Activo Q1: two-minute review
Activo is the lifestyle sub-brand of audiophile digital audio player specialist, Astell & Kern, delivering high quality hardware for considerably less cash than its parent company. These earbuds are a collaboration with Singaporean IEM firm DITA Audio who, like Astell & Kern, typically focuses on the more affluent audiophile. Are the Q1 set to feature in our best wired earbuds buying guide? It's highly likely.
I tested Activo's debut Activo P1 hi-res audio player last year and found it to be very enjoyable, and as you can see from the colour-matched design the new Q1 hybrid IEMs are clearly intended to be paired with it – although with both 4.4mm balanced and 3.5mm standard connectors included in the package they're compatible with a wide range of the best MP3 players and other music-serving sources.
The Q1 are hybrid IEMs with a Knowles balanced armature and a version of DITA Audio's PM1+ 9.8mm dynamic driver, which is highly regarded for its neutral, transparent sound. The PM1+ driver used in the Q1 has extra windings on the voice coil and uses brass instead of the usual stainless steel housing too. Which sounds good on paper – and it is in the listening too.
The sales pitch here is that these are affordable IEMs for audiophiles on the go, and they're a fraction of the price you'd pay for Astell & Kern-branded headphones. They deliver a very clear and entertaining sound, but if you like heavy bass you may need to adjust your device's EQ to push them just a fraction harder.
Activo Q1 review: price and release date
- $349 / £299 / about AU$600
- Launched in December 2024
The Activo Q1 hybrid IEM headphones were launched in December 2024 with a recommended retail price of $349 / £299 / about AU$600.
Although that makes them cheaper than Astell & Kern's typical IEMs, it's hardly cheap when you consider that our current top pick for wired earbuds, the 1More Triple Driver in-ear headphones, launched at $100 / £70 / AU$150 and can now be found for a little less. And even our 'best step-up' option from those, the Sennheiser IE200, will only set you back around $149.95 / £129.99 / AU$239.95.
Then again, higher-end options such as the fantastic FiiO FH19 cost $599 / £549 / AU$999 and, as any audiophile knows, these types of headphones can stretch into the thousands. It's all about sound-per-pound value isn't it? And here, I think the Q1 have a lot going for them.
Activo Q1 review: design and features
- DITA PM1+ 9.8mm dynamic driver and Knowles balanced armature
- 32-strand MOCCA 2 cable from Cardas
- 3.5mm standard and 4.4mm balanced connectors
The Activo Q1 resemble professional musicians' IEMs with their mix of white powder-coated centres and transparent resin outers, and their color scheme matches the Activo P1 digital music player. They come with an Activo + DITA-branded mini Tanos Systainer protective case and five sizes of Type-E eartips in a Final Audio case.
The Q1 are built around a modified version of DITA's PM1+ 9.8mm dynamic driver. Here, it's housed in a brass casing and teamed up with a Knowles 33518 balanced armature driver. The dynamic driver first appeared in DITA's Project M IEMs, and according to Activo the modified version here delivers a "hint of romance and sweetness on the foundation of the Project M's sound" – in other words, a slightly warmer and more resonant tone.
The nozzles are PVD stainless steel and the supplied eartips should cover most ear sizes. The tips are a very tight fit; fiddly to put on, but firmly fixed once installed. I lucked out with my first choice of size, easily achieving a good seal without any adjustment. The Q1 also fit very snugly and are well balanced. You never feel as if you've got large lumps stuck in your ears, even after long listening sessions.
The cable is a 32-strand MOCCA2 ultra-pure copper cable from Cardas and its connectors fit easily and feel strongly anchored to the earbuds. At the other end, you can choose between the 4.4mm balanced and 3.5mm connectors for your audio source, which is a nice addition to have.
Impedance is 31 ohms and the frequency response is 20Hz to 20kHz. Sensitivity is 109 dB/mW @ 1kHz.
- Design and features score: 5/5
Activo Q1 review: sound quality
- Excellent instrument separation
- Superb clarity
- A little bass-light for our taste
These are very responsive, transparent headphones, delivering a well separated sound stage and spacious high frequencies that are particularly fun with close-miked acoustic music of the expensively and/or simply recorded variety. They excel with layered vocals; the Taylor Swift and HAIM collaboration No Body No Crime is particularly luminous. And they're enormous fun with live recordings too.
