Reviews by twister6
The product was provided to me free of charge for the review purpose in exchange for my honest opinion. The review was originally posted on my site, and now I would like to share it with my readers on Head-fi.
Manufacturer website: Hifiman. Available for sale directly or various authorized retailers, including Bloom Audio.
Intro.
With the rising popularity of tws, many audiophile earphone companies jumped on the bandwagon to join the party. But not everybody followed the same path. Some thought it will be enough to just take a generic OEM design and refresh it with better drivers. Others decided to make it look fancier, focusing more on aesthetics while refreshing OEM design. And there were those in between, trying to come up with something more original. Feels like now we are going through the new wave of next gen tws releases, with a lot more attention being paid to the tuning.
I wasn't too familiar with Hifiman’s early TWS600 release but remember reading a lot of comments about its futuristic shell design. TWS800 was my first taste of Hifiman true wireless earphones which I enjoyed, both the tuning and the traditional shell design. Those true wireless earphones used similar drivers as in their RE800 iems, thus a x800 model reference. In the latest Svanar TWS release, Hifiman took their time with a complete overhaul while keeping the signature dynamic driver design with a topology diaphragm found in the original Svanar iems.
Because of this connection between wired and wireless releases, when I was approached by Hifiman asking me if I'm interested to test Svanar tws, I decided to borrow their original wired iems as well. At first, I received a preproduction tws unit, though the tuning and shells were already finalized. I did spend a month with it and couldn't wait to get my hands on the production unit which added ANC to this everything-but-the-kitchen-sink release. Now, I’m ready to share what found after spending more time with this latest Hifiman Svanar TWS release.
Unboxing and Accessories.
Svanar TWS arrived in a compact carboard packaging with all the key features, specs, and links printed on the box. With the cover off, you will find the charging case and a pair of tws earpieces in a secure cutouts of a top layer “sponge” insert. Underneath, the bottom layer had cutouts for usb-c charging cable and 7 pairs of eartips (+1 pair already on Svanar TWS). Those included 2 double-flange eartips, one “morphed” double-flange pair, 2 pairs of foam eartips, and 3 pairs of a more traditional silicone eartips.
That’s about it, just typical essentials you will find with many other TWS earphones.
Design and Functionality.
As the name suggests, this should be a true wireless version of Hifiman Svanar IEMs. But I don’t want to assume they used the same exact driver since that info wasn’t disclosed in the spec.
Starting with a charging case, it has a unique geometric multi-facet shape. I had to pause for a few seconds, trying to figure out how to open it while following the outline of a silver edge going across the middle. One of the surface facets has usb-c charging port and its flat surface used for Qi wireless charging. You will also find a hard button (for reset) with Hifiman logo that lit up when you open the case. It’s a cool looking charging case with a futuristic design, but it is bulky and a bit heavy at 84g by itself and 100g with earpieces inside. It would make a great conversion piece on top of your desk, but at the same time, not exactly pocket friendly. One important thing about this charging case, it was designed to accommodate full size eartips and still being able to close the lid while letting earpieces maintain a charging contact.
TWS earpieces are quite unique looking as well. Interesting how Hifiman went from more futuristic TWS600 to more traditional TWS800, and now back to “futuristic” looks with more traditional fit of Svanar TWS. The inner side of the shell uses a carbon fiber material with universal-custom shape, like wired Svanar (except those use brass material), fitting the concha area of your ear like a glove. On the outside, it has a plastic silver shell which extends down. The exterior diamond shape touch area of the shell is easy to locate with a finger and has a precise touch sensitivity. The shells are very lightweight, 8g each, and with regular size eartips have a secure and comfortable fit. They look like wired Svanar with an addon of external touch area and the elongated extension with mics. Also, they have IPX5 rating.
Under the hood, Svanar TWS is filled with a ton of goodies. First, you start with Bluetooth 5.2 module which supports LDAC hi-res protocol. Then, there is Hifiman Hymalaya R2R custom ladder DAC and headphone amplifier module, tuned specifically for their topology diaphragm dynamic drivers. For those not familiar, Topology Diaphragm has a nano particle coating to control the tuning of the driver. Also, implemented was an ear-detection sensor, a proximity sensor to detect when earpiece is out to stop the playback. I didn’t see this feature being mentioned anywhere, discovered it by accident when removed earpieces during the playback.
And if you want more, you also got dual mode deep noise canceling with ANC (active noise canceling based on a principal of adding a second sound specifically designed to cancel the first one) and ENC (noise-cancellation that uses microphones to detect external sounds and create an opposite sound wave to cancel them out). In addition to Noise Canceling, you have a choice of Transparency and High-Fidelity modes which I will cover in more details in Sound Analysis section. Just keep in mind, different modes will affect the battery life. In Transparency mode you get up to 7hrs of playback, switching to ANC will bring it down to 6hrs, and if you want the ultimate HiFi mode, the battery will go down to 4hrs of playback time. The battery in charging case gives you 3 additional recharges.
Now, as far as touch panel functionality goes, it covers all the controls, except for volume:
- Double-click (left/right) to skip back
- Triple-click (left/right) to skip next
- Touch (left/right) for play/pause
- Press'n'hold left earpiece for 3sec to switch between Noise Cancellation, Transparency, and High-Fidelity modes
- Press'n'hold right earpiece for voice assistance
- Double-click during the call to answer/end the call
- Press'n'hold for 2sec to reject the incoming call
The fit.
Sound Analysis.
I analyzed Svanar TWS sound performance paired up with my Galaxy S22 while playing a variety of test tracks, such as Agnes Obel “The curse”, Sandro Cavazza “So much better” (Avicii remix), C-Bool “Never go away”, Ed Sheeran “Shape of you”, Alan Walker “Darkside”, Galantis “Hunter”, Iggy Azalea “Black widow”, Indila “Boite en argent”, Dua Lipa “Love again”, Counting Crows “Big yellow taxi”, Bob Marley “Jamming”, David Elias “Vision of her”, and Michael Jackson “Dirty Diana”. Svanar TWS had at least 75hrs of a combined burn-in/playback time. Also, I was using Azla Crystal eartips.
I hear Svanar TWS to have a mildly v-shaped sound sig with a fuller body, natural detailed tonality. The bass is more rounded, less aggressive, having a bit laidback DD performance with a slower attack and a bit longer decay. Sub-bass rumble gets slightly elevated in HiFi mode but becomes more balanced in ANC and Transparency modes which I suspect due to a higher output of internal amp in HiFi mode. Mids have a fuller body natural detailed tonality. Treble has a well-controlled sparkle to give mids/vocals its natural resolution, though will depend on eartips selection which can tilt the scale from sounding natural to being a bit harsh. Hifiman kept it closer to wired Svanar tuning, giving its TWS version a more natural sound, though wired Svanar tuning has a smoother treble.
The soundstage is surprisingly wide, and when compared to wired Svanar, I found the sound to be more holographic. But the layering and the separation is just average. These are not your typical analytical micro-detailed earphones and they don’t have as much air between the sound layers.
For those who are interested, here is FR measurement of Svanar TWS. Just please keep in mind, that peak closer to 9k is well under control with the right selection of eartips.
Sound modes.
ANC mode - does a fine job with active/passive noise canceling, and I hardly hear any background white noise. It does drop the sound volume down by a few dBs in comparison to HiFi mode. Also, lowers the sub-bass rumble, making it closer to Svanar wired quantity. As a result, mids/treble have a slightly more forward presentation. Very low noise floor, hardly even noticeable. Great to enjoy the music while tuning out the outside world. And the battery life is only one hour less than in transparency mode.
Transparency mode – less isolation to let in more background sounds to raise the awareness of what is going on around you. Still has an acceptable level of passive isolation, but the background is not as black. The tuning change is very similar to ANC mode, and the volume also a little lower. This mode gives you the best battery performance, probably most useful when exercising or doing outdoor choirs when audio listening is less critical
HiFi mode - has a good level of passive noise isolation, and I hear a bit less background noise in comparison to transparency mode. Also, the noise floor itself is blacker, and I hear more weight in sub-bass rumble. The volume is higher, and the sound tuning is more fun due to the additional heft in sub-bass. Also, I hear a slight improvement in dynamics. I assume in this mode the internal amplifier is set to max power, pushing topology diaphragm drivers to their full potential, which also results in a shorter playback time. I know with some other TWS in HiFi mode they switch to a higher sampling rate, but not sure if the same is true here, no additional info is available.
Eartips selection.
The selection of eartips is crucial to any universal in-ear monitors (wired or wireless) and will affect the sound, especially the bass impact depending on the seal. Due to a large opening of my earcanals, I usually go for the largest size eartips to get a better seal, thus was only able to use large size stock silicone tips, the rest were too small for my ears. Also, please keep in mind, eartips impressions are subjective and will be based on anatomy of your/my ears.
Stock silicone - mids are more forward, bass has a good extension, but the quantity is attenuated down, lacking in weight. Also, treble sounds a bit splashy. Didn't work for me.
Azla Crystal - improves the bass, scales up the quantity of sub-bass rumble and mid-bass impact, mids are more balanced and have a fuller body, and treble is a bit smoother. This pair up synergy worked the best for my ears.
Spinfit W1 - very similar to Crystal, just with a little less bass quantity. The problem here was a diameter of the eartips stem, being a bit too big, coming off the nozzle. Thus, it didn’t work well here.
Spinfit CP100 - had a more secure nozzle fit which gave me a deep sub-bass extension with more elevated bass quantity. Mids have more clarity. Treble was just a touch splashy. I like this pair up a lot, but in a few of the songs the treble got a bit hot, so I switched back to Crystal.
Symbio F - great pair up synergy, I can hear a deep sub-bass rumble, faster mid-bass punch, natural detailed mids, and treble with a perfect amount of sparkle. But a big problem her was the L size eartips were not as comfortable, a bit too big for this fit, while M size were a bit too small, and I couldn’t keep earphones secure in my ears.
Symbio W - bass and mids were great, but treble got splashy, a bit too much for my taste.
Final Type-E - like Symbio W, I can hear a deep bass and clear detailed mids, but treble got splashy and a bit overwhelming.
As previously mentioned, Svanar TWS and its charging case were designed for full size eartips which I appreciate greatly because Svanar sound is very eartips dependent, especially to tame down mid-treble sparkle. So, the more pairs you can try, the better is your chance of finding what works for you. Full size eartips give me the best seal and the most secure fit. In case of Svanar TWS, I found Crystal to work the best for my ears, but YMMV.
Comparison.
All the comparison was done with Svanar TWS set to HiFi mode, using Crystal eartips, and paired up with my Galaxy S22 smartphone.
Svanar TWS vs Svanar wired (stock 3.5mm) - TWS has a more 3D soundstage with a holographic imaging, noticeably better stereo separation than a wired version. TWS has a deeper sub-bass rumble, not over-whelming, just slightly more elevated, and more resolving mids, also having more sparkle in treble which improves resolution of mids. Wired Svanar tuning has a similarly natural smooth tonality, but it is more neutral and warmer and has smoother treble in comparison to TWS version with a mildly v-shaped sound sig and a more dynamic fun tuning. One is not better than the other, perhaps, more on a complementary level.
Svanar TWS vs Hifiman TWS800 - It has been a while since I listen to TWS800. The first thing you hear is the soundstage width which is noticeable wider in Svanar. The depth of the stage and the imaging are nearly the same. TWS800 bass is faster and tighter while Svanar is a little slower and more laidback, plus Svanar had a deeper and more textured sub-bass rumble. Mids are about the same, perhaps with lower mids of TWS800 being a bit leaner, making its vocals more revealing. In contrast, Svanar mids sound warmer, smoother, more organic. And the same with treble, TWS800 has more sparkle while Svanar treble is smoother. So, in comparison, TWS800 are more revealing, more micro-detailed, and colder in tonality, while Svanar TWS are tuned smoother, more organic, and with laidback presentation of the sound. And, of course, with Svanar you get lots of other functionality like R2R DAC, LDAC, and ANC noise canceling.
Svanar TWS vs Final ZE8000 - both have a very similar soundstage expansion and holographic level of imaging. They also have similarities in tuning with a smooth natural detailed tonality. Both have extra weight in sub-bass, with ZE8k having a little more which results in their (ZE8k) mids being thicker in comparison. But Svanar TWS treble is smoother. The thing is that ZE8k comes with an app where I absolutely need to use built-in EQ to drop the bass and to raise the pinna gain to bring up mids. When applying this EQ, Svanar TWS and ZE8k are almost on the same level, except Final tws treble is still a little brighter. Their noise canceling functionality is not too far off either.
Svanar TWS vs Noble FoKus Mystique - similar soundstage expansion and imaging, with FoKus being a bit more holographic since it has leaner mids. Their tuning varies with Svanar being smoother and more organic in tuning while FoKus being more u-shaped with focus on elevated sub-bass rumble and mid-bass punch and elevated treble, while its mids are leaner and pulled back. Svanar is just smoother and warmer in tuning.
Svanar TWS vs UM U-Free - I hear a similar soundstage expansion and imaging between these two earphones, but the tuning is not the same. They both offer plenty of sub-bass rumble, though mid-bass is a little faster in U-Free while Svanar TWS has a slightly longer attack and decay. The mids in U-Free are more revealing, more detailed while Svanar TWS has mids with more laidback smoother organic tuning. Treble is not too far off, though U-Free has a little more sparkle. But due to a difference in tuning of mids, Svanar TWS is more v-shaped and smoother in comparison to U-free being more balanced and more revealing in tuning. Noise canceling was not too far off in performance either.
Svanar TWS vs Apple Air Pods Pro 2 - Pods have a narrower soundstage while Svanar TWS expands its soundstage wider and taller. When it comes to the tuning, Pods tonality is more neutral and smoother in comparison to more "fun" tuning of Svanar with deeper and more elevated sub-bass rumble and more sparkle in treble. I find Pods tuning to be very neutral, clean, and detailed, but at the same time, sounds are not as layered or separated and sometimes could feel a bit compressed. In comparison, Svanar TWS tuning is more dynamic, more textured, and with better layering and separation of the sounds. Air Pods Pro 2 noise canceling feels a little more isolated.
Source pair up.
When it comes to wireless earphones and headphones, and especially TWS, it doesn’t matter what DAC or amp your source has. None of this matter because your source will digitally encode and transmit the sound and TWS earphones will decode and drive the transducer inside the shell. But in case of Svanar TWS, LDAC did make a difference when testing with my S22 and Android DAPs vs iPhone XS MAX. With iPhone, which doesn’t support LDAC, I found the soundstage to be narrower and the sound to be a bit less dynamic.
Another very interesting observation, with LDAC enabled, using my S22 in open space I could step away 45ft from my phone. When using Cayin N7 and A&K SP3000, the distance was about 35ft, probably less due to DAP manufacturers reducing BT wireless signal strength to optimize the battery. With iPhone XS MAX, it was beyond 50ft.
Conclusion.
True wireless earphones have been making waves for quite some time now, and it's no longer a rarity to see one from an established audiophile company. But what's rare is to see a product which includes the best features from many other commercial and audiophile tws releases. And that is what I think Hifiman tried to accomplish here. We got a futuristic looking shell and a charging case supporting wired and wireless charging, and a ton of features under its hood, including deep ANC noise canceling, LDAC support, R2R DAC implementation, proximity sensor, and even topology diaphragm driver design found in their flagship Svanar wired iems.
Apart from not having the app support and corresponding customizable EQ, this Svanar TWS release has everything-but-the-kitchen-sink which in my humble opinion justifies its higher price (of $499). Of course, all these features mean nothing without a desirable sound tuning. And while the tuning is usually a matter of a personal taste, if you are into a natural detailed tonality that has a warmer fuller body sound with a well-controlled hi-res sparkle in treble, Svanar TWS will certainly be your cup of tea which I have been enjoying as a wireless alternative to their wired Svanar IEMs.
maceto
Sound I love, wish they get an app and for a second gen - better case and a little more solid build (why I got extra warranty - these are not AirPods)
sofastreamer
these arent earbuds at all! these are TWS IEM!
The product was loaned to me for the review purpose in exchange for my honest opinion. The review was originally posted on my site, and now I would like to share it with my readers on Head-fi.
Manufacturer website: Astell & Kern. Available for sale directly or from on-line retailers like Bloom Audio and Musicteck.
Intro.
When it comes to Astell & Kern, their A&ultima (SP series) flagship releases are often considered to be early adopters of the latest AKM DACs, such as SP1000 and AK4497, SP2000 and AK4499, and SP3000 with AK4499EX/4191EQ. Then, their more budget-oriented A&norma (SR series) are optimized for portability and exceptional battery life while on the go. But it’s their A&futura (SE series) where you are going to find all the cool new features, like a dual independent DACs design in SE200 or a modular design in SE180. Thus, it came as no surprise when A&K announced their first discrete all resistor DAC design to be featured in SE300.
In addition to an all-discrete R-2R DAC, Class A and Class AB selectable amp modes, and NOS and OS oversampling modes, SE300 also features the same new digital platform as in their flagship SP3000 which includes faster processor and newly updated and more responsive interface. This all-new A&K DAP is going to make its debut at the upcoming High End Audio show in Munich. Luckily, I got a chance to spend almost a week with it, and now would like to share what I found. Originally, it was supposed to be just a First Look short review, but as I started testing, I ended up with a full write up of A&K SE300.
Unboxing and Accessories.
Since I received SE300 without the official packaging, I’m not able to share unboxing pictures, but was told the experience should be like their previous A&futura SE-series DAP releases. Thus, we should probably expect a more compact storage box along with additional accessories like screen protectors and quality USB-C high speed cable for charging, data transfer, and USB DAC functionality. I’m sure, a quick start guide, and a warranty card will be included as well.
One thing to note, SE series usually comes without a leather case. These DAPs are beautiful to look at and I hate putting them in a case, but I find it necessary to enhance the grip for a more secure handling, especially on the go.
Design.
With its dimensions of 139.5mm x 76.5mm x 17.6mm, SE300 is very close in size to its big brother, flagship SP3k, though it is lighter at about 317g vs 494g (SP3k). I wasn’t surprised here since they used the same size display and needed extra room for discrete resistors. The weight is probably lighter due to chassis material, which is a mix of aluminum and stainless steel, unlike SP3k which uses Stainless Steel 904L. At the time of the release, the only available color is platinum silver.
The focus of the design is still around a large 5.46" HD touch screen occupying the front view. This time, the front view of the DAP is more symmetric since only the right side has a slightly bulging-out area with a sculptured wavy design, just a bit recessed around the volume wheel. And just like in SE180, there is a separate power button at the top in the right corner, with a typical long press to turn the power on/off followed by confirmation to shut down or a short press to turn the screen on/off, though personally I like a double tap to wake up the screen. After using SP3k, I often forget and try to push the volume wheel, forgetting that SE300 has a separate power button.
The volume wheel is easy to turn using a thumb, though it's not loose and has some resistance with a click action felt with every rotation turn of 150 volume steps. Implemented here is also a multi-function LED behind the wheel to indicate charging status or bit depth depending on the source file (16bit – red, 24bit – green, 32bit – blue, DSD – purple). LED light could be disabled in Settings, and you can also enable/disable LED indicator light intensity as you adjust the volume. The design of the volume wheel has a unique crown pattern with a copper center, a design reminiscent of a wristwatch.
On the left side you have Play/Pause and Skip controls, three identical small rectangular buttons located in the upper part of the left side in the slightly recessed area. They do have a nice tactile response and spaced evenly with just enough room in between to avoid pressing an adjacent button by mistake, unless you have “fat” fingers. The top of the DAP has access to 3.5mm phone output port which also used for Line Out and Optical out. Next to it, you have 4.4mm and 2.5mm balanced phone ports that could also be configured for corresponding Line Out. All the way to the right you will find a power button.
At the bottom to the left, you will find a spring-loaded microSD card slot. In the middle, there is USB-C port, used for charging (including Fast Charging), data transfer, USB DAC connection, and USB OTG external device connection for digital audio out. The back of the DAP has a symmetric design with a carbon fiber back panel. Overall, the shape of SE300 is rectangular and the exterior design has less aggressive lines, not as flashy as their other DAPs.
Under the hood.
Unlike the traditional Delta-Sigma DACs from AKM, ESS, TI/PCM, or CS, SE300 uses R-2R Ladder DAC which is made of discrete matching resistors. There are different implementations of this design, and A&K settled on a fully discrete 24bit R-2R precision DAC which requires 48 pieces of resistors per channel, a total of 96 ultra-precision resistors. And these are not some generic off the shelf components, but rather matching parts with a high accuracy tolerance of +/-0.01%.
In addition to R-2R discrete DAC, A&K also implemented new dual amp architecture with a selectable Class A and Class AB amp modes. Plus, they utilized a selectable Over-Sampling (OS) and Non-Over Sampling (NOS) modes which have different sound processing implementation and reproduction. Furthermore, I was pleased to see 2 gain settings, Normal (NG) and High (HG), which could be useful when dealing with some sensitive IEMs. I will go over how I hear sound differences of these different options in the Sound Analysis section of the review.
Keeping up with their 2.5mm balanced “legacy”, just like SP3k flagship, SE300 includes all 3 headphones outputs, 2.5mm, 3.5mm, and 4.4mm. The single ended 3.5mm PO has output impedance of 1.3ohm and 2Vrms (NG) and 3Vrms (HG) and balanced 2.5mm and 4.4mm POs have output impedance of 1.3ohm and 4Vrms (NG) and 6Vrms (HG), with Vrms measurements based on unloaded condition. Each port can be switched to Line Out, and 3.5mm also has Optical SPDIF output.
The touch display is 5.46” HD with1920x1080 resolution, the same as in SP3k. The interface is very fast, like just in SP3k, noticeably faster than in other A&K DAPs. I didn’t see in the spec if this is the same Snapdragon 665 SoC as in SP3k, but I suspect it could be due to the same interface speed. This is still closed Android so it is hard to compare to other open Android DAPs since I can’t run 3D benchmark test app. There is plenty of processing power to do flawless audio decoding while supporting all the popular lossy and lossless formats, such as WAV, FLAC, WMA, MP3, OGG, APE, AAC, ALAC, AIFF, DFF, and DSF, with PCM rates up to 32bit/384kHz and DSD rates up to DSD256. Also, MQA playback support, covering Tidal Masters, Local files, External USB, and MQA-CD (ripped).
The internal storage is 256GB just like SP3k, and you also get microSD external memory expansion up to the latest largest capacity card (A&K tested with 1TB). I guess it doesn’t matter as much today since many people are streaming and high-capacity microSD cards are relatively cheap. Furthermore, USB-C OTG supports external hard drive storage or usb stick expansion. It even uses the same high capacity 5,050mAh (3.8V LiPo battery) and supports fast charging (QC3.0) to give you a full charge in about 3.5hrs (under 9V, 1.67A charging condition). I did run a battery test, and from 4.4mm bal output in High Gain with Class AB and NOS selected while playing hi-res flac files in the loop, I was getting about 11.5hrs of playback time with occasional screen usage to check battery status.
To support fast charging and to speed up data transfer, SE300 uses USB 3.0 Type-C interface for charging, data transfer, and USB DAC functionality. WiFi is dual band, supporting both 2.4GHz and 5GHz. Along with that you have OTA firmware update support and of course streaming of many popular apps. Furthermore, Bluetooth is up to 5.0 with a wireless support of not only aptX HD but also LDAC protocols for 24-bit playback over Bluetooth, plus both Bluetooth Rx and Tx.
GUI.
When it comes to A&K DAPs user interface, once you are familiar with one, you will feel like at home using the rest because they share the same interface, down to their smaller display SR25 model. There have been small updates here and there, like a Floating Back button on a screen or playback controls when you swipe down notification bar while running apps. A few other Android related features were added in the past, but SE300 together with SP3k flagship takes it to the next level with a newly updated 4th generation interface that has improved ergonomics.
When you start the player, the greeting screen has a carousel where you can swipe through and access your songs in alphabetical order. It’s a fun way to view the song’s artwork along with other info, and it is very fast as you swipe through it. As you swipe right->left above or below the artwork of the song, you have Media Category Browser screen to view your Playlist, Folders, Songs, Albums, Artists, Genres, Favorite, MQS/DSD, CD Library, and then Settings and Category change to rearrange the order of the categories above as well as being able to disable Home screen carousel. Btw, when enabled, the Home button at the bottom of the screen takes you to this Home screen carousel, and every time you touch the Home button, it randomly brings up another song. I wish there would be a way to assign a different screen to Home button, but if you disable Home-carousel view and rearrange Media Categories, touching Home button will always bring you to the first selection in that list. I know, it is probably hard to visualize it by just reading this, but it is a lot of fun playing with it, especially since GUI is relatively fast.
