Tripowin x HBB Olina

TONALITY: 8/10
TECHNICALITIES: 8.8/10
CONSTRUCTION: 8.5/10
SOUND VALUE: 8.5/10

TRIPOWIN begin to get recognition with it’s numerous best seller IEM like TC-01, Mele and Lea which all get praise for their high sound benefit return. Their latest offering, the Tripowin Olina that I will review today, receive overwhelming praise. This is mostly due to a good marketing strategy that highlight the fact Olina use a similar Carbon nano tube dynamic driver than the legendary Tanchjim Oxygen. While it was confirm the DD have the same diaphragm, it doesn’t mean those 2 share similar tonality or as refined technicalities since acoustic design as a whole is of prime importance here. Let see in this ”post-hype” review if the Olina will really be an IEM that will pass test of time.

CONSTRUCTION​

In term of packaging, it’s minimal yet enough. The carrying case is of good quality, the cable is basic but doesn’t affect negatively the sound and the 6 pairs of ear tips are appropriate to achieve a diversify sound experience. As well, it does include extra nozzle filters.



In term of design, this seem to be exact same one than Mele, which is good. It’s all aviation grade alluminium body with a beautifull decorative back plate which make all IEM unique in their look.
The shape is ergonomic without any sharp corner, the metal being smooth, the fit is easy and secure for long listening session.

SOUND IMPRESSIONS​

(gear used: Ibasso DX90, Tri TK2, Xduoo Link2 BAL, Tempotec E44, Fiio KA1)


TONALITY

The Olina offer a softed bright W shape with slight mid bass and lower mid boost, and more important upper mids and mid treble boost. It doesnt sound overly bright even if the approach is near analytical in it’s details rendering. Attack peaks are a bit tamed to avoid important agressivity but still, this isn’t warm or dark IEM at all and treble is what is put fowards, which will be surely too much for some listener that are sensible to high frequencies. No wonder why you read everywhere about how to mod the Olina to tame it’s treble, but for this review all impressions are based on stock sound. To my ears, tonality is more technical than musical in it’s presentation.

While cable doesn’t really affect tonality, the ear tips choice are of prime importance here since wide bore will tend to make the Olina a bit more shouty while the one with long nozzle will improve imaging but make upper treble a bit sharper and bass a bit more distant.

TIMBRE is very realist with great transparency and generous amount of texture nuance, a hint dry-bright and thin, so it’s not lush nor warm at all, but it isn’t grainy, clinical or artificial too. I would have prefer a bit more density, since the timbre remind me the one of Lea.

BASS is fast and thumpy, but the punch doesn’t move lot of air and feel a bit scooped in impact. As well, this isn’t a low end i would call fulld bodied since the slam is dry and rumble lack presence and vibrant density. Extension is a bit roll off and will favorise kick drum more than bass line. Still, electric bass like slap bass sound very good because the texture is well done, this isn’t warm bass, definition and presence is well resolve. Toms will cut short in natural resonance and cello will lack a bit of body and sometime this will affect it’s tone negatively. Their just a sligth bass to lower mids embrace here, this affect mostly the definition edge of kick drum, which have it’s presence preserved with texture.

MIDS are gently bright with a focus on texture and well rounded but elevated upper mids, it’s energic and clear with high level of sound info. Both male and female vocal are fowards and wide in presence, while not recessed, female vocal is a bit thin and a hint lipsy. For male vocal, body is fuller but still a bit dry and overly textured. When it come to saxophone or woodwind magic happen and the restitution is mavervellously full, dense in air, natural in timbre yet rich in texture and wide and airy in it’s layering. I don’t know what explain this result, but I can’t get enough sax music with the Olina since it sound too good. Now, for the piano, result is more mixed, the note weight isn’t there nor the natural decay, so this make piano a bit recessed and not lively, though it’s detailed and well articulated whatever the speed of playing. Another instrument that sound great with the Olina is electric guitar, and to some extend violin too, but let’s talk about these in treble section.

