Reviews by hokagoteatimereviews
Introduction:-
Its the Colorfly CDA-M2 in for review today! This dongle dac has an OLED screen and a dual CS43198 dac chip with support for SPDIF via the 3.5mm.
I have also shared a video version of the review at YouTube any support there in form of a view, A like or A subscribe is greatly appreciated. But if you so wish to read the written version you can read this.
This was a review unit sent in Shenzhen audio, all the thoughts and opinion you are about to hear are my own.
But it from here (unaffiliated link) :-
https://shenzhenaudio.com/products/colorfly-cda-m2-dual-cs43198-portable-usb-dac-amp
I will be as usual following my bullet style format for better readability for those who are dyslexic and in general find it hard to read long paragraphs. I follow this guide in general from the British Dyslexia Association.
So lets find out how it is!
Review:-
1. The packaging is very normal, it comes with dac and a very supple usb c to usb c cable.
2. The dongle is very lightweight at around 27grams and the build quality is top notch!
3. It has a dual CS43198 dac chips which supports upto DSD256 and PCM 32bit/768khz.
4. It has 5 digital filter options: Fast LL, Fast PC, Slow LL, Slow PC, and Non OS (Non Oversampling Filter)
5. It can deliver upto 125mw form the 3.5 and 250mw from the 4.4
6. Also there are 100 steps of volume which is independent from the source
7. It has three buttons volume up and down and the function button
8. Using the function button you can adjust the gain
9. Then you have a setting where in you can adjust the left and right shift to the music which is a fantastic feature to have specially if your hearing is a bit damaged in one side or if the source music or video you are playing has some issues with the audio being leaned towards one side
10. Then you can the access the filter modes of which there are 5 and I personally didn’t find any difference and I used Non OS filter for my testing
11. Then you have the function for S/PDIF on/off switch
12. After that there is the H-depop on/off switch. Now in the manual supplied there isnt anything written about this, So I had to use the Chinese manual and translate it. From what I understand that its a function which prevents the pop noise when plugging and uplugging your iem when connected to the pc.
13. Next setting is the display brightness settings of which there are 10 levels
14. Then is the display rotation which you can turn around 180 degrees. Its a nice addition.
15. Then is the display off setting which you can select from 1 second to 60 seconds or keep it permanently on. I wouldn't suggest the later option as it might cause burn in of the display since its an oled display.
16. Then you can see the firmware version.
17. And the last setting being the reset option
18. In the main display I will share a small picture of what everything on the screen means.
19. Now I tested my entire lot of iems with the CDA-M2.
20. Talking about the sound quality I would say it sounds very clean with no colouration of sound.
21. It powers everything on my iem collection without any issues and has enough power even via the 3.5mm
22. The bass sounds as it is meant to be without any humps or dips or anything like that with most iem I have tested.
23. The Mids are quite solid too and they sound open and spacious
24. The treble here is again very neutral too.
25. The overall sound is very nice and clean and with most iem it gives extra room and extra air a bit which sounds really nice.
26. When I was using it with my tanchjim kara, it seemed more evident. As the kara really shines with more power.
27. One of the best feature of the M2 I liked is the left right setting, which although a simple setting can actually be of use to many. This is the one setting which makes this dac very nice and that too it being inbuilt into the dac without using any app is awesome.
28. It would be nice if the function button acted as a play/pause button with single press and long press opened the settings.
29. The M2 is surprisingly quite power hungry and it does heat up a lot when its in use, although it was never so hot that it was uncomfortable to hold.
30. In terms of pairing it pairs very well with warm sounding iem like the penon fan 2. They perform really well and the pairing is really good.
31. This seems to be one of the few dongle dacs which seems to has S/Pdif so if that's a requirement you can have a look at this.
32. Compared to the Aune Yuki – The m2 is linear and clean sounding device and has more power and features than the yuki. But the yuki is a tad bit warmer sounding and the soundstage yuki offers is really good. M2 has more features and an oled screen while the yuki looks beautiful and is quite simply plug and play.
33. V/s the fc6 – Here the comparison is similar as last one. The fc6 being much more warmer sounding. But the M2 has S/pdif more power and the 4.4mm jack.
34. So ya that was my review of the M2 I think so it makes a great purchase if you want a clean sounding dac which has a lot of features specially S/pdif. I really like the left and right feature and I can see that being useful to quite a few out there specially someone with hearing loss.
35. So that was my review, i hope you liked it. Thanks for stopping by, have a great day ahead! Bye!
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day ahead! Bye!
If you have any questions please feel free to ask me and also if you have any issues regarding this format of review please do comment I will try to mend it. Also sorry to those who are used to reading long paragraphs of review in headfi. I hope my review was upto the mark, I appreciate any feedback.
Again a big thanks to Shenzhen Audio for making this review happen.
Have a great day ahead
Introduction:-
Hey guys today I will review the Colorfly CDA-m1p. Its a new dongle from colorfly and the update of their old model to CDA-M1. It is priced at around $68
I have also shared a video version of the review at YouTube any support there in form of a view, A like or A subscribe is greatly appreciated. But if you so wish to read the written version you can read this.
This is a review unit sent in by Shenzhen Audio, but all the thoughts and opinions are my own.
But it here (unaffiliated link) :-
https://shenzhenaudio.com/products/colorfly-cda-m1p-ak4493seq-portable-usb-dac-amp
I will be as usual following my bullet style format for better readability for those who are dyslexic and in general find it hard to read long paragraphs. I follow this guide in general from the British Dyslexia Association.
So lets get started!
Review:-
1. So packaging is very simple and it comes with the dongle and a very good ribbon style c to c cable.
2. First thing when you pick up the dongle you see is how heavy that is! It doesn’t feel like a $70 dongle at all! The build quality is very good, infact some might say too good.
3. The dongle is quite heavy and makes quite hard to control the dangle when using it daily
4. Also the entire inside the board moves in and out when plug in and out. Although I haven’t found anymore issues regarding the build this does concern me for long time use.
5. There is no floor noise I have heard.
6. Now the M1P uses a AKM AK44993SEQ chip with dual independent dac and can support upto PCM768 ad DSD 512
7. It has power upto 125mw from 3.5 and 240mw from 4.4
8. It has a high and low gain and also supports UAC 1&2
9. It has 6 filters and 100 independent volume steps
10. Now talking about the sound, the sound is absolutely fantastic! Now again generally I don’t find the difference in dacs I have to a-b them and find the subtle differences.
11. The overall sound is very warm and luscious. It has that akm sound which everyone talks about.
12. The lower range is slightly extended and that comes out very well.
13. Both the upper mids and treble seems very neutral.
14. But the overall harshness of the treble is subdued a lot, but that doesn’t mean it isnt technical enough.
15. When listening to the 1985 live album the instruments were very good and they had the body while sounding very clean.
16. The soundstage is quite good although not as wide as the aune yuki. Which is a benchmark as of now in my book. But still is very good! It performs well for its price.
17. When using the dongle with moondrop chu 2, at 30% volume via the 3.5mm with my 5000mah smartphone I ran it for around 12 hours.
18. The dongle after 2-3 hours of run time runs very hot and becomes quite hot too touch, now this does scare me about the longevity of the dongle. But still there are other dongles which becomes hot too and they seem to running fine like the questyle m15 which I haven't reviewed.
19. The dongle is quite heavy, also the controls for it and the led system is a bit confusing and you have to go through the manual a bit to understand.
20. The entire colorfly website is in Chinese and all the instructions there are in Chinese. I don’t know how a firmware upgrade in future will be notified for international customers.
21. The sort of bright ea1000 pairs really well with the warm CDA-M1P
22. If you wanted something like the FC6, I think so the m1p does a great job sounding similar to the fc6. Now obviously it doesn’t best the fc6 or comes close to the fc6 when it comes to overall sound but it does give a taste of the fc6 and how it might sound.
23. If you are hesitant to spend money of the fc6 the m1p is a great option for under $100.
24. That is my review of the colorfly cda-m1p. I think so it makes for a great dongle if you want that akm sound and want a good warm sounding sound. It pairs very well with planar iems or anything bright.
25. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have a great day! Bye!
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day ahead! Bye!
If you have any questions please feel free to ask me and also if you have any issues regarding this format of review please do comment I will try to mend it. Also sorry to those who are used to reading long paragraphs of review in headfi. I hope my review was upto the mark, I appreciate any feedback.
Again a big thanks to Shenzhen Audio for making this review happen.
Have a great day ahead
Introduction:-
Love that transparent glass window it has. Its the Aune yuki today we will be looking at today. Its a beautiful dongle dac from Aune which looks really beautiful does it sound beautiful? Well lets find out.
I have also shared a video version of the review at YouTube any support there in form of a view, A like or A subscribe is greatly appreciated. But if you so wish to read the written version you can read this.
This is a review unit sent by Aune but all the thoughts and opinions you are about to hear are my own.
Buy it here (Unaffiliated Link) :-
Aune Amazon USA store :-
Case - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CN168TQD
DAC - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CJXYNNTH
Aune Audio Store :- https://www.aune-store.com/en/aune-yuki-dongle-dac_110207_1236/
I will be as usual following my bullet style format for better readability for those who are dyslexic and in general find it hard to read long paragraphs. I follow this guide in general from the British Dyslexia Association.
Lets start!
Review:-
1. Well the packaging is really good as it is a bit unique. It comes with the dongle dac a beautiful cable and the USB c to a converter. I really love the accessories they provide.
2. The price of the yuki is $169
3. The looks of the yuki is really good! The entire body has this enamel finish which makes feel it premium and hefty in a good way. Love the feel of it, the entire build quality just screams quality.
4. It has two separate layer one for the dac and other for the amp and the layer you see through the window is coated in ceramic.
5. The aune yuki is probably the most high quality dongle I have seen in terms of pure looks
6. Sadly the button placement for volume is a bit weird as they are on the back as opposed to them being on sides. I mean saw this as a positive too, but I guess it depends on what floats your boat
7. It has a high and low gain button but no lights or anything to indicate, while I personally like this minimal beautiful approach some might be a bit lost when using it daily. Having a small led light with an option to turn it of would have been nice.
8. The cable supplied is very supple and is really good, love the colour matching of the cable and the dongle dac aune has done. Very good job aune!
9. It has the dual CS43198 dacs and supports 32bit/768k DSD256 and has 3.5 and 4.4 output.
10. The power output is 90mw via 3.5 and 160mw via 4.4 also there is no floor noise when I tried it with the most sensitive iems.
11. Now talking about the sound, oof! What can I say.
12. Lets say I am so happy I got it test it, generally I have to do a A-b test to find the difference between the dacs even the fc6 went through this test. But when listening to yuki for first time I immediately felt something different
13. First thing you will notice is the super wide soundstage like listening with the timeless ae the soundstage becomes even wider. The overall sound is very analog sounding and the is a very warm sounding dongle while not compromising on technicalities or details.
14. When listening to the casiopea 1985 album specially the galactic funk and asayake live, it was such a treat. It has this great sense of depth and width
15. The separation of the instruments and the over technicalities is just so good!
16. It has a maybe a teeny tiny bump in the sub-bass region which can be barely noticeable in some tracks, and a great emphasis on vocals.
17. the overall treble is a bit smoothened out and this attributes pairs so well with the planar like 7hz timeless ae. Although that doesn’t mean that the all the treble detail is lost it does a great job on softening the treble while sounding lively.
18. When listening to any live songs aune yuki was my choice, the yuki also performs exceptionally well with both male and female vocals (baring you have a good iem to pair it with)
19. Now I was listening to the Song “Konnayuki” by Remioromen which feels like an apt song for this dongle both because of the name and how beautiful the song sounds overall with this dongle. (Konnayuki Means powdered snow)
The song (Also the title of the review) :-
20. I know I might be exaggerating but it just sounds so good and full, by any means this isn't a neutral sounding dongle but listening to any song specially a song which makes use of a wide soundstage this sounds just simple awesome!
21. The volume is independent and it has 100 volume steps.
22. Talking about the battery the aune yuki scored very well, I paired it with the moondrop chu 2 at 30% volume via the 3.5mm and I got around 14 hours and some change. My smartphone has 5000mah of battery
23. One more thing I would like to add is the glass window, is a bit scary to use daily and I am quite scared of breaking it when using it daily. Now I know it looks beautiful but it is something I still thought of mentioning.
