Reviews by TechieFelixLP
Tanchjim 4U: For You and For Professional You.
Before going into the review, I would like to thank Mr. Harmoko for once again lending me my first IEM from a brand I wanted to check out but haven’t gotten a chance until now. This is the first Tanchjim IEM I reviewed and perhaps the first one I tried too. Disclaimer, this set is loaner and everything I share here is 100% my own opinion on the Tanchjim 4U. Thank you so much Mr. Harmoko for your continuous support.
Unboxing
Starting with the unboxing experience of Tanchjim 4U. The box is surprisingly small, smaller than what I thought it would be. Opening up the box reveals the layers of things included with the 4U. A small folded box that houses your paperworks and IEM pouch. On the next layer is a foam insert with the 4U in them and the last layer is the Cables for the 4U. They also included a tiny metal screwdriver for tuning the 4U. I will talk about this in the dedicated section. Moving on…
Design, Fit, and Comfort
The Design of the 4U is quite beautiful as it has a silver and chrome color scheme to them. The shape is quite small and the weight is quite light, while feeling quite solid due to the metal build of the 4U. The tuning potentiometer is placed in the inside of the 4U, not quite sure on how durable it is since it’s on the rather humid part of ear + it is made of plastic and the tool they included is a metal tool. I think over time the plastic will deteriorate and the included tool might also accelerate the process. It is my concern from the first time seeing the 4U in facebook posts.
Fitting wise, due to the small nature of the 4U, I find them rather comfortable to be worn over a long period of time. The tuning however… Let's talk about it.
Sound
The overall sound of 4U can be Mild V, slight midbassy, less subbass, and no bass. I will talk about this more on the dedicated switch section of the video. Overall, the 4U caters to quite a contrasting listening experience. Most of the time I'm leaning towards the ‘Atmospheric’ tuning, which is the Mild V tuning.
Bass
Perhaps the Atmospheric setting has the most bass compared to other settings, but compared to some of the other IEMs I’ve been trying the last few weeks it feels less bassy. Even though there aren’t a lot of thump and rumble from the 4U, I feel like the bass is pretty adequate to give a slight fun sound to the songs listened with the 4U. With the 4U, I feel like listening to a lot of easier, laidback, and slower songs. Perhaps it is due to my ears starting to fatigue, but it sure is a nice segue to the Midrange performance of the 4U.
Mids
Usually, slower songs like the Jazzy, classical genres, have a lot of instruments that occupy the midrange frequencies. The 4U sounds rather full and natural, something from Laufey or perhaps NIKI Nicole album sounds rather nice and quite relaxing. Perhaps the midrange and vocal presentation isn’t as warm as I would like, but they are quite easy to enjoy. However, the mids can come across as slightly thin with the Tanchjim 4U. I wouldn’t necessarily call this a drawback, as some professional monitoring IEMs can also sound a bit thin and the Tanchjim 4U does have a dedicated “Monitoring” tuning. I’ll address the tuning aspect in another section.
Treble
Last but not least, the treble performance of the 4U is quite forward and pronounced. Perhaps you could say they are quite bright… perhaps they’re not the brightest out there, but it is enough to give some sparkle to vocals and instruments. Your mileage may vary of course. To be quite honest with you, I’ve been feeling very tired lately and while testing the 4U I feel quite fatigued sometimes. Perhaps it is a good idea to take rest between sessions in general, but the show must go on!
Switches
This is perhaps my reason to get the 4U. It’s not that I like switches now, but I do find the tunings provided by the 4U switches quite intriguing. Truthfully, out of 4 tunings the 4U has I’m only interested in 2. What are those tuning ? Let’s talk about it
Atmospheric
The tuning I used most while assessing the 4U is the Atmospheric setting. I mainly use the 4U for recreation and casual music listening. I prefer this tuning because it offers a balanced mid-bass and sub-bass. It alters the bass characteristics of the 4U, providing the most sub-bass of all the settings. The name suggests that the bass creates an atmospheric feel, which is accurate—it makes the soundstage slightly wider, similar to my experience with the HiSenior Okavango.
Monitoring
My second favorite tuning of the 4U, not because it is the most fun sounding out of the bunch or because it is close to my target preference. However, if I were ever to use it for professional use including youtube video editing. This tuning might be the tuning I choose for the task, I didn’t spend too much time with actual monitoring IEMs. However I feel like it is as close to a monitoring IEM as it can get for something that you could enjoy for regular use and monitoring use… in this price range, because… the Volur exists.
Pop
Other than the 2 mentioned before, honestly I don’t really use this tuning nor the next one. The Pop 2nd most Bass out of the 4 tuning. It slightly lessened the subbass of the 4U, and a little bit of the midbass. I honestly prefer subbass more than Midbass, but I do get that some people would like this tuning. It is quite fun, making pop songs sound fun, engaging, and lifting. Perhaps suitable for those who listens to Taylor Swift, K-Pop, and other Pop songs.
Natural
Natural, the third least bassy setting of the 4U. Perhaps if you like classical or mids centric tuning, the Natural might be for you, as the natural tuning pushes most of the bass while leaving plenty to give some bass to songs.
On Distortion (10 Babymetal Budokan)
The soundstage is reasonably wide—not the widest, but certainly not the narrowest. The imaging is good, with instrument positioning and other elements being fairly pronounced. While it may not be the most resolving IEM available, it certainly offers good value for its price and the other aspects discussed in this review.
Vs. Kefine Delci
I think they have a similar tuning overall, but the 4U might sound a little bit bright and a little bit less bassy. Like most of my comparisons, I can’t really choose between one or the other. The Tanchjim 4U offers the flexibility of tuning and the “Monitoring” setting is quite interesting to me. However, the Kefine Delci is way more fun and relaxing to listen to. I think if you prefer punchy and thumpy bass, the Delci might be a good option for you.
Vs. Zero:Red
Speaking of bass, My Truthear Zero:Red barely gets any mention these days. Since my last review on them, I have changed the cable to EPZ’s Mic Cable from the Q1 Pro. Why ? Because I use the Zero:Red for basically anything. But! I digress… The Zero:Red is also less bassy compared to the Kefine Delci. However it does feel like they are comparable to the Tanchjim 4U. The bass performance of the Zero:Red is quite more refined, giving that “Fast” bass. It is also worth noting that the Zero:Red is a dual Dynamic Driver and the 4U is a single Dynamic Driver, so take it with a grain of salt. On the upper end, the Zero:Red feels a little bit dull and lacking in clarity.
Overview of Comparison
To recap: the 4U is the brightest, the Delci has the most bass, and the Zero
is the most natural. In my opinion, the Tanchjim 4U exhibits the best perceived technicalities of the three and may be the most comfortable.
TL; DW
The Tanchjim 4U is a Single Dynamic Driver IEM that costs around $70 dollars. Fun fact, this is actually the first IEM I reviewed from Tanchjim. It has 4 tuning and can be adjusted with a potentiometer on the inside of the IEMs. I do have concerns about this decision, but… oh well. The tuning affects the bass performance of the 4U. Monitoring has the least bass and Atmospheric has the most.
The Tanchjim 4U has a rather bright, mid forward sound to them. The Bass is adequate for general enjoyment, but perhaps doesn’t suit those who want a lot of bass when listening to music. I quite enjoy the tuning of the 4U and I feel like it is quite an interesting IEM to have. I’m mostly interested in the “monitoring” setting. As for the ratings, I give the Tanchjim 4U a B+ for tonality and another B+ for Technicalities.
Perhaps if you’re looking for a mid centric, mild V tuning IEM with tuning switches, the Tanchjim might be a great candidate 4U.
That is it, that is my review of the Tanchjim 4U. Thank you so much everyone that has supported me to this day. Thank you Mr. Harmoko for lending me the Tanchjim 4U and Kefine Delci in for review. Thank you all for watching and… have a great day!
Before going into the review, I would like to thank Mr. Harmoko for once again lending me my first IEM from a brand I wanted to check out but haven’t gotten a chance until now. This is the first Tanchjim IEM I reviewed and perhaps the first one I tried too. Disclaimer, this set is loaner and everything I share here is 100% my own opinion on the Tanchjim 4U. Thank you so much Mr. Harmoko for your continuous support.
Unboxing
Starting with the unboxing experience of Tanchjim 4U. The box is surprisingly small, smaller than what I thought it would be. Opening up the box reveals the layers of things included with the 4U. A small folded box that houses your paperworks and IEM pouch. On the next layer is a foam insert with the 4U in them and the last layer is the Cables for the 4U. They also included a tiny metal screwdriver for tuning the 4U. I will talk about this in the dedicated section. Moving on…
Design, Fit, and Comfort
The Design of the 4U is quite beautiful as it has a silver and chrome color scheme to them. The shape is quite small and the weight is quite light, while feeling quite solid due to the metal build of the 4U. The tuning potentiometer is placed in the inside of the 4U, not quite sure on how durable it is since it’s on the rather humid part of ear + it is made of plastic and the tool they included is a metal tool. I think over time the plastic will deteriorate and the included tool might also accelerate the process. It is my concern from the first time seeing the 4U in facebook posts.
Fitting wise, due to the small nature of the 4U, I find them rather comfortable to be worn over a long period of time. The tuning however… Let's talk about it.
Sound
The overall sound of 4U can be Mild V, slight midbassy, less subbass, and no bass. I will talk about this more on the dedicated switch section of the video. Overall, the 4U caters to quite a contrasting listening experience. Most of the time I'm leaning towards the ‘Atmospheric’ tuning, which is the Mild V tuning.
Bass
Perhaps the Atmospheric setting has the most bass compared to other settings, but compared to some of the other IEMs I’ve been trying the last few weeks it feels less bassy. Even though there aren’t a lot of thump and rumble from the 4U, I feel like the bass is pretty adequate to give a slight fun sound to the songs listened with the 4U. With the 4U, I feel like listening to a lot of easier, laidback, and slower songs. Perhaps it is due to my ears starting to fatigue, but it sure is a nice segue to the Midrange performance of the 4U.
Mids
Usually, slower songs like the Jazzy, classical genres, have a lot of instruments that occupy the midrange frequencies. The 4U sounds rather full and natural, something from Laufey or perhaps NIKI Nicole album sounds rather nice and quite relaxing. Perhaps the midrange and vocal presentation isn’t as warm as I would like, but they are quite easy to enjoy. However, the mids can come across as slightly thin with the Tanchjim 4U. I wouldn’t necessarily call this a drawback, as some professional monitoring IEMs can also sound a bit thin and the Tanchjim 4U does have a dedicated “Monitoring” tuning. I’ll address the tuning aspect in another section.
Treble
Last but not least, the treble performance of the 4U is quite forward and pronounced. Perhaps you could say they are quite bright… perhaps they’re not the brightest out there, but it is enough to give some sparkle to vocals and instruments. Your mileage may vary of course. To be quite honest with you, I’ve been feeling very tired lately and while testing the 4U I feel quite fatigued sometimes. Perhaps it is a good idea to take rest between sessions in general, but the show must go on!
Switches
This is perhaps my reason to get the 4U. It’s not that I like switches now, but I do find the tunings provided by the 4U switches quite intriguing. Truthfully, out of 4 tunings the 4U has I’m only interested in 2. What are those tuning ? Let’s talk about it
Atmospheric
The tuning I used most while assessing the 4U is the Atmospheric setting. I mainly use the 4U for recreation and casual music listening. I prefer this tuning because it offers a balanced mid-bass and sub-bass. It alters the bass characteristics of the 4U, providing the most sub-bass of all the settings. The name suggests that the bass creates an atmospheric feel, which is accurate—it makes the soundstage slightly wider, similar to my experience with the HiSenior Okavango.
Monitoring
My second favorite tuning of the 4U, not because it is the most fun sounding out of the bunch or because it is close to my target preference. However, if I were ever to use it for professional use including youtube video editing. This tuning might be the tuning I choose for the task, I didn’t spend too much time with actual monitoring IEMs. However I feel like it is as close to a monitoring IEM as it can get for something that you could enjoy for regular use and monitoring use… in this price range, because… the Volur exists.
Pop
Other than the 2 mentioned before, honestly I don’t really use this tuning nor the next one. The Pop 2nd most Bass out of the 4 tuning. It slightly lessened the subbass of the 4U, and a little bit of the midbass. I honestly prefer subbass more than Midbass, but I do get that some people would like this tuning. It is quite fun, making pop songs sound fun, engaging, and lifting. Perhaps suitable for those who listens to Taylor Swift, K-Pop, and other Pop songs.
Natural
Natural, the third least bassy setting of the 4U. Perhaps if you like classical or mids centric tuning, the Natural might be for you, as the natural tuning pushes most of the bass while leaving plenty to give some bass to songs.
On Distortion (10 Babymetal Budokan)
The soundstage is reasonably wide—not the widest, but certainly not the narrowest. The imaging is good, with instrument positioning and other elements being fairly pronounced. While it may not be the most resolving IEM available, it certainly offers good value for its price and the other aspects discussed in this review.
Vs. Kefine Delci
I think they have a similar tuning overall, but the 4U might sound a little bit bright and a little bit less bassy. Like most of my comparisons, I can’t really choose between one or the other. The Tanchjim 4U offers the flexibility of tuning and the “Monitoring” setting is quite interesting to me. However, the Kefine Delci is way more fun and relaxing to listen to. I think if you prefer punchy and thumpy bass, the Delci might be a good option for you.
Vs. Zero:Red
Speaking of bass, My Truthear Zero:Red barely gets any mention these days. Since my last review on them, I have changed the cable to EPZ’s Mic Cable from the Q1 Pro. Why ? Because I use the Zero:Red for basically anything. But! I digress… The Zero:Red is also less bassy compared to the Kefine Delci. However it does feel like they are comparable to the Tanchjim 4U. The bass performance of the Zero:Red is quite more refined, giving that “Fast” bass. It is also worth noting that the Zero:Red is a dual Dynamic Driver and the 4U is a single Dynamic Driver, so take it with a grain of salt. On the upper end, the Zero:Red feels a little bit dull and lacking in clarity.
Overview of Comparison
To recap: the 4U is the brightest, the Delci has the most bass, and the Zero
is the most natural. In my opinion, the Tanchjim 4U exhibits the best perceived technicalities of the three and may be the most comfortable.
TL; DW
The Tanchjim 4U is a Single Dynamic Driver IEM that costs around $70 dollars. Fun fact, this is actually the first IEM I reviewed from Tanchjim. It has 4 tuning and can be adjusted with a potentiometer on the inside of the IEMs. I do have concerns about this decision, but… oh well. The tuning affects the bass performance of the 4U. Monitoring has the least bass and Atmospheric has the most.
The Tanchjim 4U has a rather bright, mid forward sound to them. The Bass is adequate for general enjoyment, but perhaps doesn’t suit those who want a lot of bass when listening to music. I quite enjoy the tuning of the 4U and I feel like it is quite an interesting IEM to have. I’m mostly interested in the “monitoring” setting. As for the ratings, I give the Tanchjim 4U a B+ for tonality and another B+ for Technicalities.
Perhaps if you’re looking for a mid centric, mild V tuning IEM with tuning switches, the Tanchjim might be a great candidate 4U.