Like many high quality headphones, the Q1s aren't here to flatter poorly recorded music. But give them something shiny and turn them up a bit and they're very good indeed. The dynamic driver and Knowles balanced armature driver are fast, precise and entertaining: the Q1s make classic tracks such as Orange Juice's Rip It Up sound factory-fresh with shimmering guitars and squelching synths, while in more modern pop such as Charli XCX's Brat the vocals are crisp and clear without struggling with the beats or the bass.
The Q1's frequency response goes down to 20Hz, lower than a standard bass guitar, but lower frequencies often need a bit more juice to be properly present and I found some music, particularly heavier rock, sounded a little too polite for my taste. It's not that the Q1s can't handle the lows; it's that they're not tuned to emphasise them.
It doesn't take a dramatic EQ change to give the lows a bit of a boost, although that may be an issue if your preferred audio source doesn't offer EQ adjustment. Activo's P1 music player does, and I found that a relatively small EQ curve adjustment on the P1 added extra fizz to SOPHIE's Lemonade, made the grinding bass of The Cure's Lullaby remix even more spidery and turned Peter Gabriel's live version of Digging In The Dirt into the Godzilla-stomps-the-city soundtrack you'd have experienced from the front row.
Whether you tweak the low end or not, the Q1s are impressively clear – and that clarity is useful not just for relaxed listening but for making or mixing music too. In my own projects I was able to hear detail and mistakes that weren't as apparent on my usual mixing headphones or on my AirPods Pro/Max.
- Sound quality score: 4.5/5
Activo Q1 review: value for money
- Very affordable compared to the parent brand
- Half the price of the best rival devices
- Narrower frequency range than some
Activo may be a lifestyle brand, but these in-ears are still aimed at the more premium listener, and that means they're up against some of the very best wired headphones around.
Our current in-ear audiophile pick, the Sennheiser IE 600, has an MSRP of around $800 / £699 and a current street price of $599 / £499; the eight-driver FiiO FH19 has a recommended retail price of $599 / £549 / AU$999. So the Activo Q1s are considerably cheaper than both sets of rivals.
The big difference between these in-ears and the two rivals is the frequency range: the Activo Q1 offers 20Hz to 20kHz but the FiiO delivers 8Hz to 40kHz and the Sennheiser has 4Hz to 46.5kHz. Whether that's worth paying considerably more for will depend very much on personal preference and the quality of your audio sources.
- Value score: 4.5/5
Activo Q1: Should you buy them?
Buy them if…
You want premium sound without the price
The Q1s deliver a very clear, convincing sound stage with lots of air up topView Deal
You've got a player with EQ adjustment
The low-end sometimes needs a bit of extra pushView Deal
You've got multiple sound sources
Balanced 4.4mm and single 3.5mm connectors cover most devicesView Deal
Don't buy them if…
You're all about that bass
Rival in-ears deliver wider frequency ranges, albeit for more moneyView Deal
You don't like white
The Q1s don't come in multiple color options
You mostly commute
Good quality noise cancelling may be better for long bus or train journeysView Deal
Activo Q1 review: also consider
Sennheiser IE 200
These wired earbuds from a truly trusted name in audio don't cost much for what you get. If you're not planning on getting the Activo player to pair them with, they may even be the better option – although do note that the plastic housing won't feel as luxurious as the Activo's headshells.
Read more in our full Sennheiser IE 200 review
Shure AONIC 3
There's such great passive isolation here, it can sometimes feels as if you’re using active noise cancellation. The sound is also elegant, balanced and with excellent separation and layering, although the bass weight is just a shade off well weighted compared to pricier IEMs, including the Activo Q1 you came here to read about.
Read the full scoop in our in-depth Shure AONIC 3 review.
How I tested
- Tested with Activo P1 player, hi-fi and Mac
- Compressed, lossless and hi-res audio
- Tested at home and while traveling
I tested the Q1s with their intended partner, the Activo P1 hi-res audio player, and I also used them with my Marantz CD player, with vinyl through my Onkyo amp and with my own music projects on a Mac with a Komplete Audio interface.
For that latter option I compared the Q1s with my go-to mixing headphones, a set of Beyer-Dynamic DT770 Pros, as well as more casual earbuds from Apple and Bose. And I have to say, the Activo Q1 more than held their own, however I tested them.
Read more about how we test.
- First reviewed: January 2025
