Whizzer Kylin HE03AL Review – Strong Allrounder
Pros — Warm, clean, cohesive sound; small, light, comfortable earpieces; attractive design and build.
Cons — Sound is strongly eartips dependent, can be bright.
In this Article
Executive Summary
The Whizzer Kylin HE03AL is a cohesive warm-bright, nimble earphone that scores in almost all aspects.
Introduction
With the abundance of multidriver earphones in the last few years, the size of the earpieces appears to have increased exponentially. This may be a consequence of the number of drivers packed into the shells, but even single-dynamic driver earphones appear to have grown. Apart from that, many shells appear to approach a few uniform designs. The listener has to stuff huge cherries into their ears and almost nobody appears to find anything wrong with that.
When choosing my earphones for the day, comfort, and therefore size, shape, and weight play a big role. A good example are my infamous, now discontinued UE 900S that feature four balanced armature drivers in very tiny shells.
Whizzer shows that it can be done. The company is currently having success with the highly rated $80 HE01, an articulate and fun-tuned single dynamic-driver iem. The earpieces come in a unique teardrop shape that provide an excellent fit. While the roségold design may polarize the audio enthusiasts, it stands out from the large uniform fraction of the rest.
Whizzer carried this principal shape over to their new HE03AL (not 100%), a 1+2 iem, which distinguish themselves from their competition through their appearance.
Specifications
| Drivers: 1 10.2 mm DD & 2 Knowles TWFK-30017-00 BA |
| Impedance: 32 Ω |
| Sensitivity: 110 dB/mW |
| Frequency Range: 20-25,000 Hz |
| Cable/Connector: 5N SPOFC/3.5 mm |
| Tested at: $230 |
| Purchase Link: Whizzer Official Store |
Physical Things and Usability
The earpieces come in a very high-quality blue leather case, which may not be the most portable one. The earpieces are made of high-grade magnesium-aluminium alloy, and their haptic is as good as it can be. They are not only small but also light, and their nozzles are relatively long with two lips.
The 5N silver-plated copper cable is reminiscent of the ones that come with some Moondrop models: it is silver-white, with a round cross section, and is not too rubbery, rather light, drapes well around my body, and the connectors are made of metal. The earhooks are relatively elastic and do not strangle my ears. There is minor microphonics. Whizzer want to sell you their $79 GSC5N upgrade cable, but I find the stock cable just fine for me, as it is light. Works.
Also in the box are two sets of silicone eartips, black wide-bores, and whitish narrow-bores. The accessories are completed by a little soft brush and the usual paperwork.
Ergonomics is very good, the small earpieces with their long nozzles fit my ears like a glove. Very comfortable for many hours of listening pleasure. Isolation is not the greatest, but this may vary between sets of ears.
Tonality and Technicalities
Equipment used: MacBook Air/iPhone SE with AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt; EarMen Eagle with AudioQuest JitterBug FMJ, Earstudio HUD100, ifi Audio iDSD Nano BL; stock tips.
A sonic characterization of the HE03AL is somewhat tricky, as the sound is rather tip dependent. But independent of tips, I’d characterize the HE03AL as cohesive and moderately warm, organic, and musical, closer to a “clean” single dynamic driver than a BA multi. This, combined with its small, light, ergonomic and therefore well fitting earpieces make for a pleasant, fatigue-free listening over longer periods.
The stock tips worked best for me. I also tried tip rolling but had no luck: SpinFit CP145 and CP500 did not improve anything and the Azla SednaEarfit introduced a muffled upper bass.
The white narrow-bore “reference” tips are bulbous in shape and rather long, and they have the thicker membrane of the two stock sets. They are made for deep insertion. The black wide-bore “soundstage” tips are rather short and wide. They are stitting shallower in your ear canals. Both kinds are short-stemmed and work well with the long nozzles.
Sonically the white tips dial the low end back and move the vocals forward. As a side-effect, this brings the upper midrange out and some may perceive the sound bright. Paradoxically, these “reference” tips create the better 3-D scene.
The black tips add to the bass and move the vocals back into the trough of a U-shape. That bass balances the upper midrange elevation, which essentially switches the midrange glare off and avoids shoutiness.
Different strokes for different folks.
All this is not reflected in my measurements, for two reasons: first, I always use the same standard tips for all earphones, and second, I could not get consistent results with the black tip as the coupler refused to work with the thin membane.
However, measurements with my standard tis show a 13 dB pinna gain from 1 to 2 kHz is followed by a 4 kHz peak, resulting in a broad upper midrange plateau. The elevated 4-5 kHz region can introduce grain and harshness to many ears, but can be mitigated with eartips, as seen above.
Independent of tips, the low end is well dosed with a natural decay. Extension into the sub-bass is good but not the greatest, neither is slam, although there is a good rumble with the black tips. Call it “relaxed”.
If you want a healthy bass kick, the HE03AL offer a more natural sounding solution instead. Fast bass lines are clean, precise, but subtle. “Composed” is the best fitting term for the low end, and more so with the white tips than with the black ones. Bass is thumpier and punchier with the black tips.
Vocals in the lower midrange are very nicely rendered and brighter with the white tips. Note weight does not suffer from the upper midrange glare with the white tips. Black tips cause some bass bleed that enhance the recessed male vocals. Note definition is very good and there is plenty of air.
The lower treble drops somewhat off with cymbals in the 7 kHz are being recessed and subtle, but still well defined and crisp. This does not really compromise the treble experience much as the 10 kHz comes to help. Treble resolution and details very good and there is no danger that the upper treble is fatiguing to anybody.
According to the subtle low end, soundstage is not as immersive as in the Dunu Zen, for example. the baser black tips make the stage deeper and limited in width, and the white tips cause the opposite.
Spatial cues is good, you can pinpoint musicians on the stage nicely. Resolution and microdynamics are average, and macrodynamics benefits from amplification. Resolution suffers when the stage is crowded.
Timbre is astonishingly natural but can be coated with a film of brightness, depending on tips. The BAs do not introduce that “glassy” BA timbre.
Whizzer Kylin HE03AL Compared
The $240 NiceHCK Lofty single DD has more depth and weight, is bassier, but is overall much less coherent and balanced. The $220 Akoustyx R-220 has a significantly flatter, neutral tuning with a much lesser low end that comes very close to Etymotic’s tuning. The $200 Shozy Form 1.4 sounds less organic but is technically better.
Concluding Remarks
With the HE03AL, Whizzer have released an iem that distinguishes itself from its competition already by its appearance. I would classify this iem as a great allrounder: it is attractive looking and feeling, well-made, comfortable, and it sounds musical, engaging, and pleasant. All little wheels work well together, the wow effect may come later. And it will…
I’d recommend the HE03AL to people who have saved their money for ONE earphone in the $200-250 class. For you, it will cover all the bases. And I assign some longevity to it. It is good enough to still serve you well 3 years down the road.
My wife has had a single earphone, the Hifiman RE-400. I gave her the HE03AL as an upgrade. The perfect iem for somebody like her.
Until next time…keep on listening!
Disclaimer
The Whizzer Kylin HE03AL was provided from Whizzer for my review and I thank them for that.
Get the HE03AL from Whizzer Official Store
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