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Sound Review by Mikan
Disclaimer: KBEAR has graciously provided us with this sample unit in exchange for an honest review. The views discussed below are a reflection of Project A3's thoughts surrounding the product. The sample has been run-in for at least 50 hours prior to reviewing in order to achieve an accurate representation of the product.
| TL;DR |
| Not Recommended if you like: |
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| Recommend if you like: |
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Introduction:
Originated from Shenzhen, KB-Ear Audio is a new entry of the highly competitive Chinese head-fi market. After quickly firing different models with different configurations, Tri i3 has been successfully attracting people to pay attention to their products, and treat them as a brand with high potential in the community.
The Diamond is the first attempt of single DD earphone which they have ever released. Equipped with an 8.5mm DLC-coated dynamic driver, and priced as US$79, it would be such a great opportunity to showcase the tuning ability of the brand. Available at KB Ear on Aliexpress.
| Pros | Cons |
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Frequency Responses:
1/6 octave smoothing applied.
Specification:
- ·8.5mm PET dynamic driver with diamond-like carbon coating
- ·Frequency Response: 20-20kHz · SPL: 102dB
- ·Impedance: 16 ohms
- ·Sage green aluminium alloy with carbon fibre face plate
- ·Two pins 0.78mm plugs and support cable replacement
- ·4 core silver-coated copper cables
Gear Used & Tracklist:
| Genres | Artist | Songs |
| Live Recordings | Diana Krall | Desperado (Live) |
| Natalia Lafourcade | Soledad y El Mar | |
| Case Lang Veirs | Atomic Number | |
| Depeche Mode | Question of Lust (Live 1998) | |
| Instrumentals | Max Richter | On the Nature of Daylight |
| Santa Esmeralda | Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood | |
| Nils Frahm | Toilet Brushes (Live) | |
| Jazz | Bill Evans | A Waltz for Debbie |
| Chet Baker | I'm a Fool to Want You | |
| Sons of Kemet | Your Queen is Harriet Tubman | |
| Ryo Fukui | Scenery | |
| Rock | Avenged Sevenfold | Nightmare |
| The Stooges | Down On The Street | |
| Avenged Sevenfold | Unbound (The Wild Ride) | |
| Guns N’ Roses | Sweet Child O’ Mine | |
| Ozzy Osbourne | Crazy Train | |
| Green Day | 21 Guns | |
| Classical | Niccolò Paganini | La Campanella (From Violin Concerto No.2 In B Minor) |
| Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky | The Year 1812 Solemn Overture | |
| David Arnold | Independence Day | |
| Pop | Hu Yang-Lin (胡楊林) | Perfume is poisonous (香水有毒) |
| Fish Leong (梁靜茹) | Love Song (情歌) | |
| Western Pop | Anamanaguchi | MEOW |
| Iamamiwhoami | Chasing Kites | |
| Algiers | Dispossession | |
| New Order | Bizzare Love Triangle (Extended Mix) | |
| Marian Hill | Breathe Into Me | |
| Tyler, The Creator | EARFQUAKE | |
| Tones and I | Never Seen the Rain | |
| Red Hot Chili Peppers | Around the World | |
| ACG | Saori Hayami | オレンジミント (Orange Mint) |
| RADWIMPS | 前前前世 (Zenzenzenzense) | |
| RADWIMPS | スパークル(Sparkle) | |
| DAOKO | Cinderella Step | |
| Kana Hanazawa | 恋愛サーキュレーション (Renai Circulation) |
Unboxing:
KB Ear Diamond comes with a rectangle box with premium look. The earphones, two sets of sponge eartips, a pleather case and instruction manuals are seen right after unboxing. The cable and other silicon eartips are included in the pleather case.
Overall, a pleasant unboxing experience, given that other products with the similar price range comes with less accessories.
Scalability:
Since I am both owning a mobile device with limited output power and a desktop amp which could drive over-ear earphones pretty easily, it is easy to listen if the equipment is power-hungry or not. Based on that, it is confident to say that the IEM performs quite well in different output power, thanks to the 16 ohms impedance that makes it easy to drive. However, the extra bit of the lower subbass could only be heard with the desktop DAC, so feeding a better source to the buds can definitely help it to shine.
Fit:
At the first look and touch of the shell, it is a very sturdy aluminium shell processed with nicely-done CNC. Because of the aluminium shell is quite thick, it is heavier than the IEMs with resin shell which I own, and during my listening session with prolonged wear, several drops out from the ear were experienced. Although there are drops, I have not experienced any discomfort during the session.
Also, the isolation of Diamond is above-average, thanks to the sturdy shell. It blocks outside noise effectively.
Also, the isolation of Diamond is above-average, thanks to the sturdy shell. It blocks outside noise effectively.
| Sound Signature | |
| Delicious bass-boost without overblowing the mids, accompanied with natural timbre. | The Diamond is demonstrating a V-shaped sound with a focus on bass. The entire bass region is emphasised but without any leakage to the lower mids, and few extra dBs of the treble brings the soundstage forward and not to be recessed. |
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Reference Tracks / Remarks:
Utada Hikaru & Skrillex – Face My Fears
Utada Hikaru & Skrillex – Face My Fears
The DD IEMs can thump the chest pretty easily when it is drove by the desktop DACs. The similar effect could be achieved when driving with portable devices in a less perceptible way. The bass from Face My Fears & Feed are reproduced with lots of impact without being muddy from leaking the bass to lower mids.
