E12's little brother gets its chance at my ears. Let's see what it can do!
Like the E12 i will pit it against the Trifecta.

Wa Wa Wa - Candido Camero
Percussions and voice, with the great positioning from chesky records is a big benchmark to see how does the bass goes in an IEM.
The detail is adequate to the pricerange, and of course its comparison to the trifecta ends up having a very reduced bass range, less impactful notes and overall a bit of an emotionless sound.

Rest of the songs i heard on the E12 too.

"You haven't done nothin'" - Jen Chapin Chesky Records
Detail's good, intensity could be much better, the reduced bass makes for a kind of lightweight rendition.

"Love Serenade" - Barry White
Good but Barry's voice comes out as way less deep than i think it ought to.

"Get Down Saturday Night" - Oliver Cheatham
Thinner notes are not the best for such a song. Again the E10 are underwhelming. Not bad, not undetailed, but too thin for my tastes.

Beethoven, no.9, 1.allegro ma non troppo, Joe Hisaishi
In this case, the lack of bass is lessened rest of the orchestra, and E10's driver is no slouch. Treble is good and mids are ok.

To sum up my experience, the E10 are the little brother of the E12, with less bass, less impact and while keeping a good detail, they are not much to write home about.
I think if they had a different price range, they might have been a good first high end IEM, but for the price i think they are overpositioned.

It's review-o-clock for me!
After stalking around the FiR audio lineup on classified, i ended up lucky enough to try their E12 and E10!
But i won't review them side by side, and instead doing a review of each.
One point i want to critic is the system for holding the tips. It allows the tip to slide and thus the iem pushes inside the ear canal more than usual, making it trickier to find the right seal, this happens with the included tips, meanwhile my AET7 don't slide.

Let's hit the ground running:

"You haven't done nothin'" - Jen Chapin Chesky Records
Very pleasant female vocals, very good control of the sound, the saxophone hits just right and you can hear perfectly the drumsticks working on the battery. Now you know me and i like being unfair, so i will pit these single DD IEM against a TRIPLE DD Iem (trifecta) to see the differences. The Trifecta double down on the bass, making the saxophone more full bodied and the drum impact linger longer. So it isn't a case of a cheaper iem being moggede by a more costly one, but getting a different rendition. If you look for precision and are good on a quite even distribution of the FR, the E12 show great technicalities and pleasant sound, being more oriented toward a controlled, even sound, compared to the more "impactful" trifecta. Say, the E12 are a nice sedan car, with 4wd and auto gears. Sleek and comfortable. The trifecta is a RWD car with twice the HP with a manual stick. Depending if you feel like going smooth or attacking all your curves, they are two different and valid driving experiences.

"Love Serenade" - Barry White
Since i said it had more controlled bass, i got to the bass king and listened to it E12 v Trifecta.

On the trifecta you get THE barry's voice, in all its glory. Deep voice, weighty notes, just hits right. On the E12 you "lose" that special sauce, making the sound less impactful. They are good, but they are a way less impactful. So for those who have a taste of bass, they are less than ideal, and instead they are more for the flat-frequencers.

"Get Down Saturday Night" - Oliver Cheatham
The E12 show again a great control and defition, technicalities are all there, FR again shows no preference and instead goes for a very even distribution. And again, the trifecta sprinkles all the notes with a very addicting weight.

Beethoven, no.9, 1.allegro ma non troppo, Joe Hisaishi
This is where the E12 more even out FR pays off the most, since the trifecta lack a bit in the heights, the E12 closes the gap and gets to have a more even out representation. I would say that if you like orchestral music, the E12 is a very very good choice.

To sum up my feelings, the E12 is a very safe bet on what to purchase in its price bracket. You won't get the TOTL experience, but this is a trustworthy and safe bet. Very reccomended if you want to get into this level of audio while preferring a safe all rounder.

So i literally found this little gem by accident. I found it posted as second hand, read around and got curious. Can this kennerton-but-improved closed back headphone really be an hidden diamond?
Yes it is!
It's a wonderful piece of DD mastery, capable of a wonderful frequency response, from airy pleasant treble to engaging basses. And i suspect its "horn loaded" driver has something to do with its high detail and response.

Beethoven 7th Simphony 92.1 Poco Sostenuto - Joe Hisaishi
Strings are a real pleasure to listen to, the instrument separation is great and i'd venture saying that it punches way beyond its price weight AND transducer type, coming really close to planar territory in speed and detail.

Riders on the Storm - The Doors
Drums are great, low and controlled, you can listen to the rain in the track closing your eyes as if you were right there, the voice is spaced and echoes around you, not a small feat in a closed back.
Guitar is great, again showing off its detail and speed of attack.

What Could Have Been - Sting feat. Ray Chen
Sting's voice is so intimate and deep, makes for one of the best musical renditions in my Headphone collection, pushing itself really close to maximum weights like the heartland and the LCD5. Full marks on this kind of tracks.

Komarovo (DVRST Phonk Remix)
I'm not very much into electronic music, but Atomic Heart's OST is quite something, and this song's rendition on the LSA HP2 is lovely, deep powerful bass, no slacking in speed and attack of the sound, all while never resulting bloated in the bass department nor sounding treble-fatiguing.

Eruption - Van Halen
The guitar at the beginning really needs some fast transducers, and the LSA-HP2 are more than up to the task to fully enjoy the incredible guitar solo. Again goes in the top of my personal collection!


As you can probably guess, i have been in love with this headset and i cannot stretch how much i am happy owning them, using them and thinking it's a closed back you'd never guess they sound so spacious!
They also introduced me to the wonderful world of kennerton, and i eagerly hope to find a HP-Diamond to test review and own!
I highly praise them and i think they deserve it!

EDIT: Sorry when i copied my review from my word document i missed some stuff!

Bought them at the beginning of my journey and i can sum it all up with a "meh". Frequency is very bass light, separation is mediocre and overall the experience is of listening something trough a separtion, you never feel intimate with the music.

All in all describing my usual songs would be a repeat, so in this case i think it's better to skip to the overall experience.
The frequency response is bass light and notes carry little weight.
Detail is mediocre to bad, headphones in LOWER price range do as good.
I now get the "veiled" term, for it's the right term to sum up what i hear.
I think it at most deserve a 2/5, just because it's not THAT bad. if you factor in the cost and that the R70X exist at less, 1/5.

This review has been a LOOOONG time coming, since the R70X are what i think has been my first, real step toward headphone apex experience and my first taste of greatness.

I wills start off saying that it's been a while since i used them, after speedrunning myself to the LCD5. But i fully admit, it's a real shame NOT using this headphone.
Of course, you cannot expect kilobuck experience, but trust me it's one of those milestones that i think any audiophile should reach. And I'll explain why in my review.

It's a DD open back, and it's the lightest headphone i have ever tried (gotta try the ADX5000 tho) and a pure pleasure to keep on your head.

Full Moon in Paris - Chesky Record 30th Anniversary
A very lovely voice, very well rendered by the R70, i can't find a fault in the frequency, though as i said you feel less demarcation between instruments, but i think it's to be expected.

Haikyo - Kousaki Satoru
All highs, and all pleasant. No distortion and again i can only approve of their very coherent frequency response.

