Pros — Good build quality
– Warm, mostly balanced tuning
– Good soundstage and imaging
– Above-average resolution

Cons — Sub-bass rumble is lacking, mid-bass lacks texture at times, upper-bass bleeds into lower-mids
– Treble has artificial timbre
– Treble peak ~9KHz can become distracting and might cause discomfort/fatigue
– Needs a good source

INTRODUCTION

KBEar generated a lot of buzz when they announced the Believe. 

“Is it truly a pure Beryllium (foil) driver?” — asked the dumbfounded onlookers. Why won’t they? The only two pure Be foil diaphragm drivers that are out in the market, Final A8000 and Dunu Luna, cost $2000 and $1700 respectively. 

KBear Believe had a list price of $180. 

Naturally, some were skeptical of the authenticity of the driver, and that led to long and winding story which I’d rather not go through here. In the end, if the KBEar Believe justifies its price tag in terms of sound quality I won’t give two-hoots about the underlying driver. Yes, there is always the question of ethics in false marketing, but KBEar at least seems to have sourced the diaphragm with firm belief that were pure Beryllium foils. As the flagship in KBEar’s earphone lineup, a lot rides on it, further magnified by the Beryllium hype. 

Will the Believe turn skeptics into believers?

Note: the ratings given will be subjective to the price tier. My dear friend Alberto over at NBBA was kind enough to loan me his unit of KBEar Believe. It will be sent back to him once the review is done. Disclaimer.

Sources used: Cayin iHA-6+iFi Neo iDSD, Questyle QP1R, Questyle CMA-400i

Price (while reviewed): $150 (with discounts/coupons)

PHYSICAL THINGS AND USABILITY

IN THE BOX…

I can’t comment on the packaging/accessory set as I requested only the KBEar Believe earpieces to help with logistics. Please refer to other reviews to know more. 

APPEARANCE, HAPTIC, AND BUILD QUALITY

If you’ve seen the KBEar Diamond, you’ve seen the KBEar Believe. While there are some changes in the overall dimension, they mirror each other in general ergonomics. The biggest change is the color inlet in-between the carbon-fiber weave. It’s now a shiny blue hue instead of the plain gray one of its predecessor. It looks slick IMO, and definitely makes the Believe stand out. The shell color has also changed from olive-green to black. The gold nozzle remains, along with the dense CNC-milled aluminium build. There are two vents: one underneath the nozzle and beside the 2-pin connectors. There was no driver-flex even with deep seal. 

Overall: a solid build that won’t keep you asking for more. 
5/5

ERGONOMICS, COMFORT, ISOLATION, AND FIT

The shells are fairly comfortable to wear as the nozzle has adequate length and the housing has no sharp edges. Isolation is also above-average. I think this is one IEM that you can wear for long. 
4/5

TECH INSIDE

The KBEar Believe is a single-dynamic driver IEM with a 9mm pure Beryllium (Be from hereafter) diaphragm attached to a PET surrounding. The thing is that Be is too rigid a material to be used as driver surrounding (which needs to be flexible to aid in the pistonic motion of the diaphragm). This is so far the biggest challenge in the pure Be foil-based driver diaphragms. Dunu solved it by using their own special glue and a newly developed PET surrounding which should be lighter than the ones typically used. 

It also uses stronger N52 magnet to achieve higher magnetic flux (exact figures not given) and adopts a “long-stroke design” which seems to be basically a design that allows higher driver displacement from the base of the diaphragm, resulting in higher driver excursion (read: better driver control and such). 

At this price-point I frankly don’t expect as many innovations as Dunu, for example, managed to integrate into the Luna. As long as the Believe sounds good, I’m fine, so let’s just get right down to it.

SOUND

The KBEar Diamond has an overall balanced-tuning with a bit of bass focus in the sub-bass regions (~60Hz). It’s got a pretty sparkly treble to go along with too.

The following impressions were made with Spinfit CP-100 tips and Dunu DUW-03 cable ($200). Listening mostly done on Cayin iHA-6 ($550).

Bass: The KBEar Believe has a rather interesting bass response. It is practically dead between 20–30Hz with very faint rumble ~27Hz onwards. Between 30–70Hz it comes to life, and seriously so. The bass is strongest ~60Hz region and the mid-bass (100–300Hz) also gets a good bump. This is one meaty sounding IEM, though it’s far from bass-head category. 

There are two issues with the bass though (barring the lack of rumble in the sub-bass territories): the lack of bass texture, and the bloated upper-bass that spills into lower-mids at times.

The lack of bass texture is especially surprising to me since Be drivers usually excel in that regard. It’s just monotonous here on the Believe and to complicate things further the driver can’t seem to keep up in fast-flowing bass sections. Meanwhile, the upper-bass often spills into the lower mids adding some haze into the mix (this is even with ridiculous amping, more on that later). 

On the plus side the bass punch was pretty good. Snare hits were handled with authority, though their decay was a tad slower than some of the competition. In the end, the bass response is a mixed bag, and one I think will divide opinions.
3/5

Mids: The lower-mids have a haze that can be mistaken as smoothness, but it’s not how a smooth midrange rendition sounds, not to me at least. This results in male vocals sounding disengaging and often clouded by other instruments (esp bass guitars/pedals). Female vocals fare better and sound pretty good on the Believe. Acoustic instruments also have a nice snap to them which is often missing in this price-range, esp in single-DD designs. Overall midrange resolution is good for the upper-mid regions but that haze in the lower-mids mask some of the undertones and thus bring down the overall resolution. 

