The Orchestra II is the third Orchestra from Kiwi Ears, they had their original (which I never heard), the Orchestra Lite (which I do own), and now II. Like its predecessors the II is an all BA set, 10 on each side, and promises ‘Superlative Tonal Balance’. The packaging that it comes in is quite nice, with the IEMs, a lovely cable with 3.5mm and 4.4mm option, zip up case, and four (yes four) sets of eartips included. I got the blue shells and I think they look pretty amazing!
The design is unvented meaning it doesn’t have a way to manage pressure build up in your ear canal. Everyone’s experience with this design will vary however for me I have to find the right tips for this design or it can become uncomfortable. I ran through the included tips and had some success but still didn’t find one which worked for longer listening sessions. I’ve got a large number of different tips here, and ones that have worked on unvented designs for me, and found the Tangzu Sancai tips a perfect match for these. Once I had these on the IEMs I experienced no discomfort at all and had some great, long, listening experiences with the Orchestra II. If you get these and have any discomfort please try grabbing some of the Tangzu Sancai tips, they may transform your experience.
I used the AK SP4000 as my DAP for the Orchestra II for the most part, I also paired it up with the L-Amp II and enjoyed how it sounded through tubes, and the option to add a little more bass worked well on some tracks, however the SP4000 was still my favourite pairing. For music I listened to anything and everything.
On to the sound!
Bass:
The Orchestra II surprised me a little with the bass. My initial impressions when the tips weren’t quite right I thought it was lacking, however once I had the right tips on the bass section lifted impressively and it ticks all the boxes for a well balanced set. You get an extremely well textured and detailed bass presentation throughout sub and mid bass, with a decent amount of punch. It doesn’t inject bass; it simply presents what’s in the track. It’s still BA bass, so you don’t get as much physicality as you would with a DD, but there was still some there (actual or perception I’m not sure, but the feel is there) and I never found myself wanting more. I enjoyed listening to all my bass test tracks, and the mids on those tracks came through clearer than on most other sets. The speed, as you’d expect for BA, is great, and it handled fast passages with ease. Listening to ‘Why so Serious?’ the sub-bass section is handled well, you get the texture and detail of what’s there, it’s just lacking a little of the physicality that you’d get with a DD moving air around in your ear. All up, impressive!
Mids:
Detailed. Natural. Balanced. These are the first words that come to mind when thinking about the mids on the Orchestra II. Detail retrieval is high on this set, with even casual listening sessions resulting in detail being brought out of a track and presented to your ears. There is an effortlessness to the sound when listening to this IEM. Vocals come across nice and clean, they both lack a little weight compared to what I’d call ‘perfect’ but they’re positioned well in the stage and the level of detail that you get will have you picking out subtleties that you wouldn’t notice on other sets. Instruments sound natural and in balance. The overall tuning and presentation is in the middle of musical and analytical, despite the amount of detail being retrieved landing more on the analytical side. Due to it sitting in the middle ground I didn’t find it as emotionally engaging as some more musical sets that I have however there was enough engagement for me to not want to switch to something else.
Treble:
I’ve had quite a few sets recently where the treble was just ‘OK’. It was nice to have a set come across my desk where there is something to talk about in this section. The treble here feels natural, has a great level of detail being retrieved but never hits anything which would make me wince. You get a decent amount of energy coming through in this section, some sparkle when it’s called for, an airy overall presentation which remains in balance with the bass and mids. I was extremely impressed as I went through my test tracks, it handled everything superbly, with the treble taking front stage when it should, then retreating into the mix when it should too.
Technicalities:
The stage on the Orchestra II is standard, it works with the balanced and natural tuning that they’ve gone for. Imaging again is pretty standard, you can place instruments within the stage however it isn’t pinpoint. Layering is there, and builds up fine on busier tracks, but never to the point where you’d use it as an instrument to dissect a track. Similar to the mids is straddles the line between musical and analytical.
Subjective thoughts:
The Orchestra II is an interesting IEM, sat smack bang in the middle of musical and analytical. I think it would work extremely well for someone who wants a great sounding balanced IEM, where they enjoy hearing details in tracks but want to maintain a level of coherence that you don’t always get on analytical sets. It was my daily carry for a little over a week and then spent a few days comparing it to other IEMs. The Orchestra II would sit pretty much in the middle of everything, when I was comparing I found that things were either more musical, or more analytical, nothing really ever came off as more neutral. I love just popping music on with the Orchestra II and listening, everything it plays sounds great, I didn’t come across anything that made me want to skip how it was presenting the music, then as you’re listening a little detail will get presented to your ear that you may not have heard before.
Overall:
A wonderful balanced / natural IEM. Once you get the right fit this could easily be a one and done IEM for many people, it strikes a lovely balance between musical and analytical which for the most part doesn’t leave you wanting anything. Well done Kiwi Ears!
Scorecard at $349:
| Category | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bass | 4.2/5 | Clean, textured, fast, just missing that last bit of DD physicality. |
| Mids | 4.5/5 | Detailed, balanced, effortless. Slightly lean in note weight but beautifully presented. |
| Treble | 4.5/5 | Energetic, extended, airy and controlled. Very well judged. |
| Technicalities | 4.2/5 | Strong resolution and separation. Stage and imaging are good. |
| Build/Design | 4.5/5 | Lovely cable options, generous tip selection, premium feel. |
| Value | 4.3/5 | A strong proposition if you want balance and detail over characterful colouration. |
| Overall | 4.4/5 | A wonderful balanced IEM, could be a one and done for many. |
Aussie Audiophile 
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