Reviews by HarlanDraka
The Xenns Up are the latest Tribrids released by Mangird equipped with a Beryllium Coated DD for the bass, 4 Sonions BAs for mids and 2 Estat for highs. I will not bother you with a lot of technical details. There are plenty of tech sheets online you can check yourself with a simple Google search. Let’s only say that the Xenns Up follow the new trend of tribrids iems recently released such as Est112, Variations, Oracle etc. etc. with a unique beryllium coated Dynamic Driver for the bass. The Xenns Up are priced 699.99 USD.
This review has not been sponsored in any way by Mangird. The Xenns Up have been purchased with my own money from Head-Fi classified.
I think It’s better to first address the elephant in the room: if you are into analytical, microdetailed signature iems you should stop reading now. Don’t waste your time.
The Xenns Up are not that, they are a fun, euphonic piece of HiFi kit that aim to please with their euphonic timbre and powerful bass without going into microdetail territory.
Are you still reading? Cool, it seems you like fun in your music. So, let’s start.
Equipment used:
DX300 Amp II mk I
Apple Music Lossless
Stock Black silicon tips. Stock cable 2.5.
The first thing that struck me was how beautiful and unique the Xenns Up were. From what I have read on Linsoul, every piece is hand painted. This mean that each piece is unique but they will all have in common the colours black, white and red. I usually prefer more understated designs but I must say that these look extremely good.
The shells are neither too big or too small and they have a semi custom design. They are very light and comfortable and I could achieve a good fit straight away with all the tips I tried. I finally settled with the longer stock black silicon tips as to my ears the sound was the most balanced and the bass was tighter. Your mileage may vary, but I noticed that with the other shallow fit stock tips and with the spiral dots tips, the Xenns became warmer, bassier and the soundstage more intimate and narrow.
Isolation is OK but they have two big vents for the Dynamic driver so they will not isolate as well as all BAs iems.
The stock cable is fine and I like that it has a balanced termination out of the box though I would have preferred a 4.4 termination.
However, a 2.5 to 4.4 adapter is included in the box (along with a 3.5 and 6.5(?) ones).
The Xenns Up are not the most sensitive and easy to drive Iems. They scale a lot with more powerful sources. With all my other Iems I have I’m usually staying at low gain on my DX300 but I had to raise to mid gain with the Xenns Up to get a good dynamic range and get a better control of the Beryllium coated DD. However, I think that most daps on the market nowadays will drive them fine out of balanced ports.
The sound profile of the Xenns Up is kinda of a V-Shaped fun, euphonic warmish signature which aim to entertain. “Kind of a V-Shaped” since the mids are not so recessed as a common V-Shaped signature but not positioned in the soundscape as a U, W or flat signature. I will briefly compare them with the iems I currently have, UM Mest MKii and Oriolus Reborn. I will not compare them with my benchmark U12t since the 64 Audio Masterpiece are more than double their price.
Bass
Ahhh that beryllium coated DD.
Bass is the star of the show in the Xenns.
If only Legend X had this DD driver instead of those 2 ever present Weapon IX drivers..why Empire Ears? Why?
Jokes aside, thanks to the beryllium coated DD, the Xenns have one of the best bass I have ever heard in an Iem. It’s powerful, it’s fast, it has all the usual good DD attributed with added benefits, read: it’s tight and never bleeds. Bass quantity in the Xenns is above average and will not only please basshead but also Audiophiles looking for a more planted bass shelf and a fun signature.
The bass is never bloated neither muddy and hits hard.
However, both sub-bass and mid-bass are pretty present in the whole presentation so the Xenns may not suit lovers of super balanced or analytical signatures.
Mids
Mids are rounded and euphonic. I don’t find them neither thin or too full and to my ears they don’t exhibit the usual BAs metallic timbre.
High-Mids are not as forward as Harman-Target tuned iems so the Xenns Up are very forgiving and easy to listen iems.
No sibilance or sharp peaks I could detect anywhere in their signature.
There’s good separation between instruments but not as much air as Mest MKii or Oriolus Reborn to name just two of my favourite iems.
Vocals are placed in the middle of the mix and not as forward as other vocal centric iems. This reminded me of the U12t vocal placement which hits my preferences very closely.
