Awesome, I'm sure you'll have no regrets over the Atom; it's impressive what JDS Labs achieved at the price point. No worries mate!
Great review. Findings were identical to mine and well expressed. Not too 'flowery' but nicely descriptive. Good job!
From what you're saying, your issues have nothing to do with the unit being defective, just that you can't get a good seal - which is a tip+ear issue. If there's a problem with the cable or the mmcx connection, the sound would cut in and out, not just sound bad. It's possible but very unlikely that your housing is warped or the bore has been bent, but then they would look nothing like the photos people here are sharing, you would be able to see the differences very easily. As stated in here by many people, all of the stock tips are not good, so try with the comply. But I was able to get a good seal with the spinfits by going up a size. The symbio tips are also sealing well for me and other people in this thread. You also need to be aware that your ears aren't going to be 100% symmetrical. So what works in the left ear might not work in the right ear. You may even need to use two different sized tips. I can understand all the tip rolling not being worth the effort, but getting a replacement unit will not solve your problem here.
BALANCED VS. UNBALANCED ON THE P1: I've spent a lot of time with these in both modes and I don't think it matters - they just need a ton of power, more power than any of my other iems. They sound unreal SE (unbalanced) on the iDSD Micro BL - with some EQ they have tons of bass. They also sound amazing balanced from the XCAN. But the XCAN balanced output is much better than its SE so of course I use a balanced cable with it. The iDSD is only SE, but an absolute power house. Obviously sound wise, the iDSD Black Label single ended > XCAN 2.5 balanced. But it's not a perfect 1:1 as the Black Label has a ludicrous output of 4W to the XCAN's modest by comparison 1W. So IMO when looking at amps for the P1, I would 100% take power over balanced output. I would say the minimum max output for an amp should be ~320mW. With 1W or more the ideal amount of power. I know there's a big debate on head-fi/reddit/everywhere as to whether balanced has any advantages over unbalanced in general, but I don't have an opinion on that. But with the P1, I didn't think there is anything missing going from balanced to unbalanced. P.S. @Timoteew - the JDS Atom seems like a great fit (it would perfect if it had a hardware bass boost ).
I'm having trouble interpreting, "... the right iem has to be "loose" to get equal seal". But if your issue is getting a good seal in both ears at the same time, maybe you have me "malady". One ear canal has a wider aperture than the other. I keep multiple sets of foam tips on hand. As I use one large and one medium.
Same. My right ear is a firm L, while my left is anywhere from an M to MLL or even L depending on tip.
It certainly is a killer combo. I'm hoping to pick up a Fiio Q5S for my portable setup and suspect the hardware bass boost on that will compliment to Tin P1 nicely!
I’m so very tempted by the Q5s and the THX amp/mod they also just released. I don’t need it at all, but still...
Gonna jump on the hype train and order a set of these direct from Linsoul. Bit confused about the bundle/cable options, does anyone know if the 'TinHiFi P1 IEM Only' bundle comes with the stock cable or is just the IEMs? Also, is it worth getting one of the cable upgrade bundles too?
Mine are faulty, the left earpiece crackles, anyone else? Waiting to hear back from Drop, see what they say.
If you want anything other than the standard copper 3.5mm cable, you need to specify it. The C8 cable is here: https://www.linsoul.com/product-page/Tripowin-C8-Cable The LC09 cable is here: https://www.linsoul.com/product-page/linsoul-lsc09-CABLE You also need to add a note as to which termination you want (2.5mm balanced, 3.5 SE or 4.4mm balanced)
