Oh, how we like when the new companies step in with fresh look, full of motivation, creating lots of additional incentives to conquer and build its audience. First products are more likely to be revolutional while the following lineup growth regularly derives from the core or flagship products. It is quite common that any new brand starts with the aces since the public should be astounded with the virtues, superiority, experience or other model characteristics. Capturing the attention is vital for a good launch, much efforts are invested, a lot at stake, everything should be perfect – that is why we love to deal with such occasions.

The brand under our microscope today is Aiderlot with M5 IEMs. Here is a small quote from the company representative:

AIDERLOT is a company that provides better quality monitor headphones and headphone accessories for music-loving artists. The company was established in 2019 to provide high-quality products and services to customers around the world. The headsets sold by the company are guaranteed for one year. The company currently only sells on Amazon.

Not much of the information for now but the company is already listed on Amazon, Ebay and already has several reviews on Head-Fi. We are jumping into this train as well with this review of M5 – pure balanced armature IEMs based on 5 Knowles drivers which is already impressive.

AIDERLOT M5 specs:

• Type: 5BA IEMs (Knowles 22955 + 29689 + 30017 + 30095)
• Drivers: 1 Low +1 Mid + 2 High +1 UHF
• Shell material: Stainless steel + Resin
• Impedance: 26 Ω
• Rated power: 10mW
• Distortion: <1% (at 126 mV)
• Sensitivity: 110 dB ± 1 dB（at 1 kHz）
• Frequency range: 20Hz-40KHz
• Passive noise isolation: -25dB
• 4 crossovers, 4 separate sound tubes
• Cable: 4-strand 6N Oxygen-free copper silver-plated cable
• Cable connectors: MMCX

Packaging and design:

M5 has arrived in pretty large box that has outer cover containing lots of graphics and text (product picture, frequency response graph, specs, company information, etc).

Good that the graph describes the difference in the resulting sound with the variety of filters. Cover hides main leather-style cardboard box which retains closed with the help of several inbuilt magnets.

Under the hood, there are 3 layers of soft inserts: first one secures IEMs and has a decorative aluminum plate with the brand name and slogan, middle insert holds a lot of accessories, and finally – storage case and cables are stored at the lowest compartments.

Here is the full list of elements in this rich bundle:

• M5 IEMs with a pair of sound filters
• MMCX audio cable
• MMCX audio cable with remote and mic for a smartphone
• 3 extra pairs of sound filters
• 3 pairs of silicone ear tips
• 3 pairs of memory foam ear tips
• flight adapter
• storage case
• cable clip
• cleaning brush
• manual

Not bad at all. Such rich bundle is quite rare nowadays and this is definitely among the advantages of M5 IEMs. We also like how accurately all accessories are stored inside the box. Plus such elements as aluminum plate with threads and labels retaining and identifying additional sound filters. Nice!…

M5 shells have unibody construction, totally resin molded with two aluminum elements – brand logo and output nozzles. The whole shell is transparent which gives the possibility to see neat soldering of crossovers, accurate location of BA drivers and cable routing, as well as separate sound tubes from each driver to the output nozzles.

No compensational openings since there is no dynamic diaphragms that requires air and creates pressure. Output nozzles have a thread for sound filters that also protects IEMs from dust coming in. Although, even the manual states that you can try M5 with no filters attached to experience the full frequency range with no filter limitations.

Filters are provided in pairs, differ by the diameter and amount of holes and definitely impact the sound. They are easy to attach to IEMs but hard to place back on holder plate since the thread is tiny. We wouldn’t recommend keeping those without holder plate – too small and very easy to get lost.

Both stock cables are impressively good-built, both have stainless steel furniture all-around. Main audio cable is quite thick, made of OFC silver-plated copper wires, features channel indicators and carbon fiber elements. Second cable is equipped with the 3-button remote and mic and slightly thinner. Neither one has ear guides. Nevertheless, cables seem very durable, look decent and are build of high-quality materials.

