Reviews by areek

INTRODUCTION
Hello again guys, I am Areek Nibras, physician, father of a 1 yr old daughter and music lover from Bangladesh. I enjoy listening to most types of music & my sonic preference usually is warm & mid centric with non-offensive treble (see my gears page). Today I will be reviewing the King pro IEMS from The Fragrant Zither (TFZ). TFZ are a Chinese company who specialize in in ear monitors only, There products range from entry level to high end(750$) in ears. The King pro sits in the middle of that lineup at 169MSRP (penon audio) and is the highest prized iem in the King series. This IEM challenges the sub 200$ genre with a fun V shaped detailed sound for the avg. fun loving audiophile. Local retailer ‘Box Tech’ has introduced the TFZ lineup of iems in my country and this is the pair that I personally liked the most amongst their offerings under 200$.


DISCLAIMER
The TFZ King pro iems have been personally bought by me through the authorized distributor. It was a open box unit but very slightly used considering I got them just after 3-4 days of arrival. I am in no way affiliated with TFZ as well as Box tech. The review I'm posting is just my opinion regarding the product and it was not influenced by any means by anyone else.


SPECIFICATION (taken from penon audio product page)
· Driver: 12mm Dual-magnetic two-way graphene driver
· Magnet material: NdFeB N50
· Diaphragm material: graphene
· Diaphragm diameter: 8.9MM
· Diaphragm thickness: 6U
· Voice coil material: copper clad aluminum wire
· Frequency response range: 5HZ ~ 40000HZ
· Harmonic distortion: 0.7%
· Impedance: 55 ohms
· Sensitivity: 108dB
· Lowest power: 8 mW
· Connectors: 2-pin 0.78mm
· Plug 3.5mm straight
· Magnetic flux: 9000KGS
· Wire: core count 4 * 18 * 0.05 5N oxygen-free copper
· Outer: high flexibility transparent PVC

PACKAGING, BUILD, ACCESSORIES:
The iems come in a white brick shaped box. The front of the box has the name of the product written on it. On the back, there are some info regarding the manufacturer and a sticker on the bottom showing the color options of the model. The King pro comes in 4 colors- green, blue, red and gray. You can probably also choose a blue-red combo depending on availability. I have the green unit as it is my most loved color.

The cover on the box slides off to reveal a transparent plastic cover beneath which the driver units are placed on a thick plating with cutouts for the drivers. After taking out the plating, the bottom portion reveals a white pelican like case, the ear tips, the cable and a manual. Simple but elegant packaging.

The drivers are enclosed inside a beautiful cnc cut aluminum housing which looks elegent and gives the iems a premium feel to it. But this also makes the iems a bit heavier. The iems are ergonomically shaped for each ear & boasts a 0.78mm 2 pin female connector port on the front upper portion of the iems. The connector housing is plastic. This iem is designed to be worn with cable around the ear only. The driver nozzle has a perforated metallic guard inside the hole. There is a small porthole on the inner surface of the iem body near the nozzle. The nozzle itself is 6.2mm and should fit majority of aftermarket tips. The R/L markings are printed in white. On the outer side, the TFZ logo and icons are printed in white.

Speaking of tips, these come with 7 pairs of silicone tips, 3 pairs of wide bore tips in 3 (s,m,l) sizes and 4 pairs of narrow bore tips (s, 2m, l). I did not get any foam tips with these, probably they are not shipping those tips anymore. For me it isn’t an issue because I do not enjoy foam tips and the stock silicones complement these iems well, but more into that later.

I have mixed feelings for the cable that came with it though. It complements the iems well in terms of both looks and performance. It is stated to be a 4 core 5n ofc copper cable according to penon audio website, however the tfz website is saying that it is a silver-plated copper cable. I personally feel it is spc comparing it to my other copper cables but I can’t be certain about this. The cable is about 4 feet long with ear hook guides near the driver end and terminated with a nice gold plated 3.5mm straight jack. The strain reliefs are quite good and overall the cable is nicely built. There is also a Velcro cable tie permanently attached to the cable, which is very convenient. However, the biggest flaw of this cable is the very heavy metal Y splitter and similarly heavy chin slider. These add unnecessary weight on the ear hooks and renders the chin sliders useless as they fall down because of their weight. This causes extra pressure on the back of the ears due to the downward pull of the cable. I wish they used a lighter material. Also, the lack of a shirt clip is noticeable.

There is no microphone in this cable. If required, aftermarket 2 pin cables with mic can be found on Aliexpress.

The iems come with a white plastic hard shell box that resembles some pelicans. It provides a good seal. The inside has 2 foam cutouts for top and bottom surfaces but those are not fixed with the body & can fall off if turned upside down. The size, although small enough for a pocket, will give your pants a tumor like bump (lol). Anyways, these are actually quite good for keeping the iems safe while carrying around.

Fit, comfort & isolation:
These iems are designed to be worn with the wire hooked around the ear. There is no option to wear these straight down due to the placement of the connectors. The iem fits snuggly on my medium sized external ears. I got the best fit/performance with the medium sized narrow bore silicone tips that came with these.

After getting a good fit, the seal is quite good. The supplied tips are quite soft and flexible so they adjust well to the size of the ear canals. These do not fall at all on head movement. And a good fit also accompanies a solid isolation. During playback, I could not hear anything from 2 feet away. There is slight sound leakage which is not audible to anyone standing more than 2 feet away, so that’s good too. However, it is important to keep aware of the surroundings, especially if anyone plans to walk/commute with these.

On the ears, without the cable, comfort is good. The buds extend slightly outside my ears just to allow the cable to be attached without any friction with my ears on the front.
However, as I have previously mentioned, the cable is heavy due to the metal splitters, which causes quite a bit of downforce on the hooked part of the cable. This, along with the housing being heavy, can cause a bit of discomfort. It’s not painful, but I do feel that this adds to some stress, which is relieved on removal of the earbuds. I can’t wear them constantly for long listening sessions and need to take them off for sometime every 30-40 mins or so. Changing the cable to a lighter one I had helped with comfort a lot.