All the way at the bottom of the screen you have 3 shortcuts buttons, Services (for easy access to all the apps), Home button which I already talked about before, and Back button, which is no longer floating while covering the screen, it is dedicated and always visible button at the bottom of the screen. Above it in the Main Home screen, you have a Playback control strip with a name of the currently playing song/artist and Play/Pause and Skip controls. Tapping on it brings up a familiar Playback screen window where the embedded artwork occupies top half of the screen and tapping on it expands the view and shows lyrics if one is available. Swiping this window down brings you back to the main Home screen. Below it you get a summary of song format (bit depth, sampling rate, file type) and a shortcut to tag the song as Favorite or another 3-dot shortcut with additional functions. Then, you have song artist/title and a scrub bar to advance through the song. Playback touch controls are underneath of that along with Play mode controls.
Swiping down notification bar gives you access to shortcuts to access various controls which you can toggle on/off or long press to get to their corresponding Settings screen. Here you have Wifi, Bluetooth, NOS/OS, AMP (Class A/AB), EQ, Car Mode, Line Out, Gapless, Wheel Lock, and Settings. At the bottom of open notification bar, you also have Brightness control. The full Settings window has more controls, partitioned in sections. Other controls you can find here are to select Bluetooth Codec, AK Connect and File Drop, L/R balance, Playback setting. Other usual controls for A&K CD Ripper, USB Mode and Audio output format, S/PDIF Conversion, Car Mode, setting Volume limit, enabling Double-Tap Screen to wake, LED indication options. And the typical date/time change, language and keyboard selection, timer settings, FW update, System info, and System Reset.
EQ is a big deal for some audiophiles, and here it hasn’t been changed. You still have one blank EQ preset and no other genre specific presets, and you can add many custom EQ presets. EQ interface has two modes: Main and Advance. In the Main you have standard Paragraphic EQ sliders for 20 bands (30, 45, 60, 90, 120, 180, 250, 380, 500, 750, 1k, 1.5k, 2k, 3k, 4k, 6k, 8k, 12k, 14k, and 18k) where you can either slide the bar or use a precise 0.1 adjustment, as well as scrolling through available frequencies. As you adjust, it gets reflected in the lower right corner, showing the overall shape of EQ. Switching to Advance, turns EQ adjustment into Semi-Parametric EQ with a full GUI view of EQ shape where underneath you have FREQ band selection (a choice of 20), Gain selection in 0.1 and 0.01 steps, and Q bandwidth. Since bands frequency is fixed, I consider this to be semi-Parametric EQ.
Sound Analysis.
The sound analysis of SE300 was done using Aroma Jewel, playing a selection of test tracks, such as Agnes Obel “The curse”, Sandro Cavazza “So much better” (Avicii remix), C-Bool “Never go away”, Ed Sheeran “Shape of you”, Alan Walker “Darkside”, Galantis “Hunter”, Iggy Azalea “Black widow”, Indila “Boite en argent”, Dua Lipa “Love again”, Counting Crows “Big yellow taxi”, David Elias “Vision of her”, and Michael Jackson “Dirty Diana”. I had about 100hrs of burn in time before I started analyzing SE300.
I prefer to describe the DAP sound based on the comparison to other DAPs and pair ups with different IEMs/headphones since the DAP by itself doesn’t have a “sound”. What we hear is how it sounds through connected IEMs/headphones or the difference in sound relative to source comparison using the same pair of IEMs/headphones. This is my subjective opinion, describing how I hear it while analyzing the sound of SE300, and you will get a bigger picture about this DAP’s sound in the follow up sections of Comparison and Pair up.
In a summary, SE300 has a smooth natural tonality with an analog texture that adds a bit of warm coloring to the sound. It has a wide soundstage expansion, though not too wide or holographic, bringing the listener closer to the music, giving you a more intimate feeling, like you are a few rows away from the stage and the performer. The smoother analog tonality also yields a more natural layering and separation of the sounds, and by that, I mean not too much "air" between the layers. Despite smoother nature of the tuning, the retrieval of details is still very good, with the sound being quite resolving though not exactly micro-detailed.
With many IEMs I tested, the sound tuning does stand out with an excellent rendition of bass, enhancing its impact, weight, and texture. It doesn't just boost the lower end, but enhances its performance, especially when dealing with DD drivers. Also, I noticed with many IEMs the mids had a fuller body and a distinct analog texture. And the same with treble, sounding more natural, and a bit smoother to my ears. Furthermore, while I wouldn’t say the background was super black like in SP3k with details popping out of the blackness, it was dead quiet with sensitive IEMs even in high gain setting.
4.4mm/2.5mm vs 3.5mm – When comparing balanced versus single ended outputs, the sound tonality is identical. The only difference I hear is in soundstage expansion where the perception of 4.4mm and 2.5mm balanced outputs is wider than 3.5mm. As expected, 4.4mm and 2.5mm are the same. And another obvious difference is SE being less powerful, requiring me about 10 more clicks to match the volume of BAL output.
NOS vs OS - NOS gives the sound a smoother and more analog flavor. I went a dozen of times back and forth, and even in a blind test it is not hard to distinguish how NOS takes a digital edge off the sound, giving it a smoother tonality with a little more analog texture.
Class A vs Class AB - I hear a noticeable change in tonality and "speed" of the sound. Class A has a fuller body mids and more laidback sound with a slower attack, slower pace of the rhythm. When you switch to Class AB, the mids are a bit more revealing and the overall sound has faster attack, faster toe-tapping pace. I preferred Class AB with EDM, Pop/Rock, and any Top40 songs. For acoustic, instrumental, or classical music I like Class A setting. It will also depend on earphones and headphones and their pair up synergy with either A or AB.
Normal vs High Gain - the difference in volume is about 8 clicks. The sound change associated with a gain setting will depend on your earphones and headphones. With most of the multi-BAs or BA/EST hybrids it didn't make much difference. With some hybrids that included DD/BA/EST, high gain had a slight improvement in texture, though it could be related to an artifact of higher volume of listening. On the other hand, 470ohm ATH-R70x came alive with improved dynamics and tighter bass when switched to high gain.
Comparison.
In every comparison I used Aroma Jewel, volume matched while listening to the same test tracks between DAPs. Also, in this comparison I mostly focusing on the difference in sound as I hear it.
SE300 vs SP3000 - 3000 not going to be 10x better than 300
, but there are differences between the SP flagship and SE model. SP3k tonality is more neutral, the background is blacker, and the soundstage is wider. In comparison, SE has more analog coloring, not warmer by a margin, but smoother in comparison to SP. And the same goes for the background where SP is pitch black, while relative to SP the SE background is not exactly. SE soundstage is wide but not on the same level of width as SP. SE is more like a smoother and more analog tuned version of SP with a little more intimate presentation of the sound. Also, both share the same updated fast interface.SE300 vs SE180 w/ESS board (SEM1) - Right away noticed a difference in soundstage presentation where 300 has more width and brings sound closer to you, while 180 has a narrower soundstage and extends the sound further out of your head. 300 tonality is smoother, more analog, more textured, while 180 is brighter, more revealing, and more digital in comparison. One thing that stood out was the punch and the extension of Jewel's bass with SE300 while with SE180 the bass was more relaxed, slower, and not as layered. I used SEM1 with ESS dac due to its smoother tonality in comparison to another SEM2 (w/AKM), but still, SE300 felt more analog and smoother in comparison. Not to mention that SE180 is built on an older SE platform with a slower processor and older interface, making SE300 operation a lot of faster and smoother, like SP3000.
SE300 vs Cayin N6ii w/R01 - A few differences in this comparison. While the soundstage expansion is not too far off, SE was just a touch wider in comparison with R01. Tonality of SE is a little warmer and smoother in comparison to R01. I also can hear a little blacker background with R01, but all these intimate comparison details will depend on the sound sig of your IEMs or headphones. For example, it was easier to pick up differences with Jewel, and not so much with RN6.
SE300 vs L&P P6 Pro - relative to testing and comparing with Jewel, their tonality is not too far off. P6 Pro is just a little bit smoother, but you can get close when switching SE300 from Class AB to Class A. Also, P6 Pro soundstage is a bit wider, and I did find P6 Pro to have a blacker background. And of course, even with its closed Android system, SE300 still has more functionality in comparison to audio playback only P6 Pro which has a more limited interface.
SE300 vs Hiby RS6 - Another R-2R comparison some might be interested in. From a soundstage perspective, I thought SE300 was just a touch wider. Other than that, they both have a similar technical performance, including a similar level of vertical sound dynamics expansion and the level of background blackness. But their tonality is different. RS6 is brighter, more revealing, while SE300 is smoother, with more analog texture, and warmer coloring.
SE300 vs Hiby RS8 - Decided to compare this one as well. Relative to Jewel, SE300 soundstage width is very similar, maybe with SE being even a touch wider than RS8. RS8 tonality is more revealing in comparison to smoother more analog tonality of SE300. I also noticed RS8 to have some improvement in vertical dynamics and layering of the sounds, but SE yields a much better bass impact, stronger and more articulate punch in comparison to RS8 having a little slower and more laidback presentation of the bass.
Pair up.
Here is how SE300 pairs up with some IEMs and headphones. In each pair up I noted my preference of gain setting and amp mode setting. All were connected using 4.4mm BAL.
IEMs.
FirAudio RN6 - High gain boosted the bass impact, pushing it more toward L-shaped sound sig. Then, Class A made lower mids thicker in tonality, taking away clarity from the mids. Thus, I preferred to switch to Normal gain and Class AB which made the sound sig more balanced, improving bass control (decay), and giving mids more clarity and better retrieval of details.
Aroma Jewel - Here, I preferred high gain over normal because it gave its DD bass more texture, tighter control, and better articulation. With amp modes, I thought that Class A sounded better due to more revealing nature of Jewel's tuning, but Class A took a step back in terms of resolution and made mids a bit smoother for my liking, so I switched back to Class AB for higher resolution and more precise layering.
EE Odin - This one was a bit of a surprise because I thought Odin's DD bass will be a perfect fit with High gain, but it made upper frequencies a bit piercing to my ears, so I switched to Normal gain which made upper mids and lower treble sound more natural in tonality. With Class A vs AB, it wasn't even a question, A added more warmth to the mids, giving the sound more organic tonality without compromising the resolution, so Normal gain with Class A hit the sweet spot with Odin to my ears.
UM Mentor Multiverse - here, either Normal or High gain made no difference in tonality, aside from me just adjusting the volume. So, either one is fine with MM. But Class A vs AB did make a noticeable difference, giving the sound a more laidback tonality with A vs "sharpening" the details and improving layering and separation of the sounds with AB. Also, with Class AB I can hear a bit more air in treble. For MM, I enjoyed Normal gain and Class AB.
Headphones.
Audio-Technica ATH-R70x - As I already mentioned, R70x came alive when switching to High gain. I heard improvements in sound dynamics, with more vertical expansion vs being a bit more compressed in Normal gain. Also, bass sounds tighter, faster, more precise in High gain. With amp mode selection, Class AB complemented nicely the High gain setting, improving the layering and separation of the sound. In comparison, Class A made mids a bit duller, losing some of the nuances in sound and having lower level of detail retrieval.
Meze Audio Empyrean - When it comes to full size and planar magnetic, you would assume that high gain will be better, but turned out that here it made no difference with either High or Normal gain, just had to adjust the volume to compensate for lower gain. But it made a noticeable difference switching Class A vs Class AB. Class A made mids a bit muffled and took away from clarity in vocals. Switching to Class AB improved the retrieval of details and "cleaned up" lower mids to give vocals better clarity.
Wired and wireless connections.
Besides being a portable DAP, you can expand SE300 functionality as a transport to drive external DAC/amp, to use external AMP, or to turn the DAP into wired/wireless usb DAC. And of course, you don’t have to be limited to wired headphones, and can take advantage of Wireless Bluetooth connection. Here is what I tested.
WiFi Streaming.
As I already mentioned, while SE300 has a closed Android system, you have a whitelist of available popular streaming apps to install. These are full app versions that look and function the same as if you would be running it on your Android smartphone or Android DAPs. Also, you no longer need to rely on a floating “back” button since this one is fixed at the bottom. Furthermore, while running streaming apps, you can swipe down the notification bar to see app’s playback controls.
Wireless/Bluetooth.
I tested SE300 BT Tx with Final ZE8000 TWS and Hiby WH2, confirmed operation within 25ft, including full remote control. 25ft operation in open space was OK and the sound was the same as when connected to my S22, except I get close to 50ft when using it with my smartphone.
SE300 also has Bluetooth Sink Mode (BT Receiver) which sets the DAP as a wireless DAC/amp. Under Bluetooth setting of SE300, turn on Sink Mode and then scan for BT devices from your phone to pair up with SE300. Once connected, under the paired-up device on your smartphone click settings and turn on LDAC for SE300. The volume can be adjusted from both your smartphone and DAP, and SE300 will display the song/artists name, and I was able to control the playback (play, pause, skip) straight from the DAP.
USB Audio Out.
I tested and verified this one with various popular USB DAC dongles, such as Cayin RU6, Lotoo S2, and L&P W2, and found it to work flawless, just plug and go. Once connected, volume on SE300 is fixed at max 150, thus it is helpful to use external USB DAC dongles with their own volume control. The sound quality was no different than when connected to my Galaxy S22 phone.
USB DAC.
Tested this one with my ThinkPad T480s under Win10. Once connected, by default USB mode is set to MTP so you can view the storage. In settings of the DAP, go to USB Mode and select DAC Input which going to activate USB DAC mode. Within seconds SE300 was recognized as AK USB DAC output in Windows sound settings, and I was able to control the volume from both, the laptop and SE300. The sound using DAP by itself vs USB DAC connected to the laptop was the same.
Optical Out.
Was using iFi micro iDSD BL for this testing, nothing needs to be selected or enabled, just connect optical cable to 3.5mm port and start playing. Optical output was detected automatically, SE300 volume was set to max 150, and I was controlling the output from micro iDSD. Other than that, no surprises using SE300 as a transport to drive the external DAC/amp where I’m hearing a typical micro iDSD tonality.
Line Out.
I tested LO with Cayin C9 amp. Just connect either SE or BAL outputs, select Line Out from Notification bar shortcut or go to Settings, and under Line Out option select the output voltage level where you have 4 choices of unbal/bal: 0.7V/1.4V, 1V/2V, 1.25V/2.5V, or 2V/4V. Then, as you turn the volume wheel, you activate Line Out by switching it to a fixed voltage output. The volume was adjustable from C9 amp.
Conclusion.
As I already mentioned in my other DAP reviews, we are at the point where it is hard to come up with groundbreaking innovations, and there is no longer a huge gap between mid-fi, upper mid-fi, and summit-fi audio performance. When it comes to Astell & Kern and their flagship A&ultima (SP) releases, their focus is more on fine tuning improvements rather than drastic changes in sound or the design. On the other hand, their A&futura (SE) series became a platform for cool new features you won’t find in A&ultima. This was the first one for A&K, stepping away from a traditional design with Delta Sigma DACs, and switching to an all-discrete resistor ladder design of R-2R DAC, complemented with Class A and Class AB amp modes, and even NOS to bypass the oversampling.
It's not the first DAP to implement these features or R-2R discrete resistor DAC design, but it’s one of the first A&K DAPs with such a plethora of sound tuning options that was truly a fun to play around with as I was switching between Gain settings, Amp modes, Oversampling and Non-Oversampling to find a sweet spot while fine-tuning the natural analog tonality of this hi-res DAP in search of the best pair-up synergy with my earphones and headphones. SE300 will appeal not just to diehard fans of A&K DAPs, but also to many other audiophiles looking to complement their one-trick pony sources with something different and more fun. I think even SP3000 owners will find SE300 quite appealing.h
The product was provided to me free of charge for the review purpose in exchange for my honest opinion. The review was originally posted on my site, and now I would like to share it with my readers on Head-fi.
Manufacturer/product website: Campfire Audio. Available for sale directly or authorized retailers like Bloom Audio.
Intro.
When you bring up a new Campfire Audio (CFA) flagship release, some audiophiles assume a new version of Andromeda or Solaris. I mean, it is not uncommon for manufacturers to release MKII or even MKIII versions of their popular IEMs. But quite often you hear people talk about the new version being an improvement over the previous one. CFA releases seem to follow a different path where I hear from my readers about them collecting different versions of Andro and finding each tuning to be unique rather than an improvement over the previous one. The same with Solaris where people often ask me questions about both OG and ’20 versions. Obviously, there is still a high demand for both of these IEMs, but it doesn’t mean that Ken and Caleb, the dynamic Campfire Audio duo, hasn’t been experimenting with new ideas.
Known for their thinking outside the box, they constantly explore new BA and DD drivers in addition to new shell materials. And while attending many global audio shows, they are often approached by various transducer manufacturers. That is how they recently discovered a new set of subminiature planar drivers, implemented in their latest Supermoon (SM) release, which is still designed and hand assembled in Portland, OR. I’m surprised it didn’t get more attention, though I think one of the reasons is probably due to it being CIEM only. CFA does offer uni demo at the shows, and even had a limited uni run which sold out quickly. But some people are still afraid of custom commitment, so I hope my review can provide more info for those who have been curious about this latest CFA release. Here is more about Supermoon.
Unboxing and Accessories.
The unboxing experience of SM is similar to their ’20 releases of Andro and Solaris, and still feels like “a box of chocolate”. These IEMs arrived in a compact package with a wrapping held together by a sticker on the back which you need to cut/remove to unfold the top layer like it’s an origami. The wrapping cover and the actual box have the same starry sky scheme, and the box looks like it’s made from a recycled paper. It actually looks nice, something you can place on your desk or a bookshelf, rather than discard after opening.
Inside you will find a premium black leather earphone case with a thick faux wool lining and a quality zipper. The case is an average size, still pocket friendly, and great for storage and keeping IEMs secure during transport. I always appreciate their wallet-like zippered design with side wall protection where nothing falls out as you unzip it. For some it’s a small detail, but for me it’s a big deal.
Other included accessories are a double-pocket mesh protection sleeve, to keep shells separated while inside the case. Also, a cleaning tool, Campfire Audio traditional lapel pin, cleaning clothe, and another small mesh sleeve to store these accessories. Stock super smoky Litz SPC cable was included, and you can select termination when ordering. I also received generic silicone eartips (s/m/l) and marshmallow eartips (s/m/l) since my review unit was universal, not custom. Obviously, the original SM ciem will not include eartips, but I’m glad they did with uni version. More about this in Eartips selection section.
Design.
SM is designed as solid-body custom in-ear monitors, 3D printed and hand polished from a solid block of material. The design itself starts with a custom ear impression which is scanned and optimized, including manipulation of internal acoustic chamber to fit the custom shape of the shell. The uni shell I received, also used as a demo during shows, is based on CIEM design and carefully crafted to make its fit universal, including a short nozzle with a lip for eartips. On the outside, you have stainless steel cap “faceplate” and the cable connector featuring custom beryllium copper mmcx socket. Since the cable plug and the shell socket are matched in material and tolerance, the connection is solid and secure.
While you have options of different eartips when dealing with uni model to “customize” your fit, with ciems you have to go by your ear impression. Here, CFA decided to offer an option of two different custom fits, audiophile and artist. Audiophile fit will have a shorter, shallower nozzle which should give you a more comfortable fit for daily use. Artist fit will have a longer nozzle with a deeper and more secure fit and improved isolation as a result of it. I can’t judge how these will sound in comparison since I can’t A/B them, but I heard from some people that artist fit might be slightly brighter in tonality. Of course, everything is relative to your ear anatomy and how you hear things.
Inside, you have 14mm full-range custom Planar Magnetic Driver (PMD) with 2-micron thick diaphragm. For a solid design, this is the only “moving” part inside the shell. The full range PMD covers a wide spectrum of 5Hz to 20kHz FR, the reason CFA was able to tune SM without a need for a hybrid design with additional drivers. The impedance of this IEM is average, 15.5ohms, but the sensitivity is a bit on a lower side at 94dB, which requires extra clicks of volume to bring it up to the same listening level as other average sensitivity iems. But no extra power is required to drive them efficiently to their full potential.
Cable design.
The included stock smoke Litz SPC cable was introduced back with 2020 CFA releases, and offers 3 termination options. The singled ended 3.5mm TRS and balanced 2.5mm TRRS termination have 90-deg gold-plated plug and over-molded rubbery housing with a nice grip and built-in strain relief. 4.4mm TRRRS plug, often out of stock due to its popularity, is straight and with gold-color housing. The 4 twisted Silver-Plated Copper Litz multi diameter stranding wire conductors have a smoky finish with a medical grade soft PVC jacket. The y-split is a slim aluminum black “bullet” with a matching chin slider which retracts from the split.
The wires going to each earpiece after the split are twisted, and closer to mmcx connector housing have a piece of heat-shrink pre-shaped flexible earhook. As I already mentioned, the mmcx connector itself uses a quality beryllium copper material, and the smoky housing of the connector has red dot to indicate Right side. I also noticed on SM product page an option for Artist 3.5mm red/blue cable, probably for an even easier id of the sides.
The fit (uni).
Sound Analysis.
I analyzed Supermoon sound performance paired up with LPGT while playing a variety of test tracks, such as Agnes Obel “The curse”, Sandro Cavazza “So much better” (Avicii remix), C-Bool “Never go away”, Ed Sheeran “Shape of you”, Alan Walker “Darkside”, Galantis “Hunter”, Iggy Azalea “Black widow”, Indila “Boite en argent”, Dua Lipa “Love again”, Counting Crows “Big yellow taxi”, Bob Marley “Jamming”, David Elias “Vision of her”, and Michael Jackson “Dirty Diana”. The sound analysis was done after about 150hrs of playback time, so it has plenty of burn in time. Also, I used the provided foam eartips, and this sound description should be close to what you would expect from Audiophile fit.
Supermoon has a balanced signature with a clear detailed tonality, deep analog quality bass, and natural non-fatigue upper frequencies. For those who were able to get their hands on universal version of SM, eartips selection is crucial. If you decide to use silicone eartips with a narrow bore opening, you will hear a more exaggerated peak around 8kHz which is going to yield a bit more aggressive mid-treble definition. With universal pair of SM to get the sound closer to a custom version, you need to start with provided foam eartips which do a great job attenuating down that peak, resulting in a more natural revealing tonality of upper frequencies.
SM is my first single Planar Magnetic Driver (PMD) iem, and I was expecting a coherent performance typical of a single driver design. But the unique nature of these PMD drivers turned SM performance into something I would describe as coherent-hybrid. When you are dealing with IEMs that have DD bass and BA/EST mids and highs, often you can hear a clear separation between the bass and the mids, almost like lower mids were scooped out to give the bass shorter decay and more control, making it stand out. Other IEMs have a more coherent tuning with all drivers working in unison. Here, you get the best of both worlds, a coherency of a single driver tuning and the bass performance typical of a hybrid tuning which makes low end stand out.
Bass has a deep extension and a noticeable lift, down to a textured analog rumble of sub-bass which gives the bass its fullness and extra weight. The mid-bass punch has a slower and more rounded impact, blending in perfectly with a sub-bass. We are talking about bass with the weight and the impact of a pure dynamic-driver analog performance. It is not overpowering or spilling into mids, as a matter of fact, it has a well-controlled note decay.
Lower mids are closer to neutral, with a little extra body, but not too thick. They definitely do contribute to the overall tonality with a more natural warmth without any extra thickness. Upper mids are clear and detailed, with a tastefully done pinna gain boost around 2kHz to bring out more details in vocals and instruments without any shoutiness, and still exhibiting quite a natural tonality.
Lower treble, as already mentioned, could be tricky since SM was designed around custom version. In my case, while listening to uni, foam eartips didn't just provide a perfect custom-like fit and seal, but also kept the sound less fatigue and more natural. The treble definitely contributes to a great level of definition and resolution of the sound without being fatigue. The extension does have plenty of airiness as well, but more on a moderate level. Treble is not rolled off, it has a very good natural extension, just a bit less airiness.
The soundstage expansion is quite wide and deep, expanding on holographic level with a 3D-like imaging. You do feel like being on stage with a performing artist, being surrounded by a sound, instead of the sound being out of your head farther away. The layering and separation are pretty good too. I wouldn't say I hear a lot of air between the layers, and it’s probably due to a nature of the treble extension. But the actual layering and separation of the instruments is quite distinct with every element of the sound in focus and easily identified.
There is also one interesting effect I noticed with some of the EDM songs where you have a lot of the layered synthesized instruments. I assume it is due to the nature of PMD design where it responds fine to macro-dynamics changes in volume over the whole songs (parts of the song which are louder or quieter), but sometimes doesn’t respond as swift to micro-dynamics changes with fast transients within small parts of the song. I haven’t noticed this effect in acoustic or classical or jazzy tunes, but I did with some of the EDM tracks with synthesized instruments. But overall, it performs well with any genre of the music.
