The Punch is a tribrid in-ear monitor (IEM) from Kiwi Ears, tuned in cooperation with HBB. It’s normally priced at around 449 USD.
It employs a 10 mm dynamic driver for the bass, two Knowles 32257 balanced armature drivers for the midrange, and two Sonion electrostatic/EST drivers for the treble. A three-way crossover along with three acoustic tubes aims to blend the sound from the drivers as seamlessly as possible.
One of the selling points of the Punch is its powerful low end due to a built-in bass lift, but as you will see, I was surprised by how balanced it actually sounds. The lift is progressive, gradually increasing toward the lower end of the spectrum and thus mostly confined to the deep sub-bass.
The Punch is designed for both stage use and audiophile listening.
KIWI EARS x HBB Punch SPECIFICATIONS
- Drivers: 1 x 10mm Dynamic Driver, 2 x Knowles 32257 BA, 2 x Sonion EST
- Impedance: 12 Ohms
- Sensitivity: 98 dB (±1 dB) @ 1 kHz
- Frequency Response: 5 Hz – 44 kHz
- Configuration: 3-way crossover with 3 sound tubes
- Cable: 1.2 m single crystal copper AWG 20 wire, braided, PVC coating
- Connector: 0.78mm 2-pin
- Cable termination: 3.5mm or 4.4mm
Current price and availability:
- Linsoul: Kiwi Ears xHBB Punch
- AliExpress: Kiwi Ears x HBB Punch
BUILD AND COMFORT
The Punch is a large IEM made of resin with metal nozzles. Despite their size, I find them comfortable, although they do protrude from the ear.
The cable is very nice. It is flexible yet has a reassuring thickness without feeling bulky or heavy. The friction level is just right. The material is single-crystal copper, arranged in seven groups of seventeen strands each, braided into four main strands. Each strand has a diameter of 1.45 mm and is coated with PVC; the wire gauge is 20 AWG.
The IEM connectors use a standard 0.78 mm 2-pin interface. You can choose either a 3.5 mm or 4.4 mm terminated cable when purchasing.
The package includes the usual selection of ear tips and a zippered soft case. Nothing fancy, but functional.
LISTENING IMPRESSIONS
Associated equipment:
- Ferrum Erco mk2 DAC-amplifier
- AZLA SednaEarFit Xelastec tips
Golden Horn by Joe Lovano
This sounds exquisite: warm, lush, and inviting, with excellent detail. The bass is slightly boosted, but not more than I find enjoyable.
Yours by Bill Laurance
Again, I find the sound very inviting, with a lush and warm tonality. The double bass is not especially boosted, since it doesn’t play the deepest notes. The presentation is spacious and genuinely enjoyable.
The Cat by Marcin Wasilevski Trio
The double bass is quite boosted, and I would prefer it to be a bit less prominent, but the music remains a very enjoyable listen. The piano sounds warm and lush, while the percussion is gentle and silky.
Gangar by Erlend Apneseth Trio
The added low-end rumble is really nice here and gives the track extra weight.
As Before by Olga Konkova
Excellent. The cajón drum is fabulous; it needs a bit of reinforcement, as it can sound anaemic with neutral or bass-light earphones.
The piano is warm and lush, far from the aggressively crisp sound it can have on certain earphones. The vocals are lush and delicate.
It Could Be Sweet by Portishead
The bass is powerful and forward, yet it remains integrated with the rest of the sound. The bass shelf – or more correctly: the gradual lift – is very well implemented. Vocals are lush, with a pleasing level of detail.
Spontaneous Compositorius by Thomas Agergard
Smooth and lush saxophone. The bright percussion is clear yet slightly laid-back. The double bass is definitely powerful, but not totally overwhelming.
Escape Route by Boris Blank
This track sounds excellent with the extra bass lift. It is much richer and more organic than usual, with the bass pulsating like a living force beneath the other musical elements.
Jambi by Tool
The guitars are rich and lush, the vocals well separated. The bass feels like a thick carpet lying underneath the other instruments, but it’s not overdone, it suits the music. Sibilants are soft or non-existent.
