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Kefine Klanar Review – Time Is Only A Reference Point

Durwood (Chicago, USA) — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 01:23:14 +0000

ORIGIN STORY

I suddenly found myself overloaded with many new audio gadgets to review in the midst of a home remodel to make it more interesting, and the Kefine Klanar stands out amongst the noise. Kefine is a new brand that aims to jump in the Planar realm with an oddly similar planar driver size. I think they hit the mark and delivered a more forward sounding Timeless with less sizzle in the top, and for nearly half the price at an easy to digest price of $119.

As a newcomer, Kefine is named after the founder Ke, and mashed together with Refine hoping to provide refined audio products for music lovers with affordable price and the best value-that’s their tagline. Klanar is word play on Planar from what I can tell. One quibble was the box was hard to open, but it only added to the suspense of what was inside. Seriously though, I appreciate an easy to open box please.

PHYSICAL FORMALITIES

The eartips included with the Kefine Klanar are no big thing, your basic set of small bores with two pairs of medium one of which comes preinstalled and then a set of S/M/L wide bore. I suggest aftermarket replacements as the outer portion is rather flimsy and easy to deform. The nozzle stem is thick which sometimes helps with bass control.

The black matte anodized aluminum CNC shell of the Kefine Klanar is smooth and free of any uncomfortable edges. Kefine understands that CNC shells need not be heavy monstrosities that wear heavily on your ears after long listening sessions.

The emblazoned logo might not be everyone’s idea of a nice design, however simplicity is a statement since it is the only thing to look at. Being a first time product, this is probably a wise choice. Understated, unobtrusive and fits well is a good combination in my book. Keep in mind the nozzles are the typical larger diameter, I have not seen smaller nozzle designs for quite some time.

The medium sized zippered gray cloth hard case is appreciated. It will protect them nicely and fit the ear-tips with ease. The cable is a bit plastic feeling, but is of above entry level grade quality. First comparison, the 7HZ Timeless cable is nicer feeling, but the Kefine Klanar is better equipped with 0.78mm two pin. I prefer 2 pin for longevity over MMCX which instead offers pivoting capability for the ear-hooks. The Kefine Klanar is offered in 3.5mm single ended or 4.4mm balanced connection when you order.

SOUND

Every time I see another planar launched, I automatically assume it has to be similar to the 7Hz Timeless, and so far the Kefine Klanar is the one that has come close. Bass sounds deep when needed with a good haptic rumble. When compared to the Timeless, they feel equal in technical abilities. Articulate, transiently quick and rumble when you need it.

Despite measuring the Kefine Klanar at a higher level in the bass region, the balance between the bass and mid-range pinna gain, has it sounding similar in quantity to the Timeless. Timeless sounds plump and fatter while the Kefine Klanar adds a touch of warmth and slap. Even double kick drums on Symphony X – King of Terrors rips quick with defined bass notes, I remember how disappointed I was in the HIDIZS MP145 in this regard.

Mid-range does come forward on the Kefine Klanar, but oddly not overbearing. I think it has to do with the lowest valley is not at 1Khz, but rather even lower in the mid-range around 600Hz. At 1khz, we are talking a 10db rise, but at 600hz it comes closer to 13dB.

This again is that balancing act. Vocals sound clean and absence of added rasp. Instruments have good depth and space around them. The Timeless sounds a touch wider given the less forwardness of the vocals. I have to agree Kefine has tuned the Klanar to work well with acoustic music. Snare drums are subdued as mid treble is dialed back to provide a more fatigue free listening session over energetic.

Timbre comes off more digital than analog despite the warmer lower end, to me this is a byproduct of exacting nature of a properly implemented planar driver. Overall it sounds proper and nothing sticks out as off.

The Kefine Klanar treble is where the balance shifts in its favor. The Timeless was known for it’s U shaped signature with a rather over the top treble shimmer and air that can be almost too much at times. The Kefine Klanar has gone easier on us and yet still presents excellent shimmer and clarity with quick transient dynamics. I like the balance of it, others may prefer the extra air of the Timeless.

Easily driven by my LG G8 smartphone or simple dongle despite the lower than average sensitivity, the Kefine Klanar is a few more decibels louder or more sensitive than the Timeless. Power of course is always appreciated. The response through the treble is more consistent and tracks between left and right properly, my Timeless is not nearly as matched left to right.

FINAL REMARKS

Deep down I was hoping this planar would deliver, but had low expectations. I am proud to say Kefine Klanar surprised me and gave us a nicely designed earphone that can compete with the Timeless if you felt more mid-range presence was needed or the treble shimmer was a tad much. The typical universal shaped shell design might also be more appealing, that circular face-plates found on the TImeless.

Given the diffuse field curve with enough low end bass boost and upper treble at a good level, a prominent recommendation for anyone shopping for a new IEM, put it on your short list and consider getting some better ear tips to do them justice. Jazz and acoustic mate well, as does Rock and Pop a close second. I am going to revisit these before year end against the HIDIZS MS3 and Moondrop Starfield 2 and decide who comes out on top at the $120 price point.

DISCLAIMER

Provided Free of charge from Sivga who also sent me their iteration Nightingale yet to be received, I appreciate the opportunity and these will probably get a second look from the man, the legend Loomis. Purchase links below that provide no monetary incentive for us. Check them out on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/kefine.audio

USA:
Audio 46: https://audio46.com/products/kefine-klanar
Hifigo: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CKZ71VP3/kefine+klanar/

AliExpress:
https://www.aliexpress.us/w/wholesale-kefine-klanar.html?spm=a2g0o.home.search.0

International:
Linsoul: https://www.linsoul.com/products/kefine-klanar
Hifigo: https://hifigo.com/products/kefine-klanar

SPECIFICATIONS

Style In-ear
Driver size 14.5 mm Planar
Frequency response 20 Hz – 40K Hz
Sensitivity 105 dB +/- 3 dB
Impedance 16 Ω +/-15%
Cable length 1.2 M +/-0.2 M
Plug size 3.5mm SE or 4.4 mm BA
Weight 12.6 g

GRAPHS

Left vs Right
Kefine Klanar vs 7HZ Timeless
Kefine Klanar vs Moondrop Starfield 2 vs HIDIZS MS3

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HIDIZS MP145 Review (1) – Save The Whales And Your Bath Water

Durwood (Chicago, USA) — Mon, 11 Sep 2023 20:11:37 +0000

INTRO

Prepping for my annual ahem visual inspection, I dove into the HIDIZS MP145 and what I found was almost more enjoyable than trying to keep my hunger at bay. Having purchased the 7Hz Timeless ($220) at nearly double the entry cost of the HIDIZS MP145 ($109 kickstarter/$145 MSRP) my curiosity wanted to know is there something that improves upon it in the planar realm?

HIDIZS found inspiration from the plight of the whales, and for those who want to support a noble cause have a look at the Whale and Dolphin Conservatory.

The $139 (early-bird; regular $199) Hidizs MP145 was provided by the company for my review and I thank them for that. You can get them from Kickstarter.

Conservation and Research Projects

HIDIZS wants you to know they plan on providing more information about how their partnership works by following them on social media.

“Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) is the leading global charity dedicated to the protection of whales, dolphins, and their ocean homes. As the design of the MP145 was inspired by whales, we’re proudly supporting WDC’s Green Whale work and helping to raise awareness about the vital role whales play in the health of our oceans, and ultimately our planet. Learn more about these amazing animals here, and follow us on social media to get updates about our partnership.”

Getting back to the task at hand, why use Planars?

Planar drivers are unique and opposite to dynamic drivers that rely on stiffness of the diaphragm to prevent unwanted movements. Instead, the planar operates solely on the principle of bending and vibrating the surface of the diaphragm. Usually this results in very quick transients and an extended top end that sounds airy.

SOUND

Tested with the HIDIZS AP80 Pro-X Copper, LG G8, and SMSL SU-9 + JDS Labs AtomV1

The HIDIZS MP145 is a mid-centric bright with a midbass boost signature as opposed to the U shaped response curve of the 7HZ Timeless. Bass lacks the speed and control of the Timeless and the lower registers as well. I feel like the venting might be too much on the HIDIZS MP145 and does not allow enough air suspension to control the back wave.

It is noticeable for example on Hans Zimmer’s Mombasso from the Inception soundtrack where rapid succession synth tones can easily be lost. In simple arrangements it seems dynamic and tight, but once it gets more complex the definition is lost. Amplification or high gain mode on portable players and DACs was a must to help, but it did not provide the ah-ha moment I was hoping for. Keep in mind the lower sensitivity of 104dB/mW will challenge lower powered devices.

Now looking at the upper end of the spectrum we indeed get air produced by the HIDIZS MP145, but it also sounds steely in the timbre. The 7Hz Timeless with its even more tricked out air and zing lets the MP145 off the hook for its exaggerated enhanced highs.

At times, cymbals sound over-damped and blunted when compared to the 7Hz Timeless. I wonder how it might fare against the Letshuoer S12 instead that Jurgen reviewed previously since they are priced similarly.. During the auditioning of the track Acoustic Alchemy by Georgia Peach, the cymbals are accentuated and brittle, a tough test for many IEMs I like to use.

The midrange stands out on the HIDIZS MP145 with its clear and detailed portrayal of male and female vocals alike. There is good spacing and a sense of resolution through the midrange that is not shared through the upper treble and bass department. Listening to the HIDIZS MP145 by itself, it comes off fairly confident in abilities.

Once compared to the 7Hz Timeless where spacing around all the individual elements shine through and there is more depth and resolution do we see the HIDIZS MP145 has some ground to make up. It’s like if you took a picture primarily with flash, the picture is clear, but the shadows do not let things pop out.

Once you add in the extra background flood light allowing shadows to disappear do we truly get a good picture. Stage width of the HIDIZS MP145 extends outwards , but depth is somewhat 2 dimensional. Unfortunately even given the extended top end, I do not pick up enough height lift.

7Hz Timeless vs HIDIZS MP145

PACKAGE CONTENTS

HIDIZS MP145 Package

At this point of my review maybe you are irritated by the fact I skipped over the wide selection of eartips for balanced, vocal and bass enhancement. They are the same as what was included with the MS3 and MS5.

Or perhaps, I did not mention the 3 sets of filters also designed to tailor the sound. I also noticed when swapping the filters, there is open-cell foam jammed deep down inside the shell. With a small pair of tweezers or similar tool, it could be carefully plucked out and that might undo some of the over-damped brilliance, or we might get some other unwanted nasties. Point being, these could be a tweaker project.

HIDIZS MP145 Filters

HIDIZS MP145 includes the coin purse case that first made an appearance with the MS3 and seems to be the new popular way to include a case with expanding the packaging size. I appreciate that it fits cleanly in my pants or shorts without looking like I am excited to greet everyone I meet.

The silver cable is enjoyable and much appreciated over the heavy and extra cable used on the HIDIZS MS3 and MS5. It does not add unwanted weight to my ears, and looks classy. I am the anti-cablist desiring something that does not tangle (easily), is pliable and does not create micro-phonics which is what you get with the HIDIZS MP145.

Constructed with high-purity single-crystal oxygen-free copper silver-plated wire, after saying that five times fast I believe they should hold up well over time. The functional chin slider can snug up the wires for further reduction of micro-phonics produced by the cable, as a comparison the MS5 chin slider was extremely hard to use. These were all the good points, unfortunately there were some grievances.

GOING MENTAL

This does not impact the main importance of earphones, the packaging in my mind does not meet their goals of saving the whales. You may or may not have heard about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch floating around in the Pacific Ocean. Well, normally boxes are made of recyclable materials such as cardboard instead HIDIZS opted for a plastic box and while it may not end up in the ocean, it will most certainly end up in a landfill. My suggestion is hopefully reuse it for small storage in a drawer perhaps?

The other issue involves the shell – one of the earpieces supplied to me near the vent holes is deformed, as if it was pushed on. There is a crease noticeable in the right light despite the material being aluminum. Those blow hole covers are maybe a little thin, but could also be a one off problem.

The sharpness of the HIDIZS MP145 shell is a strange feeling when pushing them into my ears. I prefer the simple yet boring flatness of the 7Hz Timeless face-plate. The carved out shells are rather large and the nozzles are large diameter, so those that have small ears and prefer smaller shells might find them too big.

THE WRAP-UP

I might have been praising the MS3 and the MS5, but the HIDIZS MP145 is merely decent and not class leading for a planar. I still like the 7Hz Timeless better despite having an over the top airiness, plus it is not as large. The more mid-centric and over-damped treble air of the MP145 might be welcome to those who thought the 7Hz Timeless might have too much in either end of the frequency spectrum.

The HIDIZS has a pleasing western tonality with extra airiness, but non-de script bass and average technicalities prevent me from praising, I prefer their MS3 instead for around the same price.

Disclaimer: We thank HIDIZS for providing these free of charge. I will do what I can to save the whales, I for one have cut down on using one-time use disposal plastic sandwich bags.

HIDIZS MS3 And MP145 Review (2) – Fun Fun Fun Till Her Daddy Takes The Crackpipe Away

And what does Loomis Johnson think of the Hidizs MP145?

SPECIFICATIONS HIDIZS MP145

Type: 14.5mm Planar Magnetic Driver
Shell: CNC One-Piece Aluminum
Frequency Response: 20Hz-40Khz
Sensitivity: 104dB
Impedance: 30ohm
Cable: 2 Pin Detachable 1.2m High-purity single-crystal oxygen-free copper silver-plated wire
Weight: 19g without cable
Tested at: $13
Product Page: Hidizs
Purchase Link: Kickstarter

GRAPHS

Left vs Right
Eartips
Filters

HIDIZS MP145 Left vs Right

HIDIZS MP145 Eartips Red=Vocal, Blue=Balanced, Green=Bass

HIDIZS MP145 Gold Filter, Silver Filter, Red Filter

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hidizs/hidizs-next-gen-ultra-large-planar-hifi-iems-9-sound-types?ref=aq2pt9

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BGVP DM9 Review – Ear Hairs Will Dance

Durwood (Chicago, USA) — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 18:55:58 +0000

INTRO

It’s IEMs like the $629 BGVP DM9 that make listening enjoyable and ruin the lower tier IEMs. BGVP came to prominence with their DM6 and DMG back in the day and made their forum victory laps for a while until new toys came out. There have been several iterations of the DMx family, although they were above my typical shopping price range, a quick survey says they have been well liked.

The BGVP DM9 is a nine driver hybrid with famed balanced armatures from the market leaders Sonion and Knowles, and the newer technology of EST. The BGVP DM9 bathes you in uber detail and resolution, with a lively energetic treble while not pounding you to pulp with overblown bass in a wavy Harman plus tune.

DESIGN

With a 4 way electronic filter circuit, the BGVP DM9 separates the bands starting with a 9.2mm liquid silicone dynamic for bass, Knowles BA RAD, Sonion 2300 for the midrange, Sonion E50 series for the treble, and finally the Sonion EST65QB02 extending that final octave at the top.

BGVP does not stop there, some of the sound tubes use a resistive filter to smooth out the resonances and act as further filtering. The tubes ensure the sound is controlled all the way to the exit and reduces interference inside the shell.

COMFORT / ISOLATION

The BGVP DM9 comes in a custom painted wooden shell in two colors, green or blue/purple. The latter is definitely more eye-catching, but I opted for the less boisterous but still beautiful green. The shell is on the larger side, and does not fit as snugly as the Moondrop Blessing 2 Dusk. For longer periods of time I found the top of the shell has a slight edge that creates unwanted pressure on my ear. YMMV.

BGVP DM9 isolation is above average, however fitment creates some cavities that tend to amplify wind caught at the wrong angle. The BGVP DM9 did stay firmly planted during walking, so that is always appreciated. I trade minor discomfort for constant readjustment any day of the week.

PACKAGE CONTENTS

The leather carrying case of the BGVP DM9 is plenty roomy and the ease of opening and closing was strangely satisfying to my wife. It is on the larger size, so bag and coat packet friendly, but side-eye glances will ensue if stuffing it down your pants pocket. There is also a handy cleaning tool with a loop for scooping out the gross gunk and the other end is equipped with a brush and small magnet.

Three full sets of different eartips are included, plus a bonus set of U shaped medium sized eartips guaranteed to increase the midbass region and almost forgotten- a singular set of foamies. Two of the sets are labeled “Bass” and the third set are ”Vocal” type. Of the “Bass” sets, the clear stemmed ones are less firm, have a shorter stem for closer placement to your eardrum, and a larger opening. I had to ask BVGP if these were meant to be called reference, atmosphere or balanced, but alas they said no they were definitely “Bass” tips.

The other bass set has a longer stem, firmer, a smaller opening and worked better for sealing in my experience.

The vocal set of ear-tips were a combination of the two bass sets. They were basic level of firmness, short stem, and a smaller opening.

The set of foam eartips are useful for taming the upper treble if too bright. It tilts the plateau of treble in a downward trajectory to make them more appealing for a more traditional tune.

BGVP DM9 comes with a detachable MMCX 6N OCC braided cable with swap-able 3.5mm single-ended and 4.4mm balanced connectors. The connection is not as tight as the Kinera Golden 2.0, but is not so loose it falls off. It will disconnect at that connection point before the 3.5mm/4.4mm plug if pulled on. I have not paid much attention to cable technology these days, but BGVP managed to combine graphene in the strands as well. No way to test this, so just take their word for it.

SOUND

Tested with the LG G8, HIDIZS AP80 Pro-X, Shanling UA2+, and SMSL DO100/HO100.

The BGVP DM9 does so many things well, but I wanted to start at the top. It drenches you in so much splashy upper treble that is hard to find in lesser capable sets. The detail is quite exquisite, and controlled, maybe at times slightly overdamped if I had to nitpick. While this might sound like too much treble, it is well spread out evenly with some strategically placed dips to average it out.

Compared to the 7Hz Timeless which also plays fast and loose with the treble, the Timeless sounds more concentrated in a smaller band of frequencies.The BGVP DM9 on the other hand is like looking through a microscope at the level of detail across the entirety. Acoustic guitars really pop due to a peak at 5Khz, it gives rock music a very live concert feel.

Listening to some of the only classical I enjoy from US pop culture, Back to the Future Overture washes a whole orchestra across your face.. Other sets sound very flat, the BGVP dimensionally layers the different parts of the orchestra to sound very dare I say the cliche life-like. The price of admission comes at the cost of sitting in the front row for the symphony.

Paramore’s original hit Misery Business has new ife as if it would ever go out of style. Lesser qualified IEMs will just reproduce as another pop song sounding busy and crowded. The BGVP DM9 loafs through, allowing all parts to shine and feel effortless which is ironic for a punk rock band where raw grit is the goal. Pink Panther by Henry Mancini is another song that just sounds light and airy as cymbals and chimes traverse gently through.

Vocals are pleasant and not recessed, sounds balanced and never strained. The middle band of the frequency response never really catches my attention, but bookended by such wonderful treble and excellent controlled articulate bass, it does not ever feel lacking.

The BGVP DM9 pushes authoritative bass with a purpose that knows what it wants to be. Well damped in the mid bass with a nice rounding out of lower registers, haptic is light. The boost is well centered, pianos sound percussive and full without sounding bloated. Purists will probably think there is a sprinkle of too much warmth, much like arguing over a heating setting of 70F/21C vs 68F/20C.

Bass guitar slaps and bass plucks are well defined, and not just lost in the resonation of it all. I did find a hiccup in the set sent to me so only a sampling size of one. Channel imbalance in the bass by ~2,5db. I can feel it pull a little, this is near the threshold of detection. Probably a minor blockage in the shell vent on the inside, unfortunately I have no way to determine which channel has the tuning level BGVP was aiming for, or if other sets will have this anomaly.

UPDATE: BGVP was concerned about the channel imbalance so they sent a new set. The second set had better channel matching, with only a 1dB channel difference in the bass which is undetectable when listening. This is a company that honesty cares about their product and takes criticism seriously.

FURTHER TECHNICAL

In the name of detail sometimes it can be too much depending on the recording. It would be unfair to label it as too much of a good thing, instead what it does is expand the gap between good and bad recordings. Sometimes a set of earphones will really uplift everything without drawing too much attention to what might be wrong in a recording.

The BGVP DM9 is the friend you want to give it to you straight. The House is Rockin’ by Brian Setzer Orchestra gets a little hairy. I would give it a trim and tighten it up. The triangle sounds garbled and overdamped in Mountains O’Things by Tracy Chapman, but on Pink Panther by Henry Mancini it rings true. This is an example of really accentuating the aspects of the recordings. Listening further to Pink Panther and some Chesky drum improvisations the resolution and detail of cymbals is ear tingly excellent.

There were a couple of tracks that sounded so realistic I startled myself during a walk thinking something was actually nearby. These would make excellent gaming headphones where you might want to hear in extreme detail with wide positional aspects. They do have excellent depth with layering, but run overall forward with peaks around 2K and 5K anchoring staging close.

The BGVP DM9 can deliver micro-dynamics with sheer ease, so much so that I can hear hidden details in songs (cliche), but also hidden noise in electronics. In casual Spotify listening, I was either hearing some electronic noise from my external DAC or from the Spotify itself during song transitions.

Jumping back and forth between different gear and sources, the LG G8 can sound more bassy while the SMSL DO100/HO100 sounded more even keeled. It’s wonderful yet troublesome to have at your disposal something with greater resolution. Some of these nuances can be picked out for better or worse.

Gear Of The Year 2023 – Our Personal Favourites

The DM9 made it onto our “Gear of the Year 2023” list.

COMPARISONS

BGVP DM9 ($629) vs Moondrop Blessing 2 Dusk ($329)

Sorry not exactly swimming in flagships, the BGVP DM9 against the Moondrop Blessing 2 Dusk is the best I can do. The Moondrop is highly regarded, and lacks the airness the BGVP DM9 puts forth. Even the tuner himself Crinacle admits this is perhaps the only missing piece of the Dusk for cost reasons. Crinacle also prefers a thinner sounding lower midrange, so the BGVP DM9 sounds fuller and warmer with extra bass guitar and piano percussion.

Just like the HIDIZS MS5 comparison, the DM9 has a more forward stage compared to the Moondrop Dusk. Resolution and clarity are equals, but the DM9 is going to extract more zing from metallic instruments that need room to really activate the harmonics. As we get older this information might be lost on us. I am not there yet, so I fully appreciate it.

HIDIZS MS5 ($399) vs BGVP DM9 ($629)

Bass is thicker and fuller still on the HIDZS MS5 and more haptic rumble (graph below), the BGVP DM9 is faster sounding by a toe in a foot race. Midrange sounds a notch more mature with the DM9, however the treble sounds more even with the MS5.

Where the BGVP comes out on tops again is that extra harmonics and air in the final octave, the MS5 has a subduction past 10Khz, but then pops again at the threshold of where our hearing drops off, the BGVP DM9 keeps the party going until 4am with that sweet treble extension. It’s like having a ribbon super tweeter. MS5 is warm and thick, BGVP is analytical and energetic.

I am not sure if these are equals, if you are shopping for $400 earphones, is $600+ also something worth considering? I feel like people shopping for the MS5 have budgets in the $300-500 range, and the BGVP DM9 is sitting with folks shopping for $600-1000.

These are arbitrary price ranges, but I feel like this is how they might stack up for prospective buyers. At this price you can find heavily used, uncomfortably shaped Campfire Andromeda. It has been a few years since I last heard a set. This would be a fun comparison, I specifically remember snare drums really standing out.

HIDIZS MS5, BGVP DM9, Moondrop Blessing 2 Dusk

Moondrop Blessing 2 Dusk, BGVP DM9, HIDIZS MS5

OUTRO

BGVP DM9 is highly detailed, resolving throughout, and tuned to deliver a healthy dose of treble with enough bass and midrange to not be forgotten earning its flagship moniker. It follows the spirit of Harman tuning but with some ripples in the treble, and additional super tweeter air added with the Sonion EST’s adds just enough.

If you prefer a diffuse field tuning that portrays a stage pushed further away like the Moondrop Blessing Dusk 2, the BGVP DM9 might have too much energy in the 5kHz region making for a uneven stage. I enjoy being drenched in microscopic dynamics so it is an extremely fun and lively listen.

Build quality is excellent from the outside, but I am bothered by the bass channel imbalance. At this price I expect that to be caught during End -Of-Line testing, but perhaps the cost is in the parts and design and not necessarily in further QC activities.

It’s not a deal breaker for me because they are still exceptional at what they do, but it is in the realm of differential threshold audibility. The super tweeter ESTs ratchet up the price for value to take a hit, but then again there are plenty of kilo-buck IEMs to also keep it in perspective.

