KIWI EARS FORTEZA: PHYSICALITY AND MUSICALITY
“Cause, baby, there ain't no mountain high enough, Ain't no valley low enough, Ain't no river wide enough”
~~line from Ain't No Mountain High Enough, a song by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell.
Kiwi Ears as an audio company was established recently and they have a good relationship and strong connection with LINSOUL, a popular online store that serves as a distributor for Chinese portable audio products for international markets. I actually did a substantial review of products for them and I also published a substantial number of review articles on Kiwi Ears products that I'm quite transparent about.
What I have here is their latest IEM with hybrid driver configuration for entry-level offering, The Kiwi Ears Forteza. The Kiwi Ears Forteza as an IEM with hybrid driver set-up, it has two (2) dynamic drivers and one (1) balanced armature driver which is quite an uncommon configuration.
The dynamic drivers that were implemented on this set are 10mm and 6mm which are used for lows and midrange frequency respectively. The lone custom-built balanced driver is a tweeter-type one used to support on the midrange up to ultra-high frequencies for more crisp, brighter tone and better clarity. It is said that these drivers are connected with 3-way passive crossover to achieve that lush, dynamic and musical sound quality that makes it more appealing and engaging.
The drivers were encased in a medical-grade resin shell which are known to have some hypoallergenic properties. Like all Kiwi Ears IEMs, The Forteza also has an UIEM-style shell chassis that surely offers superior fitting and comfort to all ear sizes. It has a blue-ish green colour scheme with Kiwi Ears logo at faceplate. The 0.78mm 2-pin connector was still used on this set as it is the most stable and known to have a consistent interchangeable mechanism among all types of connector.
With the UIEM-style shell chassis that the Forteza has, it really snugs well to my ears and I don't encounter any issues in terms of comfortability. The passive noise isolation of this one is excellent as I could barely hear a considerable amount of external noises from the outside surroundings.
The stock cable of this set is somewhat average for its price given that I've encountered better stock cable from other sets. It has 4-core silver plated copper that was twisted with a 3.5mm termination plug that was gold-plated, although if I compare it to other sets, this one is on the leaner side. But still, it is quite supple and flexible to hold it.
The product packaging of the Forteza is a medium-size one but it is fairly bulky as it accommodates its contents.
Here are the following contents inside of its packaging box:
- Pair of Kiwi Ears Forteza IEM transducers
- Stock cable
- a rounded square zippered carrying case
- Three (3) pairs of white-coloured silicone ear tips in different standard sizes.
- Three (3) pairs of black-coloured silicone ear tips in different standard sizes.
- Three (3) pairs of transparent grey-coloured silicone ear tips in different standard sizes.
- User guide
Regarding its power scaling, The Kiwi Ears Forteza is quite hard to drive given its impedance of 32 ohms. To my surprise, my LG phones will automatically activate the high impedance mode, so I surmised that its impedance rating is probably much higher as it was stated on its official specification. If it was amplified with decent power amplification in the state of low gain mode, it would not give us dynamics and texture as it sounds a bit underpowered and quite lean. Devices with medium gain or high gain mode are a must to be paired in this one.
As for its tonality, the Forteza is clearly a V-shaped sounding one as it has more emphasis on lows and highs and a trough midranger just as the line of song that I put in the introduction.
(The frequency graph was provided by baskingshark, credits to him)
LOWS/BASS:
This is the most prominent frequency of the Forteza as it has quite a boomy, authoritative and physical bass response. This bass quality and quantity harkens back to the late 2000s up to the mid-2010s where Beats By Dre, Skull Candy, Sol Republic and even V-modas cans rule the audio market aim for more consumer-friendly sound rather than a nicher Hi-Fi sound quality.
