I would like to thank Linsoul for sending us a retail sample of the Kiwi Ears Quartet for the purposes of this review. The opinions expressed herein are entirely my own.
Introduction
It’s been quite a while since I’ve taken any interest in the budget-end of the portable audio market, even though I have fond memories of some really excellent budget gear from the early days of my IEM journey.
Over that time, my preferences have also shifted, but never too far away from my first love: dynamic driver bass. So, when I read about a new hybrid IEM boasting a unique type of push-pull dual DD architecture, with a ticket price just north of a few sets of eartips, I was instantly intrigued.
That IEM, as you’ve probably gathered, is the Kiwi Ears Quartet.
The reason I started this review with a bit of context is because I’m not going to use flowery language to declare the Quartet as a revelation, or something more than it actually is, because compared to IEMs I regularly review that cost upwards of 10, 20, or even 30 times the price, it’s not.
What I am wanting to find out, however, is what it does offer for its price, and, regardless of price, what sort of user experience you, as the buyer, can expect. So, let’s jump right in and see what we’re getting in exchange for a single Benjamin plus change.
About Kiwi Ears
Aside from some colourful words on a minimalist website, I found very little information on Kiwi Ears, other than the reputation they’ve started to build with their IEMs in vocal audio communities. That’s not unusual, given the explosion of small-name brands that have mushroomed with the boom in the Chinese head-fi (Chi-Fi) industry, some of which are collectively housed under umbrella brands like Linsoul.
Without these globalised sites, many bespoke IEM manufacturers would probably be ‘invisible’ to us in the West, limited to the (admittedly massive) Chinese and Asian markets. In fact, I imagine there’s a far greater number of smaller companies like Kiwi Ears that many of us Westerners have never heard of. Thankfully, getting access to these brands is now as easy as buying them from a local store, as long as they can get themselves noticed in the ever-growing crowd.
Quartet
I’ve never seen, let alone heard, a Kiwi Ears IEM before Quartet, so excuse my novice-ness if I’m covering familiar ground.
I was expecting far less, to be honest, but the design, finish and build quality of these IEMs is stunning. Made from a single ingot of medical-grade resin, infused with an attractive sparkly-purple gel swirl pattern, the earpieces themselves are super smooth to the touch and ultra-light in ear.
The fit itself is not bad, but will mostly depend on your penchant for short, stubby but somewhat thick-ish nozzles, which form part of the seamless shell. Once I found the right tips (that were both comfortable enough and wide enough to fit the 6mm-diameter spouts), the resulting shallow fit gave me a perfect seal, and didn’t bother me excessively over lengthy listening periods.
Quartet comes standard with a black braided cable made of tightly-braided 4-strand OFC silver-plated copper, finished in a rubbery black PVC coating, terminated in a gold-plated 3.5mm single-ended plug on one end and standard 0.78mm 2-pin IEM connectors on the other. The cable is pliable, soft and generally free of microphonics, though the tightly-wound ear guides might not be best suited to those with larger ears.
Three sets of ear tips are supplied in the box: black, grey and white silicone in sizes small, medium and large, each with slightly different shapes and nozzle dimensions. To be honest I didn’t really bother with the stock tips, immediately switching to my preferred test tips (JVC Spiral Dot) that gave me a good fit and seal.
In terms of packaging, don’t expect anything to flash, though the solid purple-themed box with silkscreened imagery and plentiful information, like the IEMs themselves, is quite striking. Along with the aforementioned accessories, you’ll also find a hard-shell zippered carry case, complete with Kiwi Ears logo, though I’d have preferred a slightly narrower and taller case to properly house and protect the generously-sized earpieces.
Continue to tech specs…