As a summary to look and build quality – we would say that AIDERLOT M5 are perfectly crafted with quality of materials even excessing such of the famous respected brands. The only concern here is the choice of MMCX connectors over 2pin type which is more durable in a long-term perspective.

About the fit: as always with such custom-like shape and design – fit should be no problem for the most of the people, especially concerning the amount and types of ear tips in the bundle and long output nozzles.

Sound quality:

Testing setup: Hidizs AP80 DAP + xDuoo Xd05Plus DAC/AMP + AIRELOT M5

Lows:

Deep bass presence is moderate, with excellent texturing. As always, even the most capable armature driver would be able to deliver such deep bass in comparison to good dynamic drivers but at the same time would be much better on clarity and precise contouring. Good crossover in scheme aids a lot to keep it balanced to other ranges while delivering very smooth and delicate sound. The main difference to dynamic rivals is the amount of details M5 disclosing to a listener, rather than exposing the lowest registers. Midbass is perfectly articulated, rich, tight and powerful. It doesn’t tend to excessive crispness or brightness. Not much of difference to dynamic drivers except for the volumetric feel. Slight elevation in this range is inevitable due to the nature of BA unit but not causing any problems since it maintains good warmth.

Mids:

Mids resolve lots of details, making this region the most exposed and detailed. Slightly standing out, with rich vocal reproduction and slight emotional appeal in overall. Male and female vocals sound totally natural, rich, detailed and linear while having the appropriate warmth. Both have almost similar presence with only very small emphasis on upper portion. Mids do feel kind of mellow, velvet and smooth — very good character for this range. Resolution on string instruments and vocals is impressive and what is the most important – not sounding harsh, not producing any piercing and not tending to lisping. Very linear feel with large amount of details.

Treble:

Excellent resolution on treble and slight accent on this range. Very accurate and delicate approach on tuning would not let it influence the entire sound picture much. No huge and evident coloration to overall tonality. M5 treble, is, again, more about the resolution and extension with decent presence rather than excessively bright and crisp delivery. Feels transparent, relatively soft and shining with reasonable sparkles. Still impressive with its clarity but acts in smooth and weighted manner.

Soundtage:

Soundstage is moderate. M5 IEMs are capable of showing significant distance from the center to instrument distributed on stage in both vertical and horizontal planes only with good sound source. As a result, scene feels wider and taller and instruments don’t tend to mix

Sound filters:

3 pairs of filters provided with M5 really do the job (not subtle) in terms of change in treble performance. For us it was really better to use any of those filters rather than not having it attached at all, whereas the difference between them is more subtle. Anyway, the mot favorite pair was “bass” to increase its presence and volume in sound.

Sound signature:

AIDERLOT M5 sound can be described as balanced, highly detailed, neutral, with no evident coloration to the overall tonality. All frequency ranges are gently delivered and carefully tuned. Universal IEMs that would be suitable for any music genre except those that require large amount of deep bass presence.

Compared to LZ HIFI A5:

LZ HIFI A5 being hybrid type of IEMs have its advantages and disadvantages over M5. Advantages are that there is a dynamic driver which brings more extension and presence of lower bass and more width to the stage. Although, the tuning of BA unit is not that great and treble sounds less delicate, introducing sibilance, lisping and harsh notes. Sound if A5 is much brighter and crispy.

Compared to SHOZY & NEO BG:

Quite similar IEMs with neutral sound and very adequate tuning. We would say that the main advantages of M5 over more famous brand IEMs are slightly better presence of lows, possibility of using different filters and rich bundle. BG wins over M5 for the stock cable (very thick and durable) and slightly softer and delicate treble (but it is subtle).

Conclusion:

Just repeating ourselves: first products of the new brands do often become a bargain due to more efforts involved and additional incentives end customer gets after all. AIDERLOT with M5 is not an exception – rich bundle, great materials, perfect crafting, accurate sound tuning with filters for the further experiments and high quality set of Knowles BA drivers in its core. Just absolutely nothing to complain about as a result of a newcomer stepping into this market. It is better to grab such product while the offer is still here and hope that this brand would follow similar high standards in future.

