Kinera Celest Gumiho

Disclaimers

I bought this iem with my own money. This review is completely subjective.

Build

I want to be honest, build quality is bad. Gumiho fully made out of plastic and plastic quality is poor. Cable is decent.

Sound-Tonality and Technicalities

Gumiho comes with a warm, bassy signature. This iem is just made for fun. Midrange is bad, instrument seperation is just ok, treble quality and amount is bad, blah blah blah... Who cares! Crank some house type, club type and old school rap songs and gumiho will be a monster for you! If you want to have fun for 50 dollars... this is a really good choice for you. It is a good planar for this price.

The Celest Gumiho was released back in 2022. Holding a SPD (Square Driver Planar) driver in combination with a BA. This was send in from Kinera Clest under the banner #stillgoodchifi I have to say for for being released for almost 2 years this set for i still think hold some value even today. Even do the the budget segment has ben shifted alot recently. In the last year to even 6 months. But lets dig a little deeper.



Tonality: This set can be used for very special cases, in which that sound is represented in a very natural way and is being placed in space. That is mostly the case in Jazz, Orchestra, Live and studio recordings. It does very well in term off tonality on the organic instruments. I kinda has a filter build separating natural sound and digital synths for some reason it’s very hard to explain in this case. a real recording of a piano feely way more vivid and lively then a digital keyboard or even a played into a computer program.
With Orchestra music I have to make a note as well that everything is played back in a natural way except for the Drums the delivery of the punch that is not there. What makes it kinda unnatural is a weird feeling about them.

Bass: Seb-bass is there, it is evident but not over done to my taste. it has enough ruble and texture without taking some of the details that the midbass can bring to the table. The midbass although being maybe a little boosted to my feeling and slightly bit more prominent. But it stil feel natural and allows room for all the other ranges to be heard still.
Overall the fast in attack and decay are also quick but we are used to that by now from a Planar driver. The agility that it has still for over being 2 years old is still good.

Mids: The lower mids are dipped by not being that forwarded. It’s feels like a V-shape dip. the mids in general doesn’t feel boxed off in anyway what can happen if you put the put the mids to high up. the straight of the guitars where lively good in strength on there own. The old Jazz recordings from before the Volume War are amazing for this set.
The upper mids are very familiar, more forwarded but again not unnatural like a lot of newer and older set can have still. Brass instrument where superb for me no denying that!
Vocals are there, but they don’t reveal themselves in what i mean by that is right in your face vocals. I found female vocals can be harsh at time not always might depend on the mood and tone there singing at. Male vocal got that organic feel back that the midd bass brings for them.

Treble is to be honest my least favorite part of the set. the detail retrieval is okay, not as much air as I liked for a Planar, the Cymbals and the HI-Hats are not over prominent and are properly placed. For me they didn’t over as harsh as even never sets can do that you realize that attack of the Cymbal that overtakes everything.

Soundstage wise it is rather wider than is tall and it goes for the depth that cotribus to the plane for positioning of the instruments. Sometimes it feel like your in that little venue where to do some opera and jazz shows and I kinda like for some reason that small cozy place.
Separation is okay on most frequently in some region might overlap more than i whut liked to be honest. it sometimes feels i’m listening to a Vinyl where they have to combine the bass notes since there is not other way to cut it.

But in all fairness the all said and done. is this a set i can say i can recommend to someone new in 2024 in the hobby. it a tough one it really is. Is 50 usd so we have a lot of decent sets now a days in the range special the last 6 moths. It though it might depend really on the use case of the person. what they kind of music they like and of they like the shell that might be a polarizing thing to be. If the person likes the asectics off the shell. I havn’t seen it redone now. I just can hope that your thinking about wil you enjoy the music.

Coming late to the party, I have taken my time to both give this set some burn-in as well as to mature my ideas after taking a break from them. At first I didn't enjoy them, to later come to conclusions on why I think they have been so valued and have actually grown on me.

Kinera's sub-brand Celest has been working up the ranks with a budget mindset, whilst taking bold risks that so far have done them well. Gumiho is their first iteration on Planar technology, using their own 10mm Square Planar Driver (SPD) design, pairing it with a BA driver, managing to only have 9 Ohms of Impedance, which is quite easy to drive in terms of power. Quite impressive for a 50$ budget IEM.



