Sound Impressions: A Quick Intro First / Touching with the Bass
To start with a very short summary of the overall sound signature, Apx SE has an energetic W-shaped sound signature, with a brighter and more balanced sound signature than the original Apx (we’ll talk about this more thoroughly on the next page where we compare between Apx and Apx SE).
Let’s start with the bass. Despite the intense pricing of the original Apx, one of the “heroes” that super-carried PMG to make people put their thumbs up was the incredible bass response it had. As expected, Apx SE’s bass is significant as well – if not even better. Not only is the bass strong, and extremely thick in tone, but it also delivers incredible dynamics and extension. The bass quantity is equivalent to the basshead level but very well controlled so they don’t get bombastic or muddy.
Sound Impressions: Low-ends / Depth
The right amount of thick reverbs flow out calmy and cleanly, giving Apx SE a full-bodied bass. The ultra-low extension is one of the best to be heard of. The abyss-like vibrations and rumbles reveal themselves which weren’t so easily heard with my other IEMs. Perfectly living up to the original Apx’s legacy, the Apx SE’s low-range timbre is deep and dark in color, giving the bass a very mature tone that adds a grand presentation for the low-ends. Another impressive thing is the consistent bass dynamics, in both thickness and quantity. This allows the low range to remain even and accurate throughout the spectrum.
Some can bring out deep extensions like this but Apx SE differs in clarity and liveliness. The rumbles of the bass are more life-like and cleaner. Alongside, the Apx SE keeps the bass dynamics perfectly controlled, keeping the strong, thick bass vibrations and details present but only within the lower headroom, preventing the sub-bass from smearing into the lower vocals. I can recall many other IEMs that could do this, yet most of them simply cannot bring out such deep, color-thick bass as Apx SE does. The listening experience of these makes it apparent that a variety of different drivers and proprietary technologies of PMG were precisely tuned to allow Apx SE to produce one of the most luxurious and powerful bass responses.
Sound Impressions: Mid-range
The mid-range of Apx SE sounds mysteriously attractive. Mids are a careful blend of creaminess and crispness – a homogenous mixture that exudes both warmth and shine throughout the range for vocal timbre and texture. Words that would describe the vocal’s core characteristics would be transparency, gently airy, and lively. The vocals sport a glittery lush yet neutrally-toned presentation throughout the range. It gave me a mystique feel for the vocals while not letting the vocals be colored. The level control Apx SE has for the vocals makes no room for any audible sibilance, dip, or distortions to be present.
Vocals make a gentle step forward while not breaking the even flow of the sound spectrum, with a smooth yet daringly detail-demanding nature. The magic of this blue gemstone is that the vocals don’t sound fatiguing while featuring perhaps the highest level of resolution. What differentiates Apx SE, a summit-fi IEM that extends beyond flagship IEMs, is how massively the vocals scale in size. It’s not about simply bloating the mids to force thicker vocals but the sheer size and scale being vast. Yet the technicality and details that Apx SE involves with the vocals thoroughly keep them agile and controlled. The vocals don’t bleed in reverbs or nuance, keeping things all tidy, accurate, and highly resolving.
Sound Impressions: Highs / Separation / Soundstage
I can tell the high frequencies of Apx SE are very meticulously tuned. Of course, it has top-notch details that fetch every micro detail that many other flagship IEMs aren’t able to retrieve. I’ve already experienced such an experience only through a handful of IEMs among numerous ones (including Apx Amber) – you’ll be surprised how Apx SE plays the trebles so smoothly and comfortably while being extremely high in resolution.
When speaking of IEMs with prominent, clean trebles, they usually tilt towards having strong, crisp bites to the trebles which definitely achieves its purpose of bringing out the treble as clearly as possible – some examples would be AME Raven, Nautilus King Melody, and Subtonic Audio Storm.
In the case of Apx SE, the treble texture is something very special – it has a very mysterious characteristic where the trebles feel both crisp and soothing at the same time, likely due to its unique driver composition and the listed PMG technologies. The highs are lesser in quantity and are gently stepped behind from the vocals, yet the treble details are surprisingly good. Concerns for fatigues would be pointless with Apx SE, as it’s virtually impossible to find the trebles fatiguing to even those users that are treble-shy.
We can’t miss out on talking about the soundstage. Its grand, immersive soundstage which already surprised us through the Apx Amber continues with the Apx SE, providing a vast, auditorium-like staging where it feels like the sound is expanding beyond my headroom. Apx SE provides one of the largest and deepest soundstage, diving deep to the abyss to reach the ultra-lows, along with the large, creamy vocals. The trebles play with clean, well-separated instrumental details that are smooth yet refined.
Next Page: Compared to PMG APX Amber & Flagship IEMs