Preamble
Many thanks to @Damz87 and Symphonium for arranging the Australian Head-Fi tour of the Symphonium Crimson
It is interesting how an IEM can shape your perception of a manufacturer and create biases that influence further impressions of their products. The first impression is crucial, and missing the chance to captivate a potential fan with their initial experience can be significant. My first encounter with Symphonium, a lauded manufacturer from Singapore was the Helios. Armed with high expectations and hopes generated from some great critical response, imagine my surprise when I didn’t like it! Perhaps a result of hype or simply personal preference, whatever the case may be, today’s review of the Crimson provides an opportunity to turn this sinking hype ship (my personal one at least) around! But would my experience with the Crimson be a dispelling of preconceived notions? Or a confirmation of my experiences?
The Factual Stuff
The Crimson is a 4-BA setup with a 4-way “TrueX” crossover. The Crimson spruiks Symphonium’s FLAT and PHAT technology to ‘provide low-impedence and immunity from impedence mismatch” and “no unnecessary frequency inversions or phase cancellation” respectively.
This is all housed in a lightweight aluminium shell that represents a departure from the shells on the Helios and features a forged carbon fibre faceplate. In the rather simple packaging is an aluminium puck case, Divinus Velvet Eartips and Azla Sednafit Standard eartips. Purchasers will also have the chance to choose between a 4 wire or 8 wire version of the Altalune Audio Novaron. The cable features 26 AWG Type 2 Litz copper cable with a changeable termination between 3.5mm and 4.4mm.
This particular review unit has the 8-wire cable.
The Opinion Stuff
Sound
The majority of listening with the Crimson was conducted using Divinus Velvet tips, the included cable and with a Shanling M6 Ultra.
Bass
TL;DR: The bass of the Symphonium Crimson is tastefully tuned, focusing on sub-bass for a clean, deep, and impactful low-end, while mid-bass provides sufficient punch without overwhelming the overall sound.
The low-end of the Crimson is something that is rather tastefully tuned and well performing in terms of technical performance. The Crimson is decidedly sub-bass focused with a rather prominent sub-bass shelf tune providing a clean and deeply extending bass line.
It is not the most aggressively tuned low-end that I have experienced (looking at you FatFreq) but remains heightened enough to remain fun and restrained enough to avoid descending the rest of the frequency response into the abyss.
“You Should See Me in a Crown” by Billie Eilish provides a boomy and deeply extending bass-line which the Crimson handles expertly with lesser IEMs failing to articulate the bloaty bass in a coherent manner.
Mid-bass performance on the Crimson is definitely less of a focus but it provides an acceptable amount of punch for the purposes of maintaining a sense of pace and rhythm with tracks. “Before Dawn” by Slander and its incessant bassline throughout the track immediately provides feedback as to whether there is not enough or too much mid-bass in a song. The Crimson provides a decent performance, there is a hint of punchiness, but it remains somewhat restrained in its presentation here.
The detail and the texture reproduced by the Crimson in the low-end is quite excellent with bass notes rendering with a level of detail and texture that would be not found on more over-zealous bass tunings. The speediness of the Crimson’s rendition is nothing to sneeze at, and it manages to keep up with busier recordings with gusto.
Some key shortcomings in my mind are that there is simply not enough bass for bass-heads here and that the bass itself seems a little shallow and perhaps too speedy in its production. There is a desire for the slightest more decay and a truer feeling of air pressure being forced down your earholes, but this is likely a technical limitation of a BA-driver.
Mids
TL;DR: The mids of the Symphonium Crimson offer a balanced clarity with a pleasing presence in lower mids and a slightly bright but enjoyable emphasis on female vocals.
The gradual decent from the sub-bass to the rather flat mids provides a delicate balance between clarity and fun. Lower-mids and male vocals are still present within the mix and are imparted with a degree of warmth and emotional presence that is rather pleasing to listen to.
This is not to say that this is a ‘warm’ IEM, but the subtle mid-bass tuning and lower-mid presence adds a little bit of note weight and more ‘gravitas’ to singers in this region. With, these male vocals are still slightly recessed when compared to female vocalists. The upper-mid lift seems to place precedence on female singers and this tuning toes the line between sibilance and spine-tingle inducing vocals.
The Crimson would be likely seen as some as leaning slightly bright, but I feel that it toes the line wonderfully. I admit at times, that singers such as Ariana Grande hitting her higher notes or sss sounds would render some degree of fatigue, but for the most part, female vocals sounded great.
The rendition of instrumentalization is also similarly impressive. Listening to a wealth of original soundtracks and more orchestral based pieces yielded and appreciation for the Crimson’s ability to render the delicate details of certain instruments. Strings sounded quite visceral and piano was also similarly impressive. The timbre of the mid-range is also very good. There is a slight lean to a thinner rendition in the grand scheme of things but by no means is this describable as dry, cold, or lacking soul.
