: High quality shells, good stock cable, wonderful fit, tasteful tonal balance, very clear and forward placed vocals (male or female), elastic bass, sweet treble, all-arounder
: Tip selection, occasional bass boominess, not a master of any particular genre
This hobby is an escapist's dream. Escape from daily routine and distress that's causing you via something as sincere and everlasting as listening to music. I believe that the power of music is still not fully understood since it works in mysterious ways. Allow it to do its magic on you and let your worries dissolve in melody.
Having had the possibility to try so many different sets in a relatively short time I felt obliged to go ahead and express my gratitude by trying to help some lost souls out there, just as I was when I first stumbled upon this weird hobby about wired earphones – so yesteryear! … I thought. Possibilities are seemingly endless and only by getting to meet the right people did I manage to jump onboard the train heading the 'right' direction without getting off-track thousands of times along the way. Make sure to understand the helping person's preferences and you too can find your footing and hit the ground running in no time.
35%off: keephifi
Quick Intermezzo About Me
I won't bore you for too long with personal trivia, however my quick & short background resume goes as follows. Currently I am 27 years old and more in awe of sheer power of music by the day. I have always been moved by music just that slight bit more than average, I'd say. My spending started with a roughly 200€ Bose bluetooth speaker back in my first grade of highschool. What an extraterrestrial thing that was in early 2010s. And it keeps on playing to this day – a true testament of quality. Also sounded fantastic back then, nowadays … yeah, not so much. Lots of BT speakers, TWS, car audio speakers, IEMs, etc., later bring me to this day when I truly consider myself an audiophile. What brings me the most joy beside listening to music is singing, so I am currently participating in a choir and challenging myself with solo vocal covers (check the links in my signature to hear my projects). Unsure where all this leads, but the journey itself is marvelous and life is nothing but a journey.
My preference lies somewhere in the neutral camp with just an ever so slight tilt towards warmth, but I try to keep an open mind and truly appreciate any outliers that dare do it differently and succeed. Our ears vary, so do our brain and tastes. I am an advocate for respectful discourse, especially in topics that don't even have many objective undeniable truths. Audio is one of those.
My most listened genres are, in no particular order: jazz, singer/songwriter, slow-paced electronica, ambient, rock, metal, blues, trance, techno & pop.
Disclaimer: I have received the Kefine Klean directly from Kefine. Even if I wanted to shill this to the moon and back, I am way too mindful of others' money to overly hype stuff that does not deserve it, so there's that.
Feel free to check out their official site here: https://www.kefineelec.com/en/ProductDetails.aspx?iProId=25
How My Reviews Are Structured
This will be a barebones stripped down version of my reviews which I will use on sets below a certain price tag from now on. Meant for those sets where writing thousands upon thousands of words is not really worthwhile. Let's face it, no one's reading a book about a 49USD set, so let's trim the weeds and cut straight to the point with a quick rundown of packaging, accessories, design and fit, then moving on to my graphic tools and finishing with a few comparisons.
I have left the set to burn-in for 50+ hours and listened to songs of varied genres to better convey what one can expect from the Klean. As sources I have been using my FiiO BTR7, Venture Electronics Megatron, iBasso DX180, and Venture Electronics RA2B-FE AMP + Prime DAC (in short, called the 'VE Stack'). Certainly no lack of power and quite a different taste on all. Listening was (mostly) done at a volume ranging between 75-85dB. I am using the stock tips and cable.
Here is the quick and rough description of how I understand various star ratings:
Do not even think about it
It has too many drawbacks and gets demolished by competition
This item has the potential but feels a bit too bland and has multiple issues
Wonderful item with rare and mostly subjective drawbacks
Eargasmic performance with all the aspects covered at an incredibly high level
Keep in mind these ratings are certainly affected by the item's price in the overall assessment too. Sometimes that will result in slightly higher score than based solely on my scoring of bass, mids, and treble, while other times it results in a slight penalty if I deem the item a tad overpriced.
In layman's terms - anything rated below 4 stars overall does not get a space in my regular rotation and is either stored and revisited some time later again just to see if my thoughts have changed, or it gets gifted.
I am still catching my stride on how to describe the sound aspects in a clearer way. It is a slow but enjoyable learning curve. I am attempting to make my reviews as ballast-free as possible. The graphics were the step in the right direction, I feel. Capturing the essence of sound characteristics in a less wordy way is next on the list. We all have our own busy schedules and I understand reading a review for 15+ minutes is in (nearly) no-one's interest.
Let's Get Going!
Packaging, Accessories, Design & Comfort
I always take into account the item's price and want to see most of the budget used on the IEM itself, so while packaging is indeed very important for that initial impression that colours our perception, it's secondary to many other things. With that preface, I am happy to say that Klean strikes a great balance. It offers a decent cable and a case, while the tips selection is a bit lacking.
Klean is a tiny set that is bound to fit nearly everyone. The nozzle isn't extra short, so I think that shouldn't be a problem for most either. It feels heavy and durable and its appearance goes along with the form factor. It is a fit and forget kind of set.
Graphics, Graphs & Scores
As mentioned a little earlier, I have worked on trying to cut down on wordiness and all excess gibberish and rather improve upon my nikbr trademarked graphics to truly be able to compare IEMs visually since that offers an easier-to-comprehend, more interactive and simply more appealing experience.
These truly cover most topics in a pretty straight-forward manner. I have described each of these in a bit more detail in my previous reviews. If anything remains unclear, here I am at your service.
