GK80

So there seems to be some controversy about the budget IEM manufacturer Geek Wold. Makers of budget tribrids and much higher end TWS earphones which they go by Geekfly.. Geek folks seem to read the thoughts and remarks from reviews and our thread dedicated for the prior controversial hit the GK10. What made the GK10 fall into the controversial category is that the QC was a bit suspect as impressions started to fly in how some units would sound great for some and not so much for others. Fast forward to today and the Geek team is at it again with a new offering that should remedy a lot of pitfalls of their prior GK10 earphones.

A bit of a secret. I know the Geek team has had numerous prior models they have been working on but settled on what is now the GK80. Minus the familiar all plastic heart shaped shell. The new GK80 is an entirely new product. New driver make up being an 8mm graphene dynamic+ treble BA+dual piezo ceramic drivers. This is a very similar driver set up for one of their best sounding TWS models the Geekfly GF8S you can read my take on these here.

As much as the steam built up with the prior GK10, it has fallen by the wayside but you know they were close to capturing something different in the budget sector that others have not really tried. The tribrid formula for a sub $50 category of earphones are not really common. So it seems the Geek team has gone back to what they have designed previously that worked for them. As obscure as their Geekfly name is. If you ever heard their GF8S TWS earphones, it is undeniable the sound quality that comes from that unit. The GK80 captures a lot of design cues from the GF8S and we have a successor to the GK10 that is every bit what it should have been and more.

Standardly disclaimers. I would like to thank Geek Wold and Penon audio for the pre-production unit I received for review purposes. You will be able to purchase a GK80 on Penon web site here. GK80 has been burned in for over a week and been listened to using a variety of my sources. DX300Max, M15, Shanling M6 pro, Acmee MF02S, IFI Black label. Fiio K3, Fiio UTWS5.

The GK10 for the bucks, or at least the early production units had some serious potential. But in this industry, potential gets you a bunch of mixed impressions and negative reviews. The product has to be consistent and I have my fingers crossed the new GK80 will be the turning point for the crew that gave us the GK10. The new GK80 comes in the same no frills packaging of the prior GK10, uses the same set of tips but now is using a standard thin OFC cable that is not as good as the one that came with the GK10. Packaging is finished off by your standard pouch and a very underwhelming budget cable.

To be honest the GK10 and the GK80 both needed a much better cable anyhow. Goes without saying, there are limitations in what one gets for their sub $50. You can’t expect a nice cable from this package. With the included cable, you will certainly hear how the GK80 sounds but is nowhere close to optimizing all them drivers in the GK80. Try out your 2 pin cables you have on hand, just about anything will be an upgrade cable wise on the new GK80. I do recommend a solid burn in cycle for them as they utilize way too many drivers for the sound to be 100% correct out of the box more importantly it is using a graphene dynamic for the very important bass to mids sound projection for the GK80 which needs burn in. As they say, let the music play and leave it playing

Sound.
This is the part you have been waiting for. So how do they sound? They sound very good. Quite head scratching as I have yet to hear anything that comes close to how they sound for the bucks. But that was the potential in the GK10 that got dumped on due to the various issues of that unit. It does retrain a mild v shaped sound signature but this time around I am certain they took some of the criticism to heart. When I got news Geek was going to send me a pre production unit I had my fingers crossed that the GK80 would have a brand new housing. I mean heart shaped earphones are unique and all. Well that hope was shattered when I opened the package and it was using the same housing. However now using an all back carbon fiber plate. Actually looked about as masculine as it will get for using a heart shaped housing. Arguably the best looking out of the heart shaped colors of the prior GK10. Looks aside, what mattered really was the sound. The shell size itself is smaller medium in size and most will have good comfort using them. Passive isolation being slightly below average.

When I popped the GK80 onto my DX300Max. I knew right away it was an upgrade. To me if you're going to bring out something new. Bring out something new!. Sure they are reusing some parts to make the GK80 but you're not going to care once you hear how they improved on the GK80. How did they improve on the design? For one they took out one of the dynamics in the housing that was taking up much valuable space from the GK10 design. Space for the sonics to breathe. The 8mm graphene dynamic now is doing both the bass and mids. This design keeps the dynamic timbre intact while giving more space and better cohesion for the main dynamic to do its thing. Its treble is handled by a treble BA and then capped off by 2 piezoceramic tweeters to handle the ultra highs. A cheap man's tribrid? Yes indeed but just because it is cheap doesn't mean these can’t perform. Piezoceramics are somewhat of a hit or miss. It all depends on how they are tuned to handle the important upper notes. Sure they aren’t higher end BAs or better yet EST drivers but they can do comparable work again depending on how well they are implemented.

Treble
Is handled via two sets of drivers. The treble BA and dual piezoceramic drivers handle the ultra highs. This is what sets these Geek earphones apart from other budget fi offerings. Budget stuff usually sound budget as treble tunings are artificially emphasized to mimic higher end sound as that is one way manufacturers mask treble detail and ability or the lack thereof. The answer is MOAR treble! Also on the other end adding MOAR bass gives the illusion of a dynamic sound. The budget fi stuff that runs rampant nowadays are not only artificially hyped but also lack proper treble extension and air. No such issue with the GK80. Sure its treble tonality is not the most natural or the most refined sounding treble as here is where the cohesion of the GK80 is separated a bit and that is just due to using different drivers with different abilities and timbre. The speed and transients from a treble BA is not going to be the same as the dynamic handling the bass and mids. But if there is a slight disjointing of the sounds I would rather be the treble as it ends up sounding like dedicated tweeters. So that is in essence how the treble presentation is on the GK80. The good news there is that since it is using 3 drivers for the treble notes. You're gonna get a precision, extension and treble definition that is seldom addressed with most budget fi stuff let alone earphones that cost 4X as much. Instead of treble that is using spikes to enhance detail the GK80 just has a good extended treble. You will hear every note in the treble area and with some proper shimmer to boot.

The upper piezo drivers mimics what Sonion EST drivers do. You can even say they are a cheapmans ESTs. Upper treble detail with that added spark, shimmer a shine with some air if you will properly extend that treble. Treble tonality is surprisingly smooth, even leaning toward a silky type presentation. I have yet to describe a budget fi offering with anything close to silky is my point and here you get that with the GK80. I would say this treble tuning mimics a higher end EST to the point where you will be surprised with how good the treble end can be from the GK80. It does emit some thinness in the upper trebles which is the nature of piezoceramics but otherwise you will hear every treble note with a proper detail retrieval.

Mids.
Going back and forth from the previous GK10. The GK10 needed some power to really bring out what they can do but the GK80 here has a meatier sound in general. Fuller more forward mids especially for the lower mids. This makes vocals, especially male vocals sound more engaging and brings a more musical tilt to the GK80 sound signature. The GK10 clearly has lesser mids presence vs the GK80. This is where I feel the newer tuning really shapes up how musical the new GK80 sounds. Its mids now incorporate a fuller body of sound. A meatier mids presence is never a bad thing and not to mention instrument timbre also sounds about as good as it will get for the price range on the GK80. Mids no longer take a slight step back in the mix. I wouldn’t say the mids are overly forward here but no longer sound laid back as it does on the GK10 in comparison.The mids are featured this time, graphene/ carbon based dynamics are excellent with detail and the mids performance here benefits from this driver that clearly has no problems flaunting a more forward bolder sound signature. This is a case where you actually are getting an increase in fidelity due to taking a driver out, in essence getting more for using less.

Technicalities
Due to that increase in space inside the housing. You can tell the drivers are better optimized for the GK80. Its technicalities are another aspect that has been upgraded from the GK10. GK80 sounds more spacious in general. It has a more nuanced presentation knocking more on a dimensional sound vs being your standard flat plane sound presentation. Its stage is moderate but now sees better depth and height of sound. Its instrument separation is a touch sharper, more chiseled vs the prior GK10. Timbre was not an issue with the GK10 but this time music has a bolder, more dynamic edge to how you hear it due to the more forward mids presentation. Since the GK80 much like the GK10, uses a dynamic for the important mids. It drives perfectly fine out of just about anything, but I do notice an increase in sound quality with some amplification.

Amping the GK80 yields a sound that just doesn't exist at the price point. Getting the best out of the GK80 doesn't mean you have to strap on your portable amp or powerful dap but it does expand in sound quality accordingly.

Bass
Variable bass? Due to the 8 ohm impedance or the highly sensitive nature of the GK80 this is the one area that can vary with your sources and cables. This is one of the negative aspects of high sensitivity for earphones. Sound can and does change with sources and cable pairings. For example. Using the GK80 out of the 10 ohm out Acmee MF02S yields a more neutral brighter tonality with leaner bass. Not how the GK80 really sounds. Using my players the DX300Max and or Fiio M15 and the GK80 sounds like a different earphone, is how I described the sound here to be. Higher output impedance and you're going to hear a leaner sounding GK80. Lower the output impedance and you get the full monty sound from the GK80. Fuller punchier bigger bass impact, which again changes how you hear the GK80. I use sources that have the lowest output impedance always so this does not affect me so much but just know if your version of the GK80 sounds different than how I describe it. Try using a different source and change up the cable is my best advice on that.

I can tell Geek folks like their bass. Real music is not all about a neutral bass end. When was the last time you heard live music with neutral bass? The GK80 has bass. It has a good dose of upper, mid and sub bass. More mid bass than sub bass but not so much to ruin your precious mids. The bass emphasis is very much identical to how the GK10 bass was presented and I know for some of you. You were looking for something a bit more tame for the bass end. The good news here is you will have to do some trial and error for the bass presentation. Some sources throw out a full bored bass while with some the bass presentation is much more moderate. Cables also have an effect on the bass end. More copper based and your GK80 will bring the slam. More silver based variety less so. My motto with the GK80 is try this and try that. Once you figure out what synergizes with the GK80. You will get to hear what they are all about.

I know this is a strange thing to write in a review but that is how I hear the GK80 bass end. There is a certain level of sound variance using your sources and cables that will bring either a well balanced sound all the way to a more v shaped signature. The GK10 also had this issue as some found the bass end to be a bit much while others found it to be punchy with great presence but nowhere near as bassy as some would describe. One thing for certain, once you do get that low OI source and a good aftermarket cable pairing on the GK80. You will be more than impressed with its sound qualities.

Go into the GK80 with an open mind and they will reward you with something you don’t normally get in the price range. For folks that like to tinker and optimize their earphones, the GK80 by nature can and will change to just how much bass you want in your sound and it isn’t all that difficult to figure out which of your sources sound best with it. The GK80 will let you know. On one hand it is very easy to drive due to the low impedance and is even more sensitive than their GK10. But that is also the issue as you will need a low OI based player to get the very best out of the GK80.

In the end
The GK80 represents progress for the budget fi sector. Not too many tribrids exist for the money and if they do they end up sounding like. Budget fi. The GK80 is more of a revision of the formula of the GK10 now using some drivers that seem to work better with the tuning aspect of the GK80. It does a great job at presenting a technical yet fun sound signature, something that is difficult to do properly at the price range. Usually, earphones in this price range are more about the fun but not so much in the realm of technicalities. Much like the GK10 did when properly driven the GK80 gives you a slice of a much higher end sound. People are quick to judge a budget level phone without giving them their due diligence. Burn in the GK80, get yourself a good aftermarket cable. It doesn't have to be the expensive type. Throw them on a low output impedance source and let them sing. I am looking forward to how you’re hearing them on the Geek Wold thread. Happy listening.

ISN G4

Cables are a hot topic especially for enthusiasts. The IEM cable market nowadays has seen so many varieties and styles to choose, when it comes to cables. The big debate is do they actually help shape sonic qualities? On one side of the fence the objectivist enthusiasts do not believe in cables making any difference at all. I understand that notion but on the other hand there are people like myself that write cable reviews and talk about their finer qualities and how they affect sound for your earphones. I suppose my review here will help the folks that do like a good sound shaping cable to help with their IEM sonic profile more so than the science guys. My honest take on that is. Believe your own ears

The new ISN G4 is the first graphene infused cable by ISN and is priced to sell. When I did my first graphene cable review of the Penon OSG, I know there were some skeptics that came out of the woodworks. There always are, with the notion that graphene does nothing for sound properties. Even got a few laugh emojis. Who doesn't love a good laugh emoji. That was over a year ago when Penon released those. Today we see the newest cable also here incorporating some graphene for its cores. This time, a bit different. The OSG was more based on silver coated OCC copper cables which makes them more technical by default.

This time around the new G4 uses less silver but is more copper based on what the cables do. Hence these show more copper in sound properties vs being silver influenced. Even though 1/2th the cores are plated in silver. The actual mix of materials is half graphene infused OCC copper and the other half is a silver plated graphene infused OCC mixed. 4 cored with each core containing 180 shares of the stuff. The weave is finished off with a Litz type 6 configuration. Thicker and substantial in its size. These are more equivalent to most 8 cored cables in material bulk but in a 4 cored variant. I would say the weave is semi loose so moderate in its pliability with a very minimum of cable noise.

Standardly disclaimers; the sample was provided for the purpose of a review. If you like the descriptor of what I write here about the G4 you can certainly get one here on Penon web site here.

Bulkier, thicker cables have their purposes. If you throw on a substantial cable like the G4 on a thin sounding earphone more neutral in tuning. You will most certainly hear the benefits of a thicker copper cable. This does not change with the G4. The majority of its bulk is in fact copper. The good variety. OCC is equivalent to crystal copper and generally provides a clean, more fuller bodied natural sound presentation of your IEMs even more so the thicker the cables are.. It is the materials that are added to the copper cores that influence what copper cores do. Silver for better transients and detail with an added element of stage perception, graphene helps to enhance imaging of all things.

Better precision is another factor of the graphene influence on a sound. Graphene based cables by the way are much more numerous now in the wild and not so rare for cables anymore. The G4 affects the stage perception of your earphones. A wider, more expansive stage while adding more body, enhancing imaging to the host earphones sound. It is the graphene element that solidifies music notes to a better degree than cables without it. Sounds more precise in that regard. I noticed trebles are slightly smoother sounding from the G4 cable which bodes well for monitors with ample treble emphasis. Some pairings I will post on the read here show just that.

First up is ISNs own H50. You can read my take on the H50 here.
H50 comes with a good ISN S8 SPC cable that is a great starter cable. It will certainly give you a great idea how the H50 sounds but with the G4 brings the H50 into another level of sound. As mentioned before the sound expands in all directions giving a greater sense of space for your music. Bass I noticed gets a bump in presence while the entire presentation gets a slight forwarding in the mix. More than just a bump in stage you get a bump in imaging for your music. That added note weight for both vocals and instruments and you get a more higher end sounding H50. Superb pairing with the H50.

ISN EST50. You can read my take on them here.
The EST50 is ISNs flagship earphones and is ISNs best bass infused IEMs. The stock cable once again is the ISN S8. While a decent match up. The G4 does for the EST50 much like what it does for the H50. Expansion of stage and fullness of sound with added imaging. But one very important added benefit for the EST50 is its bass. The best bass presentation for the earphones using just about any cable I have tried on the EST50. Brawny bass is great n all but how about a more detailed brawny bass? That imaging enhancing element of graphene adds better imaging for the bass as well it seems. Big bold full bodied sound for the EST50 making it sound supercharged. Yet another great pairing for the EST50.

Geek Wold GK80. As of writing these aren’t even out yet. Look for my review of them here.
The GK80 is a new budget tribrid IEM that comes with a basic 4 core OFC cable. Not too different from other budget fi cables. The sound more than makes up for the lack of any decent cable. So these earphones will scale to better cables and sources much like previously mentioned ISN earphones but even more so as they are very limited in how they sound with the included cable. The ISN G4 is a substantial upgrade for the DX80. Yes we are talking about a cable that cost 2X more than the earphones themselves but hey the GK80 is worthy of such a cable. This pairing adds that stage element but more so how dynamic the GK80 can sound with the G4 pairing. Using the G4 is consistent on 3 aspects of enhancing your IEMS. Bass,stage and imaging. The GK80 gets bass fullness and presence, mids sees an uptick in precision and imaging. Trebles sound cleaner and well defined. Going back to the stock cable will sadden you as you will clearly be able to tell it is not the same sound you are hearing with the G4 cable.

Last but not least. With the new Tansio Mirai Akiba.
So this was a complete utter surprise. The included cable on the Akiba is no joke, it is also OCC material but plated in some thicker shiny silver. I got word the cable that comes with the Akiba might make it to market as a separate sales item. Not 100% certain on that but it is a great included cable nonetheless. I can even say the value on the included Akiba cable should be more than the ISN G4 as it has a highly transparent cable. An excellent match up with the Akiba. With the G4 the Akiba takes on a more aggressive slightly warmer more bass infused profile.

The new Akiba has some outstanding BA bass to begin with and the G4 brings out even more of it. Not only is the bass more prominent but does show an increase of note weight here as well compared to the stock cable. I do feel the stock cable has an edge for detail retrieval on the AKiba as the silver element really enhances that aspect of the sound on the Akiba but for a more musical fullness leaning that overall tonality more toward a slight warmth vs the slight brightness of the stock sound. The ISN G4 brings another sound element to the new flagship recently released by Tansio Mirai. Imaging here is very similar however as I can’t give the edge to the G4 as the stock cable does a great job with each BA and EST drivers. While the treble is not as accented on the G4 that upper energy is now taken to the low end of the sound profile.
Superb match up on the Akiba.

In the end.
The ISN G4 clearly is a versatile cable for your $100 and that is the type of cable you want. It is a musical enhancing cable that will do that for just about every earphone it is attached to. If you feel you need a bit of a musical injection for your earphone and want a full bass and mids presentation with enhanced imaging, stage and better precision. Try out the ISN G4, there are cables that do these aspects better than the ISN G4 but the cost difference will make you wonder why you spent so much to achieve slightly better. Value, good looks and not to mention the sound enhancing aspects mentioned for earphones it is attached to the the ISN G4 is yet another excellent cable by ISN.

Fiio UTWS5.

Bluetooth dongles/ adaptors/ arms whatever you call them. These handy devices do a great job at getting our favorite in-ears into the TWS Bluetooth realm. The idea of connecting an arm to a favorite mmcx or 2 pin based earphone so you can use them on the go is a great idea. As much as I am a cable fan and what cables do for your earphones, the convenience of bluetooth has its advantages. I have used several different arms in the past and some are arguably better than others, what Fiio has done with the UTWS5 is quite remarkable for several reasons.

For starters it is the first of its type to actually house a low current AK4332 Dac/amp chip supporting up to 24bit/96Khz audio. This is substantial as it allows the UTWS5 to have adequate power not to mention better sound quality to drive just about any earphone it is attached to. Not to mention clear improvements for SNR ratio and noise floor from their previous UTWS3 and arguably any other type of such devices. The UTWS5 also uses the latest qualcomm QCC5141 chip for bluetooth 5.2 with ACC, SBC, APTX and APTX adaptive connectivity. 10m of bluetooth connectivity also includes a beefy 800mAh battery for the charging dock/case which lasts a reported 30 hours of battery on a single charge. They include a CVC noise cancellation for cleaner calls and is IP4X water resistance. Meaning you can wear these just about everywhere, work out with them. Last but not least the new UTWS5 allows wireless charging, fully charged in 2 hours. All this tech stuff is great but how do they make your earphones sound?

Standardly disclaimers. The UTWS5 was provided by Fiio for the purpose of a review. If you feel the need to make your favorite earphones into a wireless form you can purchase a set here on their aliexpress page. I have been testing out the UTW5S for the past month using a variety of in-ears and use scenarios. My sources for testing are actually 3 sources. The Fiio M15, my Samsung galaxy phone, and my ASUS ROG laptop. Sorry I don’t own any Apple devices though the UTWS5 thread reports plenty of folks getting good results with Iphones you can read here.

We do things and love things due to convenience. If you're like me you have a full-time job, have a family and no matter what your situation is. If you're trying to get a small music session in to relax a bit in your busy schedule, or you need good audio for work itself, sometimes grabbing your earphones for on the go is not as simple as it would seem for optimal sound. What I mean by that is. I have a few friends here at headfi that have clearly told me they would rather grab their phone and go vs being tethered to a device from a phone or use a dedicated audio player and then also have to carry around their phones.

Listening to music out of a standard phone is ok. Nothing groundbreaking but just OK but then if you're finicky about your sound, you have to worry about whether your phone has enough power with good SQ to drive that nice earphone correctly. I know there is a market for small dac/amps nowadays which do a great job at getting you a better sound experience vs your standard phone sound. Fiio has even introduced their first dongle dac/amp the KA3 you can read my take on them here. But then you have to deal with something hanging off your phone or use the awkward band wrapped around that small dac amp to your phone which doesn’t fit right in your pocket. Back in the day folks used a brick of an amp connected to your phone or several at a time to achieve a better sound.


Well here is where something like the UTWS5 makes for not only convenience but even better, transforms your favorite in-ear monitor into something it was not initially made for. Wireless. I know these types of bluetooth arms have been around but none of the ones I have tried can I say are comparable to a dedicated audio player or a higher end dac/amp source out of your phone. They work but the sound quality? Usually not enough power to drive a 50 ohm earphone correctly and then you get obvious hiss using your more sensitive IEMs due to a not so good of a noise floor. You might as well be connected to your phone as the SQ is not all that different from onboard sound. Fiio has addressed these issues with the UTWS5.

This product, my friends, is substantial in what it does. The UTWS5 is the one product that you didn’t know you needed. These things are clearly designed for a full sound experience on the go and wirelessly and when connected to a phone yes they include a mic embedded in the arms for clear vocal calls. How's about taking your higher end IEMs on the go without wires? Now you can throw on your best sounding earphone wirelessly with a great sound quality and enough power to boot. Power rated at 53mW@16 Ohms from the already 38mW@16 Ohms on their UTWS3, the UTWS5 will drive moderately power hungry earphones with plenty of headroom to spare.

Again all this don't matter much if the SQ is not really “better” than your onboard sound right? And that is the great thing about the new UTWS5. Its SQ is equivalent to actually using one of them fandangled portable dac/amps and with enough power to drive moderately hard to drive earphones like the 50 Ohm Mee pinnacle P1.

Ease of use.
The unit I got is a mmcx version and there are two different versions of the UTWS5 you can get. An mmcx and a standard .78mm 2 pin version. Just my opinion but if you own more than your share of IEMs you're actually better off getting the mmcx version and here is why. All you need is an adapter to turn your mmcx into 2 pin which just extends the arms a bit and is clearly usable. The other way around using a 2 pin arm and a mmcx adapter will not work as well as this makes the arms much longer and protrudes more so than the other scenario. Unless you just own 2 pin earphones it is better to get a mmcx and then an adapter to turn the mmcx to 2 pin like so.

Or if you're a purist I suppose the UTWS5 is so good you can get one of each and be good. Worth it if you own flagship earphones for both types of connectors but for frugal folks. A cheap adapter is all you need.


The arms out of the box have some charge so you can pair them right away and give them a go. I noticed you can’t pair multiple devices at once but once you turn off whatever device you're using it will connect to the next one. Once paired the butt end of the arm has a large easy to push circular button that allows for music control; volume adjustment, pause, skip to next track, replay track with a push of a button. The functionality is how you would expect and is very responsive to clicks. I do get the occasional clicks thinking I am turning up volume only to pause the track instead. So the more practice you have with the controls the more responsive it will become. No real issues that I have come across. In testing the range of connectivity, I think 10 Meters is very accurate give or take a meter depending on if you're using it through walls or not.

This is pretty good and adequate as I always have the music source with me at all times anyhow. Leaving your source be it your phone or your music player in my case my Fiio M15. I can shovel my 3 car driveway of snow without any disconnects- actual trial and used that way here. Worked perfectly. When not in use you can just store the arms inside its case which charges the arms fully every time and is ready for use when needed.

Testing the longevity for the arms I let music play for 7hours 30 minutes straight without a break out of my Fiio M15 so the reported 8 hours playback seems very accurate there as well. I can’t see a scenario where I am using these for 8 hours straight, but it is good to have decent play back times when using them. I suppose if you use the included mic for longer conversations, it will lessen that time but it does have good healthy use times. The mic by the way works great. There is a mic on each arm so you can use either one but my vocals come in nice and clear on the other end and I can hear the people I am speaking to just fine. As of writing there is some talk of an ambient mode that will allow for you to hear outside noise when in this mode. Which could come in handy in working environments. Again keep tabs on the thread for latest info and possible firmware upgrades that will allow it.

Pro tip. Regardless of what player software you use for music playback on your phone it is a good idea to install the free Fiio control app from android marketplace as it will allow for some extra controls. You can see battery indicator and switch for battery saving mode, Change button functionality as well as OTA upgrading firmware using the app. You basically need this in order to upgrade the firmware on the UTWS5 anyway. It is good to have extra controls and added functionality only this software provides.

