Kinera BD005 Pro Review
Kinera BD005 Pro IEM Review
Introduction:
Kinera Electronic Co. Ltd. is a Chinese company located in DongGuanCity – China and is specialized in the production and development of portable audio equipments like “In-Ear Monitors and Earbuds”.
The motto of the company is “MAKE IT CLEAR – MAKE IT REAL”.
The Kinera BD005 Pro that I will now review for you is an IEM with a beautiful 3D printed Monitor shell that features a Hybrid Driver configuration in combination of 1x Dynamic Driver with a 9.2mm diameter Beryllium coated Diaphragm + 1x Custom Tuned (30095 Series) Balanced Armature Driver.
Disclaimer:
I would like to thank Kinera & HiFiGO for providing me the BD005 Pro sample for review purposes. I am not affiliated with Kinera and HiFiGO beyond this review and all these words reflect my true and unaltered opinions about the product.
Price & Availability:
The actual retrial price for the Kinera BD005 Pro is about $ 45,00 USD and can be found under the link below;
Package and Accessories:
The Kinera BD005 Pro came in a stylish hexagonal box win black color that sorts some product related brandings and illustrations on the top and some technical specs at the bottom.
This box is including the following contents/accessories;
- 1 pair x Kinera BD005 In-Ear Monitor
- 1 piece x 4core Detachable Cable with 0.78mm Diameter 2-Pin Connectors
- 3 pairs x Silicone Ear Tips (S/M/L)
- 1 piece x Zipper Case
- 1 piece x Community & Contact Cards
Design, Fit and Build Quality:
The monitor design of the Kinera BD005 Pro has a beautiful appearance and shows a very premium look and feel with its 3D printed shell. The monitor has a semi custom shape that offers a pretty comfortable fit, which makes it ideal for longer listening periods on the go, while it has offers an average isolation that is quite enough for relative noise environments like the bus or train.
The Kinera BD005 Pro is available in 3 (three) different color variants, which are the so called Jewel Red, Granite Grey and the one in Murky Blue color like my review unit.
The faceplate of each monitor features the Kinera logo and stylish leafs, both in gold color.
On the top of each monitor shell is the one 0.78mm diameter 2Pin female connector that offer a pretty tight and secure connection with the male connectors of the detachable cable.
At the rear side of the shell is a vent (opening) with a metal frame for the Dynamic Driver.
The sound nozzle made of metal material is slightly short and comes with a fine metal mesh on the top to avoid the insertion of particles like dust or earwax.
The overall build quality of the monitor shell is pretty good, epically for a product at this price level.
The Cable:
The Kinera BD005 Pro comes with a 4core Silver Plated Cooper (SPC) wire cable that ha a braided design. The cable features a soft coating in black color and shows a low amount of microphone effect.
The 0.78mm diameter 2Pin connectors do have black housing and do sport left and right markings and color indicators (red for right & transparent for the left earpiece).
The cable sports on both sides flexible ear guides, which offers extra comfort.
The cable of the BD005 Pro features also a microphone. At the rear side of the microphone is a Kinera logo in white color, while on the top is a multifunctional button.
The Y-splitter is made of metal in black color.
The 3.5mm Single Ended headphone plug has an L-Profiled housing in black with a plastic strain relief for higher durability.
Technical Specifications:
- Model : BD005 Pro Hybrid Driver IEM
- Driver Combination : 1x DD with 9mm Beryllium Diaphragm & 1x Custom Tuned BA Driver
- Sensitivity : 108 +/- 2dB
- Impedance : 16 Ω
- Frequency Range : 20 Hz – 20 kHz
- Connector Type : 0.78mm Diameter 2-Pin
- Cable Length : about 120cm
- Plug Type : 3.5mm Single Ended (TRS)
Drivability:
The Kinera BD005 Pro has a pretty low impedance of 16Ω and a sensitivity of 118dB which makes it highly compatible with relative weak sources like Smartphone’s, Tablet’s and DAP’s that do have a weak amplification.
