SIMGOT EA500: Irrefutably A Paradigm One

The brand SIMGOT piques my interest since 2018 when I read about the EN700 reviews that were circulated in Head-fi and other portable audio reviewer sites. Its metal shell along with its design aesthetics really pays my attention and I'm somewhat taking a liking on it. I actually yearning to have it at that time but it is quite unfeasible due to budget constraints.

After 5 years, In my leisure time, I do publish some review write-ups about portable audio products. I was offered to do a review for a new product from SIMGOT and I didn't hesitate to accept the offer as it is my chance to own a SIMGOT set.

What I have here is the SIMGOT EA500, their latest model for the entry-level portable audio market. This set has a single dynamic driver on its interior. The transducers that were implemented inside was a 10mm dual cavity dynamic driver with DLC (Diamond-like Carbon) diaphragm on which SIMGOT's claimed as a 4th generation. We are aware of the capabilities of DLC drivers like faster transients due to less distortion, tighter and a more precise bass, a good clarity on midrange and a shimmering highs.

The internals were housed in a shell chassis made of a solid aluminium alloy with a polished chrome-like finish surface in its cavity base. It also has well-placed vent holes on its cavity base. It has an innovative feature that it has a removable nozzle system where you can simply detach it and the good thing was the SIMGOT offers two types of nozzles with different tunings on which you can choose from based on your preferred closest target curve. The red ring nozzle tuning filter follows a typical Harman target curve while the black ring one has a signature SIMGOT tuning which is a modified Harman target. Another good thing of SIMGOT EA500 was its type of detachable interlocking system, it uses a proven 2-pin receptacle connector.

As for fitting and comfort, despite its all-metal built shell chassis, it perfectly rests well on my lug holes as I can wear it for a long listening session. We should expect a bit of weight on it as it is a metal shell but I can assure you that I don't feel any ear fatigue or other discomfort.

The product packaging of SIMGOT EA500 is rather utilitarian for its price bracket, it has a substantial amount of inclusion inside its medium-sized, square black coloured box. The presentation of contents inside are compartmentalised and well-organised, the pair of IEM shells are placed in a foam material, the eartips have its own box and while the rest of accessories are in a separate box.

The contents of inclusions are the following:

● Pair of SIMGOT EA500 IEM.

● a 2-core white coloured silver-plated OFC cable in a L-shaped 3.5mm termination plug.

● Velcro cable organiser.

● Capsule-shaped IEM zippered case.

● 3 pairs of medium-bored white ear tips of different standard sizes.

● Instruction manuals.

● Detachable nozzle filter for "Harman curve target" tuning.

● Detachable nozzle filter for "Simgot-Classic" tuning.

● Some spares ring indicator for detachable nozzles

SIMGOT EA500s are easy to amplify because it only needs a decent amount of power output from multimedia devices to be able to drive it to its fullest performance. You will be able to hear a dynamic, full-range sounding experience from EA500.

When it comes to tonality, SIMGOT EA500 has two detachable nozzle filters on which sound profile you choose from. Both of them are of a mild-U shaped sound signature. The one with the red nozzle ring is more closely aligning to the currently popular tuning, the Harman target curve, and the other one is the Simgot target curve with their own interpretation of their in-house and modified Harman target curve. Both sound profiles aim to sound more balanced and smoother response with some slight differences on the upper mids to brilliance treble.

LOWS/BASS:

Punchy, clean and accurate, those are the initial impressions that I hear on the EA500. The sub bass is more prominent on red-coloured ring nozzles as it gives more reverberations on synth-pop, old hip-hop, some pop and classic rock tracks especially with synthesisers, electronic drum machines and low-tuned bass guitars.

On the mid bass part, The black-coloured ring nozzles have more texture with ample note weight on how it will influence the sound characteristics for each bass-focus instrument and vocals.

Bass Guitars:

● Red ring nozzle - A bit hollowed, mellow sounding and with some raspiness on every pluck.

