CVJ KONOKA : That Resonance Effect
This audio company, CVJ seems to be in a steamroll mode as it produces a substantial amount of IEMs. The introduction of CVJ Mei in the last few months did somehow improve the company's standing as it was able to earn back some of its reputation that were lost due to prior releases of less impressive and mediocre products.
It appears that CVJ will try to establish a strong presence in the ultra-budget to entry-level segment and this is it, their latest offering, The CVJ Konoka. The CVJ Konoka will differentiate itself from its competitors in this segment due to unusual drivers that CVJ implemented.
CVJ Konoka is a hybrid driver configuration IEM earphone and it consists of one (1) dynamic driver, one (1) balanced armature driver and one (1) vibration or haptic motor driver which makes a "tri-brid" set. The new vibration motor driver will handle the low frequency, the 10 mm dynamic driver will take care of the midrange up to some parts of high frequencies while it is supported by a balanced armature for brighter and better resolution. That said, the vibration motor will give an immersive and unique bass experience as I will explain later. Like most current releases of CVJ models, it has toggle switches for different sound profiles which CVJ provided on its tuning instruction manual.
The shell casing that encloses the drivers are made of a clear polycarbonate plastic material and the dimension of its shells are of medium-size which makes it more compatible to all ear sizes. Like its previous models, the CVJ still utilises a QDC-type 2-pin connector as its detachable mechanism.
The fitting and comfort on this one is quite good as it sits well in my lugholes and I don't experience any particular issues that will be obstructing my listening session. I was able to achieve a better seal into my lugholes as it able to blocks some external noises from the outside surroundings as I'm into as I'm always doing some physical activity like brisk walking.
As for product packaging, CVJ Konoka is rather utilitarian and minimalist in presentation but it has a decent amount of inclusions inside the box.
Here are the following contents inside of its packaging box:
● Pair of CVJ Konoka IEMs
● stock cable
● tuning pin
● three (3) ear tips in different standard sizes.
● paperwork like Q.C stub, warranty card and instruction manual.
Konoka is easy to drive where you simply use it with portable devices with headphone jack and voilá you will enjoy its full range sound quality.
As for its overall sound quality, Konoka has definitely a v-shaped where it has more emphasis and elevation of its bass and treble while midrange is relatively in a neutral spectrum. With its tuning switches, it will add some warmth and sort of perceivable effect due the implementation of vibration motor drivers.
These are the tuning settings of the CVJ Konoka:
(Legend: ■ = up, □ = down)
□□(Music mode) - the most "balanced" sounding among the settings, u/v-shaped signature.
■□ (Monitor mode) - V-shaped sounding with boosted upper-mids to the presence part of the treble region to a more brighter sound.
■■ (3D E-sports mode) - V-shaped with some added warmth and ambient effect.
□■ (3D movies mode) - almost the same with ■■ but marginally, it has a tad more hollow midrange and a bit brighter.
LOWS/BASS:
CVJ looks like that they have implemented a good quality dynamic driver on this one as it delivers a very tactile, authoritative and perceptibly slamming bass response as it has produces a good rumble sub bass presence and a well-textured midrange.
As with the activation of vibration/haptic motor driver especially on ■■ and □■ settings. It will add some texture on the mid-bass and at the same time it gives me an odd ambience effect and plangent sound. These settings also muddle up the lows and midrange and it somehow amalgamates the bass instruments and vocals that will certainly affect the separation of each instrument and vocals. Bass guitars have sombre, weight and resonant sound from them while bass kick drums have rumbling and sonorous sound from them. And bass-baritones have a satisfying depth and texture to have that guttural and full-bodied vocals.
MIDRANGE:
CVJ Konoka definitely has recessed presentation of its midrange frequency but has sufficiently warmth, clarity and sheen as it will give more note weight on vocals and instruments.
Here are some of my observations of sound characteristics of vocals and instruments:
□□ - The nominally the stock tuning of this set with just single DD activated, gives more texture on male vocals and mildly bright sound on female vocals. Most standard baritones have a lush and warm sound while kavalier baritones have its steely vocals and verdi ones have that vivid and darker tone. Tenors have that spiciness and brassy sound from them, while countertenors have a full and smooth sound from them. Female vocals especially contraltos have rich and full sound that gives their distinctive deep and dark tone
On instruments, they have an enjoyable tone as I listen to some percussive, strings and brass. Guitars have a satisfying bright and balanced sound as I listen to some acoustic instruments while violins have vibrant and sparkling sound to give a brighter tone. Percussives like toms-toms and field drums have these warm, resonant and sonorous sounds while snares have a sharp and clear sound. On brass instruments, trumpets have full, substantial and rounded sound while trombones have a brassy and overpowering sound.
■□ - With an added sound coming from the BA (balanced armature) driver. It gives more brighter tone as it gives an energetic and crisper female vocal-types like mezzo-sopranos and sopranos. Mezzo-sopranos have a fiery and velvety sound while sopranos have metallic and shining voices.
As on how it influences the timbre and tonality of specific instruments. It gives a crisper and brighter tone on guitars, metallic and shrill on violins, a bright and brilliant sound on concert flutes and a bright and intense sound of piccolos. And It seems that pianos have a brighter and gleaming tone with quite sharp and articulating clarity.
