The offerings from Aria Ear, the new Vietnamese kid on the block, courtesy of Aural Cafe and not the brand, continue in my hands as I sit to collect my thoughts on their second offering, the Azuri. I thank Aural Cafe for giving me this opportunity to speak freely on the Azuri.

UNBOXING, ACCESSORIES, FIT AND COMFORT

The Azuri comes in a box that is devoid of any waifu shenanigans and instead has the product advertised accordingly, much like the Sylva. The package is near identical to the Sylva, so I am not sure what to expect beyond that.

Both the Sylva and Azuri have similarly shaped and sized shells, and so the comfort levels and overall fit are comparable. Except that the Azuri has a trippier faceplate which feels nice to look at in parts, but let’s not get hung up there: looks alone cannot take an “audible” product far, so here’s the sound of the Azuri.

LOWS

In tracks like Rush’s Limelight and The Spirit of Radio, compared to the Sylva, the Azuri is lethargic in its delivery and subdued in impact. Drums can feel a bit too relaxed across regions, especially the kicks, but this allows the bass lines to shine through, which is good as these tracks are my picks to assess performance due to the camouflaging bass lines paired with the mathematical drumwork. Separation is not one of its strengths, prima facie, but at least here vocals are where the Azuri does mildly better than the Sylva: a better grip over tonality, feels more cohesive, and since the bass has a subdued impact for the most part, it does not have the tendency to crowd over the vocals.

In tracks like Daft Punk’s Instant Crush and Get Lucky, the Azuri’s reluctance in the bass to fully land with impact diminishes its ability to keep me engaged. The overall vibe feels like a well-controlled slap rather than a proper punch, which I would say is a misplaced priority as these tracks need a moderately paced attack with a short decay and a reasonably extended sustain, and the Azuri fails there. The attack is anemic, which makes for an even worse decay, and the sustain is only faintly there. Vocals have adequate weight and body, with a mild essence of warmth that can just about be felt.

MIDS

This is where the Azuri gets problematic. In tracks like Queens of the Stone Age’s First It Giveth, tracks set in peculiar keys with unorthodox snare setups, the Azuri’s issue with a sloppy attack paired with an even sloppier decay ruins the presentation of this fast-paced track. It feels like the track is slowing down as the IEM simply cannot seem to keep up with it, and apart from the warmish tonality that does not affect vocals in a concerning way, I was on the verge of taking the Azuri off my ears.

The Azuri also has a problem in its separation, which is evident in instrumentally dominant tracks like Periphery’s Marigold, Tool’s Lateralus and Tesseract’s Juno, where elements like hi-hats and crashes are being confused because the rides are almost inaudible. Guitars come off with too much warmth and energy which overshadows the vocals and, to an extent, some of the drumming, and at least in this realm, the Azuri is fully dominated by the Sylva. Timbre too sounds off in parts, where the cymbals come off overly metallic in feel, brash and moderately lifeless. A misjudged fat drop of paint on an otherwise fine watercolour painting.

HIGHS

In tracks like PinkPantheress’ Stateside featuring Zara Larsson, one of those tracks where there is a lot of phonk-style bass and synth that hits in pulses, the Azuri covers back some ground by sounding rather smooth through the synths, while the bass did not have any distortion but suffered from a lack of clarity. The Azuri once again disappoints with its imaging, where the vocals feel a bit too pushed back, although their weight remains intact. The test for sibilance and pierce remains.

In tracks like Celine Dion’s All By Myself, Adele’s Easy On Me and Whitney Houston’s I’ll Always Love You, the Azuri starts strong and finishes off quite well with no pierce or sibilance, but like the Sylva, I wished the notes had more sustain and the vocals were pushed more forward in the imaging. The instrumentals were unblemished, especially the timbre which remained intact on the pianos. But once again, it is not a very memorable set.

CONCLUDING NOTES

Like its sibling, the Sylva, the Azuri is another forgettable set, but with a sloppier execution. Throughout my listening, this IEM simply keeps fidgeting and never quite settles on one single point, or multiple points for that matter. The IEM feels like it knows what it wants to communicate across and invoke emotionally, but it cannot quite set the tone properly as its vocabulary is too limited, and if Aria Ear wanted to make something different in terms of tunings, making one IEM comparatively “less warm” than the other simply does not cut it.

The Azuri could have been a brighter set to complement the Sylva, but in its attempt to be remembered, it slides further into obscurity by simply being worse than the Sylva across most consistent metrics. I really do not have much else to say except that the brand needs to give some identity to its offerings, and no, Tanchjim’s similarly tuned IEMs will still comfortably outperform Aria Ear, although I am fatigued with the former as well.

Having two similarly positioned IEMs in a catalog already brings in a degree of fatigue, and what makes matters worse is when one is clearly inferior while competing in a similar price segment. That inevitably puts the brand’s internal direction under a rather shoddy spotlight. A C- to be given because this attempt simply will not cut through the overwhelmingly stacked competition.

Will I buy it at retail? No.
Will I buy it used? No.

Sources used

SMSL Raw MDA-1 desktop DAC amp, Shanling M9 Plus stacked with the xDuoo XD05 Pro running the AKM DAC chips, the Cayin N3 Ultra DAP in Classic Tube mode, the FiiO KA17 and the TRN BlackPearl portable dongle DAC/amps.

Eartips Used (ranked in order of performance)

KBear Coffee, Penon Liqueur Black, Tangzu Sancai Balanced, SpinFit CP100+, Dunu S&S

Tracks

• Rush: Limelight, The Spirit of Radio
• Daft Punk: Get Lucky, Instant Crush
• The Police: Message In A Bottle
• Tool: Pneuma, Schism
• Queens of the Stone Age: First It Giveth
• Pink Floyd: Comfortably Numb, Wish You Were Here, Time
• Tame Impala: The Less I Know the Better
• Animals as Leaders: The Woven Web
• Avicii: Levels
• Periphery: Marigold
• Tesseract: Juno
• Kanye West: Stronger, Flashing Lights, Devil In A New Dress
• Altın Gün: Goca Dünya
• Timbaland: Give It To Me
• Adele: Easy On Me (Live), When We Were Young
• Celine Dion: All By Myself
• Pavarotti: Nessun Dorma
• Mdou Moctar: Tarhatazed
• Cigarettes After Sex: Cry
• Meshuggah: Bleed
• A.R. Rahman: Tere Bina
• Alice in Chains: Down In A Hole (Live)
• Allen Stone: Give You Blue
• Florence + The Machine: Never Let Me Go
• The Smashing Pumpkins: Luna

The offerings from Aria Ear, the new Vietnamese kid on the block, courtesy of Aural Cafe and not the brand, continue in my hands as I sit to collect my thoughts on their second offering, the Azuri. I thank Aural Cafe for giving me this opportunity to speak freely on the Azuri.

UNBOXING, ACCESSORIES, FIT AND COMFORT

The Azuri comes in a box that is devoid of any waifu shenanigans and instead has the product advertised accordingly, much like the Sylva. The package is near identical to the Sylva, so I am not sure what to expect beyond that.

Both the Sylva and Azuri have similarly shaped and sized shells, and so the comfort levels and overall fit are comparable. Except that the Azuri has a trippier faceplate which feels nice to look at in parts, but let’s not get hung up there: looks alone cannot take an “audible” product far, so here’s the sound of the Azuri.

LOWS

In tracks like Rush’s Limelight and The Spirit of Radio, compared to the Sylva, the Azuri is lethargic in its delivery and subdued in impact. Drums can feel a bit too relaxed across regions, especially the kicks, but this allows the bass lines to shine through, which is good as these tracks are my picks to assess performance due to the camouflaging bass lines paired with the mathematical drumwork. Separation is not one of its strengths, prima facie, but at least here vocals are where the Azuri does mildly better than the Sylva: a better grip over tonality, feels more cohesive, and since the bass has a subdued impact for the most part, it does not have the tendency to crowd over the vocals.

In tracks like Daft Punk’s Instant Crush and Get Lucky, the Azuri’s reluctance in the bass to fully land with impact diminishes its ability to keep me engaged. The overall vibe feels like a well-controlled slap rather than a proper punch, which I would say is a misplaced priority as these tracks need a moderately paced attack with a short decay and a reasonably extended sustain, and the Azuri fails there. The attack is anemic, which makes for an even worse decay, and the sustain is only faintly there. Vocals have adequate weight and body, with a mild essence of warmth that can just about be felt.

MIDS

This is where the Azuri gets problematic. In tracks like Queens of the Stone Age’s First It Giveth, tracks set in peculiar keys with unorthodox snare setups, the Azuri’s issue with a sloppy attack paired with an even sloppier decay ruins the presentation of this fast-paced track. It feels like the track is slowing down as the IEM simply cannot seem to keep up with it, and apart from the warmish tonality that does not affect vocals in a concerning way, I was on the verge of taking the Azuri off my ears.

The Azuri also has a problem in its separation, which is evident in instrumentally dominant tracks like Periphery’s Marigold, Tool’s Lateralus and Tesseract’s Juno, where elements like hi-hats and crashes are being confused because the rides are almost inaudible. Guitars come off with too much warmth and energy which overshadows the vocals and, to an extent, some of the drumming, and at least in this realm, the Azuri is fully dominated by the Sylva. Timbre too sounds off in parts, where the cymbals come off overly metallic in feel, brash and moderately lifeless. A misjudged fat drop of paint on an otherwise fine watercolour painting.

HIGHS

In tracks like PinkPantheress’ Stateside featuring Zara Larsson, one of those tracks where there is a lot of phonk-style bass and synth that hits in pulses, the Azuri covers back some ground by sounding rather smooth through the synths, while the bass did not have any distortion but suffered from a lack of clarity. The Azuri once again disappoints with its imaging, where the vocals feel a bit too pushed back, although their weight remains intact. The test for sibilance and pierce remains.

In tracks like Celine Dion’s All By Myself, Adele’s Easy On Me and Whitney Houston’s I’ll Always Love You, the Azuri starts strong and finishes off quite well with no pierce or sibilance, but like the Sylva, I wished the notes had more sustain and the vocals were pushed more forward in the imaging. The instrumentals were unblemished, especially the timbre which remained intact on the pianos. But once again, it is not a very memorable set.

CONCLUDING NOTES

Like its sibling, the Sylva, the Azuri is another forgettable set, but with a sloppier execution. Throughout my listening, this IEM simply keeps fidgeting and never quite settles on one single point, or multiple points for that matter. The IEM feels like it knows what it wants to communicate across and invoke emotionally, but it cannot quite set the tone properly as its vocabulary is too limited, and if Aria Ear wanted to make something different in terms of tunings, making one IEM comparatively “less warm” than the other simply does not cut it.

The Azuri could have been a brighter set to complement the Sylva, but in its attempt to be remembered, it slides further into obscurity by simply being worse than the Sylva across most consistent metrics. I really do not have much else to say except that the brand needs to give some identity to its offerings, and no, Tanchjim’s similarly tuned IEMs will still comfortably outperform Aria Ear, although I am fatigued with the former as well.

Having two similarly positioned IEMs in a catalog already brings in a degree of fatigue, and what makes matters worse is when one is clearly inferior while competing in a similar price segment. That inevitably puts the brand’s internal direction under a rather shoddy spotlight. A C- to be given because this attempt simply will not cut through the overwhelmingly stacked competition.

Will I buy it at retail? No.
Will I buy it used? No.

Sources used

SMSL Raw MDA-1 desktop DAC amp, Shanling M9 Plus stacked with the xDuoo XD05 Pro running the AKM DAC chips, the Cayin N3 Ultra DAP in Classic Tube mode, the FiiO KA17 and the TRN BlackPearl portable dongle DAC/amps.

Eartips Used (ranked in order of performance)

KBear Coffee, Penon Liqueur Black, Tangzu Sancai Balanced, SpinFit CP100+, Dunu S&S

Tracks

• Rush: Limelight, The Spirit of Radio
• Daft Punk: Get Lucky, Instant Crush
• The Police: Message In A Bottle
• Tool: Pneuma, Schism
• Queens of the Stone Age: First It Giveth
• Pink Floyd: Comfortably Numb, Wish You Were Here, Time
• Tame Impala: The Less I Know the Better
• Animals as Leaders: The Woven Web
• Avicii: Levels
• Periphery: Marigold
• Tesseract: Juno
• Kanye West: Stronger, Flashing Lights, Devil In A New Dress
• Altın Gün: Goca Dünya
• Timbaland: Give It To Me
• Adele: Easy On Me (Live), When We Were Young
• Celine Dion: All By Myself
• Pavarotti: Nessun Dorma
• Mdou Moctar: Tarhatazed
• Cigarettes After Sex: Cry
• Meshuggah: Bleed
• A.R. Rahman: Tere Bina
• Alice in Chains: Down In A Hole (Live)
• Allen Stone: Give You Blue
• Florence + The Machine: Never Let Me Go
• The Smashing Pumpkins: Luna

The offerings from Aria Ear, the new Vietnamese kid on the block, courtesy of Aural Cafe and not the brand, continue in my hands as I sit to collect my thoughts on their second offering, the Azuri. I thank Aural Cafe for giving me this opportunity to speak freely on the Azuri.

UNBOXING, ACCESSORIES, FIT AND COMFORT

The Azuri comes in a box that is devoid of any waifu shenanigans and instead has the product advertised accordingly, much like the Sylva. The package is near identical to the Sylva, so I am not sure what to expect beyond that.

Both the Sylva and Azuri have similarly shaped and sized shells, and so the comfort levels and overall fit are comparable. Except that the Azuri has a trippier faceplate which feels nice to look at in parts, but let’s not get hung up there: looks alone cannot take an “audible” product far, so here’s the sound of the Azuri.

LOWS

In tracks like Rush’s Limelight and The Spirit of Radio, compared to the Sylva, the Azuri is lethargic in its delivery and subdued in impact. Drums can feel a bit too relaxed across regions, especially the kicks, but this allows the bass lines to shine through, which is good as these tracks are my picks to assess performance due to the camouflaging bass lines paired with the mathematical drumwork. Separation is not one of its strengths, prima facie, but at least here vocals are where the Azuri does mildly better than the Sylva: a better grip over tonality, feels more cohesive, and since the bass has a subdued impact for the most part, it does not have the tendency to crowd over the vocals.

In tracks like Daft Punk’s Instant Crush and Get Lucky, the Azuri’s reluctance in the bass to fully land with impact diminishes its ability to keep me engaged. The overall vibe feels like a well-controlled slap rather than a proper punch, which I would say is a misplaced priority as these tracks need a moderately paced attack with a short decay and a reasonably extended sustain, and the Azuri fails there. The attack is anemic, which makes for an even worse decay, and the sustain is only faintly there. Vocals have adequate weight and body, with a mild essence of warmth that can just about be felt.

MIDS

This is where the Azuri gets problematic. In tracks like Queens of the Stone Age’s First It Giveth, tracks set in peculiar keys with unorthodox snare setups, the Azuri’s issue with a sloppy attack paired with an even sloppier decay ruins the presentation of this fast-paced track. It feels like the track is slowing down as the IEM simply cannot seem to keep up with it, and apart from the warmish tonality that does not affect vocals in a concerning way, I was on the verge of taking the Azuri off my ears.

The Azuri also has a problem in its separation, which is evident in instrumentally dominant tracks like Periphery’s Marigold, Tool’s Lateralus and Tesseract’s Juno, where elements like hi-hats and crashes are being confused because the rides are almost inaudible. Guitars come off with too much warmth and energy which overshadows the vocals and, to an extent, some of the drumming, and at least in this realm, the Azuri is fully dominated by the Sylva. Timbre too sounds off in parts, where the cymbals come off overly metallic in feel, brash and moderately lifeless. A misjudged fat drop of paint on an otherwise fine watercolour painting.

HIGHS

In tracks like PinkPantheress’ Stateside featuring Zara Larsson, one of those tracks where there is a lot of phonk-style bass and synth that hits in pulses, the Azuri covers back some ground by sounding rather smooth through the synths, while the bass did not have any distortion but suffered from a lack of clarity. The Azuri once again disappoints with its imaging, where the vocals feel a bit too pushed back, although their weight remains intact. The test for sibilance and pierce remains.

In tracks like Celine Dion’s All By Myself, Adele’s Easy On Me and Whitney Houston’s I’ll Always Love You, the Azuri starts strong and finishes off quite well with no pierce or sibilance, but like the Sylva, I wished the notes had more sustain and the vocals were pushed more forward in the imaging. The instrumentals were unblemished, especially the timbre which remained intact on the pianos. But once again, it is not a very memorable set.

CONCLUDING NOTES

Like its sibling, the Sylva, the Azuri is another forgettable set, but with a sloppier execution. Throughout my listening, this IEM simply keeps fidgeting and never quite settles on one single point, or multiple points for that matter. The IEM feels like it knows what it wants to communicate across and invoke emotionally, but it cannot quite set the tone properly as its vocabulary is too limited, and if Aria Ear wanted to make something different in terms of tunings, making one IEM comparatively “less warm” than the other simply does not cut it.

The Azuri could have been a brighter set to complement the Sylva, but in its attempt to be remembered, it slides further into obscurity by simply being worse than the Sylva across most consistent metrics. I really do not have much else to say except that the brand needs to give some identity to its offerings, and no, Tanchjim’s similarly tuned IEMs will still comfortably outperform Aria Ear, although I am fatigued with the former as well.

Having two similarly positioned IEMs in a catalog already brings in a degree of fatigue, and what makes matters worse is when one is clearly inferior while competing in a similar price segment. That inevitably puts the brand’s internal direction under a rather shoddy spotlight. A C- to be given because this attempt simply will not cut through the overwhelmingly stacked competition.

Will I buy it at retail? No.
Will I buy it used? No.

Sources used

SMSL Raw MDA-1 desktop DAC amp, Shanling M9 Plus stacked with the xDuoo XD05 Pro running the AKM DAC chips, the Cayin N3 Ultra DAP in Classic Tube mode, the FiiO KA17 and the TRN BlackPearl portable dongle DAC/amps.

Eartips Used (ranked in order of performance)

KBear Coffee, Penon Liqueur Black, Tangzu Sancai Balanced, SpinFit CP100+, Dunu S&S

Tracks

• Rush: Limelight, The Spirit of Radio
• Daft Punk: Get Lucky, Instant Crush
• The Police: Message In A Bottle
• Tool: Pneuma, Schism
• Queens of the Stone Age: First It Giveth
• Pink Floyd: Comfortably Numb, Wish You Were Here, Time
• Tame Impala: The Less I Know the Better
• Animals as Leaders: The Woven Web
• Avicii: Levels
• Periphery: Marigold
• Tesseract: Juno
• Kanye West: Stronger, Flashing Lights, Devil In A New Dress
• Altın Gün: Goca Dünya
• Timbaland: Give It To Me
• Adele: Easy On Me (Live), When We Were Young
• Celine Dion: All By Myself
• Pavarotti: Nessun Dorma
• Mdou Moctar: Tarhatazed
• Cigarettes After Sex: Cry
• Meshuggah: Bleed
• A.R. Rahman: Tere Bina
• Alice in Chains: Down In A Hole (Live)
• Allen Stone: Give You Blue
• Florence + The Machine: Never Let Me Go
• The Smashing Pumpkins: Luna

Another brand that I had the delight to be introduced to was a new entrant into the melting pot of IEMs and from Vietnam, Aria Ear, and I found my hands over two of their offerings, the Sylva and Azuri, competing under the $150 mark, which is already a very saturated market where everyone seems to be trying to reinvent the wheel, with most being forgettable. I was curious to see whether their offerings would fold or hold.

This is a review unit, but it was not sent to me by the brand. Instead, it was sent to me by a house of reviewers and enjoyers alike, Aural Cafe. I thank them for the opportunity to review both the Aria Ear Sylva and Azuri, and now I sit with the Sylva.

Unboxing, Accessories, Fit and Comfort

The Sylva comes in a box that is devoid of any waifu shenanigans and instead has the product advertised accordingly. I found the IEM shells nestled inside foam padding, and both the Sylva and Azuri’s faceplates reminded me of an IEM I previously owned, and an IEM I reviewed prior, the Pula PA02 and the Xenns Mangird Top Pro respectively. There’s a box of eartips underneath, three pairs of black clear and three pairs of blue clear silicone, alongside a circular leather-padded case with a cleaning cloth. The cable provided is a standard 3.5mm which seems durable and felt nice, supporting the weight of the IEMs well, but when other brands in the same segment are providing modular cables with great quality, Aria Ear feels lacking in that department.

