DUNU Titan 6

Introduction

Dunu was founded in 1994 by a Chinese business. In-ear monitors are their specialty (IEMs). Dunu Titan 6 comprises Dunu Topsound's most cost-effective earphone. These metal-bodied IEMs provide the possibility of changing the cable (MMCX) and sound is provided by a dynamic driver beneath the hood with single-sided Beryllium

Disclaimer:
I purchased for this IEM with my own money, and no one has compensated me or provided me with a review unit. As a result, everything I've said in this review is entirely my personal opinion based on my own experiences with the IEM.

Package and Accessories:
The packaging and accessories are quite simple, consisting of a tiny black box with a beautiful textured surface and a silver Dunu brand emblem. This is wrapped in cardboard to match the Titan 6's aesthetics.

The following items/accessories are included in the box:

• 1 pair x Dunu Titan 6 In-Ear Monitor
• 1 pcs x Detachable Cable with MMCX Connector
• 3 pairs x Silicone BLUE Ear Tips
• 3 pairs x Silicone RED Ear Tips
• 3 Pairs x Custom Silicone Ear Tips with Ear Hooks
• 1 pcs x Premium Leather Case

• Specifications:
  
  BRAND: DUNU
  MODEL: TITAN 6
  COLOR: Ebony Gloss (Black)
  FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 5 Hz - 40 kHz (HI-RES Certified)
  IMPEDANCE: 16 Ω
  SENSITIVITY: 112 ± 2 dB (at 1 kHz)
  WIRE MATERIAL: Silver-Plated Ohno Continuous Cast (OCC) Copper
  CABLE CONNECTOR: MMCX
  DRIVE UNIT: 12.6 mm dynamic driver, with single-sided Beryllium coating
  
• Unboxing Experience.
  Three pairs of silicone ear tips in various sizes are included. One pair comprises of ear tips with ear hooks attached. The carrying bag is made of fake leather and has a nice appearance but is more boutique than practical. High build quality and a great design; nevertheless, it no longer matches the “typical” DUNU Titan series design. The slick brown shell color, silver accents, and brushed faceplates with polished bezels are all appealing to me. With four twisted conductors, this cable is flexible, soft, and attractive. Has a chin-slider and the standard DUNU silicone cable tie. I prefer it to the other Titan series in-ear headphones' cords. Designed to be worn with the cable down, I put the in-ear pieces normally and then route the cable over my ears anyhow, as I do with almost all in-ears of this type.

• Source -
• Hiby R3 pro (Saber)
• Shanling UP4
• iFi Hip Dac
• ibasso Dx160 (2020 version)
• Following this, I got the best result from ibasso dx160.

Sound

• Tonality :
  Warm and Relaxing with deep Bass extension
  
  
• Bass
  
  Titan 6 has boosted mid bass. The simulation of sub-bass creates an authentic rumbling. The sub- and midbass are heavily emphasized in the lows, with a very warm bottom which overflows into the lower mids. In combination to the powerful bass elevation, the origin spectrum sounds incredibly thick (which can get very irritating as it is boomy) and also spills considerably into the lower midrange and almost overshadows the mids. The bass wow factor may be active after utilizing a balanced connection. Despite the fact that the control is pretty good,
  
  
• Mids
  Singer's voice is very warm in the lower midrange caused by the very boomy fundamental range, but the midrange and voices sound still natural enough to my ears. It has a flat central midrange. The mid is more relaxed, with less presence and a modest amount of transparency. Both male and female vocals have a depth and texture to them. Both male and female voices have modest transparency levels.
  
  
  
• Highs
  
  The treble is on the smoother side. There is no loudness in the treble, and it is non-fatiguing. It's incredibly smooth, full-bodied, and well adjusted. There is no noise at all in the bass of the guitar, but there is a lot of room for improvement.
  
  
• Soundstage
  
  The instrument separation is quite enjoyable; there is some blurring, but the stages do not collapse. As a consequence, for dynamic driver in-ears in this price range, the separation and instrument position are satisfactory. The soundstage is pretty good but not that much. However, there is very little spatial depth, making it look flat and extended to the sides.
  
  
• Comparisons :: Dunu Titan 6 vs Fiio FH3
  - Both provide good seal and comfortable fit.
  - The soundstage of FH3 is Sallow where Titan 6 provide more wider and neutral soundstage.
  -The Titan 6 offers greater sub-bass volume and a stronger feeling of depth than the FH3.
  -The Titan 6's sub-bass reproduction is smoother, and the rumbling has more punch.
  -The Titan 6's bass decay is faster, and it has an edge in terms of agility.
  -On the Titan 6, the bass texture is handled more smoothly using Spinfit cp145. But on FH3 using Spinfit 145 or 100: slightly-too-much boosted bass which is not smooth.
  -On the Titan 6, vocals are more clearly represented, and emotions are well communicated.

