Sivga Lyrebird Quad Driver IEMS Review – Dynamic BA Micro Planar And Piezo All Together
Sivga Lyrebird is a $149 USD pair of IEMS with a quad driver core, using one dynamic driver, one balanced armature, one micro planar driver and one piezoelectric driver to produce sound. It is likely the most complex pair of IEMS in this price point created by a reliable company and the star of our review today.
Introduction
Sivga and SendyAudio have been sitting at the core of development, research and new driver tech implementation for a while now, and Lyrebird is in line with their other IEMS in terms of price and design, but it is the first one that is this complex from the company. A lyrebird is a bird with a lyre shaped tail, and the ability to mimic anything it hears, so it will be interesting to explore how lyrebird sounds like. You can purchase Lyrebird as well as other Sivga IEMS and headphones from Amazon, Aliexpress and other shops also.
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Product Link
Amazon – https://amzn.to/4g13Epm
Aliexpress – https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_c4XNvr3z
Build Quality – Design
At the core, Lyrebird is a quad driver pair of IEMS, with a complex combo. We have a 10mm dynamic driver with a polymer composide diaphragm, one balanced armature, a micro planar driver and one 9.2mm multilayer piezoelectric ceramic driver. Those driver work together to create the sound of the lyrebird and each iem has a stabilized wood faceplate with a unique grain and model.
For long-term reliability, those faceplates have a resin treatment with improved hardness, moisture resistance and long-term stability and Sigva includes a long cable with a 30-core OFC, 10-core Silver plated copper and 10 cores of enameled gold-plated silver-copper. This cable is detachable and uses a 0.78mm 2-Pin connector, and also comes with a 4.4mm balanced plug.
Shells are made of aviation aluminium alloy, and the IEMS come with a transport case as well. Specs include a 14 OHM impedance, a 108 dB SPL and a 1% THD at 1kHz. Cable has a length of 120 CM, and I feel like the specs would indicate that Lyrebird is sensitive, but in reality it is not one bit sensitive.
Subjective Usage
Sivga Lyrebird has a mostly lightweight construction that feels comfortable, with large bores and large, mostly open eartips. They don’t provide much of a seal and they offer the feeling that they are a bit too open, but at the same time they are more comfortable long-term.
Lyrebird does not isolate much from the outside noise with no music playing, but the driver combo has the effect of increasing the passive isolation with music volume rather than just the SPL compensating for the background noise.
Also, Lyrebird comes with a nice travel case, nice cable and they have a reliable build quality. Overall, the package feels premium and complete with the IEMs feeling a bit open, in the semi-open sense rather than fully closed and isolated like most IEMS feel.
Sound Quality
Pairings – To explore the Sivga Lyrebird I have paired it with many sources that I reviewed recently, including FiiO K17, iBasso DX320 MAX Ti, Hiby W4, HIDIZS AP80 PRO MAX, FiiO M33. Acer Nitro 18 AI Laptop (with 3.5mm adapters), Luxsin X9.
Sivga made the lyrebird easy to drive, but not sensitive to source noise and background hissing. You will do really well with basically any source, you will not hear anything that you don’t want to hear and will not hear anything that is not music. Since Lyrebird has a signature that is quite bright, they sound much better if combined with dark, bassy and bold sounding sources rather than neutral or bright sources.
Overall Signature – Sivga Lyrebird is very bright, sharp, but also gently defined, with an extreme resolution, texture and layering, and best described as layered, laterally wide and holographic. It is an impressive, engaging and dynamic sounding pair of IEMS that has a wow effect, but handles maximum and very loud volumes a bit poorly, so they are best heard at medium volumes.
Bass – At the deep end, Lyrebird is fairly neutral, but fast and detailed. They have a very fast speed, likely on the dynamic driver too, but they can create boom and impact for rap and EDM, if the song has it in the books. Since the bass is not colored, and has zero bleed, most instruments don’t feel very thick or overly bold, so lyrebird sounds best if you listen at lower volumes or with bold, bassy sources.
Voicing And Midrange – Vocal range is a bit sharp, bright and tends to emphasize female voices and thinner male voices more than deep male voices. Same happens for most instruments which sound better if you’re mostly listening to brighter music, ACG, classical, or music with sharper, brighter vocals. The upper treble has a peaking range around 5 kHz which bleeds into the treble up to 9 kHz, offering more presence for cymbal crashes, violins, pianos and trumpets than for guitars, especially chugg guitars, or metal and rock music. There is little warmth in general and Lyrebird is snappy, fast but bright and emphasizes with shouty sounding instruments.
Treble – Top end is bright, sharp and fast, but not overly done, so you can expect to enjoy music rather than to cringe from it. Most tracks sound clean and natural, with a good balance between the treble and the overall midrange. The top extension goes to about 14 kHz after which it rolls off sharply, but you never really hear the lack of treble air brilliance as Lyrebird has quite enough for everyone.
Dynamics And Textures – The aspect that sets apart the Lyrebird the most from other IEMS is the texture and speed of sound. They have a FAR higher texture and micro detail rendering compared to anything in the price range, being able to actually sound about as detailed as IEMS in the 500 – 600 USD price range. Sound is incredibly fast and layered with a boundless dynamic range that has zero compression. In this sense, Lyrebird is an outlier in the price range and achieves a far more interesting, less compressed and more detailed sound than any of the competitors does.
Loudness Saturation Gradient – Lyrebird sounds best at medium volumes, where you can appreciate the detail and textures, they are excellent for enjoying music but also analyzing it. They sound just as detailed quiet, but hearing all the micro details is not as satisfying at low volumes while at high and extreme volumes the difference between the foreground and background is less evident and everything becomes a bit of a wall of sound, so you don’t hear the finer textures and fast speed they can achieve. This is likely caused by the drivers having a slightly different SPL output, so at medium everything is audible in the intended quantities, while very loud the dynamic driver and BA drivers take control offering a more standard listening experience while the micro planar and piezoelectric likely have a lower max output to protect them from power overdrive. Also likely due to the complex driver setup, THD and distortion increases significantly at high and extreme volumes.
Soundstage – Staging is holographic, impressive with a very strong separation between the foreground and background with a complex lateral separation and layering, strong overall separation. The feeling of the soundstage is much better at lower volumes and medium, and staging becomes flat and wide at loud and extreme volumes.
Value – Conclusion
Sivga in general has an outstanding price performance ratio, but Lyrebird far exceeded all my expectations, revealing that the resolution, technical ability and clarity possible at this price point is what you typically get around 150 USD. Naturally, there are some limitations, and the volume limitation is the most important one, but for the love of your hearing and of long-term music enjoyment, and for most people, Lyrebird will be an absolute steal and a killer deal.
At the end of the day, if you want the maximum quality, speed and resolution in this price range, Sivga Lyrebird will deliver that, and especially if you listen at decent volumes, you will love the special holographic laterally wide presentation it renders.
PROs
- Detailed, crisp and really fast
- Can deliver a big bass with the right song, but neutral and sharp in general
- Comfortable and lightweight, good for long-term wearing
- Does not isolate that much from the outside noise
- Not sensitive to the source quality, works well even with entry-level sources
- Comes with a case and excellent cable
- Wide and holographic soundstage with excellent instrument separation
- Wide dynamic range also, great for having no compression
- Generally one of the best deals right now
Cons
- Can leak some of the sound
- It works best and medium and low volumes, and can distort at extremely high volumes
Product Link
Amazon – https://amzn.to/4g13Epm
Aliexpress – https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_c4XNvr3z
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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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