TREBLE is all about texture and micro details, yet it seem aware of dangerous peak that can create sibilance, while a bit less aware of those that create shoutyness which is very minimal and only can occur with excited percussion like crash cymbals. Olina dig reveal alot of micro details, to the point it can be unpermissive of bad recording since it tend to show the background hiss of them or their distortion. I have none of this issue with let say Anouar Brahem ”The astouding eyes of Rita” in 96khz/24bit hi res flac, and it proove Olina doesn’t add any grain or hiss but just restitute the music in high fidelity. This album is good to judge treble sparkle, brilliance and decay, let say Olina is more about snap and brilliance than appealing sparkle since decay cut short, but acoustic guitar or Brahem tunisian Oud are greatly detailed in texture, which make string pulling details very fascinating, we can hear how it vibrate, the articulation of every strings being magnify in lead attack. Still, I will not call the highs very airy. Sound info are rather condensed, even if never muddy due to great transparency, crisp resolution and fast snappy attack.

TECHNICALITIES

Olina are sure no slouch when it come to technical performance, the CNT DD showing it’s muscle in level of resolution we get as well as very impressive attack speed that permit this IEM to deal with fast busy track with ease. Their not a single track that can overwhelm Olina transient response, my go to album for testing complex speed is ”Dodovoodoo” by Elephant9 and it was a pure bliss in term of accurate resolution that never go muddy or distorted, every layer of instrument playing at crazy speed in their own space. So, while the speed is impressive, the dynamic rendering can feel a bit compressed in amplitude as if all instrument play in same sound pressure level which isn’t always the case, as well, i would not call the presentation as holographic due to a lack of relief in definition. When it come to bass and treble extension, i feel it doesn’t fully extend in both end. Sustain-decay balance isn’t the best too, since it’s a hint shouty in articulation and lack both weight lead and post-attack natural decay, it focus on a rough snap.

IMAGING is very good, thanks to high resolution and treble bite, but it’s a bit compressed in center, with a very dense amount of transparent sound layer, so for me it’s difficult sometime to pin point exact position of instrument in this region, but stereo separation is great.

SOUNDSTAGE is quite wide, not very tall and minimally deep, it have a triangle shape where the stereo rendering is wide and central one is closed.

COMPARISONS​

VS HZSOUND HEART MIRROR (1DD-50$)

Yep, these always come back when it’s about technical prowess and again, I will surprise some people here since it’s evident to me HZ is technically superior to the great Olina. But did it mean tonality is more appealing? That’s your story here not mine.
HZ is more W shape and energic, with crisper, airier and cleaner tonality. The bass is fuller, better separated, weightier in punch and extend fully while it’s more about slight mid bass boom with the Olina. Mids are more fowards and better extracted, cleaner, with better clarity and imaging, notably better transparency too, but perhaps less wide and open vocal presentation, so it can feel a bit centered and less immersive than Olina here. Male vocal (lower mids) of Olina have more presence too, so it sound fuller and better musicaly. Treble is less grainy and bright, more liquid yet more snappy and sparkly and full in restitution. Timbre here is very different, Olina is brighter and a bit more grainy while HZ can sometime lack a bit of texture nuance due to it being well polished, this translate to in being just a hint thinner than Olina, though notably more transparent. Soundstage is another big difference, Olina sound more wide and tall but we can’t travel as deep in sound spatiality, still presentation is more holographic and enjoyable here. Imaging is near equal, but as said, cleaner resolution of HZ tend to make it more accurate and sharper in separation. To some extend, we can say tonality of Olina is more musical and immersive while HZ force you to be a critical listener. Bass performance is certainly superior with HZ, yet dynamic weight isn’t magnify. Olina is less capricious about source even if i need to crank up Tri TK2 more….but was is because HZ is more agressive in SPL?
All in all, I love both but again, their not a single doubt HZ offer snappier, faster, clearer, cleaner, sharper and more refined technical performance.

