Kiwi Ears - Astral

I’ve had it with the Meze alba, s12 pro 2024, kiwi ears astral and now monarch mk4! Great feeling

OP... don't get rid of your Astral. Someone else mentioned it already...but it's a lack.of reference that has you second guessing. EQ (parametric EQ) is a good tool. It can help you fine tune the sound of the IEM to your liking. But...the IEM should sound good to you out of the box. HD550...hmmm... just go for the legend. Save for the HD600. I wrote down my experiences and things I learned as a beginner [Posted here](https://www.reddit.com/r/iems/s/u2D7CWFQw9) Go and find all the reviews you can on the Astral. Listen to the terminologies and try to associate what you hear from the Astral. Then pick up a budget set or two (if you want to learn) watch those reviews from the same reviewer. See if you can hear what they are hearing...and establish a frame of reference. Hope that makes sense. Outside of that...you picked a really good IEM. Stick with it. HD

honestly only issue with this model is that the Daybreak exists... it sounds great but daybreak kinda ruins its value proposition. however I think kiwi ears can circumvent this by updating the latter batches with better eartips and better case. its a great IEM; kiwi ears's magnum opus.

DAC/Amp Recommendations for Speakers + IEMs **Budget:** \~CHF 250, flexible if it’s worth it. **Source:** PC, PS5, and TV (LG C4). **Requirements for Isolation:** Minimal — mostly at home, using speakers or IEMs in the living room. **Will you be using these headphones in public?** No. **Preferred Type of Headphone:** IEMs (Kiwi Ears Astral) now, possibly full-size headphones in the future. **Preferred Tonal Balance:** Balanced, but would like the option to tweak bass/treble on the fly depending on the song or game. **Past Headphones:** IEMs and mid-range headphones; I like clean, detailed sound without harsh highs; dislike muddy bass or hiss. **Preferred Music:** Rap, Hip-hop, metal, orchestral, electronic, and general listening — sometimes cinematic or high-detail tracks. **What would you like to improve on from your set-up:** One device for all, cleaner output than onboard/board DACs, lower noise floor, and better dynamics for both speakers and IEMs. **Location:** Switzerland; local price comparison sites: digitec.ch, galaxus.ch. **Notes:** Important for me is balance/imaging and sound space for competitive fps. Thinking about **Fosi K7**, but open to other DAC/amp suggestions that handle both my Edifier R1280DB speakers and Kiwi Ears Astral IEMs well. Looking for a **versatile, low-noise DAC/amp** that’s clean, flexible, and future-proof for headphones upgrades.