24. It does get a bit warm when using it for a long time but nothing to uncomfortable.
25. It has a support uac 1.0
26. Now comparing it with the fc6 I think so the fc6 slightly edges over the yuki a bit in terms of overall sound, but the soundstage is much better on the yuki in my opinion. Also the screen helps a lot in the fc6 a single led light which could be switched off or on would have been really nice for yuki.
27. Now generally every product gets a critique from me telling something to be added or removed for the next iteration. Even the fc6 got one from me.
28. Maybe a single led light, which could be switched on or off according to use needs would be my only suggestion to aune. Because I sure as hell wouldn't want aune to change the sound of the yuki in next iteration.
29. Now if you are someone who wants a warm sounding ,beautiful looking and a simple dongle and are ok with not too much power to power your 600ohms headphone the yuki makes a great choice! Its kinda crazy how good this sounds for its price. The fc6 seems only marginally better than the yuki for its almost double the msrp. Although recently the fc6 has been available for 200.
30. BTW I forgot to speak about the case, the case is not included in the box but rather a separate buy and they cost about $15. The case is of very good quality and it is very easy to get on and off from the dongle dac. I suggest getting the case if possible it will protect that enamel finish of the dac on the long run
31. That is my review of the yuki, when I first saw it I really loved the way it looked. But never really thought it would sound this good too. Thanks for stopping by for my review, I hope you have a great day! Bye!
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day ahead! Bye!
If you have any questions please feel free to ask me and also if you have any issues regarding this format of review please do comment I will try to mend it. Also sorry to those who are used to reading long paragraphs of review in headfi. I hope my review was upto the mark, I appreciate any feedback.
Again a big thanks to Aune for making this review happen.
Have a great day ahead
ICYGENIUS
Nice review bro!
hokagoteatimereviews
Thank you! 
Introduction:-
Hi Guys, today we will be taking a look at the IFI Go blu. In the fast moving audio space the go blu is quite old. It released a year and half back, but it surprisingly has some great features. Like the 5100 Qualcomm bluetooth chip and it uses the CS43131 dac which has become quite popular for dongles dac in the $50-80 range.
I have also shared a video version of the review at YouTube any support there in form of a view, A like or A subscribe is greatly appreciated. But if you so wish to read the written version you can read this.
This unit was sent to be by IFI, but all the thoughts and opinion you are about to hear are my own.
You can buy it here (Unaffilaited Link) :-
https://ifi-audio.com/products/go-blu/
If you cant buy it from here, have a look at the authorised ifi dealers in your country from the above web page
As usual it wont follow the usual format
I will be as usual following my bullet style format for better readability for those who are dyslexic and in general find it hard to read long paragraphs. I follow this guide in general from the British Dyslexia Association.
So lets start the review!
Review:-
1. So the price of the IFI is $199
2. It has a 450mah battery which lasts around 8 hours depending on the load of the iems, the volume you are playing at and also the codec. I got around 7 hours 40 minutes with the moondrop chu 2 at around 30% volume from the 3.5mm
3. Inside the box it comes with a pouch, the dac and usb cable. There is also a clip case which I like but this is an extra purchase.
4. This clip case is mandatory in my opinion as that is what makes it very usable daily, but sadly its an extra. The clip makes a great change to the dac where in I can clip it and use it for music and also for calls if needed.
5. The go blue defers from the other dongles like the Q5K and Fiio BTR series by a lot. The Ifi doesn’t have an app, for some this can be a deal breaker for some it doesn’t matter.
6. For me I am ok with the lack of an app as everything is just plug and play and I don’t have to deal with the app. But I completely understand why someone would want to tinker and use PEQ and other awesome features found in the qudelix app.
7. As for the power it has 165mw from 3.5 and 245mw from 4.4 at 32 ohms. It drove all my iem and headphones without any issues from the 3.5.
8. The volume wheel it has is great! I really love the stepped notched volume wheel which has enough resistance but also increases the volume at a good linear range.
9. This doesn’t have the Iematch feature, I would have liked it as it has very very very minor his on very sensitive iems. Its not even noticable if there is a slight noise around you, but I thought of mentioning it. I am fine with something like this.
10. It has the Xbass – which gives a bass boost, but the bass boost here is much more subtler than the hip dac 3 and I really like this xbass feature for most iems ; Xspace – Gives a sense of wide soundstage, I personally quite liked this feature in some iems but for some it spoiled the overall sound so this is more of a test and find feature ; The last mode is the Xbass + Xspace which combines the both this again works fine but again it depends on the iem for some iems it sounds good and that little nudge in the bass region and space region does help it a lot but for some they some weird.
11. This has Bluetooth 5.1 and it has support for the codec AAC, SBC, aptX, aptX HD,
aptX Adaptive, aptX LL, LDAC, LHDC.
12. There is a latency when playing games as expected but for watching media there was none. If you still have latency issues I suggested shifting to the aptx LL mode baring your device supports that.
13. Talking about the sound. Well in a vaccum its hard to judge a sound from a dac, but when A-B ing with other dacs there is a difference in sound. They sound really nice with most iems, but the simgot ea100, penon fan 2, Celest phoenixcall, Truthear Nova and the 7hz timeless AE shines on these.
14. They have this slight boost on the female vocals, and the overall sharp treble from the phoenixcall and ea1000 is smoothened out quite a bit which sounds really nice. There is also a slight tinge of sub bass boost which makes it sound really nice overall. This doesn’t mean that the clarity of the iems like ea1000 or the timeless ae is lost they improve on them too. When listening to the songs like the 1985 live album the soundstage depth and width sounded really good specially with more power. Vocals like yourshika and yoasobi sounded crisp but not being too over the top.
15. I particularly used the xbass mode a lot when paired with the ea1000 that slight boost of bass along with the ea1000’s overall signature sounded majestic! In songs like crack crack crackle by classy I got the extra thump of the bass and it made the song well rounded and sounded really good.
16. All this awesome sound via ldac and been sort of wire free and being able to take calls was really convenient. I will give a mic sample of the ifi go blu now, you can have a listen at it.
17. I had no pairing issues with the go blu, as I said it doesn’t have any app. But if you wanted to update the firmware there is an android app you can download and use to upgrade the firmware and change basic features like name of the device and also the codec you want. For example if you only want to use the ldac codec you can do that via this app. I will leave a link down below, so that you can check it out.
https://ifi-audio.com/support/download-hub/
18. The app cant be downloaded unless you give the serial number of the device, which is very weird in my opinion. I will show some screenshots now so you can see it.
19. The go blu makes a great no fuss purchase and is really awesome with the sound it produced and the way it pairs with most iems. But what might turn of most people is the lack of an app and specially the lack of a detailed and robust app like the qudelix 5K. For me personally I do not mind it, but yes it would have been nice if there was an app like the 5K so for those who like tinkering could do that.
20. Comparing with the Btr5 I prefer the go blue any time of the day.
21. Comparing with the Muse Hifi M4 the GO blu has a much warmer sound than the M4 which has a very neutral sound. If bought with the clip case you can even clip the go blue which the M4 lacks. Also the mic of the M4 is very bad unlike the go blu’s. Physically the M4 is bigger too but this all falls shorts when you see that the M4 is almost half the price of the go blu. It really depends on how much you want to spend, also one more thing the M4’s 2.5mm has its left and right side reversed so if you 2.5mm.
22. That was my review of the IFI go blu, I hope you liked it.
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day ahead! Bye!
If you have any questions please feel free to ask me and also if you have any issues regarding this format of review please do comment I will try to mend it. Also sorry to those who are used to reading long paragraphs of review in headfi. I hope my review was upto the mark, I appreciate any feedback.
Again a big thanks to IFI Audio for making this review happen.
Have a great day ahead
Attachments
Introduction:-
Hello Guys, We have the Fosi Audio N3 in for review. It is a small Bluetooth dac which costs around $40-60 depending where you buy it form. This also has a bass up button which is something akin to the xbass button from ifi dacs.
I have also shared a video version of the review at YouTube any support there in form of a view, A like or A subscribe is greatly appreciated. But if you so wish to read the written version you can read this.
This was a review unit from Fosi audio, All the thoughts and opinions are my own. Fosi audio also shared with me a small coupon code which you can use and get a small discount. I earn no money from this. But rather it is just a small discount code for you to use.
Buy it here (Unaffiliated link) :-
Official website: https://fosiaudio.com/products/fosi-audio-n3-portable-bluetooth-headphone-amplifier-receiver
Promo code: MKTN310 (used on the official site only)
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CJB45YFM
Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0CJB45YFM
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CJB45YFM
Amazon DE: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0CJB45YFM
Amazon FR: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0CJB45YFM
Amazon IT: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B0CJB45YFM
Amazon ES: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B0CJB45YFM
I will be as usual following my bullet style format for better readability for those who are dyslexic and in general find it hard to read long paragraphs. I follow this guide in general from the British Dyslexia Association.
Lets start the review
Review:-
1. Well the packaging is very simple it has the dac and the cable.
2. The dac is built of aluminium
3. Physically it is very compact and quite pocketable too.
4. It has a nice volume knob on the corner which makes it nice and easy to control the volume.
5. Fosi audio doesn’t specify what dac it uses but it does have an OPA1656
6. It can have upto 138mw of power at 32 ohms
7. The 1200mah battery for me lasted around 9 hours 20 minutes when playing the moondrop chu 2 at 30% volume in low gain. The stated battery life is at 10 hours.
8. Sadly the codec it supports are only aac and sbc. No ldac or aptx here
9. The Bluetooth range quite ok
10. There is a gain switch which works well for some hard to power iems. Although for me most iems even the kara ran fine on low gain.
11. It also has an option for line in/ aux signal and can be used to amplify that to an iem. This is a feature addition to bluetooth
12. The overall sound quality is ok nothing great. It presents the sound as you would generally hear.
13. The included bass boost is an awesome feature which I like very much, and the bass boost is subtle bass boost. Which makes it great for low volume listening and also for bass lean iems.
14. One of the biggest gripe for me is the static sound it makes when when listening to anything. Although its not so apparent when using it and listening to songs. But on idle its very much an issue, and I could see someone not liking it.
15. While for the budget price I wouldn't expect it to be perfect but the noise floor is quite high specially when using sensitive iems like the nova or fan 2. With hard to drive iems like kara it minimizes away a lot.
16. Well overall this is a short review, I think so its a decent device specially for the price. And the bass button is a very nice addition along with it being able to work as an aux port for car.
17. I highly suggest trying it from Amazon or from somewhere where you have good return policy. So if it has noise issues like my unit you can return it easily. If it doesn’t, well you have an a nice bluetooth dac amp for a budget price.
18. So that was my review, i hope you liked it. Thanks for stopping by, have a great day ahead! Bye!
If you have any questions please feel free to ask me and also if you have any issues regarding this format of review please do comment I will try to mend it. Also sorry to those who are used to reading long paragraphs of review in headfi. I hope my review was upto the mark, I appreciate any feedback.
Again a big thanks to Fosi Audio for making this review happen.
Have a great day ahead
Introduction:-
Hello guys today I will be reviewing the TRN CS4. Its an ultra budget iem from TRN which comes at $8 and you can get it as a dsp too!
I have also shared a video version of the review at YouTube any support there in form of a view, A like or A subscribe is greatly appreciated. But if you so wish to read the written version you can read this.
This was a review unit from Shenzhen audio and all the thoughts and opinions are my own.
You can buy it here (unaffiliated link) :-
https://shenzhenaudio.com/products/trn-cs4-10mm-dynamic-driver-dual-magnet-in-ear-headphone
I will be as usual following my bullet style format for better readability for those who are dyslexic and in general find it hard to read long paragraphs. I follow this guide in general from the British Dyslexia Association.
Lets get started!
Review:-
1. The packaging of the cs4 is very simple. It comes with the iems, the cable, a generic pair of tips and the trn t tips applied to the iem which is very nice addition.
2. They have one 10mm dynamic driver
3. It seems a bit bigger than they are supposed to be in my opinion and there seems to be a lot of empty places.
4. The fit is quite odd and I had to play around it with a lot to get a secure fit. The applied TRN t tips helped me out a lot.
