[Au13]

Dunu bud looks a little rough. Like something I would expect to be pulled out of a closet from ten, twenty years ago.

BTW now that I've spent some time with the FF5 unsure of what I could say about them other than a few points including they are easily one of the best buds I've ever heard. Really opened my mind up to how much further an earbud could go compared to how content I was with my Toneking Viridis the last couple years.

 

[samandhi]

Dunu bud looks a little rough. Like something I would expect to be pulled out of a closet from ten, twenty years ago.

BTW now that I've spent some time with the FF5 unsure of what I could say about them other than a few points including they are easily one of the best buds I've ever heard. Really opened my mind up to how much further an earbud could go compared to how content I was with my Toneking Viridis the last couple years.

All I can say is.... UH OH!


Welcome to the club (again???).

 

[mt877]

Dunu bud looks a little rough. Like something I would expect to be pulled out of a closet from ten, twenty years ago.

No kidding. Check out the Torx screw holding the cable housing together. This set of buds must be a prototype.

 

[omerad]

Thanks for the firsthand field report. DUNU is known for their innovation and thinking outside the box approach in engineering. The Alpha 1 is an example of that. I wonder what this new earbud brings to the table for them. As you mentioned, there some great sounding earbuds already available (K's, Moondrop & FiiO). Let's hope they release an earbud that will sound great and be worthy of being added to everyone's bud collection.

Yes, couldn't agree more. I too have a soft spot for Dunu as they were my entry into Chi-fi (or should say "Tai-fi" since Dunu is originally from Taiwan) but maybe not as low-end. Dunu was a cut above Chi-fi with innovative designs, hybrid drivers, and extensive accessories for a price. Nowadays mid-fi seems to have expanded into a hyper competitive space and Dunu is become rather normal. Perhaps that's why they are seeking new segment like earbuds seeing how other makers are at least able to sustain a niche category. Walking around this show and the dozens of brands has been mind-boggling to see how big the industry has become.

Its also a little disheartening because it is a business driven by the big bucks and seeing all the brands hustling for increasingly higher price points leaves little room and attention for the value disruptive flathead. I certainly hope Dunu brings their new earbud to market to increase choice and make flathead designs more disruptive and money making at the same time. At least it's good to see some movement against driver count inflation and towards dynamic drivers... Buuuutt then I see something like Campfire's Trifecta triple dynamic driver at multi kilobuck price and think nah I'll just make do with a $100 flathead.

 

[omerad]

Yes, certainly many thanks for reporting on these.

So, would you call these more of a "diffuse" tuning? If that is the case, I may also pass on these. After all, I have the Chaconne, Maria II, and Alpha 1 that are already doing this very well (for when I am in the mood for it). And, while I DO love DUNU products and have a couple products from them, they tend to be a tad overpriced for what they are (only IMO).

It also looks like they stuck with the same cable type as the Alpha 1 has, which is rubber. While this is not bad at all, and doesn't tangle at all, it also is super springy and will not lie coiled up (it tries to be perfectly straight). I WAS sort of hoping that they would go with a non-fixed cable for once with their earbuds. Maybe with one of their DUW-02 cables or something like that?!

Yes I think it could be called diffuse tuning. It's mid forward, brighter upper-mid and treble (a bit too sharp for my taste), decent mid bass and then rolled off below that. Strangely I thought the Dunu Stealth - let's call it what it looks exactly like - sounded better to my ears than the SA6 sitting next to it. But it's possible I just couldn't get the seal right on the SA6 with the available tips. Still the SA6 was also quite bright and rolled off and I'd prefer the Stealth.

Cable is quite nice, typical Dunu design and comes with the integrated cable tie. If you wrap it with alternating over then under it doesn't spring much.

 

[omerad]

No kidding. Check out the Torx screw holding the cable housing together. This set of buds must be a prototype.

Here's a few other angles. I believe it's a pretty finished design, they seem to be testing the market to gather feedback about the tuning and to find the right price point. I certainly gave my 2 cents and hope it leads to some tuning improvements before launch.

 

[prakasitp]

While browsing for yinman 600ohm.

found out that Yincrow RW-3000 was on discount, $234

US $233.70 59％ Off | Yincrow RW-3000 Flagship HIFI Headset IEM 15mm Dynamic Drive Unit Metal Music Running Earphone Bass DJ Earbud EBX21 RW-2000
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mqF2SP4

 

[omerad]

I love coming to this forum/thread and finding stuff like this. There's nowhere else that you can find so much in the way of early impressions or impressions on hard to find gear.

