Reviews by SHOOTINGTECHIE
TANSIO MIRAI aka TSMR had been making audio products since 2014 and based in Beijing, China. I haven’t tried any products from them but have been hearing great things from them as being a very fun and energetic tuning. Earlier I tried their TSMR X which was a good iem, and today I get to try a very interesting iem TSMR ARMOR – a 2DD x 2BA x 1 EST iem, really hooked up for the trying the tuning out.
DISCLAIMER –
The TSMR X is part of a review tour organised by A.G, TSMR and @Penon in my country. The sample belongs to the brand. This review is completely based on my experience with it, and all opinions, positive or negative, are my own and no one else’s. No external factors influence my review; only internal factors like my brain and heart influence it. Please try it yourself, if possible, since we all hear things differently. If you want to purchase it, you can buy it from the official product website using the link: TSMR Armor
PACKAGING –
TSMR has a good small box and within is a large synthetic leather carrying case which has everything including 2 sets of eartips, one brush, one pin for changing the switches, iems and cable. I loved the box as it can contain a dongle also for the on the go experience love to see that.
SPECIFICATIONS –
5 drivers each side, total 10 drivers.
2 dynamic + 2 balanced armature + 1 electret electrostatic driver
Low frequency tuning switches
High quality 3D printed resin cavity
Manual lamination process panels
Driver configuration
2 x 8mm high magnetic dynamic driver, hollow coaxial structure, carbon mixed diaphragm responsible for low frequency.
2 Knowles balanced armature responsible for mid frequency.
1 electret electrostatic driver responsible for high frequency.
Impedance: 11 ohm
Sensitivity: 103dB
Frequency response range: 10~45kHz
Connector: 2pin 0.78mm
Cable: 8 Strands OFC Silver-plated
BUILD QUALITY –
This feels great to hold with its transparent design and wonderful face plates too. The 2 pin is quite tight and you need to be careful otherwise they will bend and break and the 2 pin female ends are inside the housing. The nozzle is quite big, but I had no problem with the fitting of the iem. The back of the iem has the switches which do need a toothpick or the tool given.
CABLE –
The cable is decent with good amount of thickness and quite a good pentaconn connector. The ear hooks are great but they kind of fall off the ears in a while. Theres not cable sound though that comes through.
SOUND IMPRESSIONS:
NOTE: I used this iem with 3rd party tips which I will add a photo of, as the stock tips didn’t insert that much nicely in my ears. I used RT5000 for the entire review at 3rd level of gain and around 10 O clock at volume level (it starts from 9 o clock at volume wheel in RT5000). I used the stock cable though for the entire review and also set the iems to 100 ( on each of them as I thought the bass was more defined here and subbass was more to my liking) and then went with 003 tuning as I liked the crispiness of the vocals and the instruments notes.
SUBBASS –
Subbass in this iem is wonderful. It is quite warm, large in quantity and spreads across the horizontal space as it should. It is dynamic, charging with the force of the hits and also, quite fast in attack of the notes. It has real depth (-y axis) in its presentation. The individual notes or extension are though distinguished but not so much and the decay is also quite fast. The sub-bass is still really good to enjoy though, a good safe ground.
BASS –
Bass is also warm and has large body of notes impact on the drum kits. The tonality is on point but a little thicker for me in the notes. There is quite fast attack speed and similarly fast decay, giving it very less space to expand. It does go more in the -y axis and spreads horizontally but not much. There’s is good distinction between the notes and they are quite dynamic . The spacing between the notes are great and are quite different from the other instruments notes in tonality. ( Weighting in the different tunings pros and cons : I would recommend to go with tuning 003 for much better overall experience)
MIDS –
Let’s start with the vocals. Male vocalist sound great with great dynamism and accurate tonality to their voice. The ruggedness of the voice seems lacking though, in it’s emphasis. The definition of the notes aka crispiness, could be more improved (recommend to use 020 or 003 tuning for enhancing this) . The air in the voice though comes through though. Loving the distinction between different vocalists. Female vocals on the other hand, are much more dynamic and finely tuned. They are soft in the notes definition, though reach very high in the head stage. The nuances comes much better in this iem. The notes have a much bigger body but diffuses too fast ( for this reason I recommend to go with 020 or 003 retuning as this will alleviate mostly all the problems stated above and makes this a quite crispier iem ). It’s a very safe tuning and no ssss in any of the vocalists which many would like.
Let’s start with instruments, they are totally on the warm side. They are tonally accurate and have great dynamism in their notes. Notes have a bigger body than the extension. Though it feels like a slight more crispness in the definition would have been better ( go with 003 tuning makes it much better and more defined and better stage too). It felt a bit diffuse. The timbre is great and the attack of the notes are great but decay is quite fast too, thus not able extend which the iem could easily do. Separation between the instruments is okay, they feel a little bit closer than my preference but in no way mix up at all. The nuances though are easily caught and have good presence but the dynamism felt lacking. The placement of the instruments are infront of you in an ellipse but it’s not that wide of an iem (try using 003 and you will be surprised
) , so a bit too close to each other. Individual notes though are quite different and have their own presence so they don’t feel getting mixed up. Despite these they feel very safe in its tuning and kind of engages you overall ( much better with 003 tuning and the bass is also much more impactful though a little less extension ).
TREBLE –
This is a smooth iem even with 003 tuning, the instruments notes are warmish and won’t cause ear pain even with full blown trumpets. But they don’t lack energy and dynamism with this tuning is much better. The notes are more well defined and the attack of the notes remains same but the decay is slightly more defined which adds extension and I love it. The crispiness of the song does come through and probably my preferred tuning. Notes have much more defined body and reach quite high in the headstage. The inter instrumental spacing though is slightly less and that probably would improve with better cable.
VERDICT –
Great iem with quite different tunings and this makes it versatile, want to be basshead go for 100, want background music and everything else go for 003 tuning. It does do good with different tips too so try it out. Surely can recommend as a very smooth safely tuned iem with different personalities that can suit a varied number of people.
DISCLAIMER –
The TSMR X is part of a review tour organised by A.G, TSMR and @Penon in my country. The sample belongs to the brand. This review is completely based on my experience with it, and all opinions, positive or negative, are my own and no one else’s. No external factors influence my review; only internal factors like my brain and heart influence it. Please try it yourself, if possible, since we all hear things differently. If you want to purchase it, you can buy it from the official product website using the link: TSMR Armor
PACKAGING –
TSMR has a good small box and within is a large synthetic leather carrying case which has everything including 2 sets of eartips, one brush, one pin for changing the switches, iems and cable. I loved the box as it can contain a dongle also for the on the go experience love to see that.
SPECIFICATIONS –
5 drivers each side, total 10 drivers.
2 dynamic + 2 balanced armature + 1 electret electrostatic driver
Low frequency tuning switches
High quality 3D printed resin cavity
Manual lamination process panels
Driver configuration
2 x 8mm high magnetic dynamic driver, hollow coaxial structure, carbon mixed diaphragm responsible for low frequency.
2 Knowles balanced armature responsible for mid frequency.
1 electret electrostatic driver responsible for high frequency.
Impedance: 11 ohm
Sensitivity: 103dB
Frequency response range: 10~45kHz
Connector: 2pin 0.78mm
Cable: 8 Strands OFC Silver-plated
BUILD QUALITY –
This feels great to hold with its transparent design and wonderful face plates too. The 2 pin is quite tight and you need to be careful otherwise they will bend and break and the 2 pin female ends are inside the housing. The nozzle is quite big, but I had no problem with the fitting of the iem. The back of the iem has the switches which do need a toothpick or the tool given.
CABLE –
The cable is decent with good amount of thickness and quite a good pentaconn connector. The ear hooks are great but they kind of fall off the ears in a while. Theres not cable sound though that comes through.
SOUND IMPRESSIONS:
NOTE: I used this iem with 3rd party tips which I will add a photo of, as the stock tips didn’t insert that much nicely in my ears. I used RT5000 for the entire review at 3rd level of gain and around 10 O clock at volume level (it starts from 9 o clock at volume wheel in RT5000). I used the stock cable though for the entire review and also set the iems to 100 ( on each of them as I thought the bass was more defined here and subbass was more to my liking) and then went with 003 tuning as I liked the crispiness of the vocals and the instruments notes.
SUBBASS –
Subbass in this iem is wonderful. It is quite warm, large in quantity and spreads across the horizontal space as it should. It is dynamic, charging with the force of the hits and also, quite fast in attack of the notes. It has real depth (-y axis) in its presentation. The individual notes or extension are though distinguished but not so much and the decay is also quite fast. The sub-bass is still really good to enjoy though, a good safe ground.
BASS –
Bass is also warm and has large body of notes impact on the drum kits. The tonality is on point but a little thicker for me in the notes. There is quite fast attack speed and similarly fast decay, giving it very less space to expand. It does go more in the -y axis and spreads horizontally but not much. There’s is good distinction between the notes and they are quite dynamic . The spacing between the notes are great and are quite different from the other instruments notes in tonality. ( Weighting in the different tunings pros and cons : I would recommend to go with tuning 003 for much better overall experience)
MIDS –
Let’s start with the vocals. Male vocalist sound great with great dynamism and accurate tonality to their voice. The ruggedness of the voice seems lacking though, in it’s emphasis. The definition of the notes aka crispiness, could be more improved (recommend to use 020 or 003 tuning for enhancing this) . The air in the voice though comes through though. Loving the distinction between different vocalists. Female vocals on the other hand, are much more dynamic and finely tuned. They are soft in the notes definition, though reach very high in the head stage. The nuances comes much better in this iem. The notes have a much bigger body but diffuses too fast ( for this reason I recommend to go with 020 or 003 retuning as this will alleviate mostly all the problems stated above and makes this a quite crispier iem ). It’s a very safe tuning and no ssss in any of the vocalists which many would like.
Let’s start with instruments, they are totally on the warm side. They are tonally accurate and have great dynamism in their notes. Notes have a bigger body than the extension. Though it feels like a slight more crispness in the definition would have been better ( go with 003 tuning makes it much better and more defined and better stage too). It felt a bit diffuse. The timbre is great and the attack of the notes are great but decay is quite fast too, thus not able extend which the iem could easily do. Separation between the instruments is okay, they feel a little bit closer than my preference but in no way mix up at all. The nuances though are easily caught and have good presence but the dynamism felt lacking. The placement of the instruments are infront of you in an ellipse but it’s not that wide of an iem (try using 003 and you will be surprised
) , so a bit too close to each other. Individual notes though are quite different and have their own presence so they don’t feel getting mixed up. Despite these they feel very safe in its tuning and kind of engages you overall ( much better with 003 tuning and the bass is also much more impactful though a little less extension ).TREBLE –
This is a smooth iem even with 003 tuning, the instruments notes are warmish and won’t cause ear pain even with full blown trumpets. But they don’t lack energy and dynamism with this tuning is much better. The notes are more well defined and the attack of the notes remains same but the decay is slightly more defined which adds extension and I love it. The crispiness of the song does come through and probably my preferred tuning. Notes have much more defined body and reach quite high in the headstage. The inter instrumental spacing though is slightly less and that probably would improve with better cable.
VERDICT –
Great iem with quite different tunings and this makes it versatile, want to be basshead go for 100, want background music and everything else go for 003 tuning. It does do good with different tips too so try it out. Surely can recommend as a very smooth safely tuned iem with different personalities that can suit a varied number of people.
Colin5619
Great review, was interested in these myself to purchase
Penon obsidian cable
Penon as always has been making great strides in the audio industry. Cables have never been my forte but I have been a believer that it does cause a change in certain iems. Today I got a chance to try out the penon obsidian cable.
Disclaimer – This review could only be done with the help of AG and penon. The unit belongs to the brand and i am grateful for the opportunity to try it. But my thoughts are my own and no one can influence it
Build –
The cable is quite thick and feels great and heavy duty. It has a coat on top which makes it stick to ears and helps them to not fall down. The cable has a good player 4.4 pentaconn connector. The connector is made of carbon fiber and interchangeable too.
Specs –
4 shares, 100 cores per share, 400 cores in total
OCC+18K gold-plated OCC hybrid cable
Gold-plated copper + carbon fiber plug accessories
Length: 1.2m
Plug: gold-plated 3-in-1 plug (3.5mm/2.5mm/4.4mm)
Note- has been tried on penon fan3, blon bl03, nfaudio ra15, wyvern, adonis and epz q5pro to form an opinion.
Sound impressions –
Trying out the penon obsidian cable with the set of iems i had on hand. This increases the bass impact and also the extensions of the bass. The sub-bass is also quite extended and reverbs are much better defined. The tonality becomes slightly more towards the right (natural side) but highly dependent on the iems. The notes are more dynamic and reach higher in the headstage.
Headstage had become wider and a slightly farther and 3D presentation. Inter instrumental and inter notes separation are much better and well defined. The resolution is also much better and nuaces have got more dynamism. The notes though will become more taller, the thickness might be a little thin (not all iems though). The upper mids have gotten a bit more energy but not fatiguing or too troubling. There is more airiness in the notes too. The treble has increased energy and more dynamic. Its more dynamic and more surprising when trumpets come up in the song. There is air in the trumpets and definition of the notes are more enhanced. The resolution is much better. Overall there’s a good improvement which is worth it.
Verdict –
The cable is made up of great build quality and has noticeable improvement in the sound quality. This is highly recommended for dark iems and iems which lack stage. I would surely recommend this.
Penon as always has been making great strides in the audio industry. Cables have never been my forte but I have been a believer that it does cause a change in certain iems. Today I got a chance to try out the penon obsidian cable.
Disclaimer – This review could only be done with the help of AG and penon. The unit belongs to the brand and i am grateful for the opportunity to try it. But my thoughts are my own and no one can influence it
Build –
The cable is quite thick and feels great and heavy duty. It has a coat on top which makes it stick to ears and helps them to not fall down. The cable has a good player 4.4 pentaconn connector. The connector is made of carbon fiber and interchangeable too.
Specs –
4 shares, 100 cores per share, 400 cores in total
OCC+18K gold-plated OCC hybrid cable
Gold-plated copper + carbon fiber plug accessories
Length: 1.2m
Plug: gold-plated 3-in-1 plug (3.5mm/2.5mm/4.4mm)
Note- has been tried on penon fan3, blon bl03, nfaudio ra15, wyvern, adonis and epz q5pro to form an opinion.
Sound impressions –
Trying out the penon obsidian cable with the set of iems i had on hand. This increases the bass impact and also the extensions of the bass. The sub-bass is also quite extended and reverbs are much better defined. The tonality becomes slightly more towards the right (natural side) but highly dependent on the iems. The notes are more dynamic and reach higher in the headstage.
Headstage had become wider and a slightly farther and 3D presentation. Inter instrumental and inter notes separation are much better and well defined. The resolution is also much better and nuaces have got more dynamism. The notes though will become more taller, the thickness might be a little thin (not all iems though). The upper mids have gotten a bit more energy but not fatiguing or too troubling. There is more airiness in the notes too. The treble has increased energy and more dynamic. Its more dynamic and more surprising when trumpets come up in the song. There is air in the trumpets and definition of the notes are more enhanced. The resolution is much better. Overall there’s a good improvement which is worth it.
Verdict –
The cable is made up of great build quality and has noticeable improvement in the sound quality. This is highly recommended for dark iems and iems which lack stage. I would surely recommend this.
Ibasso DC07PRO – An AIO solution.
Ibasso has been a long time producer of audio equipments and is very well known for its dongles and DAPs. Today I get the opportunity to try out the Ibasso dc07pro dongle.
Disclaimer –This review could only be done with the help of AG and Ibasso. The unit belongs to the brand and i am grateful for the opportunity to try it. But my thoughts are my own and no one can influence it.
Packaging –
Well Ibasso doesn’t disappoint at all. The dongle is secured in a foam box with 2 cables : one usb C to C cable and one lightning connector to usb C cable and usb C to A adapter too was present. The packaging wasn’t fancy but very practical. I wish they would add more foam on top in the inside for more protection.
Design –
The dongle seems to be built solid and a wheel for volume control which was handy. Its entirely made up of metal and has a fibre back. The front has a small screen and the volume wheel acts as an volume wheel and also long pressing shows up the settings and other options in the software.
Plus this has app support which is a great addition by Ibasso but you can do the same with the dongle too, but app support is still a great help and helps in firmware update too. Only thing this is available for android only.
Specifications –
Cable –
The cables are good quality and are pure silver plated cables with great connectors. They are 6N copper, 8 wire, silver plated cables and wow they are thick and small but works well and is good quality too.
Note – This dongle can easily run most of all the iems I have tried and also my focal clear to a certain level at which I am satisfied. The dongle can easily run my iems with below 40 volume easily. Focal clear was easily run with 60 volume. The volume wheel has 100 stops though.
Sound impressions –
Bass and sub-bass –
While using dc07 pro, the first thing you notice is the sub-bass reverbs are much more defined , dynamic and extends more in the headstage. The timbre becomes more natural but this will depend on the iems mostly. There is faster attack and much more inter-notes separation. The presentation has more depth but still will depend on the iems capabilities mostly.
Mids –
This is the most interesting part. There is so much larger headstage here. The resolution and notes dynamics has increased a lot. The notes reach much higher in stage. Tonality remains the same but the timbre becomes more natural. The notes thickness though is slightly reduced. The inter instrumental separation takes a step up and the presentation becomes a little farther than the listener and more of a infront of the listener performance. The placement of instruments are much clearer too. The vocals are more natural and more nuanced too.
Treble –
It’s might have been a little more energy being added to this region. This doesn’t make it sibilant but rather controls it when used with treble heavy iems. The airiness is enhanced and the notes are more dynamic. I didn’t find any glare while using any of the iems. There is improvement in treble without making it too much fatiguing.
Overall –
It’s a solid dongle and as of its capabilities I would surely recommend it.
Ibasso has been a long time producer of audio equipments and is very well known for its dongles and DAPs. Today I get the opportunity to try out the Ibasso dc07pro dongle.
Disclaimer –This review could only be done with the help of AG and Ibasso. The unit belongs to the brand and i am grateful for the opportunity to try it. But my thoughts are my own and no one can influence it.
Packaging –
Well Ibasso doesn’t disappoint at all. The dongle is secured in a foam box with 2 cables : one usb C to C cable and one lightning connector to usb C cable and usb C to A adapter too was present. The packaging wasn’t fancy but very practical. I wish they would add more foam on top in the inside for more protection.
Design –
The dongle seems to be built solid and a wheel for volume control which was handy. Its entirely made up of metal and has a fibre back. The front has a small screen and the volume wheel acts as an volume wheel and also long pressing shows up the settings and other options in the software.
Plus this has app support which is a great addition by Ibasso but you can do the same with the dongle too, but app support is still a great help and helps in firmware update too. Only thing this is available for android only.
Specifications –
Cable –
The cables are good quality and are pure silver plated cables with great connectors. They are 6N copper, 8 wire, silver plated cables and wow they are thick and small but works well and is good quality too.
Note – This dongle can easily run most of all the iems I have tried and also my focal clear to a certain level at which I am satisfied. The dongle can easily run my iems with below 40 volume easily. Focal clear was easily run with 60 volume. The volume wheel has 100 stops though.
Sound impressions –
Bass and sub-bass –
While using dc07 pro, the first thing you notice is the sub-bass reverbs are much more defined , dynamic and extends more in the headstage. The timbre becomes more natural but this will depend on the iems mostly. There is faster attack and much more inter-notes separation. The presentation has more depth but still will depend on the iems capabilities mostly.
Mids –
This is the most interesting part. There is so much larger headstage here. The resolution and notes dynamics has increased a lot. The notes reach much higher in stage. Tonality remains the same but the timbre becomes more natural. The notes thickness though is slightly reduced. The inter instrumental separation takes a step up and the presentation becomes a little farther than the listener and more of a infront of the listener performance. The placement of instruments are much clearer too. The vocals are more natural and more nuanced too.
Treble –
It’s might have been a little more energy being added to this region. This doesn’t make it sibilant but rather controls it when used with treble heavy iems. The airiness is enhanced and the notes are more dynamic. I didn’t find any glare while using any of the iems. There is improvement in treble without making it too much fatiguing.
Overall –
It’s a solid dongle and as of its capabilities I would surely recommend it.
EPZ TP35 dongle – A bass head dongle.
EPZ audio is new name in the Audiophile space. I am always eager to try out new names in the market. I had recently tried their iem Q5pro and was impressed by the sound quality of the iem. So given the chance to try out their dongle, I didn’t shy down at all and went full at it.
Disclaimer – This review could only be done with the help of AG and EPZ. The unit belongs to the brand and i am grateful for the opportunity to try it. But my thoughts are my own and no one can influence it.
Packaging –
Wonderfully done, it’s simple small and has a usb C to C cable and a usb C to A adapter. Would have loved to see a case in it but given the price it might be too much. The dongle has a great build and also colour coded for different bits which can be seen on the transparent background side which shows the internals(looks great tbh).
Design –
A small dongle with volume buttons and a back fiber glass showing the internals. Well pretty easy to travel with it and small that it would fit with most iem cases.
Specs –
DAC chip: CS43198 x2
Decoding specifications: PCM: 32Bit/384KHZ DSD: Dop128/Native256
Output Power: 2x65mW@320 (3.5) 2x150mW@32N (4.4)
Output Level: 1Vrms (3.5) 2Vrms (4.4)
SNR: ≥125db (3.5) ≥130db (4.4)
THD+N: <0.0005%
Dynamic Range: ≥125db (3.5) 130db (4.4)
Plug Type: 3.5MM/4.4MM
Frequency Response: 20Hz-80kHz
Digital Filters
Body material: Aluminum alloy sandblasting oxidation gray black
Output plug: 3.5mm, 4.4mm
Cable: 132mm, high-purity oxygen-free copper shielded wire.
Notes –
I tried this source with multiple iems and thus source will heavily change the sound signature . So depending on the iems , the sound signature will vary inevitably. It could easily run the iems I threw at it. But with focal clear it was loud given my listening levels but it was not dynamic and lacked refinement.
Sound impressions –
Bass and subass –
This is the dongle to handle all the iems where you want the sub-bass, to really have rumble and reverberations in your head. The notes are quite dynamic and on the face a bit. They have good extensions to the sub-bass. They are a enhanced subass heavy dongle set I have ever tried yet. Bass is similarly enhanced, much more dynamic and impactful (this though depends on the iems). It does come a little close to the listener. The tonality becomes warm and notes become thicker too. Bass become more ecstatic and lovely.
Mids –
Vocals become heavier especially male vocals and female vocals become slightly thick but in a sweet way. ‘ssss’ sound doesn’t come through at all. The nuaces in the vocals are not removed neither the airiness that comes through.
The pianos and guitars notes are more thicker and making them feel have more weight to them. The placement of instruments are more on front and around you, and there is probably a little bit in the heights of the instruments notes (being nitpicky). The internotes separation is good and doesn’t cause congestion. The upper mids peak is handled well and no more peakiness.
Treble –
Ohh this remains a little less energetic and noore airiness mostly unless emphasized a lot in the song. There is no more metallic sounds that irritate you when it comes suddenly in the song. This is boon for those having treble heavy iems like NF Audio RA15 as this addresses the heavy treble and then adds bass and subass making it more suitable for long sessions and making it more fun.
Separation will take a small hit but if you have an iem with wide headstage, this is great pairing. Placement of instruments become a little on face type but not too much. The inter notes separation remains the same but more extensions can be felt. Intricate details take a little backseat, but can be heard, with technically heavy iems this compensates, mostly this is iem dependent from what I have tried.
Summary –
It is an recommendation when you want bass + subass and have a wide headstage in your iem and the treble in your iem is peaky. Or if you a basshead then this is the game for you. One more person who will like this, is the one who doesn’t like treble at all. It’s a good dongle to keep as an collection for those technical and treble heavy iems.
EPZ audio is new name in the Audiophile space. I am always eager to try out new names in the market. I had recently tried their iem Q5pro and was impressed by the sound quality of the iem. So given the chance to try out their dongle, I didn’t shy down at all and went full at it.
Disclaimer – This review could only be done with the help of AG and EPZ. The unit belongs to the brand and i am grateful for the opportunity to try it. But my thoughts are my own and no one can influence it.
Packaging –
Wonderfully done, it’s simple small and has a usb C to C cable and a usb C to A adapter. Would have loved to see a case in it but given the price it might be too much. The dongle has a great build and also colour coded for different bits which can be seen on the transparent background side which shows the internals(looks great tbh).
Design –
A small dongle with volume buttons and a back fiber glass showing the internals. Well pretty easy to travel with it and small that it would fit with most iem cases.
Specs –
DAC chip: CS43198 x2
Decoding specifications: PCM: 32Bit/384KHZ DSD: Dop128/Native256
Output Power: 2x65mW@320 (3.5) 2x150mW@32N (4.4)
Output Level: 1Vrms (3.5) 2Vrms (4.4)
SNR: ≥125db (3.5) ≥130db (4.4)
THD+N: <0.0005%
Dynamic Range: ≥125db (3.5) 130db (4.4)
Plug Type: 3.5MM/4.4MM
Frequency Response: 20Hz-80kHz
Digital Filters
Body material: Aluminum alloy sandblasting oxidation gray black
Output plug: 3.5mm, 4.4mm
Cable: 132mm, high-purity oxygen-free copper shielded wire.
Notes –
I tried this source with multiple iems and thus source will heavily change the sound signature . So depending on the iems , the sound signature will vary inevitably. It could easily run the iems I threw at it. But with focal clear it was loud given my listening levels but it was not dynamic and lacked refinement.
Sound impressions –
Bass and subass –
This is the dongle to handle all the iems where you want the sub-bass, to really have rumble and reverberations in your head. The notes are quite dynamic and on the face a bit. They have good extensions to the sub-bass. They are a enhanced subass heavy dongle set I have ever tried yet. Bass is similarly enhanced, much more dynamic and impactful (this though depends on the iems). It does come a little close to the listener. The tonality becomes warm and notes become thicker too. Bass become more ecstatic and lovely.
Mids –
Vocals become heavier especially male vocals and female vocals become slightly thick but in a sweet way. ‘ssss’ sound doesn’t come through at all. The nuaces in the vocals are not removed neither the airiness that comes through.
The pianos and guitars notes are more thicker and making them feel have more weight to them. The placement of instruments are more on front and around you, and there is probably a little bit in the heights of the instruments notes (being nitpicky). The internotes separation is good and doesn’t cause congestion. The upper mids peak is handled well and no more peakiness.
Treble –
Ohh this remains a little less energetic and noore airiness mostly unless emphasized a lot in the song. There is no more metallic sounds that irritate you when it comes suddenly in the song. This is boon for those having treble heavy iems like NF Audio RA15 as this addresses the heavy treble and then adds bass and subass making it more suitable for long sessions and making it more fun.
Separation will take a small hit but if you have an iem with wide headstage, this is great pairing. Placement of instruments become a little on face type but not too much. The inter notes separation remains the same but more extensions can be felt. Intricate details take a little backseat, but can be heard, with technically heavy iems this compensates, mostly this is iem dependent from what I have tried.
Summary –
It is an recommendation when you want bass + subass and have a wide headstage in your iem and the treble in your iem is peaky. Or if you a basshead then this is the game for you. One more person who will like this, is the one who doesn’t like treble at all. It’s a good dongle to keep as an collection for those technical and treble heavy iems.
EPZ Q5 pro IEM - a pro in lower end segment
EPZ audio is new name in the Audiophile space. I am always eager to try out new names in the market. Given that the previous Q5 made a quite big name but i haven’t had the chance to try it yet. But given the opportunity to try the newer one I was excited. They even with such a small price tag provide quite a few things and don’t lack in presentation at all. Hoping this provides something like the blon 03 did.