The Sylva, comparatively, is a larger IEM than I am mostly accustomed to in this price segment, and I had no pressure buildup in my ears even for extended periods, as there was appropriate venting. Further, the IEMs fit me satisfactorily and I didn’t have to wiggle around trying to get the right seal. Enough pitter-patter, here’s the sound.

LOWS

I never expected this IEM to throw me an absolute curveball in terms of its execution and impact of the bass, especially testing it on short stem eartips like the KBear Coffee. In tracks like Rush’s Limelight and The Spirit of Radio, two tracks where the bass camouflages with the drums, the Sylva got down to brass tacks and managed to get the notes of the bass isolated well from the drums, but I had an issue with the decay being cut a bit too short, noticeable in kicks and toms where they sounded full but ended flatter than what should have been, although the bassline remained mostly intact. Geddy’s vocals sounded comparatively thinner, where a bit more juice through his singing parts would have improved the Sylva considerably.

In tracks like Daft Punk’s Get Lucky and Instant Crush, two of my picks to gauge punch and slam, the Sylva starts belting out notes from the basslines like a gunslinger caught in a Mexican standoff, as the beats have a very satisfying punch and impact, and the thump that the drums have is immaculate. Now the vocals sound like they’ve got good body, and tonally, the Sylva leans toward a decent shade of warmth, but not overpowering.

MIDS

In tracks like First It Giveth by Queens of the Stone Age, something which is in a peculiar set key and has an unorthodox snare setup, the Sylva does a good job of not altering the overall sound of the snare, although detail through the snares could have been crisper. Vocals feel comparatively pushed back alongside the cymbals. Timbre stays planted, but the Sylva can be caught hard if pushed harder, as the lack of detail is also complemented by a misaligned priority between separation and imaging. I personally could have lived with less than decent separation, but it disappoints me when the imaging is wonky.

As the Sylva is pushed through tracks like Periphery’s Marigold, Tesseract’s Juno, and Tool’s Lateralus, its confusion across discerning elements from one another can be seen, which reconfirms my observation that the Sylva needed more work on its separation, although I perceived a minor improvement in imaging, especially in Lateralus, where the cymbals had their positioning intact. But across parts, the Sylva definitely had the tendency to smudge up between guitars and cymbals, which dampened the energy toward what seemed to be an improvement arc.

HIGHS

In tracks like PinkPantheress’ Stateside featuring Zara Larsson, tracks where the phonk-style bass and synths arrive in strong pulses, what impressed me outright was how well controlled the bass was, while the synths, despite having the energy, did not feel shouty by any means, and a restrained warm tonality does not, however, eliminate the perceived bloat in parts. Surprisingly, the bass did not come off distorted, and another good thing was the vocals not evaporating out, which surprised my expectations given how my observations were in the midrange.

In tracks like Celine Dion’s All By Myself, Adele’s Easy on Me and When We Were Young, and Whitney Houston’s I’ll Always Love You, the Sylva feels faintly similar to my Cadenza 4, where the notes do scale high, as the climaxes on these tracks, falsettos, straight note sustains, and other voice modulations, did not feel wrong or otherwise, and I didn’t observe any sibilance or pierce. What I would have liked is the notes having a minutely longer decay for the climaxes to land even harder. Timbre through the pianos felt natural, and the rest of the the instrumentals were not ignored while the vocals were being delivered, making the Sylva a somewhat decent performer.

In tracks like Kendrick Lamar’s Alright, the Sylva did a decent job in handling the coherency between the horns, background hums, and the prematurely clipped cymbals, but once again the patchy perceived bloat shows up through the bass. Even though the cymbals came off with a lot of enthusiasm, I wouldn’t say that it sounded shouty or fatiguing, whichever might fit better.

Concluding Notes

The Aria Ear Sylva is a little too late to the very crowded party, which wouldn’t have been the case earlier. In a segment dominated by IEMs like the Truthear Pure, the Juzear Defiant, and the Aful Explorer in the lower end; and sets like the Aful Performer 5+2, Tanchjim Nora, ZiiGaat Lush, Crinear Daybreak, Letshuoer S12 Ultra on the upper end (do you see how crowded that list is), the Sylva simply cannot cut it through with a decent tuning, when the entire segment is trying to one up each other- be it sound, accessories, or the whole package overall. And before I look at the Sylva, I already have a few IEMs with me which do a better job than the Sylva- namely the Twistura Woodnote and the Kotori Audio Zephyr. 

The Sylva is not devoid of strengths- a held back warm tonality which doesn’t overwhelm elements that do not need said warmth, a punchy bass, weighted vocals, decent imaging and fairly extending highs without coming off sibilant and fatiguing, the Sylva sadly cannot cut it with decency. It is a decent IEM, but it is also a forgettable IEM, and if Aria Ear really intends to make its mark in this stacked (to be generously putting it) segment of IEMs, they will need to work significantly harder. 

Something fairly neutral ? Truthear Hexa. Something dark yet decent ? Aful Explorer. Something mildly warm yet does everything else so damn good ? Truthear Pure. Neutral-ish with accessories ? Fission and Nora. Underrated ? Zephyr. Another take on warm and fun and also comes with a fantastic set of accessories ? Woodnote. See ? Not once did I mention the Sylva anywhere, and for an honest effort at sounding great, I could have given the Sylva a B+ but since it has nothing unique going for itself and I genuinely want to see the brand do better in an overfarmed field of Chi-fi, the Sylva gets nothing more than a B- as my final grade. Again, decent but it’s not going to simply cut it.

Will I buy it at retail? No.

Will I buy it used? Will give it a thought.

Sources used

SMSL Raw MDA-1 desktop DAC amp, Shanling M9 Plus stacked withe xDuoo XD05 Pro running the AKM DAC chips and the Cayin N3 Ultra DAP in classic tube mode, FiiO KA17 and TRN Blackpearl portable dongle DAC Amps.

Eartips Used (ranked in order of performance)

KBear Coffee, Penon Liqueur Black, Tangzu Sancai Balanced, Spinfit CP100+, Dunu S&S

Tracks

• Rush: Limelight, Spirit of the Radio
• Daft Punk: Get Lucky, Instant Crush
• The Police: Message In A Bottle
• Tool: Pneuma, Schism
• Queens of the Stone Age: First It Giveth
• Pink Floyd: Comfortably Numb, Wish You Were Here, Time
• Tame Impala: The Less I Know the Better
• Animals as Leaders: The Woven Web
• Avicii: Levels
• Periphery: Marigold
• Tesseract: Juno
• Kanye West: Stronger, Flashing Lights, Devil In A New Dress
• Altin Gun: Goga Dunya
• Timbaland: Give It To Me
• Adele: Easy On Me Live, When We Were Young
• Celine Dion: All By Myself
• Pavarotti: Nessun Dorma
• Mdou Moctar: Tarhatazed
• Cigarettes After Sex: Cry
• Meshuggah: Bleed
• AR Rahman: Tere Bina
• Alice in Chains: Down In A Hole (Live)
• Allen Stone: Give You Blue
• Florence + The Machine: Never Let Me Go
• The Smashing Pumpkins: Luna

Another brand that I had the delight to be introduced to was a new entrant into the melting pot of IEMs and from Vietnam, Aria Ear, and I found my hands over two of their offerings, the Sylva and Azuri, competing under the $150 mark, which is already a very saturated market where everyone seems to be trying to reinvent the wheel, with most being forgettable. I was curious to see whether their offerings would fold or hold.

This is a review unit, but it was not sent to me by the brand. Instead, it was sent to me by a house of reviewers and enjoyers alike, Aural Cafe. I thank them for the opportunity to review both the Aria Ear Sylva and Azuri, and now I sit with the Sylva.

Unboxing, Accessories, Fit and Comfort

The Sylva comes in a box that is devoid of any waifu shenanigans and instead has the product advertised accordingly. I found the IEM shells nestled inside foam padding, and both the Sylva and Azuri’s faceplates reminded me of an IEM I previously owned, and an IEM I reviewed prior, the Pula PA02 and the Xenns Mangird Top Pro respectively. There’s a box of eartips underneath, three pairs of black clear and three pairs of blue clear silicone, alongside a circular leather-padded case with a cleaning cloth. The cable provided is a standard 3.5mm which seems durable and felt nice, supporting the weight of the IEMs well, but when other brands in the same segment are providing modular cables with great quality, Aria Ear feels lacking in that department.

The Sylva, comparatively, is a larger IEM than I am mostly accustomed to in this price segment, and I had no pressure buildup in my ears even for extended periods, as there was appropriate venting. Further, the IEMs fit me satisfactorily and I didn’t have to wiggle around trying to get the right seal. Enough pitter-patter, here’s the sound.

LOWS

I never expected this IEM to throw me an absolute curveball in terms of its execution and impact of the bass, especially testing it on short stem eartips like the KBear Coffee. In tracks like Rush’s Limelight and The Spirit of Radio, two tracks where the bass camouflages with the drums, the Sylva got down to brass tacks and managed to get the notes of the bass isolated well from the drums, but I had an issue with the decay being cut a bit too short, noticeable in kicks and toms where they sounded full but ended flatter than what should have been, although the bassline remained mostly intact. Geddy’s vocals sounded comparatively thinner, where a bit more juice through his singing parts would have improved the Sylva considerably.

In tracks like Daft Punk’s Get Lucky and Instant Crush, two of my picks to gauge punch and slam, the Sylva starts belting out notes from the basslines like a gunslinger caught in a Mexican standoff, as the beats have a very satisfying punch and impact, and the thump that the drums have is immaculate. Now the vocals sound like they’ve got good body, and tonally, the Sylva leans toward a decent shade of warmth, but not overpowering.

MIDS

In tracks like First It Giveth by Queens of the Stone Age, something which is in a peculiar set key and has an unorthodox snare setup, the Sylva does a good job of not altering the overall sound of the snare, although detail through the snares could have been crisper. Vocals feel comparatively pushed back alongside the cymbals. Timbre stays planted, but the Sylva can be caught hard if pushed harder, as the lack of detail is also complemented by a misaligned priority between separation and imaging. I personally could have lived with less than decent separation, but it disappoints me when the imaging is wonky.

As the Sylva is pushed through tracks like Periphery’s Marigold, Tesseract’s Juno, and Tool’s Lateralus, its confusion across discerning elements from one another can be seen, which reconfirms my observation that the Sylva needed more work on its separation, although I perceived a minor improvement in imaging, especially in Lateralus, where the cymbals had their positioning intact. But across parts, the Sylva definitely had the tendency to smudge up between guitars and cymbals, which dampened the energy toward what seemed to be an improvement arc.

HIGHS

In tracks like PinkPantheress’ Stateside featuring Zara Larsson, tracks where the phonk-style bass and synths arrive in strong pulses, what impressed me outright was how well controlled the bass was, while the synths, despite having the energy, did not feel shouty by any means, and a restrained warm tonality does not, however, eliminate the perceived bloat in parts. Surprisingly, the bass did not come off distorted, and another good thing was the vocals not evaporating out, which surprised my expectations given how my observations were in the midrange.

In tracks like Celine Dion’s All By Myself, Adele’s Easy on Me and When We Were Young, and Whitney Houston’s I’ll Always Love You, the Sylva feels faintly similar to my Cadenza 4, where the notes do scale high, as the climaxes on these tracks, falsettos, straight note sustains, and other voice modulations, did not feel wrong or otherwise, and I didn’t observe any sibilance or pierce. What I would have liked is the notes having a minutely longer decay for the climaxes to land even harder. Timbre through the pianos felt natural, and the rest of the the instrumentals were not ignored while the vocals were being delivered, making the Sylva a somewhat decent performer.

In tracks like Kendrick Lamar’s Alright, the Sylva did a decent job in handling the coherency between the horns, background hums, and the prematurely clipped cymbals, but once again the patchy perceived bloat shows up through the bass. Even though the cymbals came off with a lot of enthusiasm, I wouldn’t say that it sounded shouty or fatiguing, whichever might fit better.

Concluding Notes

The Aria Ear Sylva is a little too late to the very crowded party, which wouldn’t have been the case earlier. In a segment dominated by IEMs like the Truthear Pure, the Juzear Defiant, and the Aful Explorer in the lower end; and sets like the Aful Performer 5+2, Tanchjim Nora, ZiiGaat Lush, Crinear Daybreak, Letshuoer S12 Ultra on the upper end (do you see how crowded that list is), the Sylva simply cannot cut it through with a decent tuning, when the entire segment is trying to one up each other- be it sound, accessories, or the whole package overall. And before I look at the Sylva, I already have a few IEMs with me which do a better job than the Sylva- namely the Twistura Woodnote and the Kotori Audio Zephyr. 

The Sylva is not devoid of strengths- a held back warm tonality which doesn’t overwhelm elements that do not need said warmth, a punchy bass, weighted vocals, decent imaging and fairly extending highs without coming off sibilant and fatiguing, the Sylva sadly cannot cut it with decency. It is a decent IEM, but it is also a forgettable IEM, and if Aria Ear really intends to make its mark in this stacked (to be generously putting it) segment of IEMs, they will need to work significantly harder. 

Something fairly neutral ? Truthear Hexa. Something dark yet decent ? Aful Explorer. Something mildly warm yet does everything else so damn good ? Truthear Pure. Neutral-ish with accessories ? Fission and Nora. Underrated ? Zephyr. Another take on warm and fun and also comes with a fantastic set of accessories ? Woodnote. See ? Not once did I mention the Sylva anywhere, and for an honest effort at sounding great, I could have given the Sylva a B+ but since it has nothing unique going for itself and I genuinely want to see the brand do better in an overfarmed field of Chi-fi, the Sylva gets nothing more than a B- as my final grade. Again, decent but it’s not going to simply cut it.

Will I buy it at retail? No.

Will I buy it used? Will give it a thought.

Sources used

SMSL Raw MDA-1 desktop DAC amp, Shanling M9 Plus stacked withe xDuoo XD05 Pro running the AKM DAC chips and the Cayin N3 Ultra DAP in classic tube mode, FiiO KA17 and TRN Blackpearl portable dongle DAC Amps.

Eartips Used (ranked in order of performance)

KBear Coffee, Penon Liqueur Black, Tangzu Sancai Balanced, Spinfit CP100+, Dunu S&S

Tracks

• Rush: Limelight, Spirit of the Radio
• Daft Punk: Get Lucky, Instant Crush
• The Police: Message In A Bottle
• Tool: Pneuma, Schism
• Queens of the Stone Age: First It Giveth
• Pink Floyd: Comfortably Numb, Wish You Were Here, Time
• Tame Impala: The Less I Know the Better
• Animals as Leaders: The Woven Web
• Avicii: Levels
• Periphery: Marigold
• Tesseract: Juno
• Kanye West: Stronger, Flashing Lights, Devil In A New Dress
• Altin Gun: Goga Dunya
• Timbaland: Give It To Me
• Adele: Easy On Me Live, When We Were Young
• Celine Dion: All By Myself
• Pavarotti: Nessun Dorma
• Mdou Moctar: Tarhatazed
• Cigarettes After Sex: Cry
• Meshuggah: Bleed
• AR Rahman: Tere Bina
• Alice in Chains: Down In A Hole (Live)
• Allen Stone: Give You Blue
• Florence + The Machine: Never Let Me Go
• The Smashing Pumpkins: Luna

Another brand that I had the delight to be introduced to was a new entrant into the melting pot of IEMs and from Vietnam, Aria Ear, and I found my hands over two of their offerings, the Sylva and Azuri, competing under the $150 mark, which is already a very saturated market where everyone seems to be trying to reinvent the wheel, with most being forgettable. I was curious to see whether their offerings would fold or hold.

This is a review unit, but it was not sent to me by the brand. Instead, it was sent to me by a house of reviewers and enjoyers alike, Aural Cafe. I thank them for the opportunity to review both the Aria Ear Sylva and Azuri, and now I sit with the Sylva.

Unboxing, Accessories, Fit and Comfort

The Sylva comes in a box that is devoid of any waifu shenanigans and instead has the product advertised accordingly. I found the IEM shells nestled inside foam padding, and both the Sylva and Azuri’s faceplates reminded me of an IEM I previously owned, and an IEM I reviewed prior, the Pula PA02 and the Xenns Mangird Top Pro respectively. There’s a box of eartips underneath, three pairs of black clear and three pairs of blue clear silicone, alongside a circular leather-padded case with a cleaning cloth. The cable provided is a standard 3.5mm which seems durable and felt nice, supporting the weight of the IEMs well, but when other brands in the same segment are providing modular cables with great quality, Aria Ear feels lacking in that department.

The Sylva, comparatively, is a larger IEM than I am mostly accustomed to in this price segment, and I had no pressure buildup in my ears even for extended periods, as there was appropriate venting. Further, the IEMs fit me satisfactorily and I didn’t have to wiggle around trying to get the right seal. Enough pitter-patter, here’s the sound.

LOWS

I never expected this IEM to throw me an absolute curveball in terms of its execution and impact of the bass, especially testing it on short stem eartips like the KBear Coffee. In tracks like Rush’s Limelight and The Spirit of Radio, two tracks where the bass camouflages with the drums, the Sylva got down to brass tacks and managed to get the notes of the bass isolated well from the drums, but I had an issue with the decay being cut a bit too short, noticeable in kicks and toms where they sounded full but ended flatter than what should have been, although the bassline remained mostly intact. Geddy’s vocals sounded comparatively thinner, where a bit more juice through his singing parts would have improved the Sylva considerably.

In tracks like Daft Punk’s Get Lucky and Instant Crush, two of my picks to gauge punch and slam, the Sylva starts belting out notes from the basslines like a gunslinger caught in a Mexican standoff, as the beats have a very satisfying punch and impact, and the thump that the drums have is immaculate. Now the vocals sound like they’ve got good body, and tonally, the Sylva leans toward a decent shade of warmth, but not overpowering.

MIDS

In tracks like First It Giveth by Queens of the Stone Age, something which is in a peculiar set key and has an unorthodox snare setup, the Sylva does a good job of not altering the overall sound of the snare, although detail through the snares could have been crisper. Vocals feel comparatively pushed back alongside the cymbals. Timbre stays planted, but the Sylva can be caught hard if pushed harder, as the lack of detail is also complemented by a misaligned priority between separation and imaging. I personally could have lived with less than decent separation, but it disappoints me when the imaging is wonky.

As the Sylva is pushed through tracks like Periphery’s Marigold, Tesseract’s Juno, and Tool’s Lateralus, its confusion across discerning elements from one another can be seen, which reconfirms my observation that the Sylva needed more work on its separation, although I perceived a minor improvement in imaging, especially in Lateralus, where the cymbals had their positioning intact. But across parts, the Sylva definitely had the tendency to smudge up between guitars and cymbals, which dampened the energy toward what seemed to be an improvement arc.

HIGHS

In tracks like PinkPantheress’ Stateside featuring Zara Larsson, tracks where the phonk-style bass and synths arrive in strong pulses, what impressed me outright was how well controlled the bass was, while the synths, despite having the energy, did not feel shouty by any means, and a restrained warm tonality does not, however, eliminate the perceived bloat in parts. Surprisingly, the bass did not come off distorted, and another good thing was the vocals not evaporating out, which surprised my expectations given how my observations were in the midrange.

In tracks like Celine Dion’s All By Myself, Adele’s Easy on Me and When We Were Young, and Whitney Houston’s I’ll Always Love You, the Sylva feels faintly similar to my Cadenza 4, where the notes do scale high, as the climaxes on these tracks, falsettos, straight note sustains, and other voice modulations, did not feel wrong or otherwise, and I didn’t observe any sibilance or pierce. What I would have liked is the notes having a minutely longer decay for the climaxes to land even harder. Timbre through the pianos felt natural, and the rest of the the instrumentals were not ignored while the vocals were being delivered, making the Sylva a somewhat decent performer.

In tracks like Kendrick Lamar’s Alright, the Sylva did a decent job in handling the coherency between the horns, background hums, and the prematurely clipped cymbals, but once again the patchy perceived bloat shows up through the bass. Even though the cymbals came off with a lot of enthusiasm, I wouldn’t say that it sounded shouty or fatiguing, whichever might fit better.

