7Hz X Crinacle Salnotes Dioko Planar Magnetic Driver IEMs

Disclaimer: The unit was sent by Hifigo as a part of a review tour but all thoughts and opinions are my own. You can purchase the Dioko here.

Build and Fit
The shape of Dioko is a bit awkward, and it doesn't fit my ears perfectly due to the long shape. It is indeed a bit uncomfortable for me, none of the included tips helped me alleviate that. Build quality is pretty solid material wise. The shell is all metal and the front seems to be made of glass. Not sure how durable the glass is so I would be cautious when handling it. Unfortunately, the glass is a bit of a fingerprint magnet and it looks quite smudgy after handling it for a while. It comes with an oversized and overbuilt carry case which is always good to have, but in no way shape or form is it even remotely pocketable. It's more 'bag-able'.



Power Needs
At 16 ohm, 106dB/V, the dioko being a planar magnetic earphone does need a decent source to start with. I would not recommend plugging it directly into your phone lest you want to be disappointed.



Sound Quality
From inferior sources, the Dioko is under driven and sounds veiled and weak. It should be audible easily. Shifting gears the sound is much more open and capable. This should also be audible easily. The Dioko sounds pretty balanced and inoffensive, nothing seems to be bothersome even on extended listen.
It is pretty detailed but without any harshness in the sound; the top end is naturally a bit warm and laid back and not too airy. The vocals and midrange in general sound quite linear and uncolored, I found no added thickness or richness to the sound, and neither does it sound thin or weak. Down low below the waist the Dioko seems to be packing adequately . It has the traditional "planar bass" where it sounds like it wants to give more, but just can't. It does indeed lack the raw physicality and extension of traditional driver types but that is only felt when comparing directly. Else I do not think any sophisticated listener would complain about the nuance in the bass, which is obtained by sacrificing just a bit of quantity.



Conclusion
Dioko sounds quite balanced overall with little to no niggles in my mind. But it is worth pointing out that there is a sea of earphones out there and most of them are forgettable in the long run, Dioko kind of fails to wow me in any way. But I guess that is fine if one just wants to jam out to their music?

The Review 7Hz X Crinacle Salnotes Dioko​

Introduction​

The 7Hz needs no introduction when it comes to planar IEMs as they were the first to put a full range planar driver in an IEM known as timeless and achieve great tonality with great technical ability. Instantly the Timeless was a huge hit. After that they released Eternal which got enough good response but not what was expected after their release of Timeless. Now that they have released their another IEM under their sub brand Salnotes, I believe they are very much back on the track again. Their new release The Dioko is a product of 7Hz/Salnotes is tuned by a famous IEM reviewer Crinacle. And today I’ll be reviewing the new 7hz/Salnotes Dioko.

Disclaimer​

*Thanks to HiFiGo team as this unit tour has been arranged by HiFiGo, lovely people. And as mentioned in all of my reviews, same goes with this one too and that is, each and every thoughts below mentioned are my personal own thoughts and they are not fiddled with any outside influences. The following link is where you can go and own one for yourself :-

https://hifigo.com/products/salnotes-dioko

*I will be referring these IEMs to as 'Dioko' for the rest of the review.
*And at last I will only be reviewing the Dioko on the basis of their performance, I do not care what these are made of or packaged with when newly purchased unless it affects the sound in any sense what so ever.

Specification​

The Dioko has 14.6 mm with double sided array N55 magnet planar driver on both sides. The frequency response is from 5Hz to 40kHz with an impedance of 16ohms. The THD+N is < 0.2%/1kHz with sensitivity of 106dB/V at 1kHz.

Sound​

The sound of Dioko is neutral with sub bass boost. The treble is very exciting and extended greatly. the mid range has a a clean presentation. The bass is tight and have a punch but feels off and light. Though The overall presentation is quite good in this price bracket.

Treble​

The treble is very well tuned in this IEM. The treble extension is greatly extended, in fact I would say the best under 200 dollars and maybe on par with the Timeless. The upper treble is very spacious sounding and airy. They sound very well detailed and rich. Though sometimes the vocals sounds a little bit hot, especially female vocals. Due to the vocal presentation is centric and lean sounding, their is more information retrieved in the treble region. the lower treble is toned down which does helps the upper mids from not becoming sharp or sibilant sounding. The treble is exciting yet have a good control with a good sense of tonal balance.

Mid Range​

Coming to the mid range, Dioko sounds clean but lean. They are smooth and energetic but not so upfront in the mix. The vocals sounds thin and sometimes peaky, the instruments sounds vibrant and metallic sounding. The vocal presentation is centric and alive. The guitars timbre is very artificial sounding, same goes for any other natural sounding instrument. The upper mid range sometimes becomes sibilant but doesn’t affect much in the mix, as there is rich details and clean presentation. Same goes for the lower mid range but due to no warmth and tight bass, the note weight and density is very less in quantity. But the overall presentation sounds very clean and detailed.

Bass​

The bass of the Dioko is more emphasised in the sub bass region than mid bass region. The sub bass extension greatly extended and sounds very deep. Although the bass sounds clean and doesn’t bleed into the mid range, They have a light presentation and the punch or hit feels off. The mid bass do have presence and yet again lacks that thump or slam. But the sub bass boost is very much controlled and properly balanced in the mix. Well the bass response is very fast and quick.

Technical Performance​

The technical performance of this IEM is by far the best you can find in an IEM under $150, The capability of IEM have astonished me, especially coming to its technical performance. The tonality leaning towards being light and lean sounding yet I still find this IEM very musical.

Soundstage, Sound Imaging & Separation​

The soundstage almost feels average for the price segment they are being offered as they aren’t much wide sounding. But the stage is very much clean with sharp imaging and great placement of sound elements. The separation is greatly resolved, easily every sound element can be pin pointed in the mix.

Speed & Resolution​

The resolution is far better than any other IEM in this price segment, when it comes to the detail retrieval, I believe this to be the under $150, it is very rich, textured and smooth. The attack or decay of notes are pretty much what you can expect from a planar IEM, that is very fast resolving.

Conclusion​

To conclude this review, Yes a 100%, for the price they’re being offered they are the best you can get with technicalities which are astonishingly presented with a great tuning which for my preference nails it. Yeah the tonality is good on other IEMs like Aria but a planar magnetic driver that the price they’re being offered is really a steal. Clean, analytical and smooth in sounding. But beware as they are not warm sounding or fun sounding. This pair is literally made for critical listener. I would totally recommend these IEMs.

Sources and Tracks Used​

Sources​

Apple iPhone XS Max
LG G8X
iPad (4th generation)
Apple Dongle Dac
Shanling UA1 Pro
iFi HIPDAC
Venture Electronics Megatron
Apple Lossless
UAPP
Localy stored Flac and Wav Files

Tracks​

Curtis Mayfield - Pusherman
Earth, Wind & Fire - September
Earth, Wind & Fire - Let's Groove
Boston - More Than A Feeling
Fleetwood Mac - Everywhere(Remastered)
Toto - Africa
The Police - Every Breath You Take
George Benson - Affirmation
Daft Punk - Doin' It Right
Daft Punk - Derezzed
Daft Punk - Tron Legacy (End Titles)
GOJIRA - Amazonia
The Mars Volta - Inertiatic ESP
Fergie - Glamorous
50 Cent - In Da Club
Jay Z - Holy Grail
Erbes - Lies
Nitti Gritti - The Loud
Juelz - Inferno