Disclaimer:
I am not the pinnacle of objectivity, all of my impressions are subjective and should be treated only as one person's view.
This review is unpaid, however we were given Divinus Velvet tips to keep (I asked for S and got M). This is a HiFiGo tour unit.
Unit has been in possession for 8 days.
Review was made over 6 days of use.
EQ and other transducers were used for indirect comparison/forming thoughts.
Rating is weighted towards sound.
Fit/Comfort/Build:
Nozzle diameter is 6.3mm at the tip, 6.8mm at the lip, which is at the centre of the nozzle, have had a one time issue with tip retention with tips that have less of a lip.
The stock tips (not Velvets, not UC) are stiff and wide stemmed, similar if not the same grey tips that come with most IE earphones.
Minimum tip diameter ends up at 9.3mm with the stock tips, they are also quite itchy.
I HIGHLY recommend switching the tips, the velvets bring the diameter down to 8.6mm, with other tips I got the diameter down to 8.2mm.
It fits, but it hurts my ear canal when taken out, even after only 20 minutes of use, which makes me really want to not use it.
There is some pressure on my tragus and in the concha surrounding the ear canal but it's not painful there.
With a deeper fit there is enough pressure on the helix behind the antitragus and on the antitragus to be painful.
Regardless of insert depth comfort is bad enough for me so that I wanted to actively avoid using it.
Isolation is somewhat poor.
Has a front vent and rear vent at the top of the shell, no driver flex or pressure build-up.
Metal (brushed steel?) faceplate and matte resin shell.
Some residue on the faceplate, has also been known to fall off.
Interesting due to the design causing it to go out of and over the front of the ear.
Cable is similar to the Kiwi Ears Cadenza but is instead white, seems to be PVC, slightly sticky, quite microphonic, has kinks left in it,
is not the most compliant but pretty good, and has started going stiff in places, with very limited contact from me.
The strain relief on the jack/plug is free to spin around, hardware is all metal except the 2 pin connectors, which have a plastic shell.
If you are buying a cable to replace this one it is the recessed 2 pin type.
0.3 and 0.5ohms DC resistance on each side, cable can come in 3.5SE and 4.4BAL.
There is an included brush, tip cleaner and magnet, all in one.
Case has a thinner layer of foam on both sides, glued at the centre.
There is a small (~A8) manual and warranty conditions booklet.
Imagery:
Sound:
Source used: Qudelix 5K, NOS, 96kHz
Tips: Stock, smallest | XM3 Aftermarket, opaque, all sizes | Divinus Velvet, M 5.5-6.5kHz first canal resonance peak (PROBABLY WRONG)
It's definitely listenable, treble is smooth, except for a wide peak at 12500Hz ish (seems to move around depending on tips),
otherwise a little congested, pillowy, dry/dead/boring,
undoing the tuck by boosting 250Hz or by boosting the midrange at a low Q factor around 500Hz alleviates this somewhat.
The tonal balance skews mostly towards ear gain region, can be cold, chchy, shshy and harsh.
No noticeable imbalance.
I can't tell any changes with different tips, with a significantly deeper fit,
except bass quantity it depends, seal is more difficult with some tips.
Bass instruments sometimes have quite a nice bit of grit and detail, possibly due to the pronounced rumble, audible in Trouble in Paradise (Rayman Origins),
in addition the timbre of basically every instrument in said track is good,
except the trumpet, it lacks edge, dynamics and the percussion is quieter than it should be.
The rumble is also noticeable in Through A Cloud, Darkly (Chris Christodoulou), and the repeating FX has some texture.
Nikopol (Gurren Lagann) is basically unlistenable, incredibly harsh and the bass is inaudible, some of the kicks make it through every now and then.
Most of the instruments are audible still however, except the lower guitar notes.
The slam/punch/tactility/dynamics(/detail) in general are all very meh, regardless of volume.
Kicks have a "click" to them sometimes which can be nice, e.g. in To Hell and Back (P.T. Adamczyk), which also in general sounds quite good but lacks warmth,
and The Blue Monday E'r'ectrical Parade (Iwasaki Taku),
also in said track, the background male vocal "aaaaaaah" comes through very slightly and the swells have some dynamics,
only the swells, the intro particularly is incredibly limp and very thin sounding, the clap has no decay.
Bass hits, like the ones throughout the chorus section of Are You In or Are You Out? (Captain Laserhawk) very much lack dynamics,
the timbre of the synth however is pretty good, a bit soft though and telephoney.
