See Audio Bravery Review (2) – A Brave Front
Pros
Fast and tight bass.
Good imaging and layering.
Great tonality, generally non fatiguing.
Good timbral accuracy for a pure BA setup.
Branded cable and eartips. 2 pin cable – better lifespan than MMCX in general.
Easy to drive.
Cons
Poor isolation.
Provided Xelastec tips may cause excessive suction in the ear, and also gives nasal vocals.
BA bass – bass lacks movement of air and decay, with lack of subbass extension.
Below average soundstage.
Lacking in micro-details and dynamics.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The See Audio Bravery is a 4 BA IEM with a relatively non fatiguing U shaped tuning While the tonality and timbre (for a pure BA setup) is good, the technicalities are not classleading, and there are some limitations such as a BA bass.
SPECIFICATIONS
- Driver configuration: 4 x Balanced Armature (two Knowles BA drivers for the bass, one Sonion BA for the midrange, and one Knowles BA driver for the treble)
- Frequency response: 20 Hz – 20kHz
- Impedance: 18 Ω
- Sensitivity: 110 dB/mW
- Cable: 2 Pin (0.78mm), 6N OCC Hakugei cable.
- Tested at $289 USD
ACCESSORIES
The Bravery comes in an anime girl packaging. This could very well be the reason for buying this set, it is one for our otaku and weeb friends!
Included are:
1) Specially customized 6N OCC Hakugei cable – very premium looking and well braided with a cloth sleeve. They do not tangle, but unfortunately there are some microphonics present. The Hakugei brand of cables is quite well known in audio circles and adds some elegance to the packaging. I won’t comment on whether cables change the sound signature (that usually ends up in flamewars haha), but See Audio didn’t skimp on the cables at least.
2) Azla Xelastec Sednafit eartips – they also didn’t skimp on this portion, these tips are expensive! The Xelastec eartips provide good grip and boost vocals in general with other IEMs, but some may find these tips to be a lint and dirt magnet, and they are rather sticky. Ironically, the Xelastec tips may cause the vocals to be nasal with the Bravery, which we will talk about later.
3) Foam tips – S/M/L – they tend to tame the treble and increase isolation.
4) Round hard case – is that a playboy bunny logo on it? For our otaku anime friends?
The accessories provided are okay for a close to $300 USD set. As discussed above, the cable and eartips are “branded” and will have added to the costs.
I liked that See Audio provided a cable with a 2 pin connector, I had my fair share of mishaps with MMCX type connectors after switching cables once too often, they ended up like spinning windvanes.
For the purposes of this review, the stock Xelastec tips and stock cables were used, so as not to change the sound signature with aftermarket gear.
BUILD/COMFORT
Build wise, the Bravery is made of resin and feels very solid. In fact they look like semi customs. They are quite beautiful too, but of course we are more interested in how it sounds!
Comfort wise, it is a mixed bag. While the shells themselves are comfortable, some might find that the provided Xelastec tips can create a suction effect in the ear, this may be uncomfortable for some.
I didn’t have driver flex on my set, but this is partially related to ear anatomy an types of tips used, so YMMV.
ISOLATION
I usually use pure BA setups for travelling or stage monitoring, as they tend to be unvented and provide better isolation than vented DD type sets (in general).
Disappointingly, the isolation on the Bravery is poor, due to the vented bass design. This set didn’t pass my subway test, and I wouldn’t recommend them for use in a noisy environment – to protect hearing health and also cause one will lose details and the bass frequencies in a noisy place.
DRIVABILITY
I tested the Bravery with a Khadas Tone Board -> Schiit Asgard 3 amp, Khadas Tone Board -> Topping L30 amp, Sony NW A-55 DAP (Walkman One Plus v2 Mr Walkman Mod), smartphone, Shanling Q1 DAP, Tempotec Sonata HD Pro, E1DA 9038D, and a Khadas Tone Board -> Fiio A3 Amp.
The Bravery are easy to drive, amping doesn’t really give much value add.
SOUND & TECHNICALITIES
The See Audio Bravery is a U shaped set, with a relatively non fatiguing tuning. In the department of tonality, the Bravery is actually quite good, with no major flaws, perhaps only having poor subbass extension.
Timbral accuracy on the Bravery is good for a pure BA set. It won’t beat some pure single DD setups in terms of timbre, but most acoustic instruments sounded quite organic here. Vocals however may sound a bit thin and nasal with the provided stock Xelastec tips, but this can perhaps be mitigated to some extent with other eartips.
The bass of the Bravery is midbass focused, it is north of neutral but far from true basshead levels. Subbass extension is lacking, movement of air and bass decay are not that natural sounding though, as per most BA bass sets (even though this is a vented BA bass).
The bass has rather good quality though, texturing is decent, and the bass is fast and tight. So the Bravery goes for quality over quantity in terms of the bass, although the BA bass may be a dealbreaker for some.
