Kiwi Ears Septet IEMs Review – Sound Quality Royal Flush
Kiwi Ears Septet is a $242 USD pair of IEMs from Kiwi, with One Dynamic Driver, 4 Balanced Armatures, One Planar Magnetic Driver and one PZT Driver, basically a Quadbrid IEM with one of the most comprehensive tech levels seen today, with 7 Drivers in today. In our audiophile-heaven review, we will explore how Kiwi Ears Septet sounds like, and briefly how it compares to the market.
Introduction
Kiwi Ears is a big fighter in the entry-level range, with exceptional outreach in the audiophile world, thanks to the excellent support, low prices, but high performance of their products. Kiwi Ears IEMs can be purchased directly from the company’s website, Linsoul, Amazon and Aliexpress with a good level of support from all of them.
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Product Link
Amazon – https://amzn.to/4pbTqXa
Aliexpress – https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_oC23s9p
Build Quality – Design
Kiwi Ears made the Septet an incredible IEM at a low price, if you consider the 7 Driver configuration it has, even technically they are expensive to make, with 14 drivers in total across both IEMs. It all starts with the 10mm composite dynamic driver, delivering sub bass down to 8 Hz. It all continues to the 4 Balanced Armature drivers, for a precise midrange and treble frequency rendering. At the top, Kiwi Ears Septet features a cutting-edge micro planar transducer, MPT driver for upper treble. For some extra oomph effect, Kiwi Ears Septet adds an updated PZT driver for better texture and clarity in the upper registers, working in harmony with the MPT Driver for creating a holographic soundstage and impactful sound.
Septet is by nature an open-back IEM to maximize quality, but this also comes with a low passive noise isolation and high leakage. Kiwi Ears spent nearly two years to design and refine the Septet, and they package it with a versatile modular cable system, featuring easy customization with both a 3.5mm single ended and a 4.4mm balanced connector.
In the more geeky data terms, Kiwi Ears Septet features a 5-Way Crossover, 3 Tuning Tubes, and has a rated power of 5 mW, a maximum power of 10 mW, and has a low impedance of 15 OHMs. With a sensitivity of 95 dB / mW, and a THD of 1%, you can expect it to be somewhat hard to drive, but we will explore that down below in the pairings part of the review.
Fit – Subjective Usage
Despite the unusual Open design of the Septet, the comfort is actually quite good and they offer a bit more passive noise isolation than most IEMs in the same price range, think about 15 dB to 20 dB of passive noise isolation. Comfort is great, Septet is not too large, but it is on the larger physical side of things. Septet leaks a LOT as it is semi open, so people near you will hear what you’re listening to quite clearly.
Insertion is medium – deep with the default eartips which are of a good quality and do not require replacing. You can get a slightly better ergonomic and comfort if using ddHifi ST-35, but overall Septat can be used as they come from the factory.
Cable is flexible, does not conduct microphonic noise easily, and overall they feel high quality. The extra transport case included is nice, but the cable is only 3.5mm single ended, which considering the price of the septet is okay.
Sound Quality
Pairings – To test the Open Kiwi Ears Septet, I have paired it with a selection of sources, including Rose Technics RT-5000, Dethonray Clarinet, iBasso DX340, Lotoo PAW GT2, FiiO K15, FiiO QX13, and Cayn RU9.
Kiwi Ears Septet is somewhat hard to drive relative to most IEMs and has a specific gain medium level at which it sounds best. Basically, with most devices it sounds best at medium gain, where bass has best impact, most depth and volume, while at high gain sound gets bright and somewhat uncontrolled and at low gain the driver feels undersaturated and a bit compressed in response. This being said, at least with FiiO K17, I need around 71 / 100 volume to push the Septet where it has to be.
Overall Signature – Now knowing what to expect, Kiwi Ears Septet sounds rather bright, open, but with a beefy bass impact. The most forward element is the upper midrange but it renders both deeper male voices and soprano female voices equally nice. There’s a certain peaking point in the upper midrange which adds to the detail revealing ability / resolution but also can make music a touch fatiguing.
