Audiosense T180

T180 Pro

Intro Notes
I was offered these at a discount for the review. Per usual, I offer an honest note on my experience with them as it's not worth 'trading' my time for $25.
*I removed the dampers after a quick AB, they do not need them by any stretch of imagination

TLDR;
Well built, mid centered well rounders that have a polite presentation with rounded of highs and present but not overbearing bass. I only wish they had a touch more sparkle, but at this price, they would do well for those who don't need a crystalline high end.

Build
Well molded two piece plastic shell in hot orange, solid feeling overall. The nozzles have serial numbers laser etched which points to some manufacturing control, combined with the genuine knowles armatures sitting in molded pedestals, I would assume these to have better than average longevity and greater consistency between units. They come in an oversized package with a nice clamshell zipper case. There is a set of silicones and two pairs of memory foams. The silicones fit well but I found the material a little too rigid for comfort when I sized up for a good seal. I would suggest making/getting an adapter for different tips or getting a set of Westone Star Tips that come in half sizes.

The small shells allow for a pretty easy fit and the long nozzles makes for decent isolation. The included cable is pretty well made, a quad braid splitting into two channels with a knurled aluminum chin slider. I prefer slimmer cables for my portables but it would be a safer bet that this cable is more or less acoustically transparent (ie low resistance). The heatshrink for the over-the-ear section is pretty burly and some might prefer to remove it. It can easily be reformed with a hairdryer.

The Pro model comes with 300Ohm dampers pre-installed in the tip of the nozzles. I highly recommend removing them as the particular BA driver is not particularly shrill / well extended in the first place. Even with the damper removed, we are talking less bright than Ety XR series. You are just losing volume and boosting bass where it doesn't need to be boosted while losing clarity. If you don't have a tool to remove them (you can use a coarse screw), you can always use needlepoint tweezers to remove the dampening fabric.

Sound
They are pretty much the definition of well rounded, their polite signature makes for easy listening while the mids carry the show. I would say that as a whole, they are slightly on the warmer side of the spectrum with forward mids scaffolded by a full lower register, albeit not extending deep into the sub region. Likewise, they roll off before reaching far into the highs, though they are certainly capable of reproducing 18khz+ on a simulated test. While they lack the air and detail one finds in etymotics and other higher end balanced armature contenders, they are also far more forgiving of source materials and devices.

The star of the show is the well rendered mids that are present and that have good timbre. For the lack of a better word, they sound musical, if a little polite.

On the highs, don't expect to hear lips parting, fingers brushing over muted springs, breaths taken in the back row. I wish they reached slightly higher for the occasional splash of a cymbal slicing through the crowd. I haven't had the HD600s in a while, but they do remind me of them a little bit. With all this being said, there isn't much resonance (at my insertion depth anyhow) which makes for pleasant upper mids, I can pull them out a bit for a brighter sounds but really you are pushing the 7k peak at that point. If you have access to an equalizer, I would boost the top end by a db or two.

On the lows, as noted, single bas are not going to cause any earthquakes, lacking the sub 20hz rumble. Having said that, they do have a slight ~50hz tilt that gives enough body to the music. If I pull some detroit minimal techno like Robert Hood, they punch just enough to bob about but don't deliver the chest thump that you get with MH755, Blons et al. Being BAs, they are fast and precise about it and so generally don't sound like raking mud in crowded sections.

All in all, pretty solid mid-forward pair at this price that seem like they would last a tumble or two. Just remember to remove the dampers and consider a set of alternative tips with wider bore openings to not further attenuate highs (I'm using Final Es with a nozzle size adapter)

Comparison
For those wondering about Etymotic comparisons in the single BA realm, I have the ER2SE here as well (which are reportedly -and from memory- similar to ER4s), I can safely say that they are not similar at all. Etymotics, while they have a more intimate soundstage, sound like you lifted a wool blanket off of the band. The bass (if you get a deep seal) is a touch less on the Etys, a little more laid back in the lower mids / higher lows which lends an effect of precision and thinner mids. The highs however open up a whole another level of detail to be observed and enjoyed that are not present in the T180s(and most sub$50 earphones). This also makes them less forgiving of sources, and they are notably harder to drive (My pixel 3a needs to be at %80-90 for the Etymotics).

