Celest Gumiho Review

 

 

 

Celest Gumiho Review

 

 

Introduction:

Celest is Kinera’s sister brand that came out recently with their very first Gumiho In-Ear Monitor that features a special Hybrid Driver configuration, which is a combination of 1x Kinera Custom Balanced Armature for the mids & highs + 1x SPD (Square Planar Driver) Driver that is Kinera’s in-house developed and patented 10x10mm square shaped planar driver, which is dedicated for the lows.

 

Disclaimer:

I would like to thank Kinera for providing me the Celest Gumiho IEM sample for review purposes. I am not affiliated with Kinera beyond this review and all these words reflect my true and unaltered opinions about the product.

 

 

Price & Availability:

The actual MSRP price for the Celest Gumiho is 49.00 US$. More information’s can be found under the link below;

  

 

Package and Accessories:

The Celest Gumiho came inside a fancy looking rectangular box in burgundy color that is wrapped with a transparent plastic sleeve. It comes with a pretty rich set of accessories that I find pretty cool since it has a pretty affordable price.

 

This box is including the following contents/accessories; 

  • 1 x pair Celest Gumiho Hybrid Driver In-Ear Monitor
  • 1 x Detachable Cable with 0.78mm Diameter 2-Pin Connectors
  • 3 x pairs of Celest 221 Custom Silicone Ear Tips (S/M/L)
  • 3 x pairs of Celest 822 Custom Silicone Ear Tips (S/M/L)
  • 1 x Storage Bag
  • 1 x Gumiho Nine-Tailed Fox souvenir
  • 1 x Cleaning Tool
  • 1 x Print Material

 

 

 

Design & Build Quality: 

The Celest Gumiho is a pretty stylish looking Universal In-Ear Monitor with a unique 3D printed cavity that is available in 2 different color options, which are white and the one in black color same like my review unit. The faceplate of the IEM has a pretty fancy design, which comes from the idea of the Gumiho that is the name of the Nine-Tailed Fox from the “Classic of Mountains and Seas: Qingqiu Mountain”. The fox spirit (Chinese: 狐狸精) is a mythical fox entity originating from Chinese mythology that is a common motif in East Asian mythology and the “Nine-Tailed Fox” is the most famous fox spirit. The Gumiho is a nine-tailed fox that is known with its charming, fairy, mysterious, and cunning and each of is tails represents a kind of spiritual consciousness.

On the top of each monitor shell is the one 0.78mm diameter 2-Pin female connector that offer a pretty tight and secure connection with the male connectors of the detachable cable.

The inner surface of the monitor shell features the slightly angled sound nozzle with a diameter of 5.5mm that has a fancy looking metal mesh on the top that prevents the insertion of dust and ear-wax.

At the rear side of the shell are 3 relatively large openings that should be dedicated for the SPD driver.

The opposite side of the rear surface sports the Celest branding in white color.

The Celest Gumiho comes with a 4core silver-plated copper + pure copper alloy cable with that is equipped with 124-strands in total. The cable has a soft isolation with low amount of microphone effect that has a braided design.

The 0.78mm diameter 2-Pin connectors do have a metal housing with a black finish that sport left and right color indicators (red for right & transparent for the left earpiece). The cable sports on both sides flexible ear guides, which offers extra comfort.

The 3.5mm Single Ended headphone plug has a strait profiled metal housing in black with a with the Celest branding in while color on its surface.

The overall build quality of both the monitors and the cable meets my expectation from a product at this price level.

 

 

Technical Specifications:

  • Model              : Celest Gumiho
  • Driver Type     : 1x Kinera Custom Balanced Armature + 10mm SPD (Square Planar Driver)
  • Sensitivity       : 106dB ± 1dB
  • Impedance      : 9 Ω
  • Frequency      : 20 Hz – 20 kHz
  • Connector       : 0.78mm Diameter 2-Pin
  • Cable Length  : about 120cm
  • Plug Type       : 3.5mm Single Ended (TRS) or 4.4mm Balanced (TRRRS)

 

Pairing & Drivability:

The Celest Gumiho is a pretty easy o drive Hybrid In-Ear Monitor that comes with an impedance of 8Ω and a sensitivity of approx 106dB. This makes the Gumiho to a fairly compatible IEM for relative weak sources like USB adapters, Smartphone’s and Tablet’s that do suffer from a weak amplification.

 

Fit, Comfort & Isolation:

The Celest Gumiho has a fairly comfortable monitor shape that fits nicely to my average sized ear concha. When it comes to the passive noise isolation, I can say that it is on an average level, which is sufficient enough for the use in moderately noisy environments such like a bus, metro or train.

 

 

Equipment’s used for this review:

  • IEM’s              : Celest Gumiho
  • Sources         : FiiO M11 Plus ESS, Quloos QLS MC01

 

Albums & tracks used for this review:

