Reviews by Lexington99
+/- Transforms When Given Power:
This is both a pro and a con. Well, I guess it is more of a con than not. You cannot judge this IEM driven by a dongle off of a phone. This IEM will not fully wake up even if you plug said dongle to your laptop. Sure, it gets loads better, but it is still only halfway of the performance it is capable of. It scales very nicely with more and better power and gear. This is why I refer to it as the Sleeping Panda, because It really wakes up when fed and I suspect many people have only met the Sleeping Panda so it is getting slept on. Give the Panda some Juice!
Most if not all planars benefit from power but the P1 Max I found to be a particularly severe case. Previous Planar experiences include Timeless, Hook-X, HeyDay & S12 Pro. They all sound themselves, more or less, through a dongle as long as fed balanced. P1 Max sounds confused, sloppy, closed in and murky on a phone through a dongle.
+ Timbre Somewhere between DD & Planar:
The tuning of the P1 Max is in my view necessary for a planar to sound enjoyable and this is the saving grace with this Planar - It reminds you of a DD in the onset of transients and bloomy nature of notes. It is as far removed from the other planars in this sense as it is close to most DDs - so I view it as 50% planar and 50% DD.
It is just enough to hide most of the Planar sins such as anemic bass, sharp steely upper mids and treble and that dreaded planar timbre. (Looking at you Timeless!)
+ Linearly Resolving Treble:
It is linear from about 3kHz to 8kHz in a gently downsloping fashion and I believe this explains why the treble is so present yet well-behaved. Granted, when driven with some power and preferably a smoother than neutral source. Hey, this is still a planar after all. I believe JAYY from Jays Audio on Youtube said in his review that the P1 Max delivers his favourite treble performance under $500 and I can certainly sympathize with that statement. The treble performance here is stellar (especially so for the money which I will remind you, is $84 during sales!) as long as you take some care in meeting its power requirement, using narrow bore tips and a smoother than neutral source. The only negative thing I would like to note is the 9kHz peak isn't probably all due to measurement artifact, so reducing it by 2-3dB might be wise here.
+ Non-Shouty Yet Clear Upper Mids:
As shown above, the upper mids are on the more gentle side of things which means you can crank the Panda more than other planars.
It is a lower contrast sound than the other planars but because it is a planar, it still retains clarity. What the Panda is not is shrill, but it is full-sounding and powerful. Some may find it is lacking some energy at 3-4kHz to fully do female vocals justice, but it keeps it from becoming fatiquing or overly crunchy.
+ Straight Glide From Bass To Mids:
This allows for the listener to percieve more "meat" of the music across the mid-bass and midrange. The P1 Max sounds satisfyingly full and filled-in compared to Timeless and Hook-X. It also works, I would imagine, to mask planar timbre and thinness. Planar IEMs in my opinion has to have generous bass and lower mids in order to not sound overly tightened and reveal the inherent planar timbre. The stock tuning of elevation in the lower mids and mid-bass seems to be an inherent quality so it is possible to EQ in some sub-bass.
+ Wide & Tall Soundstage:
I'm happy to report the soundstage not being completely panorama in shape, but having very decent height and perfectly adequate horizontal width to boot.
The crucial thing to avoid here is the sensation of "sonic walls" which is when you can tell where the sounds stop right at the level of your ears and refuse to go beyond your skull. IEMs playing in your ears as opposed to filling a virtual room where sounds can jump in and out of would-be barriers. In other words, there is a pleasureable psychoacoustic effect at play here keeping the music spacious and not closed-in.
- Somewhat Exaggerated Stereo Separation
This is more of a nitpick, but someone pointed it out in another review of the P1 Max. There is a slight exaggeration of the stereo separation where for example vocals have difficulty forming a phantom center which is when two speakers create the illusion of a speaker in the middle of them. The sounds seem to be magnetized somewhat to either L & R earpiece. In other words, I would like some more cohesiveness and mono presentation of the sound. (Less obvious when using 3.5mm single ended outputs, but then the stage size suffers)
- Somewhat Flat Depth Gradation:
This is the usual drawbacks of planars, a difficulty of portraying depth in the headstage. P1 Max is not the worst offender I have heard (again looking at you Timeless!)
but still, it is something planars always struggle with and here it is no different.
- Bass Depth:
As I touched on earlier, the sub-bass can be EQd in. The stock tuning can afford it so to speak. If you want a super-contrasty, dynamic planar experience, I believe the Letshouer S12 Pro is the choice. P1 Max is polite in every way you can imagine, which is why I like it so much. It is just well-judged and pleasant, even if it doens't bring the most excitement. The fact that it is the cheapest of the more well-known planar IEMs is a cherry on-top.
