Kinera Celest Pandamon 2.0: Relaxing, Vocal Centric Set, But ...

April 18, 2024

Pros

Decent accessories
Stunning design and aesthetic
Very lightweight and small shell
Easy to drive
Snappy bass
Warm, pleasant lower midrange
Energetic and smooth upper midrange
Very inoffensive treble

Cons

Weird nozzle angle and fit
Bass lacks weight and impact
Vocals can get a little bit intense
Lacking some treble sparkle and air
Average technicalities
Not very competitive

Disclaimer
Huge thanks to HiFiGo for providing a unit of the Pandamon 2.0 for me to review. 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)

Source(s)

It is easy to drive. Even on my JM6 Pro, I only need 30-40% of the volume most of the time, which is lesser than most IEMs I have used.

Topping DX1
Truthear Shio
JCally JM6 Pro

Ear tips

Dunu S&S

Unboxing and Quick Summary

Packaging

Kinera Celest Pandamon 2.0
Round, semi-hard carrying case
Decent selection of ear tips.

3 pairs of Celest 608 balanced silicone ear tips (S, M, L)

Has a narrower bore, more closed in

3 pairs of Celest 221 vocal silicone ear tips (S, M, L)

Has a wider bore, sounds more open

5N Copper Silver Plated Cable

Feels a bit cheap but not bad at all.
Tangles a little bit sometimes but is comfortable to use.

Build Quality

Build quality is decent, feels plasticky.
Shell is made out of resin, is extremely lightweight and it looks stunning.

Fit

Nozzle is on the narrower side, with an average length, but is angled, in a way that didn't really work out too well for me personally.
Fit is decent but not great, I couldn't fit it as deep as I would like due to the angled nozzle, but is very lightweight and comfortable.

Tonality

Mild V-shaped

Bass

Bass is a little more mid bass focused instead of sub bass.
Fast, snappy, and has a decent punch and texture to it.
However, it lacks a bit of impact, weight, tightness to it.
Quantity is on the lighter side, which is absolutely not for bassheads.
Overall, bass is not super satisfying, as it is lacking the weight and impact of a DD, but is somewhat fast and punchy.

Midrange

Lower midrange has some warmth to it.

Gives a good amount of weight and lushness to male vocals and some instruments without being muddy bloated.

Upper midrange is very forward compared to other frequencies

Can be a little bit shouty at times.
Smooth, but the transition from the end of upper midrange to lower treble is lacking, so vocals don't really have the extension or "breathy" feeling at the end.

Note weight has a nice weight and density to it but not overly heavy.
Most instruments do sound great without any oddities, timbre is quite natural as well.

Treble

Treble is on the relaxing side, but can easily get overly dull at times.
Rolls off pretty early from the end of upper midrange, notes and cymbals lack incisiveness and sounds a little blunted in general.
Extension is also not good, lacking a sense of airiness to it.
Details are not very revealing due to the overly inoffensive and rolled off treble response.

Technicalities

Resolution

Resolution and detail retrieval is average due to lack of sparkle and extension in the treble.

Soundstage

Soundstage also has average width and height, but not really spacious or expansive.
At least it is not overly closed in but it is on the more intimate side due to the lack of air.

Imaging

Imaging and accuracy is average.
Not really pinpoint accuracy due to it being blunted but still fine.

Separation

Separation and layering is average as well.
Instruments and vocals are not clearly separated but it is not overly congested on busier tracks due to the speedy driver.

Conclusion

Overall, I find the Pandamon 2 to be a little niche.

It has a pleasing, relaxing signature yet it still retains good vocal forwardness.
However, the bass and treble performance is not really up to par to be competitive with the rest of the market.

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