Mids on the Bravery are pretty well balanced, in keeping with the good tonality of this set. The provided Xelastec tips however, may give vocals a nasal tinge, and also cause a lack of note weight in voices. Layering and imaging in the midrange is good though, and is a standout on this set.
The upper mids on the Bravery are rather subdued, it doesn’t have the usual shouty banshee upper mids that plague a lot of CHIFI, so this set is rather non fatiguing.
Treble extension on the Bravery is okay, but not the best considering it is a pure BA setup. Sibilance is mild, so this is a good set for our treble sensitive brethren. Those that want more sparkle and air and micro-details and clarity might need to consider alternatives though.
In technicalities, the Bravery have below average soundstage for a close to $300 USD set (in height, depth and width), especially when the stock Xelastec eartips are used. Imaging and layering are good, though clarity, instrument separation and micro-details are not class-leading at this price range. Dynamics sound a bit subdued on this set, even with amping, so that’s one area that can be improved on.
COMPARISONS
Well if anime and weeb packaging matter to you, then only the See Audio Bravery has the anime girl packaging, among the competitors below. (This may be a dealbreaker for some!!!)
Single DD types were left out of the comparisons as they have different pros and cons among the different transducer types. Most of the comparisons were with pure BA IEMs, only the LZ A7 (tribid) is the exception, but it is in a similar price bracket to the Bravery.
Audiosense T800 ($298 USD)
The Audiosense T800 is an 8 Knowles BA setup. The T800 is more V shaped. The T800 has much better isolation and fit.
The T800 is brighter (some may find it fatiguing) but it has better air and treble extension. Subbass extension on the T800 is also better, and even though both sets have vented BA bass, the T800’s bass sounds quite close to a DD bass in terms of decay and movement of air.
In terms of timbral accuracy, the Bravery is better, but the T800 has better technicalities and soundstage. The T800 is more in your face with the music, whereas the Bravery is more laid back and subdued.
The T800 is more fussy when it comes to sources, as the very low impedance of 9ish ohms requires a source with output impedance < 1 ohm, otherwise this may skew the sound signature. Whereas, the Bravery is more source agnostic.
LZ A7 ($338 USD)
The LZ A7 has 10 tuning options in view of various tuning switches and nozzles, and it is more versatile as such. It can be tuned to be V shaped to U shaped to neutralish.
The LZ A7 has better accessories, better isolation and better fit. The LZ A7 also has better technicalities though it looks uglier (there’s some fairy tale story emblazzoned on the shell haha). The LZ A7 has more more air and faster transients in view of it incorporating a piezo driver for the high frequencies.
QDC Anole VX (from $2556 USD, depends on custom versus universal shell)
The QDC Anole VX is a summitFI 10 BA set which, like the above LZ A7, is more versatile in view of it having 3 switches; this offers 8 different potential sound signatures.
Well it may not be a fair comparison due to their different selling prices, some folks mention that the Bravery and Anole VX graph similarly (on some switch settings for the Anole VX). Well, graphs only tell half the story at best, and the Anole VX is one of the most technical sets I’ve ever heard.
It is seriously no contest: the Anole VX eats the Bravery in technicalities for breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper on A/B testing, though of course diminishing returns are par for the course, when one dabbles in summitFI TOTL pricing.
Audiosense DT200 ($149 USD)
The DT200 is a 2 knowles BA warm neutral set that has better timbral accuracy than the Bravery. Bass quality and technicalities are better on the Bravery, but the Bravery is around 2x the price of the DT200. The DT200 sounds more smooth and laid back compared to the Bravery.
Isolation and comfort is better on the DT200.
CONCLUSIONS
The See Audio Bravery is a 4 BA IEM that features a relatively non fatiguing U shaped tonality. While the tonality and timbre (for a pure BA setup) is good, the technicalities are not class-leading. The Bravery is easy to drive, but as per most other pure BA setups, this set is likewise limited by BA bass extension and naturalness. Comfort is also hit or miss, but this is a YMMV situation as we have different ear anatomies.
See Audio definitely didn’t skimp on the accessories, and the provided accessories are quite premium – Azla Xelastec eartips and a Hakugei cable. Unfortunately, the Xelastec eartips may not have the best synergy with the Bravery, as it causes a narrower soundstage and nasal vocals. These Xelastec tips are also a dirt and lint magnet.
The See Audio Bravery are decent in my book, but at this price range, the competition against other big boys is huge and there are admittedly other competitors with better technical performance.
You find an INDEX of all our earphone reviews HERE.
DISCLAIMER
This unit is part of a HIFIGO review tour. This unit will be passed on to another audiophile in Singapore for the tour, after this review.
The See Audio Bravery can be gotten here: https://hifigo.com/products/seeaudio-bravery.
Our generic standard disclaimer.
