Introduction
This is my 4th experience with Dunu product. My 1st experience was Dunu Trident,which has excellent value for money in entry level market and I was really impressed. Then I tried Dunu hybrid driver, DN-1000, which surprisingly has enjoyable good sound and has no coherence issue (at that time, I could't enjoy some hybrid IEM because in my ears those dynamic and BA sound doesn't "blend" together. And the last I tried Fiio EX1, which has very spacious and airy soundstage, but has "unique" sound that maybe can't be accepted by some people.
Now Dunu Titan 5 is in my ears, and I will share my honest impression about it. Retail price when I write this review (April 2016) is about USD $139
Review Technical Specification
Model no : TITAN 5
Type : dyamic 13mm driver
F-response : 10Hz-40kHz
SPL : 108dB
Impedance : 32 Ohm
Plug : 3.5mm gold plated (L-shaped)
Cord length : 1.2m
Weight : 24g
Retail Package
Titan 5 comes with big black box that gives you premium and expensive feeling - as always from Dunu product. I really like how Dunu designed the front side of the box : simple picture of Titan 5 with good combination of black and silver colour plus Hi-Res audio logo on top corner, leaving "premium serious audiophile product" impression to anyone who buy it.
The box has 2 opening door mechanism before you can find Titan 5 lies inside the box. There are some description about Titan 5 and it's technology on each door (once again : leaving "premium serious audiophile product" impression to anyone who buy it)
What is inside the box? Here it is :
1. Dunu Titan 5 IEM
2. Silicon ear stabilizer
3. Plug converter 3,5mm to 6,3mm
4. two set of silicone eartips : Dunu eartips and Sony eartips (S/M/L each)
5. Hard plastic carrying case
6. Warranty card
Yes, Dunu gives you more than enough accessories inside. There are two type of silicone eartips, but in my opinion it will be better if Dunu give more than S/M/L size of silicone tips or add foam tips rather than gives two set of different silicone eartips with same size. Silicone earstabilizer really does it's job, since Titan 5 earpiece is slighty heavy, it help Titan 5 to sit comfortably in your ear. The carrying case has good black elegant design, with doff finishing on the side, matt rubber on the bottom, and glossy fingerprint magnet on the top. Nothing wrong with design and quality of this carrying case, but the only complain from me is the size. You can put Titan 5 inside the case, but there may be no space for spare eartips or other accessories.
Design, Build Quality, and Comfort
Titan 5 comes with half in-ear design. Shell made by polished shining metal that gives not only strong, robust, and premium feeling, but also slighty heavy and fingerprint/oil traces magnet.Build quality is very good, there's no sharp metal edge or inconsistent gap between shell panel.
Look how good Titan 5's build quality is. Even in nozzle small detail, there's no sharp metal edge, all the things are very tidy and neat. There's only one vent on each earpiece (Fiio EX1 has more than 5 vents). Soundstage will less spacious and airy?
Titan 5 comes with detachable cable with MMCX cable. Connector is very rigid, slighty hard to remove the cable, but the positive things is this connector will be durable. Unfortunately, this MMCX pin slighty different from Shure's, so aftermarket cable availability will be limited. Maybe Dunu can sell upgraded cable or cable with mic for Titan 5.
Talks about cable, Titan 5 cable has small microphonic cable and will not leaves tangled traces. I like all features on it's cable : shirt clip + chin slider + build in rubber cable strap. I hope all consumer IEM in the world has those features. L-shape 3,5mm plug has slim profile, so if you use extra case for your DAP or smartphone, Titan 5 still can plug properly to female jack.
How about comfort and isolation? I haven't comfort issue with Titan 5. It can easily fit and get proper isolation in my ear using Sony tips. Earpieces feels slight heavy and sometimes easily get off from my ears when I actively moved. But don't worry, earstabilizer really helps solve that problem.
We can't expect very good isolation from half in-ear design, so does Titan 5. Isolation not so good, if I use it in public place like train station, noise from outside interference my music, but offcourse not as bad as earbuds or openback headphone.
