The Kiwi Ears Quartet is a 4-driver (2 dynamic drivers/2 balanced armatures) hybrid in-ear monitor that is now available for $109. It's available to purchase from Linsoul at https://www.linsoul.com/products/kiwi-ears-quartet
This very pretty purple IEM is the latest from the Linsoul house brand Kiwi Ears that has made some solid products in the past couple years since they started with the Orchestra, a product I enjoyed quite a bit when it first arrived on the scene. More recently, I have had a little bit more mixed feelings with their Orchestra Lite, Cadenza and Dolce IEMs.
The Quartet was released alongside the Quintet, a 5-driver set that I have yet to hear, and the Dolce, the dual-driver dynamic driver I reviewed recently. This specific Quartet is my favorite of the bunch, in terms of how they look - a very lightweight and small shell with a swirling dark purple design across the entire front and back of the shell. It's also very comfortable which is a big plus.
The included cable is a wound 4-wire cable in black, and it terminates with 2-pin connectors. The cable included is also using a standard 3.5mm jack.
Kiwi Ears also includes a bunch of tips and a standard zipper carrying case that comes with most of their products. The set also includes a cell-phone sim card push pin too. This is actually used to control the 2 switches on either side of the IEMs to add or remove a small bump in treble. I did not find the changes that remarkable and different and just kept them the same throughout my listening.
Sound Impressions
The Quartet is a bassy set with a relaxed upper-mid range and treble. This is easily the heaviest sounding Kiwi Ears yet, and even dips to being the darkest of their releases. It is quite different than the neutral/balanced U-Shaped products I've heard from Kiwi Ears more recently, which for the most part, is a welcome change.
The bass region is the main showcase of this IEM. It has a solidly warm and thick bass quantity that is just average or so in technical ability. I do find it surprisingly more dynamic and punchy that I would have guessed at the $109 range though. There some muddiness in the lower mids due to the tuning, but it is still relatively clean for how raised the bass levels are at through the upper-bass and lower-mids range.
The upper-mids and treble do sound a tad dark, and even compressed at times. I had a feeling that this resolution on this Quartet was bit lo-fi in sound. It could be just due to how masked it sounds when there's a dark treble and elevated bass mixed together, but it still generally sounds lacking in clarity and a tad radio-sounding like. I must say though, that I did enjoy listening to Jorja Smith's music with the Quartet, despite its tuning not being all my thing.
What does surprise me, given the tuning choice, is that there still is a decent separation of instruments and an average soundstage for an IEM. There's not a lot of smearing of instrument notes across a band, and tracks with panning are still generally wide and pinpointable.
Final Thoughts
The Quartet is a different tuning than prior Kiwi Ears sets and it does it heavier dose of bass and less treble than the rest, making this, by far, the darkest set there is. For those that want crystal clarity, this is probably not for you, but it works very well for those who like more thick mids and punchier bass
I enjoyed the overall looks and feel of the IEM and while it's not going to be one I reach for often, I do think it is decent for what it tries to do.
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