Disclaimer: I accepted these free from BGVP thinking they were sending a set of NS10’s. I am a little giddy these came instead after a deep dive. Unbeknownst during this review we have evolved to “Dad and Mom” graduating from “Mommy and Daddy”. I hope to avoid the formal phase Mother and Father.

SUMMARY

PRO	CON
Full bass with great control and proper extension	Cable plug on the larger side, and interchangeable plug needs more friction
Super detail, and resolution class leading	Fitment-top ridge keeps them in place but also adds pressure that is felt for longer sessions.
Appearance and construction	Channel imbalance in the Bass-sample size of one, but also at this price level I expect this not to happen.
Nice package of included accessories
Fitment-stays in my ear

SPECIFICATIONS

Sensitivity:≥110dB SPL/mW
Input Resistance: 30Ω
Frequency : 10Hz-40kHz
Distortion: < 0.5%
Sound Difference: 士1dB
Rated Power: 179mW
Cavity Material: Cured wood
Driver Unit:
Sonion EST65QB02*1
Sonion BA (E50 Series) *1
Sonion BA (2300 Series) 1 Knowles BA(RAD Series)1
Liquid Silicone VF DD*1
Cable: 4 Strands OCC Silver Plated Graphene Mixed Cable
Cable length: 120cm士10%

GRAPHS

Left vs Right
BGVP DM9 vs Moondrop Blessing 2 Dusk vs HIDIZS MS5
Haptic Bass Extension closeup
Impedance Plot
Second Pair with bass imbalance <1db undetectable when listening.
First Pair (Green Brown) vs Second Pair (Red Blue)-First pair shifted to avoid overlapping graphs of second set.

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DISCLAIMER

Get it from any of the numerous distributors on ALIEXPRESS, SHENZHENAUDIO, HIFIGO, ETC

Kazi’s take on the MS5https://www.audioreviews.org/hidizs-ms5-full-review-kazi/.

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HIDIZS MS5 Dark Angel Review (1) – Venom Protection

Durwood (Chicago, USA) — Fri, 21 Apr 2023 04:16:18 +0000

INTRO

Ambitious and hungry, the HIDIZS MS5 Dark Angel flagship emerges with hopes and dreams of chanting hymns from the shadows. Utilizing four quality balanced armatures from Sonion combined with a custom liquid crystal kevlar fiber dynamic driver, the HIDIZS MS5 is designed to extract the finest essence from all your recordings like a vampire.

HIDIZS aims to be the one stop shop everything portable audio company with past excellent products we reviewed such as the S9 Pro DAC and the AP80 Pro X. The HIDIZS MS5 is the shot of Irish cream in your coffee with quick bass speed, a sprinkle of lively midrange and exacting microdynamics in the treble worthy of a premium title.

Disclaimer: HIDIZS provided these directly to Audioreviews prior to the pre-sale. We chose to skip the affiliate links, donating to any Super PACS, having wisdom teeth removed, and waiting in long lines. Pre-sale pricing is $379 directly from HIDIZS starting April 21,2023 12am EST, after pre-sale period ends retail is listed at $399 and will be available from other retailers.

PACKAGE CONTENTS

Inside the package of the HIDIZS MS5 Dark Angel you will get a premium accessory kit. The earpieces are a one piece anodized aluminum alloy shell designed to reduce fingerprints and maintain a long lasting durable finish. They are large and bulky which makes for handling easy, but those with smaller ears might find them too large.

The universal shape is not as tight fighting as the Moondrop Blessing 2 Dusk or the Shozy Form 1.4 which both fit me better. The MS5 right ear piece requires some readjustment from time to time. This is normal for me on a majority of sets. The Moondrop and Shozy tuck into my crevices better, where the MS5 floats. Fitment is an extremely personal experience.

Adorned on the outside for all the world to see, the dark angel panel face plate is made with a skin friendly resin, although the only time it comes into contact with skin is via fingertips from inserting into your ears. The Dark Angel nomenclature comes from this face plate, but I cannot help un-see a Venom Marvel character, or forgive me a bicycle helmet. Who knew we needed ear protection without the hearing protection.

Sandwiched between the aluminum cavity and the resin face plate is a rose gold colored mesh that is for decoration only. All venting is provided through a controlled vent port that is of exact size to make sure both earpieces have no discrepancy between sizing that would affect the bass response. The external vent port appears to be a white resistive balanced armature filter damper. Since it is molded in, modding with a different damper is unlikely.

Premium detachable cabling of the HIDIZS MS5 is made from a mixture of 504 strands of 6N single crystal silver plated copper and 6N copper braided to form a total of 8 stands of wires sheathed in black environmentally friendly PVC giving it a shiny darker appearance with a sticky feeling.

The cable is weighty yet flexible and combined with the formed ear hooks stays firmly planted. The chin slider is for decoration, if it were open completely instead of having wire channels it would freely move, but it binds against the cable too much so I opted not to mess with it.

This is one area that is somewhat problematic as the weight combined with the aggressive ear hook deforms my ear and applies extra pressure. For longer listening sessions users will find it irritating. I wish they would have opted for something lighter, but still of the same quality. Consider replacing it.

With a plethora of tuning options between the included library of ear tips for Balanced, Bass and Vocals, the HIDIZS MS5 also includes three pairs of tuning nozzles screwed into a piece of aluminum plate with laser engraved text to help identify.

I would have preferred the color name included on the plate and adding a spot for the balanced pneumatic gold colored nozzles. At least it was a much more premium way to include them as opposed to in a plastic bag or attached to a piece of plastic like the Drop JVC HA-FDX1.

The replaceable pneumatic sound tuning filter- as HIDIZS refers to the nozzles – have a piece of open-celled foam in the balanced and bass pairs, while the silver treble colored ones have none. The red bass pair contains a higher density amount to cut back on treble letting the bass become slightly more prominent. For those who really like to tweak, you can experiment with your own materials such as cotton, gauze, other foams, etc. You might want to consider a little removal thread locker to prevent them from unscrewing and getting lost.

As I peered into the open cavity while changing these sound tuning nozzles, I can see 4 guided tube openings via a plastic insert. One of those tube openings includes a white colored resistive balanced armature damper used to tune and tame resonances of the balanced armatures.

It uses 3 different balanced armatures from Sonion, the E50DT for highs, 2389 (dual armature) for mid/highs, and the 17A003 for the lower midrange. The combined dual armature is how they count four. The 10mm Kevlar center cone attached by a liquid crystal surround dynamic takes over the low end.

The three different sets of eartips for the HIDIZS MS5 each serve for different purposes. The Vocal eartips have a shorter thicker stem and a wider opening to allow more sound through at a closer point to the exit and allow for placement closer to your eardrum if allowed by fitment.

The ones marked Bass and Balanced appear similar for stem and opening sizing, the only difference I detect is the black bass ear tips have a thicker outer shell to better retain shape and to minimize sound leakage.

What flagship IEM would not be complete without a protective carrying case, and the HIDIZS MS5 provides a roomy premium leather zippered case. Inside it is coated with a fleece material to prevent moisture build up. Plenty roomy, the mesh pocket can hold some of the accessories. It’s large for a pants pocket, but fine in a coat or bag. It’s the same size as the Moondrop Blessing 2 Dusk carrying case.

SOUND

Tested primarily with the HIDIZS AP80 Pro-X , SMSL DO100/HO100/SU-9

Seems fitting to pair the HIDIZS MS5 with the HIDIZS AP80 Pro-X for excellent power output, however I also tested with the LG G8. One thing to consider is that this is a low impedance earphone spec’d at 5.3 ohms, it does dip further to ~4 ohms around 1khz. That might be hard for some devices to drive properly in a different sense as output impedance of the device can impact high frequency response roll-off.

The overall sound signature of the HIDIZS MS5 is balanced with medium levels of boosted bass and elevated pinna gain. For once I get to not call this a Harman tuning, as they notch out an area that can be sensitive to some around 4Khz, and also ease into the upper midrange pinna gain instead of a straight climb to the peak and keep it fairly level out to 9khz. For the bulk of my listening I selected the balanced ear tips and balanced nozzles.

The bass nozzles soften the treble giving a more relaxed and non-fatiguing listening session, but the bass is more dominant and fuller. The treble nozzles allow free flow of everything the Sonion balanced armatures have to offer and really bring orchestral works to life with their light and airy capabilities.

Bass is full and warm, extension reaches the bottom and feels centered to provide nice balance between mid-bass and sub-bass. They have similarly wonderfully tight and controlled bass as the Shozy Form 1.4, but with the sub-bass of the Blessing 2 Dusk. The elevation avoids sounding too boomy and coming from some recent sets that boosted only the lowest last octave that could present as thin sounding, the HIDIZS MS5 is anything but. The tapering off is gradual but not bleeding, blending with the Sonion BA well. For me it tapers off before vocals start sounding too muddy and honky, instead a little chesty. If I EQ out around 250Hz it sounds closer to the Moondrop Blessing 2 Dusk.

Vocals deliver all the nuances and never sound strained unless the recording was over-driven. I definitely recommend using the vocal ear tips, as the upper registers are tamed with the smaller bores. Since it eases into the treble, the vocals feel a bit pulled back. The lower mid-range upper mid-bass tends to pull forward the staging. It is noticeable when switching back and forth with the Moondrop Blessing 2 Dusk.

Sliding into the treble, the HIDIZS MS5 delivers all the nuances you expect out of a flagship. While it may not have the air like qualities of the 7HZ Timeless, it delivers a superbly brilliant upper end. Listening to Queen’s Crazy Little Thing Called Love, you get a real sense of space as the drums sticks tap the edge of the drums, something the Moondrop Blessing 2 Dusk is also capable of.

One of my other favorite hybrids the Shozy Form 1.4 does not deliver that kind of technical ability to resolve that level of detail. I can really pick out the nuances of the different cymbal strikes, or the fluttering of the pads and levers opening and closing in a solo saxophone.

Hidizs MS5 Review (3) – Living On The Edge

TECHNICALITIES

For classical fans or even acoustic rock fans, height information comes through excellent as I listen to Georgia Peach Acoustic Alchemy when the chimes in the beginning come in, the higher chimes propagate higher. The HIDIZS MS5 is a high resolution set without feeling over-blown or fatiguing sound wise. For those that find it to have too much presence might actually want to use the bass tuning filters.https://www.audioreviews.org/hidizs-ms5-review-2-review-ap/

When comparing the HIDIZS MS5 to the Moondrop Blessing 2 Dusk, they are nearly identically wonderful. The difference between the two becomes apparent in the staging. Since the HIDIZS MS5 has more upper mid-bass, the staging feels U shaped, with the extra bass pulling some instruments closer around the edges hence what I call U shape not to be confused with U shaped frequency tuning.

The Moondrop Blessing 2 Dusk has a more even or straight position. As a result overall the HIDIZS MS5 sounds wide and forward, with depth front to back good, but overall the whole stage is closer.

Layering front to back is excellent with nothing ever feeling congested. Microdynamic detail retrieval is excellent. Nothing ever feels out of place. HIDIZS utilized excellent drivers and implemented the Sonion to their fullest ability. The multi-BA budgets do not even stand close, and I would hope not at this mid-tier pricing level ($150-500).

Hidizs MS5 Review (2) – It’s A Long Way To The Top

Also check Alberto’s take on the Hidizs MS5.

A HAPPY ENDING

The HIDZS MS5 Dark Angel swoops in and steals my attention away from my other favorites. The resolution and brilliance is superb. The use of the excellent Sonion balanced armatures combined with the fullness of the dynamic driver is a good match. The things some might not find appealing are the thicker lower midrange/upper midbass transition, forwardness of the stage, the heavy weight of the premium styled cable, and the bulkiness of the size.

Sometimes less is more, but overall I give it an A/B in tuning and an A- in technical abilities. One of my only favorites from HIDIZS. For those that prefer a diffuse field tuning from Etymotic or the Harman tuning, you will find these more energetic, but in my opinion in all the right places.

SPECIFICATIONS

GRAPHS

Left vs Right
Tuning filter comparison
HIDIZS MS5 vs Shozy Form 1.4 vs Moondrop Blessing 2 Dusk
Impedance Plot

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The post HIDIZS MS5 Dark Angel Review (1) – Venom Protection appeared first on Music For The Masses.

NiceHCK F1 Review – Bandwagonesque

Jürgen Kraus (Calgary, Canada) — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 17:59:52 +0000

The $120 NiceHCK F1 is a well-resolving planar magnetic earphone that follows the current trend. It essentially sounds like my “modded” LETSHUOER S12.

PROS

Very good midrange
Superb haptic
Great cable

CONS

Bass could be more composed
Short nozzles
Gold filter redundant
Generic eartips

The $120 NiceHCK F1 planar magnetic earphone was kindly provided by the NiceHCK Audio Store for my analysis – and I thank them for that. You can purchase it at the NiceHCK Audio Store.

Introduction

NiceHCK are an aliexpress company that made their name with $3 earbuds (before the current inflation) and annual Fukubukuro offerings: a surprise bag (“Wundertüte”) containing a mystery new-release earphone at a discount price. They are also quite renowned for their accessories, first and foremost their earphone cables. Good quality at reasonable prices.

While their iems are always interesting, they have been hit and miss throughout history. We have reviewed quite a few of their products.

NiceHCK iems analyzed by www.audioreviews.org
NiceHCK Bro (Loomis Johnson, Jürgen Kraus) NiceHCK DB3 (Jürgen Kraus) NiceHCK DT600 (Jürgen Kraus) NiceHCK EB2 (Jürgen Kraus) NiceHCK EB2S (Jürgen Kraus) NiceHCK EBX21 (Baskingshark) NiceHCK EP10 (Jürgen Kraus) NiceHCK EP35 (Jürgen Kraus) NiceHCK Lofty (Jürgen Kraus) NiceHCK HK6 (Loomis Johnson) NiceHCK M5 (Jürgen Kraus) NiceHCK M6 (1) (Jürgen Kraus) NiceHCK M6 (2) (Loomis Johnson) NiceHCK N3 (Loomis Johnson, Jürgen Kraus) NiceHCK NX7 (1) (Loomis Johnson) NiceHCK NX7 (2) (Jürgen Kraus) NiceHCK NX7 Pro (Jürgen Kraus) NiceHCK NX7 MK3 (1) (Loomis Johnson) NiceHCK NX7 MK3 (2) (Jürgen Kraus) NiceHCK NX7 MK4 (Jürgen Kraus) NiceHCK P3 (Jürgen Kraus) NiceHCK X49 (Jürgen Kraus)

NiceHCK iems analyzed by www.audioreviews.org

Loomis and I, in our sonic youth, had a soft spot for their $12 NiceHCK Bro single DD. And I found their $140 NiceHCK M6 offered a sniff into the world of premium iems – at the time. The company’s most prominent effort was/is the NX7 series that recently culminated in the MK4. M6 and NX7 MK4 suffered from a slow bass, a flaw the F1 avoids.

As NiceHCK’s contribution to the current planar magnetics trend, the F1 is actually a good sounding earphone.

Specifications

Drivers: 14.2 mm planar magnetic
Impedance: 15 Ω
Sensitivity: 100 dB/mW ±1dB
Frequency Range: 20 – 28,000Hz
Cable/Connector: Upscale OCC and Silver-Plated Mixed Cable/2-pin
Plug Options: 3.5 mm/4.4 mm
Tested at: $120
Product Page/Purchase Link: NiceHCK Audio Store

Physical Things and Usability

In the box are the earpieces, a cable, 2 generous sets of silicon eartips, a lavish pleather storage box, a velcro tie, and the paperwork. The OCC silver-plated cable is absolutely gorgeous with a perfect flexibility and probably costs $30-40 by itself.

The rugged earpieces are made of CnC machined aluminum alloy in the tradition of the 2018 NiceHCK M6 for example. Their cylindrical shape is very similar to my beloved Dunu Zen, just a bit smaller.

The generous sets of eartips are generic – they came with all previous MK4 models, too. NiceHCK should make some effort selecting eartips that optimizes the sound of a particular model (ok, ok, Sennheiser does the same).

In the box…

The silver-plated OCC cable is gorgeous. Note the short screw-on nozzles.

The colour combination and faceplate have a retro appeal to me (retro being 2018). The nozzles are a bit short but once I have inserted them deep into my ear canals, they stay i there, and give me a good seal. The shells are comfortable for me over longer listening sessions. Isolation is average.

Just like with many other planars, the F1 are not very sensitive and work best with decent amplification

NiceHCK M6 Review (1) – Driving Like God In France

The NiceHCK M6 gave us a first sniff of the premium segment, back in 2018.

Tonality and Technicalities

Testing and Measuring Details

My test tracks explained, including Spotify playlist

[collapse]

Equipment used: MacBook Air | Earstudio HUD 100 (low gain) with AudioQuest JitterBug FMJ |AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt | transparent stock eartips.

The F1’s frequency response graph is not as wiggly as the ones of their competition. That channel imbalance at the tail is not audible.

The screw-on filters deliver three different frequency responses.

The NiceHCK F1 comes with three different screw-on tuning filters, silver, black, and gold. Each filter creates a different sonic flavour. The silver filter delivers the most balanced and most realistic musical reproduction and is used for this sound analysis.

The gold filter adds an upper midrange spike that introduces a brightness that is fatiguing to the western ear. And the black filter enriches the lower midrange but leaves a particularly thick bass perception.

The F1 rides on the bandwagon of the the current planar magnetic hype, and it does so actually quite well. In the “olden days” there were two end members of sound signature, “neutral” and “fun”. The first meant the item was analytical and sterile as it lacked bass, and the second referred to a bassy V-shaped signature with recessed vocals.

Updating this terminology to today’s standards means “technical” vs. “agreeable (or musical)”. The NiceHCK F1 straddles the thin line between the two.

The F1’s bass is on the satisfying, robust side with a slightly blurry midbass hump, which is not pounding fatiguingly but rather subtly against my eardrums. A reasonably pleasant but slightly unfocused punch (it could be a bit tighter), which bleeds into the lower midrange. This adds robustness to the sound an contrast to the less bassy Dunu Talos.

The midrange is on the clean, more technical side, but not as lean or analytical as in the LETSHUOER S12 for example. It is richer but also not as sharply etched out and articulate as in the S12 or 7Hz Timeless. With the silver and black filters, the upper midrange is not shouty.

Treble rolls off rather early and is a bit robotic, typical for planar magnetics.

Bringing this all together – the human ear processes the whole frequency spectrum in context – this amounts to a slightly bassy sound with a reasonably well resolving midrange, which allows the listener to turn up the volume without regrets.

In terms of technicalities, the “agreeable/musical” part sacrifices some technical capabilities. The marginally blurry, bleeding bass and the lack of treble extension narrow the stage. Midrange resolution and clarity are very good as long as it is not affected by the bass. Separation and layering are also best in the midrange and treble, but lag behind at the bottom end of the frequency spectrum..

Timbre is a bit on the “planar magnetic” side, which means it is a bit metallic…but still good enough for enjoying acoustic sets.

Apart from the bass, the F1 are very good iems. The LETSHUOER S12, in comparison, has a tighter bass, but leaner mids, and is less “musical”. But with its current “micropore mod” (which removed spice from the S12’s upper midrange and thickened the bass) both sound almost identical (and they have almost the same frequency response). I would not be surprised if S12 and F1 had the same driver, just use different filtering.

The Dunu Talos is less bassy than the F1 and S12, has a much wider stage, and comes across as a bit sharper and spicier in the upper midrange (but there’s always micropore tape). I’d not put a newspaper between the three. In any case does the F1 not need any modding, but possibly some better eartips.

NiceHCK earphone cables analyzed by www.audioreviews.org
NicHCK LitzOCC 4N Litz OCC Copper Earphone Cable (Jürgen Kraus) NiceHCK C16-5 16 Core Copper Silver Mixed Earphone Cable (Jürgen Kraus) NiceHCK Litz 4N Pure Silver Earphone Cable (Jürgen Kraus) NiceHCK Blocc 5N UPOCC Copper Litz Earphone Cable (Jürgen Kraus)

NiceHCK NX7 MK4 Review – The Fixer Upper

The NX7 MK4 is an in-house competitor to the F1.

Concluding Remarks

After my criticism of their recent models, NiceHCK have pulled out a good and useful planar-magnetic earphone in the F1. While my analysis may be nitpicking, they are quite enjoyable for recreational listening.

Until next time…keep on listening!

All Our Earphone and Earbud Reviews (with Links)

Check out our other earphone reviews.

Disclaimer

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Our generic standard disclaimer.

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Gallery

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Akoustyx S6 Review (2) – …This !

Alberto Pittaluga (Bologna, Italy) — Sat, 11 Mar 2023 23:08:03 +0000

California-based Akoustyx Inc kindly sent an S6 sample to deliver a second opinion after Jürgen’s recent article.

It is customary for us in these cases to write a rather succint piece to avoid too much replication of the previous article’s contents but I’m going for an exception here. These little ones do in facts make me feel compelled to share my extended opinions with my few readers. I know, it’ll be boring. Few readers, however, means little damage. So let’s just get down to it.

Just for the record: Akoustyx S6 are currently on deeeep discount sale (like: 50% off) on Drop.

The manufacturer’s official page is instead here.

At-a-glance Card

PROs	CONs
Spectacular natural, sculpted, muscular timbre.	EQ correction required to tame IE2017 target excesses
Wonderful balance point amongst resolving power, detail retrieval and smoothness.	No balanced termination cable option (yet) available
Top quality driver bears heavy EQ with easy resulting in ample tonal customisability.
Very good separation and layering.
Exceptional fit and comfort through unique accessories
Exudes top engineering and manufacturing quality, at prices rivalling much lower end chifi alternatives
Relatively easy to drive.

Full Device Card

Test setup

Apogee Groove / Sony NW-A55 mrWalkman / Questyle QP1R / Questyle M15 / Questyle CMA-400i – Final E tips – Stock cable – lossless 16-24/44.1-192 FLAC and DSD 64/128/256 tracks.

Signature analysis

Tonality

S6’s timbre is natural, sculpted, muscular and well bodied, and stays so all across the spectrum. There’s above decent microdynamics, and no sign of “artificial” aftertastes. This, alone, would be worth closing my article with a glowing rec.

S6’s tonality indeed deserves some articulated comments. The manufacturer underlines S6 are intended for “studio reference acoustics”. Talking through with them they reported they tuned them closely following the Harman IE2017 target (see below) – and I must say it does show, big time. The presentation I hear from the low mids all the way up is definitely that. Sub-bass elevation is only more modest on S6 compared to the theoretical target.

https://cdn.head-fi.org/a/10122931.png

Simply put IE2017 is not my personal preference, period, and this for two main reasons.

One: the circa 11+dB value gap between the 1Khz and 3Khz points results in highmids being slapped hard into my face when I raise volume beyond a very moderate level, and

Two: the depressed lowmids values convert in a very dry, too dry tonality – I do prefer bright neutral to warm balanced, but IE2017 is below neutral, it’s almost aseptycal.

This has to do with the target itself. Then, depending on the particular driver technology and/or implementation accuracy or lack thereof on this or that driver the “actual” result will be for me moderately bad, very bad, or downight unbearable.

Now, the good news is that planar drivers in general bear tonality corrections by means of equalisation with a certain ease. And, S6’s driver is very flexyble (pretty much in Audeze iSine or RHA CL2 league), so first thing I did of course was bringing tonality more in my preferred ballpark, and a bit off the effing IE2017 “thing”.

Here’s the scoop:

Purpose	Type	Corner Frequency	Value	Bandwidth
Mitigate highmids/trebles’s plateau excess (required)	Peak	3 KHz	-3 dB	Q 2.67
Mitigate highmids/trebles’s plateau excess (required)	Peak	4 KHz	-3 dB	Q 3.61
Warm tonality up (optional)	Peak	200 Hz	+2 dB	Q 0.6
Extra rumble (even more optional)	Low Shelf	50 Hz	+3 dB	Q 0.3
Extra air up top (optional)	High Shelf	6 KHz	+3 dB (or more)	Q 0.9

My experience with S6 refers to the first 2 corrections (3K and 4K) imperatively applied. I will outline differences when the optional ones are applied too.

Sub-Bass

S6’s sub-bass is fully extended and quite present. Typical snappy planar transients apply without distortions here so there’s little more to squeeze off the onion so to say. That said those who prefer an even more visceral rumble can experiment with a Low Shelf correction from 50-ish Hz, +3dB (or more) and a very wide badwidth (0.3 or so).

Mid Bass

S6 midbass is seriously good. Oh well, of course it’s good if you like technical acoustic bass as I do. Distorted overbloated bass lovers should never buy S6, period.

