[Ichos]

I didn't have any discount and affliated links here in Head-fi but on my own blog, I post some, I don't really mind as I didn't even have any monetary earnings eversince I started to do reviews on audio products.

After careful thinking I have decided to keep my Headfi reviews and my website clean of affiliate links.
It seems more fair to me.

 

[Zerstorer_GOhren]

The truth is that Hidizs went too nervous with this release, I think that have invested a lot in it and this made them over react.

And yes I agree that $500 is too much to ask for the MS5 given the competition.

Strangely, although they have asked reviewers about our opinion and I strongly suggested to make the cable modular, they didn't listen.

I actually suggested it to them the modular cable and replacing the stock ear tips.

 

[Ichos]

I actually suggested it to them the modular cable and replacing the stock ear tips.

$500 without modular cable is too much to ask despite the cable being of really high quality.
I would even make this cable to sell it independently.

 

[Zerstorer_GOhren]

I just simple see

$500 without modular cable is too much to ask despite the cable being of really high quality.
I would even make this cable to sell it independently.

Especially some other US$300 sets like See Audio Bravery Red has a modular cable made by Hakugei.

But Hidizs MS5 is probably got one of the best stock cable in midrange segment.

 

[Vandammmmma]

This is the only time I complained about how an IEM has an actually high quality cable.
No matter how I see it, it is just that good.
I also agree it was a missed opportunity to make this cable to be modular one, heck they can even lower the cable quality a bit as long as they can fit the budget for modular cable.

It's such a waste to buy a new balanced cable, Especially, the Hidizs' balanced cable which they sold separately, not to mention the only difference is ONLY the 4.4mm jack (confirmed by them). I'd rather reterminate the stock cable later since I'm confident gonna use this IEM for a pretty long time.

 

[Zerstorer_GOhren]

This is the only time I complained about how an IEM has an actually high quality cable.
No matter how I see it, it is just that good.
I also agree it was a missed opportunity to make this cable to be modular one, heck they can even lower the cable quality a bit as long as they can fit the budget for modular cable.

It's such a waste to buy a new balanced cable, Especially, the Hidizs' balanced cable which they sold separately, not to mention the only difference is ONLY the 4.4mm jack (confirmed by them). I'd rather reterminate the stock cable later since I'm confident gonna use this IEM for a pretty long time.

Hidizs should released a modular termination variant of the stock cable.

 

[littlenezt]

Anyone returning thier samples- postage paid of course?

Anyone submit your review for review prior to posting?

Never had a organization ask to filter reviews before shockingly unscrupulous.

What a shotty company Hidizs is.

welp there goes drama :

1. NO. I plan to keep the MS5 because I genuinely like them after changing to a thin cable and aim for deep insertion
2. Yes I sent them my draft of the review, My review is not entirely positive especially exposing on the build quality, accessories accident, and cable comfort issues.
The only thing I got as response is like a daily conversation exchanging opinion about the tonality nothing extreme like REDO the review or anything.
Also Hidizs is kind enough for me by helping me with pointing out if I wrote something wrong like typo or wrong product feature name like proof-reading, its really helpful because I'm not really good with English especially grammar.

about BGGR comment on company "they will use you up"
Actually I've experienced it first hand before (not with Hidizs) but with local Indonesian company, I'm not entirely sure if I should share this or not but here it is :
Previously I WAS a sound consultant / tuner / whatever you wanna call it, they've used me, ask all kind of target graph and what to change if you want certain sound etc etc, and NEVER GOT PAID AND JUST BEING CUT OFF TERMINATED ONE WAY, personally I was trying to reach out with the founder of that brand and reconcile with them at first, but heck I'm too tired after all the drama that's been caused and it does affect my personal mental health till this day and I literally almost k&&& myself because the drama and how tired and affected my mental health because of it, heck even when im writing this thing it still affect my personal mental health and my anxiety now is goes of the roof.

Maybe they asked u to return it because u are one of the two reviewer that selles their deview unit?

yep he's one of the two

I think that it depends on the reviewer status.
They didn't ask to read my review and I refused any affiliate links that kindly offered me.
The discount coupon I added doesn't earn me any kickback so I did it for potential buyers to get extra discount.
I know that Hidizs is tracking the "clicks" on the link but I don't care.

Hidizs did ask me if I want to put up an affiliate link and yes I agree, but I don't even know how to check how many person have click / use my link, and even how to check my earnings, I don't even care if I don't earn a single rupiah / penny / dollars out of it, the link give discount to the potential buyer, so I agree on creating the affiliate links / coupon code

I'm on this because of my hobby on audio, and sharing thing helps me ease out my demon inside my mind lol.

