BQEYZ Wind Review | Half Musical, Half Reference - NeonHD

The mids were the most elusive part of this set. When I said this set was a slow burn, this was mainly what I was referring to. At first listen, I thought they were a bit muffled and lacking as I was expecting something more engaging. But as I shifted my expectations and found songs that were better for such a tuning, I realized just how clean and polished the entire midrange is. These are some very well-tuned and euphonic sounding mids. Instruments of all kind have a very pleasant timbre. As a whole, the midrange is quite lean and transparent, and its presence is slightly more laidback than upfront, but it is NEVER thin sounding. It feels like the Wind’s midrange was tuned with a neutral reference monitor sound in mind, while clearly also focusing on musicality. The best of both worlds. I would definitely describe the mids as being uncolored (aka neutral), almost like a blank slate (tabula rasa) where songs can add their own splash of color to the canvas. I find that the mids fare best with certain tracks that sound inherently warm and veiled to begin with, such as Beneath the Mask from the Persona 5 OST. On the other hand, it may not be great for genres that require a certain coloration in the mid-frequencies such as pop music. Don’t take my word for it though.

Potentially one the biggest downsides to its mids is the lack of sharpness and detail. For those familiar with computer graphics, signal processing, or photography, it feels as if there is a slight anti-aliasing filter applied over the mids. That’s really the best way to put it. To summarize, the mids have a beautiful and remarkably clean and polished tuning, but it just lacks that rich or engaging quality you might be looking for.

Revised comment regarding the mids: Holy moly— I have to say these truly take time to appreciate, because I am only now hearing details I haven't heard before in my music! It just takes the right tracks for the Wind to display its best abilities. Thus, I would say their mids are quite resolving indeed. It's just a shame that the soundstage isn't big enough for the mids to truly shine.

The highs on the Wind are commendable. Honestly, I have to give props to BQEYZ for churning out a set that focuses on transparency in the treble region. This is my preferred kind of tuning, where the treble is bright yet non-fatiguing. The FR utilizes several narrow and fine treble peaks at a nosedive trajectory to resolve transients, but rarely does this ever introduce sibilance. This makes cymbals on the Wind sound airy and realistic, and it gives stringed and flute instruments its proper attack and raspiness, respectively. However… if I had to nitpick, I do have to say the upper treble peak is is a bit more piercing than I would like, though, wearing the foam tips greatly helps. And if I had to nitpick even more, I would say it’s not the most detailed treble I’ve heard.

The Spring2 was the last recent IEM I had owned from BQEYZ, so naturally this comparison makes sense. I would consider the Wind as a direct upgrade from the Spring2. It’s better in all regards, most notably in its treble. While the Spring2 was a hot mess up there with barely any resolution, the Wind’s treble serves as a compelling counterargument with much better extension, tuning, resolution and sibilance control. The Spring2 also had a pretty cramped soundstage, and the Wind is much better in this regard as well. The only area where the Spring2 could hold its own ground is in its mids, which is tonally more rich sounding, but that’s about it.

While technically a planar, these sound just like any dynamic driver IEM. I would also consider the Wind as a direct upgrade over the Wu's, not too surprising given its price difference. The only thing the Wu’s does better are the lows, which is louder, meatier, and more visceral sounding. Otherwise, everything else the Wind does better. Edit: Actually, it doesn't seem the ZeTian Wu is available anymore, only its Heyday edition, which is priced near the Wind. In this case, the Wind is definitely the better one for value.

This one’s a good comparison, because they both can be bought for around the same price. Honestly speaking, as much as the Wind has to stand for, I would have to say both the Tea and Tea2 are overall better in its sound and its technical chops. As admirable as the Wind’s musical yet neutral midrange is, the Tea & Tea2’s midrange have more body and a more fuller engaging tone to it, with the Tea2’s partially owning to its much mightier bass. The Wind is more articulate and detailed in its treble, though, making cymbals and percussion sound better. But then, in a final blow, both the Teas absolutely destroy the Wind with its much better imaging and layering prowess. You could say it’s gone with the wind now. (Well, actually, if you prefer a less V-shaped set, the Wind will fare better, otherwise the Tea & Tea2 wins)

Blessing 2 is obviously the better performer overall, but there are some areas where the Wind does better, like its much more placated pinna gain region, and more coverage in its treble region. And the Wind has more presence in the low-end. So you could say that the Wind is tuned better, but the Blessing is on another level in its resolving abilities.

I was going to guess that the Wind would be better, but actually no, it turns out that the Starfield generally sounds more agreeable than the Wind. The tuning is better on the Starfield, with a more natural timbre, richer bass, fuller sounding mids, and less jarring highs while still retaining brightn——WAIT, actually, I just realized I’ve been listening to the reference tips. After switching to the included foam tips, the Wind sounds more fuller and less jarring in the highs. I would then say they are both somewhat equal, with the Starfield slightly edging out the Wind in better midrange timbre, and the Wind slightly edging out the Starfield in terms of detail and resolution.

This one’s an extremely fitting comparison that I am very excited to write. The reason being: these two IEMs have an uncannily similar sound and it also graphs identically.

So, how do they compare? Well, I am shocked to say that Olina actually performs nearly just as well as the Wind, in fact it is better in some areas. For one, Olina sounds more dynamic, and performs better technical feats than the Wind, namely more vivid spatial imaging and more micro-details in the treble. However, after exhausting your music library you will eventually come to realize that the Wind is still the more superior sounding one. It is the more composed-sounding set, and its midrange has a very huge canvas for instruments to be painted on, while Olina’s midrange canvas is smaller in size. That is to say, Olina’s midrange is more recessed than the Wind. I actually think OIina sounds better with pure acoustic music as it renders the treble transients in instruments such as guitar strums in a more resolving and realistic way. But for everything else, the Wind is the more competent performer. Note that you can currently buy an aftermarket version of the Olina for around $50, so the fact that the Olina sounds nearly just as good as the Wind speaks volumes about its value proposition.

“Huh?” you may ask in confusion. There’s no confusion here. Yes, this is a $10 IEM, but it arguably performs like a hundo-buck IEM in some areas, such as its treble and soundstage chops. Note that I am comparing to a heavily modified ED9 with a cable mod and a custom-tuned bronze filter. There are actually many areas where the Wind sounds a lot like the ED9, like its relatively laidback and neutral midrange, as well as its treble tuning. But while the ED9 is unabashedly neutral-bright, the Wind gravitates more towards neutral, making the Wind sound neutral-warm in this comparison. The ED9 has the upper hand when it comes to micro-details, timbre and extension in the treble. Like the Olina, the ED9 renders treble transients in instruments such as guitar strums in a more resolving and realistic way.

Comparing the OH10 to the Wind is like comparing a mild-tempered person to a histrionic person. The OH10 is all about fun fun fun, it doesn’t really care about technicalities or a reference sound. Meanwhile the Wind is more nuanced in character, which also brings out more nuanced details in your music.