Brainwavz B400 - Quad Balanced Armature Earphones

this review originally posted at www.hifitrends.com

Amazing soundstage and imaging put you in your own private concert.

My first experience with Brainwavz was a few years back when I read a glowing review about their Delta earbuds, a product considered by some to be the best sounding earphones under $50. The Delta, with its combination of well thought out features and generous accessory package, all for about $25, represents their strategy of providing a lot for a little.

The B200 Dual Balanced Armature IEM ($120), which came out in 2017, and the B400 Quad Balanced Armature IEM which came out last year at $200, follow a similar value/price proposition, albeit at higher price points with different driver tech. The B400, like the Delta, comes with a nice accessory package, along with good sound and features for the price, but at a whole other (higher, of course) level of performance.

Build/Features:
The B400 is a pro-style IEM, which as its name implies, has four Balanced Armature drivers within each earpiece. The earpieces have 3D printed translucent housings with standard MMCX connectors. This means cables are replaceable, and there are in fact two 1.3m cables that come standard in the box. One has an inline remote with a mic plus volume and track controls, and the other is a straight cable with a 45-degree angle plug at the end.

The remote worked flawlessly with my LGV40, but I did have a bugaboo with the buttons, which were so narrow that it was hard to press them. However, once pressed they felt very solid and responsive, and the metal housing of the remote looked very slick and polished.

Overall, both cables are of good quality, with nice flex, and a sturdy black jacket running the length of them. Both cables have pre-formed tubes slipped over the wire on the earphone side, which hooks over the ears comfortably and keeps the IEMs securely in place. Brainwavz also has upgrade cables available on their website.

The B400 has a very simple clean look, and comes in six translucent colors including the Aqua color I have. I like the minimalist look and the earpieces are quite small considering the amount of drivers inside. The combination of their smooth exterior and what Brainwavz calls the “ergonomic shape” makes them extremely comfortable. I wore them for hours with very minimal discomfort.

As mentioned earlier, they come with a pretty nice accessory package which includes the standard S,M,L silicone ear tips, some Comply T-100 foam tips, a mic/remote cable, the straight cable, a nice black/red zip up hard case which is something of a signature for Brainwavz, plus two velcro cable wraps, and a shirt clip. I was impressed by the quality of all the accessories.

Noise isolation is very good, especially since they don’t fit very deep, which is another testament to the ergonomics of the earpieces. They are also very easy to drive, sounding great with my LG V40 phone. However, I actually thought they sounded even better with some good amplification, responding favorably to the output from the iFi xDSD headphone amp/DAC.

Sound:
All my sound tests were done with TIDAL Hi-Fi, streaming from the LG V40 phone, and from the HP ENVY x360 laptop connected to a iFi xDSD headphone amp/DAC. The xBass and 3D+ sound enhancements were turned off on the xDSD.

So when you talk about having four balanced armatures in an IEM, of course you have some high expectations regarding the sound. While it sounds like a slam dunk to have all those separate drivers handling the different parts of the audio spectrum, it’s actually difficult to properly blend the sound coming from all those little tiny speakers in such a small space. That being said, Brainwavz has done a great job with the tuning on these earphones. I gravitate towards warm headphones, and the B400 fall within that category.

They are mid-centric, with a tad bit of rolloff at both extremes of the audioband, which gives them a very smooth, easygoing sound. I’m very sensitive to bright earphones, so I actually liked this sound signature. This doesn’t mean there is a lack of detail, there is plenty of detail here from top to bottom, especially in the mids, but there is also nice detail in the presence region which keeps the sound clear up top. However, if you like a lot of extra sparkle at the top end, or extreme bass you should probably listen to these before you buy.

I personally like headphone/earphones that get the mids right since that is where a good part of the musical information is, and these definitely do that. Vocals are awesome, sounding very delicate and transparent. When I listened to Luciana Souza’s “Down To You” from her album The New Bossa Nova, her vocals were crisp without any harshness, and I also loved how the strings were reproduced with tons of vibrancy.

