HZSOUND Heart Mirror

Introduction
Have you ever wondered: "I want to experience a different tuning than Harman within a budget". Wonder no more with this review of the HZSound Heart Mirror, an IEM tuned to follow the IEF Neutral tuning coming at $35 (and now replaced by his sibling: the HZSound Heart Mirror Zero, also for $35)



Disclaimers

• This review is based on 2-4hs listening sessions across 7 days - IEM used with stock tunning and accesories
• Favourite music genres: Heavy Metal, Classical, EDM
• Only lossless music from Qobuz
• Gear used: Fiio E10K, TempoTec Sonata HD Pro (BHD firmware)

If you would like to read this review in spanish you can click here

Unboxing, build and comfort

The HZSound Heart Mirror come in a medium-sized box with a sliding system that reveals the IEMs and their case. Underneath the case, we find a large number of ear tips to use: 3 pairs of white silicone ear tips (balanced) in sizes S/M/L, 3 pairs of black ear tips (bass focused) in sizes S/M/L, and a pair of foam tips. Also, the Heart Mirror comes with a clip to attach to your shirt to avoid cable microphonics. Speaking of the cable, it is a 4-core 2-pin 0.78mm silver-plated oxygen-free cable (OFC). It is a fairly complete package for the price, and personally, the black tips and the cable are two of the accessories I use the most when testing other IEMs.



Focusing on the IEMs themselves, they have a 10mm dynamic driver with a nano-carbon diaphragm. These are protected by an electroplated zinc housing with a glossy finish, which makes them feel very premium for their price, but also makes them a fingerprint magnet and easy to scratch with any sharp surface.



In terms of comfort, the size of the IEMs is relatively small (there is a comparison with the KZ DQ6 below), so they fit very comfortably in the ear. However, I could only achieve a partial seal in my right ear with any type of the eartips provided, so I would say that the comfort is only decent at best.



Frequency response description

• IEF Neutral tuning
• Sub-bass and bass that do not bleed into the mids but extends well
• Accentuated highs (fatiguing), that provide a lot of detail and clarity
• Tuned for analytical listening

Subjective sound description:

Starting with Iron Maiden, “Powerslave” (Live Long Beach Arena), the imaging is precise with good separation between the guitarists on either side. The lows from the bass guitar sound behind in the mix and may even be difficult to find in situations where the instruments play in unison. From the same live performance, in “Running Free”, the bass is present at the beginning of the song when it is presented alone and has good definition.

Continuing with classical music in The Four Seasons, Concerto in F Minor, RV 297, Op. 8, No. 4, "Winter": III. Allegro, the clarity of the string instruments (violin, double bass and harp) is excellent although they can sound a bit metallic (this happens with most instruments that live in the treble region). Microdynamics can be appreciated during moments such as a person stroking the harp strings to play while the violin plays as the protagonist. Overall, with all of Vivaldi's Four Seasons repertoire and classical music, these IEMs demonstrate their true strength. However, being so resolving, they do not offer that relaxed listening experience that many people seek.

It was very enjoyable to listen to Adele's album "25" with these IEMs. During "I Miss You," the soundstage is wide and the separation of the instruments in space can be appreciated. Also, distant instruments like a maraca or tambourine can be appreciated on the left side of the mix. On the other hand, in "When We Were Young," the different voices harmonize articulately, and the three participating voices can be distinguished clearly along with the drums and piano in the final stretch of the song.

Continuing with another great artist, Amy Winehouse's 2006 album "Back to Black" is an "old" album in which some songs seem compressed and even congested. However, Amy's voice is always present and in a very intimate and enjoyable way.

Moving on to male singers, a song that I always like to listen to is "Vivere" by Andrea Bocelli, and I have to say that this IEM does not disappoint here. Both the female and male voices have a well-marked authority in the song with the piano and bass following a bit behind. The presence of both types of voices is a virtue as well as a course due to how fatiguing they can be for long listening sessions.

For me, another great male singer is Sinatra. While singing "Luck Be A Lady" (Live At Carnegie Hall), I have to admit that the trumpets sound sibilant. Sinatra's presence is exceptional here. You can really hear the width of the soundstage of these headphones. The reverberations that Sinatra generates through the speakers in the theater can be heard and that is incredible for an IEM under $50.

Last but not least, I tested the sub-bass in "Grnfthr" by Spark Master Tape. This song has powerful sub-bass, and the Heart Mirror represents it without problems. They have a very good extension that goes down to 30-40Hz. However, with how they are tuned, you cannot expect that meaty bass that makes you shake your head to the beat of an EDM song drop. I would not recommend them if the genres you consume most often are Hip-Hop, EDM, or others where the bass has great predominance.

Conclusion

The HZSound Heart Mirror are headphones that I can recommend to those who seek to listen all the little nuances in music and prefer genres such as classical, opera, or melodic music. I cannot recommend them for everyday use since they are extremely fatiguing headphones that make you concentrate on the music at all times. However, I believe that these IEMs are a must-have for every person to complement their collection by offering a sound that deviates from the Harman Target and provides amazing sound quality below $50.

A very concise one.

I bought this IEM with my own funds, and my opinion is biased only by my subjective preferences that are plentiful, but promotion/hype-independent.
(~$43 US, $56 Cdn)

Actually, the main motivation to get this IEM was due to controversial reviews.

Also, I did find more fun and "milage" buying older favourites rather than newly hyped ones.

As a preview, my opinion is 75-80% with the positive reviews and 20-25% the limitations described by the one-star review were experienced and can be attested/confirmed to be an issue.

For the source, I first tried my phone (Samsung S10), then I mostly used Tempotec E44 as one of my favourite brighter-neutral dongles.

I use large-diameter wide-bore tops (Spiral dots and similar) with all my IEMs.

The "unboxing" experience, nice case, useful tips and greatly made shells are superior. The fit is nice, while isolation is expectedly quite limited.

I really liked the DD bass of the mirror, it was there for me when "called for" and that works well to my ears.

Treble is meant to be the king of the show, and it is largely so; the impression/illusion of the resolution is there, but there are definitely limits to it.

Poor tracks, poor sources exacerbate the resolution and dynamics problems greatly. Multiple drivers do resolve by the contrast!

So it is a specialist IEM to me- with the right files and few instruments - it can make a really good impression.

With increasing complexity, the resolution and dynamics collapse to my ears, often in a fiasco-like fashion.

Compared to Blon 03, I am biased to Blon 90%, just nice and organic, the loss of resolution is expected compared to the failures to resolve of the Mirror.

CCA CRA are definitely more resolving, and arguably a better deal for the money despite the "timbre" and 5K peaks.

Aria is in a different league to me, given the price difference and overall universality of Aria.

So overall: 3.5-4 stars - 75% of 4.5 stars and 25% of 1 star on complex tracks.

Despite my perhaps overly critical opinion, I really enjoyed this IEM for a comparative experience and in many aspects (again. a specialist IEM to me) may return to it once in a while - the late Beethoven Quartets (Takacz) sound engaging and crisp.

Bass:
The sub-bass has a decent rumble and has a good extension. The mid-bass is relaxed, but its sufficient and is present when the track requires it. Definitely not for bassheads as you will not get the punch and slam. The overall bass region is controlled and does not bleed over to the other frequencies, also the bass does not sound bloated at all. The drums and bass guitars do not have much punch and vibration, but they do sound smooth and non-fatiguing.

Mids:
The mids are detailed and have a good amount of clarity. The mids lack a bit of body but has a natural tone that makes up for it. The vocals sound clear and well-present in tracks, they do not sound harsh and have a decent timbre. The male vocals are not that "authoritative" due to the recessed mid-bass, but is still pretty decent. The instruments are the star of the show here as they sound clear and natural which is quite pleasing. The piano strikes and the strums of the guitar sound luscious but lack a bit of richness.



Treble:
The treble has that clear sparkle and in my opinion but the treble region is surprisingly pleasant. The treble region has that pleasant sparkle and female vocals sound angelic and natural, not being sibilant nor harsh. The instruments such as the cymbals and electric guitars are not harsh nor peaky. The treble is detailed just like the mids which is a plus for me.

Soundstage/Imaging:
The soundstage is quite decent for this price range as it has decent width, depth and height, thus is not too intimate but not distant at the same time. The imaging is accurate, as the instruments are in their respective positions. The separation is good as instruments can be distinguished and heard clearly.



Verdict:
This IEM is good for its price range due to its soundstage, mids and treble region and its natural tonality. Its price is very competitive at $41usd which is honestly a steal. Would recommend this for those who like natural tonality with a decent soundstage, but although you cannot get a good seal on this IEM unless you change up the eartips.

For reference, you can check out my video:

I would like to preface this review by saying that this is my very first review. I am no professional audio gear reviewer and I only enjoy music. So, I apologize for some incorrect terminologies.

The HZSound Heart mirror. Technically my 2nd IEM to date and the one that really got me into IEMs in the first place. After a month of using it as my daily driver, I shall give you my honest thoughts.

These are also bought with my own money and bought from giftru in Shopee. Link will be on the very bottom if you're interested to purchase one for yourself.

GEAR USED:
VE Odyssey HD
Not-by-VE Avani
B450M DS3H stock sound card
Poco M3

MODS DONE:
Tips changed: (Final E, Stock Foam, Stock EX11-like tips and stock Clear Tips)

NOTE: I will be abbreviating the Heart Mirror to HM to save some time.



COMFORT AND FIT:
I would wear the HM for at least 10 hours a day and not once did I feel any hotspot or pressure points when wearing it. These are very comfortable and light to wear despite having a metal build. The fit isn't very deep into my ear which has an effect on isolation as it doesn't block out outside noise that well, but personally I didn't mind as the not-so-deep fit attributed to how comfortable it was to wear.

The different tips that came with the HM were also very impressive. The Sony EX11 looking tips were quite comfortable. I switched between the SML and found that the small was the most comfortable. There were also clear SML and foam tips which I found to be not as comfy to wear. The foam offered a good fit and didn't slide out of my ear like the clear tips. I also tried using Final E tips in Medium which slightly enhanced the bass, but the fit was similar to the stock clear tips in that it slides over long periods.

The stock cable was pretty decent for me. I'm not a big fan of braided cables as I find them irritating my neck and jaws, but the build quality of the cable is good. It has a bit of memory but is, for the most part well behaved when wrapped. The chin strap was also sturdy and kept its position throughout the day. The hook did not create pressure points on my ears which helped big time in wearing it for almost an entire day. The mic location of the cable is also perfect as it's close enough to my mouth that I don't have to position the mic awkwardly under my lip or nose but far enough that it doesn't irritate my skin. Although there was an issue where the mic would pick up the sounds that I'm listening to. This would make the people I'm in a call hear what I'm listening to. Thankfully this is merely a cable problem and can be remedied by changing cables.



SOUND:

Sound Signature: Neutral - Bright

NOTE: The Heart Mirror sound scales very well with a dac-amp and is recommended to be powered to make the most out of its potential

Bass:
It's there. And that surprised me as prior to getting the HM, I thought that the bass would be non-existent. This still is the furthest thing to a bassy IEM as there's barely any kick, but it's there. Bass guitars sound smooth but will exhibit recession on certain tracks where there lower mids are emphasized and the midbass slightly gets drowned out. Not by a big margin but significant to be mentioned. Personally, the bass quantity comes at the benefit of not being fatiguing to listen to overtime as I have found myself to be dizzy at the end of the day when using bassy audio gear.

