Tripowin x HBB Olina SE

Let me start by saying that the upper mid focused sound signature might not be to everyone's liking (especially if you value a neutral and less energetic tonality) even though it's not aggressive nor overemphasized. It's tastefully done so. Treble is spicy but not overwhelming, very good extension. Overall, tons of micro details too. If you prefer a more calm and neutral presentation, maybe the Hexa will be your cup of tea. Personally, I found the Olina SE more musical and resolving than the Hexa, especially because I listen mostly to Rock of every kind. If that's the case and you're looking for a nice IEM on a budget, you should seriously consider the Olina SE.

I'm not gonna rant about soundstage since it will vary according to each person's ear anatomy/HRTF, but as far as IEM's go, there's nothing to complain here. Also, it's so comfortable I actually slept with it a couple of times. Worth mentioning that the stock tips are nice and come in all shapes and sizes, they're of good quality and you won't have fitting issues. I was glad it came with a couple of tips that are perfect for my smaller ears. BTW, i've had no condensation issues so far.


Also, super easy to drive. It sounds its best with nearly anything. Didn't hear any significant differences between "simple" and more powerful sources, if anything, it sounded a bit worse and the cable becomes significantly microphonic too. Not really much negative stuff to say apart from that. If I were to be really finicky, voices in certain tracks can be a little sibilant, which at this price range I don't mind at all.

Now, some tracks:

Yawning Man - Catamaran: you can beautifully hear and pinpoint both guitars during that intro (and the rest of the song where that riff is played). Goes to show that imaging/separation are very good. No mystery here, it is what it is. A decent, comfortable and resolving IEM that can keep up with a lot of $150-300 stuff out there. No wonder it uses the same drivers as the Oxygen.

Deftones - Beauty School: the intro kick drums are still enganing and energetic, just like the bass presence afterwards.

Living Colour - Cult of Personality: there's a subtle thud at 1:56-1:57 that can easily go unnoticed or bleed into the rest of the track by less resolving gear. Well, not here. Although not as present/detailed as it would be with higher end stuff, but that's kinda obvious and the law of diminishing returns hits hard on that kind of stuff after a certain threshold anyway. Still impressive.

Lana Del Rey - White Mustang: all the nuances, effects and different sounds are effortlessly there in every layer. Vocals are great.


I think that's it. This is my personal unit and my to-go IEM's for traveling while I leave the big boys at home. The Olina SE is one of those rare cases where a product ACTUALLY sounds as good (if not better) than considerably more expensive stuff.

Over and out

Introduction

Since there isn't too much info out there on the Tripowin Olina SE, I figured it would be helpful to add a review here.

I'm going to skip the packaging etc...and just focus on the main factors: sound, fit/comfort, and comparison.
I was perfectly happy with the sound sig and performance of the Etymotic ER4SE, but I needed an IEM that I could use for extended amounts of time during work as I found myself in an environment with quite a bit of noise (construction, loud neighbors). Unfortunately, the ER4SE's fit is horrible for long hours. With all these new IEMS in the low $ range, I decided to give the Olina SE a shot after trying the Moondrop Chu & Dunu Titan S for a bit.

Fit/Comfort
This is one area of the Olina SE that I think could be better. The nozzle is quite shallow which means that without just the right tips, it's difficult to keep a good seal. Add to it the fact that the IEM is quite vented, getting the kind of isolation one would have with the ER4SR triple flange is not possible. Luckily, one of the grey tips in the package fit perfectly for me. I tried a slew of other tips, none of which worked. The cable is excellent in delivering a clear, unfiltered sound, but the earhook is a joke. It won't stay tucked in behind my ear and floats around which drives me crazy. I will most certainly upgrade the cable at some point.

General Sound
The mids are very clean and well represented, but it is missing a bit of heft in the 1-2k region. That leaves vocals and guitars feeling a bit weak. I call it delicate because it's not as if something is missing in those regions with mid recessed IEMs. That frequency range is there, it's just not as elevated as the region just above (3k-4k) which makes the overall sound feel somewhat light. The bass and treble are more present than neutral, and just a hair above my preference. There's great extension on both ends, and that provides a level of detail that I just have not experienced in sub $100 IEMS (not even the Etys even though they have better mids).

