Rose Martini

Rose Technics - Martini - Impressions

Rose Technics - Martini is a premium single dynamic driver earbuds featuring a two-Way Air Pressure Management System.
The impressions are part of a group review courtesy of Concept Kart (https://conceptkart.com/products/rose-technics-martini-wired-earbuds).

No influence or compensation was paid for the review and is the personal opinion of yours truly!

The Review unit came in a nice velvet lined plastic case that reminds of well made pen cases. The shell of the buds is Gold-Plated Brass and feature third-generation Carbon-Based Ceramic Diaphragm dynamic driver measuring a large 15.4mm diameter.

The cable has a paracord like sheath with coiling until the split at the middle. There is a provided neck cinch and a decent and non intrusive strain relief. The unit came with a gold plated 4.4mm balanced connector. The cables are not detachable, and dont carry microphonics when rubbed against the shirt or due to wind. The earbuds also came with standard black foam covers for the shells.

The earbuds, being all brass, is heftier than other earbuds that are usually acrylic builds. The weight is similar to the DQSM turandot, which is all Stainless steel shell in comparison. The earbuds rested comfortably in my ears without issues. The weight is a matter of getting used to, but the shells do look premium and bordering steampunk styling.


Sound impressions

The overall signature of the earbuds is a defined V shape. The bass comes through with power, especially with a close fit in the ear canals. When sitting lightly, there is a slight bass impact, as expected. Subbass does carry through well, as does midbass rumbles. There is a distinct treble presence that makes it sound detailed and wide. Vocal notes carry weight and conveys emotions well.


The large drivers require a bit of power to run. I have used the ibasso DC04 to do the dac duties with songs from Tidal and Youtube to test the buds.

Track selection

TR1> Olulleru - Ajagajantharam ()
This track consists of fast beats, female vocals and a lot of different instruments and sonic ranges. The Martini brings the bass impact from the start, with punchy notes. The female voice is bang center with a lot of energy, and pushed forward, bordering on harshness. Most instruments play a background role in comparison to the vocals and the bass tracks.

TR2> Tabakova - Concerto for Violoncello And Strings II. (Longing) (https://tidal.com/browse/track/79141066)
The track is a deeply emotional composition with strings all through - cello, violin, that showcases fantastic orchestration of the instruments to create a landscape of the theme (longing). The Cello digs deep while the viola and violins provide tasteful and full soundscape. The Martini is able to dig deep with the cello while keeping in pace with the violin's upper registers. The stage is not super wide, but intimate, putting the listener in the presence of the musicians. There is a lot of details and texture in the cello notes, as well as violins. There is a bit of resonance that comes across a little harsh in the upper registers starting around the 1:52 mark. The track is immersive otherwise with the Martini.


TR3> Way Down Deep - Jennifer Warnes (https://tidal.com/browse/track/4964763)
This track is a well mastered track with deep bass, wide staging and imaging cues with the central female vocals. The track starts off with marakas, followed by deep bass drum notes and what sounds like a tensioned drum, before the guitar starts the proceedings. The Martini is able to effortlessly place the instruments while hitting very deep with the drum beats. The stage width is fairly large, keeping the listener facing the centre of a large stage. The guitar notes have texture from the metal strings, that can be almost felt.


Comparisons

DQSM Turandot - The turandot was the DQSM flagship earbuds sporting a 13.5mm CNT diaphram drivers in a stainless steel shell that probably inspired the Monk SM from Venture Electronics. The shell is slightly smaller than the Martini, while also differing in the material of the shell. The fit is easier with the Turandot due to its smaller shell. The Turandot doesnt hit as deeply as the Martini, while matching the Martini in the technical areas. The harshness of the guitar from TR3 does not occur with the Turandot. The stage width is similar, while sounding a touch less warmer than the Martini.

VE Zen 2.0 - The Zen is the VE flagship that comes with very different offering from the Martini. The Zen is an acrylic shell earbud that is close to the size of the Martini. The Zen is a more W shaped earbud than the V shaped Martini. Being acrylic also offers Zen the advantage of being lighter and stays in the ears better. The Zen is a bit more difficult to drive, and requires a good amp to shine, and it does sound like a full sized headphone. The Martini is a tad easier to drive and provides a very deep V signature to people having a good fit.

