Ocharaku Co-Donguri IEM

Introduction:

Hello Everyone! I’m Binsterrrrr, an aspiring reviewer based in Singapore. I’ve been in this audio hobby for the past 2 years. I’ve recently embarked on writing my own reviews and am still working on my style of writing, so please bear with me here and feel free to offer any comments or insights for my pieces.

I troubled a good friend of mine to help me purchase the Ocharaku Shizuku from a store called E-Earphone in Japan. Also, I paid the full retail price of the IEM.

I own 2 pairs of the Ocharaku Co-Donguri Shizuku. One in Amber Orange and the other in Cosmos. I personally could not pick out any sound differences between the 2 models when using the same tips and source. I will be basing my review on my experience with the Cosmos version which has around 200 hours of run time out of the box.

I personally find this is a very capable IEM for its price of <USD50 and anyone looking for a relatively affordable IEM should give this IEM a try if possible! Read on to see if this IEM suits the type of sound signature that you are looking for!


Specifications:

10mm Dynamic Driver

Sensitivity:106 dBSPL/mW

Impedance: 18 Ohms

Frequency Response: 5 Hz to 40 kHz

Unboxing:


(Front of packaging)


(Back of packaging)


(Simple packaging which includes the earphones, 3 pairs of Spinfit tips in S,M and L size and an instruction manual)


Build Quality:

The build quality of this earphone does not look or feel cheap despite it costing significantly less than most of the other Ocharaku offerings. The cable does not feel cheap and has sufficient strain relief. Cable to me personally feels very light and not too thick but yet not too thin. Best part of the cable is that it does not tangle easily. The body of the earpiece feels sturdy despite being light and does not feel like a budget product at all.


(Photo of Shizuku with M sized Spinfits)


(Photo of Shizuku with M sized Spinfits)


(Soft and flexible cable with sturdy strain relief and does not tangle easily)


Fit:

The earphones can be worn both straight down and over the ear. However, the earpiece is very light and it can be worn straight down comfortably and that is the method that I use when I listen to the Shizuku.


(Photo from Ocharaku website showing the different ways of wearing the earpiece)


Tips:

Tips change the sound of this earpiece pretty significantly. The stock spinfit tips are comfortable and provide sufficient isolation for me with the M sized tips. However, during my visit to CanJam Singapore 2017, the Final Audio booth was giving out some free Final Audio Type E Eartips which manage to fit the bore of the Shizuku. These tips are my preferred choice of tips with the Shizuku as they make the sound thicker and richer than the spinfits. The lusher sound with slightly better comfort make the Final Audio tips my preferred choice of tips for this IEM. However, this IEM has a pretty common bore size that is the same as the other IEMs from Ocharaku and it would be easy to find other third party tips and experiment with the different tips.


(Final Audio Type E tips fitted on the Shizuku)


Sound:

Summary

The Shizuku is a warm sounding monitor, a lot warmer than the other Flat-4 offerings from Ocharaku that I own, namely the Ocharaku Flat-4 Akakeyaki Plus and the Sakura Plus. The sound signature of the Shizuku is a slight V-shaped sound. The Shizuku has a lot more bass than I had expected but still had a very nice sparkly treble. Very musical and fun sounding monitor.

Bass

The Shizuku packs a really deep and dynamic bass that is unlike that of the other Ocharaku Flat-4 IEMs that I have tried. Bass is boomy and rumbly and not the kind of tight and lean bass. Bass is slow and carries a lot of weight and thus it might not be suitable for those very fast paced music. The bass of the Shizuku might be a little too much in terms of quantity for some.

Mids

The midrange of the Shizuku is one of the areas where I was left hoping for more. Midrange might be a little too recessed at times and the vocal positioning is a little too far back for me. When on the Spinfits, the vocals might come across as hollow at times, but when I switched over to the Final Audio Tips, the “hollowness” disappears and the vocals sound more “full”.

Highs

For me personally, I find that the treble of this IEM is the star of the show. It has a very airy top end with just enough treble energy for me. It also gives a lot of detail with nice clarity and is rather well extended. Instruments have a natural sounding timbre and cymbals have a lot of sparkle and energy without sounding sibilant to me.

Soundstage

The Shizuku has a very airy feel with wide soundstage. Although not as wide as any of its siblings from the Flat-4 lineup, it still has a nice 3D soundstage with good instrument separation. Instruments are all nicely spaced out and does not sound congested in any way at all.


