ZiiGaat x Fresh Reviews Arete
ZiiGaat x Fresh Reviews Arete
ZiiGaat x Fresh Reviews Arete features a 5 Driver Hybrid Configuration.
The ZiiGaat x Fresh Reviews Arete is a 1DD+4BA Hybrid IEM with a 5 Driver Hybrid Configuration. It combines a biocellulose diaphragm dynamic driver for powerful bass with American Knowles balanced armature drivers for natural and accurate mids and trebles. Tuning aims for a natural studio monitor-like sound with punchy bass. The midrange is flat and neutral, allowing instruments and vocals to sound true to the recording. Concentrated bass impact and professional treble response provide subwoofer-like bass and clean, detailed trebles. A three-way crossover system and three independent acoustic sound tubes per side ensure optimal frequency range separation for exceptional sound quality.
5 Driver Hybrid Configuration: Arete's 1DD+4BA setup maximizes each driver's potential. Classic Knowles drivers handle midrange and treble, while a robust biocellulose diaphragm dynamic driver delivers powerful bass. This ensures a balanced sound with precise detailing across frequencies.
Balanced Monitor Tuning: Tuned like professional studio monitors, Arete offers a natural, flat midrange from 300Hz to 1kHz. Authentic vocals and instruments with excellent layering and imaging provide an immersive listening experience.
Concentrated Bass Impact: With a 9dB shelf at 300Hz, Arete delivers subwoofer-like bass impact without muddiness. Deep, powerful, and clean bass enhances enjoyment while maintaining a natural tone.
Professional Treble Response: Arete's treble is finely tuned for clean tones and natural upper treble harmonics. Using Knowles 31736 tweeters, it achieves excellent extension and spaciousness, reproducing micro-details without harshness for a comfortable yet detailed treble experience.
About Fresh Reviews & ZiiGaat
About three years ago we went on a journey on the Fresh Reviews channel, the quest for the best audio for competitive gaming. It has been a joy ride, testing a laundry list of amazing IEMs, headphones, and collabs from other creators. Formulating the "wall hack certified tier list" was not just about expressing how good IEMs can be for competitive gaming, but also sharing the joy for amazing sound in general compared to what most of us gamers were formerly used to. I only hope that we have shared that joy with professionals, novices, and everyone in between. The idea behind Arete, was to attempt to craft an IEM that was easy to drive, and performed well in a diverse library of first person shooters. Given the significant differences from one title to the next, I think we landed on something that met our goal providing solid imaging, separation, and detail retrieval in several titles. Arete will hopefully be the first of many, for which we will follow the same theme, the quest for perfection. Happy fragging.
ZiiGaat has been the silent engineering team behind many of today’s most popular global audio brands. For over a decade, we have been developing OEM and ODM products for numerous consumer and professional brands. Taking the years of experience, we now wish to set out and unleash our technological innovations and passion for audio to new levels. By creating our brand, we can freely experiment and share our work without corporate restrictions. Our skillset, experience, and next gen tools equip us to produce some of the best audio products the market has to offer. We aim to be more than just an audio brand; we seek to be a tech team that can work closely with the audio community to make better products for all of us. Each ZiiGaat member is passionate about music and best-in-class audio resolution, and we are on a mission to help people rediscover their music like never before.
5 Driver Hybrid Configuration
Like its name implies, the Arete utilizes every driver to its full potential in this 1DD+4BA configuration. Classic American Knowles drivers were selected for the midrange and treble, owing to their tried and true performance, while a new biocellulose diaphragm dynamic driver was chosen to deliver a powerful bass.
Biocellulose Diaphragm Driver
A robust 10mm biocellulose diaphragm dynamic driver powers the sub-bass and bass response. Using stronger neodymium magnets, the bass response is extremely responsive and tight, while the biocellulose membrane allows better texturing in the low-end. Compared to typical balanced armtuare woofers, this larger 10mm dynamic driver allows significantly better bass performance.