Onward to what you came here for:

Bass Domain

Definitely the most surprising and intriguing aspect of this set.
Sub-Bass is evident but not overdone. It carries enough rumble without taking detail from the midbass.
The midbass, although being boosted and more prominent, still feels natural and allows room for all other frequencies to be rightfully presented.
Overall agility is above the price bracket: fast attacks, decays are also quick but comparatively not as fast and can become sluggish on naturally long decayed percussion instruments like the bass drums on Brazilian "Forró" music genre, on which will sound it will sound "overcrowded" or congested.
The punch is there but it is no basshead slam.

Midrange

On the lower mids you can still feel a bit of the V-shape dip followed by a not so forwarding mids curve. I am especially sensitive in this area and it leads to the sense of boxyness and veiled percussion (toms, snares, claps). Lower register comping like pianos, acoustic/electric guitars and also male choirs feel on a second plane, less textured less evident, as if you are listening to a live band and these instrument players are positioned behind the lead ones.
This was surprising to me in a good way because I found myself really immersed in live recordings, specially in jazz, modern and old.
The Upper Mids are more familiar, more forward but not unnatural like a lot of 2022 models that followed the trend. Here I have found plucked instruments and brass instruments to be super textured and detailed (harps, steel stringed guitars). These really are a delight. On the other hand, some over the top trumpet blows and guitar solos can sometimes be peaky and disturbing.
Vocals are there, but don't reveal themselves right in your face, nevertheless female's can sound harsh sometimes.
Additionally, you can notice the difference in forwardness of higher pitched snares in detriment to lower pitched snares, in which Hip-Hop can sound punchless if the percussion finds itself more on the lower mid range rather than the upper mid range, so very inconsistent results on this genre, for me.

Treble

I find it the least inviting part of the set. Reasonable detail retrieval, not much air, but gets the job done without fatiguing the ears. Cymbals and hi-hats are properly placed, aren't harsh but also aren't sparkly. There is not much texture to be had on soprano orchestral instruments, they are there, but are lean.
I feel that a bit more presence and air would affect the soundstage more positively, and ultimately contribute to better imaging characteristics.

Tonality

I feel this set was made for specific uses, in which it sounds superbly natural and well placed, and that is in jazz music, both live and studio recordings. It does specially well in terms of tonality on organic instruments, contrasting with the not so natural tonality on digital sounds (digital synths, sampled sounds).
Orchestral music almost sounds exact except for the drums, in which it packs an above average punch making it less natural.
At the start of listening to these, it takes time to understand its tuning. It is very different from the competition, thus becoming interesting and bold, and suits some genres better than others, so it becomes dependent on the user's library.

Technicalities

Soundstage

Rather wider than taller; and has good depth that contributes to that 2 plane positioning of instruments - a closer one and a more distant one. It feels like you are at a small venue concert. This is a very characteristic perk of this set, hence me liking it so much on Jazz and Orchestral Classical music.
It's an immersive experience but you dont get the "outside of the head" feeling you get on sets with bigger soundstage.

Imaging

The Lower Mids and Treble have unimpressive details overall, with not much texture nor separation. The Upper Mids are more detailed in comparison but it is on the Bass domain that you get the best details and textures. Nevertheless separation is only okay on most frequencies, being more evident in the bass domain.
When tracks get busy you can clearly understand you can pinpoint more information on some frequency ranges than others.
Beware this is not a technical/analytical set at all.

Aesthetics

I'm not a fan of the printed art on their units, I think it gives them a toy and cheap vibe. It might be a deal breaker for some people but their blank versions also (without drawings) feel empty or overly simplistic. It's like taking the logo out of a car's front grill - it just feels like something is missing.
This is a very personal aspect, and a minor issue that only some may feel it affects them.

Other Uses

Suitable for immersive gaming including FPS games, but not the best for competitive (still too much bass to be focused on footsteps). Still, it has a good sense of depth and vertical positional audio.

Acceptable use on daily tasks like phone calls or media consumption, yet the timbre is not the most natural.

Final Words:

This set keeps on giving, surprising and being a blow of fresh air among other 50$ sets of its year (2022) and even 2023.
Like the title says, it stands as the perfect Introduction to planar agility while also becoming timeless and unmatched for listening to specific genres like Jazz.
This one will be kept and be referred to a piece of history on IEMs, not by its perfect tuning or technicalities but for a bold move of a company like Celest/Kinera to risk something new and push the envelope on audio gear, allowing us new flavors and means to enjoy the music we love.

Thank you for stopping by,
Miguel