Pros:
Great Midbass punch
Creamy high end
Perfect for gaming
Cons: Thin, Flimsy cable
Soratune YIO1 In-ear monitors review
I am an audiophile from sunny South Africa. Soratune is a sub brand of Kinera and I was really looking forward to test out their product. The YIO1 is not just marketed as an earphone for music but also as a gaming in-ear monitor and as I don’t get a lot gaming monitors this was a very welcome mail call when I received the YIO1 IN South Africa after about 2-3 weeks. The sales lady is really nice to deal with and is a real asset for the company. I have no doubt that being a sub brand of such a well-known brand as Kinera that the aftersales service will also be top notch. The YIO1 was sent to me in exchange for my honest opinion and I will aim to be as objective as possible and listen not just from an audiophile perspective but also as a gamer and music lover.
Unboxing
The YIO1 sells for R1938 in my country and the packaging reflects the price. I can describe the packaging as a lot the same as ARTTI products are packaged with a white cardboard cover with the earphone picture on the front and specs on the back. When you slide the cover off there is two parts you have to part and in the bottom one you will find the sponge that houses the earphone shells. Underneath that is a very cool denim/canvas type case and your two packs of ear tips. Also, the usual instructions and quality control card is to be found here. The packaging is very sturdy and I don’t think that there is a chance that it would get damaged in the post unless the delivery guys play football with it.
Specs
Brand: Soratune
Model: YI01
Driver Unit: Double dynamic coil
Impedance: 9Ω(@1kHz)
Total Harmonic Distortion (THD): ≤1%(@1kHz)
Sensitivity: 101 dB/mw(@1kHz)
Frequency Response: 20-20kHz
Cable Specification: 1.2m silver plated wire 0.78mm Double Pin
Plug: 3.5mm without Microphone\Type-C with Microphone
Connectivity
The YIO1 comes in a 3.5mm and Usb-C termination and my unit came in 3.5mm which gives you more versality with all the things you can connect it to. I connected it for gaming to my desktop pc via the Fosi Audio SK01 headphone amplifier and also straight to my Oppo A78 phone for mobile gaming. For music I had a listen on my Hiby M300 Dap and various Dac/amps like Fosi Audio DS1 which is used the most as well as the EPZ TP50 and the phenomenal TP35. Also, I used the YIO1 straight from the 3.5mm from my old faithful LG V30.
Look & Build
If you have read some of my previous reviews then you will know that I really like metal shells so when I opened the box and saw metal shells, I was immediately curious about the design. The shells feel solid but not heavy at all and makes for a great sturdy but light and unfatiguing fit. Mine is the black version and I like it better than the silver. The design mimics an Italian harpsichord and I think it does look really fantastic. There is even a silver grill on the top plate which I like. As a lover of thick and heavy cables I did not like the cable as it to thin and flimsy for me. The connection parts of the cable look sturdy and the silverplated wire will not subtract to add to the sound. The tips are the type of silicon ones with the narrow bass orientated nozzles. I used the white ones the most during my evaluation. The case I really like and I am so glad most companies are moving away form the pleather material and I am seeing more and more cases like this. The denim/canvas material really rocks and feels very sturdy. The Soratune logo in green gives it a nice finished look.
Sound
I had the previous Saturday planned as the day I would write my review as I normally take the day to take all my notes and summarize them all into a review as it usually takes me about half a day. So early in the morning and as I do not read other reviews of the product I am reviewing as to not influence my objectivity I just had a quick look at the specs and holy hell I missed one big piece of information and that is that the YIO1 is not just a music earphone but also a gaming earphone and I panicked because the whole week I was just evaluating the YIO1 as a music earphone. I decided to give it a quick test and opened StarCraft 2 on my desktop pc and connected the YIO1 via the Fosi Audio Sk01 to my Dac. Needless to say, my review did not get finished the Saturday and I ended up playing the whole Saturday and Sunday. I can honestly say that in the gaming department the sound is pretty immersive and crystal clear. I also played some call of duty on my phone and the sound was very immersive as I could make out footsteps very clearly and the separation of all the aspects was pretty evident throughout my gameplay.