Mids:
The mids sound very clear and crisp. As stated, the midbass and lower mids can compete for whichever wants to be heard. Nonetheless, lower mids such as male vocals still sound very smooth. Upper mids are intimate and can be quite sharp to those that are sensitive to higher frequencies. But this only happens when listening at higher volumes. This makes this pair really good for most vocal-based purposes whether it'd be songs, gaming or podcasts.

Highs:
The sparkle of these IEMs is some of the most satisfying treble I've heard. A great amount of clarity is heard when listening to music that have a lot of details in the high. Air instruments like saxophones are absolutely wonderful sounding with this IEM. Cymbals also sound very clear and impactful. Big asterisk though as these can get quite sibilant and may cause concerns for those sensitive to high frequencies. But those that enjoy sparkle will surely love these as I did.

Technicalities:
Separation is genuinely impressive as I found myself to still pinpoint instruments. Imaging and stage are just about above average as I noticed that there isn't much depth to the stage and vocals are intimate for the most part.

Gaming Performance:
Above average as in my experience, it's tuning is what helps it be better than traditionally v-shaped IEMs as the bass doesn't compress all the sounds and make pinpointing specific sounds confusing. In FPS games like Valorant and Escape From Tarkov, I can tell what direction where the enemy would be but not when they're above or below. On Escape From Tarkov specifically, you can still hear other sounds even while in a gun fight which is extremely useful and has saved me many times. Story-driven games such as Genshin Impact is where the HM truly shines as the orchestral soundtrack sound wonderful. Overall, it's a pretty average gaming experience for the price.



Conclusions:

10+ hours of usage as my daily driver for an entire month and I still wake up every day excited to wear the Heart Mirrors. This is honestly one of the most worth-it audio gear I have bought. Impressive mids and treble, comfortable fit, great technicalities and a wonderful design. If you're looking for a traditionally fun v-shaped IEM, this isn't for you. But if you're looking for something neutral-bright or just want to try a different tuning, then I would say that the Heart Mirrors are an amazing buy for the price.

LINK:
https://shopee.ph/HZSOUND-Heart-Mir...h-2Pin-0.78mm-OFC-Cable-i.43253829.6957070650

HZ Sound is an earphone brand based out of China. The Heart Mirror is their latest and budget IEM which boats some clean and neat design in the market. The pricing is done right and is now surrounded by a hell lot of competition. Do they also sound as pristine like their design? And are they really in this budget competition? In this review let’s check out the in depth audio analysis.


DISCLAIMER:

This unit has been provided to me as a part of a review tour conducted by Concept kart and by no means have I been influenced by them or the brand to manipulate this review. The review is completely based on my observations with this product and this may vary from users to users depending on the source they use to test it. In case if you are interested in purchasing this unit its available in https://conceptkart.com/products/hzsound-heart-mirror-wired-iem-with-mic and thanks to the team for bringing this to India.

SPECIFICATIONS:​

Driver unit: 10mm driver unit

Impedance: 32Ω (±15%)

Speaker Sensitivity: 106±3dB

Microphone sensitivity: -42±3dB

Frequency range: 15Hz-40kHz

Connector: 2Pin 0.78mm

Plug Type: 3.5mm L type

Cable: 1.2m, OFC silver plated

DESIGN AND BUILD:​

The design is clean and elegant as they sound. Has a clean metallic silver finish with no sort of branding which I love. They are shaped ergonomically and the nozzle is pretty lengthy. The 2 pin connector area is nicely recessed inside the body that doesn’t protrude. The faceplate and the rest of the body is seamlessly attached and no creaky joints are visible.

The whole body is made of aluminium shell and the finish is glossy. No scratches have been seen as of now. The fit is average in the sense the seal is good but the settling of the earpiece is middling. Since it’s not a custom shell shaped and the nozzles are pretty lengthy, the body mostly doesn’t sit in the ear canal and the sel depends on the ear tips alone. For most of the time it’s good but when you are walking or doing certain activities the body might dangle in your ears. The earpiece has nice heft overall giving that premium fell in the hand while holding them.

The cable is very good in quality, has that nice supple nature and is very premium enough in the hands. The good thing is that it has an inbuilt mic hence taking calls is possible with this IEM. The termination plug is L shaped and the provided strain relief is well built and sturdy. They have used the aluminium casings on the cable which looks very good and feels good too. The cable is a 4 core OFC SPC which is great in quality considering it’s a stock cable.

SOUND:​

The sound signature of the Heart Mirror is a neutral-bright. The overall sound is more or less balanced but with an extra hint of brightness for that added clarity and details. The sound even though they are brighter gives that sense of pleasing nature and it’s very addictive too especially if you are listening to instrumentals and classical. The amount of detail it captures and the overall tonality and timbre is very impressive for the price. It’s pretty natural and realistic. In this review let’s dive into the dissection of the sound of HZ.

LOW END:​

The low end in the HZ is just about the accuracy and precision. Both the sub bass and the mid bass are linearly placed thus they don’t overtake each other and make the track look fuzzy.

SUB BASS: The sub bass rumble is very subtle and can be felt only when the track calls for it otherwise it’s very subtle to listen to. The rumble could have been improved a bit but this one is tuned to give that detail and the natural tonality as much as possible in that regard the sub bass is fine. In the track “VICTORIOUS – THE SCORE ”, from the start of the track the sub bass presence can be felt but lacks the weight and the rumble which is pretty expectable in the earphone which focuses mainly in the midrange and highs. The control and the separation is however very nice and even the texture is pretty good in the HZ.

In another track “ANIMAL – THE SIEGE”, at the 0.23 mark the sub bass attack appears but in the HZ they are very subtle to hear and the overall track appears very light and clean.

In another track “TAKE IT – THE SIEGE”, at the start of the track you can appreciate the impressive technicality of the HZ! Oh boy that layering is very impressive. Here the sub bass presence can be felt very nicely since the track calls for it. See the separation! It’s very impressive! The control, speed and the texture everything is just on point.

MID BASS: The mid bass is pretty impressive in the HZ and it’s better than the sub bass. Personally I like the light mid bass earphones and the HZ just tuned to it. The mid bass is not that heavy and thick, rather it’s very light and clean. This aspect helped the HZ to give that extra clean midrange and the crispy highs.

The mid bass just linearly moves into the mid range causing a very detailed listening experience. In the track “GET LUCKY – DAFT PUNK ”, the kick drums and the guitar strings are separated very well and man see the separation here again! It’s pretty impressive. The guitar strings in the center while the other instruments in the sides, kick drums in the background everything is portrayed out very well, this shows the impressive ability of layering. It’s exceptional. The kick drums and the guitar strings never interrupt the mid range and the vocals thus they sound as clean and detailed as possible.

In another track “RISE – HANS ZIMMER ”, at the start of the track the presence of bass can be seen very nicely, it’s not heavy, rather it’s not the lightest but it just touches the sweet spot. The impressive aspect is the separation and the detail it brings out! Now the high end details can be seen very clearly. The positioning of the instruments and the layering is very good. They sound as open and detailed as possible. This track usually sounds very congested and clumsy in most of the earphones but in this one this gave a very detailed experience. The amount of air it moves is impressive.

Overall the low end may feel lighter but believe me this thing gives that extra separation and details. The control and the texture is very impressive, the low end is faster in decay and those technicalities are impressive too. One thing I can say for an improvement is that the sub bass could have been increased a bit.

MID RANGE:​

The midrange in the HM is the star show here. It’s very clean and detailed. Most of the IEM’S at this price point would have that warm tonality due to that excessive mid bass presence but this one is an exception, it’s very good to hear a natural and clean sounding earphones at this budget price point after a long time.

The lower mid range is slightly leaner in nature due to that lack of body in the mid range but this leanness gives that extra touch for clean sound. Even though they are lean, the male vocals sound very much fuller. The detail retrieval in the lower mids is very impressive which is very difficult to find in this price range. The male vocal sounds very good with nice coherency, having a natural tonality. The vocals are not harsh at the same time they are not grainier. In the track “EVERY LITTLE THING – ERIC CLAPTON ” the vocal is rendered very beautifully, the placement is precise and the background female vocal is clearly separated out. The guitar strings are nicely portrayed and the level of separation is god tier level for this price range.

The upper mid range is very good too but due to its detail capture many will find this upper mid range to be very energetic but in my opinion this sounds great! This energetic nature in the upper mids gives this earphone a great sound. The female vocals especially don’t sound shriller rather it sounds fuller and deeper. There is no hint of sibilant in “S ” words or any other sort of words. The percussion instruments sound very natural and realistic. In the track “BETTY – TAYLOR SWIFT ”, Taylor’s voice is rendered very well with good execution. The separation is top notch and the guitar strings sound absolutely realistic and the picks can be heard clearly. The mouth horn and the guitar strings are beautifully portrayed out while the vocal nicely placed in the center which is not too forward or laid back instead at a very good centered position. The detail retrieval and the layering are very good.

Overall in the mid range the clarity, separation and the layering of the instruments are very well depicted. The tonality and the timbre are very realistic and natural. The transition from the lower mids to the upper mids are pretty smooth and no hint of harshness or extreme sharpness is observed. The vocal positioning is neither too forward nor laid back instead the listener sits at the centre row. The upper midrange details and the clarity are freaking good in this earphone.

TREBLE:​

The treble in the HZ is absolutely fantastic! I would easily pick this earphone any day for detailed and sparkly treble. This just shines over the treble region where the technicalities are too good for the price. The cymbal crashes are vibrant and very addictive and the electric guitar strings and the stringed instruments sound absolutely natural and fantastic.

The track separation and the openness in the HZ is just mind blowing. In the track “JACK OF SPEED – STEELY DAN”, the trumpet sounds clean and vibrant and all those cymbal crashes sound dynamic. Even after this kind of brightness to the overall track they never sounded harsh or sibilant. The micro details are heard clearly too! Those background screeching sounds can be heard very clearly which I haven’t heard in most of the other gears I have.

In the other track “THE GIFT OF MUSIC – DREAM THEATER”, those stringed instruments sound very neat and clean while the drums in the background are very well separated out from the rest of the instruments and vocals. That cymbal crash in the left corner is heard very clearly which is a very minute detail but the HZ never missed that out!

Overall the treble in the HZ has an enormous amount of air moving in between the instruments, the detail retrieval is far far above the price and the separation, layering are exceptional. The natural and neutral tonality makes it even more special.

TECHNICALITIES:​

SOUND STAGE: The sound stage in the HZ is very good and well spaced. It may not be the widest but not the most intimate one too. The instruments and the placements are not within the head and have some good amount of space making it well rounded. The depth is good too despite the lack of sub bass extension. The height is very good and better than the depth. The width and the height are really very good for the price giving the HZ the grand presentation.

IMAGING: It’s very precise and accurate. The instruments can be easily pointed out accurately even in the busy tracks and thanks to that reduced and linear bass response. The transition of the instruments from one channel to the other is smooth and non-stuttery.

