Short answer: the Kiwi Ears Quintet. Both are rated 4.6/5 for sound quality (#68 and #70 of 1291 in-ear headphones), and the Kiwi Ears Quintet costs $219 against $249 for the Shuoer Cadenza 4, with sound quality a draw, the lower price decides it.
What the Kiwi Ears Quintet does well: The median of 39 squig.link measurements, a large sample, scores it 81.5 for preference with only 1.23 dB of deviation. The tradeoff: Presence dips about 2.1 dB below target and bottoms out 4 dB down near 6.3 kHz, which can soften consonants and snare attack.
Why pick the Shuoer Cadenza 4: A preference score of 81.3 across 23 hobbyist measurements on squig.link puts its tuning close to the Harman target, with a nearly neutral tilt and 1.4 dB of overall deviation. The catch: A 6.2 dB peak near 11.9 kHz and a 4.8 dB dip around 6 kHz make the treble uneven, so some cymbals sound distant while upper sparkle can turn sharp on bright recordings.
Buy the Kiwi Ears Quintet. Both are rated the same for sound quality, and it costs $30 less than the Shuoer Cadenza 4.
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The median of 39 squig.link measurements, a large sample, scores it 81.5 for preference with only 1.23 dB of deviation.
Amazon $219.00 eBay
A preference score of 81.3 across 23 hobbyist measurements on squig.link puts its tuning close to the Harman target, with a nearly neutral tilt and 1.4 dB of overall deviation.
Amazon $249.00 eBayPrices on this page were last checked October 16, 2026 at 5:46 PM UTC. Product prices and availability are accurate as of that date/time and are subject to change; the price and availability shown on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
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Specifications Side By Side
| Kiwi Ears Quintet | Shuoer Cadenza 4 | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $219.00 | $249.00 |
| Ranked | #68 of 1291 in In-Ear Headphones | #70 of 1291 in In-Ear Headphones |
| Form Factor | In-ear | In-ear |
| Back | Closed | Closed |
| Harman Preference Score | 81 (median of 40 squig.link measurements, calibrated to AutoEQ) | 81 (median of 26 squig.link measurements, calibrated to AutoEQ) |
| Deviation From Target | 1.24 dB standard deviation | 1.40 dB standard deviation |
| Tonal Tilt | -0.37 (negative is warmer, positive brighter) | +0.02 (negative is warmer, positive brighter) |
| Sub-bass Extension | Within 6 dB of target down to 20 Hz (+0.2 dB at 30 Hz) | Within 6 dB of target down to 20 Hz (-1.8 dB at 30 Hz) |
| Connection | Wired | Wired |
| Driver Type | Hybrid (1 dynamic + 2 balanced armature + 1 planar magnetic + 1 bone conduction) | Hybrid (1 dynamic + 3 balanced armature) |
| Drivers | 1 x 10mm dynamic + 2 x balanced armature + 1 x planar magnetic + 1 x bone conduction | 1 x 10mm dynamic + 3 x balanced armature |
| Impedance | 32 ohms | 15 ohms |
| Frequency Response | 20Hz - 30kHz (Manufacturer specified) | 20Hz - 40kHz (Manufacturer specified) |
| Built-in Microphone | No | - |
| Sensitivity | - | 102 dB |
Frequency Response Compared
Both headphones’ measurements overlaid on the Harman target. Above the target sounds louder in that range, below it quieter. Each curve is the median of several independent measurements, shifted so its 500 Hz to 2 kHz average sits at 0 dB, so only the tuning is compared.
Measurement data: the Kiwi Ears Quintet from achoreviews, aden, adri-n, ankramutt, aquaphobic, arc, atechreviews, audioamigo, bloomaudio, boizoff, cqtek, eliseaudio, faxepremium, flare, gadgetrytech, harpo, hbb, ianfann, jaytiss, joshtbvo, kazi, kuping-sensi, listener, lown-fi, lumerion, musicafe, nymz, practiphile, precog, pw, regancipher, rg, soundcheck39, superreview, therollo9, timmyv, tonedeafmonk, treblewellxtended, vortexreviews and vsg; the Shuoer Cadenza 4 from achoreviews, aftersound, atechreviews, audioamigo, awsmdanny, banzai1122, bedrock, boizoff, cqtek, csi-zone, dl, flare, jaytiss, mmagtech, practiphile, precog, pw, sl0the, soundcheck39, soundignity, superreview, theaudiostore, timmyv, tonedeafmonk, treblewellxtended and vortexreviews, all via squig.link.
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