Bass – Down low, Septet extends down to about 40 Hz below which it rolls off smoothly. This creates a sound that is fairly relaxed and while they have a strong peaking bass range between 50 Hz and 60 Hz, it is a warm, bloomy type of bass a bit buffy rather than the usual club style bass you get when you pump this lower mid bass range. The somewhat fast response works well for rock, metal, but also dubstep and more technical music. It is quick in attack but a bit slow in decay, giving music warmth and volume.
Midrange – Kiwi Ears gave Septet a somewhat forward midrange, with a saturated voicing, strong contrast between elements and layers of music. There’s a strong separation between the background and forward elements in most songs, and forward / lead voices are pushed right in your face. This gives Septet a somewhat aggressive take for the midrange. The upper midrange has more presence and impact / more bite than the lower midrange, creating a sound that makes the Septet really bitey and aggressive with rock and rock-derrivates. You can hear that they are open-back in the midrange and the treble, it is a unique openness the sound has, but it is not quite like an open-back headphone, more like a pair of IEMS that are unbound at the deep end of the sound.
Treble – Similar to the upper midrange, the lower treble of the septet is forward, lively and a bold presence, giving them a really punchy and vivid presentation. This gives rock the aggressive upper edge it needs to be engaging. Septet is surely not a very relaxed sounding pair of IEMs, although this treble is projected in a wide lateral plane.
Dynamics And Textures – Kiwi Ears Septer, if driven properly, sounds quite dynamic, has very little compression, and expands on the lateral width of music along with giving music a nice layering and separation. Textures are always quite evident, rendered vivid and with strong resolution.
Volume Control – Septet sounds best at medium volumes. At lower volumes the sound gets a bit vague and gloomy, while at very high volumes it becomes aggressive and there’s a dynamic compression effect, with a limitation of the resolution you can hear. As the midrange is on the aggressive side, it becomes a bit fatiguing if listened too loud.
Soundstage – Despite being open-back, Kiwi Ears Septet sounds natural in the soundstage, it has a natural – strong layering and separation between instruments, has good lateral separation, but expands the sound naturally, not much more than what you’d expect from a natural sounding pair of IEMS. This is because the midrange is forward and this naturally gives intimacy in with the vocals and the lead instruments.
Value and Conclusion
Kiwi Ears Septet costs very little but sounds very good, has a good build quality, good comfort, looks nice and comes with a nice cable, and a usable transport case. While not the most glamorous of Chifi IEMS, value is very good for what they offer.
At the end of the day, if you’re looking for a bit of open-back glamorousness, with a functional shape and ergonomic, if you’re looking for an excellent sound for the money paid, Kiwi Ears Septet is an outstanding offer that should make you happy for a long while.
PROs
- Good comfort
- Practical transport case
- Nice cable, but only single ended connector
- Open sounding midrange and upper treble
- Natural midrange, but a bit aggressive
- Deep bass with a bloomy, blooffy sound
- Fast textures, revealing signature
Cons
- Sounds rather colored compared to most IEMs, has an unusual signature that takes a bit to get used to
- Rather aggressive and a bit bright
Product Link
Amazon – https://amzn.to/4pbTqXa
Aliexpress – https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_oC23s9p
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Full Playlist used for this review
We listened to more songs than those named in this playlist, but those are excellent for identifying a sonic signature. I recommend trying most of the songs from this playlist, especially if you’re searching for new music! The playlists are different for Spotify, Tidal and Youtube, and based on the songs I enjoy and are available on each!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_cjBXGmwSHSdGcwuc_bKbBDGHL4QvYBu
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5J3oloz8Riy9LxEGenOjQ0?si=979ba4f082414be7
https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/330fd544-8e5b-4839-bd35-676b2edbb3d5
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