General/Build/Packaging
SMSL produces a wide range of sources, ranging from budget to high end. For those who are not familiar with SMSL, the full name of it is Foshan ShuangMuSanLin, a manufacturer of audio DAC and various headphone amps with their own R&D team as well as marketing team. This is my first time testing out SMSL’s product. I have the SU-1 with me today which is a DAC only without the amp section.

Packaging is fairly straightforward, cardboard box containing the DAC itself, and also the USB cable. This tiny little device can be powered solely via USB port, so you don’t need any additional power supply. SU-1’s “Heart”, which is the AK4493S is housed within a CNC aluminium alloy housing, this ensures better heat dissipation as well as durability.

Specifications

• Inputs: USB, optical, coaxial
• Output level: 2.0Vrms
• THD+N: 0.00013%
• Dynamic range: 121dB
• SNR: 121dB
• USB transmission: Asynchronous transmission
• USB compatibility: Windows 7/8/8.1/10/11, Mac OS X10.6 and above, Linux
• Max bit depth and sampling rate: 32bit/768kHz PCM USBM, 22MHz DSD USB, 24bit/192kHz Optical/Coaxial
• MQA: 384kHz
• Power consumption: <5W
• Standby power: <0.1W
• Weight: 0.43lbs
• Size: 3.7" x 1" x 3" (96 x 27 x 78mm)

IEMs/Headphones/Equipments used for this review

• SMSL SU-1 -> EarMen ST-Amp
• SMSL SU-1 -> iFi Zen Can
• Truthear Zero: Red
• Hifiman Edition XS
• Raptgo Bridge

*SU-1 is sent over by ShenzhenAudio for the purpose of this review. I appreciate the opportunity and support given as always.

Foreword
My review is solely based on what I hear via my equipment and I never consider my reviews to be objective in any way rather a subjective approach. Do take into consideration that everyone’s ear anatomy is not the same, so the psychoacoustics perception might be different as well, but i believe it will not stray too far. I have used the Angel for several months prior to writing this review.

Size Comparison


Notable Features

• The SU-1 supports MQA decoding technology, offering high-fidelity in a smaller file size
• The SU-1 uses a third-generation XMOS XU-316 processor for a stable and low-latency USB connection
• It incorporates an AKM AK4493S DAC chip for decoding PCM 32-bit/768kHz and DSD512 formats.
• The housing features an anodized finish with chamfered edges, giving it a premium stealthy look

Sound Impression
To my ears, SU-1 sounds rather neutral with a little bit of AKM’s flavour. Depending on the amp that you are pairing it with, it might sound warm or clinical, i am pairing it with EarMen’s ST-Amp, which is rather uncolored with very good dynamics. Timbre sounds natural to my ears.

• Soundstage is average, slightly out of the head, with average depth and height, imaging on the other hand is good
• Bass is not emphasised, male vocal with low baritone voice sounds a little lacking in terms of texture
• Mids are flat and instruments are well articulated with good textures all around
• Female vocal does have better texture and sounds sweeter
• The treble region is presented in a detailed manner without introducing sibilance
• SU-1 has very good dynamic range and it sounds like it is performing at its best when paired with ST-Amp

Listening Impression with various Headphone/IEM
Hifiman Edition XS

• Bass is presented with good texture, nice and decent sub bass rumble
• Punchy bass with good slams
• Mids are a little forward compared to Earmen Angel’s DAC
• Good imaging based on my HRTF
• Soundstage is good, slightly out of your head while retaining EDXS’s intended tuning
• Sounds a little bit more musical overall to my ears when paired with SU-1

Truthear Zero: Red

• Bass has good texture,sounds a little fuller
• Mids are being brought forward a little bit so Zero: Red doesn’t sound that recessed
• Treble remains smooth while still being a little energetic
• Soundstage doesn’t really change much, imaging is slightly improved to my ears

Raptgo Bridge

• Airy presentation and very 3D-ish soundstage
• Bass punch a little harder with slightly better extension on the treble, bass sounds fuller overall
• Treble has a little bit more extension
• Very good synergy overall

AMP Pairing Note

• Pairing with the iFi Zen Can seems to made the overall presentation slightly warmer while retaining dynamics, it made the music sounds fuller overall, suitable to pair it with Planar headphones and cool sounding IEMs
• Switching the amp to Earmen’s ST-AMP, the sound is very different, in the sense where ST-AMP itself is quite neutral, what it does when paired with SU-1 is that it brings out the dynamics, imaging and separation is very good, technicalities of this pairing is excellent, but in terms of tonality, it is a little on the cool side and slightly lacking in terms of note weight

Final Thoughts
SU-1 is my first DAC only product, i have tested various dac-amps but none of them are purely DAC. SU-1 in my opinion is well built, sounds good when paired with a good amp, depending on your preference, if you like your sound coloured, you may pair it with iFi’s amp, if you are like me, you like the sound uncolored, you may pair it with Topping’s amp or the one that i’m using it with currently, Earmen’s ST-Amp.

For the price and the features that come alongside with SU-1, I think it is a no-brainer and easy recommendation. If SMSL is able to release another model without the MQA rendering, I believe the cost can be brought down a little, with all that being said, i’d still recommend this dac without any doubt!

If you’re interested in getting this unit, head over to ShenzhenAudio’s store and get one now:

SMSL SU-1 DAC - Non affiliated

General/Comfort/Build/Packaging
This is my first time trying BASN’s product, for those who are not aware, BASN is founded by Louis Lee back in year 2009, the company name stands for “Be a Sincere Newcomer”, the term was coined so that the founder could remind himself to always be a sincere headphone manufacturer. Master 5 is very comfortable, the shell is made out of resin and very comfortable and doesn’t feel heavy. The size is also just nice for my ears. The face place’s design consists of many miniature skulls with BASN wording on it, very nice.

In terms of packaging, I personally think that BASN is doing a great job there. The storage case that came with it offers a very solid protection in my opinion, two sets of cables, one with microphone and another without, very considerate of them, not to mention they also offer several types of eartips which allows the listener to pick up that seals and fits the best for them.



Gears used for this review

• Earmen Angel Dac/Amp
• Earmen ST-Amp
• Hiby FC6
• Sony WM1A
• BMaster stock tips and cable

Foreword
My review is solely based on what I hear via my equipment and I never consider my reviews to be objective in any way rather a subjective approach. Do take into consideration that everyone’s ear anatomy is not the same, so the psychoacoustics perception might be different as well, but i believe it will not stray too far

Sound Impression
BMaster 5’s sound is overall smooth and easy to listen to, tonality is fairly neutral and the timbre is quite natural and accurate to my ears, it doesn’t have the BA timbre based on my listening experience. Let’s take a look at the breakdown below:

Bass

• Bass sounds lacking due to the lack of punch from the mid bass, sub bass however does rumble when its called for, it MGK’s Taurus, the sub bass can be heard rumbling
• Mid bass as i mentioned earlier, lacks punch and slams, but it sort of blend in quite well with the tuning without much distractions
• Bass has good texture and good speed, it doesn’t bleed into the mids
• The bass quantity is certainly not for basshead, quality is good for the asking price

Mids

• Mid range doesn’t sound lush but it’s not dry sounding as well, well done here, very good texture overall and doesn’t sound thin
• Both male and female vocal has very good texture
• Milet’s vocal sounded sweet and not shouty, a little forward, male vocal however is slightly recessed, listening to Toto’s Africa, can clearly hear the vocal is slightly pushed back, but then it doesn’t really break the whole experience either
• Upper mids are generally safe sounding with a little bit of energy, but nowhere near the shouty territory

Treble

• Treble is smooth overall with good amount of air and sparkles, never sibilant sounding nor harsh peaks
• Treble remain smooth sounding even when the volume is being cranked up
• Detail retrieval is good for the price, but certainly not an analytical set

Driveability

• Bmaster 5 is very easy to drive, but it does scale with better source of course
• Pairing the Bmaster 5 with R2R DAC such as Hiby’s FC 6 is a whole different experience, Bmaster 5 sounded slightly more musical with this pairing, very enjoyable
• Amping the Bmaster 5 makes the experience different when i paired with Earmen’s Angel on Gain+ mode, soundstage is slightly bigger, bass has got more body and slightly more punchy

Final Thoughts
All in all, based on my time spent listening to Bmaster 5, i would say it is trying to strike a balance between monitoring and musicality, and it is a successful attempt, it doesn’t sound dry like the usual monitoring IEM, it has a bit of a musicality characteristic to it. The only complaint that I have with it is, more like nitpicking, the cable is slightly too long for my taste. Other than that, BASN has done a great job with the Bmaster 5 and I'm certainly looking forward to more upcoming releases from them. Another noteworthy mention for Bmaster 5 is the use of Pentacon Ear connector, which is a high quality MMCX connector from Pentacon itself, it is really rare to see brands which use high quality connectors for their IEM. Kudos to BASN!

*Big thanks to BASN for sending over Bmaster 5 for the purpose of this review. Appreciate the opportunity.

Head over to the official store if you are interested in getting a pair

Bmaster 5 Product Page - Non affiliated
Bmaster 5 Amazon Store Link - Non affiliated

General/Build/Comfort/Packaging
Letshuoer is not a brand that the community isn’t familiar with, one of their releases, namely the S12 planar IEM is a hit which was well received by many in the community. This time around they teamed up with a well known Youtuber, Timmy from Gizaudio to create the Galileo. The build quality is solid, with a beautiful resin shell which is eye-catching, not to mention this
Packaging is good and similar to the D13 and S12 which i have reviewed previously, very good unboxing experience. The bundled case is very sturdy and I personally like it very much, although it does take a little effort to open it, but it is very sturdy and IEMs and cable stored inside will be well protected, a fair trade off to me.
The shell is also comfortable to be worn for a long session, I have them on for a long listening session lasting averagely 3-4 hours and I did not feel any discomfort with the Galileo.

Gears used for this review

• Earmen Angel Dac/Amp
• Earmen ST-Amp
• Hiby FC6
• Sony WM1A
• Galileo stock tips and cable

Foreword
My review is solely based on what I hear via my equipment and I never consider my reviews to be objective in any way rather a subjective approach. Do take into consideration that everyone’s ear anatomy is not the same, so the psychoacoustics perception might be different as well, but i believe it will not stray too far

Sound Impression
Galileo’s sound is overall smooth and easy to listen to, tonality is fairly neutral and the timbre is quite natural and accurate to my ears let’s take a look at the breakdown below:

Bass

• Bass sounds lacking due to the lack of punch from the mid bass, sub bass however does rumble when its called for, it MGK’s Taurus, the sub bass can be heard rumbling
• Mid bass as i mentioned earlier, lacks punch and slams, but it sort of blend in quite well with the tuning without much distractions
• Bass has sufficient texture and good speed, it doesn’t bleed into the mids
• The bass quantity is certainly not for basshead, quality is good for the asking price

Mids

• The mids are forward and present themselves nicely, not too in your face and certainly not laidback
• Vocal positioning is forward, both male and female vocal has good texture to it, doesn’t sound thin nor nasally at all
• Upper mids are not offensive at all, i have listened to several JPop tracks and Galileo sounds good with it, not shouty at all, however, do take into consideration that my tolerance vs yours might differ, also ear tips might also play a role on how you will perceive the upper mids

Treble

• This is the range where i personally think is Galileo’s achilles heel, don’t get me wrong, i’m not saying the treble performance here is bad, it just leave something to be desired
• Treble is smooth all around, no harsh peak nor sibilance here, very safe sounding
• Detail retrieval is average
• It lacks the energy that some might crave for, but for those who prefer a smooth sound, this is it

Soundstage/Imaging

• Soundstage is slightly out of your head, good width but slightly lacking depth and height, this is due to the lack of air from the treble region
• Imaging is good, instruments can be pinpointed easily in this track (Hans Zimmer Live - Wonder Woman Suite Part 1), separation is good as well

Driveability

• Galileo is very easy to drive, however it does scale with source
• Paired with the Hiby FC6 with R-2R DAC with NOS filter, the overall sound is slightly more punchy than usual, better dynamics overall, a little bit more fun
• When paired with my reference DAC, Earmen Angel, it doesn’t add much coloration to it but present it as it is, with better dynamics and tighter bass
• Doesn’t really benefit much from amping

Final Thoughts
All in all, the first collab product between Letshuoer and Gizaudio is a very safe choice for the majority of listeners out there, I can understand why, after all, this is a first product collab afterall and nobody wants a screw up product which might affect the perception of the next collab. For those who are looking for a safe sounding set of IEM or new to the hobby and exploring, Galileo is your best bet, however, if you are expecting an IEM with a bit of energy on both the low and top end, you need to look elsewhere as Galileo is not tuned that way.



