KBEAR Little Q Review
- Random Projects
- Dec 10, 2022
- 5 min read
Straying away from the typical, more common IEMs with the ergonomic type, over ear cable designs and what-not, today I'll be introducing you to something that looks simple, and typical of what any normal person will call an "earphone".
Priced at 15USD, the KB EAR Little Q looks like a normal bullet style earphone that anyone can get from a local store. But the sound begs to differ.
Short answer : it's good.
Foreword
I have been using this pair of IEM for about 3 days, casual listening around 2-3 hours and actual listening (doing nothing else) about the same
I will be using DACs relative to the price of the IEM to review them. This is because using high end stuff like the Questyle M15 over-exaggerates the capabilities of the IEM itself.
DISCLAIMER :
This pair of IEM was sent to me by Keephifi, thank you for that. However, they are in NO WAY influencing this review, hence all the opinions written about this pair of IEM is subjected to no bias and will be honest.
If you are interested in purchasing this pair of IEM, you can do so with these non-affiliated link :
Now with all of that out of the way, let's begin the review
UNBOXING & ACCESSORIES
Being perfectly honest here, I like how simple and straight-to-the-point this whole packaging is. It is a budget IEM and they did not spend extra budget just to make a box that we would either hoard in a corner of our house or throw away look better. No comments here. Other than the IEMs itself, you are getting a set of translucent grey eartips.
BUILD & FIT
The build of the IEM headshells are visually identical to the Final Audio E series and is made of metal, with the KBEAR logo printed on both sides. Accenting the outer faceplate are the hexagonal honeycomb like print, with a central venthole in the middle. The cable is non-removable and might be a turn-off for some cable rolling enthusists, but nevertheless it works just fine, and feels better than even some stock cables certain IEMs provide. Only qualm I might have is it has some memory so simply winding it up might not work and it might just spring back out for no reason. Maybe it'll go away after longer use? I don't have the answer to this yet, maybe I'll update this post after a while.
The IEMs feel strong yet lightweight, hence fitting them in my ear and wearing it for a 1-2 hours session is no problem at all. Fitment is straight to the point for me and there are no driver flex or other issues with it.
SOUND
Source : Foobar 2000 -> JM10 Dongle (Cirrus Logic CS43131) -> S.M.S.L. SH-6 Amplifier -> stock KBEAR Little Q
In general, the KBEAR Little Q is having a V shaped and warm sound signature, with specific emphasis on the upper-mids, as we can see by the hump from the 2-5k region.
BASS
I'll say it's above average, typical V shaped bass, but not overwhelming.
Subbass has that sweet tight texture but with good amount of rumble
Kick drums sound boomy and have slight airy extension feeling to it. thumpiness is more subtle
Bass notes can sometimes sound a little bloated, especially in slow bass lines
Fast bass licks will have less microdetail to it due to the amount of midbass but does not overall spoil the experience
Occasional bass bleeds to the mids
Note definition is above average, like a 7/10, but there are better ones out there within this price range
MIDS
Vocals :
Whether male or female, to me it personally is one of the least recessed vocals I've heard in a V shaped IEM at this price range, and it sounds good.
Personal preference might be important here because certain people do not like the warmth on the vocals as it might slightly take away the clarity of the vocals ever so slightly but negligible if you don't notice it ( like I do because I'm reviewing with the same discography)
Male vocals
Overall male vocals whether deep or higher pitched sounds quite bodied with very little instances of hollowness to it
Vocals such as Sam Smith, The Weeknd, which occasionally might sound thin and slight hollowness in certain pairs, do not exhibit these characteristics here
Anderson Paak's vocals exhibit a warm raspy graininess to it, which sounds very tasteful.
Female vocals
Similar to male vocals, overall having a more obvious warm signature over it, which comes down to personal preference
Vocals from J-pop sound warm, and polite with no instances of sibilance what-so-ever
Maybe in certain cases, songs from LiSA might sound shouty because of her aggressive rock style
Instruments :
More or less identical with the vocals, everything sounds more engaging which might be due to the tuning of the mid and upper-mid region
Instruments regardless of strings, chimes, synths - every macrodetails in thie range from the supporting lead guitar tracks, piano licks, foleys, all sound very engaging and presented directly to you
Pianos sound strong yet not aggresive due to the warmth
Guitars on the side sound more engaging and with good timbre
Details such as choir-type ensembles sound fulfilling and complement the overall tracks
HIGHS
(for the Nth time) due to the warmth - treble region does not sound fatiguing to listen
Instruments with notes stretching to the upper-mids and high region maintain the presence, but comparing to mids might have slightly less fullness to it
Chimes and shakers sound more rounded and less bright
Snares and hi hats have little treble extension
Microdetails in this region are engaging but sometimes overshadowed by the prowess in the mids and by the overwhelming bass
TECHNICALITIES
In terms of imaging and separation, I would say this pair of earphones certainly exceeded my expectations. I usually would expect a cap around budget earphones under this price range, but it certainly did the job by separating vocals, instruments, and other complementing parts of the song well, with decent layering
Soundstage however, is something this pair is lacking. Overall it sounds more on the narrow side and certain times when songs get too busy (rock songs), although everything is still getting layered and separated well, it'll sound cramped.
Detail retrieval is on par with certain pairs in the entry level, but personally I would call this the alternate version of a BL-01. Mainly, this pair emphasized more on details in the 2-5k region, which brings out quite an amount of mid-range elements.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Honestly, I was blindly coming into this pair of IEM with only the instance of knowing : "this is a budget IEM". But since the first listen, I was quite impressed the prowess it had. Certainly my first listening to something that has such an amount of midrange emphasis on macrodetails.
Personally, this is an easy recommend to anyone who just wants an earphone to listen to casually.
If you want to get a pair, please do consider purchasing them through these non-affiliated links :
AliExpress : http://bitly.ws/xFgA
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