1MORE Quad Driver E1010 IEM Review

1. Introduction2. Unboxing and First Look3. Testing4. Closing Thoughts5. View All Pages

While we have previously reviewed the 1MORE Triple Driver H1707 over-ear headphones, 1MORE is actually best known for its in-ear monitors (IEMs). It is the company's flagship IEM that we assess today – the Quad Driver E1010. With a MSRP of £149.99 here in the UK, these aren't that expensive – relatively speaking, of course – but we would still expect a very solid earphone for the price, so what does the Quad Driver offer? Let's find out.

As you would expect from a flagship product, the 1MORE Quad Driver E1010 has a number of noteworthy features. Foremost among these is the quad driver nature of each earbud – each bud sports 3x balanced armatures and 1x dynamic driver, with the dynamic driver handling the low and mid-range frequencies, while the three armatures are responsible for the high and ‘ultra-high' frequencies, as 1MORE puts it.

The earphones also use plenty of aluminium in the build, while the cable is a 99.99% oxygen-free copper wire with a Kevlar wrapped core. They certainly sound good on paper, but what is the actual experience day-to-day? We put the Quad Driver to the test to find out.

Specification

• In-Ear
• Weight: 18.5 g
• Cable Length: 1.25 m
• In-line Remote Control and Microphone
• Oxygen-Free Copper Wire
• Plug: 3.5 mm Gold Plated
• Frequency Range: 20-40,000 Hz
• Impedance: 32 Ω
• Sensitivity: 99 dB
• Rated Power: 5 mW

The 1MORE Quad Driver E1010 ships in a relatively simple black box. In actual fact, the black cover you can see is just a sleeve, while the box itself is more of a brown colour. In any case, a large photo of one of the earbuds is visible on the front, with some product information positioned in the bottom right corner.

Once this outer sleeve has been removed, the box itself is revealed – this is much more plain, with just the 1MORE logo and ‘hear more' slogan on the front.

 

Opening up the box reveals the earphones and all of the accessories packaged neatly in separate sections.

The included accessories are certainly plentiful, with a hard leather carry case, a small shirt clip, 3.5mm-to-6.35mm jack adapter and an aeroplane adapter complimenting the 9 different pairs of included ear tips (8 pairs come separately, the ninth pair is already attached to the earphones). Incidentally, the ear tips are labelled for size, which is a nice touch if you know which measurements suit your ears best. Three pairs are made of foam, while the rest are silicon.

Lastly, a few small pieces of documentation are also included – one quick start guide, one 1MORE product catalogue, and one small sticker of a teddy bear wearing headphones – because why not?!

All that's left now is the Quad Driver itself. At a glance, the Quad Driver does not look too different from most other earphones on the market, but there are a few things worth touching on.

First of all, the earbuds themselves are made from aluminium which gives them quite a solid feel in the hand, and we will discuss build quality on the next page. In terms of the colour, 1MORE's product photos give the impression that the Quad Driver is a dark, metallic grey. In person, you can quickly tell this is not the case – the earbuds are actually a much softer grey colour, and can even look like a deep shade of gold depending on how the light hits them. That's not a criticism – I actually really like the look, but it is worth pointing out. There is also one small red strip towards the back of each earbud.

1MORE is also keen to emphasise the fact that each earbud has been angled at 45 degrees, supposedly to get the best fit. While I will talk about comfort and fit on the next page, this does mean the Quad Driver is designed to be worn with the cable positioned straight down (as above) – rather than being worn with the cable looping over your ear as per some other IEMs on the market.

Positioned on the right-hand earbud cable, we also find a small in-line controller. This is again made from aluminium, and features three buttons – when used with my Android Huawei P20 Pro, the top and bottom buttons were used for volume control, while the middle button was used for play/pause functionality when music was playing, or for answering any incoming calls.

Moving onto the cable and jack, the 3.5mm connector itself is a 4-pole TRRS connector. 1MORE has taken the decision to make it a right-angled connector, with more aluminium plating, for the sake of durability. Right-angled connectors can be a bit more of a nuisance when your phone is in your pocket, but in my personal experience, if a pair of earphones is going to fail it is usually at the 3.5mm jack area.

