SeptetSeptet

From the moment I’ve first seen the Septet it grabbed my attention. Open back chassis, retro look woah! I’ve peeked at frequency graphs, watched some reviews and reluctantly decided it’s not for me. What I gathered from the general sentiment was:

• very bright
• not really open
• nothing special

It took me almost a year to finally pull the trigger and order it.

On the first listen it took me by surprise — at that moment I thought there were not many wow moments left for me to experience, and I wasn’t expecting it at all. It’s a reasonably priced set, I’ve heard better regarded ones at higher prices, yet still it does something special that no other set can.

How it soundsHow it sounds

Retro looks with a retro sound. The frequency response might lead you to believe it’s a bright sounding set — yet that’s not how I hear it. It leads with a beautiful mid bass centric sound that pours into the midrange enough to make it sound warm and thick. It’s not bloated or muddy, the pinna gain region makes the vocals sound relaxed which fits the retro sound and it’s balanced by upper treble extension making the overall presentation feel relaxed, soft but extended. A very weird combination, but one that grabs your attention from the first listen. It’s not a usual sounding set.

BassBass

The decay is controlled — not fast, on the slower side — and it fits the overall tonality well. It keeps the sound punchy, but not overly so. Considering the slower decay, it hits surprisingly hard — not basshead hard, but tactile.

The midbass slightly colors the vocal presentation, but in a very well done way. It’s very slight and tasteful — more like speaker bass bloom that fills the room, not bad uncontrolled driver bloom. It helps the overall signature sound coherent.

It’s not the cleanest presentation, but I would say it’s fine. Better controlled than the Daybreak or Performer 5+2, worse controlled than the Tea Pro. It strikes a nice balance.

Test track · Low end

bury a friend

Billie Eilish

WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? · 2019

Listen on

TrebleTreble

To my ears the treble is incredibly smooth sounding, it’s noticeably brought forward and can be too much — but never in a way of piercing, uneven hurting treble. It’s just too much for longer sessions. I can comfortably listen to anything on this set and enjoy it, but after 1h I get tired. Many other sets with elevated treble have some issues for my ears (Tea Pro SE, Mega5EST, Daybreak, AFUL Performer 5+2) almost all of them have less treble by the amount, but none of them deliver the treble in this satisfyingly smooth way. I have honestly no idea if that’s a piezoelectric driver doing its job, or maybe I’m lucky and this unit hits my HRTF in all the right ways. What I know is — when used right — this is the best sounding treble in IEM I’ve heard so far.

DUSKs treble might be the softest, Mega5EST the most tonally correct but Septet just brings it forward in a way that makes it sound impressive.

Fit & comfortFit & comfort

The shell is surprisingly lightweight — it gives a toylike feeling in hands thanks to the weight. I expected something heavy. And there is absolutely no suction or pressure feeling — the open back chassis is working greatly here.

Comfort over long periods would be decent, not amazing. It’s not fitting my ear like a glove, nor does it poke it in a weird way. It’s just fine. I had no issues with fit security — it mostly stays inside my ears, but it doesn’t ‘melt away’ in there creating the I’M ONE WITH THIS IEM feeling (AFUL IEMs do that for me). Overall comfort is rather mid — nothing to rave about, nothing that annoyed me. Keep in mind everyone has different anatomy and ear size — comfort is a very personal thing.

They isolate a bit, but less than your usual IEM. It’s not like an open back headphone though — it’s still plugging your ears and isolating, just not as much. I wouldn’t recommend it for a plane, but at the same time — listening outdoors or in a less busy cafe would be fine (if you have a decent source, of course). I feel like it’s not really intended to be listened to outside — but you can, and you might even prefer some sound leakage.

The cableThe cable

One of, if not THE best stock cable ever! It behaves AMAZINGLY — the best behaving IEM cable I’ve used. It doesn’t tangle, it’s a bit springy but not overly so. I wish every cable behaved like this! One annoyance: the plug. Come on, it’s so HUUUGE.

It’s really a weird IEM that might be difficult to understand at first. It’s exactly the reason I think it’s so amazing.

I like to think the people behind that IEM had a vision, executed on that vision, and delivered the product of their imagination.

Maybe the overall concept was too difficult to translate onto marketing claims? But why? Most marketing pages of those products are just technical overviews with claims that hold little to no real meaning or value. How many times do we have to be impressed by the amount of drivers used, “excellent tonal accuracy”, “optimal sound performance” etc. I don’t really see the point.

I belive that people behind this product are people of passion that when asked would tell us exactly what and why this product exists.

I think the Septet is an IDEAL IEM for a very specific scenario. In the sea of same tunings and ideas executed over and over it delivers on something unique.

The ideal scenarioThe ideal scenario

• used with a good powerful source
• listened to with intent, not as a background or on the go
• ideal if you want an open back headphone on the go
• you want to sit back and listen with intent after a long day of travel or work while out of home

To make it sound good — you need a decent source. It’s not negotiable. Your Apple dongle isn’t going to cut it. It needs more power than most of my headphones, the treble and bass control on lesser sources make it sound tinny and unimportant.

It’s the closest sounding IEM to an openback headphone. I know that most write off its open back design as a gimmick — but I disagree. Maybe it’s not an open design like an actual open back headphone, but come oooon — it’s an IEM.

So what you get if the stars align? The most airy, natural, open sounding device that fits in your pocket. If you love big soundstage, hate the way IEMs plug your ears with that suction pressure feeling, and travel a lot — this might be your favourite IEM ever. Traveling with openback headphones is not optimal. This is the closest to an openback sounding headphone you can fit in your pocket. Is it ideal? Does it sound better than your 200-400$ open back headphone? Of course, it’s an IEM but it delivers something unique. A way to experience an open sounding IEM with amazing separation, relaxed vocal presentation and warm sounding tonality that can be your way of melting away while on company travel time, holiday, or at home.

What it is notWhat it is not

An IEM for idle, while working, commuting listening. First of all — it just sounds the best while powered by a decent source.

Second it’s just too much in terms of amount of treble. It rewards short listening sessions with intent. Not all day background music.

It just delivers — but I can’t be sure if that was the goal. I see it clearly for what it is. A very specific and unique IEM — I love it for what it does and don’t hate it for what it doesn’t. But I’m deep into the rabbit hole, I own multiple IEMs to a point where some of them are just plain boring and uninspiring — I sell those but Septet? This one I’m keeping. I won’t use it often, but when I do I’ll do it with intent and attention it deserves.