Sound:
The TFZ King Pro, overall has a very fun V shaped sound. Its dynamic drivers offer a very enjoyable listening experience and is likeable by the fun-loving audiophile. However, it’s not a perfect iem and has several drawbacks, which make it specifically enjoyable for pop/rock/alt rock type songs but not so suitable for metal/vocal tracks. Let’s get into it-

Gears used-
PC- Foobar2000/Tidal> Audio GD R2R11> DROP THX AAA 789> Kpro
UAPP/ Tidal> Pioneer XDP 300R> Kpro
Tidal> Oneplus 6> Tempotec Sonata (with or without)> Kpro

Tip & cable rolling-
I tried various tips with this unit. The unit itself comes with both narrow bore and wide bore tips. I also had some comply T-200s lying around as well as the symbio W tips. The narrow stock tips sounded the best to me as it made the bass articulate, mids and treble well controlled. The wide bore tips sounded less warm but with kind of wonky mids & highs. The comply tips ate some of the treble to give a smoother experience but also took some mids with it and is not recommended. The symbio tips sound very much like the stock except some added mid bass, but were the stiffest of all the tips.
I also tried changing the cable to a ofc 8 core balanced one that I got from Aliexpress. That cable added some warmth to the base and made the vocals slightly fuller while taming the highs slightly. Which cable to use is a personal preference.

For the review, I chose to use the medium sized narrow bore tips and stock cable.

Burn-in-
The TFZ King Pro’s, out of the box had a very bright tonality with way too recessed midrange for my liking. However, I have given them 100+ hours of burn in time using pink noise and sine sweep as well as some regular songs that I listen to. The end result is a warmer, less peaky sq and slightly improved mid response. So, burn in is recommended.


Lows-
The best part of the king pro is definitely it’s bass response. It has a boosted sub bass which is followed by a more natural mid bass, which beautifully blends into the mids without any bleed. Too much mid bass tend to ruin the mids for me, so I loved how it did not. The sub bass has a visceral rumble and extended back as long as the audible range goes. The bass is beautifully layered, detailed, fast, impactful and there is a slight decay, which complements the sound. with Tracks like Boom Clap (Charlie xcx), Starboy, the hills(The weeknd), Doing it Right (daft punk), Sunflower(post Malone) sound delightful, effortless & clean. Pop, EDM lovers rejoice.


Mids-
The king pro’s biggest drawback is it suffers from lower mid recession. This makes these iems sound quite thin, especially with male vocals. Female vocals also suffer a bit. The recession stops at around 700-800hz and then is followed by a peak at 3-4khz. This causes a bit of sibilance to be heard, especially in songs with prominent/shouty vocal presence like Only hope- Mandy Moore or Hanging By A Moment- Lifehhouse. This is especially evident on bright sounding source. Vocals sound like they are a bit distant compared to other instruments. This is evident in most of the songs, especially in comparison to my isine 10. Instruments like piano, guitars which on the other hand sound very detailed, well separated, have good body and do not suffer from the recession much. King pro can handle complex midrange quite well. In general these sound very good with pop, alt rock, EDM, instrumental, orchestral tracks (Bleed by hot chelle rae, rather be by clean bandit, most muse songs) but sounds very thin & sibilant for metal, acoustic type tracks.


Highs-
The highs in these are certainly prominent and can make these iems sound bright on bass light tracks. These are very detailed, have enough sparkle & excellent clarity and makes for a very fun listening experiance. Their detail retrieval is almost at the level of the isine 10s. This was the buying point for me for these iems. However, there is complete roll off after 10khz & a sharp peak near 8khz frequency, which, while is okey for most of the tracks, can become a bit too much for the ears in those tracks with heavy treble presence. For example, the entire Stairway to heaven track sounded great to me till the part near the end where cymbals & high hats are in play. Also, Edge of the earth by 30STM sounded bright but tolerable in my desktop but not so in my sabre based dap. I did not have any issues with regular pop, alt rock type of songs. So this is something one should bear in mind. Anyone desiring brightness will enjoy this for sure.


Soundstage and imaging-
Being a closed back IEM, I have very little expectations with the soundstage and as expected, but it is surprisingly wide. I would say it has a soundstage of a small pub that hosts live performances. The instruments never sound congested, separation is reasonably good, unless we go to very complex treble heavy tracks. The imaging is excellent to say the least. In the track Glassy Sky by Tokyo Ghoul (thanks to Wahid Shams for the track), I could easily place the drums playing from behind and slightly below my head with lateralizing to the right in the end. I also tried some games (cricket 19, csgo) which were an immersive experience, although not at the level of the DT990 had or the isine 10. Overall, quite good.


Device pairing-
1. PC- Audio GD R2R11> DROP THX AAA 789> Kpro: The R2R dac provides some oomph to the mids making the kpro’s slightly fuller sounding while also taking some of the treble away. The 789 amp is very capable too. This is my most liked setup with the kpro.

2. UAPP/ Tidal> Pioneer XDP 300R> Kpro: The XDP-300R uses ESS Sabre 9018 chip which gives a very detailed, punchy sound to the krpo. This is my most liked portable setup, however, some sharpness in certain treble heavy songs were quite noticeable. It was also more prone to sibilance compared to pc setup.

3. Tidal> Oneplus 6> Kpro: The OP6 can run the 55ohm driver of the kpro with respectable volume. But it sounds very anemic & thin across the spectrum. Not very much recommended unless one uses a phone with a well implemented DAC.

4. Tidal> Oneplus 6> Tempotec Sonata > Kpro: The sonata is a very dynamic solution compared to the dull on board dacs that my oneplus 6 has. The bass becomes punchy and more enjoyable. However, there is some treble boost which in most cases might be fun but in some cases is a hit or miss. Overall, quite good.



COMPARISONS-
Comparison with TFZLUX Tequila 1-
I had the chance to compare the kpro with the tequila as they were also available at local store. Tequila is a bit cheaper than the kpro but is a solid competitor. The tequila, with wide bore tips has less sub bass but more mid bass compared to the kpro. The mid bass has a tendency to bleed into the lower mids making for a muddier experience. However, the tequila is a more balanced sounding iem as it has good mid presence, which is better than the king pro. It also didn’t sound sibilant. But the king pro clearly wins in detail retrieval. The tequila also is less sparkly up top but it has an even sharper 8khz peak which might not go well with certain tracks. Soundstage is slightly wider on tequila but is a bit leaky. I could say the Tequila is a jack of all trades but master of none, while the king pro is actually a king of V shaped tune.


