epz q1

Overall rating: 3.5/5
Aesthetic:
Build Quality: 3.5/5
Design: 4/5
Accessories: 3.5/5
Sound Rating:
Timbre: 4/5
Bass: 4/5
Midrange: 3/5
Treble: 3/5
Technicalities: 2.5/5



DISCLAIMER
- This unit is purchased with my own money. All opinions remain original ideas, thus there is zero influence from any 3rd party or external opinions.
- No EQ or filter presets were used during the entire review period.
- Sound evaluations are kept neutral and does not include 3rd party accessories (ie; eartips, cable, reversible mods).
- Burn-in was done for 80 hours prior to review.

Introduction:
In this review, we will take a look on the EPZ Q1, one of EPZ (Ear Pageantry Zeal) budget offerings. As EPZ company just established their brand on 2019, the budget IEM market is already quite competitive. So instead of competing with other companies to stand out, the founder embraces his ideology to share his audio passion by polishing the build quality and his preferred tuning. Therefore, the EPZ Q1 is their celebration of audio and art.

Unboxing and Accessories:
The box is rather small and printed with a big “Q1” in front of the packaging. There is a pull tab on the bottom of the box. Slide open the box, you can see the IEM itself and several size of ear tips underneath the Q1. What’s in the box?
- EPZ Q1
- Soft storage pouch
- 3 pairs of double flange silicone ear tips (S, M, L)
- 3 pairs of generic silicone ear tips (S, M, L)
- 5N 4 core Single Crystal Copper cable with Microphone
- User Manual guide
Although I said that the storage pouch is not hard enough to protect the IEM, but honestly the price it offered is considered quite good.

Build Quality and Design:
EPZ Q1 is made of 3D printed resin, and it is polished to remove any sharp edges. The surface is glossy, and it is a fingerprint magnet. I like the faceplate design as it has black and gold accent which has a brushed texture when it nears any light source. It is well designed on both product aesthetic and ergonomic shape. It sits snugly in my small ears to get a good seal, even with their pre-included ear tips.

Specification:
Drive unit: 13mm dual cavity composite dynamic driver
Diaphragm: Polymer titanium-coated composite diaphragm
Frequency Response: 20Hz-40KHz
Sensitivity: ≥115dB
Rated impedance: 32Q
Cable: 0.78mm 2-pin Oxygen Free Copper (OFC) Silver Plated

Drivability:
The EPZ Q1 is easy to drive, and no amplification is needed. A small dongle like VE Avani will do the job flawlessly.

My music (don’t judge me xD) :
- Yoasobi - idol (24bit/96khz)
- Joji Nectar Album (24bit/96 kHz)
- Kamado Tanjiro no Uta (16bit/44.1 kHz)
- ReoNa - Human, Alive, Seimeisen, till the end (24/96 khz)
- Taylor Swift - We are never ever getting back together (DSD 5644kbps/ 2.8MHz)
- Radwimps - Suzume (24bit/96 kHz)
- And whole album of Kessoku Band
- G.E.M – GLORIA (24bit/96 kHz)
- Martin Garrix – In the Name of Love (24bit/44.1kHz)
- Jacky Cheung – Kiss goodbye (24bit/96kHz)
- Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra - "Kimetsu no Yaiba" Orchestra concert -Kimetsu no Kanade- (24bit/96 kHz)
- Taylor Swift “1989” album (24bit/48 kHZ)

Source used:
- Fiio K11 plugged into PC
- Aune Yuki plugged into iPad Air
- Aune S9C Pro plugged into PC
- Fiio KB3 plugged into PC
- Astell & Kern SR25 Dap
- Ibasso DX300 Dap (Impression soon)

Sonic Impression:
EPZ Q1 is a Harman-balanced tuned IEM with lush and meaty bass, slightly forward midrange, and inoffensive treble bite. This should work with pop, rock, R&B and movie soundtrack genre lovers.

Bass:
The Q1 is mid-bass focused, and its slower speed and decay makes the bass sound meaty and rumbly. It is dark and at the same time has musical traits. The bass quantity on this set is promising due to the 14mm dynamic driver, making it quite a standout from its competitors in this price range. Borderline bass-head approved!

Lower range extension is controlled, but the balance between quantity and quality is decent. You can listen to warm bass but at the same time you can hear some of the bass notes in the background. Drum kicks are a bit soft with adequate attack. Bass guitar has more presence, and it sounds natural with their single dynamic driver.

