TTPOD T2-E 3Driver Hybrid 2BA+Dynamic Hybrid Drive(ED-29689+TA7801) Headphones Gray

Edit change, 19july2017

I have used this earphone for about 8 months now, it has a v signature, separation from frequencies are there.

Accidentally thrown it into the washing machine. It survived with some greening in the cables.

It's slightly forward, bass is heavy enough for you to play heavy tracks and few like the entire bass line is completely intact.

It is what it is for it's price tag, don't ask for too much for such Low Budget.

The difference of me listening it on my laptop and on iphone is really huge, again impedance issue, but also the Dolby empowerment does some help for it too.

I love music, especially sound systems, and listening experiences and had been for 15+ years.  I am a fan of "Neutrality, Realistically, Details, Vocal."  
 
My source is NW-XZ2 and Lossless FLAC under various sample rates 16/44.1 or 16/96 only.  I never use MP3 on my ZX2, no need for it.
 
Coming from a fan of the TTPOD T2, just for the mere facts that it was different but was not lacking details.  I found myself enjoying it more than what I thought, so here I purchased the T2-E and knew exactly what I would get for my money.  I would even waste it if T2-E would turned out to be a disappointment, because T2 was just that good.
 
Anyways, here were some CONS from the T2:  Narrow sound stage may-be a bit congested, sub-bass lacked energy and textures due to the bass being too quick and short, bass body was pretty short, decay was short, and that it made the Bass Beats seem a bit out of phase compares to the rest of the spectrums, and also was not satisfying enough for some people.  But as an open minded person, I loved it as it was just a bit "Strange, and yet not lacking details"  The bass just appears "Metallic".  I was able to improve the bass here by reducing the sizes of the 2x Vents down. 
 
Here are the changes on the T2 "E": A tad more instrument layering and wider sound-stage in 2 dimensional field, with a touch of "Depth-Height" (3rd Dimension), Sub-bass is with more linear energy, with a nice touch of rumbles and well timed decay, the bass is now fully sync and in-phase with the rest of the spectrums.  The bass beats appear to be tight, detailed, sexy, addicting and no longer "Metallic" but rather more "Organic" when there is real "Drum beats" and more "Metallic" when there is only "Electric beats."  Yes, the tonality gets to that level of accuracy.
 
Now, moving on to the sound quality of T2-E
 
****Notice**** There seems to be a problem with displayed Value from the sites (Green bars).  Audio quality is 8.5/10 
 
Tips from my observations: Silicones, and Spiral dots retrieve the most details space and sound-stage, foams tips tamed down the highs a little bit.  I currently use Spiral dots tips and love it
 
Sound Quality
Highs:  Highs appears thinner, yet still airy, detailed, it get even more detailed than the T2 to the "Verge" of producing "Sibilant" but it doesn't.  It gets that interesting that I had goose bumps in some place awaiting for that "harsh sibilant" but it "never did."  So it turned to be a huge grin instead.  Highs now appears more "Metallic" than T2 as I think TTPOD listened to some "critics" for the T2 being too smooth and lushy on the "Highs" that it doesn't feel like "Balanced Amatures"  Here is their answer.  I am sure fan of trebles would love these, but if you are like me and expecting "Realistically cymbals hits ?" forget it, it hits, and it is defined, but "Metallic" in tones.  Do I like it ? Hell yes, the pure fact that T2-E get that enough details bit of "Cha-Cheng" and fully energize it without producing "Sibilant" ? That in itself is already an "Amazing feast"
 
Mids:  Fully out going and toward. I mainly listen to Pop, Ballad, Electric, Dance.  Most of the music comes from Mids and include that Vocal.  Mids is excellent, detailed, yet full body, airy.  Vocals and mid are that good.  Some people may like this if they want details and sexy vocal, and some may not as the Vocal appear too close and intimidating.  I love it as this is excellent for Pop, Jazz, Modern Pop, Ballad...
 
Bass:  Addicting textures, yet Hybrid sounds.  I clearly hear the rumbles and that organic timbres in some Pop song when that drum is playing, and I can pick the notes that were mixed into it in the Bass spectrum from "Electric keyboard"  Heck, it gets that accurate, and addicting.  Even though Sub-bass was much improved and energized, it was only a tad bit more noticeable than the T2.  It may appears lower in volumes, or overwhelmed by the Main body.  Mid-bass is very energetic, tight, fast with full body and textures.  Bass has good extensions and decays that it appears "realistic" when called upon, and "Electric" when needed.  Phase coherent with trebles is Excellent.  It reminds me of the high-end "Karaoke systems"  It is in no where a bass-head or a V-shaped pair.  It would fall in somewhere slightly Flat with a shy bit of "W" shaped kind ? 
 
Sounds signature: Transparency, a little on the bright side, still Flat with emphasize toward mid+vocal and almost perfect bass in tonality, decay, tone and accuracy.  Strings instruments are still sexy and excellent.  Winds instruments appear a little-bit more on the brighter side of tonality.  It is almost at the level of those High-End Karaoke systems! 
 