That is it, that is my review of the Tanchjim 4U. Thank you so much everyone that has supported me to this day. Thank you Mr. Harmoko for lending me the Tanchjim 4U and Kefine Delci in for review. Thank you all for watching and… have a great day!
Attachments
Video Review:
Some time quite long ago I was asked by EPZ if I would like to try their latest product, I of course said yes and here it is. The EPZ M100, officially the first eartips I reviewed. Since I'm rather new to reviewing eartips. I would like to ask for suggestions about what I should talk about when discussing eartips. Let me know in the comments section.
The EPZ M100 is sent as a review units from EPZ, however they don't have any say on my review and they are hearing my thoughts on them as you are. This review is 100% own thoughts and experience with the EPZ M100, even though the units are gifted, I would try my best to give you my unbiased thoughts on them.
Build and Design
The EPZ M100 is made of soft silicone, it has a pretty malleable and sticky feel to them. Not quite sure if they have a wide or narrow bore as I think they're just normal. Perhaps compared to some other eartips they're wide and compared to the other quite narrow. Depends on what you're comparing them to.
The EPZ M100 is quite long and perhaps larger compared to your usual size. The soft material also made them quite easy to put on. From huge nozzles to small nozzles, perhaps on smaller nozzles they may slip out easily but since I barely have any IEM that have small nozzles, I can't say much on this.
M100 + Hiby x FAudio Project Ace
The Hiby x FAudio Project Ace is perhaps my favorite IEM under $300. The fitment of the Project Ace can be a little bit iffy at first but finding the best eartips for you is quite important with the Ace.
When I tried putting them on, the Ace looked 10 times fancier. It perhaps resembles the Softears UC Eartips. The fitment however, is where it shines the most. When I paired the M100 with the Ace, the fitment became way better and the sticky nature of the M100 made the Ace way more secure in the ears. Perhaps it is quite a bit out there, but I also think that the M100 may have boosted the vocal and upper mid performance of the Project Ace. Making the vocals stands out a little bit more compared to the stock eartips.
M100 + TinHifi Dudu
The fitment of the Dudu for me is quite uncomfortable as the body is quite huge because of the driver type and the nozzle is quite short. The M100 works best for IEMs with shallow fit like the TinHifi Dudu or maybe the Elysian Pilgrim. Perhaps I'm just imagining this, but the first time I tried the M100 with TinHifi Dudu the sound of the Dudu became a little bit more fatiguing and the vocal region might be a little bit more forward. This issue is no longer present when I get used to how the Dudu sound and I quite enjoy the fitment of the Dudu.
M100 + Dunu DaVinci
Perhaps quite redundant to buy even more eartips for the DaVinci, as it already came with a bunch of eartips you could think of, but I did try this and I finally found what the M100 might not be good for. Perhaps it's not really a problem, but for me the DaVinci already has quite a long nozzle to begin with, adding a little more to that Nozzle with the M100 might make the fitment slightly off. This is mostly talking about fitment but again your ears and mine can be quite different. Since the fitment of the M100 + DaVinci barely works for me, I don't really listen much with this combo. I barely notice any difference between the M100 and the included eartips.
M100 + DITA Project M
Another similar experience to the DaVinci as the DITA already fit so deep. The extra length of the M100 may break the already comfortable fit of the Project M. But I can't lie, the looks of clear eartips with the DITA Project M is something else.
On Durability
Perhaps they are not really easy to tear apart, unless you use sharp objects when interacting with them, but what is an actual concern right out of the box for me is whether or not they will turn yellow. After daily driving them for more than a month now, they do get slightly yellow. I tried cleaning them from time to time, but it seems like it doesn't work. Perhaps they're quite resistant to yellowing because I just noticed this quite recently.
TL; DW
The EPZ M100 is a liquid silicone eartips from the brand EPZ. The M100 has a quite soft and sticky feel to them. Costing around 5 dollars a box, the M100 is perfect eartips for those who are looking for eartips that look fancy or for those who would like a deeper fitment to their IEMs. Perhaps in the sound department the M100 might boost the vocal/upper midrange area quite a bit, but I can't really say for sure as perhaps this effect is different between IEMs and ears. I don't really know how to rate an eartips, but they get a thumbs up for me.
Thank you EPZ for trusting me with the review of the M100 and I'm really sorry that it takes quite a long time to assess this product. Thank you all for watching and supporting me to this point… still can't process I got a 1000 subs already.
Thank you again everyone for supporting me
and I wish you all a great day.
Some time quite long ago I was asked by EPZ if I would like to try their latest product, I of course said yes and here it is. The EPZ M100, officially the first eartips I reviewed. Since I'm rather new to reviewing eartips. I would like to ask for suggestions about what I should talk about when discussing eartips. Let me know in the comments section.
The EPZ M100 is sent as a review units from EPZ, however they don't have any say on my review and they are hearing my thoughts on them as you are. This review is 100% own thoughts and experience with the EPZ M100, even though the units are gifted, I would try my best to give you my unbiased thoughts on them.
Build and Design
The EPZ M100 is made of soft silicone, it has a pretty malleable and sticky feel to them. Not quite sure if they have a wide or narrow bore as I think they're just normal. Perhaps compared to some other eartips they're wide and compared to the other quite narrow. Depends on what you're comparing them to.
The EPZ M100 is quite long and perhaps larger compared to your usual size. The soft material also made them quite easy to put on. From huge nozzles to small nozzles, perhaps on smaller nozzles they may slip out easily but since I barely have any IEM that have small nozzles, I can't say much on this.
M100 + Hiby x FAudio Project Ace
The Hiby x FAudio Project Ace is perhaps my favorite IEM under $300. The fitment of the Project Ace can be a little bit iffy at first but finding the best eartips for you is quite important with the Ace.
When I tried putting them on, the Ace looked 10 times fancier. It perhaps resembles the Softears UC Eartips. The fitment however, is where it shines the most. When I paired the M100 with the Ace, the fitment became way better and the sticky nature of the M100 made the Ace way more secure in the ears. Perhaps it is quite a bit out there, but I also think that the M100 may have boosted the vocal and upper mid performance of the Project Ace. Making the vocals stands out a little bit more compared to the stock eartips.
M100 + TinHifi Dudu
The fitment of the Dudu for me is quite uncomfortable as the body is quite huge because of the driver type and the nozzle is quite short. The M100 works best for IEMs with shallow fit like the TinHifi Dudu or maybe the Elysian Pilgrim. Perhaps I'm just imagining this, but the first time I tried the M100 with TinHifi Dudu the sound of the Dudu became a little bit more fatiguing and the vocal region might be a little bit more forward. This issue is no longer present when I get used to how the Dudu sound and I quite enjoy the fitment of the Dudu.
M100 + Dunu DaVinci
Perhaps quite redundant to buy even more eartips for the DaVinci, as it already came with a bunch of eartips you could think of, but I did try this and I finally found what the M100 might not be good for. Perhaps it's not really a problem, but for me the DaVinci already has quite a long nozzle to begin with, adding a little more to that Nozzle with the M100 might make the fitment slightly off. This is mostly talking about fitment but again your ears and mine can be quite different. Since the fitment of the M100 + DaVinci barely works for me, I don't really listen much with this combo. I barely notice any difference between the M100 and the included eartips.
M100 + DITA Project M
Another similar experience to the DaVinci as the DITA already fit so deep. The extra length of the M100 may break the already comfortable fit of the Project M. But I can't lie, the looks of clear eartips with the DITA Project M is something else.
On Durability
Perhaps they are not really easy to tear apart, unless you use sharp objects when interacting with them, but what is an actual concern right out of the box for me is whether or not they will turn yellow. After daily driving them for more than a month now, they do get slightly yellow. I tried cleaning them from time to time, but it seems like it doesn't work. Perhaps they're quite resistant to yellowing because I just noticed this quite recently.
TL; DW
The EPZ M100 is a liquid silicone eartips from the brand EPZ. The M100 has a quite soft and sticky feel to them. Costing around 5 dollars a box, the M100 is perfect eartips for those who are looking for eartips that look fancy or for those who would like a deeper fitment to their IEMs. Perhaps in the sound department the M100 might boost the vocal/upper midrange area quite a bit, but I can't really say for sure as perhaps this effect is different between IEMs and ears. I don't really know how to rate an eartips, but they get a thumbs up for me.
Thank you EPZ for trusting me with the review of the M100 and I'm really sorry that it takes quite a long time to assess this product. Thank you all for watching and supporting me to this point… still can't process I got a 1000 subs already.
Thank you again everyone for supporting me
and I wish you all a great day.
Attachments
Before jumping to the review, I would like to thank Hiby for sending the unit in for review alongside the amazing R4 Digital Audio Player. Since I don’t own any 4.4 mm device, this review is mainly will be written with the Hiby R4 as the source. Secondly, I would like to thank AudioGeek Tour Group for arranging the product tour. Especially Mr. Harmoko, Mr. Novan, and Mr. Sandeep. Enough dilly-dallying let’s get straight to the review.
Video Review:
Unboxing
(I forgot to include the Leather Box lol)
I got a chance to unbox them for the first time in Beyond The Music Store, a huge shout out to them, especially because they also took part in distributing the tour unit around. Unboxing wise, the Project Ace really does scream fancy, there isn't any anime box art for them and the Project Ace Themselves are pretty hard to take out. A little tip is to push them from the back, although you’ll need to be careful not to push on the nozzles. They also include a really nice eartips case. Inside, there’s 2 types of eartips, usual silicon ones and foam eartips. Next is the included case, which houses the thick included cable inside, the Project Ace also came with modular cable, so the jack can be switched between 4.4 and 3.5 mm. Other than that, they also include a cleaning tool.
Design, Fit, and Comfort
The Project Ace seems to be a fairly comfortable set in ears. The buds themselves are made of metal, and perhaps they’re not painted, rather anodized, because they do have that slightly transparent look to them. Their angular look might be intimidating at first, they’re surprisingly comfortable. Although my right ear, which is slightly smaller than the left, does get a little uncomfortable after 2-3 hours of continuous listening. About the weight, it seems like they’re in between being light and heavy, light when they’re on your ears so you most likely won’t feel a thing, but heavy enough to inspire confidence in your hands.
They also came with a really nice cable, the combination of color does match really well and the cable is thick while being lightweight enough to not bother the user experience. The hardware from the chin slider thingy to the jack feels so nice, as they’re made of metal. Although, I do have a slight note on the jack, as there’s a gap for the modular jack. Some people I show the Ace to, do share the similar note on them, as they look like they’re not secured enough, even though they’re actually secured properly. But I really appreciate the craftsmanship on them.
Sound
Since I’ll be reviewing the Project Ace and R4, the source I’ll be using for the review is the R4 itself. I think compared to what I’m used to, the TEU-99 for a while now. The R4 is a huge upgrade over them, as the first time I used them, they made the Zero:Red feel wider than with the TEU-99. Perhaps it’s because the TEU-99 is just a Dongle DAC, while the R4 is both a DAC+AMP that also plays music. This review will be mostly written without any plugins on the R4. Mostly “Mid” Gain, as I feel the Project Ace sounds better on this gain mode.
Treble
The upper treble seems to be rather fast with not a lot of decay, the cymbals hits on Rock/Metal tracks like from Megadeth and Bring Me The Horizon feels to be slightly less airy. For me, the experience is rather natural and fast, giving a rather nice, more natural sound presentation compared to Hybrid sets. Although technically, hybrid sets do have their own advantages. On the Mid treble, it seems like there’s a slight hike, where it could come out slightly fatiguing and maybe some sibilance on higher listening volume, but for me, I think this is slightly needed to bring up some of that details on songs. On the lower Treble or Presence region, the Project Ace has a decent presence, slightly forward, perhaps not as forward as on the Tanchjim Origin, but it’s forward enough while providing some air to breathe, giving a sense of wide and layered soundstage.
Mids
The Upper midrange feels nicely tuned, as the vocals doesn’t stand out too much, yet stands out enough from the instruments to take the spotlight. The vocals are weighty with good natural presentation. Perhaps the slight peak on the presence region does affect the vocal and upper midrange performance of the Ace, but I think it’s still not peaky enough to be fatiguing and unnatural sounding. As for the lower mids, the lower mids presentation feels linear and clean with minimal to almost non-existence midbass bleed. Speaking of Midbass…
Bass
I think the Ace doesn’t have too much Midbass. If you asked me, I personally don’t really mind the lack of Midbass, although on some songs, I do feel like it is also necessary. The Project Ace for me has a pretty natural sounding midbass. Not too much, not too little. Not enough to be bloated, but enough to give a natural satisfying bass guitar and bass drums sounds.
From my experience with the Ace, I think the Project Ace focuses more on Subbass, as for me, the subbass is a little bit more pronounced compared to the Midbass as Kickdrums feel slightly accentuated compared to Bass drums or Bass guitars.
On Distortion 10 Babymetal Budokan
The sound presentation is rather wide, with less accentuation on vocals, making the soundstaging a bit deeper than what I usually experience. Electric guitar licks came out really nice, enough to be noticeable yet not enough to be annoying. Imaging and layering are also pretty nice with the Ace. I think what is slightly missing with the Ace is the detail retrieval from the audience or other small nuances in the recording that are usually present in a hybrid set. Considering the limitation of a single Dynamic Driver, I believe the Ace has shown its’ full potential and I feel like the previous comment of lacking that detail is just a nitpick from my end.
On 2Worlds
In the opening seconds, the Project Ace sounds so “ethereal” if that’s even a word. I really like how deep the soundstage and imaging presentation is. Making the feel slightly light and rather easy to relax to. The experience is clean, with a good bass punch.
EPZ M100
While reviewing the Project Ace, I also got sent a set of EPZ’s new Eartips, the M100. The M100 slightly boosts the upper midrange performance with the Ace, I think if you find the Upper Midrange or vocal area needed to be slightly forward, the M100 eartips might be a really good combination for the Hiby Project Ace. Other than the sound, the M100 also feels to make the Project Ace way more comfortable in my ears. The extra grip it has also make them fit more securely. I will cover the EPZ M100 more on a dedicated video of them.
TL;DR
The Hiby x F.Audio Project Ace is officially the first IEM I reviewed from the brand Hiby and F.Audio. They are also the first non-hybrid IEM I fully reviewed that costs above $100 dollars. The Project Ace is a single Dynamic Driver IEM that costs $250. Having a rather flat-ish natural sound, the Project Ace offers a wide and deep soundstaging and good imaging. Perhaps not the most detailed or resolving IEM for $250, but it sure is still detailed, while sounding natural at the same time. I enjoy the natural sound it has, how undistracting the sound signature is, and how they look. They’re definitely not perfect, but what is perfection without imperfections ? If you like a natural sound with a wide and deep soundstage. I think the Project Ace is worth considering. I’m quite sure that the Project Ace is an underrated set, that you (probably) shouldn’t miss. As for the ratings, I give the Project Ace an A for Tonality and a B+ for Technicalities.
Well, that is it! That is my review of the Hiby x F.Audio Project Ace. Do you own the Project Ace ? What are your thoughts about them ? Let me know in the comments section. Thank you to Mr. Sandeep, Mr. Harmoko, and Hiby for making this review possible! Thank you al
l for watching and have a great day!
