CVJ Demon

disclaimer: CVJ sent me the demon in exchange for reviewing it.  I have no financial interest in CVJ, or any of its distributors.   If you have an interest in CVJ products or in purchasing the Demon, please see their facebook or their Aliexpress site.

 

Unboxing / Packaging:

The demon ships in a slip-cover style box with a line drawing on the front that is reminiscent of the anime characters used by some other vendors and a photo of the earpiece.  The reverse has the specs and measurements in both English and Chinese.     Removing the slip-cover reveals the earpieces in a foam surround with the cable, tips, and carrying bag beneath the foam tray.   The kit comes with 3 sets of silicone tips, the earpieces, cable, velcro cable tie, and cloth bag for storage and carry.  It is a fairly simple kit, but with the package retailing for $10 currently it is fitting of the price point.

 

Build/Fit:

Shells are a transparent polycarbonate material with a metal face plate and nozzle attached.  My pair is blue with a silver face but black with a gold face is also an option.   The shape is the typical semi-custom under-side and inverted tear-drop exterior.  Connectors are 0.78mm bi-pin connectors and are flush with the shell rather than the now common raised hooded style.  Shells are mid sized and were comfortable for long wear for me.   Nozzles have a slight forward rake and insertion depth is fairly deep which helps with isolation but with the shell being fairly thin and vented immediately behind the nozzle even then isolation is somewhat limited.   Nozzles do have a pronounced lip for tip retention

 

Internals:

The heart of the demon (that sounds odd doesn’t it?) is a single 10mm dynamic driver with a dual magnet design.  This new magnet design improves flux by 55% to near 1 Tesla which helps make the demon easier to drive and improves detail retrieval as well.    Nominal impedance is 22Ω with a sensitivity of 110 dB/mW which puts the Demon in the easy to drive class and I had no problem driving the Demon with a variety of dongles and daps.      The Demon doesn’t need high potency sources and honestly didn’t benefit much from switching to something like the Kann Alpha from a lower potency source like the Cayin N3ii.

 

Cable:

The provided cable is silver plated copper in a 4 wire braid from jack to splitter and then as 2 wire twists above the splitter.    The Jack is the 90º type in a black housing with a proper strain relief at the cable exit.   Likewise the splitter is the standard Y style using the same black plastic and short strain reliefs both above and below the split.    At the north end cables terminate with ear hooks without memory wires and o.78mm bi-pin connectors in the square housing.  These are flush fit connectors and not the more common hooded style.   A velcro cable tie is provided for cable storage as well.  Overall the cable is a solid offering and works well with less movement transferred to the ear than the cables provided with some of its competitors.

 

Sound:

Bass:

Sub-bass has good emphasis on the demon with a center at about 80Hz and a gradual taper to either side.  Even into the lower depths where notes become more vibration than sound, the sub-bass remains at least of the level of the rest of the signature so roll-off is difficult to isolate on the low-end.   The mid-bass starts off elevated and gradually drops back as it moves into the lower-mids.   Mid-bass has good texture and some warmth that give the Demon a little thicker heavier note weight with the trade off being the bass is not as detailed as some.   There is a slight bleed into the lower-mids that conveys that warmth and weight but doesn’t significantly obscure the lower-mids.     While the FR chart hints a big V signature, the Demon listens more like a shallow V with enough emphasis to make bass heavy passages stand out, but not so much that bass is heavy and forward full time.

Mids:

While the lower-mids are slightly behind the mid-bass, they are not lost in the mix and the added note weight is, to my ear, a good trade as the Demon comes across as somewhat lush and very organic .    Lower vocals have good weight and are quite engaging with a very natural sound.   As we move up through the mids there is a push forward that makes higher vocals stand a bit forward of lower voices but can come across as nasal for some vocalists.  Guitars have a little less edge to the growl thanks to the fairly slow transients of the Demon so if looking for a lot of rasp and edge, this is not going to be the in-ear of choice but if a bit of smoothing over of the rough edges on pop, and rock tracks is needed, the Demon does an admirable job.

Treble:

Treble is a study in dichotomy with lower treble pushed forward and there is enough early treble emphasis to help lift vocals out of the instruments and to give percussion some snap. Above that though, not only does treble fall back, it all but disappears by about 7kHz.    You won’t find the Demon fatiguing or strident as it simply has no energy in the ranges that cause that.  You also won’t find a lot of treble detail and cymbals are quite flat.    Air and sparkle are not even an after-thought here as there simply is nothing above about the 7kHz mark to work with.    The treble sensitive will find a lot to like here, those looking for more top end air will be disappointed though.

Soundstage / Imaging:

The stage is impacted by the lack of treble energy and results in a stage that is narrow with limited depth and height as well, but its the width or lack thereof that most will notice first.   Seating the orchestra is a bit cramped and there is some instrument overlap, particularly in upper voices.    I don’t expect a lot from closed in-ears when it comes to stage but even with lower expectations the demon struggles as the lack of stage doesn’t help with imaging either which is a bit loosely defined and sounds that should come from behind sound more to the immediate side.  Likewise there is an area at mid-front where movements just don’t happen, it all seems to come from one point in space.    Layering is only average and with the slower transients of the driver there is some notable compression in the lower ranges as tracks get busy.

 

Thoughts / Conclusion:

Ever go on a trip that started off well but then somewhere part way through took a turn off into territory you wish you hadn’t ventured into?   To me, that is the experience of the Demon.   The lows are well done and have good clarity and a very organic sound with vocals sounding very natural.  Then as we continue up the spectrum the energy levels drop to the point where the Demon lacks life.  Maybe Demons aren’t supposed to have life, but it needs it as the treble is lacking and that collapses the stage resulting in an unnaturally narrow presentation.     The good news is if you have a comrade that is very treble shy, the Demon may well be a perfect option for them.  The bad news is for the rest of us, its missing some key ingredients that make a solid listen.