Every Time We Say Goodbye - Jimmy Cobb Quartet
A pleasant relaxing experience, hightnened by the hamony the R70X invokes. A critical listener will lament the lack of detail/separation, but overall the sound is just so relaxing it's something one can easily overlook.

Beethoven Symphony 9 op 125 1. Allegro ma non troppo
Again the "mix" of the sound makes for a beautiful amalgam, though of course the lack of detail on an orchestral song is much more noticeable.


One of the best thing of this headset is that is measures greatly with higher tiers in one field: frequency response. This is a metronome made headphone, and at its price range it's unbeatable in that. After this, i think the only real "improvement" can be either specialized basshead-airhead for FR and of course an increase in detail/separation. This headphone does suffer with some congestion, but only after you compare it to waaaay higher tier headphones. on its own, if you are on a budget, you buy these and then wait to save for some multi kilobuck headphones before it's really worth upgrading. And indeed, after these i jumped to the LCD-XC. Anything less that such a jump i feel has really bad Return On Investment.

To sum it up, i think anyone looking for their first real step into the audiophile heaven should look at these headphones. Their incredible tuning i think makes them into the benchmark of accurate frequency response.

Trifecta Review:

So it's come the time: I'll review a TOTL IEM.
So will i like it? Will i denounce it? Did i get it for free?
NAY! Bought this bad boy, second hand because i had great luck and saved, and immediately started listening to it with my HiBy RS8.

First and foremost, this IEM FINALLY gives me impact. I love my kennerton heartland, as you can read on that review, and to me impact is important. Not that accurate FR or technicalities aren't important, but if the sound is too dry i tend not to like it.
The first impression is that the notes have "weight", they're impactful and, for an IEM, it's not a small feat. After all we are dealing with something fitting in your pocket that i arbitrarily pit against headphones that have many times the surface to drive the sound. Is it something fair? Who cares i use me money for it so i better get what i want!
The feeling of having "impactful" sound, with drums hitting just right, powerful voices and a good vortex of sounds that mingle in just the right way are the special sauce that the Trifecta brings to the table.
In more tecnical term, i am very pleased both by the Frequency Response and the technicalities. Layering and positioning is absolutely in the realm of headphones, not a small feat. I speculate that the combined surface area of 3 DDs ends up giving it enough "space" to give a similar impact.

Now onto being more detailed with choices of songs:

Beethoven Symphony No.9 in D Minor, Op.125. Directed by Herbert Von Karajan
While the experience is quite pleasing, and an emphasys on the lower end is enjoyable, i have had more "fun" with planars in this kind of music.
It's not that it's bad, it is extremely good, but my reviews are both subjective and comparative, so i would say if you are classical music only, maybe look into other IEMs, because i feel they are a tad below the TOTL territory here. Instrument separation is adequate.
This rating has more to do with the price range than absolute quality. I'd say, it's a 9/10, but because they go for 3k, i put them in 7/10 for classical music. I think it's very important for a TOTL monster to at LEAST be adequate for EVERY music type. and the Trifecta are more than adequate to enjoy classical music.

Don't Stop me Now - Queen | Canned Heat - Jamiroquai
Voice is powerful and intimate, bass are a pleasure and instrument separation is good, these IEMs really shine with emotional and hard hitting songs, making them really shine. I would say these were really made FOR any music genre that emphasizes strong bass and powerful voices.

Relax - Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Bass, voices and the soundstage are great, the Trifecta are made to be a very invovling sound. Again i feel a tapering of the higher frequencies.

Haven't We Met? - Chesky Record 30th Anniversary Collection
Jazz, with lots of bass, makes the trifecta really shine. Intimate voices and great weight of the notes make any listening to jazz a pure pleasure. You will literally sink into the sound, a deep relaxing experience.

Believer - Imagine Dragons
Another song who really shines with the Trifecta, thought one little spot is again the slightly de-emphasized highs. Obviously vocals and drums are as great as it comes, so they only blindspot of the trifecta is the highs.

To sum up my experince, i would say this IEM is a real "TOP OF THE TOP", but a little shy of being an ace of aces. In my exerience they are a good substitute for people who are so often on the go that they need an IEM in lieu of a full headphone, with the obviuos reduction of luggage and cumbersomeness. I still think, overall, if you have a choice a headphone is better, and this IEM is the "missing link" between going full "imma bring a suitcase with my headphone" and forgoing good sound on the go.
So, if you like me wanted to include in your collection a portable IEM that doesn't make you miss your headphones too much, the Trifecta are a gold standard.

Would i improve something? Maybe i'm wrong but i think since they are DDs, they can't really fight against planar headphones in pure detail and treble extension. But maybe, just maybe, if campfire audio gets crazy enough to make a Trifecta with planar membranes....
All in all, this IEM set is a great set, possibly one of the greatest available now (wanna loan me a trialii/annihilator/raven?) but it suffers just from slightly recessed highs and less instrument separation than what would be expected from TOTL in case of very congested music like orchestral music. Sounds like being picky but at this price bracket it's expected.

UPDATE!

Since i just bought the hiby R8II, i decided to try the pairing RS8 vs R8II. As you know it's a R2R vs Delta-Sigma kind of pairing, and thus i wanted to see if the characteristics of the more analytical sound would improve the area i described as less than stellar of the tifecta. So i came back to Beethoven and after switching to the R8II, i found an improvement in instrumental separation and higher frequencies, loosing a bit of impact and power in the low frequencies, but offsetting the higher frequency "deficit" i found when driving the trifecta through the RS8.
After this "showoff", i can say that depending on your musical tastes, going he R2R route with the RS8 will increase the "impact" of the sound, but with a slight tradeoff in resolution, while the Delta-Sigma of the R8II nicely complements to "even out" the character of the trifecta into a more of an all rounder. I highly reccomend testing them wih both kind of sources, to tune your musical journey to your tastes!

It's big, it's beautiful, it's wonderful to the touch! Here it comes the review of the DAP/Accent piece called HiBy R8II!

First off: they basically gave ALL the steroids to the R6ProII, making it grow big and strong. And also gave it a wonderful alcantara jacket. It is true that it can be considered something that can get dirty over time, but the looks are just great.
They put the buttons on both side, left for volume control, right for all the others. To me the old controls on the RS8 were the apex of controls, impossible to push the wrong buttons, and one side free for better handling. But to each their own, and experimenting is never a wrong thing to improve a product!

But the real question that i hope to answer here is: Is this a titan killer that for 2k mogs the TOTL daps and thus usher a new deflationary trend in DAPs?
Testing methodology: I pit the R8II vs my RS8, both turbo settings, high gain and both using my LCD5 to give them a big sweat with THE audio equivalent of an electron microscope.

Let's get started:
Right off the bat, i had to really go between the player constantly to get any real readout. The R8II exhibits a more analytical experience, in the sense that the RS8 has a more "armounious" sound, bring the whole frequency spectrum together, while the R8II i feel has a tendency for emphasys on higher frequencies and separation. Mind you, the difference is there but it is taxing to actually be sure of what i just wrote, thus it should be considered a "nuance", and not something that impacts sound too deeply.
And as always, sample your DAPs before purchase! though at this point i also have to say that unless you have already a TOTL player, this guy is 99.5% of the TOTL game for half the price. I feel the last 0.5%, the "apex predator" part, is when it goes beyond just perfection in technicalities and frequency response and brings the music more "coherently" together.

