Hisenior Okavango

Disclamer​

The Hisenior Okavango is a loaned unit from Dream Audio Store here in Indonesia. They have no input on what I'm supposed to say about the HiSenior Products and the opinion is completely my own. However, as a token of gratitude, I will link them Here. I also want to thank Mr Gareth from HiSenior for giving me the contact of Dream Audio and making all of this possible. For ordering and more information of HiSenior Okavango, you can click here. Both links are NON affiliated links.

Design​

Named after a delta in Africa, the design does resemble pictures from the Internet. Green with a little bit of sandy brown. The green part is made of resin and the sandy brown is actually stabilized wood, a representing design for sure.

The Okavango's fitment design is a semi-custom ergonomic, a middle ground of universal fitment and custom fitments. This shape offers a sealing inside of you ears and theoretically should be more comfortable. While, the Okavango is actually comfortable to my ears, putting them on is another different story. I guess it's just the nature of Hybrid IEMs, the fittings can be a little awkward since they're usually larger than IEMs with single drivers or less drivers than the Okavango.

Sound​

The First Impression I got about them is that they sound off, they don't sound as clean as the PhoenixCall I reviewed a while ago. However, they are cleaner than my usual Zero:Red. Turns out, the issue was that the Okavango was in the Bass+ configuration. Bass+ configuration does not suit me very well due to it having a lot of midbass and not enough treble. But we will get back to the switches in the later section.

My second note I have about the Okavango is on the treble, while the treble is pretty good, there seems to be an absence of some frequencies in some of the mixes I listen to, notably in Barracuda by Heart, in some part of the song, there is an acoustic guitar strumming along in the background. While it is definitely not supposed to be prominent, playing it with the Okavango pushed it slightly backwards making the sound incredibly small and barely noticeable. Similar issue is also present in Babymetal's Karate, but instead of an acoustic guitar it is a tapping of electric guitars. Perhaps this is all a nitpick but, I think it is worth noting if you want to hear more details in your playlist(s).

The other nitpick that I have, is that the female vocals are a bit less forward and sparkly compared to something like the Blessing 3, PhoenixCall, or the Variations. Compared to the PhoenixCall, the treble performance also has slight less bite but at the same time, the Okavango sounds more natural compared to the PhoenixCall.

Personally, I don’t have any notes about the Mids, it sounded lush and good most of the time. Coming from something with a significant mid scoop. I find The Okavango is more versatile than the PhoenixCall. Okavango works really well for a lot of Metal and Rock tracks. Vocals got a lot of body to them, giving it a weighty feeling to the notes.

The bass performance of the Okavango is what you expect from a V-tuned IEM. Personally, I find the bass performance of the Okavango helps a lot creating a sense of wide soundstage while having a decent texturing . However, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. As the sub-bass of the Okavango feel slightly lacking from what I prefer. The kickdrums in my opinion are not defined (punchy) enough to what I’m used to. However, this is probably another nitpick as I enjoy the versatility of the Okavango.

4K to 6K dip ?​

ToneDeafMonk's Okavango Frequency response graph here

This perhaps explains where the acoustic guitar strumming in Barracuda by Heart and electric guitar tapping in Karate are gone to when I talked about them earlier. Personally, this might be a double-edged sword as it causes the Okavango to be less fatiguing while sacrificing in some of that detail retrieval and some weight to cymbals.

My theory is that the Okavango is actually designed to be a stage IEM, where it is aimed to be extra comfortable and not fatiguing for long sessions. The 4k to 6k dip maybe an attempt by HiSenior to reduce the chance of treble fatigue in that scenario. Personally, I find the Okavango comfortable and enjoyable to wear for a long period of time.

Switches​

The Okavango has 2 switches on the back of the IEM, next to the vent holes on each sides. It is marked with the number '1' and '2', with 'On' for the point of reference if the switches are switched on. The Okavango is my first time reviewing an IEM with Switches and I think it delivers, as the tuning switches changes the sound and feel of the Okavango.




When I first got them, the Okavango is on the Bass+ Configuration. I personally find them not my kind of thing as I find the bass slightly overpowers the Treble and mids, giving a sense of too much bass for my preferences.

The Balanced works the best for me, as the Balance offers a more balanced presentation of both bass and treble without being overpowered in either ends. The Balanced Configuration is my go-to for most of my listening sessions.

To be completly honest, I didn't try the Vocal+ Configuration that much, however on some occasion where I feel like it could use a little more sparkle. The Vocal+ delivers a sparklier and livelier vocals.

The Soundstage+ works really well with movies, I watched Dune 2 and Episode 13 of Star Wars: The Bad Batch. The Soundstage+ works really well at giving a 3D space and feeling of a wide soundstage as if You are watching them in with a set of Home Theatre or speakers. Well, technically it would be better with speakers and in cinema but for a portable setup, the Soundstage+ is really good for movies.

