Kiwi Ears KE4
Innovative 4-Driver System
Custom-Tuned Tonal Balance
Handcrafted Precision
Premium Build Quality
A Completely New IEM Design
The KE4 starts fresh from the ground up, featuring a 2 Dynamic Driver (2DD) isobaric sub-woofer system, combined with 2 Balanced Armature (2BA) full-range and tweeter speakers. The 2 Kiwi Ears custom 10mm dynamic driver focuses on sub-bass impact and slam, highlighting kick drum and bass guitar presence. A RAB 32257 BA driver, which has been customized with enhanced ventilation, ensures a seamless integration of the bass with the midrange, while providing lush and textured vocals and instruments. An American-made Knowles RAD 33518 BA tweeter delivers pristine and natural-sounding treble with excellent upper frequency extension for an airy sound.
Tonal Superiority
The KE4 carries Kiwi Ears’ commitment to excellent tonal balance. The KE4 follows our new target tuning, which emphasizes precise sub-bass impact, a warm, yet natural, midrange, and precise treble. It is a sound signature that has been refined throughout the years, and one that we believe to be the most natural and engaging. The tonal signature is suitable for every purpose, from music enjoyment and gaming, to professional on-stage monitoring and audio engineering.
Precisely Engineered
The Kiwi Ears KE4 has been engineered by hand from start to finish. Featuring a 3-way passive crossover system and 3 independent sound tubes, every miniscule detail of acoustic engineering has been undertaken to achieve its tuning. The shells are made from medical-grade resin and are adorned with hand-finished faceplates.
About Kiwi Ears
We are a small international group of engineers with a single goal of producing the best sounding audio solutions for musicians and audiophiles. We focus on developing the latest technological driver innovations with refined tuning strategies that reveal every nuance in your music and performance. Our small team of dedicated engineers handcraft each unit so that you can worry less about what’s in your ears and focus more on the sounds you are making. We’re bringing melodies that inspire.
Technical Details
Brand
Kiwi Ears
Driver
2 Balanced Armatures, 2 Dynamic Drivers, 1 Knowles RAD-33518, 1 Customized RAB-32257
Sensitivity
102dB (±1dB)
Crossover
3-Way Crossover Network
Sound Tubes
3 Independent Sound Tubes (for high, mid, and low frequencies)
Driver Details
1 Ultra-High Frequency Driver, 1 Mid-High Frequency Driver, 2 Low Frequency Drivers
Impedance
28 ohm
Nozzle Diameter
6mm
PRICE
Customer Reviews
The midrange is the most interesting part about the KE4 i think.
The lower midrange has a tinge of warmth to them (you can see the tilt from 300hz to 800hz), with minimal bleed from the midbass. But the special sauce is in the upper midrange, where there’s now an anti-shout dip in the pinna gain region. This makes the vocals overall sounds a bit more distant and laid back. That dip would’ve yielded more bad results than good for the overall sound quality if it weren’t for the not-too-boosted midbass and lower mids, else it would’ve muddied up and veiled a lot of details.
Male vocals sound warm-ish, correct in tone, yet not enough heft to their voice. Deep baritone lacks that classic weighty or lush characteristic to them, evidently in Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me to The Moon” and Michael Buble’s “Sway”
Female vocals sound...fine, still forward enough with good liveliness to their voice, but can lack a bit of body to them (definitely not dull or dead sounding though). The KE4’s type of tuning is more beneficial for female contralto, but not so much for the mezzo-soprano and soprano type.
Like when listening to “Best friend” – Kana Nishino, her voice still feels sparkly and emotional, but you still wish there’s just some more energy to her voice.
Or for example, the climax of the track “All by Myself” – Celine Dion from 2:30 onwards, that high note of hers doesn’t sound piercing or harsh or “scream in your face” at all, but very sweet and easy on the ears.
So all in all, both male and female vocals have quite balance and similar emphasis to their voices.