AIDERLOT M5 available for purchase at Amazon: LINK

One of the least common and most peculiar shape of IEMs nomination spotted in the wild goes to Ourart — a brand mostly respected for its excellent and breathtaking earbuds (ACG/Ti). While the first IEMs on my review (WINE) had standard bullet-like shape, Ourart Tini is far from the regular design, to the extent of some frustration when opening the box. But before going into the debris of design and fit deviations, let’s go over the specs, packaging and box contents.

Ourart Tini technical specifications:

• Shells: silver plated, 316-grade steel
• Driver type: 2x3x4mm open hole BA driver
• Sensitivity: 95dB
• Impedance: 40Ω
• Frequency Response Range: 20Hz — 20kHz
• Cable connectors: MMCX
• Audio Jack: 3.5mm, angled
• Cable Length: 1.2m

Ourart Tini available at PenonAudio store

Packaging, design and build quality:

Not sure if this part about the packaging would be correct cause I’ve received Tini IEMs as three separate pieces: storage case with IEMs, bag with all eartips and audio cable. It is not clear whether this model is always supplied like this or it should have more common packaging. Anyway, in my case Tini arrived in small white cardboard box, free of any prints, that contained beautiful polished black plastic storage case with IEMs.

First impression is like holding storage case dedicated for some precious jewelry. This feeling gets even stronger with the first glance at IEMs when opening the case. Really reminds of some pure silver studs that you’d take out of the drawer before escorting a friend to his final journey (wedding, I mean  ). Just kidding. Other accessories were located in separate bags. So, the full set is like this:

• Ourart Tini IEMs
• audio cable, MMCX
• 5 pairs of two flange silicone eartips
• 2 pairs of three flange silicone eartips
• storage case

Such beautiful storage case has couple of drawbacks as for me: it collects finger prints and scratches with its polished and very soft surface and it doesn’t allow you to store IEMs together with exchangeable eartips and audio cable. Therefore, I would say that you would need something else to do the same job well.

Ourart Tini are made of steel and have shiny polished surface all around. It is a unibody construction with the only opening for MMCX cable ports at the bottom which are drowned inside the shells.

Output channels also end up with the opeinings that are protected with the aluminum grills. There are no engravings, prints or other visual elements on either channel. Either can act as Left or Right since the shape of both is the same.

One suitable design finding, apart from all other irregularities and presentation, are the beveled upper edges that allow to form the geometry when channels are placed close to each other. Some people might even have troubles with guessing what it is…

One complain from my side towards the choice of material and crafting is about the coating that looks as silver before the first contact with fingers. Gets spotted afterwards and needs constant polishing with soft cloth. Same effect is obsered with silver items — they get darker due to skin acid.

Stock audio cable is packed into pretty thick silicone braid, equipped with plastic Y-splitter, aluminum limiter, transparent resin MMCX connectors and rubber audio jack housing. Red dot at one of the MMCX connectors identifies Right channel. This cable doesn’t feel as a premium one but neither it shows any issues in terms of the build quality. Mic effect is here and quite apparent.

Fit: 

At first I was afraid that such shape would have very negative effect on fit comfort. I was partially wrong. Fit-wise is totally ok despite such rectangular and sharp-edge design. The source of success with ergonomics here comes from a combination of low weight and thin profile. If I had never seen the shape before wearing — I would never tell that it differs much from bullets with wires connected at 90 degrees to the shells. The problem for some people might be in pretty short output nozzles that require 2 or 3 flanged silicone eartips instead of using regular ones. Such eartips are not that comfortable for me, furthermore, I feel that the bass portion gets partially lost unless the best position is found.

