Myer Audio SLIIVO SL224 Earphones Review
I didn’t expect much from Myer Audio, and I didn’t really follow their work. The CKLVX D62 model is still popular, although it gets a lot more attention than it really deserves, I think; the SL41 MK2 one was excellent, but the next few models didn’t seem to stand out in the stream of endless Chinese specialties.
Therefore, I approached the next model, SLIIVO SL224, with minimum expectations. My loss!
Today, we’ll talk about SLIIVO SL224, in-ear headphones priced at $285 (as of October 2025).
All but the sound
The earphones are delivered in a cardboard box, normal-sized for the earphones of this price.
In the box, we can find the earphones themselves, a round leather case, 7 pairs of eartips, and a cable with replaceable connectors. No surprises.
The cable is beautiful, nice, with a resistance of 0.3 Ohms. The connectors are inserted and fixed to the cable with coarse-threaded nuts. This approach feels reliable.
In addition to the 3.5 and 4.4 mm connectors, a Type-C connector was also included, which, of course, is not a connector at all, but a DAC. The DAC works exclusively in 16-bit/48 kHz mode, in Plug’n’play mode, with standard drivers in Windows 11, if nothing else. There are no special drivers on the manufacturer’s website (however, the website looks like it’s being barely maintained, to put it mildly). The Walk Play app doesn’t see it. But thanks for including it anyway.
There are 3 pairs of slightly tighter silicone eartips of a standard shape, sizes S, M and L…
…3 more pairs of slightly softer silicone eartips…
…as well as 1 pair of foam ones.
The earphones themselves are technically made on the basis of a menagerie of 2 dynamic (6 and 10 mm), 2 armature and 4 microplanar drivers, or a total of 8 drivers in each earphone. Each of the driver types plays back lower, middle, and upper frequencies, respectively.
The earphones’ enclosures are made of polymer resin and have a pronounced relief, that is, ergonomic depressions and projections.
The radius of the metal part of the sound guide is 6.25 mm. in the thick end part and 5.55 in the main part.
The outer inserts are made of natural mother-of-pearl placed under a layer of transparent plastic. Mother-of-pearl mysteriously shimmers in the light, and small defects only emphasize the natural origin of the material and are not noticeable in reality.
The connector pad is flat, it is slightly recessed into the housing. The compensation hole is covered with a plastic grate fused into the housing.
The earphones are designed for an average depth of the fit and have standard diameters of sound ducts by modern standards, so you can experiment with eartips at great length and with abandon: SpinFit CP100+, Pentaconn COREIR, Roseselsa SoundCocoon, Divinus Prism Wide Bore – they all fit and let you comfortably place the earphones in your ears. I never managed to settle on anything specific, as they all are fine.
I can’t say anything bad about SL224 in terms of user experience and ergonomics – they’re just well-made modern in-ear headphones without any pitfalls. Of course, their black polished plastic surface scratches quickly and collects fingerprints, but that’s how 99% of all headphones are made now, so there’s nothing we can do. I can also complain about the case: for the earphones of this size and the cable of this length and thickness, this case is frankly small. Give me a bigger one now!
As for the electrical characteristics, the manufacturer claims a resistance of 36 Ω and a sensitivity of 108 dB. I can’t comment on the second value, but I’ve recently become able to measure resistance:
It varies from 34 to 14 Ω.
The sound
Standard links:
- the description of my rig is here;
- the audiogram of my hearing is here;
- articles on measurement theory and the whole shebang are here.
Frequency response of SLIIVO SL224 earphones with original foam eartips:
And, before analyzing the frequency response, let me remind you that this frequency response will strongly depend on the depth of the fit. Frequency response of SL224 for the second resonance at 7000, 7500, 8000 and 8500 Hz:
Note that there is no simple displacement of the resonant peak. On the contrary, the entire range from 3 to 20 kHz changes significantly, and only the emphasis at 12 kHz remains more or less stable in terms of volume and ‘width’, so to speak. The key thing that can be seen from these graphs is that the deeper the earphones are placed in the auditory canals, the lower the area before the second resonance ‘droops’ and the higher the peak rises around 15 kHz.
Comparison of frequency response for original foam and silicone eartips:
Anyway, we can see the following on the graphs:
- it seems to be a more or less typical sound delivery a la Harman;
- but with reduced subbass;
- and with a ‘muffled’, but rather ‘smooth’ 4-10 kHz segment;
- as well as with an expansion after 10 kHz, the nature of which depends on the eartips. The graph obtained when using silicone eartips is more valid for my ears.
Besides, consider a slight rise in the bass, about 250 Hz, as well as the shape of the 600 Hz to 3 kHz segment – it’s almost linear. We’ll talk below how this affects the SL224 sound perception.
Nonlinear distortion at 94 dB with the ‘Use harmonic frequency as ref’ option turned off and on:
Nonlinear distortion at 104 dB with the ‘Use harmonic frequency as ref’ option turned off and on:
There’s not much to comment on here: at 94 dB, the distortion is just over 0.5% at the maximum; at 104 dB volume, it’s over 1%. That is, they have no audible effect on the sound.