Notes
The official store is pretty fast at communication and shipping, which I appreciate when they are being schlepped halfway accross the world.

AUDIOSENSE T180 REVIEW :



SOUND: 8.5/10
CONSTRUCTION: 8.5/10
DESIGN: 8.5/10
ACCESSORIES: 8/10
VALUE: 9/10

AUDIOSENSE have been into audio since about 4 years, but mostly active in China where they get good reception among audio enthousiast. Right now they make accessible to whole world their T serie earphones since they open a shop in Ali express. The T180 entry model I review today as been sell in China since 2017, due to success, they decide making it available worldwide.

They could have pass under the radar if something do not caught my eyes as well as the one of fews other audiophile : KNOWLES BALANCED ARMATURES DRIVERS.

What, really, like, really really? We know unserious shaddy chi-fi maker can often say they use special dynamic drivers or BA and it isn’t true, so I decide to ask multiple question to the company to finally conclude they factually use real Knowles BA once they show me the official BA board sent by Knowles to them. Anyway, by the professionalism and passionate information about their T serie creation and tuning process, I know I wasn’t talking to amateurish audio engineer and well, get excited even more.



How could it be so cheap then? Well, level of profit is extremely low with whole T serie. At the begining, the entry model T180 was sell 30$ but include very basic copper cable, now that they upgrade it to high quality high end 8 cores SPC cable, the price jump to 40$. This time, I can promess you will not want to throw aay the cable included with your budget iem, so, yes, its among nicest cable I ever have with sub-100$ iem, the exception being the Alpha&Delta AD01, but it wasnt a detachable canle and they cost exactly 100$.

So, nope, you will never find the T180-T260-T300 or T800 in crazy Ali Sale, and seriously, we don’t care, because its the cheapest single Knowles you can buy right now on planet earth.

Even if it use an excellent Knowles BA, the T180 are to be expected as bass light in lower region, as well, it’s tuned neutraly with little extra mid range emphasis. This is audiophile targeted in-ear, but not monitor like with razor sharp treble and cold sound, because T180 aren’t clinical sounding and Knowles BA timbre is quite smooth and transparent compared to rougher, grainier, harsher and less controled chi-fi BA used in KZ, TRN and such.

You can buy the T180 for 41$ directly from AUDIOSENSE Ali Express STORE

DISCLAIMER: I wanna thanks Audiosense for selling me the whole T serie at very discounted price (40$). This is after long discussion that the idea of reviewing their products came out. I have absolutely no affiliation and my freedom of toughs is as always untouchable.



INFO & SPECS:

• Brand Name: AUDIOSENSE
• Control Button: No
• Active Noise-Cancellation: No
• Style: In-Ear
• Wireless Type: None
• Connectors: 3.5mm
• Communication: Wired
• Vocalism Principle: Balanced Armature
• Volume Control: No
• Frequency Response Range: 20-22000Hz
• Function: HiFi Headphone
• Function: Sport
• Sensitivity: 100DB
• Is wireless: No
• Plug Type: L Bending
• Codecs: None
• Support Memory Card: No
• With Microphone: No
• Model Number: AUDIOSENSE T180
• Resistance: 24Ω
• Waterproof: No
• Line Length: 1.2m
• Support APP: No
• Color: Orange
• Driver unit: Single full Fruquency Knowles Balanced Armatu

ACCESSORIES, CONSTRUCTION & DESIGN :



UNBOXING isn’t complete because I do not receive the review sample into official package, but from what I see its well presented in a classy box with T180 picture on it. Anyway, I got everything else including old and new cable, proctective case, silicone ear hook (no purpose for new cable that have installed ear hook on it), 4 pairs of silicone eartips and cable clip. Old cable is basic one with mic, new cable is top notch 8cores SCP cable.