American Knowles Balanced Armature Drivers
Two Knowles 29689 balanced armature drivers, famed for its persistent best-in-class midrange performance, deliver natural and accurate mids and mid-trebles. Particularly, vocals and string instruments excel thanks to the precisely tuned 29689 drivers. Finally, the Knowles 31736 twin-balanced armature drivers was selected to deliver pristine upper treble response. These drivers are some of the best known and beloved drivers in the IEM industry, and we have brought them back to introduce a fresh sound, thanks to our latest tuning innovations.
Balanced Monitor Tuning
Tuning was the most essential aspect in developing the Arete. The tuning had to be natural, like professional studio monitors, while still delivering punchy bass and an enjoyable listening session. The midrange is almost flat and natural from 300Hz to 1kHz, which allows instruments and vocals to sound exactly like they were recorded, without any coloration. Additionally, this neutral midrange allows excellent layering and imaging of instruments, allowing listeners to discern each instrument line within the mix.
Concentrated Bass Impact
To deliver a subwoofer-like bass signature, the bass has been tuned with a 9dB shelf that precisely cuts off at 300Hz. The bass hit is strong and deep, yet clean so that it does not add any muddiness to the sound. The tuning of the lower frequencies allows music enjoyers to fully appreciate all of the bass in the music, while retaining a clean and natural overall tone.
Professional Treble Response
The treble was carefully tuned, balancing clean tone with a comfortable and natural perception of upper treble harmonics. The upper treble response is free of any unnatural peaks or harshness, while delivering all the micro-details and nuances in the music. Finally, our special utilization of the Knowles 31736 tweeters allows excellent treble extension, allowing a more airy and spacious sound.
Three-way Crossover
The Arete’s tuning was made possible by an intricate 3-way electronic crossover system, along with three independent acoustic sound tubes per side. This configuration provides the best separation in the frequency ranges.
Collaboration with Fresh Reviews
ZiiGaat has collaborated with Fresh Reviews in creating the Arete. Fresh Reviews is a popular Youtube and social media audio reviewer that has amassed an in depth understanding of the world of Hi-Fi. With the help of Fresh Reviews, ZiiGaat has been able to make the Arete as best sounding as possible.
Technical Details
Driver
1DD+4Knowles BA
Sensitivity
108dB@1kHz
Impedance
9 ohms@1kHz
Resistance
22 ohms
Connectors
0.78mm 2-pin
Cable Jack
3.5mm single-ended
- 1 x ZiiGaat x Fresh Reviews Arete
- User Manual
PRICE
Processing Time
This product is in Pre-order period. Pre-orders are provided for items that have not reached us and will take some time to be shipped out.
Pre-order Period: Processing time: 2-4 weeks
Note:
- No cancellation of orders once ordered.
- All orders to be shipped out sequentially.
Customer Reviews
Amazing!!
Fantastic I’ll never buy a gaming headset again iems all the way
Amazing
**purchased from Amazon Australia (which I'm glad I did this time around)**
I have used a variety of IEMs thus far including the Zero:RED, Supermix 4, 61T, Hype 4, Tea PRO, S12 2024, etc.
The Arete is truly a beast when it comes to getting that pinpoint accuracy in game. (tested in Overwatch)
Gunfire and crit sounds were tame and not too recessed, just right for my ears.
It also performs a bit above its asking price across several genres (Jazz, Acapella, Pop). The bass I would say is barely enough for most.
If you want OOMPH in the low end. Look into the Hype 4 or Tea PRO or even the new HBB Punch.
Would I say its Tea PRO good? Not quite. If the Tea PRO is a 10/10, then the Arete would be like a 9. Close, but not quite there.
I think it is a little better in shooters than the Hype 4 but the Hype 4 and Tea PRO beat this set regarding tonality in music.
I will say this set performs marginally better than the Hype 4 and S12 2024 in shooters.
For the $250 asking price, I think it is well worth it.
However, the reason I am giving it 4 stars is because I am worried about the longevity of this set regarding its build quality.