*Galileo is sent over by Letshuoer for the purpose of this review. I thank Ivy for the opportunity. Head over to HifiGo if you’re interested to get one as it is available exclusively from HifiGo.

Letshuoer x Gizaudio Galileo - Non Affiliated

General/Build/Packaging/Comfort
KZ is a name that most in the Chi-Fi community should be familiar with. Today I have the ZVX as well as D-Fi with me. We will take a look at how it sounds below, but first, let's talk about the build and comfort.
Both ZVX and D-FI have metal build and they’re very solid to hold, ZVX weighs a little but you won’t really feel it when it’s in your ears. D-Fi however is slightly lighter and it is with tuning switches, both are really comfortable to wear for a long period of time. In terms of packaging, most KZ IEMs share the same packaging style, ZVX and D-Fi are no exception.

Gears used for this review

• Earmen Angel Dac/Amp
• Earmen ST-Amp
• Macbook Air M2 3.5 Out
• iPod Touch 5th Gen
• KZ ZVX, KZ D-Fi

Foreword
My review is solely based on what I hear via my equipment and I never consider my reviews to be objective in any way rather a subjective approach. Do take into consideration that everyone’s ear anatomy is not the same, so the psychoacoustics perception might be different as well, but i believe it will not stray too far



Sound Impression
KZ ZVX

• I have not listened to a KZ IEM for quite some time, my impression/experience with KZ back then was not good, particularly due to the notoriously sibilant highs, that was back then, fast forward to present, they have improved with due time of course
• I was surprised when i listened to ZVX, they are completely different from how they used to sound
• The tuning is rather neutral with a slight emphasis on the highs, (slightly), this is why i'm surprised
• Bass has adequate texture, sufficient quantity and good control as well, it is also quite speedy and handles Metallica’s track easily
• Mids are not recessed nor too forward, male vocal has good texture to it, the same can be said for female vocal as well
• Treble is never offensive, retains enough energy yet it is smooth at the same time, non sibilant for sure
• In terms of detail retrieval, they are actually very good for the asking price, maybe slightly punching above the price point but nothing more, quite impressive
• Soundstage has good depth and width, instruments can be pinpointed easily as well, separation is quite good as well
• Very good impression with the ZVX overall, recommended!

KZ D-Fi (DDDD)

• I settled with the DDDD config because it’s the default setting and also the most pleasant sounding to my ears
• The tonality on this config sounds quite neutral to my ears, bass quantity and quality is good, decent texture and good control, doesn’t bleed into the mids
• Mids are not recessed nor too forward, timbre is quite good
• Vocal has good texture for both male and female, instrument’s timbre in the mids sounds natural to my ears
• Treble is smooth and non offensive to my ears, non sibilant, detail retrieval is alright
• Soundstage has good width, and height, slightly lacking depth though, imaging and separation is good for the asking price
• The ability to taylor the tuning to your preference is a plus here, also making it a versatile unit

Driveability

• Both the D-Fi and ZVX is easy to drive
• Both does scale with source in terms of tonality and soundstage, doesn’t really benefit much from amping
• In fact, Apple Dongle is sufficient to drive both the D-Fi and ZVX to their potential

Final Thoughts
All in all, KZ seems to be heading in the right direction in terms of tuning, both the D-Fi and ZVX sound good and offer tremendous value for the performance they’re putting out. Both are easily recommended!

Both ZVX and D-FI are being sent out by KZ for the purpose of this review, I thank them for the opportunity.

Head over to the following link if you’re interested to get one yourself
Shopee Malaysia Link
KZ ZVX - Non affiliated
KZ D-Fi - Non affiliated

General/Packaging/Build
For those who are not familiar with Earmen, Earmen is a company registered in the US, and a subsidiary of Auris Audio which is a high end Serbian brand that builds amplifiers as well as headphone amps, similar to Auris Audio, although Earmen is registered in the US, all of the products are made in Europe to uphold a certain quality standard.

I have the ST-Amp with me today, a fully balanced amplifier, although it has a DAC (ES9280) in it, its strength lies on the amping section rather than the DAC, while it is certainly good to have for those who are on a budget or looking to get an external DAC to fully utilise the amp of ST-Amp.

Build quality of the ST-Amp is solid, switches are not wobbly, the input and output ports are gold plated and have solid connection (doesn’t come off easily). The only complaint that I have is with the positioning of the anti-slip rubber pad which formed a triangle, which in my opinion isn't that stable as it can easily topple if you accidentally knock it or if you have a thick power cord, it may be an issue as well. The amp itself has a noiseless LPS (Linear Power Supply) built in, which is something that i personally preferred instead of having a separate power brick dangling around

The ST-Amp came in a bare minimal packaging but is well protected, one box contained the ST-Amp, while another layer of box served as a protection layer. It doesn’t come with any power chord nor usb cable unfortunately, but for someone who’s already spending this much amount of money, they should already have several power cord or usb cables laying around, but nonetheless, it’s good to have so a first timer can enjoy the package right out the box.



Technical Specifications grabbed from ST-Amp’s product page
Full product information


IEMs/Headphones/Equipments used for this review

• Final Audio Heaven II 3.5mm
• Kiwi Ears Orchestra Lite 3.5mm
• Kiwi Ears Quartet 3.5mm
• Hidizs MS5 4.4mm
• Earmen Angel -> Earmen ST-Amp
• Xduoo XA-10 -> Earmen ST-Amp
• Sony WM1A -> Earmen ST-Amp

*Earmen ST-Amp is sent over by Miroslav from Earmen for the purpose of this review. I appreciate the opportunity given



Foreword
My review is solely based on what I hear via my equipment and I never consider my reviews to be objective in any way rather a subjective approach. Do take into consideration that everyone’s ear anatomy is not the same, so the psychoacoustics perception might be different as well, but i believe it will not stray too far. I have used the Angel for several months prior to writing this review.

Notable Features

• No loud popping sound upon switching the amp on or off
• Clean and dark background, no audible noise floor even on Hidizs MS5, which has quite low impedance at 5.3ohm, no noise/hiss at all
• Very very little channel imbalance at low volume, pretty much can be ignored even for IEM users, 3rd lining onwards there will be no imbalance anymore, unlike the implementation on some other dac amp, where it is either too soft or too loud, this is not the case here with the ST-Amp

Sound Impression
Listening to both the SE and BAL out, it’s safe to say that the SE doesn’t sound bad compared to the BAL out,, except slightly lacking in terms of dynamics, which is expected from SE output, i have tested some dac/amp which i shall not name to remain neutral, the SE output sounded bad compared to the BAL out, it is as if the SE’s circuit is designed badly and the focus is only on the BAL out. This is not the case for ST-Amp, both are sharing the same topology with almost no additional noise or THD as stated from Earmen, which I can personally attest to.

DAC Amp Combo

• Utilising the internal dac of ST-Amp, which is the ES9280, the DAC exhibited clean lows with good enough texture, sufficient punch and good resolution and dynamics, tonality wise, it is on the slight cool side and it has very good synergy with my transducers that has warm signature, for those with neutral signature, the sound is very dynamic and enjoyable when you feel the need to tap your foot

Amp + Xduoo XA-10

• Operating as Amp only, the ST-Amp is very revealing, uncolored, as well as dynamic. It bring out the characteristics of the DAC connected to it, take Xduoo’s XA-10 for example, which has dual AK4493 DAC, on its own, it doesn’t sound engaging, lows lacks a little texture as well as punch, resolution sounds a little lacking as well, when paired with the ST-Amp, the difference is day and night and i’m not kidding, very clean presentation overall while retaining the AKM’s “flavour”, resolution is also much better, the performance of this amp is simply excellent!
• Bass has better texture and slightly more weight to it, treble has good energy to it while maintaining its smoothness and dynamic

Amp + Earmen Angel

• Earmen Angel itself is an excellent device which i have also reviewed previously, it exhibits very clean and good dynamics
• Paired with ST-Amp, the dynamics of Angel is another step up from its internal amp, it sounds more dynamic, also a little more analytical, and transparent compared to its internal amp
• The reason i said what i said above is because i used the Final Audio’s Heaven II, which is a single BA IEM, listened via ST-Amp’s dac and amp combo, bass is slightly lacking and doesn’t have good texture/definition, switching over to Angel, i can immediately notice the difference in the bass, more texture, sounds fuller and a little bit more punchy, as well as overall resolution and imaging
• Bass has got more punch compared to Angel’s internal amp
• Treble is lively and nuances can be picked up easily, analytical yet enjoyable at the same time

Pairing impression with various Transducers
Final Audio Heaven II

• Heaven II is a single BA IEM and the tonality is slightly on the warm side and bass lacks a little extension due to it being a single BA
• Pairing it with the ST-Amp, somehow the bass sounds fuller and has a bit more extension, the treble also have slightly better extension to it
• Soundstage and imaging is improved a little as well

Hidizs MS5

• MS5 has very low impedance and quite picky in terms of source, i have paired it with iFi’s Gryphon, Go Blu, XA-10, and they all hiss whenever i plug it into the 4.4 port, I’m very surprised when i plug it into 4.4 port of ST-AMP, it doesn’t hiss
• Bass sounds fuller and good punch, treble on MS5 for certain song have slight sibilance, with ST-Amp, it seems to be very well under controlled and kept at minimum (bearable level for my listening preference)
• Precise imaging as well as slightly bigger soundstage

Kiwi Ears Orchestra Lite

• Despite being a full BA set, it doesn’t exhibit any noise or hiss when i plug it i
• Orchestra Lite is another set that’s safe sounding by nature, pairing it with the ST-Amp seems to be a great choice, the dynamics are improved and it is certainly a little more fun sounding now
• Bass is tight and well controlled, sounds fuller as well
• Detail retrieval and staging is excellent

Kiwi Ears Quartet

• A hybrid set with 2DD and 2BA config, default dip switch configuration, bass is fast and tight, full and sub bass has good extension as well
• Treble doesn't sound harsh
• Very good imaging and soundstage
• ST-Amp somehow makes whatever that’s plugged into it sounds good

Final Thoughts
My experience with Earmen’s product has been good, ST-Amp is no exception. As a Dac/Amp combo, although the in-built DAC is not a high performance DAC, it provides good enough sonic performance for users who are conscious about desk space.
However, the strength of ST-Amp lies in the amp itself, it is very clean and packs enough punch for most IEMs and efficient headphones out there.

The overall build quality is solid and it certainly looks like it is built to last. With all that being said, there are some drawbacks such as the lack of gain switch, as well as bundled accessories (nitpicking)

Still, without any doubt, I absolutely recommend the ST-Amp for those who are looking for a clean and dynamic sounding dac/amp.

Head to the link below if you are interested in getting a unit yourself
Earmen ST-Amp- Non affiliated
Earmen ST-Amp Product Page

General/Build/Packaging
Hifiman needs no introduction, it has already made itself well known in the audiophile community with various headphones ranging from the budget range all the way to their top of the line. Today i have with me the RE600 which was released some time ago, i’m here to find out in today’s day and age, is it still relevant?
The packaging is very premium and not gonna discuss much about the packaging, you may refer to the pictures from Hifiman’s site.
Product Packaging Page
The only gripe I have with RE600 is the cable. It doesn’t look like it will break anytime, but it is easy to get tangled, the plus point of the cable is that it doesn’t have much microphonic noise. The IEM itself is also very light, you can go to sleep with it as well

Specifications * From Hifiman’s site
Frequency Response : 15Hz-22KHz
Sensitivity : 102 dB
Impedance : 16 Ohms
Weight : 13.7g (0.48 Oz)
Plug : 3.5mm

Gears used for this review

• Earmen Angel -> Earmen ST-Amp
• iFi Go Blu
• Hidizs S9 Pro Red Copper
• Macbook Air M2 3.5 Out
• RE600

Sound Impression
RE600 is not some IEM where you plug it in and you will be wow-ed by it. To me, it is the kind where you need to take some time to let it settle and grow to like. I find the RE600 to be neutral and balanced sounding. Despite sounding neutral, there is still some musicality in it. The timbre sounds natural to my ears as well, it does lack a little texture but not so much that it compromises the experience.

