If you have a $300 budget for buying new IEMs, you might have pretty close to 300 good options available in the current market, so releasing a new IEM for $259 takes a bit of courage. What takes even more courage is to use one of the most revered flagship IEMs on the market, the Subtonic Storm, as your tuning target for the aforementioned $259 IEM. ZiiGaat and Jay Audio were clearly feeling brave when they cooked up Seraphim – priced at $259 with the goal of delivering a flagship-style tuning in an affordable set of IEMs. Can it live up to the task?
Build and Design
While there are plenty of cheaper IEMs that impress with the materials and design, Seraphim’s build is still in the upper echelon of IEMs in this price range. The aluminum shells have a unique texture to the front, and the venting for the dual isobaric dynamic drivers make for a stylish accent on the faceplate. Internally, you have five drivers: 3 balanced armatures, and 2 isobaric dynamic drivers.
In terms of fit and comfort, Seraphim has a simple ergonomic design and moderately sized nozzles, which should be an easy fit for most people who are used to listening with IEMs. Unlike some other metal-shelled IEMs, Seraphim remains lightweight, which also helps with getting a secure fit. The cable is high quality, but the style might be more polarizing than other aspects of the IEMs design. The cable wrap is a simple, straight clear material that can be a bit stiff. One positive aspect of the cable is that it’s modular with 3.5mm and 4.4mm tips included in the box.
Sound
“Balanced” is a word that gets thrown around a lot in the headphone tuning and review space, but it can sometimes be an indication that there’s nothing particularly interesting or engaging about the sound. With Seraphim, the goal was to make something that’s exciting without losing the fundamentals or overdoing any one aspect of the sound. The result? Well… it sounds balanced.
The bass has a nice deep extension, with the emphasis primarily in the subbass, but with a good amount of midbass as well. More modern productions that use deeper subbass in the mix sound best, while the lower emphasis offers big impact on modern pop and rock while keeping the bass on older rock and classic jazz from bleeding up or washing out the mids.
The midrange is nicely layered, and the detail is impressive at this level. Vocals feels squarely in the middle of the mix – not pushed particularly far forward, but also not recessed in the mix. In the overall mix, I found the midrange to be an area that was most sensitive to tip rolling as – to my ears – it’s just on the verge of being a little too recessed, so tips that emphasize bass or treble end up sometimes making you lose a little something in the overall mix.
The treble offers good extension and a bit of air and sparkle. From a broad tuning perspective, the technical aspects of the treble are probably the most impressive thing about this set at this price point. The resolution and sense of speed is excellent, and the finer details in higher range instruments – like the air and breath in a flute or the upper registers of a violin – are very well presented without making other elements like cymbals or snare hits sound sharp.
Seraphim’s imaging and soundstage are very good, and deliver a sense of space and separation that’s very close to the top of this class – if not at the very top. The soundstage is wide and three-dimensional, and elements fit into the space nicely. Nothing feels exaggerated or artificially enhanced, but you get a sense that the placement and positioning you’re hearing is just the way that the artist intended it.
“Spanish Joint” by D’Angelo is an impressive demonstration of what Seraphim can deliver for a rhythm section. The combination of powerful impact from the drums, with the fast attack of the other percussion elements is an immediate highlight of the track, and the other instrumental elements are strong as well. The horns and guitars both have excellent articulation, with the guitars in particular delivering a really strong sense of texture from the strings. The vocals are strong, but don’t stand out as well as the rhythm and instrumental elements of the song.
For thicker atmospheric layering, you can look at a track like “Magic” by Coldplay. The bass and drums hit immediately, with a strong impact right down the center, but the layers of synth, guitars, and pianos each maintain their unique characteristics while blending together to form a cohesive whole. Seraphim puts you right in the middle of the stage here, placing the instruments all around you on an impressive stage. The vocals cut through, with a sense of intimacy that doesn’t get lost in the mix in spite of its softness.
Seraphim can do well with smaller scale tracks as well. Mazzy Star’s “Fade Into You” is about as straightforward of production you can have on track, with a small ensemble of acoustic instruments and a vocal up front. The lead vocal is up front and personal, with a great sense of richness and vocal texture that really puts you in the room, while the rest of the band is nicely arranged around it. The piano and guitars come through with a clean, clear character and natural timbre, while the drums are set pretty far back in the mix – somewhat a switch from other tracks where the drums felt more emphasized over the vocals. The overall presentation here demonstrates strong versatility: while Seraphim is best at delivering rhythms and instrument textures if the intent of the track was a vocal focus, Seraphim can deliver a strong performance there are well.
Comparison: Kiwi Ears Orchestra Lite ($249), DITA Project M2 ($329)
There’s plenty of competition in this price range, but two of my personal favorites in this range are the Kiwi Ears Orchestra Lite and the DITA Project M2. Orchestra Lite is the closest to a true reference tuning of the three, while Project M2 is a bit closer to Seraphim, but with a different emphasis.
In terms of the build and design, each of these offers something a little different. Orchestra Lite is, more or less, just a nicer than average version of the typical resin shells. It’s comfortable and looks nice, but is largely unremarkable. Project M2 takes it to another level, with an eye-catching clear shell that offers a higher level of visual flair and a stronger perceived quality. Seraphim is also pretty close to the top of the visual game here. All three are also generally comfortable, though I’d probably rate M2 as the most comfortable and Orchestra Lite as the least.
For sound, Orchestra Lite has the strongest vocal presentation and instrumental separation. If you’re looking for something more on the critical listening side, Orchestra Lite can offer some deeper insight into instruments and layers than Seraphim. Project M2 on the other end, is the most natural and cohesive sounding. Acoustic guitars, classic jazz, and indie rock are the bread and butter for Project M2, while more complex pieces, or a stronger vocal focus would be best for Orchestra Lite. Seraphim is the most “fun” of the three: pop, rock, hip hop, and metal, would all generally be best suited for Seraphim.
Final Thoughts
While it may not match top-of-the-line flagship options in terms of craftsmanship or pure technical performance, Seraphim does offer some elements of the flagship experience. What they’ve achieved with the tuning balance in terms of nailing the fundamentals, while maintaining an exciting sound that doesn’t go too far in any direction, is at the heart of many multi-kilobuck IEM experiences. Delivering that sort of sound under $300 is quite the achievement and should absolutely put Seraphim on your radar.
