The latest model from Moondrop is the Super Spaceship Reference, otherwise known as the SSR. This new $39 In-Ear Monitor (IEM) is on the lower end of the Moondrop lineup and is a step up in price and quality from their popular Spaceship model.

First off, I was sent this SSR review unit by Shenzhen Audio, who are both an online retailer and distributor of Moondrop and other audio brands. You can find this product on their retail site at http://www.shenzhenaudio.com as well as their storefronts on Amazon and Ali Express.

https://shenzhenaudio.com/collections/moondrop/products/moondrop-ssr-super-spaceship-reference-in-ear-earphone




Build & Accessories
The SSR is a tiny IEM which is made of aluminum and looks to be possibly die-casted. It also has some sort of enamel clear-coat on the outside giving it a glossy appearance and feel to it. The front of the shell has a large torx screw that may be mistaken for a vent in photos, however the vents are present but located on the ear facing side of the shell and next to the nozzle. The small appearance actually does fit very well in my ears and kind of floats in your ear making little to no contact, depending on your ear shape, and is pretty comfortable overall.
The IEM houses a single beryllium-coated dynamic driver and uses recessed 0.78mm 2-pin connectors. The cable that comes with the SSR is a silver-colored and silver-plated copper wire that winds up nicely and is surprisingly very easy to maneuver and handle, and doesn’t feel to springy and would be hard to knot up.

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Sound

The Moondrop SSR can be described as a warm diffuse-field tuned IEM, which features a mid-bass focused lower end and a typical diffuse field type tuning which peaks up to 3KHz and gradually drops down and rolls off in the upper treble range. This IEM can be described as a possible reference tuning but it does lean a tad bright and possibly shouty with it’s large rise in the upper mid-range.

The low end is quick, punchy, and very tasteful, while having enough of a bass boost to provide a warmer than neutral sound. It doesn’t stray towards the rich, thick, and gooey type sound in the bass and lower mid-range however, and I believe that is partially due to the upper mid-range rise. That said, I find that the low end is acceptable for most rock music, and has a nice bass response that falls in-line with how much bass I like. It paints a clear picture without bloat.

The mid-range is predominantly dominated by that 3K peak with vocals pushed rather forward and occasionally sharp, particular with female vocals by much more forward and slightly strained. I found this less of an issue when switching to foam tips, as those typically tame some sharpness in my experience and seems to work here as well.

When I listen to Chris Stapleton, who’s deep gritty voice is backed by his roots-style americana rock, I find his voice sounds well defined and with enough power to sound accurate to my ears. Guitars plucks do come across a tad forward perhaps, but nothing that I’d consider fatiguing or sharp.

Treble on the SSR is actually balanced and generally smooth, however still rises a little higher than I prefer, especially in the lower treble range. Some may find the 3K rise to be fatiguing due to shoutiness or being overly sensitive in that area, with singers like Alison Krauss and Lauren Mayberry as prime examples of female vocals sounding a bit too overly bright.

Chromeo’s funky-dance songs are examples of music that can become fatiguing. They beats feature a lot of high-hat-type hits and snares that can seem a little too extreme for my ears. The bass lines do sound nice and clean, with punch, and the accentuated focus on the lower treble does make this song a little more exciting. The bass isn’t as powerful in the slam factor as songs like “Must’ve Been” deserves though.

My impressions on some of its more technical aspects are actually very positive for this $39 price tag. Like I mentioned before, the punchy and quick bass doesn’t seem to have any issues with muddiness and offers a clean bass representation that has some weight to it. The mid-range does steer towards the upper range however vocals and instruments do come in with good representation and clarity for this price point.

Imaging is at least better than average to excellent in this price point and is one of the better imaging IEMs I’ve heard under $100. This probably helped by the SSR having a decent soundstage and some depth. I was able to pick out instruments across the soundscape that wasn’t just in my head and instrument separation is actually a strong suit for this IEM even when I threw on songs with buzzing guitars and a lot of noise, like Sonic Youth’s Sonic Nurse record.


Comparisons

So where do I put this in the Moondrop Lineup? Without ever hearing the Crescent and Starfield, it’s a little hard to really compare it against the closest in it’s price range outside the ultra-budget Spaceship. In that case, the Spaceship is clearly outdone by the SSR and this marks a similar but improvement upon the $20 Spaceship. While the general tonality is similar, the SSR has a more balanced sound to it with less muddy midrange and improved fit makes getting seal a lot better. The technical capability is much improved with the change to the Be-coated driver and the new housing design.

I think the SSR is still a step or two below the KXXS and Kanas Pro though. Those two IEMs have a much easier to appreciate tonality that will cover most genres and individual preferences more so than the brighter tuned SSR. In addition, I think the shell design is better with an overall better package.

That said though, when comparing this IEM to it’s peers, I find this to fall somewhere in-between the V-shaped BLON BL03 and the diffuse-field targeted Tin T2. The SSR has a little bit warmer and punchier bass signature than the T2 but doesn’t get to the occasional muddy and elevated nature of the BL03. The SSR actually may be brighter than the T2 and the BLON however, but doesn’t have sibilance issues that I find occasionally present in the T2 and BL03, as it’s treble is tamed down a bit in the areas that I find most sensitive to sibilant consonant sounds.

Wrap-Up
In general, this SSR is a nice addition to Moondrop’s lineup and also a nice addition to the budget-tier IEM market. It has its own unique flavor that I don’t think any IEM in this price range currently has, in that it’s a punchier and warmer T2, which is still quite unique at this price range, even today, a few years after its initial release.

The biggest knock against it is that it does have a large emphasis in the upper mid-range and lower treble that may not appeal to some, and that’s a legitimate thing to be wary about, and it doesn’t necessarily extend that well down to sub-bass and upper treble range, but it works decently for most music.

Finally, I think the SSR is definitely well priced and can compete against others, with consideration for each individual’s personal preferences and tastes. Either way, it’s a nice little package that fits well, has a unique design and good build, and really comes ready to use.

The BQEYZ Spring 2 is a follow-up to the Spring 1, which I unfortunately have not heard before and so I won't be able to make any comparisons to the original set. That said, this IEM comes in at a price of $169 and features three driver technologies: a 13mm dynamic driver, a balanced armature driver, and a 9 layer piezoelectric driver.

This unit was provided to me by HifiGo store for review. If you are interested in this set, you can find this on their online store at https://hifigo.com/products/bqeyz-spring-2-new-tri-brid-in-ear-monitor-iems-earphone

Accessories + Build
The Spring 2 comes in two color variants: Black with red accents, and Green with silver accents. The unit I received was the green colorway. The IEM shell is a CNC machined aluminum and is a bit thicker than other IEMs I've used, however does not feel heavy while being worn. It does feel well made though.

This set also comes with a choice of 3 cable terminations: standard 3.5mm and balanced 2.5mm and 4.4mm options. The cable itself is a 4-strand copper cable that is also copper colored and braided nicely. It doesn't have any issues with being sticky or tangled and is light enough to be comfortable for use over long periods of time or with movement. The connectors and splitters are all light-weight machined aluminum and terminate in 2-pin connectors.




One interesting thing to mention here is that the shell has 3 individual vent holes in it, which is something I do not see too often. Normally there is one or two that are on either side of the shell, but in this case there are three that sit near each other on the ear side. The first one is towards the bottom transition between the nozzle and the body, while the other two are adjacent to each other on the main face.

The thicker shell design along with the nozzle type does make it a bit challenging for me personally to wear. It's by no means uncomfortable or causes any discomforting pain or anything, but I found it troubling to get a good seal and to get it to stay in.
Sound Impressions
The Spring 2 is generally balanced in its sound signature. It has a warm bass response, slightly shouty mid-range and a treble peak that can sometimes become audible but not too over-bearing. In my first listen, it reminded me of how the recent Tin T2 Plus sounds, and then measuring shows some similar trends as well.



That's not to say they sound exactly the same, but they do have a similar sound style. The Spring 2, like the T2 Plus, can some a little compressed. I'd say that it may even be more compressed sounding in some songs, where I feel like the midrange is little squeezed away, and both the soundstage and the resolution feel compromised.

It's not always like that however, and over-time my mind can adjust to it and the Spring 2 does have a relaxing enough sound signature that I can listen to it for hours at a time, which I did just prior to writing this review.

I threw at it several albums ranging from Tingvall Trio (Jazz), First Aid Kit (indie folk), Singles soundtrack (90's grunge rock), Sondre Lerche (singer-songwriter), and some good ol' Fleetwood Mac (rock). The Spring 2 sounded alright in each genre and each case.

For the Tingvall Trio selections, I felt like the Spring lacked a little bit of power in the bass guitar in these tracks, which can really drive these songs, and the cymbals and snare drums sounded dull and a bit lacking. This generally makes these songs by the Trio sound lacking a bit of energy.

For the more simple tracks from First Aid Kit and Sondre Lerche, I found the Spring 2 to be just fine. The emphasis in the upper mid-range does work well with the duo vocals of First Aid Kit and put Sondre Lerche's voice and guitar forward in his minimal tracks. I did get a sense of a bit of lower resolution with the Spring 2 on these songs however, and again this could be related to the compressed overall sound that I hear. This is something that I felt was below par even for something of this price range, and it felt more like an offering under $100 with the new wave of products that are out now.

My standard rock affairs sounded just fine with the Spring 2 however. Despite some of the cymbal and snare hits lacking full energy, I can live with it in busier rock songs where there's more things to pay attention to than single instruments. The Spring 2's warmer tonality works well here, and I think fits rock music well.



Wrap-Up

The Spring 2 gives me a bit of mixed-feelings. While I like the green pastel metal shell, and the included cable quite a bit, I had trouble getting good fit and good seal with these. That may have contributed partly to my sound impressions, which also were a bit lacking, at least for the price point. At $169, my reference points are the selections from Moondrop and Etymotic, and this IEM trails behind in both technical performance and general tonality, at least to my preferences.

It's not offensive by any means, it's just a tad boring and lacking something special to make it stand out.

The Empire Ears Valkyrie is one of the newer IEM models from the company's X-Series of monitors. The Valkyrie is $1599 and is a tri-brid, 3-driver setup with a dynamic driver woofer, a balanced amature, and a Sonion Electrostatic Tweeter (EST) driver. This along with the Wraith are two of the tribrid IEMs that Empire Ears released in 2019.

I joined a Head-Fi tour of the Empire Ears Wraith and Valkyrie and being the last one of the tour, as of writing this, I was quickly sent these two units. I’d like to thank Empire Ears and Barra from Head-Fi for allowing me a chance to try these out.


Accessories & Build/Fit
The Valkyrie comes with in an average sized box with very cool drawer compartments much like the Sony IER-Z1R but on a smaller scale. It comes with a metal carrying case, a nicely braided Effect Audio Eros II cable, and a set of Final Type E tips and cleaning tools. I found the cable to be nicely made and looks attractive, however I did not like how springy it is which makes it a little hard to maneuver and hold in place.

The Wraith and Valkyrie differ a bit in design and size. The Valkyrie has a thinner shell which is a little lighter and easier to wear. It also has a spectacular green/blue/red shell that glows in different lighting, much like oil's rainbow refraction glow in sunlight. My photos in this review do not do it justice. In comparison, the Wraith looks rather boring and bland.



For the review I opted to use my own 4.4mm and 2.5mm balanced cables to make use of my various sources. For the sources, I used a mixed bag of digital audio players and desktop gear. The following are the combinations of gears I tested with:

• Astell & Kern Kann Cube
• Sony NW-ZX507
• Astell & Kern SR25
• Samsung Galaxy S10e
• iFi Zen Dac + F. Audio AM01
• Schiit Bifrost 2 + Schiit Jotunheim

Sound Impressions
The Valkyrie is undoubtedly a V-Shaped IEM with powerful bass and elevated treble. There is no denying that at all. But can I change my perception of V-shaped IEMs? That's hard to say. Most of the time, I can't stand this sound signature because typically the bass is overbearing to the point that it becomes muddy and bloated, and then the treble has such a large rise that it becomes overly shrill and sibilant.

In the case of the Valkyrie, I find the bass to sound really nice to be honest, but the treble is just beyond my breaking point in many types of music I enjoy.



When I first put these things on and strapped on some EDM music, my first initial reaction was, wow I feel like I am at a rave again, something I haven't personally gone to in at least 6 years. Boombastic bass and shrilly treble that made my ears want to bleed. But it's kind of fun too, like a guilty pleasure in some ways.

But, I took them off. And then I tried them on again, with different music. This time some indie rock and bluegrass -- my staple of Civil Wars, Chvrches and Alison Krauss. Chvrches' music had great thundering bass, but with so much emphasis in upper frequencies on their songs, I was a little fatigued right off the bat. With Alison Krauss and Civil Wars, I had a very forward sense due to the amount of string instruments and female vocals at play. Unfortunately with these types of music, I find that the female singers do sound a bit too shrill and too unnaturally bright.

So I removed them from my ears again. Disappointed and wanting to write them off again.

And then I decided, let's try rock music. Playing "Rooster" by Alice n Chains, I found that the V-shaped signature does wonders here with emphasis on the low end bass and metal guitars. Playing Radiohead however was a slightly more mixed bag, since again, I found the treble region to be just a tad too much, and was left with more fatigue.

I took a day off from the Valkyrie. And then slapped them on with rap music. I flipped my Sony ZX507 to Common's Be record, and instantly enjoyed this from start to finish with the Valkyrie. There's not a lot of upper range on this album except the occasional distorted female vocals like in "Testify" or the harmonics of drums, but for the most part, this album plays it simple and with the elevated low end and pinna gain, I actually found this to be a winning combination.