Foreword
My review is solely based on what I hear via my equipment and I never consider my reviews to be objective in any way rather a subjective approach. Do take into consideration that everyone’s ear anatomy is not the same, so the psychoacoustics perception might be different as well, but i believe it will not stray too far

Bass

• Bass isn’t the star of the show for RE600, however, i would say the bass is realistic and non boosted. It is fast and tight, hence it is very suitable for rock/metal tracks. Slow bass will make those tracks sound muddy
• The bass has got a slight warmth to it, giving it a pleasant texture that doesn’t sound too thin
• Sub bass is slightly rolled off, i find that it is often overpowered by the mid bass at certain track
• This IEM is definitely not for basshead nor it is suitable to listen to EDM

Mids

• The mids are detailed to my ears, especially when paired with DAC like Chord’s Mojo
• Vocal doesn’t sound recessed but rather intimate to me (It is a matter of preference)
• Both male and female vocal does sound a little crisp to me without sounding too harsh
• Due to lacking some texture on the timbre, certain instruments like Piano does sound a little less vivid (Lacking in texture)

Treble

• Treble is smooth and plenty of details in this range
• Doesn’t sound harsh nor anywhere near sibilant
• It has got a good amount of air to not make RE600 dark sounding
• I would say that the treble on RE600 is balanced, nothing that sounds too peaky to my ears
• Details are picked up easily without feeling fatigue

Driveability

• RE600 is fairly easy to drive, but as with most micro drivers, they perform better with more power
• Something like Apple’s Lightning Dongle will make RE600 sound good, however it does scale better when it is being fed with better source
• Using Earmen Angel with Gain+ mode, the dynamics are even more impression

Comparison (Final Audio E3000)

• E3000 is a lot harder to drive, pair it with a weak source and it will sound muddy and non dynamic
• Construction wise, they are more or less the same in terms of weight, both of them are quite light.
• E3000 has got more bass emphasis compared to RE600 which has the bass tuned quite neutral
• Treble on the RE600 doesn’t sound as warm as E3000’s
• In terms of imaging and separation, hands down to RE600 as RE600 has got better separation and better imaging compared to E3000

Final Thoughts
Having the RE600 throughout the month, I enjoyed it thoroughly, it is very easy to like because it has got the balanced and mature tuning and it is very smooth. It’s not the kind of IEM where you put on and you are WOW-ed by it, it takes time to grow on you and some day you just find yourself listening to it on a daily basis.

At about 199$, the price is definitely on the higher side for a non detachable cable IEM, however, there is a special price for EU at 65$ which is a steal, perhaps you may consider using a forwarder service or get someone from EU to help you with the purchase.

Ultimately, sound is very subjective and if you are going after a balanced sound signature, i’m more than happy to recommend RE600 to you, if you are looking for slight emphasis on the low end or soundstage, there are several models out there for your consideration.

For the performance of RE600, I’m giving it 4/5 stars

*Hifiman RE600 is being sent over by Hifiman for the purpose of this review. I thank them for the opportunity. If you are interested in getting a pair, head over to the following link:

Hifiman RE600 Product Page - Non Affiliated

General/Packaging/Build/Comfort
Hifiman needs no introduction, it has already made itself well known in the audiophile community with various headphones ranging from the budget range all the way to their top of the line. Today I have with me the RE400 Waterline, which was released some time ago, i’m here to find out in today’s day and age, is it still relevant?
The packaging is very premium and not gonna discuss much about the packaging, you may refer to the pictures from Hifiman’s site.
Product Packaging Page
The only gripe I have with RE600 is the cable. It doesn’t look like it will break anytime, but it is easy to get tangled, the plus point of the cable is that it doesn’t have much microphonic noise. The IEM itself is also very light, you can go to sleep with it as well. The shell is made out of metal and the quality is on the higher side

Gears used for this review

• Earmen Angel -> Earmen ST-Amp
• iFi Go Blu
• Hidizs S9 Pro Red Copper
• Macbook Air M2 3.5 Out
• RE400 with the Large white tips

Foreword
My review is solely based on what I hear via my equipment and I never consider my reviews to be objective in any way rather a subjective approach. Do take into consideration that everyone’s ear anatomy is not the same, so the psychoacoustics perception might be different as well, but i believe it will not stray too far

Sound Impression
RE400 to my ears is neutral with a slight hint of warmth, to my ears, the low end although quantity is lacking, the note weight from the lows still carries sufficient weight/texture to it, paired with Earmen Angel, which is a reference sounding DAC/Amp, the dynamics are very impressive. The timbre sounds natural to my ears, nothing to complain about. Let’s take a look at the breakdown below:

Bass

• Bass presentation is neutral, sub bass does roll off early
• Not the star of the show, but the speed of it is very good, it handles high BPM song effortlessly
• The bass has got a slight warmth to it, giving it a pleasant texture that doesn’t sound too thin
• Mid bass has is punchy and doesn’t bleed into the mids
• This IEM is definitely not for basshead nor it is suitable to listen to EDM

Mids

• The mids are lush sounding to my ears, not recessed sounding
• Vocal for both male and female are not recessed and has good texture to it, female vocal especially (Florence+Machine), it sounds sweet and has good texture with the right energy to it
• Male vocal is not as forward as female’s, but it still retains good texture and note for male’s vocal

Treble

• Treble is smooth and plenty of details in this range
• However, there’s a slight graininess i noticed on this range
• Doesn’t sound harsh nor anywhere near sibilant
• It has got a good amount of air to not make RE400 dark sounding
• Detail retrieval is good for the asking price, considering it cost only 20$, the technical performance is actually quite respectable

Driveability

• RE400 is fairly easy to drive, but as with most micro drivers, they perform better with more power
• Pairing it with a slightly warm source, the iFi Go Blue, in my opinion is a very good pairing, the added warmth just thickens the overall note weight, a little bit more punch on the bass, with the xBass turned on, the whole experience is very positive

Comparison (RE600)

• In terms of bass, both the RE600 and RE400 sounded very close, the difference is very minor during my A/B test
• Construction wise, they are more or less the same in terms of weight, both of them are quite light, both have different cable, RE600 has better cable compared to RE400, which make sense because of the higher price
• Mids on the RE600 is slightly more forward and more detailed compared to RE400, vocal performance on both is largely similar
• Treble on the RE600 does have not have the slight graininess of RE400, detail retrieval is also better on the RE600
• Soundstage is quite similar, imaging is where RE600 takes the lead, with much better imaging
• In short, if you are tight on budget, the RE400 will do its job just fine, offering roughly 70% of RE600’s performance and fair asking price that will not break your bank

Final Thoughts
RE400 is the IEM that you don’t get the WOW effect when you first listen to them, similar to its bigger brother the RE600, it does grow on you as you spend more time with them.
Everything sounded natural and the performance of the mids is what really captivates me, having heard some other IEMs costing more than the RE400, the performance doesn’t come close except for the bass (more quantity). Released in 2013, is it still relevant today? Yes, I would say so. Recommended? Yes! If you want a no frill experience (No cable colling), prefer something neutral, look no further..

*RE400 is sent over by Hifiman for the purpose of this review. I thank them for the opportunity. At the time of writing, the RE400 is on a sale price of 20$ instead of the usual 79$, which is a steal in my opinion

Hifiman RE400 Product Page - Non Affiliated

General/Build/Comfort/Packaging
CVJ has been on a hiatus for quite some time after releasing several good sounding IEMs. I have tested the CSN, Mirror and they’re good for the price they’re asking for. There were several released prior to the Mei, but it doesn’t seem to be that well received by the community, today we have the Mei and hopefully it will be able to bring CVJ back to the game once again. Build quality of the Mei is very good, aluminium shell and matte black finishing (the sample that i received), it feels very solid and doesn’t feel hefty at all.

In terms of comfort, with the right eartips, it literally disappears into my ears, throughout my listening session which lasted at least 3-4 hours, i don’t feel any discomfort with it, except when i’m using the stock cable which i can’t get a good fit with it due to the earhook in which it won’t let the Mei sit snugly in my ears. Packaging is very straightforward and bare minimal, one type of eartips, a cleaning brush with a tip to turn the switch on or off, a small carrying pouch and the Mei itself, i do wish they include several types of eartips instead of just one.



Gears used for this review

• Earmen Angel Dac/Amp
• Earmen ST-Amp
• Macbook Air M2 3.5 Out
• iPod Touch 5th Gen
• CVJ Mei with Simgot EW100’s cable and Stock Eartips (the earhook on Mei is too stiff and i can’t get good seal and fit with it, hence resulting to other cable)

Foreword
My review is solely based on what I hear via my equipment and I never consider my reviews to be objective in any way rather a subjective approach. Do take into consideration that everyone’s ear anatomy is not the same, so the psychoacoustics perception might be different as well, but i believe it will not stray too far

Switches Positioning


Sound Impression (Up Down 1 DD + Knowles BA)
Mei is slightly warm to my ears and it has sufficient energy on the top end.
The mids and vocals are forward, note weight is good, but the BA timbre is very noticeable and the cymbals and high hats sounds splashy, let’s take a look at the breakdown below:

Bass

• Bass has good enough texture and speed, sub bass has fairly good extension and rumbles when it’s called for, punchy mid bass
• Good speed and handles Metallica, Slipknot’s track quite well
• Good enough quantity but nowhere near bass head level

Mids

• Mids are forward but not overly in your face
• Male and female vocal has good texture, though i find that the female vocal somehow doesn’t sound that lively compared to male vocal

Highs

• Good energy and non offensive
• Good amount of air and sparkles which helps with imaging
• Detail retrieval is alright, nuances can be heard easily

Other switch config sound impression
Down Down (DD only)

• Bass is more or less similar sounding to Up Down’s config
• Mids aren’t forward and vocals sounds a little pushed back
• Treble is muted and there’s no energy at all on the top end, dark sounding
• I honestly don’t know why this mode exist at all, it totally made musics sounds very bad, but kudos to CVJ for having this option available

Down Up (1 DD+ 1 Custom BA)

• Bass and mids are mostly quite identical in terms of sonic performance compared to Up Down config
• Treble is the part where i hear the difference, there is a little less energy compared to Up Down config, i would say it’s a little smoother, suitable for those who are sensitive to treble

Up Up (1 DD+ 2BA)

• Bass and mids to my ears, once again quite identical
• Treble is very energetic and lively here, on certain track, it does have a slight hint of sibilant, but most of the time, it is alright, treble heads will be pleased with this config
• Detail retrieval is good
• Soundstage and imaging is good with the amount of air from two BA, once again, it might not be for everyone especially if he/she is treble sensitive

Driveability

• Mei is very easy to drive and doesn’t require much power to perform at its best
• It does however scale with source in terms of note weight, cool/warm sounding depending on the DACs
• Doesn’t really benefit from amping as i tried running it with Earmen’s ST-Amp vs direct from my Macbook Air M2’s internal dac, the difference is very minor

Final Thoughts
The idea of tuning switches is not new, but the implementation on the Mei is something different compared to the usual switches implementation. Instead of altering a certain frequency range, Mei gives the listener the flexibility to switch on or off a certain driver as something different and stands out amongst the competition. Mei as a whole offers a slight U shaped listening experience and you can customise it further by leaving a certain driver on or off.

*CVJ Mei is sent over by CVJ for the purpose of this review. I thank them for the opportunity.