Tracks used for this review:

• Enrique Iglesias - I Don't Dance (Without You (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• The Chainsmokers – Something Just like this (24bit/48kHz)
• OneRepublic, Seeb- Rich Love (24bit/48kHz)
• Jason Derulo - Talk with Your Body (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Wiz Khalifa - Black and Yellow(Explicit) (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Kygo - What's Love Got to Do with It (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Don't You Need Somebody (feat. Enrique Iglesias, R. City, Serayah & Shaggy) (24bit/48kHz)
• Taio Cruz– There she gose (24bit/48kHz)
• Imagine Dragons - Natural (24bit/96kHz)
• Imagine Dragons - Radioactive (24bit/96kHz)
• ARIZONA- Nostalgic (24bit/96kHz)
• Troye Sivan – Happy Little Pill(24bit/88.2kHz)
• Mahmut Orhan- 6 Days (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Westlife- Walk Away (Flac 24bit/48kHz)

Conclusion

The Titan 6 is a v-shaped IEM with a smooth middle and a relaxed, fatigue-free treble. The silver plated balanced 4.4mm connection offers even greater performance in the mids and treble when paired with an Upgrade cable. Despite its V-shaped form, it's a lot of fun.

Correspondingly it has a generally pleasant timbre, as well as well-executed midrange and treble tuning, with just the excessively broad fundamental range to fault in terms of tuning. The game is not a true addition to the Titan series, but it does have some good things going for it, such as decent sound quality. So, I recommend it without any confusion within this offering price.

Link to my review and measurement index thread where one can also find a full review overview, more information about myself as well as my general-ish audio and review manifesto: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/956208/

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I only give full stars. My ranking/scoring system does not necessarily follow the norm and is about as follows:


5 stars: The product is very good and received the "highly recommended" award from me.

4 stars: The product is very good and received the "recommended" award from me.

3 stars: The product is good/very good, but not outstanding/special enough to get any of my two awards. ["Thumbs Up"]

2 stars: The product is only about average or even somewhat below that and somewhat flawed/flawed in some areas. [neither "Thumbs Up" nor "Thumbs Down"]

1 star: The product is bad/severely flawed to outright bad. ["Thumbs Down"]

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DUNU Titan 6


Source:

Review sample.


Miscellaneous:

Despite the name, they do not really have much in common with the original Titan series (completely different design and beryllium- instead of titanium-coated dynamic drivers used inside the Titan 6).

Available in two different colours.

Nice unboxing experience.
Come with three sets of differently sized silicone ear tips. One set consists of ear tips that are combined with ear hooks.
Nice looking but more boutique than functional carrying case, made of artificial leather.

High build quality and nice design; it barely resembles the “typical” DUNU Titan series design anymore, though.
I like the satin brown shell colour, silver accents and brushed faceplates with polished bezels (that triangular design, according to the website’s product page, is inspired by the balalaika).

Similarly to the carrying case/purse that came with my Campfire Audio Andromeda, I don’t like the Titan 6s’ either. It is likewise padded with artificial fur inside (which is more likely to attract dust and dirt and less easy to clean that silicone or plastic), and has also got those folding “wings” inside which ultimately only limit the interior space.
Therefore, I would have preferred a more traditional, less boutique but more functional carrying case – for example one of the same style that came with most of the other Titan series in-ears (perhaps a bit taller for an easier fit of the in-ear).

Very nice cable with four twisted conductors – supple, soft and looks beautiful. Has got a chin-slider and DUNU’s typical silicone cable tie. I definitely prefer it over the other Titan series in-ears’ cables.
Designed to be worn with the cable down, however, as with pretty much every in-ears of this kind, I insert the in-ear pieces normally and then route the cable over my ears anyway.





Sound:

Largest included red core silicone tips.

Tonality:

Bassy and warm.

Typically for in-ears with an inner-facing vent for the dynamic driver’s front cavity, the Titan 6 also suffer from changes in the lower bass (blocked vent = more lower bass) depending on how much/if that front vent is blocked. As it is almost impossible not to block this vent (it is blocked naturally by my ears, which is the case for most in-ears with a vent in this place), the lows have a strong emphasis on the sub- and midbass with a very warm root that also bleeds somewhat into the lower mids (if the vent remained free, there would be a moderate (ca. 4.5 dB) midbass and upper bass plus lower root lift with a roll-off towards the sub-bass, whereas the lows would extend flat into the sub-bass with an overall elevation of ca. 3 dB if both vents (dynamic driver’s front and rear cavity) were blocked).

