Happily I was wrong, the drivers used in the KS1 and 2 are not the same and the KS1 is faster, cleaner, and generally better behaved than its sibling. There is some minor mid-bass bleed but here again markedly improved over the Ks2 and a much more pleasant listen. The midrange has a bit of a recession, but it doesn’t really take away from the mids, in particular the vocals. In general, there isn’t much to a critic here but just some slight bass bleed but checks most boxes for a budget IEM contender. The treble is thinner, yet it’s also warm and not as resounding and vibrant as I think it needs to be and gives the entirety of the Storm’s replay a warmer hue.

I think that we as a community are so warped and tainted from the competition within the Audioverse of late that we can’t even see how good we have it. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform.These earphones aren’t designed for stage use and I don’t think casual listening requires perfect isolation.

There is still a pretty nice presence in this area of the mix and due to the fairly well-balanced tuning I don’t find the midrange is dealt too horrible a recession. The slight contrast between the two sets are an improvement of coherency and the sound field width of KS1 is a bit narrower compared to Storm. The casing and button appear to be cheaply made and I worry this could be a weak link in an otherwise pretty strong chain. Using the IBasso DX240 or the Shanling M6 Ultra yielded the best results but anything past medium gain started to cause some issues.

On resolution capabilities, it has a solid macro-dynamics but it has an average mark on micro-detail retrieval on how it capture the subtleties of low-level information inside of atrack as they have less clarity and rather blunted in texture.

If we were talking about more hardcore CHIFI connoisseurs who purchase midfi to TOTL gear, then yes, they have different priorities and perhaps an amp will unlock the sound for audio nirvana and future proof this hobby, but I honestly won’t recommend beginners to invest so much into sources when they are getting a budget CHIFI set. Despite its focus on detail retrieval, separation and clarity, such tuning isn’t going to do well when reviewing them. The KS2 are fun, vivid, well-balanced and sound very natural to me, as well as energetic when things get bassy. I have had around a month of listening to this set and I have to say that the KB01 is going to compete very well against the competition.So, if you’re listening to a track and want to listen to it again, you’ll have to go old-school and go back using your device like some sort caveman to select this feature. A good DD driver will be able to separate kickdrum and bass guitar well, just like the DD inside KBEar Storm. I don’t feel the KB01 can illuminate the real finite and miniscule details within a track as well as some. Very much in line with some other iems that did very well in 2022 and 2023 which followed the same tuning curve yet with slight deviations. Others who don’t have that particular sensitivity and those willing to EQ that range down a bit are greeted with a very pleasant signature with good detail and speed.

The KBEAR KS2 Earphones comes in a small cardboard box which features product images and printed specifications. As for soprano vocals, they are bright and gleaming in them though they are a bit unnatural and sometimes too tinny sounding especially on coloratura ones. On separation and layering, it gives an enough gaps on each element but the distinction on frequency layeing with its dynamic characters are rather blurry and inconsistent within its sonic canvas that will affect the envelopment of sound on more complex, multi-instrumental tracks.Female vocals are more forward than male vocals, but the vocals (especially male ones) do take a backseat in this tuning, but consequently, this is a very safe upper mids tuned set, with not an ounce of fatigue with longer listening sessions. If these are qualities you’re looking for and you’re on a mega-tight budget, you could do far, far worse!