Its sound quality is how I perceive it using a variety of my top in ears including Fiios own monitors. I will have a section at the bottom of how each earphone I tested the UTWS5 with sounds like using the unit. Its base sound characteristics has a slight warmth to the mids and has an excellent foot tapping bass foundation that is surprisingly organic sounding and can also sound neutral with a wider sound presentation dependent greatly on which monitor you use. It has a neutral easy going sound tuning and is one I am familiar with AKM velvet sound. Its treble ranges are more smoother in its delivery than bright and overall the sound signature is balanced well with surprising dynamism and detail across the sound spectrum.

Another surprising aspect of the UTWS5 is that it has a clean noise floor which helps with dynamic perception of your music. Much better than anything of the sort I have tested with. Its sound stage is a moderate/ average for width, height and depth but it helps to have something like Fiios own FH5s or FH9 earphones with a wider stage from the earphones themselves to help with a proper stage perception. You actually get a sound flavoring from the UTWS5 but a good one at that. I want to say it leans more toward an analogue type signature vs being clinical or bright sounding. Its level of details and clean fidelity for a source is surprisingly good.

I have noticed that earphones with some extra brightness or has good treble presence helps balance out the sound tuning of the UTWS5. For example one of my absolute favorite pairings for the UTWS5 is Fiios own FH5S. Which sounds even better than their higher end FH9 or the FD7 on the UTWS5. And it is due to the FH5S actually having a pronounced treble end that brings about a higher end pairing with the UTWS5. I will get into this pairing more so later. For now, yes. The UTWS5 sound signature is musical and dynamic sounding more than analytical or overly neutral and it will clearly be an upgrade from your onboard phone sound.

Pairings: in this section I will post how I hear Fiios own earphones using the UTWS5.

First up the FD3.
Fiios FD3 you can read about here. Is arguably one of the best Fiio bang for buck earphones in the $100 range. It's the little brother to the FD5 in both ability and tuning but for the UTWS5. This pairing brings another flavor to the FD3 presentation. Highly detailed for its music synergy the FD3 shows good stage, clarity and dynamism with decent passive isolation. Best passive isolation is the FA7S as it is a fully closed design. Music sounds not only proper but is very enjoyable with the UTWS5. Its clarity is clearly on point and while the tuning is more of a mild V shaped signature sound leans a touch neutral in tonality and presentation but shows very good impact for bass and is detailed as ever. Very good pairing here. For the cost of a higher end Fiio earphone like the FD5 andt the FH5S. It costs less to get a UTWS5 and a FD3 pro to go with it, with the sonic ability that reaches ever so close to its bigger brother the FD5. This pairing is the one two punch, bang for buck Fiio pairing out of all the IEMs mentioned here.

FD5 you can read my review of them here . OK now we are talking about a bigger, more dynamic pairing with the UTWS5 vs FD3. The semi open bigger brother of the FD3. The FD5 takes this sound pairing to yet another level. One of the best impactful bass performers with this pairing. Having an impactful bass end is crucial to TWS sound as ambient noise drowns out bass of all things. So the more impactful the bass the better it is for on the go listening. Stage is one of the widest for all Fiio earphones and you get that impactful bass one step above the FD3 pairing. There is a slight added warmth to the FD5 tonality when paired with the UTWS5 that is not evident on the FD3 pairing. Some added warmth and depth makes this pairing more musical sounding vs the FD3 pairing. Passive isolation is similar to the FD3 pairing but has a more airy sound presentation. Good news for folks that were a bit treble sensitive using the FD5 included cable. The UTWS5 does not accentuate treble notes, unlike the included cable on the FD5 can do. The FD5 actually sounds better using the UTWS5 vs its stock cable. If you enjoy your FD5. Get yourself a UTWS5 and enjoy that match up.

FH5s you can read my take on them here. Get the pro version if you want one of Fiios best hybrids. As I mentioned the UTWS5 does not enhance treble notes. The match up with the FH5S is substantial. In fact, it is the FH5S that gets my vote as the best earphone pairing of all Fiio earphones on the UTWS5. While both the FH9 and the FD7 sound great using the UTWS5 for some reason it is the FH5S that synergizes extremely well with the UTWS5. Throwing out a wide and deep stage, the best vocals and mids renditions as well as that impactful low hitting bass. The FH5S has that extra bit of 8Khz energy from the treble tuning which elevates the base sound of the UTWS5 with an added sparkle making the FH5S sound simply amazing. I most definitely prefer using the UTWS5 over any of the cable variants on the FH5S.To my surprise the FH5S sounds more balanced using the UTWS5 than any other source I have used it with. The mids sound rich and bold/ with the mid switch forward. Bass especially sub bass is extremely textured and satisfying and again one of the widest stages for earphone pairings on the UTWS5. Truth is all of the recent Fiio line up sounds great on the UTWS5. FH5S gets a plus however with it. Synergy is everything with sound pairings and you get that with the FH5S and the UTWS5.

Finally FA7S you can read about here.. The most neutral pairing of the previously mentioned earphone pairings. For enthusiasts that want maximum detail with a neutral balanced tuning. The FA7S provides the best passive isolation as it is an all BA closed design and if you must have silence when traveling the FA7S is by far Fiios best passive isolating earphones. Beyond that. The pair up with the UTWS5 is fantastic. Being an all BA design using 6 Knowles BAs, technicalities; stage, imaging, instrument separation and detail. The FA7S has great extension on both ends of the spectrum and hence pairs well with the UTWS more analoguish sound signature. The FA7S delivers if you're a detail freak. These are the earphones to pair up with the UTWS5. Here is where the sum of all the parts equals a high end sound. Using the UTWS5 and the FA7S bring out a sound you would never hear with most TWS earphones and for Metal fans this is the ultimate TWS pairing. You get speed that only BAs can provide. Neutral in its tonality and multi BA detail that will become one of your favorites to use on the daily.

In the end
The UTWS5 is very surprising how good these arms are at what it does as these are a clear upgrade from Fiios previous arms the UTWS3. Sure, it isn't perfect but then show me a TWS product that is. I am giving this product a 5 star rating as it is the first to really throw out enough power and SQ to do your favorite earphones justice. A solid up to 8 hours of wireless listening is icing on the cake. This is the wireless product that will have you thinking it sounds just as good as wired. I have seen numerous posts of owners of the UTWS5 that are blown away with how good the arms are on their favorite earphones. This is the type of product you had no idea you needed until you try it out. Its ease of usability is one thing but the sound quality of these arms are undeniable and since it is done by Fiio I bet they are working on future firmware's that enhance their use all for the price of a decent cable. Highly recommended for the in ear enthusiast that own a lot of earphones or want to turn your earphone into wireless. Thanks for taking the time to read.

Tri Meteor

The hybrid game is in full swing. Hybrid IEMs are a dime a dozen but ultimately what matters is tuning for such IEMs. The Meteor uses a 2 way crossover design with a combination of a 10mm Beryllium plated dynamic and a Knowles ED-29689 full range BA for its sound, encased in a egger resin medium sized semi-custom universal shell finished in .78mm 2 pin connectors. The design is certainly nothing new, but the question is how well does the Meteor fare at the asking price?

Accessories include
A nice square brown colored clam shell case, two sets of silicones, the earphones themselves, a cleaning brush tool, a lint free cloth and a 5N OFC 8 cored copper cable in a black color motif.

Not too many all-back earphones with all back 8 cored cable so I give props to Tri for how they look.

Goth folks should take interest. If black is your color, these should be right up your alley. What is interesting about this package, while it is fairly standard for such IEMs the box the Meteor comes in is way too large for what was included. In fact, Tri could have included the entirety of the pack in a box 1/3rd the size. A minor complaint but with a box this big you figure you're getting a whole bunch of extras. As far as thrown in accessories you can’t expect much for your Ben Franklin and I would put the accessories level as standard and nothing that stands out.

As a cable aficionado and a bit of critique on included cables with earphones in general. The Meteor comes with a good looking 8 cored all back, certainly good enough 5N OFC copper cable in single ended. It is ok by industry standards, especially for a $100 earphone but I noticed right away the included cable does not enhance the sound of the Meteor on the same token does not really take away anything from the Meteor. You can certainly get a good idea of how the Meteor sounds but I noticed just about anything I tried aftermarket cable wise makes the Meteor sound better. This just means you will have to experiment with what you got to maximize the sonics on the Meteor.

I threw on the KBEAR version of the 8-core graphene cable and I could tell right away the stock cable was limiting what the Meteor can do. Stock cable makes the meteor sound a touch dull in comparison. KBEAR limpid pure silver cable makes another big difference in how the Meteor sounds. I will base my review on the included cable and will post what the upgraded cables do for the Meteor toward the bottom of the read.

Standarly disclaimers; the Tri meteors was provided by KB Ear for the purpose of a review. I would like to thank WendiLi of KB EAR for the review sample. You can purchase a Meteor for you on their aliexpress page here. The sample was burned in for a week straight and is now ready for evaluation using my IBasso DX300Max, Fiio M15, Shanling M6 pro, M5s, M3s, Ibasso DX160, Sony ZX300, Acmee MF02S, IBasso PB3 and IFI black label for amping.

Sound.
The Meteor is a harmon balanced tuning with a moderately enhanced bass emphasis. Folks that have heard a Tri earphone in the past should not be surprised with the tuning angle of the Meteor. Its balancing is exemplary of hybrid designs. For the most part it's a safe well-designed tuning and the advantage of a 10mm Beryllium plated dynamic is that the bass end will have some better definition and speed vs your standard dynamics. Also utilizing a full range Knowles ED 29689 for the bulk of the sonic production on the Meteor. The BA covers the mids to the upper trebles. While the sound here is well balanced and sounds complete, I can tell even without knowing it is using a single BA that the sound is being taxed a bit. Full range BAs that I have experienced have no issue with the mids bands and in fact is where it has the best articulation and sound performance, but the treble end is another story. They are supposed to be able to cover the upper registers just fine and when listening to your favorites casually, there is plenty of treble, but these full range BAs seem to struggle a touch covering the upper treble bands with greater extension. This being said, the Meteor for the most part throws out a satisfying well balanced sound production from bass to the trebles.

The trebles
Trebles here does not have much in the way of separation as it is driven from the same driver that does the mids. Overall due to the Meteor adhering to a basic harmon curve the trebles play safe. Has a good fundamental lower treble presence for its tuning. Lacks a bit of micro details and air, again this is to be expected from a full range BA. Treble however has decent extension and good presence but seems to have a drop off past 16khz. This limits the air perception of the Meteor treble ability. If you're not analyzing the sound, it does have a complete treble but here is where use of a 2nd BA just for trebles has an advantage over a full range BA that is taking care of two regions of sound. Treble plays more of a supporting role here and does not stand out with an undue spike or emphasis which is actually a good way to have cohesion of the regions not to mention sounding complete.

Its main emphasis is in the lower trebles with a gradual de-emphasis toward the upper trebles. Standard treble tuning here and not one to fatigue. If anything, the trebles come off just slightly reserved. You can’t expect a highly resolving treble from a full range single BA but for what it has, treble has good tonal character but one with a slightly shorter decay and a touch dry. Which makes some treble notes lacking in range in finesse. This is the reason why I would have liked Tri to use a more resolving SPC type or silver-based cable. Which would have helped to highlight the treble region a bit more in the way the sound is perceived. Overall trebles are good for what the driver here can do. It's satisfactory and is balanced well enough showing decent extension. It is not as nuanced and refined as higher end IEMs using dedicated BAs for the region but that is to be expected. I do equate the lack of upper treble ability to the driver being used here or more the limitation of what it can do more so that the excellent tuning on the Meteor. .

Mids
Mids is where the Meteor shines. It sounds just ever so slightly mid forward and that is certainly not a bad thing. It has roughly 10dbs of upper mid pinna gain which portrays good clarity and detail for the mid bands. Its tonal qualities are closer to neutral vs leaning bright or warm for tonality. Mids presents with a moderate note weight and is not a heavy sounding earphone. Its technicalities are average in stage, imaging, detail, sound separation with BA timbre. Overall, the mid bands have good clarity and are slightly on the smooth listen. The Meteor is not a thin sounding earphone but it's not thick or full-bodied sound either. Its presentation and technical limitations again here is about as good as you're going to get, given the drivers being used. It's got good fundamental balancing here and does nothing wrong but does not really excel here either. Kinda like a medium porridge of presence and ability. It does lack that final resolving and technical ability of higher end IEMs that utilize more drivers with more crossovers. However, for utilizing a single BA and a dynamic it has accurate tonality, images well and has all parts of the sound that makes the Meteor sound complete. The Meteor for an intro level enthusiast will be all that and then some. Or if you're just looking for a great sounding cheaper hybrid that has a proper tuning and ability. The Meteor fits the bill.

The Meteor has good layered detail showing the strengths of the BA implementation to hear your music as it was intended with a tonal quality that does nothing to offend. It is a solid sounding IEM and shows versatility due to its balancing, however it also does nothing to really separate itself from the numerous other harmon tuned IEMs in the market and other top tier earphones being sold at the price range. Ultimately, I do consider the Meteor one of the better options for hybrids at the price, so it will come down to if you're looking for a good isolating, good looking easy to drive hybrid vs an all BA or a single dynamic set.

The $100 segment has so many great performing earphones. I suppose doing a safe tuning is never a negative at the same time I would have liked to see Tri taking a stab at a statement piece for the $100. Something substantial that sets itself apart from other offerings. As they are, the Meteor is hovering in the greater segment for top earphones but is not exactly special for hybrids at the price. To be fair I don't know if there is such a thing as a special sounding hybrid at the price. The good news there is that you can certainly do much worse than the Meteor.

The Bass
Bass end of the Meteor uses a 10mm Beryllium coated dynamic driver that handles all the low notes. To be honest if Tri put in a standard dynamic and tuned it to be the bass dynamic for the Meteor I don’t know if I would have been able to tell the difference. The bass is certainly punchy and has good presence with decent speed, solid impact and good definition but does not stand out to me as being something special or has enough differences from a standard dynamic to really let me know I am hearing something different. Its bass is moderately emphasized and has good extension for bass with zero roll off toward sub 20hz. It does just enough for bass fans to be satisfied yet it does nothing that really lets me know I am hearing some standout bass. I suppose the limitation here again is the price segment and you can’t expect a super high-end dynamic being used for bass purposes.

The bass end is moderate in every way. Moderate decay as well is the presence and speed of the dynamic here. It's not particularly speedy but not slow and sloppy either. Sub bass shows good reach and rumble, it has good presence and has good texture for the price point. The cohesion between the bass dynamic and the full range BA here is actually done well. You can certainly make out that the Meteor has two types of drivers being used but I have heard worse cohesion from much higher end earphones. The dual crossover design here does a good job mixing the mids and highs to the bass. The bass keeps up with the tighter speedier BA sound for the most part and even for speedy more complex music the bass does a decent job at keeping its pace and rhythm. Bass is good here and I really don’t have much of a complaint for the bass dynamic. It has a well-defined bass end but at the same time I have heard better bass at this price range. Bass definition is what you would expect for a capable hybrid but much like the rest of the sound tuning and ability it does nothing to offend, or does it sound lacking in any way.

In the end
The Meteor is a solid offering at the price range. Its balancing is ideal in all 3 ranges to get into your music and in that regard, it is a success. The $100 range has so many really good sounding earphones that even great sounding earphones are now average and that is where I find the Meteor. It certainly does nothing wrong and plays it safe in its tuning. Given the drivers being used it does a great job of optimizing each driver to full potential but in doing so I can hear the limitations of what the Meteor can do at the same time. These will be great earphones for an introduction to proper sound for anyone dipping their toes into the hobby. It has good clarity and well-balanced fundamental technicalities for its sound signature, comfortable to use with decent passive isolation. The black color is edgy and certainly a good looking easy to use earphone. The Meteor really does a whole lot right and for that it is a solid offering and is arguably tuned better than earphones much more expensive. Thanks for taking the time to read. Happy listening always.

Bonuses. Cable matchups.
The best cable matchup for the Meter is none other than Tris own Grace S
So happens to be yet another TRi product and one that cost almost as much as the earphones themselves. Yes folks no way am I gonna recommend a cable that cost as much as the earphones themselves but hey if you are the type to eek out every bit of what you can out of an earphone that is what the Grace S will do for you. You want to raise the level of the Meteor? As the saying goes you gotta pay to play. In the scheme of things, the Tri grace S you can read my review on here.

With Grace S, bought here
Meteor gets better body to its sonics including some better dynamics compared to the stock cables. Fuller thicker notes and a natural expansion of stage in all dimensions. Throws out the best for both male and female vocals using this pairing. A grander sounding Meteor is what the Grace S does and while the Grace S does not enhance the treble region like a pure silver cable does, its overall clarity is also a standout using the Grace S and going from the stock cable to the Grace S is easily noticeable. Grace S also gives the Meteor its best bass ability. If you want the best bass performance and fullness the Grace S while it cost a lot is worth a boot. Preferably balanced out from your sources.

With KB EAR Wide Graphene cables. Bought here
This pairing is interesting. I initially thought this was the best paring as it does expand the sound and enhances its technical level but at the same time I will give the nod to the Grace S for a more fuller sound experience for the Meteor. The Graphene cable here does thicken sound as well but not to the degree of the Grace S. For folks that want the widest sounding Meteor the Graphene 8 cored wide cable is the way to go. Its treble end is once again not as highlighted as the pure 8 cored Limpid but does not smooth out the treble end either. It is a tossup between the grace S and the Graphene as far as technical enhancing ability goes with the Grace S throwing out a bit more fullness and has the best weighty sound while the graphene enhances the width of stage and highlights the details of the Meteor sound presentation. Good match especially when these cables are on sale.

Wtih KBEAR 8 core pure silver limpid pro cables. Bought here
Bang for buck cables are what these pure silver cables are about. If you want the best detailed Meteor possible these are the cables to hook up the Meteor with. This cable gets my vote for best value out of the KBEAR line up and for good reason. While staging is not a wide as the Graphene cable. It is similar to the Grace S. The limpid pro cable does not thicken the sound like the previous two cables does. The Limpid pro is all about detail retrieval. It helps project
Better perceived detail and helps with micro detailing of the Meteor. Enhances stage perception and highlights the treble emphasis and tightens the bass end a touch. Clean, clear and extended is what these cables are all about. If you plan on getting a Meteor just put in an order of these Limid cables with your Meteor and call it good. Great synergy with the Meteor especially if you own a more full bodied musical source, a pure silver cable like the Limpid pro synergizes extremely well with the Meteor and makes them sound a bit more higher end vs its stock configuration. Worth taking a look.

Penon Serial

Triple dynamics earphones are rare in the industry and even more rare if you think about how many hybrids, dynamics, tribrids and all BA earphones are available vs the triple dynamic. The idea behind using 3 dynamics is to focus each dynamic driver on one aspect of the sound tuning. Penon has taken that idea one step further and incorporated 3 different types and sizes of dynamics with each driver specializing what it does for the sound bands it is taxed with.

The treble dynamic is a smaller more agile 6mm Pu diaphragm dedicated for the highs, 8mm titanium plated dynamic known for its detail and imaging properties for the mids, 10mm bio dynamic specialized for its bass properties. It is encased in an all resin poured housing with a vent out back utilizing a 3 way crossover system finished off in a 2pin .78mm connector design. The size of the housing is a compact medium in physical size for an all resin design, which should fit a majority of ear shapes with comfort giving decent passive isolation.

It has been a while since Penon has done a pure dynamic offering and a first for a triple dynamic design. For fans of dynamic earphones these should catch your interest for several reasons. Firstly this particular design is even more rare as it is using 3 different sizes and 3 types of different dynamics. Could be the first in the industry actually. Then the other aspect is that it is designed and tuned by Penon which if you go off of their history of in ears, you're getting a highly refined high quality product. All their designs and tunings are done in house. Penon does not produce numerous models of inears under the Penon brand, again the only other dynamic earphone offering under the Penon brand was their limited edition Penon Fan earphones.

Standardly disclaimers: I would like to thank Penon audio for the review sample. An early production sample was provided for my take on them. I have no affiliation with Penon and will relay how I hear the Serial to you, the enthusiast. If you must own the serial you can buy you a set here. They have been burned in for a week straight and are now ready for evaluation. Sources used are as follows. IBasso DX300Max, Fiio M15, Shanling M6 pro, M5s, M3s, Fiio K2 2021, KA3, IBasso PB3, IFI Black Label for amping.

What you get.

Serial comes with Penon’s Blue rectangular zip up case. Hearty and roomy this case has been the mainstay of all Penon products. Why change something that works? It has enough room in the case for the Serial, the cable and your tips. 2 sets of silicones, a medium pair of foams, and a very nicely matched Penon CS819 cable in any termination you want when ordering. Highly recommended, balanced termination using a balanced source as the Serial loves a bit of power.

The CS819 is Penons basic 8 core hybrid cable. Half the cores are silver plated OCC and the other half OCC, 8 cores 19 shares per core. The cable pairs very nicely with the serial sound presentation as it is mostly higher end copper in sound properties which adds a bit more body enhancing a natural tonality with a solid bass impact to the Serial sound presentation. The retail value on the CS819 itself is $49 and is worth every bit of that money. These cables are without a doubt one of Penon’s best value cables. Not to mention how good it matches with the Serial. The cables can be purchased here.

While a lot of folks might overlook the included cable with their earphones. I will tell you Penon has improved their included cable pairings. You didn’t get this level of cable with their previous earphone offerings especially at the retail price of the Serial. Let me put it this way. The Globe being sold for the same price has an ok included SPC cable. But the ok cable is not the CS819. The CS819 was included as a sound design aspect for the Serial. The copper element of the cable is a good clue in the types of cables you should try to match up with the Serial if you are the type that never lets good enough alone. Of course using higher end cables on the Serial yields even better sound. Silver based for more detail, more treble and stage expansion. Copper based for more fullness, greater note weight and the best bass performance. Or how about a bit of both. Shown with upgraded Penon Mix

The sound
Serial leans a bit more toward a reference type neutral diffused harmonish tuning. It is a mildly V shaped in signature but very tastefully done to add enough emphasis leaning toward sub bass and the mid trebles. This is the type of tuning what you would hear more commonly for higher end headphones. Given the technology and drivers involved. Why not go for a wide expansive neutralish mild v tuning. Its tonal qualities are more neutral in its mids presentation with a sub bass boost is how I would describe the sound profile. While the Serial is not a ruler flat by the numbers neutral tuning. I doubt Penon will ever do a tuning like that, however the Serial is as close to a neutral tuning as you're going to hear from the group. This is a slight departure from their BA offerings as their BA/hybrid offerings all have some type of mids coloration that is the hallmark of the Penon sound. Rated at 18 ohms with a 103db of sensitivity. The Serial sounds great out of anything, easy to drive but due to the dynamic nature of the design, amping the serial has its advantages for increased dynamic range, expansion and detail. Serial likes a bit of current and power to achieve optimal sound.

Trebles
Is handled via 6mm pu diaphragm. Micro dynamics have their inherent strengths on the high notes. Just based on my own experience with micro dynamics. Companies like JVC, NuForce, Final and Sony has utilized the micro dynamics to full effect in the past so it was good to see Penon using such a driver. The idea of utilizing a dedicated dynamic treble driver is that it works like a tweeter driver for all the notes past a certain high frequency. What you get is a clean, clear detailed separation of the high notes. Just my opinion but I wish more manufacturers would use dynamics for highs. The advantages of using a dynamic is that you get a more natural tonal and better blended treble character when using a dynamic.

Its emphasis has a good balance of presence and detail. Imaging and transient qualities of the Serial for the treble is very good. As a side note I do recommend a burn in for the Serial as the trebles on open listen was a touch subdued, the treble dynamic seems to wake up and expand with better qualities with burn in. Also as a side effect, expanding the scope of the stage presentation. What's very inherent with the Serial treble is that it blends with the rest of the sound like it was coming from a single driver. Using a 3 crossover technique to achieve that coherency the treble blends a natural smooth non fatiguing take on treble within the sound presentation. True to the Penon house sound, the treble presentation here does not stand on its own, but plays more of a supporting role for the mids and bass. As such you will not have to worry about treble grain or undue treble spikes for a Penon tuned IEM. Treble design has the most emphasis for the mid trebles with a dedicated deemphasis for upper trebles. I wouldn’t say the treble is overly rolled off, it is more deemphasized for the upper trebles to not cause a tonal shift or fatigue, letting the natural mids sound qualities be the star of the show for the Serial sound presentation.

Depending on the tips and cables you use. Trebles become airy and better extended but for the most part its detail level is done very well for the given price level. I own the IER-Z1R which also uses a dynamic for trebles and those are my bar for using dynamics for trebles. And while the Serials treble presentation is not as refined sounding, it's got a satisfactory quality and more importantly blends well with the overall sound presentation. Treble tonal qualities, its emphasis is leaning toward a smoother presentation, agile, crisp with good extension and detail are its strengths. Excellent treble dynamic chosen by Penon.

Mids
Mids of the Serial is utilized by a titanium coated 8mm dynamic. Titanium plated dynamics are known for its clarity and detail qualities for the mids. Here we get that with the Serial. The strengths of this particular driver comes through in this design and I would put the mids detail as above average for dynamic earphones. The tuning is a bit of a departure for Penons BA design. This is the area I feel has the most neutrality in emphasis and tonal qualities. Folks looking for a more meatier sounding earphone might be a bit disappointed with what Penon has done for the Serial. The mids are detailed, clean and have about 8 dbs of pinna gain for upper mids presence.