Disclaimer – This review could only be done with the help of AG and epz. The unit belongs to the brand and i am grateful for the opportunity to try it. But my thoughts are my own and no one can influence it.
Packaging –
Wonderful to say the least. They are decent and pack the iems carefully and have sufficient space. At this price you also get a good carry case and lots of tips. It is nicely padded and won’t cause trouble in shipping at all.
Design and Cable –
The iems are 3D printed and looks wonderful. They bronze colour comes out amongst the black background and i love it. Even the Left and Right have been mentioned as someone who’s new to our space would love it. Its small in size and will easily fit the smallest of ears. It’s an outside 2 pin design with the plastic for 2 pin coming out of the iems.
Cable is good, doesn’t cause much sound while moving and it’s a thin cable too. It’s terminated in 3.5mm. The connector is goldplated and i just love the tightening circle in the cable.
Specs –
New 10mm carbon nano-composite diaphragm
3D-printed resin shells and cavity
Frequency response range: 20–20 KHZ
Sensitivity: 109db (±1db)
Plug diameter: 3.5mm or 4.4mm options
Connector type: 0.78mm
Cable: 6N – OCC
N:B – The iem has been used with dc07pro, paws1 and also the EPZ TP35 dongle. Its quite easy to run with all these dongles and works best with dc07pro so the entire sound impressions is with that. How other dongles interact will be at the bottom of this summary.
Sound impressions –
Bass and sub-bass –
This iem has it controlled bass and sub-bass. The tonality is slightly warmer but the notes are much more dynamic and impactful too. The subbass texture does come through and wonderfully fills the stage. The extensions are good for their price but a little more would make it much better than the rest ( me nitpicking things).
Bass is much similar but has more impact on the first hit. The timber is natural and dynamic. The extension though are a reduced to maintain clarity. Listening to classical tabla and other folks drums, shows that the notes body is quite big and is quite fast both in attack and decay. But with a slightly warm tonality and beautifully separated hits, it just makes you smile.
Mids –
The notes have beautiful timbre and the notes have good dynamic notes. The attack and decay are both fast, but the extension of notes are much more better but more extending in the headstage than the bass. The resolution is good, small nuances do come up but the dynamics are lower. The notes have bigger body and have good definition. The entire headstage infront of you and the instruments are placed around the headstage (a little close for my liking) but easily distinguished due to tonal differences being easily heard. It’s though on a slightly warmer side but separation remains and makes it more enjoyable. It’s been a while since I have on face music and it felt more energetic and engaging and I was moving along with the music. The upper mids are not sharp and kind of enjoyable without causing a headache. They are nicely defined and have good extensions. Instrument placement was really good too with good imaging.
Vocals are epic, on this iem. They are performing in front of you, the tonal differences are easily understood between different vocalists. The female vocals are beautiful with each reaching quite high in the headstage and quite dynamic. If a vocalist focuses on ssss then it does come through but not a problem at all. Male vocals are similarly dynamic and thicker than female vocals but I would like a little more oomph to the notes. It’s no way lacking just not my preference, but damn the voices are so sweet it feels wonderful. Nuances like lip smacks and small reverberations are easily heard and makes it beautiful and textury which just makes it wonderful.
Highs –
Ohh they are quite enjoyable without being fatiguing at all. They are energetic and dynamic with a bigger body of the notes than the extensions. They have a slightly warm tonality and no sharp sounds with any of the dacs too. There are on your face and have good height on the headstage too. The details are also quite nicely coming through with lots of instruments going on. The placement of the instruments are great Overall its well defined iem with not too much airyness, but keeps the energy up.
With EPZ TP35 dongle –
Ohh this thing is a bass monster now, the tonality is warm and the notes are much more thicker. I loved the subbass extension and the vocals became much more sweet. Though the bass was a little but too much but it didn’t interfere with mids. With this the treble though took a back seat and wasn’t much energetic but still had its presence. The nuances were slightly diminished and the headstage became a little more congested. But separation didn’t take a hit at all. I loved this combo but only with a wide bore eartip to let all the sound come through. It’s not for all genres but will satisfy you being a complete bass head.
With Paw S1 –
This is more in the neutral category and more of the middle line. The separation was much slightly lesser than dc07pro and the placement slightly more towards the user. The treble energy is great but non airy a bit. The vocals are much more closer and more sweet.
Summary –
This iem at the price is a steal tbh and given that it changes so much between sources means you can mix and match easily. It’s tip dependent, I would always suggest a neutral or slightly warmer source if you want a bit more bass and cp 100 tips too. I will recommend this highly for sure given such a versatile iem which does nearly everything mostly.
EPZ audio is new name in the Audiophile space. I am always eager to try out new names in the market. Given that the previous Q5 made a quite big name but i haven’t had the chance to try it yet. But given the opportunity to try the newer one I was excited. They even with such a small price tag provide quite a few things and don’t lack in presentation at all. Hoping this provides something like the blon 03 did.
Disclaimer – This review could only be done with the help of AG and epz. The unit belongs to the brand and i am grateful for the opportunity to try it. But my thoughts are my own and no one can influence it.
Packaging –
Wonderful to say the least. They are decent and pack the iems carefully and have sufficient space. At this price you also get a good carry case and lots of tips. It is nicely padded and won’t cause trouble in shipping at all.
Design and Cable –
The iems are 3D printed and looks wonderful. They bronze colour comes out amongst the black background and i love it. Even the Left and Right have been mentioned as someone who’s new to our space would love it. Its small in size and will easily fit the smallest of ears. It’s an outside 2 pin design with the plastic for 2 pin coming out of the iems.
Cable is good, doesn’t cause much sound while moving and it’s a thin cable too. It’s terminated in 3.5mm. The connector is goldplated and i just love the tightening circle in the cable.
Specs –
New 10mm carbon nano-composite diaphragm
3D-printed resin shells and cavity
Frequency response range: 20–20 KHZ
Sensitivity: 109db (±1db)
Plug diameter: 3.5mm or 4.4mm options
Connector type: 0.78mm
Cable: 6N – OCC
N:B – The iem has been used with dc07pro, paws1 and also the EPZ TP35 dongle. Its quite easy to run with all these dongles and works best with dc07pro so the entire sound impressions is with that. How other dongles interact will be at the bottom of this summary.
Sound impressions –
Bass and sub-bass –
This iem has it controlled bass and sub-bass. The tonality is slightly warmer but the notes are much more dynamic and impactful too. The subbass texture does come through and wonderfully fills the stage. The extensions are good for their price but a little more would make it much better than the rest ( me nitpicking things).
Bass is much similar but has more impact on the first hit. The timber is natural and dynamic. The extension though are a reduced to maintain clarity. Listening to classical tabla and other folks drums, shows that the notes body is quite big and is quite fast both in attack and decay. But with a slightly warm tonality and beautifully separated hits, it just makes you smile.
Mids –
The notes have beautiful timbre and the notes have good dynamic notes. The attack and decay are both fast, but the extension of notes are much more better but more extending in the headstage than the bass. The resolution is good, small nuances do come up but the dynamics are lower. The notes have bigger body and have good definition. The entire headstage infront of you and the instruments are placed around the headstage (a little close for my liking) but easily distinguished due to tonal differences being easily heard. It’s though on a slightly warmer side but separation remains and makes it more enjoyable. It’s been a while since I have on face music and it felt more energetic and engaging and I was moving along with the music. The upper mids are not sharp and kind of enjoyable without causing a headache. They are nicely defined and have good extensions. Instrument placement was really good too with good imaging.
Vocals are epic, on this iem. They are performing in front of you, the tonal differences are easily understood between different vocalists. The female vocals are beautiful with each reaching quite high in the headstage and quite dynamic. If a vocalist focuses on ssss then it does come through but not a problem at all. Male vocals are similarly dynamic and thicker than female vocals but I would like a little more oomph to the notes. It’s no way lacking just not my preference, but damn the voices are so sweet it feels wonderful. Nuances like lip smacks and small reverberations are easily heard and makes it beautiful and textury which just makes it wonderful.
Highs –
Ohh they are quite enjoyable without being fatiguing at all. They are energetic and dynamic with a bigger body of the notes than the extensions. They have a slightly warm tonality and no sharp sounds with any of the dacs too. There are on your face and have good height on the headstage too. The details are also quite nicely coming through with lots of instruments going on. The placement of the instruments are great Overall its well defined iem with not too much airyness, but keeps the energy up.
With EPZ TP35 dongle –
Ohh this thing is a bass monster now, the tonality is warm and the notes are much more thicker. I loved the subbass extension and the vocals became much more sweet. Though the bass was a little but too much but it didn’t interfere with mids. With this the treble though took a back seat and wasn’t much energetic but still had its presence. The nuances were slightly diminished and the headstage became a little more congested. But separation didn’t take a hit at all. I loved this combo but only with a wide bore eartip to let all the sound come through. It’s not for all genres but will satisfy you being a complete bass head.
With Paw S1 –
This is more in the neutral category and more of the middle line. The separation was much slightly lesser than dc07pro and the placement slightly more towards the user. The treble energy is great but non airy a bit. The vocals are much more closer and more sweet.
Summary –
This iem at the price is a steal tbh and given that it changes so much between sources means you can mix and match easily. It’s tip dependent, I would always suggest a neutral or slightly warmer source if you want a bit more bass and cp 100 tips too. I will recommend this highly for sure given such a versatile iem which does nearly everything mostly.
Penon Fan 3
Penon is a well-known brand for iems and cables and also an audio equipment seller too. They have collaborated with me before too on multiple occasions and to be honest, nearly all of their products have great quality and all sound wonderful. Fan series of penon iems started back way back and I was one of the people who bought the first penon fan iem. So when I was approached to try out the penon fan 3, courtesy of both penon and Audio geek, I was delighted as to how much it has changed over the years and to review the unit.
Disclaimer – This review could only be done with the help of AG and penon. The unit belongs to the brand and i am grateful for the opportunity to try it. But my thoughts are my own and no one can influence it.
Packaging –
I didn’t get any packaging for the iems so cant comment much. But based on the images from the link above and from experience, penon does a wonderful job.
Specification –
Driver: 2DD+2BA+1BCD
Driver configuration:
1 x Knowles BA for high-frequency
1 x Sonion BA for mid-frequency
1 x 10mm coil-type full-frequency bone conduction driver
2 x 6.2mm bio-diaphragm dynamic low frequency
Sensitivity: 109dB
Frequency response: 10 Hz-40 KHz
Impedance: 12.5Ω
Connector: 2pin 0.78mm
Plug: gold-plated plug, pentaconn (4.4mm)
Design –
Same light shells with great fit as always. The iems have a great earthy design on top like a peacock. It’s has a black shell with a switch on the back that tunes it for the bone conduction driver. And it does work.
Cable –
As usual the stock cable (penon os133) is excellent with a beautiful cloth covering making it quite good on the clothes and also no sound coming through. The connectors are 4.4mm and non-interchangeable but they do provide an upgrade cable option to penon space cable a 50$ increase which tbh is worth it since it’s quite useful with other iems too. The 2 pin connectors are solid with proper red for right and blue for left rings.
Note : this iem loves eartips change as a good seal will enhance the bass experience but it’s mostly felt in songs with a lot of surrounding sound and of sub-bass and bass extensions. For eartips i would recommend the Divinus velvet wide bore tips for the best enveloping and bass experience( treble isn’t affected). For more neutral to very very spacious(inter instrumental and inter notes space) presentation, cp100 would be my choice and also these tips ( no idea of their name) for better treble experience and more farther presentation and a less thick notes body presentation. For this review, I have used the divinus and paw s1 for this review, as I have used it with every other iem. But I did use the dc07pro as a better option and it was lovely, a great pairing (more on that at the end of each section). The cable used is the stock cable and the upgrade cable findings are at the end.
Sound impressions –
Subbass –
The subass is excellent to say the least. There is a texture to the notes that makes it wonderful to listen to. There is reverberation that shakes your mind and gives you a feeling that your ears won’t forget. The tonality is warm and the notes have a good thick body and great extension around the headstage. The attack is quite fast and the decay has been done nicely so it felt natural entirely. The timber is slightly thicker than the natural instruments but still keeps a resolution that it makes it very easy to find out what’s going on in the entire headstage. The separation between each note is also so distinct it feels unreal, you still want more separation use that dc07pro and those cp100 tips and it will feel unreal. The tonal differences between a drum and a Synth is also easily known. The subass has also good depth too (- y axis ) and also great placement around you and in some songs infront of you. It’s been a while where i love the subass this much, but if you want more of this put on the EPZ TP35 dongle and see the magic, that makes this an all around monster.
Bass –
This is something that if you read by subass section you could easily say this will be epic. The tonality is slightly on the warm side, and the bass is detailed. The timber is slightly on the thicker side than natural. The airyness of the drums does come through and it is dynamic. You can even feel the body of the notes being thick and having great extensions further along the line. The decay is quite long but with good extension and internotes separation. The separation and around the headstage experience becomes much better and feels more enjoyable experience. The tonal differences between different bass instruments are easily felt. The bass is impactful mind you but it’s force can be felt based on different songs. There is no bass bleed. The reverbs also do come through and make a more engaging all round experience.
Now if you want mores separation between the notes and more easily understandable placement of instruments with much more easily readable resolution and wider headstage – use dc07pro and cp100. If you still want more bass and wanna headband, well EPZ TP35 dongle is the way to go.
Let’s switch off the switches – this becomes a detailed monster with slightly less bass extensions, still enjoyable but not when the switch was on. The subass becomes more fast retaining everything else. The thicker notes though become slightly natural but become a slightly farther presentation which i liked but then music is for enjoyment, so I kept the switch on for a 3D all around in front experience.
Mids –
Vocals – Something, i would let you know, penon fan OG was one of the most clear, natural and well defined vocals I had heard at that time. With this the tradition still remains but add more flavour, texture, nuance and a slightly thicker notes to make it a much better and enjoyable experience. The nuances are much better and you can feel the easiness or the strength with which the vocalist is singing the song. Even the air comes through without being sibilant at all. The tonal differences between different vocalists are much better. The extension of the vocals also reach quite high in the headstage with proper reverbs too, to show the recording room or the place where the artist is performing. Male vocals are natural not affected by the thicker tonal notes of the instruments. Female vocals are similarly natural but no sibilance at all . I would love to feel a little more texture to the vocals, especially male vocals. Female vocals have also great texture and sound beautiful and natural. They retain their high notes and quite beautiful to listen to. The tonal differences between different vocalists are beautiful to hear and easily known. Fan 3 be like it’s the dust of the my hand doing this
.
Coming on the instruments, lower mids have a thicker notes and slightly warm tonality. They do have great extension though with each note having a big body and a great extension. The decay is quite natural and attack is fast. The timbre is slightly thicker than natural though. The internotes separation are though wonderful without much interaction between them and it makes it a quite beautiful experience to listen to. Most of the piano sound wonderful but thick, especially the grand piano heavy songs.
Now coming to the upper mids, guitars dominate here and lets just say, it’s another wonderful experience very similar to the lower mids. The texture is more beautiful here. They reach more higher than the lower mids in the headstage showcasing the accuarte dynamism of the iem. The upper mids have near natural notes removing the sharpness attached to it. The inter instrumental and notes separation are excellent and even though they are placed near to each other for a 3D around the headstage experience, there is no mix match and lovely to listen to. The resolution is also quite great as it picks evey small nuances in the headstage and gives it a presence.
Now if you want a slightly farther experience with more internotes separation and a elliptical presentation around you with more details and energy in the upper mids (more natural to those instruments), dc07pro and cp100 tips are the way to go. But you don’t want upper mids at all and thicker presentation then EPZ TP35 dongle is the way.
Switching off the switch -
A little more energy and thickeness if male vocals, piano notes slightly decreases.
Treble –
Treble was penon can OG fourte, precise and clean with great energy but a little on the spectrum making it great for treble lovers. This though makes it more appropriate for most of the penon fanbase but keeping the treble energy equally lovely and beautiful to listen to. It’s no way nowhere clinical now, but rather more around a place where listening to treble heavy songs won’t even cause fatigue for long time. The tonality is slightly warm to neutral here and then timbre is thick. The notes though have a comparatively small body and bigger extension with ample time to end. Nothing feels forced, attack is great and decay felt natural. The notes reach quite high in the headstage and make it’s dynamic in its presentation. Orchestra listening even though requires a wide headstage iem, with this you can accurately say where the instruments are and the dynamics , tonality helps to determine if along with great internotes separation. The resolution is also quite great and every small nuances does come through with its own presence and mixed up nicely to enhance the rhythm. The airyness though present but it’s more sweet with less peakiness.
Now you want more treble and some energy in the upper mids and treble region with more airyness in the trumpets add more spiciness to the song and energy, dc07pro is the way to go with Divinus velvet tips. Want more energy without making it sibilant and more separation, cp100 tips change will do. Don’t want treble energy and want a smooth experience, EPZ TP35 is the way.
Let’s switch off the switches –
Not much change in treble except in slightly reduced note weight and more natural treble experience. But the violins and bigger violins will become more energetic except that not much change. Airyness improves a bit too.
Cable change to penon obsidian cable ( compared to OS133 cable)–
Now this cable is something much more than just an upgrade, the cable has plastic coating on top doesn’t feel sticky but has a good feel to it. It feels heavy duty and it’s heavier too but much more easily stays in the ear.
This cable brings everything to the table, there is more energy in the upper mids and more textured airy experience. The sudden trumpets now catches you off guard but will not fatigue you in very long run times. The inter instrumental separation is much more and internotes separation is also better. The stage has been widened and a farther presentation of the instruments. The extensions are now much more well defined and better resolution too. The bass has more texture along with vocals too being more nuanced. The roughness of the male vocals are much better. So, would I recommend for sure, yes, i love this cable, but if you don’t want treble to suddenly make you jump when trumpets come up, then this aren’t for you, but only for those who have too sensitive ears.
Summary –
A wonderful successor to the penon fan OG and the series is moving forward quite nicely. I would love to own a pair for sure. Highly recommended.
Penon is a well-known brand for iems and cables and also an audio equipment seller too. They have collaborated with me before too on multiple occasions and to be honest, nearly all of their products have great quality and all sound wonderful. Fan series of penon iems started back way back and I was one of the people who bought the first penon fan iem. So when I was approached to try out the penon fan 3, courtesy of both penon and Audio geek, I was delighted as to how much it has changed over the years and to review the unit.
Disclaimer – This review could only be done with the help of AG and penon. The unit belongs to the brand and i am grateful for the opportunity to try it. But my thoughts are my own and no one can influence it.
Packaging –
I didn’t get any packaging for the iems so cant comment much. But based on the images from the link above and from experience, penon does a wonderful job.
Specification –
Driver: 2DD+2BA+1BCD
Driver configuration:
1 x Knowles BA for high-frequency
1 x Sonion BA for mid-frequency
1 x 10mm coil-type full-frequency bone conduction driver
2 x 6.2mm bio-diaphragm dynamic low frequency
Sensitivity: 109dB
Frequency response: 10 Hz-40 KHz
Impedance: 12.5Ω
Connector: 2pin 0.78mm
Plug: gold-plated plug, pentaconn (4.4mm)
Design –
Same light shells with great fit as always. The iems have a great earthy design on top like a peacock. It’s has a black shell with a switch on the back that tunes it for the bone conduction driver. And it does work.
Cable –
As usual the stock cable (penon os133) is excellent with a beautiful cloth covering making it quite good on the clothes and also no sound coming through. The connectors are 4.4mm and non-interchangeable but they do provide an upgrade cable option to penon space cable a 50$ increase which tbh is worth it since it’s quite useful with other iems too. The 2 pin connectors are solid with proper red for right and blue for left rings.
Note : this iem loves eartips change as a good seal will enhance the bass experience but it’s mostly felt in songs with a lot of surrounding sound and of sub-bass and bass extensions. For eartips i would recommend the Divinus velvet wide bore tips for the best enveloping and bass experience( treble isn’t affected). For more neutral to very very spacious(inter instrumental and inter notes space) presentation, cp100 would be my choice and also these tips ( no idea of their name) for better treble experience and more farther presentation and a less thick notes body presentation. For this review, I have used the divinus and paw s1 for this review, as I have used it with every other iem. But I did use the dc07pro as a better option and it was lovely, a great pairing (more on that at the end of each section). The cable used is the stock cable and the upgrade cable findings are at the end.
Sound impressions –
Subbass –
The subass is excellent to say the least. There is a texture to the notes that makes it wonderful to listen to. There is reverberation that shakes your mind and gives you a feeling that your ears won’t forget. The tonality is warm and the notes have a good thick body and great extension around the headstage. The attack is quite fast and the decay has been done nicely so it felt natural entirely. The timber is slightly thicker than the natural instruments but still keeps a resolution that it makes it very easy to find out what’s going on in the entire headstage. The separation between each note is also so distinct it feels unreal, you still want more separation use that dc07pro and those cp100 tips and it will feel unreal. The tonal differences between a drum and a Synth is also easily known. The subass has also good depth too (- y axis ) and also great placement around you and in some songs infront of you. It’s been a while where i love the subass this much, but if you want more of this put on the EPZ TP35 dongle and see the magic, that makes this an all around monster.
Bass –
This is something that if you read by subass section you could easily say this will be epic. The tonality is slightly on the warm side, and the bass is detailed. The timber is slightly on the thicker side than natural. The airyness of the drums does come through and it is dynamic. You can even feel the body of the notes being thick and having great extensions further along the line. The decay is quite long but with good extension and internotes separation. The separation and around the headstage experience becomes much better and feels more enjoyable experience. The tonal differences between different bass instruments are easily felt. The bass is impactful mind you but it’s force can be felt based on different songs. There is no bass bleed. The reverbs also do come through and make a more engaging all round experience.
Now if you want mores separation between the notes and more easily understandable placement of instruments with much more easily readable resolution and wider headstage – use dc07pro and cp100. If you still want more bass and wanna headband, well EPZ TP35 dongle is the way to go.
Let’s switch off the switches – this becomes a detailed monster with slightly less bass extensions, still enjoyable but not when the switch was on. The subass becomes more fast retaining everything else. The thicker notes though become slightly natural but become a slightly farther presentation which i liked but then music is for enjoyment, so I kept the switch on for a 3D all around in front experience.
Mids –
Vocals – Something, i would let you know, penon fan OG was one of the most clear, natural and well defined vocals I had heard at that time. With this the tradition still remains but add more flavour, texture, nuance and a slightly thicker notes to make it a much better and enjoyable experience. The nuances are much better and you can feel the easiness or the strength with which the vocalist is singing the song. Even the air comes through without being sibilant at all. The tonal differences between different vocalists are much better. The extension of the vocals also reach quite high in the headstage with proper reverbs too, to show the recording room or the place where the artist is performing. Male vocals are natural not affected by the thicker tonal notes of the instruments. Female vocals are similarly natural but no sibilance at all . I would love to feel a little more texture to the vocals, especially male vocals. Female vocals have also great texture and sound beautiful and natural. They retain their high notes and quite beautiful to listen to. The tonal differences between different vocalists are beautiful to hear and easily known. Fan 3 be like it’s the dust of the my hand doing this
.Coming on the instruments, lower mids have a thicker notes and slightly warm tonality. They do have great extension though with each note having a big body and a great extension. The decay is quite natural and attack is fast. The timbre is slightly thicker than natural though. The internotes separation are though wonderful without much interaction between them and it makes it a quite beautiful experience to listen to. Most of the piano sound wonderful but thick, especially the grand piano heavy songs.
Now coming to the upper mids, guitars dominate here and lets just say, it’s another wonderful experience very similar to the lower mids. The texture is more beautiful here. They reach more higher than the lower mids in the headstage showcasing the accuarte dynamism of the iem. The upper mids have near natural notes removing the sharpness attached to it. The inter instrumental and notes separation are excellent and even though they are placed near to each other for a 3D around the headstage experience, there is no mix match and lovely to listen to. The resolution is also quite great as it picks evey small nuances in the headstage and gives it a presence.
Now if you want a slightly farther experience with more internotes separation and a elliptical presentation around you with more details and energy in the upper mids (more natural to those instruments), dc07pro and cp100 tips are the way to go. But you don’t want upper mids at all and thicker presentation then EPZ TP35 dongle is the way.
Switching off the switch -
A little more energy and thickeness if male vocals, piano notes slightly decreases.
Treble –
Treble was penon can OG fourte, precise and clean with great energy but a little on the spectrum making it great for treble lovers. This though makes it more appropriate for most of the penon fanbase but keeping the treble energy equally lovely and beautiful to listen to. It’s no way nowhere clinical now, but rather more around a place where listening to treble heavy songs won’t even cause fatigue for long time. The tonality is slightly warm to neutral here and then timbre is thick. The notes though have a comparatively small body and bigger extension with ample time to end. Nothing feels forced, attack is great and decay felt natural. The notes reach quite high in the headstage and make it’s dynamic in its presentation. Orchestra listening even though requires a wide headstage iem, with this you can accurately say where the instruments are and the dynamics , tonality helps to determine if along with great internotes separation. The resolution is also quite great and every small nuances does come through with its own presence and mixed up nicely to enhance the rhythm. The airyness though present but it’s more sweet with less peakiness.
Now you want more treble and some energy in the upper mids and treble region with more airyness in the trumpets add more spiciness to the song and energy, dc07pro is the way to go with Divinus velvet tips. Want more energy without making it sibilant and more separation, cp100 tips change will do. Don’t want treble energy and want a smooth experience, EPZ TP35 is the way.
Let’s switch off the switches –
Not much change in treble except in slightly reduced note weight and more natural treble experience. But the violins and bigger violins will become more energetic except that not much change. Airyness improves a bit too.
Cable change to penon obsidian cable ( compared to OS133 cable)–
Now this cable is something much more than just an upgrade, the cable has plastic coating on top doesn’t feel sticky but has a good feel to it. It feels heavy duty and it’s heavier too but much more easily stays in the ear.
This cable brings everything to the table, there is more energy in the upper mids and more textured airy experience. The sudden trumpets now catches you off guard but will not fatigue you in very long run times. The inter instrumental separation is much more and internotes separation is also better. The stage has been widened and a farther presentation of the instruments. The extensions are now much more well defined and better resolution too. The bass has more texture along with vocals too being more nuanced. The roughness of the male vocals are much better. So, would I recommend for sure, yes, i love this cable, but if you don’t want treble to suddenly make you jump when trumpets come up, then this aren’t for you, but only for those who have too sensitive ears.
Summary –
A wonderful successor to the penon fan OG and the series is moving forward quite nicely. I would love to own a pair for sure. Highly recommended.
DX180- A VERSATILE WONDERFUL SOUNDING DAP
IBASSO has been a well-known brand in the music industry and has been making great iems, DAPs etc which are very well known throughout the world. Founded in 2006, it had been gaining ground with their superior DAPS and DAC AMPS, dongle at most of the price segments. Today I am getting a chance to try their DAP DX180.
DISCLAIMER-
The IBASSO DX180 DAP is part of a review tour organized by A.G. and IBASSO AND SANDEEP in my country. The sample belongs to the brand. I had the opportunity to listen to it for 7 days for this review. This review is completely based on my experience with it, and all opinions, positive or negative, are my own and no one else’s. No external factors influence my review; only internal factors like my brain and heart influence it
. Please try it yourself, if possible, since we all hear things differently. If you want to purchase it, you can buy it from the official product website from the link: IBASSO DX180
PACKAGING-
This is what I call a premium package. The entire thing is packed in a secure package inside a hard foam package which I am pretty sure wont harm the DAP even if you throw it (but please don’t). The top of the package has the warranty and documents in a small black envelope, I would love to see a bit of foam on the top too so as to protect it during shipping. But aside that, Ibasso has given everything that you would need to start using it the moment you unpackage it which I love and want others to follow.
