Having had the possibility to try so many different sets in a relatively short time I felt obliged to go ahead and express my gratitude by trying to help some lost souls out there, just as I was when I first stumbled upon this weird hobby about wired earphones – so yesteryear! … I thought. Possibilities are seemingly endless and only by getting to meet the right people did I manage to jump onboard the train heading the 'right' direction without getting off-track thousands of times along the way. Make sure to understand the helping person's preferences and you too can find your footing and hit the ground running in no time.
A Quick Intermezzo About Me
I won't bore you for too long with personal trivia, however my quick & short background resume goes as follows. Currently I am 27 years old and more in awe of sheer power of music by the day. I have always been moved by music just that slight bit more than average, I'd say. My spending started with a roughly 200€ Bose bluetooth speaker back in my first grade of highschool. What an extraterrestrial thing that was in early 2010s. And it keeps on playing to this day – a true testament of quality. Also sounded fantastic back then, nowadays … yeah, not so much. Lots of BT speakers, TWS, car audio speakers, IEMs, etc., later bring me to this day when I truly consider myself an audiophile. What brings me the most joy beside listening to music is singing, so I am currently participating in a choir and challenging myself with solo vocal covers (check the links in my signature to hear my projects). Unsure where all this leads, but the journey itself is marvelous and life is nothing but a journey.
How The Review is Structured
I will start off by mentioning the packaging and accessories, then place the showcased IEM in my special trademarked graph accompanied with other similarly priced IEMs I own and know well. Then I continue by giving it a score on certain qualities to help reach the final star score. Those that are seriously considering a single dynamic driver that is very affordable, please read the song examples below too to get as much of a feel on what one could expect. I really try my best to cover a wide variety to paint the sonic picture of the set for as many of you as possible.
I will mention some songs of varied genres and try to convey what one can expect from the Kiwi Ears Singolo. As sources I have been using my FiiO BTR7 on high gain and Venture Electronics RA2B-FE + Prime DAC. Certainly no lack of power and quite a different taste on both. Listening was done at a volume ranging between 80-90dB. I am using stock cable to keep it original in that regard and Divinus Velvet medium-sized eartips. I always review with fresh ears – no other IEM gets any ear-time while I am desperately collecting my thoughts regarding the reviewed item.
Disclaimer: I received this unit free of charge via Linsoul in exchange for a review. I am in no way incentivized to speak highly of this set. Should this review tip you over the edge and you decide on this IEM as your next purchase, I welcome you to check it out here:
https://www.linsoul.com/products/kiwi-ears-x-crinacle-singolo
Packaging & Accessories
Packaging and accessories really won't tip anyone over the edge in their decision to purchase the Singolo. Having the cable already connected is a nice little touch to save you those awfully long seconds from unpacking to hearing the thing you purchased. Tips selection is very sparse and I honestly did not feel like trying them at all and went straight to the Divinus Velvet. Hearing all the bad experiences with how these fit I was skeptical. Lo and behold, they fit me absolutely wonderfully. It is a very shallow fit, but bass does not suffer, nor do I get any nasty treble peaks, but more on that in my song examples.
Let's Get Going!
Graph & Scores
This trademarked graph I came up with does not come with a thick user manual. All you need to know is that sets further left are warmer than sets further right, and sets higher up are better technically than sets lower down. Those little yellow lines on both axis represent where sets with average technicalities and neutral overall balance lay. I have also added three other single DD representatives - the Venture Electronics SIE, Simgot EA500 LM, and EPZ Q5 to help form a better perception of how the Singolo fares in comparison.
Here are my scores on the Singolo in individual categories. All three subcategories of each of the frequency spectrums can be rated 1-5. Keep in mind that I am scoring regardless of the price, so cheaper sets getting a 3 in any given subcategory is already good going. I had to approach this in a simplistic manner so to keep it easy to understand and compare sets. Since this is my third single DD I have reviewed, we are starting to get a good picture of how the scores are turning out.
7 Song Examples For the Curious
Song #1:
First minute of this song offers a quick sample to test piano, bass, trombone, and sax timbre as well as female vocals and the perception of stage.
