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BQEYZ Autumn - game changer

Pros: 

  • Balance-neutral sound signature (subjective)
  • Game changer feature (magnet filters)
  • Exceptional instrument separation
  • Easy to drive despite the 46 ohms impedance
  • Great coherency
  • Nice inclusions
  • Decent yet humble looks
  • Well built
  • Great price-to-performance ratio

Cons
• none
INTRODUCTION:

BQEYZ 
has been around making exquisite IEMs for some time now. I heard of them when I bought the KC2 where all this passion for audio gears started for me. The SummerSpring 1&2 are some of their lineup that made quite the statement on the community. BQEYZ takes their time when releasing IEMs but every time they release a product, it is always worth checking out. And up to now, KC2 is still a set that I always go back to despite its limitations as an entry-level IEM. They have very accommodating support and ELLE ZHOU is hands-on with our queries and if we have issues with their products. For example, is the infamous nozzle problem of KC2. I was surprised that ELLE herself reached out to me and assist me in how to fix my issue.



And today, we are going to talk about their latest installment the AUTUMN.

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DISCLAIMER:

This unit is lent to me by the one who drag me into this wonderful and immersive hobby of audiophiles, Eiji Zerstorer Romero. I would like to thank him for trusting me with his gear making this review possible. And of course, to Elle Zhou, to provide me soon my own unit. :wink:

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 with a grain of salt for we have different perceptions 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:



  • DAP (digital audio player, be it phone, laptop, mobile, or stationary setup)
  • DAC or dongle or any external amp
  • Tips
  • Cables
  • Source of audio file be it offline FLACS or streaming services like Deezer, Apple music, Tidal, Qobuz, Spotify and the likes..


My reviews are more on how music sound in our ears. The technical stuff like frequency graphs and the physics behind the tech and drivers used, I leave to other reviewers.



SPECIFICATIONS:

Configuration: 1 Dynamic Driver 13mm
Impedance: 46 ohms
Sensitivity: 110db
Freq response: 7hz-40khz



PACKAGING:

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Autumn comes in a thick medium-sized box. Simple but decent print and design. The inner box has an orange touch. Reminds me of some vape mod boxes. J

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The inner box greets you with “Best Quality Earphone For you”. And you see the IEM itself.

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Underneath you will find the tips. They are not labeled but as this is my 13th review I start to notice a pattern on tips. The stiff ones might be the bass tips and the wide bores and softer ones might be the vocal tips. In S, M, L sizes. Oddly I did not find foam tips on this set. I never tried foam tips on my reviews for I really prefer silicons. The large tips were used in this review.

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The cable is somewhat similar to TACables Obsidian in looks. Silverish chrome. Nicely braided, very light, and looks durable. Yet extra care won’t hurt to prolong its usability. I think it is available in 2.5/3.5 and 4.4mm configurations. As it says at the back of the box.

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Additional note:

Finding the right fit and seal is critical to getting that optimized listening experience. I usually go for the medium size tips. Oddly for this set, the large ones gave me the perfect fit. One more thing, throughout this review, the normal filter was used. More notes on Autumn’s filters are below.

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On the same level as the IEMs are the magnet filters. More on this as we move forward. This is the first time I encounter this feature and it is quite exciting and fresh to have this. Which makes Autumn quite the peculiar IEM on the market.



PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES:

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Autumn is medium in size. Very light and comfortable to wear. Lighter than the KC2. It has a very nice colorway. Dark bluish chrome which I really love. The design is simple but elegant on the faceplate. At the base, you will find the magnet filters and a vent that provides fatigue-free wear.

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Overall, it is a very elegant-looking IEM and humble. It does not stand out like the Yuan Li but it suited my character. Especially the humble part. LOL

Now unto its effect to sound…


LOWS: 5/5

Lows here are very mature. On the lighter side of things and definitely not for bass heads. Clean, tight, and punchy. Rumble at the sub-bass department is there but quite subtle and well controlled. Lows are very well textured. In a nutshell, quality over quantity which I personally prefer. I love how bass guitars, drum kicks, and toms are presented here. Decent attacks and decays. I’m a balance armature guy and I keep on reminding myself that I’m listening to a DD on Autumn.

Conclusively, lows here are very mature, controlled, well textured, and have no bleeds. And still, the sub bass section is readily available to be presented if the track calls for it.



MIDS: 5/5

Mids on autumn is exactly how I love it. I have missed reviewing a set with mids like this. As a piano and synth player, a lot of instruments relevant to me is in the mids. Autumn nailed it for me. Mids are forward but not too much, and it is not recessed at all. I can hear all the instruments that I want to hear and this is very constructive for me. Pianos, Rhodes, guitars, strings, organs, and many other instruments have very commendable timbre and tonality. I just love it. Vocals are forward and very natural. Both male and female. Some of my favorite artists are Diana Krall, Sade, Nickelback, Incubus, Luther Vandross, Earth wind and Fire, Babyface, Tony Benett, Michael Buble, Michael Jackson and many more sounded quite just right or almost perfect to my ears.


HIGHS: 4/5

Open, airy, shimmer, sparkle you name it. Trebles here are very desirable. Now, I am quite sensitive to trebles and in one case, a track from Sade namely Is it a Crime, almost got to the point to be piercing to me. This is very subjective. We all have our own threshold mates.