We all know ZiiGaat has areas to improve regarding the stock accessories, but the set I received, one of the BAs on the left side (that handles the mid-range) is already defective out of the box. The audio clips across most volume levels. and when tapping the faceplate, the metallic rattle really becomes noticeable.
My source is the Topping E1X2 OTG which has a 1ohm output impedance. Also tried on a regular laptop and had the same issue. Even tried 3 cables at 3.5 and 4.4 terminations along with 2 different 6.3 adapters, no luck.
Funny enough, the Tea PRO was also giving me imbalance/distortion issues and that set also uses Knowles BAs but they aren't the exact same knowles.
I don't know if I am just really unlucky, or if this new batch of Knowles didn't get proper QA.
Take this review with a grain of salt as only the right side was 100% fully functional.
If you don't have a great experience with this iem, read carefully. In my opinion, you don't need to spend more than this to get great gaming performance. However, to increase the performance of this IEM, some care must be taken.
Use amplification with low impedance (impedance output<1.1), in my case, I'm using Venture Electronics Odo and the sound was incredible. Previously I had used Fiio Ka13, which has an output impedance <1.7 and the sound was horrible. Use eartips like divinus velvet wide bore (the best of all the ones I tested with it), spinfit W1 (second best), divinus velvet (third best). On the computer I use FX sound (gaming eq) and dolby atmos (game eq). For music it works well too, but I prefer my Tangzu Zetian Wu Heyday (this IEM has a special sound for me).
In summary: use an amplifier with output impedance <1.1, such as Venture Electronics Odo, divinus velvet wide bore.
I hope I helped. Thank you for your time.
FreshReviews did a good job tuning this one. For gaming its excellent. Especially for its price point. For music very clear and deep bass without overpowering the rest of the mix. Gaming wise which was my main object when I bought it is even better. Very good separation and pinpoint precision. The only thing I tried being better than Arete was the Tea pro which produce a more warm and relaxed sound so lets say precision airstrikes on Warzone dont pierce your eardrums hehehe...
To my ears, these have great bass, a little too forward in the high mids and low treble, but not unpleasant. I prefer the Ziigaat Doscinco, the Thiaudio Hype 4 and the Thieaudio Monarch MkIII (but maybe the last is a bit of an unfair comparison, given the price). But there nothing wrong with the Arete, just a slightly different tuning, and I can wear these for hours and listen to a very varied library (jazz, rock and roll, R&B, alternative, electronic/EDM, ambient, classical, all sounds great, and they are also great for gaming. Just a little mid-focused for me, which is great for vocals, but not my overall preference. Not sibilant, but a little aggressive in the treble area compared to those others I mentioned. I do prefer these over my Letshouer S12 pro planars, which have a little less bass, especially mid-bass, and a tiny bit of sibilance. When I do listen to these, I am not wishing I had one of the other sets on instead though, I forget about it and just enjoy the music (or game) . I will grab the Monarch MKIII, Hype 4 or Doscinco (the Doscinco is a bass monster, love it) . My favorites are in order of cost, and I don't think it is due to bias: Monarch, Hype, Doscinco, Arete, S12 pro. The Monarch's are incredible, so smooth and resolving, really nice. Hope this helps.
I was skeptical because these are my first iem when I heard reviewers talking about hearing extra things that a normal gaming headset wouldn't pick up. I have 10k hours in counterstrike and over the last 100 hours I can confirm there has been audio queues that I heard with the ziigaat that I 100% not have heard with any previous headsets 5 star on this.
Issues I have are out of gaming when on YouTube gor example if I change a video there will be a buzz/screech for a second or two.
Aswell as when I use these with my phone when there is no audio playing constant buzz with the odd screech.
But in game thee best audio I've ever heard
Je peux vous dire qu’il s’agit la d’un BANGER !
Obligatoire concernant les FPS compétitifs ! Les bruits de pas sont clairs et précis c’est juste énorme! Bien meilleur que mon 990 pro!
Je ne peux que le recommander !
Between these and Simgot EM6L’s, these blow the EM6L’s away in Pubg
Can pinpoint sounds much faster
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