CrossRoads MylarOne Quattro IEM Review
This morning my friend brought this earphone to me and asked me to review it. He borrowed it from my another work colleague who just have bought it.
Honestly, it’s the first time someone offered me to review an earphone rather than me politely asking to borrow one. So I guess I’m now known as an earphone reviewer eh? 😀
Enough with narcissistic talk, let’s get straight to the review.
Physical Form
I’ve got to admit that it has not so interesting look, just a straight tube earpiece. Nothing more, but we’re here to judge the sound quality, not the looks anyway right?
Sound Quality
I always wear the medium eartips, because this is the size that fits my ear well.
For the sound quality I will discuss it below with the unique screws that the CrossRoads Quattro comes with.
What’s This?
Quattro comes with a detachable screws on the back side of the earpiece. My friend said that they are to control the bass.
“Oh, really..?”, I thought, “Let’s see what these little things can do.”
And boy, they really did. Sweet stuff!
The screws was labeled 1, 2, and 3. Here is their difference:
. the “1” screws have a little hole
. the “2” screws have is closed with smooth internal surface
. the “3” screws have is closed with rough internal surface
I didn’t read the manual so I didn’t know what this difference would do to the sound at first.
First Try – no screw caps
First, I tried to not use any of the screws, so the earpiece has a big hole where you can see a bit of its internal parts. It produce an interesting deep bass sounds, rare to any IEM I reviewed before.
Second Try – “1” screw caps
Almost no difference with the without screw caps, deep bass sounds.
Third Try – “2” screw caps
The bass sounds are a bit soften using the “2” screw caps. I estimate it probably cut the bass sounds by 1/4. The bass is still there, but not as aggressive as before. Still marvelous sound quality though.
Fourth Try – “3” screw caps
The “3” screw caps soften the bass further by around 1/2 of the bass sounds using “2” screw caps.
Probably for those who doesn’t really wants too much bass pumping, this is the best setting. The overall sound quality still very much the same though.
Price
My friend was lucky to bought it for $57 here in Indonesia, it was second hand though. The real price for a new one is $88. Not a cheap product I should say, though it really deliver the goods.
Conclusion
I’m really fascinated with Crossroads Quattro.
Having the screw caps to adjust the bass level is really a plus value, not to mention that it really works unlike some other magic knobs that sometimes give you no different sound quality. Though I should admit that it’s a bit cumbersome to manually unscrew and screw these screw caps.
For it’s sound quality, there is no question about it. It is comparable to its brother the Crossroads MylarOne Bijou2 I tested earlier, if not better. Just expect a great quality of crystal clear sound with great staging as well.
Once again I should mention that IEM is not for everyone, because not everyone can appreciate the detail sounds. Most people will prefer the usual bigger headphones. But if you are like me who wants to hear all the hidden sound details of a song, IEM is the answer and Crossroads Quattro is one of the best options out there.
*Songs tested
Dave Matthews Band – Gravedigger [Acoustic] – Flac
Jason Mraz – We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things – Flac
Ecoutez – Tunjuk 1 Bintang – MP3 128 kbps
Jazzyfatnastees – Let It Go – MP3 128 kbps
Linkin Park – Meteora – Flac