The Little Dot Cu Wyn is a hybrid driver walnut-enclosed universal IEM featuring a single 5-layer 8mm dynamic and a BA driver. It is priced at $159.99.
Disclaimer: The Little Dot Cu Wyn sent to us is a sample in exchange for our honest opinion in this review. We thank the team at Little Dot for giving us this opportunity.
To read more about Little Dot reviews previously done on Headfonics please click here.
Note, this review follows our new scoring guidelines for 2020 which you can read up on here.
Here we go with round two of our Little dot audiophile IEM journey. We got the entire Little Dot IEM lineup, which debuted recently in the US market, and we are working our way through them all.
We first reviewed the Little Dot Cu Rad, which is a limited run IEM but this time we will review the Little Dot Cu Wyn Hybrid dual-driver IEM which is the second in their lineup from the bottom to the top tier. The name Wyn represents reward, joy, or bliss as stated in the Little Dot literature.
The Wyn is labeled as their low bass IEM and Little dot says this IEM will bring new definition to bass IEMs. They retail at $199 but at the Little Dot website, they were dropped in price to $159.
Tech Inside
Driver Configuration
The Little Dot Wyn is a Hybrid two driver IEM consisting of a single dynamic driver complimented with a Balanced Armature driver.
The first driver is an 8mm, 5 layer diaphragm dynamic driver that handles the low end as well as the midrange frequencies. The second driver is a Balanced Armature. This driver specifically handles the high-frequency section.
Not much else is said in the literature that Little Dot provides about these drivers but I have a feeling these drivers are custom made and not off the shelf drivers. The specs on the Cu Wyn drivers are a sensitivity of 109 decibels, an impedance of 16 ohms, and a frequency response of 20 to 20khz.
Front Cavity
The Little Dot Wyn has a two-part shell system. The front cavity is made of a nontransparent black resin.
The comfort level is high and the isolation is average for an IEM. The Little Dot Cu Wyn has to be one of the lightest IEMs I have used and you barely feel them in your hands or on your ears I must say.
Although Little Dot does not specify what material they used or what process was used to form the front cavities, I am certain this resin is a nonallergic type or anti-irritating because I am particularly sensitive to any other type and these gave me no issues far as itchiness or irritation.
Walnut Cavity Cover
Little Dot decided to go with wood and use a back cover made of Walnut. If I recall well, most home speakers cabinets or at least really good ones are either made of or available in Walnut because of the acoustic properties it has plus good looks.
Some research will show that certain wood types have sonic qualities and if not mistaken, Walnut reinforces bass and It just so happens that Little Dot is marketing this IEM as giving a new definition for low bass IEMs.
Wood tends to introduce a warmer sonic characteristic be it in speaker making and even on some IEMs and full-size headphones. The look on the wood with the Little Dot Fairy logo takes me back to the bush and takes on a natural vibe.
Connectivity
The Little Dot Cu Wyn uses .78mm connectors with a removable cable and comes with a very basic cable.
The cable feels and looks identical to the one used on the Cu Rad. The 3.5mm 3 pole single-ended plug is the same and so is the wire itself. It looks like they took the cable from the Cu Rad and put some .78mm 2 pin connectors to make it removable.
It is a simple black rubber insulated cable with 6N OFC wire and a rubber Y length adjuster. The 3.5mm plug is at a 45-degree angle and is about 1.2 meters long.
Protective Pocket
Little dot uses their own protective pocket design .78 pin connector on the Cu Wyn and claims it to be strong enough to resist pin breakage.
So at this point, it’s safe to say Little Dot did not use off-the-shelf stock parts to build these IEMs and did some research and development to make the Cu Wyn possible which is always a plus in my book.
I go back and forth on connection preferences but I do wish there was a common standard amongst IEM and headphone manufacturers but my preferred is the .78mm.
Accessories
What else do you get? Besides the cable, you also get a metal carrying case. The carrying case is a hockey puck style case with a twist-off top. The case is a nice touch but I never use carrying cases because when I’m on the go the IEMs stay on. Or is that just me?
But you will need the case to store a bunch of flanges you get. They all come in mini cloth sacks. There were nine sets of rubber flanges, three of the sets were double flanges but you also get three additional sets of foam flanges. There is also a wire clip.
To be honest, it is not clear at this moment what you get in total accessories or flanges because it is not listed on the Little Dot website and those details should be posted.
Sound Impressions
Initial Impressions
The Little Dot Cu Wyn is a bass-forward, warm sounding IEM with a slightly V-shaped sound. I could also say that the sound signature is soft natured and nondramatic and those are its basic sound attributes.
What I mean is that although this IEM is sold as a bass IEM I find it rather relaxing. I say there is more to this IEM than its bass response. The soft nature of the sound signature works for relaxing sessions and not just for pumping bass into your skull.
Of course, if you put some EDM, Hip Hop, or any type of party music or music with a heavy bass line, the Cu Wyn will do good in this area especially if you bump the bass up with a touch on the EQ. These can produce a lot of bass but there is more to them than that.
I always run tone generator sweeps on every IEM or headphones because the test says a lot and the Cu Wyn did pretty well except for a channel imbalance and a right side dominance between 6khz and 7khz plus a peak in that area with a smaller peak at 2khz.
Sub Bass
I would have assumed that since the Cu Wyn is marketed as a bass IEM that there would be plenty of sub-bass but in actuality, these drop sharply below 25hz, and the drop starts at 30hz.
Compared to its predecessor the Cu Rad, it seems lacking in that lower frequency region below 30hz and the Cu Rad went lower in the bass section.
