UM 3DT Sound Analysis:


















The bass region of the 3DT sounds accurate and controlled. In typical high-end dynamic-driver fashion, it is detailed and textured without losing body or fullness.

Mids are neutral with a slight emphasis towards the top (upper Mids).
Midrange tone is smoother and lusher than the KBEAR Believe. Clarity is top notch, as is resolution, and there is only a small bit of microdetail missing compared to the top-tier hybrid earphones such as UM’s own MEST.

3DT picks up emphasis towards the upper midrange and continues along the treble, but manages to keep its top end in control without going too hot. Overall, the 3DT does an excellent job of conveying treble energy, without harshness or sibilance.

Whereas the overall signature of the 3DT seems lively and energetic, the presentation follows a bit more laid-back approach. Its soundstage is not quite the widest in absolute terms, but it is quite spacious, airy, and open. There is not a hint of the confined, closed-in feel.

Even in this brief encounter, 3DT sounds like one of the best multi dynamic transducers I’ve come across, UM’s tuning showcases individual driver’s abilities beautifully. The sound is clean, quick, airy, and dynamic – everything a high-end earphone should strive toward.


Selected Comparisons

3DT vs Penon Volt

3DT has a very refreshing, natural and detailed sound with no blurring of the sound image, and has a skillful balance between high-resolution and analytical tendencies and deeply articulate, musical and dynamic expressions. The classical orchestral instrument stands up sharply and clearly, and the upper harmonics are also expressed delicately. The sound is not just filled with the extension of the low range and the warm lingering sound of the hall, but it has a spatiality, and a very realistic and clear sound field that depicts the space hierarchically.

With the Volt, the intonation of the melody is lively and the signal-to-noise-ratio is good so I can really crank up the volume. Lower treble energy is definitely more relaxed than the 3DT so instruments loose bit of clarity, detail, and articulation compared to the 3DT. However I perceived bit more upper treble detail out of the Volt and conversely I felt slightly more airiness and brilliance. The strings of the acoustic guitar are also extremely fast in picking speed, and the sound of the body are drawn rounder with clear decay. The nuances of the vocal timbre are also smoother and more weighty with the volt, showing a natural and fuller expression. Volt's clear and reasonably deep sound field also allows you to clearly see the pre-delay component of the reverb which I find very attractive.


3DT vs IT07

The IT07 has a very clear, balanced and resolving sound that I thought would make for a good way to gauge how much room for improvement there is left with the 3DT.
The most noticeable difference between the two is in the bass region. The IT07 digs deeper, bit faster with greater sub-bass quantity as well as impact.
Both of these IEMs have very fleshed-out mids, but I feel the IT07 has bit smoother and clearer vocals. Treble sounds bit more refined and resolving on the IT07 as well and it has an uncanny ability to escape sibilance. Soundstage width is good on both, but the 3DT boasts excellent depth and layering, making its presentation bit more 3-dimensional and immersive. They are both spacious, highly detailed monitors, but I am finding IT07 has slightly more resolving capabilities. 3DT also has top-end emphasis that falls between the 4-8 kHz which is good for stringed instruments, but it can induce a bit of sizzle up top as vocal sibilance typically originates around this region. Testing was done at around 50th (burn-in) hour on the 3DT.



Sony IER-M9 (5BA) vs. UM 3DT (3DD) with Tanchjim filter




























Sony IEMs are often highlighted for their congeniality with classical music, but their latest models (now becoming a bit aged), especially the IER-Z1R and M9, are known to be very responsive from low to ultra high frequencies, so they can be played almost any genres with great finesse.

For example, when listening to jazz vocals with the M9, I am impressed by the fact that the bass and piano have a thick bass range and bring out a low-end with a sense of sound pressure. Moreover, since the range of the vocal has a clear projection while reproducing the weighty bass, the texture of the important male and female vocal range such as intonation and treble overtones are without a hint of cloudiness. If you listen to an IEM for longer session, I recommend that you experience the sound of the M9 as it provides a very relaxing yet detailed listen.

Compared to the M9, the 3DT is like a grand piano as it brings out a sense of scale and dynamics that approaches a big concert venue. This triple dynamic driver array has certain je ne sais quoi about the sound output and configuration that allows them to be vibrant, alive, engaging, and highly expressive, yet at the same time to sound neutrally balanced with almost complete freedom from overt colourations. Switching to the M9, it almost sounds flat, lifeless and down right intimate in scale for about 2-3 mins until you start to understand, assimilate and subsequently appreciate its smooth yet highly polished tuning with excellent midrange and exemplary treble extension and articulation.

So for me, the 3DT does an excellent job of conveying a sense of real instruments performing within a real space whereas M9 does great job portraying non-acoustic instruments and vocals in a recording studio. Both can pick up ambient and spatial cues found in good recordings in an uncommonly vivid and believable way. I find them quite complimentary to each other and therefore are not in any direct competition.


