Review: Obravo Cupid – Bravo!

Technical Performance

The Cupid presents a very good sense of space with its staging performance. I found the soundstage to be a very good achiever for the price, which is both fairly wide and deep. Add its great imaging capability to the equation, and you have a great IEM in terms of overall imaging and staging performance with good positioning.

To be fair, the Cupid basically has everything to be an incredible IEM for the price level, but the only thing it suffers from is its tonality & timbre. I’m not %100 sure if it’s fair to expect great tonality from this price, but nevertheless, the timbre should be slightly improved with this IEM. Everything else; the transparency, resolution, control, separation and stereo imaging are all great.

In terms of driving the Cupid, make sure you have good amount of output power to get the most out of it. While saying that, you don’t need a very high level of power like oBravo’s super high end IEMs. Any DAP or DAC/Amp can drive the Cupid, but it just needs a little bit more than some regular IEMs to reach its peak performance. In my case, the Hugo and DTR1 put up a good job so you should be OK with a mid-level of power output.

Comparisons

vs. FiiO FA7 – 300 $

For the sound part, the FA7 is simply no match to the Cupid in terms of technical performance. It maybe is the more pleasing IEM of the two with its very dark and romantic sound, but the Cupid is better in bass, mids and treble all the way. The FA7 only puts up a fight and actually surpasses on the timbre department, but in everything else the Cupid is better. On other topics, the FA7 fits better with more isolation with a more ergonomic shape.

Obravo Cupid

vs. Oriveti OH300 – 300 $

Things get really close here. The OH300 is certainly one of the best IEMs for 300 $ in my opinion. But Cupid is no slouch either, and it puts up a better performance in the bass department with its wonderful texture, decay and extension. In mids I think the OH300 is just slightly better, thanks to its timbre success.

They both have very good treble, yet I think the Cupid is half a step ahead with its planar driver. When it comes to timbre, the OH300 is better. But when it comes to sound-stage and imaging, the Cupid performs exceptionally good. So it’s pretty close and it all depends on your sources and preferences.

vs. Shozy BG – 280 $

The BG is a wonderful IEM for the price just like the Cupid. Both fit quite well but the BG is a little bit better since it sits more flush and provides more isolation. Sound-wise the Cupid has a much, much better bass response with great kick and texture.

In mids I think the Cupid has more resolution and transparency. Same goes for the treble as well; the Cupid has good extension and articulation. It’s also better in stage width, whilst they both perform good in depth.

vs. iBasso IT04 – 500 $

Despite being more expensive, the IT04 is not miles ahead of the Cupid in terms of raw sound performance. The Cupid again puts on a show in bass, gives very transparent mids, a little more so than the IT04. It has a better imaging with slightly wider sound stage. Treble-wise the Cupid is once again impressive in terms of articulation and resolution together with detail level.

The IT04 has a more cohesive sound overall, and that makes it more stable and consistent, but its hard to deny the oBravo’s technical achievement. The IT04 fits better but the Cupid is more elegant in its design with a sturdier build.

vs. FiiO FH7 – 450 $

You get lots of different sound options with FH7’s different tips, nozzle filters and all, but the standard setup gives you an overall impression. The FA7 has a very balanced bass presentation with good punch and control, but the Cupid takes it slightly further with its well textured bass with great speed. In mids the FH7 is better in terms of naturalness, tonality and timbre.

While they perform almost similar in terms of staging and stereo imaging, the Cupid is slightly better in separation part. The FH7’s overall sound performance, design and build quality together with its accessory set is quite hard to overlook, but you have to give credit to oBravo for the Cupid’s performance for the price.

Let us know if you’re curious about more comparisons below so we can help (if we have the gear you mention).

Obravo Cupid

Summary

When I finished my listening test with the oBravo Cupid, I was quite confused about putting it in our recommendation list. Everything in its sound is high quality, despite its price level. The dynamic driver performs exceptionally well for bass, and the planar driver inside performs great for resolution, transparency and positioning. However, the issue in its timbre confused me for quite some time.

Yet, I decided to put the Cupid in our Best Universal IEMs Recommendation List in the end, because it’s very hard to find something in the market that can give this type of an overall performance for this price. Sure, tonality is very important in my book, but it’s impossible to overlook the IEM’s performance in the rest of the field. Not to mention its great build quality and comfortable fit.

To me, the oBravo Cupid is certainly a winner.