[bhazard]

Many Chinese audio companies produce excellent quality equipment, and most of us in the US and in other places of the world know little about them. I'm hoping this thread becomes one easy place to come to for questions about these brands, as it is difficult to find info. Much of this info is scattered all over the place. Any user experiences/reviews/insight should be posted here.
 
Many of these headphones can only be ordered via Taobao. If you are not in China, you will need to use a Taobao forwarding service such as mistertao.com, ugomark.com, or any others that will buy from Taobao and ship to you. They charge for shipping, and an 8-10% commission.
 
 
Chinese Brands
 
Somic
www.somic.cc

Takstar
www.takstar.com
 

 ​

 
VSonic http://www.vsonic.com.cn/en-index.htm
IEM: GR02, GR04, GR07, VC1000, VSD1, VSD1S,
VSD1LE (80% of the GR07, at a much lower price. Exceptional)
 
Dunu http://www.dunu-topsound.com/
IEM: DN-1000 (newest), Tai Chi, I3C-S, Detonator, Landmine, Hephaes, Ares, Trident, Crius, Aegis, Crater, Hawkeye
 
Visang http://www.visang.com.cn/?lng=en
IEM: VS-R01, VS-R02, VS-R03, VS-R04, VS-EX7+
 
Hisoundaudio http://www.hisoundaudio.com/en/index.asp
IEM: Crystal, Golden Crystal, Wooduo2, BA-100
 
Hifiman (US/China)    (http://hifiman.com)    (http://www.head-direct.com/)
Headphones:
HE-400
HE-500: (Easily the best headphone I own. Paired with a good DAC and speaker amp, it truly shines)
HE-6
IEM: RE-400 (if it had a little more bass and highs, it would be a $99 monster. Not much touches it at this price.)
RE-600
 
Astrotec     (http://www.astrotec.cn/)
Headphones: AS100, AS200
IEM: AX35, AX30, AX60, AM90, AX7, AM800, DX60, DX50, AM900, AS100-Pro, AM70
 
Soundmagic  (http://www.soundmagic.com.cn/en/home/Default.html)
Headphones: HP100
IEM: E10, PL11, PL21, ES18, PL10, PL12, PL20, PL13, PL18, E30, PL30, PL50 
 
Uldum   (http://uniternal.com/)
IEM:
U-121102 (Lantern shape. Bassy, not crisp, meh)  U-130101 (Neutral. Advertised as bass heavy, but isn't.)
 
Bluedio   (http://bluedio.com)  (Monoprice Premium Bluetooth Headphone OEM)
Headphones: Bluetooth 4.0 APT-X (R+, R2)   http://www.head-fi.org/t/674551/bluedio-r-bluetooth-4-0-headphones-with-nfc-and-apt-x
 
Rambotech
Headphones: BTH-033 (The best aptX 4.0 headphone I've heard, and its only ~$50. Same model as the $150 VOXOA HD, minus NFC.
IEM:
 
Miatone
Headphones: Superior (Very good bluetooth 4.0 headset , no aptX, a little warmer than many might like) for $38
 
Yuin   http://www.yuin-acoustic.com
 
ECCI (http://www.audioecci.com/)
 
Corecool (http://corecool.tmall.com/)
IEMs: V2 (Great bassy sound, but a huge midbass hump at ~125hz. Could use some highs extension)
 
Moe Audio (http://www.moe-audio.com/)
IEMs: Moe-SS01  (http://www.head-fi.org/t/689069/mini-review-moe-audio-ss01-warning-tongue-in-cheek-and-tacky)
 
Havi
IEM: B3
 
Edifier
Headphones: H850 (Very detailed, crisp highs, neutral to light bass. Practically unknown, and shouldn't be. This company now owns Stax. Yep)
IEMs: H290 (lots of bass, midbass hump, still very good and detailed)
 
Syllable  (http://www.syllable-syllable.com)  Now selling on Amazon
Headphones: Bluetooth 4.0 Active Noise Cancelling: G18(flagship), G08,: G04, G15
IEM: G02 (newest, beats type signature, but with actual clarity), G03, T28 (Bluetooth 4.0)
 
Bidenuo
IEM: G380, G360, G350,
G780 (too hollow)
 