Snares are soft harsh and chchy, sound like pink noise and really lack dynamics, e.g in the start of Electric Guitarist (Yugo Kanno).
The steelpan in Aria Math (C418) lacks dynamics, the attack is noticeably long and the decay too quiet,
the background noise/hiss is easily audible throughout until 1:35 or so where it begins to start getting overpowered at 2:04 or so.
The single background perc hit at 2:52 is slightly audible.
For some reason there is audible distortion at lower volumes in the midrange (300-1000Hz) when doing sine sweeps which I cannot explain.
Listening to Radiant City (Deftones) is fatiguing,
there is no issue with not being able to hear instruments, but the congestion does not help.
The guitar sounds a bit soft, I can't hear any hiss but the chchiness is audible and detracts from its texture/timbre.
With noisy/busy music in general, at an extreme level like: ACT RIGHT (Femtanyl), it's actually not bad, mostly harsh and dry,
somewhat difficult to listen to at even normal volumes and many of the details such as the saw wave stabs are hard to hear.
Dynamics for this track are ok at the very best.
Sounds that should be very dynamic and textured are not, like the intro synth to Orphan (Slipknot),
it also has the issue of sounding like pink noise, the timbre of the synth sound 23 seconds in is significantly nicer and has some of its characteristic buzzing.
Piano lacks dynamics and some of the expected "distorted" sound in Équinoxe (C418),
however the later "zingy" FX pad at 0:54 then 1:20 does not have the same issue, but decay is lacking.
Brass lacks dynamics, at lower pitches there is more buzz and flutter like in the background and foreground of Shamar - Night (Sonic Unleashed).
I struggle to hear the background bass guitar towards the end, otherwise all instruments are accounted for.
The intro stab to Skyscraper Scamper - Day (Sonic Unleashed) sounds crunchy/compressed/distorted, and lacks dynamics,
the saxophone in the intro lacks dynamics and sounds nasally and thin, the trumpets afterwards are a little better, being louder and having some dynamicism,
the very low bass is audible and not lacking in dynamics, it is harder to hear when it is pitched up starting at 2:16.
The cymbals are very shshy throughout and not anywhere near sizzly enough, lacking loudness.
In some cases brass (and sax) can sound quite good, with Arid Sands - Night (Sonic Unleashed), the layered trumpet, sax and strings have some texture and get loud,
there isn't that much for them to be masked by and the timbre of them is good except for being nasally.
Room echos are not very pronounced, but are there.
Calmer/less busy music has less problems as expected, Shunjun / 逡巡 (Hideaki Taniuchi) has noticeable dynamics,
and the wind-like sound that comes in at 45 seconds feels like it gets closer before it decays out, which it does wispily, like it never played in the first place.
The grainy sound after it decays is inaudible and more of the details are harder to hear as the mix gets busier and guitar becomes more prominent,
and it too has the same issue of sounding like it has no decay.
The intro section of Unknow (The Maccabees) is very nice, the pad swells to its intended loudness, the FX have some texture,
but the vocals might have some difficulty being understood.
The rumble of the bass guitar twang stands out, the snares have so little dynamics that i forgot they existed even though they are clearly audible.
Tower Lockdown (Paul Leonard-Morgan) sounds really really nice, the main synth is nicely textured, arguably grainy,
the track regardless sounds a bit thin and soft but all of the small FX details and various pads are audible, and swell to almost their expected loudness.
Most music from Cyberpunk 2077's original soundtrack sounds good on Chopin, the bass and rumble are VERY evident at higher volumes.
Female vocals e.g. in Sorairo Days (Shoko Nakagawa) are a bit nasally,
the track in general is near unlistenably harsh with Chopin, mostly shshy and ssssy/sibilant.
The vocals after the intro section in Possessed by Disease (Keiichi Okabe) are more nasally than usual as well,
the intro vocals lack husk, they have some slight breathiness, the pad that plays from the start feels very smoothed over.
The Male vocal "aaaaaah" at the start of Turnin' On The Screw (QOTSA) sounds wispy though it does have some vocal husk and texture.
The rest of the vocals after the start also sound wispy, nasally and have a little husk but have the issue of sounding like pink noise.
Image/stage sits near my head, mostly at the back and stretches nearby very diffusely left and right,
doesn't have frontal or accurate localisation, front-back discrimination is difficult.
