Soundsly Apaisant

9 reviews for Soundsly Apaisant

1. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Jayavarma J (verified owner) – October 12, 2018

   My take on the Soundsly Apaisant

   Introduction:
   I am starting this one with a disclaimer – I am not a professional audiophile. Just a random guy who likes to listen to good music and happen to stumble across this “Audiophile” standards of listening. My knowledge is so limited, so you can consider me a layman in this field.
   The unit being reviewed here was sent to me as a part of Review Tour by HiFinage.

   Package:
   The package is a basic and neat one which comes with the IEM and an extra set of ear tips. Nothing fancy.

   Build quality:
   The first thing you’ll notice as soon as you open the box and have a look at the IEM themselves is that they are built like a tank. The solid metal housing gives me a great level of confidence every time I handle them. This particular feature initially made me a bit worried about its longtime listening experience, if the solid metal housing’s gonna cause discomfort levels which was cleared with my first long time listening session of about 5 hours. They’re pretty comfortable. Sure they look like a Sportster from Harley, but once you take off (wear them and listen) you won’t feel the weight of it.

   The only thing that bothered me was the cable. It looks so thin. But I was assured that it’s Kevlar Reinforced and it can withstand the usual handling pressures. It’s a non-detachable cable which ends with a standard 3.5mm connector.

   These are categorised as Open Back IEM, although I wouldn’t consider this a complete Open Back IEM like the Audeze ISines but again at its price point even a partially open back will do just fine.

   The Apaisant comes with a mic and volume control unit. But for some reason, the volume control options didn’t work with my iPhone X. The mic delivers a good quality voice upon answering calls.

   Sound:
   Gears Used:

   1. iPhone X

   2. Shanling M0

   3. MacBook Pro

   4. Xduoo XD-05

   Disclaimer:
   A budding audiophile here, so you’ll have to bear my layman’s terminologies. I was surprised the moment I heard them.

   Lows:
   Coming from an Open Back IEM (Isine10) I was sceptical at first about its low-end performance. But it took me by surprise. The first thing, the bass is full-bodied, tight and fast. It doesn’t bleed into the mids. The sub-bass on these is very good too. At the same time, the bass is not as strong like a V-Moda M100. I started my audiophile journey with the V-Moda M100, but once I switched to Audeze ISine10, I can no longer stand the M100’s. They make me feel claustrophobic and gives me a headache over just 10 mins of listening. I was told this is normal once someone experiences the pleasure of open-back phones. Though the Apaisant is a strong performer when it comes to Bass, I didn’t experience a headache.

   Mids:
   This is one area which matters to me the most, because of the genre of music I prefer. Vocals are my first preference when it comes to music, more than instruments. Apaisant’s performance over Mids is amazing considering they’re not a fully open back IEM. I was blown away with its performance in mid-range. The vocals are crisp and sweet. There’s one downside here which I’ll explain in the “Highs” section.

   Highs:
   This is where things turned a whole 180 degree for me. I can’t stand bright sound signature and the apaisant to my liking was bright. They’re not so BRIGHT, like the other Chi-Fi products. No harsh treble but it’s bright. Because of this nature, I even felt the Mids as bright during the High Note Vocals areas, especially female vocals. Thank heavens I was having a listening session with one of my buddy Sahil Santosh and he had a solution for it. He removed the stock ear tips and replaced them with the Ostry OS200 tips. After that my oh my! The Apaisant’s behaviour got changed completely. The bright highs which I felt were arrested and IEM started behaving like a Mid centric IEM. Vocals became even sweeter and crisper.

   I even tried the IEM with Spin Fit CP155 tips, which opens up the soundstage, but it’s a bit bright to my liking. My favourite combination would be the Apaisant with the Ostry OS200. (HiFinage is shipping the apaisant with the Ostry OS200 tips in the package itself after hearing our feedback).

   Soundstage:
   The soundstage is not so wide per se. But it’s not narrow too. I would say it meets in the middle. But with the Spinfit CP155 tips the soundstage opens up so much. So if you want a better soundstage, you better try these with the Spinfit CP155.

   Comparison with the FH1:
   I personally didn’t like the Fiiio FH1, because of its recessed mids. Of course, the FH1’s soundstage is amazing. But this is not an IEM I would prefer for my genre. This is where the Apaisant truly scores points from me. At 4000 Rupees price point these are the best Mid Centric IEMs I’ve ever listened to.

   A bit about the Tips:
   Stock Tips – A bit bright highs.

   Spinfit CP155 – Much better Soundstage with a tad bit bright highs.

   Ostry OS200 – Made for each …

2. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Narayanan K (verified owner) – October 5, 2018

   A gem of an IEM in the audiophile world

   Well, to start with, I’m no audiophile but an enthusiast and a collector of Headphones and IEM’s.

   Been hearing a lot of good things about this indigenously made in-house production of Hifinage…”Soundsly apaisant”, which aroused my curiosity and wanted to buy one to judge myself and guess what? It did not disappoint.

