The DUNU DN-17 are a new line of IEM products developed by Dunu in 2012 that uses silver cables. I received these around two weeks ago before I left for my vacation in Beijing. Beijing...was really boring and I had nothing to do for the week so I did have a good listen of the DN-17s. Here I shall post my first impressions as well as a complete review of these priced at USD $76. I aim for my reviews to be concise, I mean, no one wants to plow through seven pages of a review on a headphone right? 
Packaging
The packing looked really nice from the outside. It was a simple outer cardboard shell wrapped around a cardboard case, which opened by a magnetic latch. Simple yet efficient. Inside the box was quite compact. There were too many pairs of tips to count. There was a big bag and a small bag.
Big Bag:
1 pair: double flanged tips
3 pairs: regular mushroom tips of different sizes
Small Bag:
3 pairs: colored mushroom tips
The DN-17 comes attached with a colored tip too. (Right now I have no clue what the difference is, but I will get the information soon and update this.)
Also inside the bag:
1x Airline adapter
1x 3.5mm to 6.3mm adapter
1x shirt clip (extremely useful, more on this later)
1x soft pleather bag, nice and well made
1x square metal case, probably my favorite case so far, though it does look sort of like a UE case...
Design
The actual IEMs were made of metal and had an extremely sleek design. It felt quite heavy on the hand and certain did not feel cheap. The quality of manufacturing was very good, and the IEM stayed intact even after I threw them around during my trip to Beijing (tripped over the cable many times...). There is a bass port at the back of the IEM, but this does not leak sound, and does not affect isolation.
However I do have issues with the cable itself. The rubber of the cable is not the smooth type. It has a lot of friction, and coupled with the heavy IEMs, make them very prone to tangle if you don't wrap them up properly. I hope future DUNU products will use better cable material. (No complaints about the silver inside it though! You can see the silver cable through the translucent cable housing)
My most welcomed design of this is the patented IEM wrapper (?) near the 3.5mm jack. It lets me wrap away my IEMs with ease, with no worries of them tangling. IMO all other IEMs should buy this patent off Dunu and use it!
Sound
Most important part!
First Impressions
First impressions weren't that good unfortunately...
Keywords:
These do need burn in, but not that long. After a few days of regular listening the improvements were very significant.
Final Impressions
After 2 weeks of regular listening, this is what I conclude about the sound of DN-17.
There is a natural reverb to all the notes in this IEM. This makes it very pleasurable and comforting to listen to (most of the times). However, It is a darkish IEM. Why I say "darkish" is that the treble is very interesting. It is always present, sometimes even harsh, but it doesn't, in any way, make the IEM sound bright. The sound of these are still veiled, but much better compared to the start. I would really like to see a measured frequency graph of DN-17 because the treble seems to be very bumpy. There are parts where it is recessed and makes it sound dark, but other parts are enhanced and appear above the veil. Sometimes even sounding harsh and sibilant in certain songs. The good part is that the treble is relatively detailed and has good space and separation to it.
The mids are relatively forward and sounds quite sweet. Though the first thing that hits you is still the veil. We seem to see a shadow of an Audio Technica tuning in the sound, but without the clarity. Both male and female vocals sound good on these, but female vocals may sound too thin. The vocals are well separated from other instruments.
The bass is definitely enhanced, but not overpowered by any means. It does not bleed into the mid range, and has a very good punch, texture as well as depth. The bass is definitely the best part of DN-17. However, due to the long, natural sounding reverb of the IEM, the bass is not fast, and will suffer during fast songs as they blur together. You will be able to hear each note hit, but then you cannot hear the ending of the note. The micro details in the bass are lacking, but I have to constantly remind myself of the selling price.
The sound stage is certainly impressive for an IEM. This is largely due to the amazing instrument separation and layering. Though the background may not be the blackest, you can still feel the air between each note in the treble, mids and bass. Whenever a note is played, you can clearly tell the location of where it is coming from. (The bass department seems to lack this ability slightly). The sound stage does not sound artificial at any time. The natural sound stage and natural reverb of a dynamic IEM certainly makes this an enjoyable IEM to listen to. However, the dynamic IEM reverb happens to smooth some details in the background, and this constantly reminds me that I'm not listening to a Balanced Armature IEM.
Conclusion
Pros:
Would I buy this for the selling price of $76? Yes. I would say it is definitely worth the price. Though the treble do create problems and Dunu should work towards solving it.
UPDATE (August 1st 2012)
From Rocky:
"The colored tip is so called Columbia Tips(Sony usually use it). With the tips the bass will be more focused, so generally speaking it will enhance bass performance. Normal mushroom tips are to increasing mid and high rrecognition and clarity , instead the bass will reduce a little bit. Vocal will be a little bit thinner than Columbia Tips."
Packaging
The packing looked really nice from the outside. It was a simple outer cardboard shell wrapped around a cardboard case, which opened by a magnetic latch. Simple yet efficient. Inside the box was quite compact. There were too many pairs of tips to count. There was a big bag and a small bag.
