BQEYZ Topaz : A Warm Piezo Experience

Pros:

• Good bass texture
• Euphonic mids
• Relaxed treble
• Wonderful package
• Balanced leaning to warm sound profile

Cons :

• Too much friction on the ear tips which irritates my ears, tendency not to let it go all the way through (personal issue)
• Treble may lack air and details to some
• Imaging may be better
• Mids may not sound engaging and forward

BQEYZ Topaz is the latest offering by the Chinese-company BQEYZ with a 9-layer piezoelectric unit, one dynamic driver, and an LCP Diaphragm. Almost the same configuration as the Summer, except the summer, only has a 5-layer PE unit.

DISCLAIMER :
This is a loan unit that is currently on tour. I did not receive any form of compensation from BQEYZ. As always, I'll ensure, to be honest with my review.

/ packaging /

BQEYZ Topaz packaging

BQEYZ Topaz stock cables

BQEYZ Topaz round case

BQEYZ never fails to give me a fantastic unboxing experience. As usual, Topaz has a 6 pairs of ear tips. The black tips are narrow, which improves bass. The clear ear tips have a wider bore which emphasizes reference tuning. One thing I should note about the ear tips is that sometimes I find it uncomfortable and irritating; also tough to push it in, not about deep insertion but to the recommended depth, which does not give me a good seal despite using the smallest size possible. Anyways, enough of the tips. Next, we have the case; inside the case, we have the cables and a brush for cleaning.

/ build /

BQEYZ Topaz is housed on an aluminum faceplate and a reinforced plastic shell just like the same material BQEYZ Summer has.

The faceplate is what I believe would be aluminum with a matte finish with filters on the letters O and Q; I would like to think that these are filters. The rest of the shell is somewhat similar to Summer's material. The cable is a silver braided cable. The build of this IEM feels robust and light, so I don't have any issue with the product's build quality, so I am giving it a 5 out of 5.

/ sound / 

Tested Tracks:
Wilderness - Explosion In The Sky
Helplessly Hoping - Crosby, Stills & Nash
Paper Trails - Darkside
You've Got To Have Freedom - Pharoah Sanders
Pepas - Farruko
Pepas (Benny Benassi Remix)
Pepas (David Guetta Remix)
Seven Nation Army - The White Stripes
Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
In The Air Tonight - Phil Collins
Heroes - David Bowie
Chandelier - Sia
The Days - Avicii
Drinks - Cyn
asphixia - Co Shu Nie

BASS 
The bass is not lacking and not too much for my taste. It is balanced with enough texture, mid-bass is thumpy and thick. It just doesn't have that excessive sub-bass rumble and impact you would experience from bassier IEMs. If you are a bass-head I believe you may have a love-hate relationship with this IEM.

A 5 out of 5, the bass is wonderfully balanced with enough energy to make it not sound too bland and not too excessive to the point that it bleeds to the mids, or worse, produces a muddy, muffled sound. Just enough thump and slam to keep that music listening experience alive.

MIDS
Mids offer the right amount of liveliness and emphasize pleasant richness instead of accurate, lively sound. It still sounds natural but a bit thicker/slightly warm. Male vocals would favor this tuning due to its warmer approach. Female vocals still sound good and engaging. Overall, the mids are relaxing and rich with an evident but subtle "zhing"/"zest" of the piezoelectric unit on the upper mids on [Chandelier - Sia] and [The Days - Avicii].

A wonderful 4/5, I really like rich and thicker mids since they are more inoffensive in my ears but sacrifice some details along the way.

TREBLE 
Because of the warm approach in this particular IEM, I have good news for you treble-sensitive peeps because, unlike the Spring II and Summer; you can feel PE units working that "zest" and "zhing" in the higher frequencies. Treble on the Topaz is more relaxed and inoffensive. This safe tuning has some downsides, though. Some tracks don't shine as they should, [You've Got To Have Freedom - Pharoah Sanders] is the track I use to test treble response and is not performing well at its peak performance. Percussion instruments on some tracks don't have that much impact and splash.

I am giving the treble an average 3.5 since it's not bad nor great.

SOUNDSTAGE and IMAGING 3/5
The soundstage is good but not that overwhelming. It has enough width to separate instruments and gives enough space not to make them sound too compressed. Imaging is surprisingly okay; it can handle busy tracks like [asphixia - Co Shu Nie]. Aside from that, there's nothing worth writing home about the soundstage and imaging of the Topaz. It's just okay.

Comparison to other BQEYZ units I've tried:

BQEYZ Summer: BQEYZ Topaz has a thicker texture; BQEYZ Summer's bass does not affect the midrange. Summer vocals are more forward and clean. Treble is more airy, detailed, and crisp. You can feel the PE unit's "zhing". Summer is the opposite of Topaz. While Topaz delivers an overall balanced sound, euphonic vocals, and safely tuned treble. The BQEYZ Summer is a brighter version compared Topaz; not excessively bright, but you can hear their difference like night and day. Topaz is also more suitable for longer listening than Summer, which fatigues due to its upper-frequency elevation.

BQEYZ Spring 2 : Bass is lighter, and mids are more articulate, detailed, and forward compared to both Topaz and Summer. Treble is present; if you want to feel piezoelectrics at work, Spring II is your go-to earphones compared to Topaz. Spring II is balanced leaning to bright, while Topaz is balanced leaning to warm.

BQEYZ Autumn: I have tried Autumn from a friend, but I don't want to give a comparison between the two since I haven't tried or have been exposed to the Autumn to make a comparison. However, if just from the neutral filters alone, Autumn is a clear winner.

FINAL SCORE

This concludes my review of the BQEYZ Topaz; if you want a balanced leaning to warm IEM, I would highly recommend this. Listening to these pair made this a clear favorite over my Summer. For many reasons, I would recommend this to a majority of listeners. First, the bass is balanced; there are no elevations or emphasis on the sub-bass and mid-bass. They work hand-in-hand on this one and manage to deliver a somewhat energetic vibe. Mids are rich and relaxing; it is well-bodied and is still able to reproduce a natural sound. Treble is safely tuned and may lack air and details for those who want an articulate listening experience. A tremendous all-around IEM with a price ranging up to $89. Topaz impressed me with its balanced to warm sound profile.