7th Acoustics Supernova Review and Impressions

7th Acoustics Supernova
MSRP: $800
https://www.facebook.com/7thacoustics
Note: The unit reviewed is my own personal purchase.




7th Acoustics is a small boutique brand out of Indonesia. The designer started out as DIY, learning from the Head-Fi DIY IEM thread, as apparently many others have over the years. While he has been tinkering and building IEMs for a while, 7th Acoustics is fairly new to the global scene, having just started selling IEMs in 2021. The Supernova was their first internationally sold IEM and it has developed quite a stellar reputation and following among IEM reviewers and enthusiasts. I first learned about the Supernova on a few Discord severs, but it was Mark's review (Super*Review) on YouTube that tipped the scales into my purchase of one. (Mark is a very balanced and thoughtful IEM reviewer. I highly recommend him if you enjoy YouTube reviews.)

One of the unique features of the Supernova, and the primary selling point for me, is the use of a horn on the treble exit of the nozzle. The horn is a larger expansion ratio from throat to mouth of the exit. It’s not designed to increase loudness but to give the tweeters better acoustic impedance, which smooths the response, giving it better overall linearity. The legendary FitEar F111 was my first experiences with a horn in an IEM. The F111 had this super smooth and effortless treble response. It was single balanced armature that also had a good bass foundation; it was FitEars homage to the venerable ER-4S. I have always wondered why more IEM designers/engineers did not use a horn exit more often. The Supernova treble response is further evidence of this superb but under-appreciated and underused technique.





Another unique feature is the lack of traditional tubing in the design. 7th Acoustics uses 3D printing to create the Supernova. This is one of the reasons the build time is so long (30 to 45 days or more). 3D printing allows 7th Acoustics to create a structure that’s not necessarily possible with tubes, which also allows them to further optimize acoustic and driver layout and do so much more consistently.

You can only order a Supernova through the 7th Acoustic Facebook page. At the time I purchased in April 2023, the MSRP was $750 but recently they had a slight price increase to $800. They have yet to release a website. They are, however, very responsive over messenger to any question you may have. Typical faceplate design is with abalone and 7th Acoustic logos. Each piece is unique, with different batches coming in every few weeks/months time. If you wait to late into a batch, the color abalone you’d like may be taken and you’d have to select another color or wait until the next batch. This happened to me, so I didn’t quite get the purple look I wanted and didn’t want to wait any additional time. That being said, they are still pretty fantastic looking. They will do some other custom options, as I’ve seen pictures on their Facebook page, but I have no idea how much extra those may cost. Definitely take a look at their photo galley on Facebook, the abalone can look quite stunning.




Each housing contains 6 balanced armatures and the nozzles have 4 exit bores. The housings are fairly large but are smooth and contoured; I found them very comfortable with secure fit and had no issues with long term comfort. As this is a sealed design, isolation is very good. At the time I purchased, the Supernova came with a round metal carrying case, a high quality CEMA cable, and a selection of narrow bore Final E tips and some kind of wider bore silicon tips. I believe they are still supplying the same accessories now but the metal case now has padding (mine is simply metal inside). CEMA Electro Acoustic cables can be found on AliExpress; they are attractive and pretty pliable. However, I replaced mine with an all black XINHS cable, as I preferred the overall look in black. In my Supernova experience, narrow bore tips, like the Final E, are doing it no favors. I greatly prefer wide bore tips on Supernova and the Clarion TRI tips have been great for me.



Sound

I love the turning of Supernova. When I first put them in my ears, my instant reaction was: “The tuning is superb. There is just this effortless sense of smoothness and ease without glossing over any small details. Tremendous!”. Many months later, those initial thoughts and sensations have not changed.

Bass is pleasantly boosted across the entire range and there is a slight warmth throughout the bass to lower mid transition. The effect is a natural sounding armature bass that still maintains its nimble and taut attributes. Supernova’s bass boost is sneaky bassy. It fits its signature so well, I don’t realize just how bassy it is until I put something more neutral on right after, which is just about everything in my collection. While certainly more on the fun side, it’s not overbearing or fatiguing, and just really fits well in the overall signature. As good as the bass is though, I don’t think you’ll be mistaking it for dynamic driver bass. Never-the-less it is well represented and satisfying.

There is a surprising intimacy to vocals, yet they are not in your face forward. Perhaps this relaxed, laid-back, yet intimate presentation is due to the lower ear gain that is flat all the way into middle treble. The treble is highly resolving with extended air, all somehow without feeling bright to my ears. However it’s not without its cons, as I do think the treble timbre is bit on the ethereal, wispy side, but thanks to the miniature horn output, the treble remains overall very smooth and effortless, yet very detailed.