Transients are well managed here and while they stay in fast, precision-rendering territory as you expect from a planar, they are not overly snappy and do deliver some body and microdynamics.

Applying the aforementioned warmth correction (Peak 200Hz +2dB wide bandwidth) does exactly what it says: midbass (and not only) will heat up a good 20%, coming across as a bit more bodied and flowery.

Mids

Mids are spectacularly sculpted yet organic and detailed. Guitars and tenor sax benefit most of the situation delivering good nuances and microdynamics while staying precise and seprated (see Separation below).

Highmids is where the IE2017 – and S6 which follow that very closely – loses my personal approval and that’s why in my books S6 strictly require the EQ-based retuning I mentioned above.

Once that’s done however the magic happens in all its splendor: high mids are energetic, detailed, sparkly and controlled (!!), even when you pump the volume up significantly, which is indeed a way to open the presentation up and let S6 give its musical best

Male Vocals

Tenor vocal lovers will be those finding the Wamth correction (see above) most desireable. Without that there’s too much dryness to call delivery really organic.

Female Vocals

Female voices are natural and organic, although not flutey. Good texture available and good microdynamics for a planar.

Highs

On a corrected S6 trebles are integral part of the nice show. Well extended, quite airy, snappy without excesses, not zingy, not tizzy. Love them. Apply the “Extra Air” EQ correction to add further airiness. Don’t be scared nor shy: experiment. Try +3dB, +4dB, +8dB if you want. Only stop where you like the sound best : S6’s driver shall anyhow follow you like a doggie.

Gear Of The Year 2023 – Our Personal Favourites

The Akoustyx S6 made it onto our “Gear of the Year 2023” list.

Technicalities

Soundstage

S6 cast a nice sized stage both accross and in depth – a bit more or a bit less depending on fit depth (the deeper the fit, the smaller the room).

Not the absolute widest projection I heard but very good anyway.

Imaging

Macrodynamics are beyond good. Intruments and voices are well scattered on the scene and there is nice air inbetween

Details

This is a point of excellence. S6’s detail retrieval smoothness is easily top rank for my experience on sub-500€ drivers. While I can name other “detail monsters” around, they all will “cost” some or a lot of fatigue and, before that, distraction from the music flow. S6 deliver fine and subtle details without slamming them onto your face nor covering you with “metallic noise dust” as other much leess refined drivers do.

Detail is also good from bass, although to a lesser extent: down there I guess planar-snappy transients do represent an apriori limitation to low frequency microdynamics. Something can be obtained with some light EQing but that’s it. Not “bad” however, just not so outstanding as to point it out as key plus. If you want special bass articulation and nuances get a high end DD.

Instrument separation

S6 execute separation very well. Crowded passages stay perfectly readable at all times, thanks to very controlled transient behaviour, and that glowing compromise mentioned above between snappyness and microdynamics.

Layering is top class: you can follow second or third voices with ease at all times and that’s not trivial to get – at any price, let alone with this small budget.

Driveability

In the “planar drivers” world S6 are probably the easiest to bias I found. You can even drive them from a phone, although you won’t have much headroom to compensate for low recorded materials (e.g. some vinyl digitisations, DSD conversions etc).

That said, their presentation opens up to more details and microdynamics when submitted to somewhat higher power. Once I apply my EQ corrections and the highmids excess goes for good, S6 offer a wonderfully smooth SPL progression. Indeed I find that even “dangerous” insofar as they cease any shouting, and you don’t get any “too high volume warning” so to say when pumping them up. Be careful… we all have only one hearing system you know that, once screwed you can’t fix it…

Like any bright/bright-neutral drivers S6 pair best with relatively warm sources, or at least with non-analythical ones. A special mention for Groove: the pairing with S6 is beyond spectacular.

Finally, a last important point of attention regards the equalisation requirements: your source need to be capable of at least “some” EQing.

Physicals

Build

The cylindrical part of the housings is in titanium alloy. The supersmooth outside finish is a titanium-oxyde based treatment. The backside is realised of a special polymer, in angled shapen, to properòy house the MMCX connector. Very stylish at least in my tastes, and covered by some patent too.

A red/blue colored ring helps easy identification of the right/left piece. Depending on fitting that ring might end up covered by the Earlock structure (see Fit below), however.

Lat but not least S6 housings are extremely lightweight: once selected the right size/type tips, and worn on with Earlocks etc they virtually “disappear” from your perception. Superb.

Fit

Stock silicon tips are not bad for the job. It’s not so easy to rotate others in as S6 nozzles are quite slim. In the end I settled for Final E (black) as they tend to tame trebles and bring mids forward a bit, which of course helps on re-estabilishing my preferred balance in this particular case.

Technically speaking a good alternative would be Spiraldots too, but their stem diameter is too wide so who wants to adopt them onto the S6 must be ready to apply a tight rubber ring onto the nozzles first, then the tips. Couldn’t be fussed personally, as I found Type-E’s more than good enough.

As you may reacall I am not in general a foamies lover but S6 is one of the few exceptions: here the typical foamies effect (“combing” thinnest treble notes and making bass a whiff “matte”) resolves in a very pleasant timbre nuance alternative.

Once again stock tips are of very good quality – very soft and quickly reactive material, classic cylindrical style – so you can easily go with those to begin with. My effing left canal is always creating problems though so in my particular case S stock tips is too small and M is too thick :-/ My best option is Comply TS200. YMMV needless to say.

Last but certainly not least in importance: the Earlocks. Those are totally brilliant. Think to the IEM version of those “comma shaped” rubber thingies you fit onto earbuds to help the stay put in your concha – and add twice the design accuracy.

These EarLock® silicon “rings” realise several contact points on the outer ear to (literally) lock the housings in place and fit the same way every time. The item comes from a company focusing on hearing protection aids for people involved in very loud noise situations (including law enforcement, army etc) aiming at guaranteeing that the noise attenuator/plug/intercom – whatever stays in-ear – won’t ever budge let alone pull out even in case of sudden hard movements, pullbacks, rush etc etc. And boy do they work!

Simply put: the Earlocks (provided in 3 sizes S-M-L) fit perfectly and “disappear” in/onto the outer ear, I don’t even perceive them as being there once worn, and S6 housings get a 100% firm stability in place, whatever I do however I move etc. This not only means that they won’t entirely slip off, but also and probably even most importantly that they won’t budge even as a consequence of mandibular movements while talking or eating which – in my case it does happen – may produce loss of seal and/or need to reposition.

Long story short: now that I tried them I want something similar for all my IEMs !

Comfort

Subjective differences apart, bullet shapes are normally considered “comfortable”. Amongst their downsides there’s typically stability which is totally fixed by the Earlocks in this case (read above). S6 are not particularly “long” in the bullet shaped category however they do support mid-deep fit, as a free choice user option.

As always: the deeper the fit the softer the trebles, the more relevant the bass, and the narrower the stage. Pick your poison

Isolation

Using foam tips and Earlocks to guarantee stable fit, S6 reach a whopping 34dB passive ambient noise reduction (NRR 28dB). That’s a lot! We are in professional NR aides territory indeed – these values are indicated for people working on tractors for example, or in some noisy industrial plants. Fantastic. Just be careful walking outside : you won’t hear traffic (!)

Cable

S6 stock cable is an unassuming-looking yet very sophysticated 16 core Oxygen Free Copper conductor. According to the manufacturer it is accuratly impedance-paired with the drivers. Be as it may, it sonically pairs spectacularly well with S6. I tried rotating some others – OFC is definitely the right choice, SP-OFC adds on edgyness which is not required here, Grafene does not pair well either.

As it often happens on low budget packages the cable has a fixed 3.5 termination only (the company is working on a multi-plug alternative to bundle on future versions but that’s on the drawing board yet).

Considering how well the cable pairs with S6 I recommend swapping only to those who are in dire need as all their sources sound best exclusively from their balanced otuputs. In such case a very inexpensive, decent option is the good ol’ ultracheap NiceHCK 16 core High Purity Copper (aka “Ugly Cable”). Alternatively a Linsoul HC08 will do well. Or, wait for Akoustyx to deliver their own

I guess something more is also worth saying about the cable.

One: the Kevlar sheath may easily be a love/hate thing. The material itself is beyond wonderful, super resistant etc. On the down side it’s badly microphonic (which is probably why the manufcturer strictly recommends over-ear cable install – RTFM…) and it’s quite springy at first. For the latter issue the good news is that the sheath gets obviously softer and malleable after a quite short time.

To quicken such “break-in” period you can frictionate harshly the cable in between your hands after coughly “coiling” it – don’t worry it won’t break – do it a few times and it will already get much better.

Two: the MMCX connectors offer a very firm “click-in-fit”. This may sound like a detail but for my experience it is not (!). Without going too far, this is one of the very few points of structural weakness I underlined on my Miyabi analisis (here). The down side on low quality MMCX options is of course micro-discharges resulting in subtle craclking noise while listening or worse.

Don’t take me wrong here, I’m not saying S6’s stock cable is the one and only good cable out there – I’m just saying don’t discard it quickly replacing it with “just any other one”, as – unlike what too often happens with cables bundled with budget-tier drivers – Akourstyx put a good one in here…

Specifications (declared)

Housing	Titanium-Oxide coated lightweight aluminum-alloy & polycarbonate IEM housing
Driver(s)	Proprietary tuned Planar-Magnetic Drivers with front & rear magnets
Connector	MMCX
Cable	Titanium-Kevlar Monocrystalline grade oxygen-free copper, 3.5mm terminated 1.2m cable
Sensitivity	108 dB/mW
Impedance	18 Ω
Frequency Range	10 – 44.000Hz
Package and accessories	3 pairs (S M L) of silicone tips, 3 pairs (S M L) foam tips, 1 pair of dual flange silicone tips, neoprene carry case, 3 pairs (S M L) Earlock fitting aids
MSRP at this post time	$240 MSRP, $175 deal price on manufacturer’s site, $120 ongoing Drop special deal (!)

Comparisons

7Hz Timeless ($ 199 Drop deal)

Simply put, S6 are miles better. Timeless have bloated, untextured midbass, a generally artificial timbre, scarce microdynamics (aka invasive “planar timbre”), very modest layering and separation. They also don’t seem to react particularly well to EQing, although some correction do make them a bit better. They do cast a wider stage compared to S6, there’s that. And they are more expensive.

TINHIFI P1 ($ 169)

P1 offer a smooth, nicely balanced and inoffensive tonality. Possibly a bit “too inoffensive” – one of their limitations for my tastes being that I find them a bit boring. S6 are obviously sparklier, much more engaging energetic and “brilliant” – they do require EQ correction ootb however, which is not an “absolute requirement” for P1 instead. Other major differences are the timbre – P1 being desperately “planar” vs S6’s much better microdynamics – and the driveability – P1 is much harder to bias.

Ikko OH1s ($ 74 promo on Amazon.com)

Recently price-repositioned by Ikko (I’d like to think: also after our suggestion), OH1S are based on different driver tech (1 DD + 1BA) but offer a general presentation and tonality similar to S6.

OH1S don’t require EQ corrections to deliver good bass, mids, vocals and some technicalities – all coming close to S6, which still has the edge on pretty much all counts, even if sometimes by not much. OH1S fall more evidently short of S6 in terms of imaging, and most of all energy. They are also very much tip dependent, and may not be so easy to fit.

final A3000 (€ 129,99 on Amazon.it)

By far my sub-300€ clear-timbre, bright-neutral tonality reference. A3000 are built on a custom-developed DD essentially sounding like a planar, and specially tuned prioritising equal clarity on sounds both closer and farther away from the listener position – which is particularly beneficial to acoustic music from large orchestras or groups.

As a direct consequence A3000 win big on sounstage drawing vs S6 – and pretty much any other sub 1K$ driver I heard tbh, solely bar their siblings A4000, which I find however less pleasant for my tastes on other counts (won’t digress here).

Tonal homogeneity, phenomenally nailed compromise on details vs musicality on trebles, layering proweness and well calibrated snappy transients are on par between the two. S6 offer higher note weight and whith that a more energetic, muscular, lively musicality while A3000 are obviously silkier. S6 sound if you wish… american, while A3000 so japanesely discrete-yet-deeply-sophisticated.

A3000 do not “require” EQ out of the box, their few shortcomings however can’t easily be fixed by EQing. Opposite situation on S6, which need to be put hands onto, but can be EQ-pushed/pulled/stirred in so many different sonic flavours, such argubaly being their most solid upper edge.

Considerations & conclusions

Building low priced, low quality products is not too complicated. Building equally low priced products carrying some more quality as to trigger a user’s attention on “price/performance compromise” grounds is already a bit less easy. Building, again, equally low priced products featuring however the same quality of a market-top product and just scaled-down features… this is a challenge. Taking and winning it requires serious, original industrial competence.

Some 2-3 years ago I auditioned my first planar IEM and I was kinda puzzled. Then I heard another. Then another. And I gave up. Most of all, they were drowning me into “planar timbre”, i.e. [almost] complete lack of microdynamics. A total turnoff for me. Simply put, I could see no reason why one would prefer one of those to a much more expressive and/or refined fast-transient DD or (quite rare, on low budgets) good BA.

Then in spite of my disappointment for the category last year a friend convinced me to audition a pair of RHA CL2, and that’s where I finally “got” planars: different beasts, indeed. And not at all “inexpressive” as the previous ones I tried.

Too bad that a) those CL2 babies cost a pretty penny, and what’s worse b) they are not in production anymore. “Alright too bad” – I said to myself. At least now I know “what” I look for “can” exist in a planar IEM, and that I was right on disregarding lower rank / quality alternatives.

Finally, in came Akoustyx.

Simply put, their S6 are truly hightech planar drivers built into a scaled-down, very modestly priced, stellar value package.

I sharply disagree on the apriori choice which as been made in favor of the IE2017 target. In my very modest personal opinion I don’t find it neither studio-neutral/reference, nor pleasantly musical. I was even more disappointed about stock CL2 tuning, however !

The outstanding things with S6 are their spot on native timbre, and their great elasticity vs EQ corrections.

No they do not deliver “precisely the same” technical proweness I heard on RHA CL2. They come seriously close however, with that indeed representing a credible, significant, differently flavored alternative to DD or BA technology budget drivers – that is, at a fraction of CL2’s price.

If you ask me, S6 are indeed worth their full 250$ MSRP, and then some. At their current deal price on Drop ($129) they are on “steal” category.

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TRN Kirin Review – Inoffensive Planar

Alberto Pittaluga (Bologna, Italy) — Sun, 05 Feb 2023 01:34:52 +0000

Kirin are TRN’s latest attempt at a planar-based IEM. Modestly priced (for a planar), they retail for just above $120. I got a sample to assess and here are my notes.

At-a-glance Card

PROs	CONs
Well calibrated, inoffensive, pleasant musical tuning.	Some might find tuning too relaxed.
Easy to drive within the planar category.	Average technicalities (detail retrieval in particular).
Rich package of good accessories.	Only one of the three tuning nozzles sets worth using.
Modular-plugs cable.	Potential fit issues.

Full Device Card

Test setup

Sources: Questyle QP1R / Sony NW-A55 mrWalkman / Questyle M15 / Questyle CMA-400i – Final E tips – Stock cable – lossless 16-24/44.1-192 FLAC and DSD64/128 tracks.

Signature analysis

Tuning nozzles

Kirin feature a replaceable nozzle system. Three pairs of different nozzles are supplied standard, labelled “Trasnparency”, “Reference” and “Atmospheric”, they differ in terms of length, internal bore, and external mesh and are supposed to finetune the presentation in 3 different ways.

Indeed, I found no audible differences when swapping Transparency and Reference back and forth, while Atmospheric does indeed offer a change, which is however limited to the highmids and trebles – the rest of the mids and the whole bass is to me identical no matter which nozzles get installed.

Atmospheric nozzles offer a tad more brilliant female vocale, and more relaxed highmids and trebles, which is not only good but in my opinion needed, as highmids and trebles get easily shouty on Transparency/Reference nozzles.

Long story short: Atmospheric nozzles are to me by far the best option, read: the sole good one, and once I realised that it’s with those on that I conducted all the rest of my assessment.

Tonality

Kirin’s presentation is a very wide V, featuring modestly elevated bass and enhanced however not offensive treble. Mids are not overly recessed so the overall experience is quite “balanced” in the end, and pleasant to listen to. Tonality is neutral with a tint of warmth. There’s a quite evident planar timbre, but it’s less pronounced compared to other cases I experienced, it’s not overly annoying.

Sub-Bass

Sub bass is not rolled off however it’s less elevated than mid-bass. Besides, it’s in itself tuned to be somewhat shy, the end result being that rumble is there but never comes forward nor imposes its presence, it rather stays in the back as a perceivable recessed foundation.

Mid Bass

Midbass is in the typical planar style: very fast. It’s also moderately punchy, enough to be significant, but not to be evident. Texturing is quite limited.

Mids

Kirin mids are well articuleted and moderately bodied, which counterbalances them being somewhat recessed. Overall I can call them nice.

Male Vocals

Male voices have a natural tonality, maybe with a touch of warmth. Tenors are ok, baritones and basses are a tad too light instead.

Female Vocals

Female vocals are better than male, more forward, energetic and well bodied. No shouts nor sibilance.

Highs

Kirin trebles are very likely the result of a precise tuning choice: they are very extended, airy, quite detailed and well bodied while at the same time carefully dampened never to become shouty or otherwise piercing/offensive. They carry a definite planar timbre but the consequent tint of artificiality in Kirin’s case is much lighter then in many other cases I heard.

Technicalities

Soundstage

Kirin cast a nice 3D stage. It’s size is no more than average however.

Imaging

Imaging is decent yet not stunning. Probably due to treble “softening”, I guess, there’s some sort of light fog in room. Not a criminal offense, however, considering the product cost.

Details

This is a weak spot on Kirin. Detail retrieval is just basic all across the frequencies (trebles a whiff less bad, but nothing to be particularly happy about)

Instrument separation

Layering and instrument separation, like imaging, can be rated as average/decent

Driveability

Kirin’s relatively high sensitivity is very uncommon for a planar driver, and makes them not hard to drive at all.

Physicals

Build

Housings appear solid and well built.

Fit

Fitting Kirin may be a problem for some due to its housings’ “bowly” shape. Nozzles protrude from the main body enough, however, so getting the tips into the canal and score a good seal is not impossible, the (possible) issues are more on the side of stability and comfort. Of course it all depends on one’s concha shape/size.

Comfort

Read above about “fit”. In my case, for example, Kirin’s bowly housings don’t fully fit into my conchas; once worn they do feel OK (no angles, no aching edges nor anything) but their staying “a bit outside” give me a sort of “unsecure seating” feeling.

Isolation

Depending on luckier or unluckier pairing with one’s outer ear there’ll be more or less passive isolation. Even in the luckiest case however three vents on the housings will do their job against isolation.

Cable

Stock cable is nice. An 8 core very soft brided silver plated OFC chord, with modular terminations. All 3 most common terminal plugs (3.5, 2.5 and 4.4) are offered free in the box, with the further addition of a 3.5-6.25 adapter.

The modular plug system is quite basic, no lock-in system is present. The connectors on the housings side are 2-pin with an uncommon “oval shape” variation to a QDC shell around them : third party non-QDC 2pin cables will fit, but look a bit odd when plugged.

Specifications (declared)

Housing	TRN Kirin’s housing is made of CNC-machined magnesium alloy. This aerospace material is effective in reducing harmonic resonance, providing a rigid and durable structure.
Driver(s)	1 Planar magnetic driver
Connector	2-pin “oval” QDC
Cable	8-core silver-plated oxygen-free copper cable, 1.2m, with modular termination plug system. 3.5, 2.5 and 4.4 plugs included.
Sensitivity	106 dB
Impedance	32 Ω
Frequency Range	7-40000Hz
Package & accessories	Aluminum storage case, 3.5/2.5/4.4mm cable terminal plugs, 6.5mm jack adapter, 3 pairs (S/M/L) balanced silicon eartips, 3 pairs (S/M/L) bass silicon eartips + 1 pair foam eartips, 3 pairs tuning nozzles (Transparent / Reference / Atmospheric)
MSRP at this post time	$122.00

Comparisons

TINHIFI P1 ($129)

Very simply put: Kirin and P1 offer quite similar outputs. Both have near-natural tonality, a not excessive planar timbre, smooth trebles, modest technicalities. P1 are probably a tad more “refined” in some sonic traits, and easier to fit. On the flip side, P1 are much harder to drive, and infuriatingly capricious when it comes to tips selection.

7HZ Timeless ($200)

As you might remember, I’m not particularly fond of 7Hz Timeless (follow link above for my take on them). That apart, the two IEMs offer very different tunings. Timeless are energetic and engaging, with a stronger bass line and cast a wider stage. On the other hand Timeless’s planar timbre is much more annoying, up to making its entire musicality a perceivable bit artificial, and their stage, however wider, is dramatically bidimensional. Timeless’ trebles are also too often shouty and fatiguing, which never happens on Kirin (with the Atmospheric nozzles).

Conclusions

TRN Kirin are with little doubt the most interesting TRN drivers I heard as of yet.

Don’t get overexcited: they are and stay a pair of budget IEMs but it’s fair and just to underline that TRN paid some good effort here resulting – first of all – in a pleasantly sounding system. Which is never a small thing.

More in detail, Kirin offer fast transients, quasi-natural tonality, and don’t drown under a cheap planar timbre as much of the competition does. They can surely grant clean, relaxed listening especially to acoustic music lovers. On the flip side: their technicalities have ample room for improvement, and who loves engaging, energetic presentations will want to look elsewhere.

Once again my sincere thanks to TRN for the free sample I received. You can get Kirin here.

Our generic standard disclaimer.

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Akoustyx S6 Review (1) – Angel And Devil

Jürgen Kraus (Calgary, Canada) — Sun, 29 Jan 2023 03:00:36 +0000

The Akoustyx S6 is a superbly built and very handy planar-magnetic earphone with excellent resolution and timbre that can get spicy in the midrange at louder volumes.

PROS

Excellent imaging, staging, and technical merits
NATURAL TIMBRE
Clean, immersive sound
Original design
Superb build, haptic and compactness
Great comfort and fit, including rubber Earlocks
Handy Neoprene case

CONS

Spicy upper midrange may be fatiguing to some

The Akoustyx S6 was kindly supplied by the manufacturer for my review – and I thank them for that. You find more information on the respective product page.

The S6 are currently on deep discount sale (like: 50% off) on Drop.

Introduction

Akoustyx are an American junior earphone company out of San Jose, CA, producing in Nashville, TN, with US and imported parts. They are the type of company who put a lot of detail into their designs aiming to develop budget to medium-priced models with long shelf lives – that do not get succeeded every 6 months by a “Pro” version. Just like the big boys ala Sennheiser, AKG, etc., players with lots of experience and confidence behind them.

Akoustyx focus on a small number of products – instead of getting lost in a jungle of “moreofthesame”. I purchased my first few mid-tier earphones from companies that are renowned for the electronics, speakers, and headphones, but only offered a single earphone model. I concluded these iems must be good: Focal Sphear, Bowers & Wilkins C Series 2, and the NAD HP20. And they were good in their days.

I tested the Akoustyx R-220 previously, which feature 2 balanced armature drivers – and sound almost clinically diffuse-field neutral. Technically great, but temperature wise not for everybody. And they are still being offered three years later. I still consider the R-220 as being timeless – and something special in my huge iem collection.

Akoustyx R-220 Review – Reset Your Ears

The Akoustyx R-220 are diffuse-field neutral tuned dual BA iems.

As to Akoustyx’s attention to detail, which they marry with pragmatism: all three of their series are extremely small, light, and they come with nifty “Earlocks” – patented soft-rubber rings that hold the iems firmly in your ears. They have the effect that you don’t feel the earphones in your concha anymore. They even offer neoprene cases for their R-200 and S6 series.

The Akoustyx engineering team’s 6.1 mm planar-magnetic driver has been developed since 2018 and was officially launched at CanJam Social 2022. You may guess the reason for this delay. It is assembled in the USA.

Specifications Akoustyx S6

Drivers: proprietary planar magnetic, in 6.1mm chassis
Magnets: Neodymium N50 (front & rear)
Impedance: 18 Ω @ 1 kHz
Sensitivity: 108 dB
Frequency Range: 10-44,000 Hz
Cable/Connector: Titanium Kevlar mono crystalline OFC (oxygen-free copper)/MMCX Gen-2 connectors
Tested at: $249 ($175 on sale)
Product Page: S6 Series
Purchase Link: Akoustyx.com

Physical Things and Usability

In the box are the earpieces (of lightweight Al alloy with a Ti oxide treatment), 3 sizes of soft-rubber Earlocks, the OFC cable with a Ti Kevlar sleeve, 1 set each of silicone and foam tips, a slimline neoprene case, and the paperwork. Cable and earpieces are connected via MMCX.

