Yu9 Que: A Masterclass in Tonality!

Pros

• Premium accessories and inclusions
• Snappy, punchy bass response
• Fairly clean lower midrange without being thin 
• Forward and lively upper midrange 
• Smooth treble
• Treble is very well extended and airy
• Very natural timbre
• Good overall technicalities

Cons

• Somewhat bulky shell
  
• No interchangeable connection on stock cable
• Build quality feels a bit cheap

Disclaimer

• Huge thanks to Yu9 for providing the opportunity for me to review the Que by providing a sample. 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)

• $399.00

Ear tips used 

• NUARL Block Ear+7

Drivability

• Moderately hard to drive.

• Still, any decent modern dongle DAC/Amp should be more than sufficient. 

Packaging

• Yu9 Que IEM

• Ear tips

• 3 pairs of liquid silicone ear tips

• 3 pairs of generic ear tips (similar to AET07)

• Carrying Case

• Feels premium and spacious, very good inclusion.

• Stock Cable

• Overall a very decent cable, sturdy and comfortable to use but it does tangle a bit after some use.

• A metal block with serial number

Build Quality

• Matte plastic finish on the body with a metal faceplate. 

• Overall shell build quality is subpar for the price, feels a bit like the Truthear Hexa/Pure, if you're familiar with either of them. 

Fit

• These are huge and bulky IEMs, definitely not for smaller ears.

• My ears start to hurt a little after extended period of usage.

Tonality

• Bass boosted neutral

Bass

• Balanced across sub bass and mid bass

• Very tasteful elevation and presentation in the bass region
• Making songs very fun , satisfying and enjoyable but nowhere near overpowering and distracting.

• Great speed, texture, slam, and punch.

• Has a nice, natural decay with a good enough dynamics and rumble to it as well

Midrange

• Lower Midrange: 

• Clean but not thin at all. 

• Overall favoring clarity over musicality but not by much. 

• Still maintained some note weight and keeps the timbre natural. 

• Upper Midrange: 

• Forward, lively, and clear. 

• One of the main highlights and emphasis on this IEM. 

• They do not venture into the shouty territory for me, but it can be just a tinge spicy if you're really sensitive to upper midrange. 

Treble

• Treble is slightly leaning on the brighter end but I would say it is more neutral than bright.

• Sufficiently detailed, crisp, yet very smooth and non-fatiguing.

• It is also very well extended, making it sounding airy. 

• Overall, the treble is just very well done and controlled, keeping it detailed and preserving the natural timbre of the sound without making it metallic. 

Technicalities/Others

• Good overall detail retrieval and resolution.
  
  
• Staging is rather average for the price, while it has enough width and depth, it doesn't sound too expansive, but I wouldn't call it cramped either.
  
  
• Imaging is quite holographic, almost surrounding my head with a near pinpoint accuracy, but isn't as holographic or precise as EST tribrids that I have tried. 

• It still did pretty good for a hybrid in the price range though. 

• Very good separation across the frequency range. Vocals and instruments are very cleanly separated among one another.
  
  
• Timbre is ever so slightly on the leaner side, but still comes across as incredibly natural. 

Conclusion

• Overall, I think the Yu9 Que is one of, if not the best IEM in it's price range, and it is easily ranked the top 3 in bracket. 

• Just in terms of the tonality of the Que, I find it just so exceptionally hard to even nitpick, because it is just the right balance of excitement and control. It is not boring or offensive at all. 

• As for technicalities, I would say it is pretty good for the price as well but definitely nothing too groundbreaking, just that no particular field is below average.

• If you're looking for a well balanced IEM that just checks all the boxes in the 400-500 dollars ballpark, then this will be the definite top recommendation I'm giving, it is just impossible to go wrong with the Yu9 Que.

Non Affiliated Link

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

• Starspicker Official Page (Malaysia): 
• https://starspickeraudio.net/products/yu9-audio-que-1dd-3ba-in-ear-monitor

Thanks for reading!