[pack21]

The picture looks like it but it doesn't have the "HD" label. I would ask their customer support. 

Yes they have the "HD" label, they are the Xiamoi PrO HD version, can't wait to have them.

GearBest tell me they will be in stock for shipment in 7-8 work days.

 

[ricemanhk]

I just received these earbuds.  

 
I've been using xiaomi pistons since the first gen and have owned every single iteration since.  I didn't like gen 1 and gen 2 as the metal cylinder shaped body rubbed against my ear for longer listening.  Gen 3 fits my ears perfectly, and as others have said, the single driver delivers a relatively neutral curve.  However, the bass fall off was a little too much especially for pop music, so you don't have as much oomph.  Isolation was also not the best for me (which may have contributed to the bass fall off issue).  Gen 4 went with the hybrid 1+1 and in came the bass, but the V shape was a little much for my preference.  After burn-in it was a bit better, but I still often longed for my UE triplefi when listening more critically.  Still, the volume and in-line mic controls were too convenient to have on my daily commute, so I only used my triplefi for longer sessions.
 

Now we arrive at gen 5.  I purchased them from the mi.com HK website the first day they were on sale, and they just arrived this morning.  HKD199 which converts to about 25 USD. 

I'm still running them in, but first impressions are very impressive.  There is a MUCH wider soundstage with good resolution compared to gen 4 hybrid.  The speaker housing is also a little bigger and a little rounder on the edges, which actually helps with improving the seal.  Either that or it’s because the silicone tips are brand new, but I only got my gen 4s earlier this year and the shape of the tips look the same so I suspect it’s more due to the change in the speaker housing.
 

I will test them in more detail tonight when I get home, but I’m very happy I got these.  I’ve only used them on my Mi 5 phone this morning, will test with better equipment tonight.  Although given the typical usage, I think testing them on a smartphone is probably the most suitable way.  If you are bringing separate DAC/USB amps on a daily basis, you might as well use even better headphones!

 

 

[ext23]

Quote:

  I just received these earbuds.  
 

Thanks for your impressions. I'm looking for some cheap earbuds for my girlfriend with better treble than the first Xiaomi Hybrids. I just treated myself to DN-1000s and they have really shown up the Xiaomis for their lack of clear treble. 

How do these new Hybrids stack up? Is it the same overall V-shaped signature? Clarity better or worse than last gen?

 

[ricemanhk]

DN-1000s currently cost 158 USD on amazon.  These gen 5s would probably be around USD30 on gearbest or other sites when they are more widely available.  So not exactly in the same price range!
1More is the company producing these for xiaomi and 1More also have launched their own single, dual and triple driver earbuds recently.  I would have assumed the hardware are the same with xiaomi gen 3, 4 and 5, but at least with the triple driver that seems to be 1 DD + 2 BA while the xiaomi gen 5 is 2 DD + 1 BA.  So I guess at least for the triple driver versions they’re not the same.  Decent reviews for the 1More triple driver though, and ~100 USD seems good deal.
 
Translating more from the mi.com website: gen 4 dynamic driver uses metal alloy, gen 5 DD supposedly uses graphene for better response (lighter and more rigid).  Gen 4 DD is for mid+lows and BA is for high frequencies.  Gen 5 supposedly has a larger DD for mid+lows and a smaller DD for high, with the BA “filling in” the gaps between the large and small DD.  I feel the bass strength is similar between gen 4 and 5, but it’s less muddy on gen 5, more musical if you will.  Treble definitely cleaner, less sibilance and I THINK fall off is higher.  Mids have improved, vocals sound natural and fuller, especially for male vocals.  Overall first impressions I would say the V shaped response is definitely more flat than the gen 4, with the caveat that I have not run in the gen 5s yet.  
 
Other points:
- The whole cord is now back to full TPE plastic, instead of the nylon covering from the plug to the junction point on gen 3 and 4.  Based on my own experience, the nylon tends to fray over time anyway, and especially on gen 1 and 2 where the whole wire is nylon wrapped.  I use the figure 8 method to store my earbuds so tangling is not an issue for me even with full TPE wrapping.  My wife just throws her pair into her bag, and even gen 2 full nylon would always tangle…
- No more mention of Kevlar sheath on the wires, so let’s see how much impact this has on durability.  For gen 1 and 2 (which did have Kevlar already), the wire would often break near the plug stress point after ~6 months of daily usage.  Gen 3 and gen 4 improved to about a year or so (I’m still on my first pair of gen 4).
- MUCH BETTER in-line control.  Gen 5 is now back to 3 big round buttons like on the gen 1 and 2.  MAJOR improvement.  I hated the gen 3 control as it was hard to differentiate between the 3 buttons, gen 4 added the bumps which was better but still hard to press if my finger wasn’t directly on top of the button, which meant more fiddling around
 

 

[c0rp1]

  DN-1000s currently cost 158 USD on amazon.  These gen 5s would probably be around USD30 on gearbest or other sites when they are more widely available.  So not exactly in the same price range!
1More is the company producing these for xiaomi and 1More also have launched their own single, dual and triple driver earbuds recently.  I would have assumed the hardware are the same with xiaomi gen 3, 4 and 5, but at least with the triple driver that seems to be 1 DD + 2 BA while the xiaomi gen 5 is 2 DD + 1 BA.  So I guess at least for the triple driver versions they’re not the same.  Decent reviews for the 1More triple driver though, and ~100 USD seems good deal.
 
