Jürgen has already written a thorough review of the NiceHCK Bro, which you find HERE.

By Loomis T. Johnson

Senfer UEs/NiceHCK Bro—very refined quintessential ChiFi knockoff gets surprisingly close to the exponentially more expensive mainstream IEMs they imitate. Nicely built, easy to drive and ergonomic, with good isolation; I prefer their sleek fit and stock cable to that on the (real) UE900s. Like the UE900s, the UEs is balanced, with more prominent mids than the usual V-shaped fare. Some subbass is palpable, if not especially punchy or deep (these are not optimal for EDM or metal); midbass lacks some body but is well-controlled and sculpted. Mids, as stated, are forward and clean, while treble is sparkly, slightly bright and reasonably detailed (prone to very slight sibilance or splashiness at the extremes); note texture is comparatively lean overall. Soundstage has good width and height; imaging is particularly good; the position of each performer is very accurate and unlike many of these DIY hybrids, driver coherence is seamless. Compared to the UE900s, the UEs has a more adrenalized quality and is brighter and less resolving, particularly at the high-end, though the difference is not nearly as large as the price would suggest. Scary good value.

By Jürgen Kraus

After a couple of years with 3 to 6 BA driver-earphones, I have come back to treasure single DDs because of their natural timbre. These Senfers also have a very natural timbre but, to my surprise, feature 1 DD + 1 BA. When I put these into my ears after a long time, they first sounded somewhat flat and analog. But once my ears got used to their timbre, these simpletons just killed it. Have yet to find any in my large iem selection that reproduce voices and instruments as naturally as this earphone (or the NiceHCK Bro). A cello really sounded like a cello and the Queen of the Night out of Mozart’s Zauberflöte was standing right in my room – scary. Sure, the multi-drivers are technically more competent, e.g. they resolve better, but they cannot reproduce these instruments as authentically as this cheapo. Strangely enough, that enormous bass as shown in the frequency response does not appear huge at all to my ears, because it is focused and controlled, and extends like this into the sub-bass.

Compared to the newer $20 Knowledge Zenith models, the Senfer/Bro does not have these fatiguing 2-4 kHz peaks. Vocals sound therefore less accentuated and thinner but also less intrusive and more natural — the much more detailed and refined sounding ZSN becomes quickly fatiguing to me.

Loomis – with a grain of salt – tends to compare these to the $399 4 BA UE900s [errr…compare the names] in terms of detail resolution — whereas the UE900s wins on the bass focus. I want to add that the Senfer UEs has a much more natural timbre.

Paradoxically, the Senfer UEs/NiceHCK Bro come in a shape that appears to have become one of the standards in the ever expanding $100 to $200 Chifi category. The fact that this model has found mainly friends in poor, cheap, old, and grumpy people shows how hype does not affect…poor, cheap, old, and grumpy people.

To me, the Senfer UEs/NiceHCK have stood the test of time and will always remain a favourite.

Keep on listening!

EPILOGUE

Recommending these little Senfer rascals to a fellow Head-Fier got me banned from some functionality there forever (I was reported to admins by some creep of known identity). I purchased these about two years ago for $17 — but saw them lately for around $13 (in the NiceHCK Bro version).

Head-Fi continue to claim that Senfer is associated with Wooeasy/Yinyoo/Easy Earphones without presenting evidence — and they lash out against people mentioning Senfer. Wooeasy/Yinyoo/Easy Earphones are banned from Head-Fi for allegedly having rigged product reviews. Fact is that Senfer is Senfer is Senfer, an entirely independent company and unrelated to the aforementioned. Head-Fi have the house right, but they don’t have the right to manufacture and spread falsehoods, which constitutes libel. I appeal to Head-Fi’s basic decency and fairness to test their claims. As to rigging reviews: there are no sharp boundaries between real, sugarcoating, and fake. Some Head-Fi-tolerated “reviewers” are suspiciously closely associated with certain companies (some of which sponsor Head-Fi) while never or hardly ever finding any flaws on those companies’ products…in contrast to some independent external (only) reviewers. 

