Today, UBSOUND of Italy just launched their new MAGISTER ‘premium’ HD aluminum IEM worldwide. This to me actually looks loaded with potential in the entry-level range
For those who may be unaware, UBSOUND is an Italian consumer electronics company based in Milan. They specialize in portable audio products like IEMs, and headphones. They also have some interesting upcoming projects for amplified speakers, DAPs, and amplified DACs.
After their steady build on worldwide brand awareness thanks to their first 4 series of IEMs and 2 models of headphones (Fighter, Smarter classic, Orchestra, Smarter Pro HD, and Dreamer), the company began a new challenge on a model of IEMs with a totally different acoustic signature compared to their previous products catalog.
UBSOUND Magister
UBSOUND previously was known for its classic slightly V-shaped tonality implemented on all their products.
Today, with their new MAGISTER IEMs, the company launches its first neutral acoustic signature in-ear monitors, which UBSOUND states to have an ‘honest natural sound, rich in acoustic detail’ with an accurate bass, midrange, and treble signature that should be transparent on a wide range of sources.
Also for this new product, UBSOUND has retained its value for money ethos with a worldwide launch price of 49$. The new MAGISTER IEMs are available only in metallic dark grey color.
UBSOUND is still focused on a clear upcoming roadmap of products which includes a new headphones model, DAPs, amplified DACs and amplified speakers.
Official manufacturer website and where to buy: UBSOUND
Ok so call me interested in a neutral IEM and we do cover IEMs of all shapes and sizes so I brought up some questions on the back of this launch with Marzio Gasparro, President & CEO of the UBSOUND Group, to talk about the new MAGISTER IEMs, the company’s updates and future developments.
Hi Marzio, first of all, what about Italian football this year?
Thanks Marcus for the nice question… please, no comment… LOL…
Ok Marzio, I won’t flame on that hot topic… So, what can you tell us about UBSOUND’s business and the past 7 years in the worldwide portable audio market?
First of all, I would like to thank you Marcus for your time as usual. I can say that we are very proud of the results achieved during the past 7 years and the related international brand awareness, we are now present in more than 45 countries worldwide. Even the good results in terms of revenue and units have been unexpected. We are planning further investments in research & development concerning the upcoming projects.
Which are your main sales channels around the world and which is your bestselling product?
Regarding the sales channels, we are still mostly focused on retail chains, hi-fi specialist stores, luxury department stores, travel retail stores, Telco stores and, of course, the e-tail channel represented by Amazon for example and several e-commerce platforms worldwide, which are growing on a daily basis as you know.
For the future, we’re managing the possible opening of our own key flagship independent stores in the main cities around the world. This is just embryonal so far, although it would be fundamental to give consumers the possibility to test our product range in dedicated UBSOUND special locations in terms of “audio mood”. On the “where to buy” area of our website (www.ubsound.com) there is a worldwide list of authorized online & offline stores where you can purchase all our products.
Regarding the UBSOUND bestseller product series, as of today the aluminum Fighter IEMs are still the most requested by consumers and they are available in 4 different colors as you remember.
We are re-launching the mass production on a quarterly basis.
Here we go, what can you tell us about the new “MAGISTER” aluminum HD in-ear earphones? Can you explain some technical details, their new neutral sound signature, and their main features? Does it seem UBSOUND is changing a bit its classic route in terms of tonality with this new acoustic setting, only for this specific IEM or also for further upcoming products?
The MAGISTER is a new kind of aluminum in-ear earphones, launched in the market with several innovative features. They are very comfortable, extremely lightweight, elegant, cool, with a neutral soundstage although, like all our products, the bass frequencies are always textured and powerful when needed, which heats up the tonality a bit with a slightly warm feeling during playback.
The main features are:
1) a lovely design with all components made of aluminum.
2) a very robust 1,2m rubber wrapped tangle-free braided wire, in order to avoid matters of longevity.
3) as already mentioned above, although honestly it has been a tough arm wrestling between me and our engineers team, the company decided to focus, with 6 months of deep research and development, on a new neutral sound signature just for these IEMs so far. We’d like to gain market share also from consumers who prefer a natural flat tonality so they can equalize it as they prefer from their devices.
4) The MAGISTER drivers HD work at 16Ω of impedance in order to be more manageable from smartphones and slightly amplified DAPs, basically for these IEMs are not necessarily needed specific DAPs and DACs as you can enjoy amazing performance even with a simple smartphone or entry-level DAP.
I firmly believe that the amazing retail price of only 49$ will be a key point for our new earphones compared to other big players on the market in terms of value for money at this price point. As I’ve already said, our main mission is based on giving high quality performance at an affordable price for everyone and I think the MAGISTER confirm, once again, this UBSOUND motto.
From a technical perspective, we’ve invested significant resources in order to develop the MAGISTER project as we wanted to maintain a low retail price but, at the same time, great sound quality and the additional feature of having a good microphone for hands free calls, this is due to the consistent growth of smartphone usage to playback music. We’ve made several tests with many devices and kinds of multi-genre music.
Do you already have a clear roadmap for the future of UBSOUND?
Yes, I do. We have a clear roadmap for new upcoming products. This year we would like to launch a new model of over-ear headphones, introducing some new aspects in order to complete our range of headphones.
Then we are planning to explore the wireless amplified speaker segment due to high market demand.
Finally, regarding UBSOUND’s upcoming devices, when the tough project will be ready for the mass market, we will launch our first DAP which has to be lightweight, powerful and user-friendly at the same time, accomplishing one of our initial and ambitious goals.
Thank you Marcus.
UBSOUND Magister Technical Specifications
- HD 6mm independent dynamic drivers
- Sensitivity: 115dB/mW
- Frequency response: 15-22.000Hz.
- Impedance: 16Ω
- Maximum distortion <0,2%