I found that while gaming the bass was elevated enough to recreate real explosions and the bombs went off with conviction. The voices were very clear and because the highs are also boosted the explosions and gunfire did not drown them out. These are also very comfortable for long hours of gaming or music listening as the fit is extremely good in my ears and I did not even notice they were there.
While evaluating the music side of the YIO1 I knew that the earphone was made for modern music and I started with some Electronic Dance music and I selected some Mark Dekoda and a song called Rave Harder Techno Bass and man from the start the mid bass slam was there. After listening to many EDM songs I quickly came to the conclusion that the YIO1 is mid bass focused and the mid bass was very controlled with lots of tight impact and slam. Another great song for mid bass is Dark Eternal Night by Dream Theater as those drums are absolutely sublime.
If you want to test the sub bass on an earphone a perfect track to test with is a song form the Dark Knights soundtrack by Hanz Zimmer called Why so serious. I got a big fright at 3:20 when that real earth quick type sub bass kicks in. So, the sub bass is definitely there but it is not emphasized at all and you would have to call on tracks I mentioned to hear it. Moving away from EDM music and on London Grammer- Hey Now the sub bass shined through just as beautiful as the vocals. It sounded just perfect with nothing bleeding into each other and everything came together in perfect harmony.
I wanted to explore this nice bass further so I added an Effect Audio Signature Series ii 4.4mm balanced cable and some Penon Liqueur Black tips and if you do buy the YIO1 I highly recommend you order these tips from Penon. On Are you Ready by Bad Ninja the bass was very controlled and tight and the extra power exercised just the right amount of control to push/pull the driver back and forth as to create bass head approved levels of bass. I try in every review to use the accompanied tips throughout the review but I do believe that the Penon tips is a well-deserved upgrade.
I was worried about that peak in the higher midrange frequency above 2KHz but somehow it just worked. As the audiophile in me wanted to test this YIO1 with some audiophile music and the perfect album for that is definitely Warm Your Heart by Aaron Neville. Such a great group of artists and produced by Linda Ronstadt who also sings 4 times. Also, artists like Rita Coolidge. Ry Cooder, Bob Seger and Dr. John makes this one of the albums I think every audiophile should own or listen to at least once. To sweeten the experience a bit and to calm the bass a bit down I remembered I had some E-PRO audio wide bore tips that was sent to me for review and oh boy on the song It feels like rain I got goosebumps. The goosebumps came from a very low-pitched male voice that echoes in the background and is like this food grater sound if I can call it that as its difficult to describe. The realism was spot on and every instrument sounded like it should. You feel every note and because the wide bore ear tips calm the bass a bit and everything else shines a bit more. The cymbals and saxophone became more forward in such a good way that you could really feel the emotion put into the music by the artists. I heard some of the most beautiful male vocals in my life on That’s the way she loves.
There was no sibilance I could pick on any music I played and the highs was this velvety smooth almost warm tone. The instrument separation actually surprised me seeing as though this a dual earphone. There a lot of instruments used and sometimes on earphones things can get really messy when the instrument separation is not good. On Angola Bound the drums is so well separated from everything else its scary. Every stroke on the piano can be felt and as I am typing this, I can almost feel those fast fingers over the piano and want to airplay along.
I don’t know what came over me or if I was possessed by some ghost of the eighties but before I could realize I found myself foot tapping to some Modern Talking- Geronimo’s Cadillac and believe it or not these YIO1 even makes Modern Talking sound good. This led to me digging out a lot of corny songs like Come on Eileen, Ghostbusters, The Look by Roxette (I know my audiophile friends will not forgive me) and had such an enjoying listening experience. So, I do believe that the YIO1 is the perfect earphone for when you are in a casual listening or party mood.
Conclusion
I found the YIO1 a very capable earphone for music and gaming. Who should buy it? If you are a gamer and music lover and to combine the two into one earphone then the YIO1 is definitely for you. For the price I feel you can’t go wrong.
