By aspect — in detail
Sources split on the same shelf. The large majority — most written and video reviewers and nearly every owner — hear deep, textured, physical bass that the planar driver keeps fast enough to stay clean, and several stress that it is thick, mid-bass-led weight rather than sub-bass-only rumble. A smaller, heavier-weighted camp led by the two 2/5 critics hears the same shelf as soupy bloom that dominates the mix. A few owners say the opposite again: that it is not bassy enough to earn the name.
Measured
Nineteen IEC-711-class rigs agree to within about half a decibel below 300 Hz: relative to 500 Hz the shelf sits at +9.3 dB (20 Hz), +9.9 dB (40 Hz), +9.4 dB (60 Hz), +7.8 dB (100 Hz), and is still +4.3 dB at 200 Hz and +2.2 dB at 300 Hz. Against Harman IE 2019 that is at target at 20 Hz but +3.6 dB at 100 Hz and +4 dB at 150–200 Hz — a shelf that starts late, so the excess is upper-bass warmth, not sub-bass. On the same rigs the Divine is only 3 dB lower at 100 Hz and 1 dB lower at 20 Hz; the 12 dB the maker quotes is the whole shelf relative to 1 kHz, not the gap between the twins.
⚠ vs. listeners — The graphs settle what is there, not how it lands: the +4 dB at 150–250 Hz is the weight the majority praises and the bloom the critics object to. Tips and insertion depth move this region by under a decibel on the sai, atechreviews and Super* Review rigs, so the split is not a seating artefact; a poor seal or an occluded vent is — a leak collapses the whole shelf, which is where the minority 'not that bassy' reports most plausibly come from.
Where it splits
deep, textured and physical — planar speed keeps it clean85%
“Sub bass extension is genuinely deep, rumble is textured rather than just loud, and the driver never ran out of headroom on me.”
Mahir Efe Falay, Mobileaudiophile
Sources split almost evenly. One camp hears a warm, full, natural midrange — vocals with body and crisp transients that never turn shouty, several calling it the quiet strength of the set. The other hears the same region recessed by design behind the shelf, with vocals that turn husky, veiled or 'cooked', female voices paying more than male. Both camps agree there is no planar metallic edge and no sibilance.
Measured
Ear-gain peak of +7.5 dB over 500 Hz at 3 kHz across the rigs, about 3 dB below Harman IE 2019 from 2 to 4 kHz, with 100–300 Hz running 2.6–4 dB above target. The Divine measures 1.1–1.6 dB higher through the whole 1–4 kHz band on the same rigs, which is the entire 'clearer mids' difference between the twins.
Where it splits
warm, full and natural — vocals keep their body48%
“Transients are crisp, however, and vocals come through cleanly without sounding veiled.”
David Becker, Prime Audio
Mostly agreed: smooth, safe and non-fatiguing, with enough extension that the set does not read as closed-in, and none of the older 7Hz planar zing or sibilance. A minority hears the same top as dark, short of sparkle and air, and names it the reason detail goes missing.
“Treble here is smooth, and I mean that as description and not as a compliment or an insult.”
Mahir Efe Falay, Mobileaudiophile
“Due to its relaxed highs, the Diablo is good for treble-sensitive listeners but it creates a darker presentation.”
David Becker, Prime Audio
“Some may even find the treble dark.”
PrinceLestat, Head-Fi
Measured
A dip to +0.4 dB (relative to 500 Hz) at 6 kHz, a modest +3.5 dB rise at 8 kHz, then −3.1 dB at 10 kHz, −5.2 dB at 12 kHz and −7.4 dB at 15 kHz on the rig average — 5–8 dB below Harman from 5 to 7 kHz. Insertion depth swings everything above 5 kHz by ±3–5 dB, and the rigs disagree with each other by 1.5–2 dB there, so the top end is the one region the graphs describe as a range.
Tonality
Contested · 32 srcSources split three to one. Most call it a warm, thick, fun V-shape done with unusual coherence — a genre specialist for hip-hop, EDM, metal and live recordings rather than an all-rounder, and several say it never sounds unbalanced despite the numbers. The critics call it simply too warm and too bassy to be balanced at all and point buyers at the Divine.
Measured
Neutral-with-bass-boost on the rigs: bass +9–10 dB, mids at reference, ear gain +7.5 dB, treble rolling off above 8 kHz. Against the JM-1 10 dB-tilt target it is +6–7 dB from 40 to 100 Hz and within a decibel from 700 Hz to 4 kHz — the shape most reviewers would call a bass-shelved 'new meta' tuning, whichever side of the argument they are on.
Where it splits
a warm, fun specialist with better manners than expected76%
“It is a genre specialist with better technical manners than genre specialists usually have”
Mahir Efe Falay, Mobileaudiophile
too warm and too bassy to count as balanced — get the Divine24%
“This is not for anyone who wants a balanced or neutral sound.”