Also, absolutely no hissing and pure black background with all the sources I tried.
Eartips Selection.
The selection of eartips is crucial to any universal in-ear monitor and will affect the sound, especially the bass impact depending on the seal. Due to a large opening of my earcanals, I usually go for the largest size eartips to get a better seal. Also, please keep in mind, eartips impressions are subjective and will be based on anatomy of your ears. I’m just sharing my experience and describing what I hear, and hope some will find this info useful in general despite the fact that SM is custom IEM. You never know, Ken and Caleb can surprise us down the road.
So, eartips selection here was a challenge for me since it can make or break the mid-treble, going from harsher and fatigue to more natural and tolerable. From the get-go, I found narrow bore tips to be a no-go for my ears. Wider bore tips were better, like Azla Sedna (short stem version) or JVC Spiral Dot, but the sound can still get a bit bright even with those.
Then, I remembered Ken saying that for a sound sig closer to a custom fit you need to try foamies. Keeping that in mind, I started with Symbio F, my go-to foam eartips. It does gives you the sound similar to wider bore opening silicone eartips, and I was OK with it. Then, I remembered that CFA also included their own foam marshmallow eartips. Decided to try it and was pleasantly surprised, even graphed the comparison between Xelastec vs CFA Foamies.
In case of uni SM, foam eartips is the must to get custom like tuning and smoother mid-treble.
Comparison.
The sound comparison was done using SM with a stock cable, stock foam eartips, and LPGT source; volume matched in every comparison and volume noted with “v”.
Supermoon (v43) vs Andro '20 (v29) - these two have a very different tuning, but I'm sure many still will be curious how it compares. Starting with soundstage analysis, as many are aware, Andro soundstage is wide, but Supermoon stretches it a bit wider and gives imaging more 3D perception. Soundstage change is not as big here, but imaging and how instruments positioned in space is more noticeable. Then, we have the bass, where Supermoon scales up by a noticeable amount, especially in depth and weight of the sub-bass. Supermoon delivers a bass performance of a powerful DD driver, especially the amount of sub bass rumble. Lower mids are leaner in Supermoon while have a fuller body in Andro, but that completely flips as you go into upper mids where Supermoon pushes the vocals more forward and has more clarity which gives SM a more revealing upper frequencies tonality. And the same with a mid-treble where Supermoon has more energy while Andro is smoother and more polite in comparison. Another big difference is in sensitivity level where you need around 14-15 more clicks for Supermoon to match Andro level. And last but not the least, no hissing with SM, while you know how it goes with Andro.
Supermoon (v43) vs Solaris '20 (v29) - Solaris gets closer in soundstage expansion and imaging of Supermoon, but I'm still haring SM to be slightly ahead, not by a lot, just a small margin. Solaris sub-bass has deeper extension than Andro, but still nowhere near the depth and the weight of the Supermoon sub-bass rumble. Supermoon lower mids are still leaner in comparison to Solaris, but Solaris by itself has leaner lower mids in comparison to Andro as well. Solaris 2k pina gain gives the sound more clarity and better retrieval of details relative to Andro, but Supermoon still scales it up a bit higher when it comes to upper mids. Solaris mid-treble is scaled down just a little below Supermoon, taking the edge of the treble energy. And the same as with Andro, lower sensitivity of Supermoon requires higher volume level, and you also get no hissing with SM.
Supermoon (v43) vs UM Mest MKII (v38) - I have no doubt many will be interested in this comparison. Both have a very similar 3D level of imaging and sound placement, but Supermoon soundstage width still stretches a little bit wider. Now, when it comes to the bass, they almost match each other with a very similar deep sub-bass rumble and a strong mid-bass impact. They also have a similar leaner lower mids, but it all changes around upper mids. The pina gain region is more pronounced in Supermoon, bringing vocals more forward while the mild U-shaped sound sig of Mest MKII pulls the vocals a little back. Now, even so Mest MKII mid-treble is not as elevated as in Supermoon, the contrast between its mids and treble makes Mest MKII sound crisper and brighter in upper frequencies. Opposite to that, Supermoon has more elevated mid-treble peaks which creates a better balance with its more forward upper mids pina gain region, making SM upper frequencies as revealing but not as crisp as MKII.
Supermoon (v43) vs 64 Audio Trio (v39) - And, if we are talking about the bass and the treble, there is no way to avoid a comparison with Trio. Here the soundstage and the imaging come very close. The depth and the elevation of sub-bass rumble is not too far off either, maybe with Supermoon having just a touch more sub-bass rumble, while Trio having a bit stronger mid-bass impact. They both have a leaner lower mids which creates a more definitive separation between the bass and the upper mids/vocals. Even their upper mids are quite similar, especially when you are listening and comparing the clarity and the retrieval of details. The biggest difference here is in mid- and upper treble where Trio is brighter, crisper, and harsher, while Supermoon treble sounds more natural.
Source pair up.
Supermoon has an average 15.5ohm impedance and lower sensitivity of 94dB which is still not too hard to drive. As you can see from the above comparisons, I did have to raise the volume by about 12-13 more clicks, but I found it to be OK with portable DAPs without a need for an external amp. Also, with all the DAPs no hissing was detected. For your reference, here are my brief pair up notes. And by brief, I just focus on any changes related to a sound sig and general tonality.
Lotoo PAW Gold Touch LPGT (baseline) - as previously mentioned, this is my baseline source where I hear a balanced signature with a clear detailed tonality and natural non-fatigue upper frequencies. Big soundstage expansion/imaging and hiss-free sound.
Shanling M9 - in this pair up I hear bass to be slightly elevated and noticeably punchier, and the same with mid-treble, being slightly elevated to give the sound a bit brighter and more revealing tonality. While it sounds smoother with LPGT, pair up with M9 brings back some of that upper frequency energy which you loose with foam eartips. Also, big expanded soundstage and hiss-free sound performance.
Sony WM1ZM2 - the pair up with 1ZM2 is almost like a crossover between LPGT and M9, you get a smoother more rounded low end performance and more revealing brighter upper frequencies. Still, all non-fatigue, big holographic soundstage, and pure black background with a hiss-free performance.
Cayin N8ii - this pair up is similar to M9 performance with a powerful punchy bass and very clear and detailed mids, and high-resolution revealing highs. That's how it sounded with P+ boost enabled. Once I switch to lower output voltage P, the bass remained tight and powerful, but upper mids and lower treble became a little smoother and more organic. Soundstage remained the same, big and open, and I was still enjoying hiss-free performance.
iBasso DX320 w/amp11 mk2s - sounds very similar to N8ii with P+ output mode, having a powerful punchy bass and clear detailed mids along with resolving crisp treble. I still don't find this to be fatigue, and I'm sure with amp13 it will be smoother and more natural. As expected, still a big holographic soundstage and hiss-free performance.
Hiby RS8 - this pair up is close to N8ii and actually sounds like being between P+ and P output settings. The bass is powerful and punchy, mids and treble are very natural, clear, detailed, a little more revealing than N8ii's setting of P and a bit smoother than P+. I think this pair up hit a sweet spot for me. The soundstage is still big and expanded with holographic imaging. And, totally hiss-free performance.
Conclusion.
With an exception of a recently introduced limited run Trifecta, Campfire Audio product portfolio includes many IEMs from $199 entry level and up to $1,500 flagships, including Supermoon. Just think about it, $1,500 high quality PMD flagship while some other brands have their entry level IEMs starting around $1k-$1.5k price mark. I think that is an accomplishment considering everything is designed, manufactured, and hand assembled locally in US, while keeping the price at a very reasonable level. But these IEMs are not just great because of their price, but the actual tuning and craftsmanship of the design.
While I’m curious to try now other PMD based IEMs, I can tell you with certainty that Supermoon set a very high bar with its textured deep DD-like bass impact, clear detailed mids, hi-res non-fatigue treble, and holographic soundstage expansion. Yes, my test unit is universal and I had to use foam eartips that made a world of difference. Unfortunately, my ears don’t work well with CIEM, and for those who are interested, CFA offers 2 different CIEM styles. But regardless of that, I really wish and hope for Supermoon to be released officially in universal shell to let more audiophiles discover this new gem from Campfire Audio.
corgifall
Great review as always! I'm happy to see some new original products being released by CFA
The product was sent to me free of charge for the review purpose in exchange for my honest opinion. The review was originally posted on my site, and now I would like to share it with my readers on Head-fi.
Manufacturer/product website: Meze Audio. Available for sale from authorized retailers like Bloom Audio.
Intro.
Back in February when I attended CanJam NYC, Meze team was very excited to let me hear their upcoming new pair of IEMs. I only had a brief listening session with these monitors while using my own eartips, just enough time to form a rather positive opinion about the tuning. A month later when Meze Advar was officially announced and made its debut at CanJam SGP, I was reading people’s impressions and thought to myself, did Meze Audio change the tuning? There was a number of comments talking about enjoying the bass and mids, while treble was too bright. I talked to some of these people and found out they used stock Type-E eartips with Advar during their auditioning.
As many are aware, when dealing with universal IEMs, eartips selection can either make or break the tuning. Obviously, we all have a different ear shape and earcanal anatomy, one size doesn’t fit all. That is why I can’t stress enough how important it is to try different eartips before finalizing the opinion about sound tuning. It’s also one of the reasons I made eartips rolling a permanent feature in all my reviews. And I’m not just talking about trying different eartip types, but also going up and down in size of the same eartips set. That’s exactly what I did when I received Advar for review before I spent the last month testing these new audio nuggets from Meze! Here is what I found.
Unboxing and Accessories.
The packaging box Advar arrived in is rather compact, with an outer sleeve featuring a symmetrical design artwork in gold print which supposed to represent Romanian folklore. Underneath, the top of the box cover features the same artwork but in glossy black. With cover removed, you will find a foam insert with Advar shells, like two glossy pieces of cufflinks jewelry. Below foam insert, there is a protective case with the rest of the accessories inside.
Included were 5 pairs (SS, S, M, L, LL) of Final Audio Type-E brand name ear tips, a cleaning tool with a brush and a long flexible cleaning whisker, MMCX removal tool, hard shell mini-case, and a cable. The custom shaped protective EVA hard case is the same I found with Rai Penta, just slightly modified inside. It’s not a real leather, this is EVA material, but it looks like a real leather and has a protective hard shell with a soft inner lining and mesh pockets on each side. On the outside, you have a metal Meze Audio logo and even a little loop to clip the case.
The idea behind the MMCX assist removal tool is to align it with a joint, wedging it between cable and the connector, and squeeze the claw to disconnect cable from earpieces. Final Audio also included a basic plastic tool with the same functionality, but theirs was flimsy and broke after a few uses. The MMCX removal tool from Meze has a durable built, cool look, and keychain-like design.
The included cable looks great too, and it’s the same one that was included with Rai Penta. According to Meze, this is higher purity silver plated copper (SPC), 4 twisted wire conductors with each having 20 litz strands. The IEM side connector has MMCX plug inside of a clear transparent housing with a red color mark for right side. The cable has a flexible heat-shrink pre-shaped earhook, custom y-split with Meze audio symbol, clear plastic chin-slider, and a matching custom Meze audio branded connector plug. The stock cable comes with 3.5mm gold plated plug, and Meze also offers optional 2.5mm and 4.4mm balanced terminated SPC cables. I got 4.4mm cable back when I received Rai Penta and was using it with Advar.
Advar unboxing experience is not over the top, but quite satisfying, and MMCX connector removal tool and cool IEM case add a custom touch to stand out from the crowd.
Design.
Meze calls Advar a “piece of visual and sound art”, and they are absolutely right. Every Meze product is like a work of art, and Advar is no exception. The shells are made of solid stainless-steel, produced by metal injection molding with CNC finishing. They are not lightweight, adding a nice 10g heft to your ears. The nozzle is on a shorter side with a mesh grill over the top. Because of that, Advar shells do have a shallow insertion, thus need a good set of eartips for secure fit. The shape of the shells is very ergonomic, fitting perfectly in concha-cavum area of my ear just outside of the ear canal. The shells itself have a black piano finish, with a large bronze-color “talisman” circle embedded into the faceplate. And I think the pinhole in the middle of that design is not just for decoration, but actually to vent DD driver, just like another pinhole at the base of the nozzle. The isolation was great, like two little earplugs in my ears.
Inside of these small shells, you have a single 10.2mm dynamic driver. I wasn’t able to find much info about the details of the internal design. But regardless, IEMs should be evaluated based on their sound, not necessary what is inside “under the hood”. I will cover all the sound analysis details in the follow up sections of the review.
The fit.
Sound Analysis.
I analyzed Advar sound performance paired up with LPGT and N8ii while playing a variety of test tracks, such as Agnes Obel “The curse”, Sandro Cavazza “So much better” (Avicii remix), C-Bool “Never go away”, Ed Sheeran “Shape of you”, Alan Walker “Darkside”, Galantis “Hunter”, Iggy Azalea “Black widow”, Indila “Boite en argent”, Dua Lipa “Love again”, Counting Crows “Big yellow taxi”, Bob Marley “Jamming”, David Elias “Vision of her”, and Michael Jackson “Dirty Diana”. To make sure DD driver is properly conditioned, I let it burn in for about 100hrs before starting sound analysis.
I found ADVAR to have a balanced sound signature with a clear revealing tonality. The sound has a vivid presentation, but in a natural rather than analytical way. So, with a right selection of eartips, you get a high level of clarity and detail retrieval with a bit colder tonality and overall airy open presentation of the sound which is still surprisingly natural and no-fatigue to my ears.
Bass goes deep with a nicely textured and a bit elevated rumble, mid-bass punch is not as fast but has a tight impact and good control due to a faster decay. Overall, bass has a nice solid weight with a relatively tight articulate presentation; it’s above neutral but not too exaggerated. Lower mids are more neutral, one of the reasons you won't hear as much warmth in the sound, and upper mids have a natural revealing tonality, with lots of clarity and great retrieval of details. Treble is where eartips selection going to play the most crucial part. The lower treble can go from harsh and piercing if you have a poor seal, to vivid and naturally resolving when you hit the sweet spot with the right set of eartips. Once I found the right pair of eartips for my ears, the level of natural clarity and airy extension was just perfect.
The airy open presentation of Advar tuning results in an excellent layering and separation of the sounds, literally with air between the layers and great expansion of vertical dynamics. Also, the soundstage expansion is big, spreading wide, deep, tall in every direction, creating 3D holographic imaging with a relatively accurate positioning of instruments and vocals in space.
But again, to achieve this level of sound quality you will need to invest time into tip rolling to get a perfect seal and balance between lows, mids, and highs. The short nozzle, shallow insertion, and a bit of heft in a shell weight requires the user to spend extra time going through different eartips to find a sweet spot for a tonal balance.
Cable pair up.
Preamble.
I’m aware that some people don’t believe in cables and have very strong opinion about it. It’s not my intent to change those minds. Instead, I’m just sharing what I hear during my testing. What makes sense to me, a metal wire is a material with physical properties of resistivity, conductivity, purity, and unique geometry, all of which put together act as a filter between your source and headphones. Variations of these physical properties can affect the conductivity of analog signal, resulting in a sound change, from a subtle to a more noticeable level. If the talk about cables upsets you, you are welcome to skip this section.
Also, please keep in mind, I have a very small selection of mmcx cables because most of my cables are 2pin. Furthermore, I do have a number of EA cables with ConX connector to exchange between 2pin and MMCX tips, but I don’t think it makes sense to pair up IEMs with cables that cost 3x-4x more than IEM itself. I mean, I strongly encourage you to cable roll as well, but I can’t suggest with a straight face to buy a cable 4x the price of IEMs just to finetune the tonality.
Stock SPC to Dita OSLO – I hear a very similar tonality as with the stock cable, nearly identical sound.
Stock SPC to DDHiFi Sky – I hear a very similar tonality as with the stock cable, just being a touch brighter in lower treble.
Stock SPC to ALO Super Litz Cu/SPC hybrid – I hear it being not too far off, having a more balanced sound with a deep bass and natural clear mids, but lower treble is a touch smoother, fine-tuning the tonality.
Stock SPC to Linum SuperBax - SuperBax pushes the changes of ALO Super Litz cable even further, the same balanced tonality with a natural clear detailed mids, but lower treble is even more natural, finetuning it to perfection now.
Up to you if you want to upgrade the cable, though I would just get a balanced version of a stock cable as a minimum. Eartips rolling gives you a bigger change in sound finetuning.
Eartips Selection.
The selection of eartips is crucial to any universal in-ear monitors and will affect the sound, especially the bass impact depending on the seal. Due to a large opening of my earcanals, I usually go for the largest size eartips to get a better seal. Also, please keep in mind, eartips impressions are subjective and will be based on anatomy of your ears.
Final Type-E (stock) - the tuning balance is shifted toward upper mids and lower treble with a rather piercing lower treble peak. This is due to a poor seal I get even with LL size eartips because of their soft silicone cap material. It doesn’t mean these are bad eartips, but they were definitely no-go for me. And I spoke with a number of people who attended CanJam SGP and had similar impressions because they only tried it with stock Type-E eartips.
SpinFit CP100 - the tuning is more balanced but lower treble still has too much energy. It gives me a better seal then with Type-E, no longer as piercing, but still sounds rather bright in lower treble to my ears.
Symbio F - the bass gets a little deeper, and I hear a more natural tonality in upper mids/vocals, plus treble has more control.
Azla Crystal - a more balanced sound with a deeper bass and more natural clarity in upper mids, along with a crips and still well controlled treble.
Symbio F and Crystal eartips did the best job and worked better for my ears.
Comparison.
The comparison was done using Advar with stock cable and LPGT source; volume matched in every comparison.
Advar vs Meze Rai Penta - This was a very interesting comparison because of similarities and differences between these two Meze Audio IEMs. First of all, the soundstage expansion is quite similar between these two. Then, from the sub-bass and throughout mid-bass and lower mids they sound very similar. Going into upper mids is where Rai Penta pushes the sound level higher and more forward, scaling up between 1k-3k, giving vocals more forward presentation relative to Advar. But then, Rai Penta scales down and starts to roll off the treble earlier, which makes its treble sound smoother and reduces airiness and layering between the sound. In comparison, Advar brings more energy to lower treble which gives the sound higher resolution and more open airiness. If you want to extract more microdetails from the sound, Advar will be a better choice, while Rai Penta gives you a more natural and smoother tuning at the top.
Advar vs FAudio Dark Sky - Both of these single DD iems have a shallow insertion and require a thorough eartips rolling to find the right pair in order to keep lower treble under control. To start off with soundstage/imaging comparison, it is very similar with both offering a very wide/deep soundstage with 3D holographic imaging. Bass is more elevated in Dark Sky, scaling up the impact and the rumble. But what I found interesting, while the bass is stronger in DS, I don't feel like it has more weight. This is due to Dark Sky mids and lower treble being more forward, and its treble being brighter and a bit more piercing, thus tilting the scale of balance which takes away from Dark Sky bass impact. While there are many similarities, Advar mids and treble do sound more natural, still clear and revealing, but a bit less analytical. That last change is the biggest difference between their tunings.
Advar vs Final Audio A8000 - In this comparison the difference will be more noticeable, though both are following a similar tuning with a vivid presentation of the sound. Starting off with a soundstage, I do hear Advar spreading a little wider left/right, while both have the same depth expansion. Both have a bass with a deep sub-bass rumble, but Advar sub-bass is more elevated. The biggest difference in bass comes from mid-bass where A8k is a lot more neutral and not as elevated in comparison to a stronger punch of Advar. Also, lower mids of A8000 are leaner, below neutral level of Advar. Going into upper mids, tuning is reversed where A8000 has more pinna gain, pushing mids more forward in 2k-3k region which also makes them more analytical while Advar mids/vocals sound more natural in comparison. Lower treble also peaks earlier in A8k which can bring some sibilance to poorly recorded tracks. But in general, both have more energy and presence in lower treble, though Advar keeps it under a tighter control.
Advar vs Sennheiser IE800s - I know many are probably going to ask about the comparison with the latest IE900, but I don't have it, only IE800s, which apparently is still quite popular with many audiophiles (based on the comments and questions I receive). When it comes to a soundstage, both have a similar depth, while Advar has more width, spreading wider left/right. Mids tuning is quite different, with IE800s being more pulled back in comparison to a more forward Advar mids. As a matter of fact, IE800s peaks at around 1.5k and then rolls down, missing the pinna gain of Advar boost around 3k. As a result, Advar vocals have better clarity and higher resolution, while IE800s vocals sound a lot smoother and with a thicker body. Furthermore, IE800s lower treble is also scaled down, just having more emphasis in mid-treble. As a result, Advar sound has more presence and clarity. Coincidentally, when I looked at the FR of IE900, that lower treble area was lifted to give the sound more clarity, which could actually bring it closer to Advar level in treble tuning.
Source pair up.
Advar is easy to drive considering its 111dB sensitivity and 31ohm impedance. No hissing was detected which is typical for single DD iems. For your reference, here are my brief pair up notes. And by brief, I just focus on any changes related to a sound sig and general tonality, without going into too many details of technical performance difference.
Lotoo LPGT – I usually start off with it as my baseline neutral pair up where I found Advar to have a balanced sound, deeper bass, clear detailed mids, and energetic well controlled treble.
Cayin N8ii - I started with my usual P+/Tubes/Class AB setting and got hit with a dose of lower treble energy, was a bit too much for my ears, so I played with settings and found a sweet spot with P/Tubes/Class A. With this new setting, I was able to reach a tuning perfection with a punchy deep bass, natural detailed mids, and natural-revealing treble.
Sony WM1ZM2 (dsp effects on) – I hear a mildly U-shaped signature with a natural detailed tonality. Deep punchy bass, natural detailed mids that are pulled back just a bit, and crisp energetic non-fatigue treble.
Shanling M9 - The sound signature is balanced, but upper mids and lower treble are quite bright in this pair up. Not a good synergy to my ears.
Hiby RS6 (w/Erlkonig preset) - A perfectly balanced sound sig with a natural detailed tonality. Mids/vocals have fuller body with a perfect tonal balance across the entire frequency range. Bass is punchy, and treble sounds quite natural. Liked this pair up a lot.
iBasso DX240 w/amp8ii card - Here the sound is a little more v-shaped due to more lift in sub-bass and extra energy in lower treble. Btw, treble is not harsh, just has a bit of a lift together with more forward upper mids.
Cayin RU6 + Galaxy S22 – I probably saved the best for last. Tonality is similar to LPGT with just a little more body in the lower mids which gives the sound a more natural tonality and makes the treble sound smoother. Great pair up synergy.
Conclusion.
It probably feels like I turned the Intro of this review into the Conclusion with my discussion about eartips. I addressed it in the Intro because some people already made up their mind after auditioning Advar at CanJam SGP, missing out on full potential of what these hi-res audio nuggets can deliver. While having a unique shape, Advar has a shorter nozzle and shallower fit, making the eartips selection crucial not just for comfort and isolation, but also to make sure lower treble is non-fatigue and overall tuning is more balanced.
The included Type-E eartips are high quality, but it might not work for everybody, like it didn’t work for me. But once you invest some time into tip rolling to find that sweet spot, you will be rewarded with a balanced sound signature and clear revealing non-fatigue tonality. The high level of clarity and detail retrieval was impressive, and sound sig was nicely balanced with a deep textured bass extension and natural revealing mids/vocals. If this is a type of tuning you are looking for, you should give Meze Audio Advar a serious consideration!
alota
thank you for review. i wrote in your blog but i ask again. this iem is in my list after tried ca vega 2020. about tips, which is the diameter of the nozzles? the azla crystal is sold only in one diameter? thank you
gadgetgod
Great Review,
I also got to try this beauty recently at an event in my country. I love the smooth and inoffensive sound of these with an expansive soundstage. Although I am going to prefer IE600 as it sounds more neutral and more suited to my taste.
I also got to try this beauty recently at an event in my country. I love the smooth and inoffensive sound of these with an expansive soundstage. Although I am going to prefer IE600 as it sounds more neutral and more suited to my taste.
The Oath
Thank you for this great review. This was one of the ones that helped my decide on the Advar for my first purchase of headphones/IEM. Having them for a week now and can say I am very impressed with them. Did not expect an IEM to be able to have such good captivating sound. Being a home audio enthusiast my whole life that's all I had for reference. Now that I have taken the step into Head-Fi I am kicking myself for not getting into it sooner. The $ to SQ ratio is definitely a huge plus compared to home audio.
The product was provided to me free of charge for the review purpose in exchange for my honest opinion. The review was originally posted on my site, and now I would like to share it with my readers on Head-fi.