Head over to their AliExpress store if you're interested in getting one:

CVJ Mei - Non Affiliated

General/Build/Packaging/Comfort
7HZ made a bang with their Timeless, a Planar IEM which triggered the waves of so called “Planar War” that subsequently, many brands releasing their own planar IEMs. We’re not here to talk about that today, today it’s about the Legato, which i believe will cause another “bang” in the scene, high dosage of bass is nothing new, but what makes the Legato special is despite having a large amount of bass, the bass reproduced is of high quality bass (good control, tight, non muddy), at the same time, it doesn’t compromise other range of frequencies that much (we’re talking bout the mids here).

The build quality of Legato is solid, the shell is made out of CNC aluminium, it has a solid feel to it and it doesn’t feel weighty. I’ve been using them for several hours straight and I don't feel any discomfort. The packaging of Legato is fairly straightforward, a card box containing a large carrying case which has the IEM and the cable stored within it, also two types of eartips provided (namely the 07 and 08), and replacement filter as backup in case you need to replace it next time, very thoughtful.



Gears used for this review

• Earmen Angel Dac/Amp
• Earmen ST-Amp
• Xduoo XA-10
• Macbook Air M2 3.5 Out
• iPod Touch 5th Gen
• Legato Stock cable and Moondrop Spring Tips

Foreword
My review is solely based on what I hear via my equipment and I never consider my reviews to be objective in any way rather a subjective approach. Do take into consideration that everyone’s ear anatomy is not the same, so the psychoacoustics perception might be different as well, but i believe it will not stray too far

Sound Impression
Putting on the Legato and hitting the play button on my foobar2k, the bass is what hit me first, and depending on which song you’re listening to, the subwoofer-like rumble comes alive when the track calls for. Legato is a warm sounding IEM, the timbre is natural to my ears and I can't really find any fault with it. It does have the vintage’s “flavour” to it. If you have heard vintage stereo speaker setup before, you’ll understand what I mean by that.
Very good note weight across the frequency range
Let’s take a look at the break down below:

Bass

• Bass is the star of the show, quantity and quality, you name it, Legato has it
• Sub bass rumbles hard when the track calls for it, it has very good extension and it really goes deep
• Mid bass is punchy and has good slam to it
• Speed is quite good as it handles Metallica’s Lux Aeterna, Slipknot’s People=crap quite well
• The note weight in this frequency range is very “flavourful” to my ears, thick sounding and every note is very impactful, i’m not a basshead but i do enjoy bass when it comes to good quality bass
• I would describe the bass of Legato as bass done right, the bass doesn’t invade the music when its not needed, but when the track calls for it, that’s when it’s showcasing its strength

Mids

• The mids are slightly recessed which is expected, but it can be mitigated by swapping the stock eartips to Moondrop’s SpringTips, it will push the mids forward a little without affecting much on the bass and treble
• Male and female vocal has good texture and weight to it, from Fei Yu Ching, Zhao Peng, Leonard Cohen to Anita Mui, Teresa Teng, Billie Eilish, they all sounded very good off Legato (This is based on my listening impression using Moondrop’s Spring Tips)

Treble

• Treble is smooth and non offensive, despite the amount of bass coming from the Legato, one would expect it to be dark sounding, this is not the case for Legato
• The treble has enough air and sparkles to complement for the overall musical experience
• Detail retrieval is not Legato’s strong suite but it is adequate
• It works in tandem with the low end providing balance for the strong bass

Soundstage/Imaging

• Soundstage is deep and tall, with good width, it gives me a very good atmospheric kind of experience when listening to Toto’s Africa (Live), as if i am listening through speaker instead of IEM
• Imaging is good but it does gets a little tricky for Legato when it comes to complex track, but then again, Legato is not going for technicalities rather than musicality, of course at the same time aiming not to sacrifice much of the technicalities

Driveability

• Legato is not hard to drive, mid range dongle will do the job just fine
• However, it does love power and it scales very well with amplification
• Personally, i preferred pairing Legato with Angel (ESS based DAC.Amp)

Comparison (SeeAudio x Z Review’s Rinko)

• The Rinko is another set touted as basshead’s set, hence this comparison is happening
• In terms of bass quality and quantity, Rinko is nowhere near Legato, Rinko is focusing on the mid bass rather than the sub bass, the rumble isn’t quite there but the mid bass is certainly punchy
• Rinko is slightly better in terms of detail retrieval due to slight emphasis on the highs, not to say that Legato’s detail retrieval is bad, it's good enough
• Soundstage on the Rinko is 2D-ish while Legato has got the atmospheric feeling on for the soundstage
• All in all, both are tuned differently and i would put it as Rinko is a modern sounding set while Legato has got the vintage flavour to it, if that makes sense

Final Thoughts
The Legato is something different and stands out on its own. The tuning is niche and there are bound to be some who like it and some who don't. You have to take into consideration that this set is not a set that’s aim is to excel in technicalities rather to provide the listener with engaging listening experience (musicality). I find myself reaching out for the Legato most of the time because when I hit the play button, I find myself engulfed in the music, not just by the bass but the overall frequency range. If you are searching for that kind of experience, Legato it is.

*7HZ Legato is being sent over for the purpose of this review. I thank LINSOUL for the opportunity. I am not influenced in any way to produce this review nor do I receive any monetary compensation.

Head over to the following link if you are interested in getting a pair!

7Hz Legato - Non affiliated

General Info/Comfort/Packaging/Build
Hidizs is no stranger to the Chi-Fi community, they have a wide range of products ranging from DAP, Dongle Dac/Amp and IEMs. Their IEMs however are not receiving a lot of attention, their DAP and Dongles on the other hand offer excellent price performance ratio. Let us take a look at MS5 today to see if it’s able to compete with other offerings from other brands.
Daily driving the MS5 for several hours a day, i did not find any discomfort, the stock cable is thick and soft, it doesn’t get tangled up easily. The shell is made out of aluminium whereas the faceplate is resin. The build quality is very solid overall.
The packaging looks very premium as with every other Hidizs product that I've unboxed before. The box consists of the IEM itself, a hard carrying case, several types of eartips, 6N single crystal copper silver plated mix 6N single crystal copper cable in 3.5mm termination.



Gears used for this review

• Earmen Angel Dac/Amp
• Earmen ST-AMP
• Xduoo XP-2Bal
• Xduoo XA-10
• iFi Gryphon
• Hidizs S9 Pro Copper Edition
• Hidizs MS5 with stock eartips and stock cable

Foreword
*Depending on your source if it’s having high output impedance or not, MS5 may or may not hiss, it doesn’t hiss with iFi’s Gryphon with IEMatch turned on, slight hiss on the Earmen Angel, no hiss on the S9 Pro Copper either, and also Macbook Air M2’s 3.5mm out has no hiss as well. The hiss on XA-10 is very audible.
My review is solely based on what I hear via my equipment and I never consider my reviews to be objective in any way rather a subjective approach. Do take into consideration that everyone’s ear anatomy is not the same, so the psychoacoustics perception might be different as well, but i believe it will not stray too far



Sound Impression (Balanced Nozzle)
The tonality of MS5 is tilting towards the slight bright scale but not overly harsh nor sibilant. The highs are energetic and lively, adequate sparkles and air, bass has good texture and speed to it. There is a slight hint of BA timbre if you pay close attention to it. It has pretty good synergy with warm source in my opinion, sounds good with XA-10 and iFi’s Gryphon. Will talk more about source after the breakdown below:

Bass

• The bass is full with good body
• Good punch and slams
• Very good speed as well
• Sub bass rumble is there when the track calls for it, but not nearing basshead’s territory which is totally fine because it complements with the tuning overall

Mids

• Forward mids
• Vocal is forward, borderline in your face (nothing good or bad about this, more of a personal preference), it is as if the artist is performing in front of you
• Female vocal sounds extremely good and lively here (Teresa Teng - 我只在乎你), good texture and body to the vocal, not shouty at all

Treble

• Treble is energetic and lively,
• On average listening volume, it is alright but when i start to turn up the volume, the treble can get a little hot (i’m normally not that sensitive to treble, but on the MS5, it can get a little hot after you turn up the volume)
• Detail retrieval is good here as micro details can be picked up easily
• Treble has good amount of air and sparkles

Soundstage/Imaging

• Soundstage has good width and depth (not overly wide, just slightly out of your head), the overall presentation can be intimate
• Imaging is excellent as instruments can be pinpointed easily even in complex track

Sound Impression on other two nozzles
Bass Nozzle

• Sub bass rumble more and mid bass is slightly more punchy
• Mids slightly being pushed back a little, vocal not as forward as the balanced nozzle, just slightly, for the context, perhaps 10% slightly pushed back
• Treble loses some air and sparkles, less energetic, hence resulting in a very 2D presentation/soundstage
• Imaging is still excellent

Treble Nozzle

• This nozzle really surprised me, i expected a boost on the highs which will possibly ventured into the offensive and harsh kind, but to my surprise, they do nothing like that, the reason why i said what i said is because on balanced nozzle, when i crank the volume up, the treble does get hot a little, MS5 on treble nozzle does nothing like that
• Bass is somewhat tighter to my ears, still speedy and punchy
• The performance of the mids are somewhat similar to balanced nozzle
• Treble seems to have air and presence here, the overall presentation that i get is very 3D ish, i actually preferred this over the balanced and bass nozzle.

Driveability/Pairing with Hidzs’s Dongle/Cable Roll

• Now this is the tricky part of MS5, the impedance is fairly low, so what does this translate to? It will hiss when you plug into certain dac/amp or dap
• Most dac/amp out there should have no problem driving it as the sensitivity is rather high
• It does scale with source in terms of coloration from the source itself, it doesn’t really need a lot of power to perform at its best as MS5 is quite efficient
• In terms of source pairing, i find the MS5 to synergise well with Hidizs’s S9 Pro Copper, note weights are slightly thicker with this pairing (i am not sure if this has got something to do with the S9 Pro that i’m having that is housed in a copper chasis), slightly better imaging and soundstage (a little wider)
• With the Hidizs XO, it tends to add quite a bit of warmth to it, the bass is slightly emphasised and note weight is also thicker, treble somehow sounded a little subdued due to the added warmth, but this pairing also made cranking up the volume on balance nozzle possible as it tamed the highs a little
• With the S9 Pro Copper Edition, i find this has pretty good synergy with MS5 on bass nozzle, MS5 sounds very dynamic and the highs has slightly better extension and doesn’t sound that harsh while retaining the dynamics
• MS5 also respond very well to cable rolling (stop here if you’re not a cable believer), i personally find the 5N Single Crystal Copper plated with silver has good synergy with the MS5, tames the highs a little if you’re very sensitive to treble, pairing it with Astral Acoustics’s Pulse cable, MS5 became very musical, very 3D-ish soundstage, smoother highs, and thicker note on the low end, very enjoyable

Final Thoughts
Having tested the MS5 for quite some time, MS5 is indeed an IEM that’s versatile which allows you to find tune the tuning to your preference via interchangeable nozzle, if you are an adventurous person, Moondrop KATO’s nozzle works with MS5 as well, the same goes to Simgot’s EA500, this opened up more possible tweaking/customisation in terms of the tuning that suits your preference. Hidizs has their own “house sound” which some may or may not like as this is very subjective, that's where the interchangeable nozzle comes into play. At the time of writing, the official price will be 379$ which i believe is fair due to the drivers used. Recommended!

*Hidizs MS5 is being sent over for the purpose of this review. I thank Hidizs for the opportunity. I am not influenced in any way to produce this review nor do I receive any monetary compensation.

Head over to the following link if you are interested in getting a pair! At the time of writing, it is currently on a launching sale price at 379$ instead of 499$, don’t missed out on this opportunity!

Hidizs MS5 - Non affiliated
Hidizs S9 Pro Red Copper - Non affiliated

General/Build/Comfort/Packaging
Rinko is SeeAudio’s first collaboration with Zeos, who’s the popular youtuber/reviewer. If you have been following Zeos for a little while, you will/should know his library’s preference, in which directly reflects to the tuning of Rinko, if you’re not a fan of his library, perhaps you may skip this review , but if you’re curious to find out how it sounds, read on!