I can't say this is necessarily true for all rap music though, as I do find some bands like The Roots with ?uestlove's drumming to sound a little harsh, but in general, I do find it does well with rap and hip hop music for my taste, and also for the most part electronic dance music, as long as it's recorded pretty well.





Wrap-Up
I really didn't go into a very thoughtful and concise description of my sound impressions on this review as I typically do, but that's because my experience with the Valkyrie is just that way, not typical. I don't know if I really like it -- actually I know I don't really like it, at least not enough for me to purchase it myself, but I definitely see the appeal of this set. It has a fun sound. It's a guilty pleasure, and it has technical chops to carry a sound signature I usually think of Beats or something first.

But the Valkyrie please it well, and there's no bass bloat and no muddy sound for the most part. At least not to the level of my typical expectations of a V-Shaped sound signature. It doesn't do every genre right, and in fact, I can't stand it for most of my normal everyday music, but it does take me back to a younger self where my music tastes were more aligned with stuff that suit this IEM more so than my current everyday listening.

Take these impressions as however you like. I think it's a very pretty and stunning IEM, with a sound signature that isn't for everyone, including myself, but I definitely can see people enjoying this one. For me, I need to the try the Legend X for a guilty pleasure IEM (i.e. bass but less treble).

The T2 Plus is another new in-ear monitor (IEM) from Tin Hifi, and is part of their popular T2 family, although this one doesn’t really fit with the T2 and the T2 Pro. This is because it doesn’t look like the other two, nor does it have the double dynamic driver configuration either. Instead, the similarly priced $49 T2 Plus features a heavier round metal shell that is very reminiscent of the BLON BL03 and features a single 10mm dynamic driver.

The Tin T2 Plus was sent from Linsoul for this review. It is currently available on their website at http://www.linsoul.com and is priced at $59 USD, which makes it just above the $49 T2 and equal to the $59 T2 Pro. For comparison’s sake, the Tin T3 is $69 and Tin T4 is $109, at regular retail pricing.

The T2 Plus comes with a series of tips and a braided silver cable. The cable is lightweight and generally easy to handle. The connector and y-split and a nice silver aluminum metal that is not too weighty. The connectors are of the mmcx variety and something that Tin Hifi has continued to use. There is no case included with this model and that luxury only comes with their higher priced T4 and P1 models.

The new shell design has some heft to it, but it’s still very comfortable to wear. As mentioned above, it does remind me a bit of the BLON BL03 shell but with a metallic powder-coat finish. There are two small vent holes for controlling the dynamic driver bass. These are located at the bottom of the shell, and one placed just next to the nozzle of each shell.



Sound Impressions
If you remove the Tin TWS 2000 thing out of the equation, the T2 Plus is the warmest and bassiest of the Tin Hifi lineup. It’s got a more substantial rise in across the bass and lower mid-range than the T4, which has a punch mid-bass boost. There is a sharp rise at 1-2KHz that and a slightly uneven and brighter tonality in the treble, however not straying as bright and shrill as the Tin T2 Pro. In general, I found the T2 Plus to be a warm-bodied V-shape type sound signature that doesn’t totally come across as one.

My biggest fault with the Tin T2 Plus isn’t the warm bass response. It’s actually generally pleasant. It’s different than their other products, which adds a different flavor to their lineup. The original tuning, pre-production, had a more typical linear bass response, but this one beefs up the bass with a 6 to 7 dB shelf that starts right around 700Hz and rises through the sub-bass region with a small roll-off. I never found this actually too muddy despite the sharp rise. And while it does measure with an elevated sub-bass rise, I don’t know if I’d totally say it has the slam and rumble that I’d have expected. It does, however, provide a thicker and warmer sound than any other Tin product and that’s something that some will definitely welcome.

The mid-range can be a bit shouty at times, but mostly I don’t find this area too distracting. The graph looks worse than in practice here. My main problem lies more so in the treble region, where there’s always a sense of ringing and splash that comes across when listening to music with sharper treble instruments. Cymbals can sound overly splashy, with a ringing that can border on piercing. When I watched various YouTube videos, some that may not be recorded too well, they come across with sharp pain.

And while this isn’t always an issue with better recorded sound, there’s always a feeling that my ear needs to take a break after short sessions with the T2 Plus in my ears. I believe the sharp peark around 5-6K is the main driver for this fatiguing ringing sensation I get sometimes.

Music
An example of this sensation comes each time the tambourine is hit in Mazzy Star’s Fade into You. Of course, this event occurs throughout the song in a rhythmic fashion and that tizzy becomes more acceptable and normal after some time, but I just know if I pull my earphones out, my ears will ring.

Aside from that quirk, the bassline in this song comes across with just the right amount of power and Hope Sandoval’s quiet, muted voice comes alive with the more forward upper mid-range that the Tin T2 Plus brings to the table, and overall makes this song quite enjoyable, though fatiguing.

Switching gears, Depeche Mode’s Strangelove sounds a bit too bright for my tastes. David Gahan’s voice doesn’t sound as powerful and deep as I’m accustomed to when I listen to this song on other headphones where his voice takes over. Instead, the synths and snare drums hits seem to be too much of the focus, and sound a bit too over the top and bright. One thing to add is that I do feel that the bass hits feel a little too fast and blunted, and doesn’t have the hanging decay notes that really make this song have the low-end power it needs.

I think the T2 Plus really shines in Buena Vista Social Club’s Veinte años. This Cuban bolero track features heavy use of acoustic bass and guitars which are given full center-stage presence on the T2 Plus. While the vocals are ever present, I find that the stringed harmonics are pushed to the front and provides the listener with every little detail in full clarity.

While that acoustic track sounded very good, I found the opposite reaction in Alison Krauss & Union Station’s Restless, a track off their 2003 record, Lonely Runs Both Ways. This has become on of my main test tracks as of late, so I’ve had quite a lot of familiarity with it across many, many devices and gears and I find the T2 Plus seems to give me the me the impression that this is playing the pitch higher than it should, maybe by half an octave. This could be due to the fact that much of the song has stringed instruments and Krauss’ famous angelic voice all fall into the upper midrange where the Tin T2 Plus has quite a steep rise. The song sounds leaner than expected, with much of the warm intro missing and everything sounding a bit light.




Overall

I find the Tin T2 Plus is a nice addition to the Tin Hifi lineup. It adds a warmer flavor to their existing roster, however it still maintains the brighter-than-neutral sound signature that has made their lineup popular. With that said, I don’t think I’d take this over the Tin T4 or Tin T3, and perhaps even the Tin T2, but it’s definitely a marked improvement over the Tin T2 Pro. For those who find the other iems are a bit bass light but can handle the brighter sound signature, I think the Tin T2 Plus may be the one for you.

Unique Melody’s brand name has always been what I’d call appropriate. They’ve always never been shy of thinking well outside the box and coming up with very unique in-ear monitor ideas, from crazy design choices, to using unique drivers, such as the planar driver in the ME1, which I own, and to using additive manufacturing to produce a crazy web of titanium for a custom IEM shell.

UM’s latest model, the MEST, is yet another product that shows they aren’t afraid of trying something fresh and new. This IEM is features 4 separate driver technologies in a single unit. The IEM includes a single dynamic driver, 4 balance armatures, 2 electrostatic tweeters, and a bone conductor driver. Yes, I am not making that up. They added bone conduction to this foray.

Let me just quickly thank Unique Melody themselves for allowing me to participate in this MEST tour. I was able to listen to this IEM for a week’s time before shipping it to the next user on the Head-Fi Loaner tour.

Now back to this interesting setup. I’ve only tried a few bone conducting earphones in the past with my experience primarily around the Aftershokz. This popular bone conducting earphone seems to be pretty popular with the bicycle commuter crowd, as everyone I’ve met that owns them is bicyclist of some sort. They earphones themselves do work, and whatever voodoo it does actually produces music in my head, and that’s pretty rad. They aren’t really great for audiophiles though, as you do lose quite a bit of resolution and some technical performance, and my experience equates them to somewhat mediocre to poor audio performance, but it still produces music that is listenable and not terrible.

I was most interested in how UM was going to implement this driver, while at the same time pack in the others as well. The EST drivers for example, have been rather poorly used in most all IEMs that have featured them outside of a few very niche products that cost well over $3K USD (The Vision Ears Elysium and Elysian Audio Annihilator). What surprised me while reading the promotion pieces on the bone conductor driver was that UM targets this driver to handle the upper mid-range and lower treble duties, which wasn’t at all what I was expecting. But remembering how Aftershokz sound, it does make some sense.




Accessories

Before I get too deep into the whole sound thing, I do want to quickly mention the package the UM MEST comes with. The small package box was a lot smaller than my previous UM IEM packaging, which was a large wooden box – this time Unique Melody ships in a smaller cardboard box that’s sleek and elegant. Inside, the IEM comes with a leather blue and black zippered case that looks quite attractive and neatly has the UM branding on it, though looks far from distasteful. Included is a braided cable that does feel a little thick, but I didn’t find it too heavy in actual usage. The cable is terminated in 2.5mm balanced, but also came with 4.4mm and 3.5mm attachments, which may be exclusive for this tour unit. I believe users will get to choose the termination of their choice if ordered.




Sound

When I first popped on the Unique Melody MEST, my first thoughts were that it sounded slightly W-shaped with a raised low end and some sort of peak in the lower treble, although it sounded semi-neutral, but colored in some ways. Generally, I found the signature unique, and fits somewhere between a balanced U-shape and a more fun V-shaped sound.

One thing to point out is that I found the MEST to be highly tip dependent on first tests. With certain tips, perhaps something to do with seal, I found that the MEST was very bright and lacked low end bass, while with other tips, the bass can actually be rather overwhelming.

After listening to it for a few days now, I think the MEST to be a unique yet very fun and well-resolving IEM. It’s hard to really pin point exactly how it truly sounds because it sounds very unique.



The bass has a lot of textures, though can come off sometimes smeared and overdone. It’s definitely more elevated, but focuses on subbass lift, with a bass curve that is quite similar to 64 Audio’s U12t in both measurements and in actual listening. When I listened to various songs, say GoGo Penguin’s Version 2.0’s record, I can find the double bass guitar’s power to be a tad overbearing and drowning out some of the other parts of the song at times on the U12t and at times on the MEST. That said the MEST has a nice bass line with good slammy nature and impact that I sometimes do miss when using multi-BA sets.

The resolution of the MEST is actually fantastic. I am surprised at how much details come out of songs and perhaps the lift at 6KHz brings out a bit more of the harmonics in certain instruments in specific tracks, but I always feel like I am hearing more things that I normally would in most IEMs, outside of my very best. I think it can compete in the realms of the best I’ve tried, as I’ve been playing it side by side with the qdc Anole VX this week and I think it can trade blows well, while to me, sounding a little more accurate at the same time.

Another thing I found nice and perhaps strange is the imaging and the soundstage. There were many times where I felt like the MEST was intimate and closed-in with instruments feeling very forward, yet the imaging and separation didn’t feel lacking at all. In my typical bluegrass tunes, I was able to hear each instrument across a small band across my head with no problem despite feeling less wide AT TIMES. Then some other instrument, say a drum will hit, and it’ll feel like it’s totally coming from the farthest part of my left ear, and I’m left puzzled. Is this IEM closed-in and intimate, or does it have good width? It’s weird, but I enjoy this game.

In similar vein, depending on the music genre and what instruments are playing, I found depth to vary just as much as width. This all goes back to an interesting experience listening to the MEST and really makes the presentation of songs I am familiar with stand out in almost a different light, and it’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Perhaps this is another one of those holographic soundstage types – the kind of staging and imaging that I felt when I listened to the Campfire Solaris, with music coming in more of a half-spherical illusion in front of you, rather than one that is just left to right and forward and back. One song where I find this quite noticeable is Tingvall Trio’s Vulkanen, a nu-jazz treat where at the beginning the piano sounds like its coming in your head, but the drums and cymbals are off to either side of you, while the bow’d strings are doing their thing straight in front of you, so much that I thought it was coming out of my speakers at first.

Where I do find the MEST may affect some, and may not others, is how it approaches the upper-mid range and the lower treble regions. The upper mid-range has a nice rise, but then it plateaus just prior to another sharp rise up in the lower treble range which makes some of that exciting detail come forward, and is typical of a V-Shape-style sound signature. I think the treble rise hovers at the warning track, where just a little more could be rather fatiguing and potentially could cause people ringing and maybe sibilance depending on sensitivity. For me, I find this rise just below my threshold. I never found it sibilant nor too harsh. I think it does accentuate certain things a bit more than they should, though not to the point where I find timbre to be totally off either. I think UM strikes a nice balance here.




Final Thoughts

Listening to so many different genres, I feel like the MEST works pretty well as an all-arounder IEM. Just remember that the IEM itself isn’t what I would call neutral, it has got its own flavor with an emphasis in the lower treble region, as well as a bass lift. That said, it’s got some addictiveness to it that I was a bit shocked to really enjoy.

While I don’t know how much the bone conduction driver actually contributes to the overall sound, if any, at least in a universal form-factor, I still think the mid-range is really solid and this is a good overall IEM that I am now happy to recommend at least trying out. It has some qualities that make it look like a solid deal to a bargain at it’s asking price of $1399, since its resolution is very good, it’s got excellent imaging and one of the rare multi-driver IEM setups that I don’t find has any major flaws.