Conclusion:
The P1 Max is a sleeper. It is also very slept-on. Give it some power and it will transform into an IEM that has no earthly right costing $84. The launch price of $169 is a harder pill to swallow, but honestly, I would still pick P1 Max above the other planars in the line-up due to the quite awful timbre of its competitors.
It will be interesting how the new P1 Max 2 will improve upon this, given that they are said to have the same tuning and same driver specifications.
This is both a pro and a con. Well, I guess it is more of a con than not. You cannot judge this IEM driven by a dongle off of a phone. This IEM will not fully wake up even if you plug said dongle to your laptop. Sure, it gets loads better, but it is still only halfway of the performance it is capable of. It scales very nicely with more and better power and gear. This is why I refer to it as the Sleeping Panda, because It really wakes up when fed and I suspect many people have only met the Sleeping Panda so it is getting slept on. Give the Panda some Juice!
Most if not all planars benefit from power but the P1 Max I found to be a particularly severe case. Previous Planar experiences include Timeless, Hook-X, HeyDay & S12 Pro. They all sound themselves, more or less, through a dongle as long as fed balanced. P1 Max sounds confused, sloppy, closed in and murky on a phone through a dongle.
+ Timbre Somewhere between DD & Planar:
The tuning of the P1 Max is in my view necessary for a planar to sound enjoyable and this is the saving grace with this Planar - It reminds you of a DD in the onset of transients and bloomy nature of notes. It is as far removed from the other planars in this sense as it is close to most DDs - so I view it as 50% planar and 50% DD.
It is just enough to hide most of the Planar sins such as anemic bass, sharp steely upper mids and treble and that dreaded planar timbre. (Looking at you Timeless!)
+ Linearly Resolving Treble:
It is linear from about 3kHz to 8kHz in a gently downsloping fashion and I believe this explains why the treble is so present yet well-behaved. Granted, when driven with some power and preferably a smoother than neutral source. Hey, this is still a planar after all. I believe JAYY from Jays Audio on Youtube said in his review that the P1 Max delivers his favourite treble performance under $500 and I can certainly sympathize with that statement. The treble performance here is stellar (especially so for the money which I will remind you, is $84 during sales!) as long as you take some care in meeting its power requirement, using narrow bore tips and a smoother than neutral source. The only negative thing I would like to note is the 9kHz peak isn't probably all due to measurement artifact, so reducing it by 2-3dB might be wise here.
+ Non-Shouty Yet Clear Upper Mids:
As shown above, the upper mids are on the more gentle side of things which means you can crank the Panda more than other planars.
It is a lower contrast sound than the other planars but because it is a planar, it still retains clarity. What the Panda is not is shrill, but it is full-sounding and powerful. Some may find it is lacking some energy at 3-4kHz to fully do female vocals justice, but it keeps it from becoming fatiquing or overly crunchy.
+ Straight Glide From Bass To Mids:
This allows for the listener to percieve more "meat" of the music across the mid-bass and midrange. The P1 Max sounds satisfyingly full and filled-in compared to Timeless and Hook-X. It also works, I would imagine, to mask planar timbre and thinness. Planar IEMs in my opinion has to have generous bass and lower mids in order to not sound overly tightened and reveal the inherent planar timbre. The stock tuning of elevation in the lower mids and mid-bass seems to be an inherent quality so it is possible to EQ in some sub-bass.
+ Wide & Tall Soundstage:
I'm happy to report the soundstage not being completely panorama in shape, but having very decent height and perfectly adequate horizontal width to boot.
The crucial thing to avoid here is the sensation of "sonic walls" which is when you can tell where the sounds stop right at the level of your ears and refuse to go beyond your skull. IEMs playing in your ears as opposed to filling a virtual room where sounds can jump in and out of would-be barriers. In other words, there is a pleasureable psychoacoustic effect at play here keeping the music spacious and not closed-in.
- Somewhat Exaggerated Stereo Separation
This is more of a nitpick, but someone pointed it out in another review of the P1 Max. There is a slight exaggeration of the stereo separation where for example vocals have difficulty forming a phantom center which is when two speakers create the illusion of a speaker in the middle of them. The sounds seem to be magnetized somewhat to either L & R earpiece. In other words, I would like some more cohesiveness and mono presentation of the sound. (Less obvious when using 3.5mm single ended outputs, but then the stage size suffers)
- Somewhat Flat Depth Gradation:
This is the usual drawbacks of planars, a difficulty of portraying depth in the headstage. P1 Max is not the worst offender I have heard (again looking at you Timeless!)
but still, it is something planars always struggle with and here it is no different.
