QILIAN Q1

QILIAN is a low-budget brand with some interesting designs, but casual-grade hardware. The first model I wanted to explore was the Q1 - a dual micro-driver headset. Considering the vast amount of wonderful earphones I had the pleasure to use, the Q1 did not disappoint, but also offered nothing new in this price range. Those are quite typical V-shaped earphones, with pronounced bass and treble but underwhelming mids.

Very comfortable earphones, like many other earphones with a similar shape and angle for the housings. Their shape offers a firm hold and seal even with the included generic tips.

These earphones are definitely bassy, but the bass isn't exactly stable. On deep bass content, the bass gets unclean and shaky, almost as if it's about to crack and rattle. With that been said, I was quite impressed that those tiny drivers could produce such a bass. Very cool.

It's not the worst mids in that price range, let me tell you that. Certainly, not even close to being the best. They are quite underemphasized and backgrounded by the massive bass response. It's has a slightly darkish tone, and leans towards being harsh, but hardly noticeable once you get used to them.

The highs are quite loud, but are not what I would call precise. They have a darkish tonality and perceptually harsh on higher volumes. Detail isn't very clean and doesn't do any good in adding some delicacy and clarity to the overall sound quality. I'm hardly surprised, considering the price and setup of this pair.