I'm not really a earbuds fan and have very fews of them in my life.
Lately my curiosity about their open sound potential begin to grow and I want to try some promising ones. Because of the good reviews and praising about the Mrz Tomahwak here on Headfi, I decide to try them and have big attempt when I receive it. My attempt wasn't deceive but I wasn't blown away too by the sound these earbuds produce, in fact, to got the best out of them you need a quite powerfull DAP, these earbuds are capricious like my grados SR325 and need lot of goodwill from their user to be enjoy, once you give them what they want they will sound sincerly superb.
These earbuds look like a silver jewel : they shine, are big and have a fancy metal brushed look and modern kind-of-sci-fi-looking design (look like they came from the David Cronnenberg movie Existenz). This is heavy construction and I just discover that the metal part were the cable go in the earshell is unscrewable so...dont play too much with this possibility if you don't want to have unwanted result. The cable is of high quality and look very sturdy. What is the more important to know about the Tomahawk is the fact that they are BIG and HEAVY earbuds, not appropriate for people with small ears. I have big ears and find them difficult to were properly because they inconditionnaly want to pop up my ears. When I ask my small eared girlfriend to try them, I know it would be impossible and quite ridiculous and it was : it was like trying to pass an elephant trough a pin hole. So, small ears people, pass on these earbuds, even masochist will not find them pleasant to wear if they can't keep still in their ears. For big-eared audiophile mamals, yes, their hope to wear and enjoy them properly so don't run away from what they can reward you off.
SOUND IMPRESSIONS :
The Mrz benefit from amping source, for example it sound better from the Line out of my Ibasso Dx80 to the Fiio E7 amp and avoid hissing problem that can occur while playing directly out of the Dx80. I make a test with some Beth Gibbons problematic song that was sounding a little too bright and making some hiss with Gibbons particular voice when playing it on too revalating DAP (Ibasso Dx80-90) and it appear that the peaky voice problem did not occur out of Fiio E7 warmish OP-Amp. It loose a little bit of details but the musicality is more natural and the bass and voice are little more fowards too, really a good duo that solve a minimal but sometime anoying micro-harshness problem.
Comparing with the cheaper Tuna CM6 or VJJB C1 earbuds, Mrz are way more airy and wide in soundstage, have more texture and bass, more details and overall musicality. Not that Tuna CM6 sound bad (when goodly amped) but they aren't from the same league at all and wasn't meant to. As for VJJB C1 I don't like them and find them not musical at all, they sound like distant elevator speakers and aren't a competitor at all against the TOMAHAWK.
LOWS :
The bass isn't enormous with the MrZ but is there in it's own way and I think we can say the low frequencies are quite well rendered for an earbud. The bass performance remind me of Grado soundsignature that do not have sub bass but a very punchy and energic sound. Compared to the other earbuds I have it is the one that have more bass and make it sound more natural and easily discernable. I do not suggest to use these earbuds for bass heavy or electronic music because it will not sound right. As it can render sub woofer like lows, the MrZ are more appropriate for acoustic music, classical, jazz, folk or live albums. If you play BIG bass music at high volume, it is possible to heard little distortion, perhaps it is a defect of mine but one earbud make rattle noise with some type of bass at high volume, anyway, it happen with all my Grado headphones too.
With Xduoo X3 : Bass is smooth and laid back, using and external amp help to improve his weight.
With Ibasso Dx80:With his warm sound and round bass, the Mrz sound natural and render full spacious bass performance that is ideal for jazz and classical as it give thickness to cello playing.
With Ibasso Dx90 : Bass is brighter and less airy but very textured, clear and punchy.
MIDS :
This is where the Tomahawk show his real talent, the vocals on these are fowards and clear, a little bright but in a musical and airy way. It's a real pleasure to listen to jazz signer with these and there a sense of intimacy in the presentation of vocal, resolution is really high so you hear the voice in full details wich will be a drawback with bad recording. Even if I find a lack of warmest to smooth a little vocals peaks, the airy presentation compensate it from being harsh or fatiguing. Mids are extremely clear and well balanced in sound spectrum, as instruments separation is very good you can easily locate the signers in the sound imaging. Bass do not bloat mids and the treble is sparkly.
With Xduoo X3 : Mids are a little less fowards but sound smoother and more relax.
With Ibasso DX80 : Mids are in front and have more weight, the presentation is vast and airy, another time it's the best combination.
With Ibasso DX90 : Very detailed vocal, precise piano and textured violin and electic guitar, very good for instrumental music with lot of instruments less so with harshy voice.
HIGHS :
These earbuds are VERY detailed and on the bright side, treble is very extended to the point it can be problematic wtih some recording that have background noise or bad mastering. This mean that you have a very revealing and detailed sound too, that texture is very present and instruments separation have a high resolution to it. The problem with the highs is that it can be harsh sounding with some audio source, I encounter this especially with the Ibasso Dx90 but have issue with this particular soundsignature with all my players when I play more dry sounding music. Excellent recording will sound excellent and very energic, right now I listen to a song with violin picking, guitar, violin solo, drum, bass and a female signer and it is very impressive that I can clearly hear all of this instruments and have no congestion in the whole. The Mrz are very agile earbuds that have a serious audiophile sound to it.
With Xduoo X3: Highs are smoother and more liquid, the sound is more laid back and perfect for relax musicality.
With Ibasso Dx80: High are more energic and spacious, treble is warmer than with the Dx90. Excellent!
With Ibasso Dx90: Too analytical and bright, never congested, but can be fatiguing with long listening. Lack musicality.
CONCLUSION:
Due to the plenty of positive review of this earbuds, my attempt was Enormous and I can't say I was neither deceive or blown away. I paid 36$ for them at Shenzhen HCkexin Electronic Technology on Aliexpress and my review will have been different if I pay the MSRP 50$ price. At this price they are a real deal, the construction is excellent and the soundsignature is unique and incredibly airy. I can't experience this type of listening with any other earphones or earbuds as it is like having portable speakers on your 2 shoulders. Still, I find that the sound can be improve and hope for a less bright version of this earbuds so they can be more of an all-arounder. Anyway, they are the best earbuds I heard until now so take my review with a grain of salt, i'm quite a severe headfier (5 star is for Miracle). If I do not have encounter the little rattle-distortion noise with some bassy songs (2 songs out of 1000) I would have give it a half star more. All in all, this is a MUST for any earbuds lover (with big ears holes).