Great Midbass punch
Creamy high end
Perfect for gaming
Cons: Thin, Flimsy cable
Soratune YIO1 In-ear monitors review
I am an audiophile from sunny South Africa. Soratune is a sub brand of Kinera and I was really looking forward to test out their product. The YIO1 is not just marketed as an earphone for music but also as a gaming in-ear monitor and as I don’t get a lot gaming monitors this was a very welcome mail call when I received the YIO1 IN South Africa after about 2-3 weeks. The sales lady is really nice to deal with and is a real asset for the company. I have no doubt that being a sub brand of such a well-known brand as Kinera that the aftersales service will also be top notch. The YIO1 was sent to me in exchange for my honest opinion and I will aim to be as objective as possible and listen not just from an audiophile perspective but also as a gamer and music lover.
Unboxing
The YIO1 sells for R1938 in my country and the packaging reflects the price. I can describe the packaging as a lot the same as ARTTI products are packaged with a white cardboard cover with the earphone picture on the front and specs on the back. When you slide the cover off there is two parts you have to part and in the bottom one you will find the sponge that houses the earphone shells. Underneath that is a very cool denim/canvas type case and your two packs of ear tips. Also, the usual instructions and quality control card is to be found here. The packaging is very sturdy and I don’t think that there is a chance that it would get damaged in the post unless the delivery guys play football with it.
Specs
Brand: Soratune
Model: YI01
Driver Unit: Double dynamic coil
Impedance: 9Ω(@1kHz)
Total Harmonic Distortion (THD): ≤1%(@1kHz)
Sensitivity: 101 dB/mw(@1kHz)
Frequency Response: 20-20kHz
Cable Specification: 1.2m silver plated wire 0.78mm Double Pin
Plug: 3.5mm without Microphone\Type-C with Microphone
Connectivity
The YIO1 comes in a 3.5mm and Usb-C termination and my unit came in 3.5mm which gives you more versality with all the things you can connect it to. I connected it for gaming to my desktop pc via the Fosi Audio SK01 headphone amplifier and also straight to my Oppo A78 phone for mobile gaming. For music I had a listen on my Hiby M300 Dap and various Dac/amps like Fosi Audio DS1 which is used the most as well as the EPZ TP50 and the phenomenal TP35. Also, I used the YIO1 straight from the 3.5mm from my old faithful LG V30.
Look & Build
If you have read some of my previous reviews then you will know that I really like metal shells so when I opened the box and saw metal shells, I was immediately curious about the design. The shells feel solid but not heavy at all and makes for a great sturdy but light and unfatiguing fit. Mine is the black version and I like it better than the silver. The design mimics an Italian harpsichord and I think it does look really fantastic. There is even a silver grill on the top plate which I like. As a lover of thick and heavy cables I did not like the cable as it to thin and flimsy for me. The connection parts of the cable look sturdy and the silverplated wire will not subtract to add to the sound. The tips are the type of silicon ones with the narrow bass orientated nozzles. I used the white ones the most during my evaluation. The case I really like and I am so glad most companies are moving away form the pleather material and I am seeing more and more cases like this. The denim/canvas material really rocks and feels very sturdy. The Soratune logo in green gives it a nice finished look.
Sound
I had the previous Saturday planned as the day I would write my review as I normally take the day to take all my notes and summarize them all into a review as it usually takes me about half a day. So early in the morning and as I do not read other reviews of the product I am reviewing as to not influence my objectivity I just had a quick look at the specs and holy hell I missed one big piece of information and that is that the YIO1 is not just a music earphone but also a gaming earphone and I panicked because the whole week I was just evaluating the YIO1 as a music earphone. I decided to give it a quick test and opened StarCraft 2 on my desktop pc and connected the YIO1 via the Fosi Audio Sk01 to my Dac. Needless to say, my review did not get finished the Saturday and I ended up playing the whole Saturday and Sunday. I can honestly say that in the gaming department the sound is pretty immersive and crystal clear. I also played some call of duty on my phone and the sound was very immersive as I could make out footsteps very clearly and the separation of all the aspects was pretty evident throughout my gameplay.