The BLON is back and now its latest model is the BL-05, which had some feedback during it’s development process by some notable IEM reviewers on the internet. For whatever reason, it seems like the people who provided feedback thus far have been a bit disappointed by the final product, and while I was not involved in early prototypes, I am not totally disappointed in it, though I am also annoyed by the BLON BL-05 as well. Let’s talk about why.

First off, the unit was sent to me by Linsoul once again. The IEM comes in at $43 USD which is puts it in the cheaper IEM market. The product can be found on Linsoul’s site here: https://www.linsoul.com/products/blon-bl05

The BL03 came out last year with a lot of buzz around it. It was very affordable at under $40, had a nice aluminum shell, and a generally pleasing sound signature that weighed a bit on bass, but with a good upper mid-range and treble signature that made it tonally correct, albeit with lack of resolution and muddiness on the lower end. The fit wasn’t the best either, nor was the product’s unit-by-unit variation.



Design & Accessories

The BL05 takes on a similar all-metal shell design though with a new look and a much better fit for my ears. The design and color choices look rather tacky and not something I would have chosen for my own color palette. The oval shaped shell of the unit I received is chrome, with a raised tennis-racquet looking section that is painted gold with the branding put on it. The choice of chrome and gold leaves a lot to be desired. The alternative colorway is a shiny black and gold, which isn’t really that appealing to me either.

The included cable is the same janky and tangle-nightmare that came with the BL03. It’s really something that should be upgraded immediately to save you some troubles with it later. The connectors are 2-pin, however BLON decided to make the 2-pin connector raised from the shell, similar to how a C-Pin style 2-pin looks (that qdc and Unique Melody uses), but don’t be fooled. Those cables won’t work. Instead, if you want to use most third-party cables, you have to use a normal 2-pin connector, which may make the fit and finish look off, since most normal 2-pin connectors can’t fit over the raised connector.

Sound

In terms of sound, my biggest complaint with the BL-03 was the big bass bump, which caused it to sound muddy and really low-resolution, though not terrible for its price-point. The BL-05 tackles this by reducing the shelf down a bit, and actually makes the bass a bit more controlled and less bloated. Resolution is still a big issue. For the most part, I found in my listening experience that the low end had the right amount of weight and impact, but lacked any texture and resolution.



Where this was most apparent was in many alternative rock songs I listened to, where texturing seemed lacking. Music from Sonic Youth, or Radiohead or Pearl Jam missed some of the finer bass and guitar moments.

The mid-range has a good balance of body and decent balance of male to female vocals, with a slight shift towards the upper mid-range, as the BL05 has a shoutier tonality to it. The biggest challenge for me, however, wasn’t necessarily the shoutiness, but it was some upper treble ringing. I listened to a bit of bluegrass music as well as my usual mix of jazz and post-rock and even at my typical lower listening volumes, I found my ears ringing heavily after taking the BL05 off. There’s something going on in the treble region and harmonics ringing in my ears.

I did notice that higher-pitched singers like Alison Krauss or, even worse, Liz Fraser, sounded a tad bright, and fatiguing, and the fact that bluegrass music has heavy stringed instruments with twangy harmonics makes the BL05 a rather challenging listen.



In music that had less of that, I was left decently impressed with the BLON BL05’s general sound signature and cleaner sound over its predecessor. I still find that there’s just something slightly off on it and that I can’t enjoy it for the music I want to listen to. It’s still a decent purchase, however, just be aware that there’s some upper treble energy that may get you.

The Dawn in-ear monitor (IEM) from Fearless Audio is a collaboration effort between the Chinese audio company and famous IEM reviewer, Crinacle. Some may know Crinacle from his extensive measurement database that originally was started on head-fi.org and later became In-Ear Fidelity at http://www.crinacle.com. He has a large enthusiast following, and the measurement database is well-used and well-liked by the community, including myself.

A few months back, he was offered a chance to work on the tuning of a new IEM project with Fearless Audio, which use their own tuning system called Y2K. This system is explained in more detail on Crinacle’s blog post at https://crinacle.com/2020/03/23/behind-the-scenes-tuning-the-fearless-x-crinacle-dawn. The gist of it is that the tuner turns a set of dials on this system which changes cross-over positions of known driver setups. The final tuning configuration can then be used to create a customized in-ear monitor for that user. In this case, the personal tuning configuration that Crinacle chose is going to be produced and sold on Linsoul.com at $1399 USD starting now.


Disclaimer: This is a North American tour unit, which I was lucky enough to be the 1st on the tour. Thanks to Crinacle and Lillian of Linsoul for giving me the opportunity to be the first reviewer of this IEM.

Design

Dawn comes in a black shell with gold flakes and a simple text logo, “Crinacle,” on one side. The design is flashy, yet elegant and stunning at the same time. The design fits my ears pretty well, with only minor discomfort after a long period of use. It’s not as comfortable as the qdc Anole VX, but comfortable enough to wear for long periods of time for most people, I’d imagine.

The shell uses recessed 2-pin connectors, which is common in-case you want to change out the cables. I mention this, because the cable is extremely heavy. It’s a great looking cable, however. The cable is made with an appealing gray-colored braided design, with beautiful connectors and splitter. The only bad part is that these connectors and the splitter are made of a chunk of metal, which weighs the cable down significantly, and that can cause some issues wearing it over a period of time. After a couple days of using the packaged cable, I opted to switch out to a different cable that was lighter-weight and also of the 4.4mm pentaconn balanced variety to use with my Sony Digital Audio Player.

Beneath the exterior of the shell are 6 balanced armature (BA) drivers and 2 electrostatic tweeter (EST) drivers. What is interesting about this driver selection is that this wasn’t the intended driver configuration when this project started with Fearless and Crinacle. The Y2K system was designed around an all-BA setup, and so this ended up becoming a slightly custom iteration of the original driver configuration.



Sound

So -- the question that’s been on a lot of people in the portable audio community’s minds. How does it sound?
Well for me, it sounds pretty good. Tonality-wise, it’s solid. Very solid. Crinacle fiddled some switches and came up with a sound signature that is similar to a treble-tamed Harman In-Ear Target curve, which gives this a very listenable and balanced presentation that should appeal to many people and will work across multiple genres of music.



The low-end has a boost that begins around 200Hz, although the mid-range is down-sloped until about 900Hz. Although this boost does bring up the measured frequency response up towards Sony IER-Z1R and 64 Audio U12t levels of bass gain, I don’t find it as impactful, sustained, or slammy (is that a word?) as the aforementioned IEMs. The Dawn has a quick and articulate bass response, more commonly found in balanced armature drivers (because that’s what it uses), and has less of a natural decay level than that of the other two. The U12t, for example, has more rumble and a deeper perceived sub-bass extension, despite also being a multi-BA setup.

This doesn’t necessarily mean the Dawn is bad though. I find that it still has good resolution in the bass region, and hits when needed. I think I came in expecting it to hit harder, like how the IER-Z1R was, but it doesn’t and that’s not necessarily a bad thing for my personal tastes.

My initial impressions of the lower mid-range mentioned that it was a little thin. I don’t know if I totally agree with those initial thoughts anymore, especially after changing the ear tips out to the Crinacle-recommended Azla Sedna tips, and in my case, the Sedna-Light tips. These do run slightly larger than expected, so you may want to consider getting them a half-size smaller than you normally would. I think the thick walls and stiffness play a role in how they fit and conform.

That aside, the lower-midrange seems to have been improved in terms of having a richer and warmer sound to it, which I didn’t feel before. Some of the complaints centered around male vocals, and maybe it was due to getting good seal or the wall thickness of the tips, but now I find that male vocals, particular some country-type songs I enjoy from say, Chris Stapleton and Jason Isbell or Orville Peck, have a bit more power behind them. The same can be said about the instrumentation that feels more engaging.

The upper-midrange does start to rise early and some may find it a little shouty. In my listening, I never found that to be a problem – I am also used to listening to IEMs that have similar early rises like the Anole VX, which begins even earlier, and other IEMs like the Viento, I recently reviewed, Etymotic, and even the aforementioned U12t. Female vocals are well-in-line with male vocals in terms of forwardness, though higher ranged voices may sound a bit more prominent due to the lower treble gain and extension.

Going back to the beginning again, I found the tonality of the Dawn to be nearly spot-on and should cast a wide net of users. I do think that some of the technical abilities of the set are lacking slightly compared to some other flagship-level IEMs – whether that be the lack of natural decay occasionally, or somewhat flatter dynamics. It’s not going to be widely noticeable if you are coming from lower-end gear, but when you go and compare these side-by-side with other IEMs, it does become a little more apparent.

Soundstage is wider than what I’d call intimate with just above average width, but not necessarily large depth. I found transient response to be fast and agile, which gives these a good amount of resolution and it’s comparable to many other others I’ve listened to before.




Music

Tool – Fear Inoculum
The initial ringing in this sound has a lot of zing to it and can be a considered a little sharp, although exciting. The panning cello-like bass guitar produces a good amount of rumble and the slam of each kick drum has some weight to it. Imaging is laid across more up front than scattered within deep layers as I may hear on the Anole VX, but there is a good amount of resolution that comes across at the end of each panning motion – with the barely audible noises off the sides quickly entering the scene and leaving. Drums are hit with decent authority and sound crisp and fast. Maynard Keenan’s voice sounds accurate and smooth. The entire song sounds very well structured with this IEM, although lacking some layering and perhaps too aggressive sounding.

Civil Wars – Poison & Wine
This duet has a well-controlled bass line that doesn’t necessarily sustain as long I like, but it has a good amount of “feels” to it. The vocals of Joy Williams and John Paul White are both accurate and perhaps a tad shouty at times. The details in their voices are put together very well on this IEM with distinguishing sounds made apparent. My only critique of this song using this IEM is that there isn’t enough depth and everything is presented very forward.

Olafur Arnalds & Nils Frahm – 21:05
This live improv track between these two musical geniuses has a lot of background noise and clicks and clacks from being recorded in open-air live. These little details do come across well on the Dawn. The piano sounds natural, though perhaps a tad bright, and a little forward. I believe this is Nils Frahm’s specific portion of the song, sounding a bit more forward than what I’ve heard on other headphones and IEMs, but still sounds really good. Separation of all the various background sounds and the two pianos is not a problem either in this simpler piano duet.

Tegan & Sara – Boyfriend
This is one of the songs that has a lot of sibilant sounds in it and is also very compressed in sound. But I still like the band despite their bad recording techniques. Despite having a slightly elevated treble response, I don’t have any issues with listening to this song, as I did on the Hidition Viento-R Universal and the qdc Anole VX. The U12t handled this song the best of the 4, but it also sounds the most muted in terms of treble response. The Dawn doesn’t have any sibilance or any strange artifacts, and does handle the overall song well. It’s not a song that displays a lot of technical areas but is one that I use to check for how it handles modern pop songs.

Comparisons


64 Audio U12t
The U12t is an IEM that I feel this will be heavily compared to since they are both multi-BA IEMs, although the Dawn does have 2 EST drivers as well. They also share very similar shapes and sound signature. The U12t is $600 USD more than the Dawn however. Both come with a variety of accessories, however the U12t does come with modules that can affect tuning which is handy to change out sound flavors.
I found the U12t to have better presence and subbass impact and texturing with a more natural decay. Both have similar mid-range qualities, however the U12t comes across much smoother and perhaps darker compared to the Dawn in the treble region. I find that this makes the Dawn have a little more air and excitement to its sound. Resolution-wise, I think they are on-par with each other, as well as soundstage and what not. I think the U12t has a more overall laid-back soft tuning.



qdc Anole VX
The Anole VX is a 10-driver, all-BA IEM from qdc and comes with 3 switches to provide 8 tuning profiles in total. This gives the VX a lot of subtle flavor changes to choose from, however its most popular and my personal favorite tuning is the original default one, which is a U-shaped signature that doesn’t differ a lot from both the U12t and the Dawn. The Dawn has, in my mind, a better even and balanced tonality, with no major peaks or valleys and a generally smooth sound. The VX does have a bit of a dip in the lower treble, and then a rise between 7-9KHz that can be a bit harsh depending on the music you’re listening to and the volume you listen at. It can also cause a bit of an artificial sound that some may dislike. While the Dawn does not have these noticeable issues, I found it does lack some of the decay and layering and depth that the VX possesses more of. The qdc Anole VX is also one of the best fitting IEMs I’ve ever tried and one of the big reasons I really like it a lot.



Hidition Viento
The Hidition Viento and Dawn are a bit further apart in sound style. The Viento is more of a Diffuse Field tuning where the bass to mid-range is generally more flat and less weighted, with general note weight being much lighter than the Dawn. I find the Viento’s soundstage to sound grander and imaging and coherency a step above, though I find it above most IEMs I’ve tried. The Dawn will have a warmer and richer presentation with a boosted lower bass region, and more extended treble. Just like the U12t and VX, I find the Dawn a better suited IEM for rock, modern pop and electronic dance music, while the more acoustical-type music like classical, jazz and folk/country-type music will perform better on Viento, for my preferences.




Overall

I do want to reiterate, that I really enjoy the sound signature a lot. It’s well-balanced and I think many people will enjoy it. The Dawn comes in a beautiful package full of goodies, and a stunning design. The cable is a bit heavy and some may want to look at alternatives.

In terms of general sound, it is on par or maybe a small step down technically-savvy-wise as some IEMs above or at it’s price point, but it does provide above average qualities all-around and should be an easy one to pick up and enjoy. I do prefer the dynamics to be a bit better, and imaging to be it's biggest weaknesses.