   I could lay my hands on these gems a few days ago and since then, I couldn’t remove these from my ears. The first track I played “I’m every woman” by Whitney Houston just blew me away!!

   Introduction: It came in a nice white cardboard box neatly packed with all the required additionals. It had an ample number of ear tips to suit your ear size, a good hard case to carry and a clip to hold it to your shirt.
   The IEM’s themselves were pretty decent looking with a small mesh at the back to show that they are open back IEM’s (Haven’t heard of one in this price range) It has a large metal housing which looks pretty solid housing the dual drivers(one dynamic and one balanced armature) The wires are pretty thin and tangle-prone. This is the only gripe I have with these earphones which are Kevlar reinforced for durability. All in all, they look pretty well made and solid for the money. Now let’s quickly move to the most important aspect of this IEM’s i.e; Sound.

   Lows: Pretty solid with a good amount of mid-bass adding oomph to the songs and enough sub-bass to appreciate the quality of bass produced by these IEM’s with absolutely no bump at all. These are not to the level of bassheads but of audiophile quality. Nothing more nothing less.

   Mids: This is my favourite part of these IEM’s and this is where they shine brilliantly. A big thumbs up from my side for this.
   The first song I played as soon as I received it was Whitney Houston’s “I’m every woman” and it simply blew me away. The female vocal is hard to reproduce due to the frequency range they produce and especially so with someone as talented as Whitney Houston. There was no Bass bleed or sibilance. The vocals were crisp and clear. That’s some achievement I should say for such tiny buds. Hats off. They come out very natural and solid in all the tracks I played and mind you, the only thing that I’ve been doing in the last 4-5 days is hearing to music with these gems on. The other IEM’s I love for vocals are the Shure SE215 m+ spl edition. These are as good as those at 1/3rd the price. Moreover, the SE215 m+ are a little heavy on bass for my liking.

   Highs: Another area where these IEM’s shine. The treble is absolutely amazing and very pleasing which is not piercing to the ears. The Cymbals, Saxophones, Piano’s sound very authentic without any recession or bleeding. There is no bumps or dips here too. Smooth as silk and very pleasing and a pleasure to the ear to hear. Another thumbs up (y) from me.

   Instrument separation and detail retrieval are of the highest quality and I wonder how they could manage all these within such a constrained budget. All in all a superb performer for the price paid. Apaisant can give all the other high-end buds out there a run for their money if they establish themselves in the market.

   Soundstage: Not bad but can be better for an open-back. Maybe I’m expecting a bit too much from such tiny tots as I’m directly comparing them with my favourite headphones Philip’s SHP9500 which are full-size open-back cans(awesome soundstage and imaging) Not fair I guess.

   Imaging: Pretty awesome mostly enhanced by the detail retrieval and the instrument separation. I can close my eyes and easily point to each instrument playing in the background.
   Before I wind up my review I want to tell you that in the last 5 days I have pretty much listened to all the genres of music including Indian classical and Bollywood songs. These IEM’s can handle any kind of song you throw at them and that’s pretty unique for budget-constrained IEM’s such as these.

   Final verdict: If your an audiophile or a music enthusiast and if you are not owning one of these gems, then you are missing out on some wonderful gadget in your musical armoury. I can only tell you this much….buy them without blinking an eyelid and you will not regret it.

   One last word of advice…always listens to your favourite music with your favourite headphones with the amplifier. Need not be an expensive one but a simple Xduoo XQ10 will do which doesn’t cost much. Hope my review helps in your journey into the musical world of music.

3. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Suresh Vipperla (verified owner) – July 11, 2018

   Outstandingly Open Sounding

   I bought this IEM only after reading the 2 reviews on the product page of Soundsly Apaisant and the reviews of mrphone and bgr. I was definitely hesitant before buying it because there are none to very few reviews available online.

   I asked hifinage as many questions I could ask and I was answered very patiently.

   The sound signature I was looking for was balanced with a very slight boost in the bass region and Mr Abhishek (the owner of hifinage) suggested me to buy these.

   I cannot write long reviews so I will keep my review short and meaningful.

   I would like to tell you that I listen to the wide variety of songs and genres from Bollywood to English.

   These earphones are very good sounding earphones.

   Bass: Bass is tight, punchy but balanced, I would say, the bass comes when the music calls for it, it will not bleed into the mid-range. Bass has good definition. The very lowest octave of bass could not be heard, I could have heard till 35 Hz then the bass slowly disappears.

   Mids: Mids are neither warm nor cold sounding mids, mids are there where it should be, neither it is forward nor recessed. The details level in mids is very good.

   Treble: Treble on these are good as well, the kind of treble I was looking for, it is having an extended treble, I couldn’t find any brightness. The treble is neither bright nor rolled-off. The treble is very airy.

   Soundstage: The soundstage on these could have had more depth but in width, it is excellent. I was able to pinpoint each and every instrument in the recording from where it is coming. I only wish if the depth could be slightly better.

   For the price, Soundsly Apaisant is an excellent IEM without a doubt.