3DT vs ZEN

I need to start this comparison with a disclaimer, I listen to all types of music, but mostly I've been into classical music genre for last 30 years. My main goal is in achieving a wide sound-stage with pinpoint imaging and excellent detail. If that can be done with musical tonality then it would be most ideal. My current reference sets are the Penon Volt (+ slight EQ) and the IEM-Z1R.

Starting with the 3DT, there is no denying, its focus is square on detail retrieval via treble extension, the UM's triple DD unit is an decisively high-resolution IEM. The sound-stage it produces is not forward but it is very vivid. Perhaps this came through most clearly on the CD(rip) The World According to Andy Bey [High Note]. On the cut “Never Entered My Mind,” for instance, Bey’s grandiose voice and rich piano chords permeate the listening space, with his ample use of the pedal patently audible. The same attention to detail was apparent on a performance of Elgar’s cello concerto by Jacqueline du Pre on the Warner Classic label. Once again, the superb transient and timbral fidelity of the 3DT was apparent. The 3DT was able to evoke not simply the bowing of the cello but its resonating cavity. The emotional plangency of the introduction, as the cello and orchestra surge, came through with real verisimilitude. At such times, it’s hard to believe that an IEM can produce such an ocean of sound to smoothly sweep you away.

Once again, I don’t mean to imply that the 3DT can best much bigger and more elaborate IEMs like the Z1R or the MEST. The real point is somewhat different. It’s that the 3DT delivers a remarkable quotient of reference-level of sound for its price. This IEM is hardly a budget item, but, at the same time, it’s nowhere near the Rockefeller-like planet a goodly slice of equipment occupies. So on the overall price-versus-value spectrum, the 3DT deserves to be singled out as a true contender, a revealing and refined IEM that, coupled with excellent source and cable, can deliver breathtaking sound.

Moving onto the ZEN which is masterfully engineered and tuned by DUNU:
I quickly noticed that the Zen's treble is spot on, offering tremendous energy dispersion with no trace of fatigue, even after very long listening sessions.
The ZEN has incredibly natural and a planar like fluidity and flowing mid-range. The Zen also have excellent image, dynamic, transparency, and a slightly forgiving sound compared to the 3DT.
In listening to the Zen, it only seemed fitting to begin with Mozart. Some of my favorite new CDs are appearing on Harmonia Mundi with the Dutch fortepiano-playing phenom Kristian Bezuidenhout, who steadily records Mozart’s keyboard music for the label. The detail he extract out of the sonatas makes his recordings something of a revelation. It was quite an absorbing experience to listen to the Zen capture the nuances of his playing. The sense of black space and decay endowed the music with a great sense of realism. It almost seemed as though you could see the forte-piano’s hammer striking the string and the felt damper stopping the string from vibrating. When an IEM reaches this level of fidelity it feels as though you can sense the movements of Bezuidenhout himself.
For all its control and grip, then, the Zen does not suffocate music, as some IEMs do. Rather, it is quite special for what it does not do, which is to say that the lack of bass overboost and overhang is a very discernible feature.

I would have to say emphatically that while the 3DT is a very fine IEM, the Zen (for my listening purposes) had a small advantage since the mid-range is where I live on the audio spectrum and Zen brought about Mids more convincingly and its liquid tonality was more versatile for many different genres of music.

Introduction

The more time you allocate in and around the IEM industry, the more apparent it becomes that some companies are louder than others, forever touting a new model, a new technology, or a ground-breaking advance- each and every one guaranteed to transform your perception, your listening pleasure, your very existence… It’s almost as if they believe that sufficient exalted nature, feeling, and human individualism will overcome both market resistance and any shortcomings in their products.

In a stark contrast, you’ll also start to notice companies that seem intent only on the immediate business at hand, concentrating on designing and building product, while believing that those products will speak for themselves. It’s a refreshingly self-effacing approach, but the risk is that excellent products struggle to achieve the reputation and sales they deserve, while customers miss out on potentially superior performance. Of course, that’s partly why reviews exist: one of their functions is to redress that balance, drawing attention to unsung excellence- and you don’t get many companies that blow their own trumpet less than Tansio Mirai.


My musical preferences and sonic objectives:
I am mainly into classical music, but occasionally I listen to some 90's rocks and jazz.

I prefer earphones with a realistic timbre, even frequency response, separation / detail and good dynamic swings and clear harmonics for orchestral music. This is a hard group to get right and there are times I’ve given up stage for timbre or detail. My earphone benchmark is the Sony IER-Z1R as this has been my goto for the past few years and I have considered it as a great all rounder IEM.


Disclaimer: I purchased my own Spark from the Penon Audio with a introductory discount coupon. I am in no way affiliated with the company nor am I compensated in any way for writing this review.



Build & Design:
The build quality of the Spark is very good. The medical grade resin shells look great with a smoky transparent finishing and feel very solid, dense, smooth and sturdy. The Spark comes with a medium sized acrylic shell design, molded into the 'universal custom' type shell that has been all the rage lately. The shell is not exactly semi-custom type as it lacks a concha wing for better traction and grip inside the ear. The faceplate is tastefully crafted with red speckles and free of any impurities (bubble, metal dusts, etc). On top of that, there's a polished silver TSMR symbol on left, and a singular Chinese character on right side of the unit.
The surface of the nozzles are not polished like the rest of the housings and they have a very subtle texture to them as you can see on the picture above.
It has this soft sandblasted feel to touch and this enables the nozzle to grab eartips in place via friction.