I have been using the Astral for 1 week now, and I thought I could share my thoughts about it. ( I am not an audiophile but I have been enjoying learning and exploring audio for about a two years now, so take my rookie description with a grain of salt. Other gear I use: Ziigaat Odyssey, Focal Hadenys, Zero red, dt990pro) Tested with: JCALLY JM20 Pro, apple dongle, stack of SMSL-SU1 + MT602, Qobuz lossless. **Box accessories:** Disappointing just like Ziigaat, not enough eartips, but the cable quality is good with interchangeable terminations. **Comfort:** The nozzle size doesn't bother me, so comfortable. The shell size however does interfere with small ears and honestly idk how to make it not hurt besides using long foam tips that keep the shell far a little bit. **Sound:** First thing you will notice when you wear them is the sparkles on the top end. Even if some reviewers complained about the 15k peak, I personally enjoy it, and my ear is not sensitive in that region. I also got used to it after few days now I can't live without that air. The low treble is also smooth and doesn’t hurt as much in terms of hi-hats and snares compared to the Odyssey. The lower mids dip is a little noticeable, with vocals feeling a little recessed than what I’m used to with the Odyssey, but that was a sacrifice for cleaner separation on the Astral, I assume? Because this is the first IEM that I can genuinely tell the separation between bass and mids, each driver is doing its thing inside the shell perfectly. The mid-bass lacks punch, and I really wish this pair had a nice punch for HipHop music. And lastly, the sub-bass is textured, rumbly, and I love it. It could be seen as a bit muddy for some people, especially with foam tips, but not me. **Stage / Imaging:** definitely noticeable airiness in the soundstage, not the most open but very impressive, and I may sound like Im glazing here but the imaging is the best I heard, I can close my eye and track enemies steps in games. **Technicalities:** So the overall timbre of the astral would have sounded more natural without that 15k peak + if the sub bass was more chill, at the same time these parts add flavor to this signature so idk how to feel about it. Also no glaze but I had moments when I heard things for the first time in the mix, I like the fact that I can listen to these at any volume and they will still perform great, however I can also tell that the Astral is source dependent. with the JCALLY JM20 Pro it sounds a little more v-shaped, unlike my stack that lays everything down separately. **Gaming:** Best Iems I tried for Valorant hands down, you might need to eq the sub bass but the overall imaging and telling sound queues is top tier, clean presentation for gaming, I am stuck in Ascendent fyi. **Pros:** great stage and imaging for the price, great separation and drivers implementation, few Iems can manage providing the clean airy sound while keeping a high quality bass at this price range. overall best bang for your buck at 299$ **Cons:** shell design can be uncomfortable for some ears, few accessories, bass lacks Punch, Vocals a little recessed. **Conclusion:** Overall clean presentation that's worth the 299$ for a flavory all arounder set, and an esports gear for precise gaming experience. **Rating:** 8/10 just cuz I like a punchier bass and a more comfy shell design. Feel free to ask anything in the comments.

I had the 990 pros for a year, it's hard to beat it for gaming and valorant at it's price. But the Astral honestly has more detail and way better, but u have to get used to the iems plug feeling in your ear compared to the airy open back dts. And if ur on a budget get the Hexa for 75$ and call it a day.

The Astral are slightly better than the Horizon for gaming based on Fresh Reviews opinion and some others. I also disagree with (any IEM does gaming) cuz I own the astral and it's the best gaming set I've tried compared to budget hybrids. For music however I haven't tried Horizon yet but I assume it lacks bass punch, and it's aimed for detail and brightness. As bro said bellow you should wait, if you can't get the Astral imo.

Kiwi ears astral if you're mainly for gaming, it's cheaper than the alternatives and definitely not worse

Both but probably Pure.

Soundstage the Horizon and the Arete stand out, the Top Pro and Astral are good as well. Imaging, many of them are really good, not ranking them but these are the ones that comes to mind for imaging. The P7, the Astral, the Dusk, the Horizon, Studio 4 and the Top Pro

Yes, the Astral is amazing

I tried the Monarch, it sounds really nice but honestly the difference between the Top Pro and The MK4 in terms sound quality wasn’t worth the huge difference in price. Diminishing return is at its peak once you reach the $500 mark.

I love the P7, it’s definitely in my top5, you can listen to any genre on them. If I’m to recommend an IEM for someone who has never tried one, it would be the P7 or the Astral. Go for it and you won’t regret

Going to disagree hard with this take. Astrals are awful in the upper treble (that insane spike is real and sounds horrible on cymbals). I literally had to apply like a 10db cut to to make it through tracks that weren't already mastered to cut those upper air frequencies. Punch on the other hand is dead neutral outside the bass region. And the ESTs being subtly used vs. overemphasized is one of the most natural implementations I've heard. Martilo's treble has major issues too. HBB just said those were the better value because he's trying to play good guy greg and not piss off his audience (or linsoul), he did the same thing when linsoul dropped odyssey right after his Arcadia collab and said it was better.

I'm definitely sensitive to any unnatural spikes, I will say once I EQ'd that the Astrals did sound great. But since the Punch can be had on sale for $350 and you're getting legit ESTs at that price (and no need to EQ for me at least) it was a no brainer. That said, if you're older than 35-40 (treble sensitivity in the air region declines dramatically by age) or only listen to well-engineered modern music, there's a strong chance you may not even notice the spike on the Astrals as anything more than light hiss.

