Kiwi Ears ETUDE VS QoA Cloud Scape

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Kiwi Ears Etude is presented as a hybrid set that focuses on delivering a very engaging yet controlled bass foundation. The low end is described as punchy and rumbly in a satisfying way, with a sub bass focused shelf that adds weight and atmosphere without bleeding into the mids or turning boomy. Decay stays on the faster side, so the low frequencies remain tight and separated, expanding the perceived soundstage instead of crowding it.

The midrange comes across smooth and well balanced on the graph, translating into intimate, airy vocals with clear texture and presence. Male voices carry a magnetic warmth while female vocals sound cool and crisp, and overall tonality leans slightly on the cooler side but remains coherent and well structured. Instruments are rendered in a dry, crisp and light manner that is not weak, with excellent resolution and clarity that bring out guitar and piano lines in a very detailed way.

In the treble, the tuning favors a bright, clear and airy presentation with dips to control sibilance and a later lift for openness, resulting in impressive detail retrieval and a highly realistic portrayal of small sounds, though rougher recordings can still let some sibilance poke through. Transient response is quick, clean and punchy, and compared to the warmer and thicker sounding Grit, Etude offers cleaner layering, sharper resolution, wider imaging and more perceived space. Combined with feather light shells and cable that make the set very comfortable even for long sessions, the overall technical and tonal package easily supports the strong 4.5 out of 5 star rating given in the video.

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The Kiwi Ears Étude is a $119 hybrid that leans hard into the whole bone-conductor experience: a single beryllium dynamic driver, three BAs and one vibration transducer stuffed into a large, hollow shell. The shell is vented, has a solid anti-tragus catch and holds tips well, but also physically vibrates and gives a little “thump” noise when seated, which some will find cool and others will just nope out of immediately. Visually it’s a win – the faceplate is described as one of the prettier designs around this price, while the included cable and case are more in the “perfectly fine, nothing fancy” category.

Sonically, Étude is a fun, audiophile-tuned toy rather than a safe, studio tool. The bone-conductor-style driver and hollow shell create a big reverb, “ping-pongy” spaciousness that can feel strange at first but also helps break the usual in-ear “mask” and gives a more expansive, immersive stage. Bass is the star: rich, thick and highly engaging, with a response that mostly hugs the target aside from a characteristic 200 Hz dip tied to the bone conductor. It isn’t the cleanest or most analytical presentation; highs and imaging are only decent (roughly a 9/8/7/7 split for bass, mids, treble and imaging), and upper air and micro-detail are not class-leading, but note weight and staging are genuinely satisfying for this price.

In the wider Kiwi Ears lineup, Étude sits as the “experience” set next to more traditional options: Astral for neutral studio work, Aether as the plain “good” planar, and Aroso as the simple, non-annoying benchmark around this bracket. Étude instead targets listeners who already own several IEMs and want something unique, expressive and a bit wild without spending a fortune. Against other bone-conductor-style IEMs like Plutus Beast, Z Empire or Pula Anvil, Étude’s frequency response and fun factor make it easier to enjoy as a daily guilty pleasure. It’s a good, engaging IEM with obvious quirks: people who can handle the shell vibrations and reverb will get a visceral, entertaining listen, while those seeking a safe, conventional tuning are better off with Kiwi’s tamer models.

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The Kiwi Ears Étude builds its whole identity around the new KVT vibrational driver, which doesn’t boost rumble like a subwoofer but instead adds extra reverb, echo and prolonged decay to the low end. Bass notes feel more bouncy and linger after impact, giving drums and guitar plucks a more textured, atmospheric character without turning muddy. Even the shell has an audible resonance when tapped or when the jaw moves, underlining how strongly this driver imprints that echoey character on the sound.

This “special sauce” works great in the bass and with genres like hip-hop, rock, R&B, jazz and many instrumentals, where the reverb adds pleasing texture and space to the instruments while treble stays relatively smooth and natural. The downside is the vocal timbre: on stripped-back ballads and acoustic tracks, the same prolonged decay bleeds into the mids, making singers sound like they’re stuck under a cheap reverb filter, which can feel gimmicky and distracting. Technical performance is solid but not class-leading for the price—roughly on par with the Odyssey—with good dynamics and an engaging low end, but without the air, micro-detail and layering of sets like Astro or Septet.

Tonally, Étude comes across as a slightly more V-shaped, bassier alternative to other Kiwi Ears sets: richer and more textured in the low end than Performer 5+2, smoother and more natural in the treble, yet less convincing in vocal realism. Versus Odyssey and Astro, it feels more like a sidegrade or niche pick: Odyssey offers heavier slam and more natural mids, while Astro is the safer allrounder with better resolution, space and sub-bass rumble without the vocal weirdness. Overall, Étude earns a half recommendation: a fun, unique collector’s piece for those who want to experience the KVT driver and a bouncy, reverby bass presentation, but not the best choice for anyone seeking a balanced daily driver or vocal-focused set—where Astro, Odyssey or other vocal-centric IEMs will be the better fit.