CONTENTS-
The DAP (if it’s missing please contact the seller
)
DAP case
DAP screen guard
USB C to C cable (no charging brick included use your phone one please)
SPECIFICATION-
Screen: 5.0 inch, 1080*1920 P, quite sharp but not much usable in sunlight.
USB C: USB 3.1
Output Port: 4.4mm balanced phone out/ 3.5mm single ended phone out/ 4.4mm line out/ 3.5mm line out/ 3.5mm coaxial output / USB OTG output
WiFi: 802.11b/g/n/ac (2.4Ghz/5Ghz), Bluetooth: V5.0
RAM+ROM: 3G+32G/4G+128G- 2 options , Battery: 3200mAh
Charging Time: 1.5 hours, Size: 123mm*75mm*16mm, Weight: 206g
Price- 529$
4.4mm Balanced Phone Port:
Maximum Output Level: 4Vrms (Low Gain)
6Vrms(High Gain)
Output Power: 690mW + 690mW@32ohm, THD+N<0.1%
Frequency Response: 10Hz~75kHz -1dB
S/N: 133dB
Dynamic Range: 133dB
THD+N: -121dB (A-wt, 600ohm load)
Crosstalk: -144dB
Noise Floor: < 1.1pV (High Gain)
Output impedance: 1.1ohm
3.5mm Single Ended Phone Out:
Maximum Output Level: 2Vrms (Low Gain),
3Vrms(High Gain)
Output Power: 281mW + 281mW@32ohm, THD+N< 0.1%, 525mW + 525mW@16ohm, THD+N<0.1%
Frequency Response: 10Hz~75kHz -1dB
S/N: 127dB
Dynamic Range: 127dB
THD+N: -116dB (A-wt, 600ohm load)
Crosstalk: -118dB
Noise floor: 1.1uV (High Gain)
Output impedance: 0.6ohm
4.4mm Balanced Line Out:
Maximum Output Level: 4Vrms
Frequency Response: 10Hz~75kHz -1dB
S/N: 133dB
Dynamic Range: 133dB
THD+N: -121dB
Crosstalk: -130dB
3.5mm Single Ended Line Out:
Maximum Output Level: 2Vrms
Frequency Response: 10Hz~75kHz -1dB
S/N: 125dB
Dynamic Range: 125dB
THD+N: -112dB
Crosstalk: -115dB
BUILD:-
Well it’s Ibasso so what do you expect, strong corners built like a tank and shiny all around. Jokes aside looks and feels wonderful to hold and use, instills confidence to hold. The plugs were all snug fitting and I loved that. The only thing is that thee volume scroll missing a few volume markers but small problems, but reaching it was a slightly more higher problem
. The buttons were quite tactile and easy to use expect that I kept on pressing the wrong button
NOTE : please note that the entire impression is based on the my culmination of impressions while using various headphones like tygr 300, Hifiman Deva, Focal clears, Zmf aeuteur and then on iems like penon fan, blon bl03, TSMR shock etc
SOUND IMPRESSIONS:-
This DAP is great in almost every genre of music. It’s has an accurate detailed presentation but smooth in it’s delivery more in the treble region. The stage is wide but more like placement of instruments is such nicely done with great precision that it feels wider. Plus the presentation is mostly around you and the depth is quite good too especially with bass guitars and big drums. You can hear the bass coming from underneath your head in most songs. Of course not every iem/headphone will change depending on the source but then many will benefit from the clarity and accurate presentation. The mids were quite beautifully presented even my clinical sounding iems like fan, tygr300 sounded more neutral to slightly warm. But dark sounding products also do love the increased accurate clarity in tone and the enhanced impact of bass. Vocals and nuances in the vocalist voices were wonderful to listen to and the male voices roughness were also maintained which added flavour to the song. Treble even though energetic, have been smoothened and was very pleasant to listen to. You know those days where you just want to relax and have fun but you have a treble heavy iem well this is your companion for that day for sure. Air was present but subtle. The zeal of the song though remained like the trumpets in skyfall song still jumpscares you but not with the ghost from the nun but more from the scary movie types ( if you know what I mean).
SOFTWARE EXPERIENCE:-
I ain’t much of a software guy but neither did I feel a hiccup nor did I have any trouble with settings. The dap is entirely android so easy for me to find around as I am an Android user. The sound setting were a few more steps to go into which I would rather like to become similar to oneplus have one side for notifications and other for sound options. The mangoplayer took a bit of time to read all the files but then it’s given for every dap. Downloading qobuz and using it with wifi and downloaded songs was great. I would love to though see adaptive brightness which I felt didn’t work as well as I had hoped for. But rest was buttery smooth and wonderful to listen to.
CHARGING: 1hour 30mins to 1 hour 45mins depending on whether you have wifi on screen on and listening to music while charging through BT (took 2 hours )
LISTENING TIME – Quite good for me around 12.5 hours using my blon 03 on high gain and volume around 15-20 and wifi ON all the time streaming from qobuz
SUMMARY –
This is a wonderful DAP and obviously worth it in the long run and given Ibasso provides battery replacement, you can use it for years. Plus the software and Android experience makes it quite good along with long battery life. This highly recommended if you got some treble heavy iems and want to tame it while on the go.
IBASSO has been a well-known brand in the music industry and has been making great iems, DAPs etc which are very well known throughout the world. Founded in 2006, it had been gaining ground with their superior DAPS and DAC AMPS, dongle at most of the price segments. Today I am getting a chance to try their DAP DX180.
DISCLAIMER-
The IBASSO DX180 DAP is part of a review tour organized by A.G. and IBASSO AND SANDEEP in my country. The sample belongs to the brand. I had the opportunity to listen to it for 7 days for this review. This review is completely based on my experience with it, and all opinions, positive or negative, are my own and no one else’s. No external factors influence my review; only internal factors like my brain and heart influence it
. Please try it yourself, if possible, since we all hear things differently. If you want to purchase it, you can buy it from the official product website from the link: IBASSO DX180PACKAGING-
This is what I call a premium package. The entire thing is packed in a secure package inside a hard foam package which I am pretty sure wont harm the DAP even if you throw it (but please don’t). The top of the package has the warranty and documents in a small black envelope, I would love to see a bit of foam on the top too so as to protect it during shipping. But aside that, Ibasso has given everything that you would need to start using it the moment you unpackage it which I love and want others to follow.
CONTENTS-
The DAP (if it’s missing please contact the seller
)DAP case
DAP screen guard
USB C to C cable (no charging brick included use your phone one please)
SPECIFICATION-
Screen: 5.0 inch, 1080*1920 P, quite sharp but not much usable in sunlight.
USB C: USB 3.1
Output Port: 4.4mm balanced phone out/ 3.5mm single ended phone out/ 4.4mm line out/ 3.5mm line out/ 3.5mm coaxial output / USB OTG output
WiFi: 802.11b/g/n/ac (2.4Ghz/5Ghz), Bluetooth: V5.0
RAM+ROM: 3G+32G/4G+128G- 2 options , Battery: 3200mAh
Charging Time: 1.5 hours, Size: 123mm*75mm*16mm, Weight: 206g
Price- 529$
4.4mm Balanced Phone Port:
Maximum Output Level: 4Vrms (Low Gain)
6Vrms(High Gain)
Output Power: 690mW + 690mW@32ohm, THD+N<0.1%
Frequency Response: 10Hz~75kHz -1dB
S/N: 133dB
Dynamic Range: 133dB
THD+N: -121dB (A-wt, 600ohm load)
Crosstalk: -144dB
Noise Floor: < 1.1pV (High Gain)
Output impedance: 1.1ohm
3.5mm Single Ended Phone Out:
Maximum Output Level: 2Vrms (Low Gain),
3Vrms(High Gain)
Output Power: 281mW + 281mW@32ohm, THD+N< 0.1%, 525mW + 525mW@16ohm, THD+N<0.1%
Frequency Response: 10Hz~75kHz -1dB
S/N: 127dB
Dynamic Range: 127dB
THD+N: -116dB (A-wt, 600ohm load)
Crosstalk: -118dB
Noise floor: 1.1uV (High Gain)
Output impedance: 0.6ohm
4.4mm Balanced Line Out:
Maximum Output Level: 4Vrms
Frequency Response: 10Hz~75kHz -1dB
S/N: 133dB
Dynamic Range: 133dB
THD+N: -121dB
Crosstalk: -130dB
3.5mm Single Ended Line Out:
Maximum Output Level: 2Vrms
Frequency Response: 10Hz~75kHz -1dB
S/N: 125dB
Dynamic Range: 125dB
THD+N: -112dB
Crosstalk: -115dB
BUILD:-
Well it’s Ibasso so what do you expect, strong corners built like a tank and shiny all around. Jokes aside looks and feels wonderful to hold and use, instills confidence to hold. The plugs were all snug fitting and I loved that. The only thing is that thee volume scroll missing a few volume markers but small problems, but reaching it was a slightly more higher problem
. The buttons were quite tactile and easy to use expect that I kept on pressing the wrong buttonNOTE : please note that the entire impression is based on the my culmination of impressions while using various headphones like tygr 300, Hifiman Deva, Focal clears, Zmf aeuteur and then on iems like penon fan, blon bl03, TSMR shock etc
SOUND IMPRESSIONS:-
This DAP is great in almost every genre of music. It’s has an accurate detailed presentation but smooth in it’s delivery more in the treble region. The stage is wide but more like placement of instruments is such nicely done with great precision that it feels wider. Plus the presentation is mostly around you and the depth is quite good too especially with bass guitars and big drums. You can hear the bass coming from underneath your head in most songs. Of course not every iem/headphone will change depending on the source but then many will benefit from the clarity and accurate presentation. The mids were quite beautifully presented even my clinical sounding iems like fan, tygr300 sounded more neutral to slightly warm. But dark sounding products also do love the increased accurate clarity in tone and the enhanced impact of bass. Vocals and nuances in the vocalist voices were wonderful to listen to and the male voices roughness were also maintained which added flavour to the song. Treble even though energetic, have been smoothened and was very pleasant to listen to. You know those days where you just want to relax and have fun but you have a treble heavy iem well this is your companion for that day for sure. Air was present but subtle. The zeal of the song though remained like the trumpets in skyfall song still jumpscares you but not with the ghost from the nun but more from the scary movie types ( if you know what I mean
).
SOFTWARE EXPERIENCE:-
I ain’t much of a software guy but neither did I feel a hiccup nor did I have any trouble with settings. The dap is entirely android so easy for me to find around as I am an Android user. The sound setting were a few more steps to go into which I would rather like to become similar to oneplus have one side for notifications and other for sound options. The mangoplayer took a bit of time to read all the files but then it’s given for every dap. Downloading qobuz and using it with wifi and downloaded songs was great. I would love to though see adaptive brightness which I felt didn’t work as well as I had hoped for. But rest was buttery smooth and wonderful to listen to.
CHARGING: 1hour 30mins to 1 hour 45mins depending on whether you have wifi on screen on and listening to music while charging through BT (took 2 hours )
LISTENING TIME – Quite good for me around 12.5 hours using my blon 03 on high gain and volume around 15-20 and wifi ON all the time streaming from qobuz
SUMMARY –
This is a wonderful DAP and obviously worth it in the long run and given Ibasso provides battery replacement, you can use it for years. Plus the software and Android experience makes it quite good along with long battery life. This highly recommended if you got some treble heavy iems and want to tame it while on the go.
NIGHTJAR ACOUSTICS SINGULARITY- A SINGLE DD CAN DO A LOT
Nightjar acoustics singularity is from a well-known upcoming brand of audio enthusiasts who have been making news with a lot of good iems in the making. One such iem is their Singularity which has come to my attention.
DISCLAIMER-
The Nightjar Acoustics Singularity is part of a review tour organized by A.G. and Nightjar in my country. The sample belongs to the brand. I had the opportunity to listen to it for a lot of days for this review. This review is completely based on my experience with it, and all opinions, positive or negative, are my own and no one else’s. No external factors influence my review; only internal factors like my brain and heart influence it. Please try it yourself, if possible, since we all hear things differently. If you want to purchase it, you can buy it from the official product website from the link- Nightjar Acoustics Singularity.
SPECS-
- Bespoke 10mm Timbre+ Single Dynamic
- Anodised 6000 Series Aluminium
- Impedance- 43Ω
- 3Hz-20kHz
- Vanguard 2-wire stock cable and other multiple stock cables options are there with more price.
- Divinus Velvet and Subtonic House Tips
PACKAGE-
I didn’t get much of the package. But the package had just the leather case made of black with a silver nightjar on the case and it looked classy. The inside had the two iems and the cable. More packing things would be present like ear tips and all, but I didn’t get it for the review. The case is quite good and had felt on the top to give some padding. The felt on top needs to be a little thicker to add a little bit of more protection.
BUILD-
It’s small but the built is quite good with a black anodised aluminium shell. The shell is also quite light and easily goes into the ears. The faceplate has gold circular accents which is quite unique. But since this came after passing many hands, I see the black colour has come off on certain places, but careful handling is utmost.
Cable though is quite thin but doesn’t have any sound with movement. The plug is pentaconn and more cable options would be better to have. The similar colours on the cable and the iem is quite noticeable along with the beautiful golden moon on the cable. The cable is 7N OCC copper with 0.17 Ω resistance and a 25AWG size.
NOTE: This iem was used with PAWS1 for the review. It required a good deal of power of about 36-40 on volume on high gain. For me better sources would render this much better I believe, but I tried it with my A30s amp and Obravo V2 tube amp too, loved both. Now this review is based on my opinions and if you want to buy this do try them for once as we all hear differently.
This time we shall start with the female vocals.
VOCALS-
Female vocals goes quite high in the headroom and the vocal are quite consistent in the body of the notes. Resounding does work in the room and provides a bigger stage for the vocals to shine. The vocals are quite smooth, but the nuances are also present giving the originality to the voice. The vocal has a bigger base and body but not too much extension, there is a lot of room for vocals to shine with higher power, like I tried with my A30s amp.
Male vocals-the base and the body of the vocalist are quite big. But it does extend to the headroom when required. The thickness of a male vocals does come through. The roughness though is slightly reduced.
The vocals are present in front of you but slightly above the headstage and have an engaging listen the instruments are surrounding the vocalist.
MIDS-
The notes have great dynamism, and the details are wonderful. The notes are quite having a pretty solid base and well-defined body with good extension too. A little more height would be warranted. Each note is clear, crisp defined and has its own space in the head stage. The stage is quite wide too with spacing around the instruments makes it much better to listen to. The placement of the instruments is great and remain mostly around the listener and are in the X-Z axis plane mostly and a little bit of Y plane. The pianos are quite great with notes differentiation being emphasized along with notes definition and body. Similarly with the guitars they are beautifully executed and no hint of sharpness at all. The entire extension is beautifully done with placement and separation that's speaks a lot of good things for this iem. Resolution of this iem is quite great and it easily handles microdetails and everything with ease. But even the microdetails are beautifully done and are lovely to listen to. They have a wonderful presence and have good dynamics too. Mids are the best I have heard in a long time, a great mix of everything you would want for a wonderful listen.
BASS AND SUBBASS -
The subbass is also warm in totality and with quality rumble. The rumble has a good sense of definition to it but doesn't extent throughout the head stage. The base of the rumble is quite big with adequate attack speed that helps to listen to hip hop and pop music easily without mixing any of the sound frequencies. It was quite deep in subbass when required, rumbles enough to satisfy me and does fill the head stage too, but just before the corners of head stage. It does need a bit more extension so a slightly more decay would have been beneficial. A cable change may be what's required including a slightly wider bore ear tips which I sadly don't have now to test out (I lost one side). But given this rumble and deep subbass you would not feel a need for it at all, I can wholeheartedly say that as I am probably nitpicking here nothing more. This subbass is love as it is, a little more would be the cherry dipped in chocolate on the cake
The bass is big having a bigger body with a better base and has quite enough extension. It has a warm tonality to it and dynamics are such good that soft hits and hard hits are easily heard. Add the fast attack speed and quite apt decay, this becomes a quality and quantity bass monster. The tonal differences between different bass instruments are also quite easy to get. Even the type of material used as for the drums are even heard with each hot and that feels wonderful to listen to. Add great separation and details with very good smooth and warm tonality, it becomes way too easy to get what is going on where in the entire head stage, and that's a very important characteristics of an iem and it does it without breaking a sweat.
TREBLE-
It's energetic and has a warm tonality with good presence in the head stage. But it doesn't quite surprise you with the sudden dynamics change and hence is quite smooth to listen to. The notes are quite well defined and have a bigger base and body, but the extension would be a bit more required. The attack speed is quite apt and hence doesn't lag behind. It has the headroom but doesn't utilise it unless it's a large trumpet or saxophone emphasized in the song.
VERDICT- All in all this is a wonderful set and probably the one of the most wonderful sounding iems I have heard in a while, a heartful recommendation if you can adjust to a good smooth treble.
Nightjar acoustics singularity is from a well-known upcoming brand of audio enthusiasts who have been making news with a lot of good iems in the making. One such iem is their Singularity which has come to my attention.
DISCLAIMER-
The Nightjar Acoustics Singularity is part of a review tour organized by A.G. and Nightjar in my country. The sample belongs to the brand. I had the opportunity to listen to it for a lot of days for this review. This review is completely based on my experience with it, and all opinions, positive or negative, are my own and no one else’s. No external factors influence my review; only internal factors like my brain and heart influence it
. Please try it yourself, if possible, since we all hear things differently. If you want to purchase it, you can buy it from the official product website from the link- Nightjar Acoustics Singularity.SPECS-
- Bespoke 10mm Timbre+ Single Dynamic
- Anodised 6000 Series Aluminium
- Impedance- 43Ω
- 3Hz-20kHz
- Vanguard 2-wire stock cable and other multiple stock cables options are there with more price.
- Divinus Velvet and Subtonic House Tips
PACKAGE-
I didn’t get much of the package. But the package had just the leather case made of black with a silver nightjar on the case and it looked classy. The inside had the two iems and the cable. More packing things would be present like ear tips and all, but I didn’t get it for the review. The case is quite good and had felt on the top to give some padding. The felt on top needs to be a little thicker to add a little bit of more protection.
BUILD-
It’s small but the built is quite good with a black anodised aluminium shell. The shell is also quite light and easily goes into the ears. The faceplate has gold circular accents which is quite unique. But since this came after passing many hands, I see the black colour has come off on certain places, but careful handling is utmost.
Cable though is quite thin but doesn’t have any sound with movement. The plug is pentaconn and more cable options would be better to have. The similar colours on the cable and the iem is quite noticeable along with the beautiful golden moon on the cable. The cable is 7N OCC copper with 0.17 Ω resistance and a 25AWG size.
NOTE: This iem was used with PAWS1 for the review. It required a good deal of power of about 36-40 on volume on high gain. For me better sources would render this much better I believe, but I tried it with my A30s amp and Obravo V2 tube amp too, loved both. Now this review is based on my opinions and if you want to buy this do try them for once as we all hear differently.
This time we shall start with the female vocals.
VOCALS-
Female vocals goes quite high in the headroom and the vocal are quite consistent in the body of the notes. Resounding does work in the room and provides a bigger stage for the vocals to shine. The vocals are quite smooth, but the nuances are also present giving the originality to the voice. The vocal has a bigger base and body but not too much extension, there is a lot of room for vocals to shine with higher power, like I tried with my A30s amp.
Male vocals-the base and the body of the vocalist are quite big. But it does extend to the headroom when required. The thickness of a male vocals does come through. The roughness though is slightly reduced.
The vocals are present in front of you but slightly above the headstage and have an engaging listen the instruments are surrounding the vocalist.
MIDS-
The notes have great dynamism, and the details are wonderful. The notes are quite having a pretty solid base and well-defined body with good extension too. A little more height would be warranted. Each note is clear, crisp defined and has its own space in the head stage. The stage is quite wide too with spacing around the instruments makes it much better to listen to. The placement of the instruments is great and remain mostly around the listener and are in the X-Z axis plane mostly and a little bit of Y plane. The pianos are quite great with notes differentiation being emphasized along with notes definition and body. Similarly with the guitars they are beautifully executed and no hint of sharpness at all. The entire extension is beautifully done with placement and separation that's speaks a lot of good things for this iem. Resolution of this iem is quite great and it easily handles microdetails and everything with ease. But even the microdetails are beautifully done and are lovely to listen to. They have a wonderful presence and have good dynamics too. Mids are the best I have heard in a long time, a great mix of everything you would want for a wonderful listen.
BASS AND SUBBASS -
The subbass is also warm in totality and with quality rumble. The rumble has a good sense of definition to it but doesn't extent throughout the head stage. The base of the rumble is quite big with adequate attack speed that helps to listen to hip hop and pop music easily without mixing any of the sound frequencies. It was quite deep in subbass when required, rumbles enough to satisfy me and does fill the head stage too, but just before the corners of head stage. It does need a bit more extension so a slightly more decay would have been beneficial. A cable change may be what's required including a slightly wider bore ear tips which I sadly don't have now to test out (I lost one side). But given this rumble and deep subbass you would not feel a need for it at all, I can wholeheartedly say that as I am probably nitpicking here nothing more. This subbass is love as it is, a little more would be the cherry dipped in chocolate on the cake
The bass is big having a bigger body with a better base and has quite enough extension. It has a warm tonality to it and dynamics are such good that soft hits and hard hits are easily heard. Add the fast attack speed and quite apt decay, this becomes a quality and quantity bass monster. The tonal differences between different bass instruments are also quite easy to get. Even the type of material used as for the drums are even heard with each hot and that feels wonderful to listen to. Add great separation and details with very good smooth and warm tonality, it becomes way too easy to get what is going on where in the entire head stage, and that's a very important characteristics of an iem and it does it without breaking a sweat.
TREBLE-
It's energetic and has a warm tonality with good presence in the head stage. But it doesn't quite surprise you with the sudden dynamics change and hence is quite smooth to listen to. The notes are quite well defined and have a bigger base and body, but the extension would be a bit more required. The attack speed is quite apt and hence doesn't lag behind. It has the headroom but doesn't utilise it unless it's a large trumpet or saxophone emphasized in the song.
VERDICT- All in all this is a wonderful set and probably the one of the most wonderful sounding iems I have heard in a while, a heartful recommendation if you can adjust to a good smooth treble.
Audioenophile
Nice review!
IBASSO 3T-154 IEM- An New tuning experience
IBASSO has been a well-known brand in the music industry and has been making great iems, DAPs etc which are very well known throughout the world. Founded in 2006, I has been gaining ground with their superior DAPS and DAC AMPS, dongle at most of the price segments. Today I am getting a chance to try their DAC AMP- IBASSO 3T-154 IEM.
DISCLAIMER-
This review is part of a IBASSO and Aural Cafe-organized tour in India, and I have not received any compensation for my thoughts. I am grateful to Aural cafe, Ibasso and Pradipta Sur bhai for including me in this tour. If you want to purchase it, you can buy it from the official product website from the link: IBASSO 3T-154 IEM
PACKAGING-
Its very simple but environment friendly. I loved the case made up of synthetic leather and hold the iem and case in a slightly tight manner. The Thank you letter on the top acted as an padding pretty much but nothing can happen to this iem for sure. I would love to see more padding being added to top. The foam holding the iems are of medium firm and could easily handle the some bumps. Lots of tips and a screwdriver were also present. An extra pair of 3.5mm plug was also present which can be replaced from the cable which is 4.4mm.
SPECS-
The iem are big and won’t fit easily into most ears. There is much more way to give but hey they fit me well but protruded a bit outside of the ears a lot. But that can be said of the weight as they are quite light on weight and made up of magnesium alloy (not don’t burn it please). This counters the big size and well makes it comfortable on the long run
CABLE-
It’s a big and thick cable like I like it. There is good heft to it and the interchangeable plugs can be replaced with the included screwdriver which makes it much more secure and easier to replace too. There is a little bit of cable noise with movement but not much to distract from music.
NOTE: This iem was used with HiBy R4 and also PAW S1. I loved it with both of them but I used HiBy R4 more hence most of the review will be with that. Now HiBy is a neutral source mostly so you can change the source to match this iem which is nearly on neutral side.
SOUND IMPRESSIONS-
SUB-BASS-
Subbass has great initial hits which feels deep and impactful. It does go deep but not too much sub-bassy that can entice the sub-bass heads. There is extension of the sub-bass notes, but they are more well defined and easily recognizable among other instruments than going too deep. They have good attack speed, but the decay is also fast hence limiting the spread a lot, making it restricted to the middle of the head stage rather than spreading to the corners of the head stage. But the tonality is wonderful sticking to being slightly warm to neutral mostly. But even with sub-bass this good, the small details in the head stage still comes through.
BASS-
Bass is impactful dynamic and has wonderful tonality. The tones are slightly warm to neutral and tonal differences between different bass instruments are very easy to recognize. The notes are dynamic showing good height differences in the notes and you can know which notes are made form hitting harder while which are not. The notes base are small though, body is though good size and has good extension overall too. There is more presence of bass in the middle of the headstage and it also shows a good amount of depth in the headstage but not as of physical depth rather the presentation of the instruments right in front of you while the bass coming from a little below and behind the vocalist and instruments. The dynamics are so good that it feels great to listen to musicals.
MIDS-
Male vocals are great. There are great tonal differences between the vocalists. There is good roughness to their voices and its well defined. This makes the male vocals feel more real. Female vocals sound sweet and well defined. Their voices are much more defined given their tonal differences. They reach higher in the head stage too unless but in line with the head stage of the song. The vocals are dynamic and are more intimate in nature with the music eclipsing the singer. But the notes base is small, body is quite long and well-defined edges are also present. With that being said, the small nuances comes up easily and sss are more smoothened and wont feel sharp at all.
The instrument notes are quite dynamic and have a slightly warm to neutral tonality. They are quite different in their presentation but the definition is literally the best thing. Even the notes which are quite low in volume and to the entire edges of the headstage have their own dynamics. The notes are having a good base and body nearly equal in dimensions, but the extension is really good with reaching quite high in the headstage. The individual notes of the individual instruments are also quite well defined. The attack speed is great but the decay is slightly fast, but still lingers enough to leave a great taste in your mouth. The placement of the instruments is beautiful with accurate presentation of the instruments in the headstage. The instruments feel like having their own space yet, they feel cohesive. The separation is great of the instruments and their notes. The notes are quite easily defined and I love it. The instruments are mostly present surrounding the vocalists and the resonances that you hear from the headstage or the room make it a wonderful experience. You can literally feel the size of the stage where the music is being recorded or the orchestra music happening there. A very big expansive.
TREBLE-
Instruments here have a generally neutral tonality with very big dynamics. Their tonal differences are easily felt and even the height difference is easily recognizable. The energy of the instruments is really good just inking the line between excitement of the treble instruments like saxophone etc, when required and then making it just neutral enough to have long listening session. This change in energy is what makes this iem wonderful. Attached are the notes characteristics of good body and base and longer extension to the headstage along with beautiful separation and placement makes this a really good iem. The individual notes are also well defined with the room characteristics coming into play makes this a musical listening experience without fatigue.
VERDICT-
A wholehearted yes to this iem, I love this iem. A little improvement in the sub-bass could be great, which is nicely handled by EQ or even a cable change or get PAW S1 would do.