   For the comparison, I only have FiiO FH1:

   Apaisant sound more balanced when compared to the FH1, FH1 definitely has more bass, when listening to the side by side, I feel that FH1 is more towards consumer-oriented sound tuning whereas Apaisant is all about balanced sound, mids are more transparent in Apaisant whereas the mids are slightly recessed in FH1, FH1 has warm sounding treble whereas Apaisant’s treble is close to neutral tonality. The soundstage is definitely wider in Apaisant, it likes out of the head feel whereas FH1 in comparison feels closed sounding IEM.

   I prefer Apaisant to FiiO FH1.

   Value: FH1 is costlier than the Apaisant so Apaisant has far better value than the FH1.

4. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Sahil Santosh (verified owner) – June 12, 2018

   Review of the ‘Soundsly Apaisant’ – Seriously Good!

   Introduction:
   This review is a roller-coaster of sorts for me to write after being overly surprised by what I have been subjected to hearing in the last couple of days. Yes, many of you might find this review surprising too, so hang on in there till the end! The product under scrutiny here is called the ‘Apaisant’, from a company called ‘Soundsly’, an Indian firm, brought to life by Hifinage, a name which many of you would have come across from time to time here in India. My review unit came to me for free from Hifinage, on a rolling rotation basis for 3 days as part of the review tour, to get honest unbiased opinions from fellow audiophiles in India.

   What’s all the fuss about?
   Soundsly claims, they have managed to make an open-back iem with dual hybrid drivers per side, that costs a mere 4,000 INR. Immediately off the back, hearing something on the lines of ‘open-back’ and ‘sub 5k INR’ price tag would ring bells as to, there is some cheap gimmick at play here to lure customers into pulling the plug on a purchase, similar to how many cheap chi-fi companies play at nowadays. Well, with the same impressions, I decided to go ahead and try them out anyway because here goes nothing!

   Unboxing:
   Unboxing the Apaisant is a no-nonsense & basic ordeal, nothing shouts premium or stands out w.r.t. the unboxing experience in general. It’s a pretty simple packaging, with the earphones neatly tucked inside in a 2 stage layout, earphones up-top and accessories beneath. Accessories include a small semi-hard carry pouch with a zipper, not the best quality that one would have come across, but hey, there’s a carry case! So lets’ not get too picky here! Also included are 1 pair of foam tips, 3 pairs of silicone tips and a shirt clip. The pretty standard list of accessories that we have come to expect in this price range.

   Build Quality:
   There’s nothing shouty about the Apaisant by any means in terms of the touch and feel. The earpieces are solid metal, so is the splitter and the microphone unit. Very solidly built I must admit, no doubt. However, the cable quality leaves a lot to be desired as they feel flimsy and tangle easily. Microphonics is also an issue with the cable while travelling outdoors or using them for your regular jogs, although it’s not too bad. Cable thickness is what could have been much better, or should have had the option to swap out cables for a better one, but cables here are fixed and non-detachable, the only main complaint I have with the Apaisant.

   Sound Quality:
   After the initial unboxing impressions, I wasn’t expecting too much from the Apaisant in the sound department. I didn’t have high expectation even before I unboxed them, nevertheless, I wasn’t expecting to be blown away by the sound either. But, this is where the Apaisant draws the line. The Apaisant has one AFM-2000MS BA Driver and one 10mm Dynamic Driver, per side. I used my Shanling M0 DAP for the review purposes here. Using the stock medium silicone tips, which are pretty comfortable and fit pretty well, I started the usual chore of running them down with a few usual and known songs. First few notes into “Hotel California – Hell Freezes Over”, I am stunned on what I hear. Let me clear any myth and gimmicky ideas out of the way for everyone here because these sound open and way more spacious than any random iem that you pick up, irrespective of the price. You need a few songs to run through to appreciate and understand, how the imaging and soundstage are placed. Unlike most iems that perceive sound to start right from the centre of the head, the Apaisant’s imaging is a little different. It starts from say at the outside of each ear and remains around you and you feel how airy the entire presentation gets. Makes you believe that everything you hear is presented to you live, around you. Adding the stereo effect into place, you immediately want to listen to more because the music is engaging irrespective of the fact the earphones sound so balanced with the right amount of sparkle up-top!

   Let’s break the sound up and explain a little more in detail:

   BASS: You will be overwhelmed at how much depth and body the bass has on the Apaisant. Sub-bass is adequate, and even though the mid-bass does have some heft to it, everything remains relaxed, controlled, yet quick-paced without any bleed into the lower mids. This is something of an achievement really because not only do they have punchy bass, the bass isn’t boomy or completely lacking any sort of texture. It’s rich, thick and delicious…….that’s what it is. Playing “Starboy” by The Weeknd on them and you immediately feel the energy come to life in the bottom end. There are quick decay and really good fast-paced transitions in each beat, without making anything muddy. The open-back design shows its merits here by sounding natural, yet packs a punch. No complaints here.

   Mids: If the bass notes were surprising, th…