Ever heard of Whizzer? Well, me neither. They careened into my conscience about two weeks ago when Penon Audio began to stock what appears to be their first IEM, the A15. While there were some shipping complications, I’ve finally gotten these IEMs into my ears. After sitting with them for a while, only one question burned in my mind: when did Chi-Fi get so well-rounded?

You can find the Whizzer A15 here, on Penon Audio, for $69.

Disclaimer: This unit was provided to me free of charge for review purposes. I am not affiliated with Penon Audio or Whizzer beyond this review. These words reflect my true, unaltered, opinion about the product.

Preference and Bias: Before reading a review, it is worth mentioning that there is no way for a reviewer to objectively pass judgment on the enjoy-ability of a product: such a thing is inherently subjective. Therefore, I find it necessary for you to read and understand what I take a natural liking to and how that might affect my rating of a product.

My ideal sound signature would be an extended sub-bass with a leveled, but textured, mid-bass. The mids should be slightly less pronounced than the treble, but still ahead of the bass. I prefer a more bright upper range.

Source: The A15 was powered like so:

Nexus 6P -> earphones

or

Hidizs AP100 3.5mm out -> FiiO A5 3.5mm out -> earphones

or

HiFiMAN SuperMini -> earphones

or

PC optical out -> HiFiMe SPDIF 9018 Sabre DAC 3.5mm out -> earphones

All music was served as MP3 @320Kbps or as FLAC.

The A15 played nice with all my sources, and didn’t change too much when used on cold or warm sources. As such, I did most of my testing on my most linear setup, the AP100 -> FiiO A5.

Sound Signature

Initial Impressions:

The Whizzer A15 is a rare-beast. It does not have any strange peaks, harsh frequencies, or overblown tenancies. Instead, you are greeted with a laid-back sound with a well-matched treble and upper mids. The lower-mids are a bit warm of neutral and are paired well with the mid-bass. The sub-bass is slightly boosted past the mid-bass and lower mids.

Treble: Songs used: In One Ear, Midnight City, Outlands, Satisfy

Treble isn’t particularly boosted, but is certainly clear. High-hats and cymbals cut through the din well without sounding sharp or abrasive. There’s no hint of sibilance on any of my songs, even the infamous Satisfy by Nero.

The treble elements of In One Ear were quite well resolved and toned. The high-hats were smooth and well-timed. Not only could I hear them, I could hear them clearly throughout the whole song. While it’s not quite like what the (very, very bright) Macaw GT100s or RHA T20 can do, it is impressive in its own right given the A15 has a laid-back sound signature.

The synths in M83’s Midnight City were well defined, hard-bordered, and well toned. It’s not often that you can find an IEM that maintains separation of the synths without making them harsh of sibilant, and yet the A15 does so seemingly with no effort.

I find the greatest part of the Whizzer A15’s treble to be not its good decay, not its lack of sibilance, and not its great separation. I find it to be how cohesively it interacts with the rest of the sound. The treble doesn’t get disconnected from the music by a harsh boost to the 7KHz to 20KHz range unlike many “clarity” based IEMs.

Mids: Songs used: Flagpole Sitta, Jacked Up, I Am The Highway, Dreams

The A15’s mids are quite smooth. They lack character, which in my mind is not a bad thing. If you want the IEM to just get out of your face and let you hear your music, then these are the kinds of mids most of you will want to hear. While a bit warmer than neutral, the A15 is careful to not color the sound too much. Instead, Whizzer tuned it such that the mids are comfy and inviting.

Guitars, both acoustic and electric, sound very good on the A15. Those within Flagpole Sitta sounded exceptionally good in terms of tonality, and were clear and defined throughout the entire song. The warmth in the mids didn’t color out the song at all.

While normally dry-sounding, the drums within Flagpole Sitta and Jacked Up performed well too. While they were relegated to the back of the mix, it was easy to hear them. The drums did seem a bit truncated, though that is likely due to there being a lot going on in the songs.

Male vocals performed very well. Weighted naturally and clear, vocals on the A15 are respectable. While listening to Audioslave and Weezer on the Whizzer I found it easy to jam along with the vocalist. You won’t find any immersion-breaking sibilance in the vocalists’ words with the A15.

Bass: Songs used: Moth, Gold Dust, In For The Kill (Skream Remix), Leave Me

The engineers in the East did a good job making the bass present, relatively impactful, and shaped. DJ Fresh’s single, Gold Dust, had a good level of visceral impact with only a minor level of bass bloom/bleed.

The bass seems a tad sluggish but hurried at the same time. It’s not bothersome during the song, but is something I’d not yet heard on an IEM. If I had to guess the cause it would be slow attack and fast decay of the midbass.

Sub-bass performance is above average but still nothing I’d call spectacular. The A15 did a reasonable job manipulating the complex and sonorous bass lines of La Rou’s In For The Kill but ultimately failed to impress me.

Bassheads will be satisfied with the A15. Quantity and quality are both up to spec to allow it to do battle with many of the more aggressive electronic genres. Taska Black’s traditionally dry bass lines were appropriately wet during Leave Me.

Packaging / Unboxing

The A15 has some seriously impressive packaging. It’s among the best I’ve seen so far among IEMs in this price range. The box it comes in is quite large.