The detail retrieval, resolution and the separation are whole another level in the HZ, the layering is exceptional so in terms of technicalities the HZ is non complain-able!

Tracks Used:

1. Hideaway – Jacob Collier
2. Coloratura – Cold play
3. Crossing – Yosi Horikawa

PROS AND CONS:​

Pros:​

1. Top tier Detail Retrieval
2. Natural Tonality and Timbre
3. Sparkly Highs
4. Technicalities

Cons:​

1. Bass Quantity (especially sub bass)
2. Fit

VERDICT:​

Heart Mirror, the latest and the budget offering from the House of HZ SOUND is a fantastic package for those who are looking for some audiophile end game in the budget. The sound it delivers is unwatchable in this price range. The sound might not appeal to everyone in the market but this is a big boon for the beginners in audiophiles and a definite keeper IEM for most of the people. Even after the people who are accustomed to the usual V shaped or bassy earphones this will be a new experience to them.

The bright and analytical sound of the HZ is very addictive and it just grows slowly in you. After listening to a lot of instrumentals and classical, this earphone has grown on me very much. Bass heads? Just skip this or get this and get a new whole world of details that you have missed! The mid range is sweet with natural and neutral tonality, the highs are as sparkly as possible giving those extra minute details to breathe the air and the level of separation it provides is impeccable. The layering is another positive of this IEM.

Overall do you get what you paid for? Hell no! Because you get 10 X the sound for what you have paid! I’m in love with this and even though I have the urge for that extra sub bass presence this Heart mirror wins my heart and satisfies my CRISPY hunger for details.

At a Glance:

Overall Rating: S (S+ to C-)

Category: C (20-100 USD), MSRP: 40$,

Acquired at: 33$ (local pricing + platform discounts)





Overview:

The Heart Mirror is HZ Sound’s foremost offering in the budget sub-100 USD category, it features a single Carbon Nano Coating (CNC) dynamic driver housed in a mirror-finished all metal driver shell. It also comes quite well-stocked with 7 pairs of eartips, a 4-core SPC OFC stock cable and a hard-shell carry case.



Inclusions: S+

The Heart Mirror comes very good quality packaging, especially for the price. The outer carboard box is decently sized and looks fairly good. It slides out with a cloth tab on the side to reveal the IEMs themselves presented in some soft cut foam, and a cardboard logo on the bottom. Removing that reveals the accessories, a gray hard-shell case with some branding on it and a krabiner and clip for transport and organization purposes. It also comes with 7 sets of eartips, 6 silicone and 1 pair of soft foam tips. One set of the eartips is a generic medium-wide bore S/M/L set of white eartips and the other set is a S/M/L set of the popular Sony EP-EX11 medium bore tips. The included cable is a 4-core SPC cable that is also very good for the price. It has a metal connector, splitter and chin-slider although plastic 0.78mm connectors for the IEM side. It’s a little stiff and has some shape memory but it is certainly not bad and is great for the price, nonetheless. It even includes 4 extra nozzle filters in case the stock ones get dirty. For 40$, I don’t know what you could ask for in terms of packaging and accessories. Provisional S+ rank awarded here.



Build: S+

This IEM feels and looks incredibly premium. The shells are quite small and thus fairly comfortable and inoffensive to a variety of ears but they are also made out of some decently hefty metal, which allows them to feel quite solid and durable in the hands. The are two vent nozzles on the inside side of the IEM to prevent driver flex and they do their job well, although I did notice that inserting the IEMs in a way the blocked those holes resulted in some pressure and driver flex. The machining and plating are very good on my unit, with good tolerances on the seam between the halves of the housing. The 0.78mm receptacle feels solid and unmoving despite being made of plastic. The nozzle is angled and decently long, the shells are quite flat and as mentioned decently small, which makes these a-OK for sleeping purposes as well and generally quite comfortable. The only quirks here are that they can be fingerprint magnets and the finish will naturally scratch very easily but in the grand scheme of things it’s miniscule. Once again, provisional S+ rating.



Sound Review Conditions:

• Stock Cable was used
• All 3 types of stock tips were used. (slightly better performance with wide-bores but YMMV)
• Sources used: Deezer and Tidal HiFI, Signalyst HQ Player, Foobar 2000 HR-FLACs and PCM, Spotify, and YT Premium
• DAC/AMPs: KGUSS BH-3, and AVANI, JM20, CX-PRO, JM6 Dongles

Sound:

Bass: A+

Bass performance on this IEM can best be describes as precise, and slightly recessed. The tonality leans very neutral and uncolored without being too lean in the mix. The overall bass region quantity is relatively flat though curved to roll off slightly both of the edges of the region. More significantly, this means just a bit of a subbass roll-off, despite it being extended very well all the way down. The slight curve also means a little bit of extra midbass. This tonality, combined with some incredibly quick transient performance results in a lean quick bass that resembles an all-BA setup. The extra bit of midbass helps the music get a little bit of extra transient impact but the lack of subbass can result in a rather light note weight and the feeling of being slapped more than punched on bass heavy tracks. Timbrical performance is quite natural if a little too sterile. Performance in busy tracks is quite remarkable, with the fast transients and lean tonality handling everything with minimal bleed or bloat. Separation and Speed are thus top-notch here. Toms and especially snares sound very good here. Overall bass performance is great, if a little too neutral and lean for some people’s tastes but in the end it lends itself very well to this IEMs overall tonality



Mids: A+

Like the rest of this IEM, overall mids performance is neutral and uncolored, leaning on technical. Despite graphing almost level with the bass, human sound perception means that the mids are still decently forward in the mix. Overall tonality skews towards the upper mids and does neglect the lower mids a bit. A lot of lower male vocals are where this neutral timbre and tonality start to give out cons as some voices occasionally lack warmth, thickness or depth in their presentation making them sound off. The smooth presentation still does ensure that they don’t get to gruff but it would’ve been nice to see a little more warmth and body. Upper mids performance is much better, with both female vocals and less organic, colder string instruments taking full advantage of the neutral tilt. The upper mids have some “bite” that brings you into songs that are particularly belty and high but enough smoothness is present such that it avoids overt harshness and sibilance. Overall mids performance is quite good but leaves some to be desired.



Treble: S+

As a treble-forward IEM, you’d have high hopes for this IEMs treble performance and it does deliver. It’s fully extended and quite bright but thanks to excellent driver control especially in the transients it avoids being harsh and fatiguing. The treble energy lends itself exceptionally well to cymbals but one thing to note is the sparkle is hamstrung somewhat by a smaller soundstage. Nonetheless, treble is still exceptionally well-textured with requisite snap and air whenever necessary. It’s not overtly forward with it but this IEM also does pull out a lot of micro-details in the treble region. There isn’t as much to say here simply because there aren’t really any overt flaws at all. Best in class treble performance and I’m happy to comfortably give this one the Category C S+ ranking. It’ll take a lot to replace this.

Technicalities: S

Overall performance here is once again fantastic. The stage is a little bit more compressed than what would’ve been ideal for the sound, however imaging, layering and detail retrieval are more than capable of making up for it. The cramped stage would theoretically make separation suffer but that isn’t quite the case here. Far-out cymbals and strings still layer quite well and there’s a good sense of space between the instruments nonetheless. As has been mentioned previously, driver control is quite good, which means that transient performance is great across the sound spectrum. Timbre could be a little less clean/technical but it’s still good notwithstanding. Detail retrieval is also great as mentioned. Overall technicalities aren’t quite good enough to merit the S+ (even though there are no competitors that I know of) thanks to the stage and timbre but nevertheless very good.




Conclusion:

The Heart Mirror is not the most musical or to some people not the most enjoyable IEM. However, it’s versatility, the maturity and refinement of it’s overall package and the fantastic technical performance make it a true audiophile device at a rock-bottom price and a compelling product in the sub-100 USD range regardless of your preferred tuning, simply for the technical performance. Highly Recommended

lI give it the highest rating because I think it deserves it, the hzsound seemed like a crazy iem below 50 dollars, generally speaking in all aspects. highly recommended

What’s In the Box?

1 x 0.78mm IEM with Zinc alloy shells housing a 10mm Carbon Nano Diaphragm Dynamic Driver
3 x Bass Tips (Sony Knockoffs)
3 x Balance Silicone Tips
1 x Foam Tips
1 x 1.2m Silver Plated OFC cable
1 x Carrying Case
1 x Carabiner
1 x Shirt Clip

The box is pretty much self-sufficient with high-quality accessories that would suit both casual as well experienced hobbyists alike. I'm not attaching pictures as there are already tons of great quality pictures available on the forum and I'm not that great with camera.

How Does It Sound?

Heart Mirror have a neutral/neutral-bright signature which is very refreshing in the ultra-cheap category as only a handful of IEMs possess it and even fewer are actually good enough. If you are treble-sensitive or prefer a V-shaped sound or like Harman Curve then these IEMs are clearly not for you. You can stop reading further because even if you like this review, you will come back to curse me for peddling Fool’s Gold that didn’t sound like what will be mentioned in the upcoming paragraphs. And, if you are not from the aforementioned categories then let’s rumble.

If we’re rumbling now, then, only thing that can come to my mind is the bass. And, graphs will indicate that these are bass light in terms of quantity, well, they’re somewhat if you are using stock tips or shallow wide bore tips like Azla Sednas & JVC Spiral Dots. The quantity still will be less than most of the Chi-fi offerings but where they shine is in quality. With right fitting tips that ensure a slightly deeper insertion and a better seal, these mirrors slam, punch and roar with pristine clarity without any bleed whatsoever into the mids. Everything feels very natural as if one’s in a auditorium and listening to a concert. I would compare the bass with Muhammad Ali, floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee.

Coming to mids, again, I hate to be repetitive but the word natural keeps popping up. Because in a way it sums up how these monitors are tuned. Male vocals have little more sharpness than required that’s because of brightness in lower treble region. Female vocals sound fantastic especially if one is into J-Pop, K-Pop, Anime music etc. For music that’s not so overtly auto-tuned, I found vocals to be very revealing. Similarly, the male vocals too sound better for tracks where auto-tune is minimal or absent. Whether that’s good or bad, totally depends on how one wants to listen to their music. I prefer to listen my music with maximum transparency and minimum coloration. I found them particularly refreshing. The treble is delicate and has enough air to add spaciousness to the presentation. I didn’t find any harshness or bleeding peaks in the treble, on the contrary, for once I found the treble I was looking for. Bright but not killing my ears with fatigue (I’m looking at you Tin Hifi T2!). Arguably, the best treble for a single DD that I’ve heard in the sub-$50 price bracket.

The technicalities are way above the popular choices in this price range. So far, I’ve not heard a single IEM be it a hybrid or single DD that can match Heart Mirror’s transient response and spatial placement in the this price category (Geek Wold GK10 I’m awaiting you). The music flows organically into your ears especially if you listen to music which incorporates natural instruments and not synth or electronic music. Not saying that synth or electronic music sounds bad, albeit the natural instruments are bit more enjoyable for me. Probably, as musical genres featuring natural instruments dominate my music library. Soundstage is intimate like watching a performance on stage from the front row.

