Balanced out is excellent from the BTR5 to the P1 (through my silver cable). It's been the best pairing to my ears out of almost all of my portable options. Single ended, not so much. It's still a good sound, but the extra power from the balanced output pushes everything up several notches. The sound signature coming from the amp plays so well with the frequency response of the IEMs.
P1's out of the box were decent, but this combo (using LDAC BT output from Samsung Note 10+) is my go to and hasn't left my side since. Fast and authoritative bass; strong, sweet mids and vocals; and treble sparkles pleasantly. I'm constantly surprised at how well this set up handles everything.
100% this.
IMO P1 + Btr5 is very technical and engaging combo. the kind of sound that sends me back to my collection in a curious way.
something to note is none of these guys adds bass (coloring) and rather dependent on the track. but when a track asks for it... man you get it on the head!
also I would add that a GREAT seal is a MUST.
100% this.
IMO P1 + Btr5 is very technical and engaging combo. the kind of sound that sends me back to my collection in a curious way.
something to note is none of these guys adds bass (coloring) and rather dependent on the track. but when a track asks for it... man you get it on the head!
also I would add that a GREAT seal is a MUST.
Couple points disappointed me with the P1s, other than that it's a dandy fine iem up there with the other good performers. I still love the P1s and recommend it a lot. IMO they could have solved these issues beforehand (better shell design + wire) and sold these at $2-300. The point is P1 was marketed as low-budget, but the DAP/amp/cable/tips you need to buy to make these things shine are not cheap.
The amount of work it takes to move this iem to the next level is appalling. Thick copper wires to pull down the trebles and add bass. Good powerful source (preferably amped) also to add clarity and bass presence. Foam tips that actually fit the awkward nozzles. Getting a fit that won't hurt my ears. After all that work, I was rewarded with an iem with stunning vocals. Quiet or acoustic tracks sound fantastically warm and musical. If you pair it with tubes / warm DAP the results are even more apparent. People suggested b4x, although I find the combo to be fatiguing for long sessions and that the B4x is another whole avenue of troubles like short battery life, opamp rolling, audible cutoffs in some freqs.
In the end, the P1s still don't fare well with congested tracks, I doubt if there's any cure for that. Sound stage is claustrophobic and esp noticeable when you give the P1s something complicated to chew on. The details are there fighting each other, becoming hard to pick out any individual instrument. This might also be inherent that mid to low-treble emphasis, so if other instruments feel a bit övershadowed by those peaks. Secondly, that treble zing. The sibilant. I can only describe this as weird, because I've never heard this before. It is as if they put a BA right inside the nozzle. The planar diaphragm gets dangerously happy with trebles. If I'm listening to Avenged Sevenfold and the drummer happens to be rolling on the hihat. That rolling will poke through everything else happening in the track and grab my attention with its high volume.
Last gripe is about the form factor. It's surprisingly weighty for an earphone of this size. The nozzle is larger than standard comply tips and protrude at an angle. The iem is triangular in shape. The cut away for aesthetics, but no faceplate or logo to remind anyone of Tin hifi. Questionable cable braid. These are all weird decisions that have nothing to do with functionality. So I wouldn't understand why they didn't go with well-received ergonomic layouts that are gold standards. One redeeming quality is that they build the P1s like a tank. Stepping on these would probably feel like stepping on lego.
Now where to take the P1s? Perhaps making it into a ciem and solve the comfort issue. Nobody seems to have taken apart their p1 and put pictures online. Totally uncharted waters. I wonder if I can get a dude to reshell them, or do it myself as a diy project.
The p1 has really taken me by storm. IF you manage to have an amp with enough mojo and power the P1 is unreal good. A bit hot in the treble but DAMN. Shockingly good.
My setup for optimum results with my P1 after much experimentation:
Triton8 OCC copper cable, JVC Spiral Dot++ tips and Elemental Watson Class A tube amp.
Overall outstanding performance!
I've had my p1 for best part of 6 months now and these are 5 main things i reckon you need to make the most out of these (and I'm sure I echo alot of you)
1st. playback time and plenty of it! these made me wholeheartedly believe that burn in exists and these need more then you'll believe... BUT it is worth every bit of patience you have because these improve 10 fold on the out of the box sound with just that alone. infact I believe this is one of its most limiting factors.
