unifutomaki
1000+ Head-Fier
TinHifi T2 Plus: More Impressions
I've now listened to these over the course of several days and I'm extremely happy that they've become part of my small collection of gear. As someone who lives fairly comfortably but does not have the level of disposable income required to purchase every new thing that comes onto the market, my personal philosophy is that every new acquisition should provide a novel experience rather than being a series of endless sidegrades. Typically, achieving such gains requires stepping up to the products in the next price bracket from what one is accustomed to. So when B9Scrambler cited the T2 Plus as essentially rendering its T4 sibling irrelevant for half its asking price, I was very intrigued. I'd already been eyeing the likes of the Kbear Diamond, Moondrop Starfield and indeed the TinHifi T4 as contenders for my next pickup. If this were true, then the T2 Plus would represent a fantastic value indeed - seeing a reasonable discount on the NiceHCK store, I pulled the trigger.
The T2 Plus represents my first encounter with TinHiFi's tuning and sound. As someone who is far more accustomed to a V-shaped sound, I was curious as to how I'd take to these. I was pleasantly surprised at how balanced and coherent these IEMs are. While my TFZ T2 comes out on top in terms of bass slam and sub-bass quantity and remains quite a fun listen all around, the T2 Plus nets clear wins in vocals and treble extension. Subjectively, the T2 Plus offers a pleasing decay to each note, allowing them to linger in the air for just a tad longer than one might expect, thus offering a quality of musicality characteristic of much more expensive IEMs. For example, each strum of the acoustic guitar in Radiohead's Karma Police has weight and impact to it; one believes one is listening to a musical instrument being played rather than an artificial, digital substitute of it. In a similar vein, the drums in Of Monsters and Men's Crystals are rendered in a lifelike, atmospheric manner, giving the impression that air is being moved with each beat.
Where the T2 Plus truly shines for me, however, is in its soundstage and separation. To a greater degree than any IEM I've experienced so far, the T2 Plus succeeds in creating a sense of three-dimensional space just outside of one's head where each instrument and vocalist has room to breathe. In contrast, the TFZ T2 sounds relatively more intimate and closed-in, with each element of sound occurring along a single horizontal plane. I'm impressed that the T2 Plus can offer this kind of listening experience with just a single dynamic driver. This is an experience where details are revealed in one's music that one might not have previously noticed; one where it's easy to become wrapped up in music due to the way the T2 Plus recreates the sense of profound atmosphere that the artist had been going for in the studio.
Where the TinHifi T2 Plus truly comes into its own, then, is when well-mastered source material is fed into it. It's not so magical to the extent that it can extract audiophile goodness out of loudness-boosted, "everything front and centre for maximum effect" records. But it's also not so picky to the extent that it won't run just fine out of the 3.5mm jack on your average smartphone with a built-in non-fancy integrated DAC solution, which is exactly how I've been using mine. Of course, I do have a Tempotec Sonata HD Pro dongle on the way, and I'll certainly be putting this combination through its paces when I am able.
The T2 Plus has satisfied my desire for a more dynamic, resolving sound to the extent that I believe there's probably not much more to gain from any offering below the likes of the Moondrop Starfield. After a series of follow-ups to the original T2 that saw TinHifi ask for more and more money while keeping the same shell design and (at least until the T4) making their already bright sound signature even brighter, it's great to see this company back on form with a new benchmark offering at the USD50 segment. Cheers and happy listening!
I've now listened to these over the course of several days and I'm extremely happy that they've become part of my small collection of gear. As someone who lives fairly comfortably but does not have the level of disposable income required to purchase every new thing that comes onto the market, my personal philosophy is that every new acquisition should provide a novel experience rather than being a series of endless sidegrades. Typically, achieving such gains requires stepping up to the products in the next price bracket from what one is accustomed to. So when B9Scrambler cited the T2 Plus as essentially rendering its T4 sibling irrelevant for half its asking price, I was very intrigued. I'd already been eyeing the likes of the Kbear Diamond, Moondrop Starfield and indeed the TinHifi T4 as contenders for my next pickup. If this were true, then the T2 Plus would represent a fantastic value indeed - seeing a reasonable discount on the NiceHCK store, I pulled the trigger.
The T2 Plus represents my first encounter with TinHiFi's tuning and sound. As someone who is far more accustomed to a V-shaped sound, I was curious as to how I'd take to these. I was pleasantly surprised at how balanced and coherent these IEMs are. While my TFZ T2 comes out on top in terms of bass slam and sub-bass quantity and remains quite a fun listen all around, the T2 Plus nets clear wins in vocals and treble extension. Subjectively, the T2 Plus offers a pleasing decay to each note, allowing them to linger in the air for just a tad longer than one might expect, thus offering a quality of musicality characteristic of much more expensive IEMs. For example, each strum of the acoustic guitar in Radiohead's Karma Police has weight and impact to it; one believes one is listening to a musical instrument being played rather than an artificial, digital substitute of it. In a similar vein, the drums in Of Monsters and Men's Crystals are rendered in a lifelike, atmospheric manner, giving the impression that air is being moved with each beat.
Where the T2 Plus truly shines for me, however, is in its soundstage and separation. To a greater degree than any IEM I've experienced so far, the T2 Plus succeeds in creating a sense of three-dimensional space just outside of one's head where each instrument and vocalist has room to breathe. In contrast, the TFZ T2 sounds relatively more intimate and closed-in, with each element of sound occurring along a single horizontal plane. I'm impressed that the T2 Plus can offer this kind of listening experience with just a single dynamic driver. This is an experience where details are revealed in one's music that one might not have previously noticed; one where it's easy to become wrapped up in music due to the way the T2 Plus recreates the sense of profound atmosphere that the artist had been going for in the studio.
This doesn't exactly play to the T2 Plus's strengths...
Where the TinHifi T2 Plus truly comes into its own, then, is when well-mastered source material is fed into it. It's not so magical to the extent that it can extract audiophile goodness out of loudness-boosted, "everything front and centre for maximum effect" records. But it's also not so picky to the extent that it won't run just fine out of the 3.5mm jack on your average smartphone with a built-in non-fancy integrated DAC solution, which is exactly how I've been using mine. Of course, I do have a Tempotec Sonata HD Pro dongle on the way, and I'll certainly be putting this combination through its paces when I am able.
The T2 Plus has satisfied my desire for a more dynamic, resolving sound to the extent that I believe there's probably not much more to gain from any offering below the likes of the Moondrop Starfield. After a series of follow-ups to the original T2 that saw TinHifi ask for more and more money while keeping the same shell design and (at least until the T4) making their already bright sound signature even brighter, it's great to see this company back on form with a new benchmark offering at the USD50 segment. Cheers and happy listening!
cDetailBottomMoreThisSeller,scm-url:1007.13339.146401.0,pvid:bc3a5ace-96ce-4ec4-b73a-45d5cb605c9d,tpp_buckets:668#0#131923#71_668#808#5965#305_668#888#3325#9_668#2846#8113#609_668#2717#7564#690_668#1000022185#1000066055#0_668#3468#15612#393