Measurement of unit at: https://cammyfi.squig.link/?share=Binary_x_Gizaudio_Chopin
I am not the pinnacle of objectivity, all of my impressions are subjective and should be treated only as one person's view.
This review is unpaid, however we were given Divinus Velvet tips to keep (I asked for S and got M). This is a HiFiGo tour unit.
Unit has been in possession for 8 days.
Review was made over 6 days of use.
EQ and other transducers were used for indirect comparison/forming thoughts.
Rating is weighted towards sound.
Fit/Comfort/Build:
Nozzle diameter is 6.3mm at the tip, 6.8mm at the lip, which is at the centre of the nozzle, have had a one time issue with tip retention with tips that have less of a lip.
The stock tips (not Velvets, not UC) are stiff and wide stemmed, similar if not the same grey tips that come with most IE earphones.
Minimum tip diameter ends up at 9.3mm with the stock tips, they are also quite itchy.
I HIGHLY recommend switching the tips, the velvets bring the diameter down to 8.6mm, with other tips I got the diameter down to 8.2mm.
It fits, but it hurts my ear canal when taken out, even after only 20 minutes of use, which makes me really want to not use it.
There is some pressure on my tragus and in the concha surrounding the ear canal but it's not painful there.
With a deeper fit there is enough pressure on the helix behind the antitragus and on the antitragus to be painful.
Regardless of insert depth comfort is bad enough for me so that I wanted to actively avoid using it.
Isolation is somewhat poor.
Has a front vent and rear vent at the top of the shell, no driver flex or pressure build-up.
Metal (brushed steel?) faceplate and matte resin shell.
Some residue on the faceplate, has also been known to fall off.
Interesting due to the design causing it to go out of and over the front of the ear.
Cable is similar to the Kiwi Ears Cadenza but is instead white, seems to be PVC, slightly sticky, quite microphonic, has kinks left in it,
is not the most compliant but pretty good, and has started going stiff in places, with very limited contact from me.
The strain relief on the jack/plug is free to spin around, hardware is all metal except the 2 pin connectors, which have a plastic shell.
If you are buying a cable to replace this one it is the recessed 2 pin type.
0.3 and 0.5ohms DC resistance on each side, cable can come in 3.5SE and 4.4BAL.
There is an included brush, tip cleaner and magnet, all in one.
Case has a thinner layer of foam on both sides, glued at the centre.
There is a small (~A8) manual and warranty conditions booklet.
Imagery:
Sound:
Source used: Qudelix 5K, NOS, 96kHz
Tips: Stock, smallest | XM3 Aftermarket, opaque, all sizes | Divinus Velvet, M 5.5-6.5kHz first canal resonance peak (PROBABLY WRONG)
It's definitely listenable, treble is smooth, except for a wide peak at 12500Hz ish (seems to move around depending on tips),
otherwise a little congested, pillowy, dry/dead/boring,
undoing the tuck by boosting 250Hz or by boosting the midrange at a low Q factor around 500Hz alleviates this somewhat.
The tonal balance skews mostly towards ear gain region, can be cold, chchy, shshy and harsh.
No noticeable imbalance.
I can't tell any changes with different tips, with a significantly deeper fit,
except bass quantity it depends, seal is more difficult with some tips.
Bass instruments sometimes have quite a nice bit of grit and detail, possibly due to the pronounced rumble, audible in Trouble in Paradise (Rayman Origins),
in addition the timbre of basically every instrument in said track is good,
except the trumpet, it lacks edge, dynamics and the percussion is quieter than it should be.
The rumble is also noticeable in Through A Cloud, Darkly (Chris Christodoulou), and the repeating FX has some texture.
Nikopol (Gurren Lagann) is basically unlistenable, incredibly harsh and the bass is inaudible, some of the kicks make it through every now and then.
Most of the instruments are audible still however, except the lower guitar notes.
The slam/punch/tactility/dynamics(/detail) in general are all very meh, regardless of volume.
Kicks have a "click" to them sometimes which can be nice, e.g. in To Hell and Back (P.T. Adamczyk), which also in general sounds quite good but lacks warmth,
and The Blue Monday E'r'ectrical Parade (Iwasaki Taku),
also in said track, the background male vocal "aaaaaaah" comes through very slightly and the swells have some dynamics,
only the swells, the intro particularly is incredibly limp and very thin sounding, the clap has no decay.
Bass hits, like the ones throughout the chorus section of Are You In or Are You Out? (Captain Laserhawk) very much lack dynamics,
the timbre of the synth however is pretty good, a bit soft though and telephoney.
