Kiwi Ears Ellipse

An extremely solid 2nd headphone from Kiwi Ears

The Kiwi Ears Ellipse is an exciting 2nd headphone in the new Kiwi Ears headphone lineup after the recent Division headphone, marking their continued foray into over-ear headphones after their success with IEMs like the Orchestra Lite and KE4. The Ellipse is positioned as a “Studio-Grade Dynamic Driver Headphone” with an open-back design and a custom 50mm dynamic driver and promises to be an exceptional headphone for the price.

So, does it live up to this promise? I would say yes especially if you like to experiment with Pad swapping which I will demonstrate later in this review. But even without Pad swapping there is still a lot to like with the Ellipse, while it does have a few quirks, overall I feel it provides excellent value at its price.

But let’s get into the details

Unboxing

The Kiwi Ears Ellipse comes in simple but practical packaging, here is the front of the box:

And the back is fairly unremarkable:

Opening the box you see that the headphones are well protected within the box:

So, this is everything included in the box:

• Kiwi Ears Ellipse Headphones
• 3.5mm detachable cable
• 6.5mm adapter
• Quick start guide

The packaging is clean and minimal but effective, reflecting the price point of the headphones.

But, lets get the key aspects of the ellipse how comfortable is it and how does it sound.

Design, Build Quality, and Comfort

In summary, the Ellipse is a step forward from the Division as far as build quality, while it still feels slightly ‘generic’ the material used and the earpads are definitely better than you should expect in this price range:

I do like the design of the earcups though the Kiwi Ears logo is maybe a little too prominent:

Build Quality

The Ellipse features an open-back design with lightweight construction (280g), making it easy to wear for extended listening sessions.

The earpads are well crafted with durable plastic, while the vegan-leather headband and plush earpads add some comfort, but as you will see I did ultimately swap earpads.

Removing the earpads reveals some tuning material covering the driver:

And some vents holes on the earpads:

Both these aspect of the design shows a decent effort was made to tune the headphones.

The overall comfort of the stock earpads is pretty good and definitely better for me than the Division:

The detachable cable is functional but nothing exceptional. Fortunately, the standard 3.5mm connectors allow for easy replacement or upgrading:

Comfort

The vegan-leather earpads are soft and plush, providing good comfort for long listening sessions. Unlike the earpads on the Division, I found the stock earpads on the Ellipse are large and very well-designed and don’t require for me an immediate replacement.

The lightweight design and well-padded headband ensure the headphones remain comfortable in place:

And I didn’t find any pressure with the clamping force with the ellipse:

While its very subjective I would imagine this headphone will be very comfortable for more heads:

The headband extension mechanism also allows for pretty large heads:

And you get a decent give on each ear to angle the earpads so it should feel comfortable on a large range of head sizes:

Sound Quality

Out of the box, the Ellipse delivers a decent sound signature that does live up to promise of a studio headphone with
a darker tonality. There is some warmth to the bass which some people will love but other may feel is muddying the mid-range, for me ultimately I did switch to alternative earpads which reduce this mid-bass a little.

Bass

• Mid-bass: Slightly bloated, with more emphasis than ideal for a studio-grade headphone. This can mask some of the midrange clarity.
• Sub-bass: Decent extension but not overly prominent. Tracks with deep basslines, such as Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy”, still have an enjoyable rumble.

Midrange

• The midrange is smooth and warm, with good tonality for vocals and instruments. However, the mid-bass bleed can occasionally affect clarity.
• Male and female vocals are presented naturally, though the midrange lacks the pinpoint accuracy of higher-end headphones.

Treble

• The treble region is recessed, particularly in the presence region (~4-6kHz), which can make the sound feel slightly dull out of the box.
• The treble can be brought forward with either some alternative earpads or EQ to reveal more detail and air, enhancing the overall balance, but a dark treble is often more preferable for studio headphones, so I can understand this tuning.