AWEI  en.awei.hk
IEM: s vi-90 (very good sound for the price), Q35 (big bass yet clear), Q9 (wood! very good neutral sound with deep bass extension),
ES800m (clear, big controlled bass, love them. $7 gems: (http://www.head-fi.org/t/630536/small-comparison-of-awei-es800m-best-bang-for-buck)
ES710i (there's a pattern here. another winner)
 
JBM www.360doudou.com/mj720.html
IEM: MJ710, MJ800, MJ900, A8
 
Wallytech
IEM: WEA-085 (poor), 106 (great), 99 (hollow sounding), WHF-110 (some sibilance, very good, but would have been awesome without the boosted highs)
 
Yaoge
IEM: 60, 63 (excellent value, need to bump highs a bit)
 
Langston
IEM: (They all have the same sound, and it is not good. Very hollow and poor)
Headphones:
 
Kanen  www.kanen.net.cn/EN/channel.php?channel_ID=1
Headphones: IP-850 (meh, bass too bloated)
IEM: iP-808 (WOW these are powerful. Holy freakin bass. These are very, very good for ~$10)
 
Songqu
IEM: (You get what you pay for here. Haven't found any of them worthwhile)
 
Senmai  www.senmai.com.cn
Headphones:
HD-900
HD-800 (Lacks bass impact. Needs lots of burn in, otherwise a surprisingly clear can)
SM-HP8 (They remind me of a Superlux in value. These are bass enhanced, warm monitors. Big sound, good mids, no mud, highs take a backseat to the rest of the sound.)
IEMs:
 
Lear
Tomoon (They make a TE-100, single BA IEM with a Knowles ED driver... http://www.tomoon.cn/)
AudioSense (http://erjihome.taobao.com/)
 
Ivery (http://www.iverygood.com/index.html)
IEM: IS-1,2,3,4, IV-1,2,3,4 (all surprisingly good for ~$10, yet slightly bright aside from the IV-3)
 
Fidue (http://www.fidue.com/index_en.asp)
IEM:
A81 (Titanium Flagship, $299)
A63
 
Lisound (http://www.lisoundearphone.com/)
 
Gorsun: www.gorsun.com/En_index.asp (Gorsun GS-A340 is a goodlooking, well built and extremely light IEM's that has surprisingly good detail for 4.5$)
 
Keenion  www.keenion.cc, www.keenion.com.cn
 
Fokoos
IEM:
X5 (10mm, V shaped signature, good for $15, but nothing special)
 
Gediao  szgediao.com
IEM:
GD-1 ($22 earphone, 8.8mm mylar driver, sounds and looks more expensive than it is. Has quality packaging and a nice case. Clear sound, nice bass. U shaped sig. The clarity is the biggest surprise. Much clearer than most $20 earphones.)
 
Maya
IEM:
E18 (bright, but good clarity, overpriced)
E10 (decent, nothing special)
E12 (hey now, these things aren't bad for $15. Good clarity, but needs your own tips. Not enough bass.)
 
Genipu
Beevo
Ovleng: www.ovleng.com/products.asp?bigid=9
Phrodi
IEM:
Pod-100: $12, 14.3mm driver. Mid focused. Not enough bass for such a big driver
Pod-007
m201
 
XKDUN: www.xkdun.com (CK-660, CK-700, CK-800, CK-W1000 IEM's all sound great clear with punchy bass. Stay away from CK-900)
 
KZ (Knowledge Zenith) (DIY)  (http://taoctt.taobao.com/index.htm?spm=2013.1.w5002-218015938.2.xIC2vr) (http://shugong.taobao.com/?spm=2013.1.0.0.W8WxBm)
IEM: KZ-A1 (jaw droppingly good if you like bass. HUGE subwoofer bass. One of my favorite low cost IEMs, and they're only $15)
 
 
Cogoo!!  www.cogooll.com/new2009/english-w
IEM: T-02 ($8 gem. Nice bass, well rounded, highs could be a bit more crisp)
 
Kalaideng
IEM: KE-400 Royce (Freakin mid-bass hump. Once tamed it sounds pretty nice though and looks great)
 
Roe
IEM: A7i (another no-name, no info brand that sounds great after some slight midbass taming)
 
Moxpad
IEM: X3 (An exceptionally well balanced MeE M6 killer for ~$25. One of my new favorites)
 