Classical Song: Beethoven, Simphony no.9 1. Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso
Both they render it wonderfully, but if i were to boil up the experience, is a tad more "neutral" on the R8II, while the RS8 links tha whole spectrum together in a more organic way. I'd say that the RS8 is what you feel when you have the sound played by an instrument, while the R8II feels like how it sounds straight from a top-end surround system. It's apex technicalities + tonality on the R8II and apex technicalities + tonality + armonious on the RS8.


Jazz: Weaver - A Anight Of Chesky Jazz Live at Town Hall
There again is the only real difference i can spot: the RS8 goes in to avoid any "excess" in the frequencies, and the highs are rendered powerfully yet never shrilly. Meanwhile the R8II follows very strictly the recording, and it feels like the highs are a tad higher and less to my liking. Though the R8II also seems to have a small edge in soundstage. Listening to the song, at the 4.50 mark, there is the audience clapping, and the R8II feels like sitting in the center front row, hearing the distinct claps, while the RS8 has a really small reduction of the individual claps.

Vocal: I Put a Spell On You - Casey Abrams - Chesky Records
I feel here the slight edge of the R8II in soundstage here, and the same tendency of edging toward laser-like accuracy of the sound vs the more "enveloping" feeling of the sound on the RS8.
It highlights the difference in philosophy of the player. The RS8 is geared toward the most armonious sound, while R8II is geared more toward soundstage improvement and sound positioning.

Metal: Through the Fire and Flames - Dragonforce
The RS8 makes a more armonious sound, while the R8II analytical aspect makes for a less "coherent" sound, focusing too much of detail and slightly missing to amalgam the sound. Basically you get "too" detailed, and thus it feels less engaging and more a dry description.


Videogame/: Atomic Heart - Golden Hoop (NEUS Remix)
The RS8's rendition is amazing, engaging and powerful, visceral! The R8II is more evened out, spacing the different sound sources, powerful basses and pleasant highs. But if i were to chose one, the RS8 wins in the "emotional" aspect, while the R8II is "analytical".

Battery:
Gotta add this part beacuse the RS8 has less battery drain both in idle and while playing. Not otherwordly, but can make a difference since i prefer charging my players as rarely as possible to maximize battery lifespan. Then again, the R8II follows the wise philosophy of HiBy with two sets of screws that can be unscrewed to access the battery, thus changing it isn's much of an hassle.

Conclusions:
For 2k, it's basically a TOTL minus, when compared to the RS8, that special sauce that brings the sound more "armoniously" together. Hard to put in words, better to listen to it with a TOTL HP and have the time to try different sounds.
Hiby made a player that gives you so much TOTL experience that gives you much reason to hesitate to invest more into the DAP game. Is it perfect? No the RS8 in my opinion is still the King. But this is just a step under it, and for basically half the price. New to the DAP game? This is your endgame before you have a chance to try the RS8 and fall in love with it. But if you want the peak perf-price in the TOTL game, this is it easily.
Very reccomended, and my congratulations to HiBy for having a very sensible pricing policy. Other could have slapped a 3k price on it and still would have been competitive. HiBy instead chose to allow more people to experience this level of sound, and for that they have my respect, in a world where companies try to milk their customers dry instead of earning their love and support.

TL;DR
R8II is a monster of detail and technicalities. FR is so even you can use it as a level, and you have a laser-like accuracy in sound direction. And the price-performance is amazing.
For those pondering about R8II vs RS8, this sums it up:

Imagine, the R8II is a digital 8k picture of a Canaletto panting, the RS8 is the analogue version of it. Depending on your tastes you might like the uber-detail with pixels, or you might prefer an analogue photo who has zero pixel and colours blend in better. I think it's the only "conveyable" feeling

I just got the LC7 and already it's my favorite cable! my other experience with other cables was the moondrop professional cable with swappable 2.5/3.5/4.4 plug and the FiiO LF-RB. I can already, withouth a doubt, say that this cable mogs them both and i'll tell you easily why.

First is the build quality:
It's a nice, beautiful silver colour, the cable is braided inside and outside is protected by a transparent protection. Aesthetically is very pleasing! What makes for a great cable tho it's that it's basically impossible to have it tangle, i can just jam my IEMs in my backpack and i can get them out without any knotting around. Next up is the interchangeable end, it has a 4.4mm and 3.5mm end. Some could say they miss the 2.5mm, but i do not nor care for it, since it's something i have enver ever used. The swappable plug is really easy to change, but after locking it it never once came off or even just loosen. The magnetic ones are something i am quite diffident because they feel like those magnet might influence not just the device but also the mechanical watches i usually wear. This plug system is sturdy and riliable, overcoming both the fiio and the moondrop ones, by a fair margin.
Going from the stock cable to the LC7 on the EA1000 i have did have an improved detail and power, not to mention it's a gorgeous cable so for 70 bucks i think it's a real deal,

Increase in detail and raw power is worth it, and i think these would go well with pricey iems, since they're not just high end and technical but also beautiful.

Simgot seems to really care to make very reasonably priced devices with incredibly good price/performance ratio! I'm incredibly hopeful for simgot's lineups in the future, if they hold this trend they WILL be a huge market disruption in the most positive way!

When i got the chance to review these IEM, first thougth was: they were made with care in mind. The packaging is beautiful and has some neat folding, showing that SIMGOT wanted tohighlight the care they put in creating them.
There's multi kilobuck IEMs that have worse packaging than this, thus it's a really good starting point. Since it has multiple eartips AND metal filters, it's all arranged so you can keep your eartips in neat storage and your metal filters all safely screwed in a metal support. Might have saved them some money putting it all in plastic bags and call it a day, but instead this approach shows they want to respect the customer that purchases the EA1000 and they themselves think that this product deserve a nice packaging.

Enough with the aesthetics, that ARE commendable, but instead let's talk sound.

Fair warning: i'm using them together with the LC7High Balanced Cable, that i will review separately, because i always think going balanced is the best way to enjoy audio gear.

The instantanenous, immediate impact, before all the reasoning about the FR and technicalities, was soundstage. Using chesky records music, that is quite famous for their realistic positioning, i felt the most sourround experience with an IEM i have ever experienced. Blessing 2, Audeze Euclid....and then out of the blue the EA1000 surpassed them all in soundstage. That itself is a big surprise!

This IEM has 3 swappable pairs of metal filters that can be screwed in. Unscrewing them lets you access the inner parts of the resonance chamber. On this point, i am going to tell something that i feel is fundamental: I NEED TO BE ABLE TO GIVE MAINTENANCE TO HIGH END GEAR. What does it mean? That while with other IEM you need to be careful not to dirty them and if anything gets inside the metal filter and you have any dirt pushed in, good luck taking it out. You need something with powerful suction to HOPE to clean them. WIth this pair of IEM just unscrew them, access them from the inside, and you can clean it to your heart's content.
The fact that a IEM at this price range manages to be able to do this while kilobuck IEM are just condemned if get dirty is reason enough to praise simgot and shame other brands for not thinking such a simple solution was almost mandatory for high end gear. Even more so if you ever plan on selling kilobuck gear. While this is non-sound related, i feel like we need to keep repairability and serviceability of audio gear in high priority, almost on par with sound quality, otherwise we'll have useless throwaway multikilobuck gear and that's unacceptable.