Frequency response measurement from Super*Review via squig.link/



Comparisons
Mac Mini > Pi2AES (via AES) > RME ADI-2 PRO FS R


Vs Gaudio Nair

The Nair is a much more neutral IEM and its flatter bass is much leaner sounding. Supernova has a lot more of both impact and rumble; more overt texturing. It’s just more of a fun tuning down low that also digs a lot more information out of a track.

Both male and female vocals have more heft and weight on Supernova; in comparison it makes them sound a little lean on the Nair. However, where Supernova sounds more natural with male vocals, Nair has a bit more realistic energy with female vocals. The added weight to rock guitars sounds really good on Supernova, especially on thinner recordings, but Nair has more bite and attack for those big rock anthems.

The Nair is sharper sounding up top, and while having less top octave air it does come across as overall brighter, due to the greater mid treble peak. Supernova sounds more extended, yet much smoother overall. Cymbal crashes tend to sparkle/ring out more on the Nair. Where Nair grabs your attention more up top, Supernova sounds more effortless and laid back without sounding remotely dark.

Staging is almost not a fair comparison. Supernova sounds bigger than Nair in every direction. The Nair sounds a bit flat and congested space-wise in direct comparison. It’s particularly noticeable in depth and height, were Supernova just seem to portray a more life-like sense of space. Rather than placing you away from the stage, Supernova places me on the stage with the performers, yet it’s somehow not in your face or aggressive in presentation. It’s enveloping. There is much more space around the performers and a better sense of specific placement of those performers in that stage. Supernova also has a greater sense of blackness, and details tend to pop more from that blackness, making it easier to pick up small details. Supernova is just on a completely different level from the Nair in technical performance.


Vs Softears Studio4

The Studio4 is a more modern tuned neutral reference, meaning it has more bass body and natural note weight compared to what has historically been considered neutral in the IEM space. I’ve been very pleased with the body and weight of the Studio4 and it’s become my personal neutral reference. Yet, switching from the Supernova to the Studio4 makes it feel lean in body and weight compared to the Supernova’s overall more colored and boosted bass presence. The Studio4’s bass elevation is geared more towards deep/sub bass and this delineation does sound cleaner overall.

Supernova, with vocals, has more weight to male and less energy to female, for an overall warmer, more laidback approach. The Studio4 has a more standard, higher ear gain. This lends it to a greater perceived sense of clarity, as well as more bite and attack in the 2k-4k range. However this sense of clarity, does not carry over into gains of transparency, as the Supernova easily sounds more transparent, allowing you to more easily pick out midrange detail and more easily hear the space between the performers and their instruments.

The Studio4 treble has more of that brassy realistic cymbal timbre with rides, hi-hats and crashes, however the Supernova is just more resolving of the individual hits. There is more separation and detail in the decays, where with the Studio4 it can be more blended together after the initial hit.

As with the Nair before, the technical performance of the Supernova is just on another level from the Studio4. More space, more depth, more precise imaging. It’s almost as if the Supernova has a lower noise floor that lets you see deeper into the sonic image.


Vs Softears Twilight

Supernova bass is simply more palpable; it hits harder and rumbles louder. It’s really at home playing some rap or electronic music. Yet, while Supernova’s bass boost gives those genres a stronger foundation, the Twilight’s dynamic driver still displays noticeably better texturing and decays. Also, while the Twilight has overall less bass boost than Supernova, it does have a bit more noticeable warmth creeping into the lower midrange.

Even though the warmth creep is slightly greater, the Twilight has a clearer, more exciting midrange. It’s more traditional ear gain gives more energy and nuance to vocals. It is able to compete with the Supernova transparency, while sounding more natural throughout the entire midrange. While Supernova is very resolving, Twilight has the edge with small nuances, like throat inflections, intakes of breath, lips parting and other low level details.

Twilight is overall a little brighter, yet still has smooth, non-peaky treble. It’s treble timbre is fantastic and is more natural sounding in comparison; brassy cymbals sound brassy and decays sound more realistic.

With regards to staging, both are on the larger than average size. Where Supernova puts you on the stage with an enveloping stage, Twilight is more akin to the front row. It feels wider with that extra space between you and the performers. However, Supernova seems a bit taller and somewhat deeper with its enveloping stage.


End Note

The Supernova deserves all the accolades it’s been receiving for months and months on end. It’s tastefully colored in a way that I believe buyers tend to expect in higher end IEMS (think wow factor), has fantastic looks, and has some very unique acoustic design features. There’s just not much to complain about, short of the long waiting period and Facebook only purchase path. Irregardless, the Supernova was worth every hoop and its going up on my list of recommendations.