7Hz's Artemis39 Review

 

General/Build/Packaging

7Hz is a brand that needs no further introduction. I have tested and reviewed several products from the brand and I have good experience with their products in general. I have their latest “dongle” with me today, the Artemis39 which houses ESS’s 9039Q2M. The build quality is very solid and premium looking, front and back glasses, the only nitpick that i have is, it came without a protector pre-applied which made it prone to scratches. The rear glass has the Artemis39’s working whereas the front has the 7Hz’s logo lit up when it is in use. The buttons has very good tactile feedback to it and they’re not wobbly. The volume down button also acts as a button to switch the DAC filters, the amount of flashing from the blue led will indicate which filter you are currently at.

The packaging itself is good and nothing to complain about, a high quality USB C cable is included, sadly, there isn’t any case included. Let’s take a look at the specifications below:

Specifications (grabbed from Linsoul) 

IEMs/Headphones/Equipments used for this review

• 7Hz Aero

• Spirit Torino Twin Pulse IEM

• Fiio FT3

• Macbook Air M2 -> 7Hz Artemis39 -> Tidal

• Macbook Air M2 -> 7Hz Artemis39 -> foobar 2k (tracks ranging from 16-44 to 24-192)

Foreword

My review is solely based on what I hear via my equipment and I never consider my reviews to be objective in any way rather a subjective approach. Do take into consideration that everyone’s ear anatomy is not the same, so the psychoacoustics perception might be different as well, but i believe it will not stray too far

Features

Battery Life

• Normally i take the battery life claim from the manufacturer with a pinch of salt, but the Artemis39 does surprised me and the battery life is actually very good

• On bluetooth mode, the claimed battery life is 8-10 hours and i am getting roughly 8 hours+ with my iPhone 15 on average listening volume level, 5/10, iPhone is using only AAC hence if you are using it with Android device with Aptx or LDAC, the battery life might varies

USB Port

• Separate power and data port is convenient if you want to use and charge at the same time

Bluetooth

Artemis39 supports various common bluetooth codecs including the LDAC, the range is also quite good and i did not encounter any drop out within 10 metre between my phone and the Artemis39

• LDAC

• APTX-HD

• APTX-LL

• APTX

• AAC

• SBC

DAC Filters

There are 8 digital filters to cycle through, and to be frank, i personally can’t tell much difference in between the filters, hence i am leaving it on default which is filter 1 throughout this entire review

• Minimum phase

• Linear phase apodizing fast roll-off

• Linear phase fast roll-off

• Linear phase fasat roll-off low ripple

• Linear phase slow roll-off

• Minimum phase fast roll-off

• Minimum phase slow roll-off

• Minimum phase slow roll-off low dispersion

Sound Impression (Minimum Phase USB Mode)

The Artemis39 has been aged for approximately 50 hours prior to writing this impression. The sound profile of Artemis39 is fairly uncolored and transparent, dead silent background, zero noise. I’m not saying it will make a bad sounding/ badly tuned IEM turn good, it simply makes what is already good a step further and eeking out every bit of hidden potential your IEM/headphone have. 

Soundstage is largely dependent on the transducers and mastering of the songs, but Artemis39 does render the soundstage very open and let you have a good perception on the stage size in terms of depth, width and height.

Imaging is good with good separation and layering, instruments can be pinpointed easily and they sound like they each have a space of their own and not mushed together.

Pairings

7Hz Aero

• Pairing the Aero with the Artemis39 is nothing but fun, the bass is well controlled without much elevation, it has more punch now and better extension, it is tight and the texture is good as well, all these without messing with the mids and highs, this is evident when listening to Gojira’s Amazonia, the double paddle especially has more punch

• The mids are slightly forward and doesn’t sound that recessed

• There are people who will always say ESS does have that hot treble, but let me just be clear that it is the implementation on the analog stage(amp section) rather than the DAC itself, the treble here is clean without harshness and sibilance

• Soundstage and imaging remains more or less similar

Spirit Torino Twin Pulse IEM

• The Twin Pulse is neutral with slight warmth on its own, based on my listening impression pairing it with Artemis39, the soundstage is definitely “bigger” than before, imaging that is already good has been taken a step further with excellent separation as well as layering,

• Bass is slightly faster, but the rendered texture is also improved

• Not much changes on the mids

• The overall characteristics of Twin Pulse IEM became a little bit more dynamic with this pairing, also being a isobaric with BE coated dd, it does benefit from the additional power from the Artemis39

Fiio FT3

• Bass has better control and tighter, while retaining the punch, 

• Not much changes on the detail retrieval, treble seems to sound a tiny bit smoother

• Soundstage has very good width and depth to it and seems to image better as well

Comparison (Aune Yuki)

• Uses different DAC chip (Dual CS43198) and has lesser power output compared to Artemis39

• Different sound signature compared to Artemis39, more coloured sounding compared to Artemis39, Warmish  and musical signature

• In terms of size, Yuki is smaller and shorter, but the volume button’s placement is positioned at a rather awkward position

• Feature wise, Yuki does not have Bluetooth but it does have gain setting, namely the high and low gain

• Artemis39 definitely has more power compared to Yuki

• Having used both and swapping around for A/B test, both are good in their own way, not to mention the sound signature is also different as well, in terms of pricing, Yuki is priced slightly higher and also lacking BT feature as well as built in battery and microphone, ultimately, it depends on your use case as well as preference

Final Thoughts

Having tested and used the Artemis39 for quite some time prior to publishing this review, Artemis39 definitely has what it takes to make the statement in the fast moving market with various competition. Artemis39 is a very versatile product and I find the use case is very suitable for portable users and also headphone users that don't use overly power hungry headphones, not to mention it does have the bluetooth function that allows you to use it wireless when you are on the move if you prefer not to lug your DAP around, it can also be used for meeting as it does have a built in microphone.

The power output is definitely sufficient for most IEMs out there and also headphones that aren’t overly power hungry (Tested with the headphones which I owned, Hifiman Sundara Open Back, Hifiman Edition XS, Hifiman Sundara Closed Back, as well as Aune AR5000). In terms of sound, it is quite uncolored and the note weights aren’t thin,I personally enjoyed it and find it rather easy to pair with most transducers. The only gripe that i have with it is, its a fingerprint magnet. All in all, if you enjoy a dynamic sound yet you don’t like an overly colored signature, Artemis39 is definitely recommended!

*A big thanks to Linsoul for sending this over for the purpose of this review. I thank them for their support.

Head over to their official Store if you are interested in getting one:

7Hz Artemis39 Linsoul - Non Affiliated