HIFIMAN RE300a/ RE300i InLine and RE300h (hifi) Earphone launched! *Impressions added*

[TheGame21x]

   
Please say that they are better sounding than your GR07BE. 

 
Sadly, no they aren't. But then again, very few IEMs I've heard are better than my GR07 BE, if that's any consolation. 

 

[HouseOfDoom]

Sadly, no they aren't. But then again, very few IEMs I've heard are better than my GR07 BE, if that's any consolation. 

They are a sweet deal ain't they? If not for the sibilance, they'd be damn near perfect. Sadly...

 

[ozkan]

They are a sweet deal ain't they? If not for the sibilance, they'd be damn near perfect. Sadly...

 
GR07BE is one the IEMs I hate most for its sibilance. I just can not appreciate the sound because of that crazy sibilance.

 

[HouseOfDoom]

GR07BE is one the IEMs I hate most for its sibilance. I just can not appreciate the sound because of that crazy sibilance.

+1. Agreed. Don't really use them unless I'm listening to instrumental music. Instrumental music with them is exquisite. Anything with vocals is a no go. They collect dust along with the Tenore and 300h.

 

[TheGame21x]

They are a sweet deal ain't they? If not for the sibilance, they'd be damn near perfect. Sadly...

They really are. I listened to them last night after a long hiatus in which I simply wasn't listening to IEMs unless I was reviewing them or at work and man, they're one of the few IEMs to get sub bass just right. It's got a lovely texture and impact across the low end that I just love about them. 
 
The sibilance is almost a deal breaker. Almost. It's at that point where it can be bothersome with the wrong material but is otherwise not bad. At least for me. 

 

[AstralStorm]

Ok, my RE-300a have finally arrived. They sound as if you took RE-400, replaced the filter with the RE-272 one (which it seems to be identical to - same nylon grid), removed horn effect, dampened the driver some more - which is all good. And added a bass resonator around 200 Hz, which is not. I bet that the bass is boosted using the back vent and internal resonant chamber.
 
Generally highs are similar to RE-400 with actually less dark signature thanks to the filter mod, and evener thanks to reduced horn. Bass is way boosted, >6 dB, but those unafraid to use equalizer will be very well served.
These gain a lot given a good amplifier too. Off of the ancient phone itself, they get even bassier, much less controlled, "mushy". I suspect these issues are even more pronounced in RE-300h given the low impedance.
 
Out of the new FiiO E18 (review later) and my Lynx Hilo they're gorgeous, in fact I'd dare say better than RE-400 and RE-600.
The driver definitely is the same, it shares a bit of that "zigzag" signature which is specific to the series, but is apparently much more dampened - sacrificing highs loudness a bit more still than RE-600.
 
They're extremely resolving. Very much on par with modded RE-400, I'd dare say, even can come toe to toe with my HE-6 (de-etched with high end eq and some ). Without equalization they give huge "black metal cellar" feel due to darkish signature combined with bass boost.
I'll provide the EQ curves soon. (Low precision and high precision ones.)
 
Timbre is cleaner than all of the previous RE series with exception of RE-262/272 - no audible metallic resonance or any kind of plasticky timbre (as in RE0 of old). Bass decay is excellent.
Width resolution is better than the previous models, as is depth, even though just slightly. Though again, without eq you get the "cellar" effect, flatness and overly close presentation. I'd say very similar to being on stage without good monitors, speakers facing the other way around.
Channel balance is excellent - Hifiman didn't skimp on QC in this pair.
 
I recommend over the ear wear with relatively deep insertion (slightly deeper than RE-400), while using large biflange RE series tips, sadly not included with these. But then, the extra tip set is $10. Great seal is a must, otherwise you will get shrill treble while cutting bass.
Standard wear is also possible, but the asymmetric shell can make one or the other position more comfortable. For me, over the ear it is.
Ergonomics are excellent - but the sore lack of tips, especially larger ones, is troubling. The included tips are small biflange tips and medium cylindrical single flange. Same nozzle shape as in previous models, 4mm diameter, so Comply T200 should fit and if you try hard enough, Sony and VSonic 3.5mm tips as well.
 
