Listening to the Kiwi Ears Halcyon
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We have had the Halcyon run in for a few days. The IEM’s arrived a tad later than expected, so we’ve mainly been listening to them on the go. What immediately stands out is the balanced soundstage. There is no overly heavy bass, no pronounced midrange. If anything stands out, it is the treble. We have to get used to it a bit first, because in some tracks we hear details we hadn’t noticed before. Details in the drums, for example, from Bernard Purdie in Steely Dan’s ‘Babylon Sisters’. The space between the notes, as my colleague Martijn so beautifully put it.
When listening to music via the VOX audio player, something didn’t quite seem right. The treble sounded a bit shrill and too pronounced. After some fiddling, it turned out the EQ setting wasn’t set to neutral. Once set to neutral, it sounds right again. The Halcyon has sonic characteristics that ensure that when something sounds different from what we’re used to, we don’t wonder if it’s down to the Halcyons.
With the ear tips we have chosen, there is a sort of natural noise cancellation. Even on a fairly noisy bus, we can enjoy the music. There is no genre in which the Halcyon excels or performs less well. Tracks with heavy bass get heavy bass. Vocal work, a cappella or close harmony sounds exactly as it should. It is as if the Halcyons have a power reserve, making everything sound wonderfully effortless.
More information on the Kickstarter page.