ROSESELSA AURORA ULTRA: Remarkable Clarity For Its Price

Aurora is the Roman Goddess of Dawn and it happens that it means “dawn” in Latin. Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis are natural phenomena where it produces dazzling lights from the sky in the northern hemisphere and southern hemisphere due to magnetic storms caused by either ejected gas bubbles in the atmosphere or solar flares.

ROSESELSA/ROSE TECHNICS is one of the recently established audio companies from Mainland China and in the short span in the audio market, they release some products that received some positive feedback on their performance at an affordable price. What I have here is their latest entry-level set, the ROSESELSA AURORA ULTRA and this one has a hybrid driver configuration.

As I mentioned a while ago that this set is a hybrid driver configuration, ROSESELSA AURORA ULTRA has two driver technology inside for each earpiece, a dynamic driver and a newer type of “planar” driver, Ultra-Linear Planar Driver. The dynamic driver of this one is 10mm and its diaphragm underwent a topology process in which the surface was coated with special nano-particles that gives some distinctive geometric patterns that in theory will produce some suitable audio performance like a well-controlled transient speed response for lesser distortion. The ultra-linear planar driver has a dual neodymium magnetic structure with high grade with a voice coil provided by Daikoku Densen, a Japanese company that specialises on producing high quality magnetic wires and voice coils for appliances and other industries. With the combination of these drivers, it will produce a full range of frequency spectrum with precise and deep bass, rich and clear midrange and then, a detailed and high resolution treble response with an almost accurate sound reproduction.

The drivers are then encased in a compact, lightweight, pill-shaped composite shell chassis that offers an ergonomic design for better fitting and comfort. The faceplate is made of a metal alloy that undergoes an anodising and sandblasting process to achieve its matte-like finish surface while the cavite structure is an opaque resin that you can see the drivers inside. Since this set has detachable cable feature and on its interlocking mechanism, it uses a proven and stable 0.78mm bi-pin connector.

As for its wearability, AURORA ULTRA offers a comfortable fitting into my lugholes and the passive noise isolation is quite good as it was able to block some external noises from the outside.

The stock cable of this one is a 2-core 5N OCC which is coated with fabric sheet insulation which added some durability and resistance against entanglement. It delivers clear and pristine sound with a very minimal amount of distortion and microphonic effects. On its termination end, it has a gold-plated 3.5mm plug which will have better conductivity and be resistant to corrosion due to wear and tear usage.

The product packaging of AURORA ULTRA is quite compact in size and the box has some illustrations and useful basic information about the product. But it has a quantifying amount of inclusions that the consumer will be fully satisfied with on its purchase.

Here are the following contents inside of its packaging box:

• Pair of ROSESELSA AURORA ULTRA IEM transducers.
• Stock cable
• Carrying case
• Type-C dongle adapter
• Three (3) pairs of blue-coloured balanced bore ear tips in different standard sizes.
• Three (3) pairs of ROSESELSA Sound Cocoon liquid silicone ear tips in different standard sizes.
• User's manual

The ROSESELSA AURORA ULTRA is quite an easy to drive set despite of its 30 ohms of its resistance rating that even a source with a decent normal gain mode will optimised to deliver a power out to amplify it with good amount of dynamics and a wide sonic range.

The ROSESELSA AURORA has a bright U-shaped sound signature as it highlights the low and high frequencies on its overall sound quality.

LOWS/BASS:

Evidently, the bass quality of this set focuses more on sub bass presence rather than on mid bass texture that I find sufficiently bodied for note density on bass instruments and deep male vocals. Overall, the bass response of this one is more rumbly, punchy and has a decent physicality on how it delivers an impactful yet clean sound.

The sub bass presence is quite precise as I felt the rumbling and reverberations  generated from certain instruments like drum machines, synthesisers, and other instruments like low-tuned bass guitars and double-basses. The mid bass has an ample texture enough to give a decent note weight on some bass-clef instruments and low pitched male vocals. Bass guitars sound rasping and resonant while double-basses sound more menacing but apparently, it has a noticeable less weighty, and bass kick drums have these resonant and rumbling sounds. Male vocals like basses and bass-baritones, while they are a bit lacking of heft and depth on their respective vocal weight, it has a resonant and rumbling on its vocal timbre.