Cable is finally made out of polyurethane, not some weird hardening silicone/kevlar/whatever and looks sturdy - we'll see if it actually is. Does not tangle or kink easily. Sliding cable cinch is not present unfortunately, but the shirt clip is included.
Microphonics are ok with either style of wear, generally not unpleasant, as they're low-frequency.
Shell seems to have been lacquered to achieve smoothness - the texture of the tip end suggests ABS to my fingers, but I might be wrong there. Mold is high quality - the injection mark is visible, but hides under the tip.
No tactile mark of Left/Right channel, but it shouldn't be necessary due to the microphone, which is placed on the left channel
 
Unfortunately, my ancient Android phone doesn't recognize the new style button control (the other new one does) - I couldn't test that as the shop had the iPhone version - but the microphone works well and with good quality.
 
Isolation is medium, worse somewhat than RE-400/RE-600, probably due to much more venting. The almost 1 mm, paper filtered vent is located behind the strain relief and is very unlikely to be obstructed by accident.

 

[HouseOfDoom]

Ok, my RE-300a have finally arrived. They sound as if you took RE-400, replaced the filter with the RE-272 one (which it seems to be identical to - same nylon grid), removed horn effect, dampened the driver some more - which is all good. And added a bass resonator around 200 Hz, which is not. I bet that the bass is boosted using the back vent and internal resonant chamber.

Generally highs are similar to RE-400 with actually less dark signature thanks to the filter mod, and evener thanks to reduced horn. Bass is way boosted, >6 dB, but those unafraid to use equalizer will be very well served.
These gain a lot given a good amplifier too. Off of the ancient phone itself, they get even bassier, much less controlled, "mushy". I suspect these issues are even more pronounced in RE-300h given the low impedance.

Out of the new FiiO E18 (review later) and my Lynx Hilo they're gorgeous, in fact I'd dare say better than RE-400 and RE-600.
The driver definitely is the same, it shares a bit of that "zigzag" signature which is specific to the series, but is apparently much more dampened - sacrificing highs loudness a bit more still than RE-600.

They're extremely resolving. Very much on par with modded RE-400, I'd dare say, even can come toe to toe with my HE-6 (de-etched with high end eq and some ). Without equalization they give huge "black metal cellar" feel due to darkish signature combined with bass boost.
I'll provide the EQ curves soon. (Low precision and high precision ones.)

Timbre is cleaner than all of the previous RE series with exception of RE-262/272 - no audible metallic resonance or any kind of plasticky timbre (as in RE0 of old). Bass decay is excellent.
Width resolution is better than the previous models, as is depth, even though just slightly. Though again, without eq you get the "cellar" effect, flatness and overly close presentation. I'd say very similar to being on stage without good monitors, speakers facing the other way around.
Channel balance is excellent - Hifiman didn't skimp on QC in this pair.

I recommend over the ear wear with relatively deep insertion (slightly deeper than RE-400), while using large biflange RE series tips, sadly not included with these. But then, the extra tip set is $10. Great seal is a must, otherwise you will get shrill treble while cutting bass.
Standard wear is also possible, but the asymmetric shell can make one or the other position more comfortable. For me, over the ear it is.
Ergonomics are excellent - but the sore lack of tips, especially larger ones, is troubling. The included tips are small biflange tips and medium cylindrical single flange. Same nozzle shape as in previous models, 4mm diameter, so Comply T200 should fit and if you try hard enough, Sony and VSonic 3.5mm tips as well.

Cable is finally made out of polyurethane, not some weird hardening silicone/kevlar/whatever and looks sturdy - we'll see if it actually is. Does not tangle or kink easily. Sliding cable cinch is not present unfortunately, but the shirt clip is included.
Microphonics are ok with either style of wear, generally not unpleasant, as they're low-frequency.
Shell seems to have been lacquered to achieve smoothness - the texture of the tip end suggests ABS to my fingers, but I might be wrong there. Mold is high quality - the injection mark is visible, but hides under the tip.
No tactile mark of Left/Right channel, but it shouldn't be necessary due to the microphone, which is placed on the left channel

Unfortunately, my ancient Android phone doesn't recognize the new style button control (the other new one does) - I couldn't test that as the shop had the iPhone version - but the microphone works well and with good quality.