| Mids | |
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Reference Tracks / Remarks:
Blur – Go Out
My Little Airport – Reason of Being Lonely
Mika – Live Today
Blur – Go Out
My Little Airport – Reason of Being Lonely
Mika – Live Today
The diamond has amazed me during the first impression of how well tuned the mids are, and it still continues to amaze me. Unlike multiple-drivers earphones, notably V90 and AS16 I have listened, both guitar and vocals, which mainly reside in the mids, sound natural and not boxy at all with the Diamond. Even though some emphasises from mids are lost due to the bass & treble boost with the V-shaped signature that tuned the earphones, it does not sound hollow nor opaque at all.
| Highs | |
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Reference Tracks / Remarks:
SOPHIE – Lemonade
Tokyo Incidents – Ride Every Wave
SOPHIE – Lemonade
Tokyo Incidents – Ride Every Wave
Both tracks some vital parts in treble, and the equipment is required to present them well to make it shine. It is safe to say that the Diamond performs decently and exceeded my expectations. The cymbals and hihats in Ride Every Wave is not leaned back and the impact is spot-on.
| Soundstage | |
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Reference Tracks / Remarks:
Sodagreen – City Trapped by Rain
Sodagreen – City Trapped by Rain
Most of the basshead IEMs/headphones usually suffered from soundstage presentation with the bass leak into mids, completely ruining the soundstage. This is not the case for KB Ear Diamond, since the precaution is done with tamed higher subbass. With very few bass leaked into mids, the recordings sound clear with moderate soundstage. But then, as there is a lower subbass boost, the presence of bass narrowed the soundstage when compared to that from tracks with only acoustic instruments presented.
| Separation | |
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The Diamond is capable of separating instruments from tracks. The vocal is always in the centre of the spotlight, which is also one of the surprises when some of the pricier IEMs encounter difficulties for that essential component to construct the soundstage. Although the separation is a piece of cake for the earphones, the positioning is hindered when complicated tracks are played, a general weakness for single DD IEMs.
| Musicality | |
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The Diamond is lovely for the tracks with less than pristine production. The flaws from those tracks are not shown clearly as the proportion of lows is more than that of the highs. It is even way more enjoyable when the diamond is paired with EDM tracks, where the main element for those songs – bass is fun and not yet overbloated.
| Vocal Performance | |
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| Instrumental Performance | |
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The Diamond excels at maxing out the joy of EDM tracks with its superb bass articulation. Meanwhile, it is also capable to be an all-rounder as the midrange and treble do not sound hollow or too dark at all. However, due to the recessed lower midrange again, the synthesiser and electric guitar is somehow recessed, and the emphasis could not brought to its full potential.
| Comparison Chart | ||||
| How we compare: We chose other similarly priced earphones or similar offerings from the same brand that Project A3 has reviewed in the past, to ensure that we remain as impartial as possible in our comparisons. | ||||
| KBEar Diamond | Hidizs MS1 | TinHifi T4 | ||
| Suggested Retail Price | $79.00 USD | $65.00 USD | $99 USD | |
| Driver Configuration | Diamond Like Carbon Coated Dynamic Driver | Biodynamic Dynamic Driver | 1 Carbon Nanotube Dynamic driver | |
| Scalability | Mobile/Dongle friendly | Mobile/Dongle friendly | Mobile/Dongle friendly | |
| Fitting | Good | Very Good | Snug and lightweight | |
| Comfort | Very Good | Very Good | Good | |
| Sound Signature | V-shape signature, focus on bass region | Aggressive V-shape signature, with a shouty upper-midrange | Fairly Linear, slight bass lift | |
| Lows | Fat bass with appropriate decay, precaution taken on higher subbass for not leaking into mids | Deep sub-bass rumble, but doesn't bleed into the mids | Speedy mid-bass, faint sub bass. Overall linear bass response | |
| Mids | Lower-mids are turned down a bit compared to the upper-mids | Lower-mids are recessed, with the upper-mids taking centre stage | Clear and Neutral, zero emphasis on either lower or upper mids. | |
| Highs | A bit airy with average extension | Great sparkle, average extension | Pristine highs, good extension with little colouration | |
| Soundstage | Above average width | Good lateral width between L-R Channels | Above average horizontal width | |
| Separation | Above-average imaging, struggles busier tracks | Above-average imaging, manages busier tracks | Above average imaging, struggles with busier tracks | |
| Vocal Performance | All-rounder for all types of vocal. | Pairs well with female vocals, with great clarity and air but it lacks body in the lower mids. | Great clarity, needs alittle bit more lower-mid warmth on male vocals | |
| Instrumental Performance | Making bass shine, less emphasised on the electric guitars and synthesiser | Pairs well with wind instruments like trumpets or string instruments like the violin. Needs more lower-mid warmth for oldies and intimate recordings | Sounds great with almost all instruments | |
| Remarks | A pair of bassheads IEM without sarificing much in musicality. | Great for consumers who enjoy an exciting signature that emphasizes vocal performance. | Perfect for a flat/reference signature or as an “everyday carry” IEM. | |
Conclusion:
From the shouty tuned Hi7 to this very competent Diamond, it shows the passion and the ability of the brand to produce engaging and mature IEMs. The Diamond is the revolutionary product for the brand itself, and it would now be my go-to recommendation for budget bassheads who do not want to miss any details from the recordings.
Be sure to follow Project A3 on Facebook for more reviews*.
*All ratings are accurate as of date of publication. Changes in price, newer models may affect Project A3's views on the performance and value of the reviewed product.
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