MIDRANGE:

The midrange of the AURORA is quite a bit on the leaner side and it also has a noticeable notch and  recessed presentation on the entirety of its frequency range. While it is a bit lacking of warmth and depth for male vocals and some instruments like percussives and brasses, it has a transparent, delicate and energetic sound which will deliver a proper tonal colour on some female vocals, strings and woodwinds.

On how it portrays the male vocals, baritones sound less warmer and rich but it has a smoothness on their voices, tenors have a bright and a bit metallic sound on their voices, and countertenors have a fiery and golden voice on them. As for female vocals, contraltos sounds less appealing as it is lacking of rich and weight on their vocals while mezzo-sopranos sounds quite similar to countertenors with intensity and more glowing on them, and sopranos have a shining and gleaming vocals which fares well with lyric and coloratura types of sopranos but sounds a bit metallic.

And then on exhibiting the tonal qualities of instruments, on string ones, guitars have bright, crisp and lingering sound on every plucking of its note strings, violins have metallic, glassy and vibrant sound on every motion of its bowstrings, and then, cellos have a sonorous, bright and incisive sound on them. The woodwind instruments like the concert flutes, piccolos, clarinets and saxophones, concert flutes have brilliant and penetrating sound while piccolos have bright, clear and bit shrill sound, clarinets sound bright and incisive and saxophones have a lively and pale sound. On the brasses, trumpets sound bright and metallic, trombones sound overpowering and brilliant, and horns have a brilliant and metallic sound. As for percussives, tom-toms have resonant but less warm sounding, snare drums have a bright and penetrating sound, field drums sound rather menacing and have some added sonorous in them on every stroke and kettledrums have a dry, hollow and rumbly sound. The pianos appear to be on the brighter side of tone as it sounds clearer and brilliant but it has some tinniness on its overall sound quality.

HIGHS/TREBLE:

The treble response of the one is on bright, zestful and a bit incisive due to the more pronounced upper-mids up to presence section of its treble region. It gives a bit sharper resolution on clarity and definition on vocals and attack on instruments but it gives some instances of minimal shrill, piercing and tinny sound but occasional sibilance if you play some sibilant-laden tracks.

There's a good amount of treble air on its brilliance section with an intense sparkle on it. Cymbals have sounds glistening and a bit piercing while hi-hats have the short sizzling sound that sounds a bit splashy. Celestas have a bright and gleaming sound, and glockenspiels sound shimmery and a bit strident.

SOUNDSTAGE, IMAGING AND OTHER TECHNICALITIES:

The AURORA ULTRA can project a perceivable moderately roomy sound/speaker stage with a reasonable width on its lateral span, good height reach but its  depth could be better that I find it a bit less immersive. On its stereo imaging, it presents a typical linear two dimensional  stereo presentation with just a decent layering but offers a good separation on its soundscape.

The cohesive performance of its dual driver configuration is good as the dynamic driver performs a consistent transient speed and improvement of its depth for its bass response while the ultra-linear “planar” driver delivers an exceptional clarity and crisper highs without any distortion or other phasing issues. When it comes to its resolution capabilities, this set is quite resolving especially on its micro-detail retrieval as it has a quite sharp definition as it able to extract details and nuances from audio tracks like reverb instrumental tails, vocal ends and notational attack of instruments like plucking and strumming of some strings like guitars, gripping of bowstrings of cellos, double basses and violins et al.

PEER COMPARISONS:

TINHIFI C5

• This particular model from TINHIFI  also has a hybrid driver configuration albeit with different driver technology.
• It sports a Square “Planar” Driver along with a balanced armature driver and they are encased in a solid CNC-milled aluminium alloy shell chassis.
• While it has a substantial amount of inclusions but its carrying case is a canvas cloth pouch as its storage.
• The C5 has a mild U-shaped sound profile that has a well-balanced bass response with ample mid bass punch, a smooth with enough warmth on its midrange and a smooth treble response.
• Technicality-wise, this set is rather average as it has an average sound/speaker stage, a linear two-dimensional stereo presentation and less resolving on resolution capabilities.

