Closer Examination

The cable that originally came with my SeeAudio x Crinacle Yume Midnight sample wasn't very good, and would have been hard to claim as an upgrade over the high purity copper cable that comes with the original Yume. Yes, the conductor gets a silver plating that cable enthusiasts might accept as the best of both worlds, enhancing bass and treble response, but the issue to me was with its general use as an IEM cable. It starts off well enough with a gold-plated 3.5 mm TRS single-ended connector inside a plastic cover, and the housing is fairly substantial metal in a glossy finish with "SeeAudio" on it. As mentioned before, the conductor is not an issue in my books, but the insulation and sleeving is such that it actively requires the braiding to hold it in place. There are two individual strands, one per channel, heading to the expected splitter that is also employing a metal housing. The cable cinch is plastic and too loose over the individual single strands, which aggravates the real issue of the strands just being too lose to be formed or shaped to go behind your ears and remain there. I'll talk more about it on the next page, but it is something to note. On the other end are two 0.78 mm 2-pin connectors to plug into the IEMs, and these come color-coded white or red on the plastic end for the left and right channels, which is quite subtle and may unfortunately confuse newcomers.


Thankfully, soon after I finished submitting my review, I shared my complaints of the cable with HIFIGO and SeeAudio, and was told that the first batch used hand-made cables that weren't necessarily executed well. The mass-production units use machined-assembled cables, and seen above is the newer cable that addresses all my concerns. As such, anyone buying these IEMs now will have no problems with the cable, and it ends up being a pretty good one after all.


There isn't much in the way of SeeAudio describing the design of the Yume Midnight IEMs themselves, although the images above and below make it fairly self-explanatory. These go the way of resin for the shell, and translucent resin at that for a look at the hardware inside if you peer close enough or shine a light through. The face plate of the original Yume, and the entire design, differed with some special editions, so this ends up yet another new take with Midnight represented by a wholly dark aesthetic. We get a carbon fiber inlay for the face plate that comes under a resin cover for protection, and this is apparently real carbon fiber for those who care. The cross-weaves are certainly convincing enough visually, and there are two appliques for branding purposes.


Here we get a closer look at the IEMs, including the two face plates with the Midnight and SeeAudio logo appliques that are really the only thing keeping this from being quite stealthy and understated. The more unique ink pattern on the more expensive SeeAudio Bravery remains my personal choice of the two covered from this brand to date, but even there the design was a background for two more appliques. The resin flows over the face plate, so you won't feel any of this, and the face plate thus melds naturally into the body of the shells, where it is somewhat see-through for an examination of the hybrid driver configuration, as well as the wiring inside that ultimately makes most of the aftermarket cables redundant if not addressed well. A daughter PCB hosts the 2-pin connectors, and these are all soldered in to where the connectors are inline with the plane of the shell as opposed to recessed into the body. There is a single vent next to these on the side, which should provide some pressure equalization while not compromising sound isolation much. As seen above, the collaboration is further confirmed by the SeeAudio X Crinacle writing on the inner side of the shells. The nozzle is large at ~6 mm in diameter at the end and ~5.5 mm elsewhere, and has a notch to prevent ear tips from working themselves loose. A mesh filter on the end also prevents contaminants from entering the acoustic chamber, and it can be removed and replaced by the spare filters included in the box if it gets too dirty or clogs up.


Fitting the ear tips is somewhat on the harder side owing to the larger nozzle, but the included ear tips have a wide enough bore for it not to be frustrating by any means. Push them in to where the notch in the nozzle secures them in place and go around to make sure the tips are inserted all the way. Seen above are the included silicone tips in size M installed on these IEMs. Notice the depth from the ear tip to the nozzle filter, which is about average for generic silicone tips. You may want to try different ear tips to get the best-possible fit, and perhaps also affect the sound signature somewhat in the case of, say, foam tips compared to silicone. Certainly also try out different sizes to ensure you have them on properly, and do not feel that both ears necessarily need the same-sized ear tips, either. Regardless of which tips you go with, the next step is to re-connect the cable by carefully pushing the connectors in place, which are then held there by friction alone. The 3.5 mm TRS connector then goes to your source. I know there are many who prefer to use IEMs throughout, but I like to use over-ear headphones when sitting down and IEMs/TWS earbuds on the go. I paired the Yume Midnight with all the tested portable DAC/amps to date and personally like the cleaner profile and handy EQ options of the Qudelix-5K as the source, in turn paired to my phone or laptop.