To make it an interesting review, i'll pit it against my Euclid because, of the other IEM i have, it would be almost "too easy" to just declare them the winners. This to me should already be a testament to how good these IEM are.

Black Filter:
Welcome to the jungle: Powerful and controlled bass, pleasant voice, highs are kept under control.
Body Company: Bass are plentyful, mixed in with the highs it turns in a very enveloping sound, detailed and musical. It mixes very well the whole FR. Instrument separation could be improved, but that would push it into kilobuck territory (more than it already does). Compared to the Euclid, they are a step under them in instrument separation and raw detail. But the tonality is great!
It's only a paper Moon: Great soundstage, it seems the low end of properly mastered songs enjoy an incredible wide soundstage compared to its price range, going to rival the euclid. The overall raw detail is lesser but soundstage and musicality make them shine!
Beethoven 5th Simphony Op.67: Karajan sure knows how to bring in the thunder, and i'm happy to say that the EA1000 make for GREAT listening. Again tonality is top notch, instrument separation is good and oen of the best thing is soundstage.

If i were to sum up the technhicality of these IEM is like you can precisely focus on the sound, with a great soundstage, but probably some small limitations in the drives don't let you "see" perfectly the demarcation line between the sources. It might be considered both a flaw AND actual skill. That might sound confusing but bear with me: 100% definition of sound is...not really paramount. Don't think i don't enjoy that, hell i bought the LCD5 for their uber-detail. To have a hint of merging between the various sources isn't outright bad, just that it's not some kind of magical IEM that can outdo kilobucks...yet.
But IF they improve on this, kilobuck territory would be fair game for simgot. Meaning they could make lots of "top fi" IEM become suddenly price-mogged by simgot.

Red Filter:
A little less bass, increased highs. I don't think it's better this way.

Gold Filter:
Feels a little more visceral bass-wise than standard nozzle. I think it contends for the best tuning together with the standard one. I will update the review if i feel to be more in depth about them, but rule of thumb i use them more than the standard one.

Conclusions:

Having had the chance to try them, side by side by my only higher end IEMs, i would say that the EA1000 are simgot continuos rise toward the ranks of top-fi gear. Being able to do so on a budged while NOT skimping on packaging and serviceability makes me VERY hopeful of the brand's future. If the pattern holds we might end up seeing a 1k IEM from them that would make the top-fi and summit-fi market VERY nervous.
It's well extended in FR, basses are impactful and detailed, highs are kept under control without sounding shrilly or screechy, mids are kept clear and defined.
Also, do yourself a favour and use a balanced cable on them, they will thank you and you'll enjoy them better.

My road to the audio summit feels more like a speedrun. Starting off with a BTR5 and the Starfield, I ended up not two years later seeking a summit. I just wanted to skip all the middle men and the trap of marginal improvement, and jump to the summit. Took a while, watched videos, read reviews, and here I am.
Maybe this should have been my first review, but instead ended up one of the latest. Why? Because I feel like every single time I put them on the LCD-5 feel like the first time. The sound, the detail.... well spoiler alert I love this headphone and I could let go of all my other headphones and IEM and just keep the LCD-5.

With that out of the way, what did I get my hands on?
Only on a monster of detail, tonal accuracy and (shocking assertion to some) a very comfy headphone.

Let's start right off the bat, detail. I could go all in about how my most loved songs sounded "new", but it's true. You hear something on these, it becomes THE benchmark. If it's in the recording, you WILL hear it. I swear you could find out if a singer had a heavy dinner the night before he recorded when using this headphone.
Instrument separation is phenomenal, every source is laser-clear to the point you can point exactly every source of sound. On a side note, you WILL get accused of using a wallhack when playing online FPS, these make you feel like daredevil had a child with a bat. blind firing in smokescreens because you know where the enemy is, is a satisfaction that will never become old. neither the insults you will receive for such acoustic accuracy.
Having such levels of acoustic clarity comes with one "disadvantage", that is either you feed it a clean track or you WILL know every defect of it. I had to delete some albums and find better sources sorely because they were "faulty" when listened to this glorified acoustical electronic microscope.
Soundstage is just right, neither something that feels too distant nor in your face. It all sits "properly" where it should. I can't stretch enough how this headphone is just a living benchmark to the audio field.
Another point of clarity isn't just how detailed the sound is, but also how everything sounds just "right", no note hangs in the air or lags, no distortion, every single genre I feed it just ends up presented to me just like it should. Bold assertion but I WILL stand by it.

Frequency presentation is to my ear pitch perfect. Some call it mid forward, but I don't feel it and voices don't kill other sounds, basses are great, highs are just the right level of intensity and clarity.
Bass being great doesn't mean it's a bass-centric headphone. For that I would recommend the Kennerton Heartland, that feels like an LCD-5 junior with added bass power while keeping almost all the clarity. (seriously, if you have a chance to try those if you want a bass improved headphone that is still very resolving)

I could just end the review here, they are great, go look for a deal on them by some sellers and just buy them and skip the whole grind of spending as much as an LCD5 in 3-4 headphones for just marginal improvements.

But yeah it's a big investment, so I'll hammer home the point of their greatness:

Songs:

Body Company (Club Hit) - You can just close your eyes and you're in a club with this song blasting out, you feel right there, highs don't shrill, bass is always in control, the male voice is always clear and defined.

PAPA Plastic - The guitar intro is just pure pleasure, the female vocal is so intimate it whispers in your hear, the battery is there in the background to hammer home the bass. Bliss with the LCD5.

Me Machine - Electronic song, reproduced without a single hitch, bass and highs working side by side, never mixing or overlapping, an exercise in high/low frequency interaction.

Come Fly with Me - Frank Sinatra - You're there, Sinatra is on stage, and the orchestra is just behind him. This is how I’d rate the experience on the LCD-5. I think shy of resurrecting him, you'll never hear it better than with the LCD-5

Isn't She Lovely - Chesky Records35th Anniversary - Pair up a monster of mastering called Chesky Records, use the best resolving headphone, and you've got a match made in heaven. If you never listened to their songs, do it, and remember to try the LCD5 with those. I literally am sitting there, in front of the band, the singer is singing like a meter from me, on the left I have the bass, on the right the guitar and on the center sitting a little behind the singer, the percussions. If there are songs that can highlight how much really a headphone can be resolving, chesky's are the ideal. Again, frequency is just perfect every instrument is tuned to perfection, every detail, the position of all musicians, so clearly defined!

Beethoven Symphony No.9 Op.125 Choral - Herbert von Karajan - You're there, in the music hall, and again unless you resurrect Karajan, ol' Wolf Ears heard through the LCD5 is as close as you can get as going back in time and listening to one of his concerts.


Is there A single bad thing?
Oh yes three. First, I got a first edition, and those have a TIGHT xlr connection, requiring you to carefully unplug the XLR end so that you don't over-stress the socket. Bit tricky at first but then it's easy. Fixed on later production models.
Then, the fact that the angle of the XLR connectors should have been slightly more forward facing. If I tilt my head too much it touches on my SCM muscle.
And the ear cups are glued with glue tape. No easy detach mechanism. This feels like a big oversight that could have been so easily solved it's a mystery how it didn't get solved in planning stage. A magnet or a screw in mechanism would have done muuuch better. Thankfully I don't have to change the pads but beware: you got to have a strong stomach if you need to change them.

