Pros:
- Exquisite and elegant shell design
- Comfortable wear
- Adequate and capable technicalities (staging, imaging, layering, detail retrival etc.,)
- Very nice inclusions of tips especially the modular cable
- Natural and organic sound for a hybrid
- Decent coherency of drivers
- Adequate performance of drivers
- Those who are in search of neutrality will love this one
- Price is justifiable to performance
Cons:
- I have to find right angle for optimum sealing and sound (subjective)
- Might be boring for vshape or ushape consumers
- Sound signature is not for everyone
Kinera, has been around offering custom iems for its consumers. What makes them standout is their unique and unparalleled effort on aesthetics of their products. Their Norse mythology oriented products is very entertaining to read and the concept alone makes their product worthy for a collector. Though their products, even flagships, has received mixbags of opinion, the Idun Golden is somewhat an eye opener for me. Let me give a short story of Idun.
Idun is the goddess of youth from Aesir. Her husband is the god of poetry, Bragi. The owner of Asgard garden, in charge of rejuvenating apples. She is the daughter of Ivald, the dark dwarf with the most powerful magic in the underground city. She is beautiful and her father cast a spell to keep her young forever.
Idun is unanimously loved by the Aesir gods, and her beauty is also one of the best among the Aesir gods. The goddess of faith, Norn, gave the youth apples from the tree of life to Idun for safekeeping. The Youth Apple is the treasure of Aesir Protoss. It can keep the gods young. It is also called “Idun’s Blessing”, but it must be picked by Idun herself and placed in an ash box before giving it to the gods. Idun was dedicated to guarding the Apple of Youth, and the gods were able to rest assured.
DISCLAIMER:
The Idun golden was sent to me from Kinera, in exchange for this honest review. I am very grateful to Lynn for assisting all the way from their end to mine. They are very accommodating and customer support is one of the best I have encountered.
My opinions here are completely my own. I am NOT in any way influenced by any form of incentive. This is purely my honest, subjective impressions and experience with the gear on hand. I cannot stress more that you should take this as a grain of saltfor we have different perception to sound and what we hear. I always try my best to stick with the stock accessories that come with the gear by default. You are free to try other methods such as tip rolling or cable rolling. Below are worth noting before concluding on what I say here:
1. DAP (digital audio player, be it phone, laptop, mobile, or stationary setup)
2. DAC or dongle or any external amp
3. Ear Tips
4. Cables
5. Source of audio file be it offline FLACS or streaming services like Deezer, Apple music, Tidal, Qobuz, Spotify and the likes..
6. Your playlist. It matters and is worth to be considered when reading from a reviewer's perspective. It is apparent that you get to know your favorite reviewer and what they are listening to leisurely and critically.
My reviews are more on how music sounds in my ears. The technical stuff like frequency graphs and the physics behind the tech and drivers used, I leave to other reviewers.
SPECIFICATIONS:
- Configuration: 1DD (7mm titanium plated dome PU) + 2BA (1xKnowles, 1xKinera customized BA)
- Impedance: 32ohms
- Sensitivity: 112+/- 2db
- Freq response: 20hz - 20khz
PACKAGING:
Apart from Tforce Yuan Li, this is the second audio gear that I unboxed with the same sentiment. The hexagon shaped box is a new touch for me. The design is not short of artistry and well thought-out. To be honest, it does not look like a box of an IEM. It feels like a box of chocolates. Lol.
At the back is a summary of Idun’s specifications. Once you slide the top box, you will be greeted by a very nice document. Here is the contents of the said document. (Both in English and Chinese)
Credit to Chief Engineer Aron Yu
Credit to tuning team
Credit to shell designer Cynthia
Special mentions
Story of Idun
Tuning concept
Shell design
Earphone specification
Frequency response chart
Package list
Social media links
Warranty info
Below this document is all the inclusions.
Natural finish pouch (which i honestly adore) though a bit small and crampy for the Idun and cables to fit in. I can suggest a thicker dimension so the IEMs will not be prone to pressure when put on a bag. As a musician, occasional abuse on travel comes with the territory.
Inside the pouch is the modular cable, light blue in color. This is really a treat, mates. I believe this is the Kinera Ace cable and is retailed for 39usd.
On the same level you will find on the left a 4.4mm adapter, on the right a 3.5mm female to 6.35mm male adapter which I think is specifically for a musician’s need to plug into their instruments.
A pair of Kinera Idun Golden in-ear monitors. To elaborate its design:
blue and gold gilt powder is applied to Idun’s cavity. Golden part is Idun’s hair, and the blue part is the veil of her clothes. The Tree of life is easily recognized and on its roots, you will find the Kinera logo, which symbolizes Kinera’s re-creation. At the center is a red Opal gem, and as you can safely assume, the fruit of youth, the apples.
Below the IEMs are the eartips. Here’s a detailed description
• 3 pairs of silicon tips in S, M, L sizes. Namely K-07 balanced ear tips. Red, teal, and yellow in color.
• 3 pairs of K-285-02 vocal eartips. Wide bored. Skin tone colour.
