Kiwi Ears - Aether

All of the above. However, since my line of work had massive Klipsch Horn speakers hanging from the ceiling w top-line Onkyo receiver & Denon CD/Cassette, I used to crank it up for my students...when we performed Holst's "The Planets" on the field, or Full Orchestra a movement - each for Contest Performances, I played them the real Opus. I'd play bits of everything, such as Britten's Suite from "Gloriana" to Sousa & orchestral marches, Mozart, Sibelius, etc., whatever we were teaching. I'd play everything I could to provide an example of what we were learning. After hours, when working, the other directors & I would play anything from Classical to Jazz to some of the pop tunes the kids liked. Was terrific. After retiring (44 yrs - 3 campuses plus University w same or similar Klipsch set-ups). I didn't have those 4 massive speakers anymore🙃, I use headphones & IEMS at home, when driving & walking the dogs, gardening, shopping, etc. Been through Klipsch top ear buds (of course) in the old days, but now, using a DAC & newer IEMs. Just bought the KiwiEars Aether big Planar last week & absolutely love it. Similar to my HiFiMan Ananda & Arya 2, but of course w reduced sound stage (terrific, though, for an IEM!). Amazon had it for $139 last week! Has a bit more bass extension than you'd expect from a Planar, mids are gorgeously accurate & the treble is airy & crystal clear. I EQ a touch depending on the recording. For older Telarc & recent Chandos labels, I don't need to EQ the Aether. But, I am struggling to find 14-16mm memory foam tips which accept the Aether's wide 6mm nozzle tube. Have asked for help w Comply Foam customer service - they were no real help. Thought their military foam tips would work, but they didn't even give bore dimensions as I asked. Said their bore & length measurements are on their website, but I found only on some if their most common tips😵‍💫 I have a terrific older Sennheiser set of cans my Dad bought in the late 1960/1970. Still sounds terrific, & I have a Focal dynamic Elegia I got on sale for $329. Amazon often has models of top makers at 40-50% off if you don't mind waiting 2-4 yrs after a new model comes out. I don't. The Arya Stealth 2, I got for $499 new. Going to buy an Etymotic ER4XR as soon as it goes on sale somewhere. Need it also for everyday use - good to have a unique dynamic AND a Planar IEM. Will be waiting another year until the IEM geniuses create smoother crossover mechanisms for mixed hybrid drivers. Some seem to be good now, but will wait a bit. Don't think I'll ever spend more than $400/500 on an IEM - unless it is TRULY special. It'll come. Tip: the guys at Bloom Audio, & Headphones.com are very helpful. So is the staff at Sweetwater. If anyone has recommendations for large memory foam ear tips to fit a 6mm nozzle AND is longer than 13-14mm, please let me know👍

The KiwiEars Aether planar!!

>But I would have preferred even for almost double the price to have just a shell revision, with the modular cable and exactly the same fit as the original T10. Interesting, because for me the fitment of the OG T10 was the biggest problem. I cant wear them for more than a half hour, 45 minutes, TOPS, without getting massive hot spots in my ears. The T10 Pro fixers all of that. Tuning wise, i actually prefer the T10 Pro. I think its one of those IEM's where it can feel disappointing if you havent branched out into higher priced IEM's. Because, whether anyone wants to admit to it, the T10 Pro IS a better tuned IEM. The way the treble roll of happens controls a lot of the Planar Timbre, and matches closely with many popular tuning curves from Ziigaat and AFUL. Which can allow for a little higher volume playback, and like the Explorer, some additional detail to come out with that higher twist of the volume knob. The problem is that the OG T10 really retains a lot of that Planar shimmer, and gives the impression of detail by sounding overly bright in the Pina Gain Region at 2k, making it seem very vocal forward. And that can, IMHO, make the OG T10 seem to lack some cohesiveness in the presentation, which we see in the S12 2024, and S08, and T10 Pro. I do agree that the bass is a little too thick. I would have liked to see it a little leaner to match the rolled off treble. Its almost a less dramatic version of the Arcadia, with the added speed of the Planar, which the Arcadia just cant match. And when you look at it from that perspective, it becomes a pretty impressive IEM for the price. That being said, i think if you find the T10 Pro to be a little lacking, the next best alternative is the KiwiEars Aether. It pretty much hits a balance between the T10, and T10 Pro. It retains some of the OG T10 Pina Gain, but matches the treble roll off of the T10 Pro everywhere else, EXCEPT at 8k. The Aether also has a lower sub bass shelf, which kills the overdone bass problem of the T10 Pro complete. And finally, the tuning of the Aether almost totally removes that Planar Timbre and Shimmer. Unfortunately, most people wont have as good of a time getting teh Aether to fit, as they will the T10 Pro. The T10 Pro is going to remain in my rotation for the forseeable future. It just hits all of the right spots i want it to, in terms of sound and comfort.