Minimum phase response, group delay, and spectrogram in the ‘Burst decay’ mode:
It’s a common near-ideal pattern, typical for all modern in-ears of a similar price.
My subjective evaluation is that I’m blown away primarily by how full-fledged the SL224 sound delivery turned out to be. And I deliberately don’t use the word ‘balanced’ because it refers to the concept of neutrality. Literally everything in the sound of these earphones is in place. All frequencies are exactly in the amount that my ear personally expects. There is a very, very weighty, but technical subbass, a ‘close’ articulated middle with a hearing-friendly range at about 6-8 kHz, and an airy lightness after 10 kHz. It’s very difficult to describe this sound because it’s ‘correct’ and ‘tasty’ at the same time. In other words, you definitely won’t be able to complain about tonal inaccuracy as it’s at a very high level, but you also have this feeling of a ‘spectacular’ sound. It’s difficult for me to clearly connect this with measurement graphs, but I assume that it’s the linear range of 600-3000 Hz (and here we can move on to an endless debate about how to correctly combine frequency response graphs for comparison), as well as some emphasis on ultra-high frequencies that speak for themselves.
A standalone interesting quality of these earphones, which I really appreciate and which is relatively rare, is the instrument sound separation. It’s just splendid. You can listen to each vocal line, percussion, each component of the track separately and distinguish its perception from the overall musical flow.
Moreover, the width of the sound stage is clearly larger than average. SL224 play in a large-scale, airy manner, and the recording space noticeably lives and breathes. The music plays ‘around your head’ and even more or less from behind rather than between your ears.
As one would expect with such sound delivery, these earphones are very versatile in terms of suitable musical content. The only limitation, apart from your taste, is the quality of tracks. If a sound engineer has been careful about recording and processing of the high frequency area, everything will be fine. If they haven’t, you will be hearing weird and unpleasant things.
Comparisons
If we compare within the price category, guided by the best online rating of in-ear monitors, then the following models will be next to SL224:
- PULA ANVIL 114
- Letshuoer Cadenza 4
- Kiwi Ears Orchestra Lite.
I have compared them, of course, up-close and personal.
Frequency response of SL224 compared to ANVIL 114:
When A/B-ing, ANVIL 114 fully justify their name, hitting the listener’s ears with a steel hammer: this is a massive, ‘fat’ sound supported by a bone conduction driver against the rather neutral, ‘elegant’ SL224 sound delivery.
Frequency response of SL224 compared to Cadenza 4:
Cadenza 4 are an example of excellent ‘light’ headphones. Compared to SL224, they have more ‘top’ and less ‘bottom’ in almost identical proportions. The Cadenza 4’s sound delivery is ‘airier’, lighter, ‘sparklier’, and they have a slightly smoother section after 10 kHz, while SL224, again, are more neutral and, therefore, more versatile in comparison.
Frequency response of SL224 compared to Orchestra Lite:
We love Orchestra Lite for their infinitely expressive ‘middle’. It seems that Orchestra Lite deliver sound even ‘closer’ to the listener, and they’re a little brighter if we evaluate the sound delivery by and large, but SL224 win in terms of reliability and ‘punch’.
If we look at the SL224 tuning conceptually, so to speak, then we need to compare them with completely different earphones – Moondrop Meteor and Hisenior Mega5-EST.
Frequency response of SL224 compared to Meteor:
Frequency response of SL224 compared to Mega5-EST:
All three graphs compared:
Compared to Meteor, SL224 have a weightier bass and subbass due to a less pronounced middle; the Meteor sound seems sterile and faded against SL224. And, compared to Mega5-EST SL224, on the contrary, they’re slightly less bassy, and the midrange is more pronounced. By ear, the SL224’s sound delivery is almost perfectly equidistant from the tunings of these two models. The only thing that SL224 don’t have is a smooth (by ear) frequency response after 10 kHz, which competitors can boast of. SL224 deliver this segment clearer, but less accurate. But prices vary accordingly, too.
The only aspect where I can name the best option for less money is gaming: from a positioning point of view, KBEAR Cepheus remain unattainable and subjectively the best headphones for competitive games. But SL224 are also quite good in this context, don’t get me wrong.
Summary
I believe that the SL224’s entry into the market is a significant milestone in the modern headphone industry. The SL224 is as iconic model as Moondrop Meteor, EPZ K9 or Hisenior Mega5-EST in their categories.
As for the sound… I’m willing to pay to see the first reaction to the SL224 sound of someone for whom these earphones will be the first or second under the sun, as the wow effect from their first listening is so intense, and they differ so much from ‘just headphones’ and any TWS. SL224 are tuned just superbly: their sound delivery is simultaneously engaging, especially if you turn up the volume, but also reliable and large-scale in the sense of a virtual sound stage.
Who won’t like them? ‘Bassheads’ and fans of listening to music in the conditions of high ambient noise, that is, on the streets of a big city (noise masking will reduce the sound of these headphones to medium and high frequencies only).
To buy or not to buy? To buy!