KBEAR Aurora
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Equipment used to test
Schiit Modius + Topping A90 -> SE 3.5mm AURORA (STOCK with wide bore tips)
I am not a trained reviewer nor do I intend to claim as one, hence I am writing this review from a listener perspective. My views are generally based on what I hear in the Low, Mids and High frequencies and by breaking them down into instrument, vocal and anything else that I could describe in English. There will be an Apple (Aurora) vs Tangerine (Timeless) vs Lemon (Lokahi) comparison at the end hoping to give multi facet dimension to this review.
LOW: This IEM has an elevated bass, as one can sense the lower frequencies tugging and rumbling as the music plays. I can identify each bass string, each kick drum executed cleanly and tightly. Wagakki Band has tracks that are packed dense with drum beats, bass guitars and a fleet of Japanese instruments coupled with some very characteristic vocals. The lower frequency does not bleed and I can sense none of those muddiness on any of the tracks. It is of course not crazy bass head level bass; just good quality bass without feeling over quantity.
MIDS: I usually look at Vocal production as I am pretty much a vocal centric listener even though there are tons of instrument with harmonics in this frequency range (remember I am not an avid reviewer!). Again let’s revisit Wagakki Band, despite the many instruments playing at the same time, each demanding a note of its own, the female vocal here presented itself strong and with distinction. Male vocal has the same level of clarity and appears to be at equal distance to your ear as the female counterpart. Wagakki Band uses a Japanese Bamboo flute in most of their songs and its produced smooth and accurately. Oh Diana Krall’s voice is lush and intimate, every note is full and you could even hear the breath with each note she sings.
HIGH: As a slight V shape IEM, one should expect some emphasis in the higher frequency; treble – the tingling and tangling. In today’s IEM market, quality in this range separate the good from the bad. How to achieve the accurate lively production without causing fatigue and the hateful sibilance. I for one is treble sensitive and I do not give kind words to IEM that cross that threshold. Aurora manages to create that magic for me, producing lively, “zazzy” bright notes of the high hats or the strings without making it piercing. I do find that on very Sibilance tracks, Aurora do tread extremely near to almost tipping over but manages to score a borderline pass.
OTHERS: Soundstage is not the largest in this set, I used Bubbles by Yosi Horikawa featuring “balls” dropping sound chained together with electronic music. Immediately, one can hear that Aurora plays it width better than its depth and height (this track emphasizes Height and Depth quite strongly). With the same track, you can also easily perceive the separation capability of Aurora. Every “ball” dropping is distinct and easily identifiable even when the electronic music is playing behind (actually sounded more like above). Finally, Air – again, not the airiest IEM, if one were to read Aurora’s graph, one will see that there is pretty much energy still in the 10 to 20khz range and that’s reflected in the actual sound but just not airy enough, I may be asking too much but what’s wrong with asking too much for a TOTL IEM.
UNEQUAL COMPARISON
AURORA vs LOKAHI – 7BA (4.4 Bal) vs 7Hz Timeless (4.4 Bal)
Lokahi sounded more technically capable vs Aurora, it produces each note with better authority better clarity, it’s like Lokahi is an 8k resolution TV and Aurora is 4k resolution TV, by now means am I say therefore Aurora is not detailed, it’s just that each of the 7 BAs in Lokahi has more focus task to do versus having to do everything in the Aurora. The “outer edge” of each note seems more defined on Lokahi yet Aurora produces strong bass with similar speed as Lokahi. Female vocal on Lokahi sounded more intimate and lush than that on Aurora. On certain tracks, Lokahi has the risk of sounding a tiny bit grainy while Aurora comes across as silky smooth. Separation and soundstage are almost on par between these 2 IEMs. The reverse (in a good way) is to be said of Timeless. It has larger soundstage, almost similar technicality to Aurora. I believe Timeless is very much source dependent to produce its best while Aurora is less dependent. A clean stack like what I used for this test favors Aurora over Timeless. Notes on Timeless sounded “thinner” than that of Aurora. Aurora basically trumps Timeless in the Bass and Mids sections by being more authoritative and accurate.
P.S. I bought this IEM after reading the review from my most trusted reviewer: Larry.
