Fit and Comfort

Seen above is the right channel of the INTUAURA Lakeview placed into an artificial ear mold with the included narrower bore size M silicone ear tip installed. I have average-sized ears, and the ear mold above represents my own experiences well enough as a proxy. I had no issues with the relatively wide nozzles here, so the end result was a set of IEMs which fit in deep and nearly flush in my concha. The semi-ergonomic shells with the gentle curves throughout provide multiple points of contact in my ears, with the nozzle insertion angle allowing for room to angle the shells for a more comfortable fit. Doing so also provides some leeway to position the pre-formed ear hooks in the cable to fit neatly over and around the back of your ears, with the cable cinch then further adding support to help keep the IEMs and cable neatly secured in place. The vents on the top are also large and positioned such that you will almost assuredly have no impact on airflow to the dynamic driver or pressure built-up in the ear canals regardless of how deep the fit is, which is nice since I was able to use the Lakeview for hours on end during testing. As long as you get a good seal, the Lakeview will isolate closer to a fully closed back set of IEMs rather than something semi-open. The use of resin also means these shells are light at <6 g each, further preventing any physical fatigue over time. This means the only real cause for worry are those 6.4 mm nozzles, so be aware of this in case you are unable to demo these IEMs prior to purchase.

Audio Performance

Audio Hardware

INTUAURA's entire product line consists of single dynamic driver IEMs, with the flagship Lakeview being no exception. These of course differ in the actual drivers used, as well as any other technology involved in getting the sound signature as the brand intends. The Lakeview goes for 10 mm dynamic drivers that are jointly developed by INTUAURA's founder and a renowned dynamic driver supplier with experience working with much larger audio brands. INTUAURA say that, to achieve extremely high consistency, the Lakeview drivers are even handcrafted by the owner of this supplier, going for a high level of precision rather than being produced on an assembly line. This is already far beyond your typical IEMs thus, and these bespoke drivers use a natural fiber composite diaphragm engineered for high internal damping to allow deep extension on either end of the frequency spectrum. The diaphragms are fit into an independent brass rear chamber to suppress resonance and associated with an ultra-fine copper-clad aluminium wire (CCAW) voice coil. This ensemble is driven back and forth via strong neodymium N52 magnets capable of generating up to 1.6 T magnetic flux (typically it's 1 T or under for IEM dynamic driver magnets), and the controlled venting in addition to the aforementioned sound absorption system helps fine-tune the response further. The end result is a set of IEMs with a rated impedance of 15 Ω and sensitivity of 126 dB/Vrms (~108 dB/mW)—plenty easy to be driven from a decent portable DAC/amp! This is where you can use your own source with the analog cable, or use the accompanying DSP adapter cables. The Phantasm for Lakeview offers up to 32-bit, 384 kHz PCM playback in Windows, with the Phantasm Pro going the same but with more granularity. The Phantasm Pro also appeared to have a more powerful amplifier based on how much louder the Lakeview got with it compared to the Phantasm, but both were more than enough to drive the Lakeview to satisfaction and presented no perceivable noise.

Frequency Measurement and Listening

I will mention that I have a general preference for a warm-neutral signature with a slightly elevated bass, smooth treble range, detailed mids, and good tonal separation. I also generally prefer instrumental music over vocals, with favored genres including jazz and classical music.


Our reproducible testing methodology begins with a calibrated IEC711 audio coupler/artificial ear that IEMs can feed into enough for decent isolation. The audio coupler feeds into a USB sound card, which in turn goes to a laptop that has ARTA and REW running and the earphones connected to the laptop through a capable and transparent DAC/amp—I used the Questyle M15 here, but also used the provided dongle adapter which performed identically. I begin with an impulse measurement to test for signal fidelity, calibrate the sound card and channel output, account for floor noise, and finally test the frequency response of each channel separately. Octave smoothing is at the 1/12th setting, which nets a good balance of detail and noise not being identified as useful data. Also, the default tuning was used for testing, and no app-based settings were chosen unless specifically mentioned. Each sample of interest is tested thrice with separate mounts to account for any fit issues, and an average is taken of the three individual measurements for statistical accuracy. For IEMs, I am also using the appropriate ear mold fitted to the audio coupler for a separate test to compare how the IEMs fare when installed in a pinna geometry instead of just the audio coupler. The raw data is then exported from REW and plotted in OriginPro for easier comparison.


The IEC711 is such that you can't really compare these results with most other test setups, especially those using a head and torso simulator (HATS). The raw dB numbers are also quite contingent on the set volume, gain levels, and sensitivity of the system. What is more useful information is how the left and right channels work across the rated frequency response in the INTUAURA Lakeview. The left channel was separately tested from the right one, and colored differently for contrast. I did my best to ensure an identical fit for both inside the IEC711 orifice, so note how the two channels are basically identical across the entire 20 Hz to 20 kHz range! Keep in mind that this is a randomly chosen demo unit, albeit unused, and INTUAURA's founder had mentioned the dynamic driver manufacturer has stringent QC checks before the drivers are sent over to the brand, following which the Lakeview gets further hand-matched drivers for channel balance. The IEMs are then tested again after assembly to ensure all retail units are as good as you can expect of any flagship set. Measurements taken after 50 hours of testing, which included these playing a mix of various songs as well as white or pink noise and sine sweeps, showed no difference under the same testing conditions. There was no perceived burn-in effect thus, and none was measurable, either. The results with the anthropomorphic pinna in place matches those with the ideal deep fit scenario in the coupler very well too, which is more an indication of how good the fit is. In fact, the deeper you can get it in, the less pronounced the mid-treble peaks are, so it's very likely a strong incentive for many to work towards getting the Lakeview deep in your ear canals—at least without compromising on comfort.




