JCALLY EP09 review

Mention for the packaging—the box is excessive for the price. EP09s are made from better quality components, yet seem craft‐like, as though thrown together. The wires on this model are braided silver. The wires are outstandingly soft, and have natural twist, so tangle like they are sentient—easy the poorest tangle performance ever. EP09s come with a warning not to knot the wires, or press them at joins—fair given there are no strain reliefs. Wire joins housing using MMCX connectors. Of all materials, the housings are titanium. They are big, and don’t feel at all secure—may be better hooked over ears. I can only see this design being passably robust—the parts will last, the joins will not, but EP09s are I suppose repairable. Comfort and ease of use are the usual earbud proposal—do they fit your ears? Some may like the quality of the parts—I make EP09s a collection of nothings and metal chunks.

If you can get them in your ears, good volume. Volume range is good. Horns down in volume. Attack a little down, decay damped too. Low strings are duff. Timing is good. They muddle on swells. Fizz on mid‐guitar. Highband extends a long way, lowband is light, yes, but lower than expected—EP09s can replay a bass, which means they are the first price of single driver devices that cover the basic range of human hearing. Housings echo, which echo covers the range. Details weak, especially lowband, color is good, across all sounds. Scale is narrow, positioning seems to wander, but is precise.

Against what I write here, the EP09s settled from unlistenable after 10hr+ burn‐in. Scratchy for voice. Even if scale is not wide, the wide frequency and finesse is massive for orchestra. Fizzy and undetailed for rock, frequency variations show, though timing is good. They’re ace for instruments, solo, jazz, pop, whatever. Even though scale is narrow, the volume range and frequency finesse makes them good for games and soundtracks.