It does female vocals better than male vocals since the lower mids is where there is less emphasis. Its mids are more accurately presented vs being overly exaggerated or having too much of anything. It is more closer to a monitor type neutrality vs being too dimensional or thick in note weight. Its timbre while accurate comes off a touch dry with a quicker sustain. The tightness of the sound is clearly evident from the upper mids to the lower mids. I can tell the titanium dynamic here is a bit stiff and perhaps does not move air as well as the bio dynamic used for the bass. Serials clean imaging, its wide sound presentation along with that detail is the strength of the Serial mids dynamic. As mentioned above female vocal renditions hit them high notes and these are so proper for female vocals.

Instrument separation and imaging is also a stand out for the mids design. The sound presentation is uniquely wide in earphone presentation. Wider than tall or deep. Sound has more depth than height but the width of the stage on the Serail adds to that neutrality reference headphone like presentation. Due to how wide the serial sounds you actually get a better separation in the presentation for instruments that play on that field. Its black space with that wider diffused stage provides a nice broad canvas for you to pick out details. Folks that like to listen to big bands or live performances will love how the serial sounds for such recordings.

Bass
A 10mm bio dynamic here is a bass specialist dynamic that was used on previous earphones like Yanyin, Vsonic, and Sony products. The strength of the Bio dynamic is its ability to have a roundness in bass tonality with an ability to dig deep without much struggle. It is the bass dynamic which is the biggest driver being used for the Serail and I have yet to hear a bio dynamic fail at bass. The emphasis for the bass presentation is more sub bass than mid bass. It has a goldilocks of bass emphasis at roughly 8dbs of sub bass shelf. It has the right impact and anything that hits them sub bass notes the Serial will come out to play.

The transition from the mids to the bass end is seamless, smooth in transition and is once again very coherent with the rest of the sound design. Mid bass speed is about average but is fast enough to keep up with busy metal tracks. Beefy enough to sound proper with EDM and bass genres. Its deeply textured sub bass rumble is excellent. These are not basshead in levels but satisfactory for bass to sound complete with a proper sub bass extension and rumble. As a design choice you can have a neutral lower mid emphasis but a neutral bass emphasis? I don’t think so. Never heard a Penon made Iem with neutral bass. I doubt they will ever tune an earphone with neutral bass. Bass is very gifted emitting a high quality bass definition to impact ratio. I have to give credit to Penon in trying out various types of dynamics to achieve better results for its bass presentation and the Bio dynamic has proven to be one of the best for earphone designs. Serial has a proper bass and being true to the Penon sound. You get a satisfactory bass end to enhance your music. The quality bass here is not only a strong suit but the emphasis is perfectly suited for just about all types of music you listen to.

In the end
The Serial is yet another fine example of Penons tuning prowess and their ability to present one outstanding earphone after another. They went for a slightly different tuning using a different unique driver design this time. The Penon fan was a precursor to what the Serial is. These are unique in many ways using 3 different sizes with 3 different types of dynamics all 3 with excellent ability to portray an accurate sound taxed for their sound output. The coverage from the lowest of bass notes to the highest airy treble notes are easily portrayed with the 3 dynamics throwing out their absolute ability. I have posted on previous Penon earphone reviews that I have yet to see Penon do a neutral tuning.

The Serial my friends is the closest it will get to a neutrally tuned Penon earphone it will get from the group but one with some outstanding addictive technical qualities. Their wide earphone stage presentation mimics a headphone reference stage and in doing so the Serial portrays a different type of musicality. True to the Penon house sound, the Serail is all about the mids and its rich bass presentation with a clean smooth detailed treble. Its dynamic sound tuning is every bit as engaging as anything they have made in the past. It is good to see Penon trying out a different variation of their house tuning philosophy and it seems everything they make reaches a certain level of sophistication and ability. The Serial is the most unique out of their line up and is a great addition to the Penon collection. As always, thanks for taking the time to read.

Because you asked. Some comparisons.

Penon has a hybrid that is priced the same as the Serial. Yes we are talking about the Globe.
Vs the Globe. Globe uses a full range Sonion BA for mids and a Knowles BA for trebles + a 10mm dynamic for bass. If there is a classic hybrid that is a fine example of the Penon sound. It is the Globes. You can read some reviews of the Globe here. Against the Serial. These two have similarities in treble and upper mids emphasis but from lower mids to bass is where they are different. The Globes have more lower mids emphasis therefore it has a greater note weight and fullness to its tuning. It is more efficient vs the Serial but volume matched the differences are evident. Dynamic timbre vs BA timbre there is a difference there. Though BA timbre some may look as a negative but if you haven’t heard a Sonion BA do mids proper then you need to get yourself an Orb or Globe and hear a Sonion BA do mids proper. Serial has more of a natural sound signature but has more of a neutral lower mids emphasis so music sounds more accurate and not as forward sounding. Presentations are different. While the Globes have a bit more in the way of bass emphasis and a touch more warmth to its tonality, I have to give the bio dynamic bass of the Serail the edge when it comes to bass. Both are very good bass ends but the Serial bass has a slight edge in detail and quality over the Globes bass. Both have similar treble emphasis with the serial again emitting a touch more naturalness and smoothness for its treble end. I would also give a slight edge in stage expansion to the Serial. Globe however is very close in stage here as well. Both are wide with the Globes having a bit more in the way of height of stage.

Against the ISN SCB2.

You want to talk about stark differences in presentations. The SCB2 is as close to a western tuned IEM made by a Chinese manufacturer as it gets. Its tonality is warm with a bit of darkness to its tone due to the big bold lower mids and mid bass it has in comparison to both the Globe and the Serial. The SCB2 is a much more colored earphone vs the Serial. More in the way of mid bass so for folks that love them some bold forward bass the SCB2 is what that is. It's got a unique tall and deep sound to its presentation and due to the emphasized lower mids and bass end the SCB2 is uniquely suited for bass genres and more weighty music in general and one of the better dynamics for male vocals. Its treble has slightly less emphasis vs its bold bass end but has a proper extension and treble presence for its overall tuning. These are the opposites of the Serial presentation with more of a neutral level of lower mids so you couldn’t get two more completely different presentations than these two. Serial definitely wins the stage here width wise but again that unique tall full sound signature of the SCB2 has its own musical sound that some will like more over the Serials more neutralish presentation. You like your sound bold forward with a rich tone that is what the SCB2 is all about. The Serial does not sound as compact with a wider more diffused sound presentation. Its bio dynamic here is more focused in the sub bass region the SCB2 more mid bass but has enough sub bass grunt to make it sound complete.

So going from the least colored sound tuning to the most
Serial > Globe > SCB2

Fiio FH9

Flagship products don’t come by often but when they do. It should be everything a manufacturer has learned in making a product that culminates into the very best of what they have done and a bit of extra that would make it a flagship product. Fiio has broken out this year as being more than a hardware manufacturer. They have released their highest performing earphones to date and the new flagship FH9 is the end result of years of making all types of earphones and one type that has been the mainstay of their earphone popularity. The tried and true hybrid IEM. In evaluating the new FH9, I took a good look at their previous FH line up. Their older FH5, FH3, FH5S, FH7. The FH7 unfortunately is the only hybrid Fiio made earphone I was not able to hear or own. The FH9 is in many ways an extension of the previous FH designs now incorporating 6 Knowles BAs and a stout 13.6mm 2nd gen DLC bass dynamic. The sound of the FH9 reminds me the most of their number one seller of all time, the FH5.

Arguably the most popular earphones Fiio has made is their hybrid line of earphones and it was only a matter of time before they threw down a whole bunch of drivers in an all metal shell, opened up the back end for proper venting and tuned them to possibly recapture that success they had with their FH5. This is what the new FH9 is. This type of design and tuning for the FH9 is not something a manufacturer whips up out of the blue. These have been in the works for several years, which is what I was told, meaning they had these on the drawing board before the pandemic and probably did a lot of trial and error to figure out exactly how they were going to make what has become the FH9.

Standardly disclaimers. The FH9 was provided by Fiio for the purpose of a review and analysis. You feel the need to get yourself a FH9 you can purchase a set here on Fiios aliexpress home page or on Amazon here. I have burned in the set for a week and are now ready for evaluation using my sources. IBasso DX300Max, Fiio M15, Shanling M6 pro, M5s, M3s. IBasso DX160, Sony ZX300, Fiio K3 2021,KA3 w Samsung Galaxy. IBasso PB3 and IFI Black Label for amping.

The package.

If you have never bought a Fiio made earphone. What you get included for their earphones are world class. It should be the standard for IEMs. I have mentioned in my other reviews that I feel other manufacturers can learn a thing or two from Fiio about including accessories. Sure accessories are not the bottom line when it comes to sound but it sure influences how we think about a company based on what they throw in the box. Inside the box, you get a whole lot.
Their top of line HB5 case lined with separators for the shells, a set of bass silicone tips 3 pairs, a set of vocal tips 3 pairs, Balanced tips 3 pairs, 2 pairs of foams,2 pairs of double flange tips, spinfit tips 2 pairs, an mmcx removal tool, magnetic clip, 3 sets of nozzle filter caps that change how you hear the trebles, and a remarkable 8 strands, 224 wire high purity monocrystalline silver cable with Fiio’s modular plugs in all terminations. That my friends is a proper accessory package.

I noticed the cable this time is double the strand count of their monocrystalline pure silver cable used on their FD7. Why does this matter? From my own experiences with thicker cables in general. Thicker pure silver cables are rare in the industry as it counters the one aspect about silver cable properties that has a tendency to lean out a sound signature. Silver cables are the most resolving of cables but in doing so your perception of the body of sound will have a leaning effect. With a thicker pure silver cable this counters this by adding a fuller sound while retaining all the benefits of pure silver. I felt the FD7 cable was an excellent throw in cable. While the materials are the same for the new FH9. It adds to the end sound of how the FH9 presents. Absolutely superb match up with the FH9 sound. This is one of the rare instances where you don’t need to go out and spend extra on a nicer cable. You're getting an absolute superb cable that matches extremely well with the FH9.

Build.

Titanium alloy shell means, these are gonna last. The shells are precision machine crafted titanium alloy and while it is always a good idea to treat your earphones with kid gloves. These are one set of earphones where if you were rough with them, I can honestly say they can probably take quite the beating. Love the added touch of how the cables mmcx plug has a curved Titanium alloy stem to it as well, which gives the FH9 a slick premium modern look. The cable itself is pliable for a thicker cable, a touch springy but does not have annoying noodling and is not a heavy cable despite being a bit bulky.

The housing design is clearly vented here so while passive isolation suffers, I would say isolation is about average for such designs meaning passive isolation is slightly below average for earphones in general. It's not terrible when it comes to sound leakage, but I do notice the FH9 will not be the best for your noisy commutes. They are more ideal for stationary use. What counters that moderate passive isolation is that the FH9 has some stout bass which actually works better for busy commutes. As you know outdoor noise lowers bass perception, so I suppose it will be a matter of trial if you would like to use these for your commutes. It is certainly not a bad thing to hear the surrounding environment at times. The mmcx has solid connections due to being encased in titanium alloy so I can’t see the mmcx end becoming a problem. Please do use the included mmcx tool everytime you plan on switching up the cable. Tool is perfect to help with your other mmcx earphones as well.

Sound.
All recent Fiio offerings, the FD7, FA7S and now the FH9 all have some fundamental balanced signatures. They all have their strengths and each does its own sound to a proficient degree. The FH9 is kind of a throwback in sound design. As mentioned above these remind me of the bass on the FH3, the tuning of the FH5 and the spacious nature and fullness of the FH5S. It is a much more musical and full-bodied colored sound signature vs their FD or the FA offerings. It is another variant of their V shaped signature but this time with some tricks up its sleeves as to how you perceive this full-bodied signature. It comes with 3 tuning caps, not a tuning nozzle this time around. Since the FH9 uses two Knowles BAs in the nozzle as a design, they had to resort to screw-on caps for the tips of the nozzle with some filter screens. The negative in this particular design is that the bigger fellas with sausage fingers can and will have some issues with the tiny caps. Just take your time and you should be fine.

The 3 caps are labeled bass red, balanced black, treble green. Both the bass and the balanced caps have a baffle design for the cap screen with the central baffle portion that has a thicker mesh material that seems to dampen the treble output of the two balanced armatures that are in the nozzle of the FH9. Bass cap has the most material in the central baffle cap so it lowers the treble perception, increasing how you hear the bass. Less material for the more balanced presentation which still leans the tuning to be a bit more for the mids and bass. Then there is the treble cap.

Don’t be afraid of trying out the treble cap folks. I will say that out right. This cap is different from the balanced and bass cap. It does not have the baffle pattern underneath the cap mesh. Therefore, the entire sound is now open. This does not mean you're getting a healthy extra dose of treble. I can argue this actually makes the FH9 sound more proper, more higher end sounding vs having that constriction on the treble. Sound becomes more airy, more open sounding with this cap and with a proper treble emphasis. Using the Treble cap sounds less of a L shaped signature for the bass cap, a v shaped using the balanced cap to more of a U shaped signature. If you own the FH9 or would like to try it. Before you quickly judge the earphones based on its balanced filter. Try out the treble filter before judging the FH9, and please do some burning in.

So there are some concerns with the treble BAs in the nozzle design and I can assure folks that you will not have to worry this time around. The tuning of the FH9 is much more superior to the likes of their previous FH5S that used a similar treble BA in the nozzle design. Treble this time is blended in with the sound tuning of the FH9 much better to the point where unless you know the design was as such, you will not notice how that is different from the treble BAs being inside the body cavity vs being in the nozzle. A better designed hybrid in general to achieve the end sound is what the FH9 seems to be. Lets just say I can tell Fiio took to the criticism of the BA in the nozzle design and they figured out how to make it work and in being much better balanced with the rest of the sound tuning.

My treble perception of the FH9 has to do with the treble cap attached to the FH9. Again this does not turn your FH9 into a treble head paradise. I can see some folks thinking the FH9 treble might be a touch reserved actually and that is if you're using either the bass cap or balanced cap. One of the big changes for Fiio in their newer tunings for their earphones is a better improved treble tuning and that is clearly evident in the FH9 even with the treble cap. How I can tell is by critically listening for tonal changes using the caps. Crash cymbals do not grind in your ears and cause fatigue. This time around crash cymbals have power with a proper sustain, but sounds clean and does not step out of bounds. If anything treble has a slight subdued clarity but has ample emphasis with very good sparkle and shimmer. I can tell Fiio has “detuned’ the treble to not interfere with the rest of the tuning and in doing so the treble aspect here plays a supporting role more so than being highlighted. And this is the reason why you should not be afraid to try out the treble cap. In other words the treble cap actually sounds balanced showing some tuning finesse of the FH9 trebles tuning which is more proper this time than bringing the rays of the sun.

The treble in the nozzle aspect of the design gives a straight shot directly closer to your ears vs the rest of the drivers so in order for proper sound balancing the treble actually has to be adjusted accordingly. This is how I can tell Fiio was able to maintain a very good balancing act with the FH9. Treble has good fundamental crisp detail and has its main emphasis in the lower to mid trebles with a decrease of treble emphasis toward the upper trebles. It has good extension with a quicker agility and you can say is more transparent due to the nozzle treble design. Its shimmer aspect is addictive, which adds to the fun aspect of the F9 tuning. The treble is aligned with how it is emphasized vs the mids and bass. With the balanced or bass this treble emphasis is attenuated a bit further.

Mids
Mids have a remarkable fullness to its sound. It was one of the aspects of the FH9 sound that impressed me on open listen. Since burning in, I don’t feel the mids fullness or body of sound is as full sounding but it still has a large bodied sound signature that is very addictive. Mids are handled by 4 BAs for its mid to upper mids. Dynamic handles bass to lower mids so you're going to get a lot of drivers pointed at your ears to do the mids giving the mids some serious projection and space. Mids can sound a touch forward using the balanced cap to a bit laid back in the mix using the treble cap. Again I think for the overall tunings the treble or open cap gives the most natural and open sound presentation vs the other two caps but this is all subjective and the great aspect of the FH9 is that you don’t have to compromise. You're actually getting 3 sound signatures in one. I think this is the best aspect of the FH9. Up till now you got some minor changes with tuning nozzles Fiio has done for their prior earphones, but the FH9 does a great job of actually giving you 3 different sound profiles with not much sacrifices in sound quality. Mids tonality can sound a touch warm and forward to neutral in emphasis depending on which cap.

The one consistent however is it gives a full on spacious well layered dimensional sound for the mids. 4 BAs and a large dynamic will do that for you. BAs gives an imaging and a precision factor to its sound, especially when multiple BAs are used and that is evident in the FH9. Mids have supreme control, very good precision, clarity, images amazingly well, sound separation is superb and its detail qualities are clearly evident in the hearing space of the FH9. Vocals have full on note weight be it female or male vocals and stringed instruments sounds natural. The FH9 does have BA timbre but that should not be a surprise. Tonality wise the immersive qualities far outweighs any coherence issues one might perceive with the FH9. The added plus to utilizing 4BAs to focus on the mids are the nuanced micro details like reverb and room ambient effects come through with ease on the FH9.

I have seen rumblings of folks that do not like BA timbre and such. For those folks the FH9 might not be for them but I can tell you the Knowles BAs being used here are not some run of the mill cheap BA or do they sound unnatural. Sure something like Fiios own FD7 has better timbre, one of the very best for its price but the FH9 makes up for it with a dimensional full bodied sound signature that absolutely blankets how you're hearing your favorite tunes. Imaging and its technical ability comes full force and while I have heard some aspects done better in much higher end IEMs, the FH9 does a fine job giving you gobs of full bodied sound all up in your grill. Something akin to much higher end offerings that I own actually. Their big bold sound reminds me of Fiios version of the UM Mest and the a more mid forward IER-Z1R. The stage perception is what reminds me of these earphones. All 3 being large big with a wide earphone stage.

Bass specialist.
Bass for the FH9 is most definitely for bass fans.It utilizes Fiios patented S.Turbo tube emanating from the bass driver. If you're taking a look at my read and want neutral or rolled off stuff. You should stop your reading right here and move on. The FH9 will not be for you. The new 2nd gen 13.6mm DLC big boy bass dynamic Fiio is using throws down some meaty physical bass. You're not getting some off the shelf bass dynamic here. You're getting one of Fiios top manufactured bass specialist dynamics and they fully utilized the larger vented shell of the FH9. I can tell the dynamic here breaths and that low bass rumble is full on. You're the type that need you some big boy bass, the FH9 can and does deliver. Even using the open treble cap there is plenty of physical bass to go around for any of your tunes. The bass cap is full on bonafide basshead. You're not a basshead you say? Time to look up a weaker bass end.

Bass tuning is not as easy as you would figure. Too much in the way of mid bass and that starts to encroach upon the wide open mids. Too little and your tracks will lack any real soul and will be lacking that power that punch that boom stick. Since the FH9 is an open design. You will clearly hear much more bass emphasis when listening indoors. Like I mentioned previously even with the treble cap it has plenty of the low end. But since ambient noise in outdoor environments lessen bass perception. Using the balanced or if you really want that bass the bass cap will add a healthy dose of bass. Bass caps does just what it says; the tuning now focuses more on the bass end and has the most prominent bass infusion on the FH9 sound. In the mood for a big bold bass end from your earphone? You can certainly change up and crank up the bass emphasis. The balanced cap still gives a bigger bass profile but the mids are now lined up better with the bass end giving the FH9 sound a more balanced sound but at the cost of not having that full treble end of the Treble cap.

The reason I mention the treble cap is the best sound for the FH9 is that you will now get all of it full trebles, full mids and a full bass. This works because the overall sound of the FH9 has a big canvas for sound to work with. If the stage was more intimate or confined these tunings using the caps will not work as well. Bass requires a proper stage to come correct and that is why the FH9 actually works and gives the user 3 different sound profiles to work with.

Bass quality is right up there with the quantity. It can get brawny but with that brawn comes with a high-octane rumble. It digs deeep in the mix. Bass is tight for being bigger in the profile. It is speedy too and has a supremely high-quality texture to the subs. Metal guys that love a beefy lower end yet want that bass speedy and tight. Look no further. The FH9 was made for you. Hip hop fellas want that low end grunt to be all that. I can tell you the bass end of the FH9 is supremely satisfactory and will surprise you just how beefy the bass can be using the bass caps. Going from the FH3 to FH5, FH5S and now the FH9. It is actually the hybrid series by Fiio that has that brawny bass. While their dynamic series does a good job at bass. When you dedicate Fiios top dynamics for the sole purpose of bass. This is what you get on the FH9. High quality, big authority room filling bass. So ya you have to be a bass fan. You can say the FH9 is truly more of a 5.1 system in your ears.

In the end
The FH9 is full on with a forward bold sound signature that is very immersive in how it portrays sound. Wide, tall and deep energetic sound that will encompass what you are hearing. A hybrid should be the best of both worlds, and this is clearly what the FH9 represents. BA precision, imaging, detail sound separation with an added dimensional character due to having 4 BAs for its mids. An airy, well extended detailed shimmery treble and a bass end that lets you know these have some brawny subs with an extra slab of top sirloin in the mix. The FH9 is the disco of Fiio earphones.


You want that club experience in an earphone presentation? The FH9 has a versatile sound but one thing is consistent. It has that bold full-bodied well-balanced sound large and in charge signature. Sure, there are others that do accuracy, detail and imaging and timbe better but be prepared to spend a whole heck of a lot more to achieve it. The FH9 is the type of earphone you throw in your ears to get your soul shaking, your blood pumping, heartbeat racing, hearing immersive renditions of your favorites. They are not the best for analyzing but analysis be damned, when you have a discotech in your ears. Absolutely one of my all-time favorites for EDM and bass genres. The FH9 is one of those guilty pleasure IEMs. You know the type. In the earphone world there is too much caught up on what is proper and what is timbrally accurate. Sometimes a bold immersive proper 5.1 in your ears is whats needed to get into my music. That is what the FH9 delivers in spades.

They are easy to drive, are built to last and most importantly have the best FH sound ability with 3 distinctively different tunings in 1. This is absolutely one of Fiios best guilty pleasure offerings to date and if you're in the market to hear what a Fiio made earphone is all about the FH9 is most definitely for folks that want them some disco in your ears. As always, thanks for taking the time to read.

Fiio KA3

The pursuit of better audio has always been the reason for why we need these smaller form dac/amps. I remember a decade ago it was all about carrying around several brick sized amps to get a sound quality to be something similar to our home rigs. Modern day cell phones are able to stream and carry as much music as we want but sometimes the sound quality of the onboard sound from our phones are just passable. Certainly, enough to hear the occasional pod cast and stream videos to watch but does the sound quality actually live up to how fancy your phones are?

The simple answer to that is not really. Unless you have a phone with dedicated dac chips that can handle music on a higher level most phones nowadays are a bit like laptops. It is OK but nothing spectacular. Then there is the movement to discontinue the 3.5mm out on apple devices. Hence the need for smaller form dac/amps that can enhance the sound coming out of your phone or even your computers. Fiio and Jade audio has introduced their new FA3 into the market and today we will take a good look at the KA3.

Firstly I would like to thank Fiio and Jade audio for the review sample. It was provided for the purpose of a review. You can purchase a KA3 for you here or here. My use case scenario is using the KA3 out of both my Lenovo media laptop at home and my Samsung Galaxy phone for music on the go using a variety of in ears and some more demanding Cans I own.

You need a simple plug n play dac amp for on the go and downloading your favorite music player on windows or Android platform and yes, the KA3 was reported to work with Apple devices. Sorry folks I am a windows and android kinda guy and I have nothing in my household apple wise.

The FA3 comes in a small box cus the item itself is small. The FA3 dac/ amp is a smaller rectangular form; Comes with a short USB-C to USB-C cable and an adapter to USB-A. The actual size is not bigger than a stick of gum and something this small having a balanced out in 4.4mm and single ended in 3.5mm seems to be the new norm for these devices. The Sound chip utilized a newer ES9038Q2M chip which supports PCM sampling rates to 32bit/768KHz and native DSD512. Promising this little device will put the high fidelity back to your cell phone sound. My Samsung galaxy phone I tested runs Android 11 and didn't have any issue connecting to the FA3. It was as easy as plugging it in and playing music through the Fiio music app. It was 2nd nature to me as one of my main players I used for earphone testing purposes is my Fiio M15 which uses the same software.

I was immediately greeted with more power but with much better sound quality on top of that. Which is exactly what these devices were made for. Power output rating is at 130mW@32Ohms in single ended and 240mW@32Ohms for the balanced 4.4mm out. This is certainly decent power for a small device that hangs from your phone. I usually use efficient earphones and as a reviewer of IEMs, I am constantly testing out earphones. I can't see a scenario where the power output of the KA3 is not going to be enough for earphone use. Will be testing out how it does with my 240-ohm Beyerdynamic Amiron homes and my 150-ohm Sennheiser HD58x both out of the balanced port.

