Rose Technics QuietSea

Rose Technics QuietSea Review

In this review, I want to share my experiences listening to and enjoying the Rose Technics QuietSea over the past few weeks. As you will see the QuietSea is a quality offering from Rose Technics with some pretty unique features especially at it price point of $89.99 but given it can be found for as little as $49.99 it deserves to be heard.

So how would the Rose Technics QuietSea fit into your collection, lets find out in this review.

I would like to thank Rose Technics for providing the QuietSea for this review. If you are interested in purchasing the QuietSea available from their website here

Retail Box and unboxing

The QuietSea comes in a large box which immediately impresses you - the outside box has a subtle understated quality:

Once that is opened you have an inside box to appreciate:

Finally, opening this box finishes an impressive unboxing experience, with an excellent carrying case and some technical details on the construction of the IEM itself. This was easily the nicest packaging I have experienced for a sub $100 IEM:

Note: I thought the technical breakdown of the construction of the Quietsea on paper inside the box was a nice touch.

The QuietSea comes with a excellent protective carrying case which is far superior to other offering in this price range:

Within the carry case reveals an extremely high quality cable and a set of IEMs and a MMCX removal tool:

Mine came with a 3.5mm cable but you can also request a 4.4mm cable when purchasing the quietsea.

I thought the cable was excellent for the price, I really appreciate the little subtle touches so for example there is a protective film covering the part of the cable that goes around your ear both giving it shape but making it extremely comfortable. If I was to nitpick I did find the cable can get tangled easier than I expected.

Oval shape Nozzle

One unusual aspect of the quietsea is the oval shaped nozzle:

The eartip selection is a bit limited and due to the unique oval shape of the nozzle, these eartips also have a matching oval shape opening:

But I found all of my normal eartips including foam ear tips, worked fine and formed a good seal, so you do not need to worry about finding oval shapes eartips if you choose not to use the stock eartips.

IEM Design:

Central to the package, the QuietSea earphones themselves are meticulously crafted, showcasing the excellent shell design. Rose Technics have partner with IkkoAudio in this design and it is no surprise that the QuietSea shares its design with the IKKO OH2 Opal. Each earpiece is constructed from a robust combination of PC and Aluminum Alloy, ensuring durability without compromising on style and with a lovely transparent polycarbonate window to view the drivers.

The Quietsea utilises MMCX connector - I personally would have rather a recessed 2-pin connector but I imagine Rose Technics choose the MMCX as it is more typically used in higher end IEM’s and adds to the overall premium feel for the overall package:

Here is a short video showcasing the lovely clear shell from different angles:

Size Comparison:

I thought to give a better feel for the size to expect with the QuietSea, I would take a few comparison photos with some of my other IEM’s that you might already be familiar with in your collection.

So here is the size compared to the Truthear Zero Red (which is possible at the upper end of the scale for size of IEM shell) and the Tanchjim One (which is a small almost a ‘bullet sized’ IEM):

Note: This comparison is just showing how the QuietSea is sort of at the ‘goldie locks’ size, not too big and not too small and therefore should suit the majority of ears. The shape of the QuietSea is not opinionated so again should accommodate and be very comfortable in the majority of ears.

Comfort

As you can hopefully see from the comparison photos above the Rose Technics QuietSea size and shape make it a very comfortable, I like the angle of the nozzle allowing the IEM to sit firmly in my ears without moving when out walking. I found myself wearing it for hours without problems. Combined with the comfortable cable this makes it a very comfortable experience.

Sound Quality, Specifications and Measurements

I spent a few days getting to know and I do love the sound profile of the QuietSea. In my opinion, there are too many ‘boring’ IEMs in this price range trying to either be “Harman/Neutral” or “V-Shaped” but the Rose Technics decided to do something a little different and it is one of the reasons, I think it should be included in everyone collection.

So the Quiet Sea has what can be called ‘rich’ textured sound with an emphasis on the mid-bass. Sometimes when this area is emphasised it can sound bloated but the QuietSea have controlled this well by balancing it with some treble extension, giving a beautiful profile for particular genres of music like Blues and Classic Rock. The trade off with this profile is the lack of “detail” so imaging can suffer but I never felt that I missed anything with the QuietSea so Rose Technics did a very nice job with the tuning. But let’s get into the detail of what you can expect:

Bass

So the first thing you will notice with thq Quietsea is the bass, not the sub-bass which is there but a little recessed, but that mid-bass texture is there in abundance, give lovely weight to classic blues and rock tracks and really pulling out bass detail in lots of genres. As well as classic rock, I loved these when listening to latest Britany Howard especially ‘What now’ where the bass really hits hard.

Midrange

While the midrange is clear and engaging it is not the best aspect of the Quietsea, I would say it good in most tracks but a few instruments in a few tracks where a little recessed. So Bob Marley ‘Is this love’ sounded a little restrained, but the majority of tracks the midrange was good and I have no real complaints.

Treble

The treble is mostly excellent, providing a lovely texture to tracks, with some ’technicalities’ though never overpowering and I was able to listen to the quietsea for hours without any treble ‘fatigue’. For anyone who suffers for ‘sibilance’ this is a good choice as it sounds ‘alive’ yet not sibilant. Too many tunings either over emphasis the treble or sound ‘dead’ due to lack treble, while there is a good balance here. I especially appreciated the treble when balanced with the bass, so tracks like New Orders ‘Fine Time’ had the appropriate electronic treble balanced with the mid-bass rumble.

Soundstage and Imaging

The soundstage was reasonable good with the Quiet Sea, tracks like Led Zeppelin’s ‘Whole Lotta Love’ with a lovely 3D effect as the vocals and guitars swirling around during the middle section of this classic, with the imaging in more binaural recordings like Perfume Genius ‘Just Life Love’ sounded good but a bit muffled by the mid-bass.

Specifications:

Measurements:

These measurement were taken with my 711 ‘clone’ coupler and are available on my measurement database here

Frequency Response

Here is the Left and Right frequency response compared to the Harman target.

Very good channel matching except for one area within the upper midrange which was not an audible difference.

Alternative Ear-tips

As well as the stock tips I used a few different types of ear tips and as you can see you can significant alter especially the treble response using different ear tips:

Some comparisons

Here are some comparisons with other IEM’s

For this comparison I decided to pick 2 alternative tunings a very V-shaped Kiwi ears Forteza and a Harman target IEM with the ‘popular’ DSP profile on the Tanchjim One DSP. As you can hopefully see the sits as a distinct tuning between these and this is definitely a reason that I feel it should be part of your collection of IEM’s. This would be a boring hobble if every IEM sounded the same so having a variety of sound profiles available is the

Distortion

Very little distortion so if you plan to use EQ with this IEM it will take it very well:

For those who like to EQ - here are 2 simple filters to switch the profile to a more neutral profile, but I personally would not recommend this EQ for this IEM, enjoy it for the interesting profile that Rose Technics have given the Quiet Sea.

Preamp: -5.2 dB
Filter 1: ON PK Fc 21 Hz Gain 5.3 dB Q 0.500
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 180 Hz Gain -3.1 dB Q 0.800

Rating

I gave the Rose Technics QuietSea a pragmatic rating of 4 - it comes in a very premium package with a great cable and carry case, and it has a gorgeous design. I loved the rich bass but the midrange unevenness slightly lets down the overall score.

Conclusion

The Rose Technics QuietSea is a great IEM to add to your collection especially if you want something a little different than the typical ‘harman target’ IEM in this price range. The overall quality and ‘rich’ sound profile make the QuietSea a premium offering. I would highly recommend this IEM to add to your collection.