HOW DOES THIS SOUND:-
The Spring1 houses 3 type of drivers. I can make it out that the dynamic driver is for bass as usual but cannot put my finger what the BA and Piezoelectric drivers are responsible for. It seems that it has an open chamber design and the BA driver is placed in the nozzle.
The triple hybrid earphone has a very interesting sound output which is barely seen in this price range. The bass is very deep with good amount of sub-bass and manages itself to keep away from being over powering or a bit dull. The mid range takes the back seat with a less forward presentation and the treble region delivers a very good amount of energy and spark. What makes the Spring1 stand out of the competition is its sound stage which is bigger than anything in this price range.
The overall sound signature of the Spring1 is neutral with a bit of warmth with the bass. The tonality could have been a bit more accurate though, especially vocals could have been more accurate.
Burned for more than 100hrs, I am using my Plenue R with Creative Sound Blaster and stock tips for this review.
TECHNICALITY AND MATCHABILITY:-
The Spring1 has an Impedance rating of 43ohm and the sensitivity of 108 makes it ask for good amount of power. Most of the mobile phones will struggle to drive it to listenable volumes without reaching more than 80% volume. Driving it out of a mobile device makes it loose a good chunk of details and treble stage get very clumsy. It is not advised to use the Spring1 out of a mobile phone, 99% of them are unable to provide it with good amount of power. Unless driven properly the Spring1 exhibits good amount of sibilance, feed it or it will bite.
Using DAPs like Sony A35 will extract good amount of details out of it. It is advised to use a powerful DAP for the Spring1.
The Spring1 responds pretty well to EQs, if you think you need a bit more oomph, just tunes it to your liking.
BASS:-
The 13mm dynamic driver responsible for the lower section does a fantastic job. I would have been very happy with this type of lower end even from a $300 earphone. It has very good amount of details and texture to it. The lower end is more forwardness when compared to the mid range, giving the Spring1 its V shaped signature.
The 13mm driver moves very good amount of air and the slam is very punchy. The impact is very pleasing and makes the note enjoyable. Coming from BA based earphones, I am really liking this thump. The sub-bass extension is fantastic, it has very good amount of rumble to it and the size of it is very good. Mid bass is bigger than the sub-bass giving the lower end a fuller feeling. Upper treble has very good amount of energy and details to it. The overall size of the lower end is not huge but is nicely rounded.
Decay speed of the 13mm driver is very good. It is not very fast like the BA earphones and is not very loose like BGVP DMG either. Even with the big 13mm dynamic driver the level of control shown by the Spring1 is very good. It doesn’t let the notes get out of their character while maintaining very good amount of details and texture.
Changing the Atmosphere tips or say bass tips to reference tips does bring the bass to a more leveled situation with the mid range. Only the quantity and slam size is affected, effecting with slightly faster decay with everything else being more or less the same.
MID RANGE:-
BQEYZ hasn’t specified which driver is doing what but looking at the tonality and lack to forwardness intrigues me to say that it is the piezoelectric driver but I will not like to make it a statement on it. Whatever driver is responsible for the mid range, it manages to deliver good amount of details along with a bigger than average stage size.
Even when the forwardness decreases a bit from the upper bass to lower mid the transition section feels fairly smooth and has maintained good amount of details and energy.
As I have stated earlier, the vocal section is not very accurate with tonality. My last review subject, the Inear SD5 is a prolific performer when it comes to vocals accuracy and clarity but is placed at $1000+ price range. Even when compared to TSMR 2 and BGVP VG4 the Spring1 sounds slightly metallic and a bit splashy, hisses feel more vivid than others. George Barnett – Reflection reveals the peaky nature of the notes. In general the male vocals have marginally sharper notes body but have good amount of texture and details to them. Female vocals on the other hand doesn’t have that type of extra sharpness to it, they have more accurate tonality and notes body. The overall vocal section is good, but could have been more refined.
Like the male vocals, instruments too have some extra attack to them. The shine with a peaky end to them makes instruments uncomfortable for those who are sensitive to peaks. Surprisingly the upper mid range is not hot, it maintains good amount of balance and has lesser peaks or attack than the rest of the mid range. The level of micro details and transparency is good in its place but not as good as something like the TSMR 2.
What really good is the stage size. It feels really spacious and there is very good amount of air between instruments. It feels very open. Sonic abilities of the Spring1 is fantastic, far better than BA based earphones in this price range. Thanks to the bigger stage, layering and separation is very good.
Changing the tips to reference tips make the mid a bit more leveled with little to no changes to it anything else.
HIGHS:-
Just like the upper bass to lower mid transaction, the transition from upper mid range to lower treble region is very good. There is good amount of energy and fairly less disturbing elements compared to the mid range.
The treble region has very good amount of spark to it. The extension is as good as earphone three times its price. The Spring1 has good amount of energy until the end. The level of transparency could have been marginally better, it lacks uniformity with notes depth, some notes have more bite than others. It has good amount of details but the level of micro details leaves a bit more to be desired.
There are a few occasions of sibilance here. It is not bad, but it is there.
Thanks to the big stage size, layering and separation is very good with good amount of air between instruments.
Even though the highs are good with energy and spark to them, they could have been more uniform with imaging.
( P.S. :- To shed some sharpness, use the reference tip)
One Response
Thanks for the honest review. I’ve tried hard not to fall into the chi-fi rabbit hole but this spring one has captured my attention after reading a ton of reviews in the 150.00 market. I’ll never reasonably be able to afford anything more expensive so I’ve done a ton of reading on this price sector. I’ll probably take the plunge on the Spring 1’s, and looking forward to them now.