ROSESELSA Aurora Ultra Review - A hybrid to watch out!

 

General/Build/Comfort/Packaging

Roseselsa is a brand under Rose Technics. They have released several products which are quite well received within the community. I have previously tested several IEMs from the brand and they are generally good, one which I have quite a good impression of was the QT9-Mk2s.

The shell is very light and small, housing 1DD+Planar. I have no issue with the comfort throughout my listening session with the Aurora Ultra which lasted roughly 3-4 hours each session. Packaging wise, the overall presentation is very good and it certainly doesn't look budget at all. It came with a IEM storage case, standard eartips and also a set of soundcocoon’s eartips, which is silicon based. The cable is thin and soft to me, slightly prone to tangling and microphonics if you are moving around.

Gears used for this review

• Fiio JM21

• Aune S9C Pro Reference Dac/Amp

• iPod Classic 4th Gen

• Dita Navigator

• Aurora Ultra with soundcocoon eartips and stock cable

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

Aurora Ultra is another fun set that isn’t following the harman curve but tuned to be a fun sounding set emphasising on the bass. In terms of sound profile on stock cable and eartips, they are slightly U shaped sounding to my ears, mids are a little recessed, rumbly sub bass and also punchy mid bass and detailed treble without the harshness. Slight planar timbre is audible, tonality wise Aurora Ultra is leaning towards slight cool rather than warm. Note weight is somewhat lean with the stock tips, but using it with the Soundcocoon eartips does somehow thickens the note weight a little

Bass

• The bass on Aurora Ultra is big, it's fun with adequate quantity as well as good quality

• The transition from sub bass to mid bass is fairly linear, it does not overpower each other

• Aurora Ultra response very well to various eartips, depending on the eartips of your choice, the bass can be tight and clean to boomy, the stock tips that came with it is rather balanced, i have also found the Divinus Velvet to be a very good choice if you prefers a slightly more intimate presentation

Mids

• Mids are slightly recessed but the details in this range still present themselves adequately

• Female vocal is slightly more forward compared to male vocal, it is full of energy texture is good, 

• Male vocal is slightly recessed, some artist’s vocal tend to be recessed while some are forward, one example when i’m listening to Michael Jackson’s track, his voice sounded recessed while Jason Mraz’s voice sounded forward

• The gain on the upper mids is evident that it favours female vocal more than male’s, but it is nowhere near shouty

Treble

• Treble is lively and energetic, but not offensive at the same time

• Detail retrieval is alright, nuances can be heard without much effort

• Non sibilant even on higher than normal listening volume

• It also has good amount of air leading to good perceived sense of space

Soundstage/Imaging

• Soundstage is quite big and out of your head, good perceived depth and width, slightly lacking in terms of height

• Imaging is good, instruments can be pinpointed easily even on complex tracks such as Metallica’s Lux Aeterna, Slipknot’s People = Shit!

Driveability

• Aurora Ultra is easy to drive, reaching my usual listening volume without any efforts on Apple’s Lightning Dongle

• Having said that, it does scale with source and power, source will affect the overall presentation in terms of soundstage and dynamics (based on my own listening experience)

• Feeding it with more power (Aune S9c Pro), more dynamics, mid range somehow comes forward a little, bass has better control (tighter)

Comparison (vs 7Hz’s Legato)

• In terms of tuning, both are different and the difference is day and night

• Legato has the vintage kind of sound, speaker like sound, if you have any experience with vintage speakers, you’ll understand. Aurora Ultra is more modern sounding, irrelevant but something like digital vs analog

• Aurora Ultra is mid bass focused whereas Legato is more on the sub bass which the rumble is literally felt by your jaws and transitions nicely into the mid bass

• Mids on both are slightly recessed but Legato does in better in terms of vocals for both female and male, whereas Aurora Ultra tends to favours female vocal more than male vocal

• Treble on the Aurora Ultra is more energetic compared to Legato, but both aren’t offensive nor sibilant

• Soundstage for Legato gives a different perceived feel compared to Aurora Ultra, Legato has got the atmospheric kind of staging whereas Aurora Ultra just sounds flat despite it does give you the sense of slightly out of your head

• With all that being said, it’s not to say that either one is bad but it depends on your preference

Final Thoughts

There have been too many harman target tuned IEMs in the Chi-Fi’s space, of course there are some who enjoy it and some who don't. Aurora Ultra is a refreshing addition to the market for those who don’t like harman target tuned IEMs. I don’t consider Aurora Ultra  as an all rounder due to how it’s tuned, you might get away with it if you’re willing to spend some time cable rolling (That is if you believe in cable, not going to argue more and just leave it here) and tips rolling. Do I recommend Aurora Ultra? Yes, if your library mainly consists of modern music and especially jpops, if you’re into classicals and instruments, Aurora Ultra is not for you. Period. 

*This sample is sent over by HifiGo in exchange for this review. I thank them for the opportunity.

Head over to the following links(Non Affiliated) if you’re interested in getting one yourself:

HifiGo’s webstore - Non affiliated