2nd. foam tips. even the ones included help with that bit siblance that can occur and increase the bass ever so slightly which I'll get back onto later.
3rd. Power. im sure you've heard this everywhere with these iem's but if your even close to max volume or on your dap, dac , amp ect or feeling there lacking a bit of stage or dynamically you need more power....... and then even more Power then that. I find these iems very unique in that aspect, almost like how some old school hifi systems depend on amps that could power the sun to sound there best even if you were not pushing the volume all that much.
4th. a good source dac and amp implementation. these iems are so analytical it can hurt. doesn't matter if its portable or not the better quality of your chain/rack helps massively make the most out of your p1's, in comparison to alot of other iems where this may not be as important.... I have an ifi idsd micro bl I use religiously for my headphones, but I instead use a fiio btr5 balanced out into ifi xcan balanced out 2.5mm copper only cable because I think it sounds so much nicer and wider with better seperation/imaging. this difference is something I would be very hard pressed to tell between on 90% of the iem or headphones I own but these iem's seem to slap you in the face with subtle differences like that.
5th. IFI'S XBASS (or any other eq or tone control tbf) but again I don't think there's a better bass boost out there..... these p1's takes eq like a duck takes to water, so if the trebles too harsh for some tone it down a bit. but for me it's perfect already the main downfall as it is for many is the bass. and it's true although the bass has plenty of punch it is a bit thin and quick for some with a fast roll off.... BUT with ifi's xbass this fixes all the bass issues with one switch. to a point where the cooler frequency response turns incredibly balanced without taking away any of the detail it's amazing infact a game changer. but in saying that a well done digital eq or dialled in tone control like the schiit loki I'm sure will do just as good.
it's taken a while to find out all this but I can honestly say once all I have mentioned is put into practice these tin hifi p'1s are some incredible almost perfect iems for what they cost they are better than alot of others up 4x it's price with deep natural un-interfering bass, forward but intimate mids with great resolution and perfect treble with micro details for days and plenty of 'air'.
But in saying all this, that is my opinion and everyones ears are different so take from this what you will. my final note being I have and have had quite a few headphones/in ears that cost alot more then these (even after the amp and dac ect has been bought) but I keep finding myself going straight to these almost every time I'm on the go or sometimes even for critical listening / monitoring mainly due to the sheer resolution and amount of detail these produce. in terms of detail retrival and speed of the planar, id easily put them in the same conversation as the hifiman sundara and there a 300 used to be 500 quid headphone now known for bang for buck detail retrieval , or infact even campfire audio andromedas which are flagship price iems costing £800. I whole heartedly say buy these and while your waiting for them to burn in save up for a better dap/amp/dac to use them with (preferably with a bass boost) and you will not regret it
anyway that's my 2 pence worth hope it helps anyone looking to buy these.
apologies for my spelling, grammar and the bits that might not make sense I'm very dyslexic
5th. IFI'S XBASS (or any other eq or tone control tbf) but again I don't think there's a better bass boost out there..... these p1's takes eq like a duck takes to water, so if the trebles too harsh for some tone it down a bit. but for me it's perfect already the main downfall as it is for many is the bass. and it's true although the bass has plenty of punch it is a bit thin and quick for some with a fast roll off.... BUT with ifi's xbass this fixes all the bass issues with one switch. to a point where the cooler frequency response turns incredibly balanced without taking away any of the detail it's amazing infact a game changer. but in saying that a well done digital eq or dialled in tone control like the schiit loki I'm sure will do just as good.
Nice to see someone else discover this. The P1 paired with the hip-dac, XBass on, transforms the P1 into a complete beast. Fills in the missing low end and does nothing to affect the rest of the signature.
Nice to see someone else discover this. The P1 paired with the hip-dac, XBass on, transforms the P1 into a complete beast. Fills in the missing low end and does nothing to affect the rest of the signature.
really is pal worth the investment if you can get an ifi product with the boost 2nd bandit takes the p1s to the next level that was needed in regards to the low frequencies
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