IBASSO has been a well-known brand in the music industry and has been making great iems, DAPs etc which are very well known throughout the world. Founded in 2006, I has been gaining ground with their superior DAPS and DAC AMPS, dongle at most of the price segments. Today I am getting a chance to try their DAC AMP- IBASSO 3T-154 IEM.
DISCLAIMER-
This review is part of a IBASSO and Aural Cafe-organized tour in India, and I have not received any compensation for my thoughts. I am grateful to Aural cafe, Ibasso and Pradipta Sur bhai for including me in this tour. If you want to purchase it, you can buy it from the official product website from the link: IBASSO 3T-154 IEM
PACKAGING-
Its very simple but environment friendly. I loved the case made up of synthetic leather and hold the iem and case in a slightly tight manner. The Thank you letter on the top acted as an padding pretty much but nothing can happen to this iem for sure. I would love to see more padding being added to top. The foam holding the iems are of medium firm and could easily handle the some bumps. Lots of tips and a screwdriver were also present. An extra pair of 3.5mm plug was also present which can be replaced from the cable which is 4.4mm.
SPECS-
- Driver Configuration: 1 Dynamic Driver (15.4 mm with 3T Magnetic flux)
- Impedance: 16Ω ± 10%
- Freq Response: 7Hz-41Khz
- Sensitivity: 116dB/mW @1kHz
- Isolation: -26 dB
- Cable: 1.2 m with detachable 4.4mm and 3.5mm Termination
The iem are big and won’t fit easily into most ears. There is much more way to give but hey they fit me well but protruded a bit outside of the ears a lot. But that can be said of the weight as they are quite light on weight and made up of magnesium alloy (not don’t burn it please
). This counters the big size and well makes it comfortable on the long run
CABLE-
It’s a big and thick cable like I like it. There is good heft to it and the interchangeable plugs can be replaced with the included screwdriver which makes it much more secure and easier to replace too. There is a little bit of cable noise with movement but not much to distract from music.
NOTE: This iem was used with HiBy R4 and also PAW S1. I loved it with both of them but I used HiBy R4 more hence most of the review will be with that. Now HiBy is a neutral source mostly so you can change the source to match this iem which is nearly on neutral side.
SOUND IMPRESSIONS-
SUB-BASS-
Subbass has great initial hits which feels deep and impactful. It does go deep but not too much sub-bassy that can entice the sub-bass heads. There is extension of the sub-bass notes, but they are more well defined and easily recognizable among other instruments than going too deep. They have good attack speed, but the decay is also fast hence limiting the spread a lot, making it restricted to the middle of the head stage rather than spreading to the corners of the head stage. But the tonality is wonderful sticking to being slightly warm to neutral mostly. But even with sub-bass this good, the small details in the head stage still comes through.
BASS-
Bass is impactful dynamic and has wonderful tonality. The tones are slightly warm to neutral and tonal differences between different bass instruments are very easy to recognize. The notes are dynamic showing good height differences in the notes and you can know which notes are made form hitting harder while which are not. The notes base are small though, body is though good size and has good extension overall too. There is more presence of bass in the middle of the headstage and it also shows a good amount of depth in the headstage but not as of physical depth rather the presentation of the instruments right in front of you while the bass coming from a little below and behind the vocalist and instruments. The dynamics are so good that it feels great to listen to musicals.
MIDS-
Male vocals are great. There are great tonal differences between the vocalists. There is good roughness to their voices and its well defined. This makes the male vocals feel more real. Female vocals sound sweet and well defined. Their voices are much more defined given their tonal differences. They reach higher in the head stage too unless but in line with the head stage of the song. The vocals are dynamic and are more intimate in nature with the music eclipsing the singer. But the notes base is small, body is quite long and well-defined edges are also present. With that being said, the small nuances comes up easily and sss are more smoothened and wont feel sharp at all.
The instrument notes are quite dynamic and have a slightly warm to neutral tonality. They are quite different in their presentation but the definition is literally the best thing. Even the notes which are quite low in volume and to the entire edges of the headstage have their own dynamics. The notes are having a good base and body nearly equal in dimensions, but the extension is really good with reaching quite high in the headstage. The individual notes of the individual instruments are also quite well defined. The attack speed is great but the decay is slightly fast, but still lingers enough to leave a great taste in your mouth. The placement of the instruments is beautiful with accurate presentation of the instruments in the headstage. The instruments feel like having their own space yet, they feel cohesive. The separation is great of the instruments and their notes. The notes are quite easily defined and I love it. The instruments are mostly present surrounding the vocalists and the resonances that you hear from the headstage or the room make it a wonderful experience. You can literally feel the size of the stage where the music is being recorded or the orchestra music happening there. A very big expansive.
TREBLE-
Instruments here have a generally neutral tonality with very big dynamics. Their tonal differences are easily felt and even the height difference is easily recognizable. The energy of the instruments is really good just inking the line between excitement of the treble instruments like saxophone etc, when required and then making it just neutral enough to have long listening session. This change in energy is what makes this iem wonderful. Attached are the notes characteristics of good body and base and longer extension to the headstage along with beautiful separation and placement makes this a really good iem. The individual notes are also well defined with the room characteristics coming into play makes this a musical listening experience without fatigue.
VERDICT-
A wholehearted yes to this iem, I love this iem. A little improvement in the sub-bass could be great, which is nicely handled by EQ or even a cable change or get PAW S1 would do.
AUNE AR5000- The New AR DD with a pleasant listening space.
AUNE is a brand in making from 2004 where its parent company Wuhan Ao Lai Er Technology Co Ltd has been developing extensive research works on audio products including DAC, DAPS, headphones, iems etc. Their logo focuses on balance which can be held from their products and such an product came into my hand – THE AUNE AR5000 or as I like to call it AUNE AR5k.
DISCLAIMER-
This review is part of a AUNE and Aural Cafe-organized tour in India, and I have not received any compensation for my thoughts. I am grateful to Aural cafe, AUNE and @pradiptacr7 bhai for including me in this tour. If you want to purchase it, you can buy it from the official product website from the link: AUNE AR5K.
SPECIFICATIONS-
Product type-Open-back headphones
Driver type-Dynamic with MLD technology
Nominal impedance- 28 Ohm
Sensitivity- 108dB (@ 1kHz, 1Vrms)
Net weight 350g
PACKAGE-
The package is decent. It is housed in shiny soft felt cloth within a cardboard box. The edges have the cable and I also got an upgrade cable to the same too. It’s a 3.5mm cable both of them are, with an 6.35mm adaptor.
BUILD-
The entire headphone feels great on hand and have great shiny golden brown colour. But its made up of plastic and might creek a bit with time. But the pads are so good to touch and also felt really good on the ears. Looking more onto the drivers they are angled and sits quite comfortably on my ears. The grill design on the headcups and the AR5k being written on the headcups making it feel beautiful and also elegant.
Cable are simple with good coat on them and feels great such that they wont break with use at all. They are marked left and right and are having 3 leads on both sides (L.R.G). The upgrade cable is more beautiful with better connectors it feels like. I wish if they made it in 4.4mm connector which they do too. There is also an option for a dongle dac cable on their website which caught my eye but sadly wasn’t present in the packaging .
FIT-
The fit was great and angled drivers don’t touch my ears too. The overall cups may be made a bit more bigger in size since the top of my helix of my ear was a bit folded inside the earpads but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Trying them over 3 hours it was still comfortable but a little stuffy if you don’t have AC on, which is with most headphones if not all.
NOTE: This headphone was used with HiBy R4 and also PAW S1 with Obravo v2 tube amp and A30s SS amp. I loved it with both of them but I used HiBy R4 more hence most of the review will be with that. Now HiBy is a neutral source mostly so you can change the source to match this iem which is nearly on neutral side or as I did you can add a tube amp and this will sing a lot. But for this review HiBy R4 was enough to run this headphone to the absolute best of my knowledge and hence was used for the review entirely. But I highly recommend to try out an hybrid tube or just a tube amp once with this headphone.
SOUND IMPRESSIONS-
SUB-BASS-
Nothing bad to write about to be honest. They are impactful, rumbly and also have great on point tonality to the type of sub-bass may it be big drums or synthetic bass. The extension do spread throughout the headstage and cause quite a bit of surprise as the stage is quite wide and you will love the presentation. The notes are of average thickness in the base and body and slowly decrease in size with fast attack and average decay speed. The quality of sub-bass is also quite good and has good definition till the end of the note. Internotes separation is also quite good.
BASS-
The bass is quite impactful, dynamic and has good presence in the headstage. They don’t lack the character or essence when required in the songs but work in cohesion with the mids mostly (which are the shining star of the show). The bass has good attack speed and a little faster decay but has its presence overall. They have a tonally neutral to slightly warm presence which feels pleasant to listen to. The impact is mostly felt at the base of the notes, followed by the body and then the extensions. There is much more horizontal spread of bass in the headstage.
MIDS-
The mids are the star of the show for sure. It has a pleasing sweet sound with great presence of pianos and mostly the acoustic instruments. Its slightly foreward than the rest of the music but the tonality is slightly warm to neutral in case of pianos and more warmish in case of guitars. The separation of the notes of different instruments are quite good and placement also shows a wider presentation with slightly Infront and around the listener. The mids are quite dynamic and entails the entire headstage and the change in volume of the notes are quite easily got. The tonality is quite slightly warm to neutral in nature and is very pleasant. The individual strings of the guitar instruments sound so beautiful and pleasant plus their extension with their decay and attack speed work so beautifully to enthrall you.
Vocals are foreward on this iem and treble and bass remains just below the vocals. The vocals take the show here. The tonal differences between the vocalists are quite easy to recognise and their height differences in notes are also made known. Small nuances in their vocals are quite clear but in a smooth way not too articulated or too smoothened just correct. The female vocals reach quite high in headstage while the male vocals thickness even though warranted more still remain quite beautiful. The clarity of each words is well known and they do distinct structure to the notes. No mixing of the frequencies on the either end of spectrum occurs.
TREBLE-
The treble here is quite energetic and dynamic. There is some warmth in it and it’s not clinical or too resolution heavy at all. There is good number of nuances in it, but focus will be on the mids a lot more. There is though, that sudden spike in energy when trumpets blow, and this enhances the experience. The notes are not sharp, have quite fast attack and decent decay too to last a little longer but smoothly. There is not too much articulation of the extensions. Air is reduced a bit in the treble region too, but the lower treble isn’t spicy too much either to make it uncomfortable at all. The notes are quite long and fill up the headroom and resonances do come through. It’s a lovely experience.
VERDICT-
A single DD driver headphone with vocals and mids focus and a neutral to balanced signature that feels relaxing in a wave of too many technicalities or too much of either spectrum spike in the headphones market. Thus, this comes as a wave of relief for me and others who want a chilled out listening experience. Highly recommended
AUNE is a brand in making from 2004 where its parent company Wuhan Ao Lai Er Technology Co Ltd has been developing extensive research works on audio products including DAC, DAPS, headphones, iems etc. Their logo focuses on balance which can be held from their products and such an product came into my hand – THE AUNE AR5000 or as I like to call it AUNE AR5k.
DISCLAIMER-
This review is part of a AUNE and Aural Cafe-organized tour in India, and I have not received any compensation for my thoughts. I am grateful to Aural cafe, AUNE and @pradiptacr7 bhai for including me in this tour. If you want to purchase it, you can buy it from the official product website from the link: AUNE AR5K.
SPECIFICATIONS-
Product type-Open-back headphones
Driver type-Dynamic with MLD technology
Nominal impedance- 28 Ohm
Sensitivity- 108dB (@ 1kHz, 1Vrms)
Net weight 350g
PACKAGE-
The package is decent. It is housed in shiny soft felt cloth within a cardboard box. The edges have the cable and I also got an upgrade cable to the same too. It’s a 3.5mm cable both of them are, with an 6.35mm adaptor.
BUILD-
The entire headphone feels great on hand and have great shiny golden brown colour. But its made up of plastic and might creek a bit with time. But the pads are so good to touch and also felt really good on the ears. Looking more onto the drivers they are angled and sits quite comfortably on my ears. The grill design on the headcups and the AR5k being written on the headcups making it feel beautiful and also elegant.
Cable are simple with good coat on them and feels great such that they wont break with use at all. They are marked left and right and are having 3 leads on both sides (L.R.G). The upgrade cable is more beautiful with better connectors it feels like. I wish if they made it in 4.4mm connector which they do too. There is also an option for a dongle dac cable on their website which caught my eye but sadly wasn’t present in the packaging .
FIT-
The fit was great and angled drivers don’t touch my ears too. The overall cups may be made a bit more bigger in size since the top of my helix of my ear was a bit folded inside the earpads but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Trying them over 3 hours it was still comfortable but a little stuffy if you don’t have AC on, which is with most headphones if not all.
NOTE: This headphone was used with HiBy R4 and also PAW S1 with Obravo v2 tube amp and A30s SS amp. I loved it with both of them but I used HiBy R4 more hence most of the review will be with that. Now HiBy is a neutral source mostly so you can change the source to match this iem which is nearly on neutral side or as I did you can add a tube amp and this will sing a lot. But for this review HiBy R4 was enough to run this headphone to the absolute best of my knowledge and hence was used for the review entirely. But I highly recommend to try out an hybrid tube or just a tube amp once with this headphone.
SOUND IMPRESSIONS-
SUB-BASS-
Nothing bad to write about to be honest. They are impactful, rumbly and also have great on point tonality to the type of sub-bass may it be big drums or synthetic bass. The extension do spread throughout the headstage and cause quite a bit of surprise as the stage is quite wide and you will love the presentation. The notes are of average thickness in the base and body and slowly decrease in size with fast attack and average decay speed. The quality of sub-bass is also quite good and has good definition till the end of the note. Internotes separation is also quite good.
BASS-
The bass is quite impactful, dynamic and has good presence in the headstage. They don’t lack the character or essence when required in the songs but work in cohesion with the mids mostly (which are the shining star of the show). The bass has good attack speed and a little faster decay but has its presence overall. They have a tonally neutral to slightly warm presence which feels pleasant to listen to. The impact is mostly felt at the base of the notes, followed by the body and then the extensions. There is much more horizontal spread of bass in the headstage.
MIDS-
The mids are the star of the show for sure. It has a pleasing sweet sound with great presence of pianos and mostly the acoustic instruments. Its slightly foreward than the rest of the music but the tonality is slightly warm to neutral in case of pianos and more warmish in case of guitars. The separation of the notes of different instruments are quite good and placement also shows a wider presentation with slightly Infront and around the listener. The mids are quite dynamic and entails the entire headstage and the change in volume of the notes are quite easily got. The tonality is quite slightly warm to neutral in nature and is very pleasant. The individual strings of the guitar instruments sound so beautiful and pleasant plus their extension with their decay and attack speed work so beautifully to enthrall you.
Vocals are foreward on this iem and treble and bass remains just below the vocals. The vocals take the show here. The tonal differences between the vocalists are quite easy to recognise and their height differences in notes are also made known. Small nuances in their vocals are quite clear but in a smooth way not too articulated or too smoothened just correct. The female vocals reach quite high in headstage while the male vocals thickness even though warranted more still remain quite beautiful. The clarity of each words is well known and they do distinct structure to the notes. No mixing of the frequencies on the either end of spectrum occurs.
TREBLE-
The treble here is quite energetic and dynamic. There is some warmth in it and it’s not clinical or too resolution heavy at all. There is good number of nuances in it, but focus will be on the mids a lot more. There is though, that sudden spike in energy when trumpets blow, and this enhances the experience. The notes are not sharp, have quite fast attack and decent decay too to last a little longer but smoothly. There is not too much articulation of the extensions. Air is reduced a bit in the treble region too, but the lower treble isn’t spicy too much either to make it uncomfortable at all. The notes are quite long and fill up the headroom and resonances do come through. It’s a lovely experience.
VERDICT-
A single DD driver headphone with vocals and mids focus and a neutral to balanced signature that feels relaxing in a wave of too many technicalities or too much of either spectrum spike in the headphones market. Thus, this comes as a wave of relief for me and others who want a chilled out listening experience. Highly recommended
PROJECT ACE-
Hiby is a company with well over 15 years of experience in the field of musical reproduction. I have already used a decent amount of HiBy products and have been wanting to try some of their portable music players and got to try the HIBY R4 along with a Hiby X FAudio Project Ace. I have heard of FAudio and have been planning on trying to get them to India to try them. Thus, when the opportunity came, I grabbed it and hence here I am reviewing the new HIBY X FAUDIO- PROJECT ACE.
DISCLAIMER-
The HiBy X FAudio Project ACE is part of a review tour organized by A.G. and HiBy and FAudio in my country. The sample belongs to the brand. I had the opportunity to listen to it for a lot of days for this review. This review is completely based on my experience with it, and all opinions, positive or negative, are my own and no one else’s. No external factors influence my review; only internal factors like my brain and heart influence it. Please try it yourself, if possible, since we all hear things differently. If you want to purchase it, you can buy it from the official product website from the link- HiBy X FAudio Project Ace.
SPECIFICATIONS-
Driver: 12mm Mg-Alloy & Be-platedDynamic Driver
Impedance: 32Ω
Sensitivity: 115dB at 1kHz
Max Input Power: 100mw
Price: 250$
PACKAGING-
It comes in a beautiful black cardboard packaging with beautiful circles on it and golden writing on both sides showing F-Audio and HiBy. The inside has good case of ear tips and the iems with a beautiful blue synthetic case which has the cables. The case also has space for iems and cable separately. The cable has interchangeable connectors with 4 pin cable covers on it.
BUILD-
The iems are built of blue shell and metal corners which feel wonderful and look beautiful. They feel sturdy and quite beautiful. The cable is also black and has good soft feel to it. The interchangeable plugs are also quite good to use and feel great overall. There is no cable noise with use. The shells are quite average in size and will fit mostly all ears properly giving a proper seal for sure.
NOTE: This iem was used with HiBy R4 and also PAW S1. I loved it with both of them but I used HiBy R4 more hence most of the review will be with that. Now HiBy is a neutral source mostly so you can change the source to match this iem. Plus this review shows how I feel about the sound characteristics of this iem if you want to buy it, do try them once as we all hear differently.
SOUND IMPRESSIONS-
SUBBASS-
They are quite controlled, and hits are quite impactful, and quality is maintained of the rumble. The body and base of the notes are dense and thicker, and it extends quite outwards in the headstage (more horizontally than going more in depth). The rumble is more defined, but it requires a little more space in between the individual notes and spread a little bit more. Dynamism is quite great, and rumble is well defined but not big, as extensions are quite less.
BASS-
Dynamics are quite great and the notes are slightly on the flat / neutral side. Body and base are normal and tonality is on point. The extension is less with having fast decay and even faster attack on the notes. Dynamics are great too. They mostly are spread horizontally and stay on the face level too. The hollowness of the drums are also felt showing great level od details present.
MIDS-
Tonality is on point with great details and dynamics present throughout the spectrum of music. Resolutions are great, plus the tonal differences between the instruments and singers make it very much wonderful to listen to. The individual notes are quite defined and the attack is quite fast but decay here is better hence letting the guitars to extend a bit and give more space for the notes. The inter notes separation is quite good, plus each instruments has its own place on the headstage and quite separate from each other. Even nuances within the instruments feel quite great to listen to. The hollowness of the certain instruments comes through and also the tonal changes with pulls of the strings of the instruments are quite easily heard. The instruments are also quite dynamic and widely spread to shows the big stage present on the headstage.
Not much ‘sss’ in the female vocals and is quite subdued and hence wont cause trouble much. There is a lot of details in the vocals with air present around the voices. Lip smacks are easily noticed too. There is also spread of voice around the room and they go quite big in the headstage. The change in tonality in the voices are also felt as vocalists intend with change in loudness and roughness as intended. They are quite dynamic and also reach the top of the headstage quite easily. A little more headroom would have been better overall. Male vocals are quite big on the body and felt more wider overall. Their tonal different are quite easily noticeable. The roughness does come through too. Notes could be a little more well defined overall in the vocals and have also more structure present.
TREBLE-
First things first, its not an treble heavy iem. This can show up an entire orchestra of trumpets and saxophones without overwhelming you. There is a lot of energy in the instruments, and they are quite dynamic too. They are tonally accurate but having thicker notes and on little warm side. The extensions are so easily handled, it feels wonderful to listen to, making the head-stage a wonderful amalgamation of music. None of the instruments are found to be harsh at all. Notes are quite well defined here with similar width to the base and body and it extends with not much change in width and then gradually decreases with time.
VERDICT-
It’s a good warm iem with good technicalities. It’s a good rounder iem and gets my vote of recommendation for a everyday use iem that won’t cause headaches in the long run.
Hiby is a company with well over 15 years of experience in the field of musical reproduction. I have already used a decent amount of HiBy products and have been wanting to try some of their portable music players and got to try the HIBY R4 along with a Hiby X FAudio Project Ace. I have heard of FAudio and have been planning on trying to get them to India to try them. Thus, when the opportunity came, I grabbed it and hence here I am reviewing the new HIBY X FAUDIO- PROJECT ACE.
DISCLAIMER-
The HiBy X FAudio Project ACE is part of a review tour organized by A.G. and HiBy and FAudio in my country. The sample belongs to the brand. I had the opportunity to listen to it for a lot of days for this review. This review is completely based on my experience with it, and all opinions, positive or negative, are my own and no one else’s. No external factors influence my review; only internal factors like my brain and heart influence it
. Please try it yourself, if possible, since we all hear things differently. If you want to purchase it, you can buy it from the official product website from the link- HiBy X FAudio Project Ace.SPECIFICATIONS-
Driver: 12mm Mg-Alloy & Be-platedDynamic Driver
Impedance: 32Ω
Sensitivity: 115dB at 1kHz
Max Input Power: 100mw
Price: 250$
PACKAGING-
It comes in a beautiful black cardboard packaging with beautiful circles on it and golden writing on both sides showing F-Audio and HiBy. The inside has good case of ear tips and the iems with a beautiful blue synthetic case which has the cables. The case also has space for iems and cable separately. The cable has interchangeable connectors with 4 pin cable covers on it.
BUILD-
The iems are built of blue shell and metal corners which feel wonderful and look beautiful. They feel sturdy and quite beautiful. The cable is also black and has good soft feel to it. The interchangeable plugs are also quite good to use and feel great overall. There is no cable noise with use. The shells are quite average in size and will fit mostly all ears properly giving a proper seal for sure.
NOTE: This iem was used with HiBy R4 and also PAW S1. I loved it with both of them but I used HiBy R4 more hence most of the review will be with that. Now HiBy is a neutral source mostly so you can change the source to match this iem. Plus this review shows how I feel about the sound characteristics of this iem if you want to buy it, do try them once as we all hear differently.
SOUND IMPRESSIONS-
SUBBASS-
They are quite controlled, and hits are quite impactful, and quality is maintained of the rumble. The body and base of the notes are dense and thicker, and it extends quite outwards in the headstage (more horizontally than going more in depth). The rumble is more defined, but it requires a little more space in between the individual notes and spread a little bit more. Dynamism is quite great, and rumble is well defined but not big, as extensions are quite less.
BASS-
Dynamics are quite great and the notes are slightly on the flat / neutral side. Body and base are normal and tonality is on point. The extension is less with having fast decay and even faster attack on the notes. Dynamics are great too. They mostly are spread horizontally and stay on the face level too. The hollowness of the drums are also felt showing great level od details present.
MIDS-
Tonality is on point with great details and dynamics present throughout the spectrum of music. Resolutions are great, plus the tonal differences between the instruments and singers make it very much wonderful to listen to. The individual notes are quite defined and the attack is quite fast but decay here is better hence letting the guitars to extend a bit and give more space for the notes. The inter notes separation is quite good, plus each instruments has its own place on the headstage and quite separate from each other. Even nuances within the instruments feel quite great to listen to. The hollowness of the certain instruments comes through and also the tonal changes with pulls of the strings of the instruments are quite easily heard. The instruments are also quite dynamic and widely spread to shows the big stage present on the headstage.
Not much ‘sss’ in the female vocals and is quite subdued and hence wont cause trouble much. There is a lot of details in the vocals with air present around the voices. Lip smacks are easily noticed too. There is also spread of voice around the room and they go quite big in the headstage. The change in tonality in the voices are also felt as vocalists intend with change in loudness and roughness as intended. They are quite dynamic and also reach the top of the headstage quite easily. A little more headroom would have been better overall. Male vocals are quite big on the body and felt more wider overall. Their tonal different are quite easily noticeable. The roughness does come through too. Notes could be a little more well defined overall in the vocals and have also more structure present.
TREBLE-
First things first, its not an treble heavy iem. This can show up an entire orchestra of trumpets and saxophones without overwhelming you. There is a lot of energy in the instruments, and they are quite dynamic too. They are tonally accurate but having thicker notes and on little warm side. The extensions are so easily handled, it feels wonderful to listen to, making the head-stage a wonderful amalgamation of music. None of the instruments are found to be harsh at all. Notes are quite well defined here with similar width to the base and body and it extends with not much change in width and then gradually decreases with time.
VERDICT-
It’s a good warm iem with good technicalities. It’s a good rounder iem and gets my vote of recommendation for a everyday use iem that won’t cause headaches in the long run.
HIBY R4 – Wonderful DAP at this price.
Hiby is a company with well over 15 years of experience in the field of musical reproduction. Among the company are two division, the HiBy music making the portable music players and headphone decoders and then comes the HiBy digital making the digital consumer electronics. I have already used a decent amount of HiBy products and have been wanting to try some of their portable music players. Thus when the opportunity came, I grabbed it and hence here I am reviewing the new HiBy R4 DAP.
DISCLAIMER-
The HiBy R4 is part of a review tour organized by A.G. and HiBy in my country. The sample belongs to the brand. I had the opportunity to listen to it for a lot of days for this review. This review is completely based on my experience with it, and all opinions, positive or negative, are my own and no one else’s. No external factors influence my review; only internal factors like my brain and heart influence it. Please try it yourself, if possible, since we all hear things differently. If you want to purchase it, you can buy it from the official product website from the link- HiBy R4.
PACKAGING-
A simple sideways opening cardboard box with quite neon orange colour. The inside we are greeted with the DAP itself on a hard foam and inside we see some documentation and a screenguard and a case. It also gives an USB C to C cable for charging too. It contains all that you need to use the DAP from the first day onwards. I would love to add more felt to the edges and the underside of the top cover as they are hard and would protect much better the screen of the DAP.
BUILD-
A solid piece of DAP with good heft to it. It seems to have a textured surface for the DAP but the case is quite sufficient to protect it. Plus, the screen seems to be good quality not too much resolution heavy but optimal enough. There is a function toggle button on the top which is sturdy and quite hard to use. The other buttons are great but felt of membrane keyboard switches.
SPECS-
HIBY SPECIFIC FEATURES and my impressions-
The best functions are –
SOUND IMPRESSIONS-
Note: these are impressions from my heart and soul and may have psychological effects. Best way to know if you like is when you are try it on your own. I used slow roll off as the feature and only used High gain as an option, no other features were engaged.
IEMS-
Blon Bl-03-
A tiny iem which has stood the test of time and has lived with me since many years. The overall sound change is that of addition of increased spacing between the instruments, bass was more pronounced and there was more structural definition to the notes of the instruments. The upper mids glare was much more nicely handled. The tonality though was accurate was more on slightly lean to neutral type.
