The budget IEM market is a tough place, with the majority of companies following a safe game with single dynamic drivers optimized for a benign, unobjectionable target response. And then, almost out of nowhere, Celest goes and puts out the Yaksha IEMs. It’s more than just another entrant into the fray; it’s a declaration. With four drivers on each side, consisting of two dynamic drivers (DD), one balanced armatures (BA), and one micro-planar driver, it’s got a technical spec-sheet that promises to utterly demolish the competition on sheer theoretical merit alone. The question isn't just about sound quality; it's whether such a complex driver array can be coherently tuned on a budget, or if it becomes a case of too many cooks in the kitchen.
Celest Yaksha Review
My journey with the Yaksha has been a rollercoaster of genuine awe and sheer frustration. By seeing the frequency graph, I thought it will be a very pleasing warm musical set, but it isn’t all true. Yes, it’s warm and has a very good bass presentation but the upper mids and treble seems really unpleasant at times. And moreover, the upper frequencies are not that controlled. Sometimes it sounds so unreal! It’s almost more like access to the prototype work of a genius audio engineer rather than something that is even refined yet.
DISCLAIMER
HiFiGo was kind enough to send me the Celest Yaksha to review. I am not affiliated with HiFiGo, and of course, I was not asked for any copy-checking before publishing. All opinions shared in this ‘Celest Yaksha review’ are my subjective thoughts.
One thing more: The review is based on my personal experience and what I hear using different sources. Your experience may vary because of personal preference and physical differences like the shape and depth of the ear canal.
For your personal purchase, checkout HiFiGo for their fantastic products and promotions (non-affiliated link).
GEAR USED
● DAP: Cowon Planue R2, Cayin N3 Ultra, Hiby RS2, Hiby R4, Snowsky Echo Mini.
● DAC/AMP: xDuoo MT-604, Fosi Audio GR40, Hiby FD5, KAEI Design TAP2, ifi Hip DAC 2, xDuoo XD-05 Plus (with BB OPA 2604), Cayin RU7, iBasso DC04 Pro, Dunu DTC 480, Fosi Audio DS-1, Celest CD-10, Celest CD-20, Hiby FC05, Hiby FD03, Hidizs SD8 Pro Robin, Moondrop Dawn Pro.
● Smart Device: Poco X3, Xiaomi MiPad 5.
● Files: Tidal, Spotify, local Hi-Res FLAC & DSD files.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION
● Driver: 2DD + 1BA + 1MPD
● Frequency response: 20Hz – 20kHz
● Impedance: 12Ω
● Sensitivity: 105 dB
● Cable: High-Quality 6N OCC Silver+OCC Hybrid Cable
● Pin Type: 2pin, 0.78mm
● Cable Length: 1.2m
● Plug Type: 3.5mm
WHAT’S IN THE BOX
● Kinera Celest Yaksha IEMs
● 6N OCC silver+OCC Hybrid Cable (3.5mm)
● 3 pairs of silicon tips (S/M/L)
● Carrying case
● Cleaning cloth
● User Manual
UNBOXING EXPERIENCE
Simple. It come in a cardboard box that is covered by a paper board overlay. Inside, everything is nested beautifully in foam cut-out, which is covered by the cleaning cloth and a translucent paper. Your essentials like ear tips, cable etc. are inside the plastic carrying case. Nothing too exited about!
BUILD & DESIGN
First of all, the resin built shells are really beautiful and feels sturdy. Mine one is ‘Devine Blue’ in color. The artistic textures and line drawings are so eye catchy. The upper shell is translucent and you can see the drivers inside. The build feels solid and well-joined, with no visible flaws on my unit. The design is ergonomic and fairly standard, ensuring a good fit. But the cable is a point of discussion! While the use of cables with interchangeable connectors are growing popularity now a days and you will find it with some IEMs less expensive than Yaksha, I don’t understand why they didn’t introduce it here! And the color match? Nah man, it’s really odd!