Comparison with Isine 10 (reveal plugin)-
I will keep this comparison brief as I do not find this to be a fair comparison, but it is currently the only in ear device that it can be compared to. The Isine 10 is an open back planer magnatic in ear headphone which sounds unlike anything else under sub 500$ (except for the 20s, lol). And with proper eq settings, these become even more exciting. The isine 10 is a very balanced iem when used with reveal plugin, it gets close to the Harman curve. The king pro can only match the isines in one thing, that is detail retrieval. Everything else is a win for the isines. The isine 10 is more dynamic, energetic and tonally engaging compared to the king pro. It has a very fast, tight, impactful bass. King pro bass is also very good, perhaps closer to the isines but is a tad slower and has a slight decay with lesser punch. The midrange of the isines is much fuller & balanced whereas the kpro is recessed and sometimes sibilant. The treble is more neutral & in control in the isines without losing any detail and sparkles & it never becomes too sharp like the kpro can. It is also more extended in the highs. Being open back, the isines enjoy a larger & more accurate soundstage which gives a more immersive experience. Overall, the kpro is very good in its own terms, but the isines are effortless.

CONCLUSION-
Despite the drawbacks, The TFZ King Pro iems hold their own in the sub 200$ genre with it’s fun but audiophile-oriented V shaped sound. It does 2 things right, bass & detail retrieval hitting well above the competition in these 2 segments. It also has a tonality that is very easy to like. For me, the king pro offers very good value & fits perfectly with my other audio gear & is a welcome change. I love these little monsters and can recommend to anyone looking for a sub 200$ iem with v-shaped coherent sound & is not scared of a little treble sharpness.

INTRODUCTION
Hello. Areek Nibras here, junior Head-fier and physician from Bangladesh, currently studying to obtain a post graduation in medicine. Today I will be reviewing the Archeer AH07 Bluetooth stereo over ear headphones with built in mic. Archeer is a China based brand that produces mostly wireless audio equipments as well as cellphone accessories. The AH07 is their priciest headphone till now whice is currently selling for 49.99$ in amazon. It has an closed back, over-ear design with built in mic and in line controls and comes with apt-x audio technology which promises CD quality sound over bluetooth. The headphone also supports passive wired playback with a 3.5mm audio jack.

DISCLAIMER
I have received the Archeer AH07 as a free unit from Archeer in exchange for my honest opinion. I am in no way affiliated with them. The review I'm posting is just my opinion regarding the product and it was not influenced by any means by Archeer or anyone else.

SPECIFICATIONS (collected from amazon)
Bluetooth Version: 4.0
Talk Time: 14 Hours
Stand-by Time: 540 Hours
Playback Time: 14 Hours
Operating Range: 10m/33ft
Bluetooth Profiles: A2DP/AVRCP/HSP/HFP
Impedance: 32O
Sound Pressure Level: 103±3dB
Frequency Response: 20Hz-20KHz

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The headphones come in a brick shaped black box with a picture of the headphones on top, some special features on a side, and list of features and specifications at the bottom. When you open them by removing the top cover, you get-
1 x Archeer AH07 wireless Headphone
1 x USB Charging Cable
1 x 3.5mm Audio Cable
1 x User Manual

The headphone comes folded sitting on top of a plastic cutout. The remaining accessories are kept underneath. As we know, these headphones do support passive playback by using a 3.5mm stereo jack and it is a nice gesture that it comes with a 4 feet long cable. Although these headphones can be folded nicely to be carried easily, a carry bag/pouch would have been nice.


BUILD:
These headphones have a really good looking black and aluminium finish. Most of the headphone is made of plastic except below the hinge area where the earcups are attached to the headband. This portion is aluminium plated. Overall this looks & feels premium and built to last.The entire headband is covered in soft foam and sits comfortably on the head. The hinge portion is covered in plastic but silver in color, the earcups can be folded and extended from here. The earcups are connected to the hinge by a ball and socket type of joint it seems and allows some movement that allows users to adjust them according to their preferences.
The AH07 is a closed back, over ear design but I would not exactly call them that. The earcups are rectangular shaped and so are the earpads. The earpads are soft but shallow. There is only 3cm by 6cm space in between the pads for the ear to sit in and for me with an avg. sized ear it was too small.

The headphones have a call/power button and 2 volume buttons on the right earcup. The microphone, 3.5mm audio jack input and the micro-usb power input is also on the right earcups. There is a small light indicator in between the buttons that indicates the state of connection of the headphones.

What we get overall is a classy looking bluetooth headphone that will impress you from the time you put your hands on these.

FIT, COMFORT, ERGONOMICS
The fit is a subjective matter and will vary from indevidual to indevidual. The space that these provide in between the earcups is too small for my ears so some part of my ear remains under the pads while some in between. This, along with a modarately strong clamping force creates a proper fit issue as well as a comfort issue. I wear prescription glasses all the time, so after some time of it sitting on my pinna, it begins to hurt and it requires me to repostion/remove them entirely. The highest amount of time I could give them at a strech has been 2 hours. So I would say these headphones are good for short listening sessions like while commuting, cycling, gym but not for long listening sessions. It would have been better if archeer went for the on-ear design instead of it being partially over ear.


Connectivity & Battery:
Connectivity is simple. You turn it on by pressing the phone/power button for 2 seconds, go to pairing mode by pressing it for 5 seconds and turn it off by holding it for 3 seconds. I had no problems connecting these to my phones and even the laptop. The distance covered is also really good, I could easily connect to these from 10 feet away.

It can also be connected using a 3.5mm jack (included) which does not require you to power the device on, just like a wired headset.

Archeer states it has 14 hours of battery life and I can confirm their claim. I was able to run it continiously for more than 13 hours and still found these playing music. However there is no battery level indicator but you won't probably need one as I personally haven't had the battery die even once.

