Lindy IEM-50X earphones with dynamic bass control review

As you can probably tell by the amount of earphones and headphones I’ve reviewed, there’s plenty of choice no matter what you decide to spend. But, every now and then, someone does something a little different. Have Lindy managed to hit the mark or strike out with their IEM-50X?

“What’s so special about the Lindy IEM-50X?”, you might ask. Well, to paraphrase one of the millennium’s greatest thinkers out there – it’s all about the bass (control).

Lindy IEM-50X design

Even though the Lindy IEM-50X might look like any other IEMs (In Ear Monitors) there’s a twist. Literally.

On the side of the buds you’ll find a twist control that opens the rear chamber of the earpiece in order to add more depth to the bass. This is quite a refreshing departure to having to rely on software tweaks or larger drivers.

It’s certainly a novel idea and could be just enough to separate the IEM-50X from the crowd as everything else looks fairly standard.

The IEM-50X’s come in unchallenging black and red livery, with no other colour options being available at this time.

The cable is of the flat tangle free TPE (Theromplastic Elastomer) type which is certainly nice to have but not earth shatteringly exclusive.

The Lindy IEM-50X do appear to be well built and everything seems to work as expected – well, Lindy is a German company after all.

Lindy IEM-50X comfort

Comfort is usually my stumbling block when it comes to earphones. If I can’t get the right buds then the slightest movement will see at least one side just plop out of my ears – this gets really annoying when there’s a herd of commuters pushing past me at every tube stop.

Thankfully, Lindy provide a few alternative tips with a larger/ smaller fit as well as a range of flatter tips with a large/ medium/ small fit.

So, once I found the ones that felt right and fit right I had no real issue for wearing these IEMs for extended periods of time. Wear time would range from the 90 minute journey to the office (and the same back depending on TfL’s reliability) to 4-5 hour gaming sessions.

I did find the the little twist dials a bit tricksy to adjust when I had the IEM-50X in but then, once I found the setting I liked that was no longer a problem.

Lindy IEM-50X performance

Those twisty dials I have mentioned which feature on each of the IEM-50X’s earpieces are described by Lindy as Dynamic Bass Tuning rotary controls. That sounds much better than my ‘twisty dials’ doesn’t it?

Anyhow, what these do is allow you to gradually sweep from the standard neutral voicing of the earphones to a more bass rich sound. As I have stated before, this mechanical feature opens up the rear chamber of the earpiece to give some added weight and depth to the low frequencies.

Now, I do dislike those clumsy bass-heavy headphones and earphones, no BATES here, but even when I had the IEM-50X set to full bass boost they remained quite controlled but with an extra depth as promised.

The only drawback with opening the back up is that you start to loose the top-end and high-mids. This means that vocals start to fall in to the background for a start.

On more Pop, Dance, Hip Hop tracks where the emphasis is already more on bass and percussion then these are perfect. The Lindy IEM-50X also loves a good slab of Electronica but I found Daft Punk’s ‘Tron’, Massive Attack’s ‘Mezzanine’, ‘Dead Cities’ by Future Sound of London and ‘Leftism’ by Leftfield particularly enjoyable though them. Unfortunately the 50X were a bit clumsy with most Jazz although, saying that, acoustic guitar and singer set ups seemed to fare fairly well in most cases.

Thanks to the snug fit of the buds, once I found the right ones, means that isolation is pretty darned fine and I had none of fellow underground travellers glare at me due to leaky earpieces (which sounds a tad rude to me).

Lindy IEM-50X review conclusion

I cannot fault the Lindy IEM-50X on comfort or build quality as they have obviously been well designed and, thanks to the range of bundled buds, a perfect fit is almost guaranteed.

I like the flat cabling and I really like the included case to slip your spare tips and your IEMs in to when they’re not being used. Everything about the package gives the IEM-50X a premium feel.

If you like your singer/songwriter vibes, Electronica, Hip Hop or bass driven Dance then you should really take these for a spin. If your music is more on the Orchestral, Rock or Jazz side of things then you might find them a bit unfocused at times.

The dynamic bass control is a great addition and does offer something different to the rest of the competition.

I think that the asking price of under £50 on Lindy’s online shop is a bargain for the Lindy IEM-50X and I’d recommend checking them out before forking out on a set of BASTE earphones.

Technical specs at a glance

• Dynamic Driver Diameter: 6.5mm

• Frequency Response: 8~20kHz

• Impedance: 18 O

• Sensitivity (S.P.L.): 99dB ±3dB @1kHz

• Nominal THD: <3% @ 1KHz

• Max. Power Input: 3mW

• Cable Length:1.2m (0.85m to split, 0.35m from split to each earpiece)

• Connector: 3.5mm right angled stereo jack (gold plated)