VS MOONDROP ARIA

First thing that hit is how smoother and more organic and open sound the Aria. Yes, Olina is brighter and more analytical in it’s treble, which focus more on texture than sparkle and airy extension. Bass presentation too is very different, Aria have more sub bass presence and the slam is weightier and more rounded yet warmer in resolution and slower-softer in impact. For rock Olina will sound better due to its fast punchy textured bass, while for jazz acoustic bass line will extend lower in a more natural way with Aria. Mids are better for male vocal with Olina, it’s less recessed and more bodied with better presence extraction and more texture. For higher pitch instrument or female vocal, Olina is again brighter and this time leaner and more recessed than Aria even if their more upper mids energy, which translate in higher risk of sibilance with Olina, Agnes Obel sound more upfront and wider in presence yet smoother and more transparent in vocal presentation, all in all, mid range tonality is more natural with Aria though not as well define in definition edge and more polished in texture. Treble is more crunchy and texture focus with Olina, this give instrument more immediacy and bite in attack, but sparkle decay and brilliance is less present than Aria. Their more 8khz and overall mid treble boost with Olina, so it will extract background hiss more and inflict on clean presentation, in that regard, Aria take the opposite road and tame texture and micro-details amount of this section which result in a more relaxed, laid back and clean tonality and extra air dip that make treble seem more extended, which might be an illusion in fact. Simply put, Aria is safely tuned, hint better balanced and cohesive as a whole, but not as fast in attac and rich in details. Micro-definition and overall resolution is higher with Olina as well as dynamic energy is more fowards and excited.
It's hard to choose a clear winner here since I love both and tonality is too different to not feel they complement well each other.

VS MOONDROP KATO:

Now, we are into similar tonal territories, both being brightish ''harman target'' take, what hit first here it's how the dynamic range is presented, Kato having a more thumpy and balanced bass presentation as well as fuller thicker timbre and more notes weights in attack. In term of resolution, the 2 are on par, Olina perhaps have upper hands in transparency and micro details since it's treble is more boosted in mid highs. Bass is where I can confidently say that both quality and quantity is superior with Kato, bass line are more flexible in articulation, resonance is less muffled and texture is better balanced in timbral balance, sens of impact is weightier and better define and separated, while Olina lack this important physicality of slam and thump. Mids are very similar in lower region, delivering great male vocal presence, for female vocal the Olina extract their presence better and make them wide open and more transparent yet beautifully textured but thinner timbre and less full body and more emphasis in higher harmonic. Simply put, the mids of Kato are a bit more agressive but fuller and more natural. Treble is where big different occur, the Olina is less well balanced in that regard and tend to put fowards some grain and texture, it dig greater amount of micro details in a lean way with extra 8khz spice that doesn't always feel in it's place.
Wow, this comparison is very difficult since those 2 sound very similar on tonality and both have great technicalities, it's more about how the dynamic is presented, here Olina being leaner and more compressed than Kato, but far from muddy or incompetent. So, let's just say the Kato is a sligthly more refined Olina with fuller tonality and more cohesive balance as well as more lead attack weight and impact. This make the Olina sound more bright-neutral and bass light. Taking the fact Kato sell for near 2 times the price, Olina represent a better sound value.

CONCLUSION​

While my expectation might have been too high for the Olina, it sure doesn’t disappoint me in term of technical performance which are excellent in term of attack speed, accuracy and resolution. Yes, the hype is legitimate for sure, though the bright bass light tonality will not appeal everyone.
If you search for a well balanced W shape signature that offer crisp resolution and will deal like a champion even with your fastest jazz rock or metal track, the Tripowin Olina might be among cheapest introduction to high fidelity audiophile sound. Just don’t expect it to be lush, warm or super bassy and be sure to give them the best music quality and audio source since like all high fidelity IEM, the Olina will scale up with clean audio free of grain, hiss or distortion.
Highly recommended!

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PS:I wanna thanks Linsoul for providing me this review sample. I’m not affiliated to this audio distributor and have not been pay by them. As always, this is my 100% subjective truth.
You can buy the Tripowin Olina exclusively in Linsoul store for 99$ HERE
Or in their Aliexpress store here (on sale right now for 90$) HERE
Or their Amazon store here (95$) HERE

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For more honnest audio reviews, give a look to my No Borders Audiophile audio blog HERE.

