Pros: Build, Details, Soundstage, Imaging, Mids and Vocals
Cons: Fit, Coloured Tonality, Picky with Source
Driver Setup: Dual-Chamber Dual-Magnetic Dynamic Driver
Price: $66.69
Intro
Disclaimer: The Twistura D-Major was provided to us at no charge courtesy of Linsoul. However, this was done with the understanding I was to give my honest thoughts and opinions of the D-Major. The Twistura D-major is available for purchase here should you find yourself interested in a pair, or feel free to use your links.
Prior to receiving this pair of earphones, I have never heard of TWISTURA as a brand. It seems that this is a new brand. For a first IEM of the brand, purely from the design language of the IEMs itself, they do seem quite bold and adventurous. This seems to work as I was immediately intrigued and curious how they fit and sounded. Without further ado, let’s dive right into the review.
Accessories
The D-major is quite generous with accessories. It comes paired with 2 sets of tips, and the transparent one seems to have a more snug fit. It is also one of those tunable nozzle sets, coming with an additional 2 pairs of nozzles. It comes with a rather simple detachable cable that I am not too much of a fan of. It is soft but the rubber has memory to it, doesn’t fall straight and can look quite messy.
One of the more notable mentions is that the D-major comes with a Dongle DAC. It is a USB Type-C terminated attachment that provides some DSP to your earphone which is a handy inclusion for most casual users who intend to use try out IEMs with their mobile devices. This should satisfy many users now that iPhones have also moved onto Type-C.
Build Quality and Fit
As I earlier mentioned, the D-major has quite a unique design never seen before. The materials it uses also seem and feel quite premium in the hand, as it feels quite hefty and has a partially see-through plate, that reveals some of the inner circuitry. They do seem well-built overall, but they would pick up fingerprints and scratches quite easily, unfortunately.
Fit unfortunately is a bit more challenging. The weight of the earphones sometimes causes the earphones to slide out gradually of the ear when I use them on the go. It is also very crucial to find the right tips to get a snug inner fit as this has a noticeable impact on the bass response.
Sound
Most of the testing is done on the stock filter, with a graph below revealing the differences in frequency response between the filters.
Frequency Response graph of the 3 filters (Red: Red Washer Vocal Nozzle, Blue: Blue Washer Pop Nozzle, Grey: Black Washer Stock Nozzle)
Sources
- Fiio BTR7
- Aune M1P
- SMSL M200 –> Schiit Magnius
Music listened to
- Jackson Browne
- Kingo Hamada
- The Carpenters
- Maroon 5
- Aladdin Broadway
- Kygo
- Chicago
- NEEDTOBREATHE
- Loud Luxury
- MIKA
- The Vamps
- The Eagles
- etc
Bass
The bass has an organic feel to it that extends into a nice textured subbass rumble. I quite like it when instruments like the Tubas seem to come alive in the background. The bass presentation overall benefits from the wide perceived soundstage of the IEMs. However, the tuning is overall quite bass-light, especially in the mid-bass. This can cause some unnaturalness in the overall tuning or leave you with the feeling that something is missing when craving just a bit more body from that mid-bass. That said I find the bass quantity and quality overall quite enjoyable and satisfying.
Mids
The mids seem to be what the D-majors were made to excel at. It pushes out really luscious vocals, both male and female. Instrumental tracks sound immaculate, and solos from instruments like violins, saxophones, clarinets, and oboes always sound filled with soul. The mids are relatively forward but not too in your face. With the staging and imaging done well on the D-major, the vocal layers come together really nicely with the rest of the music and each has its space to shine. Melody does not come across as congested, overly intimate or one-dimensional. This keeps the listening experience engaging without being fatiguing.
Highs
In the highs, they seem okay to me. They are inoffensive, without any noticeable sibilance on the stock tuning (default nozzles). The lower treble complements the mids and vocals well and gives it the fullness required. The upper treble rolls off rather early, and the sound lacks that brilliance that you get in more technical and accurate IEMs.
Overall
Overall, the rolled-off upper treble and lack of midbass seem to hamper the technical capability and detail retrieval of the D-major. That said, the D-major still has rather decent technical and resolving ability for its asking price. Its biggest weakness to me would be its tonal accuracy as it comes off as a little unnatural sounding and this limits the versatility of the D-major. One of the standouts of the D-major would be its wide soundstage and excellent imaging.
Conclusion
I am a little conflicted about the Twistura Dmajors. I really want to love them for the uniqueness of their sound at their price range. I very much enjoyed the luxuriously wide soundstage it had for an IEM. I am also a huge sucker for mids. However, I can’t ignore the limitations in the tonal accuracy of the D-major. Their limited versatility and poor fit hampers them from being my first pick for a daily driver and hence I would not recommend these to someone who is looking for their first IEM or a daily driver but for something unique? This sure would be a nice addition. The added tunable nozzles are also a nice touch to be able to tweak the IEM slightly to better suit your playlists. I look forward to the next exciting release from Twistura.
Overall Grade: B
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