So 9.95/10, and my only gripe are the xlr plug and not too friendly earpads. The rest is just perfect. I hope for an LCD-5 Mk 2 with just those fixes.

PS: They are good when paired with something that has power. They are no crazy-inefficient susvara but I bought an A70pro just to be safe. I had a K9Pro before that and the improvement was marginal, yet present. So don't skimp on the amp section, even more because it's something that right now can be done quite on the cheap with great results. For a dac, I use a E70 velvet because I’m hooked on the AK4499 sound. Yet, I manage to enjoy them on my RS8 (high gain, no turbo) without pushing the sound level. I used them with the R6Pro2 that has way less power, and indeed it felt they were a little choked.

EDIT: now proofred and not a stream of consciousness

HiBy RS8. I landed on this technological marvel after having a taste of "now you know why that high end DAP was at such a bargain" in another player. So i saved, and started reading around what would be considered the DAP to end all DAPs.
First order of business: OS gotta be open, i need my apps to be installable by putting them as .apk. This killed a couple other valid choices, because i need my neutron player and sync apps.
Then was power: gotta power from the most humble of my IEMs to my LCD5.
Then, of course, sound quality: Go big or go home. I won't open my wallet for something that keeps me wanting. Even if i spend less, if i feel regret, i'd rather spend nothing.
Detail and a pitch perfect rendition are to me the two aspect i want in my dream DAP.
After that, it needs to be cool or at least have exceptional power and heat management. I came from a literal pocket cooker, and since i wanted to spend on something high end, it needed to have a long lifespan. If it feels hot to the touch, it's gonna die faster than desired, not going around the reality of batteries dying directly related to their operational temperature. That stuff has been already researched, deeply, so i looked at great heat management. In this case, it's in the form of a HUGE copper block, that surrounds the battery and then touches the exterior. This means heat is conveyed away from the battery, and it's isolated from the warmer parts of the DAP. Meaning, good heat dissipation and the wisdom of keeping the battery as chilly as possible. I think the only way to improve on this would be literal copper going all the way through.
And to sprinkle on all that, there's HiBy's extras: MSEB and Plugins. I never even have explored it all, so vast the choices are, but you can basically tweak the player's sound singature to be YOUR choice. This isn't some banale PEQ, this is literally molding the sound experience to suit your tastes deeply. I have yet to see other DAPs with such great care for user's customization.

So HiBy's RS8 has all that. Battery can last you an entire week, in one run i can keep it at turbo-power (highest power setting) and still get about 8 hours of balanced playback, using the internal memory.
I only ever listen to stuff i have stored locally through Neutron player, so my experience is purely local-player through Neutron. Nothing streamed, i don't buy a 3.500 euros player for streaming. My own opinion on streaming is that of contempt, possibly a controverse opionion but i won't lie to you about my tastes.
Never a hangup, great stability and, when i use the wifi sync app, a FOSS app, i had great reception speed with 5Ghz antenna, and not an issue on synchronizing the biggest songs i could find.
Thanks to all the magic sound vodoo it can do, i had to go and convert all my music to PCM, because before i was used to delta-sigma dacs so i preferred DSD, but got it all to 32bit PCM to make use of the internal filters.
Also, this player is a R-R that can also use DSD, but i FEEL (nothing proven just my own thought) that PCM would be a better choice, given the ability to "alter" them freely with filters.

All in all this player is a continuos source of satisfaction. Never once i regretted sinking so much money in it, because it gave me back so much. Maybe in the future there will be a V2 version with something magical but sincerely, this feels like a HUGE step forward and something that also has a sturdyness and well engineered layout that screams "I AM MADE TO LAST".

It would be an understatement to say that it's become my Gold Standard when trying new headphones/iem
It's THE reference sound, with power, detail and accuarcy that is second to none.

Now you might wonder why i don't analyze the effect of using it in different songs and scenarios. Truth is i have literally nothing that can top it in either detail or musicality. My humble A70pro + E70 velvet is really good, but this DAP would make me be able to just forgo all the fixed desktop equipment and enjoy a literal portable music hall, particularly when paired with my LCD5.
It would be boring to say in every single song that it's the best i've ever heard, but it's true. I think that, all in all, buying such a DAP would go a long way toward summit fi. Maybe it can't power a Susvara (and i don't own one) but to me this DAP paired with my LCD5 lets me bring my own private orchestra in the woods and enjoy nature with the most wonderful music i can bring with me. And i think it's one of life's luxuries to be able to enjoy the outdoors while listening to the most wonderful song in the most faithful way.

Reccomended is an understatement, it's wonderful and i think that it's a no-brainer.

Now, since it's been a while since i made this review and i keep thinking about how to better express my feelings in words, in an hobby that is as intimate and elusive as the concept of Beauty, i decided to re-test it, to include song feelings, experience after one year of use AND compare it to its younger brother R8II. I hope to do right by the RS8 and express what a wonderful device it is, beyond what i already wrote.
All songs were player with turbo on, using the Campfire Audio Trifecta.


Born to be yours - Imagine Dragons
The warmth of the sound, its sweetness and the impact of the notes make for an enveloping experience, bordering to the addictive. I could listen to the RS8 and close my eyes, feeling there to listen to a the band playing in a private audience. On the R8II you get a little more highs, more sound separation, but i feel the "amalgam" of the sound on the RS8 is an overall more involving experience.

Goldeneye - Tina Turner
A honey sweeet voice, impactful and visceral, one of the best way to enjoy one of the timeless James Bond songs. the RS8 is the epitome of musicality and it delivers. On the R8II, you get a more "analytical" sound, losing a bit of "magic" of the RS8 sound, with a more accurate positioning and audio separation.

Fake it Til You Make It
The RS8 heavier notes improve the musicality and impact of the song, providing an improved visceral feeling. The R8II again shows superior finer details, losing out overall "musicality" of the tones.

To wrap up th feelings of this review, I will say that the RS8, one year after purchase, left me INCREDIBILY satisfied, both because i love its sound and because even in face of new items from the same maker, it shows just how powerful and detailed it is.
Having said that, if you can, trying out this R2R beast vs a D/S powerhouse shows how the sound signature differs. While the apex of R2R has incredible detail, there is always a small edge in detail for the R8II, but that has a tradeoff fo music being less "coherent" and more geared toward laserlike detail.
I myself would go the R2R route first, and D/S as a sidegrade, but that is my personal feeling about sonud and its detail.
I described the two players as the RS8 being a Canaletto painting pictured with a powerful and top end analogue camera, while the R8II is the same painting but pictured through a top of the line digital camera. In one case, you never have a "clear" picture but the detail is all there, meshing just like real paint, while the other gives you more defined "contours", but never really achieving the "mingle" of colours of analogue.

I don't review on FR and stuff, i review on what i feel in my brain when i put stuff on my ears.
So this is a FEELINGS review, nothing more. This is a planar IEM, this is going to be important later, but not for a brouchure approach.

