Kitsound Euphoria Earphone Review

Sometimes brilliance requires you to work for it

by Ed Selley
Hi-Fi Review

Recommended
Kitsound Euphoria Earphone Review
MSRP: £100.00

Introduction

The IFA show earlier in September tends to pass in a bit of a blur for a visitor. There is simply so much equipment on display, spread out across categories that are far wider than a standard Hi-Fi show that you tend to develop a sort of ‘show blindness.’ When you add a little helping of sleep deprivation, the fact that various stands are running the sort of volume levels you normally associate with a music festival and the mildly distracting army of promo girls and making an objective judgement on any product you hear can be a challenge.

In among the 4K everything, next gen consoles and some very slick white goods were - as you might expect - a plethora of earphones and headphones. There were dozens of stands solely devoted to them and they also took up significant chunks of other multi product stands as well. I did what I could to plough through as many of these as possible and some models will be putting in an appearance here over the coming months. One model was sufficiently intriguing though that I requested it there and then.

Kitsound is a UK based company that is part of the wider Kondor group. Under the guidance of Justin Christie - a keen drummer when he’s not making audio accessories - Kitsound has become a very substantial company making a very significant number of products across earphones, mobile accessories and Bluetooth products. Most of these components are very competitively priced - for the most part, the company makes equipment in the sub £50 level - but it was a product out of this price point that attracted the attention. Having made every permutation of budget earphone that people need, Justin has spent the last year developing something for the keenly contested £100 price point. A quick listen to this Euphoria at the show suggested that there was much to like - even with the Beats by Dre stand next door making enough noise to vibrate your skeleton. Back in the UK and in rather quieter surroundings though, can the K10 make good on this initial promise?

Design

The Euphoria owes very little to the rest of the Kitsound range but it is a dynamic driver design as you might expect at the asking price. The driver itself is a 10mm unit that makes use of a twin neodymium magnet assembly to allow for more low end frequency extension- indeed a lot of the literature talks about the pursuit of ‘supreme bass’. While this can be a bit of a worry for people who don’t believe the dubstep is the summation of human achievement, having spent some time talking to Justin, I have a sense that the low end extension he’s looking for is a little more nuance than some of the blurb suggests.

These drivers are mounted in a relatively small housing that places everything inline- there is no angling to the driver and they have very little in the way of sound chambering before they exit- indeed there is a grille right at the end of the duct to protect the driver which suggests that it is mounted fairly far forward. At the rear of the housing is a pinhole port which allows the driver to vent to the outside world. This port is interesting in that it doesn’t seem to have an adverse effect on how much noise the Euphoria leaks back to the outside world- even giving them the beans doesn’t seem to result in excessive noise leakage.
Kitsound Euphoria

The cable exits the housing at bottom of each housing in a fixed hinge arrangement- as such the standard comments about this being a potential point of weakness for the earphone apply. That being said, the section where the cable meets the housing has a plastic strengthener that should help avoid it becoming overstrained. At the other end of the cable, the jack is a ninety degree angled type finished in the same smoked chrome as the main housings. The cable is a Kevlar lined and has an anti-tangle coating that is extremely effective in practice. The Euphoria has an inline remote and mic that works with iDevices but this is a single button device that does without volume controls so it isn’t as flexible as some other devices at the price. Having expressed some surprise at the RHA MA750i mounting the remote on the right hand side, the Kitsound also takes this approach too.

The Euphoria is supplied with a fitted Kevlar carry case that is an excellent example of how to go about making storage for earphones that people might actually use. It is small enough to carry around easily and very robust. Although the fitted section means that it takes fractionally longer to put the Kitsound’s away than some of the competition, the recesses keep the Euphoria in good working order. Kitsound supplies a variety of rubber domes for fitment and it is important that you hang on to these. This is because the tube that rubber dome mounts to on the Kitsound is larger than most other earphones and any spares you have accrued over the years or purchased aftermarket might not fit correctly to the Euphoria.

The Euphoria has an inline remote and mic that works with iDevices

This is a bit of an issue as the Euphoria seems pickier than some of the competition at getting a truly comfortable fit. Because the driver seems fairly far forward, you ideally want to ensure that the rubber dome increases the distance between it and the ear. This was tricky to do on the Kicksound as the big dome that managed this was a bit too large for me to be really comfortable with. It has to be said that after some time with the (admittedly more expensive) Final Heaven IV and the lovely soft touch rubber domes supplied for that, other earphones have not felt as comfortable or achieved quite such a good seal.
Kitsound Euphoria