Big Bag:
1 pair: double flanged tips
3 pairs: regular mushroom tips of different sizes
Small Bag:
3 pairs: colored mushroom tips
The DN-17 comes attached with a colored tip too. (Right now I have no clue what the difference is, but I will get the information soon and update this.)
Also inside the bag:
1x Airline adapter
1x 3.5mm to 6.3mm adapter
1x shirt clip (extremely useful, more on this later)
1x soft pleather bag, nice and well made
1x square metal case, probably my favorite case so far, though it does look sort of like a UE case...
Design
The actual IEMs were made of metal and had an extremely sleek design. It felt quite heavy on the hand and certain did not feel cheap. The quality of manufacturing was very good, and the IEM stayed intact even after I threw them around during my trip to Beijing (tripped over the cable many times...). There is a bass port at the back of the IEM, but this does not leak sound, and does not affect isolation.
However I do have issues with the cable itself. The rubber of the cable is not the smooth type. It has a lot of friction, and coupled with the heavy IEMs, make them very prone to tangle if you don't wrap them up properly. I hope future DUNU products will use better cable material. (No complaints about the silver inside it though! You can see the silver cable through the translucent cable housing)
My most welcomed design of this is the patented IEM wrapper (?) near the 3.5mm jack. It lets me wrap away my IEMs with ease, with no worries of them tangling. IMO all other IEMs should buy this patent off Dunu and use it!
Sound
Most important part!
First Impressions
First impressions weren't that good unfortunately...
Keywords:
- Dark
- Veiled
- Smudged
- Impressive soundstage for an IEM!
These do need burn in, but not that long. After a few days of regular listening the improvements were very significant.
Final Impressions
After 2 weeks of regular listening, this is what I conclude about the sound of DN-17.
There is a natural reverb to all the notes in this IEM. This makes it very pleasurable and comforting to listen to (most of the times). However, It is a darkish IEM. Why I say "darkish" is that the treble is very interesting. It is always present, sometimes even harsh, but it doesn't, in any way, make the IEM sound bright. The sound of these are still veiled, but much better compared to the start. I would really like to see a measured frequency graph of DN-17 because the treble seems to be very bumpy. There are parts where it is recessed and makes it sound dark, but other parts are enhanced and appear above the veil. Sometimes even sounding harsh and sibilant in certain songs. The good part is that the treble is relatively detailed and has good space and separation to it.
The mids are relatively forward and sounds quite sweet. Though the first thing that hits you is still the veil. We seem to see a shadow of an Audio Technica tuning in the sound, but without the clarity. Both male and female vocals sound good on these, but female vocals may sound too thin. The vocals are well separated from other instruments.
The bass is definitely enhanced, but not overpowered by any means. It does not bleed into the mid range, and has a very good punch, texture as well as depth. The bass is definitely the best part of DN-17. However, due to the long, natural sounding reverb of the IEM, the bass is not fast, and will suffer during fast songs as they blur together. You will be able to hear each note hit, but then you cannot hear the ending of the note. The micro details in the bass are lacking, but I have to constantly remind myself of the selling price.
The sound stage is certainly impressive for an IEM. This is largely due to the amazing instrument separation and layering. Though the background may not be the blackest, you can still feel the air between each note in the treble, mids and bass. Whenever a note is played, you can clearly tell the location of where it is coming from. (The bass department seems to lack this ability slightly). The sound stage does not sound artificial at any time. The natural sound stage and natural reverb of a dynamic IEM certainly makes this an enjoyable IEM to listen to. However, the dynamic IEM reverb happens to smooth some details in the background, and this constantly reminds me that I'm not listening to a Balanced Armature IEM.
Conclusion
Pros:
- Natural sounding
- Good sound stage
- Excellent layering and instrument separation for the price
- Sweet and relatively forward vocals which are good for both genders
- Bass notes have good depth and excellent punch
- Treble, Mids and Bass are well separated
- Very natural sounding dynamic IEM
- Uneven treble
- Some times treble can be harsh and sibilant, yet even in those times the IEM still sounds dark
- Veiled IEM which makes mid sound not as attractive
- Not the blackest background
- Bass notes lack speed and can blur together on fast songs
- General lack of detail and smoothness, but more due to the selling price than performance issues. We also have to remind ourselves this is not a balanced armature IEM.
Would I buy this for the selling price of $76? Yes. I would say it is definitely worth the price. Though the treble do create problems and Dunu should work towards solving it.
UPDATE (August 1st 2012)
From Rocky:
"The colored tip is so called Columbia Tips(Sony usually use it). With the tips the bass will be more focused, so generally speaking it will enhance bass performance. Normal mushroom tips are to increasing mid and high rrecognition and clarity , instead the bass will reduce a little bit. Vocal will be a little bit thinner than Columbia Tips."