Two very good apps to use with your Android phones is the Fiio music app and the Fiio Control app. Even if you use another music player the Fiio Control app is a good one to download because it allows for some options for Impedance in low or high and gain levels in low or high. Controls of device volume and channel balance as well as a lowpass filter options for the dac chip. By default, if you're not using this control app will be set to high gain, high impedance out and sharp roll-off filter. Having some added adjustment ability with this app is certainly appreciated. If you use mostly IEMs like I do I threw everything on low and a slow roll off filter for the best sounding KA3 for my efficient IEMs. Obviously for full sized cans you would need to adjust these to suit the power requirements as needed.

These little USB dacs are great to increase the fidelity of your smart phones. Going from the stock sound to the KA3 is substantial. The increase in fidelity is clearly evident. Increase of layering of the sound and stage. The KA3 sound character is as follows. It is mostly neutral in signature and has an excellent dynamic presentation due to a supremely clean black background. The sound is very linear in how it projects sound. The KA3 reminds me a lot of Fiios recent excellent K3 release using the same DAC chip. The sound is very clean with a neutral tonality. Fiio was able to squeeze out just about all it could to bring out the details of your music.

The power is clearly ample for this type of on-the-go device, and I doubt you're going to need more power especially if you're using earphones. Using more sensitive IEMs, Andromedas and Solaris. The sound signature remains dynamic and clean. Almost zero background noise. I do detect a very faint waterfall hiss but barely audible you have to sit in a dead quite environment and stay absolutely silent between the beginning of tracks and when it ends to hear anything. So no problems with sensitive stuff. I would say 99% of earphones will have a nice clean pitch-black background.

Testing their recent FH9 the KA3 reminds me of the tuning that is on their Fiio K3. Mostly neutral yet very dynamic in signature. Its treble is well extended, clean and gives excellent detail without any type of overdue brightness. It does sound a touch bright on open listen but quickly shapes up and smooths out with some run in. Just like any new hardware. Run in with your music is recommended to bring the best out of the KA3. Its mids has excellent depth and has a perfect neutral tonal character. Very even from upper to lower mids. The fullness of the KA3 is excellent and mids layering is surprising given the small form factor of the KA3. If you associate good sound with a thicker beefier source.
This little dac amp is proving otherwise. I have no problems using this little thing compared to the Fiio M15 I use often to evaluate earphones.

The bass quality here again is very clean and natural sounding, punchy and detailed in presentation. It doesn’t have the bass end of its higher end siblings but for what it portrays is more accurate in bass production than being overly emphasized or lacking. Bass here is very even with the mids and treble and hence the overall tuning is more neutral in presentation but one that is very satisfactory in how well it portrays your music details. The one thing I kind of miss from Fiios K3 is that while the signature is very identical vs the KA3. The K3 has a bass boost switch that adds 6dbs of the stuff to its low end that becomes addictive when watching media and playing games.

Since the use case scenario for today's smartphones is identical to using something like a laptop. Yes I do watch the occasional video on my phone and play some games. Why not have a bass boost option for a dongle dac. Watching the occasional media and playing games on my phone the sound now matches the quality of the display on my phone. It seems these dac/amp dongles are a dime a dozen nowadays but I am all too happy to report for what Fiio is asking for the KA3 will be worthy of your investment.

The 2nd use case for me was using the KA3 on one of my media laptops. I replaced the K3 with the KA3 and it didn’t miss a beat. In Fact, the reason how I was able to figure out just how similar the sound tuning is from the K3 to the KA3 was because I can go back and forth and not miss the sound quality of the K3. Volume control is done differently as I have to control the source volume on my laptop to control the volume but otherwise the sound quality is every bit as good as its bigger brother the K3. Sound stage of the K3 is just a touch wider in the presentation but otherwise it is near identical on how both units sound in comparison. The only issue I had with this set up however is that the KA3 does not come with a longer USB-C cable meaning you will have to have a much longer USB-C to USB-A cable for this use case. I was using the cable that came with the K3 and it is simple as taking out the K3 and replacing it with the KA3.

On the 150 Ohm Sennheiser HD58X. This can need no introduction it is a Mass Drop X Sennheiser exclusive that punches way above its asking price. These are efficient enough to sound great just plugged into my phone but with the added KA3. It becomes a different beast. The sound becomes much more dynamic, bass digs a bit deeper, mids have more range, treble that sounds more extended. Stage is also expanded and sounds deeper at the same time. This combo is outrageously good. As good as the KA3 is for earphones due to their extremely black clean background. It does wonders for Cans in the same manner. The HD58X comes alive using this little dac amp and it is what I would recommend for folks that have the HD58x as a fundamental must buy for the Cans to come out in full force. It is a very good synergistic match up.

The 2nd Can I tried them on is a bit tougher to drive in the 240 Ohm Beyerdynamic Amiron Homes. I have to say as good as the previous match up was with the HD58X. It is even better on the Amiron Homes. I am very confident this little dac amp can power a Can up to 300 Ohms without much struggle. The sound is absolutely clean and here again dynamics pop due to how clean and black the background is to your music. You can hear details in your music so much better using this little devise it sounds superb with the KA3. About as good as you would imagine this pairing would be actually. I had plenty of volume I only was using about 40% of the volume on the laptop source volume and it was plenty loud. As good as this little devise is on your phones it is actually even better out of your laptop. It is a clear upgrade to your onboard sound and with plenty of power for less demanding cans. The only thing missing is that bass boost.

The RGB indicator light works as it should but I do wish Fiio included a small volume knob on the dongle itself would have been a nice touch. Otherwise, the KA3 has been everything I would want in a small form dac/amp. I am certainly not new to these types of devices and it makes sense that Fiio would come out with such a device in their lineup of sound hardware for the enthusiast. The ease of plug n play is one aspect of upgrading the sound from your mobile devices but the sound quality alone is truly worth the price of admission.

Coming from something like Fiios own M15 which I have used ever since the player came out to the KA3, you figure there would be a drop off in sound quality but that is not the case. A bit different yes but a drop off in sound quality is not how I would describe the experience. In the 3 weeks I have tested the KA3. I truly did not miss using my much higher end portable devices I own. That is a testament to the sound quality of this device. If anything, I found it very convenient to throw in my packet. Plug it into my phone and enjoy my music on the go as much as anything I own or have used. Fiio has done a remarkable job in recreating a small form dac/amp with a very nice sound quality to boot. From testing the device strictly on my phone I am getting an average 8-10 hours of use time running out of my Samsung Galaxy phone and this is with me browsing the web at times and playing flac files with a 5K mA battery. That is pretty good in my book.

If you are in the market for such a device to upgrade the sound coming from your phone. For the asking price I really can’t think of how such a device can sound or perform better for the cost. Considering this is Fiio and Jade audios first dac amp dongle. I feel they got a clear winner here in form and function. The sound quality is simply superb for these types of small devices. Its clean black background is the key to how dynamic this little unit sounds. As always thanks for taking the time to read.

Fiio FA7S


Fiio is on a roll this year. I do believe 2021 has seen an increase in earphone production from the group. It was not too long ago they brought out their dynamic series of earphones in the FD5, FD3 pro, FD7, FH5s pro hybrids and today we will take a closer look at their newest the FA7S. The FA7S utilizes the same shell design of their dynamic series this time using 4 Knowles BAs used on their higher end FA9 and 2 customized BAs made specifically for Fiio in a closed all metal housing design. BAs don’t need venting like dynamics do so it was designed to be sealed inside the closure of the housing. I am a huge fan of this particular housing design Fiio first used on their FD5 and the rest of their dynamic line up. They are excellent in ergonomics, top flight build and are all very comfortable for everyday use.

Standard disclaimers. The FA7S was provided for the purpose of a review by Fiio. You can purchase you a set from their Aliexpress page here or if you live in the US from Amazon here. They have been burned in for a week's time and are ready for evaluation using my sources. IBasso DX300Max, Fiio M15, Shanling M6pro, M5s, M3s, IBasso DX160, Sony ZX300, Fiio K3 2021, Fiio KA3, IBasso PB3, IFI Black label for amping.

The Package.
Fiios packaging shows a level of commitment from the group. The accessories package thrown in their larger box is no different from a $100 product to a $600 product. The consistency of the higher level of accessories is something I appreciate. You're getting top level of accessories for the FA7S. This is something I can’t say with other IEMs I review. As a reviewer of IEMs I have had 100s of packages that all include some level of accessories thrown in and some manufacturers just do it better than others. Most in my opinion fail at including a similar satisfactory level of accessories for an earphone. Ultimately it is the sound of the given IEM that matters the most but there is nothing wrong with including a wealth of tips, a solid case and a cable removal tool, and most importantly a modular cable. It just shows that Fiio cares what you get with your purchase.

Others can learn from Fiio and it doesn’t have to be in a large happy box like Fiio does but how nice would it be if others threw in the same quality accessories. I have reviewed flagship products that don’t include half as much. The FA7S includes a good variety of tips, 13 pairs to be exact a solid waterproof HB1 case with an included higher end monocrystalline copper plated in silver modular Fiio cable, aka LC-RC with all terminations in single and balanced plugs. A very nice mmcx separator tool, something that should come with every mmcx based earphone. You're getting more than your money's worth when it comes to accessories. In the end what truly matters most is if the sound was worth the money paid. Some earphones sound great but barely include anything worth noting. Fiio on the other hand, has a great sounding product and then on top of that they include a wealth of accessories you're actually going to use. You tell me what is better.

Onto the sound
The FA7S is an all-BA design this time, you get 4 high precision Knowles and 2 custom made BAs throwing out the sound of the FA7S. That is two added BAs from their previous FA7 resin design. The sound design utilizes 3 crossovers with three distinct zones of sound. Two Knowles BAs covering the trebles. Two specialized BAs for mids and two Knowles bass BAs for the lows. All fit snug using their tried-and-true universal barrel design you will recognize from the FD series of earphones. The back of the housing incorporates an all-metal polished cap with no vents. This closed in design provides one of the best passive isolating earphones in an all-metal housing that I can think of. It is equivalent to a solid all resin design in isolation, at least 26dbs of passive isolation if not a bit more. It is very good for outdoor use due to the above average isolation.

The sound tuning is a variation of Fiios house balanced tuning with a very mild neutralish v shaped signature but this time around has more neutrality for the sound design and its tonal character than being a warm bass or brighter treble heavy. A neutral Fiio? These are the closest earphones I can think of that are closer to a neutral design than anything I have heard from the group. But neutral does not mean it has weak dynamics or has a limp sound to the signature

On the contrary, despite what you have heard from other neutralish IEMs. The FA7S shows it has the right blend of accuracy, outstanding detail and imaging with a sound balancing trend that has been Fiios new house tuning from reviewing their last 3 earphones. FH5s pro, FD3 pro and the FD7. The FA7S seems to continue the newer Fiio tuning trend. From what I understand and hear these newer earphones have clear improvements in sound balancing, and extension on both ends of the sound tuning from their previous FA7.

I appreciate that Fiio is clearly ticking all the boxes and continues to improve when it comes to earphone design and sound. They have their dynamic series and their hybrid series you all are aware of, the FA7S represents one of their best all BA designs. Using specialized BAs and 4 higher end Knowles drivers for the design means you're getting the benefits of what 6 high precision speakers do for your earphone sound.

Trebles.
One of the best treble presentations from a Fiio product. The Trebles for the FA7s is clearly playing at a higher level. Detailed, crisp and clean, it has good extension with an excellent resolve. Its treble design I am happy to report hits an excellent balance of details with the right emphasis for just about all types of music types and genres. I am hearing the standard Fiio designed lower to mid treble emphasis with a gradual tapering of emphasis toward the upper trebles. Trebles have a knack of floating/hovering to the far right or the far left. When I say float, I am talking about dimensional airy trebles.

Treble notes have their own space, micro details with quick agile transients; the treble aspect of the FA7s is actually a stand out this time in a good way. Fiio is known for its bass and mids. Now I am hearing a refined treble end from the FA7S that is different from their previous offerings. I usually hear this type of detailed and refined treble presentations from much higher end earphones and we get that in the FA7S treble presentation. Utilizing two higher end Knowles treble BAs tonality and treble separation, imaging is superb.

The trebles this time are presented just right and blended seamlessly with the upper mids emphasis. Trebles as detailed as it is, is non-fatiguing and does not cause an influence for the tonality of the FA7S to be bright or does it have undue glare or too much splashiness. The inclusion of their LC-RC cables which are the pro cables that came with the FH5s pro and the FD3 pro was a great choice for the sound design which has more influence on a sound based on its monocrystalline copper properties. Copper cables add a bit of warmth and smoothens an otherwise metallic aggressive brighter overtones from the BA design, Aka BA timbre. Adding the LC-RC cable gives body to a sound presentation and smooths out the tonal character of the FA7S while retaining all of its glorious technical strengths. So the match up fits perfectly here and it shows in how excellent the treble presentation is. I have to admit the treble this time has to be one of my all-time faves coming from a Fiio IEM. This design clearly shows Fiio is using a much more higher end driver for the trebles. I did get word they are using the same drivers that they used for their top end FA9 for both trebles and bass.

Mids.
The Mids BAs were customized for Fiio to meet their specs. You can say out of all the BAs in an all-BA design the mids BAs are arguably the most important. The mids of the FA7s is where you get the bulk of your music. The FA7S tonal character and presentation sound natural with a spot-on imaging. Its presentation has a solid moderate note weight and is not lacking in fullness. One of the more negative aspects that can happen to poorly optimized BAs in an all-BA design. Folks expecting a digital like or a stiff tonal angle to how some BAs can sound will be surprised to hear just how natural full bodied the sound is from the FA7S.

Its mids reminds me of the tonal character and note weight from another Fiio earphone; their FH5S, which the FA7S mids share almost identical tonal character, FH5s is slightly more fuller sounding for the mids but tonally very close. Even with a touch of the FD7 mids tonal character as well but not quite as organic. Ya I am comparing an all BA mids performance to both of these earphones that are using either a Beryllium plated dynamic and the latter a pure Beryllium dynamic for its mids. And yes, this was what was surprising for me.

If the BAs sound more natural and do not sound off due to BA timbre or off characteristics then that is a pure win in my book. The mids throw out imaging to a nice higher degree and for fans of vocals and instruments alike. The detailed and precision elements of a nicely tuned mids BAs firing off in unison, these are showing top level performance in that regard. In fact, based on other 6BA iems i have reviewed I have to say the FA7S easily holds its own in sonics and we are talking about BA sets that cost almost double the price of the FA7S. Therefore, I can honestly say the price to performance level of the FA7s is truly an excellent value.

Bass
BA bass is an acquired taste. BA bass characteristics are different from that of a well-tuned dynamic driver. Even at same db levels the BA bass just does not have the same impact or deep rumbly texture of a well vented dynamic. This being said the surprising aspect of the FA7S is that it has a solid bass end for an all-BA design. Again, quite comparable to much higher priced sets when it comes to BA bass.

Bass this time has a moderate impact and presence. I have yet to see a graph of the FA7S but I am going to guess bass emphasis having a moderate 8dbs of mid to lower subbass. Which is not exactly neutral for the bass but enough for a track to sound complete in just about any genre of music. Sure, it could use a bit more physicality and that is the air that pushes that dynamic punch to happen. But for how the bass is presented. It is just enough bass to make the FA7S sound engaging and certainly not lacking in emphasis. The surprising aspect is I am not hearing a roll off in the sub bass at all. Bass detail is actually done quite well.

The clear benefit of a moderate BA bass emphasis here is that you get the ultimate in speed and tightness for bass notes. If you are into your speed metal the FA7S is calling your name here. I am going to doubt there will be a dynamic driver that can match the sheer speed of a well implemented BA bass driver. FA7S is not only speedy with a moderate emphasis and decay in the sub regions but its bass is well defined. Reason I say the FA7S is closer to a neutral presentation is while there is clearly enough bass presence to make just about every genre sound complete. It is nowhere near basshead territory however. But for its tuning and balancing, bass is not only done well but it shows very nice quality in the region for bass. Bass sounds more accurate than exaggerated and due to that moderate bass emphasis the mids gets a wider percentage of your head space. I would have liked just a bit more bass here especially for the sub bass region at 10 dbs but otherwise the sound is truly a balanced experience.

Technicals.
You will not hear a Fiio made earphone with a narrow flat stage. Expect a spacious well imaged headstage that is wider than average in earphone designs. Very good even height to depth ratio meaning it doesn’t sound flat and it doesn’t sound anemic in any aspect of the sound signature. BAs can do dimensional 3D imaging better than dynamics. One of the benefits and strengths to a pure BA design is that you have several drivers firing off at different angles inside the housing and that provides a wider more expansive coverage for imaging and with better sound separation in the process. Imaging of the FA7s is simply outstanding if you're a music imaging freak. There is such a thing, try these for the price they are just as good as all BA designs double the price. Due to its well imaged spacious well balanced signature you're getting proper details in the mix here. The FA7S does micro details as good as it will get for the price range, another strength of the pure BA design.

Overall
Fiio has done an outstanding job with this one, the FA7s Is a fantastic high level all BA offering and one that is using superior BAs to achieve its sound. It is one of the more natural sounding all BA designs that I can think of with an excellent balanced versatile tuning. I have heard plenty of hybrid designs that use BAs for its mids and treble that fail due to the quality of the BA drivers being used just seem lacking, especially for its tonal character. You won’t have that problem with the FA7. It shows in its technicalities which are superb, from its very natural full bodied tonal character, to its nicely imaged stage with good height and depth to the sounds. You are looking at one of the better 6BA designed earphones at the asking price. With the recent onslaught of premium earphone releases from Fiio, this one might be the red headed step child of the group. Most will gravitate toward their hybrid and or dynamic offerings and maybe this one might be overlooked. The sound quality and workmanship is capped off with a clear value statement at the price. What it lacks in physical bass makes up for it easily in how refined the treble and mids are for its sound. Not to mention it has to be one of the very best all metal isolating earphones. Fiio brings out yet another compelling product. As always, thanks for taking the time to read.

ISN H50

with ISN GS4 cable.

ISN EST50

ISN the makers of premium cables and earphones has come up with some great bang for your dollar IEMs in the past. Their H40 even by today's standards is arguably one of the best hybrids you can purchase for your hard earned money. Two years later after their release ISN has created their newer flagship tribrids in the EST50 and now a true successor to their highly acclaimed H40 in the new H50.

The new H50 is a semi custom all resin design with an extra BA in the mix from their H40 design, a new composite dynamic with a reconfigured and retuned design that will surprise a lot of enthusiasts. Being true to the naming scheme, it utilizes 5 drivers per side A 10mm dynamic + 4 BAs. While this driver configuration is nothing new or exotic. It is how their newest has been tuned that will elevate the H50 to be one of their absolute best releases of the year. As with anything newly designed, yes these cost more than their previous H40 by $100. So what does the extra $100 get you for sound?

The H50 was provided for early press and review purposes by Penon audio. You can purchase a set from their website here. The H50 has been burned in for a week straight and is now ready for evaluation using a variety of my sources. IBasso DX300Max, Fiio M15, M5s, M3s, IBasso DX160, Sony ZX300, Fiio K3 2021, IBasso PB3, IFI Black Label for amping.

What your getting
H50 comes in their newer shiny blue box packaging. The earphones come with a blue colored magnetic lid, smaller sized box case, ISN S8 cables in the termination you order, two sets of silicones and a set of comply foams in large size. No flashy content and no frills here. But with that lack of accessories and basic packaging provided is easily made up for what you're actually getting for your hard earned money, a substantial progress for hybrid sound at the price level.

How they sound?
They actually suck. JK. Not what you would expect from them and that's not how they are gonna sound. The new H50 is tuned differently than what you would expect, especially coming from the older H40. This time around the sound has matured quite a bit and we are talking about how they are tuned. From the get go I recognized their signature especially for the mids presentation from of all earphones the Penon Legend which is Penon flagship IEMs you can read my take on those here. We are talking about a premiere $1300 flagship product. That's a good sign right? Even out of the box I can tell the sound was more higher end. Presents with a broad wide even stage that again you would expect from an ISN made earphone. I immediately posted my impressions of them here and as of writing this review, some will have their H50s in their ears to enjoy.

The tuning on the new H50 is more of a balanced W shaped Fr tuning which is a bit of a departure from the more balanced V shaped tuning of the H40. The three high points in the sound design are its subbass, a mild upper mids emphasis and an upper treble emphasis all 3 points playing an equal role on how the sound was tuned and how they sound. The advantages of using a dynamic here goes without saying. The new composite dynamic handles a highly capable bass end of the H50 to be what ISN has been known for. Its outstanding bass presentation adding to this, the advantages of BA precision, stage, detail, imaging, sound separation and you get an ideal hybrid in the H50s.

The overall sound tuning of the H50 has matured this time around and I think fans of the former H40s are going to like what ISN has done for the H50 sound tuning. I can say the sound of the H50 is different this time going for a more grown up higher end sound means it has more of a neutral tilt to its tonality and not as much in the way of a warmer tilt to the lower mids like the H40. ISN has tuned these to sound more reference and even better balanced than their previous H40 while maintaining its musical edge that ISN is known for.

Trebles, the details for your Jazz.

Trebles has very good presence for the tuning, the upper trebles gets a lift for the treble balancing with less of emphasis from the mid trebles of the H40. The result is an airy, better balanced and detailed treble end with an addictive shimmer in the presentation. The H50 treble end has a better extension over the older H40 and has the type of treble presence you would associate with much higher end headphone designs. I am gonna guess that one BA is doing the bulk of the lower to mid trebles and one is set for the ultra high frequencies. The treble this time around has good balance and sounds complete from lower to upper trebles. And with that added emphasis in the upper trebles adds that air, shimmery take on the H50 treble tuning.

The treble presentation meshes extremely well with the mids emphasis and adds to the overall balanced presentation of the H50. Tonally is just a slight splash of brightness for the treble area but nothing that is overly done. Trebles are clean and sound very agile handling all sorts of fine treble details. This greater upper treble emphasis adds a touch of nuance to the treble presentation that is missing for a lot of earphones. Overall the treble presence and ability is one of the clear changes from their H40 that is much higher end in how it is presented in the mix.

Mids. The imaging that stays with you.

The mids gets a slight vocal lift due to the mild upper mid emphasis and here is where you can hear the pedigree of Penons influence on the H50 tuning. ISN/ Penon are the masters of the dimensional mids presentation. If you don’t know all their earphones have a certain degree even the older H40 had that going on. In utilizing two BAs to do the mids. You get a smoother more ambient flow to the mids character that these guys have a knack of producing. The H50 does just this, the mids sound dimensional and all encompassing resulting in a very engrossing sound experience. Its sound surrounds you that is so very layered and how the mids present itself. Never heard an ISN earphone yet that has an uninspiring flat sound to it. You're never going to hear that. Something as important as the H50 for them they are going to bring out the goods for the mids presentation.

The body of note is not overly thick and nowhere near thin. Music requires a certain level of fullness and thickness that makes what you're hearing more tangible and real. ISN earphones have no issues with this and the H50 is presented with the right amount of body and weight to its sound presentation. The overall balancing for proper mids presentation here is quite excellent in what it does. The mids are similar to how Penon has tuned their flagship Legends as I mentioned. It has a similar upper mid lift and also similar lower mids presentation as well. Its expansive tonal character is also similar. The sound projects with a holography and an ambient fluid airy presentation for the wide mids that sounds much more higher end than what you're paying for. Its tonal qualities are spot on and with the precision that is included using two BAs projected through a single tube out to the ear. The mids on the H50 is fantastic given the sound design. No thinness, no brittleness, no off tonality and certainly with very good details. The wider mid bands for the H50 presentation sounds amazing for instruments and vocals alike.

Bass, the soul of your music

ISN is to bass what Penon is to mids. Meaning you will probably never see a flat neutral tuning from ISN for any of their earphones. The H50 has a good amount of bass that is tasteful and impactful with very good quality for the presentation. It's not exactly the strongest bass performing IEMs in their lineup. I would give that title to the EST50s. Bass completes this musically balanced signature and is defined just as good as the mids' images. Bass this time is handled with a 10mm composite dynamic. A slightly bigger dynamic bass driver from the H40. Composite dynamic can mean any variation of coatings and materials that make up the so-called composite dynamic. Bass this time sees an uptick in quality over the H40 bass presentation. I would give the H40 mid bass more punch so therefore more midbass but it is more the sub bass for the H50 that has a bit more focus this time around. With the focus of the bass emphasis more toward sub bass and the upper trebles emphasis on the opposite end. You get a wider imaging and more spacious mids presentation when compared to their previous H40s.

Mid bass sounds tighter and speedier with a healthy amount of punch, again showing a bit of a higher end bass tuning aspect to the H50. There is certainly enough bass emphasis for bass genres to shine. Since its focus is more sub bass. The agile sub bass rumble and texture is superb and any track with a sub bass emphasis will present with a satisfying deeply textured rumble.