The bass starts to climb around 700 Hz, is already around 7.5 dB north of neutral around 200 Hz, shows an elevation of ca. 10.5 dB around 100 Hz, and reaches its highest quantity at around 30 Hz with an elevation of no less than a bit more than 12 dB without any roll-off below that.
Naturally due to such a strong bass, the root/fundamental range sounds very full (which can become quite annoying as it is boomy) in addition to the strong bass elevation, and also bleeds somewhat into the lower midrange and almost overshadows the mids.

Despite being somewhat too warm in the lower midrange caused by the very boomy fundamental range, the midrange and voices sound still natural enough and are pretty correct to my ears, with a flat central midrange, only mildly dialled back presence range around 2 kHz, and again correct quantity around 3 kHz.

The treble is, apart from a moderate but neither peaky nor sharp brightness lift around 5 kHz, on the smoother side and gradually loses quantity above about 7.8 kHz (cymbals are reproduced fairly quietly and without much splash and absolutely no aggressiveness) aside from a less important rebound around 12 kHz, which makes the Titan 6 the least bright and most natural, most even sounding sounding model of the Titan series in-ears in the treble.
General timbre isn’t 100% perfect, but overall natural and close, with nothing to really criticise except for the probably overly full fundamental range that tends to boominess.

Frequency Response:



ER-4S-Compensation (blocked inner Vent)

That mirrors my impressions quite well except for that I don’t perceive the mid-treble peak as this strong but only moderate, and that the upper of the two peaks is not nearly as strong either.



ER-4S-Compensation (free Vents)



ER-4S-Compensation (both Vents blocked)



ProPhile 8-Compensation (blocked inner Vent)



ProPhile 8-Compensation (free Vents)



ProPhile 8-Compensation (both Vents blocked)



Effect of Blocking the inner Vent



Effect of Blocking both Vents

Resolution:

The Titan 6s’ treble is on the softer side in terms of definition but still with decent detail retrieval and yet clean note separation.

The in-ears’ midrange is truly its positive highlight, as it is really nicely layered, detailed and reproduces fine details very well (high speech intelligibility). What’s really notable is however how “layered” it appears subjectively – really something that sounds very appealing (comparable to the Etymotic ER2SEs’ and ER2XRs’ layering, however those two carry this perceived sound attribute over their entire frequency range and therefore do it “better” than the Titan 6), and is a nice feature that the other Titan series in-ears don’t have to my ears.

When it comes to a bassy or bass-heavy in-ears bass performance, I demand a reasonably high quality, nimbleness and control – unfortunately, the Titan 6 clearly disappoint in this regard. While their lows aren’t really soft or slow sounding per se (they are a bit soft, though, but not to the extent of being overly so), their bass quality isn’t very high; it just rumbles but doesn’t have any real definition or details.
The control is actually quite decent, nonetheless the bass sounds fairly one-noted, not really layered and just doesn’t feel “right” (there are very bassy single- and multi-driver in-ears in comparable price ranges that perform so much better when it comes to technical bass delivery (e.g. the AAW Nebula One and Nebula 2, Echobox Audio Finder X1, FiiO FH1, Shure SE215m+SPE, iBasso IT01 and IT01 v2); the Titan 6s’ bass, on the other hand, falls rather into the category of my Sennheiser IE 80 (not really the softness, but the lack of details), Trinity Audio Engineering Delta V-II (the same as for my Sennheiser) or the MEE audio Pinnacle P1 (yup, in their bass delivery, the DUNUs’ technical performance appears to be really similar to the latter that already left me quite disappointed in terms of bass quality (one-noted, lack of layering, not much definition or details despite not sounding really soft or slow per se))).
To me, it sounds as if the driver’s mass were just too high (or over-damped), resulting in the attack not appearing to be the fastest, which leads to a lack of differentiation and definition, and a blunt, dull appearing rendering of the bass. This still sounds well with slower bass lines (nice slam and lingering of the lower notes) but not so well with faster ones at all, and sounds really bad with tracks that have fast, layered bass lines.
Thinking this may be a result of the driver not being able to handle the strong elevation is unfortunately a wrong assumption, as even when both vents are blocked (which leads to the bass to become flat and only mildly lifted), the bass quality is still not great and remains about the same (fairly one-noted rumble without much layering, details or differentiation).

Soundstage:

The soundstage is pretty wide and clearly leaves the base of my head. There is only little spatial depth, though, which makes it appear fairly flat and stretched to the sides.