Astrals have rather good bass line already. What are you missing. First try changing tips, because some tips can amplify sub and mid-bass well. I don’t think kiwi ears punch are better over all (sure punch may be better, but rest is sloppy) At the lower price and equal sound I believe you should look at Punch Audio Martilo (not sure how it compares to kiwi ears punch, but check, should be equally good for 110$ less (25% is big))

I use my Astrals with tips that are combined foamy central part and tacky silicon cone, it cuts the treble while providing best seal = better low end response But I’m treble sensitive comparing to others so I figured other people would be happy with Astrals treble

Tea pro feel more premium because it is aluminium. My question to you - would like to show off you cnc IEM to friends or enjoy WEIGHTLESS feel of Top Pro, 0 ear tension and weight hanging out of your ear canals? So yes top pro is hollow resin, and I’m happy about it. Tea pro feel so heavy after top pro that it is hard to go back to them. I have dropped mine on a floor a few time, no issues. Top pro is not a tank like tea pro, they are fine acoustic instrument. Tea pro only get an edge by a tiny amount over top pro in how coherent low end is, but you will not notice it unless you really listen to both back and forth for some time, ao don’t stress. Vocals, treble, air, technical abilities and even mids are all better on top pro than tea pro DaVinci is just meh it sounds low res low quality compared to top pro - completely lacking in air and technicals (not worth the money at all there are so many better sets for same price, like Astrals and even Crescent would be better by a lot) Performer 8 is not even in competition, lower mids / lows are bad. Bass is mediocre. Treble and technicals are good, but what’s the point if everything else is not on par. — Actually I would also disregard tea pros and get Astrals if this is $ limit! Otherwise top pro! Astrals are better or at least equal to tea pro in every aspect, but they might sound peaky to you (due to your sensitivity - if it is in air region and not 6-7k region, most sibilance is not actually caused by peaks above 10k, but rather by peaks 3-7k region!) So my final conclusion for you would be: - got 450-500$ get top pro and never look at another IEM for long time, if you don’t step on your IEM… - out of budget, than find some where / some one who may be sells and can let you listen Astrals (they are better than tea pro man, or equal depending on your ear, so over all more consistent high result = safer buy at great price tag!) - if you REALLY can not get astral to listen to before buying than … buy Astrals I’m 99% sure your “sibilance sensitivity” comes from type of music you listen to + quality of recording + previously lower grade headphones most likely, so I don’t think Astrals will sound harsh at any point to you 👍🙂 (other wise save money and get top pro those do AMAZING on metal and hip hop or any genre because they never actually become harsh / sibilant while having good amount of bass and amazing mids and treble)

Not really daybreak is great and really shoot above its price tag nearly twice, but Astrals also are in the top of its price tag getting to be best under 400-450$ tag, at which point top pro (mega7 but better), hype4mkii, yu9 all take the crown and beat Astrals dry. So daybreak is high already, like 6.8/10, Astrals will be 7.5/10, than 400-500$ will be best up till 900$ with 8.75 (real jump) at that point above you get last jump kieke dawn-x and Myth and monarch mkIV all being 9.25 or higher. Values are arbitrary but that’s where I would place those on 1-10 scale, 10 being perfection in bass/mids/treble/technicals

Astrals are Amazing for music and gaming! You can get Tea Pro (non SE) for about equal amount or abit more, those will be even better for fps gaming and on par in musicality give or take (abit different but very good sound for sure, se is the best of all Xenns for music if you listen to all genre, but they don’t do gaming too well for the same reasons why Top Pro do not) So yes Astrals if they are over 30-40$ cheaper than Tea pro! (Both should be on sales time to time so check both - they are nearing end game and best IEM under 300$ for your use case - same as me and I have Tipsy M3, astral, top pro!)

Kiwi Ears Astrals are phenomenal