This hobby is an escapist's dream. Escape from daily routine and distress that's causing you via something as sincere and everlasting as listening to music. I believe that the power of music is still not fully understood since it works in mysterious ways. Allow it to do its magic on you and let your worries dissolve in melody.

Having had the possibility to try so many different sets in a relatively short time I felt obliged to go ahead and express my gratitude by trying to help some lost souls out there, just as I was when I first stumbled upon this weird hobby about wired earphones – so yesteryear! … I thought. Possibilities are seemingly endless and only by getting to meet the right people did I manage to jump onboard the train heading the 'right' direction without getting off-track thousands of times along the way. Make sure to understand the helping person's preferences and you too can find your footing and hit the ground running in no time.

This is how I imagined setting up the following review: I will attach three adjectives to each of the usual topics – the bass, the midrange, the treble, and the technicalities – and elaborate why I deem those describe the segment best. I will then continue with my graphics and quick comparisons, check for the effect of source-rolling and IEM's scalability, and finish with a quick summary including who this set is (not) for.

I hope you find my newly revised approach an enjoyable and worthwhile read!

I am all about transparency, so to kick it off, this IEM was sent to me at a discount by BQEYZ Official AliExpress site in exchange for my review. They have no influence on what I write. And as always, I am grateful for the opportunity. All impressions were written using the stock cable and Coreir AL-core eartips.

To better understand what I listen to and thus perhaps have a clearer view as to what I look for, hiding behind the Spoiler is my list of 80+ tracks (in alphabetical order) I skip through for reviewing purposes. This is of course only a snippet of my expansive playlists, but it should give you a rough idea. I am sure everyone can find something they are familiar with. I also warmly recommend trying any of these for yourselves on whatever setup you guys have!

Discussions about bass quantity will forever stay among those most subjective ones in the hobby. The factors that influence each and everyone's perspective as well as each and everyone's preferences are countless. All that's left to us as reviewers is to try and put it into perspective by comparing to sets most seem to agree have a close-to-neutral level of bass output and, of course, secondly, and more crucially, try to explain set's bass quality which is hardly related to its quantity. To avoid blabbering, Frost will be frowned upon by bassheads or those whose music libraries consist of nothing but bass-heavy songs. On my bassiest and most powerful source, the Venture Electronics Stack, it is not blowing my mind by subbass rumble or midbass punch, but it gains a healthy amount of oomph and feels perfectly balanced for tech house and similar, such as After Love by Anyma. It stays in that neutral territory which is fine by me, especially since it never litters the midrange, allows low mids to breathe and remains controlled no matter the circumstance – this is what I like to call agile or athletic or eager bass, one of those multifaceted and multitalented ones that figure out a way in seemingly every situation. Even on sources that add most meat to the bones, this is hardly a thick and succulent T-bone, so not recommended for those that can only get full by eating a pound of meat. To try and simplify, whoever primarily focuses on bass should look elsewhere, but the quality is good, though a bit textureless.

As my time in this hobby progresses I am starting to understand my preferences and pet peeves more and more. Midrange is where I am most likely to either adore or dislike the set. And it's not a particular sort of midrange that I am after – meaning I do not necessarily enjoy just a thinner, drier, more clinical midrange or vice versa. It is a combination of factors and how they align with the bass and treble to tell a story – this is what it's all about. Am I drawn in and willing to listen to the story? While the Frost avoids all my personal pet peeves such as thick low midrange, shouty high midrange, unforgiving pinna gain, veiled vocals or instruments, digital timbre, poor separation, … it does not set my heart on fire and fully captivate me. It is a thin and well-placed midrange which I like, but that tiny bit of layering and detail retrieval that forms a 3D image that seems to float somewhere in thin air is lacking. Not a deal breaker by any means, just something that could be done better. Still, it is a midrange that allows many genres to play wonderfully and as such it gets rated well in my books.

Adding just the right amount of spice is a thing of masterful tuning and that little bit of je ne sais quoi. Even then, it is near about impossible to cater to everyone. This set does tremendously well on high-powered and a tad warm leaning sources to my ears when it gains that extra bit of control across the spectrum. Sibilance is never an issue, neither is any unwanted honkiness due to overtones. Low treble can go from lively to maintained and smooth by source-rolling. To stay true to IEM's performance on as uncoloured sources as I possess, the iBasso DX180 makes the treble stand out in comparison to bass. Since the treble is free of unwieldy peaks tilting the overall tonality towards treble is not a negative, but rather a plus, adding that bit more energy and openness to female vocals first and foremost. Brass remain controlled and timbrally correct while just a tad weightless in certain scenarios, like Vidda by Ole Edvard Antonsen. While it never feels boxed in or unacceptably tailed off, the air is not among its strong suits. There is no real sense of effortless extension for days, as there is, for example, on the AFUL Performer 5+2 that packs microplanars too. Since the bass is much lesser as well, the lack of air is not missed as critically. Air is often just an excuse that allows sets to overdo the bass yet still turn out rather balanced-sounding. Overall (especially accounting for more sources), treble is mostly on the safe side with no achingly prominent peaks or troughs.