5. They are very easy to drive with smartphones.
6. I will be using the Hiby FC6, Fiio BTR5, IFI Hip Dac 3, IFI Go Blu, Colorfly CDA M1, Colorlfy CDA M2, Muse Hifi M4, Fosi Audio N3, Aune Yuki, Hiby M300, Akliam PD4 Plus, Kinera Usb C dongle dac, Razer Usb c dongle dac & My smartphone
7. Lets talk about the sound quality
8. The overall tone and timbre is very thin
9. The bass is very light
10. Crack crack crackly by classy is very thin and light sounds very meh.
11. When listening to waltz by sunny the bass extension and the quality of the sub bass sounds ok for the price but its the overall thinness and lack dyanmicness leaves me longing for more.
12. Male vocals take a back seat
13. Thicker and richer male vocals sounds a bit lost and don’t have that same body I would expect.
14. The female vocals is the region it does quite well. The female vocal sounds very good but at low volumes
15. If you increase the volume a tad bit it becomes quite shrilly and unbearable.
16. The treble is quite ok but again at low volumes. If you increase the volumes it becomes shouty and piercy.
17. Soundstage is surprisingly good and competes with iem above its price range. While the average is imaging is ok for the price.
18. Now for recommendation I would only recommend buying it only if you have a strict budget of under $10
19. If you want a beater iem I would suggest the hidizs ms1 as the warm sound signature comes across quite well. The cs4 comes across overall quite thin an uninspiring, I mean for its price I cannot ask much but still.
20. I personally would suggest spending the double money and get atleast moondrop chu 2 from shenzhen audio. I know its double the money but for double the money you get much better performance overall.
21. While in its own the cs4 is a good enough iem if you listen to jpop and similar songs but falls apart quite quick if you try other genre. Again many of the things mentioned here are nitpick for its budget price point, but I cannot stress enough that spending a tad bit more and upgrading to the likes of chu 2 will get you a much better performance.
22. So that was my review, i hope you liked it. Thanks for stopping by, have a great day ahead! Bye!
If you have any questions please feel free to ask me and also if you have any issues regarding this format of review please do comment I will try to mend it. Also sorry to those who are used to reading long paragraphs of review in headfi. I hope my review was upto the mark, I appreciate any feedback.
Again a big thanks to Shenzhen Audio for making this review possible.
Have a great day ahead
Hello guys today I will be reviewing the TRN CS4. Its an ultra budget iem from TRN which comes at $8 and you can get it as a dsp too!
I have also shared a video version of the review at YouTube any support there in form of a view, A like or A subscribe is greatly appreciated. But if you so wish to read the written version you can read this.
This was a review unit from Shenzhen audio and all the thoughts and opinions are my own.
You can buy it here (unaffiliated link) :-
https://shenzhenaudio.com/products/trn-cs4-10mm-dynamic-driver-dual-magnet-in-ear-headphone
I will be as usual following my bullet style format for better readability for those who are dyslexic and in general find it hard to read long paragraphs. I follow this guide in general from the British Dyslexia Association.
Lets get started!
Review:-
1. The packaging of the cs4 is very simple. It comes with the iems, the cable, a generic pair of tips and the trn t tips applied to the iem which is very nice addition.
2. They have one 10mm dynamic driver
3. It seems a bit bigger than they are supposed to be in my opinion and there seems to be a lot of empty places.
4. The fit is quite odd and I had to play around it with a lot to get a secure fit. The applied TRN t tips helped me out a lot.
5. They are very easy to drive with smartphones.
6. I will be using the Hiby FC6, Fiio BTR5, IFI Hip Dac 3, IFI Go Blu, Colorfly CDA M1, Colorlfy CDA M2, Muse Hifi M4, Fosi Audio N3, Aune Yuki, Hiby M300, Akliam PD4 Plus, Kinera Usb C dongle dac, Razer Usb c dongle dac & My smartphone
7. Lets talk about the sound quality
8. The overall tone and timbre is very thin
9. The bass is very light
10. Crack crack crackly by classy is very thin and light sounds very meh.
11. When listening to waltz by sunny the bass extension and the quality of the sub bass sounds ok for the price but its the overall thinness and lack dyanmicness leaves me longing for more.
12. Male vocals take a back seat
13. Thicker and richer male vocals sounds a bit lost and don’t have that same body I would expect.
14. The female vocals is the region it does quite well. The female vocal sounds very good but at low volumes
15. If you increase the volume a tad bit it becomes quite shrilly and unbearable.
16. The treble is quite ok but again at low volumes. If you increase the volumes it becomes shouty and piercy.
17. Soundstage is surprisingly good and competes with iem above its price range. While the average is imaging is ok for the price.
18. Now for recommendation I would only recommend buying it only if you have a strict budget of under $10
19. If you want a beater iem I would suggest the hidizs ms1 as the warm sound signature comes across quite well. The cs4 comes across overall quite thin an uninspiring, I mean for its price I cannot ask much but still.
20. I personally would suggest spending the double money and get atleast moondrop chu 2 from shenzhen audio. I know its double the money but for double the money you get much better performance overall.
21. While in its own the cs4 is a good enough iem if you listen to jpop and similar songs but falls apart quite quick if you try other genre. Again many of the things mentioned here are nitpick for its budget price point, but I cannot stress enough that spending a tad bit more and upgrading to the likes of chu 2 will get you a much better performance.
22. So that was my review, i hope you liked it. Thanks for stopping by, have a great day ahead! Bye!
If you have any questions please feel free to ask me and also if you have any issues regarding this format of review please do comment I will try to mend it. Also sorry to those who are used to reading long paragraphs of review in headfi. I hope my review was upto the mark, I appreciate any feedback.
Again a big thanks to Shenzhen Audio for making this review possible.
Have a great day ahead
Introduction:-
Hello guys, Today I will review the EPZ g10. Its an iem which is targetted towards the gaming audience. Also it has a small party trick where in you can use the included UV light and it turns the faceplate green for few seconds.
I have also shared a video version of the review at YouTube any support there in form of a view, A like or A subscribe is greatly appreciated. But if you so wish to read the written version you can read this.
Before I start the review I would like to say thanks to EPZ for sending me the review unit, but all the thoughts and opinions you are about to hear are my own.
You can buy the it here (unaffiliated link) :-
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805423886165.html?
If neither of the links work, then search for "EPZ G10" in aliexpress and buy the one from the official EPZ store.
I will be as usual following my bullet style format for better readability for those who are dyslexic and in general find it hard to read long paragraphs. I follow this guide in general from the British Dyslexia Association.
So lets start the review!
Build Quality, Comfort and Accessories :-
1. The price of it is $35
2. They come with the iem, cable which has a mic, a Uv light, 3 pair of white and black tips each, a pouch and a headphone splitter for your computer.
3. The muted faceplate of the iem looks very good.
4. Using the provided UV light you can see that the faceplate turns green for few seconds. I don’t know why it is provided, but hey it is cool.
5. The cable also has a mic, who test I will give now.
Sound Signature:-
1. I would say the overall sound signature is V with leaning towards the bright
2. They sound very very very similar to the Q5
3. If anything I would say these sound even more spicy on the upper mid range.
4. I will be using the Hiby FC6, Fiio BTR5, IFI Hip Dac 3, IFI Go Blu, Colorfly CDA M1, Colorlfy CDA M2, Muse Hifi M4, Fosi Audio N3, Aune Yuki, Hiby M300, Akliam PD4 Plus, Kinera Usb C dongle dac, Razer Usb c dongle dac & My smartphone
Bass-
1. The overall bass is very light, specially for an iem oriented towards gaming
2. The bass is more sub-bass focused than mid-bass focused.
3. There is no mid-bass bleed, hence instruments sound quite good.
4. Where it does fall is when listening to songs like crack crack crackle like classy, while the bass has a great quality it lacks that overall punch and thump I would need to enjoy the sound.
5. When using the Xbass mode of the ifi hip dac 3 it sounds OK at lower volumes but distorts at higher volume
Mids-
1. The mids overall is quite ok and takes a bit of a back seat
2. The male vocals from Chris Cornell, Bill withers etc. doesn't have that richness and thickness I would like.
3. The female vocals is where it shines at plays very well here. It plays it so well that few might hav issues with and could be too much for many here.
4. This could get a bit spicy when listening to it at higher volumes or if you are very sensitive to it. But at low volume level it does sound ok and manageable
Treble-
1. The overall treble is kind surprising as to how good it is, in my opinion the treble here is better than the Q5
2. It has this very clean representation here
3. While the Q5 was treblehead, this has a very clean treble without being too much.
4. Although It could get a bit sibilant for some, so I wouldn't suggest this to people who are very sensitive to this.
Technicalities -
For this price range its ok, if the track gets too busy I think it falls very quick.
Soundstage -
Soundstage is good, It has a good ball of soundstage.
Imaging -
This to is very good, and the left and right transition when playing games is very good. Probably its strongest point.
Gaming test -
1. Now again the case is very similar to the Q5 here, you would expect it to do good while gaming here. But ehh…
2. While the G10 does help in most aspects of the game, but while playing if the situation got too busy it did sounded shrilly and it became to piercy even though the overall treble is better than the Q5.
Recommendations:-
1. Well I was quite excited for the G10, while I do think EPZ has a lot of potential specially with the industrial experience they have.
2. The G10 is quite ok for the price specially if you are a treblehead, but while gaming I think it lacks that bass punch which might be a bit off putting.
3. I hope EPZ could revise the G10 with tad bit more bass and tame the upper mids and treble a bit to make it sound more balanced. That could be very well done for gaming.
4. That was my review of the EPZ g10, I hope you liked it.
If you have any questions please feel free to ask me and also if you have any issues regarding this format of review please do comment I will try to mend it. Also sorry to those who are used to reading long paragraphs of review in headfi. I hope my review was upto the mark, I appreciate any feedback.
Again a big thanks to EPZ for making this review possible.
Have a great day ahead
Introduction:-
Hey guys today I will review the GeekWold Gk10s. This costs about $50 and is an upgrade from the GK10.
I have also shared a video version of the review at YouTube any support there in form of a view, A like or A subscribe is greatly appreciated. But if you so wish to read the written version you can read this.
This was a review unit from geekwold and all thoughts and opinions are my own.
You can buy the Geekwold GK10s here :-
Search about it on aliexpress and you can buy it from your favourite seller. Geekwold doesn't seem to have any official store.
I will be as usual following my bullet style format for better readability for those who are dyslexic and in general find it hard to read long paragraphs. I follow this guide in general from the British Dyslexia Association.
Lets get started!
Build, Comfort and Accessories:-
1. The packing is very simple it comes with the iem, a very good 2 core cable, some generic tips and the a pouch to carry.
2. I really like this funky heart shape of the iem.
3. They are quite comfortable to hear and can be worn for long periods of time without any issue
Sound Impressions:-
1. The overall sound is very dark
2. It uses 1BA + 2Pizeo electric + 2DD as its driver configuration
3. They are very easy to drive
4. The overall tonality is quite ok and there is no ba timbre
5. I will be using the Hiby FC6, Fiio BTR5, IFI Hip Dac 3, IFI Go Blu, Colorfly CDA M1, Colorlfy CDA M2, Muse Hifi M4, Fosi Audio N3, Aune Yuki, Hiby M300, Akliam PD4 Plus, Kinera Usb C dongle dac, Razer Usb c dongle dac & My smartphone
Bass-
1. Well the overall bass is ok for the price
2. The sub-bass is nothing great for the price.
3. The mid-bass too is ok.
4. Both the sub-bass and mid bass the overall hits and punchiness lacks a lot, while the quantity is ok but I do feel in songs like crack crack crackle by classy the punchiness and thump lacks quite a bit
Mids-
1. The mids are surprisingly ok for the price but there are lot better at this price point
2. The male mids sounds ok
3. the female sounds detailed and very good surprisngly
Treble-
1. Now this is where the iem falls apart
2. After the vocals the iem doesn’t have anything no details
3. So you have this meh bass and this limp treble
Technicalities:-
There is none in my opinion, as the overall area is very very very dark.
