Disclaimer: The ND-X12 was sent to me by ND Earphone for review. As always all thoughts and opinions remain my own and they have not requested I do or say anything.
Personal preferences in audio gear may vary. This review is based on my own subjective experience.
If you prefer to watch a video review you can watch mine Here
Pros –
- Bass has good attack and note weight
- Decent Accessories
- Good all rounder if you are looking for a brighter set
Cons –
- Lower mids are quite recessed resulting in a hollowed out sound
- Treble is too much for me and is causes sibilance and fatigue
Gaming:
Pros –
- Works well for games with low and high tone audio cues
- Low end gives some force to impacts+
Cons –
- Soundstage feels a bit tight
- Mids give a hollow feeling during immersive gaming
Build, Fit & Accessories:
The ND-X12 is priced at $52
These can be purchased in tow different color options. “Transparent Black Gold” and “Transparent White” I received the “Transparent White” for review. this is a shiny metal shell…not white nor transparent, could just be a translation difference. Regardless they do indeed feel hefty in the hand and of good quality, the faceplates are metal as well but have a white, blue, red and yellow stripe on them. It looks kind of retro and unique for an IEM. I like it. The shell also has 3 tuning switches but from my testing there are only really two tuning options. One thing to note is that the shell being as shiny as it is gets all sorts of fingerprints and oils from your ears on it.
As for the accessories you get two different types of SML silicone tips, that are okay, a cable that works and a pleather pouch that clips closed. I feel that this is a decent package at this price but I do wish they were of a bit higher quality all around. I do have a slight concern on the pouch as there is exposed metal on the inside of the case and with such shiny shells I could see them getting scratched or scuffed up on it.
Equipment Used:
- FiiO K11 on Windows
- FiiO Q11 on Windows and Android
- MusicBee on Windows 11 with FiiO ASIO drivers for local FLAC and DSD files
- Tidal Music Streaming
- Hidizs AP80 Pro Local FLAC and DSD
Test Tracks used:
- Test Tracks (Work in Progress)
Sound Quality:
For my testing I used the UDD configuration of the tuning switches as the others sounded near identical or made the treble a too much for me.
The driver setup on the ND-X12 is 1DD for lows 4BAs for mids and 1BA for highs
This is a pretty large amount of drivers considering the $52 price tag and although decently resolving I wish it was more balanced for my tastes, this is an odd V shape that has the emphasis on treble rather than bass or meeting in-between. As such it offers a sort of weird presentation with treble really being in your face, a decent amount of bass but the mids often come out quite hollow.
Bass:
Bass has a decent attack and note weight and does hold its ground against the treble. As usual ND does a good job here with bass tuning, it comes across quite pleasant and inoffensive. Detail in this region could be better but for $52 this is great. Sub bass can hit hard when it needs to and there is ample note weight in the mid bass region with good attack. Bass guitar and drums stand out and are quite a bit more present than other instruments due to the recessed lower mids.
Midrange:
The midrange on the ND-X12 does not suit my preferences at all unfortunately. Lower mids are quite recessed making many guitar passages in my library quite a bit pulled back instead of sitting comfortably in the mix the quality is fine here and not grating for the lower mids but I wish it was more present and not as hollow sounding. As for the upper mids they are quite a bit more aggressive and energetic. I think if the lower mids were not as recessed as they are this area would be quite fun for me, but coming off of the hollowness they provide the upper mids are a bit grating for me and too in your face. Mids are tuned in an interesting way, and although not for me I could see some people enjoying this sort of tuning here.
Vocals:
Male vocals, especially barritone vocals can come across quite dull and pulled back from the mix, my more operatic male vocals can be a bit forwards but have a decent timbre to them. Female vocals are almost always pushed forwards a fair amount and try to steal the show pretty much always being shouty. Vocals depending on the track can also come across quite sibilant and grating, for most of my library it is fine but going into more pop music there are definitely some sibilance issues I find here.
Treble:
I would describe the treble as being extremely aggressive, I have issues with sibilance on quite a bit of my tracks it is very forwards and in your face, cymbals are generally splashy except on some of the more modern stuff where it is mixed in a much warmer way. This is where my main gripes are with this set and I assume it has to do with the high frequency BA in the nozzle. If ND dampened this a bit more I think it would maybe be fine and this would be a great set for me personally but as it stands this is just too much treble for longer sessions for me. I can enjoy it for around an album but I do need a break after as it just becomes too much and the fatigue sets in.
Technicalities:
The techs are fairly standard for a set in this price range with maybe the imaging standing out a bit and being pretty accurate. as for the rest it seems to be capable but a pretty standard affair for this $50 price range.
Gaming Performance:
I feel as thought ND Earphone has had better sets for gaming, this set is okay in general but not really do anything special in terms of gaming, soundstage and imaging could be tighter and having more presence in the lower mids would make this a better set overall for gaming I probably wouldn’t recommend this set just for gaming on.
FPS Gaming:
Escape From Tarkov performed well using the ND-X12 as most of the main audio cues are in the upper mids or mid bas, the imaging was good and provided a decent insight into where cues were coming from but it was not the best at this price range.
Immersive Gaming:
Elden Ring was fairly lackluster, impacts were decent but there was an emptiness to the sound that overall just made me feel like I was missing the bigger picture. Soundstage didn’t feel as grand as I thought it would either. The ND-X12 really didn’t translate to the best experience here sadly.
Comparisons:
Compared to the Simgot EW200, another bright IEM, I prefer the ND-X12 quite a bit more here although it is $10 more. ND-X12 has better sub bass rumble for me and better attack and detail for the mid bass, EW200 does sound more full for the lower mids though, vocals are more shouty and in your face on the ND-X12 and although it isn’t necessarily for me there is better detail and timbre here versus the EW200. As for the treble I find the EW200 to be more grating and cause issues faster than the ND-X12, not that the ND-X12 is smooth by any means, I can just enjoy it for longer periods than I can the EW200. I think for most people it will come down to the shout of the upper mids and fullness of the lower mids. I think if you are looking for quite bright tunings both are decent options and have their own pros and cons. Unfortunately neither are for my ears or my library.
Conclusion:
The ND-X12 is an interesting set from ND Earphone and I think it is strong contender for those looking for looking for a set that is very bright in the treble. Unfortunately for me this set has just too much of it and I do get fatigued after a listening session. I do enjoy the quality Improvements that are being made by ND Earphone and think this is probably one of their nicest packages that they have released so far. Tuning switches are a nice touch, metal shell feels very nice and the sheer amount of drivers is awesome. I just wish the treble was dampened a bit more.
Thanks for reading this review! Feel free to ask any questions if you have any. Also feel free to share your experience if you have been able to try ND-X12.
If you are interested in the ND-X12 it can be purchased at the links below.
Cheers!