The fit and finish of the Kitsound is good however. Although the RHA MA750i has slightly redefined what I was expecting to find in sub £100 earphones in terms of overall construction, the Euphoria is attractive and well built. I especially like the smoked/shadow chrome on the housings and the anti tangle jacket on the cable works well. Provided that you can get a comfortable fit with them, the Kitsound is an easy earphone to live with thanks to the light weight and sensible design. As the mounting for the Euphoria is conventional and simply drops from the ear rather than looping around it, it might be less suited for sports but it feels more normal in overall use.
Kitsound Euphoria

Setup

The Kitsound went through a defined test program with my iPad 3 and iPhone 5 as well as Lenovo T530 ThinkPad with and without a Furutech ADL Cruise headphone amplifier. Material used included lossless and high res FLAC as well as compressed rips, Spotify and general internet material. The Kitsound was used both domestically as well as out on the move in quiet and noisy environments.

Kitsound Euphoria
The Kitsound was used both domestically as well as out on the move in quiet and noisy environments.

Sound Quality

First things first. If you have bought a pair of Kitsounds on the strength of this or any other review and you’re holding the packaging, take them out of the box, plug them in to something, put some music on and… whatever you do don’t listen to them. Out of the box, the Euphoria is an unusual balance of muffled midrange and bass combined with a shrieky top end. If you listen to them in this state, you’ll send them back. Leave them running overnight though and you should start to get more of the experience that I’m relaying here and a full day of running is really best before making a judgement. Most headphones and speakers with a moving dynamic driver benefit from running in but this is a particularly extreme example of the breed. Why this might be is unclear but provided you know what to expect, it should not be a problem.
Whatever you do don’t listen to them straight out of the box
While a long run in should not be an issue as such, given that the RHA MA750i is £10 less, better made and while still a little picky about getting a good seal, is easier than Kitsound, why would I be asking you to persevere with the Euphoria? The simple answer is once you’ve run it in, faffed with the rubber domes and got the seal between it and the outside world, the Kitsound puts in a performance that is not only extremely good but is also in some ways very different from anything else near the price.
Kitsound Euphoria

The reason I say this is because the Euphoria has an immediacy and sense of life that is often tricky to achieve with an earphone. Dynamic designs can sound a little leaden to truly convince while armature models have the speed and upper dynamics but often lack the low end extension to truly convince in this manner. The Kitsound is still slightly bass dominant in terms of overall presentation and this can be an issue with very bassy music but there is a speed and immediacy to the Euphoria that is subtly different compared to much of the competition. Listening to the live Fink album Wheels Turn Beneath my Feet The Euphoria captures more of the sense of the venue and the experience than is often the case with earphones. Everything starts and stops with a speed and accuracy that gives even fairly indistinct instruments a detail and definition they can otherwise lack.

The tonality of the Kitsound while it delivers this performance is good if perhaps a little ‘hot’ for a poor recording. The top end is well extended and clean and this gives vocals and instruments a realism and presence that is very rewarding. Very bright and aggressive music can sound a sound a little sharp but with everything else, the Kitsound is able to grab your attention and give a performance that is exciting in a way that monitor type earphones and more forgiving models are not able to do which further helps the visceral nature of the presentation.
Kitsound Euphoria

The bass and treble performance is given further emphasis by the midrange is comparatively smooth but slightly recessed compared to the frequency extremes. This further aids the slightly ‘live’ perception of the performance as this is usually the part of any live recording that is also the least defined. The balance isn’t so skewed that detail is lost from the midband and the slightly greater control in this part of the frequency response is enough to make listening to the Euphoria for long periods of time is easier than something where the entire performance is turned up to eleven.
Listening to the Euphoria for long periods of time is easier than something where the entire performance is turned up to eleven.
Although the Kitsound is not the easiest model to get a comfortable and suitable fit, once you do, it is an easy earphone to use long term. The weight is low and the cable join is sufficiently far from the front of the housing that it is very unlikely to interfere with your ear. As previously mentioned, the Euphoria is not as good as a looped over ear for exercise but neither is likely to pop out under normal use. The noise isolation is effective and although the sensitivity isn’t class leading, it is easy enough to get a decent volume level on a mobile device. The performance of the Kitsound is also very consistent regardless of listening levels as well- if you like what they do, you don’t have to birch them to do it.

Conclusion

The Good

  • Powerful and energetic sound
  • Solid build
  • Excellent carry case

The Bad

  • Tricky to fit
  • Long run in
  • Slightly unforgiving

Kitsound Euphoria Earphone Review

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Scores

Build Quality

.
.
.
7

Ease of Use

.
.
.
.
.
5

Sound Quality

.
.
.
7

Design

.
.
.
7

Sensitivity

.
.
.
7

Verdict

.
.
.
7
7
AVForumsSCORE
OUT OF
10

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