The drawbacks are that despite being cheap they’re not beginner friendly in anyway. Because, these are power-hungry and will need gear that satiate its lust for volts. They sound very okay directly via laptop, smartphone or any low powered gear. Also, they cater to a niche segment of consumers, thus, it is not everyone’s cup of tea. Another thing that is probably Achilles’ heel of this splendid IEM is that, at times, string instruments sound too clinical, like pinpoint, even if they don’t have to. This takes away the joy factor for some tracks where such level of accuracy is less welcome. This also makes them brutal for recordings that are mixed and produced poorly. They immediately lay bare the flaws in the recordings of lo-fi music.

Unsurprisingly, it has made most of my gear pretty much obsolete. And, I’m happy with that. I purchased an IEM after almost 13 months and I’m elated that I found something that is a genuine step-up to what I already own.

Note: Everyone’s ears and comfort-levels are unique, so, it’d be great if folks tiproll with what they have in their collection. A tip that has a bore long and wide (4mm+) will be ideal, prime examples of such tips are BGVP S01 & KZ Starlines. I’m using BGVP S01. There might be other tips that fit the bill or give you more joy, so one can experiment to their heart’s content and would like to hear how their Mirrors are cooing.



Comparisons:

Blon BL-03: Well, this is a no contest. It is like a college football team facing Manchester United. BL-03 is not bad it’s just that things have changed since that boisterous summer of 2019. Heart Mirror trounces BL-03 in all departments except that musical low-end. But, the effort to make BL-03 make that musical is too much with an after-market cable and tips. Those who love BL-03, they love it for its smooth tonality that is not technical in nature whereas Heart Mirror is a different beast with its analytical tone. Both have different sets of connoisseurs but for those who like neutral IEMs Heart Mirror is hands down better than Blon’s miracle baby.

Smabat NCO: Although it is discontinued now, but to those who own them would be interested to know where these two similarly priced single DD IEMs stack up. For me, NCO is a cannon that guarantees a musical blast with its balanced signature led by scrumptious bass and expansive soundstage. In contrast, Heart Mirror is a sniper’s bullet, precise and to the point. But, for everything else, Heart Mirror is superior to NCO.

Tin Hifi T2 Plus: Now, this is a grand slam matchup in the sub $50 category. It is ironic because what folks expected from T2 Plus (especially after the debacle of T2 Pro), is exactly what Heart Mirror is. Precise treble, bass that you can feel when required, mids that don’t sound wonky in the upper registers and pristine technicalities. Instead, T2 Plus chose Harman way of nerfing the treble and cranking up the bass. T2 Plus is like water whereas Heart Mirror is umm, like a mirror. Both are transparent but their presentations are different. If you like a fun version of neutral then T2 Plus is the way whereas if you want neutrality with supreme technicalities then Heart Mirror is the way forward.


Setup & Test Tracks:

I'm using stock cable with BGVP S01 M size tips.

Gear: I don’t have any fancy gear and I like my setups minimal because I prefer mobility while listening to my music. But for all the gear I have, I find my sources to be more than adequate.

On-The-Go: Samsung S20 FE (Dolby Off)>Neutron>Fiio BTR5

Home: Samsung S20 FE (Dolby Off)>Neutron> Fiio BTR5>Walnut F2 (Pure magic setup)

Test Tracks:

I would like to thank Ann from Keephifi.com ror providing this sample for review. Product link: https://keephifi.com/products/hzsou...r-earphone-earbuds-with-2pin-0-78mm-ofc-cable

The Heart Mirror derives its name from Buddhism, where "The pure heart is like a mirror and can illuminate all things".

The IEM features a 10mm dynamic driver with a carbon nanometer diaphragm and powerful iron-boron magnet. It is clothed in a zinc alloy housing with a reflective finish. The connection is 2-pin 0.78mm. The sensitivity is quoted at 106dB with an impedance of 32ohms and a frequency range of 15Hz - 40kHz is specified.

Description
The Heart Mirror comes in a white box with blue and green accents. There is a full colour image of the IEMs on the front and specifications on the back. A drawer opens with a small tag and inside the box, the earpieces sit in a foam cut out above a dark grey flap below which the accessories are stored. In all the package includes:

* Heart Mirror IEMs
* 2-pin 4 core silver plated OFC cable
* 3 pairs white silicone tips
* 3 pairs black silicone tips
* 1 pair foam tips
* Zipped fabric case
* Carabiner
* Shirt clip
* Velcro cable tie
* 6 spare nozzle filters

This is an impressive and generous accessory set especially at the price.

The IEMs are crafted from a CNC cast zinc alloy and have a highly polished mirror finish. They are very well made, fairly compact in size and quite weighty. The 2-pin sockets are slightly recessed. There is a small circular vent on the inner surface and another at the base of the nozzle which is fairly long. Channel identification (L and R) is also marked on each earpiece.

The supplied cable is a 4-core silver plated copper type and appears to be of good quality. It has a 90° angled 3.5mm plug and an in-line microphone. There is a metal Y-split and a ring chin slider. The 2-pin plugs are plastic and have channel identification but it is very hard to read; colour coding would have been preferable.

The IEMs were used with the stock cable. I initially used the pre-fitted tips, but found them too small for my ears so changed to the medium white silicone tips which resulted in an improved fit and seal and produced a better bass response. The source was an Xduoo X20 DAP and a 100 hour burn-in period was carried out. I discovered that I needed to use an amplifier to bring out the best in the Heart Mirror as doing so improved the bass and the imaging. I used a Fiio A5 for this purpose.

First Impressions
The Heart Mirror immediately impressed me with its remarkable transparency and clarity which seemed to derive from low distortion and a lack of colouration. The tonality was brighter than neutral but displayed a very natural timbre. Detail retrieval was excellent. Bass, including sub-bass, came over with very good resolution and texture, although reduced a little in level. There was no mid bass emphasis which allowed the mids to breathe, and the transition into the midrange was seamless. Treble was bright and clear with no harshness or peaks and was very extended, only occasionally flirting with sharpness. Soundstage, layering and imaging were first-rate.

Bass
The bass was neutral and and somewhat reduced in level relative to the rest of the range but the lower frequencies were reproduced cleanly with excellent texture and resolution and the extension was also notable, with sub-bass very natural.

A perfect example of this was in Albinoni's Adagio in G minor performed by the Guildhall String Ensemble. The deep pedal notes of the organ formed an impressive foundation for the beautiful string melody and soaring violin solo and the climaxes were skilfully handled with superb depth, weight and atmosphere.

Davol is an electronic music artist hailing from Boulder, Colorado. "Another Land" is a track from his second album, "Paradox". It begins with deep drum strikes in a reverberant acoustic accompanied by powerful bass synthesiser. On the Heart Mirror, the effect was thrilling and the fast transients added to the excitement. When the synth bass took over the bass line later in the track there was excellent differentiation in the tonality.

Pink Floyd's "Cluster One" from "The Division Bell" begins with the sound of a crackling fire. A moody David Gilmour guitar solo is joined by Rick Wright on keyboards. The Heart Mirror portrayed the calm yet disturbing atmosphere admirably as the feeling was altered by the entry of Nick Mason's percussion with his bass drum displaying impressive weight and impact.

Mids
The midrange was exceptionally clear and detailed and was totally free of bass bleed. There was a refreshing openness and spaciousness to the sound. Timbre was spot on with the character of instruments well rendered and vocals clear and articulate.

"Judex" from "Mors et Vita" by Gounod features a beautiful flowing melody spanning the octaves. In the version by the Halle Orchestra conducted by Maurice Handford, the brass in the introduction sounded very natural with the requisite bite and shimmer. The string melody was very expressively conveyed and the balance of the orchestra was very natural, taking the listener to the concert hall in an authentic fashion. This was perfect material for the Heart Mirror.

The Heart Mirror reproduced the prominent sax solo beautifully in the bridge of Chris Spheeris's "First Kiss" from the album "Enchantment". The natural timbre of the instrument was excitingly accompanied by swirling synth figuring, deep bass and bright rhythm guitar, forming an extensive tableau drawing you into the music.

Sax also features strongly in the entertaining arrangement of "It Must Be Love" by Madness, and the Heart Mirror rose to the occasion. Set to an infectious reggae beat, the sax solo cut through the dense production in great style with the vocals remaining clear and full of character and pizzicato strings adding a bit of spice to the mix.

Treble
The Heart Mirror's treble was clean and well-extended and brighter than neutral but did not suffer from harshness or disturbing peaks. It was sometimes sharp sounding on certain material, mainly on poor recordings. There was an attractive "airy" quality and a lucid transparency which endowed the sound with an unusual level of clarity and detail.

The delicate synth melody in "Z Op. 1" from "Electromantic" by Gabor Presser received a wonderfully clear performance from the Heart Mirror. Each note was precisely delineated and possessed a crystalline quality which was perfect for the piece. The detail and separation in this track were a joy to hear and the atmosphere was faithfully reproduced.

The Age of Enlightenment Orchestra's performance of the String Sonata No.1 by Rossini is exceptionally well recorded. The Heart Mirror's authentic timbre and excellent transient attack ensured a satisfying rendition with the solo violin displaying clear harmonics and incisive bowing. The counterpoint was also nicely handled with an attractive urgency which drove the piece along in entertaining style.

White Sand and Thunder" is a track from multi-instrumentalist Don Harriss's album "Shell Game". Performed on synthesisers and electronic percussion, it bears all the trademarks of his style with a catchy melody, unusual key changes and lively rhythms. The Heart Mirror managed to separate out all these elements and reproduce the delicate percussion parts with clarity and precision. The castanet details high in the left channel were particularly well rendered.

Soundstage
Due to its excellent clarity and wide frequency range, the Heart Mirror's soundstage was extensive in all three dimensions with very good layering, separation and imaging. The reproduction of ambience and studio reverb was particularly fine and helped to create a more authentic picture of the recording.

Davol's "Mystic Waters" is his debut album and the title track is a calm, spacious piece featuring a guitar-like lead synth voicing over an atmospheric electronic backdrop. The staging in this work is very expansive and the Heart Mirror made the most of it with the height of the solo voice particularly well portrayed in the middle of the piece and supported by swirling electronic effects moving around the image.

Sir Henry Wood's orchestral transcription of Debussy's "The Engulfed Cathedral" has been superbly recorded on the Lyrita label and the performance by the LSO under Nicholas Braithwaite is exceptionally fine. The Heart Mirror presented a broad sweep, laying out the orchestra in convincing style with a believable sense of distance. Each section of the orchestra appeared in its proper place and was clearly depicted in a wonderfully ambient recording space.

Al Stewart's superb album "The Year of the Cat" is a marvellous recording with a fabulous production courtesy of Alan Parsons (producer of "Dark Side of the Moon"). The stereo imaging in the title track came over superbly on the Heart Mirror with each instrument nicely separated and placed accurately, the reverb on the vocals clearly depicted and the layering in the guitar and sax solos convincingly presented, all of which resulted in a satisfying musical performance.