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Kiwi Ears Etude comes in around 119 USD as a tribrid with a very striking shell and the KVT bone conduction driver that literally vibrates in the hand and in the ear. The package is practical rather than flashy, with a pocket friendly hard case, nine pairs of silicone tips and a thin but very usable cable that stays flat and does not tangle. The shell is on the chunky side but offers a secure seal with no pressure build up thanks to its vents, making comfort good for medium to larger ears as long as bulky shells are not a problem.

The KVT driver adds a very noticeable physical layer to the music, similar to a softer smartphone vibration that shows up not only with bass hits but also in vocals and acoustic instruments, turning the Etude into a kind of 3D movie for the ears. Bass is punchy with clear slam and a mid bass focused thump that can even tickle the ears at higher volume, though the decay is slow and rumbling texture is not extremely strong. Mids are smooth and never shouty, but carry a hollow, echoey quality that makes vocals and instruments feel like they are in an empty room, which blurs separation. Treble is the most conventional part of the tuning, coming across as smooth, well extended and easy to listen to with no harshness and no added echo, even if it is not the last word in micro detail.

Imaging and staging are very much a mixed bag: there is a wide, floaty presentation, yet instrument edges feel blurred and it is hard to pinpoint positions, with the midrange echo masking finer details and clean separation on tracks like Hello by Adele. Compared with regular in ear monitors around 100 USD, many competitors offer a more balanced, natural midrange and cleaner imaging, but none provide the same intense vibration effect. Etude therefore feels like a fun and very strong implementation of bone conduction for listeners who want to feel their music and explore this technology, rather than a natural reference pick for vocal clarity, realism and precise spatial cues.

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The Kiwi Ears Étude comes in the usual Kiwi Ears packaging with the standard case and cable, but the shells themselves are ridiculously pretty — like layers of gold sand swirling in the ear while the vibration module buzzes away. The driver setup is a beryllium dynamic driver plus 3 BAs and a vibration transducer, which can be felt physically humming, but doesn’t quite behave like true bone conduction. At normal listening levels the extra transducer mostly feels like a party trick; it really only wakes up and starts “doing something” when the volume is pushed into “probably too loud” territory.

Sonically, the Étude is clear, warm and a bit wide, with focused vocals and a bass response that sits at acceptable to slightly above average for the price. It doesn’t slam like high-end bass monsters, but there’s enough low-end to keep most people happy, especially with the right tips. The soundstage isn’t huge, yet the overall presentation is clean and competent, more about normal, easy listening than chasing some wild, ultra-engaging signature.

Once the price tag shows up at around $113, the whole picture makes sense: this is basically a $100 IEM that looks gorgeous, sounds good, and adds a slightly awkward vibration gimmick that’s fun but not essential. It doesn’t dethrone Kiwi Ears’ more impressive sets, and it’s not the kind of thing that demands an instant purchase, but it’s also far from a dud. In the end, the Étude is a very pretty, fine-sounding set that feels worth about $100 for those who want clear, clean audio with some visual flair and can live with “they’re fine” instead of “this changes everything.”

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QoA Cloudscape is a dark blue or lighter blue hybrid that pairs a 10 millimeter dynamic driver with a micro planar at roughly the 100 dollar mark, keeping the usual nice shells, cable and case that Queen of Audio is known for. The tuning mixes a very full roughly 10 decibel bass shelf with an engaging upper range handled by the planar, creating a fun, V-shaped sound that feels more like an under the radar banger than a safe reference set. Bass is heavy, thumpy and persistent, giving a strong sense of texture and warmth, while the set likes extra volume so that the mids come forward and sit in line with the upper range rather than falling into a classic V-shaped recession.

The micro planar driver gives the upper mids and treble a character that is closer to multiple balanced armatures than a single BA or traditional planar, with clarity, note definition and extension that feel quite technical for the price. Compared with something like Unicrom, Cloudscape keeps a similar bass and upper mid contour but adds more upper range presence and air, trading a cleaner, more relaxed top end for a sharper, more energetic edge that can be a little less forgiving on some rock if the recording lacks low end weight. Overall, this is a very musical, energetic hybrid that prioritizes fun and genre flexibility, especially pop and modern productions with fuller bass, over strict neutrality, and shows just how much can be done with a simple one plus one configuration when the balance between the thick low end and lively treble is carefully dialed in.