CONSTRUCTION is quite impressive. Begining with the solid plastic orange translucide plastic wich look quite sturdy but may make the long thin nozzle prompt to unwanted damage, in the sens that if you inadvertendly step on the housing, this will be the first part to break. If you look into the housing, inner construction look very serious compared to other iem of this price range, this isn’t just a BA thrown in there, it have acoustic chamber as well as a damper filter into the housing nozzle. All this little details to acoustic engineering confirm seriousness of craftmanship.



DESIGN of the housing have been well thinked too, its a universal in-ear custom approach with an oval shape and long angled thin nozzle that will fit any ears types. They are extremely comfortable and easy to wear for long listening due to minimal pressure into the ears, no hard angle create discomfort to outer ears either. It slip in there naturally and will never pop out wich make them very good as sport earphones too.

ISOLATION is quite extreme, even more if you use foam eartips wich will make them near completely block noise like passive earplugs. Sound leakage is minimal as well.

DRIVEABILITY at 24ohm impendance and 100db sensitivity is more easy than it look, but will benifit from clear amping source. I find the T180 very source dependant and got mitiged result with someamping source that create distortion, so it should not be to low or too high, and more importantlyextremely clear source with low THD.



EARTIPS are supremely important here, and due to long nozzle it isn’t easy task, if you use them the way its preinstalled, wich is push to end of nozzle so front nozzle is directly exposed, it will make the sound trebly and too fowards, stoling the most needed bass we can extract from extra air giving by silicone eartips vibration (I guess). I do not like foam tips cause it kill the little bass we got, as well, I tend to push silicone tips 1/3 or 1/2 lengh wich expend soundstage and bass to my ears.


SOUND :




FIRST OVERALL impressions was a very detaile, spacious and trebly one with the first pair I receive, over treble emphasis was due to the fact the Balanced Armature damping filter wasn’t installed at all, so I contact Audiosense and they confirm me it wasn’t normal.

SECOND OVERALL impressions, wich is the proper one, was very good sounding neutral sounding earphones with transparent and natural timbre and soft upper treble. As even the best full range Knowles balanced armature cannot dig lower than 50hz, the bass is light but well define and textured, still, neither lower and mid bass will move air. What impress me its how delicate and natural it sound within a quite impressive soundstage.

SOUNDSTAGE is more about widnest and deepnest here, its not tall or particurly out of your head, but have a good intimate stereo like feel to it.

IMAGING is more about transparent layering, with extra accuracy in upper mids and lower range instrument separation. Again, limitation of single balanced armature can be evident with very energic and complex track that have multiple instrument, this will create congestion in rare case, especially at high volume

BASS is slightly dry in sub bass region, but with well textured timbre that permit good separation and accuracy with mid bass. Mid bass is rather soft, but more rounded up than sub bass. Its tigh and fast, but will lack energic impact for fan of electronic, rock or metal. For Jazz and Classical this type of softly textured bass that do not interfer with mid range will be a real pleasure.

MID RANGE is very impressive with very emphased presence, its fully covered without any strange dip, its the center of the show with its sharp accuracy, great details and imaging. Attack in this region is quite snappy giving violin and guitar good teeth that never sound too harsh, but the weight isn’t really there so piano note will sound too light some time. Anyway, the natural timbre of instrument is very delectable, its transparent yet realistic and full sounding. Female vocal are very enjoyable with the T180, they are very nuanced with excellent definition and a wide enveloping transparent presence. Male vocal are good but less bodied due to lower range limitation.

TREBLE is well extended and not peaky, its little roll off and delicate with slight extra lower highs sparkle but not alot of decay. Brilliance is good and give plucked instrument like classical guitar or harpsichord a great level of defition that isnt artificially pushed. For a single BA, its impressively well balanced, covering lower and mid highs smoothly until a little extra enery on top for extra air and decay. Upper highs have more cripsness and snapiness than all other range. This explain why higher register piano sound better than lower and medium one.


