Stella

Detail level / retrieval on Stella is phenomenal. Amazing. Listening to Fountains of Wayne right now, hearing new details in songs I've heard thousands of times. The air and space between instruments is phenomenal. There are no hints of harshness or fatigue in the music and everything is very well placed and 3D sounding.Vocals are absolutely amazing, crystal clear, and very very upfront. Vocals are very emphasized and sound very natural.Soundstage....decent? Not that wide, but it really depends on the mix. I don't have anything else to really compare it to, besides KZ Zs3. The Stella seems to emphasize depth over width.These really make production work stand out, because they're clear. Maybe I shouldn't say "stand out" for production work. It lets you hear it clearly but it doesn't really shove it in your face at all. Everything is very well balanced, generally speaking, as far as instruments go. Nothing "pops". All details are there though, nothing is hidden.Stella would be almost perfect if not for the anemic(ish) bass levels. (Note: I used the smallest foam on these, and then went up to the mid-sized foam, mentioned later in this review.)Sound is laid back and smooth. Not "exciting" or "in your face" at all. Super mellow. Guitars could be more exciting and have a little more "bite", admittedly, but everything is VERY tonally accurate. Very easy to listen to and nothing feels artificial. Very pleasant sounding. Just don't listen to these to get "pumped up" and you'll be very very happy.Listening to these sounds like you're between front row and middle row of the auditorium...maybe 2/3 of the way to middle of auditorium on these.The instruments could actually be closer to the listener a bit. Music is anywhere from 3-5 steps back from the vocals. You can hear everything in the mix but it's "distant" sounding on a lot of things, especially the drums.Comfort level is A+. very comfortable, no hot spots or uncomfortable pressure in ears, generally speaking. I sometimes forget I'm wearing them.UPDATE: traded up the smaller foam tips to the middle sized foam tips per LH's suggestion. Bass response increased nicely. Still feel it could be bumped up a notch or 2, not more than 3. But midsized foam helps a lot with the bass size.

BuildThe case is very beautiful and the units each are immaculate. The gold plated mmcx though does bring the normal worries of loosening with repeated detachment of the cable unlike say beryllium plated mmcx that competitors use.The litz cable does have a slight difference between the Left and Right with the Left side being slightly longer by a few mm. Nothing you’d readily notice but at this price range, I’d expect the best QC plausible.ComfortInitially they were not bad by any means. If anything the fit was like most other iem fit with memory wire hooks etc. My complaint is the edges of the housing on the shell. They do not fit the contour of the ear and because of that, they will dig into cartilage and cause a sore spot quickly. The ergonomics don’t match the aesthetics.BassBeing a hybrid IEM, the dynamic driver inside gives the normally anemic BA drivers the low end needed. There is sub bass and a light bit of mid bass though lightly recessed and I’d almost say bass light. U shape if you willMidsThis is a mixed bag of lower male vocals take a step back and mid bass is lighter then I would prefer. I’m by no means a bass head either. The magic though is in female vocals. These are innately brighter but very romantic sounding. Extrapolating on what romantic means. The female vocals have a very certain tone/timber and beauty to them that the male vocals lack. The male vocals don’t have the weight of the mid bass and lack authority, while Stella dresses female vocals beautifully.TrebleDefinitely a brighter IEM. I do experience fatigue with prolonged use with the Stella but the cost is undoubtly worth the slight discomfort. These have great air and extension. The detail retrieval is very good. Using a hugo2 and Shanling M0 to test the Stella; I found that Stella lost lots of its resolution or ability to convey small nuances of a song with lower end gear. These do scale, and quite well. They do mask some of the distortion that my HD800 S would reveal on certain tracks that have it innately with the recording.StageListening to Yosi Horikawa tracks like bubbles or distance, I immediately get an immense sense of depth and good stage. The stage and size of it isn’t spectacular by any means. The width when panning left and right is above average to good but the sense of depth from front and back is astounding.Listening to a live recording on stage I can hear the singer in the center and exactly how many paces behind him/her the backup singers are. This sense of holographic 3D sound I’ve rarely encountered having listened to stuff like Vega, Andromeda, Er4sr by comparison.ImagingThe magic sauce is really in its coherency and crossover. I’ve only ever been a fan of single drivers. Crossover often causes phase issues and other factors that lend me to prefer iem like Etymotic with no crossover as it’s a singular driver, yet Stella somehow does it. Its coherency is bar none one of the best if not thee best multi driver I have ever heard. The resulting transient resolution and realism and ability to pinpoint track an object and place it in space and time is unbeaten.Personal notesComparative to say Andromeda, I prefer Andromeda musicality with its timbre. Andromeda definitely is more suited for a wider range of genre of music, while Stella excels and is unchallenged for Jazz, acoustic and female vocals. It suffers when it comes to male vocals and mid bass.

I found the Stella to be very we built. The metal enclosure will not get damaged or crack open like a plastic enclosure can.The shape of the small enclosure and the large ear piece stem makes for a very natural and enjoyable sounding In Ear Monitor.The foam tips were easy to fit into my ears and very comfortable. They created a good seal to reduce the ambient noise and enhance the bass response which was well balanced with the midrange and treble. The foam tips are durable increasing the time before they would need to be replaced.The soundstage and detail of the Stella made for an intimate and emotional presentation of the music being played.The Stella would be a good addition for those traveling or listening at home on a high-end system using the single ended or balanced cable.

Best performance, can be used for stage, works perfect, very acoustic sound and detailed