The stock cable is quite thin and flexible, non microphonics, and comfortable to wear thanks to the quality material as well as soft ear guide 2-pin connectors.

Tuning Switches:
There are three very small switches on the side of the housing that allows the listener to adjust the sound signature. They are mapped respectively to the low / mid / high frequencies, each toggling with an audible click that can’t be mistaken. These switches are nearly impossible to flip with your fingers (they’re a bit recessed and too tiny), so there is a little tool that you can use to toggle (included in a box). I personally hope every manufacturers start using larger switches like the ones found in the DUNU SA6 where you can use your finger nails to quickly toggle between the settings but I am just nit picking here.

0 means switch in down position, 1/2/3 means switches are pushed up (as shown in the picture above which is the default 020 setting)
100: Low Frequency Elevated and sound is warmer.
120: Low and Mid-Range Frequency Elevated. Fuller Sound.
020: Default tuning. Balanced mode. Personally found this mode most likable for my taste.
103: Low and Highs are Elevated to give more V-shaped sound.
003: High frequency enhancement mode.
023: Mids and Highs are boosted, analytical sound.
123: Everything boosted. (lowest impedance)





Specification:
Drivers: 4EST + 7BA
4BA low frequency driver (Sonion 33AJ007/i9)
2BA Mid frequency drivers (Sonion 33AP007)
1BA High frequency driver (Knowles ED-29689)
4EST Ultra High Frequency drivers (Sonion EST-65QB02)

4-way crossover and 4 channel tubed bores design

Impedance: 27Ω@1kHz
Sensitivity: 112dBs/mW
Frequency range: 5-70kHz
Passive noise reduction: -26dBs


Source Matching:
For this Review, I mainly used the Shanling M8 with ISN Solar cable (4.4mm) which provided a very pleasing and balanced sound.






Presentation:

The Spark comes in a simple medium sized and dense foam layered package, providing the buyer with a quick and no gimmick unboxing experience. Outer black box is securely slide out with a tight tolerance. Inside the box, you’ll find yourself the complete package:

• Spark IEMs
• 8-core braid 3.5mm-2pin (0.78mm) silver plated copper cable
• Assortment of eartips
• Small carrying case
• Cleaning tool / Toggle switch tool
• Documentation

All of this is packed very firmly, padded densely without any room for movement.

I hope as the flagship product, Spark would come with more premium accessories and a bit more luxurious-looking package, but I digress as SQ is the main concern.


Preface:

Founded in 2016, Tansio Mirai has become a byword for quiet excellence, with a reputation for producing beautifully crafted and subtly distinctive earphones designs. Conventional at first glance, look a little longer and you’d soon discover that there was nothing ‘me-too’ about Tansio's products. They follow neither fad nor fashion – and that includes eschewing the current trend for stratospheric pricing. The Spark reviewed here is the company’s flagship, a substantial and elegantly engineered hybrid IEM, with each shell incorporating no less than 11 drivers and displaying exemplary standards of fit and finish. They also display four bores in a four-way crossover topology. But as impressive as the Spark is in physical and aesthetic terms, it doesn’t prepare you for the sheer scale, finesse, and musical impact of their performance. This isn’t just a flagship IEM because it’s Tansio Mirai’s most expensive product: it’s a genuine flagship performer when compared to the competition. Everything about this product quietly proclaims its quality and attention to detail, yet the Spark costs $1500 per pair. Any product that really does deliver the performance benefits of a specialist audiophile atelier producer, at a price-point more commonly associated with global mass-marketeers like Sony or Sennheiser is worthy of both considerable respect and closer attention in my opinion.


Listening Tests and Sound Analysis:

Ahh, what a bliss! Just put the Spark in my ears and with no fiddling/adjusting/burn in, etc. it sounded superb. Balanced sound with tons of detail. For an EST+BA hybrid, bass output was impressive. Despite use of a small DAC/AMP dongle like the 9038S in my initial testing, it could fill my headspace with vast midrange, delicate and sweet highs with plenty of powerful low energy. I went through some 20 reference tracks and every single one, without exception sounded amazing. With some IEMs, I have to hunt to find a good sounding track or two. Not with the Spark.

One of the nice things about the Spark is that it wears its technological heart proudly on its sleeve. One of the first things you notice about the Spark are the “stacked patterns” on the bass and treble drivers, the vented BA diaphragm on the low range unit, and that pose-able quad EST units fully visible. Together they encapsulate exactly what sets the Spark apart from the crowd- and what makes this IEM such an astonishing performer. Let’s start with the bass drivers. Dissatisfied by the trade offs between the distortion level of the older gen. sealed BA bass drivers and the SPL gains but harmonic losses of the most DDs, Spark set out to stack 4 vented BAs. This in turn delivers the excellent bass stability, foundation and self-damping required for low coloration and rich, natural low ends, while the creation of the unique, physical venting on shells, provide essential breathing space and reduce back-wave reflection required for good dynamic and phase response, so long the Achilles heel of multi BA units.



