Simgot EA500 LM

Disclaimer

• Huge thanks to Simgot for providing a unit of the EA500 LM for me to review. I really do appreciate it. However, all thoughts and opinions are my own, and are not influenced in any way.
• Please take this review with only a grain of salt, as everyone's hearing, fit, and gears may differ, so our experience may be different.

Price(MSRP)

• $89.99

Source(s)

• It is fairly easy to drive
• Even on the JM6 Pro, I only 30-40% volume at most, but I prefer the Topping DX1 due to its smoother nature.
  • Topping DX1
  • HiBy W3 II
  • JCally JM6 Pro
  • Truthear Shio

Ear tips

• Dunu S&S

Unboxing and Quick Summary






Packaging

• Simgot EA500 LM.
• Hard carrying pouch
  • A little big but it doesn't feel cheap.
  • Great for storing but a little harder to carry around with only your pocket.
• Standard selection of ear tips.
  • 3 pairs of generic silicone ear tips (S, M, L)
    • Looks and feels like a 07 clone, which are pretty decent.
• High-purity, silver-plated OFC cable
  • Cable is decently built for the price and is very comfortable to use.
  • It is not microphonic and it does not tangle often.
  • However, it can be a little bit thin.
• Tuning nozzles

Build Quality

• Build quality is excellent for the price, completely made out of metal, with some heft to it.

Fit

• Nozzle length and width is fairly average.
• Fits is decent, but not the best. Comfortable enough but not really that deep.

Tonality

• Bright leaning Harman

Tuning Nozzles

• Gold
  • Least shouty out of the 3.
  • Considering that this nozzle is already shouty to me, so I will use this as a default for the rest of the review.
• Silver with Red Ring
  • More shout. Nope.
• Silver with Black Ring
  • More shout. Nope.

Bass

• Bass is quite balanced between the sub bass and mid bass.
• Rumble is present but doesn't go really deep or is super thick.
• Slams and thumps have great impact and physicality to it.
• Tight, well textured, and snappy. Very satisfying to listen to.
• Overall, the bass is somehow the best part of the EA500 LM to me.
• Quantity is a little more than sufficient, pretty fun amount of bass without being too much.

Midrange

• Lower midrange comes with a little bit of warmth, yet still clean and open.
  • Male vocals sound decent. Not exactly lush and forward but not really thin or dry either.
• Upper midrange is overly energetic.
  • Female vocals just sounds too forward, which easily comes across as shouty and shrilly.
• Overall midrange performance is uneven, where lower midrange is decent but upper midrange being way too much.

Treble

• Treble is quite bright and harsh especially in the mid and high treble region.
• High hats and cymbals are emphasized a lot, plus it is quite sibilant.
• Can easily be fatiguing especially for longer listening sessions.
• Treble is very well extended but also overdone, which causes timbre to be unnatural.
• Details in the treble can be perceived well due to how bright and airy the treble is.

Technicalities/Others

• Resolution and detail retrieval is good even when compared against hybrids in this price range. However, this is also partly because of how boosted the treble is.
• Soundstage has good width but with only decent depth.
• Imaging and accuracy is decent, pinpoint accuracy in terms of stereo imaging but I didn't get that 3D holographic feeling.
• Separation and layering is good. It never really gets congested even in busier tracks.
• Note weight is on the thinner side due to the boosted upper frequencies.
• Timbre is not very natural as it has a metallic sheen to it due to the overly boosted treble and air region. Vocals are not really natural as well due to it being shrilly, especially female vocals.

Comparison

Simgot EA500 LM vs Simgot EA500

• Accessories:
  • Similar, if not, exactly the same.
• Fit and Comfort:
  • Similar, if not, exactly the same.
• Bass:
  • Quality wise, they are quite similar. Tight, snappy, and impactful.
  • A sub bass boost is very much appreciated here to balance out the already bright signature, I prefer the LM in this aspect.
• Midrange:
  • The upper midrange from the EA500 is already a little too shouty to my ears, but the LM somehow just doubled down.
• Treble:
  • Same story as the upper midrange, but due to the masking from the upper midrange, the treble actually sounds a bit less harsh on the LM, but still on the sibilant and peaky side.
• Technicalities:
  • To be honest ... technicalities are similar as well, despite Simgot claiming the driver upgrade.
• Overall, I don't really prefer either, really. They are more similar than different with only minor differences. If I have to pick one, I would actually go for the original EA500 due to the lower price tag and less shouty presentation. However, the LM does sound a bit more balanced but also costs 10 more bucks.
• Is the LM really an upgrade over the original EA500?
  • Not really.
  • More like a side grade but it isn't really too different either.

Conclusion

• Honestly, I think that the Simgot EA500 LM is a little overhyped by the community.
  • While it certainly isn't too bad, but I can definitely see how overbearing the upper frequencies are for many people.
  • Timbre and tonality wise, it isn't the most natural due to the metallic sheen.
  • As for technicalities, there are many planar IEMs nowadays for under 100USD.
• Also, the EW200 is also available for lesser than half the price of the EA500 LM if you are interested in Simgot's bright house sound.
  • Not a huge jump or improvement in my opinion, plus they share a similar sound signature to my ears.

