The 7Hz Legato was kindly provided free of charge in exchange for an honest review. I didn’t receive monetary or any other kind of compensation and I don’t use affiliate links. The price of the 7Hz Legato is $109 and you can buy it from Linsoul.
About 7Hz
7Hz was founded in 2012 as a team of engineers and audio enthusiasts who came together to test their skills in the realm of audio. By focusing on quality drivers and using precise circuitry design, 7Hz aims to deliver the most efficient setups that best shine the drivers’ natural abilities. 7Hz stands for the Theta Wave, a frequency that is often associated with meditation and harmony. All of 7Hz products reflect this ideal by taking you into a pure musical trance. All 7Hz products are available from Linsoul.
7Hz Legato
7Hz Legato is a brand new dual-driver in-ear monitor featuring two high-performance dynamic drivers on each side. The pair houses a 12mm and another 6mm dynamic driver where the 12mm one acts as a woofer and the 6mm driver is kept responsible for the midrange and treble response. The 12mm woofer driver adopts a customized multi-layer composite diaphragm and powerful N52 magnet while the newly-developed 6mm tweeter/midrange driver adopts a double-cavity structure with a custom-made metal diaphragm that has high-rigidity and low mass.
The 7Hz Legato includes a unique crossover design along with 8 Japan-made audio-grade Tantalum capacitors to provide high precision and stable performance. The unique crossover is specially-developed in accordance with the characteristics of the dynamic drivers.
Build quality and fit
The 7Hz Legato ear-shells are made from high-quality CNC machined aviation-grade aluminum alloy with a premium, matte finish that doesn’t get stained by fingerprints. The modern, semi-industrial design is very attractive with its rather minimalistic looks while build quality and assembly are top notch.
The 7Hz legato is very comfortable to wear despite the ear-shells being a little bulky and protruding outside the ear. The moderately extended sound tube helps to achieve a stable, deep and snug fit. Sound isolation is not bad but not great either, there are three venting holes in each earpiece that don’t help a lot in this regard.
The Cable
The 7Hz Legato comes with a high-purity, detachable cable. It’s an OCC+Silver-Plated OCC hybrid cable that is crafted using high-quality materials for the best performance. The cable uses standard 2-pin 0.78mm connectors and 3.5mm single-ended termination. The cable is well made, it is quite soft, doesn’t get tangled and is not microphonic but the left/right markings are barely visible.
Accessories
Except for the detachable cable, the 7Hz Legato comes with two different types of ear-tips in various sizes, a total of seven pairs and four replacement filters for the sound tubes. Everything comes packed in a luxurious and well made carrying case with a side zipper which is of the highest quality but rather huge and not practical for portable use and everyday carry.
Power requirements and associated gear
With 26Ω impedance and 108dB of the sensitivity, the 7Hz Legato is easy to drive and at the same time immune to source noise. Thus said, I would strongly recommend to use at least a decent entry level USB DAC dongle like the iFi Go Link or the iBasso DC03 Pro.
Listening impressions
The 7Hz Legato has a tuning with a well emphasized bass and good sub-bass extension, reaching bass-head levels, but at the same time it manages to sound present in the mids and pretty clear in the treble. The well extended and boosted low-end is meant to offer a bass heavy listening experience that is mostly suitable for modern music and not that for acoustic instruments because it is too colored and partly out of tune. Double-bass, cello or timpani are heard overly boosted and tonally inaccurate but on the other hand electronic synthesized bass is very enjoyable and full sounding with a rumbling and shuttering effect that is going to excite all bass lovers. The good news is that the heavily boosted mid-bass is not that intruding and doesn’t bleed into the mids too severely so vocals don’t get massacred. As an example in Yello’s “Oh Yeah” the bass is going to rattle your teeth and at the same time you can follow the voice line. The bass is imposing and impactful, full bodied and weighty but not that resolving, not too fast, nor that tight and controlled especially when pizzicato or bowed instruments are involved.
The mid-range is darkish and warm, present enough with acceptable clarity and definition especially in the upper part of the range. Voices and instruments are pretty well defined, they are not overshadowed by the low-end and don’t get lost in the mix. The 7Hz Legato is not a bass only earphone and there is sufficient mid-range information and presence. The mids are also distinguished by their natural timbre and the colorful harmonies that add plenty of realism.
The treble is smooth and mildly subdued with a forgiving nature so it adds more darkness to the overall sound signature. This is the kind of tuning that is easy to the ear and works well with music that has piercing treble or bad recordings and of course is good for gaming but it is lacking in clarity and definition for some other kinds of music. Thus said, there is not that much lack of energy but detail retrieval is moderate and the earphone could use some more sparkle and excitement. One notable strength of the treble range is that it doesn’t sound artificial or metallic and instrumental timbre is quite natural.
The Legato is an open sounding earphone with a moderately wide and spacious soundstage that allows plenty of room for the various performers which are positioned inside it with good accuracy.
Brief comparison to the BLON BL MAX ($38)
There are so many different options in the 7Hz Legato’s price range that a comparison is rather vague and pointless, which one to choose and why. But just for the sake of making the review more comprehensive let’s compare it with the BLON BL MAX another earphone with a dual dynamic driver configuration but much more inexpensive. The truth is that these two share a lot of common characteristics in their overall sound signature but the 7Hz Legato surpasses it in all technicalities, especially in the bass range and the soundstage. It is also better made, much more comfortable and it comes with a higher quality cable, the luxurious case and plenty of eartips so it easily justifies the price difference.
In the end
The 7Hz Legato is made for all those people who love shaking bass but they are not willing to compromise too much in tonal balance and overall technicalities. This is a fun sounding earphone with a bassy and easy going nature while it is well made, lightweight, comfortable and comes with plenty of high quality accessories to fully justify its asking price.
Copyright – Petros Laskis 2023.
+ Plenty of bone rattling bass + Bombastic and visceral low-end + Good mid-range and treble presence + Natural timbre in the mids and the highs + Spacious and open sounding + Smooth and easy going + Comfortable fit + Good build quality + High quality cable + Many ear-tips + Luxuriously made carrying case - The bass is too colored and partly out of tune - Not the most technical low-end performance - The treble is too polite and lacks in excitement - Tonal balance is not suitable for some kinds of music - Clarity and definition are not its strengths - The case is too big for portable use
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