Xiaomi
IEM: Pistons
 
Jiayu
IEM: Ebony Wood G4
 
Clave Products: http://clavechina.com/
Cobalt Industrial: http://www1.cobalt.com.hk/index.do (made the old DBA-02/B2, RockitSounds, etc.)
Fujikon: http://www.fujikon.com/ (made some Fischer Audio, MEElec)
Innovation Technology: http://www.innacoustic.com
Tralucent Audio: http://www.tralucentaudio.com         Known for: 1plus2 Hybrid Universal IEM & T1 Portable 
Unique Melody: http://www.unique-melody.com/              Known for: UM Miracle, 3DD etc
TCG ( http://www.tcgcn.com/ ) AMP/DAC
Shonyun ( http://www.shonyun.com/ ) AMP/DAC
BEAT AUDIO ( http://beatheadphone.taobao.com/ ) CIEM, Cables
Blink (http://withablink.com/) speakers
 
Hong Kong:
VMV ( http://www.vmv-audio.com/ ) AMP/DAC
Labkable ( http://labkable.com/ ) cables
 
Sunrise Audio:
IEMs: 
 
Audio-GD:
DAC/AMP: NFB 11.32 (http://www.head-fi.org/t/624517/audio-gd-nfb-11-32-delivery-impression-thread)
 
Yulong:
 
Aune:
 
Cayin:
 
S.M.S.L.:
 
YS Audio
 
Questyle ( http://www.questyleaudio.com/en/list/?5_1.html ) DAC/AMP, wireless audio system

HIFI E.T ( http://en.hifi-et.com/ ) DAP , and they have 2 models MA9 and MA8

IHIFI (http://www.i-hifi.com/ ) DAP such as ihifi960, ihifi760, and  ihifi812

QLS-HiFi ( http://www.qlshifi.com/ ) DAP and DAC

Colorfly ( http://www.colorfly.net/ ) DAP such as C4, CK4, C3

SoundSoul:
S-018
http://www.amazon.com/Soundsoul-S-018-Inear-Earphone-black/dp/B009GISUL8
 
Taiwan Brands
 
Superlux    (http://superlux.com.tw) (Legendary value/performance headphones. Well reviewed)
Headphones: HD681EVO (nice bass), HD681, HD669, HD668B, HD662EVO, HD662, HD661, HD660, HD651,
IEMs: HD386 (bright), HD385, HD381,
 
Perfect Sound (http://www.perfect-sound.com.tw/)
Hoomia (http://hoomia.com/)
Jetvox (http://www.jvox.com.tw/en/)
BenQ (yes, they're a monitor company, but they also make earbuds, and in the Chinese market, they sell a single BA IEM called the DQ-1:http://style.benq.com.cn/diy/dq1/ --- at the same time, this is probably solely an effort of their China branch and won't leave the China market, probably won't even be sold in Taiwan)
Widing (http://www.widing-hifi.com/) http://www.head-fi.org/products/widing-me10ex
Chord & Major (http://tw.chord-m.com/)
JTS (http://www.jts.com.tw/_en/01_professional/00_list.php?cccid=86)
Spider (http://www.spiderproduct.com/)
TaiwanEars (http://www.taiwanears.com/)
Alteam: http://www.alteam.com.tw (Looks like possibly a Denon OEM...)
Divas Audio: http://www.divasaudio.com.tw/index.htm
Yoga Electronics: http://www.yoga.com.tw/ (OEM for Fischer Audio, California Headphone Company, Sony, etc.)
Forgrand: http://www.forgrand.com/index.aspx (made Fischer Audio stuff)
Oblanc: http://www.oblanc.com/
Tiinlab: http://tiinlab.com
 
Raxconn: www.raxconn.com.tw (RX-H076 IEM's sound good)
 
DA-T: http://www.da-t.com/index.html
 
South Korea
Samsin Inno: http://www.ssinno.com/new/index.html (makes EXS products)
Cresyn: http://www.cresyn.com/main.php
T-PEOS: http://www.t-peos.co.kr/
Dynamic Motion: http://www.dynamicmotion.co.kr/
 
LG:
IEMs: Quadbeat, Quadbeat 2 (Outstanding $30 in ear. Mid bass hump and slight peaks that are easily tamed. Exceptionally clear with a nice soundstage.) 
 
