NiceHCK Traceless Earphones Review – No Trace of Any Wow Factor

First Impressions

The NiceHCK Traceless comes in a simple cardboard box that features a photo of the earphones on the front. Inside the box, you’ll find the earphones in plastic packaging with three pairs of cloth covers. 

It comes in numerous color options such as black, white, cyan, blue, and pink, among many others. I opted for the purple one. There’s also a mic and no mic option.

I’ve always loved saturated colorways but somehow flatheads tend to do a one-size-fits-all approach, opting for smoked housing with their shells. With the Traceless, instead of following the conventional route, they opted to have the shells in gloss which to me looks like night and day. 

One other thing I liked about the Traceless is that it uses very high-quality cloth covers, making for the most comfortable wearing experiences I’ve had in a while with flatheads. This, however, affects midrange clarity, so for audio-related reasons, I took the thorny path. 

Don’t get me wrong, they still sound decent with the covers on but I like the midrange to be as pristine as it can be. Overall, sonically, nothing is popping out and I must say that I’m underwhelmed here. 

I do find that using higher audio levels drives the midrange to be pretty capable but with all else, I don’t see any changes. They’re “OK” but I wouldn’t settle for just that, especially with better options on the market. 

Build Quality

The build of the NiceHCK Traceless is similar to other flathead earphones. It has that OEM manufacturing going for it but instead of a smoked housing, it has a glossy one.  The result is a smoother finish and a nice distinction. 

It would’ve been nice if the cable matched the glowing traits of the shell but sadly, we’re given one that’s even worse than the standard OFC silver and braided copper ones we usually see. 

Overall, the build quality is nothing to rave about but neither is it something to complain about, considering how much it costs.

Fit and Comfort

The NiceHCK Traceless feels nice and comfortable on the ear, especially for flathead earphones. I wouldn’t have thought there was any hope for being spared wearing fatigue but here I am seriously doubting if some of them actually could. 

The cloth covers provide excellent comfort despite looking like generic covers that come with most earphones. They’re an improvement over materials used in stock covers. The shells do become fatiguing without their cloth covers, which I do run for reasons purely audio related as the cloth covers affect the sound. 

Isolation is okay and there’s zero spill when the covers are installed. Since I do run them without covers, the cons here are purely self-induced. 

Sound Quality

The NiceHCK Traceless presents its timbre as analog as possible – and by that, I mean room temperature somewhat erring on the side of lean. 

At first, it was disorienting. If it has a more neutral timbre, I would’ve liked to see some benefits to the trade-off. 

I was expecting the midrange to carry something of a lean tonality, bringing details and the linear nature of the sound forward. However, the midrange doesn’t sound lean or analytical.

Instead, it sounds distant and frail. I had to raise the volume to about 70% on my DAP and about close to 40% on a dongle ported through my laptop to get the mids on a decent enough level. 

The good thing is that the mids do open up nicely when driven by higher volumes. Also, the general timbre works for it. 

Modern genres fare nicely but as with testing, the genre is a little bland – the weakest link being the supporting technicalities that fail to spice things up a tad. On tracks like “Orb” by Ichika Nito, I’ve found using 70% volume to still be a little lacking in bringing out the dynamics in the electric guitar, which is disappointing. 

It’s a little curious to see metal do well though while new age misses. Tracks like “Unfamiliar” by Currents are carried out beautifully, with the heft and tone of the guitars being portrayed well. The linear nature of the sound isn’t too bad as it can just reflect what you’re listening to. 

The downside is that, depending on the track, it can sound boring. The tuning has its ups and downs but at the end of the day, I think the mids and highs are done well. Its overall technicalities make it step a tile backwards but not by a long one. 

Bass 

The sub-bass is automatically a non-participant here as with most flatheads. The mid-bass is a little bit on the light side when it comes to kick and impact. I also find that it lets down some songs that need the extra oomph. 

There’s not much else to say except that the mid-bass is a bit of a downer – not the strongest link in the NiceHCK Traceless and probably one of the key reasons why the overall tuning is a little on the subdued side. 

Midrange

The midrange of the NiceHCK Traceless is so-so on low to mid volumes. It’s a bit tricky to tell how much volume you need depending on the source but as far as I know, just keep bumping it up until the the mids are finally satisfactory. 

Voices positively sound better spread horizontally when listening to an earbud as opposed to something that’s made out in-depth – which works more for silicone tip IEMs. 

On the appropriate volume, the midrange is clear, linear, and natural. Strings are played nicely with good timbre to them. Post Malone’s “Stay” comes to mind, with the acoustic strumming cutting through the rest of the mix and resonating pleasantly with the vocals. 

Though raising the volume solves the vacuum that’s the midrange from sounding all sucked out, what it doesn’t account for is the dynamics of the upper midrange. Claps sound compressed and unnatural, coming off as superlative plosives more than sounding like claps themselves. 

Other than this, the entirety of the midrange sounds good. 

It misses a wee bit of some warm coloration but to a degree that most people wouldn’t even notice. Solely, for what the mids achieve, I think the Traceless is yet to be crossed out of anyone’s list. 

Treble

I find the treble region of the NiceHCK Traceless to be done very well. There’s nothing special about it but it renders transients to be fast. It also imparts ample sheen and brightness to them. 

Treble extension is decent and while there’s air, there isn’t too much of it to call it airy. And I do find that its tidiness and focus on energy are implemented effectively. “Seisyun Complex” by Kessoku Band rings nicely with cymbals and high hats crisp and energetic. 

I find that this region is done better than the previous two frequency bands due to its good extension and natural playback of upper harmonics. 

Technicalities

The layering and transient response are well-abled. The other technicalities, such as the staging, imaging, instrument separation, resolution, and detail retrieval are somewhat average but they’re not at all bad. 

The NiceHCK Traceless is quite capable when it comes to demanding genres like metal and rock where there’s a lot of guitars shredding and a lot going with the instruments. And I find that sufficient to say that it delegates its abilities wisely.  

Genre Synergy

As I mentioned previously, I find that metal and rock do well with the Traceless. Modern genres like pop also do well but I find that the lack of involvement from the bass reduces the enjoyment – unless you’re an absolute neutral head. 

Generally, genre synergy isn’t that of a problem with these earphones as you can play anything and get something as it is. 

Conclusion

The NiceHCK Traceless is mostly okay. I don’t have it on the top of my head when I think of flathead earphones because honestly, there are a lot of cheapo sets out there that do an incredible job despite their positions in the market. 

If you’re just starting to build an earphones collection though, I see no problem with trying the Traceless as your first entry into doing so. This provides you with a nice venue to discover as many kinds of budget earphones as you can before upgrading substantially. 

Inevitably, you’ll look back in hindsight and as you’re assessing higher fidelity upgrades, it’ll be a clear indication of improvement and a deeper appreciation for better sound at higher prices.

This post was last updated on 2025-03-21 / Some images from Amazon Product API & some links may be affiliate links which may earn us a commission from purchases.