KBear the brand based out of China is a well reputed brand among the Audiophiles and known for their well executed audio products in the market. More specifically the Believe was their Beryllium driver IEM and that was one of the best from their catalogue but sadly due to that scarcity in sourcing the beryllium the product has been discontinued. From then I have a good image of the brand and in this review let’s check out their budget item the KS2 and let’s see how this compares against the competitors in this price range.
SPECIFICATIONS:
- Interface: 0.78mm 2 Pin
- Frequency range: 20-20kHZ
- Sensitivity: 106±3dB
- Impedance: 16Ω
- Color: Green/Black
- Material: Environment protect PC
- Whether with mic: Yes
- Plug: 3.5mm L curve gold plated connector
- Cable material: Tinned copper
- Drive Unit: Hybrid 10mm composite diaphragm Dynamic Driver +Balanced Armature
- Cable: High-end 4 core OFC high-purity pure copper cable
Table of Contents
DESIGN AND FIT:
Usual plastic construction with a nice separate metal nozzle with lip for secure placement of the ear tips. The KBear branding is done in a subtle way and the 2 pin connection area is well placed with easy access. They fit nicely providing a decent amount of isolation from the external noises and the eartips are good enough in providing a good seal.
The stock cable is not premium in terms of looks and hand feel but does the job in the end. They do look like the usual KZ brown cable and finally they changed that in their package but not KBear!
SOUND:
The sound of the KS2 is a usual ChiFi V shaped tuning with more emphasis over the bass region where they feel a lot bigger and reaching deep while the treble section is accentuated too. The midrange definitely feels pretty recessed thus the instruments and vocals are subdued a bit. Overall a very warm signature and tonality with a slightly brighter treble section, bringing out those essential details. Let’s see in detail in the following sections of this review.
BASS:
The bass in the KS2 is the star show here where they are accentuated a lot with more emphasis on the mid bass region. The sub bass is present but it needs more refinement through the rumble and the reach in the sub bass region is done very well. The sub bass lacks the separation where the mid bass and sub bass tends to mingle each other thus making the whole bass response a congested one.
The mid bass region is full bodied giving a nice fuller sound overall. The mid bass bleed however is present here noticeably thus making the mid range a bit duller and darker one. The mid bass bloatedness is present in higher quantities. However when it comes to the quantity they are plenty enough giving a sense of bigger and more spacious bass response. A little bit of refinements in the bass region quality would make this a perfect bass head IEM.
MID RANGE:
The mid range in the KS2 is more on a recessed section where the instruments and the vocals feel pretty pushed back making the sound more veiled in the mid section. The excessive mid bass presence made the mid range a darker one at the same time more laidback one.
The advantage of this more laidback presentation is that it represents one of the bigger stage presence in this price range. Both in terms of width and height they feel pretty big enough. The layering feels hazier due to that bleed from the mid bass section. The imaging is good but needs some improvement and the refinement in the bass section would have brought the best out of the mid range.
Since the upper mid section is elevated the female vocals do sound bright enough with good clarity but also at the cost of some sibilance in the top end. The male vocal has that natural fullness and bodied sound giving a nice thicker sounding experience.
The tonality on the KS2 is more on a warmer side with darker hint. It’s pretty easy to listen to but in the long run they might fatigue your listening session sooner.
Overall the mid range is more on a darker side with upper mid emphasis and slight sibilance too. The stage being on the superior side gives a nice and wide feel but needs improvement over the technical aspects of the sound and definitely the mid bass control could have brought the mid range a new life.
TREBLE:
The treble section in the KS2 is on the brighter side making the sound more engaging and open and thanks to that added Balanced Armature driver inside them taking up the treble role. The disadvantage of this more added brightness is that they tend to show off the sibilance at some point and the decay of the cymbal crashes appears to be prolonged hence they sound more splashy and causes the fatigue to the ears pretty soon.
The detail retrieval in the top end for this price range is pretty good where being very open and airy sound they were able to capture every minute details without much of a struggle. The trumpets and the electric guitar strings have a natural brighter tone but the decay seems to be prolonged hence the sound appears to be slightly harsh.
The brilliance and shimmer in the top end is really brought at very good and for this price its appreciable. The sound being very nice and open they never felt congested in the treble section. The mid range region felt congested though due to that excessive mid bass presence.
Overall the treble section in the KS2 is pretty good and shows the characteristics of a V shaped sound. The brighter treble section made the detail retrieval an easy thing for KS2 while they also led to that prolonged decay of the instruments thus they sounded a little bit harsh and sibilant to occur.
TECHNICALITIES:
STAGING: The staging in the KS2 is wide enough and it’s one of the biggest in its price range. Both the width and the height seems to be big enough thus giving a nice grand presentation overall. Despite that bigger stage presence the mid range felt congested all because of that excessive uncontrolled mid bass.
IMAGING: The imaging is good but slightly felt hazier too since the bass on the heavier side. The placement of the instruments felt to be precise but gets hazier when the bass heavy tracks are replayed out. The stereo separation is good and the channel sweep felt smooth enough as well as the transient response.
VERDICT:
KS2, one of the budget offerings from the house of KBear is a well polished package for V shaped lovers out there. The V shape has been tuned well and also tuned to bring out some essential components like the detail retrieval and the staging.
The sound aspect is pretty straightforward where it’s a V shaped sound with a bigger and deeper bass producing some nice satisfying rumbles in the sub bass region, thicker and uncontrolled mid bass which lead to that congested mid range. The laid back presentation also led to the bigger stage presence and the upper mid range emphasis led to nice engaging vocals. The treble section felt brighter with nice retrieval of details in the top end. The decay could have been controlled since that led to the slight sibilance and fatigue in the longer listening sessions. The technical aspects like the imaging, layering needs a bit more refinement though.
Overall the KS2 is a well polished V DEFINED sound signature which will definitely please the consumers who love the bigger bass and the brighter treble. The detail retrieval and the staging being the superior aspect gave this KS2 a huge bump in the sound aspect. They sound right, built right and especially they are priced right!
PROS AND CONS:
Pros:
- Bigger Bass with nice rumble
- Staging
- Detail Retrieval
- Tonality
- Price
Cons:
- Mid Bass Bleed
- Prolonged decay of Instruments
- Recessed Mid range
This Review is Written By KATHIRAVAN.C
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I’m Kathiravan from Tamilnadu. A budding audiophile here with high love towards music and audio equipment. My first experience of enjoying the hifi audio came when I started to use budget chi-fi gears and now it came all along the way of reviewing the gears with high end stuffs. I love reviewing audio products.
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Shubham
Shubham Garg (Editor Shubz.in) is an engineer with a specialization in Mechanical Engineering from AKTU, Uttar Pradesh. Being a mechanical engineer he has always loved to learn the inner working of various machines and consumer electronics. He regularly tests various audio, home appliances, and daily use products, to provide the best advice to readers. He is a wizard that can make your shopping easy, saving you time and stress of figuring out what to buy.