Here is the average frequency response for both channels of the INTUAURA Lakeview plotted against my personal target taken from VSG.squig.link, which also gives you an idea of my personal preferences to better correlate any possible biases. The tuning of a set of headphones or earphones does not have to match my target as long as it is tuned with some direction, makes sense, and is executed well. After all, no one set will appeal to everyone, and having different options is what makes this hobby so interesting and hard to quantify. This is in addition to a second graph comparing it to the Harman 2019 in-ear target as well as a third graph using a newer target that's based on a more scientific methodology involving a -10 dB tilt (-1 dB/octave) applied to the diffuse field target for the newer, more reliable B&K 5128 but then compensated for my exact 711 coupler instead. Do scroll down to the targets in my database linked above and see the new 5128 section to the left where you can click on the yellow question mark for a brief primer. The bottom line is this target is closer to what many people are likely to prefer out of IEMs and headphones alike. I have chosen to plot this graph with the frequency response normalized/compensated to the target to make it easier to see how the Lakeview is tuned out of the box, as well as how the two Phantasm DSP cables affect said tuning.

The analog tuning of the INTUAURA Lakeview is fairly typical of a single DD set, at least one tuned with mid-bass emphasis in mind. You'll notice it peaking around 100 Hz but then having a convex shape to the curve in the lows, allowing for more energy past 150 Hz that no doubt many will perceive as adding bass impact. To me, it sounds punchy enough, yet not as clean as I'd like with the lower mids coming off slightly muddy to affect how some vocals sound in rock and metal music. The treble too has the characteristic single DD peaks that keep decreasing in intensity to where you can clearly see the resonances at 4/8/12/16 kHz even in these measurements. There's some excess lower treble here, especially since the ear gain is on the smoother side and the upper treble is also relaxed, which can emphasize string instruments and some female vocal sibilance. The Phantasm Pro DSP cable basically re-tunes the Lakeview to match the Harman 2019 v2 in-ear target, which again will please some who can't get enough of Harman-tuned IEMs. I've made my stance on this clear before—it's too bassy and shouty, and is best treated as a preference target you can try with less expensive IEMs first to see if this works for you. Try the likes of the Truthear x Crinacle ZERO or INTUAURA's own Reference 2019 set before splurging on more expensive Harman IEMs.

While I certainly appreciate the analog tuning and the Phantasm Pro offer two distinct tonalities, it's the combination of Lakeview with Phantasm that gets my attention the most. I do wish the Phantasm matched the aesthetics of the stock cable better, but it certainly gives the best balance of bass, mids, and treble alike to the point where this excellent dynamic driver now gets to truly shine. There's more sub-bass extension and cleaner bass overall, no bass tuck and instead offering a warmer take for the midrange which works nicely for vocals. The ear gain is even smoother now, possibly to the point of being slightly relaxed even, and the mid-treble is tamer to fix the aforementioned issues. Female vocals are still forward but not shouty, brass instruments are no longer in the background of some songs, and there's also some added air to give harps and cymbals their fair share too. Note that the upper treble is not as energetic as the measurements make it seem here, with the goal being a larger sense of space with the cleaner tuning also helping make for a more resolving set. Imaging is also highly improved now and the Lakeview with Phantasm is a nice balance of musical and colored without going overboard in either direction. I'll also point out how the acoustic chamber and the analog tuning help complement this DSP tonality, with the integrated sound absorption tech resulting in there being no need for an acoustic mesh in the nozzle, which helps prevent an overly damped sound with loss of detail. DSP is not being used as a crutch here, but rather to get to that final 5% on top of the ~95% you already get with the analog tuning.


The price range that the INTUAURA Lakeview belongs to has been getting quite competitive lately. I've heard a few more sets in this range at audio shows lately too, even if I don't have them on hand here. What is here, however, is the recently released 64 Audio Solo, a single planar magnetic set that is arguably the best tuned such implementation. I'd argue the Lakeview with Phantasm actually sounds closer to the U4s and U12t with the m12 Apex module, as seen here, which tells you already why I like this combination given my appreciation of the 64 Audio colored tuning. The Solo is a semi-open set, which feels diffused in presentation yet extremely nimble and highly resolving. It handles layering even better than the Lakeview does, but is not as punchy or dynamic. The all metal shells and the smaller nozzle on the Solo are worth pointing out too, and no doubt 64 Audio has a larger retail channel for the global audience. Both the Lakeview and the Solo are expensive versions of what you can find at more affordable price points though, including INTUAURA's own other single DD + DSP cable sets, and other ~$150 single planar magnetic driver IEMs from China with the Solo. Then there are other single DD sets to consider, be it the DUNU ZEN PRO or the more expensive HIFIMAN Svanar. I'd take the Lakeview over both of these, even if I do feel the ZEN PRO is more comfortable, comes with more ear tips, and a modular cable. Once again it's the DSP cables helping here, and the Lakeview comes off not only more dynamic in helping trailing end of tones stand out more, but vocals and instrumental timbre also feels better here than on the other two sets. The ThieAudio V16 Divinity is still ThieAudio's flagship, despite being long in the tooth in IEM years. It does bass decently, especially for an all-BA set, and is arguably the best tuned and most resolving on the lot. Unfortunately, a lot of people will just not like the leaner mids—especially for vocals—and it's also not ideal for layering and micro-contrast. There isn't a real winner here, but the Lakeview does hold its own and then some.