Translating more from the mi.com website: gen 4 dynamic driver uses metal alloy, gen 5 DD supposedly uses graphene for better response (lighter and more rigid).  Gen 4 DD is for mid+lows and BA is for high frequencies.  Gen 5 supposedly has a larger DD for mid+lows and a smaller DD for high, with the BA “filling in” the gaps between the large and small DD.  I feel the bass strength is similar between gen 4 and 5, but it’s less muddy on gen 5, more musical if you will.  Treble definitely cleaner, less sibilance and I THINK fall off is higher.  Mids have improved, vocals sound natural and fuller, especially for male vocals.  Overall first impressions I would say the V shaped response is definitely more flat than the gen 4, with the caveat that I have not run in the gen 5s yet.  
 
Other points:
- The whole cord is now back to full TPE plastic, instead of the nylon covering from the plug to the junction point on gen 3 and 4.  Based on my own experience, the nylon tends to fray over time anyway, and especially on gen 1 and 2 where the whole wire is nylon wrapped.  I use the figure 8 method to store my earbuds so tangling is not an issue for me even with full TPE wrapping.  My wife just throws her pair into her bag, and even gen 2 full nylon would always tangle…
- No more mention of Kevlar sheath on the wires, so let’s see how much impact this has on durability.  For gen 1 and 2 (which did have Kevlar already), the wire would often break near the plug stress point after ~6 months of daily usage.  Gen 3 and gen 4 improved to about a year or so (I’m still on my first pair of gen 4).
- MUCH BETTER in-line control.  Gen 5 is now back to 3 big round buttons like on the gen 1 and 2.  MAJOR improvement.  I hated the gen 3 control as it was hard to differentiate between the 3 buttons, gen 4 added the bumps which was better but still hard to press if my finger wasn’t directly on top of the button, which meant more fiddling around
 

 
Waiting patiently for your sound opinion. Do you own any other ChiFi headphones, so you can compare them with the Hybrid Pro?

 

[ricemanhk]

   
Waiting patiently for your sound opinion. Do you own any other ChiFi headphones, so you can compare them with the Hybrid Pro?

ChiFi...had to google that to confirm my understanding haha
 
Unfortunately no, I haven't tried other Chinese IEMs, only the Xiaomi pistons from gen 1 through 5 which were all made by 1More for Xiaomi.  For more critical listening I use my UE triplefi 10s or AT-M50x, but the pistons/hybrids see the most use on my daily commutes.
 
Side personal opinion: sound quality is really subjective, and it's really not that easy to do a proper blind A-B testing between headphones since you have to physically take them out/off of your ear. So the G-A-S itch will always be there to get something better (aka more expensive)...and in your subjective mind, the more expensive product WILL most likely sound better. 

 

[versus21]

DN-1000s currently cost 158 USD on amazon.  These gen 5s would probably be around USD30 on gearbest or other sites when they are more widely available.  So not exactly in the same price range!
1More is the company producing these for xiaomi and 1More also have launched their own single, dual and triple driver earbuds recently.  I would have assumed the hardware are the same with xiaomi gen 3, 4 and 5, but at least with the triple driver that seems to be 1 DD + 2 BA while the xiaomi gen 5 is 2 DD + 1 BA.  So I guess at least for the triple driver versions they’re not the same.  Decent reviews for the 1More triple driver though, and ~100 USD seems good deal.

Translating more from the mi.com website: gen 4 dynamic driver uses metal alloy, gen 5 DD supposedly uses graphene for better response (lighter and more rigid).  Gen 4 DD is for mid+lows and BA is for high frequencies.  Gen 5 supposedly has a larger DD for mid+lows and a smaller DD for high, with the BA “filling in” the gaps between the large and small DD.  I feel the bass strength is similar between gen 4 and 5, but it’s less muddy on gen 5, more musical if you will.  Treble definitely cleaner, less sibilance and I THINK fall off is higher.  Mids have improved, vocals sound natural and fuller, especially for male vocals.  Overall first impressions I would say the V shaped response is definitely more flat than the gen 4, with the caveat that I have not run in the gen 5s yet.  