Soundstage:-
The soundstage is meh too as its very cramped, I personally prefer a wide soundstage. But if you like a cramped soundstage this might for you.
Imaging:-
The imaging is below average.
Final Thoughts:-
1. Now I want to address one thing, I did see that the quite a few people who liked the gk10s.
2. But I also did see that who had the same conclusion as me on the gk10s, idk if what I got is the final tuning or if this is broken.
3. I did see akros’s review he too had the same issues with the iem.
4. Now as usual geekwold doesn’t see the review before you, if there is an update on this I will make an entirely new review and let you know.
5. As of now I don recommend the GK10s. If you want a warm sounding iem at this price range the Artti r1 makes for a great purchase, if you want something a tad bit more neutral which sounds clean then the simgot ew200 is another option. If you want something like ew200 but with even wider soundstage then the aoshida e20 is a great option.
6. So yea that was my review on the Gk10s. I hope you liked it, have a great day bye!
If you have any questions please feel free to ask me and also if you have any issues regarding this format of review please do comment I will try to mend it. Also sorry to those who are used to reading long paragraphs of review in headfi. I hope my review was upto the mark, I appreciate any feedback.
Again a big thanks to Geekwold for making this review possible.
Have a great day ahead
PhonoPhi
Shill is a shill, moose, you are nearly perfectly synonymous with it, rhyme with it, a pure fact of life.
Businness is a business, understandably, but then the reputation is the reputation to live with... You can't have both!
Businness is a business, understandably, but then the reputation is the reputation to live with... You can't have both!
ICYGENIUS
@hokagoteatimereviews
I don’t think there should be such a big difference between the samples in this case it’s not ok, since in one review it is described as super and very good with better high frequency detail, but yours is dark, haha, as always, respect for your honesty bro, here you go what's most important
I don’t think there should be such a big difference between the samples in this case it’s not ok, since in one review it is described as super and very good with better high frequency detail, but yours is dark, haha, as always, respect for your honesty bro, here you go what's most important
Redcarmoose
Well, after a while the midrange DD came out of the woodwork? When the GK10s first arrived YouTube video reviews said it was too dark and was missing forward vocals. OTB........meaning I thought it was dark at first due to the vocals, which were buried and not forward in any way. 100hrs of burn-in loosened up that midrange driver maybe?
Introduction:-
Hello guys today I am going to review the Moondrop May, its a DSP Iem from moondrop which has had a lot of buzz surrounding it.
I have also shared a video version of the review at YouTube any support there in form of a view, A like or A subscribe is greatly appreciated. But if you so wish to read the written version you can read this.
This was a review unit sent by Shenzhen audio but all the thoughts and opinions are my own.
You can buy the May here (unaffiliated Link) :-
https://shenzhenaudio.com/products/moondrop-may-dd-planar-in-ear-headphone
Also just want to say that my format for this review unlike other iem reviews will be a bit different as I will cover some other tips which generally don’t come with most iems.
I will be as usual following my bullet style format for better readability for those who are dyslexic and in general find it hard to read long paragraphs. I follow this guide in general from the British Dyslexia Association.
So Lets start!
Review:-
1. So the outside packaging of the moondrop is beautiful as usual and it looks really fabulous. They cost $65
2. Inside the box it comes with the same case as aria 2 which is really good the iem, the dsp cable, and 3 pairs of tips.
3. the tips provided are plain awful as they don’t fit the iem and I spent literally 20-30 minutes to fit them in. So I gave up the hope and I am using the TRN t tips which fits quite easily and they have more grip to than the provided tips.
4. Now as the cable supplied is the same as the cdsp but there is a chip which says that it is the may inside the app.
5. Now talking about the overall sound. I will be talking about the stock sound with the dsp cable
6. The overall bass is really good! I love the quantity of sub-bass and the punch and thump it had.
7. The mid-bass too had a great body and doesn’t bleed. The balance between the sub-bass and mid-bass is done really well.
8. The overall tone and timbre seems really good nothing off here.
9. The overall sound signature is very well done specially for rap, r&b and hip-hop
10. Now coming to mids
11. The male vocals does take a back seat but the test track of my male vocals does sound plenty good.
12. Female vocals is where it shines at imo, although for some it could get a bit spicy here and they might find it bit more shrilly here specially at higher volumes. Like when listening to idol by yoasobi at high volumes it becomes to much sometimes.
13. The high in my opinion is quite well done and the overall balance between the upper mids and treble seems to be done really well.
14. The overall technicality seems quite good for the price. Although nothing exceptional here as the ew200 (although it is a normal 3.5mm) has good technicalities. The overall technicalities is better in the ew200 than the may
15. Soundstage is quite ok and very well rounded. It has equal amounts of width and depth.
16. Imaging too is decent and the transitioning from left to right and vice versa is quite good too.
17. Now talking about the different presets. I personally prefer the stock preset which comes out of the box as that is what suites the may best in my opinion.
18. The basshead tuning gives it even more bass and it makes it sound too dark as the already meh treble gets masked by the over arching amount of bass.
19. The reference tuning sounds ok but then again the soundstage here suffers and also the bass becomes quite limp over here
20. The no bass tuning Is exactly what is and gives a flat bass
21. The harman style is something my second favourite here but it does sounds a bit wonky specially with vocals.
22. Now using the PEQ is something I stay away from as I particularly didn’t find anything enticing here except maybe boosting the treble a bit.
23. Now one good thing is all the settings you change stays inside the cable so you can use it anywhere.
24. Also there are frequent disconnects with the app that is everytime even though the may is connected I have to disconnect and connect and force close the moondrop app and then it works.
25. Also sometimes the dsp cable is working properly but if I connect it and then the app doesn’t detect the cable so I repeat the troubleshooting step I mentioned just few seconds before the previous setting vanishes and the factory setting gets apply.
26. I still think you should have a look at the may as believe it or not I have been using it the most (obviously without the app) as the usb c is very convenient.
27. I think so if you can get them in sale I think they make a great value with the usb c cable and iem. That was my review of the Moondrop may
28. You can have a listen to the mic quality on my YouTube video at the 7:21
If you have any questions please feel free to ask me and also if you have any issues regarding this format of review please do comment I will try to mend it. Also sorry to those who are used to reading long paragraphs of review in headfi. I hope my review was upto the mark, I appreciate any feedback.
Again a big thanks to ShenzhenAudio for making this review happen.
Have a great day ahead
Introduction:-
Hey everyone, today I will be reviewing the Akliam PD4 Plus. I am really excited for this budget dongle. As for the price of $54 this is a really good dongle.
I have also shared a video version of the review at YouTube any support there in form of a view, A like or A subscribe is greatly appreciated. But if you so wish to read the written version you can read this.
This is a review unit from Akliam, But all the thoughts and opinions you are about to hear are my own.
You can buy the Akliam PD4 Plus below (Unaffiliated Link) :-
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3256805976528283.html?
Apparently for some people the link isn't working. So please try searching for "Akliam PD4 Plus" on aliexpress and then buy the one from the official Akliam store.
As usual since this is not an iem review the format of the review will be a bit different
I will be as usual following my bullet style format for better readability for those who are dyslexic and in general find it hard to read long paragraphs. I follow this guide in general from the British Dyslexia Association.
Lets start the review!
Review:-
1. Well the packaging is very simple and minimal and effective. It has the dongle, the usb c to c cable and usb c to usb a converter. I love this simple packaging as it cover all devices. If you want the lightning version please do message them on aliexpress and they can ship you with a lightning cable rather than the usb c.
2. The dac works well with iphone 15 series. I have checked it.
3. It has volume up and down button, the high and low gain button and also a button which I love! Is the play pause button. Almost no dongle dac has the play pause button and here this has it and it works as intended.
4. It can go upto 138mw on 3.5mm at 32ohms and on 4.4mm it can go upto 310mw at 32 ohms.
5. For my collection it drove everything without any issues from 3.5mm
6. Talking about the volume button it has 64 independent volume steps. But there is one small issue I found or could be a feature for some. Is that the volume doesn’t go to zero or mute it but rather the lowest volume setting at 1 still has some sound. Although not much big of a deal, still thought of mentioning it.
7. This uses a dual CS43131 dac and USB audio bridge chip SA9312. It also has a Dual CRYSTEK crystal oscillator.
8. It supports upto PCM 384Khz and DSD 256
9. To talk about the sound they sound very natural yet very detailed.
10. Now as usual its hard to guess a sound of the dac by on its own but rather I need to a-b it to other dac. And also what iem you pair it depends too.
11. The timbre and tonality is quite good and iems like kara, fan 2, nova sounds very good here.
12. The entire range is very neutral.
13. But when listening to the high frequencies there is great amount of crispness but it isnt piercy.
14. The soundstage is wide opens up more power hungry iems like the kara.
15. With iems like ea1000 and aoshida e20 it does a great job with them and it cuts down on the harshness from them a bit while being detailed.
16. For battery test I got around 15.5 hours with smartphone having 5000mah battery using the chu 2 at 30% volume.
17. It does get a tad bit hot although never unbearable.
18. The glass window looks great and is an eye catcher for sure. But I am bit a scared that I might break it if I am rough with it. Also please remove the plastic sticker it has otherwise it scratches very easily.
19. The PD4 plus is fantastic budget product for its MSRP of $54 or an even better buy at $45 when on sale.
20. If you are looking for a dongle but want something with 4.4mm jack and much power but don’t want to break the bank. And also only dongle with play pause button. Then this is the dongle to get.
21. If I had a favourite audio product list then this sure would be on that list. Its an easy recommendation for me for a budget dongle.
22. So that was my review, i hope you liked it. Thanks for stopping by, have a great day ahead! Bye!
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day ahead! Bye!
If you have any questions please feel free to ask me and also if you have any issues regarding this format of review please do comment I will try to mend it. Also sorry to those who are used to reading long paragraphs of review in headfi. I hope my review was upto the mark, I appreciate any feedback.
Again a big thanks to Akliam for making this review happen.
Have a great day ahead
Zeka
Are there any clicks and pops when the sample rate is changed, or some lag at the beginning of the playlist?
hokagoteatimereviews
Hey! No I didn't notice anything like that. It works perfectly fine and even the play pause works surprisingly well too.
Introduction:-
Hey everyone, today we have the Celest Plutus beast. Its a $89 tribid iem from Celest. It is nice to see a not harman tuned iem at this price point.
I have also shared a video version of the review at YouTube any support there in form of a view, A like or A subscribe is greatly appreciated. But if you so wish to read the written version you can read this.
Before I start the review I want to say huge thanks yo Hifigo for sending this review unit and all the thoughts and opinions you are about to hear are my own.
You can buy them here (Unaffiliated Link) :-
HiFiGo Web：https://hifigo.com/products/kinera-celest-plutus-beast
Amazon JP：https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0CR63TMB2/kinera+celest+plutus+beast/
Amazon US：https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CR5QNDD9/kinera+celest+plutus+beast/
Aliexpress：https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006408658667.html
I will be as usual following my bullet style format for better readability for those who are dyslexic and in general find it hard to read long paragraphs. I follow this guide in general from the British Dyslexia Association.
So lets get started!
Build Quality, Comfort and accessories:-
1. The packaging as it is from kinera and its sister brands is really good.
2. It comes with the iem, a beautiful cable, a good looking tan cloured case, cleaning brush and the celest vocal tips and the balanced tips. It also has the usual lore about the name of the iem and a key chain. I personally really like this and am a fan of this.
3. They are a bit big on your ears when compared to most iems, but they are quite comfortable to wear. Although super long wearing session would be a pain to use
4. The shells of the iem are made out of resin and is of very high quality also I quite like the faceplate design. I would have preferred without the name, then again that's just me.
5. The cable is quite supple and very nice too.
6. They have 1 Bone conduction driver + 1 BA driver + 1 Square planar driver
Sound Impressions:-
1. The overall sound impressions it gives me is that of a v shape but with its own unique taste to it.
2. I used all the stock setups for my review. With me using the balanced tips for the review
3. There is a slight BA timbre in some places
4. They are very easy to drive with smartphones too
5. I will be using the Hiby FC6, Fiio BTR5, IFI Hip Dac 3, IFI Go Blu, Colorfly CDA M1, Colorlfy CDA M2, Muse Hifi M4, Fosi Audio N3, Aune Yuki, Hiby M300, Akliam PD4 Plus, Kinera Usb C dongle dac, Razer Usb c dongle dac & My smartphone
Bass-
1. The bass is here very good
2. It is very thunderous and very impactful
3. When listening to Waltz by Sunny or Crack Crack Crackle by classy, the bass of these tracks and the attack of the bass is really crisp and punchy. This is what I would expect form these tracks.
