BrainWavz Alpha: Just a Kid out of Puberty

stonecaper

SuperMASSiVE
Introduction:
Brain Wavz Alpha (will be referred to as BWA from now on)Is Brainwavz's Ultra-budget iem strictly for The "Bought a new iPod but the bundled earphone is sh1t and i need a cheap new one" Kind of people.I was Bored with my m9 So i decided to try a new one.Boy,It certainly got me More excited than my ex-girlfriend :D
Photos:
From Top: Full IEM View ,The Connector, Accessories , Driver Close-ups

*img695.imageshack.us/img695/6927/allec.jpg*img837.imageshack.us/img837/6191/connc.jpg
*img854.imageshack.us/img854/1707/accv.jpg
*img94.imageshack.us/img94/8192/iemt.jpg

(Crappy pics?Relax Einstein,Its a 2 Year old Canon P&S not a Hasselblad )

Specifications: (ctrl+ved from the site)

Transducers/Drivers: Dynamic, 8mm, CCAW Drive units
Rated Impedance: 20ohms ± 15%
Sensitivity: 110 ± 2dB at 1KHz 1mW 20upa
Frequency range: 15 ~ 28000Hz
Distortion: <= 2% 94dB (20upa)
Channel balance: <= 3dB (at 1000Hz)
Rated input power: 10mW
Maximum input power: 30mW
Plug: 3.5mm 24kgilt stereo plug
Cable length: 1m
1 year warranty
Dimensions (Packaging): 145 x 100 x 5mm
Net Weight: 10g
Gross Weight: 19g
External factors :

Included Accessories: I Got 3 Pairs of ear tips (S/M/L) and one shirt clip.the eartips are a little less soft and flexible than those of m9's.The Shirt clip is rather big and is useful to cut down microphonics.

Build Quality: BWA comes with a rubber covered cable thats kinda smooth and something tells me it will catch dirt over time and get stiff and start to crack.though its thinner and easier to manage than m9 cables.Oh and yes rubber cabling means no memory wire.U will Know what a relief that is if U own an IEM from MEElec!.the housing is rather pointed.while i am not much of a fan of pointed stuff,(except for toes in the middle of certain activities) it does manage to stick to your ear.that's good,innit?

Fit: Okayish.I Used the small size.

Microphonics: a little Bit specially when u are munching something,but if u use the Shirt Clip, it comes down considerably.

Isolation:Strictly Okay

Song-by-Song comparison:

IEM Used For comparison: m9

I did not Burn these much coz i thought iems of this price bracket will hardly have any improvement no matter how many decades I burn it in.And Even if It Does,My n00b ear will not be able to register them.So i Just Plugged it to my Walkman and let it play till the battery died (35 hours,u dig?).Then i recharged my Walkman again and started testing.

Cradle of Filth - Nymphetamine (Feat Liv Cristine)

I noticed The first difference between m9 and BWA - the soundstage.Picture a skull cap - BWA's Soundstage is like that as opposed to the Bonnet like soundstage of m9.Drum hits were a bit better sounding but the full drum sound was less mature,i mean the vibration of the drum film was not there.Instrument Separation was not as good but surprisingly I found Liv Cristine sounding better a few times.what is Happening?

Kailasa - Saiyyan

Isn't this a great song? Well BWA surprised me early.While still lacking the necessary Soundstage,It started the song in a more funny way.Vocals were more pronounced,drums and percussion though still lacked reach, were pushed a bit behind and this combo gave the song a fresh, "Just jamming" feel.I wasnt complaining :)

Incubus - Love Hurts

Yap,This is My most favourite song :) Thankfully BWA did not totally let me down Here,But dude,U need Some Soundstage atleast to go with those fruity (or is it Lush,Fah33m sir?) Vocals by Brandon.Also the Nylon guitar strumming around 3 mins into the song...Nah,m9 did much better.

AC/DC - Back in Black

Uh-Uh..nah..BWA is not happening here.Reachless (though punchy) bass sucked,more than the dismal vocals and bass guitering, :mad: and thus m9 won all the way.

Conclusion:
Picture robert de niro of Raging Bull and of Heat. while Raging Bull highlights Niro's raw machismo and anger,in Heat Niro simply Excels in bringing depth and maturity to the character.In Heat He was emotionless maybe,But he was a Careerist too.Same Goes for BWA and m9.While BWA is fun and fresh Like raging Bull's Nero,at the end of the day, u need somebody more experienced like m9 (Heat's Nero,got the drift?) to get the job done.Experience Does Matter mostly at the end of the day i.e. at night :)

Value for Money:
I Got it for $7.12 (Thnx to esanthosh).if u buy it for <$10,okay But otherwise please loosen ur purse strings a little more and go for an m9

Is It for Me?
only if U got a Spanking new ipod/jpod/kpod but the stock earbud is even worse than your love life



Review Details:

  • Template Used: Hippo Epic-Sparkle IEM: Certainly no Epic!
  • Source: My NWZ-S545 Walkman (Ipod is better? oh,You like To touch,Huh?) With only digital Normalizer enabled , v0/v2 vbr OR 320 KBps Mp3s
 
Last edited:

desiibond

Bond, Desi Bond!
nice review. be careful with words. removed the text under "is it for me?". add something that is decent.
 
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