Headphones — ROSESELSA Star City 5 Pro

The Star City 5 Pro is a three-driver hybrid IEM made by Rose Technics, a brand that also trades as ROSESELSA, and it launched with a price of USD 75.99. It combines one dynamic driver with two balanced armatures per side and was tuned by the company to follow the Harman 2019 target curve. One of the offered finishes is called Night, and the manufacturer warranty on the set runs for one year.

Key specs that matter

The dynamic unit is 10 mm across and uses a Japanese composite diaphragm based on LCP. It works alongside two balanced armatures made in Denmark, which Rose Technics says are custom units built exclusively for the brand. The rated frequency range runs from 10 Hz to 25 kHz, sensitivity is 104 dB at 1 mW and impedance is 24 ohm, with distortion quoted as 1 percent at 1 kHz. The earphones weigh 28 g. The detachable cable is 120 cm long and ends in a gold-plated 3.5 mm single-ended plug, while the earpiece connector is offered as MMCX or as 0.78 mm 2-pin.

Engineering and use context

Each shell mixes two materials - an inner chamber printed in resin by the SLA process and a rear cavity machined by CNC from stainless steel. The printed resin faces the ear, while the steel part forms the visible back of the earpiece. Signal division between the three drivers is handled by what the company calls a physical-electronic hybrid crossover, and its electrical side is a 12-part calibration circuit using film capacitors and precision resistors. The stock lead is a dual-strand 6N OCC monocrystalline copper cable under a black textile sheath, described by the maker as an upgrade lead with extra wire cores and added shielding layers. In the box are a storage case in a leather-like material, a USB Type-C adapter for the analogue plug, the user manual and seven pairs of ear tips - three pairs with narrow bores in S, M and L and four pairs with wide bores in XS, S, M and L.

Pairing

Being simple to power, the Star City 5 Pro runs from phones, laptops and portable players, and the included Type-C adapter covers phones without an analogue jack. No balanced termination is supplied, so owners of 4.4 mm players would have to add a separate cable with the connector type they ordered. The two tip styles with different bore widths let the listener adjust the fit and seal without buying extra parts.

Alternatives

The QT9-MK3 is a costlier Rose Technics hybrid that pairs a dynamic unit with a set of four balanced armatures.