● Black ring nozzle - It has a sufficient heft, broader and has a sombre characteristic that gives a decent roar and growl.

Bass Drum Kicks:

● Red ring nozzle - Once again a tad hollow, soft impact and with some rumbling sound.

● Black ring nozzle - Resonant and with a well-placed thud sound, At least more fuller sounding compared to the Red ring nozzle.

Bass-Baritones:

● Red ring nozzle - Less darker, smoother and clearly more articulate, similar texture with lyrical type of baritone, "Noble Baritone".

● Black ring nozzle - At least, it has richer and fuller sound with sufficient depth. I'm basing it on the voice qualities of Barry White and Andrew Eldritch on this particular comparison.

Another surprisingly good attribute on its bass was its projection on the separation between the sub bass and mid bass.

MIDRANGE:

The midrange of EA500 has a tad recession in the overall sonic frequency presentation. Despite that notch presentation, it stays neutral, with an ample amount of warmth, smooth delivery (red ring nozzle) and clean sounding (black ring nozzle)  that sounds more balanced to listen upon depending on your tuning preference. Both male and female vocals will have some slight differences depending on the nozzle and it also extends up to the instruments' tonal colour.

● Red ring nozzle - It gives less textured depth on male voices to give a bit leaner presentation as it prefers more on lyrical baritones to have lighter, sweeter and smoother quality like Chris Cornell and David Bowie. On female vocals, Mezzo-sopranos fare better on this one as they have this velvety, tender and warmer tone like Annie Lennox and Andrea Corr. Strings like acoustic guitars sound a bit buttery and mellow with just enough sheen on every pluck while violins' sounds lustrous yet solemn and with a good sustaining sound, at least it doesn't sound muffled after all. Brass like trombones sound smoother with sufficient intensity and then the trumpets sound a bit rounded and darker. Percussive like snares and toms drums sounds sombre, substantial and rounded.

● Black ring nozzle - it has a considerable amount of texture and warmth to give more versatility on both male and female vocals and most instruments especially on woodwinds and strings. Baritone either dramatic or lyrical types have its lusher, velvety and quite prolific sounding, Eddie Vader of Pearl Jam and Alex Band of The Calling voices sound has its strength and depth. Countertenors like Lenny Kravitz, Geddy Lee of Rush and Robert Plant have their strong falsetto ranges to sound light, ethereal and vibrant. While tenor voices have these qualities of being brassy and bright that gives a penetrating and boisterous way of conveying its delivery from the famous Three Tenors to Freddie Mercury. On female vocals, Contralto has its sufficient richness and "bronzy" sound quality like Tracy Chapman and Toni Braxton. Mezzo-sopranos have a more musky, broader and even warmer sound on both dramatic and lyrical types like Annie Lennox, Sharon Den Adel of Within Temptation and Barbra Streisand. On Sopranos, it has this sense of openness, fairly energetic and ringy to give that crystalline, silvery and agile sound that even coloratura vocals like Diana Damrau and Olga Peretyatko will sound clearly and detailed. On instruments like woodwinds, it added a more airy and bright sound on flutes and a sonorous and lively sound on saxophone. Strings like acoustic guitars have these lingering resonant and crisp sounding on every pluck and strumming while violins have these vibrant, sparkling with a hint of shrill. Black nozzle added up some more brassy, eruptive and intensity on brilliance on trumpets, horns and trombones. As for percussion instruments, both toms and snares drums have sharper and more penetrating sound while pianos have a bright and silvery tone on it. Celestas have this bell-like and soft sounding which gives that distinct "heavenly" or in a royal court ball vibe.

HIGHS/TREBLE:

I'll sort out the comparison of treble quality of EA500 between its two types of detachable nozzles.

Red ring nozzle - Smooth, balanced but it is less airy. I hear those overtones of instruments or vocals are a bit lacking in my liking but at least it has no hint of sibilance and stridency.

It gives a more lustrous and duller sound on  hitting cymbals. Hi-hats were depicted accurately on how EA500 exhibit its distinguishing sound of having shortened sharp buzzing sound.