First of all I must admit, Im tad bit disappointed with Olina. It's a good pair of IEM, but not as good as some people/reviewers praised it. it sounds like what I expected from a $100 IEM. Use my review as other reference on how Olina is actually sound. As a matter of fact, I love IEM with good technical capabilities like Olina, however, its weakness and cheap material it used simply a bummer to overall experience in enjoying Olina.

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Eartips


Olina's eartips are such a joke for its price range, i wonder why nobody ever mention it, it looks like the eartips you got from a $5-$20 IEM. You may disagree with my review regarding how Olina sounds, but its low quality eartips is a fact. it's so thin, fragile,its core is too soft and may deformed inside our ear canal, the texture of the eartips feels more cheap than any $100 IEM i've ever encountered. My picture above may not give you idea how bad the provided eartips, but trust me, if you hold it in your hand and compare it with any decent eartips, you will know what i mean, one of the provided eartips looks like FiiO's eartips (used in FiiO FH1s and FD3), but FiiO eartips which only a bit thicker are firmer yet still flexible, its texture also smoother and more delicate when touched with hand.

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Fitting

Olina got light fitting, it stick to your ears well but you wont feel heavily isolated and still aware of your surrounding. I think that's why they consider to use a cheap eartips, because even with better eartips like Spinfit CP100, Olina's noise isolation is not that good tbh. Personally, i don't need IEM with good isolation and fitting, but if you use IEM in noisy environment, you might need to reconsider buying Olina.

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Sound Quality

The strong Point from Olina is its relative wide sound stage, strong imaging, and solid separation. Sound stage is certainly wide, not huge like some said but certainly above average. Vocals are pushed upfront while some instruments pushed behind, simply a good experience especially when listening to a song with a lot of instruments. Imaging and separations are good, i can easily pinpoint where are each instruments.

Upper mid frequency is lifted and a bit too shouty for some songs, not to mention the texture is a bit crude and harsh especially under the usage of loud volume. contrary to most believe, Taming the treble by using Mesh Mod is not a good solution tbh, attack on some electronic instruments feels more blunt and vocals feel a bit behind, your Olina may sounds more balanced and faultless but at the same time you lost a lot of good points what makes Olina is a good IEM.

I can enjoy an IEM with weak bass such as Tin P1, but I think Olina should have more bass to tame the upper mid a bit or at least make it to have heavier tonality.

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Conclusion



Olina is a good IEM for its price, yes it has a strong technical capabilities but it also got some weakness which reduce my enjoyment towards olina, not something that would leave me in awe. I've tried to tame the upper mid frequency like changing eartips, mesh modding and using Copper cabble but I can't tame the treble without losing a lot of good aspects from this IEM. Honestly I think Olina stops being Olina if you try to meddle with its sound. My score might be a bit too low than most reviewers, but i think it's a fair assessment considering Olina still got major negative points and its shell feels too cheap for its price (compared to other IEMS at its price such as Aria, reecho SG-03, FiiO FD3, and a lot more)

Price: 99 USD
Driver Composition: 1 Dynamic Driver (10mm CNT)
Shopping link: Linsoul

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Prologue

In 2021 HawaiiBadBoy teamed up with Tripowin to bring Mele to the public: an ambitious project to deliver good sound for less. Half a year later, this pair came out with a new release: Olina. By now, these need no introduction. This time, their goal is simple: to create a marginally similar IEM to Oxygen, one of the most acclaimed single Dynamic Driver set on mid-fi, for less than half the price and with better fit. But did they do it?

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Olina comes in (very hard to open) cardboard box, well packed, and also containing:

• A 2-pin gray cable, terminated with a 3.5mm plug;
• 6 pairs of silicone tips - 3 wide, 3 narrow bores;
• A circular, fake-leather carrying case;
• 5 pairs of replaceable nozzle filters.

Regarding the shell of the IEM itself, those who already have his other collaboration, Mele, already know what to expect: a great fit to most people (YMMV), built like a tank, a premium feel for the bracket and a nice faceplate which I’m in love with.

Olina is one of the best fits to myself personally, but they don’t have the best isolation for me, since they don’t fill all my concha, but again, YMMV. I’d describe it as a bit shallow, but if the deeper you can get it to fit, the better its bass will sound. I got no fatigue from using them on long sessions, passing those with flying colors.