Midrange:
The midrange is the main spotlight of the show. It sounded warm but at the same time engaging. The upper mids are lifted, in a good way. Female vocals sound slightly elevated from the background to allow some space for the instrument to render. Q1 has natural tonality, I can hear near accurate instruments and vocal notes. There is no sibilant heard and the transients allow the midrange to sound lively. J-rock like Bocchi the Rock tracks are quite fast with complicated notes, and the Q1 can capture it without harshness or muddiness.

Both male and female vocals have thick note weights and liveliness, but transparency take a toll due to the warmer tuning. Lower mids sounds has more body, making it sounds a bit muddy. Brass instruments and piano sounds lifelike with orchestra tracks, without metallic timbres to be heard.

Treble:
Dark treble with controlled upper extension. Q1 steered towards relaxed listening, and this has to do with the laid-back presentation of drum snares and cymbals. Even though the treble does not stand out, it is still sounded balanced with enough major notes. Treble decay hits the right spot to make sure the tracks does not sound too fast and tame the upper mids from being shouty.

Soundstage and Technicalities:
Q1 spreads its soundstage with good amount of width but average with its depth. This affected the layering in the sound spectrum a bit, but it is compensated by its good imaging and separation. Detail retrievals and sound dynamics are not its thing but at least the musicality of this set explained why. It sounds immersive with orchestra music and movie soundtracks.

Comparison:
QOA Gimlet
I must go head-to-head with my daily driver, the QOA Gimlet. It is one of my favorite warm and organic tuned IEM to date. Both set offers good warmth and lush vocals, with good enough details to be rendered. The Q1 has better vocals energy in my opinion, while Gimlet has better tonality with that analogue-ish approach.
Technicalities wise, both sounds more or less the same. Gimlet has a tad better height and depth perception but Q1 has better width extension into the sound realm.

Conclusion:
The EPZ Q1 is a unique set as it sounds warmer than being just balanced. I found the EPZ Q1 sounds musical and at the same time retains vocal energy and did well with sound separations. Do I recommend it? I am saying yes for the audiophiles who want to have warm and engaging vocals.

Disclaimer

• Huge thanks to EPZ for providing a unit of the EPZ Q1 for me to review. I really do appreciate it. However, all thoughts and opinions are my own, and are not influenced in any way.
• Please take this review with only a grain of salt, as everyone's hearing, fit, and gears may differ, so our experience may be different.

Price(MSRP)

• ~$25

Source(s)

• FiiO KA13
• Truthear Shio
• JCally JM6 Pro

Ear tips

• Dunu S&S

Packaging

• EPZ Q1
• Soft carrying pouch
  • Very good inclusion, very practical to use as well.
  • Most budget IEMs don't even come with a carrying pouch nowadays .. so they did a great job at including these.
• Good selection of ear tips.
  • 3 pairs of double flange silicone ear tips (S, M, L)
  • 3 pairs of generic silicone ear tips (S, M, L)
• 5N 4 core Single Crystal Copper cable with Microphone
  • Honestly, very good for the price.
  • Not too thin, doesn't tangle often, very comfortable to wear.
  • Even comes with a microphone and wrap to keep everything in place, not many stock cables comes with all these, even in higher price brackets.

Build Quality

• Surprisingly well built especially for the price, shell is made out of resin.

Fit

• Nozzle length and width are about average.
• Semi custom-like fit, fits very comfortably for me.

Tonality

• Warm, dark.

Bass

• Mid bass is more prominent than the sub bass.
• Bass sounds ... very loose, makes everything sounds a little splashy and undefined to my ears.
• However, it does sound somewhat full and comes with decent texture and a slight rumble to it ... but still lacks a bit of weight and physicality to it despite the 13mm DD.
• The bass is also not well controlled, with slower decay.
• Overall, I think the bass is subpar. It lacks in a lot of aspects such as tightness, control, and even in weight and impact.

Midrange

• Midrange is quite warm and rich with a smooth and relaxed presentation.
• Lower midrange sounds full, which makes male vocals sound forward and lush, but its also too bloated and muddy.
• Upper midrange is recessed, female vocals stays at the background and is a little veiled & muffled from the bass bleed. This is not often based on my personal experience and is rather niche and unique, since there will usually be more energy in this region to compensate the lower end energy.
• Timbre is ... not good but not too bad for a signature as unique as this. Everything sounds a little heavier and huskier but still within the realm of natural enough.
• Note weight and density is on the thicker and heavier side.

Treble

• Treble is very smooth, but it is also dark, and lacking a lot of sparkle throughout the whole treble region.
• Treble extension is subpar, not much sense of airiness and
• Details can be a little harder to perceive due to the darker signature.

Technicalities

Resolution

• Resolution and detail retrieval is surprisingly decent even with the lack of brightness in the treble but I won't call it good for the price.