Once you have this sub bass you can’t go back to hearing neutral sub bass or rolled off stuff, it just don’t sound proper. It is the upgrade for the bass dynamic that has the H50 and the extra BA doing the upper trebles with is new tuning that separates the H50 and their former H40. Bass here again is superb on all fronts. Sure the emphasis of bass is what I consider north of a moderate emphasis meaning these don’t sound as punchy as the H40 or as beefy as the EST50 but it easily rivals both sets if not excelling for sheer quality. It has enough presence to do bass genres complete justice and provides a snappier quicker decay for rock and metal music. It is just short of bass head levels but at the same time bass fans will appreciate the quality and its quantity of the bass presentation. It is a satisfactory amount of emphasis and with great ability, an accurate tone, snappy, punchy smile inducing rumbly bass all in one.

In the end
The H50 is yet another success by ISN. I can tell they clearly took the time to upgrade just about every aspect of their number one seller of all time the ISN H40. These are masterfully tuned folks. You’re going to find it very difficult to find faults to this sound and for a phone that is in the lower mid fi category in price, that is astounding. Don’t know if you can consider a $295 price tag mid fi category nowadays. It is at the outskirts of budget level in price more like it. Regardless of price, the H50 is firing off on all cylinders and shows what can happen when some experienced tuners throw down their best effort to create a hybrid that will punch way above what you pay for a set. This is what the H50 is.

ISN has created another monster here and if you are in the market to hear what one of the absolute best you can get for your money paid I feel the H50 represents a superb value for the price. I can see a scenario where folks that own much higher end earphones might sell them off and just keep the H50 around. Its tuning is not only versatile but expertly balanced to have enough coloration to the tuning to present your music on a proper higher level of enjoyment.

The sound has a shimmery airy detailed and refined treble blended with a mild upper mid forward spacious well imaged, properly layered mids presentation. The right amount note weight and body provided by the lower mids. Bass that is superbly crafted presenting a high quality tasty bass end with just the right amount of emphasis to stay in balance with the rest of the signature injecting ISNs house musicality in the mix. All presented in a wow-inducing fluid fully dimensional wider head stage for earphones and you get one heck of a hybrid you can enjoy for years. The H50 shows a step forward in ISN sound and that is always a good thing.

Shozy SCB2

The decision to include the ISN SC4 cable shown here was decided after I got the Shozy B2. So I had to use an adapter for the sound tuning as I only had the ISN SC4 mmcx version on hand. The sold product will include a 2 pin version. Onto the review.

Shozy has introduced a few IEMs in their line up with some moderate success in the Shozy 1.1 and 1.4 form and their flagship dynamics black hole. The manufacturer of hardware and IEMs have not produced a lot of goods but do seem to have a knack for sound. The B2 dynamic IEM was introduced last year but not too many folks knew about them outside of China. They have partnered with another manufacturer of IEMs and cables ISN to bring out something even better for their B2 IEM. While the earphone design and tuning came from Shozy. It was ISN that threw in the final touch to match up a boutique cable that enhances the sound profile of the B2. Now called the SCB2. Which stands for Silver Copper B2.

So why is this significant? It is not every day a manufacturer of two different brands get together to form one product but that is basically what you're getting in the SCB2. I know non cable believers will tell you. You're just getting the B2 and who cares what cable you match up with the B2 as long as it emits sound. It does matter. In fact so much so when you read up about the highest end earphones in the industry. Be it Empire Ears. Unique Melody or Oriolus. Their top flagship products include a very expensive cable to match up with the earphones themselves. Try to convince these folks and their patrons that cables don’t matter.

Why is it only the high end earphones that get the special cable treatment? There's no rule for that and today we have the SCB2 as a result of such a project.

I would like to thank Penon Audio for the review sample of the SCB2. You can read more about them and or purchase a set for you here. The SCB2 being a pure dynamic design needs burn in for a good week. This was told to me from ISN when I first received the SCB2. I am a firm believer in burning in earphones anyhow but just know this is the wish of the folks that made them. Sound evaluation was done using my IBasso DX300Max, Fiio M15, Shanling M6 pro, M5s, M2s, DX160, Fiio K3 2021, IFI Black Label for amping.

What you get.
SCB2 comes in a smaller black box, simple packaging with not much in the way of accessories. They include 3 different type of tuning nozzles for the SCB2 body, titanium, silver, and copper. A bit of a side note about the nozzles. It is difficult to take out and put back in the body of the SCB2. The nozzles are relatively short here as well so not the best so far as nozzle designs goes. It's not a deal breaker as most folks will stick with the one nozzle set they prefer and just keep that nozzle on there. Otherwise this part of the design could have been done better. I prefer the open nozzle or the titanium nozzle the most out of the 3 so my review here is based on that nozzle. Each nozzle gives a slight increase or decrease on the treble end. The copper has more dampening. Gives a decidedly warm and thicker take on the SCB2 sound. The all metal or silver nozzle is more balanced and the titanium nozzle is the most open adding a touch of mid trebles. I preferred this nozzle as the trebles are controlled for the tuning and so having a touch more treble balances out the sound better for me.

They also include a hexagonal grey colored zip up clam shell type case, two sets of silicones and of course the ISN SC2 pure silver and crystal copper cable in 4 cores as a pack in cable for the SCB2. You can read my take on the cable itself here.

The SCB2 is an all metal build and incorporates a dual magnetic single dynamic design. The compact cheese wedge design using 2 pins is actually on the smaller side of medium in housing sizes for IEMs. They fit flat against your ears and do not stick out of the ears much. Isolation here is average for a metal build and is decent for using outdoors. They do have a relatively shorter nozzle to the ears so using some longer, bigger aftermarket tips really help bring out the best sound of the SCB2 like Azla Sendafit tips.

Brothers from another mother. JVC FX850. Shozy SCB2 timbre similarities.

The Sound.
The SCB2 is a mild L shaped tuning with a moderate stage but what makes them sound a bit unique is they have a supreme height and depth to the sound. A bold forwardness to the sonics with more lower mids emphasis than the upper mids. Another aspect that stands out for me is that they have very good cohesion and superb timbre for a bassy type IEM. Somewhat similar to the timbre for JVC woodie IEMs. Sound is clean and has a headphone like fullness to the sound. From what I understand of the dual magnetic dynamic design is that the single dynamic acts more like having two dynamic drivers more so than a single dynamic. The sound is evident of this as it has a dimensional aspect to the SCB2 sound that is unlike a single dynamic in its performance. The verticality and depth is not only unique but the layering in between makes imaging stand out amazingly well for the single dynamic.

Trebles.
SCB2 has the most energy in the mid treble area with just the right amount of emphasis and balance for the trebles. The trebles has a mildly rich tonal character that emits a slightly darker treble tone. It has one of the better refined trebles I have heard for the design and has excellent extension, clarity, and range. Trebles has the right amount of sparkle and shimmer and are never fatiguing even using the open titanium nozzle. The great aspect of the SCB2 tuning is that its treble extension and definition is as complete as the bass end of the sound in the opposite direction. Then there is the mids.

Mids of the SCB2 has a very mild upper mid pinna gain at around 2.5Khz range which gives a slight darker yet richly defined tonality for the mids in general. Lower mids has more emphasis here than the upper mids which gives credence to more bolder weighter instruments: cello, bass guitars, piano and male vocals. The surprising aspect of this particular mids tuning is. You would figure it would be lacking in presence for the mids due to the very mild upper mid emphasis but this is not the case at all. While tonal character is slightly darker, it also has clarity and a supreme rangy dimensional aspect to the mids that was unexpected. The mids vertical layering is one of the best aspects about the SCB2. It has a distinct forward, mid and background layering you can make out much better than most earphones. One of many strong suits for the SCB2. They do remind me of a well imaged closed back full sized headphone in presentation.

Due to the lower mid skew these are the closest to a Western and Euro sound tuning preferences from a Chinese manufacturer as it gets. Its note weight and imaging is substantial, There is nothing in the sound presentation that has a thin or brittle note weight. In a way it is almost unique to get this type of tuning from a Chinese made brand. The rangy fullness bodes extremely well for all types of music. Especially for vocals, acoustic, vocal centric Jazz, rock, metal pop music. Has a beefy low end for EDM and bass genres.

Bass of the SBC2 is also rich in tonal character, big and bold. The SBC2 reminds me a lot of the sound tuning that is on ISNs own flagship model the EST50. The SBC2 has similar sound balancing but you can say it is the dual magnetic dynamic version of it. Superbly rangy and for bass fans the SCB2 has satisfactory mid bass to sub bass performance. It is a bit more in the way of mid bass vs the sub bass but tunes that tax on the low end, you will be rewarded with a controlled full bass end.

Bass does not step out of bounds here but stays well controlled and detailed. For being as beefy as the bass end is, it has surprising agility and tightness. Having roughly 10dbs of mid bass emphasis. This healthy amount of bass will clearly let you know bass is included in the sound design. If I had a nitpick about the sound design on the SCB2 is that this sound tuning would have been even better with the bass energy tuned more for the lower sub bass region but for what it is. It gives a very musical headphone like sound presentation from relatively smaller earphones.

Bass definition is superb for the given presentation and it is most certainly not a one note bass you're dealing with. It has enough quality sub bass in the presentation and while the emphasis is more troward the mid bass, sub bass is satisfactory nonetheless. Deep digging and tight the fullness of the bass end here is addictive and I am certain fans of bass will appreciate the impactful bass end of the SCB2. The ISN SC2 cable does an awesome job to help keep that bass in check so again a great match up here.

Technicals
The SCB2 has a moderate width of stage and with its bold sound tuning has a lot to do with how frontal and full the sound design is. Its height and depth however are the real stars of the show here. Don’t know exactly how Shozy managed to get the sound with this much verticality. But really once you hear just how bold and rangy the sound is. Other earphones in your collection will sound a bit thinner and will lack that height of sound aka dynamics. It is unique in that way. Timbrally the SCB2 is all dynamic and has a much more accurate timbre than BA based earphones. Its imaging is superb and more dimensional than most dynamics I have heard. Instrument separation is like having multiple dynamic drivers in the sound tuning. The detail retrieval is what is also surprising on the SCB2. Its definition on a macro level is superb. Micro details are also nicely done but hence this is where equivalent BAs do the job a bit better. BAs will have a hard time keeping up with the well textured body of sound on the SCB2 however.

Next to a large sized Blessing 2 IEM. Shown for reference.

Overall the SCB2 has a thicker, richer musical frosting over it's technical foundation. It has a blacker, cleaner background than most dynamics, which helps highlight its defined sound characteristics. When you think darker tuned earphones. Don’t mistake darker tonality with muddy or something that is off. I am sure you're used to hearing more brighter tuned stuff but I personally find it refreshing to hear a well tuned slightly darker presentation with superb technicalities and dynamics. It will be different from the other Chi fi earphones in your collection. It has a distinctive rich tonal character that is very addictive. Its macro definition is superb in conjunction with its layers of verticality that is wholly unique and something more akin to a full sized can in presentation more than earphones. Add to all this full range goodness a nicely extended defined treble and a highly stylized impactful bass end and you get a very uniquely musical sounding SCB2.

The SBC2 is not made for music analysis. Nope it is made to enjoy your music. It is clearly a colored sound. A sound that will get you hearing how you want to hear your music. Bold, rich and dynamic. If that sounds good to you. They will be worth owning for your collection. As always I appreciate you reading my take on the Shozy & ISN SCB2. Happy listening always.

LZ A4 pro.

LZ A4 pro much like their previous LZ A4 earphone is a tunable earphone this time incorporating 3 BAs and a single dynamic doing bass duties In a semi custom resin shell. These are labeled as a sub flagship for LZ. Which means the sound has to live up to their LZ A7 in performance. LZ is all about giving the enthusiast options for their sounds as the new pro model incorporates 3 bass vent caps and 4 tuning nozzles to change up upper mids and treble which gives a good variety of 12 different sound variations to the A4 pro sound.

I would like to thank NiceHCK for the A4 pro, it was sent to me for review purposes. You can purchase an A4 pro on NiceHCKs Aliexpress webpage here. The sound was evaluated using my sources: IBasso DX300Max, Fiio F15, Shanling M6pro, M5s, M3s, Acmee MF02, Sony ZX300, IBasso DX160, IFI Black Label for amping.

What you get.
The package includes the semi custom resign body with 4 nozzles and 3 bass vent caps and a mini flat head screw driver to install the caps with. LZ canister case. 3 sets of different silicone tips. A very nice 8 core graphene copper silver alloy cable in single ended. This cable matches extremely well with the A4pro. Negative is that they do not come in any balanced configurations.

Tunable earphones are ideal since we all have different likes in a sound, why not offer the ability to tune a sound to your liking. It is a bit like EQing but on a hardware level. I have seen a few manufacturers attempt this idea on their IEMs with varying results but with LZ, we kind of expect it. I was surprised not to see a nozzle tuning option for their recent LZ A2 pro they released recently you can read about here. The tuning angle on the newer LZ phones are actually more similar than different. Which was a surprise to me. They both have a upper mid rise at the 2khz range but the difference there is the LZ A4 pro seems to have a upper mid to lower treble shelf to about 4Khz that helps even out the tonal balancing a bit more so.

Base sound design is a variation of the w shaped to a neutralish signature with the use of tuning nozzles and venting caps you can go from a fairly neutral emphasis in their red nozzle and blue vent caps to an upper mid enhanced bassy signature using the red vent caps and standard black nozzle.

The three vent caps for the bass emphasis is brilliant as it allows the user to have 3 completely different bass profiles affecting the main heart of bass emphasis from 250hz all the way to 20hz. The Red=12dbs of lower bass, The Black=7dbs of lower bass, The blue= 0dbs neutral flat. Utilizing a dual cavity single carbon nanotube dynamic. The bass dynamic used is powerful, agile and has good reach. The ability to go from absolutely flat bass to 12dbs of sub boost here just by changing out the caps is very awesome. Mid bass characteristics are less impacted by the caps vs the sub bass so this design is very music friendly and provides good separation from bass to mids.

The mids maintain their integrity meaning there is no bass bleed. I can tell these guys did a lot of RnD to figure this one out to be this precise. Then you add to the fact that upper mids and treble can get an increase or decrease using 4 nozzle filters and you get a nice variety of sound profiles to choose from.

Though the drop off from the stock black nozzle to the red neutral nozzle is pretty substantial. I do wish there was a nozzle for something in between. As they are, it is difficult to like the red nozzle filter as it pretty much neuters the 2 khz pinna gain and sound becomes a touch muted.

Trebles has good presence for the sound and has the most presences for lower treble and then sees an anti fatigue dip with a lesser emphasis for the mid trebles and a gradual lessening of emphasis for the upper trebles from there. This works well to get a good usable treble emphasis minus some treble glare that can happen with a bit much lower trebles using the open blue nozzle. This treble tuning was also evident for their A2pro as well but the main difference is that this time around it has more lower treble emphasis which in general means it has more treble presence. This does two things for the A4pro sound: it balances the tonality to sound more cleaner and detailed which counters any darkness to the tuning that can happen with a lopsided too much bass and not enough treble emphasis. The other is that this region of treble emphasis will be tunable based on ones preference with varying degrees of emphasis. The selection here though is not as varied as I would have liked. The blue, silver and black all have the most upper mid emphasis while the red nozzle almost has none with the least amount of treble emphasis.

A4 pro treble can be a bit on the bright and glary using the blue nozzle all the way to a smoothed out 2Khz region using the red nozzle. The differences going from the red nozzle to the next nozzle, the base black nozzle, is pretty substantial. The other two nozzles after that seem to add to the upper mid treble gain from there with minor emphasis addition to the black nozzle. And this is the reason why I was hoping there was something in between the red and the black one but that is not a choice unfortunately. With some experimentation you can use the nozzles from LZs previous A7 both red and gold nozzles which are both somewhere between the black and red nozzle on the A4pro.

Trebles has good presence overall, detailed, with an agile attack however has just a touch of dryness to the treble tonality. It has very good ability for trebles but does emit a BA timbre for trebles which results in a bit of clinical treble presentation that is not exactly smooth but not edgy sounding either at the same time. It's got a good extension for trebles and has good fundamental detail for the trebles region. Again utilizing the advantages of BA precision for trebles. The single BA used for the treble represents the high notes and has a good amount in presence and quality to the mix. If I was to complain I would say the Blue nozzle and the Red will be basically useless for most folks so I do wish they focused on more varieties in between instead.

The nozzles affect the upper mids of the LZ A4pro and can sound bright for mids again blue nozzle and or a touch muted the red nozzle. This area of upper mid gain gives out a vocal lift using the silver nozzle a bit less using the Black nozzle. Overall the Mids has good presence for the A4pro sound tuning. It has a medium amount of body and weight to the sound vs being too thin or too thick. It does have the classic W shaped more upper mids vs lower mids in tuning. Mids using two Knowles BAs sounds overall clean and well organized in imaging and detail. It can sound warm when using a combination of red nozzle and red enhanced bass caps but sounds a bit mushy and not as clear and precise as using the other nozzles. Mids tonal character is decidedly BA a touch bright but again this is due to not being provided usable nozzles that would make it sound more natural and more neutral in tone vs the majority of these nozzles having a brighter effect on tonality.

On one hand I can clearly make out that they are using BAs due to a distinct BA timbre but at the same time I doubt you can get this same versatility using a single dynamic for the sound tuning. Mids overall has good detail and its imaging is a standout due to both BAs firing off for the region. Clarity, and sound separation is average for BAs with good presence which can sound slightly cooler in tone to slightly warm depending on what nozzle you choose but overall the mids are consistent with their presentation and is the one mainstay of the presentation that seems to hold all the tuning variations to be cohesive.

Bass is represented using a dual cavity carbon nanotube dynamic which was a good choice by LZ. Carbon nanotubes have an excellent ability for bass production from my prior experiences from the material and it shows on the A4 pro. Bass is tight and speedy for dynamics and can be boosted up to 12dbs for the sub bass using the red caps. Since the bass stays away from the mids using any of the caps I prefer using the boosted red caps. Listening to bass genres, this cap in combination with the stock black nozzle I get a great combination of clarity, detail a punchy mid bass with a very good sub bass presence. Due to the upslope for sub bass it's got less mid bass which is ideal to stay away from the mids. Bass has a speedy attack with an above average tightness, nicely defined with a moderate amount of sub bass decay. The bass using the red bass cap is ideal for all sorts of bass infused music. This being said the cohesion here is not the best going from the cooler mids presentation to the bass presentation. A bit better with less emphasis.

The stock black caps give a moderate roughly 7db sub bass boost and these are ideal for more acoustic, jazz and rock presentations. Less boost means speedier performance and here is a middle ground of enough emphasis to sound complete but not as good for bass genres like the red caps provide. Many will prefer this cap vs the red but either way you're getting good bass performance. For absolute analytical flat bass you can use the blue caps. There is zero maybe a minus sub bass here in performance meaning might be some sub bass roll off below neutral using these. Can’t see a scenario where if you actually listen to music how these can be useful but it's there for folks that want no bass emphasis. It's an option.

Technicalities for the A4 Pro are solid for the given design which relies on the strengths of the Knowles balanced armatures for the mids and treble. Two BAs are ideal to get better imaging for the mid range with a higher end focus for the mids and the A4 Pro sounds engaging for its intended purpose. Stage is moderate in width and shows good depth with average height for sonics. Instrument separation is good again here with a good level of detail and imaging. I would say they can hang with their previous A7 in technicalities but not quite as smooth or as coherent as the A7. It has nicely imagined spacious slightly analytical sound presentation with a forward vocal projection especially for female vocals. Lower mids lack a touch of body, a bit less so when using the more neural red nozzle.

LZs A4pro is a solid entry into their line of tunable earphones that you would expect from the group. Its bass caps vents are done extremely well. It is remarkable just how much sub bass boost these caps can emit without touching any of the mids and in return gives even more varieties of tunings from the standard nozzle tuning ability. Its nozzle tunings are good but there should have been more varieties thrown in. As they are, it does give a decent variety of tuning options and the ability to adjust how much bass you prefer with how much upper mids makes the A4 pro versatile. The issue here is LZ did not go all the way with the nozzle variety. There is too much similarities in the blue, silver and black nozzle and then a complete drop off for the upper mids in the red. What they should have done is not include the blue one and include two nozzles that fit somewhere between the black and the red nozzle. This would have make a huge difference imo.

As they are you really get a choice of either bright or warm but nothing in between is my point. Given their overall sound A4pro has much potential but I can’t help feeling this one was a bit of a rush job and not really thought out, especially the nozzle variations or the lack thereof.. In any case I did get word that LZ is considering releasing more nozzle variations for the A4pro. Too little too late? With ever increasing competition and new releases of earphones on the daily. Not including something that gives a proper tone to the A4 pro was a mistake from the get go. I would like to see an addition of one more vent cap and two to three more varieties of nozzles. We will see what happens as so many LZ fans were waiting for this one to shine. Thanks for reading.

Thinksound OV21

Headphones in the industry have evolved but your tried and true dynamic headphone will be the mainstay of the scene and today I am going to share some extremely good news regarding a particular brand and headphone that will garner some serious interest among old timers here at headfi and abroad. We are talking about Thinksound who has mostly done IEMs in the past and came up with a few intriguing on ear headphones their previosus offering the ON2 which was arguably one of their best sounding phones to date which got a lot of folks wondering when will Thinksound ever come out with a full sized can.

News came out last year that Thinksound was out of business at one point. But these guys can’t be finished! There is no way no how they were finished with designing a full sized Can. Fast forward to today and Thinksound is back in business with the designer creator tuner extraordinaire Aaron Fournier introducing some new products. They have returned to form with a new IEM in the IN20 reviewed here. Their new OV21 for many will be an introduction to Aarons handy work and a headphone that represents years of his know-how with a distinctive Thinksound house sound.

As an admitted IEM guy I do dab in the headphone game and own my share of cans I use here and there. The OV21 is a circumaural closed can with wood cups and what makes this particular Can something to pay attention to is that these were in the works for a while from what I know. In fact I remember Aaron telling me about these a few years back before the business had a temporary closure. Just know Thinksound will be producing new items people need to pay attention to. These folks are here to stay and their newest is their best effort to date.

The build
The classic overhead closed back looks of the OV21 is solid all around. You can’t make a Thinksound can without wood. So the outer portion of the cups are made of wood and the plastic portion is a bioplastic made from sustainable wood pulp that helps reduce resonance, distortion and helps acoustic properties for the sound. If you don’t know, Aaron and the crew have always used sustainable materials for all their goods. This is something they champion and with today's drastic climate changes. You gotta respect a company that considers how their items impact the planet. Onto the build. The arms are metal and the headband and pads are using a cushy type foam to help with comfort and isolation.

There is a moderate clamp but nothing that will push your eyeballs out. The fit is snug on my medium sized noggin and I am certain this design will fit most heads just fine with comfort unless your head is melon like in size. It's very sturdy with a solid build, but at the same time I would not necessarily throw the cans around. No creaks or external noise from the cup swivels to detract you from listening. With normal use scenarios the cans should last years for your music enjoyment.

I can tell they took their time to come up with a tight comfortable design for using over the head.
For folks that have seen or own Shure cans the design here reminds me of them, similar in size and shape to the SRH1540. The soft cushy pads help conform to head sizes and shapes which also helps with the passive isolation. They fit tight yet comfortable at the same time. It has a single ended 3.5mm output on the left side of the cups and comes with two cables. One with a mic so you can carry on conversations and listen to music on your phones the other is for audio only. A carry drawstring pouch finishes off the package for the retail version. My preview unit cable with just the mic'd cord.

The OV21 unit I have here is a pre production unit that I will be sending back to Thinksound after my review. If you feel you must own the latest cutting edge headphones from Thinksound. You can order you a set and read more about them here.

Sound.
Here is the reason why you're reading this review. You want to know how these sound. I can say for fans of previous Thinksound earphones and their ON1 and ON2s. Imagine what all them nice woody earphones and on ears would sound like using a much larger 45mm dynamic driver in a full sized closed can with Aaron tuning all of it and you’re almost there. I know folks have been waiting for Thinksound to produce a full sized can for a while including yours truly. The new OV21 delivers a type of sound you would imagine a full sized Thinksound can deliver. Its tuning is a variation of the V shaped fr and reminds me of their older rain earphones in tuning but more grander in scope, more dynamic and way more refined.

A full size can deserve a full sized sound. Thinksound products are never analytical by nature, always musical and use natural wood as a catalyst for the tonal character of their phones. This does not change with the OV21. These were clearly made for modern genres of music and has a distinct musical take on headphone sound quality. These were clearly made for being out and about so they are more portable in the type of usage with a 50 ohm rating. Efficient enough to use even on a phone but scales nicely with higher end audio players and amps.

Sound evaluation was done using my IBasso DX300Max, Fiio M15, Shanling M6 pro, M5s, M3s, Fiio K3 2021, IFI Black label and IBasso PB3 for amping.