Conclusions

The Rose Technis Martini is a flagship grade earbud that delivers strongly on a V shaped signature with deep bass and lots of treble energy. The size of the shell could be a drawback for smaller ears. For those blessed with a good fit, will find a portable hard hitting option to chill out on a variety of genre.

Review Of The Rose Technics Martini​

Introduction​

Rose Technics is not a newly emerged company and especially when they have released more than 10-20 IEMs, where some of the notable one's are the QT9 MK2s, QT9 MK2, BR5 MK2S, Pudding, Miracle EST, etc. But Today I will divert my all attention towards their first take on an earbud, the Rose Martini. This is their flagship Earbud with which I agree, because of the build and the quality of material used. Coming to the sound, I'd mention upon later in this review. But for now lets get back to the review.

Disclaimer​

* This is a review unit, courtesy of Concept Kart. Thanks for providing me with this unit to review. But still each and every thoughts below mentioned are my personal own thoughts and they are not fiddled with any outside influences. To learn more about this earbud visit this link
*I will be referring these OEMs to as 'Martini' for the rest of the review.
*And at last I will only be reviewing the Martini on the basis of their performance, I do not care what these are made of or packaged with when newly purchased unless it affects the sound in any sense what so ever.

Specification​

The Martini is a open ear monitor or earbuds, whichever people like to prefer, I always think of them as earbuds. The martini adopts a 15.4mm dynamic driver which has a carbon-based ceramic diaphragm with a gold plated brass cover head. The whole body is made of 304 stainless steel. The cable is non removable and it is made up of high-quality 5N Silver-Plated Copper and Sterling Silver mixed hybrid. The sensitivity is of 100dB and the frequency response is from 16Hz to 45kHz. The impedance is of 32 ohms, through my testing these were harder to drive.

Sound​

Most of the Earbuds are tuned towards a mid centric preference. The Martini is also tuned with the same tuning preference kept in mind, except the fact these are tuned to give more sub bass and sound fuller. This is one of the best bass I have heard on an earbuds period. The sub bass extension is not great by any means as these are open ear monitors but the sub bass is present. Coming to the mid-range it is tuned very forward as suspected and the treble to give some extension which I felt was not quite done right.

Treble​

The treble is present to give a sense of air and energy with crisp and lively sound, though I find the energy most active in the upper mid-range or lower treble. The upper treble is vague with details, I find the air or space in this region to lack dynamics. Although the extension gives a good stage and image, it doesn’t sound airy but congested with more pronounced vocals and instruments. The vocals sounds lifeless and back performing while instruments sounds okay with the extensive nature. On the other hand the lower treble region is a festival full of elemental presentations. There is a lot of happening and everything sounds exciting and energetic. The vocals in this region is more expressive but the tonal balance is off, sounds wonky and unbalanced while the instruments sound clean and smooth. The high octaves of vocals sounds filtered after 2k-3k like they are being artificially produced with metallic taste to it, especially in the female vocals. The overall signature is enough to listen to music but sounds off from my perspective, this is where some people may find it wrong and some may love it.

Mid Range​

The mid-range is the most active region in the whole frequency response, where the tuning is bad and good at the same time. The upper mid-range, as mentioned before is tonally weird especially the vocals. the vocals are wonky and unrealistic sounding while the instrument doesn’t tend to off tone. Most of the time vocals in exertion or pushed in the mix, makes them sound tonally weird and same signature of the vocals as mentioned above in the lower treble region. However I find the instruments to sound pleasing. When it comes to the lower mid-range, everything tends to sound laidback and dull but I hear a difference as they have warmth in this region, the instruments subdues in the mix whereas the vocals have muffle effect. I believe this sense of air comes due to lack of body in the mid range but I can be wrong because I do not find anything lean sounding. Overall the presentation in this region is alive and exciting with offset tuning.

Bass​

The bass is where this piece shines, please do understand that on ear monitors have no seal due to which the bass response becomes lean and light. This is a case with every earbuds, though The Martini is tonally enough to challenge any IEM for response in the sub bass. Even after the fact that earbuds don’t deal positively with bass, Martini excels with it’s response. Yes in the whole spectrum of the frequency response, the bass tends to lack the forward approach but it does push up the lower mid-range and tries to make it sound less off tune. The sub bass have a good impactful punch and the mid bass thumps and resolves quickly. The bass response is safe to say, it is clean, precise and natural.

