Page 2 - Physical Look - Hardware
The 1MORE Quad Driver is an interesting take on earphones. It comes in one color scheme of gunmetal gray and red accents. The cable is also similar in color choice. Each ear has a 1MORE logo printed on it as well as left and right indicators. This design looks pretty nice, though the heads are a bit bulkier than I would have liked. These aluminum enclosures on each side are designed to look like a jet engine and I can see the inspiration. At a weight of 18.5g, these are not the lightest nor the heaviest in ear monitors we have seen. The Quad Driver is intended to go directly in your ear with a forty five degree angle to fit snugly in your ears. I will say though, the heads are pretty big, even at the place where it is supposed to insert into your ear canals. It fits well, though some with smaller ears may notice discomfort in your ears after a while. I personally went with the medium sized silicone ear sleeves after trying a few of the other tips for best fit. With all of the different sizes included, there will hopefully be something that fits you.
The remote on the 1MORE Quad Driver is thankfully compatible with both Android and Apple iOS devices, which is really awesome to see. I was quite disappointed when I received the incompatible version of the V-MODA Forza, but thankfully this will never be the case with the Quad Driver. Otherwise, these buttons provide good feedback and allow users to change the volume, Play/Pause, or go to the previous and next song. It also integrates with your voice assistant, whether it is Google Assistant or Siri. An omnidirectional MEMS microphone is located behind the remote to work with your smartphone. The remote module is located on the cable leading towards your right ear. This does affect the weight balance of these cables, though it is not a huge difference and should not affect most users.
At the end of the cable, the 1MORE Quad Driver terminates at a ninety degree gold plated connector. I personally like any sort of angled connector, as they are easier to plug and unplug since there is a better place to grip the terminal. The cable connecting everything together is 125cm in length, with 92.5cm from the plug to the Y-split, which should be good for most users. The cables are said to be made of a Kevlar core to keep the cables durable. Inside we have copper wires, though we will see if this affects the audio performance later on.
As we mentioned before, each ear has an "L" or "R" marker to indicate the corresponding side of the earbud. As you may have noticed by the name, we have four drivers inside made up of a "Diamond-like Carbon" material. They have a rated frequency response of 20Hz to 40kHz. These specifications expand beyond the hearing range of a normal human being at the higher end. Meanwhile, the rated sensitivity is 99dB with an impedance of 32 ohms. While this is double the impedance of earphones like the Focal Spark, these still should work with unamplified sources like your smartphone. Like modern in-ear monitors, the drivers aim directly into your ear for a more direct and transparent sound reproduction characteristic. At the same time, it makes the earphones much easier to clean in the long run too. The sleeves assist the aim into the user's ear canals, and since these earphones are designed for a closed configuration, the 1MORE Quad Driver offers passive noise cancellation. As aforementioned, they come in many sizes and two different materials for best fit and feel to the end user.
Based on my experience, the microphonics characteristics of the 1MORE Quad Driver are similar to the most earphones I have used in the past. During usage, like all in-ear monitors, rustling noise is inevitable -- and with the Quad Driver, it is no exception. The Y-split junction filters out a good amount of mechanical vibrations half way down the cable, but the upper segment is considerably more audible. It does a fairly decent job at things rubbing against it such as your T-shirt, but if the cable is loose and it is swinging into a foreign material, you will hear more noise. You can probably dampen a lot of these vibrations with the included cable clip.
With all this in mind, how will it perform? Let us get onto the dedicated third page to present our analysis.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware
3. Subjective Audio Analysis
4. Conclusion
