This is a review of the BQEYZ Autumn, which is a single 13mm Dynamic Driver IEM with a dual cavity acoustic chamber and magnetic tuners. It is priced at $186.75
Disclaimer: This was sent to us as a sample for our honest opinion. Headfonics is an independent website with no affiliate links or services. We thank the team at BQEYZ for giving us this opportunity.
To read more about insert BQEYZ products we have previously covered on Headfonics click here.
Note, this review follows our latest scoring guidelines which you can read up on here.
Looking at the BQEYZ product lineup, it’s mainly composed of 2 lines of products, the first is the K series, which is a series of more budget-oriented products. The other is arguably their flagship range, which is named after the seasons.
We have already covered Spring 2 and the Summer so today, in winter no less, we’re taking a closer look at their latest offering called the Autumn.
Tech Highlights
Internally, the driver count of the Autumn is nothing to write home about, there is a solitary 13mm dynamic driver that works as the full-range driver. Then there is a dual cavity shell that promises to improve soundstage depth and separation.
What’s unique with the Autumn though is that it comes with tuning magnets, which are not attached to the nozzle. Instead, they are magnetic filters that will allow the user to tune the magnetic circuit inside the Autumn, which are Bass, Normal, and Treble, which tilts the tonal balance according to the labels.
Design
The Autumn is designed with an aluminum shell which is made using a 5-axis CNC machine to create dual cavities inside the shells. The shells are then anodized to create a lasting vibrant coating, with our sample coming in with a grayish-green finish.
The most striking feature of the Autumn is a pair of magnetic discs that are attached to each shell. These magnetic discs can be replaced with other magnetic discs also provided with the Autumns to tweak the tuning of the Autumn
Each shell is then connected to the cable using a 0.78mm 2-pin connection, and the cable provided is firmly attached to the shells. The part of the cable that attaches to the IEM shells themselves is then covered in heat shrink tubing to maintain its form, while the length of the cable is made of 4-core silver-coated copper covered in PVC coating.
Comfort & Isolation
Despite the use of aluminum, each shell is lightweight and durable. Each shell is properly engineered to ensure that they don’t hit any part of my concha while having a relatively shallow insertion into my ears. This allows me to comfortably wear these IEMs for longer listening sessions.
With the lightweight construction and curved ear hooks at the ends of the cable, the Autumn remains securely fitted on my ears. So, I’m confident that the IEMs won’t fall off my ears even when I start moving around.
Despite the shallow insertion on the Autumn, they isolate well enough. Although I could still hear most things when there isn’t any music playing, pressing play would isolate me from most of the outside noise, making it an overall immersive experience.
Tips
Out of the box, the Autumn comes with 2 types of ear tips that come in 3 sizes. The first type of ear tips are large bore ear tips with the opening about the same size as the nozzles, and then the 2nd type is a smaller bore tip. Both types of ear tips have stiff stems that will ensure that the bores don’t collapse too easily.
Packaging & Accessories
The Autumn comes in a hard cardboard box, that slides up to reveal the contents. Then inside, there is a card that covers most of the contents except for the IEM shells themselves. Removing the card then reveals an aluminum plate with the word Autumn written on it. Finally, there is a stick with the BQEYZ brand.
The aluminum card is used to house the magnetic tuning filters, with the normal filter already pre-installed on the IEM shells. Then the stick has magnets at each end that can then be used to replace the filters on IEM shells.
Underneath the foam insert is another foam insert that has the spare ear tips neatly arranged inside. Finally, there is a semi-hard shell carrying case that houses the cable and a cleaning brush for cleaning the nozzle of the IEM.
Sound Impressions
The sound impressions were made with the normal filter and a pair of aftermarket foam ear tips, subsequent sections will discuss the different filters and ear tips.
Bass
The Autumn has a bit of a roll-off in the sub-bass region. Despite this, there is still some presence that can be felt on the low-end, just more neutral in quantity and not diffuse in its imaging.
The mid-bass response is fairly steady and not deliberately bumped up to give an illusion of a fuller bass response. Instead, BQEYZ opted to maintain a generally flat but satisfying mid-bass response ensuring that the bass wouldn’t bleed into the other frequency ranges.
