AFUL - MagicOne

You are mighty welcome! The best photo of Greta is your photo in which you did a fine job of capturing the somewhat ethereal sound quality which the Aful MagicOne adds to the overall listening experience. The MagicOne still is the only IEM which I have been able to fall asleep to while I am listening to it. I call that magic. If you wish, please contact me privately about my Cadenza filter mod for measurements. I am really interested in what you all think.

I really like the MagicOne as a vocal focused IEM.

Yeah I went through an unhealthy amount of P7 videos yesterday and like almost all of them absolutely glazed it. At worst, they just said that it wasn't to their tastes. I've heard and liked the Aful Magicone before and they seem to be pretty close. Also played with autoeq on squiglink to eq my TE Nova to the P7 and I think Id like them based on that. Slightly bassy warm neutral with just enough treble to sound detailed and airy.

I own a pair of Magicones (keep in mind I'm a IEM noobie and that it's actually my first and only pair thus far) The mids to the highs are fairly detailed and clean, though as you said the bass seems kinda hollow if you will... Great for songs with mid to higher end intricacies, but feels kinda flat and dry on low percussions and bass.

Yeah, I bought mine for 56 USD during last 11/11.

Pretty much anything in the 200+ market is going to have a significant bass boost. I think the most bass light of the mid fi hybrids is the Cadenza4. It is very bass light, and presents with lighter bass than the graph suggests. I wouldnt pay full price for it. Wait for it to go on sale, and use a 20% coupon on the official Amazon store, and you can get it for under $150. Going a lot cheaper, the EA500 (non LM) is also very bass light, but treble heavy. The DUNu Kima2 might be a better alternative, with slightly less treble energy. The Rosetechnics/Rose Elsa Star City5 is a very neutral IEM, but some have said they did a silent re-tune to it, and added, you guessed it, more sub-bass shelf. Thankfully they are not bank breaking. The AFUL MagicOne is also fairly bass lean. But its a single BA set, and its also non-vented, so it may be a bit uncomfortable to some. Also they regularly go on sale for about half off. Wait for that. As a collectors set they are SUPER unique. Also the AFUL Performer 8...its almost a flat line. Its also nearly $400. LOL! The BQEYZ Frost is another great bass light set that doesnt over emphasize the treble in an absurd way. Also most of the Softears IEM's are generally not overly bass emphasized. But I cant recall which model i listened to. OH! And i almost forgot, all things Etymotic. For a long long time they were the "studio meta". But the fit is...unique.

MagicOne are (one of) the most relaxing, easygoing IEM on the market, and I am gonna die on this hill!

Not the Wyvern Abyss actually. It looks so much better in photos than it does IRL in most lighting. Without a really strong light source, it just looks black. With a strong light it looks quite glittery and a bit cheap. Still an 8/10 in perfect lighting conditions though. It's hard to say which is my favourite. Some top picks are Aful MagicOne, Ikko OH10, Simgot EA1000 and EPZ Q1.

Do you notice a slight lack of cohesion to the sound of the Performer 5? I do and it's the one thing I dislike about them. I mainly use mine for monitoring because the extension both ends is excellent and they are pretty neutral (on the warm side), but I find when I listen to music on them for more than about an hour, I start noticing what I describe as a "thready" or "digital" kind of sound, where certain frequency bands stand out as more distinct from each other. It's not like instrument separation, but rather where a single instrument will sound separated from itself in certain frequency bands. I'm curious about the Performer 8, but wondering if it has this same characteristic. I noticed that the FR graphs for Afuls tend to have a characteristic waviness along the top of the eargain region, which I think comes from how they do their crossovers, and I suspect this is what I'm hearing. I also have the Explorer and the MagicOne. Possibly because they have fewer drivers and simpler crossovers, I don't notice this effect with either of those. I really like the MagicOne in pariticular. It sounds very different to all my other IEMs: very relaxing and midrange-oriented. Kind of like the QKZ HBB in character, except where that one is extremely warm/bassy with recessed vocals, the MagicOne is very neutral, but with quite a soft character to the sound. Transients are smoothed out, yet somehow it has exceptionally good imaging. I also thought it was a bit overpriced at launch so ignored it for a while, but it was absolutely my best buy of the 11/11 sales. Also agree that Aful are the most consistently comfortable IEMs. I have a few others with similarly good comfort like the EPZ Q1 / Q1 Pro, but Aful seem to do it very consistently. And especially they are far ahead of the competition when it comes to cramming lots of drivers into a small and ergonomic shell. Also, I'm fairly sensitive to unvented IEMs and the MagicOne is the first completely unvented IEM I've tried where it hasn't bothered me, and the pressure seems to equalise out fairly quickly. It's better than the Juzear 41t which actually *is* vented, just not fully.

