Soundpeats Engine 4 Review – a picky earbud

How this earbud landed on our doorstep is nothing short of coincidentally, our colleague was seeking for an LDAC earbuds at an affordable price range. Originally the choice was a certain EarFun model, however, he ends up getting the Engine 4 due to it being at similar price but comes with dual driver. Effectively the most affordable earbuds with dual drivers and LDAC

So, is it a good choice? Are dual drivers worth it? Do the earbuds sound decent? In this review, we explore the technology and sound quality of Soundpeats Engine 4.

Soundpeats Engine 4 Overview

This unassuming earbud is Engine 4 by Soundpeats, it comes in a sexy deep bronze color clamp shell casing. The surface is glossy and smooth, which gives it a classy exterior. This choice of finishing alters the casing to be a fingerprint and smug magnet; it is also easily scratch, so user must take care during use.

The earbud on the other hand has a matte diamond grid pattern surface, which gives it better grip and feedback. This is crucial because despite the small size of the earbuds, the extra grip is needed for better handling.

The earbud also showcases the dual drivers with a transparent case, with a clear view to look inside. The tweeter is placed in front of bass unit, based on the website, the tweeter is 9mm and the based unit is 14mm is the bass unit.

Why is dual driver important

Dual drivers, as the name implies, have 2 drivers instead of 1. This approach dedicates each driver to their own dedicated field of frequency response, effectively allowing a more balanced approach to better sounding compared to single driver.  

The 6mm tweeter and an 8mm woofer unit separate the load from one for higher, one for low. The mid-range is likely handled by the tweeter. This also extends the frequency from a common 20Hz-20kHZ to 20-40kHz, giving the engine 4 better bass performance.

However, we do want to point out that it may not affect an untrained ear’s listening experience. This is due to most adult human hearing cannot hear beyond 20khz. As we age, our upper hearing limit typically decreases even further; So, untrained ears likely won’t directly perceive a difference in sound quality with this extended range.

Also, there is the question of sound quality, if the driver cannot perfectly reproduce sound at that 40kHz, there might be a roll-off in the actual at those frequencies.

Abandon of AptX codec

The Soundpeats Engine 4 only features SBC and LDAC codec, this is because the SoC is handled by Wuqi WQ7033 which does not support any other Codec. This is good in my account if you either seeking for better audio quality, or do not want to jump through hoop of snapdragon’s complex APTX codec made up. Also, LDAC codecs in my experience just work, rarely having issues and troubleshooting.

One interesting thing is Soundpeats disabled the ANC on the Engine 4 but the chip set does feature hybrid ANC. There is no trace of ANC manual setting or in the app.

The app

The app is as simple as it comes but with one unique feature, Adaptive equalizer. The adaptive equalizer combs through frequency play to user, and user are to respond if we can hear the frequency. Once that is done, it will formulate a unique equalizer that is custom to the best effort of the user’s ear can listen.

Soundpeats Engine 4 Audio Quality

Bass

To start off, bass with the Engine 4 is powerful and punchy, each attack is felt which is great for high energy music. In remember the name by fort minor, I can feel every punch deliver, I really feel the vibe and the energy of the bass. However, it is audible the punch break apart when it raises to a certain level and later roll off.

Ultimately, we realize the issues does not come from the Engine 4, but the source of the audio. We tested with V by Marcin Przybylowicz in hi-res quality, the audio is heavy in bass and throughout the music.  

Treble

The treble is nothing less fantastic. With Hold Back the river by James Bay, at the chorus area higher tone of vocal and guitar is marvelous, it is airy, and it sounds like no limit how high the vocal can reach.

In another example, in Empire state of mind by Jay-z, Alicia key’s vocal shine through well and powerful projected. However, it does seem the earbuds favor treble over other frequency, more on this later when we talk about sound stage.

Mid-range

Coming from the same driver, mid-range is similarly fantastic. It has great resolution and projection, which indicates great vocals with Engine 4. In The last goodbye by Bill Boyd, the project of vocal is highly detailed and balanced, that comes also with warm sound rich in tonality which ultimately marked mid-range to be one of the best characteristics of the Engine 4.

Sound stage.

It comes as a surprise to me that the sound stage is rather tight. All music and songs I listen to sound up close and personal. While it is tight, it is still well layered. Frequency does not mix with each other, unless you use really low-quality sources there will not be an hints of murkiness.   

In the song Fantasia Bulan Madu by search, while it is a song filled with many instruments and vocal at similar frequencies, they do not mix. You can clearly hear the guitar, bass, vocals flying together in their own lane, overlapping each together but still stay out of each other.

Comfortability

The Engine 4’s ear tip is a simple silicone ear tip but offers surprisingly good level of comfort. During the test I do not experience any discomfort, no heat buildup nor sweat over time. It also provides great level of grip, which is actually crucial for this earbuds as it does have some weight in it.

Soundpeats Engine 4 Conclusion

In conclusion, the Soundpeats Engine 4 offers a compelling feature set for the budget-conscious listener seeking LDAC audio. The dual drivers deliver powerful bass, fantastic treble, and clear mids, although the soundstage leans a little tight. While the extended frequency range may not be audible to everyone, the Engine 4 shines with its comfortable design and LDAC codec support.

So, is it a good choice? Absolutely, for those prioritizing clear, powerful audio and LDAC at an affordable price. The dual drivers do enhance the sound quality, especially for bass-heavy genres. However, if you prioritize a wide soundstage or extensive codec support, you might want to look elsewhere. Overall, the Soundpeats Engine 4 delivers decent sound quality and impressive features for the price tag. With that, we award the Soundpeats Engine 4 with our silver awards.

Help support us!

If you are interested in the Soundpeats Engine 4, we would really appreciate if you purchase it via the links below. The affiliate links won’t cost you any extra, but it will be a great help to keep our lights on here at HelloExpress.

• Soundpeats Engine 4 (Shopee): https://s.shopee.com.my/AUZcMiqmjE?share_channel_code=1
• Soundpeats Engine 4 (Lazada): https://s.lazada.com.my/s.kZitZ?cc

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