
• Bass quantity and warmth is really fun for certain dancey tracks. Notably Dua Lipa’s *Don’t Start Now* is plenty of fun with the Wan’er! In-fact, a lot off of her album Future Nostalgia was enjoyable.

The Okay/Indifferent

• Bass speed is right on the cusp of good. It lingers a bit, but mostly keeps up.
• Bass is often the focus of my attention, pushing to the front of the soundstage.
• Strong bass, but not quite basshead levels. Just enough to tease, but never satisfy.
• Warmer tilt to the low-end than natural.

The Bad

• Midbass is too prominent, bleeding horizontally into the next notes, and bleeding vertically into the lower-midrange. Completely overtakes the focus of the music. Khruangbin is an excellent example of this being a problem, as is the song *Wait* by M83. This is a main issue for me.
• Bass isn’t quick/snappy enough. Often notes linger slightly too long. It’s not a significant issue, but more than acceptable to me.
• Bass texture is lacking, smoothed out in texture. Most notable in electric bass guitars that sound pretty generic from song to song. Wouldn’t use these for studying bass players' tone or technique as my primary choice.
• Bass lacks strong punch, hits are present but slightly too soft.

Grade: C- - The amount of bass is enjoyable, but the quality of the bass leaves a lot to be desired. It takes the focus away from the rest of the track and hurts my enjoyment immensely. There are occasions where the bass is satisfying, but I find that it is a distraction more often than not.

Midrange & Treble

The Good

• Tone in the lower midrange is natural and pleasant. Soulful male vocals like Anderson .Paak on the album *Malibu*, or Robert Plant on *No Quarter* sounds good to great.
• Male vocals in the lower to mid ranges sounded the best. Sufjan Stevens being a notable praise.

The Okay/Indifferent

• Treble is forgettable, but not awful. Kinda like a background character in a film, it largely goes unnoticed.

The Bad

• Shouty upper-midrange with poor plastic tonality. Carly Rae Jepsen sounds awful through these, as an example. The electric guitar in the Tears For Fears song *Memories Fade* was another notable example.
• Resolution of the midrange is like watching 720p content on a 4k TV. It is understandable, but you can tell you’re not getting the full experience. Instruments sound like an approximation of the real thing, they lack any realism. Acoustic guitars, for instance, lose sense of their tonality, it skews generic tone across the board.
• Sits behind the bass more often than not within the sound mix. This is a big issue, mixture of the bass and midrange.

C - The midrange has moments of enjoyment, especially without the bass present. Oftentimes I’m finding myself unimpressed with the resolution, tonality, and presence of the midrange. There hasn’t been a single “wow” moment. The treble suffers from being largely forgettable, which may be a good thing.

Soundstage

The Good

• I can not find a single good quality.

The Okay/Indifferent

• Instrument separation is decent enough to keep it from being a congestion mess.

The Bad

• Left/right separation is highly lackluster. Noticeably apparent when listening to Billie Eilish’s *xanny*, which the panning vocals in the chorus went left/right, but it felt like a short jaunt, staying in plain view upfront the entire time.
• Very slight sense of depth, but it really is just enough to keep from total chaos and congestion.
• Soundstage is very front focused, like I’m viewing a small circular stage, with me close to it. Nothing is immersive, everything is this blob, front and center.

Grade: D - The soundstage does nothing to add immersion to the sound. Over and over again I find that I can not vibe with a song because it lacks breathing room between instruments. Not a catastrophic failure, but the weakest point of the sound.

_____

Conclusion

There’s things to like about the Wan’er, primarily in the aesthetics. Initially, I was pretty happy with these, but my enjoyment has been on a consistent downwards slope. Having to use third-party accessories just to find comfort is abysmal, and the sound has become less and less appealing to me. The more time I spend with the Wan’er, the less time I want to spend with them.

Kudos on the beautiful packaging, it stands out. The tonality is pretty decent, but the technicalities are incredibly lackluster. These will be tucked away in a dark drawer until I eventually get curious again, and give them another go

 

[Sonic Sleuth]

Nice write up! Wagn’er has sort of become my staple for office calls and when I know I’m going to a place that needs a lot of running around and I cannot carry expensive gear. I really like its laid back tuning.