Black ring nozzle - it added more emphasis on upper mids to brilliance treble to give a more glean, crisp and better treble extension which gives a more detailed and sparkle. It also has a tad of sibilance especially on sibilant-laden tracks that I've tested (Seventh Son of the Seventh Son by Iron Maiden is one example).

It gives more shimmer and sizzle on the cymbals strikes to give a good airy extension (for a single DD).

SOUNDSTAGE, IMAGING AND OTHER TECHNICALITIES:

In general sound/speaker stage dimensions, it has an above average width, decent height reach and sufficient depth on its perceived position between front to rear. It gives me a good head room with its more concave presentation as it has more depth in front.

Imaging on EA500 is probably one of its strongest asset on its technical capabilities, as I was able to locate the  placement of instruments and vocals on both sides of the channel in such a pinpoint manner. Separation and layering are also laudable on this set given my impressions on most single DD  IEMs that I've tested doesn't deliver and usually fail on this particular technical performance (only the TANCHJIM Oxygen and SOFTEARS Twilight really impresses on the single DD IEMs).  It has a good spacing on each element and it has its own distinct frequencies and good dynamic layering in a black sonic canvas for a single dynamic driver set which really amazes me.

On driver coherency, you will be able to gauge that SIMGOT uses a high-quality DLC diaphragm dynamic driver as it delivers a faster transient response without any sort of being out of phase or distortion sounding.

In resolution proficiency on both macro-dynamics and micro-detail on EA500. On a red ring nozzle, it exhibits a more firm  macro-dynamics but its detail retrieval isn't that resolving and somewhat a bit blunted on parsing its nuances and subtleties of information from an audio track. While the black ring nozzle seems to fare better on micro-detail retrieval on how it was extracting and revealing some information due to its emphasis on the upper-mids which give an edgier definition.

Tonal colour seems to be natural and balanced on SIMGOT EA500 but when using a black ring nozzle, it gives a bit brighter timbre.

PEER COMPARISONS:

DUNU KIMA

■ Both IEMs have newer generation DLC dynamic drivers on their internals that were also housed in metal alloy shell chassis. While the EA500 has a mirror-plating surface, KIMA has a sandblasted surface to give a grip and texture while touching it. KIMA has better accessories inside the packaging box in quantitative and even quality but a bit pricey compared to EA500.

■ Both have similar sound signatures which are U-shaped. It has a bit tighter bass, a tad leaner and more transparent midrange and a safer treble response which is a bit laid-back sounding and less airy especially on comparing it to SIMGOT-target curve nozzle.

■ Technicalities-wise, KIMA has an average to above average sound/speaker stage dimensions on width, depth and height. It has a more 3D-like presentation compared to a concave spatial presentation on EA500. Resolving capabilities are similar on both sets.

MOONDROP ARIA

■ On its transducers, it uses an LCP (diaphragm dynamic and it is also enclosed in an aluminium alloy shell chassis. On packaging and its included accessories, Aria fare better on number of inclusions has more ear tips, nozzle filters to choose from and even a tweezer.

■ On tonality, both have a U-shaped sound signature, Aria focuses more on sub bass rather than mid bass, a more recessed and even leaner midranger which gives a less dynamic sound and even an odd presentation which has an emphasis on the upper mids then a sloped and dips on presence to brilliance region which gives a less brighter and subdued sparkle which affects the detail and clarity.

■ It has an inferior technical capabilities, from a mere average soundstage width, just a basic two-dimensional stereo panning, decent separation and poor rendering on layering which gives a more congested and disorder presentation on some complex tracks like orchestras and musical movie scores. It even has a curdled macro-dynamics and a less construe on detail retrieval.

As I put up a conclusion of this review, this is a few moments where a single DD set impresses me and on how it outweighs its flaws with more impressive capabilities on tonal and technical aspects. SIMGOT EA500 is a one of the marvellous and truly an exceptional set that is quite a rarity on under US$100/£81.