A perk of this type of midrange tuning of the KE4 is that you can turn up the volume really loud for the KE4 without feeling like the vocals are too at your face and harsh sounding. You can say this is a “cheat code” to solve that laid back, not enough energy vocal issue.
When listening to “Shivers” - Ed Sheeran, there's only a very minimal amount of sibilant and harshness, so there’s that.
Instruments have a decently natural timbre to them. I said ”decent” because 1/ certain instruments do lack a bit of note weight to them. Just a bit. But more importantly, because 2/ it does have a bit of a BA timbre to them. That is not surprising considering I can literally see the BA nozzle right below these nozzle filters. That being said, the BA timbre is very minimal and easy to dismiss at times.
Piano in “Time to love” – October and “Somewhere” – July sounds quite pleasant, natural in the tone yet lacking a bit of weight in the strike. It’s very gentle as a whole. In “Cold” - Jorge Mendes and “Merry Go Round” - Joe Hisashi, violins sound soft, smooth and velvety, and don't have any abrasiveness or roughness to the stroke. It has just enough warmth and resonance to set itself apart from many other instruments, but the higher register notes do lack a bit of brightness to feel more alive.
Read more of my review at: https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/kiwi-ears-ke4.27504/reviews#review-35410
So the KE4 are pretty decent. The build quality, stock cable, and stock Kiwi Ears Flex Eartips are all very good. The sound signature is pretty close to Harman-ish. There is great sub-bass. The mid-bass is sucked out and the low to middle mids are flat/recessed. This creates a sound signature that is all sub-bass and upper mids (V or U shaped). I feel that the lack of mid-bass and subsequent drop in the lower mids makes the KE4 sound more shouty than I prefer (again, this is purely preference based).
Overall, these are a solid IEM. The tuning isn't agreeable to my preferences. Most folks that listen to or buy these will like them a lot (IMO). That being said, there are better hybrid driver options on the market for similar, if not lower prices (Simgot Supermix 4, Tanchjim Kara, AFUL Performer 5, Binary Acoustics Chopin, Tangzu Fudu, Seeaudio Yume II, etc.).
Shipping Policy
Which countries do you ship to?
We are generally able to ship to most countries via Express Shipping, and many countries via Standard Shipping. You may clarify this with our team to check whether Standard Shipping is available to your country.
We cannot ship to addresses that are "PO boxes or APO/FPO".
*Note: Generally, we can only do Selected Shipping to India and Russia. We can only do Express Shipping to Africa, Argentina, Hawaii, Kuwait, Mauritius, Montenegro and Sri Lanka, to name a few.
This may be subjected to changes due to unpredictable issues such as Covid, war, and etc.
How much does shipping cost?
We have two shipping methods - Standard Shipping and Express Shipping.
Standard Shipping is free for most countries, while Express Shipping is 15-35USD depending on your country. If your order is over 270USD, Express Shipping is free*.
*This applies for most countries. However, large items such as headphones and desktop DAC/AMPs (e.g. HarmonicDyne G200, MUSICIAN MDP-2, and etc.) are excluded.
Shipping fees exclude import taxes or processing fees that may be applicable for your country. Linsoul is not responsible for such fees. Should you refuse to pay the tax/customs fees, shipping fees will still be deducted from the amount paid for thetwo-way freightcharges. The cost of the freight charges may be more than the amount reflected on your order due to tax and other miscellaneous fees.
Some parcels claimed to be “returned to the seller” may be destroyed by the post office or customs officers when buyers refuse to accept their parcels or fail to pay for their taxes.No refundwill be processed for such cases.Standard Shipping via YunExpress is a tax-inclusive option for some countries. However, Linsoul will not be responsible for additional administrative or handling fees charged by your local courier company or customs. Please kindly check this with your local customs.For certain remote areas, there may be additional charges via Express Shipping. We will contact you if there is a need to make additional payments. Please contact us before placing an order, should you have any queries regarding shipping.
How long does it take to receive the order after it is placed?
