HIDIZS MP145

Context

This review outlines my experience with MP145 after using it for over two months, please note that I am not a professional reviewer so all views expressed are based on my preferred sound signature and hardware preferences. I bought this from Aliexpress when the price was USD 130/-.

Beauty Shots

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Box and What's in the box

1. Hidizs MP145
2. 4.4mm Earphone Cable with 0.78mm pin also available with 3.5mm plug
3. Storage Bag
4. 9 Pairs Ear Tips
5. User Manual (not IEM specific)
6. Warranty Card (not filled nor stamped)
7. Quality Check Card (Stamped)
8. Hidizs Pneumatic Sound Tuning Filters 3 pairs

The thing to note is that the User Manual is not specific to this model nor is the warranty card filled with SN and Date.

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Accessories Quality

Let's start with the first thing that you notice which is the rose gold nozzle tip, it's quite well made from metal and in the box, you will find two more pairs in silver and red. It's easy to remove and screw in, the silver is treble forward, the rose gold is balanced and the red is bass-focused more about sound impressions later in the review.

Now the ear tips, come with regular silicon tips but in ample quantity and sizes, three different types are provided namely “Vocal”, “Balanced”, and “Bass” respectively and there are three sizes for each i.e Small, Medium and Large. With this extensive type and size, most people will find one of them suiting to their needs. Note that these are basic tips nothing fancy nor foam type so for those who are very particular with their ear tips please look elsewhere.

I had opted for 4.4mm balanced cable, received the dark grey cable while some have received silver cable so not sure how this is sent so will vary with your purchase but I believe both are the same just the colour difference. Overall the cable is better than other stock cables with a metal splitter, metal jack and 0.78pins. The pins are marked in red and blue which is a must-have for me to identify left and right. I prefer to give red to the right and blue to the left. The cable is not fully tangle-free but not frustrating either. Agin for the price of good cable is provided but nothing to write home about. I have used the stock cable for my review with a listening time of over 100 hours and didn’t face any major issues with it. Very minor microphonics can be felt in some instances, otherwise, generally, there are no nuances from the cable.

A faux leather pouch is provided to carry the IEMs around, the IEM with the cables will easily fit in and the pouch is very soft to the touch. It has a press open closure mechanism which is a bit annoying and the overall quality of the pouch is not that great. It's not a protective pouch and not meant for rough use, so getting a good hard case pouch for your travel purposes is better. This pouch is good for home storage only.

IEM Built Quality

These are built like a tank, all metal construction and both sides are well jointed together. There are no complaints about built quality other than that due to the metal built, they are cold to the touch. The design is also unique with the whale fin-inspired outer shell design, with two vents. I have the titanium finish and in over two months of rigorous use, you can see in the photos minor scuffs on the sharp edges of the outer shell. I recently noticed that a couple of times the cable lightly came out from the IEM i.e not fully inserted when taken out of the pouch it may be due to the tight space in the pouch or the pins getting loose either way have not had it come off fully till now so believe it’s a non-issue.

Size and Fit

Overall, it's on the larger side, but my ears with medium silicon tips have had no issues with it for hours of listening. The nozzle is so big that the supplied silicon tips are very difficult to put on and remove. I believe if we regularly swap the nozzle/tip there are chances of damaging the silicon tips. I have not swapped much except to test various nozzles for a very short time so my silicon tips are still holding on. To get an idea about the size and to compare with your existing IEMs refer to the photos below:

(All measurements are in millimetres (mm))

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Technical Specification

• Driver Type: Planar Magnetic Driver
• Driver: Hidizs 14.5mm Ultra-Large Planar Magnetic Driver
• Frequency Response: 20Hz-40kHz
• Sensitivity: 104dB
• Impedance: 30 Ohms
• Plug: 4.4mm Gold-Plated Pure Copper Plug
• Connector: 0.78mm 2-Pin
• Cable Length: 1.2m +/-0.2m
• Weight: 21g (Both IEMs Excluding Cable)

Frequency Curve

The below frequency curves are measured with an IEC 60318-4 coupler connected to M1 MacBook Pro and IEM connected to the PC through iBasso DC04 Pro USB DAC. To understand how I finalized the way I measure my IEMs please refer to my article link below:

https://www.sibykoshy.com/how-i-finalized-the-way-i-measure-my-iems

All three nozzles were measured with a balanced silicon medium tip, the Cyan graph shows the Harman 2019 IEM target curve.