For sure that its tonality doesn't reach the quality level of some mid-rangers and TOTL single DD sets but its technical aspect gives you an idea and probably a prelude towards the best possible technical performance that most mid-rangers and high-end single dynamic driver sets can only achieve.

SIMGOT EA500 is currently available at LINSOUL, Just click the link HERE and I can guarantee it that it is a non-affiliated one.

SPECIFICATION:

MODEL: SIMGOT EA500

IMPEDANCE: 16Ω

SENSITIVITY: 123dB

FREQUENCY RESPONSE:  10Hz – 50KHz

CABLE LENGTH: 1.2M

PIN TYPE: 2-PIN CONNECTOR (0.78MM)

PLUG TYPE: 3.5mm

DRIVER UNIT(S): (1) DYNAMIC DRIVER

PROS:

△ A sturdy metal alloy shell chassis with a mirror-polish surface which emanates durability. 

△ Detachable nozzle as you can replace it with another nozzle with slight different tuning.

△ Decent quality stock cable

△ Two tuning filters to choose from, either a Harman Target Curve or the SIMGOT-classic Curve.

△ A balanced, mild U-shaped tuning that will be versatile to almost type of tracks to all music genre with its optional detachable nozzles.

△ Punchy and clean bass quality

△ Sufficiently textured, ample warm and tidy midrange.

△ Crisp, shimmering and adequately treble quality with good airy extension for a single DD (black ring nozzle)

△ Impressive technical performance.

△ It is easy to amplify and scales well even on sources with decent power output.

CONS:

▽ Well, shells with mirror-finish surface needs a constant wiping off some fingerprint smudges.

▽ A meagre amount of included ear tips.

▽ Resolving capability on red ring nozzle (Harman target curve) is rather average.

▽ Having a concern on the detachable nozzle system as threading grooves on it will  worn out in a long run especially if you constantly do some unfastening on its nozzle filter.

▽ If you are a basshead looking for a deeper, more impact and boomy bass then this is not for you.

Some Tracks Tested: ( * = 16-bit FLAC, ** = 24-bit FLAC, *'* = MQA, '*' = DSD, *'= .WAV)

Alison Krauss -When You Say Nothing At All *

Jade Wiedlin - Blue Kiss**

Led Zeppelin - When The Levee Breaks **

Mountain - Mississippi Queen *

Queen - Killer Queen **

Guns N' Roses - Patience *'*

Eric Clapton - Tears in Heaven '*'

Sergio Mendes- Never Gonna Let You Go '*'

Pearl Jam - Daughter **

Roselia - Hidamari Rhodonite *

Assassin - Fight (To Stop The Tyranny)*

Celtic Frost- Visual Aggression *

New Order - Blue Monday *

The Corrs- What Can I do (unplugged version) *

Jimi Hendrix Experience - Voodoo Child *

The Madness- Buggy Trousers *

Metallica - Motorbreath **

Mariah Carey- Always Be My Baby *

Destiny's Child - Say My Name *

Malice Mizer- Au Revoir *

Mozart - Lacrimosa *

New York Philharmonic Orchestra - Dvorak- Symphony 9 " From the New World." *

Eva Cassidy - Fields of Gold (Sting cover)*

Michael Jackson - Give In To Me *

Exciter - Violence and Force *

Diana Krall - Stop This World **

Debbie Gibson - Foolish Beat *'*

The Sisters of Mercy – Lucretia My Reflection**

Suzanne Vega – Luka **

Lauren Christy – Steep *

Ottoman Mehter - Hucum Marsi *

Diana Damrau - Mozart: Die Zauberflöte*

P.S.

I am not affiliated to SIMGOT nor receive monetary incentives and financial gains as they provide me a review unit for an exchange of factual and sincere feedback from yours truly.

Once again, I would like to send my gratitude to LINSOUL especially to MS. KAREENA TANG for providing this review unit. I truly appreciate their generosity and trust towards me and other reviewers.