What the Spark’s switch setting adjustments allow you to achieve is the best possible balance of midrange bandwidth and overall integration from the combination of this drivers. Now add in the Sonion drivers used across the bass and midrange characterized by its rich, natural tonality and the total absence of edge or glare, its careful matching to the detailed Knowles treble driver, and the air, harmonics, and temporal precision delivered by the EST tweeters and you have a performance that is at once big and powerful, engaging, and rewarding. It's quite a show: It’s also one that's able to run and run. This is an IEM that positively rewards long-term listening- another key indicator of its quality. Often, listening fatigue is laid at the door of gross aberrations: intrusive coloration, hardness, or some form of edginess. The Spark banishes all those, with its even, natural tonality. But it is this earphone’s coherency that helps lift it above the norm. All that effort you expended on optimizing the bass response and multi driver integration results in a soundstage that has scale and volume, that’s populated by clearly placed, naturally proportioned and dimensioned images. That natural perspective is matched by dynamic and harmonic coherence that tracks musical energy across the entire bandwidth. In short, everything in the recording has a place and it’s easy to hear both what each musician is doing and exactly when they’re doing it. That might seem like the obvious goal for any IEM, but it’s remarkable how many miss that target- and how hard your brain has to work in making up the shortfall…



Play the Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique (Abbado), and first violin advance on rhythmic cello section has never been so stately – or laden with such latent threat. The off-stage location of the string section mirroring the structure of the main score in the Barbirolli / Sinfonia Tallis Fantasia makes perfect sense, sonically and musically, while Sheku's Elgar Adagio have an almost physical weight, power, and impact. There’s scale and purpose in the performance, but also subtlety and delicacy too. The Sony IER-Z1R has set the standard for acoustic and dynamic coherence- a standard that the Spark matches but to which it adds bandwidth at both ends of the midrange. Few IEMs in my experience match the instrumental texture delivered by the Spark – and all of those were considerably more expensive. It’s a quality that brings immediacy and recognizable character to performances, fleshing out string bass where so many IEMs make it sound thick and muddy, bringing the proper, breathy feel to saxophone or woodwind.



‘Feel’ might be a strange word to describe music, but it is a vital aspect of live performance, of being in the presence of real instruments- and of reproducing that impression. Working at its best and fed from a serious source like the M8, the Spark has an uncanny ability to put performers in the room, to mimic the sense of musical energy coming off of instruments and a stage. It’s to do with their bandwidth, the innate accuracy of their harmonic structures, their dimensionality, and their overall coherence. But lest you think that this only applies to classical or acoustic jazz, the Spark will put the performers in your room, whoever they are. Just play Alice in Chains Unplugged: Got me Wrong, if you ever wondered why Layne Staley captured the hearts and minds of a generation, The Spark will tell you.



Conclusions:

The Spark objectively and subjectively meets and exceeds my expectations. I feel like I can listen to this natural-sounding performance for hours, hear every bit of detail, and yet walk away without an ounce of fatigue. The Spark boasts impressive midrange imaging and a nice vocal presentation to go along with that punchy low-end and finely balanced treble. Driver counts do not really matter, but if designers know what they are doing with them, multi drivers can scale hugely and it seems Tansio Mirai has figured out how to implement them properly and exquisitely tune them in unison.

Introduction
Penon Volt is their third iteration of in house developed and tuned IEM after the Sphere and Orb.
As an IEM enthusiast / reviewer every few years something comes along that messes with your head then shortly afterwards messes with your bank account. It furthers what you define as a musical reference and makes the eventual return to your own collection a disappointment. For me, the Volt is an IEM that once dialled in simply disappears. It has a huge sound - monstrously dynamic yet graced with rare articulation and delicacy
throughout the top end of spectrum. Volt also has a smoothness, naturalness and sophistication, particularly with vocals and strings and brass that doesn't sound like any other IEM in my rotation. There is no grain, no harsh peaks, or phase issues from a tribrid setup.

Disclaimer: I purchased my own Volt and Totem cable from the Penon Audio with a introductory discount coupon. I am in no way affiliated with the company nor am I compensated in any way for writing this review.

My musical preferences and sonic objectives:
I am mainly into classical and Jazz music, but occasionally I listen to some 90's rocks and R&Bs.

I prefer earphones with a realistic timbre, even frequency response, separation / detail and good dynamics for orchestral music. This is a hard group to get right and there are times I’ve given up stage for timbre or detail. My earphone benchmark is the Sony IER-Z1R as this has been my goto for the past few months and I have considered it as a great all rounder IEM.


