• Pair of BQEYZ WINTER ULTRA IEM transducer pieces.
• Lime/Rime upgraded modular cable.
• 3.5mm plug adapter.
• 4.4mm plug adapter.
• PU-leather storage case.
• Three (3) pairs of balanced bore silicone ear tips in different standard sizes.
• Three (3) pairs of ‘’Atmosphere’’ narrow bore silicone ear tips in different standard sizes.
• Three (3) pairs of ‘’Reference’’ wide bore silicone ear tips in different standard sizes.
• Ear tips plate organiser
• Paperwork like warranty card, Q.C. stub and instruction manual.

As for driveability, with a 38 ohms of impedance and a sensitivity of 109db, this unit can be powered from a device source with a normal gain mode output but it seems that it will scale well on a medium and high gain mode at medium volume level. Feed it with better power output will augment its dynamics and it even sounds more fuller as it compasses a wide range of frequency response.

The tonal profile of this one has a balanced-neutral sound signature with some twist as it has a bit emphasis somewhere between upper midrange up to the high section that makes it closer to a neutral-ish bright type of sound. The overall tuning is somewhat closer to the original Winter but it has presence and shimmer.

WINTER ULTRA LOWS/BASS:

This one presents a more balanced bass presentation as it has an ample sub bass presence and a sufficiently mid bass texture. It conveys a punchy, incisive and adequate tactile bass response that is well-segregated and clean as it does separate from other parts of the frequency response. This type of bass will surely not be a cup of tea to some ardent bass heads; it sounds less authoritative and boomy on their liking.

On its sub bass quality, there are some fairly reverberations that can be perceived that are generated coming from electronic, percussive and string instruments like synthesisers, drum machines, bass guitars and double-basses. The mid bass has an ample texture enough to give a note weight definition on bass-clef instruments and male vocals. Bass guitars have more resonant and sustaining sound while double-basses have a raspy and yet a bit wafting sound, and kick bass drums sound resonant and sustaining. Deep male vocals which are known for their low octave register noticeable have lesser quality on depth and volume to have that dark tone to sound dense and woolly but at least has some reverberating presence on their respective vocal types.

WINTER ULTRA MIDRANGE:

The midrange presentation of the WINTER ULTRA is quite neutral and almost linear with a clean and transparent sound with enough warmth and at the same time, evidently energetic. The ample warm characteristic is somewhat enough to give that note texture on male vocals and some instruments mainly on percussives and brassy ones while its energetic tuning will give the clear, radiance and openness on female vocals, and also on strings and woodwind instruments.

On how the male vocals sound, baritones sound smooth and resonant although they lack warmth and lushness, tenors have a clear and dazzling voice, and countertenors have a tender and a glowing voice that makes their vocals sound more expressive. As for female vocals, contraltos have that rich but less strong and depth as it sounds less husky and full, mezzo-sopranos have more fiery and coppery sound from their vocals, and sopranos which is probably strongest point of this set has sounds crystalline and shimmering for energetic and spacious voice quality which are quite suitable for lyric and coloratura types.

Depending on the type of instruments, it registers a clear, crisp and detailed sound on them especially on woodwinds and strings. The woodwind instruments like concert flutes, piccolos, clarinets and saxophones, a silvery sound from concert flutes, the bright and intense sound of piccolos, the liveliness sound coming from clarinets and the reedy and forceful sound of saxophones. Meanwhile on string instruments, guitars sound crisp and bright while violins have vibrant and brilliant sound from every bowing on its strings and cellos have a more lustrous and incisiveness on their sound. As for other types of instruments particularly on brasses and percussives, trumpets have full and brilliant sound, a powerful yet penetrating sound on trombones, a clear and resounding sound on horns, hard and sharp sound on snares, a resonant sound on tom-toms, a menacing sound from field drums and last but not the least, a resonant yet a bit dry sound from kettledrums. Pianos seems to have a more bright tone as it sounds clear and brilliant albeit it has that metallic sound from it.

WINTER ULTRA HIGHS/TREBLE:

The treble response of this one is definitely on the brighter side as it has that clear, shimmering and surprisingly airiness coming from the bone conduction driver that handles this frequency section. It has an accentuated upper-mids and presence treble as it highlights the clarity and definition on vocals and instruments as it somehow improves the articulation of the vocals while it adds more rendition on the attack of instruments. Although, some treble-sensitive folk should take caution on this one as it might sound a bit sharp and aggressive on their tonal preferences but the sibilance was kept under controlled and it has a piercing sounding for brightly tuned IEMs

As I mentioned a while ago that its brilliance part has a good amount of air with an intense sparkle on it. The sparkle will also underline the sound qualities on treble-clef instruments as it gives more glistening sound on cymbals, a shortened buzzing sound on hi-hats, a shimmering sound on celestas and a brilliance sound on glockenspiel.