First off, using "Life On Mars" i tested the voice and dinamic extension of the Euclids. As you know the song has strings, lows, highs, voice, a big mix of sounds and sources that make for a complex song. The thing that at first turned me off from my own hard-money-earned purchase was that it felt kinda meh. Then i compared to other IEMs, though of lower cost. And then i started listening. As many would know, first impressions can be deceiving, and this was one such case. The thing that "turns off" from the Euclids is the same that actually shows the kind of gear you have.
In this case, the fact that NO part of the sound was overwhelming or overwriting the rest of the frequencies. Meaning that piano, voice and the bass strings ALL had their own space, never to be trampled by others. That which at first made me think they were underwhelming was actually them being as true as they could to the source song. No bass-boost nor shrilling highs, they are there for one job: giving you the song you feed them.

So, let's go to something completely different: Bach Toccata and Fugue straight from Chesky Record's Rendition. I can say that it's one of those bass-heavy songs where the organ shows all its might. In the Euclid, you'll hear THE organ, complexity of its dinamics and the low end are ALL there. I have never, ever heard any misstep or sound distortion in its more deep parts. I think the use of a planar drive helps immensely with covering the whole FR spectrum with as reliable as possible rendition of every single HZ. Also, i am kinda "spoiled" in my basses with the Kennerton Heartland, and yet in the Euclid there's nothing hidden, just more evened out with the rest of the FR.

Ending with Beethoven Symphony No9 in B Flat, Op.60: Adagio, Euclid shows again coherency in its FR, with no overwhelming of the FR between Bass and Highs. The sound's enveloping and powerful.

So here's the end of this simple review. I started out thinking i would ditch them in favour of other IEMs, but ended up re-listening to them critically and fell back in love with their sound.
I guess people can get used to something very good and risk ignoring it only because it's something they grow accustomed to.
Don't be like that, enjoy it all you have!

Also, one could say a 5/5 would be in order but i do think they could be improved, so i look forward to Euclids Mk2 that go even higher!

EDIT: After messing around with some eartips, they have improved FR with the AET07 tips, seems they nicely elevate the bass to make this a real all-rounder, and elevates its "worth" bracket unnvervingly close to TOTL territory. I think Audeze could really end up distrupting the TOTL area if they make a mk2 version of the euclid with some small tweaks.
And if you can snatch them on sale, the become a no-bariner in value/performance. Upped to 5/5 becaue of these findings.

I like the shell and HiBy had me appreciate the colour purple on my person. this not an easy feat.
The IEM is well crafted, stays in ear like a feather and doesn't move around at all. The cable's quite a perk, since it has swappable end so you can go 4.4 to 3.5 withouth the hassle of changing it. Less changing the cable, less chances to kill the socket. Good thinking HiBy!
To try them, i put them in their RS8, so i absolutely pushed them to their absolute limit
I got around trying it after a long time since i used IEM, being hooked on HPs.
First i went with something bass/vocal heavy, "I've got the world on a string" from Chesky Records. I often use their recordings in my review because, honestly, such high tier mastering means it's the duty of the hardware to show its capability, and any lack of positioning/frequency/detail is wholly on the hardware and not on the song itself (some crimes against sound should be put in prison, because of criminally bad mastering).
The bass is detailed and accurate, thought i guess my Heartland made me kind of a bass head, so MAAAAAYBE in the future a little bump there in the low end impact could be a way to improve it. Yet, it's mostly about improving what's there, not a lack of bass. I might be nitpicky, but at this 300 buck tier i start being picky.
Mids a pleasure to listen to, so voice-heavy songs are very enjoyable.
After that, "Get You Closer (Radio Mix)" because i needed to push the bass and highs with something more "spicy". Here you can see it has a slight lack of "control" in the low end, but still it doesn't hide it. Highs are detailed and powerful, not screechy at all but you can feel them. Like some techno/dance? This IEM will be something you'll enjoy lots.
In all songs i tried, positioning and technicalities were very satisfactory, i'd say eerily close to my Euclid, so yeah this IEM was done with quality in mind, both manifacturing and tuning.
I sincerely think that in their pricerange. I compared them to my old Blessing 2 Dusk, and i overwhelmingly prefer their tuning not to mention the added detail.
Could they be improved? a little more bass impact and you get yourself a gem.
Dear HiBy, you made a WONDERFUL mid-tier IEM, and this kind of quality is what keeps the higher end on their toe, to prevent us all from an inflation of overpriced top tiers. If IEM like these didn't exist, we'd all have mid-tier IEM priced at 2k.
Good work hiby!

TL;DR: perfect choice for mid-tier IEM, price/perf is very good!

So i put the EM6L into my RS8 and this is what happened:
Right off the bat, I got them and started listening to one of those sounds that really when using GOOD IEMs (or HPs): chesky recordings. Put on "On Green Dolphin Street", first thing i noticed good positioning of instruments and a pleasant bass. The highs miiight be a little less than perfect, but that's when you compared them to waaaay more costly IEMs. Do these IEM magically overtake the kilobucks? No. Do these sound pleasant and gentle tuned? Yes! Very much so!
Highs are rendered a bit smoother than one who would want 100% definition, but this smoothing makes them quite pleasant to listen to for a long time. Bass is well defined and has good impact. It's the kind of IEM that i feel could go against the 300-500 bracket and come out trading blows and not being taken down outright. Simgot really made a shiny example of making a cost-effective IEM that has all the basics and packaged it so you don't have to sell a kidney to enjoy higher tiers of the HiFi passion we all share.
"Zombie" from chesky records was a quite nice example of a complex song, with lots of positioning, low end and highs. Listening to it, on the RS8, it felt like a very mature IEM with good tonality, detail and positioning.
The rumble's good the voice is intimate and the highs are all there. It feels like the tuning was nailed, so the frequency response is good. Could you ask more for something that retails for around 100 bucks? Since there's plenty of other IEMs who are priced higher and can't claim to have such good tuning, i say this pair of IEM has a very very good price/performance ratio.
Maybe the EW200 beat them in the cost/sound performance, this enters the "you gonna pay more to have more". And this 100 bucks i could see take on easily the 300-500 bracket.
I rate it 5/5, fite me. Price/quality is literally one of the best in all brackets, meaning it's a easy reccomend and you KNOW you will have a good pair of IEM that you can rely on to enjoy your music.

Oh boy am i late to the review party. It has been one of the first IEM i have ever bought back when i was sane and 70 bucks felt a lot of money.
Now i plugged them into my HiBy RS8 and got a listen after tasting other IEMs and headphones.

So, i can make a fast review because unfortunately they are kinda underwhelming. a 100 bucks IEM, with really light bass, screechy highs and mediocre mids. Back when i had just a BTR5 and them, they felt a breath of fresh air. Now, after years, i guess they have aged not that well against the newcomers.
I hope they will in the future remake a version that can actually stand the test of time.

So i got the chance to review this little thing. It's shiny, it is made of sturdy metal and it's lightweight.
But does it SOUND good?
First of all, we are talking quite a cheap unit, talking 40 bucks. And it's quite a pleasure seeing that they did take care of both the packaging and the "feeling" of the cable and the casing.
Metal's a good way to go to protect this little thing, and rightfully so.
It isn't some kind of magic titan-killer, but it shows that Simgot really did their homework, making a low-end unit feel actually good.
This means while the price is cheap, the unit itself is a very well managed balance of tonal accuracy and detail.
I could elaborate more, but seriously go out and get one, worst case scenario you just bought the backup IEM that will save you when some other most costly unit bites the dust and need backup.

