Symphonium Meteor

Symphonium Audio Meteor review and comparisons.




Fitting and comfort:

The Meteor is a compact mid-sized IEM with a light aluminum alloy shell that has a slender shape near the nozzle, which prevents it from resting hard on the outer part of the ear canal, avoiding discomfort in long listening sessions. In short, the Meteor is very comfortable to wear.

Sensitivity, drivability and power handling:

I had to adjust the volume to 75% to achieve the same level of loudness as my other IEMs on my dongle DAC/amps at 50% volume since the sensitivity is lower than typical. It is also a difficult load for my dongle DAC/amps. My Hidizs S9 Pro Plus Martha and Moondrop Moonriver 2 enter protective mode at 85 percent volume, and my Moondrop Dawn Pro begins to audibly distort. The power handling is acceptable; I can hear distortion when coupled with the Fiio M15s and Topping G5 at very loud settings, which is comparable to my other IEMs with decent power handling capabilities, such as my Moondrop Blessing 3. All I'm saying is that as long as you keep the volume reasonable to avoid distortion, the sound is really clean.

Source Pairing:

The Meteor requires a clean and powerful source in order to sound its best. It sounds superb paired with the Fiio M15s and Topping G5, but not as much when paired with my mid-sized dongle DAC/amps, such as the Moonriver 2, Dawn Pro, and S9 Pro Plus Martha due to lack of power; it will still sound good, but not its best.

Cables and Eartips:

For this review, I used the supplied eartips (medium) and the 4.4mm balanced cable because they sound good. I experimented using various eartips and discovered that the Meteor is not eartip fussy.



Sound signature:

Unashamedly U-shaped, it has a distinct upper midrange to lower treble recession, a clear treble, a highly extended and crisp top octave, and a noticeably boosted bass. The overall sound doesn't induce fatigue, but it does have the typical oddities of a U-shaped sounding IEM.

Sound staging and imaging:

The sound stage is big, cavernous and dark, which is perfect for evening listening for me. The images especially the vocals are always situated a good distance away, due to this, it somewhat lacks 3d holographic projection a little. If you want an intimate sounding vocals, this is not for you, but if you have claustrophobia, this is perfect.

Instrument separation and layering:

The instruments are sufficiently separated, and I can easily distinguish them from one another, but the front-to-back layering is not the best due to the laid-back sound presentation; all instruments appear to be coming from a distance away.

Dynamics:

It's remarkably dynamic sounding, with good energy bubbling across the whole audio frequency range. Most U-shaped sound signatures I've heard have some lethargy, but this one is an exception. The microdynamic performance is also great; I can clearly hear the intensity differences in each high hat stroke, cymbal strike, and other instrument on some recordings; they are not dynamically compressed, but this is something to be expected at this price point.




Bass:

Tastefully boosted and energetic, with good but not outstanding definition, it requires high quality and powerful sources to sound its best. It sounds tight and fairly well controlled; it never became boomy and muddy; the bass is almost always present; and it goes very deep. Even though it doesn't have the gravitas of some dynamic driver IEMs, it is still very satisfying, and I think bass heads with refined taste would love this IEM.

Midrange:

The lower midrange sounds neutral with good instrument note weight and does not shout nor cause fatigue, but the upper midrange is obviously recessed and sounds laid back, making the vocals appear from afar, and the electric guitars lack presence and realism, so take note.

Treble:

Very refined, clean, and non-fatiguing; there is a reduction in the lower treble and a rise in amplitude at the upper treble, adding some enthiusiasm to the sound. I'm not just reading the graph; this is actually based on what I'm hearing.










What I like:

+ energetic and engaging sound.
+ non-fatiguing sound.
+ excellent build quality.
+ very nice cable included.
+ very comfortable to wear.


What I don't like:

- average power-handing capabilty.
- difficult to drive.



The wrap up:

Although the Symphonium Audio Meteor's tuning is not to my taste, as I previously stated, I certainly recognize the energy, engagement, smoothness, and refinement in the sound quality, and the Meteor sounds excellent. So, whether or not I would recommend the Meteor to a friend depends solely on his or her tuning preference; this has to be clarified first before deciding, but if you know you like the sound signature that I described in this review, then there's no reason not to highly recommend the Meteor. Cheer!

4-19-2024

The Symphonium Meteor

This set is the very first pair of IEMs that have been sent to me by a brand as a loaner with seemingly no strings attached. Symphonium has not asked me to say anything in particular with this, they’ve been completely relaxed about everything. All these thoughts and opinions are my own.