Live recordings also really shine on these earphones. The multiple drivers layer sounds so well, creating a wide and deep soundstage that made me feel like I was in the room when I listened to “How Deep Is Your Love” from PJ Morton’s Gumbo Unplugged. The background singers popped out of the background off to the left, and PJ was up front and center singing and directing the action. But the magic happens when the featured singer Yebba explodes from the right, bringing the performance home. PJ’s piano playing also sounds so natural. The separation of instruments and performers gives you almost a 3D sound, it is so realistic.

Conclusion:
The B400s sound quality alone easily puts them at the top of the heap for $200 earphones. You would have to spend a lot more to get much better sound than what they offer. The deep soundstage is nothing short of amazing, and the imaging is very focused and precise. With a good live recording, they actually give you a “you are there” performance. Throw in great comfort and build quality, and you have a definite winner here.

BRAINWAVZ B400 REVIEW :



SOUND: 8/10
CONSTRUCTION: 8/10
DESIGN: 9/10
VALUE: 8/10




It make a long time I do not listen to Brainwavz earphones, lot of water have pass under the bridge since there first models that include S0, S1 single drivers and the nice sounding but complicate to wear Dual drivers R3 I buy in the past.

So, after hearing they lauch Multi BA’S universal custom models, I getvery interested and wait and wait and well, finally decide to try them after reading positive impressions about all B lineup, wich include B100 single BA, B200 dual BA’s and B400 quadruple BA’s. All them have housing construction made from 3D prints technology using liquid resin 3 pinters. I was sceptical about the benifit from such housing technology, but can confirm it achieve a degree of comfort that I rarely if ever wear with any unversal custom shaped iem.

The four BA’s of B400 are ‘’Made in USA’’and no, we will not know more than this. Is it Knowels or Optoma or what? One thing sure, these BA’s sound very good, never harsh or overly textured like china BA’s find in KZ, TRN and such more low budget oriented Multi drivers iem. Now, let’s see if the Brainwavz B400 is a good buy for the 200$ price.



CONSTRUCTION, DESIGN & ACCESSORIES :



When Unboxing the B400, you know this is a serious audio products you have. The presentation is really nice as it come in an elangant greay box that you don’t wanna put in garbage after...so find a use to it, like, storing your 50 iem, jewelery or gold plated denture.



In this box we have a good lot of accessories, wich I appreciate at this price range. We have a nice quality protective case, good lot of eatips inluding foam tips, and more importantly 2 mmxc cable-one with mic and other being standard. Again, all look of irreprochable quality.



Now, about the B400 housing, first thing is how small they are for a 4BA’s, wich explain too the level of comfort we get. The resin plastic is very slippy and fit perfectly any ears. The nozzle tough, have a rough look and no mesh, wich make it worrysome for unwanted particule or dust entering it, perhaps finding a eartips with mesh will prevent that. As well, the 3D resin printing make the housing trasparent at some place and opaque at other, for esthetical aspect thats a little disapointing because they would be so more beautifull if all perfectly translucide. MMCX connection is well implemented in housing and will must likely never brea. So, about durability i’m not that worry, perhaps the plastic can crack if beaten up, can’t tell for now.



As said, this are slippy iem, because the form design have an organic shape, wich is perfact for comfort and fitting, but can make connecting MMCX cable a little clumsy….but this is not really an issue. Just don’t change mmcx cable in front of a pool, a fire or a cliff, that’s all.


OVERALL SOUND IMPRESSIONS :



Having mostly heard cheaper multi BA’s earphones, I was a little worry that the Brainwavz B400 will sound either too sharp, harsh, bass anemic or unbalanced. In fact, I was begining loosing hope in multi BA’s budget earphones, wich explain why I decide to try slightly more expensive model. At 200$ the B400 must be well tuned right?? Well, i’m happy to say it is! At very first listen I know it was from another league of any sub-100$ iem I try, wich is why an audiophile will invest this amount of money that still is in the budget range as we know nowadays price can go above 1K as if its something normal (it isn’t). So, B400 offer a very well layered and revealing sound with good thick punch, well rendered sub timbre and energy, very present and immersive mids and nice highs sparkle without any invasive treble peaks. Its a very musical, balanced sound that is on the soft side without feeling warm due to well controled frequencies response.



AMPING isn’t really needed even if the B400 are 32ohm. Sound pressure being very high, any audio source will do, but again, I suggest a good one with ultimate clarity, like the Xduoo X20.

