KEFINE DELCI

TL;DR: A warm/bassy fun yet still balanced addition to your library if you don't have one yet

Overview/History
Hi all.

Back again with more typed words with the Kefine Delci.

Everything that I had read and heard about this set was that it was an 'under $100 King' and everything about the signature seemed to fit what I typically enjoy for an all rounder.

Smooth sound with some extra elevated bass? Yes please. Inject that bass into my veins.

Disclaimers: No real disclaimers here. This was purchased with my own money as I was curious about the Kefine Delci after there was a lot of hype posted everywhere and it did seem like it fit with what I enjoy in IEMs.

Build Quality, Comfort and Accesories
Photo dump time!









The Kefine Delci comes a very competent cable and a bag full of nondescript tips.




While these are metal, they remain relatively lightweight and comfortable. They fit extremely easily into my ears and remind me a bit of my steel Moondrop Kato in size (though the Delci's nozzles are slightly bigger).

You aren't getting anything extremely pretty printed on a resin shell or anything but there's a certain characteristic with the industrial look they've nailed here.

Tip Rolling
Stock tips are not good, IMO. If you have an awesome experience out the box with them, that's awesome. I did not.



I had to go through my usual round up to find the best fit. With the size of the nozzles, I didn't actually find my best fit with them as my usual contenders but I -was- able to find the best fit without going full Singolo treasure hunting (took a lot of tips, lot of listening and trial & error and then realizing something didn't fit nearly as good, etc. etc.)



Stock tips: Not the best. Tried them for a moment, went through the bag. I couldn't get a great seal with any of them and they felt like a budget Divinus set.
Final Type E Clear Reds: While these sounded great, the fit was not perfect. These usually are my Go To so I was surprised with how they didn't seal properly for me.
Spinfit W1: These fit well but these tend to dull the bass by a small amount compared to the rest of my tips.
Dunu S&S: Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner. These fit extremely well with the nozzles, in my ears and gave me the bass I was expecting. They actually gave a bit more mid-bass sensation but this is likely due to the best seal.


*This cable is the NiceHCK Luna, not the stock cable. Just thought the Delci looked great with them along with the Dunu S&S.*

Cable
The cable is actually very nice and reminds me a lot of the cable that came on the Legato. They fit with the industrial type of look of the Kefine Delci. No complaints about the stock cable at all; I wish it was a bit softer but it doesn't feel cheap at all.



Sound
So, how do these sound? Warm, bassy, competent but intimate. It's definitely more of a V-shaped IEM (I would categorize it as more V vs U shaped simply because I feel the vocals/mids do take a bit of a backstage to the bass but it's not super drastic).

Gear Tested On: Primarily streamed music via either dedicated Streamer, Laptop or Phone
Phone chain: Pixel 8 Pro -> Abigail Pro
Phone chain: Pixel 8 Pro -> Fosi Audio DS2
Streamed Music Chain Workstation: Laptop -> Fiio K11 (used both single ended and balanced in this case)
Streamed Music chain: WiiM Mini -> JDS Labs Atom DAC+ -> JDS Labs OL Switcher -> Geshelli Labs Archel 3 Pro

Lows/Bass: This is the star of the show.

This set has very good impactful bass with more of the sub bass being elevated/emphasized. I think the quality of the bass is very good for a sub $100 IEM and is close to providing the same slam/quality of the Legato which is my "BASS"line.



That being said, there are certain really bass heavy tracks where it feels like the bass bleeds over a bit into the mids but it feels very controlled for the vast majority of my library.

Another quick point: these really opened up when you provide them power. Plugging them into the balanced side of the K11 (as an example), the bass tightened up a bit while giving a bit more impact with each note.

Mids: The mids are extremely smooth. They sound very natural, for the most part, though I will say that, again, sometimes the bass does (on certain tracks) bleed over into the mids by a small margin where it's nitpicking at best in this case.

Otherwise, vocals and all the mids sound very full and satisfactory. I think they handle male vocals way better than female vocals. There were a few tracks that female vocals came off a bit more husky to me but, again, this was nitpicking as a lot of other female vocal tracks sounded fine.

Treble: Another use of the word smooth. I think the treble comes off very detailed with decent layering.

Throughout several genres, there was nothing I found that would be offensive and I think this is tuned be extremely easy to listen to for hours on end.

Specific songs listened to and other Etc.:
I've listened to my library for a few days straight and can highlight some songs that I think that the Delci does well. Asterisks for ones that I think they really excelled in.

Black Keys - Lo/Hi, Gold on the Ceiling*
Florence & the Machine - Dog Days Are Over
ACDC - Thunderstruck
Fleetwood Mac - Dreams
Camile - Le Festin
Guns N' Roses - Sweet Child of Mine*
Death Cab for Cutie - Everything's a Ceiling*
SEATBELTS - Gotta Knock a Little Higher
Earth, Wind and Fire - September
Bob Marley & The Wailers - Three Little Birds*

Technicalities on the Delci are good. Timbre is very good across the board; it sounds very natural and there was nothing I could pick out that did not sound correct. Layering/imaging is very adequate. While this may be a very safe, overall, IEM with it's tuning, I think it hits all it's intended marks extremely well which is being a very fun and musical set to enjoy your music more than analyze. But it does -not- skimp on the other aspects of sound. It's just not the emphasis, IMO.

