NICI HIFI Quantum Wanderer

Disclaimer

The Quantum Wanderer IEM has been sent by Nici, I really appreciate their support to bring you content about their products.

All of my opinions are my own; I do not receive any payment to promote any product in an unethical manner. And this case was no exception.

My video review: Quantum Wanderer review

You can buy them directly on their AliExpress Store:

NICI QUANTUM - Normal price $80 USD

Pros

• Punchy and dynamic bass

• "3D" soundstage

• Very easy to drive

• Comfortable and lightweight

Cons

• Treble can be a bit harsh on some tracks

• Eartips feels a little bit stiff

Accessories

1 pair of IEM

120 cm 3.5mm cable - 0,78mm 2 pin

3 pairs of Eartips

Technical specifications:

Model name: Quantum Wanderer (Nici HiFi-42)

Transducer Type: 10mm bone conduction (low freq) 10mm dynamic driver (midrange & treble)

Frequency response: 20 - 20,000 Hz

Sensitivity: 104 dB/mW @1kHz; Nominal Impedance: 15 Ω

Housing: Resin

Sound - How I perceive it?

As for what kind of sound you can expect from these IEMs, I’d describe it as more or less balanced.

So far, the only bone conduction models I’ve been able to listen to were the Unique Melody UXUE and the VibeX, and speaking of the latter—even though KZ itself doesn’t explicitly state that the driver is bone conduction—when listening to these Nici earbuds, it’s clear that they definitely use that type of driver, but with a bit more bass and a noticeable vibration sensation.

Bass

The bass is fairly well-controlled; I don't know if most bone-conduction headphones tend to emphasize the bass, but in this case, it comes through when it should. It's not overly fast or clean, but despite that, it reproduces the impact and sustained sub-bass quite well.

It does encroach a bit on the mids, but not to the point of sounding congested.

Mids

The midrange sounds just right to me—a balance between volume and richness. It can get a little lost on tracks with many instruments playing at the same time in that range, but overall, it offers very good reproduction in this frequency range.

Treble

The highs have good detail despite being restrained; if you like high frequencies, you might find they're a little lacking—they aren't as smooth, especially in the 7–8 kHz range. And overall, they can sound a little harsh.

In my opinion, they have a nice sound and enough detail. They don't have as much of an “open” sound, but overall they strike a good balance among the other frequencies.

Conclusion

Comparing them directly to the VibeX, which have a very similar setup in terms of drivers and the frequency ranges each covers, I like these a little better because they don't have that constant vibration even when playing just vocals; these seem more versatile to me. As for the price, I would definitely recommend trying to get them for $50—at that price, I think they're well worth it.

Thanks to Nici for sending me their product so I could write this review.

Design

As for the design, I find them comfortable. They're a little more compact than their first model.

La construcción es de una carcasa completamente en resina con el faceplate con esta línea roja y el resto entre colores como verde, morado, etc.

The cable connector has 2 pins and is 0.78 mm wide.

Power requeriment:

As for amplification, I can say that they’re pretty easy to amplify. The bass doesn’t improve much if you connect them to a warm or slightly warm source, or with a 4.4mm cable; with something more neutral and analytical, the treble will be more pronounced. If you’re sensitive to that frequency range, I recommend trying them with something a little warmer or directly connected to your cell phone.

DAC/AMPs used:

Fosi K7

Fiio KA13

Arturia Audiofuse

Macbook Air M1 3.5mm jack

PS5 Dualsense 3.5mm jack

Soundstage

As for the soundstage, they offer a very good sense of depth. They slightly alter the way instruments panned all the way to the left and right are rendered. In this area, they sound as if they’re positioned slightly further back rather than directly on the horizontal axis.

For gaming, I prefer them over the Vibex because I find them more comfortable, the vibration is more subtle, and they offer a better sense of three-dimensionality thanks to the bone conduction driver.