In Bass, Music, And Peace – ZiiGaat Arcadia IEMs
ZiiGaat Arcadia is a $199 USD pair of IEMs / In-Ear Monitors with a hybrid driver setup, using 1 dynamic driver and 2 balanced armatures to create a new, brilliant and revealing sound. Today we will review Arcadia and see how it fits in today’s audio market.
Introduction
ZiiGaat keeps making collaborations with reviewers and high-quality IEMs, but the star is Linsoul, their main distributor and shop who keeps the ZiiGaat company alive and selling. Linsoul is one of the largest Chifi / Chinese HiFi shops, having in store products from all the big brands around the world, and they help promote and bring the word out about every single one of the smaller companies they are working with. Linsoul is an excellent company to purchase from and a delight to work with, being available on their own website, on Amazon, Aliexpress and offering the same warranty and support across all of those platforms.
As an Amazon Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases, and using the purchase links in my reviews helps me maintain this website and Youtube Channel. Huge thanks to Linsoul for providing us with the sample for this review.
Product Link
Amazon – https://amzn.to/3Dhsbav
Build Quality / Aesthetics
ZiiGaat Arcadia is made as a collaboration between ZiiGaat and HBB from Youtube, and the company used an American Knowles ED 29689 and a Knowles RAD 33518 Driver, together with a 10mm topology Dynamic Driver custom made by ZiiGaat. The company promises multiple things that don’t quite align perfectly, among which they go for a completely flat and natural midrange, but also a reference sound, with a 8dB Sub Bass enhancement that is promised to last up to 200 Hz.
You can find a slightly better compilation of information on the Linsoul website than you can on the ZiiGaat website, and we know from Linsoul that Arcadia has a very low impedance of 12 Ohms, and a Distortion of 0.8%, along with a SPL of 106 dB. This would in theory be great for a pair of IEMs, but what is a nice bonus that does not get mentioned is the transport and storage case, and the nice design Arcadia has.
There is no further information about the shells, eartips or any other parts used in the Arcadia available online, so we will dive head-first into reviewing them.
Fit / Subjective Usage
ZiiGaat Arcadia comes with one of those entry-level thin and flexible cables that don’t feel the most reliable, but which actually work alright. This is a shorter 1.2 meter cable, ended in a 3.5mm single ended connector, with no current option for a 4.4mm balanced cable. We get a very low passive noise isolation, of around 10 dB, and Arcadia can leak a bit, but the detachable cable connects to the IEMS using a very standard 2-Pin connector.
I get good comfort, no driver flex, and no issues, as Arcadia is rather lightweight, a bit sensitive to source noise and hiss, but has no void and just generally is fairly comfortable. I can use the default eartips included in the package, but they wouldn’t be my first choice for driving the Arcadia.
Sound Quality
Pairings – To test the new ZiiGaat Arcaida, I have paired it with a selection of sources, including Shanling M1 Plus, FiiO BTR17, Creative Sound Blaster G8, Lotoo PAW GT2, iBasso DX340, and Dethonray Listening M1. With those sources, I am hearing almost no background noise, it is incredibly quiet, especially when I assumed that it would have a lot of hissing, based on the rather low impedance. Arcadia is not sensitive to the source quality and will not scale with the source.
Overall Signature – After the ZiiGaat company has released a number of IEMs that have a really sharp and neutral sound, Arcadia sounds as promised, but not reference at all, just boofy, warm, a bit veiled, vintage and romantic. There is a ton of warmth, a smooth treble, and the sound is generally easy to swallow, easy to enjoy, but has very little textures and it is not technical at all, being rather musical, laid back and relaxed, with a big bass. Stereo imaging is excellent, and so is the instrument separation for the foreground layer, but the background layer gets dampened and you hear a uniquely direct sound that has no aggressive edge.
Bass – Starting from the lowest bass, Arcadia has a rather full and deep sound, bass being a central element of their sound. We see even more than the 8 dB of bass promised, as Arcaida has around 10 dB of bass uplift above the midrange, and this heavily colours the sound as the whole uplift lasts up to around 250 Hz. This means warmth, substance, body, boominess and even a bit of veil applied on the sound. You hear more lower midrange and more grave / serious sounds than you hear emotional and female voices.
