Shiver in awesomeness
PROS:
minimalist and elegant design
impeccable layering and separation
accurate instrument placement
balance-neutral sound signature
highly addictive musicality
proper and correct tone and timbre
sufficient inclusions
easy to drive
CONS:
shallow insertion (subjective)
isolation
INTRODUCTION:
Bqeyz (Best Quality Earphone For You), is as close to explaining the brand’s name, is a company I really adore and have my highest regard for. To give you a quick history, it is them that got me started with this endless hobby and passion in audio particularly with their KC2 that I keep to this day.
The company is known for its innovative tech. A company that carefully thinks of its releases and not just randomly repeating itself with monthly releases and barely changing anything with its products. When Bqeyz releases a product, it is something worthy of your attention and time.
And today, we have the conclusion of Bqeyz’s season series, the Winter. A dynamic driver fused with bone conduction tech. I am unfamiliar with bone conduction that much and honestly has not tried any gear with this tech.
So do I think that Winter is worthy to end the season series? Join me and find out.
FOREWORD:
The gear on hand has undergone at least 10-15 hours of use before it was assessed.
No EQ is ever applied in my reviews.
For the sake of convenience, I try my best to use a stock setup. Not everyone has access to personal ear tips or cables. If personal ear tips, cables, or accessories are used, you will be notified.
As I try to be objective, my claims inevitably will be subjective and biased to my personal preference. 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.
Stock setup is used for the entirety of this review. Concerning tips, the wide bore is used, M in size.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Configuration: 1 x 12mm Dynamic driver, 1 x 11.6mm bone conductor
Impedance: 38ohms
Sensitivity: 113db
Freq response: 5hz - 40khz
PACKAGING:
Bqeyz always offers a minimalist approach to their products and packaging is no exception. No fancy designs here or any of that Waifu characters that I, personally, is not a fan of. The box has a teal and grayish colorway (which are some of my favorite colors) and is designed elegantly.
Inclusions are sufficient and for the first time, Winter comes with a generous amount of ear tips with a unique presentation. Below are the inclusions.
a set of Winter IEM
a cable (pristine quality if I must say)
a pair of foam tips
three pairs of stiff tips labeled Atmosphere
three pairs of wide bore tips labeled Reference
three pairs of narrow bore, soft black tips
Bqeyz went the extra mile on ear tips and I appreciate the effort. Though I am biased to wide bore tips, you now have extended options to choose from to suit your preference.
SOUND IMPRESSIONS:
I find the Winter a highly musical and engaging piece of gear for music appreciation and an effective tool for musicians like myself.
If I’m going to be brutally honest, I can say that the Winter is the most constructive set I have for the sole purpose of deciphering music concerning chordal harmonies, hunting underlying instruments, constructing vocal harmonies, and detail retrieval. Let’s dive deeper now.
Unless you are a basshead, the lows are clean, fast, transparent, and is packaged with good weight, density, and punch. Probably the quickest bass response I have heard in a DD configuration. Never did I encounter the lows being muddy or bleeding to other frequencies. Presented in an almost neutral sound, well controlled and defined. Drum kicks and bass guitars are punchy and edgy in a good way that will satisfy most listeners. Sub-bass extension is there but dissipates quite quickly resulting in a very clean sound presentation.
The mids are perfect to my ears with lushness and richness and well placed by being not recessed and too forward. Vocals are rightly placed where they should be without any favors to either male or female vocals. Mids come with good density and weight and with the proper and correct tone and timbre. Well textured and intimate details are prominently audible. Orchestral tracks especially concerning string sections like violins, cellos, contrabass, and woodwinds are very desirable. My main instrument which is the piano is truthfully presented with different tone colors with the likes of Ryo Fukui and Bill Evans. Guitars from rock tracks give good grit, bite, air, and texture. I can hear those micro details from overdrives and distortions effect emitted by electric guitars namely from Rage Against the Machine tracks. George Benson’s jazz guitar was delivered with impeccable and on-point tonality and the driver is quick enough to catch up with fast licks by the artist.