SOUND:
The AH07 is clearly targeted towards the casual, bass loving general population who would put bass 1st and clarity 2nd. This is a v shaped headphone with bass getting the crown and ruling over other spectrums, but letting the mids and highs have a place in his court as well, especially the highs, which, while do not match the quantity of bass it offers but has good quality and clarity to mark it's presence. What we get overall is a fun pair of headphones. In the following segments, I'll be breaking down the sq.

Gears used-
1. Huawei GR5 2017 (both wired and wireless)
2. Iphone 7 (Wireless)
3. Shozy Alien (wired)
4. PC>Schiit Bifrost> Schiit Lyr (Wired)
The headphones had more than 100 hours of music playback from all these devices combined. No signifant change in sound was heard during this process.

Bass-
From the moment I put these on I could say that these are meant to be bass heavy. The bass is big, easily the bassiest headphones I currently own in terms of quantity. Most of it is mid bass which quite frequently bleeds into the mids and can produce ear shattering thumps when bassy tracks are played. The bass extends deep down. The overall quality is not bad either and gets tighter when wired. however I would have preferred sightly tighter bass..

Mids-
Overall mids sound recessed. These take a back seat and allow the bass to show it's magic on em. Mid bass bleeds in to lower mids and makes these sound a bit muddy. Male vocals sound less clear and rough while running wireless but smoothens when used wired. Female vocals sound much better. Details are present but minutely. Instruments sound like they are a bit far away but do not sound vailed. There is no sibilance present.

Highs-
Highs are well balanced with good amount of clarity and presence and do not sound sharp at any moment. If I said there's too much bass and too receessed mids for my liking, I would say the highs are just right. These sound quite detailed for the price The snares and cymbals can be heard nicely but don't hurt the ears. easily the best aspect of these headphones.

Soundstage and Imaging-
These headphones, being closed back design, have avg. soundstage but falls short on imaging. These can give you a sense of space but sounds either appear coming from in front of you or from the sides but lacks the rear presence and the height factor. I was not expecting much either. But what surprised me that these were good enough to locate footsteps and other audio queues during playing counter strike global offensive. Watching a movie is fun too, specially the action movies with the emphesis on bass. Overall, not too bad.

Isolation & leakage:
Even though it was difficult to get a proper fit, these can isolate very well. It is difficult to listen to people speak around you if you have them on with music playing. Also, minimal sound leakage while wearing even though these can go quite loud.
Making calls:
The audio quality was crystal clear during phone calls and mic sounded clear to the listener on the other side as well. However I did face some dropped sounds during facebook group voice chats, but only on one occation.

CONCLUSION:
In a world that is leaning more and more on wireless technology, the Archeer AH07 brings great style and consumer friendly sound at a compatitive price point. The design of this is really classy and impressive, sounds fun and has great battery life. The biggest issue of these is the fit, I hope Archeer would really improve on that segment with a bigger earpad. I would reccomend these to anyone looking for a portable bluetooth headset for casual portable use that is aesthetically pleasing and sounds good as well.

INTRODUCTION
Hello again guys, I am Areek Nibras, a junior Head-fier and a recently graduated physician from Bangladesh, currently doing post-graduation training in Internal medicine. Today I will be reviewing the new budget earbuds released by Fiio called the Fiio EM3. Now, Fiio is a chinese brand who previously used to specialize in making budget amps/daps/dacs, but now they have been working hard to spread to all branches of audio equipments. Their 1st IEM, the Fiio EX1 was essentially a rebrand of the Dunu's Titan 1 iems, which was as good as the original with almost half the price.That is a product that I loved and is still my favorite sub 100$ IEM till now. But now, Fiio has again come up to meet the demands of those who love music but can't spend loads of money to buy pricier head gear. The Fiio EM3 earbuds retail for just 14.99$ with free shipping on amazon. It has a 14.8mm dynamic driver, an inline mic so that it can be used with a phone, and terminates in a 3.5mm jack. Soon after Fiio released the earbuds, I came to know of the Review recruitment going on and applied instantly. Soon enough, I was approached by Sunny from @FiiO and then got it shipped to my place within 15 days via china post. I must thank him and the entire Fiio team for giving me this oppertunity to review such a new and fresh product like this.
 
I tested the iems in both my pc and portable setup and my phone, tried out music, movies and gaming with these. For the 1st 10 days after getting these, I had travelled to Mumbai and Kashmir in India with my parents. The Fiio EM3 was with me the entire time and had at least about 30 hours of playtime during flights and bus travels. Then after coming back, I tried some crtitical listening in my room, as well as took these out during my local bus rides.....at least 20 more hours. I'll try to describe my overall thoughts in this review. 
 
DISCLAIMER
I have received the Fiio EM3 as a free unit after applying for the review recruitment arranged by Fiio. I am in no way affiliated with Fiio other than being owners of other Fiio products like the Fiio X1 DAP, Fiio E12 amp and the Fiio EX1 iems. I, like the other participants were given this review unit for free in exchange for my honest review regarding the EX1. The review I post is just my opinion regarding the product and it was not influenced by any means from Fiio or anyone else. 
 
APPEARANCE, BUILD, ACCESSORIES, FIT & COMFORT:
The Fiio EM3 comes in a White 5.7 x 1.8 x 0.8 inches slender paper box wrapped with a thin transparent polythene layer, no fuss here as it is a budget bud. On the back, some specifications regarding the earbuds are written in English and chinese. Upon opening it, there is a single tray like compartment where the earbuds lie under a transparant plastic shield. At the bottom there is a smaller box that contains 3x pair of foam sleeves for better placement and comfort. 
            
 
The earbuds are fairly simple and mod looking, the housings look big but actually is fit for regular ear sizes. There are L & R marks inscribed on the buds for identification, there is also a small dot on the right earbud to help visually impaired people. There's a silver colored mesh that sits in front of the diaphragms. The buds are connected by a very thin cable that looks really scary (but holds off stress quite well).

 
The cable connected to the left earbud has an in-line mic about 5 inches below, perfect distance to attend to phone calls. The mic has a single button for receiving calls and doing other phone functions. Worked well with my android music player settings. 
. 
 