SUB : 6.5/10
MID BASS : 7.5/10
MID RANGE : 8.5/10
TREBLE : 8/10
TIMBRE : 8.5/10
ATTACK-DECAY : 8/10
SOUNDSTAGE : 8/10
IMAGING : 7.5/10

COMPARAISONS :

VS BRAINWAVZ KOEL :



Both these earphones use Single BA, so we are into a fair fight I think. Still, the construction of KOEL is underwhelming with its rough plastic looking, as well, its about 1.5 bigger and have a strange shape with small nozzle that make it less comfortable than T180.

SOUNDSTAGE of KOEL is airier and more out of your head, this is about the only place where it win over the more intimate sounding T180, because IMAGING is more diffuse and lack accuracy.
BASS is more emphased with the KOEL, having a more bodied mid-high bass impact that can create distortion and warm lower mid range, wich give male vocal extra body but not alot of definition, femal signer feel more recessed, dryier and thinner in timbre comapred to fuller sounding and more balanced MID RANGE of T180, wich feel in another league in term of details, richness and balance. TREBLE is more peaky and coloured with the Koel, wich give extra airy but make highs sound metallic and tonaly wrong. We can say that Koel try to do a V shape single BA withoutt akign in consideration higher sound pressure of volume, this make it disastrously distorted and messy sounding sometime, way more prompt to congestion and muddyness than the more agile and accurate (and neutral) T180.

VS FINAL AUDIO E2000 (40$) :



E2000 use a single micro dynamic drivers and is among my favorite sub-50$ in term of balance and timbre, but as it do not have detachable cable, overall construction can be considerate as inferior due to a rather basic cheapish cable. Anyway, this do not mean the T180 will be more durable, the plastic housing is bigger wich can be broke more easily than a small sturdy piece of metal like the E2000. As well, they are harder to drive than the T180.

SOUNDSTAGE is about same average wideness but T180 feel deeper while E2000 is a little more open and airy. IMAGING is more accurate with T180 due to better clarity and clearer instrument separation. BASS dig not as low with the T180, sub is dryier while the mid bass is tigher and faster with more impact than warmer more U shape type of bass of E2000. MID RANGE is where the E2000 feel warmer and way less detailed than T180, as well, instrument impact is more energic with the T180 compared to more laid back and natural sounding E2000. Vocal sound more intimate with the T180 and have lusher presence with E2000. Treble this time is more laid back with the E2000, wich make if feel dark and less detailed on top than T180. In other hand, the timbre of E2000 is thicker and more natural than brighter T180, as well, dynamic driver of E2000 can deal better with crowded music tracks without sounding congested or creating distortion.

VS BLON BL-03 (30-40$) :



With its single balanced armature the T180 cannot offer a sound as spacious and airy than the BLON but its detailed imaging, even if a little congested, compensate its intimate soundstage.

BASS dig notably deeper with the BL-03, offering some rumble the T180 crualy lack, but its slower too, and show how capable is the T180 in term of fast mid bass, as well, we got some well textured sub bass line that is as well tigher but way drier and thin than muscular BL-03. In term of mid bass, its the BL-03 that crualy lack some punch and resolution.

MID RANGE is where the T180 show its bravado, its very balanced, with rich transparent slightly bright timbre, it can deal with impressively complex track and do not have unwanted peak like the more coloured BL-03 that give at it got for vocal forgetting to cover the rest with attack and grip that T180 hae in plentiness. Level of clarity, resolution and details is superior with T180. Here, the BL-03 is more about body and weight, wich give naturalness instead of hyper realism a la T180.

TREBLE is more balanced and linear with T180, but a little rougher too, wich can make percussion a little splashy. BL-03 have less micro details but more sparkling highs.

All in all, we have 2 very different iem here, T180 being a neutralish Mid centric and analytical iem while the warm, bassy BL-03 is more airy and natural with notably bigger soundstage.

