Pros
Made for Vocals
Amazing instrument separation
Neutral bright sound signature
Great ear tips
Metal shells
Quality build and packaging
Cons
Not for bass heads
BQEYZ- Wind review
I am an audiophile from sunny South Africa except for today as it is cloudy and I except rain soon. This is very befitting as I am finishing up this review of the BQEYZ Cloud. Part of the weather series which is now wrapped up and BQEYZ is working on a different series. The Cloud was sent to me by BQEYZ for my honest opinion and I have to say it is difficult to stay un-biased when the BQEYZ Wind blew my socks off. In other words, the Wind left big shoes for the Cloud to fill. The package took less than 21 days to reach me here in South Africa and the company representative is one of the friendliest in the business. So far with me BQEYZ has a perfect score with me in the customer service department.
Unboxing
The packaging is a very sturdy different than the normal more square boxes you see and I welcome the more rectangular design of the Cloud packaging. The top part of the box that engulfs most of the box housing the earphones except the bottom is drenched in a light blue and white sky and cloud theme and is very befitting of Cloud. When you lift the lid of there is card covering the foam like piece that houses the beautiful Cyan colored earphone shells. It really does present as sophisticated. Underneath the earphones you will find a little accessories box with some foam tips and your user manual. Next to that is a very sturdy leather type carrying case and the quality of the case looks really good. All in all I am happy with packaging and for me it is line with the price.
Specs
Driver Type: Dynamic driver with 10mm LCP diaphragm + 6.8mm passive radiator.
Frequency Response: 7Hz – 40kHz.
Sensitivity: 110dB.
Impedance: 32Ω
Jack Connector: Choice between BAL 2.5mm, SE 3.5mm, BAL 4.4mm
Capsule connection type: 2Pin 0.78mm
Cable length: 1.2m.
Conductor Type: Silver plated single crystal copper mixed coaxial cable.
Connectivity
The Cloud comes in 2.5mm, 3.5mm and 4.4mm connection and my review unit came in the standard 3.5mm. I hooked it up to all the various sound methods I have like straight to phone and Dap with the Oppo A78 and Hiby M300. I also tested it with a few Dac/Amps like the Hidizs S8 pro Robin, EPZ TP50 and TP35 as well as the Fosi Audio DS1 and the Bluetooth receiver/headphone amplifier NS3. I also hooked it up to my desktop pc setup via M-Audio Dac and Fosi Audio SK01 Headphone amplifier. The cloud is easy to drive and I had no problem driving it from phone without an amplifier.
Look & Build
The Cloud has a beautiful timeless look with its high-quality aluminum alloy shells and the Mint-Green Cyan color really ads to this timeless look. The craftmanship and build quality is something I am really starting to appreciate from BQEYZ as I can clearly see effort was put into the look and built and it is just not another mass-produced product. Even though they are metal, the shells are really light and the fit was so perfect I did not even notice the Cloud in my ears even after very extensive listening sessions. The cable reminds me of a pearl necklace type of color, feel and look. You can feel it is good quality and it is not thin and flimsy. The connectors on both sides are metal and also feels good quality. The BQEYZ Atmosphere and Reference tips is really good and there is no need for replacement tips. The Atmosphere tips are narrower bore than the Reference tips and they are housed in a nice metal tips holder.
Sound
When I evaluate an earphone, I first look at what purpose the manufacturer designed it for. The Cloud is marketed by BQEYZ as “The tuning of the BQEYZ Cloud has been specially adjusted to deliver a true high-resolution audio listening experience. The pair has an energetic, lively treble without any harshness, an extended high-frequency band, pure and clean vocals, and a controlled, tight bass response”. I will put this to the test. I have to state that most of my listening was done with the standard cable and it’s 3.5mm connection. I tested it with several aftermarket cables for example Effect Audio Cadmus ii and the balanced connection took away the cleanliness of the sound and made it to warm for my liking.
