Greetings,
Today we're checking out the AWK F32MT from TY Hi-Z, a popular and well known ear bud maker out of China.
Disclaimer: This product was provided free of charge for a fair and impartial review. There was no financial incentive provided, nor were my thoughts and impressions edited in any way. Thank you to TY Hi-Z and Penon Audio for the opportunity. At the time of this review the F32MT was retailing for 22.90 USD; https://penonaudio.com/ty-hi-z-f32mt.html
Source: At home testing was conducted with a TEAC HA-501 desktop amp sourced by my Asus FX53V laptop or F.Audio S1. Portable testing was done through my LG G5, the F. Audio S1, or Shanling M1.
Personal Preferences: I listen primarily to various EDM sub-genres (liquid drum and bass, breakbeat, drumstep, etc.), hip hop, and classic rock. While I enjoy a variety of signatures in my headphones I generally lean towards slightly warm with elevated treble and sub-bass, an even and natural mid-range response, with reduced mid-bass. The HiFiMan RE800, Brainwavz B400, and thinksound On2 offer unique examples of signatures I enjoy.
Specifications:
The F32MT Experience:
Packaging and Accessories: Unboxing the F32MT wasn't a particularly special experience. It arrived in a basic cardboard box with a couple stickers tacked on for the brand and model. Inside was a handy little hard clam shell carrying case along with a smaller cardboard box running the length of the main box. Inside were the accessories;
Build and Comfort: The F32MT shares housings with the HE 150Pro and the TY Hi-Z F300M, and it's wonderful. It's all metal, light, has fine metal grills front and back, a great paint job, and it's all put together with precision and care. The cable is just as good, taking on Sony's ribbed texture that does a stellar job of reducing cable noise and tangling. Add to that a compact straight jack and it's a joy to use with pretty much anything. Strain relief could be better, but that's a comment that applies to a lot of buds so nothing new there.
The F32MT also includes a simple inline mic and single button remote. The button works fine for starting and ending calls and music tracks, and also supports track skipping via multiple presses. Sound quality? Passable. My voice sounds slightly muffed but clear enough to avoid the need to repeat statements. In the background is a consistent but fairly minor hiss.
Because the shells are so light and do not have a thick base, I found the F32MT very appealing to wear. There are no sharp edges and the design slots in comfortably and securely regardless of whether you're wearing them cable up or down. I also found them low profile enough to wear in bed, lying on my side. I suppose that the wide face will cause issues for those with smaller ears, but again that's a common issue with ear buds since they use such large drivers.
Sound: First off, using these with dense full foams is an absolute must. With anything else, especially naked, they are unbearably harsh and sibilant. That's all I have to say about foams. Now, after using these things for a couple months, all I can see is that their tuning is very unbalanced and all over the place. It is especially noticeable in the mid-range. On Supertramp's “Crime of the Century” Rick Davies' vocals clearly sit back from the guitarwork, pianos, and well, everything. He's way too quiet. Compare that to how this song is presented on the HE 150Pro and it is much more even and balanced with Rick sharing equal headspace. This isn't consistent through the album though. Roger Hodgson's vocals are huge on “School” almost overshadowing the instrumentals at points. Once again, the HE 150Pro keeps it all in check. This up and down can be found everywhere with nothing sounding quite right.
This uneven presentation is found in the bass as well with the F32MT taking an odd route for ear buds with a reduced mid-bass, emphasized sub-bass. For the most part this works exceptionally well, especially with electronic tracks, though on some tracks the lowered mid-bass presence saps some impact from the track. Once again using Supertramp's “School” this was quite apparent with the bass lacking presence. With tracks like State of Mind & Black Sun Empire's “Bottom Line” this sub-bass focus was welcomed giving the tracks a very visceral and physical presence.
Upper regions are off-timbre, harsh, and extend well though once roll off starts it feels pretty extreme. The level of detail present is excellent, however. General spaciousness is as well, though the stepped up mid-range still makes them come across a touch claustrophobic at times.
