Sound Impressions: Lows / Bass Resonance
What first comes to your mind when thinking of a 1DD? Bassy? Dull? Or inferior to multi-drivers? If you’re new to the IEM hobby or haven’t gotten to try enough well-made DDs, all of them would be reasonable guesses. However, Sola falls into one of the nicest IEMs I’ve heard under the kilo-buck range. Sola has a well-balanced, w-shaped sound where all three frequency ranges are gently elevated. Lows bring out the essential richness and depth, which are unique to dynamic drivers. BA drivers and BCD drivers can generate great bass in their own ways, yet a dynamic driver’s bass is special as it always has been.
Sola generates unbloated, smooth, yet ‘organically clean’ bass. It’s lush, creamy, and fulfills the low-end details with body and good thickness. It doesn’t get aggressively thick, however; neutral-thick for enough body but keeping things tidy and controlled. Bass quantity is adequate – definitely a lot more elevated from flat but sure doesn’t tip over to the basshead region. I’d say it’s about 30% elevated from flat.
Sub-bass roll-offs with natural speed, allowing enough air and ambiance. Though the bass doesn’t get messy or laggy, as Sola tightly controls the reverbs. Vibrations and bass extension are deep and clear. The bass strike is dense to the core with good agility, yet Sola is on the gentler side when it comes to bass strikes. Hence, if you’re looking for a bass that is rock solid like some DDs or do (or most BA woofers do), then Sola’s bass might be a tad soft for you. For long-term smooth and easy listening, Sola’s bass is thoroughly pleasing and resolving to listen to.
Sound Impressions: Mids / Vocal Placement
Mids make a natural transition from the lows, and while it’s the generic trend to pull the vocals inwards, Sola doesn’t do that. Mids hold a neutral position, and let the air and ambiance carry out the vocals bigger and fuller. If you’re used to vocals that whisper right to your ears, then Sola’s mids may feel like it’s positioned a bit behind. However, Sola’s vocals are not recessed – and I’d like to stress that there’s a difference between neutral placement and recessed vocals. Recessed vocals usually also introduce veiledness and duller vocal presence, which isn’t the case here.
The neutral position not only makes Sola sound very organic and accurate in phasing, but it also makes the vocals form a wider stage. Mids are neutral in brightness, bringing out both warmth and coolness adequately. Sola has a dark, quiet background, and the right amount of transparency and airiness makes the vocals resolving yet fatigue-free. Upper mids gain a bit more air and transparency for openness without escalating into sibilance or shoutiness. Smooth but high-resolution mids that carry a lot of what I’d call “comfortable air” make the vocals sound very holographic while keeping the phasing extremely neutral and consistent.
Sound Impressions: Highs / Separation / Staging
Highs are gently toned down in both quantity and brightness compared to mids. Many would often care less about highs when dealing with trebles (excluding exceptional ones like Faith Audio Labs E1000), and while it’s true that trebles here also play a supportive role for the lower ends, Sola’s treble performance surprised me nonetheless. Highs faithfully stay in a supportive role, making them very comfortable to listen to – yet the twist is that they are impressively detailed and refreshing to listen to.
Highs are very refined in texture and prominent in details. They don’t fall apart or feel shouty, but calm and solemn. Single DDs are vulnerable to having duller texture or resolution. If boosting the highs, they tend to get grainy or dry. However, Sola has the right amount of dampness and smoothness to the highs, making them sound lively. The texture grains are very refined with impressively good ultra-high extension. Sola’s highs come very close to the micro-fine shimmer and separation you’d usually expect from EST drivers. The advantage of Sola’s highs would be that it sounds very comfortable and organic to listen to. I’m spamming the word natural and organic here, though if you read this far you’d know these are the main point of Sola’s sound and tuning.
The absolute size of the headroom is neutral-large. However, the ambiance, the clarity of the gradual strike and decay, and the phasing-accurate spatialness make the soundstage immersive and enriching. Sola has outstanding separation and layering contrast despite using a single driver. Arguably one of the best 1DD IEMs when it comes to treble extension and detailed separation.
Next Page: IEM Comparisons (Campfire Audio Grand Luna / Metalure Glacier / QOA Martini & Verdicts