SeeAudio Bravery Review – 4 BA IEMs

September 7, 2021 2:16 pm

SeeAudio is a company I’ve had a number of experiences with, having tried out the Neo, Kaguya, and Yume. Their newly released Bravery IEM peaked my interest immediately as it had quite a low price tag of $249 compared to the rest of the company’s line (most of which runs for $900-$1,400). A more affordable IEM from a high end brand can go a lot of ways, so I was skeptical about the Bravery as I plugged it in for the first time.

Look and Feel

The melting black and white pattern on the back of these stylish IEMs offers a subtle psychedelia to their look. I was glad SeeAudio still put in thought to the look of these despite them being a fraction of the price of most of their other models. Their fit is the typical molded ear shape you see on most IEMs these days, and hugs the ear tightly but comfortably with its smooth, curved build.

Design

These use 4 balanced armature drivers with a tri-frequency distribution. Two Knowles drivers are used for the lows, one Sonion for the mids, and one more Knowles for the highs. The included custom Hakugei cable is “used to fully match the Bravery’s pure sound.”

These have an impedence of 18ohms and a frequency response of 20Hz-20kHz

Soundstage

The Bravery have a soundstage that immediately engages the listener, pulling ear candy outwards and allowing those satisfying snappy and crunchy ear feels to come out. Sound separation is impressive, especially for the price range. I’ve found SeeAudio goes for a very tight soundstage and separation, which I overall am a fan of. At times I wouldn’t mind slightly looser, airier imaging to be implemented with some more intense depth. Nonetheless, these offer impressive width and holographic quality.

Low

These have a very clean, pumped up sub response. You’ll get a great punch out of the Bravery, and a fair amount of stereo sensation from the low end. The 30-50Hz range gets plenty of attention, making a strong foundation for the rest of the tuning. The lows were not always as textured and nuanced as I wanted, often feeling more tonal than distinctive. Still, overall, I was extremely impressed with the low end on these, and would deem it one of the more successful bass responses in this price range.

Mid

The Bravery have a nice light boost on their low mid, blending well into their beefy low end and adding a noticeable warmth. The mid range on these is somewhat colored, with a bit of saturation in the high mids and low highs. If you want a subdued high mid, these do push the high mid forward just a tad, but not to the point sensitive ears need be concerned. I felt like the high mid on these was pushed just as far as it could without crossing the fine line between presence and sharpness.

Highs

The highs on these are a bit segmented. They have a hefty shine to them, which is right up my alley, but I found around 8kHz had a bit more boosting on it than I would normally prefer. The 16kHz area was also boosted, but less than the frequencies below it. I’d have rather a more even-keel boost across the highs, or to leave the low highs a bit subdued. Overall, the highs on the Bravery ended up feeling pretty natural once I adjusted to them, despite being slightly metallic at times. I’d give their high end a solid B+, maybe even an A- on some tracks. It hit the spot more than it didn’t.

Overall

I’m very impressed with SeeAudio’s ability to inject so much of their signature sound and styling into the Bravery despite its significantly lower price tag. I’d definitely say it represents their brand well, and doesn’t feel like a downgrade of their expensive models, but more so a bang-for-your-buck entry point into their product line. If you’re in the market for an IEM in the $200-$300 price range, give this up and coming brand a shot, they’ve earned it in my opinion.

Pros