Thinksound is a bit on the old school when it comes to sound tuning which is not a bad thing. And their tunings are distinctly western in nature meaning you're not going to get too much upper mid or too much treble like a lot of Eastern made cans and IEMs presents. If you have ever heard one of their earphones or cans you will notice a distinct trait among all their phones and that is that they never sacrifice musicality in their sound tunings. The first time I put them on and heard what they were about, put a huge grin on my face. It took Aaron and the crew a long time for them to make a full sized can and you can tell they toiled over this one. That rich woody timbre is in full effect and with a level of dynamism that is unlike any Thinksound before it. Absolute superb timbre and a rich smooth warmer tonal character from vocals to instruments. It's a grand sounding Thinksound product of the likes I have yet to hear from them, in other words it came out exactly how I imagined a full sized Thinksound product could sound like and more.

Trebles
Trebles is presented with an even calmness about it that shows great detail without fatigue. You can’t expect an airy treble performance from a closed can but the trebles show a great balancing of presence and brilliance. Everything from Jazz pop rock to EDM trebles here is crisp, clean, extends well with a proper shimmer and sparkles when called for. Rangy and detailed without undue fatigue. The treble shows mastery of control and presence. I don’t perceive any weird treble spikes to fatigue or an overexaggerated portion of treble which can cause an off tonal character.

The cans overall tonal quality is decidedly rich with a natural warmth due to a full bass end being featured for the bold sound tuning on the OV21. Treble emphasis is just ever so slightly above in emphasis over the mids presentation so the bulk of the balancing is quite even from lower trebles to the upper mids. Its well established balancing bodes extremely well for a huge variety of music genres you listen to. Treble has a clean rangy tonal character just like how the mids are portrayed. While the bulk of the trebles is represented in full glory, it lacks just a touch of upper treble emphasis to my ears. So it does seem to have a mild roll off for the upper trebles. This treble presentation is a great tuning decision for a closed back design which is really made for longer listening sessions in mind. Overall the trebles are detailed and clean yet easy on the ears which blends seamlessly with the mids of the OV21 presentation. I can tell the 45mm dynamic being used has a solid resolving ability due to the effortless details the OV21s throw out.

The Mids
Mids on the OV21 will be immediately familiar to Thinksound fans and here is where some of Aarons tuning prowess really comes through. I'm not gonna lie folks the OV21 has bass emphasis like all of thinksound phones. How Aaron manages to get an absolute superb full range mids character with this much quality bass is magic. Mids here are not forward in the mix but certainly not distant sounding either. Mids presents with a superb depth and images to a degree better than anything Thinksound has ever done in the past. Mids do take a slight step back in the mix vs the bass and slightly to the treble end but done extremely well.I have yet to hear a Thinksound product with a weakness or a deficiency in any part of the sound tuning. If anything the tuning truly portrays each part of the sound tuning to be present which helps bring the OV21 sound quality to a new level of immersion.

Lower mids sound a step back from upper mids, perhaps a bit of a trade off for the full bass end. If you're into your intimate vocal presentations the OV21s is not the best for vocals but makes up for it with superb spot on natural tonality and timbral accuracy. Its rich grander spacious sound presentation surrounds you with your favorite tracks and their fundamental rich tonal presentation is very versatile for just about any genre. Clarity, precision with very good instrument separation all presented within a substantial layering in the mids sound absolutely superb for fans of older rock, metal, jazz, pop anything with instruments. Showing true versatility. They sound awesome for bass genres.

It is the mids definition with that rich tonal character being projected via larger 45mm dynamic encased in woody cups that brings their classic Thinksound sound to a different level. Your music will sound bold with macro details abound, It does a stunning job at recreating the scene of the recorded track. The OV21 true trump card is just how great it does at getting you into your music with an excellent full rangy dynamic high end sound quality.

When listening to this track using the OV21. Its sound layering, instrument separation and superb details will win you over to how good these cans portray every part of your tracks to the fullest.

Bass
So here is another aspect where the the OV21 makes a jump from their previous phones. Thinksound would not be Thinksound without that bass. Seriously I know for a fact Aaron is a basshead. Even their monitor series of earphones had great bass presence. But let the mad genius let loose on a full range 45mm dynamic driver in a closed woody cup and you have the best bass presentation the group has ever done.

So I am gonna tell you all the disclaimer here. For folks that like them some neutrality or has an affinity to like the low end to play a supporting roll for your sound cus it might be too much for your precious mids and treble..You need to look elsewhere. For the rest of you folks that love them some low end soul and demand a proper grunt when hearing your tunes. Read on my fellow bass fans as these cans are for you.

Bass presentation of the OV21 is, you guessed it. Rich, not like your uncle that owns all them properties but in tonal character. You see an underlying theme here. Make no mistake you're dealing with a high quality detailed emphasized bass presentation. If your tracks have some lower grunt for the basis for the track. You're gonna hear the low end in its full glory. And no we are not talking about a sloppy slow mushy messy stuff you read about in much lesser cans.

Let me put it this way. You're walking around a busy street and you land on this track.

You want that low end punch to be tight and speedy, you want Dimebag Darrel’s (RIP) guitar riffs to grind on your ears. You want to hear that pure aggression from Phil Anselmo to tighten the back of your neck. You want Vinnie Paul (RIP) to punch out your eardrums with his speedy punchy double drum work and feel that thump..You can’t have a limp noodle bass line here.

But at the same time you can’t have a bass line that can’t do this track justice as Prodigy don’t sound like Prodigy when you Breathe and be walking enjoying a cuppa joe at your local Starbucks.

OV21 has a bold meaty bass presentation. While there is a good amount of bass presence it is the quality of just how great the bass end is on the OV21 that stands out to me. Its not your standard T bone. We are talking grass fed pure angus. If you're gonna have bass in the mix you better bring the quality or it will get the reject from this reviewer. Bass fans are going to dig the guilty pleasure that is the OV21 bass end. Bass tonality is spot on, Juicy in nature. For having as much bass emphasis it's got control and power in the low end that you will not soon forget. The bass presentation alone is worth the price of admission for a set of OV21.

Sub bass has no roll off and you're going to hear sub bass the way it was meant to be heard for the low end grunt that is on the OV21.

The last thing you want when using these on the street is something to interfere with that powerful low end of the OV21 quality bass presentation. You move to your music. How about using a can that will help you do that.

Technicalities.
Headphone stage is different from the more intimate IEM presentation as you all know so going from something like a 10mm dynamic in ears to a 45mm over the ears presents with a different scope of sound. OV21 has a well imaged specious sound signature and for being a closed can It has a moderate amount of stage width wise with good depth and height. I hope to see a continuation of the headphone series here with a semi open or open back headphone with even a wider stage someday. But for now you can’t get this type of bass the OV21 has without the closed in cups playing a roll here. Sound separation is done nicely for being a closed can and while the technicalities are not the absolute tops for closed cans you really can’t do imaging much better than what's presented on the OV21. Its imaging is a clear stand out for the sound tuning and add one of the best defined dynamic sound tunings Aaron has done and you get a substantial close back headphone in the OV21.


So there you have it.
The OV21 represents years of real world tuning and knowledge by a nice guy that produces some serious sounding equipment for you the enthusiast. That saying nice guys finish last. Is not true here. Aarons new OV21 is going to be a winner and I can see a scenario where everyone that loves great sounding headphones will want to get a pair of the OV21. I personally feel it punches above its asking price in performance. Like I mentioned before, bass is one of those guilty pleasure aspects to sounds that just let you know. Thinksound loves a warm quality tight bottom. But then you get some outstanding full rangy mids and a cleanly defined treble end to round out the new high mark for phones for the group.


Bonus cus you want to know. How do they compare to the ON2?
I am glad you asked.. Vs the ON2

First thing that jumps at you right away is the stage presentation. The OV21 has a more expansive spacious sound; it sounds more grander, more surround-like with a wider taller deeper stage. ON2 balancing leans a bit more toward a monitor type presentation. The OV21 is more musical meaning it has a bit more coloration to the sound balancing. More bass impact with a deeper reaching bass. That rich tonality of the two headphones you can tell are brothers from the same mother. OV21 has better technicalities. Beyond the stage it has better instrument separation which is easier to hear due to the grander wider stage presentation, which leads to an imaging that is again more surround-like.

Both headphones timbre from vocals and instruments are similar with a rich tonal quality. ON2 shows just a bit better clarity due to having less bass in its presentation with a bit more treble. The mids emphasis is also a touch more forward for the ON2. Since the OV21 has more bass it might not sound as forward for the mids as it is presented on the ON2 especially for bassy tracks. That slightly more treble energy of the ON2 is put on the low end of the OV21 with a grander sound projection and you have Thinksounds first full sized can. As always bless you for reading this long winded read about the OV21. You made it this far. That means you’re the best. Happy and healthy listening always.

Tin Hifi T2 Evo

Cus MK2 was so 2020.
Tin Hifi keeps the same barrel design from the original T2 family and we have seen some variations on the tuning on the T2s. Now with the Evo the group has come up with yet another variant.

The minimal packaging of the T2 evo is pretty much the same as their previous T2 packaging. Same thin SPC cable and same set of tips. The aluminum metal housing of the Evo is exactly the same here as well. Evo is using a 10mm carbon composite diaphragm for its new tuning.

With each variant of the T2, Tin Hifi has tuned them to be slightly different. The T2 Evo this time around is all about a brighter, cleaner presentation vs their previous more balanced bass infused T2 plus.

The T2 Evo was provided for the purpose of a review from NiceHCK. If you feel the need to complete your Tin Hifi audio collection you can find them on NiceHCKs web site here. I burned in the T2 Evo for a week straight and was evaluated using my souces. IBasso DX300Max, Fiio M15, Shanling M6pro, M5s, M3s, Fiio K3 2021, Acmee MF02s and IFI black label for amping.

Now onto the sound.
Sound tuning of the T2 Evo is mostly neutral but with an upper mid lower treble skew the resulting tonality is a decidedly a brighter tone. This type of tuning is what you would associate with much higher end headphones that resolve to a greater degree with a vast stage to present something like classical music in the truest form but for a smaller form IEM does this work?

The short answer to that is it depends. This tuning is not as versatile as their previous T2 plus model or does it have the technical chops to pull off this sound tuning to a full degree. You can’t expect world class high end presentation for a $50 IEM but for this given price point I suppose you can say it is more of an analytical neutral tuning and there are some positives to the EVO presentation which I will describe here on my read.

T2 Evo treble
Has a lot of it. Tin Hifi I am always gonna assume they like to tune with more treble in the presentation as this seems to be the underlying default house tuning with all their earphones I have heard. A lot of detail retrieval and how your sound is portrayed comes from the treble region and the lower trebles has the most emphasis. Presenting a brighter tuning here due to the emphasized region. Clarity and brightness is the angle the T2 Evo is now portraying and it definitely succeeds there. The presence region around 4.5-5Khz has the most emphasis and as such. You're getting a lot of forced presence and while this works with more melodic slower recordings that don’t highlight the region as much.

Modern music with energy in the music itself comes out a bit too bold, sometimes a bit too hot sounding for my liking. This in turn causes some fatigue while listening to EDM or metal music with a lot of crash symbols. As they say, too much is too much.

This is my biggest gripe with the T2 Evo. I get that they are going for a more analytical tuning here but at the same time if it gets to a point where you want to fast forward a track due to too much upper mid lower treble zing, then the sound simply will not be versatile. Narrow nozzle tips, foam tips and pure copper cable can only do so much to stave off the roughly 15dbs of gain in the region. To be fair it does present with an airy treble but does come a bit splashy add to that some glare in the mix, it simply has too much presence in the region and will cause fatigue especially when using neutral sources. Your warmest thickest sounding sources are a must when using the T2 Evo as a result.

Trebles do have a good amount of detail retrieval but again the issue here is it has a bit too much for longer listening sessions. These will punish you with bright sizzling treble. I do realize the Chinese enthusiast market loves some treble sizzle and enhanced upper mids but for the rest of the world. I don’t think these were made for Western or Euro sensibilities at all .

Mids
Mids tonal quality is clear but also sounds a bit brighter in the process. Mids brighter tonal character does not bode well for warmer sounding or what should be warmer sounding instruments and male vocals. This brighter skew for the mid bands also comes with a thinner note weight presenting with a bit more neutral presentation. Mids images well enough here and it certainly gives off an ability to resolve to a greater degree for the mids in the price range but if only these are tuned more neutrally with a moderate emphasis for upper mid tuning vs having that big lower treble skew. Adding to this the lack of depth with a moderate head stage and you got a very niche product made for folks that like a lot of detail with not much substance.

Bass
Bass end of the T2 Evo leans a bit more neutral in presentation here as well as it is lined up well with the mids lacking in any real forceful impact or does it have a deep reaching textured rumble. It does have a very moderate more neutral amount of emphasis and the bass end plays more of a supporting role in the presentation. Bass has got decent definition with speed and a moderate impact but somehow I miss the bass end of their previous T2 plus model. If you're a bass enthusiast. I would stay far away from these as there is no real redeeming factor for the bass end. It is just there to complete the track and in that regard if you're going for a more detailed presenting monitor Tin Hifi has succeeded there.

Technicalities
Its got a moderate medium average stage for earphones with a decent instrument separation and imaging to go along with it however the lack of depth is really the crutch on the sound presentation. It seems to have a bit more height of sound vs depth. A brighter overall tonal character with lack of depth and the music is presented more flat vs having any real dimensional aspects. I am not expecting top technicalities from a $50 phone but I have heard cheaper earphones that have better aspects shown by the T2 Evo. Timbre for vocals and instruments is skewed lacking any naturalness or realism. Everything has a higher octave to the presentation with a very quick decay to the sound. Meaning not only is musical notes have a slight thinness to the presentation but also has a brighter dryer tonal character.

In the end
The T2 Evo which stands for evolution has not really evolved to be better. In fact I don’t know if these are worth the little cost to get one as there are so many compelling products that do a versatile sound better than the T2 Evo. You have to be a fan of a brighter tonal character and a lot of presence in the upper registers for your music to fully accept this sound. To me there is just too much competition for a product to be this niche in sound quality. Maybe Tin Hifi is trying to recapture lighting in the bottle again from their original T2 and they clearly say in their marketing that these are bright sounding earphones.

As they are, these are not made for the eclectic music listening and will fatigue with a bit too much treble presence. I can tell the driver here used has good resolve ability at the price, but the tuning here should have been better balanced for this presentation. The T2 Evo have a bit too much presence and I can predict these will go under the radar for most enthusiasts. Even if you're a die hard Tin Hifi fan you have to love a brighter analytical presentation to want one of these. If that is you then these will be right up your alley. As always thanks for taking the time to read. Happy listening

Yanyin Canon

The Yanyin Aladdin is a great little intro hybrid from the group that was well made and designed which certainly garnered some well deserved fan fare. Their new Canon is a similar hybrid design but ups the drivers and tuning options via switches on the back side of the shells. You have seen this particular design on Tansio Mirai phones and more recently on Penons own flagship Legends. Based on my experience from their Aladdin's it is clearly evident the Yanyin group can tune these earphones with the best of them. Their follow up the Canon is interesting as it ups the driver count from the Aladdin with an extra BA also integrating 3 tuning switches that enhances the 3 parts of the sound portions individually without affecting the other aspects of the sound balance and you got Yanyins newest hybrids, the Canon.

The Canon was provided for review purposes from Penon Audio. You can purchase a set here. All earphones I review get a minimum of a week's burn in straight and then I use them on a variety of sources to see how consistent the sound is and how they respond to different tunings on different sources. Sources used for evaluations; IBasso DX300Max, Fiio M15, Shanling M6pro,M5s,M3s,IBasso DX160,Sony ZX300 custom firmware, Fiio K3, IFI Black label and IBasso PB3 for amping.

On a personal note.
Since the 5 star system is what we use to evaluate an earphone on headfi. I give a star rating on how a particular phone I am evaluating sounds in comparison to sound performance in the price range vs a rating just dependent on SQ alone. This is a bit different in that at the mid fi level is what I am comparing the sound and performance level of the Canons vs others I have owned and heard in the price range. For example vs the ISN EST50, Dunu SA6, Sony XBA-Z5 and the IBasso IT04 for example. On that price point. You can’t expect a $100 earphone to sound like a $1,000 one for example and I feel this is the best way to give some type of score fairly on an earphone.

The package
Consists of a set of silicones. A switch tool, a nice new brown square case, and a new higher end cable. A new graphite powder infused silver plated copper cable in a thicker 4 cored configuration which matches up well with the sound of the Canon in single ended. The accessories could use some better varieties of tips but for now it is bare minimum for accessories and nothing really stands out from the package here. It is always a good sign when the included cable matches up well with the sonic character of the earphones themselves and the included cable is clearly an upgrade vs the throw in cable that was included with the Aladdin's.

The Canon is the 2nd earphone I had the opportunity to review from the group and as such I am starting to see how proficient these folks are at tuning. I am very certain Yanyin folks are experienced tuners as both the Aladdin and the Canons both have very good tunings for their perspective sounds. Both being hybrids and the question came up that is it warranted for the Canon which just adds one more BAs to cost almost $400 in price point. The answer is not a simple yes or no for this one and here is why.

The Canons are an upgrade from the Aladdin on a technical aspect to its sound but are also tuned differently. While it is using a similar hybrid configuration, the Canons were tuned with a more dynamic energetic angle from the harmonesque neutrally tuned Aladdin's sound tuning and balancing. The base tuning for the Canon is a mild v shaped signature this time meaning there is more emphasis from the treble and the bass end of the Canon. At the same time it does upgrade the technical aspects from the Aladdin to a nice higher degree.


The build
The build of the Canon is your tried and true all resin design but with a vent out back for the dynamic to breathe and 3 switches to modify the sound a bit. Its a slightly smaller medium sized universal design which provides a nice fit for my ears and I appreciate the housing design to be on the smaller size of medium meaning it should be comfortable for most to use. It is about as compact a design as it will get using 5 Drivers in a housing. It has an average isolation for resin designs so it does block out some ambient sound I would guess at around 25-26dbs. As is with most all resin semi custom designs the usability and build is tops on this one and I also like the fact that it is using a 2 pin design instead of mmcx. You shouldnt have any real fitment issues or will they have any issues from a build standpoint. Well built and designed all the way around.

Trebles
Trebles of the Canon sees an increase in definition and emphasis from the Aladdin treble tuning especially for the lower trebles. The increase of trebles does not mean it will be fatiguing but I do notice trebles play a bigger role in the Canon tuning this time around. The Canon has a clean tonal character overall due to the ample lower treble emphasis and details for trebles is also clean and detailed in nature. Its treble emphasis sees an increase of refinement in the way of better articulation and extension over the Aladdin treble. In general, while the treble is a safe level of emphasis. It is just at the cusp of standing out yet clearly defined and does not quite go over boundaries for trebles. Treble fans will respect the treble performance of the Canon as it clearly has more moderate treble in emphasis vs something it is more neutral in presentation especially with the treble switch on.

The treble switch introduces a bit more sparkle up top of the Canon sound as it seems to give a slight uptick in emphasis toward the upper trebles. The switches by the way works to bring about a very mild increase in the given regions of sound so nothing real drastic to the sound tuning. Most of the review here was done using the switches in the off position. I do like the extra sparkle of the treble switch with the mid switch turned on with warmer sounding sources, Shanling daps for example and depending on the genre the bass switch on as well. The enhancement to the sound tuning is not enough to change up the base sound character of the given regions to be completely different but for folks that want just a bit more here and there. It is certainly good to have that option.

Folks that felt the treble aspect of the Aladdin needed just a bit more in the way of presence and range the Canon is just this. Its treble character is energetic and clean at the same time and does not cross fatigue territory. The detailed sparkly treble end of the Canon is right there with some of the better lower mid fi category of earphones that I have heard and will be satisfactory for folks that have an affinity to get their full trebles on.

Mids
Mids of the Canon has a slightly more emphasized upper mid gain vs the Aladdin so this time around it has a touch more in the way of a vocal lift vs the Aladdins mid range, especially with the mid center switch on. Mids tonality is cleaner and more precise vs Aladdin's smoother tonal character and in that regard it gives a more energetic vibe to the sonic presentation. At the same time the better clarity aspects leads to more perceivable refined technical aspects to the Canon tuning. Canon sounds more precise in how it portrays sound. Both the Aladdin and Canon does sound layering amazingly well but Canon this time around adds better precision, imaging and overall is more forward sounding vs the Aladdins mids presentation which has a smoother, a bit more musical and neutral in tone.

Here is where the BAs chosen for the mids show a bit of that BA timbre with more of a rigid chiseled tonal character. On one hand its precision and imaging is outstanding but at the same time shows that it is clearly using BAs for the mids. Aladdin has a smoother tonal quality on how it portrays sound so some might like how the smoother more fluid mids on the Aladdins more so. The Canons most definitely have the upper hand in technicalities in comparison but don’t sound as cohesive at the same time.

It's more energetic cleaner sounding treble and mids performance is more different in presentation while presenting a warmer fuller mid bass performance using the same dynamic driver from the Aladdin. This was much less evident on the Aladdin since its mids were more smoother in tone and had that tight full low sub bass emphasis vs mid bass which clearly stayed away from the Mid of the Aladdin. The Canon has a cleaner more precise mid range but now has some warmer mid bass so that brings about a different contrasting tonal character in the regions.

Imaging, instrument separation, and details are all upgraded from the Aladdin presentation. The stage however seems to be roughly the same vs the Aladdin. Stage is well imaged in a sideways oval aspect to the sound. It has a bit more in the way of sound density for the mid bands and has very similar dimensions to the sound stage as the Aladdin. Showing good height, depth and a moderate wider stage. You can say it is a more energetic, more technical Aladdin sound but with that energy comes more emphasis from the treble, upper mids and bass end of the Canon. So it does enough to separate itself from the Aladdin altogether.

Bass
Why change a good thing. The 9.2mm Bio diaphragm makes a return from the Aladdin. I do believe the dynamic being used is the same dynamic. Its ability and tonal character is identical to the Aladdin but this time around gets a slight uplift in mid bass emphasis. I know some folks thought the Aladdin bass end was a bit on the tame or reserved at least the mid bass portion. Not so much for the Canon which sees an increase for the mid bass with just a good sub bass this time around from the Aladdin.

This bass dynamic does a great job reproducing the bass notes. Bio dynamics have always done bass well and the bass here is tight, punchy, well rounded, refined and defined. Subbass is roughly similar to the Aladdin here as well but I can tell the mid bass has greater emphasis this time but not so much to cast a shadow to the lower mids. Bass tonality is superb on these Yanyin earphones and since the Canon is colored a bit more for modern music more so than Aladdin's more even handed smoother balancing. Canon does a great job at being versatile for all sorts of different music requiring the low end to be dynamic and versatile while adding plenty of impact and a deep textured rumble. I am a huge fan of the dynamic drivers being used for Yanyins earphones. Going back to an actual older dynamic design the Bio dynamic was something that was first utilized and designed by Sony of all companies. Last time I checked, Sony folks are bassheads. Ya no other way to describe their earphones as all of them have bass involved so why not use one of the all time best dynamics that do bass. Canons bass is every bit as good as anything I have heard that need the low end for the cost so again. Why change a good thing.

In the end.
The Canon is yet another fine example of tuning mastery by the folks at Yanyin. It is more than just the added driver to help in the technical aspect of the Canon sound. It is the more enhanced tuning of the Canon that clearly shows a leap in dynamics for the Canons. The Canon has a very versatile tuning that will play great with all genres of music and clearly shows that it has the technical chops to be among the best earphones in the price range. These are for enthusiasts that want an exciting sound with a rangy vocal presentation. BA timbre aside the precision, the clearity, the instrument separation is all done amazingly with a sparkly detailed treble and a full punchy bass end on the Canons. You want an exciting full ranged sound. You will get that with the Canons. As always, I appreciate you all reading the review. Happy listening always.

Fiio FD7

A few surprises have come from Fiio this year and none more surprising than their new FD7. Their dynamic series has arguably been some of the best earphones the group have made and it seems Fiio has been hard at work to bring the enthusiast their highest end dynamic earphones in the new FD7. I am starting to see a certain design and sound philosophy of what Fiio has been doing with their dynamic series of earphones. Fiios house sound always includes some semblance of balance utilizing a variation of the V shaped signature, always includes bass for their tunings and best of all they seem to always try to improve on what they have established from their past designs. That my friends, is a good sign that they care about sound.

The FD5 was the first to use this new inhouse designed alloy metal semi open housing design that Fiio has used for 3 different earphones. Their more recent FD3, FD5 and now the FD7. One of the benefits of using the same housing design is that it actually cuts costs down at the production level for Fiio which trickles down to the consumer when purchasing a set for you. An established housing allows the designers to focus on driver composition and the tuning associated with that driver. When news broke out that Fiio will be producing a 12mm pure Beryllium dynamic earphone in the new FD7. Ok now we are talking about a higher level of earphone.

Pure Beryllium means it will have to be their absolute top performing earphone. With the cost of new flagship earphones skyrocketing in recent years. Anything called a flagship can raise a brow just how expensive earphones can get nowadays. The FD7 sells for the RP of $599 when available some might say it is too expensive, I beg to differ. I say it is more than competitive, it is a down right bargain for what you're getting if we are comparing apples to apples for the design vs other real pure Beryllium Dynamic earphones.

