Queen Of Audio Barbados Sunrise Review

I’ve been a fan of Queen of Audio in the past with their Mojito and Vesper IEMs. They can always be trusted with delivering some of the best-looking designs on the market. You would expect nothing less from Kinera’s sister brand. They also have some of the most inexpensive IEM selections around, with their latest model, the Barbados Sunrise respecting that notion at only $89.99. Even at its low price, is this IEM still worth the listen?

What You Get

• Barbados Sunrise earphones
• Zip-up carrying case
• 2-pin OFC silver-plated cable
• Ear tips
  • 3 pairs of silicone
  • 3 pairs of rubber

Look and Feel

Artistry and design is the name of the game for Queen of Audio, and although this may be one of their simplest shells, it still has some cool art to look at. Its main shell is pretty much just a black cavity that isn’t as impressive as their previous designs, but they make up for it with the Barbados Sunrise’s beautiful front plates. The sunrise variation has this great splash of colors that are reminiscent of exactly what it is named after. A layer of gloss and silver logo inlay completes its aesthetic in a stylish fashion. Its fit is nothing to complain about either, as the earpieces are small and sit comfortably throughout long listening sessions.

Design

This hybrid system combines a 10mm dynamic driver with a single balanced armature. It uses 3D printing technology to make its 2 acoustic chambers that better control the air pressure inside of the housing. The stock cable is a silver-plated mix of alloy copper and OFC.

• Frequency band: 20Hz-20kHz
• Impedance: 23Ω
• Sensitivity: 106db

Soundstage 

In terms of spaciousness, the Barbados Sunrise does what it can to deliver its sound in an effective way. It does a good job using its width to provide a natural stereo field, and its sense of separation goes a long way to establish clear and identifiable layers for the music to showcase. You won’t find much depth on the Barbados Sunrise, but for the price, it does a good enough job positioning the sound elements linearly.

Low End

The bass gives you a good amount of lift to the sound signature, injecting it with life and energy. You get a smooth response that dives into a vibrating pool of texture thanks to its sub-bass resonance. Some of its impact can be soft, but its rising rumble does enough to engulf you in the frequencies timbre.

Mids

There’s some okay clarity in some ranges but the timbre mostly falls flat. Some of the resolution can be fuzzy at times leaving the tone feeling hollow and undefined. You feel as if some of the detail is directly scooped out of the mix, and that makes a lot of the responses just appear dull. Vocal clarity is average, but for the price, it does its job well enough to provide some good clarity,

Highs

While they are a lot more defined than the mids, the highs suffer from being overly shouty and sometimes harsh. It can add some nice top end to the sound signature and give it some much-appreciated height, but even treble lovers will find this response a bit harsh after a while.

Summary

While I wasn’t huge on the sound of these IEMs, it offers some solid bass for the price, and that aesthetic design is always a winner. For the most part, I wasn’t impressed with its performance, especially in its treble region, but the bass helps make up for its lesser qualities.

The Queen of Audio Barbados Sunrise is available at Audio46.