Bored by Deftones
This track certainly has more bloom and low end than I’m used to, but in a pleasing way. It feels like it supports the music from below rather than overwhelming it.
Maple Noise by Greene Serene
Dynamic and spacious, with a fuller bass than usual. Overall, it sounds organic rather than hyper-fast or super-snappy. It is snappy, but in a lush and pleasing way.
Mahler’s Symphony No 2 III by Paavo Järvi
Ah, the kettle drums—finally, they sound as they should. The bass lift in the lowest regions brings forward the deepest tones that are usually nearly silent. It’s a joy to hear. The bass integrates impressively well with the rest of the music.
Overall, the presentation is detailed and lush, slightly laid-back yet well articulated.
Young Vivaldi by Modo Antiquo
The timbre of this string quartet is wonderful—natural, slightly lush, yet still energetic. The bass lift does not affect the sound in the slightest, as there’s no deep bass on the track.
Summer 3 Vivaldi Recomposed by Max Richter
This track can sometimes sound a bit muddy or too busy, but not with the Punch. With the Punch it comes across as lush, slightly dark, and very enjoyable. The bass-heavy strings get a bit of support, which works well.
Never Enough by Loren Alred
This track can often sound like a bad mp3, but the Punch has the warmth and lushness to soften the unpleasant edges and make it sound delicious. The extra bass lift adds to the atmosphere in a surprisingly subtle way. Brilliant.
Midnight City by M83
This is a busy track with lots going on. The bass lift gives it an unusual foundation that I quite like; it feels as if it was mixed this way rather than added as an effect.
Limit to Your Love by James Blake
The vocals and the piano are clear and lush, with plenty of nuance. When the massive bass hits, it is truly massive. This is the first time I found the bass lift to be a bit much, and it is surprising that it took this long. Still, it is definitely not unlistenable—just very bassy.
The Day After by Tingvall Trio
A gentle piano trio piece. Lush and smooth, with a piano that is not harsh or crisp (as it can be with some gear) but gentle and delicate. Very nice.
WRAPPING IT UP
Sound Signature
Rather than the usual V- or U-shaped sound signature with boosted lows and highs, the Punch is a well-balanced, neutral-to-lush tribrid IEM with a gradual bass lift that increases only as the music moves further down the octaves. This makes it possible for the Punch to stay fairly neutral-sounding surprisingly often.
Treble
The treble is well resolved but slightly polite and gentle, in a pleasant but not overly laid-back manner.
Midrange
The midrange is nicely present and a bit lush, with good warmth and body.
Bass
The bass is lifted yet surprisingly modest, because the lift starts lower than on many bass-heavy IEMs and increases very gradually as it reaches the deepest frequencies. Often, the music is not even affected by the bass lift, and when it is, it usually feels natural. The music sounds more like you are attending a live concert rather than listening to a recording. Well done.
Soundstage and Imaging
The soundstage is reasonably sized, and the imaging is accurate, though nothing extraordinary for the price.
Detail, Dynamics, and Timbre
The detail level is good, though not spectacular for the price. Dynamics are also solid, but again, not exceptional for the money. The Punch isn’t the snappiest IEM ever made, but it is quite snappy for a lush IEM. The timbre is very pleasing across all genres and instruments I have listened to. It’s warm and lush without becoming muddy.
COMPARISONS
Associated equipment:
- Amplifier: Topping A90
- DAC: RME ADI-2 DAC FS
NOBLE AUDIO VAN GOGH vs KIWI EARS x HBB PUNCH
The Noble Audio Van Gogh is a hybrid in-ear monitor featuring one dynamic driver and three balanced armature drivers from Sonion and Knowles. Its resin shells are unusually compact, much smaller than those of the Kiwi Ears Punch. The Van Gogh is priced at 699 USD before tax.
