Oriolus Reborn

General Information

Oriolus Reborn

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A renewal product from the world famous "Oriolus 2nd Gen." has been released and named Oriolus Reborn.



3 Balanced amateur drivers and 1 dynamic driver make the dynamic range likes the live stage has. PW audio the No.5 JP ver. cord is one of the amazing hand made work for improving the sound of Oriolus Reborn to a new level.



The PW audio No.5 cable has been changed to a special version. Still made by the high quality 7n OCC that is often used in many Hi-end audio products. But the 2pin sockets are changed by a higher quality gold plating material so that the sound quality is improved.



Rhodium plating 3.5mm mini stereo plug is used after we were told that it can improve the infomation of sound and make the treble brighter by our enthusiastic fans.

Latest reviews

justrest

500+ Head-Fier
Pros: Price and performance, Musical and dynamic sound, Phenomenal mids, powerful bass, lovely vocals, build quality, PW No5 cable.
Cons: Too much bass for some
Before starting this review, I would like to share technical aspects and package details.

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Specifications:

Driver Type (per ch.): Balanced Armature x 3 Dynamic x 1

Sensitivity: 114 dB/mW

Frequency Response: 5~40kHz

Impedance: 16Ω

Cord: Special made PW audio The No.5 (7N OCC) JP ver. 1.2m

Plug Type: Rhodium plating 3.5mm mini stereo


Package Details:

Foam eartips M size

Silicon eartips SS/S/M/L size

Cleaning tool

Cable clips

Aluminium case

Soft case


Test Equipment:

Lotoo Paw Gold Diana

Opus #1

Astell Kern AK120

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Package, Design & Isolation;

Oriolus comes with simple outer box. There is aluminum case, some silicon tips and 1 pair M size foam tips inside of the box. Package and contents are far from being fancy, but it contains elegant parts. For example, aluminum case. It is like bullet proof and very secure for earphone’s safety. The aluminum case looks great with the glossy finish, which is beautiful and more durable than plastic cases. Another good part is stock cable. As you all know, Reborn comes with PW Audio No5 cable. No5 is probably the best copper cable I have ever used in this price range. New version of No5 is also comes with rhodium 3.5mm jack.

Overall, box doesn’t seem fancy, and it doesn’t contain lots of accessories, but its contents’ quality is amazing. I wish all the brands come with these kinds of premium cable and case.

Oriolus Reborn’s design is same as MK2, but Reborn has some little body material improvement. Body shape, color, logo everything is the same. The only change is resin material. Now Reborn is using Made in German resin which it is better for durability. I liked the design of Reborn, which is same as my old MK2. Body is neither big nor small. If I give an example to compare, it is similar size with CE-05 and a little bit fatter than S-EM9. When you wear it, you won’t feel any fit issue I believe because body shape is pretty ergonomic. If you have an abnormally small ear, it might be a problem of course.

Isolation of Reborn depends to the tips but it is good in overall. I always use silicon tips with my earphones, but if you want to isolate more you can use foam tips. Stock silicon tips are pretty good but I use Spiral Dot tips which is better for isolation and comfort.

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Sound Type:

2 years ago, I bought Oriolus MK2 with blind shot and it made me a big ‘wow’ when I heard it. And now, I have the same feelings for the Reborn. Controlled huge bass, amazing good mid and vocal performance, prominent and detailed trebles are simply fascinating. This is really good all-rounder for almost every genre, but I would recommend to listen with EDM or vocal performance tracks. Listening to the vocal is a great pleasure with the Reborn. Smooth and velvet presentation makes you feel to listen more and more. The Reborn’s general sound is warm and forward mid presentation. This is not good for who are looking a reference and neutral sound because sound is coloured and musical.

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Trebles:

Reborn’s high frequencies are detailed, controlled and prominent. I am not talking about the best trebles performance, but trebles doing their job really well. Although the huge bass performance and forward mid presentation, trebles are not laid back. It has good sparkle and extension and it never shows harshness. Also, it is not rolled off, it is clean and detailed and I can easily hear every single detail in the music. There is enough space between all the instruments but more space would welcome. Like overall presentation, it is effortless and smooth which you can listen long hours without fatigue. Looks like Pw No5 cable tames the trebles and makes it easy to listen. Trebles detail and resolution are absolutely great. All the details are there, you can focus and hear every movement in the music, but somewhat it does not get into your face, it is effortless. It is not trying to bring all details with technical ability, it shows softly and gently which I liked, but I would like to add that the resolution drops considerably in the fast passages and it is downgrading for the resolution. Silver cable is absolutely great with Reborn, it adds more clarity and detail but bass becomes less prominent.

There is no significant weakness in the upper frequencies, but if there is one thing that I could change about Reborn, I would like to hear more air in the trebles maybe.

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Mids:

I couldn’t decide which part is impressed me more, bass performance or mid performance, but after long listening session I definitely voted for the mid area. Mid presentation of Reborn is creamy, smooth and detailed. Vocal performance is to die for. Yes, it is coloured but it is very realistic. Not technically but emotionally, this is the best mid performance I’ve ever heard. I love the timbre, feeling and atmosphere that Reborn created. This is very special tuning.

The general positioning is in the middle of the stage, but the vocals are a little further ahead. Vocals are star of the show. In the soundstage, vocal is centered and forwarded, so you are in the first table front of the scene. If vocal has breathed very close to the microphone, you can feel like she/he breathes in your face. The instruments are little bit thicker than it should be, but it is not bothering because it is not reference type of earphone, so I mostly enjoyed organic and natural timbre of Reborn. Mid-bass comes energetic and powerful witch adds the body. The upper midrange has slightly thicker notes. There is a tad of mid-hump with some bassy tracks but I have heard occasionally. Rarely, lower mids are tend to come to the front of the instrument more often than necessary, and it is causing unnecessary hoarseness, but it is not sustainable. The stringed instruments work well. Guitars, oud and acoustic sound absolutely amazing. Overall sound warm and a tad of dark. Wide soundstage adds tad of air to the mid frequencies, so you are not feeling pressed with the forward presentation. Overall, the vocals are very nice, smooth and non-fatigue. I find it especially successful in male vocals.