Creep by Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox feat. Haley Reinhart
Song starts with a calming female vocal with lots of breathiness. On the Singolo vocally nothing stands out as a sore thumb, nor does it wow with highly articulated and deeply detailed presentation. Sibilance region is nicely adjusted so to still have that truthful bite that certain letters or combinations of letters carry. Often this 6-7kHz region backs off too much and while it does avoid sibilance it also messes timbrally with whichever instrument that extends up higher or has its overtones extending into that region. Well judged on the Singolo. Her voice is a bit smokier and not as rich as I know she can be on other sets which I would ultimately prefer, but that is just as much a matter of preference as 'correctness'. I would hazard a guess that is down to the rather quick drop-off right after the pinna gain peak. Going into »what the hell am I doing here« the open »heeeeere« can be too aggressive and rather uncomfrotable on some sets, but not so on Singolo. While it isn't as nuanced as it could be, it does not sound off in any serious way. Arrangement consists of various instruments, of which every single one requires timbral accuracy to maintain your attention. Singolo is very decent in this regard. What I find subpar however, is note weight through the mids and treble. Bass does not have the same issue and is a satisfying listen for both the bass and drums in this piece. Sincerity of bass is very good for this price category – it does sound decently rounded and does not affect low mids in any negative way despite decent extension in both subbass rumble and midbass attack. But more about bass on some other songs. Mids are where the set needs to shine to really bring this song the justice it deserves. The magic of mids is slightly lacking, but overall nicely judged in quantity, especially pinna instantly seemed to me to be done in a tasteful manner – graph sort of agrees in that it shows a very lengthy extension all the way from 900 to 3500Hz where it reaches a +9dB rise. Treble lacks in smoothness and any microscopic detail won't really be displayed here. Not too welcome in this tune with two brass instruments which should counter the strongly presented bass section. It feels a bit single-pointed just as the graph would seem to suggest as well – a large drop-off after 8kHz and a singular sharp peak at ~15kHz. This sort of treble tuning will be totally personal on whether your ears like it or feel awfully offended by it. A combination of hearing health, ear canal shape, fitment, and eartips all contribute to how this peak works out for an individual. Either way, expect to miss a good deal of details up top. Overall I have to say this song left me just a bit too cold for a very good score, so a 4.5/10 it is.
Song #2:
Angelic male vocal slowly transforming into a sharp male vocal and the usual rock accompaniment. Allows to better understand different sets' capability of perceived emotion, layering, timbre, etc.
Castaway Angels by Leprous
Guitar leads the way. I am very specific with guitars and love their breadth of ability to awaken a wide variety of emotions. Individual guitar plucks are not as storytelling as I would like, but it is timbrally right on. The slight lack of those sweet overtones is down to the slower pinna if I were to point at the culprit. Background hum that invokes a creepy atmosphere is easy to follow but a bit single-pointed. His vocal joins in a quiet and tranquil way to leave lots of space to develop afterwards. Male vocals are judged very well and the previously annoying smokiness I mentioned in the previous song's thoughts is not an issue here. Positioning of vocals is decently forward which allows for this sense of the vocalist being the leader while all instrumentation has sufficient space around him. In the wilder and more crowded spots of this song it becomes a tiny bit messy, but never sharp or overzealous. Here we do feel just a bit limited in the pace of the driver and the fact it is a solo performer with no BAs to take some weight off of its shoulders. Microdetail is not really a thing, but I cannot hold this against it. Overall tuning balance is of much greater importance. I would be reaching for another set for this song, however it is not a case of having to skip it, and hence a 6/10.
Song #3:
What a gorgeous tune to listen to … while testing bass texture, layering, soundstage characteristics, and restlessly dissecting each performer's work, like us audiophiles do. Tenor sax, trumpet, drums, piano, and bass all have something to say.
Check Point Charlie by David Chesky
Such a well produced jazz masterpiece with huge soundscape and very separated instrumentation that should never be in each other's way. It requires a great stage width especially, I feel. Singolo is very impressive in that regard, easily fooling my brain to ompletely dislocate the sound from the actual earpiece where it's born, obviously. Both left and right extremes do sound on the absolute extremities of head width and well beyond in certain instances – piano which plays on the far left side throughout the piece seems to be 5m away from me. Depth is not as well presented, but the generous width is what rectifies that to an extent. Individual instruments – bass, drums, piano, tenor sax, and trumpet are themselves, meaning no awful timbral incorrectness was found during my listen. Now, if I were to nitpick, and that's what us audiophiles are masters of, piano's note roundness and weight is not as sincere as I would ultimately like for it to sound even more real. Trumpet and sax have their sharper edges slightly rounded off too, so to not sound too piercing – carefully and intelligently approaching upper mid to low treble area while tuning is a good way of cutting harshness when tech at hand simply cannot reproduce the absolute clarity and note definition. I could honestly recommend Singolo to those who are this sort of jazz aficionados, it's a score of 8/10.