 

[Vandammmmma]

Previously I WAS a sound consultant / tuner / whatever you wanna call it, they've used me, ask all kind of target graph and what to change if you want certain sound etc etc, and NEVER GOT PAID AND JUST BEING CUT OFF TERMINATED ONE WAY, personally I was trying to reach out with the founder of that brand and reconcile with them at first.

So sorry to hear that, I'm an Indonesian myself as you already know.
Shame on them, whoever it was (though I admit my kepo-ness is triggered, I won't ask any further).

Take a deep breath, man.
Wish you get better.

 

[LitilSnild]

welp there goes drama

I'm not sure why Hidizs is getting so much flak over this. For a first time organising this kind of event, I think they did an excellent job and it's quite clear that they are looking improve. I would've liked a pre-production model so changes could happen, but I see that it wasn't what they were looking for.

My only actual gripe was about late reveal of the pricing, and I can see their point about being careful with it seeing the market right now. While they did request a preview, they were very understanding of my brief explanation of issues I was having IRL and let me postpone the review until I was comfortable with it.

We're not getting a portion from the link they provided, it's the 5% promo code that we're getting a percentage from. Also, people should know that the payback will be miniscule and even if it is impactful, MUST NOT change the review in any manner. Common sense stuff, ain't that difficult.

 

[o0genesis0o]

I don’t know about how the kickback thing works, but I do wish that there is a way to give readers that 5% discount without the messy kickback issues. This whole thing is unnecessarily messy and dramatic, IMHO. And Hidizs couldn’t pick a more unfortunate time to release a sub-$500 IEM.

I also wish that they get some one to tune the tonality better. Both the MD4 and this one have high technical performance, but “niche” tuning. Meanwhile, other manufacturers tend to hit the tuning and fail the technical performance. But if the tonality is a mess and reviewers feel that some fishy marketing is going on, all those advantages in technical performance would be brushed aside.

Now that I have both B3 and SA6II on my hand, I can safely say that neither offer the bass and staging performance of MS5. But does that matter to buyers after the headphones.com review of MS5?

 

[Jaytiss]

Tbh b3 review seemed fair. What do you mean?

 

[o0genesis0o]

Tbh b3 review seemed fair. What do you mean?

I was talking about the MS5 review.

 

[Ichos]

Most of you people are judging the tonality from their own perspective solely.
While a reviewer is expected to have a preference of his own, writing the review is more complex and complicated than that.
The reviewer should describe what is hearing to help other people understand what is happening so they can decide if they will like it or not.

So, the MS5 tuning is not bad at all, it might not be my preference for listening to classical music but I can see a lot of people liking it exactly for what it is.
No one should care if I like it or not and no one should care if it complies with Harman or any other given target by the "X" Mr. reviewer guy.

Hidizs decided to tune it like that and nobody can say that their engineers are deaf and they don't know their trade.
This tuning might not be for you Mr. "X" but it certainly is for someone else.

 

[cqtek]

I've been watching all this fuss from the sidelines for a few days now and I don't dare to show my backside... But I'll just tell you some truths about my relationship with Hidizs, because I've been reviewing their products for quite some time.

Hidizs have never asked me to send them a review before publishing it.
Hidizs first offered me an affiliate link, which I declined. I pay for my website with my money and I am a reviewer as a hobby, I don't sell my samples and I don't intend to make money from this. That's what I told them and everyone else who has offered me similar things.

As to whether Hidizs has done things wrong or right, really, that's their problem. It is true that this campaign has been different, more ambitious. But it was certainly not a light decision. They will draw their own conclusions as a company. Every experience generates knowledge that they will surely take advantage of.

I don't agree with reviewers selling samples, even if they don't like them. Especially not so soon after the release of the product itself.

As for the MS5, my opinion is written in my review, I'm not going to change a comma after this series of events. I believe I am an honest reviewer and therefore stand by my words. It is possible that in a year's time, with more experience, I may have a different opinion. But that is normal. Opinions can change and everyone has their own opinion, which is as valid as the rest. If we all agreed, there would be no debate.
What is true is that there can be a favourable or unfavourable trend. What trend do you think these MS5 are in? I think they are on the right track, within their particular bet.

But if the Hidizs campaign has been exaggerated, this whole mess with the reviewers is of the same size. And it's something that goes beyond the quality of the product itself.