SOUNDSTAGE, IMAGING & OTHER TECHNICALITIES:

The WINTER Ultra is quite capable of presenting a perceivably spacious sound/speaker stage dimension as it has wide lateral span from left to right, good height ceiling and depth that makes it pretty expansive within my head room. Its stereo imaging projects an atmospheric presentation with a well-layered soundscape and good separation of each musical element like vocals and instruments in which I can pinpoint its placement within its spatial audio dimensions.

The cohesive performance of its hybrid driver is relatively solid as the dynamic driver is able to deliver a fast transient response for its bass quality while its supporting bone conduction driver is able to convey a clear and detailed sound without any phasing issues. As for its resolution capabilities, the macro-dynamics on this one is quite consistent as it was to highlight the varying degree of loudness level on both chorale section and instrumental lines while its micro-dynamics has a sharp definition as it was able to extract details, nuances and subtleties like notational attacks, vocals ends and reverb tails.

PEER COMPARISONS:

BQEYZ WINTER

• The archetype model of the WINTER ULTRA and it shares a driver configuration and overall build material.
• This model also has a dynamic driver and piezoelectric-type bone conduction driver.
• It has aluminium alloy shell chassis but it has slightly different faceplate design but it offers more colour options like silver and black.
• Like all BQEYZ sets, it is also well-packed with quantifying amounts of accessories, although its stock cable doesn't have a modular termination plug feature.
• The tonal profile of this one has a balanced-neutral tuning as it has a sufficient punch on its bass response, a neutral yet balanced midrange presentation and then , a tad smoother and even treble response with plenty of air on it.
• Technicality-wise, it has similar performance with WINTER ULTRA from soundstage size up to the resolution capabilities.

PULA ANVIL 114

• PULA AUDIO’s latest hybrid driver and unlike the WINTER ULTRA, it has three driver technologies that were implemented inside on its shell structure.
• The drivers that were used are dynamic driver, balanced armature and a contact-type bone conduction driver which encompasses the whole frequency range as it improves depth and ambience on the overall sound quality.
• Then the drivers were encapsulated in a rather large resin shell chassis.
• This one is also fully-packed with accessories and like the WINTER ULTRA, it has a premium stock cable with modular plug features.
• This set has a U-shaped sound signature as it has a more punchy and impactful bass response, a bit recessed but well-textured midrange and then a lustre and airy treble quality.
• When it comes to technical performance, it has a spacious soundstage, a well-layered stereo imaging presentation and pretty resolving resolution capabilities.

APEVOIX GRIT

• The inaugural model from the recently established audio company and it has similar driver configuration with ANVIL 114 which has three types of driver technology that were implemented inside of its shell chassis.
• It has a single dynamic driver, four balanced armature and contact-type bone conduction driver that adds more reverb, depth and ambience on both low and high frequencies.
• The drivers were laid out in a rather large resin shell structure but still offers an excellent fitting and passive noise isolation.
• It has quite uncommon product packaging as its large container serves as a storage case itself that is loaded with accessories inside, although while it has a premium quality stock cable, it doesn't have a modular termination feature.
• The tonal signature of this one is a U-shaped one that makes it a bit coloured sounding that it has a punchy and tactual bass response,a recessed but it has a warm-ish midrange although it has a recessed presentation and smooth and lustre treble response with less airy extension.
• It has an average-sized soundstage size with a well-layered but somehow linear stereo imaging presentation and a fairly resolving resolution capabilities on both macro-dynamics and micro-detail retrieval.

As I concluded this product review, the BQEYZ WINTER ULTRA has its own distinction from its regular model as BQEYZ did some tweaks on how this one was tuned differently with some new features and slight changes on its design cues while retaining its driver configuration. Despite the fact that this unit was released three years ago, I think that it still has that qualitative edge as its tonal profile will still be relevant up to this day especially if you are a neutral head that loves high fidelity without too much emphasis on some parts of frequency range.


The BQEYZ WINTER ULTRA is currently available on BQEYZ’s Official Store, I provided a non-affiliate link below.

 https://bqeyz.net/products/winter-ultra-wired-earphones