Tuning is one of the most important parts of enjoying music, and the other stuff are important for those who really want to discern and critically listen to everything, and in practical listening, this IEM is going to get you most of the way there anyway.

The Dunu Luna is an all-new in-ear monitor which features Dunu’s latest driver: a 10mm beryllium foil dynamic driver with a polyurethane suspension that allows for cleaner and more controlled pistonic driver movement. The Luna retails at $1699, putting it at the top of Dunu’s current lineup, well establishing it as their product flagship.

The Dunu Luna was provided to me by Tom of Dunu as part of a loaner tour on Head-Fi. I will be shipping this unit to the next person in-line immediately following this review release.

Driver
I’ve gone over beryllium drivers before, in my recent review of the Focal Utopia, as well as my very own headphones, the ZMF Verite, although that Verite driver is a coated-beryllium driver. In this case, Dunu uses beryllium in a rolled-foil form, making it the first pure Be driver that I am aware of. Others, like the Shozy Form 1.1/1.4 that I’ve also reviewed, are Be-coated drivers over a traditional plastic driver film.

The Dunu driver is only 10mm, which is smaller than their DK-series of hybrids, which feature a 13mm Be-coated driver. With the smaller driver also comes a smaller shell, this time machined from a titanium alloy, which is finished in a silver-matte appearance and flows quite nicely with the Luna name and theme. It’s a very simple, yet modern and sleek design which I really enjoy, and looks right in-line with the other Dunu IEMs.

Fit
The smaller fit does present a small challenge in getting a good fit and deal. Having small ears, I usually don’t mind and favor smaller IEMs, but the Dunu Luna’s small round shape and shallow nozzle length made me always worry about it losing seal or dropping out. Now that said, once I established a good combination of fit and seal, I never really had issues of leaking sound or it falling out of place, but the mental thought of it was always in the back of my mind because it didn’t feel very secure. I ended up with using Size Large Spinfit tips with this earphone, and they are also included in the unit.



Accessories
So along with the Spinfit tips in all sizes, Dunu also includes their own generic style silicone tips, as well as foam ones. The Luna comes with a large carrying case that has plenty of room for extra accessories and a small Digital Audio Player if you so choose. The cable is a light silver, almost white color with mmcx connectors to the Luna, and Dunu’s patented quick connector on the source end. The package comes with all 4 available connectors – 3.5mm, 3.5mm balanced, 2.5mm balanced and 4.4mm balanced. It also comes with a 6.35mm adapter.



Sound Remarks
The Dunu Luna has a general sound signature that is warm, punchy while having a focused energy in the lower treble that some may find brighter than neutral. In total, I find it to have a nice balance of punchy bass and a tasteful upper boost, although it can be occasionally sharp. Let’s talk about it a little more in detail.
When I popped on the Dunu Luna and some tunes, my first impressions where that it was very resolving, with a good amount of detail retrieval, and a surprisingly punchy and warm sound, that I may not have expected just from staring at the graph and focusing on that lower treble peak. Yes, there’s no denying it’s not present, but it’s not nearly as bad as it may look. I also found the Luna to have quick, yet very controlled transient response that I’d expect with a Beryllium driver.



Bass levels are just above neutral, with a bigger focus on mid-bass than sub-bass although it can reach low. There is definitely a punchy attitude to this IEM, although its slam factor isn’t gigantic, it can still provide some when needed. Like I mentioned, bass response on the Luna is very agile, providing good clean and fast response that is good to bring out micro-details from songs. Texturing is good, and overall, I enjoy the bass, though I would prefer more focus on sub-bass than the punchy and warmer nature of the mid-bass boost of the Luna.

In “Cherry-Coloured Funk” by Cocteau Twins, the very opening of the track kicks off with a powerful bassline that is played back with the expected grand nature on Luna. This attribute does lend itself to the mid-bass and warmer style of the IEM, however I did find Liz Fraser’s vocals to be a bit too strained and peaky. Her voice is ethereal already, and headphones and IEMs that exaggerate upper mid-range and lower treble frequencies can make her voice stand out and become overly harsh and fatiguing and the Dunu Luna does hover that fine line.

In Chrvches’ “Get Out”, I found the general sound was very punchy although only had a decent amount of slam. During the bridge, however, I felt the bass and mid-range textures were presented very well on Luna, but again, my main concern is that the chorus, where Lauren Mayberry echoes her “Get Out” song title over and over again, to sound a bit bright and fatiguing.

This isn’t necessarily going to be a problem for every song or style of music, but I do find that the Luna’s 3-6KHz region is over-emphasized and I wish it was tamed down a few decibels so it wasn’t so far removed from the midrange.

This extra presence isn’t always bad though. In the bluegrass pop tracks, “Gravity” and “Restless” from Alison Krauss & Union Station’s early 2000 record, “Lovely Runs Both Ways,” I find that the strings, whether they are guitars, mandolins, dobros or fiddles – they have a nice exacting sound that has nice harmonics that flow and are well conveyed with emphasis. Yes, it can be a little sharp at times, but in general, I don’t find it troublesome at my lower listening volumes. In addition, here, the angelic sound of Krauss’ famous voice is placed in the entire spotlight.

The mid-range has a little bit of warmth to it, which I wasn’t necessarily expecting. It’s not thick by any means, but it has enough body that it doesn’t sound thin. When I listened to some live tracks by the band, Brad, the late Shawn Smith, sounded excellent. His bravado voice carries a lot of the energy I expect. His vibrato-style of singing comes in with good detail and texturing. Stone Gossard’s guitar-work is also clean and precise, and imaging seems to match what I see on-screen well.

In Air’s “All I Need”, vocals sound more forward than other in-ears. The synth melodies the French band produces are very energetic and occasionally shrill, while guitars are well-defined. This song has a lot of textures and layering built-around the keyboards and guitars and I find the Luna plays them back well, however, music like this can be fatiguing over time.

“Rain on Tin” by Sonic Youth, however, sounds excellent. I wish this band were still together, but alas, we still have their wonderful back catalog to choose music from, and like I’ve mentioned before, the Luna’s strengths are its precise string-play, good instrument separation, and (for better or for worse), it’s lower treble harmonics. With Sonic Youth’s abundance and mixture of electric guitars, all on different filters and effects, playing various riffs in full harmony, the Luna does a good job of separating the guitar chaos into a coherent rock song.


Comparisons

The Dunu Luna is a single dynamic flagship IEM and so the comparisons expected are probably to other higher-tier solo dynamics. Unfortunately, I do not have any on hand to demo side-by-side. From memory, I find the Luna to be a cut above the Campfire Vega and Atlas and unfortunately, I have not had the chance to listen to the other new beryllium driver IEM, the Final A8000. While both the Vega and Atlas have much more bass emphasis, I find both to be a bit muddy and lacking clean texture. The Vega is also a bit harsh and sibilant, and extremely fatiguing to me. The Atlas seemed to sound different from the first time I heard it and the following times. That said, I think it’s respectable, but still falls short in the major technical areas that the Luna stands out on.

When comparing to IEMs I do have on hand, I find it’s closest in sound to the Hidition Viento, which I now own both in universal and custom form. While the Viento is a 4-BA IEM, and does not feature a dynamic driver, it does share similarly large pinna gains, though it’s not as boosted in 5KHz as the Luna is. I find the Viento to have a more natural tonality than the Luna and perhaps even image a little better. The Luna is punchier and slightly warmer, and generally presents bass more naturally though both are on the quicker side of things. Viento actually reaches deeper in sub-bass though. In terms of just raw resolution, I think the are both quite close with perhaps a small edge to the Luna, as it mixes both clean raw resolution with a more natural harmonic sound, even if it’s slightly bright. I still prefer the Viento over the Luna though, and that’s based on tonality being more accurate and the better subbass extension.



The qdc Anole VX impresses more in resolution and bass response, while the Luna has a nice well-controlled punch sound that the VX sometimes doesn’t have – punchiness, as opposed to control. That’s something the VX may top Luna in, though again, it’s close. The VX’s bass is weightier and has nice subbass rumble, while also have nice clean texture and resolution, something that the Luna can do too, but without as much weight. I think both have slightly off-skew tonality when it reaches the treble region, with the Luna overly bright around 3-5KHz, and VX having a sharp peak at 7.5KHz which, in both cases, can cause some music to sound a bit plasticky or sharp.




Conclusion




I did not know what to really expect when I got the Luna in. I had not really looked at other reviewer impressions nor had I taken a deep look at the frequency response. I always wondered how a full Be driver could behave in an IEM after experiencing the benefits on the Focal Utopia and Stellia in full-sized headphones. For the most part, I think Dunu succeeded with many of the technical aspects of in-ear audio. I find the Luna has good resolution, transient response, and a nice punchy bass.

Where it does lack is overall timbre and tonality. I wish there was just a little bit more sub-bass boost, and a little tamer lower treble. It’s not as bad as other IEMs I’ve tried in the past, but it can be a little fatiguing at times. When I gave this feedback back to Dunu, they mentioned that dampening the driver to tune down the treble peak would reduce a lot of the technical aspects that the Be driver and limit the potential of the driver.

As it is for most things, it’s a game of compromises. Just like the qdc Anole VX, which excels in technical performance, it does give way to some minor tonality aberrations. The Luna’s trade-off between technical performance and treble gain and inconsistencies is a question for each listener to answer. Besides that, I find the overall package of the Luna to be great with the big complement of accessories, a large well-designed case, and a beautiful cable with quick-connectors for every source.

A few months ago, I reviewed the Shozy Form 1.1 to some mostly favorable results. At $59 to $79, I found the dual-driver hybrid to have pretty solid resolution and fast, fun impactful bass for it’s asking price. My biggest gripe with it was that I had to use EQ to drop the treble response down to make it not so fatiguing and harsh, as I found listening to it was a challenge to it’s peaky upper-end.

The $199 Shozy Form 1.4 is the latest release to this series, and was sent to me by Linsoul for a review. I’ve had it for a little over a month now and have found it to be a nice update to the original 1.1. The 1.4 is also a hybrid featuring the same beryllium dynamic driver, but adds 3 additional balanced armature (BA) drivers to give it a total of 4 BAs within the same sized housing.

The housing now features a wood design faceplate, which is supposedly real wood, laminated within the acrylic shell. The cable is the exact same cloth-braided cord used in the Form 1.1, which I found to be very nicely made, and easy to use before.

Sound
The Shozy Form 1.4 has a nice balanced sound signature, though it does have a mid-bass hump that punches a lot of weight at times and lacks extension in the upper treble, however I don’t find that to be a problem, at all.
The bass level and quality hasn’t changed at all since the Form 1.1, as it’s being carried out primarily by the dynamic driver. There’s a lot of punch and slam at times, however the decay speed is on the faster end of a dynamic driver. I typically don’t like mid-bass humps but this one does it tastefully, as there’s not a lot of mid-range bleed off.



The mid-range has also pretty much stayed par for the course despite having more drivers. In fact, I found the entire headphone to sound almost identical to its lower cost predecessor with the only tweaks happening in the treble range.

With the original Form 1.1, I found that there was too great of energy around 8K and onward, which caused a lot of records, not just bad ones, to sound overly strained, harsh, and even sibilant. I felt it ruined it’s tonality with the exaggerated high end. With some EQ work, I was able to tone it down without any problems and then found the Form 1.1 to be a rather competent IEM. On this newer model, they must have taken some of that feedback to heart, as the new sound signature has a much more tamed upper frequency range, which makes everything sound more natural and relaxed.



There is a roll off right after 8K but in practice, like the Dunu DK3001 Pro I just recently reviewed, I didn’t find this to harm it’s tuning at all. With this small treble update, I found the Shozy Form 1.4 to sound pretty solid right out of the box.

Like the Form 1.1, the soundstage here is just average width and lacking a lot of depth, something I am slight disappointed at with a much higher price tag at $199. There aren’t a lot of technicality differences between the two despite having more drivers that share the load, and I haven’t been able to audibly hear enough to distinguish better resolution, transients, or anything of that nature.

Conclusion
At the end of the day, I think the tuning of the Form 1.4 is an improvement over the Form 1.1 It fixes the issues I had with treble gain, and strained, and sibilant sound, however I am not totally sure the small fix, which can be patched with EQ, is worth a 2.5X price gap. Yes, there’s more drivers now, but I don’t know if they do enough for me to really hear a marked improvement. That said, I rather grab the Form 1.4 over the Form 1.1 any day, however I also didn’t pay for these review units. The choice is going to be up to the user here.

And while I do like the Form 1.4’s general sound signature, I would take any of the lower cost Moondrop offerings – Kanas Pro and KXXS/Starfield – over the Form 1.4 as they just present sound better overall.

Audiofly is an Australian company who make in-ear monitors marketed at “musicians and music lovers alike.” The company has a series of IEMs starting at approximately $129 AUD (approximately $85 USD) to the most expensive set in their collection, the AF1120 MK2, at $849 AUD (approximately $500 USD at the time of this writing amidst the COVID-19 pandemic – it was $699 USD when released).

The company recently allowed me to review the AF1120 MK2 IEM and sent it over to me on loan for this review. I will be returning this review sample back.

https://audiofly.com/shop/af1120-mk2/

Design and Accessories
The AF1120 MK2 has 6 balanced armature drivers per side with a 3-way cross-over system. Each of the drivers are a dual arrangement with 1 pair for low, 1 pair for mid-range and the final pair for the upper frequencies. The IEM has a low impedance of 11 ohm and sensitivity of 109 dB at 1kHz.

