Defiantly standing against the trend. My review of the juzear defiant gamefidelity edition
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Good day, everyone.
So here is my review of a relatively new set of IEMs from Juzear, the Defiant Gamefidelity Edition (1DD, 3BA). First off, a disclaimer: HifiGo did provide these to me for review free of charge, and all they asked for was my honest thoughts in the form of an online review, so take this review with as big a grain of salt as you believe that merits. That said, all opinions here are fully my own, and I have made the attempt to review these as if I had bought them with my own personal money. Also keep in mind all of my opinions are based on the price range unless stated otherwise, so when I say excellent, I mean excellent at the price range. So with that out of the way, I'll continue with the review. These are currently selling on HifiGo's website for $109.99.
Most of this review was done powering them out of my Fiio BTR11, but I also tested them with both the DTC DACs from Dunu, and straight out of the USB C port of my phone.
TLDR: I've never had the chance to try the original Defiant, but if it's anything like this I see why it's often praised so highly in the under 100 price bracket. This iem is excellent and truly slots into the price range quite well by not following the trend of the new meta tuning, while still providing a lively and engaging sound with enough technicalities to compete with its peers.
The unboxing experience is nice but nothing special, the iems come sufficiently protected that I don't think they will have any problems with shipping damage.
As for the accessories package, it's pretty solid for the price range (its strongest competitors, the truthear brothers, as much as I love them, I have to admit come with not very good accessories). It comes with a hard shell leatherette case with a zipper closure. It's a bit too thick and bulky for pocket travel and a bit too small to be a perfect grab and go package but it is sufficient to hold the iems with the cable, and some tips. I also don't particularly like how the mesh pocket at the top is so taut, making it so that the tips just fall out of it and into the main compartment with any sort of movement. This iem comes with 2 sets of eartips and a set of foams. The clear silicone set have a wider bore and a much stouter depth while the black silicone set are narrower in bore and longer in depth, giving you 2 distinct sounds, which is honestly a great thing that not all iems, even more expensive sets do.
One of the main selling points of this iem is the cable it comes with. It's a frankly beautiful blue 4 core, 2 wire twist that splits into 2, 2 core cables past the Y split. It's on the lighter side in terms of weight but feels well constructed and solid. It has some memory and doesn't lay perfectly flat when on a surface but nothing major. It doesn't tangle badly and is soft and supple. On the end it has an interchangeable connector system that is secured by a screwable ring. It can be switched easily and feels solid. I also like how it's not overly large even in comparison to non switchable terminations. The cable is not microphonic. It also has an inline mems microphone that is good enough for calls and gaming, it's not going to replace a dedicated mic but it does its job fairly well. The cable comes with a chin cinch but it's fairly useless as it can't get past the microphone. It also has a button on the microphone that pauses and plays audio. The cable comes with a 3.5 and a USB C connector. The USB C is fairly clean and doesn't really produce any background noise I could complain about. Another complaint I have about the cable is purely aesthetic but it has 2 pins for a iem with a shrouded connection but the iem has a flat 2 pin port, casing it to jut out in an ugly way. This is a little disappointing but unfortunately very common even in multi hundred dollar iems so here its a footnote. All that said this is the best cable I've ever handled in an iem at the price range. The set also comes with a gray microfibre cloth and a little acrylic stand to remind you that this, like the original, is still a collaboration with youtuber ZeosPantera from Z reviews.
Now onto the iems themselves, I think these are incredibly beautiful. The faceplate has an absolutely mesmerizing mother of pearl pattern and some metallic designs like other juzear iems. The MOP faceplates shift from white to greenish blue depending on how the light hits them making them look exceptional. The shell is a 3d printed and CNC finished deal with a semi-custom shape and a metal nozzle . It's a pretty light iem but the nozzle is on the larger side of medium (6 mm according to my ruler). It has a pronounced lip to hold onto the eartips and a metal mesh filter. The inside wing is only very slightly pronounced so while they dont cause any hotspots I cant say they lock in fully. The side of the shell has a very large vent which is probably a response to the controversy the originals had with pressure buildup. These do still build up some pressure but nothing I've not felt in other iems and I can use them for several hours with little to no issues, since I haven't tried the originals I cant say if this is better or worse than they were but given how minor I feel the issue is with these i can say this isn't a problem for me. These have some driver flex, which is always unpleasant but at least in my set it's not very loud and only occurs when I press them while they are already in my ears so I can easily ignore it by simply avoiding touching them.