4. The overall bass is more sub-bass focused than mid-bass. There is a bit of mid-bass bleed.
5. When listening to Hollow 16-bit remix by Bjork there is a huge rumble at around 20 second mark and that feels so good and has this fantastic rumble which is great to listen too.
6. But do remember one thing, that the iem needs to touch your ears or else the bass doesn’t really come across like I described.
Mids-
1. The overall vocals are a bit recessed.
2. When listening to male vocals like the ones from Chris Cornell, Bill withers etc. their thick velvety voice come across really well. It sounds really lovely as the texture of their vocals is really good.
3. Now female vocals are quite good, they have good forwardness. But they sound a tad bit unnatural, now this is to be expected as it is quite hard to balance between a thick male vocals and a shimmery female vocals
4. At higher volumes the upper mids could get a bit fatiguing and could be a bit shrilly.
Treble-
1. The overall treble is quite laidback
2. The treble after the upper mids does fall off a bit
3. I could describe the treble here as dark and is a great for someone who is very treble sensitive.
Technicalities:-
The overall technicalities here is a bit affected as they are not the best at it. If you want a highly resolving iem then this isn't for you, but it makes a great alternative for those who are very treble sensitive.
Soundstage & Imaging:-
The soundstage here is average as it has a decent enough depth and width when it comes to that. The imaging is just serviceable and nothing great, the left to right transition is quite slow and not that crisp.
Gaming Test:-
Now when gaming the gunshots or anything quite happening during a scene the bass was really hearty and I felt that thump on my head. But the average soundstage and imaging was not the best and not most resolving when trying to understand the situation of the game.
Comparison & Recommendation:-
1. v/s Phoenixcall – They have a more better soundstage, imaging and also resolution when compared to the Plutus beast. But the plutus beast has a much better bass quantity and quality than the phoenixcall. Although the plutus beast almost $40 cheaper.
2. v/s GeekWold GK20 – Gk20 are the exact polar opposites as they are a clean sounding v shaped iem, while these have quite a big shelf of bass and the over resolution lacks when compared to the GK20. Both are priced quite similar.
3. Well overall I think they make a great iem if you are looking for something very dark sounding or something which isn't treble fatiguing.
4. I think so its nice to see a change from the usual harman tuned iem, while this isn't a basshead iem but it just skirts with the basshead territory
5. The fit could be an issue for some as they are bit bulbous specially if you have smaller ears
6. So that was my review, i hope you liked it. Thanks for stopping by, have a great day ahead! Bye!
If you have any questions please feel free to ask me and also if you have any issues regarding this format of review please do comment I will try to mend it. Also sorry to those who are used to reading long paragraphs of review in headfi. I hope my review was upto the mark, I appreciate any feedback.
Again a big thanks to Hifigo for making this review possible.
Have a great day ahead
Introduction:-
Hello guys, today I will be reviewing the EPZ Q5. So epz has been in the audio game for a long time, but its recently they have started making iem an dother products under them own name. Before they were purely an ODM/OEM brand making parts or iems for other brands.
So the Q5 is a sort of a new iem from them.
I have also shared a video version of the review at YouTube any support there in form of a view, A like or A subscribe is greatly appreciated. But if you so wish to read the written version you can read this.
Before I start the review I would like to say thanks to EPZ for sending me the review unit, but all the thoughts and opinions you are about to hear are my own.
You can buy them here (Unaffiliated link) :- https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805604304671
I will be as usual following my bullet style format for better readability for those who are dyslexic and in general find it hard to read long paragraphs. I follow this guide in general from the British Dyslexia Association.
So lets start the review!
Build Quality, Comfort and Accessories :-
1. The packaging for its price of $50 or even less when during the sale is absolutely fantastic
2. It comes with the iem which looks like the meze advar, the mmcx cable which is very supple and nice, 3 pairs of small bore and 3 pairs of wide bore tips, a fantastic carrying case and also a cleaning cloth.
3. I don’t mind the MMCX connector but a 2 pin might have been better here. Also the build quality for its price is really good
4. The carrying case is absolutely perfect size when using it daily.
5. I have the black colour, and then are very comfortable to wear and I can wear them for 5-6 hours easy.
6. They have a quite a bit of driver flex and also they are quite easy to drive
7. They have a 10 mm ceramic carbon nano dynamic driver
Sound Signature:-
1. I would say the overall sound signature is V with leaning towards the bright
2. I have used the narrow bore tips as that gives me tad more bass although it does narrow the soundstage a bit.
3. It has great tonality and timbre
4. I will be using the Hiby FC6, Fiio BTR5, IFI Hip Dac 3, IFI Go Blu, Colorfly CDA M1, Colorlfy CDA M2, Muse Hifi M4, Fosi Audio N3, Aune Yuki, Hiby M300, Akliam PD4 Plus, Kinera Usb C dongle dac, Razer Usb c dongle dac & My smartphone
Bass-
1. The overall bass is very light, although the quality of it is quite decent for the price.
2. The bass is more sub-bass focused than mid-bass focused.
3. There is no mid-bass bleed, hence the instruments from my test tracks sounds really clean and well controlled for the price.
4. Where it does fall is when listening to songs like crack crack crackle like classy, while the bass has a great quality it lacks that overall punch and thump I would need to enjoy the sound.
5. When using the Xbass mode of the ifi hip dac 3 it sounds really good and doesn’t distort.
Mids-
1. The mids overall is quite ok and takes a back seat
2. The male vocals from Chris Cornell, Bill withers etc. doesn't have that richness and thickness I would like. Although lighter sounding male vocals like the ones from Flumpool, Spitz etc. sounds quite good
3. The female vocals is where it shines at plays very well here.
4. Although again this could get a bit spicy when listening to it at higher volumes or if you are very sensitive to it. But at low volume level it does sound very good and clean with the right song
Treble-
1. The overall treble is kind surprising as to how good it is
2. It has this very clean representation here
3. If you are a treblehead you will like this very much
4. It could get a bit sibilant for some, so I wouldn't suggest this to people who are sensitive to this.
Technicalities -
For this price range I could say it probably is the best out there, it reminds me a bit of the geekwold Gk20. When listening to the live album of Casiopea from 1985, the instrument separation was really good.
Soundstage -
This is surprisingly good, I was quite shocked as to how good these were it has equal amounts of depth and width giving it a very well rounded soundstage for this price.
Imaging -
This to is very good, and the left and right transition when watching any movies was great. Listening to yumeji by Nano. Ripe the initial few seconds sounded really good with the awesome imaging.
Gaming test -
1. Now with the great soundstage and imaging you would expect a great gaming experience, well yes and no
2. While these does help in most aspects of the game, but while playing if the situation got too busy it did sounded shrilly and it became to piercy.
3. Although these are ok for occasional gaming, I wouldn't suggest them buying just for gaming.
Comparison & Recommendations :-
1. V/S Ew200 – They are both very similar but I feel at this price point the Ew200 makes a better case with the bass having a better texture. Although the Q5 has better female vocals and more treble extension uptop, those who find the EW200 to be thin or sparkly the Q5 takes it few notches above.
2. V/S BGVP P05 – The p05 is exact opposite and it is a great warm sounding iem with much greater bass. They both have similar soundstage, while the imaging on the Q5 is better. If you like a more darker signature then the P05 should be your option
3. V/S Aoshida E20 – The e20 follows the harman target quite closely. The E20 has a larger soundstage but the Q5 has better imagine. When wearing them the E20 is much lighter while the Q5 is much more smaller. But overall I prefer the presentation of the E20 a bit better, although the packaging of the Q5 for under 50 is much better than the E20
4. Well overall I do think the Q5 is very clean sounding iem. If you want a very clean sounding iem and listen to lot of live J-pop performance this is a great choice.
5. But If you listen to any genre where bass is needed I would advice you not to buy and look at other option, although this iem appreciates the treblehead it could be quite too much for many.
6. This was my review of the Q5, I hope you liked it.
If you have any questions please feel free to ask me and also if you have any issues regarding this format of review please do comment I will try to mend it. Also sorry to those who are used to reading long paragraphs of review in headfi. I hope my review was upto the mark, I appreciate any feedback.
Again a big thanks to EPZ for making this review possible.
Have a great day ahead
hokagoteatimereviews
Yes I get it for some this could be a deal breaker, but since so many tech products and other products look similar too each other. That maybe I have been a bit indifferent to it 
Introduction:-
Hello Guys, today I will be reviewing the IFI Hip dac 3. I have always been excited about the ifi products in general, one of the big reason been is the x-bass button. I have always wondered why more companies don’t do something similar like this. It such an awesome feature to have in my opinion.
This was my first time testing a feature like this and it lived upto to my every expectation. Also this is my first time testing an ifi product, so lets find out more about it.
I have also shared a video version of the review at YouTube any support there in form of a view, A like or A subscribe is greatly appreciated. But if you so wish to read the written version you can read this.
You can buy the Ifi Hip Dac 3 here or look for the local retailer here (Unaffiliated Link) - https://ifi-audio.com/products/hip-dac-3/
Before I start I want to say a huge thanks to Ifi audio for sending me this review unit, but all the thoughts and opinions you are about to hear are my own.
As usual since this is not an iem review the format of the review will be a bit different
I will be as usual following my bullet style format for better readability for those who are dyslexic and in general find it hard to read long paragraphs. I follow this guide in general from the British Dyslexia Association.
Review:-
1. Well it looks awesome, it looks like a flask and every time I used it in front of anyone else they were curious about what this is. The device is built like a tank! Although the full metal body does make it a bit hard to use it without a case
2. It comes with the Xbass button which gives you a +10db of bass, the power match button which is basically a high and low gain switch, the Iematch switch which gives you a -12b of power for sensitive iems or rather increase the impedance from less than 1ohms to less than 4.5ohms. I highly suggest using this when using any iems as this give a lot of range for volume for iems.
3. It has 280mw from single ended and 400mw of power from balanced, if I am not wrong these are the same power figures as the gen 2. Would have been nice if they had see a tad bit more this time around
4. The single ended of the hip dac is something what ifi calls the s-balanced where they state that you get all the power of balanced without the drawbacks of balanced (Thanks to paul wasabii for the wording of this)
5. The hip dac 3 has 2200mah of battery which ifi states should last upto 12 hours. On my testing of the dac I used a moondrop chu 2 via 3.5mm at around 30% volume in low gain mode without xbass and with iematch on and I got around 13 hours.
6. The orange colour of the hip dac 2 was really funky and I liked it, but it also probably would make it stand out too much so this new muted colour does look nice while giving it classy look.
7. It supports MQA, upto DSD 256, upto PCM 32bit/348khz and Upto DXD 256
8. There is a minor channel imbalance at the beginning of the volume range but it quickly disappears, If I am not wrong this existed in previous models too. Its not at the volume range I would generally listen too thankfully. Also it exists for a very small range at the beginning.
9. On the backside exists 2 usb c ports and they have moved on from that usb a port. One port is for charging other for connecting it to phones, computers etc. Also in the box it comes with usb c to usb c and usb c to lightning and also an usb c to usb a so everyone is covered!
10. You can use the hip dac 3 and simultaneously charge it via the charge port. One of the reason the port is separated because so that it get continuously get clean power something akin to the Muse hifi m4
11. Now talking about the biggest negative point of the hip dac 3 the volume knob. The volume knob is very robust and it is also knurled! But my god is It easy to knock and increase the volume suddenly, the hip dac 3 is targeted at a portable audio community so when moving about if you have it stacked with your smartphone or dap inside your pocket or your bag one unfortunate knock could suddenly increase the volume and blow your ears out!!!
