Nonsensical Name – Great Sound

Pros: Excellent soundstage/breadth/depth
Gorgeous Shell
Good price/performance
Great Vocals
Great clean instruments
Awesome carrying case
Good stock cable

Cons: Bass can be muddy
Distorted instruments lacking detail
Pretty mediocre treble

Overview:

Up for review today are the Sound Rhyme SR8 – which oddly have 14 BA drivers per side, not 8. Weird naming convention aside, the SR8 have a mix of 4 different Knowles and Sonion BA drivers providing the sound. These retail for $749 and are very hard to get a hold of in the U.S. since you can really only order them through AliExpress or Penon. I picked these up used from a fellow Head-Fier and I’ve been using them as my daily driver for about a month now. I am just now getting around to writing a review of them because I took a break for a while. That said, I have quite a bit of time listening to these and I’m awarding them my Best Under $1k designator on my ranking list. Read on below to find out why.

Accessories/Earpads/Eartips (9/10):

These arrive in a pretty cool box with clear plastic windows built in that provide a view of the IEMs and the light blue accessories box inside. It’s a better initial impression than much more expensive IEMs often provide. Inside the accessories box is what I have to describe as one of the best-looking IEM cases I’ve ever seen. It is light brown with white stitching and a magnetic closure. Inside of that are two sets of ear tips, one silicone with 3 sizes, and one set of foamies with 2 sizes. You also get interchangeable cable connectors, which despite some concerns of introducing connection quality issues, is really the bare minimum that cables should come with if they’re not going to just come with a hardwired 4.4mm connector. That’s all the SR8 comes with, which is above average and nicer than what $3.8k IEMs like the FiR Xe6 come with. Also, there’s no stupid outer sleeve to rip, just nice magnets to keep everything in place. I’m giving these 9/10 points here since the packaging is slightly nicer than the Performer8s and it includes one of the nicest leather carrying cases I’ve encountered.

As always, I’m using my Spinfit W1 tips since they’re the best tips I’ve found (you can buy them here if you want a set: https://amzn.to/3WDrNIk.) Also, I don’t want to use used tips…gross.

Cable (10/10):

The cable included is an eight-strand silver-plated copper cable with a 2-pin connector on the IEM side and the choice of 2.5mm balanced, 3.5mm unbalanced, and 4.4mm balanced. I consider this cable to be what every IEM should come with at a bare minimum. This is an excellent cable and checks all of my boxes. Good looks? Check. Lightweight? Check. Soft and supple? Check. Low microphonics? Check. Doesn’t tangle or have memory retention? Check. Interchangeable balanced connectors or just 4.4mm? Check and check. I don’t have a single issue with this cable and while cable snobs can argue that the interchangeable connector isn’t as good as a hardwired connector, we’re talking miniscule differences most people couldn’t hear if they tried. Speaking from experience, this cable sounds great and performs excellently earning it 10/10 points.

Normally I’d recommend Kinera’s modular Ace or Leyding cable as a replacement for a stock crappy cable, but the one included with the SR8 is already better than them. If you want a cheap wired 4.4mm cable, the Tripowin Zonie is only $18 and performs very well for the price. (https://amzn.to/43tUCK6) If you want to go more expensive, the sky’s the limit. The EA Cleopatra comes highly recommended, but it will cost more than the SR8 by itself. I’d probably recommend the EA Eros S (https://amzn.to/3WTy9DL) as a great cable to match with this if you’re looking for a really good cable that works with just about everything.

Build Quality/Comfort (10/10):

The build quality is very nice on this IEM. I love the colorway built into the faceplate. The blue “dragon scales” are a MUCH better look/design than the AFUL Performer8 (P8 – https://amzn.to/3qvVI9I) and Monarch Mk2 (MMk2). The smokey transparent acrylic shell is nice and is dark enough to provide a higher-end feel than a lighter-colored transparent shell while still adding a sense of depth to allow you to see the electronics inside. The build quality itself feels like a typical acrylic IEM, and it does feel a little most “plasticky” than a solid black shell – but that’s all mental reasoning. The SR8 has two switches on the side and a vent port to prevent pressure build-up. I have no idea what the switches do since the descriptions online don’t explain what they do – which reminds me of the AROMA Thunder. It also doesn’t come with anything to flip the switches like a paperclip or a SIM card tool. So, I literally have nothing to flip the switches with since you can’t get a fingernail in there easily either – a bit of an oversight. Luckily for Sound Rhyme, I like the sound from the IEM with the switches in the up position, which is how it comes anyway, but keep in mind that you can tune these if you want to – I just have no idea how they will make it sound. (According to tgx78’s graph, the switches decrease bass and increase the treble dip (https://tgx78.squig.link/?share=SR8_11,SR8_00,SR8_01,SR8_10) ).

