Introduction
Celest by Kinera has been making waves in their debut in the budget oriented earphones segment with their debut Gumiho which we covered a few months back and we are quite impressed with the value versus performance ratio that the Gumiho brings. Now they are back with a fresh new take on their self developed SPD or Square Planar Driver doing all the work by itself and going along with their theme of celestial beings, Pandamon the iron eating beast is born. We are honored that Celest has given us the chance for a review on the Pandamon in-ears and we are stoked on these handsome looking units. How will they perform? We shall find out here on Audiomonsta.
Before the review, here’s some back story on the Pandamon, known as the Iron Eating Beast, the Pandamon or Baku taken from a Chinese fantasy literature, “The Classic of Mountain and Seas”. The character looks like a bear with black and white patterns feasting on Iron and Copper and known as a beast with a ferocious image.
Functions & Specifications
Before we start the review, here are the specifications of the Celest Pandamon;
- Enhanced Kinera Square Planar Driver 10x10mm SPD 2.0
- Shell type : Resin ear shells with 304L stainless steel faceplate
- Cable type :4-Core OFC cable with standard 0.78mm connectors and 3.5mm termination
- Impedance : 9Ω
- Sensitivity : 108dB
- Frequency Response : 20Hz-20kHz
- Weight(IEM+Cable) : 5.4g+17.2grams.
Retail Price & Where to Get
The Celest Pandamon can be purchased at :
Kinera / Celest Official Store:
https://www.kineraaudio.com/product/celest-pandamon
Kinera / Celest Aliexpress Store:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005030611893.html
Packaging & Accessories
The packaging of the Pandamon is unique like its sibling and they have a cool looking small box with the Pandamon beast on the front. They are packed complete along with an addition of the Pandamon creature souvenir that is cool and quite collectible along with the Gumiho ones. They include a high quality twisted cable, 6 pairs of eartips, a Celest soft case, a cleaning brush and the earphones itself along with some paperworks. Very well thought packaging and very decent for their asking price.
Design
The design of the Pandamon is a different unique circular shape that is super lightweight and very comfortable to my ears. The faceplate is made of 304L stainless steel that has gone through multiple processes including precision engraving, nickel electroplating and UV coloring to ensure a natural color tone with a smooth and shining body. They have semi open back vents and a cute, funky Pandamon face on them. The body is made from a high quality resin that is 3D printed that is very light in weight which contributes to a comfy wearing experience.
They are installed with a neat nozzle that has waves on it similar to the 7hz Timeless and the exact one like the Gumiho.
The Pandamon is equipped with Kinera self developed Square Planar Driver that has gone through some evolution increasing their sensitivity by 3db and they are able to deliver a full frequency range all by themselves without any help from additional drivers. The cable included is a 1.2 meter, 4 core silver plated copper cable with a 3.5mm termination and has a standard 0.78mm plugs. The cable is twisted instead of braided and they are well made . The sound of the cable when used on other in-ears are a little on the thicker sound type with a mellow tone.
Gears Used for Comparisons
FiiO M17
Questyle M12 & M15
LetShuoer D13
Celest Gumiho
TinHifi P1Max Panda
Salnotes Dioko
Rose Technics QT9 MK2
Hidizs MD4
Dunu EST112
Songs list
Tone and Presentation
The tone of the Pandamon is a neutral, thick warmish sound that has a slight emphasis on the lower midrange and bass. They have a rather average clarity but details are all intact without any major blur present. They have a decent sparkle on their high range and they have a rather laid-back high range that have a fatigue free listening experience.
Soundstage
The Pandamon soundstage is quite good in their price range but in my opinion they do lack depth and width but they have a quite airy presentation due to their open back design. They are able to give out an accurate soundstage with placements of sound portrayed right and they work well even with movies and gaming as they have great separation. It gives out an open, airy presentation giving a pretty decent headroom for an in-ears in their price range.
Separation and Timbre
Separation is great as they are a single driver doing all the job and they seem to work pretty well across all frequencies without any gaps or bleed. Layering is also good as they are able to give a good texture especially on their bass region while giving a smooth sound signature without any haze present. Timbre is a little on a laid-back style with a minor intensity in the lower end. They are quite natural sounding but on certain music they might come off as a little too warm or dark. There is some slight colouration to their sound presentation but not too much to the point of making music seem unnatural.
Drivability
Rated at 9 ohms with a 108db sensitivity, they are easily driven and a simple setup like a dongle is sufficient but they do not perform at their best and with a great DAC/amplifier, dedicated DAP or any more powerful source, the Pandamon does scales up quite considerably by increasing their details and taming down their bass. They are also picky with the type of files played and do perform better with well mastered tracks with higher bitrates like DSD or MQA.
The Bass (Low)
Bass that the Pandamon possesses is a full, thumpy bass response that has a rather energetic signature that is quite fulfilling.Though being mildly heavy on bass, their quality of the bass is still quite pleasing as they do have a dynamic, planar-esque bass without sacrificing any details and clarity in them and they are quite unique in their texture. Details are there but they are rather average at best. Mid bass lift is quite prominent here and they have a slightly loose decay on them. Sub-bass extend at an average depth and they have an authoritative rumble to them. Bleeds are sometimes present on certain heavy bass music but most of the time it’s fine. Overall, quite a decent bass performance, giving an enjoyable listening with their energetic rumble and deep sub-bass.
