SeeAudio Bravery IEM Review
SeeAudio Bravery IEM Review
Introduction:
SeeAudio is a relative new company that is specialized in both High End & Mid-Fi Custom and Universal Fit In-Ear Monitor and has also collaborations with other brands in terms of sound tuning proposes.
SeeAudio comes with a brand New Multi-BA IEM that has been created for the so called Brave Community. SeeAudio partnered with the audiophile community to finalize the tuning curve, the design, and look of the pair with a series of voting’s on their official social media account.
The Bravery features a Multi-BA driver configuration consisting of four Balanced Armature drivers, 3x Knowles BA’s + 1x Sonion BA units. SeeAudio specially designed a new logo for Bravery in a stacked lotus decorative pattern, given attention to every single item in the package in order to present a rich and premium experience.
Disclaimer:
I would like to thank SeeAudio for providing me the Bravery In-Ear Monitor via HiFiGO for review purposes. I am not affiliated with SeeAudio or HiFiGO beyond this review and these words reflect my true and unaltered opinions about the product.
Price & Availability:
The MSRP price of the SeeAudio Bravery is actually about $279,00USD. More information’s can be found under the link below;
Package and Accessories:
The SeeAudio Bravery came inside a pretty large rectangular box that was wrapped with colorful cardboard that has the Bravery branding and the RINKO Anime character on the top, while some product related specifications and details are printed at the bottom of those box.
Inside the box are the following contents/accessories;
- 1 x pair of SeeAudio Bravery In-Ear Monitors
- 1 x Customized 6N OCC Hakugei cable with 0.78mm diameter 2-Pin Connectors
- 3 x pairs of Azla Xelastec Sednafit Silicone Ear Tips
- 3 x pairs of Foam Ear Tips
- 1 x Storage Box
- 1 x Some Print Material (Manual, Warranty Card, Stickers, Postal Cards, etc.)
The Bravery came with 3 pairs of Azla Xelastec SednaEarfit Premium Silicone Ear Tips and 3 pairs of foam ear tips that are placed carefully in to a removable foam sheet.
The SednaEarfit series are special ear tips developed by AZLA, which analyzed and derived more than 1,500 ear shapes over two years. The shape of ear canal is not circular but an atypical ellipse. SednaEarfit Xelastec ear tip shape changes softly by body heat after a few minutes to fit the various shape of the ear canal without any stress.
The box of the Bravery includes a storage case and some fancy print materials like stickers and cards with the RINKO Anime character.
Design and Build Quality:
The SeeAudio Bravery is a pretty lightweight In-Ear Monitors with a semi-custom shape that has a very fancy look. The semitransparent shell makes it possible to see the internal parts such like drivers, which are precisely placed in to the heart of the monitor.
Each faceplate with a surface that has a beautiful marble like texture.
The right faceplate sports the SeeAudio brand logo, while the left earpieces has the special Bravery Lotus logo, which are both in a stylish gold color.
On the top of the monitor shells are the 0.78mm diameter 2-Pin female connectors that do show a quite tight and secure connection. Each monitor features a vent with a metal ring that are located near the 2-Pin connectors that do help the balance the pressure of the earpieces when you put it in your ears.
The inners surface has an ergonomic shape that fits prefect to my medium sized ears. The sound nozzle has a metal spout with a filter on the top that is also made of metal material. This filter prevents the insertion of unwanted particles like dust or earwax.
Hakugei Detachable Cable:
SeeAudio has partnered with Hakugei, a premium IEM upgrade cable manufacturing brand based in China. They have customized a high-purity 6N OCC cable to match the synergy with the Bravery In-Ear Monitors.
The Hakugei detachable cable has a fabric isolation and a nicely braided design.
The detachable cable of then Bravery features 0.78mm diameter 2-Pin female connectors that are protected with a metal housing in grey color.
The cable features a metal y-splitter and a chin slider. The y-splitter has the Hakugei and SeeAudio brandings on its surface.
The cable comes with a 3.5mm Single Ended headphone jack that has a straight profiled metal housing in the same grey color like all the metal part of the cable. On the top of the housing are the Hakugei and SeeAudio brand logos. The housing features also a plastic strain relief for extra durability.
The build quality and design of both the cable and the monitor shells is top notch!
Fit, Comfort & Isolation:
The SeeAudio Bravery are pretty lightweight In-Ear Monitors with a fairly ergonomic fit thanks to its relative small size and semicustom like shape. The Bravery didn’t hurt my ear with an average size of ear concha, however a good fit depends highly on the use of the right ear tips.
The Bravery shows an average passive noise isolation that is in general sufficient for the use in fairly noisy environments such like public transport including metro, bus or trains.
Technical Specifications:
- Driver Configuration : 3x Knowles and 1x Sonion BA driver
- Impedance : 18ohm
- Frequency Range : 20Hz-20kHz
- Sensitivity : 110dB/mW
- THD+N : <1%
- Connectors : 2-Pin 0.78mm connectors
- Cable Material : 6N High Purity OCC
- Cable Length : 120cm
Drivability:
The SeeAudio Bravery is a relative easy to drive In-Ear Monitors thanks to its low impedance of 18ohm and a sensitivity of about 110dB, which makes it to an ideal IEM for sources like Smartphone’s, Tablets and smaller sized DAP that do have a low power amplification.