At first, the trebles seemed rolled off but as I listened and burned in, the trebles opened up quite nicely and satisfied me with their openness, air, and good reach to upper frequencies. I would like to point out that cymbals and hi-hats are nicely favored by Winter and are probably the most distinct set I have in presenting the trebles. It never did come with sibilance and never felt borderline unpleasant or fatiguing with the exception of Red Hot Chilli Peppers tracks as I find their mix and recording quite too brilliant and fatiguing to listen to. Unless you are a treble cannon. A ton of details are put in the light with Winter on how trebles are presented and you will definitely enjoy new elements coming to light. Not to mention, trebles exhibit a common ground with the lows and mids in terms of weight, density, and body.
Conclusively, Winter portrayed a highly addictive musicality and natural tone that makes me come back to it again and again. Through the whole frequency spectrum, everything is pretty much well controlled. In a nutshell, it is a balance-neutral sound signature, with a very subtle emphasis on lows that can be discerned on bass-heavy tracks yet never sounded overbearing. It is a legit all-rounder and even simple songs are presented nicely and highly engaging. Winter managed to hit all points that I look for in my book.
TECHNICALITIES:
Let me start that Winter exhibit some TOTL traits in technicalities. It is that good. Here you thought that the sound was good enough to satisfy yet Winter pushes it furthermore. Let’s dive in.
Sound stage is something Bqeyz is fond of. One year ago they released Autumn which have unbelievable headroom. The same can be said with Winter. For the sake of comparison, they are on par. While the sound stage is not something to expect in IEMs, Winter excels in giving you that sense of holographic sound presentation. I barely use this term because I think it is overrated, but with Winter the term “holographic” is justified and redefined.
Speed caught me by surprise and I can safely claim that this DD driver, does not behave like one. Transients, attacks, and decays are on par with my favorite hybrid IEMs namely Kinera Idun Golden, Audiosense DT300, Seeaudio Bravery. It is undeniably fast and snappy. Winter did not sweat with my complex tracks like Harper Lewis by Russian Circles and Stress by Pain of Salvation. Breaking down fast licks as a musician was a breeze.
Now the pinnacle of Winter’s technicalities is its imaging, separation, and layering which for me alone, is the main selling point. Never have I heard separation this clean and transparent with my other IEMs. Hence being the most constructive set I have mainly for deciphering and breaking down songs that comes second nature to me as a gigging musician. Undeniably, instruments and vocals have their own room and space and are layered with accuracy. The placement of elements is on TOTL level which reminded me of ADV M5-6d. In my book, this technical term is my priority and something that tickles my fancy and Winter left me in awe.
Scaling portrays noticeable improvements and Winter loves added power. Though not a glutton and is easily content even with the conventional 3.5mm termination. Listening to balanced outputs exhibits added clarity, transparency, and a tad of push on the mid frequencies. Vocals seemed a bit forward with added juice from your sources. Sound signature is maintained and managed not to be altered when fed on balanced outputs.
Conclusively, Winter nailed it again on technicalities pushing further what it's capable of. Details are well heard and prominent with clarity, transparency, and accuracy paired with correct tone and timbre performing on par with my hybrids. It serves me effectively in my needs as a musician and audiophile. Technical capabilities exceeded my expectations and managed to not be strident and provided me soul and musicality for my listening pleasure.
Additional note:
I shared impressions with my son, who is younger and assumed that he has better coverage of hearing than me. And I got to say I have to agree with him with what I’m gonna tell you. And it is concerning about the bone conduction of Winter. This revelation became more evident when Aful Performer 5 came to my doorstep.
I can’t technically explain the sensation and experience but in the simplest terms, I and my son concluded that what we are hearing with Winter is like this. Winter puts us in a place, like a “forest” and immerses us in that environment and gives us that unique reverberation. Unlike Aful P5, which I personally think has an intimate sound stage, Winter gives us this peculiar space. I think it is not sound stage but rather a sensation of being in a place and the sound surrounds us, with pinpoint placement.
I honestly find it hard to express in words and I hope that you will discern this too should you decide to take the plunge of having Winter in your possession. It is quite immersive and the experience is soothing. My son told me that even with the given space, details and instruments never felt far, pushed, or recessed. It is a unique and peculiar experience that Bqeyz often has in their releases. Topaz, which was released months ago, is a dark-sounding IEM but manages to shine details in the trebles that are quite fascinating.