For in-stock products, your order will be shipped within 3 working days. You may check with our staff regarding the in-stock status of any products.
Customized items will take a longer time. Please contact our staff for more information.
On normal non-sale days, once your parcel has been shipped out:
- For Standard Shipping, it takes about 2-4 weeks for items to be delivered after shipping out. For some countries, it might take up to 2-3 months, depending on your country, its customs and other factors.* The duration for transit is something beyond our control. Linsoul will not be making refunds for such cases. Please consider an upgrade to Express Shipping or keep the waiting time in mind.
- For Express Shipping, it takes about 3-7 days for items to be delivered after shipping out.
*Note: Timings might be affected due to festive seasons or other unforeseen circumstances
What happens if the parcel has been shipped but not delivered?
First, kindly contact your local courier using the local tracking number.
If your parcel were to be in transit for at least 3 months, it may have been lost in transit.
For orders below $50USD, you may either opt for a one-time reshipment of parcel OR a full refund of the amount paid in cash via PayPal/Credit/Debit card.
For orders above $50USD, we will only process a 50% refund of your order paid in cash via PayPal/Credit/Debit card. Should there be any concern about Standard Shipping, you are encouraged to opt for DHL Express Shipping instead.
Customers are to bear the consequences and fees incurred, if the parcel was undelivered due to any of the following situation:
- Wrong address or phone number provided by recipient
- Recipient was uncontactable when courier company contacted
- Refusal to sign for the package by recipient
- Lost or damaged parcel because recipient opted for “no-signature delivery”
- Refusal to pay for the local tax/processing fee by recipient
- Refusal to provide supporting documents for custom clearance by recipient
Who will pay for the import tax/custom fees
Customers have to bear any form of custom/import/processing fees that are applicable for your parcel.
Should you be unwilling to pay for the fees and reject the delivery of the parcel, you will still have to pay for the shipping cost. Linsoul will only refund the amount of your order after deducting the two-way shipping fees incurred.
Customer Support
How do I get help for my order?
Cancellation or/and modification of orders can only be done manually via our staff, provided that our Warehouse Team has not processed your order.
As our Support Team might not be available during non-working days and weekends, please place your order wisely.
Should you really need to cancel or/and modify your order after purchase, please contact us via our support email (Support@Linsoul.com) or website chat. We will help you with the changes if that could be done.
In general, upon receiving your parcel, please confirm the contents of the package and ensure that the package is in good condition before signing for it. All customers are strongly advised to take an unboxing video of their parcel and packaging when opening their parcels and products.
For faulty/missing items, please send an email to support@Linsoul.com for after-sale services. The following details are required.
- Send an email to support@Linsoul.com with an appropriate Subject Title
- Provide your order number and state the issue clearly
- Attach photos and videos to show that your product is faulty/missing. Shipping details on the parcel packaging have to be clearly visible.
If the photos/videos provided are insufficient to prove the stated issue, we will enquire more. Once the issue has been confirmed, we will arrange for a replacement, partial refund or a full refund (where applicable). For incorrect products, Linsoul reserves all rights in deciding whether you need to return the incorrect item or not. Please kindly contact us via email first. Our team aims to review your email within 3 working days.
For other queries, the fastest way to contact us is via our website or Discord
Linsoul Audio will not be responsible for parcels that have been damaged during the transit process.
Do I get tracking details for my order?
After placing an order, you will receive the order confirmation email. After your order has been shipped out, you will also receive a tracking email. You can track your order via the tracking number online. Should you not have received the emails or face any difficulties tracking your order, please kindly contact us for support.
For more than 1 orders placed under the same account and shipping address, Linsoul will automatically combine the orders and ship them out via one tracking number. Should you have special requests to have the orders shipped separately, please kindly contact us via Discord or our website's chat. We will do our best to help.
What shipping companies do you use?
We collaborate with these courier companies:
- Standard Shipping: 4PX, UBI, NinjaVan, and Yun Express
- Express Shipping: DHL Express, FedEx and SF Express
