[Buckeyedentite]

thanks i'll try to find the tanya filters on their own because my ecological conscience cannot let me buy an iem to put in a drawer and never use it (as olina is better i'll never use tanya)

You should actually get a Tanya to use. It’s a great set too! If you don’t love it, give it to someone who will use it.

thanks i'll try to find the tanya filters on their own because my ecological conscience cannot let me buy an iem to put in a drawer and never use it (as olina is better i'll never use tanya)

 

[vandung2510]

if i can find the tanya filters for $5 it seems easier than the $6 hydrophobic spray where is not easy to estimate if you put too little or too much ( in your review you say 1 to 2 spray ), what kills me is that hbb knew about this conensation issue since mele and he did not fix it for olina and still did not fix it for olina se !!!

I dont blame him, i blame physics and evolution. He didn't have that problem before hand, so he dont know how to fix it (i mean sure, he can opted out some special filter like moondrop's, but i dont blsmr him for the most part

 

[amanieux]

for those who are fed up with olina condensation issue, i can resell you a pair of tanchjim tanya hydrophobic filters for $3.5 including shipment (+$1.5 for additional pairs of filters if you want more than one pair). i am finally doing what hbb should have done a long time ago : giving us olina users an affordable fix for this condensation design flaw that he failed fixing time after time while knowing it was a problem (mele, olina, olina SE) . if you are interested write me a private message and i'll give you my paypal.

 

[DunninLA]

Hey guys, super late to the party, only b/c I lost my left earbud of my OG Olina in the Amsterdam airport end of Sept, and have just replaced my Olina with both Olina OG, and the Olina SE, bought here on the For Sale section, and am comparing.

PS I went to lInsoul, and the SE is not even in stock. How lame they have the OG in stock but the revised, improved Olina is not in stock.

Yep, as everyone has said, they are different. There are several tracks where the brightness, or sheen, or overemphasis in the 6k range is not there with the SE. Just to give one example, Stevie Ray Vaughn's Tin Pan Alley, at about 1:50-2:35, I kept replaying a segment where a drum stick is struck against a drum rim every couple of seconds or so, as SRV goes into some excellent solo guitar. That combo metal/wood THWACK is more present in the OG than the SE. As well, the guitar solo itself is slightly grating with the OG, but just right with the SE.

I've decided not to double damper my new set of OG. Instead, I will use the SE for music, and the OG for all things voice ... podcasts, watching youtube videos, and watching movies... in all these cases, the small extra energy from 5k-7k reveals more detail that is generally a good thing.

As well, I've noticed that my brain adapted over time with my OG Olinas (before I lost one earbud) to the point where I just didn't bother double dampering. The brain is a marvelous thing. I stopped even noticing that 5k-7k emphasis completely. I would only notice if I misplaced them temporarily, went back to the MELE, and realized... holy crap, there is a ton of detail in the treble area I'm completely missing in the MELE, so the MELE seem flat, dull, and boring. Then back to the Olina and for a few minutes... WOW, now that's bright, where did the bass go, but them over a few songs the brightness... disappeared, while the sense of detail, spaciousness, airiness, remained. And the lesser amount of bass stepped forward so I notice it more. Gotta love the brain.

 

[DunninLA]

I've had a chance to A/B the Olina SE vs. the AFUL Performer5.

i'm not sure what I expected. Sometimes pricing influences our expectations.... here we have two IEMs, both heavily hyped, heavily reviewed, and heavily rec'd. I studied the graphs, from various different sources. Compared Olina SE graph to P5. Listened to samples on Dan's reviews. One $99, one $190 (current street price).

What I expected I suppose was a slightly more open, slightly more detailed, slightly more upper midband relaxed Olina SE.

Sort of, but not. the P5 isn't more open, it isn't more detailed, but it is more relaxed in the upper midband... but too relaxed.

In comparison, the Olina SE shows me better:

- Bass texture and nuance
- Midbass that does not appear to bleed into vocals, male or female

They both have good midband detail and sense of correct tonality... unless you take into account slightly muddy lower register of male vocals in the P5, which by definition isn't correct tonality.