Manufacturer website: Shanling. Available for sale from a number of authorized on-line retailers like Musicteck.
Intro.
After posting the review of Shanling M8, last year on Tw6, we continue to receive many questions about this audio player, clearly showing that popularity of this DAP remains strong. Today, many DAPs strive to achieve higher resolution, tilting the scale toward a more revealing side of tuning. Shanling house tuning does the opposite, going for a more organic natural tonality with a warmer analog sound. And it looks like it resonated quite well with many audiophiles. The only thing holding M8 back was a slower processor and older Android version which came up in many review comments and some Head-fi discussions.
Of course, Android performance is subjective, considering some audiophiles don’t even care about streaming and want just a pure audio playback. But you have to stay competitive in terms of hardware performance and considering that many other DAP releases already aligned themselves with Snapdragon 660 SoC and optimized Android 9. Shanling answered the challenge with M9, leapfrogging to 665 SoC and moving to Android 10. The release still features a dual AK4499 since Shanling had a reserve of these flagship AKM DACs, though there is a limit to how many units they can manufacturer until stock is depleted and M9 is refreshed.
After finishing my testing, I have been using M9 DAP for a few moths already, and it became a regular feature in many of my reviews, as part of the comparison and source pair up examples. Today, I’m ready to shine the spotlight on this latest Shanling flagship release with its own dedicated review.
Unboxing and Accessories.
The unboxing experience of M9 is nearly identical to its M8 predecessor. The only difference I noticed is when you remove the top of the box, the bottom has cutouts on the sides for an easier extraction of the wooden storage box. I mean, in theory it should be easier, while in practice it was the opposite in comparison to what I saw in M8 unboxing pictures. Of course, all just minor details, and the wooden storage box is still the star of the unboxing experience. While the design of the box is identical to the one which comes with M8, the color of M9 wooden box is lighter, with a color shade somewhere between M8 box and SP2000 box.
Inside this premium giftbox quality storage, you will find a foam tray with a precise cutout for M9 and a leather case for headphone interchangeable sockets. While I personally don’t use packaging boxes for long- or short-term DAP storage, this is something I wouldn’t mind keeping on my desk. Though, for storage in the box you would need to make extra room to fit M9 with its own case. Furthermore, since M9 also carried over interchangeable headphone socket design, previously introduced in M8, the included small leather case, sockets, and socket removal tool are identical, with the only exception of 3.5Pro (a rare 3.5mm TRRS balanced standard) having black plastic jack inlay instead of a red one like it was in M8. Other included accessories were a high quality usb-c cable with a braided jacket, and a plastic screen protector. My review unit already arrived with pre-installed tempered glass screen protector, or at least based on its thickness I assumed it was tempered glass.
The only remaining question, what about the leather case? While not included in a stock packaging, the leather case is optional, but I noticed that from day one Musicteck offers it for free with every purchase of M9, though I can’t speak for other retailers. The case has a very interesting exoskeleton design, with a stiff shell and leather surface on the outside (smooth, aged) and inside (soft, suede) that wraps around the DAP, enhancing its grip rather than offering a drop-down protection. I personally like this design with a big M-cutout on the back and large cutouts on the sides, and full opening at the top and the bottom. I like it because it enhances the grip without hiding the details of the chassis design. Not too many other options are available, and I few I’ve seen add bulk and hide the sexy body of M9. The only nitpicking here is having too little clearance around the volume wheel. It works, but the wheel does rubs against the edge of the case.
Design.
With dimensions of 152mm x 82mm x 22mm and the weight of 409g, there is no denial M9 is a big boy. But the slick design and the manageable thickness of the chassis keeps this DAP portable in my hand. For me personally, if I can easily wrap my hand around the DAP, I consider it to be portable, rather than transportable, though the length of M9 makes it no exactly pocket friendly.
Surrounded by aviation-grade aluminum body frame, the top of the DAP has edge-to-edge glass screen with a gorgeous 6” high resolution (2160 x 1080) display. With such a large display, it is always a challenge to come up with a more original design without looking like another phablet. I think Shanling done a great job to overcome this challenge, introducing rounded sides with a sculptured wave pattern exterior. At the same time, they kept a traditional 3-button transport control (play/pause and skip) on the left side and multi-function volume/power wheel on the right side.
M9 vs M8
The volume wheel is a low profile and, in addition to controlling the volume with a precise click action as you turn in, also functions as push-button to control the power with a long press or turn the display on/off with a short press. Above the wheel you have a status led. At the bottom you have usb-c port in the middle and a spring-loaded micro-SD card opening with a dust cover to the left. The top features a clean design with a single modular headphone port, the same interchangeable port introduced in M8. As a matter of fact, these modules are backward compatible between M8 and M9 since they feature the same interconnect socket.
I do like the idea of a modular headphone port design because I mostly use 4.4mm terminated IEMs. But I can also see it being a bit of a hassle for those who are on the go and need to switch between 4.4mm and 3.5mm jacks. But overall, it’s clever since some people still have 2.5mm cables, while others switched to 4.4mm. Some still use 3.5mm, especially with full size headphones, and maybe a few were curious about 3.5Pro balanced plug (a standard that went nowhere). Plus, Shanling mentioned they might look into the feasibility of XLR socket in the future. Anything modular allows you to futureproof your design, including being able to easily fix a malfunctioning headphone jack.
And speaking of another interesting engineering idea, Shanling raised the bar again in M9 design. They decided to introduce a secondary small OLED screen located in the notch of the screen at the top of the display, to show the time, charging status, volume, or sample rate. The secondary screen could be turned off or stay always on before M9 enters a standby mode. Or you can select to keep it synchronized when screen is on, or have it reversed when screen is off. I found this secondary screen to be very useful, especially when controlling the volume with a main display off while secondary one shows you the value as you adjusting it.
Under the hood.
As I already mentioned, M9 features the same flagship dual AK4499EQ DACs as M8, supporting hi-res sound up to 32bit/768kHz as well as DSD512 and MQA16x unfolding. M9 also utilizes the same amplifier architecture as in M8, including OPA1612 and BUF634 opamps and ADA4610 precision amp. But despite of the same amp components, the output power scaled up, with SE going from 260mW@32ohm to 460mW@32ohm, and BAL being boosted from 840mW@32ohm to 920mW@32ohm, while still maintaining less than 1ohm output impedance. The sound tuning was updated as well, covered in the next sound analysis section.
While some could argue that sound improvement is subjective and a matter of a personal taste, there is no question about a huge step forward in Android performance of M9 by going from Android 7.1, Snapdragon 430, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of internal storage (in M8) to Android 10, Snapdragon 665, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of internal storage (in M9). Using both DAPs side by side gives you a clear picture of a noticeable improvement, which I also confirmed in my testing with 2.5x score improvement when running AnTuTu 3D Benchmark test. Carried over were 2-way Bluetooth 5.0 support with Rx (LDAC, SBC) and Tx (LDAC, LHDC, aptX HD, aptX, SBC), and dual band 2.4G/5G Wi-fi (featuring Qualcomm WCN3980 chip).
As already mentioned, screen was upgraded from 5” 1080x1920 (M8) to 6” 2160x1080 (M9). The battery capacity was upgraded as well, going from 7000 mAh (M8) to 8350 mAh (M9) which results in the improvement of SE battery life going up to around 18hrs and BAL battery life going up to about 10hrs. You get a more noticeable improvement in battery life using SE port which is impressive considering SE output power almost doubled. And when it is time to recharge, you can take the advantage of a fast 18W (9V, 2A) charging speed using QC3.0 compatible chargers.
The advantage of Android 10 and fast Snapdragon 665 SoC processor is not only in improvement of user interface performance, but also compatibility with many apps that were optimized to perform better using later Android OS and faster processor. Of course, you are still at the mercy of 3rd party app developers, just like when Tidal updated their app early this year which broke its compatibility with M9 until Shanling had to fix it. I have tested M9 with many different streaming apps, everything worked great. Plus, if you want to switch the default Shanling playback app to something else, Google Play store gives you access to all of that.
Sound Analysis.
The sound analysis of M9 was done using Oriolus Traillii and Aroma Jewel, playing a selection of test tracks, such as Agnes Obel “The curse”, Sandro Cavazza “So much better” (Avicii remix), C-Bool “Never go away”, Ed Sheeran “Shape of you”, Alan Walker “Darkside”, Galantis “Hunter”, Iggy Azalea “Black widow”, Indila “Boite en argent”, Dua Lipa “Love again”, Counting Crows “Big yellow taxi”, David Elias “Vision of her”, and Michael Jackson “Dirty Diana”. I had about 200hrs of burn in time before I started analyzing M9.
I prefer to describe the DAP sound based on the comparison to other DAPs and pair ups with different IEMs/headphones since the DAP by itself doesn’t have a “sound”. What we hear is how the sound characteristic of a source shapes the sound signature of connected IEMs/headphones or the difference in sound relative to other sources using the same pair of IEMs/headphones. As a result, this section of the review usually summarizes what I find in the follow up Comparison and Pair-up sections. Of course, this is my subjective opinion, describing how I hear it.
The original M8 set a high bar with its natural warmer analog tuning and more intimate soundstage presentation. Thus, I’m sure, many were wondering about the direction of M9 tuning considering implementation of the same pair of AK4499 DACs. But you have to keep the mind, DAC sets the baseline level of the sound, while the final tuning direction will be shaped by the amplifier section. In my analysis of M9 tuning, I found that M9 carried over the warmth in the lower side of the frequency range with more weight and texture in the bass, deeper rumble, fuller body lower mids. But it also counterweighted that with more transparency and revealing tonality of upper mids and airy controlled sparkle of the treble.
Every flagship release aims to swing the pendulum of tuning to the warmer or the brighter side of neutral reference. Here, the bass and the lower mids are focused on taking that “swing” toward the warmer side of tuning, while upper mids and treble counterbalance it with a more revealing “swing” to add higher resolution, a bit less density, and improved layering. M9 is not an improvement over M8 tuning, each one has their unique sound-personality, a different flavor of ice cream you might enjoy depending on your mood, or in this case, depending on pair up synergy with IEMs/headphones. The improvement took a big step forward in the hardware performance, but the sound gives you a different flavor of tuning.
The soundstage is definitely above the average, expanding more in depth and height, especially depth, by projecting sound further out of your head. It still keeps a bit of that intimacy found in M8, but it expands a bit wider relative to M8. And airier treble of M9 helps with layering and separation of the sounds, which also shows the improvement in vertical sound dynamics, making the sound more expanded and less compressed.
Android mode vs Prime mode.
Prime Mode is Shanling version of the pure audio mode where it kills a number of processes running in the background to optimize the performance of M9 for audio playback without streaming or access to other apps. You can’t even get to the screen with your apps, only have access to Shanling audio player app. The switch between Android and Prime modes is very fast, no need to reboot the DAP, also allowing you to go quickly back and forth to compare the sound. In this comparison I found everything to be nearly identical except for the soundstage being noticeably wider and imaging being more 3D in Prime mode.
4.4mm (BAL) vs 3.5mm (SE).
As expected, due to a difference in output power, I had to readjust the volume when going between BAL and SE sockets. But other than that, the tonality and the technical performance were identical.
Hissing test.
It Pass my hissing test without a problem. Actually, what I noticed, during a playback at a normal listening volume, background is pitch black and I don’t hear any hissing. But when I lowered the volume down to almost zero, I did hear a little bit of hissing with CFA Solaris. But like I said, at a normal listening volume I hear zero hissing and pitch-black background.
EMI/RFI interference.
Adding this test to my reviews since people often ask me if I hear any interference in sound when streaming with DAP next to my phone. With M9 streaming Tidal and my S22 phone next to it, I wasn’t picking up any interference.
Comparison.
I was using Traillii and Jewel in this testing, volume matched in every comparison. Also, please keep in mind, I’m mostly focusing on a different in sound. Each DAP has its unique functionality with Pros and Cons. Also, for a faster and more accurate DAP comparison, I was using Oriolus RaoSound 4.4mm analog switch.
M9 vs Shanling M8 (high gain, sharp roll-off filter, M8 volume V28 and M9 volume V24) - very similar imaging, but after going multiple times back and forth, I hear M9 sound to spread wider left/right, though imaging is similar. The tonality between these two DAPs varies. M8 has more coloring, more warmth which is noticeable in lower and upper mids, especially when focusing on vocals, and a little more weight in the low end. In contrast, M9 is more transparent, more neutral, and less colored relative to M8. M9 still has a similar natural organic tonality, but it manages to achieve this level of musicality with less warmth and more transparency in upper frequencies. Also, M9 has some improvement in technical performance, having a higher resolution, thanks to airier treble, and more expanded vertical dynamics. Nothing is night'n'day, but I still find the improvement to be noticeable. The rest of the changes is related to the actual OS performance while running the later Android, using a faster processor, having a more polished and responsive user interface, and implementing a higher output power.
M9 vs A&K SP2000 SS - at initial listening, I had to do a double take because of how close they sound, especially considering AK4499 DAC similarity. I'm glad I was using a hardware switch so I can go quickly back and forth multiple times to focus on the differences. There are not as many, but a few stood out. Starting with the soundstage, it is nearly identical in every direction. But to my surprise, the imaging is different, being more holographic in M9, and more center focused in SP2k. Another noticeable difference was in treble, with SP2k being a little brighter and splashier in comparison to a slightly more natural tonality of treble in M9. Other than that, the rest of the tonality and the technical performance are very similar. Plus, you have to keep in mind fully open Android environment of M9 vs closed environment of SP2k. I actually think, for those who want to upgrade their SP2k without too much deviation from the original sound, and with technical and tonal improvements, M9 is a very good choice.
M9 vs iBasso DX300 MAX SS - another comparison of AK4499-dac DAPs. Starting with the soundstage and imaging, I found soundstage expansion to be nearly identical, but MAX imaging is a bit more holographic and multi-dimensional. Tonality is different in this comparison. M9 has a more neutral natural tonality while MAX has a more neutral revealing tonality. I do hear a little more weight and impact in Traillii paired up with M9, while with MAX the bass is a bit more neutral in comparison. Mids in M9 are more organic while MAX mids are brighter, more revealing, more micro-detailed, and slightly more forward. Of course, this comparison is being made relative to have I hear it with Traillii and Jewel. Treble also varies, with MAX treble being crisper and brighter, while M9 treble also being well defined, but smoother in overall tonality. Both of these DAPs have a fast Android performance, but the size and the weight of MAX makes it less portable and more transportable, while M9 is more portable and pocket friendlier.
M9 vs Sony WM1ZM2 – the new ZM2 golden brick is making its debut in my comparisons, and the tables have flipped here. First of all, let's start with soundstage and imaging. Imaging I found to be very similar, but soundstage is a bit wider in M9. Tonality is where ZM2 sounds more organic, smoother, a touch warmer, with an even stronger bass punch. M9 still sounds natural and detailed, but relative to ZM2, M9 has a bit less coloring in mids, giving the sound more transparency. In contrast, ZM2 gives the sound more musicality. Their technical performance is not too far off. Despite a difference in tonality, they both have a nicely layered sound with high level of resolution. But if you want a natural tonality with more transparency in mids, go with M9. While if you want a natural tonality with more organic warmer mids and more impact in bass, ZM2 is a good choice. They are both running on open Android, but faster processor of M9 makes interface snappier and more responsive.
M9 vs Cayin N8ii - With N8ii in SS output, the sound performance of M9 and N8ii is not too far off, from the technical performance of the soundstage expansion to layering and separation of the sounds. But with SS output, N8ii tonality is just a little more revealing in comparison to a slightly warmer tonality of M9, especially when analyzing mids/vocals. But once you switch N8ii to Tubes, and then play around with Class A vs AB amp mode, the N8ii now sounds smoother and with a bit fuller body in mids when compared to M9. Based on this, M9 tonality is somewhere between SS and Tubes of N8ii. Both have a fast Android performance, and both are on a large size with a bit more heft.
Pair up.
In this section of my review, I will go over how various earphones and headphones pair up and sound with M9. In every pair up, volume is noted with “V”.
Pair up with Headphones.
Tested in “headphone” turbo mode on M9.
Audio-Technica ATH-R70x (V30) – The soundstage expansion is wide open with 3D holographic imaging. The sound signature is balanced, pushing just a bit mid-forward, and the tonality is natural, transparent, leaning more toward revealing side, and even being a bit cold. The bass performance is tight, with a good sub-bass extension, a polite rumble, and articulate mid-bass punch. The balance of the bass is shifted more toward the mid-bass in this pair up. Mids have natural transparent body, and sound clear, detailed, layered, not too much coloring. Treble is clear and detailed, airy, and with a little extra sparkle. M9 drove these 470ohm cans good, but not sure if it was to their full potential since bass performance was leaning closer to neutral.
MEZE Audio Empyrean (V23) - I hear a very wide-open soundstage with an excellent holographic imaging. Sound signature is balanced, and tonality is also natural, transparent, revealing. Bass has a deep extension with a polite textured rumble and a tight mid-bass punch. Again, more weight is shifted toward the mid-bass punch here. Lower mids have a good amount of neutral body, while upper mids have plenty of natural clarity, exhibiting an excellent retrieval of details. The sound has a great layering in mids. Treble is clear and detailed, has a little extra crunch but nothing harsh or splashy.
Beyerdynamic T5p 2nd (V19) - Another very good pair up with a great soundstage expansion and realistic 3D holographic imaging. The sound is balanced, just with a slightly mid-forward bias. Like in other pair ups, the bass here has a polite sub-bass rumble and tight articulate mid-bass punch. The overall weight of the bass shifts more toward mid-bass. Lower mids were slightly north of neutral, with a good amount of body, while upper mids have more clarity, transparency, and micro-details. Vocals sound clear, detailed, even a bit bright. Treble also has plenty of clarity, details, and natural sparkle with a good airy extension.
I was a bit surprised how in all of these headphone pair ups the focus of tuning was shifted more toward more revealing upper mids, while bass impact was rather polite.
Pair up with IEMs.
Switched headphone turbo mode off, and selected high gain in M9.
Oriolus Traillii w/Chiron cable (V24) - Wide open soundstage with 3D imaging. Sound signature is perfectly balanced, overall tonality is natural and a bit more revealing. Bass goes deep, with elevated rumble and fast punchy mid-bass impact. Mids are natural in tonality, with above neutral amount of body in lower mids and organic detailed tonality in upper mids, quite resolving and revealing. Treble is clear and detailed, has extra sparkle and crunch in mid treble.
Aroma Jewel w/FT cable (V26) - The soundstage is wide open and expanded in all 3 directions with holographic imaging. Sound signature is balanced as well, while tonality is more neutral with a slightly more mid-forward revealing presentation of the sound. Bass goes deep, with a textured sub-bass rumble and a punchy and slightly hollow mid-bass; the bass is tight and articulate. Lower mids are leaner which gives upper mids more transparency, less coloring, making them more revealing but not too bright. Treble is crisp and detailed, not splashy or harsh. In this pair up, Jewel does have a little extra energy in treble, but the treble sill sounds natural.
EE Odin (V23) – I noticed right aware there is no hissing in this pair up. Pitch black background with zero hissing at any gain. Bass is well controlled, with a deep and tight sub-bass rumble and fast, punchy, and articulate mid-bass impact. Mids are leaner, more revealing, layered, micro-detailed, but not bright and not too forward, the overall sound signature is still well balanced, but also has a bit more focus on upper mids. Treble is crisp, clear, detailed, more revealing and yet, still well controlled and without any sign of harshness or splashiness. The soundstage is also big, expanded, holographic.
FiR Audio XE6 (V23) – Wide open soundstage expansion with a slightly out of your head depth and holographic imaging. A mildly U-shaped signature with a powerful speaker like analog bass, thanks to XE6 kinetic bass drivers, natural revealing mids and vocals which are a bit recessed, and a crisp detailed treble. The XE6 kinetic bass punches right though the mix. Also, zero hiss, regardless of the gain. The neutral revealing nature of M9 extracts more details from the mids of XE6.
Campfire Audio Solaris 2020 (V14) – Since this is Campfire Audio iem, the first question will always be about hissing. During playback, the background was black, and I didn’t hear any hiss at all. Interestingly, when I lowered the volume to zero and hit play, there is some waterfall type of hissing, but during the actual playback, I didn’t hear any. The soundstage is big, with an overall sound being holographic and quite expanded. Also, the sound sig is balanced, while the tonality is brighter and more revealing. Bass has a deep sub-bass rumble with a fast well controlled punch. Bass actually has some extra weight and texture. Mids are revealing, and a bit colder in tonality. Treble is still quite energetic, but not too elevated and not that fatigue. I was impressed with this pair up, especially bass performance.
VE EXT (V30) – EXT does need a bit of a power boost, but even in high gain the sound was great without a need to go into a turbo mode. Soundstage is very big in this pair up, expanding wide and deep, along with 3D holographic imaging. Sound sig is quite balanced and W-shaped with a bit extra emphasis on bass and treble. Bass is very powerful in this pair up, going deep with elevated rumble and hitting hard with a very strong punch. Mids have a good balance between lower mids natural body and upper mids clarity, resolution, and details. Mids do truly shine in this pair up. Treble is crisp and airy, clear and detailed. This was by far the best pair up with EXT I heard.
Other Wired/Wireless connections.
In this section of the review, I will go over various wired and wireless connections I tested and verified with M9.
Line Out
Once connected to external amplifier and LO is selected from notification bar shortcuts, volume can't be controlled from M9, only from external amplifier (if it has volume control). I tested LO output with Cayin C9 and Romi Audio BX2. In either pair ups I didn’t hear any clipping or distortion. As expected, BX2 gave me more transparency, very clean sound delivering the tonality of AK4499 dac output without any coloration. C9 gave me more coloration and smoother tonality, though I found BX2 soundstage to be more expanded in width when compared to C9.
USB DAC
When connected to my Win10 laptop, in notification area of M9, once you swipe it down, I had to select USB Mode to be “usb dac”. M9 was recognized right away, and I was able to control volume from either laptop or M9. The sound using M9 as usb dac with my laptop was identical to listening with M9 standalone.
Bluetooth Wireless
You have 2 modes of Wireless Bluetooth operation, Tx and Rx.
BT Rx – You need to turn on Bluetooth and select Bluetooth Amp mode in the same setting screen, then search and pair up with M9 from your smartphone. Enable LDAC on a smartphone and start streaming from smartphone while using M9 as a wireless BT DAC. Volume was controlled from both, my S22 smartphone and M9. Also, correct protocol (LDAC) was shown on M9.
BT Tx – Paired up M9 with Hiby WH2 TWS earphones within seconds. Found it to work across 28ft of open space, full remote control from TWS earpieces. Within paired earphones setting on M9 there was no switch to enable LDAC, but when I went into Developer Options menu, I was able to confirm LDAC codec being used. Volume could be controlled from M9. The sound was as good as when being paired up with my S22, but the BT distance was shorter in comparison to my smartphone.
Digital usb-c out
I tested this interface using a new Shanling UA5 usb dac dongle which got recognized right away. I was using Shanling own music audio app, and set M9 volume to the max. This way, Volume was controlled only from UA5, but in theory you can control the volume from either M9 or UA5. Sampling rate was displayed correctly. One interesting observation here, when comparing UA5 sound connected to my S22 vs M9, with the same cable, playing the same song, and with the same pair of iems, M9/UA5 has a better layering and improved vertical dynamics. I have no idea how to explain this, but I went a dozen of times, back and forth, and always came back to the same conclusion.
Conclusion.
Sometimes, audiophiles get so focused on hardware specs, they miss the big picture. When M9 was announced, I heard from some people they don’t see the point of this upgrade considering it has the same DAC and amplifier design as in M8. Perhaps, if you don’t care about Android experience with a faster user interface, this holds true. But in my opinion, Android 7.1 and older Snapdragon SoC was holding Shanling DAPs back. You can have the best tuned system in the world with a fully optimized OS, but you are still at the mercy of 3rd party app developers who constantly push updates optimized for the later OS and the faster hardware. M9 release is a BIG deal for Shanling because they finally took a BIG leap forward to introduce the next gen platform.
And it’s not just the next gen with Android 10 and Snapdragon 665, which btw is a good stepping stone for a future Android 11 upgrade if Shanling decides to, but also a lot of other noteworthy improvements. Having dual AK4499EQ and the same Amp architecture doesn’t mean the sound will remain the same. While M8 was well known for its warm analog sound, it had a bit of a limitation in pair up synergy with some IEMs. M9 addressed it by finetuning upper frequencies to bring higher resolution and to improve the retrieval of details, making its compatibility more universal across different IEMs/headphones. Then, doubling the power of SE output also improves its pair up compatibility with more demanding headphones so you don’t have to upgrade the cable to balanced, especially if cable is not removable.