The transparent shell design reminds me of a Shure-style IEM with a super lightweight plastic material, in a very small droplet-like casing. The housing isn’t as round though, as it has a more corn kernel like shape with a squared off front. The connectors are MMCX and they come with Comply foams pre-installed which I found to be an extremely comfortable combination with this earphone.

The cable is an interesting combination of braided silver wiring with memory hooks from the IEM connector to the Y-Split. From there, the cable is reinforced with a braid cloth material similar to Paracord, which Audiofly calls “Audioflex” which is made of CORDOURA fibre technology. The cable is a little peculiar looking but actually handles really well and doesn’t tangle easily.

The package also comes with a selection of tips, source adapters, and a protective hard case.



Sound Impressions
The AF1120 Mk2 has a very laid-back tuning, with a warm low-end and gentle mid-range with an interesting treble range which has some interesting dips and peaks which create a mix of a smooth yet occasionally harsh spiked sound. I’ll get to this in a second.



The resolution of the IEM is actually pretty good, especially at this price range. I found that instrument separation was present and never felt too congested, at least at lower volumes. Depending on the music, though, listening to this at higher volumes did bring out some incoherencies that fell around the lower mid-range that made male vocals sound hazy and sometimes very forward sound.
Bass is presented with a little bit of emphasis, although it’s not boomy nor heavy. Instead, I find it actually nice and warm, with a richer low end, that is pleasing. There is more emphasis on mid-bass than sub-bass with a slight roll-off down in the lowest frequencies.

The mid-range has nice body to it, while remaining clean and succinct throughout the range. The lower-end of the mid-range is a bit more elevated than the rest, particularly emphasizing male vocals with a deeper tone, however, the upper-mid range is gentle and soft, and allows many female vocals to sound pleasing without any harsh tones. Like I mentioned a couple paragraphs back, I found that male vocals sounded a little bit off – in fact, I think the midrange, in certain areas, falls back, presenting some songs with a hazy like sound, that isn’t too problematic, but does ruin some music for me.

For example, it is noticeable in some songs by The Civil Wars, specifically “C’est La Mort.” I am used to hearing John Paul White and Joy William’s vocals to be forward, clean, exacting and full of detail. Instead, with the AF1120 MK2, I find them slightly veiled, with a disjointed presentation that sounds like there’s something obstructing their voices from shining. It makes the song sound like I am listening to a low fidelity version of it that what I’ve grown accustom to on other IEMs, which have more even mid-range and a slightly larger upper mid-range gain.

Moving to the treble region, the AF1120 MK2’s lower treble takes a massive dip in the frequency response, followed by a sharp peak around 7.5 KHz which can make certain instruments like cymbals and sibilant sounds shriek occasionally. There’s not a lot of treble extension past 7.5K, which is fine for the intimate signature that this IEM portrays, but some may find it lacks some air.

I found the treble inconsistencies occurring in songs from Chrvches especially, with Lauren Mayberry’s voice sometimes going a little astray. I think part of the problem is due to such a relaxing overall tonality and signature, but with a large spike that throws off the coherency from time to time.



Overall
I did point out a lot of negatives in the main body of this review, but I did find that the Audiofly AF1120 MK2 wasn’t awful or terrible by any means. It’s actually rather enjoyable for a lot music, though falls apart on some styles – mainly acoustic rock music or songs that require a more even treble response.

The AF1120 MK2 has a sound that strikes warmth and body, while I still find it to have some issues related to treble coherency and sharpness, as well as channel matching. I also didn’t find the soundstage wide or deep enough for my liking, but I did find comfort to be wonderful and it felt like I wasn’t wearing them at times.

The DK2001 is a 4-driver hybrid in-ear monitor (IEM) from Dunu. This colorful IEM comes in orange topaz, turquoise green, and a more traditional obsidian black color choice with each model looking pretty stunning. The model I received from Dunu directly was orange, which I find to be striking yet elegant at the same time.

The round metal housing is essentially the same as the DK3001 Pro model I recently reviewed. I received both of these at the same time, but spent more time with the higher priced model first, and have now moved on to the $299 DK2001 model, which caters to a different crowd.

The shells house a single beryllium dynamic driver and 3 custom Knowles balanced armature drivers, 1 less than the DK3001 Pro. The shell houses mmcx connectors which attach to a really nice set of Dunu cables – which are the same or similar to the DUW-02 cables that Dunu sells separately. This cable, like many of the new Dunu cables, comes with a swappable connector that lets you switch quickly between different sources, such as 3.5mm and 6.35mm headphone jacks. Those two connectors are included with this set, and you can also purchase 2.5mm, 4.4mm and 3.5mm balanced separately.

Also included in the box is a vibrant blue carrying case, as well as a large selection of tips. This includes 3 different sets of silicone tips and a set of foam tips. Also included is a cleaning brush.



Sound
Like the vibrant color choices, the IEM screams “fun” and so does its sound signature. The DK2001 showcases a warm sound that also accentuates the upper mid-range and treble more so than the higher priced DK3001 Pro. It has many traits of a V-Shaped in-ear though I find it a little gentler in both bass and treble than a normal v-shaped sound signature.



The Dunu DK2001 handles bass pretty well. It’s not the hardest slamming or most impactful dynamic driver IEM I’ve heard, but it’s got a decent amount of rumble and slam when called upon. It doesn’t have a mid-bass hump and therefore I don’t think it’s super impactful as some other V-shaped IEMs, but for my preferences, I find the bass levels to be right about where I like it, and even slightly elevated.

Despite having a warmer than neutral bass response, they don’t seem to ever sound bloated and muddy, and that’s partially due to the faster decay and transient speeds of the Be driver. I think this really helps create a nice soundscape, which keeps the lower end controlled and rarely spilling into the lower-mids, while providing a nicer thicker tonality.

The mid-range is coherent, and has generally good timbre and tonality, though it is a little on the warmer side. There is a large rise into the upper mid-range which makes some vocals, specifically females, a bit forward, but I am one who prefers that to an extent.

The lower treble isn’t peaky like many other IEMs and this creates a smoother treble response. There is a small peak later on that creates the exciting fun sound but it’s controlled enough that I don’t find the DK2001 to become sibilant or fatiguing. In general, I think the warmer nature of the IEM dominates here and it creates a nice enjoyable sound.

Soundstage is average width and imaging is actually pretty decent. There’s good instrument separation which allows this IEM to not sound congested and handles busy tracks pretty well.



Overall
When comparing this with the more expensive sibling, the DK3001 Pro, I find the $469 DK3001 Pro to sound more mature and refined, with a more neutral sound that is also warm and toned-down and enjoyable across many hours of listening. While I don’t find the DK2001 as fatiguing as other IEMs, I could see that the V-shaped nature could be to some. The DK2001 is the sibling with a more vibrant outfit and stylish looks, and the sound follows suit, with some mor rough edges along the way.

That said, I find this to be a great package at $299 with a wonderful cable, case, and a generally good sounding IEM. I prefer the DK3001 Pro over this, but it does cost a bit more, and either one gets a recommendation from me. I’ve had some trouble finding a good hybrid IEM at any cost, and these two are pretty good, so they’ll get recommendations from me if you’re into either types of sound.

The Shuoer Singer is a dual-driver bullet-shaped In-Ear Monitor (IEM) that is one of the newest in the brand’s lineup of in-ears. This blue bullet houses an 8mm dynamic driver and what they call an “electrostatic” driver, though it’s not a true electrostatic as you’d expect from say Stax or Shure’s KSE series.

This $75 earphone was sent to me by Linsoul for a review. They can be found on their website here: https://www.linsoul.com/products/shuoer-singer

The Singer isn’t really that good. I’m just going to throw that right up front so you can continue on if you want or not. First, the cable looks nice with it’s copper braid appearance, but in reality, it is a little janky at times, and tangles easily, for whatever reason.



The included cable is defaulted to 2.5mm on the connector end, which is a little unusual, with a 3.5mm adapter included in the box. This could lead to confusion and trouble for potential users who do not know what a 2.5mm balanced cable is meant for.

Sound

Finally, the sound, it’s just not very good if you have any inkling for mid-range sounds, proper timbre and any sort of normal tonality. The one or two things it does do decently well are having a natural decay speed and decent soundstage width and imaging.



But the general sound signature is just mediocre in that it’s too heavily bass and treble directed that it completely scoops out any semblance of mid-range timbre that everything just sounds strained. It’s heavily v-shaped, to the point where I really don’t enjoy it. The treble and upper-midrange sounds shrill and bright, though not necessarily harsh or sibilant – it just shrieks in a way that doesn’t sound quite right.

The Singer does come with an additional set of filters to slightly change the tuning. Sticking those on, actually makes these sound worse. With the blue filter, I found the bass to become overly muddy, and even less defined, while slightly toning down treble shrillness, albeit lowering resolution and just creating a bigger mess.

I tried to see how I would appreciate the Singer across various genres, and I haven’t really found something that I enjoyed with these. Everything just sounds tonally off to me, and therefore, in this quick review, I really can not recommend the Singer at all.

NiceHCK is an online retail store that I sometimes purchase items from on Ali Express. They carry other brands, but occasionally release their own branded products at typically very competitive prices. I’ve had bought a few of their ear buds in the past that feel and sound better than their bargain basement pricing.

In this review, I will be reviewing their new in-ear monitor (IEM), the NX7 Pro, which was provided to me by Hifigo.com.

Accessories & Comfort

The NX7 Pro comes with a multitude of accessories in its package. There’s a small heather gray soft zippered case and within that is a series of tips, 2 additional sets faceplates and 2 additional sets of filters and a tool to remove and install the screws for the faceplates. The NX7 Pro can be modified to appear blue, red, or silver or any combinations of the colors provided. I chose to make mine blue and red. These specific color plates match the filters which add bass, add treble, or keep it in its default configuration.

In addition, the NX7 Pro comes with a choice of 2.5mm, 3.5mm or 4.4mm 2-pin style cables. I chose to get the 4.4mm version and it is made of a copper colored 16 core braid. The metal Y-splitter, chin strap, and connectors on it are very nice and the cable is really soft and easy to handle.

In terms of fit, I found the NX7 Pro to fit comfortably and easily. The plastic shell is a little on the cheap-looking side of things and contrast to the nice shiny metal faceplates, but they are lightweight and do their job.

Sound

The default tuning on the NX7 Pro is definitely a V-shape. It has a large emphasis in both the bass and treble regions, and are much more than I normally prefer. The midrange is still present and isn’t totally lost in the mix. In general, I find this tuning fun, but just a little unnatural, and it’s more to do the large lift in the upper frequencies than anything else.



The bass can be thunderous on this IEM. When I put on “Bullet with Butterfly Wings” from The Smashing Pumpkins, the kick drum and bass guitar power through and slam with authority. The snare drums hit natural timbre and the overall decay sounds on point and is controlled enough even through the busiest portions of the chorus, with other instruments not over shadowed by the bass and lower mid-range emphasis.

Massive Attack’s “Angel” thumps with raw power while sounding controlled throughout the track, even as other instruments come into play. Again, the bass does overpower a bit and takes a lot of the command, but for a song like this, it’s fun, and it’s welcomed.

Bouncing around a bit, to the treble region; the cymbals on “Angel” don’t sound as shrill and harsh as some other songs. They aren’t heavily focused either, and not as forward in the track as the pounding bass attack, so it works pretty well on the NX7 Pro.

On Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams”, the harmonics of the snare drum and the cymbals can become a little fatiguing with the treble region gain on the NX7 Pro as they sound very forward. Stevie Nick’s vocals are also forward, though I do not find them distorted or unnatural. The extra splash of the cymbals and hi-hats bother me a little bit, as well as the acoustic guitar strumming in my left ear during the bridge and chorus.

Beach House’s “Lemon Glow” sounds really fun on the NX7 Pro with a heavy bass and lower mid-range focus. The bass slams with authority, and Victoria LeGrand’s lower range vocals sound very full bodied and works well. Unfortunately, when her pitch raises, the NX7 Pro’s enhanced upper mid-range and treble and upper treble spikes add sibilance, shrill, and unnatural extension to her voice.

I found the NX7 Pro works well for music that stray away a bit from the upper frequency bands – rock music led by male vocals and dance music excelling in terms of a fun wow factor, and I surprisingly really enjoyed the elevated bass response for the most part. If you’ve read my reviews or know me any bit at all, you’ll know I tend to stray away from heavy bass headphones, but some things surprise me.

I think the NX7 Pro’s biggest flaw is it’s treble tuning. It’s just too bright. The filters don’t help this either unfortunately. The Red filter makes the upper mid-range and lower treble even more bright, while reducing bass a tad bit, and the blue filter makes the bass even more powerful. I preferred the default tuning.

The HarmonicDyne Helios is a new headphone developed by Thieaudio with a new branding. It’s an interesting headphone that’s going to be priced around $150 USD with it’s large 50mm dynamic driver, wood and metal structure, and warm tuning.

The Helios was provided to me by Linsoul for reviewing purposes. This item has not been released yet, but the version I am critiquing is supposed to be the final tuning. The packaging that was shipped with this pre-release version was rather minimal – just a carrying case, the headphones, and a set of cables.

More info about the HarmonicDyne Helios can be found here: https://www.linsoul.com/pages/harmonicdyne-helios

The headphone is made of a mix of aluminum and plastic headband, walnut cups, and stainless-steel grills. The grill reminds me of a ZMF Verite grill but not quite as striking and intricate. That said, the lattice work and the spiral-graph look is charming, with the centerpiece being an etched HarmonicDyne Skyline logo. This same logo is also featured on the Y-split on the fabric cloth-wrapped headphone cable.



