Review - Simgot EA500

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TLDR version on YouTube: TDLR - Simgot EA500

The Simgot EA500 have been sent to me by Linsoul in exchange for the publication of this review. As always, Linsoul have not made any requests or comments and I will do my best to be as honest and sincere as possible in this review.

The EA500 are available via Linsoul here: https://www.linsoul.com/products/simgot-ea500

As with all the links I post, the above is a non-affiliate link.

To avoid being repetetive in my reviews, you can find all the info about how I create the reviews, equipment used, how I receive the products and how to interpret my reviews by visiting: About my reviews

Intro…

Simgot is a brand that I have seen mentioned a lot over the past years on various forums, although I haven’t really paid much attention to them. Their website features quite a few models of IEMs, a couple of dongle style DACs and even a set of over ear headphones, however, I can’t say I have ever had the chance to try out any of their offerings until now.

The EA500 is quite a new release from the brand and features a dual magnet, single 10mm dynamic driver, coming in at under 80€ (at the time or writing this review) on Linsoul. While this does place them outside of the ultra budget category (50€ or less), it still makes them a very affordable set of IEMs. It also puts them in direct competition with many other models at similar price points (a search of IEMs between 50€ and 100€ on Linsoul returns 77 results), some of which are from brands that are quite well known in the IEM segment.

Therefore, let’s see if there is anything special about the EA500 that makes them a good choice over other alternatives.

Presentation…

Arriving in a simple but modern looking box, the packaging could easily be mistaken for a DAP or even a cell phone. On the cover there are no images of the IEMs and only the Hi-Res logo in the top corner points us towards this being an audio product.

The back of the box does hint more towards the fact that these are earphones, showing us the two frequency response graphs for the included nozzles (more on that in a moment), along with the specifications of the IEMs.

Opening the box we find the smooth and shiny silver IEMs sitting in cut outs, with a box below containing the accessories.

Those accessories are an oval storage/transport case, free of any logos, 3 sets of silicone tips, the cable, the replacement nozzles and quite a few spare o-rings that fit on the nozzles to seal them with the shells.

While some extra styles of tips would have been nice, I can’t really bring myself to complain about the contents as I feel that the basic necessities are more than covered.

Build and aesthetics…

As I said above, the shells are silver and shiny, looking quite elegant (until you fill them with fingerprints of course). The Simgot logo on the shells is visible but quite discreet and works well with the simplicity of the aesthetics. The shells are completely metal, as you may have guessed from the photos, and while they are not the lightest of IEMs, they are not heavy weights either.

The overall shape of the shells is quite generic but smoothed around the edges, leading to quite a comfortable fit, for me at least. They are not overly large and the weight, while noticeable, doesn’t lead to any fatigue.

The included cable, while advertised as a high quality silver plated cable, is nothing really exciting but it does match the IEMs well and certainly does its job. The connectors and hardware are plastic and not really something that will stand out for their luxury but, again, they get the job done.

In general, I find them to be a comfortable set of IEMs that, while not anything exciting, look fairly good in their simplicity.

Sound…

All tracks mentioned are clickable links that allow you to open the reference track in the streaming service of your choice (YouTube, Tidal, Qobuz, Spotify, etc.)

One of the things that makes the EA500 stand out from many other models is the fact that they include 2 sets of nozzles that simply unscrew to be replaced and change the overall tuning of the IEMs.

According to Simgot, the first set (with the red silicone rings) aims for the H Brand-2016 Curve, which I am guessing is the Harman curve due to them stating that it “...is a very universal trend-orientated tuning style. It is also the basic curve widely used by different brands of audio manufacturers in the industry…”. Well, that and the fact that the show the Harman curve on their graph for reference, although the EA500 don’t exactly follow it that closely (and even less in my measurements but I’ll get to that).

The second set, with the black silicone rings, is stated as following the SIMGOT-Classic target curve, which does vary quite a bit in the bass and treble (at least on their graphs but, again, I’ll get to that). The state that this tuning “Through appropriate gain of the treble and slight forward shift of the first peak, on the basis of ensuring accurate positioning and clear image, the three frequency keep balances, making the instrument more beautiful, the separation clearer, and the female vocal more addictive”. I don’t know about you guys but I’m sold 😉

Anyway, enough about what they claim and on to what I actually found while testing out the EA500. First let’s take a look at what Simgot show as the differences between the two different nozzles:

Now here is what I got when measuring the two nozzles (in comparison to my personal preference target as usual):

As you can see, the differences between the two measurements are a lot less pronounced on my set up. We should take into consideration that there is obviously a difference between measuring rigs and also there is the possibility of unit variation between the two, but the differences are still fairly minimal on the set that I received (both when measured and while listening).