Midrange – As we already established that the lower midrange is stronger than the upper midrange, Arcadia sounds really boofy and warm, it emphasizes male voices which are much louder than female voices, with a fairly colored midrange presentation. Although at first I was expecting some kind of balanced or neutral sound, for Arcadia to be like all the other ZiiGaat IEMs I reviewed to date, this one is the least technical, most musical and smoothest IEM the company created to date, and it is very different from the Cincotres. The midrange is actually more natural, as Cincotres and all the other ZiiGaat IEMs had a more unnatural peaking and dipping in the midrange frequency response.
Treble – We get a smooth, warm and softly rolled-off treble that cuts away any aggressive edge from the sound of the Arcadia, and it sounds full, lush and with a fairly dampened treble. The treble response does go as high as around 12 kHz, after which the roll-off is more noticeable.
PRaT / Textures – We get a smooth, full and slow decay for the bass, but the midrange and the treble has a much faster decay and a more dry sound. The advantage that Arcadia has is that the full bass produced by the dynamic driver overtakes the balanced armatures in presence so you generally just hear a lot of bass and body in all music, and you never notice the fast impulse response of the balanced armature.
Loudness Saturation Gradient – ZiiGaat Arcadia sounds more vivid, more aggressive and more balanced at loud and very loud volumes, and at lower volumes it becomes much warmer, smoother and fuller sounding, being too much for my typical listening preferences. This being said, the actual resolution is good to very good, Arcadia can reveal textures and information quite nicely, it just doesn’t push it onto the listener, allowing you to enjoy sound in a very natural, warm and full way. ZiiGaat Arcadia has excellent control at maximum volume and very loud, up to 120 dB, with very low distortion.
Soundstage – Arcadia tends to emphasize the forward instrumental layer and the forward voices considerably, making the background l;ayer quieter, so you hear the foreground cleanly separated from the background. Imaging and separation is rather excellent, but the most surprising part is the lateral projection as Arcadia can make me pop at how far and laterally it projects certain effects and sounds in pop and EDM music. I find Arcadia to pair well with pop and EDM music, but not quite as well with metal and rock, where it lacks the edge and aggressive treble rock and metal usually sounds best with.
Value and Conclusion
We are seeing more variation, better products and better support from Linsoul with every single review, so I am happy to report that the company is still doing an excellent job at keeping the Chifi Scene alive, offering excellent products, at low prices, and making those available on all the platforms Linsoul is operating on. Arcadia has a low price, high performance, but a colored sound that will really rub someone the right way, but not everyone. This being said, there’s a stark lack of warmer and bassier sounding IEMs out there, regardless of the price point, so there’s nothing bad with having some extra bass and warmth once in a while.
At the end of the day, ZiiGaat Arcadia is a great IEM for a smooth, L-Shaped sound with a full body, warm midrange, boofy bass and a ton of weight / body for each instrument and a fully recommended purchase for someone who wants a musical and relaxed signature.
PROs
- Comfortable fitting
- No Driver Flex, No void
- Warm Signature, with good resolution
- Full Bass, Deep Sub-Bass, excellent reach in depth
- Very strong lateral separation and projection, offering a nice soundstage
- Control at high volumes is excellent too, they can go loud with a very low distortion
- Default eartips are of a good quality
- Linsoul support is top
Cons
- Only Single Ended Cable
- Warm and Bassy sound won’t universally satisfy all listeners
Product Link
Amazon – https://amzn.to/3Dhsbav
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Full Playlist used for this review
We listened to more songs than those named in this playlist, but those are excellent for identifying a sonic signature. I recommend trying most of the songs from this playlist, especially if you’re searching for new music! The playlists are different for Spotify, Tidal and Youtube, and based on the songs I enjoy and are available on each!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_cjBXGmwSHSdGcwuc_bKbBDGHL4QvYBu
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5J3oloz8Riy9LxEGenOjQ0?si=979ba4f082414be7
https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/330fd544-8e5b-4839-bd35-676b2edbb3d5
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