The right and left ear cables fuse together at a Y-splitter made of plastic. Below that is a thicker cable leading upto the L-shaped 3.5mm gold plated audio jack. 

 
Now, Fiio only supplies 3 pairs of foam sleeves for the earbuds, which I thought provided better comfort and fit but are detrimental to the sound in a way that those were of no use to me. Some users have been able to make holes in the middle of those sleeves to make some kind of doughnut shaped cushions, but I did not do it. Instead, I did my reviewing without the sleeves entirely. 

 
One more thing I would have liked fiio to add is a clip that would help fix these to users apparel. The earbuds sometimes have a hard time staying in place as they are quite big. The added foams help them to stay in place, but ruin the sound. As this is meant to be regularly used, I would really love to see a clip in later revisions of the product.
 
The buds need some proper positioning to sound as good as they should. The following photo shows the best sounding fit for my ears. Slightly angled, not straight down.

The earbuds are quite comfortable to wear without the sleeves. I wore these for 3-4hr long sessions, felt only a slight discomfort on removal, the foams do improve comfort.
 
Appearance- 4/5
Build- 3.5/5
Accessories- 2/5
Fit- 3.5/5
Comfort- 4/5
 
NOW THE SOUND
For the last 7 years I have been strictly sticking to IEMs and did not use a single earbud during that time. So when I got these, I did not know what to expect, so it was kind of a mystery box for me. When I 1st put these on I was quite surprised as these almost sounded like a solid pair of on ear cans rather than being an earbud. The more I listened to it, the more I started liking it. I did not find any significant changes to the sound during this listening period. And after 15 days, I must say that these are quite the bang for buck on a price tag of below 20$ worldwide, but these do come with a few drawbacks, all of these I'll be discussing below.
 
Gears used- 
PC > JDS labs Odac+O2 > Fiio EM3 ( 2.5x gain, 10 o' clock position)
Fiio X1 > Fiio E12 > Fiio EM3 (low gain, 10 o' clock position)
Oneplus One > Fiio EM3 (70% vol, AudioFX disabled)
 
Lows- 
After I put it on for the 1st time, tried out some bass heavy tracks like Say it right(Nelly Furtado), Low (Florida feat T-Pain), some dubstep, Lindsay Stirling tracks, all I felt was...Meh! Then as I did some positional adjustments, specially after getting the proper fit, my thoughts changed quite a bit. The bass felt present, Quite impactful and clean. These reminded me quite a bit about the old monoprice 8320 iems I had a few years back. Although I did feel the bass was not tonally accurate, sounding slightly different than I am used to getting from my cans. Also, the bass was not very well controlled IMO. Songs like Say it Right and Boom Clap (Charlie XCX) made the bass kind of distorted, especially when it went too low. There was some mid bass presence which was expected as these are meant to be fun sounding. However in very few tracks, the bass bled into the mids and overpowered the mids. But on most tracks bass was on point and perfectly complimenting the rest of the frequency spectrum, specially in more balanced tracks. Overall, I would rate the bass 7/10.
 
Mids- 
The Fiio EM3's offer clear, agressive mids which do take the front seat. And by aggressive, I mean 'in your face' type. All the mid tones are crisp and clear. The vocals sound like they are sitting in the middle of a stage with instruments surrouding it, rather than just coming upfront and taking the lead. I loved that as it gave the vocals a bigger sense of space. Singers like Ed sheeran, Norah Jones, Hannah Trigwell sound airy and lifelike. In most of the tracks, the other instruments mostly compliment the vocals being just as prominant as the voice. The mids do lack some of the micro-detail, but that's coming from 300$ pair of cans lol. There is not a hint of sibilance present, all sound so smooth and rounded like velvet. But sometimes, the full bodied sound felt a bit too much for the ears, taking a small break helped then. OVerall, I would give these a big 8.5/10 for mids. 
 
P.S.- The stock foam sleeves completely eat up all the goodness of the mids and make the sound muddy and shallow. DO NOT USE THEM WITHOUT MAKING A HOLE IN THE MIDDLE, or get 
some doughnuts from elsewhere.
 
Highs-
The higher frequency presentation of the EM3s just are not on par with the brilliant mids and impactful bass. The highs are recessed and can only be heard, but not enjoyed. There is no sparkle up top, which would have made these a perfect allrounder earbud. Although, this might be a blessing to those who can't tolerate harshness, I do feel the need of some high presence. I can give them 5/10 for highs.  

Isolation and leakage- 
Being an Open earbud, the isolation is almost non-existant. I can clearly hear what's happening around me, who's talking about what in the room or the car. I had no problem participating in group chitchats during our bus rides in Kashmir. However, these still sound quite detailed inspite of the poor isolation. Even when there were loud chatting, traffic noises going on, I could clearly concentrate on the music that was playing, thanks to it's aggressive nature. And these do not leak much sound, even people sitting beside you won't be listen to what you are listening if you don't play it very loud. This kind of feature fits my needs exactly and  I can easily suggest these to those who move around a lot in public transports, but need to be aware of their surroundings as well as their music. 
 
Phone calls-
I made several phone calls using these, audio was clear and perfectly audible. The people from the other end also had no problems while listening to what I said, so that means that the microphone is also a good one. But I do not prefer using earbuds/iems with my phone and will stick to using it without one.

Conclusion- 
The Fiio EM3 is an excellent entry level earbud, which will now be my go to earbuds for commuting and casual listening. I even let a friend of mine try this out and he liked the sound so much that he's already planning to get a pair. It provides excellent value for the small price to be paid for it, and has a sound signature that a lot of people will love. I do wish that Fiio will make some changes to the accessories (and tuning maybe, a newer revision perhaps ), then it would be a killer earbud. However, I do know that there are a couple of compititors at this price range, most hyped one being the VE Monk+, which could really give these a run for the money. But I am yet to listen to the Monk+ so I can not do a direct comparison right now, also the Monk+ doesn't come with a mic, so Fiio has an edge over the mobile users. So, I can safely suggest a pair to anyone who is looking to try out a cheap but fun sounding earbud with prominant mids, impactful bass and full bodied sound & be pretty sure that they will fall in love with it and make these their go-to earbuds in no time. 9.5/10 Value for money.  