Among the three pairs of silicon tips, I like the one with Spinfit style. The build quality of this tips are extraordinary but not the rest two types! Those feels cheap and common stock tips that you’ll find in entry level IEMs package. And the plastic carrying case feels tough and robust but the design is awful. I personally don’t like it at all like the stock cable.
FIT & COMFORT
Offering a fairly universal shell design with light resin should make Celest Yaksha quite comfortable to wear. But the practical scenario is totally opposite from what it’s on the paper. Though they rest well in my ears with no problem, with the angle of the nozzle providing an excellent snug fit into the ear canal, but for the bulky size in depth area, they will make you feel uncomfortable in long listening sessions. Sound isolation is better than average, canceling quite a bit of background noise once a secure seal is achieved with the correct tips. But the ugly cable feels stiff and not that much comfortable!
SOUND IMPRESSIONS
The overall tonality is intensely warm, detailed, and V-shaped. That is, it is not for analytical listening; it is certainly no fun to spend time with if one is looking for a bright, shiny presentation. It is an IEM designed for musical listening, where the goal is pure musical enjoyment rather than information extraction. There is an emphasis on bass, it’s punchy; mids are lean and back; treble is detailed but with an uncontrolled presentation.
Here is the frequency graph:
Let’s dive deep…
SUB-BASS
Two dynamic drivers the sub-bass with a lot of authority and boldness. It’s deep and physical- that’s what you may call the anchor of the sound from Yaksha. It’s not just hearing, you can feel the real vibration and depth. That is really enjoyable in the genres like EDM and Ambient. As it prioritize richness and depth, it’s not fastest or hardest hitting sub-bass in it’s class. Sometimes in some tracks where the sub-bass may feel a bit heavy on presentation, and there’s a bleeding on mid areas, that is audible.
MID-BASS
Yaksha’s mid bass is fantastic that brings the rhythm and warmth to life. The punch is clear and it’s got a slam that is quick and articulated- it really drives the track. You will enjoy the bold sound of the kick drums which is powerful and defined, giving rock and funk music excellent presence and with warm & musical body. There’s a bit of bleed ion the lower mids, it’s minimal though. But for that reason in some tracks like fast, complex metal ones, may feel a little less separated and muddy sometimes.
VOCALS
The Celest Yaksha shows it ability to handle the vocals with notable intimacy and texture.
MALE
Male vocals sounds solid, rich, and full. You will enjoy the the presence of warmth and texture like a pinch of salt in your yummy food. It really goes deep and deliver a musically enjoyable male vocal with excellent body and chest resonance. The warmth in the lower mids plays a vital role here. You may miss a little bit of ‘air’ and sharpness in the presentation due to the warm mid-bass density. Is it a trade-off? I don’t think so!
FEMALE
“Delicacy and beautiful silkiness” that’s what you will feel when it comes to female voices. They are sung with exquisite definition and an almost etched in’ quality that carries every essence of air in the vocals – every humming sensation in each expression is audible with these IEMs. Female voices do have a tendency to be pushed forward with an aggressive tone sometimes, and can easily become piercing on consonants like ‘s,’ ‘sh,’ and ‘t.’ Though the detail is impressive, but it’s often sounds unforgiving due to uncontrolled upper mids and treble area.
INSTRUMENTS SEPARATION
This is a tremendous strength of Celest Yaksha. The blend of lean lower-midrange and lush treble produces an enormous sense of room between instruments. On complex passages, every element receives its own individual space within the mix. At other times, though, this separation can be artificial-sounding, as if drivers are dueling one another instead of coming together to create a natural whole. It’s technically excellent but unnatural-sounding at times.
TREBLE
Tuned by the micro planar and BA drivers, the treble should be the defining characteristics of the Yaksha, but it’s not! The detail retrieval is not class-leading, and unable to reveal good micro-details, that you may expect from a micro planar driver. Treble nuance is boldly present but with an weird and uncontrolled manner. Cymbal crashes are textured and sparkly but feels a bit unreal at times. Every now & then, you will face a piercing, metallic spike in the very highest treble that is not rounded out.