12. This was probably the biggest con I saw with the hip dac 3. I wish there was a volume guard or better yet more resistance to the volume knob. The incident with me didn’t happen once but quite a few times, so much so that I almost stopped using it on the go. I really hope ifi can fix this in the next iteration. Its not that ifi cant make a good knob, the ifi go blu whose review will be coming next has a great knob and has quite a bit of resistance albeit it has stepped volume knob but I would rather have that than this for safety.
13. Now talking about sound. The ifi hip dac uses the burr brown dac, which is famous for its warm characteristics. But in the hip dac 3 the same characteristic does exist but with a slight sprinkle uptop and also a wider soundstage. The treble does become a bit smoother and that edginess of treble which the simgot has goes away.
14. Now the sound difference isn't apparent when you use it for the first time, but with the right iem like the simgot ea1000 it does make an impact and flavours the sound in quite an interesting way. I tested my entire collection here, but the simgot ea1000 was really well synergized with this even on the stock setting.
15. Now talking about the reason as to why I always wanted to review an ifi product, the xbass button. Now what can I say, it is amazing as I expected. It gives you that +10db of bass and it is just so enjoyable, but you need an iem which can reproduce that much bass without breaking down on the other range. Again as usual the ea1000 was superbly paired here and the Passive radiator of it worked so well in tandem with the xbass. That thumb, rumble of the bass was hitting so hard when listening to waltz by sunny, crack crack crackle by classy or Bjork’s Hollow 16 bit remix. I couldn’t stop playing with this button, its just to much fun.
16. Now enough gushing about the xbass button lets be a bit practical here. One small thing I would like if the xbass button rather than giving a set amount of +10db of bass would be nice if there was a dial where in I can tune the bass to my liking like from +1db all the way to +10db of bass or if not that then atleast three steps of xbass like lets say +2db, +5db, +10db. Why I say this is because for some iems I would love that tad bit of bass and it could really help having something like this. While +10db of bass is amazing, it doesn’t good with all iems how the xbass works depends on the iem and the driver quality of the iems
17. The xbass also has a great advantage as a low volume listener. When listening at lower volumes I generally find the bass to be lacking but with the xbass on it helps so much! Really great feature I really hope they update the hip dac 4 with variable xbass.
18. The overall warm sound signature and smoother treble and a fantastic wide soundstage does also help in gaming a lot. When using it for FPS games it makes the experience even better and I love it.
19. Now I would also love if ifi added the xspace button which the bluetooth counterpart go blu has. It basically gives you an enhanced soundstage. I would really like to see that being added.
20. Another complaint or rather shall I say suggestion not only me but many other has. Is please add bluetooth to this! I have seen numerous complains on japanese audio twitter space and even on various comment section that most people would love to own the hip dac but it not having bluetooth does deter quite a few. Having bluetooth for a device like this would be so good!
21. I know I have suggested a lot of things which ifi shall add but to be honest if ifi ever does add that they would take an even great device to an even greater step and if that comes at a cost of price increase I think so it will be worth it. Although if I am not wrong that does put their higher priced ifi gryphon in a weird place. I personally like the whiskey flask design hip dac has, I would say this looks more hip (Pun intended)
22. I will leave a small graphic of what all the led indicators mean so that you can see it
23. To finish my review of the hip dac 3, well what can I say I love it. If I ever have the best devices to suggest to someone for buying hip dac 3 will be on top of that list. Ifi has done an excellent job with it, specially with the implementation of the xbass button. Its a fantastic device and with the right iem or headphone these do sound and work fantastically.
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day ahead! Bye!
If you have any questions please feel free to ask me and also if you have any issues regarding this format of review please do comment I will try to mend it. Also sorry to those who are used to reading long paragraphs of review in headfi. I hope my review was upto the mark, I appreciate any feedback.
Again a big thanks to Ifi Audio for making this review happen.
Have a great day ahead
iFi audio
Thanks so much for your review of the HD 3, I enjoyed reading your thoughts!
hokagoteatimereviews
Thank you very much!
Introduction:-
Another SIMGOT iem! Today its the EM6L. Till now all the simgot iem I have tried have been good and I really liked it. This to like the other simgot iems uses a small variation of the Harman target curve. So lets find out more about it.
I have also shared a video version of the review at YouTube any support there in form of a view, A like or A subscribe is greatly appreciated. But if you so wish to read the written version you can read this.
Would like to say a big thanks to SIMGOT for sending me this review unit, all the thoughts and opinions you are about to hear are my own.
You can buy them here (Unaffiliated link) :-
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805701995653.html
I will be as usual following my bullet style format for better readability for those who are dyslexic and in general find it hard to read long paragraphs. I follow this guide in general from the British Dyslexia Association.
So lets start!
Build, Comfort and Accessories:-
1. The packaging in Simgot fashion is great, thankfully like the ea1000 there is no maths here
2. They with the iem, a 2pin cable, one pair of generic tips and a very good case.
3. The retail price for this set is around $109
4. The iems are built really good, although they are a fingerprint magnet.
5. The nozzle as usual is a tad bit larger than usual, some might find it a bit too big
6. The zipper case is good and pocketable and can be easily used to carry one more iem and your dongle dacs if needed.
7. The tips although work ok for me, is a bit weak for me in terms of proper sealing and hence the bass was a bit weak for me I will be using the foam tips for my review.
8. They do not have any driver flex.
9. The EM6L has 1DD and 4BA
Sound Impressions:-
1. The overall sound signature it follows is the Harman 2019v2 but with a bit of a variation. We can also call it a V shaped. Will talk about it more after few seconds.
2. The overall tonality of the iem despite having BA is really good!
3. I used the Fiio BTR5, Hiby FC6, Muse HIFI M4, Razer USB-C dongle dac, My smartphone
4. I do think they pair well with sort of a neutral source like the muse hifi M4
5. These surprisingly require a bit of power to drive them, they have 28ohms impedence. A decent dongle dac is suggested. They do perform well with more power.
Bass-
- The sub-bass of the EM6L is more prominent hear than the mid-bass.
- The sub-bass here follows closely to harman curve 2019v2. It has some rumble and good quantity, but what it lacks is that refinement of the bass and the tactility of the bass.
- The em6l is more sub-bass focused rather than mid bass. The mid-bass could sound a bit muddy, then again for the price point this is a bit of a nitpick
- For example when listening to crack crack crackle by classy or Idol by Yoasobi the sub-bass although has a good quantity it lacks a bit of that bite and the crispness I would like. The mid-bass too is a bit muddy and it muddles up the entire song bit, specially when there is a lot going on
- The instruments do sound good and I can pinpoint the them quite easily like the 1985 live album by Casiopea. But they do sound a bit blunt for my taste, again a nitpick for this price and the sound signature
- The overall bass here is a tad bit better than is younger brother the EW200
Mids-
- The overall mids are quite good
- The male mids as usual sit behind a bit. Singers like Chris cornell, Bill Withers thick voice has very good texture but they take the back seat a bit.
- Female vocals here sound really good! When listening to Hako Yamasaki’s “Ano yume ni” her voice is what I would expect and it sounds very intimating. But it isnt too overpowering and it does It very nicely. I would say a great set for female vocals specially J-pop. Most iem overdo it here, but the EM6l does a really good job at it and is very well controlled
Treble-
- The overall treble is done here brilliantly
- For the price they do have the right amount of air and details without sounding to shrilly
- But as usual if you do increase the volume or there are of lots of things happening in the track, it could be a bit too much for you.
- Although I would say that the treble extension could be a bit better. As in some songs I do find it a bit lacking
- But this lack of treble extension could be good for some as it could be too much. So it all depends on your choice and the type of songs you listen too.
- The treble here is a bit better than EW200
Technicalities:-
The overall technicalities is a bit average for the price in my opinion. For the price of $100 this does a ok enough job, but it doesn’t have the technical prowess like some other iems at this price point.
Soundstage:-
The overall soundstage is quite good for the price, it has exceptional depth but the width is ok for the price
Imaging:-
The imaging is really good for the price, and it is very precise. The left to right and vice versa is also very good. I am surprised as to how good it performs
Gaming Test:-
Talking about soundstage and imaging the gaming performance of the EM6L is also really good to. It performs really well when in playing fps as I can feel the environment around me decently well and the left and right of the footsteps is really awesome too. What I do find is that the movement of footsteps from left to right is quite accurate and surprising as to how well this performs. The width of the left and right is a bit cramped though and could be a bit of an issue. If you use third party cable with those boom mic, this makes a decent gaming iem for around the price of the $100.
Comparison & Recommendation:-
- v/s Geek Wold GK20 the em6l is a more fun sounding iem. The gk20 is a technical beast at the under 100 price point. The bass on the Gk20 although less in quantity is of better quality, but the overall quantity of bass is great on the EM6l. The soundstage of em6l is superior than the gk20
- v/s younger brother ew200, the ew200 is such a fantastic iem that I see no point in upgrade to the em6l. But that doesn’t mean that there is no gap between them. The em6l has more bass but the quality of the bass is better in the ew200, the soundstage is wider on the ew200 but is much deeper in the em6l. In my opinion if you have the ew200 stick with it and if you want more bass for the ew200 then use foam tips.
- v/s the elder brother ea1000. Ea1000 is better in every aspect and beats the em6l. It is a clear upgrade. In my personal opinion if you have the ew200 rather than upgrading to the em6l I would say save more money and buy the ea1000. I know its almost double the money the of em6l, but that upgrade is worth it.
- So thats my review on the em6l, I think so its a great iem specially for the gaming crowd. I think so the upgrade path of Simgot as of this review is pretty good. The em6l makes a good purchase for the price of $100 but its younger brother EW200 is so good that I see very few points in upgrading to this from it.
If you have any questions please feel free to ask me and also if you have any issues regarding this format of review please do comment I will try to mend it. Also sorry to those who are used to reading long paragraphs of review in headfi. I hope my review was upto the mark, I appreciate any feedback.
Again a big thanks to Simgot for making this review possible.
Have a great day ahead
Introduction:-
Hello guys, today I am going to review yet another IEM from simgot. The Simgot EW200, you probably know all about it. But here is my take on the iem.
Simgot has been doing some amazing job in 2023, ew200 is another example of that.
I have also shared a video version of the review at YouTube any support there in form of a view, A like or A subscribe is greatly appreciated. But if you so wish to read the written version you can read this.
Before I start I want to say that the EW200 I got is a prize from giveaway I participated, All thoughts and opinions you are about to hear are my own.
I will be as usual following my bullet style format for better readability for those who are dyslexic and in general find it hard to read long paragraphs. I follow this guide in general from the British Dyslexia Association.
Lets get started!
Build Quality, Comfort and Accessories:-
1. The packaging is really simple it comes with the IEM, 0.78mm 2 pin cable, a simple carrying pouch and a pair of tips.
2. The iem is made of metal shell.
3. They are really comfortable to wear for a long periods of time, I have had no issues as such
4. These have some driver flex for me, although a lot less than their elder brother the EA1000
5. They are quite easy to drive and can be easily driven with my smartphone.
6. EW200 uses a single 10mm Dynamic Driver
Sound Impressions:-
1. Overall these follow the 2019 harman target but with some slight variations`
2. The overall sound is very clean
3. I have used the Hiby FC6, Fiio BTR5, Muse Hifi M4, Razer USB-C Donlge dac and my smartphone to test these out.
4. I have used all the stock accessories
Bass-
1. The sub bass in this set is sort of less than the Harman curve
2. But the quality of the sub-bass is really good. Its all about that quality of bass here
3. In certain songs like Waltz by Sunny and Crack crack crackle by Classy I do miss the punch and thump of the bass, but they do sound very tight and very crisp
4. Although by no means is the bass so less that I miss the bass in these songs
5. The mid-bass is really in line with the sub-bass so the linearity between the sub and mid-bass gives a very clean bass
Mids-
1. The mids are really good here
2. I would say they play really well with male vocals and female vocals very well here
3. The male vocals although lacks that richness and thump sometimes, they do sound good overall for the price
4. The female vocals is the star of the show here, Hako Yamasaki’s “Ano Yume Ni” sounds absolutely majestic here.
5. Although for some it could get a bit shrilly in the upper mids
6. The instruments when listening to 1985 live album from casiopea has very well separation and tonality, but sometimes they sound a tad bit thin.