Six Basic Traits
comfort is second to none. It comes at a cost of not isolating too well. Bass struggles a bit due to its occasional boominess, midrange is well done with ample openness and naturalness. Treble is well judged and sweetly detailed for being a single DD. Overall cohesion is nearly perfect, but again, the boominess just slightly detaches the bass.
Magic Balance Boards
Soundstage Measurement Tool
Good width with okay height and depth.
Quarter Circle Playground
It stays very much dead center. It's neither laidback nor energetic per se, and I would say the bass and treble cancel each other out to help reach a neutral W-shape to my ears.
Overall scoring
Looking Very good. Bass struggles a bit with slight midbass softness and boominess. Mids and treble are almost spot on.
Extra
Fun factor: Another tough one to simply close by saying either yes or no. It exemplifies a well balanced set that is not dull by any means. Is it the most energetic listen ever? No. Is it fun while randomly playing through a varied library? Very much so!
Q: What kind of source to pair it with?
A: A neutral source will do just fine. The tonal balance is spot on from the start.
Q: What genres are its strength/weakness?
A: No real standout failures while it does not completely excel at any certain one either.
Comparisons
These two sets were the ones I ended up choosing. To the left of the Klean is the Sivga Que, another single DD, while to the right is the FitearxQDC SuperiorEX - yes, single DD as well. Yes, they are both more expensive than the Klean, but the Que is like a better accessorized and arguably better looking Klean, and the SuperiorEX tries to do a bit of the same as the other two in being a rich sounding single DD. Let's give these a fair shake over a couple of songs.
I used the iBasso DX180 and the same cable and just reattach different IEMs to give this A/B the fairest battling grounds. The cable is my best to date, the Effect Audio EROS S II.
Soldier of fortune, Deep purple
Guitars are one of my go-to's. Not easy to pull them off in smooth, weighty, but bitey and lively fashion. It often leans either way. Working my way through the three sets, the Que leans far towards the weighty and smooth side, individual notes are not the focus, but rather to make the whole package feel like a musical journey which brings the somewhat blurry and thick texture. Klean is less in your face in the upper mids and makes the guitar even less forward, but it's not as free and unruly in the low mids, hence the guitars sound a bit more sterile. Individual notes are more pronounced and offer clearer microdetails. Still not my perfect guitar replay. SuperiorEX is much easier to drive so I need to lower the volume by 30%. Guitars are free of bloat and aren't too spicy, but they feel somewhat hollow. None of these excel at guitars is the final answer. If I had to line them up, it'd go: S-EX > Klean > Que
Male vocal is an often occurrence in my playlists. So, back to Que. It offers a well placed vocal and the song is built around it. It's chesty, touching, and sufficiently detailed. Klean places it further back but not in a bad way, it simply sounds like the vocalist was actually standing further away. That provides an even larger perceived stage which goes well this song. It's not as detailed as on the Que, though. S-EX makes it sound more ethereal as if it's floating around and thus makes it more difficult to pin point singer's placement. It also sounds more veiled than the other two. Result: Que > Klean > S-EX
Summer by Emeli Sande
Female vocal obviously comes in multiple flavours, but Emeli's velvety and alluring quality is a real gem. Que does it very calmly and she feels even warmer and weightier. I miss some of that luxurious detail. The song therefore becomes a bit more tedious and not as touching. On the Klean she is much clearer and out in front. Her placement and clarity allows for better detail perception and allows the song to breathe better. On the SuperiorEX I like her placement and feel it's most well balanced to the rest of the mix, but she has this veiled and somewhat muted feel. It is more rounded and larger in how much stage she occupies. I like my female vocals forward while still well judged, so: Klean > S-EX > Que
This song also offers a great test for low bass tactility, texture, precision, and midbass attack. Let's see how it goes starting with the Que. Que offers a big bass that is more diffused in nature, not a very clean and surgical one. It has plenty of character and happily follows the song's progression down to the lowest note in its chorus. Initial note attack could be better and overall bass quantity could be more for this song. Klean is just a bit snappier at the start of the note, but still lacks midbass solidity. Low notes are not a problem, it descends into low 30s sweetly, but has a bit less texture and naturalness to it than the Que. Superior's note beginnings are better defined and less strained. It also rumbles the most ecstatically and gives me a feel it could easily keep on descending into infrasonics. The bass quantity is the highest, also in part thanks to its very attenuated higher range. This gives us a score of: S-EX > Que > Klean
Rosita by Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster
I'll be looking out for timbre, detail retrieval and soundstage+imaging. Without further ado, Que excels in providing a natural harmonic listen full of character. It remains timbrally correct throughout and expands nicely to the sides as well as having okay depth and height. A truly well-suited set for this groovy masterpiece. The Klean is almost as characterful as the Que while having a more pronounced subbass and treble. This makes it a bit less organic to my ears which goes well with its appearance vs the wooden-faceplated Que. It's timbrally fine, but I preferred the way Que rendered the sax. It's also a bit less spacious. On to SuperiorEX, the note weight is a standout feature I spot from the get go. All notes are larger and more dense. Only the sax is too hollow and occasionally plasticky, however, which kills the whole gig. The stage feels more crowded, they step on each other's toes. Imaging-wise, it's close between the Que and Klean, but Klean takes it. Overall: Klean >= Que > S-EX
Summing Up The Kefine Klean
This is a quality set that I feel does so much right and it easily falls into the 'Suggested' category. Either as a gift to your closest ones or to yourself, this set will not disappoint anyone but the biggest opposers of neutral-warm leaning sets. Even then, in this avalanche of warm sets, this has the correct balance to tastefully counterbalance the healthy bass shelf. At this price, it is a no-brainer.
Thanks for reading and stay wonderful.