Snares are soft harsh and chchy, sound like pink noise and really lack dynamics, e.g in the start of Electric Guitarist (Yugo Kanno).
The steelpan in Aria Math (C418) lacks dynamics, the attack is noticeably long and the decay too quiet,
the background noise/hiss is easily audible throughout until 1:35 or so where it begins to start getting overpowered at 2:04 or so.
The single background perc hit at 2:52 is slightly audible.
For some reason there is audible distortion at lower volumes in the midrange (300-1000Hz) when doing sine sweeps which I cannot explain.
Listening to Radiant City (Deftones) is fatiguing,
there is no issue with not being able to hear instruments, but the congestion does not help.
The guitar sounds a bit soft, I can't hear any hiss but the chchiness is audible and detracts from its texture/timbre.
With noisy/busy music in general, at an extreme level like: ACT RIGHT (Femtanyl), it's actually not bad, mostly harsh and dry,
somewhat difficult to listen to at even normal volumes and many of the details such as the saw wave stabs are hard to hear.
Dynamics for this track are ok at the very best.
Sounds that should be very dynamic and textured are not, like the intro synth to Orphan (Slipknot),
it also has the issue of sounding like pink noise, the timbre of the synth sound 23 seconds in is significantly nicer and has some of its characteristic buzzing.
Piano lacks dynamics and some of the expected "distorted" sound in Équinoxe (C418),
however the later "zingy" FX pad at 0:54 then 1:20 does not have the same issue, but decay is lacking.
Brass lacks dynamics, at lower pitches there is more buzz and flutter like in the background and foreground of Shamar - Night (Sonic Unleashed).
I struggle to hear the background bass guitar towards the end, otherwise all instruments are accounted for.
The intro stab to Skyscraper Scamper - Day (Sonic Unleashed) sounds crunchy/compressed/distorted, and lacks dynamics,
the saxophone in the intro lacks dynamics and sounds nasally and thin, the trumpets afterwards are a little better, being louder and having some dynamicism,
the very low bass is audible and not lacking in dynamics, it is harder to hear when it is pitched up starting at 2:16.
The cymbals are very shshy throughout and not anywhere near sizzly enough, lacking loudness.
In some cases brass (and sax) can sound quite good, with Arid Sands - Night (Sonic Unleashed), the layered trumpet, sax and strings have some texture and get loud,
there isn't that much for them to be masked by and the timbre of them is good except for being nasally.
Room echos are not very pronounced, but are there.
Calmer/less busy music has less problems as expected, Shunjun / 逡巡 (Hideaki Taniuchi) has noticeable dynamics,
and the wind-like sound that comes in at 45 seconds feels like it gets closer before it decays out, which it does wispily, like it never played in the first place.
The grainy sound after it decays is inaudible and more of the details are harder to hear as the mix gets busier and guitar becomes more prominent,
and it too has the same issue of sounding like it has no decay.
The intro section of Unknow (The Maccabees) is very nice, the pad swells to its intended loudness, the FX have some texture,
but the vocals might have some difficulty being understood.
The rumble of the bass guitar twang stands out, the snares have so little dynamics that i forgot they existed even though they are clearly audible.
Tower Lockdown (Paul Leonard-Morgan) sounds really really nice, the main synth is nicely textured, arguably grainy,
the track regardless sounds a bit thin and soft but all of the small FX details and various pads are audible, and swell to almost their expected loudness.
Most music from Cyberpunk 2077's original soundtrack sounds good on Chopin, the bass and rumble are VERY evident at higher volumes.
Female vocals e.g. in Sorairo Days (Shoko Nakagawa) are a bit nasally,
the track in general is near unlistenably harsh with Chopin, mostly shshy and ssssy/sibilant.
The vocals after the intro section in Possessed by Disease (Keiichi Okabe) are more nasally than usual as well,
the intro vocals lack husk, they have some slight breathiness, the pad that plays from the start feels very smoothed over.
The Male vocal "aaaaaah" at the start of Turnin' On The Screw (QOTSA) sounds wispy though it does have some vocal husk and texture.
The rest of the vocals after the start also sound wispy, nasally and have a little husk but have the issue of sounding like pink noise.
Image/stage sits near my head, mostly at the back and stretches nearby very diffusely left and right,
doesn't have frontal or accurate localisation, front-back discrimination is difficult.
Measurement of unit at: https://cammyfi.squig.link/?share=Binary_x_Gizaudio_Chopin
