I mean it was only like 150$ or something. Which to me was cheap for what it offered(desktop specs) But it's crazy it just randomly broke.
This thing lives on a table.
S.M.S.L. DS20 for those that are wondering. Powerful almost zero output impedance, and apparently now has a power supply issue for absolutely no reason.
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The in ear monitor is named "Frigg" and is made by the company Kinera.
The crossover is a 3-way
One beryllium Dynamic driver for the bass
One liquid silicone dynamic driver for the mids
4 Sonion EST drivers for the highs
The frigg features a tuning switch that is easy to use, and is beautiful, it switches the impedance of the set between 32ohm and 84 ohms and it's primarily used to dampen the bass driver or suppress it, causing a very noticeable reduction in dynamics and bass response. I personally call this brilliance mode. Songs sound fairly flat except the entire range has a transparent sparkle to it, and all notes seem to be overly defined but not synthetic.
I did not prefer this to the 32 ohm "pop" mode as kinera calls it
Pop mode or "Dynamic mode" as I call it has a very grandiose sound to it, the bass is atmospheric in the lows, not loud but large in scale and depth. The mids seem to benefit greatly from the EST implementation with notes having obvious additional transients applied to them, the treble while incredibly extended is not hot and seems to lack any spikes in amplitude and extends well into the air region.
In fact the set overall seems fairly well balanced. I generally prefer reduced treble as I like to push the volume, however as with most sets the upper mids do seem to be the highest peak on the graph and will cause those reckless with their volume knobs to second guess themselves on some tracks.
Soundstage is surprisingly good although I attribute this more towards how incredibly dynamic the set is without being blatantly v shaped, and not to any sort of impressive tuning. It's just that the low end driver and the high end drivers seem to be able to reach the upper limits of their response.
Mix a sense of stage, dynamics, and sparkle together and you get an intoxicating sound.
This set is far from my preferred hyper bassy tuning, yet is implemented in a way I think most people would TRULY enjoy. That being said I also believe those looking for an accurate set would find many flaws in the Frigg.
Vocals don't seem to be colored, but the sheer width of the sound leaves them sitting a tad quiet in the middle of the mix, there is no added weight or warmth to them as I've become used to.
The bass is slower than I think many would like, with an almost theatric presentation reminencent of a typical suspensful movie trailer intro.
EDM, synth wave, pop, all seem like clear winning genres to use with the Frigg
All in all the set was worth the 1100 pre tax.
The set is also beautiful. To me. Shell is smaller than anticipated
I will be doing a more in depth review when I have the time to sit down with them for more than an hour
🥂