CONCLUSION :



Having try quite a lot of single or multi-BA’s earphones in sub-100$ price range, I’ve never been really satisfy by any of those, especially in term of timbre and overall balance, for example, the Brainwavz B200 dual BA sound marvelous for certain type of vocal or solo classical but lack proper separation in mid range and feel hollow in both low and highs as well as creating intense distortion when sub bass occur.

Again, I cannot say the Audiosense T180 are perfect sounding iem because the low range have some compromise as well as upper highs lack details, still, I would even say that for the Final Audio F4100 that while sounding superb with certain type of music can be messy and harsh with other one.
What I can say about the T180 is that its the more versatile single BA I try, due to a well done neutralish and mid centric tuning and very capable Knowles BA that do not create distortion with bass if well paired but still have limit to sub bass, even if yes, to my ears the T180 give one of better bass response similar to the Final Audio B2 in term of weighty mid bass and still hearable sub bass.

The T180 will pleas serious audiophile, mature listener as well as the one searching for an accurate well balanced sound that have an analytical mid range giving revealing musicality that do not feel too forced or artificial and an addictively rich transparent timbre, but you most be realistic about expection : nobody invent yet a full-response BA that can act like a single dynamic driver.

disclaimer: none needed, item purchased through their aliexpress store.



Unboxing / Packaging:

The T180 ships in a slip-cover style box with a large graphic of the earpiece on the front with details on the reverse and the sides. The cable displayed is the with mic version even on those shipped without it (like mine). Under the slip cover, the inner container has a foam tray that displays the earpieces and the soft case below them. all other items are stored inside the soft case except the warranty card and instructions that rest beneath it. The kit consists of the earpieces, cable, shirt clip, 4 sets of silicone tips, and the soft case. Kit is about as expected at this price point but cable is a bit better than average.




Build/Fit:

Shells are made by Mold using a GE composite material that claims to be 200% of the strength of the average polymer used for making shells. Shells are made in 2 parts with an inner and outer seam glued together after internals are mounted. The seam can be readily seen above the mmcx connector in the photo as a small gap is left in that area. Inner shells have T180 printed on the flat with either R or L printed immediately behind the mmcx connector. Nozzles exit the forward most point of the shell and are long and narrow (T100 sized). Shape is that of a tear drop with the point to the front of the ear. The outer shell has an octagon pattern built into the surface and a honeycomb style mesh beneath. Overall size is smaller than average and weight is extremely light making the T180 an easy and comfortable fit for long wear.





Internals:

The T180 uses a single Knowles RAF-32873 extended range balanced armature driver in a custom housing and with custom damping to tune the armature. Nominal impedance is listed as 24Ω with a sensitivity of 100dB/mW. Interestingly, the pictures below shows no crossover in the path and Knowles data sheet shows a nominal impedance of 50Ω with a sensitivity of 112dB/mW. I found the T180 to be slightly harder to drive than the numbers suggest it should be.





Cable:

The provided cable is 8 core silver plated copper braid from the clear plastic housed 90º gold plated 3.5mm jack to the barrel shaped brushed aluminum splitter. Each core in turn has 19 strands of silver plated copper wire. A small knurled chin slider mates to the splitter when not in use. two 4 wire braids exit the splitter and terminate in clear pre-formed hooks, with clear mmcx housings. The housings have either a red or blue ring to identify left/right with the earpieces having letter to match on the inner surface behind the mmcx connector as well.





Tips:

The T180 takes a much smaller diameter tip than the standard so finding extra tips is a bit more of a challenge. These are T100 sized tips (per comply) rather than the standard (t400) style used for the nozzle seen to the right. The provided tips come in four sizes with the 2nd from largest fitting best for me. Basically, the tips have a true small and large tip with two slightly different sizes of medium in between as the smallest and largest are not distinctly different than other models that provide the standard SML tips. Audiosense does have comply tips and extra tips available for purchase directly if you wish to do so.







