Sound
Earsonics’ house sound is quite obvious and apparent with the Onyx. It has apparent darkness, warmth, and vividness in its sound. I found some similarities to the old ES5 in terms of that darker and musical Earsonics tonality.
The sound overall is pretty balanced and cohesive. It has good technical performance and the musical delivery would make a lot of Earsonics fans happy. The presentation has a warm nature but not so much like the Corsa. I never liked the performance of the Corsa, to be honest, but this is a much better model in terms of tuning.
Bass
The bass in the Onyx is not as rumbling as the Blade or Stark, and it doesn’t have that much punch and kick. But it provides a very nice mid-bass quantity that feels quite warm and meaty. The sub-bass rumble is not that apparent compared to the Blade and Stark, and the mid-bass area is a bit more apparent when compared.
The bass control is very good so it doesn’t sound bloated in any way. This bass is set up very well and I think Earsonics nailed it in this one. There’s a very good definition and extension in the bass but it stays perfectly clean, and it doesn’t spill into the mids like the Corsa. So I really admired this clean bass presentation.
Lows have good texture and resolution and what I liked the most is the tonality of the mid-bass. It presents a great foundation for instruments’ lower notes. The decay is good as well as the recovery, and the dynamic driver copes with anything you throw at it. I personally think the bass is the most successful part of the new Onyx. What a great job of tuning.
Mids
The mid-range is well defined as it provides a nicely focused mid-range with good enough room and space. Thanks to this spacious mid-range, the timbre is very nice to my ears with good breathing room for the instruments and vocals. Presentation-wise the mids are warm and they sound quite organic with good resolution. Tonality is quite good when it comes to guitar and sax tones. The mids overall have good body and fullness. So in its own warm and organic presentation -and also considering the Earsonics’ house sound- this is a fairly good mid-range performance.
The Corsa did not sound very transparent to my ears, but that isn’t the case with the Onyx. The mid-range has much better clarity, resolution, and transparency. Also, Onyx’s unique tonality can impress you in terms of guitar and sax notes. Because for some odd reason, it presents the saxophone in a very unique way in Jazz songs. It doesn’t mean that this is the correct timbre, but it’s nice nevertheless.
If you like a creamy, musical, and full mid-range presentation, the Onyx is your IEM with a very smooth, liquid, and easy-going mid-range that you can listen to for long sessions, especially if you prefer vocal-oriented songs.
Treble
Treble is good and under control at all times with a good definition. However, the extension is not the best and the treble doesn’t have the best resolution. You may want a more open and clean treble presentation with more brightness. You won’t find that in the Onyx so be aware. Other than that highs have good positioning and resolution. They’re not very transparent though, and not very very detailed. They’re slightly darker and thicker than most IEMs out there.
So the treble performance is not a strong suit of the Onyx. If you’re a treble-head, or if you just like to have a crisp treble response, the Onyx may not suit you. This is definitely not the most detailed treble presentation. The Onyx doesn’t really excel at treble when you compare that to the rest of the spectrum. It’s nice in the bass, very good in the mid-range but not great in the treble.
The positive side here is the space and air in the treble, which creates that certain breathing room for the cymbals. In that sense, it’s much better than the Corsa. But the weaker side of the Onyx is the treble when compared to the success of the bass and the mids.
Page 1 – Intro
Page 3 – Technical Performance, Comparisons, and Conclusion