Video Review:
Unboxing
(I forgot to include the Leather Box lol)
I got a chance to unbox them for the first time in Beyond The Music Store, a huge shout out to them, especially because they also took part in distributing the tour unit around. Unboxing wise, the Project Ace really does scream fancy, there isn't any anime box art for them and the Project Ace Themselves are pretty hard to take out. A little tip is to push them from the back, although you’ll need to be careful not to push on the nozzles. They also include a really nice eartips case. Inside, there’s 2 types of eartips, usual silicon ones and foam eartips. Next is the included case, which houses the thick included cable inside, the Project Ace also came with modular cable, so the jack can be switched between 4.4 and 3.5 mm. Other than that, they also include a cleaning tool.
Design, Fit, and Comfort
The Project Ace seems to be a fairly comfortable set in ears. The buds themselves are made of metal, and perhaps they’re not painted, rather anodized, because they do have that slightly transparent look to them. Their angular look might be intimidating at first, they’re surprisingly comfortable. Although my right ear, which is slightly smaller than the left, does get a little uncomfortable after 2-3 hours of continuous listening. About the weight, it seems like they’re in between being light and heavy, light when they’re on your ears so you most likely won’t feel a thing, but heavy enough to inspire confidence in your hands.
They also came with a really nice cable, the combination of color does match really well and the cable is thick while being lightweight enough to not bother the user experience. The hardware from the chin slider thingy to the jack feels so nice, as they’re made of metal. Although, I do have a slight note on the jack, as there’s a gap for the modular jack. Some people I show the Ace to, do share the similar note on them, as they look like they’re not secured enough, even though they’re actually secured properly. But I really appreciate the craftsmanship on them.
Sound
Since I’ll be reviewing the Project Ace and R4, the source I’ll be using for the review is the R4 itself. I think compared to what I’m used to, the TEU-99 for a while now. The R4 is a huge upgrade over them, as the first time I used them, they made the Zero:Red feel wider than with the TEU-99. Perhaps it’s because the TEU-99 is just a Dongle DAC, while the R4 is both a DAC+AMP that also plays music. This review will be mostly written without any plugins on the R4. Mostly “Mid” Gain, as I feel the Project Ace sounds better on this gain mode.
Treble
The upper treble seems to be rather fast with not a lot of decay, the cymbals hits on Rock/Metal tracks like from Megadeth and Bring Me The Horizon feels to be slightly less airy. For me, the experience is rather natural and fast, giving a rather nice, more natural sound presentation compared to Hybrid sets. Although technically, hybrid sets do have their own advantages. On the Mid treble, it seems like there’s a slight hike, where it could come out slightly fatiguing and maybe some sibilance on higher listening volume, but for me, I think this is slightly needed to bring up some of that details on songs. On the lower Treble or Presence region, the Project Ace has a decent presence, slightly forward, perhaps not as forward as on the Tanchjim Origin, but it’s forward enough while providing some air to breathe, giving a sense of wide and layered soundstage.
Mids
The Upper midrange feels nicely tuned, as the vocals doesn’t stand out too much, yet stands out enough from the instruments to take the spotlight. The vocals are weighty with good natural presentation. Perhaps the slight peak on the presence region does affect the vocal and upper midrange performance of the Ace, but I think it’s still not peaky enough to be fatiguing and unnatural sounding. As for the lower mids, the lower mids presentation feels linear and clean with minimal to almost non-existence midbass bleed. Speaking of Midbass…
Bass
I think the Ace doesn’t have too much Midbass. If you asked me, I personally don’t really mind the lack of Midbass, although on some songs, I do feel like it is also necessary. The Project Ace for me has a pretty natural sounding midbass. Not too much, not too little. Not enough to be bloated, but enough to give a natural satisfying bass guitar and bass drums sounds.
From my experience with the Ace, I think the Project Ace focuses more on Subbass, as for me, the subbass is a little bit more pronounced compared to the Midbass as Kickdrums feel slightly accentuated compared to Bass drums or Bass guitars.
On Distortion 10 Babymetal Budokan
The sound presentation is rather wide, with less accentuation on vocals, making the soundstaging a bit deeper than what I usually experience. Electric guitar licks came out really nice, enough to be noticeable yet not enough to be annoying. Imaging and layering are also pretty nice with the Ace. I think what is slightly missing with the Ace is the detail retrieval from the audience or other small nuances in the recording that are usually present in a hybrid set. Considering the limitation of a single Dynamic Driver, I believe the Ace has shown its’ full potential and I feel like the previous comment of lacking that detail is just a nitpick from my end.
On 2Worlds
In the opening seconds, the Project Ace sounds so “ethereal” if that’s even a word. I really like how deep the soundstage and imaging presentation is. Making the feel slightly light and rather easy to relax to. The experience is clean, with a good bass punch.
EPZ M100
While reviewing the Project Ace, I also got sent a set of EPZ’s new Eartips, the M100. The M100 slightly boosts the upper midrange performance with the Ace, I think if you find the Upper Midrange or vocal area needed to be slightly forward, the M100 eartips might be a really good combination for the Hiby Project Ace. Other than the sound, the M100 also feels to make the Project Ace way more comfortable in my ears. The extra grip it has also make them fit more securely. I will cover the EPZ M100 more on a dedicated video of them.
TL;DR
The Hiby x F.Audio Project Ace is officially the first IEM I reviewed from the brand Hiby and F.Audio. They are also the first non-hybrid IEM I fully reviewed that costs above $100 dollars. The Project Ace is a single Dynamic Driver IEM that costs $250. Having a rather flat-ish natural sound, the Project Ace offers a wide and deep soundstaging and good imaging. Perhaps not the most detailed or resolving IEM for $250, but it sure is still detailed, while sounding natural at the same time. I enjoy the natural sound it has, how undistracting the sound signature is, and how they look. They’re definitely not perfect, but what is perfection without imperfections ? If you like a natural sound with a wide and deep soundstage. I think the Project Ace is worth considering. I’m quite sure that the Project Ace is an underrated set, that you (probably) shouldn’t miss. As for the ratings, I give the Project Ace an A for Tonality and a B+ for Technicalities.
Well, that is it! That is my review of the Hiby x F.Audio Project Ace. Do you own the Project Ace ? What are your thoughts about them ? Let me know in the comments section. Thank you to Mr. Sandeep, Mr. Harmoko, and Hiby for making this review possible! Thank you al
l for watching and have a great day!
Attachments
This unit is courtesy of Mr. Harmoko who lent me the Dunu Davinci for a week. Thank you so much for your support as always! This review is my first time reviewing a set from Dunu and actually my first IEM from Timmy from GizAudio, been looking for the Chopin since forever, Haven’t really gotten my hands on them tho… but I digress! As per usual, this review is my own opinion and I’m not forced to say anything good about anything.
Video Review:
Unboxing
Surprisingly, the Box is smaller than what I thought, but it is thick! Inside you’re presented with the Davinci themselves, and underneath there’s a carrying case that I actually really like, and… nothing else...
Inside the case, there’s the included Modular cable, a lot of Eartips Eartips, and the modular Jacks. The Accessories are very generous in my opinion, you got a lot of eartips, a lot of people’s favorites too like the Dunu SnS and the Dunu Candy.. The Modular Jacks included are the 3.5 and 4.4, but not only that, they also put a 6.35 mm adapter, which I’ve never seen included with an IEM before. Oh, they also included a cleaning brush.
Presentation wise, I think they are rather simplistic, but the accessories made up for that. I really like when manufacturers give a lot of good accessories as I think it adds up to the overall perception of value to the items you bought and of course it also gives options to the customers.
LEO Cable
Perhaps it is well understood that DUNU makes some of the best modular cable. Personally, I never tried DUNU’s product outside of this, but that is what I heard from a couple of my friends. Handling the LEO Cable that is included with Davinci feels quite nice on hand. The hardware is on the rather smaller size compared to maybe the Hiby’s Project Ace I reviewed a while back and the design is way more intricate on the Hiby, but I prefer slightly prefer the seamless look on the Leo, hardware look on the other hand, the Hiby Ace has a rather nice machined look to it. The Leo also came with protruded 2-pin to accommodate the recessed pins of Davinci. I think the only questionable combination in the Leo Hardware is the Chin Slider thingy as it is made of plastic and doesn’t really fit the overall rounded round-ish design of the whole cable. Perhaps it is not really important as what is important about the Chin Slider thingy is whether or not it holds the position well, and this one does hold it really well. Overall, I really like the look and feel of the Leo cable. I think we’ve talked about the cable way too much.
Design, Fit, and Comfort
The next thing I need to talk about is Design, Fit, and Comfort. The Davinci is a rather tall IEM with shallow nozzles. Perhaps not as shallow as the Dudu, but it is still rather shallow. It also protrudes out a little bit on the Nozzle part. The fitment is overall pretty good and comfortable, if it is not. Dunu has included a bunch of eartips you could try.
As for the design, I really like the left faceplate on this one, it reminds me a lot of other planet surfaces, like Mars and Jupiter. The Thick transparent top layer of the faceplate is also something worth it as it allows the light to bleed through and create a rather interesting visual. The rather translucent finish of the Body makes them rather interesting to look at for a long period of time. I think the faceplate also has that RNG factor for those who like to play Gacha Games, maybe you could try your luck on Davinci’s Faceplates.
Sound
Let’s move on to the most important part of the review. I’ve been a little bit lucky recently that I got my hands on the Hiby x F.Audio Project Ace before the Davinci. So I roughly have an idea of how the two compare and perhaps to some other $250 to 300 dollars.
Bass
I will start by describing the bass this time around, as the first note I have on the Davinci is the Bass. The bass of the Davinci is rather textured, not really sure how it stacks up to the likes of the Tansio Mirai X I reviewed a while back, but I think it’s more controlled and textured on the Davinci. The Davinci is definitely a Bassy IEM, It is on the edge between being a basshead IEM to a natural sounding IEM. I really like the bass performance of the Davinci as I think it is the strong suit of this set.
Other than the Accessories, this is why I would personally buy the Davinci. Fun fact I did talk to Mr. Harmoko about this, but… at the end I think owning this set would most likely be out of my budget at the time and I would most likely be better off upgrading my source. But again… I digress!
Mids
Moving on, perhaps not the most forward sounding upper mids I’ve experienced so far. Yet, it felt rather natural considering the Hybrid configuration the Davinci has. On the first listen or short listen, there is perhaps nothing that really stands out about the Midrange performance of the Davinci. However, as previously mentioned, the Davinci sounds natural even though they are a Hybrid set. The lower mids are linear with perhaps no dips or bumps, giving an even sound presentation.
Male vocals sound weighty and warm, while females felt slightly lighter, but also a little bit warm. They still have a slight sparkle to them, but not too much as it might give off a sibilant sound on boosted lower treble. The transition from Upper mids to the Treble area is pretty good, just like this transition.
Treble
Perhaps not the brightest set I’ve listened to so far, the treble performance of Davinci is perhaps rather recessed while giving a pretty good definition and air on cymbals, bells, and many other instruments in the frequencies. I don’t have too many notes on the treble as I find them pretty good, maybe not for treblehead, but good across genres and use cases.
For Technicalities, since the Davinci is not that bright, perhaps it also affects the detail retrieval. The detail retrieval is perhaps just okay for the price, you can slightly hear some of that nuance, but not to a point of noticing everything in a recording.
On Distortion
Definitely bassier than the recent listening experiences. As for positioning, I think you’re placed near the stage. While the crowds are slightly pushed backwards pretty far from you, I think details of the crowds are barely there. Perhaps it is a good thing as it doesn’t distract you from the performance. Back to the performance, the positioning of guitars and drums are quite pronounced. The layering of vocal and instruments are also pretty good.
On Empire State of Mind
Not my usual kind of music, but the bassy nature of the Davinci brought me to this song. Perhaps not directly to this song, but to Eminem’s new song Houdini first, then this… but, I digress! What I like most about this song is the bass texture, it surely came out punchy and thumpy but there is also some addition to them. Perhaps I’m using the wrong term, but the bass resolution, the clarity of the bass is pretty nice and rather intoxicating.
On Blitzkrieg Bop
I really really like the Bass guitar performance with the Davinci, as the roll is so well played and has a lot of sense of resolution and texture. It almost feels like you can feel the bass guitar vibrating and the texture of the strings.
On Tsuki Lie by Atarashii Gakko!
This is a really odd choice of music as I barely listen to them with other IEMs, but I do like their song called Tokyo Calling. I’ve never actually listened to this one, but Spotify recommended me to listen to this and yea… as a song that is bass heavy, the Davinci offers a really fun listening experience.
Vs. The Truthear Zero:Red
Ah yes, the teacher and student kind of relationship. It’s no secret that Crinacle and Timmy are pretty close. But of course it doesn’t have anything to do with the Zero:Red and the Davinci. Well, technically it is their collaborations with brands. But, I digress! Since it is unfair to compare the Zero:Red to the Davinci, due to… a lot of reasons actually. Take this as a grain of salt and it’s just for fun.
The Zero:Red is my favorite set that I bought with my second paycheck. It’s been awhile since I listened to them. Compared to the Davinci, the first thing I noticed is that the bass texture came out a little more on the Davinci compared to the Zero:Red. On the top end, the Davinci seems to also be more forward. Bringing out that sense of resolution. I think if you’re like me and want an upgrade to the Zero:Red. The Davinci is perhaps the next step up.
TL; DR
The Dunu Davinci is a collaboration of Dunu and Timmy from Gizaudio (Hi Timmy). The Davinci is a hybrid IEM with 4 Balanced Armature and 2 Dynamic Drivers, costing around $300 dollars. Their sound signature is rather Bassy Natural, as my first note on them is the bass texture they have. They also came with a lot… I mean a lot of accessories in the box. The Modular Cable is also really impressive as they’re quite well built. I honestly do not have too much complaint on the sound as I find them rather nice to listen to. I think if I would be nitpicking, It may feel like it is not resolving enough. However, the fitment is rather… weird, don’t get me wrong they are a comfortable set to wear but the nozzle seems to protrude out of my ears and they don’t have a particularly good passive isolation. Other than that, I think I have really nothing to complain about. It is a really nice set to own and I would highly recommend this set for those who like natural sounding vocals, thumpy and punchy bass. As for the ratings, I give them an A for Tonality and a B+ for Technicalities.
Well, that is it… I guess I will see you when I see you, Davinci! Thank you Mr. Harmoko for providing the unit for review. How about you, what do you think of Davinci ? Why shouldn't you buy DaBinky ? I’m really curious about the last question because genuinely I find nothing wrong outside of the fitment and perhaps the price. Let me know in the comments section. Thank you all for reading and have a great day!
Video Review:
Unboxing
Surprisingly, the Box is smaller than what I thought, but it is thick! Inside you’re presented with the Davinci themselves, and underneath there’s a carrying case that I actually really like, and… nothing else...
Inside the case, there’s the included Modular cable, a lot of Eartips Eartips, and the modular Jacks. The Accessories are very generous in my opinion, you got a lot of eartips, a lot of people’s favorites too like the Dunu SnS and the Dunu Candy.. The Modular Jacks included are the 3.5 and 4.4, but not only that, they also put a 6.35 mm adapter, which I’ve never seen included with an IEM before. Oh, they also included a cleaning brush.