Cable feels good for a budget IEM and has some nice details on it like HBB’s logo on the splitter. The only downside being you can only purchase it as 3.5mm single ended. I personally will use other aftermarket cables with it, but there’s no real need to change.

Regarding tips, for silicone I used CP100 (Large) for all my impressions. They gave me the best fit while keeping the sound balanced. I’m not a foam lover, especially for critical listener, and I’m a publicly anti-foam person for this matter. With Olina, I made an exception - I feel Comply TS-500 sound fantastic on them, taming the treble and tightening the bass, giving the best isolation, and are what I use for commuting. For people that love foams, you can give these a try.

As for driveability, I would consider these not hard to drive, but enjoy some power. I don’t think you can’t get a good sound from a simple dongle, but they do seem to like some kind of amplification. I would also avoid neutral bright sources, as it will brighten the signature even more. From my testing, I liked it paired with Qudelix 5k on the go and I got the best results from iFi xDSD Gryphon and I used it for these impressions.

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Tuning

Olina’s signature is a harman-neutral tuning. I know that’s not the best explanation for everyone, so I will try to explain it deeper:

The bass has extension, some texture and speed. Rolls off a bit on the sub-bass zone (as seen on Hyper - Fckd,Trentemoller - Chameleon, Hans Zimmer - Why So Serious?) and has some punch on the mid-bass (Foo Fighters - Waiting On a War, KH - Only Human). I’d describe it as having a very clean bass, making it great for some other genres like acoustic music or jazz, while not the best for genres like K-pop, trip-hop or sub-bass heavy EDM. Kick drums and bass string guitars (RHCP - Throw Away Your Television) feel just right, with very good decay, on the tighter side. Regarding elevation, it has a bit of emphasys over flat neutral, but not into bassy levels.

This bass shelf also helps to give body to the mid-range, but without bleeding into them, as the dive is very clean, enough to not feel thin, but also just enough to not make the notes blurred or too heavy. The details are on point and together with the techs that I will talk in a bit, they just shine (Hania Rani - Glass, EWF - September). Upper mid-range is the usual harman, but with a twist. I usually find vocals to get overly shouty but not this time, but I can see how some people can. It just feels there’s enough energy for some bite on those female vocals, but never enough to come across as shouty - and my ears thank me for it. In fact, female vocals are even better than male vocals on this set, to my ears (JP Saxe ft. Julia Michaels - If The World Was Ending).
Overall they are clean, forward and detailed, which checks all the marks for me and my library, as I’m a mid-centric enthusiast.

Treble is nicely extended and energetic, although not yet fatiguing for me, but keep in mind peaks are personal. This was another surprised as, by judging the graph, I was ready to be murdered by this frequency, as I’m sensitive. Detail is very nice and the decay on electric guitar and cymbal strikes is on point (Iggy Pop - Lust For Life, Cory Henry - Seven, Joe Satriani - Snatch Boogie). This tuning also includes a lot of air that boosts the sense of separation, never leaving you feeling claustrophobic.




Technicalities

I’m gonna say it right now: technicalities in Olina are a beast for its price point.

Stage is wide and deep, only lacking a touch of height, but the overall presentation is just great to my ears. I’m not sure if it just hits my HRTF just right, but I get a surrounding type of sound around my head, like a 3D, which I value a lot. Most of my favorite sets have this characteristic, and because almost like a must for me and my library.

Example Tracks: Yosi Horikawa - Bubbles/Crossing, Tool - Fear Innocolum, O’Flynn - Tyrion, Lykke Li - Silent My Song, Jamie XX - Gosh.

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Imaging is amazing - you can almost pin-point every drum-roll, - and one of its best characteristics, especially when paired with it’s good separation (Hilary Hahn - J.S. Bach - Violin Concerto no. 1 in A minor: I. Alegro Moderato), turning it into a joy to listen to. If you listen to Snarkly Puppy - Shofukan, starting around 5 minutes and 19 seconds, you can clearly find Olina’s imaging at work. Almost perfect drumm rolls, with speed, clarity and detail.