 

[FcConstruct]

---

I’ve just read @FcConstruct. I think we hear exactly the same, but the value that we placed on different aspects is different, so our appreciation of this IEM is different. It’s still a surprising divergence of opinion on this IEM, since we both love the Trio and hate the Fourte, so we don’t hear that differently. I have been following and read most reviews of FcConstruct that I see in the last few years, but I think this one is unnecessarily harsh, if not unfair due to the annoyance from the marketing campaign.

But at the same time, I think FcConstruct ’s review is a valuable lessons to Hidizs. This whole launch is a lesson to them.

(Hidizs, if you are reading this: the whole launch has been too slick, unnaturally coordinated, yet messy somehow that I feel uncomfortable recommending or mentioning this IEM, even though I use and enjoy it with my library)

---

To put on the record, my review came out before any coordinated action with Hidizs, and was updated later with the link. Yes, there is kick back from buyers clicking on my link and using my code. No, I don’t want it to happen, as I have repeatedly refused Hidizs’ offer to use affiliation links in the past. Here are the reasons why I decided to add the link and coupons:

• The coupon adds a bit more discount (I think 5% over the launch price?), bringing the price of the unit to a fair price/performance ($360 ish)
• I didn’t see any alternative for non-money-making links based on conversations with Hidizs rep.

I also suggested to hidizs via feedback form to reduce the price even lower.

---

I don’t know about how the kickback thing works, but I do wish that there is a way to give readers that 5% discount without the messy kickback issues. This whole thing is unnecessarily messy and dramatic, IMHO. And Hidizs couldn’t pick a more unfortunate time to release a sub-$500 IEM.

You know, this IEM is an interesting one. At times, I did feel like I was being pretty harsh on it. But at the same time, I felt I could also have been harsher. The first two days I was listening to it, I seriously did not like its vocal tone. It sounded really, really off to me. After I had some brain burn-in/adjustment time it was better of course but I still can't forget how tonally off it sounded at first. And I mention in my review that I did start to enjoy music later with it, primarily thanks to the large bass response, but IMO I felt like I was waving away a lot of what I didn't like to try and focus on what I liked. It's a really hard balance to strike between being unique and not just another copy-paste of the Harman target and being "good". I find it harder to write a full review on a Harman target copycat than something like this where I can pick apart all the little bits that I like/don't like. Hidizs unfortunately landed more on the stuff that I didn't like.

What it came down to for me was the price. $500 is a LOT of money these days when IEMs like the Blessing 2 Dusk and 7Hz Timeless exist. And it's clear the Hidizs can offer it for $379. At best I can say the Hidizs matches them in techs. Or maybe very slightly surpasses it here and there if you're extra generous. But even if you don't mind the Hidizs tuning, it's still more than double what those IEMs cost. I find that hard to justify. Just like how it's getting harder and harder to justify the original DUNU SA6 even though I still greatly enjoy that IEM.

Believe it or not, the marketing campaign didn't affect how I felt about the MS5. That's why I only had a couple paragraphs at the end talking about it. I've seen ChiFi companies ask for all sorts of tracking links before. Just this time, the scale was much larger at over 40 reviewers. But I did feel that it was very important to be transparent that this was a big marketing push from Hidizs AND that any links people see might be affiliate links. I could've gone quite a bit harder on that angle to be honest. I actually had written up another chunk talking about how I saw a post on Head-Fi where it was found that reviewers were trying to sell the unit even before the price was officially announced. I didn't choose to include it in the end as I felt that it ultimately wasn't relevant for the review and my little disclaimer had sufficed.

And to be clear: I don't fault anyone for adding tracking links. Tracking links themselves are good for a company to know if a reviewer's work is being read and if there's a return on investment for their marketing campaign. For smaller reviewers, I understand this can be extremely important to build credibility. It's the kickbacks that gets messy when it's not fully transparent. I only skimmed a couple reviews while writing mine and the ones I saw didn't mention the affiliate links at all but still had them in. I specifically asked Hidizs for a non-affiliate code to share which was the 5OFF I included in my review.

If it was just Hidizs sending the gear to a bunch of reviewers, it would've just been a note in the intro. Companies like Linsoul send out ChiFi like candy to everyone. It's all the extra stuff that came with it that suddenly needed a bit more attention. But to be fair to Hidizs, IMO they didn't push the issue that hard. They just asked me to add the links. I told them no. They had no issue with it. I wouldn't mind reviewing Hidizs stuff again in the future. But I doubt they would let me after this