What struck me first listening to the Cloud was that I prefer the Atmosphere tips provided with the set a lot more than the Reference tips. So, most of my impressions unless stated otherwise was done with the Atmosphere tips. The Reference tips made it sound just a little to bright and thin for my personal liking and the Atmosphere tips added just enough warmth to still retain the neutral bright tuning but sounding a bit thicker and just the right kind off bright. If you are a lover of Dire Straits music then this is the set for you. I want to make a suggestion that You and Your Friend be the first song you listen to on the cloud. The synergy between the Cloud and Mark Knopfler’s voice and guitar is a smooth and clean music masterpiece. Actually, the whole On Every Street album is a wonderful first edition for the Cloud.
The great resolution of the Cloud was perfectly demonstrated on the tenth studio album by Macy Gray and also her first venture into Jazz. I really appreciated Macy’s voice sounding big, airy and its own space. Macy’s voice sounded so real and the guitar work on Annabelle blew me away as I have never heard a guitar sound so real. I shook my head when the guitar intro started and I could visualize the fingers plugging the guitar due to the awesome resolution creating a sense of realism that I haven’t heard to many times before. While the resolution is great on the Cloud, I did not detect a wide soundstage and I guessed that the depth would also not be that deep and it was pretty evident on Sarah K- Step on Mine. While her voice sounding amazing the whole soundstage was bundled very closely together between my ears. This is not a negative at all as the wonderful resolution makes up for that and each instrument sounds different and real. Even different blows on a Harmonica of the same note sounds different and completely distinguishable from the other.
The purity of the midrange on the cloud is a cut above and is something that should be noted if you are a midrange lover like me. On the song Acapella on the Acapella album by artis Acapella the reverb of the voices can so clearly be heard and distinguished it is breathtaking. Flowing into the next track called Journey into Meditation the voices had me mesmerized and if you are a vocal lover just know the Cloud is for you. There is a naturalness to the Cloud that comes out in songs like Ana Caram- Correnteza that blends all the sounds together in a natural presentation that would get the nod of approval from most critical listeners. With this naturalness comes a very natural blending of the bass, mids and treble and not one bleeds into the other. Even the bird sounds on the song sounded so real and inviting.
The percussive quality of the piano was clearly demonstrated by the Cloud and when I listened to the Donau album by Florian Christl, I was taken to another dimension and imaging a piano player sitting by a window playing with raindrops falling against a window on the song Muntenia. It is almost like the pianist’s fingers were ice-skating on the piano keys rather than sliding. Another reason I think the Cloud sounds so natural is because of the passive radiator designed to catch the excessive notes. The Cloud sounding so clean and the background so dark I could here the pianist take a breath throughout the song. I don’t want to sound like I am hyping the Cloud but man your life will be poor if you have not heard this Cloud.
There is a presence that is very detectable in the Cloud and it especially comes forward in trumpet music. On Double Consciousness by Christian Scott the trumpet is smack down in the middle and so present producing a magical performance. At about 1:30 into the song Christian makes that trumpet scream. You can also make out the presence of other instruments very well and to me it sounds like some African Instruments that I have heard but cannot place. I was just as impressed with the Holographic imaging and one method I always use when evaluating the imaging is by listening to choir music as their must be a big 3d effect when a big choir is involved. With the Carols with St Paul’s Cathedral Choir album, you can clearly pick up the horseshoe shape the choir is positioned in and that says a lot about the holographic imaging. This is especially evident on Ellis: There Is No Rose. Those male and boy voices give you a very calming effect on your psyche and the only word I can describe this performance with is beautiful.
With its beautiful treble and mids I wanted to check the dynamic range of the Cloud to see if it could keep up with a few drumrolls and I remembered a song I had in my audiophile folder on Tidal called Poem of Chinese Drum by Hok-man Yi. From memory I know that song has some great dynamic range. Feeding the cloud with enough power the Cloud rewarded me with such control over the whole dynamic range that I was in awe about the tight controlled bass and spikes when the drums are being played soft and then all of a sudden hammering them with some wild thumps. What an experience and demonstration by the Cloud. The BQEYZ Wind left big shoes to fill and seems like the Cloud is stepping up to the task with its head held high. For me there is no better album to get my feet tapping than Radiohead- In Rainbows and the Cloud has such great pace and rhythm that I listened to the whole album making me indulge in some of the coolest foot tapping tunes.
