HZSound Heart Mirror Pro

I was not present when the hype for Heart Mirror on 2020 was rife for having a distinct sound that no other IEMs in its price range could match. I won't be making any comparisons since I haven't been able to try the Heart Mirror, and I will treat this review as it should be. The Heart Mirror Pro is definitely more expensive than its predecessor, will it be impressive for its price? Let's find out!


DISCLAIMER:

• I am not affiliated with HZSound and received no monetary compensation during or after this review. This unit is provided by KEEPHIFI in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

• I am not a professional reviewer and would only coin simple terms for most beginners, and experts in the hobby to understand.

• Words taken from this review should be taken with a grain of salt. However, I can assure you that my findings won't differ a few miles from yours and will discuss what I have heard using my audio gears.

PACKAGING:​

The packaging is a sleeved box, with the sleeve showing the inclusions and specifications of the unit. It also has some QR codes that will redirect you to their social media sites. Inside the box, I was astonished by the number of inclusions provided by HZSound for this specific unit:

• Heart Mirror PRO IEM
• 4-core high purity OFC SPC modular cable with three terminations (3.5mm, 2.5mm, 4.4mm)
• A mic-in SPC cable with 3.5mm termination plug.
• 9 pairs of various eartips
• A black coloured, faux-leather case
• A hanging clip (for the case I suppose)
• Instruction manual.

BUILD QUALITY:​

The shell of the HM Pro is identical to that of its predecessor, made from the same material, with a 10mm CNT dynamic driver inside. It uses a 2-pin connector that is tucked in within the shell for durability. The HM Pro comes with a high-quality modular cable for flexibility.

SOUND:​

The HM Pro is very easy to drive, it has an impedance rating of 32 ohms and a sensitivity of 110 dB. Your smartphones will have no trouble driving this pair. It works wonderfully if you also have a dedicated DAP or dongle. The HM Pro has a somewhat warm presentation with a focus on the lower frequencies and a balanced treble on the side.

LOWS:

The bass has a midbass focus rather than a subbass one. The sub-bass does not fall that deep, can barely be felt, and does not exert much impact for some bassheads to adore. The midbass has a soft, thumpy impact. The basslines on "The Chain" - Fleetwood Mac sound impactful, but sound very dull on bass-intensive tracks like "Islands" - The xx. The attack is quick, but the decay is kind of slow. The best track to test this is Das Spiegel by The Chemical Brothers, where every sound has seemingly been designed to appear from nowhere and end just as abruptly. The HM Pro appears to struggle when bombarded with rapid-fire transitions of various sounds. This pair has noticeable midbass bleed, so keep that in mind.

MIDS:

Mids are laid-back and warm to the ears. The vocals are much thicker, more energetic, and have a luxurious presentation. Instruments don't have that much impact on me and have average attack and speed. The upper midrange can have a shrill, uncomfortable sound on some tracks; the vocals on "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards" by Tame Impala and that splash cymbal crash sound are so harsh to the ears that I cannot bear to hear them. Overall, the midrange can still be enjoyable for casual listening.

TREBLE:

The treble is average. Its brilliance is somewhat lacking in air, but it is not offensive to the ears. I find the treble on the HM Pro to be somewhat limited; it's as if I seek out more treble energy but not too much that it would sound too hot for my ears. Its detail is average and sometimes has difficulty picking up micro-details. Nevertheless, the treble plays this safe for this pair.

SOUNDSTAGE AND IMAGING:

Somehow, the HM Pro has average stage, it has enough height and width to create a somehow roomy soundstage for vocal and instrument separation. Imaging is good and sounds can still be distinguished within the soundstage, it can somehow handle busy tracks but struggles picking up some micro-details, and some busy tracks may sound blurry and chaotic on the HM Pro.








To summarize this review, the inclusions on the HM Pro are superb; it even has a carrying case and two cables in one packaging; one of which is even modular, which is great. For the sound, the HM Pro sounds lackluster for $80; there are definitely better options to consider within that price range, but if you like warm-sounding IEMs that aren't overly warm and come with a lot of accessories, or if you are only a casual-listener who wants to listen and just have fun with the sound of the IEM the HM Pro is definitely worth a try.