Penon Fan-
Fan is very very energetic and dynamic iem overall. It is treble heavy and upper mids heavy but still maintains the airiness and cohesion of the entire music. So with using R4, there was increased bass definition and more separation between midbass and the mids. The placement is much more separated, and nuances are enhanced. Dyanmics are maintained but energy is much more. Upper mids are slightly leaner like the treble but they do jump on you once a while. But I would say its very similar to original stock sound but slightly leaner in notes tones.
IBASSO 3T-154-
This iem is a very spacious iem and focuses more on cohesion and definition of notes. The bass is quite well defined and rumbly too without losing a lot of feel to it. The notes are slightly on the neutral side with the DAP and showing the room presence also worked really well. The treble was also energetic but not sharp and kind of did well. The bass could have a bit better, and the tonality was neutral too. Airiness was not much present, but nuances were enhanced and had dynamism too.
BGVP DMA –
While the nuances were increased, there was also a bit more leaness added too. There was more spacing and placement of the instruments were much more defined. The bass had more definition and the treble was airy and energetic. Slightly V shaping of the vocals was ensued but that occurred with all sources mostly.
BGVP PHANTOM-
Like BGVP DMA, but here the changes were much in line and pairing took off. There was more energy on the sub-bass and extension were much more pronounced and defined. Similarly, bass had more impact and definition. Nuances were enhanced and separation took a major step forward. Placement of the instruments had also much greater presence in the headstage. The leaness that it provides is very less so the notes are still slight warmish and hence are much more in line with maintaining cohesion and definition to fast paced music and orchestras.
DITA AUDIO PROJECT M-
While Project M is a engrosses you with beauty and beastly musicality’s, it lacks in the nuances or resolution section of the music. With Hiby R4, there is dynamism in the nuances let alone increase in resolution of the music. There is also more energy and airiness in the treble section making it a lovely listen with engaging treble experience. This was really good for DITA AUDIO M as a DAP companion.
HEADPHONES-
Let’s start from the first headphone I owned (except the gaming ones)
SENNHEISER HD558
It’s the oldest headphone I have and its quite good till now. The soundsignature is enjoyable with good separation and tonality is warm to neutral mostly. The presentation is mostly 3-way middle, left and right and then comes the surrounding presence which is very less. With HIBY R4, the presentation became more seamless and cohesive. Tonality was not much changed but there was more presence of note definition and better separation. There was slight increase in bass impact but more in the definition of the bass notes. Rumble in sub-bass was more defined and slightly more faster.
BEYERDYNAMIC TYGR 300R-
Now this is an entirely flat headphone with much more treble heavy headphone with lots of energy. With Hiby R4, the treble became tamed but maintaining their quality with airiness and dynamism with good energy. The bass impact and notes body and base also increased in size and slightly more extended decay compared to the headphone. The HiBy R4 was able to run it but it requires more power to sound its fullest. Don’t get me wrong no one uses a DAP at this price point to run a 300ohm headphone but it does get this loud enough to enjoy the music.
HIFIMAN DEVA-
This thing drained the power of HiBy R4 the most because of its planar driver. The bass had improved with much faster attack and more impact. The decay was also faster, making it more separated of successive notes hits. The rumble of the sub-bass was also much more enhanced and defined too. There was also more spaciousness within the music and more surrounding headstage to feast the music. It was a lovely experience to try this with DEVA. Even the treble had more increased energy and dynamics without being overly clinical or sharp. The only thing that is the tonality became slightly neutral to lean side from neutral to slightly warm. This is where PEQ and MSEB came to rescue and worked good enough with this, such that I could use it for longer without having to reset my ears every 1 hour.
FOCAL CLEAR OG-
This headphone doesn’t mostly depend on the source but it does in certain cases and one such case is this. There is more spaciousness among the instruments and the placement is more defined. There is increase in headstage width and also, tonally not much change. The treble is much more handled and subdued in sharpness in the upper mids but the energy and dynamics remain the same. The bass impact is much better but the vocals had a slight reduction in thickness along with the pianos notes. Overall an improvement, plus it could run it quite easily so I loved it more.
OVERALL-
If you have a slightly warm or warmish iem with lots of bass extension and slightly congested soundstage, this will form a very good pairing with it. The ability to have such long battery life plus using this with BT headphones or iems will save your phones battery life on long journey. Software features also help quite a lot especially the PEQ which works great and ability to download set PEQ from online from your favourite reviewer also is a wonderful way to change the sound of your music device and try out new stuff. Given the power of this little thing, this can run quite a lot of stuff.
So is this recommended ? 100% yes, as if you want more you can use the software that HiBy provides and for 249$ this is a steal…
Hiby is a company with well over 15 years of experience in the field of musical reproduction. Among the company are two division, the HiBy music making the portable music players and headphone decoders and then comes the HiBy digital making the digital consumer electronics. I have already used a decent amount of HiBy products and have been wanting to try some of their portable music players. Thus when the opportunity came, I grabbed it and hence here I am reviewing the new HiBy R4 DAP.
DISCLAIMER-
The HiBy R4 is part of a review tour organized by A.G. and HiBy in my country. The sample belongs to the brand. I had the opportunity to listen to it for a lot of days for this review. This review is completely based on my experience with it, and all opinions, positive or negative, are my own and no one else’s. No external factors influence my review; only internal factors like my brain and heart influence it
. Please try it yourself, if possible, since we all hear things differently. If you want to purchase it, you can buy it from the official product website from the link- HiBy R4.PACKAGING-
A simple sideways opening cardboard box with quite neon orange colour. The inside we are greeted with the DAP itself on a hard foam and inside we see some documentation and a screenguard and a case. It also gives an USB C to C cable for charging too. It contains all that you need to use the DAP from the first day onwards. I would love to add more felt to the edges and the underside of the top cover as they are hard and would protect much better the screen of the DAP.
BUILD-
A solid piece of DAP with good heft to it. It seems to have a textured surface for the DAP but the case is quite sufficient to protect it. Plus, the screen seems to be good quality not too much resolution heavy but optimal enough. There is a function toggle button on the top which is sturdy and quite hard to use. The other buttons are great but felt of membrane keyboard switches.
SPECS-
- OS: HibyOS based on Android 12
- SOC: Snapdragon 665
- DAC Chip: ES9018C2M x4
- BT- 5.0, USB- 2.0 and 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gbps), WIFI- 2.4/5GHz
- 3 GB RAM (was smooth for the operation but felt a bit laggy)
- 32 GB internal memory (expandable with a micro SD card up to 2TB)- around 20gb usable, rest is system files.
- 4500 mAh battery (20W charging PD 2.0 charging)- Battery life – 11 hours while in testing using High gain, 3.5mm output, 28 on volume and Qobuz on 2.4ghz wifi for playing music and it lasted for 10 hours and 21 minutes on a single charge which is quite good.
- 4.7inch, 1080x720 IPS screen which is bright but not much useful in the sun
- Weight: ~231g (w/o case)
HIBY SPECIFIC FEATURES and my impressions-
The best functions are –
- Bit perfect audio throughout the system whether you use any music app or use the hiby music player which is wonderful to use.
- Hiby cast to control the device from another device.
- Button lock button is quite good but needs more functionality as to change modes.
- Bluetooth having LDAC and also UAT which is the HiBy’s own Bluetooth transmission codec- I could use LDAC and which was great to listen to it.
- Software features in the form of –
- MSEB- MageSound Eight Ball- its an hiby exclusive feature, where you can change the sound output easily while also changing the tonality and many others.
While I found some changes with it but going more than 10 on either side makes the entire sound signature slightly wonky. - The most change I found was with blon 03 and other iems that I tried with it but not much with the headphones that I had tried them with.
- PEQ- 10 band PEQ is quite good and you can use it system wide which is sufficient and quite tasteful to add by hiby
- Working modes-
- Android mode- its like a phone;
- Pure audio mode- Works for audio present locally and uses HiBy Music player
- USB DAC Mode- for use with external sources like DDC or PC and then into a AMP.
- Bluetooth receiving mode: Advantage of BT5.0 and use only wireless so save a little on battery life on your phone.
- Now among these I found, the best was the pure audio mode about another 30mins of battery life and also with the same settings as before. Though I would say you would require all songs downloaded and ready to go…
- While using the player for long it did heat up as much as when you game with your phone it wasn’t too much though and can easily be handled.
SOUND IMPRESSIONS-
Note: these are impressions from my heart and soul and may have psychological effects. Best way to know if you like is when you are try it on your own. I used slow roll off as the feature and only used High gain as an option, no other features were engaged.
IEMS-
Blon Bl-03-
A tiny iem which has stood the test of time and has lived with me since many years. The overall sound change is that of addition of increased spacing between the instruments, bass was more pronounced and there was more structural definition to the notes of the instruments. The upper mids glare was much more nicely handled. The tonality though was accurate was more on slightly lean to neutral type.
Penon Fan-
Fan is very very energetic and dynamic iem overall. It is treble heavy and upper mids heavy but still maintains the airiness and cohesion of the entire music. So with using R4, there was increased bass definition and more separation between midbass and the mids. The placement is much more separated, and nuances are enhanced. Dyanmics are maintained but energy is much more. Upper mids are slightly leaner like the treble but they do jump on you once a while. But I would say its very similar to original stock sound but slightly leaner in notes tones.
IBASSO 3T-154-
This iem is a very spacious iem and focuses more on cohesion and definition of notes. The bass is quite well defined and rumbly too without losing a lot of feel to it. The notes are slightly on the neutral side with the DAP and showing the room presence also worked really well. The treble was also energetic but not sharp and kind of did well. The bass could have a bit better, and the tonality was neutral too. Airiness was not much present, but nuances were enhanced and had dynamism too.
BGVP DMA –
While the nuances were increased, there was also a bit more leaness added too. There was more spacing and placement of the instruments were much more defined. The bass had more definition and the treble was airy and energetic. Slightly V shaping of the vocals was ensued but that occurred with all sources mostly.
BGVP PHANTOM-
Like BGVP DMA, but here the changes were much in line and pairing took off. There was more energy on the sub-bass and extension were much more pronounced and defined. Similarly, bass had more impact and definition. Nuances were enhanced and separation took a major step forward. Placement of the instruments had also much greater presence in the headstage. The leaness that it provides is very less so the notes are still slight warmish and hence are much more in line with maintaining cohesion and definition to fast paced music and orchestras.
DITA AUDIO PROJECT M-
While Project M is a engrosses you with beauty and beastly musicality’s, it lacks in the nuances or resolution section of the music. With Hiby R4, there is dynamism in the nuances let alone increase in resolution of the music. There is also more energy and airiness in the treble section making it a lovely listen with engaging treble experience. This was really good for DITA AUDIO M as a DAP companion.
HEADPHONES-
Let’s start from the first headphone I owned (except the gaming ones)
SENNHEISER HD558
It’s the oldest headphone I have and its quite good till now. The soundsignature is enjoyable with good separation and tonality is warm to neutral mostly. The presentation is mostly 3-way middle, left and right and then comes the surrounding presence which is very less. With HIBY R4, the presentation became more seamless and cohesive. Tonality was not much changed but there was more presence of note definition and better separation. There was slight increase in bass impact but more in the definition of the bass notes. Rumble in sub-bass was more defined and slightly more faster.
BEYERDYNAMIC TYGR 300R-
Now this is an entirely flat headphone with much more treble heavy headphone with lots of energy. With Hiby R4, the treble became tamed but maintaining their quality with airiness and dynamism with good energy. The bass impact and notes body and base also increased in size and slightly more extended decay compared to the headphone. The HiBy R4 was able to run it but it requires more power to sound its fullest. Don’t get me wrong no one uses a DAP at this price point to run a 300ohm headphone but it does get this loud enough to enjoy the music.
HIFIMAN DEVA-
This thing drained the power of HiBy R4 the most because of its planar driver. The bass had improved with much faster attack and more impact. The decay was also faster, making it more separated of successive notes hits. The rumble of the sub-bass was also much more enhanced and defined too. There was also more spaciousness within the music and more surrounding headstage to feast the music. It was a lovely experience to try this with DEVA. Even the treble had more increased energy and dynamics without being overly clinical or sharp. The only thing that is the tonality became slightly neutral to lean side from neutral to slightly warm. This is where PEQ and MSEB came to rescue and worked good enough with this, such that I could use it for longer without having to reset my ears every 1 hour.
FOCAL CLEAR OG-
This headphone doesn’t mostly depend on the source but it does in certain cases and one such case is this. There is more spaciousness among the instruments and the placement is more defined. There is increase in headstage width and also, tonally not much change. The treble is much more handled and subdued in sharpness in the upper mids but the energy and dynamics remain the same. The bass impact is much better but the vocals had a slight reduction in thickness along with the pianos notes. Overall an improvement, plus it could run it quite easily so I loved it more.
OVERALL-
If you have a slightly warm or warmish iem with lots of bass extension and slightly congested soundstage, this will form a very good pairing with it. The ability to have such long battery life plus using this with BT headphones or iems will save your phones battery life on long journey. Software features also help quite a lot especially the PEQ which works great and ability to download set PEQ from online from your favourite reviewer also is a wonderful way to change the sound of your music device and try out new stuff. Given the power of this little thing, this can run quite a lot of stuff.
So is this recommended ? 100% yes, as if you want more you can use the software that HiBy provides and for 249$ this is a steal…
SYMPHONIUM AUDIO TITAN- A BIG SUBBASY GUY
Symphonium audio is a recent player in the iem market competing with others. It was established in 2016 with name making iem that is the helios in around 2021 followed by triton. They have partnered with with Subtonic in the same year and have been working with them. I haven’t had the luxury to try any of their iems yet and this is their first iem that I am trying out. The big titan – Symphonium Audio Titan.
DISCLAIMER-
The Symphonium Audio Titan is part of a review tour organized by A.G. and Symphonium Audio in my country. The sample belongs to the brand. I had the opportunity to listen to it for a lot of days for this review. This review is completely based on my experience with it, and all opinions, positive or negative, are my own and no one else’s. No external factors influence my review; only internal factors like my brain and heart influence it. Please try it yourself, if possible, since we all hear things differently. If you want to purchase it, you can buy it from the official product website from the link- Symphonium Audio Titan.
SPECS-
I didn’t get much of the package. But the package had just the steel case made of black and it looked classy. The inside had the two iems and the cable with a cleaning cloth. The case is quite hefty and had felt on the top to give some padding. The felt on top needs to be a little more thick to add a little bit of more protection.
BUILD-
Its very small and built is quite good with aluminum shell. The shell is also quite light and easily goes into the ears. The faceplate has gold accents and will be unique for each iem.
Cable though is quite thin but doesn’t have any sound with movement. The plugs are interchangeable and thus is great. The similar colours on the cable and the iem is quite noticeable.
NOTE: This iem was used with HIBY R4 for the review. It required a good deal of power of about 36-40 on volume wheel on high gain. Now this review is based on my opinions and if you want to buy this do try them for once as we all hear differently.
SUBBASS-
Wonderfully rumbly and dynamic sub-bass. There are big notes base and body and will spread horizontally over the headstage. They have extended decay a lot, but they have quite good quality, making it a wonderful experience. The attack speed is quite fast, with great impact. It’s quite a bassy iem, I would say and dominant but not overpowering the frequency at all.
BASS-
The bass is quite impactful and dynamic for sure. The body and base of the bass is quite big along with lower midbass and shows that the thumping bass is quite good too to enjoy overall. The tonality is warm and dynamic, wonderfully accurate and works in cohesion with the entire music. Individual notes are quite indistinguishable but big too. But notes are quite big and extend a lot. Hollowed instruments air does come through but are much thicker in nature too.
MIDS-
The pulls of the instruments do reach high in the headstage and have great dynamics in the sound. The attack is quite fast and the decay is also quite good. The notes are slightly thinner in the extension part but overall body and base are quite thick. The piano on the other hand are wonderful to listen to. All the above characteristics just add to the flavour. While saying this, it feels lovely to listen to. Separation is good with both with inter-instrumental and intra-instrumental notes. But placement is mostly horizontal and infront of the face. Resolution is quite great and dynamics of the nuances also come through. Cohesion is present but a little more staging is required for more clarity and easy listening. Resonance do come through and wonderful to listen to.
Vocals are great especially with male vocals having that roughness and thicker notes as before. They have a warmer tonality and have quite big body, but the dynamics still remains. Female vocals are great too, they don’t have much ‘sss’ sounds. They also go quite high in the headstage. They feel lovely to listen to. Notes are more structural and defined overall.
TREBLE-
The treble is energetic, powerful in dominance and dynamic overall in the headstage. They have warmer tonality overall and wont cause treble pain / sharpness at all. But they might shock with their dynamism in their decibel change in the notes of instruments. The notes are definitely thicker and do have very less airy presentation in them which comes only when significantly shown in the music.
VERDICT
You want to bassy iem to remind you that this is whats called as bass, go for this as it will please you a lot. You are basshead definitely made for you.
Symphonium audio is a recent player in the iem market competing with others. It was established in 2016 with name making iem that is the helios in around 2021 followed by triton. They have partnered with with Subtonic in the same year and have been working with them. I haven’t had the luxury to try any of their iems yet and this is their first iem that I am trying out. The big titan – Symphonium Audio Titan.
DISCLAIMER-
The Symphonium Audio Titan is part of a review tour organized by A.G. and Symphonium Audio in my country. The sample belongs to the brand. I had the opportunity to listen to it for a lot of days for this review. This review is completely based on my experience with it, and all opinions, positive or negative, are my own and no one else’s. No external factors influence my review; only internal factors like my brain and heart influence it
. Please try it yourself, if possible, since we all hear things differently. If you want to purchase it, you can buy it from the official product website from the link- Symphonium Audio Titan.SPECS-
- TrueX™ 3-Way Crossover
- CORE™ and PHAT™ Technology – CORE is custom 3D printed internal structure which allows for venting and filtering, PHAT is Phase Harmony Attenuation Technology (PHAT), reduces any possible undesirable phase cancellation or frequency inversions present between different drivers.
- Hybrid BA + Custom Tuned DD Design
- Forged Carbon Composite Faceplates
- Anodized AL6061 Aluminium Shell
- Exclusive 25.5AWG Neptune in 4 Wire Configuration
- OE Interchangeable Plugs w/3.5mm and 4.4mm Heads
I didn’t get much of the package. But the package had just the steel case made of black and it looked classy. The inside had the two iems and the cable with a cleaning cloth. The case is quite hefty and had felt on the top to give some padding. The felt on top needs to be a little more thick to add a little bit of more protection.
BUILD-
Its very small and built is quite good with aluminum shell. The shell is also quite light and easily goes into the ears. The faceplate has gold accents and will be unique for each iem.
Cable though is quite thin but doesn’t have any sound with movement. The plugs are interchangeable and thus is great. The similar colours on the cable and the iem is quite noticeable.
NOTE: This iem was used with HIBY R4 for the review. It required a good deal of power of about 36-40 on volume wheel on high gain. Now this review is based on my opinions and if you want to buy this do try them for once as we all hear differently.
SUBBASS-
Wonderfully rumbly and dynamic sub-bass. There are big notes base and body and will spread horizontally over the headstage. They have extended decay a lot, but they have quite good quality, making it a wonderful experience. The attack speed is quite fast, with great impact. It’s quite a bassy iem, I would say and dominant but not overpowering the frequency at all.
BASS-
The bass is quite impactful and dynamic for sure. The body and base of the bass is quite big along with lower midbass and shows that the thumping bass is quite good too to enjoy overall. The tonality is warm and dynamic, wonderfully accurate and works in cohesion with the entire music. Individual notes are quite indistinguishable but big too. But notes are quite big and extend a lot. Hollowed instruments air does come through but are much thicker in nature too.
MIDS-
The pulls of the instruments do reach high in the headstage and have great dynamics in the sound. The attack is quite fast and the decay is also quite good. The notes are slightly thinner in the extension part but overall body and base are quite thick. The piano on the other hand are wonderful to listen to. All the above characteristics just add to the flavour. While saying this, it feels lovely to listen to. Separation is good with both with inter-instrumental and intra-instrumental notes. But placement is mostly horizontal and infront of the face. Resolution is quite great and dynamics of the nuances also come through. Cohesion is present but a little more staging is required for more clarity and easy listening. Resonance do come through and wonderful to listen to.
Vocals are great especially with male vocals having that roughness and thicker notes as before. They have a warmer tonality and have quite big body, but the dynamics still remains. Female vocals are great too, they don’t have much ‘sss’ sounds. They also go quite high in the headstage. They feel lovely to listen to. Notes are more structural and defined overall.
TREBLE-
The treble is energetic, powerful in dominance and dynamic overall in the headstage. They have warmer tonality overall and wont cause treble pain / sharpness at all. But they might shock with their dynamism in their decibel change in the notes of instruments. The notes are definitely thicker and do have very less airy presentation in them which comes only when significantly shown in the music.
VERDICT
You want to bassy iem to remind you that this is whats called as bass, go for this as it will please you a lot. You are basshead definitely made for you.
KINERA CELEST WYVERN ABYSS – A ferocious wyvern.
The story of Kinera starts from 2011, when the YuTai Electronic Acoustics was officially established in Dongguan, China. The most notable was their Kinera Nanna in 2019 which got very good reviews everywhere. Now, they have improved upon it and delivered a Nanna 2.0 with great reviews. They now have three lineups under the umbrella- Kinera, Celest, and QOA items. But today, I am getting to review another IEM of theirs a cheaper offering but a powerful GOD - THE KINERA CELEST WYVERN ABYSS .
DISCLAIMER-
The Kinera celest wyvern abyss is part of a review tour organized by A.G. and Kinera in my country. The sample belongs to the brand. I had the opportunity to listen to it for 7 days for this review. This review is completely based on my experience with it, and all opinions, positive or negative, are my own and no one else’s. No external factors influence my review; only internal factors like my brain and heart influence it. Please try it yourself, if possible, since we all hear things differently. If you want to purchase it, you can buy it from the official product website from the link- KINERA CELEST WYVERN ABYSS
PACKAGING-
It was a very modest packing as the iem is quite cheap and all the money went into its tuning and build probably. But there was good cable and wonderful looking iem inside. The wyvern on the top was a good addition. Plus, a single set of tips that works well.
BUILD-
Man, this iem is made with resin but has the face plate of dragon wing scales and tbh it looks wonderful. Plus, its so light so it easily sits on your ear and you might even forget about it.
Cable is 4 core of OFC cable with 2 pin cables (0.78mm) and is only present in 3.5mm plug. The cable is quite thin but does its work wonderfully.
SPECS-
1. 10mm Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP) Dynamic Driver
2. Aligned with 2019 Harman Target Tuning
3. Resin made
POWER REQUIREMENTS-
It doesn’t require much power per se and can be easily run with paw S1 at High gain and 20-30 volume depending on the music you are listening to.
Note: this has been used with PAW S1, the NAVIGATOR and IBASSO D16 and I chose the NAVIGATOR for this review. So do try it out to best know if this will suit you or not. Ear tips used were the stock ones. Source is laptop and no external amp was used.
SOUND IMPRESSIONS-
SUB- BASS AND BASS-
Sub-bass is good enough to make you feel the rumble. It doesn’t go deep but still has good feel to it. It spreads evenly throughout the headstage but doesn’t overtake the other frequencies. There is good impact and great notes definition. The rumble is also felt and well defined. Notes have a big base but the body is felt a little too fast. The notes are having fast attack and also fast decay leading to extension being curbed a bit too early. But that doesn’t let it not shine, it still proves with its rumble that makes you feel it.
Bass is similar to sub-bass in its notes characteristics. The notes have big bass and shorter and faster finishing body. This is due to the fast attack and decay, but this in context provides great separation between the instruments. The bass though is dynamic and more near neutral to slightly warm in tonality overall. Its extends through the headstage but its present more below the vocalist. The bass is impactful and does shows its prowess when multiple types of drums are going on. The tonal differences between instruments are easy to catch and helps in the feeling of better distinction of notes.
MIDS-
Lets start with the soul of the music that is the vocalists. Male vocals have appropriate thickness to their voices. There is some amount of roughness in the voice and that feels great to hear when the vocalists use that. The notes are more cylindrical with slightly bigger base of the notes. Air in the voices do come through and feel wonderful the nuances baked into the songs. Female vocals are also dynamic and reach quite high in the headstage, but a little more can be expected. The room echoing does come though and enhances the vocal heavy songs. The sss are reduced so its much easier on the ears. Vocals feel wonderful with having their own stage yet being in sync with the music, it feels wonderful.
Guitars just are done beautifully on this iem. Each string pull is easily felt and the extensions from different string pulls are distinct and easier to be defined. The tonality is neutral to slightly warm still but man the dynamism of different instruments and the tonal differences are so to grasp that this feels like a very costly iem. Notes in the mids are quite apt with fast attack and good decay, a little more would be the best. There is good small instruments presence with good separation between the instruments notes thanks the tonally distinct presentation. Even the nuances have good definition and dynamism. The instruments placements are great along with good separation but they feel like they are restricted a lot Z direction or anterior posterior direction, thus showing very little movement. But in the width it’s within the ears but still quite sufficient in my thinking. The height of the headstage can also be improved a bit, with some other tips and changing source according to your needs.
TREBLE-
The treble is energetic and tonally neutral to slightly warm in presentation. There is good dynamism in the notes and tonally each instrument are different from each other and there is some treble energy in hihats and other metallic instruments which make it feel great. Air is reduced a bit in the treble but still shows up when focused in the songs. Its not at all sharp and creates a lovely experience. The separation is great among the instruments too and the individual notes are defined easily and feels great to listen to overall.
VERDICT-
This is a beautiful iem with wonderful presentation. Given the price at which it comes, I would surely recommend it as it does do all and few tip changes can improve a lot of thing. Also getting a fully kitted copper cable like I did would be preferable to use with this iem.
The story of Kinera starts from 2011, when the YuTai Electronic Acoustics was officially established in Dongguan, China. The most notable was their Kinera Nanna in 2019 which got very good reviews everywhere. Now, they have improved upon it and delivered a Nanna 2.0 with great reviews. They now have three lineups under the umbrella- Kinera, Celest, and QOA items. But today, I am getting to review another IEM of theirs a cheaper offering but a powerful GOD - THE KINERA CELEST WYVERN ABYSS .
DISCLAIMER-
The Kinera celest wyvern abyss is part of a review tour organized by A.G. and Kinera in my country. The sample belongs to the brand. I had the opportunity to listen to it for 7 days for this review. This review is completely based on my experience with it, and all opinions, positive or negative, are my own and no one else’s. No external factors influence my review; only internal factors like my brain and heart influence it
. Please try it yourself, if possible, since we all hear things differently. If you want to purchase it, you can buy it from the official product website from the link- KINERA CELEST WYVERN ABYSSPACKAGING-
It was a very modest packing as the iem is quite cheap and all the money went into its tuning and build probably. But there was good cable and wonderful looking iem inside. The wyvern on the top was a good addition. Plus, a single set of tips that works well.
BUILD-
Man, this iem is made with resin but has the face plate of dragon wing scales and tbh it looks wonderful. Plus, its so light so it easily sits on your ear and you might even forget about it.
Cable is 4 core of OFC cable with 2 pin cables (0.78mm) and is only present in 3.5mm plug. The cable is quite thin but does its work wonderfully.
SPECS-
1. 10mm Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP) Dynamic Driver
2. Aligned with 2019 Harman Target Tuning
3. Resin made
POWER REQUIREMENTS-
It doesn’t require much power per se and can be easily run with paw S1 at High gain and 20-30 volume depending on the music you are listening to.
Note: this has been used with PAW S1, the NAVIGATOR and IBASSO D16 and I chose the NAVIGATOR for this review. So do try it out to best know if this will suit you or not. Ear tips used were the stock ones. Source is laptop and no external amp was used.
