Little Dot is an unknown brand that is comfortably sequestered itself as a “domestic product” in the Chi-fi market, only available for purchase from official Taobao retailers.

Little is known about the brand, apart from the fact that Little Dot specializes in the manufacture of DAC/Amps. Being their first foray into the heavily contested IEM-space, which is getting exponentially larger by the day (with factories churning IEM after IEM), the Little Dot CU-Rad is hoping to gain the attention of impassioned audiophiles.

Featuring a composite, single dynamic driver and priced competitively at $70 USD, the CU-Rad will face stiff competition from other established brands like Ikko and Shuoer. Nevertheless, will the CU-Rad be good enough to stand out from the rest of the crowd? Available at Taobao.*

• Product Name: CU-Rad In-ear Earphones
• Driver Type: 10mm Composite Diaphragm
• Impedance: 18 Ohms
• Senstivity: 103+/- 3dB
• Frequency Range: 15Hz- 20Khz
• Distortion: <1% @ 1000hz
• Plug: 3.5mm Gold-Plated

The Little Dot CU-Rad comes with a small, cardboard box with a giant sticker plastered across its lid, featuring the brand’s logo and a hi-res image of the earphones themselves. Lifting the lid, you’ll be greeted by a large plastic hard case that occupies the entire interior of the box. The specifications of the CU-Rad are directly printed onto the case; quite an ingenious way of reducing the need for paper manuals. Apart from some spare silicon tips, the CU-Rad IEM themselves and a cable tie that comes attached, nothing else is included inside the package.

While the package itself is pretty sparse, I like the plastic, clamshell case that was included; it looks fantastic, with the text directly imprinted on the top flap. A solid offering, overall.

The Little Red Dot, given its below-average impedance input at 18 ohms vs 32 ohms, and its high sensitivity, is easily powered by portable sources. A dedicated DAC/Amp is unnecessary; the CU-Rad wasn’t designed to be a power or current hungry monster.It sounds just as good on the Venture Electronics Odyssey Dongle and on the Sony Walkman NW-A105; the differences are barely noticed and difficult to identify.

On the Aune X1S, the volume knob barely inches its way out of the 6 O’clock mark before reaching “ideal listening volumes”.

This is an “out and about” earphone; it doesn’t scale much, and the improvements reaped simply aren’t there.

The hot-red shells themselves are made out of aluminium. The moulds in which they are casted look vaguely reminiscent of the 1More Triple Driver earphones, except scaled by half. It is important to note that like the 1More, the earphones were designed to be worn down like traditional consumer earphones.

The bead-blasted finish is cold to the touch, and the lightweight shells fit nicely in the ear canal. My “headshake test” failed to budge it at all, which is a good start. Nozzle length is adequate, the spout rests well in my ear canals. The shells meld into foreground of my day-to-day activities because of its ultra-light shells, resulting in a session that is unperturbed by any long-term discomfort or soreness in the ears.

Unfortunately, because the CU-Rad was designed with the intention of being worn downwards, there is significant microphonics when walking. The pin-hole sized vent just below the spout of each shell also picks up significant wind noise, compromising its ability to isolate well from audible disturbances. In addition, it would’ve been a value-add, if the earphones themselves were equipped with detachable MMCX connectors to increase the longevity of the product, and give consumers the options of cable-rolling.

The cables are supple and soft, with a rough texture on the cable sleeving, making it easier to grip. It doesn’t retain much memory, making it easy to unravel when its dumped straight into a pocket. The strain relief at the end of the 3.5mm gold-plated jack is also reinforced well and has great flexibility.

Overall, it’s a great EDC earphone, but there is certainly room for improvement.

Reference Tracks / Remarks:
Slowthai- Doorman
Tyler the Creator- Earfquake

The CU-Rad has good mid-bass depth, but is drowned out by thick wall of sub-bass. Because of this, the mids are slightly clouded and the lower-mids are nowhere to be found. On Slowthai’s Doorman, the wobbly, trap bassline is realized through a thick, bloated mid-bass punch, followed by a slubby sub-bass rumble. Because of its loose sub-bass, the sustain on the bass frequency is very fun sounding, complementing modern trap-rap flavoured songs.

Reference Tracks / Remarks:
Allah Las- Busman's Holiday
Benjamin Booker- Violent Shiver

The upper-mids are clear, unperturbed by the overly enthusiastic bass line. However, there’s a clear upper-mid boost which results in an aggressive V-shaped sound signature that transitions well into the highs.

But, the lack of lower-mids; that of which gives the mids life, falls flat and is missing. The mids are the frequency that people first pick up on, and the lower-mids add depth and body to the entirety of the mix.

Reference Tracks / Remarks:
The Comet is Coming: Summon the Fire
Sufjan Stevens- The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades is out to get us!

Sonically, the Cu- Rad's allows the highs to extend liberally and extensively. But because of its daring character, it pushes the highs far too much at times, pushing the boundaries of what I would consider "coarse and harsh" at times, especially with shrill instruments like baritone saxophones that can really gnaw at the eardrums. This is not for the faint of heart.

However, what the Cu-Rad lives us with is a unique signature is unashamedly forward, resulting in a "larger than life" pairing with acoustic tracks.

Reference Tracks / Remarks:
Sufjan Stevens- Chicago

Don't expect flagship levels of sound-staging here, but the experience I had with the Cu-Rad is still a pleasant one. But as one would expect with earphones, it can't compete with the massive headroom a pair of headphones creates for the listener. The Cu-Rad performs decently well, but it doesn't differentiate itself from the rest of its similarly-priced competitors.

Reference Tracks / Remarks:
Santa Esmaralda- Please don't let me be misunderstood

The con is somewhat unfair, considering the Cu-Rad is only $70 USD. But, the fact that I included that as a con shows that there is nothing much to be critiqued here. The Cu-Rad does a good job, handling my favorite "busy test track", please don't let me misunderstood. It manages to decipher the cacophony of blaring instruments; the Cu-Rad gets a seal of approval from me.

Reference Tracks / Remarks:
Sons of Kemet: Your Queen is Harriet Tubman
The Raconteurs- Born and Razed

The chart speaks itself! But be warned, if you enjoy classic rock or anything of that ilk, the Cu-Rad doesn't do it justice. That, and the painfully dissonant highs can melt your eardrums, especially with tracks going heavy with the sax.

*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.