SOUNDSIGNATURE is W shape with emphasis on mid bass and extra resolution inmids section and lower highs, all that with an overall smoth treble presentation that do not push fowards texture.

SOUNDSTAGE is deeper than wider, being more intimate in an holographic way than airy and around your head. Itsthe trasparency of smooth sound layers that help overall definition. With pristine recorded track playing trough ultra clear audio source, you will be utterly impress by level of imaging this B400 can achieve.


SUB BASS have good timbre and separation, its not the rumbly type and will perhaps lack some ‘’humph’’ for the serious basshead that will must likely tend towards boomy bass as here the sub stay in its right spot and have good resolution and extension, it just isnt pumped up really. I do not feel bass player lack body, in fact, it just feel right to me. Anyway, when sub is pushed fowards like with the tracks ‘’Pick Six’’ from Gila, its far from sounding thin and have plenty of body, quite incredible for a BA performance really even if I still believe only dynamic drivers can move enough air to make sub more alive.


MID BASS punch is where the energic part come, its well rounded and nicely impactfull without being ultra textured or too fowards and bright, it have some softness to it wich make it refrain from mids bleeding, attack isn’t the fastest-tighest but resolution and separation compensate for that. Compared to must single dynamic or cheaper hybrids iem, it deal well with complex tracks and never struggle whatever how fast or intense is drums playing in middle of multiple instruments as we can find in fast jazz rock or power rock. Sure some extra weight would help for extra energy, but the punch have good liveliness nonetheless.


MIDS have soft timbre with good body and grip to it, it float above all rest of sound spectrum making them the more fowarded frequencies range even if we are far from an overly textured or bright presentation. I find all instrument in this range to have great agility and benifit from extra transparency, so we can either hear naturally the background instrument of a front signer or other instrument in classical quatuor or symphony. Madeleine Peyroux voice in ‘’Blue Alert’’ song is too die for, but that’s not all, the whole track feel very balanced and spot on, with every instrument righly placed without overly emphased peaks. As the sounstage is more on the intimate side, it’s perfect for a song like this because of great layering potential. With very complex overcrowded music, B400 will struggle to have as much definition than with pop, folk, jazz or classical, we talk about music that have multiple layers of electronic instruments with particular texture like electric guitar or distorted synth or pads, wich B400 do not like to deal with.


HIGHS aren’t overly emphased and I don’t think we are in analytical territory, here, its more the timbre and tone that give extra visibility instruments, as well as lower ranges tranparencies from low to upper mids. There a whole relaxed but agile presentation with the B400 that is hard to describe, like snare, hit hat or percussion are tigh but not particularly sparkly. This will be perhaps problematic for solo harpsichord or music style that benefit a hall like vast presentation, wich even B200 can do to some extend, but it will be less a good all arounder. I do not feel there real treble roll off before 15khz and I prefer it this way : smooth, well resolved and musical without too much echo that can veil lower frequencies or distract the ears. To me, the B400 is a very well tuned 4 balanced armature and the treble is excellent for this type of drivers that can be too sharp ,and it deliver plenty of microdetails in upper region to enjoy. Sure, perfection would be to have extra texture in some there and there….but, its perhaps to compensate an utopia that will make the cymbals sound splashy in they end wich is not the case here.


COMPARAISONS :



VS Final Audio Design E4000 (130$) :

Braiwavz B400 cost 50$ more than E4000 and have a 4BA’S configuration compared to single 6.4mm drivers of E4000.

Soundsignature are somewhat in same family but tuned differently, it tend towards neutral and balanced with slight bump in mid bass and mids, but the B400 have some bump in sub bass and treble too wich make them overall a hint brighter and sharper.

Soundstage is more holographic with the B400 while the E4000 feel more frontal and little wider with more transparent layer compared to a more hall like withe extra echo of B400.

Amping isn’t needed for B400 as they are more easy to drive even at 32ohm, E4000 benifit from powefull dap or extra amping due to low sound pressure.

BASS of B400 have more sub presence than the E4000 and slightly less mid bass punch and resolution, here E4000 show how even if smooth sounding he can have realistic timbre that give subtle extra body to kick and help a clearer separation with low bass. Sub bass of B400 is thicker and weightier wich will benifit for electronic music while the E4000 bass will benefit rock and jazz.

