The CCA CA16 is a definite recommendation by me. For the advertised price of $59.00 you can’t really go wrong with these. I like high end IEM’s and have some very expensive ones in my stable. But I really love finding an IEM that is “inexpensive” but still sounds expensive (just like anyone else I guess). These fit that bill.

These have 1 Dynamic Driver and 7 Balanced Armatures. The shell is well made and attractive. It fits well in my ears and is comfortable. The cable is thin and “janky” (is that really a word) but did not tangle easily and sounded just fine, no need to change it unless your a cable monger like me.

I did find out that these are very amplifier specific. My initial listening and testing was on the Monoprice Monolith Portable THX amp. And all that was great, clear, clean, excellent bass, good imaging decent stage and generally good timber. But when I switched to the FiiO M11 Pro they changed. The sound was “veiled” and not as clear. Some of the “emotional” connection I had with some of the testing songs was lost. Weird? I also heard the sound change with the FiiO BTR 5 and the EarStudio. I understand these are different devices and different circuitry so for sure there will be slight differences but the difference between the FiiO and the Monoprice was huge. I can only guess that the Monoprice has significantly more power output and this affected the driving of these IEM’s. I have not tested on a phone so I can’t tell you how that sounded.

So on the FiiO I would change my review to “good buy at $59.00 but does not play up against more expensive IEM’s”. On the Monoprice, the same except “definitely is worth more and plays up to more expensive IEM’s”.

The BGVP ArtMagic VG4 is an IEM that I had several subscribers ask me to review. I also saw some other reviews that peeked my interest. So I plunked down the $229.00 at Penon Audio and ordered them. I was excited to try them out and so I ripped them out of the box and plugged them into my Monoprice monolith THX Portable Amp (what a mouthful) and started listening. I was surprised, they have a unique sound signature. It was very clinical but still sounded good.

These IEM’s have 4 BA’s, Sonion and Knowles, and no dynamic driver. I had a hard time reviewing these. I was trying to come up with what it was that was unique about them? What was that weird sound signature that I couldn’t place? I liked them but they had a different sound than other IEM’s. To be honest this is a trait I look for, something different, but it has to make me happy, excited, want to keep listening to songs that I love. This is where things got dicey. I didn’t like all genres of music on these, mostly guitar, some vocals, symbols and snare drums (so Jazz). They have great detail. The decay in the high frequencies is also very good making things like guitars notes and symbols sound realistic. But thin in the bass area, no real punch in bass drums. No vibrations in Upright Bass found in a lot of Jazz. But more than that they were very “clear” and “technical”. I know many love that sound signature but not me. I like clear and even a little technical but also warm. I want to feel the singers voice and the emotion in it. I couldn’t get that from these.

So I have rambled enough, my final opinion is this; for $229.00 I cannot recommend. They need to drop the price to $120 or below, and or, go back and re-tune these. The accessories are great, nice case, beautiful cable and a nice selection of ear tips. The IEM’s are well made and attractive and they fit my ridiculously small ears well. But the price is too much for the sound.

The Jade Audio EA3 is a “sub-brand” produced by FiiO. I will start with “I really like these, for the price”. These IEM’s have a great sound to them. Very good bass or low end frequencies. Mid’s are present and vocals sound great. High frequencies are reproduced well, decay from symbols and such is excellent. The timber is good, not as good as some higher end models but that is expected. Stage is OK but totally acceptable. Separation is good. Imaging is OK not great. The bass is very strong, these are great fir rock’n’roll or hip-hop. The bass does seem to be “muddy” in some songs that do not have a “tight” bass such as electronically reproduced bass songs.

The cable is very nice for the price, thin but does not tangle easily and works well. The included case is sufficient. The selection of ear tips included worked great for me and I didn’t have to dig into my supply to enhance the sound. For $39.00 (as tested) these are a definite buy. These compare to much more expensive IEM’s for sure.

Songs used that stood out:

Cecilia Strange – Bridge. Really here the decay of upper frequencies in this song, which was good.

Camila Cabello – Crying in the club, Bass was great. Singers voice was good with great detail and body.

SOS Band – (whole album). This is a good example of electronically produced bass that sounds good.