Headphones/EarphonesWired In ear

BQEYZ Autumn

disclaimer:   I was sent the BQEYZ Autumn directly from BQEYZ for purposes of this review.  I do not have any financial interest in BQEYZ or any of its partners or distributors, nor have I received any advice, or payment for this review.  For more information on BQEYZ products see their website or Facebook page or to purchase your Autumn, see HiFiGo.

 

Unboxing / Packaging:

The Autumn comes in a lift-top style box with a stylized drawing of an earpiece abstracted on the front along with the name in silver on a black background.  The reverse covers all the specs and has a much more detailed drawing of the earpiece.  Specs are listed in both Chinese and English.  Lifting the top reveals an orange lip around the border with the earpieces showing through a black paper cover.   Removing the paper reveals the filters and storage tray and the filter installation tool in the foam beneath the earpieces.   Lifting the foam tray reveals the rest of the kit which includes a square rubber coated clam-shell case, the cable,  6 sets of tips, the cleaning tool and manual.  tips are stored in a foam block that does a good job of keeping them in one place and well organized.

 

Build/Fit:

Shells on the Autumn look an awful lot like the Summer and Spring 2 with a shape similar to both, a face plate with waves machined into it similar to the design cast into the resin face plates on the Summer, and materials that very much mimic the Spring 2.   Shells are a 3 part design with an outer face plate and inner shell in either benzo blue (a dark navy) or ash green (a dark olive drab) and a raw aluminum colored nozzle.  All three parts are CNC machined to final shape and then the inner shell and face plate anodized to their final color before assembly. The face plate and inner shell are both notched to house the slightly recessed bi-pin connector.  it is a bit odd looking as the connector used is the rounded style often seen in raised connectors but in this case it is recessed into a square slot and a standard 0.78mm bi-pin male connector is used to attach it.   On the under-side, there are two vents, One is rounded and holds the small disc shaped filters and the other is a slot at the inside rear of the shell with 3 smaller vents in a line in the trough.    The filters are held in place via magnets and are easy to change but hold firmly in place once seated in the recess.    Despite the external similarities to the other models, the internals are designed specifically for the new driver arrangement to get the best possible sound out of the Autumn according to BQEYZ ad copy.    The shells are medium sized and fit mostly in ear with good insertion depth but limited isolation due to most of the body of the in-ear not being immediately behind the nozzle.  Isolation improves with foam tips for those looking to block out outside noises.   I had no comfort issues with wearing the Autumn for the extended listening sessions needed to try out each filter option and suspect all but the smallest ears will find the Autumn a comfortable fit.

 

Internals:

We’ve gotten used to BQEYZ seasonal models being hybrids with piezos, balanced armatures, and dynamic drivers.  Even outside the seasonal models most of BQEYZ’s products have been hybrids of dynamic drivers and balanced armatures in some combination.    That is why it will likely come as a surprise to many that the innards on the Autumn consist of a single 13mm dynamic driver with a dual cavity acoustic structure.   The Autumn can be thought of as a return to simpler times with a single dynamic driver in a custom tuned shell that while maintaining the outward appearance of the other Seasons, has little in common with them.   Nominal impedance is up from earlier models at 46Ω but so is sensitivity at 110 dB/mW puttting it squarely in the category of models designed to be driven by low powered sources.   I had no issues running the autumn off smartphones with dongles or directly from a tablet with a 3.5mm output.   Better sources do help some qualitatively but the Autumn doesn’t particularly benefit from lots of extra power as the noise floor is at its best on low gain on the Hiby R2 saber or the Cayin N3ii (solid state mode).

Cable:

The cable on the Autumn looks like the younger brother of the DDHifi Air Nyx that is one of my favorite recent cable introductions.   From the jack to the splitter the cable is a 4 wire braid that looks like stainless steel cable.  Above the split, the two wire twist continues the motif and the dark blue hardware ( jack housing, splitter, chin slider bead, and bi-pin jacks) also add to the industrial look of the cable.   The only complaint I have is why color match the cable hardware to the earpiece and then use a high gloss finish on the cable parts while leaving the earpieces a matte finish?  its a small but noticeable difference when the cable is plugged into the earpiece and the two colors are placed directly adjacent each other.   It appears to be a very sturdy design and build and should last well in use.  The southern end is available in the purchasers choice of 2.5mm or 4.4mm balanced connectors or 3.5mm single ended.   There was not a cable offered with a microphone at the time of this writing but any aftermarket cable with standard 0.78mm bi-pin connectors should function for those who need a microphone on-board.

 

 

Sound:

Too often tuning options on in-ears are more of a gimmick than a useful tool.   Either they require so much effort that once you get a set loaded you’d be hard pressed to want to change them (FLc8s),  they don’t do enough to warrant spending a lot of time fidgeting with them, or the parts get lost almost immediately due to their minuscule size and less than optimal attachment methods.  I was worried about that last one particularly with the Autumn as the filters are magnetically held in recesses on the underside of the body.    In use this turned out not to be an issue as never in the span of nearly a month of using the Autumn did the filters offer to come unattached either from the earpiece or from the storage card.   I think the best chance to lose the filters is during changing and while replacements are available from the BQEYZ store on Ali-express I’d advise changing the filters over a tray with a lip to keep one from rolling off should they come lose.  A mechanics magnetic tray is even better if one is available.       I can also happily report that the filters do offer enough change between them to be worth spending some time with them.

