KB Ear Rosefinch | For Bassheads
Amazon links in this article are affiliate links. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Quick Summary
The KB Ear Rosefinch is a bass heavy in-ear monitor with a booming low end and natural mid range. It’s not the most detailed sound, but it’s very responsive to equalization and it won’t distort even if you tune it for even more bass.
The Rosefinch’s build is also durable, but its main weakness is the prongs from the wire fall out very easily.
Audio Quality
Official curve from KB Ear.
The above image is the frequency response straight from KB Ear. It’s a modification of the Harman Target with a significant boost to the bass and a relaxation of the upper mids. There’s still elevated volume from 2 KHz - 4Kz and also a gnarly spike at 8 KHz. Visually the curve looks jarring, but in practice it allows vocals to not get completely overrun by the low end.
I absolutely love the sound. If I’m feeling like even more rumble, I cut down those boosts in the upper mids and crank up the volume so I can really enjoy music and single player games. It’s such a fun device to listen to. The soundstage isn’t that wide, and the sound separation and detail isn’t perfect for competitive FPS gaming. But that’s not what these excel at.
The Rosefinch gives me JBL Charge 5 vibes with the thunderous sub-bass.
Not the greatest for hearing footsteps in Black Ops 6, but still usable.
The Rosefinch is for us that love deep and unapologetically powerful bass. IEMs like these are a rare find!
Microphone Audio Quality
Microphone and multi-function media button.
The Rosefinch comes with an option to get it with or without the microphone. Since it’s such a cheap upgrade, there’s not really anything to lose by getting it even if you don’t use it.
The mic has great body to it even though the placement is naturally going to be far from your face. The passive background noise rejection is passable. The only issue I had is on PC the mic wouldn’t be detected in my Xbox Series S controller without physically plugging the controller in. Doing so created a bit of a buzz in the mic.
That’s not a downside of the IEM itself, but how different controllers work on PC.
Build and Comfort
The Rosefinch is made entirely of plastic. It follows the same basic principles of most other IEMs on the market. It has 8 total ear tips so you can select the one best for you. Of all the IEMs I’ve used, these get the deepest into my ear and stay snug the longest. These are comfortable for around 2 hours before I need a few quick minutes of a break. A in comfort for sure.
The wire is 51 inches long and it has a chain link type of design which gives it some good resistance to getting pinched up. The only problem I have with the build is the prongs from the wire that go into the IEM itself come out way too easily. This is extremely frustrating, and I’ve nearly lost these many times due to this.
Impedance Consideration
Low impedance mode example in Elgato Wave Link.
The Rosefinch has an impedance of only 16 ohms. This means it’s easy to drive with a controller or even being plugged straight into a motherboard. The downside here is you might ear some electronic feedback (static or hissing) if the device is putting out too much power.
For example, using a random 3.5 mm to USB-C adapter for a phone is going to be problematic, but the official one from Google (discontinued) produced a very low noise floor. With the Elgato Wave XLR, setting the headphone output to low impedance mode helped reduce the static.
Verdict
I love the KB Ear Rosefinch and it’s my main IEM and #1 recommendation for bass enjoyers.