SOUND IMPRESSIONS-
SUB- BASS AND BASS-
Sub-bass is good enough to make you feel the rumble. It doesn’t go deep but still has good feel to it. It spreads evenly throughout the headstage but doesn’t overtake the other frequencies. There is good impact and great notes definition. The rumble is also felt and well defined. Notes have a big base but the body is felt a little too fast. The notes are having fast attack and also fast decay leading to extension being curbed a bit too early. But that doesn’t let it not shine, it still proves with its rumble that makes you feel it.
Bass is similar to sub-bass in its notes characteristics. The notes have big bass and shorter and faster finishing body. This is due to the fast attack and decay, but this in context provides great separation between the instruments. The bass though is dynamic and more near neutral to slightly warm in tonality overall. Its extends through the headstage but its present more below the vocalist. The bass is impactful and does shows its prowess when multiple types of drums are going on. The tonal differences between instruments are easy to catch and helps in the feeling of better distinction of notes.
MIDS-
Lets start with the soul of the music that is the vocalists. Male vocals have appropriate thickness to their voices. There is some amount of roughness in the voice and that feels great to hear when the vocalists use that. The notes are more cylindrical with slightly bigger base of the notes. Air in the voices do come through and feel wonderful the nuances baked into the songs. Female vocals are also dynamic and reach quite high in the headstage, but a little more can be expected. The room echoing does come though and enhances the vocal heavy songs. The sss are reduced so its much easier on the ears. Vocals feel wonderful with having their own stage yet being in sync with the music, it feels wonderful.
Guitars just are done beautifully on this iem. Each string pull is easily felt and the extensions from different string pulls are distinct and easier to be defined. The tonality is neutral to slightly warm still but man the dynamism of different instruments and the tonal differences are so to grasp that this feels like a very costly iem. Notes in the mids are quite apt with fast attack and good decay, a little more would be the best. There is good small instruments presence with good separation between the instruments notes thanks the tonally distinct presentation. Even the nuances have good definition and dynamism. The instruments placements are great along with good separation but they feel like they are restricted a lot Z direction or anterior posterior direction, thus showing very little movement. But in the width it’s within the ears but still quite sufficient in my thinking. The height of the headstage can also be improved a bit, with some other tips and changing source according to your needs.
TREBLE-
The treble is energetic and tonally neutral to slightly warm in presentation. There is good dynamism in the notes and tonally each instrument are different from each other and there is some treble energy in hihats and other metallic instruments which make it feel great. Air is reduced a bit in the treble but still shows up when focused in the songs. Its not at all sharp and creates a lovely experience. The separation is great among the instruments too and the individual notes are defined easily and feels great to listen to overall.
VERDICT-
This is a beautiful iem with wonderful presentation. Given the price at which it comes, I would surely recommend it as it does do all and few tip changes can improve a lot of thing. Also getting a fully kitted copper cable like I did would be preferable to use with this iem.
DITA AUDIO PROJECT M
DITA Audio has been a well known brand but has come more into light in the recent years. They have the technical prowess of automation and engineering (their parent brand) and with that knowledge have been winning laurels in Singapore. Then came the technical development for Project M, it's a UIEM type look that uses a metal chamber for controlling the Acoustics of the Dynamic driver uh into the shell. Thus I was super happy when I came to know that I could try this iem and so its here.
DISCLAIMER-
The DITA AUDIO PROJECT M is part of a review tour organized by A.G. and DITA AUDIO in my country. The sample belongs to the brand. I had the opportunity to listen to it for 7 days for this review. This review is completely based on my experience with it, and all opinions, positive or negative, are my own and no one else’s. No external factors influence my review; only internal factors like my brain and heart influence it. Please try it yourself, if possible, since we all hear things differently. If you want to purchase it, you can buy it from the official product website from the link and they have custom iems too – DITA AUDIO PROJECT M.
PACKAGING-
Dita audio packaging was great. It didn’t lag in any comforts but also included an interesting looking case which was great to see. Would love to see more padding guys on the top and inside the case and a slightly larger case would be easier to fit the iems and cable. There are info leaflets on their other iems and a big graph which I loved to see. Tips that were provided was only 5 pairs set of Final audio tips.
BUILD COMFORT AND ISOLATION-
It’s a big iem at least for me, it did fit me well (I use ML sized tips). The transparent design really was beautiful and metal inside shined well enough. It protruded quite a bit out of the ears, but the seal was good enough for me. There are small extensions on top for cable fitting which might break off so be careful. Comfort was good for me, and it did take all the tips I had without tearing anyone. Overall big beautiful and bold transparent design was wonderful to look at.
CABLE-
It’s a white right angled connector cable ending in 3.5mm, the ear hooks are great, and cable felt sturdy. It has 2 pin connectors inside a housing so using other cables without the same would be a bit of an issue. But the cable is quite thick and doesn’t have any acoustic attached with it on movement. At this price point I would have loved to see 4.4mm connector being added as free for connector change.
POWER AND SOUND CHARACTERISTICS-
Easy to run pretty much and versatile to the source of the music. Most changes you will find, is mostly in the spaciousness of the instrument’s music, and in the upper mids, treble mostly and slight difference in the note’s definition and instruments holographic presentation.
NOTE:= These are not easy to run but will run off almost all sources. Power requirements are easy to meet as they require 45 volumes on High gain on PAW S1 and iBasso D16 TAIPAN and in navigator it’s like 40s on PC volume is good enough.
SOUND IMPRESSIONS-
SUB-BASS-
It goes deep and fills you up with quality sub-bass to the core. There is good reverberations and individuality among the notes. With, there is great dynamism in the notes, and they spread horizontally quite across the headstage. The notes are much thicker on the body that the base of the notes. There is apt attack to the notes while the decay is good but could be delayed a bit more. A little more sub-bass depth in the physical sense and rumble would be preferable. It lies mostly horizontal just below the vocalists.
BASS-
This is the best part of the iem. Its very much impactful, and dynamic. The tonality remains warm and slightly intimate. There is great dynamics in the notes and it has great attack but decay could have been made better a bit more delayed for the reverbrations to be added more. The bass expands mostly horizontally across the headstage and it just remains mostly below the vocals. The notes are big at the base and body and taper off quite suddenly after sometime. There is no midbass bleed or any bad interaction with mids and this feels very energetic and warm too giving a enjoyable yet quality bass listening experience.
MIDS-
There is a very successful story here
. Vocals are lovely and very much lively with wonderful dynamics. There is quite apt tonality with the vocalists that the difference between all the vocalists can be easily. There is slight reduction in the vocalists roughness and its very smooth and easy to listen. The female vocals also love the smoothness and they definitely don’t have the ‘sss’ sound much. They reach quite high in the headstage and have a wonderful note presentation. They are quite well defined especially in the base of the notes but the endings are quite wonderful just mixing into the air. No interaction between bass and other frequencies at all causing issues. The only thing I though is that I lacks a bit of nuances which are slightly less pronounced.
The instruments are smooth defined and lovely. They are quite separated and have good dynamics. I would love too see a little more heights difference between the instruments but they reach quite high in the headstage per say. The separation is mostly between the instruments placements but the notes of individual instruments are also nicely separated. They are wide iems but the presentation is more elliptical giving them a surrounding presentation. The notes are having a wider body and base while they lean out in the end and disperse. Surrounding space is also easier to understand with this iem. The upper mids are quite wonderful with warmish tonality mostly, and this in turn also has the appropriate energy too not lacking in that, just missing on electronic guitars sometimes. But, most lovely are the pianos and they are so easy to listen them here. The notes are so distinct and yet have the extension befitting a grand piano. The notes are quite apt in attack and also the decay is quite apt here. Loving the mids here completely
TREBLE-
Treble; treble; treble; hahaha, this iem does justice to it with its energy and dynamics. It does make you want a little more on the top end but its so much engaging to listen to that I wont want more. Its very energetic hence, you wont feel that pump missing but air in the trumpets would be something you want more. But the feeling of hihats and triangles are so well managed that they are both warm and lovely to listen to and are wonderful overall. The notes are quite thick at the body and base and lean off fast to the end and reach quite high in the headstage.
The upper mids and treble though did seem to change with change in source like using DITA Navigator. There was more upper mids energy and treble and slightly leaned off the notes edges too.
VERDICT-
For a single DD + PM1 BA driver, it accomplishes a lot and given the engaging experience I would surely recommend it.
DITA Audio has been a well known brand but has come more into light in the recent years. They have the technical prowess of automation and engineering (their parent brand) and with that knowledge have been winning laurels in Singapore. Then came the technical development for Project M, it's a UIEM type look that uses a metal chamber for controlling the Acoustics of the Dynamic driver uh into the shell. Thus I was super happy when I came to know that I could try this iem and so its here.
DISCLAIMER-
The DITA AUDIO PROJECT M is part of a review tour organized by A.G. and DITA AUDIO in my country. The sample belongs to the brand. I had the opportunity to listen to it for 7 days for this review. This review is completely based on my experience with it, and all opinions, positive or negative, are my own and no one else’s. No external factors influence my review; only internal factors like my brain and heart influence it
. Please try it yourself, if possible, since we all hear things differently. If you want to purchase it, you can buy it from the official product website from the link and they have custom iems too – DITA AUDIO PROJECT M.PACKAGING-
Dita audio packaging was great. It didn’t lag in any comforts but also included an interesting looking case which was great to see. Would love to see more padding guys on the top and inside the case and a slightly larger case would be easier to fit the iems and cable. There are info leaflets on their other iems and a big graph which I loved to see. Tips that were provided was only 5 pairs set of Final audio tips.
BUILD COMFORT AND ISOLATION-
It’s a big iem at least for me, it did fit me well (I use ML sized tips). The transparent design really was beautiful and metal inside shined well enough. It protruded quite a bit out of the ears, but the seal was good enough for me. There are small extensions on top for cable fitting which might break off so be careful. Comfort was good for me, and it did take all the tips I had without tearing anyone. Overall big beautiful and bold transparent design was wonderful to look at.
CABLE-
It’s a white right angled connector cable ending in 3.5mm, the ear hooks are great, and cable felt sturdy. It has 2 pin connectors inside a housing so using other cables without the same would be a bit of an issue. But the cable is quite thick and doesn’t have any acoustic attached with it on movement. At this price point I would have loved to see 4.4mm connector being added as free for connector change.
POWER AND SOUND CHARACTERISTICS-
Easy to run pretty much and versatile to the source of the music. Most changes you will find, is mostly in the spaciousness of the instrument’s music, and in the upper mids, treble mostly and slight difference in the note’s definition and instruments holographic presentation.
NOTE:= These are not easy to run but will run off almost all sources. Power requirements are easy to meet as they require 45 volumes on High gain on PAW S1 and iBasso D16 TAIPAN and in navigator it’s like 40s on PC volume is good enough.
SOUND IMPRESSIONS-
SUB-BASS-
It goes deep and fills you up with quality sub-bass to the core. There is good reverberations and individuality among the notes. With, there is great dynamism in the notes, and they spread horizontally quite across the headstage. The notes are much thicker on the body that the base of the notes. There is apt attack to the notes while the decay is good but could be delayed a bit more. A little more sub-bass depth in the physical sense and rumble would be preferable. It lies mostly horizontal just below the vocalists.
BASS-
This is the best part of the iem. Its very much impactful, and dynamic. The tonality remains warm and slightly intimate. There is great dynamics in the notes and it has great attack but decay could have been made better a bit more delayed for the reverbrations to be added more. The bass expands mostly horizontally across the headstage and it just remains mostly below the vocals. The notes are big at the base and body and taper off quite suddenly after sometime. There is no midbass bleed or any bad interaction with mids and this feels very energetic and warm too giving a enjoyable yet quality bass listening experience.
MIDS-
There is a very successful story here
. Vocals are lovely and very much lively with wonderful dynamics. There is quite apt tonality with the vocalists that the difference between all the vocalists can be easily. There is slight reduction in the vocalists roughness and its very smooth and easy to listen. The female vocals also love the smoothness and they definitely don’t have the ‘sss’ sound much. They reach quite high in the headstage and have a wonderful note presentation. They are quite well defined especially in the base of the notes but the endings are quite wonderful just mixing into the air. No interaction between bass and other frequencies at all causing issues. The only thing I though is that I lacks a bit of nuances which are slightly less pronounced.The instruments are smooth defined and lovely. They are quite separated and have good dynamics. I would love too see a little more heights difference between the instruments but they reach quite high in the headstage per say. The separation is mostly between the instruments placements but the notes of individual instruments are also nicely separated. They are wide iems but the presentation is more elliptical giving them a surrounding presentation. The notes are having a wider body and base while they lean out in the end and disperse. Surrounding space is also easier to understand with this iem. The upper mids are quite wonderful with warmish tonality mostly, and this in turn also has the appropriate energy too not lacking in that, just missing on electronic guitars sometimes. But, most lovely are the pianos and they are so easy to listen them here. The notes are so distinct and yet have the extension befitting a grand piano. The notes are quite apt in attack and also the decay is quite apt here. Loving the mids here completely
TREBLE-
Treble; treble; treble; hahaha, this iem does justice to it with its energy and dynamics. It does make you want a little more on the top end but its so much engaging to listen to that I wont want more. Its very energetic hence, you wont feel that pump missing but air in the trumpets would be something you want more. But the feeling of hihats and triangles are so well managed that they are both warm and lovely to listen to and are wonderful overall. The notes are quite thick at the body and base and lean off fast to the end and reach quite high in the headstage.
The upper mids and treble though did seem to change with change in source like using DITA Navigator. There was more upper mids energy and treble and slightly leaned off the notes edges too.
VERDICT-
For a single DD + PM1 BA driver, it accomplishes a lot and given the engaging experience I would surely recommend it.
QOA ADONIS NEW- Astonishing with its bass
QOA is sub brand of Kinera and has been focused on making a different tuning of iems. As much as I wanted to but I never got a chance to try then QOA section of Kinera iems. But, this time probably the norn gods (KINERA NORN AND OTHER IEMS) are pleased with me and blessed me with a chance to see the God of spring plants : QOA ADONIS NEW
DISCLAIMER-
The QOA ADONIS NEW is part of a review tour organized by A.G. and Kinera in my country. The sample belongs to the brand. I had the opportunity to listen to it for 7 days for this review. This review is completely based on my experience with it, and all opinions, positive or negative, are my own and no one else’s. No external factors influence my review; only internal factors like my brain and heart influence it. Please try it yourself, if possible, since we all hear things differently. If you want to purchase it, you can buy it from the official product website from the link- QOA ADONIS NEW
PACKAGING-
Really beautiful violet coloured iem box with a good number of tips and a beautiful carrying case. The iems are also violet and look beautiful with woodish shape on them. The cable is inside the case along with a screw driver and 3.5mm connector which you can replace.
BUILD-
The build seems to be great and the faceplate is made from pinecone and resin which looks much better than the stable wood combo (the old one). The cable is supple and feels soft but still has quite heft on it. The 4.4 mm connector is easy to replace and a nice addition.
SPECS-
For power requirement check, Ibasso D16 was used showing that in high gain and volume- 36, it works its best. It does work with NAVIGATOR and quite easy to run and will be a better pairing overall. But for this review Ibasso D16 was used.
NOTE- ALL humans listen to things differently so will all my readers too. But in this review, I have tried to describe the things I felt and hence is subjective which you might hear differently. So do try it before buying.
SOUND IMPRESSIONS-
BASS AND SUB-BASS-
Bass and subbass constitute the most significant part of the iem. Subbass is deep, dynamic and loves to go boom boom. It’s presence is quite demanding. The notes are well defined and have good warm tonality to them. The individual rumble though needs work, it seems to be not to much well defined and extensions should be added to them to make them better overall. But yes, the rumble will blow both of your ears and will go deep to the soul and is very much felt. The subbass attack is slower and decay is fast though.
Bass is all together a different game here. This is too energetic, impactful and dynamic. They have their own space among the entire music and feels like the focus is on the bass. The notes are having big base and body and spreads horizontally across the headstage. They have good definition but they are quite big but don’t interfere with the mids at all. The impact though fully defined but there is good boom to the sound as described before. Tonality is on the warm side and distinct and attack speed is good but decay is fast. Overall, lovely bass experience and a different thing all together.
MIDS-
The mids are lovely, more intimate in staging. There is good definition to the notes of the instruments. There is good dynamics in notes of the instruments and tonality is good. There though is good separation between the instruments and in between the instruments too but there seems to be slightly decreased importance on the instruments like guitars and other string instruments. They reach good heights in the soundstage but feel a little reduced in sound volume. The dynamics needs to be a bit more here, this might be due to fast attack and fast decay leading to a small presence among multiple instruments. Don’t get me wrong but this still sounds beautiful when just a drum set and guitars are going on, but with energy the guitar seems to a be a little lost. This is though changed when the song focuses on the instruments. This feels like the headstage is in hard W shape causing the things being felt. The upper mids would require a little more presence especially for guitars. Tonally this iem is warm but accurate presentation in the headstage and placement of the instruments more towards the edges of headstage worked wonders for the tuning. This in turn makes it engaging yet keeping good enough separation for easy enough marking of the instruments.
Vocals are more focused on in this iem. They are strong and follow through wonderfully. They are slightly on the thicker notes side as they have a warm presence throughout. Male vocals especially love the thick sound while female vocals still retain their structure and high nature. They go quite high in the headstage and still sound lovely throughout. The air coming from certain singers still are present but much more softer and no sss at all.
TREBLE-
The treble is thick but energetic. There is good dynamics in the notes. The notes are structurally thicker but they are softer and wont pierce your ears at all even the trumpets. There is good distinction of the instruments notes and also within different individual notes of the instruments. The separation is great along with the instruments placement making this a wonderful listening experience without any fatigue. The notes reach good height in the headstage but feels similar to other instruments in the treble range too but tonal differences helps to counter this. Instruments are more placed wider than around the listener. Air presence feels a bit less in the iem but the treble presence felt more lovely. This iem might not entice treble lovers but its great enough for others to appreciate and enjoy for long.
VERDICT-
I would recommend this if you love a W signature, want a treble free experience and most important of all, love bass… This is for you. Otherwise in the other way if you have a source which is neutral to slightly lean and clinical, this will suit the best and you have the best of both worlds ( an example of source would be DITA Navigator).
QOA is sub brand of Kinera and has been focused on making a different tuning of iems. As much as I wanted to but I never got a chance to try then QOA section of Kinera iems. But, this time probably the norn gods (KINERA NORN AND OTHER IEMS) are pleased with me and blessed me with a chance to see the God of spring plants : QOA ADONIS NEW
DISCLAIMER-
The QOA ADONIS NEW is part of a review tour organized by A.G. and Kinera in my country. The sample belongs to the brand. I had the opportunity to listen to it for 7 days for this review. This review is completely based on my experience with it, and all opinions, positive or negative, are my own and no one else’s. No external factors influence my review; only internal factors like my brain and heart influence it
. Please try it yourself, if possible, since we all hear things differently. If you want to purchase it, you can buy it from the official product website from the link- QOA ADONIS NEWPACKAGING-
Really beautiful violet coloured iem box with a good number of tips and a beautiful carrying case. The iems are also violet and look beautiful with woodish shape on them. The cable is inside the case along with a screw driver and 3.5mm connector which you can replace.
BUILD-
The build seems to be great and the faceplate is made from pinecone and resin which looks much better than the stable wood combo (the old one). The cable is supple and feels soft but still has quite heft on it. The 4.4 mm connector is easy to replace and a nice addition.
SPECS-
- Driver: 1DD + 2 BA
- Impedance: 16Ω
- Sensitivity: 105 dB +/-2 dB
- Frequency Response: 20Hz-20kHz
- Cable: 4 core 5N silver-plated copper
- Connector: 2-Pin, 0.78mm
- Plugs: 4-pin detachable (4.4mm balanced & 3.5mm SE)
- Cable length: 1.2 m
For power requirement check, Ibasso D16 was used showing that in high gain and volume- 36, it works its best. It does work with NAVIGATOR and quite easy to run and will be a better pairing overall. But for this review Ibasso D16 was used.
NOTE- ALL humans listen to things differently so will all my readers too. But in this review, I have tried to describe the things I felt and hence is subjective which you might hear differently. So do try it before buying.
SOUND IMPRESSIONS-
BASS AND SUB-BASS-
Bass and subbass constitute the most significant part of the iem. Subbass is deep, dynamic and loves to go boom boom. It’s presence is quite demanding. The notes are well defined and have good warm tonality to them. The individual rumble though needs work, it seems to be not to much well defined and extensions should be added to them to make them better overall. But yes, the rumble will blow both of your ears and will go deep to the soul and is very much felt. The subbass attack is slower and decay is fast though.
Bass is all together a different game here. This is too energetic, impactful and dynamic. They have their own space among the entire music and feels like the focus is on the bass. The notes are having big base and body and spreads horizontally across the headstage. They have good definition but they are quite big but don’t interfere with the mids at all. The impact though fully defined but there is good boom to the sound as described before. Tonality is on the warm side and distinct and attack speed is good but decay is fast. Overall, lovely bass experience and a different thing all together.
MIDS-
The mids are lovely, more intimate in staging. There is good definition to the notes of the instruments. There is good dynamics in notes of the instruments and tonality is good. There though is good separation between the instruments and in between the instruments too but there seems to be slightly decreased importance on the instruments like guitars and other string instruments. They reach good heights in the soundstage but feel a little reduced in sound volume. The dynamics needs to be a bit more here, this might be due to fast attack and fast decay leading to a small presence among multiple instruments. Don’t get me wrong but this still sounds beautiful when just a drum set and guitars are going on, but with energy the guitar seems to a be a little lost. This is though changed when the song focuses on the instruments. This feels like the headstage is in hard W shape causing the things being felt. The upper mids would require a little more presence especially for guitars. Tonally this iem is warm but accurate presentation in the headstage and placement of the instruments more towards the edges of headstage worked wonders for the tuning. This in turn makes it engaging yet keeping good enough separation for easy enough marking of the instruments.
Vocals are more focused on in this iem. They are strong and follow through wonderfully. They are slightly on the thicker notes side as they have a warm presence throughout. Male vocals especially love the thick sound while female vocals still retain their structure and high nature. They go quite high in the headstage and still sound lovely throughout. The air coming from certain singers still are present but much more softer and no sss at all.
TREBLE-
The treble is thick but energetic. There is good dynamics in the notes. The notes are structurally thicker but they are softer and wont pierce your ears at all even the trumpets. There is good distinction of the instruments notes and also within different individual notes of the instruments. The separation is great along with the instruments placement making this a wonderful listening experience without any fatigue. The notes reach good height in the headstage but feels similar to other instruments in the treble range too but tonal differences helps to counter this. Instruments are more placed wider than around the listener. Air presence feels a bit less in the iem but the treble presence felt more lovely. This iem might not entice treble lovers but its great enough for others to appreciate and enjoy for long.
VERDICT-
I would recommend this if you love a W signature, want a treble free experience and most important of all, love bass… This is for you. Otherwise in the other way if you have a source which is neutral to slightly lean and clinical, this will suit the best and you have the best of both worlds ( an example of source would be DITA Navigator).
DITA NAVIGATOR- THE CAPTAIN OF BASS HEAVY SHIP
DITA Audio has been a well known brand but has come more into light in the recent years. They have the technical prowess of automation and engineering (their parent brand) and with that knowledge have been winning laurels in Singapore. Thus I wanted to try any of their offerings like a dongle dac amp solution, and I was super happy when I came to know that I could try their DITA NAVIGATOR.
DISCLAIMER-
The DITA NAVIGATOR is part of a review tour organized by A.G. and DITA AUDIO in my country. The sample belongs to the brand. I had the opportunity to listen to it for 7 days for this review. This review is completely based on my experience with it, and all opinions, positive or negative, are my own and no one else’s. No external factors influence my review; only internal factors like my brain and heart influence it. Please try it yourself, if possible, since we all hear things differently. If you want to purchase it, you can buy it from the official product website from the link and they have custom iems too – DITA NAVIGATOR
PACKAGING-
The navigator came in a beautiful black packaging with orange dita sticker. Inside you see a pretty sure CNC cut aluminum Navigator with one usb c to usb c cable and a greenish black strap and usb c to lightning cable(hehe for older gen Iphone users) and an orange strap. There was also a black metallic warranty card keeping in line with the whole metallic build them. I would definitely use the orange straps with the navigator.
BUILD-
Its metal for sure CNC cut (6000 series aluminum alloy to be exact). Once you pick it up, you will know the heft of the dongle. It does need a strap LOL. Theres a metal stand I never got to know what to use it for but turns out it’s a phone stand LOL (well I did know it but cant scratch the unitOhh yes the unit is powder coated black so should resist some scratches. It is very easy to use.
SPECS-
The volume of my laptop and Qobuz app was full and then the navigator volume was kept of zero and slowly increased till maybe 6-7 clicks which was enough for me (WASAPI mode on Qobuz app). It was able to drive nearly all except TYGR and DEVA where I thought I need a bit more.
NOTE- This was mostly used with PC and then Samsung S23 (since it does have a small battery hence I didn’t use it much with the phone).
SOUND IMPRESSION-
BLON BL03-
This tiny thing was much easier to run requiring not much presses on the volume of the navigator. There was more bass impact and subbass rumble. Along with this an improvement in the notes resolution and spaciousness was noticed. There was also a uptick of treble energy with more air in the notes which was lively to listen to but not for long though. Overall the entire sound improved.
QOA ADONIS-
The adonis is a bass heavy and thick iem. As opposite poles attract each other, so did this, attract the Navigator for its characteristics. With this the notes are much more refined but also much more separated from each other. The tonality improved a lot and now more in line with slightly warm to neutral. There is more cohesion among the instruments without feeling congestion in the head stage. The better bass quality and rumble is something not to scoff about either. Plus, the upper mids and treble which was not great in this iem are now much better and engaging while also adding that little bit of tanginess to it.
CELEST WYVERN-
Better presence of instruments, bigger presentation on the anterior and posterior end of headstage, more airy sounding instruments, definition improvements of notes, notes though are thin a bit. They are more dynamic, the bass has now more extension and depth, and resolution has become much better.
DITA AUDIO M-
Bass and sub-bass becomes very good with great extension and impact. The definition is also much better and better depth. Separation is excellent along with resolution. But upper mids seems to be a little too much accentuated and thinner notes overall. Vocals become a bit thin too. Treble has more airy notes and might not suit everyone, but tips change can help in that easily.
DEVA-
Deva also loved the changed with the navigator and it was even able to run it with PC as a source. The headstage had more room spaciousness heard and separation was improved due to notes being more of neutral. Sub-bass had better rumble and impact was seen in the notes base and body. Expansive headstage more along the Y axis and Z axis with placement of instruments more widened in the headstage. Subbass rumbles encompasses the stage and spreads which was wonderful to listen to.
CLEAR OG-
The upper mids slightly more exaggerated as with the OG clears with a neutral amp you would feel the same, so this got accentuated a bit. The treble might be a bit too much, but the energy remains and more air is heard making it wonderful and joyous to listen to in orchestra but sometimes that treble just rocks you off the chair. The headstage requires more presence unlike the interaction with DEVA which we saw an expansion in the headstage. The notes are slightly on the leaner side and taller and more dynamic. But notes have more spaciousness though and more depth and height and separation of the instruments but they sound a bit thin for my taste.