Sound
My primary setup : Lenovo notebook (Foobar2000 player, ASIO out) + centrance dacport dac/amp
Other setup : AK240, Xduoo X2, Samsung Galaxy S4
I use Sony Hybrid eartips without earstabilizer for this review
Titan 5 main signature is V-shaped, has great bass impact while maintain balance with mid and crispy high.
Bass
Titan 5 gives good amount off bass, just one strip below basshead level. Bass impact is great, it has good punch, deep, dynamic, and hard-hitting while maintain clean and rarely bleed to other freq. Bass has good extension, I don't feel low freq is roll off early. Sub bass amount is decent, I can hear subbass rumble in some EDM tracks. Bass speed is good, but isn't tight enough for double pedal drum like in metal tracks. As long as not for fast double pedal tracks, I think mostly people will like deep, punchy, dynamic, and impactfull bass offered by Titan 5.
Midrange
V-shaped soundsig makes Titan 5's midrange slighty recessed. Just "slighty", midrange doesn't feel far back or lacking. I like midrange timbre on Titan 5, feels clean and natural with good weight. Midrange also feels smooth, there's no fatiguing peak on uppermid. But sometimes I feel lower midrange is slighty veiled, makes some instrument and male vocal not as open as I like and usually hear. Different from male vocal, female vocal on Titan 5 feels open and has enough sweetness, and sibilance always keep in safe level.
High
Titan 5 has good crispy treble with good extension, but not as good as fiio EX1. Cymbal crashes has good timbre, detail, and texture with "right" short decay, really like this presentation. But unfortunatelly, sometimes I annoyed with sharp lower treble. On some tracks, it makes fatigue, and I have to lower the volume level because of this.
Soundstage
Titan 5 has above average soundstage, and has nice balance between width, height, and depth which gives good 3D feeling. Instrument placement and layer also good enough for this price. Compared to Fiio EX1, Titan 5 has better depth but not as spacious and airy as EX1.
Separation and Detail
Separation is good, I can clearly distinguish sound of each instrument, although not as good as some BA on it's price range. Detail level is also on good level, but doesn't make overall sound become clinical. I can enjoy combination of fun dynamic sound with good detail and separation offered by Titan 5 for hours.
Conclusion
Dunu Titan 5 gives you fun and dynamic sound while maintain good level of separation and detail. It less "unique" and more "mainstream sound" compared to EX1, but also makes Titan 5 more easy to listen and accepted by many people. Sharp lower treble may be dealbreaker for some people, but offcourse it depends on your songs and setup.
USD $139 for Titan 5? In my opinion, it's price to performance ratio isn't stunning, but still in good level. If you looking for fun and dynamic IEM and also want good detail, Titan 5 must be in your consideration list.
BlackUser
New Head-Fier
Pros: One of the best bass and transient response in earbud, headphone-like sound
Cons: uninspiring design, needs amp
Hi...
Maybe I'm a newbie in head-fi forum (mostly as a silent reader) and my written English is bad, but let me give impression about 52VE Zen and Asura beta.
High impedance earbuds always make me interested, they need good amp, but will they sound good too? Or just average sound, but need extra power for driving them?
So, my friend ordered those earbuds and gave one to me (because I don't have credit card for purchase online stuff
), hoped they would sound good, especially Zen.
Packing and Accessories
Zen and Asura beta comes in white paperbox. When I opened the paperbox, I found zipper hardcase and three pairs of earbud sponge (donut style). Quite simpe package and accessories for "high-end" earbud, especially for Zen. Zipper hardcase quality is quite good, but looks too plain. I think will be better if 52VE add their logo to it.
Design and Build Quality
I opened the box, and I found those uninspiring design earbud in black and white.
Yeah, I expect more from Zen as "high end" earbud, it will be better if has beautiful design like Sennheiser MX985.
