When I went to canjam a few months back, this iem was the highlight of the show to me, over things such as the subtonic storm and elysian annihilator. Anyways, normal disclaimers this is first impressions, not a review. Thoughts change. As a side note, my thoughts on the susvara has changed quite a bit since my first impressions…
The most remarkable trait of this iem is how bass boosted it is, yet it doesn’t have overwhelming punch and slam, nor does the bass bleed into the mids. Instead, the bass boost mostly highlights the low end and adds a richness to the sound. I mentioned this in my first impressions post, but I seriously didn’t realize how bass boosted this iem was until I saw the graph online (though I’m not a critical listener).
The rest of the sound is well tuned, with decent technicalities. Imagine something like a galaxy buds/air pods, with maybe 20% better technicalities. Going to something like the focal utopia immediately reveals how much technical performance is left on the table. The timbre is much better than something like the utopia though. I haven’t found a song that sounds wrong with the singularity yet.
Overall, the “normalcy” of this iem is both its greatest strength and its greatest weakness. For some who prefer crazy technicalities, or expect massive punchy bass after looking at the frequency response, they might be disappointed. For those who might be looking for a natural dd sound with a nice low end emphasis, this might be an option.
Personally? Holy shit after my disappointment with the letshouer cadenza 12 and hifiman susvara (more on susvara coming soon), I’m glad to just be able to enjoy music again. The singularity is just so enjoyable to listen to and forget about analyzing the music. I don’t think its worth the price on technicalities alone, but that simply isn’t my priority anymore. This might be the first “audiophile” equipment I own that doesn’t compromise on any sonic trait since I got the hd600, while still offering something above standard consumer audio. At the very least, I can say my faith of iems has been partially restored. Questions welcome.
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Honestly my personal theory is that people don’t realise how much bass can be boosted before it actually affects the rest of the signature negatively.
Or they only listened to massively boosted mid bass humps and not the sloping bass tuning.
People have different standards for what they consider “bassy”. Case in point, the Head-fi review page for the Truthear Zero has two reviews one saying it’s too bassy, and the other saying it lacks bass.
Nice first impression post. I’m working my way towards doing a similar post myself after owning a pair of these iems since tuesday. I found the fit a bit troublesome even though the shells are fairly small i found the lack of memory wire around the ear section of the cable to be an issue holding the shells and keeping a good seal. I ended up swapping the cable with my oriolus set and have a much better time now. I also tip rolled a fair bit and have ended up suing some eletech tips i bought recently as I found the stock silicone tips made the bass sound quite bloated. As for the black velvet tips the nozzle holes seemed too small in diameter to actually fit. From my first listen I noticed some nice detail and soundstage compared to my other iems. I agree on your bass observations also.