QOA Pink Lady review

28/05/202001/06/2020 hifinext.com 333 Views

QOA Pink Lady is the earphones of a very young company with the not quite the usual name Queen of Audio. In fact, we can’t name the company new to audio engineering: it was founded by a native of Kinera, Steve Tong, so there is definitely some experience and achievements. The editor got a hybrid, inexpensive model Queen of Audio Pink Lady. The company decided to use the names of the cocktails for its earphone models. In addition to the Pink Lady, there is already a six-driver Mojito armature and the “hybrid electrostatic” Margarita is mentioned.

Queen of Audio Pink Lady – low cost in-ear hybrid headphones. They use a fairly common scheme with one 10-mm dynamic and two balanced armature. The cable is removable, with 2-pin 0.78 mm connectors. This case costs a little over $100, so the model is more likely for “beginner” audio enthusiasts. All the more interesting is what it can offer in reality.

Accessories & Packaging

Earphones are delivered in a small black box of a completely standard form with an external “cover” of soft cardboard and a rigid inner box. Outside, there is not much to it: model name, brand logo and brief specifications on the back. It is strange that the inscription on the sidewall reads “Not only for men”.

Inside the box is a pair of cards with more detailed information, including links with QR codes and a frequency response graph. The entire delivery set fit into a small round carrying case made of light brown leatherette. Inside there are Earphones with a cable, 6 pairs of silicone tips with a wide and narrow hole (three pieces of different sizes) and a couple of foam ones.

Design

Queen of Audio Pink Lady looks familiar: similar design and construction are used in an impressive amount of in-ear headphones. The cases are cast from acrylic and resemble custom models. There are no joints or seams anywhere. The shape is similar to the Kinera Odin, but the size of the Queen of Audio Pink Lady is smaller. On the outside is the golden Queen of Audio (QoA) logo, there are no more design features.

Compensation holes are placed in the upper part of the earphones. The sound guides are positioned at a good, correct angle, but they are too short. And the form is not the most successful. Increasing the width at the ends of the sound guides, which should serve for better fixation of the attachments, does not cope with its function very well. “Native” nozzles hold well, but any third-party ones get out immediately. So do not lose the complete ones, picking up others will be very difficult.

Two pin 0.78 mm connectors are used for connecting the cable. The cable is fixed well, nothing is loose. The “plug” on the cable and the connector on the earphone feel quite reliable, do not loose or break.

The complete cable feels quite high quality and reliable. This is a braided copper sheath in black insulation. The cable is quite thick, but does not get confused, lightweight and very soft. There is a length adjustment after the divider and fixed soft earhooks. The connector is metal straight.

The shape of the QoA Pink Lady’s cases is quite successful: with prolonged use, the earphones do not press and do not interfere anywhere. The relatively small size and flat outer part contributed to the fact that the headphones do not protrude above the auricle and with a hat in the cold they combine perfectly. The Pink Lady sound guides didn’t really “enter”: they seemed to us rather short and putting earphones into the right depth was not easy.

Cable hooks are not adjustable, but they are very flexible and comfortable. As we wrote above, the set includes 7 pairs of nozzles: foam and silicone of two types, with different hole diameters. Quite modest, given the difficulty of using third-party. But it’s quite possible to choose the best. With successful nozzles, sound insulation is very good, although it could have been better. Enough for comfortable use on the street.

Sound

Earphones use a common hybrid configuration. One dynamic unit 10mm and a pair of balanced armature. Apparently, the goal of the developers was to make universal earphones with a “musical” pitch that would not be too picky about the source. Thanks to the resistance of 16 Ohms and the sensitivity of 112 dB, the pink Lady can be “rocked” by a smartphone. The sound was interesting and very tasty, especially considering the cost of the earphones. Pink Lady does not have any obvious genre preferences; everything sounds exciting.

Pink Lady have a rather pronounced V-shaped frequency response with a raised bottom and slightly accentuated treble. There are a lot of low frequencies, including subwoofers, which add depth and overall scale to the sound. The use of a dynamic unit is felt. The control and speed of the bass can not be called outstanding, but they are voluminous and juicy. Despite some “recession” of the middle frequencies, they sound natural and very lively, although the lower part of the midrange would be a little more detailed. But closer to the top midrange become very interesting and detailed. The treble is a little accented and vibrant. They successfully add to the overall picture of volume and space.

At the same time, the treble stay within the bounds of decency and do not cut on the ears. Although we can assume that there are listeners to whom the high frequency may seem too much. Pleasantly pleased with the imaginary scene and separation of instruments, better than you might expect. Affects a successful combination of dynamic and armature unit. Queen of Audio Pink Lady doesn’t even try to give out a dry, analytic sound. In this case, the emphasis is on musicality and emotions, the earphones do this very well. They offer the listener an energetic and captivating sound with character.

Verdict

Queen of Audio’s debut in personal audio can be considered very successful. Pink Lady excellent earphones for “beginner” audiophiles who love not dry analytics, but a musical, vibrant, driving and captivating sound that will delight and evoke the corresponding emotions.

At the same time, the cost of about $135 is quite humane, given the sound quality, good looks and convenient design. Although competition in this segment is extremely high. The only thing we didn’t like (taking into account the price, of course) is the not very successful short sound guide, which brings some difficulties with put in and with the selection of nozzles.