Wear-ability: Around the ears, or straight.  You can sleep with it around the ears.  It is similar to T2 and of the same design.  
 
Design: Same design as T2, Byrillium woofer with newer casing (8 vents on the casing)
 
Passive Isolation: Great 8/10
 
Conclusion:  For $89.99 as a triple drivers compares to others 3 drivers hybrids which fares around $180-350.  The T2-E is a worthy competition, and worth being checked out.  I love the comfort ability, details, bass beats, and also that Metallic cymbals notes here and there.  Especially that Vocals.  What I would love for it to improve ? Sub-bass needs more energy, and lower-highs also need that energy boost.  Thank you TTPOD though I never had the chance to listen to the T1, but now I am a fan of your Hybrid T2 and T2-E.  I hope you keep producing great sounding IEMS like these at an affordable prices.  If I lost this pair, I would 100% buy it again, and eagerly waiting for T2-Pro!
 
On a side note:  This is the first pair of IEMS that I found myself able to enjoy the feature so called "ClearAudio +" from ZX2.  If that matters to anyone.  

TTPOD T2-E
 
Introduction
Today I’m going to be looking at the TTPOD T2-E, one of the cheapest triple driver hybrid headphones on the market, and an update to the somewhat disappointing TTPOD T2.
 
Price Paid: $89.99
 
Specifications:
-Brand: TTPOD
-Model: T2-E
-Drivers: 10mm “nano vibrating” dynamic driver + Knowles ED-29689 dual balanced armature unit
-Sensitivity: 105db @ 1khz
-Impedance: 12 ohms
-Frequency Response: 8-26khz
(Specifications from in-package pamphlet)
 
Packaging:
The packaging included was quite nice, with a large black two piece cardboard box.  The earpieces are located on the right when opening the package and the included silicon tips and case are on the right.  Not quite a premium feel but more than good enough for the price range.




 
Accessories:
-3 sets wide bore silicon tips (SML), 3 sets narrow bore silicon tips (SML)
-1 set foam tips (sealed, M)
-Soft spring-clasp carrying case
-Over ear guides
-Instructional/informational pamphlet and warranty card
 
Similar to the packaging the accessory pack is reasonable for the price but not outstanding.  The silicon tips are of good quality and the over ear guides are definitely a nice inclusion.  The case isn’t anything special but functional.  I would’ve liked to have seen a shirt clip included.
 

 
Build Quality
Build quality is generally good but has some notable deficiencies.  The earpieces, splitter and plug housing are all plastic and well shaped though molding seams were very obvious on the earpieces.  The wiring has no specifications stated in the pamphlet so I’ve no idea if it’s an OFC or silver cable.
 
The earpieces are quite attractive in my estimation, made of a transparent plastic (available in black, grey, blue and purple) that shows off the circuit board for the crossover and the drivers inside.  I’m not a huge fan of the lettering on the outside of the earpieces as I think they detract from the overall looks but it’s hardly a deal breaker.  Strain reliefs aren’t particularly long but flexible.  Transient issues with driver flex were noted, especially in the left earpiece.  This was quite surprising as the earpieces are vented on the inside (ear-facing) portion of the earpiece.


 
The splitter and plug housing are glossy black plastic and very small.  There is a short (too short) strain relief on the plug but none whatsoever on the splitter.  The wire terminates in a very low profile straight plug, which is gold plated.  A little bit disappointing to be missing strain reliefs at this price point.

 

 


 
The cable is a a little bit schizophrenic.  Below the y-split the cable is great - a 4-wire braided design that is soft, flexible and well done.  Above the y-split the cable is twisted and covered in a plastic sheathing of some type (TPE I would assume).  This half isn’t nearly as well behaved, being somewhat stiff and it had a propensity for coming out of place behind my ears without the ear guides in place.  Also, again, no cable cinch, which would’ve helped with the slightly unruly cables.
 
Comfort, Isolation, Microphonics
Comfort is generally excellent.  The earpieces, while somewhat on the large side, are smooth on the inside and the nozzles are ergonomically angled with a moderate insertion depth.  They are also very light, being made of transparent plastic.  These headphones are meant for over ear wear only.
 
Isolation is good.  The nozzles are of moderate insertion depth and the only vents are on the inner facing portion of the earpieces and thus somewhat shielded from outside noise.  Isolation can be improved by using the included foam tips.
 
Microphonics are generally very good given that the headphones are meant to be worn over ear, but I found that the ear guides could transit a bit of noise with a lot of movement.
 
Sound Quality
Between burn-in and listening the TTPOD has some 50 hours on it right now.  No noticeable changes were observed.
 
Sources used: Sansa Clip (Rockboxed), Nexus 5, Nexus 5 + Fiio E06k, Gigabyte Z97X-UD3H (Realtek 1150 codec) through rear headphone amplifier, Z97X-UD3H + Fiio E10k.
 
The TTPOD is rather easy to drive and I didn’t notice any difference using an amplifier.  Most critical listening was done through my Nexus 5.
 