Some Remarkable Features:
A) Electronic Frequency Crossover:
SeeAudio Bravery features an electronic frequency divider combined with an independent acoustic chamber design. The electronic frequency crossover consists of two different physical frequency division filters that coordinate the four balanced armature drivers in a three-way crossover.
B) Multi Balanced Armature Driver Setup:
SeeAudio Bravery adopts a multi-BA driver configuration featuring four high-performance balanced armature drivers per side producing a true high-fidelity experience for its users. The pair utilizes two Knowles BA drivers delivering for the lower end, one Sonion BA driver for the midrange response, and one Knowles BA driver for a high-frequency response.
Equipment’s used for this review:
IEM’s : SeeAudio Bravery, HiBy Crystal6, Custom Art FIBAE Black
DAP&DAC’s : HiBy RS6, iBasso DX220 MAX, FiiO M11 Pro, iPad Air2
Albums & tracks used for this review:
- 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)
- David Bowie – Heroes (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
- 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)
- U2 – Sunday Bloody Sunday (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- David Guetta & “Shouse” – Love Tonight Remix Edith (Spotify)
- Armin Van Buuren – Vini Vici (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Massive Attack – Angel (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
- Really Slow Motion – Deadwood (Deezer HiFi)
- Jo Blankenburg – Meraki (Spotify)
- Lorde – Royal (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
- Toutant – Rebirth (Deezer HiFi)
- Portishead – It Could Be Sweet (Spotify)
- Charly Antolini – Duwadjuwandadu (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
- Gogo Penguin – Raven (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)
- 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)
- 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)s
- Liquid Tension Experiment 2 – Acid Rain (Spotify)
- Yosi Horikawa – Bubbles (Spotify)
The Sound:
The SeeAudio Bravery offers a mildly V shaped sound signature that shows a great balance between musicality and versatility. The general tonality is slightly warmer than neutral, the bass is strong, fast and deep, the midrange is transparent and musical and the treble range is moderately pronounced and airy in its presentation.
Please note that I have used the stock Hakugei cable and the Azla Xelastec Sednafit Silicone Ear Tips during the review that are included to the package. I have paired the Bravery with DAP’s like the HiBy RS6, iBAsso DX220 and FiiO M11 Pro.
Bass:
The SeeAudio Bravery is able to produce big bass notes without to sound overdone, which makes it pretty suitable for a multiple genres, from electronic to jazz, from pop and rock to metal music. The subbass is able to produce a good sense of depth and rumble followed with a good level of decay thanks to its well-adjusted Balanced Armature driver.
The midbass region shows slightly less quantity and emphasis compared to the subbass area. The sense of impact and tightness is quite good for an In-Ear Monitor at this price range that produces this area with a Balanced Armature Diver. Instruments like cross drums do sound fairly accentuated; snare drums are bassy and fast, while bass guitars have a mildly warm and bold in tonality.
The SeeAudio Bravery shows in general a pretty fast, controlled and tight bass response with moderate level of resolution. The bass is very balanced and doesn’t sounds muddy or overdone when I do listen to trance songs form Armin Van Buuren or David Guetta up to metal music like does from Megadeth or Metallica.
Midrange:
The SeeAudio Bravery has a pretty natural, mildly warm and transparent midrange presentation with pretty good level of resolution. The Bravery offers an above average clarity and airiness in this area that will satisfy you while listen to both instruments and vocals.
The lower midrange of the Bravery shows a sufficient sense of depth and body, while the tonality doesn’t shows any negatives characteristics such like muddiness, dryness or thinness. This tuning makes male vocals pretty realistic and musical. Male vocals such like Barry White, Sting or Eric Clapton are reproduced with a good amount of depth and body, along with an above average clarity and resolution.
The upper midrange of the SeeAudio Bravery is more pronounced than the lower midrange, while it still produced in a pretty controlled manner, which makes the female vocal presentation vivid and transparent, without to show any remarkable sibilance or harshness.
The voices of female vocals such like Hayley Westenra, Sertap Erener or Aretha Franklin do sound fairly realistic, lively and controlled.
The SeeAudio Bravery has a slightly warm and nicely musical instrument tonality. Everything sounds fairly natural, from guitars to the violins, from pianos to the clarinets. For example, acoustic guitars are mildly warm, a bit bassy but pretty clean in its presentation, while violins or clarinets are shown with a slightly bright and warmish tonality. The extension of instruments like pianos or violins is a bit short, but are represented in a fairly realistic and detailed manner for an IEM at this price level.
Treble:
The treble range of the SeeAudio Bravery is mildly pronounced, while the tonality shows a breeze of warmth that makes it more organic and forgiving in this area. The transitions form the upper midrange towards the lower treble area sounds in general controlled especially when instruments such like electro guitar do play at high level of distortion. The general resolution and detail retrieval in this area is not class leading but fulfils my expectations from an In-Ear monitor at this price range.