Having a more controlled bass response also allows Autumn to have a good sense of snap and a natural-sounding attack. However, the decay of each drum hit isn’t as natural as it lingers longer than I expect it to. This more extended decay makes bass guitars sound quite natural though.
Mids
Compared to the bass, the vocal range is even more recessed, particularly the lower midrange. This diminished the power behind vocalists such as Josh Groban in favor of a more detailed and articulated presentation.
This is mainly due to the more forward upper midrange response which gives vocalists a slightly brighter tilt while not inducing much in terms of vocal euphony.
Midrange instruments such as guitars have a bright and singular presentation which allows the sound of each string to easily be audible. However, guitars tend to sound thinner than they ought to.
With pianos, on the other hand, the presentation is on the brighter side as well, which means that the percussive strike behind each keystroke is not as apparent. Claps and snaps on the other hand have a more natural presentation, but the sense of space with each clap isn’t as apparent.
Treble
The brighter harmonic tilt is mainly due to the more elevated lower treble presentation. This allows cymbals and horns to sound forward while lacking a sense of bite with each note.
Wind instruments also tend to have a full-bodied presentation, while lacking that last sense of airiness and space, making them sound less natural than I have come to expect. Although the upper treble frequencies are present, they are more rolled off resulting in a lack of airiness in the presentation.
Soundstage
When forming images within the soundstage, the Autumn does a good job both in terms of accuracy of placement and delineation. However, when it comes to the size of the images formed, they are a bit smaller than I expected them to be.
While the images are properly placed within the soundscape, the soundstage itself isn’t particularly wide, only reaching the space inside my head and not much beyond it. However, the overall imaging presentation doesn’t feel compressed, so I would say that it’s an overall pleasant experience.
Ear tips
Supplied with the Autumn are 2 types of ear tips, the small-bore ear tips, and the larger bore ear tips. Compared to the aftermarket foam tips, the small-bore silicon ear tips tend to give the Autumn a more subdued and less energetic overall presentation while maintaining control over the frequency spectrum.
The stock small bore tips also pushed the vocal range further back making vocalists sound thinner.
Switching over to the larger bore ear tips, there is a notable uptick in the lower treble response making the Autumn more energetic and engaging. However, this comes at the cost of the Autumn being more prone to sibilance, that it sounds a bit tinny particularly with tracks that are not particularly well recorded.
Filters
Compared to ear tips, the filters make a smaller difference in the overall tonal balance of the Autumn, but it’s a great way to fine-tune the tonal balance of the Autumn to suit your taste. Swapping in the bass filter does exactly what the label says, as it gives the bass a slight uplift making drums sound more palpable.
Switching over to the treble filter, it also does what’s advertised in the label by giving the Autumn a slight treble uplift. Interestingly, the first thing that I noticed with the treble filter is also a better-focused imaging presentation allowing images to be even more chiseled.
Synergy
Efficiency
Having a sensitivity of 110dB/mW and an impedance of 46Ω, the Autumn won’t require much in terms of power but it is not what I would classify as a super-sensitive IEM. This means that anything with a headphone jack can easily power the Autumn but noise is not a factor either.
With the Hidizs S3 Pro, I only needed to push the volume to around 20 to reach my normal listening levels. With an Ibasso DX200 using the AMP1 module, I needed around 68 to reach my normal listening levels.
Pairings
We received a 2.5mm balanced version of the Autumn, so the first thing that I used it with is the iBasso DX200 since it has a 2.5mm TRRS plug with the Amp1 module. The generally neutral tonal balance of the DX200 ended up maintaining Autumn’s default tonality, which makes it sound thinner and slightly brighter on lesser recordings.
Using a 2.5mm to 3.5mm adaptor, I then plugged in the Autumn to the Hidizs S3 Pro, which can be described to have a bit of bass bloom. While I expected the S3 Pro to create a more bloated mid-bass region, the pairing ended up having a more emphasized mid-bass region while maintaining control and clarity throughout most of the frequency range.
This pairing, together with aftermarket foam ear tips and the normal filters allows the Autumn to have a more energetic performance while maintaining clarity and control without being overly bright.
Furthermore, the configuration of the Autumn also allows it to have a more spaced-out soundstage while having better image clarity.
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