BQEYZ WINTER - A Winter to last Forever

BQEYZ released another flagship IEM, completing the four-season series that is the main selling point of the BQEYZ line of in-ear monitors.The BQEYZ Winter has arrived. BQEYZ Audio's first bone-conduction hybrid IEM The IEM is made up of a 12mm dynamic driver and a BC driver. Of course, I did my research on how bone conduction works since I only know the surface of it as the conduction of sound to the inner ear primarily through the bones of the skull, allowing the hearer to perceive audio content without blocking the ear canal. 

DISCLAIMER:

• I am not affiliated with BQEYZ and received no monetary compensation during or after this review. This unit is a tour unit managed by Levi Loo of Brionced Reviews in exchange for  an honest and unbiased review.

• I am not a professional reviewer and would only coin simple terms for most beginners, and experts in the hobby to understand.

• Words taken from this review should be taken with a grain of salt. However, I can assure you that my findings won't differ a few miles from yours and will discuss what I have heard using my audio gears.

Here are a few articles to support bone conduction:

• https://www.soundguys.com/bone-conduction-headphones-20580/
• https://uk.shokz.com/blogs/news/how-does-bone-conduction-headphones-work
• https://www.macrumors.com/2020/07/28/apple-patents-bone-conduction-system/

So BQEYZ created a hybrid IEM that supports both air conduction and bone conduction to create an IEM that isolates medium and high frequencies to provide a larger soundstage and more detailed separation. The bass and midrange are handled by air conduction. I now understand how the BC driver works in this context; it does not serve the same purpose as the articles above explained, but BQEYZ wants to create a hybrid with BC to create an isolated "space" for the higher frequencies for better soundstage and imaging. It's quite amazing if you think of it that way. The more premium and expensive Unique Melody MEST MKII and the Unique Melody MEXT are two prominent in-ear monitors that use the same technology.

Anyway, enough with the introduction; let us now embark on our journey through the Winter.

PACKAGING

The packaging for the Winter is quite simple; the box has a minimalistic design, and BQEYZ has remained minimalistic on their packaging throughout the years, avoiding the usual anime-ish packaging gimmicks that most Chi-Fi companies bring to the market. I really adored BQEYZ for that. As I always say, the ultimate sophistication is simplicity. We have six pairs of silicone eartips, one pair of memory foam tips, a cable, a carrying case, and a brush. Personally, I still hate the included eartips because they are really uncomfortable to wear for me. If you want to, I recommend that you use third-party eartips.

BUILD QUALITY

As for the driver, it is encased in a full-aluminum shell similar to that of its predecessor, the BQEYZ Autumn. The cables look sophisticated, sleek, and sturdy. They really made the cables better this time since they released Autumn and Topaz because the ones included in my BQEYZ Summer before were a disaster.

SOUND

LOWS:

The overall bass has a sub-bass focus with rumbles that can be obviously felt. The midbass still packs a punch and has quite an impact while not exhibiting bleeding in the midrange; this makes the Winter's bass the best bass response I've heard from an IEM within this budget. The attack and decay are fast, as evident in this track, Das Spiegel by The Chemical Brothers, which gives me a satisfying amount of aggressiveness in the lower region. Overall, it doesn't  go deep and strong like some bassier sets.

MIDS:

The midrange is neutral, depending on the track, it can still sound somehow engaging. It remains levelled on the lower midrange and  slightly elevates upon transitioning the upper midrange and treble area. Upon listening, the midrange is more instrument-focused than vocal focused; I don't know if that makes sense. There are times that the vocals are not as powerful as they need to be; Freddie Mercury's vocals do not sound as powerful as they should. The same can be said of Kate Bush's vocals, as they do not sound as intimate as I expected them to. But singers like Anne Sofie von Otter when paired with a bit of Jazz on Baby Plays Around, gives an emotional and a somewhat "alive" (breathing queues, and such) vocals. 

TREBLE:

The treble was where I was amazed and dazzled. The treble retrieves great micro-details and has good tonality. Handclaps, woodblock hits, and marimba strikes from Laurie Anderson's "Born, Never Asked" pick up the correct speed in their own intended positions on the stage. The level of detail is excellent; wind instruments like flugelhorns and percussion instruments like castanets complement each other well. The treble sounds smooth and energetic, yet does not exhibit harshness or fatigue. BQEYZ really did their treble a favor on this one.