The cable itself is also worth touching on. It measures 1.25m long, and 1MORE has opted for what they claim to be a 99.99% oxygen-free copper wire. The core of the wire is even wrapped in a Kevlar fibre for increased durability, while the brown TPE tubing which holds the wiring has also been specifically chosen for its ability to dampen any vibrations which would detract from the listening experience.To test the Quad Driver, I used it for over a month while listening to music, watching videos and even when answering phone calls on the go.

Build quality and comfort

Starting with build quality, as I mentioned on the previous page, the Quad Driver uses a lot of aluminium across its design – the earbuds are covered with aluminium, as is the in-line controller, the 3.5mm jack connector, and even the y-shaped bifurcation where the right and left earbuds' cables separate is made from aluminium.

As you can imagine, this does give some significant peace of mind that your £150 investment is not going to break in a month or two. In fact, I have been using my pair for over a month now and I have had zero issues. I have also been deliberately quite rough with the Quad Driver, chucking it in my bag with my keys, for instance, instead of putting it away in the included hard case. Everything still works perfectly, and there are only a couple of visible scratches on the earbuds.

One thing I would say about the build is that the Quad Driver does not use a detachable cable – clearly every effort has been made to make the cable as durable as possible, though I can't yet comment on the long-term durability of said cable, but the argument could be made that a detachable (and thus replaceable) cable would've been another important inclusion.

Moving onto comfort, as mentioned the Quad Driver earbuds are deliberately angled at 45 degrees to fit snugly into your ear canal without any fuss. For me, this works perfectly – I simply slot the earphones into my ear and they hold in place without any fiddling or wedging required. Everyone will have different preferences of earbud size and shape, but I had zero issues with fitting the Quad Driver.

I did change the stock ear tips, though, as I tend to find silicon tips can get a bit warm and slip out while in use. I tried the 11mm foam ear tips and they were perfect – they did not cause the earbuds to fall out, and I also found they provided increased noise isolation when compared to the stock silicon tips. The downside to foam tips is that they aren't very durable – after nearly a month with the foam tips installed, they are now just starting to disintegrate.

Still, with a total of 9 different ear tips included – ranging in size from 10mm to 14.5mm, the Quad Driver should fit almost anyone.

Sound

Now, moving onto actual sound quality. This is where I have been most impressed with the 1MORE Quad Driver IEMs.

In a nutshell, the sound the four drivers produce is warm, smooth and still surprisingly detailed. Starting with the bass, though, this is the most emphasised aspect of the mix – as was the case with the 1MORE Triple Driver headphones I reviewed in June. This gives the sound an overall warm tilt, but it does so without the low-end sounding bloated or loose – instead the bass feels quite tight and controlled. It's not a ‘mega in-your-face' low-end – hardcore bassheads would still want to look elsewhere – but the mid-bass does have a bump to it which gives that overall warm sound.

What I really love, though, is the smooth and lush sounding mid-range. With the Triple Driver headphone, the mids felt a little recessed, and vocals were a touch cold and distant as a result. With the Quad Driver IEMs, the mid-range is absolutely lovely – vocals feel close and intimate without feeling muddy or lacking in clarity. This means the Quad Driver absolutely brings out the best in relaxed acoustic music; hearing the slight intake of breath, fingers gently floating over the frets of a guitar, and then the soulful voice of John Mayer – for instance – is a truly rewarding experience.

Perfectly complimenting that lush mid-range is the high-end. All too often these days we hear earphones with emphasised bass and then an artificially emphasised treble to make you feel like it is still picking out the detail – but more times than not, the result is a tinny mess. The Quad Driver, however, has a smooth and non-fatiguing treble that is still capable of resolving an impressive amount of detail. It does this without sounding harsh or ‘peaky' at all – similar to the Triple Driver – but you can still pick out of the clash of cymbals, or the frantic guitars in Korn's ‘Freak on a Leash.'