Technical Performance​

Coming to the technical performance, the stage is widely spread to give a sense of 3d stage. The imaging and layering is poor performing where the separation also lacks the presentation. The detail and resolution is surprising nice with good resolving speed.

Soundstage, Sound Imaging & Separation​

The soundstage is wide and gives a three dimension stage but there are better earbuds in this price range and below which provides a much more wide stage. The imaging and layering suffers as it is not as clear as I expected, where the separation also takes a hit with not enough space for some instruments to sound richer and full.

Speed & Resolution​

The resolution and the detail retrieval is expressive and quite par with other earbuds. I do find it lacking at some points but these do perform nicely. Th attack of notes are precise and quick where decay of notes aren’t quite at par with the attack, but overall they resolve really fast.

Conclusion​

To conclude this review, I would only recommend this earbud to those who want more bass response and really do not require a balanced tuning as I would tag them unbalanced. The treble having limitation, the vocals to sound unnatural but the bass being fast and punchy with good details.

Sources And Tracks Used​

Sources​

Apple iPhone XS Max
LG G8X
iPad (4th generation)
Apple Dongle Dac
Shanling UA1 Pro
iFi HIPDAC
Venture Electronics Megatron
Questyle M15
Apple Lossless
UAPP
Locally stored Flac and Wav Files

Tracks​

Curtis Mayfield - Pusherman
Earth, Wind & Fire - September
Earth, Wind & Fire - Let's Groove
Boston - More Than A Feeling
Fleetwood Mac - Everywhere(Remastered)
Toto - Africa
The Police - Every Breath You Take
George Benson - Affirmation
Daft Punk - Doin' It Right
Daft Punk - Derezzed
Daft Punk - Tron Legacy (End Titles)
GOJIRA - Amazonia
The Mars Volta - Inertiatic ESP
Fergie - Glamorous
50 Cent - In Da Club
Jay Z - Holy Grail
Erbes - Lies
Nitti Gritti - The Loud
Juelz - Inferno

Impedance: 32ohm

Frequency response: 20-20000Hz

Sensitivity: 102dB/mW

Cable length: 1.2m, available in 3.5mm & 4.4mm, non-detachable, copper litz

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Source: Shanling M8 (4.4mm PO, high gain)

Burn-in: circa 40hours

Primary genres: jazz, classical, ambient, electronic, world music, hip hop

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The Martini can be purchased from Penon audio here. This unit was provided in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own and I will always endeavor to be honest and objective.

Accessories and Packaging

The unboxing experience is very simplistic. All outer and inner product information is in Chinese. The rear of the outer packaging has a ‘waifu’ on it – a increasingly present Chi-Fi fad that I will never understand. Rose Technics have clearly gone to lengths to create a novel product with a very classy look and the waifu seems entirely out of place here. Two matte-effect plastic cases are provided and contain the earbuds themselves in one and accessories in the other. In terms of accessories they include several pairs of full foams and, interestingly, at least in unit provided to me, they included a 3.5mm to 6.5mm adapter. This may be useful to those that opt for the 3.5mm termination and use sources with 6.5mm output. The overall impression I was left with was ‘utilitarian’ and quite basic.



Design, Build, Fit and Comfort

The design and build of the shell on the Rose Technics Martini looks and feels very premium. The Martini has a steel driver housing and a two-way, gold-plated brass venting flutes that are advertised as improving bass (spoiler: they’re right!). It is using a 15.4mm carbon ceramic driver and the shell has an external diameter of about 16.5mm – large as earbuds go but they fit in my ears fine and I have smaller and shallower than average concha. They feel sturdy and have a good weight to them but they never left my ears feeling fatigued from long-listening and they never fell out during travel. Rose Technics have nailed the build quality here in terms of weight, durability comfort and aesthetics.

Onto the downsides of the build and looking at the cable, it’s non-detachable, stiff and microphonic. The outer protective weave and the cable within is highly microphonic, especially if you decide not to use the chin cinch. The chin cinch is plastic but well-made and has excellent grip. With the chin cinch raised firmly the microphonic effect beneath is still present but reduced by about 50%. Rose should have used a softer/more loose weave and less stiff cable insulation. The Y-split should be moved further up the cable to reduce the length of potentially microphonic material. Better yet, design the earbud housing to have a detachable cable.