You can have soundstage and imaging without piercing treble, but in general, more treble will always enhance the effect, so brighter IEMs tend to have better imaging. An interesting counter-example I found is the Aful MagicOne has a very "soft" sound, especially in transients, with quite rolled-off upper treble. Transients are very important localisation cues. In spite of that, it has very good imaging. It just goes to show that these rules of thumb are simplifications of something more complicated, that just happen to work most of the time. BTW, the EA500 I was referring to is the original analogue version. Not the LM version either, which adds a lot more bass and ruins the soundstage effect with the stock tuning, though it still has good imaging. I haven't heard the DSP version. The EA500 is indeed very bright.

I have them both and the OL is great, but it gives me a lot of issues with pressure because it's unvented. For some reason the MagicOne is mildly annoying but doesn't give me as much of a problem. If you don't get any sort of pressure issues with the MagicOne then I'd say definitely go for the OL, it's probably my favourite tuning of any IEM but I just don't listen to it much because the lack of venting is too bothersome. If I don't fiddle with them for about 2 minutes to get the air pressure just right in both ears, they end up sounding wrong. Then if I move, the seal breaks and I have to start again. The OL and MagicOne are actually somewhat similar in terms of midrange tonality, but the OL has much harder-hitting bass (although it completely lacks sub-bass extension, so drums tend to sound more like anvil strikes than a fully-rounded thud - it's actually good, but definitely a colouration). The OL also has much more extended and more incisive treble. Where the MagicOne has a very "soft" sound, the OL is very sharp and very resolving, without being bright.

I haven't heard the Kai, but between the Hexa and the MagicOne, they are pretty comparable in terms of the midrange and I'd say the MagicOne is a bit nicer to listen to, but the Hexa is a better reference neutral. The MagicOne has a slightly "soft" sound where transients don't have as much of a sharp edge as they should ideally. This actually sounds very good and is great for relaxing, but it also sounds coloured. The MagicOne is slightly lacking in extension both in the sub-bass and the upper treble, whereas the Hexa has good extension both ends. The negatives of the Hexa are: * The nozzle is bigger than average, although not as huge as e.g., the Zero Red. It's short enough that shallow-insertion tips help if it's a problem and I find Zhu Rhyme tips work the best. * I'd say the bass is actually a bit below neutral, but tips choice helps and with a good seal it's pretty clear and avoids masking the mids. Again I find the Zhu Rhymes help with the bass, both to keep it sounding tight and linear, and not rolling off more than necessary. * The treble is slightly peaky, but it's not terrible * Soundstage is very narrow, but this shouldn't matter too much as far as a neutral reference is concerned. I'd say it's a slight colouration though as it goes the opposite way than something with an exaggeratedly wide soundstage. My preferred neutral reference is the Thieadio Legacy 2. It's slightly more upper-mid-forward than the Hexa, but both have pretty flat mids. The L2 tuning reminds me of the HD600. It has slightly more rolled-off treble than the Hexa, but that only matters if you care a lot about frequencies above ~12kHz. It's not really missing upper frequencies, but they are definitely quieter than true neutral. It's *smoother* than the Hexa though. Bass on the L2 is also a lot better than the Hexa. It's slightly boosted into the sub-bass, but the shelf starts low enough that there's no bass bleed. It's just enough that the bass is clear and present rather than sounding recessed. I also wouldn't discount the EM6L. I don't think it's really v-shaped and if you check a graph it looks very similar to the Hexa. I think it might sound v-shaped to some because it has much stronger bass than the Hexa, but IMO it's actually closer to neutral bass than the Hexa. Maybe a bit over, where the Hexa is a bit under. It's been a while since I heard the EM6L though, so take that with a pinch of salt - it's worth doing more research. I also wouldn't worry *too much* about the QC issues: it has a problem with the metal nozzle cover falling off, but it's literally just a cover, it's not the nozzle that actually breaks. It's very easy to glue back on. There's a post about it every couple of months. As far as thing that could go wrong with an IEM, it's not that bad and at least it has a well-proven easy fix. I'd be more concerned about the QDC connector, but I haven't seen any reports of that failing on the EM6L (whereas it fails all the time on the Wan'er).