Materials, build quality, and haptic are as fine as it gets.

Akoustyx earphones are special in that they leave the smallest possible footprint in your shirt pocked of any iem (except perhaps Etymotics). They are not only small but also extremely light. Fit and comfort are excellent, the Earlocks add increased hold.

You get the company’s more detailed tech description from their product page. The S6 are very easy to drive.

In the box…

Small, light Ti alloy earpieces with Ti oxide treatment.

Earlocks made of soft rubber hold the Akoustyx firmly in your ear.

Tonality and Technicalities

Testing and Measuring Details

My test tracks explained, including Spotify playlist

[collapse]

Equipment used: MacBook Air with Earstudio HUD 100 (low gain), EarMen Eagle, and AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt; iPhone SE (1st gen.) with HUD100; Sony NW-A55 dap.

My measured frequency response of the Akoustyx S6.

Company’s frequency response of the Akoustyx S6.

Well, my frequency response graph looks just terrible (the company’s looks better…we obviously use different standards…in fact I applied a ‘correction’, which is an empirical adjustment of the DIY tube coupler’s response towards a particular IEC coupler’s response based on comparative measurements of 13 IEMs – which do not include a sample of the Akoustyx S6). On the other hand don’t I know what measurement parameters Akoustyx applied.

My graph lets expect a bassy screamer with vocals buried 6 ft under. This is not quite the case and shows once again how graphs can be deceiving. The S6 is not as V-shaped as it appears and not as bassy either.

It offers a slightly warm temperature at the low end, and becomes neutral from the midrange up, resulting in an appealing timbre, as long as you don’t turn the volume up. Maybe this frequency response is required to bring the best out of this small driver.

I usually measure frequency responses with 85 dB @ 1 kHz but had to go down to 82 dB as the software started clipping the upper midrange/lower treble peaks.

The bass is…very good. Yes, it is fast, but not too fast, composed and controlled. It could be even more for my taste. Confused? Well, remember the story of the JVC HA-FDX1 with its three tuning filters? All they do is change the upper midrange – and all you hear is a different bass response.

That’s because the human ear records the whole frequency range in context and not just the individual snippets (bass, mids, treble). Also, the S6 does not have the mid bass boom of the famous 7Hz Timeless.

That means for the S6 is that this gigantic pinna gain greatly diminishes the quantity of our bass perception. The bass is not even much extended into the sub-bass to my ears. Unfortunately, that bass does not tame the upper midrange to reasonable levels. It is shouty and can be fatiguing at higher volumes.

Fuelling the upper harmonics it really etches vocals out: they are lean, articulate, they are very lively, but they lack body, although they are not even particularly recessed. I wished the midrange corners were a bit (more) rounded. As a positive, this results in excellent midrange definition and resolution – and great speech intelligibility.

The upper midrange brings out higher piano notes very accurately with a natural stroke — but higher trombone notes can be strident. You can avoid fatigue by simply keeping the volume at bay. Using parametric or graphic eq remedies this, too.

Going higher in the frequency range, cymbals are still well resolving but can be a bit robotic/metallic and certainly tizzy, that’s where the planar-magnetic characteristics appear. High notes are generally well resolving.

Technicalities are outstanding for this class. Stage is expansive and not too deep. Imaging is wonderful, separation and layering are great, and the driver can handle whole symphony orchestras with ease. No crowding, each player is reasonably accurately placed on stage.

The S6 also passes the cello test: decay is natural enough to make a cello sound like a cello (and not like a hacksaw through ultra-fast note decay), which can be a problem with planar-magnetic drivers. The S6 offers a fantastic timbre.

In summary, these S6 are great if you find the (volume) limiter button, also considering their haptic and comfort. Turning the volume up can make you curse them. Angel and Devil in one. I experienced both. The S6 therefore work best with warm sources and jazzy or classical acoustic sets. Pounding EDM or similar against your eardrums may be a bit much for you.

I expect the S6 overall design and haptic may rather appeal the mature, audiophile crowd and not the compulsive buyer.

Akoustyx S6 Review (2) – …This !

Also check Alberto’s take on the S6.

Concluding Remarks

The Akoustyx S6 nevertheless come as a big, positive surprise to me. I was aware that the company could produce technically fantastic earphones offered below $300, but in the S6 they added an element of “musicality”.

The S6, despite their tiny size with their miniature planar-magnetic drivers offer big, accurate, and enjoyable sound with the caveat that it can get fatiguing at higher volumes. The Akoustyx S6 are certainly special but will mainly appeal to purists.

Until next time…keep on listening!

Gear Of The Year 2023 – Our Personal Favourites

The Akoustyx S6 made it onto our “Gear of the Year 2023” list.

All Our Earphone and Earbud Reviews (with Links)

Check out our other earphone reviews.

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Gear Of The Year 2022 – Our Personal Favourites

Jürgen Kraus (Calgary, Canada) — Fri, 25 Nov 2022 05:59:30 +0000

Gear of the Year: 2022 marks the blog’s fourth year. We collectively published 100-150 articles, mainly product reviews, but also technical information (such as earphone modding). Apart from receiving review units from manufacturers and sellers, we also purchased a lot…and we borrowed from audiophile friends and colleagues.

Our list of earphone reviews is going towards 400, which is a very useful database. And one of the world’s biggest. In the DAC and amplification department we have also reached a respectable 70.

While we shrank from 8 to 6 authors, we essentially doubled our viewer numbers and currently record well over 1000 daily individual blog visitors (1377 on Black Friday 2022). But we remain humble, continue viewing our hobby as labour of love and focus on information for you, the reader, while not selling out.

Another very popular list is our Wall of Excellence, which hosts gear not approved by one of us, but by the whole team. This is a useful filter for you and should give you confidence in your buying decisions.

Wall Of Excellence

Not created by a single analyst but by 8 of them…

And yes, we searched for and found an exclusive sponsor in HiFiGo, who help us with our basic operating cost (web hosting). We still chip a lot of our own money in for mailing between us reviewers, import charges etc.

By having a single sponsor (and not Google ads) paying us a moderate flat fee, we don’t rely on viewer numbers. For you, this means no popups and no ads between paragraphs, nothing in your way when reading our articles. All advertisement takes place in the top toolbar and the sidebar. Feel free to check it out.

We also continue refraining from affiliate links as it still leaves a bad taste in our mouths.

As at the end of the previous years, we list our our personal favourites of 2022 – the portable audio we personally enjoyed most. There are no rules, we just tell you what we like. It does not have to be the latest. After all, the gear we use most is the best for us. Between us, the Dunu Zen, 7Hz Timeless, Final ZE3000, and Questyle M15 received the most mentionings. The Questyle M15 appears to be the most highly acclaimed dongle in the blogosphere period and may as well be the “Product of the Year” all around.

We don’t publish any “best of” lists as we have not tested all competitors in each category.

Enjoy this read and we wish you a happy and successful 2023!

We thank

Most of our reviews would have not been possible without our 2022 cooperating partners. We thank (in alphabetical order):

Akoustyx, Aoshida Audio, Ampapa, Apos Audio, Arylic, Astrotec, AudioQuest, AXS Audio, Blon, BQEYZ, Burson Audio, Campfire Audio, Customcans UK, ddHifi, drop.com, Dunu Topsound, EarMen, Earsonics, Final Audio, Fir Audio, Gravastar, ifi Audio, IKKO Audio, Hidizs, HiFiGo, KBEAR, Knowledge Zenith, KeepHifi, LETSHUOER, Linsoul, Maono, Mifo Technology, Moondrop, Meze, NiceHCK, OneOdio, Qudelix, Questyle, Rose Electronics, Shanling, SHENZENAUDIO, SuperEQ, Tempotec, TINHIFI, Vision Ears, Whizzer Official Store.

For the companies: you can check for your products/yourself in the search field on the right-hand side.

A special thanks to Jeff Rockwell for arranging Head-Fi tours and sending us his his personal stuff. We also thank Simone Fil to let us test his gear.

And here we go…that’s what we enjoyed in 2022…

Alberto Pittaluga… Bologna, ITALY

My 18 readers know that I’m much more into enjoying better sound than into getting excited about sidegrades or other small changes from my existing preferences. I am the polar opposite of a marketing hype target individual – on pretty much any topic by the way. I mean: try and sell me a “better” (?) Moka coffee machine…

With that in mind, and considering that I’m not into this since yesterday evening, it’s quite logical that the list of the really significant items out of all those I come across over a year’s time is short. Here’s what I found in 2022 which is worth recommending.

IEMS

Intime Miyabi – a great piece of engineering ticking most if not all boxes for my tastes. Beyond details, one of the absolute best sound delivery experiences one can buy (well… some personal initiative is required to fetch it from Japan) below 500$… spending less than half of it. My report here.

RHA CL2 – I heard quite a few planar IEMs, and not a single one “closes the door” for me. Long story short, none offers me a well-articulated-enough sound experience out of the box, and none carries a driver good enough to be equalised into something I really like. The sole exception I ever came across yet is this RHA CL2 – a dated model indeed, which I had the venture to audition this year for my first time. More on this on my piece about it .

DAC/AMP Dongles

Questyle M15 – no doubt the “best overall quality” battery-less DAC/AMP (“dongle”) at any price. Paired with a small transport easily makes all sub-800$, and most sub-2K$ DAPs pointless in terms of sound quality delivery (some may still prefer “some” DAP for better pocketability convenience or specific features). Firstly reviewed in depth by Jurgen here, you can read my incremental notes here.

E1DA 9038SG3 and 9038D – the M15 is what it is, but it also is relatively expensive (almost 300€ once delivered to Italy). My previous experience taught that me that exclusively higher-tier (and price) dongles are able to deliver sound qualities worth investing in more money than the 9$ price tag asked for an Apple Dongle ($9). Then I found these two gems which fulfill the need for incredibly clean and powerful sound for less than half M15’s price, and 90% of its proficiency.

RHA CL2 Review – Hands Down The Best Planar Yet

Biodegraded…Vancouver, CANADA

7Hz Timeless:
Despite a somewhat elevated and loose midbass, these have great overall tonal balance, smooth mids, excellent instrument separation and layering, and speed. Macrodynamics are on the soft side, which might not be for everybody; and the fit will be problematic for people with concha bowls on the smaller side. They work best with warmer, dynamic sources.

7Hz Timeless Review (2) – Planar Power!

Durwood…Chicago, USA

Swimming in dongles I don’t have a favorite, Moodrop Dawn has the selectable gain, others like the Shanling UP3 have single and balanced outputs and controls. Take your pick. I would like selectable gain AND single ended/balanced outputs.

Desktop DAC goes to the SMSL C200 for best value and sound that hangs near the top dogs. I personally prefer separate pieces for the ability to have more connection options and swapping but for near double the price I don’t see double the performance. The SMSL SU-9 is excellent for me I ended up buying one on the second hand market. The SMSL DO100/HO100 is great too and bit more user friendly for the size.

For earphones I still love my Shozy Form 1.4 for the bass tuning, warm signature and superb fitment YMMV. There are lots of excellent performers if just factoring in sound and technical merits including the 7Hz Timeless and Moondrop Kato, but I struggle keeping them in place. For those starting out or not a lot to spend, my budget pick for what is available would be the CCA Lyra.

For TWS, I only have 3 pairs to compare-but if I don’t need ANC, I would pick the Moondrop Alice all day everyday. Review coming soon, they are a wireless Kato and they nailed all the important features (sound, battery life, control, fitment), form follows function.

Aoshida Audio SMSL C200 DAC/AMP/Preamp Review – Desires Fullfilled

Jürgen Kraus…Calgary, CANADA

In terms of earphones, I continue liking the JVC HA-FDX1, the Dunu Zen, and the Final E5000. The Zen remain my go-tos. New on my list are the LETSHUOER EJ7M (great allrounders), the Final A3000 & E3000, and the very articulate Dunu Talos. But the earphone I used most in 2022 is the superb Final ZE3000 TWS.

As to headphones, my Sennheiser HD 600 have received company by the Final Sonorous III. On the budget side, I added the excellent KTXPro1 to my Koss selection (Porta Pros, KPHi-30, and KSC75).

I am principally a “portable guy” who used to operate his iPhone with a dongle, mainly the AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt. Whilst the Cobalt remains a standard staple of mine, the excellent Questyle M15 (and here too) is a great alternative for my higher current-drawing headphones/earphones – and my personal product of the year 2022.

For driving full-sized headphones and single DD items, nothing beats the Apogee Groove. For Bluetooth DAC/amp, I exclusively use the very mature Qudelix-5K. And for earphone testing, I am still holding on to the totally underappreciated Earstudio HUD100.

The Hidizs AP80 Pro-X has proven a great dap for me, no matter if used alone or as transport with a dongle. The Sony NW-A55 with Mr Walkman firmware also remains in my collection of favourites. And the very crisp sounding Questyle QP1R remains my flagship dap. The biggest surprise for me was the Tempotec V6 dap…essentially a $500 device at half price.

For my desktop setup, I am holding on to EarMen Tradutto DAC in combination with the Burson Funk amp and AudioQuest analog and digital interconnects.

Questyle M15 Review – Stellar By Starlight

My product of the year 2022.

Kazi Mahbub Mutakabbir…Munich, GERMANY

Just like that, another year went by. This year was special for me as I got to visit High End Munich 2021 (which happened after a 3-year hiatus) and also got to meet some great reviewers and legends of the industry in person.

Best Headphones: This year, I have slowly transitioned from portable audio into desktop audio. A knock-on effect of that has been my growing headphone collection. What used to be a mere 4 headphones last year, has grown into a whooping 25 now.

Yup, I need another shelf.

Speaking of the best headphones, Hifiman HE-6se V2 got the most use this year from me. I still use the Sennheiser HD650 whenever I feel like relaxing, but for my playlist – the Hifimans absolutely slap!

That being said, they aren’t the best headphones that I’ve tried this year. That recognition goes to the venerable Stax SR-X9000. Still underrated in the summit-fi segment, these overtook Susvara for me in almost every aspect. They are build better, has better sense of space, bass is better defined and slams a bit harder, and of course – the ethereal treble is an absolute joy.

Too bad that the price tag (with energizer) makes these nigh-unobtainable for me. Doesn’t make them any less awesome, though.

Best IEMs: Dunu Zen remains my daily driver, and they scale tremendously with desk sources, so I am a happy camper.

Speaking of camps, Campfire Audio Holocene has sneaked their way into my daily rotation. Probably my most favorite Campfire Audio IEMs, ever. They deserve a lengthy, long-term review, which is in the pipeline.

Dunu Zen Review – Zenith

This year I also had to wade through loads of “meh” IEMs, each mimicking a certain “scientifically perfect” (lol) curve in one way or another, and each sounding boring and unremarkable. But the one IEMs that kept the fire alive was the Softears Turii.

Exceptional in almost every sense, their fit is the biggest concern, but with Spinfit W1 tips (excellent tips btw, recommended) I found them stable enough to enjoy outdoors. Too bad that they’re discontinued.

The Softears Twilight is a spiritual successor of sorts. Doesn’t have the crazy sense of space that the Turii portray, but pretty much beats every other single dynamic I’ve tried under USD $1000 (and I have tried nearly all of the hyped ones by now). So yeah, Softears, take a bow!

Desktop DAC and Amp: Questyle CMA Fifteen takes the cake for the best all-in-one system that I’ve heard. Near-endgame for 99% out there I’d say. Drives almost everything with authority. What’s not to like? Oh yes, the price. Something’s gotta give after all.

Questyle CMA Fifteen Review – The Great Sequel

As for standalone units, the best solid-state amp I’ve tried: Zaehl HM1. As for the best tube amp: Feliks Envy, or the Feliks Euforia AE. Two very different price-points, but both about the best tube amps you can buy right now.

DACs are a bit difficult for me to judge, and the ones I’ve tried this year couldn’t replace the Holo May L3 I tried last year, so that one still reigns supreme.

Portable DAC/Amp: Questyle came outta nowhere with the M15 (and here too) and seized the day. Nothing else comes close, really. On the higher side of the price, Chord Mojo 2 is an excellent device. For using with IEMs and moderately efficient headphones – that’s all you’ll ever need. The DAC section is kilobuck-level as well.

Surprise of the Year: Final ZE3000.

I do not like wireless stuff at all, mostly because of how poor and compressed 99% of them sound. This one caught be off-guard. I bought them only to review them, fully expecting to put them up for sale once the review is done.

Now, three months later, I carry them everywhere and despite the finicky touch controls, I keep coming back to them. Only the Sony WH-1000XM4 sound as good as them, and they cost 2x the price. To think that Final would come up with one of the best TWS IEMs around – didn’t see that one coming.

Then again, who else would be that methodical?

Loomis Johnson…Chicago, USA

IEMs:

Moondrop Starfield—my default rec to folks who ask me which <$100 phone to buy…big-sounding, with seamless coherence and as lot of PRAT.

7Hz Timeless—polarizing and imperfect (there’s some stridency at the highest frequencies), but technically very accomplished and highly resolving. The more I hear ‘em the more I dig ‘em.

Tin HiFi TWS Buds 3—light on features (no app, no ANC) but beautifully built and a really engaging listen, with very good imaging and instrument placement.

AXS Audio Professional Wireless Earbuds—generic-looking, with a modest soundstage, but probably the best-sounding TWS I’ve heard to date.

AXS Audio Professional Wireless Earbuds Review – Technical Knockout

Portable DAC/Dongles:

Xumee USB-C—lots of power and surprising finesse for less than the price of a six pack.

Hidisz S3Pro—a really refined performer which synergizes well with anything under 150 oHm.

Headphones:

1More Sonoflow Wireless ANC—you can pay a lot more for punchier sound or more tech features, but these are an awful lot of headphone for the money, with good noise-cancelling, an unforced natural tonality and fantastic battery life.

Koss KTXPro1—uber-comfortable and musical as hell; for $19 there’s no reason everyone shouldn’t own a pair.

Bluetooth Speakers:

Oontz Angle 3—diminutive, seemingly indestructible cheapo with surprisingly good bass output and an enveloping 3D soundstage.

Edifier R1280DB Bookshelf Speakers—I gave a set of these to the owner of a cannabis dispensary, whose customers rave incessantly about how good they sound even before imbibing.

Desktop DAC:

SMSL SU-6—a more than capable DAC, with excellent bass control and a very detailed (if occasionally overbright) high end; digital preamp and Bluetooth functionality are big plusses. Outstanding value.

KopiOkaya…SINGAPORE

The editor: although KopiOkaya retired a year ago (on his own terms), he keeps his eartips compendium up to date. His list has been a cornerstone of this block and its most successful article. It currently records somewhere between 80,000 and 100,000 views.

Best under $50 IEM:

7HZ SALNOTES ZERO

Best under $100 IEM:

DUNU KIMA

Best IEM of 2022:

SOFTEARS TURII Ti

Best dongle DAC/AMP of 2022:

QUESTYLE M15 (here and here)

Best portable DAP of 2022:

TEMPOTEC V6

Best budget DAC/AMP combo:

SMSL SH-9 THX AAA-888

Best desktop DAC of the 2022:

HOLO MAY KTE (KITSUNE EDITION)

Best desktop headphone amp of 2022:

QUESTYLE CMA FIFTEEN

Best eartips of the 2022

SPINFIT W1

Most outstanding audio product of 2022:

QUESTYLE M15 (here and here)

Tweaking Tips – A Simplified Guide To IEM Silicone Eartips UPDATED 2022-11-24

And This Was The Previous Year:

Gear Of The Year 2021 – Our Personal Favourites

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The post Gear Of The Year 2022 – Our Personal Favourites appeared first on Music For The Masses.

Moondrop Stellaris Review – Champagne Supernova

Jürgen Kraus (Calgary, Canada) — Fri, 11 Nov 2022 04:39:20 +0000

The Moondrop Stellaris is…hmmm…bright…

The Moondrop Stellaris were kindly supplied by SHENZENAUDIO for my analysis – and I thank them for that. You can get them from SHENZENAUDIO for currently around $100.

Introduction

Planar-magnetic earphones came into fashion (again) when a YouTube salesman hyped the $220 7Hz Timeless per spaceship into a starfield (excuse the pun) not even a year ago (setting the scene to cash in on a “collab” with the next release of this technology). The Timeless feature a driver that had been dismissed by major manufacturers a couple of years earlier. Admittedly, this model was good enough for co-bloggers Biodegraded and Durwood to purchase one :).

LETSHUOER were the next company to pick up on this technology with their $135 S12, which likely features the same driver as the 7Hz Timeless, but with a different tuning. I compared both models in this article.

What followed was “a race for space”. Many manufacturers wanted to have a piece of the cake, which resulted in “planar wars”, artificially constructed by another bunch of attention-seeking YouTubers. I only got part of the tail end of it with the $115 TINHIFI P1 Max and the $199 Dunu Talos. More planar-magnetics are flooding the market as we speak (I am eagerly awaiting the Akoustyx S6 from California).

In the past, planar-magnetic earphones had been overpriced and underperforming. Not anymore…which was actually a good thing about the 7Hz Timeless hype.

But what makes a planar-magnetic earphone distinct? First, the driver digs deep down, it has a tight bass response, low distortion, it is easy to drive, has a great imaging and a deep stage.

On the downside, a planar-magnetic earphone may lack slam, may be rather lean in the lower midrange, and be bright (“more lean than bright”), which may contribute to midrange clarity but exposes a lack of richness. Treble may be robotic through an overly fast note decay. Many planar magnetic iems do not do a good job in the reproduction of acoustic sets (“classical music”) – too artificial sounding.

Prices have come down even further since the release of the 7Hz Timeless. Moondrop offer the Stellaris at $109.99, on par with their Starfield and between their $79.99 Aria and their $189.99 Kato (all single DDs). The Aria is generally considered to be one of the best iems below $100, and it outclasses the Starfield. Therefore, Moondrop appears to create their own in-house competition in search of the class leader.

Who are Moondrop? They are one of the world’s most innovative earphone companies out of Chengdu, Sichuan, a city I know well and love. We “audioreviewers” have analyzed many of the company’s models (see below).

Specifications Moondrop Stellaris

Product name: [STELLARIS] Planar IEMs
Driver configuration: 14.5mm Planar Driver
Socket: 0.78mm 2-pin
Cable jack: 3.5mm-stereo-ended
Sensitivity: 117dB/Vrms (@1kHz)
Impedance: 36Ω±15% (@1kHz)
Frequency response: 10Hz-50kHz
Effective frequency response: 20Hz-20kHz (IEC60318-4, 3dB)
Tested at: $109
Product Page: www.moondroplabs.com
Purchase Link: SHENZENAUDIO

Physical Things and Usability

The Moondrop Stellaris was costmetically modelled after the Moondrop Starfield. Both share the same coating with its characteristic luminous bluestone that shimmer…and chip if abused (no chipping on mine so far).

But what’s different is that the Moondrop Stellaris is big. Big and heavy earpieces…little monsters…ouch…but with long nozzles, good for my ears. The earpieces need to be deeply inserted into my ears and I wished today’s generations of planars were as small as, let’s say, the current Sennheiser single-DD iems.

So if you do this to your ears, you’d expect some reward, which would be sound quality. However…

In the box: STELLARIS IEMs, cable , storage bag, T41 MIS-Tips (S, M, L), U.C. silicon ear-tips (S, M, L), QC certificate, manual, anime postal card.

The Stellaris’ earpieces are rather bulky with long nozzles. Note the iridescent coating.

Spot the difference: Moondrop Starfield (left) and Moondrop Stellaris.

Tonality and Technicalities

Testing and Measuring Details

My test tracks explained, including Spotify playlist

[collapse]

Equipment used: Macbook Air | AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt, Questyle M15 | stock tips.

The Stellaris are tuned according to Moondrop’s own VDSF (Virtual Diffuse Sound Field) target response, the company’s version of the Harman target. You find more about this on Stellaris’ product page. They have their low-end boost in the sub-bass (rather than the mid-bass) for a dryer bass response and well extended treble. The midrange is a bit odd with a large spike at 2.5 kHz.

Other than that – as in so many other cases – the graph sells us little about the IEM’s sound. The Stellaris’ overall signature is uneven: warm at the bottom and bright on top.

Frequency response of the Moondrop Stellaris: great channel balance, weird spikes.

Let’s face it, the Stellaris are most of all bright, very bright. Bright right up to the uppermost registers. Cymbals and hats are dancing arround my eardrums, the bass is partially swallowed and the vocals are somewhat honky. Well, that monstrous pinna gain between 1 and 2.5 kHz does not help either.