Other points:
- The whole cord is now back to full TPE plastic, instead of the nylon covering from the plug to the junction point on gen 3 and 4.  Based on my own experience, the nylon tends to fray over time anyway, and especially on gen 1 and 2 where the whole wire is nylon wrapped.  I use the figure 8 method to store my earbuds so tangling is not an issue for me even with full TPE wrapping.  My wife just throws her pair into her bag, and even gen 2 full nylon would always tangle…
- No more mention of Kevlar sheath on the wires, so let’s see how much impact this has on durability.  For gen 1 and 2 (which did have Kevlar already), the wire would often break near the plug stress point after ~6 months of daily usage.  Gen 3 and gen 4 improved to about a year or so (I’m still on my first pair of gen 4).
- MUCH BETTER in-line control.  Gen 5 is now back to 3 big round buttons like on the gen 1 and 2.  MAJOR improvement.  I hated the gen 3 control as it was hard to differentiate between the 3 buttons, gen 4 added the bumps which was better but still hard to press if my finger wasn’t directly on top of the button, which meant more fiddling around

Thanks for the impresions! Mu question is , in the past I had the piston 2 and I love the louder music sounds on these and their bass but then the xiaomi piston 3 for me were worst in both ,bass and music loud, so what is your position about thins 5 gen in comparison with piston 2 and 3?

 

[hoerlurar]

I generally like xiaomi products, so i'm very tempted by gearbests flashsale. I was so hugely disappointed by the previous hybrids though, so i guess i'll wait for some more reviews of the new ones.
I tried tip-rolling with the previous hybrids, but the huge treble-dip never became acceptable for me unfortunately.

 

[SuperMAG]

how is the treble, is it more extended then the older ones, do you have any other chinese champs that you can compare with. say **** 4in1 etc.

 

[ricemanhk]

Alright, did some more testing at home.  I'm liking the gen 5s alot.  Compared to gen 4, sound is richer and more detailed both on the bass side (well controlled) and treble (less rolloff, more clarity, less sibilance).  Sound signature is still on the warm side, but it's more controlled and there's more clarity on the highs to balance it.  I feel the bass is actually still a little tight even, hopefully more run in time will loosen it up.
 
I compared them to my triplefi 10s as well, of course this not on the same level with a totally different sound signature, with much more resolution and clarity with the 3xBAs in the triplefi 10.  But the gap was definitely not as big as I expected (and compared to prior xiaomi pistons or other earbuds in that price range).  Soundstage surprisingly even felt a little wider on the gen 5s, with a more spacious feel.  
 
If I had to break down the xiaomi pistons/hybrids over the 5 generations: 1 and 2 were pretty much the same, a basic V shaped signature of many common entry level ear buds.  3 changed quite alot with the new housing and a much more neutral response, but the clarity wasn't on par with better IEMs so many felt they sounded a bit lifeless.  4 brought more richness but the V shape was also a bit exaggerated especially on the bass side.  With the gen 5s, I think we finally have something close to a sweet spot with a more balanced response but still on the warm side, good for most popular music genres.  Still, if you want an analytical response with classical music, a traditional multi BA IEM would still be the better choice.
 
One more thing I noticed.  The TPE plastic covering for the wire for gen 5 seems thicker/higher quality with a good rebound rate (this is also mentioned on the Mi website).  The result is that the cables stay relatively straight, and any bends/kinks tend to straighten themselves out.  It definitely feels nicer, and I hope it will also help with the durability.  Microphonics is also well controlled.

 

[c0rp1]

  Alright, did some more testing at home.  I'm liking the gen 5s alot.  Compared to gen 4, sound is richer and more detailed both on the bass side (well controlled) and treble (less rolloff, more clarity, less sibilance).  Sound signature is still on the warm side, but it's more controlled and there's more clarity on the highs to balance it.  I feel the bass is actually still a little tight even, hopefully more run in time will loosen it up.
 
I compared them to my triplefi 10s as well, of course this not on the same level with a totally different sound signature, with much more resolution and clarity with the 3xBAs in the triplefi 10.  But the gap was definitely not as big as I expected (and compared to prior xiaomi pistons or other earbuds in that price range).  Soundstage surprisingly even felt a little wider on the gen 5s, with a more spacious feel.  
 
If I had to break down the xiaomi pistons/hybrids over the 5 generations: 1 and 2 were pretty much the same, a basic V shaped signature of many common entry level ear buds.  3 changed quite alot with the new housing and a much more neutral response, but the clarity wasn't on par with better IEMs so many felt they sounded a bit lifeless.  4 brought more richness but the V shape was also a bit exaggerated especially on the bass side.  With the gen 5s, I think we finally have something close to a sweet spot with a more balanced response but still on the warm side, good for most popular music genres.  Still, if you want an analytical response with classical music, a traditional multi BA IEM would still be the better choice.
 
One more thing I noticed.  The TPE plastic covering for the wire for gen 5 seems thicker/higher quality with a good rebound rate (this is also mentioned on the Mi website).  The result is that the cables stay relatively straight, and any bends/kinks tend to straighten themselves out.  It definitely feels nicer, and I hope it will also help with the durability.  Microphonics is also well controlled.

Thanks for the great review. Now waiting for my pair will be even harder

 

[finestgq1]

Is the cord braided like the the previous version? Can't tell from the pics. 

 

[pack21]

Thanks for the great review. Now waiting for my pair will be even harder

Me too.

 

[mochill]

I'll be getting these

 

[fonkepala]

Waiting for my pair to arrive in the mail as well. Can't wait. Will be comparing them against my 1More Triple Driver.