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The measurement showed very similar curves for all three nozzles up to 2kHz and after that, the silver on top, rose gold in between and Red at the bottom mostly through the rest of the frequency upto 20kHz. These graphs should not be compared with graphs by any other reviewer as they vary from setup to setup. This should be used to get a general idea about how the IEM behaves relative to the Harman Curve but this should be complemented by listening experience to understand how this translates to actual hearing experience.

Sound Impressions

I am not a professional reviewer or someone with extensive experience in listening to multiple IEMs. These are my observations based on what I like to hear and my preference towards a particular sound signature that I love. I have used this exclusively in conjunction with my USB DAC iBasso DC04 Pro connected to either my M1 MacBook Pro, iPhone 14 Pro or Oneplus 5T(converted to a dedicated music player).

In comparison to the Harman curve, my preference is a bit higher sub-bass and bass, lower mid and mid almost following the Harman curve, upper mid lower than Harman and a bit more sparkle in treble beyond 10kHz.

Now let's get into my thoughts about this IEM:

Punchy bass which is quite thick and full. It's well controlled with no boominess with no excess rumbling in the sub-bass. I can do with a bit more bass and sub-bass that’s my preference but most others will be very happy with its bass performance. Overall no complaints about bass performance, it's controlled, no bleeding into other frequencies.

Mids are where these shine for me, all vocals are clear but not overly forward. When hearing “When You Say Nothing at all” by Alison Krauss among all the IEMs I have (not many) it sounds best with MP145. Even male vocals sound great for a taste of it listen to “The Gambler” by Kenny Rogers you hear his voice in full body with instruments all around. Anyone who enjoys vocals will surely enjoy this IEM and for this price, I urge everyone to give it a try and it's guaranteed to impress.

Coming to treble all details are very well executed and well revealed, no one will complain about missing details. It does not come our shouty or with sibilence so people with issues with either can be rest assured. Cymbals get that sparkle and all higher octaves that I can hear are available with enough volume while not getting into bothersome range. Overall good but I prefer a little bit more of it may be due to my hearing loss in this range…

The soundstage for this IEM is also quite good, it is not as big as headphones but for an IEM the best I have heard. There is ample width and depth but nothing great to write home about. In the IEM realm, it can be considered good to very good category and that is an achievement for a single-driver IEM.

To get to my preference tried EQing them with eqMAC (highly recommended for all MAC music lovers) on my MAC. This set responds well to EQ and I could dial it down to my preferences very easily, taking the sound quality to the next level. I started enjoying music way more and didn’t mind listening to it for hours without any ear fatigue.

Please find below my EQ settings for the IEM and the EQed frequency response curve in comparison to the original:

• Filter 1: ON PK Fc 32 Hz Gain 4.6 dB Q 1.41
• Filter 2: ON PK Fc 64 Hz Gain 4.6 dB Q 1.41
• Filter 3: ON PK Fc 125 Hz Gain 1.53 dB Q 1.41
• Filter 4: ON PK Fc 250 Hz Gain 0.7 dB Q 1.41
• Filter 5: ON PK Fc 500 Hz Gain 0.7 dB Q 1.41
• Filter 6: ON PK Fc 1000 Hz Gain 0 dB Q 1.41
• Filter 7: ON PK Fc 2000 Hz Gain 1 dB Q 1.41
• Filter 8: ON PK Fc 4000 Hz Gain 2.19 dB Q 1.41
• Filter 9: ON PK Fc 8000 Hz Gain 3.37 dB Q 1.41
• Filter 10: ON PK Fc 16000 Hz Gain 4.3 dB Q 1.41

When Compared to...