Zen's white cable is thick and bit noisy, but never leave tangle mark like bad quality cable on low end earbud. Asura has black braided cable from jack to Y-splitter and twist cable from Y-splitter to left and right earbud. Metal accent added to Asura beta's jack and Y-splitter, combined with black braided cable, looks very beautiful. Overall, Asura beta looks much better and more "expensive" than Zen in my eyes, when I opened the box I thought Zen was the black and the white was Asura beta.
For those who have small ears, this earbud will feels quite big on your ears. Fortunately I have big ears, so both Zen and Asura beta can sit comfortably on my ears.
Sound Quality
Both of them has burned-in about 200 hours
Here my setup :
setup 1 : lenovo notebook -> Centrance dacport
setup 2 : lenovo notebook -> Centrance dacport -> fiio L16 -> DIY tubehybrid amp
setup 3 : direct to iPod video 5.5th Gen
I will talk about Zen first.
For me, Zen's bass reproduction is one of the best in earbud. Bass is plenty, has nice balance within midbass and lowbass. Bass has very good punch, speed, and well controled, it will never bloat to lower midrange. Listen to electro dance music at slighty high volume in quiet room, then Zen will satisfy you with it's big bass, dynamic, punch, and speed. So much fun!
The cons is, bass a bit muddy for track which contain fast double pedal like metal genre ( using setup 1), but I think it's not big problem, because I still can enjoy the song.
Overall, I never hear bass reproduction like this before on earbud, big punch bass with good transient response.
Nothing special in midrange and vocal for me, not as forward and sweet as Yuin's, not as airy and articulate as blox's, but Zen has thicker vocal and never sounds sibilance, hars, or thin. Using tubehybrid amp (setup 2) will help vocal to be more sweet, forward and intiminate, but bass feels slower and "loose" than before (setup 1)
Zen has right amount of high, never sounds overbright or oversharp. High presentation is smooth, just decent sparkle and crisp. High extension and detail is good, but needs more airy.
Many earbuds give me wide soundstage and airy, but short at depth or height. Zen is different, the soundstage is "big", if we talk about width maybe Zen just above average. But Zen has excellent proportion within width, height, and depth, that makes feels spacious and and very good imaging. Like I listen to music with a headphone, not an earbud!
Instrument separation and details are good, not superb but I have no complain at all on this aspect. Just right and good.
How about Asura beta?
Asura beta has 150 ohm impedance, and it sounds good when I pluging in to iPod video 5.5th gen without amp. So, Asura beta is better option for people which doesn't have or won't use amp.
This is lite version of Zen, soundsignature is very similar. Comparing Zen and Asura beta is like comparing MP3 320 kbps and 192 kbps. Asura beta has similar soundsignature, but less dynamic and detailed than Zen. Asura beta's vocal is not as smooth as Zen too. And the last, Asura beta's soundstage not as "big" as Zen, which Asura beta feels a bit short at depth compared to Zen.
Compared to blox M2c, Asura beta has more body and punch bass. Asura beta's vocal feels more thick but less articulate than M2C. M2C has more sparkling, crisp, and airy high. M2c soundstage is wider and more airy, but Asura beta has much better depth and overall imaging
Conclusion
They are very good earbuds, and I think can compete well with existing earbud on the market.
Zen has good potential to be one of the best earbud, but you need good source component (especially amp) to drive Zen well. If you don't or won't use amp, Asura beta is right choice.
Both of them are fun sounding earbud, if you a vocal lovers or detailed lovers, maybe Zen and Asura beta will not satisfy your want. But with good and right amp, I think Zen still has potency to satisfy everyone
mochill
Nice review my friend 
BlackUser
Thanks mate 
BlackUser
New Head-Fier
Pros: excellent price to performance, huge soundstage, excellent comfort, excellent clarity and detil, sounds really good with tube amp
Cons: light bass, very ugly and bulky
This maybe the best over-ear headphone for those who don't need thumping bass.
Bass is very light and tight. Midrange is very clear, vocal will be really sweet if paired with tube amp. High is very detailed and airy, sometimes a bit sharp.