Instrument separation is pretty accurate; there’s still a bit of blur but the stages doesn’t collapse. As a result, the separation and instrument placement are decent for dynamic driver in-ears in this price range.

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Comparisons:

Shure SE215m+SPE:

The DUNUs’ cable is clearly superior to my Shures’. While their carrying case/pouch looks more boutique and is stiffer, I still prefer my Shures’ as it’s much more convenient.
In terms of fit, my Shure are superior.

The bass tuning is highly comparable and almost identical – the small differences are that the DUNU have got a very slightly stronger sub- and upper bass elevation while the root and fundamental range are pretty much similar, whereas my Shures’ lower mids sound minimally warmer to me.
The DUNU portray voices a bit closer while the Shure are less relaxed in the presence range.
In the highs, the Shure have got the darker, more downwards-sloping tilt.

Despite being tuned almost identically in the bass, the Shure sound less boomy and full in the root/fundamental range since their lows appear nimbler, linger less and seem much less one-noted wherefore their warmth and bass bleed feel much less pervasive or obtrusive. The DUNUs’ bass is a bit softer, less controlled and lingers longer whereas the Shures’ lows are cleaner and tighter.
The DUNU sound more layered in the mids and also a bit cleaner. The real midrange details are actually quite comparable, though – ultimately, the Shure are somewhat ahead in the lower midrange to my ears whereas the DUNU are in the upper mids despite having less quantity in the presence range than the Shure. Still, due to the better layering and sounding a bit more cleaner in the midrange, I see the DUNU as slightly ahead.
In terms of treble details, the DUNU seem to be somewhat ahead.

The soundstage presentation of both in-ears is highly comparable – in the end, the only real difference in terms of soundstage size is that the Shures’ appears to be slightly wider whereas the DUNU portray just slightly more width; in terms of precision, the DUNUs’ stage offers the slightly more precise instrument placement in comparison.

DUNU Titan 5:

I prefer the Titan 5s’ shell design, perceived value and carrying case (although it could be just a bit taller on the inside) while the Titan 6s’ cable is superior.

The Titan 6 are tuned bassier and much warmer in the root.
The Titan 5s’ midrange is brighter – the Titan 6 sound more natural here in comparison. The Titan 5s’ mids sound more distant whereas the Titan 6s’ are more intimate, closer in the mix.
The Titan 6 are clearly more even and much more natural sounding in the treble (the Titan 5 sound somewhat metallic and much brighter in the upper middle and lower upper highs compared to the Titan 6), but have got somewhat subdued cymbals. The treble timbre is more natural, even and realistic on the Titan 6 in comparison.

The Titan 5s’ bass is tighter, nimbler and better layered as well as controlled whereas the Titan 6s’ lingers longer and seems rather one-noted.
The Titan 6s’ mids are more layered and slightly more detailed.
The real treble details are comparable; the Titan 5 render the contours sharper and have got a less soft character, but that’s mainly due to the different tuning. However, due to the higher treble linearity, the Titan 6 appear more realistic in the highs.

In terms of soundstage size, the Titan 5s’ is larger and also features the slightly more precise imaging. What’s especially audible, though, is that the Titan 5 offer far more spatial depth compared to the Titan 6s’ wide but flat sounding imaginary soundstage.





Conclusion:

Aside from not really being a true addition to the Titan series line, DUNU’s Titan 6 feature a generally nice timbre plus well-done midrange as well as treble tuning along with nice midrange layering, with only the overly full fundamental range to blame in terms of tuning, however, what ruins all of this, is that the sound is unfortunately swamped by an overpowering bass with a driver that sounds like its mass were too high wherefore the lows linger too long, don’t appear nimble (despite not being slow or soft per se), lack layering and control, and, which is their biggest flaw, sound quite one-noted.


Photos:

Dunu Titan 6 - Nightclub effect in an IEM


Introduction

Dunu is a Chinese company established in 1994. They specialize in the production of in-ear monitors (IEMs).

The Dunu Titan 6 is a member of the Titan series with a Dynamic Driver configuration. The Titan 6 features a single 12.6 mm dynamic driver, with single-sided Beryllium coating that is adopting the latest N52 Nd-Fe-Be ferromagnetic circuit system.


Disclaimer:
I have bought this IEM with my own hard earned money and no one has paid me anything or supplied me with any review unit. So, everything mentioned in this review are purely my own based on my experiences with the IEM.

Package and Accessories:
The Dunu Titan 6 is came in a relative small box in black color with a nice textured surface that features the Dunu brand logo in silver color. This is wrapped with cardboard that the visuals of the Titan 6.