In terms of soundstaging, most earphones have a narrower feel than over-ear headphones – and that is the case here. The Quad Driver, however, makes this work very well with its warm mid-range, as you get a close and intimate sound. If you close your eyes, you would picture yourself in a dimly-lit, relaxed lounge, rather than in an opera hall. If you do want something with an epic soundstage, the HD 800 S is the widest and most spacious headphone I have heard, but I really think the closer, more relaxed staging of the Quad Driver's sound plays to its strengths brilliantly.

As for driving the earphones, that is not a problem at all. Unlike some audiophile-grade IEMs which require a portable amp for use on the go, the Quad Driver's impedance is rated at 32 Ω, with a sensitivity of 99 dB. In practice, I was able to drive the IEMs from my Huawei P20 Pro (with the included Type-C to 3.5mm adapter) with room to spare. Switching over to RHA's Dacamp L1 provided even more headroom for the volume level, without really adding anything extra to the overall sound. In short, plug these into your phone and away you go.

So, in sum – the Quad Driver is a beautifully sounding IEM. It has a warm overall tilt that is laid-back, relaxing and very smooth. It is unlikely to appeal to those who want a neutral or particularly analytical sound, but if you just want to sit back and enjoy your music, I think the Quad Driver is perfect.

Mic

Lastly, as the Quad Driver can be used to conduct phone calls when plugged in, it is worth briefly touching on the sound quality of the in-built mic. I have taken a short recording for you to hear for yourself:

As mentioned in the clip above, overall quality is certainly very decent and I had no problem using the Quad Driver to make phone calls while out and on the go. There is some compression, but compared to a phone's integrated mic the Quad Driver holds its own just fine.The second product we have seen from 1MORE, I am incredibly impressed with the Quad Driver E1010 IEM.

Things start very well, as the packaging and presentation of the earphone is immaculate. There is a large selection of included accessories, too, including a hard leather carry case, a shirt clip, and no less than nine different pairs of ear tips for you to try out and find which you prefer.

1MORE has also made sure the Quad Driver is very well built, with copious amounts of aluminium used across the design – including with the earbuds themselves, the in-line controller, the right-angled 3.5mm connector and the cable's y-shaped bifurcation. After over a month of (fairly rough) use, the only thing worth noting is a couple of scratches on the earbuds.

What really makes the Quad Driver shine, however, is the sound quality. I've gone over each aspect of this on the previous page, but the Quad Driver offers a warm and remarkably smooth/laid back sound which is just lovely. Everyone has their own sound preference, but if you are the kind of person who likes the Sennheiser HD 650, you will love the Quad Driver.

With a UK MSRP of £149.99, too, I think the Quad Driver is somewhat of a bargain. It may sound silly saying that for a £150 pair of IEMs, but you can spend thousands on high-end earphones and still come away feeling short-changed. Not so with the Quad Driver.

Touching on the negative points, the way I see it there are only two possible ‘cons', and both fairly minor – the cable is not detachable, and the 3.5mm connector is right-angled. The latter is a small annoyance as I have found the connector can catch slightly on my jeans' pocket for instance, but it has been done deliberately to provide extra durability to the 3.5mm jack connection area.

As for the lack of detachable cable – well, it would be nice for sure, but it is hard to say whether or not this is necessary without using the earphones for a couple of years. In any case, as mentioned, the cable feels high-quality and is protected by aluminium in all the key areas, so it would be a touch harsh to criticise the cable.

All in all, then, the Quad Driver E1010 comes highly recommended – I've been using them for the past month and have no intention of switching to any other earphones now. They are a joy to use.

The Quad Driver has a UK MSRP of £149.99, but we found them on sale from Amazon for £166.99 HERE.

Pros

• Premium build quality.
• Lots of included extras.
• Decent in-built mic.
• Beautiful, warm sound that is still impressively resolving.
• Somewhat of a bargain in the grand scheme of things.

Cons

• Cable is not detachable.
• Right-angled 3.5mm connector can be a minor annoyance.

KitGuru says: The 1MORE Quad Driver E1010 IEM is a fantastic product for the money. If you want to sit back, relax and enjoy your music, you will be hard pressed to find better earphones at this price.

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