I found that while gaming the bass was elevated enough to recreate real explosions and the bombs went off with conviction. The voices were very clear and because the highs are also boosted the explosions and gunfire did not drown them out. These are also very comfortable for long hours of gaming or music listening as the fit is extremely good in my ears and I did not even notice they were there.
While evaluating the music side of the YIO1 I knew that the earphone was made for modern music and I started with some Electronic Dance music and I selected some Mark Dekoda and a song called Rave Harder Techno Bass and man from the start the mid bass slam was there. After listening to many EDM songs I quickly came to the conclusion that the YIO1 is mid bass focused and the mid bass was very controlled with lots of tight impact and slam. Another great song for mid bass is Dark Eternal Night by Dream Theater as those drums are absolutely sublime.
If you want to test the sub bass on an earphone a perfect track to test with is a song form the Dark Knights soundtrack by Hanz Zimmer called Why so serious. I got a big fright at 3:20 when that real earth quick type sub bass kicks in. So, the sub bass is definitely there but it is not emphasized at all and you would have to call on tracks I mentioned to hear it. Moving away from EDM music and on London Grammer- Hey Now the sub bass shined through just as beautiful as the vocals. It sounded just perfect with nothing bleeding into each other and everything came together in perfect harmony.
I wanted to explore this nice bass further so I added an Effect Audio Signature Series ii 4.4mm balanced cable and some Penon Liqueur Black tips and if you do buy the YIO1 I highly recommend you order these tips from Penon. On Are you Ready by Bad Ninja the bass was very controlled and tight and the extra power exercised just the right amount of control to push/pull the driver back and forth as to create bass head approved levels of bass. I try in every review to use the accompanied tips throughout the review but I do believe that the Penon tips is a well-deserved upgrade.
I was worried about that peak in the higher midrange frequency above 2KHz but somehow it just worked. As the audiophile in me wanted to test this YIO1 with some audiophile music and the perfect album for that is definitely Warm Your Heart by Aaron Neville. Such a great group of artists and produced by Linda Ronstadt who also sings 4 times. Also, artists like Rita Coolidge. Ry Cooder, Bob Seger and Dr. John makes this one of the albums I think every audiophile should own or listen to at least once. To sweeten the experience a bit and to calm the bass a bit down I remembered I had some E-PRO audio wide bore tips that was sent to me for review and oh boy on the song It feels like rain I got goosebumps. The goosebumps came from a very low-pitched male voice that echoes in the background and is like this food grater sound if I can call it that as its difficult to describe. The realism was spot on and every instrument sounded like it should. You feel every note and because the wide bore ear tips calm the bass a bit and everything else shines a bit more. The cymbals and saxophone became more forward in such a good way that you could really feel the emotion put into the music by the artists. I heard some of the most beautiful male vocals in my life on That’s the way she loves.
There was no sibilance I could pick on any music I played and the highs was this velvety smooth almost warm tone. The instrument separation actually surprised me seeing as though this a dual earphone. There a lot of instruments used and sometimes on earphones things can get really messy when the instrument separation is not good. On Angola Bound the drums is so well separated from everything else its scary. Every stroke on the piano can be felt and as I am typing this, I can almost feel those fast fingers over the piano and want to airplay along.
I don’t know what came over me or if I was possessed by some ghost of the eighties but before I could realize I found myself foot tapping to some Modern Talking- Geronimo’s Cadillac and believe it or not these YIO1 even makes Modern Talking sound good. This led to me digging out a lot of corny songs like Come on Eileen, Ghostbusters, The Look by Roxette (I know my audiophile friends will not forgive me) and had such an enjoying listening experience. So, I do believe that the YIO1 is the perfect earphone for when you are in a casual listening or party mood.
Conclusion
I found the YIO1 a very capable earphone for music and gaming. Who should buy it? If you are a gamer and music lover and to combine the two into one earphone then the YIO1 is definitely for you. For the price I feel you can’t go wrong.
