7th Acoustics is a brand that you either know or you don’t - While they're really well known and beloved in the IEM community, pretty much no one outside that community has ever heard of them. Supernova was their claim to fame, this all BA set is a fantastic mid-tier all rounder, with a sound that can excite all sides of the hobby. It is a fun, smooth set with a warm edge, that also boasts pristine detail and resolution, and its non-offensive presentation would be great for all genres and resonates with a wide range of audiophile’s preferences.
Now, 7th Acoustics bursts back onto the market with their extremely limited release of Asteria: a 13 driver hybrid set that comes in at $3,800. Asteria is really a one of a kind set in its price bracket and in this market, and I think it is one of the most unique flagship IEMs you can get your ears on. There have been many flagships to come out this summer (check out Steve’s flagship shoot out!) but I really believe that Asteria sets itself apart from its peers. It is engaging, risky, detailed, and powerful, and today we are going to break it down piece by piece, and try to decide if this is a set you should add to your endgame collection.
Build and Design
As always, we are going to start here with the build and design. Asteria has a CNC aluminum housing with gold ceramic coating, and a gorgeous inlaid iridescent blue morpho faceplate with a logo on the left shell, and the name “Asteria” on the right. I love the feel of the faceplate right off the bat, the aluminum housing feels premium to the touch and the blue faceplate is quite handsome. The way that the light hits the faceplate changes the look of this set, and it ranges from a rich purple-ish blue to a bright, pale, almost teal colored blue. On the latter, it almost looks as if there is a light underneath the faceplate, as it gets quite bright and is very eye-catching. The shell alone feels very endgame, you can tell lots of thought went into designing something that is engaging and really stands out, which pairs so nicely with the sound of this set which we will get into a little bit later.
The Lyra cable on Asteria strikes a great balance. This is a 4N OCC Pure Silver cable with an ultra soft PVC jacket. This cable has full ceramic coated brass around the termination port, splitter, and 2 pin connectors. This hardware has a gold color as well, but it doesn’t quite match the gold on the faceplate which may peeve some people. In certain lighting it looks like they match, but the faceplate’s gold is much more dull. This all silver cable supposedly leads to faster transients and a tighter, punchier sound. The bottom line is, that description does match Asteria’s sound signature, so take that for what it is, and the cable that comes with this set looks and feels great. It is not too skinny to where it feels cheap, but not too thick to be offensive. Again it strikes a great balance and feels great, despite it not having my highly coveted chin slider.
Lastly in build and design, we are going to talk about the driver configuration. Asteria is a 13 driver hybrid set, with a 10mm High Magnetic Flux Dynamic Driver that features BalanceFlow double venting tech for the low end, and 12 ultra low distortion Knowles Balanced Armatures that fill out the rest of the spectrum. This breaks down like so: x6 midrange BAs, x2 upper midrange BAs, x2 tweeter BAs, and x2 supertweeter BAs. The combination of 1 dynamic driver paired up with a bunch of balanced armatures is something we have grown super accustomed to in this hobby, so nothing really sets this apart from what we’ve seen, besides maybe the amount of BAs in Asteria. This combination usually delivers a safe, balanced sound, with powerful but controlled low end, a detailed midrange, and decent resolution in the upper regions.
In summary, the build, design, and form factor in Asteria all gets a big thumbs up. The uniqueness in the color changing faceplate is something that will certainly draw in eyes, contrasted with the gold elements that make this look and feel premium. The cable is durable yet soft to the touch, and has a nice weight to it. The driver configuration is basic, but bold, and the technical excellence that comes with all of these drivers together is only fitting for this one of a kind set. Lets get into how Asteria sounds, because I know that is what you are all really here for.
Sound
Before I start talking about the sound signature in Asteria, I should first touch base on what my listening experience was aided by, as this should give you a good idea of what my baseline is. This hobby is so subjective, and the ways I was listening to Asteria can impact my experience, which could ultimately differ from yours! I will do my best to be objective here and talk about what the intention is and what it is doing on a technical level, while also loosening up and talking about my subjective thoughts and experiences with this set.
I spent most of my time listening to Asteria with my desktop setup here at the office, which is a Topping D90 Sabre DAC going into the Burson Conductor 3x Amp. I did try listening with my SR35 for a little bit, however I did feel a noticeable difference in quality drop off here as opposed to listening on my desktop chain. The SR35 is great, but Asteria is a little bit on the harder to drive side of things, and my DAP just didn't get it done here. If you are planning on listening to Asteria more on the go, I would think that the SP4000, DX340, or something along those lines would do a better job here. Lastly with sound, I have pretty exclusively been listening to Asteria with the Eletech Baroque Stage ear tips in size medium. I found that I get a really great seal with these tips on Asteria, and it especially helps with its punchy, and controlled sound signature. With all of that out of the way, let's get into the sound of 7th Acoustics Asteria.