Equipment’s used for this review:
- IEM’s : Kinera BD005 Pro, TFZ T2 Galaxy, SHOZY Hibiki
- Sources : FiiO M11 Pro, HiBy R3 Pro, Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus
Albums & tracks used for this review:
- 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)
- Elton John – Rocket Man (Tidal Hi-Fi)
- B.B. King – Riding With The King (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
- Edith Piaf – Non Je Ne Regrette Rien (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
- Aretha Franklin – I Say a Little Prayer (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
- Diana Krall – So Wonderful (DSF)
- First Aid Kit – My Silver Lining (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Sertap Erener – Aşk (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- London Grammar – Interlud (Live) (Flac 24bit/44kHz)
- Laura Pergolizzi – Lost On You “Live at Harvard and Stone” (Tidal Hi-Fi)
- Fazıl Say – Nazım Oratoryosu (Live) (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- George Frederic Handel –Sarabande in D Minor (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
- Chopin – Nocturn No. 20 In C-Sharp Minor (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Vivaldi – Le QuarttroStagioni “The Four Season” (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
- The Dave Brubeck Quarted – Take Five (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
- Otto Liebert& Luna Negra – The River (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
- Armin Van Buuren – Vini Vici (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- No Doubt – Hella Gut (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Lorde – Royal (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
- Massive Attack – Angel (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
- Twerl – Lishu (Spotify)
- U2 – Sunday Bloody Sunday (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Portishead – The Hidden Camera (MP3 320kpbs)
- Metallica – Sad but True (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
- Opeth – Windowpane (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Megadeth – Sweating Bullets (Tidal Hi-Fi)
- Rush’s – Leave That Thing Alone (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Slayer – Angel of Death (Spotify)
- Tom Player – Resonace Theory “Album” (Tidal Hi-Fi)
- Liquid Tension Experiment 2 – Acid Rain (Spotify)
The Sound:
The Kinera BD005 Pro is an IEM with a V-shaped sound signature and mildly warm tonality. The bass and treble range sounds pretty highlighted, while the midrange shows a good amount of clarity and warmness that is not overdone.
Bass:
The Kinera BD005 Pro has a good subbass depth and extension with a soft and slightly warm tonality. It is not very dominant and shows an average amount and emphasis. The subbass character will maybe not satisfy those who like a very deep Subbass presentation, but should be enough for most users.
The midbass are of the BD005 Pro shows shows slightly more intensity and depth compared to the subbass region. The speed and is on a moderate level, while the midbass is at the limit of a midbass hump.
Instruments like bass guitars, cross-drums or trumpets a represented with an average speed and detailed retrieval, while the level of clarity is on a sufficient level.
The bass of the Kinera BD005 Pro can be described as entertaining, and is suitable for genres like pop, rock or electronic music, while it is not an the most ideal choice for more complex genres like jazz or metal music.
Midrange:
The midrange of the Kinera BD005 Pro is a bit recessed due to the V shaped sound signature. The tonality is mildly warm and slightly bright, while it is fairly detailed in this area for an IEM at this price range, thanks to the pronounced upper midrange tuning around the 3 kHz region.
Vocals & Instruments:
The lower midrange of the Kinera BD005 Pro shows a good amount of body and fullness due to the highlighted midbasss region. Male vocals do have moderate depth and body, while the clarity and detail retrial is on a sufficient level.
The upper midrange of the BD005 Pro is pretty pronounced that adds female vocals a nice sense of transparency and detail.
The instrument tonality of the Kinera BD005 Pro is warmish and slightly bright towards the upper register. The general presentation is fairly spacious, clear and transparent that makes the separation of the instruments quite easy, while the positioning is quite good for this price range.
Instruments like acoustic guitars do have a slightly warm and full bodied presentation, while pianos are reproduced with a sufficient level of intensity and detail retrieval.
Upper Midrange and Treble:
The Kinera BD005 Pro has a good upper midrange emphasis, which has a close to natural tonality. The upper midrange of the BD005 Pro is quite transparent and spacious and offers in general a sufficient performance in terms of control.
The upper midrange of the BD005 Pro sounds surprisingly detailed for a sub 50 USD IEM and has a successful performance in terms of extension, from female vocals to instruments like violins.