The signature is unbalanced, which throws the Stellaris out of the orbit of my sonic enjoyment. This iem lacks cohesion. So much for the general validity of target response curves.

Other than that, some of the individual aspects are not bad. For example, the bass is reasonably deep reaching and somewhat controlled. A bit dry, perhaps, as it peaks towards the bottom end. Punch is decent and reasonably well dosed.

The lower midrange is…weird…voices are pointy and lean…nasal that is, and the opposite of rich and full. They are so thin that even the sub-bass kick overshadows them. Well, and then there is this mess at the top end.

Technically, the Stellaris are capable: big stage, good midrange clarity, decent imaging, but overall they fall easily behind the likes of the LETSCHUOER S12 and TINHIFI P1 Max – and, if you go up to $200, the Dunu Talos. Hence no reason to discuss them further.

Moondrop Aria Review (1) – The Super Stars We Are

Try the Moondrop Aria!

Concluding Remarks

The Moondrop Stellaris are a disappointment to my senses: they are bulky in my ears and uneven sounding. They simply lack soul despite their technical prowess…and are therefore a great advertisement for the $79 Moondrop Aria, which remains one of the best iems in the $100 area.

Get the Aria instead.

Until next time…keep on listening!

All Our Earphone and Earbud Reviews (with Links)

Disclaimer

The Moondrop Stellaris were provided unsolicited by SHENZENAUDIO, and I thank them for that.

Get them from SHENZENAUDIO.

All Our Moondrop IEM Reviews so far

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Jürgen Kraus in…October 2022.

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DUNU Talos Review – Here Comes The Sun

Jürgen Kraus (Calgary, Canada) — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 04:05:30 +0000

The Dunu Talos is a technically and tonally exquisite iem that wins the non-existing war of the planar-magnetic iems (I have tested) hands down. For the advanced listener.

PROS

Superb cohesion and note definition across the frequency spectrum
Excellent technicalities including timbre and spatial cues
Superb build and haptic
Great accessories including an excellent storage case

CONS

Some upper midrange glare
Essentially needs amplification
Big earpieces
Only single-ended 3.5 mm cable available

Linsoul were kind enough to send me the Dunu Talos for my analysis and I thank them for that. You can get the Talos from Linsoul at currently $199.99.

Introduction

Dunu are one of the world’s most innovative and most renowned earphone companies that have pleased audio enthusiasts with their products for 20 years. Their earphones are mostly positioned from the mid tier towards the top of the line, budget releases are rare.

For example, Dunu have pioneered the Beryllium diaphragm in their $1700 Dunu Luna. Three of us purchased the Dunu Zen and use them as our go-tos, which we think is the best single-dynamic driver-iem below the $1400 Softears Turii.

The Dunu Talos is the company’s contribution to the current sub-$200 planar-magnetic iem revival that was started a year ago by the 7Hz Timeless, an earphone that features a driver that had been ignored by other manufacturers for the previous 2-3 years. The Timeless hype inspired a number of manufacturers to jump on the bandwagon and get a piece of the cake. Many established players released planar-magnetic models – and new companies shot out of the ground like mushrooms.

I had the privilege of testing a few models and – SPOILER ALERT – the Dunu Talos are the very best of the lot imo. And not only that, they are excellent iems overall, and great value at their $200 price tag relative to any other iems.

Specifications Dunu Talos

Drivers: 14.6mm dual cavity dual magnetic planar driver
Impedance: 16 Ω @ 1 kHz
Sensitivity: 100 dB/mW ±1dB @ 1 kHz
Frequency Range: 5 – 40,000 Hz
THD: <0.3% at 1kHz
Tuning Modes (switchable): Planar / Planar + BA
Cable/Connector: High-purity 4 core OCC silver with Litz wire structure/2-pin, 0.78 mm; 3.5 mm plug available only
Tested at: $199.99
Purchase Link: Linsoul

Physical Things and Usability

In the box are the earpieces in a very fancy quality storage case, a cable with 3.5 mm plug and a 6.3 mm adapter, 3 sets of silicone eartips (S/M/L), a cleaning brush, and the usual paperwork.

The drop-shaped CNC-machined aluminum shells with their matte finish have an outstanding haptical and optical appeal. They are not only eye catching but also feel attractive between my fingers. Dunu obviously developed an individual shell around the drivers.

The earpieces also feature a switch used to toggle an additional balanced armature driver on and off. And yes, there is quite a sonic difference between the two modes.

Dunu have finally opted for 2-pin connectors which are more reliable than the previously used MMCX. The quality high-purity 4-core OCC silver Litz cable is tangle free and functional with the right pliability – and it offers sturdy connectors. Unfortunately, the Talos cable is only available with a 3.5 mm single-ended plug, I’d preferred a 4.4 mm balanced plug.

Despite my fondness of the shells, I had some issues with fit and seal and fiddled a lot with eartips. Most eartips did not work for me until I settled for the grey cylindrical stock tips and Comply foams.

The Talos needed deep insertion into my ear canals.Once in place, the Dunu Talos are comfortable for me. Isolation depends a lot on ear-canal shape and eartips used, and was soso in my case.

The Talos are not the most efficient iems. They can be driven by a phone but benefit from amplification.

In the box…lots of accessories…

Also included…Dunu always offer very fancy cases…

Dunu Talos earpiece geometry…

Tonality and Technicalities

Testing and Measuring Details

My test tracks explained, including Spotify playlist

[collapse]

Equipment used: AP80 X-Pro, Questyle QP1R; iPhone & MacBook Pro with AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt, Questyle M15, Hidizs X0, Earstudio HUD 100, and ifi Audio nano iDSD BL.

The Dunu Talos is a winner sonically, characterized by a close-to-neutral, very articulate and accurate sonic reproduction with excellent spatial reconstruction capabilities and a big soundstage.

The tonality is built on a solid but subtle low end with an emphasis on the lower end of the spectrum. This results in a dry, tight, controlled bass with only average sub-bass extension which results in well-contoured, subtle basslines with a decent however not overdone punch.

Looks weird, sounds fine: frequency response of the Dunu Talos in planar-only mode.

Comparison of frequency responses: planar mode vs. planar+BA mode.

The low-end dosage depends a lot on the amp used: the warmer AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt or ifi Audio nano iDSD BL produce more rumble than the more neutral Questyle M15 or Hidizs X0, for example.

The low-end’s maximum is so far away from the midrange that it does not interfere with vocals in the lower midrange…which are where they should be: right there, not forward and not recessed. They are still a bit on the lean side, typical for the planar magnetic technology, and very accentuated, articulate, and authentic. Same with piano notes: excellent note definition. There is also some upper midrange glare but not enough to call it shouty.

Treble extension and resolution are outstanding. Cymbals are well defined and do not have that overly metallic/robotic sound as many other planars.

Further on the technical side, the Talos’s soundstage is very wide and tall, but more so than deep, and the result is quite a holographic spatial reconstruction with lots of headroom, even on a single-ended amplifier circuit (like the Cobalt).

Imaging is very good. Resolution and dynamics down to the micro scale are outstanding and so are separation and layering. Timbre is excellent, too: the Talos sound very little “planar magnetic”. In summary, the overall technical qualities are excellent.

The Dunu Talos may not be as deep and immersive as the Zen, but they are cohesive, clean, and “musical” sounding: they pass the cello test..which sounds like a real cello and not a saw.

Oh, and there is this switch for adding a BA to the planar-magnetic driver…which emphasizes the upper frequencies. This moves vocals and guitars forward but it also sharpens them, the bass migrates back, and the stage widens. Probably good for old, dull recordings, but the BA mode can add a bit too much edge to some tracks.

On/Off switch for the two performance modes: “planar” (off) and “BA” (=planar + BA) (on).

Of the competing planar-magnetic iems I have tested, the LETHUOER S12 have a softer attack with a less controlled bass (and some mid bass boom) and they sound overall a bit warmer on the low end and brighter in the midrange — mine have their nozzles 90% taped over with 3M micropore tape to tame their upper midrange glare. The Talos obviously do not need that.

My modded S12 are more on the relaxed side whereas the Talos are technically more accurate. The models are different and I treasure them both.

The 7Hz Timeless that started the planar-magnetic revival have this rather boomy mid bass I find uncomfortable. And the TINHIFI P1 Max are the most mainstream of the bunch, but also the least exciting ones: they are technically behind the others in comparison, overall a bit on the polite and therefore on the safe side.

In summary, none of these competitors can match the Talos in terms of control and definition across the frequency spectrum, particularly at the low end. However, I find the TINHIFI P1Max and LETHUOER S12 more comfortable to wear. The opposite is the case with the 7Hz Timeless (they are called so because the time I spent with them could not be short enough).

Concluding Remarks

The Dunu Talos is one of the rare cases of a very technical earphone that also convinces the more acoustically/tonally inclined music aficionado. It performs well in all genres: from rock and pop through electronic to jazz and classical. Dunu are having a lucky hand with the tonality, which alone is a dealmaker, and more so when taken in context with the Talos’s fine imaging, resolution and dynamics.

The Talos truly addresses the musical gourmet and the fine senses in us.

Dunu continue to be one of the world’s most innovative earphone developer and show their competency by releasing a mature product into the hot mid tier planar-magnetic market in a timely manner.

Until next time…keep on listening!

All Our Earphone and Earbud Reviews (with Links)

Check out our other earphone reviews.

Disclaimer

I received the Dunu Talos from Linsoul Audio for my review – and I thank them for that.

Get The Dunu Talos from Linsoul.

Dunu DM-380 (Jürgen Kraus)
Dunu DM-480 (Baskingshark)
Dunu Falcon Pro (Alberto Pittaluga)
Dunu Luna (1) (Kazi Mahbub Mutakabbir)
Dunu Luna (2) (Baskinghark)
Dunu Studio SA6* (Kazi Mahbub Mutakabbir)
Dunu Vulkan (Jürgen Kraus)
Dunu Zen* (1) (Kazi Mahbub Mutakabbir)
Dunu Zen* (2) (Jürgen Kraus)

* on our Wall of Excellence

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The Music World’s most famous crosswalk. Abbey Road, St. John’s Wood, London, England. October 2022.

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HIDIZS AP80 Pro-X Red Copper DAP Review (2) – Striking It Rich

Durwood (Chicago, USA) — Sat, 15 Oct 2022 18:31:32 +0000

INTRO

We have previously reviewed the HIDIZS AP80 Pro-X DAP as well as their original AP80, but HIDIZS decided to release a red copper colored version in limited supply. Not entirely happy with the GUI on my Sony NW-A55 DAP, I obliged to see what the highly regarded digital audio player can do over the equally regarded Sony DAP. Jürgen already covered it very well so this is a second look at a fresh awesome color at a price of $269.

Disclaimer: Unit was provided free of charge by HIDIZS and they provided the high quality images and a non-affiliate discount code AUDIOREVIEWS5 if you purchase direct from their store. Otherwise you get to experience my unaltered opinions that are not always as appreciated by my better half.

GOOD & BAD

GOOD STUFF	NEEDS IMPROVEMENT
Boots up quickly	Battery Life
Buttons are easy to use	Heavy
Wide Range of sound tuning options	Small size makes it hard to control on screen sliders
Strong, clean, hiss free output	Text does not wrap or scroll-bad for long song titles
Can be used as a USB DAC	Metal casing is susceptible to static electricity generated by clothing, a case might help.
Can be used as a bluetooth transmitter or receiver
Supports wide range of audio files including MQA and DSD
Sharp screen
ALPS volume knob
3 gain modes, low, high, fixed line out
Pre-installed screen protectors
File based browsing option, for the old school folks like myself
TRRS remote control option support for headphones with hardware controls
Charging time ~1hr Type USB-C connector
Does not require database rebuild each time, manual or auto feature can be enabled
3.5mm TRRS single ended output and 2.5mm balanced output
Two included USB cables, 1 short USB-C to USB-C and USB-A to USB-C

IMPORTANT OBSERVATIONS

The red copper HIDIZS AP80 Pro-X is a striking color and is limited to 499 units which is printed on the box, get it while you can. Ah the FOMO (fear of missing out) of a limited production run, always an interesting gamble as it surely drives sales, but also at the risk of losing sales for those that miss out. It is a really awesome color in person though and easier to spot in a dark bag. Given that it is constructed of red copper, like Pokemon it will slowly evolve oxidizing to a red brick color making it a collectible artwork according to HIDIZS. How long that takes is beyond my knowledge. In its current form it matches the color of a US penny.

I was totally unprepared for how heavy the HIDIZS AP80-Pro X is constructed, it feels as heavy as my phone but at a quarter of the physical size. If you are worried about damage, they do offer cases but currently only in Black or Blue…maybe a red copper case is in the works?

The Hiby OS 3.0 user interface is loaded with many tuning features and things I find useful like file based browsing and semi-easy playlist creation. However, it does not support M3U8 playlist files. Be prepared to do some conversions to M3U format. Also, you have to create a playlist on the device first so it makes a folder called “playlist_data” and then you can put your M3U playlists into there for it to recognize them. The other option is clicking on playlist files when using the file browser option.

This is a GUI limitation but the Hiby OS has trouble with long song titles/artists and it seems only PowerAmp on Android accommodates long song titles. I do not know if I am alone on this pet peeve, but I wish interfaces would either wrap, scroll or design the layout to fit longer text. The image below shows PowerAmp is slightly better at dealing with it. Note the display on the HIDIZ AP80 Pro-X is not that blurry in real life, my camera was not cooperating late at night.

Another feature I like but seems mundane, the TRRS 4 pin option to allow external controls to change track, play/pause etc. I use this when mowing the yard, out for a hike or generally on the move. The Sony NW-A55 is sorely missing this basic feature that we take for granted in smart phones.

QUIRKS

The HDIZS AP80 Pro-X constructed of a metal shell did not appreciate the extra static electricity generated from my gym attire, and would transmit blips of static just from walking with it in my workout shorts. I imagine one of their leather cases might minimize this possibility, unfortunately without a case to test this theory, just keep it in mind if you are more active than someone whose idea of exercise is walking the dog.

One time it was clicking while it played a DSD track, the problem went away when I started another track and returned to the DSD file. This is superficial so not something to break up over.

The bluetooth transmitter option froze on me and turned the HIDIZS AP80 Pro-X off. It worked fine after it restarted so not sure what I did that caused it to throw a fit.

USB MODES

The HIDIZS AP80 Pro-X has 3 USB modes – Dock (Charging only), Storage Mode (transfer files), or Audio (USB DAC mode). The USB DAC mode adds further value to the AP80 Pro-X Swiss army knife device of having a highly competent USB DAC as well. Smart phones can’t do that.

SOUND

Compared to LG G8 and Sony NW-A55 using 7HZ Timeless, Shozy Form 1.4, Oppo PM-3

Given that the HIDIZS AP80 Pro-X uses a slightly newer ES9219C compared to the ES9218P found on the LG G8, it is hard to really discern any differences sonically. If anything it has a slightly cleaner noise floor and more output power. It has a neutral output with good staging and a little sharper in the treble.

The Sony on the other hand sounds just a trivial smoother and perhaps flatter in the soundstaging. The AP80 Pro-X sounds more three dimensional as if emphasizing the upper-mids lower treble. The Sony tends to be more precise in the upper treble noticeable on the cymbals. Listening to Tom Sawyer by Rush, the AP80 Pro-X blends it to a smoother finish.

BLUETOOTH

Bluetooth capabilities on the HIDIZS AP80 Pro-X just add to the value of such a small but capable DAP. Connection is strong. It can work both ways to as either a bluetooth receiver/connected to a phone or a transmitter/connected to headphones. So not only do you get a DAP, you get an excellent sounding portable bluetooth receiver.

Hidizs AP80 Pro-X Review – Back In the ESS R

Check out Jürgen’s analysis of the original Hidizs AP80 Pro-X.

FINALE

Given that the Sony NW-A55 is no longer in production, the HIDIZS AP80 Pro-X is the model to get in the same price range. It offers so much functionality in such a small package it’s hard not to be impressed with its generous output power and wide array of features, some of which I surely missed. The limited edition red copper color is just money physically speaking, we all need a splash of color because black can be boring.

While battery life is only worth a single day’s use, it charges within an hour and you are ready to go again cranking up that volume knob. The HIDIZS AP80 Pro-X Red copper color comes in at a higher price of $269 compared to their standard black, grey or blue, so if you do not want to pay a premium for the special color those come in under <$200.

SPECIFICATIONS AND IMAGES

Find the fine details on the HIDIZS AP80 PRO-X Product Page. For the general specs, check out Jürgen’s analysis of the regular AP80 Pro-X.

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E1DA 9038SG3 and 9038D Review – They Know What They’re Doing

Alberto Pittaluga (Bologna, Italy) — Thu, 11 Aug 2022 19:54:00 +0000

I took my sweetest time on this, but here I finally am with my first article about E1DA dongles. This one is about the two models called 9038SG3 and 9038D. A subsequent article will cover PowerDAC V2.1.

9038SG3 is E1DA’s latest iteration of the 9038S model, which over time went through 3 generations – this being G3 in facts. The 9038S project, like PowerDAC, have always been designed around a balance-ended-only option. In conjunction with this third iteration of the 9038S project, howeverer, following quite a substantial flow of user requests E1DA decided to develop a single-ended (only) version, which is precisely what 9038D is.

9038SG3 can be purchased from E1DA’s AE shop, or directly from E1DA via paypal, for approx $105. 9038D has a regular price identical to 9038SG3 but it is currently not available: E1DA suspended production due to the excessive increase in chip costs – they rate that the higher price at which they would be forced to sell it would be unfair.

At-a-glance Card

PROs	CONs
Beyond spectacular cleanness and clarity	Not powerful enough to drive insensitive planar overears
Multiple sound optimisation capabilities offer nice experimentation possibilities	Some may not like “overly clean” sound tuning (can be mitigated)
Ridiculously inexpensive in light of their quality	9038D: some EMI sensitivity when paired to a phone
Very modest host power draw	9038D: lacks some power headroom for toughest planar IEMs
9038SG3: easily powers any IEM on the market including low impedance, low sensitivity planars, and most HPs too
9038SG3: very good EMI shielding
9038D: same sound quality as its balanced sibling
9038D: can be plugged into downstream amp

A word on the manufacturer, and a few on this article

E1DA is a microscopical company. Indeed, a small family run business. The founder and key engineer in there is a Russia born guy now living in China called Ivan Khlyupin. He is an audio enthusiast, and an electrical engineer. Ivan is in charge of all hardware invention / designing, and his elder son takes care of relevant software development. The rest is chinese-cost and sadly chinese-quality contract manufacturing, which is why Ivan (literally) technically assesses and calibrates each sample one by one while or after assembly. Purest artisan’s pride DNA – which is probably why being Italian I feel a sort of natural empathy for the guy.

Their first project was the PowerDAC and it stemmed from a personal need: a low cost, powerful enough dac-amp to drive a pair of badass planar headphones. There wasn’t one on the market affordable and good enough at the same time, so Ivan DIY’d one. And then made it into a 50$ small-scale-industrialised marketable produt.

I’ve been following them for a while now and I own all their current “dongle” models (9038D, 9038SG3 and PowerDAC 2.1) which I of course purchased as a regular nameless customer.

As you will read here, and on a subsequent piece of mine dedicated to PowerDAC, E1DA’s products can easily be recognised as pure audio engineering competence concentrated into tiny, affordable little boxes. In a world overflooded by cheap and even not so cheap “meh-level” stuff, they feel relaxing like sea breeze.

Given their “vertical” technical nature, if there’s one thing E1DA lacks is vulgar-level communication. They do all they can to be super easily reachable via their Discord channel, and they are very responsive. Yet their documents, and their typical answers, are all very technical, with little to no concession to readability let alone accessibility for least competent laymen.

As a consequence high chances are their products get known, let alone “understood” and appreciated, only by already semi-skilled users at the very least. Take myself for one – I got onto them by pure chance and it took me quite some time to dig into some of the aspects of their stuff, and until now I even feel I only got part of that done.

So these are the main reasons why instead of a 4 – 5 pages small article this time I wrote an essay probably 10X longer. And I might even decide to update it in the future

Note: E1DA is to be pronounced “E one DAH”, following the sounds of the words “Ivan” and “Da” (“Yes” in Russian)

Features and description

Externals

The two devices are contained inside the same housing, a sandblasted anodized CNC-machined aluminium case, with marketing graphics (logo) and other data laser-marked in white on the black background.

Size is 48 x 22 x 9mm, weight is approx. 10-12g for either model. Simply put, either device is very small and lightweight which of course greatly facilitates it being used as a dac-amp external upgrade to any mobile device (phone, tablet, dap) which is capable of digital audio output through its USB port.

The housings’ sole apertures are the phone out on one of its small ends, and a USB-C port on the opposite end. Next to the USB-C port there’s also a tiny hole. No other elements, no buttons, no display.

Both 9038D and 9038SG3 are sold in a minimalistic small carton box, containing only the device itself (well protected). No cables / adapters are bundled. USB-C, Lightning and/or Y-USB-C cables can however be separately ordered from E1DA if needed. And they are needed. See more below in particular about appropriate Lightning cables.

Internals

9038SG3 and 9038D have very similar internal structures.

Both carry the same Comtrue USB bridge, featuring hw volume (actionable in .5dB increments) and furtherly tweaked with custom software.

Both devices’ heart is a ESS 9038Q2M DAC chip (spec sheet here) featuring current mode amplification, outstanding built-in jitter removal, and a host of user-configurable parameters including Master Clock frequency selection, FIR filter selection and customisable THD compensation coefficients (much more on this later).

Both devices have an amplification stage after the DAC but the two opamps are different on the two models. The internal power filtering also is somewhat different.

9038SG3 features an Analog Devices AD8397 (spec sheet here) opamp offering balanced end only output connectivity.

9038SG3’s internal power rail filtering structure is based on resistors and capacitors. Three different versions of 9038SG3 have been released over time. The earliest version adopted Yageo brand resistors + 2000µF capacitors. Such was a quite early version and according to E1DA shipped until a good 2 years ago.

Since then, 9038SG3 have been and still are equipped with Susumu brand (higher quality) resistors + either 2000µF or 3000µF capacitors. The higher the capacitance, the more efficient the power filtering.

9038SG3 SKU# did not change as internal equipment evolved over time. To tell which version a given unit is look at the product name engraved in white on 9038SG3’ housing: an underlined “3” (like this: “#9038SG3”) indicates a Susumu-equipped model. Looking at a Susumu 9038SG3’s housing, two or three white squares are engraved on the back side (opposed to the E1DA logo one): two squares mean 2000µF capacitance, three squares mean 3000µF.

For curiosity: the “squares” refer to the physical capacitors adopted inside. Two squares = 2 capacitors, three squares = 3 capacitors. By opening the enclosure (don’t! as you would have to reglue it later) they can easily be recognised as three lined-up orange “thingies” soldered on there.

9038D carries instead a TI OPA1622 opamp (spec sheet here) offering single ended only connectivity.

9038D also carries Susumu brand resistors, complemented with 4000µF total capacitance.

Input

Both 9038SG3 and 9038D only offer a single digital input, via a USB-C port (fully USB-2 protocol compatible).

Both carrying the same internal USB bridge and DAC chips, both support the very same digital input specs which are:

PCM up to 32bit / 384Khz (requires ASIO drivers on Windows, otherwise limited to 24bit / 192KHz)
DSD up to 256 (again requires ASIO drivers on Windows, otherwise no direct DSD support available)

No drivers needed for full features availability on all other major supported OS. I know of very few other “dongles” supporting DSD256 on Android.

Next to the USB-C connector, on both 9038D and 9038SG3 there’s a tiny LED. Its lighting behaviour has the following meanings (identical on both models):

Action	LED behaviour
Dongle is plugged-in	ON for 0.5 sec, then OFF
44.1 / 48KHz PCM stream	0.5Hz pulse (flashes ON every 2 sec)
88.2 / 96KHz PCM stream	1Hz pulse (flashes ON every 1 sec)
176.4 / 192KHz PCM stream	2Hz pulse (flashes ON every 0.5 sec)
352.8 / 384KHz PCM stream	4 Hz pulse (flashes ON every 0.25 sec)
Direct-DSD stream	Steady ON

Power draw

When connected to a USB host 9038D will absorb approx. 435mW (87mA) even when not playing back. Consumption while playing will be even higher of course, from approx. 500 to 585 mW (100-117mA) when receiving a PCM stream (from 44.1 to 192Khz resolution respectively), and from approx. 500 to 670mW (100-134mA) when receiving a DSD-64 to DSD-256 direct stream.