Starting off in the low end region, Asteria has what looks to be a pretty significant boost here according to the graph. Graphs do not tell the whole story, though, and I think that Asteria’s low end is more about detail and slam, than it is rumble. The sub bass region, while elevated, does not present the rumble that its frequency response graph would suggest. Rather it fills the space in an immersive way that doesn’t add too much to the power that the low end region offers. Hip hop 808 bass regions are certainly present, the most sub woofer styled bass that you can get on this set, however it is not really the main take away in the lower regions. I think that where Asteria shines is in its low mid emphasis and detail. Kick drums have great weight to them, and low toms are deep and full. The bass guitars have excellent clarity, it almost gives it a more “analog” feeling, as opposed to an electronic generated, unnatural sound. Lower regions on Asteria are certainly engaging in a punchy and quick way, not a massive and immersive way like you would see from more basshead tailored sets.
Moving onto the midrange here, the 2 words that really come to mind are crisp, and natural. I think natural is going to be a word we hear a lot in this review. The spatial imaging in the mid range is extremely immersive, making records you love less of an album, and more of a world you can step into and live in for a little while. Paired with extremely good isolation, the imaging really takes front seat here and places the instruments all around you. Acoustic guitars are a stand out for me in the mid range. When strummed with a pick, the detail of the pick strumming through the strings is so prominent and adds such a nice flavor to tracks. The body resonance from the acoustic hangs on for every split second that it can, fading away very nicely with tons of room to breathe. I was listening to a lot of soundtracks on Asteria, and a highlight soundtrack for me was from The Brutalist. This soundtrack features many lower horn instruments mixed with lighter pianos, and this combination on Asteria was extremely well done. The horns in the low mid region were strong, contrasted by higher toned string instruments and delicate grand piano parts that cut through with excellent clarity. I think it really encapsulated what Asteria does in the midrange. Sometimes with a more V shaped tuning the mid range can feel recessed or veiled, but that is not necessarily the case on this set. The mid range is not presented as forward facing as the treble region is, however it cuts through very naturally with lots of clarity, crispness, and resonance
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Moving onwards to the upper midrange and treble regions, this is where Asteria turns up the heat a little bit. I remember my first listen at CanJam SoCal with Matty, we both walked away from Asteria thinking that it was extremely busy up here and maybe even leaning on the side of shouty to spicy. This is where the other side of this V shaped tuning comes in, the upper mids and treble regions are certainly emphasized on Asteria and pushed forward to create a sort of in your face sound that adds loads of excitement and is what I think really separates this set from other flagships. Vocals on Asteria are truly front and center. And they are supported by strong resolution that really clings onto the reverb on vocals and extends them very nicely. I think a record that demonstrates this region nicely is the new album from Turnstile that came out this year, Never Enough. Never Enough features Brendens yell / scream vocals blasting at you with chorus-y guitar tones layering in is a prime example of where the upper midrange or treble region can come really close to being too much for some people. Asteria flirts right on the line of “shouty” or “spicy” and provides a really exciting, forward facing upper region without being too bright or fatiguing. And again, this is what really sets apart Asteria from other flagships in its class.
Concluding Thoughts
I think that most flagships in this market usually are safer tuned than Asteria. If you look at something like Etoile, this is a detailed monster with more of a laid back, reference tuning. If you look at Kronos, you get a smooth and warm sound that we’ve seen in a lot of other popular sets like Valhalla, Spectrumica, etc. But Asteria really sets itself apart from the rest of the group by having a balance of 2 things that I haven’t seen executed so well so far - and that is its Engagement and its very Natural Tonality. Again, we’ve seen one or the other countless times in this congested market place, but Asteria really hits the nail on the head with both, and becomes a versatile monster in your library.
I love the second half of Frank Ocean’s Blonde, which features a lot of very calm, electronic songs like “Close to You” or “Godspeed”. When listening to these songs, you get that fantastic immersion factor from the great imaging and massive soundstage that Asteria provides, combined with very natural sounding instruments and vocal layers that cover you like a blanket. Tracks like Close To You really show you everything this set has to offer where it makes a chill song super engaging, with the punchy drum machine and the wonderfully spaced and detailed vocals and background production elements. This is about as calm as Asteria gets. Meanwhile, shoot over to a jazz track like the opening song on the La La Land soundtrack, that constantly flowing upright bass line, crisp female vocals, energetic piano lines and busy horn parts come together to create a wall of sound that really fires you up. It feels busy, but I spent days listening to Asteria for upwards of 6-7 hours straight, and truly never got fatigued of this sound. I actually found it to be quite addicting.
If you are looking for something relaxed and warm, I would NOT recommend Asteria, I think you can find that in a multitude of other IEMs. However, if you are looking for a punchy, fast, exciting new sound at the top of the line level of quality, I think Asteria may be the most perfect addition to your collection. I also think if you are a treble head, and like a spicy sound up there, this would be the flagship for you. This is coming from someone who generally prefers the safer, warmer and smoother sound of most of the meta market that we have seen this year. However Asteria is a set that grew on me in a way that nothing else has, it was so energetic and exciting in a way that never really tired me out. But it also still kept that Natural, extremely accurate sound that I love in the mid range. Asteria offers something not a lot of other flagships do in this market, and I think the long production time of Asteria really paid off, and I think it is one of the most unique IEMS that have come out this year.
Have any more questions? Feel free to reach out to us at our email at hello@bloomaudio.com or hop right in our live chat! Me or any of the CS guys would be happy to talk all things Asteria, or about any other products in our store for that matter.
