Review - Reecho SG03

English | Español

Also available on YouTube in Spanish: Acho Reviews YouTube

The Reecho SG03 have been loaned to me by CqTek from hiendportable.com, allowing me to try them out and post this review. If you would like to see his review of them, please check it out here: https://hiendportable.com/reecho-sg-03-english-review/

Intro…

A while back, a subscriber of Acho Reviews on YouTube asked me about the SG03 and if I could review them. I remembered seeing a review of them on hiendportable so I reached out to CqTek asking to borrow them and give them a listen.

His first reply was “Sure, I’ll send them you but I’m not sure they will be your flavour”. I guess he knows my tastes fairly well because he was totally correct, they are not a set of IEMs that I am overly delighted by.

However, that does not make them any less eligible for review, nor does it mean that, as they are not my cup of tea, that they won’t be perfect for others, so I’ll try and give my impressions on how I hear the Reecho SG03 without being pessimistic 😉

Presentation…

As these were sent to me by CqTek, who probably has even more IEMs than me, it is understandable that he doesn’t keep the packing and accessories around for most of them. In this case, the Reecho were shipped to me in a transport case along with an aftermarket cable, therefore I cannot comment on presentation of the product.

Build and aesthetics…

The IEM shells are metal and on the large side, with a fair bit of weight that comes along with that combination. They are not the heaviest IEMs that I have had in my ears but they aren’t really a lightweight either.

The faceplate use a design that combines shapes and gives them a look that is different from the majority of IEMs on the market. Although the faceplate does use strange shapes and angles, the interior or the shell is smooth and well contoured. resulting in a farily comfortable set of IEMs to wear.

The also seem like a sturdy build, due to the full metal shells, but the edges of the faceplate are starting to show a little sign of wear in the paint. Of course, this is something that is not really fair in comparison to other IEMs I review as these have been used (not sure for how long) whereas the IEMs I usually review are new, with approximately a week of use, but I thought I would mention it anyway.

As I mentioned, the cable I received is not the stock cable, therefore it isn’t relevant to this review, however, I will say that it is the thickest IEM cable I have ever used. I think this cable is a perfect EDC carry for a prepper, as it can be used as a rope if necessary 😛

Sound…

I already said in the intro that these IEMs are not for me, I am not going to go further into that as I think I have made my preferences clear in previous reviews, so I will just focus on the Reecho SG03 as I hear them.

In the subbass category, there is plenty. In fact, there is more than plenty. Using “Chameleon” which has become my default test track for subbass, the SG03 provide a wall of it. At a low listening level, the subbass is very present, give it some power and it just becomes a huge low end monster.

“Chameleon” is an exaggerated track, one that pushes the low end to an extreme, but even with tracks that are not quite as subbass focused, such as “No Sanctuary Here” by Marian Herzog feat Chris Jones, the low end is nothing short of brutal. The thing is, the SG03 actually manage to pull off this amount low end without it getting too out of control. I mean, there are times when “Chameleon” does sound dirty in the low end, or even “No Sanctuary Here” can feel a bit out of control when pushed, but the exaggerated bass doesn’t really have a negative affect on the remaining frequencies, or at least not to the extent that I would have expected.

Although this is a very V shaped tuning and there is certainly some bleed into the lower mids, this bleed is actually a lot less prominent than I would have thought by listening to the bass these IEMs put out. That is not to say that the transition from the bass to the mids is clean and articulate, but it is cleaner and more articulated than one would expect.

The mids are recessed in comparison to the lower registries. Depending on the choice of music, voices can go from being present enough to actually struggling, depending on the amount of bass and information happening in those lower registers. As an example, “Breezeblocks” by alt-J is acceptable while it is in a tranquil part of the track, but once the bass kicks in, the vocals disappear behind a mass of rumble.

As we move up towards the higher registers, there is presence in the 2kHz to 4kHz which manages to not be harsh but is also not quite enough to bring the presence of vocals back through the rumble. To be fair, they haven’t done a terrible job as I can understand that it is very difficult to make voices cut through the elevated bass rumble without them being overly harsh in quieter and more tamed passages.

That doesn’t mean that they sound great with vocals in simpler and quieter tracks, they still have a harshness to them that I am not fond of, but it is certainly not as bad as it would have been if they had continued to try and cut through.

In the higher regions, there isn’t a great sensation of air or extension. This is partly due to a roll off in the higher frequencies but also due to the tuning itself. I feel that the higher regions are similar to the higher mids in regards to having to counteract the bass without becoming unbearable in parts of tracks where there isn’t a huge amount of bass.

The soundstage is also not very large, although it doesn’t come across as claustrophobic, it just seems to hit a “do not pass” line off to the sides. For example, when listening to “Letter”, the pencil moves across the center but once off to the side, it seems to sit there for quite a long time. Saying this, the SG03 does manage to separate things fairly well inside the soundstage it has to work with. You can still pick out details in the higher mids and lower treble, even in the center of the mids to some extent, just don’t try to focus on bass details when there is a lot going on.

Conclusion…

I have said it already but I’ll repeat it, the SG03 are not for me. They don’t suit my tastes and don’t really make anything that I listen to sound better than I would expect. There have been a few moments of “wow” when listening to certain genres or tracks, like the first time I played “Chameleon” through them, but those weren’t really “wow, I’m impressed” moments, it was more “wow, that's not what I expected” moments.

That doesn’t mean that they are bad IEMs, I am sure that there will be plenty of people who love these IEMs. Maybe for those who like to listen to deep throbbing Dubstep (which I do on occasions also) will find these perfect for their taste, they just don’t suit mine.

I don’t think I have mentioned the price yet, these sell for around 75€, which is not terribly expensive but is not ultra budget either. I suppose I would need to take into consideration whatever is included as far as accessories etc. before saying these are expensive, but based solely on how they sound, I feel they could be cheaper.

In fact, if these were a set of IEMs that fell into the ultra-budget category, like some of the offerings around 30€, then I would probably be interested in a set just to have in my collection of IEMs, as the bass really is… well… bassy. But as I wouldn’t use them regularly to listen to music, I wouldn’t pay the current price.

Again, this is all personal preference, as with all my reviews, they are personal opinions and are only relevant to my own taste in music and how it is reproduced. If you feel that these may suit your tastes, then give them a whirl!