I must refer to a friend’s judge on trebles, Berry White, and Autumn’s treble are very desirable for him. I didn’t give a perfect score here due to the fact, I’m really sensitive to treble. But I did love the openness and airiness here. There are times that my KC2 fails to satisfy me on trebles but Autumn did.

I am not a rockhead too, and I try to avoid rock songs as they usually sound piercing to me. But with Autumn, my favorite rock songs from artists like Rage Against the Machine and Incubus are back as my daily listening tracks.


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FIT & ISOLATION 4/5



Fit is quite comfortable. Didn’t feel any discomfort in long listening periods. I even took an almost 2 hour nap with it. Just try not to sleep on your head sideways. That way you will feel discomfort for sure.



Isolation and seal is decent. For the first 2 days I tried the M size tips because I always go for those. But I had to change to L size to get the seal that I want. After that, I was able to achieve an optimize listening experience. This is quite important. Don’t be lazy to change the tips and find your sealing preference. Isolation was better when I change to L size tips. I always test this on-stage with my band to judge isolation. I must admit there are times it almost fell off my ears. Autumn offers a kind of shallow fit for me.

I must admit I have tried other IEMs with a better seal and fit than Autumn. But those IEMs are designed particularly for musicians as stage in -ear monitors. And that is a different ball game. It would not be fair to compare Autumn.


SOUNDSTAGE AND IMAGING: 4/5


Stage here is more one width and depth than height. Very decent still. But I would like to emphasize more on imaging. Panning of instruments and position is spot on! Not too far from me which I prefer for my work as a musician.


LAYERING and INSTRUMENT SEPARATION: 5/5

I usually don’t have this section on my reviews, but man oh my, I just can’t help it. I am really blown away by how Autumn is on separation! This is really a treat for me firstly, I love instruments. Secondly, this helps me a lot to study my part as a keys player. I can’t express enough how I loved the separation here. I think this is the star of the show here for Autumn. I can’t find the words now. For those who love instruments like I do, you just have to hear this for yourself.


MAGNET FILTERS

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When I reached this point, I could not fathom how much more can Autumn offer. And now the magnet filter comes in. This is beyond my expectations mates! As it is on the normal filter, I am quite satisfied with Autumn in all aspects. Then we have the option to enhance it to our preference. Personally, I will use the normal filters for analytical listening, and use the bass filters for music appreciation. Again, treble sensitive guy here. Though I tried the treble filters, it is just not my cup of tea to enhance Autumn more on the treble section.


Don’t expect a large amount of change to the sound caused by the filters. For me, BQEYZ got right. The filters will not change the sound signature but instead, they will just enhance the desired frequency spectrum of your choosing. Autumn will not be a bass heavy IEM if you put the bass filters. But the change is there.

Changing the magnets is quite easy and actually enjoyable. It is not hard to remove and put on. The magnet stick that came with the package is self-explanatory. I’m sure you will figure it out. :wink:

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COMPARISONS:

I can do a couple of comparisons with other IEM versus Autumn but for this review, I decided to do just one. And that would be against the Tforce Yuan Li. To be honest, this set reminded me of the Yuan Li. In many ways, they are very similar. In sound signature, driver speed, tonality and technicalities. And if I have to choose one, I can’t. I will have both of them. Okay to be truly honest, I will pick Autumn for its technicalities. And Yuan Li for its tonality and musicality. Autumn surpasses Yuan Li when it comes to instrument separation. But Yuan Li does a better job on vocal tracking.



Conclusively, if I really have to choose between the two, I would choose Autumn over Yuan Li even though Yuan li, is somewhat a bit better in tonality.


SOURCES AND GEARS:

  • LG V30 hifi dac (high impedance mode)
  • Hiby Music player
  • UAPP app (USB Audio Player Pro)
  • Tidal Masters subscription
  • And some offline FLACS


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

And many more… I always listen to High resolution format, being the least quality 16bit/44khz FLACS be it offline or online.


VERDICT:

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Autumn, will definitely be sitting on my top favorite IEMs. For now, Seeaudio Bravery and Yuan li are my top drivers. Autumn is right in the middle between these two thus being my #2 most loved IEM.

Who is it for? Definitely not for bass heads. This one is a mature-sounding set. Treble heads? Well thanks to the magnet filters, treble heads will be nodding satisfied.

I think this one is for those who love instruments. Layering and instrument separation is just awesome on this set. Don’t get me wrong, Autumn is a great-sounding set and versatile. I tried to listen to any genre I can think of, and I am a happy camper. The casual listener who prefers V-shaped tuning might want to stay away. Audiophile enthusiast will be clapping their hands.

Then we have the magnet filters, that offers more versatility on your sound preference. Not changing the sound signature entirely, but giving you that appealing subtle change that will definitely put a good smile on your face.

Conclusively, I loved the Autumn, and exceeded my expectations. A well-done product again from BQEYZ and innovative as well. A set worthy of hype. I think this is a unique set that an audiophile, with a mature sound preference, must definitely have in their arsenal.

In the mood for a video review? Check this one out! 



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