The treble range of the BD005 Pro is fairly prominent and offers a good amount of clarity and definition in the lower treble register thanks to a slightly emphasis around the 5 kHz region.
The upper treble region on the other hand shows slightly a peak around the 8 kHz region that we can see more often these days. The level of air and sparkle is on a moderate level, while the extension is a bit short. The BD005 Pro has a noticeable roll-off right after the peak in the 8 Khz region which leads to a pretty safe tuning in this area.
Instruments such like Hi-hats do sound a little bit laid back in its presentation, while crash cymbals do have a mild emphasis along with an average level of extension.
Soundstage:
The soundstage of the Kinera BD005 Pro is quite spacious and airy, while the stage is showing more wideness than its depth, which is on an average level.
Some Comparisons:
Kinera BD005 Pro versus Shozy Hibiki:
The Shozy Hibiki has a sharp V-shaped sound signature with a between neutral and bright tonality, while the Kinera BD005 Pro has a warmer and fuller tonality.
The subbass region of the Kinera BD005 Pro offers slightly more subbass depth and intensity compared to the Shozy Hibiki, which has les rumble in this area. When it comes to the midbass character I can say that the Shozy Hibiki has the slightly edge in terms of quantity and intensity, while the Kinera BD005 Pro has the upper hand for speed and control.
The midrange of the Shozy Hibiki MK1 sounds a bit dry and thin compared to those of the Kinera BD005 Pro, which offers a warmer and fuller midrange character. The BD005 Pro is superior in terms of both male and female vocals due to the better level of clarity and body in the midrange and upper midrange area.
The upper midrange of Shozy Hibiki sounds a bit unnatural and sharper in direct comparison to the Kinera BD005 Pro that is more natural and controlled in this area. The Hibiki has the upper hand in terms of upper midrange extension.
Both of those In-Ear Monitors are pretty successful in the treble range. The treble character of the Shozy Hibiki MK1 is sharper compared to the Kinera BD005 Pro that sounds more controlled and resolving in this frequency region.
The Kinera BD005 Pro has the upper hand in terms of soundstage wideness, while the Shozy Hibiki MK1 shows a better level of depth.
Kinera BD005 Pro versus TFZ T2 Galaxy:
Both the TFZ T2 Galaxy and Kinera BD005 Pro are IEM’s with a V shaped sound signature. The first difference is in the subbass area where the T2 Galaxy sounds fuller and has more depth and intensity, compared to the Kinera BD005 Pro, which sounds less emphasized in this area.
The midbass of the TFZ T2 Galaxy shows slightly more highlighted and impactful compared to the Kinera BD005 Pro, which has the upper hand in terms of speed, thingness and control thanks to its beryllium-coated diaphragm.
The midrange of both In-Ear Monitors sounds slightly recessed due to the V shaped sound signature. The midrange of the Kinera BD005 Pro offers a better level of clarity, airiness and detail retrieval compared to the TFZ T2 Galaxy that sounds fuller but has less transparency in this area.
The TFZ T2 Galaxy is more suitable for male vocals due to its lower midrange tuning, while the Kinera BD005 Pro is more successful with female vocals tanks to the higher amount of clarity and extension in the upper midrange region.
The upper midrange and treble region of the BD005 Pro sounds slightly more pronounced compared to those of the T2 Galaxy. The Kinera BD005 Pro offers a better level of extension and detail retrieval in the treble region, while the TFZ T2 Galaxy is more forgiving in this area.
The TFZ T2 Galaxy is slightly more successful in terms of soundstage depth, while the Kinera BD005 Pro offers a t performance when it comes to wideness of the stage.
Conclusion:
The Kinera BD005 Pro is one of the best looking and comfortable IEM’s in the sub 50 USD price range, which offers also an entreating sound experience with its well-tuned, mildly V-shaped sound signature that is suitable for a wide variety of music genres.
Pros & Cons:
- + Clarity across the Completely Sound Spectrum
- + Well Tuned V-Shaped Sound Signature
- + Stylish Look & Comfort
- – Upper Treble Roll-Off
- – Average Soundstage Depth
Thank You for the Read!