Inside the box are the following contents/accessories;

• 1 pair x Dunu Titan 6 In-Ear Monitor
• 1 pcs x Detachable Cable with MMCX Connector
• 3 pairs x Silicone BLUE Ear Tips
• 3 pairs x Silicone RED Ear Tips
• 3 Pairs x Custom Silicone Ear Tips with Ear Hooks
• 1 pcs x Premium Leather Case

Specifications:

BRAND: DUNU
MODEL: TITAN 6
NET WEIGHT: 7.63 g
COLOR: Ebony Gloss (Black)
FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 5 Hz - 40 kHz (HI-RES Certified)
IMPEDANCE: 16 Ω
SENSITIVITY: 112 ± 2 dB (at 1 kHz)
WIRE MATERIAL: Silver-Plated Ohno Continuous Cast (OCC) Copper
CABLE LENGTH: 1.2 mm
CABLE CONNECTOR: MMCX
DRIVE UNIT: 12.6 mm dynamic driver, with single-sided Beryllium coating



Design & Build Quality:

The Titan 6 is made of aluminum-magnesium alloy. The shells are in mocha frost color. It utilizes MMCX connectors. Each faceplate sports the brand logo on a surface. On the inside of the Titan 6, there are L & R markings on the left and right side respectively. There are vents at both the inside and bottom of the Titan 6. The nozzle is slightly angled with metal mesh. It comes with a detachable cable with MMCX connectors. The cable is made of 4 core of high-purity single crystal copper wire, mixed with silver plated OCC wire material. The cable itself has a twisted design and features plastic insulation in brown color.





Tracks used for this review:

• INXS – Beautiful Girl (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• INXS – Need you Tonight (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Anika Nilles – Mister (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Eric Clapton – Tears in Heaven (Acoustic Live at MTV) (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Lost Frequencies – Crazy (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Martin Garrix - Pizza (24bit/48kHz)
• The Chainsmokers – Something Just like this (24bit/48kHz)
• Smith & Thell - Goliath (24bit/48kHz)
• Owl City - Fireflies (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Coldplay – Daddy (24bit/96kHz)
• Coldplay - Hymn for the Weekend (24bit/96kHz)
• The Doors – Spanish Caravan (24bit/96kHz)
• REM - Losing my Religion (24bit/88.2kHz)
• Mumford & Sons – There will be time (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Ronan Keating – When you say Nothing At All (Flac 24bit/48kHz)

Source of Sound & DAC/AMP:

The iBasso DX-160 had been used mostly. Other than that, the iPhone 12 Pro coupled with IKKO ZERDA ITM03 Dongle also used.

The Sound:

Lows

The Titan 6 has good amount of sub-bass and there is moderate extension. The sub-bass reproduction provides a natural rumble. The Bass comes with good depth and can be felt also like in a nightclub

Mids

The midrange takes on a more laid-back manner with reduced presence. It has moderate transparency level. Both Male & female vocals sound clear with richness & details.

Highs

The treble is non-fatiguing and there is no harshness. Its quite smooth and well-bodied.

Soundstage

The soundstage comes with very good and above average depth.
However, the width is not so much and only average.

Comparisons :: Dunu Titan 6 vs Final E4000

The Titan 6 has more sub-bass quantity than the E4000 with much better sense of depth. The sub-bass reproduction on the Titan 6 is fuller and the rumble provides greater impact. The bass decay on the Titan 6 is quicker and it has the edge with extra agility. The bass texture on the Titan 6 is rendered more smoothly. The mid-bass on the E4000 has slightly more quantity and the slam is expressed with more impact. Each bass note on the Titan 6 is articulated with an authoritative hit. The midrange on the Titan 6 has higher transparency level and there is better details retrieval. Vocals are expressed more clearly on the Titan 6 and emotions are conveyed effectively. The midrange on the E4000 has slightly more body than the Titan 6 but male vocals are presented with less clarity. The Titan 6 has additional forwardness and the extra emphasis which gives a more intimate female vocals presentation. In the treble section, the Titan 6 seems smoother. The Titan 6 has more defined crisp. There is extra sparkle on the Titan 6. Lastly for the soundstage, the Titan 6 has greater depth magnitude while the depth on E4000 is more closed in and also not as deep.



Conclusion

The Titan 6 is a v-shaped sounding IEM that is gives a full-bodied bass unlike any other in similar price range, smooth midrange and laid-back & fatigue-free treble. It is very enjoyable despite it's V-shaped nature. After pairing with a Upgrade cable - silver plated balanced 4.4mm connector gives even better performance in the mids & treble while the excellent bass response remains.