The shell is 3D printed and very light, it has got the matte finishing with Zeos’s wording on the shell. I have no issue with the comfort throughout my listening session with Rinko which lasted roughly 3-4 hours, packaging wise, the box is the usual “waifu” printing, it came with a IEM storage case which is the same as the one found in their Yume II, three pairs of ear tips based on Zeos’s recommendation/selection. The cable is alright to me, thin and slightly prone to tangle, other than that, nothing much to comment on the packaging as it’s fairly standard.



Gears used for this review

• Earmen Angel Dac/Amp
• Xduoo XP-2Bal
• Xduoo XA-10
• iFi Gryphon
• Macbook Air M2 3.5 Out
• Hidizs S9 Pro Copper Edition
• iPod Touch 5th Gen
• Rinko with stock eartips and stock cable

Foreword
My review is solely based on what I hear via my equipment and I never consider my reviews to be objective in any way rather a subjective approach. Do take into consideration that everyone’s ear anatomy is not the same, so the psychoacoustics perception might be different as well, but i believe it will not stray too far

Sound Impression
Rinko is another fun set that isn’t following the harman curve but tuned to be a fun sounding set emphasising on the bass. In terms of sound profile on stock cable and eartips, they are V shaped sounding to my ears, mids are a little recessed, bass and treble emphasised. Slight planar timbre is audible, tonality wise Rinko is leaning towards slight cool rather than warm. Note weight is somewhat lean with the stock tips.

Bass

• Bass is being emphasised here and this is Rinko’s main focus i believe, all about the bass
• Rinko’s bass is focusing more on mid bass so the punch is harder than the rumble
• Sub bass rumble has adequate rumble and transition nicely into the mid bass
• Rinko response very well to various eartips, depending on the eartips of your choice, the bass can be tight and clean to boomy, the stock tips that came with it is rather balanced

Mids

• Mids are slightly recessed but the details in this range still present themselves adequately
• Female vocal is slightly more forward compared to male vocal, texture is adequate
• Male vocal is slightly recessed, some artist’s vocal tend to be recessed while some are forward, one example when i’m listening to Michael Jackson’s track, his voice sounded recessed while Jason Mraz’s voice sounded forward
• The gain on the upper mids is evident that it favours female vocal more than male’s, if you are listening to J-Pop with female artist, you might like Rinko

Treble

• Treble is lively and energetic, but not offensive at the same time
• Detail retrieval is alright, nuances can be heard without much effort
• Non sibilant
• Good amount of air leading to good perceived sense of space

Soundstage/Imaging

• Soundstage is slightly out of your head, average depth and width, slightly lacking in terms of height
• Imaging is good, instruments can be pinpointed easily even on complex tracks such as Metallica’s Lux Aeterna, Slipknot’s People = crap!

Driveability

• Rinko is easy to drive, reaching my usual listening volume without any efforts on Apple’s Lightning Dongle
• Having said that, it does scale with source and power, source will affect the overall presentation in terms of soundstage and dynamics (based on my own listening experience)
• Feeding it with more power (Gain+ on Earmen Angel), more dynamics, mid range somehow comes forward a little, bass has better control (tighter)

Comparison (vs 7Hz’s Legato)

• In terms of tuning, both are different and the difference is day and night
• Legato has the vintage kind of sound, speaker like sound, if you have any experience with vintage speakers, you’ll understand. Rinko is more modern sounding, irrelevant but something like digital vs analog
• Rinko is mid bass focused whereas Legato is more on the sub bass which the rumble is literally felt by your jaws and transitions nicely into the mid bass
• Mids on both are slightly recessed but Legato does in better in terms of vocals for both female and male, whereas Rinko tends to favours female vocal more than male vocal
• Treble on the Rinko is more energetic compared to Legato, but both aren’t offensive nor sibilant
• Soundstage for Legato gives a different perceived feel compared to Rinko, Legato has got the atmospheric kind of staging whereas Rinko just sounds flat despite it does give you the sense of slightly out of your head
• With all that being said, it’s not to say that either one is bad but it depends on your preference

Final Thoughts
There have been too many harman target tuned IEMs in the Chi-Fi’s space, of course there are some who enjoy it and some who don't. Rinko is a refreshing addition to the market for those who don’t like harman target tuned IEMs. I don’t consider Rinko as an all rounder due to how it’s tuned, you might get away with it if you’re willing to spend some time cable rolling (That is if you believe in cable, not going to argue more and just leave it here) and tips rolling. Do I recommend Rinko? Yes, if your library mainly consists of modern music and especially jpops, if you’re into classicals and instruments, Rinko is not for you. Period.



*This sample is sent over by HifiGo in exchange for this review. I thank them for the opportunity.
Head over to the following links(Non Affiliated) if you’re interested in getting one yourself:

HifiGo’s Aliexpress Store
HifiGo’s Amazon US Store
HifiGo’s Amazon JP Store
HifiGo’s online webstore

General Info/Build/Packaging
Earmen is no stranger to the audiophile community especially in the high end segment. If you are not aware, Earmen is Auris Audio’s sister company, in which Auris is mainly producing audio equipment for desktop setup, while Earmen’s focus is mainly on the portables. The unit is being designed and made in Serbia which will ensure strict QC as well as consistent quality throughout.

Build Quality of the Angel is solid, the unit is built like a tank and the switches and buttons exhibit no wobbly behaviour, not to mention both the USB C port for data and charging are also positioned vertically, this in my opinion is a very good design consideration because the vertical position is less likely to be prone to any accidentally damage to the port.

Packaging is rather standard with a box containing the DAC Amp itself, some manuals as well as a usb c cable, for the price, it’d be good if a storage pouch is being included in the package, but sad to say there isn’t one, not really a big deal anyway


Specifications
I will leave the product link here for your reference as the specs are quite lengthy.
Earmen Angel’s Official Specification

IEMs/Headphones/Equipments used for this review

• Kiwi Ears Orchestra Lite 3.5mm
• Simgot EA500 4.4mm
• Thieaudio Ghost 4.4mm
• iKKO OH5 4.4mm
• 7Hz Timeless x AE 4.4mm
• Hidizs MS5 3.5mm
• Macbook Air M2 -> Earmen Angel -> Apple Music
• Macbook Air M2 -> Earmen Angel -> Tidal MQA
• Macbook Air M2 -> Earmen Angel -> foobar 2k (tracks ranging from 16-44 to 24-192)

*Earmen Angel is sent over by Miroslav from Earmen for the purpose of this review. I appreciate the opportunity given

Foreword
My review is solely based on what I hear via my equipment and I never consider my reviews to be objective in any way rather a subjective approach. Do take into consideration that everyone’s ear anatomy is not the same, so the psychoacoustics perception might be different as well, but i believe it will not stray too far. I have used the Angel for several months prior to writing this review.

General Features

• There are some features on the Angel which i find it’s notably useful hence worth mentioning it here since i did not see it being mentioned anywhere in the manuals
• After you unplug your cable from either the 4.4 or 3.5mm port, the volume will be reset to 0, i find this feature very helpful in preventing the volume from suddenly playing too loud when we plug in new earphone/headphone
• The Gain+ mode is really impressive in making any of the pairing sounds a lot more dynamic, the difference is noticeable immediately, without the Gain+ switched on, the music sounded less dynamic but when you switch the Gain+ on, you can immediately hear that the music sounded a lot more dynamic
• Angel can also be used as DAC only, allowing you to connect to your AMP of choice, my gears are generally quite efficient, hence i don’t really need to use it with other amp as Angel offers plenty of power for my gears, except when i want to listen to Angel with different sound characteristics, i will use the line out function
• Battery life is quite impressive as well, clocking in roughly 7 hours with mixed usage of IEMs and Headphones, it can also be charged and used at the same time, although it does get a little warm, but nothing to be worried
• The volume steps adjustment is also very precise and has good control, it doesn’t get too loud nor too quiet when i’m adjusting the volume
• Volume pot is fully digital, so there will be no channel imbalance even at low volume

Sound Impression
Having reviewed several sources, it is futile to describe the signature of the source as the sound characteristics ultimately depend on the transducer that you are pairing it with. Having said that, The Angel is neutral and uncolored, it does exhibit a little of the Sabre glare but it’s not really noticeable and well controlled.



Pairing Impression with various Transducers
iKKO OH5

• OH5 itself is a warm IEM and the soundstage is rather intimate
• Pairing it with the Angel made the OH5 sound more dynamic
• Bass quality is better in terms of tighter and slightly more punchy
• Slightly better perceived detail retrieval as well a little bit more “excitement” on the top end
• Soundstage is slightly wider as well
• Very good pairing to my ears overall

Kiwi Ears Orchestra Lite

• Despite being a full BA set, it doesn’t exhibit any noise or hiss when i plug it in, even with the Gain+ on
• Orchestra Lite is another set that’s safe sounding by nature, pairing it with the Angel seems to be a great choice as the so called “Sabre Glare” does add some excitement overall for the Orchestra Lite
• Detail retrieval and staging is excellent

Hidizs MS5

• MS5 has fairly low rated impedance at 5.3ohm and 104db of sensitivity, hence a perfect candidate to test if it will hiss
• To my surprise, it doesn’t hiss and the background is quite dark
• Listening with the MS5 using the Bass nozzle paired with Angel shows a good improvement in terms of dynamics as well as imaging
• The bass and treble pretty much sounds the same as Angel is quite neutral
• The soundstage has better depth and imaging is excellent

Thieaudio Ghost (Headphone)

• Bass appears to be more punchy and sub bass has slightly better extension
• Tonality wise, Ghost is lacking some warmth hence pairing it with the Angel doesn’t seems to be quite musical, but it is a little analytical sounding, good if you’re going after this signature, bad if you like it to be musical, so it’s up to the individual, not really a good or bad thing

Comparison (iFi xDSD Gryphon)

• The 4.4 exhibit some noise when using it with certain IEMs, no such issues with Angel, dead silent
• Gryphon has some additional features over Angel, on the fly filter adjustment, Bluetooth connectivity, hardware EQ functionality as well as a OLED screen to display the informations
• In terms of power, this is where Angel takes the lead from Gryphon, a whopping 8.5vrms vs 6.7vrms from the Gryphon
• Angel will power most of the headphones and IEMs out there without breaking a sweat, of course not the Susvara, Gryphon does struggle to drive the Planar headphone properly, i have tested one with HE400SE, a budget Hifiman Planar headphone, it does propel it to a loud listening volume, however i feel that some of the dynamics are lacking, switching the dac amp to Angel, the entire experience changed, dynamics are much better, bass are tighter, imaging and soundstage also improved
• The verdict here is, if you are mainly using efficient headphones or IEM, Gryphon is the way to go, if you have a wide range of gears, power hungry to power efficient, you’re better off with Angel

Final Thoughts
All in all, Angel is an excellent transportable dac/amp, for a portable user like me, i prefer to have something that’s powerful enough for the future in case i want to get some power hungry headphones, yet easily usable with efficient IEM. The price in my opinion is positioned justly given the build quality as well as the specifications and the listening experience.

With all that being said, The Angel does lack what I deemed is quite an important feature for most portable users, Line-in (the ability to use Angel as an amp only). However, it’s not really a deal breaker to me with all the features offered by it. The Angel no doubt will receive the recommendation from me for those who are looking for a high end portable dac/amp.

Head to the link below if you are interested in getting a unit yourself
Earmen Angel - Non affiliated
Earmen Angel Product Page

General Info/Build/Comfort
Edifier is no stranger when it comes to TWS as well as speakers. They offer a budget range all the way to the high end model depending where your budget fits. The model that I have with me today is a mid range TWS, Neobuds Pro. I have reviewed several products from Edifier and it’s safe to say it offers a very high price performance ratio and I have positive experience with the products most of the time.

The packaging is very premium looking for the asking price, I was a little surprised when I received the package, the box is quite big and the overall design of it screams premium. It came with the charging case, earbuds, storage pouch, as well as the eartips and charging cable, all contained within the premium looking box.

The Neobuds Pro itself is very light, it's an in-ear model and sits quite well in my ears. No discomfort even after a long listening session. I have tried mountain biking with it and during some intense descent, the earbuds sit firmly in my ears.