As an owner of other pure Beryllium dynamic flagships I can honestly say what Fiio has achieved with the FD7 has more than exceeded my expectations of them and let me tell you why.

The FD7 was provided for the purpose of a review from Fiio you can read up on what the FD7 is about here. The FD7 will be on sale on Amazon here and on their web site on Aliexpress here. The FD7 was burned in for an approximate 200 hours and was scrutinized by yours truly using my IBasso DX300Max, Fiio M15, Shanling M6 pro, M5s, Fiio K3 2021, IFI Black Label and Ibasso PB3 for amping.

A word about burn in.
I know some folks don’t do it for whatever reason but if you plan on spending this type of money. You are absolutely required to burn these in for a minimum of 100 hours, a good 200 hours to be complete. Here is the reason why. These are using pure Beryllium dynamics. Yes, the same type of Beryllium others such as Dunu and Final use on their flagships. To me it is clear, if you plan on buying the FD7 and don't do burn in cus you're cool like that. I cannot recommend the FD7 for you. Because these will sound not so great out of the box. In fact truth be told, I felt the FD5 had a better sound in comparison. Of course that was out of the box. They sounded compressed, with a narrower stage and bright with not so good dynamics on open listen. This all changes with burn in. If you're the type that will have nothing to do with burn in. Skip this read and skip on the FD7 cus you're not going to hear from the FD7 as I am describing them on my review here. You're better off buying the FD3 and saving yourself $500.

Package and build
What you get with your hard earned cash is a much larger variety of tips than what most provide, 15 pairs to be exact, a mmcx disconnect tool, a worthy case to carry around your precious and best of all a 4 core monocrystalline pure silver cable with Fiios version of their modular plug connectors in all balanced formats and single ended. I have to admit we get spoiled a bit by Fiio with their packaging. What they provide here shows great care and attention to detail in their products. The tip variety alone is heads and shoulders above what you get with most IEMs. Something I can’t say is provided with a majority of IEM manufacturers. The shells are exactly the same dimensions and shape of their previous FD3 and FD5. A highly customized barrel design but is semi open at the back grills of the FD7. The housing is a solid all alloy metal housing strong yet not so heavy in the ears. The build should provide a lifetime of listening as long as you don’t treat the ear pieces with kid gloves.

A semi open design means it will let the Beryllium dynamic drivers here breathe which gives you a more open type sound adding to a larger stage in the process but the negative there is that these will not isolate like an all resin design or a closed design. Its passive isolation is only average here at best. I would say even a bit below average, but the trade off is the sound that I will be describing.

The mmcx modular cable that comes with the FD7 this time was clearly thought out as a design choice for the FD7. The cable enhances the technical aspects of the FD7. You can use a pure silver cable on an earphone that has balancing as a fundamental tuning design and this ends up enhancing that sound overall. This cable enhances the stage, details, imaging and tone of the new FD7 to sound its absolute best.. But….Only after burn in.

Folks that prefer their FD7 to have a slight warmth in tone should try an aftermarket higher end pure copper cable or a mix thereof to get both type of cable effects. For now just know the cables Fiio provides synergizes well with the FD7. A bit of a history on cable matchups. I have been the most staunch critic when it comes to cable matchups and this time around they matched up the cable perfectly fine. Props to Fiio for paying attention to this one very important aspect of the package and sound design.

How do they sound?
Overall tuning of the FD7 has their best balanced mildy v shaped tuning the group has provided for their dynamic earphones to date. It is not leaning toward neutrality or is the tuning overly colored but is somewhere in the middle which bodes well for actually listening to music. Supremely musical yet highly technical, it includes 3 different sized nozzles with varying effects on the treble emphasis to tweak the balancing a bit for you. Instead of using filter meshes on the tips of the nozzles the thickness or the diameter of the nozzles provides slight degrees of treble emphasis for the sound balancing and how you like your trebles.

This aspect is a bit like going from using a narrow earphone tip vs a wider open tip and how that opens up the trebles which affects the overall balancing and how you hear the trebles. The largest nozzle has the most open sound and the most treble emphasis but even with the largest nozzle the sound still has good fundamental balancing. Having an option to slightly tweak the treble end via nozzle changes is not an option on most earphones so this is a nice little advantage for the FD7.

The medium nozzle is the default nozzle and it provides the best balanced tuning and the narrow nozzle at around 3mm wide provides more focused sound for the bass end of the FD7 with slightly lesser treble emphasis over the larger nozzles. I found that you will have to resort to using some aftermarket tips for the narrow nozzle as the included triple flange tips are not ideal for the narrow nozzle for me anyways. I got great results using Final E tips and or Sony hybrids with the narrow nozzle.

The tuning of the FD7 does not have a larger treble spike in the trebles which allows for a much better even handed balancing for the mids and bass to play equal parts for the FD7 tuning. Not to mention it will be ideal for longer every day listening sessions.


Trebles
FD7 trebles have the most emphasis at the lower treble region. Treble emphasis is very much linear toward the mid bands and does not seem to stick out with the use of some type of overexaggerated treble spike. It has the safest treble tuning out of the recent Fiio earphone offerings and sees a gradual treble de emphasis toward upper trebles. No question the FD7 has good treble extension reaching an astounding 40Khz on graph provided by Fiio and on the opposite end the bass reaching to 10 hz. It will be a matter of just how much treble you prefer but the largest nozzle does provide a slight uptick in treble emphasis, providing the absolute widest stage possible. This review was mostly done using their default balanced nozzle.

A safe treble tuning even with the use of their widest nozzle means it has enough emphasis to sound complete but does not stand on its own. In doing such a tuning means the FD7 is resolving and refined enough but at the same time will not fatigue you with a bright treble emphasis. Treble transients and details are very good showing plenty of micro accents to complete and refine a treble end. Again treble extension and emphasis is ideal here and the fact that each nozzle has a varying degree of how you like your trebles means much like their previous FD series of earphones. The FD7 treble emphasis is tunable. The truly resolving aspect of the FD7 means with every change in the sound chain of the FD7, be it a new cable or source, it is advisable to re-explore tips and the different nozzles to dial down the FD7 sound to your liking.

The treble this time some might argue, might be somewhat subdued in emphasis for upper trebles. It is not the airiest of trebles I have heard but very middle ground as far as air, presence and detail. The treble plays a fine line of being resolving and detailed enough but just lacking that last bit of shimmer due to the upper treble slope. I am more nit picking here more than anything the pure Beryllium dynamic being used for the FD7 is clearly capable for all the sound ranges and it shows just how resolving it is in the treble region. In my opinion the trebles of the FD7 are easily the best tuned and refined out of all their previous dynamics.

Treble tuning has a mild roll off which results in the trebles to be non fatiguing yet detailed which is what you want to hear albums in their entirety. The crisp, clean detailed trebles of the FD7 are presented to enhance your music and not to be the star of the show. This is a refreshing change for Fiio from their previous FH5s and FD5 treble tunings. Fiio is letting the natural ability of their Beryllium dynamic handle that treble response. This in turn makes for a satisfying, easier even keeled listening for the trebles of the FD7 yet very satisfactory at the same time.

Mids
Mids of the FD7 is where the FD7 is every bit as good as anything I have heard at the flagship level. There is no mistaking the resolving ability of pure Beryllium for the FD7. The mids expand and take over your senses. Mids for the FD7 has a modest pinna gain so nothing that artificially enhances the mid range to have an unnatural tonal character or anything that is unduly bright. The FD7s after burn in start to sound organic and rich with details that you would expect from a highly resolving monitor. I remember there were some rumblings of how the FD5s lower mid range was not full enough for some. No issues with the FD7 this time. Again it all comes down to that balancing aspect of the tuning. Mids final sound is superb in detail and timbrally accurate. It is the type of mids you can get lost in. Music sounds rich, dense, organic, precise and fantastically dimensional all the same time.

Macro detailing for the mids are superb. Micro detailing comes easy. This is where I feel burn in has really opened up the sound. Mids cover a large spacious stage on the FD7 and you know you're dealing with some of the best mids Fiio has thrown out on anything they have made. The FD7 presents with a full on rangy vocal performance and instruments with a timbre that will leave you wanting to hear more. Its richness makes everything sound so awesomely realized that you keep on wanting to listen till the wee hours at night. Mids have superior imaging for dynamics, and have an organic smoothness with a precision that lesser dynamics just can’t touch. It gets you into your music with a very musical yet clearly technical sound performance which is the ultimate sign that you're dealing with something special. This is most definitely not your garden variety dynamic earphone in sound. Busy tracks are not a thing for the FD7 as the sound has such good resolve and control. Everything you throw at the FD7, its tight sound will portray how it was meant to be.

The mids are the heart of your music and if you don’t get timbre, tone and space right for the mids you might as well quit. FD7 is clearly playing on a different level for the mids. It is exactly how you would expect a highly resolving Beryllium dynamic should sound for the mids and it delivers on all fronts. Your music will sound more nuanced, more cohesive and more dynamic all with one of the best spacious presentations you can hear for an earphone. Win win and more win here.

Bass
Bass end of the FD7 is moderate in impact and emphasis but make no mistake this is a pure Beryllium bass. Even dynamics that are just coated in Beryllium does not struggle much if at all for the low end. The FD7s bass is sheer control with a tightness you would expect from a highly magnetized pure Beryllium driver. That detailed nature of pure Beryllium for bass means bass is tight, speedy, punchy and supremely detailed when called for. When it comes to sub bass it will rumble with an ideal texture you can only get from pure Beryllium. Fiio didn’t go overboard on the bass aspect for the FD7 as that would ruin the lovely mids they produce. No off bass tonality, no flabbiness, no bloaty mess and certainly no weak limp neutral bass either. It isn’t the end all authority on bass but the bass is not taking a 2nd or even 3rd place in the sound tuning. As detailed as the treble and mids are, the bass end has equal definition.

The low end rumble will impress bass guys with just how good the bass responds to the low notes. Bass is supremely gifted and talented. Bass digs deep and I can believe it reaches 10hz. I threw on the bass switches from the IFI Black label and yes we are talking basshead levels now and it takes the bass enhancement like a champ. The one of many aspects I love about the FD7 is just how controlled the entire sound is. You want control for your speedy bass, You want that bass punch to hit you just right, you want that deep hard hitting rumble when called for all done with high levels of bass detail. This makes the FD7 versatile for a huge variety of music and is most certainly not just a one trick pony. It is just as great for something like Orchestral scores to 90s hip hop to modern pop, jazz, metal, EDM to folk music.

Technicalities
There is no mistaking the quality of the FD7 and the sheer resolving nature of pure Beryllium. Stage has a natural expansion. I say natural because there is no treble spike and a recessed lower mids here to make it seem like you're hearing a larger stage. Nope this time around the large wider well imaged stage is due to that pure Beryllium sound. If you're wondering if the cheaper earphone you're listening to that claims it is using a Beryllium dynamic. If it has a narrow in your head stage. Guess what, It is probably not. There is a certain spacial, ambient quality to pure Beryllium I noticed that is unmistakable.

The FD7 reproduces the ambient spacious nature of the recorded track and never have I heard a true Beryllium dynamic earphone have a confined stage. The FD7 stage is so well proportioned with good height and an ideal depth, sometimes awe inspiring width for earphones. It helps with that outstanding imaging and a dense fullness that the FD7 has. Sound separation is yet another aspect that pure Beryllium shows. It has a superior background black space that coated dynamics don’t seem to do as well. Its detail retrieval is ideal and best of all some of the best timbres I have heard for natural instruments on just about any earphone.

So what do you get when you have superior transient response, superior dynamics, superior imaging, superior timbre, superior sound stage, superior deep rumbly bass and a superior richer organic tone? You get Fiios best sounding earphones to date. This is the reason why I can argue the price tag is actually a great value here. You don’t have to worry about coherency issues, wonky treble spikes, too much upper mids, too little lower mids, an over bloated bass, weak technicalities or too narrow a stage. None of that applies to the FD7.

In the end.
You want and expect a highly refined product from a trusted manufacturer. That is what the FD7 is all about. The quality, the workmanship, the value and most of all the sound. The FD7 delivers in such a huge way. It is gonna be difficult for them to top this one, as a huge fan of dynamic earphones, Fiio has just thrown down their best effort to date and the good news there is that it doesn't cost 3X the price to get this sound. It's got all parts of the sound firing off on all cylinders with a technical aspect that is clearly flagship level.

You own a small cashe of IEMs but have you ever heard a true pure Beryllium dynamic earphone? These are more than worthy of your consideration, I see these being the most affordable true Beryllium dynamic in the market today with no sacrifices for the sound. That, my friends, is substantial. These aren’t just competing with other earphones at the price, they are competing with some of the best the industry has to offer… But.. only if you burn them in.

Thanks for taking the time to read. Go get yourself a FD7 and be happy you got a true Beryllium dynamic earphone. One last message for you. Due to the 50 ohm impedance they do need some juice to really show you what they are all about. Your more powerful sources, DAPs and amps apply here. Good stuff in= amazing Beryllium sound out.

NiceHCK Topguy

NiceHCK has released two impressive dynamic offerings as of late their Beryllium dynamic earphones the Lofty and more recently the new Topguy.

Topguy uses a very similar all metal CNC machined aluminum alloy housing design of their counterpart of the Loftys both sets in 2 pins. Similar medium size and shape but where the Topguy is different is that it uses different colored plates in 4 different designs, Red, Blue, Green all in a marble swirl pattern and a darker carbon fiber plate.

Where the Topguy differs from their Loftys is the tuning for one but is using a highly resolving 10mm Titanium magnesium alloy dynamic vs a 10.1mm supposedly, pure beryllium dynamic for their Loftys.

The box of the Topguy contains some real goodies. A customized 6N OCC higher end copper cables finished with a darker blue nylon sleeving in 4.4mm. A nicer medium sized rectangular clamshell type case and two sets of usable silicone tips. A bit of a warning about the included cables. Nylon sleeved cables are kind of a hit or miss.

Some of the highest end cables in the industry uses this design as it covers and protects the cables from possible issues that can happen to cables in general but this is the first time I can recall the throw-in cable comes in 4.4mm balanced as a default, to add to that NiceHCK threw in a 3.5mm and a 2.5mm adapter to use on top of the 4.4 for use as extender plugs. This works but makes the connector 2X longer than it has to be coming out of your sources. This is what I mean.

So not ideal if you only have 2.5mm or even 3.5mm out of your players. In general I am not a fan of these extender connectors as it will stick out extensively from your players' female ports especially if you only have a 2.5mm balanced out and no 4.4mm out for balanced. Pigtail adapters are better for this use but that is just my opinion. Because if you're the fumbling type I can see a scenario where the jack can be damaged due to a longer connection to your player. Just a warning. If you plan on just using the Topguy in 4.4 balanced always then you have nothing to worry about.

The actual cable itself is a 6N OCC higher end copper cables that matches up with the sonic abilities of the Topguy. These are the same cables that they used for their Loftys. Which was not really a great match up for them. Lofty has a big bold musical warm sound tuning. Copper is the last type of cable you want to match up with a big bass warm sound signature. Just my opinion but NiceHCK would have done better using their 8 cored pure silver cables to match up with the Loftys which actually costs less than the included cable. Unlike the Lofty pair up, these cables for the Topguy matches up perfectly due to the better balanced and more detailed tuning of the Topguy.

In any case I am sure you own different cables you can try on them for your use case scenarios but that will all be a matter of how you see it. What matters here is that the Topguy is a good name for what these earphones represent for the NiceHCK crew. These are considered their flagship dynamic IEMs and it has to be their best sounding dynamic earphones to date.

Topguy was provided by Jim of NiceHCK for review purposes and you can buy a set for you here. The Topguy has 150 hours of burn in and was tested using my various players. IBasso DX300Max, Fiio M15, Shanling M6pro, M5s, M3s with my IFI blacklabel and Fiio K3 for amping.

Sound signature of the Topguy is a vocal forward upper mid emphasized slight v signature but with mostly a balanced sound tuning. Its balancing is better than their previous Lofty resulting in better technicalities, better clarity, stage, instrument separation, imaging and perceivable details. It has less upper mid emphasis and less bass from their Lofty design which ends up balancing out the sound with better treble presence in the process.

Trebles of the Topguy is tuned surprisingly very similar to the Lofty treble tuning, however with 2 very key differences from the Lofty tuning. Topguy has less upper mid pinna gain and less bass emphasis. The main source of the warmth of the Lofty tuning was that It had an uneven treble tuning that was missing a lot of the upper trebles with a big roll off in the region in conjunction with a bigger bass emphasis, this tuning made them sound a bit too warm. Lacked a lot of finesse, treble articulation, presence and extension for trebles in the process.

The treble tuning of the Topguy is very similar in tuning to the Lofty as it also shows large anti fatigue dips in mid and upper trebles resulting in higher pitched treble notes that are much less discernible much like the Loftys. However this time around trebles are pushed more forward in the balancing due to the less emphasis in the other regions. This modest rebalancing for the Topguy ends up evening out the sound to a much better degree than the overly warm Lofty tuning. Not only does the overall presentation have a much more agreeable natural tonal character but it also has clarity as a sound descriptor. Which the Lofty was lacking in.

Trebles has more emphasis on the lower trebles and tapers off toward the upper trebles with large dips at around 6-7Khz and another around 10-12Khz. Trebles are a touch muted as a result with not too great of articulation, sparkle or air. If not hearing critically this sloped treble presentation is ok as this allows for longer term listening and is a safe treble tuning.

For the most part you won’t hear the deemphasized parts of the treble for about 95% of your tunes. The upper mid pinna gain is roughly 10db which gives good presence for the mids and in conjunction with a moderate bass emphasis, opens up the sound for better technicalities like stage, detail, sound separation and much improved imaging. Mids has a slight vocal forwardness in the process and has good mids timbre and tonality for vocal and instrumental performances.

Mids show a good sense of resolve and sounds rangy with a proper layering. The Topguys mids performance is very good with a tonally accurate vocal forward presentation and here is where the Topguy is tops in what it does. Topguy is a slightly mids focused sounding IEM as it seems the treble and the bass end was more tuned to play supporting roles vs being featured. Mids tonality this time has clarity and a transparency that is difficult for an overly warm sounding earphone to present in the Loftys. For folks that love them some vocal detail and range. The Topguy sounds best for genres where vocals are the main focus for both female an male performances. NiceHCK has always tuned their mids with good presence and here is where they have tuned the mids for optimal definition and immersive layering of the sound.

Bass sees lesser emphasis vs the more fun and warmer tuning of the Lofty and while it sees only a moderate amount of bass emphasis. It makes up for it with a more accurate, speedy, tight and detailed bass end. Bass is tuned to be accurate in presentation but does not lack in details or reach, seeing about 6dbs of emphasis in the region. This is clearly enough to balance out the sound tuning and makes it sound complete.

Topguy has more mid bass than sub bass but with good focus for bass. The resolving nature of the dynamic drivers being used is evident for the bass. Its speed is greater than the Lofty and has a much tighter yet punchy presentation. Subass is surprisingly capable and also has good definition and texture for the sub lows. Bass is not as rolled off as the treble end here so know you will get decent rumble when called for but for folks that are looking for a bigger bassier warmer tuned IEM that is what the Loftys are vs the Topguys more balanced approach.

The better balancing of the Topguy means it will show better technicalities. Sound stage is wider than the similarly designed Lofty to my ears, overall it shows a moderately wide stage for earphones, one of NiceHCKs better imaging wider staged tunings since their BA iems HK6. Topguys resolving nature shows good instrument separation, imaging and details are done at a competent level given the price range. Its tonal character is better balanced this time around and sounds much more natural with a good body of note vs anything overy thick or thin, which bodes better for more versatility for music.

The Topguy is a nice middle ground of a technically proficient, well balanced and has enough musicality to make it a well realized dynamic earphone. I would have liked just a bit less upper mid lift by about 2dbs and with that same amount added for the dips in the mid to upper highs of the Topguy to really show their resolving angle. As they are, it has a safe treble and bass tuning that makes them easier to listen to which is not a bad thing. It is good to see NiceHCK make newer dynamic earphones. These earphones are most definitely enjoyable to listen to and clearly show NiceHCKs house tuning and ability.

Overall I would say the Topguy will be worthy of your collection. The sound is better balanced this time around and it shows clear advantages from such a tuning. For enthusiasts that like them some vocal forward mids with good overall detail and imaging the Topguy is clearly one of NiceHCKs best sounding earphones in the recent year. It has a versatility in its tuning and a surprising level of resolve. One thing I admire about NiceHCK is they keep on keeping on and seem to continue to get better at their craft. I appreciate you taking the time to read. Happy listening always.

LZ A2pro

LZ has been making new earphones for 2021 as it was surprising to hear they made a revision of one of their early notable earphones, the LZ A2. I was asked by NiceHCK to review this set for them and LZ and so here I am with my report of the A2Pro.

Standardly disclaimers: I would like to thank NiceHCK for the review sample of the LZ A2pro. The A2pros have been burned in for a week and were tested using my daps. IBasso DX300Max, Fiio M15, M5s, M3s, Sony ZX300, IFI Black Label and IBasso PB3 for amping. If you feel the need to get yourself a nice looking A2pro you can find out more about them and purchase a set here.

I am so used to seeing LZ made earphones with some type of tuning options but not this time around. The A2pro is an all resin semi custom design utilizing an SAE dynamic for bass + 1 dual Knowles BA for the mids and treble. The 2 pin design also sees a very nicely thought out color scheme in a brighter yellow opalesque color for the shell and a golden/ copper hybrid 8 core cable. To be specific a hybrid 4N OFC copper and silver plated OFC copper mixed cable in single ended that matches the color scheme nicely for the A2pro.

It is a very nice looking eye-catching design, it has to be arguably one of their better looking IEMs LZ has made. Does the sound live up to the looks? Let's find out.

The build is certainly solid and the physical size of the universal design is medium in size and comes with a good looking 8 cored hybrid cable. The Accessories are a minimum as you would expect. LZ canister case, 2 sets of silicones round out what you get.

The sound design of the A2pro is literally the most W shaped design I have ever heard. While most earphones nowadays include a pinna gain around 2.5 to 3khz the A2pro has a rather large spike at 2Khz. A unique design? It is certainly interesting that LZ has tuned these with this emphasis in the 2khz region. How it looks vs how it sounds yields an interesting sound that will be a hit or miss among enthusiasts. It certainly has an upper mids emphasis but an unconventional dip at the 3 Khz range with less lower trebles with more upper trebles emphasis. Then they added a very enthusiastic roughly 12dbs of bass emphasis.

The uneven mids and treble emphasis causes a slight brightness on some tunes that hit that 2khz peak and can sound warm at the same time due to the big bass causing a warmer tone for the lower half of the mids. Listening critically yields an unbalanced tonal quality for the mids. Overall the tone is slightly warm especially when the music is focussed more for the lower half of the sound tuning and male vocals mostly sound good. Then when drums and percussion plays you can hear the high hat notes that have some extra sizzle due to most of the treble emphasis being in the upper trebles. As strange as this tuning might be, in reality it is not as bad as you would imagine but at the same time not really ideal either.

This unconventional tuning sees a bit of the opposite of the norm where instead of the lower trebles seeing the most emphasis for treble it is the upper trebles that has more emphasis. This works to add a bit of sizzle and nuance for the trebles with a bit of a separation from the mids. Treble is for the most part clean with that added sizzle but is not tuned to fatigue with too much in the way of emphasis hence the lowering of the low to mid trebles in emphasis. It works for this tuning to offset the warmth of the bass but shows how uneven the tuning is. Treble detail is ok but not the most refined of trebles. No mistaking BA timbre for trebles it does show good sparkle and definition for trebles but again not the most even of treble tunings.

Its mids pushed at 2 khz seems to form a taller than average stage for sound but lacks in depth. I noticed the width of stage to be more intimate vs being spacious and or particularly wide. The sound stage is always in your head and not outside of it, possibly due to the upper mids spike. Things sound up close, which is not all bad especially when you're into your vocal performances but larger sound tracks just don’t sound right due to the limitations of stage on the A2pro with big bass to make things even more cozy.

A2pros technicalities is at best average in the price range for hybrids with a bit more intimate stage in presentation but does show good height in how the sound projects but not much in the way of depth. Its instrument separation and layering is average for hybrids if not a touch confined sounding, imaging is good and timbre is most definitely BA. It seems LZ tuned the A2pros to have more height or verticality vs being spacious or wide for sound. This kinda works and kinda doesn't. Listening to Earth Wind and Fire. September.


This track is very dynamic in presentation and shows the big contrast of highs and lows and while it is listenable the trumpets, bass guitar and high vocal ranges all seem to stick out a bit more so than it usually does. This is a fine example of how lopsided the tuning is for the A2 pro.

EDM, Pop and more synthesized modern music seems to fare much better than anything requiring horns or natural instruments. I can tell these were tuned for the younger pop trendy synthetic music in mind and in that way it does, leaning more toward a younger esthetic as far as the way they look and the way they sound.