Movon:
Bluetooth IEM: Swing 2 (This is probably my new favorite aptX 4.0 in ear. Slightly sibilant, but overall clear and balanced with decent bass. Best range of the aptX in ears too. Needs your own replacement tips for the best sound.)
 
Vietnam
 
 
Singapore:
Creative (www.creative.com)
Null Audio: http://www.null-audio.com          Known for: Rooth Custom IEMs, Lune Cables etc
 
Malaysia:
Stoner Acoustic:
Mini dac UD100/UD110

 

[blueangel2323]

Vsonic is Chinese

 

[bhazard]

  Vsonic is Chinese

 
Yep. VSonic, Visang, etc etc.... Lots of brands known by head-fi members, but the general public has little knowledge of.

 

[hkppl]

Subscribed, hope this thread won't become a "rant" thread for Chinese brands head-fi products...
 
BTW, there is a brand called Lear, coming from HK. I haven't own/tried their products, but I remember I read them somewhere here in this forum before.

 

[TwinQY]

Don't forget about Astrotec. Of the AM-90 and AX-60 fame...

 

[bhazard]

  Don't forget about Astrotec. Of the AM-90 and AX-60 fame...

 
Yup, totally forgot.
 
I'm going to start adding website URLs too, as some are hard to find. Hoping people chime in to help others decide on purchases. As much as I would love to buy every single model from every company to compare, my wallet and free time disagrees.

 

[Berkovajazz]

Yuin (only the one company with all perfect products)
Sunrise Audio (Vietnam) edited
Ecci
Corecool
http://www.ebay.com/itm/CORECOOL-V2-Dual-Dynamic-High-Fidelity-Professional-IEMs-Inner-Ear-Earphones-/290904065240?pt=US_Headphones&hash=item43bb3bc4d8

 

[djvkool]

  Corecool
http://www.ebay.com/itm/CORECOOL-V2-Dual-Dynamic-High-Fidelity-Professional-IEMs-Inner-Ear-Earphones-/290904065240?pt=US_Headphones&hash=item43bb3bc4d8

 
Tempting...

 

[MrJohnnyHan]

Astrotec
 
http://www.astrotec.cn/

 

[tomscy2000]

Nice list; I'd try to format it into a table format, though, to make things better organized.
 
Also for some errata:

1. I don't think Sunrise Audio is Taiwanese? AFAIK, it's from Vietnam.
2. You may also want to make the distinction between companies from Hong Kong and the mainland, though these days, because of the HK/Shenzhen/Guangzhou axis, these lines are quite blurred.

 
Other brands to add for Taiwan:

1. Perfect Sound (http://www.perfect-sound.com.tw/)
2. Hoomia (http://hoomia.com/)
3. Jetvox (not sure if you want to include them, as they're purely an ODM/OEM entity and have no products of their own, but people will immediately recognize what comes from their outfit... http://www.jvox.com.tw/en/)
4. BenQ (yes, they're a monitor company, but they also make earbuds, and in the Chinese market, they sell a single BA IEM called the DQ-1: http://style.benq.com.cn/diy/dq1/ --- at the same time, this is probably solely an effort of their China branch and won't leave the China market, probably won't even be sold in Taiwan)

 
Other brands to add for China:

1. Tomoon (They make a TE-100, single BA IEM with a Knowles ED driver... http://www.tomoon.cn/)
2. AudioSense (http://erjihome.taobao.com/)
3. Widing (http://www.widing-hifi.com/)

 
I'll try to contribute as much as possible when more come to mind.

 

[z7nz]

  Yuin (only the one company with all perfect products)
Sunrise Audio (Taiwan)
Ecci
Corecool
http://www.ebay.com/itm/CORECOOL-V2-Dual-Dynamic-High-Fidelity-Professional-IEMs-Inner-Ear-Earphones-/290904065240?pt=US_Headphones&hash=item43bb3bc4d8

 

 

Sunrise Audio is from Vietnam actually

 

[Berkovajazz]

Sorry, Vietnam, my bad, i was writing late night
Oh, Widing. I remember when i've found some super model on eBay for about 300$, which were hand-made, with super changable cord and super sound. My Google-translator is not a perfect friend with chinese language.
http://www.head-fi.org/products/widing-me10ex

 

[bhazard]

  Nice list; I'd try to format it into a table format, though, to make things better organized.
 