There's quite a broad range. For example: * Aful MagicOne - pretty, but not overdone * Ikko OH10 - good looking, nature-based & reserved * 7Hz Timeless, Timeless AE, Simgot EA500 - minimalist * Tin C2, Dunu Titan S (black/red version), Truthear Hexa/Pure - industrial There's a whole load in the middle that are just random swirly colours which has become the default low-effort design. Something like the Thieaudio Legacy 2 does that well IMO because its just one colour with a bit of texture, not all the colours, all at once. If you want a plain black cable, look at the KBear ST12. There's lots of options out there. I notice the stock cables often don't match the IEMs very well, and intentionally or not, this most likely helps sell a lot of aftermarket cables.

I like my MagicOne. It's good for when I want to listen to music in the background while I work since it has such a neutral, mild sound signature. Plus, the snowflake design makes it great for coordinating with certain outfits.

So, I clearly have a bit of a thing for Aful products! Their company philosophy is basically to provide the highest quality product for the lowest price possible, and in my opinion they do an excellent job. And while that makes me sound like a total shill, I’ve never spoken with Aful and all these sets were purchased with my own money. Another thing I’ve got a thing for is ranking stuff. So the album is arranged in order of my favorite set first. I’ll give a brief summery of my impressions here: 1. Performer 8- The best micro detail and tonality under $500. One of my favorite IEMs ever, they have a vocal forward sound with a touch of warmth. 2. Performer 5+2- Soft “v” sound, excellent for genres that rely on lots of subbass. Impactful midbass, and best soundstage on an Aful set. 3. Cantor- A bright neutral sound. Easily the best resolution with a unique, deep soundstage that allows for an “out-of-head” sound sensation. 4. Performer 5- An excellent option for those that may find the P5+2 a touch bright. I typically prefer BA treble myself. 5. Explorer- One of the best bassy, new meta tuned options around $100. 6. MagicOne- Well, it is magic to get that kind of range from one BA! A little overpriced at launch, but an excellent deal for $70 if you’re looking for a neutral set under $100. I’ll also say Aful makes some of the most comfortable IEMs on the market. If anyone wants to know anything else about the fam let me know!

https://preview.redd.it/2dpgxic909ee1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b72d203ed7b40c3ae2a17f222feb1e952d507f8a I use these tips for the MagicOne. They have amazing ventilation, but are a tad pricy. [Tanchjim T-APB T300 tips](https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_m0ucYD1)

Got mine yesterday. Very comfortable and pleasing both to the ears and eyes set. The only issue is pressure in the ears from BA. Hopefully Sencai that'll come with Wan'er 2 will help. For $65 that I paid for them at Hifigo, an excellent set.

For all BA that's probably the best you can do. I'd also recommend checking out Aful MagicOne, they go for less than a half of base price now and I really enjoy it, like bassy(but not too much) hexa, tremble exist but is rather inoffensive too.