The speediness of note rendition, the crispness of those notes and the perception that you can hear the ‘edges’ of each note lends itself to a less ‘soulful’ or ‘warm’ rendition, but the Crimson retains a degree of naturality and enjoyability.
Overall, the mids provide a great balance of technical prowess and musicality that is quite easy to listen to with a slight edginess to it to keep you on your toes.
Treble
TL;DR: The treble of the Symphonium Crimson is clear, crisp, and well-extended, providing a lively and detailed upper-end with minimal roll-off.
Moving to the upper-end of the FR curve, one must wonder if the Crimson can be three-from-three in terms of tuning. And yes, yes, it is three-from-three. The treble regions of the Crimson is delightfully tuned, managing to maintain tonal balance and also allowing certain notes to absolutely sing when given their time in a song. Percussion cuts through the FR curve in a manner that is clear, concise and crispy in its rendition.
There is a sense of ‘spice’ here as it is not exactly a relaxed and smoothed out rendition and as such, may cause individuals some fatigue over time but boy is it sure fun. “Teenage Heartbreak” by Yuna features a triangle being struck during the chorus and it has never sounded so prominent nor enjoyable as it did with the Crimson. Whilst surprising and a little jarring perhaps, I found myself rewinding to that section multiple times. There is a crystalline and clean quality to the treble region, percussion feels like a standout here.
For more electronic music, I feel that piercing synths present in a manner that is wholly enjoyable, providing me with the goosebump inducing tickle of having a note straddle the line between being ear-bleed inducing and being simply enjoyable.
The treble extension is also a thing to note with the Crimson. I am no bat and am confined by the limits of human hearing but I did notice that there appears to be no discernable roll off with the Crimson. It has the airiness and extension to feel as though there is no loss of dynamic range, this extension lends itself to a more grand and airy experience wherein I do not feel like I am losing out on any sonic information.
Technicalities
TL;DR: The Symphonium Crimson excels in technical performance with a wide soundstage, excellent imaging, detail retrieval, and well-rendered dynamics.
Perhaps one of the more impressive elements of the Crimson is its technical performance, which, in conjunction with its well balanced, neutral tonality, seems to add to the overall experience. The soundstage on the Crimson feels nice and wide, providing a wider out-of-head experience that feels grand with certain songs. The stage depth, whilst good, is not the best in its price category. There is a sense of layering and the ability to discern the foreground and background of music but this is a subtle experience.
The imaging and detail retrieval of the Crimson is quite excellent. The aforementioned crispness and speed at which the Crimson renders notes lends itself to providing the sensation of a highly resolving and highly detailed listening experience. However, where most IEMs err in this regard is creating an etched and overly-sharpened experience which detracts from the enjoyability of music.
Dynamics are a fair performer with the Crimson as swings in volume are noticeable and songs building to crescendos provide the sense of scale that is enjoyable to listen too. Microdynamics in particular feel very detailed and well rendered when compared to macrodynamics.
Synergy
One thought coming to my mind here namely lessons learnt after multiple DAPs, DACs and Amps plus headphones and IEMs is synergy! Hoping for the one and only holy grail Setup is maybe just a nice wish unless buying according synergy transducers. There's a reason why people are having multiple devices in parallel or reducing inventory and keeping only the ones with right synergy.
Shanling M6 Ultra:
The M6U provides a low-end imbuement of warmth and a slight elevation of treble to generate a more weighty and musical listening experience. This is not a technical heavyweight in the DAP market but it definitely has a enough charm and character to be my main source. The M6U does a great job of generating a more engaging and enjoyable listening experience with the Crimson and I feel that the added weight to the lower-mids, mid-bass region does a great job of synergising with Crimson’s rather crisp and edgier note rendition to create a more balanced sound signature.
Definitely a favourite pairing here.
Apple Dongle
For a fun time, I chucked on the venerated Apple Dongle to see if the Crimson, a notoriously ‘hard-to-drive’ IEM, would sound worse. The Crimson and the Apple Dongle resulted in a rather odd situation wherein volume was 100% adequate but there was a seemingly reduced sense of dynamism in its sound. Low-end oomph faded away, treble extension seemed to be silenced and overall the staging felt a lot more flat. Before you get your pitchforks /r/headphones, the Apple Dongle and the Crimson sounded fine, but I preferred my mountain of snake oil.
Comparisons
vs MEST MK3 (from memory and review notes)
TL;DR: The Symphonium Crimson is more balanced and neutral, while the MEST MK3 offers a warmer, bass-forward sound with superior stage depth.
