1More isn’t exactly new to the audiophile world: they’ve had a couple very popular products in the past (most notably the Triple Driver). There was a large amount of feedback, some of which I gave myself directly to the company’s R&D team. However, it seems that the Quad Driver doesn’t make use of much of that advice, and in some cases, exists in direct conflict with it.

You can find the 1More Quad-Driver for sale here, for $200.

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 enjoyability 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 1More was powered like so:

HTC U11 -> USB-C adapter -> 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.

Sound Signature

Initial Impressions:

The Quad Driver represents some parts of the sonic spectrum well but seems to ignore some others entirely. The midbass is excellently tuned, perfectly striking a balance between being present and being obnoxious. The treble is articulate, fast, and sparkly, but the mid-range is pushed back reasonably far back, with the exception of vocals. It’s a v-shaped IEM with a cohesive, but soft, timbre.

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

A major pitfall of the multi-driver scene is cohesion. The vast majority of IEMs on the market that make use of more than one driver suffer from a “disconnect” in the sound. It’s subtle, but trained ears seldom do miss it. The Quad Driver makes no such mistakes. The treble, in particular, is solidly extended and has no obscene peaks in the normally problematic 4–6KHz range. It has a slow rise in emphasis as you travel further up the frequency response curve which is probably responsible for the light and airy tone of the treble.

I am tempted to characterize the Quad Driver’s treble as “fairly unique”. It has a lot of resolution and presence but never becomes hot, overbearing, or washed out. High hats and strings take on a new energy to them. A good demonstration of this characteristic is the song The Sex is Good by Saving Able. The combination of high-quality mastering and recording techniques with the refined and well-behaved treble of the Quad Driver is something to behold. It pulls through a large number of so-called “micro-details”. You can even hear the faint buzzing of the E-string on the lead guitar against its fretboard.

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

The mids are the weakest link in the Quad Driver’s formula. While it’s understandable that a consumer V-shapes suffers from weak mids, it’s not acceptable for a $200 IEM to have such a soft timbre. Plain and simple, the Quad Driver doesn’t have what it takes to compete against other IEMs at this price, even those that have half (or even fewer) drivers. Guitars in Drop-C tuning sound muted, and drums sound clipped.

Vocals, however, sound pretty good. Both male and female vocals are weighted reasonably well, while male vocals take the lead in tonality. Both types have above-average intelligibility.

Bass: Songs used: Moth, Gold Dust, In For The Kill (Skream Remix), War Pigs (Celldweller Remix)

The Quad’s lower-end signature is more midbass-centric and makes good use of a 200Hz hump. Extension is ok but lacks the rumble that every V-shaped IEM at this price point, especially those with a dynamic driver should have.

Bass guitars are reasonably well articulated and have a good presence. They could use a little more solidity, but I think the fault there lies with the soft lower-midrange.

All that said, bass lines on electric songs are still satisfying and fun to listen to. I got a fair amount of impact out of Gold Dust and War Pigs. In For The Kill’s melodic bass line had a great body to it, but failed to create and rumble. This falls in line with the rolled off sub-bass I noticed earlier.

Packaging / Unboxing