Sources:

I used my iPhone 6s, Macbook Air mid 2012, xDuoo x10, Astell&Kern AK240 Stainless Steel and AK380 Copper for this review. The Shizuku scales well with higher end gear but it also sounds fantastic out of the iPhone directly. It is easy to drive and does not really require an amplifier, but it does also have a fuller sound when hooked up to an amplifier like the Kojo KM-01 Brass. Personally, my favourite setup with the Shizuku plugged directly into my iPhone 6s as the synergy between the 2 gives a very warm and musical sound and is very convenient without the need of another external music player.


Conclusion:

In conclusion, the Shizuku is a great performer especially at this price range and I would strongly recommend it to anyone looking for an earpiece but is not willing to spend hundreds of dollars. You would still be able to get high fidelity audio from this earpiece from Ocharaku. This IEM would suit genres like POP, rock and it also performs well with classical. It would suit people looking for a slight v-shaped sound signature with bass rumble, sparkly treble and a more airy sound.

However, this might not be the IEM for you if you are looking for an IEM with intimate vocals and you want the feeling where the singer is singing right next to you. Due to the wider soundstage and more recessed mids, vocals are more backward. Also, the bass might be a little too much for some especially if you do not like too much bass.

The Shizuku is an IEM that is very easy for me to recommend to people and it is a great all rounder that sounds good out of almost any source. Good job Ocharaku for creating this IEM.

 
Thanks go to  earphonia.com who were pleased to let me give the excellently valued Co-Donguri  earphone a spin.
 

Pairings Equipment

 
Hidizs AP60
Chord Mojo Dac
 

Intro

My second IEM review from the Ocharaku company, little known outside of their native Japan. Ocharaku have no distributors outside of their own country and have not been at any of the shows I have attended in Europe. It would be great to have them exhibit their excellent products in Europe or the USA, as lots of us are missing out on a very special signature.
Concentrating on slowly building up a reputation for no nonsense IEMs which are built to perform , I am sure we will see this company gain a larger cult following that it has already- you may have heard of Stax .
A Japanese company that could produce IEMs along the lines of the Full Sized Headphones of their fellow countrymen – now that would be something to get excited about.
We have talked about the mid tier Flat4 Dynamic SUI , this offering is entirely different.
It is aimed at the budget conscious consumer and that consumer may even dare to exercise with the Co-Donguri. Sacrilege!
 

 
A quick look on the official website
http://www.trdsn.com/eng/product_codonguri.html
Reveals the Sky Blue Model testing here is using another patented technology – the Tornado Equaliser. This attempts to address unwanted resonance in the 6 kHz region. The site does not go into great detail as to how this has been done.
Nevertheless , it’s encouraging to see that even budget earphones are being pushed in their technology. Hopefully , in the right direction. And here’s the fun bit where I get to try them on…..
 
 

The Set Up Configuration

 
To get the best from your IEMs its extremely important to work out what is the best fit for you. I always start with the middle ground that the manufacturers set you up with to get you going.
This tends to be the medium fit tips, although there are often lots of different types of tips. The Co-Donguri was only supplied with the excellent spinfit tips S/M/L.
So in a way this makes things easier. Spinfit tips are quite the thing at the moment anyway , because they can be twisted all the way round , the driver isn’t being twisted at the same time. I normally find the medium tips fit me quite well , occasionally having to go for a medium small for my left ear.
 

 
No problems here – so it was off to my reference album of the moment which is Legend by Bob Marley. 
The ‘Legendary’ Jamaican musician who did so much to put the Rastafarian beliefs into Western consciousness and who brought reggae to a Worldwide audience needs no introduction here.
I plugged the Co-Dunguri into the tiny little Hidizs A60P and leant back into my chair and waited to see what the Dawn Blue could do.
 
 

Sound Quality

Bass

 
The bass is a little soft on the Ocharaku’s, I suspected the Spinfit were not helping the bass to get down and dirty – to push against the contours of my ear canals with that sweltering dub from Trenchtown.
I looked for a set of Comply’s to remedy this problem. The bass became super bloated and muddied up everything around it in a Beat’s style mess. The spinfits are the correct choice for these earphones.
I commend the designers in that they appear to have engineered their product with these versatile tips in mind. Living with the spinfits and the Wailers, the lower end sound began to grow on me . The bass is there but it is linear ; bass playing can be heard nice and clearly and drumming doesn’t swamp everything else.
 
 

Mid Range

 
The mids had a slight veil to them , making some instruments merge quietly in with each other and Bob Marley’s voice just sink a little too behind his wonderful Wailers. The feeling was subtle and I would be surprised to have this area of the music clear of any imperfections as I’ve yet to hear a perfect In Ear Monitor at any price , let alone £30.
 