Now, onto the sound itself.
Tried it with "Simpathy for the Devil", not really expecting much, but i got very pleasantly surprised by a good bass, well defined high frequencies, and an overall enjoyable experience.
After that, some highs with "Silhouette". Nice highs, though not on the "amazing side". But for this pricerange, i'd really wrong trying to push it against what i hear from kilobucks. This means, you won't get 1000 bucks worth of sound from 40, but you are coasting really closely into the 300-400 range. This means quite a lot, and for price/performance I am way more than satisfied.

Does this kill my Euclids? Nope.
Does this pair of IEM surprise you and become incredibly cost-effective? DEFINITELY.
Sincerely, i can reccomend them easily. They can be both your first step into Hifi and something you buy beside your most prized IEMs, and still find their niche as your faithful sturdy sound companions.
Sound wise, i'd say in this price range would be a 4.5/5, but at this price it goes to a 5/5. Price matters as much as sound, and a low-tier that sounds this good gives a very good base for newcomers, not to mention if the low end of the audio world were to start becoming overpriced/bad, you can bet all other tiers WILL spiral out of control in the price/performance ratio. Way more than it already is.
By the way, i fed them from my HiBy RS8, so yeah i squeezed out of them the absolute most they could, and it shows that they are gems.

Audivina review:

Many delve into the technical specs of the device they review. That is best left to the brouchure from the manifacturer.
Here is the completely one-sided, personal and subjective opinions of someone who has been a whopping 2 years coming from the humble ATH-M50x to the Audeze LCD-5. I have my tastes, and thus it’s 100% subjective review.
First impressions:
Aesthetically. the Adivina are quite eye cathing, with a suspension system similar to the HE1000, not to mention two quite generous earcups who are covered on both sides with beautiful wood, as these are closed backs.

The look is very unique, no quite other headphone has the same look. Comfyness well describes how light and firm they stand on your head, I’d say one of the best, reminding me on the featherweight R70X.
Now comes the musical part:
In my zero-reviews experience, i thought i’d try and use the comparison to another headphone to try and describe better the feelings i get from them.
I have the luck of owning other high end closed backs (LCD-XC 2021), and thus i’ll try and compare them to better describe their musicality.
Let’s start with the first thing when you hear the word “closed backs”: Isolation. On the Audivina, there is very little. All in all, i can hear through it almost like an open back. This is a big drawback because the headphone easily swivels and comes in a portable package that seems to encourage people to bring it on a trip and enjoy some music on the go (or maybe i’m the one that’s crazy to think about going around with 2k headphones on my head, but hey if i buy something you can bet i AM going to use it).
After isolation, closed backs are supposed to sound more bassy. That isn’t really a standard, and my LCD-5 would have a word with anyone saying open backs’ bass can’t be good. And the Audivina corroborate the importance of not letting their designation “closed back” trick you into thinking they are bassy. Quite the opposite thir bass is….let’s say featherweight. Little impact, texture and intensity makes the lower part of the frequencies feel almost missing. An example is the song from Far Cry 5 “Build a Castle – Choir Version”. The LCD-XC paint a deep, impactful voice, you can hear the impact of the vocals, the strings, it brings it all together very well.
On the audivina you have a shallow bass, good mids, and the strings are the ones ending up being heard the best.
The soundstage is very nice, quite open and spacious.
Another song, good for the mids/high, is “Nobody Does it Better” by Carly Simon. Being a little less bass heavy, the voice is well rendered and the highs are good. But again, missing the bass unfortunately doesn’t help with the impact of the voice.
To focus all-in with the bass, “Fukitsu” from the Bakemonogatari OST is a good instrument-heavy song has both highs and bass. Here being a string instrument audivinas are better than other songs, with very good definition but still lacking the “impact” of basses frrom the piano.

Conclusions:

They absolutely win in two categories: Comfort and Transportability
In these the audivina are world class.
They have nice technicalities, with a very large sound stage rivalling open backs.
Tonality is divisive, and would reccomend testing them to see if they suit your taste.
Isolation isn’t much to write home about and would need improvement in the future.
Bass is the real issue, and to me unfortunately a dealbreaker.

EDIT: revised the rating. Too many chances I had to try IEMs and HP that outclass it in price and features.

“A Powerful Sound”

So I got the Kennerton Heartland.
Can this beautiful and lightweight planar headphone deliver the high expectations I had for it?
The looks is already in the TOTL tier, beautiful wood around the cups, very comfy leather pads, a weight that puts it in the "do I even have a headphone on my head now" tier (I have a pair of R70x, the only other headphone that literally feels like having nothing at all on your head) and a beautiful carrying case.
But that's all details and extra, that enrich an experience, but let's get down to business.
They advertise these headphones as having a 20micrometer thick membrane. Now, I don't delve in technical analysis because that's for brochures, BUT it might actually be relevant this time around more than it could seem. More on that later.

To have an actual rating, you got to have a way to mark stuff. And I chose arbitrarily and absolutely because I have them to tie my review to THE benchmark I have in my possession: the Audeze LCD-5.
That to me is the apex predator of headphones, all to be measured by. If you want to contradict me, loan me a HE-1 or a 1266abyss or a susvara and I can give you my opinion. but since I don't have the chance to try them, the LCD-5 to me are the top.
So, with that in mind, I simply enjoyed music on my 5s, then went on the same track with the Heartland, to feel the differences, nuances, and thus give you a way to interpret what I write as more than self-served article and an actual useful way to gauge your interest in the Heartland.

Classical song:
"La leggenda del Piave"
Let's go with something opposed to those who might want a low-end bump: classical music.
On the LCD-5 you get the most 1:1 rendering you can ask for, meaning you pay for all the sound, you get ALL the sound. Details are all there, if you can't find them, they are not there.
How do the heartland scale in such a field? This headphone shows a darker image, less highs, but while I was concerned it might end up murdering this kind of audio, I was relieved. Kennerton managed to make a "weighty" sound, without sacrificing on the altar of bass the high frequencies. They are "less" the focus of interest, but they are there, not to be forgotten. Bass frequencies are exalted but in a way that doesn’t overextend or mud the voices or the other high-pitched instruments. Male voices are clear and crips. At first, I felt like details weren't all there, but only because the LCD5 shows them with no preference, while the heartland puts them there in their own interpretation. This was a big relief because I can't stand headphones with bad technical performances.
The heartland in this case show themselves as a "sidegrade" to the LCD5, the 5s winning in overall detail, the Heartland giving a different rendition that is quite warming.