The good thing is that this midrange tuning isn’t too shouty (can get borderline on some tracks, e.g. Colbie Caillat’s Realize) and the timbre is generally good. 
4/5

Treble: The treble on the KBEar Believe is very good actually, except for one pressing issue. Let’s get to the good stuff first. The treble has good amount of presence and clarity but never gets overbearing. It’s also fairly extended as cymbal decays aren’t abruptly erased from the scene. There’s no sibilance, and overall resolution in this area is very good and can go toe to toe with some of the most resolving IEMs in this price range. 

The bad, then, comes with a noticeable ringing ~9KHz. It gives a metallic sheen to some instruments (higher-pitched acoustic guitars, for example) and can generate some fatigue over long-listening sessions. On Tool’s Chocolate Chip Trip I often winced with the high-pitched sounds being brought too forward, for example. This issue is exacerbated if you push the volume higher, so I’d not suggest the KBEar Believe if you’re treble sensitive and love to listen at a high volume (which isn’t a good idea in itself). 
3.5/5

Soundstage: Stage-width is about average, but height and depth is very good for the price. Nothing sounds congested and instruments are layered well.
4/5

Imaging: Imaging is also very good, so is instrument separation. Coupled with the good soundstage I found the KBEear Believe to be quite adept at gaming/movies and such. 
4.5/5

Source and Amping: Now this is where things get very confusing. At 98dB/mW @ 17ohms impedance, the KBEar Believe should be moderately hard to drive. Reality is bit more complicated. It requires above-average amping for sure, but I could get it to play nicely with something like the Audirect Beam 2 SE (out of the PC, mobile output is anemic). Out of the apple dongle and the LG G7 the Believe sounded bloated in the bass and lost quite a bit of separation. Resolution took a hit as well.

In the end, the amping requirements are above-average for sure. It’s no Final E5000, or the Campfire Andromeda in terms of source pickiness. At the same time for a sub-$200 device it requires a source that might run you well over that price-bracket. If you already own a good enough desktop amp (e.g. the JDS Atom Amp and a corresponding DAC) then perhaps it’s not big deal to you. For new buyers or those who’re just getting into the hobby, however, I’d advise mulling over potential source purchases if they are convinced about getting the KBEar Believe. 

Bang-for-buck: I’m not gonna say that the Believe is a very cost effective product. It does have good technicalities for the price-range but there are more technical IEMs in this range, e.g. MeeAudio Pinnacle P1, or the classic Etymotic ER3XR. Moreover, the amping requirements make it strictly an enthusiast purchase. However, there are far worse offenders in the price-bracket and given the novel driver type, I’m willing to cut KBEar some slack. 
3.5/5

SELECT COMPARISONS

vs Etymotic ER2XR ($80): The Etymotic ER2XR is another single-DD IEM tuned to Etymotic’s own target curve (Kemar DF) and costs about half of that of the Believe. Right out of the gate, the fit can be a potential deal-breaker with the ER2XR, at least it was for me. However, if you can get a good fit, then you’ll get a very uncolored presentation with natural timbre. The bass is tighter/more extended on the ER2XR with better texture. The treble is also free from that 9KHz peak and helps in long-term listening. Moreover, you don’t need some exceptional amp to drive them. The ER2XR doesn’t quite match the KBEar Believe in terms of soundstage/imaging so if you want a more traditional staging/imaging the KBEar Believe will be a better choice. 

vs Final E4000 ($130): Yet another amp-picky IEM in this price-bracket. The Final IEM has a warm-neutral tuning with boosted mid-bass and sub-bass. Compared to the Believe the bass on the E4000 is a major improvement, provided you are amping them well. The midrange is good on both though I prefer Final’s rendition of the vocals (something they specialize in IMO). The staging is wider on the Final but imaging is better on the Believe. The Final E4000 does roll-off faster in the treble region which makes them sound less detailed than the Believe but also makes them easier to listen to. 

If you’re after technicalities, I think the Believe is the better choice. If you want a soothing signature with better bass control/authority, the Final E4000 won’t let you down, provided you can hook them up to a good amp.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

KBEar set out a very ambitious goal for themselves — to give the masses a taste of well-tuned Be driver at a budget price. They’re about halfway there I’d say. It’s pretty apparent that they still haven’t managed to harness the full potential of the driver as there are some driver-control issues (characterized by the peaky treble and tad bloated bass). I hope they take their time with the next Be driver IEM and iron out the kinks. Also the amping requirements need to be made explicit as otherwise many might have a subpar experience upon purchase. 

The KBEar Believe doesn’t break any new grounds, rather it acts as a proof of concept. I‘d call it a beta version, and I hope KBEar can make us true Believers with the next release.

MY VERDICT

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

Not the finished product I was hoping for

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DISCLAIMER

The KBEar Believe was sent as a loaner for the purpose of this review.

Available for purchase from KBEar Official Store

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