Urd is one of the Nornir and She is a sister of Skuld and Verdandi. Along with her sisters, They are collectively known as the goddesses on manifestation of fate in Norse mythology that they ordained the fate and destiny of on both mortals and gods. She holds the events of the past on her spinning thread.
This is what makes
KINERA products even more fascinating as their naming scheme on their models were based on Norse mythology. I did a review before on
KINERA Idun Golden and also from its sister company,
CELEST Audio.
What I have here is their latest midrange product, The
KINERA IMPERIAL URD.
IMPERIAL URD has a multi-hybrid drivers set-up consisting of 2 dynamic drivers, 1 balanced armature drivers and 2 "electrostatic"/Electret drivers. The dual dynamic driver has titanium-coated diaphragm in its 8mm dual cavity set-up that handles the low frequencies for better responsiveness on transient speed, consistency and better dynamics performance. The balanced armature is a customised
Bellsing 11021 specifically for
KINERA's standard, and this particular driver handles the upper mids to the presence part of the treble region which give more texture and detail on vocals and most instruments. Then on the high frequencies, it was handled by
Sonion "Electrostatic"/Electret EST65DB01 driver which will give a more sparkle and improve its airy extension of the brilliance part of the treble region.
These drivers were encapsulated in 3D-printed, medical-grade high quality acrylic resin. Its overall aesthetics reminds me of shades of water in a clear, almost pristine river on which has also something to do with Urd's association with water element. Water is also an essential source of Urdarbrunnr's (mystical well) in which Urd have her role on it and it's importance as it was situated under the Yggdrasil. There's a vent hole at the top part of the shell for the outlet for excess air pressure generated from its dynamic drivers.
KINERA IMPERIAL URD uses a recessed 2-pin connector which is probably the most stable and durable type of interlocking mechanism on detachables.
The sizes of its shell chassis are on the larger size due to the types of transducers that were implemented inside but it still fits well and wearing them is quite very comfortable without any ear fatigue or soreness. It has a good passive noise isolation as it blocks a substantial amount of noises from the outside due to good sealing within my lug holes.
KINERA also did a good job on including a high quality stock cable on
KINERA IMPERIAL URD, not just a high quality stock cable but also a modular one. The cable has interwoven co-axial 6N OCC wires with Silver Plated OCC wires and Gold Plated OCC wires to give a better conductivity on transmitting audio signals. The modular termination plugs have 3.5mm single ended, 2.5mm balanced and 4.4mm balanced for versatility on different output jacks.
As I expected,
KINERA will always give the best possible unboxing experience to its customers and also one of the most generous when it comes to inclusions. The box of
KINERA IMPERIAL URD is a large, hexagon-shaped one with its beautifully designed print on it. The inclusions are placed in an organised manner.
Here are some of the following contents inside the box:
■ a pair of
KINERA IMPERIAL URD IEMs.
■ Modular stock cable
■ 3.5mm SE termination plug adapter.
■ 2.5mm balanced termination plug adapter.
■ 4.4mm balanced termination plug adapter.
■ 2 pairs of foam ear tips of different standard sizes.
■ 3 pairs of KBear silicone ear tips of different standard sizes.
■ 4 pairs of
KINERA wide-bored flesh-coloured ear tips of different standard sizes.
■ 5 pairs of Final Type-E narrow-bored black-coloured ear tips of different standard sizes.
■ an oval-shaped IEM storage case.
■ Cleaning tool kit
■ Instruction manual.
With an impedance rating of 20 ohms with a sensitivity rating of 107dB,
IMPERIAL URD should be easy to amplify even to devices such as smartphones and tablets as they have decent power output. But putting them on smartphones with high quality DACs like LGs and a dedicated digital audio player with even better DAC/amp with a powerful output will deliver a better amplitude scale to sound even more dynamic and fuller across the frequency range.
Regarding its sound profile,
IMPERIAL URD has balanced-neutral tuning which has slightly elevated low frequencies with a fairly neutral midrange to treble frequency ranges to give a very natural and smooth presentation.
LOWS/BASS:
The bass quality of
IMPERIAL URD has an ample impact, punchy and yet clean. Both sub bass and mid bass are well-balanced and equally have their own merits to present.
I discerningly felt those reverberating and rumbling sounds coming from sub bass-focus instruments such as synthesisers, drum machines, low-toned bass guitar and a rare instrument like octabass. Mid bass have a good texture to give a well-bodied sound on bass guitars, bass drum kicks and bass-baritone vocals. Bass guitars have its weighty and sombre sound on them for every plucking on its strings while bass drum kicks have a full and thudding sound. Then on bass-baritone vocals have that guttural and well-rounded masculine voice with its heavy and dark timbre as I listen to Barry White, Andrew Eldritch and Peter Steele.
