The Rumba is a collab from Ziigaat with Vivir Digital and comes in at 35USD (or 36USD with a mic). It’s a single 10mm Graphene Dynamic Driver setup. The Rumba comes in a small box, you get the IEM’s, a decent cable for the price (mine was the one with the built in microphone but I haven’t tried that out), and two pairs of eartips, one narrow bore and one wide bore. I tried both and ended up using the wide bore tips as I preferred the sound and feel out of those. The shells are quite comfortable and I had no fit or comfort issues with some very long sessions that I had with the Rumba.
I’ve been doing a fair bit of coding recently so any free time outside of my job I’ve been attached to my MacBook, as a consequence these have had quite a lot of hours on them, all connected to my MacBook Air! I would think somewhere around 100 hours of listening over the two weeks that I’ve had them. For music I’ve been on a Post Rock binge so around 80 of the 100 hours have been MONO, GY!BE, Russian Circles etc, with the last two days filled with MONO’s new album Snowdrop. Outside of that I’ve listened to some of my normal test tracks to see how their fare across a wide variety of genres.
On to the sound!
Bass:
The Rumba comes across with a very bass focussed sound, but not so much that it’s only good with bass tracks. With my post rock binge, and my sub-bass focussed test tracks, it’s clear that the sub-bass is the star of the show and brings some real physicality to the music. THE PLAN from Tenet sounds great on the Rumba!
The bass here works well across popular genres, with pop, EDM, hip-hop, and rock, all creating an atmosphere that makes me want to tap my feet (which I do a bit), however it didn’t keep up with some of the busier/more aggressive tracks that I threw at it. That’s not to say that these sounded bad, they didn’t, you just don’t get the same experience that you do with some more expensive IEMs.
TL;DR – the bass here is great and a lot of fun!
Mids:
Despite the elevated bass response, the mids are surprisingly well done. There is definitely some warmth carried through from the bass, this results in instruments and vocals coming across with a richer presentation than a ‘neutral’ IEM would. The result is a sound that feels engaging and musical rather than analytical. Due to this tuning they’re quite forgiving with poorly recorded music, with pretty much anything you throw at them sounding at least decent!
Male vocals in particular sound really nice here. They have good weight and body, coming across naturally without sounding overly thick or congested. Listening to Coheed and Cambria, Claudio’s vocals sound amazing. Female vocals are slightly more forward, carrying enough energy to remain engaging without crossing into shouty territory. Taylor Swift sounds pretty good on these, with the warm lean of the Rumba helping bring through some of the emotion which I find can sometimes be missing on cheaper sets.
Instrument timbre is another strong point. Acoustic instruments, pianos, guitars and strings all sound convincing, benefiting from the warmth that runs throughout the tuning. With some of the beautiful violins from my post rock binge being a particular high point of my experience with the Rumba.
TL;DR – the mids are cohesive and enjoyable.
Treble:
Treble is hard to do well with cheaper sets and I prefer a smoother tuned set at this price point. The Rumba has the smoother tuning that I thought it would and it works extremely well with the rest of the tuning.
There is enough energy to stop the Rumba from sounding dark, with cymbals and percussion retaining a satisfying amount of presence when called for. Treble notes have decent bite when required, but they never become harsh or fatiguing. The treble here does nothing wrong and will never annoy you, but the trade off is that you sometimes want a little more air and/or extension. The musical tuning means that some of the detail that you get with more treble focussed sets aren’t present here, but the upside is that you can throw anything you want at the Rumba.
TL;DR – the treble is safe, smooth, occasionally lacking.
Technicalities:
For this price I think the Rumba holds its own well. The stage is fine, it doesn’t do anything amazingly well but it’s wide enough that it doesn’t sound cramped. Imaging is OK, not pinpoint but things are placed well enough that you get a general feel of where things are. This extends over to the layering, which I was a little surprised about given it’s bass tuning.
Detail retrieval is OK too, it’s definitely a musical IEM so you aren’t going to be using these to dissect your favourite tracks, but when you’re listening to these you don’t feel like you’re missing out on anything.
Subjective thoughts:
The Rumba surprised me a little, I wasn’t expecting to enjoy these as much as I did. For someone entering the hobby, or looking for a cheap set to throw in your bag, you really can’t go wrong at the price point with these! I did expect that I might have wanted to swap back to a different IEM during my two weeks however I never felt the need to do that. Listening to CANCELLED! by Taylor Swift as I finish off this review and it just sounds great.
Overall:
A wonderful entry to the hobby. Safely tuned is good at this price point, and the Rumba ticks nearly all the boxes you could want at this price. The Rumba is a genuinely enjoyable budget set that doesn’t try to be something it isn’t.
Scorecard at $35:
| Category | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bass | 4.5/5 | Big, engaging sub-bass with plenty of impact. A lot of fun without completely overwhelming the rest of the tuning. |
| Mids | 4/5 | Warm, natural, and musical. Male vocals are a highlight and instruments carry convincing weight. |
| Treble | 3.5/5 | Smooth and easy to listen to. Never fatiguing, though it occasionally leaves you wanting a little more air and extension. |
| Technicalities | 3.5/5 | Solid for the price. Stage, imaging, and detail retrieval are all competent without being standout features. |
| Build/Design | 4/5 | Comfortable shells, decent cable, and good ergonomics. A simple but effective package. |
| Value | 4.5/5 | Very difficult to fault at $35. An excellent entry point into the hobby and a great grab-and-go set. |
| Overall | 4.1/5 | A warm, fun, and forgiving IEM that prioritises musical enjoyment over analysis. Easy to recommend at the asking price. |
Aussie Audiophile 
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