Deat Hifi Small Review

Deat Hifi is a China based company that is producing earphones. The Deat Hifi Small is the first product of this brand.

I would like to thank Deat Hifi and Penon Audio for sending me this earphone sample. You can find the Deat Hifi Small on Penon Audio for 29.00 US$.


Material Quality:

Deat Hifi Small is showing a minimalistic design concept. The housing is very Small same as the name of the earphone itself and the build quality is absolutely fantastic for this price.





The chassis of the Deat Hifi Small is of aluminum with the so called “Aurora Red” painting. The nozzle on the front is made of black plastic and the cable is fixed to the chassis.




Specifications:

Brand: DEAT
Model: SMALL
Driver: 5.8mm custom micro-dynamic driver
Impedance:16 ohm
Cable length: 1.2 M
Frequency response range: 15~28000Hzz
Sensitivity: 112dB
Wearing weight: 1.27g
Earphone weight: 13g
Material: aviation aluminum
Process: CNC carving processing + anodizing process


Package:

-DEAT SMALL Earphone
-Eartips
-Cloth Pouch
-Clip
-Print Material


Sound Quality:

Deat Hifi Small is a very small earphone with a 5.8mm micro dynamic driver that has a v shaped sound signature with a strong bass that will surprise most users. The presentation of the mids is musical and the highs are fatigue-free.


Lows:

The Deat Hifi Small is capable to produce warm, deep and strong bass that is balanced in quantity and intensity. The bass quantity is not on the level of bassheads but will satisfy the most users for sure. In short, the Deat Hifi Small has a bass performance that has enough power and extension with the exception of a slightly lack of quantity in the sub-bass region.

The bass of the Deat Small is not very loose/splay and can be classified as bass type with tight impact.

I have found the speed, emphasis and tightness of the Deat Hifi Small in Megadeth and Opeth's drum performances successful.

The sub-bass performance in tracks like Pop / EDM / Trance music is relative sufficient but is missing a little bit of extension and depth.

There are no negative situations like a mid-bass hump and the mid-bass is also not bleeding in to the mids that could overshadow the presentation in this area. In short, the Deat Hifi Small will satisfy its users with its fun, powerful and warm bass presentation.


Mids:

The male vocal performance of the Deat Small is deep and powerful, while the female vocals are warm and somewhat veiled. Both male and female vocals are not too bright, and I think that male vocals are more successful than female vocals because of the lack of clarity / transparency in female voices.

The Deat Hifi Small is more successful in music styles like Rock, Acoustic, Metal or Pop than in Jazz and Classical, where are too many instruments. The instrument separation of this in-ear is quite sufficient especially for acoustic songs where you can find a small number of instruments. Especially people who like warm, fat and fatigue-free mids will love the Deat Hifi Small.


Treble:

Deat Small’s treble presentation is not laid back or too upfront, it extends very well without to shine or to fatigue.

The treble extension and intensity of with instruments like cymbals and bells is relative successful. The upper mids / highs do not have the kind of presentation that would bother your ears after prolonged listening.

I like Deat Small’s instrument performance a lot particularly with woodwind instruments and violins that don’t showing any sharp or harsh tonality. Vivaldi’s violins that are playing from a high pitch are also quite controlled with the Deat Hifi Small.


The Soundstage:

Deat Small does not have a very large scene and is showing an average expansion that is pretty normal for earphones for this size and price range. The depth is parallel to the width and is big enough for songs with lower instrument density.


Comparison with Hypersense Hex02:

The Hypersense Hex02 and Deat Hifi Small are warm sounding IEM with V shaped character. The Hex02 sub-bass is deeper and has more quantity. The mid-bass of Hex02 is punchier but the Deat Hifi Small is faster and a bit more controlled.

The mids of both IEMs are laid back. Female voices are more successful with the Hex02, but the Deat Hifi Small have better depth for male vocal’s.The Deat Hifi Small is sounding more spacious and airy than Hypersense Hex02 that has otherwise detail and definition for instrument’s. The upper-mids of the Hex02 is a bit more detailed, while Deat Hifi Small is more.