GoXLR has a high impedance output, so a lot of Hybrid IEMs are going to have issues with augmented bass performance when presented with a high impedance output (for larger headphones). Single DD offerings will be largely immune from this issue. So things like the Kefine Delci, or the Tipsy M1 are good choices. Or Single Planar sets like the KiwiEars Aether, or the S12 Ultra.

KiwiEars Aether. ~$150 Nice single Planar IEM with good stage, layering, and detail retrieval.

I don’t consider myself a high end audiophile. I just dabble and enjoy music and gaming with IEM’s. So please take this review with a grain of salt knowing I’m an amateur in the audio space. My daily driver has been the Mangird Xenns Tea Pro that I bought on November 16, 2024. I love the bass on these but the treble energy leaves more to be desired imo. I use the Dunu S&S tips with the Tea Pro. I also have: Kiwi Ears Orchestra Lite  Kiwi Ears Quintet Raptgo x hbb hook-x Aful P5 My friend let me try his Monarch MK3 and I want those but I have a hard time justifying $1,000 for an IEM. At least, right now anyways ;) I have a Fiio K5 Pro and a KA11 dongle. I mainly listen to Country, EDM, Christian rock, Alternative, and Rock (new and classic). I have various ear tips: Spinfit W1 Dunu S&S JVC Dot and Dot Pro+ I mostly use large size ear tips. I couldn’t get a good seal with the Dunu S&S tips or the Spinfits. The IEM kept feeling like it was going to fall out. The moment I put the JVC Dot tips on everything changed with this IEM. The seal is perfect. The fit is perfect. The depth is good. This IEM is comfortable to me. I have large ears. I don’t even feel the IEM when wearing them. They feel very lightweight in my ears despite the shell’s size. Even with the IEM fully inserted it does not cause any ear pain or fatigue. The cable is decent. Not heavy like the Tea Pro cable. The Quintet’s cable has a large metal piece and pulls on the IEM. This is not the case with the Aether. I can bring the cable up and drop it a few inches and it doesn’t pull very much on my ears. The cable doesn’t cause friction on my shirt as I move my head around either. It just glides across my T-shirt. It’s quite flexible and doesn’t seem to keep a memory either which I like. I would compare the flexibility to be similar to a shoe lace on running shoes. I find it to be an enjoyable and likeable cable. The termination end of the cable is contoured and I like this. My other IEM’s have a straight cylinder style shape but these have a slight concave to them. Makes them nice and easy to grip and disconnect from a source. \-= Treble =- Ess words are a little sharp. Definitely some sibilance.  Symbols aren’t painful or harsh to my ears. Open sounding and clear. Detailed. Can hear small details in music. If you are sensitive to sibilance, these probably won’t be for you. Ess words definitely have a zing and ssssss to them. It’s nowhere near as bad as the Quintet’s sibilance but I would say they’re like 30% of that level of sibilance. If you don’t like the S12 Pro sibilance then you most likely won’t like this IEM either. \-= Mids =- I don’t really have much opinion on mids or vocals. They sound nice and sound as they should. I don't know what else to say about that. \-= Bass =- Bass is nice and tight sounding. Doesn’t sound bloated. Sounds controlled. The bass begins and ends quickly. Low end rumble is nice in EDM tracks. EDM is fun and the sub bass rumbles nicely. Bass guitar and drums sound good and have enough oomph to be fun. \-= Songs =- Wild Flower - Special by Mitis The bass in this song hits and rumbles so nicely. Sounds very clean. Ideekay by Ephixa The intro bass punches and sounds fantastic to my ears. All of the sounds in this track sound clear and precise. Anytime the mid bass kicks in, I can feel it. So enjoyable. The symbol crashes don’t sound harsh but they also are not subdued. The bass doesn’t over power the symbols at all. The bass on the Tea Pro tends to over shadow symbols and other treble area instruments so I really appreciate that the Aether doesn't overpower the other areas. Life of Sin Pt. 1 by Mitis I like this song for how the sounds energetically move back and forth and all around. The mid bass has oomph. Everything seems to have its own space and just sounds clear and clean. Sub bass is rumbly. Chicks Dig It by Chris Cagle His ess words are sibilant as are the symbols. Not painfully so, but the sibilance is audible. Lowering the volume does lessen the sibilance sharpness but I can still hear it. \-= Soundstage =- These have soundstage. They don’t sound intimate. They have an openness to them that makes some songs and instruments sound like they’re about 6 inches outside of my head. In gaming, sounds have depth and distance. In BF2042, I can tell how far someone is from me. Whether they’re to the side, front, or behind me, I can tell how far they are from me. The Tea Pro’s are good at this to my ears and the Aether does not dissappoint. \-= Imaging =- The imaging is quite nice. Instrument direction are easy to pick out and I can imagine where they are. I played 3 matches of BF2042 which were some close quarters games. Picking out foot steps and audio cues of friendlies and enemies were pretty easy. Enemies above me were easy to discern but some times it was odd discerning how high up above me they were. I could identify their position left to right but not exactly how high up. It was accurate enough that I could hear them and instantly know they were on a catwalk above me or above me on the roof running around. I had no issues with sounds transitioning from side to side or if the sound went over the top of my head side to side or sounds going behind me side to side. Sound transitions were pretty smooth and not wonky or odd. That makes a big difference when gaming and tracking sound cues of things that are not in your line of sight. If you want a fun sounding, detailed IEM with decent sub bass rumble that is also good for gaming, then get these. However, if you’re sensitive to sibilance, I would advise buying these from a vendor that has a good return policy just in case. I got mine through Amazon here in the US. Their return policies make trying new IEM's convenient.

