Before I begin a detailed review which will include in depth sound analysis, amping and cable rolling with a 6N Pure Copper; You have to read my brief sound impressions of 7Hz Eternal. But PROS / CONS first. This unit is supplied to me in exchange for my honest ideas by Keephifi and this is not creating a bias for me.
PROS
Natural and life like sound
Neutral according to my experience
Units are charming as well as it’s box
Sound quality worth its price
Monitor-like performance
Being not dependant of an amp
CONS
MMCX connectors can be hard to connect
Not bright with its stock cable.
Multiple eartips within it’s box so it’s hard to find your preferred
Not that game changing on studio records
Now I am using Sansa Clip+ with the magnificent looking 7hz Eternal.
I’d hear the level of what I heard in Timeless on %50 sound level off Clip+. Using the same songs, basses are weaker, lower mids are poor. Vocal is near 1d. Soundstage is wide but that was a common problems folks mentioned in my preciouss 🙂 There is no mid emphasis or slightly metallic timbre now. Everything is more organic and natural. Instruments are well seperated and tonality is a strong feature of the Eternal even off Sansa Clip+.
Was fun having the experience of Clip+. But time to move on to tough guys. You know the drill, they are V30 and TRI TK-2.
Upper mids are in control now. Bass is weightier, almost punchy and tasty, in 3d. Vocal’s forwardness is reduced but clarity and transparency improved greatly. Very nice to hear the backing vocal in the recording. But due to the withdrawal of upper mids, some other aspects withdrew too. But there are always additions as well. First, not as bright as Timeless was. Second sharpness is slightly reduced.
Ambiance test now geared QK5 up to 158 mV and no distortion but impressive bass and digital pipe organs. And I have the impressed face now! But if it had sizeable bass, all would be perfect here. This was my backup q5k now time of TRI TK-2 and v30. Mids are more nearby me and bass volume is increased, almost like 3d. Not even a single beat in sticked to the next. Boy my chest is slightly compressed now when the attack began on the Daft Punk – Contact began. And the songs ended with a higher frequency ending. Outro’s distortion is more clear too.
All above were my 1st impressions on OOTB condition and 0 burnin. Now after 60 hours, let’s see the final and thorough analysis.
Box, 7Hz Eternal and the Cable
Box is rich in red tones and quite charming. But the inner box is the opposite imo. Textured and in turquoise (I personally despise) Leaving my preferences aside, objectively speaking the reddish storage box (case in an insult here) and cable + plenty tips in separate plastic boxes are a nice sight.
7Hz Eternal is the most unique looking iem in the world. While displaying similarities with the previous 7Hz family member that is Timeless, mirroring glasses are inserted to their backplates and proving %100 transparency to the inside which is another backplate. But after reading it’s specs and the huge dynamic driver with LCD Polymer Diaphragm, this display has a point and you can imagine it’s driver beneath. Air venting is on 3 small adjacent openings. I don’t have an electronic calculator to measure them but looking large to give an actual benefit to the Eternal. Cable connection is MMCX.
Speaking of it’s cable, its looking shiny – somewhat stiff and heavy – metallic safety pieces everywhere possible. And a design touch here which I liked: The copper and aluminum gray duo in its first connector is meeting with the aluminum gray and copper connector which is the Y split. Chin guard piece is in aluminum gray. Earhooks are soft and supple yet they are helping the user “wear” the iems easily. After Blon Bl03, MMCX connectors were a direct negative for me. But first with Accoustune and then this one, my feelings are passing away.
- Resistance. 30ohm.
- Sound pressure level. 109db/1khz.
- Frequency response range. 10-20000hz.
- THD. <0.2%/1khz.
- Driver. 14.5mm moving coil.
- Product weight. about 6g single earbud.
- MMCX.
Sound
An instant smile on my face after pressing play on Lady Fantasy of Camel. Timbre is neutral and slightly dark. Body is not that high. Layering is pretty good even at V30 but I’ll retest it with amped and recabled sections later on. Presentation is close to me. I can tell the sound engineer’s placement of the keyboard after the vocal to the listeners right and back. Seems like I’m listening to NM2 here. If it’s not chifi, this might be not too. Soundstage is pretty wide in this studio recording. And playing Hans Zimmer – Live in Prague is resulting with that monitorlike experience. Soundstage is stadium wide. Me, the listener is a guest that is overseeing the whole performance. And the presentation is laid back (I am not IN the stage but this might change after amping and / or recabling)
Basses are pretty natural. I can’t hear any addition. Or bleeding in. The live concert of Kitaro – Matsuri is only bassy when the Japanese oriental drums hit. Plus the percussion is in my ears like the crickets of nature. The naturalness is resulting in neutrality and a huge WOW to Pendulum’s live performance at the Brixton Academy. The energy of the music and the crowd is insane! and Mids are following the steps of bass. Lifelike, measured and great tonality. While guitars and drum at Soilwork is hard’n heavy, I can hear Cocker’s aged and tired voice in the middle of his stage near and behind his sax player. With “Propane Nightmares” of the very same Live performance of Pendulum I am feeling the chill as if I am listening to it through a full sized can. The sound isn’t getting distorted even by a tiny bit even though the performance was thunderous. Treble or clarity is not a shimmering star like HM. But natural metallic instruments of jazz metallics are just like they are and crispy occasionally. Piano of David Lanz is showing his and Eternal’s mastery by moving across the whole range and plus symphonic elements at Skyline Firedance while he is still the star. And no congestion even on the congestion test of Elephant9 – Skink. This track has a high tempo and many types of drums plus keyboard and guitar etc.
Amping 7Hz Eternal
Amp is TRI TK-2 and it looks like it added some speed and power to rise up higher regarding violins and metallics. And now the Brixtone is full with crowd and the Pendulum. The basses are digging into but still isn’t creating tactile feelings. BUT playing Destroy Them With Lazers changed everything. Even my belly isn’t shaking with a vibration, it truly is there depending on the record. This is what neutrality does. And finally I loved the psychological compression (we call it psychoaccoustics) at Daft Punk – Contact (DSD 5.6Mhz 352kHz)
Recabling 7Hz Eternal
The 6N Pure Copper cable instantly raised the volume. How? This means the original cable was looking good yeah but it had a resistance of some sort. Now I am hearing more background details of Camel – Lady Fantasy and allowance to higher frequencies seems locked off 🙂
To test my findings and ideas I am proceeding to Hans Zimmer. Even though I am doing unamped listening now but it seems cable rolling to a 6N freed its from the limiting effect of it’s original cables. Now unlimited treble, its energy and the whole 96 instruments at this record. And finally Destroy Them With Lazers. The bass weight is reduced yet the tactile isn’t gone and high frequencies rise up.
Now Jazz in the Pawnshop is at its best state even though the bass guitar lost its weight a little, opened a door for others to move in and I personally prefer my jazz like this. Soundstage as the jazz clubs allows and the crowd applauding + utensils on the plates of the customers.
7Hz Eternal Review Conclusions
7Hz Eternal deserves it’s price and is going to be an iem valid for many years in the fast changing scene of chi-fi. Though the 6N cable is giving it improvements, it is almost excellent nevertheless. And I recommend it to natural and “life like” sound fans who prefer live performances. Not requiring an amp to sound good is a great feature. But it won’t be like that in Timeless.
This is the non affiliated link if you are interested with Eternal. https://keephifi.com/products/7hz-eternal
