Magaosi K3 Pro In-ear Earphone Review

Verdict –

When an earphone hits the forum with immediate applause and appraisal, I’m often quite apprehensive. Because a lot of those immediately impressive earphones can be overly sculpted and unrefined though haste for an early impression forgoes these shortcomings in favour of that initial wow. And that’s not to the discredit of other reviewers, everyone has their own preferences and no one is exempt from subjectivity. There’s also no doubt that the K3 Pro is a fantastic earphone but they still aren’t the earphone that a lot of users have set them up to be; they didn’t immediately outclass other earphones I’ve heard around this price nor modern earphones at higher prices. And that was hard for me to admit because I really like the K3 Pro, they have my ideal sound signature and form factor all at an attainable price. But ultimately everyone has their own definition of perfection and the K3 Pro, for all of its strengths, does suffer from some fallbacks which I haven’t heard echoed nearly as much as their strengths.

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But despite lacking realism, linearity and even transparency, the K3 Pro doesn’t sound bad at all, rather, they sound very nice. And I think the K3 Pro’s cult success illustrates the underlying notion within the audio hobby that individual preference will continue to triumph over technicality. The K3 Pro isn’t a natural or outstandingly technical proficient earphone, but they are one that are incredibly vivid and engaging. And my guilty enjoyment of the K3 Pros idealised sound stems from the unending yearning to be moved as listeners. When we start to analyse sound, we tether our music to reality and the hobby can very quickly become a chore. And that’s because music wasn’t invented to mimic reality, but to enhance it, and it’s in this regard that the K3 Pro excels.

Verdict– 8/10, The Magaosi K3 Pros are the perfect definition of idealism over realism, the complete opposite of the Hifiman RE-600S V2 that I just reviewed. But what separates the K3 Pro from consumer models that similarly colour the sound is their very tasteful balance between lows, mids and highs all built atop a solid technical foundation. Their hot treble may not be for everyone, but few will find issue with their textured, organic bass and super sweet midrange. The K3 Pro is a fantastic sounding, great looking and solid feeling earphone that glorifies your music.

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ABOUT AUTHOR

Ryan Soo

Ryan Soo

Avid writer, passionate photographer and sleep-deprived medical student, Ryan has an ongoing desire to bring quality products to the regular reader.

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10 Responses

  1. That’s very unfortunate and sounds like a defect in manufacturing, I always give the nozzles on my review unit a good tug to test durability and my set was rock solid. Definitely contact the seller you bought them from, you should be entitled to a replacement unit

  2. Watch out, these IEMs are built like garbage. Do not be fooled by the supposed “premium” build. Despite careful usage, the sound tube in mine broke clean off on the left side when attempting to change eartips. Turns out it was held there by glue. The IEM was unrepairable afterwards.

  3. Alright Ryan, thanks for the quick reply. Seems like the K3 Pro is more in what I’m looking for and now after much consideration I will get them instead of 1More. Although not sure why but the case and package of 1More triples seemed to attract me more haha

  4. Hi Brandon, thanks for your kind comments! For kpop, the K3 Pro might be a better choice, I think they’re a really good choice for pop and vocal with really nice detailing in the high-frequencies. The 1More is darker and more natural from memory, it really depends how treble sensitive you are but the K3 Pro’s tuning is probably a better bet for your preferred music.

  5. Great review Ryan, out of curiosity you did mention the k3 being the better triple drivers iem compared to 1More. Could you perhaps elaborate on that as I’ve been eyeing 1More for some time now until I stumble upon your review on the k3. For your info I’m an avid kpop listener particularly on female vocals like taeyeon and IU so would like to know which of them play songs from that genre better.

  6. And yeah, I people tend to prefer the black filters but the silver ones while providing a bit more veiled sound are definitely the mote tonally accurate

  7. Props for the more grounded review. I have to admit I was a bit uldisapointed with the k3 pro as reflected in my comments in the hhead-fi thread but I admit it’s not a bad iem per se. Just lacks technicalitu and transparency but for the 80 bucks I paid it’s decent but personally I wouldn’t pay more for it given the competition in that price range, so for me $100+ is a bit of a stretch for it but some people of course will disagree

  8. Thanks Ryan, I’ll wait for your reviews then.
    About oriveti basics, I’m also worried about excessive bass since I find my 1more triples a bit on the warm side. I’m surprised that you picked magaosi k3 over other options (1more triple, gr07). I’m worried about their hot treble actually.

  9. Thanks John, the hype did get a bit blown out at the beginning on these earphones, but they are still a genuinely fine performer. I will have a review of the EN700 Bass out soon, it’s a pretty new model but from early impressions, they sound balanced and natural with especially nice soundstage and treble. The TFZ King is another model I’ve been reviewing, it has the most resolution and detail at this price but sounds very aggressive, like the Pinnacle P1, so it’s not necessarily the best choice depending on preference.

    I would actually pick the K3 Pro since I personally like their tuning, the other earphones also have pretty awkward ergonomics and fixed cables so it’s a combination of sound and design. The Oriveti Basic is another really great model at this price, it has a smoother, more refined sound than any of the Chi-fi earphones combined with the best fit and removable cable though some have found the sub-bass to be excessive. All of them are really nice performers sonically, I suspect a lot of users will decide based on fit as that is where a lot of them are still catching up to Western models.

  10. I’ve been thinking to get this iem from past couple of weeks. All I could really find was hype on headfi for this iem. Thanks for your review as your review really provided pros and cons. You also mentioned EN700 bass which made me curious about them since this is the first time I heard about EN700. Which is your favorite iem in same budget? I already have EX1 and 1more triple and I’m looking to buy another iem.

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