I’m using pc38x and they are very good. Much better than the cloud 2. Only problem is they are open back  I bought kiwi aether which are planar iem and I’m not impressed so far. They may need to be tweaked. I’m using a Dac as well 

I have the Aether and I love them. Shell is a bit thick, but the details are crazy good. I'm only comparing them to the Diablo, Explorer and Defiant on the 100-200 range, but nothing I have in the budget range are even worth a mention compared to those. For me the Diablo and Aether are a great 1,2 punch. They're almost complete opposites in what they do.

Funny enough it sounds like EST drivers from Sonion sometimes especially on whispers and high pitch noises. Amazing iem. Oh and Bass on these is incredible!

I like your take on this iem. Your review is on pair with what I'm hearing from this set, I love what KE did with this 15.3 mm planar and on sale is a banger! Thanks for the review brother 💪🏼.

Kiwi Ears Astral and Aether with QX13 and Qudelix 5K for PEQ. Good BA/DD set and good planar set, both taking EQ well, both offering two different flavors.

Don’t let people talk down the  APP2, it’s a great TWS. To be wowed by technicalities and separation and the like, I’d suggest a planar, as the APP2 is already very good for relaxed and fun listening. I’d suggest T10 or Aether depending on budget. Both are significantly better than APP2 tech-wise. Aether is one of the best deals in audio IMO.

Kiwi ears aether for gaming 👌🏻