Presentation wise, I think they are rather simplistic, but the accessories made up for that. I really like when manufacturers give a lot of good accessories as I think it adds up to the overall perception of value to the items you bought and of course it also gives options to the customers.
LEO Cable
Perhaps it is well understood that DUNU makes some of the best modular cable. Personally, I never tried DUNU’s product outside of this, but that is what I heard from a couple of my friends. Handling the LEO Cable that is included with Davinci feels quite nice on hand. The hardware is on the rather smaller size compared to maybe the Hiby’s Project Ace I reviewed a while back and the design is way more intricate on the Hiby, but I prefer slightly prefer the seamless look on the Leo, hardware look on the other hand, the Hiby Ace has a rather nice machined look to it. The Leo also came with protruded 2-pin to accommodate the recessed pins of Davinci. I think the only questionable combination in the Leo Hardware is the Chin Slider thingy as it is made of plastic and doesn’t really fit the overall rounded round-ish design of the whole cable. Perhaps it is not really important as what is important about the Chin Slider thingy is whether or not it holds the position well, and this one does hold it really well. Overall, I really like the look and feel of the Leo cable. I think we’ve talked about the cable way too much.
Design, Fit, and Comfort
The next thing I need to talk about is Design, Fit, and Comfort. The Davinci is a rather tall IEM with shallow nozzles. Perhaps not as shallow as the Dudu, but it is still rather shallow. It also protrudes out a little bit on the Nozzle part. The fitment is overall pretty good and comfortable, if it is not. Dunu has included a bunch of eartips you could try.
As for the design, I really like the left faceplate on this one, it reminds me a lot of other planet surfaces, like Mars and Jupiter. The Thick transparent top layer of the faceplate is also something worth it as it allows the light to bleed through and create a rather interesting visual. The rather translucent finish of the Body makes them rather interesting to look at for a long period of time. I think the faceplate also has that RNG factor for those who like to play Gacha Games, maybe you could try your luck on Davinci’s Faceplates.
Sound
Let’s move on to the most important part of the review. I’ve been a little bit lucky recently that I got my hands on the Hiby x F.Audio Project Ace before the Davinci. So I roughly have an idea of how the two compare and perhaps to some other $250 to 300 dollars.
Bass
I will start by describing the bass this time around, as the first note I have on the Davinci is the Bass. The bass of the Davinci is rather textured, not really sure how it stacks up to the likes of the Tansio Mirai X I reviewed a while back, but I think it’s more controlled and textured on the Davinci. The Davinci is definitely a Bassy IEM, It is on the edge between being a basshead IEM to a natural sounding IEM. I really like the bass performance of the Davinci as I think it is the strong suit of this set.
Other than the Accessories, this is why I would personally buy the Davinci. Fun fact I did talk to Mr. Harmoko about this, but… at the end I think owning this set would most likely be out of my budget at the time and I would most likely be better off upgrading my source. But again… I digress!
Mids
Moving on, perhaps not the most forward sounding upper mids I’ve experienced so far. Yet, it felt rather natural considering the Hybrid configuration the Davinci has. On the first listen or short listen, there is perhaps nothing that really stands out about the Midrange performance of the Davinci. However, as previously mentioned, the Davinci sounds natural even though they are a Hybrid set. The lower mids are linear with perhaps no dips or bumps, giving an even sound presentation.
Male vocals sound weighty and warm, while females felt slightly lighter, but also a little bit warm. They still have a slight sparkle to them, but not too much as it might give off a sibilant sound on boosted lower treble. The transition from Upper mids to the Treble area is pretty good, just like this transition.
Treble
Perhaps not the brightest set I’ve listened to so far, the treble performance of Davinci is perhaps rather recessed while giving a pretty good definition and air on cymbals, bells, and many other instruments in the frequencies. I don’t have too many notes on the treble as I find them pretty good, maybe not for treblehead, but good across genres and use cases.
For Technicalities, since the Davinci is not that bright, perhaps it also affects the detail retrieval. The detail retrieval is perhaps just okay for the price, you can slightly hear some of that nuance, but not to a point of noticing everything in a recording.
On Distortion
Definitely bassier than the recent listening experiences. As for positioning, I think you’re placed near the stage. While the crowds are slightly pushed backwards pretty far from you, I think details of the crowds are barely there. Perhaps it is a good thing as it doesn’t distract you from the performance. Back to the performance, the positioning of guitars and drums are quite pronounced. The layering of vocal and instruments are also pretty good.
On Empire State of Mind
Not my usual kind of music, but the bassy nature of the Davinci brought me to this song. Perhaps not directly to this song, but to Eminem’s new song Houdini first, then this… but, I digress! What I like most about this song is the bass texture, it surely came out punchy and thumpy but there is also some addition to them. Perhaps I’m using the wrong term, but the bass resolution, the clarity of the bass is pretty nice and rather intoxicating.
On Blitzkrieg Bop
I really really like the Bass guitar performance with the Davinci, as the roll is so well played and has a lot of sense of resolution and texture. It almost feels like you can feel the bass guitar vibrating and the texture of the strings.
On Tsuki Lie by Atarashii Gakko!
This is a really odd choice of music as I barely listen to them with other IEMs, but I do like their song called Tokyo Calling. I’ve never actually listened to this one, but Spotify recommended me to listen to this and yea… as a song that is bass heavy, the Davinci offers a really fun listening experience.
Vs. The Truthear Zero:Red
Ah yes, the teacher and student kind of relationship. It’s no secret that Crinacle and Timmy are pretty close. But of course it doesn’t have anything to do with the Zero:Red and the Davinci. Well, technically it is their collaborations with brands. But, I digress! Since it is unfair to compare the Zero:Red to the Davinci, due to… a lot of reasons actually. Take this as a grain of salt and it’s just for fun.
The Zero:Red is my favorite set that I bought with my second paycheck. It’s been awhile since I listened to them. Compared to the Davinci, the first thing I noticed is that the bass texture came out a little more on the Davinci compared to the Zero:Red. On the top end, the Davinci seems to also be more forward. Bringing out that sense of resolution. I think if you’re like me and want an upgrade to the Zero:Red. The Davinci is perhaps the next step up.
TL; DR
The Dunu Davinci is a collaboration of Dunu and Timmy from Gizaudio (Hi Timmy). The Davinci is a hybrid IEM with 4 Balanced Armature and 2 Dynamic Drivers, costing around $300 dollars. Their sound signature is rather Bassy Natural, as my first note on them is the bass texture they have. They also came with a lot… I mean a lot of accessories in the box. The Modular Cable is also really impressive as they’re quite well built. I honestly do not have too much complaint on the sound as I find them rather nice to listen to. I think if I would be nitpicking, It may feel like it is not resolving enough. However, the fitment is rather… weird, don’t get me wrong they are a comfortable set to wear but the nozzle seems to protrude out of my ears and they don’t have a particularly good passive isolation. Other than that, I think I have really nothing to complain about. It is a really nice set to own and I would highly recommend this set for those who like natural sounding vocals, thumpy and punchy bass. As for the ratings, I give them an A for Tonality and a B+ for Technicalities.
Well, that is it… I guess I will see you when I see you, Davinci! Thank you Mr. Harmoko for providing the unit for review. How about you, what do you think of Davinci ? Why shouldn't you buy DaBinky ? I’m really curious about the last question because genuinely I find nothing wrong outside of the fitment and perhaps the price. Let me know in the comments section. Thank you all for reading and have a great day!
gadgetgod
You have clicked some solid pictures!!
Before going into the review, I would like to thank Audio Geek Tour Group, especially Mr. Sandeep, Mr. Harmoko, and Mr. Novan for arranging the tour unit. I would also like to thank Mr. Kenneth and DITA for the opportunity to review a unit. However, they do not have any input on my review of the DITA Project M. This review is completely my own opinion of the DITA: Project M.
Unboxing
Not even out of the box yet, I’m quite impressed with the Box design of the Project M. The attention to detail and the design left me with awe. Perhaps I’m oversimplifying this, but the box design is quite interesting showing frequency response graphs of the Project M and the folds of the included pamflet are meticulously folded to the corresponding pages. Inside they included a case which was made by Tanos in Germany.
I’m really impressed with the design and cohesiveness of the overall product. The carrying case and eartips case looks like flight cases for musical instruments. The design is modern utilitarian, maybe ? as I find the design of things included serves a purpose. The Pamflet can be used as a photo background, or at least I use it that way… the case seems to be stackable and there are tiny handles on the Tanos case.
The case really caught my eyes as the handles they have are quite amusing. But, I digress.
Design, Fit, and Comfort
Enough about the other things in the box, let’s talk about the IEM’s design themselves. Perhaps it is one of the clearest IEM I have tried so far, as you can clearly see the insides of the Project M. They have put thoughts on this as the drivers are packed inside a metallic compartment inside, making the visuals clean and sophisticated. The overall shape they’re going for is a semi custom ergonomics like a lot of IEMs I’ve been trying these last few weeks. They have a rather deep insertion, so long nozzle eartips might not be a great combination for them. The EPZ M100 looks stunning with the Project M, I think you’ll probably need a smaller size for the Project M. Going with the included eartips for me is the best choice as they’re Final Eartips, not sure which ones but they’re also glow in the dark.
I almost forgot, the cable that comes with the Project M is also a modular cable by Cardas. I almost forgot this as it seems like it’s not a modular cable unless you tried to twist them or you notice that they included a 3.5 mm Modular Plug in the box. Speaking about cable, I quite like the cable on the Project M. However, I do have a slight concern as the cable itself is white and seems to have a slight matte finish to them. My concern is whether or not the oxidation will come through over long periods of time.
The design, the fitment, and the looks really caught me. I really like their attention to detail. The Project M name inside the shell, the glow in the dark eartips, and the carefully folded pamphlet caught my eyes. Overall, a really nice IEM in terms of design, packaging, and accessories.
Sound
Perhaps the sound is what matters the most, it is easy to get lost when reviewing beautiful products. TheProject M sounds uniquely impressive, let’s talk about it…
Mids
Perhaps rather unusual to start with the Midrange performance, but it is what stands out to me the most as the Vocals are slightly intimate compared to the Hiby Project Ace. But do take this with a grain of salt, as this is only based on memory. The vocal and upper midrange performance of the Dita Project M is rather smooth with some sparkle on female vocals. Thinking about it more and more, this might have an overall similar tuning to the Project Ace. Funny that they both have a ‘Project’ on their name and they are both kinda similar. But, I digress. The Mids and upper mids presentation of the M is rather natural with a slight tinge of brightness to them. Perhaps if you’re really sensitive to the Balanced Armature Timbre this might show up, but for me it doesn’t really show. Speaking of which…
Treble
Assuming that the Project M is a hybrid, perhaps the Balanced Armature pulled a double duty for reproducing the Mids and Treble frequencies. The Treble performance of the Project M is surprisingly bright, not as bright as you might think. The control and feel are really good as they are just bright enough to give that sparkle and energy to songs, but not enough to sound irritating. Perhaps the treble performance reminds me a bit of the Tansio Mirai X I tried a while back and maybe could also be close to the DaVinci ? but the Davinci sounds warmer… maybe ? I digress. The Project M’s Treble performance also plays a part in giving that sense of clarity as the details on recordings come through.
Bass
Moving on, this is actually not my first time trying the Project M as I did try them and compared them to the Tansio Mirai X. The Tansio Mirai X is a bassy v-tuned IEM, so comparing the two doesn’t really make sense. The bass performance of the Project M is nice and tight, as it has ample Midbass to be fun and good subbass to be punchy. I think if you like clean and teeny tiny bass boost, the Dita Project M might satisfy you, but if you like bassy IEM, the Project M might not be for you.
On Distortion
The soundstaging is pretty wide, perhaps almost lifelike ? if that’s even possible. But do take this with a grain of salt. The vocalists are placed in the middle with the instruments around the stage. It also appears that the distance between vocalists and instruments are quite far apart, giving a sense of wide stage and with pretty good imaging. Perhaps the verticality of this set is pretty good too as the stage feels slightly higher than you are.
On Dance the Night
Perhaps I put in a Pop song here, as I do find a quite interesting experience when listening to this song. The acoustic guitar strumming on the left side is quite distinct in this song, the positioning and the distance from other instruments and vocal can be quite noticeable. Not to mention the layering of bass guitar and guitar on the Dua Lipa’s vocals are also quite nice.
TL; DW
The DITA Project M is the first IEM I reviewed from the brand DITA and the first IEM I reviewed from a Singaporean Boutique brand. It is quite interesting that I’ve made it this far. I would of course thank everyone for their continuous support! But! I digress yet again!
The Dita Project M is a Hybrid IEM with 1 Dynamic Driver and 1 Balanced Armature Driver. The DITA Project M costs $325 dollars and came with quite nice packaging. Which includes a carrying TANOS case, Modular Jacks, A bunch of Final Eartips with case, and a pretty nice cable.
The Project M have an intimate warm vocals with clear treble and deep bass, offering an overall natural balanced tuning. I think the Project M is suited for a wide range of genres and can be a great set to listen to. If you're looking for a flexible set that isn’t too bassy, this might be a great candidate. It is also worth noting that I shared this experience with my friend that has more experience with sound in general and he said the tuning is rather unique.
As for the ratings, I give the Project Management an A- for Tonality and an A- for Technicalities. Perhaps it is not the most technical set I’ve tried in the price range, perhaps that title is still being held by the Blessing 3.
Well, that is it. That is my experience with the DITA Project M, perhaps one of the candidate I would like to buy due to the tuning uniqueness. Have you tried the DITA Project M ? or do you own a DITA IEM ? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section. Thank you Audio Geek Tour group for supporting me and thank you all for watching and s
upporting me to this point. Have a nice day!
Project M Photo Album
Unboxing
Not even out of the box yet, I’m quite impressed with the Box design of the Project M. The attention to detail and the design left me with awe. Perhaps I’m oversimplifying this, but the box design is quite interesting showing frequency response graphs of the Project M and the folds of the included pamflet are meticulously folded to the corresponding pages. Inside they included a case which was made by Tanos in Germany.
I’m really impressed with the design and cohesiveness of the overall product. The carrying case and eartips case looks like flight cases for musical instruments. The design is modern utilitarian, maybe ? as I find the design of things included serves a purpose. The Pamflet can be used as a photo background, or at least I use it that way… the case seems to be stackable and there are tiny handles on the Tanos case.
The case really caught my eyes as the handles they have are quite amusing. But, I digress.
Design, Fit, and Comfort
Enough about the other things in the box, let’s talk about the IEM’s design themselves. Perhaps it is one of the clearest IEM I have tried so far, as you can clearly see the insides of the Project M. They have put thoughts on this as the drivers are packed inside a metallic compartment inside, making the visuals clean and sophisticated. The overall shape they’re going for is a semi custom ergonomics like a lot of IEMs I’ve been trying these last few weeks. They have a rather deep insertion, so long nozzle eartips might not be a great combination for them. The EPZ M100 looks stunning with the Project M, I think you’ll probably need a smaller size for the Project M. Going with the included eartips for me is the best choice as they’re Final Eartips, not sure which ones but they’re also glow in the dark.