Comparisons

Tin Hifi T2+
The T2 plus has a 10mm "NanoPure Nickel-Zinc" driver, a full metal casing and MMCX interface. It follows the traditional Tin Hifi tuning of a neutral/bright profile but adds an extra bit of warmth with a mid bass lift resulting in a mild V profile. There is a balance between accuracy and musicality. The Heart Mirror displayed a cleaner tonality with reduced mid bass and a more immediate impact. In comparison, the T2 plus sounded a little "safe" and lacking in excitement. The Heart Mirror's detail and definition was superior and the soundstage more immersive.

Smabat NCO
The NCO is an ultra compact barrel-shaped IEM with an 8mm micro driver and graphene diaphragm. It also features Smabat's unique Maze system inspired by transmission line speakers which uses an extended path for the bass frequencies. It has a warm profile which is mildly L-shaped, copious detail and excellent imaging and a very spacious soundstage. The Heart Mirror's neutral profile was in marked contrast and delivered more detail and "air" but the NCO possessed a more "breathy" and weighty bass. Soundstage was about equal in quality but the warmer tonality of the NCO's mids just softened the effect a little. The Heart Mirror's treble was more extended.

BLON BL-05s
The BL-05s, like the Heart Mirror, uses a 10mm carbon DD. An upgrade to the original BL-05, it is clothed in a bright green reminiscent of the 1950s. The bass is powerful and occasionally dominant and the treble has good detail and extension. The BL-05s displays a warmer tonality than the Heart Mirror but its transient attack is similar in impact. The mids are more recessed but still present but the timbre is not as natural. The treble is not as refined, there being a little bit of "grain". Soundstage is impressive although imaging is not as precise as the Heart Mirror.

Conclusion
The Heart Mirror exceeded all my expectations, delivering a superb sound across the frequency spectrum and excelling in all areas. There was good extension both in bass and treble, a natural timbre, high quality staging and a clean and bright tonality with lots of detail and it was difficult to find anything to complain about. Some used to the ubiquitous V tuning which is so prevalent today might find the Heart Mirror's sound too bright but extended listening will reward the user with an extraordinarily accomplished sound at the price. It's laser-like accuracy does mean that poor recordings will sound poor, but that is exactly how it should be. I cannot recommend this model highly enough and urge any lover of high quality sound to purchase one for their collection.

The Hzsound Heart Mirror's (HM's) tuning seemed like it'd be promising as a replacement of the Moondrop SSR, which I consider a benchmark budget IEM due to its bright-neutral tuning, flaws and all. There are a fair number of positive reviews of the HM as well, so I figured why not buy it?

I'm about to tell you why you shouldn't buy this IEM.



Build

Others have already commented on the build and accessories, so I will repeat what stands out to me. The earphones feel nice in the hand and do look good. The cable is okay. Kind of memory prone, but I had a replacement copper cable to go with it. It's a bit heavy but fortunately I recently got the QX-Over and the medium tips for those worked well with them.

Comfort

The IEMs fit my ear well enough. A bit large in the nozzle but the right eartips largely fix that.

Sound Quality

Tonality

The tonality here is essentially that of a leaner and brighter SSR. I like me some treble, but the bright tonality here is only good for listening for somewhere between a half-hour to an hour before fatigue sets in.

Lows: I'm not a basshead, so when I say that the bass response is minimal, take that as you will. At best, it supports the track, but on average there's either barely any bass or no bass at all. Low-end emphasized electronic music sounds analog and fuzzy, like with meganeko's "Cybergrind", due to the meager bass response. Cellos and lower percussion like toms or kick drums come across rather decently when they go low, like on the TAMUSIC or Tokyo Active NEETs track, but they lack fullness and sound flat.

Mids: The HM will often veer into sounding too thin for male vocals to sound tonally correct since the fundamental tones are barely audible, compared to the harmonics in the rest of the mix. This lends to a somewhat limp sound from the likes of Joakim and Chester Bennington. Female vocals sound a bit shrill but do come across rather clearly, as a whole. Similarly, stringed instruments like violins and especially cellos sound somewhat weightless in the lower fundamental tones...

Treble: ...but after a certain frequency, they come across clearly. Too clearly, as a matter of fact. Yes, acoustic tracks sound crispy and symphony orchestra and female vocals, but the bright presentation is not pleasant to listen to. If there is sibilance in your recording, it will come across in spades, such as with track "The Creator". It feels like there's too much air or something. With the Prisma Audio Azul IEM, my reference for a neutral IEM, I get a certain sense of fullness due to the air frequencies being only a bit above neutral, at worst. Here on the Heart Mirror, that same fullness is exaggerated and bloated to the point where it's a rough listen, as opposed to a smooth listen. The music feels like it's pressing into my eyeballs and the back of my head with the Heart Mirror. Blinding, really, which is apt for an IEM with "Mirror" in its name.

Technicalities

I've heard oddly tuned IEMs which I could sort of enjoy due to their technicalities making up for it. Here, the HM has below average technicalities. *Far* below average. Admittedly, the bright tuning lends the overall presentation the veneer of resolution and detail, and if you wanted to listen to something bright while working, it'll sound detailed enough. But if you give even a single iota of attention to the sounds coming into your ear, you might find something lacking. I certainly did, and it ruined my enjoyment with them.

I cannot isolate or separate instrument and voice lines with this IEM. There's no layering, either. I hear a violin coming from the lef--but I cannot isolate it from the others. I hear Joakim of Sabaton somewhere in the cente--but there's a fog separating me and the music, with little details poking in and out of it. Only on tracks with a vocalist and a guitar was there any sense of separation.

This is related the way this IEM fails to handle detail retrieval, e.g. reproduce the transients associated with an instrument in the recording. It's very smoothed over. For example, throughout the song K. by Cigarettes after Sex, I can hear the initial pluck of guitars or tug of cellos but there's not much follow-through. The vocalist in that same song uses vocal fry as part of her singing style, and there are other IEMs in this price range that can reproduce the roughness of her voice, but the HM smooths that roughness over and smothers how she sounds. And in the Tokyo Active NEETs track at around 20 seconds, the trumpets have very little of the flutter and roughness one should hear from them.

The soundstage depth is somewhere inbetween zero and negative. The mental window I have of the recorded performance is strongly fogged up and is pushed into the back of my skull. This severely impacts the imaging, which is the worst form of three-blob I've yet to experience on any IEM. The middle-blob is especially smeary and imprecise with my reference playlist and songs outside of it. This is likely due, in part, to the aforementioned sonic presentation and soundstage depth.

Altogether, the technicalities are so bad that I could not imagine any sort of scenery while listening to this. This is the minimum requirement I ask of any IEM, and it failed on that front. I would always be conscious of the fact that I'm listening to something poorly recorded and have to constantly think about how meager the presentation is here. If we tally up the subpar stage depth, detail retrieval, and imaging, you get the most 2D presentation of music I've ever experienced. Truth be told, I've not yet listened to an Etymotic ER-series IEM, but I can easily imagine that this must be how 2D their soundstage is. One might call the soundstage as flat as a mirror.

A Comment on Sources

Some people claim that this IEM is source-picky, e.g. that a certain synergy is needed in order to make these IEMs shine. In my experience, no amount of amp-rolling, tip-rolling, or cable-rolling will save this IEM's sonic presentation. I've used a copper cable to ostensibly add warmth (it sounded the same as the stock cable). I've used wide-bore and narrow-bore tips, to similarly awful effect. The sources I used were as follows:

• ddhifi TC35B 2021 dongle out of a Pixel 4a
• Qudelix-5K
• Shanling M3X
• ifi Zen DAC
• ifi Zen CAN
• THX AAA 789 on Gain 1, 2, and 3
• xDuoo MT-602 (with Bellari Audio tube pre-amp and aftermarket Mullard tube) connected to M3X

Using the 789 made it barely cleaner and wider in soundstage as I ratcheted the gain switch up. Using tubes or the ddhifi dongle barely added warmth and low-end. Using the ifi Zen CAN ensured the soundstage was never negative and perhaps added a minute amount of soundstage depth. Ultimately, the Heart Mirror's sonic presentation was frustrating across all sources.

A No-Contest Comparison

The SSR stands heads and shoulders above the Heart Mirror. Imaging, staging size, detail retrieval, and separation are good enough on its own with the SSR, and put the HM to shame in these regards. I do wish the SSR was a bit brighter, but overall its tonality is a smoother, more enjoyable listen that is better balanced for all kinds of music. The SSR is the better sub-50 USD neutral reference IEM between the two. It is so easy to listen to my reference playlist with the SSR, and with the Heart Mirror, it is agonizing to do the same. The Heart Mirror has been claimed to punch above its price bracket, but it can't even punch down the SSR, in terms of price alone.

Conclusion

If one wants a bright sound to listen to music while they work, maybe this IEM could work for you. For me, I prefer a warmer tonality in that context. The tuning here makes me think it's meant to be for critical listening, but it's so hard for me to imagine the contents of the music and interpret them with the Heart Mirror. Its sonic presentation continues to annoy me on every song I throw at it. Instead, the tonality is fatiguing, and the technicalities are all but lacking on the bare minimum. The Heart Mirror is a bad parody of the SSR, and for my purposes, is an overall failure of a neutral IEM. Stay away from it.

Rating: 1/5.

Reference playlist:

Hello I'm Ah Hui today i want to review the Hzsounds Heart mirror . I bought it from Fenwei store shopee Malaysia. This is currently the most expensive iem that I have bought .

Packaging :
the iem box It's quite big which consists of a few eartips, filter , warranty card and operating manual.

Comfort :
Super comfortable while I wearing the earphones . I can listen to it for hours on end with no issues.

Build :
Build is substantial and solid. Built with metal.

Sounds :
My first day listen Hzsounds Heart mirror it's not that great because the treble is quite brighter and harsh .but after few days i like it quite a bit
The female vocal feel crisp and forward while listen Hebe Tien songs. How about male vocals ? Male vocal is crisp and airy but not like TRN MT1 can Expresses the alluring charisma of male vocals when listen sabia angel .bass is lean and fast. sub bass also rolls off early but can still feel its slight rumble .treble is bright but it's controlled well with no harshness and sibilance . soundstage is deep and can actually hear the instrument near the ear . i am also very impressed with it's micro details . Imaging is pretty holographic too. Could tell where instruments are place at, as in its x and y positioning is great. . overall the soundsignature is neutral-bright

In summary, I think Heart Mirror is well-worth it for this price range. I would highly recommend the Heart Mirror, especially for it $30usd price.

My source is Shanling UA2. Earphone tested with stock cable and eartips.

That's all my review . thanks you.

Introduction :

HZSOUND is one of those brands who got hyped because someone in the community bought them from Aliexpress, they loved it so much that they wrote about it on forums and people jumped on the hype train. HZSOUND has been around since 2014 but lately the Heart Mirror got so much attention for being the best in ear monitor under 100$. They pretty much look like the Moondrop Kanas Pro and coming at only 50$, they look pretty impressive on paper.

Disclaimer :

The review was tested at 49$ and all the judgement was made keeping the exact same price in mind. We're not responsible for any price change that might alter this review.

This item was graciously provided by KeepHiFi online store for review in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. The review was written by the team in our own accord and no thoughts or judgements were altered in any way.