INTRODUCTION
Hello again guys, I am Areek Nibras, a junior Head-fier and a recently graduated physician from Bangladesh. Today I will be reviewing the recently released Titanium diaphragm in-ears called the Fiio EX1, which is essentially a slightly altered and cheaper version of the Dunu Titan 1, the IEMs that came and won over every budget audiophile out there. The EX1 currently goes for just 69.99$ from amazon.com whereas the dunu's version goes for 118$. I was the proud owner of the Titan 1 when these released and soon after the release, Fiio arranged the 'Fiio EX1 World Tour'. I was instantly interested in taking part in the tour to find out if the EX1 could hold the sq of the original Titan 1 at a lot cheaper price. I was selected on the 1st list and the 3rd and candidate to receive the Fiio EX1 after @Tobius89 and @ezekiel77 in Asia. But unfortunately I had visited Canada in the meantime and lost my Dunu Titan 1 there during my travel. So after I came back, I decided to try the EX1 out and if it were similar sounding, I would go for these instead. 

Thanks to @Joe Bloggs for arranging the tour and helping the members whenever an issue came up during the tour. 

I tested the iems in both my pc and portable setup, tried out music, movies and gaming with these. Even took these outside while riding a bus to my pg classes, to test the isolation and should these really be used while commuting. I will try to describe my thoughts and experiances in this thread.

DISCLAIMER
I have received the Fiio EX1 demo unit as a part of a world tour arranged by Fiio. I am in no way affiliated with Fiio other than being owners of other Fiio products like the Fiio X1 DAP and the Fiio E12 amp. I, like the other participants were given the demo unit for a duration of 10 days in exchange for my honest review regarding the EX1.
 
 
APPEARANCE, BUILD, ACCESSORIES:
The Fiio EX1 comes in a slender box that is much smaller than the Titan 1 came with and feels less premium but compact. This is cost effective this is a fair compromise. There is a transparent portion on the box that shows the earpieces and rest is hidden under the packaging. Upon opening, we can see a box at the bottom, which contains all the accessories that come with the iem and acts as the carrying box for the iems. 


Inside the box, there is a paper with manual and warranty info, a shirt clip and the supplied tips. The single thing that is mising from the Titan 1 packaging is the 3.5mm to 6.3mm gold plated adapter, which is rather useless for me, I have a lot of those sitting in my drawers not being required. 


As you can see, these come with  total 3 types of different silicone tips, each type having 3 sizes (S/M/L). This is really good considering the price. I wished that the Titan had included the comply tips but they didn't. But for these, no complaints. These tips are quite comfortable. Although, for review purposes, I tried out the comply isolation tips as well, I will get to that during the sq part.

 
So, enough talk about the accessories and packaging, time to check out the IEM itself. The driver housing looks similar to the Titans but come with a shiny chrome finish which gives these a sparkly look.There are 11 holes on the inner aspect which contribute to the openness of the iems. These are half in ear designs with the housing sits partly outside the tragus of ear. The R/L drivers are easily distinguishable by red/blue color coding around the housing. the big difference from the Titan is the cable, which now has a plastic like sleeving instead of the clothed sleeving that came with the titans. These are non detachable, feel really strong and might provide better protection than the Titan 1, but these feel springy and if you don't get a proper fit, these can pop out off the ear. The Y-splitter is matte silver and is quite compact and feels solid. There is a chin slider as well. Another awesome thing is that they kept the rubber cable tie from the Titans, which is a Dunu patent and I feel is an absolutely brilliant inclusion. All the in-ears should have it. The cable terminates into an L shaped 3.5mm gold plated jack. Overall, even though the packaging did not look much, the build surely looks premium with the EX1 and are these are built to last.

Next up, the sound.
 
HOW THESE SOUND:
Coming from the Dunu Titan 1's, I was pretty much expecting a slightly U-shaped sound; slightly boosted but accurate bass,  airy and lifelike mids and sparkly and clear highs. I got what I expected. I had used the Titan 1 about 15 days before I got these in my hands, and from my memory these sound almost the same, although I felt the highs were a bit more controlled and the bass might have been slightly altered. Description below-

Gears used- 
PC > JDS labs Odac+O2 > Fiio EX1 ( 2.5x gain, 10 o' clock position)
Fiio X1 > Fiio E12 > Fiio EX1 (low gain, 11 o' clock position)
 
Lows- 8.5/10
The bass has really good quality and comes with just the right amount of quantity that is loved by most of the people. There is slight mid bass boost which never tends to bleed too much and gives a feeling of satisfaction. The bass punch feels great, although with some songs I felt the a bit of extra thump. Remember that this are not in any way a bass heavy iem, these just have a very rich bass which compliment with the overall SQ of the iems.

Mids- 8.5/10
The mids have the airy feeling that sounds magical and even when these are U shaped, the mids really shine on their own. These can sound ever so recessed due to the prominant lows and highs, but the airyness along with the soundstage makes up for the flaws.Guitar tunes feel almost lifelike. The clarity is superb. Some of the female vocals sounds really sharp. I really enjoy these with tracks by Norah Jones, Ed Sheeran but even in hard rock and metal music these can bring out the voices to an quite clear and understandable level and I enjoyed these with Eluveitie and other metal bands. 

Highs- 8.5/10
Sharp, revealing, sparkly. Might be a bit too much for the sensitive ears but as I am used to the signature, I really enjoy the clarity these produce. Although, some rock/metal tracks can be a bit fatiguing, specially when heard with the ODAC+O2 combo. The X1 with E12 stack sounded a bit more rounded and less fatuguing. But highs are still one of the stronger feats of the EX1.

Soundstage- 10/10
These are open iems with a big soundstage. This is the factor which takes it a step above the other budget iems at sub 100$. These sound like I am listening to a room during a live performance. Imaging is accurate. Every instrument feels like in their right places. Other than music, I also play compatitive counter strike global offensive and in some cases I have found these to be more accurate in positional audio than my Hifiman HE-400 cans. These open up more with the O2+ODAC combo which is known for providing a larger soundstage and the effect is astonishing. I can hear foorsteps easily and pick up a lot on in game ambient sound that I usually couldn't with my HE-400. So if there is any fps gamer looking for iems, this could be a really good option.

