Sound Summary
Let’s cut to the chase. The 7Hz Legato is anathema to audiophiles accustomed to a ruler-flat (or at least precise) frequency response. The Legato is a violent subversion of that formula. And I don’t use violence loosely.
To illustrate the point further, the 7Hz Legato sounds like two bookshelf speakers shoved into the deeper recesses of one’s ears. What do I mean by this? The Legato has a mountainous cliff in the lower registers that tapers off gradually as it climbs upwards from sub-bass to mid-bass. Puffy basslines are defined by a voluptuously viscous rumble that lingers, while the mid-bass retains a softer microdynamic approach with less note definition and more macrodynamic texture. What listeners are left with is a concert-like presentation reminiscent of overdriven speakers, each sonic wave reverberating off the walls in rapid succession.
V-shaped signatures typically compromise on the midrange, the most prominent frequency section of the human ear: the bulk which forms what we perceive as “clarity” and “timbre”. In the defence of the Legato, “one-hit wonder” tunings tend to overindulge one section of the entire frequency response at the expense of others, and this is commonplace with bass-emphasised tunings. Here, the Legato artificially boosts the upper-presence region (upper treble) to compensate for the blown-out boombox bass response and to offer macrodynamic contrast.
What makes the Legato a rebellious outlier is how far it dials up the V-shaped excitement factor. We’ll dive deeper into the meat and bones in the following sections.
Bass
As established earlier, the bass is the focal point of the Legato, and it does so unashamedly. The sub-bass registers at the base of the frequency response are assertive in their presence, where the overall “body” of the rumble matters more than the actual note definition and micro-detailing. It is a visceral response that focuses on the experiential, less so on the clinical.
With live recordings, spatial rendering on the bass end is fantastic. Sans the physicality of bass felt in one’s actual body, the Legatos have successfully distilled the low-res cacophony and realism that arena performances encapsulate. It is a hyper-addictive listen that is, quite honestly, nothing that I’ve experienced before in an IEM. Compressions and rarefactions push and pull on your eardrum, with a slower PRAT prolonging the tactility of the entire bass region.
Honeymooning aside, the softer dynamics displayed the Legato’s sub-bass present an incomplete image, where notes are hazy, with instrumentation lacking distinction between each other. To its detriment, Legato’s mid-bass bears parallel limitations. Nonetheless, as cliched as it sounds, the Legato draws the listeners inches closer to the artists they cherish and adore, albeit with middle-of-the-road resolution.
Mids
The 7Hz Legato’s midrange presentation adheres to the standard V-shaped formula, with a prominent scoop in the lower mids (or at least, it is being blanketed by the walloping sub-bass region), followed by a modest decline in the upper mids. Interestingly, the upper-midrange transition towards the presence region is fairly smooth despite an observable valley in the former segment.
Consequently, the midrange is situated further behind the mix, where a distinct contrast between its rotund low-end and sparkly treble up top take centre stage. The Legato lives by the mantra of “experience first”, where the “WOW” factor precedes everything else. Some listeners might be dismayed, while others might laud it for its bombastic presentation. I happen to fall in the latter camp.
Thankfully, however, the midrange gulf is massive enough to occlude the fundamental body of the midrange. Vocals still retain enough forwardness to avoid being drowned out by the tsunami of prolonged bass. But, if you’re a serious listener who prioritises timbre and tonal balance, this IEM will not scratch that itch.
Treble
To avoid compromises on the rest of the SQ, the Legato’s treble region has to be turned up a notch (a few decibels) to avoid being suffocated by gobs of wallopping bass. The lower treble, or the bottom half of the presence region, experiences a proportionally uplift, injecting much-needed zing to brassier sections.
The juxtaposition between the highs and lows is a tried-and-true formula that does not need fixing. But, like tuning profiles, it does come with a few caveats. Firstly, a forward treble brings notable “hotspots” where sibilance and discomfort are more pronounced. Incisive notes are amplified, where “S”s are grainier to the ears on poorly mastered or dynamically compressed tracks.
Secondly, there is a fundamental timbral problem with deeply V-shaped earphones. Purposeful imbalances help to enunciate the strengths of different sections in the frequency band. The downside to this is it also highlights tonal inconsistencies that deviate from a ruler-flat reference.
However, the Legato deserves praise for its level of finesse and control over such an out-of-leftfield IEM.
Soundstaging and Imaging
This is where it gets interesting. As a rule of thumb, a boosted bass response that focuses on sub-bass rumble and reverberation artificially accentuates congestion and compression of a stage, leaving users with a sense of claustrophobia or “smallness”. The Legato seemingly overcomes this glaring weakness.
In spite of the massive wall of sub-bass, instruments are well-layered, showing impressive lateral width between the L-R channels, and the Z-axis depth is surprisingly deep and distinct. Reminiscent of a concert setting, the Legato recreates the experience of standing inches away from a stack of wall speakers. The positioning and placement of instruments and vocal melodies feel and appear “real”
Imaging, however, is significantly limited in outright distinguishability and separation between them. The perceived distance between every sonic cue is marginally wide. The problem comes with the slower PRAT characteristics of the sub-bass, which bleeds into every possible space imaginable. This phenomenon, as mentioned, closes the entire presentation.
Space, the Legato does well, but separation, it does so with adequate results.
Onto the next page for the rest of the review…