Song #4:
If this does not bring me close to tears on the set, the set is doing something wrong either in guitars, female vocals, or overall sonic balance.
All About You by Sophie Zelmani
Back to a deeply emotional guitar intro. Singolo is very nearly right on mark, alas it misses a bit of microdetail to really get my goosebumps going. Lower guitar notes are full and gorgeously rounded and cannot really be faulted. Those also wonderfully support her vocal which comes in with authority in that it is much more pronounced than the guitar both in positioning and volume. She has a story to tell and Singolo makes me listen, however soon thereafter I get pulled back to enjoying the well presented low end without any bloat and vocals are slightly put aside. This tune ought to bring us grown men close to tears or at the very least make our mind wander in trying to think who in our lives could be singing something as powerful to us at any point. Singolo does not possess the ultimate in capturing listener's attention to the fullest, thus a score that reflects the good presentation which falls short in emotion – 6/10.
Song #5:
Upbeat pop rhythms with plenty going on.
The thrill is gone. by RAYE
Careful high mids are a must in order not to overpower the lows which carry the rhythm and allow the treble to do the dance. Bass is very nicely driving the whole song along and I honestly don't feel like much is missing. It could, of course, be a bit more textured, but I cannot hold that against the Singolo at the price point. Main vocalist is well placed while I could ask for just a tad more drive or precision of all first note impacts just to make her story even more believable. Treble is nicely judged in quantity, however it is easily Singolo's least impressive part. Lacking in transient speed and that ethereal sweetness that better (and usually more expensive) single DDs, let alone BAs or ESTs, can deliver. I am thinking about something like the IE600 here and plenty others I'm sure, but I prefer to mention sets I have heard myself. The fact that it is well tuned in the upper frequencies is of much greater importance in this instance. This song often makes me want to listen to it again even after finishing putting my thoughts onto the keyboard, but in this case it just did not impress me enough. Still, a good score due to not finding anything bothersome, 7/10.
Song #6:
Oh, welcome crazy bass lines, please make yourselves comfortable along with tasteful drops and story-telling male vocals about an ill-intentioned lady.
Love is a B*tch by Two Feet
The width I have already praised before is very welcome in the intro of this tune as well, since it features a rainy cloud moving around in circles – forming two circles to be exact. The rain itself is lacking in the aforementioned detail retrieval to really get a sense of all those droplets hitting the ground, but that is secondary. His vocal and the bass drop are differently presented where his vocal is of this silky breathy quality whereas bass spares no heft and comes swinging all guns blazing. Low end extension is very well done thanks to the length of that tiny but effective tube, I would dare say. Male vocal is definitely nicer to my ears than female vocal on the Singolo – the slower pinna gain and quicker drop after pinna peak does not affect male vocals as much. Treble is again a bit of a weakness that lowers my overall score, but this song captures Singolo's character nicely overall, so I can bestow upon it a 8.5/10.
Song #7:
Definitely a competitor for best song title. It also gets the juices flowing and makes it impossible not to tap your feet. Or nod your head. Or both.
God is in the Soundwaves by Armin Van Buuren, Xoro, Yola Recoba
Lots of spacial cues right from the beginning which are handled well by Singolo as far as width is your first dimension you care about. Those clapping sounds are just a little veiled and not the most nuanced due to our slow pinna gain I would imagine. Her vocal is highly post-produced and feels that way on the Singolo which is good. Going into the drop bass has no trouble punching and rumbling and I think everyone but the most faithful bassheads will be happy here. Overall, this song is done well but suffers from one-dimensional soulless treble to really get me grooving. 7.5/10.
This concludes my song examples and hopefully you found some information that proves useful to your decision-making in the everlasting dilemma of To Buy or Not To Buy.
To Sum Up The Kiwi Ears Singolo
Singolo is the single DD for those that are on the search for a nicely balanced sub-100€ IEM which delivers a satisfying bass upon which other frequencies can dance. It is a nicely cohesive sounding pair which is usually a single DD strength. Male vocals are just a bit more correct than female vocals. Mid and treble detail are average, but no annoying peaks or dips mean a very nice casual listen. I would advise those with preference for natural, smooth and layered treble to audition before buying if possible. Same goes for the ones with shorter nozzles as their nemesis.
Thanks for reading and stay wonderful.