OVERALL-
Wonderful notes definition in the structure and extension and wonderful dynamism in the notes. Notes are though lean and clinical a bit, this comes with more upper mids and treble energy and air too. Better resolution of notes. More bass impact and better definition, attack faster and decay slightly more relaxed. Vocals are also more defined and have higher headroom. Separation is also better but that might be due to leaner notes. Tonality is neutral to slightly clinical.
VERDICT-
Absolutely recommended if you have a warm iem and want some balance to the sound. The pairing is great plus the enhancement of bass, subbass and resolution is nothing to scoff.
DITA Audio has been a well known brand but has come more into light in the recent years. They have the technical prowess of automation and engineering (their parent brand) and with that knowledge have been winning laurels in Singapore. Thus I wanted to try any of their offerings like a dongle dac amp solution, and I was super happy when I came to know that I could try their DITA NAVIGATOR.
DISCLAIMER-
The DITA NAVIGATOR is part of a review tour organized by A.G. and DITA AUDIO in my country. The sample belongs to the brand. I had the opportunity to listen to it for 7 days for this review. This review is completely based on my experience with it, and all opinions, positive or negative, are my own and no one else’s. No external factors influence my review; only internal factors like my brain and heart influence it
. Please try it yourself, if possible, since we all hear things differently. If you want to purchase it, you can buy it from the official product website from the link and they have custom iems too – DITA NAVIGATORPACKAGING-
The navigator came in a beautiful black packaging with orange dita sticker. Inside you see a pretty sure CNC cut aluminum Navigator with one usb c to usb c cable and a greenish black strap and usb c to lightning cable(hehe for older gen Iphone users) and an orange strap. There was also a black metallic warranty card keeping in line with the whole metallic build them. I would definitely use the orange straps with the navigator.
BUILD-
Its metal for sure CNC cut (6000 series aluminum alloy to be exact). Once you pick it up, you will know the heft of the dongle. It does need a strap LOL. Theres a metal stand I never got to know what to use it for but turns out it’s a phone stand LOL (well I did know it but cant scratch the unit
Ohh yes the unit is powder coated black so should resist some scratches. It is very easy to use.SPECS-
- ES9219 Dual DAC
- Dual FPGA independent crystal oscillator clocks
- Output: 340 mW @32Ω
- Supports: MQA 16x Native, PCM 768kHz/32bit, DSD256 Native
- Up to 110mW @32Ω at 3.5mm
- Up to 340mW @32Ω 4.4mm
- Integrated Phone Stand
The volume of my laptop and Qobuz app was full and then the navigator volume was kept of zero and slowly increased till maybe 6-7 clicks which was enough for me (WASAPI mode on Qobuz app). It was able to drive nearly all except TYGR and DEVA where I thought I need a bit more.
NOTE- This was mostly used with PC and then Samsung S23 (since it does have a small battery hence I didn’t use it much with the phone).
SOUND IMPRESSION-
BLON BL03-
This tiny thing was much easier to run requiring not much presses on the volume of the navigator. There was more bass impact and subbass rumble. Along with this an improvement in the notes resolution and spaciousness was noticed. There was also a uptick of treble energy with more air in the notes which was lively to listen to but not for long though. Overall the entire sound improved.
QOA ADONIS-
The adonis is a bass heavy and thick iem. As opposite poles attract each other, so did this, attract the Navigator for its characteristics
. With this the notes are much more refined but also much more separated from each other. The tonality improved a lot and now more in line with slightly warm to neutral. There is more cohesion among the instruments without feeling congestion in the head stage. The better bass quality and rumble is something not to scoff about either. Plus, the upper mids and treble which was not great in this iem are now much better and engaging while also adding that little bit of tanginess to it.CELEST WYVERN-
Better presence of instruments, bigger presentation on the anterior and posterior end of headstage, more airy sounding instruments, definition improvements of notes, notes though are thin a bit. They are more dynamic, the bass has now more extension and depth, and resolution has become much better.
DITA AUDIO M-
Bass and sub-bass becomes very good with great extension and impact. The definition is also much better and better depth. Separation is excellent along with resolution. But upper mids seems to be a little too much accentuated and thinner notes overall. Vocals become a bit thin too. Treble has more airy notes and might not suit everyone, but tips change can help in that easily.
DEVA-
Deva also loved the changed with the navigator and it was even able to run it with PC as a source. The headstage had more room spaciousness heard and separation was improved due to notes being more of neutral. Sub-bass had better rumble and impact was seen in the notes base and body. Expansive headstage more along the Y axis and Z axis with placement of instruments more widened in the headstage. Subbass rumbles encompasses the stage and spreads which was wonderful to listen to.
CLEAR OG-
The upper mids slightly more exaggerated as with the OG clears with a neutral amp you would feel the same, so this got accentuated a bit. The treble might be a bit too much, but the energy remains and more air is heard making it wonderful and joyous to listen to in orchestra but sometimes that treble just rocks you off the chair. The headstage requires more presence unlike the interaction with DEVA which we saw an expansion in the headstage. The notes are slightly on the leaner side and taller and more dynamic. But notes have more spaciousness though and more depth and height and separation of the instruments but they sound a bit thin for my taste.
OVERALL-
Wonderful notes definition in the structure and extension and wonderful dynamism in the notes. Notes are though lean and clinical a bit, this comes with more upper mids and treble energy and air too. Better resolution of notes. More bass impact and better definition, attack faster and decay slightly more relaxed. Vocals are also more defined and have higher headroom. Separation is also better but that might be due to leaner notes. Tonality is neutral to slightly clinical.
VERDICT-
Absolutely recommended if you have a warm iem and want some balance to the sound. The pairing is great plus the enhancement of bass, subbass and resolution is nothing to scoff.
IBASSO D16 TAIPAN DAC AMP
IBASSO has been a well-known brand in the music industry and has been making great iems, DAPs etc which are very well known throughout the world. Founded in 2006, I has been gaining ground with their superior DAPS and DAC AMPS, dongle at most of the price segments. Today I am getting a chance to try their DAC AMP- IBASSO D16 Taipan DAC AMP.
DISCLAIMER-
The IBASSO D16 DAC AMP is part of a review tour organized by A.G. and IBASSO AND SANDEEP in my country. The sample belongs to the brand. I had the opportunity to listen to it for 7 days for this review. This review is completely based on my experience with it, and all opinions, positive or negative, are my own and no one else’s. No external factors influence my review; only internal factors like my brain and heart influence it. Please try it yourself, if possible, since we all hear things differently. If you want to purchase it, you can buy it from the official product website from the link: IBASSO D16 TAIPAN DAC AMP
PACKAGING-
This is what I call a premium package. The entire thing is packed in a black soft leatherette and is wonderful to touch. The inside has iBasso D16 Taipan, charging cable, USB-C to USB-C OTG Cable, USB-C to Lightning OTG Cable, 2x coax/OPT cables, 2x pouch bags and an beautiful user manual. The pouches are made up of leather with velvet inside which makes it a wonderful case to take the iBasso Dac-amp. It also has another pouch for the cables (black velvet). I loved the packaging a lot this time, even the insides are also softly padded and has velvet.
BUILD-
Ohh it’s a big boy and has some heft to it. There is a case also provided that fits wonderfully with the dac amp and has holes for ventilation too. There’s two volume wheels and one of them is stepped attenuator, so easily changes in volume using the first wheel and then the bigger one for finer increase to ge the perfect volume. Then comes the display it’s a gorgeous display and I love it. The connectors are also really great and have good hold over the headphone wires. The back has the other ports and a on and off switch.
Ohh I did forget about the cables, they are braided and have good fit and heft to them. I liked their build quality, and they will resist time and some twisting for sure.
SPECIFICATIONS-
4.4mm LO:
Output Level: 3.3Vrms (DAC Low Gain) 4Vrms (DAC High Gain)
4.4mm PO:
CHARGING: 2.5hours and battery life as per my testing : 8:30 mins with just blon bl03 (3.5mm SE output). The DAC and charging options are different, so while charging it can also work as a dac, very useful as after few years when the battery dies you can use it as a desktop dac with LO to amp.
SOUND IMPRESSIONS
SENNHEISER HD558 (modded)
This is the oldest headphone in my collection and has been modded with a 3.5mm jack and the inner ear foams are removed. It sounds great for what it costs and ages. The usual sound is more enhanced and thicker and has warmer tonality. The presentation is much better and much more around the vocalists and the head stage is more 3D instead of 2 dimensional. The bass and subbass are tighter and have a rumbling experience. They do go deep in the sub-bass region and have some rumble. More defined notes though overall and definition is more. Power requirement is only 25 in high gain.
BEYERDYNAMIC TYGR 300R
Beyerdynamic TYGR 300R is a mostly flat to neutral headphone and has an energetic and sharp treble experience. This headphone is best suited for D16. The treble is much more refined and upper mids glare also reduced especially in songs where the trumpets and saxophones scare you suddenly. The presentation is quite good and has 3D presentation around the singer. The notes are much more thicker contradicting the leaner presentation of the notes. The bass though is much more impactful and subbass rumble a bit more defined and goes deep. It runs Tygr very much like a desktop amp and I like the presentation. Power requirement is High gain and 45 on the volume.
HIFIMAN DEVA
Deva is the only planar headphone in my collection and boy does it shine with the D16. The notes are much thicker and well defined overall. There is more spacing among the notes of the instruments and also among the instruments. The placement is much better overall in the head stage and the notes structure is more refined. Bass is more impactful and subbass rumblier. The vocals are much sweeter and probably shorter in the height of the headstage. The treble is also energetic and lacks the ting of the treble region which makes it much more beautiful to listen to. Power requirement is High gain and 56-60 on volume wheel with the secondary wheel turned to 3 o clock from zero.
FOCAL CLEAR
Upper mids handled beautifully, more cohesion in the notes, thicker notes and warmish tone and treble more beautifully done with full of energy and loving the thicker bass and sub-bass. But the tonality is slightly on the thicker side, but cohesion is on point. I would love a little wider signature that could accentuate clear. But one thing that is much better is the placement of instruments which are wonderfully done and not at all feels congested. Its fun to listen to in this but it’s a bit too much warm for my taste. Power requirement is High Gain and 38 on the volume wheel and turned to 2 o clock from zero.
ZMF AEUTEUR
ZMF aeuteur is an difficult to drive headphone and requires a bit of power to do its best. I loved the larger presentation and more cohesiveness among the instruments. The aeuteur is a slightly more matured headphone where energy is there but to bring out everything it requires a lot of power. While D16 handles them well, there is more thicker sound but not so much in the height of the notes in the headstage which felt lacking a bit. The bass and sub-bass impact had increased and also the sub-bass was more wonderful. This requires a little more powahh for sure it felt like. But for the portable factor this thing did quite well.
IEMS-(This can easily power iems so not an issue at all)
BLON 03
The oldest among all my iems. It’s a very versatile iem. Adding D16, added a big amount of definition to the notes, there was also improvement in the notes thickness and the presentation was great. I loved the bass impact and extension and this made it a wonderful listen.
PENON FAN
Penon fan is a highly dynamic iem with a tangy treble flavour and slightly leaner notes. This with D16 is a combo made in heaven, it encounters the leaner notes and makes the notes thick and more defined in the body of the notes. The treble is also more controlled, but still retains the energy. The bass impact is more and sub-bass is more rumbly and beautiful to listen to.
QOA ADONIS AND WYVERN
The Adonis is warmish iem and with D16 it becomes a bit too thick for my tastes. There is no cohesion issues or the instruments being put one over the other, but they are very near to each other with the thicker notes. This makes it bit uneasy to use. But then comes the bass and sub-bass which you would love in this iem.
Then comes the smaller brother the wyvern, what this lacked is the dynamism of the notes and the depth of the notes. D16 handled this very well and also tamed the energy a bit overall and refined it as notes much more structured and wonderfully placed all throughout the small stage. I loved the presentation here and would definitely recommend.
DITA AUDIO M
Dita loved the pairing with D16. Something in the iem just had its own switch on. The notes were thicker and wider too. But the separation was maintained in the notes and also between the instruments. There was much better and impactful bass response and also the upper mids were much sweeter. A little more zeal into the treble section and this would have been golden.
Overall-
Very versatile, able to power most things, adds more surrounding presence to the instruments. There is more placement accuracy to the instrument’s presence. Wider stage and energetic bass and sub-bass. Subbass has more extension and more rumble. Treble energy but that feel is slightly decreased along with the upper mids, and notes are thicker. There is more tonally warm to neutral tone depending on the music producing instruments at the end of the ears. Notes are more defined and detailed with this as source.
VERDICT-
Definitely recommended if you got a slightly warm to treble heavy iem. The power and musicality would enthrals you for sure. This thing can work also as a desktop amp dac with power coming in so it will useful even when the battery is gone. So a very versatile product, hence highly recommended.
IBASSO has been a well-known brand in the music industry and has been making great iems, DAPs etc which are very well known throughout the world. Founded in 2006, I has been gaining ground with their superior DAPS and DAC AMPS, dongle at most of the price segments. Today I am getting a chance to try their DAC AMP- IBASSO D16 Taipan DAC AMP.
DISCLAIMER-
The IBASSO D16 DAC AMP is part of a review tour organized by A.G. and IBASSO AND SANDEEP in my country. The sample belongs to the brand. I had the opportunity to listen to it for 7 days for this review. This review is completely based on my experience with it, and all opinions, positive or negative, are my own and no one else’s. No external factors influence my review; only internal factors like my brain and heart influence it
. Please try it yourself, if possible, since we all hear things differently. If you want to purchase it, you can buy it from the official product website from the link: IBASSO D16 TAIPAN DAC AMPPACKAGING-
This is what I call a premium package. The entire thing is packed in a black soft leatherette and is wonderful to touch. The inside has iBasso D16 Taipan, charging cable, USB-C to USB-C OTG Cable, USB-C to Lightning OTG Cable, 2x coax/OPT cables, 2x pouch bags and an beautiful user manual. The pouches are made up of leather with velvet inside which makes it a wonderful case to take the iBasso Dac-amp. It also has another pouch for the cables (black velvet). I loved the packaging a lot this time, even the insides are also softly padded and has velvet.
BUILD-
Ohh it’s a big boy and has some heft to it. There is a case also provided that fits wonderfully with the dac amp and has holes for ventilation too. There’s two volume wheels and one of them is stepped attenuator, so easily changes in volume using the first wheel and then the bigger one for finer increase to ge the perfect volume. Then comes the display it’s a gorgeous display and I love it. The connectors are also really great and have good hold over the headphone wires. The back has the other ports and a on and off switch.
Ohh I did forget about the cables, they are braided and have good fit and heft to them. I liked their build quality, and they will resist time and some twisting for sure.
SPECIFICATIONS-
4.4mm LO:
Output Level: 3.3Vrms (DAC Low Gain) 4Vrms (DAC High Gain)
- THD+N: -120.4dB(0.000095%)@1kHz AES17-20K A-wt
- DNR: 123dB AES17-20K A-wt
- SNR: 123dB AES17-20K A-wt
- Crosstalk: 135dB
- Frequency Response: 15Hz-40kHz +/-1dB
- Output Level: 1.65Vrms (DAC Low Gain) 2Vrms (DAC High Gain)
- THD+N: -118dB(0.00012%)@1KHz
- AES17-20K A-wt
- DNR: 120dB AES17-20K A-wt
- SNR: 120dB AES17-20K A-wt
- Crosstalk: 133dB
- Frequency Response: 15Hz-40kHz +/-1dB
- Output Level: 4.2Vrms (AMP L Gain + DAC H gain)
- 6.8Vrms (AMP H Gain + DAC H gain)
- Output Power: 1125mW+1125mW@32 Ω THD+N<0.5% THD+N: -117dB(0.00014%)@1KHz
- AES17-20K A-wt 6000 Load
- DNR: 123dB AES17-20K A-wt
- SNR: 123dB AES17-20K A-wt
- Crosstalk: 131dB
- Frequency Response: 15Hz-40kHz +/-1dB
- Output Level: 2.1Vrms (AMP L Gain + DAC H gain)
- 3.4Vrms (AMP H Gain + DAC H gain)
- Output Power: 640mW+640mW@16Ω THD+N<0.5%
- THD+N: -114dB(0.00014%)@1KHz
- AES17-20K A-wt 600 Ω Load
- DNR:118dB AES17-20K A-wt
- SNR: 118dB AES17-20K A-wt
- Crosstalk: 130dB
- Frequency Response: 15Hz-40kHz +/-1dB
CHARGING: 2.5hours and battery life as per my testing : 8:30 mins with just blon bl03 (3.5mm SE output). The DAC and charging options are different, so while charging it can also work as a dac, very useful as after few years when the battery dies you can use it as a desktop dac with LO to amp.
SOUND IMPRESSIONS
SENNHEISER HD558 (modded)
This is the oldest headphone in my collection and has been modded with a 3.5mm jack and the inner ear foams are removed. It sounds great for what it costs and ages. The usual sound is more enhanced and thicker and has warmer tonality. The presentation is much better and much more around the vocalists and the head stage is more 3D instead of 2 dimensional. The bass and subbass are tighter and have a rumbling experience. They do go deep in the sub-bass region and have some rumble. More defined notes though overall and definition is more. Power requirement is only 25 in high gain.
BEYERDYNAMIC TYGR 300R
Beyerdynamic TYGR 300R is a mostly flat to neutral headphone and has an energetic and sharp treble experience. This headphone is best suited for D16. The treble is much more refined and upper mids glare also reduced especially in songs where the trumpets and saxophones scare you suddenly. The presentation is quite good and has 3D presentation around the singer. The notes are much more thicker contradicting the leaner presentation of the notes. The bass though is much more impactful and subbass rumble a bit more defined and goes deep. It runs Tygr very much like a desktop amp and I like the presentation. Power requirement is High gain and 45 on the volume.
HIFIMAN DEVA
Deva is the only planar headphone in my collection and boy does it shine with the D16. The notes are much thicker and well defined overall. There is more spacing among the notes of the instruments and also among the instruments. The placement is much better overall in the head stage and the notes structure is more refined. Bass is more impactful and subbass rumblier. The vocals are much sweeter and probably shorter in the height of the headstage. The treble is also energetic and lacks the ting of the treble region which makes it much more beautiful to listen to. Power requirement is High gain and 56-60 on volume wheel with the secondary wheel turned to 3 o clock from zero.
FOCAL CLEAR
Upper mids handled beautifully, more cohesion in the notes, thicker notes and warmish tone and treble more beautifully done with full of energy and loving the thicker bass and sub-bass. But the tonality is slightly on the thicker side, but cohesion is on point. I would love a little wider signature that could accentuate clear. But one thing that is much better is the placement of instruments which are wonderfully done and not at all feels congested. Its fun to listen to in this but it’s a bit too much warm for my taste. Power requirement is High Gain and 38 on the volume wheel and turned to 2 o clock from zero.
ZMF AEUTEUR
ZMF aeuteur is an difficult to drive headphone and requires a bit of power to do its best. I loved the larger presentation and more cohesiveness among the instruments. The aeuteur is a slightly more matured headphone where energy is there but to bring out everything it requires a lot of power. While D16 handles them well, there is more thicker sound but not so much in the height of the notes in the headstage which felt lacking a bit. The bass and sub-bass impact had increased and also the sub-bass was more wonderful. This requires a little more powahh for sure it felt like. But for the portable factor this thing did quite well.
IEMS-(This can easily power iems so not an issue at all)
BLON 03
The oldest among all my iems. It’s a very versatile iem. Adding D16, added a big amount of definition to the notes, there was also improvement in the notes thickness and the presentation was great. I loved the bass impact and extension and this made it a wonderful listen.
PENON FAN
Penon fan is a highly dynamic iem with a tangy treble flavour and slightly leaner notes. This with D16 is a combo made in heaven, it encounters the leaner notes and makes the notes thick and more defined in the body of the notes. The treble is also more controlled, but still retains the energy. The bass impact is more and sub-bass is more rumbly and beautiful to listen to.
QOA ADONIS AND WYVERN
The Adonis is warmish iem and with D16 it becomes a bit too thick for my tastes. There is no cohesion issues or the instruments being put one over the other, but they are very near to each other with the thicker notes. This makes it bit uneasy to use. But then comes the bass and sub-bass which you would love in this iem.
Then comes the smaller brother the wyvern, what this lacked is the dynamism of the notes and the depth of the notes. D16 handled this very well and also tamed the energy a bit overall and refined it as notes much more structured and wonderfully placed all throughout the small stage. I loved the presentation here and would definitely recommend.
DITA AUDIO M
Dita loved the pairing with D16. Something in the iem just had its own switch on. The notes were thicker and wider too. But the separation was maintained in the notes and also between the instruments. There was much better and impactful bass response and also the upper mids were much sweeter. A little more zeal into the treble section and this would have been golden.
Overall-
Very versatile, able to power most things, adds more surrounding presence to the instruments. There is more placement accuracy to the instrument’s presence. Wider stage and energetic bass and sub-bass. Subbass has more extension and more rumble. Treble energy but that feel is slightly decreased along with the upper mids, and notes are thicker. There is more tonally warm to neutral tone depending on the music producing instruments at the end of the ears. Notes are more defined and detailed with this as source.
VERDICT-
Definitely recommended if you got a slightly warm to treble heavy iem. The power and musicality would enthrals you for sure. This thing can work also as a desktop amp dac with power coming in so it will useful even when the battery is gone. So a very versatile product, hence highly recommended.
ONIX MYSTIC XP1- A portable OX
ONIX is one of the old companies which started from UK and has been acquired by a Taiwanese company and has started the journey from AMPs for speakers to now small form factor amps and dacs. Then, ONIX cooperated with Shanling Audio from 2003 and has now been making many more audio equipment since many years and well known in the international and British audiophile market. Today I have been first exposed to their portable DAC-AMP along with desktop solution, the ONIX MYSTIC XP1 and given the packing I love it already.
DISCLAIMER-
The Onix Mystic XP1 is part of a review tour organized by A.G. team and @OnixAudio and @Shanling in my country. The sample belongs to the brand. I had the opportunity to listen to it for 20 days for this review. This review is completely based on my experience with it, and all opinions, positive or negative, are my own and no one else’s. No external factors influence my review; only internal factors like my brain and heart influence it. Please try it yourself, if possible, since we all hear things differently. If you want to purchase it, you can learn more from the official product website from the link- ONIX MYSTIC XP1
PACKAGING-
I love the package of changing colours, tried hard to record it. Inside you see the ONIX DAC-AMP in all its black Aluminum case. Below the foam, there is an sub C to C cable, USB C to USB A cable that doubles as a charging cable, a SPDIF cable and 4 white feet to put on the ONIX. Then comes another packet containing a DAC power cable and another cable that attaches to the ONIX- switching power supply so can be used in any region. Given the price, I expected this to come with a case or atleast a microfiber cloth, that makes it look great. I would also like to suggest all packets to add foam on the top too, as I did see some scratches on the top corners as it is heavy and will hit the corners of the packet during shipping.
BUILD-
First holding the big DAC-AMP, it feels like a premium brick. Its made from CNC aluminum and the feel of the volume wheel was great. On the top theres a small screen with dot-matrix oled display that in a way looks cool too. The aluminum body is coated with black paint feels good to touch but is a good fingerprint magnet. The gain button feels great to click and the small button on top also feels great. The back M power button is solid and feels great to toggle on or off. On one of the very few equipment’s, I have seen is a UAC 1.0-2.0 switcher which is great to see as some devices would require that.
I/O-
Lots of them, I will show them to you that a much better way.
CONNECTIVITY-
It has separate USB C slot on the rear for both input and working as data transfer. There's also Bluetooth support till LDAC and this is a welcome thing as now it can used with your phone without plugging in. MicroSD slot here works on its own, and you can use it as a way to have fully lossless playback directly from the device. Otherwise, Eddict player app can be used to easily browse and select songs from the phone. Then there an aux port and also an coaxial/optical input port and also an line out port.
SPECIFICATIONS-
Weight: 583g
System Platform: Ingenic X2000
CHIPS- Dual AKM AK4499EX DACs, combined with their matching AK4191 modulator
AMPS- Fully balanced headphone amplifier utilizes TPA6120A2 and it was optimized for use with full-size headphones. And with additional Muses8920 circuit for the balanced line-out/pre-amp function. All enhanced by the in-house “Brighton” I/V Conversion stage".
Headphone Outputs: 3.5mm & 6.5mm Single-Ended, 4.4mm Balanced
Analog Output: 4.4mm Balanced, with pre-out function
Analog Input: 3.5mm Jack
Battery: 7000 mAh, dedicated USB-C charging port
BATTERY LIFE: tested it runs for 9hours and 24 mins with Blon bl03 attached to laptop running on battery.
3.5MM & 6.5MM SINGLE-ENDED OUTPUT
Output Power:
Headphone mode, high-gain: 2.6V@32Ω (211mW@32Ω), (THD+N<0.023%)
With External Power, Headphone mode, high-gain: 5.1V@32Ω (812mW@32Ω), (THD+N<1%) / 6V@300Ω (120mW@300Ω) (THD+N<0.002%)
Output Impedance: 4.7Ω.
4.4MM BALANCED OUTPUT
Output Power:
Headphone mode, high-gain: 4.9V@32Ω (750mW@32Ω) (THD+N<0.01%)
With External Power, Headphone mode, high-gain: 8.7V @ 32Ω (2360mW@32Ω) (THD+N<1) / 12V @ 300Ω (480mW@300Ω) (THD+N<0.002%)
Frequency Response: 20Hz-40kHz (-0.5dB) THD+N: 0.0005% @32Ω (A-Weight)
Dynamic Range: 120dB @32Ω (A-Weight)
Channel Separation: 101dB
Signal-to-Noise Ratio : 120dB @32Ω (A-Weight)
Noise: 111dB @32Ω (A-Weight)
Output Impedance: 6.6Ω
BT- BT 5.0 with LDAC / aptX HD/ aptX/SBC/AAC
TESTING OF M Mode and EAR/HEAD TOGGLE-
M power usually increases the volume by about 7-12 on the volume given in the ONIX with any headphone or iem you are running it off from.
While Headphone or Earphone switch, increases volume by 5-7 while using any audio equipment (Used decibel meter on phone and subjective listening to confirm this with the given headphones used)
EXTERNAL POWER SUPPLY
SOUND IMPRESSIONS-
Let’s start with the smallest and portable setups that can be used and then turn to the big guys-
BLUETOOTH-
Using BT 5.0 also worked with ONIX, I used LDAC from my S23 to play music directly into the ONIX and not a single bit of drop out. The range was decent around 10ft going through two- 30cm thick walls. LDAC does sound great when used with something like Qobuz and on device lossless music.
Blon BL03-
You would be thinking that what changes would it bring to such an old and cheap iem, but let me tell you this sources with amps change the sound a lot. This becomes quite evident overall. The most change that I heard was the spaciousness and clarity of the notes that improved. Width of the headstage didn’t change much so that it becomes noticeable, but the presentation changed overall and become holographic. Bass was tighter and its still easy to drive.
No such power requirement changes as even smallest of power at Low gain was able to handle this easily, it though improved in Medium gain with very low power of around 12 volume
Penon FAN-
This set didn’t love the onix mystic as much well. This is due to the fact that this is already a very treble heavy set and very defined, making it more defined and wider made it much more clinical. But the soundstage became holographic making it more enjoyable atleast in orchestras and also it did add a bit of sub-bass and bass, making it much better. The upper mids addition that I felt much more refined made it more clinical, its just this amp is so good you hear everything haha.
