NiceHCK NX7 Pro Review – Bright Side Of The Road
Pros — Crystal clear, airy, open, vivid sound; super accessories.
Cons — Upper midrange and 15 kHz treble peak can be fatiguing; repetitive design.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The NiceHCK NX7 Pro is a bright, open, and airy sounding earphone that is designed for treble aficionados. The degree of brightness can be controlled by three included tuning filters.
INTRODUCTION
There has been a recent abundance of “Pro” earphone models in the budget sector flooding the market. “Pro” has been used traditionally in marketing lingo to address the professional user, as opposed to the “consumer”. 15 years ago, Apple distinguished both in their notebook lines, which I never quite understood. But in contrast to this historical industry standard, the recent over-use of “Pro” probably constitutes euphemisms for more or less dramatically updated versions of previous and frequently prematurely marketed models…in order not to disgruntle early adopters.
Fortunately, this is not the case with the NiceHCK NX7 Pro, as they constitute a much more comprehensive package than their older NX7 sibling, at a reasonable $20 more. Wether the NX7 Pro deserve the label “Pro” in terms of sound needs to be established in this note.
SPECIFICATIONS
Impedance: 58Ω
Driver Unit: 4BA + 2DD (Dual Carbon Nanotube Dynamic)+ Piezoelectric Ceramics Driver, hybrid 7 units each side.
Frequency: 20 – 25000 Hz
Cable Material: 16 cores pure copper
Cable Length: 1.2m ± 3 cm
Plug Type: 4 types gold plated
Connector: 0.78mm 2 pin
Replaceable Facepanels: silver/red/blue
Sensitivities: silver filter 107dB/mW red filter 108dB/mW blue filter 105dB/mW
Tested at: $99
Links: HiFiGo Aliexpress store or HiFiGo
PHYSICAL THINGS AND USABILITY
The package contains a lot of goodies: a really nice and sturdy textile case, a high-quality copper cable, faceplates in three colours (silver, red, blue) incl. spare screws, and three different tuning filters (silver, blue, and red). The included eartips didn’t work for me so that I used SpinFit CP145. Please note that this earphone may be tip dependent. Therefore treat my sound description with a grain of salt. Comfort, fit, and isolation are good. Haptic and build quality are the same as the original NX7. The NX7 Pro are driven well with my iphone SE and did not need amplification.
TONALITY AND TECHNICALITIES
My tonal preference and testing practice
I did the 100 hour break-in as suggested by the manufacturer. Right off the bat, the NiceHCK NX7 Pro sounds much better (that is less treble forward/aggressive) than the original NX7 (with silver or blue tuning filters used). The upper midrange and the lower treble have been shaved off to varying degrees (silver and blue filters). What remains is that prominent 15 kHz peak that can be fatiguing for sensitive ears as it adds some scratchiness and graininess to the high notes. This means, treble is still very much forward: cymbals are sitting in the foreground, appear splashy and tizzy, and the upper treble spike contributes to a crystal-clear sound and the impression of better resolution than there is.
The blue filter creates the most balanced sound: it offers the least prominent upper midrange and therefore the least bright image, producing the richest vocals of the three filters. In fact, vocals are only slightly recessed, reasonably intimate, and only marginally breathy. Bass is actually solid, well measured, and well extended, but not boomy or overbearing. Well dosed. The aggressiveness of the original NiceHCK NX7 has been tamed quite well, although the overall sound remains brightish. This produces an open sound with a wide stage and good depth. The soundstage is more wide than deep.
The silver stock filter adds to the upper midrange (compared to the blue filter), which results in an additional component of sharpness in the vocals department. Voices are less scupltured, more excavated, breathier, more recessed, and more prone to sibilance compared to the blue filter. This opens up the soundstage but also flattens it in the third-dimension. Bass remains reasonably fast, textured, and measured but is perceived as less extended.
I taped off the nozzles by 80% with micropore tape to add fullness to the midrange but all it did was mute the sound somewhat. Yes, it removed the brightness from the upper midrange, didn’t touch the 15 kHz peak at all, and made the NiceHCK NX7 Pro difficult to drive. This fix didn’t work.
In summary, for the silver and blue filters, timbre is astonishingly natural, just a tad bright (depending on the filter). Dynamics are very good. The treble and upper midrange introduce good air, the sound is quite open. Resolution is very good with all filters.
We can omit the red filter, as it yields the identical frequency response and sound as the original NiceHCK NX7. The respective sound is too harsh for me in comparison to the other two filters.
The similarly priced Moondrop Starfield and KBEAR Diamond (both single DDs) are less bright and have narrower soundstages. Both sound smoother and have the more natural timbre, but they also have less bite. Check their respective reviews for details. The NiceHCK NX7 Pro remains its own unique beast in this class.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
Surprisingly enough, I actually quite like the sound of the NiceHCK NX7 Pro with the silver stock filters: the airiness and openness of the image is quite appealing to my brain…but unfortunately my eardrums start protesting after a while because of the treble. Trebleheads, if such exist, will be very happy with the stock filters. Treble-sensitive listeners who prefer the blue filters, experience a good sound quality in this price segment. The NiceHCK NX7 Pro’s biggest asset is their versatility: the owner can play with faceplates and tuning filters and create their own individual looks and sound combinations. It is a niche that will attract many fans, considering the popularity of the original NiceHCK NX7.
Keep on listening!
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DISCLAIMER
The review unit was provided by HiFiGo and I thank them for that. Much of this review was written in Cairo, Egypt, where I enjoyed great hospitality.
Product Links: HiFiGo Aliexpress Store or HiFiGo
Our generic standard disclaimer.
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FURTHER READING