Concluding Notes

The Aria Ear Sylva is a little too late to the very crowded party, which wouldn’t have been the case earlier. In a segment dominated by IEMs like the Truthear Pure, the Juzear Defiant, and the Aful Explorer in the lower end; and sets like the Aful Performer 5+2, Tanchjim Nora, ZiiGaat Lush, Crinear Daybreak, Letshuoer S12 Ultra on the upper end (do you see how crowded that list is), the Sylva simply cannot cut it through with a decent tuning, when the entire segment is trying to one up each other- be it sound, accessories, or the whole package overall. And before I look at the Sylva, I already have a few IEMs with me which do a better job than the Sylva- namely the Twistura Woodnote and the Kotori Audio Zephyr. 

The Sylva is not devoid of strengths- a held back warm tonality which doesn’t overwhelm elements that do not need said warmth, a punchy bass, weighted vocals, decent imaging and fairly extending highs without coming off sibilant and fatiguing, the Sylva sadly cannot cut it with decency. It is a decent IEM, but it is also a forgettable IEM, and if Aria Ear really intends to make its mark in this stacked (to be generously putting it) segment of IEMs, they will need to work significantly harder. 

Something fairly neutral ? Truthear Hexa. Something dark yet decent ? Aful Explorer. Something mildly warm yet does everything else so damn good ? Truthear Pure. Neutral-ish with accessories ? Fission and Nora. Underrated ? Zephyr. Another take on warm and fun and also comes with a fantastic set of accessories ? Woodnote. See ? Not once did I mention the Sylva anywhere, and for an honest effort at sounding great, I could have given the Sylva a B+ but since it has nothing unique going for itself and I genuinely want to see the brand do better in an overfarmed field of Chi-fi, the Sylva gets nothing more than a B- as my final grade. Again, decent but it’s not going to simply cut it.

Will I buy it at retail? No.

Will I buy it used? Will give it a thought.

Sources used

SMSL Raw MDA-1 desktop DAC amp, Shanling M9 Plus stacked withe xDuoo XD05 Pro running the AKM DAC chips and the Cayin N3 Ultra DAP in classic tube mode, FiiO KA17 and TRN Blackpearl portable dongle DAC Amps.

Eartips Used (ranked in order of performance)

KBear Coffee, Penon Liqueur Black, Tangzu Sancai Balanced, Spinfit CP100+, Dunu S&S

Tracks

• Rush: Limelight, Spirit of the Radio
• Daft Punk: Get Lucky, Instant Crush
• The Police: Message In A Bottle
• Tool: Pneuma, Schism
• Queens of the Stone Age: First It Giveth
• Pink Floyd: Comfortably Numb, Wish You Were Here, Time
• Tame Impala: The Less I Know the Better
• Animals as Leaders: The Woven Web
• Avicii: Levels
• Periphery: Marigold
• Tesseract: Juno
• Kanye West: Stronger, Flashing Lights, Devil In A New Dress
• Altin Gun: Goga Dunya
• Timbaland: Give It To Me
• Adele: Easy On Me Live, When We Were Young
• Celine Dion: All By Myself
• Pavarotti: Nessun Dorma
• Mdou Moctar: Tarhatazed
• Cigarettes After Sex: Cry
• Meshuggah: Bleed
• AR Rahman: Tere Bina
• Alice in Chains: Down In A Hole (Live)
• Allen Stone: Give You Blue
• Florence + The Machine: Never Let Me Go
• The Smashing Pumpkins: Luna

Another brand that I had the delight to be introduced to was a new entrant into the melting pot of IEMs and from Vietnam, Aria Ear, and I found my hands over two of their offerings, the Sylva and Azuri, competing under the $150 mark, which is already a very saturated market where everyone seems to be trying to reinvent the wheel, with most being forgettable. I was curious to see whether their offerings would fold or hold.

This is a review unit, but it was not sent to me by the brand. Instead, it was sent to me by a house of reviewers and enjoyers alike, Aural Cafe. I thank them for the opportunity to review both the Aria Ear Sylva and Azuri, and now I sit with the Sylva.

Unboxing, Accessories, Fit and Comfort

The Sylva comes in a box that is devoid of any waifu shenanigans and instead has the product advertised accordingly. I found the IEM shells nestled inside foam padding, and both the Sylva and Azuri’s faceplates reminded me of an IEM I previously owned, and an IEM I reviewed prior, the Pula PA02 and the Xenns Mangird Top Pro respectively. There’s a box of eartips underneath, three pairs of black clear and three pairs of blue clear silicone, alongside a circular leather-padded case with a cleaning cloth. The cable provided is a standard 3.5mm which seems durable and felt nice, supporting the weight of the IEMs well, but when other brands in the same segment are providing modular cables with great quality, Aria Ear feels lacking in that department.

The Sylva, comparatively, is a larger IEM than I am mostly accustomed to in this price segment, and I had no pressure buildup in my ears even for extended periods, as there was appropriate venting. Further, the IEMs fit me satisfactorily and I didn’t have to wiggle around trying to get the right seal. Enough pitter-patter, here’s the sound.

LOWS

I never expected this IEM to throw me an absolute curveball in terms of its execution and impact of the bass, especially testing it on short stem eartips like the KBear Coffee. In tracks like Rush’s Limelight and The Spirit of Radio, two tracks where the bass camouflages with the drums, the Sylva got down to brass tacks and managed to get the notes of the bass isolated well from the drums, but I had an issue with the decay being cut a bit too short, noticeable in kicks and toms where they sounded full but ended flatter than what should have been, although the bassline remained mostly intact. Geddy’s vocals sounded comparatively thinner, where a bit more juice through his singing parts would have improved the Sylva considerably.

In tracks like Daft Punk’s Get Lucky and Instant Crush, two of my picks to gauge punch and slam, the Sylva starts belting out notes from the basslines like a gunslinger caught in a Mexican standoff, as the beats have a very satisfying punch and impact, and the thump that the drums have is immaculate. Now the vocals sound like they’ve got good body, and tonally, the Sylva leans toward a decent shade of warmth, but not overpowering.

MIDS

In tracks like First It Giveth by Queens of the Stone Age, something which is in a peculiar set key and has an unorthodox snare setup, the Sylva does a good job of not altering the overall sound of the snare, although detail through the snares could have been crisper. Vocals feel comparatively pushed back alongside the cymbals. Timbre stays planted, but the Sylva can be caught hard if pushed harder, as the lack of detail is also complemented by a misaligned priority between separation and imaging. I personally could have lived with less than decent separation, but it disappoints me when the imaging is wonky.

As the Sylva is pushed through tracks like Periphery’s Marigold, Tesseract’s Juno, and Tool’s Lateralus, its confusion across discerning elements from one another can be seen, which reconfirms my observation that the Sylva needed more work on its separation, although I perceived a minor improvement in imaging, especially in Lateralus, where the cymbals had their positioning intact. But across parts, the Sylva definitely had the tendency to smudge up between guitars and cymbals, which dampened the energy toward what seemed to be an improvement arc.

HIGHS

In tracks like PinkPantheress’ Stateside featuring Zara Larsson, tracks where the phonk-style bass and synths arrive in strong pulses, what impressed me outright was how well controlled the bass was, while the synths, despite having the energy, did not feel shouty by any means, and a restrained warm tonality does not, however, eliminate the perceived bloat in parts. Surprisingly, the bass did not come off distorted, and another good thing was the vocals not evaporating out, which surprised my expectations given how my observations were in the midrange.

In tracks like Celine Dion’s All By Myself, Adele’s Easy on Me and When We Were Young, and Whitney Houston’s I’ll Always Love You, the Sylva feels faintly similar to my Cadenza 4, where the notes do scale high, as the climaxes on these tracks, falsettos, straight note sustains, and other voice modulations, did not feel wrong or otherwise, and I didn’t observe any sibilance or pierce. What I would have liked is the notes having a minutely longer decay for the climaxes to land even harder. Timbre through the pianos felt natural, and the rest of the the instrumentals were not ignored while the vocals were being delivered, making the Sylva a somewhat decent performer.

In tracks like Kendrick Lamar’s Alright, the Sylva did a decent job in handling the coherency between the horns, background hums, and the prematurely clipped cymbals, but once again the patchy perceived bloat shows up through the bass. Even though the cymbals came off with a lot of enthusiasm, I wouldn’t say that it sounded shouty or fatiguing, whichever might fit better.

Concluding Notes

The Aria Ear Sylva is a little too late to the very crowded party, which wouldn’t have been the case earlier. In a segment dominated by IEMs like the Truthear Pure, the Juzear Defiant, and the Aful Explorer in the lower end; and sets like the Aful Performer 5+2, Tanchjim Nora, ZiiGaat Lush, Crinear Daybreak, Letshuoer S12 Ultra on the upper end (do you see how crowded that list is), the Sylva simply cannot cut it through with a decent tuning, when the entire segment is trying to one up each other- be it sound, accessories, or the whole package overall. And before I look at the Sylva, I already have a few IEMs with me which do a better job than the Sylva- namely the Twistura Woodnote and the Kotori Audio Zephyr. 

The Sylva is not devoid of strengths- a held back warm tonality which doesn’t overwhelm elements that do not need said warmth, a punchy bass, weighted vocals, decent imaging and fairly extending highs without coming off sibilant and fatiguing, the Sylva sadly cannot cut it with decency. It is a decent IEM, but it is also a forgettable IEM, and if Aria Ear really intends to make its mark in this stacked (to be generously putting it) segment of IEMs, they will need to work significantly harder. 

Something fairly neutral ? Truthear Hexa. Something dark yet decent ? Aful Explorer. Something mildly warm yet does everything else so damn good ? Truthear Pure. Neutral-ish with accessories ? Fission and Nora. Underrated ? Zephyr. Another take on warm and fun and also comes with a fantastic set of accessories ? Woodnote. See ? Not once did I mention the Sylva anywhere, and for an honest effort at sounding great, I could have given the Sylva a B+ but since it has nothing unique going for itself and I genuinely want to see the brand do better in an overfarmed field of Chi-fi, the Sylva gets nothing more than a B- as my final grade. Again, decent but it’s not going to simply cut it.

Will I buy it at retail? No.

Will I buy it used? Will give it a thought.

Sources used

SMSL Raw MDA-1 desktop DAC amp, Shanling M9 Plus stacked withe xDuoo XD05 Pro running the AKM DAC chips and the Cayin N3 Ultra DAP in classic tube mode, FiiO KA17 and TRN Blackpearl portable dongle DAC Amps.

Eartips Used (ranked in order of performance)

KBear Coffee, Penon Liqueur Black, Tangzu Sancai Balanced, Spinfit CP100+, Dunu S&S

Tracks

• Rush: Limelight, Spirit of the Radio
• Daft Punk: Get Lucky, Instant Crush
• The Police: Message In A Bottle
• Tool: Pneuma, Schism
• Queens of the Stone Age: First It Giveth
• Pink Floyd: Comfortably Numb, Wish You Were Here, Time
• Tame Impala: The Less I Know the Better
• Animals as Leaders: The Woven Web
• Avicii: Levels
• Periphery: Marigold
• Tesseract: Juno
• Kanye West: Stronger, Flashing Lights, Devil In A New Dress
• Altin Gun: Goga Dunya
• Timbaland: Give It To Me
• Adele: Easy On Me Live, When We Were Young
• Celine Dion: All By Myself
• Pavarotti: Nessun Dorma
• Mdou Moctar: Tarhatazed
• Cigarettes After Sex: Cry
• Meshuggah: Bleed
• AR Rahman: Tere Bina
• Alice in Chains: Down In A Hole (Live)
• Allen Stone: Give You Blue
• Florence + The Machine: Never Let Me Go
• The Smashing Pumpkins: Luna

I didn’t have a lot of idea about FiR Audio, and I had only briefly heard its name and a bunch of diehard fans, with their picks being the Redux6, the RN6 and likes. I got to know very recently, that the main people behind FiR Audio were some of the computing power and innards of 64Audio, another maker that I really like, so I had to give it a shot. Especially for $2799.

One of my patrons visited my city for a quick vacation, and left me a bunch of his trinkets- amongst which I pick up the Project K, and I am going to be kind to myself for not knowing them earlier. This is not a full set, and I only have the IEM in its stock cable. 

The Project K has to be one of the most well built IEMs I have had the opportunity to try, where the shells are small enough to fit most ears. The less I say about the faceplate, the better and I shall reserve my pictures for it. Cutting to the chase, here’s the sound.

LOWS

This is an IEM which behaves like a completely different beast with short stem eartips, and especially if one wants the bass to have a healthy edge in slam and punch, which is where I pick up Daft Punk’s Get Lucky and Instant Crush. The attack on these tracks is quite fast to my ears, and the decay is excellent in terms of delivery, just that the sustain is cut off a wee bit too quick. The bass line plows through with great tenacity, I simply could not see it slip, and the beats land with excellent precision. The quantity is great but, shockingly, it does not feel bloated. Pharrell’s vocals on Get Lucky should sound thin, but the Project K gives them enough oomph in terms of weight, where they run parallel with the bass lines for the entire sound to come off as cohesive as it can get.

In tracks like Rush’s Limelight and The Spirit of Radio, two of my picks to gauge technical prowess as the bass lines and drums are the highlight, the Project K cranks the detail up on these tracks, which diminishes my complaint to a nitpick, and the way the vocals cut through across the bass lines is very satisfying. From a tonal aspect, it is indeed pleasantly warm, not really coming off as balanced. The way the toms and kicks synchronize with the bass for a full send of sorts in terms of bass impact brings a wide smile to my face. The Project K simply does not falter when it comes to cutting through the excess and presenting detail, fast attack, and crisp decay right in front of my face, while still having a gentleman’s restraint in not being overly aggressive.

MIDS

On tracks like Queens of the Stone Age’s First It Giveth, a roller coaster with an unorthodox snare setup and unusual key progression, the abundantly warm tonality that the Project K has is a blessing while still not affecting timbre. I could perceive the bass mellowing out in favour of the guitars and cymbals to shine, and unlike most sets that I have heard where the cymbals either feel veiled, too pushed back, or washed, the Project K angles them right alongside the vocals, kind of like slinging a line out and fishing the salmon of your dreams at one go. The Project K simply cannot be held back. While I enjoyed the vocals and cymbals, the guitars were one element which genuinely surprised me on the Project K, as I expected them to be laid back. Instead, they came off meaty and heavy, with solid weight and body, yet detailed enough for the string work across passages to shine through effortlessly.

When the Project K is pushed towards busier tracks where my picks are Tool’s Lateralus, Periphery’s Marigold, and Tesseract’s Juno, this IEM has an excellent grip over its imaging capabilities. Elements that fall in the realm of micro detail, like the string sections on Marigold, come off delightfully warm while remaining smooth, detailed, and free of scratchiness. I could hear everything going on in these tracks with equal emphasis, be it the cymbal hits with next to zero sibilance, the ghost notes across the snares, the panning from kicks to toms, or the vocals sitting dead centre. Guitars, once again, have some serious body and separation, and timbre is also one of the areas that the Project K excels in, although the cymbals can faintly lose some weight in certain passages.

HIGHS

In tracks like PinkPantheress’ Stateside with Zara Larsson, tracks with a lot of pulsating phonk-style bass and synths, the Project K has a crazy smooth refinement. I was prepared for the synths to have some shoutiness to them, but instead I was greeted with an incredibly polished presentation, while the bass acts like the pulse of an Olympic marathon runner: potent hits with zero distortion and absolutely no signs of anemia. The vocals, which once again should have sounded thin, are accurately reproduced, where Zara’s section in this track does not have the warmth spilling over excessively, which shows the Project K being warm yet keeping itself in check.

In tracks like Florence + the Machine’s Never Let Me Go and Celine Dion’s All By Myself, two tracks which are performance masterclasses with a lean pitch, the Project K lets the climax ride out fabulously with one of the least bright yet non-fatiguing deliveries out of an in-ear I have had the fortune to experience. Notes scale incredibly high, yet when the falsettos come in, I could hear the oscillation without any fatigue or piercing sensation, while the instrumentals kick in to complement the vocals instead of overshadowing them. On All By Myself, the sustain through the climax comes through without any piercing quality. Timbre and tonality are flawless. In short, the Project K is one of the best sets I have heard when it comes to being a spectacular all-rounder while going all out on vocals.

In tracks like Adele’s When We Were Young and Easy On Me, two emotionally charged baritone ballads, the passages simply flow while the Project K effortlessly balances the pianos and bass with her vocals. When the climaxes hit on these tracks, timbre stays warm yet FiRmly within control, details remain top notch, and vocal notes carry commendable weight and body. The bass does not come off as intrusive as the vocals soldier on, nor do the pianos sound off in any way. This simply reafFiRms that the FiR Audio Project K is one of the very best when it comes to flat-out maximum performance at the highest level.

Concluding Notes

The FiR Audio Project K beautifully fills the void that I had when the Elysian Apostle 2026 left my desk, it shares a lot of its characteristics with that IEM. While rotating between other IEMs like the Icelab Spectrumica, CampFiRe Bonneville, Noble Agis 2, Empire Ears Raven and the 64Audio Volur, I dare say that the Project K outshines a lot of them in their own game, and the key to beating them is not being better than these in specific departments, it’s the character of balancing everything in moderation that gives the Project K a seat in my list for one of the best that I have heard till date. It may not have the dramatic impact, execution and punch in the lows like the Raven, Spectrumica or Apostle, but it delivers where it needs to. The midrange is as open as warm leaning sets like the Volur have, but the Project K excels in imaging and detail. And through the highs, the Project K just sounds exactly how it looks- luxurious, for the lack of a better word.

Safe to say, that even with a price tag, I am going to recommend the Project K to people who have the means to collect a few trinkets in that range, and just because it does everything so well cohesively, I will rank this an S. Even if you are not buying and FiR Audio interests you, give the Project K a listen.

Will I buy it at retail? Absolutely.

Will I buy it used? Absolutely.

Sources used

 SMSL Raw MDA-1 desktop DAC amp, Shanling M9 Plus stacked withe xDuoo XD05 Pro running the AKM DAC chips and the Cayin N3 Ultra DAP in classic tube mode, FiiO KA17 and TRN Blackpearl portable dongle DAC Amps.

Eartips Used (ranked in order of performance)

Penon Liqueur Black, KBear Coffee, Divinus Velvet Narrow Bore, Spinfit Omni, JVC Spiral Dots

Tracks

• Rush: Limelight, Spirit of the Radio
• Daft Punk: Get Lucky, Instant Crush
• The Police: Message In A Bottle
• Tool: Pneuma, Schism
• Queens of the Stone Age: First It Giveth
• Pink Floyd: Comfortably Numb, Wish You Were Here, Time
• Tame Impala: The Less I Know the Better
• Animals as Leaders: The Woven Web
• Avicii: Levels
• Periphery: Marigold
• Tesseract: Juno
• Kanye West: Stronger, Flashing Lights, Devil In A New Dress
• Altin Gun: Goga Dunya
• Timbaland: Give It To Me
• Adele: Easy On Me Live, When We Were Young
• Celine Dion: All By Myself
• Pavarotti: Nessun Dorma
• Mdou Moctar: Tarhatazed
• Cigarettes After Sex: Cry
• Meshuggah: Bleed
• AR Rahman: Tere Bina
• Alice in Chains: Down In A Hole (Live)
• Allen Stone: Give You Blue
• Florence + The Machine: Never Let Me Go
• The Smashing Pumpkins: Luna

I didn’t have a lot of idea about FiR Audio, and I had only briefly heard its name and a bunch of diehard fans, with their picks being the Redux6, the RN6 and likes. I got to know very recently, that the main people behind FiR Audio were some of the computing power and innards of 64Audio, another maker that I really like, so I had to give it a shot. Especially for $2799.

One of my patrons visited my city for a quick vacation, and left me a bunch of his trinkets- amongst which I pick up the Project K, and I am going to be kind to myself for not knowing them earlier. This is not a full set, and I only have the IEM in its stock cable. 

The Project K has to be one of the most well built IEMs I have had the opportunity to try, where the shells are small enough to fit most ears. The less I say about the faceplate, the better and I shall reserve my pictures for it. Cutting to the chase, here’s the sound.

LOWS

This is an IEM which behaves like a completely different beast with short stem eartips, and especially if one wants the bass to have a healthy edge in slam and punch, which is where I pick up Daft Punk’s Get Lucky and Instant Crush. The attack on these tracks is quite fast to my ears, and the decay is excellent in terms of delivery, just that the sustain is cut off a wee bit too quick. The bass line plows through with great tenacity, I simply could not see it slip, and the beats land with excellent precision. The quantity is great but, shockingly, it does not feel bloated. Pharrell’s vocals on Get Lucky should sound thin, but the Project K gives them enough oomph in terms of weight, where they run parallel with the bass lines for the entire sound to come off as cohesive as it can get.