I was hoping Dunu might take some cues from their very successful Zen and Zen Pro IEMs for tuning their new buds, giving them some punch in the low end and a nice smooth, but energetic presentation. As @samandhi pointed out, there are plenty of buds out there doing the diffuse tuning or rolled off bass with prominent upper mids profile and doing both very well. Dunu generally pushes boundaries and tries to bring unique tech and tunings to market so my hope when I saw their bud posted yesterday was that we'd be seeing something unique that we can't currently get from another bud.

Anyways, thanks so much for sharing your early impressions? If I can ask you another question, how would you describe the tunings of each of the K's buds you tried? Which was your favorite and which would you prefer to have in your lineup if you could only have one?

I do like Dunu's products, design-wise and innovativeness, and was looking forward to something different. But looking at this particular design has me thinking it would be difficult to do a lot with. Stealth's shell is quite flat looking, seems not much room behind in the driver cavity. There does seem to be a vent or port at the top of the stem but given the bass rolloff doesn't seem to do much. This is in contrast to FF5 which has a deeper shell and a ported stem. Unique shell design seems to be a very good design strategy for flathead dynamic drivers, which leads me to K's.

I spent some time with K's products because, a) respect for showing up to the expo with only flathead earbud products in a sea of IEMs (where the heck are Yincrow and Toneking!?), and b) they just need maximum love and support for what they do. They had three main buds that I could tell. Bell-Ti and Bell-Ti Plus, I heard the Plus and it's their flagship, it is a very analytical earphone. Not overly bright but very precise and analytical, also mid forward and good midbass but not a lot of sub-bass. Next is the db1 product which is mid-tier for them, its a more balanced and warmish sounding bud. I liked the design of the db1 which has a unique shell design and removable 2 pin cables. The shell has a machined design that enhances the acoustics supposedly, instead of the typical K's bell shaped products. I first tried the db1 cable down but the rep insisted it would sound better hooked over the ear, and he was right it did sound better, no idea why that would be. Anyway the buds apparently come with both straight and over ear hooked cables. The third product is a new "dbX" which is launching in April or May. In photos its the db1 style design but with a shiny silver or gold shell. The dbX is pretty much the same as db1 but flashier design and it did indeed sound similar. Price is supposed to be a little higher than db1.

If I only had one I'd probably go for db1 or dbX. I prefer a warmer and balanced tuning, maybe a little extra bass. I like the shell design of the db1 or dbX over the bell shape with a stem, and of course the versatility of removable cable and multiple wear position is good too. I imagine it would complement my other current favs like Yinman, FF5 and the Nobunaga

 

[mt877]

Here's a few other angles. I believe it's a pretty finished design, they seem to be testing the market to gather feedback about the tuning and to find the right price point. I certainly gave my 2 cents and hope it leads to some tuning improvements before launch.

Thanks for the extra pictures. It’s interesting to see the port at the top of the cable shell, but as you mentioned it doesn’t appear to do much for turning as there is such a thin tube between the cable shell and driver shell. That thin tube is probably stuffed with the wires for the driver which block any tuning port on the cable shell. (?). Only Dunu knows the answer to this.

 

[mt877]

While browsing for yinman 600ohm.

found out that Yincrow RW-3000 was on discount, $234

US $233.70 59％ Off | Yincrow RW-3000 Flagship HIFI Headset IEM 15mm Dynamic Drive Unit Metal Music Running Earphone Bass DJ Earbud EBX21 RW-2000
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mqF2SP4

Great find. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the price this low for the RW-3000.

 

[JAnonymous5150]

I do like Dunu's products, design-wise and innovativeness, and was looking forward to something different. But looking at this particular design has me thinking it would be difficult to do a lot with. Stealth's shell is quite flat looking, seems not much room behind in the driver cavity. There does seem to be a vent or port at the top of the stem but given the bass rolloff doesn't seem to do much. This is in contrast to FF5 which has a deeper shell and a ported stem. Unique shell design seems to be a very good design strategy for flathead dynamic drivers, which leads me to K's.

I spent some time with K's products because, a) respect for showing up to the expo with only flathead earbud products in a sea of IEMs (where the heck are Yincrow and Toneking!?), and b) they just need maximum love and support for what they do. They had three main buds that I could tell. Bell-Ti and Bell-Ti Plus, I heard the Plus and it's their flagship, it is a very analytical earphone. Not overly bright but very precise and analytical, also mid forward and good midbass but not a lot of sub-bass. Next is the db1 product which is mid-tier for them, its a more balanced and warmish sounding bud. I liked the design of the db1 which has a unique shell design and removable 2 pin cables. The shell has a machined design that enhances the acoustics supposedly, instead of the typical K's bell shaped products. I first tried the db1 cable down but the rep insisted it would sound better hooked over the ear, and he was right it did sound better, no idea why that would be. Anyway the buds apparently come with both straight and over ear hooked cables. The third product is a new "dbX" which is launching in April or May. In photos its the db1 style design but with a shiny silver or gold shell. The dbX is pretty much the same as db1 but flashier design and it did indeed sound similar. Price is supposed to be a little higher than db1.

