[AE Acoustic Vault] #1 - Yuja Wang’s The Berlin Recital (Live at Philharmonie, Berlin, 2018)

Some say that without music, even the finest gear is just scrap metal and plastic. To get the absolute most out of any IEM collection, exploring how different driver setups interact with complex recordings is essential. That’s why we’re kicking off a series where AE team members share our favorite test tracks, gear pairings, and evaluation tips. And... we’d love to hear yours in return!

One of our Lead Curator benchmarks for testing raw technical performance is Yuja Wang’s solo piano recordings. While critics sometimes debate her emotionally detached, highly technical style, her razor-sharp precision and lightning-fast speed make her performances an unbeatable test for driver transient response and control. Paired with the massive frequency range and dynamic scale of a concert grand piano, her playing easily exposes an IEM’s true capabilities.

Yuja Wang’s The Berlin Recital (Live at Philharmonie, Berlin, 2018) on Deutsche Grammophon is a definitive torture test for earphone technicalities. Capturing a live concert grand inside a huge acoustic hall demands instant transient speed, pristine micro-dynamics, natural tonal decay, and authentic soundstage depth. Yuja’s articulation and extreme dynamic range immediately reveal driver smearing, upper-mid harshness, or lower-register congestion.

A few test tracks we select for reviewing earphones internally:

Ligeti: Etude No. 10 "Der Zauberlehrling"

Focus: High-Frequency Resolution & Transient Speed

A brutal trial for upper-range frequencies detail and whether the treble goes beyond control. Pay close attention to her dizzying polyrhythmic runs. High-performing drivers render each rapid note with razor-sharp edge definition and speed, whereas struggling drivers smear these high-frequency passages into a glassy blur and reduces dynamics.

Scriabin: Piano Sonata No. 10, Op. 70

Focus: Spatial Imaging, Timbre & Air

The trills and subtle micro-details in this track test treble extension and realistic acoustic decay. Listen for how the resonance from the soundboard breathes naturally into the expansive open air of the Berlin Philharmonie space.

The best part? The album is available on Youtube:

• YouTube link: Yuja Wang - The Berlin Recital (Live)

And if you like what you hear, it would be recommended to get a CD or purchase high resolution files for even better quality.

With Yuja Wang currently touring across Asia, it’s a fantastic opportunity to experience her live performance in person. Comparing that live experience against your portable gear is one of the best ways to discover what "true-to-life" reproduction really sounds like!

Some gears pairings highlights when we do our internal review of the products we curated, and see how they handle the tracks in particular:

Kefine x AngelEars Delci AE (Single 10mm DLC+PU Dynamic Driver)

The Character of Delci AE:
Natural timbre, organic bass decay, immersive dynamic scale.

Testing notes:
Using Rachmaninov’s Prelude in G Minor to test, the Delci AE shines through its single-driver coherency and natural bass texture. The lower-register resonance of the Steinway grand feels rich, warm, and full-bodied, especially when powered by gears with a lot of bass textures, for example the Sony WM1A. The gold tuning nozzles allow the upper-register attacks to come through even more, with clean extension without sounding metallic or brittle.

If you like a musical, realistic and room-filling presentation where the piano feels like a cohesive whole, while retaining air in the treble to reveal reverbs and resonance, the Delci AE is a versatile choice that is sensitive to the output quality and power.

SoundRhyme SR6

The Character of the SR6:
Fast transient speed, sharp separation, high micro-detail retrieval and very transparent

Testing notes:
The SR6 takes on Ligeti’s Etude No. 10 with clinical precision but without actually sounding clinical with the treble spike well in control. With Piezo drivers adding extra texture, Yuja’s lightning-fast polyrhythmic runs are rendered with plenty of weight and zero smearing. Every keystroke has a distinct, crystalline attack, and it reveals every subtle micro-trill with stark clarity.

This is a great pick if you prefer some good analytical qualities in the upper register but want to keep the bass impactful and full, only achievable by a hybrid. The BC is unlike traditional DD as it keeps articulation intact for the very low registers without letting you notice speed discrepancies. So if you want the engaging timbre plus strong imaging power, as if finger placements can be located, and you can hear sweeping through keys from left to right, panning all across, SR6 is the one.