Isolation-  3/10
The major setback for these would be the lack of isolation due to the open nature of the iems. If I put these on without any music on, they barely isolate and I can hear my ceiling fan and my pc hardware running. With soft music, there was slightly audible ceiling fan sound during the quieter segments. Then I took these outside while riding a bus to my pg class. The local buses running in Dhaka are mostly old and noisy, there is also a  lot of traffic. Here's a picture of the bus I ride mostly, just for fun

So, as you can guess, pretty noisy. And while listening to the EX1 while riding one of these......well, I could hear every other car horns, traffic whistles and people talking inside the bus. So, if you need your iem to be super isolating and keep the noises away, this won't cut it. Not even with the comply isolation tips, they don't help here at all. But, being said that, it's a common scenario in my country so I wasn't bothered much by it. Not sure about the passenger sitting beside me though, because the sounds leak quite a bit and anyone sitting closer can hear it.. 
 
Silicone vs Comply tips
The 200 series tips by Comply can be used with the Fiio EX1 as well as with the Titan 1. I had the T-200 isolation tips and tried them out. These alter the highs a bit, making them a bit more rounded, but I feel it also somehow alters the sound a bit. I feel like the silicone tips articulate the sound a bit better or maybe it's just me. The silicone tips are quite comfortable and provide a good fit. Anyways, it will be the users preference to use the comply tips, just do not go for the active series tips, those alter the sound quite a bit. 

Comparison with Philips SHE3590
A lot of people know and praise the 3590 as the sub 10$ king of iems, producing clear, rich sound that can compete with iems 2-3 times or more of it's value, and I agree. However, the EX1 is clearly a couple of steps up. The huge soundstage of the EX1 along with the airy mids, clear highs, tight bass make the 3590 sound cluttered, slightly congested and a lot less sparkly. Vocals lack the depth and texture the EX1 can produce. Higher frequencies feel rolled off. The bass lacks quality and punch. Well, this is no way a fair comparison but the 3590 has got enough praise to make me compare these with the EX1. I really like both iems at their price point. The build with the 3590 is awful though and these demand a lot of care.

Comparison with Soundmagic E80
Another budget iem closer to the pricing of the EX1 is the Soundmagic E80. Luckily for me, my friend had recently bought one and lend me his pair for trying out and compare with the EX1(Sorry I forgot to take a picture). The E80 sounds truly neutral with a flat SQ. The bass has almost no impact but is accurate. Mids are really good with this one although there is not a hint of sibilance. And the highs have good clarity but these never get too sharp with any kind of songs. Compared to these, the EX1 sounds like more consumer friendly, has good bass punch which purists might say feel a bit fake, but is liked better by general people. The mids in the EX1 feel a bit recessed but the airyness makes up for that. Vocals sound almost similar with great texture on both but the EX1 gives a bit of sparkle to the female vocals which is rather a love/hate thing. The highs in the E80 feel less sparkly than the EX1 and is well controlled, never becoming painful, but lacked a bit of clarity compared to the EX1. The EX1 wins due to it's bigger soundstage with the U-shaped SQ. But those who prefer flat SQ might prefer the E80 more. I personally like the EX1 due to it's fun signature.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
So, Dunu Topsound came up with the Titan 1 which took over the 'below 150$ market' by flash. And I can safely say that the Fiio EX1 is here to rule the 'sub 100$ market'. I have previously owned the Monoprice 8320, Soundmagic E10 & E30, Steelseries Flux iems and tried out the Hifiman RE400, Vsonic GR07 BE and a few other iems before and these took me away completely by surprise. It comes with a big sound at an affordable price and I believe with more availability as Fiio has dealers in a lot of countries around the world. I believe that these are the best value iems below 100$. So, if you are looking for a pair of fun sounding iems you wanna use for music, movies or games, the EX1 should be the 1st pair you should be demoing. And yes, I am getting one for myself.

 

Name- DUNU TITAN 1
Manufacturar- Dunu-topsound, a chinese company.
Price- 115$, I got them for around 169SGD from Lend me ur ears, Singapore.
Description- 
First, some note about me. I am a 25 year old guy who just finished his MBBS and now studying for entry into post grad course. I have entered into the head-fi scene while looking for a good quality gaming headphones. Some guys from Banglagamer, specially Mahfuz Islam Bhuiyan, S.M. Ridwan Kabir, Sadman Shawmik, Rahin Sadman Islamthese guys adviced me to get a stereo headphones with big soundstage, which led me into buying a Panasonic HTF600. I haven't looked back since.

Currently my setup are the following-
PC > Xonar STX > Hifiman HE400
Fiio X1 > Fiio E12 > Dunu Titan 1

I bought these after going through numerous reviews from all over the internet and after auditioning it to similarly priced big guns like the VSonic GR07 Bass edition and Kennerton Laguz. The won me over by far.

Accessories and build- 
These came in a quite big box, 6.7 x 5.1 x 2 inches(amazon). The box contained the specifications of the iem, some description about a ukrainian singer named Max Barsky when opening the 1st flap. Inside there was a hard plastic box, 3 types of silicone eartips, each having 3 sizes (that's total of 9 pairs), a 3.5 to 6.3mm stereo adapter and the IEM itself. 
As you can see in the picture, the IEM has a full metallic body, the inner aspect of each bud has several holes in them which allow sound to pass through. The buds are each connected with nonsleeved cable but they fuse together by by a good metal y-split and the remainder of the cable is sleeved. There is also a cinch in between the buds to adjust split of the earbuds, which also help while wrapping these up. These tangle up easily but can also be untangled easily. The strain reliefs are OK i guess. Good thing is that there is a rubber tie which can be used to keep these coiled properly. Overall pretty impressive build and accessories I say.

Sound-
These are quite neutral IEMs with a mild V shape, which make this just suitable for my listening experiance. 