MIDRANGE:
Midrange is probably the strongest asset of
KINERA IMPERIAL URD in my opinion, it almost got a perfect score on my standard list when it comes to midrange quality. I'm also a midcentric- type of listener and I can clearly perceive those texture, detail and clarity to give a sweet and euphonic quality on female vocals, a deep, warmth and dazzling sound on male vocals and a very natural and yet depicted accurate sound on instruments.
On different types of male vocals, baritones have their lush and rich tone as I listen to Eddie Vedder and Lenny Kravitz. Countertenors have its light and gleaming quality on them especially on Andrea Scholl on Handel's Ombra Mai Fu, Robert Gift of Fine Young Cannibals and Yannis Papadopoulos of Beast in Black. And then tenor singers like Luciano Pavarotti, Robert Plant and Freddie Mercury have its ringy, brassy and clarity on how they hit their highest note. Meanwhile on female vocals, it gives that distinct smoky and husky sound from their lowest chesty register as I listened to Tracy Chapman and Annie Lennox then on mezzo-sopranos vocals like Andrea Corr and Dolores O'Riordan have those velvety, coppery with deeper and more rounder sound to captivate the ears of vocal lovers. On sopranos type of vocals, it fares better on lyrical and dramatic types to have a silky, light and silvery sound from the likes of Alison Krauss, Mariah Carey and Tarja Turunen but it on coloratura types, I feel that there are some slight inadequacies of being energetic and nspacious to deliver that atmospheric and airy voice but still Imperial Urd is still able to deliver it as it sounds quite ethereal.
On instruments,
KINERA IMPERIAL URD perhaps one of the most natural and tonally accurate sounding in some midrange sets that I ever tested. Strings like guitars have this buttery and midrangey sound from either acoustic or even electric ones while violins have a lustrous and eloquent sound of them. Brass instruments like trombones and trumpets have solid, brassy and full sound on them. Woodwinds like saxophones have this sombre, warm and sonorous sound while concert flutes have this rich and mellow sound on them. Percussive like toms have this full, sombre and dark sound, while snare drums have shuffling and hard sound. Piano tones have a warmer and rich sound that reminds me of some German antique pianos.
HIGHS/TREBLE:
It seems that
KINERA IMPERIAL URD's treble quality is on a balanced side of tuning as it is neither bright nor too dark sounding to my ears. It is actually very smooth and well-composed on the upper mids to the presence part of treble as I don't hear any peaky and edgy sound that might cause harshness or sibilance but still have a decent amount of detail.
It also has a good amount of air and sparkle as it gives a lustrous sound with sufficient sizzle quantity on cymbals and depicts the faithful sound characteristic of hi-hats with their shortened, buzzing sound.
SOUNDSTAGE, IMAGING AND OTHER TECHNICALITIES:
The overall dimensions of
IMPERIAL URD's sound/speaker stage has an impressive proportion as it has an above average to wide on width size, with excellent height ceiling and good depth on between front to rear as it gives me a moderately spacious head room within my aural sphere.
The imaging capability of
IMPERIAL URD is somewhat fair to middling in my opinion as I was only able to perceive the placement of instruments and the singer(s) in a not so precise and pinpoint manner compared to some midrangers to TOTL IEMs that I've tested and reviewed before. And its overall presentation is rather two-dimensional stereo panning but it has good separation of instruments and vocals along with a good layering aspect as each element has its own frequency and dynamic layer tone that were arranged and well-placed within its sonic canvas.
The cohesiveness of its drivers are highly satisfactory as all of its drivers perform efficiently with faster transient response, no distortion and a consistent phasing and coherency of sound output.
Resolution capabilities of this set has a solid and strong fundamentals on macro-dynamics with a decent detail retrieval on how it extracts some details and nuances from an audio track but it isn't sharp on definition to be the most resolving set out there. The timbre quality on
IMPERIAL URD is very natural with a hint of warmth on it.
PEER COMPARISONS:
AUDIOSENSE AQ7 INSIGHT:
● Like IMPERIAL URD, AQ7 INSIGHT is also a multi-driver IEM albeit without Sonion "Electrostatic"/Electret driver but it has more quantity and more premium BA drivers. It also has a high quality resin shell chassis and is almost equal to KINERA IMPERIAL URD when it comes to product packaging and quantity of inclusions. The stock cable of AQ7 is decently good but not a modular one.
● As for tonality, AQ7 INSIGHT has "reference-neutral" sound signature as it has a more tighter yet solid bass, a textured yet transparent midrange with better clarity and detail. And then, a crisper and shimmering treble with remarkable sparkling and even more airy on the brilliance part of the treble region. But its tuning might be a bothersome to some treble sensitives folks out there.