Example Tracks: Yosi Horikawa - Bubbles/Letter, Tool - Fear Innocolum.

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Details follows the same path, as it is very detailed, even though it has some tuning (treble) help. At this price, nothing else to add, but just to sit down and enjoy.

Example tracks: Hania Rani - Glass/Esja, Ozy Ozborne - Dee.

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Dynamics are good. Low to high without any effort or discomfort. The left to right pans are what blew my mind.

Example tracks: Mia Dora - After the Dog, Lorde - 400 Lux, Avenged Sevenfold - Bat Country, Jason Richardson - Titan, Disclosure - ENERGY.

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Timbre closes this chapter with a golden mark, reinforcing why I love Olina for instrumental music, classic and jazz.

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Here I will comment of some tracks I think that really shine on Olina:

Lorde - Still Sane

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Lorde’s vocals are forward and the background pane goes from left to right, very dynamic. You can pick up most of the details while the presentation keeps flashing sounds from left to right. Once the chorus comes in, around 1:37, the back vocals just surround you, immersing you in the experience, while the treble extension takes care of far away sparkles. Vocals might be a step too forward, but they feel natural and every note has weight, like Lorde is singing in the mic with an arm around your shoulder while the universe is throwing sounds at you at the same time. I loved the presentation, so I had to include this track here, as it shows how great Tripowin’s set works well with vocals followed by sparkly sounds on good stages.

Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi, The Four Seasons - Summer 1

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Chords instruments have great timbre and together with the detail and imaging, make this track a blast. The treble is just enough to feel present, borderline too much, but never crossing that line, even at louder levels. As the song reaches its climax, background instruments get more and more prominent, which Olina keeps separating with class, showing good dynamics. The best adjective I can think of is effortless. The sound is just effortless, the track just flows.

Snarkly Puppy - Tio Macaco

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This is a great track to show the display of Olina’s technical abilities in a nutshell. The whole song is just enjoyable and rich. And then you reach around 4:05, and the imaging, separation, stage, detail and air just kick in, throwing at you a true display of skill on percussion instruments, making you get up from your chair, close your eyes, forget you have iems on and just join the freestyle jam. Try it if you can, I beg you.

Ani Difranco - Nicotine

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Acoustic guitar with finger sliding and plucks detailed, dynamics kicking in through the notes, separation and layering doing its job, letting imaging do the rest of the work. Ani’s voice is just sweet and natural, correctly positioned while everything is well balanced. Everything is just right. By the end of the song you get a bunch of random noises that come from everywhere. Pure bliss.

Larnell Lewis - Change Your Mind

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At around 5:54, Larnel’s drum solo begins. The record sits you on his bench and Olina just rides it. You can clearly feel the position and separation between everything he touches, dynamically. Kick drums and snares on your chest, timbre on point, left to right pans, clash cymbals decay very naturally and without being fatiguing or sticking out, hi-hats sweet like honey? No problem - Olina does it all, you just have to sit back, enjoy, and listen to it again and again.

Other Test Tracks

I will leave here a list of songs/artists/albums that I think Olina replayed very well and that I also used for this review, for you guys to listen, in case you interested or to find if it’s your jam:

• Pearl Jam - Better Man
• Gogol Bordello - Wonderlust King
• Adele
• Zoe Wess - Control
• Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams
• Katie Melua - What A Wonderful World
• John Williams - Harry's Wondrous World
• Recomposed by Max Ritcher: Vivaldi, The Four Seasons
• KH - Only Human
• Fleetwood Mac - Landslide
• Jonathan Roy - Keeping Me Alive
• Disclosure - ENERGY
• Iggy Pop - Lust for life
• Black keys - Lonely Boy
• Woodkid - Run Boy Run
• Molly Johnson - What A Little Moonlight Can Do
• J.S. Bach: Violin Concertos

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• LETSHUOER S12 (with Final E)

Planars took the market by storm. Firstly with 7hz Timeless, followed up by S12, resolving power was never this cheap in the IEM world. It’s no news that S12 comes out as more resolving than Olina, but the Tripowin’s set has better stage presentation and imaging, a weak spot for the planar brothers.