Sound quality:

Tested with HiBy R6Pro DAP

Lows and midbass:

As one can expect from a single BA driver — lows have apparent boundaries and highly emphasized textures but the reach of deep bass and the volumetric feel of it is far from any dynamic or hybrid contender. This further accompanied by the fit and use of flanged eartips. Once you’ve found the best position — lows step in and become totally evident but the lack of presence still leads to it hanging behind in the entire picture of the sound. Bass decay is fast, textures are reach, but the overall amount might have been better. Midbass is consequently given out by the sharp higher portion and lack of volume to recreate the natural drum tightness and power. It is normally exposed and balanced with mids and treble but the lower part — floor and bass drums require extra power while snare, hi-hats and crash cymbals are perfectly exposed.

Mids and vocals:

With such leaning towards the higher frequencies, mids are expectedly thin, emotional and vivid. Good that BA driver is capable of delivering extra clarity and details here instead of falling into to much lisping and screaming on female vocals when pushed to the limits. Male vocals are kept similarly reach with details but kind of slightly compromised by the excessive brightness. This cannot be called full-bodied sound, rather — sharp and cold. Strings, violins, bow movements, wind instruments — this is what Tini IEMs are capable of. Good overall dynamics, micro details and resolution + the accent on treble — all dedicate to most of the instrument and voices in mids to stand out and glisten.

Treble:

Main virtue of Tini sound is excessively clear and sparkling treble range. It is well balanced to mids but forces the extra influence there. Overall clarity and transparency of the sound is very high and reminds of other bright and crisp IEMs like LZ A6Mini with piezo driver to reproduce treble. Resolution and amount of details are exceptional which also leads to the perception of high resolving potential of Tini in overall. But the final tuning with the accent on such capable treble forms very bright and cold tonality.

Soundstage:

Ourart Tini show only a moderate soundtage due to a lack of volume in the bass region that also affects midbass positioning on stage. Instrument separation and range layering are both quite good with no tendency to mix but the width and depth of the stage are not perfectly defined in the condition of thin and cold sound.

Sound in overall:

Ourart Tini sound could be described as having cold and bright tonality, with crisp, transaprent and detailed treble, quite thin and emotional mids with no negative outcomes and high resolution, highly textured and contoured lows lacking in presence and volume. Best to be used for such genres as country, instrumentals, jazz, etc

Compared to Earnine EN1J:

EN1J are also based on single BA unit and have pretty narrow perceptional appeal in terms of different ranges. Those IEMs seem to be developed strictly for the monitoring type of use with mids plaiying the main role while both extremes are quite limited and less pronounced. Bass presence and reach is higher that in Tini but the treble is not that extended and crisp. Although, mids are perfectly exposed and there is no feel of it being thin and cold.

Compared to Rose Mini2 MKII:

Mini2 by Rose are pretty impressive IEMs concerning single BA nature, small dimensions and shape. It has better and more regular fit + the sound is less scewed towards the treble and more capable in terms of lows. I would say that Mini2 sound more balanced in overall while Tini are brighter and crispier.

Compared to Tanchjim DarkSide:

DarkSide IEMs are producing totally opposite sound — warm and dark with lots of bass presence, large bass volume and weak treble. DarkSide and Tini are like two extremes soundwise. One lacking treble, the other lacking lows. Both far from being marked neutral or balanced.

Conclusion:

Ourart Tini adds to the collection of single BA driver IEMs with different sound tuning and tonality. Bight, crisp and vivid in its nature, Tini maintain high resolving potential on mids and treble providing large amount of details and clarity of the sound. Thickness of mids and bass presence are not among the virtues compensated by the evident textures, contouring and emotional appeal. Looking at the competitor models, this one has its unique signature for those who prefer cold and bright sounding IEMs.

Ourart Tini available at PenonAudio store

Going back in time to the point when this blog has just started — the very first IEMs for the review were K3HD and HLSX-808 from Magaosi brand. Thanks to that positive experience, my interest towards writing about IEMs didn’t fade away and grew into long journey with lots of other brands. Now, when another model from Magaosi reached me — it is like going back to those good old times of tube sound 

Anyway, current review model is K6 — way much more technically sophisticated and belongs to the upper price segment. It is based on 6BA units (2 of which are from Knowles and the rest are custom made) with 4 crossovers. Just for the note: there is another «Upgrade version» of K6 available at PenonAudio store which comes with extra Bluetooth wire and pink audio cable. But, technically, K6 and K6 Upgraded are similar. The only difference is that regular K6 have wooden plate under the layer of resin while upgraded version doesn’t have such luxury element.

