This was my first time reviewing an Ovidius product, and I suspect the vast majority of our readers, as well as general audio connoisseurs, have not heard of the brand at all, let alone its first pair IEMs. I suppose I should be more specific and call it the RX-100 (Qin Armour), seeing as how there is a clear theme to the design and marketing. The Ovidius brand has extended this theme with its first pair of headphones too, but that is beyond the scope of this article. For the RX-100, Ovidius has taken inspiration from the combat armor of the Qin dynasty from over 2000 years ago, which results in a unique face-plate design that will be a love or hate affair. But I can appreciate the multiple colors on offer, with the cable matching in color, too. The build quality is quite good in my opinion, with a single-piece shell machined out of sturdy and light aluminium alloy rather than two pieces glued together. The cable in itself is quite good too, but the plastic sheathing for the memory-wire formation is so stiff I would force it in place with retaining clips, cut it out entirely, or just get a replacement cable if nothing else works.

To be fair, the cable goes unnoticed as it should once installed. But between the install hurdle and potentially wrecking adapters to where I am not brave enough to try as it could ruin my calibrated sound card, this is my main qualm, but luckily one that is easy enough to get around. We then get to the actual fit of these IEMs and where I almost fell in love with the Ovidius RX-100. I have never had anything as secure and comfortable with universal IEMs to date and suspect many others will have a similar experience. The shell is clearly designed to this purpose, with a deliberate use of concave and convex curves, raised ridges and gentle slopes all placing inside the concha of the ear almost as if it were a custom fit on the pinna itself. Those with smaller ears may not have as good an experience, but Ovidius also targeting the Chinese market with the Ovidius RX-100 makes me more confident about recommending these in terms of comfort.

The tuning is also quite good, which really is the crux of things anyway. These look nice to me, feel great, and sound good, too. At $230, it's a pretty good offering all things considered and does things well without being overwhelming or having low resolution, so much so that I would prefer listening to these over many more expensive sets reviewed thus far. You don't get the best technical performance, and to be fair, I wasn't expecting it from a hybrid set of IEMs, let alone one from a brand-new company. There are claims galore about the drivers used, especially the independently researched balanced armatures that fit in the nozzle akin to a sound tube, but it is ultimately the tonality that backs it up, not the imaging or slam, which is lacking. If you are in the mood for a shot in the dark when it comes to a new company without a global website at this time, you could do much worse. At least you have Linsoul backing it with the 1-year warranty!