Soundstage extremely huge, maybe the biggest soundstage for $60 headphone
-
Model no : TITAN 5
Type : dyamic 13mm driver
F-response : 10Hz-40kHz
SPL : 108dB
Impedance : 32 Ohm
Plug : 3.5mm gold plated (L-shaped)
Cord length : 1.2m
Weight : 24g
Retail Package
Titan 5 comes with big black box that gives you premium and expensive feeling - as always from Dunu product. I really like how Dunu designed the front side of the box : simple picture of Titan 5 with good combination of black and silver colour plus Hi-Res audio logo on top corner, leaving "premium serious audiophile product" impression to anyone who buy it.
The box has 2 opening door mechanism before you can find Titan 5 lies inside the box. There are some description about Titan 5 and it's technology on each door (once again : leaving "premium serious audiophile product" impression to anyone who buy it)
What is inside the box? Here it is :
1. Dunu Titan 5 IEM
2. Silicon ear stabilizer
3. Plug converter 3,5mm to 6,3mm
4. two set of silicone eartips : Dunu eartips and Sony eartips (S/M/L each)
5. Hard plastic carrying case
6. Warranty card
Yes, Dunu gives you more than enough accessories inside. There are two type of silicone eartips, but in my opinion it will be better if Dunu give more than S/M/L size of silicone tips or add foam tips rather than gives two set of different silicone eartips with same size. Silicone earstabilizer really does it's job, since Titan 5 earpiece is slighty heavy, it help Titan 5 to sit comfortably in your ear. The carrying case has good black elegant design, with doff finishing on the side, matt rubber on the bottom, and glossy fingerprint magnet on the top. Nothing wrong with design and quality of this carrying case, but the only complain from me is the size. You can put Titan 5 inside the case, but there may be no space for spare eartips or other accessories.
Design, Build Quality, and Comfort
Titan 5 comes with half in-ear design. Shell made by polished shining metal that gives not only strong, robust, and premium feeling, but also slighty heavy and fingerprint/oil traces magnet.Build quality is very good, there's no sharp metal edge or inconsistent gap between shell panel.
Look how good Titan 5's build quality is. Even in nozzle small detail, there's no sharp metal edge, all the things are very tidy and neat. There's only one vent on each earpiece (Fiio EX1 has more than 5 vents). Soundstage will less spacious and airy?
Titan 5 comes with detachable cable with MMCX cable. Connector is very rigid, slighty hard to remove the cable, but the positive things is this connector will be durable. Unfortunately, this MMCX pin slighty different from Shure's, so aftermarket cable availability will be limited. Maybe Dunu can sell upgraded cable or cable with mic for Titan 5.
Talks about cable, Titan 5 cable has small microphonic cable and will not leaves tangled traces. I like all features on it's cable : shirt clip + chin slider + build in rubber cable strap. I hope all consumer IEM in the world has those features. L-shape 3,5mm plug has slim profile, so if you use extra case for your DAP or smartphone, Titan 5 still can plug properly to female jack.
How about comfort and isolation? I haven't comfort issue with Titan 5. It can easily fit and get proper isolation in my ear using Sony tips. Earpieces feels slight heavy and sometimes easily get off from my ears when I actively moved. But don't worry, earstabilizer really helps solve that problem.
We can't expect very good isolation from half in-ear design, so does Titan 5. Isolation not so good, if I use it in public place like train station, noise from outside interference my music, but offcourse not as bad as earbuds or openback headphone.
Sound
My primary setup : Lenovo notebook (Foobar2000 player, ASIO out) + centrance dacport dac/amp
Other setup : AK240, Xduoo X2, Samsung Galaxy S4
I use Sony Hybrid eartips without earstabilizer for this review
Titan 5 main signature is V-shaped, has great bass impact while maintain balance with mid and crispy high.
Bass
Titan 5 gives good amount off bass, just one strip below basshead level. Bass impact is great, it has good punch, deep, dynamic, and hard-hitting while maintain clean and rarely bleed to other freq. Bass has good extension, I don't feel low freq is roll off early. Sub bass amount is decent, I can hear subbass rumble in some EDM tracks. Bass speed is good, but isn't tight enough for double pedal drum like in metal tracks. As long as not for fast double pedal tracks, I think mostly people will like deep, punchy, dynamic, and impactfull bass offered by Titan 5.