Its sub-bass presence is quite perceivable as I definitely feel its deep rumble and reverberations from instruments such as low tone bass guitars, drum machines, synthesisers and octabasses. Mid-bass on this one appears to have a warm, sufficiently textured and it definitely bleeds across the midrange. Bass guitars have weighty and earthy sound on every plucking, slapping and strumming on its strings while bass kick drums have thunderous and fullness on every kick although its a bit sluggish in fast double bass kicks on some rock and metal tracks, and then, the bass-baritones have heavy, voluminous and darker with a very full tone on their voices.
MIDRANGE:
The midrange response of this set is on a steep and recessed on its overall presentation as it sounds a bit distant despite the smearing of mid-bass response. Most vocals and instruments were noticeable behind in the mix. Despite its recessed presentation, it still has some texture on its note weight and somehow energetic sound for female vocals and string instruments.
Male vocals sounds quite textured and has a heft on it as baritones have rich and plush sound on their vocals, tenors have brassy, ringing and dazzling though I noticed that in some tenor types like spinto and dramatic ones seems a bit less emotive and rich sounding in my opinion but quite good on leggero and lyric types as they sound graceful and bright. Countertenors have a tender and smooth sound on their voices enough to project their unusual high pitch falsettos. On female vocals, contraltos have smooth and smoky voice quality but lack of heftiness and depth that its intended timbre should have that rich and dark tone. Mezzo-sopranos have rounder, tender and sensitive vocals as I find them sweet and melodious. Meanwhile, sopranos have that bright, full and metallic sound which quite suits all types of sopranos vocals albeit they might be too piercing and shouty to some listeners.
On instruments, strings like guitars and violins, a crisp and bright sound on guitars and a vibrant and metallic sound on violins. Then on woodwinds, piccolos have bright and penetrating sound, concert flutes have bright sound and also has penetrating sounding one too, clarinets have a shrill and lively sound, and then saxophones have reedy and forceful sound. Brass instruments such as trumpets, trombone and horns, trumpets have a brilliance with some hint of metallic sound while trombones have penetrating and tense sound, and then horns have bright and metallic sound that compliments well with other instruments in brass sections in an orchestral ensemble. On percussion instruments, snare drums have bright and shrill sound on every stroke while field drums have booming and sombre sound, Tom-toms have warm and resonant sound on every hit on its batter head, and kettledrums have booming and rumbly sound. Pianos appears to have a warm and uneven sound on them.
HIGHS/TREBLE:
Since that this set's frequency response has elevated upper-mids up to the brilliance part of the treble region which makes it a brighter and crisper sound but it might sound too intense to treble-sensitive folk out there. That accentuated upper-mids and presence part gives more pronounce and definition on female vocals and sharper attack on instruments. But in most cases, sibilance is quite evident and there are some instances of harshness in some tracks.
On the brilliance part of the treble region, it is quite sparkling with a fair amount of treble air. Cymbals have metallic, harsh and sizzling sound, hi-hats sound a bit exaggerated as it has more splashy instead a shortened buzzing sound, celestas have too much shimmering sound on them and glockenspiels have jingling, strident and piercing sound on them.
SOUNDSTAGE, IMAGING AND OTHER TECHNICALITIES:
The overall perceived sound/speaker stage dimensions on Forteza is on average to above-average as it has median width span, a good height ceiling and depth as it seems more proportional within my headroom.
Its stereo imaging is atypical two-dimensional presentation and locating a certain element like instruments or vocals seems decent as I was to pick it up in a soundscape. Separation of instruments is somehow acceptable while its layering is up to par but not that well-defined one that I want to.
The cohesiveness of its hybrid driver configuration isn't particularly impressive given that the dynamic driver that was implemented for bass response isn't that fast enough as the lows seems to be a bit sluggish. This set is quite resolving in terms of resolution capability as it has a solid macro-dynamics while it has sharp micro-detail retrieval as it is capable of extracting some nuances and details from an extracting albeit on overall tonal aspect, it sounds a bit unnatural and too digital sounding.