Conclusively, this added reverb is more prominent and easy to spot on vocals. Naturally, reverb sometimes makes details a little fuzzy but Winter did not compromise any details.
FIT & ISOLATION:
Bqeyz fitting has been consistent since their early releases. And that is being shallow. Resulting in somewhat average isolation, but never bothered me. I honestly believe that this plays a huge role in why Bqeyz has that unique sound stage. The fit hovers somewhere between an IEM and earbuds territory which is comfortable to wear. If you are accustomed to deep insertion, consider this before taking the plunge. You might want to turn up that listening volume a bit to isolate you and your music from outside noise but it never was a deal breaker, to begin with.
COMPARISONS:
We all love comparing. Let's admit it. Here I will try to give you short and concise differences with other single DD's I have in my possession and later on with my favorite hybrids.
Source: Questyle QP2R
Tracks: Redefine by Incubus, Got to get you into my Life by E.W.F., Off Broadway by George Benson, Patience by Guns & Roses, Fragments of Time by Daft Punk, East of the Sun by Diana Krall
vs Tforce Yuan li:
Yuan li requires more power to show full potential
Winter beats Yuan li in terms of accuracy on instrument placement.
Yuan li portrays a dark sound signature. Winter has a better treble extension.
The speed of drivers is almost the same.
Yuan li has more weighted lows.
Winter wins in terms of sound stage.
Both emit natural and organic sound presentations.
Winter has more punch mid-bass. More defined and textured.
Transparency and clarity goes to Winter.
Winter has more forward mids.
Conclusively, Winter has an edge over Yuan li on technicalities by a small margin. Winter is the brighter set, and Yuan li is a bit darker or warm in terms of sound.
vs Sonic Memory SM2:
SM2 has a dark sound signature. Winter again is the brighter set.
Sound stage goes again to Winter.
Speed goes to Winter.
Detail retrieval goes to Winter.
SM2 somewhat possesses a laid-back character. Winter has a more aggressive and energetic sound presentation.
Winter will have more appeal to mid-centrics. SM2 shows a hint of recession in the mids department.
Both show great natural and proper tonality and timbre.
Conclusively, SM2 shows a laid-back character while Winter presents its sound as livelier and more energetic. Winter wins on technicalities and headroom. Tonality and timbre are on par and exhibit high musicality.
vs Bqeyz Autumn (on normal magnetic filters)
Detail retrieval goes to Winter.
Imaging goes to Winter.
Sound stage are on par. If I have to nitpick, Autumn still has a more spacious headroom.
Trebles extension goes to Winter.
Winter is easier to drive. Autumn needs more push on the volume level to shine.
Dynamics are more expressive in Winter.
Vocal presentations are both engaging and intimate with high musicality.
Lows on autumn have more meat and density and weight. Winter has a more neutral lows presentation.
Winter has the upper hand on speed by a very small margin.
Mids on Autumn are well-centered while Winter has an added forward nature.
Conclusively, both are on par and have similar sound signatures. Again Winter is the brighter set (which surprised me). Both didn’t portray any sibilance given that both have excellent reach on top. If you have that extra 50 bucks, Winter is the one to go to being Autumn priced at 200$ and Winter at 250$. The Autumn is much loved by the audio community and it is just a matter of preference. Do your research and find the one that suits you. Both excel good balance in tonality and technicalities.
For the sake of curiosity, I will compare from here on out against my top 2 hybrid IEMs. I was supposed to compare with 3 units but Audiosense DT300 is the newest addition and I need more time to assess a more accurate comparison.
vs Kinera Idun Golden 2.0
Idun is closer to neutrality.
Lows of Idun is leaner. Winter has that slight elevation on the lows.
Tonality and timbre goes to Winter. It’s a DD thing. lol
Idun is more suited to monitoring than Winter. On the other hand, Winter wins the purpose of breaking down songs and instruments.
Winter still wins on musicality and engagement.
Both are technically capable. Idun has a slight upper hand. It's a hybrid thing. lol
Vocals are more forward with Idun but sounded more organic and natural with Winter.