The P5 has more treble energy, but it feels to me it is trying to make up for the 2k-5k being slightly less energetic than it ought to be to keep up with and balance its midbass energy. The treble detail is the same for both, though the Olina SE's is more subtle... or less distracting is how I think of it.

i suppose in the end I'm surprised. But also pleased that a $99 IEM can deliver on so many levels, a rare affordable IEM that does everything well out of any source.

I am biased though. I consider the reproduction of vocals and other midband frequencies to be the one thing an IEM has to get right, before anything else. The Olina SE does so, the P5 doesn't.

Fpr my taste, I think the next quality level for me might be the Hype 2. It presents vocals a little more prominently than the P5 does. But really, I've come to appreciate what the Olina SE does that I'm not in any hurry to find something "better".

 

[Buckeyedentite]

I've had a chance to A/B the Olina SE vs. the AFUL Performer5.

i'm not sure what I expected. Sometimes pricing influences our expectations.... here we have two IEMs, both heavily hyped, heavily reviewed, and heavily rec'd. I studied the graphs, from various different sources. Compared Olina SE graph to P5. Listened to samples on Dan's reviews. One $99, one $190 (current street price).

What I expected I suppose was a slightly more open, slightly more detailed, slightly more upper midband relaxed Olina SE.

Sort of, but not. the P5 isn't more open, it isn't more detailed, but it is more relaxed in the upper midband... but too relaxed.

In comparison, the Olina SE shows me better:

- Bass texture and nuance
- Midbass that does appear to bleed into vocals, male or female

They both have good midband detail and sense of correct tonality... unless you take into account slightly muddy lower register of male vocals in the P5, which by definition isn't correct tonality.

The P5 has more treble energy, but it feels to me it is trying to make up for the 2k-5k being slightly less energetic than it ought to be to keep up with and balance its midbass energy. The treble detail is the same for both, though the Olina SE's is more subtle... or less distracting is how I think of it.

i suppose in the end I'm surprised. But also pleased that a $99 IEM can deliver on so many levels, a rare affordable IEM that does everything well out of any source.

I am biased though. I consider the reproduction of vocals and other midband frequencies to be the one thing an IEM has to get right, before anything else. The Olina SE does so, the P5 doesn't.

Fpr my taste, I think the next quality level for me might be the Hype 2. It presents vocals a little more prominently than the P5 does. But really, I've come to appreciate what the Olina SE does that I'm not in any hurry to find something "better".

Love hype 2 if you do end up getting the itch to upgrade. Actually I like it so much, I ordered the hype 10 now too!

 

[xxAMAROKxx]

.... but them over a few songs the brightness... disappeared, while the sense of detail, spaciousness, airiness, remained. And the lesser amount of bass stepped forward so I notice it more. Gotta love the brain.

No man, it's not your brain. It is a bad nozzle filter, which gets wet in a several minutes in the ears and then I also hear more bass and less treble.
This will not happen with other earphones.

 

[amanieux]

I had both S12 and Olina as well and actually leaned towards the Olina because I preferred the tuning - even stock vocal presentation sounds so so good - S12 definitely sounded much more detailed though. My ideal IEM would be a combination of both - maybe the next FOTM planar will be close to that ideal?

i did the combination of both you can too, it is free. olina in one ear s12 in the other on the same cable (i did set -2.5 db on olina side to match levels). our brain mixes both side in our auditory system into a singe perception, like our visual system does with the blue/red 3d glasses over our eyes

 

[amanieux]

What if you like the details of the S12 and the tuning of the Olina? What's the next upgrade past that?

one of each on the same cable, our brain mixes the 2 signatures

 

[sgtbilko]

No man, it's not your brain. It is a bad nozzle filter, which gets wet in a several minutes in the ears and then I also hear more bass and less treble.
This will not happen with other earphones.

I had this exact same issue the other week. I thought my right side had gone, then someone suggested drying it out - and lo and behold it was back to normal.

First time i've ever had a damp issue with them (or any other iem). Glad I didn't bin them as they are such a great sounding set. I still use them regularly.

 

[DunninLA]

Love hype 2 if you do end up getting the itch to upgrade. Actually I like it so much, I ordered the hype 10 now too!