General Signature
The general signature of the TTPOD can be described as strongly v-shaped with a heavy bass focus.  Unfortunately, clarity and detail retrieval were somewhat lacking overall, especially in the midrange, due to some seriously bad bass bloat.  I did some EQ’ing with the TTPOD and I’ll post some general thoughts on this after the sound quality descriptions.
 
Bass
Bass is strongly enhanced, but the enhancement is much more in the mid-bass than the sub-bass and thus carries a lot of impact.  Unfortunately decay times are somewhat high and combining this with the mid-bass hump (~250hz) the TTPOD comes across as very bloated and boomy with poor bass control overall.  Extension is good, maintaining detail down to the limits though it can be difficult to discern with the substantial mid-bass enhancement.
 
Midrange
The bass bloat has the unfortunate effect of veiling the midrange, especially the lower portion.  Detail retrieval is also somewhat lacking, falling behind other hybrid headphones as well as the better dynamics in my collection.  Male voices, in particular, tend to be pushed way back in to the mix and the midrange in general tends to feel a bit “smoothed over”.  Female voices and high pitched male voices tend to fare a little bit better in terms of clarity, but they have their own set of problems.
 
Treble
The TTPOD starts to pick up emphasis in the lower treble section, adding a little bit of perceived clarity.  Unfortunately, the boost in the 4-8khz region also leads to a mess of sibilance, with both higher pitched voices and cymbal shots becoming harsh.  I was unable to completely tame this treble harshness with tip rolling, though I found that uncored foam tips (ex. JVC marshmallow) can decrease the harshness somewhat at the cost of increasing the perception of the already bloated bass.  Detail retrieval is again somewhat disappointing, though extension is generally good.
 
Sound Stage
The T2-E has goodly sized sound stage, with nice width and depth.  Instrumental placement and imaging is generally good but the heavily v-shaped signature and smoothed out response makes separation poor.
 
Equalization
I have found that the T2-E takes equalization fairly well.  The best combination I could find was a 5.5db cut centered around 250hz and a 4db cut centered around 6khz.  This drastically reduced the mid-bass hump and removed some of the veiling from the midrange, and removed the greater portion of sibilance.  At this point the headphones are... decent, but still not great.  The entire sound signature still feels a little bit too smoothed over and generally lacking in detail for this price range.
 
Conclusion
After the lacklustre performance of the original T2, TTPOD made a commitment to take another shot at re-tuning the IEM for better performance.  I applaud this, I really do - the commitment to improve products due to customer feedback is an important attribute for any successful company.
 
After saying all that, my ultimate conclusion is that they failed miserably in presenting an improved product.  The T2-E is boomy, sibilant and overall lacking in detail.  Aggressive EQ-ing can iron out some of the wrinkles in the overall tuning but it can’t make up for the poor detail retrieval in the mid and high range.  Ultimately, the T2-E ends up losing out to not only hybrids at cheaper or similar price ranges, but also the cleaner sounding dynamics such as the Hifiman RE-400, JVC FXT-90, Vsonic GR07 Classic or Macaw GT100/GT100s.
 
My recommendation?  Skip this one.  There are better products out there.
 
Pros: Accessory Pack, Packaging, Design
Cons: Poor tuning, Uneven Build Quality, Lacking in Detail
 
Selected Comparison
 
Hifiman RE-400
The Hifiman is much flatter than the sculpted response of the T2-E with much less bass and somewhat less treble.  The Hifiman has much better control of it’s bass, though lacking in bass impact compared with the large mid-bass hump of the TTPOD.  One of the advantages of this situation is that the RE-400’s midrange is substantially more forward and clearer.  The RE-400 is also much better behaved than the TTPOD in the treble with no harshness.  The RE-400 also has much better detail retrieval overall.  Soundstaging between the two IEMs is similar but the RE-400 has better instrumental separation due to being much cleaner and more detailed.
 
Vsonic GR07 Classic
Again, the Vsonic is much flatter than the T2-E in the bass.  The Vsonic lacks a mid-bass hump and is missing much of the impact but the detail and texture of the bass is superior.  Similar to the RE-400 the lack of a mid-bass hump gives the Vsonics much better midrange clarity.  Treble on the Vsonic can be a little bit harsh but is actually better behaved than the TTPOD, with much less sibilance and better detail.  Soundstage sizes are similar, but the Vsonic pulls ahead with better instrumental separation and over the TTPOD.
 
Bette 8mm Hybrid
Coming in at less than one half the price of the T2-E, the Bette really shouldn’t be able to compete but it most certainly does.  The T2-E has better absolute bass extension but the quality is better on the Bette - it’s better textured, more detailed and much better controlled.  Oddly enough, even with a substantial boost EQ’d in the Bette still holds these advantages over the TTPOD.  The midrange is substantially cleaner on the Bette than the TTPOD, especially with the mild upper mid boost and lack of veiling on the former.  Treble is much smoother on the Bette with no harshness or sibilance to be found, but still maintains better detail retrieval with similar extension.  The soundstage is larger on the TTPOD but again the general lack of detail gives the Bette a leg up in terms of instrumental separation.