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Loomis’ Latest…

Buzzcocks, “Singles Going Steady”— my wife made two salient observations about this record the other night: first, that under all the buzzsaw guitars there’s a lot of 50’s doo-wop and Elvis-style rockabilly in these tunes; and second, there’s almost no bass in the mix—it’s virtually all midrange. True dat, but these are stone classics nonetheless; at least during his late 70s heyday Pete Shelley might have been the great English songwriter.

Ed Kuepper, “Everybody’s Got To”— hard pop masterpiece from ex-Saints guitarist. Largely eschewing his punk past and the dark folk of his earlier solo records, this is closer in spirit to Ike and Tina or Sticky Fingers-era Stones, with blaring horns, big drums and a lovely-voiced backing vocalist. He’s a powerful rhythm player and a distinctive singer, but it’s the songs that really stand out and these are as good as any to emerge from Oceania. (“Lonely Paradise” “Too Many Clues”).

Chris Forsyth, “All Time Present”—he studied under Television guitar madman Richard Lloyd and was obviously a star pupil—most of these compositions sound like variations of “Marquee Moon,” though he also channels Krautrock, Neil Young and Sonic Youth. Mainly instrumental, though his sporadic vocals and lyrics are at least serviceable, this is technically dazzling (if derivative) guitar nirvana.

Sex Clark Five, “Strum and Drum”—Sort of a DIY, indie-rock counterpart to “Who Sell Out” from Alabama, of all places. They fuse REM jangle, Merseybeat, and T. Rex, but have their own unique take on this form, and  virtually all these one and two-minute gems feature a big hook, inventive harmonies and oddball lyrics. John Peel was a big fan.

All of Loomis’s picks: https://www.audioreviews.org/loomis-music-picks/

JK’s Latest…

Ed Palermo Big Band — A Lousy Day In Harlem: As the title implies, this big band is a bit on the goofy side. After “The Great Un-American Songbook” (featuring mainly titles of the “British Invasion”…Beatles etc.), these merry men now take on classics like Duke Ellington or contemporaries such as Renee Roseness…or they play their own compositions. Great for testing the 7 kHz area in your earphones…lots of cymbals.

Jan Lisiecki — Mendelssohn: More hometown stuff on Deutsche Grammophon, but this time Calgary. Great piano attack to test your headphones/earphones with. I like Jan’s very dry approach to Mendelssohn.

The Rhythm Method — How Would You Know I was Lonely? 2019 debut by South London band combining 808 State, Madness, Squeeze, Pet Shop Boys, Prefab Sprout, New Order, and the Streets…all in one. Uplifting, fluffy, sweet. And Cliff Difford of Squeeze even sings on the last song. Groovy, Baby!

All of Jürgen’s picks: https://www.audioreviews.org/jks-picks/

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SPECIFICATIONS

• Product Name: Original NICEHCK N3 In Ear
• EarphoneBrand: NICEHCKModel: N3Earphone
• Type: In-ear
• Impedance: 55 Ω
• Earphone Sensitivity: 100 dB/mW
• Frequency Range: 20-22000Hz
• Plug Type: 3.5mm L-shaped
• Cable Length: 1.2m±3cm
• Color: Gray  
• Earphone interface: MMCX connector
• Remote: No
• Driver Unit: 10mm Dual Carbon Nanotube Dynamic Driver + Piezoelectric Ceramics Driver Hybrid 3 Units (3 driver units each side)
• Price: $59
• Purchase link aliexpress: Here
• Your Price: $45 [Here]
• Purchase link amazon: Here

NiceHCK N3—among the morass of interesting new releases in the same ($60) bracket I chose these because the (unusual) listed 55ohm impedance would trigger the high impedance mode of my LG V30 (the touted “piezzoelectric ceramic driver” sounded like mere adspeak to me). Very nicely metal build; I love the compact sleek shape which provides for great fit and good isolation. OTOB, with stock silicon tips these sounded awful—veiled overall; almost bassless with sucked-out mids and over-enhanced bright treble.