Presentation:
The Volt comes in a simple small sized packaging, provides the buyer with a quick and no gimmick unboxing experience. Outer box securely slides out with a tight tolerance. Inside the inner box, you’ll find yourself the complete package:

• Volt IEMs
• Braided single crystal copper + silver-plated cable in blue color
  (comes with 2.5mm balanced female to 3.5mm audio male adapter / 2.5mm balanced female to 4.4mm balanced male adapter)
• Assortment of eartips
• Blue carrying case
• Cleaning tool
• Metal clip

All of this is packed very firmly, padded without any room for movement.




Specification:
Drivers: 4 Sonion EST + 2 Sonion Balanced Armature + 1 10mm Dynamic driver
Impedance: 12ohm@1khz
Sensitivity: 114db@1khz@1mw
Frequency Response: 15-80Khz
Connector: 2pin 0.78mm
Plug: 2.5mm balanced with 3.5mm single ended and 4.4mm balanced pig tail adapters


Volt In-Ear Monitor
https://penon-official.com/product/penon-volt

Build
The build quality of the Volt is good. The blue tinted resin shells look great and feel very smooth and doesn't give any type of irritation. The shell is not exactly semi-custom type as it lacks a concha wing for better traction and grip inside the ear.

The size of the earphones is about right in between the medium to large sized shells. Fortunately, I got a perfect fit for them. I can easily wear them for many hours without any fatigue. I have relatively large ear canals and Azla sednaearfits ML tips worked really well with the Volt.




SOUND ANALYSIS

Bass
No doubt sporting one of the top tier bass performances I’ve heard from a dynamic driver setup, the Volt has solid impact that hits you fast and natural decay with extended subbass performance. It remains controlled and tight. Sub-bass is near bottomless and reaches as deep as I could hear or feel. The mid bass region has a bit more volume which gives the lower end its fuller and meatier feel. It is not huge but the impact is bigger. In fact, mid-bass might be a tad bit much in quantity for purists or those looking for a reference-tuned earphones. For those looking for a modestly boosted bass quantity with solid texturing and natural decay, I’d keep the Volt in mind.


Midrange
The Volt's mids are balanced but not a flat sounding. It has musical warmth in the lower mid-range which I categorize as the house signature of Penon. As such, the Volt's lower mids are quite full and meaty. For male vocals, the Volt sounds lush and full of emotion. Though lower mids are elevated, there’s absolutely no issue with it interfering with the rest of the Mid frequency range. In fact, I find Volt's midrange tonality and timber are some of the most natural in this price bracket. On top of natural tonality, Volt has excellent transparency and very good amount of details. Moving up to upper-mids, it is forward, with a clear presence and resonances. But it is not very aggressive. The decay is paced with musicality in mind, the crispiness of background instruments is slightly compromised but this emulates a weighty yet clean feel as instruments have appropriate amount of bite to them along with accurate body giving the Volt very organic feel.


Highs
Volt has what I’d consider a well-articulated and very resolving treble, with no audible peaks or dis-jointness that is typical in this region. Lower Treble to my ears are bit reserved and less emphasized. No negative surprises to be expected for the treble sensitive ones. There’s however a good sense of air and extension from the upper treble performance. As a natural-sounding IEMs, the Volt’s treble is neither bright nor dark. You will get enough sparkles, but if you are looking for a crispy, pronounced and abundant treble quantity, the Volt is not what you should look for.


Stage and Imaging
The Volt has very good stage with excellent width and height providing good amount of space in between. It does lack a bit of depth and layering when compared to the IER-Z1R but it still is well rounded. Instruments are evenly distributed without overlapping. Imaging maintains a good definition. All the vocals and instruments sound clear and realistic within controllable distances.



Select Comparisons

Volt vs iBasso IT07 (silver filter)

Both IEMs have a completely different tuning ideology. Volt focuses more on sound density sounding more full-bodied and with significant macro-dynamic focus. The IT-07 focuses more on stage, image, and overall layering.

IT07's bass is closer to “my ideal” which sounds faster, visceral and more intense. The Volt’s bass is comparably more relaxed, rounded with a touch more decay. Both of them have great bass clarity, but I found the IT07’s bass bit more textured, reaches a touch deeper with more agility.

Volt has a more forward midrange, with a larger imaging size. It is also slightly warmer. The IT07 is more neutral and realistic in terms of tonality. Volt puts the singer closer to the listener, but that is not saying the IT07 sounds distant. You could say it is more neutral and objective versus Volt’s involving and fun tuning.

IT07’s treble is very engaging and attacking. It is not sharp but compared to the Volt it is closer to the “in your face” sound. It has a more ‘brilliant’ signature whereas the Volt is smoother and more placid. The difference is more noticeable when playing high tempo music.

Imaging is very precise on both and they have the ability to place sound anywhere accurately on a stereo plane. Soundstage is similar, but I perceive bit more height on the Volt.



Conclusion
Elegant, dynamic and incredibly natural sounding, Penon's Volt sets the standard for musical communication in my experience. Sound is always engaging, the even balance and superb bass are perfect for rock and pop; the rich mids and articulate treble a classical music fan's dream.