Purchasable link :

Keephifi (Global Market)

Specifications :



Unboxing and Accessories :



Straight up after opening the box, we were surprised by the amount of accessories and the professional packaging it came in. Not to mention that these costs only 50$ and blows away competition when it comes to unboxing experience. There’s a little pull tab to slide out the box and there are IEMs in foam along with case and other accessories. Box accessory set includes:

• Heart Mirror
• IEM carry case
• 7 pair of tips
• 3.5mm 2 pin wire
• Extra nozzle filters
• Key hook
• Documentation

Cable :



Cable that comes with the box is a 3.5mm unbalanced cable and shouldn't come at surprise at this price point. It’s a 2 pin cable and material of choice HZSOUND went with, is silver plated OFC. The cable braiding is very tight, has a L-type termination jack and behaves fairly well. The Y-split is made out of aluminium and there is no chin slider. Cable is more than what you can ask for at this price point and there are no microphonics with the provided cable.

Case :



The case straight away reminds us of the Sennheiser Momentum TWS. The case is made out of the same material with fabric finish along with HZSOUND branding on top. It has enough room to fit in both IEM and an additional dongle dac. Since these do require some amplification to sound best, you’ll find yourself carrying an additional dongle dac. More on that later.

IEM quality and fit :



The Heart Mirror is built like a tank. It has a shiny mirror like finish on top, hence the name heart mirror. They are quite small and can fit almost any size of ears easily, they weigh fairly light and are quite reminiscent of Kanas Pro and TRI I3. The outside coating is prone to scratch easily and loves to catch all types of fingerprints. Bottom line, they are built really well and sturdy.

Since these are fairly small, the fit of Heart Mirror was great. Nothing was uncomfortable for long usage neither did they create any sort of pressure inside ears.

Sound Isolation :



They are built out of aluminum so they do quite a good job at blocking outside noise. The great fit on these helps with sound isolation, BUT, you need to have good tips with these. The out of the box tips pair very poorly, they are slippery, itchy and don’t do justice to the IEM. Swap out with some good Final Audio tips and not only they sit tightly in your ears, but also sound great.


The Driveability and sources used :



Driving Heart Mirror is the main task, THEY ASK FOR power. While testing these out, they behaved exactly how Etymotic ER2XR does, with the right source they sound amazeballs. They don’t require Tin P2 level of power but if you’re thinking to drive these with a phone then you’re not doing justice to these as they need some amplification.

The HZSOUND Heart Mirror benefits a lot with a good powered source. It scales really well with FiiO BTR5, but a good dongle dac will also complement them well.

Sources used are :

• Shanling M0
• Topping NX4 DSD
• FiiO BTR5

Sound (4.5/5) :



Bass (5/5) :

You must have heard of a very renowned phrase - quality over quantity, well it's the case here, there is nothing to complain here, the bass is very well textured and the midbass is just amazing. The low end bass extensions are simply awesome and easily we can say it does outperform the competition in this regard. We have not come across any IEM in this price to perform close to this. We can easily say that this brings a sweet teaser of how reference audio sounds in a very affordable price bracket. The bass is very tight and decay is very responsive which makes these sound perfect, there is no bass bleeding in mids and overall we can say this is the perfect balance of bass any IEM can achieve at this price which is pure bliss.

Mids (4.5/5) :

Hitting very close to perfection, the mids are just perfectly tuned on this IEM, the timbre is very natural and the overall representation is very close to neutral. The lower mids is almost hitting the right spot but in some tracks the male vocals can sometimes sound thin which can be corrected but contrasting to this the female vocals sound just beautiful and perfect or spot on !!! The vocals take a center position in the song and the way the instruments are depicted come to life is just we miss in the competition. The higher mids are also very close to being perfect, overall very impressed according to the price range it comes in.

Treble (4.5/5) :

As is the case with the bass and mids, it is a similar case with the highs reproduction as well, the lower end of the treble is slightly elevated due to which the sound can sometimes become shouty and sibilant in some tracks but it does not happen often. The instruments and female vocals representation in a song is just beyond explanation, they sound very life like which is in line with the overall sound signature. However as mentioned above as well, the treble can sound sibilant in some tracks due to the additional boost in the higher range of the treble which can become a deal breaker for some but can be rectified if used with foam tips. Still our recommendation to HZ is to tune the highs a bit and the amalgamation of this would be crazy.

Imaging (4.5/5) :

Owing to its amazing higher notes reproduction, the imaging of this IEM is at par with the whole sound reproduction. It becomes very easy to make out the exact position of the instruments in a song, the clarity and crispness of the instruments is unheard of in this price range, full marks to HZ to pull on something like this in this price range. The instrument's definition is represented on X and Y axis fluently and that shook us for the price this is happening.

Sound Stage (4.5/5) :

With an amazing imaging comes great soundstage as well, the width of the sound is next level, if one closes the eyes, the transformation from the listeners position to the stage happens immediately, not only this , it performs very decent in the height department as well but we see that there is a scope for improvement in this regard, but at this point we are just nitpicking.

Conclusion :



In our quest to find the perfect sounding IEM for the price, coming across something like this makes our journey worth a while, as we explore more and more the more we are surprised on a daily basis, one such surprise is HZSOUND Heart Mirror. We are singing all praises for it as this gives the listener a taste of what reference tuning sounds and the way HZ has priced the mirrors is actually bang for the buck. We fully and wholeheartedly recommend these to anyone who is seeking a signature towards a neutral side of the spectrum.

Rated :


All grades are given keeping price to performance ratio in mind, better grade doesn't mean it's the best.

Heart mirror ❤


Excellent vocals
Good timbre
Not harsh or shouty
Benefits greatly with amp especially in low end
True Neutral bass
Mid focused
Neutral bright tuning
Less bassy cleaner and clearer blon03 with less warmth
Bright at times but smooth
Guitar sounds great
Very detailed for dynamic
Good build, 2 pin, cables hard to get on and off
Good stock cable and excellent stock tips
Slightly cold and analytical
Treble has moderate extension , enjoyable for a dd , sounds just right
Fast transient response
Improves with pure Copper upgrade cable
Outperforms all dd less than 100$ if properly amped
Sounds average on a phone
Scales amazingly with power
Handled eq well
Cables hard to get on and off
Only 45$ on aliexpress
Must try for anyone with the right set up

DISCLAIMER

I would like to thank Ann from KeepHIFI for providing this review unit.


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The HZSound Heart Mirror is a well tuned neutralish bright set, with to die for vocals, excellent timbre and tonality. It boasts fasts transients and good technicalities for a budget single DD set. Despite the brighter tuning, there’s very rare instances of shoutiness that plague the usual upper mids boosted contenders at this price range. It’s as beautiful sounding as it looks, though soundstage, lack of midbass punch and thin note weight are my nitpicks in the tuning. The best compliment I can give a neutralish bright set like the HZSound Heart Mirror, is that a basshead like me thinks it is a keeper.


SPECIFICATIONS

• Driver type: 10mm Carbon Nanometer DD
• Frequency range: 15Hz-40kHz
• Impedance: 32Ω (±15%)
• Sensitivity: 106 ± 3dB
• Cable Connector: 2Pin 0.78mm
• Tested at $49 USD

ACCESSORIES

In addition to the IEM, it comes with a very generous assortment of accessories:

1) Silicone tips (S/M/L) x 2 variants (total of 6 pairs). The white tips are stiffer with a longer nozzle, whereas the black ones are flimsier with a shorter bore. Actually the black coloured ones look and feel suspiciously similar to Final Audio E black tips, except without the grooves on the stem, and indeed they function in a similar way in tightening the bass and taming the treble a tinge.

2) One pair of foam tips.

3) Shirt clip.

4) Cloth case.

5) Carabiner.

6) 4 core OFC Silver Plated Cable – The cable is very well braided and of good quality, no microphonics. As for sound, if you are a cable skeptic, please skip to the next section. Otherwise, personally I felt the HZSound Heart Mirror synergizes better with pure copper cables as this set is already neutralish bright and bass lite, and the copper cables perhaps thickens the sound and bass a tinge, YMMV.





BUILD/COMFORT

The HZSound Heart Mirror comes in a beautifully polished metal shell, sporting a similar look to the Moondrop KXXS and TRI I3. It isn’t as heavy or large as the TRI I3, and is very ergonomic and comfortable. I can wear it for hours without issues.

The shell lives up to the namesake of Heart Mirror, it is beautiful but unfortunately is a fingerprint magnet. HZSound does wrap protective stickers around the shell, but after unboxing them, one should be careful when bringing this set outside the house as the metal finish can be easily scratched.

I didn’t detect any driver flex on the HZSound Heart Mirror.

I liked that it came in a 2 pin config for cable housing, I had many bad experiences with MMCX connectors in general.


ISOLATION

Isolation on the HZSound Heart Mirror is slightly above average, as per most vented DD sets. It won’t beat pure BA unvented sets in this area, but should be sufficient for outdoor usage.


DRIVABILITY/SOURCE

I tried the HZSound Heart Mirror on a Khadas Tone Board -> Topping L30, Samsung Note 5 phone, a Ziku HD X9 DAP, a Shanling Q1 DAP, a Khadas Tone Board -> Fiio A3 amp, a Sabre HIFI DAC (ESS ES9280C PRO) and Tempotec Sonata HD Pro. The HZSound Heart Mirror is drivable from lower powered sources, but scales a lot with amping in the areas of dynamics, details and soundstage. As such, I would recommend that one considers a more powerful source when using the HZSound Heart Mirror, so as to get it sounding its best.

The HZSound Heart Mirror is a neutralish bright set, so I generally preferred pairing it with a warmer source.


SOUND & TECHNICALITIES

As discussed, the HZSound Heart Mirror is a neutralish bright set, veering towards the analytical and colder side in tonality, with a neutralish bass and a boosted upper mids. This tuning is quite atypical in the sub $50 region in CHIFI, but this is a well done upper mids boost with minimal shoutiness. The HZSound Heart Mirror manages to balance a razor thin edge of getting vocals to be forward in the upper mids without sounding harsh, and I’m very sensitive to the 2 – 4 kHz regions in general. On rare occasions, such as in poorly recorded material, then the upper mids sounded shouty, but IMHO, the HZSound Heart Mirror’s upper mids are much smoother than the upper mids of the BLON BL-05 (non S) and Moondrop SSR.

Technicalities are good, with the driver really excelling at transients. Multi BA/hybrids at the same price point will still be better (in general) for technicalities, but the HZSound Heart Mirror has one of the better technicalities for a budget single DD set. Clarity, instrument separation and imaging and details are very good. I liked that it could keep up with complex music passages despite not possessing multiple drivers in the config.

Unfortunately, the HZSound Heart Mirror’s soundstage isn’t the best at this price bracket, with the soundstage being deep but about average in width/height when not amped. Thankfully, soundstage increases in width with amping, so do consider using an amp with this set to do the sound justice. Different aftermarket eartips may also help to some extent in the soundstage, so do try tiprolling to see what changes for you.

Timbre for vocals and acoustic instruments is excellent on the HZSound Heart Mirror, I daresay it has more authentic timbre than the famous BLON BL-03. In view of the foward upper mids, this set is very good for vocal lovers, with instruments being a bit in the background compared to vocals. Note weight is on the thinner side, would have preferred more meat on the bones.