Soundstage

• Soundstage is average, a little closed in as expected from something in this price but due to the recessed upper midrange, the overall staging can be strange.

Imaging

• Imaging and accuracy is good, I am able to pinpoint positions quite easily and accurately.

Separation

• Separation and layering is overall average, but vocals can easily sound a bit congested and not as well separated.
• This may be because of the warmer low end and lack of upper midrange energy for the vocals to pop out sometimes.

Conclusion

• Overall, the EPZ Q1 has a very unique tuning that differs itself from the usual budget offerings but this sort of tonality only appeals to a very niche crowd in my honest opinion.
• If you want a very warm, smooth, unique, and non-fatiguing IEM to the extreme that also comes with a very complete set of accessories for a affordable price, then this is the IEM for you.
• However, I would advice to look somewhere else if you're into more mainstream tunings and excitement in your IEMs.

Thanks for reading!

The packaging of the Q1 is simple and understated and has good documentation. Inside one finds the Q1, two kinds of tips one shallow and the other a stubby dual flange and an adequate cable. The build of the Q1 looks fantastic and I personally think its so pretty. I found them comfortable but only after using the tips from the EPZ G10. isolation will be good if you find the right tips and the elongated nozzles aren't a problem.

Description
Item model number: Q1
Plug type: 0.78mm double pin
Mini Jack: 3.5mm
Matching method: wear around the ear
Type: Dynamic Headphones
Conductor: Oxygen Free Copper (OFC) Silver Plated
Drive unit: 13mm dual cavity composite dynamic driver
Diaphragm: Polymer titanium-coated composite diaphragm
Frequency Response: 20Hz-40KHz
Sensitivity: ≥115dB
Rated impedance: 32Q

Sound:

Bass: presents powerful, Bass details are very smooth and enjoyable. Mid-Bass is snappy and fast and does bleed a little into the Mids. Sub-Bass is more Prominet. The overall texture is average.
Mids: Present with a slight hint of warmth but overall are neutral. Instead of forwarding they are laid-back and not centered, separation and clarity are fair. In general, they sound warm with smoothness and a little recessed with average texture.
Treble: The highs are veiled; they are somewhere behind the stage with smooth details heard.
Soundstage has width depth and height lesser. It is average in imaging for the price.

Conclusion: I really wanted to like these, I've heard good things about the Q5 and I love the G10 but this one is definitely not my thing, I honestly think these are for specific music, maybe not western style music. More for casual listening maybe of eastern music. it took around 4 days to burn in

The product looked good to me and I decided to give it a try, there was someone on the forum who said it was muddy. Anyway, I'm going to review q1 today.

iems and cable quality;

The iems definitely looks like it's in the $200 band, there are several iems that use the same resin mold, and it definitely feels good. I remember seeing this cable on a few other headphones, probably similar iems companies order from the same place.




box contents;

- 6 pairs of weird ear tips, which I personally didn't like because they're too short and I couldn't get a fit.
- iems,
- mediocre quality cable,
- iems protection bag


note;

they sent me an extra pair of eartips and earbuds. I didn't have any requests for it, the seller said this after I sent my order.



sound quality;

what is v sound? poor quality v? yep, that's the iems. I have never seen headphones with such strange vocals in my life, the vocals come from far away.


bass ;

The only joke of this earphone is bass, bleeding bass. It has bass that will please even a bass lover, but the bass mixes into both the mid and high frequencies. You have difficulty hearing other frequencies when there are both slow and bleeding basses.


mids;

The vocals are so far behind that I have to turn up the volume to hear the vocals. this time the bass is increasing and the mid frequencies are again in the shadows, use the mid frequencies the instruments are already missing.


treble;

It has a very strange treble setting, devoid of sparkle and detail. With v-sound headphones, the highs aren't usually that bad, but that's the case here.



sound stage; Very interestingly, it feels like the sound is coming from below, it's the first time I've come across such a headset. I've used weird v-shaped earphones before, but sometimes when I want to understand where the sound is coming from, I look down.



timbre accuracy;

Below par, no vocals anyway. You can only listen to electronic music.


resolution;

Mid frequencies are missing, you can't hear any detail from the bass. There is no detail anyway, but you can't hear it from the bass. too much mud, just mud.


comfort;

iems are a bit big, if you have small ears not for you. The voice character is also a bit tiring, a bit haha.


last word;

At about $29, for this price you can find one with a waner and one with a v sound and any better sound than this. Instead of paying this price, you can order flo red, which is a product that can compete with the 80-100 dollar band in technical terms. I paid $29 for the resin and I was left with $5 of sound quality. It doesn't make much sense to throw away $29 when even the $20 band is so competitive.