Fischer Audio Golden Wasp Review

Fischer Audio Golden Wasp Review

Thanks to Frogbeats for the sample

First Impressions: The outside of the box is pretty ordinary but ounce you open the leaf just what the F! A wasp with zzzz zz zzzzzzzzzz zzzz etc etc written. Okay its kinda stupid but I must say I love its quirkiness. Inside they have a very pretty erm sleeve sort of thing rather than a case and frankly while it looks nice I’m not really sure just what I’m supposed to do with it. It looks cool though. First listen and I get some venting issues, well it is a Fischer Audio product after all. Bassy, really rather bassy still not too bad sounding. Burn in time.

Source 1G iPod Shuffle with a 75 ohm adapter added

Lows: Vast. The first thing you notice is that they are hugely present, way too present for me. Still there is a pretty prevalent market for this sort of thing. I can see it being pretty popular too, it’s quite a dryish bass tonally even though it’s there in boat loads. It makes for a pretty quick and snappy bass, it likes to punch you in the side of head and while I dare say many will find this immensely fun, I do not. It’s tiring on my delicate little ears. I can’t really fault its quality though, there is remarkably little bass bleed, honestly there is next to none which is a bit of a surprise given its low cost and abundance. Fischer have clearly gone for a fun populist level and style of bass. It is fairly tight and quick for the price and abundance, it likes to do power and punch. Its “fun” but too much for me and too dominating.

Mids: Actually not too bad, kinda on the dry and airyish side of things and goes nicely with dry voices like Kate Nash’s. It’s a pretty nice rendition even if she is well behind that big bass. The bass may not be muddying the mids but they are go much grander in scale. They come through okay but they are so not the focus of what going on here.

Highs: Reasonable. Nicely inoffensive and well behaved. Reasonable detail too but its still well behind that big bass. They do a little bit of edge and crispness to keep things from being overwhelmingly slanted to the low end. It gives a fair level of detail too. Its has a nice timbre to it.

Soundstage: Nice, a bit on the narrow side but a nice out in front portrayal.

Comfort: Physically they were fine but the vast amount of bass got pretty tiring pretty quickly.

Fit: Well they gave me quite some trouble as I’m sure they weren’t vented equally well on both sides. One they were in though they did settle down and equalise but it irritated me.

Cable: Actually I rather liked the cable, it’s a little plastic but its braided and the jack on the end feel super sturdy.

Microphonics: I wore these up and didn’t really get any.

Isolation: They did isolate reasonably well, honestly it’s not great and probably pushing the limit of what I’d want for on a bus say but enough for general usage.

Amped/Unamped: They liked more power but really who cares. These will never see an amp and they sure as hell don’t need a bass boosting.

Value: If you want something that has massive amounts of bass then they are a contender. The mids and highs are decent but the bass is so on a different scale it’s really all that matters. Do you want a ton of bass and air being moved? If so they are reasonable value.

Conclusion: I don’t like these. They are very, very bassy and I’m not taken by the build quality. I accept given the number of stuff I see every so often I will get a dud, it happens rarely but the numbers mean it certainly will. Therefore I’m happy to forgive if I get one with a problem but when the replacement one falls apart and I have to sellotape it together I’m less forgiving. I get this is an el cheapo and maybe I was just super unlucky getting two with issues. That aside these are big old bass monsters with a lot of air movement and power. It’s pretty fast punchy power too and that was very tiring on my ears. I know that there are lots out there who would love that sort of playfulness and ability to kick you in the head. Seriously it’s bothering my sinuses. For me this is a negative but if you want this kind of thing then go for it. However as I look at Frogbeats to check their price I see the Meelectronics M6 going for a pound less. If it was my money I’d get them.