Intro
CCZ is a new company according to KeepHifi. I believe this is their first attempt to foray into the mid-range market where there are already a lot of established competitors. Are they able to distinguish themself from the already established brands such as KBEAR, TRI, Moondrop and others. Let’s find out if they’re able to pit themself against those.
Packaging and Accessories
Plume came in a very posh looking packaging, at least to me. At $239 SRP, at least the packaging and the accessories that came with it are justifiable with the price it is asking for.
A set of S,M,L standard silicone tips and also KBEAR’s 07 series eartips with various sizes. Balanced to unbalanced adapter, specifically a 2.5 female to 4.4 male and also 2.5 female to 3.5 male, a very thoughtful gesture from CCZ as it shows that once you get this, you’re good to go whether your source supports balanced or single ended because they’ve got you covered with the provided adapters. A sturdy PVC leather storage case is also included as well as a polishing cloth to get rid of the fingerprints. The included 2 core 6N Single Crystal Copper cable with 2.5mm balanced termination is as high quality as it looks.
Build Quality and Comfort
Plume is a full metal IEM with an aluminium alloy shell. One would expect that if the IEM is metal then it’s going to be heavy. However, that is not the case with Plume, it feels very light weight and to be honest the weight doesn’t feel like it is made out of metal but plastics. A comparison in terms of weight with Moondrop’s Aria, Aria is definitely heavier and it is only housing a single dynamic driver, whereas Plume is housing 5 drivers(1 DD, 4 BAs) each side. Impressive engineering.
Source
Tidal (MQA/HiFi) -> Zen Dac (7.2c GTO Firmware) -> CCZ Plume
Sound
For a new brand and being the brand’s only flagship, I find the tuning to be above average. CCZ got the tuning right. I find that Plume is very easy to listen to, it’s smooth and you can listen to them for as long as you want without feeling fatigue. Again, i have to stress that preferences over certain tuning or signature is very subjective and there is no right or wrong/good or bad for that.
Bass
The bass in Plume is definitely emphasized, but it is done with the right quantity and quality, not bloated and boomy. It doesn’t bleed into the mids as well. Sub bass rumble and the mid bass bump is definitely not shy in making its presence in Travis Scott’s The Plan.
Mids
Female vocal sounded very full and textured. As demonstrated in one of the mandarin audiophile album’s singer Lan Lan - 让我喜欢让我犹. Male’s vocal from Andrea Bocelli’s Amazing Grace and Hallelujah doesn’t sound as full as the counterpart, however the difference is not that major that it will ruin the experience. Just me nit picking. The upper mids are quite tame in my opinion, none of the songs that i listened to made me feel like Plume is shouty. Unravel by TK will feel shouty if it's listened to on a brighter IEM,on plume it feels tamed and non sibilant as well. Pretty smooth mid range i would say.
Treble
If there is one thing that I would consider as Plume’s weakness will be its treble, don’t get me wrong. The treble extension is good, however if it can be extended further, it will be better. I am just nitpicking of course, the details are good and there is no sibilance. So, it’s not bad. The timbre feels very natural to me, although Plume consists of 1 DD and 4 BA, I did not hear any BA like timbre.
Soundstage/Imaging
The soundstage of Plume is above average. I am greeted with a good sense of depth and width in Toto’s Africa(Live). Doesn’t feel compressed at all even in busy tracks such as Unravel by TK Ling. Hans Zimmer’s Why So Serious, demonstrated Plume’s capability in imaging as well as soundstage. Left to right channel transition is smooth and instrument’s position can be pinpointed accurately despite transitioning between left and right channel rapidly. The same can be said for Acoustic Installation by TK, a really busy track especially at the ending part, where distortion effect, fast paced piano as well as guitars all being played simultaneously, everything can still be heard clearly. This clearly demonstrated the imaging capability of Plume. Above average for sure.
Final Thoughts
In a nutshell, Plume is a very well tuned IEM from a new company and I liked the sound signature. I will definitely keep an eye on their upcoming products. I consider Plume as an all rounder because it handled most of the songs that I've listened to without any hiccups. Of course the tuning is on the warmer side which may not be to everyone's taste, but it is fine for me because I liked it. I am more than happy to recommend this to someone who’s looking for an all rounder. At time of writing, it is currently on sale at $199, which I believe is a fair and justifiable asking price given the accessories that came with it and also the sound it renders.
Where to buy them?
You can buy them at KeepHifi’s website at the link below, also Plume is currently on sale at $199 instead of the usual $239
*Thanks to Iven from KeepHifi for approaching and providing me with this opportunity to review CCZ Plume. This review is unbiased and based on my honest opinion and I have no gains from this review other than not having to send back the unit.
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