I almost forgot, the cable that comes with the Project M is also a modular cable by Cardas. I almost forgot this as it seems like it’s not a modular cable unless you tried to twist them or you notice that they included a 3.5 mm Modular Plug in the box. Speaking about cable, I quite like the cable on the Project M. However, I do have a slight concern as the cable itself is white and seems to have a slight matte finish to them. My concern is whether or not the oxidation will come through over long periods of time.
The design, the fitment, and the looks really caught me. I really like their attention to detail. The Project M name inside the shell, the glow in the dark eartips, and the carefully folded pamphlet caught my eyes. Overall, a really nice IEM in terms of design, packaging, and accessories.
Sound
Perhaps the sound is what matters the most, it is easy to get lost when reviewing beautiful products. TheProject M sounds uniquely impressive, let’s talk about it…
Mids
Perhaps rather unusual to start with the Midrange performance, but it is what stands out to me the most as the Vocals are slightly intimate compared to the Hiby Project Ace. But do take this with a grain of salt, as this is only based on memory. The vocal and upper midrange performance of the Dita Project M is rather smooth with some sparkle on female vocals. Thinking about it more and more, this might have an overall similar tuning to the Project Ace. Funny that they both have a ‘Project’ on their name and they are both kinda similar. But, I digress. The Mids and upper mids presentation of the M is rather natural with a slight tinge of brightness to them. Perhaps if you’re really sensitive to the Balanced Armature Timbre this might show up, but for me it doesn’t really show. Speaking of which…
Treble
Assuming that the Project M is a hybrid, perhaps the Balanced Armature pulled a double duty for reproducing the Mids and Treble frequencies. The Treble performance of the Project M is surprisingly bright, not as bright as you might think. The control and feel are really good as they are just bright enough to give that sparkle and energy to songs, but not enough to sound irritating. Perhaps the treble performance reminds me a bit of the Tansio Mirai X I tried a while back and maybe could also be close to the DaVinci ? but the Davinci sounds warmer… maybe ? I digress. The Project M’s Treble performance also plays a part in giving that sense of clarity as the details on recordings come through.
Bass
Moving on, this is actually not my first time trying the Project M as I did try them and compared them to the Tansio Mirai X. The Tansio Mirai X is a bassy v-tuned IEM, so comparing the two doesn’t really make sense. The bass performance of the Project M is nice and tight, as it has ample Midbass to be fun and good subbass to be punchy. I think if you like clean and teeny tiny bass boost, the Dita Project M might satisfy you, but if you like bassy IEM, the Project M might not be for you.
On Distortion
The soundstaging is pretty wide, perhaps almost lifelike ? if that’s even possible. But do take this with a grain of salt. The vocalists are placed in the middle with the instruments around the stage. It also appears that the distance between vocalists and instruments are quite far apart, giving a sense of wide stage and with pretty good imaging. Perhaps the verticality of this set is pretty good too as the stage feels slightly higher than you are.
On Dance the Night
Perhaps I put in a Pop song here, as I do find a quite interesting experience when listening to this song. The acoustic guitar strumming on the left side is quite distinct in this song, the positioning and the distance from other instruments and vocal can be quite noticeable. Not to mention the layering of bass guitar and guitar on the Dua Lipa’s vocals are also quite nice.
TL; DW
The DITA Project M is the first IEM I reviewed from the brand DITA and the first IEM I reviewed from a Singaporean Boutique brand. It is quite interesting that I’ve made it this far. I would of course thank everyone for their continuous support! But! I digress yet again!
The Dita Project M is a Hybrid IEM with 1 Dynamic Driver and 1 Balanced Armature Driver. The DITA Project M costs $325 dollars and came with quite nice packaging. Which includes a carrying TANOS case, Modular Jacks, A bunch of Final Eartips with case, and a pretty nice cable.
The Project M have an intimate warm vocals with clear treble and deep bass, offering an overall natural balanced tuning. I think the Project M is suited for a wide range of genres and can be a great set to listen to. If you're looking for a flexible set that isn’t too bassy, this might be a great candidate. It is also worth noting that I shared this experience with my friend that has more experience with sound in general and he said the tuning is rather unique.
As for the ratings, I give the Project Management an A- for Tonality and an A- for Technicalities. Perhaps it is not the most technical set I’ve tried in the price range, perhaps that title is still being held by the Blessing 3.
Well, that is it. That is my experience with the DITA Project M, perhaps one of the candidate I would like to buy due to the tuning uniqueness. Have you tried the DITA Project M ? or do you own a DITA IEM ? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section. Thank you Audio Geek Tour group for supporting me and thank you all for watching and s
upporting me to this point. Have a nice day!
Project M Photo Album
Before we jump into the review, the Pula PA02 is provided by Mr. Harmoko. Thank you for sending the unit for review. This review is 100% my own opinion of the PA02… which I will be referring to as the 02 from now on and not to be confused with the Zero:2 from 7Hz.
Video Review:
Unboxing
The unboxing experience was rather simplistic, as you just slide the packaging out, and opening the lid to reveal the unit and a rather nice carrying case. I really like the zipper they use on the carrying case. The color combination is also very spot on. Moving on, opening the case reveals a bunch of eartips, 3 types to be exact, 3 sizes of narrow nozzle eartips, 3 sizes of wide nozzle eartips, and 3 types or sizes of foam eartips. Perhaps they are not as fancy as the Davinci’s Eartips selections, but for me, including a bunch of eartips helps a lot to give options for the user.
Cable
Moving on to the cables, the cable is quite thin but I really like the feel of them as they’re easy to wrap. The hardware they use is also pretty good as they have ridges to give that extra grip on the polished finish they have. You can also choose which jack you want for the Pula. from 2.5 mm Balance, 3.5 mm Single Ended, and the one I have here is the 4.4 mm Balanced.
Design, Fit, and Comfort
The design is quite interesting as the faceplate has that psychedelic look to them. About the shape, the shape of the 02 is going with that semi custom ergonomics. I think this ergonomics works really well for me as they are quite comfortable in my ears for long periods of time.
Honestly , I may slightly dislike the faceplate design, but for most people I think the looks don't matter too much. What matters a lot is. . .
Sound
For me, the Pula sounds rather U-shaped, giving a fun listening experience with slightly natural sounding vocals, engaging bass and treble. Let’s talk about it…
Bass
When I first tried them, I went straight looking for the bass texture, as I really like the Davinci’s Bass Texture. I found a little bit of them with the Pula, perhaps not as much as on the Davinci, but I think it’s quite enough to satisfy my new craving for Bass Textures. The bass performance of the Pula is pretty good, offering a quite clean and fun bassy sound. Perfect for those who are looking for a flexible set to listen to.
Mids
The mids are forward while sounding pretty natural. Perhaps the vocals aren’t as intimate but I like this way more as it gives a slight feel of spaciousness between you and the vocalist. Both male and female vocals have that weight to them, giving a rather thick notes presentation. The female vocals do have that sparkly feeling giving a sense of livelier vocals. Continuing to…
Treble
The treble has that bite to them, with perhaps texturing to them. I personally like them, but if you’re coming from a darker and warmer IEM, you might find them rather bright at first. However, they are definitely not enough to be fatiguing or annoying. I also like that it gives even sparklier vocals compared to the Davinci, speaking about the DaVinci…
Vs. Dunu Davinci
Still lucky enough to get my hands on the Davinci before the PA02, so my memory on the Davinci is still fresh. But, I digress. Compared to the Davinci in terms of sound, the PA02 doesn’t have as much bass texture as the Davinci. However, on the top end, the PA02 has a forward upper midrange and treble, while still sounding natural, but it feels sparklier and way more engaging.
I think if you want a less warm, energetic variant of the Davinci, the Pula PA02 might be a good consideration. For me, if money is no Object, I would probably still chooses the DaVinci over the Pula as the overall tone is closer to my preference and the accessories they include can also be used for other IEMs in the future.
On Distortion
On Distortion, the soundstaging is again pretty wide with good imaging, as you’re positioned a little bit further. Not to a point of being too far away, but a little bit further so you can hear every instrument present on the recording. The accuracy of imaging is also quite high, perhaps due to the nature of balance armature and the construction of the 02 themselves. As for the musicality,, the Double Pedal is good, with good accentuation and good punch to them. Vocals and guitars have that nice speed to them.
On RATATATA
Comparing the closest IEM in terms of price, the TinHifi Dudu. At the 1:30 mark, the separation between vocal and background vocals are slightly more pronounced on the Pula PA02.
TL; DR
The Pula PA02 is an interesting set from Pula that costs around $129. The Pula PA02 is a Hybrid IEM with 1 Dynamic Driver and 4 Balanced Armature. The Pula PA02 came with a rather nice set of accessories from the cable to the selection of eartips. The overall sound signature is rather U-Shaped, bassy and upper mids centric. Perhaps compared to the Dunu x Gizaudio Davinci, the Pula is close but can be slightly unnatural, a little colder and brighter compared to them. As for the ratings, I give the Pula PA02 A- for tonality and an A- for technicalities.
That is it, that is my review of the Pula PA02. Thank you again, Mr. Harmoko for supporting and providing the review unit for review. What do you think about the Pula PA02 ? Let me know in the comments section down below. Thank you all for reading, have a great day.
Video Review:
Unboxing
The unboxing experience was rather simplistic, as you just slide the packaging out, and opening the lid to reveal the unit and a rather nice carrying case. I really like the zipper they use on the carrying case. The color combination is also very spot on. Moving on, opening the case reveals a bunch of eartips, 3 types to be exact, 3 sizes of narrow nozzle eartips, 3 sizes of wide nozzle eartips, and 3 types or sizes of foam eartips. Perhaps they are not as fancy as the Davinci’s Eartips selections, but for me, including a bunch of eartips helps a lot to give options for the user.
Cable
Moving on to the cables, the cable is quite thin but I really like the feel of them as they’re easy to wrap. The hardware they use is also pretty good as they have ridges to give that extra grip on the polished finish they have. You can also choose which jack you want for the Pula. from 2.5 mm Balance, 3.5 mm Single Ended, and the one I have here is the 4.4 mm Balanced.
Design, Fit, and Comfort
The design is quite interesting as the faceplate has that psychedelic look to them. About the shape, the shape of the 02 is going with that semi custom ergonomics. I think this ergonomics works really well for me as they are quite comfortable in my ears for long periods of time.
Honestly , I may slightly dislike the faceplate design, but for most people I think the looks don't matter too much. What matters a lot is. . .
Sound
For me, the Pula sounds rather U-shaped, giving a fun listening experience with slightly natural sounding vocals, engaging bass and treble. Let’s talk about it…
Bass
When I first tried them, I went straight looking for the bass texture, as I really like the Davinci’s Bass Texture. I found a little bit of them with the Pula, perhaps not as much as on the Davinci, but I think it’s quite enough to satisfy my new craving for Bass Textures. The bass performance of the Pula is pretty good, offering a quite clean and fun bassy sound. Perfect for those who are looking for a flexible set to listen to.
Mids
The mids are forward while sounding pretty natural. Perhaps the vocals aren’t as intimate but I like this way more as it gives a slight feel of spaciousness between you and the vocalist. Both male and female vocals have that weight to them, giving a rather thick notes presentation. The female vocals do have that sparkly feeling giving a sense of livelier vocals. Continuing to…
Treble
The treble has that bite to them, with perhaps texturing to them. I personally like them, but if you’re coming from a darker and warmer IEM, you might find them rather bright at first. However, they are definitely not enough to be fatiguing or annoying. I also like that it gives even sparklier vocals compared to the Davinci, speaking about the DaVinci…
Vs. Dunu Davinci
Still lucky enough to get my hands on the Davinci before the PA02, so my memory on the Davinci is still fresh. But, I digress. Compared to the Davinci in terms of sound, the PA02 doesn’t have as much bass texture as the Davinci. However, on the top end, the PA02 has a forward upper midrange and treble, while still sounding natural, but it feels sparklier and way more engaging.
I think if you want a less warm, energetic variant of the Davinci, the Pula PA02 might be a good consideration. For me, if money is no Object, I would probably still chooses the DaVinci over the Pula as the overall tone is closer to my preference and the accessories they include can also be used for other IEMs in the future.
On Distortion
On Distortion, the soundstaging is again pretty wide with good imaging, as you’re positioned a little bit further. Not to a point of being too far away, but a little bit further so you can hear every instrument present on the recording. The accuracy of imaging is also quite high, perhaps due to the nature of balance armature and the construction of the 02 themselves. As for the musicality,, the Double Pedal is good, with good accentuation and good punch to them. Vocals and guitars have that nice speed to them.
On RATATATA
Comparing the closest IEM in terms of price, the TinHifi Dudu. At the 1:30 mark, the separation between vocal and background vocals are slightly more pronounced on the Pula PA02.
TL; DR
The Pula PA02 is an interesting set from Pula that costs around $129. The Pula PA02 is a Hybrid IEM with 1 Dynamic Driver and 4 Balanced Armature. The Pula PA02 came with a rather nice set of accessories from the cable to the selection of eartips. The overall sound signature is rather U-Shaped, bassy and upper mids centric. Perhaps compared to the Dunu x Gizaudio Davinci, the Pula is close but can be slightly unnatural, a little colder and brighter compared to them. As for the ratings, I give the Pula PA02 A- for tonality and an A- for technicalities.
That is it, that is my review of the Pula PA02. Thank you again, Mr. Harmoko for supporting and providing the review unit for review. What do you think about the Pula PA02 ? Let me know in the comments section down below. Thank you all for reading, have a great day.
Introduction
The ISN Neo 3 is actually my first IEM from ISN Audio. This unit here is courtesy of Mr Harmoko, who got them from Mr Chi Kong Hui and Penon Audio. Thank you Mr Harmoko for lending me the ISN Neo 3 and Thank You Mr Chi Kong Hui and Penon Audio. Thank you for a lot of people who continues to support me.
Anyways, the ISN Neo 3 is actually a unique set, as it has a hybrid with 3 drivers in them, hence the name Neo 3. The configuration is 2 Dynamic Drivers, and a Single Planar Driver. The unboxing experience is not PhoenixCall level but… the included case made for it. I actually enjoy the case so much, the leather they use isn’t sticky and feels of good quality. However, I’m not sure if it is faux leather or real leather. Enough about the case, the Neo 3 came with 3 types of eartips… the green middle part ones are wide bore ones and the orange ones are narrow bore. They also included a shirt clip and a cleaning tool.
Unboxing Shorts:
Getting Started (Setup)
I’m a little torn on the included cable, as the cable is a supple and very malleable. However at the same time it feels a little too thin ? even though, it surely can be considered thick. I’m also glad that they don’t have earhooks but at the same time, I can’t really tell how it should be oriented, which pin has which polarity and the fact that the earbuds doesn’t have marking on them to tell which one is which can also exaggerated the confusion when setting them up. However, if you have the Neo 3 or planning to get one. I think this is the correct orientation. ISN Audio logo is the left side and the side that said ‘Neo 3’ is the right side, the cable is marked with left and right, the logo or marking of each earbuds should be at the same side as the L or R marking on the 2 pin. I hope that’s the right way to set it up, but if I’m wrong please do let me know in the comments.