TL;DR​

The Okavango is an IEM from HiSenior/Febos. It is a 7 drivers hybrid, consisting of 6 Balance Armature Drivers and a Single Dynamic Driver. While the fitting was rather awkward, it is worth noting that most Hybrids or multiple drivers IEM seems to always fit a bit weird. To be fair, the Okavango is actually very comfortable for prolonged listening session. The inclusion of switches are nice, offering a variety of options for the user. Overall, I’m satisfied with the Okavango, the Tonality are A- for me and B for technicalities. Technicalities in the form of detail retrieval could use a little bit of work. However, the imaging, soundstaging, and instrument separation are good enough to impress me.

Video Review​

Some of The Music I Enjoy with The Okavango​

Hisenior audio has been in the industry for years, mostly catering to the custom monitor market. While I have always wanted to try one of its IEMs, I never got around to it, until the release of Okavango that is.

The driver configuration of the Okavango is quite comprehensive for their price tag: 1 Bio-cellulose DD + 6 BA drivers with true 4-way crossover are nothing to scoff at. Add to that the tuning switches and things certainly look interesting to say the least.

This isn’t a numbers game though, so the driver count barely matters as long as the sound is competitive. At the asking price, there are several well-established competitors, which leaves little room for mistake on Hisenior’s part. No pressure, I guess.

Note: the ratings given will be subjective to the price tier. I purchased the Okavango and Whitewhale cable at a discount.
This review was originally published on Audioreviews.
Sources used: Cayin RU7, Lotoo PAW Gold Touch, Questyle CMA Twelve Master
Price, while reviewed: $300. Can be bought from Hisenior’s official website.

PACKAGING AND ACCESSORIES​

The highlight of the packaging is definitely the Pelican-like hard-shell carry case. The case is waterproof, crush-proof, and has lined mesh pockets along with foam padding. I’d pay $50 for a case like this and here you get one for free. Not bad at all.



The stock cable is less of a standout. It’s a generic cloth-braided cable. I also purchased the WhiteWhale cable in 4.4mm termination. This is a great cable in terms of ergonomics and overall aesthetics. The 6N SP-OCC material is radiates a certain sheen that catches the eye.



There are also 10 pairs of tips inside the package. I ended up using Spinfit CP-100+ for this review, but the stock tips were pretty decent as well. Finally, you get a SIM-card tool for engaging the switches, and a cleaning brush.

BUILD QUALITY​

Okavango use a pseudo-custom resin shell. The faceplate design and even the shell color can be customized on the Okavango Custom-design variant, at a price-premium. I liked the look of the stock shell and just invested the extra bucks into the cable.

The faceplate seems to be stabilized wood on the upper portion. On the side, there are the tuning switches and a large vent to alleviate pressure buildup and allow airflow into the chamber for the dynamic driver.



The nozzle is on the thicker side, though I did not find it to be uncomfortable. There is a metal mesh on top of the nozzle but underneath it should be individual sound bores. The switches are rather small and needs a small, pointy object to be engaged. I ended up using the tip of a ballpoint pen most of the times.



Overall, the typically “solid” build quality one should expect at the asking price.

COMFORT, ISOLATION, AND FIT​

Comfort is fairly good on the Okavango, other than the nozzle which can feel substantial when worn, albeit it was not uncomfortable for me. Isolation is above average with silicone tips and good with foam tips.

SOURCE AND EARTIPS​

I primarily used the Okavango with the Cayin RU7 that helped with the BA timbre in the highs. The Okavango are not power hungry at all and should be easily driven by most dongles in the market.

DRIVER SETUP​

The Hisenior Okavango are 7-driver hybrids, with a four way crossover splitting the driver setup into low, mids, highs, and ultra-highs. The single DD is used for bass frequencies only, whereas the rest of the frequencies are handled by the 6BA drivers. Hisenior does not divulge further information about specific driver types used in construction.

Moreover, there are two tuning switches, resulting in four different combination of the switches (00, 01, 10, 11). These switches can noticeably alter the overall presentation.

TONALITY AND TECHNICALITIES​

As the Okavango have four different tuning choices, It is hard to generalize the sound signature. However, all the tunings are somewhat V-shaped, and the degree of the “steepness” of the curve on either side depends on the tuning mode selected.



Many dynamic + BA hybrids tend to focus less on the performance of the BA driver which results in a slow bass that is highly incoherent against the rest of the (ultra-fast) BA driver array.

Hisenior mostly solves this issue by choosing a dynamic driver with fast transients, so bass notes do not linger or lag behind even in relatively complex tracks. Moreover, there is a physicality to the bass that further enhances the sense of engagement, as can be heard on John Mayer’s Clarity. Mid-bass texture is well-rendered, with heavy snare hits having adequate body.