Treble-
1. They are quite good for the price nothing too great nothing too off putting
2. The tone and timbre could be a bit off sometimes and they could sound a bit thin her, but thats ok for the price
3. The treble extension is quite ok for the price
4. There could be a slight amount of sibilance for some songs, for example when listening to Idol from Yoasobi it does sound shrill here in the starting segment.
Technicalties:-
They are actually good when it comes to that. For the price I think these do a good job
Soundstage & Imaging:-
The soundstage is quite a bit cramped. I am someone who loves a big soundstage but for the price these are ok. If you are someone who loves the cramped feeling in an iem then this is really good. As for imaging these are really good for that but the transition from left to right is a bit meh, but that's expected for the price
Gaming Test:-
For gaming these are quite OK, I wouldn’t suggest buying them just for that. But for small sessions these does decent enough job. During some sequences when there is a lot happening these do become shrilly and it might be a bit fatiguing
Comparison & Recommendation:-
1. v/s Aoshida E20 they do sound very similar. But the Ew200 is tad bit better on imaging while the E20 has a bigger soundstage. I personally prefer the E20 here
2. v/s BGPV P05 The p05 are a warm sounding iem and the ew200 are quite a bit sterile sounding iem. The P05 have great soundstage.
3. Do I recommend these ? Well yes if you want a great clean sounding iem where in you are ok with the slightly lower quantity bass but ok with the great quality of the bass.
4. The EW200 also has great imaging paired with the great comfort and very easy to drive nature these make a great overall iem. Specially at the discounted price of $35 these are a no brainer.
5. Do keep the few shortcomings in mind when making the purchase.
If you have any questions please feel free to ask me and also if you have any issues regarding this format of review please do comment I will try to mend it. Also sorry to those who are used to reading long paragraphs of review in headfi. I hope my review was upto the mark, I appreciate any feedback.
Have a great day ahead
Introduction:-
Hello, guys today I will be reviewing the Spinfits Omni eartips. I think so everyone in the hobby knows about spinfits. They make the ever so popular CP100 and CP145 which is a favourite of many people, and I guess they have sold millions of them. Spinfits is a Taiwanese company.
So when I got a chance to review their omni tips I couldn’t resist. Its a new series of tips of spinfits.
I have also shared a video version of the review at YouTube any support there in form of a view, A like or A subscribe is greatly appreciated. But if you so wish to read the written version you can read this.
You can buy them here (unaffiliated link) :-
Spinfit Website (links to your retailer) - https://spinfit-eartip.com/#/product/productdetail/99?lang=en
Amazon US - https://www.amazon.com/SpinFit-Omni-True-Wireless-Earbuds/dp/B0CF5CMWCP?ref_=ast_sto_dp
Amazon Canada - https://www.amazon.ca/SpinFit-Omni-True-Wireless-Earbuds/dp/B0CF5CMWCP?ref_=ast_sto_dp
Amazon Australia - https://www.amazon.com.au/SpinFit-Omni-True-Wireless-Earbuds/dp/B0CF5CMWCP?ref_=ast_sto_dp
Amazon UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/SpinFit-Om...ep-Forest-Green/dp/B0CF5CMWCP?ref_=ast_sto_dp
Amazon Singapore - https://www.amazon.sg/SpinFit-Omni-True-Wireless-Earbuds/dp/B0CF5CMWCP?ref_=ast_sto_dp
Before I start the review, I want to say a big thanks to spinfits for sending these in for review. However all the thoughts an opinions you are about to hear are my own.
This review will be a bit different than my usual review.
I will be as usual following my bullet style format for better readability for those who are dyslexic and in general find it hard to read long paragraphs. I follow this guide in general from the British Dyslexia Association.
Review:-
1. The omni line up is meant for both TWS and also iems, hence the stem length is shorter than usual
2. They are meant for nozzle size of upto 5.5mm so be wary of that when buying
3. They have fantastic grip! They seal very well and isolate very well
4. Due to them being small in length, if you are using them in iem do go one size up than usual for better fit
5. They also have the design which all spinfits have, that is the eartips rotates on the axis for a better fit. I can say that these do work and the overall fit is better while having less pressure from the iem nozzle on my ears.
6. The core of the tips are very strong while the outer layer is very soft, makes for a great snug fit for the iem.
7. I generally have an itch problem when using the iems, with these it has reduced to a great extent imo and it ties in with the divinus velvet tips.
8. If you are using it with tws they should fit most TWS and spinfits website has a good list where in you can see if a particular spinfits fits your tws or not,
9. Now talking about sound, I have tried with my oppo enco x2 TWS, penon fan 2, Truthear nova, simgot ea1000
10. I feel that for the fan 2 and ea1000 there was not much sound difference maybe a tad bit more bass
11. But for the oppo enco x2 and nova there was a clear sound difference where in that a much tighter bass and the overall treble seemed very controlled and enjoyable for my personal taste. I think so the sound differences will differ from iem to iem and you ear shape. Also the mids seemed a tad bit better in the enco x2 too.
12. Also one great thing about the Omni tips is that you can use the omni tips with your TWS and put the buds back in the case without any issue.
13. The omni tips also asks for a deeper fit iem, for a shallow fit iem it doesn’t make much different except for a better grip.
14. Well that is my review of the omni tips, I think so they make a great purchase even at their expensive $9 for one set! They currently are my favourite tips alongside the divinus velvet tips. If possible I would love to review the W1 in future and see how it compares to the omni.
If you have any questions please feel free to ask me and also if you have any issues regarding this format of review please do comment I will try to mend it. Also sorry to those who are used to reading long paragraphs of review in headfi. I hope my review was upto the mark, I appreciate any feedback.
Again a big thanks to Spinfit for making this review possible.
Have a great day ahead
Introduction:-
Hello, guys today I will review the ARTTI R1. These are iem from VOLKCHOI which are made by letshuoer. Volkchoi is an audio store like Hifigo, Linsoul and Shenzhen Audio.
So what makes these R1 very enticing is that they have 3DD, yes 3dd for the price of $80 they even went for sale for as low as $55 during the 11/11 sale. Spoiler alert these are very good!
I have also shared a video version of the review at YouTube any support there in form of a view, A like or A subscribe is greatly appreciated. But if you so wish to read the written version you can read this.
Before I start the review I would like to say huge thanks to Volkchoi for sending me this review unit, You can check them out at their website given below they sell everything for your audio need. Although all the opinions you are about to here are my own.
You can buy it here (unaffiliated links) :- https://volkchoi.com/products/artti-r1-triple-dynamic-driver-hifi-in-ear-headphone-for-music-lovers
I will be as usual following my bullet style format for better readability for those who are dyslexic and in general find it hard to read long paragraphs. I follow this guide in general from the British Dyslexia Association.
So lets get started!
Build Quality, Comfort and Accessories:-
1. They have a very simple packaging for the price. They come with the iem, 2 pin cable, 2 sets of tips and a very good case
2. The case provided is very pocketable and very good for daily use.
3. These are very comfortable and I can wear them for long period of time, although they are bit larger than usual.
4. The iem is made of a metal shell
5. There are no driver flex here
6. These are very well vented
7. The face plate design is very minimal and unique
Sounds Impressions:-
1. These are a warm sounding iem which does well in most genres
2. They are very good overall and they get you to enjoy the music.
3. I am using the Hiby FC6, Muse HIFI M4, Fiio Btr5, Razer USB-C Dongle and my smartphone for testing them out
4. I used all the stock accessories for testing
Bass-
1. The bass here is awesome!!
2. The bass here is very velvety and very smooth. I love the amount of bass these produce
3. In songs like Waltz By sunny these have the exact amount of quantity I would want.
4. Both the sub and mid bass sound very right and anything thrown at them in this region has no issues.
6. Although In some songs like crack crack crackle by classy the bass sometimes is a bit pillowy, although the overall quantity of bass is very good the bass in some songs hits a bit soft. For the price these could be seen as a nitpick
Mids-
1. For vocals these are quite ok nothing great
2. Male vocals do take a back seat in my opinion for example when listening to Chris Cornell, Leonard Cohen and Bill withers, although they have that thick vocals come across quite well they do take a bit of a back seat imo.
3. The female vocals sounds quite ok although sometimes they do sound a bit shrilly at higher volumes
4. Due to the tuning of the iems sometimes the vocals take a bit of back seat, again this is a nitpick for the price
Treble-
1. The overall treble is ok and does service well for most songs
2. It does lack overall treble extension
3. In songs like Idol by Yoasobi it does an ok job
4. This lack of overall treble is great for them who are bit treble sensitive
Technicalities:-
These are quite ok when it comes to that. But this is not a technical sounding iem
Soundstage & Imaging:-
The soundstage is very wide, when listening to the 1985 Album from casiopea it sounded really good. As someone who loves a wide soundstage these sound really good! The imaging is quite ok, for example when listening to Yumeji by Nano.Ripe the starting section is rendered quite ok.
Gaming Test :-
I wouldn’t recommend buying them for gaming, but their wide soundstage does a really good job when playing fps. Although the average imaging does leave a bit to be desired
Comparison & Recommendation:-
1. v/s Geek Wold GK20 These are the exact polar opposite of the Gk20. The gk20 is a very clean sounding v shaped iem which is very technical. But the R1 are very smooth iem which are not that technical.
2. v/s E20 These are again the anti e20, where the e20 are a very clean sounding iem these are a very warm sounding iem.
3. Do I recommend this iem? In the ocean of harman iem these are breath of fresh air just like the penon fan 2.
4. If you are someone tired of the harman tune then these are very good
5. Also if you are treble sensitive the R1 makes a very good buy too.
6. While buying these do keep the shortcomings in mind I have mentioned in the review
Thanks for reading my review
If you have any questions please feel free to ask me and also if you have any issues regarding this format of review please do comment I will try to mend it. Also sorry to those who are used to reading long paragraphs of review in headfi. I hope my review was upto the mark, I appreciate any feedback.
Again a big thanks to Volkchoi for making this review possible.
Have a great day ahead
bassdad8
You’ve got review game! Watching your vid now. My channel is BangsAudioReviews on YT. I am enjoying your content, both written and visual. Well done!
hokagoteatimereviews
Thanks for the kind words! I have subbed your channel too.
Introduction:-
Hey guys, welcome to my channel. Today I will be reviewing the Fiio Jade Audio JT1. Jade audio is sub brand of fiio which makes budget versions of the stuff Fiio has and they are quite good at it, previously I had looked at the Jade Audio JW1 on my channel and it was quite good and I use it daily when needed.
The JT1 is a cheap headphone which retails for around $69
but can already be found on sale for around $45-55.I have also shared a video version of the review at YouTube any support there in form of a view, A like or A subscribe is greatly appreciated. But if you so wish to read the written version you can read this.
I am not a headphone person, I generally wear iems and review iems. So this will be a new venture for me. But I am quite interested in this so I will try my best.
Would like to say a big thanks to Fiio for sending me this review unit, all the thoughts and opinions you are about to hear are my own.
You can buy them here (Unaffiliated link) :-
Amazon US :- https://www.amazon.com/FiiO-JT1-Professional-Headphones-Microphone/dp/B0CLZRWF8H
Aliexpress :- https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805990654609.html
I will be as usual following my bullet style format for better readability for those who are dyslexic and in general find it hard to read long paragraphs. I follow this guide in general from the British Dyslexia Association.
Build Quality, Comfort and Accessories:-
- The headphone shells are made out of abs plastic, and the headbands is made of stainless steel
- The earpads are removable if I rotate them counter-clockwise.
- The headband is stretchy
- The cable is really good! It is braided and it also has a mic, so it can be used for your video call and other stuff.
- Mic sample available on my youtube video
- The earcups spin 180 degrees
- it comes with a thing draw string suede pouch, good for carrying around although wont offer any protections
- They are very comfortable for me and I can wear them for long hours without any issues
- Although I my ears touch the inside of the earcups, would have been nice if the earpads were a bit thick
- They headphones don’t fold and they are quite uncomfortable to wear around the neck when I take them off.
- Although I sweat a lot when wearing headphones these were surprisingly better and they breathe very well.