When I sit listening to an earphone I sometimes come up with these theories and listening to the Cloud I thought, what if I give the Cloud a bit of a bass boost and see how they do with rock and metal as I already knew the top end would be great for rock. So, I hooked up the Fosi Audio SK01 headphone amplifier up to my pc and DAC. I disengaged the tone defeat on the SK01 and gave the cloud a bit of boost in the bass and keeping the treble and mids on neutral. Man did it sound good when I played AC/DC Back in Black through Tidal app on pc in 24bit/96KHz format. Immediately after this discovery I just had to try some Metallica and on the “The God That Failed” it was a performance you could play air-guitar to and the Cloud wowed me with how it sounded with the electric guitar.
Another theory popped up and I swopped the BQEYZ tips for some EPZ M100 as I know they bring the bass up a bit. So, I switched on the tone defeat on The Fosi and went to town by fitting the M100 tips. I wanted to explore some Alternative Rock vocals and Billy Corgan happily obliged and 1997 on the Melancholy album never sounded this good. Songs like Zero took me back to my high school days sitting in my room with my Sony Walkman listening to the Melancholy album and agreeing with Billy that indeed the world is a vampire it took me back to my high school days and me headbanging and playing air-guitar to the melancholy album on my Sony Walkman. So, if you are an old school rock fan or you want to add a little more bass to the Cloud then just get yourself a pair of EPZ M100 ear tips.
Conclusion
Another phenomenal release by BQEYZ and I highly recommend it for audiophiles and everyone who enjoys a very neutral and bright sound. The realism on the Cloud puts it a step above anything I have heard so far. Perfect for male and female vocals and so clean sounding that I actually think these could be used for monitoring. I also think that these are in the right price bracket and you completely get what you paid for and more. If you appreciate craftmanship and good built quality then the Cloud is for you. In a world of Harmon tuning featuring with most earphones a manufacturer using it as it seen as a safe tuning, BQEYZ chose to be different and scored a full score from me in the process. This is the second time I am going to give an earphone a perfect 5 score because for what the manufacturer intended, they over excelled and I want to commend the tuner of BQEYZ earphones for a job well done.
Made for Vocals
Amazing instrument separation
Neutral bright sound signature
Great ear tips
Metal shells
Quality build and packaging
Cons
Not for bass heads
BQEYZ- Wind review
I am an audiophile from sunny South Africa except for today as it is cloudy and I except rain soon. This is very befitting as I am finishing up this review of the BQEYZ Cloud. Part of the weather series which is now wrapped up and BQEYZ is working on a different series. The Cloud was sent to me by BQEYZ for my honest opinion and I have to say it is difficult to stay un-biased when the BQEYZ Wind blew my socks off. In other words, the Wind left big shoes for the Cloud to fill. The package took less than 21 days to reach me here in South Africa and the company representative is one of the friendliest in the business. So far with me BQEYZ has a perfect score with me in the customer service department.
Unboxing
The packaging is a very sturdy different than the normal more square boxes you see and I welcome the more rectangular design of the Cloud packaging. The top part of the box that engulfs most of the box housing the earphones except the bottom is drenched in a light blue and white sky and cloud theme and is very befitting of Cloud. When you lift the lid of there is card covering the foam like piece that houses the beautiful Cyan colored earphone shells. It really does present as sophisticated. Underneath the earphones you will find a little accessories box with some foam tips and your user manual. Next to that is a very sturdy leather type carrying case and the quality of the case looks really good. All in all I am happy with packaging and for me it is line with the price.
Specs
Driver Type: Dynamic driver with 10mm LCP diaphragm + 6.8mm passive radiator.
Frequency Response: 7Hz – 40kHz.
Sensitivity: 110dB.
Impedance: 32Ω
Jack Connector: Choice between BAL 2.5mm, SE 3.5mm, BAL 4.4mm
Capsule connection type: 2Pin 0.78mm
Cable length: 1.2m.
Conductor Type: Silver plated single crystal copper mixed coaxial cable.