These figures are low, and even incredibly low when we consider the output this little kid is able to provide (see subsequent chapter).

Both models have an automatic Standby function, which can be enable/disabled by the user and is enabled by default out of the box. Thanks to such feature both 9038SG3 and 9038D will go into “Low Power Consumption” mode if they don’t receive any data from the host for 60 seconds – so when they are “on but doing nothing” so to say – and they will automatically wake back up when a new stream will start flowing again. Power absorption in such condition is circa 50% of the minimum required on quiesced playback status, so around 205-210mW.

I’ll provide more details much down below on how to enable/disable the Standby & Mute functions, and some caveats.

Considering the huge power especially 9038SG3 is able to deliver on mid, low and extralow (see below) the above figures are impressively low. Just a bit more than 600mW (only 120mA!) when decoding DSD256 and at high volume seems like a joke.

9038SG3 and 9038D are by far fully USB2 compliant, so no problem with any Android phone and if the phone has a relatively modern battery (3-4000mAh or more) 9038D / 9038SG3 will not meaningfully jeopardise battery duration.

They can be used on quite a few iPhone models too but choosing the Lightning cable that make it happen may be tricky. See much down below a dedicated chapter to this issue.

I thought about inserting a digression at this point regarding power demand on so-called “dongles” (like 9038SG3 and 9038D) and some considerations stemming from there, but my notes soon developed into something deserving a separate take. So please be patient, I’ll be issuing a standalone article on this ReallySoonNow.

Output

As mentioned above, 9038SG3 and 9038D carry a different amplifier module, which is the most significant difference between the two models.

9038D has one 3.5mm single-ended output port, which supports connection to earphone/headphones of any impedance and technology, and also connection to the single-ended input of an Amplifier device.

9038SG3 has one 2.5mm balanced-ended output port, which exclusively supports connection to earphone/headphones of any impedance provided they have a balanced-ended termination. Connecting Amplifier devices to 9038SG3 is not supported, not even via such Amplifiers’ balanced ended input ports – failure to comply to such exclusion will most surely physically damage the device.

9038SG3 features very significant output power:

>600mW@10,3Ω
>550mW@16Ω
>340mW@32Ω
And 3.3Vrms @0dB vs high impedance loads

9038D output power is also quite interesting albeit definitely lower:

120mW@16Ω
180mW@32Ω
200mW@40Ω
And 2.75Vrms @0dB vs high impedance loads

Both offer extremely low output impedance, around 0,1Ω.

All figures come from E1DA, and correspond to measurements conducted at room temperature, and at 1% THD+N

Maximum power, maximum current...

It’s quite interesting to note here how 9038D’s output power decreases as impedance goes down, while 9038SG3 increases in the same condition. A nice opportunity to learn something. Let’s articulate.

As [ehm…] everyone [should] know[s], electricity laws say that when voltage stay the same, reducing load (impedance) makes current go stronger. That’s what apparently happens on 9038SG3, doesn’t it – while 9038D seems to break such rule.

More precisely, Ohm’s law says that slashing load impedance in half power will exactly double up. And if we notice, 9038SG3 doesn’t really cope with this. So 9038SG3, too, “breaks the rules” apparently ?

Neither does of course.

An amplifier can only provide up to a certain maximum amount of power, and in particular a certain maximum current intensity. Going beyond such limit would physically damage the device which is why there often (but not always) is some sort of soft or hard stop implemented to avoid that.

That’s however why by continuously slashing impedance by half we won’t (of course!) get indefinitely doubling power on any physically existing amplifier: eventually the power will start “growing slower”, then will start going down.

The sad part is that reading that a certain amp is able to deliver 4W at 32Ω, or 6V against 600Ω, does not give us any (any!!) information about how much power will that very device be able to deliver onto our 14Ω, 95dB/mW preferred IEM driver.

Such piece of information is most frequently missing, or unclear, on most amps’ spec sheets. Let’s use 9038D and 9038SG3 as examples now.

We know from above that (e.g.) 9038D provides circa 2.75V at 0dB (i.e. “at full volume” position) against very high impedances.

As we unplug high impedance headphones and start plugging headphones or earphones of lower and lower impedance, our 9038D will keep on providing 2.75V at 0dB “for a while”, i.e., until the earphone we plug will have a certain minimum impedance. From there on down, 9038D will start applying less than 2.75V on it, thus reducing the current intensity flow into the drivers, to keep it under its cap.

As a result, from that load impedance value on down we’ll see that 9038D’s power figures will not anymore “double up” as impedance halves down. They will initially start growing less than 2X, then will eventually go down.

Let’s do some math on the above numbers.

We know by the measures provided by E1DA that 9038D delivers 200mW on 40Ω. That corresponds to 71mA and 2,83V. Concede on some approximation error (actual ohms might have been like 40.2 or so, and rounded up for typographical rationales), and we found an impedance at which 9038D “can still afford” applying its max-V (circa 2.75V) at 0dB: that’s (circa) 40Ω.

Let’s look into 32Ω now. If it didn’t encounter its limits yet, OPA1622 (the op amp inside 9038D) should give us >230mW of power (2,75×2,75/32). Instead, we measure only 180mW. So not only the power has not gone up, but it even went down!

This tells us that on “some” load impedance value between 40 and 32Ω OPA1622 reaches its sweet point beyond which it starts slowing down on power to avoid exceeding its Current capabilities. In facts 180mW on 32Ω are 2,40V and 75mA. So the device went down in power compared to the 40Ω load case by reducing Voltage (2,40 down from 2,75), even if Current still went up a bit (75 up from 71mA).

At 16Ω 9038D delivers 120mW (so not at all twice the value at 32Ω, indeed 33% less!) corresponding to 1,39V and circa 87mA. See? Power went down in relation to a severe voltage reduction (1,39V down from 2,40V) while Current still went furtherly up.

It’s not written up above but let me add here that (circa) 87mA is OPA1622’s current cap. How do I know it? It comes from TI’s spec sheets.

Opamps’ spec sheets have to be taken with triple grain of salt as they offer cryptical data first of all, and even most importantly because they offer information about the broadest possible alternative implementations of that very chip. Simply put, it may well be that the figures “promised” by the chip manufacturer are not realistically reachable in the particular situation / implementation we are considering.

In this case, however, we find that the current 9038D delivers onto a 16Ω load matches quite nicely with the maximum current the chip’s manufacturer reports. So that’ll be it.

Which means that we now know even without measuring that onto furtherly lower impedances (14ohm, 12ohm, 8ohm…) 9038D will keep on delivering a maximum of 87mA, so it will be forced to apply lower and lower voltages to cope, and correspondingly its power figure will rapidly go down.

You can do the math yourself: Power in mW = Current in mA ^ 2 * Impedance in Ω. At 14Ω for example you can expect circa 106mW from a 9038D, give or take.

Let’s now look into 9038SG3.

We know its max V at 0dB is 3.3V. We also know it issues more than 340mW onto a 32Ω load, which corresponds to circa 103mA and 3,3V. So at 32Ω 9038SG3’s Voltage has not started to “go down” from max yet.

We also know it delivers circa 550mW@16Ohm, corresponding to 185mA and 2,87V. Here Current is higher than 103mA, Power is much higher (but not double!) than 340mW, and Voltage is lower than 3.3V. This tells us that “someplace” between 32Ω and 16Ω 9038SG3 starts to find the need to slow down, at least reducing its growth.

We finally know (always by measure, so within the measure’s error rate) that 9038SG3 delivers circa 600mW into 10.3Ω – corresponding to 243mA and 2,50V. Again: power goes up, but at en even lesser rate.

We do not have an official current cap value coming from E1DA about 9038SG3. AD8397 chip’s manufacturer talks about >300mA but that’s one of those cases where the information is of little use as AD8397 is a quite “professional” chip, designed with a lot of liberty (it does not have a proper current limiter, only thermal control) so reading on its specs that it can deliver up to 310mA is not fully indicative for us as the contour conditions for such performance may well not be those of a device like 9038SG3.

So unless we actually measure that, we have no real way to devine if 9038SG3 will exceed 243mA current on even lower impedances but hey!, even this value is incredibly high – double so considering the device class we are talking about-

P.S. – for the most precise readers: all W, V and A values mentioned above are “rms”.

[collapse]

Sound and performance

I’m going to report about 9038SG3 first, then I will more easily cover 9038D in terms of differences from that.

In its stock calibration situation, so Out Of The Box as they say, 9038SG3 is easily one of the cleanest, most detailed and fast (short transients) dongle I ever auditioned. Indeed, from the sound structure standpoint it rivals much higher class devices.

Notes are exceptionally well separated and clean, while on the flip side they come accross somewhat lean, and this contributes to a general feeling of “scarce musicality” and “excess in detail” if that even makes sense of course.

Leveraging on its internal harmonics compensation generator via the Tweak9038 app, 9038SG3’s “presentation” can be altered to be made a bit “more musical”, “warmer”, even “tubey”. Sure, it takes some will on experimenting of course but possibilities are there. The effect however is not that of flipping the whole presentation into a dark/warm one. See much more on this below.

9038SG3 also has nice spatial rendering – “soundstage” as we call it is definitely OK. Not the level at which a Groove renders depth and height on highres (>96KHz) streams, but that’s related to Groove’s FR being uncommonly flat much beyond 20KHz more than anything else (see here for the full story). Barred that, 9038SG3 has nothing to envy to any other dongle I auditioned, at any price, on this respect.

9038SG3’s lack of sound coloration is obvious, but that’s possibly the second most outstanding feature I noticed right away – the first being the very high amount of power (current) this little box is able to deliver onto low impedance, low sensitivity drivers.

Give or take 9038SG3 delivers 550-600mW into 14 and even 10Ω loads: a sort of mini nuclear plant, perfectly capable to “move” deep insensitive drivers e.g. Final E5000 (14Ω 93dB), RHA CL2 (15Ω 89dB), Hifiman HE400S (22Ω 98dB) and pretty much any low impedance planar IEM you can think of, and with some plenty of room to spare.

As load impedance goes up 9038SG3 stays an uncommonly powerful thingie but starts to show its ropes of course (hey it’s an effing dongle…). For example SRH1840 (65Ω 96dB) are still kinda no problem, but Hifiman HE560 (45Ω 90dB) are no-no.

Lastly, 9038SG3 max voltage swing on high impedance drivers (3.3V) makes it more than decently fit to drive the likes of Sennheiser HD600 (300Ω 102dB/V = 96,7dB/mW) – on which the “tube emulation” is worth a spin, maybe even two… – see below how.

Once all the above is clear, describing 9038D is relatively simple: it’s virtually identical in tonality, timbre, cleanness and technicalities, but delivers way less current on the low loads end, and also more modest voltage swing vs high impedances.

On the former part I guess I can call this yet another example of how a “balanced” scheme is not a requirement to the purpose of outstanding quality on sound output. This consideration apart, 9038D like 9038SG3 sounds magnificently well, and it can be tweaked and changed exactly like its sibling so it’s up to each one to leave it “more analythical” as in its OOB tuning, or a bit “more musical”.

The latter part reflects into a quite different applicative span for 9038D compared to 9038SG3.

While 9038D can still properly drive the likes of Tanchjim Oxygen (32Ω 110dB/Vrms=95,5dB/mW) or Final A3000 (18Ω 98dB) or the recently hyped 7Hz Timeless (14.8Ω 104dB), other drivers like Final E5000, SRH1840 or other more seriously harder to drive planars are at various degrees not ideal, or not viable altogether pairs.

Similarly although less seriously on the higher impedance end: 2.75V are OK to make HD600 sing, but there won’t be much room to compensate in case of low-level recorded tracks and/or level-punishing EQ schemes.

Very succintly put: 9038SG3 delivers incredibly clean sound and very good technicalities and so much power that it can act as a one-stop-source for all IEMs on the market bar none, and most Headphones too, bar high demand planars only. 9038D offers the same sound qualities, can drive “most” IEMs and a few Headphones from of a single ended connection so without requiring cable swapping.

Before I forget: 9038D is virtually immune from hissing when paired to oversensitive loads (Campfire Andromeda, Penon Volt…). 9038SG3 does hiss a bit on the same drivers.

And lastly: as quickly mentioned above and explained in better detail down below, 9038D can be used as a pure DAC connected to a downstream amplifier. Given its outstanding sound profile and its ease of integration on pretty much any host OS, such application might be something to seriously look into, in spite of its external “superpocketable dongle” format.

Comparisons

Hidizs S9 Pro ($119,00)

An educational case insofar as we are talking about almost identical-priced devices, and based on the very same DAC chip (ESS 9038Q2M).

First of all, both 9038D and 9038SG3 sound simply obviously better than S9 Pro. Their presentation is much more linear, clean and detailed compared to S9 Pro’s balanced output. S9 Pro’s high mids very easily tend to “overdo”, and the treble end lacks some air in comparison. S9 Pro also lacks any form of tweakability. S9 Pro’s single ended output is almost unaudible to me quality wise.

On the power delivery standpoint, 9038D’s output is marginally more powerful than S9 Pro’s balanced ended out, and more than twice its single ended one. 9038SG3 is roughly 50% more powerful than S9 Pro at 32Ω, and even most importantly S9 Pro runs into a serious current shortage from right around 16Ω on down, while 9038SG3 still provides something like 600mW vs 10Ω loads. In practice: 9038SG3 easily drives E5000 and planar IEMs, S9 Pro can’t even start trying doing that, or doing that at a comparable level.

Simply and perhaps a bit unforgivingly put: S9 Pro is a toy compared to 9038SG3, and less desireable (although by a smaller margin) even compared to 9038D.

Cayin RU6 ($250)

As you’ll read on my separate take on RU6 (due Soon^tm), in less than a million words RU6 has in its unique timbre its main if not sole reason to be. Its internal R2R technology implementation delivers in facts an audibly different nuance to notes, and that is likely the reason for the ticket price for the curious modest-budgeted audiophile.

The rest is unimpressive at best, often underwhelming. The R2R timbre is audible on NOS mode only – which sadly requires high-res (>= 96KHz) digital tracks to be fed from the outside, as its noise, distortion and FR rolloff on Redbook material is nearly comical – which is even a worse pity if we consider that amongst all that noise one can hear above decent imaging and note body. That’s probably why many say RU6 should exclusively be used on OS mode where reconstruction of 44.1KHz becomes decent-ish, with an at least reasonable sense of space, and much less audible noise. Sadly, the OS circuitry is deltasigma based which defeats most if not all the purpose in this case.

Be as it may, RU6 never comes even close to 9038SG3 / 9038D in terms of clarity, cleanness and detail retrieval.

Power wise the situation is similar to S9 Pro: RU6 is a quite modest-powered device, delivering “just” 213mW@32Ω on BE (similar to 9038D on its single ended, and much less than 9038SG3), slightly more than half on SE, and most importantly dropping quickly below 16Ω so in this case, again: nothing special on E5000, and forget cheecky planar IEMs, etc – unlike what is fully allowed by 9038SG3.

Unlike S9 Pro, RU6’s relatively modest output power at least comes with modest host power requirements – that’s a quite important note. Together with the fact that all the above is attached to a 2X price tag.

IFi GO Bar ($329 / €329)

Also Soon^tm you’ll read my full article on GO Bar. In the meanwhile…

The first big difference with 9038SG3 / 9038D is in the price of course: almost 3 times as much. Better be something serious in there doesn’t it.

Another thing is power. GO Bar is powerful on high and medium impedance loads. It swings a whopping 7.2V into 600Ω (more than twice 9038SG3), and 475mW into 32Ω (40% more than 9038SG3).

Sadly, it hits against a wall of current limitation (circa 120mA) as impedance goes down. As a consequence GO Bar (balanced out) drives Final E5000 (14Ω 93dB) with good athleticism, although with less headroom compared to 9038SG3, but it won’t properly drive the likes of RHA CL2, which are instead perfectly managed by 9038SG3.

Probably due to its performances on higher impedances, or to lesser efficiency, or both, GO Bar, unlike 9038SG3 or 9038D, is a power w**re. It absorbs up to 4W while working, which is 800mA – so it is not USB2 compliant and by far so. Not all Android phones will drive it to its full power then: a laptop is required, or a battery in parallel with a phone. Oppositely, 9038SG3 and 9038D are very modest in terms of power needs vs their output power capabilities, and fully USB2 compliant.

One more thing is features. GO Bar misses the harmonic compensation and masterclock customisation infrastructure available on 9038SG3, and that’s not small stuff, and offers only 4 different FIR filters to choose from instead of 7. On the flip side GO Bar covers the user with features one nicer and/or sexyer than the other, all of which are totally missing on 9038D and 9038SG3: XBass and XSpace analog-domain effects, selectable low/high gain, integrated IEMatch, high quality integrated power filtering, and (for Tidal’s aficionados) MQA full decoding.

So in the end yes, GO Bar does give quite something more than 9038SG3 in return for that higher purchase price and a much higher host power need. I see 9038SG3 as a device delivering similar or better sound quality, and similar to much higher output power onto IEMs compared to GO Bar, in a nofrill package and for a fraction of GO Bar’s price.

Apogee Groove ($220)

As extensively reported on my piece about it, Apogee Groove is an oddball. A badass of an oddball if you wish, but still an uncommon device, with the pros and cons one may after all expect from oddity.

Groove’s output stage is based on proprietary technology and does not support crossover filters or similar circuitry, and all too often it also powers Balanced Architecture drivers (even single-driver models) very quirkily. To cut it short, Groove is mainly if not solely intended for Dynamic Drivers, which is of course an apriori fact to seriously consider when looking instead for a “universal application” DAC/AMP dongle.

That said, Groove swings 5V into 300Ω and 600Ω impedance cans, making it obviously more energetic compared to 9038SG3 and of course 9038D too, and to all other dongles on the market with the sole exception of iFi’s GO Bar.

On the opposite end Groove delivers less current than 9038SG3 which is why it can power Final E5000 (14Ω 93dB) well, but falls dramatically short when applied to RHA CL2, which 9038SG3 eats for breakfast instead. Always from the current delivery on mid/low impedance loads standpoint, Groove is OK-ish on SRH1840 (on the limit, let’s say), while 9038SG3 dances them around more “brilliantly”, and with much more headroom for sure.

Like 9038D, and unlike 9038SG3, Groove can be exploited as a DAC connected to a downstream amplifier.

Groove requires nearly 3 times the current 9038SG3 or 9038D do from their host, which is still USB2 compliant but a huge point to consider nevertheless.

Power profiles aside, Groove and 9038SG3 are very different in terms of sound presentation. Groove is way superior in terms of macro-dynamics (imaging) and even more so in terms of spatial drawing: I hardly can name a single mobile DAC device better than Groove on this.

On the other hand 9038SG3 is obviously less colored and has better subtlety on detail retrieval. Flipping the coin, Groove is gorgeously more “musical” than 9038SG3 and you won’t change the latter anywhere near the former via TCC tweakings.

In less than a million words: where applicable and therefore apriori comparable, Groove is more musical and sexyer, 9038SG3 is more technical, cleaner, sharper. Groove is more powerful on Sennheiser cans, 9038SG3 is way stronger on planar IEMs. I’m so happy I own both, and I would again buy both as these two together cover all possible needs south of a much higher end (and priced) DAP or battery-powered DAC-AMP.

Tweak9038

E1DA developed a companion Android app for their 9038SG3 and 9038D dongles. It’s called Tweak9038.

The purpose of the app is giving the user access to most if not all customisable parameters offered by the ESS 9038Q2M chip, and it indeed succeeds in doing it reliably and quite easily too. The down side is that those parameters are quite technical stuff, and customising them to “make sound better” requires knowing what one’s doing – no worries though, you can’t damage anything if you do it wrong.

There are some limitations to the app, including:

It only works on Android OS, and they are not planning to port it anywhere else. It anyhow technically might never work on iOS due to Apple limitations.
It only communicates with 9038SG3 / 9038D via USB.

So the device must be plugged into the Android device where the app is via a USB cable, and only then the dongle configuration can be accessed, seen and changed. The modified configuration can be saved into the dongle’s own non volatile memory, and it will stay there even when the device is plugged onto a totally different device, even if not carrying the Tweak9038 app, and/or if not even Android-based.

Some may consider the app cost (10$) also a limitation. They are wrong. This app is totally brilliant, and adds a lot to 9038SG3 and 9038D’s value and to their uniqueness, as I’ll explain in a bit. It’s actually very cheap for all it offers and how accurately and reliably it works. If you have some strange problem with “expensive apps” (expensive? 10$? Well, ok…) just mentally add 10$ to the price you pay for the 9038SG3 or 9038D and you won’t fail noticing they will stay two incredibly inexpensive dongles in light of the over-amazing quality they offer.

So quit whyning already, and buy the bloody app to support its developers

As I mentioned above, Tweak9038 exclusively supports 9038D and 9038SG3. It does not support 9038SG2 or earlier. 9038SG3 is anyhow quite significantly better than 9038SG2, and still affordable enough that if I were a 9038SG2 owner I would not think twice about buying a 9038SG3 as an upgrade.

Enough foreword. In summary, Tweak9038 allows to:

Customise the Minimum, Maximum and Default levels of the device’s hardware volume scale.
Generate harmonic distortion (yes, you read well), and even do that diversely following playback volume.
Customise the DAC’s clock frequency, and apply different values automatically based on the track sample rate.
Select amongst different available reconstruction filters, and again choose different ones automatically depending on the track sample rate
Enable/disable Standby and Mute options
Save “sets” of all the above parameters under user-defined names, and recall + apply them to the device whenever liked.
Lastly, scratch everything off just in case you need to return to the exact configuration and calibration that very device had when leaving the factory.

While some of these features may seem easy, others are quite obscure or at least they were to me. After some extensive use and a lot of curiosity applied, I must say this has been dual fun me: once because these tweaks resulted in amazing sound output, and twice because they gave me the occasion to study their rationales in deeper depth then I ever did in the past – which of course now helps me put other devices in a much more realistic and technically more correct perspective.

Here below I will go through most of the “stuff” I experimented and sometimes learnt. YMMV of course: if for you all this is already bread and butter well, just jump through .

A special mention is deserved by E1DA’s support team, which is easily reachable via their Discord channel, and always available to provide competent and precise input.

Volume scale calibration

Out of the box, 9038SG3 / 9038D hardware volume is set to go from -127.5dB to 0dB, with the default value set to 0dB.

Hardware volume values are to be intended as “attenuation” values. So 0dB means “no attenuation”, that is, “leave the amp output fully undampened”, aka “go ahead, kill my ears!”. Oppositely, -127.5dB means “drop the output volume down by 127.5dB” which is a huge dampening. It equates to “shut the F up!”.

The Default volume value is the value the device will set the volume at whenever it is turned on. Given it’s a battery-less device, it will turn off every time it is disconnected from a host, and on when it is reconnected back. Default volume set to 0dB means: whenever you turn the dongle up set the volume to “full unbridled sound out”. Sounds scary doesn’t it. And yes, it is scary.

Until now I talked about the dongle’s “internal” (“hardware”) volume values, but we don’t normally “directly see” those values. What we most often see is a volume slider on our music player software, or even on the Operating System of the machine the dongle is connected to. Such slider is usually labelled as going from “zero” (meaning “zero volume”, 0%, or “silent”) to “100” (or “100%”, “full volume”, “full loudness”).

If our music player app’s volume slider is “linked” to 9038’s internal hardware volume (and it usually is – either automatically or by manually switching it on as you can do on most sw player’s settings) then out of the box the music player’s “zero” volume maps into 9038’s -127.5dB attenuation, and on the opposite end the music player’s “100” volume maps into 0dB attenuation. And the “default volume position” at power-up will be “full volume” position, or, the music player’s latest used volume position (depends on the situation).

Twea9038 app allows for customising all 3 of these default hardware volume settings. But why should you?

Well first of all: the default volume level. It is much, much safer if we set it low, instead of high, let alone “full up” (i.e. “0dB”). This is simply because sooner or later we risk to forget to bring the volume down before hitting “play”, and doing this with the default volume level set too high blasts so loud sound into our ears that we can (seriously!) be permanently harmed.

Secondly: the lower end value. -127.5dB is such a huge attenuation value that unless we plug an extremely oversensitive driver in, starting from “volume full down” will require moving the volume slider a lot before getting some decent sound pressure (“loudness”) out.

First impression in such case might be that 9038S has very weak amplification (“hell… I need to bring it to 80% to get some loudness even on these simple IEMs…!”). But that’s not the case. Moving the volume slider further up the sound pressure will raise very strongly, up to deafening levels.