Gizaudio (video transcript)
Soundstage
Contested · 17 srcSources split. The larger camp finds the stage wide, layered and unusually immersive for a planar at the price — several Head-Fi listeners call it the biggest they have heard under $200. The smaller camp hears the bass fill the head and pull the presentation inward, describing it as intimate, contained or compressed on busy tracks.
Where it splits
wide and layered — holds together on chaotic live recordings70%
“Wide, layered presentation that handles chaotic live recordings without falling apart”
Mahir Efe Falay, Mobileaudiophile
intimate — the bass fills the head and closes it in30%
“With such a big bass, the stage feels fairly intimate, the upper midrange and treble details feels harder to come through, so it’s not as resolving as it could’ve been.”
vandung2510, Head-Fi
Mostly praised: placement is tidy and separation holds up better than a shelf this size suggests, and the gaming reviewers rate it usable if not competitive-grade. The dissenters hear the bass mask separation and blur layering once a mix gets dense.
“Despite that, the imaging is quite pinpoint, making it easy to determine the position of elements within the stage.”
David Becker, Prime Audio
“The imaging and layering were also a bit skewed due to the bass instruments being really up front.”
vandung2510, Head-Fi
Sources split down the middle, and this is where the two-star reviews come from. One camp hears real planar micro-detail — percussion articulation, layered crowds, guitar grain — surviving under the shelf. The other, including the only written review to score it below four, finds resolution below average for $150 with micro-details simply absent, and calls any extra low-frequency texture an illusion of the boost rather than resolution.
Where it splits
below average for the price — micro-detail goes missing47%
“Where Diablo falls short is in its detail retrieval, which is below average at best; some micro-details are simply absent, even though you can clearly hear them on other IEMs.”
David Becker, Prime Audio
Dynamics
Moderate · 20 srcNear-unanimous: this is the set's core strength. Reviewers on both sides of the bass argument describe slam, physical impact and a fast attack that a dynamic driver at the price does not match, and note it scales louder without strain. The lone dissent finds the planar bass not fast or dynamic enough to justify the quantity.
“There’s real slam here, the kind of low-end you feel.”
Tom Wolverson, Aussie Audiophile
“a pressure event rather than a note”
Mahir Efe Falay, Mobileaudiophile
Mostly praised: an 8 g shell smaller than the Timeless or Dioko, comfortable for long sessions, with several small-eared listeners singling it out. The minority complaints are about stability rather than pressure — a rounded shell that sits on the tip seal alone and can 'joystick', a heavy stock cable that drags it, and one listener who needed foam to seal.
“Comfort is genuinely good because of the size.”
Mahir Efe Falay, Mobileaudiophile
“As for comfort It did not fit well in my ear due to the weight and shape.”
PrinceLestat, Head-Fi
Measured
Seal matters more than seat: sai's leakage trace drops 20–100 Hz by 24–35 dB while insertion depth moves the bass by under a decibel, so a set that is comfortable but loosely seated will sound like a different, much leaner earphone.
Sources split, and almost entirely over the cable. The shell (CNC aluminium, matte, fingerprint-proof) and the oversized zip case draw praise from nearly everyone. The stiff, heavy, memory-prone single-crystal-copper cable with a fixed 3.5 mm plug is the most repeated complaint on the record, and a few owners report the 2-pin socket gripping it so hard that removal damaged a connector. A minority like the cable as it is.
Where it splits
stiff, heavy, 3.5 mm-only — budget for a replacement71%
“The stock one is stiff, it holds packaging memory for a while, and the preformed hooks sit looser than I like.”
Mahir Efe Falay, Mobileaudiophile
Isolation
Strong consensus · 6 srcAgreed and unremarkable: the small vented metal shell isolates respectably once sealed — enough for planes and streets, not vacuum-tight.
“I found them very comfortable, and they provide a respectable level of passive noise isolation.”
David Becker, Prime Audio
“The sound isolation in the Devils is simply good, but not like a vacuum.”
IceIceberg, Head-Fi
Sources split. The majority call it the bass-planar many were waiting for and an easy recommendation at $150, several owners preferring it to sets costing far more. The minority — the two 2/5 critics, Prime Audio, Jays Audio and a few owners — say it does not stand out in a savage $100–200 planar field, that the Divine or a cheaper set is the safer buy, and that it only makes sense on sale.
Where it splits
the bass planar people wanted — an easy pick at the price69%
“For me the Diablo earned a spot in rotation, not as a reference, as the set I reach for when I want music to hit me rather than inform me.”
Mahir Efe Falay, Mobileaudiophile
outdone at the price — the Divine or a sale is the smarter buy31%
“the Diablo I do not like. I'm going to give the Diablo two stars out of five.”
Super* Review (video transcript)