Technically speaking there are 4 options.  You can leave the filter off entirely or use one of the three filter options to sculpt the sound.   BQEYZ refers to the 3 filters as treble,  normal, and bass.  The normal is the most balanced while the bass increases the low end by a couple decibels and presents a bit more warmth.   The treble filter is decidedly brighter and tilts the signature more toward a brighter, cooler sound.   Leaving the filters off entirely makes the BQEYZ super bright and will only be an option for the most diehard treble heads.     The filters operate by adjusting the low end of the signature so treble characteristics remain unchanged by the filters but are either more balanced by the low end or more on display depending on the filter in use.

 

Bass:

Sub-bass has good presence in the mix and is mildly elevated using the normal filter and substantially elevated using the bass filter.  The treble filter brings the sub-bass and mid-bass down a bit and is actually the nearest to true neutral in the low end but is offset by a slightly bright treble so the signature tilts toward the top.   I found the normal filter has good rumble when called upon and really didn’t need the added impact of the bass filter for most listening.  With the bass filter in place the emphasis on the sub-bass and lower mid-bass is raised substantially and note weight gets a bit heavier but the trade off is that thickness and warmth comes at the cost of clarity.     The mid-bass is more on display with the treble and normal filters as the bass filter emphasizes the sub-bass but masks the mid bass to a degree in the process.     Overall, I’m pleased with the default, normal tuning as it has a good mix of rumble, and clarity with enough warmth in the mid-bass to keep the signature from sounding a bit sterile.

 

Mids:

Filters do little to change the signature above the mid-bass but the level of exposure of the lower-mids and the note weight is impacted by the lower end changes so we do see some differences in filters via indirect effects.   The normal filter again wins the way for me as it provides a rich tonality with good note weight to the vocals for both higher and lower voices.   Likewise strings have good energy and a slight bit of warmth to the tone when using the normal filter.   The detail and clarity are both very good as well with more micro-detail than expected from a single DD in this price bracket.     To me neither the bass filter or the treble filter do anything positive to the mids.  The bass filter adds too much body to vocals at the expense of extension and engagement.   Strings suffer as well as they thicken up and lose the energy needed to maintain a natural timbre.   Cello may benefit slightly with the bass filter and bass guitar has a more natural thickness, but the damage done above that prevents use of the bass filter for all but the dedicated bass head.     The treble filter takes it a bit too far the other direction for me as clarity is quite good and instrument separation is improved with more space between instruments but it dries out the signature and the tonality isn’t as natural so its a trade off between a more organic sound and a more technically capable signature.

Treble:

Looking at the FR graphs, one will note that there is no difference in the top end with the normal and treble filters.  That doesn’t mean you won’t hear differences because of the degree the treble is exposed and emphasized.    The Normal filter has a better balance between the low end and the treble and helps keep it from sounding overly forward or bright and again keeps a more natural tonality than the treble filter.   The treble filter reduces the low end resulting in what we hear as a treble emphasis with a bit more energy and better dynamics.   Detail is the same with either filter but is easier to pick out with the emphasis of the treble filter so some will likely note more details with the treble filter in use.      The bass filter again shifts the emphasis even further to the left and leaves the treble feeling a bit less open at the top and a bit less energetic compared to the other two filters.

 

Soundstage / Imaging:

Stage has good width and depth with the normal and treble filters and is a bit more intimate with the bass filter than either of the other two.   All three lack a bit of height as most sounds seem to be spaced out left to right on the same plane.    Seating the orchestra is the one place I found where the treble filter really has an advantage.    With the improved instrument separation and clarity afforded by the treble filter, seating is more precise and positions more crisply defined.  This helps with imaging as well as positions in space and direction of movement has better definition when using the treble filter.   The normal filter isn’t bad per se but loses a little space between instruments and a little precision in imaging.     With the bass filter, the stage is enough smaller that seating the orchestra is a bit claustrophobic.      There is some mild compression as tracks get busier in the low end that is exacerbated by the bass filter as well.  Again the normal is the better balance to my ear.

 

Thoughts / Conclusion:

I’ve been a fan of the Seasons series from BQEYZ to date and while the Autumn is quite a departure from the formula of the rest of the Seasons thus far the sound may just be the best to date.   The filters have a very genuine impact on the sound and will allow each user to adjust to their liking.  For me the best fit was the normal filter as the other two went a bit too far in one direction or the other.  The bass filter introduces some mid-bass bleed and staging isn’t as good while the treble filter is a bit too bright and dry for my tastes.   The  good news is the normal hits a good happy medium (even if perfect might be just a smidge toward the treble filter in my estimation).    The $200 price bracket is a crowed place these days and single dynamic drivers have been the rage of late so the Autumn has to do a lot right to win would be buyers.   The tonality will help win over listeners as it has good note weight and definition with more micro-detail than anticipated all while maintaining a somewhat laid-back organic tone.    I think it’s tone is its strongest attribute and those looking for a step up from things like the Blon will find the Autumn a good option.   The stage height is a bit disappointing and may make the Autumn a bit less useful for gamers where that can be a critical factor. 

BQEYZ Autumn

7.4

Packaging

7.5/10

Build Quality

8.0/10

Accessories

7.0/10

Sound Quality

7.1/10
  • 7/10
    Bass - 7/10
  • 7.5/10
    Mids - 7.5/10
  • 7.5/10
    Treble - 7.5/10
  • 7/10
    Soundstage - 7/10
  • 6.5/10
    Imaging - 6.5/10

Summary

Pros: well made, good tonality, filters are more than a gimmick, good detail and micro-detail

Cons:bass filter hurts stage size, stage height is minimal, filters may try to do too much

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