Cat Ear Mia Review (2) – Frosty Reception
IN THE BEGINNING
Cat Ear Mia is a micro driver in ear monitor that would compete against other massively popular micros such as the budget popular KZ HDS3 or even plenty of options in the Final Audio lineup. Etymotic also has their ER2XR at this price level of the Cat Ear Mia which is pretty well regarded. Stiff competition for a relatively new comer hanging their hat on gimmicky cryogenic treatment because oxygen free copper and silver plating are just so last year. Cat Ear describes them as having punchy and cohesive bass with smooth natural treble. I would call them sub-bassy with washed out treble aka “polite”. While no mention of mids, I agree they are unremarkable. One thing to note, the tuning rings that can be easily missed should be removed to get the best enjoyment out of this set. Overall, they are a thick and warm sounding set of earphones that leave you wishing for more treble and improved midrange resolution and clarity.
FITMENT/PACKAGING
The Cat Ear Mia eartips on first glance appear to be similarly shaped to the final audio eartips, unfortunately the Final eartips are of better quality and stiffer rubber. Good to have an option, the stock eartips are still fine and the least of our worries. Best to use the hot pink (on the inside) ones though which have a wider bore. The narrow ones do not do any justice to the Cat Ear Mia. Fitment is rather bulky for a 8mm micro driver, they stick out pretty far. Isolation is average, but because they stick out they catch wind and it is distracting if running or other high velocity activity such as chasing your dog down that has escaped your clutches. The carrying pouch feels like a sub-par piece of plastic and in my opinion detracts from their attempted higher end appeal. The cables are detachable and tangle. I wish they would have spent the money on a cable that didn’t tangle instead of freezing them. Also noticed static transmitted by the cable/metal shell combination when humidity levels are low.
PACKAGE CONTENTS
Detachable mmcx cryogenic treated cable
Various sized eartips
A plastic pouch that is compact with a magnetic clasp
Tuning O-rings pre-installed on the mmcx connector and one extra set. Keyboard o-rings could probably be used as well.
SOUND
While the Cat Ear Mia tuning is not my pint of beer, I am not sure who would enjoy something like this either. Graphically they look like a pretty normal retail consumer tuning, but this is only a starting point. The Cat Ear Mia sounds like a basic stock sound system in a vehicle that utilizes no tweeters and relies on a 2 or 3″ full-range driver to reproduce the highs and over-driven woofers with no panel treatment. Sure those desktop 3″ computer speakers can play treble, but they do not really reproduce it in a way that is pleasing. The bass blooms a bit, and emphasis seems to be towards the upper mid-bass with the narrow bore tips, and with the wide bores it sounds like a subwoofer tuned too low. Removing the tuning o-ring further enhances the sub-bass and makes the bass feel a little sluggish. Anyone that has tuned a ported subwoofer might understand the effect of tuning it too low- lots of huffing and puffing but no real action happening. The mid-range tuning creates a feeling of sitting in the back row of a concert hall, which also explains the blooming bass profile. Rock and pop sound very washed out since the midrange has no backup from the treble for harmonics to add to the expansion of vocals. Vocals sound strained and not very resolving, so the only thing that really stands out is the bass. Brass, snares and cymbals lack impact, its a very lazy listen. On a plus the listener does not have to worry about sibilance.
TECHNICALITIES
The bad news continues since they are power hungry making it hard for phone users to enjoy. With the treble only going through the motions and not really giving it 100% kills the dynamics and they end up sounding very congested. Timbre is off as well due to some valleys in the low treble region. They sound very narrow in the mid-range vocals, yet weirdly wide in the bass and treble regions. Removing the tuning o-rings again help relieve some of this, but I am still left feeling one dimensional mid-range while the rest of the frequency range has a more open 3D feeling. Clarity and resolution can use some improvement, this doesn’t meet my expectations of a $100 earphone.
BAD ENDING
I tried real hard to give these a fair shake given my bias when I cringed at cryo treatment, but overlooking this I am hard pressed to see a good angle. Although I received them in exchange for a review, I cannot recommend them. There are just too many other good options for barrel style micro-drivers that don’t require freezing, several good options already mentioned earlier. The bass is tuned too low for the driver, the medicore midrange resolution and devoid treble leaves me searching for something nice to say. Perhaps the 3 dimensional parts of the staging might entice people to choose these over another option that has a similar tuning such as the Ibasso IT00, but the resolution on the IT00 is just better and it sounds a little more organic with better timbre although afflicted with driver flex. I think the Cat Ear was a solid effort for a first try with an interesting tuning concept, but it needs a little improvement.
SPECIFICATIONS
Driver: 8mm Dynamic Driver
Frequency Range: 16-22kHz
Impedance: 16Ω±15%
Sensitivity: 105dB/mW
Distortion:＜1%
Plug: 3.5mm stereo，gold-plated
Type：Closed，In-ear
Earphone material: Aluminum Sandblasting
Cable material: OFC silver-plated, -196℃ Cryogenic treatment
Tested at $99
Product Page/Purchase Link: HifiGo
GRAPHS
- With and without tuning rings (note o-rings removed did not change the frequency response)
- Left vs Right with tuning rings in place
- Narrow bore vs Wide bore tip
DISCLAIMER
Set provided by and available for purchase from Hifigo.
Our generic standard disclaimer.
You find an INDEX of our most relevant technical articles HERE.