Two months with Penon Volt and I had spent more time romping through my CDs and SACD rips for simple pleasure than I have done for years. This IEM revealed forgotten gems, recaptured precious moments, delivered classical works to make you weep or had you boogying the night away. Yes, they need long burn-in hours and I would have preferred a slightly deeper soundstage like the IER-Z1R, but can I find subjective fault with the delivered result? None at all. If you are not careful, reviewing equipment year-in-year-out can introduce a disconnect: you listen to sources, amps and transducers rather than what they are actually playing. In my experience, no other IEM connects you with the music quite like the Volt.

Introduction:

Tansio Mirai is a Chinese company that has been in the in-ear monitor business for few years now. They have made themselves known in the audiophile world with their flagship model Zodiac receiving praise from several respected and experienced listeners.
The model I am reviewing today is their 5 balanced armature model launched at the end of 2019, called the TSMR-5. Composed of 5 Balanced Armatures (BA), they have 3 switches allowing, according to your moods, a boost of bass and/or midrange and/or treble. The ergonomics are excellent, even for small ears. The basic design is very nice and the cable provides great quality.

According to their website, English abbreviation "TSMR" of their brand name is taken from the name of the “Tang Song” era, which was the prosperous ancient China economy and culture."MIRAI" represents the future of ancient China spirit, as well as the present future.

For the following audition, the TSMR-5 were in the switch position 123, because I found it's the one that worked best for my music library.


Disclaimer: I would like to thank Penon Audio for providing me with this review unit. I am in no way affiliated with the company nor am I compensated in any way for writing this honest review.



My musical preferences and sonic objectives:

I am mainly into classical and Jazz music, but occasionally I listen to some 90's rocks and R&Bs.

I prefer earphones with a realistic timbre, even frequency response, separation / detail and good dynamics for orchestral music. This is a hard group to get right and there are times I’ve given up stage for timbre or detail. My earphone benchmark is the Sony IER-Z1R as this has been my goto for the past few months and I have considered it as a great all rounder IEM.


Specification:

Driver: 5 Balanced Armature Driver per side utilizing Knowles 22955 for low frequency, Sonion 33AJ007I/9 for MIDS and Knowles 29689x2 high frequency balanced armature driver.
3-way crossover 2 ways tubes
Impedance: 15-27Ω@1kHz
Sensitivity: 113dBs/mW
Frequency range: 20Hz-20KHz
Passive noise reduction: -26dBs



Presentation:

The TSMR-5 comes in a simple medium sized and dense foam layered package, providing the buyer with a quick and no gimmick unboxing experience. Outer black box is securely slide out with a tight tolerance. Inside the box, you’ll find yourself the complete package:

• TSMR-5 IEMs
• 8-core braid 3.5mm-2pin (0.78mm) silver plated copper cable
• 10 sets of tips (S/M/L, wide/medium/narrow bore, 1 set of dual flanges)
• Semi hard carrying case (black)
• Cleaning tool / Switch tool
• Documentation

All of this is packed very firmly, padded densely without any room for movement. Very nice.


Build & Design:

The TSMR-5 comes with a medium sized acrylic shell design, molded into the 'universal custom' type shell that has been all the rage lately. This particular shell itself is saturated with wasabi yellow with smooth texture. The faceplate is clean transparent resin and free of any impurities (bubble, metal dusts etc). On top of that, there's a polished silver TSMR symbol on left, and a singular Chinese character on right side of the unit. I could see this design being a bit divisive to people, being a bit boring and overly simplistic - but to each his own. I personally find it very appealing with a full display of innards.
The outer surface of the nozzles are not polished like the rest of the housings and they have a very subtle texture to them. It has this sort of sandblasted feel to touch and this enables the nozzle to grab any kind of wide bore eartips with its friction.



The cable is also rather flexible, non microphonics, and comfortable to wear thanks to the quality material as well as soft ear guide 2-pin connectors.

There are three very small switches on the side of the housing that allows the listener to adjust the sound signature. They are mapped respectively to the low / mid / high frequencies, each toggling with an audible click that can’t be mistaken. These switches are nearly impossible to flip with your fingers (they’re a bit recessed and too tiny), so there is a little tool that you can use to toggle (included in a box). I personally hope every manufacturers start using larger switches like the ones found in the DUNU SA6 where you can use your finger nails to quickly toggle between the settings.


TUNING SWITCHES & SETUP


0 means switch in down position, 1/2/3 means switches are pushed up (as shown in the picture above)
100: Low Frequency Elevated and Darker sound
120: Low and Mid-Range Frequency Elevated. Fuller Sound.
020: Default. Balanced mode. Personally found bit analytical.
103: Low and Highs are Elevated to give more V-shaped sound.
003: High frequency enhancement mode
023: Mids and Highs are boosted, analytical sound
123: Everything boosted to give you a fuller sound (lowest impedance)


SOUND ANALYSIS

Bass

No doubt sporting one of the better bass performances I’ve heard from a balanced-armature setup, the TSMR-5 has solid impact that doesn’t periodically have me wishing for a dynamic driver earphone. It remains controlled and tight. Sub-bass is extended well, and reaches as deep as I’d hope from an all BA earphones. Mid-bass is elevated several dBs, but it’s isolated well and doesn’t muddle with any other frequencies, nor does it come off as boomy or overpowering. In fact, bass might be a tad bit much in quantity for purists or those looking for a reference-tuned earphones. For those looking for a modestly boosted bass quantity with solid texturing and snappy decay, I’d keep the TSMR-5 in mind.