MIDS are more fowarded with the B400 and have more texture especially in upper mid range, wich give more grip to violin and clearer separation in not too complex music that do not have too much sub bass and highs emphasis. Overall mids timbre of E4000 feel more natural and transparent, but more in center stage too, wich can feel recessed for some.
HIGHS are more sparkly and have more decay with B400, being more fowards and sharp as well, there no treble roll off with these compared to E4000 tamed upper treble wich give more balance and neutrality to overall sound to the cost of softing the dynamic energy. B400 can sound sometime too sharp as well as unbalanced with for example complex jazz were the percussion can feel too fowards, but I think it will be a plus for some listener searching for extra sparkle and details.



VS NiceHCK M6 (130$) :

The M6 have a configuration of 1 dual dynamic drivers plus 4BA’s and is one of my favorite iem right now and an incredible sound value.

Soundsignature is more U shape with extra sub bass push while the W sounding B400 have someextra punch and mids.

Being more bassy, the M6 bass feel more weighty and pumped up insub bass, anddig surely deeper as well, its more bodied but the resolution is so so and it can mix up with midbass will the B400 have more natural timbre and control.

There some bass bleed from M6 giving extra warm to the mids that are more recessed than B400, where again, it have better resolution even if less treble emphasis than M6. Mids are better layered and have more clarity as well as amore balanced presentation with B400, where M6 can sometime have slight upper harshness, B400 feel more natural and transparent.

With the M6 we have more micro details, but more harshness too, percussion and snare are more fowards and linear sounding with rest of spectrum, again, B400 show its talent with a more mature tuning that do not have crazy treble peaks.

Soundstage of M6 is more around your head and wider, but can feel veiled by bass sometime, so the B400 have a deeper presentation.

Construction of M6 will surely survive any type of mistreatment, its very TOTL looking iem for the price, while the B400 look a little delicate. For accessories, M6 come with one cable and B400 with 2, both are standard quality, nothing phenomenal.





CONCLUSION :


The Brainwavz B400 is a great achievement in multiple BA’S tuning, transient response feeling very natural and lively, never too sharp or peaky, we have here a very musical sounding universal custom that is as confortable to wear than to listen to for long hours.

The fact it’s packed up with lot of accessories is another plus that justify the 200$ price as I think this earphones is a great all arounder that sound very good with lot of different music style too making it a keeper in the long term unlike other iem that will be more picky with sound rendering.

If you search for a soft but punchy, mid centric multi BA’S earphone, that give excellent imaging in an intimate ultra layered soundstage with great deepness to it, I think the B400 is an excellent choice.

Brainwavz B400 Review: The Emptier of Wallets
Brainwavz has a long track record of building compelling IEMs for the audiophile market, mostly on the budget end of the spectrum. This has officially changed with the release of their B-series: a lineup of balanced-armature high-fidelity IEMs. Today I’ll be taking a look at their flagship offering, the B400. It features a 3D-printed build and four BA drivers.

You can find the B400 for sale here, for $200.

About My Preferences: Heads up, I’m a person! As such, these words are my opinion, and they are tinged by my personal preferences. While I try to mitigate this as much as possible during my review process, I’d be lying if I said my biases are completely erased. So for you, my readers, keep this in mind:

• My ideal sound signature would be an extended sub-bass with a leveled, but textured, mid-bass.
• I have a mild treble sensitivity.

Source: The B400 was powered like so:

HTC U11 -> USB-C adapter -> earphones

or

Hidizs AP100 3.5mm out -> FiiO A5 3.5mm out -> earphones

or

HiFiMAN SuperMini -> earphones

or

PC optical out -> HiFiMe SPDIF 9018 Sabre DAC 3.5mm out -> earphones

All music was served as MP3 @320Kbps or as FLAC.