Midrange
V-shaped soundsig makes Titan 5's midrange slighty recessed. Just "slighty", midrange doesn't feel far back or lacking. I like midrange timbre on Titan 5, feels clean and natural with good weight. Midrange also feels smooth, there's no fatiguing peak on uppermid. But sometimes I feel lower midrange is slighty veiled, makes some instrument and male vocal not as open as I like and usually hear. Different from male vocal, female vocal on Titan 5 feels open and has enough sweetness, and sibilance always keep in safe level.
High
Titan 5 has good crispy treble with good extension, but not as good as fiio EX1. Cymbal crashes has good timbre, detail, and texture with "right" short decay, really like this presentation. But unfortunatelly, sometimes I annoyed with sharp lower treble. On some tracks, it makes fatigue, and I have to lower the volume level because of this.
Soundstage
Titan 5 has above average soundstage, and has nice balance between width, height, and depth which gives good 3D feeling. Instrument placement and layer also good enough for this price. Compared to Fiio EX1, Titan 5 has better depth but not as spacious and airy as EX1.
Separation and Detail
Separation is good, I can clearly distinguish sound of each instrument, although not as good as some BA on it's price range. Detail level is also on good level, but doesn't make overall sound become clinical. I can enjoy combination of fun dynamic sound with good detail and separation offered by Titan 5 for hours.
Conclusion
Dunu Titan 5 gives you fun and dynamic sound while maintain good level of separation and detail. It less "unique" and more "mainstream sound" compared to EX1, but also makes Titan 5 more easy to listen and accepted by many people. Sharp lower treble may be dealbreaker for some people, but offcourse it depends on your songs and setup.
USD $139 for Titan 5? In my opinion, it's price to performance ratio isn't stunning, but still in good level. If you looking for fun and dynamic IEM and also want good detail, Titan 5 must be in your consideration list.
BlackUser
New Head-Fier
Pros: One of the best bass and transient response in earbud, headphone-like sound
Cons: uninspiring design, needs amp
Hi...
Maybe I'm a newbie in head-fi forum (mostly as a silent reader) and my written English is bad, but let me give impression about 52VE Zen and Asura beta.
Maybe I'm a newbie in head-fi forum (mostly as a silent reader) and my written English is bad, but let me give impression about 52VE Zen and Asura beta.
High impedance earbuds always make me interested, they need good amp, but will they sound good too? Or just average sound, but need extra power for driving them?
So, my friend ordered those earbuds and gave one to me (because I don't have credit card for purchase online stuff
), hoped they would sound good, especially Zen.
Packing and Accessories
Zen and Asura beta comes in white paperbox. When I opened the paperbox, I found zipper hardcase and three pairs of earbud sponge (donut style). Quite simpe package and accessories for "high-end" earbud, especially for Zen. Zipper hardcase quality is quite good, but looks too plain. I think will be better if 52VE add their logo to it.
Design and Build Quality
I opened the box, and I found those uninspiring design earbud in black and white.
Yeah, I expect more from Zen as "high end" earbud, it will be better if has beautiful design like Sennheiser MX985.
Zen's white cable is thick and bit noisy, but never leave tangle mark like bad quality cable on low end earbud. Asura has black braided cable from jack to Y-splitter and twist cable from Y-splitter to left and right earbud. Metal accent added to Asura beta's jack and Y-splitter, combined with black braided cable, looks very beautiful. Overall, Asura beta looks much better and more "expensive" than Zen in my eyes, when I opened the box I thought Zen was the black and the white was Asura beta.
Sound Quality
Both of them has burned-in about 200 hours
Here my setup :
setup 1 : lenovo notebook -> Centrance dacport
setup 2 : lenovo notebook -> Centrance dacport -> fiio L16 -> DIY tubehybrid amp
setup 3 : direct to iPod video 5.5th Gen
For those who have small ears, this earbud will feels quite big on your ears. Fortunately I have big ears, so both Zen and Asura beta can sit comfortably on my ears.