Note: Magaosi K6 were provided to me by PenonAudio in exchange for the honest opinion and review

Magaosi K6 technical specifications:

• Drivers: 6BA (Knowles low frequency 22955 X 2 + custom medium and high frequency X 2 + custom high frequency X 2) + 4 crossovers
• Sensitivity: 110db SPL/mW
• Impedance: 40Ω
• Frequency response range: 10Hz — 40KHz
• Noise isolation: -25dB
• IEM connectors: MMCX
• Cable: MK Kimber Kable, 8-core braided
• Audio jack:  3.5mm, gold-plated
• Cable Length: 1.2m

Magaosi K6 IEMs are available at PenonAudio store

Packaging, design and materials:

What you cannot blame Asian brands for is their constant attempt to build high quality, attractive packaging. Magaosi K6 comes in a matt black box with extra cover and a window exposing IEMs. Lots of technical information printed on the cover while the box itself has a single element in form of brand name imprint.

Top box cover has folding design and also contains a pocket for user manual on the inner side. Inner box compartment is devided in two parts: top part with soft insert for IEMs and bottom part for accessories.

Box contents:

• Magaosi K6 IEMs
• Kimber audio cable
• 3 pairs of white soft silicone eartips
• 3 pairs of 2 flange eartips
• 2 pairs of silicone eartips
• 3 pairs of foamy eartips
• carrying case
• user manual

Eleven pairs of eartips should be totally enough to find the best fit for any ear  Carrying case is neat but not unique — this design of the case is commonly used by different brands.

K6 IEM shells are made of transparent resin with stabilized wood inserts. The whole structure has unibody injection-molded construction with no compensational openings since BA units don’t require to have such.

The only extra elements are aluminum output nozzles (with aluminum grills) and MMCX connectors. Both elements seem to be inserted during the process of molding — no glue spotted.

In overall, the build quality is perfect while the design is georgeous. Wood panels are beautifully painted with attractive vivid colors, Magaosi brand name golden logo is neatly placed there as well and protected by the layer of resin… Technical structure is also perfectly exposed by the transparent shell material. You can easily count all drivers and even see the marking on Knowles units. Love such IEMs where you can get some extra understanding how it is made in a combination with the exciting look.

Stock cable: first time I see such thick and telling audio cable straight from the box. Seems that it is the best what Magaosi might propose sound and build quality wise.  8-core twisted copper, with aluminum Y-splitter, MMCX connector and 3.5mm jack housings + transparent plastic limiter and transparent silicone braid. Audio jack housing also has the carbon fiber insert. Channel indication is provided by red and transparent plastic rings on MMCX connector housings… But the most impressing is still the thickness of the cable…

By the way, there is another cable by Magaosi which is called «upgrade cable» for K6. I don’t know what else to desire and what else to upgrade… The main difference is that upgraded cable has more cores, seems to be made of silver-plated copper and has some minor differences in the design of furniture. Soundwise, both cables are similarly good. This violet cable comes as a stock one with K6 Upgraded model (together with extra Bluetooth cable).

Fit:

Magaosi K6 shell design goes to the most comfortable one in terms of fit for all kinds of activities. I call it «pseudo» custom because it reminds of the shells of very expensive IEMs which were aquired after auricle casting process in customer based approach. All of the mass market IEMs from different brands with the same pseudo custom shape had the best fit so far. Under any circumstances. For example: Kinera Idun, HiFiBoy OSV3, Hidizs Mermaid MS1 and MS4. Therefore, you shouldn’t be worried about the fit of K6. The most comfortable and universal shape (for mass market IEMs) along with great choice of eartips and soft but curved earguides should do the trick for anyone. Very tight and secure fit.