The Mids
The midrange in the Pandamon is a neutral, smooth, slightly recessed midrange and they have a slight emphasis on their lower end complementing the bass response. They are warm to listen to giving a fatigue free listening. Resolution on the midrange is mediocre but acceptable for their price range. Details and clarity is good and they have good macro details but they do lack micro details. They perform well on male vocals due to their slightly dark and warm nature but also work well with female vocals but may lack edge and sharpness. Overall, their midrange is tuned towards a more laid-back relaxing listening without sacrificing quality in their details and clarity.
The Highs
The high range in the Pandamon has a neutral take to them and they are smooth, slightly laid-back sound signature with a good natural sparkle. They have a lively, airy sound to them while giving a little crisp on their presentation with no hiss or fatigue present. Details and clarity here are superb with every high note portrayed clearly without any harsh sound. Their high range definitely has better control and sounded more natural versus the Gumiho. Treble on the high range is slightly on the stronger side giving a more detailed performance complementing their warm sound signature. Overall, I do find their high range very well tuned, giving out a natural response without any harshness while keeping a good crisp energy for a fatigue free listening.
Comparisons
VS Celest Gumiho
The debutant of Celest, the Gumiho. They are equipped with the slightly similar SPD driver and work in tandem with a balanced armature.
The high range on the Gumiho has the edge of being stronger and sharper than the slightly laidback Pandamon’s high range. Details and clarity on the Gumiho is better than Pandamon. Pandamon high range is smoother and more suitable for a long listening session.
Midranges on the Pandamon have a thicker sound with a slight lushness present than the neutral midrange in the Gumiho. Details and clarity is better on the Gumiho but in a minor way. Female vocals are better on Gumiho while male vocals excel better on the Pandamon.
Bass quantity on the Pandamon has a bigger and harder slam but clarity in the bass is better in the Gumiho. Sub-bass on both are quite similar in quantity and quality but Pandamon’s sub-bass seems to extends deeper
Soundstage on the Pandamon has the edge in being airier but in terms of width and height, they are on par to each other.
VS Salnotes Dioko
Dioko is a planar based in-ears that Salnotes produces along with Crinacle and they sound pretty great in their price range. Though it is a hit or miss of a product for users, there is no doubt they are still a high quality sounding product.
High region on Dioko is stronger, airier and more balanced overall. Pandamon high range is way smoother and more forgiving for some sibilant tracks. Details and clarity on both are on the same level but Dioko seems to sound a tad clearer here.
Midrange on the Dioko is a more neutral sound with them sounding cleaner and more balanced making them blend better with a wider range of genres. Pandamon midrange sounds a tad lusher and thicker with less details versus the Dioko.
Bass on Pandamon has more energy and they have a bigger slam by a small margin. Dioko bass is more linear and pure sounding with better details embedded. Sub-bass amount on Pandamon is better than the slightly toned down sub-bass on the Dioko. Soundstage in the Dioko is wider and taller but lacks air versus the Pandamon.
Synergy
FiiO M17
The desktop level DAP of FiiO, the M17 and they are packed with superb driving power along with high end features. They are in my opinion as one of the DAP around soundwise. They have 5 levels of gain and I found the mid gain suits the Pandamon best.
The M17 is able to give the Pandamon a cleaner and slightly clearer bass performance while making the bass tone a little tighter. Bass amount seems to have toned down a little in quantity and sub-bass rumble has more definition.
Midrange in the Pandamon seems cleaner and clearer overall while making them a little more forward. Female vocals sound better as they are more clear and crisp. Resolution has also improved making music more organic and holographic.
High range has increased in quantity while still sounding crisp with a cleaner sparkle. Extension on the high range has increased by a little with a slight increase in details.
Soundstage has improved but only a little but separation has benefited quite considerably especially on 4.4mm balanced out.
Overall, the Pandamon surely gains some major upgrade from a better source and the M17 seems to make the Pandamon sing.
Questyle M15
The Questyle M15, my go-to dongle and they sounded awesome with alluring neutral sound and comes with Questyle’s signature direct current amplification, they are no slouch in their performance.
Bass on the Pandamon has a better quality as they sounded cleaner with a clearer bass response overall. Sub-bass rumble seems to decrease slightly but still very enjoyable.
Midrange has been pushed slightly forward with better clarity and details. Female vocals sounded better with greater definition.
High range sparkles remain the same but they are crisper overall. Treble sounded a little more intense with a slight sharpness present.
Soundstage to my ears remains mostly the same. Overall, they are a great portable companion for the Pandamon and able to synergize pretty well versus my other dongles.
Who Is It For?
Pandamon is an in-ears that have a unique warm and thick neutral sound that may cater to those who are a little treble sensitive as they are smooth and inoffensive. They have a rather good bass response that will suit a variety of music but they do lack lushness in female vocals. Micro detail lovers might find this Pandamon a little lacking as this is not their main strength. Also, for those who have Gumiho, the Pandamon complements the Gumiho well.
Final words
I do feel that Celest has listened to their customers and provided them with a smoother, inoffensive sound that is suitable for a fatigue free listening. The SPD driver has certainly gone through some upgrades in their sound and they are quite mature in their sound. Though they are a little lacking in details and their midrange lacks lushness, their high range does have a good sparkle along with their planar-esque fast bass. They are a unique product nonetheless with their funky theme and amazing build that will satisfy your eyes along with your ears. Great evolution Celest!
I would rate this product 4 stars over 5 stars