- They use a 50mm Dynamic Driver
Sound Impressions:-
- These follow the Over the ear harman ear target to the T, but while having a hearty scoop of mids.
- If I had to classify I had to say they are V-Shaped but with some caveats which I will speak about soon
- Although they are easy to drive, but they definitely benefit form more power and they sound really good when they are pushed.
- I used the Fiio BTR5, Muse HIFI M4, Hiby FC6, Hiby M300, Razer USB C dongle dac, My smartphone with headphone jack and my laptop’s headphone jack.
- In my opinion these pair very well with a warmer pair of DAC like the hiby FC6, it gives the overall sound a bit of a body and everything open up a bit.
Bass-
- Well they have good bass, I would say the quantity of the bass is sufficient for most. But the issue I have with the bass is dullness and bluntness of the bass
- When listening to songs like Dernier Danse by Indila, Waltz by sunny or Hollow 16 bit remix by Bjork. I am perfectly with the quantity of the bass, but they are blunt and dull. This can be fixed with a bit of an EQ and it does but don’t go too crazy with eq in the bass region as it can distort if you push it too far.
- Talking about the mid-bass I would say it is ok nothing too special, honestly that is what saves it for me imo.
- Instruments sound surpsingly ok here. For example when listening Galactic Funk and Looking up they instruments comes across quite good but they lack that refine-ness I would want. The bass is heard quite nicely but the minora mukaiya’s keybaord takes a back seat here. But again these are a very cheap pair of headphones so all this could be seen as something ok for the price and I am overtly critical for something so cheap.
Mids-
- The mids are surpisngly good!
- Male vocals even though it has that big dip, sounds very natural and quite good. Although some male vocals like chris cornell and bill withers sounds a bit laid back when that shouldn’t be the case for them.
- Female vocals is where I can see majority of the people seeing issue as in most female vocals if the volume is louder than average say above 40% they get piercy and the naturalness of the female vocals fades away. For example when listening to Hako Yamasaki’s Ano yumi ni or Sumire Uesaka’s Happy Ending Princess (The opening of anime “Tearmoon eikoku Monogatari “) it becomes unbearable for me and this is coming from someone who is fine with shouty upper mids. So I would have to listen to it at a low volume for me to avoid this.
- Again for the price I would say these are ok and this could be avoided if I listen to at average volume.
Treble -
- I would say the treble is quite ok overall, although could be a bit dark for some.
- The treble extension is quite ok too nothing great.
- A more smoother treble would have been bit better and balanced the sound a bit well.
Technicalities:-
They are quite ok here too and for the price I have nothing to complain too
Soundstage:-
I was a bit surprised here, as for a headphone I would expect it to be quite wider but they were very average. Again I know these are budget headphones and these are on par for that.
Imaging :-
The imaging is really good
Gaming Test:-
Talking about imaging these are really good and I think they work out quite well for the games. When palying FPS I can stay aware of my surroundings and also I can make sense of the footsteps quite well as to where they are coming from. Although the layering of the sound is pretty one dimensional and quite average.
Recommendation:-
- Do I recommend these for the price of $69? yes they are quite fun sounding and great for low volume listening. But beware of the female vocals when listening to high volumes as that could get too much sometimes.
- These are really good for gaming and everyday casual use, also the inline mic is a great addition
- Some might find the treble a bit dark
- If you get them on sale these are even good.
If you have any questions please feel free to ask me and also if you have any issues regarding this format of review please do comment I will try to mend it. Also sorry to those who are used to reading long paragraphs of review in headfi. I hope my review was upto the mark, I appreciate any feedback.
Again a big thanks to Fiio for making this review possible.
Have a great day ahead
Introduction:-
Hello guys. Today I will be reviewing the Aoshida Audio E20. The E20 iem has been made by aoshida audio in collab with lethsuoer. Aoshida audio is an online retailer like Hifigo, Linsoul and Shenzhen Audio. I was really curious as to how these iems were, Because they seem to have an open back design and they cost only $44
I have also shared a video version of the review at YouTube any support there in form of a view, A like or A subscribe is greatly appreciated. But if you so wish to read the written version you can read this.
Lets Find out!
Buy The Aoshida Audio E20 here (Unaffiliated Links) :-
Aoshida Website - https://www.aoshida-audio.com/products/aoshida-e20
Their Aliexpress Store - https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805977077778.html
Would like to say a big thanks to Aoshida Audio for sending me this review unit, all the thoughts and opinions you are about to hear are my own.
I will be as usual following my bullet style format for better readability for those who are dyslexic and in general find it hard to read long paragraphs. I follow this guide in general from the British Dyslexia Association.
Build Quality, Comfort and Accessories:-
- They have a plastic shell and the faceplate is aluminium. Also they are open back!
- They have a copper cable which is terminated to 3.5mm
- They are very very light which makes them exceptionally comfortable to wear. I can wear them for hours long!
- The E20 comes with a fantastic case and is apparently made of a bulletproof fabric and the shell of the case is manufactured by a flocking process. I thought it was marketing gibberish, but whatever it is they made a damn good case. It is small and hard and also really pocketable for daily use. Great job Aoshida for giving this case, I can say that the case is easily worth $15-20 in its own and Aoshida so look into selling it separately.
- They are very hard to drive, for a budget iem I would expect them to be easy to drive. But these are surprisingly power hungry.
Sound Impressions:-
- They follow the harman 2019v2 target curve almost to the T with the sub bass being pulled down a little
- They have 10mm beryllium coated Dynamic Driver and a 8mm DLC Diaphragm
- There are 2 types of tips available in the box, wide bore and narrow bore. I use the medium sized narrow bore as that gave me a bit more bass.
- I used the fiio btr5, Hiby fc6, Muse hifi M4, Hiby m300, my smartphone with headphone jack.
- This iem pairs very with the hiby fc6 something warmer give it really that overall body it lacks.
- They have absolutely fantastic tone and timbre overall
- They have zero driver flex
- They have no pressure buildup
Bass-
- Having 2DD you would expect it to have a thump punchy bass, well that's not the case here
- The bass although of adequate quantity, the sub-bass lacks that last bit of punch and dynamic-ness. When listening to waltz by sunny it is very apparent. But that lack of sub bass isnt bad at all as the overall iem sounds very clean when heard overall
- The mid bass is and I cannot emphasise is very very very clean! It just sounds right.
- Listening to Looking Up and Galactic Funk by Casiopea the 1985 Ryogoku Kokugikan Live the instruments specially bass sounds really good, I am surprised as to how good it sounds. All the instruments comes across very well for its price point!
Mids-
- The male vocals sounds really good voice of Chris Cornell and Bill Withers comes across surprisingly well for an iem which costs only $50.
- The Female vocals as usual like the harman target could get a bit shouty for some. Hako Yamasaki’s Ano yumi ni and Sakura and Hanawa Sakura by ikimonogakari sound really good, but for some it could get shouty and too much specially at higher volumes.
- The overall vocals sounds very clean!
Treble-
- The treble is the star of the show here in my opinion, it is done very well.
- It is very smooth were and most can enjoy it, even treble sensitive folks. The treble is very clean!
- The treble extension is really good for the price no complaints here
Technicalities-
For the price range these are really average and I have no issues here. When listening to Casiopea live I could pick out the instruments separately and it sounded very sterile.
Soundstage-
Being open back the soundstage as expected is very well and it is apparent when listening to live music
Imaging:-
The imaging is too is really good for the price range
Gaming Test:-
- These perform really well while playing games
- The really good soundstage and the imaging gives me really good sense of the space and I can gauge the footsteps and also the whereabouts of the gunshots when playing FPS.
- While there is lot happening, it does get a bit spicy on the top end and if I am playing at high volumes I might have to pull the iem out.
Recommendation:-
- Do I recommend this e20? Tbh in the sea of harman tuned iem it is nice to see something a bit different. Now although the bass isn't to my liking and too many people’s liking it is a very clean sounding iem overall
- Try to use the Divinus Ear tips with these and the mid-bass comes across even well and it goes very well with the sub-bass of this iem. My entire review although done on stock tips I highly recommend these! They sound really good.
- The bass though present falls shorts in terms of punchiness and dynamicness in some songs, but sorry for sounding like a broken record. It sounds very clean.
Again a big thanks to Aoshida Audio for making this review possible. They have had no inputs in this review and all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Have a great day ahead
Introduction:-
Hello guys, today I will be reviewing the Hiby FC6. This small dongle dac is a bit special, as it is a 24bit R2R dongle dac. R2R is an old technology where in rather tham typical sigma delta dac it uses a resistor ladder network.
Does this $300 R2R dac sound different from most other sigma delta dac out there? Well yes!
I have also shared a video version of the review at YouTube any support there in form of a view, A like or A subscribe is greatly appreciated. But if you so wish to read the written version you can read this.
I would like to thank Hiby for offering me a discount on this product. But rest be assured all the thoughts and opinions you are about to hear are my own.
You can buy the Hiby FC6 here (Unaffiliated Link) :- https://store.hiby.com/products/hiby-fc6
This review will be a bit different and wont follow my usual format. And will be a bit chronological
So lets start with the review!
I will be as usual following my bullet style format for better readability for those who are dyslexic and in general find it hard to read long paragraphs. I follow this guide in general from the British Dyslexia Association.
Review:-
1. It comes in a small box which has a fantastic leather box inside, Which in turn houses the fac, a c-c cable and a c-a cable for connecting to a computer. A small usb c to usb A dongle would have been nice rather than a long C-A cable. It also has a leather case in same colour of the dac
2. It is very small in size and I will list the dimensions form Hiby website on the screen
3. It supports in line mic controls but it doesn’t support inline mic. Also it only has 3.5mm
4. It has 31 volume steps
5. As of this review I am on the latest firmware version v1.07 it ships with v1.02
6. The latest firmware ads a darwin ultra filter. Talking about filters I didn’t find any difference between all the filters. But the darwin ultra filters does sound a bit loud at the same volume.
7. It has NOS and OS mode. NOS mode is no over sampling and OS mode is Over sampling, if the OS mode is on it oversamples the file when playing it but in NOS it doesn’t oversamples.
8. It also has a HDR mode for song, but again I didn’t find any difference over here.
9. In my test when played on a 5000mah battery smartphone it lasts around 15.5 hours on 30% volume playing the Penon Fan 2 which is a very easy to drive iem
10. It does get a bit warm when playing but not too hot
11. I didn’t have problem powering any iem and I hovered around 15-17/31 on my hardest to drive iems like the 7hz Timeless Ae and Tanchjim Kara
11. Talking about the sound it Is very warm, although I wouldn't notice it on a vaccum. But it is apparent when I am comparing it with other dac like the fiio btr5 or the muse hifi m4.
13. Iems like penon Fan 2 and the simgot ea 100 sounds so so good paired with this.
14. The FC6 smoothens the treble a bit, for example the treble is a bit smoothened and it takes away that treble edge it has. While giving it a boost in vocals and bass and improves the soundstage even more.
15. It does a similar thing in the Penon Fan 2 where in It gives a bump to the bass, widens the soundstage a lot.
16. The volume here is independent
17. It lacks a low/high gain switch
18. I never thought a small dongle dac would improve the sound so much of an iem. But the hiby Fc6 did that. It sounds very analogue and not digital like most dacs or the Muse HIFI M4 or the BTR5 I have.
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day ahead! Bye!
If you have any questions please feel free to ask me and also if you have any issues regarding this format of review please do comment I will try to mend it. Also sorry to those who are used to reading long paragraphs of review in headfi. I hope my review was upto the mark, I appreciate any feedback.
Again a big thanks to Hiby for offering me a discount.
Have a great day ahead
Results45
Is the Cayin RU6 a better value at $60-$100 cheaper? Or is this more comparable to the more powerful and similarly-priced Cayin RU7?
hokagoteatimereviews
I would love to compare it too the RU6 and RU7, but sadly don't have them.
But from other reviews what I have seen and some who have compared the fc6 with the two cayin products. They always preferred the fc6 over cayin.
Although the fc6 isnt most powerful, but it apparently sounds better when compared.
But from other reviews what I have seen and some who have compared the fc6 with the two cayin products. They always preferred the fc6 over cayin.
Although the fc6 isnt most powerful, but it apparently sounds better when compared.