HIGHS/TREBLE:
The treble of this set is definitely a bright one. It has an observable boost on the upper-mids to give an energetic and gleam on females vocala and well-articulate attack and definition of instruments. There's a good emphasis on the presence range as it has a crisp and clarity on it but there are some caveats on this one especially if the BA driver was added on this one. This makes the treble's quality and quantity even more pronounced to the point that too much boosting on those particular parts of treble range will give a harsh, discordant and sibilance that will be fatiguing for a long listening session.
On the brilliance range, the □□ mode has sufficient sparkle and modest amount of treble air. And then on ■□, ■□ and □□, it further adds more flicker and shimmer and an added air on it. Cymbals have glistening and metallic sound on □□ mode and on the rest of the modes, it will sound more shrilly and metallic.
SOUNDSTAGE, IMAGING AND OTHER TECHNICALITIES:
CVJ Konoka has an average to above average sound field dimensions as it has a fairly average lateral span, decent height reach and good depth which gives me an fairly average headroom within my aural sense. Imaging projection of this one appears to have a typical 2-dimensional stereo panning where I am able to perceive the presentation of vocals and instruments in which I was able to locate them but not in a precise manner. The separation and layering of this one is decent but it will struggle on complex, multi-instrumental tracks that I usually tested on my reviews.
Cohesiveness of its driver is mostly positive but there was a particular driver that pays my attention and should be raised as a concern. While the high quality single DD was able to execute a nimble and agile transient response and the BA driver seems to deliver added clarity and resolution, the driver in question that I have concern was the new haptic/vibration motor driver. While it adds some quirks of our listening like ambient and resonating effect, it also affects the separation of instruments in the bass region and it sounds more boomy and unrefined.
On resolution capabilities, it has solid macro-dynamics while it decent detail retrieval on extracting some nuances and subtleties on infos coming from an audio track.
PEER COMPARISONS:
CVJ TXS
■ Unlike its cousin, it only has a single DD and its shell contours are rather unusual due to its triangular design. Also, this is quite cheaper as its asking price is around $10/£8.
■ Since it also has tuning switches, it offers a variety of tuning, but I can only distinguish two sonic profiles to be honest. TXS and Konoka are very similar sounding in some settings (Cellphone mode and Hi-Fi mode on the former, □□ on the latter) as both have punchy and authoritative bass, warm and consistently textured midrange but Konoka has a brighter treble response. Technicalities-wise, both sets have similar performance from perceiving sound/speaker stage proportions up to layering but TXS has more coherent driver performance while the Konoka is slightly better on detail retrieval.
TRN MT1 Max
● Like the TXS, this set has a single dynamic driver and also has tuning switches. It is also slightly cheaper compared to the Konoka's asking price
● With the implementation of the tuning switches on this one. MT1 Max offers four types of sound profiles. In general, it has a punchy bass but a bit hollowed mid bass, similar warmth, texture and brightness on the midrange with Konoka's □□ mode and similar bright and crisp treble especially on treble-boost mode. On technical capabilities, MT1 Max is a bit inferior to Konoka like Sound/speaker stage size and micro-dynamics but the rest, both have similar performance.
As I summarise my overall assessment of CVJ Konoka, CVJ Konoka is radically different from its ultra-budget peers due to its unique driver implementation. And haptic/vibration gives a different experience to its listeners. For sure that the philosophy on how CVJ design this set isn't just catered towards serious audio enthusiasts but also gamers and movie-lovers who wants to experience that reverberation effect.
CVJ KONOKA is now currently available in some e-commerce sites and you can check it out below.
Here are my previous reviews of some CVJ products before:
SPECIFICATION:
MODEL: CVJ KONOKA
IMPEDANCE: 28Ω
SENSITIVITY: 112dB
FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 10Hz – 40KHz
CABLE LENGTH: 1.2M
PIN TYPE: QDC-TYPE 2-PIN CONNECTOR
PLUG TYPE: MODULAR 3.5MM,
DRIVER UNIT(S): 1 DYNAMIC DRIVER + 1 BALANCED ARMATURE DRIVER + 1 VIBRATION MOTOR DRIVER
PROS:
△Probably the cheapest tribrid set in the current audionmarket.
△ Decent and somehow an appealing design of its shells.
△ Vibration/Haptic motor driver
△ Quite power efficient as it is easy to drive set.
△ Tuning switches for different tonal profiles.
△ V-shaped sound signature for more engaging and fun listening session.
△ Authoritative and slamming bass response.
△ Surprisingly versatile in both male and female vocals
△ Crisp and brilliant sound on string and woodwinds instruments, brassy and blaring tone on some brass instruments.
△ Bright and sparkling treble response.
△ Activating the Vibration/haptic motor driver gives you that unique listening experience.
CONS:
▽ Absolutely not for treble-sensitives especially on Monitor mode.
▽ Instances of sibilance and harshness in Monitor mode.
▽ A bit overboosted female vocals in Monitor mode have an obvious shrill and piercing sound.
▽ Rattling midbass is quite weird in my opinion.
▽ In both 3D Movie and 3D Esports modes, there is no separation in bass-focus instruments and vocals as they are fused on on one another.
▽ Average technical performance in most cases.
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*
Type O Negative - Black No.1 *
Felix Ayo - Vivaldi: Presto **
P.S.
I am not affiliated to CVJ HIFI 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 the CVJ team especially to CVJ LOVE for sending this review unit. I truly appreciate their generosity and trust towards me and other reviewers.
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