Queen of Audio might be flying under your radar right now, but they are not to be missed. With high-end IEMs getting more pricey be the day, Queen of Audio has mad sure your audiophile earphones have been kept on a generous budget. The Mojito is their flagship model, and it goes for only $399, which might not seem like a huge deal, but considering what flagships from other brands go for nowadays the Mojito seems like a bargain. So yes, they’re inexpensive, but that’s not the only reason to check them out. Let’s see how QoA’s flagship stands out among others in the IEM game.
What You Get
The packaging keeps the Mojito’s contents in a neat and organized fashion. The rectangular box opens up to reveals all the contents separated into rows. The earphones themselves come in their own inserts, as well as the 6 sets of ear tips that surround them. On top is the snazzy-looking carrying case, which contains the Mojito’s 3.5mm hybrid cable that matches the color of the IEM. The case sports QoA’s fancy insignia and resembles something of a jewelry box.
Look and Feel
Being a sister brand of Kinera, I’ve come to expect a certain level of craftsmanship from these IEMs, and the Mojito doesn’t disappoint. The shell of the Mojito resembles a rare rock you’d find on an archeological dig. The marble-like design of the housing brings a polished, handcrafted feel to the Mojito. Each earpiece is crafted from solid stable wood, with natural grain wood making each pair you buy a unique shell different from the last. It’s a design that brings confidence to the IEM, and begs you to ask “I hope they sound as great as they look.” As for the fit, I wouldn’t consider it anything out of the ordinary for an IEM like this. The housing is small enough to never get in the way, and the stem is just the right size for the ear tips to cushion a lot of the added pressure. The width of the stem could feel a little bit big at times, but its a feeling you get a custom to after a short amount of time.
Design
This IEM being QoA’s flagship unit, the Mojito packs some significant components in their driver system. Under the housing is a 6 balanced armature unit, featuring 4 Knowles, and 2 Sonion drivers. They’ve implemented this design to deliver a naturalistic reproduction of your music, finally tuned especially for mid-range output.
Output
I was surprised when I first blasted the Mojito through my headphone output, as I carelessly forgot to check the Impadence on these guys. The light 23 Ohms gave the signal an easy pass-through that I wasn’t prepared for when I kicked on From First To Last’s “Note to Self” for the first time. Sensitivity sits at 118dB plus or minus 2dB, which isn’t as low for an IEM as its impedance, but a stable one nonetheless. With the design of the armatures, QoA wants to make sure the Mojito has enough detail retrieval possible, with a frequency response of 20Hz-20kHz. Other models definitely support a wider range of frequency potential, but the standard hearing range is always efficient enough for some IEMs. Lastly, there’s the cable, which uses a crystal copper and silver OCC mix to provide low internal resistance and low distortion to the signal flow.
Soundstage
The Mojito advertised a wide, naturalistic soundstage, and I’d say from spending a good while listening to them, that’s right on the money. The sound expands into an oval-like headspace with a good amount of depth to boot. Everything is presented with a strong image, like synths, guitars, and vocals which all sound large and clear. Heavy rock tracks have a sure drive to them, like on the Doom Metal odyssey “Dopesmoker” from Sleep, which sounds larger than life on the Mojito. This IEM is at its best when conveying sweeping operatic tracks that don’t require much attention to dynamic range, as the Mojito doesn’t favor a ton of separation. You’d think the Mojito would sound great with classical tracks or film scores, but the imaging doesn’t allow for a ton of air to make the instrumentations as clear as they could be. This is why harder, more wall of sound type tracks play better to the Mojito’s overall stage, as the large imaging better compliments the timbre.
Low End
This bass just so happens to really suit my tastes well, as the Mojito boasts some admirably clean textures with a snappy, punchy response. It faired well with tracks like “Delorean Dynamite” by Todd Terje, as the low synth bass, and kick drum provided some great impact and forward momentum that begs you to groove to it. It’s not as deep as some would like, as a lot of sub-bass feel goes missing in tracks that need it. Electronic, synth-bassed music ends up being the most ideal to listen to in this range.
Mids
The Mojito boasts a huge mid-range response, mostly thanks to the image representation in the soundstage. The low mids especially add some extra growl to hard rock tracks like what you might hear on the Deftones latest album “Ohms” where the guitars sound extra meaty. The forward positioning of the mids makes details more noticeable, like certain vocal characteristics and effects. I love the 2018 remaster of “The Weight” by The Band, which brings Levon Helm’s vocals closer to the front of the mix, and it sounds superb on the Mojito where it gets a lot of the spotlight.
Highs
Although I prefer the Mojito with more aggressive tracks, the sound signature can also be quite nice when taking in lighter music where the highs can really do some great work. With the Mojito, you get some nice details spread out that never appear too bright or sibilant, as treble elements smooth out into a nice airy texture. Tracks like Rainbow Blood from Tim Hecker present the right amount of top-end shine to accent the song’s overall tonality.
Summary
Queen of Audio’s Mojito proves to be an inexpensive flagship quality IEM that shows off a likable signature. The fit could be a little smoother, but they only take a little while to break in. The Mojito is suited really well for passionate vocals and large sounds that create a pretty powerful IEM.
Pros and Cons
Pros: Large imaging, wide stage, beautiful design
Cons: Take a while to break in, not the best separation
The Queen of Audio Mojito is available at Audio 46
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