● Technical aspects of AQ7 INSIGHT are excellent. From a similar dimensions sizes of sound/speaker stage though AQ7 INSIGHT seems to have a tad wider sound/speaker staging. Better imaging as it has a more 3D-like immersive presentation and I was able to locate the exact location of instruments and vocals accurately. It has even sharper and better resolution on its detail retrieval capability too. Although AQ7 INSIGHT is prone to driver flex.
DUNU SA6 MK.II
● Unlike the KINERA IMPERIAL URD which has a hybrid driver set-up, SA6 MK.II has an all-BA driver configuration with a toggle switch for improving its bass response. Both IEMs have a high quality medical-grade resin shell chassis and they are on par on product presentation and number of inclusions.
● Tuning-wise, SA6 MK.II has two sound profiles, a balanced-neutral and mild U-shaped sound signatures. SA6 MK.II BA bass is quite impressive as it almost mimics the dynamic and solid performance but it won't be able to match a true dynamic driver that IMPERIAL URD has. Both have similar midrange quality as SA6 MK.II's is quite textured but it is more detailed, more energetic and even better clarity to give a more even lively and vibrant sound on female vocals and some instruments. While it has an analogous treble quality with the IMPERIAL URD, SA6 MK.II somehow has a more crisper and more sparkling sound on its brilliance part of the treble region.
● Technical capabilities are quite similar but on resolution capability especially on micro-detail retrieval, SA6 MK.II has more finer and sharper definition. Even imaging capability is even better on SA6 MK.II as I was able to locate the positioning of instruments and vocals in a very pinpoint manner.
As I put up my conclusion on assessing this product. It looks like
KINERA takes a different approach on devising this set for the even more competitive portable audio market. Certainly that it is unlikely the most technical performer in the midrange category but with its well-tuned, excellent sound profile and probably one of the most natural sounding IEM that I have encountered in a midrange segment.
KINERA IMPERIAL URD has its unique arsenal that can compete with some of the best midranger sets out there. But the big question is, Is it worthy that this set will be recommended to other audio enthusiasts out there? Affirmative it's a yes, if you can afford to purchase this one, I can assuredly that you will not regret buying this set as long as you have similar tuning preference as mine.
KINERA IMPERIAL URD is available to all major audio distributors but here is the link to
KINERA's official store, check it out below.
◆ KINERA IMPERIAL URD ◆
And also check out my reviews on other
KINERA products and its sister company,
CELEST.
● KINERA IDUN GOLDEN
● CELEST GUMIHO
● CELEST PANDAMON
SPECIFICATION:
MODEL: KINERA IMPERIAL URD
IMPEDANCE: 20Ω
SENSITIVITY: 107dB
FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 5Hz – 50KHz
CABLE LENGTH: 1.25M
PIN TYPE: 2-PIN CONNECTOR (0.78MM)
PLUG TYPE: (MODULAR) 3.5mm, 4.4mm, 2.5mm
DRIVER UNIT(S): (2) DYNAMIC DRIVER + (1) BALANCED ARMATURE DRIVER + (2) ELECTRET DRIVER
Some Tracks Tested: ( * = 16-bit FLAC, ** = 24-bit FLAC, *'* = MQA, '*' = DSD, *'= .WAV)
Alison Krauss -When You Say Nothing At All *
Jade Wiedlin - Blue Kiss**
Led Zeppelin - When The Levee Breaks **
Mountain - Mississippi Queen *
Queen - Killer Queen **
Guns N' Roses - Patience *'*
Eric Clapton - Tears in Heaven '*'
Sergio Mendes- Never Gonna Let You Go '*'
Pearl Jam - Daughter **
Roselia - Hidamari Rhodonite *
Assassin - Fight (To Stop The Tyranny)*
Celtic Frost- Visual Aggression *
New Order - Blue Monday *
The Corrs- What Can I do (unplugged version) *
Jimi Hendrix Experience - Voodoo Child *
The Madness- Buggy Trousers *
Metallica - Motorbreath **
Mariah Carey- Always Be My Baby *
Destiny's Child - Say My Name *
Malice Mizer- Au Revoir *
Mozart - Lacrimosa *
New York Philharmonic Orchestra - Dvorak- Symphony 9 " From the New World." *
Eva Cassidy - Fields of Gold (Sting cover)*
Michael Jackson - Give In To Me *
Exciter - Violence and Force *
Diana Krall - Stop This World **
Debbie Gibson - Foolish Beat *'*
The Sisters of Mercy – Lucretia My Reflection**
Suzanne Vega – Luka **
Lauren Christy – Steep *
P.S.
I am not affiliated to KINERA nor receive monetary incentives and financial gains as they provide me a review unit for an exchange of factual and sincere feedback from yours truly.