SOUNDSTAGE
The soundstage is somehow wide and spacious, but will not like holographic with massive space. Imaging is not pinpoint accurate, so you can’t precisely locate instruments. The depth is somewhat good and will make you feel that the music is happening in a small, cozy space around you. It’s not that technically impressive stage that will give you the analytical separation feel.
TECHNICALITIES
Dynamics: The overall sound is not aggressively dynamic. But the dynamic drivers provide a good sense of impact and drive. It gives the music a manageable expression by shifting from soft to loud with soulful energy. The slightly soulful attack means it lacks the shock factor of faster, brighter IEMs.
Speed: You will surprise by it’s controlled and elastic speed considering the dual DD bass. You may expect a bit of muddy presentation, but it’s not. Thought it’s not super fast ether. The decay is smooth and natural but lacks the speed. The overall presentation favors musicality over rapid-fire transient.
Analytics (Detail Retrieval): You must keep in mind that, it’s not a analytical tool. It presents details within the context of the whole musical piece, rather than isolating them with clinical precision. But the resolution is clean and organic with a good transparency.
SOURCES
With a low impedance of 12Ω and decent sensitivity of 105dB, the Celest Yaksha is easy to drive. This sounds fine with the 3.5mm output of smartphones and even with a decent dongle DAC. But pairing it wil clean, neutral sounding DACs like Dunu DTC 480, Hiby FC05 etc. helps tighten the bass and maintain the separation. But beware of warm sources like ifi Hip DAC 2, Fosi Audio GR40 etc. These will effect the mids clarity and make the lower region a bit muffled.
CABLE & TIP ROLLING
First of all, the stock cable quality is somehow good. Though I don’t like the look and feel, but that doesn’t mean it’s unusable. But if you want a modular cable to enjoy the sound from your ‘balanced port’ of your source, you may invest on something like Dunu Lyra mini (just $35).
Now the ear tips, it plays a vital role here, as the shells are a bit bulky in depth and you need a good fit to hold them into you ears. You may use the stock ones that looks like Spinfit CP135 tips. They seal and fit well. Bit if you have some wide bore tips collection, you may try it. Wide bore tip helps to increase the sound stage a little bit.
FINAL THOUGHTS
As my review title, I wanna say it’s a paradox when it comes to choosing Yaksha among all the contender in the current market. There is a lots of warm musical sounding earphones out there that you may try or buy. In my honest opinion, sound wise I feel like it’s still in the developing phase and not final yet. We may have another version with the suffix ‘2’ or ‘Mark ii,’ or maybe with another name like a new model. I’m not discouraging you to grab one, but my point is, try out some IEMs with same tuning and musical presentation. only then you may take the decision.
WHATEVER YOU’RE THINKIN’ OF BUYING—DAC, DAP, IEM, HEADPHONE, AMP, WHATEVER—JUST MAKE SURE YOU GIVE IT A DEMO RUN FIRST. TRY IT OUT, LISTEN TO IT WITH YOUR OWN TRACKS. SERIOUSLY, ONE QUICK AUDITION CAN SAVE YOU A BUNCH OF MONEY AND REGRET LATER ON.
MY TESTING ALBUMS
- Pink Floyd-
Dark Side of the Moon,
The wall
P.U.L.S.E- Mark Knopfler-
Golden Heart
Shangri-La
Tracker
One Deep River- Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris-
All the Road Running- Gloria Estefan-
Into The Light
Destiny
Gloria- Madonna-
Like a Prayer
Bedtime Stories
ray of Light- George Michael-
Faith
Older- Phil Collins-
Face Value
No Jacket Required
But Seriously
Dance into the Light- Bee Gees-
E.S.P
One- The Carpenters-
Ticket to Ride
A Song for You- Rainbow-
Ritchie Blackmore’s rainbow
Bent out of Shape- White Snake-
1987 – 30th Anniversary Edition- Metallica-
Master of Puppets
And Justice for ALL
Load
Reload- Iron Maiden-
Fear of the Dark- Linkin Park-
Hybrid Theory
Meteora- Yanni-
Out of Silence
Reflection of Passion- Kitaro-
The Light of the Spirit
Heaven & Earth (OST)You can read other reviews HERE.