Bass
There's a good amount of sub bass, but the mid bass is not as impactful as I had hoped. It kinda feels like rather than the bass having clarity and complexity, there's just a bass shelf EQ'ed in to lift everything below 250hz. The quantity is there, but I wish it were a bit clearer or more textured. To me, it feels somewhat spongy if that makes sense. It's not bad in any way, but I don't find it to necessarily wow me in its character. However, with regard to tuning, it's very pleasant and provides the bass detail that is needed for so much music out there nowadays (pop, hiphop, electronica). The bass stays out of the mids for the most part although I personally prefer the shelf to start below 175hz. I know a lot of people like the warmth that the 250k region adds to vocals, but for me, it just sounds like a veil is put on if it exceeds a certain point. It's not a big deal as I almost always EQ this region lower (even for the ER4SRs). Given this preference, I am actually planning to start saving up for the Moondrop Variations.

Mids
As I described earlier, the mids are very clean. They're neither recessed nor shouty and the details are pretty much all there. Some of the bass adds warmth (more like smoke than bloat). I think many will like this because it lends the mids a relaxed quality vs. the more analytical tonality which you get from studio monitors. Usually any trespassing of the bass into the mids bothers me to no end but on the Olina, it's quite acceptible. Again, I EQ the 250 region down a few dbs, and that does the trick. On the other hand, while the 3-5k region is slightly elevated to match the bass/treble, the 1-2k region stays flat. That results in a more airy sound that can lack punch for some. I EQ this area up a hair and the IEMs respond very well to that. Thankfully the Olina SE responds beautifully to subtle EQ.

Treble
Treble is well extended and present. There's a nice sparkle to the sound and quite a lot of detail, but nothing that is offensive. I do wish that the upper treble region would be slightly less elevated (to allow the mids to shine a bit more), but it's not enough to bother me. I EQ 10k+ down a hair so that I can get what I want.

Soundstage
Soundstage is decent for IEMs. Obviously much better than the Etys. Because there is a lot of "air" to the tonality, things feel separated enough so as to avoid any kind of congestion in terms of placement.

Imaging
It's generally very good. Clean separation between instruments. However, when tracks get busy, it does feel quite imbalanced in that the bass & treble regions feel louder than the mids. If I'm engineering live sound, I would be adding appropriate compression so that at the crescendo, things remain balanced and the power of vocals come through with all the instruments saturating in a balanced blend. With the Olina SE, it feels like there's no compression at all at the louder sections of songs which can crowd out vocals. That's not so great in that it can leave emotional parts of the tracks somewhat flat. It's less apparent on studio recordings of solo artists (Adele, let's say), but with bigger bands & complex arrangements, I find it quite distracting.

Comparisons

Dunu Titan S
Titan S is an excellent IEM. It has more weight in the mids and also the mid bass. Everything feels much punchier with the Titan S, and I find that I prefer it for things like hip hop and Kpop. What I don't like about the Titan S is that the upper region of treble is a bit too in your face and that the mid bass is slightly too forward. The Olina SE has a more gradual lift from the mid bass to sub bass region, and it sounds cleaner overall. The upper treble region, while just as clear and present, isn't as forward as the Titan S, and I much prefer that. there's also an earlier ramp down in the upper mids from 3k to 6k on the Titan S which makes vocals feel more punchy yet lacking detail. The Olina SE has a similar boost to vocal region, but with more detail, and I find it to be more accurate and natural. Only if the Olina SE had slightly more in the 1-2k range, it would be perfect in the mids. Needless to say, if you have to choose between the Titan S and the Olina, I say go with the Olina SE. It's just a much more refined IEM vs the Titan S for just $20 more.

Etymotic ER4SR
The ER4SR is a different IEM. In terms of technical performance, I don't find the Olina SE to be lacking very much which is a huge claim actually. The ER4SR when I bought it was in the mid $200, so the gap in price is massive. If I could choose between the two, I would actually choose the Olina SE because of the comfort. However in terms of pure sound performance, the ER4SR is better because of just how good its representation of the midrange comes across. However, when I want extended comfort and a more present bass, the Etys just can't cut it. Having these two is perfect for me depending on the mood I'm in, and I would say that they are the perfect compliment to each other.