There is a laundry list of other improvements, too many to list in the Conclusion. Basically, Shanling captured all the best of M8 and took it to the next level, literally, inside out. One thing I do have to note, this release of M9 came equipped with the original flagship AK4499 DACs, and once they use up the remaining stock of these discontinued DACs (everybody is familiar with AKM factory fire and the outcome of it), M9 will be refreshed with another DAC, turning this into a bittersweet release. But considering Shanling’s house tuning with a more natural organic tonality, I have no doubt the refresh will be heading in the same direction. At the same time, the original M9 is still available for sale, still going strong, and still one of the top available DAP performers.
Intro.
It has been over three years since the original Cayin N8 release back in October of 2018, the first portable audio player with Solid State and Korg NuTube (6P1) dual output design. For those who are not familiar, NuTube is a double triode tube which implements vacuum fluorescent display technology in a compact low power design that operates similar to traditional triode vacuum tubes. N8 had a lot of other cool features, but the dual output including NuTube was definitely the highlight of the design, even though some audiophiles questioned why it was only available from 3.5mm output without realizing that if you want to have a truly balanced architecture, you need to have 2x 6P1 modules, similar to Cayin’s C9 portable amplifier.
The non-Android nature of N8 played a big role in the longevity of that release, but sooner or later you have to move on to the next gen which Cayin has been working on for a while now. According to Andy Kong, Cayin even had to restart the design due to DAC availability issues after AKM factory fire, forcing them to search for a new flagship DAC. Plus, when N8ii model name was announced, some missed the significance of “ii” suffix, assuming it stands for “mk2”. It certainly does, but there is also another clue associated with it. Cayin always uses “i” with their Android DAPs, and N8ii model name was a dead giveaway of next gen N8 joining the list of their previously released Android-based i5, N5ii and N6ii audio players.
I started working on my First Look write up prior to the availability of N8ii spec and design details and had a very short time with this DAP before it went back to Musicteck in preparation for CanJam NYC show where it made its debut. Thus, my initial First Look review didn’t have the complete design description and was missing my usual Comparison, Pair-up, and Wired/wireless details. After the show, I received the official review unit and spent a month with this new flagship DAP from Cayin. Here is my Full Review of N8ii, and I hope any open questions from the First Look have been answered in this updated write up.
Unboxing and Accessories.
The unboxing experience of N8ii is very similar to their C9 amplifier and Fantasy IEMs. The removable outer sleeve in the final packaging doesn’t have the same cutout around “8” like it had in pre-production packaging, but the rest is all the same, including a glossy DAP picture on the box cover underneath. That giftbox quality packaging box had a split magnetic top cover to reveal a non-removable foam insert with a secure cutout for N8ii and another magnetic side door for a sliding tray with accessories. In a gap between these magnetic covers, there is a metal tab with N8ii model number. Besides having a premium presentation, I also found it to be very convenient to access the accessories without digging through or removing layers inside of the storage box.
Included was a premium quality usb-c to usb-A charging/data cable, L-shaped 2.5mm to 4.4mm and 2.5mm to 3.5mm adapters, and tempered glass screen protector. A film screen protector was already applied to the back. While my First Look review mentioned a brown prototype case, the final version of N8ii arrived with a teal/bluish color leather case. According to Cayin, it uses a premium Italian leather, and utilizes a metal grille on the back for enhanced heat dissipation and airflow. This particular case has a fully open top where N8ii slides in, open bottom to give access to all the ports, split window on the left side for NuTubes, and covered hw playback buttons and micro-SD slot on the right side.
The case I received fits N8ii like a glove, tightly and securely wrapping around the DAP. I have read comments on head-fi with some people finding the case to be a bit loose. Not sure if some of the units from the first production batch had a looser fit, but I can only speak for the one I received which I found to be just perfect.
Also, some might remember that original N8 had 4.4mm to dual XLR adapter cable, but it is not included with N8ii anymore. Back when N8 was released in 2018, such breakout cable was rare, and Cayin decided to make a custom one. Today, there are many cable adapters in different price brackets, and Cayin decided it is unnecessary to include it with N8ii.
Design.
This section carriers over from my First Look review. I found it doesn’t require any additional info.
N8ii vs N8
Relative to the original N8, the exterior of N8ii has been completely redesigned. With dimensions of 147mm x 77.5mm x 25mm and the weight of around 442g, this DAP is on a bigger and thicker side, but I still find it to be portable rather than transportable. It is definitely thicker than your average flagship DAP, and one of the reasons for that was upright position of two NuTube modules. Everybody wants to see a pair of NuTube green “eyes”, and to accommodate that, Cayin has both modules upright, on the left side, facing outside through the glass “window”.
The sculptured design of N8ii aluminum chassis is not your typical rectangular brick. The front is occupied by 5” OLED display with 1280x720 resolution, surprisingly lower than some of the other flagship DAPs with large display, though not an issue to display album artwork in vibrant colors. Below the display you also have multi-function soft touch home/back button for navigation. The left side has two angled facets with flat glass windows in the middle to showcase the glow of NuTube modules. Right side closer to the bottom has spring-loaded microSD card slot for storage expansion, and 4 round buttons at the top – a larger power button and 3 smaller playback (play/pause/skip) buttons below it.
The top has an interesting, angled-facet design as well, including a cutout in the top right corner for a “golden” volume wheel with an etched artwork that reminded me a bit of LPGT. The volume wheel is open at the top and has easy access from the front and the back. At the bottom, you have a shared 4.4mm PO and LO outputs and dedicated 3.5mm PO and 3.5mm LO ports. To the right in the corner, you have usb-c port for charging, data, usb audio in, embedded SPDIF, and digital-out functionality, and I2S port for connection to other desktop equipment with the same port connector. The back of N8ii looks like it has a glass panel.
Under the hood.
The new Cayin N8ii is packed with a lot of top-grade goodies under the hood. From what I heard, the original idea was to have dual AK4499 DACs, but after AKM fire the plans have changed and Cayin decided to explore other DACs outside of AKM, ESS, and CS. N8ii features a high-end ROHM BD34301 32bit/768kHz (DSD512 supported as well, and MQA certification is coming soon) current mode DAC chipset from their MUS-IC series, being the first portable DAP to introduce it. Another addition to the design was using dual NuTube 6P1 (double triode tube) module, instead of a single one like in N8. You still can select between Solid State and dual NuTube timbre, and now can also enjoy both in a fully-balanced configuration. And similar to original N8, you also have either standard P or high output power P+ mode which boost the operation voltage of internal headphone amp to increase the output power. The new addition to the design is its fully discrete headphone amp being balanced now and having Class A and AB amplifier modes like in C9.
Cayin already had a lot of experience with NuTube implementation in their N8 and C9 products. Similar to those designs, N8ii uses flexible printed circuit (FPC) and custom-built shock-absorption silicon housing to hold, to damp, and to minimize shock transmission, and to eliminate microphonics as you move around with N8ii. And to isolate and to prevent interference, they designed compartmentalized CNC aluminum chassis with a vertical-hanged suspension pin to mount the NuTube and its silicone housing securely.
The dual output mode, P and P+, actually regulates operational voltage of amplification circuit where P+ will boost it up which has a noticeable effect on sound signature. It’s not the same as gain control, you still get L, M, H gain, but with P+ the output voltage scales up higher. And the dual amplifier operation mode gives you a choice to switch between Class A and Class AB modes of discrete amplification circuit, adjusting the bias point which also results in a noticeable sound change of the output.
Furthermore, N8ii is no longer playback only DAP like the original Unix-based N8. Now, N8ii is running a highly optimized Android 9 OS and using Snapdragon 660 SoC along with 6GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 128GB eMMC internal solid storage. If you want to expand the storage, you can use microSD card. The open Android OS, courtesy of Hiby, uses DTA architecture which bypasses Android SRC to make sure audio, regardless of local or streaming playback, is not down-sampled. The 3D Benchmark performance of Android 9 OS in N8ii has the highest score (191572) I have seen in comparison to other Android DAPs on the market. I’m using AnTuTu v8.4.3 test app, while revised AnTuTu v9.x recalculates this score to be over 200000. But it is not just a benchmark score, in practice the DAP feels very fast and responsive.
The battery has high capacity, 10,000 mAh (3.8V), assuming the same battery as Hiby R8, which I also suspect as being baseline Android platform for N8ii design. In my battery test, while being in P mode, Tube output, Class AB amplifier, medium gain, and using BAL output, I was able to get a little over 9hrs of playback time. Switching from Tubes to Solid State can give you even more playback time, to reach closer to 10hrs. And thanks to support of QC3.0 (and PD2/3), you can charge N8ii faster. Just please be aware, when you are playing and charging at the same time, especially in more demanding Class A (less efficient) mode with Tubes (higher current) selected and leather case on (less air cooling), N8ii will get warm and can trigger overprotection shutdown if internal temperature crosses 50degC threshold.
Implemented was also Bluetooth 5.0 with a support of all common wireless protocols up to LDAC, and dual WiFi with 2.4G and 5G bands. The output spec is impressive as well, where 4.4mm BAL output (1.2ohm output impedance) gives you 750mW @32ohm in P+ high output mode, and 3.5mm SE output (0.6ohm output impedance) gives you 480mW @32ohm in P+ high output mode. But it’s not always about power numbers. For example, switching to P+ can give you a more noticeable sound improvement than using another DAP with a higher output power.
During my testing I made a few interesting observations. First of all, you do have Double-tap option to wake the screen, very convenient feature that works quite well in N8ii. Also, whenever you switch modes or go between SS/Tubes or amplifier types, there is a gradual volume increase instead of a quick change to make sure you don’t blast your ears. And one thing that was very important to me, thanks to compartmentalization and isolation of NuTubes from WiFi antenna, when I’m streaming with Tubes output selected, I never experienced any EMI interference.
Sound Analysis – Overall.
The sound analysis of N8ii was done using Oriolus Traillii, playing a selection of test tracks, such as Agnes Obel “The curse”, Sandro Cavazza “So much better” (Avicii remix), C-Bool “Never go away”, Ed Sheeran “Shape of you”, Alan Walker “Darkside”, Galantis “Hunter”, Iggy Azalea “Black widow”, Indila “Boite en argent”, Dua Lipa “Love again”, Counting Crows “Big yellow taxi”, David Elias “Vision of her”, and Michael Jackson “Dirty Diana”. I had about 150hrs of burn in time before I started analyzing N8ii.
I prefer to describe the DAP sound based on the comparison to other DAPs and pair ups with different IEMs/headphones since the DAP by itself doesn’t have a “sound”. What we hear is how the sound characteristic of a source shapes the sound signature of connected IEMs/headphones or the difference in sound relative to other sources using the same pair of IEMs/headphones. As a result, this section of the review usually summarizes what I find in the follow up Comparison and Pair-up sections. Of course, this is my subjective opinion, describing how I hear it.
I found the tuning of N8ii to be more transparent and to have a natural revealing tonality. The difference in timbre setting between Solid State and NuTubes will have the effect on mids and vocals from more revealing and dryer (SS) to smoother and more natural (Tubes). But overall, it has neutral sound with a balanced signature leaning toward natural revealing tonality with expanded vertical dynamics (both micro and macro), black background (very quiet noise floor), and relatively fast and clean transient response of notes with details popping out of the blackness, even when it comes to sensitive iems.
The Tube mode gives instruments and vocals more body, more texture, richer timbre, while still keeping the sound quite resolving, layered, and with impressive retrieval of details. Those who are familiar with the original N8 or C9 amp, know that NuTube is not your traditional “tube” that colors the sound. NuTube’s double triode tubes are rich in texture, not coloring or saturation. But still, when you switch from Tube to Solid State, you can sense more transparency and less coloring in sound.
Soundstage is big, especially from balanced output, expanding in all 3 directions, making the sound very spacious and open. Also, impressive 3D holographic imaging with a very precise and accurate placement of instruments and vocals in most of my IEMs and headphones.
4.4mm vs 3.5mm.
The only noticeable difference I hear is in soundstage width, spreading wider (Left/Right) when connected to balanced output. Also, BAL has more power, thus SE needs a few more volume clicks to match it. Otherwise, tonality, sound sig, and overall technical performance were nearly the same.
Hissing test.
N8ii is relatively quiet with Solaris 2020, passing my Agness Obel "The Curse" first 30sec test without a problem. I tried it with P/P+, SS and Tubes, and Class A/AB (in P mode). There was just a slight background waterfall hissing in high gain, but nothing in middle or low gain.
EMI/RFI interference.
Tried a few extended listening sessions streaming Amazon Music HD and Tidal, and even with my S22 phone next to N8ii I haven't noticed any EMI interference.
Sound Analysis – SS/Tube, Class A/AB, P-mode.
Please keep in mind that in P-mode (regular output), you have a choice of either SS or Tubes output and can switch between Class A or Class AB amplifier type. In P+ mode (higher voltage output), you also have a choice between SS or Tubes, but can only select Class AB amplifier. So, between P and P+, Solid Sate and Tubes, Class A and Class AB, not to mention 3 levels of gain on top of that, you have a lot of different combinations to try with your IEMs and headphones. To give you a better idea what you can expect, I partitioned my testing as following. Also, please keep in mind, while I find changes noticeable, nothing is night-and-day drastic.
The P mode Class A to AB comparison applies to both SS and Tubes timbre settings. Switching between Class A and AB is like going from a smoother and slightly more laidback and relaxed analog sound to a faster, snappier, and with a blacker background Analog/Digital hybrid sound. The difference in tonality is noticeable due to speed/attack change in the sound where in Class A - bass has a slower attack with less punch, mids are smoother, more relaxed, with a little more analog warmth, treble has a bit less sparkle, and in Class AB - bass has a faster attack with more punch and improved articulation, mids are more resolving, and have blacker background, treble has more sparkle and airiness.
In P mode Class AB, when switching from SS to Tubes, there is a clear distinction of the sound gaining more body and smoother analog texture in mids/vocals. As a result, in SS timbre setting the sound is dryer, has more precision and control, and faster transient of notes popping out of the black background. Switching to Tubes makes mids/vocals wetter, smoother, even a touch warmer while still keeping the same high resolution and retrieval of details. The technical performance doesn't change as much, but the coloring of the mids becomes more apparent.
In P+ mode Class AB when switching from SS to Tubes, I hear the same changes as I noted above in my comparison while testing in P mode.
After a number of extended listening sessions, I found that in P mode with SS timbre I preferred Class A setting which gave me a perfect combination of faster sound with higher resolution and smoother analog coloring. But, when I was in P mode with Tube timbre, I enjoyed more Class AB amplifier setting to give the sound more punch, to improve the layering, and to add more sparkle to the upper frequencies.
In P+ mode, since Class AB was the only amplifier option, choosing SS or Tubes will depend on pair up synergy with IEMs I was using. For me personally, warmer smoother IEMs paired up better with SS while brighter or neutral tuned IEMs had a better synergy with Tubes.
Also, switching between P and P+ to boost the output voltage/power, had a different effect depending on your IEMs or headphones. For example, when listening to BA/EST iems (like Traillii), it didn't make as much difference to my ears. But when I switched to hybrids with DD/BA/EST drivers (like Jewel), the bass punch had more authority, better articulation, and a tighter sound. This effect was even more noticeable when I used demanding headphones like my 470ohm open back ATH-R70x. The boost in performance of R70x when I switched to P+ was quite impressive, including a better articulation of bass notes, more clarity and blacker background in mids, and some expansion in soundstage. Also, I noticed same changes with Meze Audio Empyrean.
Overall, P+ with Tubes and Class AB was my favorite setting with most of my IEMs and headphones, but I also enjoyed Solid State with P+/AB. I think the choice will be based not just on pair up synergy, but also the preference of tonality. Either one offers a unique finetuning of the sound and makes you feel like a mad audio-scientist, experimenting with different settings.
Comparison (Line Out test).
In this comparison section I’m going to cover 2 specific test scenarios. In each one I was using Traillii w/First Times cable, volume matched.
Test 1: N8ii PO (P+ mode, Tubes, Class AB, 4.4mm BAL) vs N8ii LO (4.4mm) + Cayin C9 (Tubes, Class AB, 4.4mm BAL)
This was a very interesting and important comparison because I'm sure many will have a question if N8ii internal dual NuTube amp is similar to C9. In this particular testing with Traillii, I'm only switching between internal N8ii dual NuTubes and external C9 dual NuTubes. To my surprise they don't sound exactly the same. N8ii PO has more weight in bass, especially sub-bass, and smoother upper mids. In comparison, N8ii LO w/C9 has a bit less sub-bass rumble and slightly more forward and brighter mids. And not only with IEMs, but also with headphones, I found the change to be consistent. Also, the soundstage expansion and imaging were nearly the same in this comparison.
Test 2: N8ii PO (P+ mode, Solid State, Class AB, 4.4mm BAL) vs N8ii LO (4.4mm) + Romi Audio BX2 (Solid State, 4.4mm)
BX2 is a very transparent solid state Class A amplifier which I often use to evaluate the DAC “sound” from LO of the DAP. The reason I was curious about this comparison is because I already know the effect of NuTubes inside of N8ii relative to switching from Solid State. But I also wanted to find out the effect of SS inside of N8ii on top of its ROHM DACs. What I found is that N8ii internal SS amplifier is quite transparent as well. Maybe just a touch smoother in upper mids when compared to LO+BX2, but it wasn't too far off. It also made me realize that ROHM BD34301 DAC is not too far off in comparison to AK4499, though probably being even more transparent and resolving.
Comparison (vs other DAPs).
This section was missing in my First Look analysis, and of course I got hundreds of questions with suggestions what I should compare. I was using Traillii and Jewel in this testing, volume matched in every comparison. Also, please keep in mind, I’m only focusing on sound comparison. Each DAP has its unique functionality. Some are Android based and can load any streaming app. Others are audio playback only and can be connected to your smartphone wired/wireless to be used as DAC/amp for streaming.
N8ii (P+/Tube/AB, 4.4mm) vs Cayin N8 (P+/Tube, 3.5mm) - N8ii soundstage expansion is wider in comparison to N8. N8 soundstage is spread L/R wide, but N8ii wraps the sound around you, putting you right in the middle of that holographic expansion. N8ii background is also blacker which gives its sound more speed and precision, but at the same time takes away a bit of that warmth and that mildly veil background blanket that gives N8 a more analog tonality. Switching N8ii to P/Class A gives the sound more smoothness, bringing it closer to N8. In general, I don't find the difference between these DAPs to be night and day. Yes, you can hear N8 being a bit smoother and warmer in mids while N8ii has more precision, more speed, and more of natural transparency. The sound of N8ii is still less digital and more analog, but it has a bit less coloring in comparison to N8.
N8ii (P+/Tube/SS/AB) vs Shanling M9 - With N8ii in SS output, the sound performance of M9 and N8ii is very similar, from technical performance of the soundstage expansion to layering and separation of the sounds. But with SS output, N8ii tonality is a just a little bit more revealing in comparison to a bit more warmth in M9, especially mids/vocals. But once you switch N8ii to Tubes, and then play around with Class A vs AB, the N8ii now sounds smoother and with a bit fuller body in mids when compared to M9. Based on this, M9 tonality is somewhere between SS and Tubes of N8ii.
N8ii (P+/SS/Tubes) vs Sony WM1Z - N8ii soundstage is a bit wider; the bass impact is very similar, though I hear WM1Z to have a little more emphasis on mid-bass while N8ii has a bit more emphasis on sub-bass. The difference in tonality I'm hearing is WM1Z being a little brighter in upper mids and treble, while N8ii (both ss/tubes) is a little smoother and more organic in upper frequencies in comparison to WM1Z. And this holds true even when enabling Vinyl Processor effect on WM1Z. But what I find interesting, while N8ii sounds a bit smoother, it has a higher perception of resolution in comparison to WM1Z which has brighter upper frequencies. You also do have to keep in mind, WM1Z is underpowered.
N8ii (P+/Tube/AB) vs Cayin N6ii w/E02 (LO) + C9 (Tube/AB) - This was probably one of the most popular comparisons requests I have received, or I should say, the 2nd most popular because I don't have A02 LO card. First of all, soundstage is a perfect match here, both being wide and holographic. When it comes to sound, there is a noticeable difference in this comparison. With my pair of Traillii, the bass with N8ii has more punch and deeper sub-bass rumble, scaling up with more weight in comparison to slightly more polite bass with E02/C9. Mids tonality is different as well, with N8ii having more body, a little more coloring, and overall warmer timbre. In comparison, E02/C9 has more transparency and a little less coloring, less warmth for sure. And the same with treble, E02/C9 has more sparkle while N8ii treble is smoother, still well defined and with a nice crunch, but relative to E02/C9, N8ii treble is smoother and more laid back.
N8ii (P+/Tube/AB) vs Cayin N6ii w/T01 (LO) + BX2 – Another request someone posted, asking for comparison. N8ii soundstage expands wider. Both have a warmer tonality, but besides the "warmth", N8ii has a smoother and more layered sound, while T01+BX2 makes the sound a bit raw, more forward/aggressive, and a bit compressed to my ears. I'm using the original BX2 which is very transparent and has too much gain.
N8ii (P+/SS/AB) vs A&K SP2000 - I went back and forth dozens of times and also compared it in a blind test. With the exception of N8ii having a bit wider soundstage and a little more rumble in sub-bass, these are nearly identical in sound when N8ii is in Solid State. When switching N8ii to Tubes, I hear more weight in N8ii bass and mids gaining more body and tonality being warmer. In solid state the difference is quite subtle.
N8ii (P+/Tube/AB) vs L&P P6 Pro - This comparison was another surprise, and it took me over a dozen of times going back and forth, comparing these two. The soundstage is nearly identical, maybe with N8ii being a touch wider, but it is hard to notice. The tonality is very close when N8ii is switched to Tubes mode; perhaps P6 Pro is just a little bit warmer in mids, but that's about it. Overall, nearly the same technical performance with a dynamic layered sound that comes very close when comparing these two DAPs.
N8ii (P+/SS/AB) vs Lotoo LPGT - This comparison is not too far off either. I do hear soundstage being a little wider with N8ii. Also, N8ii, especially in P+ mode, has stronger bass punch. But when it comes to tonality and technical performance, LPGT and N8ii Solid State are very close. When Tubes are selected, the performance gap widens since N8ii gains more textured sub-bass rumble and more body/warmth in mids. But in Solid State, it's a closer match.
N8ii (P+/SS/AB) vs iBasso DX300 MAX SS - Both have a very wide holographic soundstage, finally a perfect match! They also have a similar technical performance with an excellent layering and separation of instruments and vocals. But tonality is a bit different. Starting with a bass while using Traillii, I hear more sub-bass with N8ii and stronger mid-bass punch with 3Max. 3Max mids are brighter, while N8ii has fuller body with a more natural and still revealing tonality. And the same with treble, 3Max has a little more sparkle while N8ii has a more natural definition of the treble.
Pair up.
In this section of my review, I will go over how various earphones and headphones pair up and how they sound with N8ii. I used P+ and Class AB and Middle Gain in each pair up, and will note Volume level (V#), and compare SS vs Tube. These are brief notes to give you a basic idea.
Pair up with Headphones.
Audio-Technica ATH-R70x (V66) – This pair is a perfect example of demonstrating the power of P+ boost when dealing with demanding headphones such as these 470ohm open back cans. Regardless of setting, the soundstage expansion is super wide open and 3D holographic even though I only have and use 3.5mm SE cable with these. Sound signature is very balanced, and tonality is natural and revealing. Not bright or brittle, but revealing, natural, and micro-detailed, something I don’t usually say when describing R70x; don’t think I ever used “micro-detailed” in any other R70x pair up descriptions. The bass performance is excellent, with a deep sub-bass rumble and a slightly laidback mid-bass punch. The weight of the bass in this pair up is in sub-bass, and a bit slower attack of mid-bass make the bass more natural and fuller. Mids have a natural body, clear, detailed, layered, with a perfect balance of musicality and micro-detail level of technicality. Treble is clear and detailed, and airy, with a little extra sparkle. When switching from P to P+, it literally expands the dynamics of the sound, like inflating a ball, where the sound’s vertical dynamics expands, layering improves, soundstage perception improves, and overall sound becomes more energetic and exciting. Switching to Tube adds a little texture to the mids, a nice finishing touch.