"Grand Septuor de L. van Beethoven, S465 - Movement 1： Adagio – Allegro con brio"
Again a song masterfully done with the 5, becomes more warm and less analytic.
Remember how I said the thicker membrane was not some empty technical spec but actually helps with knowing the type of sound these headphones make?
Here you have a song that is 100% instrumental, lots of highs, and you can feel the difference clearly. The thicker membrane doesn't just improve bass quality and quantity, but also gives higher frequencies a different character, giving them more persistence and reverb. While listening to classical music in a Romanic Church, I had the very similar feeling of music being reinforced by the thick stone walls and its reverb in a way that reminded me of the Heartland. So in this case, you will feel with classical music as you had the center sit of an orchestra in a glorious Romanic Church, the reverb increasing the overall warmth of the music, while being able to enjoy the whole frequency spectrum in a more comfortable and yet powerful way.

Voice-centric songs:
"Legata ad un granello di sale"
Here again the 5 shows the pitch perfect rendition with zero additions, a true perfect sound.
Heartland meanwhile gives the warmth of a blanket to the voice, without suffocating the highs. The heartland again shows a favor for the low end that stays put in its place, without sacrificing other frequencies. this kind of balancing act means you get both the bass boost but without the mudding or death of higher frequencies.

Rap:
So yeah bass-heavy songs, let's see what happens.
"Rap God"
They are already bass boosted. since they mostly rely on basses to entice the listener, they improve on it and makes it even more visceral. In this case, I find myself favoring the heartland over LCD5 sound on the grounds of the song itself presenting itself bass-favoring, so it enhances it.
"Volare Michael Feiner Remix"
Remix of the old song "Volare", again the bass boost shows that the Heartland don't just go up with the decibels but increases the coherency, texture and details of the bass. This helps better understanding WHAT the HL actually does to the sound. It doesn't just boost bass, it helps keeping it detailed and "in check", that is not becoming a garbled overboosted mess or invade the higher frequencies. The 5 give you the more dry and pitch perfect experience, the heartland give you the more heartfelt and visceral feeling, that doesn't skimp on technicalities.

"X gon' Give it to Ya"
Yeah again, better texture and better impact of the low end for the heartland vs the LCD5, that are perfect in their pitch, but since this kind of song goes hard for the bass, heartland exceptionally helps render it in a way that is both powerful and detailed, enhancing the song itself.


Closing:
These headphones are bass-improved (saying bass-centric would be demeaning their rendition of other frequencies), and are very pleasant to listen to in various genres. If you were to aim for a "one headphone", my sincere opinion is to go for the LCD5. But, if you want a FUN headphone, that will end up very often on your ears and let you enjoy your music, not to mention being the most comfortable I have ever tried, then the Heartland is for you. You want a neutral monitor? They're not it. They're FUN monitors, with improved bass presence and texture, that doesn't sacrifice higher frequencies and instead just choses to highlight the lower ones.

If you are the type that enjoys a more visceral sound, it's a 10/10. If you are more into neutral but want to enjoy a different approach, they are 9/10.
Kennerton made an incredibly light headphone, put in a wonderfully tuned drivers that are quite heavy hitting, and on top it all put beautiful wooden finish to it.
They are lightweight, sturdy and I could enjoy them even on the go.

Addendum:
I noticed an improvement in sound quality and detail after a couple weeks of use. if such changes continue, I will update the review. It seems the higher frequencies managed to be more detailed and present, contrary to when I first used the Heartland.

Edit: now with 100% capital letter "I"

Disclaimer:

I don’t love showing you specs and stats. Plenty of people have the gear and the technical expertise to do that better than me. I’ll give you my opinion, based on how I think it sounds and then on how much it is worth compared to the asking price. When I evaluate DAPs, I only use my LCD-5. They are both my musical benchmark and also the most revealing headphone I have. If this kind of review speaks to you, happy to share my feedback.

The exterior:

Well made, screws easily accessible to replace the internal battery, great screen with fullHD resolution (2k screen and the likes are just useful to kill battery and increase temperature), great set of inputs that forgo analogue knobs for simple buttons. Very handy and very ground-to-earth. Bell and whistles are fun and dandy until they become more a bother than an asset. Pushing the button for volume and adjusting it on screen is very fast and a pleasant UX.

The interior:
Well made implementation of android 12, good connectivity and very good responsiveness. I have yet to encouter bugs.

The Software:

Haven’t encounter bugs, glitches or hangups. Using the usual apps I install on my DAPs I have found no hiccups.

The Sound Software:
Hiby is peculiar in the sense that it does actually let you personalize the sound. And while the darwin-architecture lets you fine tune int more, even with this Digital DAC the “MSEB” software is present, letting you personalize to quite an extent the sound. It emulates various aspect of sound and you will end up playing with it to find your personal sweetspot. Not many makers employ such a deep and powerful software in their offer, and certainly not at this price range. Most you can get usually is a EQ. So this speak highly of the care that HiBy puts in their software. This isn’t your avereage “mid-fi” throwaway device that you will ditch once going kilobucks. This will stay with you faithfully!

THE SOUND:
Yeah finally the sound. In a vacuum, I LOVE this little DAP. It’s very musical, detailed and, to my ear, the frequency response is very revealing, and unless you mess with MSEB, it is as neutral as it can get. Perhaps there is a slight hint of less-than-amazing bass response, but this COULD be because it isn’t very powerful specs-wise, so maybe on the headphones the effect is not that felt.

Let’s go for comparisons now! Cause we all love all the DAPs, but some are better (a lot) or worse (A LOT) than others.

VS FiiO M15

So this thing has a nice implementation of the AK4499, and a powerful amp part. Good detailed sound. But software and hardware issues overshadow the (many) goods of this player.

Musically, vs the R6ProII it loses in detail, possibly only keeping the edge in raw power. But being powerful to me isn’t enough if you have less detailed sound and even less bass texture.

If you add to the mix that the MSRP was 1399 vs the 799 of the HiBy, this isn’t even a discussion. The HiBy does EVERYTHING better, from an improved sound to a mindboggling improvement in software and hardware. So the HiBy R6Pro II overwhelmingly wins.

VS HiBy RS8

Is it fair? Hell no. But is it fun to compare? YES!
Because in the case of the R6ProII you forgo (lots) of shiny things in the hardware department, because that huge chunk of pure titanium and the humongous copper heatsink inside make the RS8 not only BIG and powerful but also feels straight out of a jewelry store.

Of course having much more battery, more power and an R-R DAC means the RS8 should be eating the R6P2 for breakfast. But instead HiBy, wise not to be greedy and damage its mid-line, made such a well balanced device that if you are content with less power and less battery (much less IRL usage in balanced 4.4) you will find that the sound is not that distant. Yes, everything is better on the RS8, would be a problem if it wasn’t so, but you don’t feel like you’re listening to some cheap toy when you come back to the R6P2. You feel the difference, you hear the difference.
Mids and high are very very close, bass is another beast on the RS8 and the overall “coherency” of the music is one of the reasons why the RS8 is worth the money to me.
The R6P2 has less of everything, but not that much.

Closing words:
if you don’t have a DAP and you want one that will stay with you a LONG time, go buy the R6P2. Not joking, for 799 you get one of the best music players ever, at a price that usually was in the “overpriced for what it does” that sits in the middle between low tier gear and high-tier gear. Instead you get something that could be almost considered underpriced for what It does. You will have to make due with non analogue music wheel, way less battery, less detail and less power.

But you won’t feel like you are stuck in that middle-fi hell where you feel like you spent too much for a small improvement, and instead you feel like you found someone handing you a high-tier unit on the cheap.