Moondrop CHU
It's insane that the CHUs are just $20. I think I would've gladly kept the CHUs if they had 2 things: 1) a replacement cable because the stock cable is just an absolute piece of garbage lol. 2) The upper mids/treble drove me nuts because of its timbre and quantity. Vocals sounded unnatural and cymbals would grate at me on most tracks. However, if the CHUs fixed those two problems, I would actually not mind just owning them instead of the Olina SE. Yeah, the Olina SE is slightly better in terms of technical performance, imaging, etc, but the CHUs with the two fixes would be, I don't know, 95% of what you'd get from the Olina SE? If you do have the CHUs, like it, and want to upgrade, wow, would the Olina SE be the choice for you. Skip everything else in the similar price range and get the Olina SE.

Salnotes Zero
In terms of tuning, the Zeros are even better than the CHUs. I loved it. However, the timbre sounded insanely cheap to me - as if the sound was bouncing around a cardboard box before hitting my eardrums. And for that reason I had to give them away after just a few days of listening. If you have the Zero, just go and get the Olina SE haha. The quality of sound will make you realize why there's a difference in price despite similarities in tuning.

Conclusion
I really appreciated the youtube reviewers input on my decisions to buy these. There really are so many IEMs out there with this type of tuning. I had to choose between the Olina SE and the Kima (which I haven't yet tried), but I'm glad that I went this route. Maybe the Kima is better, but because of how I felt about the Titan S, I'm leaning toward the idea that I'd prefer the Olina SE even if it's just for the 4-6k region being more present. I hope my review here helps fill some of the gaps that are missing in the other reviews and helps you in your IEM purchase decision!

This is my take on the Olina SE, as well as my first ever review, so take this with a grain of salt

Disclamer: I have no affiliation with Linsoul. I bought these with my own money so they have no affect on this review.

Packaging

Similar to the OG Olina, the Olina SE came in the medium size box. Inside the box contains: the iems itself, a blue hard case, a 2-pin cable, 6 pairs of tips, 10 pairs of filters and the warranty card.

Design/Build quality/Comfort

The shell is made out of aluminum. It is almost the same shape as the OG Olina, with a different color scheme (blue-ish black) along with a metal back plate instead of resin. Inside the shell is the CNT driver, which HBB said to be the same driver as the 300$ Tanchjim Oxygen. Overall, the shell is on the small size and with its ergonomic shape, it is very comfortable for long listening session. I've slept while wearing this quite many times due to how compact and comfortable it is
The cable is soft, yet gets tangled easily. Overall, the quality of the cable is acceptable for the price of the whole package.



Sound

How do these sound? I think most of you guys are gonna most interested in this part



TEST GEAR:

- Source: Poco F3, Dell Vostro

- Dongle: 7hz 71, Jcally JA3

- Eartips: Whizzer SS20



Does it need an amp?

Imho, no. The Olina SE is quite easy to drive. With 7hz 71 as my dongle DAC/Amp, i can easily reach enjoyable volume with good sound reproduction.



Sound signature

The Olina SE has a very balanced sound signature, overall very smooth, not metallic nor sibilant.



Bass

Test track: first 20 seconds of the track "Mighty Long Fall" by One OK Rock.

This is by no means a bassy iem, yet it can deliver a very good quality bass with enough quantity. Very well controlled, well paced and accurate. It does not sound muddy or bloat at all. Kick drums, strikes, bass guitar are very precise and easy to perceive. Even if you're heavy basshead, i think you're gonna enjoy this.



Mid

Test track: "Lovers" by 7!!, "Shake it off" by Taylor Swift and "20/20" by One OK Rock.

The bass doesn't bleed into the midrange here, therefore makes the female and male vocal sounds quite distinct, clean and natural. The vocals are engaging, has good body and definition to it. There's a slight sense of forwardness to the female vocal than male vocal. Female vocalists like Nanae from 7!! or Taylor Swift just sounds...right, although it can be on the more relaxed side. It does not sound recessed or artificial whatsoever. That's the only way i can describe it. As for Taka-the male vocalist of One OK Rock, his voice also comes across as natural. It has a little bit of warmth from the bass, therefor makes his voice feel a little bit more rich.