Isolation is medium, worse somewhat than RE-400/RE-600, probably due to much more venting. The almost 1 mm, paper filtered vent is located behind the strain relief and is very unlikely to be obstructed by accident.

You lost me between the giggles and laughs. We talking 300h or the abhorrently muddy and blurry 300i/a? Because there's pretty much no redeeming quality with the 300i/a, which has been fairly well reviewed and discussed. The 300h is a decent fare with some good and bad qualities, but overall not a bad little number at the price. Comparing any to the 400, 600, or even the ZERO is...ok...I'm not gonna even say it.

Carry on gentlemen!

 

[AstralStorm]

Yes, call it terribly muddy and all. I actually have RE-400, RE-600 and HE-6 and some more non-Hifiman headphones for comparison. Maybe next you'll call my HE-6 with FocusPad-A terribly muddy too. It was bit muddy off the uncontrolled LG GT540 out, which is somewhat a fail on Hifiman side, that the headphone designed for portable use needs an actual good amplifier to shine. Some of the FiiO ones are good enough for it, as is Leckerton and probably a bunch of other amplifiers with low output impedance.
Giving the exactly wrong tips (sleeves) for it is not quite the best of moves either.
 
It's not muddy at all given proper source and I have a few of those.. It's super dark and bassy. It's like you took RE-400 and applied hard bass boost onto it after fixing some of the flaws. Yes, it's technically actually a slight bit better than RE-400 and its twin brother RE-600. The bass decay is actually even once you equalize it, no bleed or one note bass in this one. Highs are even more refined than RE-400, on par with RE-600. I'd bet one salary in that the driver is an evolution of RE-{4,6}00 one with even more damping - the shell is only vastly different. Even the resonances match - they're only a bit frequency shifted down and correspondingly wider.
 
Have a rough equalization curve. I'll be more precise later.
 

 

[swspiers]

  Yes, call it terribly muddy and all. I actually have RE-400, RE-600 and HE-6 and some more non-Hifiman headphones for comparison. Maybe next you'll call my HE-6 with FocusPad-A terribly muddy too. It was bit muddy off the uncontrolled LG GT540 out, which is somewhat a fail on Hifiman side, that the headphone designed for portable use needs an actual good amplifier to shine. Some of the FiiO ones are good enough for it, as is Leckerton and probably a bunch of other amplifiers with low output impedance.
Giving the exactly wrong tips (sleeves) for it is not quite the best of moves either.
 
It's not muddy at all given proper source and I have a few of those.. It's super dark and bassy. It's like you took RE-400 and applied hard bass boost onto it after fixing some of the flaws. Yes, it's technically actually a slight bit better than RE-400 and its twin brother RE-600. The bass decay is actually even once you equalize it, no bleed or one note bass in this one. Highs are even more refined than RE-400, on par with RE-600. I'd bet one salary in that the driver is an evolution of RE-{4,6}00 one with even more damping - the shell is only vastly different. Even the resonances match - they're only a bit frequency shifted down and correspondingly wider.
 
Have a rough equalization curve. I'll be more precise later.
 

As much as I want to have an open mind about these, that's one heck of an EQ curve.  I would certainly never buy a high-end set needing that much cut in the bass.
 
On the other hand, I'm kinda looking forward to a set of bass-heavy earphones.  I should have them next week.