Bass:
Bass on the HZSound Heart Mirror is neutralish in the midbass and subbass with quite good subbass extension. Subbass is perhaps a tinge emphasized in quantity over the midbass, but this is tip dependent to some extent too. Midbass lacks a punch in bass forward music, and borders on the anemic side quantity wise when there’s bass predominant movements in the music.

Bassheads will hence not like the bass quantity, but the bass quality is thankfully good. Bass is quite textured, fast, with no midbass bleed. Decay is below average. I liked that the driver on the HZSound Heart Mirror takes to bass EQ very well, so no biggie for bass boosting for our basshead brethen (unlike some other sets that distort with EQ).


Mids:
Lower mids are pretty neutral, with the upper mids having a boost to give vocals good clarity. Vocals are a treat on this set in terms of vocal nuances, details and timbre. Female vocals are slightly more forward than male vocals, with instruments being a bit in the backseat compared to vocals. There’s a slight 4 kHz dip to balance the upper mids and prevent it from going into shouty territory. As discussed, the upper mids are actually smooth, compared to some similarly boosted upper mids CHIFI sets at this price bracket.

On rare occasions, such as with poorly recorded material or with pumping up the volume a lot (Fletcher Munson Curve), then the upper mids were a bit shouty, but by and large, the upper mids balances a very fine line of being forward without being shouty/harsh, at moderate volumes.


Treble:
The HZSound Heart Mirror extends moderately well in treble. Sibiliance is mild. It has plenty of detail and clarity to suit trebleheads, but isn’t the most airy set. Personally, I felt the treble is managable compared to the garden variety TRNs/KZs. Cymbals and high hats are not splashy and quite well done.


COMPARISONS

As per comparing apples to apples, I left out multi BA/hybrids/exotic drivers from the comparisons, as the different transducers have their inherent strengths and weaknesses. Also, since the HZSound Heart Mirror is a neutralish bright set, I decided to pick some single DD types that were not too bass heavy but yet have a boosted upper mids for A/B comparison here.

BLON BL-03, which is midbass heavy, is not mentioned below as the tuning of the HZSound Heart Mirror is very different to the analoguish warm tuning of the BL-03 (and I feel both sets have a complimentary tuning). But I’m fairly certain someone will ask about comparing the Oppoty sooner or later. So suffice to say, the HZSound Heart Mirror beats the BLON BL-03 in aspects of timbre, fit, accessories, bass quality/speed and technicalities (maybe except soundstage and note weight). The BLON BL-03 is better for those wanting an analoguish warm bassy sound with thicker note weight. As for cost, the BL-03 may end up costing the same or thereabouts as the HZSound Heart Mirror due to most folks needing to get aftermarket tips/cables due to the poor fit on the BL-03.

Unfortunately, I don’t have the original Tin T2 with me now to do A/B, but the Tin T2 Plus will be discussed in the comparisons below.

So mirror mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?


Moondrop SSR

The Moondrop SSR is tuned somewhat diffuse-field neutral with an upper mids boost. Both sets have good technical performance for a single DD set, maybe the Moondrop SSR edges it slightly in clarity, details and imaging. Timbre for acoustic instruments is very good in both sets. The Moondrop SSR has quite bad sibilance and a thinner note weight compared to the HZSound Heart Mirror. Isolation is better on the HZSound Heart Mirror.

The Moondrop SSR actually sounds nice at low volumes, but by pumping up the volume a few dB, the 3 kHz area is shouty and is too much for me (Fletcher Munson Curve). The Moondrop SSR has very polarizing reviews, and I think this may be due to the different volumes all of us are using it at, and volume levels are typically not mentioned by reviewers or consumers. Not to mention the different sources, tips, hearing health we all have may affect our perception of upper mids/treble in the Moondrop SSR. After doing A/B testing using the same source, tips (and even cable), I’ll take the HZSound Heart Mirror any day over the Moondrop SSR, as the 3 kHz peak and the sibilance on the SSR is a deal breaker for me.

Different strokes for different folks though, I know a lot of our friends like the Moondrop SSR, especially those that use it at lower volumes. The Moondrop SSR actually has better technical performance than the HZSound Heart Mirror, but unfortunately it isn’t my cup of tea in terms of tonality.


BLON BL-05 (non S)

The BLON BL-05 (non S) is also shouty in the upper mids/lower treble compared to the HZSound Heart Mirror, with the latter being smoother and overall more refined. Timbre, tonality and technicalities are better on the HZSound Heart Mirror, maybe except for clarity.

Accessories are better on the HZSound Heart Mirror, though the BLON BL-05 (non S) has better isolation.


BLON BL-05S

The BLON BL-05S is an upgrade over the aforementioned BLON BL-05 (non S), with less shouty upper mids, and better timbre, tonality and technicalities than the BLON BL-05 (non S). Accessories are similar (unfortunately as bad) as the BLON BL-05 (non S).

Compared to the HZSound Heart Mirror, the BLON BL-05S has a bit more boosted midbass quantity and is more “fun sounding” and hence probably more versatile in the tuning, especially when bass foward music is involved. The HZSound Heart Mirror sounds a bit more analytical and colder. Timbre and technicalities are a tinge better on the HZSound Heart Mirror. Both sets have fast drivers for a single DD but the HZSound Heart Mirror wins in transient response speed. The BLON BL-05S has lesser upper mids boost than the HZSound Heart Mirror and is generally less fatiguing for longer sessions than the HZSound Heart Mirror. Isolation is better on the BLON BL-05S.

Both sets do better with amping, but the HZSound Heart Mirror scales much more with amping. Unfortunately, the BLON BL-05S driver distorts with higher volumes/EQ, so that’s an area of weakness when pumping up the volume compared to the HZSound Heart Mirror.

I would consider both sets sidegrades with complimentary tunings to suit different music genres/preferences.


Tin T2 Plus

The Tin T2 Plus is very well balanced and non fatiguing U shaped (or mild V shaped) set, and I can see why it is a big crowd favourite. It has a more boosted bass than the HZSound Heart Mirror, though it has slightly poorer timbre and technicalities than the HZSound Heart Mirror. HZSound Heart Mirror’s driver is faster too for transients, with the Tin T2 Plus having some lingering cymbal decay during splashes/hits. Upper mids aren’t as boosted as on the HZSound Heart Mirror, and coupled with the Tin T2 Plus being bassier, overall it gives a warmer and less cold tonality than the HZSound Heart Mirror. The Tin T2 Plus is hence more versatile in view of the tuning especially for bass forward music.

Likewise, I would consider both sets sidegrades with complimentary tunings to suit different music genres/preferences.


CONCLUSIONS

So, mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?

Well I’m glad to say the HZSound Heart Mirror is as beautiful sounding as it looks, though it is not perfect, with soundstage and a thin note weight and a lack of midbass punch being my nitpicks in the tuning. The HZSound Heart Mirror is otherwise a very well tuned neutralish bright set, with to die for vocals, excellent timbre and tonality. It boasts fasts transients and good technicalities for a budget single DD set. Despite the brighter tuning, there’s only rare instances of shoutiness that plague the usual upper mids boosted contenders at this price range, when used at moderate volumes.

The BLON BL-03 was my previous gold standard for instrumental timbre in the sub $50 USD region, but it has now been dethroned by the HZSound Heart Mirror in the area of timbre. My favourite aspect of the HZSound Heart Mirror is that it boasts a vocal forward tuning without veering on the shouty side, which is a very fine line to balance. Vocal lovers should give this set a try if the OPPOTY opportunity allows.

The best compliment I can give the HZSound Heart Mirror is that a basshead like me uses it in my weekly rotation (without bass EQ to boot).

SOUND: 9/10
CONSTRUCTION&DESIGN: 9.5/10
PACKAGING&ACCESSORIES: 9/10
VALUE: 10/10

Click to expand...

It’s unclear since when Hzsound has been around, but it’s at least since 2014 when they launch the HZ-EP001 single 8mm dynamic driver, a wooden earphones that got good reception among budget audiophile but didn’t get that much noticed due to the fact it look like to be the same IEM than some other OEM Chi-Fi companies.

Lurking around on Aliexpress lately, I fall on the Hzsound Heart Mirror and get hooked by 2 things: the use of Carbon nano coating (CNC) dynamic driver and the very eye appealing and sturdy looking construction. As well, it was on sale at 30$, making it extremely budget friendly for such serious looking audio products.

Then out of the blue Keephifi contact me with a list of IEM reviews offering and the Hzsound was in this list, so I jump on it as well as the extra cable offering (which I will make small review of too in this article).
Now, let’s see if HZsound know how to properly tune a single dynamic earphones.

You can buy the HZsound Heart-Mirror for 50$ directly from KEEPHIFI Store HERE.

Specification:
1. Product Name: HZSOUND Heart Mirror
2. Brand: HZSOUND
3. Model: Heart Mirror
4. Earphone type: In-ear
5. Impedance: 32Ω(±15%)
6. Speaker Sensitivity: 106±3dB
7.Microphone sensitivity: -42±3dB
8. Frequency range: 15Hz-40kHz
9. Connector: 2Pin 0.78mm
10. Plug Type: 3.5mm L type
11.Cable: 1.2m, OFC silver plated
12.Color: Silver
13.Driver unit: 10mm driver unit

PACKAGING&CONSTRUCTION

Well, that’s a great surprise, the packaging look very professional and have quality cable included with it as well as a beautiful carrying case. The box feel nice and presentation is well care off. As well, you even have a metal carabiner included with it if you plan climbing the Everest with the carrying case solidly attached to your belt. We have a good amount of ear tips too, 6 pairs of silicone ear tips and 1 pair of memory foam, but neither of them do justice to extract full potential of the sound because of too small nozzle hole compared to bigger nozzle hole of the HZ. All in all, you are very spoil in term of overall accessories for 50$ product.

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So, as said, my expectation were high about construction, but it surpass these by good margin and even make me think of Final Audio A8000 construction in a more basic way because it’s like 3 times smaller. Yes, these are quite small which will permit universal fit whatever the size of your ears. The mirror finish is both eyes and finger prints catching, so you need to take care of those as micro-scratch happen easily with mirror finish IEM, even if it cost 2K like the Sony ZR1 or A8000. Cherish your beauty. So the construction is 2 piece of solid alloy stick together perfectly, no maladjustment often found with sub-100$ iem. The nozzle is angled and long enough so you can use any type of ear tips you want without fitting issue. The 2pin connector is solidly embedded in body and near flush so again, you can use a wide range of cable without issue which is a big plus for me that hate it when 2pin connector are deep inside the shell. The CABLE is a nice 4cores OFC silver plated cable of above average quality for it’s price range and it have a metal L shape jack, smooth braiding and not too thigh ear-hook. I really think the whole construction and design package with Hzsound is irreproachable for it’s price.