In tracks like Rush’s Limelight and The Spirit of Radio, two of my picks to gauge technical prowess as the bass lines and drums are the highlight, the Project K cranks the detail up on these tracks, which diminishes my complaint to a nitpick, and the way the vocals cut through across the bass lines is very satisfying. From a tonal aspect, it is indeed pleasantly warm, not really coming off as balanced. The way the toms and kicks synchronize with the bass for a full send of sorts in terms of bass impact brings a wide smile to my face. The Project K simply does not falter when it comes to cutting through the excess and presenting detail, fast attack, and crisp decay right in front of my face, while still having a gentleman’s restraint in not being overly aggressive.

MIDS

On tracks like Queens of the Stone Age’s First It Giveth, a roller coaster with an unorthodox snare setup and unusual key progression, the abundantly warm tonality that the Project K has is a blessing while still not affecting timbre. I could perceive the bass mellowing out in favour of the guitars and cymbals to shine, and unlike most sets that I have heard where the cymbals either feel veiled, too pushed back, or washed, the Project K angles them right alongside the vocals, kind of like slinging a line out and fishing the salmon of your dreams at one go. The Project K simply cannot be held back. While I enjoyed the vocals and cymbals, the guitars were one element which genuinely surprised me on the Project K, as I expected them to be laid back. Instead, they came off meaty and heavy, with solid weight and body, yet detailed enough for the string work across passages to shine through effortlessly.

When the Project K is pushed towards busier tracks where my picks are Tool’s Lateralus, Periphery’s Marigold, and Tesseract’s Juno, this IEM has an excellent grip over its imaging capabilities. Elements that fall in the realm of micro detail, like the string sections on Marigold, come off delightfully warm while remaining smooth, detailed, and free of scratchiness. I could hear everything going on in these tracks with equal emphasis, be it the cymbal hits with next to zero sibilance, the ghost notes across the snares, the panning from kicks to toms, or the vocals sitting dead centre. Guitars, once again, have some serious body and separation, and timbre is also one of the areas that the Project K excels in, although the cymbals can faintly lose some weight in certain passages.

HIGHS

In tracks like PinkPantheress’ Stateside with Zara Larsson, tracks with a lot of pulsating phonk-style bass and synths, the Project K has a crazy smooth refinement. I was prepared for the synths to have some shoutiness to them, but instead I was greeted with an incredibly polished presentation, while the bass acts like the pulse of an Olympic marathon runner: potent hits with zero distortion and absolutely no signs of anemia. The vocals, which once again should have sounded thin, are accurately reproduced, where Zara’s section in this track does not have the warmth spilling over excessively, which shows the Project K being warm yet keeping itself in check.

In tracks like Florence + the Machine’s Never Let Me Go and Celine Dion’s All By Myself, two tracks which are performance masterclasses with a lean pitch, the Project K lets the climax ride out fabulously with one of the least bright yet non-fatiguing deliveries out of an in-ear I have had the fortune to experience. Notes scale incredibly high, yet when the falsettos come in, I could hear the oscillation without any fatigue or piercing sensation, while the instrumentals kick in to complement the vocals instead of overshadowing them. On All By Myself, the sustain through the climax comes through without any piercing quality. Timbre and tonality are flawless. In short, the Project K is one of the best sets I have heard when it comes to being a spectacular all-rounder while going all out on vocals.

In tracks like Adele’s When We Were Young and Easy On Me, two emotionally charged baritone ballads, the passages simply flow while the Project K effortlessly balances the pianos and bass with her vocals. When the climaxes hit on these tracks, timbre stays warm yet FiRmly within control, details remain top notch, and vocal notes carry commendable weight and body. The bass does not come off as intrusive as the vocals soldier on, nor do the pianos sound off in any way. This simply reafFiRms that the FiR Audio Project K is one of the very best when it comes to flat-out maximum performance at the highest level.

Concluding Notes

The FiR Audio Project K beautifully fills the void that I had when the Elysian Apostle 2026 left my desk, it shares a lot of its characteristics with that IEM. While rotating between other IEMs like the Icelab Spectrumica, CampFiRe Bonneville, Noble Agis 2, Empire Ears Raven and the 64Audio Volur, I dare say that the Project K outshines a lot of them in their own game, and the key to beating them is not being better than these in specific departments, it’s the character of balancing everything in moderation that gives the Project K a seat in my list for one of the best that I have heard till date. It may not have the dramatic impact, execution and punch in the lows like the Raven, Spectrumica or Apostle, but it delivers where it needs to. The midrange is as open as warm leaning sets like the Volur have, but the Project K excels in imaging and detail. And through the highs, the Project K just sounds exactly how it looks- luxurious, for the lack of a better word.

Safe to say, that even with a price tag, I am going to recommend the Project K to people who have the means to collect a few trinkets in that range, and just because it does everything so well cohesively, I will rank this an S. Even if you are not buying and FiR Audio interests you, give the Project K a listen.

Will I buy it at retail? Absolutely.

Will I buy it used? Absolutely.

Sources used

 SMSL Raw MDA-1 desktop DAC amp, Shanling M9 Plus stacked withe xDuoo XD05 Pro running the AKM DAC chips and the Cayin N3 Ultra DAP in classic tube mode, FiiO KA17 and TRN Blackpearl portable dongle DAC Amps.

Eartips Used (ranked in order of performance)

Penon Liqueur Black, KBear Coffee, Divinus Velvet Narrow Bore, Spinfit Omni, JVC Spiral Dots

Tracks

• Rush: Limelight, Spirit of the Radio
• Daft Punk: Get Lucky, Instant Crush
• The Police: Message In A Bottle
• Tool: Pneuma, Schism
• Queens of the Stone Age: First It Giveth
• Pink Floyd: Comfortably Numb, Wish You Were Here, Time
• Tame Impala: The Less I Know the Better
• Animals as Leaders: The Woven Web
• Avicii: Levels
• Periphery: Marigold
• Tesseract: Juno
• Kanye West: Stronger, Flashing Lights, Devil In A New Dress
• Altin Gun: Goga Dunya
• Timbaland: Give It To Me
• Adele: Easy On Me Live, When We Were Young
• Celine Dion: All By Myself
• Pavarotti: Nessun Dorma
• Mdou Moctar: Tarhatazed
• Cigarettes After Sex: Cry
• Meshuggah: Bleed
• AR Rahman: Tere Bina
• Alice in Chains: Down In A Hole (Live)
• Allen Stone: Give You Blue
• Florence + The Machine: Never Let Me Go
• The Smashing Pumpkins: Luna

I didn’t have a lot of idea about FiR Audio, and I had only briefly heard its name and a bunch of diehard fans, with their picks being the Redux6, the RN6 and likes. I got to know very recently, that the main people behind FiR Audio were some of the computing power and innards of 64Audio, another maker that I really like, so I had to give it a shot. Even more so, as this costs a whopping 2.65 lakhs. (And also posting it here, because I have heard u/thotfulthinker is a big fan of FiR Audio).

One of my patrons visited my city for a quick vacation, and left me a bunch of his trinkets- amongst which I pick up the Project K, and I am going to be kind to myself for not knowing them earlier. This is not a full set, and I only have the IEM in its stock cable. 

The Project K has to be one of the most well built IEMs I have had the opportunity to try, where the shells are small enough to fit most ears. The less I say about the faceplate, the better and I shall reserve my pictures for it. Cutting to the chase, here’s the sound.

LOWS

This is an IEM which behaves like a completely different beast with short stem eartips, and especially if one wants the bass to have a healthy edge in slam and punch, which is where I pick up Daft Punk’s Get Lucky and Instant Crush. The attack on these tracks is quite fast to my ears, and the decay is excellent in terms of delivery, just that the sustain is cut off a wee bit too quick. The bass line plows through with great tenacity, I simply could not see it slip, and the beats land with excellent precision. The quantity is great but, shockingly, it does not feel bloated. Pharrell’s vocals on Get Lucky should sound thin, but the Project K gives them enough oomph in terms of weight, where they run parallel with the bass lines for the entire sound to come off as cohesive as it can get.

In tracks like Rush’s Limelight and The Spirit of Radio, two of my picks to gauge technical prowess as the bass lines and drums are the highlight, the Project K cranks the detail up on these tracks, which diminishes my complaint to a nitpick, and the way the vocals cut through across the bass lines is very satisfying. From a tonal aspect, it is indeed pleasantly warm, not really coming off as balanced. The way the toms and kicks synchronize with the bass for a full send of sorts in terms of bass impact brings a wide smile to my face. The Project K simply does not falter when it comes to cutting through the excess and presenting detail, fast attack, and crisp decay right in front of my face, while still having a gentleman’s restraint in not being overly aggressive.

MIDS

On tracks like Queens of the Stone Age’s First It Giveth, a roller coaster with an unorthodox snare setup and unusual key progression, the abundantly warm tonality that the Project K has is a blessing while still not affecting timbre. I could perceive the bass mellowing out in favour of the guitars and cymbals to shine, and unlike most sets that I have heard where the cymbals either feel veiled, too pushed back, or washed, the Project K angles them right alongside the vocals, kind of like slinging a line out and fishing the salmon of your dreams at one go. The Project K simply cannot be held back. While I enjoyed the vocals and cymbals, the guitars were one element which genuinely surprised me on the Project K, as I expected them to be laid back. Instead, they came off meaty and heavy, with solid weight and body, yet detailed enough for the string work across passages to shine through effortlessly.

When the Project K is pushed towards busier tracks where my picks are Tool’s Lateralus, Periphery’s Marigold, and Tesseract’s Juno, this IEM has an excellent grip over its imaging capabilities. Elements that fall in the realm of micro detail, like the string sections on Marigold, come off delightfully warm while remaining smooth, detailed, and free of scratchiness. I could hear everything going on in these tracks with equal emphasis, be it the cymbal hits with next to zero sibilance, the ghost notes across the snares, the panning from kicks to toms, or the vocals sitting dead centre. Guitars, once again, have some serious body and separation, and timbre is also one of the areas that the Project K excels in, although the cymbals can faintly lose some weight in certain passages.

HIGHS

In tracks like PinkPantheress’ Stateside with Zara Larsson, tracks with a lot of pulsating phonk-style bass and synths, the Project K has a crazy smooth refinement. I was prepared for the synths to have some shoutiness to them, but instead I was greeted with an incredibly polished presentation, while the bass acts like the pulse of an Olympic marathon runner: potent hits with zero distortion and absolutely no signs of anemia. The vocals, which once again should have sounded thin, are accurately reproduced, where Zara’s section in this track does not have the warmth spilling over excessively, which shows the Project K being warm yet keeping itself in check.

In tracks like Florence + the Machine’s Never Let Me Go and Celine Dion’s All By Myself, two tracks which are performance masterclasses with a lean pitch, the Project K lets the climax ride out fabulously with one of the least bright yet non-fatiguing deliveries out of an in-ear I have had the fortune to experience. Notes scale incredibly high, yet when the falsettos come in, I could hear the oscillation without any fatigue or piercing sensation, while the instrumentals kick in to complement the vocals instead of overshadowing them. On All By Myself, the sustain through the climax comes through without any piercing quality. Timbre and tonality are flawless. In short, the Project K is one of the best sets I have heard when it comes to being a spectacular all-rounder while going all out on vocals.

In tracks like Adele’s When We Were Young and Easy On Me, two emotionally charged baritone ballads, the passages simply flow while the Project K effortlessly balances the pianos and bass with her vocals. When the climaxes hit on these tracks, timbre stays warm yet FiRmly within control, details remain top notch, and vocal notes carry commendable weight and body. The bass does not come off as intrusive as the vocals soldier on, nor do the pianos sound off in any way. This simply reafFiRms that the FiR Audio Project K is one of the very best when it comes to flat-out maximum performance at the highest level.

Concluding Notes

The FiR Audio Project K beautifully fills the void that I had when the Elysian Apostle 2026 left my desk, it shares a lot of its characteristics with that IEM. While rotating between other IEMs like the Icelab Spectrumica, CampFiRe Bonneville, Noble Agis 2, Empire Ears Raven and the 64Audio Volur, I dare say that the Project K outshines a lot of them in their own game, and the key to beating them is not being better than these in specific departments, it’s the character of balancing everything in moderation that gives the Project K a seat in my list for one of the best that I have heard till date. It may not have the dramatic impact, execution and punch in the lows like the Raven, Spectrumica or Apostle, but it delivers where it needs to. The midrange is as open as warm leaning sets like the Volur have, but the Project K excels in imaging and detail. And through the highs, the Project K just sounds exactly how it looks- luxurious, for the lack of a better word.

Safe to say, that even with a price tag, I am going to recommend the Project K to people who have the means to collect a few trinkets in that range, and just because it does everything so well cohesively, I will rank this an S. Even if you are not buying and FiR Audio interests you, give the Project K a listen.

Will I buy it at retail? Absolutely.

Will I buy it used? Absolutely.

Sources used

 SMSL Raw MDA-1 desktop DAC amp, Shanling M9 Plus stacked withe xDuoo XD05 Pro running the AKM DAC chips and the Cayin N3 Ultra DAP in classic tube mode, FiiO KA17 and TRN Blackpearl portable dongle DAC Amps.

Eartips Used (ranked in order of performance)

Penon Liqueur Black, KBear Coffee, Divinus Velvet Narrow Bore, Spinfit Omni, JVC Spiral Dots

Tracks

• Rush: Limelight, Spirit of the Radio
• Daft Punk: Get Lucky, Instant Crush
• The Police: Message In A Bottle
• Tool: Pneuma, Schism
• Queens of the Stone Age: First It Giveth
• Pink Floyd: Comfortably Numb, Wish You Were Here, Time
• Tame Impala: The Less I Know the Better
• Animals as Leaders: The Woven Web
• Avicii: Levels
• Periphery: Marigold
• Tesseract: Juno
• Kanye West: Stronger, Flashing Lights, Devil In A New Dress
• Altin Gun: Goga Dunya
• Timbaland: Give It To Me
• Adele: Easy On Me Live, When We Were Young
• Celine Dion: All By Myself
• Pavarotti: Nessun Dorma
• Mdou Moctar: Tarhatazed
• Cigarettes After Sex: Cry
• Meshuggah: Bleed
• AR Rahman: Tere Bina
• Alice in Chains: Down In A Hole (Live)
• Allen Stone: Give You Blue
• Florence + The Machine: Never Let Me Go
• The Smashing Pumpkins: Luna

I didn’t have a lot of idea about FiR Audio, and I had only briefly heard its name and a bunch of diehard fans, with their picks being the Redux6, the RN6 and likes. I got to know very recently, that the main people behind FiR Audio were some of the computing power and innards of 64Audio, another maker that I really like, so I had to give it a shot. Especially for $2799.

One of my patrons visited my city for a quick vacation, and left me a bunch of his trinkets- amongst which I pick up the Project K, and I am going to be kind to myself for not knowing them earlier. This is not a full set, and I only have the IEM in its stock cable. 

The Project K has to be one of the most well built IEMs I have had the opportunity to try, where the shells are small enough to fit most ears. The less I say about the faceplate, the better and I shall reserve my pictures for it. Cutting to the chase, here’s the sound.

LOWS

This is an IEM which behaves like a completely different beast with short stem eartips, and especially if one wants the bass to have a healthy edge in slam and punch, which is where I pick up Daft Punk’s Get Lucky and Instant Crush. The attack on these tracks is quite fast to my ears, and the decay is excellent in terms of delivery, just that the sustain is cut off a wee bit too quick. The bass line plows through with great tenacity, I simply could not see it slip, and the beats land with excellent precision. The quantity is great but, shockingly, it does not feel bloated. Pharrell’s vocals on Get Lucky should sound thin, but the Project K gives them enough oomph in terms of weight, where they run parallel with the bass lines for the entire sound to come off as cohesive as it can get.

In tracks like Rush’s Limelight and The Spirit of Radio, two of my picks to gauge technical prowess as the bass lines and drums are the highlight, the Project K cranks the detail up on these tracks, which diminishes my complaint to a nitpick, and the way the vocals cut through across the bass lines is very satisfying. From a tonal aspect, it is indeed pleasantly warm, not really coming off as balanced. The way the toms and kicks synchronize with the bass for a full send of sorts in terms of bass impact brings a wide smile to my face. The Project K simply does not falter when it comes to cutting through the excess and presenting detail, fast attack, and crisp decay right in front of my face, while still having a gentleman’s restraint in not being overly aggressive.

MIDS

On tracks like Queens of the Stone Age’s First It Giveth, a roller coaster with an unorthodox snare setup and unusual key progression, the abundantly warm tonality that the Project K has is a blessing while still not affecting timbre. I could perceive the bass mellowing out in favour of the guitars and cymbals to shine, and unlike most sets that I have heard where the cymbals either feel veiled, too pushed back, or washed, the Project K angles them right alongside the vocals, kind of like slinging a line out and fishing the salmon of your dreams at one go. The Project K simply cannot be held back. While I enjoyed the vocals and cymbals, the guitars were one element which genuinely surprised me on the Project K, as I expected them to be laid back. Instead, they came off meaty and heavy, with solid weight and body, yet detailed enough for the string work across passages to shine through effortlessly.

When the Project K is pushed towards busier tracks where my picks are Tool’s Lateralus, Periphery’s Marigold, and Tesseract’s Juno, this IEM has an excellent grip over its imaging capabilities. Elements that fall in the realm of micro detail, like the string sections on Marigold, come off delightfully warm while remaining smooth, detailed, and free of scratchiness. I could hear everything going on in these tracks with equal emphasis, be it the cymbal hits with next to zero sibilance, the ghost notes across the snares, the panning from kicks to toms, or the vocals sitting dead centre. Guitars, once again, have some serious body and separation, and timbre is also one of the areas that the Project K excels in, although the cymbals can faintly lose some weight in certain passages.

HIGHS

In tracks like PinkPantheress’ Stateside with Zara Larsson, tracks with a lot of pulsating phonk-style bass and synths, the Project K has a crazy smooth refinement. I was prepared for the synths to have some shoutiness to them, but instead I was greeted with an incredibly polished presentation, while the bass acts like the pulse of an Olympic marathon runner: potent hits with zero distortion and absolutely no signs of anemia. The vocals, which once again should have sounded thin, are accurately reproduced, where Zara’s section in this track does not have the warmth spilling over excessively, which shows the Project K being warm yet keeping itself in check.

In tracks like Florence + the Machine’s Never Let Me Go and Celine Dion’s All By Myself, two tracks which are performance masterclasses with a lean pitch, the Project K lets the climax ride out fabulously with one of the least bright yet non-fatiguing deliveries out of an in-ear I have had the fortune to experience. Notes scale incredibly high, yet when the falsettos come in, I could hear the oscillation without any fatigue or piercing sensation, while the instrumentals kick in to complement the vocals instead of overshadowing them. On All By Myself, the sustain through the climax comes through without any piercing quality. Timbre and tonality are flawless. In short, the Project K is one of the best sets I have heard when it comes to being a spectacular all-rounder while going all out on vocals.

In tracks like Adele’s When We Were Young and Easy On Me, two emotionally charged baritone ballads, the passages simply flow while the Project K effortlessly balances the pianos and bass with her vocals. When the climaxes hit on these tracks, timbre stays warm yet FiRmly within control, details remain top notch, and vocal notes carry commendable weight and body. The bass does not come off as intrusive as the vocals soldier on, nor do the pianos sound off in any way. This simply reafFiRms that the FiR Audio Project K is one of the very best when it comes to flat-out maximum performance at the highest level.

Concluding Notes

The FiR Audio Project K beautifully fills the void that I had when the Elysian Apostle 2026 left my desk, it shares a lot of its characteristics with that IEM. While rotating between other IEMs like the Icelab Spectrumica, CampFiRe Bonneville, Noble Agis 2, Empire Ears Raven and the 64Audio Volur, I dare say that the Project K outshines a lot of them in their own game, and the key to beating them is not being better than these in specific departments, it’s the character of balancing everything in moderation that gives the Project K a seat in my list for one of the best that I have heard till date. It may not have the dramatic impact, execution and punch in the lows like the Raven, Spectrumica or Apostle, but it delivers where it needs to. The midrange is as open as warm leaning sets like the Volur have, but the Project K excels in imaging and detail. And through the highs, the Project K just sounds exactly how it looks- luxurious, for the lack of a better word.