 

[AstralStorm]

The bass boost is unfortunately a bit too high in frequency to be called nice - it's extremely warm giving the sound a "cellar" feel and making it overly intimate. Or "backstage" if you prefer. The result sounds flat and narrow only due to the spectrum.
Some people might like this kind of presentation, I much prefer neutrality, therefore the equalizer. The bass is around 7.5 dB boosted, reaching 9 dB in upper bass. The highs are 3 dB cut in those dips with a roll off on highest end - just like in RE-400 and RE-600, except with resonances shifted quite a bit down. (1.5kHz)
 
Wery much unlike the large boost in, say, Sony MH1, which was around 100 Hz and therefore gave them "powerful" sound - but that in-ear is much less articulate and accurate. The main difference is that I can spot no harmonic distortion in these despite the extreme bass. Remember how all of RE series have none of it? This one does not either and additionally does not have any added reverberation or resonance at all unlike the rest making detail stand out yet bit more.
 
The old adage is still true: it's easier to remove than to add - in this case, it's much easier to remove the bass boost than to add good bass decay to another in-ear.
 
Here's an accurate eq with judicious application of sine and bandlimited pink noise sweeps. Loudness calibrated using my usual audiobook and radio speech technique to 40 sones. (puts most music and sines quite a bit louder) I'm lacking a few tiny parametrics to correct the residual ripple (0.5 dB) mismatch between left and right channel - that is not critical though. With the accurate equalization, they do retain the warm and prominent bass character, but no longer does it cover everything and hide detailed highs. There is a sensation of enormous but well controlled bass power behind every bass note. More contrabass, melodic and rounded (due to longer than typical for IEMs high bass decay), rather than electronic kick and impact, but that is better for most genres I've checked, even electronic music. Not bass bleed, because if the higher bass is not present, the difference is not really audible either.
 

 
Caveat emptor: as with all kinds of accurate equalization, you will need crossfeed or a likewise simulator. Otherwise the soundstaging a line through your head with indeterminate depth, as if listening to reverberation of music instead of music itself. With such DSP, it is beautiful 3D rendition instead.
--
The main problem of these is that they're way mistuned out of the box. The timbre is as if you took RE-272 capabilities in the upper vocal range and extended it to cover bass and low vocal registers as well - it has the same smooth bell-like timbre while having much less of a peaky character, in addition to huge bass power when called for. It is a huge suprise in something as inexpensive as these. Air is not quite as agile and ethereal though, but reasonably close. Were it not for the tuning... out of box tuning ruins them, even for bass-heads - too much high bass.
 
I forgot to mention volume handling capabilities - these are very robust against high levels and not losing a lot when played quiet as well. Very good job in this field.
 
I wonder if they'll be able to keep all of this goodness while slightly improving the highs and fixing the tuning. That'd be worthy of RE-1200 moniker.

 

[HouseOfDoom]

That's some righteous EQ'ing for a cheap bassy IEM. I'd like to see what the S-018 would sound like, EQ'd like that?

 

[swspiers]

Just got the 300a's, and so far I'm really happy with them.  I tend to pursue neutrality in my gear, but I plan on using these at the gym.  The extra bass is welcome, and so far I don't think it's all that bad.  In fact, it's perfect for low-volume listening, so I'm very happy.
 
I have the RE-400's for detail, nuance, and all that audiophile stuff.  Since these seem to RAWK, I consider them a big check in the box.

 

[thatBeatsguy]

Let's kick this thread back into action, shall we? I just received my pair of RE300h IEMs, and first impressions are pretty promising. They're a lot more balanced than I had previously expected, having already read Twister's impressions. I do agree with them having too much upper bass, but the midrange honestly seems pretty fine. The treble is a little laid back and not very extended, so my impressions seem to be lining up with the ones I am reading here. I'll probably get working on a review while these burn in.

 

[getclikinagas]

   

Thanks for the detailed impressions, comparisons and EQ. Added to OP.
 
 

  Let's kick this thread back into action, shall we? I just received my pair of RE300h IEMs, and first impressions are pretty promising. They're a lot more balanced than I had previously expected, having already read Twister's impressions. I do agree with them having too much upper bass, but the midrange honestly seems pretty fine. The treble is a little laid back and not very extended, so my impressions seem to be lining up with the ones I am reading here. I'll probably get working on a review while these burn in.

Looking forward to your review

 

[knives]

penonaudio is selling the RE300A for $29.90.