Tech Specs

• Drivers: Quad Balanced Armature
• Rated Impedance: 30Ω
• Frequency Range: 10 Hz — 40 kHz
• Sensitivity : 115dB

Sound Signature
Sonic Overview:

The B400 features a gentle, though non-linear, sound signature. There’s a small emphasis in the bass, with the 100Hz range being the most notable. The midrange is fairly linear, with a mild rising of the lower-midrange and a slight recession of the upper midrange. Bass extension is very good. Treble slowly trends up in emphasis and is very cohesive. There’s no distortion on “disconnect” that one might hear on a worse-made multi-BA earphone. After letting my ears adjust, the B400’s sound signature, which is somewhat uncommon, sounded pretty well-balanced and relatively natural-sounding.

Treble: Songs used: In One Ear, Midnight City, Outlands, Satisfy, Little One

Treble isn’t peaky or washed out. It maintains clarity and precision in the majority of the songs I listened to, articulating a large number of very small details. The kicker to the B400’s treble is less its detail retrieval, and more its ability to maintain notable levels of detail without ever losing its tonality and timbre.

Rock songs really benefit from the B400’s approach to treble. High-hats and cymbals are consistently well-defined with a lively and fairly realistic timbre. Attack and decay are above average when compared to your standard dynamic-driver IEM, but on the slower side when compared to other BA IEMs. I enjoy B400’s speed though: it feels far more realistic than the clinical speed that other BA’s offer.

I had not one experience with sibilant across any song. This includes all of my worst offenders such as Satisfy and White Flag.

Midrange: Songs used: Flagpole Sitta, Jacked Up, I Am The Highway, Dreams, Too Close, Little Black Submarines

The B400’s midrange is the most polarizing component in its sound signature. The upper-midrange is recessed further than the lower midrange, and as such, can sound “stuffy” or “thick”. This was definitely my experience up-front, both when I demoed it at CanJam and when I got it in for review. But after consistently listening for about four days, my ears adapted to it and I began to appreciate it, something I really didn’t expect.

Tone aside, the recession in the upper midrange can make warmly-mastered songs a little too thick for my tastes. While these instances were rare in my music library, they did exist. But for every other song, I often found myself getting lost in the cohesive instrumental presentation that the B400’s mids so often displayed. And much like the treble, the mids have a respectable level of detail retrieval, even relative to other IEMs at this price point.

Guitars and drums sound lively and come off as naturally-sounding. String instrumentation sounded great as well, with the B400 capturing a lot of texture in its articulation. And in spite of its recession, the upper midrange blends naturally in with the treble. Electric guitars have a satisfying crunch to them and each individual instrument feels like it has a lot of sonic depth.

Male vocals don’t quite have the same presence or articulation as female vocals, though both types were still above-average in intelligibility.

Bass: Songs used: Moth, Gold Dust, In For The Kill (Skream Remix), War Pigs (Celldweller Remix)

The B400’s bass signature is super refined. The midbass has just enough of a presence to provide punch and impact but never becomes offensively prominent or overbearing. Furthermore, its blending with the sub-bass is nearly seamless. The midbass is polite and well-behaved too; it never overwhelms the midrange.

Speaking of sub-bass, the B400’s lowest frequencies are quite expressive. They extend well enough to fully articulate the bass drop in In For The Kill. And while the sub-bass is prominent enough to create rumble (even at low volumes), it is never strong enough to feel particularly visceral. Sorry, bassheads.

Packaging / Unboxing
Build
Construction Quality

The B400’s shell is made from a 3D-printed resin. It’s easy to mistake the shell for having a rough texture when looking at it online, but don’t let the frosty tone fool you, it’s very smooth. The surface is polished, making it reflect a bit in sunlight.

The MMCX ports are set firmly in the top of the shell and they sit flush with their surroundings.

The B400 comes with two cables: one TRS cable and on TRRS cable with inline controls. The TRRS cable is pretty sturdy. Its wire is a 4-core twisted geometry wrapped with some tough plastic covering it. The Y-splitter, chin-slider, jack housing, and in-line controls are all made of a reflective metal that is fairly scratch resistant. Sensible stress-relief gives me confidence about the longevity of it as well.

The second cable is quite robust. Its wire is identical to the first cable. The MMCX jacks, Y-splitter, chin slider, and 3.5mm jack are all housed in a touch semi-matte plastic. The cable is terminated with a 45-degree jack though, which is not a very good choice in terms of drop resistance. Swapping it for a right-angle jack or straight one would better suit it in terms of durability, though given that I’d chalk this up to being used as a replacement or backup cable most of the time, I’m not really too upset about such a choice.