And now for my thoughts with a random Infected Mushroom track, “Now is Gold (feat. Kelsy Karter)”. The opening vocals are mean to sound slightly hollow and lo-fi. These qualities are greatly exaggerated through the F32MT making them sound wholly unnatural as if listening through an old, worn out landline phone. This track does a great job of showing off how awesome the F32MT's bass can be however. Drops are met with lots of impact and amazing sub-bass presence. Like the He 150Pro, the F32MT can properly slam with electronic, especially if the focus is on sub-bass regions. This great bass is countered by some grainy, brittle and generally unpleasant treble. This valley-like presentation of ups and down is presented within a fairly large soundstage, a quality likely helped along by the open-backed nature of TY's particular housing choice.
Final Thoughts:
While there is a lot to like about the F32MT, such as the rock solid build, outstanding comfort, and low entry cost, the way it sounds is exceptionally disappointing and makes it very hard to recommend. The inline mic also sounds merely passable, falling well short of the performance I've seen on much cheaper products like the 4 USD YHC S600.
My recommendation? Spend the extra 7 USD and get the HE150Pro. Sure you lose the inline mic but unless that is an absolutely necessary feature, you get a vastly superior product in terms of sound quality.
Thanks for reading.
- B9Scramber
Some Test Tunes:
Aesop Rock - Skelethon (Album)
Daft Punk - Random Access Memories (Album)
Elton John - Yellow Golden Brick Road (Album)
King Crimson - Lark's Tongues in Aspic (Album)
King Crimson - Starless and Bible Black (Track)
Supertramp - Crime of the Century (Album)
Infected Mushroom - Converting Vegetarians (Album)
Infected Mushroom - Legend of the Black Shawarma (Album)
Gorillaz - Plastic Beach (Album)
Massive Attack - Mezzanine (Album)
Fleetwood Mac - Rumors (Album)
Run the Jewels - Run the Jewels (Album)
The Prodigy - The Day is My Enemy (Album)
Tobacco - screw*d Up Friends (Album)
Felt - Felt 2 (A Tribute to Lisa Bone) (Album)
Today we're checking out the AWK F32MT from TY Hi-Z, a popular and well known ear bud maker out of China.
Disclaimer: This product was provided free of charge for a fair and impartial review. There was no financial incentive provided, nor were my thoughts and impressions edited in any way. Thank you to TY Hi-Z and Penon Audio for the opportunity. At the time of this review the F32MT was retailing for 22.90 USD; https://penonaudio.com/ty-hi-z-f32mt.html
Source: At home testing was conducted with a TEAC HA-501 desktop amp sourced by my Asus FX53V laptop or F.Audio S1. Portable testing was done through my LG G5, the F. Audio S1, or Shanling M1.
Personal Preferences: I listen primarily to various EDM sub-genres (liquid drum and bass, breakbeat, drumstep, etc.), hip hop, and classic rock. While I enjoy a variety of signatures in my headphones I generally lean towards slightly warm with elevated treble and sub-bass, an even and natural mid-range response, with reduced mid-bass. The HiFiMan RE800, Brainwavz B400, and thinksound On2 offer unique examples of signatures I enjoy.
Specifications:
- Impedance: 32 ohm
- Sensitivity: 115 +/-5 dB
- Frequency Response: 16-23000 Hz
The F32MT Experience:
Packaging and Accessories: Unboxing the F32MT wasn't a particularly special experience. It arrived in a basic cardboard box with a couple stickers tacked on for the brand and model. Inside was a handy little hard clam shell carrying case along with a smaller cardboard box running the length of the main box. Inside were the accessories;
- Medium ear hooks
- 4 pairs of foams (2 donut, 2 solid)
- Shirt clip
Build and Comfort: The F32MT shares housings with the HE 150Pro and the TY Hi-Z F300M, and it's wonderful. It's all metal, light, has fine metal grills front and back, a great paint job, and it's all put together with precision and care. The cable is just as good, taking on Sony's ribbed texture that does a stellar job of reducing cable noise and tangling. Add to that a compact straight jack and it's a joy to use with pretty much anything. Strain relief could be better, but that's a comment that applies to a lot of buds so nothing new there.
