Again, another special thanks to @KEEPHIFI for providing the Tourbillon Pro! All of these opinions, of course, are my own, and no one has asked or told me to say anything specific about the Tourbillon Pro or any of the other products I’ve been sent in the past.

Non-Affiliated Purchase Links if you’re tempted after reading…

KEEPHiFi International Store Front

Amazon US Storefront

AliX Storefront


Tech Specs and Price - $102.00 (I’ve heard they can be had for less than $50 right now… which is a steal. Spoiler alert.)
PU+PEEK+DLC with Blue Diamond Coating Composite Diaphragm
10mm Dual-Magnetic Circuit & Dual-Chamber Dynamic Driver
HiFi-Grade Tuning for Audiophiles
Zinc Alloy Gear-appearance Design
Ergonomic & Stylish Design

Specifications:
Brand: KBEAR
Model: TB-Pro
Product Name: Tourbillon-Pro
Sensitivity: 101dB±3dB/mW@1KHz
Impedance: 19±2Ω @1kHz
Frequency Response: 20-20KHz
Driver: PU+PEEK diaphragm with DLC Blue Coating DD
Cable Material: OFC Silver-plated Cable
Pin: 0.78mm 2-pin
Plug: 3.5mm/Type-C
Cable Length: 120cm

Not the included cable in the picture

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It’s good to be an Audio Enthusiast right about now.


(TLDR Version)

Like the CZ10 I reviewed a few weeks back, The KBear Tourbillon exceeded my expectations in every way possible. From the unboxing experience, to the design, and lastly, but most importantly, the way it renders those lovely melodies. Being a single DD, I went into this project treating it like just that, a project. I was wrong to underestimate these. KBear has made a mighty fine pair of IEMs here - The first thing that jumped out at me was the sheer coherence across the entire FR. Being a single DD set, timbre is phenomenally natural and on the warmer side. Absolutely nothing steps out in a negative way tonality-wise, and the FR is buttery smooth to my ears. The bass has a satisfying density to it, rendering even deep sub bass with depth and authority. Mid bass punches have oomph behind them as well. Mids are just buttery smooth with just enough clarity to cut through the lower mid warmth. The treble, while on the relaxed side, has plenty of details to create a satisfying listen.

There are some caveats to the sound, though. I don’t think it’s all sunshine and rainbows. I always find that the trade-off for that lovely timbre and tonality is overall stage size and instrument separation. Those two downsides are here, but not in abundance, surprisingly. Bass is impactful, but lacks a little bit of that crunchy tactility and doesn’t come off as incisive. Mids, especially female vocals, have quite a bit of husk and heftiness to them. The treble, which I believe is the biggest downside of this IEM, is definitely on the more relaxed side. Cymbals and synths are popping out from the rest of the mix and, in some cases, get totally lost, especially when things get busy in the mix.

Still, the KBear Tourbillon is a lovely example of a set that you could wear for hours and hours. They melt away after about 20 minutes, and I find myself cranking the volume higher and higher, progressively getting lost in the sauce. The tuning is a fantastic example of Chi-Fi growing up and showing some restraint in a lot of areas where it hasn’t in the past, most notably, in the upper-mids. Read on if you’d like a more detailed, track-by-track breakdown of what I’m hearing!


All listening was done with the Radius Deep Mount clear tips and the stock cable from the Juzear 41T (Remember them?) I just felt that the cable was more of an aesthetic match and the tips fit the IEM like a glove.


Test Playlist Mk2
Listen along with me
↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓
YOUTUBE PLAYLIST

Sub bass

• Goon - For Cutting The Grass
• Goon - Fruiting Body
• daft punk - Doin’ it Right

Mid bass slam/speed

• Fred Again… - Baby Again
• Fred Again… - Kyle (I found you)

Mids (Female and male vocals, Instrument timbre)

• Horsepower - Are you blushing?
• Tom Rush - Urge for Going

Presence/Consonants region

• Lilly Seabird - Arrow

Upper Treble

• No Vacation - Days

Instrument Separation/layering

• Led Zeppelin - Wanton Song

Resolution & Instrument textures

• Karen Took The Kids - Witch Hazel
• Sweet Pill - High Hopes (Unraveled)

Timbre

• Rice & Bones - Disco Doom
• The Beatles - Blackbird

Imaging and staging

• daft punk - Touch
• daft punk - Within
• Macy Gray - Annabelle
• Amber Rubarth - Tundra

Sources

• Apple Music Streaming Hi-Res Lossless when available + FLAC Files -> SMSL MDA1 RAW -> SMSL SH-9 or Schiit Midgard
• iPhone 16 Pro Max wired or BT -> FiiO BTR17 (No PEQ)
• iPhone 16 Pro Max wired -> Fosi DS2
• iPhone 16 Pro Max Wired -> iBasso DC07 Pro
• iPhone 16 Pro Max Wired -> Muse M6 Double

Image grabbed from KEEPHiFi Online Store

Unboxing is very nice for the price range. All of the items are standouts. The case is a zipper case and is extremely soft to the touch. Not sure if it’s actual leather or not, but It feels very nice. The Tri Clarion tips are such a nice touch. While I preferred the Deep Mounts, I can never have too many Clarion tips lying around. (I also just realized I never took photos of the box… my bad, y’all. It’s nice, trust me!)



