Sound Analysis.

I analyzed VE7 sound performance paired up with a neutral LPGT source while playing a variety of test tracks, such as Agnes Obel “The curse”, Sandro Cavazza “So much better” (Avicii remix), C-Bool “Never go away”, Ed Sheeran “Shape of you”, Alan Walker “Darkside”, Galantis “Hunter”, Iggy Azalea “Black widow”, Indila “Boite en argent”, Dua Lipa “Love again”, Counting Crows “Big yellow taxi”, David Elias “Vision of her”, and Michael Jackson “Dirty Diana”.  No burn in was necessary, though by force of habit I still let it play for a few days before I started analyzing the sound.  I used stock SpinFit eartips and stock single ended cable in my analysis.

I find VE7 to have a neutral balanced signature with a revealing transparent colder tonality and a high level of clarity and detail retrieval.  The overall sound has zero coloring, and the tuning is very coherent with all 7 drivers working in a unison of a perfect harmony.

Bass has a good extension, goes deep to a level of sub-bass rumble, but it is more neutral in quantity.  We are talking about fast, tight, articulate BA type of bass, without too much texture or weight, but it has good accuracy and control.  It still gives you a good sense of the toe-tapping PRaT rhythm, but it is on a leaner side and not the star of the tuning.

Lower mids are neutral, no added weight, just a touch of natural warmth, sounds very linear going from bass into lower mids.  Upper mids are natural, resolving, layered.  Not natural-organic, but rather natural-revealing.  Mids do have a revealing edge with plenty of clarity thanks to a moderate lift around 2kHz and 4kHz, but they still sound natural to my ears.

Treble is airy, extended, on a brighter side, but well controlled and not overwhelming.  There is a peak around 7kHz to give the sound higher resolution and to help extract more micro-details, but it doesn’t contribute to any sibilance or harshness.  And then another peak in upper treble around 12kHz injecting more “air” into the sound, helping with layering and separation between the instruments and vocals.

The soundstage is wide, definitely above the average, having more width than depth/height, creating sort of an oval shaped space around you.  Imaging is not exactly 3D holographic, but still very accurate where you can distinguish and pin point every instrument and vocals in space thanks to a nicely layered and separated sound.

Eartips selection.

The selection of eartips is crucial to any universal in-ear monitors and will affect the sound, especially the bass impact/quantity which depends on the seal.  Due to a large opening of my earcanals, I usually go for the largest size eartips to get a better seal.  Also, please keep in mind, eartips impressions are subjective and will be based on anatomy of my ears.

SpinFit (stock) – baseline sound with balanced signature and neutral revealing tonality.  The treble is bright and crisp, but not harsh.

Final Type E – the same as stock SpinFits.

AZLA Xelastec – a touch more sub-bass, otherwise the same as stock SpinFits.

Symbio F – a touch more sub-bass and more tamed down treble.  Treble is still crisp, but Symbio F takes the edge of it to make it sound a bit smoother.

Comply TSX – more sub-bass and slightly elevated mid-bass.  Treble is smoother as well, but it affected the treble extension and airiness.  Also, I noticed the soundstage got narrower which I didn’t like.

If VE7 treble bothers you, Symbio F is a good alternative to tame it down.  Otherwise, stock SpinFit eartips are good.

Cable pair up.

I’m aware that some people don’t believe in cables and have very strong opinion about it.  It’s not my intent to change those minds.  Instead, I’m just sharing what I hear during my testing.  What makes sense to me, a metal wire is a material with physical properties of resistivity, conductivity, purity, and unique geometry, all of which put together act as a filter between your source and headphones.  Variations of these physical properties can affect the conductivity of analog signal, resulting in a sound change, from a subtle to a more noticeable level.  If the talk about cables upsets you, please skip this section.  Otherwise, enjoy these short impressions.

stock to Eletech Socrates – a noticeable change in soundstage getting wider, though in this case I was going from 3.5mm stock to 4.4mm balanced which is a contributing factor relative to a source.  Another change is a deeper sub-bass extension and stronger mid-bass impact.

stock to EA EVO10 – I thought the effect will be similar to Socrates, and indeed, the bass became stronger and deeper which I liked.  But lower treble got a bit peaky and I started to hear a little bit of sibilance which I didn’t like in this pair up.

stock to EA Cleopatra – this was a good pair up with a noticeable change in bass extension and impact, going from neutral to elevated which changed the overall sound sig to even more balanced.  For cable disbelievers this is a great example to try.  Mids/vocals also have a fuller body and treble is a bit smoother.  Soundstage all got a bit wider, though I went from SE to BAL.

stock to PlusSound Tri-Copper – I hear a very similar improvement as with EA Cleo, bass impact and extension change is quite noticeable.  And so does a fuller body mids/vocals.  But treble was also a touch smoother in comparison to Cleo.  This was actually my favorite pair up that gave VE7 a more natural and musical tonality.

I didn’t go into kilo-buck cable pair ups since some would have been more expensive than VE7 price tag.  But between Cleo and Tri-Copper, which I enjoyed both, I preferred the pair up with the latter one.

Page 3 – Comparison, Source pair up, and Conclusion.