Lynn reviews the Kiwi Ears Altruva, a super affordable set of custom-built 50mm dynamic driver open-back headphones currently priced at $69.99.
Disclaimer: This sample was sent in exchange for my honest opinion. Headfonics is an independent website with no affiliate links or services. I thank Linsoul and Kiwi Ears for their support.
Click here to read up on the Kiwi Ears gear previously reviewed on Headfonics.
This article follows our scoring guidelines, which you can read in more detail here.
The $69.99 Kiwi Ears Altruva headphones are positioned at the lower end of the Kiwi Ears lineup, but that should not fool you. After my recent reviews of Kiwi Ears’ Atheia and Aventus, I was impressed with the crossover from IEM to headphones for the company.
Promoting headphones that fit into the mid-tier as well as “budget-minded” set has worked well for the company. The Altruva also comes with two sets of ear pads for fine-tuning your listening, much like an IEM comes with different tips.
We have come away impressed with the company’s IEMs and now headphones, and hold high hopes for the Altruva. Based upon some rudimentary reading before the review, there is a good respect for this production model across the board.
I looked forward to it after being excited about the other two models I recently reviewed.
Features
The Altruva’s open-back design reportedly expands the soundstage while using a custom-developed 50mm dynamic driver, crafted exclusively for this model to fill in the expanse.
Utilizing powerful neodymium magnets and a reinforced diaphragm, the driver is expected to excel in reproducing detailed midrange and upper-frequency content.
The open-back design reduces internal reflections, creating a spacious and airy sound. This design is expected to significantly enhance the sense of space and directionality.
There is also a protective foam insert facing the inside of the cup, helping control radiant sound dispersion.
That custom PU and PEK composite diaphragm design, combined with an ultra-pure copper ring, ensures high sensitivity, fast response, and refined tonal control.
This should provide a balanced and immersive audio experience across the spectrum.
Tuned to emulate the precision of studio monitors, the Altruva offers a sound profile that should appeal to audiophiles and professionals.
The large dynamic driver does make for a preponderance of bass output, enhanced by the open design. With a mild Harmon tune, there should be plenty to offer.
Design
The Altruva comes in a faux wooden wrap or silver. There is an upscale look to it that cannot be denied. Its construction features PVD-coated stainless steel for durability, paired with the wood accents and soft vegan-leather padding (or velour pads).
This premium blend should enhance the headphones’ look and feel (it does) while contributing to the acoustic integrity.
The swoop of the yoke feeds right into the gimbal in one piece, before splitting into two equal headband arches. Underneath, the thinner but supportive sub-band uses two stretchy wires, allowing for a proper fit on one’s cranium.
A black metal grate covers the outer cup of the headphone, with the Kiwi Ears logo seen much like a recessed store logo in a shop window. I appreciate the subtlety of the logo.
Comfort
Even though the sub-band is thin, it provides good support, and along with the bend of the metal headband, gives a good fit. I never felt like the Altruva would slide off my head, with excellent pressure keeping the unit in place.
The pleather pads are thick and sumptuous, giving the head a welcome feel that does tend to get a bit hot in warmer weather.
The pads can easily be removed the “old-fashioned” way, while replacing them can be the bane of my existence, along with pulling Spotted Knapweed where I live. If a headphone has those “traditional” slots for pad exchange, I am loath to change pads. Ever.
Kiwi Ears must have read my mind, making a twist-off plastic ring, which can then be fed into the back of each pad. Switching to the velour pads took only a minute for a proper fit.
If you need to rotate the pads for that proper fit, do so by going against the rings’ locking mechanism, or the whole ring/pad setup will come off.
Stock Cable
The extra-long cable comes with a 3.5mm single-ended jack standard, with a 6.35mm single-ended jack for use in those situations. No balanced cable is included, but I did try an aftermarket 4.4mm cable for kicks. It worked well, but will not be reported upon here.
The 3.5mm jack is quite large but protected with the bendable cutting found on flexible jacks. Did I mention that the cable is long? It is, and care must be taken when laying it about. I ran over it a couple of times with my desk chair before coiling it on top of my workspace.
Unlike other reviews of this, I found very little to no microphonics on the cable. Only when actively trying to reproduce it, or moving around on my hoodie, could I hear any noise. And this pretty much came down to the jack, in my opinion.
Packaging & Accessories
The front shows off the Altruva and cosmic lettering, much like the Aventus. Simple in design, the focus is rightly on the headphone.
The cardboard packaging lifts from the front to reveal the headphone neatly placed in a protective wrap. Under a cardboard lift are the cable and extra pads, along with the instruction manual and 6.35mm jack adapter.
No case is included, but most of us either hang our headphones up or have extra cases lying around. I do wish a simple case had been included, though.