Fit and Comfort
I was supposed to take some rest days… however, me being me… I ended up lightly trying the Neo 3 while collecting some notes on them. I was chilling with just Babymetal playing in the background, funny enough I actually fell asleep while listening to them. I got around an hour or 2 of sleep? I’m not really sure as it clearly is my day off and I didn’t took many notes. All I can say is that the Neo 3 is definitely a comfortable set of IEM. But we’re getting sidetracked here. Let’s go into the review!
Sound
Like I’ve said, I chilled with some Babymetal tracks, the setup was my portable setup. Xiaomi Mi9T streaming spotify in Very High Quality, through the Akliam PD4. A little note about the PD4, the PD4 has a brighter sound signature. I personally feel like the Neo 3 benefits more from a brighter leaning source. Switching to the PD4 Plus which has warmer tone to them make the treble feels further.
With that, let’s talk about the treble.
The Treble
The Neo 3 is surprisingly my first dark IEM in my opinion. I thought it would be worse to be honest but turns out it’s not bad at all. You do lose some sparkle in the top end, like in Cymbals or Electric Guitars being less forward compared to something like the PhoenixCall or Maybe the T4.
However, compared to the PhoenixCall, the Neo 3 has a more natural timbre and has a better soundstaging, as they feel wide with good enough imaging. I’ll get back to that in the perceived technicalities section.
The Mids
While having a slightly recessed mids, because having a more V tuning in my opinion. The Neo 3 performs really well, as instruments and notes does feel full and has a lot of body on both percussion like snare drums, and vocals. I find the snare drums came off more natural than the PhoenixCall. While they are not as clear or forward as the T4 or maybe the Mega5P Ultra, but I don’t seem to mind.
Vocals tend to take a back seat with the Neo 3, this especially shows on the 10 Babymetal Budokan Live. It feels like you’re watching the concert from afar. However, this effect does not always the same. I think for the case of 10 Babymetal Budokan, since it is a live recording it accentuate the feeling of less forward vocals. On something like Green Day’s 21 Guns and Guns N’ Roses Sweet Child O’ Mine, this does not really show that much.
The Bass
What really stands out for me is the bass. Both bass and midbass are equal with the Neo 3, I think it’s perfect if you want more subbass from the PhoenixCall. The bass is surprisingly tight with good enough texture. The mid bass does bleed a little bit to the mids, but it’s definitely not the worse offender as it is not as common as you might think. On some recordings it does came of a little boomy at time, but not always. I really enjoy songs from Valorant, not sure why but their hip-hop tracks sounds very good with the Neo 3. The bass thump of Renegade from 99God and C103 sounds nice. Undefeated by XG is also nice with the Neo 3.
I think the combination of Neo 3’s Subbass extension and slight slow decay also help boosts the perceived wide soundstaging.
Technicalities
Which is in my opinion, a part of Perceived Technicalities. Soundstaging, imaging, detail retrieval, and instrument separation. It is a highly subjective topic and everyone seems to have a different opinion about them. In this part, I would like to share my opinion on the perceived technicalities of the Neo 3.
The Soundstaging of Neo 3 seems to be wide, almost as wide as the HiSenior Okavango I tried a while ago without the much reverb and with an addition of vertical spaces in my opinion. The Neo 3 has surprisingly good Soundstaging and imaging. Perhaps it is not as good and clear as something like the Volur or Crimson, but it is something.
The detail retrieval however… since it is a darker sounding IEM, there aren’t a lot of details to be picked up with the Neo 3. The Instrument Separation is just okay, as I feel like there aren’t a lot of air due to the nature of being a darker sounding IEM and less treble extension.
Dark IEM ?
I didn’t really mind the darker leaning signature of this IEM. However, on some songs that I really like to have sparkly and energetic vocals, losing some of that sparkle can get a little unsettling. I experience this when I first listen to Omokage by Milet, Aimer, and Lilas Ikuta. With other less dark sets, the song sounds lively. Especially with a more vocal forward set, the synergy of all 3 singers is very pleasant to listen to. With this set, adding a Bright sounding DAC/Amp like the PD4 does work really well giving a little extra clarity to the top end and giving a little more sparkle to female vocals.
Other than losing the sparkle in some female vocal tracks, Dark leaning IEMs tends to lost some of its’ detail. This may came across as lacking in the technicalities department, but at the end of the day, technicalities aren’t everything and it all came down to your own preferences.
In my theory, the Neo 3 is darker leaning to avoid the tendencies of Planar Drivers sounding unnatural, and the Neo 3 delivers. Like I’ve mentioned in the previous section, the Neo 3 came out more natural compared to the PhoenixCall.
Movies on Neo 3 ?
The combination of good bass response, midbass and subbass that is. The Neo 3 offers an impactful movie watching experience. I watched the final episode of Star Wars: The Bad Batch, it was a beautiful ending for sure. The Neo 3 with deep sub-bass and good midbass gave me an immersive watching experience. If you like watching movies, the Neo 3 might be another strong candidate as they are also comfortable to wear.
TL; DR
Let’s now recap a bit. The ISN Neo 3 is the first IEM I reviewed from ISN Audio company. The Neo 3 came with pretty good number of accessories for the price. In this review, I pair the Neo 3 with a brighter leaning Dongle DAC the PD4 from Akliam. The ISN Neo is a Hybrid IEM with unique configuration, 2 Dynamic Drivers and a Single Planar Driver. The Dynamic Drivers are used to reproduce the Bass and Midrange frequencies, while the Planar is used to reproduce the Treble frequencies. The Neo 3 may come off a little dark leaning, meaning it does lack a little bit of sparkle in the treble frequencies. However, compared to the PhoenixCall which also has planar drivers, the Neo 3 came off a little more natural sounding and I prefer this over the PhoenixCall. Compared to the T4, the T4 overall sounds tighter and brighter, but the Neo 3 has better subbass with wider perceived soundstage. The Neo 3 has good thumpy bass, although sometimes it can bleed to the mids slightly causing boomy bass. The Neo 3 and the T4 so far is my favourite IEMs in the under $200 market. For the rating, I’m honestly a little bit torn here, as for Tonality, the Neo 3 is either an A or A-, because of the lack of treble sparkle, however at the same time, I don’t really mind it that much. As for technicalities, the Neo 3 is a more relaxed IEM and does not have the best Technicalities in my opinion, so I gave them a B, which is slightly higher than the PhoenixCall and slightly lower than the T4.
That is it, my review of the Neo 3. Thank you Mr Harmoko for lending them in for review, and thank you Mr Chi Kong Hui for sending the unit to Mr Harmoko. Like if you like the video, dislike if you dislikes it. Got any suggestions, questions, or criticism? leave a comment down below. Thank you all for reading my Head-Fi review, trust your own ears, and have a great day!
Update (5/13/24):
Since the unit is no longer in my possession, while reviewing the Letshuoer DZ4. It seems like my memories of the ISN Neo 3 is brought back. I think the ISN Neo 3 sound isn't that easy to forget or the ISN Neo 3 is perhaps one of the IEMs I like in the $200 Price Point.
Video Review:
Songs That I Enjoy with The ISN Neo 3:
The ISN Neo 3 is actually my first IEM from ISN Audio. This unit here is courtesy of Mr Harmoko, who got them from Mr Chi Kong Hui and Penon Audio. Thank you Mr Harmoko for lending me the ISN Neo 3 and Thank You Mr Chi Kong Hui and Penon Audio. Thank you for a lot of people who continues to support me.
Anyways, the ISN Neo 3 is actually a unique set, as it has a hybrid with 3 drivers in them, hence the name Neo 3. The configuration is 2 Dynamic Drivers, and a Single Planar Driver. The unboxing experience is not PhoenixCall level but… the included case made for it. I actually enjoy the case so much, the leather they use isn’t sticky and feels of good quality. However, I’m not sure if it is faux leather or real leather. Enough about the case, the Neo 3 came with 3 types of eartips… the green middle part ones are wide bore ones and the orange ones are narrow bore. They also included a shirt clip and a cleaning tool.
Unboxing Shorts:
Getting Started (Setup)
I’m a little torn on the included cable, as the cable is a supple and very malleable. However at the same time it feels a little too thin ? even though, it surely can be considered thick. I’m also glad that they don’t have earhooks but at the same time, I can’t really tell how it should be oriented, which pin has which polarity and the fact that the earbuds doesn’t have marking on them to tell which one is which can also exaggerated the confusion when setting them up. However, if you have the Neo 3 or planning to get one. I think this is the correct orientation. ISN Audio logo is the left side and the side that said ‘Neo 3’ is the right side, the cable is marked with left and right, the logo or marking of each earbuds should be at the same side as the L or R marking on the 2 pin. I hope that’s the right way to set it up, but if I’m wrong please do let me know in the comments.
Fit and Comfort
I was supposed to take some rest days… however, me being me… I ended up lightly trying the Neo 3 while collecting some notes on them. I was chilling with just Babymetal playing in the background, funny enough I actually fell asleep while listening to them. I got around an hour or 2 of sleep? I’m not really sure as it clearly is my day off and I didn’t took many notes. All I can say is that the Neo 3 is definitely a comfortable set of IEM. But we’re getting sidetracked here. Let’s go into the review!
Sound
Like I’ve said, I chilled with some Babymetal tracks, the setup was my portable setup. Xiaomi Mi9T streaming spotify in Very High Quality, through the Akliam PD4. A little note about the PD4, the PD4 has a brighter sound signature. I personally feel like the Neo 3 benefits more from a brighter leaning source. Switching to the PD4 Plus which has warmer tone to them make the treble feels further.
With that, let’s talk about the treble.
The Treble
The Neo 3 is surprisingly my first dark IEM in my opinion. I thought it would be worse to be honest but turns out it’s not bad at all. You do lose some sparkle in the top end, like in Cymbals or Electric Guitars being less forward compared to something like the PhoenixCall or Maybe the T4.
However, compared to the PhoenixCall, the Neo 3 has a more natural timbre and has a better soundstaging, as they feel wide with good enough imaging. I’ll get back to that in the perceived technicalities section.
The Mids
While having a slightly recessed mids, because having a more V tuning in my opinion. The Neo 3 performs really well, as instruments and notes does feel full and has a lot of body on both percussion like snare drums, and vocals. I find the snare drums came off more natural than the PhoenixCall. While they are not as clear or forward as the T4 or maybe the Mega5P Ultra, but I don’t seem to mind.
Vocals tend to take a back seat with the Neo 3, this especially shows on the 10 Babymetal Budokan Live. It feels like you’re watching the concert from afar. However, this effect does not always the same. I think for the case of 10 Babymetal Budokan, since it is a live recording it accentuate the feeling of less forward vocals. On something like Green Day’s 21 Guns and Guns N’ Roses Sweet Child O’ Mine, this does not really show that much.
The Bass
What really stands out for me is the bass. Both bass and midbass are equal with the Neo 3, I think it’s perfect if you want more subbass from the PhoenixCall. The bass is surprisingly tight with good enough texture. The mid bass does bleed a little bit to the mids, but it’s definitely not the worse offender as it is not as common as you might think. On some recordings it does came of a little boomy at time, but not always. I really enjoy songs from Valorant, not sure why but their hip-hop tracks sounds very good with the Neo 3. The bass thump of Renegade from 99God and C103 sounds nice. Undefeated by XG is also nice with the Neo 3.
I think the combination of Neo 3’s Subbass extension and slight slow decay also help boosts the perceived wide soundstaging.
Technicalities
Which is in my opinion, a part of Perceived Technicalities. Soundstaging, imaging, detail retrieval, and instrument separation. It is a highly subjective topic and everyone seems to have a different opinion about them. In this part, I would like to share my opinion on the perceived technicalities of the Neo 3.
The Soundstaging of Neo 3 seems to be wide, almost as wide as the HiSenior Okavango I tried a while ago without the much reverb and with an addition of vertical spaces in my opinion. The Neo 3 has surprisingly good Soundstaging and imaging. Perhaps it is not as good and clear as something like the Volur or Crimson, but it is something.
The detail retrieval however… since it is a darker sounding IEM, there aren’t a lot of details to be picked up with the Neo 3. The Instrument Separation is just okay, as I feel like there aren’t a lot of air due to the nature of being a darker sounding IEM and less treble extension.
Dark IEM ?
I didn’t really mind the darker leaning signature of this IEM. However, on some songs that I really like to have sparkly and energetic vocals, losing some of that sparkle can get a little unsettling. I experience this when I first listen to Omokage by Milet, Aimer, and Lilas Ikuta. With other less dark sets, the song sounds lively. Especially with a more vocal forward set, the synergy of all 3 singers is very pleasant to listen to. With this set, adding a Bright sounding DAC/Amp like the PD4 does work really well giving a little extra clarity to the top end and giving a little more sparkle to female vocals.
Other than losing the sparkle in some female vocal tracks, Dark leaning IEMs tends to lost some of its’ detail. This may came across as lacking in the technicalities department, but at the end of the day, technicalities aren’t everything and it all came down to your own preferences.
In my theory, the Neo 3 is darker leaning to avoid the tendencies of Planar Drivers sounding unnatural, and the Neo 3 delivers. Like I’ve mentioned in the previous section, the Neo 3 came out more natural compared to the PhoenixCall.
Movies on Neo 3 ?
The combination of good bass response, midbass and subbass that is. The Neo 3 offers an impactful movie watching experience. I watched the final episode of Star Wars: The Bad Batch, it was a beautiful ending for sure. The Neo 3 with deep sub-bass and good midbass gave me an immersive watching experience. If you like watching movies, the Neo 3 might be another strong candidate as they are also comfortable to wear.
TL; DR
Let’s now recap a bit. The ISN Neo 3 is the first IEM I reviewed from ISN Audio company. The Neo 3 came with pretty good number of accessories for the price. In this review, I pair the Neo 3 with a brighter leaning Dongle DAC the PD4 from Akliam. The ISN Neo is a Hybrid IEM with unique configuration, 2 Dynamic Drivers and a Single Planar Driver. The Dynamic Drivers are used to reproduce the Bass and Midrange frequencies, while the Planar is used to reproduce the Treble frequencies. The Neo 3 may come off a little dark leaning, meaning it does lack a little bit of sparkle in the treble frequencies. However, compared to the PhoenixCall which also has planar drivers, the Neo 3 came off a little more natural sounding and I prefer this over the PhoenixCall. Compared to the T4, the T4 overall sounds tighter and brighter, but the Neo 3 has better subbass with wider perceived soundstage. The Neo 3 has good thumpy bass, although sometimes it can bleed to the mids slightly causing boomy bass. The Neo 3 and the T4 so far is my favourite IEMs in the under $200 market. For the rating, I’m honestly a little bit torn here, as for Tonality, the Neo 3 is either an A or A-, because of the lack of treble sparkle, however at the same time, I don’t really mind it that much. As for technicalities, the Neo 3 is a more relaxed IEM and does not have the best Technicalities in my opinion, so I gave them a B, which is slightly higher than the PhoenixCall and slightly lower than the T4.
That is it, my review of the Neo 3. Thank you Mr Harmoko for lending them in for review, and thank you Mr Chi Kong Hui for sending the unit to Mr Harmoko. Like if you like the video, dislike if you dislikes it. Got any suggestions, questions, or criticism? leave a comment down below. Thank you all for reading my Head-Fi review, trust your own ears, and have a great day!