Treble

Test track: "Licht Und Schatten" and many of "Attack on Titan" soundtracks

The treble of the Olina SE is smooth and pleasant to listen, with no sign of harshness nor sibilants. I've never feel fatigue even after listening to the Olina SE for 6+ hours straight. The detail retrieval is really good. I manage to notice all the micro nuances that i've never heard before in the treble region, especially when coming from the Blon 03 as my previous daily iems, like the lingering "ringing" of the cymbals and hi-hats. They come across more pronouced. There're also good amount of air and presence (although i'd like a bit more air). Overall, there's almost nothing to complain about the treble region imho.



Technicalities

Test track: Hotel California by Eagles

In terms of soundstage, I think they’re quite big. I’d say you would get more width than height or depth. The instruments are very well layered and well seperated. I got goosebump the first time i listen to Hotel California with these iem due to how good it sounds. 20 second after the 3:48 part, i was impress by how all the instrument was place and how they jump around the head. You can easily visualized how big the soundstage was at this part.

Comparison

Olina SE vs 7hz Zero

The Olina SE sounds noticeably warmer, has more thump, more note weight compare to the Zero. Vocal doesn’t sound as thin as the Zero. Olina SE has slightly more forward vocal compare to the Zero, but just slightly. The instruments in the treble region are more well recreated, the overall timbre sounds more natural on the Olina SE. The Olina SE also crushes the 7hz Zero in the technical department. Much more resolving, more details and slightly bigger soundstage. Overall the complete upgrade compare to the 7hz Zero,



Regarding the cons

As i mention above, the reason why i said there're tip dependent because for some reason, some of my go to eartips does not fit at all on the Olina SE. For example, with my Blon 03 or 7hz Zero, my go to tips are the Spinfit W1 and CP100+ size M. Both of those fit my ear PERFECTLY. Like, they're so well fit and well sealed that i can't imagine anything better. But as for the Olina SE, if i use the W1 and CP100+, they would just slip right out of my ear with no retention whatsoever. I still haven't found the best fitted tips for the Olina SE yet. The best seal i've manage to create was with the Whizzer SS20, which coincidentally improve the soundstage by a small margin, so it's a win-win i guess. But it's still not the best because i still find the iem sometimes slipping out of my ears.


As for the condensation issue, i can't use it more than 1 hour without dampen the filter with water. I have 2 solutions to this. First is to simply use the Tanchjim Tanya filters, which is the same solution for the OG Olina. Because the OG and the SE are tuned differently (OG+Tanya filter=SE; SE+Tanya=??), the sound signature are expected to be altered to some degree. Did i notice what was change? No. At least not to my ears. I'm sure there're some changes with the measuring gigs. My 2nd solution which "in theory" should not change the overall signature is to apply hydrophobic/nano spray onto the filter. Just cut out a pair of the provided filters, lightly spray 1 or 2 coats of the hydrophobic solution, dry it fast with the hair dryer and it should be done (i use laptop vents lol). The reason why i said "in theory" is because if you spray too many coat, the coating can actually block the whole filter itself. I lost 4 filters testing this. So yeah.

TL;DR: 1/Tip rolling dependent. 2/ Either use Tanchjim Tanya filter or spray nano solution on the filters to solve the condensation issue.


My conclusion

With my limited experience in the iem realm, i think the Olina SE is an awesome iem to have. All my life i've only use cheap iems before, from the likes of Xiaomi Pistol, to Blon BL03 then to 7hz Zero, then to this, it was quite an eye opening experience. I always thought "Meh, how good can a small pair of iems be. If i'm gonna spend that much money on an iem, i'd rather spend those on a fullsize headphone". Man was i so wrong.

I'm not saying this is the best iem in the world, nor will it be an endgame iem (that would be silly). But, with its vast yet still limited capabilites, i manage to have a glimpse of what a true endgame iem can be and what they are capable of.

The Olina SE has the retail price of 100$ on Linsoul and I’d say they’re worth it for the price, even after months from when it was released. However they usually go on for sale. I once helped my friend get these for 65$ on Aliexpress, which made it even more bang for your buck. If you’re an avid listener who is looking for a good iem under 100$ that is suitable for many different types of music, I think this is it. Even with the fast moving iem market, I think the Olina SE is gonna stay relevant for quite many months to come

General Info/Build//Comfort
The OG Olina garnered a lot of attention and hype due to it being a collaboration with HBB (Hawaiian Bad Boy), it also received a lot of positive feedback as well. Sadly, I do not have the chance to try out the OG Olina, only a very brief moment with it and I find it a little peaky in terms of the highs and slight sub bass roll off.
In terms of Olina SE’s build, the shell size remain unchanged, what changed is that it is now full matte black with a logo that is a reflective of HBB’s hawaiian root, a new CNT driver that’s tuned to have a slight boost on the sub bass and also tame down the peaky high.
The shell size is small and very comfortable to wear and listen to for long hours without feeling fatigue. Nothing to shout out on the packaging, rather minimal yet good enough for the asking price. The included storage case is very solid and looks premium.



