Introduction

Kiwi Ears is an Asian audio brand that made waves a couple of years ago with the release of the Orchestra, an all-balanced armature set of in-ear monitors that competed favorably against hybrid and even tribrid driver IEMs in its price range. The company was quiet for a while and then recently we saw the budget friendly Cadenza that comes in four color options and looks way more expensive than it actually is. Indeed, the Cadenza is worthy of its own article in due time because the team behind it shares talent with ThieAudio which we have covered many times before. I was also told that the tuning of the Cadenza took much longer than it does for far more expensive products and this was going to be the new status quo with Kiwi Ears that would pride itself on taking the time to put out an impressive product, or not at all. So when I heard about an Orchestra Lite in the making, I was certainly intrigued.


The Kiwi Ears Orchestra Lite is, as the name suggests, based off the original Orchestra which still continues to be sold for $499. This shares the same amount of drivers and the same all-BA configuration too, and yet the price point is much more attainable to where I was left wondering whether this was a loss leader for the brand or even a gamble into taking volume sales into account over single-item margins. Kiwi Ears clarifies that the drivers chosen are less expensive and yet they pushed them to put out a sound signature that can potentially best the Orchestra itself depending on your preference! It comes in two striking color options, including the blue seen above and the green I have here, and thanks to Linsoul for providing a review sample to TechPowerUp as we begin our coverage with a look at the product specifications in the table below.

Packaging and Accessories

Linsoul sent over a sample which I thought was the retail unit only to find out later that Kiwi Ears made a couple of small changes to the unboxing experience. For example, the first photo above shows the product box that comes with a decorative sleeve on top of the inner cardboard box which is what I got. The inner box is mostly black and made of thick cardboard with the company logo on it. The lid can be removed to gain access to a thinner pamphlet containing paperwork in the form of a multi-language user manual that goes over the set up and maintenance of IEMs if you are new to them. Underneath is a foam sheet with machined cutouts to snugly hold and protect the IEM shells themselves and a smaller accessory box that has three plastic zip-lock bags containing the various ear tips provided.


Kiwi Ears is generous on the ear tip front providing three different types of silicone tips each in sizes S/M/L. Note that the retail units come with black colored tips instead of the all-gray here, but otherwise they should be identical. The different types differ in flange stiffness as well as the overall length of the bore so you can try them out and see which ones work best for you. The final accessory is a carry/storage case which is the third change to note and arguably the biggest one. The case I got here does feel more premium than what the retail one is, which is pictured above in black. On the other hand, the actual case is probably more functional in taking up less room and has a zipper to keep it closed. Inside will be a cleaning tool and the cable itself and there should still be plenty of room to store the assembled IEMs/cable/ear tips combination inside.

Closer Look

The cable that ships with the Kiwi Ears Orchestra Lite should be an example for others to follow given how good it is compared to those that ship with much more expensive IEMs. Indeed, I was immediately taken aback by how supple this is without any memory retention or kinking. It's a 4-strand cable that is thicker than many other cables too, which makes this behavior all the more impressive. I do wish there was an option for a 4.4 mm balanced connector for those preferring it over the default 3.5 mm single-ended plug we get here. The connector housing is made of machined aluminium that is smooth to the touch and has plenty of strain relief wherever applicable. The cable conductor is claimed to be 7N (99.9999% purity) oxygen-free copper although it sure looks like silver-plated copper to me! Not that it should really matter in practice given this is a low impedance cable either way. The splitter is low profile and composed of the same polished aluminium and then we get an actually functioning cable cinch that holds the split channels in place where you desire them to be—a nice departure from the many cables I've used recently where it was simply too loose to be useful. the two channels then have pre-formed ear hooks with plastic sheathing over them being terminating in 0.78 mm 2-pin connectors with clear or red plastic inserts helping identify the left and right channels, respectively. The metal plugs are gold-plated for oxidation resistance as usual these days.


The good impressions continue with the actual IEMs, which may feel larger than typical once you take them out of the box. I have the green color version here and both this and the blue Orchestra Lite have decorative face plates which get a silver-colored Kiwi Ears logo on both sides for branding. The base itself is a decorative swirl of lines and curves with some iridescence to where it goes from darker to lighter shades depending on the viewing angle and incident light as seen above. I'd put the Orchestra Lite high up on my personal list of pretty looking IEMs for sure, especially given the shells are clear and nicely polished to give you a good look at the drivers and assembly. Kiwi Ears says everything is hand-assembled by trained technicians with years of experience and it shows with the clean solder job throughout, including on the crossover PCB we see here. Note the two larger sub-woofer BA drivers from Knowles for the bass and then the smaller BA drivers that are handling the rest of the frequency response. A look from the side confirms the relatively thick nature of the shells which can be an issue for those with smaller ears, and the female cable connectors are flush with the shells. There is also a slight indent at the top which should fit into the concha for most people but can be a fit/comfort dealbreaker for others. The nozzle is part of the resin shells and is slightly stubby to where it can also get in the way of a deeper fit. It also widens outward slightly to be ~6.1 mm at the widest point and terminates in three holes for the acoustic tubes from the drivers to lead into. There are no other filters in use here and cleaning the nozzle after use is a must for regular upkeep of these IEMs.


Here is a look at the three size M silicone ear tips installed on the right shell of the Orchestra Lite. I mentioned before how they mostly seem to differ in the flange stiffness so you can see what works best for you. There is no notch in the nozzle to help secure the ear tips although the nozzle going wider at the end helps keep them in place naturally. The end point where it meets the shells also helps provide you a definite stop for the ear tips themselves. Note that you may also end up having different sizes for the two ears depending on the size of your ear canals, given these biological features won't necessarily be the same for everyone. Installing the cable is simple enough with the pre-molded ear hooks that go over the ears and L/R indicators helping identify what goes where. Push the 0.78 mm 2-pin plugs into the IEM connectors as seen above, and friction will do the rest in keeping them in place.