MEZE Audio Empyrean (V44) - I hear a very wide-open soundstage with an excellent holographic imaging. Sound signature is balanced, and tonality is rather natural, transparent, revealing, not as colored as in a number of other pair ups. Bass has a deep extension with excellent textured rumble and a good mid-bass punch. Again, more weight is shifted toward the deep sub-bass while mid-bass is rounded, giving the overall bass a more laidback presentation. Lower mids have good amount of body, a little warmer, while upper mids have more focus here, bringing more attention to the vocals and extracting more micro-details. Great layering of the sound in mids, not every source can bring this out in Empyrean. Treble is clear and detailed, has a little extra crunch but nothing harsh or splashy. Good airy extension. P+ improves the dynamics, very noticeable “boost” where after hearing it you can’t go back to P. Tubes or no Tubes, it still sounds great, and I’m still undecided. I feel like SS gives mids a more even tuning and faster speed which I did enjoy more.
Beyerdynamic T5p 2nd (V39) - Another great pair up with an excellent soundstage expansion in all 3 direction and 3D holographic imaging. This was another example where P+ is necessary to scale up the sound dynamics and the soundstage expansion to its highest level. The sound is balanced W-shaped with a velvety deep sub-bass rumble, more rounded mid-bass punch. The overall weight of the bass leans more toward sub-bass. Lower mids were north of neutral, with a good amount of body and natural warmth, giving upper mids more clarity, transparency, and micro-details. Vocals came out clear, detailed, even a little brighter. There is a bit of a contrast between warmer deeper bass and brighter more revealing upper mids. Treble also has plenty of clarity, details, and natural sparkle, good airy extension. Well, I’m sure some would expect me to say that I preferred Tubes output in this pair up, but it turned out that it was the opposite. I actually preferred Solid State output. Tubes made lower mids a bit thicker to my ears, creating a bigger contract between lower and upper mids. Turning Tubes off evened out the tonality in mids, noticeable, especially with vocals. The point here, experiment with different settings.
I actually enjoyed all 3 pairs up, and as I already mentioned, found P+ to be the absolutely necessity here.
Pair up with IEMs.
Oriolus Traillii w/Chiron (V34) - Wide open soundstage with 3D imaging. Sound signature is perfectly balanced, overall tonality is natural and a bit more revealing. Bass goes deep, with both elevated rumble and stronger mid-bass impact. Mids are natural in tonality, with plenty of body in lower mids and organic detailed tonality in upper mids, quite resolving and revealing. Treble is clear and detailed, has extra sparkle and crunch in mid treble. SS gives Traillii a little brighter tonality in mids, while Tubes give more weight to low end, more body to the lower mids, and make upper mids a little smoother and even a bit warmer. I preferred Tubes mode with Traillii.
Aroma Jewel w/FT (V34) - The soundstage is wide open and expanded in all 3 directions with holographic imaging. Sound signature is balanced as well, while tonality is more neutral with a slightly more mid-forward revealing presentation of the sound. Bass goes deep, with a textured sub-bass rumble and a punchy mid-bass; the bass is tight and articulate. Lower mids are leaner which gives upper mids more transparency, less coloring, making them more revealing but not too bright. Treble is crisp and detailed, not splashy or harsh. Jewel does have a little extra resolution in treble, but it still keeps sound natural. Also, as expected, switching to Tubes gives mids smoother and more natural tonality which I preferred in this pair up.
EE Odin (V29) – For those who are interested, there is definitely no hissing in this pair up. Pitch black background with zero hissing in any gain. I was curious to try P/P+ setting, and quickly realized that P+ is a must have here, adding more weight, more impact, deeper rumble, and still keeping the bass tight and articulate. Mids are leaner, more revealing, layered, micro-detailed, but not bright and not too forward, the overall sound signature is still well balanced. Treble is crisp, clear, detailed, more revealing and yet, still well controlled and without any sign of splashiness. The soundstage is also big, expanded, holographic. Improvement in bass with P+ was impressive. Not a huge difference switching to Tubes, but it does take a bit of an edge of the brightness.
FiR Audio XE6 (V31) – A huge holographic soundstage expansion. A mildly U-shaped signature with a powerful speaker like analog bass, thanks to XE6 kinetic bass drivers, natural revealing mids and vocals which are a bit recessed, and crisp detailed treble. The XE6 kinetic bass truly benefits here from P+ setting which gives it more energy and improves articulation. Also, zero hiss, regardless of the gain or power mode setting. Tubes modes didn’t make a big difference here since XE6 tuning is warmer and smoother to begin with. But still, because of XE6 tonality, this was a perfect pair up to bring out more details and sound transparency using Solid State instead of Tubes.
Campfire Audio Solaris 2020 (V22) – Since this is Campfire Audio iem, the first question will be, does it hiss? The background is pitch black, and I don’t hear any hiss at all. The soundstage is big, with an overall sound being holographic and quite expanded. Also, the sound sig is balanced, while the tonality is brighter and more revealing. Bass has a good sub-bass rumble with a fast well controlled punch. Bass doesn't have a lot of weight, but it is for sure above neutral and unmistakably DD quality. Mids are revealing, colder in tonality even when Tubes are switched on. Surprisingly, I don’t hear any sibilance in lower treble. It is still very energetic, but the treble is not too elevated and not that fatigue. I did enjoy switching to Tubes mode, just to take an edge of its colder tonality. But the biggest improvement here was switching to P so I can enable Class A mode, and that added more body to the tuning, making it a bit more natural.
UM Mest MKII (V31) - Big holographic soundstage expansion in this pair up. Typical of Mest MKII, I found U-shaped sound signature with a deep analog quality dynamic bass where I hear more emphasis on sub-bass rumble which adds extra weight to the low end. Lower mids are neutral, giving more transparency to the sound, making upper mids more revealing and colder in tonality. Treble is bright, crisp, airy. Going between SS and Tubes helps to bring up mids a little more forward (with Tubes) by adding more body to the lower mids and slightly boosting the presence of upper mids. Doesn’t change much the treble, it is still a bit hot. I was OK with this pair up, though not very thrilled.
VE EXT (V38) – EXT does need a bit of a power boost, so I started with high gain, but quickly switched back to Medium since in high gain the upper mids and lower treble were a bit too hot. Soundstage is very big in this pair up, expanding wide and deep, along with 3D holographic imaging. Sound sig is slightly U-shaped with a bit extra emphasis on bass and treble. Bass is quite powerful in this pair up, going deep with elevated rumble and hitting hard with a very strong punch. Mids have a good balance of lower mids natural body and upper mids clarity, resolution, and details. But mids are a bit reserved and not as forward as I found EXT in some other pair ups. Treble is crisp and airy, clear and detailed. Switching to Tubes only took a bit of an edge from the brightness. I wasn’t too crazy about this pair up because I felt like mids/vocals lost some of its natural tonality and were slightly recessed.
Overall, I enjoyed pair up with most of my IEMs and was very pleased with the amount of finetuning options offered by N8ii to find a perfect pair up synergy. But to my surprise, Mest MKII treble was a bit hot and VE EXT lost some of its natural magic in mids. But Traillii, Jewel, Odin, and XE6 were shinning in this pair up.
Other Wired/Wireless connections.
In this section of the review, I will go over various wired and wireless connections I tested and verified with N8ii.
Digital usb-c out
I tested this interface using Cayin RU6 usb-dac which got recognized right away. I was using HibyMusic with Exclusive HQ USB audio access enabled, USB Audio Performance mode On, and USB Audio volume locked so it is set to the max. This way, Volume was controlled only from RU6. Sampling rate was displayed correctly. One interesting observation here, when comparing RU6 sound connected to my S22 vs N8ii, with the same cable, playing the same song, and with the same pair of iems, N8ii/RU6 has a slightly better layering and improved dynamics. I have no idea how to explain this, but I went a dozen of times, back and forth, and always came back to the same conclusion.
Coax out
With an optional Cayin usb-c to coax cable, you can turn N8ii into an audio source/transport. Just plug it in, connect to external DAC/amp, and it works right away. I was using micro iDSD BL and everything was recognized without a problem or the need to enable anything in settings. And in this test with micro iDSD BL the sound was even better with Coax than digital out.
Line Out
Once connected to external amplifier, volume can't be controlled from N8ii, only from external amplifier.
These tests have been covered already in previous Comparison (LO test) section.
USB DAC
When connected to my Win10 laptop, in notification area of N8ii, when you swipe it down, I had to go to Android System message for USB connection and select USB preference for Audio In (usb power) or Audio In (no usb power), depending on if you connecting to a smartphone and don't want to drain its battery. N8ii was recognized right away, volume could be controlled from either laptop or N8ii. The sound using N8ii as usb dac was identical to listening with N8ii standalone.
Bluetooth Wireless
You have 2 modes of Wireless Bluetooth operation, Tx and Rx.
BT Rx - Select Bluetooth Audio in and search and pair up with N8ii from your smartphone. Enable LDAC on a smartphone and start streaming from smartphone while using N8ii as a wireless BT DAC. Volume is controlled from both, my smartphone and N8ii. Also, correct protocol (LDAC) was shown on N8ii.
BT Tx – Paired up N8ii with WH2 TWS earphones within seconds. Found it to work across 25ft of open space, full remote control from TWS earpieces. Within paired earphones setting, I selected HD audio, assuming it was referring to LDAC. Volume could be controlled from N8ii. The sound was as good as when paired up with my S22, but the BT distance was shorter.
Conclusion.
It is clear that Cayin took their original N8 DAP to a whole new level in this next gen N8ii release. The core of the design with a dual Solid State/NuTube principle is still there, now fully balanced and featuring a dual NuTube 6P1 accessible from 4.4mm BAL output. It still features a fully-discrete Dual Output power mode with P (standard) and P+ (high voltage) outputs, and adds Class A and AB amp modes (A/AB in P, and AB only in P+) found in C9. The playback-only Unix platform has been upgraded to Android 9 with Snapdragon 660 SoC and 6GB of RAM – one of the fastest Android DAP performances I have encountered based on my AnTuTu 3D benchmark tests. And the misfortune of AKM factory fire led to a discovery of a new high-end ROHM 32bit current mode DAC, available for the first time in a portable audio player, the same DAC that recently appeared in $16.5k Luxman D-10X SACD desktop player.
I was also pleased to see the updated exterior design with a more traditional playback control buttons instead of jog-dial like in original N8. The placement of both NuTube modules on the left facing outside is very clever, keeping it compartmentalized and isolated from the rest of the circuit and still visible to the user. But the most impressive part was how much tech Cayin packed under the hood of N8ii while still being able to keep it relatively portable. And, with all the additions to the design, including a pair of hi-end ROHM DACs, additional NuTube module, and other new components associated with switching to Android platform, the price of N8ii went up by only a few hundred dollars in comparison to the original N8. Of course, it’s great to have all this tech under the hood, but at the end of the day it also has to sound good.
N8ii doesn’t have a typical Tube sound, nor does it sound lean. The sound is revealing and micro detailed without being bright or harsh and has the unique ability to finetune the pair up synergy, going from either being transparent to tastefully colored. You have the ability to switch between Solid State or Tubes/Solid State (Tubes are either enabled or disabled to give extra texture to the mids), Class A or Class AB amp mode (Class A is where you get that smooth laidback sound characteristics), and extra voltage boost going from P to P+ (doing wonders to the dynamics of DD drivers). Considering all these available tuning options, you have access to multiple tools to finetune N8ii sound to perfection in pair up with different IEMs and headphones. And that what makes it unique and stand out from the crowd.
Scarlets Eyes
If I understand RU6 sound exactly as N8ii. This N8ii would not be a scam ?
twister6
@Scarlets Eyes where did you read that RU6 dongle sounds exactly the same as N8ii dap? Is this from your own experience or did you read it somewhere else?
Leto Dal
Have all three RU6 / RU7 and Cayin n8ii. Its like comparing an apple dongle to a full desktop stack. They are not even close. Ru6 is will lack, detail, bass, stage, layering, headroom and will sound more artificial with a different timbre and tuning.
The product was loaned to me for the review purpose in exchange for my honest opinion. The review was originally posted on my site, and now I would like to share it with my readers on Head-fi.
Manufacturer website: Astell & Kern. Available for sale directly or from on-line retailers like Bloom Audio.
Intro.
The previous A&K release of SE180 with a modular dac/amp design caught everyone by surprise, though it made perfect sense as the next logical step after SE200 dual dac/amp design. It was also great to see 4.4mm BAL and LDAC making its permanent stay. Then, in anticipation of what could be next, some were speculating about the next A&K flagship. But nobody in their wildest dreams predicted the release of SP2000T (2kT).
Actually, 2kT announcement created a bit of a confusion for some because Astell & Kern usually adds a suffix letter to their model numbers with different chassis material or scaled down version rather than all new design like this “T” variation. Here, we got One DAP with Two amps and Three amplifier modes: a solid-state amp, a tube amp, and a hybrid with a mix of both. And as the cherry on top, the price is $1k less than original SP2000.
After spending some time testing SP2000T, here is what I found.
Unboxing and Accessories.
2kT unboxing experience is identical to other flagship SP DAPs. Don’t expect big surprises, though it is still impressive to see a premium quality “cigar” wooden storage box emerging from an all-black cardboard outer box. The outer box cover had a signature bold red “A” letter on the top and a detailed spec printed in 10 languages on the back.
Everything was packed neatly inside of that wooden storage gift box. And I still encourage to hold it from the bottom when lifting the top because there are no latches or hinges for the cover to keep it securely attached. Inside you have a foam cutout under the cover where you will find a leather case, 2 screen protectors, quick start card, and a warranty card. The foam cutout inside the main part of the box holds 2kT and USB-C cable.
Inside, I also found a storage card with a pocket and microSD card slot cover (plastic dummy microSD card), though another one was already inside 2kT, a bit of an overkill since the leather case already covers the slot. The included standard USB-C high speed cable for charging, data transfer, and usb DAC functionality is high quality, thick, with a durable shielding, and adequate gauge wires. With a fast charge mode support, it's important to use a quality cable for high-speed charging at higher voltage.
Just like with other flagship SPs, A&K included a premium quality leather case for 2kT model. This one had “aged” yellow mustard color. The case fits like a glove, with an opening for usb-C connector at the bottom, covered play/pause/skip buttons on the left, generous phone ports opening at the top, covered power button at the top right, and generous cutout for volume wheel on the top right-side. The leather case design was updated where DAP slides from the left, and the side flap tucks in securely inside, providing a better protection from the top and corners. The case gives this large size dap a more secure grip when handling it. The only thing is microSD card slot being covered at the bottom, so you have to remove the case to physically access it.
Design.
Despite being the biggest SP-series DAP, with dimensions of 141.1mm x 78.1mm x 17.5mm, 2kT in onyx black finish with aluminum chassis is one of the lightest (309g) among full size SP2000 and SP1000 units, not counting SP1000M smaller version of SP1000. While being 100g lighter than SP2000 SS/CU, the use of aluminum really does help in comparison to heavier Stainless-Steel and Copper versions.
SP2000T vs SP2000 SS
The focus of the design is still around the large 5" touch screen occupying the front view, with a touch home button below the visible display area - a great feature to get back to the main Playback screen from any other screen, especially since Navigation playback bar (like in SE180) is not available here. The front view of the DAP is slightly asymmetric due to uneven sculptured bevel sides, and a crown-patterned volume wheel. Unlike other SP models, volume wheel here doesn’t have power button functionality. Instead, a power button is at the top on the right side, like in SE180 and SR25, with a short press to turn the screen on/off and a long press to turn the power on/off followed by confirmation to shutdown which requires touch screen acknowledgement.
The volume wheel is easy to turn using one finger, though it's not loose and has some resistance with a click action felt with every rotation turn of 150 volume steps. And while it was convenient in SP2k where you didn’t have to take your hand/finger off the volume wheel after the adjustment if you want to turn the display on/off, 2kT implemented double-tap to wake up screen. The design of the volume wheel has a detailed crown pattern, typical of a wristwatch. It certainly adds to the appeal of the DAP, since even inside of a leather case the wheel is still visible. The design pattern of the 2kT wheel is different from SP2k and other A&K models.
On the left side you have Play/Pause and Skip controls, three identical small rectangular buttons located in the upper part of the left side. They do have a nice tactile response and spaced evenly with enough room in between to avoid pressing an adjacent button by mistake. Since majority of users will have 2kT in a leather case anyway, buttons will be covered, and stock leather case has their imprinted functionality label for easier ID. I’m sure we are probably going to see other aftermarket leather cases soon.
The top of the DAP has access to 3.5mm phone output port which also used for Line Out and Optical out. Next to it, you have 4.4mm and 2.5mm balanced phone ports that could also be configured for corresponding Line Out. All the way to the right you will find a power button. At the bottom to the right, you will find a spring-loaded microSD card slot. In the middle, there is USB-C port, used for charging (including Fast Charging), data transfer, USB DAC connection, and USB OTG external device connection for digital audio out. If you are using stock leather case, as already discussed, you will have to remove it to access microSD card.
The back of the DAP also has a typical A&K asymmetric design with about 3/4 of the back panel covered in aluminum chassis and the top quarter having a carbon fiber inlay under the glass. But as soon as the power is on, you will see a multi-functional and multi-colored long LED strip in the top area, shining through CF. In Setting, you can configure LED to display playback mode (red - 16bit, green -24bit, orange - 32bit, purple - DSD) or AMP mode (red - normal, orange - tube, blue-green - hybrid).
It is always cool to see multi-colored LED implementation in A&K DAPs, and the design of the case has a cutout on the back for a clear visibility. When I first saw that LED, I thought to myself maybe it was related to NuTube lights. Then, I realized it was a whole LED strip, and when I have 2kT on the desk next to me, I can’t see it anyway. And even when carrying 2kT with me, I don’t normally flip it over to look at LED light. It’s a cool design element, but its placement on the back hides the visibility under a normal use.
Under the hood.
After the last year AKM factory fire and current shortage of chips, a lot of manufacturers started to implement other DAC chips. In 2kT design, A&K implemented 4 separate ES9068AS ESS SABRE 2-channel audiophile DACs. This way they have full control and separation of balanced and single ended outputs. And if you look closer at the design diagram shared by A&K, you will see that 2.5mm and 4.4mm balanced outputs have separate paths, routing the signal with a number of audio switches. The single ended 3.5mm PO has output impedance of 1ohm and max output of 3Vrms, while balanced 2.5mm and 4.4mm, each have output impedance of 1.5ohm and max output of 6Vrms.
The touch display is 5” HD with a higher than SP2k resolution of 1920x1080 and impressive 441 PPI with 16.7M colors. The interface is relatively fast, thanks to octa-core CPU, but it is not on the same level as some of the recent Android DAPs with 660 SoC. Still, 2kT has plenty of processing power to do flawless audio decoding while supporting all the popular lossy and lossless formats, such as WAV, FLAC, WMA, MP3, OGG, APE, AAC, ALAC, AIFF, DFF, and DSF, with PCM rates up to 32bit/384kHz and DSD rates up to 22.58MHz (DSD512). Also, MQA playback support, covering Tidal Masters, Local files, External USB, and MQA-CD (ripped).
And for high resolution files you have plenty of storage with internal 256GB of NAND flash storage and microSD external memory expansion up to the latest largest capacity card (A&K tested with 1TB). Furthermore, USB-C OTG supports external hard drive storage or usb stick expansion. The battery life is OK, not bad considering quad ESS DAC design and NuTubes. With 4200mAh (3.8V LiPo battery), you can expect up to 9hrs from unbalanced output and normal solid-state amp. Going to balanced and switching to hybrid mode will decrease that and going to more demanding DSD will reduce it even further. But with fast charging, you can be up on your feet within 3.5hrs.
To support fast charging and to speed up data transfer, 2kT uses USB 3.0 Type-C interface for charging, data transfer, and USB DAC functionality. WiFi is dual band, supporting both 2.4GHz and 5GHz. Along with that you have OTA firmware update support and of course streaming of many popular apps. Furthermore, Bluetooth is up to 5.0 with a wireless support of not only aptX-HD but also LDAC protocols, plus both Bluetooth Rx and Tx.
Of course, dual amplifier configuration is the key feature of 2kT design which gives you 3 amplifier modes. 2kT has solid state amp, called OP amp which has the same config as SP2000 DAP. Then, you have Tube amp which utilizes a single Korg NuTube 6P1 module that goes to all three phone outputs (3.5mm, 2.5mm, and 4.4mm). The third mode is Hybrid, a combination of both OP and Tube amps. You can vary the amount between OP and Hybrid and also between Hybrid and Tube.
GUI.
When it comes to A&K DAPs user interface, once you get familiar with one, you will feel like at home using all of their DAPs. Basically, they all share the same interface, even SR25 with its smaller display uses the same GUI, scaled down to fit its smaller screen. I was a little surprised after powering up 2kT because I expected the same Navigation Bar as in SE180, but it was back to a typical SP2000 display layout, including a touch home button underneath the screen. But one new addition I noticed while running apps, when you swipe down Notification bar you will see open apps and can control the playback from there. The Floating Back button is still here as well and can be easily disabled by dragging it to the middle of the display or disabled in the Settings menu under Input Method. The button itself could be moved to anywhere along the left/right sides of the screen.
Once you press Power button, you are greeted with “A” logo and arrive to the main Playback screen. The embedded artwork (with cover art) window occupies top half of the screen, tapping on it expands the view and shows lyrics if one is available. Swiping artwork window left/right skips to prev/next song in your playlist. Above it you get a summary of song format (file type, bit depth, and sampling rate), with a link to Now Playing (where you can edit/modify from within) in the upper right corner and a link to Navigation Menu in the upper left corner. Right under the artwork window there is a thin strip of transport control to fast forward/back by swiping through it. And in the lower half of the screen, you have a row of controls, additional song info, and playback touch buttons.
The Navigation menu, accessible by pressing “A” in the upper left corner, takes you to a list with various Sorting option (song, album, artist, genre), Playlist, Folder view, MQS, CD library, Services (streaming), and Settings. You can also access this screen by swiping display to the right from the main Playback screen, where you can also swipe to the left and get into Now Playing screen. Under every sorting option you have other options to add songs to playback queue, different layout to view album (single, double, or triple columns), view artist with every album under each name, genres according to id3 tags, and my favorite Folder browsing which also gives you extra info about internal storage.
Settings menu is very important, but you can also access some of the shortcuts by swiping the screen down to see what’s available in Notification bar area where you can toggle Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, AMP mode, USB mode, External usb, AK connect, EQ, Line Out, ReplayGain, and shortcut to the main Settings menu. Many of these toggle options don’t just enable the function, but if you long press it will take you to the menu of that function. In the main Settings screen, you have Wi-fi, Bluetooth and Codec selection, AK Connect and File Drop, then Equalizer, Gapless, Line Out, L/R Balance, Playback setting, ReplayGain, Notification Panel, AMP mode, CD ripping, USB mode and audio, S/PDIF Conversion, Car mode, DAC filter (3 digital filters), and lots of other settings including Double-Tap Screen to Wake enable and LED config on the back
With EQ, you have one blank EQ preset and no other genre specific presets. EQ interface has two modes: Main and Advance. In the Main you have standard Paragraphic EQ sliders for 20 bands (30, 45, 60, 90, 120, 180, 250, 380, 500, 750, 1k, 1.5k, 2k, 3k, 4k, 6k, 8k, 12k, 14k, and 18k) where you can either slide the bar or use a precise 0.1 adjustment, as well as scrolling through available frequencies. As you adjust, it gets reflected in the lower right corner, showing the overall shape of EQ. Switching to Advance, turns EQ adjustment into Parametric EQ with a full GUI view of EQ shape where underneath you have FREQ band selection (a choice of 20), Gain selection in 0.1 and 0.01 steps, and Q bandwidth. Since bands frequency is fixed, I consider this to be semi-Parametric EQ. The interface looks great and the actual adjustment has a noticeable effect on the sound.
While Navigation playback bar (like in SE180) wasn’t available in 2kT, there are a few other goodies added in this new SP series DAP. You get ReplayGain, though for now applicable only in 24bit/192kHz or less format, which could be set across either Tracks or Albums. Obviously, AMP Mode setting will give a choice of which mode you want to use, but no selection of normal or high gain. And my favorite, Double-Tap Screen to Wake, which is quite effective when 2kT is on the desktop and you don’t have to reach out for a power button to turn the display on to skip or navigate.
Open APP Service.
Open APP Service is implemented in all A&K Android based DAPs, including SP1000 SS/CU, SP1000M, SE100/180/200, SR25, and SP2000 SS/CU, and of course SP2000T. More info could be found here where Astell & Kern goes into details about how to install and to use it.
When you start dealing with Android apps, in many cases you do need a Back button for navigation, so Floating back button come in handy when dealing with streaming apps. While Astell & Kern offers a built-in Tidal service (without off-line storage support), for a long time their customers been asking to add Spotify, Qobuz, Amazon and other streaming services. A&K latest DAPs do run on Android, but it's a heavily modified closed OS without access to Google Play. In a way, it's a blessing for a manufacturer to keep DAP performance optimized since you don't have to worry about customers installing and running other unstable apps.