Mids are tuned in a crowd-pleasing manner. None of the tuning modes offer much upper-midrange prominence, resulting in a slightly laid-back, smooth vocal rendition. Male vocals can sound recessed in bass-heavy tracks, Acoustic guitars and strings do not lose the sharpness of the leading edge, neither do heavy guitar riffs, thanks to the peak near 4kHz.

This peak alone would be problematic if the treble rolled-off from thereon, but the mid-treble peak around 7kHz balances out the forwardness in lower-treble. However, this leads to the tuning coming across as “analytical” in certain source pairings and switch configurations. The bass configuration (first switch up, second one down) aids in this regard and mellows out the signature considerably.

One notable issue is the dry BA timbre that hi-hats or cymbal hits can exhibit. Pairing to a slightly warmer source like Cayin RU7 takes care of the issue to a degree, but the “brittleness” of treble notes remain. I guess it’s one of those concessions you have to make at this price point.

Staging is the widest in the brightest configuration, while imaging is also the most precise when treble mode is engaged. The other three modes either narrow the stage, or add some haziness to the staging. Considering the competition, the staging and imaging on the Okavango range from above-average (bass config) to very good (bright config).

Macrodynamics are rendered exceptionally well, with sudden bass drops or orchestral rises having the “drama” you expect. Microdynamics or subtle shifts in volume are less obvious, which seems to be a case for most hybrid IEMs that I’ve come across.

Overall, really competent tuning and good technicalities result in IEMs that stand out amidst a sea of competition.

SELECT COMPARISONS​

vs Kiwi Ears Orchestra Lite​

The Kiwi Ears Orchestra Lite are priced slightly lower than the Okavango and have an all-BA setup, with 8 BA drivers taking care of everything. Build is similar between both, but the Orchestra Lite go for a transparent inner-shell which looks better IMO.

Comfort is similar on both, while isolation is better on Orchestra Lite.

When it comes to sound, the Okavango have far superior bass response, there really is no contest here. Bass slam, depth, mid-bass texture – all put the vented BAs on the Orchestra Lite to shame. Mids are slightly smoother on the Orchestra Lite, so is the treble. Okavango have more focus in mid and lower-treble while the upper-treble airiness can be better than the Orchestra Lite in the treble configuration.

Staging is wider on the Okavango, while imaging is similar between both. Dynamics are also superior on the Hisenior IEMs, resulting in a near slam-dunk of the Okavango over the Orchestra Lite.

CONCLUDING REMARKS​

Hisenior quietly released one of the best hybrid IEMs around the USD $300 mark. The tuning switches work well, all four tunings have their place depending on one’s playlist and mood, and the general build and finish is as competitive as anything in this price range.

If I had to improve something, it would be the overall timbre. The timbral mismatch between the bass and treble is quite noticeable.

Then again, if all those things happened, the Okavango would likely be priced considerably higher. There is always a catch after all.

Introduction!
Hello friends!
Today we’ll talk about very cool headphones from the company Hisenior Audio, called Okavango, and they come in a medium-sized and heavy box with a nice design and on the front side the headphones themselves are depicted!
And here at the back are the technical characteristics of the headphones, and 1 dynamic driver and as many as 6 armature drivers are responsible for the sound, and the sensitivity of the headphones is 112dB and they have a 20ohm impedance,and here the address of the manufacturer is also written and what is included in the package!

Let's take a look at what's included!
And the first thing that greets us is a black box!

And inside it there is a cool case that I personally have never seen anywhere before and a separate box with accessories, which we will look at later.

And there are headphones in it, very neatly arranged, and they come in these bags, and in my opinion they look really very good and this design is not often found, medical resin is used here so they are very smooth, and the front panel is like this an additional wooden insert and a rather large Okavango inscription on both headphones!

And there are also two switches nearby, the first one is responsible for low frequencies and it boosts them so noticeably and later I will show you this on the graph, but the second one is responsible for high frequencies and the upper middle and it also has a very noticeable effect!

Well, there’s also one acoustic hole nearby, and according to the standard they got a 2-pin connector that goes exactly flush with the body like this!

And on the inside of the earphone there is a serial number of the model and a marking indicating that this is a right or left earphone, but their nozzle is not the smallest and not the largest, it is quite standard and its diameter is 0.5cm, also one of the advantages I liked is that there are ear pads they cling very tightly due to the fact that the nozzle has this protrusion.

Ergonomics and convenience!
And with the ergonomic fit, of course, everything is excellent here, they fit very tightly in the ears and provide good sound insulation
Accessories!
And of course, where would we be without a cable, it’s a pretty good 4-wire one and practically doesn’t get tangled, it has 2-pin connectors with comfortable earhooks, and the ability to replace the plug, which is important, with any jack 3.5, 2.5 and 4.4!