Frustrated, I put them on the burner (Jim at HCK urges 100hrs. of burn-in) and switched to foams, and things started to normalize—the signature became sort of reverse-L shaped, with sculpted modestly deep (though not impactful) subbass and recessed thin midbass. Mids become prominent and rich-textured with good clarity while extremely bright, aggressive high end being the auditory focus.  Attack transients—drum heads and reeds—are very fast, and there’s a lot of microdetail and sparkle, but the treble has an unnatural sheen and these make horns and electric guitars sound blaring and strident at times. Soundstage seems fairly narrow and low, but has good depth (it sounds like you’re listening in a long hall), and instrument placement is accurate. Surfacially, these remind me of the Vivo XE800/Vsonic GR07, which also tune down midbass and emphasize a bright, highly detailed highend, but the Vivo is more coherent—you’re conscious of listening to component parts rather than an integrated whole with the N3.

In part my less-than-glowing impressions may be due to the fact that the NiceHCK N3’s signature is so antithetical to the typical V-shape (or even the more balanced approach of the Tin T2)—it’s a very unique tuning. However, these are just a bit off and haven’t grabbed me viscerally, although there’s enough buried potential to suggest that future iterations might produce a better outcome

JK’s SECOND OPINION

Note: this earphone has an impedance of 55 Ω and should be driven by a dedicated amplifier. I burnt it in for over 140 hours upon the recommendation of the seller.

INTRODUCTION

The NiceHCK N3 is a beautiful earphone with impeccable CNC-machined metal housings and a great cable, which has a round cross section (it is not braided). The box contains the bare minimum including four pairs of rubber tips. And, for the first time in my experience, I received a NiceHCK product does not come with a protective case.

The earpieces fit me comfortably well but I had sound problems (boomy bass) with the included rubber tips — the N3 worked well for me with the large Knowledge Zenith starling tips. I also tried foams but they sucked too much life out of the sound while also trimming the rough edges a bit.

I first used my iPhone SE and the audioquest dragonfly dac/amp attached to it, which produced sufficient power to drive the NiceHCK N3…but also a harsh, congested sound. I then switched to my MacBook Air with the Schiit Fulla dongle amp, which improved the imaging (which would have been the case with most other earphones, too, as the amp is a notch up compared to the dragonfly).

TONALITY

JK’s tonal preference and testing practice

JK’s Test tracks

The tuning is a classic V-shape with a frequency response typical for budget earphones.

The bass is reasonably well extended but could be a bit more focused, faster, and layered — and therefore less boomy and dull, which would also improve clarity. Both male and female voices, although having a good depth, are thin, over-accentuated and therefore rather sharp and aggressive, and the degree of both increases into the upper midrange [2-4 kHz] where guitars can sound shrill and ear-piercing. Some female singers appear to croak rather than sing and even the audience’s applause can be very unpleasant for my ears. The midrange simply lacks volume and smoothness and the sound appears artificial and forced. Treble sensu stricto is actually ok as a drop above 4 kHz adds some relaxation. The 12-15 kHz peak attempts to add clarity and pretend resolution but all it does is contribute to throwing the overall image out of balance.

The soundstage is rather deep but also unusually narrow. The timbre is unnaturally metallic: a classical orchestra sounds electrically amplified. In the big picture, the sound is not balanced or cohesive and quickly fatiguing to my ears. The NiceHCK N3 masters most things with great difficulty. To be brutally honest, I would not spend any money on it.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

The NiceHCK N3 surely is an interesting experiment with its piezoelectric drivers and its high 55 Ω impedance. It is also built very well and comes with a great cable. Unfortunately, this experiment needs being sent back to the drafting table to produce a more balanced, pleasant, and less fatiguing sound with a more natural timbre. I look forward to a retuned, improved version.

DISCLAIMER

Loomis purchased his review unit and Jürgen received his from NiceHCK Audiostore for a few pennies (and will give it to charity). The sole purpose of this double review was to independently test the N3’s technical and practical capabilities. 

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