Kiwi Ears Cadenza II

Faxepremium

The Kiwi Ears Cadenza II is a seriously good budget single-DD IEM. It takes the basic idea of the first Cadenza and makes it more controlled, more modern and a little more grown-up. For 49.99 USD, this is a strong overall package. A no-brainer for the beach, the pool, travelling or daily use. Comfortable, cleanly tuned, easy to recommend and very easy to like.

Great quality IEM for the price.

Is it really a sequel?

Having owned the original Cadenza and also having enjoyed the K.A.R.S on the Singolo I thought I'd give these a try! They really are a stark departure from the original, which had a very cohesive, Harman style tuning. The new one has a very open sounding middle /treble while the Kars takes the bass into a more pillowy non descript texture. It works surprisingly well in all fairness giving a very dynamic overall presentation. The nice thing about having the Kars doing all the low end legwork, it leaves the driver free to give more attention to lower mid bass texture which helps to give that detailed, dynamic presentation. The miss and treble are very neutral sounding with a fantastic sense of space and airiness It's a great change in direction for the most part, the only reason I'm giving it a 4 and not 5 star is the fact that the Kars system still has the effect of a slightly detached sub bass to the rest of the spectrum that doesn't "quite" integrate into the overall frequency response.