It’s also worth saying that the manufacturer did not forget about additional accessories,
and here, as you can see, there is everything you need and will be useful, these are two good sets of silicone ear pads, and one set of foam tips, maybe some of you still use them, and there is also a clothespin and an ejector for switching switches on the headphones, and two branded company stickers, and a very smooth branded cloth.

How do these headphones sound?
Well, now friends, let's talk about the most important thing, namely the sound of this model!
And this is what their frequency response graph looks like without using switches, and they are configured
it is very familiar and there is a quite confident amount of bass with a light and neat entry into the mid range and a smooth transition to the upper mid range, in addition to quite long and not bright high frequencies!

And I immediately want to answer the question whether it’s worth using switches or not, and in the end we get such an interesting picture that on the one hand, without using switches, we have a fairly familiar and neutral tuning without obvious dominance of the bass, and on the other hand, when using switches we have a very fun, fun and bass-heavy tuning with insanely booming bass and a more emotional presentation!

And I think it’s cool that there is such an opportunity to just switch and choose something suitable for yourself, I personally liked both options, especially for electronic pop and hip-hop music with switches, this is exactly what you need, but for everything else you can listen and without them, but if you are a basshead, be sure to turn on at least the first switch.
Low Frequencies:
The sub-bass region in these headphones has excellent depth and density, and the midbass complements it well with its weight and mass, and when using the switch, the low frequencies more clearly and noticeably draw attention to themselves and make us immediately understand who is in charge here, it is worth saying that they extend a little into the midrange, but this does not spoil the overall big picture at all, since the bass control is quite good, as well as very long decays, which become especially more noticeable when using the first switch!
Well, of course, there are no problems with textural elaboration here, and the bass may not sound as transparent as in the Simgot EA1000 headphones from the previous review, but nevertheless it is presented as warm and perfectly reproduces and reveals the saturation and distortion of guitars due to this good approaching the lower middle, and it’s worth saying that the kick sounds very emphasized with such a good kick and therefore it doesn’t get lost at all when hit simultaneously with the bass
Mid Frequencies:
Well, the mid frequencies, friends, are what you need, from the first listen I noticed that they are very neutral, have a calm, non-screaming smooth tone, and they are very warm and simply pleasant to the ear, and I liked that finally someone cleaned up the upper mids, so you won’t need to use various filters for the nozzle, so just connect your headphones and listen and enjoy!
And of course, due to this, the female vocals will not let you get tired of their shrillness and brightness, and the drums will simply neatly do their job without obvious and unnecessary emphasis on themselves, as is often the case.
But the instruments sound very sophisticated and natural, with a good and noticeable emphasized attack on the piano and excellent natural timbres with high resolution and the transparency and detail necessary to reveal the range.
High Frequencies:
Well, at the high frequencies of the Okavango, a very familiar and also quite neutral but slightly more musical approach to tuning with moderate, not excessive detail is immediately noticeable if we talk about the sound with the switch turned off, and as a result we have such a warm, neat presentation with moderate, albeit not clearly highlighted, for example, like Simgot EA1000 technicality,but excellent but correct, not excessive shine and an emphasis on hi-hats and crashes with a switch, the situation quite clearly changes; this will be heard on the vocal part and even on the cymbals themselves, since they will be more forward towards you due to their amplification!
And the most important thing that is probably worth saying is that when listening you will not find any sibilance in these headphones, since they are not super demanding on recording quality and do not go too far into hard analytics like the same simgots, so even in heavy metal or rock music with a ton of dirty, distortion-heavy instruments, these headphones still deliver this area very safely on the ear, preventing you from paying attention to any recording problems in the song you're listening to, even with the switches turned on.
Well, it is also worth noting a very good bias in micro and macro details and very noticeable obvious long-lasting tails from reverberation effects that do not end very abruptly but, on the contrary, have a fairly long continuation due to a very good expansion of high frequencies.
Stage and stereo panorama:
And here is the sound stage and visualization:
in the high-senior okavango headphones, it turned out to be not the widest and most stretched out, but rather optimal and correct; there is a fairly good stereo panorama and not a hidden depiction of plans and various images
My conclusion on these headphones:
Hisenior Okavango turned out to be very good headphones with a non-tiring, moderately emotional presentation that is pleasant to the ear, without any sibilance or harsh analytics, where you don’t need to listen to the problems of the recorded material, but just enjoy it, you are also offered two settings to choose from, one for basshead themes who wants to get a clear pumping effect and such a booming bass, and the second option without using switches is a familiar setting for everyone, with a moderate amount of textured bass, and very pleasant, non-tiring mid and high frequencies, and I’m sure everyone will choose the right option for themselves.
Link where you can buy them!
Aliexpress: https://aliexpress.ru/item/1005005980090666.html
Icygenius was with you, I will be glad if you subscribe to my YouTube channel and watch this full review on HISENIOR OKAVANGO !