Update (5/13/24):
Since the unit is no longer in my possession, while reviewing the Letshuoer DZ4. It seems like my memories of the ISN Neo 3 is brought back. I think the ISN Neo 3 sound isn't that easy to forget or the ISN Neo 3 is perhaps one of the IEMs I like in the $200 Price Point.
Video Review:
Songs That I Enjoy with The ISN Neo 3:
Disclamer
The Hisenior Okavango is a loaned unit from Dream Audio Store here in Indonesia. They have no input on what I'm supposed to say about the HiSenior Products and the opinion is completely my own. However, as a token of gratitude, I will link them Here. I also want to thank Mr Gareth from HiSenior for giving me the contact of Dream Audio and making all of this possible. For ordering and more information of HiSenior Okavango, you can click here. Both links are NON affiliated links.Design
Named after a delta in Africa, the design does resemble pictures from the Internet. Green with a little bit of sandy brown. The green part is made of resin and the sandy brown is actually stabilized wood, a representing design for sure.The Okavango's fitment design is a semi-custom ergonomic, a middle ground of universal fitment and custom fitments. This shape offers a sealing inside of you ears and theoretically should be more comfortable. While, the Okavango is actually comfortable to my ears, putting them on is another different story. I guess it's just the nature of Hybrid IEMs, the fittings can be a little awkward since they're usually larger than IEMs with single drivers or less drivers than the Okavango.
Sound
The First Impression I got about them is that they sound off, they don't sound as clean as the PhoenixCall I reviewed a while ago. However, they are cleaner than my usual Zero:Red. Turns out, the issue was that the Okavango was in the Bass+ configuration. Bass+ configuration does not suit me very well due to it having a lot of midbass and not enough treble. But we will get back to the switches in the later section.My second note I have about the Okavango is on the treble, while the treble is pretty good, there seems to be an absence of some frequencies in some of the mixes I listen to, notably in Barracuda by Heart, in some part of the song, there is an acoustic guitar strumming along in the background. While it is definitely not supposed to be prominent, playing it with the Okavango pushed it slightly backwards making the sound incredibly small and barely noticeable. Similar issue is also present in Babymetal's Karate, but instead of an acoustic guitar it is a tapping of electric guitars. Perhaps this is all a nitpick but, I think it is worth noting if you want to hear more details in your playlist(s).
The other nitpick that I have, is that the female vocals are a bit less forward and sparkly compared to something like the Blessing 3, PhoenixCall, or the Variations. Compared to the PhoenixCall, the treble performance also has slight less bite but at the same time, the Okavango sounds more natural compared to the PhoenixCall.
Personally, I don’t have any notes about the Mids, it sounded lush and good most of the time. Coming from something with a significant mid scoop. I find The Okavango is more versatile than the PhoenixCall. Okavango works really well for a lot of Metal and Rock tracks. Vocals got a lot of body to them, giving it a weighty feeling to the notes.
The bass performance of the Okavango is what you expect from a V-tuned IEM. Personally, I find the bass performance of the Okavango helps a lot creating a sense of wide soundstage while having a decent texturing . However, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. As the sub-bass of the Okavango feel slightly lacking from what I prefer. The kickdrums in my opinion are not defined (punchy) enough to what I’m used to. However, this is probably another nitpick as I enjoy the versatility of the Okavango.
4K to 6K dip ?
ToneDeafMonk's Okavango Frequency response graph here
This perhaps explains where the acoustic guitar strumming in Barracuda by Heart and electric guitar tapping in Karate are gone to when I talked about them earlier. Personally, this might be a double-edged sword as it causes the Okavango to be less fatiguing while sacrificing in some of that detail retrieval and some weight to cymbals.
My theory is that the Okavango is actually designed to be a stage IEM, where it is aimed to be extra comfortable and not fatiguing for long sessions. The 4k to 6k dip maybe an attempt by HiSenior to reduce the chance of treble fatigue in that scenario. Personally, I find the Okavango comfortable and enjoyable to wear for a long period of time.
Switches
The Okavango has 2 switches on the back of the IEM, next to the vent holes on each sides. It is marked with the number '1' and '2', with 'On' for the point of reference if the switches are switched on. The Okavango is my first time reviewing an IEM with Switches and I think it delivers, as the tuning switches changes the sound and feel of the Okavango.
When I first got them, the Okavango is on the Bass+ Configuration. I personally find them not my kind of thing as I find the bass slightly overpowers the Treble and mids, giving a sense of too much bass for my preferences.
The Balanced works the best for me, as the Balance offers a more balanced presentation of both bass and treble without being overpowered in either ends. The Balanced Configuration is my go-to for most of my listening sessions.
To be completly honest, I didn't try the Vocal+ Configuration that much, however on some occasion where I feel like it could use a little more sparkle. The Vocal+ delivers a sparklier and livelier vocals.
The Soundstage+ works really well with movies, I watched Dune 2 and Episode 13 of Star Wars: The Bad Batch. The Soundstage+ works really well at giving a 3D space and feeling of a wide soundstage as if You are watching them in with a set of Home Theatre or speakers. Well, technically it would be better with speakers and in cinema but for a portable setup, the Soundstage+ is really good for movies.
TL;DR
The Okavango is an IEM from HiSenior/Febos. It is a 7 drivers hybrid, consisting of 6 Balance Armature Drivers and a Single Dynamic Driver. While the fitting was rather awkward, it is worth noting that most Hybrids or multiple drivers IEM seems to always fit a bit weird. To be fair, the Okavango is actually very comfortable for prolonged listening session. The inclusion of switches are nice, offering a variety of options for the user. Overall, I’m satisfied with the Okavango, the Tonality are A- for me and B for technicalities. Technicalities in the form of detail retrieval could use a little bit of work. However, the imaging, soundstaging, and instrument separation are good enough to impress me.Video Review
Some of The Music I Enjoy with The Okavango
Introductions
This is the Moondrop Blessing 3! It’s been a while since I’ve listened to one of these. I think this was one of the first “Expensive” IEMs, or perhaps even the first one I’ve tried almost a year ago now ? Back then I was really looking forward to reviewing one of these. The other pair I tested was a pair of Stellaris. But, I digress. How do they sound ? Especially after experiencing the Crimson, the Volur, and many more IEMs ? I think I’ve grown a lot since the last time I tried them. With the Blessing 3 Dusk around the corner now. It feels like it is a good time to revisit them! This unit here is another loaner from Jaben Surabaya. Thank you for sending them in for reviews!
Backstory + Sound Impressions
Back when I was first tried them on, I was still in love with my Moondrop Chu. I still remembered there was a note about the Blessing 3 that I wrote during the time. I said “The Blessing 3 has better micro details, I feel like I can hear the Bass String vibrating on Hotel California”. Which is weird because I only noticed that one time. The other time I tried looking for it, it didn’t show. I also wrote that the nozzle looks funny, because the eartips are just pressed on there. Which is kind of a problem now, as the eartips keep falling off the earbuds when I take them off. And… they ended up stuck inside my ears. Or, they became loose and rolled of the desk or something. Oh, the initial note from a year ago also mentioned that it sounds thin. I also wrote that it might need a DAC/Amp, which I do not own back then. However, now… it doesn’t sound thin at all. It is still considered “lean” but not thin. Which I don’t really mind, I think you could consider this as reference tuned IEM ? I personally enjoyed my time editing the Moondrop Variations video with this.
What I liked about the Blessing 3
Although technically it is a little too lean to be considered as a “fun” IEM to my taste. I think the Blessing 3 is fun enough to be daily driven. Where it really shines is actually the vocal presentation. Female vocals are airy, sparkly, clean, and well defined. Male vocals are strong, forward, and well defined. Guitars on Symphony of Destruction are forward and snappy, while the Bass is slightly clouded in the background. I personally don’t mind and it is to be expected from a “leaner” sounding IEMs. I think if you like guitars, vocals, and orchestra the Blessing 3 truly is a blessing for you.
Why I Always Switch to The Variations
Don’t get me wrong, the Blessing 3 is still a “fun” IEM. But the fun is different from something like the Variations, the 64Audio Volur, or even the Symphonium Crimson. The fun aspect of Blessing 3 is I think more of like a scavenger hunt fun. It is where you pick up some of the microdetails on certain recording or hearing something that you don’t notice usually. Although, from my experience. This kind of fun can be a little exhausting at times, more so than the analytical fun nature of the Symphonium Crimson. But, that’s just me.
What Music I Love to Listen to with The Blessing 3
I personally love listening to Danish National Symphony Orchestra with the Blessing 3. Like listening to them playing Welcome to Jurassic Park, Shallow, and My Heart Will Go On. Or listening to the acoustic tracks, such as Hikari by Miwa, La La Lost You by Niki, and Hotel California by Eagles. As the tracks works really well with Treble forward IEMs.
TL;DR/DW
Overall, I think the Blessing 3 is excellent the Tonality are great, I give them a B, and the Technicalities are up there with some of the best. So they got an A on Technicalities. Also, something is also bugging me for some reason. I feel like whenever I pick up the Blessing 3 for a listen, at 2 or so hour mark. I feel a bit tense after listening to them ? Let me know what do you think happened in the comments section.
That is it ? That is the Moondrop Blessing 3! I would personally wait for the Blessing 3 : Dusk, as I would like to see what that version brings to the table. And with them showing up in CanJam NYC earlier. I think the release date is around the corner. Thank you again Jaben Surabaya for lending me the Moondrop Blessing 3 and the Variations. Hopefully, at the time this video is released. They’re already safe and sound at their rightful place.
I personally encourage you to watch my Here
Footnote :
My Source is the TimeEar BTE-222 connected to my PC most of the time. I judge them using various genres of songs. I narrowed down what I think sounds best in this Spotify Playlist here :
Head-Fi Special (Videos about this might be up soon)
Durability :
The unit is a store demo unit, so it is slight worse for wear. Considering the age of the unit, which is around 6 months according to my friend at Jaben Surabaya. They still look pretty good, the faceplate does have a lot of micro scratches, but it is to be expected. Honestly, I think it's not that bad. Considering the fact that it is a Demo unit after all. Although if you own this IEM or any other IEM, I think it is good practice to put them inside a case with Silica Gel in it. Oxidation is slightly starting on the inside of the Blessing 3. It is clearly displayed as the resin body are very clean and clear.
This is the Moondrop Blessing 3! It’s been a while since I’ve listened to one of these. I think this was one of the first “Expensive” IEMs, or perhaps even the first one I’ve tried almost a year ago now ? Back then I was really looking forward to reviewing one of these. The other pair I tested was a pair of Stellaris. But, I digress. How do they sound ? Especially after experiencing the Crimson, the Volur, and many more IEMs ? I think I’ve grown a lot since the last time I tried them. With the Blessing 3 Dusk around the corner now. It feels like it is a good time to revisit them! This unit here is another loaner from Jaben Surabaya. Thank you for sending them in for reviews!
Backstory + Sound Impressions
Back when I was first tried them on, I was still in love with my Moondrop Chu. I still remembered there was a note about the Blessing 3 that I wrote during the time. I said “The Blessing 3 has better micro details, I feel like I can hear the Bass String vibrating on Hotel California”. Which is weird because I only noticed that one time. The other time I tried looking for it, it didn’t show. I also wrote that the nozzle looks funny, because the eartips are just pressed on there. Which is kind of a problem now, as the eartips keep falling off the earbuds when I take them off. And… they ended up stuck inside my ears. Or, they became loose and rolled of the desk or something. Oh, the initial note from a year ago also mentioned that it sounds thin. I also wrote that it might need a DAC/Amp, which I do not own back then. However, now… it doesn’t sound thin at all. It is still considered “lean” but not thin. Which I don’t really mind, I think you could consider this as reference tuned IEM ? I personally enjoyed my time editing the Moondrop Variations video with this.
What I liked about the Blessing 3
Although technically it is a little too lean to be considered as a “fun” IEM to my taste. I think the Blessing 3 is fun enough to be daily driven. Where it really shines is actually the vocal presentation. Female vocals are airy, sparkly, clean, and well defined. Male vocals are strong, forward, and well defined. Guitars on Symphony of Destruction are forward and snappy, while the Bass is slightly clouded in the background. I personally don’t mind and it is to be expected from a “leaner” sounding IEMs. I think if you like guitars, vocals, and orchestra the Blessing 3 truly is a blessing for you.
Why I Always Switch to The Variations
Don’t get me wrong, the Blessing 3 is still a “fun” IEM. But the fun is different from something like the Variations, the 64Audio Volur, or even the Symphonium Crimson. The fun aspect of Blessing 3 is I think more of like a scavenger hunt fun. It is where you pick up some of the microdetails on certain recording or hearing something that you don’t notice usually. Although, from my experience. This kind of fun can be a little exhausting at times, more so than the analytical fun nature of the Symphonium Crimson. But, that’s just me.
What Music I Love to Listen to with The Blessing 3
I personally love listening to Danish National Symphony Orchestra with the Blessing 3. Like listening to them playing Welcome to Jurassic Park, Shallow, and My Heart Will Go On. Or listening to the acoustic tracks, such as Hikari by Miwa, La La Lost You by Niki, and Hotel California by Eagles. As the tracks works really well with Treble forward IEMs.
TL;DR/DW
Overall, I think the Blessing 3 is excellent the Tonality are great, I give them a B, and the Technicalities are up there with some of the best. So they got an A on Technicalities. Also, something is also bugging me for some reason. I feel like whenever I pick up the Blessing 3 for a listen, at 2 or so hour mark. I feel a bit tense after listening to them ? Let me know what do you think happened in the comments section.
That is it ? That is the Moondrop Blessing 3! I would personally wait for the Blessing 3 : Dusk, as I would like to see what that version brings to the table. And with them showing up in CanJam NYC earlier. I think the release date is around the corner. Thank you again Jaben Surabaya for lending me the Moondrop Blessing 3 and the Variations. Hopefully, at the time this video is released. They’re already safe and sound at their rightful place.
I personally encourage you to watch my Here
Footnote :
My Source is the TimeEar BTE-222 connected to my PC most of the time. I judge them using various genres of songs. I narrowed down what I think sounds best in this Spotify Playlist here :
Head-Fi Special (Videos about this might be up soon)
Durability :
The unit is a store demo unit, so it is slight worse for wear. Considering the age of the unit, which is around 6 months according to my friend at Jaben Surabaya. They still look pretty good, the faceplate does have a lot of micro scratches, but it is to be expected. Honestly, I think it's not that bad. Considering the fact that it is a Demo unit after all. Although if you own this IEM or any other IEM, I think it is good practice to put them inside a case with Silica Gel in it. Oxidation is slightly starting on the inside of the Blessing 3. It is clearly displayed as the resin body are very clean and clear.
o0genesis0o
Great review, mate! I also prefer Variations to Blessing 3.
TechieFelixLP
Thanks, Mate! Yes, I enjoy the Variations better than the B3. Even though the Variations is not perfect
alexdemaet
Excellent soundstage and imaging
Clear and airy vocals! To me the Variations are a perfect match wit the Earman Angel. I love the combo very much.
