Mixcder Basso Bluetooth IEM Review

Pros: Ergonomic design, ease of use, impressive sound, Bluetooth 4.1 technology.
Cons: Cheap material, relatively short battery life.

Introduction to Mixcder Basso

Mixcder Basso is a self-powered, rechargeable Bluetooth iem (BT iem) that supports BT 4.0 and aptX codec for enhanced audio quality. It is compatible with many Android, iOS and other devices that have BT 4.0 support.


Design



The Mixcder Basso has a one of a kind design which puts a lot of emphasis on ergonomics, ear hooks and rotatable earbuds make the headsets fit your ear perfectly. Along with their rubber coating, these headsets hardly cause foreign body sensation when wearing it. Friction has been reduced to minimum on condition that the earbuds can fit in ears firmly when doing sports.



There are 3 buttons and a MIC on the control pad, which is located on the cord, near the right earbud. Mic is on the back side of the buttons. There are controls for on/off, pairing mode, volume up/down, answer/end call, reject call, redial the last call, play/pause, skip to next/previous song, turn on/off voice dial. All are controlled via the special and easy to learn push commands to either one of these buttons. Pretty impressive number of controls with only 3 buttons.



The Mixcder Basso is made of plastic, and colored in green and black. The type of green does look a little bit cheap compared to the shiny green we’ve seen on other iems such as the MAYA S6 and Astrotec BX50. The cord, the earbuds and the eartips don’t look as refined as we would have preferred, the overall impression of the design is not premium at all.


Charging

You need to open a plastic covering on the control pad where the rechargeable battery is housed and then connect the included short micro USB cable between the Mixcder Basso and your computer USB port (or with any kind of USB charger). Once the iem is connected to the power source, the LED on the remote control will light up in red. It normally takes about 2 hours to fully charge (depending on your source) the iem.


Pairing



Pairing the Mixcder Basso and your smartphone is fairly easy. You need to turn the Bluetooth on your phone first then press and hold the center button of the iem for approximately 8 seconds. This way you'll turn on your BT iem and can see the model number on the list.

After doing this pairing you don't need to pair your device again. They will find each other and pair automatically as you turn the BT to the ON position in each device consequently.


Comfort



Let me start with the design. I really prefer the connected earpiece design with the single cord which can hang behind your neck. For the fitting and general comfort I have to say that the Mixcder Basso is one of the best BT iems I have ever put on! No complaints here.


Isolation



Isolation is average for an iem but decent for a daily Bluetooth iem. If your BT iem isolation is high you need to lower your speaking volume while making calls because your brain may think that you're not speaking loud enough (as a result of blockage of your own voice). Also you may want to hear the surroundings (traffic, cars, signals, etc.). So therefore the isolation on this BT iem can be lowered in the future models. If the idea of the Mixcder Basso is for solely listening to the music or using it in secure places, then the isolation is OK.


Battery life

It is stated that the battery life is 5 hours for continuous audio playback and more than 100 hours of standby. Generally I do agree with these numbers but if you intend to use the Mixcder Basso for making/receiving calls as well as some music listening (around 1 hour of music listening and with 1 h of making calls) it lasts for approximately 2 days. So both the standby time and the operating time is average for this kind of device.


Microphone Quality

Microphone quality is above average and certainly one of the best when compared to the other BT iems on my tests. Capable of sending clean and clear calls.


Overall Impressions on Sound

Test Devices
LG G3
Acer ICONIA W700
HTC Desire
Cube i7 Stylus

Test Tracks
“Sing” by Ed Sheeran
“Anaconda” by Nicki Minaj
“Parachute” by Cheryl Cole
“Wing$” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis
“Kiss from a Rose” by Seal
“Tunnel Vision” by Justin Timberlake
“U Remind Me” by Usher

I found the general sound signature of the Mixcder Basso to be relatively bass-centric. And it is one of the very few Bluetoothearphones I could get pleasure with while listening to R&B and Hip-hop music. The bass is big and fat, and the vocals are crisp and clear and really any kind of music you listen to does sound good. Soundstage is relatively wide and deep, but it doesn’t really bring a real out of head soundstage experience. Imaging is just OK. Background is not completely black. There is some hissing on the background, but not very noticeable while listening to music which has a strong rhythm.


Conclusion



The Mixcder Basso is a very nice Bluetooth earphone, and a great iem for its $25.99 price. It may not have surpassed the similarly priced wired systems in terms of audio quality, but it beats many more expensive Bluetooth headphones such as the Astrotec BX50 and COUNLAX QY8.