The F32MT also includes a simple inline mic and single button remote. The button works fine for starting and ending calls and music tracks, and also supports track skipping via multiple presses. Sound quality? Passable. My voice sounds slightly muffed but clear enough to avoid the need to repeat statements. In the background is a consistent but fairly minor hiss.
Because the shells are so light and do not have a thick base, I found the F32MT very appealing to wear. There are no sharp edges and the design slots in comfortably and securely regardless of whether you're wearing them cable up or down. I also found them low profile enough to wear in bed, lying on my side. I suppose that the wide face will cause issues for those with smaller ears, but again that's a common issue with ear buds since they use such large drivers.
Sound: First off, using these with dense full foams is an absolute must. With anything else, especially naked, they are unbearably harsh and sibilant. That's all I have to say about foams. Now, after using these things for a couple months, all I can see is that their tuning is very unbalanced and all over the place. It is especially noticeable in the mid-range. On Supertramp's “Crime of the Century” Rick Davies' vocals clearly sit back from the guitarwork, pianos, and well, everything. He's way too quiet. Compare that to how this song is presented on the HE 150Pro and it is much more even and balanced with Rick sharing equal headspace. This isn't consistent through the album though. Roger Hodgson's vocals are huge on “School” almost overshadowing the instrumentals at points. Once again, the HE 150Pro keeps it all in check. This up and down can be found everywhere with nothing sounding quite right.
This uneven presentation is found in the bass as well with the F32MT taking an odd route for ear buds with a reduced mid-bass, emphasized sub-bass. For the most part this works exceptionally well, especially with electronic tracks, though on some tracks the lowered mid-bass presence saps some impact from the track. Once again using Supertramp's “School” this was quite apparent with the bass lacking presence. With tracks like State of Mind & Black Sun Empire's “Bottom Line” this sub-bass focus was welcomed giving the tracks a very visceral and physical presence.
Upper regions are off-timbre, harsh, and extend well though once roll off starts it feels pretty extreme. The level of detail present is excellent, however. General spaciousness is as well, though the stepped up mid-range still makes them come across a touch claustrophobic at times.
And now for my thoughts with a random Infected Mushroom track, “Now is Gold (feat. Kelsy Karter)”. The opening vocals are mean to sound slightly hollow and lo-fi. These qualities are greatly exaggerated through the F32MT making them sound wholly unnatural as if listening through an old, worn out landline phone. This track does a great job of showing off how awesome the F32MT's bass can be however. Drops are met with lots of impact and amazing sub-bass presence. Like the He 150Pro, the F32MT can properly slam with electronic, especially if the focus is on sub-bass regions. This great bass is countered by some grainy, brittle and generally unpleasant treble. This valley-like presentation of ups and down is presented within a fairly large soundstage, a quality likely helped along by the open-backed nature of TY's particular housing choice.
Final Thoughts:
While there is a lot to like about the F32MT, such as the rock solid build, outstanding comfort, and low entry cost, the way it sounds is exceptionally disappointing and makes it very hard to recommend. The inline mic also sounds merely passable, falling well short of the performance I've seen on much cheaper products like the 4 USD YHC S600.
My recommendation? Spend the extra 7 USD and get the HE150Pro. Sure you lose the inline mic but unless that is an absolutely necessary feature, you get a vastly superior product in terms of sound quality.
Thanks for reading.
- B9Scramber
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Some Test Tunes:
Aesop Rock - Skelethon (Album)
Daft Punk - Random Access Memories (Album)
Elton John - Yellow Golden Brick Road (Album)
King Crimson - Lark's Tongues in Aspic (Album)
King Crimson - Starless and Bible Black (Track)
Supertramp - Crime of the Century (Album)
Infected Mushroom - Converting Vegetarians (Album)
Infected Mushroom - Legend of the Black Shawarma (Album)
Gorillaz - Plastic Beach (Album)
Massive Attack - Mezzanine (Album)
Fleetwood Mac - Rumors (Album)
Run the Jewels - Run the Jewels (Album)
The Prodigy - The Day is My Enemy (Album)
Tobacco - screw*d Up Friends (Album)
Felt - Felt 2 (A Tribute to Lisa Bone) (Album)