Sound quality:

Tested with HiBy R6Pro DAP

Lows and midbass:

Bass side is always different with balanced armature drivers compared to dynamic units. Here is the same: bass is perfectly detailed, well-exposed and plays with lots of textures. But the reach and extension is not as deep as in case of dynamic IEMs in the same price range. It feels more controlled, fast and contoured rather than very deep and emphasized. Lows are always present in the sound picture of K6, moreover — always weighted, apparent and accurate. Although, it would not get that boomy and dimensional even with the most bass-oriented tracks. I would say that perfect performance of bass by a pair of Knolwes BA per channel in Magaosi K6 is suitable for the most of the music genres where the congregated interpretation with excellent layering is a must. Dance music, hip-hop or rap — not as good as soul, rock, orchestra or blues…

Midbass performance is similarly stellar — powerful, rich and tight sound of drums accompanied by the perfect dynamics and articulation. Treble does bring some influence here but not to the extent of making the sound of drums irritating. My favorite test tracks which would sound harsh on drums with some overly bright IEMs didn’t tend to show any inadequacy here.

Mids and vocals:

Although K6 have apparent V-shaped tuning, mids are quite full-bodied and naturally exposed. Main advantage is the mix of good thickness to all voices and instruments together with enormous amount of micro-details BA units are capable of. Resolution is very high, string, bow and wind instruments capture whole lot of attention. Moreover, each sound is perfectly distinguishable in the entire mix. Female vocals don’t seem to be shouting and distructing even with that much of the influence from the lower treble side.

Treble:

Guess what — yes, the strongest side of high-quality BA units again… Crisp, clear and icy-cold sound of extended treble. Some people might be more susceptible to high frequencies and would vote for less bright presentation… Some (as me) would say that such bright picturing would not let to relax and have a long listening experience. Yes, this is true…, but others would love this sound. What is definitely true is that anyone would be overwhelmed with the clarity and transparency of this range.

Soundstage:

Excellent instrument separation + perfect layering of the ranges = quite dimensional soundstage. The only thing that it lacks is the width which would regularly be defined by the extension and volume of lows… which is not perfect in case of most of the pure BA IEMs.

Sound in overall:

Magaosi K6 sound could be described as V-shaped and bright with high resolution throughout the ranges, excellent instrument separation, very good layering, textured lows, well exposed mids and transparent treble. Sound is perceived as being on the brighter side of the tonality, detailed and crisp, with good overall balance and some extra emphasis on treble.

Compared to LZ HIFI A6:

LZ A6 are hybrid IEMs, also based on 6 driver package with extra HF piezo unit and dynamic driver for lows. Plus the ability to tune sound to a great extent by using the stock set of different filters. Altoghether, this make A6 a better and more secure option to consider during such a costly purchase. The only thing that you would not be able to tune in A6 is the fit. Magaosi K6 have much better fit and similarly good sound which reminds of A6 with the least vivid filters (like purple one, for example). Of course, the extension of both ends in K6 would not be as good as dynamic and piezo drivers of LZ A6 would produce but the price is not the same either…

Compared to Hidizs Mermaid MS4:

MS4 is also a hybrid model with Knowles BA units and large dynamic driver for lows. Consequently, lows have more volume and extension but not as textured, fast and detailed as in K6. The rest of the sound characteristics are quite similar. As well as the shape and fit.

Conclusion:

Magaosi K6 IEMs go straight to the podium of my personal preferences. Whenever there is a desire to get some juicy, detailed and engaging performance — K6 would be a perefect contender for its combination of great fit and impressive sound quality. Build and design are also nothing more to be desired for the price given, even the cable is the most advanced one that ever came out straight of the box. Therefore, the conclusion is very definite and positive — great option to consider with the ultimate set of all pertaining features, packed in comfortable shape and presented in the attractive package…!

Magaosi K6 IEMs are available at PenonAudio store

Magaosi K6 IEMs with Bluetooth cable are available at PenonAudio store