The Walnut cups are pretty light weight, however the entire headphone is about average weight. The headband does a good job of supporting on the head, though I am not a big fan of the way it looks. The walnut wood added to the lower portions of either side of the headband make the general look of the headphone rather tacky, and reminiscent of wood paneling in a 60s-70s era house, and that’s not something to be fond of. In addition, the plastic portion of the headband frame doesn’t really fit with the more premium looking parts of the headphones.

The pads have a very soft and nice texture to them that makes them comfortable against my face and head. The problem I have with them, however, are that they are too shallow, and the combination of clamping force of the headband and the pad depth, makes my ears rest up against the drivers which becomes rather painful quickly.


Sound
The Helios is a headphone that focuses on a warm and engaging listen that can sometimes get a little messy and congested, but otherwise, actually sounds inviting and lively and doesn’t falter heavily, which is good news for a company making their first dynamic driver headphone.



Bass
The bass region is elevated several decibels above what I call neutral, which for headphones is a flat response. I find that the driver has very average microdynamics here. It slams with some impact, but it also doesn’t quite have the body and decay that I thought it would given how much rise there is in the bass response. The bass is a little uncontrolled at times, and not the most resolving and texture-rich.

I must remember that this is a $150 headphone, and so it’s going to have to be compared to it’s contemporaries like the Hifiman HE4XX/400i and the Sennheiser HD58X/6XX series. In this regard, I feel like the bass response is the most rich and elevated of this bunch, but is also the least clean and precise.

Mid-Range
The mid-range is warm, lush, and engaging. It’s actually an area where I do find the Helios to be pretty good. It’s forward, and sometimes very forward to the point that I feel like it does not handle busy tracks so well. But in acoustic music or just, really at lower listening volumes, this doesn’t seem to be an issue and while it’s an intimate affair, it’s not too claustrophobic. The same can’t be said in the opposite case – when there’s a busy section in a song, or if you listen at a higher volume.

I found this especially troubling coming directly from the Hifiman Arya, which is forward, but has good imaging and separation ability, to the Helios immediately after and find it driving directly into my head. When I pulled the Sennheiser HD600 out, I still found the Helios to be more forward, noticeable, than the HD600, which is a headphone known for a smaller, but very natural soundstage.

Treble
Treble is where I think the Helios stands out. It is elevated, but not to the point where I find it distracting. In fact, it provides a good balance to the elevated bass, without coming anywhere near being harsh, peaky, or sibilant. In comparison, the Sennheiser HD6X0 series could use a little more treble to offset is upper-midrange thickness, the Helios goes about making the treble region more inline with the HD800 series, but without any sharp peaks, or the resolution.

Other Technicalities
As mentioned before, I find the soundstage to be rather narrow, with a very forward and almost shouty attack. Congestion is a problem with the Helios, and a bass that seems sometimes a little blunted. Resolution isn’t the best, but it’s not far off the some of the competition at this price range, with something like the Hifiman planars leading the way here. Tonality and coherency is actually pretty good most of the time, and I find it less veiled than the Sennheiser series (similar price range).



Music Listening

Daft Punk – Random Access Memories
This record shows off a lot of the nice parts as well as the not-so-nice parts of the Helios. The extra bass response gives many of the tracks on this record a warm touch, while the small and subtle treble gains give the electronic soundscapes a need breath of air. That said, the mid-range sounds rather shouty and forward.
In a song like “Fragments of Time”, Todd Edwards’ vocals sound like there are blasting directly into my ears. The bass sounds a little bloated and blunted. The cymbals and hi-hat strikes have a nice quick transient response though, and don’t come off as shrilly or grating.

Guns n’ Roses – Appetite for Destruction
Slash’s opening riff in “Sweet Child of Mine” blares into my ears, while Axel Rose’s vocals are just slightly behind it. This song, as is most of this record, has a lot of guitars, effects and reverb, banging drums, and Rose’s far reaching vocal range coming at you all at once, and I think the Helios does a pretty medicore job of handling it.

The warm body is welcome though, and has a nice thickness to it that I find sometimes lacking in listening to the Hifiman headphones I’ve tried in the past. The extra bass response gives a little more impact than the HD600, however, the shoutiness of the mids and the congestion on the Helios really makes this album hard to listen to – and remember, I listen to headphones generally quieter than most. The louder you push the headphone, the worst the effect.

Mazzy Star – So Tonight I Might See
The Helios actually does this album justice. In the ever-awesome, “Fade Into You”, the elevated bass response gives a lot of needed body to the song. Hope Sandoval’s vocals are pushed forward but since it wasn’t necessarily forward to begin with, it doesn’t come off shouty, but instead, you get to hear her emotionally quiet vocals in full effect.

In “Five-String Serenade”, the bass guitar gets an extra oomph that I feel is very welcomed. Decay sounds generally natural, and again, Sandoval’s vocals don’t’ come off shouty here. The tambourine does sounds a little sharp at the beginning, but after listening to it’s rhythmic beat over and over through the song, its sharp effect does become more manageable.

Each song on this album is as intimate as ever, and this is the most apparent on “Into Dust.” The bass and strings section’s decay and harmonics pound into you, while the vocals are essentially within your head. The Helios could use a bit of soundstage help overall.



Overall
The HarmonicDyne Helios is a new entry for Linsoul and Thieaudio – an over-ear dynamic driver headphone. It shows a lot of promise, with a warm and engaging signature, and a pretty nice treble region, but falters a bit with a small soundstage that can become shouty, congested and a little bloated at times as well as the tight clamping force and shallow pads that made listening to these for long periods of time challenging for my head and ear shape.

There’s still a lot to like at its initial offer price of under $150, but there’s some tough competition at this price point when you look at the Drop.com collaborations ranging from $150 to $200. It still a well-built headphone, with some premium materials used, albeit in an odd fashion that may not appeal to some.

The Uranus is the newest universal IEM from Chinese-makers, qdc. This hybrid earphone retails at $219 and features a dynamic driver and a balanced armature driver. At the time of writing this, this model was only available at HifiGo.com and that’s where I purchased this unit for myself.

The qdc Uranus features a purple and dark blue translucent shell design with a space galaxy themed opaque faceplate in matching colors. The qdc logo and model are branded on each shell in a chrome-finish, and I find the look really stunning and elegant at the same time. The shell uses a custom-like housing design that fits extremely comfortably in my ears. It’s just a smidgen smaller than the qdc Anole VX that I currently also own, which I found also comfortable.

The package also contains a set of cables, various tips, and a really nice leather qdc carrying box (similar to a jewelry box) that can store everything within it. I find that this is a really nice bundle, and that the case is actually more attractive and usable than the one that came with the qdc Anole VX which is ten times the cost.

For this review, I swapped out the default cable and am using a light purple-colored Kinboofi 4.4mm balanced cable and used it primarily with the iBasso DX160 digital audio player, and the Topping DX3 Pro dac/amp. The purple cable goes quite well as a matching outfit with the purple and blue shells of the IEM.




Sound

When I first put the qdc Uranus on, I was a little lukewarm on it. It has a warm, laid-back, heavy U/gentle-V shaped sound signature that, when I first listened to it, sounded very low resolution and a little bloated. Whether it was some mechanical burn-in, brain-burn-in, or just music selection, I find the Uranus to soften up a little bit and it sounds a bit better than my first couple hours using it.




The bass section of the IEM is controlled primarily by the dynamic driver. I have not heard the previous qdc Fusion but there were complaints of the dynamic driver sounding weak, and missing decay and slam. I, myself, judge bass by resolution, texture, and speed. I like bass to be a little faster, and heavier notes and decay isn’t something I tend to care as much about – it’s probably why I really like planar magnetics, ribbon drivers, etc. or even the Campfire Solaris.

With the Uranus, I find the bass to be a little scattered. In some songs, primarily electronic dance music that is heavier in this region, I find the bass driver to be somewhat bloated. Decay isn’t necessarily the issue, as I think it decays rather naturally, and more so than a traditional BA driver does. It’s just that on some songs, like for example, Daft Punk’s “Lose Yourself to Dance”, the heavy weighted kick drum bass hits sound a little blunted, while also being a little overwhelming, especially in the busier parts of the song.

In an even busier song, like “Contact”, the dynamics sound just a little flatter than what I’d like, however, it does handle this song alright in general – there is not a sense of congested play, and the dynamic driver actually sounds alright.

The mid-range has a lot of body, thanks to the elevated lower mid-range. The dynamic driver does shine in this area in my opinion. A couple good examples is the electronic-ballad, “Sunday Night 1987” and also “Atlantique Sud” by M83. In both of these tracks, the electronic soundscape backdrop is warm, rich, and inviting. Notes decay with natural tendencies and feels lush to my ears.

In Canadian country singer Orville Peck’s “Winds Change”, the qdc Uranus’ elevated lower mid-range adds a lot of grit and heft to his deeper voice. The bass notes have good impact as do drums and the like. The steel pedal sounds a little forward in this track, almost at the same distance as his voice which can be a little distracting, however as a fan of the steel pedal, I kind of enjoy this. If it were any other instrument, this could be a bit annoying.




In sticking with Canadians, I’ll use Sarah McLachlan as an example of how the qdc Uranus’ upper midrange has an early and sharp rise starting at 800Hz, similar to how they’ve tuned many of their IEMs including the VX that I own. Sarah McLachlan’s voice is front and center in her hit song, “Adia”. Her voice comes across with gentle beauty and is forward, while the piano notes follow just behind her. In “Angel” where she extends her vocal range up a notch, I don’t hear any signs of harshness in this region nor in the treble areas.

As stated before, I find the Uranus a little laid back in the sense that it’s treble does roll-off early and lacks a lot of air and extension. This, along with a more elevated, thicker low end, makes the overall sound signature very laid back and well-designed for non-fatiguing listen.

To test this further, I tried to put on some of my harsh high treble vocal tracks to see if I had any problems with sibilance. These include various songs from Alvvays, Chvrches, Rihanna, and Cocteau Twins, and they all pass these tests without any sibilance issues. There’s still a rise in the sibilance and brilliance region that can be audibly heard. Guitar strings and cymbals can be a little forward, as there’s a rise between 6-8KHz that give the general sound here a little bit of brightness, but I never found it to be harsh or over my limits either. Some IEMs I’ve reviewed or had a chance to listen recently, mainly chi-fi, but also western brand’s v-shaped IEMs, can be a bit too much in this area for my ears on many pop tracks.

In terms of just general soundstage and imaging, I think the qdc Uranus is average, at-best. It’s got a more forward presentation and can be intimate and not wide-open sounding, especially without any treble extension to provide upper end air. Imaging is generally good for this price point in tracks that are not super busy. When I throw on some Tool, I get some mixed results. In a super busy track like “Jambi”, it’s a little hard to distinguish instruments at times, but on the opening parts of “The Pot”, I have can hear the various instruments flowing around me in a narrow 3D space but with appropriate height – It’s not as holographic as say the Campfire Solaris or the qdc VX, but it provides a sense of height better than other IEMs in this price range that I have used.

Comparison

For a fair assessment of the qdc Uranus, I wanted to compare it to at least another one of my IEMs. Currently at my fingertips is the Moondrop KXXS, which I’ve kept around as a good baseline IEM for this type of price range. When listening to both KXXS and Uranus side-by-side, there are some pretty obvious differences.

The KXXS has a much wider soundstage with more clarity and upper end air. The Uranus sounds more forward, thick, warm, and in some ways, with a more low-end “low-resolution”. I wouldn’t say the entire sound signature is lower resolution – the upper mid-range and treble sound pretty clean and resolving, but I just don’t think the tuning of the dynamic driver and the low end is very good, and it becomes even more evident when you take them off and hear them against something like the KXXS or the VX even. It’s just a little too warm with a weird drop off in the midrange at around 800Hz that makes some items a little too far forward and closed in and some instruments just a bit missing. Switching between the KXXS and the Uranus repeatedly and this becomes clear.



Overall

Which brings me to how I want to conclude this review: The qdc Uranus is an IEM that I originally disliked – not hated, but was underwhelmed. I thought it was too bassy and a little muddy. Over time, I started to enjoy it’s very warm, intoxicating laid-back signature that made it really easy to listen to for hours at work at a time, and when you’re not critically listening to it, you forget about its weaknesses – it still has some issues on the lower end that doesn’t please me with a kind of interesting bass and lower mid-range response that can be a problem for those who really want to use these as a critical listening tool.

But, if you just want something to put in your ear and tune out for a bit, these do work out really well for me. I don’t know if I fully recommend them at it’s asking price, but I do really enjoy the aesthetics, the wonderful fit, and the overall accessories package – it’s just missing the top notch sound that even seems a little underwhelming at it’s asking price compared to other recent favorites.

If you’ve read through my reviews, you’ll find that I am a big fan of Moondrop and their lineup of in-ear monitors. They have a tuning goal in mind with each IEM and they more or less hit it on every release. When it comes to earbuds, however, I have only listened to the ultra budget Shiro Yuki, and now this, the flagship Chaconne from Moondrop.

I have always been keen on ear buds due to their easy fit, comfort, and open sound. They aren’t the best for isolation, and ultra-bass response, and for the most part, they haven’t been the best for clarity either. But, in the past few years, the ear bud market has risen again, and I’ve written reviews and impressions on several in the past on this blog and other corners of the internet. Yes, ear buds have their limitations, but they have their own use case too.

I picked up the Moondrop Chaconne at regular price on the newly formed online retailer, Apos Audio. Shipping was pretty quick once the Chinese New Year holiday period was over – I’ve had these for a few months now and use them at least a few times a week. Unlike most other earbuds I have owned, these have been kept in my stable and are in my everyday carry.