Specifications

• Bluetooth version: V5.0
• Audio codecs: LHDC, SBC
• Driver unit: balanced armature driver + dynamic driver
• Playback time: ANC on: about 5 hours (earbuds) + 15 hours (charging case) | ANC off: about 6 hours (earbuds) + 18 hours (charging case)
• Charging time: about 1 hour (earbuds)/about 1 hour (charging case)
• Battery capacity: 40mAh (earbuds)/500mAh (charging case)
• Frequency response: 20Hz-40kHz
• Sensitivity: 92±3dBSPL(A)
• Impedance: 24Ω
• Charging port: USB Type-C

Test Equipment

• Iphone 12 Mini
• Sony ZX300 Walkman
• Macbook Air M2

General Features

• Neobuds Pro is customizable via the Edifier’s App, it allows you to switch the EQs mode, Classic, Dynamic or Custom
• The app offers quite a number of customization, from noise cancellation level (high/low), to ambient sound on/off, as well as game mode
• Game mode reduces the latency, but even without game mode, the latency itself is not bad, tested when im playing KOF on my phone
• You can customise how much you want to allow the sound to passthrough when you are on Ambient mode
• Noise cancellation performance is very good for the price, on high level noise cancellation, pretty much a lot of the noise from low, mid frequency is being cancelled with the exception of some high frequency, which is totally acceptable given the price point, i would say it offers roughly 70-80% of noise cancellation performance of Apple’s Airpod Pro
• The quick charging feature is neat as it allows me to get back to my session quickly whenever i ran out of juice

Sound Impression on Classic EQ

• The sound on NB2 Pro i will describe it as slight v shaped,bass is punchy and sub bass does rumble whenever it’s called for
• Mid range is slightly recessed as with most V shaped tuning, Vocal for both male and female has good texture to it and doesn’t sound nasally or thin
• The highs on Neobuds Pro is very lively and energetic, not offensive at all
• Detail retrieval is average at best, but this isn’t a set that’s tuned for critical listening anyway, so that’s totally fine
• Soundstage is quite good in the sense where it is slight wide and it has got the 3D-ish sense to it, imaging is average

Final Thoughts
All in all, Neobuds Pro is a very solid product for its price point, i have the airpod pro and dare I say that you are getting at least 80-90% of sound quality of the airpod pro at a fraction of the price. In terms of the features, they are very nifty considering the asking price, you get quick charging, noise cancellation, ambient mode, game mode, and good microphone for call. Overall, highly recommended if you’re on the lookout for a pair of TWS that will not break your bank.

*Neobuds pro is kindly sent over by Edifier Malaysia in exchange for this review. I thank them for the opportunity and all thoughts are of my own.

Head over to the official shopee store if you’re interested in getting a pair:

Shopee Store
Official Website

General/Info/Packaging/Comfort
Soundpeats is no stranger in the wireless earphones market, i have tested and reviewed several products from the brand and generally i have good impressions towards it because of the price performance ratio.

RunFree Lite came in a rather simple packaging consisting of the earphone itself and a charging cable, a storage pouch/case would be nice though.

In terms of comfort, RunFree Lite is, as the name mentioned, light and free. I wore the RunFree Lite during my mountain biking session, with the helmet on as well as the RunFree Lite, I did not experience any discomfort throughout my ride, except there are times where the earpiece is out of alignment and i have to do some minor adjustment to get it to sound right, other than that, it fits very well.



Test Setup

• Run Free Lite paired to iPhone 12 Mini

Features

• The rated battery life is 17 hours, i have paired it to my phone and let it run for whole night (approximately 8 hours) and the next day i still have about 60% of battery, so if you are only using it for workouts, say each session 1-2 hours, you probably only have to charge it once a month or perhaps two weeks once if you are fairly active
• Multipoint connection works, paired with my phone and laptop. Take note that you have to pause the sound on another connection in order for it to switch properly
• Bluetooth connection is stable and i did not experience any interference or drop out throughout my ride (My phone is stashed on my seatpost bag)

Specifications (Product Page)


Foreword
My review is solely based on what I hear via my equipment and I never consider my reviews to be objective in any way rather a subjective approach. Do take into consideration that everyone’s ear anatomy is not the same, so the psychoacoustics perception might be different as well, but i believe it will not stray too far

Sound Impressions
RunFree Lite is not meant to be an audiophile product nor it claimed to be one, it is marketed towards those who are active and want to listen to some music during their workout. RunFree Lite is warm sounding in nature, vocals are forward and trebles are slightly dark but with sufficient details, Bass is hit or miss depending on the fit and alignment, as this is not a bone conduction earphone, so it is important that you position the earpiece correctly in order for it to sound right. Bass is punchy with sufficient quantity for enjoyment. There really isn’t much to say about the sound quality, it works and sounds good for the price and fits the intended purpose.

Final Thoughts
RunFree Lite is not targeted at audiophiles but rather consumers who are active and in the lookout for a pair of affordable sports earbuds. In terms of sound quality, it does what it does, not exceptional and not bad given the asking price, comfortable to use throughout the session, the only caveat that i have is with the earpiece, i do wish the hook is adjustable so that the earpiece can always be in the correct position, other than that, everything else is good for the asking price. Recommended if you’re in the lookout for some sport earbuds to accompany you throughout the session.



At the time of writing, RunFree Lite is currently on sale at 24$ instead of 30$.
If you are interested in getting a pair, head over to their amazon store from the link below to get one

SOUNDPEATS RunFree Lite - Non affiliated Link
Product Page Link

A big thanks to Ellen from SOUNDPEATS for sending this over for the purpose of this review. All thoughts are of my own

General/Build/Packaging
iFi needs no introduction to fellow audiophiles. Having tested several products from the brand, I'm quite familiar with the brand’s house sound. iFi xDSD Gryphon sits below the micro iDSD Signature in terms of the price.

Build quality is solid, the buttons have good tactile feedback, switches/toggles are not wobbly at all. The packaging is the usual iFi’s packaging, Gryphon came with high quality USB C-C, C-Lightning, as well as C-A cables, which covers the use case for most of the users, also came with the Gryphon is the black storage pouch, personally i wish it came bundled with a better case given the price point.

*iFi is kind enough to send this unit over for the purpose of this review. All thoughts are of my own and i am not influenced in any way to produce this review.



Specifications (Grabbed from iFi xDSD’s product page)


IEMs/Headphones/Equipments used for this review

• Kiwi Ears Orchestra Lite 3.5mm
• Simgot EA500 4.4mm
• Thieaudio Ghost 4.4mm
• iKKO OH5 4.4mm
• 7Hz Timeless x AE 4.4mm
• Macbook Air M2 -> iFi xDSD Gryphon -> Apple Music
• Macbook Air M2 -> iFi xDSD Gryphon -> foobar 2k (tracks ranging from 16-44 to 24-192)

Foreword
My review is solely based on what I hear via my equipment and I never consider my reviews to be objective in any way rather a subjective approach. Do take into consideration that everyone’s ear anatomy is not the same, so the psychoacoustics perception might be different as well, but i believe it will not stray too far

Features
iEMatch

• Gryphon comes built in with iEMatch toggle that allows you to choose either to enable iEMatch for 3.5 or 4.4 or off
• This feature is very useful for IEMs that has high sensitivity, meaning when you plug it into either 3.5 or 4.4 port, you will hear the hiss even though there’s nothing playing, this annoying phenomenon can be eliminate by turning on the iEMatch
• Another useful point for the iEMatch is that it will enable a better dynamic range for your IEM that is sensitive, Eg: current volume step is at 30/100, turning up the volume to say 35/100 is very loud, while turning down to say 32/100 is not that loud but you feel that the dynamic is not there, this is when iEMatch comes into play, allowing you with additional headroom, hence staying at 35/100 will not be that loud anymore while retaining that dynamics, not to mention you will be able to push it to say 40/100 as well

Battery Life

• The rated battery life is 10 hours, i did not manage to get close to the rated battery life, i am getting approximately 7-8 hours via USB, a mixed usage of streaming via Apple Music, offline files from foobar, volume is at 50, listening via 4.4, if i am using bluetooth, the battery life will be slightly lower at approximately 6-7 hours, which is still quite good in my opinion
• I mainly use the Gryphon on desktop mode, the ability to use and charge at the same time is a very welcoming feature, it does get a little warm when you are using it and charging at the same time, but definitely nowhere near Chord’s Mojo’s kind of warm if you used Mojo before

Sound Impression (Bit Perfect Filter)
I have tried and owned several iFi products in the past and I would say the tonality is more on the warm-ish side, Gryphon is no exception either, but it is not as warm as the Zen Dac+Can stack, I would say a slight hint of warmth. Transient response is fast enough and the overall experience is quite musical to my ears. If you are someone who prefers a reference or uncolored sounding DAC/AMP, you should look for other options as Gryphon is not that, it is musical and slightly coloured to give the listeners a musical experience. Overall it is natural and slight warm sounding, definitely not clinical sounding.

To be frank, i am not able to discern between the Standard filter mode vs the Bit perfect filter. However, with the GTO filter on, Gryphon doesn’t sound that warm and it is a lot more dynamic and also the speed of the transients is faster, in my own words, it sounds more musical, and lively, high hats and cymbals especially.

Bass

• Bass has good texture and it kinda make the IEM that’s paired to it has a little bit more body on the bass
• Sub bass has fairly good extension and rumble when it’s called for
• With the Xbass II at your disposal, you can be certain that whichever IEM or headphone that you find is lacking low end, turn the Xbass II on and be prepared to be amazed by the quality it produced
• Why is iFi’s Xbass different from others bass boost feature is that Xbass is implemented entirely on the analog section instead of digital, hence the output is clean and distortion free
• With the Xbass II on, bass has got even more body and also quantity to it, sub bass also rumbles harder, all this without distortion and clean sounding (this is with the Xbass’s switch on bass)
• With the Xbass II on with bass+presence switch, you get a much better experience on the presence’s region (more open sounding) as well as boosted bass quantity and quality, it sort of balance up the frequency range between the presence region when you boost the bass, so you don’t just hear the bass at the expense of presence

Mids

• The mids has got the good old iFi’s house sound to it, warmth and lush yet doesn’t sound veil
• Stringed instruments has sufficient warmth to it which translates into good note weight and not thin sounding
• The vocal presentation of both male and female has very good body to it and the positioning of the vocals are not too recessed nor forward, with the XSpace turned on, the vocal is being pushed forward slightly

Trebles

• There’s no elevation on the treble on the Gryphon as with most of the iFi products that i have tested (GoBlu, Zen Dac/Amp/Air Can)
• The trebles are smooth and non offensive, yet detailed at the same time
• The definitions are good and even when you crank up the volume, the treble doesn’t fatigue you, it is just natural sounding, in my opinion, it makes the Gryphon a good candidate to pair with IEM/Headphones that are slightly hot on the treble

Pairings
Kiwi Ears Orchestra Lite

• Bass exhibited better extension, sub bass has better extension and it has more body to the bass and better texture overall with this pairing
• The treble has been extension and doesn’t sound that dark compared to other source
• Soundstage has more width and depth, doesn’t sound that 2D anymore
• Hit the Xbass on, and you will be rewarded with thumpy and punchy bass, also better sub bass extension and rumble as Orchestra Lite is lacking bass quantity in nature

Ikko OH5

• OH5 is warm on its own, some might think it’s a bad idea to pair it with Gryphon
• Pairing it with Gryphon makes the soundstage has slightly better width and depth
• Bass has better body to it overall as well
• Treble doesn’t have much changes to my ears

SIMGOT EA500

• This particular pairing is the most interesting to my ears
• EA500 itself is quite musical to my ears, pairing it with Gryphon that has slight neutral warmth characteristic to it makes the overall experience very pleasant
• Bass is slightly elevated and Gryphon seems to smooth out some “rough edges” on the treble
• Soundstage has very good width and depth to it and seems to image better as well

Thieaudio Ghost

• Ghost is neutral and slightly lean sounding in nature, pairing it with Gryphon does add some hint of warmth to it and more body overall
• Xbass works wonders here due to the open backed nature of this headphone
• Treble is smoother while retaining the details
• Soundstage has better width and depth and slightly better imaging

Comparison (Earmen Angel)

• Uses different DAC chip (ES9038Q2M) and has a lot more power compared to iFi Gryphon
• Different sound signature compared to Gryphon, more reference sounding (uncolored) compared to Gryphon, neutral and dynamic sounding
• In terms of size, Angel is bigger, similar to Diablo in terms of size
• Angel doesn’t have any analog EQ implemented on it
• In terms of sound, tonality wise Angel is neutral and very dynamic sounding, as transparent as it can be, bass performance is more or less similar sounding to Gryphon, with the exception of Gryphon having several EQ option for the bass and the ability to taylor the bass and presence with the switch built in
• Feature wise, Angel has 4.4 and 3.5 line out, coaxial, 3.5, 4.4 input with the exception of having the ability to use Angel solely as an amp like the Gryphon
• If you are using IEMs and efficient headphones, you are better off with Gryphon

Final Thoughts
Having tested and used the Gryphon for almost two months prior to publishing this review, despite not being the latest product in the market, Gryphon definitely has what it takes to still make the statement today in the fast moving market with the competition from the Chinese and other brands. Gryphon is a versatile product and I find the use case is very suitable for portable users and also users that don't use any power hungry headphones.
The power output is sufficient for most IEMs out there and also headphones that aren’t power hungry (Tested with the headphones which I owned, Thieaudio Ghost, Grado SR325X, and also Harmonic Dyne’s Athena). In terms of sound, it is also not as warm as the usual iFi’s house sound making it suitable to pair with a wide range of transducers, on top of that, with the ability change the sound to your liking, more bass (Xbass II), more open sounding (Xspace). The size of it, just slightly larger than the HipDac, with the addition of bluetooth input, i can basically use the Gryphon anywhere whenever i want to, making it the true portable powerhouse. Impressive package overall and highly recommended!

