The Aika buds are not the bass head earbuds you might imagine they are. Are they capable of sub-bass, yes they are, but this really depends on the mastering of your music.
In regards to the 120Ω Bery Comp driver, they are capable of great quantity of bass, but they also need to be tuned very carefully to sound good across the frequency spectrum which will result in loss of bass quantity. At least that is my experience using them for the Aika buds.
@samandhi's full post: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/earbuds-round-up.441400/post-18100493
As for initial impressions for sound, the Aika are kind of a mixture of things all rolled into one earbud. When we talk about bass quantity, these are near perfect for my normal preferred signature. In other words, they aren't quite neutral, they are boosted a bit, which gives a nice fullness to the overall sound, but they also aren't in your face either. When I am looking for my "guilty pleasure" of a much boosted bass set, these aren't that. The bass overall is pretty linear sounding. Or, put simply the sub bass is higher than the mid bass, which is higher than the upper bass (as it should be to be technically correct). This DOES mean that they don't sound quite as punchy or tight as other sets might, but the texture is there, and they can reach pretty low without muddying up the mids. This also means that on songs the rely on all mid bass, these MIGHT come across as "bass light".... JUST until you hear some sub bass kick in and realize "nope, these are NOT bass light".
Having said that, all the bass is there all the time, and is well separated (bass guitar from kick drum, from low synth, etc...). I wouldn't call the upper lows boosted too much, but these definitely come across as having some nice warmth.
These are NOT a mid forward bud. I also wouldn't call them totally recessed either. I might call these a mild W tuning. The mids are't quite as strong in the lower mids as they are in the upper mids but they are neither too thin, nor too thick sounding. These have a bit of a boost to the presence region, but in a tasteful way. They don't hurt my ears here.
The treble seems to have some dips in areas, but I don't really hear any spikes to make it sound "off" to my ears. The cymbals, for instance aren't laid back enough to sound recessed, but are not boosted so as to make them sound louder than the rest of the drums (this is an excellent thing). This is where I hear the dip, but it is a good thing IMO. Because the treble has no spikes or huge dips, the second harmonics passed on to other frequencies is just right. The upper treble seems a bit boosted to me and adds some nice air to things. This makes for a presentation that is smooth, yet precise and airy.
The technicalities on these things are a dream. Because of the small dip in the mids, there is a perceived depth that just sounds gorgeous. As for width, all I can say is: man, are these OUT OF MY HEAD sounding. Anything from Clapton, or Herbie Hancock, etc... just sound sublime on these. With most metal though the separation seems to allow for some congestion, but it is not horrible (I would simply consider it average). But imaging is really good here. The resolution is really good here as well. Live recordings sound awesome with this set. The things I mentioned give the overall presentation a sound where NOTHING is intimate sounding.
Another note is that these are indeed revealing, and if your recording sounds like crap, these won't "dress it up" for you. These also won't be my favorite for any really aggressive sounding music. These were appropriately named, and sound at their best with milder music (though they do NOT sound bad with anything in the opposite direction either).
When I listen to these, I am reminded of the FQL Caelum, and if anyone remembers them, the Hifiman HE800 Silver, but with different elements in the specific parts of the tuning.
As for initial impressions for sound, the Aika are kind of a mixture of things all rolled into one earbud. When we talk about bass quantity, these are near perfect for my normal preferred signature. In other words, they aren't quite neutral, they are boosted a bit, which gives a nice fullness to the overall sound, but they also aren't in your face either. When I am looking for my "guilty pleasure" of a much boosted bass set, these aren't that. The bass overall is pretty linear sounding. Or, put simply the sub bass is higher than the mid bass, which is higher than the upper bass (as it should be to be technically correct). This DOES mean that they don't sound quite as punchy or tight as other sets might, but the texture is there, and they can reach pretty low without muddying up the mids. This also means that on songs the rely on all mid bass, these MIGHT come across as "bass light".... JUST until you hear some sub bass kick in and realize "nope, these are NOT bass light".
Having said that, all the bass is there all the time, and is well separated (bass guitar from kick drum, from low synth, etc...). I wouldn't call the upper lows boosted too much, but these definitely come across as having some nice warmth.These are NOT a mid forward bud. I also wouldn't call them totally recessed either. I might call these a mild W tuning. The mids are't quite as strong in the lower mids as they are in the upper mids but they are neither too thin, nor too thick sounding. These have a bit of a boost to the presence region, but in a tasteful way. They don't hurt my ears here.
The treble seems to have some dips in areas, but I don't really hear any spikes to make it sound "off" to my ears. The cymbals, for instance aren't laid back enough to sound recessed, but are not boosted so as to make them sound louder than the rest of the drums (this is an excellent thing). This is where I hear the dip, but it is a good thing IMO. Because the treble has no spikes or huge dips, the second harmonics passed on to other frequencies is just right. The upper treble seems a bit boosted to me and adds some nice air to things. This makes for a presentation that is smooth, yet precise and airy.
The technicalities on these things are a dream. Because of the small dip in the mids, there is a perceived depth that just sounds gorgeous. As for width, all I can say is: man, are these OUT OF MY HEAD sounding.
Anything from Clapton, or Herbie Hancock, etc... just sound sublime on these. With most metal though the separation seems to allow for some congestion, but it is not horrible (I would simply consider it average). But imaging is really good here. The resolution is really good here as well. Live recordings sound awesome with this set. The things I mentioned give the overall presentation a sound where NOTHING is intimate sounding.Another note is that these are indeed revealing, and if your recording sounds like crap, these won't "dress it up" for you. These also won't be my favorite for any really aggressive sounding music. These were appropriately named, and sound at their best with milder music (though they do NOT sound bad with anything in the opposite direction either).
When I listen to these, I am reminded of the FQL Caelum, and if anyone remembers them, the Hifiman HE800 Silver, but with different elements in the specific parts of the tuning.
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