Comfort

The B400’s nozzle is thin and the shell is relatively small. This makes it good at achieving a deep insertion which was pretty comfortable for me. I found myself wishing for slightly larger foam eartips though, as the included ones didn’t get me as solid of a seal as I was looking for. That said, swapping to larger silicone did help me out a bit.

The shell’s material is very light making it very easy to wear for long periods of time. The B400 can be worn to bed, though I don’t recommend laying on your side with it.

Accessories

Inside the box you’ll find:

• 1x pair of Comply foam eartips
• 5x pairs of silicone eartips
• 1x shirt clip
• 1x semi-hard carrying case

These accessories all feel high quality and get the job done. There’s no glaring omissions and no real revisions I feel necessary to help the accessories better suite the B400, other than the inclusion of larger foam eartips.

Comparisons
1: Brainwavz B150 ($70)

I’m doing this comparison simply because it’s interesting. How does the flagship B-series IEM compare to its midrange sibling? Well, they have very different sound signatures. The B400 feels much fuller than the B150, owing mostly to the B400’s recessed upper-mids. The B150 in comparison sounds a bit hollow after listening to the B400, though they both boast some pretty phenomenal detail-retrieval at their respective price ranges.

As far as build quality goes, the B400 is far and away the superior choice. From the quality of the molding on the shells to the durability of the cables, the B400 outpaces the B150. But you know, that’s really to be expected when it costs nearly three times as much. Interestingly though, I found that the B150 sealed better in my ear and remained completely comfortable for longer periods of time than the B400 did.

2: HiFiBOY OS V3 ($160)

The OS V3 makes use of driver configuration that’s quite different from the B400. Instead of using four BA drivers it goes with two BA drivers and a single dynamic driver. Furthermore, it has a very different signature from the B400, leaning more towards the B150’s style of presentation. Where the B400 has recessed upper-mids and linear lower-mids, the OS V3 has a recessed lower midrange and elevated upper midrange and lower treble. In fact, the OS V3 has a significantly more elevated treble than the B400 which does give it a more sharp tonality. Bass response of the OS V3 is also slightly weaker with more sub-bass roll-off. Overall detail retrieval is much better on the B400 though.

The OS V3 is easier to listen when coming from a traditional V-shaped IEM as its midrange generally conforms to the norm for V-shaped sound signatures.

As far as build goes, the B400 is neck-and-neck with the OS V3. Their cables, while different, each has good levels of durability. Their shells, while again quite different, are about equal in quality and fit. The B400 did come with Comply though, so I was able to get a better seal with it than the OS V3.

3: 1More Quad-Driver ($200)

The B400 and the Quad Driver are direct competitors. They have the same number of drivers, the same price, and the same target audience. The most immediately noticeable difference when comparing the B400 and the Quad Driver’s sound signatures is the midrange. The lower-mids of the Quad Driver are much less prominent than those in the B400, and the upper-mids are more linear. The Quad Driver’s midbass is also much more pronounced, washing away the lower-mids a bit. It’s a very different presentation from the B400, and one that I definitely like less. So while the B400 does sound “thicker” than the Quad Driver, it doesn’t feel like any part of the sound-signature is straight-up missing like it does with the Quad Driver.

The B400’s treble is also much better toned. It captures more details and has a more accurate timbre, especially when dealing with high-hats.

The B400’s 3D-printed shells are quite different from the Quad Driver’s metallic ones. While I think the Quad Drivers would survive a “crushing” scenario better, I don’t think they’ll fare as well as the B400 will in wear-and-tear scenarios. It also doesn’t feature removable cables; a huge no-no if you want to keep your IEMs working for several years.

Summary
The B400 is an impressive IEM when taken at face-value, and is even more impressive when taken as the very first flagship made by Brainwavz. Competitive clarity, smooth articulation, and a relatively natural tonality all synthesize the B400 into a very compelling product. For what it aims to be, you’d be hard-pressed to outdo the B400 at this price-point, and even more so whenever it goes on sale! So if you haven’t heard the B400, I suggest you go try it. You may fall in love.

As always, happy listening!