All Hail the New Budget King (For Now): Simgot EA500 Review

By ZD

The latest IEM set I’ve picked up is the Simgot EA500. After seeing so much hype for it from the first quarter of the year in the audiophile space, which was especially surprising as the brand never dropped anything stellar in the past, I was very curious to see, or rather hear, exactly what all of the buzz was about and, in short, it absolutely lives up to all the hype! For reference I’ve pulled up the graph for the 7hz Timeless, which is considered the best technical performing IEMs under $500 to show the comparison between it and its new technically capable rival the Simgot EA500 (tested with the black tuning nozzles which represent Simgot’s in house target curve) which clocks in at $140 less than the Timeless. 

The bass is incredibly punchy, never muddy, and excels in both sub-bass and mid bass, which is rare because a lot of IEM sets normally excel in one or the other, but not usually both. What this does is it causes the sound to be both detailed and smooth in transition between sub-bass, mid bass and upper bass. This leads to an overall enjoyable and smooth listen in the lower frequencies.

In terms of mids; its detail, retrieval and sound quality are leagues beyond its price point. Vocals are very lush and forward without being intrusive and instruments, such as guitar, both acoustic and electric and drums. All come through with great instrument separation, detail, and imaging. It is without a surprise, one of the main bragging points of the set!

In the treble area the EA500 has no issues representing high frequencies such as cymbal hits or any noise above the 1k region. You hear every cymbal hit clearly with natural decay to the very last note or each it. The treble region is bright, lively, and airy without ever being sibilant even with the brighter sounding black filters!

So for $80 this set absolutely gets a high recommendation, and is one of the best if not the best IEM you can get under $100 that fights with IEMS upwards of $500-$700 in terms of technical performance. The soundstage is wide for an IEM and the stereo imaging and instrument separation allows you to pick out and tell exactly where each instrument and note is coming from based on its recording or track position while vocals are nice and centered without being overwhelming. The race to the bottom with manufacturers making amazing sounding IEM sets that no longer break the bank is moving at lightspeed and these just may be THE budget king at the moment. At least until the next big competitor steps it up! Great job, Simgot!

Test Tracks:

Oh My Girl - Summer Comes

tripleS AAA - Generation

tripleS AAA - Rolex

NewJeans - ETA

Fifty Fifty - Cupid (Twin Ver.)

fromis_9 - Rewind

STAYC - I'll Be There

WJSN - Secret

NewJeans - OMG

STAYC - Beautiful Monster

LE SSERAFIM - Fire in the Belly

Taeyeon - INVU

aespa - Spicy

NMIXX - Dice

Anthrax - Indians

Guns N' Roses - Nightrain

Halloween - I Want Out

Danzing - Mother

TWICE - Moonlight Sunrise

Oh My Girl - Guerilla

IVE - After Like

YooA - Blood Moon

LE SSERAFIM - Blue Flame

Polyphia - Playing God

Motley Crue - Kickstart my Heart

RATT - Round and Round

Purple Kiss - Nerdy

Everyglow - Untouchable

Oh My Girl - Dun Dun Dance

Ozzy Osbourne - Bark at the Moon

Sources: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3, FiiO Q3 MQA Edition DAC/AMP, Fosi Audio P2 Vacuum Tube Amp +Preamp

Setup: Medium Spinfit CP100 Plus Silicone Earips, TRIPOWIN C8 cable with 3.5mm termination

Music Sources: Tidal Masters

Disclaimer: All products reviewed on this page were purchased by the reviewer and all opinions and thoughts are their own. No compensation was given to the reviewer nor was copy approval given to the manufacturer or vendor.

All stock photos were provided by and are intellectual property of SIMGOT.