However, if you like the singer to whisper straight out into your ears and massage your brain, these may not be the iems for you. Go for the Mest or even better for the Oriolus Reborn if you mostly like vocals above everything else.
Treble
Smooth, clear but not forward. The treble extend fine but in a pleasant way. U12t and Mest MKii have more extended treble so do other iems such as Moondrop S8. But the Xenns treble is forgiving and inoffensive, perfect for long listening sessions.
Soundstage
Above average in depth/lateral soundstage with excellent imaging. 3d placement of instruments is there but less apparent than Mest MKii or Oriolus Reborn. Vocals are in the centre of the mix. Not forward, not recessed.
Iems like Mest or Solaris (or Oriolus Reborn even if their soundstage is more on the intimate side) still win with their holographic 3d soundstage.
Some songs that really impressed me with the Xenns Up:
Eli Brown - Pulling me back ft. Lovlee
Planet Funk - Chase the sun
Led Zeppelin - Stairway to heaven
Symphony X - Of Sins and Shadows
Enya - Caribbean Blue
Arthur Rong - Pulsar
Dire straits - Sultans of Swing
Ludovico Einaudi - Primavera
Calvin Harris - Giant
Montmartre - Our Time is now
Parov Stelar - All night
Conclusions
No, the Xenns Up are not as balanced and detailed as the U12t. Not as clear,airy and holographic as the Mest MKii. And not as intimate and emotional as the Oriolus Reborn.
They surely fall behind in technicalities even when compared to something like the Moondrop S8 but oh man do the Xenns sound good! Very good. So good I like them for the fun and smooth way they present the music. Even if the details in the music are not pushed forward and they are not as apparent as other iems.
And sometimes we just want to relax and enjoy our music, right?
Do I universally recommend them? Well, not universally.
If you are looking for an iem with powerful bass and no sharp peaks to sit and have fun, these may be for you. They are a real joy to listen to.
For more technical, detailed, flatter, sharper, harman target iems with prominent forward high-mids/treble signatures, you should look somewhere else. These may not be for you.
This review has not been sponsored in any way by Mangird. The Xenns Up have been purchased with my own money from Head-Fi classified.
I think It’s better to first address the elephant in the room: if you are into analytical, microdetailed signature iems you should stop reading now. Don’t waste your time.
The Xenns Up are not that, they are a fun, euphonic piece of HiFi kit that aim to please with their euphonic timbre and powerful bass without going into microdetail territory.
Are you still reading? Cool, it seems you like fun in your music. So, let’s start.
Equipment used:
DX300 Amp II mk I
Apple Music Lossless
Stock Black silicon tips. Stock cable 2.5.
The first thing that struck me was how beautiful and unique the Xenns Up were. From what I have read on Linsoul, every piece is hand painted. This mean that each piece is unique but they will all have in common the colours black, white and red. I usually prefer more understated designs but I must say that these look extremely good.
The shells are neither too big or too small and they have a semi custom design. They are very light and comfortable and I could achieve a good fit straight away with all the tips I tried. I finally settled with the longer stock black silicon tips as to my ears the sound was the most balanced and the bass was tighter. Your mileage may vary, but I noticed that with the other shallow fit stock tips and with the spiral dots tips, the Xenns became warmer, bassier and the soundstage more intimate and narrow.
Isolation is OK but they have two big vents for the Dynamic driver so they will not isolate as well as all BAs iems.
The stock cable is fine and I like that it has a balanced termination out of the box though I would have preferred a 4.4 termination.
However, a 2.5 to 4.4 adapter is included in the box (along with a 3.5 and 6.5(?) ones).
The Xenns Up are not the most sensitive and easy to drive Iems. They scale a lot with more powerful sources. With all my other Iems I have I’m usually staying at low gain on my DX300 but I had to raise to mid gain with the Xenns Up to get a good dynamic range and get a better control of the Beryllium coated DD. However, I think that most daps on the market nowadays will drive them fine out of balanced ports.