BGVP DMA AND PHANTOM-
Both the iems are wonderful in their price segments. Addition of the ONIX mystic XP1, showed that the sub-bass and bass even became more defined and enhanced. The holographic soundstage is much more subtle in case of DMA but in case of Phantom, it was wonderful to listen to. The only thing I felt better in Phantom was adding to definition to subtleties and enhancement of stage when compared to DMA. Here One more interaction was worth nothing, DMA had its upper mids and treble sharpness, a little bit more reduced but more definition was added to the notes, which I loved as this meant longer listening sessions.
ISN NEO 3-
ISN Neo 3 is a great bassy, mid centric and energetic iem, using ONIX Mystic XP1 made it so much better, that if you are going for a source and have headphones too (more on the interaction between them later in the review). There is increased separation between the instrument notes and also the instruments. I felt like the headstage has widened a bit and also the placement of improved has been more accurate. There is also improvement in notes definition and the sub-bass and bass had more defined impact which was felt. The extension is much more defined and controlled and just made better to hear overall.
JOMO AUDIO SKYLINE-
Skyline is already a very matured and perfect iem for a wonderful live experience. This source added to the skyline matured it much more but not made it clinical which is wonderful to listen to. Now, skyline had much more definition to notes and a little more extension to the sub-bass and bass. Upper mids are much more handled better. Individual notes are much more handled beautifully and they are much better defined. There is also decrease in the ‘sss’ in the voices of singers and they are much more sweetly and defined. The improvement is well noticed coming from a more low end source like PAW S1 to this. Don’t think PAW S1 is bad as a DAC but this is something way much more better, you can easily feel the notes definition changes and also paw S1 with an external amp like A30s with burson v5i still wont match the power of ONIX MYSTIC XP1.
NOW WE COME TO HEADPHONES-
Let’s start with the old classic-
Sennheiser HD558-
This is a very old set but still goes strong and is still used by me since last 9 years. It’s a wonderful set with good distinction of sound coming from either direction, what it lacked is refinement in placement, it felt like all of the instruments were bunched up either in the left or right or middle mostly. This was all alleviated by ONIX. There is now much more holographic headstage with more proper placement of instruments. The notes are much more defined and bass took a good hit and now goes a little bit more deep and has more impact. Sub-bass has more clarity too. Upper mids are more defined and it did add more subtleties to music by enhancing the nuances of each iem.
HIFIMAN DEVA-
This is a planar and this ran ONIX to the max of its ability. Hifiman deva is easy to run but give it juice and it will scale. It takes on power like a pro and went on to High Gain 55 volume with M -power mode on entirely. I loved this set with ONIX, the bass was more impactful, more holographic headstage and even the sub-bass had more definition. Separation did increase along with notes clarity. Mids became nuanced and also had more structure to the voices and they reached higher in the headstage. This thing could run any of the headphones I have (more on them later) and this combo still managed to impress me a lot. Loved it !!! Plus the fact that you can get ONIX running on only BT and DEVA plugged into ONIX even at lower sound levels would satisfy you so you can save a lot of battery life and when needed GIVE IT POWER TO RUN ON STEROIDS hehe!!!
BEYERDYNAMIC TYGR 300-
TYGR 300 is DD that doesn’t like to move with the beats unless you add high watts to it. It’s a 300 Ω headset and loves power. It shines only though in tubes and Hybrid only for the fact that it’s a treble headset (normal by Beyerdynamic standards). There were interesting things that I noticed. First of all even though the bass was good not great, with onix it became more impactful, you could feel the punch, sub-bass got added too (earlier felt like very less). There was also upper mid energy reduction to keep it in balance with the music and also similarly happened with treble frequencies. There was reducing in sharp sounds and 'sss' sounds in vocals of the singers. This also saw a more longitudinal increase in notes height which made this headphone a orchestra type of listen (which is still why I bring this headphone out whenever orchestra came in my playlist. This also saw a mild enhancement on notes edges definition, and it became more clear than ever before. Mids were great and I saw a bit of neutral to warm feeling over this being added and that felt great. Overall, a great and powerful companion to the mystic.
FOCAL CLEAR OG-
This set needs no introduction, the only set beside my first headphone the Sennheiser that will go till my end of my life. Clear saw a definite change in treble sharpness with it being energetic but this bad boy handling the sharpness like a pro. Upper mids also saw an eventual decrease in sharpness and also better tonal height and width (more here). The width of the soundstage did increase a bit but clear is already holographic so adding this just added cherry to the top. Mids were great and there was I felt a little reduction in sss of the female vocals. Bass definiton was much better and impact was much greater, but the best thing was sub-bass being having great definition and improved defintion. Overall great addition to clear.
ZMF AEUTEUR –
Aeuteur is another headphone which requires power and is quite flat on the get go too. Its also a 300 Ω headphone and requires power. The bass impact has improved drastically with increase in impact, and energies in the notes too. The dynamism in the notes also improved with different heights being reached by each of the different instruments with better definition to the notes. They are much more separated and wider but now having elliptical soundstage. There is more energy in the treble region making it much more enjoyable. Mids though felt the same except female vocals where at the top their voice they sounded more vibrant. Sub-bass extension was much more pronounced, and I Loved it. This brought more energy into this headphone with better and more powerful additions.
SAMSUNG Q990C soundbar-
It was a ghetto setup and using ONIX from coax cable to a splitter and then optical to sound bar and using USB C as input for ONIX to play music. To be honest I didn’t expect many changes, but there was many. They had more spaciousness to the sound, notes were more defined, vocals were much clearer and foreword. Never thought I would try this but it worked and I loved it.
SUMMARY-
A very wide, large, 3D/holographic presentation on the instruments in the head stage, best defined notes, Quality bass and subbass, very good presentation of notes with very natural extension and dynamism of the notes is really good. It also tries to accentuate the individual sound adding wider stage.
VERDICT-
A very powerful source of audio which can run mostly anything (except something like Susvara etc). The addition of Bluetooth and making this an independent device with SD card and you can just enjoy your music whenever your phone battery is low. Plus, addition of Eddict player is great which can check on the music libraries and choose from your phone along with this one charger for both your USB C phone and this too (except old gen apple phones). In addition this would provide you a good biceps exercise while traveling too. So for me, this is very much recommended as an ALL IN ONE SOLUTION.
ONIX is one of the old companies which started from UK and has been acquired by a Taiwanese company and has started the journey from AMPs for speakers to now small form factor amps and dacs. Then, ONIX cooperated with Shanling Audio from 2003 and has now been making many more audio equipment since many years and well known in the international and British audiophile market. Today I have been first exposed to their portable DAC-AMP along with desktop solution, the ONIX MYSTIC XP1 and given the packing I love it already.
DISCLAIMER-
The Onix Mystic XP1 is part of a review tour organized by A.G. team and @OnixAudio and @Shanling in my country. The sample belongs to the brand. I had the opportunity to listen to it for 20 days for this review. This review is completely based on my experience with it, and all opinions, positive or negative, are my own and no one else’s. No external factors influence my review; only internal factors like my brain and heart influence it
. Please try it yourself, if possible, since we all hear things differently. If you want to purchase it, you can learn more from the official product website from the link- ONIX MYSTIC XP1PACKAGING-
I love the package of changing colours, tried hard to record it. Inside you see the ONIX DAC-AMP in all its black Aluminum case. Below the foam, there is an sub C to C cable, USB C to USB A cable that doubles as a charging cable, a SPDIF cable and 4 white feet to put on the ONIX. Then comes another packet containing a DAC power cable and another cable that attaches to the ONIX- switching power supply so can be used in any region. Given the price, I expected this to come with a case or atleast a microfiber cloth, that makes it look great. I would also like to suggest all packets to add foam on the top too, as I did see some scratches on the top corners as it is heavy and will hit the corners of the packet during shipping.
BUILD-
First holding the big DAC-AMP, it feels like a premium brick
. Its made from CNC aluminum and the feel of the volume wheel was great. On the top theres a small screen with dot-matrix oled display that in a way looks cool too. The aluminum body is coated with black paint feels good to touch but is a good fingerprint magnet. The gain button feels great to click and the small button on top also feels great. The back M power button is solid and feels great to toggle on or off. On one of the very few equipment’s, I have seen is a UAC 1.0-2.0 switcher which is great to see as some devices would require that.
I/O-
Lots of them, I will show them to you that a much better way.
CONNECTIVITY-
It has separate USB C slot on the rear for both input and working as data transfer. There's also Bluetooth support till LDAC and this is a welcome thing as now it can used with your phone without plugging in. MicroSD slot here works on its own, and you can use it as a way to have fully lossless playback directly from the device. Otherwise, Eddict player app can be used to easily browse and select songs from the phone. Then there an aux port and also an coaxial/optical input port and also an line out port.
SPECIFICATIONS-
Weight: 583g
System Platform: Ingenic X2000
CHIPS- Dual AKM AK4499EX DACs, combined with their matching AK4191 modulator
AMPS- Fully balanced headphone amplifier utilizes TPA6120A2 and it was optimized for use with full-size headphones. And with additional Muses8920 circuit for the balanced line-out/pre-amp function. All enhanced by the in-house “Brighton” I/V Conversion stage".
Headphone Outputs: 3.5mm & 6.5mm Single-Ended, 4.4mm Balanced
Analog Output: 4.4mm Balanced, with pre-out function
Analog Input: 3.5mm Jack
Battery: 7000 mAh, dedicated USB-C charging port
BATTERY LIFE: tested it runs for 9hours and 24 mins with Blon bl03 attached to laptop running on battery.
3.5MM & 6.5MM SINGLE-ENDED OUTPUT
Output Power:
Headphone mode, high-gain: 2.6V@32Ω (211mW@32Ω), (THD+N<0.023%)
With External Power, Headphone mode, high-gain: 5.1V@32Ω (812mW@32Ω), (THD+N<1%) / 6V@300Ω (120mW@300Ω) (THD+N<0.002%)
Output Impedance: 4.7Ω.
4.4MM BALANCED OUTPUT
Output Power:
Headphone mode, high-gain: 4.9V@32Ω (750mW@32Ω) (THD+N<0.01%)
With External Power, Headphone mode, high-gain: 8.7V @ 32Ω (2360mW@32Ω) (THD+N<1) / 12V @ 300Ω (480mW@300Ω) (THD+N<0.002%)
Frequency Response: 20Hz-40kHz (-0.5dB) THD+N: 0.0005% @32Ω (A-Weight)
Dynamic Range: 120dB @32Ω (A-Weight)
Channel Separation: 101dB
Signal-to-Noise Ratio : 120dB @32Ω (A-Weight)
Noise: 111dB @32Ω (A-Weight)
Output Impedance: 6.6Ω
BT- BT 5.0 with LDAC / aptX HD/ aptX/SBC/AAC
TESTING OF M Mode and EAR/HEAD TOGGLE-
M power usually increases the volume by about 7-12 on the volume given in the ONIX with any headphone or iem you are running it off from.
While Headphone or Earphone switch, increases volume by 5-7 while using any audio equipment (Used decibel meter on phone and subjective listening to confirm this with the given headphones used)
EXTERNAL POWER SUPPLY
SOUND IMPRESSIONS-
Let’s start with the smallest and portable setups that can be used and then turn to the big guys-
BLUETOOTH-
Using BT 5.0 also worked with ONIX, I used LDAC from my S23 to play music directly into the ONIX and not a single bit of drop out. The range was decent around 10ft going through two- 30cm thick walls. LDAC does sound great when used with something like Qobuz and on device lossless music.
Blon BL03-
You would be thinking that what changes would it bring to such an old and cheap iem, but let me tell you this sources with amps change the sound a lot. This becomes quite evident overall. The most change that I heard was the spaciousness and clarity of the notes that improved. Width of the headstage didn’t change much so that it becomes noticeable, but the presentation changed overall and become holographic. Bass was tighter and its still easy to drive.
No such power requirement changes as even smallest of power at Low gain was able to handle this easily, it though improved in Medium gain with very low power of around 12 volume
Penon FAN-
This set didn’t love the onix mystic as much well. This is due to the fact that this is already a very treble heavy set and very defined, making it more defined and wider made it much more clinical. But the soundstage became holographic making it more enjoyable atleast in orchestras and also it did add a bit of sub-bass and bass, making it much better. The upper mids addition that I felt much more refined made it more clinical, its just this amp is so good you hear everything haha.
BGVP DMA AND PHANTOM-
Both the iems are wonderful in their price segments. Addition of the ONIX mystic XP1, showed that the sub-bass and bass even became more defined and enhanced. The holographic soundstage is much more subtle in case of DMA but in case of Phantom, it was wonderful to listen to. The only thing I felt better in Phantom was adding to definition to subtleties and enhancement of stage when compared to DMA. Here One more interaction was worth nothing, DMA had its upper mids and treble sharpness, a little bit more reduced but more definition was added to the notes, which I loved as this meant longer listening sessions.
ISN NEO 3-
ISN Neo 3 is a great bassy, mid centric and energetic iem, using ONIX Mystic XP1 made it so much better, that if you are going for a source and have headphones too (more on the interaction between them later in the review). There is increased separation between the instrument notes and also the instruments. I felt like the headstage has widened a bit and also the placement of improved has been more accurate. There is also improvement in notes definition and the sub-bass and bass had more defined impact which was felt. The extension is much more defined and controlled and just made better to hear overall.
JOMO AUDIO SKYLINE-
Skyline is already a very matured and perfect iem for a wonderful live experience. This source added to the skyline matured it much more but not made it clinical which is wonderful to listen to. Now, skyline had much more definition to notes and a little more extension to the sub-bass and bass. Upper mids are much more handled better. Individual notes are much more handled beautifully and they are much better defined. There is also decrease in the ‘sss’ in the voices of singers and they are much more sweetly and defined. The improvement is well noticed coming from a more low end source like PAW S1 to this. Don’t think PAW S1 is bad as a DAC but this is something way much more better, you can easily feel the notes definition changes and also paw S1 with an external amp like A30s with burson v5i still wont match the power of ONIX MYSTIC XP1.
NOW WE COME TO HEADPHONES-
Let’s start with the old classic-
Sennheiser HD558-
This is a very old set but still goes strong and is still used by me since last 9 years. It’s a wonderful set with good distinction of sound coming from either direction, what it lacked is refinement in placement, it felt like all of the instruments were bunched up either in the left or right or middle mostly. This was all alleviated by ONIX. There is now much more holographic headstage with more proper placement of instruments. The notes are much more defined and bass took a good hit and now goes a little bit more deep and has more impact. Sub-bass has more clarity too. Upper mids are more defined and it did add more subtleties to music by enhancing the nuances of each iem.
HIFIMAN DEVA-
This is a planar and this ran ONIX to the max of its ability. Hifiman deva is easy to run but give it juice and it will scale. It takes on power like a pro and went on to High Gain 55 volume with M -power mode on entirely. I loved this set with ONIX, the bass was more impactful, more holographic headstage and even the sub-bass had more definition. Separation did increase along with notes clarity. Mids became nuanced and also had more structure to the voices and they reached higher in the headstage. This thing could run any of the headphones I have (more on them later) and this combo still managed to impress me a lot. Loved it !!! Plus the fact that you can get ONIX running on only BT and DEVA plugged into ONIX even at lower sound levels would satisfy you so you can save a lot of battery life and when needed GIVE IT POWER TO RUN ON STEROIDS hehe!!!
BEYERDYNAMIC TYGR 300-
TYGR 300 is DD that doesn’t like to move with the beats unless you add high watts to it. It’s a 300 Ω headset and loves power. It shines only though in tubes and Hybrid only for the fact that it’s a treble headset (normal by Beyerdynamic standards). There were interesting things that I noticed. First of all even though the bass was good not great, with onix it became more impactful, you could feel the punch, sub-bass got added too (earlier felt like very less). There was also upper mid energy reduction to keep it in balance with the music and also similarly happened with treble frequencies. There was reducing in sharp sounds and 'sss' sounds in vocals of the singers. This also saw a more longitudinal increase in notes height which made this headphone a orchestra type of listen (which is still why I bring this headphone out whenever orchestra came in my playlist. This also saw a mild enhancement on notes edges definition, and it became more clear than ever before. Mids were great and I saw a bit of neutral to warm feeling over this being added and that felt great. Overall, a great and powerful companion to the mystic.
FOCAL CLEAR OG-
This set needs no introduction, the only set beside my first headphone the Sennheiser that will go till my end of my life. Clear saw a definite change in treble sharpness with it being energetic but this bad boy handling the sharpness like a pro. Upper mids also saw an eventual decrease in sharpness and also better tonal height and width (more here). The width of the soundstage did increase a bit but clear is already holographic so adding this just added cherry to the top. Mids were great and there was I felt a little reduction in sss of the female vocals. Bass definiton was much better and impact was much greater, but the best thing was sub-bass being having great definition and improved defintion. Overall great addition to clear.
ZMF AEUTEUR –
Aeuteur is another headphone which requires power and is quite flat on the get go too. Its also a 300 Ω headphone and requires power. The bass impact has improved drastically with increase in impact, and energies in the notes too. The dynamism in the notes also improved with different heights being reached by each of the different instruments with better definition to the notes. They are much more separated and wider but now having elliptical soundstage. There is more energy in the treble region making it much more enjoyable. Mids though felt the same except female vocals where at the top their voice they sounded more vibrant. Sub-bass extension was much more pronounced, and I Loved it. This brought more energy into this headphone with better and more powerful additions.
SAMSUNG Q990C soundbar-
It was a ghetto setup and using ONIX from coax cable to a splitter and then optical to sound bar and using USB C as input for ONIX to play music. To be honest I didn’t expect many changes, but there was many. They had more spaciousness to the sound, notes were more defined, vocals were much clearer and foreword. Never thought I would try this but it worked and I loved it.
SUMMARY-
A very wide, large, 3D/holographic presentation on the instruments in the head stage, best defined notes, Quality bass and subbass, very good presentation of notes with very natural extension and dynamism of the notes is really good. It also tries to accentuate the individual sound adding wider stage.
VERDICT-
A very powerful source of audio which can run mostly anything (except something like Susvara etc). The addition of Bluetooth and making this an independent device with SD card and you can just enjoy your music whenever your phone battery is low. Plus, addition of Eddict player is great which can check on the music libraries and choose from your phone along with this one charger for both your USB C phone and this too (except old gen apple phones). In addition this would provide you a good biceps exercise while traveling too. So for me, this is very much recommended as an ALL IN ONE SOLUTION.
HiSenior is new brand making quite a name for themselves and have a 7 years’ experience for themselves. They are a brand based on China and have been making great few iems. They have been making universal iems too nowadays.
Disclaimer: This review is part of a Hisenior-organized tour in India, and I have not received any compensation for my thoughts. I am grateful to Hisenior, Aural Cafe and @pradiptacr7 bhai for including me in this tour. You can purchase the iem from here.
PACKAGING-
The iems are securely packed n a case with foam inserts. They have good protection and a lot of eartips are also included in the package. You can literally add a little more foam and then add the Velcro for the mesh zip cage, it would be more beneficial and safer.
BUILD-
The iem is made up of a resin shell and beautiful colourful faceplate. The iems seems sturdy but I would be careful a bit, don’t drop them haha. The iems are quite small and hence easily fits my ears.
SPECIFICATIONS-
Sound Tuning
4Ways Integrated Crossover (Passive)/ 1low+2mid-highs+2s-highs
Drivers- 1 biocelluar DD+ 2BAs+ 2Est (sonion)
Configuration- 1Low +2Mid-highs+2S-highs
Tuning- 4Ways/ Triple-Bores/3Dampers
Freq Response- 10Hz-50Khz
Sensitivity- 105dB/mW
Impedance- 25Ω
Isolation- 20db
Cable- White whale cable which comes included (a 96$ cable) which is UPOCC(silver plated) and 0.78 – 2 pin cable with 4.4 mm balanced plug.
POWER REQUIREMENTS-
Power requirement- is volume- 40, high gain in Paw S1, it takes power nicely but gets loud too. So, adjust accordingly, it can easily be used with anything, and I Love that. Better sources will improve the sound for sure.
SOUND IMPRESSIONS-
SUB-BASS-
Its visceral, its large and it’s going to move you and your head. The sub-bass goes deep, the reverberations and extension are quite ethereal. There is depth and its easily having a very big base and body to the note. It also has quite good extension with apt decay and attack and feels good to listen to. There is good impact to the hits too and each individual reverberation are easily felt. A little more essence into the extension is something that would make this beyond awesome. Best thing it’s on your face presentations makes this a fun listen always.
BASS-
Wonderful presentation with great impact on initial hits. It disperses further when the hits are done. The bass hits are having apt tonality slightly maybe on the warmer side, but the decay and attack are quite apt. The decay could be made to have a slightly more extension, which could be it the best. The tonal differences between different drums are also easily felt. The notes are having similar characteristics to sub-bass with large visceral body and base and having horizontal spread all the time. They do have a certain depth (physically) in the headstage. And the separation is great too, from each note and also from other instruments too. There is no mixing of bass and vocals but given the inside the stage presentation, one might feel similarly, though its not the case.
MIDS-
Well, we start with females first. The vocals are lovely in tonality, they sound sweet and go quite high in the headstage. The notes have a wider base and body and end fast too. They are well tonally balanced for different female vocalists singing together. They might be a little thicker due to warmness, that has an added benefit being, not at all sharp which feels great overall. Male vocals are very similar to the note’s characteristics, but they benefit from the warm sound a lot as male voices are mostly thicker than females. They have great tonal differences which does make it easy to hear multiple vocalists. Rough throat voices also come through easily and does have presence in headstage. Small lip smacks, saliva, small air breaths are wonderful to hear to know the vocalists hardwork. They are also quite apt and easily heard through despite heavy instrumentation with instruments having a place around the vocalists in a spherical position around the vocalist.
Instruments like the grand piano and the pianos are having their ethereal presence felt. With multiple extensions coming off the keystrokes having great extensions overall. Overall, they extend in both directions. The guitar or other string instruments also extend but more in the vertical directions. Notes are having wider base and body with warmer tonality. Separation in between the notes are good but the attack and decay are quite apt with a little more extension required to make it the best. Tonally the notes are so different its easier to find the individual instruments easily. Headstage is more elliptical in shape with instruments staying around you in all directions and you stay with the vocalists. This is so much different from usual presentations, but this makes it much engaging to listen to and you feel the energy of the entire song.
TREBLE-
Well given the before characteristics of the sound, one might think that this must be the weakest link of the iem. Well to our surprise it appears to be not the case, the energy and notes dynamics stays excellent. The tonality is warm, but the separation and tonal differences in between the instruments keeps it beautiful to listen to. Notes characteristics are quite similar to the other instruments in the other sections but they are slightly different in the sense that extension are present but air is a bit lacking. The metallic instruments like triangles etc also have a great presence, with feeling that edgy but natural feeling being felt. The decay and attack are quite good, slightly more decay might be preferred a bit. The separation is great and you would love this presentation.
VERDICT-
Wonderful iem that can be used with anything overall. The best thing is its bass and sub-bass presence with the elliptical headstage and engaging listen. This makes it a catch and go iem easily. Fully recommended for a enjoying listen.
Disclaimer: This review is part of a Hisenior-organized tour in India, and I have not received any compensation for my thoughts. I am grateful to Hisenior, Aural Cafe and @pradiptacr7 bhai for including me in this tour. You can purchase the iem from here.
PACKAGING-
The iems are securely packed n a case with foam inserts. They have good protection and a lot of eartips are also included in the package. You can literally add a little more foam and then add the Velcro for the mesh zip cage, it would be more beneficial and safer.
BUILD-
The iem is made up of a resin shell and beautiful colourful faceplate. The iems seems sturdy but I would be careful a bit, don’t drop them haha. The iems are quite small and hence easily fits my ears.
SPECIFICATIONS-
Sound Tuning
4Ways Integrated Crossover (Passive)/ 1low+2mid-highs+2s-highs
Drivers- 1 biocelluar DD+ 2BAs+ 2Est (sonion)
Configuration- 1Low +2Mid-highs+2S-highs
Tuning- 4Ways/ Triple-Bores/3Dampers
Freq Response- 10Hz-50Khz
Sensitivity- 105dB/mW
Impedance- 25Ω
Isolation- 20db
Cable- White whale cable which comes included (a 96$ cable) which is UPOCC(silver plated) and 0.78 – 2 pin cable with 4.4 mm balanced plug.
POWER REQUIREMENTS-
Power requirement- is volume- 40, high gain in Paw S1, it takes power nicely but gets loud too. So, adjust accordingly, it can easily be used with anything, and I Love that. Better sources will improve the sound for sure.
SOUND IMPRESSIONS-
SUB-BASS-
Its visceral, its large and it’s going to move you and your head. The sub-bass goes deep, the reverberations and extension are quite ethereal. There is depth and its easily having a very big base and body to the note. It also has quite good extension with apt decay and attack and feels good to listen to. There is good impact to the hits too and each individual reverberation are easily felt. A little more essence into the extension is something that would make this beyond awesome. Best thing it’s on your face presentations makes this a fun listen always.
BASS-
Wonderful presentation with great impact on initial hits. It disperses further when the hits are done. The bass hits are having apt tonality slightly maybe on the warmer side, but the decay and attack are quite apt. The decay could be made to have a slightly more extension, which could be it the best. The tonal differences between different drums are also easily felt. The notes are having similar characteristics to sub-bass with large visceral body and base and having horizontal spread all the time. They do have a certain depth (physically) in the headstage. And the separation is great too, from each note and also from other instruments too. There is no mixing of bass and vocals but given the inside the stage presentation, one might feel similarly, though its not the case.
MIDS-
Well, we start with females first. The vocals are lovely in tonality, they sound sweet and go quite high in the headstage. The notes have a wider base and body and end fast too. They are well tonally balanced for different female vocalists singing together. They might be a little thicker due to warmness, that has an added benefit being, not at all sharp which feels great overall. Male vocals are very similar to the note’s characteristics, but they benefit from the warm sound a lot as male voices are mostly thicker than females. They have great tonal differences which does make it easy to hear multiple vocalists. Rough throat voices also come through easily and does have presence in headstage. Small lip smacks, saliva, small air breaths are wonderful to hear to know the vocalists hardwork. They are also quite apt and easily heard through despite heavy instrumentation with instruments having a place around the vocalists in a spherical position around the vocalist.
Instruments like the grand piano and the pianos are having their ethereal presence felt. With multiple extensions coming off the keystrokes having great extensions overall. Overall, they extend in both directions. The guitar or other string instruments also extend but more in the vertical directions. Notes are having wider base and body with warmer tonality. Separation in between the notes are good but the attack and decay are quite apt with a little more extension required to make it the best. Tonally the notes are so different its easier to find the individual instruments easily. Headstage is more elliptical in shape with instruments staying around you in all directions and you stay with the vocalists. This is so much different from usual presentations, but this makes it much engaging to listen to and you feel the energy of the entire song.
TREBLE-
Well given the before characteristics of the sound, one might think that this must be the weakest link of the iem. Well to our surprise it appears to be not the case, the energy and notes dynamics stays excellent. The tonality is warm, but the separation and tonal differences in between the instruments keeps it beautiful to listen to. Notes characteristics are quite similar to the other instruments in the other sections but they are slightly different in the sense that extension are present but air is a bit lacking. The metallic instruments like triangles etc also have a great presence, with feeling that edgy but natural feeling being felt. The decay and attack are quite good, slightly more decay might be preferred a bit. The separation is great and you would love this presentation.
VERDICT-
Wonderful iem that can be used with anything overall. The best thing is its bass and sub-bass presence with the elliptical headstage and engaging listen. This makes it a catch and go iem easily. Fully recommended for a enjoying listen.
dhanners22
He was being sarcastic when saying he'd buy 3 of them. They are just that good. It must've went over that little head of yours though lol.
