EPZ Q1: A very Unique Budget Offering

Pros

• Complete set of accessories 
• Decent stock cable for the price
• Good selection of ear tips
• Surprisingly well built yet lightweight
• Great fit, very comfortable (subjective)
• Rich and lush lower midrange
• Never shouty and fatiguing 
• Thick and dense note weight 
• Decent technicalities for the price

Cons

• Niche tonality
• Bass is loose and not the most well controlled
• Slightly bloated, muddy midrange 
• Upper midrange lacks energy
• Veiled and muffled vocals 
• Treble lacks a lot of sparkle
• Lacks overall clarity

Disclaimer

• Huge thanks to EPZ for providing a unit of the EPZ Q1 for me to review. I really do appreciate it. However, all thoughts and opinions are my own, and are not influenced in any way. 
• Please take this review with only a grain of salt, as everyone's hearing, fit, and gears may differ, so our experience may be different.

Price(MSRP)

• ~$25

Source(s)

• FiiO KA13
• Truthear Shio
• JCally JM6 Pro

Ear tips

• Dunu S&S

Packaging

• EPZ Q1
• Soft carrying pouch 
• Very good inclusion, very practical to use as well.
• Most budget IEMs don't even come with a carrying pouch nowadays .. so they did a great job at including these. 
• Good selection of ear tips.
• 3 pairs of double flange silicone ear tips (S, M, L)
• 3 pairs of generic silicone ear tips (S, M, L)
• 5N 4 core Single Crystal Copper cable with Microphone
• Honestly, very good for the price.
• Not too thin, doesn't tangle often, very comfortable to wear.
• Even comes with a microphone and wrap to keep everything in place, not many stock cables comes with all these, even in higher price brackets.

Build Quality

• Surprisingly well built especially for the price, shell is made out of resin.

Fit

• Nozzle length and width are about average.
  
• Semi custom-like fit, fits very comfortably for me.  

Tonality

• Warm, dark. 

Bass

• Mid bass is more prominent than the sub bass.
• Bass sounds ... very loose, makes everything sounds a little splashy and undefined to my ears.
• However, it does sound somewhat full and comes with decent texture and a slight rumble to it ... but still lacks a bit of weight and physicality to it despite the 13mm DD.
• The bass is also not well controlled, with slower decay.
• Overall, I think the bass is subpar. It lacks in a lot of aspects such as tightness, control, and even in weight and impact. 

Midrange

• Midrange is quite warm and rich with a smooth and relaxed presentation.
• Lower midrange sounds full, which makes male vocals sound forward and lush, but its also too bloated and muddy.
• Upper midrange is recessed, female vocals stays at the background and is a little veiled & muffled from the bass bleed. This is not often based on my personal experience and is rather niche and unique, since there will usually be more energy in this region to compensate the lower end energy.
• Timbre is ... not good but not too bad for a signature as unique as this. Everything sounds a little heavier and huskier but still within the realm of natural enough. 
• Note weight and density is on the thicker and heavier side. 

Treble

• Treble is very smooth, but it is also dark, and lacking a lot of sparkle throughout the whole treble region.
• Treble extension is subpar, not much sense of airiness and
• Details can be a little harder to perceive due to the darker signature.

Technicalities

Resolution

• Resolution and detail retrieval is surprisingly decent even with the lack of brightness in the treble but I won't call it good for the price.

Soundstage

• Soundstage is average, a little closed in as expected from something in this price but due to the recessed upper midrange, the overall staging can be strange.

Imaging

• Imaging and accuracy is good, I am able to pinpoint positions quite easily and accurately.

Separation

• Separation and layering is overall average, but vocals can easily sound a bit congested and not as well separated. 
• This may be because of the warmer low end and lack of upper midrange energy for the vocals to pop out sometimes. 

Conclusion

• Overall, the EPZ Q1 has a very unique tuning that differs itself from the usual budget offerings but this sort of tonality only appeals to a very niche crowd in my honest opinion. 
• If you want a very warm, smooth, unique, and non-fatiguing IEM to the extreme that also comes with a very complete set of accessories for a affordable price, then this is the IEM for you.
• However, I would advice to look somewhere else if you're into more mainstream tunings and excitement in  your IEMs. 

Non Affiliated Link

• If you are interested after reading the article, feel free to check out the non affiliated link below.

• Aliexpress: 
• https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003972241286.html

Thanks for reading!