Sound Quality
Both of them has burned-in about 200 hours
Here my setup :
setup 1 : lenovo notebook -> Centrance dacport
setup 2 : lenovo notebook -> Centrance dacport -> fiio L16 -> DIY tubehybrid amp
setup 3 : direct to iPod video 5.5th Gen
I will talk about Zen first.
For me, Zen's bass reproduction is one of the best in earbud. Bass is plenty, has nice balance within midbass and lowbass. Bass has very good punch, speed, and well controled, it will never bloat to lower midrange. Listen to electro dance music at slighty high volume in quiet room, then Zen will satisfy you with it's big bass, dynamic, punch, and speed. So much fun!
The cons is, bass a bit muddy for track which contain fast double pedal like metal genre ( using setup 1), but I think it's not big problem, because I still can enjoy the song.
Overall, I never hear bass reproduction like this before on earbud, big punch bass with good transient response.
Nothing special in midrange and vocal for me, not as forward and sweet as Yuin's, not as airy and articulate as blox's, but Zen has thicker vocal and never sounds sibilance, hars, or thin. Using tubehybrid amp (setup 2) will help vocal to be more sweet, forward and intiminate, but bass feels slower and "loose" than before (setup 1)
Zen has right amount of high, never sounds overbright or oversharp. High presentation is smooth, just decent sparkle and crisp. High extension and detail is good, but needs more airy.
Many earbuds give me wide soundstage and airy, but short at depth or height. Zen is different, the soundstage is "big", if we talk about width maybe Zen just above average. But Zen has excellent proportion within width, height, and depth, that makes feels spacious and and very good imaging. Like I listen to music with a headphone, not an earbud!
Instrument separation and details are good, not superb but I have no complain at all on this aspect. Just right and good.
How about Asura beta?
Asura beta has 150 ohm impedance, and it sounds good when I pluging in to iPod video 5.5th gen without amp. So, Asura beta is better option for people which doesn't have or won't use amp.
This is lite version of Zen, soundsignature is very similar. Comparing Zen and Asura beta is like comparing MP3 320 kbps and 192 kbps. Asura beta has similar soundsignature, but less dynamic and detailed than Zen. Asura beta's vocal is not as smooth as Zen too. And the last, Asura beta's soundstage not as "big" as Zen, which Asura beta feels a bit short at depth compared to Zen.
Compared to blox M2c, Asura beta has more body and punch bass. Asura beta's vocal feels more thick but less articulate than M2C. M2C has more sparkling, crisp, and airy high. M2c soundstage is wider and more airy, but Asura beta has much better depth and overall imaging
Conclusion
They are very good earbuds, and I think can compete well with existing earbud on the market.
Zen has good potential to be one of the best earbud, but you need good source component (especially amp) to drive Zen well. If you don't or won't use amp, Asura beta is right choice.
Both of them are fun sounding earbud, if you a vocal lovers or detailed lovers, maybe Zen and Asura beta will not satisfy your want. But with good and right amp, I think Zen still has potency to satisfy everyone
mochill
Nice review my friend
BlackUser
Thanks mate
BlackUser
New Head-Fier
Pros: excellent price to performance, huge soundstage, excellent comfort, excellent clarity and detil, sounds really good with tube amp
Cons: light bass, very ugly and bulky
This maybe the best over-ear headphone for those who don't need thumping bass.
Bass is very light and tight. Midrange is very clear, vocal will be really sweet if paired with tube amp. High is very detailed and airy, sometimes a bit sharp.
Soundstage extremely huge, maybe the biggest soundstage for $60 headphone
Bass is very light and tight. Midrange is very clear, vocal will be really sweet if paired with tube amp. High is very detailed and airy, sometimes a bit sharp.
Soundstage extremely huge, maybe the biggest soundstage for $60 headphone