Starting off with the nozzles with the black o-rings (I am jus going to refer to black nozzles and red nozzles from now on) and the usual subbass test with “Chameleon”, there is enough presence for me to not say that the subbass is lacking. Saying that, it is a little less present than on many other sets, so if you are looking for a bass head set of IEMs, at least in the sub ranges, the black nozzle are not going to be it.

Switching to the red nozzles and running the same test, the differences are fairly inaudible. I like to think that my hearing is so good that I could tell the difference but as I had already seen the graph, it was just my mind telling me to expect more subbass. If someone else changed the nozzles and I listened again, I wouldn’t be able to tell which is which (although I would have 50% probabilities of getting it right 😜 ).

In general the subbass is decent, well controlled and doesn’t seem to struggle at all even when pushed. My listening levels are not the highest in general but I did push them for a while when trying out some EDM and I can’t say they performed badly at all.

Moving into the midbass range and returning to the black nozzles, I ran the usual “Crazy” test to see if the midbass fatigued me and while it wasn’t the cleanest of midbass, it didn’t become overpowering nor interfere with the mid range, something that I find to be a common occurrence with this track. The red nozzles once again showed no difference to my ears, with me feeling the same way about the track with both options.

Trying out “Sun Is Shining” I felt that the bass wasn’t as clear and defined as I have heard it on many other single DD options recently. It doesn’t sound bad but did come across as being a little blunt in those bass rhythms. It is not that it is lacking in speed, just that the rhythm is not quite a clear and powerful as I would like.

If in the lower regions I find there is very little difference between the nozzles, through the center of the midrange there is no difference at all, at least as far as tuning goes. In terms of detail in the mids, the black nozzle does give a sensation of things being clearer and more defined, which is partly because there is slightly more presence in the upper mids with these nozzles. I say “partly” because I EQ’d that range down ever so slightly to match the red nozzles, just as a test, and I still found the midrange to come across as a little more detailed with the black nozzles.

As we get to the upper mids, and above these regions, this is where we do find clear differences between the two nozzles. These changes are still not dramatic, they do follow a very similar tuning, but the black nozzles do push vocals forward along with instruments that have plenty of presence in these ranges.

As far as vocals, at first I found that I liked the extra presence of the black nozzle but as I listened to more music I started to realize that they could become tiresome, making upper percussion in things like “Royals” or “Forgot About Dre” come across as harsh and uncomfortable. Vocals can also be harsh and more tiring with the black nozzles, such as Paul Simon in “Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes”, being overly hash and sibilant. Using the usual non-scientific -12 to +12 sibilance scale on “Code Cool”, I would place Patricia at a +4 at least with the black nozzles.

Switching over to the red nozzles, these upper ranges are tamed quite a bit, with Patricia dropping to somewhere between +1 and +2 as far as sibilance but, more importantly, the harshness of those upper snare, hi-hats and brass instruments on other tracks are also calmed in comparison to the black nozzles, although they can still come across a little harsh on occasions (such as the trumpets in “Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes”)

The sensation of detail I would say is slightly better with the black nozzles yet, as the red nozzles are tamed slightly, it is easier to focus on the detail of these upper ranges. Soundstage is decent enough, not a huge open space but certainly on the upper side of average for IEMs, with good use of the available space for image placement.

Conclusion…

The Simgot EA500 are a set of IEMs that I really don’t know where to place them as far as my preferences. The overall set is impressive but at the same time, it can become tiring very quickly, depending on the choice of music.

If I am listening to something that is not overly present or harsh in the upper mids and above, then I find that I really enjoy the black nozzles as they make things sound exciting. Yet, if I am listening to things that are harsher in those same ranges, then I find that the black nozzles make things a little calmer and easier to tolerate, yet they do seem to loose that excitement factor.

I can’t say that the EA500 are not a good set of IEMs, I think they perform very well, but I think that the choice of music is going to be the main thing that puts them either at excellent or harsh for many people.