Gears used for this review

• Topping DX1 + iFi Zen Air Can
• Hidizs S9 Pro
• Hidizs XO Dongle
• iPod Touch 2G
• Aune M2
• Macbook Air M2’s 3.5mm port

Foreword
My review is solely based on what I hear via my equipment and I never consider my reviews to be objective in any way rather a subjective approach. Do take into consideration that everyone’s ear anatomy is not the same, so the psychoacoustics perception might be different as well, but i believe it will not stray too far

Sound
Olina SE to my ears has a very fun sounding signature, this is my 2nd IEM that’s a collab between HBB. The 1st IEM that I tried that has HBB’s collab is TRI’s Kai. Despite both being a collaboration with HBB, the tuning for both is totally different. The Olina SE triumphs in terms of technicalities and overall tonality. The timbre on Olina SE sounds natural to my ears and they have good note weight and body to it

Bass

• The sub bass on the Olina SE is slightly lifted compared to the OG Olina as many people feedback that the OG Olina does have some roll off in the sub bass
• Bass is punchy and has good slam to it, exhibited good control and speed is pretty good, it handled EDM and also Metal very well, i wouldn’t say they’re basshead IEM but they’re very fun to listen to
• MId bass packs enough and a satisfying punch to it

Mids

• The bass doesn’t bleed into the mids and the instruments in this range has a good note weight to it
• The mids are a little forward so are the vocals, i like how the vocals are being portrayed
• Male and Female vocals has got good texture, female vocal does stand out a little due to the lift in the upper mids, but never harsh

Treble

• The treble is slightly lifted to my ears, but it is never harsh nor sibilant
• The extension is very good and the overall treble presentation has a very airy kind of feel to it, hence the contribution of a slightly bigger than usual soundstage, never dark sounding to begin with
• Very engaging to listen to, detail retrieval is also very good for the price point, you don’t need to pay very good attention to hear the micro details, it is just there effortlessly and it do so in a non offensive way

Soundstage/Imaging

• The soundstage on Olina SE to my ears certainly sounded 3D (out of your head), it has good width and depth, and also height to it, very impressive for the asking price
• Imaging is also another strong point in Olina SE, instruments can be pinpointed easily and even on busy track like Slipknot’s People = crap, all the instruments are being layered properly and the vocal takes the front stage while the instruments play their own roles without clumping in together causing the track to sound muddy

Driveability
Olina SE is easy to drive and you will be able to get decent volume output even from your regular smartphone’s 3.5mm jack. However, if you feed it with a better source, it will definitely reward you with better performance. This is not to say that Olina SE sounds bad right off the bat, it's just the performance of Olina SE is being limited by less powerful sources. Amplification is not necessary but it does help to tighten the bass a little and also present it with a bigger soundstage, but then again. Fret not if you don’t have an amp, you are not losing out alot.

Final Thoughts
With so many IEM being released on a monthly basis, a certain IEM will quickly be overshadowed by the new release. My personal thought is that Olina SE should remain on the spotlight as it is genuinely good, i have had a brief listening moment with the OG Olina, and it’s safe to say that Olina SE is definitely an improvement over the OG Olina in terms of more bass punch and also slightly tamer highs.
I also had the opportunity to test out Tanchjim’s Oxygen and i did a comparison between Oxygen and Olina SE, it’s safe to say they are very very similar, 90% i would say, of course in terms of technicalities, Oxygen is still leading a little, but if you decide to purchase Olina SE, you will not miss out a lot, Safe to say, Olina SE is highly recommended if you are in the lookout for a good single dynamic driver IEM that will not break the bank.

*Olina SE is sent over by Linsoul in exchange for this review. I am not under any influence nor do I receive any monetary compensation.

Head over to @Linsoul Audio store if you are interested in getting a pair
Tripowin Olina SE - Non Affiliated