Bass of the A2pro is fairly stout from mid to sub bass which has equal emphasis and for the most part is controlled but due to the sheer amount of emphasis we get a warm overall tuning of the A2pros. Bass is not particularly tight or does it show a high level of definition. Which for its price range is ok. Bass does have some good power here so for folks that are not too particular about their bass quality. The bass does its job well enough.

I am not expecting world class bass presentation here and believe it or not the bass is what makes the A2pros spiky 2 khz tuning work. The added warmth of the lower registers seems to offset the spike to have some semblance of balance. However this highly colored presentation means the stage suffers from a strange taller than deeper stage that shows its limitations due to the higher coloration for the A2 pro. Its bass impact can sound a touch wooly in presentation and its sub bass digs deep but is not as textured as it could be.

Overall it is not all doom and gloom for the A2pro. While it almost sounds like an out of the box thinking experimental tuning, LZ is trying to see if they can highlight all 3 parts of the sound spectrum to work with each other. Again it kinda does and it kinda doesn't. It does present a musical sound signature with bold bass, upper mids, and enough treble sparkle to highlight details for the music. For being so drastically tuned actually has some coherency and a fluidity to the sound that is better than their graph would indicate. Its treble is for the most part clean and has good detail and it has what initially seems to be a full body of sound with warmth as a basis for its tonality which makes it lean toward a smooth and musically tuned earphone.
Despite its shortcomings and limitations they can be enjoyable to listen to if you don’t take the sound too seriously and of course you have to be OK with a larger bass emphasis which casts a warm shadow for the sound. 2khz spike here is not as bad as you would figure. On most tracks you really have to listen for the unevenness of the mids to hear what is going on with that so it isn’t a big a deal as it may seem. It's a fun intimate sound signature and if you take it for just that. It delivers on what it does.

Most earphones have coloration for their tunings, its just that the A2pros have more of it. Sometimes earphones are not all about detail and refinements. Your music has bass in it the A2pro will highlight any bass emphasis from any track and get you up close to what you’re listening to. Its warm tonality with sparkly treble is inviting and can get you into your music. The A2pros I believe were designed with casual listening in mind and that is where they sound its best. As always thanks for reading and happy listening always.

Penon Golden Armour

Gold for earphone cables means coloration. I don’t mean that in a literal sense but more for the effects of the cable when connected to your favorite earphones. The mad alchemists of Penon has created some super high end cables for the hard core enthusiast that want every tiny bit of nuanced detail from their earphones.

I sent a message to Penon at one point when I was doing a cable review I believe it was their GD849 cables. Which is a 18K gold plated pure copper cable I did a review for here. Those most definitely throws out unique sound properties and since copper was used for the base material the cost on them are an affordable $169. These and the ISN GC4 cables you can read about here. Both utilize different levels of gold plating and both have some similarities in what they do for earphone sound but different at the same time. That was when I thought, how would a pure gold plating sound on a pure silver cable? At the time I knew Penon had some gold plated cables but I had no idea they actually had exactly this in the Golden Armour. Being a fan of what gold does for sound I naturally had to follow suit and inquire about their Golden Armour.

Yanyin Canon w Golden Armour

From what I understand the Golden Armour is a limited edition cable. It is limited, literally a few of these cables exist so, I had to grab me a set for my ever growing cable collection. I would like to give a hearty thank you and a shout out to Penon audio. I was given a reviewers discount for the Golden armor. You can read more about these cables and or purchase a set for you here.

Most enthusiasts know what a good pure silver cable can do for your earphones. And not all pure silver cables are the same. Silver IEM cables are all about enhancing technicalities for the host earphones. You have an earphone that sounds a bit too warm with too much bass? Try a pure silver cable. You have a muddy sounding earphone? Try a pure silver cable. Treble on your set is rolled off a bit too much? You want to maximize the detail of your earphones? Give pure silver cables a try. No one will argue when it comes to sound, what pure silver does. A good pure silver cable enhances stage perception, transients, detail, imaging with a tighter note from bass to treble which also leads to better clarity as a result.

It will depend on the design aspect in the way of core count and thickness material aspect but pure silver can add body to a host sound. Best example of this would be the ISN AG8 you can read about here. The sound shaping aspects of pure silver are universal in what a pure silver cable does and then there is gold. I suppose adding a strand or two of the stuff would bring the cost of such a cable to be quite expensive and there are cables that use gold strands but the next best thing would be a pure gold plating on silver. Yes my friends we have now entered money is no object territory.

Gold adds a very distinct sound coloration to your host earphone sonics. Adding a richer darker silkier tone vs the brighter cleaner sound chiseling effect of pure silver. Gold does not seem to enhance the stage like silver and gold does not enhance note weight and body of sound quite like pure copper.

Tansio Mirai Sparks w Golden Armour

So what happens if you add a pure 24k gold plating on a higher end 8 core pure silver cable? Yes it will be pricey for one but it will yield the benefits of both materials and that is what you are getting with the Golden Armour.

The base cores of the Golden Armor is pure silver so the base of the sound shaping ability aligns with what a silver cable does but wait before you say why not just buy a cheaper pure silver cable then? Well cus gold was what pure silver needs to make it more higher end. Gold plating shapes each note of what you're hearing with more distinction. A more rounded defined note. The stage, the detail enhancing ability of pure silver is intact but now with a darker more silker hue to the sound that gives quite the sound shaping combo. Gold plated copper cables are niche cables meaning they are not a versatile cable. These types of cables exist to add a bit of flavoring to neutral linear sounding earphones.

This changes with the Golden Armour as these have to be the most versatile gold plated cables as it now uses pure silver for the base sound tuning.

Trebles sound just as clean and well defined as pure silver but with differences between a pure silver cable and the Golden Armor presentation. Your treble has better roundness which ends up enhancing imaging. It gives the same articulation of pure silver but with a slightly heavier note weight due to the darker hue of gold. What was just a brighter and clean sounding treble of pure silver gets a slight silkier, more refined, richer tone presented by the gold plating.

Earphones that use BAs for the mids and treble will most definitely benefit from the Golden Armour as it rounds up notes and adds a slight darkening effect to counter the clean leaning effect of pure silver. Going back and forth from an 8 core pure silver cable to the Golden Armour the stage enhancing effect of the Golden Armour is greater with a fuller, more defined sound. Better sound separation, better depth and head room. You get an instant uptick in sound quality.

ISN EST50 w Golden Armour

Bass is also affected as that roundness of note with a darker tone enhances the low end definition and while bass ends up being as tight as it will get using a cable, it also does not thin out a full bass note. Bass benefits here as silver has an added side effect to leaning out bass from earphones sound hence sounding tighter faster with a wider stage using pure silver. Gold was the solution for the leaning effect of silver. You get the full monty bass that has an even better definition from using the Golden Armour. Golden Armour does not seem to thicken or give fullness of sound like a gold plated copper cable does but more so sound expansion with that richer hue which helps with sound separation and timbre of an otherwise anemic sounding BA timbre.

Another aspect I appreciate about the Golden Armour is that it does not change the base tuning to be something it isn’t and this is the reason why it is showing to be a much more versatile cable vs just a pure silver and most definitely more versatile vs a gold plated copper cable.

You get that wider deeper stage and technical enhancing effect with the addition of a richer hue which increases the imaging effect of earphones it is attached to. What that pure gold plating does for a sound with a base pure silver makes for a nice combo for an exotic cable that ends up being great on just about any earphone. The only catch to such a cable is that these cables are not going to be cheap in any way. Look at it this way I just saw a listing for a Gold plated silver cable that goes for $3999. If you have that kind of money to spend on a gold plated silver cable than the Golden Armours price tag of $699 is a relative bargain.

Earphones that clearly have BA timbre for mids and treble, earphones that sound a bit dry in presentation with a narrow more intimate stage. The Golden Armour will match up extremely well with such earphones. I tried the Golden armour on a $47 GK10 earphone with great results. It makes the GK10 sound like a much higher end earphone, no exaggeration. Even on earphones that sound great the Golden Armour will make them sound even more higher end.

Golden Armour enhances everything I attach it to which is what you want in a higher end cable. In that regard due to its versatility I can highly recommend the Golden Armour and what it does for your sound chain.

NF audio NE4 w Golden Armour

Up till now all the gold plated cables I have reviewed and used in the past are very niche cables that should be bought for a very specific type of sound. The Golden Armour here is the first gold plated cable I feel can enhance any earphone it is attached to. The cable clearly is playing on a higher level when it comes to sound shaping via cables. It gives you all the benefits of a thicker full bodied pure silver sound characteristics while adding a richer nuanced tone to any earphone it is attached to rounding notes and improving imaging along the way.

If that sounds like your earphone could benefit from such a cable. I say go for it. You only live once. Might as well try out a 24K gold plated 8 core pure silver cable that enhances everything about your earphones sonics to a higher degree. As always, thanks for taking the time to read. Happy listening and yes gold is what's for cables. There is a reason why TOTL cables in the industry use gold plating. Why pay $3999 when you can pay $699 and save $3,300 and buy a TOTL earphone and a nice DAP to go with it. Or even better yet that is a good down payment on a nice car you been wanting to drive.

See now that's a better way to spend your $3999 don’t you think?

Penon Legend w Golden Armour

A bit of a bonus. If you can't afford the flagship Penon Storm cables, the Golden Armour will give you something that will be in the middle ground of the Storm and the base pure silver cables the Flows. While the body of sound is not exactly what the Storm cables do the Golden Armour is more closer to what the Flows do but with adding that gold plating for the sound. It makes the Legends sound even better than the stock Flows but don't cost as much as the Storms.

Fiio E10K-TC

Fiio E10 devices have been a popular entry level dac/amp since 2011. These smaller form sound cards are an easy upgrade on your onboard computer sound and much like Fiio does for all their products they saw it fit to introduce a new upgraded E10 in the E10K-TC edition. You feel the need to get you an upgraded E10 from Fiio you can buy one on their Aliexpress page here. I would like to thank Fiio for the review sample of the E10K-TC. It was provided so I can game and listen to music all day and night.

It was a very early version of this particular dac/amp that helped bring Fiio into the mainstream as a hardware maker/ audio designers before they ventured into making daps and earphones. The new variant of the E10 sees various improvements as follows. Supporting up to 384KHz/32bit sampling rate for USB decoding, and 192kHz/24bit for coaxial output. Upgraded XMOS chip XUF208 with better decoding and compatibility, USB audio class is upgraded to 2.0. PCM upgraded from 96kHz/24bit to 32bit/384kHz. Coaxial output has been upgraded from 96kHz/24bit to 192kHz/24bit. The new E10K-TC is using a PCM5102 with use of a LMH6643 amplification chip. The new E10K also has low and high gain on a switch out back, and another switch up front with 6dbs of bass boost on tap.

The all metal aluminum alloy shell is a solid smaller rectangular shape with ease of function and use in mind. Its larger volume knob w RGB lights indicates the type of music files used is a nice aesthetically pleasing and functional touch on the design. The E10K shares a lot of its design elements with its more advanced brother the K3 but the E10K only comes in single ended for headphone or earphone use. To be clear the E10K-TC is an entry level dac/amp with the idea of ease of function for the computer user that wants better sound from their computers.

The simple plug and play nature of the E10K-TC means it is easy to pack up in your computer bag on your travels and is an absolute must for the computer enthusiasts that enjoys the occasional media or music from your computers. Use case scenarios are as follows, it will obviously improve your computer sound to this external sound card with a good amount of usable amplification with added dynamics and sound quality for your headphones. Its output specs are 200mW @ 32Ohm. It is recommended to play 16-150 ohms headphones and earphones but I have no issue using it with 250 Ohm Amiron Homes with more volume to spare. It can be hooked up to your power amps, TVs and your speakers. It does not include a balanced out but keeps it simple using a 3.5mm single ended out. For folks that prefer using your phones via balanced out, Fiios new K3 provides a 2.5mm balanced out, you can read about them here.

For me it is all about enhancing my personal entertainment via computers with better sound. I recently bought a high end gaming laptop an ASUS 17.4inch ROG STRIX laptop with an RTX3080 graphic unit. Yes I am a gamer and also happen to be into my audio at the same time. What better way to get the best sounding audio from my laptop than using an external card to get that sound. As good as my new laptop is, Its sound has much to be desired. Let's be real, when you buy a laptop like this you're not looking for the best audio the laptop can throw out, not to mention beyond the software upgrade for the sound, laptops like these are made for sheer speed.

Hence the need for a better sound card to go along with the media laptop. Getting better audio for my laptop is as easy as plugging in the E10K-TC to one of the USB sockets on my laptop as the onboard stuff just doesn't cut it for me. Once you hear your media through the E10K-TC you will never go back to the onboard flat, no dynamic sound quality. It is as simple as that.

The sound of the E10K-TC provides an excellent clean low noise floor so you can make out the details of a dynamic sound track going on for your movie watching, gaming and or music listening. Sound signature is neutral with a very good even balancing of the 3 regions of sound in tuning. I noticed the sound is not as dynamic or as technical sounding as its more expensive K3 brother but it has a clean transparent full range sound and has very good tonal and accurate imaging for the sound presentation. The E10K being an intro model does a great job at displaying the rangy tonal characters of music and media and has plenty of clean amplification for your moderately difficult to drive cans up to 250 Ohms.

The sound overall for an entry level device is very good and you're getting a marked improvement over the onboard sound of your laptops and computers. The PCM5102 has a transparent linear sound signature but it is its USB sourced amplification stage that is powerful enough for much bigger dynamics crucial for computer media.

It has a complete sound tuning from the lowest of bass notes to treble notes that sounds a touch smoother than their K3 counterpart but not as dynamic with a bit less stage presence. Its bass is not as fully fleshed out as the K3 but provides good punch for the mid bass, especially with the bass switch on. Bass switch works well to give your sound a moderate bump in bass I believe it is 6dbs. You would figure this would add some big bloat to your sounds but in reality it adds a bit thicker note weight for the lower registers and does improve bass quantity but I don't feel it is sloppy or overly done. Where the bass switch applies is for your gaming and movie watching. Music genres that require a bit of bass emphasis, EDM, hip hop, RnB, Rock and metal. Having the option to increase some bass with a switch is not a bad thing. I do like my music more clean but for gaming and movie watching. Who doesn't like some extra rumble?

It has a linear treble to mids tuning that is more flat and even in how the sound is portrayed but shows good transparency and details from your media. Mids sounds very accurate with no real coloration to the sounds all the way up through to the trebles. The words that come to mind for the sound are detailed and transparent. Trebles seem to be very even handed with the mids emphasis and shows very good range and detail. While It lacks a bit of stage and dynamics of its more advanced K3 brother it makes up for it with an equal amount of sheer power and adaptability to any sound generated from your computers.

Media was tested using my 250ohm Beyerdynamic Amiron homes, Fostex THX00, my Sennheiser HD58X and Fiios own FH5s, FD7 and FD3 earphones in conjunction with two laptops my Lenovo 14.2 in Y40 media laptop and my ASUS ROG STRIX 17.3 inch .

A gaming laptop is a gaming laptop if it has the speed and the sheer graphic power to play AAA titles at high graphic settings. I am very much into my immersive gameplay and as such I demand high frame rates and smooth detail. The sound department without the E10K-TC is just ok. Nothing great but not bad. The difference is absolutely worth getting at the minimum a E10K-TC as sound becomes every bit as good as the game play. My first tester is a very fast racing game called Gravel that has realistic engine sounds with environmental effects that require good sound to really get you immersed in the game.

The difference is huge here. Without the E10K-TC everything sounds so much flatter and not as nuanced here, it is one of those things when you hear a game with and then without you will just hear how much you have been missing out from what you’re hearing in game.

The next game tested is one of my all time favorites the Witcher which is an older action RPG game where you are actively hunting monsters and foes in the game with a big story arch. The game has an entire world where the sound design does a great job to immerse you into this different world. The sound design of this game is superb and with each changing weather effects and even wild birds chirping in the trees can be heard. Galloping around using a horse sounds very real and sound cues all around the game play the E10K-TC sounds stunning with this game as you can make out every bit of detail all around you.

Movie/video watching is yet another real reason why you want a sound card to use with your laptop. Tested watching one of my favorite cinematic masterpieces. Gladiator. The sound performance here lives up to the grand scale of the sound design and will completely immerse you in the sweeping Hans Zimmer movie score. Once you use a good sound card it is difficult to watch movies without it. A lot of folks take a premium in how good a copy of a Blu-ray or quality of the 4K video is and such yet they watch using the onboard sound? That makes little sense to me. The E10K-TC here performs admirably and lets you fully enjoy the sounds as they were meant to be.


Lastly used for music listening. The clean, even sound of the E10K-TC means you're getting accurate music production from your computers. My media laptop is filled with my music I listen to and it is used all the time for testing out various cans and IEMs I use and the EK10-TC being a transparent tool to listen to music with brings forth exactly what my cans and iems are doing to add to the sound. This in turn makes the E10K-TC a very nice tool to evaluate an IEM for me.
I appreciate the great high end sounding sources but they are high end sounding due to the addition of emphasis for bass mids and or treble and any combination thereof. The E10K-TC has the least coloration from a source I have heard in a long time. I look at this as a positive as it really lets me hear my tunes and earphones for what they are. Tested using my lossless tracks. The sound is pure, even clean and with good power to spare. That's all anyone can ask for in a simple device.


So there you have it. These little sound cards clearly have their uses and make your media sound like they should. I have to admit I mostly do reviews for earphones and it was surprising to me that Fiio wanted me to try out their sound cards both the E10K-TC and their new K3. Both devices are solid, well made quality sound cards for your computers. If you only have cans and earphones in 3.5mm single ended. Get yourself a E10K-TC and be glad your no longer listening to your boring laptop sound. If you need or want balanced with the benefits of balanced out performance get yourself a K3. It has been a lot of fun listening to my music and media trying out both sound cards and if your in the market to clearly improve your onboard sound. These devices are priced right and best of all sound great. I can tell Fiio has honed their skills to bring out these devices with the best functional, good power and most of all sound quality in mind and for that they have succeeded. Thanks for taking the time to read. Happy listening always.

Tri Grace-S

Tri is a sister company of KBEAR and they have reached out to me for my take on how their higher end cables the Grace-S fairs in the market. So Wendy Li of KBEAR has provided me with the Grace S cables for my honest take. You can look up and purchase a set for you here. These here are my thoughts about the Tri Grace S cables.

The cables come with a nice medium sized rectangular zip up case. One can never have too may cases in the earphone game. The cables themselves are made of two types of SPC cables. A 6N crystal copper plated in silver for 1/4th the cores with the bulk of the Grace S being mostly about its 4N pure copper material plated in silver. Both types of SPC cables are then twisted together to form a thicker single core 315 strands of the material forms one core. The higher end 6N material has 63 strands vs the 252 strands of the 4N more copper based SPC. To be honest I would have liked to see the opposite here for the strands to make the Grace-S a bit more resolving than they are as I feel the bulk of the sonic enhancing ability is really more 4N copper plated properties vs the 6N.

A mix between a higher resolving 6N material vs the substance building 4N material is combined to bring out the best of both types of sonic properties in one cable. This cable is a bit unique as it is the first cable I have seen where two types of similar cable material SPC cables with different sound enhancing angles are mixed together. You usually see something like copper and then an SPC type of mix but two different SPC materials are a bit different. I suppose the idea there is to offer more silver based plating from combining both types of cables to bring an added resolving effect from utilizing more silver plating vs something like a copper and an SPC type design.

The cable is a simple two core design that is substantial in looks as each individual cores are thicker with the two cores twisted together to form the cables. A PVC type outer sheathing coats the outside of this hearty IEM cable and while the accessories on the cable itself is a bit plain looking using grey color metal with carbon fiber accents for the plugs. For a $100 cable it could use a bit of an upgrade on the accessories of the cables. Would actually be my only real complaint. If that is the only thing I am gonna complain about, that is a good thing. On the opposite, I have seen much fancier looking cables that while looking like a $100 bucks ends up not really enhancing anything to your earphones sound at all. But you don’t get a cable in the $100 range just for how it looks. You get it to enhance your earphones' sonic ability.

The TRi Grace-S is the best cable I have tried from KBEAR/ TRi. It has to be right, cus it is their most expensive cable. Does it warrant their cost vs their much cheaper offerings?

Cable synergy with your earphones is a real conundrum. On one hand you would like to try so many of the cables that are available that look fancy and even better looking than the Grace-S for much cheaper even. But one thing I have discovered early on in the cable game. Do not judge a cable by the way they look or what color they have. I have seen comments from non cable believers that say. I am getting so and so cables based on its looks and feel ect. Thats all fine and good but why even be looking at $100 plus cables in the first place if that was what you're going for. Nope the Grace-S does have a nice sound shaping form to their function. As you know in the cable industry it all comes down to the materials and how that material meshes with your favorite earphones.

These are observations from testing out the Grace-S with a variety of IEMs. First earphones I tried were their own Tri-I3. These earphones have garnered a few revisions and a newer smaller pro model you can look them up here. The sound of the Tri-I3 has a larger expansive stage and has some amazing mids due to the planer dynamic it is using. With the addition of the Grace-S. I noticed an immediate uptick with a greater expansion of an already larger wider stage for earphones. Grace S seem to add more body to the sounds and enhances dynamics of the earphones. When I say thicker and fuller. It isn't that the sound signature changes drastically but more so enhances or encourages certain sound aspects of the host earphone sound. For the Tri I3. It adds a slight note weight to the sonics, better clarity.

Stock pure copper cable vs Tri Grace-S

Bass seems to have a bit more authority. Vocals have more in the way of range, Treble comes cleaner in presentation vs their stock cables. I can tell the Grace-S has a good balance of technically enhancing your earphones sonics and adds the all important element of adding a fuller body of sound to your earphones sonics.

Now to something a bit more higher end. I recently did a review of NF Audios NE4 earphones you can read about them here, which are using 4 high precision BAs for its sonic characters. I say characters as it uses plates on the housing to change tunings for the NE4 to a drastic degree. Their reference tuning is one of the best balanced, open sounding wide staged tunings I have heard for an all BA design and I feel the sonic character of the NE4 reference tuning is well suited to hear any sonic changes from a cable change.

Stock SPC NF audio cable vs Tri Grace-S

Once again the Grace-S does for the NE4 what it did for the I3. Adding a subtle bit of note weight and fullness to the sonic character, stage gets a subtle enhancement as well, mids imaging and detail seems all enhanced a touch with a clean slightly smoother treble note. Its stage is already wide but with the Grace-S you're getting even a wider stage. Its bass character is full on with the Grace-S. A good resolving SPC type design the Grace-S seems to be very versatile in what it does. It doesn’t smooth out sounds like pure copper does and it doesn’t resolve as good as a pure silver cable but more so gives you a bit of both effects at the same time.

Last earphones I tested the Grace-S is the Tansio Mirai LAND. This tribrid earphone has some excellent stage and dynamics using ESTs for upper trebles 3 BAs for mids to treble with a 10mm dynamic for bass. You can read more about them here. The one knock on the LAND is that Tansio Mirai includes a basic SPC type cable which is valued at around $40 or so. While the included cable is a decent throw in. I soon found out when analyzing the sound that aftermarket cables are way better on the LANDs. This is where the Grace S clearly shows it is an upgrade on the included cable.

LAND SPC cable vs Tri Grace-S

LANDs sees an uptick in stage with a greater mid range fullness and sounds even more expansive vs the stock cables. The stock cable since it sounds thinner makes it sound like it has more treble. I noticed the Grace-S does not enhance treble as much as it does to enhance fuller sound so more copper in properties vs silver but enough silver content to not sound like it is overly smoothing out the treble notes. This fuller and slightly more expansive sound using the Grace S makes for a more immersive sounding LAND. Since LAND is a U shaped sound tuning it benefits from the fuller presentation of the Grace S. A great match up for the LANDs.

Overall I would say the Grace-S compared to other cables I own in the price range hold their own. It is clearly an upgraded cable compared to the better throw in cables you get with your earphones and I can argue much better than some you have to buy at this price range. It has a consistency and a versatility that is essential for such cables. There are cables you get online that will mesh with some earphones and not others I can’t see a scenario when the Grace-S does not enhance your earphone tunings. This aspect is very important when testing out cables and the Grace-S has shown me why Tri is charging the price to play. I know you can buy a bunch of cheaper cables that might even look better but at the same time does the cheaper cable add body and stage to your host sound enhancing its strong suits and there for ending up sounding even better. If not. This is where the $100 upgraded cable exists.

If your in need of a balanced cable in 4.4mm or 2.5mm and are looking for something that will not drastically change what you love about your earphones sound signature the Grace S is very good and versatile like that. The cons of the Grace-S is that it's common material type will not exactly excite the imagination of the earphone enthusiasts that are looking to squeeze every little bit out of their earphones. However the cables are well made, looks good and is not a burly thicker cable that helps with stage and a fuller sounding host IEM. It's got enough silver plating that will clearly let the Grace S not smooth out or hide any details from your favorites while enhancing the mids and bass to be full on. In the end if that's what you're looking for in an IEM cable. These will be a nice upgrade to your nicer IEMs.