Starting with the low-end, I can confidently say this DD is of fantastic quality. Whilst the notes don’t have the best snap and hit initially, there’s some fantastic depth and elasticity to the reverb.



On ‘For Cutting The Grass’ by Goon, the breakdown that starts around 1:50 of the song is shaken to the core by the lingering mid bass punch with genuinely fantastic decay that lingers just long enough to coat the rest of the mix with a warm blanket of heft and weight. Around 3:45 when that bass drops, however, I am missing a little bit of tactility in the deepest of sub bass. Because the lower mids are so elevated here, I don’t think there’s quite enough separation from the rest of the mix in order for it to really show it’s true potential.



The next Sub bass test is, of course, ‘Fruiting Body’ by Goon and the same rules apply here - The sub bass is there, thankfully, but the texture is lacking, creating a one-note-style presentation. While this takes away from the overall enjoyment a little bit, I don’t think, by any means, that this is a deal breaker. This is, without a doubt, a mid-bass over sub-bass style tuning, and it’s apparent when looking for it.







Where I think the Tourbillon shines would be EDM/Dance/Electronic Tracks. ‘Baby Again’ By Fred Again… is extremely satisfying. Fred tends to master his track with more bite in the treble and upper-mids, probably assuming he’ll need it when playing live, but the Tourbillon makes quick work of this track and the rest of his discography. The scalability is strong with this one… I find myself uncontrollably headbanging once that sick baseline comes in around 1:35. It has such a buttery and reverb-y playback that it becomes addicting to say the least. In this style of music, I found no fault in the playback.





As I alluded to above, the mids are of the warmer variety, and it’s either you love it or you hate it, quite frankly. I can get down with both - Uber clean and serene female vocals can be nice at times, but I can get down with some husk.



I love the way the intro sounds in ‘Are you blushing?’ By Horsepower. To my ears, it sounds like I’m in a small hall and the guitarist is just a little bit farther back from the vocalist. Charlotte’s voice does lack a little bit of bite here, with details being glazed over due to that strong lower mids presence, however. I could do with a touch more resolution to feel a bit more emotion in her powerful voice.

Side note - I was able to see Horsepower perform live earlier this year, so I have a decent understanding of how her voice sounds in person (through a speaker of course), and it does have a little more range, especially in the extension area. The Tourbillons are just missing the small extra bit of realism here. Timbre is fantastic, though.



‘Urge For Going’ By Tom Rush sounds overall lovely. The extra low end here creates a sweet depth effect, and Tom has a demanding presence on the mix. Guitar timbre is fantastic as well, with that extra body I mentioned earlier. The standup bass was mixed quite heavily in this song and as a result, can overpower the rest of the mix at times, but it’s so brief; I don’t feel it detracts from the overall experience of this stunning piece of music.



This is where the Tourbillon fumbles and fumbles enough for me to focus on the shortcomings of both the tuning and, I suspect, the hardware.



‘Days’ by No Vacation undoubtedly lacks that sparkle and sheen I’ve come to expect - Most notes and instruments that live in the treble come off as a bit smoothened over. Transients lack that crunch and that crash that make this song a standout in my library. One more thing I’ll note is that there is a boost somewhere in the tuning that makes the overall song sound a touch unnatural and I can’t quite put my finger on it. I had to lower the volume a few clicks to save my ears. Details from the treble do get lost as well as a result of all of what I just said, but ya know with all that being said, I still enjoy the playback quite a bit. Timbre is still spot on, there are no harsh consonants or sibilance to be heard, and that makes up for the lack of splash I’m looking for.






I wouldn’t say that layering and instrument separation is a standout on the Tourbillon - Apple Music’s master of the ‘Wanton Song’ by Zeppelin is unquestionably lacking dynamics and low end - I remember when I was young listening to my father's CDs from the late 80s and early 90s of Zeppelin, and I remember distinctly the sound and how dynamic it was. The digital versions that we have on streaming nowadays certainly lack a lot of the punch from those earlier masters. Texturing does take a little bit of a hit too, especially with acoustic guitars, where, depending on the mix, can land somewhere in the lower mids - ‘High Hopes’ by Sweet Pill has a literal brain-tickling texture in the intro guitar; it’s mastered extremely well, and that is somewhat missing from the Tourbillon. Sometimes that extra warmth isn’t all positive… I would say overall resolution is serviceable. In ‘Rice & Bones’ by Disco Doom, there is a very subtle feedback from maybe an amp in the recording studio that is audible here, which is nice.




Staging is on the intimate side and, dear I say, maybe even a bit cramped. ‘Within’ by daft punk has the piano literally right in front of your face during the intro. Then, once the percussion comes in along with the vocals, it just sounds like it’s all playing on the same plane and that plane is literally 2 inches from your face. There is some depth here depending on the mix, but not for most. Take this with a grain of salt - HRTF will heavily influence your perception of stage depth, width, height etc. etc. Also, I should say this is probably not the best choice for gaming as imaging comes off a bit mushy at times, but stereo imaging is plenty acceptable.

Technicalities are not the Tourbillon's strong suit - Timbre, however, is some of the best I’ve heard in a little while.

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