The highs of the Deat Hifi Small have better extension, are brighter and more vivid than Hypersense Hex02 while both are fairly controlled

The stage of the Deat Hifi Small is wider than those of the Hypersense Hex02, while the Hex02 has a bit more depth.


Comparison with Alpha & Delta D3:

The Alpha&Delta D3 and the Deat Hifi Small are relative warm sounding IEM’s with a V shaped sound character. Please note that the AD D3 sounds warmer than Deat Hifi Small.

The AD D3 has more sub-bass quantity and depth than those of the Small. And is aslo punchier in the mid-bass area. But the Deat Hifi Small has the faster and tighter bass response.

The mids of both AD D3 and Deat Hifi Small are laidback, but the mids of the AD D3 are warmer, thicker and veiled than the Deat Hifi Small that is more transparent and musical.
Female vocals are more successful with the Small because of the upper mids that show more sparkle. Male vocals are a bit more emotional with the AD3.
The Deat Hifi Small is more detailed and clearer in terms of instrument presentation.

The highs of the Deat Hifi Small are brighter and more vivid than those of the AD D3.
The highs of the Small have more quantity and extension.

The soundstage of the Deat Hifi Small is wider than compared to those of the AD D3, which shows slightly better depth.


Pros / Cons:

• Clean Sound
• Good Bass
• Build Quality
• Small Form Factor
• Comfortable

• Some Driver Flex
• Soundstage Depth
• Cable

Rhapsodio Solar Review

Rhapsodio is a Hong Kong based company and the owner is Sammy.

The Solar is a IEM with 10 Balanced armature driver units, 4 passive crossover and 3 main acoustic pipes. I have tested the Solar with the 2.98G/ 8 braided upgraded cable that bring this IEM to a different level especially the mids and detail and have also used the Noble K10U stock cable. I want advise to those who want buy the Solar, that they should get this special cable.


MATERIAL QULITY

The Solar is in terms of size bigger than the Noble K10 and a bit smaller than the Rosie IEM. It has a custom like shell and is sitting comfortable in my ears and I lıke the fit very much. Maybe people who have smaller ears will have problems with the fit.



The Solar comes with an acrylic housing and build quality of this housing is solid and they are no imperfections such as openings etc. The quality of the housing is perfect.


The 2 pin connectors on the housing are not too tight like on the K10 and lose like on other IEMs. It is easy to put in and out the cable that makes a cable swapping not an issue.

The cable is very robust and the braiding of this 8 core braided cable is tight and they are no big gaps.



We can say in short that the Solar has a build quality that is worth its price. Don’t mind that the Solar looks a bit rough, it is a very esthetic IEM.



SOUND QUALITY

The Solar has a slightly and wide angled V shaped sound character and is an IEM that sounds on the warmer side. Yes, it is warm but not is not as dark like the Heir 5.

The Solar sounds vivid and detailed, thanks to the slightly bright treble factor

Lows

The Solar has a strong and deep lower frequency presentation. This is the area where the Solar is surpassing its price with its detail. I can say that the Solar is in this regarding better than other totl IEMs (for example K10/Adel U12 etc.). The lows have also not the sort of sub-bass presentation that comes from only one point. The Solar is transmitting the lows with good separating to the ears. I have also the opinion that the Solar IEM has a bass presentation that is close to real and natural sound.

The mid-bass comes is soft with body to my ears. The mid-bass is not compressing the stage except some songs with high instrument density. The Solar has not a midbass focused bass presentation like the Noble K10 and is more sub-bass focused that makes it very pleasant to listen. The bass speed in genres like metal music is above average due to the bass extensions that is a bit higher than normal. But I have had no issues with many songs with exception of some critical listening’s. The Solar is in short an IEM with strong, tight and highly detailed lows.