Midrange

Though midbass is elevated, there’s absolutely no issue with it interfering with the midrange. In fact, I find TSMR-5's midrange tonality and timber are some of the most accurate in this price bracket. Upper midrange takes precedent over the lower midrange, emphasizing a crisp yet near-perfect natural tonality. However, it straddles the borderline of between being naturally distinct or too clear - but never crossing into the field of artificial. Resolution is just through the roof here, vocal texturing is incredibly present and detail is fantastic. A few listeners may find that the upper mids emphasis is too elevated for them, reminiscent of what I felt with the Tanchjim Hana, but for me it stays below my threshold. Lower midrange has a decent amount of body and doesn’t sound thin, with a just slightly dipped center midrange that gives vocals sufficient room to breathe and devoid any honkiness.


Trebles

TSMR-5 has what I’d consider a well-rounded and very resolving treble, with no audible peaks or dis-jointness that is typical in this region. Trebles are to my ears very sweet and pleasant sounding, because they are both defined and soft. No negative surprises to expect for the sensitive ones, despite the bump between 7 and 8kHz. This one brings a nice opening that allows to grasp with ease the details contained in the tracks, and the small dip at 6kHz doesn't make itself felt when listening. Lower treble into the middle treble has a slight bit of emphasis, complimenting the overall sound with a good amount of energy. There’s also a good sense of air and extension from the upper treble region. Decay is on the quicker side as well, so cymbals and hi-hats can seem to disappear atypically fast - if anything, it does what it should by playing what’s in the recording with minimal coloring.

SOUND STAGE

The sound stage of the TSMR-5 is quite wide and tall, but the depth can be marginally missing when compared to other IEMs in this price range. I find the stage to be oval shaped and big enough though. There is plenty of air and space between instruments. Layering and separation is of top quality too.



Selected Comparison:
Tansio Mirai TSMR-5 ($419) and Penon Audio Volt ($799)

Tonally the Volt is a little bit more laid back than the TSMR-5 and not as bright with a slightly warmish tone. Volt is full bodied and slightly on the thicker side compared to more analytical and leaner sounding TSMR-5.

The TSMR-5 features an all-BA setup, which seems to be going out of style for IEMs in favor of hybrid setup combination - dynamic driver and balanced armatures, and in some cases, electret, piezo or megnetostatic drivers mixed in. BAs are well known for the detail, resolution, and speed. Some people don’t like how they respond to sub-bass, bass and feel they are missing natural decay, slam, impact, and rumble. The TSMR-5 is tuned to actually bring out a lot of these qualities and I’m happy to report that there is good subbass performance on these, with impact and slam when needed. However when we pit it against well implemented tribrid IEM with hard hitting DD like the Volt, we start seeing some BA limitation in terms of physicality. Mids are more natural and analog sounding with the Volt, but I would say TSMR-5 might reveal more details here. In terms of trebles, the Volt actually does drop off in the upper treble region a bit early, but seems to extend further. I tend to call the Volt a safer tuning. Personally I prefer the balanced all-around and weighty sound of the Volt bit more, but also finding TSMR-5's brighter and speedy presentation rather complimentary.





Conclusion

The TSMR-5 strongest suit is that it is incredibly resolving yet natural sounding set. It pairs with a balanced sound signature that has enough bass presence to satisfy many genres, and a upper mid-range and treble that is elevated over neutral, but not over-bearing nor harsh, while still retaining a good sense of air and a wide and tall soundstage. The build quality, comfort and sound are all top-notch for its price.

Disclaimer: I purchased the NA2, NM2 at full MSRP from the Penon Audio. As a returning customer they gave me little bit of discount on the NM2+. I am in no way affiliated with the company nor am I compensated in any way for writing this review.

Introduction:
When I first heard about the NF Audio with two random characters together, I had to search for what 'NF' stands for.
According to the company's facebook page NF means: Near Field monitoring, as well as Nice Fit & Nice Frequency response.

OK that's cool.

But what is Near Field monitoring? A bit of googling reveals that Near field monitoring is a way to sit closer to your transducers with the idea that sitting closer to the speakers say 3′- 4′, will reduce the sound of the room in the mix. They're specifically designed for listening to close distances so that the greater proportion of sound wave goes directly to the listener rather than reflecting off the walls and ceilings.

Now most if not all earphones by nature of their in ear design are already functions like near field monitors.
So even though NF audio advertises the NM2+ as monitoring device, you have to remember no earphones regardless of the design principle or cost, has a completely flat frequency response; all earphones color the sound to some degree. But when they claim that their device is designed for monitoring, I assume it to be as free as possible from coloration which NM2+ achieved here successfully.


