keanex
Keeper of The All-New Headphone Buyer's Guide
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2010
- Posts
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Pros: Environmentally conscious build, wooden housings, overall build quality.
Cons: Cable tangles easily, potential discomfort for smaller ears, lacks sub-bass rumble, mid bass overly present, light veil.
Style: Straight down IEMs.
Tonal Balance: Mid-bass heavy.
Accessories: 4 single flange silicon tip sizes, shirt clip and a cloth carrying pouch.
Listening Set-Up: Musicbee -> Oppo HA-1
Cost at Time of Review: $99
Reviewing Process
The rain2 have received at least 30 hours of burn-in time and at least 30 hours of head time. The rain2 have been used during quiet suburb walks, while at work and while at the desktop. I feel that I am capable of sufficiently commenting on the sound and build based on my experience with the rain2. As always, I suggest demoing a pair of headphones before purchasing (when available) and reading many reviews otherwise.I would like to thank thinksound for the review unit.
Build & Fit
Build
Those who are familiar with thinksound could skip ahead as the rain2 are held to the same standards as the likes of the ms01. For those unfamiliar it should be first noted that thinksound designs their headphones with an environmentally conscious thought in mind. They use recycled/upcycled parts when possible which sets them apart from every other headphone company that I’m familiar with. The use of recycled or upcycled parts does not mean a sacrifice in quality though, the rain2, like the ms01, are built solidly from top to bottom.
The wooden housing on the rain2 is finished nicely, while the aluminum baffle is secured safely to the wood. The housing has, what I feel to be, sufficient stress relief leading into the housing to prevent cable issues. The cable tangles rather easily, which is my only problem with the build. When picked up from being placed down, I find that it’s mostly necessary to set them straight. The cable terminates into a 45 degree plug, which I generally dislike, but the stress relief seems excellent, allowing for flexibility to bend while keeping the cable from coming to any sharp angles.
My biggest concern about the durability of the rain2 lies within the mesh grill. The included tips are short and ear wax easily finds its way into the grill. I would suggest finding a safe ear cleaning method and a safe IEM cleaning method to maintain the fidelity of the sound. Alternatively there are IEM tips with wax guards that are worth looking into.
Fit
The rain2 have a rather wide speaker port, wide enough to warrant concern for those with smaller ears. If you have issues with IEMs being uncomfortably large than the rain2 are likely not for you. Overall the fit is average, neither comfortable nor uncomfortable, I’ve had no issues wearing the rain2 for an hour or two at a time but I notice them there. The tips are rather short though, so I worry about ear wax clogging up the speaker grill. No issues with driver flex though, which seems to be an issue I run into with large IEM drivers.
Sound Quality
Bass
The rain2 are capable of reaching the lowest notes that any song in my library is capable of reproducing and I’m able to hear a faint rumble with 10hz sweeps, though 20hz is where there is any discernible bass texture. While the rain2 are capable of reproducing the lowest frequencies, I find that the sub-bass lacks the authority to carry the driving basslines of Jon Hopkins or Jamie xx; though the notes are heard, they aren’t faithfully portrayed due to the rain2 drivers simply not being able to put out enough force to mimic a sub-woofer in any meaningful way. In addition to the lack of presence, I find that the sub-bass comes off a bit loose, causing notes to linger a bit longer than they should. Lastly the texture of the sub-bass comes off as muddy, while not one note, it’s certainly not clean or smooth. I can happily report that I note no signs of distortion when running any sort of bass sweeps, therefore the rain2 should respond decently to EQ.
The mid bass is the loudest frequency of the overall sound, though I wouldn’t say that the mid bass is the focus. The mid bass is prominent, often overshadowing the sub-bass and pushing into the mid-range, but I don’t feel that it interferes with the quality of the two adjacent frequencies, it simply takes some of the spotlight away. The mid bass comes off a bit thick, slow and overly warm, but it works surprisingly well for hip-hop, such as Kendrick Lamar, or upbeat trance-esque electronic music like Flight Facilities’ Clair de Lune. On the whole though the mid bass is a bit too thick for me to fully enjoy every day listening. I find the warmth of the lows, as a whole, constrains the variety genres that I want to listen to with the rain2.
Mids & Highs
As a whole the mids and highs are balanced nicely with each other and sound rather clear when not encumbered by the lows. Acoustic tracks highlight the mid and upper ranges, showing that the rain2 is perfectly capable of creating a rich,clean and natural sound throughout the spectrum. Unfortunately the mid bass adds a layer of veil over the mids and highs, taking away presence as well as energy. In addition to the veil, I note some grain notably in the vocals.
The rain2 seem to be rather indifferent of source, neither detailed nor cloudy. I can certainly discern a good quality recording from a bad quality recording, but the rain2 smooths over the imperfections in mastering.
Presentation
The rain2 are IEMs and they certainly sound like it. The soundstage is rather small between the width and depth, and imaging qualities are average at best. Despite the small soundstage the rain2 rarely sound cluttered. Instruments may sound close, but each has their own space on the stage.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, despite how critical I was, I actually do enjoy my time with the rain2. I find the sound to be warm and musical, while they seem to be built to handle wear and tear. The rain2 are entry level IEMs and they are going to have flaws, that’s the nature of the game, but the rain2’s sound qualities will certainly appeal to those looking for a bassy leaning IEM without entering basshead territory. The rain2 also make a nice bassy compliment to it’s sibling the ms01, which I recommend often.Come see more photos here!