The clarity and definition in the lower treble region is on a sufficient level when I do listen to instruments like violins and clarinets in classical music or to saxophones or trumpets in jazz music. Soprano vocals or are reproduced with an adequate level of resolution and extension.
The upper treble region is able to produce a good sense of airiness and sparkle thanks to a mildly peak around the 8 kHz region. However the extension is slightly short when I do listen to instruments like hi-hats, snare drums or to cymbals.
What I like about the presentation of the Bravery in this area are the rounded edges of the treble that do avoid any over-sharpness and irritation. This tuning makes it to an ideal In-Ear Monitor for longer listening periods.
Soundstage & Imaging:
The SeeAudio Bravery has a soundstage that is suitable for a fairly precise placement of instruments and vocals. The stage shows an average sense of depth and wideness when I do listen to it with the Azla Xelastec Sednafit ear tips, which can be increased significantly with the Symbio W Wide bore ear tips. The level of airiness and space between instruments is on a moderate level.
Some Comparisons:
SeeAudio Bravery versus HiBy Crystal6:
The SeeAudio Bravery shows a more balanced overall presentation compared to the HiBy Crystal6 that sounds a bit too bright and sterile.
The subbass region of the Bravery shows a better sense of depth, rumble and extension, while the Crystal6 has the slightly edge in terms of speed and decay in this area. The midbass region of the Bravery sounds fuller, more natural and impactful, while the resolution is on par with those of the Crystal6.
The SeeAudio Bravery shows a slightly warmer midrange tonality with a more organic overall timbre. The Crystal6 is slightly more transparent and detailed in this region, while it is a bit unnatural and sterile compared to the Bravery. The Bravery is more successful in terms of male vocals and instrument like acoustic guitars and violas compared to the Crystal6 due to the more pronounced lower midrange area.
The upper midrange of the HiBy Crystal6 is more highlighted and detailed, but is sharper and more prone to sibilance/harshness compared to the SeeAudio Bravery, which has a more controlled and forgiving tuning in this area.
The treble range of the SeeAudio Bravery sounds more natural, smooth and forgiving compared to the HiBy Crystal6, which sounds more highlighted but harsh in this area especially when I do listen to poor recorded tracks. The Crystal6 has the upper hand in terms of treble extension and detail retrieval in this area, however the Bravery offers a better sense of control, which makes it more ideal choice for longer listening periods.
The soundstage of the HiBy Crystal6 shows a better sense of depth, while the SeeAudio Bravery has the slightly edge when it comes to the depth of the stage.
SeeAudio Bravery versus Custom Art FIBA Black:
The Custom Art FIBAE Black shows a warmer overall tonality compared to the SeeAudio Bravery, which shows a more balanced and natural tonality with better sense of resolution and overall clarity.
The subbass region of the SeeAudio is more highlighted and offers a better sense of depth and rumble. The Custom Art FIBA Black on the other shows a more dominant midbass character. However, the Bravery has the upper hand in terms of clarity and resolution in this area.
The midrange of the Custom Art FIBAE Black shows a warmer, softer and fuller tonality compared to the SeeAudio Bravery, which sounds more transparent, airy and detailed in this area. The lower midrange of the FIBAE Black sounds fuller and pronounced than those of the Bravery. The lower midrange of the Bravery is maybe les highlighted but has the edge when it comes to the resolution in this area.
Both the upper midrange and treble region of the SeeAudio Bravery offers a better level of dynamism, clarity and brightness. The Bravery is also superior in terms of extension and overall detail retrieval, since the FIBAE Black shows an audible roll-off in both the upper midrange and treble area.
The SeeAudio Bravery has the upper hand when it comes to the general soundstage performance. It offers a better sense of separation between instrument and vocals and has also the slightly edge when it comes to the wideness of the stage. The FIBAE Black on the other hand shows a bit more depth in this area.
Conclusion:
The SeeAudio Bravery is beautiful looking In-Ear Monitor with a decent built quality that shows a very easy to like sound character. It offers a mildly V shaped sound signature that has a great balance between versatility and musicality thanks to its strong, fast and deep bass response, transparent and musical midrange tuning and pretty balanced and controlled treble presentation. Moreover, it comes with a high quality Hakugei detachable cable and Azla Xelastec Sednafit Ear Tips that are placed in to a fancy box with the RINKO Anime theme, which are some nice additions.
Pros & Cons:
- + Easy to Like Sound Tuning
- + Fast & Controlled Bass Response
- + Midrange Clarity & Vocal Performance
- + Balanced & Forgiving Treble Presentation
- + Design & Build Quality
- + Fancy Packaging & Premium Accessories (Hakugei Cable, Azla Xelastec Ear Tips)
- – Treble extension is a bit short
- – Average Soundstage Depth & Wideness
- – A good Fit & Isolations highly depends on the use of the right ear tips
- – Not a huge fan of cables with fabric isolations (subjective)
Thank you for the Read!
