MUSE HiFi Power - "Too hot to handle"

 PROS:

• Driver speed

• Bass response

• Fit and wear in spite of its rather large build

• Commendable technicalities

• Detail retrieval

CONS:

• Lean and thin trebles

• Sibilance and harshness

• Overall sound signature (subjective)

• Prominent sheen of planar driver

• Occasional boxy mids

• Female vocals sounded unnatural at times

• Fatiguing for long listening sessions

INTRODUCTION:

The Muse HiFi Power is part of our review tour. I would like to thank Kent Aldriann Alfonso and Muse HiFi for providing us with the unit to review. This is my first encounter with the brand. And to be purely honest, I was quite surprised that this didn’t fall into my personal preference. If you’ve noticed, there are more cons above. Read on to know why…

DISCLAIMER:

My opinions here are entirely 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 salt for 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: 14.5mm Planar Magnetic Driver

Impedance: 32ohms

Sensitivity: 106db

Freq response: 10hz - 40khz

PACKAGING:

Inclusions are on the generous side. Especially the ear tips. Below comes with the packaging.

1. 4 kinds of ear tips. 3 pairs each kind

2. a pair of Muse HiFi Power IEM

3. Braided black cable cloth in material

4. a cleaning tool

5. Documentation

6. a carrying pouch

Sound Impressions:

The sound signature of Power is on the brighter side. Though I can handle brightly tuned sets, (my Kinera Idun Golden for example) the Power is problematic on top. Let’s dive in deeper. 

Starting with the lows, which are the best part, are very quick, punchy, and have excellent responses. It possesses a clean presentation and minimal bleeds to neighboring frequencies. The lows gave me a thumping and good nodding on some of my favorite tracks. It has a good reach at the sub-bass level. I will compliment the mid-bass having grit and bite and good details. If the track calls for a sub-bass presentation, Power gives. Playing classic tracks with more emphasis on mid-bass is fairly accurate and was never bloated. 

Mids are the first I noticed to exhibit having a thin and lean character. More often than not, female vocals tend to be unnatural and boxy. Therefore Power favors male vocals by a noticeable amount. Instruments like pianos and acoustic guitars are also tainted with a smear of unnaturalness and unrealism. Though near borderline, it is tolerable. Violins on high registers also give that sheen that is natural to planar drivers. The mids sometimes get hot and fatiguing to listen to, being a chore over time. 

Trebles are the most problematic in this set. Trebles are thin by default but Power reproduces it in a non-appealing way to my ears. My Kinera Idun is also a bright set but it has a more organic way of delivering trebles. Power on the other hand, is somewhat unrealistic. It tries to maintain organicness on some instruments, but it struggles and elements will sound unnatural every now and then. On top of that, like the mids, it is fatiguing to listen. 

Conclusively, the whole presentation here leans to be thin and brittle. Fatiguing to listen. You might want to consider pairing this with a warm and analogous source to fix the trebles. The one thing that saves this set, is the lows. Ear tip rolling is also strongly suggested. Maybe that is the sole reason why they included 4 kinds of tips.  

  

Fit & Isolation: 

Despite the large build of Power, the fit is very snug, and never felt they will fall off my ears. I easily manage to achieve optimal fit. Pain-free wear and comfortable. Isolation is above average leaving me and my music in our own world. 

Technicalities:

Now we come to the key strength of Power. Its technicalities. Can this aspect save this set? Read on…

First off, Power has medium drivability. I find myself notching my volume level a few steps louder. Hence, a dongle or dac-amp is suggested.

Sound stage is quite nice and has that extra head room. While IEMs are designed to be intimate with our music, having a large build is beneficial when it comes to sound stage.

Imaging is very admirable as instruments are well placed and easy to follow. Elements never felt overlapping. Rather instruments have their own scope and are occasionally thrown at the far right or left in an accurate manner.

Speed of drivers are very adequate and capable. Complex tracks are a breeze and Power executes busy tracks effortlessly. 

Resolution and details are very high with Power. Macro and micro details are well audible and present with tracks I’m very familiar with. 

Conclusively, technicalities are above average and might be the selling point of Muse HiFi power. Rightfully and fitting for a planar driver performance.  

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

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, whether offline or online. 

VERDICT:

This set proves that technicalities alone cannot save a gear. The technicalities outweigh the tonality which results in a not balanced set in terms of performance. Fatiguing to listen to. Imagine you are trying to enjoy your music for hours but just cannot do it for the reason it gives you a fatiguing experience. That’s a deal breaker for me. Power still tries to be enjoyable but more often than not, it falls short. Unnatural tonality, occasional sibilance, and boxy female vocals prevent me from enjoying and recommending this set. 

As the planar wars continue, the Muse HiFi Power is the least in my opinion. It is just too hot to handle. Too tiring to listen to and very hard to appreciate. I’m listening to it as I’m writing this review and I can’t wait to finish this article so I can put it back in its packaging. Sorry Muse HiFi, but I think you need to rehaul this set and fix its cons for your upcoming IEM releases. 

That’s a wrap and I hope that you’ve reached this end. Again, love the music more than the gears!! Cheers! Catch you on the next one!!