Safe to say, that even with a price tag, I am going to recommend the Project K to people who have the means to collect a few trinkets in that range, and just because it does everything so well cohesively, I will rank this an S. Even if you are not buying and FiR Audio interests you, give the Project K a listen.

Will I buy it at retail? Absolutely.

Will I buy it used? Absolutely.

Sources used

 SMSL Raw MDA-1 desktop DAC amp, Shanling M9 Plus stacked withe xDuoo XD05 Pro running the AKM DAC chips and the Cayin N3 Ultra DAP in classic tube mode, FiiO KA17 and TRN Blackpearl portable dongle DAC Amps.

Eartips Used (ranked in order of performance)

Penon Liqueur Black, KBear Coffee, Divinus Velvet Narrow Bore, Spinfit Omni, JVC Spiral Dots

Tracks

• Rush: Limelight, Spirit of the Radio
• Daft Punk: Get Lucky, Instant Crush
• The Police: Message In A Bottle
• Tool: Pneuma, Schism
• Queens of the Stone Age: First It Giveth
• Pink Floyd: Comfortably Numb, Wish You Were Here, Time
• Tame Impala: The Less I Know the Better
• Animals as Leaders: The Woven Web
• Avicii: Levels
• Periphery: Marigold
• Tesseract: Juno
• Kanye West: Stronger, Flashing Lights, Devil In A New Dress
• Altin Gun: Goga Dunya
• Timbaland: Give It To Me
• Adele: Easy On Me Live, When We Were Young
• Celine Dion: All By Myself
• Pavarotti: Nessun Dorma
• Mdou Moctar: Tarhatazed
• Cigarettes After Sex: Cry
• Meshuggah: Bleed
• AR Rahman: Tere Bina
• Alice in Chains: Down In A Hole (Live)
• Allen Stone: Give You Blue
• Florence + The Machine: Never Let Me Go
• The Smashing Pumpkins: Luna

As the economy swings, so does my roster of IEMs to review, ramble and opine on, and this time I am sitting with the Klean SV + K01 dongle + the Type-C cable provided by Kefine, which I had been looking forward to, as I have had fairly good experiences with the Klean, Delci and Delci AE at different points, and I was introduced to this brand via the Delci. I also talked about the Quatio in my 7 IEM roundup review, and I have always maintained this regarding the brand: although they are starting out strong and producing competent IEMs, there is always something lacking, something needing more refinement, and a slight mismatch in priorities. Some of those things change with the Klean SV, while there is still good ground to cover in order to put out better offerings.

UNBOXING, ACCESSORIES, FIT AND COMFORT

Like the regular Klean, the Klean SV maintains the same packaging: small, concise and with the product advertised on the front instead of some random waifu. Sliding the inner box reveals the contents, and in my case, I got the Type-C cable meant for this IEM separately. The main retail packaging contains three sets of clear silicone eartips which complement the Klean SV well, three sets of dark silicone eartips, two extra nozzles (black and steel/silver fronts), and the gold one already mounted on the IEM shells. The case provided is small yet can pack in more content than usual.

Form factor wise, there are no differences from the regular Klean, except that the Klean SV comes in a silver color which looks better in my opinion. Fit and comfort were excellent, although people with narrower ear canals will benefit more. Shells are metal, so one needs to be cautious regarding oxidation concerns.

The nozzle mounting is different from the regular Klean, where the regular Klean had nozzles that screwed on like filters; on the Klean SV, they are shaped more like barrels which mildly increases the convenience of mounting them. I said barrels for the lack of a better term, but feel free to give me a better one.

Alright, here’s the sound.

LOWS

In tracks like Rush’s Limelight and The Spirit of Radio, where the bass lines are camouflaged with the drums and the whole sound screams precision and rumble, the Klean SV has no business rendering this proficiently, especially at this price. The notes from the bass lines are not submerged outright despite the drums carrying a bit of intensity. I could audibly hear the shuffle of the plucks, the toms and kicks were very well pronounced and distinctly separated from the rest, and the way the toms pan toward the end of the track, with a fast enough attack, a well-emphasized decay and a beautiful sustain that does not intrude upon the remaining elements, shows at first glance that this IEM is technically capable.

In tracks like Daft Punk’s Get Lucky and Instant Crush, two of my picks for assessing punch and slam, the Klean SV raises my eyebrows of concern. In the process of having the bass be more pronounced, vocals and guitars on these tracks fall too lean and feel pushed too far toward the rear, and here some more body with the bass while letting the quantity remain controlled would have elevated the experience significantly. All is not gloom and doom however, as the Klean SV still keeps most of the detail intact, perceived stage width feels somewhat wider, tonality is not altered, and the rumbling from the bass is better than most sets in this class. No, I will not hear about the GK Kunten, that IEM cannot keep up.

MIDS

In tracks like First It Giveth by Queens of the Stone Age, a track with a peculiar snare setup and key, the Klean SV felt powerful and engaging yet restrained. Imaging impressed as the vocals were distinctly separated yet still got my focus as in the mix the positioning is slightly toward the rear, while the snare strikes hit straight into my heart, where every note cut across like a tailor’s knife, which reconfirms my assessment of a well-executed decay. Guitars still could have had a bit more fullness and body to them, but it remains a nitpick here as the vocals had my attention. At the 1:44 - 1:46 minute mark where there is a low string play, the Klean SV presents it with such detail that I am at a crossroads on what to appreciate as the entire sound feels so cohesive. Budget sets are truly doing well for themselves.

In tracks like Animals as Leaders’ The Woven Web, Periphery’s Marigold, and Tesseract’s Juno, three tracks that I use to observe strengths and weaknesses in coherence, tonality, timbre and detail, the Kefine Klean SV keeps its control intact. But now my nitpick becomes a complaint where guitars tonally are natural yet sound disappointingly lightweight, and this now mildly affects the cymbals while the vocals remain untouched.

HIGHS

In tracks like PinkPantheress’ Stateside featuring Zara Larsson, with a lot of phonk-style bass and synths, the Klean SV does not appear to be as aggressive as what I felt in my previous track rotation where the cymbals carried mild excess emphasis. The synths here had a bright tonality but did not feel piercing, the bass does not distort as the beats pulsate, and the vocals again are center positioned while some of the previously perceived lean nature was now mitigated to an extent, but not fully eliminated.

In tracks like The Smashing Pumpkins’ Luna and Alice in Chains’ Down in a Hole, where the deviation is toward guitars and emotionally nihilistic vocals, the SV does a good job of having the timbre not skew toward anything abnormal, where details now get even better and the intensity feels divided equally. Cymbals have zero sibilance on these tracks but there is still time for better judgment.

In tracks like Never Let Me Go by Florence + The Machine and Celine Dion’s All By Myself, two tracks where the pitch of the vocals runs relatively lean and carries a fair bit of voice modulation for emotional engagement, the Klean SV does a significantly better job at maintaining the fullness of the vocals. As the climaxes on these tracks approach and get executed, vibratos, scale rundowns and yodeling are just faintly elevated but are not piercing or sibilant, especially in All By Myself through the final passage where the SV delivers the faltering raspy texture very accurately and pulls further ahead.

In tracks like Adele’s When We Were Young and Easy On Me, two emotionally charged powerful ballads, notes finally carry a healthy density. The piano has perfect timbre while the vocals have the required warmth. Although the singer’s upper registers are faintly aggressive, the SV beautifully renders falsettos, straight sustains and vibratos.

BRIEF COMMENTARY ON THE PROVIDED KA1 DONGLE

Kefine had also sent me their newest launch in sources, the KA1 dongle which has the CX31993 DAC chips, and sonically it had no difference compared to other CX31993 dongles, with only the Abigail Pro from Venture Electronics sounding faintly brighter. However, the build quality is a step up compared to most, if not all CX31993 dongles in this style, with a metal build and braided wires. It supports microphones, can run most entry-level IEMs efficiently including the Klean SV and regular Klean, and I did not really hear any noise floor or other weird quirks. For the price, it is a good offering.

BRIEF COMMENTARY ON THE NOZZLES

Again, this is one of those situations where a simple concise paragraph works, because just like the regular Klean, the nozzles provided with the Klean SV do not really contribute much. The black nozzles bump up the bass quantity, shrink the perceived stage width, and give a bite to the highs so that they appear sparklier than usual.

The silver/steel nozzles put less emphasis on the vocals while decreasing both bass impact and quantity, and smoothening the highs to a mild extent. I would not be wrong if I said they are borderline non-existent. These enhancements could have simply been integrated into the main tuning, and the nozzle engineering could have been traded for extensive filter support, replacement support, or integration of a DSP version as they already have a Type-C variant.

COMPARISON WITH REGULAR KLEAN, WITH THE STEEL NOZZLE

The OG Klean comparatively has a lot more quantity and intensity through the lows. Prima facie, the vocals in my lows track rotation do not have the perceived lean nature, while clearly lacking detail as I could feel the bass lines submerge in the punchiness that the beats and drums are carrying. Here, I appreciate the rather restrained approach that the SV has. These tracks demand good punchy deliveries, and here the OG definitely oversteps its boundaries, while the Klean SV approaches it with a generous yet controlled drizzle of dressing to what could be a scrumptious Caesar salad.

Through the mids, the Klean convincingly comes off sounding fuller, but the concern is excess bloat. The lack of detail lets the toms and kicks overpower the vocals, while the cymbals and guitars come off sounding heavier. A drop in isolation leads to harsher instrument separation, although imaging feels fine. However, cymbals sound more forward on the SV. This was not the case when I heard the regular Klean when it had first launched, as I felt that this IEM was quite ahead of its peers; and the way things are shaping up, it is safe to say that the Klean SV now earns my recommendation for a better, more holistic and cohesive approach toward the sound.

Through the highs, the regular Klean lacks the restraint in shout and sibilance that the SV has, but the gap is smaller. Vibratos and yodeling have a concerning ringing-like sustain, and the timbre on the piano takes a hit. The regular Klean has more body however, but the SV edges ahead with a better perceived soundstage width, brighter yet smoother delivery through the higher frequencies, and a tonality that feels considerably more balanced rather than being an aggressive V-shape that can get fatiguing rather quickly.

CONCLUDING NOTES

The Kefine Klean SV feels like Kefine figured out what might have been the problem and chose to launch its successor accordingly, where there is a section of people wanting perceivable and meaningful tuning changes, and the brand delivers exactly that. Instead of chasing excess warmth or overwhelming slam, the SV leans toward cleaner separation, sharper imaging and better overall control across demanding passages, something that the regular Klean could have already possessed. I also appreciate the nozzle redesign compared to the regular Klean as this implementation feels more flush.

But even with sizeable improvements, there is still room for refinement. If the Klean SV skipped the nozzles which do not really bring meaningful changes and instead serve better as replacements when the existing ones get oxidized, while focusing on refining the midrange further, this would have been a much stronger package.

Even when I had opined on one of their sets, the Quatio, I said in a way that less is more; and even here I am going to say this again: LESS IS MORE. Focusing on fundamental tuning improvements instead of approaching it the way some companies like KZ do cuts the excess in terms of accessories and makes the product more appealing overall, part of the reason why the Tanchjim Bunny DSP performed so well. Both the regular Klean and Klean SV suffer from a lean, somewhat anemic midrange which does undermine emotional engagement especially through tracks that need a fuller presentation, which is where sets like the Tangzu Yu Xuanji and the Feaulle Lian 2 come into the picture.

But all things said and done, the Kefine Klean SV, at least to me, is a well refined upgrade over the regular Klean; and despite the shortcomings of the regular Klean, depending upon your respective preferences, both sets can still be your picks of the day. The Klean SV balances my grading scale with a B+, while the regular Klean via this comparison receives a B.

Will I buy the Klean SV new? Yes.
Will I buy the Klean SV used? Absolutely.

Will I buy the regular Klean new? No.
Will I buy the regular Klean used? Provided I do not already have a set in that tuning, yes.

Sources Used

SMSL Raw MDA-1 and Venture Electronics Megatron desktop DAC amp, Shanling M9 Plus, iBasso DX340 with the Amp 17 card and Cayin N3 Ultra DAPs, FiiO KA17 and Venture Electronics Odo dongle DAC amps.

Eartips Used (ranked in order of performance, for the Klean SV)

KBear Coffee, JVC Spiral Dots, stock clear silicone, Roseselsa QT Superbowl, Tangzu Sancai Balanced

Tracks

• Rush: Limelight, Spirit of the Radio
• Daft Punk: Get Lucky, Instant Crush
• The Police: Message In A Bottle
• Tool: Pneuma, Schism
• Queens of the Stone Age: First It Giveth
• Pink Floyd: Comfortably Numb, Wish You Were Here, Time
• Tame Impala: The Less I Know the Better
• Animals as Leaders: The Woven Web
• Avicii: Levels
• Periphery: Marigold
• Tesseract: Juno
• Kanye West: Stronger, Flashing Lights, Devil In A New Dress
• Altin Gun: Goga Dunya
• Timbaland: Give It To Me
• Adele: Easy On Me Live, When We Were Young
• Celine Dion: All By Myself
• Pavarotti: Nessun Dorma
• Mdou Moctar: Tarhatazed
• Cigarettes After Sex: Cry
• Meshuggah: Bleed
• AR Rahman: Tere Bina
• Alice in Chains: Down In A Hole (Live)
• Allen Stone: Give You Blue
• Florence + The Machine: Never Let Me Go
• The Smashing Pumpkins: Luna

As the economy swings, so does my roster of IEMs to review, ramble and opine on, and this time I am sitting with the Klean SV + K01 dongle + the Type-C cable provided by Kefine, which I had been looking forward to, as I have had fairly good experiences with the Klean, Delci and Delci AE at different points, and I was introduced to this brand via the Delci. I also talked about the Quatio in my 7 IEM roundup review, and I have always maintained this regarding the brand: although they are starting out strong and producing competent IEMs, there is always something lacking, something needing more refinement, and a slight mismatch in priorities. Some of those things change with the Klean SV, while there is still good ground to cover in order to put out better offerings.

UNBOXING, ACCESSORIES, FIT AND COMFORT

Like the regular Klean, the Klean SV maintains the same packaging: small, concise and with the product advertised on the front instead of some random waifu. Sliding the inner box reveals the contents, and in my case, I got the Type-C cable meant for this IEM separately. The main retail packaging contains three sets of clear silicone eartips which complement the Klean SV well, three sets of dark silicone eartips, two extra nozzles (black and steel/silver fronts), and the gold one already mounted on the IEM shells. The case provided is small yet can pack in more content than usual.

Form factor wise, there are no differences from the regular Klean, except that the Klean SV comes in a silver color which looks better in my opinion. Fit and comfort were excellent, although people with narrower ear canals will benefit more. Shells are metal, so one needs to be cautious regarding oxidation concerns.

The nozzle mounting is different from the regular Klean, where the regular Klean had nozzles that screwed on like filters; on the Klean SV, they are shaped more like barrels which mildly increases the convenience of mounting them. I said barrels for the lack of a better term, but feel free to give me a better one.

Alright, here’s the sound.

LOWS

In tracks like Rush’s Limelight and The Spirit of Radio, where the bass lines are camouflaged with the drums and the whole sound screams precision and rumble, the Klean SV has no business rendering this proficiently, especially at this price. The notes from the bass lines are not submerged outright despite the drums carrying a bit of intensity. I could audibly hear the shuffle of the plucks, the toms and kicks were very well pronounced and distinctly separated from the rest, and the way the toms pan toward the end of the track, with a fast enough attack, a well-emphasized decay and a beautiful sustain that does not intrude upon the remaining elements, shows at first glance that this IEM is technically capable.

In tracks like Daft Punk’s Get Lucky and Instant Crush, two of my picks for assessing punch and slam, the Klean SV raises my eyebrows of concern. In the process of having the bass be more pronounced, vocals and guitars on these tracks fall too lean and feel pushed too far toward the rear, and here some more body with the bass while letting the quantity remain controlled would have elevated the experience significantly. All is not gloom and doom however, as the Klean SV still keeps most of the detail intact, perceived stage width feels somewhat wider, tonality is not altered, and the rumbling from the bass is better than most sets in this class. No, I will not hear about the GK Kunten, that IEM cannot keep up.

MIDS

In tracks like First It Giveth by Queens of the Stone Age, a track with a peculiar snare setup and key, the Klean SV felt powerful and engaging yet restrained. Imaging impressed as the vocals were distinctly separated yet still got my focus as in the mix the positioning is slightly toward the rear, while the snare strikes hit straight into my heart, where every note cut across like a tailor’s knife, which reconfirms my assessment of a well-executed decay. Guitars still could have had a bit more fullness and body to them, but it remains a nitpick here as the vocals had my attention. At the 1:44 - 1:46 minute mark where there is a low string play, the Klean SV presents it with such detail that I am at a crossroads on what to appreciate as the entire sound feels so cohesive. Budget sets are truly doing well for themselves.

In tracks like Animals as Leaders’ The Woven Web, Periphery’s Marigold, and Tesseract’s Juno, three tracks that I use to observe strengths and weaknesses in coherence, tonality, timbre and detail, the Kefine Klean SV keeps its control intact. But now my nitpick becomes a complaint where guitars tonally are natural yet sound disappointingly lightweight, and this now mildly affects the cymbals while the vocals remain untouched.

HIGHS

In tracks like PinkPantheress’ Stateside featuring Zara Larsson, with a lot of phonk-style bass and synths, the Klean SV does not appear to be as aggressive as what I felt in my previous track rotation where the cymbals carried mild excess emphasis. The synths here had a bright tonality but did not feel piercing, the bass does not distort as the beats pulsate, and the vocals again are center positioned while some of the previously perceived lean nature was now mitigated to an extent, but not fully eliminated.

In tracks like The Smashing Pumpkins’ Luna and Alice in Chains’ Down in a Hole, where the deviation is toward guitars and emotionally nihilistic vocals, the SV does a good job of having the timbre not skew toward anything abnormal, where details now get even better and the intensity feels divided equally. Cymbals have zero sibilance on these tracks but there is still time for better judgment.

In tracks like Never Let Me Go by Florence + The Machine and Celine Dion’s All By Myself, two tracks where the pitch of the vocals runs relatively lean and carries a fair bit of voice modulation for emotional engagement, the Klean SV does a significantly better job at maintaining the fullness of the vocals. As the climaxes on these tracks approach and get executed, vibratos, scale rundowns and yodeling are just faintly elevated but are not piercing or sibilant, especially in All By Myself through the final passage where the SV delivers the faltering raspy texture very accurately and pulls further ahead.

In tracks like Adele’s When We Were Young and Easy On Me, two emotionally charged powerful ballads, notes finally carry a healthy density. The piano has perfect timbre while the vocals have the required warmth. Although the singer’s upper registers are faintly aggressive, the SV beautifully renders falsettos, straight sustains and vibratos.

BRIEF COMMENTARY ON THE PROVIDED KA1 DONGLE

Kefine had also sent me their newest launch in sources, the KA1 dongle which has the CX31993 DAC chips, and sonically it had no difference compared to other CX31993 dongles, with only the Abigail Pro from Venture Electronics sounding faintly brighter. However, the build quality is a step up compared to most, if not all CX31993 dongles in this style, with a metal build and braided wires. It supports microphones, can run most entry-level IEMs efficiently including the Klean SV and regular Klean, and I did not really hear any noise floor or other weird quirks. For the price, it is a good offering.

BRIEF COMMENTARY ON THE NOZZLES

Again, this is one of those situations where a simple concise paragraph works, because just like the regular Klean, the nozzles provided with the Klean SV do not really contribute much. The black nozzles bump up the bass quantity, shrink the perceived stage width, and give a bite to the highs so that they appear sparklier than usual.

The silver/steel nozzles put less emphasis on the vocals while decreasing both bass impact and quantity, and smoothening the highs to a mild extent. I would not be wrong if I said they are borderline non-existent. These enhancements could have simply been integrated into the main tuning, and the nozzle engineering could have been traded for extensive filter support, replacement support, or integration of a DSP version as they already have a Type-C variant.

COMPARISON WITH REGULAR KLEAN, WITH THE STEEL NOZZLE

The OG Klean comparatively has a lot more quantity and intensity through the lows. Prima facie, the vocals in my lows track rotation do not have the perceived lean nature, while clearly lacking detail as I could feel the bass lines submerge in the punchiness that the beats and drums are carrying. Here, I appreciate the rather restrained approach that the SV has. These tracks demand good punchy deliveries, and here the OG definitely oversteps its boundaries, while the Klean SV approaches it with a generous yet controlled drizzle of dressing to what could be a scrumptious Caesar salad.