I think my only ding I can place on these is that they sound extremely intimate/small soundstage when I'm running them single ended.

But, I think with a good amount of power to spare (running balanced or on a desktop set up), they can really open up a bit so it doesn't feel as claustrophobic. This tells me that they do take the extra power very well and scale accordingly.

Comparisons:
Since I've got a few in this price range, I think it would be worth comparing the Delci to my current line up.



Xuan NV: Considering how recently the Xuan NV came out and given the similar price range, this feels like a good starting point to compare.

I think the Xuan NV's midrange/vocals are done a bit better than the Delci. But, I think the Delci has more satisfying bass. I think both are otherwise very comparable to the sound signature and what they bring to the table so it's really a coin toss on what you're looking for.

Moondrop Kato: The Kato were my first higher end IEM and I've put a lot of time on them. So, how does one metal boi compare to another?

Delci are better to me, IMHO. The Kato have better mids/vocals and slightly better soundstage/technicalities/layering but, unless you're getting them second hand, they're also double the price. Conversely, the Delci has a more fun element to it with the warm bassy goodness but you're also getting an awesome package for the price that gets you very close. I got my Kato second hand and I would be hard pressed to spend the additional money for the incremental difference.

That it not a knock on the Kato, really, but more just how the market is now; there are a lot of more budget friendly IEMs that really perform well and compete with some of the IEM staples of the past.

Legato: Going to compare this to my current resident basshead IEM.

I love the Legato for it's unabashed basshead tuning. That being said, while the Legato gets a solid B for it's bass (to me anyways), the Delci does it well enough to be satisfying.

The Delci feel almost like if I was to take the Zero Red/Xuan NV tuning and mix it with the Legato lows.

Zero RED: Get the Delci. Way more comfortable, it's like having the 10 ohm adapter plugged in already from the start.

Other Things to be aware of:
The current price on these are listed higher but you can get them on 'sale' at $59.

I also want to reemphasize that I wasn't a fan of the stock tips but these absolutely rock out with the Dunu S&S both seal and sound wise to me.

Conclusion:
I think these are another awesome sub $100 set that would be very easy to hype up.

There's something to be said for a set that really provides a good amount of bass without taking away from any of the other aspects of the music and Kefine has done an excellent job with these.

Bon appetit, budget audiophiles. You've got another DELiCIous (I couldn't help it, I'm sorry, queue the drum roll) IEM served for the masses.



Thanks for reading!

TLDR version on YouTube: TDLR - Kefine Delci

The Kefine Delci have been sent to me by Kefine for me to try them out and to share my opinions in this review. Kefine have not made any requests and, as usual, I will attempt to be as unbiased as humanly possible.

I was going to post the official page of the Delci, as usual, but looking around it seems that it is available from many retailers. I mention the price of 55€ in my review but it is available are various prices from various places, so I suggest you look around and pick the deal that interests you the most.

To avoid being repetitive in my reviews, you can find all the info about how I create the reviews, equipment used, how I receive the products and how to interpret my reviews by visiting: About my reviews



Intro…

This is not the first set of IEMs that I have reviewed from Kefine, although they are still a new brand, with the Delci being only their second set of IEMs (as far as I am aware). Their first set, the Klanar, is a planar set that I reviewed in November last year. I said that, while the Klanar wasn’t my favourite tuning, there was no doubt that they had done a good job with their first entry into the market.

The Delci moves away from the planar driver and opts for a 10mm dynamic driver that combines DLC and PU. Priced at just over 50€, 55€ to be exact, it falls only just outside my ultra budget limit buy only by 5€, so I would still consider it to be a very well priced IEM.

So, how have Kefine done with their second set? Let’s find out.



Presentation…

As far as packaging, there is very little difference between this model and the Klanar, which comes in at almost twice the price. The outer sleeve is black instead of white but still features an image of the IEM, with some basic specs on the back.

Opening the simple black box that slides out from the sleeve reveals content that us also very similar to the previous model. The IEMs sitting in a simple piece of foam and a storage case underneath that contains the cable and 6 extra sets of tips (so 7 in total) in 2 core sizes.

As with the Klanar, the presentation of the Delci is nothing special but it is half the price of the previous model so I have no complaints.



Build and aesthetics…

As far as build and aesthetics, we again find they are very similar to the planar model. In this case we get gunmetal grey shells rather than black, and there is a slightly more pronounced elevation to where the simple Kefine lettering sits in the center.

The cable also opts for gunmetal grey hardware and connectors, this time in metal rather than plastic in the case of the Klanar.

In general, I find the IEMs to be simple but very well built and extremely comfortable. I literally put them in my ears with the tips that were already on them and they instantly felt great.