Lows- 
This is in no way a bass heavy headphone. But it isnt a shy one either. My first experiance while listening to it was, oh man, these might have no bass at all. But then it hit me. Just when I wanted that oomph, the Titan delivered. And it delivered with perfection. It ain't boomy, it ain't thumping. But it's full of body and texture. There is a mild mid bass boost, which is the fun factor. 9/10 for the bass.

Mids-
Really good bass, V shaped, you would think mids are gonna be recessed, right? Well, I think the mids is where these shine the most. Because, it delivers a fun signature with just enuf magic in the mids to keep you mesmerised. The first time I played Hotel California on it, I was blown away by the detail of the guitars and the voice. Every time I listen to female vocals, I mouth opens up a bit saying Oohhh! Wow! and stays that way. That being said, the close compititor RE-400s probably have a more magical mid, but This stands out, I'll describe why a bit later. Anyways, a solid 9/10 for mids.

Highs- 
I do not like sibilance that much, but I enjoy the sparkle up top. These give me just enuf sparkle to have fun without causing any sibilance. Some might find these a bit tinny, but I dont. In fact, I feel the comply S-200 tips that I am using with them dampen the highs a bit, which sounds kinda dull to me. So, I am probably gonna buy the isolation tips as well. 8.5/10

Soundstage and imaging-
This is the X-factor of these iems. The openness of the buds allow a lot of ambient sound to come through while giving the sound a chance to expand. And that is the cornerstone of the Titan's popularity. Makes me feel like i'm listening to a live show inside a restaurant/gallery. The clarity is superb, imaging prestine. Every instrument has it's own space, which means a very engaging experiance. This also helps to play out the fast paced songs perfectly without getting all fuzzy. I had the chance to audit the GR07 BE at the same time I tried these, along with my old Steelseries Flux, both of which didnt stand a chance against these. And just to remind you that both of these are considered as the top guns for their price. So no shortcomings here, 10/10

Isolation-
The openness of the iems meant poor isolation. I use medium volumes and even then the person sitting beside me can clearly tell which song I am listening to. 3/10

So, this brings my reviews to an end. It was kind of sad that after a month of me buying these, the famous amp creator Fiio came out in conjuction with Dunu to rebrand the Titan 1 as Fiio EX1, which is essentially the same diaphragm but with different cables and minus the adapter, and it sells for just 89.99$ on amazon, which is a steal. That probably will make it the best sounding iem for <100$ budget. so don't miss out.

Have fun. gri


 

 

 

 

 
 

Hey, this is my 1st review in head-fi forums & I am by no means a critic, so this will be a qualitative newbie review. 1st of all, I'll let you guys know that I've got them at an amazing price of just 144.99$ through a momentary sale going on for these cans. I previously had the Ultrasone HFI 580, so my review will be somewhat based on their comparison as well. I'll be breaking the review down to packaging & accessories, build, sound etc. 
 
Packaging & accessories-
The headphones come in a simple white box. One side is covered with transparent plastic through which you can see one side of the headphones with Beyerdynamic DT 990 pro 250ohm written on it. On the front of the box, there is a lid which is closed by a velcrow & after opening it provides some info about it's DT770/880/990 models. On the back there are information about the headphones.
Inside the box, the headphone lies with the left & right cans seperated by a thick cardboard divider, which is actually the box containing the coiled cable. The cable is 3m & a gold plated 3.5mm-6.3mm stereo adapter is attached at the end of it. the box also includes a manual & warranty information, but nothing more.Score- 8/10
 
Build quality-
These things are built to last. The headbands are metal & the backside grills are sturdy plastic. Everything has a smooth, clean finish & looks like a top notch product. The earpads are velour & the headband is covered with a really soft cushion. The cable is attached to the left can & there's a overhead cable connecting the right to the left. All the cables have stress relief at the entry/exit points. 10/10 for build.
 
Comfort- 
The most comfortable headphones I've used till date. My older ones are Panasonic HTF600, Shure SRH440 with 840 pads, Ultrasone HFI 580 with DT250 pads. These are certainly the best. Only thing that bothered me initially was the clamping force, but after a few days use, I am ok with it. 9/10 for comfort.
 
Sound quality-
Now comes the main part, the true purpose of the cans. 1st I should tell you guys that I don't have a very big setup & my sources are rather avg. I have used the following setups & played 320kbps mp3s or flacs.
Setup 1- PC>Foobar2000>Asus Xonar STX(high gain)>DT990
Setup 2- Sandisk Sansa Clip+>Fiio E11>DT990
Setup 3- Sansa Clip+>Sansui A505(old solid state amp from the 90s)>DT990
 
Lows-
These are certainly bass heavy. The bass is really prominent, create a powerful impact & extension is really good. But sometimes I feel that I could have done with a bit less bass, specially coming from the ultrasone HFI 580 which has really good lows without ever overpowering. It also feels like getting the better of the mids. 8/10 from me.
 
Mids- 
Mids are the weakest point for the cans. It all feels a bit recessed, although much more detailed than the other cans I've used. In some songs it feels like I am hearing a lot of detail but most of it is coming from a bit far away than the highs & lows. But in other songs, all seem well. Love the details though. Clarity & seperation is amazing. 8/10 for the mids.
 
Highs-
This is where almost everything sounds right. Initially it came to me as quite sibilant, even in some songs I had to remove them from my ears. But after a few hours of burn in, the trebles settle nicely into place. Still a bit sibilant, but the details & clarity clearly is great. 9/10.
 
Soundstage-
Huge. Certainly the best I've heard. Bigger than the HTF600 even, which I loved for the reason. Positioning is accurate. Puts on a truly engaging listening experiance. 9/10
 
For gaming-
I've used these for FPS gaming(CoD4) which I really take seriously. & these have been really the best cans for gaming. Accurate footsteps, positioning, sound reproduction. again 9/10
 
Overall conclusion- 
These headphones have received a total of 70 out of 80 from me.That's almost 88%, But at the price which I've got them, I'll give them a 9.5/10. Definitely recommended. If you're looking for a bass heavy open headphones with amazing details & have enough power to drive these babies, get them. A gem for the price.