Apesonic Rain
disclaimer: I was approached by an ApeSonic rep regarding reviewing the Rain in-ear. I have no financial interest in ApeSonic or its distributor NewEgg, nor have I received any guidance or remuneration for this review. If you have an interest in the Rain or in other ApeSonic products, please see their website or follow them on facebook or twitter. If ordering these through Newegg, be careful to order the model with cable as these are sold separately as well and while less expensive without the cable, they are not wireless and will require some form of cable to be usable.
The Rain comes in either Jet or Purple housings with my review sample being the JET variety.
Unboxing / Packaging:
The box on the Rain starts off similar to most other budget models with a white slip-cover with name and graphic on front and specs on the reverse. Once inside however, the cable and earpieces are split into two separate boxes black cardboard boxes and then two clear plastic boxes inside those. Unfortunately, neither of the boxes is large enough to hold the earpieces with the cable attached so they are of limited utility. The kit includes the earpieces, 4 sets of tips (one white silicone and 3 sizes of black silicone with blue and red cores). The Rain can also be purchased without the cable as well with just the earpieces and tips included. While I would like to see a case included at the $50 price point, it certainly isn’t without precedent to skip it.
Build/Fit:
If the package is pretty standard, the look certainly is not. The Rain uses a 3 part shell consisting of a resin face plate and inner shell and a brass nozzle. The inner shell is translucent and as the photos show, the internals can be easily seen in bright light but it hides most of them until hit with a light. The face plate is gorgeous and honestly much better than anticipated. When speaking to the rep I was offered purple or orange and honestly chose orange because I knew Ngoshawk had chosen purple and this way readers would have the opportunity to see both color choices between the two blogs. Nothing on this shell is orange though, its a mixture of black and white marble style resin with gold flakes among the larger blocks of black and white. The gold is complemented by the edge of the driver that is visible and the brass nozzles to give the rain a unique look and to my eye it may be the prettiest of the budget models available. Size wise the shells are medium size in the standard semi-custom shape with the nozzles having a slight forward rake and insertion depth being about average. This limits isolation which is only average but does provide good comfort for long wear.
Internals:
The Rain is a dual driver hybrid utilizing a 10mm dynamic driver for lows and a full-range armature driver for mids and highs. Specifics about the drivers have been hard to come by and Apesonic releases very little information regarding impedance or sensitivity as well. They do list that a passive crossover is used but again, not much detail beyond that. In my testing I found the impedance to be roughly 26Ω and the sensitivity to be 103 dB/mW. Understand that impedance varies with frequency and other testers may have different results since there is no single standard in use worldwide. The Sensitivity measurement on my test system has a margin of error of ±4 dB/mW as well so keep that in mind when comparing the Rain to others using my values. I found the rain easy to drive and it worked well from my phone in high output mode or using a dongle and really didn’t need a high potency amp.
Cable:
The cable provided with the rain is fairly typical in that it is 4 strands in a double twist pattern between the jack and splitter then single twists above that with pre-formed earhooks without memory wire and mmcx connectors at the top end. The jack is a 3.5mm in a straight housing of knurled aluminum in gun-metal gray with a short strain relief and is paralleled by the same at the splitter. A clear plastic ring chin-slider is provided as well which is appreciated. MMCX housings are translucent plastic at the cable junction and gun-metal gray aluminum at the MMCX connector with L/R marked on the metal portion of the housing for easy indexing. (Tips also have red/blue color for quick indexing once the cable is attached as the lettering is small and blends in quite well from a distance.) The cable is a bit tangle prone so a velcro tie or something to mitigate that may be needed if carried in a pocket or bag. Also worth noting, while not a huge cable believer, I do think the cable that ships with the rain limits it as the dynamics and signature improved with a cable swap. If purchasing I’d be tempted by the earpiece only option at $35 and using a 3rd party cable as I do think it will prove better than the provided cable. I used a couple different KBear, NiceHCK, and Effect Audio and found the NiceHCK 4N Litz to be a solid improvement on the stock in both handling and sound.
Sound:
Bass:
sub-bass is elevated with good rumble and a center around 50Hz but does sound a little one note to my ear as it does not have a lot of detail. Roll-off is only evident in the mid-20s giving the Rain a solid low end to build one. Mid-bass drops back gradually from the sub-bass emphasis but still has enough slam to get your attention and a bit more texture than the sub-bass as well. Decay is a bit slow giving the Rain some extra weight, but also keeping it from sounding really nimble in the lows. There is also some bleed into the mids which is to be expected from a dynamic driver particularly a budget model and it is not an amount that obscures the mids.
Mids:
Lower mids start off with a bit of mid-bass bleed that gives them a little thickness but also a bit of masking of micro-detail so male vocals come across as warm and thick if not ultra-well detailed. Guitar growl is good with nice rasp and tone as well. Somewhere between the lower mids and true mids we hit the transition point between the dynamic driver and the armature and it is evident as true mids are more crisp and have better detail, but also have a somewhat artificial sound to them. Violins for example have the unfortunate plasticity of a armature produced sound and don’t sound natural. Upper-mids climb forward and give more energy to the mix at the expense of some flare. Female vocals can be fatiguing and even prone to sibilance if the track leans that way anyway but do cut through the mix well. A little PEQ around the 2kHz mark helps greatly to reduce the fatigue and flare here.
Treble:
There is some grain to the lower treble as after the initial upper-mid rise, it first drops back to the trough of the mids level around 3kHz and then climbs again to peaks at roughly 5kHz and a plateau in the 7-8kHz range. This gives the Rain an overall bright tone as the treble peaks rise to at least the level of the sub-bass and maybe a bit higher in the case of the 7-8kHz plateau. Luckily the treble falls off fairly quickly above 8kHz and keeps it from getting super harsh. There is a smaller peak at or about the limit of my hearing that adds some energy back before final roll-off somewhere above 15kHz. There is some splashiness and plasticity to the treble and it isn’t entirely natural sounding. Snare rattle has good sharpness and tone, but hi-hat is a bit sharp and metallic by comparison. The Rain does have good air and some sparkle with the trade off being it can be a bit on the hot side.
Soundstage / Imaging:
The rain has average stage using the stock cable and a bit better than average with the NiceHCK 4N litz added in. Instrument separation is good with most instruments placed where we’d expect but some slightly wider than they should be due to the stage width and limited depth. There is some height, but it is limited as well. Imaging is reasonably good with most movements easily tracked but not as tightly defined in space as some models and there is a bit of a void in the center front where movements are harder to track.
Thoughts / Conclusion:
The Apesonic Rain is the best looking budget model I’ve tested in recent months and helps differentiate in from a very crowded field in the budget space. I’ll be interested in seeing the purple version to see if it is as good looking as the gold. Also somewhat unique is the ability to purchase just the earpieces and pick up a cable of your choice to mate with them (Any standard MMCX type will work). The tuning is a big V that will please many, but the Rain is definitely a treble forward signature and the treble sensitive will do well to audition it before purchase. Overall, I love the look and think the Rain shows great promise for things to come. Apesonic is offering several over-ear models as well and continues to expand their line, so I look forward to seeing additional in-ear models as their line continues to grow.
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6.5/10
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6/10
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6/10
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6/10
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5/10
Summary
Pros: gorgeous shells, budget pricing, good detail
Cons: Minimal kit, no carrying case, cable is passable but sound improves with after-market cables. Not for the treble shy.