I actually feel that these are a step up from the Klanar, which is great news at the price!



Sound…

All tracks mentioned are clickable links that allow you to open the reference track in the streaming service of your choice (YouTube, Tidal, Qobuz, Spotify, etc.)

I first placed the Delci in my ears one afternoon in the office while listening to some blues, acoustic jazz and other simple relaxed music. I was immediately surprised by how much I liked what I was hearing. Things were relaxed yet detailed, smooth and warm but not dark, just a very nice listen.

I could honestly stop there and say that I really like these IEMs but I did my usual stint of using them for 5 days or so before moving on to my test track list and looking for specific points of good or bad, so I guess I will be a little more in depth than that

Before moving on, here is the frequency response in comparison to my usual preference graph:



I really am glad that I listen to things before measuring them as, looking at the graph above, I would have immediately thought that they were dark and bassy, yet that is not the case.

Don’t get me wrong, they are certainly not bright and bass thin, but the warm smoothness that they offer doesn’t make me feel like it is missing detail and treble.

In the subbass region, I of course put them through my “Chameleon” test, which brought back quite a bit of rumble, making the track sound pretty impressive, but what was more impressive was that it managed to do so without becoming out of control or overshadowing the remaining frequencies too much. It is not the most subbass I have heard, nor is it the most balanced outcome that can be achieved with this track, but it is certainly not a bad rendition of the craziness that “Chameleon” can be.

With “Sun Is Shining”, there is a little too much in the lower ranges in comparison to the upper ranges, yet it is not something that I immediately dislike. In fact, I found it quite a pleasant and relaxed listen, with maybe a bit too much in the bass department but doing a good job of controlling it.

“No Sanctuary Here” gives me a similar impression to “Sun Is Shining”, where I would not say that the Delci presents the track in the way I would consider my favourite, but even with that emphasis on the bass, it makes for a bassy electronic listen that I don’t find as tiring as I usually do with this kind of reproduction.

In my midbass fatigue test, I do find “Crazy” to have a little too much boom in that low end of the guitar but not enough to make me feel fatigued, meaning that it does a good job of both controlling the midbass, with good detail, and not bleeding into the lower mids too much.

In fact, I find that the midbass throughout the mids is the highlight of these IEMs. I spent a lot of time enjoying the Delci with a lot of blues and other electric guitar focused music and found the overall tonality to be very nicely presented. It is maybe missing some of the crunch that you would get on sets with a more present upper minds/lower treble range, but it does not lack detail and gives a great smoothness to the guitars that I find very enjoyable.

Vocals may be a little further back that usual but they are by no means absent and they have a great body and smoothness to them. For example, “Dreamin'” puts quite a bit of emphasis on the low end with the vocals not being the centre of attention but it does work well and presents a very relaxed sound that does not come across as anything being lost, just presented in a smoother way.

This presentation also works well for tracks that were a little too bright in their original recording and maybe missing a little warmth to the bass. “Walking On The Moon” by The Police makes the bass, and track in general, a lot more pleasurable than usual, although Sting is pushed back slightly more than I would prefer. This may not be the best for balancing the vocals against the music but it certainly helps get rid of the harshness that is present in this recording.

While the signature is not something that focuses on details, it also doesn’t give the impression of details missing, the driver does a great job of presenting them in a more subdued way.

In fact, my only complaint would be a peak that appears in the treble ranges that can sometimes coincide with cymbals and other metallic high pitched sounds, making them a little harsh on occasions. This is not a regular occurrence, at least I haven’t found it to be, but sometimes the percussion on a track will just find this peak and suddenly stand out against a very smooth track otherwise.

Don’t think that this is something that puts me off the Delci, it is not like they are sibilant or harsh at all, just that peak that sometimes pops up and says high, sort of bringing me out of the trance into which these IEMs seem to place me.



Conclusion…

The Delci are a set of IEMs that have a musicality that I never thought I wanted, until placing them in my ears and just finding great pleasure from listening to them. They are not a set that makes details stand out, yet they are detailed. They are not shy on bass, yet they are not overpowering. They don’t make vocals the center of attention, yet vocals don’t get lost. They are just a very musical set of IEMs.

As I mentioned in the sound section, I found these to be an absolute pleasure for a lot of blues recording, especially those that are a little older and can be harsh and lacking a bit of warmth in the bass. The add body and warmth yet sound very natural doing it. They don’t sound like they are boosting the bass, they sound like they are smoothing it but without losing definition.

These are not a sound signature that I see people specifically asking for, yet I do see them as a sound signature that people will enjoy if they just sit back and listen to them. Yes, there is that peak that can make an appearance at times, but I really can’t find myself complaining about anything else.

While I found the Klanar to be a good first try by Kefine, I think that the Delci are a win, especially at the price point they come in at. They will obviously not be everybody’s taste as far as sound signature, they aren’t even my taste as sound signature, but I think they are a great set to have on hand when you just want to relax.

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As always, this review can be found in Spanish both on my blog (www.achoreviews.com) and on YouTube (www.youtube.com/achoreviews)

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