General Info/Build/Packaging/Comfort
Most people should be familiar with HZSound because of HM Pro’s predecessor, it was touted as a set with good price performance ratio, however I have not heard the HM before, therefore I will not be mentioning/comparing it between them.
The build quality is rather solid, the shell’s size is small, fitting generally will not be an issue. Using it with the bundled Sony tips, it sits and seals well in my ears, also, no problem wearing them for hours. The packaging is rather simple, but when it comes to the bundled accessories, they definitely stand out by offering a modular cable with interchangeable plugs (4.4, 3.5, 2.5), and also another extra cable with built in microphone, and also several sets of eartips and a solid carrying case. Very good unboxing experience overall.



Gears used for this review

• Topping DX1 + iFi Zen Air Can
• Hidizs XO Dongle
• Aune M2, Cayin N5, Sony Walkman ZX300 with MrWalkman’s Firmware
• Macbook Air M2’s 3.5mm port

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
I have never heard of the OG Heart Mirror before so I can't really compare it against the Heart Mirror Pro. Putting Heart Mirror Pro into my ears for the first time, the most prominent range that I noticed from the overall frequency range, it is not to say that it is very bassy, but it is definitely boosted to the point where it stood out amongst the mids and treble. To my ears, Heart Mirror Pro’s has a mild v shaped sound signature where there’s a slight emphasis on the low and high frequency. The mid is a little recessed but not overly recessed like a pure V shaped sound signature. Tonality wise, Heart Mirror Pro is a little warm and fun sounding. Timbre sounded quite realistic to my ears, piano, cello, cymbals all sounded as how they should sound (at least to my ears). Let’s take a look at the breakdown below:

Bass

• As i have mentioned earlier, bass is quite prominent in Heart Mirror Pro, bass extension is average, but the quantity is definitely boosted a little
• Bass isn’t as tight as how i wanted it to be, control is somewhat average
• Sub bass does rumble but it doesn’t really goes deep, but it is adequate to enjoy EDM
• Mid bass is thumpy and punchy, providing plenty of “fun”
• Speed is quite good as it handled Slipknot’s track pretty well, doesn’t sound bloated or muddy at all
• Bass doesn’t bleed into the mids, nice touch!

Mids

• Mids has sufficient warmth to it, female vocal especially has very good texture to it as well as male’s
• The mids are not overly forward, so does the vocals, just right, not too laid back nor forward to the point where it’s on your face
• The transition from low to upper mid is rather smooth (pinna gain), not shouty at all

Treble

• HM Pro’s treble extension is good but not excellent, merely nitpicking considering its price point
• Overall treble range is smooth and definitely not sibilant nor offensive, very suitable for treble sensitive folks or listeners with preference of smooth treble rather than a more energetic approach
• Details retrieval is average, not excellent nor bad, some micro details in Hans Zimmer’s Why So Serious can be picked up without much effort

Soundstage/Imaging

• Soundstage to my ears is slightly out of your head, but not overly wide nor too in your head
• Good depth, but slightly lacking in terms of heights
• Imaging is good, instruments can be pin pointed easily even on busy track such as Slipknot’s People = crap!

Driveability

• HM Pro is rather easy to drive, it is also pushing out decent volume driving it from Apple’s Lightning Dongle
• It does however scale with better sources
• Doesn’t really need amplification, however, driving it with Zen Air Can exhibited better control in terms of tighter bass, slightly better dynamics
• A budget to mid tiered dongle is enough to fully bring out the performance for HM Pro if you don’t have an amp

Final Thoughts
All in all, HM Pro is a good set of IEM with reasonable asking price. However, there are several other IEMs out there tuned with the harman target, at similar price point, so where does that position HM Pro? HM Pro attempted to pull itself ahead against the competition by offering a modular cable, and additional cable with built-in microphone, and also rather generous sets of eartips and a rather solid faux leather carrying case. If you’re in the lookout for a harman curve’s IEM and also don’t want to spend extra for cables, HM Pro got you covered!

*HM Pro is sent over by KeepHifi for the purpose of this review, I thank them for the opportunity as always. I received no compensation nor was I influenced in any way to produce this review.



If you are interested in getting a pair of HM Pro, head over to KeepHifi’s store via the link below:

HZSound Heart Mirror Pro - Non Affiliated
KeepHifi’s Storefront - Non Affiliated