Why’s that? Well they are expensive. They retail for $319, which puts them in the utmost tier of ear buds. In the In-Ear and Over-Ear headphone market, this comfortably resides in mid-tier levels, but in the world of ear buds, this is 10X more than mid-fi ear buds.

The Chaconne is a single dynamic driver ear bud that’s housed in a titanium shell and brass driver grill. The shell is absolutely stunning and many times more impressive than any other ear bud I’ve ever seen. The cable is a silver colored, oxygen-free copper that is nicely braided and feels generally well. The connectors and splitter are also metal with a chrome finish.

Sound

Normally in this section, I post measurements with the gear I am testing but for ear buds, I just don’t find it very reliable using my measurement rigs, so I am just going to do this the old fashion way – with words.

I have been playing with the Moondrop Chaconne through a variety of sources over the past couple months – this includes mainly the iBasso DX160 and Hiby R5 music players, as well as my Samsung S10e and a variety of desktop amplifiers. The Chaconne does require me to up the volume dial a bit more than my other IEMs however it is using 3.5mm single ended and not using the more powerful 4.4mm output of my DAPs.

The Chaconne is a warm ear bud that’s not unlike other ear buds around, however where I feel it differs is that the earbud actually does have some audible bass that extends deeper and treble that extends higher than any other earbud I’ve tried. This combination gives the Chaconne a more well-rounded sound than most ear buds, however, coming from IEMs or Headphones, one may be disappointed if they don’t understand the limitations.

The lower mid-range is warm, though not overly rich. It does provide some focus towards it as does most earbuds though. The upper mid-range sounds recessed. That’s actually one part of the tuning I was a little surprised at, given how Moondrop’s IEMs and other earbud I’ve tried is elevated in this region. This recession of the upper mid-range makes the Chaconne’s tonality a warmer and slightly dark sound, but it’s lifted treble and just general openness provides a good soundstage and airy nature that counters the warmer, darker overtones.

Where I find the Moondrop Chaconne is the level of exacting detail that comes out when I hear songs on it when compared to other ear buds I’ve tried in the past. It’s the biggest distinguishing factor, outside of the actual low-end presence.


Musical Selections

In Orville Peck’s Winds Change, the acoustic guitars have a lot of plucky tinge to them that go in and out and pan in and out with a greater sense of space than when I listen to in-ears. The deeper voice of Peck really goes well with the general tonality of the Chaconne, which gives him the weightier and deeper vocal notes that makes his voice really command the songs on his debut album.

Air’s All I Need is a classic in my book. With the Moondop Chaconne, Beth Hersch’s voice sounds slightly veiled however still is placed in the forefront of the stage and sounds quite natural, albeit a little less bright but just as breathy as some other IEMs I’ve used. The background electronic soundscape has wonderful imaging and the bass line drives the song just as I would have expected, which is a nice surprise since again, these are ear buds.

On the beautifully haunting cover, Hallelujah, by the late Jeff Buckley, the Chaconne sings through the opening of the song with the Buckley’s deep sigh, followed by his slow building intricate guitar work that sets the scene for his incredible voice. And that voice sounds really spacious, detailed and crisp on the Chaconne. There’s a slight shoutiness that can be heard at times when the guitar is emphasized, but this isn’t unique to the Moondrop Chaconne and I’ve heard it on many other headphones as well. The warmer tone really works great with this song, and wide soundstage really makes the song sound even more incredible than on some of my other ear phones.
Finally, the jazz-fused Roots song, What They Do, is another song that I found really sounds nice on the Chaconne. The deep bassline and steady percussions lay a nice rhythm that sounds warm, rich, and laid back, the way it should sound, at least to me. Black Thought’s vocals sound clean and precise as usual, and I don’t find many flaws listening to the Chaconne.

General Thoughts

I didn’t know what to expect when I bought the Moondrop Chaconne a few months ago. It was an earbud that fascinated me for months after it came out. For one, I really liked Moondrop gear, and secondly, I’ve been wanting a top of the line ear bud ever since I sold my Rose Masya away. The impulsiveness in me finally won and I’ve been surprisingly really happy with the purchase.

I had some doubt and even initial regret, but after finding the proper fit (with the help of silicone ear bud rings and foam), I’ve found a great fit combination that excels in sound quality that seems to suit much of the music I prefer. Yes, it’s got some limitations in raw bass performance and quantity, as well as some limitations in other areas, but being and ear bud and being priced at around $319, it’s actually a very nice set and one I am enjoying more and more as I listen to it.

Obviously this isn’t a recommendation for everyone, but for those interested in seeing what this niche area of ear buds has to offer, the Chaconne is one of the best.

The Hifiman Jade II is a second-generation electrostatic headphone from the famous Chinese makers of primarily planar magnetic headphones. This is my first listen of any of their electrostatic headphone line, but I am familiar with most of their planar magnetic headphones, owning a couple myself presently and in the past.

The Jade II was provided to me on loan directly from Hifiman as part of the Head-Fi Loaner Tour. I was actually a little surprised when they reached out to me, since I forgot all about it. That said, I was excited to try out this headphone and it’s matching electrostatic amp, as I haven’t used an electrostatic headphone for a long period of time before – only at meetups and in-store demos.

The Amplifier

The Jade II Amplifier really surprised me. I wasn’t expecting the amp to be as large and massive as it was. It dwarfs my RME ADI-2 DAC, Woo Audio WA7 and Massdrop THX-AAA amplifiers. I ended up having to put it on a different shelf so that I could capture some desk space on my normal listening station.

The amplifier features both balanced XLR and single ended RCA inputs on the back and two headphone output ports on the front. There’s also a large power button, a signal switch button, and a nice large aluminum volume knob that feels great. The knob isn’t totally linear, there are volume steps that are tactile as you turn it.





The Headphone

The Jade II headphone itself is incredibly lightweight. It’s not as light as say the Koss ESP950/95X, but it’s pretty light compared to all of my other headphones. It’s been sometime since I’ve put on a pair of Stax, but from memory, these feel lighter than those as well. I would definitely need to confirm to be positive.

The lightweight, and the large oval cups, similar to that of the HE1000, Arya, Ananda, and Edition X series, makes the use of the newer Hifiman headband style more easily worn. If you’ve read my previous discussions or seen my thoughts about this headband online in the many forums or discord, you’ll know that I am not a fan of it. The new headband was designed to be more durable than the last one, which broke often at the yoke (but I adore it), but this new headband has no rotation and therefore feels very stiff and can be uncomfortable. Luckily on the Jade II, it works and fits like a glove. The clamping force is just right for me, and feels rather nice.

The headphone cable is flat like most electrostatics are but is not removable. That said, it looks and feels durable, however when the splitter portion of the cable seemed to fall apart slightly – with the braid coming undone exposing the poly-wrapped copper below.


The Sound

The Jade II sounds like a typical electrostatic signature, however a little bright. It’s fast, resolving, but missing a lot of low end prowess. The upper-mid-range seems a little exaggerated and the treble is a little unbalanced and bright given that the low end seems to roll-off drastically at around 100Hz.

When I first put these on and listened for about an hour, I really didn’t like how they sounded. Listening to a mix of rock, electronic, and country music just sounded like a lot of the low end was missing, and it sounded very lean and skewing towards being too bright. It doesn’t ever sound sibilant or harsh though – just a little upper-mids focused. That’s not a bad thing though, as I do like some elevation there.






But like I said, I didn’t like it after the first hour and put it away for a day or two. I came back to it with a fresh set of ears and started listening to other genres, like piano jazz, ambient and more folksy rock music – stuff like Guaraldi, Bill Evans, Chet Baker, Nickel Creek, and James Taylor. I felt like the Jade II sounded a bit better now. The resolution was very good, but I don’t remember it being God-like calling like how I heard the Stax SR009 for the first time, or when I listened to the Focal Utopia on. It doesn’t provide as big of a wow factor as I had hope.

That’s not to say that the Jade II isn’t impressive. It does a great job of delivering a very smooth midrange and treble presentation – in that it feels natural and airy, and pushes the upper limits of what may be considered bright and harsh without ever going above that line. I tested it through a variety of songs that have female vocals that sometimes lie on the other side of that fine line.

For one, Alvvays’s Dreams Tonight is a song I play often to see how high and how harsh Molly Rankin’s vocals can reach. While they do seem like they’re pitched a little higher than what I normally prefer, her voice has a lot strained emotion to it and it sounds and feels very euphoric in a sense. Still, I would prefer her tonality to be a little downplayed slightly, and that there was a little more warmth in the general overall tonality as a whole.




I do applaud and appreciate the wide soundstage and clean, precise sound that electrostatics can bring, but I do find the Jade II to a be a bit pricey at it’s normal asking price. When on sale, like they were this holiday, they are quite a contender for a value. I say this, because at it’s normal price, I would rather have something not electrostatic and not have to deal with a dedicated amplifier (at an extra cost) and that whole limiting factor for marginal improvements on resolution with the trade-off of low end loss. At half the price, the rewards are more easily reaped and defendable.

I don’t review Bluetooth in-ears very often, but occasionally I find products that really suit me well. That was the case with the Samsung Galaxy Buds, which surprisingly provided convenience, portability, good sound, and a truly wireless experience. It’s a tall order to beat, but I have tried several others recently with items like the Sony WF-1000XM3 providing a better sound experience and added noise-cancellation features, but with at the loss of comfort.

Recently, Status Audio contacted me about reviewing their newest Bluetooth product, the BT Transfer. I had not used any of their items before, but their over-ear headphones, the CB2, was relatively popular and sparked some interest. I was a little surprised to receive a product that wasn’t going with the industry norm these days – a truly wireless earphone.


This BT Transfer, uses the traditional around-the-neck wire method for wireless. The earphone also comes with a large remote piece with easy to use buttons and a variety of tips. The tips have hooks on them that go in your ear to lock them in-place while being active. While I have fully embraced the true-wireless movement this year, finally, I still see the benefits of an around-the-neck wireless headphone, especially for those that are active and need to quickly put your earphones down, and just let it droop down, instead of awkwardly holding them in your hands or putting them in your pockets for a quick breather.

The BT Transfer has a somewhat generic bass-heavy sound signature that does accentuate the highs a little bit to provide a V-shape, but I still feel it leans towards a more bassy experience. In normal, sit-down listening, which is how I usually listen to headphones and how I approach my reviews, the BT Transfer sounds a bit muddy, and boomy. The mid-range does fall a little behind and sounds recessed. I don’t particularly like the resolution as much as other products, but given that this is made for an active lifestyle, I took these to the streets with me and for quick workouts.




Here, the bass increase helps round out the sound a bit more, especially with outside noise. The Transfer doesn’t leak a lot and isolates sufficiently well, but with active movement, the bass does sound a little more balanced. I still find the in-ear to be a little muddy, and lacking some clarity, but in-general, for the price ($79) these aren’t really that bad.

Comfort while walking around was surprisingly good. Most Bluetooth earphones I’ve tried have been extremely uncomfortable to wear, and that’s due to cheaply made designs, the addition of electronic hardware beefing up the device, or combinations of both. The included tips really add to the comfort level for these. Without them, these would feel more cookie-cutter to me and I probably wouldn’t be able to wear them for long periods of time.




So at the end of the day, these won’t be replacing the Samsung Galaxy Buds for me as a daily driver for walking around, working out, and doing chores and yard work, but they could find a spot in the cases where I feel the need for extra security of the neck cord.

The Terminator is here. The latest KZ ZSX, dubbed, The Terminator, is a 6-driver hybrid in-ear monitor earphone with a single dynamic driver and 5 balanced armature drivers feeding it through a rather large shell. The new shell design has a silver triangular look to it that looks a little strange to me, but feels well made at the same time.

The fit itself is a bit of a problem. It’s larger than other IEMs I’ve tried outside of say the Campfire Solaris and my current daily driver, the qdc Anole VX, and the highly praised Sony IER-Z1R, but it’s in the same realm as those in terms of size. The main issue for me is that the angle of the nozzle spout is not in the most optimal direction for my ear and that its not only long, but also has a large diameter. Now, long nozzle shafts don’t bother me, as something like the Moondrop Kanas Pro is really comfortable for me, and so are things like the Campfire Andromeda Gold and IO. Large diameter IEMs are also not a problem, but the combination of the two, with the angle choice, makes it a tough fit for me, and limits my time wearing these to shorter spurts – much like the issues I faced with the Campfire Solaris previously.


Judgement Day Sound

The ZSX has a full-bodied sound that isn’t too far away from some of my favorite top of the line tunings like the ones presented by Solaris and the IER-Z1R – which both present a warm, balanced sound with treble energy and thick lower mids. Of course, the significantly cheaper KZ ZSX is nowhere near the other two when it comes to things like resolution, speed, imaging, and detail. In fact, its quite a step back, but still, the ZSX is impressive for a product made by KZ and of a $50 price tag.




The bass is punchy and elevated, however not bolstered enough to be considered a super bassy IEM. It has good subbass and a downward slope to the mids that has gives impact to drum kicks and has a mild slam to it – more so than the Solaris did. The bass resolution is pretty mediocre though, and the speed of the driver is a tad slow, leaving bass notes to hang out a little longer than I would like. I do tend to prefer nimble, quick, and agile bass responses that provide plenty of detail and textured layering, and the ZSX sounds more like bass noise than bass resolution.