DRIVEABILITY

This section isn’t always important, but this time it’s Crucial. The Hzsound sound completely different once well amped, the soundstage dramatically improve in wideness and tallness and timbre sound fuller lusher. I don’t use high gain on my L30 and it’s plenty enough of power. At 32ohm of impedance and rather decent 106db of sensitivity, one would think they are just enough easy to drive but perhaps the diaphragm composition make it harder to drive. For example, the Starfield use similar carbon nano diaphragm and have super high sensitivity of 122db with same impedance and still benefit from enough amping to open the dynamic. To make things even more complicate, the Hzsound benefit from different type of cable, in my case the Kbear mixed copper silver plating cable coming with the Kbear Diamond. In this case, it’s mostly timbre that is affected, making everything sound weightier and fuller.

SOUND

TO NOTE: This sound impressions is based on stock cable included, but not the stock ear tips. As well, it’s based on portable audio gear, not using stand alone amplifier which greatly improve soundstaging. Changing cable for a mixed copper-spc one will probably improve timbre fullness.

Audio gear used for this review: Qudelix 5K, Ibasso DX90, Xduoo X20, FIIO BTR5

OBJECTIVIST IMPRESSIONS

Overall sound signature is clean and bright with a neutral to analytical approach. This will be familiar territory for those who have listen to Hifiman RE600-400 or Vsonic GR07, but the HZ have rounder and more extended bass than HE600 and a more organic timbre. We have a very mature tuning, which is very surprising from a newcomer, especially a Chi-Fi one. The presentation is crisp and intimate, and the timbre is on thin side which affect dynamic weight impact.

SOUNDSTAGE is rather compressed and lack some extra wideness and tallness but have impressive deepness and good amount of air even in this small tunnel-like presentation. This is when amped with normal gear. Use an amp and the soundstage expend drastically, offering wide tall holographic presentation.

IMAGING is excellent both in transparent layering and instrument placement, but it most be noted it’s note super wide between every instrument but we have both stereo and centered spatial placement.
TONALITY is on the crisp and cold side, gently bright without tonal imbalance.

TIMBRE have great transparency and just enough texture nuance, transition is organic not shouty.

TRANSIENT RESPONSE is impressively fast, so you don’t encounter congesting or lack of control that can create bass bleed or highs splash.

BASS is flat, light but not dead due to micro boost in mid bass, it extend naturally and have a realist timbre. We have more bass extension in lower end than higher end, so it’s not a very punchy bass, neither weighty. Still, it have good amount of air in bass line and its strangely perhaps the most textured aspect of the sound, so it present better synth line with boosted texture than clean sub that need rumble and air moving. Yep, the bass didnt move lot of air but it isn’t dry and ovelry flat as I can easily discern well rounded bass line sitting in the back, thanks to the super clean sound. As well, using stock ear tips can seriously make the HZ sounding more bassy and V shape and push the bass in front, which isn’t a plus at all and would make both mids and highs distant sounding. Clean and well controlled and articulated, but polite too is the bass. Due to great driver flexibility, you can boost the bass with EQ quite a lot and still achieve a clean sound.

MIDS are forwards, clean and transparent without any hearable peaks, they are gently fowards but not that much more than the bass, about 5db max I would say, which avoid agressive or shouty presentation with too high sound pressure. Sure, it’s noth to lusher or must emotional mids we can ask, but more a reference monitor kinda mids that find the sweet spot between brightness and coldness. Clarity is very impressive, as well as instrument separation, and the HZ are very accurate in presentation with an above average articulation that avoid busy tracks too sound messy even if it lack grandeur in soundstage. The mid range is energic, but timbre being smooth it avoid sibilance or violent brightness, still, it isn’t laid back or warm, it’s all about well pushed clarity. Both male and female vocal sound crisp and lively, never recessed even with bassy music.

TREBLE is fully extended without any serious dip, so it dig lot of micro-details even in upper highs which can be unforgiving for bad recording with noisy background. The attack is fast and sharp, no splashiness neither overly metallic brilliance, not a lot of sparkle neither due to lack of space for proper decay. Timbre is very realist, and the percussion have great micro-details textures making, like the bass, we have a micro-boost in treble region that help clean articulation but not in an unbalanced way, nothings sound to upfront with the Hzsound, it’s really that well tuned. The lower highs are smoothed a bit, to avoid sibilance and bright saturation, this can affect some instrument fullness like violin and accordeon which will sound a bit thin but still have good attack edge and great transparency. While i would like a little more air on top, i consider the treble very refined and well controlled, especially with good recording using acoustic guitar or complex percussions.


SUBJECTIVE APPRECIATION

At first the Hzsound didn’t hook me in term of musicality, but unlike some IEM that can impress me at first and became annoying with multiple listen, HZ do the opposite and grow on me. Firstly I have to change ear tips for a wide bore one to make the sound more open, secondly using a different cable that have copper+spc seem to thicken timbre a bit. Lastly, using a amp did open even more the sound and enrich timbre fullness as well as bass weight….this show that the driver in those have a complex persona, and a capricious one too. Oh, and burn in might have improve imaging too.
So, now I prefer them over both Blon BL-03 and Kbear Diamond, but that’s just me.
I find the tonal balance excellent even if we have slight mid and upper treble boost, the upper highs are delicate and mid highs very lively and snappy. I don’t know how the HZ have been able to tune these so well so everything have an energic snap to it, but it’s very mature and refined, offering what I consider a true audiophile experience at very budget price.
Unlike some reviewer, I do not have specific ‘’house sound’’ preference, what I care about is timbre, should it be bright or warm, it need to be either natural (gently thicken and warm) or realist (gently bright and textured) and overall tonal balance should be both dynamic and cohesive whitout over emphasis frequencies range.
The Hzsound deliver just that, a near neutral sound with sharp non sibilant mids that sound very lively, punchy well articulate bass that stay in the back as it should and delicate revealing treble that enlight details. Apart from slight lack of air and somehow intimate presentation of instrument and vocal, this is how I wish Vsonic GR07 sound: less grainy with better rounded upper mids and crisper clarity.

COMPARISONS


VS BLON BL-03 (35$):

Tonality is more V shape and warmer with the BL-03 and have more emphasis in lower treble but less upper treble. SOUNDSTAGE seem notably wider and more out of your head but lacking the HZ deepness. IMAGING is more precise with the HZ and will not sound hollow in very busy music.
BASS is more boomy and grainy with BL-03, as well it isn’t as thigh and warm-veil the lower mids way more, it have more weight and impact and offer a more fun bassy energy. MIDS are thicker and messier, lacking the HZ transparency to permit proper separation of instruments, it’s less bright and detailed too and have less edge to attack, making it prompt to congestion with fast busy music. The transient response speed is notably superior with HZ. Highs are more relaxed with the Blon, especially in uppe treble were it fail to dig as much details as the HZ, percussions sound fuller and better resolved as well as more snappy and clear with HZ, while Blon struggle to keep proper control and feel less balanced between mids and highs.

All in all, the Hzsound is technically superior and better balanced than the BLON but more serious sounding and less impactfull in bass department. For R&B, electronic and Soul I will choose the BLON, for anything else and especially fast music like math rock, I’ll jump on the HZ.

VS KBEAR DIAMOND (70$):

Again, Diamond is more V shape but brighter and less bassy than BLON, lower and mid treble is more fowards than HZ making the timbre grainier and rougher.
SOUNDSTAGE is notably wider and taller and even deeper with the DIAMOND, presentation is more holographic too, IMAGING is overly in center stage compared to the HZ so it’s harder to pin point instrument even if it seem we have more space in staging.
BASS is thicker, with more sub bass boost but less natural and transparent extension, it can take front seat while HZ bass always stay in the back, kick drum are less clean than HZ which have thigher, cleaner and leaner bass that doesnt feel as colored as Diamond.
MIDS are more upper mids centric with the Diamond, they aren’t as smooth, accurate and clear as the HZ, vocal sound more natural with the HZ too while some tonal imbalance can happen with Diamond due to lower mids dip and upper mids boost. Mid range is more transparent and have higher resolution with the HZ even if its timbre is smoother.
TREBLE is where the HZ take serious leap over Diamond, it dig more micro-details, is crisper, more controlled and snappy, as well, it’s more sparkly than crunchy treble of Diamond.

All in all, HZsound do everything better than the Diamond apart from soundstage and sens of airyness.

VS FINAL AUDIO E2000 (40$):

Final always nail it in term of natural timbre even when sliding to the bright side, and E2000 offer fuller more even timbre that offer a smooter tonality at they end. SOUNDSTAGE is again (again) wider and taller with similar deepness, IMAGING is a little less crisp.
BASS is warmer with more sub bass boost and less control than HZ, separation between sub and kcik is less clean than HZ too, the slam is weightier but lack definition edge of HZ so it tend to bleed more on lower mids. MIDS are slightly more recessed but fuller with more natural timbre, while vocal can be a bit cold with HZ, it never is with E2000 but clarity of mid range is higher with HZ and permit to extract more well resolove instrument. TEBLE is more agressive with the HZ, its snappier and more detailed too and can be less permissive with bad recording that have background hiss than more relaxed E2000.

All in all, Hzsound have faster technicalities and higher resolution and cleaner colder sound than E2000 which have a smoother more musical tonality and bigger soundstage.

CONCLUSION

The Hzsound Heart-Mirror aren’t your typical chi-fi iem and more something you would expect from a company like Final Audio (E2-E4) and Hifiman (RE600). It’s maturely tuned and offer a crisp balanced sound that doesn’t ovelry boost any frequencies area. While it’s on the bright side, it isn’t on the harsh side due to excellent control in attack, thanks to the fast transient response of it’s CNC dynamic driver. This isn’t a super fun sound IEM, but sure not a boring one either, you got the punch, you got the forwards mids that extract both male and female vocal sharply, and you got this tremendous amount of details that keep their balance in the mix.

True audiophile sound on budget, and a versatile one too that can deal with fast complex music even if the soundstage isn’t the most spacious, the Hzsound will find it’s niche market whitin those that favorise precision of execution instead of a romanticized tonality.

Let me start by saying I personally have never heard of these and was eager to try a new product. I was not expecting much but already knew looking at them I like the look. Packaging was better than average and the accessories were better than I was expecting.
Build:
The Heart Mirror comes with Three different kinds of tips , a hard case covered in fabric a lapel clip and a metal belt clip too. The design is very beautiful a shiny aircraft aluminum housing and silver plated cable that is not the thickest but looks great and feels durable anyway.
Comfort:
The units aluminum construction is lightweight and solid, the size and shape should be very comfortable for most people, even with extended use.

Sound:
Bass:
The Sub-Bass is balanced with a light elevation that is noticeable when properly driven and called upon. Mid-Bass is rapid and punchy almost neutral at times.
Mids:
The Mids are transparent and have some excellent details, they are forward and both the upper and lower are emphasized making vocals front and center on most songs I used. Vocals are natural and clear

Treble:
Highs have a good texture and great detail and present themselves with plenty of energy and a fair amount of sparkle while still being polite and manageable

Sondstage: Is above average to normal with the width being more than the height or depth. I find the imaging to be pressie and spot on IMO.

Conclusion:
The HZsound heart mirror offers a decent amount a details retrieval, in a stunning IEM with a balanced and bright signature that still has some good bass details, it is comfortable and well built. I can see many liking this signature as it is pleasant for different types of music.