• 2 pairs of foam ear tips.
And that’s it for the unboxing. For a more visual approach, I will update the youtube video review here soon.
Now let us dive into how Idun sounds..
LOWS:
Ok.. the lows here are the closest to neutral that I’ve heard so far. It is still elevated but ever so slightly. If I claimed in my previous reviews that an IEM is neutralish, I take it back. The lows of Idun are THE neutralish. It took me atleast a day or two to let this sink in to me. Rumble is available if the track calls for it, but it decays quickly. Has a good sub bass extension but not on a brain shaking level. Mid bass is the star of the show here and has excellent control. Quick and punchy in nature which I personally prefer. No Limit by Marcus Miller is a good test track for mid bass and Idun delivered effortlessly. Listening to AlanParson’s Project and The Doobie Brothers, the drum kicks, toms, and bass guitars are faithfully neutralish and I’m pretty sure this will be dead flat to those used to elevated lows. Take the Power Back by RATM is an enjoyable track to listen to with Idun in the rock genre. The drum kicks that usually get buried when all the elements come in, push through the whole track. LinkinPark, on the other hand, sounded really dead flat in the lows department.
The DD driver handles the lows here and it never was out of sync with the two BA drivers. Good coherency here.
Conclusively, the lows here are not for bassheads. If you are into neutrality, the lows of Idun will appeal to you. Moreover, lows here are very very clean, quick and I did not sense any bleeds to other frequencies. A warning though, it is not for everyone. A lot will find this quite boring especially for the consumer market taste.
MIDS:
The midrange is handled by a BA driver namely Knowles RAF-32873. This is not my first encounter with Knowles drivers, but this is my first IEM added to my collection with Knowles. We all know Knowles is a premium BA and it did deliver midrange exceptionally. Instruments that are intended to be forward are indeed forward. Vocals, male or female, are forward 95% of the time. It is not as rich or lush as my other IEMs, but the forwardness and natural presentation is the name of the game here. Now BA drivers have a tendency to be less organic. But Idun’s midrange is quite organic and natural. Beat by Tingvall Trio, my reference track for piano, bass and percussion tone and timbre, still sounded very realistic. I listen to a wide range of jazz and acoustic tracks and Idun never let me down.
Based on the graph, there is an elevation on 8khz but surprisingly, no upper mids sibilance here. A track that I always use for mid range shoutiness is New new orleans by Christian Scott. His trumpet will sound very shouty for those upper mids sensitive. Idun still passed the sibilance test in this range, but near to borderline intensity.
Conclusively, midrange here has a leaner presentation compared to my other IEMs like Bqeyz Autumn, but is presented in a neutral way and more forward manner and no hint of being unnatural.
TREBLES:
Trebles are handled by Kinera custom BA BTC-30095. What I always look for treble is it should be sibilance free and have a certain sense of openness and air. Being treble sensitive, I have a peculiar taste in treble. Idun, satisfied me in this department. The Bqeyz Autumn is another IEM that I really like when it comes to treble. Idun is less bright compared to Autumn yet did not sound veiled to me. Treble heads might look for more here, but for me, Idun’s trebles are just right. Revealing micro details effortlessly and having very good clarity and transparency. Cymbal strikes never felt shouty and harsh. However, on some brass sections, like Earth, Wind and Fire, it lacked impact and punch. Another trusty track to test hot treble that I used is Believe by Cher and yet again, Idun passed the sibilance test.
Conclusively, to some, trebles here might be lacking for some, but for me, it is just right up my alley. Sitting just right in my preference. Not shouty or harsh, and not veiled for female vocals or cymbal strikes to sound dull and lifeless. To open up the trebles more, the wide bore ear tips are a welcome option to consider.
FIT & ISOLATION
Comfortability is one factor I always give emphasis to. In a week, I perform 4 times that require me to wear IEMs for long durations. Idun is very accomodating to wear, no physical pain at all. I even nap for 1-2 hours with it plugged to my ears.
Isolation is very good and shuts off outside noise effectively. I really can’t say how many decibels is reduced when Idun is worn, but isolation is very decent. It effectively protects my hearing from the loud playing of my band on stage. This is one aspect that Idun beats my currently most favored IEM, the Bqeyz Autumn.
Seal is quite a bit tricky on my part. I can clearly remember I had this dilemma with Seeaudio Bravery that I had to find the right angle for the proper sound presentation. I am not sure which to blame but I think it has to do with the anatomy of my ears or the angle of the nozzles. Nonetheless as cumbersome as it is, it was not an annoying hindrance on my end.
TECHNICALITIES:
Now I am a technical guy. I guess it comes with my nature being a pro musician. To start off, Kinera claims that this set is for musicians. Read on and find out..
Stage is one aspect that I struggle to address. Because compared to earbuds and headphones, IEMs has the most limited soundstage. Putting it simply, if you have auditioned Bqeyz Autumn, the two have almost the same head space. And that means Idun has a desirable space of head room. Did not feel cramped or narrow yet did not feel spacious.
