In so many ways, 2022 feels like a lifetime ago. A quick refresher? ChatGPT and DALL-E had only just started gaining widespread attention, Kendrick Lamar unleashed Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers onto a wholly unsuspecting public, and over in my corner of the globe, the UK went through three Prime Ministers in just two months – and also lost the world’s longest-reigning monarch.
But also in my largely happy and music-filled corner of TechRadar (sorry to make it all about me), a star was born. One November morning in 2022, the humble, inexpensive Sivga Oriole arrived on my desk and promptly made me ditch high-end audio for quite some time. Indeed, they were the top budget pick in my best wired headphones guide for well over a year.
And now, the Chinese audio specialist is back with something also finished in wood, also wired, and also even more inexpensive. What you're looking at are the Sivga Que UTG – I know, nowhere near as memorable a moniker as the Sivga Oriole, but still – and the headline-grabber is that they're $89 / £89 (which is around AU$140).
I mean, for that money they're a no-brainer, right? And I haven't even started on the all-new glass driver…
Soon turned out, had a heart of glass…
The Que UTG feature "ultra-thin flat glass" diaphragms. Why would you want that? Well, flat diaphragms are what generally superior planar magnetic designs use (over the more traditional cone-shaped membranes); but specifically the use of glass? That comes down to a balance of high rigidity versus low mass.
Under the (frankly stunning) hand-polished South American green sandalwood top-plate, each earpiece houses a 10mm driver with ultra-thin glass diaphragm made possible by a partnership between Taiwanese glass processor Glass Acoustic Innovations (GAIT) and Japanese glass manufacturer Japan Electric Glass (NEG). This chemically-treated glass, says Sivga, possesses higher rigidity than traditional paper/pulp drivers but has very low internal mass – because it's less than 0.4mm thick.
Worried about the driver simply cracking or shattering? Me too, initially, but Sivga says we shouldn't be: unlike paper solutions, Que UTG's glass will not easily degrade following extended exposure to bass vibration or humidity within its headshell, but glass is still very much a recyclable material.
Elsewhere, the zinc alloy accents look high-end (much more high-end than their price tag suggests!), with acoustic vents to help suppress resonance. A contender for our best wired earbuds guide? Watch this space…
You also get a 1.25m silver-plated, oxygen-free copper cable for connecting to audio sources (including your smartphone and some of the best hi-res audio players) and interchangeable 3.5mm and 4.4mm balanced connectors.
Rarely would I suggest purchasing something you haven't listened to first. In fact, I never do that. But I just think this audio specialist's work is so groundbreaking, so intriguing and so affordable(!) that if you're a dyed-in-the-wool audiophile or simply audiophile-curious, it would be silly not to give the Que UTG a spot on your wish-list. I certainly cannot wait to hear them…
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