If you decide to install a non-blacklisted app, you need to download APK file (use a site like https://apkpure.com/), copy it to Open Service Folder located on internal storage, go to Services on the DAP, and when you see the app being recognized and listed in there, click to install it. Keep in mind, for example, you will have to install Tidal apk if you want off-line downloads. Also, installed apps will not be updated automatically since you are not running Google Play. You will have to keep track of app updates and manually download and install new versions.
Sound Analysis.
The sound analysis of 2kT was done using Oriolus Traillii, playing a selection of test tracks, such as Agnes Obel “The curse”, Sandro Cavazza “So much better” (Avicii remix), C-Bool “Never go away”, Ed Sheeran “Shape of you”, Alan Walker “Darkside”, Galantis “Hunter”, Iggy Azalea “Black widow”, Indila “Boite en argent”, Dua Lipa “Love again”, Counting Crows “Big yellow taxi”, David Elias “Vision of her”, and Michael Jackson “Dirty Diana”. I had about 100hrs of burn in time before I started analyzing 2kT.
I prefer to describe the DAP sound based on the comparison to other DAPs and pair ups with different IEMs/headphones since the DAP by itself doesn’t have a “sound”. What we hear is how it sounds through connected IEMs/headphones or the difference in sound relative to source comparison using the same pair of IEMs/headphones. This is my subjective opinion, describing how I hear it while analyzing the sound of 2kT, and you will get a better picture in the follow up sections of Comparison and Pair up. Here, I would like to talk more about the different AMP modes, and how they compare.
I found the overall sound tuning of 2kT to be more neutral, natural, and balanced. Of course, you would expect that from Tube and Hybrid outputs, but even with OP (solid stage output) I heard a more natural tonality. When comparing OP vs Hybrid vs Tube amp modes, I hear the same technical performance, soundstage, layering, separation, and dynamics, while the main difference is between the speed of the bass and the body in lower mids.
In more details, OP (solid state) mode has a faster, tighter bass with a little better articulation and mids with a leaner body and more transparent tonality. Tube (NuTube) mode has a little slower, more relaxed bass and fuller body mids with a smoother warmer tonality. Hybrid (in the middle) mode has a combination of both, with a faster and more articulate bass and smoother mids with a fuller body which sound somewhere in between OP and Tube. The intermittent steps, two steps between OP and Hybrid and between Hybrid and Tube, to my ears have a hardly noticeable change in sound.
I know it’s a bold statement to make, but the difference in tonality between OP and Tube modes reminded me a lot of comparison between a typical Astell & Kern SS (OP) and Cu (Tube) tuning of other SP flagship DAPs.
2.5mm/4.4mm (BAL) vs 3.5mm (SE)
The difference in power output here is noticeable when going from SE to BAL where I always have to lower the volume to compensate for the difference in output power. Another noticeable difference is BAL output having a wider soundstage and slightly blacker background. Other than that, the sound signature, tonality, and even technical performance are nearly the same.
Comparison.
In every comparison I used Oriolus Traillii, volume matched while listening to the same test tracks between DAPs. Also, I only covering the difference in sound as I hear it, not the design and other functionality.
SP2kT vs SP2k SS - There are some technical differences such as 2k having a little wider soundstage and slightly better dynamics and layering of the sounds, but the bigger difference is in tonality. 2k is more revealing, brighter, more micro-detailed and with a little more sparkle. In contrast, 2kT has a smoother and more natural tonality, a little more coloring without compromising too much of detail retrieval. When comparing to OP, the gap is not that big. Switching to Hybrid/Tube widens a tonality gap a little more, still not night and day, but it is more noticeable.
SP2kT vs SE180/ESS and w/ Cayin C9 - Comparing 2kT to SP180 (SEP1/ESS), 2kT has a wider soundstage and better vertical dynamics of the sound. 2kT OP mode is a little more transparent and less colored, while Hybrid/Tube mode matches closer a warmer tonality of SE180. Adding C9 into the equation is not exactly the same as 2kT because C9 has dual fully balanced NuTube output, but it was worth a shot. One difference I did notice is soundstage being wider with SE180/C9 which is mostly likely due to dual-NuTube config. 2kT wasn't too far behind, but C9 output was wider. The overall tonality was very similar, just a little more sparkle with C9 output, but other than that the tonality was quite close. Vertical dynamics of SE180 w/C9 also got closer to 2kT level of performance, not the exact match, but very close.
SP2kT vs L&P P6 Pro - Some might wonder why would I be comparing these two DAPs, one being android based with app support while other is audio playback only with R2R DAC and more minimalistic interface? Well, in Hybrid/Tube mode the natural tonality of 2kT reminded me a lot of P6 Pro. Perhaps, P6 Pro has an upper hand with a technical performance, wider soundstage and a little more resolution and some improvements in dynamics, but they do share a natural organic tonality.
SP2kT vs Sony WM1Z (vinyl processor on) - I had a few people asking me about this comparison, especially with vinyl processor effect enabled on WM1Z. Technical performance between these is not too far off, maybe with WM1Z having just a touch wider soundstage. The tonality is where I hear a lot of difference. WM1Z bass is a little more aggressive, stronger, while 2kT is softer, especially the attack of the bass. Mids are a little brighter in WM1Z and so does the treble, while 2kT mids are smoother and more organic in comparison; the same with treble, 2kT has a bit smoother treble. But there was one peculiar difference that stood out for me. WM1Z has a blacker background which turns its warmer tonality into more digital sound, while 2kT has a dark background as well, but not as black, and that creates a more analog smoother sound, more appropriate for "Tube" output.
Pair up.
Here is how 2kT pairs up with some IEMs and headphones. In each pair up I noted either SE or BAL connection and the volume (V) setting.
Audio-Technica ATH-R70x (SE, v110) - very open and effortless sound with a balanced signature and natural transparent tonality. In OP mode mids sound a little thinner, while Hybrid/Tube has a similar tonality with a full body and a little warmer mids. Nothing is over-emphasized; the sound is very natural and with excellent retrieval of details. Bass is a little more neutral, giving more room for vocals to shine, but I still find the overall signature to be relative balanced and 2kT has not issue driving R70x.
Beyerdynamic T5p 2nd (BAL, v72) - in this pair up T5p2 sound like open back headphones, the sound was very open, did not even feel like I was wearing closed back headphones. The sound sig is closer to balanced as well, with tonality being a little more revealing but still closer to natural. Bass has a good tight punch, mids are transparent, even when I switch from OP to Hybrid/Tube, vocals didn't feel colored, though I enjoyed extra body in sound. Treble has a natural sparkle, T5p2 can get bright in upper frequencies, while here it stayed natural and revealing.
Meze Audio Empyrean (BAL, v83) - open sound with a soundstage that has a lot of depth/height, a little less width. The sound signature is balanced, and tonality is natural and smooth. Bass has a nice deep rumble, mids/vocals are clear, detailed, and has a little bit of warms, especially in Hybrid/Tube mode. Treble is clear and natural as well. The overall sound is very soulful and smooth, yet still with a good retrieval of natural details.
I enjoyed pair up with all 3 headphones, preferred Hybrid/Tube modes, and was actually a bit surprised, in a good way, about pair up with T5p2 that sounded quite natural and very open-back like.
CFA Solaris '20 (BAL, v37) - first of all, zero hissing. Soundstage expansion is pretty wide, and I hear a balanced sound sig with a little more focus on mids. The bass is above neutral with a good extension and tight mid-bass punch, sub-bass is there, but I'm hearing more punch than rumble. Mids/vocals are very clear, detailed, natural. Treble is crisp and has extra sparkle, good upper end extension with plenty of air, not harsh. The sound is a little more revealing, but at the same time non-fatigue. Hybrid/Tube mode adds a little warmth and body not only to the lower mids, but also a bit of extra weight to the bass.
UM Mest MKII (BAL, v59) - the sound in this pair up is almost holographic. The sound signature was v-shaped with more emphasis on bass and mid-treble. I preferred Tube more in this pair up. OP/Hybrid were OK, but they didn't bring as much weight and impact to the bass as Tube mode, giving Mest more rumble and stronger punch. Mids are smooth, natural, warmer, and slightly pulled back in their presentation. Treble is crisp, detailed, airy. Treble does have a little extra energy, not exactly smooth, but it wasn't too bad.
Empire Ears EVO (BAL, v59) - the soundstage here also approaching holographic level, especially with mids/vocals being a little more out of your head. The sound signature is more U-shaped with a lean toward L-shaped due to extra emphasis on bass and upper mids. Bass is big and bold, with a very strong and slightly hollow mids-bass punch. Lower mids are leaner while upper mids are detailed, natural, layered; treble is also detailed, natural, extended. Bass and treble are definitely stars of this tuning, mids are lagging a bit behind.
Empire Ears Odin (BAL, v57) - excellent soundstage expansion in all 3 directions. I preferred switching to Tube mode in this pair up, not even Hybrid, because it gave the bass deeper rumble and more weight, and lower mids gain more body which gave vocals more organic tonality. The only positive about OP pair up is a wider soundstage expansion while Tube output shrinks it a bit, giving the sound more depth/height than width. But this trade off was well worth it because of improvements in low end and in mids. Not even a hint of hissing.
64 Audio U18t (BAL, v59) - the soundstage in this pair up has more depth/height than width, but width is also above average. The sound sig is leaning more toward being mid-forward due to more neutral bass, and tonality is more revealing and a little brighter. Bass has a good extension and a tight punch, but both sub-bass and mid-bass are closer to neutral in quantity. Mids are lean, layered, resolving, crystal clear and detailed. And the same with treble, crystal clear and detailed without being fatigue. I preferred Tube mode in this pair up which gave bass a little more weight.
Oriolus Traillii (BAL, v59) - very nicely expanded soundstage in all 3 directions. The sound signature is balanced with a natural detailed tonality. Bass has a deep extension with a smooth warm rumble and mid-bass has a tight fast punch. Mids/vocals have a very natural detailed tonality, especially comes to shine in a Hybrid mode which I preferred in this pair up. Treble is crisp, detailed, and still natural and non-fatigue. Mids do sound a bit out of your head, placing them a little further out. But overall, it was a very good pair up.
In many of these IEM pair ups I preferred to use Hybrid mode.
Wired and wireless connections.
Besides being a portable DAP, you can expand 2kT functionality as a transport to drive external DAC/amp, to use external AMP, or to turn the DAP into wired/wireless usb DAC. And of course, you don’t have to be limited to wired headphones, and can take advantage of Wireless Bluetooth connection.
Wireless/Bluetooth.
I tested 2kT BT Tx with various headphones; it paired up within seconds and had the acknowledgement message on the screen to indicate which codec was in use. I tested with Hiby WH2 TWS, confirmed operation within 20ft, LDAC pair up, and full remote control. Also, tested with Sennheiser HD1 M2, confirmed operation within 20ft, aptX pair up, and full remote control. 20ft operation in open space was OK, though SP2k operates up to 30ft.
2kT also has Bluetooth Sink Mode (BT Receiver) to enable BT DAC “Rx” mode and to use 2kT as a wireless DAC. Once turned on, I was able to find and pair up with 2kT from my Galaxy smartphone and set LDAC codec.
USB Audio Out.
Tested with both Lotoo S2 and L&P W2 usb DAC/amp dongles without a problem. In notification bar of 2kT have to be sure External USB is selected to enable USB Audio mode. Volume on 2kT was fixed at 150, so I was able to adjust it from S2 and W2. The sound characteristics was typical of S2 and W2 corresponding sound sig while using 2kT as a digital transport.
USB DAC.
Recognized right away on my ThinkPad T480s (Win10Pro) laptop. In notification bar of 2kT have to tap USB Mode to select DAC. Volume can be adjusted from laptop or 2kT. No need to install any additional drivers, and the sound was typical of 2kT output. As a matter of fact, the sound is nearly the same playing locally from 2kT or from laptop using 2kT as USB DAC.
Optical Out.
Was using iFi micro iDSD for this testing, nothing needs to be selected or enabled, just connect to 3.5mm port and start playing. Optical output was detected automatically, 2kT volume was set to max 150, and I was controlling the output from micro iDSD. Btw, the same with Digital out when using with micro iDSD, using OTG usb cable, the connection was detected OK, volume set to 150 and I was able to control the volume from micro iDSD.
Line Out.
Connected to Cayin C9, I had to select Line Out from notification bar and was able to control the volume from both external amp and 2kT. In Settings of 2kT, you can adjust the volume level of LO. If you need to color your sound with an external amplifier or need to drive more demanding headphones, access to LO is very convenient.
WiFi Streaming.
With the unit I received, there are no issues playing local files in any of the Amp modes, even when I turn on wifi or BT. But when streaming and only in either Tube or Hybrid modes, I get an intermittent short burst of buzzing which sounds like an EMI interference with a Tube. I asked other users on Head-fi in SP2000T thread to share their experience, and some responded with no issues, while others experienced similar. Switching to solid state output amp is one of the solutions when streaming if you are experiencing EMI and it bothers you. You can also download and store your favorite tracks for off-line listening from some of the apps.
At the time of writing this review, I was told that A&K is trying to understand the random nature of this problem.
Conclusion.
While writing the review, in the back of my mind I was thinking why A&K decided to keep SP2000 base model number in this new original design. And I kept coming back to the thought of SP2000T still being at the top of their SP flagship series, sharing the crown with SP2000 SS and Cu daps. Perhaps, A&K didn’t exactly reinvent the wheel with either a modular dac/amp design (SE180) or a dual solid state and NuTube output amp design (SP2000T), but they certainly managed to take both to the next level and in case of 2kT introduce a new hybrid twist while mixing both amp modes.
The implementation of dual amp design with a triple output mode is not a gimmick. When you listen closely, you can hear the difference in bass performance and mids tonality, giving you a choice between the original (SP2000) solid state amp tonality and the NuTube tonality. But despite the mode of the internal amplifier, we are still dealing with a solid build, quad ESS Sabre flagship DACs, natural detailed tonality, very polished user interface, semi-Parametric EQ, SE and BAL headphone output jacks, and capability to play not only local files but also to stream popular services.
Is SP2000T going to dethrone SP2000? I don’t think so because one is not the upgrade of the other, and instead, they both coexist in a complementary way. Actually, in the last two weeks of my SP2000T testing I end up reaching more for “T” instead of SP2000 SS because variation of amp modes was more fun when pairing up of IEMs with different sound sigs. I’m sure the next gen flagship is coming in a near future, but in a meantime, you don’t have to wait and can start enjoying a new current gen flagship from A&K.
erich6
Excellent review! Thanks.
olddude
I've really been enjoying the 2KT with my Odin (with actual 1960 cable, not Stormbreaker). I still have my 1K SS and while it may be slightly technically "better," it's not as much fun. I generally run Hybrid, once in a while going full Tube. I never use OP, as if I want that "sound" I'll use my 1K. All in all a very pleasurable DAP. And the UI is slightly better than the 1K (especially the "go back" choices.
Excellent review.
Excellent review.
The product was loaned to me for the review purpose in exchange for my honest opinion. The review was originally posted on my site, and now I would like to share it with my readers on Head-fi.
Manufacturer/product website: UM. Available for sale from MusicTeck.
Intro.
Every time I post a teaser about a new audio product, I get flooded with requests of early impressions and to hurry up with a full review. This time, I got flooded with the same even before I received the product. As a matter of fact, I decided to borrow the latest Mest Indigo for review because a lot of my readers asked me to compare it to Mest MKII which I reviewed early this year. I still can’t get over how popular Mest has become. Per my own personal preference, I found the 2nd gen version of Mest to be an upgrade over the original. Yet, many of the people who are pinging me now, got both OG and MKII and don’t want to part with either one.
So the big open question, what is Indigo? Is this Mest MKIII? Is this a Special Limited Edition Mest MKII with a new faceplate? Or, is this an all-new IEM that just carries Mest DNA? I honestly thought this is going to be one of my shorter “in-a-snapshot” type of comparison reviews with a focus on Indigo vs MKII. Shorter write-up is where I’m heading now due to the amount of review samples I receive and limited time I have to write long reviews. But after a few days of burn in, as I started listening to Indigo, this latest creation from UM put me under its deep-blue spell, and I decided to finish the full review which I’m sharing with you today.
Unboxing and Accessories.
The unboxing experience of Indigo is very similar to MKII, plus a few additional updates. It still features the same giftbox quality storage box with UM logo on top. Once a magnetic top cover is lifted, you are presented with a deep blue leather case, also labeled with UM logo. In the original Mest you had to remove the case to get to the bottom of the box so you can access the remaining accessories. With Indigo, just like MKII, Unique Melody added a drawer at the bottom which slides out from the side to give you an easier access to the rest of the included goodies.
You should also expect similar accessories as MKII, though a few have changed. For example, you will still find Dignis storage case with a zipper top, roomy enough for your IEMs, cable, and other extra accessories. Inside, it has a flexible velcro partition so you can separate shells and the cable. This is a premium brand name product, not some filler. The color of the case is deep blue to match Indigo color theme, and the top cover has the same design as their Fabled Sound/FuSang flagship iems, with a layered velour corner insert, making it more premium and unique.
Furthermore, you will find a new PWA (Peter Wong Audio) brand name copper cable, which I’m going to talk about later. Next, a plastic warranty card (the size of a credit card), with a printed S/N, website address, and a service email. There is a grey cleaning clothe/pad to keep those shells fingerprint free. Then, you have a complete set of eartips with blue-heart silicone S/M/L, and popular brand name AZLA Xelastec SS/MS/M eartips. Those provide a superior isolation and a very secure fit. There was also a leather cable storage/organizer clip. From what I have seen on Musicteck page, the Magnetic Earphone Clip (MEC) for cable storage and foam eartips are included with Indigo as a bonus accessory package, available to first 50 customers.
Just like with original MKII, you will find a lot of brand name popular accessories here, Dignis custom leather case, PWA copper cable, AZLA Xelastec eartips, etc. When it comes to accessories, UM likes to spoil, and we are not talking about the overall quantity, but the actual quality and usability.
Cable.
Looks like UM decided to continue with PWA collaboration (Peter Wong Audio – PWA), and for this limited release Peter cooked up a new copper cable. Labeled as UM Copper M3, it is all new cable with 22AWG gauge high grade OCC copper wires. The cable features 4 wires with PVC shielding and nylon protective sleeve. The 4 conductors have a loose braiding between the plug and y-split, and twisted in pairs going up to IEM connectors. The original MKII cable was thinner, 24AWG wire gauge, while having a similar PVC/nylon shielding and sleeve but just in black. Indigo cable has thicker copper wires, which should decrease the resistance of the cable, and the sleeve has a deep blue color to match the Indigo color theme. And, thanks to this sleeve, the microphonics is reduced down to minimum.
Furthermore, the cable hardware has been completely redesigned and updated. Now, it features bronze metal alloy finish, the same as the faceplate frame of Indigo. The plug, which could be selected in 2.5mm, 3.5mm, or 4.4mm termination (Musicteck lists 2.5mm and 4.4mm, have to ask separately about 3.5mm) features an all-new hexagon shaped housing with a round shaped notched end, custom square y-split with an oval-shaped end and matching oval-shaped retractable chin-slider, and a matching bronze metal 2pin connector housing with UM logo facing outside. You will also find a pre-shaped heat-shrink earhook.
This is not a cheap stock cable with just pretty hardware. The cable feels solid, durable, relatively soft, non-microphonic, with a beautiful matching hardware, and from one of the top brand name cable makers. The Copper M2 cable was selling by itself for about $500, and I’m sure this one is more expensive considering thicker wires, higher grade pure copper, and custom hardware.
Design.
There is a very good reason why UM decided to call this new limited edition release MEST Indigo. It has a lot in common with the original and MKII releases of MEST. And at the same time, it has so many changes that take it to a whole new level.
First of all, a new “facelift”. That is probably the biggest and the most noticeable change you will see before even putting these little gems in your ears. The original Mest/MKII carbon fiber lightweight shells infused with gold flakes looked nice, but the look itself was more modest. The new Indigo shells are gorgeous. The shell itself now features Indigo carbon fiber material with an infused blue accents, but the focus is on the faceplate that features 3D Sapphire Pinewood insert. The color and the pattern are mesmerizing, surrounded by a bronze alloy frame around the edges. The same bronze alloy metal finish is featured in hardware of the new UM Copper M3 cable, along with deep blue cable wire sleeve to match the Indigo theme of the design.
The overall shape and the size of Indigo shell is nearly the same as Mest MKII. But there are a few important changes. In order to maintain a solid look of the faceplate, the metal-plated venting port is no longer in the corner of faceplate, moved to the side, just a small pinhole vent at the top of the shell closer to the faceplate. One big change is removable and replaceable nozzle mesh filter. If that mesh screen gets clogged or broken in Mest/MKII, you have to send it for a repair, while in Indigo you just unscrew the top and replace it with included spares. This also opens a door to offer a different pattern mesh filters in the future, something that can alter the sound and act like a real sound filter, if UM ever considers that.
Inside, the driver config has been updated with addition of 2 more EST drivers. Now, Indigo features a configuration with a total of 10 drivers grouped in 4 types: DD, BA, EST, and Bone Conduction, a 4way quadbrid design with a 5-way crossover, including DD bass driver, 2BA mid drivers, 2BA treble drivers, 4EST ultra high drivers, and one full range dBC dual sides Bone Conduction driver.
Similar to MKII, and in contrast to a single side BC driver in OG Mest, Indigo also uses double sided piezoelectric bone conduction driver which is placed in between two supporting plates and visible underneath of the faceplate. At the center of that dBC driver is the vibration board covered by ceramic coating on both the front and the back. Also, this dBC bone conduction driver now has a larger contacting area with the shell and has a wider effective frequency response range from 500Hz to 20kHz, in comparison to OG with BC that covered 1kHz to 16kHz. It is hard to zero into dBC effect and I don’t want to speculate since we can’t compare Indigo with and w/o dBC. But the 3D precision of imaging and multi-dimensional effect of upper frequencies makes me wonder if it is part of dBC contribution.
The fit.
Sound Analysis.
I analyzed Indigo sound performance paired up with a neutral LPGT source while playing a variety of test tracks, such as Agnes Obel “The curse”, Sandro Cavazza “So much better” (Avicii remix), C-Bool “Never go away”, Ed Sheeran “Shape of you”, Alan Walker “Darkside”, Galantis “Hunter”, Iggy Azalea “Black widow”, Indila “Boite en argent”, Dua Lipa “Love again”, Counting Crows “Big yellow taxi”, Bob Marley “Jamming”, David Elias “Vision of her”, and Michael Jackson “Dirty Diana”. I let it burn in for about 50hrs before I started taking my notes.
With addition of two more EST drivers, my expectations of Indigo tuning turned out to be completely off. The original Mest/MKII gained popularity and captured the attention of many audiophiles due to its deep analog bass and crystal-clear sparkly treble, with revealing mids not too far behind. That combination yielded a fun tuning with a mildly U-shaped sound signature. So, while going from dual EST to quad EST, one can assume more treble, and maybe even deeper U-shaped or V-shaped signature? But that is not what you are going to hear with Indigo after 40-50hrs of burn in when the sound starts to settle in.
Right away I noticed a balanced tuning with W-shaped sound signature. It is clear that it wasn’t just addition of drivers but the update in both low end and high end of the tuning. The faceplate tuning vent of Mest/MKII was gone, “relocated” to a pinhole vent found at the top of the shell. And along with that, the tuning of the bass also has changed a bit, slightly scaled up in weight of the sub-bass rumble and impact of the mid-bass slam. It is not a drastic change that going to boost the bass significantly. I’m sure UM wanted to stay closer to the original tuning, but the boost is noticeable, and I can also hear more body in lower mids.
The original Mest/MKII had a more neutral lower mids which gave the vocals more revealing tonality and took some body away from acoustic instruments. Original tuning was more about fun signature, while Indigo added more body to the lower mids which gave vocals more presence and acoustic instruments more organic tonality. Then, when you focus on the upper frequencies, you notice a boost in lower treble. That probably comes from additional two EST drivers. This boost was done with a precision to completely avoid any sibilance, and instead give upper mids/vocals a more forward presence.
The mid-treble and overall treble extension are unchanged based on what I’m hearing and multiple measurements. But as a result of a fuller body mids and lower treble change, the perception of the treble tuning has changed, and Indigo treble is much less piercing now in comparison to Mest/MKII. As they say, a little change goes a long way. And all these little changes accumulated into the updated finetuning that I personally found to be quite effective.
The technical performance hasn’t changed. You still have a similar soundstage expansion, wide, with more width than depth, creating a sort of an oval soundstage spacing around you. Imaging still approaches holographic level, and you can still expect an impressive layering and separation of sounds and vocals.
