This & That:
One Balanced Armature driver per side.
Nicely designed package. Good unboxing experience.
Accessories nice/adequate for the price (three pairs of differently sized single-flange silicone tips, one pair of dual-flange silicone tips, one pair of foam tips, one neoprene storage pouch case).
Also comes with three pairs of differently sized silicone ear hooks (called “Surefire EarLocks”) that are supposed to hold the in-ears securely in the concha, however as the R-210 is an in-ear and not earbuds, and as it already fits well and securely, I personally don’t need them and am not using them.
I really like the neoprene storage pouch case – it’s got two pockets that are closed by a zip, as well as a large Akoustyx logo on its front as well as the zips.
Nice blue colour metal shells that are definitely somewhat of an homage to Etymotic’s design.
Pretty small shells.
One white Akoustyx logo on either as well as large, easy to read side indicators (white as well).
Angled MMCX connector housing made of smoky black plastic.
Good build quality.
Comfortable, secure fit.
Detachable cable with MMCX connectors.
High quality, flexible and supple cable with twisted conductors. The visual appearance of the twisted copper conductors with clear insulation is great.
Pre-shaped (no memory wire) ear guides, therefore the more professional over-the-ear fit is definitely intended by Akoustyx.
Three-button remote control, which is really nice to have, however it’s unfortunately on the cable’s left hand side instead of the more convenient right. In fact, Akoustyx did this on purpose since according to them, there was a behavioural study carried out by the UC Berkeley, that concluded that having the microphone on the left hand side increased the users' awareness of their surroundings as well as their attention when they were on a phone call, which therefore reduces the risk of an accident if the users are in a busy city, as 90% of the world's population is right-handed, wherefore, theoretically, a mic/remote unit placement on the right hand side would reduce their attention and awareness of their surroundings when they were on a call. While I would have still highly preferred to have the microphone located on the right hand side, I get their idea (but I wouldn’t say that I endorse it).
A chin-slider is present.
Sound:
Low impedance sources.
Largest included single-flange silicone tips.
Tonality:
Warm, bassy, smooth, inoffensive.
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Compared to in-ears that follow a flatter, more diffuse-field-oriented approach, such as my Etymotic ER-4S and the ER4SR, the R-210 features a bass boost of around 10 dB (that is at the same time surprisingly clean, which is fairly remarkable for a single-BA in-ear with a fairly strong bass boost, but more on that further below in the “Resolution” section).
The lows’ boost starts to climb around 750 Hz and reaches its climax around 60 Hz, although the area between 90 Hz and 400 Hz is already full and elevated.
What’s very nice is that the in-ear doesn’t roll off towards the sub-bass and is able to keep the elevation upright down into the deep sub-bass.
As a result of the lows’ elevation, the root and lower midrange are on the warmer, fuller side. Definitely on the warm and cosy side and with some unavoidable masking effects with this very tuning, but without overshadowing the midrange.
The full, fairly strong elevation is also responsible for a fun, impactful bass presentation.
The central midrange at 1 kHz is neutral in quantity and sounds quite natural. Of course the lows’ elevation is responsible for a generally warm midrange tint and colouration, but voices aren’t too unnaturally coloured (warm but not unnaturally thick or masked); therefore on the warmer and thicker side of natural.
The upper mids are somewhat more on the darker side without being subdued. This definitely adds to the warm, bassy, relaxed character and fits well, even though sometimes just a little more upper midrange presence would be desirable.
Level is back around neutral again around 3 kHz but decreases again a bit above that without ever being perceived as dark.
Further up, the level climbs a bit between 6 kHz towards 10 kHz, adding just a bit of slightly-more-than-neutral sparkle to the sound, however it’s only a bit wherefore the highs are generally on the inoffensive, smooth side (there’s no bright, countervailing treble peak to compensate for the bass warmth and fullness – the treble is generally quite soft, with cymbal attacks missing some bite).
Super treble extension is good up to 14 kHz and rolls off quite steeply above that.
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So yeah, a single-BA in-ear that is tuned for a bassy, warm and smooth presentation. Definitely nice sounding to me.
On a related note, the single-BA R-210 does definitely show a lot of similarities to the dual-BA EARNiNE EN210 in its tuning, with the EARNiNE being the ultimately somewhat darker sounding in-ear out of the two.
There are also some similarities to my single dynamic driver Shure SE215m+SPE, with the Shure being a bit more boosted in the bass below 100 Hz, along with some more midrange intimacy (due to stronger presence range and upper midrange quantity compared to the Akoustyx’s more relaxed level in those areas) but an overall noticeably darker, more down-sloping treble. As a result, the R-210 is a serious single-BA alternative with a less dark upper treble tuning and (much) better cable, however with the remote control located on the less convenient left hand side.
Needless to say, as I like the EN210 and my SE215m+SPE as bassy, warm and smooth and/or dark sounding in-ears, I personally also like the R-210.
Resolution:
The level of resolution is generally good for a single-BA in-ear in this price range and I personally see it a bit above that of the Brainwavz B100 and B150, while it doesn’t fully reach that of the more balanced tuned FiiO FA1 or comparably tuned dual-BA EARNiNE EN210.
Perceived coherency, not really surprising for a single-BA in-ear, is really good.
Speech intelligibility and midrange resolution are good, nonetheless not without the nearly unavoidable masking effects on the lower midrange caused by the root and bass elevation.
The R-210’s bass is definitely a highlight – even though it’s a single-BA in-ear with a fairly strong bass elevation, the lows are comparatively clean, tight and precise, although typically for single-BA in-ears, with a slightly longer decay compared to really good multi-BA implementations, which adds some body and just a bit of a dynamic driver-like character to them (control is better on the Akoustyx compared to most bass-boosted dynamic driver in-ears, though).
Especially nice is that the R-210 is able to keep up the bass definition, tightness and precision down into the lowest sub-bass (not a hint of softening or loss of bass definition) – very nice.
If there’s a “weak spot” in the resolution, it’s the treble whose transients and response are soft and lack some definition compared to the lows and mids. Not fully to the point of sounding smeared, but definitely not as clean as the treble separation could be. Sure, it fits to the warm and bassy tuning and smooth character, but just a bit more treble cleanness would have been better.
Soundstage:
Authentic; however generally definitely more on the oval side.
Expands a bit further than the base between my ears, so definitely not small or congested.
There is some front-projection, but it’s not as present as the in-ear’s spatial width.
Instruments are placed fairly precisely in the imaginary room.
When it comes to instrument separation/imaging precision, some smear becomes present when the track is spatially busy and/or more bass-oriented, but fortunately not to the extent of that the soundstage would collapse.
Generally pretty clean and stable as long as the bass’s masking effects don’t kick in.
Conclusion:
A single-BA in-ear with a bassy, full, warm and smooth tuning and high bass quality as well as really good cable whose three-button remote control is unfortunately (purposefully for the sake of more safety based on a UC Berkeley study) on the less convenient left hand side.