Sound stage goes to Winter.
Detail retrieval are on par.
Conclusively, comparing 2 different configurations have its pros and cons. DD favors being natural while Hybrids display their technical prowess. Idun still is my go-to for neutrality and accuracy. While Winter is very very close behind in terms of technicalities. To be honest, they are on par in technicalities. Winter has the upper hand in being balanced on tonality and technicalities. Simply put, Idun gives me what I need. Winter gives me what I want.
vs Seeaudio Bravery Red edition
Bravery has a leaner sound signature. Closer to Idun.
Trebles sounded thinner with Bravery.
Lows are lusher and richer with Winter.
Sound stage goes to Winter.
Musical engagement goes to Winter.
Bravery is the brighter set. Winter appeared warm when compared to Bravery. Bravery sounded thin compared to Winter.
Winter wins in terms of imaging.
Hi-hats and cymbals are sparkly and transparent with Bravery. Overly bright at times.
Mids have a hint of recess with Bravery. Vocals sounded pushed back. Winter presents vocals in a more intimate way.
Driver speed are on par.
Conclusively, Bravery is also close to neutrality. With a shy bit recessed mids. Less engaging and organic compared to Winter. Bravery sounded brighter and thinner. Which some people prefer. Winter being insanely capable in terms of technicalities, I would pick Winter over Bravery. This is quite a surprise since Bravery was once my top 1. Kind of hard to believe but it is what it is.
All comparisons and impressions above are highly biased to my personal preference. Let me stress once more, your mileage will most likely vary. Take it with a grain of salt.
SOURCES USED:
Questyle QP2R
LG V30 quad dac with Centrance Dacport via Hiby Music app
LG V30 quad dac with IFI Hip Dac v2 via Hiby Music app
MacBook pro 2011 with Centrance Dacport via Foobar
MacBook pro 2011 with IFI Hip Dac v2 via Foobar
Tidal Masters and Qobuz Studio
TEST TRACKS:
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:
oh Bqeyz. This release must be one of the best and what an impressive IEM to end the year 2022!
Winter nailed it on all aspects in my book. Proper tonality and timbre, technical prowess, insane layering, separation and imaging, and minimalist design that oozes sophistication. It is the most constructive set I have solely for the purpose of breaking down songs which is part of my job as a pro musician. And that counts a lot.
Below are my Top 5 which I hold dear and can’t live without.
Kinera Idun Golden
Audiosense DT300
Seeaudio Bravery Red
Bqeyz Autumn
Sonic Memory SM2
And with Winter in my possession, here will be my new Top5.
Bqeyz WINTER
Kinera Idun Golden
Audiosense DT300
Seeaudio Bravery Red
Bqeyz Autumn
Now it seems monotonous to have two Bqeyz on the list but after a long deciding factor, I still prefer my trebles open and transparent, which the SM2 lacked.
Officially, Winter is my top 1 at the moment. I never expected a single DD will claim the top 1 slot. Well technically, Winter is somewhat of a hybrid because of its bone conduction tech. Nonetheless, Winter sounded almost perfect to my ears and I can’t find fault except for the average isolation and shallow fit. With the right amount of lows, punchy and quick, mids with good weight and body that feeds my mid-centric cravings, and energetic trebles free of sibilance and harshness. Packed with a TOTL level of technicalities and focused on layering, separation, and pinpoint imaging are all I need as a musician and a casual listener. It dethroned my most loved Kinera Idun Golden (not by a mile though) because it gives what I want in music enjoyment, and what I need as a musician breaking down songs. The only edge Idun has over Winter is its specific purpose for monitoring.
Winter is not a specialist in a specific element nor does it favor percussions, wind instruments, pianos, guitars, vocals, etc but rather it treats everything equally with precision and accuracy wrapped in natural tonality. It is a legitimate all-rounder and everything I throw at it is presented in both excellent quality and quantity.
And that’s a wrap! Thank you Ms. Elle for giving me the Winter at a discounted price and I’m looking forward to the next release. Hopefully not too soon. I would hate to see another IEM on my list being dethroned again. LOL
A friendly reminder, love the music more than the gear! Cheers, and catch you on the next one!
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