Through the mids, the Klean convincingly comes off sounding fuller, but the concern is excess bloat. The lack of detail lets the toms and kicks overpower the vocals, while the cymbals and guitars come off sounding heavier. A drop in isolation leads to harsher instrument separation, although imaging feels fine. However, cymbals sound more forward on the SV. This was not the case when I heard the regular Klean when it had first launched, as I felt that this IEM was quite ahead of its peers; and the way things are shaping up, it is safe to say that the Klean SV now earns my recommendation for a better, more holistic and cohesive approach toward the sound.

Through the highs, the regular Klean lacks the restraint in shout and sibilance that the SV has, but the gap is smaller. Vibratos and yodeling have a concerning ringing-like sustain, and the timbre on the piano takes a hit. The regular Klean has more body however, but the SV edges ahead with a better perceived soundstage width, brighter yet smoother delivery through the higher frequencies, and a tonality that feels considerably more balanced rather than being an aggressive V-shape that can get fatiguing rather quickly.

CONCLUDING NOTES

The Kefine Klean SV feels like Kefine figured out what might have been the problem and chose to launch its successor accordingly, where there is a section of people wanting perceivable and meaningful tuning changes, and the brand delivers exactly that. Instead of chasing excess warmth or overwhelming slam, the SV leans toward cleaner separation, sharper imaging and better overall control across demanding passages, something that the regular Klean could have already possessed. I also appreciate the nozzle redesign compared to the regular Klean as this implementation feels more flush.

But even with sizeable improvements, there is still room for refinement. If the Klean SV skipped the nozzles which do not really bring meaningful changes and instead serve better as replacements when the existing ones get oxidized, while focusing on refining the midrange further, this would have been a much stronger package.

Even when I had opined on one of their sets, the Quatio, I said in a way that less is more; and even here I am going to say this again: LESS IS MORE. Focusing on fundamental tuning improvements instead of approaching it the way some companies like KZ do cuts the excess in terms of accessories and makes the product more appealing overall, part of the reason why the Tanchjim Bunny DSP performed so well. Both the regular Klean and Klean SV suffer from a lean, somewhat anemic midrange which does undermine emotional engagement especially through tracks that need a fuller presentation, which is where sets like the Tangzu Yu Xuanji and the Feaulle Lian 2 come into the picture.

But all things said and done, the Kefine Klean SV, at least to me, is a well refined upgrade over the regular Klean; and despite the shortcomings of the regular Klean, depending upon your respective preferences, both sets can still be your picks of the day. The Klean SV balances my grading scale with a B+, while the regular Klean via this comparison receives a B.

Will I buy the Klean SV new? Yes.
Will I buy the Klean SV used? Absolutely.

Will I buy the regular Klean new? No.
Will I buy the regular Klean used? Provided I do not already have a set in that tuning, yes.

Sources Used

SMSL Raw MDA-1 and Venture Electronics Megatron desktop DAC amp, Shanling M9 Plus, iBasso DX340 with the Amp 17 card and Cayin N3 Ultra DAPs, FiiO KA17 and Venture Electronics Odo dongle DAC amps.

Eartips Used (ranked in order of performance, for the Klean SV)

KBear Coffee, JVC Spiral Dots, stock clear silicone, Roseselsa QT Superbowl, Tangzu Sancai Balanced

Tracks

• Rush: Limelight, Spirit of the Radio
• Daft Punk: Get Lucky, Instant Crush
• The Police: Message In A Bottle
• Tool: Pneuma, Schism
• Queens of the Stone Age: First It Giveth
• Pink Floyd: Comfortably Numb, Wish You Were Here, Time
• Tame Impala: The Less I Know the Better
• Animals as Leaders: The Woven Web
• Avicii: Levels
• Periphery: Marigold
• Tesseract: Juno
• Kanye West: Stronger, Flashing Lights, Devil In A New Dress
• Altin Gun: Goga Dunya
• Timbaland: Give It To Me
• Adele: Easy On Me Live, When We Were Young
• Celine Dion: All By Myself
• Pavarotti: Nessun Dorma
• Mdou Moctar: Tarhatazed
• Cigarettes After Sex: Cry
• Meshuggah: Bleed
• AR Rahman: Tere Bina
• Alice in Chains: Down In A Hole (Live)
• Allen Stone: Give You Blue
• Florence + The Machine: Never Let Me Go
• The Smashing Pumpkins: Luna

As the economy swings, so does my roster of IEMs to review, ramble and opine on, and this time I am sitting with the Klean SV + K01 dongle + the Type-C cable provided by Kefine, which I had been looking forward to, as I have had fairly good experiences with the Klean, Delci and Delci AE at different points, and I was introduced to this brand via the Delci. I also talked about the Quatio in my 7 IEM roundup review, and I have always maintained this regarding the brand: although they are starting out strong and producing competent IEMs, there is always something lacking, something needing more refinement, and a slight mismatch in priorities. Some of those things change with the Klean SV, while there is still good ground to cover in order to put out better offerings. I thank Kefine for giving me this opportunity.

UNBOXING, ACCESSORIES, FIT AND COMFORT

Like the regular Klean, the Klean SV maintains the same packaging: small, concise and with the product advertised on the front instead of some random waifu. Sliding the inner box reveals the contents, and in my case, I got the Type-C cable meant for this IEM separately. The main retail packaging contains three sets of clear silicone eartips which complement the Klean SV well, three sets of dark silicone eartips, two extra nozzles (black and steel/silver fronts), and the gold one already mounted on the IEM shells. The case provided is small yet can pack in more content than usual.

Form factor wise, there are no differences from the regular Klean, except that the Klean SV comes in a silver color which looks better in my opinion. Fit and comfort were excellent, although people with narrower ear canals will benefit more. Shells are metal, so one needs to be cautious regarding oxidation concerns.

The nozzle mounting is different from the regular Klean, where the regular Klean had nozzles that screwed on like filters; on the Klean SV, they are shaped more like barrels which mildly increases the convenience of mounting them. I said barrels for the lack of a better term, but feel free to give me a better one.

Alright, here’s the sound.

LOWS

In tracks like Rush’s Limelight and The Spirit of Radio, where the bass lines are camouflaged with the drums and the whole sound screams precision and rumble, the Klean SV has no business rendering this proficiently, especially at this price. The notes from the bass lines are not submerged outright despite the drums carrying a bit of intensity. I could audibly hear the shuffle of the plucks, the toms and kicks were very well pronounced and distinctly separated from the rest, and the way the toms pan toward the end of the track, with a fast enough attack, a well-emphasized decay and a beautiful sustain that does not intrude upon the remaining elements, shows at first glance that this IEM is technically capable.

In tracks like Daft Punk’s Get Lucky and Instant Crush, two of my picks for assessing punch and slam, the Klean SV raises my eyebrows of concern. In the process of having the bass be more pronounced, vocals and guitars on these tracks fall too lean and feel pushed too far toward the rear, and here some more body with the bass while letting the quantity remain controlled would have elevated the experience significantly. All is not gloom and doom however, as the Klean SV still keeps most of the detail intact, perceived stage width feels somewhat wider, tonality is not altered, and the rumbling from the bass is better than most sets in this class. No, I will not hear about the GK Kunten, that IEM cannot keep up.

MIDS

In tracks like First It Giveth by Queens of the Stone Age, a track with a peculiar snare setup and key, the Klean SV felt powerful and engaging yet restrained. Imaging impressed as the vocals were distinctly separated yet still got my focus as in the mix the positioning is slightly toward the rear, while the snare strikes hit straight into my heart, where every note cut across like a tailor’s knife, which reconfirms my assessment of a well-executed decay. Guitars still could have had a bit more fullness and body to them, but it remains a nitpick here as the vocals had my attention. At the 1:44 - 1:46 minute mark where there is a low string play, the Klean SV presents it with such detail that I am at a crossroads on what to appreciate as the entire sound feels so cohesive. Budget sets are truly doing well for themselves.

In tracks like Animals as Leaders’ The Woven Web, Periphery’s Marigold, and Tesseract’s Juno, three tracks that I use to observe strengths and weaknesses in coherence, tonality, timbre and detail, the Kefine Klean SV keeps its control intact. But now my nitpick becomes a complaint where guitars tonally are natural yet sound disappointingly lightweight, and this now mildly affects the cymbals while the vocals remain untouched.

HIGHS

In tracks like PinkPantheress’ Stateside featuring Zara Larsson, with a lot of phonk-style bass and synths, the Klean SV does not appear to be as aggressive as what I felt in my previous track rotation where the cymbals carried mild excess emphasis. The synths here had a bright tonality but did not feel piercing, the bass does not distort as the beats pulsate, and the vocals again are center positioned while some of the previously perceived lean nature was now mitigated to an extent, but not fully eliminated.

In tracks like The Smashing Pumpkins’ Luna and Alice in Chains’ Down in a Hole, where the deviation is toward guitars and emotionally nihilistic vocals, the SV does a good job of having the timbre not skew toward anything abnormal, where details now get even better and the intensity feels divided equally. Cymbals have zero sibilance on these tracks but there is still time for better judgment.

In tracks like Never Let Me Go by Florence + The Machine and Celine Dion’s All By Myself, two tracks where the pitch of the vocals runs relatively lean and carries a fair bit of voice modulation for emotional engagement, the Klean SV does a significantly better job at maintaining the fullness of the vocals. As the climaxes on these tracks approach and get executed, vibratos, scale rundowns and yodeling are just faintly elevated but are not piercing or sibilant, especially in All By Myself through the final passage where the SV delivers the faltering raspy texture very accurately and pulls further ahead.

In tracks like Adele’s When We Were Young and Easy On Me, two emotionally charged powerful ballads, notes finally carry a healthy density. The piano has perfect timbre while the vocals have the required warmth. Although the singer’s upper registers are faintly aggressive, the SV beautifully renders falsettos, straight sustains and vibratos.

BRIEF COMMENTARY ON THE PROVIDED KA1 DONGLE

Kefine had also sent me their newest launch in sources, the KA1 dongle which has the CX31993 DAC chips, and sonically it had no difference compared to other CX31993 dongles, with only the Abigail Pro from Venture Electronics sounding faintly brighter. However, the build quality is a step up compared to most, if not all CX31993 dongles in this style, with a metal build and braided wires. It supports microphones, can run most entry-level IEMs efficiently including the Klean SV and regular Klean, and I did not really hear any noise floor or other weird quirks. For the price, it is a good offering.

BRIEF COMMENTARY ON THE NOZZLES

Again, this is one of those situations where a simple concise paragraph works, because just like the regular Klean, the nozzles provided with the Klean SV do not really contribute much. The black nozzles bump up the bass quantity, shrink the perceived stage width, and give a bite to the highs so that they appear sparklier than usual.

The silver/steel nozzles put less emphasis on the vocals while decreasing both bass impact and quantity, and smoothening the highs to a mild extent. I would not be wrong if I said they are borderline non-existent. These enhancements could have simply been integrated into the main tuning, and the nozzle engineering could have been traded for extensive filter support, replacement support, or integration of a DSP version as they already have a Type-C variant.

COMPARISON WITH REGULAR KLEAN, WITH THE STEEL NOZZLE

The OG Klean comparatively has a lot more quantity and intensity through the lows. Prima facie, the vocals in my lows track rotation do not have the perceived lean nature, while clearly lacking detail as I could feel the bass lines submerge in the punchiness that the beats and drums are carrying. Here, I appreciate the rather restrained approach that the SV has. These tracks demand good punchy deliveries, and here the OG definitely oversteps its boundaries, while the Klean SV approaches it with a generous yet controlled drizzle of dressing to what could be a scrumptious Caesar salad.

Through the mids, the Klean convincingly comes off sounding fuller, but the concern is excess bloat. The lack of detail lets the toms and kicks overpower the vocals, while the cymbals and guitars come off sounding heavier. A drop in isolation leads to harsher instrument separation, although imaging feels fine. However, cymbals sound more forward on the SV. This was not the case when I heard the regular Klean when it had first launched, as I felt that this IEM was quite ahead of its peers; and the way things are shaping up, it is safe to say that the Klean SV now earns my recommendation for a better, more holistic and cohesive approach toward the sound.

Through the highs, the regular Klean lacks the restraint in shout and sibilance that the SV has, but the gap is smaller. Vibratos and yodeling have a concerning ringing-like sustain, and the timbre on the piano takes a hit. The regular Klean has more body however, but the SV edges ahead with a better perceived soundstage width, brighter yet smoother delivery through the higher frequencies, and a tonality that feels considerably more balanced rather than being an aggressive V-shape that can get fatiguing rather quickly.

CONCLUDING NOTES

The Kefine Klean SV feels like Kefine figured out what might have been the problem and chose to launch its successor accordingly, where there is a section of people wanting perceivable and meaningful tuning changes, and the brand delivers exactly that. Instead of chasing excess warmth or overwhelming slam, the SV leans toward cleaner separation, sharper imaging and better overall control across demanding passages, something that the regular Klean could have already possessed. I also appreciate the nozzle redesign compared to the regular Klean as this implementation feels more flush.

But even with sizeable improvements, there is still room for refinement. If the Klean SV skipped the nozzles which do not really bring meaningful changes and instead serve better as replacements when the existing ones get oxidized, while focusing on refining the midrange further, this would have been a much stronger package.

Even when I had opined on one of their sets, the Quatio, I said in a way that less is more; and even here I am going to say this again: LESS IS MORE. Focusing on fundamental tuning improvements instead of approaching it the way some companies like KZ do cuts the excess in terms of accessories and makes the product more appealing overall, part of the reason why the Tanchjim Bunny DSP performed so well. Both the regular Klean and Klean SV suffer from a lean, somewhat anemic midrange which does undermine emotional engagement especially through tracks that need a fuller presentation, which is where sets like the Tangzu Yu Xuanji and the Feaulle Lian 2 come into the picture.

But all things said and done, the Kefine Klean SV, at least to me, is a well refined upgrade over the regular Klean; and despite the shortcomings of the regular Klean, depending upon your respective preferences, both sets can still be your picks of the day. The Klean SV balances my grading scale with a B+, while the regular Klean via this comparison receives a B.

Will I buy the Klean SV new? Yes.
Will I buy the Klean SV used? Absolutely.

Will I buy the regular Klean new? No.
Will I buy the regular Klean used? Provided I do not already have a set in that tuning, yes.

Sources Used

SMSL Raw MDA-1 and Venture Electronics Megatron desktop DAC amp, Shanling M9 Plus, iBasso DX340 with the Amp 17 card and Cayin N3 Ultra DAPs, FiiO KA17 and Venture Electronics Odo dongle DAC amps.

Eartips Used (ranked in order of performance, for the Klean SV)

KBear Coffee, JVC Spiral Dots, stock clear silicone, Roseselsa QT Superbowl, Tangzu Sancai Balanced

Tracks

• Rush: Limelight, Spirit of the Radio
• Daft Punk: Get Lucky, Instant Crush
• The Police: Message In A Bottle
• Tool: Pneuma, Schism
• Queens of the Stone Age: First It Giveth
• Pink Floyd: Comfortably Numb, Wish You Were Here, Time
• Tame Impala: The Less I Know the Better
• Animals as Leaders: The Woven Web
• Avicii: Levels
• Periphery: Marigold
• Tesseract: Juno
• Kanye West: Stronger, Flashing Lights, Devil In A New Dress
• Altin Gun: Goga Dunya
• Timbaland: Give It To Me
• Adele: Easy On Me Live, When We Were Young
• Celine Dion: All By Myself
• Pavarotti: Nessun Dorma
• Mdou Moctar: Tarhatazed
• Cigarettes After Sex: Cry
• Meshuggah: Bleed
• AR Rahman: Tere Bina
• Alice in Chains: Down In A Hole (Live)
• Allen Stone: Give You Blue
• Florence + The Machine: Never Let Me Go
• The Smashing Pumpkins: Luna

Tanchjim decided it would be a wonderful idea to give me further experience in what the brand has to offer by sending me the Force; its collaboration with Effect Audio (for the memes, Defect Audio). I own the One and Bunny DSP, I have reviewed the Fission; and after they sent me the Space Pro which is a lovely dongle dac amp for the record, I now start with their IEMs. All’s not pretty however, as in this review, I will express my frustration and disappointment with how majorly Tanchjim missed their mark in making something truly different with the Force, specially given the price tag that it comes with.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank one of my patrons for supplying me his personally owned units of the Origin in S nozzles and the Nora to make my review as elaborate as possible.

Accessories, fit, comfort

Tanchjim also continues with their waifu branding which I personally dislike as I am tired of this trend where a majority of companies have hopped on this trend, but keeping that aside; the Force has very similar accessories provided with the rest of their IEMs in this segment- present, over and under. The Effect Audio branding is everywhere- from the cable obviously, to the shells, to the box and even a leaflet inside the paperwork. Oh, I also appreciate the replacement filters provided. All 20 of them.

It is a bit disappointing that at $280, Tanchjim would provide for a modular Effect Audio cable with their standard long 2 pin design, a type C plug with DSP capabilities, yet won’t include their special T-APB eartips but just put standard translucent white narrow and wide bore eartips. I like the case however, feels nice and sturdy in hand.

The shells of the Force feature an open back design that doesn’t really contribute much apart from having next to zero distortion regardless of volume levels, and despite a comparatively larger footprint compared to the Nora and Origin, the Force was comfortable enough for longer periods. However, the build quality is not very confidence inspiring.

Keeping the rambling aside, let me scooch over to the sound where the actual disappointment happens.

LOWS

In tracks like Rush’s Limelight and The Spirit of Radio, two tracks where the bass lines are camouflaged within the drums in my observation, the Force really does not impress with detail, where I could hear the plucks with lesser effort compared to other sets in its class, though it still maintains a respectable level of separation. The Force lacks the sustain to let the drums truly breathe and resonate, as the perceived attack is a bit too fast and the decay cuts off too quickly, resulting in a less than desirable sustain which makes the toms and kicks feel flatter than usual. 

In tracks like Daft Punk’s Get Lucky and Instant Crush, two of my picks to gauge their punch and slam, the Force continues to struggle with bass impact where the presentation often feels blob-like, but the detail retrieval mildly impresses, as I could still feel the bass line cut through the beats while allowing the vocals to move slightly forward. 

MIDS

In tracks like First It Giveth by Queens of the Stone Age, a track with an unorthodox snare setups and in a peculiar scale, the Force leans out in its approach to give the instruments a proper spotlight. It does, however, have a mild issue with imaging where the cymbals are slightly tucked under the guitars, and the vocals feel somewhat disjointed. Consolation marks are to be awarded for its tonality, as the snares and guitars sound fairly accurate with zero noticeable weirdness, and I didn’t perceive them as thin or strained.

As the tracks get busier in instrumentals like Periphery’s Marigold and Animals as Leaders’ The Woven Web, the Force starts frustrating me. The cymbals become increasingly washed out like painting a monsoon sky on handmade watercolor paper with a flat brush, while the toms and cymbals slow down to provide more body to the guitars, which once again, in the Force’s context, results in interfering with the overall presentation of vocals. 

As I push the Force further with Tool’s Lateralus, Pneuma and Schism; tracks known for their technical prowess, the problem with the Force in terms of imaging continues to persist, and its inconsistent detail retrieval becomes even more apparent. Tonality still is fortunately, and its control over balancing the emphasis between guitars and vocals improves towards the end of the track once the bass starts coming in, where the Force finally begins sounding cohesive. 

HIGHS

In tracks like Pinkpantheress’ Stateside featuring Zara Larrson, a track with relatively thin vocals, phonk-esque bass, and synths, the Force maintains its composure reasonably well. The synths carry a well-appreciated shimmer without coming off piercing, while the vocals remain properly planted. The bass avoids excessive distortion, and both artists get enough room to shine adequately. 

In tracks like Never Let Me Go by Florence + The Machine and Celine Dion’s All by Myself where the primary highlight is how diverse vocals can get cutting through monotony, the Force begins to break apart. The yodelling and vibratos come off piercing, the straight notes sound unfaltering; however, the otherwise acceptable control over the instrumentals cannot save this IEM from spilling over. 

In tracks like Adele’s When We Were Young and Easy On Me; emotionally charged baritone ballads, the Force does an average, forgettable job, though it once again raises questions regarding its timbre capabilities as I found the notes quivering towards coming off from how they should rather sound in keys of the Majors. Through the climax, despite all its attempts to hold itself back, the Force simply comes off sibilant.