Imaging is very very capable on this set. Never have I struggled to pinpoint elements and instruments. Everything is very easy to follow from vocals, pianos, drum kicks, guitars, bass guitars, bells, chimes, organs and an endless list of elements. With this, separation is very important to me and Idun performs way above average. To be honest, it impressed me beyond what I expected. I always look for what every musician is doing in a track, specially on jazz, as I tend to analyze their playing style and harmonies and incorporate them in my own style. Idun just made me appreciate more what is going on in my music. A notorious track for testing imaging is Chocolate Chip Trip by Tool, and Idun passed with flying colors. The elements that go around the stage do not give a 3 blob effect. And the drums are very precise and quick! Which proves the speed of the drivers here has adequate speed and will not let you down on your busy tracks. Idun will keep up.
Detail retrieval is very capable too! Same with resolution. My test track for this is You are my Sunshine by Houston Person. It is a solo bass track, and Idun presented all the micro details and nuances with ease. Harmonics, string vibrations, the plucking of the player itself and the wood itself is audible. I am in awe as I’m listening to the track while I write this. It is as if the bass player is playing in front of me. Isn’t that what we all look for in this hobby? Kudos to Kinera for Idun.
MONITORING:
This is an additional note and I tried this particularly on my weekly livestream. Because of Idun’s neutral nature, I can clearly hear with good transparency all my bandmates were playing. Though what I hear almost depends how the sound guy will mix my monitoring, still I had a satisfying experience with Idun as monitoring. Nobody overpower anybody in our jam and my playing always pushes thru the mix. Conclusively, Idun is a very capable partner for a musician on stage, on livestreams and other purposes.
SOURCES AND GEARS:
- LG V30 hifi dac (high impedance mode)
- Hiby Music player
- UAPP app (USB Audio Player Pro)
- Tidal Masters subscription
- offline FLACS
- Hidizs AP80 pro
- Deezer Hifi subscription
The AP80pro was mainly used for this review.
Here are some tracks I usually listen to when reviewing:
That’s the way of the World by EWF
Africa by TOTO
The Girl in the Other Room by Diana Kral
Balmorhea album All is wild, All is Silent
Sila by Sud
Smooth Escape by D’Sound
Never too Much by Luther Vandross
P.Y.T by Michael Jackson
Ain’t no Sunshine by Eva Cassidy
Shoot to Thrill by AC/DC
Another one bites the Dust by Queen
Good times bad times by Edie Brickell
Alice in Wonderland by Bill Evans
Ain’t it Fun by Paramore
Redefine by Incubus
Far Away by Nickelback
Lovesong by Adele
Lingus by Snarky Puppy
Harvest for the World by Vanessa Williams
Love Bites by Def Leppard
No Such Thing by John Mayer
As by Stevie Wonder
Whip Appeal by Babyface
Ain’t Nobody by Chaka Khan
Futures by Prep
Landslide by Fleetwood Mac
Every Summertime by NIKI
SADE tracks
AC/DC tracks
Queen tracks
And many more… I always listen to High resolution format, being the least quality 16bit/44khz FLACS be it offline or online.
VERDICT:
When Idun was on its way, I did not expect much. I am quite impressed by how much it punches way above its asking price. If you have been following me, I am somewhere in between being an audiophile and a musician. Both roles has different needs and factors that I look for in an audio gear. Idun delivered its purpose and I am very much happy with this Kinera product, being it the first, moreover for its capability for me as a musician. It is very constructive on my end.
The sound signature is not for everyone. Bass heads, stay away from this one. Treble heads might still want more out of this. But if you are into details, separation, imaging and adequate driver speed, with tone and timbre that is not compromised, the Idun is worthy of your collection.
I have a personal search for neutrality, and I can safely say that Idun is not yet there. Not with the league such as the Etymotics when it comes to neutrality. But Idun gave me a sweet prelude to that search. My search is not yet over, but I am glad that Idun gave me the right direction for that.
So if you are a mature listener, and the joy of hearing what every element is doing in a track, giving you a clean, close neutral sound that does not give you compromised tone and timbre, this is definitely for you.
It might not be as lushful or rich in sound as my other IEMs like Bqeyz Autumn, Tforce Yuan li, or T3plus, but Idun’s fresh apples appealed to me. To think of it, Idun represents youth, but I am here telling you it is for mature listening. I guess the concept is the apples give the gods a fresh start, keeping them young. Thus, giving my ears a fresh perspective, reminding me of neutrality and away from colorizations. It is a unique refresher for me and an enlightenment.
Once again, I thank Kinera for sending these to me, and giving me a chance to review one of their products. Special mention to Lynn for always checking up on me. Stay tuned for the video review, and as my wife invested in some camera gears, we will be doing some new b-rolls for this product.
Cheers and see you on the next one! Friendly reminder, your mileage will most likely vary.
ADDITIONAL:
A video review is available for this gear. I just finished making it a couple of days ago. Please support my channel. WARNING though it is a long video. If you have 30 mins to spare, please do watch it! Cheers!
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