KZxHBB PR2 V2
This is the only planar in my collection and these are my initial thoughts as my full review of PR2 is still in the making. PR2 is only one-fifth the price of MP145 so not fair to compare but in terms of performance the difference is not one-fifth. The bass and sub-bass is more in PR2 but the quality is better on MP145 as PR2 gets muddy as volume increases. Mids are way better on MP145 while it's more recessed on PR2. Highs are where PR2 loses badly as it's way more shouty and sibilance leads to fatigue very soon. Overall MP145 is better but PR2 holds its own in its price range and also does well with EQing but cannot match the performance of MP145. More details in PR2 review...
I will be updating this section as and when I finish reviewing other IEMs that are in the same league in terms of sound quality, price or similar driver configuration.... Similarly, I am developing a scoring system for easy comparison so this too will be updated here once ready.

Final Thoughts

Owing to the above for me this IEM in the stock setting with a silver nozzle and medium-balanced silicon tips can be placed in a very good catergory with no major gripes. I consider this a recommended buy for anyone as no one will be disappointed with this IEM performance. If you are in for EQ then you can nail it down to your choice except if you are a heavy bass head. Still, even bass heads will enjoy the accurate bass and sub-bass it generates and in my opinion will not outright write off these IEMs.

It’s a recommended buy if you enjoy collecting good-sounding IEMs or are on the lookout for an endgame IEM below USD 200/- as it can't get any better in this price range.

iMPactful​

HIDIZS MP145

SETUP. 14.5mm Ultra-large Planar Magnetic Driver
SEN & IMP. 104dB/mW | 30Ω
PRICE. 150€ at hidizs.net

Click to expand...

RATING B

Go ahead, the final note it's because on that price competition that exists today in the planar market, and the tuning selected for the MP145 perhaps the biggest handicap of this headset. It had everything to succeed, a groundbreaking design, a driver that at times invades you and transmits sensations that are difficult to achieve in this price segment.

Although it's a headphone designed and thought for enjoyment, even for a lover of electronic music, they are a better choice than the LETSHOUER S12, which is saying something. Problem is that the relaxed character in the upper zone weighs too much on some recordings. Add to that a booming character in the lower zone, and you end up with all the technical-loving audiophiles off your list of potential buyers. The HIDIZS MS3 was a much more aggressive tuning in that aspect, with a more defined and shorter bass; Of course with much more load at high frequencies.

The more headphones I review, the more I realize the tonal preferences and how personal they are... this headphone reminds me a lot of the FiiO FH7S and the ARTII R1 and they are much closer to my preferences than more HARMANIZED headphones. On some tracks, because of the imaging on, I could even compare to the LETSHOUER 07jm, for its warmth presentation without being excessively intimate.

At the end this is about where to put your money, and sadly I can't recommend them. Apart from the sound reasons that can turn away all those who are not looking for warm tones, it has 2 other problems: The fit is horrendous, wide and short, almost impossible to stick it to the shell of the ear (which would probably would give even better performance) and it is exhausting to have it on for hours; And then comes the issue of packaging, for €150 this cable and the box do not seem to me to be up to par, I can think of several headphones that make better use of our money.



A shame, HIDIZS, really, you had an incredible driver here, perhaps the following review will be the definitive one. I loved the HIDIZS MS3, and this planar its on the right track, but both the extension of the bass and the adjustment of the headphone itself need to be improved.

Strong bass, good Sub-bass performance
Presentation and natural image
Excellent construction, fragile paint
Voices and instruments sink into the scene easily
Some resolution is missing
Below price packaging. The cable is 3.5 mm.
Huge capsule, horrendous fit

An iem that works wonderfully with metal and rock, where those electric guitars can be a bit grating with bright iems. I had never enjoyed L.A. Woman by Doors or The Number of the Beast by Iron Maiden as much as I did with these.