The mid-range is warm, rich and full of body. I never found the mid-range to be too recessed – in fact, I actually like how it’s presented. Male vocals have girth to it, and female vocals do shine and are forward with a response curve that starts sloping upward at 1KHz and almost follows a Diffuse Field type curve until the about 3.5KHz where it has a small drop. This does help it from being too forward and too harsh for me, and gives it a little bit more breathing room from possible congestion.

There is a slight bit of harshness due to an elevated treble peak that can make things a little spicy at times. I never found it overly bright and fatiguing, but just note that it’s not as smooth sounding in that area as say the Solaris or the VX, which I really both enjoy it’s tuning. It’s more along the lines of the Sony IER-Z1R, with its slightly bright tuning in that area. Again, I’m just using some of these known IEMs as a base line and I am not saying the ZSX is of the same caliber. It’s just a similar overall tuning from a high-level overview shot of the IEM’s sound.




I found the ZSX sounding best with rock and country music. The elevated bass that isn’t over done gives drums and bass guitars the needed bump, while the punchiness gives the kick needed to steer rock songs, while the tuning of the upper-midrange and treble gives clarity to guitars and cymbals. It works well for these popular genres.

Overall

The ZSX is a nice choice for a budget IEM, and easily my favorite of one from KZ. It actually is very similar in tuning to the ZS10 Pro, my previous favorite, but downplays the treble a bit, which makes this one not as harsh and fatiguing as the ZS10 Pro was.



The fit, however, is large and should be something to look out for. It’s not going to fit with some people’s ears, including mine, and that could make this a non-starter to begin with. I do have smaller ear canals than a lot of people, and typically wear small ear tips, so the larger nozzle shape and angle really don’t do me any favors here.

So, if you can deal with that shortcoming and your budget was around $50, and you like this type of tuning, this could be a decent set to look out for. It falls in-line with tuning of some of my favorites, and that’s half the battle for me, and that’s why this was instantly one that I enjoyed when I first heard it.

Before I get straight into this review, I would like to just point out that I’ve tried a few Shozy earphones in the past and I’ve yet to even come out of those experiences even lukewarm excited about them. Nothing I’ve tried has impressed me. Their last set that I had some significant time on and reviewed was the Shozy V33, which I really, really did not understand it’s tuning, nor did I think it was technically capable.

So, when Lillian, from Linsoul, reached out and asked if I was interested in trying the newest Shozy In-Ear, I was skeptical and not totally convinced. She sent me a link to a new page her team was making for the Shozy with the information regarding the new IEM, called Form 1.1, and it started to look a little more promising. The IEM is a dual-driver hybrid, and features a balanced armature to handle the mids and treble and also a dynamic driver to handle the bass and lower mids. What makes this IEM a little more unique is that this dynamic is a driver coated with a thin layer of beryllium. This type of driver design is also the centerpiece of my recent ZMF Verité headphone acquisition, and one I am quite fond of.

Beryllium drivers have recently made some appearances in a few headphones and IEMs – namely the Focal Utopia, the French company’s flagship headphone, and the previously mentioned ZMF flagship. While the Utopia driver is fully beryllium-based, the Verité, like the Shozy Form 1.1, is a Be-coated PEN driver, which allows it to share many of the similar properties of the former – that is, great resolution, quick, agile speed, and dynamics at a lower cost.

Release Date & Pricing Info
At this point, my curiosity piqued. And a couple days later, the Shozy Form 1.1 package arrived at my door. Now, I had to keep the information regarding its launch date and price a secret, but I am now able to disclose that this product will be available on Friday, September 27th (2019) as a pre-order special on Drop.com for $59.99. This will be approximately $15 below the regular price of $75. This product will also be available on Linsoul.com but not at the special drop exclusive price.





The Package
Shozy’s Form 1.1 comes in a small box that opens up with a flip top. Inside the box is a polyurethane-coated zipper case that contains the Form 1.1 IEM, the cable and a series of tips. The cable included is very nice. I really like how it’s designed – it has a braided cloth covering the copper wires and each channel is braided over each other and reminds me of a miniature Paracord-style over-ear headphone cable. The 3.5mm connector and splitter have a mirrored chrome look with black carbon fabric pattern, and the 2-pin connectors are also chrome colored. The cable is very soft and useable and overall a very nice touch to this package.

The shell design itself is a small and lightweight resin shell that fits relatively comfortably into my ears. The default tips are an interesting silicone tip that feels like foam. I really thought they were pretty cool. I ended up using the largest one of these provided, while I normally wear small tips on most IEMs. Using the large ones, I did get some occasional pressure point pains, and switching to the medium tips were very comfortable, but the bass response was tamed noticeably when I wore those.

Sources & Stuff

I played the Shozy Form 1.1 through a few different sources for this review. My primary unit is the Hiby R5 audio player, as well as running it through the iBasso DX220 and my desktop RME ADI-2 DAC. The RME DAC has a built-in EQ which I’ll go over a little later in this review. All of these sources had an abundance of headroom to power the Form 1.1. It’s not as sensitive as some of my all-BA IEMs, but it doesn’t require a ridiculous amount of power like the Tin Hifi P1 did, for example.

Quick and Nimble Speed

Putting the Form 1.1 on, I was met with a surprisingly detailed, nimble and articulate sound immediately. I actually didn’t know how much they cost when I first tried them on. I only knew their product information and that they’d be under $99. Even at $99, the level of detail retrieval was impressive right away.

Listening a little more, I quickly realized that they had a few small shortcomings. One was that I felt the treble was a little too elevated and gave it a false sense of resolution. The second was that I felt the sound stage was a little narrower than I normally would prefer. I’ll address these two things a little more in a second.




The bass response on the Form 1.1 has a bump to it and it’s got sub-bass that is present and a punch to it that is weighty, feeling more like a ported-sub than a sealed-sub. What separates this IEM from others in this price class in this area is the quality of the bass response. The dynamic driver decays faster than most normal drivers do, and that projects a cleaner bass response that still sounds like a dynamic (and not a BA), which gives the bass response more detail, more texture, and more definition.

I don’t know if I’ve really experienced that in an IEM in this price, so that’s why I was pretty impressed quickly. The stock bass tuning is warm, and provides the midrange a nice rich sound. Vocals in the mid-range sound natural, but as we move up to the upper-mids and lower treble, the female vocal range does seem a little stretched at times. Guitar plucks sound extremely detailed for an IEM of this price point and even more so. Each pull of the string has a nice resonating quality to it that feels lively and real.

The brighter treble response adds some remnants of sibilance and edgy artifacts occasionally. This type of response in IEMs can vary from ear to ear and some may find it sensitive and others not. For me, I am, or at least have become more sensitive to it if it’s within a certain peak range (approximately 8kHz). This IEM peaks at around 7.3kHz, and that’s why sometimes I find the harsh peaks painful and sometimes I do not.

At worst, it’s a little ear jolt of spiky edginess. At best, it’s a little annoying and may cause some longer-term fatiguing listening. And that’s a little unfortunate for me, personally, as I find this IEM tuned pretty well outside this big peak in this 7-8kHz range.

This type of boost, however, does provide a little more detail to push forward, so recording quality and mastering can affect sound quality. I don’t typically like to judge a headphone by this, because I typically review a headphone as something that can be used in many situations, and if it can’t then I try to give my idea of where they work best and don’t work in. The Form 1.1 isn’t the best for poor recordings, at least with not some help from equalization (see below).

So back to my original thoughts: Tonality.
My first negative was that I thought the treble was a little overexaggerated, and I’ve tried to explain it a little bit already. And normally in a lot of IEM reviews, I don’t always bother going in-depth regarding equalizer usage. I’m not against it either. I have the RME ADI-2 DAC specifically so I can do hardware-based equalizer for a number of headphones at once. But for my review sets, I only tend to spend time on this topic if I feel like there’s a small deficiency in a capable headphone that has potential, and I feel like this one is in that category.

I took my IEC-711 coupler measurements and threw it into Room EQ Wizard and worked out a Parametric Equalizer (PEQ) setting that was close to my ideal frequency response curve and set up the RME ADI-2 DAC with this setting and turned on some music. For reference and for your possible enjoyment, my PEQ setting as of the time of writing this is:


Peak: 200 Hz Gain: -3.0dB Q-Factor: 0.5
Peak: 7.3 kHz Gain: -3.5dB Q-Factor: 5.0
Peak: 7.5 kHz Gain: -5.0dB Q-Factor: 2.0


With most songs, flipping the EQ on, helped reduce the brightness just a smidgen, and enough to tame the treble for longer term enjoyment. I played around with it until I found a good balance of keeping that treble sizzle contained but without losing the sparkle it creates.


Equalizer Predicted Frequency Response: Light Blue is the Filtered Response and Dark Blue is the Original Response

Not all songs behaved though. I still struggled with Elton John’s classic 1970’s music. Perhaps it’s the recording and mastering or it’s just Elton John’s vocals back then, but the Shozy Form 1.1 presented occasional sharpness in his music.

But not all was bad. In fact, for the most part, I found that with or even without the EQ settings, a lot of rock music and country music excelled in this IEM. Obviously for my preference, I found turning the EQ on and providing a more neutral bass response, while still maintaining elevated subbass, and reducing the treble peak at 7-8kHz improved my satisfaction with this IEM significantly.

The ability of the drivers to project very intricate qualities was impressive. I’m really surprised by what I heard. Obviously, this IEM does better with more laidback music and not something very treble-centric, and that’s why I find these working really well with organic rock and country music, jazz, and classical. I don’t find this does as well with some other genres, because it can be fatiguing.

Soundstage & Imaging
Now, back to the other negative – the soundstage. I found the Shozy had a narrow soundstage right away. I felt that music was being played well within my ears, and it was narrow like what I’d hear from an Etymotics IEM. Music had width to it, but trapped inside my head, and there was never a sense of depth or verticality. Psychoacoustics is a real thing for me, and I use certain songs, like Tool’s “The Pot” as a way to hear music coming from left and right, above and below, and in front or behind me. The introduction is enough to hear that type of imaging to me on my headphones, and even IEMs like my qdc Anole VX can separate the instruments into that type of 3D space within my mind. The Shozy Form 1.1 failed that test.

There’s definitely a sense of left and right panning, but not as wide and dynamic as I would expect and some small sense of forward sounds (or a phantom center channel) but not nearly as defined as some other IEMs. With my EQ activated, some of this sense actually started to come back. And to be clear, in the song “The Pot”, the faint echoes give me some forward and depth, while at around 16 seconds in, the drum beat starts to kick in and pans around each channel above and below you (on the VX and some of my headphones).

That’s not to say that the Form 1.1 is extremely narrow. It’s just not up to my normal listening standards. I didn’t find them as congested and closed-in as the recent Tin Hifi P1 planar IEM nor as the Shozy Hibiki IEM. Those were extremely narrow and everything just came at you all at once and imaging became a bit of a disaster to wade through. The Form 1.1 manages to separate instruments decently, but lacks a large space to put all of them in as some others would. Still, I don’t find this too problematic at all.



Comparisons




GuideRay GR-I

The GuideRay GR-I and the Shozy Form 1.1 share some similarities. They both measure similarly, however the Shozy Form 1.1 is noticeably elevated in the higher frequency band. This is definitely audible, as the GR-I was pushing the border of harshness for me, but rarely crossed it. With the Form 1.1, in it’s stock form, it did become harsh with some music and caused some fatiguing. That said, the Form 1.1’s resolution of detail was a marked jump from the GR-I, and it’s bass driver has a more noticeable rumble with defined layers, where the GR-I lacked this level of detail.




Tin Hifi P1

In a battle of two detail monsters, the Tin P1 Planar might edge out the Shozy in resolution, but only by slightly. I found the P1 to very extremely narrow and closed-in and this caused a lot of issues for me in terms of proper imaging and just a feeling of chaos in busy selections. Both have accentuated highs but the P1 felt more piercing than the Form 1.1 does. The Form 1.1 has a more elevated bass with a lot more punch, and those who felt the P1 lacked in this region should be happy with the Form 1.1’s bass performance, along with a similar level of resolution and speed.




Moondrop Kanas Pro

The Kanas Pro, like I’ve mentioned several times in the past, is one of my favorite IEMs of any price. The fit on it is still more comfortable to me than the Form 1.1. I also like the way it looks overall and it has a sensible sound signature that is clean and smooth. The Form 1.1 may actually out-resolve the Moondrop Kanas Pro in every area, but also is a little brighter and has bigger rumble and punchiness.



KZ ZSX

The KZ ZSX is a warm balanced tuning that lacks the definition that the Form 1.1 has. I find the ZSX to have more flabby bass response, but at the same time, the lower mid-range is warm and rich and the treble is tamed down and well controlled from harshness, which I can’t always say with the Form 1.1.




Conclusions/Wrap-Up

I came into the beginning of this process extremely skeptical I’d like a Shozy in-ear product, but have come out of this rather impressed. The Form 1.1’s new driver does it’s job and gives the bass and lower midrange a fast, punchy, and very good definition, that is unmatched in the In-Ears I’ve heard in this price point. I do advise that the treble is rather sharp and can be harsh and fatiguing, depending on each individual’s sensitivity and their preferences in music.

I was able to come out this review with a parametric equalizer setting that works well for my needs: taming the treble beast and putting it down to a level that I can handle, while still keeping the spicy sizzle of cymbal crashes, and airy sparkle present but controlled. With this EQ, this becomes my favorite budget IEM I’ve heard and it can compete with much more pricey earphones that I’ve heard. Without the EQ, it’s still got a lot of promise to it, especially if you can handle more brightness than I can. The detail quality won me over on this one.