 

Treble

 
The treble on these earphones have an airy nature, there is a definite shimmery quality to the end notes of the Wailer’s and to the echo which just takes that slight longer to fade into the background.
I think that treble tuning plays a major part in the building of a soundstage – that place we call where we feel we can pick out the performers positions in the mix. The soundstage is much wider than I would expect from an earphone at this price level.
 

Comparison

 
I had a set of Sony MH1s which a headfier from Italy by the name of Guido custom recabled , put memory wire on and sold to me at a similar price level to the Co-Donguri IEM. They are acknowledged as a fantastic sounding IEM for the price level. Guido with his recabling pushed them further. I now have now Custom Earsleeves on them , retailing at £130 , which pushes them to the point were there should be a no contest between the 2 . And yet….
The MH1’s did have a nicer warmth and substance to the bass, but the mids were more veiled than the Sky Blue’s. Treble and soundstage fared even worse between the 2 – the Sony’s sounded muddy and muffled and pulled in.
I was surprised to see the Sony’s winning in only 1 of the 3 departments.
It had , in effect, lost – Miserably. Japan ‘Co Donguri’ David – 2 – Japan ‘Sony MH1’ Goliath – 1.
Shock win from the under contender trained by Ocharaku.
 
 

Build

The build is a stylish one. The Sky Blue metal finish is elegant looking and this fires a shot across the bows of the heavier hitting cousins  , the Flat4 range, which have no finish to them. The diminutive size of the driver shell means a lot more can be put into the ear. This allow for a good sense of isolation from outside noises although the Spinfits don’t isolate as well as Comply Foam Tips. So traffic noise will be picked up and train rumble etc. The music is enjoyable enough to take your mind off most of these mundane things whilst there is enough getting into your shellike to keep you away from those angry cars.

There is no hands free cable facility on these , something often found in IEMs at this price range , the most hotly contended end of the marketplace. It’s always welcome when it’s there , but it’s absent on the Co-Donguri.
These are durable enough that the website compels you to get out into the World and exercise with them. That’s always good. Music and fitness go hand in hand. Sweat and IEMs don’t always find themselves the best of companions.
Microphonics , caused by cable noise reverberating into the ears through the driver, is thankfully not present. This is due to the over the ears style of wearing the IEM. The cable is supported by the ear and not by the driver shell wearing it this way.
 
 

Conclusion

A great value offering from a company I really hope to spend more time with. I hope they make a leap onto the World Stage and I can say to everyone “I told you they were good”.
In the meantime a select few know the secret and can take advantage of a really nice inclusion into the Earphonia gallery.
Until we meet again , Mr Yoshida, thank you very much for your time.

I picked these up from CD Japan for only $56 CDN and I have been floored by the quality. I tend to like headphones that excel in imaging and have a wide soundstage. I'm still a newbie in the headphone world so I will keep my opinions brief.
 
I've owned the following:
beyerdynamic dt 990 (600 ohm)
B&O Play H3
Audio Technica ATH-IM50
Bose SoundSport
 
Equipment Used:
LG V20 (This headphone appears as normal audio device)
Music from Apple Music
 
Build:
The build quality on these is amazing. Really solid construction and the spin-fit tips they provide go a long way to provide a good seal.
 
Sound:
When I first tried them, I was disappointed. The sound was hollow, base was lacking and the treble felt scattered. I switched to the larger tip and the bass came back a bit but it still felt restrained. I put it on one of my 8 hour playlists and left them to loosen up. When I tried them again I was at first pleasantly surprised, then shocked and then left speechless.
 
The base extends very deep to the point that you are left feeling it. The whole bass range can be described as tight and precise with no spillover to the mids. The mids are a bit recessed, but not overly so. Finally the trebles soar and leave you floating in low earth orbit.
 
From the headphones I've owned these sound like IEM versions of my lovely dt990s.
 
Comfort:
Where I find these lacking is in comfort. I love the comfort and stability of the bose and I love the fact that I can sleep on my side with the H3. These headphones are not stable on my ear and side sleeping isn't comfortable either as these babies got a little too much booty and stick out. A soft pillow managed to fix this problem though
 
Other considerations:
There are hacks that trick the LG into thinking these headphones are high impedance and thus push through more juice to the headphones. I really think they can fly with more power. While I won't be trying these hacks, I will be trying it with the Schitt Magni 2 once I get an adapter...I can't wait to see how these will go
 
Conclusion:
Amazing sound, incredible value. I bought these with the IM50 and these left them in the dust. The H3 was able to compete in the bass and had slightly better mids but I felt the soundstage was a bit narrower in width and much narrower in height.