Today we will take a look at the brand new ZIGAAT Arcadia in-ear monitors. This IEM is a collaboration IEM between ZiiGaat and HBB also known as Bad Guy Good Audio Reviews, so it’s tuned according to his sound preferences.
In the box
- ZIGAAT Arcadia in-ear monitors
- Detachable 0.78mm 2-pin cable
- Square case with a zipper and water-resistant lining
- 3 pairs of silicone ear tips
- and 1 pair of foam ear tips
Design & build
The shells of ZIGAAT Arcadia are made out of medical-grade resin. The color pattern looks nice in person, but as they are very glossy, the camera can’t completely pick it up. There is a company logo on both faceplates and the serial number and the model name are printed on the inner section of the shell. The shells have one pressure vent located on the back of the shell and it’s covered with a mesh. The 2-pin connectors are located on the top of the IEM.
Inside the shell, there are three drivers – One 10mm dynamic driver with Topology diaphragm and 2 balanced armatures from Knowles. The impedance of this IEM is 12 Ohms and the sensitivity is 106 dB.
The nozzles on Arcadia are made from metal. The nozzle diameter is almost 6 mm at the widest and overall the nozzles are on the longer side. There is a metal mesh at the end of the nozzle, and a lip that helps to retain the ear tip. Overall, this IEM has a good build. looks good, and I have no questions here.
Cable
The cable that comes with ZIGAAT Arcadia is 1.2 meters long. It has a straight 3.5 mm connector with Ziigaat logo on one end, and two 0.78mm 2-pin connectors on the other end. The cable connectors don’t have a letter channel indication, however the base on the right connector is red.
The cable is soft and has a metal splitter. The pre-molded ear guides are soft but a metal chinch slider is pretty useless. Overall this cable is not something to write home about, but it works perfectly fine.
Fit & comfort
The shells are medium in size and have an ergonomic shape. The shells are well-polished and there are no sharp edges here. In my case the fit was good, and if you have small ears, you should still be able to find a good fit too.
The stock ear tips are quite soft, but I just couldn’t get a perfect seal with it so I had to do some tips-rolling and settled on slightly more dense ear tips from my collection. I’ve been using ZIGAAT Arcadia for extended periods of time, the fit was good and I experienced no discomfort.
ZIGAAT Arcadia sound overview
Before we talk about the sound, please note that all sound impressions I share on my channel are completely subjective so please take them with a grain of salt.
At 12 Ohms of impedance and 106 dB of sensitivity, the Arcadia is easy to drive. I started my tests using an iPhone with an Apple dongle, which provided just enough power. But further on in the tests it became clear that this IEM scales with more powerful sources. In short, Arcadia has a boosted bass, quite linear and natural midrange and a rounded and slightly veiled treble.
The bass is boosted quite a lot here. It’s fast and has good control. The sub-bass got an excellent extension, rumble, and authority. The mid-bass has got a lot of impact and punch. The bass never sounded muddy, it’s very heavy, rich, and textured so the bass heads will be happy.
The midrange is very interesting as there is almost no bass bleed here, so midrange sounds natural and balanced. Vocals and instruments are rendered well, and have a good note definition. The vocals sound full, both male and female ones. Lower mids don’t sound thin and the upper mids are never shouty. Instruments sound correct and the midrange has a good presentation and timbre. The upper mids are also soft and this makes Arcadia quite a forgiving IEM.
The treble extension to me sounds like it’s lacking a bit of air and it’s a bit veiled so treble-heads need to look elsewhere. The treble is soft yet detailed, and it was never grainy or intrusive no matter what music I was throwing at this IEM. I wouldn’t call the treble dark though, but sometimes its softness and lack of energy makes some music way too smooth.
The details and micro details are ok, again taking into consideration the amount of bass. This pair is not a detail-monster but it works well for long listening sessions making them quite enjoyable.
The sound stage is slightly above average both in width and depth, but it’s not very tall. Taking into consideration the smooth character of this IEM, playing games was also a great experience. I would say that the overall sound presentation of this IEM is natural, and it’s a great new contender in its price bracket.
I have also compared ZIGAAT Arcadia to ThieAudio Hype 2 and ZIGAAT Doscinco so here are my thoughts.
Arcadia has more sub bass than Hype 2 (despite the latter having two dynamic drivers), similar midrange but darker treble. Which makes Arcadia way more forgiving IEM. The Hype 2 is also 50% more expensive than Arcadia, so if you prefer more energy in the treble and more detail retrieval overall then the price difference is fully justified. Otherwise Arcadia is a great choice too.
Compared to Doscinco, the Arcadia has again more sub bass, definitely less mid-bass bleed and softer treble making Arcadia a safe choice for not so well recorded and mastered music. The price difference between Arcadia and Doscinco is minor, so it boils down to one’s preference.
While I think that Doscinco is a better value for the money, the midrange on Arcadia is in my opinion better. It’s more natural and dry, so please take this into consideration if that’s an important factor for you.
Conclusions
ZIGAAT Arcadia is an interesting release. It has quite an impressive midrange reproduction for its price and boosted bass that doesn’t bleed into midrange and these two aspects are in my opinion their main selling points. If you seek a neutral-sounding IEM, with tons of detail, then you need to look elsewhere, but if boosted bass in combination with flat midrange is your thing – you will enjoy it a lot!
Pros
- Good fit & comfort
- A lot of bass with good control
- Flat, natural and full sounding midrange
- IEM is really forgiving with poor recordings
- and I personally love the face plate color scheme
Cons
- Soft and rounded treble lacks energy with a well mastered music
- Accessories do not correspond to the asking price
- And the zipper on the case is clumsy
All-in all ZIGAAT Arcadia is a good all-rounder IEM. It suits the specific needs of its target audience, and it does it really well. And while I can’t recommend it to everyone, I still encourage you to give it a try as this IEM might be something you have been looking for and didn’t know existed.
And that concludes my review for today. If you want to see more content like this, consider subscribing to my YouTube channel. Thank you for joining me, and until next time, goodbye!