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Bass:

If you are a bass-head I guarantee that Reborn’s bass performance will put a smile on your face. Thunderous bass is awesome for EDM and other bassy types of music. Bass punch and slam are great. Although the huge amount of bass, it is not bleeding or dominating the other frequencies. I can say that it is better than the average level of tightness and speed (dynamic driver), but it is not the best because of bulky bass. One of the points where the dynamic drivers are weak is bit slow bass frequencies, especially when it is compared to the balanced armature drives. Sometimes it feels slow and it may affect the music, but I have to mention that it is better than most of the hybrid earphones I have ever tried. You may listen to every type of music but sometimes it can be tad of slow for some Metal and Rock tracks, but it mostly handled quite well. Bass goes deep and always remind itself. Midbass is also detailed and in acceptable levels, does not push and compress the sound.

Overall, bass frequencies are smooth, deep, but not exaggerated. When it comes its turn, it hits hard and powerful, but also knowing to stay on the calm when it has to.

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Soundstage:

Reborn’s soundstage is average in terms of wideness, but never feels congested. I did not find the depth performance as good as the width but it is also good. Soundstage may seem somewhat limited because of the forward vocal presentation, but when you hear the instrument positions in the soundstage, this feeling will be gone. Every instrument can be separable. Layering and imagining are also great. You can follow each instrument into the soundstage easily. Likewise, the background has a slightly above-average performance in terms of darkness and stability.

Instrument separation is also very good in my opinion. It can compete with the top-level earphones I listen to, and even better than some of them. It may lose its control in some metal music, but still keeps the separation and control at the top level.

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Comparison:

Oriolus Reborn vs Hyla CE-05: Two different earphones under the same roof. Both Oriolus and Hyla are belongs to Cyras Japan. Hyla is the fresh brand and they announced two different earphone CE-05 (hybrid) and Nerva-X (10 balanced armature). CE-05 is direct competitor with Reborn which I own one. Both earphones are sharing the similar body size. Oriolus looks fatter and bold while CE-05 looks like Fitear earphones. Not identical but faceplate design shares some similarities. In terms of quality, both CE-05 and Reborn are amazing. Both earphones made German resin and they have recessed (0.78mm) 2-pin connectors. Hyla comes with high quality copper stock cable while Reborn comes with PW Audio No:5 cable. Although, CE-05 has high quality Van-Nuys protector case, Reborn has bullet proof like aluminum case.

Now let’s talk about the sound. Reborn is fantastic hybrid-earphone from low to the high frequencies. I listened it quite carefully before A/B test. When changing directly from Reborn to CE-05, two things stand out. First, bass became more tight and fast. This is the most distinct part of these two earphones. CE-05 is phenomenal in terms of bass performance; tight, deep, fast and controlled. I don’t want to exaggerate but this is the best bass I have ever heard from any earphones. It is addictive. Bass quantity is pretty much the same, or maybe even a bit more on the CE-05 but technical capability is on the CE-05 side. Reborn bass is amazingly powerful and enjoyable but when I compare it with CE-05 it feels little bit slow and uncontrolled. Secondly, high frequencies of CE-05 are more prominent and detailed than the Reborn. Reborn is smooth and relaxed while CE-05’s trebles tad of aggressive and forward. CE-05 is more technical, detailed and high resolution. Also, CE-05 is more sparkling here, which it returns with more sharpness. Reborn is more relaxed and smooth. In long term listening, Reborn is a better choice due to tamed treble presentation. Both earphones differ in mid frequencies. Reborn mid’s are forward, bold and detailed while CE-05 mid frequencies are laid back and thin in overall presentation. I absolutely like Reborn mid frequencies more. Vocal sounds more sentient than the CE-05, especially male vocals. You can touch the singer’s face. Soundstage is similar with both earphones, but CE-05 feels little bit wider, but both have almost same depth. In terms of sound performance, both models do not give much which is due to the very similar technology. Also, Reborn has more body while CE-05 is more like V-shape.

We are all always looking for the winner in these kind of competitions, but I love both Reborn and CE-05 and I can not decide which one is better. All I can says, my brain says technically CE-05, and my heart emotionally says Reborn.

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Verdict:

Reborn is truly fantastic earphone at this price. Nowadays some of the companies’ entry level or mid-tier earphones price starting at 600-700$. I have heard some of them and Reborn is easily smoked them in terms of sound and technical capacity. Powerful bass, smooth and detailed trebles and velvet like mid presentation are the Reborn’s keywords. Also, PW Audio No5 cable and aluminium carry box that come with the package is great. I am truly impressed by the Oriolus Reborn. One of my favorite mid performance that I can recommend for those who loves forward mid and vocal presentation.
pseudomagick
pseudomagick
I´d like to ask,too. How does the Reborn compare to the MK2?
justrest
justrest
@pseudomagick If I remember correctly, both MK2 and Reborn are sharing almost the same sound. Maybe MKII has slightly more body.
E-norm
E-norm
Any idea how these would compare to JH Lola which apparently have very similar characteristics.. Can't decide which to get!

Comments

1TrickPony

Headphoneus Supremus
Really well written, exactly what I would say about the Oriolus! Will look forward in reading your future reviews and impressions! Thank you!
 
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