General/Build/Packaging/Comfort
Kiwi Ears released their flagship IEM last year which is the Orchestra. Today, we have the Orchestra Lite, which shares the same driver configuration (8BAs) as the Orchestra, but at half of the asking price, i have not auditioned the Orchestra before so i am not able to do a comparison to it.


In terms of build quality, the shell is slightly big which is expected because it houses 8 BAs, faceplate is nice, it has a good and solid feel to it. It doesn’t have any vent on the IEM itself, so pressure build up might be an issue for some, I do not have any issues with the pressure build up fortunately. In terms of fitting and comfort, they do fit well and have a very good seal as well.

The packaging is quite straightforward and eye-catching, however, I am a little bummed to see the bundled accessories, the eartips are the normal kind of ear tips which can be found from various budget IEMs, same goes to the carrying case. It doesn’t really matter for me because I have many other cases, but I would at least expect a better looking case and accessories for the asking price.



Gears used for this review

• Earmen Angel Dac/Amp
• iFi Gryphon
• Macbook Air M2 3.5 Out
• iPod Touch 5th Gen
• Kiwi Ears Orchestra Lite Stock cable and Eartips

Foreword
My review is solely based on what I hear via my equipment and I never consider my reviews to be objective in any way rather a subjective approach. Do take into consideration that everyone’s ear anatomy is not the same, so the psychoacoustics perception might be different as well, but i believe it will not stray too far

Sound Impression
Orchestra Lite sounds a little warm to my ears, well bodied overall and the bass response is just nice, not overly emphasised or lacking. The treble however is the achilles heel in my opinion, slightly dark to my ears, but it is smooth and easy to listen to. Sporting 8 BAs, there is somehow some slight BA timbre there, but not to the point where it’s really bad and noticeable right away, but nothing overly distracting and fairly natural to my ears



Bass

• Orchestra Lite’s bass response is quite linear, or rather precise
• Sub bass does rumble when the track calls for it, but slightly lacking in terms of extension, still offers sufficient enjoyment for EDM unless you are looking for basshead kind of bass response
• As is to be expected from BAs, the speed is very good and it has no issues handling complex tracks, my favourites go to whenever I want to test the bass’s speed, Metallica’s Lux Aeterna and Slipknot’s People = crap! All performed very well
• Mid bass has enough punch to it but of course it can be better

Mids

• Mid range is detailed and lush to my ears, sufficient warmth to it
• Instruments which resides in the mid range has good note weight to it and full sounding
• Upper mids are never harsh or shouty and they’re tuned rather safe
• Vocal presentation is neither too forward or recessed
• Both male and female vocal has good texture, female vocal is a little bit more forward compared to male vocal

Treble

• Treble on the Orchestra Lite is well done, some might find them lacking (dark), some might prefer this sort of tuning, for me personally, i’d prefer a bit more sparkles and air
• What do you get from this sort of tuning is that it is smooth and never offensive, also no where near sibilant
• Detail retrieval is good and the nuances can be picked up easily (in Hans Zimmer’s Why So Serious, there are something that sounds like a rattle, it can be heard easily), but do not expect it to be very analytical

Soundstage/Imaging

• Soundstage is good but not exceptional, slightly out of your head with good depth, a little lacking in terms of height but good overall
• Imaging is the strong point for a full BA set, instruments can be pinpointed easily and very good separation and layering capability

Driveability

• Orchestra Lite is not hard to drive, but it does scale with power despite being a full BA set
• It pairs well with a neutral source like the Earmen Angel with relatively low output impedance
• Source with high output impedance will cause it to hiss, i experienced no such issue with both xDSD Gryphon and Earmen Angel, even Apple’s Dongle

Final Thoughts
The Orchestra Lite no doubt is a good product, when I first listened to it, I have to admit that nothing really stands out, but as I listened longer with it, it started to grow on me and appreciate the way it is. Orchestra Lite is not for basshead nor trebleheads, it is for someone who want something in between, it works well for most of the genres out there, I have listed to Slipknot, Metallica, Billie Eilish, Faye Wong, Joji, Beatles and a lot more with the Orchestra Lite and they turned out alright with it. Recommended set!

*Orchestra Lite is being sent over for the purpose of this review. I thank LINSOUL for the opportunity. I am not influenced in any way to produce this review nor do I receive any monetary compensation.

Head over to the following link if you are interested in getting a pair!

Kiwi Ears Orchestra Lite - Non affiliated

General/Build/Packaging/Comfort
SIMGOT has been on fire lately with their releases, make no mistake that the releases are not a hit and miss, rather more of a quality release that received numerous positive feedbacks from the audiophile community. I have not heard their previous release, hence the EA500 is my first experience with SIMGOT’s product.

Let’s talk about the packaging and build quality, in my opinion, it is a wise move for SIMGOT to not follow the “waifu” trend on the packaging, i personally is not fond of those and most of the Chi-FI brands starts to use the “waifu” printing on their packaging box and its getting out of hand. I have to say, this is a rather positive unboxing experience as I rarely write that much about the unboxing part. I am greeted with Pascal’s quote “Don’t try to add more years to your life. Better add more life to your years.” in which i totally agree with, quality rather than quantity. The box contains the IEM itself, OFC cable, a roomy storage case, the additional tuning nozzle, extra black and red silicon ring.

Build quality is solid on the EA500, doesn’t feel heavy and fits very well in my ears, and I wore them for several hours without feeling any discomfort. The only downside is that it is a fingerprint magnet



Gears used for this review

• Earmen Angel Dac/Amp
• iFi Gryphon
• Macbook Air M2 3.5 Out
• iPod Touch 5th Gen
• EA500 with stock cable and stock eartips

Foreword
My review is solely based on what I hear via my equipment and I never consider my reviews to be objective in any way rather a subjective approach. Do take into consideration that everyone’s ear anatomy is not the same, so the psychoacoustics perception might be different as well, but i believe it will not stray too far

Sound Impression ( Stock Nozzle with Red Silicon Ring )
EA500’s tonality is leaning towards neutral with slight warmth to my ears. Timbre sounds very natural to my ears and it has quite a good body to it overall with sufficient note weight to it. Good tuning in my opinion, musical sounding at the same time with good technicalities.

Bass

• Bass on the EA500 is not lacking by all means, maybe just a touch light but overall it has good quality bass with sufficient quantity, but still will not please bassheads
• It has good textures and body to it, doesn’t sound loose and thin
• Mid bass has good slam and punch to it, listening to Metallica’s Lux Aeterna is very pleasing as every hit on the drum be can felt
• Sub bass rumble is there when the track calls for it, doesn’t really extend that deep, it is evident in Hans Zimmer’s Why So Serious, slightly lacking the rumble
• The speed is also excellent on the EA500, handling complex tracks with ease without sounding muddy and bleeding into the mids

Mids

• The midrange is good with sufficient note weight, not sounding too thin and quite lush to my ears, this is based on my listening experience with EarMen Angel’s DAC/AMP, switching it to iFi’s Gryphon, it doesn’t sound as lush as the Angel
• Vocal positioning is not too forward nor laid back
• Female vocal has the energy to it and good texture
• Male vocal that has low baritone voice such as Zhao Peng retains the warmth and texture to it, it doesn’t sound thin at all, very pleasant experience
• The upper mids are not shouty at all and it does very well in terms of giving the female vocal a slight boost

Treble

• Treble response on the EA500 is crisp and smooth, no hint of darkness within the range
• Non sibilant nor offensive even when you crank up the volume
• Good amount of air and presence and contributed to good sense of staging and imaging as well
• Detail retrieval is good and i can hear the nuances distinctively without having to try hard, an example of such track is Faye Wang’s 旋木，the finger slides from the guitar can be heard easily

Soundstage/Imaging

• Soundstage for EA500 is good for the price, having a good sense of width, depth, a little lacking in height but very good overall. It is quite spacious sounding, listening to orchestral or live tracks is very enjoyable on the EA500
• Imaging is also a strong point for EA500 as well, instruments can be pinpointed easily even on complex tracks such as Slipknot’s People = crap!, well layered and good separation

Driveability

• EA500 is not hard to drive, give it something like Apple’s Dongle is actually sufficient to get good sound and listening volume out of it
• However, when you feed it with more power, it sounded even better, tighter bass, and a little more punch, also sounded more open, this is when i turned on the gain+ mode on Earmen Angel, feeding it with 7.2 vrms via the SE out and extracting more “sonic performance” out from the EA500, impressive scalability

Sound Impression on Black Silicon Ring Nozzle

• From the bass response to the mids, it is more or less similar sounding to my ears
• Vocal positioning however is more forward compared to red ring nozzle
• Female vocal is even more lively compared to red ring nozzle, this is due to an early rise on the upper mids, i find the female vocal to be very enjoyable on this nozzle, but i can’t say the same for those who are sensitive with the upper mids boost, do take into consideration that your experience might vary
• Soundstage is slightly smaller on this nozzle, but imaging capability is excellent
• The treble is also being boosted to give more resolution and better perceived detail retrieval capability
• I would say this is a more of an analytical kind of tuning compared to the red ring nozzle which is balanced or safe

Final Thoughts
I have a very positive experience with EA500 and I definitely look forward to trying out their upcoming products when I have the chance. EA500 is a solid product overall that offers versatility with the swappable nozzle, although this is nothing new in the industry, but it does offer the user to switch to different kinds of tuning whenever they feel like it. With all things considered, this is not to say that EA500 is perfect and without flaws, or perhaps i shouldn’t say flaws because i’d be instilling my own preferences instead of properly reviewing the IEM itself, i would say if the bass quantity is slightly boosted while retaining the same quality and control over it, it would make the overall listening experience more “musical”. EA500 gets an easy 4.5/5 from me.

*EA500 is being sent over for the purpose of this review. I thank LINSOUL and SIMGOT for the opportunity. I am not influenced in any way to produce this review nor do I receive any monetary compensation.

Head over to the following link if you are interested in getting a pair!

SIMGOT EA500 - Non affiliated

General/Build/Packaging/Comfort
HZSOUND gained its popularity with the OG Heart Mirror, literally a mirror due to its reflective metal shell. I have not had the chance to audition the OG Heart Mirror hence no comparison will be made between HM Zero and the OG Zero.
HM Zero went for the painted look which is a good choice in my opinion, I personally am not a fan of reflective surface’s shells due to it being easily scratchable and not to mention a fingerprint magnet. HM Zero is very small and fits very well in my ears, i have no problem wearing them for several hours while working and listening to music in the background. Packaging is rather straightforward, it came with a “waifu” packaging box, a storage pouch, eartips, cable and the IEM itself, pretty standard and nothing to shout out about.

