NiceHCK NX7 MK4 Review – The Fixer Upper

The NiceHCK NX7 MK4 is yet another evolution of the NX7. A warm sounding hybrid with a good midrange somewhat tainted by a thick, boomy bass.

The NiceHCK NX7 MK was kindly provided by the NiceHCK Audio Store for my analysis – and I thank them for that. You can get it here.

Introduction

As the name implies, the MK4 is the 4th iteration of this 7-driver earphone. The series started in 2019 with the original $75 NX7, which some funnybone equated with the Campfire Andromeda on Head-Fi. The NX7 featured a piezo and therefore had a high impedance of 55 Ω, which made it hard to drive. Loomis, on his day off, put it on his “Best of 2019” list.

The $99 NX7 Pro followed in early 2020. It came with 3 screw-on filters, one of which yielded the identical frequency response of the original. It also featured a piezo tweeter and a high impedance of 58 Ω. And it was bright, too bright for me. Another gimmick was the exchangeable faceplates in the colour of the season. The accessories were great, even a screwdriver was in the package.

The late 2020 $119 NX7 MK3 [the “Pro X” attribute had not been invented at the time] continued the tradition of the 7 drivers including piezo, the 58 Ω impedance, the screw-on filters, and the exchangeable faceplates with screwdriver. The tuning remained the same.

And now, after you have dropped $300 on the previous iterations, welcome to the NX7 MK4. Gone are the swappable faceplates, the screwdriver, and the high impedance. The $109 NX7 MK4 features an middle-of-the-road 32 Ω impedance at a high sensitivity (and is now easy to drive), still 7 drivers including a piezo, and a tuning toned down in areas where it had been overwhelming in the last iterations.

Specifications

Physical Things and Usability

In the package are the earpieces, 3 pairs of screw-on nozzles filters, the OCC silver-plated cable with velcro zip tie, 2 sets of silicone eartips (4 sizes), a leather carrying case, and the paperwork.

The shape of the earpieces has not changed from the MK3. They are still made of resin, and still very comfortable. Gone is the gimmick of the exchangeable faceplates, the new fixed ones are of an original, appealing art design.

As with the previous iterations, the stock eartips did not do it for me. I got best results with some generic widebores.

Tonality and Technicalities

The NX7 MK4 features a tuning corrected from the MK3: bass is dialed back, the upper midrange was reduced, and the 15 kHz spike shrunk. All in the name of agreeability: no overdone bass punch, no shoutiness, and no tizziness in the uppermost registers.

I did my main listening with the gold filters as they yielded the most realistic results. The red filters, as the name implies, bring you into red-hot territory, and the black filters into a muddled midrange. With the golden (and the black filters) the NiceHCK NX7 MK4 are warm sounding with a good midrange but a thick, little composed bass that moves it into the mediocre mainstream territory.

Yep, the NiceHCK M6 had a mushy bass, and the NiceHCK NX7 MK3 had a thick, boomy, intrusive bass. Looking through the resin of MK3 and MK4 shells, the single DDs don’t appear to have changed between the models, only the tuning has in that the mid bass boom was reduced.

This, unfortunately, did not change the quality of the low end. Great extension into the sub-bass, but it is also getting increasingly fuzzier down there. The midbass is thick and somewhat boomy, albeit thumpy, punchy, VISCERAL, and vibrant. Good kick, not overwhelming, but yes, the composure is lacking. Nevertheless some will like it. Works well for pop and rock.

There is, however, one positive exception: bass is really good in overly “sharp” recordings. The other lifeline may be that the bass has been reduced in quality from its MK3 predecessor.

But what has been fixed is the midrange. It may be a big congested in the lower midrange through the bleeding bass, but vocals are well carved and reasonably natural, though a bit back and not as rich as the bass. And in music without much bass, there is good midrange articulation and clarity.

Upper midrange and lower treble are dialed back, which completely excludes shoutiness but puts cymbals behind. That 15 kHz pick provides some sparkle that keeps the sound out of the dry territory.

Staging is relatively narrow and imaging is average, both probably strongly influenced by that poor-quality bass. The other technicalities are also just middling…except timbre, which is quite good. And dynamics is good, too: quite vibrant.

Overall, the sound is ok but somewhat uninspiring for anybody with “audiophile” aspirations. It is a decent “consumer” iem.

Concluding Remarks

NiceHCK obviously tried to learn from their mistakes from the previous iterations of this model. They succeeded partially in that they fixed the tuning which resulted in a good midrange, a less energetic bass, and the removal of all unpleasant spikes. Mids are quite appealing, the shoutiness of their previous models is gone.

The MK4 would be a better earphone wasn’t it for yet another boomy, congesting bass in their model line (that is similar to the MK3 but less pungent). I’d put it still into the “average” category as its lack of basic low-end finesse does not let it stick out in the tight $100 field. It is certainly not an iem for the experienced listener.

I did use the NX7 MK4 for hours at the time without regret, it is an ok listen – and certainly a better one that with the previous versions. At least it does not have any fatal flaws.

So, goal achieved, NiceHCK? From your perspective, yes, since you didn’t see a reason to tighten the bass up (and likely reused the DD of the previous model).

What makes the NX7 MK4 distinct, though, is its pretty faceplate and its relatively small shell, which allows for a good fit and comfort.

Until next time…keep on listening!