The SR8 are bigger than the AFUL P8, but are a more comfortable shape. That means that I can listen to these for hours with no discomfort whereas the P8 gave me minor hotspots on my inner ear after a half hour to an hour. The SR8 is also relatively light compared to something like the Noble Ronin, FiR Xe6, or Unique Melody Mentor. I’d say it’s a little heavier than the Oriolus Traillii, and a little bigger as well. Still, the overall comfort is excellent for me – YMMV. I’m giving these a 10/10 for build quality and comfort since I don’t have any real complaints here.

Sound:

Check out the wolfhawk.squig.link below to see how these measure. This is an excellent example of how a graph doesn’t tell you everything because I find the SR8 to be bassier than the P8 AND the VxV – the graph just doesn’t show that for some reason. It’s similar to how the Mentor is bassier than it graphs as well – no clue why. Both the VxV (a former best under $1k choice of mine) are pretty neutral overall. Maybe the lower bass on the SR8 allows me to turn the volume up more, which then makes the bass and mids more pronounced than on the P8 – that’s my best theory. You’ll notice that the SR8 has a dip in the treble, which is very similar to the Trailli – in fact, the SR8 tracks pretty closely to the Trailli overall, though the Trailli shows more bass, which under actual listening isn’t all that accurate to my ears – I’d say the SR8 has more bass, but they’re pretty close. I’ve included the Traillii on the graph for your viewing pleasure, but keep in mind it costs almost 10x as much as the SR8.

I am powering these from my HiBy R6Pro II using the 4.4mm balanced jack on medium gain with the A/B amplifier (since the battery sucks enough as is) at around ~26/100 volume. These are pretty dang efficient IEMs to run at that power level, even with a balanced connection. I am testing these with both switches on since that’s how they come from the factory and I like the increased bass presence.

Lows (16/20):

I’m starting off with the Mid-bass/Sub-bass test I’m using David Guetta’s “I’m Good (Blue).” The intro bass drums have a lot of bass response, though they do have a slight touch of unwanted reverb. The sub-bass comes in very strong and gives a pretty pleasing rumble – you can’t quite feel it in your soul like some IEMs, but it’s definitely above average and far better than the graph indicates it should be. While the quantity is surprisingly good, the quality isn’t as high as I would like here – it is a bit muddier than I want my bass to be – it’s missing that DD bass detail. Overall, the SR8 ears a 7/10 here – 4 points for quantity and 3 for quality.

Up next is Demon Hunter’s “I Am A Stone,” which I use to test whether the bass is too strong and overwhelms the mids as that is just as important as how strong/good the bass is. The balance on this song is very good. The bass is far more discernible than on the P8 I reviewed yesterday, but it doesn’t overwhelm the mids like it can on an IEM like the Trifecta/Xe6. This is a near-perfect balance between enough bass presence and not overwhelming bass, though the bass quality is again a bit muddy. I’m giving it 9 points here because while the balance earns it 5 points on both sides, the muddiness is a bit distracting and deserves a point off here. Still, a 16/20 is a very good performance for the SR8 and could likely be improved with a good DD for the lows on the next model (SR9?).

Mids (16/20):

Weaving The Fate’s “The Fall” is my test song for clean/dirty guitars and vocals with background instruments to see how clearly the vocals can be heard. The mids/vocals are really where this IEM shines. The intro clean guitar sound very good, though the distorted guitar is a little muddy and lacking in detail. The cymbals can be heard, but they’re a bit muted while the drums can be clearly heard. The vocals sound excellent with full body and tonality and are forward in the soundstage. The bass guitar is clearly discernible, but the vocals are the star of the show here. I have to say that the P8 is a bit better on this song with better instrument separation and more detail/less muddiness. The SR8 earns 4/6 points here.

Staind’s “Something to Remind You” has clean electric guitars and wonderful vocals – this song tests vocal quality and background noise. The intro guitar is beautiful – there’s so much presence to it and it really fills the space. The vocals also fill the entire soundstage with excellent detail and presence. There’s no unwanted reverb on the low vocals and the bass guitar is just about perfect here – providing some depth to the lows without drowning out the mids. You can hear the fingers moving across the frets here in the left IEM, but only if looking for it – the detail is there, but not distracting or annoying like it can be on some IEMs. This song earns a perfect 7/7 – it sounds fantastic.