The sound profile of the Xenns Up is kinda of a V-Shaped fun, euphonic warmish signature which aim to entertain. “Kind of a V-Shaped” since the mids are not so recessed as a common V-Shaped signature but not positioned in the soundscape as a U, W or flat signature. I will briefly compare them with the iems I currently have, UM Mest MKii and Oriolus Reborn. I will not compare them with my benchmark U12t since the 64 Audio Masterpiece are more than double their price.
Bass
Ahhh that beryllium coated DD.
Bass is the star of the show in the Xenns.
If only Legend X had this DD driver instead of those 2 ever present Weapon IX drivers..why Empire Ears? Why?
Jokes aside, thanks to the beryllium coated DD, the Xenns have one of the best bass I have ever heard in an Iem. It’s powerful, it’s fast, it has all the usual good DD attributed with added benefits, read: it’s tight and never bleeds. Bass quantity in the Xenns is above average and will not only please basshead but also Audiophiles looking for a more planted bass shelf and a fun signature.
The bass is never bloated neither muddy and hits hard.
However, both sub-bass and mid-bass are pretty present in the whole presentation so the Xenns may not suit lovers of super balanced or analytical signatures.
Mids
Mids are rounded and euphonic. I don’t find them neither thin or too full and to my ears they don’t exhibit the usual BAs metallic timbre.
High-Mids are not as forward as Harman-Target tuned iems so the Xenns Up are very forgiving and easy to listen iems.
No sibilance or sharp peaks I could detect anywhere in their signature.
There’s good separation between instruments but not as much air as Mest MKii or Oriolus Reborn to name just two of my favourite iems.
Vocals are placed in the middle of the mix and not as forward as other vocal centric iems. This reminded me of the U12t vocal placement which hits my preferences very closely.
However, if you like the singer to whisper straight out into your ears and massage your brain, these may not be the iems for you. Go for the Mest or even better for the Oriolus Reborn if you mostly like vocals above everything else.
Treble
Smooth, clear but not forward. The treble extend fine but in a pleasant way. U12t and Mest MKii have more extended treble so do other iems such as Moondrop S8. But the Xenns treble is forgiving and inoffensive, perfect for long listening sessions.
Soundstage
Above average in depth/lateral soundstage with excellent imaging. 3d placement of instruments is there but less apparent than Mest MKii or Oriolus Reborn. Vocals are in the centre of the mix. Not forward, not recessed.
Iems like Mest or Solaris (or Oriolus Reborn even if their soundstage is more on the intimate side) still win with their holographic 3d soundstage.
Some songs that really impressed me with the Xenns Up:
Eli Brown - Pulling me back ft. Lovlee
Planet Funk - Chase the sun
Led Zeppelin - Stairway to heaven
Symphony X - Of Sins and Shadows
Enya - Caribbean Blue
Arthur Rong - Pulsar
Dire straits - Sultans of Swing
Ludovico Einaudi - Primavera
Calvin Harris - Giant
Montmartre - Our Time is now
Parov Stelar - All night
Conclusions
No, the Xenns Up are not as balanced and detailed as the U12t. Not as clear,airy and holographic as the Mest MKii. And not as intimate and emotional as the Oriolus Reborn.
They surely fall behind in technicalities even when compared to something like the Moondrop S8 but oh man do the Xenns sound good! Very good. So good I like them for the fun and smooth way they present the music. Even if the details in the music are not pushed forward and they are not as apparent as other iems.
And sometimes we just want to relax and enjoy our music, right?
Do I universally recommend them? Well, not universally.
If you are looking for an iem with powerful bass and no sharp peaks to sit and have fun, these may be for you. They are a real joy to listen to.
For more technical, detailed, flatter, sharper, harman target iems with prominent forward high-mids/treble signatures, you should look somewhere else. These may not be for you.
tboneharry
I have both the MkII and the XENNS. For my library and tastes the Mest is the clear recommendation, albeit at twice the cost. And while I enjoy the XENNS for all the reasons mentioned in this excellent review, I would choose the Thieaudio Monarch as my favorite in the price band.
Pepocoyo
Nice review sir. Does Up sound good with Prog metal like Dream Theater, Haken,...? Any better iem in its price range for this genre?
ljnew
I view this being a compliment to my mest mk2.