IMAGING AND SOUNDSTAGE:

The imaging is done well in the Winter; the separation between vocals and instruments is good. I can identify every sound that specific tracks, such as Radiohead's "National Anthem," throw at me, from acoustic to electronic elements, bass guitars, and a prominent horn section. Despite the chaos, Winter was able to separate everything, which sounds fine. The same can be said of Yosi Horikawa's "Letter," where it starts out with an aggressive yet  satisfying pencil scribble and paper flips, followed by a contrasting soft synth element—all of this in one track, and Winter is able to distinguish these elements with a somehow satisfying effort.

For the soundstage, it is wide enough to place a gap between the vocals and instruments, separating them from one another and enabling me to place them on a somewhat large stage. Of course, it isn't as wide as an auditorium, but Winter makes the most of it in order to deliver.

TESTED DEVICES

• LG G8 (Spotify, locally stored files (FLAC, M4A 320kbps, and WAV files) 
• Sony D-EJ011 CD Walkman
• Hidizs AP80 Pro
• Cyberdrive Feather DAC (connected to PC and tested with Spotify, Tidal, and Qobuz)
• SA9023A + ES9018K2M USB DAC (connected to PC, tested with Spotify, Tidal, and Qobuz)

TESTED TRACKS

• All Time Low - Jon Bellion
• Baby Plays Around - Anne Sofie von Otter
• Barcelona (2012 Orchestrated Version) - Freddie Mercury
• Bishop School - Yusef Lateef
• Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
• Clair de Lune - Kamasi Washington
• Concierto de Aranjuez: Adagio - Miles Davis
• Das Spiegel - The Chemical Brothers
• Fantasy - The xx
• Feels Like We Only Go Backwards - Tame Impala
• Fishies - The Cat Empire
• For Whom the Bell Tolls - Metallica
• Free Fall - ITZY
• Harvest Moon - Neil Young
• Heaven or Las Vegas - The Cocteau Twins
• Heroes - David Bowie
• Heroes - The Midnight
• House of Cards - Radiohead
• Hysteria - Muse
• I Put A Spell On You - Nina Simone
• Letters - Yosi Horikawa
• Los Angeles - The Midnight
• Myth - Beach House
• Pepas - Farruko
• Pretty Vacant - Sex Pistols
• Raven - GoGo Penguin
• Rhapsody in Blue - George Gershwin
• Running Up That Hill - Kate Bush
• The Chain - Fleetwood Mac
• The National Anthem - Radiohead
• Time - Pink Floyd
• Uh Uh  - Thundercat
• Wasted Times - The Weeknd
• You Must Be out of Your Mind - The Magnetic Fields

TESTED ALBUMS (On Sony CD Walkman)

• Radiohead - Kid A
• Queen - The Greatest Hits I,II,& III : The Platinum Collection
• TWICE - Formula of Love

Pros:

• versatile sounding IEM, can be thrown into any genre and sound good.
• lightweight and durable
• neutral midrange
• good soundstage and separation
• good bass impact with sub-bass emphasis
• energetic treble with good extension

Cons:

• fit might not be for everybody
• some vocals can be underwhelming

CONCLUSION:

To summarize, it appears that Winter differed from what I first heard from this pair. After listening to this pair of earphones for a few days, I can conclude that this is an excellent all-around pair of earphones. In terms of sound, the bass has good power and impact. The midrange is neutral with a bit of focus on the instruments. The treble is excellent, with clear details, a good attack, and speed. You can definitely throw any kind of genre onto Winter, and it would still sound decent and preferable for your taste, whether you listen to k-pop, rock, metal, rap, EDM, jazz, or classical music. BQEYZ Winter can play your favorite playlist on any given day. It can definitely drive your smartphone, but I would recommend that you at least use a DAC for a better experience. It might differ from usual smartphones since I use an LG G8, but it can still drive the G8 with Quad-DAC turned off. DAPs like the AP80 Pro can also drive these IEMs; in fact, even my Sony CD Walkman plays decently but not as well as a DAC/AMP. Would I recommend the Winter? Definitely yes!