Astrotec Vesna is here for your eyes. Vesna is the goddess of fertility and nature in Slav mythology. Combined with LCP (Liquid Crystal Polimer) diagram and 6mm dynamic driver, the result is wonderful and lovely for it’s price of $19.9. I had used my Q5K amp to feed the goddess. Let’s see what it brings.
Recent budget offering of relatively unknown Astrotec with LCP diagram and fixed cable. Don’t be fooled by its looks and the cable. They are requesting power. 100/100 volume of V30+ is not ear hurting but that volume level isn’t my preference.
Timbre is neutral to bright. Orchestral live track of Hans Zimmer is a good mini test of its abilities. Staging is wide to an immersive level. Layering is adequate for the budget. The same goes with tonality. Bass is not heavy or punching or thumping. It’s there when the instrument is calling for. I guess the neutralness according to its frequency graph is true. Bass is thumping and I slightly feel the bass in my vocal dubstep track. But the bass is gone in the vocal section of the song. This no bleed is a good sign of control. This situation is the same in Throgood’s finger styled One Bourbon. His guitar case hits aren’t boomy as I had seen at many budget mass consumer iems. And every iem have its downsides. This ones are the nearly piercing splashy electronic treble. Will test it out in organic treble too but not disturbing the old school rock experience of Throgood. The treble is well packed.
My very first sound impressions are positive in the summary. Clearly better than the ultra budget iems I have heard so far.
Pros
Natural (for its price ofc)
Neutral “””
Sax can be disturbing (as it should be sometimes)
Bass is not bleeding
Pretty good tonality for its price
The Island of the Decemberists is pure budget joy with the songs multiple layers and instruments at ultra budget price https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=o3rATtl6q7E&feature=share
Cons
Somewhat closed in soundstage
Fixed cable
Power liking nature
Slightly recessed mids
Slightly insufficient layering
Edit: Gained a dark and mildly bassy character with a21s. Looks like it (a21s) became the counterweight it needed to balance it.
Box, Contents, Astrotec Vesna and the Cable
The box is a tiny cardboard box with a peaceful display. Nothing especially to speak about.
Astrotec Vesna is a thin and fixed cabled metallic materialed iem. With bullet-like shape, the venting hole is only a venting circle located at the back of the bullet that is hiding a 6mm driver in.
It’s cable reminded me of TRY – 01 of Acoustic Effect. Thin, braided and in copper color palette. And I have the admit that I had expected ~ sound like it. And wow! I had found nearly the same at only $19.99 Besides my joy, first connector is a really thin metallic tube with safety elements. Y split is the same too. Chin guard pebble is of hardened semi transparent plastic.
Driver: 6mm Dynamic Driver, LCP diaphragm
Input: 1 mW
Impedance: 30 OHM
Cable: High purity OFC Cable 1.2±0.3m
Max Input: 3mW
Sensitivity: 102dB/1mw (S.P.L at 1KHz)
Connector: 3.5mm stereo plug
Frequency Response: 5Hz – 22KHz
Sound
This following part is written in Q5K amping conditions. But I noticed something was off and switched back to my smartphone. Instrument transitions are fluid. Timbre is neutral to somewhat bright. Presentation is laid back. Staging is almost immersive (like ~180°) Clarity is nice. But the orchestral performance isn’t getting mixed up and this is a good point. Basses aren’t exploding uncontrolled. But hey, I can feel them very slightly. And the crowd started to applaud in 2d claps. Then violins began fluidly melting into each other.
After plugging in to Samsung a21s: The sound is somehow lively now. Showing itself like (calm) the goddess its named as. And clarity is nice for its price. Stage is almost immersive and somehow deep so I can hear the chorus behind the main singers. Bass is not shaking or impressive. Only an adequate amount of low frequency is added to its final state. So it wouldn’t be my first choice for Kraftwerk – Radioaktivaat or any dubstep track.
Mids are the lovely part of the time with Vesna. I can hear guitar strings with a good transparency. Vocal is smooth + sibilance free and while vocal layering is good thus helping to separate and hear 1st and 2nd line of vocals, nothing is buried beneath other instruments (Besides Trash or Speed metal of Slayer. My face turned into a grimace after starting Angel of Death by Slayer). Texturing is more than nice here. Body factor is only at average. I am not hearing heavily and depressing contrabass at the first moments of The Final Victory of Haggard. But can hear and slightly feel the double kick line at the ending of the song. So I guess and believe that this dilemma is caused by its neutrality.
Astrotec Vesna Review Conclusions
If you have $20 in your pocket and are looking for a neutral iem, then pick Astrotec Vesna if you don’t mind the fixed cable that might severely affect its mileage. But boy Final Audio had done it with E Line (like e1000) WITHOUT safety measures like an inch of thickened cable. So why would it be a problem?