The real problem is that the “Min” (starting) value is way too low for practical purposes. Setting the minimum hw volume value to a more convenient setting “fixes” this. Which setting is exactly recommendable depends on the impedance and the sensitivity of the actual drivers we “usually” pair 9038 with. For my sets I found that a value of -80dB is OK.

Lastly, let’s consider the upper end value of the scale.

9038SG3, especially, is powerful. Quite seriously powerful I mean, as it can swing 3.3Vrms into a high impedance driver, or – on the flip side – push up to half watt (!) into a 16Ω load.

The downside of all such power is that (again) a wrong move with the music player’s volume control can deafen the user for good, especially if this happens while using IEMs or Headphones which are not “impossible” to drive for 9038SG3, which is like… 95% of the existing ones (and 100% of those in my possession).

Setting the upper end of the hw volume scale to a value lower than 0dB is a safeguard in such sense. Once set at (say) -10dB, this means that when (willingly or by mistake) music player’s volume is slammed to “full up” 9038SG3 won’t release all its possible power onto the drivers, bit quite a bit less.

Similarly to the bottom end value case, the “right” (“most practical”) value to choose for the upper volume end largely depends on which earphones / headphones are part of one’s rotation. If most drivers are very sensitive stuff like Campfire Andromeda, Penon Volt or the like, a pretty low value is recommended! Oppositely, if drivers at hand are hard to drive planars, or insensitive and/or high impedance DD’s, it may be best to leave the value near 0dB, or just below that.

Besides writing values into Tweak9038’s GUI, there’s also another “hidden way” to adjust the Maximum hardware volume boundary by “fiddling” in special ways with the host OS volume slider. This works on multiple different hosts (MacOS, Windows or Linux, and Android – in such last case UAPP is required).

Here’s the scoop:

Bring the host volume slider to 0% (so “all the way down”), and then quickly raise volume + bring it back down to zero% + raise volume again. The “gesture” is like “pulling the volume slider up from zero and quickly slamming it back down, then bouncing back a bit”. The “bounce up” should not exceed 50% of the totale volume slider run space. Do this “bounce” trick 3 times in a row and this will result in a -30dB Max Volume value being instantly set. A sort of quick way to impose a hard “volume limiter”, if you wish.

Bring the host volume slider to 100% (so “all the way up”), and then quickly lower volume + bring it back to 100% + lower volume again. The gesture is specular to the previous one, it’s like “pulling the volume slider down from 100% and quickly slamming it back up, then bouncing back down a bit”. Same caveat as before: the “bounce down” should be less than 50% of the total volume slider run space. Do this 3 times, and Max Volume value will increase by 3dB. Do this another 3 times and it will increase another 3dB, so 6dB in total. And so on.

I don’t know if you agree but I find this so brilliant…

I have two minor negative points to mention, too.

One: even if a front end music player app directly controls 9038SG3 / 9038D’s hardware volume, it has however no way to know its absolute Min and Max values as they are set inside the dongles by the Tweak9038 app. So for example it did happen to me to spend some sweet time wondering (while swearing) why the heck my 9038SG3 could not make a certain IEM sound really loud even at “full volume” (on the player), only to remember much later that I had set the Max hw volume value to a low level myself.

Two: someone may feel more comfortable if the GUI mentioned volume values in Vrms units in addition to dB units. This would be easy to implement as there is a precise formula linking the two, and someone did already put this in the wishes box to E1DA, so I trust it will eventually happen. Until then, we can calculate them manually as follows :

Output voltage [Vrms] = FullScale voltage [Vrms] * 10 ^ (Attenuation [dB] / 20)

So for example an attenuation of -10dB results in:

(For 9038D) 2.75 Vrms * 10^ (-10dB/20) = 0,87 Vrms full scale voltage
(For 9038SG3) 3.33 Vrms * 10^ (-10dB/20) = 1,04 Vrms full scale voltage

A “distortion generator” – to help reduce distortion

Sounds like a paradox doesn’t it.

What is Harmonic Distortion?

Ideally, a DAC/AMP should be a “purely transparent” device, reconstructing and then powering the exact analogue wave described by the digital samples it is fed with.

The term “distortion” often widely generically indicates “any” deviation from such ideal. Overdoing with the volume yielding into clipping is called distortion. Noise floor is sometimes also called distortion. Etc.

More properly speaking, “distortion” has to do with “harmonics”.

For a somewhat technical intro at what harmonics are, start here. But let me vulgarise as always.

An “harmonic” is a replica of a certain sound (called the “fundamental tone”), featuring a frequency which is 2X, 3X, 4X … nX compared to (i.e. an integer multiple of) that of the fundamental tone.

Harmonics corresponding to 2X, 4X, 6X […] their fundamental tone frequency are called “even order harmonics”. Those corresponding to 3X, 5X, 7X […] the fundamental tone frequency are called – guess what – odd order harmonics.

Harmonics can be both good or bad, in a sense.

When playing a musical instrument (say: a guitar) one may develop techniques to produce certain harmonics together with, or even instead of, a certain “pure note” – of course aiming at a special sound effect. These are “good” harmonics, we do want those to be there. Beyond their name, if you want, such harmonics acquire the same dignity as any other note played by that original instrument.

On the flip side, unwanted harmonics are generated in parallel to their fundamental notes by many sorts of disturbances involving the sound source (a musical instrument, or an analogue and/or digital sound reproduction device).

Long story short: pretty much every time a note is “played”, “some harmonics” happen too, which are in general of the “unwanted” kind.

Harmonics typically come with a lower amplitude (they are less loud) compared with their fundamental tone, and also often fall outside the audible frequency range.

Audible harmonics can be perceived as a change in music’s timbre, or as some odd notes or accents audible here and there which are not supposed to be part of the original music. All these effects are often referred to as “sound coloration”.

Harmonics falling outside the directly audible range (so above approx. 16 – 18 Khz) will still alter the sound purity, as they impact e.g. on sound timing such as echoes, reverberations, etc. They modify the “sense of space” which that specific music would generate when played “more cleanly”. Additionally, harmonics fundamental tones around the same frequencies will interact producing Intermodulation Distortion (IMD), a further type of distortion.

Total Harmonic Distortion is the ratio between the “force” of all these unwanted sounds (the harmonics) taken together, divided by the “force” of the “originally intended music”. The lower such ratio the best of course, as it means those little bastards (the harmonics) are so “weak” they don’t effectively affect the purity of the ideal sound (significantly).

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As there ain’t such thing as a “perfect” device, of course there is no such thing as a “totally non-distorting” DAC/AMP. Alternatively said, our audio gear’s THD will always be >0.

Audio equipment engineering and manufacturing of course includes keeping distortion as low as possible, for as low industrial cost as possible of course.

There are structural (I like to call them “static”) causes for harmonic distortion: the quality of the electronics, the cleanness of its implementation, etc. A badly engineered device based on crappy components will produce distortion under any operative conditions; under the very same operative conditions, a better engineered device based on higher quality components will produce lower distortion.

Then, there are those which I call the “dynamic” causes. Operative temperature, for example, is a factor: electronics do change their behaviour with temperature, and that makes a difference in their audio behaviour. EMI/RFI interference even more so. And load: depending on the impedance of the connected headphones the source device will “behave” a bit differently and will generate different distortion patterns – in very general terms, distortion goes up as impedance goes down. Even volume: the same amp will distort less when operated at mid-volume, more when pushed at the top of its capabilities. Etc.

So not only the most skilled manufacturer in the world will be unable to deliver a zero-THD device, but even their best device will have an always somewhat variable THD, as some of that THD depends on how that device is being “actually used”.

Is there a way to cope with such distortion depending on usage conditions? Well… in part, yes.

If we know which parasite harmonics is the device generating under certain usage conditions (e.g., when a given headphone is connected), then we can create some harmonics ourselves which are “equal-but-opposite” compared to the unwanted ones, thus effectively “cancel them out”.

The ESS 9038Q2M chip does have a sort of built-in harmonics (compensation) generator, and indeed that’s what E1DA exploits to first of all calibrate each and every 9038D or 9038SG3 unit prior to shipping.

By design 9038SG3 and 9038D aim at a THD of -125dB as a target value. A value of THD = -125dB is considered ideal, -124dB is considered “standard”, and -123dB is the threshold below which that very unit will be sold as b-stock.

Given what we just noted, we wonder: under which effective usage conditions are such THD values verified?

E1DA reports: they calibrate and measure their 9038SG3/9038D devices with a 32Ω load, and at an operative temperature of 25°C. Then they observe the (unwanted) harmonics during playback of a reference signal while going from min to max volume, and they set compensation values into the the ESS 9038Q2M chip harmonics generator to cancel them out.

Such compensation values are finally burnt into the device’s firmware before shipping. No matter how hard we subsequently mess with the harmonics generator for experimenting etc (see below), we can always go back to E1DA’s original “factory values” by tapping on Restore Factory Settings on the Tweak9038 app.

During real life use we will of course plug all sorts of different impedance drivers into our 9038SG3 or 9038D dongles. When their impedance will be significantly different from 32ohm those factory-pre-set compensation values will be less effective to the purpose. What can we do then?

One: experiment “by ear”.

Simply reach out for the Tweak9038 app and modify the values on the “THD panel”. Doing this while playing music, the result is hearable in real time. So anyone can judge by oneself if the change is adding or removing distortion, and by how much.

As distortion often also depends on the volume at which the device is being made to work, the Tweak9038 app allows to define 3 sub-ranges of the entire volume range. Range 1 goes from -127.5dB to Low Threshold (blue-green), Range 2 from Low Threshold to High Threshold (orange), and Range 3 from High Threshold to 0dB.

Threshold values can be freely modified. To set them either drag the bullets atop their vertical bars, or tap their values (the blue-green and orange figures atop the bar) and directly key the new number in.

Once Ranges are defined, tap on each of the 3 “THD Edit” buttons, at the top, and enter harmonic correction value for each of those Ranges.

It is possible to generate even (2^nd) and odd (3^rd) harmonic values. Each value must be entered in dB, and by ticking the Invert flag we flip the harmonic’s phase.

Similarly to how it works for the Thresholds, harmonic values can be input either by dragging un/down the 2 orange bullet atop the animated “graph spikes” at the centre of the screen, or by tapping on the number values within the frame on the upper-right.

Suppose we don’t want to take volume variations too much into account: how do we define a “flat” correction, all equal for the entire volume range?

There’s 2 ways to do that: either input the exact same values into “THD Edit” for all three ranges, or define Threshold values such that… only Range 3 is effectively ever active (i.e.: set both Low and High Threshold to -127.5dB), and input correction values only under Range 3’s THD Edit space.

Two: go the engineeristic way

As I very briefly mentioned above, THD is typically inversely proportional to load impedance. Which means that E1DA’s factory calibration, centered upon a 32Ω load, will deliver ideal results for 32Ω but results will still be much more than decent at higher impedances; viceversa it will “need some help” – so to say – when pairing 9038SG3 or 9038D with sub-16Ω IEMs.

To find out as accurately as possible which new values optimise a 9038SG3 (or 9038D) when paired with a specific earphone / headphone, some equipment, and following a similar procedure, to what E1DA uses and does in-house to pre-calibrate 9038S3G and 9038D will be required.

And guess what: E1DA develops and sells such equipment. It’s called Cosmos, and does exactly that (and much more). Here is the link to the description – I will not go in more detail here, this article is already long enough isn’t it.

**A “distortion generator” – to actually add some distortion**

We do all we can to get distortion-free DACs. We even calibrate them in respects to our headphones, one by one, to compensate for load-dependent distortion… why the hell would we want to “add” distortion???

As I mentioned above, 9038D and 9038SG3 come with whopping -125dB (or so) THD which is a monumentally good value for such a device and especially price class.

And in facts they do sound… clean. Holy cow they really do!

Tell you what: maybe a tad too much ?

Neutrality vs Musicality, and the bit-perfect myth

In an ideal situation, when we listen to our preferred digital tracks we want to hear the hell of the detail, and layering, and separation and all that exactly as it is “contained” in the track file.

We typically assume that the digital information inside our CDs, or FLAC, WAV or DSF files, is “the” thing, it’s a “given perfection”, and our task is finding the best gear we can possibly afford to convert that into wonderful music reaching to our ears with the “highest fidelity” possible towards such allegedly “perfect” starting point.

Is such assumption correct ? No it’s not.

Bad recordings are of course a thing, to begin with. But there’s much more and much worse.

Music publishers do mess with music “purity” inside their masters to compensate for most of their paying customers very likely going to play back that track on supercheap, not at all hifi-grade gear.

Such “mastered/remastered music for cheap gear” will “sound better” (or “less worse”) on cheap gear, but will reveal all sorts of unwanted sonic features (compressed dynamic range, lack of definition etc etc) when played back on higher level, low-THD equipment.

The opposite may also be a problem, sometimes.

Suppose we have a very good digitally mastered edition, with no or minimal compression, no artificial panning, etc etc – a good audiophile level job. But, we are accustomed to listening to it with some “coloured” gear. So much so, and for such a long time, that our brain got biased: for us that song’s “home” sound is that colored.

Then one day we listen to that same digital track with a much lower-THD device. While we’ll certainly appreciate the higher definition, better technicalities, etc, chances are our brain may decode such newly conquered “transparency”, or “neutrality”, into “lifelessness”, “lack of musicality”.

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E1DA 9038SG3 and 9038D’s harmonics generator can (incredibly in a sense, but really) help also for this case. By fiddling with the THD compensation values we can “add some colour” to sound, making it “more musical” in a sense.

There’s even a way to simulate the voicing of a tube amp – that’s mainly about playing with the 2^nd harmonic. The Tweak9038 app even offers “tube emulation” presets, those are labelled “SE” – there’s one for 9038D one for 9038SG3 – all it takes is loading them, and they can be furtherly tweaked of course.

When on your quest for more colored sound you may also want to remember that

the lower the MCLK, the lower the DR (more on this below)
linear filters often tend to make notes less sharp (more on this below, too)

Playing with 9038SG3 / 9038D’s sound tweaking gauges is just amazing This video (by E1DA) shows a live demo of the game.

Setting a custom clock frequency

Tweak9038 allows to set the ESS 9038Q2M chip’s Master Clock frequency at 3 different values: 12.5Mhz, 25MHz or 50MHz.

A higher clock frequency lowers the noise floor, produces better note definition, sharper attack, better space reconstruction, but generates more high order harmonics (higher distortion).

Lower clock frequency is the opposite: less distortion, a bit higher noise floor, softer note contours, more “intimate” stage.

To give an idea, 12Mhz has lower THD vs 25MHz but is 1-1.5dB(A) worse in terms of SNR/DR.

The effect is indeed quite apparent especially if you have a trained audio ear already. If you are not particularly ahead in your critical listening experience, try “extremising” the values: slam all THD compensation to zero, set clock to 50MHz, and chose a minimum phase filter – you should hear all notes definitely more “sculpted”.

By the way, the fact that Tweak9038’s “Tube emulation preset” profiles are only defined at 12Mhz frequency is indeed consistent with the above: music comes across softer (not fuzzier of course, definition is still there), less “carved in stone”. Like tubes do.

Similarly to the other areas of intervention, for MCLK selection too Tweak9038 app allows to pre-set which clock value to use depending on the track’s sampling rate, and save the full association table under a custom named preset file, which one can load and apply at leisure.

For my taste, lower clock speeds are a better compromise on lower sample rates – and higher clock speeds “fit” (my tastes) better on higher sample rates.

Reconstruction filters: why we need them, and why Tweak9038 is cool

Takes as it should be, deeply understanding reconstruction filters would require a treaty on signal processing. If you are technically inclined an elementary starting point might actually be this Wikipedia page.

A vulgarised story about reconstruction filters

I wrote and rewrote this chapter a few times, was never happy of its contents as when reading it back I felt like I wuold not understand myself if I were to do it from what I had just written.

So in the end I spun it into a separate article. It’s here.

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The ESS 9038Q2M chip adopted inside 9038SG3 and 9038D offer 7 different reconstruction filters (Linear Phase Slow and Fast, Minimum Phase Slow and Fast, Apodizing, Brick Wall and Corrected Minimum Phase) + 1 “ESS-Reserved” filter.

Assuming you read the above, or you know from before and even better than me, Linear Phase Slow and Fast, and Minimum Phase Slow and Fast filters don’t need much presentation I guess.

Brick Wall and Apodizing are variations of a Fast Linear filter. Corrected Minimum Phase is a not-very-slow Min Phase filter. The R (ESS-reserved) is similar to the Apodizing, but with less ripple.

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/616934105325764608/773866389073035294/All_ES9038_filters.PNG?width=1159&height=586

Linear Phase Fast Filter

Linear Phase Slow Filter

Minimum Phase Fast Filter

Minimum Phase Slow Filter

Apodizing Fast Filter

Hybrid Fast Filter

Brick Wall (fast) Filter

9038SG3 and 9038D allow the user to freely select their preferred filter – which happens via the Tweak9038 app of course. Not so many other dongles offer the same possibilities (at any price, by the way).

Veeery widely said, I personally tend to apply Min Phase Slow to >=88.2KHz tracks, and Min Phase Fast to Redbook tracks.

What I find absolutely brilliant, and unique, here is that the Tweak9038 app makes it possible to map which filter is to be used based on the sampling rate of the incoming digital file.

So I can set things up such that (e.g.) on all tracks < 88.2Khz a Min Phase Fast is automatically used, while the DAC automatically switches onto a Min Phase Slow filter when resolution goes above 96Khz. Or whatever other pairing you might instead find best for your ears

Standby and Mute

9038SG3 and 9038D have built-in automatic Standby and Mute functions.

Standby will set the device in Power Saving mode if it does not receive data from the host for 1 minute. This is of course very nice to reduce power consumption when you are not actively listening to music. Power Saving mode reduces consumption by 50%.

Mute will also turn DAC output off while the device is in Power Saving mode.

There is a single drawback in leaving Standby and Mute working their automatic way: when 9038 starts back receiving again data from the host while in Power Saving mode it may induce annoying and sometimes quite loud “pops” on the drivers. The more annoying and lower the higher the drivers’ sensitivity.

Standby and Mute can be turned “off” by accessing Tweak9038 Settings panel, and just tap to remove the flags on the two options.

Settings persistence and “Presets” management

This part may seem a bit confusing at first, at least it was for me. Let me try to make it simple and straight.

The Tweak9038 app makes all of the above illustrated 9038SG3 and 9038D parameters visible to the user, and allows the user to change them.

As soon as you plug either 9038D or 9038SG3 into the Android device running Tweak9038, its currently active parameters are read-in, and shown by the Tweak9038 app.

Whenever any change is made to one of the parameters shown by the Tweak9038 app while the dongle is connected, such new value is instantly saved onto the connected 9038SG3 / 9038D non-volatile internal memory.

Due to such non-volatility, all values will persist even after unplugging the dongle from the Android device running Tweak9038, and after plugging it onto a totally different device, regardless of such device’s OS.

So again: Tweak9038 shows the values which are written “inside the dongle”, and allows the user to “prepare”, “tune” his 9038SG3 / 9038D how he prefers, save the values back into the dongle, and use it, so tuned, wherever he wants, without ever needing the Tweak9038 app once again.

Clear till now? Good.

In addition to the above, Tweak9038 allows for saving “full sets” of such parameters. Such sets are however saved onto the Android device hosting Tweak9038. You do that by tapping on the Save frame, on the main app screen, and then giving the preset a name.

Again: Presets are not saved onto 9038SG3 / 9038D. They are kept local to the Tweak9038 app.

Existing Presets can be accessed by tapping on the Preset frame, on the main app screen. Once there, Presets will be found under 2 different categories – accessible by tapping on the first 2 buttons atop: User are those previously saved by yourself, and Official are those supplied by E1DA.

After tapping on a User Preset, it’s possible to SET, EXPORT or DELETE it.

By tapping on “SET”, the Preset’s values are written all together and all at once onto the dongle’s non-volatile memory, and saved. Exactly the same as if they were input one by one by hand.

User Presets can be Exported. Which is meaningful as Presets can also be later Imported – for instance in case a friend wants to pass us one of his sets, or to acquire a special Preset developed by E1DA which is not included inside the standard Tweak9038 app distribution set.

Official Presets cannot be Exported (no need to) nor Deleted (so you can’t mess up). Therefore, when tapping on an Official Preset the system just asks for confirmation before applying its values, and that’s it.

One last note: whenever a Preset is saved into Tweak9038’s workspace, all of the configuration values of the currently connected dongle are automatically saved onto the named file, including Min, Current and Max Volume figures. But, when a Preset is recalled from storage, and “SET” (applied) onto the currently connected dongle, the system asks wether Volume parameters need to be also Set, or those need to be left at their current “live” values.

Other stuff

Using 9038D with an external Amp

It is possible to exploit 9038D’s 3.5mm single ended phone out as a preamp out, and connect it to a downstream Amplifier. It’s quite logical to assume that, very likely if not always, 9038D will be connected to a desktop transport of sort for this application – like a Windows or Linux machine.

To get best results it is recommended to use the Tweak9038 app (see above) to:

Apply appropriate THD compensation values
Disable Mute and Standby
Set Max Volume to -3dB (this way Max Vout will be 2 Vrms – this is only required if this is the max allowed input value for our Amp)

It is optionally possible to save a Preset for this, especially in case one plans to dedicate 9038D to this application only occasionally, and needs therefore an easy way to switch back and forth between these settings and others more appropriate for mobile use paired with headphone or IEMs.

All easy.

Sole doubt is: how do I devine the “appropriate THD compensation values” to apply when 9038D’s load is represented by the amp? No worries.

The 9038D has a nice matte-finished black metal housing. I would call the front side the one with the E1DA white logo engraved on, of course. Let’s flip it to the back side. Near the end corresponding to the USB-C plug there are some other minuscule-font-size engravings. On my unit I read:

Calibrated unit:
DR 124.7 / 125.4
TCC  2 / -70

I already mentioned far above that E1DA calibrates each and every unit upon manufacturing. These figures actually regard my own unit (so will in general be different from anybody else’s unit).

DR refers to my unit’s Dynamic Range, and the two figures refer to the left and right channel respectively.and mean:

Dynamic Range : 124.7 dB LEFT / 125.4 RIGHT

THD Compensation Coefficients: 2 / -70

TCC stands for THD Compensation Coefficients, and that’s what we are looking for now, as those figures are what’s needed on my very unit to minimise distortion on “No Load Condition”.

As I explained above, THD changes based on various dynamic situations, one of which is the impedance of what gets connected to 9038D’s output (the “load”).

So here E1DA is telling me what’s the compensation to apply when I connect my 9038D to… nothing ?!? Well let’s dig better into this technical wordage.

Connecting “nothing” to the output can be said in a more electrical-engineering-friendly way as “connecting to an open circuit”.

When voltage is applied to an “open circuit”, no current will pass through. “Of course… there is not even the effing wire!!”. Well… (again) an electrical engineer would rather say that there is a “wire”… with an infinite resistance (!).

And finally, amplifiers have very high Input Impedances. Not “infinitely” high, but “very” high nonetheless.

Now let’s connect the dots: those TCC values reported on the back of 9038D’s enclosure are the settings needed to minimise distortion when nothing is connected to 9038D’s output, i.e., when something with infinite resistance is connected there. So, they are a good approximation of the figures needed to minimise distortion when something with a very high – albeit finite – resistance is connected. Like an Amplifier, for example

How do I do that? Of course via the Tweak9038 app. Reach for the THD panel. Set both Low and High Threshold to -127.5dB. This way only Range 3 will ever be “active”. Open Range 3 panel and (in my specific case) set 2^nd harmonic to 2dB, and 3^rd harmonic to 70dB, while also ticking (only) 3^rd harmonics Invert checkbox to reflect the “-” sign.

Should I plan to use 9038D as a “fixed volume” DAC, and only regulate volume on the downstream connected Amp, I would also want to set its Min Volume = Current Volume = Max Volume to -3dB, this way effectively forcing the device to always output 2Vrms flat.

MasterClock and Filter selection panels have nothing to do with the output connection, so I will leave my usual settings map in there.

And finally, I will save the whole thing under a User Preset called e.g. “9038D Dac”.

Heck! This way I overwrote my 9038D’s factory-imposed THD settings, those offering the least distortion when using a 32Ω IEM. And only now I realise I did not save the previous configuration into a User Preset before modifying it

No worries. Original factory-recorded THD compensation data are hard coded into the firmware. By accessing Settings / Restore Factory Settings on Tweak9038 app I can swing back to those values in no time.

Using 9038SG3 with an external Amp

TL;DR: don’t.

