The Kiwi Ears Airoso is a five-driver hybrid in-ear monitor released in the spring of 2025. It features one dynamic driver and four balanced armature drivers, priced at 129 USD / €120 excluding tax.
The dynamic driver uses a liquid crystal polymer (LCP) and polyurethane (PU) composite diaphragm, handling the bass and midrange. The four balanced armature drivers are all tweeters, with two dedicated to high frequencies and two to ultra-high frequencies.
MAIN TAKEAWAY
- Organic, smooth and lush
- Beautiful midrange
- Great with all genres
- Light and comfortable
ABOUT KIWI EARS
For the past few years, Kiwi Ears has been a force to be reckoned with in the IEM market. They have released many high-value IEMs, several of which have set new benchmarks for the industry. This year, they have also entered the full-size headphone market, but that has not slowed down their efforts in IEM development.
BUILD AND AND COMFORT
The compact resin housing is paired with a CNC-machined decorative faceplate made of aluminum and titanium. I like the size and shape of these earphones—the Airoso in-ear monitors sit comfortably in the ears.
The cable is thin, extremely lightweight, and detachable, using standard 0.78mm 2-pin connectors. It measures ca 1.2 meters in length, is of decent quality, and is terminated with a 3.5mm plug.
KIWI EARS AIROSO SPECIFICATIONS
- Drivers: 1 dynamic, 4 balanced armatures.
- Impedance 18 Ohms
- Sensitivity 110 dB/mW
- Frequency Response 20Hz – 20kHz
- Cable Length 1.2m (detachable)
- Earphone connector type 0.78mm dual pin
- Cable termination 3.5mm TRS
- Weight 12 g (each earbud)
Current price and availability:
- Kiwi Ears: Airoso
- Amazon: Kiwi Ears Airoso
- Linsoul: Kiwi Ears Airoso
LISTENING IMPRESSIONS
Associated equipment:
- Amplifier: Topping A90
- DAC RME ADI-2 DAC FS
- Tips: SpinFit CP100
Eye of the Day by Marta del Grandi
The bass is lush and full without being overpowering, adding a pleasant warmth. Vocals are beautifully rendered with a warm, rich timbre. The treble is smooth yet articulate, offering clarity without harshness.
Maple Noise by Greene Serene
Dynamic, lush, and nicely warm.
Like Suicide by Soundgarden
The bass is rich, and the guitars come through smooth yet detailed. Vocals sound natural and pleasant. This track can often be a bit harsh, but not with the Airoso.
Never Enough by Loren Allred
This beautiful song often sounds harsh on earphones that are overly crisp and revealing. The Airoso, however, is among the few that make it more than just listenable. The vocals are rounded enough to be beautiful without becoming fatiguing, while the overall presentation remains balanced and fairly neutral. Well done.
Georgia Lee by Tom Waits
Beautiful and natural sounding vocals, spacious soundstage and a generally well-balanced presentation.
Graceful Touch by Tord Gustavsen Trio
This piano trio sounds beautiful, natural and organic, rendered with delicacy and tenderness. It’s not the last word in ultra-fine detail, but for the price it’s pretty great. The bass is full sounding and feels a bit elevated, in a nice way.
Midnight City M83
Another track that can sound dry and uninspiring with the wrong earphones, but not with the Airoso: It is rendered in warm and punchy, detailed and smooth way.
Limit to Your Love by James Blake
James’ vocals are beautiful. Tender and delicate with a nice dose of warmth. The bass is quite massive bit very well controlled. There a rich quality to it as opposed to the drier quality often associated with planars.
Bullet in the Head by Rage Against The Machine
Excellent tonality—punchy and rich, with a rounded yet detailed presentation.
Sunrise by Norah Jones
Full sounding, rounded bass, delicate natural sounding vocals.
Spring 1 Vivaldi Recomposed by Max Richter
Once again, there’s a rounded quality to the instruments that makes them sound exceptionally natural and easy on the ear. Excellent timbre.
Young Vivaldi RV820 by Modo Antiquo
Again, excellent timbre—the strings have a natural, yet detailed and textured presence.
WRAPPING IT UP
Sound Signature
The sound signature is fairly neutral with a touch of color. The Airoso offers somewhat lush, full-sounding bass, warm mids, and relaxed highs.