If you replace your hype2 with Hype 4 or Hype 10, I'm a buyer. Just can't quite swing $285 from Amazon right now.

 

[DunninLA]

OK, I realize these IEMS are so last year, but those who have the Olina and have tried the double filter mod, or the front vent mod, I think I have a better solution. However, given my experiment with the AFUL P5 which ended in failure, maybe last year's IEMs can still keep up. I found the Pt to be a mess in the midrange that I could not fix b/c my macEQ is only 11 band and I have nothing to apply in the 5k-7k area where P5 is too hot, and at the same time it is too cold at 2k. High hats and tamborines and drum stick strikes on drum rims just jump out in a very unnatural way. To me P5 without a 16 band equalizer is a hot mess.

I have tried the Olina with the supplied wide bore tip, and with the supplied medium bore tip. In both cases I have used macEQ to reduce 2k by 2db and 4k by 3.4 db. I also added 1db at 64 and 2db at 32, just for fun.

Easier solution: Final E tip. The Final Audio Type E tip is a more rigid silicone, which helps the firmness of the seal and therefore increases bass, and a very, very narrow bore which causes some of that 2k-7k hotness to somehow cancel itself out, I assume by HF reflections canceling out some of that energy on the way through the small bore tip. I google searched Final E and bought a pack with all 5 sizes for $15. Your mileage may vary, as some might find the Final E tip goes too far in reducing the 2k-7k energy.

I have spend quite a bit of time now listening to the Olina OG with Final E tips, and do not see any need to EQ, or double filter them. This really helps me on the go where I use an iPhone and Spotify, where I only have access to Spotify's 6 band equalizer. Now I don't need to EQ using the iPhone.

*edit* I had thought the OG with Final E was missing a little bit of sparkle compared to the SE w supplied medium bore tips, but upon further listening, I think that was confirmation bias. In fact I hear a little more treble dynamics with OG and Final E than I do with SE and stock med tip. Now I have to check SE with wide bore, as that surprised me. Although if you look at the graphs for OG and SE, the OG has good energy at 13k that SE is completely missing, but then SE beats OG above 15k.

\

 

[DunninLA]

regarding condensation -- my SEs went dull on me a few days ago, after using all night. About half volume. I made sure by switching cables to make sure it wasn't a faulty cable.

Solution: it wasn't airing them out. I aired out for 24 hrs. and still dull. I suspected an unseen wax buildup on the filter fabric, so I dipped just the tip of each IEM in 160F water for about ten seconds, shaking it back and forth. If there were wax, that hot water would melt it out. Sure enough, 24 hours later and SEs are back to normal. Oh, and I'm using Tri Clarion widebore on the SEs, like it quite a bit... of course no mods.

Going back and forth between Olina OG, Olina SE, and Thieaudio Hype2, I actually prefer the Olinas if I'm interessted mostly in vocals. For non vocal centric music, I like the Hype2 better.

 

[vandung2510]

regarding condensation -- my SEs went dull on me a few days ago, after using all night. About half volume. I made sure by switching cables to make sure it wasn't a faulty cable.

Solution: it wasn't airing them out. I aired out for 24 hrs. and still dull. I suspected an unseen wax buildup on the filter fabric, so I dipped just the tip of each IEM in 160F water for about ten seconds, shaking it back and forth. If there were wax, that hot water would melt it out. Sure enough, 24 hours later and SEs are back to normal. Oh, and I'm using Tri Clarion widebore on the SEs, like it quite a bit... of course no mods.

Going back and forth between Olina OG, Olina SE, and Thieaudio Hype2, I actually prefer the Olinas if I'm interessted mostly in vocals. For non vocal centric music, I like the Hype2 better.

5$ this is due to the blocked filters. Not due to wax, but due to condensation/our body steam. You can read my review for the Olina SE. I've written quite thoroughly on how to deal with it

 

[amanieux]

I had this exact same issue the other week. I thought my right side had gone, then someone suggested drying it out - and lo and behold it was back to normal.

First time i've ever had a damp issue with them (or any other iem). Glad I didn't bin them as they are such a great sounding set. I still use them regularly.

Buy hydrophobic filters, i bought tanchjim tanya filters, it solved my olina condensation problem.