Thanks for reading!

Disclaimers

I bought this iem with my own money. This review is completely subjective.



Accessories

500LM comes with carrying case, tuning nozzles, cable, eartips and iem itself. Pretty good accessories for the price.




Build

EA500LM is fully made out of metal and comes with a pretty good quality cable. Thumbs up for build quality.

Sound-Tonality and Technicalities

I just love how this iem sounds! It’s very lively, detailed, airy and fun. Engaging to listen. Soundstage is a bit narrow but it’s not an issue for me in this price range. Midrange clarity is excellent and instrument separation is just beautiful. Vocals feels natural. Note weight done pretty good and instruments sounds colored. Especially, electro-guitars are VERY UNIQUE to listen to it in this price range… It feels just amazing….




Conclusion

I can fight for this iem… It just sounds amazing for the price. If you have money right now, go get one. im not kidding Very very good sounding and good looking IEM…. Good job Simgot!

KZ SYMPHONY , V-SHAPE , FUN & NO BORING MONDAYS ....

Hallo This mission is to review one of the iems from kz, namely the kz symphony which has a hybrid driver configuration with a plannar + DD combination. How does it sound? Just look at the review.



1 . INTRO :

Before starting the review, I would like to thank Uncle Yuwan Tara once again for the unit loan. Disclaimer: This review is purely my opinion using the Symphony cable & eartips plus the Tempotec Sonata BHD DAC supported by the Redmi Note 10 Pro + Yt music with my personal playlist. Well, it won't take long." Just get on with it.

2 . PACKAGING, BUILD QUALITY & FITTING :

- PACKAGING:

Still the same as KZ in general which many people know. So don't discuss it too much, okay?

- BUILD QUALITY:

You could say the housing is really good or not, but it's not bad either. It's not bad, the faceplate is made of metal with the bottom made of plastic/resin. But the feeling of being heard honestly doesn't feel cheap, it's comfortable & feels solid.

- FITTINGS:

The housing is relatively large, but I find it comfortable in my ears, more comfortable than the Rhapsody or AS16 Pro x. However, perhaps this is not a universal housing size, so you have to be careful.

2 . SOUND QUALITY :

- BASS :

The bass is the best sector for me. He has quite a large quantity of bass which is quite dominant in the sub bass area with deep extension coupled with very steady rumbling. He also has good bass control, in terms of impact the bass is really nice, the bass is very addictive, in terms of texture the execution is also good, finally, even though the quantity is big, he has a speed bass that's fast enough to double pedal it's still good. Overall the bass execution is good for me so the score is (9.5/10).

- MID:

The mid presentation is quite backward compared to the bass or treble. The weight is also a bit thin, but I still appreciate that it still opens and doesn't close even though the position is backwards. The vocals have a thin body so they are better for female vocals than male vocals. The presentation is actually quite good, clear, quite clear, quite sweet too & minimal sibilance. Timbre is also quite natural, even though I don't think it feels like plannar. Yes, overall the mid is not that good but it's still an okay score for me (7.5/10).

- TREBLE:

As for the treble, it feels very typical of Plannar, a bit reminiscent of Plannar PR3. The presentation is good, a bit smooth, but it has good extension, the Treble body is also right, the details are nice, airy & there is no sharpness or piercing like that. Overall good execution for the treble, score (8/10).

- TECHNICAL

Technically, it also feels distinctively planned, the presentation is neat. From clarity, detail & micro detail, it's great. From the stage it also feels spacious, slightly dominant in the wide area with good depth & height presentation. The execution in imaging & layering is also good, it feels accurate, the separation is also neat. Overall, this IEM also has a good technical execution, with a score of (8.5/10).

4 . COMPARATION:

- VS 7hz SONUS :

Obviously Sonus is more balanced in execution but Symphony is much more fun than Sonus for me. From the bass, the symphony is more fun overall, the bass execution is better than the Aonus. As for the mids, the Sonus is better, the vocals are sweeter, clearer, more full-bodied & more balanced than the symphony, although the indication of sibilance is more pronounced on the Sonus. As for the Treble, you could say it's equal, technically it's still 11 12 for me.

5 . CONCLUSION :

KZ Symphony is probably not getting enough attention because people are skeptical about KZ products that cost over a million. But to be honest, for me personally, this is actually a good song if you look at the sound. Can compete with IEM in its class like Sonus. Although I have to admit that for a 1 million IEM, the packaging isn't really original, it feels like I bought an IEM for 100 thousand. But if you don't see it, this iem still has value because the sound is quite unique for me, namely V-Shape, but executed properly, it could be one that you have to try.

6 . NOTES :

This iem is quite heavy and requires quite a lot of power to unleash its potential, but it's not as heavy as the Lord PR2, so don't worry. When I use Tempotec Sonata BHD, I just use low gain at 70-80% volume. Usually it just sticks to 50%. It is recommended that you use a source that has a balanced jack at least, don't use a cheap DAC.