COMPARISON WITH NORA

The Nora simply outclasses the Force through the lows, offering a massive improvement in impact with a well-adjusted attack and a perfectly controlled decay. Detail retrieval is especially impressive, where the Nora lets the bass lines fly with a fantastic rumble that makes the entire presentation feel alive. I could clearly hear the plucks, the kicks sound appropriately full, the toms resonate naturally, and the vocals simply add the icing on top.

Through the mids, the Nora improves even further. Tonality leans warmer, timbre sounds fabulously lifelike, and detail retrieval reaches a phenomenal level where I could hear the fast bass picking cutting through the meaty guitars with ease. Vocals remain firmly planted at the center, showcasing significantly crisper imaging compared to the Force. As tracks grow busier, the Nora consistently maintains a far more cohesive presentation.

Through the highs, the Nora can still become shouty with phonk-style synth tracks, though it avoids drowning out the vocals. Once fed with vocal-intensive tracks featuring dramatic climaxes and technical performances, the Nora convincingly outperforms the Force with phenomenal control over piercing sibilance.

COMPARISON WITH ORIGIN (S NOZZLE)

Through the lows, the Origin does not carry the same overall quantity as the Force, but it surpasses both the Force and the Nora with superior separation between the bass lines and drums, alongside more precise imaging. In tracks focused on punch and slam, the Origin makes the nimble Nora look mildly outclassed while convincingly outperforming the Force by carrying enough energy for the groove to remain engaging, all while sprinkling in absurd amounts of detail and maintaining an excellent level of separation.

Through the mids, the Origin comes off thinner across both vocals and snares, while still maintaining a commendable level of isolation, imaging, and a marginal improvement in separation compared to the Nora. Even when pushed through busy tracks, aside from the cymbals sounding comparatively brighter, the Origin largely goes toe to toe with the Nora.

The difference appears in the highs, where I found the Origin shoutier than both on phonk-esque synth tracks, though the bass remained largely free of distortion. On tracks with dramatic vocal climaxes and technical performances, the Origin unfortunately does become piercing, though not to the same extent as the Force, and that is ultimately where the Nora wins this three-way comparison.

Concluding Notes

The Tanchjim x Effect Audio Force is one of those IEMs that kept making me go back and forth in terms of coming close to being appreciated yet heavily skewing towards being a frustrating listen. Every now and then, it would show signs of being competent at what it does, but nothing stayed consistent enough for me to fully trust the Force. And the problem with the Force is not that it is outright bad, it just feels unsure of itself and that’s because Tanchjim decided to bloat its lineup with IEMs that have the same driver at different price points- Bunny DSP, Fission, Fola, Nora and the Origin; and except for the Bunny DSP, they all sound kind of the same, more or less. The Force should have been the more capable one, and beat this whole basketball team, but ironically it fails to shut the door as the moment the music starts getting more demanding with busier instrumentals, larger vocal performances, or tracks that rely heavily on imaging and layering, the Force just trips over its own shoelaces.

And hilariously for the Force, the Nora and Origin both make its weaknesses stand out like a mirror’s reflection. The Nora sounds far more cohesive and natural to my ears, while the Origin pushes ahead with sharper imaging and stronger separation; and the Force ends up sitting somewhere being a half moulded sculpture which would otherwise be revelled as something abstract in the modern era, which it is not- it just pretends to be.

At $280 retail, the Force is a bad, bad bargain; and for that I am awarding it nothing above a B-. Tanchjim, you can clearly do better; get some breathing air, go back to the drawing board, get back to the original ethos of taking time with the releases, but release IEMs with distinct identities.

Will I buy this new? Absolutely not.
Will I buy this used? Only at a good, good deal.

Sources used: SMSL Raw MDA-1 and Venture Electronics Megatron desktop DAC amp, Shanling M9 Plus, iBasso DX340 with the Amp 17 card and Cayin N3 Ultra DAPs and stacked with the XDuoo XD05 Pro with the AKM dac chips, FiiO KA17 and Venture Electronics Odo dongle dac amps.

Eartips used (ranked in order of performance): Dunu S&S, KBear Coffee, Divinus Velvet Narrow Bore, JVC Spiral Dots, Spinfit CP100+, Penon Liqueuer Black

Tracks

• Rush: Limelight, Spirit of the Radio
• Daft Punk: Get Lucky, Instant Crush
• The Police: Message In A Bottle
• Tool: Pneuma, Schism
• Queens of the Stone Age: First It Giveth
• Pink Floyd: Comfortably Numb, Wish You Were Here, Time
• Tame Impala: The Less I Know the Better
• Animals as Leaders: The Woven Web
• Avicii: Levels
• Periphery: Marigold
• Tesseract: Juno
• Kanye West: Stronger, Flashing Lights, Devil In A New Dress
• Altin Gun: Goga Dunya
• Timbaland: Give It To Me
• Adele: Easy On Me Live, When We Were Young
• Celine Dion: All By Myself
• Pavarotti: Nessun Dorma
• Mdou Moctar: Tarhatazed
• Cigarettes After Sex: Cry
• Meshuggah: Bleed
• AR Rahman: Tere Bina
• Alice in Chains: Down In A Hole (live)
• Allen Stone: Give You Blue
• Florence + The Machine: Never Let Me Go

Tanchjim decided it would be a wonderful idea to give me further experience in what the brand has to offer by sending me the Force; its collaboration with Effect Audio (for the memes, Defect Audio). I own the One and Bunny DSP, I have reviewed the Fission; and after they sent me the Space Pro which is a lovely dongle dac amp for the record, I now start with their IEMs. All’s not pretty however, as in this review, I will express my frustration and disappointment with how majorly Tanchjim missed their mark in making something truly different with the Force, specially given the price tag that it comes with.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank one of my patrons for supplying me his personally owned units of the Origin in S nozzles and the Nora to make my review as elaborate as possible.

Accessories, fit, comfort

Tanchjim also continues with their waifu branding which I personally dislike as I am tired of this trend where a majority of companies have hopped on this trend, but keeping that aside; the Force has very similar accessories provided with the rest of their IEMs in this segment- present, over and under. The Effect Audio branding is everywhere- from the cable obviously, to the shells, to the box and even a leaflet inside the paperwork. Oh, I also appreciate the replacement filters provided. All 20 of them.

It is a bit disappointing that at $280, Tanchjim would provide for a modular Effect Audio cable with their standard long 2 pin design, a type C plug with DSP capabilities, yet won’t include their special T-APB eartips but just put standard translucent white narrow and wide bore eartips. I like the case however, feels nice and sturdy in hand.

The shells of the Force feature an open back design that doesn’t really contribute much apart from having next to zero distortion regardless of volume levels, and despite a comparatively larger footprint compared to the Nora and Origin, the Force was comfortable enough for longer periods. However, the build quality is not very confidence inspiring.

Keeping the rambling aside, let me scooch over to the sound where the actual disappointment happens.

LOWS

In tracks like Rush’s Limelight and The Spirit of Radio, two tracks where the bass lines are camouflaged within the drums in my observation, the Force really does not impress with detail, where I could hear the plucks with lesser effort compared to other sets in its class, though it still maintains a respectable level of separation. The Force lacks the sustain to let the drums truly breathe and resonate, as the perceived attack is a bit too fast and the decay cuts off too quickly, resulting in a less than desirable sustain which makes the toms and kicks feel flatter than usual. 

In tracks like Daft Punk’s Get Lucky and Instant Crush, two of my picks to gauge their punch and slam, the Force continues to struggle with bass impact where the presentation often feels blob-like, but the detail retrieval mildly impresses, as I could still feel the bass line cut through the beats while allowing the vocals to move slightly forward. 

MIDS

In tracks like First It Giveth by Queens of the Stone Age, a track with an unorthodox snare setups and in a peculiar scale, the Force leans out in its approach to give the instruments a proper spotlight. It does, however, have a mild issue with imaging where the cymbals are slightly tucked under the guitars, and the vocals feel somewhat disjointed. Consolation marks are to be awarded for its tonality, as the snares and guitars sound fairly accurate with zero noticeable weirdness, and I didn’t perceive them as thin or strained.

As the tracks get busier in instrumentals like Periphery’s Marigold and Animals as Leaders’ The Woven Web, the Force starts frustrating me. The cymbals become increasingly washed out like painting a monsoon sky on handmade watercolor paper with a flat brush, while the toms and cymbals slow down to provide more body to the guitars, which once again, in the Force’s context, results in interfering with the overall presentation of vocals. 

As I push the Force further with Tool’s Lateralus, Pneuma and Schism; tracks known for their technical prowess, the problem with the Force in terms of imaging continues to persist, and its inconsistent detail retrieval becomes even more apparent. Tonality still is fortunately, and its control over balancing the emphasis between guitars and vocals improves towards the end of the track once the bass starts coming in, where the Force finally begins sounding cohesive. 

HIGHS

In tracks like Pinkpantheress’ Stateside featuring Zara Larrson, a track with relatively thin vocals, phonk-esque bass, and synths, the Force maintains its composure reasonably well. The synths carry a well-appreciated shimmer without coming off piercing, while the vocals remain properly planted. The bass avoids excessive distortion, and both artists get enough room to shine adequately. 

In tracks like Never Let Me Go by Florence + The Machine and Celine Dion’s All by Myself where the primary highlight is how diverse vocals can get cutting through monotony, the Force begins to break apart. The yodelling and vibratos come off piercing, the straight notes sound unfaltering; however, the otherwise acceptable control over the instrumentals cannot save this IEM from spilling over. 

In tracks like Adele’s When We Were Young and Easy On Me; emotionally charged baritone ballads, the Force does an average, forgettable job, though it once again raises questions regarding its timbre capabilities as I found the notes quivering towards coming off from how they should rather sound in keys of the Majors. Through the climax, despite all its attempts to hold itself back, the Force simply comes off sibilant.

COMPARISON WITH NORA

The Nora simply outclasses the Force through the lows, offering a massive improvement in impact with a well-adjusted attack and a perfectly controlled decay. Detail retrieval is especially impressive, where the Nora lets the bass lines fly with a fantastic rumble that makes the entire presentation feel alive. I could clearly hear the plucks, the kicks sound appropriately full, the toms resonate naturally, and the vocals simply add the icing on top.

Through the mids, the Nora improves even further. Tonality leans warmer, timbre sounds fabulously lifelike, and detail retrieval reaches a phenomenal level where I could hear the fast bass picking cutting through the meaty guitars with ease. Vocals remain firmly planted at the center, showcasing significantly crisper imaging compared to the Force. As tracks grow busier, the Nora consistently maintains a far more cohesive presentation.

Through the highs, the Nora can still become shouty with phonk-style synth tracks, though it avoids drowning out the vocals. Once fed with vocal-intensive tracks featuring dramatic climaxes and technical performances, the Nora convincingly outperforms the Force with phenomenal control over piercing sibilance.

COMPARISON WITH ORIGIN (S NOZZLE)

Through the lows, the Origin does not carry the same overall quantity as the Force, but it surpasses both the Force and the Nora with superior separation between the bass lines and drums, alongside more precise imaging. In tracks focused on punch and slam, the Origin makes the nimble Nora look mildly outclassed while convincingly outperforming the Force by carrying enough energy for the groove to remain engaging, all while sprinkling in absurd amounts of detail and maintaining an excellent level of separation.

Through the mids, the Origin comes off thinner across both vocals and snares, while still maintaining a commendable level of isolation, imaging, and a marginal improvement in separation compared to the Nora. Even when pushed through busy tracks, aside from the cymbals sounding comparatively brighter, the Origin largely goes toe to toe with the Nora.

The difference appears in the highs, where I found the Origin shoutier than both on phonk-esque synth tracks, though the bass remained largely free of distortion. On tracks with dramatic vocal climaxes and technical performances, the Origin unfortunately does become piercing, though not to the same extent as the Force, and that is ultimately where the Nora wins this three-way comparison.

Concluding Notes

The Tanchjim x Effect Audio Force is one of those IEMs that kept making me go back and forth in terms of coming close to being appreciated yet heavily skewing towards being a frustrating listen. Every now and then, it would show signs of being competent at what it does, but nothing stayed consistent enough for me to fully trust the Force. And the problem with the Force is not that it is outright bad, it just feels unsure of itself and that’s because Tanchjim decided to bloat its lineup with IEMs that have the same driver at different price points- Bunny DSP, Fission, Fola, Nora and the Origin; and except for the Bunny DSP, they all sound kind of the same, more or less. The Force should have been the more capable one, and beat this whole basketball team, but ironically it fails to shut the door as the moment the music starts getting more demanding with busier instrumentals, larger vocal performances, or tracks that rely heavily on imaging and layering, the Force just trips over its own shoelaces.

And hilariously for the Force, the Nora and Origin both make its weaknesses stand out like a mirror’s reflection. The Nora sounds far more cohesive and natural to my ears, while the Origin pushes ahead with sharper imaging and stronger separation; and the Force ends up sitting somewhere being a half moulded sculpture which would otherwise be revelled as something abstract in the modern era, which it is not- it just pretends to be.

At $280 retail, the Force is a bad, bad bargain; and for that I am awarding it nothing above a B-. Tanchjim, you can clearly do better; get some breathing air, go back to the drawing board, get back to the original ethos of taking time with the releases, but release IEMs with distinct identities.

Will I buy this new? Absolutely not.
Will I buy this used? Only at a good, good deal.

Sources used: SMSL Raw MDA-1 and Venture Electronics Megatron desktop DAC amp, Shanling M9 Plus, iBasso DX340 with the Amp 17 card and Cayin N3 Ultra DAPs, FiiO KA17 and Venture Electronics Odo dongle dac amps.

Eartips used (ranked in order of performance): Dunu S&S, KBear Coffee, Divinus Velvet Narrow Bore, JVC Spiral Dots, Spinfit CP100+, Penon Liqueuer Black

Tracks

• Rush: Limelight, Spirit of the Radio
• Daft Punk: Get Lucky, Instant Crush
• The Police: Message In A Bottle
• Tool: Pneuma, Schism
• Queens of the Stone Age: First It Giveth
• Pink Floyd: Comfortably Numb, Wish You Were Here, Time
• Tame Impala: The Less I Know the Better
• Animals as Leaders: The Woven Web
• Avicii: Levels
• Periphery: Marigold
• Tesseract: Juno
• Kanye West: Stronger, Flashing Lights, Devil In A New Dress
• Altin Gun: Goga Dunya
• Timbaland: Give It To Me
• Adele: Easy On Me Live, When We Were Young
• Celine Dion: All By Myself
• Pavarotti: Nessun Dorma
• Mdou Moctar: Tarhatazed
• Cigarettes After Sex: Cry
• Meshuggah: Bleed
• AR Rahman: Tere Bina
• Alice in Chains: Down In A Hole (live)
• Allen Stone: Give You Blue
• Florence + The Machine: Never Let Me Go

Tanchjim decided it would be a wonderful idea to give me further experience in what the brand has to offer by sending me the Force; its collaboration with Effect Audio (for the memes, Defect Audio). I own the One and Bunny DSP, I have reviewed the Fission; and after they sent me the Space Pro which is a lovely dongle dac amp for the record, I now start with their IEMs. All’s not pretty however, as in this review, I will express my frustration and disappointment with how majorly Tanchjim missed their mark in making something truly different with the Force, specially given the price tag that it comes with.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank one of my patrons for supplying me his personally owned units of the Origin in S nozzles and the Nora to make my review as elaborate as possible.

Accessories, fit, comfort

Tanchjim also continues with their waifu branding which I personally dislike as I am tired of this trend where a majority of companies have hopped on this trend, but keeping that aside; the Force has very similar accessories provided with the rest of their IEMs in this segment- present, over and under. The Effect Audio branding is everywhere- from the cable obviously, to the shells, to the box and even a leaflet inside the paperwork. Oh, I also appreciate the replacement filters provided. All 20 of them.

It is a bit disappointing that at $280, Tanchjim would provide for a modular Effect Audio cable with their standard long 2 pin design, a type C plug with DSP capabilities, yet won’t include their special T-APB eartips but just put standard translucent white narrow and wide bore eartips. I like the case however, feels nice and sturdy in hand.

The shells of the Force feature an open back design that doesn’t really contribute much apart from having next to zero distortion regardless of volume levels, and despite a comparatively larger footprint compared to the Nora and Origin, the Force was comfortable enough for longer periods. However, the build quality is not very confidence inspiring.

Keeping the rambling aside, let me scooch over to the sound where the actual disappointment happens.

LOWS

In tracks like Rush’s Limelight and The Spirit of Radio, two tracks where the bass lines are camouflaged within the drums in my observation, the Force really does not impress with detail, where I could hear the plucks with lesser effort compared to other sets in its class, though it still maintains a respectable level of separation. The Force lacks the sustain to let the drums truly breathe and resonate, as the perceived attack is a bit too fast and the decay cuts off too quickly, resulting in a less than desirable sustain which makes the toms and kicks feel flatter than usual. 

In tracks like Daft Punk’s Get Lucky and Instant Crush, two of my picks to gauge their punch and slam, the Force continues to struggle with bass impact where the presentation often feels blob-like, but the detail retrieval mildly impresses, as I could still feel the bass line cut through the beats while allowing the vocals to move slightly forward. 

MIDS

In tracks like First It Giveth by Queens of the Stone Age, a track with an unorthodox snare setups and in a peculiar scale, the Force leans out in its approach to give the instruments a proper spotlight. It does, however, have a mild issue with imaging where the cymbals are slightly tucked under the guitars, and the vocals feel somewhat disjointed. Consolation marks are to be awarded for its tonality, as the snares and guitars sound fairly accurate with zero noticeable weirdness, and I didn’t perceive them as thin or strained.

As the tracks get busier in instrumentals like Periphery’s Marigold and Animals as Leaders’ The Woven Web, the Force starts frustrating me. The cymbals become increasingly washed out like painting a monsoon sky on handmade watercolor paper with a flat brush, while the toms and cymbals slow down to provide more body to the guitars, which once again, in the Force’s context, results in interfering with the overall presentation of vocals. 

As I push the Force further with Tool’s Lateralus, Pneuma and Schism; tracks known for their technical prowess, the problem with the Force in terms of imaging continues to persist, and its inconsistent detail retrieval becomes even more apparent. Tonality still is fortunately, and its control over balancing the emphasis between guitars and vocals improves towards the end of the track once the bass starts coming in, where the Force finally begins sounding cohesive. 

HIGHS

In tracks like Pinkpantheress’ Stateside featuring Zara Larrson, a track with relatively thin vocals, phonk-esque bass, and synths, the Force maintains its composure reasonably well. The synths carry a well-appreciated shimmer without coming off piercing, while the vocals remain properly planted. The bass avoids excessive distortion, and both artists get enough room to shine adequately. 

In tracks like Never Let Me Go by Florence + The Machine and Celine Dion’s All by Myself where the primary highlight is how diverse vocals can get cutting through monotony, the Force begins to break apart. The yodelling and vibratos come off piercing, the straight notes sound unfaltering; however, the otherwise acceptable control over the instrumentals cannot save this IEM from spilling over. 

In tracks like Adele’s When We Were Young and Easy On Me; emotionally charged baritone ballads, the Force does an average, forgettable job, though it once again raises questions regarding its timbre capabilities as I found the notes quivering towards coming off from how they should rather sound in keys of the Majors. Through the climax, despite all its attempts to hold itself back, the Force simply comes off sibilant.

COMPARISON WITH NORA

The Nora simply outclasses the Force through the lows, offering a massive improvement in impact with a well-adjusted attack and a perfectly controlled decay. Detail retrieval is especially impressive, where the Nora lets the bass lines fly with a fantastic rumble that makes the entire presentation feel alive. I could clearly hear the plucks, the kicks sound appropriately full, the toms resonate naturally, and the vocals simply add the icing on top.

Through the mids, the Nora improves even further. Tonality leans warmer, timbre sounds fabulously lifelike, and detail retrieval reaches a phenomenal level where I could hear the fast bass picking cutting through the meaty guitars with ease. Vocals remain firmly planted at the center, showcasing significantly crisper imaging compared to the Force. As tracks grow busier, the Nora consistently maintains a far more cohesive presentation.

Through the highs, the Nora can still become shouty with phonk-style synth tracks, though it avoids drowning out the vocals. Once fed with vocal-intensive tracks featuring dramatic climaxes and technical performances, the Nora convincingly outperforms the Force with phenomenal control over piercing sibilance.

