Kiwi Ears Canta's Review

 

General/Packaging/Comfort/Build

Kiwi Ears is no stranger within the community, names like Orchestra Lite, Cadenza, Melody and Forteza should be very familiar to most within the community.Today i have their latest hybrid with me, the configuration is kind of new? 1DD+2Planar. 

The packaging comes in the usual Kiwi Ears styled package. Within the box it consists of eartips and cable as well as the IEM itself. 

Build quality is rather solid with matte like faceplate, the shell itself is neither too big nor small, isolation is average and comfort is good based on my experience throughout the listening session for approximately 2-3 hours. Nozzle is either too long or short, do tip roll if you are having fit issues.

Equipment and Software used

• Fiio K9 AKM

• Kiwi Ears Allegro

• Hiby FC6

• Macbook Air M2

• Apple Music/Tidal/foobar2k

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

Sound Impression

Upon first listening, Canta is slightly bright and to me everything sounds very vivid and dynamic, hence I put it through burn in session and my music looping through for 20 hours +-, the highs are smoother and much more enjoyable to my ears. V shaped but it's good, although this is V shaped, but the vocals are very nicely done in my opinion. There’s a slight hint of planar timbre and it is noticeable for certain tracks but not so much for some tracks. Noteweight is neither too thin nor thick

Bass

• Good speed and doesn’t sound bloated or muddy when listening to busy tracks such as Slipknot’s People’s = Shit!

• Sub bass has an okay-ish extension considering the price. not bass head kind of rumble but sufficient and has good control, it rumbles when the track calls for it, with a good seal, it is actually very fun

• Mid bass lacks a little punch but overall it is alright

• Doesn’t bleed into the mids

Mids

• The mids are slightly recessed but still lush sounding to my ears

• Vocals are neither too forward nor recessed, and they’re not shouty

• Male and female vocal has good texture to it and doesn’t sound thin, the female vocal especially has very good energy and sweet to listen to

• The bass doesn’t bleed into this range which is good

• Pinna gain is rather safe and never shouty even when the volume is being cranked up (but again, this is subjective and depending on your tolerance/sensitivity)

Treble

• Treble is energetic and it is very “vivid” as i mentioned, but never harsh nor sibilant

• Detail retrieval is good

• Very airy sounding and doesn’t sound congested, very good technicalities overall for the price

Soundstage/Imaging

• Soundstage is slightly out of your head with good width, depth and height perception is good

• Imaging is good as the instruments can be pinpointed easily even during busy track, certain complex orchestral track might not perform that well

• In terms of technicalities overall, Canta has good technicalities for the asking price

Driveability

• Canta is not hard to drive but it does scale very more power, in terms of dynamics and bass control

• Most of the entry level/mid range dongles will do just fine but desktop setup will push the Canta to its max capability

• The new Kiwi Ears Allegro Mini does have good synergy with the Canta

Comparison (NF Audio RA15)

• RA15 is a single DD IEM, understand that RA15 is single DD, but it does have swappable nozzle

• Not as airy sounding as the Canta, slightly smoother in terms of the treble, but a more pronounced upper mids might not be for everyone especially those who are sensitive to that region

• Bass is tight and punchy, quantity wise slightly lesser compared to Canta

• In terms of noteweight, the RA15 on the gold nozzle has slightly thicker note weight compared to Canta

• Soundstage and imaging i think the Canta fares better

Final Thoughts

All in all, the Canta is something different from the usual Kiwi Ears’s offering. A unique driver combination with a nicely done V shaped tuning. Many people tend to stay away from V shaped or coloured sound signatures, for myself, I personally think that music is meant to be enjoyed rather than trying to analyse it. Canta is definitely a solid performer for the asking price and definitely gets a recommendation from me. The only thing that i am gonna nitpick is the bundled cable, although it works, but aesthetically it is just not eye pleasing, not a big deal though, as mentioned just nitpicking.

*A big thanks to Linsoul for sending this over for the purpose of this review. Thanks for the support and opportunity as always

Head over to their store if you are interested in getting a pair:

Kiwi Ears Canta- Non affiliated