Schiit Modius + Topping A90 -> SE 3.5mm AURORA (STOCK with wide bore tips)
I am not a trained reviewer nor do I intend to claim as one, hence I am writing this review from a listener perspective. My views are generally based on what I hear in the Low, Mids and High frequencies and by breaking them down into instrument, vocal and anything else that I could describe in English. There will be an Apple (Aurora) vs Tangerine (Timeless) vs Lemon (Lokahi) comparison at the end hoping to give multi facet dimension to this review.
LOW: This IEM has an elevated bass, as one can sense the lower frequencies tugging and rumbling as the music plays. I can identify each bass string, each kick drum executed cleanly and tightly. Wagakki Band has tracks that are packed dense with drum beats, bass guitars and a fleet of Japanese instruments coupled with some very characteristic vocals. The lower frequency does not bleed and I can sense none of those muddiness on any of the tracks. It is of course not crazy bass head level bass; just good quality bass without feeling over quantity.
MIDS: I usually look at Vocal production as I am pretty much a vocal centric listener even though there are tons of instrument with harmonics in this frequency range (remember I am not an avid reviewer!). Again let’s revisit Wagakki Band, despite the many instruments playing at the same time, each demanding a note of its own, the female vocal here presented itself strong and with distinction. Male vocal has the same level of clarity and appears to be at equal distance to your ear as the female counterpart. Wagakki Band uses a Japanese Bamboo flute in most of their songs and its produced smooth and accurately. Oh Diana Krall’s voice is lush and intimate, every note is full and you could even hear the breath with each note she sings.
HIGH: As a slight V shape IEM, one should expect some emphasis in the higher frequency; treble – the tingling and tangling. In today’s IEM market, quality in this range separate the good from the bad. How to achieve the accurate lively production without causing fatigue and the hateful sibilance. I for one is treble sensitive and I do not give kind words to IEM that cross that threshold. Aurora manages to create that magic for me, producing lively, “zazzy” bright notes of the high hats or the strings without making it piercing. I do find that on very Sibilance tracks, Aurora do tread extremely near to almost tipping over but manages to score a borderline pass.
OTHERS: Soundstage is not the largest in this set, I used Bubbles by Yosi Horikawa featuring “balls” dropping sound chained together with electronic music. Immediately, one can hear that Aurora plays it width better than its depth and height (this track emphasizes Height and Depth quite strongly). With the same track, you can also easily perceive the separation capability of Aurora. Every “ball” dropping is distinct and easily identifiable even when the electronic music is playing behind (actually sounded more like above). Finally, Air – again, not the airiest IEM, if one were to read Aurora’s graph, one will see that there is pretty much energy still in the 10 to 20khz range and that’s reflected in the actual sound but just not airy enough, I may be asking too much but what’s wrong with asking too much for a TOTL IEM.
UNEQUAL COMPARISON
AURORA vs LOKAHI – 7BA (4.4 Bal) vs 7Hz Timeless (4.4 Bal)
Lokahi sounded more technically capable vs Aurora, it produces each note with better authority better clarity, it’s like Lokahi is an 8k resolution TV and Aurora is 4k resolution TV, by now means am I say therefore Aurora is not detailed, it’s just that each of the 7 BAs in Lokahi has more focus task to do versus having to do everything in the Aurora. The “outer edge” of each note seems more defined on Lokahi yet Aurora produces strong bass with similar speed as Lokahi. Female vocal on Lokahi sounded more intimate and lush than that on Aurora. On certain tracks, Lokahi has the risk of sounding a tiny bit grainy while Aurora comes across as silky smooth. Separation and soundstage are almost on par between these 2 IEMs. The reverse (in a good way) is to be said of Timeless. It has larger soundstage, almost similar technicality to Aurora. I believe Timeless is very much source dependent to produce its best while Aurora is less dependent. A clean stack like what I used for this test favors Aurora over Timeless. Notes on Timeless sounded “thinner” than that of Aurora. Aurora basically trumps Timeless in the Bass and Mids sections by being more authoritative and accurate.
P.S. I bought this IEM after reading the review from my most trusted reviewer: Larry.
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