Soundstage and Imaging

• The Open back combined with the default sound signature creates a spacious soundstage with good width and depth, offering an immersive experience for genres like classical and live recordings.
• The recessed treble provides some precise Imaging in most music, though not as holographic as more expensive studio reference headphones.

Specifications and Measurements

Measurements

Note: The following measurements were taken with my KB501X soft ear Pinna and a 711 clone coupler. They are available on my measurement database here.

Frequency Response

Let’s start with the Frequency response:

So this is mostly balanced with a warm mid-bass boost and a recessed presence region, not ideal but certainly not bad and compared to the Kiwi Ears Division it is much more of a studio reference style, with a much more controlled bass:

Alternative Earpads

Ok I teased earlier in this review about some alternative earpads and I tried a few, but I should mention that not every alternative earpad will fit the earpads only have a small ’lip’ for the earpads so only some earpads will work.

Velvet Earpads

These were extreme comfortable but did not change the sound signature significantly:

Leather Angled Earpads

These were not as comfortable as the velvet but reduce the midrange a little:

But each of these pads only had subtle changes on the frequency response:

But then I tried some more expensive Perforated Sheepskin earpads:

Perforated Angled Sheepskin Earpads

These Perforated Angled Sheepskin EarPads were great and became my favourites over the past few weeks both from a comfort but also from a tonality perspective:

They were much deeper than the stock pads and provided a better clamping force:

Crucially, comparing with the stock pads these earpads dampen the treble and reduce that mid-bass:

Note: you can see in this picture that the back of the earpads can only have limited material to work as a replacement earpads.

These earpads are typically $30 so roughly 1/2 the price of the Ellipse. For those interested, I bought them from Aliexpress via this non-affliated link.

And ultimately these earpads provide a much more neutral frequency response compared to the stock earpads:

In fact, comparing the tonality of the Ellipse to a few very popular Hifiman headphones you can see the transformation:

Distortion

So the distortion is mostly very well controlled even playing over 90 dpSPL:

And shown as a percentage, you can see that resonance peak in the 5K region:

EQ Recommendations

So, without swapping earpads there are some simple EQ that can also change this headphone tonality to a more neutral tonality if that is what you are looking for.

I would suggest the following PEQ filters:

• Bass: Slightly reduce mid-bass (~100-200Hz).
• Treble: Boost the presence region (~4-6kHz) to add clarity and sparkle.

Preamp: -6.7 dB
Filter 1: ON PK Fc 72 Hz Gain 2.6 dB Q 1.000
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 120 Hz Gain -1.5 dB Q 1.800
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 190 Hz Gain -6.0 dB Q 0.800
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 3000 Hz Gain 6.7 dB Q 1.000

With these adjustments, the Ellipse achieves a much more balanced sound signature:

But I would suggest looking earpads similar to the ones I found that do nicely tidy up with tonality without needing EQ and are very comfortable.

Rating

I have given the Ellipse a very pragmatic 4-stars based on the stock earpads but with the perforated sheepskin earpads I recommended earlier I would actually give them a 5-star rating as that those earpads neatly tidy up the frequency response and for me provide a more comfortable experience. Those alternative earpads genuinely turn these into a near reference headphone. I like that Kiwi Ears are in the process of expanding their headphone range and the Ellipse is a definitely a decent step forward, but I cannot wait to see what improvements will come with the next few headphones from Kiwi Ears as I feel they are on a roll.

Conclusion

The Kiwi Ears Ellipse is an impressive budget headphone that brings a lot to the table for its price. Its spacious soundstage, comfortable design, and versatility with EQ make it an excellent choice for audiophiles on a budget. While its default tuning could use some refinement, the Ellipse shines when paired either with a little EQ adjustment or with some recommended alternative earpads, offering a balanced and enjoyable listening experience.

At $75, the Ellipse is an exceptional bargain, proving that Kiwi Ears can deliver quality open-back headphones alongside their acclaimed IEMs.