If I only had one I'd probably go for db1 or dbX. I prefer a warmer and balanced tuning, maybe a little extra bass. I like the shell design of the db1 or dbX over the bell shape with a stem, and of course the versatility of removable cable and multiple wear position is good too. I imagine it would complement my other current favs like Yinman, FF5 and the Nobunaga

Nice! Thanks for the in depth and well thought out answer.

 

[mt877]

I do like Dunu's products, design-wise and innovativeness, and was looking forward to something different. But looking at this particular design has me thinking it would be difficult to do a lot with. Stealth's shell is quite flat looking, seems not much room behind in the driver cavity. There does seem to be a vent or port at the top of the stem but given the bass rolloff doesn't seem to do much. This is in contrast to FF5 which has a deeper shell and a ported stem. Unique shell design seems to be a very good design strategy for flathead dynamic drivers, which leads me to K's.

I spent some time with K's products because, a) respect for showing up to the expo with only flathead earbud products in a sea of IEMs (where the heck are Yincrow and Toneking!?), and b) they just need maximum love and support for what they do. They had three main buds that I could tell. Bell-Ti and Bell-Ti Plus, I heard the Plus and it's their flagship, it is a very analytical earphone. Not overly bright but very precise and analytical, also mid forward and good midbass but not a lot of sub-bass. Next is the db1 product which is mid-tier for them, its a more balanced and warmish sounding bud. I liked the design of the db1 which has a unique shell design and removable 2 pin cables. The shell has a machined design that enhances the acoustics supposedly, instead of the typical K's bell shaped products. I first tried the db1 cable down but the rep insisted it would sound better hooked over the ear, and he was right it did sound better, no idea why that would be. Anyway the buds apparently come with both straight and over ear hooked cables. The third product is a new "dbX" which is launching in April or May. In photos its the db1 style design but with a shiny silver or gold shell. The dbX is pretty much the same as db1 but flashier design and it did indeed sound similar. Price is supposed to be a little higher than db1.

If I only had one I'd probably go for db1 or dbX. I prefer a warmer and balanced tuning, maybe a little extra bass. I like the shell design of the db1 or dbX over the bell shape with a stem, and of course the versatility of removable cable and multiple wear position is good too. I imagine it would complement my other current favs like Yinman, FF5 and the Nobunaga

Very nice impressions on the K’s db1. I believe the db1 is available with 2 different shell types, titanium and stainless steel. From what I’ve seen on AliExpress it is always recommended to get the stainless steel shell version. The SS version is more expensive, but it is explained that the SS sound better than the titanium shell version. Were the db1’s you tried SS or titanium shell?

Edit: I was wrong about the shell types above. db1e is 80 Ohm titanium back shell with aluminum alloy front shell, db1 is 30 Ohm with total titanium shell. db1 is listed as having better sound quality than db1e, and is also more expensive than db1e.

 

[omerad]

Thanks for the extra pictures. It’s interesting to see the port at the top of the cable shell, but as you mentioned it doesn’t appear to do much for turning as there is such a thin tube between the cable shell and driver shell. That thin tube is probably stuffed with the wires for the driver which block any tuning port on the cable shell. (?). Only Dunu knows the answer to this.

It should be easy to take apart with the single screw assembly and see the stem innards. Although that indicates there isn't any tuning functionality in the stem if it's so easy to take apart. On the other hand if it does have a functioning tuning port the potential to mod could be interesting.

 

[samandhi]

It should be easy to take apart with the single screw assembly and see the stem innards. Although that indicates there isn't any tuning functionality in the stem if it's so easy to take apart. On the other hand if it does have a functioning tuning port the potential to mod could be interesting.

I suspect the former, much like the Smabat M4 that have 0 room behind the transducer (even thought they DO have a port in the back, they still starve for air). Maybe they are relying on the transducer's inbuilt tuning alone?!

 

[mt877]

It should be easy to take apart with the single screw assembly and see the stem innards. Although that indicates there isn't any tuning functionality in the stem if it's so easy to take apart. On the other hand if it does have a functioning tuning port the potential to mod could be interesting.

I suspect the former, much like the Smabat M4 that have 0 room behind the transducer (even thought they DO have a port in the back, they still starve for air). Maybe they are relying on the transducer's inbuilt tuning alone?!

Here's a side profile with the tube connector between the driver housing and cable stem. Considering the cable Dunu is using, the wires inside the cable for the drivers would be very thin, passing through the tube and leave plenty of room for some venting between the driver housing and the cable stem. It's hard to imagine Dunu would put a port on the stem just for window dressing and not have a practical use for it.