Rhapsodio Eden: Reference heaven
Rhapsodio (short in RSD) is an earphone/cable manufacturer based in Hong Kong which is known to have a sturdy fan base throughout the audio communities. Previously I’ve reviewed the Zombie MK8, the flagship model from their hybrid line-up, which I still use as one of my daily drivers. Eden, on the other hand, is RSD’s flagship model from their dynamic driver line-up and a successor of the Galaxy models. Eden has been released earlier this year, making its way to gain the spotlight of 2019. Let’s go through the details and see what kind of sound signature Eden goes for.
Packaging
Rhapsodio lately renewed their packaging for their premium lineups and comes in with a wooden box, though the one for Eden is quite large. Sliding the packaging downward reveals another wood box which contains the earphone and accessories. Other than the earpieces, Eden comes with a Pandora Dwarf cable, 3 pairs of whirlwind eartips, 3 pairs of E-Pro eartips, a cleaning cloth, a wooden stand, and a wooden carrying case.
Everything checks out fine and feels great, though the lid from the wooden case doesn’t really stay attached. It would have been better if they included a more practical case for storing the earphones.
I like how the entire theme for the packaging is made of wood which works out nicely with a premium IEM like this. It feels natural and organic. It’s interesting to see Eden to come with a dedicated stand for keeping a neat presentation while at home. It comes with 4 steel rods which could be installed into the stand for holding up the earpieces. Adhesive rubber pads are also included for attaching to the bottom of the stand.
Earpieces – Specs
Eden is equipped with a single 10mm dynamic driver made in house from RSD. The twist, however, is that the drivers are made out of aluminum (!) which is quite unusual. I had a short talk with Sammy from RSD about the Eden drivers and got to know that they’ve spent about 1.5 years only on tuning the drivers. Unfortunately, this is the furthest info I know about Eden in terms of the specs. RSD seems like they’re trying to keep the details confidential, probably because they’ve spent much time and resources on this IEM.
Earpieces – Comfort
I consider my ear size to be around average and I didn’t have issues fitting these into my ears – not the most comfortable fit, but not necessarily bad or bothering. The nozzles are a bit on the longer side with two lips on each but didn’t particularly have problems with fitting, since you could install the eartips deeper into the nozzle.
However I found heavy cables to not be the best with Eden. The weight of the cable would tilt the earpieces backwards, eventually pressuring the inner part of my antihelix – using average or light cables worked just fine though. The overall size of the earpiece isn’t that big, though the long shaped design could be a limit for those who have smaller ears.
Earpieces – Materials
Housings are purely made out of silver with a mirror-like polish on the surface, making the earpieces a bit weighty but not too much. The aesthetics are gorgeous and feels very premium, however they are highly vulnerable to scratches or dings. It definitely would have been better if they provided some sort of a pouch to protect the earpieces.
Though not so long ago RSD started to sell exclusive soft pouches with a smooth finish on the inside. I think it’s one of the best storage options available for Eden, so check them out if you’re looking for a good case to store scratch sensitive IEMs.
Cable – Pandora Dwarf
Rhapsodio is one of the companies that actually put effort on stock cables, including the Pandora Dwarf as default. The Pandora Dwarf is retailed for $150 and made of 4 core 6N OCC litz copper cables. Both 2Pin connectors and the Y-splits are nicely designed with carbon designs and terminated with Rhapsodio silver 3.5mm plugs, while the 2pin connectors are far-infrared finished.
Sound Impression – Lows, staging
Eden goes for a rather flat, reference style sound signature. The bass quantity is on the smaller side, sitting somewhere between being flat and slightly v-shaped, but does a decent job revealing the bass existence and saturation. It also feels to have a gentle nature to it, not letting the bass get too aggressive.
The bass calmly approaches with a small yet clear thud, keeping the overall sound mellow and organic. The booming is very well controlled, keeping the bass tight as well as properly exposing the textures. While Eden clearly aims for a reference flat sound, it’s interesting enough to find out the staging and headroom to be quite large. Reverbs are minutely emphasized, giving a lively staging which also widens the size of the headroom. It would have been tricky to keep the clean sound signature while sparing the reverbs but I’d say Rhapsodio executed pretty well here.
Sound Impression – Mids, tonality
Mids sound rich, full, and sweet all the way to the highs. It takes a step forward from the bass/treble and plays the main role from this IEM. Eden’s mids are something that’s truly special, the characteristics feel to be unlike any other DD IEMs but after all keeps the sound natural and organic. The tonality is on point though has a slight twist which is unique and hard to explain in words – the tone reminds me of a sound that comes when you roll a marble.
Vocals feel to be lightly coated with a silvery additive which enhances richness and makes the upper frequencies very sparkly. This all happens within keeping the correct tonality, of course. Textures are detailed and crispy while the core feels to be smooth and moist. The thickness on the mids is just about neutral, making it suitable for both male and female vocals. Vocals flow throughout the midrange without particular dips or peaks. Sibilance is also pretty nicely trimmed and controlled.
Sound Impression – Highs, imaging
Most characteristics from the mids also apply for the highs – smooth, sparkly, and silvery yet organic. The position feels to be similar to the mids or takes a small step back depending on tracks. Eden doesn’t emphasize the brightness that much but the airy upper frequencies make it feels to be vented, making the sound quite refreshing. Again, Eden keeps things very gentle and calm. This type of characteristics would be ideal if you’re into upper frequencies but still want that smooth, fatigue-free sound.
Another part that makes Eden a one-of-a-kind DD IEM is that it has a strong 3D effect to the sound. Multi-driver IEMs are usually also good at this, but as many already know the phasing issue kicks in. There are some technologies available (such as JH freq-phase) that are known to solve the phasing issue from multi-driver setups, but single drivers are undeniably better in this topic. While Eden keeps the phasing highly accurate, it achieves the same level of 3D imaging from multi-BA IEMs packed with much info and details.
Eartips/Cable matching
For Eden, pairing the right cable is crucial as the Zombie did. These surely perform better once paired with either pure copper or gold plated copper cables. Using bass/thickness enhancing cables like these would add more body to the sound, as well as showing decent improvement with the size of its headroom.
PW 1960S and RSD Copper Wizard Series are my favorite setups with Eden. I like the sound most once it’s paired with the Copper Wizard 8 MK2 but the weight of the cable would alter the fit begin bothering my ears after some time of usage, so I’m currently using the Copper Wizard 4 which solved the problem.
Eden also requires a good amount of power to gain enough volume. There’s a high chance for not gaining enough power from phones and even if it does, you won’t be able to get the most out of it. Eden sounds more lively and powerful once paired with a powerful source, so I recommend using is DAP or an amp while listening to these.
Verdicts
Eden proves Rhapsodio’s ambition for achieving top-notch performance from a single dynamic driver. I’m happy to see them taking a step forward from their former Galaxy series while revising the shortcomings that the previous models had. I own several more premium (or flagship) single DD IEMs and Eden is one of my favorite along with the Dita Dream. I might have said before, though a nicely tuned single dynamic driver could always compete with multi-BA IEMs and Eden proves it once again. Eden should be a great choice for those who enjoy a flat, smooth sound signature and should be ideal for both audiophiles and monitoring purposes.
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Rhapsodio Eden has been purchased by myself.
I am not affiliated with Rhapsodio and none of my words was modded or asked to be changed.
