I think I’m ready for this now.
I recently bought a pair of KBEar Larks and I’ve possibly never been more impressed by the fact that humans are so damn pervasive that not only are normal earbuds not good enough, no, we have to go next level with this shit and then make it CHEAP.
So for those new to IEM’s, these little buds are actually basically speaker assemblies but in your ear. I’ve known about IEM’s for a long time, but never about cheap ones, nor did I think I’d own a pair. I now plan to own a few different pairs to get a full view of what these are really capable.
Heres a little hands on show off for ya’ll wanting to see some details.
And finally, to drive these, I have used a OnePlus Nord N10, the soundcard in my computer, but when that turned out to be shit I pulled out a sansui 7900Z my dad had rotting in the front hall. Its not the best amp, but honestly what my goal was in using it was to produce driver rattle, which never happened.
Do note though, that if you intend on using this amp you’re probably going to be fucking with it constantly until you have it tuned to one song, then the song’ll change and the synth table gets thrown out of whack. I noticed that hitting tape record and then jumping back actually reset the EQ a bit, but it’d still get fucked on a song change. So eh.
Specs:
Interface: 2PIN 0.78mm(TFZ)
Frequency response: 20-20kHz
Sensitivity: 105dB + \ - 3
Impedance: 16ohm
Earphone material: Zinc Alloy+Environmental friendly PO
Color: Mauve; Light Gray; Aqua Green
Cable material: 4 core silver-plated cable / 8 core full copper cable (inline mic)
Plugtype: 3.5mm L-type gold-plated plug
My short time with these has really opened my eyes to in ear monitors, and now has me looking at a pair of KZ ZAX’s.
If you’re unaware of how an IEM is constructed, this one is very simple. It has one normal driver, like in anything, and one tuned balanced armature driver, which I like to think of as a vibrating pin in a box.
This ends in a significantly better soundscape, even with just one extra driver.
Specifically with these IEM’s I have found that they can produce a good low end, an ok top end, but its mids are very very strong. At least on my pair. Voices are extremely pronounced, with bass following up, and mids to highs after, with the weakest part possibly being the 2.5-5k range. I find that the bass can eat up the other instruments at times, which makes me curious of multi-BA IEM’s. I’ve mostly been listening to my liked playlist on spotify, and albums such as Blood In Blood Out by Denzel Curry thru my amp.
Stand out songs to listen to on these at the correct EQ at full blast:
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151 Rum - JID
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Champion Sound - Jaylib
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Real Talk - Scarlxrd
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Get Him ! - Scarlxrd
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Death Grips - Get Got
I am not only impressed by the sheer fact there is 0 driver rattle but that at full blast even these are literally as clear as anything over ear I have tried recently, namely my Pioneer HDJ-X7’s.
I would prefer to use these with an amp over just plugging them into a phone, unless the phone has a DAC, such as an LG V20. I WISH I had an LG V20 to try these with… ugh. But even if your phone doesn’t have a DAC, as these are 16-18 ohm, you can drive them with anything and if you have a good sound chip you’re probably fine.
My only real comment so far is that I have never, ever heard the static of a song that got recorded off of a record thru spotify until I had these. And like, spotify tries really hard to hide the crinkly sounds from normal users, so I was stupid impressed.
I got these for 40 bucks and 2 month wait thru aliexpress, and I’m gunna be honest, I’m hooked. I may never even use over ears ever again after these, no joke.
Bonus
If you break the cable, plug, or anything outside of the iem, you can replace it. THE BIGGEST WIN WITH ME LIKE EVER.