Also for some errata:

1. I don't think Sunrise Audio is Taiwanese? AFAIK, it's from Vietnam.
2. You may also want to make the distinction between companies from Hong Kong and the mainland, though these days, because of the HK/Shenzhen/Guangzhou axis, these lines are quite blurred.

 
Other brands to add for Taiwan:

1. Perfect Sound (http://www.perfect-sound.com.tw/)
2. Hoomia (http://hoomia.com/)
3. Jetvox (not sure if you want to include them, as they're purely an ODM/OEM entity and have no products of their own, but people will immediately recognize what comes from their outfit... http://www.jvox.com.tw/en/)
4. BenQ (yes, they're a monitor company, but they also make earbuds, and in the Chinese market, they sell a single BA IEM called the DQ-1: http://style.benq.com.cn/diy/dq1/ --- at the same time, this is probably solely an effort of their China branch and won't leave the China market, probably won't even be sold in Taiwan)

 
Other brands to add for China:

1. Tomoon (They make a TE-100, single BA IEM with a Knowles ED driver... http://www.tomoon.cn/)
2. AudioSense (http://erjihome.taobao.com/)
3. Widing (http://www.widing-hifi.com/)

 
I'll try to contribute as much as possible when more come to mind.

 
This is perfect, thank you. I didn't know of any of these brands. I'll try to break it down into a table when I get some free time.
 
Finding out OEM's is also what I'm looking to add here too, because for instance, a company called Soniq in the US sells the Somic EFI82MT for ~$99 here. It can be had for $35 shipped from Aliexpress. Big price difference, same product. Gemini sells the Takstar Pro-80 as the HSR-1000 for $50 here, where it can be $80+ from China.
 
The Somic Gaming headphones absolutely blow away the Turtle Beach models I've tried in SQ, for a lot less money as well. Raising awareness to these brands can help people find absolute gems they may not have known existed, because they just aren't marketed here. Beats is the only brand most people know of, and that's just sad.

 

[tomscy2000]

  I'll try to break it down into a table when I get some free time.

 
It might be easier to do a Google spreadsheet, like what I did with the BA chart project...
 

  Finding out OEM's is also what I'm looking to add here tooI'll try to break it down into a table when I get some free time.

 
That might be a little too ambitious... way too many OEMs...
 

---

More...
 
China:
Ivery (http://www.iverygood.com/index.html)
Fidue (http://e.weibo.com/fidue)
Lisound (http://www.lisoundearphone.com/)
Yuin (http://www.yuin-acoustic.com/product/?id=2)
ECCI (http://www.audioecci.com/)
See if any brands in here were missed: http://cymbacavum.com/2013/08/12/the-biz-ciem-companies-in-china-hong-kong/
 
Taiwan:
Chord & Major (http://tw.chord-m.com/)
JTS (http://www.jts.com.tw/_en/01_professional/00_list.php?cccid=86)
Spider (http://www.spiderproduct.com/)
TaiwanEars (http://www.taiwanears.com/)
 
Singapore:
Creative (www.creative.com)
 
 

 

[tomscy2000]

ODM/OEM Companies (** denotes existence of self-contained retail arm, eponymous or otherwise)
 
Clave Products (HK/China): http://clavechina.com/
Cobalt Industrial (HK/China): http://www1.cobalt.com.hk/index.do (made the old DBA-02/B2, RockitSounds, etc.)
Fujikon (HK/China): http://www.fujikon.com/ (made some Fischer Audio, MEElec)
Innovation Technology (HK/China): http://www.innacoustic.com
 
Forgrand (Taiwan): http://www.forgrand.com/index.aspx (made Fischer Audio stuff)
Oblanc** (Taiwan): http://www.oblanc.com/
 
Samsin Inno** (South Korea): http://www.ssinno.com/new/index.html (makes EXS products)
Cresyn** (South Korea): http://www.cresyn.com/main.php
T-PEOS** (South Korea): http://www.t-peos.co.kr/
Dynamic Motion (South Korea): http://www.dynamicmotion.co.kr/