EarAcoustic Audio Products at KEEPHIFI
Acknowledgments
Thanks to Ear Acoustics and the Audio Geek team for providing this tour unit for review. All opinions are my own and uninfluenced by external factors.
Personal Preferences
My preferences are of a warmer tilted balanced tonality with analogue characteristics. The techs that I value a little higher than the others to me are mids “emotionality”, stage depth, 3d layering, timbre, slam, bass body/transient speed, treble quality. My library is heavy on Jazz and other genres with real instruments such as Classical and Orchestral and thus timbre matters to me heavily.
I am a converted cable believer as well as a source believer (aka I start off as a non-believer, but now I believe). I understand these things are controversial. My opinion with respect to cables and sources are simply intended to share my subjective experience. You, of course may not experience the same.
Background
I previously reviewed the SPA Hi End Max and SPA Limited Edition 001. For context, see [link].
The VSA Max represents the next evolution in Ear Acoustics’ dynamic driver IEM lineup. They’ve stuck with single DDs rather than hybrids, and I think that’s a valid choice. I personally enjoy DDs for their coherence and natural presentation. It retails for $149usd.
From my experience, the VSA line is moving in a promising direction. If they continue refining their approach, they could become a highly respected brand.
The VSA Lineup
This apparently as far as I understand, is their line of IEMs that has a focus on female vocals, “female toxicity” as they call it. Now, I personally am literate in Chinese and so I understand what they mean, however, I don’t think it works well directly translated into English. In fact, it downright reads like gobbledygook. Oh well, at least you can tell that they really wrote the copy themselves in Chinese then directly translated it somehow rather than just lazily put up some AI slop.
At any rate, I personally never really read marketing copy or take seriously any of the claims made by any IEM company. For me, the proof as they say, is usually in the pudding.
Unboxing & Build
As usual, the unboxing is worthy of some credit. This time, the IEMs come in a well designed purple box with the IEMs and accessories similarly presented as per their previous iterations with a high quality case.
The IEMs themselves are silver with shells similarly contoured to the previous iterations and this MAX has a new textured pattern that gives the IEM a really premium look and feel. I tested this with some of my friends who were surprised to know how much cheaper these IEMs actually retailed for.
The faceplates have the glittery shiny sparkly silvery look that is a little bit gaudy and to be honest not quite my style, but fortunately I didn’t feel too embarrassed to use them outside in public… unlike the LTD version, which was a little bit too much for me. I will talk about this in my write up for the LTD version.
Otherwise, the IEMs come with a nice set of stock tips that work well with the IEMs as well as a new version of their stock cable now with interchangeable plugs (3.5 and 4.4). I do believe some IEM-lovers do prefer this than a fixed plug.
Listening Setup
Sound Signature
To my ears, the VSA Max has a slightly bright-tilted U-shape. It handles most genres well but truly excels in female pop with heavy bass—outperforming pricier IEMs in this niche.
Technical Performance
I was genuinely impressed—especially at this price point.
Cable Impact
Swapping to the VSA-LTD cable yielded:
Sonically a great match—visually however, silver and gold clashed.
Genre Performance
Handled most genres well, but truly shined in female pop with big bass. The combination of 3D soundstage, emotive vocals, and punchy bass made for an immersive experience.
Example: The album About Time by Sabrina Claudio was a standout listen.
Conclusion
The Ear Acoustics VSA Max has IMO beat out their previous models for me handily.
I am glad to see a further refinement and improvement in their IEMs. Not only are the VSA’s IMO better tuned and have better technicalities than the previous iterations with the same wonderful build quality and very similar contoured shells, they are actually cheaper!
At $149usd, to me, this is very strong recommendation from me for anyone, especially those that enjoy a lot of female pop music to try. I think this IEM does a lot right at this price.
I can’t wait to see what they have in store for us in the future. If this continues to be their trajectory, then they certainly could have a bright future ahead of them.
Spend Less Enjoy HIFI