- Bass Depth:
As I touched on earlier, the sub-bass can be EQd in. The stock tuning can afford it so to speak. If you want a super-contrasty, dynamic planar experience, I believe the Letshouer S12 Pro is the choice. P1 Max is polite in every way you can imagine, which is why I like it so much. It is just well-judged and pleasant, even if it doens't bring the most excitement. The fact that it is the cheapest of the more well-known planar IEMs is a cherry on-top.
Conclusion:
The P1 Max is a sleeper. It is also very slept-on. Give it some power and it will transform into an IEM that has no earthly right costing $84. The launch price of $169 is a harder pill to swallow, but honestly, I would still pick P1 Max above the other planars in the line-up due to the quite awful timbre of its competitors.
It will be interesting how the new P1 Max 2 will improve upon this, given that they are said to have the same tuning and same driver specifications.
+Wide Open Headstage:
Since the Wind is open-backed, notes can decay naturally and infinitely without a sense of hitting and bouncing off the backplate. This adds to the timbre decay which ends up being so natural that you've never heard it. It has a circular headstage where it is as tall as it is wide, and it is very wide with quite good depth.
What is more, it is incredibly open-sounding where you can't sense an obvious end to the stage, beating out even full-sized headphones such as HD650 or Hifiman Ananda in terms of how notes decay outwards. At the same time, it is very intimate where voices come really close to you, singing exclusively for you, the listener.
+Bone Conduction Adding Audible Tactility In Bass And Mids:
Yeppers, this bone conducation works wonders. If you place your thumbs on the surface of where the bone conduction operates throught he shell, you can actually legitimately feel the vibration. How this is expressed during musical replay during actual listening is like it's adding a subtle layer on the replay that is perfectly synced to the dynamic driver, humming along nicely with what is happening in the bass and mids. It makes everything in the bass and mids a little denser, more physical, more tactile.
+Outstandingly Natural Timbre:
As mentioned before, timbre is outstanding. Each note has proper weight thanks to the BC driver and the open-backed nature allows for uninhibited infinite ripple decay of the notes.
What you end up with are notes that you experience like this in your head:
+Reverberation:
The BC driver together with the open-back infuses each note with a reverb that also aids the sensation of the note expanding forever until it naturally dissipates, like a drop in water.
+Higher Notes Of Vocals:
The high notes of vocals or instruments is one of BQEYZ specialties. There is a delicious vibrancy there around 2-3kHz that makes the crystalline aspect of voices really shine through and touch you. Singers who are belting out sound super dynamic and punch through all the way to your dopamine system. Female vocals operate in these frequencies more often than male vocals, so they benefit more.
+Midrange Transparency:
Really great transparency in the mid-range. It sounds very dynamic, powerful, transparent, pure. This allows you to connect to the performance and hear the music in layers.
+All-Encompassing Bass Presence:
A huge bass presence thanks to the BC driver vibrating. It's huge not in terms of depth or volume, although the Wind is no slouch in those areas, but rather; it's huge in sheer size. It fills the entire headstage with bass. It's like your head is inside the guitar while it's strumming along. This calls for powerful sources that tighten up the bass while adding a little extension ontop for best synergy. The Wind is all about being inside each note as opposed to standing at a distance and seeing the separation between each note.
-Bright-Tilted Tone:
Now for the negatives and the first one is a nitpick. The Wind has, despite its great BC driver adding substance to the bass and mids, a slight bright tilt to its tonal balance.
The LCP dynamic driver is maximized for upper-midrange purity, but becomes lean in the lower mids in the pursuit of transparency. The BC driver does fill
in the sound to a good degree, but doesn't quite compensate all the way to say it has a perfect tonal balance.
-Diffuse Imaging:
The notes are so large, because they are not contained by treble contours. This makes the imaging diffuse and unspecified, so this is not a set
for analyzing exactly how the mix has been mastered and put together. Rather, you enjoy the very center of the note first, spewing forth to the forefront.
-Non-Articulate Treble:
One of the most immediate things you notice about the Wind is its absence of treble. What I mean is, it gives such a close inspection of each note that you could say you're inside of it and you lose the perspective of the contour of each note. This hurts the sense of sensing separation and location of the treble. You hear treble, but your mind can't pin point where "on the instrument" it is.
-Needs A Nozzle Filter To Achieve Tone Balance & Bring Treble Peaks Down:
I rectify the bright tonal balance by adding a nozzle filter which tames the peaks in the treble, giving it a perceived warmer and more refined sound. After doing this, it becomes almost perfect according to my preferences. By adding the filter, you effectively negate the first negative point about having a bright-tilted tone.