Connectivity
The Cloud comes in 2.5mm, 3.5mm and 4.4mm connection and my review unit came in the standard 3.5mm. I hooked it up to all the various sound methods I have like straight to phone and Dap with the Oppo A78 and Hiby M300. I also tested it with a few Dac/Amps like the Hidizs S8 pro Robin, EPZ TP50 and TP35 as well as the Fosi Audio DS1 and the Bluetooth receiver/headphone amplifier NS3. I also hooked it up to my desktop pc setup via M-Audio Dac and Fosi Audio SK01 Headphone amplifier. The cloud is easy to drive and I had no problem driving it from phone without an amplifier.
Look & Build
The Cloud has a beautiful timeless look with its high-quality aluminum alloy shells and the Mint-Green Cyan color really ads to this timeless look. The craftmanship and build quality is something I am really starting to appreciate from BQEYZ as I can clearly see effort was put into the look and built and it is just not another mass-produced product. Even though they are metal, the shells are really light and the fit was so perfect I did not even notice the Cloud in my ears even after very extensive listening sessions. The cable reminds me of a pearl necklace type of color, feel and look. You can feel it is good quality and it is not thin and flimsy. The connectors on both sides are metal and also feels good quality. The BQEYZ Atmosphere and Reference tips is really good and there is no need for replacement tips. The Atmosphere tips are narrower bore than the Reference tips and they are housed in a nice metal tips holder.
Sound
When I evaluate an earphone, I first look at what purpose the manufacturer designed it for. The Cloud is marketed by BQEYZ as “The tuning of the BQEYZ Cloud has been specially adjusted to deliver a true high-resolution audio listening experience. The pair has an energetic, lively treble without any harshness, an extended high-frequency band, pure and clean vocals, and a controlled, tight bass response”. I will put this to the test. I have to state that most of my listening was done with the standard cable and it’s 3.5mm connection. I tested it with several aftermarket cables for example Effect Audio Cadmus ii and the balanced connection took away the cleanliness of the sound and made it to warm for my liking.
What struck me first listening to the Cloud was that I prefer the Atmosphere tips provided with the set a lot more than the Reference tips. So, most of my impressions unless stated otherwise was done with the Atmosphere tips. The Reference tips made it sound just a little to bright and thin for my personal liking and the Atmosphere tips added just enough warmth to still retain the neutral bright tuning but sounding a bit thicker and just the right kind off bright. If you are a lover of Dire Straits music then this is the set for you. I want to make a suggestion that You and Your Friend be the first song you listen to on the cloud. The synergy between the Cloud and Mark Knopfler’s voice and guitar is a smooth and clean music masterpiece. Actually, the whole On Every Street album is a wonderful first edition for the Cloud.
The great resolution of the Cloud was perfectly demonstrated on the tenth studio album by Macy Gray and also her first venture into Jazz. I really appreciated Macy’s voice sounding big, airy and its own space. Macy’s voice sounded so real and the guitar work on Annabelle blew me away as I have never heard a guitar sound so real. I shook my head when the guitar intro started and I could visualize the fingers plugging the guitar due to the awesome resolution creating a sense of realism that I haven’t heard to many times before. While the resolution is great on the Cloud, I did not detect a wide soundstage and I guessed that the depth would also not be that deep and it was pretty evident on Sarah K- Step on Mine. While her voice sounding amazing the whole soundstage was bundled very closely together between my ears. This is not a negative at all as the wonderful resolution makes up for that and each instrument sounds different and real. Even different blows on a Harmonica of the same note sounds different and completely distinguishable from the other.
The purity of the midrange on the cloud is a cut above and is something that should be noted if you are a midrange lover like me. On the song Acapella on the Acapella album by artis Acapella the reverb of the voices can so clearly be heard and distinguished it is breathtaking. Flowing into the next track called Journey into Meditation the voices had me mesmerized and if you are a vocal lover just know the Cloud is for you. There is a naturalness to the Cloud that comes out in songs like Ana Caram- Correnteza that blends all the sounds together in a natural presentation that would get the nod of approval from most critical listeners. With this naturalness comes a very natural blending of the bass, mids and treble and not one bleeds into the other. Even the bird sounds on the song sounded so real and inviting.