Sound:



Bass:

The T180 is not atypical of single BA driven iems in that bass depth and punch are both limited. If a good seal is not achieved the T180 comes across as a very bright iem as result. Those looking for lots of sub-bass slam will want to look elsewhere. On the flip side, those looking for an iem with good control of the bass, and a reasonably well textured mid-bass will appreciate the T180's lower end. Mid bass is well presented as it is both tight and clean with no bleed or slop and good speed on both attack and decay.



Mids:

Transition from mid-bass to mids is very linear with no bleed or bloom to speak of and no major dips or peaks. Upper mids are a bit forward and lower treble is definitely the focal point of the T180 so vocal presence is very good if a bit too far forward for my tastes at times. Strings are well rendered with good tonality for the most part but have a warm leaning that can be overly so at times. Acoustic guitar and vocals are a good combination for the T180 as timbre is particularly natural and clean. I particularly enjoyed Steve Earle's early Exit 0 offering on the T180 as it seems to be the kind of music the T180 is best suited for.



Treble:

As mentioned above, lower treble is pushed considerably forward and is the main focal point of the T180. This gives vocals good clarity, but can be a bit splashy and harsh at times depending on source material. there is good air and sparkle at the top, but at times cymbals can come off a bit metallic and sharp due to the tuning. The treble shy will not appreciate the T180 while those looking for that last bit of treble detail will find something to like here.



Soundstage / Imaging:

Stage on the T180 is moderate with a bit more width than depth and a reasonable sense of height. I found seating the orchestra was reasonably easy with no large anomalies and instrument separation was generally good but can get a bit dense as tracks get more complex and ensembles get larger. Layering is reasonably good, but again best when ensemble sizes are limited or complexity is kept to a minimal level. For me, the T180 is good for pop, rock, jazz, blues and to a lesser degree orchestral music.



Comparisons:

The compare below has left/right averaged for each in-ear. Tests were run back to back on a single system without adjustments to settings using the same cable for all three models to eliminate any possible cable difference. (The cable provided with the T180 was used). Tips are Spiral dot on the Comet, factory large on the F1 and factory large on the T180.



KBear F1 / Campfire Comet - I have previously mentioned that my F1 and the Comet sound very similar. This is the first time I had run the tests back to back and it proves just how close the two are. Other than a small bump in the very top end (which in fairness is where my test rig is weakest) they could be twins. The T180 differs by having a bit more low end extension, shape of the curve is similar, but the T180 doesn't start audible roll-off until about 60Hz as compared to the other two which start around 100Hz. At the top end, the lower treble push that all three share is more of a plateau than a spike for the T180 as compared to the other two and that translates into more vocal clarity and a brighter signature than the other two. The F1/Comet both sound warmer by comparison but not quite as vocal oriented. Roll-off begins a bit sooner on the T180 so the trade off for a bit better bass and a bit more vocal push is a bit less air and sparkle at the top end.



Thoughts / Conclusion:

I am a big fan of the Campfire Comet and have made no attempt to conceal that. It provides the user a similar signature to their Atlas model at 1/5th the price tag and is a decent value when compared to the ever-increasing price tags of flagship models. Having said that, I believe I have now found a suitable replacement for the Comet at 1/4 the price tag again in the T180. It brings a similar signature with a bit more vocal clarity and energy, and a polite enough treble that even with that extra lift, it isn't strident or harsh. The T180 is limited by its single BA driver, but for genres that are not sub-bass intensive, it makes a good comfortable daily. I found it well suited to jazz, blues, blues rock, and classic rock which will cover an awful lot of readers catalogs very well. If you are in the market for a comfortable, relaxed, easy to enjoy in-ear for genres other than dubstep, hip-hop, etc where bass needs more presence, the T180 deserves your consideration. As for me, I may have to try the T260 and the T800 at some point. If Audiosense can do this with a single BA, I expect good things of the upper models.