Sound Performance

Bass – midbass focus with subbass extension, impactful, full bodied, good detail and texture

Comments:

A selling point if there ever was one. The bass is ‘embodied’ with a palpable sustain to it and the Martini make all my other earbuds sound limp and hollow. The impactful midbass is exciting and there’s a rumble to subbass that I’ve heard few sets produce. The bass manages to be dynamic with a softer edge to it that makes long listening sessions a breeze. Bass string instruments sound correct and with enough twang from the upper registers to remain exciting. The texture and detailing to the bass is good and there’s clearly a balance executed here leaning towards quantity over quality but it remains what I would consider Hi-Fi in its depth and nuance and doesn't overwhelm the midrange.

Listen to bass-centric electronic music? These will keep your ears occupied and your brain engaged. Listen to instrumental music? Instruments will have a much more natural weight to them that earbuds often fail to reproduce due their open presentation. Everyone is a winner here. As for the source of the magic, maybe it’s the wizardry of the carbon ceramic driver or the flute venting system, or both? Whatever the case, Rose Technics have managed to push a monumental amount of air from this driver without it losing depth, dimensionality and control.

Notable test tracks:

Lorn – Mercy (from Ask the Dust)

Lorn – Diamond (from Ask the Dust)

Nenad Vasilic – Tscusch Chochek (from The Art of the Balkan Bass)


Midrange – gorgeous lower midrange, male vocals outstanding, no sibilance or shout, female vocals distant and slightly nasal, detailing and presence in the upper midrange is lacking.

Comments:

The midrange is a ‘mixed bag’. The bass and lower midrange work hand-in-hand to create a strong replay of the majority of instruments and makes for a really special listening experience. Unfortunately, there are some issues within the upper midrange. Female vocals and some male artists with higher vocal range can sound distant and lacking clarity. There’s a slight nasal slant that predominates with vocals that, unless you’re listening for it, or very hard-line in your tastes, probably won’t bother you but it is something to consider. The more distant vocal replay is further compounded by the lack of edge to vocal transients making for a softer listen on vocal-centric tracks. A similar characteristic is seen with string instruments that have a smoother/softer presentation. Finally, a degree of unevenness has revealed itself over time, where on very rare occasions I have had to drop the volume to avoid shout (this may just be personal tolerance issues and only ever seems to happen with saxophone).

The overall presentation of the midrange leans towards the analogue and organic and certainly isn’t analytical.

Notable test tracks:

Agnes Obel – The Curse

Manu Katche – Short Ride

Treble –

Comments:

The treble does a reasonable job of completing the picture without significant roll off and providing a degree of sparkle. There is nothing inherently wrong here but I do think we are starting to see the limits of the carbon-ceramic driver in terms of extension, producing a room-like quality to recordings and not much air. If this is the trade off for the incredible bass and body in the lower frequencies, I’m willing to accept it.

Technicalities –

Soundstage – good height and depth, dimensions scale with power (give the Martini plenty) and you will be treated to an over-ear headphone-like experience in a much more portable format.

Imaging, instrument separation & layering – probably the strongest technical aspect of this earbud is its cohesive soundscape. Instruments and elements of the track are placed well with good depth and layering. I find it very easy to move my attention between individual elements of tracks and back to the greater whole quite quickly (my less-than-scientific test of imaging).

Conclusion

The Rose Technics Martini is an interesting proposition. Build quality is excellent (bar the cable) and the tuning, despite its idiosyncrasies, remains warm, organic and versatile. Earbuds would not normally be my choice for bass-heavy music but I find myself reaching for the Martini when listening to electronic music. The bass provides body and heft that many of my earbuds cannot compete with.

Who is the Martini for? I would say the primary audience here are lovers of electronic music (D&B/dub/trance, all sorts). This driver has the heart to deliver in the low end and the shortcomings in the midrange will never be an issue. For those people the Martini could easily be end-game. Instrumental music lovers who are after an analogue presentation with good technicalities will also warm to the Martini. As it stands, the Martini is a strong all-rounder playing a variety of genres to a very good standard. However, for my personal taste, I would want more upper midrange and a better vocal replay and I hope Rose Technics continues to refine future iterations to that effect.