My musical preferences and sonic objectives:
I am mainly into classical and Jazz music.

I prefer earphones with a realistic timbre, even frequency response, separation / detail and good dynamics for orchestral music. This is a hard group to get right and there are times I’ve given up stage for timbre or detail. My earphone benchmark is the Campfire Andromeda as this has been my goto for the past few years and I have considered it as a great all rounder IEM.



The main impressions were done with the balanced tips which are the frosty white colored ones.
I also tried some wide bore tips namely azla sednaearfits short and JVC spiral dots, but the stock medium eartips with a slightly deeper insertion sounded better to me.


Opening the package, there is a nice presentation box with little bit of compact disc theme going on, silver colored cable and pretty sturdy carrying case. The cable functions well and is light and flexible without any microphonics. A metal chin slider also works well. The cable seems to pick up little bit of EMI noises from my iphone 3.5mm, but hardly noticeable when music is playing. That said the cable sounded great and did not hamper my enjoyment of this earphones. There is also a nice booklet explaining the company's past, present and future.



Comfort and Build Quality: The NM2+'s aluminum with satin finishing feels solid in my hand, but also quite light and smooth on the angles. The curving is elongated and rounded rather than abrupt and sharp so its highly unlikely these will cause long-term discomfort.

BASS
With the balanced tips, you get a fairly linear and solid sounding low-end with excellent definition and a tight pacy bass. Sub-bass weight is about average and if you are looking for physicality and presence you will not get that from the NM2+. It is not lacking in extension with great control with a decent impact though.

There is a slight mid-bass elevation that injects a bit of warmth and body that I think underpins that generally smooth yet detailed mids presentation on the NM2+. The mid-bass elevation is more about timbral balance than injecting a heavy bass fundamental into the NM2+. As such the bass tuning feels more about articulation and control than a driving high-level of PRaT.

LOWER MIDS
Lower mids are not quite as elevated as say iBasso IT00, Penon ORB or even Tanchjim HANA, and slightly more neutral giving some clear space between the bass and mids for some very good instrumental layering and separation. However if you are specifically looking for a warmth and density in male vocal range, you are not going to get it here with the NM2+.

MIDS
Instrumental separation and timbre are very accurate albeit slightly drier tone at times. Certainly, NM2+ has spacious and natural mids in its delivery. The spacing really benefit the vocals also, which, whilst not being overly forward nor warm sounding, did sound resolutely clear and 3D, well textured and very refined in their delivery.

UPPER MIDS
Higher pitched female vocals perhaps a bit more forward sounding with the NM2+ taking a little surge in energy post 1k. Good amount of energy post 3Khz gives stringed instrument like violins really good definition and air.

TREBLE
The treble tuning on the NM2+ is excellent. It has a superb balance with enough lower-treble energy to add some necessary accuracy to percussion timbre without sounding harsh or splashy.

The upper treble is a bit more linear or perhaps just slightly faded rather than pumped like the many other Chi-fi equivalent. What that means is that it is not overly ethereal or brittle sounding. Nuanced and articulate yes, but thin or lean no.

Any instrument pulling its upper harmonic order from the NM2+’s treble tuning benefits, period. It's one of the major reasons why the overall timbre of the NM2+ sounds so pleasing. You get just the right amount of low-end body and treble clarity paired with superbly detailed and transparent mids.



Selected Comparison:
Tanchjim Hana ($159) and NF Audio NM2+ ($169)

Tonally the Hana is a little bit more laid back than the NM2+ and not as bright with a slightly warmish tone and a fuller body to the note. Bass on the Hana doesn’t quite have the low-end definition of the NM2+ and it’s a bit softer in the attack. Decay seems similarly natural on both. Hana has more elevated mid bass and overall more bass quantity than the NM2+.

Vocals and the mid-range on NM2+ are clearer sounding with a little more texture and detail than the Hana. The NM+ driver is the speedier and cleaner of the two. Upper treble performance is better on the NM2+ with a fast and detailed, but never splashy or hot in tonality. They both have similar upper mids and lower treble presence, but Hana sounds bit peakier without modding. Overall Hana doesn’t seem to have that same sense of articulation, sparkle and treble extension.

Certainly, the NM2+ feels more energetic, cleaner, and more neutral than the Hana. Both are detailed but the slightly more dynamic nature of the NM2+ will make you feel you are hearing more micro detail.

The Hana is a touch harder to drive also than the NM2+ and worse fitting due to a very short nozzle. I do love the Hana when amped but on my iPhone, NM2+ seems to be just a bit more engaging and better tuned overall.


Closing Thoughts:
The NM2+ is tonally pleasing, effortlessly dynamic and has detailed sound ideal for classical and acoustic music.
Moreover it works wonderfully well with even smartphones and scales really nicely with a better DAC and amp.
Price to performance ratio is excellent and I will be keeping close eye on NF audio's future developments.