S12 comes out as more clinical and bright than Olina, which feels more relaxed and natural. This is also due to planar vs DD timbre, that some prefer over the over, but for me they are distinct loves. Mids are better and more forward on Olina, while S12 have them slightly recessed. Treble feels more refined on Olina, but bass is fastar on the planar, while lacking some texture and rumble compared to the DD.

To me they fill different gaps in my library, for instance, the more acoustic and vocal tracks sound better on Olina, while I love planars for the more electronic side of my collection. I have to say that I’m reaching more for Olina than for S12 these days, since I’ve been shifting a lot towards classical and jazz, more and more, in which the DD helps with its timbre, but they are still apples to oranges in my setup.

• Tanchjim Oxygen (with Spinfit CP145)

The inevitable comparison that everyone wants to read: Olina vs O2.

Well, I’ll preface my impressions by saying that if you have to A/B very hard to find differences, you are comparing apples to apples. Secondly, the best IEM is the one you can fit and afford - Sony Z1R might be your end-game, but it will do nothing for you if you can’t fit it or afford it.

With this is mind, and after spending a couple of hours A/Bing both, here’s my take:

Tuning wise, they are 95%+ alike. They are around the unit variance margin of error, to my ears. I’ve debated this with other reviewers and owners of both sets and some will say Olina is a hair brighter, some will say the opposite. And this brings me to fit again. I think what is the major difference since the nozzles between the two are different, and Olina fits much better to me, so this will change your perception, as opposed to Oxygen that gave me fit problems. When taking my notes, during the Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run track, I felt Oxygen more fatiguing, but again, we are talking placebo or unit variance range here.

In the technical department, I would say they are very close. Oxygen might have a hair better detail but I prefer Olina’s presentation, as I found it wider and more holographic like, with better height. The overall presentation also felt more up to the eye level with slightly better depth. As always, YMMV.

I would pick Olina every time since it fits me much better and costs less than half. Given we were discussing a hair’s difference, I would say HBB’s goal was met.

• Moondrop Aria (with Spinfit CP100)

Olina is a bit brighter and cleaner than Aria. Also feel more technical around all the departments. Bass is very different, despite graphs, the Aria bass feels like a pillow without impact, lacking clarity, while Olina has the authority and less mid-range bleed. Stage and imaging are a step above in Tripowin's offer, to my ears. I would pick Olina 10 out of 10 times for my own library, but Aria has the price savings in its favor.

• Etymotic ER2XR (with Comply T-100/P-Series Foams)

Fit, fit and fit. With that out of the way, I would like to say that, before Olina, Etymotic was my 100 dollars benchmark. I still think it’s an amazing IEM that I can’t recommend to anyone due to fit and, if you are an EU citizen like me, hard and more expensive to get.

Stage presentation imaging and timbre are better on Olina to my ears. Etymotic might feel more detailed due to tuning help, but they close.

I would say Etymotic is more neutral, with a less forward but cleaner mid presentation. If you like less warmth, this is still a great pick… if you can fit them. Bass on Olina has more elevation and impact, which most would appreciate. Treble is close, with ER2XR being a touch more refined and extended.

Olina fits my library better, but honestly I like both.

• Moondrop Kato (with Spinfit CP100)

Kato keeps some of the same characteristics as Aria like the pillow light bass, the mid blend with it and the typical moondrop treble curve, peaking at around 3k hz. It’s almost the case of you heard one of them, you almost heard them all - but again, compared to Aria, techs are on another level.

To me, Kato sounds thin, treble is well tuned but feels unrefined and bass hits like a spoon, when compared to Olina. They take the detail chasing approach, a more analytical or slightly colder version of this general harman tuning, which will appeal to some over the competition, and I can see why.

I’m not fond of Kato’s stage presentation, as it doesn’t come out very wide or deep, while lacking height, which I think Olina wins over for almost half the price.

• Tanchjim Hana 2021 (with Spinfit CP100)

Tuning wise, Hana 2021 follows the same harman curve, but has a couple DB boost in the low end, making it more V-Shaped than the Olina. It is clearly targeted at those that think the harman curve is a bit bass light or bright. They still pack some punch and texture, despite being warmer.