PEER COMPARISONS:
TANGZU FU DU VERSE I
● TANGZU's first hybrid driver configuration IEM. It has a single dynamic driver and two balanced armature drivers which is more of a contrasting driver implementation of FORTEZA, and it was encapsulated in a 3D-printed resin shell chassis with aluminium alloy faceplate. FU DU has high quality ear tips but FORTEZA has a better carrying case.
● Tonality-wise, FU DU has a U-shaped, balanced-warmish sound profile that makes it more balanced sounding and even a refiner one in my opinion, while its doesn't have a more authoritative bass response and brighter sound on FORTEZA, FU DU has a cleaner, well-balanced and smoother sounding and definitely not a hint of sibilance. Technicality-wise, they are quite a match in some aspects but separation and layering, the FU DU is better while FORTEZA has a sharper micro-detail definition due to its elevation on high frequencies.
CVJ MEI
● CVJ's hybrid set with Knowles BA driver, it has 1 DD + 2 BA set-up and it was encapsulated in a composite shell chassis. It is noted that it has toggle switches that makes this set more versatile. But in terms of inclusions, it is quite inferior to the FORTEZA from the quality of cables up to the carrying case.
● Due to implementation of toggle switches, MEI offers 4 types of sound profiles but I will compare this set to FORTEZA in 1 DD + 1 Knowles BA. Bass is more punchy and cleaner, midrange is more textured, balanced and cleaner, and then treble is more refined as it sounds smoother and less offensive sounding on MEI. On technical aspects, both sets are quite similar but MEI has better separation and layering a bit while FORTEZA is quite more resolving due to its micro-detailing definition.
ZIIGAAT CINNO
● ZIIGAAT's first hybrid driver model, it has a single 10mm LCP dynamic driver and four (4) balanced armature driver set-up and it was encased in a resin shell chassis, it doesn't doesn't have any storage case and a meagre amount of ear tips.
● CINNO has a mild U-shaped sound signature with a warmish-balanced tuning. Compared to FORTEZA, its bass response is a bit tighter yet cleaner while it has less recess on its midrange presentation and it has sufficient texture and vocals and instruments sound quite more organic sounding, and then smooth and a bit darker treble response. Technicality-wise, both have similar sound/speaker stage proportion, stereo imaging, layering and separation, but cohesiveness of its driver, CINNO is a bit better due to faster transient speed response while FORTEZA has more resolving and well-defined micro-detail definition.
To sum up my review on the Kiwi Ears Forteza it seems that they are trying to be different once again as they are having some throwback moments on delivering this set. The Forteza is truly a coloured sounding one that will give more listening satisfaction towards more consumer-oriented tuning which is simply more musical and doesn't really matter on more technical and tonally correct sound that caters more on critical-type of audio enthusiasts. If this set was released in the late 2000's, I might like its sound quality as it sounds a bit better to some cans that I've tested at that time. Again, if you are looking for a set which sounds fun, engaging and lively just to listen casually, this one is one of them that I will recommend.
The KIWI EARS FORTEZA is available exclusively on LINSOUL, You can check out the unaffiliated link that I've provided below.
For more KIWI EARS product review, check out the links below:
SPECIFICATION:
MODEL: KIWI EARS FORTEZA
IMPEDANCE: 32Ω
SENSITIVITY: 103dB
FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 20Hz – 20KHz
CABLE LENGTH: 1.2m
PIN TYPE: 2-PIN CONNECTOR (0.78mm)
PLUG TYPE: 3.5mm
DRIVER UNIT(S): (2) DYNAMIC DRIVERS + (1) BALANCED ARMATURE DRIVERS
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 **
Three Tenors - Nessum Dorma *
Mercyful Fate - Witches' Dance *
P.S.
I am not affiliated to KIWI EARS 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 MS. KAREENA TANG of LINSOUL for providing this review unit. I truly appreciate her generosity and trust towards me and other reviewers.
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