Sony MDR-XB55AP Wired Earphone With Mic

This is my first IEM and my mind is blown by the audio quality of it and also the premium feel and built quality of the IEM which is made by Zr ceramic. It not only looks and feels good but also the clarity, passive noise cancellation, and comfort are good. Definitely a 10/10 and would suggest the people to buy it. The gift packaging it came into was also very thoughtful from the side of 'The audio store' people and was impressed by it.

Great experience with this earphone, thanks the audio store. Thank you for your quick response to a small problem.

Excellent layering delivered with kinetic bass on a wide sound stage. 👌.

This is strictly for metal and rock heads...the force and speed of attack is phenomenal on these...this is coming from a guy who has S12 , EA 500 & Sundara which are well known for speed and resolution themselves... suprisingly the treble is not harsh at all and sibilance is completely absent (major pain point of S12)..never expected such a sound signature from a non planar set but that's the magic of this hobby ..you get sleeper hits like SR 5 from time to time 😀...Soundstage and separation is adequate..not out of head...you will not get time to focus on all that anyway as the cohesive and authoritative sound will take your breath away before that 😜

Thanks Pritam Ji for bringing this to India and listening patiently to your customer's requirement and suggesting suitably.

Note : the photos in the website are of the old packaging...it has improved much now and Sound Rhyme provides a metal and a leather case along with foam tips now..check the pics of the package i received. I swapped out the stock 3.5 cable with a balanced fiio 4.4 one ..but the stock cable seems to be of high quality as well.

A good connector for 2.5mm to 4.4 mm jack . I prefered it due to expensive cable I have purchased for 2.5 mm connection which is useless in 4.4 output now I can use it once again.

The Krila is an excellent IEM. The sound has a mild v-shaped tuning which renders a solid punch to the bass and sparkle to the highs. The bass is tight and goes very deep but is not overwhelming. I find it to have a slight mid bass bleed but not to the extent of drowning the mids. Vocals sound quite lively but is slightly recessed owing to its v-shaped tuning. To my ears, the treble is sparkly with lovely instrument separation. It also gives a good sense of air and space. The soundstage may not be as wide or deep as other more expensive iems but is very much acceptable and even better than some others at this price point. The lower treble has a slight peak which may sound a bit piercing at high volumes, but is otherwise very detailed. The result is a fairly balanced signature with a slight emphasis at the frequency extremes and sounds very lively and enjoyable. Add to this the stellar build quality with beautifully crafted metal shells and I feel we really have a winner here for less than 2k. I am now tempted to collect almost all the other KZs :) The memory foam ear tips included in the package are excellent too. A better quality cable with chin clip and a carrying pouch would have been great.

This was suggested to me for my preference, i was very sceptical to see how it would actually be, the moment i put it on it was very special and a bliss, extremely comfortable, extremely non fatiguing, you can wear it for 8-10 hours straight and forget you are wearing it,

also has bass for bassy songs, clear mids and vocals, amazing treble, i dont think there can be a better IEM as this has no downsides!

Strangely, it works for music play but does not work for call audio. Not satisfied with the product.

7HZ 71 Portable USB DAC is good one for music lovers. With a good pair of iems you can feel the difference.

Not wobble.
Perfect
For the cost the cable looks good quality.... had problems with the one who came with the dac. Extremely easily and without a hint of fractures rotting in any direction. The connectors sit tightly.
It came quite fast.

For context, I own the Fiio FH3, Truthear Zero, Simgot EW200 and now this. All the above had slightly offensive upper mids. While I actually like that to an extent, it sometimes got too much that I had to reduce the volume whenever I listened at high volumes. The EM6L while warm at lower volumes, it starts getting brighter at higher volumes, but mind you it's just the right amount of it imo. And it's less offensive than the rest.

While the Fiio FH3 has a much better build and a better punch to it, the EM6L has better technicalities. The Soundstage between the two are similar when connected with a 4.4mm output, the EM6L has better layering and depth perception that it helps if you are gaming.

I primarily game, and am a casual music listener, and in that aspect, I'd rate these above all the other IEMs I mentioned. But the Fiio FH3s come close, and may not be a bad option with its better build and punch. If you're into Hip Hop, the FH3s would be better, but the EM6L is a better all rounder.

Construction is solid, Connectivity is easy, easy to operate, there is no audio delay, it gives output to all the ports so if you have two set of speakers you can run them parallely. The only con of this device is it decodes only upto PCM 16Bit/48kHz over USB.