There is this effortlessness to BQEYZ sets, at least the Cloud and now Frost seem to be this way, where the technical aspect does not seem to be too forced by pushing any particular frequency range, yet it's perfectly sufficient, admirable even. It is as much a case of good quality drivers that are tuned well as it is the fact they do not aim to push the bass to driver's extremes. It rewards with a sweetly transparent playback that offers sufficient detail retrieval to never feel too dull nor too in your face. It is precisely the combination of this leaner sort of midrange that allows for good imaging but only an okayish soundstage, most notably the depth, since this is not a mindblowingly wide sounding set. The ability to localize sounds should come in handy for gamers among you, but I am not really a gamer myself so tough to say for sure. It seems to lack some dynamics and instead prioritizes control while sacrificing that slight bit of ability to handle sudden volume swings with much authority. Nonetheless, an overall very pleasant, technically savvy set.



THE GRAPHICS

By now, most of you have come across these playful graphics of mine. I have received so much positive feedback on these that I dare not leave them out going into 2025!

In comparison, the AFUL Performer 7 does outperform the Frost in a couple of aspects. First is the bass, especially the added elasticity of the P7's DDs when compared to Frost's rather anemic DD, at least in direct A/B. That said, I am not too sure that I prefer P7's bass overall, since it does seem a bit soulless and textureless and while that's not Frost's strength either, I might appreciate the slightly lesser amount of bass on the Frost more. Second thing where AFUL have outdone BQEYZ is treble precision and layering. The P7's microplanars are better implemented and that makes it among the greatest treble I have heard. Frost is not on the same level and feels much more single DD-like in regards to treble. Part of which is the fact BQEYZ seem to have cut microplanar's wings and not allowed it to get much air at all. Where Frost crawls back and outdoes the P7 to where I prefer Frost's take on many of my test tracks above is the midrange placement and particularly vocal naturalness, be it male or female. Placement is not ideal on either, though. P7 has this slight fogginess over many vocals, such as Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City by Robert Haglund. Frost physically places the vocalists too far back, so too deep into my head. Winner by the smallest of margins, AFUL Performer 7.



This is the one I was excited for. A BQEYZ family battle! Can the youngin outbox its father, the Cloud? This is an interesting one. I immediately noticed the placement of midrange being more to my liking on the Cloud, but one other thing stood out like a sore thumb. Cloud's midrange is certainly not as crystal clear and polished as Frost's. The difference is sort of like 720p vs 1080p. Bass is much smoother too and it makes the whole experience seem as a much calmer one than the Cloud is in isolation when it sounds highly balanced and resolving. I have started to appreciate what BQEYZ have done with the microplanar which, at least to my ears, sounds as if it helps low down into the midrange to wipe any stains. The microdetails are so much easier to pick up on and truly raise the bar. Where the Cloud strikes back is the soundstage that seems grander with more space to breathe. The better balance and stunningly improved technicalities make this an easy clean sweep victory for the Frost.


THE EFFECT OF SOURCES & SCALABILITY


The effect sources have on sets is often overlooked or at least not as highly regarded as it perhaps should be. While I still maintain the stance that the transducer is of main importance, sources follow right thereafter. Certain sets will be more responsive to various DAC/AMPs, while others seem to remain relatively unchanged and unaffected by source-rolling. Frost changes dramatically. I believe it has something to do with the two different driver topologies and their different impedances, but I might be awfully mistaken. The way sources change Frost's presentation and the whole character from either neutral warm to neutral bright in this chameleon-like fashion is something I have not experienced before and DD+microplanar configurations are still rather fresh to the market.

Another particular subject that is still somewhat of a mystery and a taboo, is whether IEMs scale with sources, and if so, why? We know IEMs barely use any power to play. And thus the often heard 'headroom' argument seems a bit moot. But there are certainly other aspects of Amp design that are well over my head and still somewhat unexplored or at least unexplained. The Frost remains more or less a very similar experience when it comes to dynamics or staging when I reach for the VE Stack, but it does wildly change the character, instantly becoming a bottom-end-first set.



QUICK SUMMARY

The BQEYZ Frost is a thing of beauty. It pleases the eyes and despite that being very subjective, I am nearly certain most would agree. This is a stunning looking IEM. Then we move on to the sound where the praise does not end, except for a few niggles that could be improved regarding dynamics, vocal placement, and treble extension. Those will either be a deal breaker for some or not matter at all for others. I believe that despite all that, the Frost is a breath of fresh air and delivers something unique to the otherwise oversaturated market.