Some Amplifiers offer balanced input, and their owners would prefer exploiting that route, especially when the Amp also offers a full balanced internal structure.

Too bad that, simply put, such connectivity is not supported by 9038SG3. I found E1DA’s tech support explanation to why is this the case so efficient that I can’t find a better way then quoting that directly here:

DAC and Amp need to be grounded to each other to ensure safe operation. The headphone output of the 9038S has four pins: Hot/Cold Left and Hot/Cold Right. There’s no GND pin. Therefore, it is not possible to ground it to your Amp. People have ignored our warnings before, connected their 9038S to external Amps via a 2.5mm to 2x XLR adapter, and have fried their 9038S as a result. The output really is for headphones only. If you want something that you can use both with headphones/IEMs and with external DACs, get a 9038D.
https://discord.com/channels/483873307251310592/608625162115612693/1001215598203768883

Case closed.

If you really don’t want to use the Tweak9038 app

If you are really really really unwilling to pay the 10 bucks for the app, then – even if you shouldn’t deserve it – there’s a B-plan for you: carefully flashing some pre-cooked firmware made available by E1DA themselves.

The firmware flashing package exclusively exists for Windows OS. Additionally, it requires Comtrue ASIO drivers to be pre-installed to operate correctly.

E1DA makes all the required sw packages available as free downloads of course, and they come with a collection of various alternative firmware versions ready to be flashed on either 9038D or 9038SG3.

It’s of course needed to select the files inside the folder called like the device model which is supposed to be updated of course.

Inside each “model” folder there’s a single file named “Tweak […]”. That is the firmware required for the Tweak9038 app to work. So basically, it’s the firmware that comes preinstalled from factory. Once one of the other firmware files gets flashed in, the Tweak9038 app will not be able to work on that device anymore, and to restore its functionality it’s required to re-flash the Tweak[…] firmware first.

The various files contain non-app-tweakable firmware configurations, quite clearly described by their names.

It’s worth nothing that:

Firmware names containing “noSTBY” disable the automatic Standby feature
Firmware names containing “SE” simulate a Tube amp sound signature (set 2^nd harmonic to -50dB)

Special notes about iPhones (with a final Android hint)

Don’t be misguided [too much] by the above-mentioned power drains imposed by 9030D or 9038SG3 on the host, going well beyond 100mA which is known as a hard apriori limitation on Apple’s design.

In spite of that, both 9038SG3 and 9038D can be connected to iPhones via a Lightning connector cable but… whether it will work or not depends on the cable and on the iPhone specific model (!). Some models won’t ever work, other models won’t work with some cables (no power to turn 9038SG3 or 9038D up at all), and finally shall work with some other cables.

E1DA maintains an incredibly helpful if rustic worksheet – available here – collecting internal and users’ experiences: which cable works (or not) with which iPhone model. Check both the Yes/No and Voltage tabs to have the full information you want. The sheet also includes leads on where those cables can be purchased.

Once said it is possible, of course it stays legitimate to wonder whether it’s convenient to indeed connect 9038SG3 / 9038D alone to an iPhone, thereby heavily shortening its daily battery durability.

I myself use 9038SG3 (and Groove for that matter) on the go with “transport pack” made of a tiny DAP + a small lightweight powerbank, kept together by some Bluetack and connected to the dongles by means of a special Y-USB cable.

But that’s another story, and applies to quite a few Android phones too. This specific topic will be covered by a separate article of mine which will be published, well, you know already when.

Considerations & conclusions

You really got through all this article reading it all till here? Heck! I owe you a coffee at the very least. You deserved it.

As I hope I suceeded in saying and explaining why, E1DA 9038SG3 is a very good battery-less DAC-AMP, and an even more brilliant product overall. Unbelievably powerful, drives all nastiest IEMs including no matter which planar IEM, and most HPs as nothing – surrenders only against the most demanding planar overears. This, while offering outstanding sound clarity and superb detail retrieval.

9038D is also extremely good, indeed as good as 9038SG3 sound wise with the sole caveat of output power capabilities which are lower than 9038SG3 but still higher than 90% of the other mobile sources around. Can be the right choice for fixed-cable IEMs and anyhow most other IEMs around bar (some) planars only.

The Tweak9038 app further allows to “play” with the device timbre.

For how much ya’ll know I love my two Grooves, if I were to recommend “one” dongle only for true audiophile use at the lowest possible cost I would name 9038SG3 without the shadow of a doubt. Excellent, indeed.

As already mentioned at the beginning, the 9038SG3 and 9038D I am talking about have been personally purchased.

Very much lastly: I’ve had as always loads of fun going through all this with my audiophile friend Simone Fil, also an enthusiast E1DA user, and much deeper than me in technical audio competence – which of course I ruthlessly exploit. Quite some of the above content is the direct descent from our late evening chats and common findings.

P.S. – last minute news

On their Discord channel Ivan just recently announced he found a good successor for 9038D’s opamp. Same power, even a bit better THD and DR. It’s code-named 9038D6K as it will also have 6000µF power filtering capacitance, up from 4000 on og 9038D.

So it seems 9038D will be available again… Soon^tm.

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Tin Hifi P1 Max “Big Panda” Review (1) – The Meat-And-Potato Planars

Jürgen Kraus (Calgary, Canada) — Wed, 03 Aug 2022 15:10:10 +0000

The Tin Hifi P1 Max are a safe choice for listeners who would like to experience the planar-magnetic sound without the typical lean mids and the brightness of other models – but at the expense of technicalities.

Pros — Good cohesion, decently weighty vocals; zero shoutiness; good build and cable.

Cons — Not much mid bass kick; not very sparkly or energetic; rather fast note decay; not the largest headroom.

Introduction

Tin Hifi are an established name in the Shenzhen audio scene. Their initial claim to fame was the famous T2 (under their previous brand name “Tinaudio”), a neutrally tuned $50 earphone, that stuck out within the masses of V-shaped budget models.

The company has released iems that were perceived as hit and miss (we reviewed many of them) – and their signature design was always metallic shells, often nicely polished. The P1 Max deviate from this presentation not only with a completely new appearance but also with a new sound.

TL;DR: the Tin Hifi P1 Max don’t have the usual ChiFi weaknesses of overcooked upper midrange and lean, recessed vocals. Whether they stand out against their competitors in a tight market is another question. Read on.

Specifications

Driver: 14.2 mm planar magnetic

Impedance: 16 Ω ± 15%

Sensitivity: 98 ± 3dB @1kHz 0.126V

Frequency Range: 10 – 20,000 Hz

Cable/Connector: 108 single crystal copper wire core/ gold plated 2-pin connector

Tested at: $169

Product page:

Product Page/Purchase Link: www.tinhifi.com

Physical Things and Usability

In the box are the shells, a cable, a series of eartips, a storage bag, and the standard paperwork. The earpieces are of a bulbous shape and made of resin, very similar to the Shozy 1.4. They are light, not too big, therefore comfortable for me, and just refreshingly different from the average offerings.

I also like the cable: it has no microphonics and the right rigidity while looking rather inconspicuous. The included eartips didn’t work for me so that I used Spinfits.

In the box…

Bulbous resin earpieces, something new for Tin Hifi iems.

Pragmatic, well working cable, but unspectacular in appearance.

Tonality and Technicalities

Testing and Measuring Details

My test tracks explained, including Spotify playlist

[collapse]

Equipment used: MacBook Air, iPhone SE (1st gen) | Questyle M15; Earstudio HUD 100 (low gain) | Spinfit CP145 eartips.

The overall signature of the P1 Max is neutral-warm, articulate, cohesive, unobtrusive…with the typical planar-magnetic timbre (“fast note decay”) but lacking the usual brightness and lean midrange — at the expensive of other technicalities. The “flattest tuned” and therefore least offensive, but also technically least capable of the sub-$200 planar magnetics I have tested (LETSHOUER S12, 7Hz Timeless). The P1 Max excel through their cohesion (“jack of all trades, master of none”) and just play and play without getting annoying – hence they are probably underestimated by many.

The P1 Max have a somewhat unusual bass. It is reasonably tight (somewhat boomy with the stock tips), digs deep into the sub-bass, but lacks mid-bass kick. It is robust but misses layering, the punch is hard enough, but there could be more of it. A one-trick pony. Bass lines are usually somewhat subtle and dry. This may be a combination of the rather linear low-end tuning and the planar-magnetic driver technology.

The midrange is not as bright and lean as typical for a planar-magnetic, there is no shoutiness at all, a huge advantage over the S12 and Timeless. Vocals are of medium note weight and of good note definition, they are not recessed and quite intimate – they are not breathy and lean but nicely firm and compact. They are well placed in 3-D space. Midrange transparency is quite good. There is also no sibilance!

Treble resolution is ok…but treble is somewhat dry and devoid of sparkle. Cymbals are well defined and fast decaying, an artifact of essentially all planar magnetics. They can also be tizzy.

Although headroom is not the greatest (compared to S12), there is good spatial cues. You are not standing in a Football stadium but in a smaller, more intimate club. The soundstage is average in the big picture. The other technicalities such as imaging, separation, and layering are average for the price.

Timbre is typically planar magnetic: decay is rather fast, which can make the presentation a bit dry and analytical. Cellos sound just too robotic. This leaves the impression of a well accentuated sound often bordering on hard (the opposite of soft and lingering), but it is never harsh, strident, or aggressive.

In summary, despite my bickering, the P1 Max have no dealbreaking flaws and their strength is cohesion….and a good haptic and fit.

The LETSHOUER S12 is technically superior over the P1 Max with much better staging, bigger headroom, more bass kick, more energy, but it is also on the bright side with the leaner vocals. The 7Hz Timeless is also on the leaner side in the midrange and has this pronounced mid bass-hump not everybody likes. The P1 Max is overtaking from behind but in the slow lane.

In the meantime, another planar magnetic contender has appeared – highly advertised – and as a consequence – hyped: the Salnotes Dioko. I have not tested it but looked at reviews (such as this one). The earpieces are rather large (potential comfort/fit problems), the midrange is somewhat lean and pushed back, and the top end is boosted to the point that it is harsh and bright, while bass and the resolution and other technicalities are apparently very good. The tenor is that the Dioko is a polarizing model. Since a direct comparison with the P1 Max is not possible, all I can say is that this Tin Hifi is on the safer side.

Concluding Remarks

I tend to say, the best earphones are the ones we use. And the Tin Hifi P1 Max may be such a candidate. I can enjoy them for hours. They are lively enough not to be boring and cohesive enough not to be intrusive.

Technically and energetically behind the competition, they make up by not having any obvious flaws and turnoffs such as an overwhelming mid-bass hump of the 7Hz Timeless or midrange brightness of the LETSHOUER S12. The T1 Max are the safest sub-$200 planar-magnetics out of the three I have tested, which is in agreement with their frequency response graphs.

I took the T1 Max on my trip to Germany this summer.

Their biggest strength is that they are spectacularly unspectacular…and therefore usable. Well usable. I just took the Tin Hifi P1 Max on my summer trip to Europe as my go to.

Until next time…keep on listening!

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Disclaimer

The P1 Max were supplied unsolicited by Tin Hifi and I thank them for that.

Get them from the Tin Hifi Store.

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The Principles Of Reversible Earphone Modding – Removing Shoutiness and Bass Boom…

Jürgen Kraus (Calgary, Canada) — Fri, 29 Jul 2022 19:34:33 +0000

The article shows how to customize the sound of your iems by changing the frequency response – without equalization – and in a non-destructive way. That is, the modification is quickly reversible. The results of this earphone modding may vary but you will frequently enjoy an earphone more when modified than right out of the box.

Introduction: Why reversible Earphone modding?

Reversible earphone modding (“modifying”), mainly performed with micropore tape, aims to balance an earphone’s sound to better fit one’s personal tonal preferences. Those audioreviews.org authors who are also subscribing to the “Super Best Audio Friends” Forum, have always been keen on the technique.

In the following, I will summarize the basic principles and some simple tricks & tips in an easy cookbook style to assist you in getting the best out of your earphones. You then can dig deeper into some case studies provided.

What can be achieved by reversible modding?

Shoutiness removed
Perceived treble added
Bass attenuated or increased

Reversible meaning that, after modding, the iems can be easily brought back to their initial stage…no holes poked, nothig ripped off etc. That’s favourable if you want to sell them later…

Modding is required then some iems don’t sound right for some listeners out of the box. They may be too bright (“shouty”) or the may have too much/not enough bass. In some cases, a different cable of different eartips help, but our method is cheaper – and it can be applied on top of all others. It changes the frequency spectrum without equalization.

The idea of “reversible modding” was initiated and pioneered by SBAF/Head-Fier James444. We reproduced his wisdom with his permission on our blog, previously, whilst applying and refining it ourselves over time.

Opening up a V with reversible modding.

Typically, a sensitive listener wishes to reduce unwanted peaks in the upper midrange (2-4 kHz harshness and hardness area) and treble (e.g. 7-10 kHz sibilance area). And he/she also wants to attenuate an overly inflated bass, particularly slowly decaying mid-bass humps. In short, if the frequency response curve is a U or V with its lowest point in the lower midrange (let’s say at 1 kHz), this shape should open up towards a horizontal line in the eyes of an “audiophile”.

Dynamic-driver (DD) earphones, because of their comparatively simple design, are easier to modify than balanced armature (BA) multi-drivers or hybrids.

Tip: A strong peak in the 3 kHz region causes harshness and is hard to remove. Stay away from such earphones if you have sensitive ears.

Our Success Stories

Our authors have tamed the upper midrange by micropore mod in the following iems – and included the process and results in their respective writeups (each of which gives you insights in the particular modding process) – but I recommend finishing this article first before dipping into the particulars:

Materials needed

You will find most of these items in your household. The biggest hurdle may be finding 3M micropore tape. Have a look at your local drug mart or health supplies store (e.g try here if you live in Calgary).

3M micropore tape (Johnson & Johnson micropore tape may be too thick; you can also try Transpore tape)
Electrical tape or Scotch tape (Tesa Film for Germans)
Alcohol swabs (only in rare cases; 2-ply because it is the thinnest)
Thin wire (create it from a twist tie)
Needle
Scissors

All you need for reversible modding is…this!

One IEM, two Vents: the physical Principles

Typically (but not always), an iem has two vents, one in the front and one in the back. Here the Tinaudio T2 as an example.

These principles apply to any earphone.

Head-Fier James444 explains the functionality of the vents (original Head-Fi post):

Front Vent: making it smaller increases bass. Explanation: the front-mod adds a tiny amount of front leakage which avoids over-pressurization in the ear canal and reduces bass quantity. Attenuation is a bit stronger in deep bass than in mid/upper bass, resulting in a bass-lighter, but slightly more mid-bassy signature. Because of the leakage, isolation is slightly reduced.

Back vent: adding air increases bass; decreasing back vent diameter makes bass roll off. Reducing the air flow through the rear vent by taping it reduces bass (cover up and poke). Explanation: the back-mod restricts airflow through the back vent, resulting mainly in mid/upper bass attenuation. Deep bass remains unchanged and strong. Due to partial blocking of the back vent, isolation is slightly increased.

Both vents: the combination of front and back-mod yields the largest amount of bass attenuation and results in a significantly more balanced signature than stock.

Reducing and increasing Upper Midrange/Treble

Attenuating Upper Midrange/Treble

Is your earphone shouty? This mod can affect the frequency range between 5 and 15 kHz, depending on earphone.

This is done by adding micropore tape onto the nozzle:

Cover 80-90% of the screen with a single strip of micropore tape or use two thinner strips and tape over in a cross-like manner. this should do the job in most of of cases.
If this does not work perfectly well, try this: cover the nozzle 100%, then take a needle and poke a hole in the middle and four by the edges.If this still does not do the job in rare cases…
You can also try covering ca. 80-90% with 2.5 mm square of 3M micropore tape. This resulted resulted in 2-3 dB decrease in the upper midrange of the TRN VX.

From Kopiokaya’s TRN VX article.

Tip: Partially covering of the nozzle typically does not affect the bass.

Downside: if nozzle is covered too much, micropore can slow down the bass and make it “boomy” and/or compromise dynamics and soundstage in some earphones.

Example on the right: 95% of screen taped over with 3M micropore tape removed an evil 6-7 kHz “sibilance” peak in a Knowledge Zenith ED3.

DANGER: if none of the above works, we have to apply non-reversible modding. You do this at your own risk.

Remove screen with a needle, tape nozzle hole completely over with micropore tape and poke a hole near the edge. Why? Because a metal screen can be unpredictable and may introduce hardness/harshness. If this still does not do the job in rare cases…

Stuff alcohol swabs down the nozzle for dampening. This is explained here.

Increasing Upper Midrange/Treble

Since the human ear hears the whole frequency spectrum in context, you increase perceived upper midrange/treble by reducing bass. See below how this is done.

Reducing and increasing Bass

Attenuating Bass with Micropore Tape

This is a twofold process and involves a bit of juggling between the two. Measuring comes in handy for double checking the results.

Taping off the back vent. If bass is too weak now, poke a hole into the tape to dose bass quantity. As long the hole in the tape is smaller than the original vent opening, the bass will be removed.
Creating an air-vent (or aid duct) in the front between tip and nozzle: this easy process is described over there. If you prefer a quickie, follow these pictures…

Tip: It is easiest to start with an earphone without a back vent because it eliminates step 1.

The combination of back-mod and front mod yields the largest amount of bass attenuation and results in a significantly more balanced signature than stock. If there is no back vent, one can obviously only do the air ducting. And that’s how it goes:

Create an air vent!

Install the air vent!

Tip: The degree of bass reduction depends on the number of windings…more windings mean a bigger gap between tip and nozzle, and therefore more airflow and less bass. Some reported 10-11 windings but I did with 5-6 in the past.

Unfortunately, you will never be able to speed up the bass, that is making it less muddy…but, of course, the muddiness will appear less irritating with reduced bass quantity after modding.

Below an example of a successful mod.

Unfolding the V.

Tip: I always make my micropore tubes rather thick, then flatten them — and if they are too broad to fit through the rubber tip, I trim them with scissors into a small wedge.

The AudioFool recommends this non-reversible option: an air escape can be produced by flipping the tip inside out and taking a hot needle to puncture just the inner layer of the tip. That way no tape to shift which can lead to variability. Also, needle size can be used to control amount of venting.

Attenuating Bass with the “Gummiringerl” (=Elastics) Method

(German, Viennese slang: “Gummiringerl”…little rubber ring, elastic; name coined and method suggested by SBAF/Head-Fier James444).

The air-vent mod can also be performed with rubber string/elastic/any other string: pull through between tip and nozzle, then cut the ends off. You can try string of varying thickness. The downside is lack of flexibility in fine tuning, but you don’t have to worry about channel balance and it probably lasts longer. And it is faster and easier.

A rubber band through the eartips’ stem creates an air vent the reduces bass.

Trim rubber band after installing.

Increasing Bass with Micropore Tape

Tape off front vent for maximum effect. If you would like to scale it down, poke a small hole. The bigger the hole, the lesser the bass. Measure channel balance after each step, or do it sonically using a sine wave (Online Tone Generator).

Example: The Tinaudio T2s’ bass can be maximized by taping the front vent over. The bass quantity can be scaled back by poking a hole into the tape.

Tip: The bass response can be dosed by partially closing the vents…first close the vents with tape and then poke a hole to lessen the effect.

How to add Bass Extension

That’s hit and miss and varies from earphone to earphone. The idea is to reduce the air flow in the back vent. It is a byproduct of reducing bass by reducing the size of the back vent by taping and poking as described above.

Modding Limitations – That awful 3 kHz Peak

3 kHz peaks may introduce unpleasant hardness and fatigue, but they effectively cannot be safely removed with a reversible mod. Some drivers may respond to micropore tape on the nozzle: it is therefore worth a try to either cover the nozzle grille with 80-90% of micropore tape or remove the screen with a needle, tape completely over with micropore tape and poke a hole near the edge…as described in the treble section.

This Blitzwolf mod fitting the above diagram is described here. It is not reversible — don’t try it at home.

Tip: Sometimes it is the metal screen that causes the harshness. Removing it solves the problem. If that does not help, stuff some dampening material such as foam or cotton balls down the nozzle or try the micropore mod described above.

Other published Mods

Successful mods of single dynamic-driver earphones performed and described by James444:

Alpex HSE-A2000 — balancing reduction of bass and treble

JVC FD01 with DIY filters — dampening with swabs

JVC HA-FX850 — with great explanations of the physics

Pioneer CH3 — treble reduction only

Kopiokaya explains his mods of the following earphones in great detail:

TRN VX — shoutiness reduced

KBEAR Diamond — bass attenuated

Tip: The principles of these mods are universal.

Concluding Remarks

The methods I have summarized in this article may help you getting over your dissatisfaction with a recent purchase – by easy, inexpensive means. In the future, just read as many evaluations of an iem as possible to form the most complete picture.

And please, never – NEVER – fall for any YouTube hypsters/salesmen/influencers and order pricey iems on spec. They mostly want your money. We don’t.

Although this article is quite comprehensive, the relevant chapters can be easily selected and accessed from the “Table of Contents” above. All of these methods are easy and can be performed by people with two left hands. I am the best example of that.

Until next time…keep on listening!

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Drop + Grell TWS1X Wireless Review (2) – Another Country Heard From

Loomis T. Johnson (Chicago, USA) — Wed, 22 Jun 2022 20:41:40 +0000

I’m not crazy about the design of the Grell TWS1X—they’re big and bulky, and the short nozzles prevent deep seal and make fit challenging (until switching to Comply foams they kept falling out of my ears), though long-term comfort is pretty good. As others have commented, the touch panels are unreliable–overly sensitive at times, and non-responsive at others.

Soundwise, the Grell TWS1X present a slightly warm, mostly balanced signature with some emphasis on the midrange. With ANC off, these were a little underwhelming—bass was a tad mushy and, as with the Sennheiser MTW/CX400, presentation is fairly reserved and requires high volume for visceral impact. Curiously, however, activating ANC (which from a noise-cancelling perspective is only average) really enlivens these, with much tighter bass and crisper treble, although they trail competitors like Klipsch and Lypertek in terms of high-end detail and extension. Note: The NAR mode didn’t sound much different than the ANC.

The Grell TWS1X excel in several respects. First and foremost, as with its Senn forebearers, tonality is organic and free from the digital artifacts and/or compressed quality of most TWS. Drums and percussion, in particular, are very analog-sounding.

Second, soundstage is unusually expansive and deep for a TWS—these more closely resemble full-sized closed-back cans in terms of instrument placement and stereo spread. Finally, despite the wide stage, overall coherence between drivers is seamless. Of all the TWS I’ve heard, these and the Cambridge Melomania come closest to the ideal of Bluetooth which doesn’t sound like Bluetooth.

The Grell TWS1X’s internals…

That is not to say that the Grell TWScan compete with good, comparably priced wired sets—the 7Hz Timeless or Aune Jasper, for example, are significantly more revealing—but sonically, at least, these hold up very credibly to the mainstream TWS players.

Kudos to Grell who, instead of following the typical template for establishing a new brand through sponsor links and trumped-up Amazon reviews, is doing the hard work of interacting with hardcore audiophiles, soliciting constructive feedback and attending the audio shows.

Because of their ergonomic and UI quirks, I would probably wait for the next iteration before I purchase, but purely from the standpoint of tonality and and technicalities, the Grell TWS1X are very well-realized.

Disclaimer: Borrowed from Durwood. Get it direct from DROP.

Drop Grell TWS1X Review – Ambition Meet Frustration

Also check Durwood’s take on the Grell TWS1X.

Specifications Drop + Grell TWS1X

10.1mm high precision custom dynamic drivers
Dynamic transducers (tolerance +/- 1 db)
Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) Qualcomm® cVc Noise Cancellation
Axel Grell Noise Annoyance Reduction (NAR)
Transparency Mode
Max Sound Pressure Level 105 dB SPL 1 kHz in some countries
Frequency Range 4Hz – 22 kHz
Low-noise, match-paired microphones
SoundID app
Splash Proof (IPX4)
Bluetooth 5.2 with Qualcomm 5141 chipset
Bluetooth range over 50 meters (164 feet)
Compatible with iOS and Android, as well as tablets and laptops.
Audio Codecs: SBC, AAC, Qualcomm® aptX, Qualcomm® aptX adaptive, LHDC
Up to 30 hours of listening time with ANC ON (6 hours in earbuds and over 4 full charges in the charging case)
Up to 40 hours of listening time with ANC OFF (Over 8 hours in earbuds and over 4 full charges)
USB-C charge connector
Wireless charging compatible
Glass touch field for gesture commands on each earbud
Built in voice-assistant