With that out of the way, here we are. The Meteors - this is my 2nd go at this set. I feel like I need to preface this entire thing with this story because it’s important. About a year ago now, I and @gooberbm had the opportunity during one of our group’s tours to listen to the Meteor along with a few other sets like the UP, IE600, etc. I was incredibly excited to hear the Meteors, I 100% believed these would be killer for my library and preferences. I built up all this god damned excitement just to be torn with disappointment. I felt as though they were too laid back, there wasn’t enough bite in the guitar sections of the songs that were playing. Man, I was so upset - I didn’t understand how that could be. But, I just chalked it up to something not quite clicking with my ears, oh well I thought, it is what it is.

Fast forward to now, I have my hands on a brand new pair directly from Symphonium themselves. I approached them with a request for anything in their collection of IEMs and when they offered the Meteors I didn’t hesitate. I wanted a second go and I’m so happy I did.

TLDR version; The Meteors are a wonderful-sounding IEM. They have a full and rich sound signature that is both smooth and engaging. The mid-bass and lower mids are just at that sweet spot where it has enough energy to fill the sound profile out but never come across as bloated or muddy. The upper mids are an interesting sort, being both slightly forward and also laid back for guitars and female vocals harmonics, but in a good way. There is no harshness in the pinna region to be found. The treble is the most interesting part of the Meteors to me. It is lively and a touch more forward than neutral to my ears. Ride cymbal strikes and hi-hats drive the music forward in a very engaging way and I dig it. It isn’t all perfect though. As typical BA driver IEMs go, the bass is lacking to my ears, with a rounder presentation. It’s less about that initial kick impact, but more so about the thump behind it.

Fitment note; The shells are small with an upward angle on the nozzle. I can confirm I do experience pressure build-up and pressure when first seating them in my ears. It isn’t the worst I’ve experienced, but it’s there.

Test tracks

- Give Life Back to Music - daft punk - Overall clarity
- Infinity Repeating - daft punk - Lower mids control
- Voyager - daft punk - Bass line clarity/busy track layering
- Overnight - Parcels - mid bass punch
- Tieduprightnow - Parcels - bass line/sibilance test
- Everyroad -Parcels - Imaging/Sub bass @ 7 minute mark
- Daytime - Lunar Vacation - Staging/female vocals w/ heavy bass
- Days - No Vacation - Vibe test/treble energy
- Fruiting Body - Goon - Sub bass
- Wavy Maze - Goon - Mid bass
- Together - Maggie Rodgers - Female Vocals
- Slide Tackle - Japanese Breakfast - Sibilance test/consonants harshness
- Decode - Paramore - Vibe test/stage depth
- Vinta - Crumb - Stage depth/layering
- Kim’s Caravan - Courtney Barnett - Female Vocals/resolution test
- Small Poppies - Courtney Barnett - Distorted Guitar
- Lifelong Song - Men I Trust - Sub/mid bass texture
- One and Only - Adele - Female Vocals/consonants harshness test
- Waves - Wild Painting - Overall Enjoyment and stage depth/width/Bass guitar speed
- Not the One - Highnoon - Female Vocals
- Cowboy Killer - Varsity - Layering
- Alone in My Principles - Varsity - Distorted female vocals
- Summer Madness - Kool & The Gang - Treble Harshness
- They Are Growing - Renata Zeiguer - Mid bass impact

Sources
- Apple Music Streaming Hi-Res Lossless when available
- Topping D10s + Topping L30
- Moondrop Dawn 4.4
- Dunu DTC 500
- FiiO BTR7 BT

Disclaimer
I am not a reviewer, don’t take anything I say as an objective stance, of course, this is what I hear, y’all. This hobby should be fun! It’s purely my opinion. I personally value timbre over everything. If a set has a strange tonality or timbre, it’s an immediate turnoff.

I’m going to try and break down the Meteor using the individual parts of the FR, bass, mids, and treble using specific musical references to make things a little more cohesive. Still working out the kinks on this whole article thing.