To test classical instruments in the mids, I’m using The Piano Guys’ “Code Name Vivaldi.” The bass cello is good in the intro, but the muddiness does return here. The piano comes across as a little muted in the intro, but it picks up as it moves up the frequency scale to the higher notes. The mid-higher notes on the second cello sound better than the bass cello, with more detail and clarity. The piano in the mid to higher notes can really sound very good. Both the P8 and SR8 are missing the soul and detail that an IEM like the Trifecta brings to this song with its triple DD sound. It sounds good, but not Amazing. 5/7 points here.

Highs (12/20):

To test sibilance on headphones I use Panic! At The Disco’s “High Hopes.” I’ve already noticed less treble presence on the SR8 than the P8, but that rarely translates to sibilance. This is a great example of that because there’s quite a bit of sibilance on the SR8 while the P8 has almost none. It’s noticeable, but not unlistenable like on something like the Trifecta. The SR8 earns 3/6 points here for sibilance as it’s about average.

Dream Theater’s “The Alien,” is the highs test song I use to see if the cymbals/high-hats/snare drum can be clearly heard and distinguished from the rest of the music (also good for instrument separation.) There’s a tiny bit of discernible cymbals here, but it’s really quite muted overall – nowhere near as good as the P8. The quality of the cymbals here is also pretty mediocre since it’s challenging to discern between individual cymbal strikes. It’s definitely better than IEMs that have almost no treble at all, but I’d place it just below average. 3/7 points here.

Michelle McLaughlin’s “Across The Burren” is another of my favorite highs/sharpness test songs as it can easily sound painful on some headphones. There appears to be the tiniest bit of sharpness here on some notes. It’s about on par with the P8 though, earning the SR8 6/7 points here. Not the best treble score, but certainly not the worst.

Soundstage/Instrument Separation/Imaging (7/10):

I use MGMT’s “Time to Pretend” to test soundstage, instrument separation, and imaging. The soundstage on the SR8 is really good, especially for the price (3/3). It’s more 3D than a lot of kilobuck IEMs and some instruments even come in behind your head here. I find the imaging to be pretty good, though not the best (2/3) – others disagree and find it to be flat, YMMV. I also find the instrument separation to be a bit blurred, though on this test song, it appears to be quite good (2/3). There is so much depth to these headphones, something the P8 is a little worse at. For the price, this is a very good overall score of 7/10.

Comparisons:

The SR8 easily competes with significantly more expensive IEMs and I find myself enjoying it more than the Fibae 5, Andromeda, VxV, Onyx, and P8. I also like it more than the Jewel, though the Jewel does some things quite a bit better, especially detail and resolution. The SR8 is one of those IEMs that are more than a sum of their parts. You can look at my ranking list to see where I rank these overall, but I’d say these are easily my “budget” endgame IEMs and that’s because I just enjoy listening to them with casual listening. They make the music fun as long as you’re not thinking about all the technical details. Also, I list them higher than my best under $2k AND $3k IEMs, which just shows how much I like these. Yes, the half-as-expensive P8 have more detail and WAY better treble. But the soundstage feels flatter and the bass is lacking in quantity. The Andromeda 2019 is a closer match to the SR8, but I would take the SR8 over the Andro (just barely). I’ll explain that in my Andromeda review coming soon. The SR8 may not have as much soul as the Trifecta, but at ¼ the price, it brings a hard-to-categorize emotional feeling to music that cheaper IEMs and many more-expensive IEMs can’t touch.

Conclusion:

If you’re looking for an IEM that just has a ton of breadth/depth with great vocals and excellent clean instrumentation with an emotional experience that can’t be touched without going MUCH more expensive, the SR8 is a great choice. That said, the lows can have some muddiness, and distorted instruments with a lot of reverb won’t have the detail that other IEMs can present. Still, I think these are the best IEM under $1k (maybe even $3k) – certainly the best I’ve heard in this price range – YMMV and all that.

Headphone Scoring (v3):
Accessories / Earpads / Eartips (10 pts):	9​
Cable (10 pts):	10​
Build Quality/ Design / Comfort (10 pts):	10​
Lows (20 pts):	16​
Mids (20 pts):	16​
Highs (20 pts):	12​
Soundstage / Instrument Separation / Imaging (10 pts):	7​
Total:	80​