- Activo Volcano In-Ear screens are available now
- Triple-Driver IEMs with 3.5 mm, 4.5 mm and USB-C connections
- $ 80 / £ 99 / around AU $ 127
If you are looking for high-ended in-ear screens with a low price tag, Astell & Kern would like to help, or rather, its lifestyle undermark Activo would. After launching its amazing Activo P1 Hi-Res Audio Player and just as impressive Activo Q1 IEMs in the past, the brand has announced a third family member: Activo Volcano. And they are a fraction of the price you would pay for Q1.
The official price for the ear time Q1 is $ 349 / £ 299 / Around AU $ 600. But the new Volcano IEMs are only $ 80 / £ 99 / around AU $ 127-and we suspect they will be a great value addition to the world of the best wired earbuds.
Volcanic value
I am fascinated by these new IEMs because I was going through and still using Q1, which I gave four and a half stars to in my Activo Q1 review. The most obvious difference is in what the volcanoes look like: They do not have the large brass houses and steel nozzles in the 1st quarter, and there is another driver inside as well. Here you get a triple driver setup that includes an 8 mm dynamic driver and two 6 mm.
The frequency response is the same as Q1 at 20-20,000Hz and the sensitivity is 100 db/MW. Impedance is 16 ohm. The cable is a seven-string silver-plated and five-string oxygen-free copper wire hybrid with two-pole plugs at one end and a choice of 3.5 mm, 4.4 mm and USB-C connector on the other.
The package includes the mandatory ear tips: three memory foam and three silicone. And although the weight has not been detailed, the IEMs look much less chunky than Q1; Not a big thing for me, but some reviews have suggested that Q1 was a little too husky in a few cases.
At this price, the volcano undermines several impressive rivals, including the mighty Sennheiser, ie. 200 earplugs. Their single dynamic driver covers a wider frequency range – 6Hz – 26 kHz to Volcanos 20Hz – 20khz – but the volcano is significantly cheaper: Sennheisers currently trades around $ 119 / £ 125.