There is not much energy in the sub-bass region and are neutral from the bottom to around 50hz where the bass starts its elevation and there is where most of the bass energy resides.
Bass
Here is where I assume that Little Dot got the marketing idea of naming this IEM their bass model because there is an elevation starting at 50hz to, I would say 120hz or perhaps higher with an extremely light amount of bleed into the midrange territory.
In this area, the Cu Wyn has most of its energy and sound production, and especially with a slight boost, these can produce some heavy rumble. I would not consider the Cu Wyn bass fast-paced but more of a laid back warm sounding bass with a medium amount of impact and a decent amount of tone distinction.
Midrange
The Cu Wyn is relaxed all around and the midrange is no exception with a laid back, slightly recessed midrange presentation. The tonality is good and so is the pitch. you can distinguish everything in songs because there is a decent amount of detail.
Separation is also decent and the only area I would say the midrange lacks in is microdetail and airiness. The midrange sounds somewhat confined to a certain space.
Treble
The high-frequency response is fairly clean with a decent amount of clarity but I do sense an early roll-off. When I ran the tone generator, not only was there an imbalance at that 7khz region I mentioned previously, but there was also a peak in that area.
I think this peak was responsible for giving the Cu Wyn a slight sibilant characteristic but I would not call this sibilant but do borderline on being so. S sounds are very pronounced. But in general, the highs are fairly crisp with a small amount of sparkle and airiness.
Post Sound Observations
To finish off the sound characteristic description, the Little Dot Cu Wyn has well-matched drivers, and the total frequency spectrum is represented fairly well except for the lowest octave and the very top end.
The only annoyance is the peak at 7k and is probably right around the crossover point because there seems to be an increase in output in this region similar to the overlapping of frequencies.
The highs do roll off but not too early which helps this IEM to not sound too overly bright while not lacking in highs either. So sit back, relax, and put on some Reggae music and enjoy. That is where the Little Dot Cu Wyn takes me. That to me is what these are made for.
Imaging
The Little Dot Cu Wyn was never marketed as having audiophile quality imaging capabilities. The Little Dot Cu Wyn will not win any imaging contests. I would describe the sonic panorama as having some width, a touch of height but with barely any frontal information.
Left to right panning accuracy I would consider adequate. The perceived height is just above the ears but the frontal positioning is almost lost or missing in translation. Instruments seem left, right or center but rarely in between those spots.
Synergy
The Little Dot Cu Wyn is a very efficient IEM that needs very little amounts of power to be enjoyable but they do fine with high power however, they do not scale very well.
This is not necessarily a bad thing, but the contrary because you do not need anything special to drive them. Along with the fact that these IEMs are not picky with flanges make these very useful and versatile. By the way, the versatility carries on because the output nozzles are a standard size and most flanges just fit.
There is a dilemma, in that Little Dot describes the Cu Wyn as a good IEM for bass and EDM and I beg to differ. Of course, they are good for that but I truly enjoyed these mostly with Jazz music with its warm heavy bass tone and relaxed midrange and with music like Reggae.
Folk and Country music does well and so does Pop music. I would not use these for hard Rock or Classical and complexity is not their forte. Think easy-going, warm, and rhythmic.
Selective Comparisons
Shozy Form 1.4
Wood versus wood. Two drivers versus five. The same connectivity and the same retail price of $199 although at the time the Cu Wyn is being offered at $159.99.
Of course, it’s a fair fight. But the Shozy Form 1.4 shell is a more refined, contemporary design and the Cu Wyn is more on the Rustic old-world design side. The Shozy Form 1.4 also comes with a better cable with a good amount of included flanges.
Sonically I would say they are very similar and extremely close in almost every category except in the midbass where the Cu Wyn is more pronounced.
They both have an early roll-off in the bottom octave and at the top of the frequency spectrum also. They are both efficient but the Cu Wyn needs less power while the Shozy Form 1.4 scales better with higher amplification.
They are both smooth sounding with little to no harshness. I do have to give midrange production to the Shozy Form 1.4 but if you want party bass the Cu Wyn wins.
Tri I3
At the price point, $169, the Tri I3 is one of my favorite IEMs with a velvety smooth Planar Magnetic quality midrange and some nice and sharp highs plus some decent bass.
The looks are opposites completely. The Cu Wyn goes for that natural look while the Tri I3 shell looks like a cast from the movie Terminator and looks like it is made from the same liquid metal T2 was made and with a mirror-like finish.
If you want a relaxing experience, I would not consider the Tri I3 because they are intense, especially when you feed them power. High levels of detail are produced in this set but if you suffer from Tinnitus or just do not like intense then the obvious choice is the Cu Wyn.
Our Verdict
As stated by Little Dot, the Cu Wyn is a specific IEM for people who want a bass first experience, or is it? Yes, it basically is, but I differ in opinion because it is more than just a bass IEM.
The Little Dot Cu Wyn is a relaxing IEM that does well with bass-centric music like EDM, Hip Hop, Reggae, and dance music of all kinds. But with a twist, because they also do other music well like for example, Jazz and Country.
The CU Wyn has versatility and usefulness over just being a bass IEM and I think Little Dot is underestimating and underselling the Cu Wyn by calling it exclusively a bass IEM.
They seem well constructed with quality materials and sound pretty good to boot. I would give these a solid yes if the above is what you are looking for.
Little Dot Cu Wyn Specifications
- Earpiece Design: In-Ear
- Driver Type: 5 Layers 8mm Dynamic, Armature
- Impedance: 16 +/- 2.4 ohms
- Frequency Response:20hz to 20Khz
- Sensitivity: 109 +/- 3 decibels