Bass
Quick summary? It’s big and bold, with a rounder presentation that can sometimes come off as the literal perfect amount for my preferences. Songs like Give Life Back To Music, Wavy Maze & They Are Growing start with thunderous mid-bass thump that is so addictive, I’ll sometimes start the songs over just to hear those kicks again. Subbass can also be addicting as well - Songs like Fruiting Body and Lifelong Song have a reverberating quality to the lower end and it can be felt with authority on both songs. Bass lines like on Voyager are well done, you can both feel and hear the bass line clearly which is like, the first thing I look for in that song. If an IEM can’t play Voyager well, it’s on the chopping block right away. But the Meteors pass this test with flying colors. Bass is fast as well, the song Waves has a pretty damn quick bassist here driving the track, and rather than the bass line sounding like a cheap droning EDM blob of bass, I can hear each pluck of the strings fairly clearly. On the song Slide Tackle, there's a triplet-type kick drum towards the last half of the song and each kick is easily heard and felt. I've listened to some less expensive and more expensive IEMs that don't present that specific part as well as the Meteor. It isn’t quite planar fast but I think it’s a happy medium. The one downside to this type of bass is a lack of definition to my ears, I’m not getting as much texture as I’d expect. Surprisingly, probably because of the way the entire lower mids are tuned, I feel like the bass does have nice decay, reminiscent of a DD. Not quite apples to apples, but it’s more than passable.

Mid-range

If you go through my track list, female vocals are probably 80% of it, so obviously you’d expect them to be damn important. Well, you’d be right! Much to my wife’s annoyance, female vocals are all I listen to most of the time. After timbre, how female vocals are rendered is a close second in importance. I’m happy to say that the Meteors have an engaging mids presentation with plenty of details and lively energy without coming off as intense. Songs like Together, One and Only, Waves and Slide Tackle have some moments of serious intensity, with all of those artists hitting some strong notes that could come off as piercing in a lot of IEMs, but not on the Meteors. It’s like riding that line of being almost poisonous, but not quite there. It must be the cut right at 2.5k that keeps those harmonics at bay. I’d say that female vocals come off a touch thicker than neutral, but there are still plenty of details and clarity here. In a perfect world, there would be more texture, and guitars would have more bite to them during certain passages. I still think there’s a sensation of certain harmonics and guitar parts being muffled and yes, that can take me out of the music from time to time. These don’t have my favorite mids presentation, that still goes to my pair of Monarch MK2s, but I don’t think these will offend anyone, it’s almost leaning the other way. I can see this mid-presentation being underwhelming to some on initial listen like it was for me. I think the mids being on the relaxed side does have one benefit though, it highlights the treble…

Treble
The star of the show is the treble on the Meteors. They’ve gone ahead and taken a not-so-neutral approach here with the later treble and Jesus Christ does it pay off for me. This is probably one of my favorite presentations of treble I’ve ever heard. Full stop. It’s so lively and airy - hi-hats, claps, ride cymbals, and atmospheric-type noises are forward enough to create this sense of space and energy I haven’t experienced since the EA500. In songs like Voyager, Alone In My Principals, Days and Daytime I just get lost in the music every time those come on. The snare on the 2 beat and the ride cymbal that comes in right before the chorus on Alone in My Principles, Chef’s kiss - the airy synth on Voyager that plays throughout the entire song, uhhh to die for, and just the entire song Days by No Vacation is incredible. I’d go ahead and say that because of the treble here, this is my favorite rendition of the song Days I have heard to date. I cannot believe the amount of goosebumps I got during the last part of the song with those big crash cymbal hits… it’s an experience, that’s for sure. If we’re talking downsides here, it isn’t neutral, and it’s very airy bordering on unnatural so if you’re sensitive to that you should be aware. I have always loved later treble energy, the EA500 showed me how amazing it can be for certain songs, so I have no issues with the treble on the Meteor. It's my favorite part.

Technicalities
The timbre is spot on, I have 0 issues with the timbre of this set. The stage isn’t particularly wide, I’d say that it even comes across as a touch intimate for some songs. Layering is top-notch, everything is easily distinguishable in a song, and there’s no bunching up with busy passages but truthfully, none of my music is too busy anyways. Not sure how these would fair for metal.

Source Differences

My favorite playback came from my desktop stack using the D10s and the L30. I found it to be the most neutral with the best timbre. The Moondrop Dawn highlighted too much of the treble, throwing the balance completely off and closing the stage down to claustrophobic levels. The BTR7 was somewhere in the middle, playing back a bit warmer in comparison to the stack but weirdly, opening up the depth on the stage a bit more. The bass on the BTR7 came off a bit more impactful but a bit more blunted and even less detailed. These are pretty source picky it seems, probably due to the very low impedance. Not sure, but something to keep in mind.

In summary, The Symphonium Meteors have completely redeemed themselves for me. I am so happy I got another go at these because I would have kept writing them off as a big disappointment, probably my biggest of 2023. Now, I can classify them as my biggest surprise of 2024 (so far).

Thanks so much for reading, take care!