Disclaimer: The Dragon 2+ reviewed is a loan unit from Simphonio via their friends in Notes Audio.
When Tuan, Note Audio’s founder mentioned the Dragon 2+ during my latest visit, I was a bit surprised. What does an Vietnamese audio equipment company has anything to do with a Chinese brand? As it turns out, Simphonio’s founder/CEO and Tuan used to be colleagues in Sunrise Audio, which they co-founded and ran together. Now they have split to focus on their native markets (China and Vietnam), but the relationship is still close: Notes’ excellent AT10 get distributed in China under Simphonio's name and the Dragon 2+ gets to Vietnamese music lovers at very attractive pricing.
To be honest, if it had not been for this special relationship between Notes and Simphonio, I wouldn’t have bothered with the Dragon 2+. $320 (at Penon Audio) is no small price to ask for any new headphone/earphone product. I’ve never been a fan of the earbud form factor either. Could the Dragon 2+ change my mind?
As if it came with a cassette Walkman
Let’s start with the reason why I’d never held earbuds in high regards: they look cheap. At first glance it’s more reasonable to say the Dragon 2+ costs $20, not $320. Look at the housing. It’s the very same plastic earbud that has been with us for the last many decades.
There’re still some face-saving here. First, the plastic housing feels sturdy and reassuring. The Dragon 2+ doesn’t bother to deny that it is (very) plastic, but this type of plastic screams “durability” and “polishing”. Then there’s the braided cable, perhaps the most relevant cue to the 2+’s price. Mixing black with yellow/god is rather an ingenious choice in terms of looks.
(It also screams “I’m balanced”).
Funnily, the housings are the only elements that feels cheap. The 3.5mm jack is unabashedly big, similar to that of the Notes AT10. The 2.5mm balanced – 3.5mm dongle is made from metal and perhaps would feel finer than the housings themselves.
Also, the Simphonio’s product box is top-notch. Just keep it so you can display it to visitors of your attic. The pleather pouch that comes inside also impressed with looks, especially with its uncanny green-ish finish. This is also the best carrying case I’ve had with earbuds and IEMs. Each time I finish using the phones, I can just wrap the cable around my hands and put it straight inside the pouch. Much faster and more convenient than other type of pouches and carrying cases.
Urgh, earbud comfort
I could remember how sore my ears were after a few hours with my dad’s Walkman – and after that, with my first iPod Nano. The Simphonio Dragon 2+ isn’t an entirely new story. Even with the outer foam, it still hurts my ears after about half an hour. The flat surface on Simphonio doesn’t quite fit the curvy space inside my ears. For the same reason my “Earbud Comfort Hall of Fame” only include the AirPods and EarPods – please don’t laugh at me, as IMHO their “bean” shape allows for much better extended listening sessions.
It’s important to mention how well the Dragon 2+ could fit into your ears because the sound will be affected. At times I do find myself having to push these phones in to regain the bass lost after I stood up and grabbed a cup of coffee. Sometimes I did try to position the speaker grill so that it faces my ear hole directly. Needless to say, the mid ranges immediately became more prominent.
Iced honey water
You'd never realize how much of a Beatles-tribute band Oasis really is until you hear it on this combo.
Let’s pretend my tiny Vietnamese ears can stand the Dragon 2+ for more than 1 hour, how does it sound? First thing: Simphonio’s newest is definitely NOT for those looking for neutral sound as colorings are quite audible in the mids. If you think of the ATH-AD2000’s mid-range presentation as honey, Simphonio is iced honey water. Instead of making the mids as “sweet” and thick as possible, Dragon 2+ instead aims for a smooth-but-not-in-your-head mid-range, improving clarity in the process.
I was also quite surprised to hear the Dragon 2+’s bright-but-not-hot trebles. I imagine Simphonio engineers tried to make the sound as bright as possible but decided to stop at the 8 instead of 10. There’s a feeling of airiness as opposed to energetic hits like those you’d hear from Grado or Beyerdynamic. It extends and decays very naturally: no peak and no “broken,” grainy cymbal crashes. I could not determine how detailed the mids and highs are (with the Dragon 2+ being 16-ohm it’s hard to do accurate A/B with a pair of full-sized AKG or Sennheiser) but overall, it’s audibly less revealing than my Q701.
Anyway, “Relaxing enjoyment first” seems to be the motto here – I’m sure lovers of solos-ridden Hair ballads will love the Dragon 2+. Female vocals-centric like those “audiophile” albums that we Asians love would also shine with the Dragon 2+, provided you are not looking for the Beats (or V-MODA) sound. Similar to the AKG Q701, there’s just enough bass to create a “base” for the musical landscape as well as to keep the phones from sounding weird. It doesn’t rumble your nostrils, being earbuds and all. It doesn’t extend too deep and it doesn’t last for very long.
The general lack of bass quantity allows for quite good Rock/Metal (of which drum passages might be over-powering) and once again almost perfect for relaxing Vocals-centric performances. This perhaps would perplex some listeners, but as a long-time fan of Grado, Audio Technica and Sennheiser I’ve come to the conclusion that a (somewhat) mids-centric sound signature with articulate bass and refined trebles will always be good for both Rock and Vocals.
Obviously, the same type of sound signature can be easily found on some cheaper earbuds from Yuin or VE. What makes the Simphonio Dragon 2+ stands out is its impressive imaging capabilities. Based on my experiences I’ve already learnt that earbuds are capable of putting out some pretty spacious soundstage, but I never figured it could extend as far and as deep. Upon listening closely, I could hear the layered positioning of instruments, something the Yuin PK1 or most VE earbuds that I’ve auditioned cannot produce.
A final point of notice is that while the Dragon 2+ is of low impedance and high sensitivity, it will still improve with your source equipment. Plugging it into a phone or a laptop and you’ll get a more closed-in sound, which is quite similar to vintage speaker system. But a Mojo or a Burson Play will open up the mid-ranges and “refine” the trebles a bit, putting away that veil of old-ness. I suppose a balanced DAC/amp will help even more, but unfortunately, I don’t have any equipment with 2.5mm balanced output.
The Earbuds of Wows
Will I spend $350 to buy the Dragon 2+? Unfortunately, the answer is still no. At the same price range, I much prefer its distant cousin, the Notes Audio AT10. My ears are just more compatible to IEMs than earbuds.
Yet I’d still wholeheartedly recommend the Dragon 2+ to listeners who prefers earbuds to IEMs. It offers such a lovely musical experience that will definitely put a smile on any Jazz, Classic Rock and Oldies Pop lover’s surprised face. It’s so impressive that all of my prejudices against the earbud form factor were all gone in just a few days of use. Yes, I still hate the comfort, but this is not my old Walkman/iPod earbuds, of which I hate the comfort and the sound. On the contrary, the way it sings make the Dragon 2+ my most favourite earbuds ever.
PS: I had seen the Dragon 2+ is being discounted to ~$240 on Massdrop. The drop is long gone but with it fellow product Xcited 2 frequently appearing on the site, I guess the Dragon 2+ would return some time in the future.
Congratulations on the nice review, and happy you also like the Dragon2+