Clear and airy vocals! To me the Variations are a perfect match wit the Earman Angel. I love the combo very much.
When I first picked them up, the first thing I noticed was how thin the cables are, especially the upper half of it. Don’t get me wrong, the cables are really nice, they’re just really thin. I think if you want a thicker cable you should go for the 8 wire one. The buds are weirdly light, after further research, turns out that the buds are made from aluminium with a touch of Forged Carbon as the face plate. Which is really nice…
This portion of the video is made from the Demo Playlist I’ve linked to in the video description.
First song on the list is Hikari by Miwa, the first take edition. Right out of the bat, the first thing I noticed was these might be a little bright. As there are some sharp notes I’ve encountered. But honestly, it’s still tolerable. Especially on this track as it’s quite interesting to have an analytical to notice recording imperfections and details. The Soundstage on this track isn’t really wide enough to be mindblowing, but this set performs well, as it is still wider than my usual truthear zero:red. Oh, I think I’ve noticed why expensive iems are expensive. The soundstage performance usually are wider than your cheaper iem sets. That’s one of the things I’ve noticed so far.
I digress, let’s move to the second track on the list is, Barracuda by Heart. Not a lot said about this set on my notes other than The Subbass still aren’t as thumpy as the Zero:Reds. And, The Kickdrums aren’t really noticeable, however I think this might be caused by my brain melting from listening to too much IEMs for the day. I couldn’t really tell, But…
The thing I could tell is how the Crimson performs on the third song on the list. Which is Unholy Confessions by Avenged Sevenfold. Even though this is one of the busiest track I have on the playlist, the instrument separation is really nice, the vocals are also forward from the rest of the instruments. The Ride Cymbals on the scream part is really nice, probably one of the best so far.
Moving on to My Heart Will Go On, Orchestral version by Danish National Symphony. Not a lot of things said about this song either other than the separations, the details, the soundstage and imaging, is awesome. However, the first and only cons so far is present in this song also. Which is the “bright” sounding part.
Moving on… Oh… my gosh… I think I didn’t have any notes on the last song on the list…or I didn’t test it… but the last song doesn’t really matter anyways, I use that to rate the “fun” aspect of the set. Well I define “fun” as thumpy subbass, engaging mids, and slightly forward highs. Which the crimson ticks every single part in previous tracks tested. Maybe too much on the highs, but that’s just a theory…
Verdict, the Crimson gets a fun-ish analytical set. If you’re a square, with rounded corners. This might be your cup of tea. My corners are definitely too rounded, so this set is a hit or miss. I couldn’t really say much because this is not a review. But hey, If I ever get my hands on one for a pretty good amount of time. I would let you know how it works for me.
That’s it, that’s my experience with Symphonium Crimson. Have… a great day!
This portion of the video is made from the Demo Playlist I’ve linked to in the video description.
First song on the list is Hikari by Miwa, the first take edition. Right out of the bat, the first thing I noticed was these might be a little bright. As there are some sharp notes I’ve encountered. But honestly, it’s still tolerable. Especially on this track as it’s quite interesting to have an analytical to notice recording imperfections and details. The Soundstage on this track isn’t really wide enough to be mindblowing, but this set performs well, as it is still wider than my usual truthear zero:red. Oh, I think I’ve noticed why expensive iems are expensive. The soundstage performance usually are wider than your cheaper iem sets. That’s one of the things I’ve noticed so far.
I digress, let’s move to the second track on the list is, Barracuda by Heart. Not a lot said about this set on my notes other than The Subbass still aren’t as thumpy as the Zero:Reds. And, The Kickdrums aren’t really noticeable, however I think this might be caused by my brain melting from listening to too much IEMs for the day. I couldn’t really tell, But…
The thing I could tell is how the Crimson performs on the third song on the list. Which is Unholy Confessions by Avenged Sevenfold. Even though this is one of the busiest track I have on the playlist, the instrument separation is really nice, the vocals are also forward from the rest of the instruments. The Ride Cymbals on the scream part is really nice, probably one of the best so far.
Moving on to My Heart Will Go On, Orchestral version by Danish National Symphony. Not a lot of things said about this song either other than the separations, the details, the soundstage and imaging, is awesome. However, the first and only cons so far is present in this song also. Which is the “bright” sounding part.
Moving on… Oh… my gosh… I think I didn’t have any notes on the last song on the list…or I didn’t test it… but the last song doesn’t really matter anyways, I use that to rate the “fun” aspect of the set. Well I define “fun” as thumpy subbass, engaging mids, and slightly forward highs. Which the crimson ticks every single part in previous tracks tested. Maybe too much on the highs, but that’s just a theory…
Verdict, the Crimson gets a fun-ish analytical set. If you’re a square, with rounded corners. This might be your cup of tea. My corners are definitely too rounded, so this set is a hit or miss. I couldn’t really say much because this is not a review. But hey, If I ever get my hands on one for a pretty good amount of time. I would let you know how it works for me.
That’s it, that’s my experience with Symphonium Crimson. Have… a great day!
Attachments
This is a new Dongle DAC from Hidizs called the SD2. It’s just released at the time this video went live. This unit is provided by Hidizs as a sample unit. Although, the thoughts and opinions that are in this Review is 100% my own and I’ll try to be unbiased as possible.
This unit costs 39 dollars.
The SD2 is powered by an ES9270, it supports Native DSD64 and 128. In PCM, it supports up to 384kHz/32Bit. You can tell by the LED that are on the product. Blue for 88.2-384kHz and DSD, while the if it turns red, it is outputting in PCM Sampling Rate 44.1 to 48 kHz. I currently don’t have any DSD Files on me, and my library are mostly FLACs.
Moving on to the sound, the SD2 is tonally warmer than the TEU-99 or BTE-222. What I mean by warm is that the sound that came out from the SD2 is slightly bass boosted. It’s not as bad as if I plugged in my IEMs directly to my PC. But it’s noticeable. I personally thing this Dongle DAC works best with bright neutral-ish IEMs like the original moondrop Chu and TEA-99 from TimeEar or maybe other Earbuds too as earbuds aren’t really known to be as bassy as IEMs. I’m actually working on the TEA-99 review. But, I digress.
My pet peeve with the SD2 is that I personally prefer something that is low-profile or something with removeable cable. And, the fact that the 3.5 output is angled made the experience of unplugging IEMs without unplugging the SD2, pretty jarring. Lastly, the warm-ish tone feels like something that has a V-shaped tuning like the MS1 Galaxy, sound overly warm to my taste.
TL;DW
I think the SD2 is a DAC/Amp that emphasize musicality over reference. One of the true highlight of the product for me is actually the Microphone pass through. The TEU-99 doesn't support Microphone Passthrough. The accessories is nice. I think if you have a reference IEM, this could add some spice to it.
I actually did a double review, comparing this Dongle DAC to the TEU-99 from TimeEar. A rather unknown Dongle DAC outside of China. Which You can check the full review Here.
This unit costs 39 dollars.
The SD2 is powered by an ES9270, it supports Native DSD64 and 128. In PCM, it supports up to 384kHz/32Bit. You can tell by the LED that are on the product. Blue for 88.2-384kHz and DSD, while the if it turns red, it is outputting in PCM Sampling Rate 44.1 to 48 kHz. I currently don’t have any DSD Files on me, and my library are mostly FLACs.
Moving on to the sound, the SD2 is tonally warmer than the TEU-99 or BTE-222. What I mean by warm is that the sound that came out from the SD2 is slightly bass boosted. It’s not as bad as if I plugged in my IEMs directly to my PC. But it’s noticeable. I personally thing this Dongle DAC works best with bright neutral-ish IEMs like the original moondrop Chu and TEA-99 from TimeEar or maybe other Earbuds too as earbuds aren’t really known to be as bassy as IEMs. I’m actually working on the TEA-99 review. But, I digress.
My pet peeve with the SD2 is that I personally prefer something that is low-profile or something with removeable cable. And, the fact that the 3.5 output is angled made the experience of unplugging IEMs without unplugging the SD2, pretty jarring. Lastly, the warm-ish tone feels like something that has a V-shaped tuning like the MS1 Galaxy, sound overly warm to my taste.
TL;DW
I think the SD2 is a DAC/Amp that emphasize musicality over reference. One of the true highlight of the product for me is actually the Microphone pass through. The TEU-99 doesn't support Microphone Passthrough. The accessories is nice. I think if you have a reference IEM, this could add some spice to it.
I actually did a double review, comparing this Dongle DAC to the TEU-99 from TimeEar. A rather unknown Dongle DAC outside of China. Which You can check the full review Here.
Attachments
sofastreamer
some words about soundstage depth and layering, which is what generally differentiates dac/amps soundwise besides tonality?
TechieFelixLP
Honestly, I don't think I hear anything different between plugging my Zero:Red directly to my phone or listening to them through the BTE-222. Other than the volume getting louder, I think they sound identical. Or perhaps even slightly better ? Great Suggestion bro. I think I'll need more DAC/Amps so I can compare them. I'll definitely post an update once I got a new DAC/Amp.
After owning my pair for a few months, I haven’t seen any more damage or scratches to the resin plastic they use for the casing. So, I think Truthear deserves a thumbs up for that. Do you own a pair ? let me know how yours are holding up in the comments below. The cable continues to be fine for the price and definitely better than the Moondrop Chu on the cable department. It hasn’t become sticky or anything. However on the ear hook part, I’ve seen like a white powdery stuff on it just like the Chu. I’m not sure if it is dust or something else. Moving on to the case, the case do collect scratches from my fingernail. The “leather” still seems fine overall. I’m still not sure this will hold up for long. And, I don’t like the rubbery feeling it has.
Enough about the durability and builds of the Reds, let’s talk about sounds. I’ve grown to like the Truthear Zero Reds more over time. I think it really is the best IEM you can buy under $100. Would it be better than the Hexa, Aria, Aria 2, Titan S, and other ? probably not. But 1 think for sure, is that I demo a lot of IEMs. And, overall I’m pretty satisfied with the Truthear Zero:Red. In my opinion, while there are better pairs over there. If you already own the Truthear Zero:Red, you’re not missing much from other pairs, even the expensive ones.
The Truthear Zero:Red performs well on Test Playlist #1, the Bass and Sub-bass are welcomed for a well-rounded listening experience across genres. Although this may come as a double-edged sword. As the bass and subbass can overpower the other frequencies to a point of hazing up tracks. Mids performance is quite good as the separation between instruments are noticeable but not amazing. In my opinion, vocals, especially male vocals feels a little recessed compared to other frequencies. I think this set works best if you have a library that are mostly filled with female vocal. Treble can get a little fatiguing at times, the fatiguing trebles can be heard especially in Aoyama Killer Story. Other tracks may also produce a fatiguing treble, however for me it is barely fatiguing most of the time. Imaging can be a little clouded in busier tracks and mid details can get lost in the mix. This hinders the performance on orchestral and hard rock/metal tracks. Soundstage, depending on the tracks listened can vary. Based on my experience, the soundstage is overall okay, neither bad nor good.
In my almost 5 months of use. The Truthear Zero:Red performs really well across medias. Movies, TV Shows, Games, Videos, and Music sounds excellent. Big well-made movies such as Oppenheimer, 1917, and Mission Impossible
ead Reckoning sounds really good with the Truthear Zero:Red, delivering a well-rounded, grand, and magnificent sounds. Games such as Valorant performs well with the Truthear Zero:Red, however the lack of mic on the default configuration of Zero:Red made it slightly less appealing for competitive games where communication is needed. It is also worth noting the not so good imaging also hinder the performance of Truthear Zero:Red on games where elevation and busy environments are at play. About the 10 ohms resistor, I haven’t use it that much as I don’t think they are necessary. HOWEVER! Please do include things like this in the future, as it would be a good thing to give flexibility to the user.
Comfort wise, the reds feels a bit uncomfortable after wearing them for awhile. Around 3 hours of continuous listening, your ears can feel a bit fatigued. As the pressure from the nozzle are quite hard and the stock tips aren’t helping. Sound fatigue will happen if you listen with higher volumes. It’s also not recommended listen to such loud things as it might damage your hearing.
Overall, the Truthear Zero:Red offers an outstanding value for just $55. The tuning is well done, you can listen to a lot of genres and most likely be satisfied with them. Gaming performance is questionable, watching movies and listening to live performances are pretty immersive with these pair. Overall a pretty fun and correct IEMs to own and listen to.
Video Review Here
Enough about the durability and builds of the Reds, let’s talk about sounds. I’ve grown to like the Truthear Zero Reds more over time. I think it really is the best IEM you can buy under $100. Would it be better than the Hexa, Aria, Aria 2, Titan S, and other ? probably not. But 1 think for sure, is that I demo a lot of IEMs. And, overall I’m pretty satisfied with the Truthear Zero:Red. In my opinion, while there are better pairs over there. If you already own the Truthear Zero:Red, you’re not missing much from other pairs, even the expensive ones.
The Truthear Zero:Red performs well on Test Playlist #1, the Bass and Sub-bass are welcomed for a well-rounded listening experience across genres. Although this may come as a double-edged sword. As the bass and subbass can overpower the other frequencies to a point of hazing up tracks. Mids performance is quite good as the separation between instruments are noticeable but not amazing. In my opinion, vocals, especially male vocals feels a little recessed compared to other frequencies. I think this set works best if you have a library that are mostly filled with female vocal. Treble can get a little fatiguing at times, the fatiguing trebles can be heard especially in Aoyama Killer Story. Other tracks may also produce a fatiguing treble, however for me it is barely fatiguing most of the time. Imaging can be a little clouded in busier tracks and mid details can get lost in the mix. This hinders the performance on orchestral and hard rock/metal tracks. Soundstage, depending on the tracks listened can vary. Based on my experience, the soundstage is overall okay, neither bad nor good.
In my almost 5 months of use. The Truthear Zero:Red performs really well across medias. Movies, TV Shows, Games, Videos, and Music sounds excellent. Big well-made movies such as Oppenheimer, 1917, and Mission Impossible
ead Reckoning sounds really good with the Truthear Zero:Red, delivering a well-rounded, grand, and magnificent sounds. Games such as Valorant performs well with the Truthear Zero:Red, however the lack of mic on the default configuration of Zero:Red made it slightly less appealing for competitive games where communication is needed. It is also worth noting the not so good imaging also hinder the performance of Truthear Zero:Red on games where elevation and busy environments are at play. About the 10 ohms resistor, I haven’t use it that much as I don’t think they are necessary. HOWEVER! Please do include things like this in the future, as it would be a good thing to give flexibility to the user.Comfort wise, the reds feels a bit uncomfortable after wearing them for awhile. Around 3 hours of continuous listening, your ears can feel a bit fatigued. As the pressure from the nozzle are quite hard and the stock tips aren’t helping. Sound fatigue will happen if you listen with higher volumes. It’s also not recommended listen to such loud things as it might damage your hearing.
Overall, the Truthear Zero:Red offers an outstanding value for just $55. The tuning is well done, you can listen to a lot of genres and most likely be satisfied with them. Gaming performance is questionable, watching movies and listening to live performances are pretty immersive with these pair. Overall a pretty fun and correct IEMs to own and listen to.
Video Review Here