Mids and vocals got, of course, more recessed in the process, while still having some details to it. Of course male vocals are more emphasized than the female’s counterpart, but without being annoyingly obvious, which is the opposite of Olina’s replay.

Treble has a slight boost as well to compensate for the bass boost, but the ultimate replay comes down to a warmer set. Cymbals, cellos, electric guitars etc. still sound natural without any fatigue to my ears, so there’s that. Only place that, in my opinion, could have gotten a little boost as well would be extension, but it’s not bad per se.

Technically is also half a step down from its older brother Oxygen, and to my ears, Olina. While I feel they are 80 to 90% the same, especially on parameters like imaging, they give the feeling as not as technical. The most noticeable areas to me are detail, stage size and the pseudo 3D you can get from Olina and that Hana doesn’t have.

• Dunu Titan S (with Spinfit CP100)

Olina and Titan S share a fair share of the same tuning. I would describe Titan S as a more neutral bright IEM than Olina, with less warmth, less bass impact, but air and treble extension. Regarding technicalities, I would say Olina is a step above, but also costs 20 dollars more. Titan S would be more suited for someone that wants mids even more upfront and a lighter bass than the typical harman. I found the treble area very alike on both, so there’s that.

• JVC FDX1 (with Final E and Green Filter on)

Edit as of 27th of February 2021: Addition of FDX1 comparison, now that I have them with me:

Olina is easier to drive and has better fit/isolation, while FDX1 needs more power and its heavy bullet style fit might not be for everyone.

FDX1 came across as more balanced in tuning, still also suffering from the 5k peak elevation, when compared to Olina. They are cleaner and airy, so less bassy and less energetic. FDX1’s bass is very pillowy and doesn’t feel as present as the others in these comparisons. This also makes the note weight to feel lighter and more clinical than the Tripowin’s set.

Technically speaking, FDX1 are slightly more detailed (which also helps with imaging) and give a sense of having a longer stage depth, but aren’t holographic like Olina is. They also don’t seem to scale as well with volume as Olina does.

What made me not buy myself a FDX1 to my collection is its (in)famous metallic timbre. There’s no way around it, it sounds really metallic with a weird decay, and for that, ruins the purpose of a single DD for me. Any cymbal strike or guitar pluck will show it, without much effort, or on average sounds like you can see here:



In short, I don’t feel they are compliments, but plain rivals, where I prefer Olina due to stage presentation, timbre and price, but FDX1 still shows why it is still considered one of the best, especially on it’s technical department. I don’t think you can go wrong with either, as long as you know what your preferences are!

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In my honest opinion, these are a beast for 100 dollars. In fact, scratch that. These are THE benchmark for 100 USD. I would take them over ER2XR, which has been the 100 USD gatekeeper in my collection, and once you A/B them with more budget stuff, the difference is even more shocking. Given this, they have my biggest recommendation, if your library fits the criteria.

I think a great part of HBB’s goal was reached, but I wanted to spend more time to make sure these are real and not just a marketing trick. In my opinion, these will haunt the competition in this price bracket for a good while. Again, credit where it’s due, so touché.

To everyone on the fence, I would say give them a try if you can, as I don’t think they are just a marketing trick.

A word to tip roll to your pleasure and fiddle with it. People are already trying to do crazy stuff like using one of the included filters or tape on its vent:



Olina are staying in my collection and most likely be the daily beaters and more. I might even grab one more set.

Recommended. Value: 5/5 Ranking: A-

Edit as of 27th of February 2021:

Click to expand...

As expected, people kept fiddling with it and a new consensus as risen: adding another included filter to the nozzle, on top of the existing one, while leaving the vent unblocked tames upper midrange frequencies, giving a better perception of its bass and turning now more holographic. With this mod, and according to my preferences, Olina is now closer to A ranking, but all the above review was done with the set in stock form.

Credits to @paulwasabii and @redrol for the graph and findings.


I would like to say that this mod is not needed and a lot of people even prefer it stock, so there’s that. It’s also fully reversible so you can just fiddle with it. Have fun!


Thanks for reading!