The percussive quality of the piano was clearly demonstrated by the Cloud and when I listened to the Donau album by Florian Christl, I was taken to another dimension and imaging a piano player sitting by a window playing with raindrops falling against a window on the song Muntenia. It is almost like the pianist’s fingers were ice-skating on the piano keys rather than sliding. Another reason I think the Cloud sounds so natural is because of the passive radiator designed to catch the excessive notes. The Cloud sounding so clean and the background so dark I could here the pianist take a breath throughout the song. I don’t want to sound like I am hyping the Cloud but man your life will be poor if you have not heard this Cloud.
There is a presence that is very detectable in the Cloud and it especially comes forward in trumpet music. On Double Consciousness by Christian Scott the trumpet is smack down in the middle and so present producing a magical performance. At about 1:30 into the song Christian makes that trumpet scream. You can also make out the presence of other instruments very well and to me it sounds like some African Instruments that I have heard but cannot place. I was just as impressed with the Holographic imaging and one method I always use when evaluating the imaging is by listening to choir music as their must be a big 3d effect when a big choir is involved. With the Carols with St Paul’s Cathedral Choir album, you can clearly pick up the horseshoe shape the choir is positioned in and that says a lot about the holographic imaging. This is especially evident on Ellis: There Is No Rose. Those male and boy voices give you a very calming effect on your psyche and the only word I can describe this performance with is beautiful.
With its beautiful treble and mids I wanted to check the dynamic range of the Cloud to see if it could keep up with a few drumrolls and I remembered a song I had in my audiophile folder on Tidal called Poem of Chinese Drum by Hok-man Yi. From memory I know that song has some great dynamic range. Feeding the cloud with enough power the Cloud rewarded me with such control over the whole dynamic range that I was in awe about the tight controlled bass and spikes when the drums are being played soft and then all of a sudden hammering them with some wild thumps. What an experience and demonstration by the Cloud. The BQEYZ Wind left big shoes to fill and seems like the Cloud is stepping up to the task with its head held high. For me there is no better album to get my feet tapping than Radiohead- In Rainbows and the Cloud has such great pace and rhythm that I listened to the whole album making me indulge in some of the coolest foot tapping tunes.
When I sit listening to an earphone I sometimes come up with these theories and listening to the Cloud I thought, what if I give the Cloud a bit of a bass boost and see how they do with rock and metal as I already knew the top end would be great for rock. So, I hooked up the Fosi Audio SK01 headphone amplifier up to my pc and DAC. I disengaged the tone defeat on the SK01 and gave the cloud a bit of boost in the bass and keeping the treble and mids on neutral. Man did it sound good when I played AC/DC Back in Black through Tidal app on pc in 24bit/96KHz format. Immediately after this discovery I just had to try some Metallica and on the “The God That Failed” it was a performance you could play air-guitar to and the Cloud wowed me with how it sounded with the electric guitar.
Another theory popped up and I swopped the BQEYZ tips for some EPZ M100 as I know they bring the bass up a bit. So, I switched on the tone defeat on The Fosi and went to town by fitting the M100 tips. I wanted to explore some Alternative Rock vocals and Billy Corgan happily obliged and 1997 on the Melancholy album never sounded this good. Songs like Zero took me back to my high school days sitting in my room with my Sony Walkman listening to the Melancholy album and agreeing with Billy that indeed the world is a vampire it took me back to my high school days and me headbanging and playing air-guitar to the melancholy album on my Sony Walkman. So, if you are an old school rock fan or you want to add a little more bass to the Cloud then just get yourself a pair of EPZ M100 ear tips.
Conclusion
Another phenomenal release by BQEYZ and I highly recommend it for audiophiles and everyone who enjoys a very neutral and bright sound. The realism on the Cloud puts it a step above anything I have heard so far. Perfect for male and female vocals and so clean sounding that I actually think these could be used for monitoring. I also think that these are in the right price bracket and you completely get what you paid for and more. If you appreciate craftmanship and good built quality then the Cloud is for you. In a world of Harmon tuning featuring with most earphones a manufacturer using it as it seen as a safe tuning, BQEYZ chose to be different and scored a full score from me in the process. This is the second time I am going to give an earphone a perfect 5 score because for what the manufacturer intended, they over excelled and I want to commend the tuner of BQEYZ earphones for a job well done.