The DAP I use for my evening walk has a bright signature, meaning the highs and mids are bright. The impedance adapter, though each adapter behaves differently, lowers this and gives a pleasant hearing experience. This also increases the input to the earphones and so makes it less sensitive. The build quality is very good and prompt delivery by theaudiostore.

First of all many thanks to Pritam for recommending these to me. I actually gave him a lot of option to choose from like the Aful performer 5 and 8, Blessing 3, Kiwi Orchestra Lite and the Timeless. He asked a lot of questions about my preference and the gear I use before settling on these.

You can read his review on the Quintet as its on point.

Now we audiophiles come in all shapes and sizes, we have the bassheads, trebleheads, vocal enthusiasts, details and resolution freak and some like to have a very big soundstage. And then there's me who would like to have a bit of everything and that has been difficult till now as we would always have to sacrifice one thing or the other even in IEMS surpassing the 1 lakh price, well not anymore.

Let me describe the sound to you, well atleast I will try

Bass- The bass is detailed and plentiful and digs very very deep, like I am able to hear frequencies that were unknown till now. though its nowhere basshead levels of bass but I was never left wanting more. The bass is very punchy and slams decently hard, theres a good physicality to the bass though it decays a bit slower than a pure planar set like the S12 pro which in my books makes it a bit more natural sounding.

Vocals/mids - Both male and female vocals sounds excellent and correct. It doesn't force the vocals to be upfront in the music rather it depicts where they are supposed to be. In some tracks the vocalist will be upfront in your face and in some they will be a bit far away and in some tracks you would be able to visualize them moving closer and far away with the music. The vocals doesn't sound lean or thin or emotionless as some have reported though I guess its obviously not upfront like some vocal forward IEMs could be. Again I was not left wanting more.

Treble- The treble response is very very smooth, it rarely gets sibilant and only on poorly mastered tracks or something that has sibilance baked into it, otherwise I found it pretty forgiving. It is very airy and that lends to a very big soundstage.

Resolution and Details- The resolution and details that is offered here can only be rivaled by the TOTLs, I am not saying its better than something like the Elysian Annhilator or the ThieAudio Monarch Mark 2 or 3 or maybe it is, but I think that this is at the level of B3 or the Variations atleast. Its transparent and throws so much details at your face that I often feel overwhelmed on complex tracks.

Soundstage, Imaging and Instrument Separation- The soundstage is huge, its very wide and the sound is presented in such a way that you will feel like you are on the stage with the musicians, which is unique to say the least. Instruments are well separated and you can pinpoint where each instrument is. It feels like each instrument/notes are presented in their own bubble and they are all interacting with each other to produce music. I find the experience divine.

Tonality/Timbre - Its natural and correct, thats all I can say, I didn't find it metallic and neither artificial, its like the truthear hexa with a bit more energy which makes it more engaging and fun to listen to it.

Since this is a mishmash four different drivers and the more controversial PZT driver many are worried if the IEM is coherent or not and let me tell you that you won't be able to detect the individual drivers.... like at all.

Coming to some of the nit picks and tips that I have.

1) Burn in is a thing on this IEM. I personally don't believe in burn in but it did sound better after 12 hours that I left it playing random music.

2) Tip rolling is required. This IEM is very ear tip sensitive. The eartip that worked out for me were the KZ star tip. My review is based on those only. Without proper ear tip and a proper seal the bass will feel hollow and insufficient and yes you will feel the infamous piezo zing in all its glory.

3) Deep insertion is a must. The nozzle on this IEM is long that means you have to insert them deep not deep like the etymotics but still a bit deep for the optimal sonic performance.

4) The packaging is a bit too spartan for the 20K that I spent. Anyways won't complain too much I guess.

5) Get a decent DAC to power them, I would suggest something that will also give you the option for a balanced terminal like the Moondrop Dawn Pro or the FiiO KA1

In the end remember that the audiophile hobby is a very subjective one and what I may love you may not. For me this is truly an endgame IEM, but for you it maybe not but all I can say is that this an exceptionally affordable quad-brid and if you own TOTLs you can also consider adding this to your arsenal. If you are someone new in this hobby and you like a balanced tuning and haven't spent too much money in anything else I will suggest saving up and getting these.

Thanks to the audio store team and Pritam for bringing such exceptional IEMs in our life.