Sound Impressions
The following sound impressions of the Kiwi Ears Altruva were completed using the HiBy R4, FiiO JM21, and FiiO M21, either solo or tethered to an upcoming desktop amplifier.
Comparisons were made with the FiiO JT1 (closed-back), the MOONDROP Edge, and the FiiO FT1 Pro (open-back) headphones.
A proper burn-in time of a minimum of 75 hours was completed before critical listening occurred.
Summary
Tuned for a “nearly neutral” mild Harmon signature, there is no denying the bass response. It is quite large and somewhat booming.
With a mild bleed into the midrange, it can hinder finer discerning music listeners, but not to the point of distraction. Rather, it enhances the deeper reach, lowering the floor while raising the three-dimensional soundstage.
As an open-back, a large soundstage is an expectation. But so is a quality amount of detail retrieval and clarity. The Altruva has both, thanks to the tuning.
Succinct percussive notes carry excellent weight and placement with the right amount of girth. And no flabbiness, which can sometimes be associated with such an expansive low-end.
I found myself raising the volume, without bother, giving the top-end extension room to breathe. And with good clarity. Only when the sub-bass was distorted music-wise, was there a loss of coherence that hindered the top-end enjoyment.
In “regular listening,” the signature came across with good extension on both ends and good note weight to fill in the spaces between.
Bass
Contrary to what one might think of Harmon tuning, there is very good low-end weight to the notes, with good extension down low. This does not hinder the upper bass, leading into the midrange, which could be construed as such with an authoritative bass.
Instead, the melding together of the low to the mids gives a smooth pathway to enjoying music that excels in lower-end appeal.
When a song relayed deep-reaching lows, the Altruva stayed true to character, passing on the intended reach and weight of each note.
To me, that is where it differentiates from the purported Harman tuning. Smooth, yes, but with a reach that goes below what is expected from such a tuned headphone.
The velour pad gives off a bit looser control of the bass, with a somewhat more open feel to it as well. Note weight, while slightly thinner, offers more clarity when using these pads.
The punchiness of the bass does come across well on both sets of earpads, but with a more authoritative punch with the pleather pads, as expected.
Mids
The natural tonality gives vocals and instruments a nice sense of weight and presence, much like the bass response. The lower mids carry a slight warmth, adding body without sounding overly thick or congested.
Male vocals come through with a lusher, colored texture, giving a good, full feel and intimacy. But not so much as to be constricted. The open back design certainly helps to spread the signature out, allowing the flow to show good weight while spreading to fill the space.
Unlike the Atheia, there is less of a tendency to present the midrange in a forward manner. Rather, the mids come across in tandem with both ends, instead of sticking out. Transient speed relays excellent note qualities, resulting in a crisp, tightly controlled response in both attack and decay.
That does not mean there is a thinning as a result (as mentioned), but rather a quality that could be defined more readily in higher-end headphones.
Sometimes, when the midrange is presented as lifted, there is a natural thinning of the notes due to that extension. The in-kind response of the midrange working in concert keeps the note weight just right for the overall presentation.
Even complicated pieces come across as vibrant and detailed, without any smudging or lacking in definition.
Treble
The top-end hits right to me, with excellent clarity, and lacks any piercingly punctuating notes, which I appreciate. It leans toward the airy and sparkly side, but still with excellent note weight, and enough brightness to keep the sound lively and detailed.
Sometimes, when the treble extends too much, there is still a clear and crisp quality to it, but one that shows forth in note thinning. Something like an almost analytical fashion. Instead, the Altruva stays clear, crisp, AND detailed all the same.
Those punctuating notes are kept under very good control, with neither flabbiness, shortness, nor thinning. A combination that seemingly hits just right.
There is good energy to the treble, but without becoming sibilant or grating. The smooth qualities afforded in such a tuning make for the icing on top, and one you deliciously enjoy while having your cake and eating it too.
If a note is meant to be sharp, it stays such by design, without the piercing qualities that can sometimes occur with punctuating tuning at this level.
Staging
There is a good 3D aspect to the dimensionality of the Altruva, with none of those dimensions taking center stage, so to speak. The width is good, but not so expansive as to feel lost in the sound signature. The height is very good as well.
In some cases, to get that extended height, note weight suffers, and there is a disconnect between the height and the rest of the signature. Not so here, since that expanding upward shows forth with very good levels of clarity.
This allows imaging to come across as placeable and very accurate. Sometimes, there is an artificiality to the imaging that comes about as the headphone tries to cover for some deficiency. Not so here, the instruments are placed where they should be, even on complicated pieces.
The only aspect I wish there were more of would be depth. While it is still good, a bit more would have made for an excellent placement of notes and instruments, instead of just very good.
Click on page 2 below for my recommended pairings and selected comparisons.