Gears used for this review

• Earmen Angel Dac/Amp
• iFi Gryphon
• Macbook Air M2 3.5 Out
• iPod Touch 5th Gen

Foreword
My review is solely based on what I hear via my equipment and I never consider my reviews to be objective in any way rather a subjective approach. Do take into consideration that everyone’s ear anatomy is not the same, so the psychoacoustics perception might be different as well, but i believe it will not stray too far

Sound Impression
HM Zero to my ears is very flat and the bass response is linear, mids and trebles are good but the bass is lacking in terms of quantity. This is one of the IEM that benefits greatly from my source iFi Gryphon’s Xbass feature, it really adds that extra “ooomph” to the songs. Timbre sounds alright to my ears, a little cool in terms of tonality but pairing it with a warm source will negate it

Bass

• Bass quantity is very little, it lacks the kick nor body
• The speed however is very good and it handles complex track easily without breaking a sweat
• Mid bass lacks body and punch, sub bass rolled off very early so you literally won’t hear/feel any rumble
• This is certainly not for bassheads but more like a set for trebleheads

Mids

• Vocal presentation takes the front stage, vocal is forward and well separately from the instruments
• Female vocal especially is very pleasing to listen to, vocal lovers will love this set especially, good body for the female vocal overall
• Male vocal is as good as female vocal, good body overall
• Upper mids are not shouty, it is energetic but never shouty based on my listening experience (your mileage might vary depending on your sensitivity)

Treble

• Treble is energetic and smooth at the same time? It is lively but not offensive at the same time
• Not sibilant at all, definitely a set for the trebleheads!
• Detail retrieval is good and you can hear the nuances without trying too hard
• Extension is good for the price
• Good amount of air and presence

Soundstage/Imaging

• Soundstage is average, not too wide nor boxy sounding
• Average height, depth and width
• Imaging is good, instruments can be pinpointed easily even during complex track

Driveability

• HM Zero is not hard to drive, out of my Macbook Air M2’s 3.5mm jack, my normal listening volume is achieve at 3/10 volume steps
• It does however scale with better source, iFi Gryphon with XbassII on for example, it gave the HM Zero a better note weight overall, also boosted the bass quantity and makes it a more “musical” sounding IEM
• Pairing it with the Earmen Angel will give it a more reference sound, slightly better control on the bass and better imaging, bass quantity is more or less similar
• HM Zero also pairs very well with the iPod Touch 5th Gen due to the nature of the DAP being colored/musical

Suggested Improvements

• Use it with Dunu’s Candy Eartips for better note weight across the frequencies
• Pair it with warm source to negate the cool sounding nature of HM Zero
• Swapping the stock cable to copper cable does slightly increase the bass quantity

Final Thoughts
So, who is the HM Zero For? Definitely not for the bassheads out there. In my opinion, HM Zero is for someone who wants to listen to vocal tracks as well as someone who likes a good dose of treble. I have no problem recommending HM Zero to those who are trebleheads as well as vocal lovers, not to mention those who like a flat response, HM Zero is the one you should get. HM Zero cost 33$ at the time of writing, which is not too expensive considering the good technicalities that it offers.

*HM Zero is sent over by HiFiGo for the purpose of this review, a big thanks for the opportunity, i received no monetary compensation nor was i influenced in any way to produce this review.

If you are interested in getting a pair of HM Zero, head over to the following link below to get one!

HZSOUND Heart Mirror Zero - Non Affiliated

General/Build/Packaging
Moondrop is a brand that I believe needs no introduction. Speculation has it that people have been wanting a CHU with a detachable cable, and Moondrop gave them the LAN, detachable cable, beryllium plated driver and a very ergonomic fit. Kudos! The name LAN is not referring to the networking’s Local Area Network, instead it is named after a flower Lan Hua, which is Orchid in english.
Build quality is solid and it is not heavy, LAN is rather small and fits very well in my ear, I can easily achieve a good seal with it.
As with every Moondrop’s product, the packaging style is more or less similar, it came with a cable, storage pouch and also 3 standard grey coloured silicone tips instead of Spring Tips.



Gears used for this review

• Earmen Angel Dac/Amp
• iFi Gryphon
• Macbook Air M2 3.5 Out
• iPod Touch 5th Gen

Foreword
My review is solely based on what I hear via my equipment and I never consider my reviews to be objective in any way rather a subjective approach. Do take into consideration that everyone’s ear anatomy is not the same, so the psychoacoustics perception might be different as well, but i believe it will not stray too far

Sound Impression
LAN is quite balanced overall in terms of tuning.. Timbre sound’s natural enough to my ears, good note weight across the frequencies, slightly better bass performance compared to the CHU, there’s small hint of the beryllium zing if you pay close attention to it, however, for most of the listeners out there, it is not a problem at all.

Bass

• LAN has good bass response generally, adequate quantity and quality expected from the price, nothing more nothing less
• Speed is good and able to handle speedy tracks such as Metallica’s Lux Aeterna
• Texture is good but it can be better, however, for the asking price, i will give it a pass
• Doesn’t bleed into the mids
• Sub bass does rumble whenever the track calls for it, but it doesn’t extend very deep to the point near basshead territory
• Mid bass is punchy and has average slams

Mids

• Mid range is slightly recessed to my ears, just slightly
• Male vocal especially sounded slightly recessed, female vocal however is slightly more forward compared to Male vocal
• Upper mids gain is rather conservative and safe, doesn’t sound shouty at all

Treble

• Treble is smooth and not fatiguing, some brilliance and sparkles are missing but generally, the detail retrieval capability is quite good
• Extension is slightly lacking, but this is purely nit picking considering its price
• The treble is not offensive overall, you can listen to it for a long period of time and also crank up the volume without feeling fatigue
• Overall it’s a rather safe and balanced treble tuning

Soundstage/Imaging

• Height and Width is average, doesn’t sound boxy nor too artificially wide
• LAN gives good enough sense of space considering its price point
• Imaging is good as instruments can be identified easily

Driveability

• LAN is very easy to drive, unlike Quarks or Spaceship, you can get it to sound good even via Apple’s 3.5mm Dongle
• Does benefit from more power, better control in terms of bass and slightly more open sounding
• However it does scale with source, in terms of how the dac/amp affect it in terms of colorization of the sound

Final Thoughts
Will I recommend LAN? Yes if you don't fall into either two of the categories, basshead and treblehead. LAN is a balanced pair of IEM and it doesn’t really emphasis on either the bass or treble, it is just smooth across the frequencies. Fairly good price to performance ratio at 40$. Can’t fault much considering the asking price. Definitely a step up from CHU you get a much better sound from the LAN.

If you are interested in grabbing a pair, head over to the following link in getting one:
Moondrop LAN

*Received the review sample from ShenzhenAudio, however, i am in no way influenced by them in producing this review, all thoughts are of my own, big thanks to them for the support as always

General Info/Build/Comfort/Packaging
Soundpeats is a reputable company which produces high performance as well as cost effective TWS earbuds. I have reviewed the Soundpeats Opera 05 and found it to offer a very high price performance ratio, all good except for the fitting probably due to my ear shape. I have the Capsule 3 pro with me today and the fitting is excellent for my ears

Build quality is very solid, the TWS itself is very light and I don't feel any weight on my ears when I'm using the Capsule 3 Pro.
Packaging itself is rather straightforward, and comes with 3 pairs of eartips, a charging cable, the charging case and the TWS itself. Minimal and straightforward.

As for comfort, Capsule 3 Pro fits perfectly on my ears, i have no issues with the fitting this time around, but the stock eartips doesn’t provide a good seal due to the material used, i switched to my go to eartips for TWS, which is the Spinfit CP360 and i get a much better seal with it. The good thing about the battery case is that it plays well with a lot of 3rd party eartips, so you can experiment with eartips according to your liking.



Specifications (Grabbed from the product page)


Battery Life

• The battery life of Capsule 3 Pro is good at approximately 7 hours +- connected to my iPhone 12 Mini via SBC codec, as iPhone doesn’t support LDAC

Connectivity/Codecs

• LDAC and SBC codecs are supported, i am mainly using SBC because iPhone doesn’t support LDAC
• iPhone 12 Mini uses Bluetooth version 5.0 while Capsule 3 Pro supports up to 5.3 which is the latest version, however, despite connected to a Bluetooth 5.0 device, the connection remained solid without any dropouts
• However, i do notice a slight interference or stuttering when i’m out in the public, not sure if this is something to do with my device itself or it is due to the RF interference, but after disconnecting and reconnecting it, the issue seems to go away

App Functionality

• Capsule 3 pro is compatible with Soundpeats app
• The app offers the functionality to change the EQ, either preset EQs or your own customisation
• You are also able to cycle through ANC, Normal, or Transparency mode (Audio passthrough mode/Ambient sound mode)
• Firmware upgrade of the Capsule 3 pro is also possible via the app itself
• The app also offers the overview of battery life on both the L and R earbuds

Sound Impression (Based on default EQ preset Soundpeats Classic)
Capsule 3 Pro’s sound tuning is tilting towards V-Shaped to my ears. Bass and the treble is boosted whereas the mids are a little recessed. In terms of timbre, they are not too bad being a dynamic driver, but it's not the most accurate timbre either, nonetheless, this TWS is not meant for critical listening anyway, so the expectation has to be right

Bass

• Bass is certainly being emphasised here, sub bass rumbles whenever the track calls for it
• Mid bass has good punch to it, it is very pleasant and fun to listen to overall
• Bass has good texture and in terms of speed, it is doing quite well as it handled Slipknot’s People = crap! effortlessly without sounding muddy

Mids

• Mids are not as forward as the bass, it does sound a little recessed but not to the point where it is bad
• Male vocal sounded slightly recessed whereas female vocal sounds a little forward
• Male vocal has good texture whereas female vocal does sound a little thin sometimes

Treble

• Treble on the Capsule 3 Pro is smooth with a little energy, but not overly bright or offensive
• Some wide bore 3rd party eartips can help to boost the treble if you find them to be dark sounding.

Soundstage/Imaging

• Soundstage is good, good depth, height, and width to give a big perception of the soundstage,
• Imaging is average in my opinion, it does well on normal track but during complex track where many instruments are playing at the same time, Opera 05 does struggle to image properly at times, with all that aside, considering the price point, it is actually pretty good

Noise Cancellation Performance

• ANC performance is very good
• Most lower frequency are being cancelled except for some high frequency which Capule 3 Pro struggles at, i find this to be normal for budget priced TWS which is totally fine given the asking price
• Considering the price point and the ANC performance that Opera 05 offers, also having an AirPod Pro for noise cancellation performance comparison, it’s safe to say that Capsule 3 Pro does offers at least 60-70% of AirPod Pro’s noise cancellation performance at a fraction of the price

Final Thoughts
Capsule 3 Pro is a very solid TWS overall. If I were to score it from an audiophile’s perspective, it would be a 3.5 out of 5. If I were to rate it based on the general consumer’s perspective, it will be an easy 4.5 out of 5. The reason why is that the sound of Capsule 3 Pro is tilting towards the preference of general consumer, an as a general consumer, the sound coming from Capsule 3 pro is very easily likeable, whereas for audiophile, the demand and preference is slightly different in terms of sound preference, critical listening capability and technical performance (in terms of audio’s technical performance). Nonetheless, I find myself enjoying Capsule 3 Pro when I'm out and about. Let's be real, who listens critically when they’re out and about? The fitting is also good and seals well with proper eartips, this in turns will also boost the ANC performance by a little.

*Big thanks to Ellen from Soundpeats for sending the Capsule 3 Pro over for the purpose of this review, All thoughts are of my own.

Capsule 3 Pro will be launching in Amazon on the 28th Feb with an early bird offer of 48.99$ instead of the SRP which is 69.99$. The promotion will run from 28th Feb 2023 - 31st March 2023. Grab yours now at Soundpeats’s Amazon store via the link below (Unaffiliated)

Soundpeats Capsule 3 Pro Amazon Store Link