Performance

Like all the other earphones we have reviewed the Sunrise SW-Xcapes were left alone to burn in for well over 150 hours in order to ensure that they were performing their best for our listening tests. Similar to other Sunrise products that we have laid our hands on the Xcape in-ears feature a semi warm sound signature. The Xcape in-ears offer only a medium amount of noise attenuation, on a similar level to that of its competitors.


The earbuds were tested on the following rigs: Cowon D2, HiFiMAN HM-801 (standard amplifier module and GAME Module) and via line out to FiiO E1/E5 and RSA Tomahawk, and last but not least on the iPhone 4.

Since the SW-Xcape earphones are relatively easy to drive they sound good on the majority of portable players out there. Because of their high sensitivity you can get decent volume out of just a normal DAP, no extra amplification required.

The Sunrise SW-Xcape in-ears feature a well balanced presentation with a slight emphasis on bass and midrange. This makes them sound very good with a large variety of music. The treble is dialed down to a less obtrusive amount compared to the RE0s and it makes them slightly more forgiving with poorly mastered tracks and non-ideal sources.

Detail wise the Sunrise SW-Xcapes are a tad behind the RE0s, especially in the midrange. We tested them on a variety of sources and the theme remains the same. The Xcape have more bass than the RE0s and a sound signature that is possibly more entertaining for the average consumer. They are not as bass heavy as a set of Sennheiser CX-300 or 500s but they have more than the RE0s straight out of a normal source. Extension wise the Xcape earphones go just as deep as the RE0s, however, the precision of the bass is not quite up there with the RE0s.

The Xcape bridge the gap between the detail centric RE0s and the more forgiving and bassier mainstream in-ears on the market today, which makes them a brilliant compromise to my ears.