COMPARISON WITH ORIGIN (S NOZZLE)

Through the lows, the Origin does not carry the same overall quantity as the Force, but it surpasses both the Force and the Nora with superior separation between the bass lines and drums, alongside more precise imaging. In tracks focused on punch and slam, the Origin makes the nimble Nora look mildly outclassed while convincingly outperforming the Force by carrying enough energy for the groove to remain engaging, all while sprinkling in absurd amounts of detail and maintaining an excellent level of separation.

Through the mids, the Origin comes off thinner across both vocals and snares, while still maintaining a commendable level of isolation, imaging, and a marginal improvement in separation compared to the Nora. Even when pushed through busy tracks, aside from the cymbals sounding comparatively brighter, the Origin largely goes toe to toe with the Nora.

The difference appears in the highs, where I found the Origin shoutier than both on phonk-esque synth tracks, though the bass remained largely free of distortion. On tracks with dramatic vocal climaxes and technical performances, the Origin unfortunately does become piercing, though not to the same extent as the Force, and that is ultimately where the Nora wins this three-way comparison.

Concluding Notes

The Tanchjim x Effect Audio Force is one of those IEMs that kept making me go back and forth in terms of coming close to being appreciated yet heavily skewing towards being a frustrating listen. Every now and then, it would show signs of being competent at what it does, but nothing stayed consistent enough for me to fully trust the Force. And the problem with the Force is not that it is outright bad, it just feels unsure of itself and that’s because Tanchjim decided to bloat its lineup with IEMs that have the same driver at different price points- Bunny DSP, Fission, Fola, Nora and the Origin; and except for the Bunny DSP, they all sound kind of the same, more or less. The Force should have been the more capable one, and beat this whole basketball team, but ironically it fails to shut the door as the moment the music starts getting more demanding with busier instrumentals, larger vocal performances, or tracks that rely heavily on imaging and layering, the Force just trips over its own shoelaces.

And hilariously for the Force, the Nora and Origin both make its weaknesses stand out like a mirror’s reflection. The Nora sounds far more cohesive and natural to my ears, while the Origin pushes ahead with sharper imaging and stronger separation; and the Force ends up sitting somewhere being a half moulded sculpture which would otherwise be revelled as something abstract in the modern era, which it is not- it just pretends to be.

At $280 retail, the Force is a bad, bad bargain; and for that I am awarding it nothing above a B-. Tanchjim, you can clearly do better; get some breathing air, go back to the drawing board, get back to the original ethos of taking time with the releases, but release IEMs with distinct identities.

Will I buy this new? Absolutely not.
Will I buy this used? Only at a good, good deal.

Sources used: SMSL Raw MDA-1 and Venture Electronics Megatron desktop DAC amp, Shanling M9 Plus, iBasso DX340 with the Amp 17 card and Cayin N3 Ultra DAPs and stacked with the XDuoo XD05 Pro with the AKM dac chips, FiiO KA17 and Venture Electronics Odo dongle dac amps.

Eartips used (ranked in order of performance): Dunu S&S, KBear Coffee, Divinus Velvet Narrow Bore, JVC Spiral Dots, Spinfit CP100+, Penon Liqueuer Black

Tracks

• Rush: Limelight, Spirit of the Radio
• Daft Punk: Get Lucky, Instant Crush
• The Police: Message In A Bottle
• Tool: Pneuma, Schism
• Queens of the Stone Age: First It Giveth
• Pink Floyd: Comfortably Numb, Wish You Were Here, Time
• Tame Impala: The Less I Know the Better
• Animals as Leaders: The Woven Web
• Avicii: Levels
• Periphery: Marigold
• Tesseract: Juno
• Kanye West: Stronger, Flashing Lights, Devil In A New Dress
• Altin Gun: Goga Dunya
• Timbaland: Give It To Me
• Adele: Easy On Me Live, When We Were Young
• Celine Dion: All By Myself
• Pavarotti: Nessun Dorma
• Mdou Moctar: Tarhatazed
• Cigarettes After Sex: Cry
• Meshuggah: Bleed
• AR Rahman: Tere Bina
• Alice in Chains: Down In A Hole (live)
• Allen Stone: Give You Blue
• Florence + The Machine: Never Let Me Go

Tanchjim decided it would be a wonderful idea to give me further experience in what the brand has to offer by sending me the Force; its collaboration with Effect Audio (for the memes, Defect Audio). I own the One and Bunny DSP, I have reviewed the Fission; and after they sent me the Space Pro which is a lovely dongle dac amp for the record, I now start with their IEMs. All’s not pretty however, as in this review, I will express my frustration and disappointment with how majorly Tanchjim missed their mark in making something truly different with the Force, specially given the price tag that it comes with.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank one of my patrons for supplying me his personally owned units of the Origin in S nozzles and the Nora to make my review as elaborate as possible.

Accessories, fit, comfort

Tanchjim also continues with their waifu branding which I personally dislike as I am tired of this trend where a majority of companies have hopped on this trend, but keeping that aside; the Force has very similar accessories provided with the rest of their IEMs in this segment- present, over and under. The Effect Audio branding is everywhere- from the cable obviously, to the shells, to the box and even a leaflet inside the paperwork. Oh, I also appreciate the replacement filters provided. All 20 of them.

It is a bit disappointing that at $280, Tanchjim would provide for a modular Effect Audio cable with their standard long 2 pin design, a type C plug with DSP capabilities, yet won’t include their special T-APB eartips but just put standard translucent white narrow and wide bore eartips. I like the case however, feels nice and sturdy in hand.

The shells of the Force feature an open back design that doesn’t really contribute much apart from having next to zero distortion regardless of volume levels, and despite a comparatively larger footprint compared to the Nora and Origin, the Force was comfortable enough for longer periods. However, the build quality is not very confidence inspiring.

Keeping the rambling aside, let me scooch over to the sound where the actual disappointment happens.

LOWS

In tracks like Rush’s Limelight and The Spirit of Radio, two tracks where the bass lines are camouflaged within the drums in my observation, the Force really does not impress with detail, where I could hear the plucks with lesser effort compared to other sets in its class, though it still maintains a respectable level of separation. The Force lacks the sustain to let the drums truly breathe and resonate, as the perceived attack is a bit too fast and the decay cuts off too quickly, resulting in a less than desirable sustain which makes the toms and kicks feel flatter than usual. 

In tracks like Daft Punk’s Get Lucky and Instant Crush, two of my picks to gauge their punch and slam, the Force continues to struggle with bass impact where the presentation often feels blob-like, but the detail retrieval mildly impresses, as I could still feel the bass line cut through the beats while allowing the vocals to move slightly forward. 

MIDS

In tracks like First It Giveth by Queens of the Stone Age, a track with an unorthodox snare setups and in a peculiar scale, the Force leans out in its approach to give the instruments a proper spotlight. It does, however, have a mild issue with imaging where the cymbals are slightly tucked under the guitars, and the vocals feel somewhat disjointed. Consolation marks are to be awarded for its tonality, as the snares and guitars sound fairly accurate with zero noticeable weirdness, and I didn’t perceive them as thin or strained.

As the tracks get busier in instrumentals like Periphery’s Marigold and Animals as Leaders’ The Woven Web, the Force starts frustrating me. The cymbals become increasingly washed out like painting a monsoon sky on handmade watercolor paper with a flat brush, while the toms and cymbals slow down to provide more body to the guitars, which once again, in the Force’s context, results in interfering with the overall presentation of vocals. 

As I push the Force further with Tool’s Lateralus, Pneuma and Schism; tracks known for their technical prowess, the problem with the Force in terms of imaging continues to persist, and its inconsistent detail retrieval becomes even more apparent. Tonality still is fortunately, and its control over balancing the emphasis between guitars and vocals improves towards the end of the track once the bass starts coming in, where the Force finally begins sounding cohesive. 

HIGHS

In tracks like Pinkpantheress’ Stateside featuring Zara Larrson, a track with relatively thin vocals, phonk-esque bass, and synths, the Force maintains its composure reasonably well. The synths carry a well-appreciated shimmer without coming off piercing, while the vocals remain properly planted. The bass avoids excessive distortion, and both artists get enough room to shine adequately. 

In tracks like Never Let Me Go by Florence + The Machine and Celine Dion’s All by Myself where the primary highlight is how diverse vocals can get cutting through monotony, the Force begins to break apart. The yodelling and vibratos come off piercing, the straight notes sound unfaltering; however, the otherwise acceptable control over the instrumentals cannot save this IEM from spilling over. 

In tracks like Adele’s When We Were Young and Easy On Me; emotionally charged baritone ballads, the Force does an average, forgettable job, though it once again raises questions regarding its timbre capabilities as I found the notes quivering towards coming off from how they should rather sound in keys of the Majors. Through the climax, despite all its attempts to hold itself back, the Force simply comes off sibilant.

COMPARISON WITH NORA

The Nora simply outclasses the Force through the lows, offering a massive improvement in impact with a well-adjusted attack and a perfectly controlled decay. Detail retrieval is especially impressive, where the Nora lets the bass lines fly with a fantastic rumble that makes the entire presentation feel alive. I could clearly hear the plucks, the kicks sound appropriately full, the toms resonate naturally, and the vocals simply add the icing on top.

Through the mids, the Nora improves even further. Tonality leans warmer, timbre sounds fabulously lifelike, and detail retrieval reaches a phenomenal level where I could hear the fast bass picking cutting through the meaty guitars with ease. Vocals remain firmly planted at the center, showcasing significantly crisper imaging compared to the Force. As tracks grow busier, the Nora consistently maintains a far more cohesive presentation.

Through the highs, the Nora can still become shouty with phonk-style synth tracks, though it avoids drowning out the vocals. Once fed with vocal-intensive tracks featuring dramatic climaxes and technical performances, the Nora convincingly outperforms the Force with phenomenal control over piercing sibilance.

COMPARISON WITH ORIGIN (S NOZZLE)

Through the lows, the Origin does not carry the same overall quantity as the Force, but it surpasses both the Force and the Nora with superior separation between the bass lines and drums, alongside more precise imaging. In tracks focused on punch and slam, the Origin makes the nimble Nora look mildly outclassed while convincingly outperforming the Force by carrying enough energy for the groove to remain engaging, all while sprinkling in absurd amounts of detail and maintaining an excellent level of separation.

Through the mids, the Origin comes off thinner across both vocals and snares, while still maintaining a commendable level of isolation, imaging, and a marginal improvement in separation compared to the Nora. Even when pushed through busy tracks, aside from the cymbals sounding comparatively brighter, the Origin largely goes toe to toe with the Nora.

The difference appears in the highs, where I found the Origin shoutier than both on phonk-esque synth tracks, though the bass remained largely free of distortion. On tracks with dramatic vocal climaxes and technical performances, the Origin unfortunately does become piercing, though not to the same extent as the Force, and that is ultimately where the Nora wins this three-way comparison.

Concluding Notes

The Tanchjim x Effect Audio Force is one of those IEMs that kept making me go back and forth in terms of coming close to being appreciated yet heavily skewing towards being a frustrating listen. Every now and then, it would show signs of being competent at what it does, but nothing stayed consistent enough for me to fully trust the Force. And the problem with the Force is not that it is outright bad, it just feels unsure of itself and that’s because Tanchjim decided to bloat its lineup with IEMs that have the same driver at different price points- Bunny DSP, Fission, Fola, Nora and the Origin; and except for the Bunny DSP, they all sound kind of the same, more or less. The Force should have been the more capable one, and beat this whole basketball team, but ironically it fails to shut the door as the moment the music starts getting more demanding with busier instrumentals, larger vocal performances, or tracks that rely heavily on imaging and layering, the Force just trips over its own shoelaces.

And hilariously for the Force, the Nora and Origin both make its weaknesses stand out like a mirror’s reflection. The Nora sounds far more cohesive and natural to my ears, while the Origin pushes ahead with sharper imaging and stronger separation; and the Force ends up sitting somewhere being a half moulded sculpture which would otherwise be revelled as something abstract in the modern era, which it is not- it just pretends to be.

At $280 retail, the Force is a bad, bad bargain; and for that I am awarding it nothing above a B-. Tanchjim, you can clearly do better; get some breathing air, go back to the drawing board, get back to the original ethos of taking time with the releases, but release IEMs with distinct identities.

Will I buy this new? Absolutely not.
Will I buy this used? Only at a good, good deal.

Sources used: SMSL Raw MDA-1 and Venture Electronics Megatron desktop DAC amp, Shanling M9 Plus, iBasso DX340 with the Amp 17 card and Cayin N3 Ultra DAPs and stacked with the XDuoo XD05 Pro with the AKM dac chips, FiiO KA17 and Venture Electronics Odo dongle dac amps.

Eartips used (ranked in order of performance): Dunu S&S, KBear Coffee, Divinus Velvet Narrow Bore, JVC Spiral Dots, Spinfit CP100+, Penon Liqueuer Black

Tracks

• Rush: Limelight, Spirit of the Radio
• Daft Punk: Get Lucky, Instant Crush
• The Police: Message In A Bottle
• Tool: Pneuma, Schism
• Queens of the Stone Age: First It Giveth
• Pink Floyd: Comfortably Numb, Wish You Were Here, Time
• Tame Impala: The Less I Know the Better
• Animals as Leaders: The Woven Web
• Avicii: Levels
• Periphery: Marigold
• Tesseract: Juno
• Kanye West: Stronger, Flashing Lights, Devil In A New Dress
• Altin Gun: Goga Dunya
• Timbaland: Give It To Me
• Adele: Easy On Me Live, When We Were Young
• Celine Dion: All By Myself
• Pavarotti: Nessun Dorma
• Mdou Moctar: Tarhatazed
• Cigarettes After Sex: Cry
• Meshuggah: Bleed
• AR Rahman: Tere Bina
• Alice in Chains: Down In A Hole (live)
• Allen Stone: Give You Blue
• Florence + The Machine: Never Let Me Go

I have been blessed once again with a consignment that has been sent across by one of my patrons for my audio reviews, and this consignment contains a lot of kilobuck IEMs, but even in that; a few very affordable ones exist. And out of that, I am picking out the Kotori Audio Zephyr to opine on, as reviews are very scarce; and I just want to be a helping hand to the best of my abilities. So, I thank him for giving me the opportunity to review this.

I don’t have the full set, but only the IEMs with an aftermarket cable. Disclaimer: I am not a believer in cables changing sound, so that has no role to play in this review.

Fit and Comfort

The Zephyr is one of those IEMs that needs some wobbling in terms of getting the fit and seal right; but it is a very light IEM and I had zero problems with wearing it for extended periods. The cable surely aided in the comfort. Also, I must comment to choose eartip size wisely as the shells are designed in such a way that the sizes will radically alter the seal, which I went through specially on the Divinus Velvet to the point where I simply had to rank it at the bottom for eartip preferences, on the other hand, where I expected L sizes to work; the M size in JVC Spiral Dots just did a perfect job.

Enough radio chatter, here’s the sound.

LOWS

In tracks like Rush’s Limelight, a track known for its blitzing bass lines and mathematical drum work, the Zephyr impressed me right out of the gate with its crisp, fast attack and well-controlled decay, while the sustain carries just enough presence to let the bass line lead the charge without suffocating the kicks. There is a delightful warmth here that gives the otherwise laid-back and thinner vocals a surprising amount of energy and drive, and, let’s admit it, Geddy Lee always had thin vocals. Even then, the Zephyr manages to give them some much-needed weight and body.

In tracks like Daft Punk’s Instant Crush and Get Lucky, two of my picks to gauge punch and slam, the Zephyr carries a touch of excess energy that can occasionally make the bass lines feel mildly bloated, something that could have been cured with slightly better sustain through the end beats. Thankfully, the lively upper vocal presentation cuts through almost immediately before things become overwhelming. Nitpicks aside, this IEM has an addictive sense of groove, as this clearly lets everything that makes these two tracks THE tracks shine in their adequate moments of glory- be it Julian’s melancholy through that punchy upbeat vibe, be it Pharrell and Nile Rodgers duking it out for the spotlight; the Zephyr handles it without spilling its guts out.

MIDS

In tracks like Tesseract’s Juno, Animals as Leaders’ The Woven Web, and Periphery’s Marigold, which are my picks to gauge imaging, detail retrieval, and separation, the Zephyr does not impress with outright dollops of detail or surgical separation. Instead, it reminds me of the Softears Twilight in the way it prioritizes engagement over analysis. It may not be the most detailed set in its class, but it kept me completely hooked into the music. Guitars carry a strong sense of energy while vocals ride comfortably alongside them, and paired with the surprisingly fast bass attack, the overall presentation comes across as coherent, engaging, and genuinely fun. Timbre sounds natural throughout, especially with strings, while cymbals further showcase the superb imaging capabilities of the Zephyr.

In tracks like First It Giveth by Queens of the Stone Age, the Zephyr’s slight lack of finesse can leave me missing some of the crispness and sharpness in the snare hits that other IEMs in its class, notably the Truthear Pure, are capable of delivering. Even then, the handling of tonality and timbre remains excellent, which stands in stark contrast to how the Aful Explorer sounds. Vocals sound lively and well-positioned, while guitars maintain enough isolation for the overall presentation to feel cohesive rather than congested.

HIGHS

This is one of those IEMs where the actual listening experience simply does not reflect what the graphs may suggest, at least to my ears.

In tracks like Celine Dion’s All By Myself and Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse of the Heart, where the vocals lean lighter, especially during strong dynamic swings, and in tracks like Adele’s Easy on Me and When We Were Young, two emotionally charged ballads with baritone-ish vocal presence, the Zephyr impresses me by leaps and bounds. Everything from its control over sibilance and pierce to the way it handles yodelling, vibratos, straight note sustains, and dynamics throughout the passage feels exceptionally well-managed. The Zephyr simply nails these moments.

In tracks like PinkPantheress’ Stateside featuring Zara Larsson, a track filled with aggressive phonk-style synth work and bass, the Zephyr rarely comes across as piercing or fatiguing. Vocals remain well-positioned throughout, and despite their thinner presentation, the Zephyr still injects enough body and weight to prevent them from sounding lifeless or hollow. Once again, sibilance is kept completely in check, and everything remains composed and controlled throughout.

Concluding Notes

The Kotori Audio Zephyr is an IEM that never intends to try hard and never promises a world full of wonders. It was never labelled as a giant killer the way many IEMs in its price segment often are. In fact, this IEM never tried to be one, and I am glad I gave it a shot. I also thank my patron for letting me try this IEM.

The Zephyr does not overwhelm with energy like the Defiant, feels livelier than the Truthear Pure, and does not push itself into the abyss the way the Explorer did. In fact, after hearing the Zephyr, I dislike the Explorer even more while appreciating the Truthear Pure far more. There are still a few shortcomings here, mainly its inconsistency in maintaining energy through the lows, a slight recession in the midrange, a mild lack of detail, being fairly eartip-dependent, and playing the highs a little too safe. Even then, this is an IEM that can be worked into some genuinely satisfying heights, and I hope more people give it a chance.

In fact, I will be adding this IEM to my personal roster. That is how much I believe in it, and that is why it earns an A from me.

Will I buy this new? Absolutely.
Will I buy this used? Absolutely.

Sources used: SMSL Raw MDA-1 and Venture Electronics Megatron desktop DAC amp, Shanling M9 Plus, iBasso DX340 with the Amp 17 card and Cayin N3 Ultra DAPs, FiiO KA17 and Venture Electronics Odo dongle dac amps.

Eartips used (ranked in order of performance): JVC Spiral Dots, Final E, Penon Liqeuer Black, Divinus Velvet Narrow Bore

Tracks

• Rush: Limelight, Spirit of the Radio
• Daft Punk: Get Lucky, Instant Crush
• The Police: Message In A Bottle
• Tool: Pneuma, Schism
• Queens of the Stone Age: First It Giveth
• Pink Floyd: Comfortably Numb, Wish You Were Here, Time
• Tame Impala: The Less I Know the Better
• Animals as Leaders: The Woven Web
• Avicii: Levels
• Periphery: Marigold
• Tesseract: Juno
• Kanye West: Stronger, Flashing Lights, Devil In A New Dress
• Altin Gun: Goga Dunya
• Timbaland: Give It To Me
• Adele: Easy On Me Live, When We Were Young
• Celine Dion: All By Myself
• Pavarotti: Nessun Dorma
• Mdou Moctar: Tarhatazed
• Cigarettes After Sex: Cry
• Meshuggah: Bleed
• AR Rahman: Tere Bina
• Alice in Chains: Down In A Hole (live)
• Allen Stone: Give You Blue