Like the Punch, the Van Gogh is also a bass-heavy IEM, but the implementation is very different. While the Punch is quite neutral and well balanced, with a gradual lift toward the deepest part of the low end, the Van Gogh has a more typical U-shaped or V-shaped profile, with more energetic treble, a somewhat recessed midrange, and a more obviously boosted bass.
On the positive side, the Van Gogh offers a very refined and articulate treble. The midrange is highly detailed, and the soundstage feels spacious with excellent imaging. The bass, however, is not as well implemented as on the Punch, resulting in a more one-dimensional presentation that emphasizes bass constantly rather than delivering the gradual and elegant lift you get from the Punch.
ZIIGAAT HORIZON vs KIWI EARS x HBB PUNCH
The Ziigaat Horizon is a tribrid IEM with 5 drivers (like the Punch): A dynamic driver for the bass, 2 balanced armatures for the midrange, and two planar magnetic drivers for the treble (where the Punch has EST drivers). The Horizon typically costs around 329 USD.
The Horizon is an earphone that’s tuned for neutrality, with no bass lift. Even so, I was surprised by how often it sounded quite similar to the Punch. The bass lift on the Punch often gives it a warmer and richer delivery, it also has a slightly warmer midrange. The Horizon, on the other hand, stays pretty neutral across the spectrum. Technical performance, including detail retrieval and imaging, is quite similar between the two.
Read the full comparison here:
Ziigaat Horizon vs Kiwi Ears x HBB Punch
- Linsoul: Ziigaat Horizon
- Amazon: Ziigaat Horizon
THIEAUDIO HYPE 4 vs KIWI EARS x HBB PUNCH
The Hype 4 also has a driver setup that is very similar to that of the Punch. It uses dual 10 mm dynamic drivers for the bass, two balanced armature drivers for the mids, and two balanced armature drivers for the highs (where the Punch has EST drivers). The Thieaudio Hype 4 typically costs 399 USD.
Like the driver setup, the tuning of the Hype 4 is very close to that of the Punch. The two IEMs sound much alike, with both the tonal character and the technical performance being very similar.
The Hype 4 tends to have slightly thicker bass in general, while the Punch leans a bit more into the deepest sub-bass. Both are warm, lush, and bass-heavy, and which one sounds better can vary from track to track. The Punch often feels a bit more relaxed and velvety, but sometimes it’s the other way around.
Read the full comparison here:
Thieaudio Hype 4 vs Kiwi Ears x HBB Punch
AMPLIFICATION
Most of my listening and comparison has been with desktop amps, but many readers likely will want to use a portable device. Thus, I have tested a few below:
First, I tried Kiwi Ears’ Allegro Pro, and it works very well. Next, the Alpha XI1 ONIX is slightly better. The next step up is the xDuoo Link2 Bal2, which is a bit more refined sounding. The differences aren’t very large, though.
Using a 4.4 mm to 3.5 mm adapter, I tried the Dragonfly Cobalt, which also pairs excellently with the Punch. Finally, the Chord Mojo did a superb job.
Honestly, the differences between the DAC/Amps I tested are pretty small, but there’s more refinement and finer details and more subtle nuances with the better ones.
That said, the Kiwi Ears x HBB Punch are clearly quite flexible when it comes to sources and amplifiers, and they seem to sound good on most, if not all, decent gear.
CONCLUSION
I am genuinely impressed by the Kiwi Ears x HBB Punch. I’m a bit cautious with bass-heavy IEMs, but the Punch is excellent. The bass lift is so well implemented that the Punch comes across as fairly neutral much of the time.
The gradual rise in the bass level toward the lowest frequencies is easy to hear when there’s action in said frequencies, but it seldom becomes too much. Because the biggest emphasis is in the deep sub-bass, the bass lift often adds a general sense of weight and realism – making the music feel more like a live performance than a strictly neutral recording.
Technical performance is solid and fully in line with what I expect at this price.
I can easily recommend the Punch if you want a warm-tilted IEM with a well-implemented bass boost.
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- Linsoul: Kiwi Ears xHBB Punch
- AliExpress: Kiwi Ears x HBB Punch
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