  • Adele – My Little Love (Spotify)
  • Randy Crawford – On Day I Will Fly Away (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
  • Hayley Westenra – Odyssey Album (Dezzer HiFi)
  • Dionne Warwick – Walk On By (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
  • Sarah McLachlan – Angel (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
  • Sertap Erener – Aşk (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
  • Edith Piaf – Non Je Ne Regrette Rien (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
  • Diana Krall – So Wonderful (DSF)
  • Aretha Franklin – I Say A Little Payer (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
  • Sonya Yoncheva – (Giuseppe Verdi) II Trovatore, ActI (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
  • George Michael – Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
  • David Bowie – Heroes (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
  • Elton John – Rocket Man ((Flac 24bit/96kHz)
  • Barry White – Just The Way You Are (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
  • Isaac Hayes – Walk On By (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
  • Sting – Englishman in New York – (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
  • Eric Clapton – Wonderful Tonight (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
  • B. King – Riding With The King (Tidal Hi-Fi)
  • Dave Gahan – Kingdom (Tidal Hi-Fi)
  • U2 – Sunday Bloody Sunday (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
  • Bro Safari, UFO! – Drama (Deezer HiFi)
  • Armin Van Buuren – Vini Vici (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
  • Daft Punk (feat. Panda Bear) – Doin’ it Right (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
  • Jo Blankenburg – Meraki (Spotify)
  • Lorde – Royals (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
  • Massive Attack – Angel (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
  • Toutant – Rebirth (Deezer HiFi)
  • Gogo Penguin – Raven (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
  • Gogo Penguin – Murmuration (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
  • Photek – The Hidden Camera (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
  • Portishead – It Could Be Sweet (Spotify)
  • Max Richter – On the Nature of Daylight (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
  • Charly Antolini – Duwadjuwandadu (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
  • Abel Korzeniowski – Dance For Me Wallis (Deezer HiFi)
  • Ferit Odman – Look, Stop & Listen (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
  • Chopin – Nocturn No. 20 In C-Sharp Minor (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
  • Fazıl Say – Nazım Oratoryosu (Live) (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
  • Vivaldi – Le QuarttroStagioni “The Four Season” (Deezer HiFi)
  • Alboran Trio – Cinque Lunghissimi Minuti (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
  • Otto Liebert & Luna Negra – The River (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
  • Lunatic Soul – The Passage (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
  • Deftones – My Own Summer (Shove it) (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
  • Metallica – Sad but True (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
  • Metallica – Master of Puppets (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
  • Opeth – Windowpane (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
  • Megadeth – Sweating Bullets (Tidal Hi-Fi)
  • Muse – Hysteria (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
  • Rush – Leave That Thing Alone (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
  • Slayer – Angel of Death (Spotify)
  • Liquid Tension Experiment 2 – Acid Rain (Spotify)
  • Yosi Horikawa – Bubbles (Spotify)

 

 

The Sound:

The Celest Gumiho shows mildly warm tonality and a full bodied, entertaining presentation thanks to its pretty capable Square Planar Driver (SPD) that is able offers a pretty tight and fast response with a good level of authority. The midrange has a mildly warm tonality and sound in general pretty transparent and lively that shows a focal point in the upper midrange area. The treble range on the other hand is produced with a good sense of presence and brilliance.

This review has been written after a burn-in period of about 60 hours. I have used the Celest 221 Custom Silicone Ear Tips and the stock cable that are part of the standard package of the Celest Gumiho

Bass / Midrange / Treble / Soundstage:

The lows that are produced with Kinera’s patented Square Planar Driver (SPD) are able to produce a deep and powerful subbass presentation when I have listen to my reference songs like Daft Punk’s “Doin’ it Right” and Lorde’s “Royals”. The extension of this area is above average and quite successful with genres like electronic, pop and hip-hop up to metal or jazz music.

The midbass area of the Celest Gumiho is slightly more pronounced compared to the subbass region, which offers a decent level of speed and tightness without to show any remarkable muddiness or midbass hump. Instruments from bass guitars to percussions such like cross drums a reproduced with an adequate grade of quickness and control.

The midrange of the Celest Gumiho has a moderately warm tonality, while the timbre is fairly natural when I do listen to instruments or vocals. The lower midrange is produced with an average level of body and depth that was audible when I have listen to male vocals or to instruments such like a viola, cello or acoustic guitar.

The upper midrange of the Celest Gumiho is produced by Kinera’s Custom Balanced Armature Driver that shows an efficient grade of emphasis and close to natural tonality. The general presentation of this area sounds pretty transparent and spacious, while the sense of authority is decent for a product below the 50 US$ price range. The transitions in this area do sound in general controlled when I do listen to instruments such like pianos and flutes or to female voices.

The Celest Gumiho shows a treble tuning with good sense of presence and brilliance, which has an audible peak in the upper treble register around the 8 kHz region, which is a popular tuning these days. The treble range has a sufficient sense of extension, while the transition from the upper midrange toward the lower treble area in general quite controlled. The overall resolution of this area is on an adequate level that meets my expectation from a product at this price rage.

Instruments for example such like cymbals in trash metal reproduced in a pretty fast and controlled manner, while Hi-hats do sound a little bit laid back. Crash cymbals on the other hand are reproduced with a decent sense of authority, while I would wish a bit more extension.

The Celest Gumiho has a pretty suitable soundstage atmosphere for a relative precise separation and placement of the instruments. The stage is quite spacious and airy, while it has a slightly better level of wideness than its depth.

 

Conclusion:

The Celest Gumiho is pretty affordable In-Ear Monitor with a nice look and unique Hybrid Driver configuration. The Square Planar Driver and Kinera’s Custom Balanced Armature unit are pretty well tuned, so that they offer a quite entertaining bass response with decent level of speed and intensity, a transparent and natural midrange presentation and finally a treble tuning that has a good sense of presence and brilliance.

 

 

Pros & Cons:

  • + Entertaining bass response with good sense of speed and intensity
  • + Transparent and Musical Midrange Presentation
  • + Soundstage and Imaging
  • + Fancy Package Content
  • + Value for you Money
  • – Lower midrange depth
  • – Not the most neutral sounding IEM

 

Thank you for the Read!

 

 

 

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