Kiwi Ears KE4

They are the best pair of IEM's Ive used and I can say they are 1000% worth it. Saving my hair from balding to....

Great set, check out my review below
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGdL2LbAr/

https://m.blog.naver.com/andongflamestrike/223575684435
Meta tuning is good.

+ Well separated and cohesive U-shaped tuning
+ Deep and rumbly sub-bass
+ Lower midrange is well represented
+ Inoffensive but still well extended treble
+ Good balance of musical and technical
+ Comfortable fit and solid build quality

- Tuning might be too boring/safe for some
- Bass emphasis won't be to everyone's liking
- Vocals lack a little heart/soul/magic
- Accessories could be better for the price
- Soundstage could be more expansive

See full review here:
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/kiwi-ears-ke4.27504/review/35775/

I have tried almost all of Kiwi Ears earphones before and nothing sounds like the Kiwi Ears KE4.
In general, I can see why some people might like this a lot. It has a strangely immersive tuning that draws me. However, it is not flawless.
Female vocals don't sound sibilant/fatiguing, which is great. However, they can sound slightly more recessed and lack of "sparkle/air" on certain tracks. Yay and nay.
Snare drums don't sound sibilant but they may lack the "crisp" sound that I find myself craving for.
Bass has good depth and punch but it may not be good enough on certain very busy tracks.
I really like the faceplate design. The earbuds are light and fit comfortably but they may protrude slightly due to the shape of the shells.
The cable is fine, and the ear tips included look like the newest Flex ear tips.
I prefer the Kiwi Ears Earphone Carrying Case to the default carrying case included.
https://www.linsoul.com/products/kiwi-ears-earphone-carrying-bag

For weeks, I’ve tested brand new Kiwi Ears IEMs, KE4. The configuration consists of 2 Balanced Armatures(BA) and 2 dynamic drivers (DD), where the isobaric system was employed for DDs providing the low bass. On the other hand, 2 BAs take the mid and high frequency region.

The sound signature is a warmly tilted so that it’s a bit bassier but not overwhelming too much. Thus, the mid and high signals still own their substantial presence without masking. This characteristics give a delicate warmth.

It’s worth noting that the bass presentation is quite distinctive in comparison with conventional 1DD system. The isobaric woofer seemed to offer more refined coherent low frequency sound.

In design-wise, I love the face plate that shows off the brushed metal and high gloss finish on top. Depending on the lighting condition, its surface shines differently from matt brushed to glittering texture.

Most importantly, KE4 is easy to wear due to the ergonomic-3D-printed receiver shell. Of course, it’s made of medical-grade resin, providing extra comfort along with new ear-tips(called as ‘Kiwi Ears Flex Ear Tips’). In contrast with its black-colored shell, ear-tip stems are crafted with a solid metal.

I think the combination of faceplate, shell design, and stem/ear-tips make KE4 premium look and feel. In conclusion, Kiwi Ears KE4 is one of the highly recommendable IEMs in $200 price range.

For more photos, please visit my instagram account in the below. Thank you!
(https://www.instagram.com/yongjunechang)

Kiwi Ears KE4, in my opinion, for $200 they offer us the most top neutral and balanced tuning, and I think that now this is the best choice for this price if you like this neutral and neat approach to setting up headphones!

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.).