SEE AUDIO RINKO

• Another hybrid driver set from See Audio but this time, it uses another driver technology in which this audio company doesn't usually implement this driver technology on their products.
• Like the AURORA ULTRA, it also has a dynamic driver that was implemented in a 3D-moulded resin shell chassis, but its paired “planar” driver uses a different “planar” technology, a flat panel driver one.
• The RINKO is also well-packed with accessories like the AURORA ULTRA but it has some added goodies like a Rinko Standee, postcard and a metal pin badge.
• This set has an unpretentious V-shaped sound profile as it has a vigorous and impact bass response, a recessed and leaner midrange presentation, and a bright but rather modest airy extension in its treble response.
• This one has a pretty average technical performance as it has an average soundstage size that makes it more intimate, typical two-dimensional stereo presentation and a passable resolution capability.

CELEST AUDIO GUMIHO

• Celest Audio inaugural product and like the AURORA ULTRA, it also has a hybrid driver set-up.
• The hybrid driver composition inside of its composite shell structure is made up of a balanced armature driver and a square “planar” driver developed by Celest's sister company, Kinera.
• Like the AURORA ULTRA, The GUMIHO is also fully-packed with accessories.
• The Gumiho has a U-shaped sound signature as it has this rumbly, thumpy but a bit hollowed bass response, a warm, rich and lush midrange presentation, and  a tad bright treble response.
• As for technicalities, this one has a above-average soundstage size, a typical linear stereo imaging presentation and its hybrid driver configuration performance somehow feels less cohesive in my opinion.

As I end my review of this product, the AURORA ULTRA is quite a set of its own as it has some newly developed “planar” driver that performs pretty well but there are some needs for refinement and a room for improvements in terms of tuning that makes this set even more compelling. With a quality and quantity of accessories that were included on its packaging at a reasonable price, this set will be a good recommendation for a new audio enthusiast looking for an upgrade sound from their usual casual earphones.

The ROSESELSA AURORA ULTRA is exclusively available on HIFIGO, for those who are interested in this product, I provided a non-affiliated link below.

LINK:

https://hifigo.com/products/roseselsa-aurora-ultra

SPECIFICATION:

MODEL: ROSESELSA AURORA ULTRA

IMPEDANCE: 30Ω

SENSITIVITY: 115dB

FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 20Hz – 20kHz

CABLE LENGTH: 1.2m

PIN TYPE: 0.78mm 2-PIN CONNECTOR

PLUG TYPE: 3.5mm

DRIVER UNIT(S):  (1) DYNAMIC DRIVER

PROS:

● Compact and lightweight composite shell chassis.

● Offers an ergonomic fitting that will versatile to all ear sizes 

● Quite well-accessorised for its asking price.

● Inclusion of ROSESELSA’s Sound Cocoon premium TPE ear tips.

● Inclusion of a type-C dongle with dedicated hi-fi chip.

● Easy to drive with its newer driver technology.

● A tonality that treble heads would really love.

● Tactile and clean bass response.

● Clear and transparent midrange presentation.

● Excellent on tracking on some female vocals and also for strings and woodwind instruments.

● Bright and energetic treble response with sufficient amount of air.

● Moderately roomy sound/speaker stage.

● Clarity and high resolution.

CONS:

● Adherent bass heads should look something else as this one lacks authority and vibrant bass response

●  Definitely not a neutral sounding due to its colouration of its tonality.

● Layering and separation is rather mediocre for a hybrid driver.

● Instances of metallic and shrillness on some of its vocals and instruments.

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 ROSESELSA nor receive any 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. HERMINE QIU & KERWIN WU of HIFIGO for providing this review unit. I truly appreciate his generosity and trust towards me and other reviewers.