Conclusion:
The Wind is a special IEM that sounds like no other IEM that I have heard. It delivers a unique and addictive perspective to music that is only enabled by its BC driver and open-back nature. I consider it the best IEM under $500 and it is one of my favourite IEMS ever, all things considered. At $200, it is a must have for anyone, either as your main set or as a reference in terms of natural note decay.
Since the Wind is open-backed, notes can decay naturally and infinitely without a sense of hitting and bouncing off the backplate. This adds to the timbre decay which ends up being so natural that you've never heard it. It has a circular headstage where it is as tall as it is wide, and it is very wide with quite good depth.
What is more, it is incredibly open-sounding where you can't sense an obvious end to the stage, beating out even full-sized headphones such as HD650 or Hifiman Ananda in terms of how notes decay outwards. At the same time, it is very intimate where voices come really close to you, singing exclusively for you, the listener.
+Bone Conduction Adding Audible Tactility In Bass And Mids:
Yeppers, this bone conducation works wonders. If you place your thumbs on the surface of where the bone conduction operates throught he shell, you can actually legitimately feel the vibration. How this is expressed during musical replay during actual listening is like it's adding a subtle layer on the replay that is perfectly synced to the dynamic driver, humming along nicely with what is happening in the bass and mids. It makes everything in the bass and mids a little denser, more physical, more tactile.
+Outstandingly Natural Timbre:
As mentioned before, timbre is outstanding. Each note has proper weight thanks to the BC driver and the open-backed nature allows for uninhibited infinite ripple decay of the notes.
What you end up with are notes that you experience like this in your head:
+Reverberation:
The BC driver together with the open-back infuses each note with a reverb that also aids the sensation of the note expanding forever until it naturally dissipates, like a drop in water.
+Higher Notes Of Vocals:
The high notes of vocals or instruments is one of BQEYZ specialties. There is a delicious vibrancy there around 2-3kHz that makes the crystalline aspect of voices really shine through and touch you. Singers who are belting out sound super dynamic and punch through all the way to your dopamine system. Female vocals operate in these frequencies more often than male vocals, so they benefit more.
+Midrange Transparency:
Really great transparency in the mid-range. It sounds very dynamic, powerful, transparent, pure. This allows you to connect to the performance and hear the music in layers.
+All-Encompassing Bass Presence:
A huge bass presence thanks to the BC driver vibrating. It's huge not in terms of depth or volume, although the Wind is no slouch in those areas, but rather; it's huge in sheer size. It fills the entire headstage with bass. It's like your head is inside the guitar while it's strumming along. This calls for powerful sources that tighten up the bass while adding a little extension ontop for best synergy. The Wind is all about being inside each note as opposed to standing at a distance and seeing the separation between each note.
-Bright-Tilted Tone:
Now for the negatives and the first one is a nitpick. The Wind has, despite its great BC driver adding substance to the bass and mids, a slight bright tilt to its tonal balance.
The LCP dynamic driver is maximized for upper-midrange purity, but becomes lean in the lower mids in the pursuit of transparency. The BC driver does fill
in the sound to a good degree, but doesn't quite compensate all the way to say it has a perfect tonal balance.
-Diffuse Imaging:
The notes are so large, because they are not contained by treble contours. This makes the imaging diffuse and unspecified, so this is not a set
for analyzing exactly how the mix has been mastered and put together. Rather, you enjoy the very center of the note first, spewing forth to the forefront.
-Non-Articulate Treble:
One of the most immediate things you notice about the Wind is its absence of treble. What I mean is, it gives such a close inspection of each note that you could say you're inside of it and you lose the perspective of the contour of each note. This hurts the sense of sensing separation and location of the treble. You hear treble, but your mind can't pin point where "on the instrument" it is.
-Needs A Nozzle Filter To Achieve Tone Balance & Bring Treble Peaks Down:
I rectify the bright tonal balance by adding a nozzle filter which tames the peaks in the treble, giving it a perceived warmer and more refined sound. After doing this, it becomes almost perfect according to my preferences. By adding the filter, you effectively negate the first negative point about having a bright-tilted tone.
Conclusion:
The Wind is a special IEM that sounds like no other IEM that I have heard. It delivers a unique and addictive perspective to music that is only enabled by its BC driver and open-back nature. I consider it the best IEM under $500 and it is one of my favourite IEMS ever, all things considered. At $200, it is a must have for anyone, either as your main set or as a reference in terms of natural note decay.