The MK3 represents what I feel is one of the best choices in the ~2000 USD mark and can be found for much cheaper on the used market. In this regard, the Crimson has to contend with the strengths of the MK3 in its unique bone-conduction driver and its technical performance. This unique element lends itself to generating a truly holographic sound stage with a particular strength in stage depth. Separation, layering and the ability to accurately image notes within this stage is a strong suit of the MK3 and in this regard, it edges out the Crimson. In terms of tonality, the MK3 is a warmer more bass-forward presentation which is a winner for bass heads over the Crimson. The mids feel more organic and crisper on the Crimson and the treble sounds more well extended, prominent in the mix and crisper on the Crimson as well.
The MK3 is the more laid-back listening experience but still wows you with its technical prowess, its stage depth being its main selling factor. The Crimson feels more balanced, more neutral and more clinical in its rendition comparatively speaking and whilst it doesn’t absolutely wow me in terms of any particular aspect, it is well balanced and is a jack of all trades. I feel that the Crimson is the more ‘safe’ choice whereas the MK3 attempts to be more unique to the detriment of its everyman appeal.
Vs Symphonium Helios (from memory and notes)
TL;DR: The Symphonium Crimson improves upon the Helios by offering a more natural midrange and enjoyable overall listening experience.
The Helios is the first Symphonium product that I experienced, and it had arrived with much fanfare. However, from the outset, I was disappointed with the clinical and almost sterile rendition of music that was not wholly enjoyable to me. I was impressed by the detail and crispness of note rendition as well as the treble, but overall, I did not find it an enjoyable listen. The Crimson builds on this foundation and improves some major issues. The mid-bass dip on the Helios is an odd tuning that seemingly removes certain instruments from existence in the mix and detracts heavily from that enjoyable mid-bass punch that I enjoy. The Crimson retains mid-bass punch and adds tremendously to the note weight, generating a sense of pace and rhythm. Otherwise, the mids on the Crimson feel much more naturally timbred and well expressed, providing me with the crispness and detail I desire but not at the cost of pure enjoyability and musicality. The Helios has a tendency to lean slightly into ‘drier’ note renditions that whilst good for that ‘etched’ note feeling, detracts from simply laying back and enjoying your music.
I feel that the Crimson is a straight upgrade from the Helios in practically all aspects and I would be completely fine with paying the premium that comes with it.
Quality of Life and Value
The build quality of the Crimsons are quite impressive, consisting of an aluminium shell and a carbon fibre faceplate, the Crimsons feel sturdy, nicely weighted and well built. The shells are no longer as cumbersome and awkwardly shaped as the Helios and take on a more traditional shape. They are not exactly small however and as such will still cause some issues with smaller conchas. The comfort level on the Crimsons are quite good but the flatter shape of the earpieces are not as comfy as what you get with resin moulds. The nozzles are not that long nor hugely wide and didn’t cause any irritation in my ear over longer listening periods.
The Crimson, as demonstrated in the Synergy section above, is a rather ‘difficult-to-drive’ IEM. That is not to say that you will need a nuclear power plant to get it to an adequate volume but rather the Crimson seems to scale well depending on the quality and quantity of power that you are running through it. A Shanling M6U with 760mW sounded great, a CMA18P with around 1W also sounded great (if a little different) and pairing either unit with an external amplifier like the Sound Tiger Sinfonia (160mW but seemingly with plenty of clean current) seemed to improve technical performance and dynamic range. As such, I would venture with caution if you wish to pair it with the Apple Dongle alone.
In terms of value within the accessories, the inclusion of Azla eartips and Divinus Velvets is very welcome as both perform admirably and usually command a not-insignificant sum if you had bought them after-the-fact. The puck case, whilst small is well built and sturdy enough to protect your Crimsons from any drops or falls. The Altalune cable is also quality, with a soft and supple cable that feels easily malleable and doesn’t retain much memory despite being 8 wires (in this case at least).
Overall, I believe for the combination sound, build quality and included accessories, the asking price of 1500 USD (1700 USD for the 8-wire cable) is rather fair. I believe that the Crimson provides a step above perennial kilobucks of yesteryear such as the Andromedas and the IER-M9 in terms of its technical performance and its easy to love balanced tonality.
Conclusion
Effervescent, crisp and refreshing are words to describe a new soda but oddly enough, these are words that ascribe to the Crimson. With a clean and nicely-balanced tonality, the Crimson excels in its ability to balance technical performance and musical enjoyment. I believe that the Crimson represents a step forward in what to expect in this price range and feel that it is deserving as being labelled as a “benchmark”. There is very little to fault with the Crimson and whilst it did not punch me in the face with some silver bullet specialisation, it did well in nearly every regard. For that, I think that this is the quintessential ‘neutral’ IEM that simply just does everything well.
Cheers