After doing a round with all the provided eartips, the best sound and comfort combo for me was the black silicone narrow bore tips, they gave me the best bass texture and were the most comfortable, so everything going forward is using those.
Now for sound impressions, keep in mind I would describe myself as an unashamed extreme treblehead, but I will try to keep the impressions as tuning agnostic as possible.
My overall sound impression is very positive, these are a refined take on the v shape, with warm yet clean bass, a serviceable but a bit dry midrange and soft and relaxing treble. While still fun and engaging they do not sacrifice much technicalities leading to a colored sound that is precise enough to satisfy people that are more into the details. Based on the graphs it lowers the treble from the original, which, according to reviews I've read, seemed to be one of its biggest sticking points, meaning that it addressed one of the pain points of an already very well tuned iems. I find the tuning really easy to like and very universal.
Starting from the bass, It's clear and well controlled, it slams more than it rumbles. With the amount it has you would expect some warmth but its transition into the mids is a bit scooped so it doesn't take over the tuning. I wouldn't recommend this iem as a basshead set, it lacks the quantity and physicality of bass for that, but I feel that for the average person the bass will be perfectly satisfactory.
The mids in these are probably the area of the tuning I have the most issues with, they aren't bad by any means, but they do push the vocals a bit unnaturally forward giving instruments a wispy quality that makes them feel a bit hollow. This is most noticeable with male vocals. Overall I've heard better mid ranges at the pricepoint but I've also heard much worse.
The treble of this iem is very smooth and well extended, although it doesn't have the bite I personally love in my iems. It's airy and has no tinnyness to it. Its timbre is honestly quite impressive at the price with its butteriness. In terms of amount it's on a good track to have wide appeal for most listeners and music genres.
In terms of technicalities are ok but nothing groundbreaking, these are sold as gaming iems, so while I don't game to a competitive level I can imagine these provide sufficient precision in positioning and layering to be used for said purpose. The only complaint I have with these is that in very fast or complex tracks they do flatten out a bit and become a bit of a wall of sound rather than a separated stage. As for their soundstage it's actually quite wide for the price range with both good height and depth.
Now for the comparison section, I'll try and compare them to things in a similar price range, but sadly I haven't had the opportunity to try every IEM.
Vs the DUNU Kima 2s: these are 2 very different iems, the kima 2 is a much more relaxed tuning, but it falls behind in fun and engagement for me, especially in the treble area I'd take the defiants GFE over the kima 2s.
Vs the Moondrop Aria 2s: its bass is more flabby and less well controlled but its mids are more natural, it also falls behind in terms of technicalities, I also don't like how they look, another win for the defiant GFE.
Vs the Pula unichrom: similar to the kima 2s these are a warm set but the bass is better than the defiants GFE, slammier and more full bodied, their timbre is not as good as the buttery smoothness of the defiants GFE, nor is it competitive in terms of technicalities, so Id take the defiants GFE over these.
Vs the Truthear Hexas: still, after all these years my favorite iem under 100 dollars, although I understand why some people really dislike it. Its bright neutral tuning is very different from the defiant GFE, which is more “fun” and colored, while being less anemic in the bass region. Personally I feel it's a sidegrade but I suspect most people will prefer the defiants GFE over the hexas.
Vs the Truthear Pures: These are what I suspect is the biggest competitor to the defiant GFE, I put them a slight step below the Hexas in terms of how much I like them, and I recommend them much more often because the warmer neutral of the new meta tuning is incredibly easy to like. The Defiants GFE have a different character than these more neutral iems so although I think they are a sidegrade as well, they are a very solid alternative for the people for which the new meta tuning just doesn't work for, which is a surprisingly large amount of people from what I've seen.
In conclusion I think these have made their claim in the price range and have formed a trinity with the Hexas and the Pures, all of which are at a similar level for me but have enough variation in tuning to be a purely preferential choice which one you go for, meaning I can heartily recommend these.
Songs I use to do preliminary tests on IEMs (I listen to much more if I have the time, but these are a minimum before I solidify my opinion.)
ALI WILD SIDE
Tuki HYURURIRAPAPPA
Ski mask the slump god Faucet Failure
Beelzebub's Cathedrals of Mourning
Aliceband Wolf
Fukashigi no carte
An Unkindness Fragments
Big wild City of Sound
Antonio Banderas Canción del Mariachi
Malcura Gerudo Valley
Berlioz deep in it
Thank you guys for your time; I'll be happy to answer any questions or pass on any suggestions to HifiGo. Good day!