Treble
The treble is delicate and non-offensive without feeling recessed.
Midrange
The midrange is beautiful, organic and natural sounding, with good presence and a nice touch of warmth.
Bass
The bass is well-extended and never distorts. It’s on the thicker, fuller side of neutral.
Soundstage and Imaging
The soundstage is reasonably spacious and the imaging is good, but neither is a major selling point of the earphone.
Detail, Dynamics, and Timbre
The detail level is good but details are not “in-your-face”; nuances reveal themselves if you listen closely. Dynamics are solid but not a standout. The true highlight of this earphone is how natural and effortlessly the music flows. It’s consistently pleasant to listen to, with beautiful tone and timbre—especially vocals, which sound terrific.
COMPARISONS
Associated equipment:
- Amplifier: Topping A90
- DAC RME ADI-2 DAC FS
KIWI EARS AETHER vs. AIROSO
The Kiwi Ears Aether is a planar magnetic in-ear monitor priced at $170 USD / €150, which features a single, notably large 15.3mm driver.
While the Airoso delivers a lusher, more organic sound with fuller bass and a smoother overall presentation, the Aether leans toward detail and articulation, offering a drier and more precise sound. Both excel in their own right—the Airoso emphasizes warmth and natural timbre, while the Aether prioritizes clarity and detail. It’s made to sound neutral, and it does.
- Kiwi Ears: Aether
- Amazon: Kiwi Ears Aether
- Linsoul: Kiwi Ears Aether
KIWI EARS KE4 vs. AIROSO
Kiwi Ears KE4 was launched in late 2024 and is typically price at 199 USD / €170 ex.tax. It is also a hybrid driver IEM, but the setup is less exotic than that of the Airoso: The KE4 utilizes a dual 10 mm dynamic driver for the bass, a combined balanced armature driver for the mids and lower highs, and a dedicated balanced armature tweeter for the highest frequencies.
The Airoso and the KE4 are very similar in many ways: their general sound signature, soundstage size, timbre, and tonality are closely aligned. The KE4 offers slightly better detail and more subtle nuance, which justifies its higher price. In terms of audio performance, the Airoso can be seen as a “baby KE4.” Both are excellent-sounding IEMs, and if you enjoy a warm, organic sound, they are excellent choices.
- Linsoul: Kiwi Ears KE4
- Amazon: Kiwi Ears KE4
AMPLIFICATION
Amps matter. I’ve been using the Topping A90 desktop amp for all my testing so far, but now it’s time to check out some portable options.
Starting with my POCO F5 phone’s headphone output, it doesn’t do the Airoso justice at all. It just sounds wrong in every way.
The tiny Jade/FiiO JA11 dongle, however, makes things right. It sounds open, dynamic, and detailed, but slightly edgy compared to the better options.
Kiwi Ears’ own Allegro Mini sounds slightly better. Further, the Allegro Pro seems to have better resolution and dynamics.
The Letshuoer DT03 sounds similar, with a slightly warmer tonality, as it often has. However, the xDuoo Link2 Bal2, has a more refined presentation, slightly larger sounding and more delicate.
The THX Onyx is more expensive and sounds good, but not significantly more than the xDuuo.
The Dragonfly Cobalt performs great with the Airoso. The soundstage is large, there a good sense of space between instruments. It’s snappy and detailed, neutral and delicate.
Finally, the Chord Mojo is always great with IEMs , and the Airoso is not an expedition.
In conclusion, the biggest surprise was how bad the Airoso sounded with my phone. The dongles performed more or less as expected, with the DT03 and THX Onyx being slightly disappointing, however not completely unexpected. They often tend to sound warmer than the others, and the Airoso doesn’t seem to pair well with warm sounding gear. That said, the Airoso clearly scales nicely with better upstream equipment.
CONCLUSION
It’s hard not to like the Airoso. The full-bodied bass may not be the most textured, but it adds a pleasant warmth. Further, the midrange sounds beautifully organic and natural, while the highs remain delicate and non-intrusive.
In conclusion, the Kiwi Ears Airoso are lush-leaning, organic-sounding IEMs with a beautiful timbre and a tonality that makes them enjoyable across all genres of music.
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Current price and availability:
- Kiwi Ears: Airoso
- Amazon: Kiwi Ears Airoso
- Linsoul: Kiwi Ears Airoso
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