Mids

Solar is a IEM with V shaped character that makes the mids a bit recessed. The sound is with the stock cable a bit recessed but is surprisingly upfront with the 8 core braided upgrade cable. The mids still a bit more recessed than those of the K10’s but the fact that the upgrade cable brings the mids upfront makes it very pleasant.

The Solar’s mid area has a presentation where instruments are a little bit behind the vocals. The vocals are warm, bodied and musical. People who like listen to vocals will like this. The instrument separation of the Solar is pretty good due to the wide and deep stage. They are only some problems with songs that have a high instrument density, but the general performance is quite successful. My only complaint to the mids is the slightly veiled presentation in this region. I would only wish that the 8 core cable could add more clearness and transparency to the sound that is otherwise perfect, with exception in some songs that I use for critical listening.

In shorts, there is missing only some clearness/transparency in the mids area and it would be very nice if they could add some brightness like in the treble area. His could make the Solar even better than the Fitear tg334. The resolution in this area is good enough for this price level.

The instrument timber in the lower regions is on a high level with the Solar that makes it suitable with jazz to ethnic music. The Solar IEM is showing a good separation between instruments and the vocals. Yes, it has a warm tonality in this area but that doesn’t mean that there is too much air with warm character between instruments. The air between instruments is filled with a neutral air that is not warm and makes the general separation successful.


Trebles

The brightness, which is more present in the treble area than in the lower frequency’s and mids is avoiding the Solar to be classified as a warm and dark IEM and makes it to a member of detailed and vivid sounding IEMs. The treble has a slightly bright and prominent tonality. The only downside in the treble area is the extensions that does not extend enough forward. Instruments such as cymbals have good definition but the extensions are a bit too short in certain genres.

I do like the transition between the upper mids because of the soft and controlled presentation. The treble is not annoying in high notes of pianos, in the opposite it is sounding quite soft. Which I like too, about the Solar’s treble is the presentation of the side flute that doesn’t sounded like a horn. Especially the separation of instruments in classical genres such as Concerto’s and Quartets gave me some hours of pleasant listening. The Solar is in my opinion a rarely to found IEM, because of its success in both jazz/classical and pop/electronic music genres. The speed of Solar’s treble is good enough for some genres such as heavy metal or trash metal. But at times it may not be enough for some extreme fast metal songs.


In short, many people will enjoy the Solar’s sub-frequency power, wide/deep stage, instrument separation, silent & black background, full bodied & musical mids and vivid treble presentation.




Comparison with the Noble K10

The Solar and K10 are successful in the lower frequencies such as mid-bass and the sub-bass depth. The main focus of the K10 is the mid-bass, but I found the Solar mores successful in both sub- and mid-bass regions, because it has the ability to make cleaner and more powerful hits and has also the better lower frequency resolution.

The K10 has a mids that are more upfront and better resolution than the Solar. But the vocal performance is a bit subjective, because I found the K10 more successful with female and the Solar with male vocals, that’s because the Solar sounds fuller and has a more natural timber. If Solar have had more transparency and brightness in the mids, it could maybe more successful than K10.

The upper midrange of the K10'un is more pronounced than Solar. Bu the treble is equal in terms of quality. The treble of the Solar and the K10 does not extend enough forward and here is a quick decay while listening to instruments like bells, cymbals. The K10 has some issues with songs where you can find a high density of instruments, because it was hard to define instruments for example a side flute in a song. It was easier to define this side flute with the Solar due to the wider stage, which makes it more successful in this area. The general speed of this IEM’s with genres like for example trash metal is not the best I have heard before, but I can say that I found the K10 faster and more successful in such genres.

The Solar is superior to the K10 in terms of stage width, that has not a very wide soundstage I found the two IEMs at satisfactory levels in terms of soundstage depth.
The Solar is in general more successful in relation of instruments separation and the K10 in terms of definition. In the symphonic music recordings, where treble instruments and mid instruments were used together, the Solar’s mid-bass fogged out, while the K10 have had mixing issues and loosed the control in the upper midrange. I can say that the Solar was more successful in this records than the K10, due to its larger soundstage and the better/correct instrument positioning.