For my own personal preference, I enjoyed original Mest/MKII with more EDM and pop/rock tracks, while the improvement in Indigo tuning that added more body in the lower mids and deeper low end extension made it great with vocal, instrumental, and acoustic tracks as well.
Eartips Selection.
The selection of eartips is crucial to any universal in-ear monitors and will affect the sound, especially the bass impact depending on the seal. Due to a large opening of my earcanals, I usually go for the largest size eartips to get a better seal, but with a slightly bigger diameter of Indigo nozzle, in some cases I had to step down to medium size eartips. Also, please keep in mind, eartips impressions are subjective and will be based on anatomy of your ears. Here, I was analyzing the sound using LPGT and stock cable.
stock AZLA Xelastec - The sound sig I hear is balanced W-shaped with elevated deep textured sub-bass and strong mid-bass impact, natural organic fuller body mids with a decent retrieval of details, and sparkly treble with a good airy extension. I was going between M and ML size eartips, so if the included M size doesn’t give you a good seal, try to get Xelastec ML/L size pack.
stock Silicone – the seal here is more relaxed and the sound sig is between W-shaped and a very mild U-shaped because upper mids/vocals sound a little more distant and slightly reduced in quantity. The low end is very powerful here, and in a contrast with mids, bass scales up a bit because mids sound a little thinner and brighter. Mids/vocals still have a natural tonality, but a little less warm in comparison to Xelastec eartips. Treble has extra sparkle but still staying under a threshold of my harshness tolerance. For EDM track, this is a good eartips pair up.
Symbio F - I tried L and M size, both give a good isolation and similar mids/treble, but the bass was attenuated with M-size, thus I switched to Large for a better seal. The sound sig with Symbio F is balanced W-shaped, with a more even and linear tonality across entire frequency range. While some other eartips give you a little extra bass or treble emphasis, here the tuning was nicely balanced, giving the sound more transparency and less coloring in mids. Bass still elevated and goes deep with a nice textured rumble, but a little less than Xelastec; and mid-bass is more articulate with a better control. Mids have body, but a little less warmth and more transparency, making them sound a little more revealing. Treble is crisp and airy, and still natural.
SpinFit CP145 - with these SpinFits the sound sig is closer to U-shaped tuning where bass and treble are more elevated and upper mids sound more distant. Bass here is scaled up in quantity, I hear a lot more sub-bass rumble and overall bass has more weight and more presence. Lower mids are closer to neutral, thus vocals loose some of the body and warmth. Treble is crisp and bright, not harsh but getting closer. Wasn’t too crazy about these eartips with Indigo.
Final Audio Type E - another pair of eartips with a narrow bore opening, similar to SpinFit where I hear a slightly more U-shaped sound sig tuning. Bass goes deeper, has stronger punch, and overall, more elevated. Mids/vocals are not as smooth or warm, a little thinner and a bit distant, further out of your head. Treble is crisp and bright, not harsh but they are getting a little closer to my personal borderline of tolerance. Wasn’t my favorite pair up.
Xelastec and Symbio F were my favorite eartips with Indigo, a similar conclusion I reached with MKII, but keep in mind, it is very subjective and relative to my ear anatomy. Bottom line, sound does vary with different eartips so don't jump into the final conclusion until you experiment with tip rolling.
Cable pair up.
I’m aware that some people don’t believe in cables and have very strong opinion about it. It’s not my intent to change those minds. Instead, I’m just sharing what I hear during my testing. What makes sense to me, a metal wire is a material with physical properties of resistivity, conductivity, purity, and unique geometry, all of which put together act as a filter between your source and headphones. Variations of these physical properties can affect the conductivity of analog signal, resulting in a sound change, from a subtle to a more noticeable level. If the talk about cables upsets you, please skip this section. Otherwise, enjoy these short impressions.
stock to EA EVO10 – when I tested MKII with this cable, I heard a little bit of improvement in soundstage. But the overall tonality, sound signature, and the rest of the technical performance are similar.
stock to PWA No 10 - I hear the signature to change slightly, being more U-shaped due to bass being slightly elevated and treble going higher in quantity due to mids being slightly scooped out, making the sound brighter and more revealing. Felt like I was going back to MKII tuning.
stock to Eletech Socrates – another change in sound where in this pair up the bass and mids remained nearly the same while the treble got boosted and became brighter. I know some people don’t believe in cables, but here the change was rather drastic due to treble boost.
stock M3 to MKII M2 – I was very curious about this one, and found that M2 cables made Indigo lower mids thinner and also slightly reduced the impact of the mid-bass. When you switch back to M3, the vocals had more body and mids sounded smoother. The change wasn’t necessary drastic, but was quite noticeable.
If you have other flagship cables, go ahead, it never hurts to try, to see if you can bring more refinement to the sound. But considering the quality of stock PWA copper cable, I don't think you need to invest into a cable upgrade with Indigo. The stock cable is great looking, great sounding, and has a great pair up synergy here.
Comparison.
The comparison was done using Indigo with a stock cable, Xelastec stock eartips, and LPGT source; volume matched in every comparison.
Indigo vs FiR Audio M4 - Indigo soundstage is a little bit wider, perhaps due to Indigo having more air in upper frequencies which gives its soundstage a more open and expanded width. Their bass, from sub-bass rumble to mid-bass impact, has a lot of similarities, not exactly identical, but it is very close in weight and presence. Upper mids are very similar as well, making vocals sound natural and detailed, and lower mids are not too far off either, though, overall, I found M4 mids to have a little more coloring and Indigo mids to have a little more transparency. Both have energetic highs, but Indigo adds more air and has a little better treble extension.
Indigo vs 64 Audio Trio - Another interesting comparison since original MKII was closer in tuning to Trio. But now the tuning gap is a little wider. The first thing you notice is a V-shaped tuning of Trio vs more balanced tuning of Indigo. Soundstage expansion is close, maybe with Indigo being just a little bit wider. Both have elevated DD bass with a deep sub-bass rumble and healthy mid-bass slam, but Trio scales up in quantity just a little higher, which could also be a part of the perception due to a more V-shaped sound sig. Upper mids are very similar in quality, while Trio’s lower mids are a bit leaner. When it comes to quantity, mids are more recessed in Trio, while Indigo mids/vocals are more forward and have more presence. Both have energetic treble with plenty of sparkle and airiness, but Trio's tia sounds splashier in comparison to more controlled Indigo treble.
Indigo vs Campfire Audio Solaris 2020 - Also an interesting comparison to another popular hybrid. Here I found Solaris being just a touch wider in soundstage while both have the same depth/height. Both have a balanced tuning, and as a result have W-shaped sound sig. But there is some difference in bass impact where even with its deeper sub-bass extension and a good punch, Solaris has less weight and low end presence then Indigo. In comparison, Indigo bass scales up in quantity to give you more sub-bass rumble and stronger mid-bass punch. Mids/vocals are similar in quality, being more natural and detailed, though Indigo has a little more body in lower mids while Solaris is a bit leaner. Both have a clear and sparkly treble, with plenty of energy, but Indigo treble sounds more natural while Solaris treble is a little brighter and a bit less natural.
Indigo vs Mest MKII – to summarize what I have already covered in Sound Analysis section; the sound signature has been changed from mildly U-shaped in MKII to balanced W-shaped in Indigo. The bass scales up across sub-bass and mid-bass with a little more rumble and impact, not a significant lift, but noticeable enough to add more weight to Indigo bass. Lower mids now have more body which gives mids/vocals a more natural warmer tonality, and upper mids itself are more forward which contributes to a balanced sound sig change. While treble in general didn’t change, its perception did due to changes in mids, which now makes treble sound less peaky and more natural.
Source pair up.
In each source pair up I was using a stock premium cable. Indigo is easy to drive considering its 118dB sensitivity and 13.2ohm impedance. No hissing was detected. For your reference, here are my brief pair up notes. And by brief, I just focus on any changes related to signature and general tonality, without going into too many details of technical performance difference.
Lotoo LPGT - the baseline sound with wide soundstage, balanced W-shaped sound sig; deep extended sub-bass with an elevated mid-bass slam, natural detailed mids/vocals, crisp extended treble.
Cayin N6ii w/R01 - wide soundstage, balanced sound sig; bass has a deeper sub-bass rumble with a similar mid-bass impact, mids/vocals are natural and detailed, treble is a little bit brighter and crisper. I still consider the sound sig to be W-shaped, but a little extra sub-bass emphasis and treble sparkle makes it borderline mild U-shaped.
Hiby RS6 - wide soundstage, balanced sound with a slightly more mid-forward sound sig; extended sub-bass with a fast mid-bass impact, but overall bass quantity was a bit more neutral; mids are natural and detailed, high in quantity and a little more forward in presentation, and treble is airy, with plenty of sparkle, and overall extra energy. Probably the brightest treble in comparison to other daps.
iBasso DX300 w/amp11 mkII - wide soundstage expansion, W-shaped balanced sound signature with a deep sub-bass rumble and stronger and faster mid-bass impact, natural organic detailed mids/vocals, and crisp and well-defined extended treble. Excellent pair up synergy.
A&K SP2000 SS - wide soundstage expansion, a balanced W-shaped sound signature with slightly elevated deep and textured sub-bass rumble and a faster mid-bass impact. Mids were natural, detailed, with a fuller body in lower mids; treble was extended, airy, sparkly, but not as aggressive, more controlled.
Conclusion.
In the conclusion, let me get back to the question I raised in the intro, what is Indigo? In my opinion, I think it is more than one thing. From what I have been told, UM made only 200 pairs worldwide and once they are gone, that will be it. So, it is a Special Limited-Edition release. Would I consider Indigo as MKIII or next gen Mest? It definitely has Mest DNA, inside out. The driver config has been upgraded from 8 (DD/4BA/2EST/dBC) to 10 (DD/4BA/4EST/dBC) and the tuning has been refined to give you more natural tonality with a slight elevation in bass and fuller body more forward mids that change the sound sig perception from mildly U-shaped to balanced W-shaped.
But it is more than just internal driver config change and updated tuning. The whole shell was upgraded with all new finish carbon fiber material and a new premium 3D Sapphire Pinewood faceplate. The shape of the shell remained the same, but everything else has changed, including new replaceable nozzle mesh filter and relocation of bass port vent. Plus, they stepped it up with an all new PWA stock cable that features thicker conductors, matching color deep blue sleeve, and an all-new custom design bronze hardware to match faceplate frame. Even the included Dignis storage case has been customized to match Indigo color theme.
The price has gone up as well, and I did receive quite a few questions asking me if the difference worth the new price tag. In my personal opinion, even from reviewer rather than consumer perspective, Indigo has so many inside-out upgrades going from MKII that I find the price increase to be justified. As a matter of fact, while the new driver config and tuning felt like MKIII upgrade, the exterior redesign along with a new cable and customized Dignis case felt like the infusion from UM flagship Fabled Sound.
holsen
I think all the sales you've seen are the result of so many new flagship being released and upgradeitis... I just picked up an Indigo from someone jumping to Odysee, so yeah, I believe it's still a good upgrade from the MKii, but we'll see in a few days.
galaxysound25
Ok, valid point
The product was provided to me free of charge for the review purpose in exchange for my honest opinion. The review was originally posted on my site, and now I would like to share it with my readers on Head-fi.
Manufacturer website: 64 Audio. Available for sale directly or from different retailers like Audio46.
Intro.
Early this year when 64 Audio posted a teaser with 3 of their upcoming new IEM models, one of them got extra attention due to a design with an open mesh faceplate grill, leading many to assume a new flagship with a planar magnetic driver. You can’t blame 64 Audio fans because they have been waiting for something brand new for a while now, and considering today’s market trend with prices going up exponentially, some were prepping for another mega-kilobuck release. Part of their wish came true when 64 Audio introduced a brand-new Duo model, and many let out a sigh of relief when the price of this dual driver IEM was announced.
Without sounding too cliché, I honestly had no idea what to expect, didn’t know at all what is inside under the hood of that faceplate when Duo arrived. I like surprises, and this was a pleasant one. Now, after spending close to a month of listening and testing of this latest 64 Audio release, I would like to share what I found.
Unboxing and Accessories.
Not sure if 64 Audio is still in the process of tweaking the design of their universal IEMs packaging since Duo box is somewhere in between of Nio and U18s releases. Here, it looks more compact, similar to Nio, yet the design is more “traditional” with exterior sleeve and magnetic flip cover box underneath, similar to U18s. To get your attention, sleeve cover features a bold look of the mesh cover faceplate, while cover’s back has a CAD drawing of the interior design and key features printed underneath.
Inside you have a big foam block with a cutout for Duo and the cable snaked around it, as well as a round opening for a Premium Leather case with accessories inside. It’s a nice quality leather case, great for secure storage or for a display on your desk. Inside the case you have a plastic organizer for all the included eartips pairs, such as TrueFidelity foam tips (S/M/L), SpinFit CP145 silicone tips (S/M/L), and generic silicone tips (S/M/L). Plus, you get a shirt clip and a cleaning tool, in addition to a round sticker with new 64 Audio label.
Cable.
Since I haven’t tested U6t where it was first introduced, this was the first time I had a chance to see 64 Audio new Premium cable included with Duo. This very low impedance cable, according to 64 Audio, measures 0.23ohms, features 4 separate silver-plated OCC copper wires, each with 26 AWG thickness. 64 Audio refers to this cable as 7x7x4 multi-twist where I just assume ‘4’ stands for a number of conductors.
The cable feels more durable, not as flimsy as previous stock cables. It has a glossy rubbery thicker jacket, loosely braided wires between the plug and y-split, and twisted pairs of wires going to each earpiece. No more dealing with a memory wire, here you have a pre-shaped earhook heat-shrink tube, and premium angled non-recessed 2pin connector housing with L/R letter indicator.
The compact all metal y-split and matching metal chin slider have updated design, and y-slit also features a printed 64 Audio logo. Cable is terminated with a matching metal plug w/64 Audio logo, though the plug itself only offered in single ended 3.5mm by default. In the past, many audiophiles have complained about stock 64 Audio cable. This upgrade with a higher quality hardware and more durable build should make people happy, or at least happier.
Design.
64 Audio is very straight forward with their hybrid IEM naming, Trio – triple driver, Fourte – four drivers, Nio – nine drivers, and following the same logic, Duo – dual driver. So, Duo is a dual driver hybrid design, featuring one 9mm DD low and one tia BA high drivers, along with a built-in apex module/core and LID tech. The shell itself has a traditional 64 Audio shape which is nearly identical to Trio and similar to Fourte, including a bulbous shape of the nozzle base, so expect a similar fit. And similar to those other IEMs, you will find a larger hole drilled at the bottom edge of the shell facing forward - a dynamic driver vent. But you will not find apex module pinhole vent here.
While Nio didn’t have a separate apex vent in the shell due to the module being replaceable, both Trio and Fourte do have this pinhole vent since their apex module is internal to the shell. In Duo description, 64 Audio refers to “Apex Core” where according to the design its faceplate features a perforated grill that leaves the shell of the IEM open to the outside for a less obstructed airflow. The apex module, which stands for air-pressure-exchange, is intended to relieve air pressure in a sealed earcanal, thus you can see a connection relative to this new faceplate design. And while apex module is not replaceable, according to the spec Apex Core system in Duo provides isolation of -12dB.
Actually, the faceplate design is quite complicated and consists of three-piece aluminum assembly. You have an anodized aluminum grill fixture underneath of a black PVD coated stainless steel mesh, all high tolerance design. The mesh is secured to the grill with a chromed stainless-steel bezel. The aluminum shell itself has a solid build, and while appearing black from a distance, it has a very dark navy anodized finish when you look closer. The tip of the nozzle has a protective mesh grill over tia driver to keep wax build up away.
And speaking of tia driver, which is an open BA driver used in majority of 64 Audio iems (usually placed in the nozzle), in Duo design they refer to it as a “complete Tia System to reduce unwanted resonance and distortion by allowing 9mm DD + Tia high driver to radiate into the single large Tia bore with no obstructions to the front of the driver”. If I understand it correctly, the tubeless output of DD driver goes through open BA tia driver where the sound is mixed and comes out of the nozzle and into your earcanal.
Last, but not the least, Duo also features 64 Audio own Linear Impedance Design (LID) where despite a low impedance (9ohm), Duo should sound the same when paired up with different sources, regardless of their output impedance. Just keep in mind, every source has their own sound characteristics which is going to contribute to the final sound you hear based on the synergy between IEMs and the source. But the actual output impedance of the source shouldn’t have the effect on the sound.
And again, I want to mention that while this is supposed to be open sound design with a mesh/grill faceplate and only -12dB of isolation, there is hardly any sound leakage. People standing a few feet away from me couldn’t hear any sound, and I even tried to hold my phone an inch away from Duo in my ears while recording ambient noise and didn’t hear anything.
The fit.
Sound Analysis.
I analyzed Duo sound performance paired up with a neutral LPGT source while playing a variety of test tracks, such as Agnes Obel “The curse”, Sandro Cavazza “So much better” (Avicii remix), C-Bool “Never go away”, Ed Sheeran “Shape of you”, Alan Walker “Darkside”, Galantis “Hunter”, Iggy Azalea “Black widow”, Indila “Boite en argent”, Dua Lipa “Love again”, Counting Crows “Big yellow taxi”, Bob Marley “Jamming”, David Elias “Vision of her”, and Michael Jackson “Dirty Diana”. I let it burn in for at least 150hrs before I started taking my notes.
I would like to start off by mentioning that due to lower sensitivity (98dB), Duo will require higher volume, about 8-9 clicks higher than my other average sensitivity IEMs. It’s not a big deal, still easy to drive. But when you are comparing and switching between different IEMs, don’t make the assumption that Duo will be OK at the same volume level as others. The volume setting here is important, otherwise mids will be more recessed. Push the volume higher which is still OK due to apex core design that relieves any sound pressure.
To my ears, Duo has a distinct U-shaped sound signature with a recessed perception of mids due to elevated bass and mid-treble. The tonality is on a warmer and smoother side with a fuller body sound. I didn’t find the sound to be micro-detailed or analytical, though tia driver helps to bring up the resolution. And despite a warmer fuller body sound around bass and lower mids, the retrieval of details is good with the sound being clear, not muffled or veiled. The overall sound has a relaxed, laidback presentation with a smooth, natural tonality, and a decent level of natural detail retrieval.
The bass has extra weight with a noticeable presence of extended and elevated sub-bass rumble that gives low end analog timbre, and mid-bass impact I associate with floor standing speakers. Bass is relaxed, with average speed attack and decay, typical of DD driver, not too tight or articulate, but with a good control. Sometimes extra decay of bass can contribute to thickness of lower mids body, but not in this case. To my ears, I don't hear bass spilling into lower mids.
Mids are smooth, detailed, natural, with plenty of body, yet without being muddy or veiled. Especially when you focus on vocals, you can appreciate a natural organic tonality of both male and female singing. So, lower mids have more body while upper mids are smoother and more organic. I usually look for sound separation and layering in mids, while here it is just average due to a more natural smoother tonality. Mids are not lacking any details, just less revealing. Also, when it comes to imaging, mids/vocals positioned farther out of your head, and sound a bit distant. You do need to raise the volume to bring up mids quantity, especially due to lower sensitivity of Duo. As I already mentioned, if you are switching between different average sensitivity IEMs and go back to Duo without changing volume, mids will be lacking resolution. But as soon as you turn up the volume, they come alive.
Treble is the same way, need to pay attention to volume setting. Duo is not for low volume listening. Once you raise the volume to a more adequate listening level, the clarity and the sparkle of treble goes up as the tia driver starts to flex its muscle. Here, lower treble is smoother, so don't expect any harsh sibilance peaks. Instead, the high definition and airiness of the treble comes from mid- and upper-treble extension. Treble does pack some energy, but still sounds natural and with good non-fatigue definition.
Despite a more open sound, I wouldn't call soundstage expansion to be super wide. It is wide and definitely above average, but I hear more depth/height than width, with the sound surrounding you with more intimacy. The open sound feeling comes from less isolation and zero sound pressure which makes you feel like you are wearing open back headphones, but with a benefit of hardly any sound leakage. The imaging is good, not super precise due to more depth and less air between layers of sound, so don't expect 3D holographic imaging. But it is pretty convincing, nothing is congested, and it is easy to distinguish and position instruments and vocals.
Eartips selection.
The selection of eartips is crucial to any universal in-ear monitors and will affect the sound, especially the bass impact/quantity which depends on the seal. Due to a large opening of my earcanals, I usually go for the largest size eartips to get a better seal. Also, please keep in mind, eartips impressions are subjective and will be based on and relative to anatomy of my ears.
stock SpinFit CP145 - laid back smoother natural tonality with a more U-shaped sound sig.
stock TrueFidelity Foam tips - laid back smoother natural tonality with a more balanced W-shaped sound sig.
stock Silicone tips - these had a little bit of lift in bass and treble.
Azla Xelastec - more V-shaped sound due to lift in bass and treble.
Final Type E - similar to stock SpinFits.
Symbio F - similar to stock except treble was a bit brighter.
For me personally, stock CP145 and Symbio F were preferred eartips with Duo.
Cable pair up.
I’m aware that some people don’t believe in cables and have very strong opinion about it. It’s not my intent to change those minds. Instead, I’m just sharing what I hear during my testing. What makes sense to me, a metal wire is a material with physical properties of resistivity, conductivity, purity, and unique geometry, all of which put together act as a filter between your source and earphones. Variations of these physical properties can affect the conductivity of analog signal, resulting in a sound change, from a subtle to a more noticeable level. If the talk about cables upsets you, please skip this section. Otherwise, enjoy these short impressions.
stock to 64 Audio Premium Silver hybrid - the main change I hear is in mids, being a little more revealing and noticeably more forward.
stock to Eletech Socrates - very interesting effect of more elevated sub-bass and even stronger mid-bass punch and crisper treble. The bass lift is actually not just subtle, but quite noticeable.
stock to PS Copper+ - another example of bass and mids lift, while treble remained the same. Also, bass feels faster and tighter.
stock to EA EVO10 - in this pair up I hear sound sig being more V-shaped due to a stronger bass and lift in mid-treble.
stock to PWA 1960 2wire - I hear more clarity and resolution in mids/treble, but at the same time, bass is lifted and the tuning becomes a bit distracting.
I actually enjoyed 64 Audio premium silver hybrid cable pair up the most because it added some clarity to the mids and didn't lift the bass like in pair ups with other cables. Stock cable pair up is also good if you want a smoother and more laidback tonality.
Comparison.
The comparison was done using Duo with a stock 3.5mm cable, SpinFit CP145 stock eartips, and LPGT as my source, volume matched in every comparison.
Duo vs 64 Audio Nio - Had to bump Nio to M20 module to come closer to the weight and the impact of Duo's bass. That gives a good match in sub-bass rumble and a similar mid-bass impact. Duo has a fuller body lower mids, while Nio's lower mids are leaner, and as a result Duo's mids sound a bit thicker while Nio's mids (vocals) have a little better definition. This difference in mids was more noticeable with vocals rather than instruments. When it comes to treble, Duo is brighter and has more air with better extension in comparison to Nio. Furthermore, the soundstage is more open in Duo, especially since I'm using M20 (20dB) apex with Nio which has more isolation.
Is Nio worth extra $500? IMHO, yes, considering you have replaceable apex module and prettier blue abalone faceplate. But if you don't care about it and prefer more open sound and authorative bass impact, then Duo would be a good choice. But also keep in mind, Nio will have better isolation while Duo by design is not.
Duo vs 64 Audio Trio - The sound signature is the first thing that stands out when you start comparing these iems, both do have recessed mids, but Trio is V-shaped with a deeper cut in mids while Duo is closer to U-shaped. Both have a very similar bass down to a deeper sub-bass extension and punchy mid-bass. Duo's lower mids have more body which gives its mids/vocals more organic tonality, while Trio's lower mids are very lean which translates into a thinner and brighter mids/vocals. Treble is another extreme with Duo being smoother and more natural while Trio treble being a lot more brighter and piercing. Soundstage expansion is actually not too far off, but Duo does give you a more open sound perception.
Duo vs 64 Audio U12t - I was using U12t w/M15, but its soundstage is still a little narrower in comparison to Duo. The overall sound sig of U12t is more balanced while Duo has a U-shaped signature. Duo has more elevated bass, definitely more weight with deeper rumble and stronger mid-bass, making U12t sound leaner and even more neutral in a relative comparison. Mids of U12t are leaner as well because of less body in lower mids, while Duo has thicker and warmer mids with fuller and richer tonality body. And while both have a clear detailed treble, U12t has more sparkle in comparison to a more natural tonality of Duo's treble. There is definitely a noticeable difference in weight between DD and BA bass, but what stood out the most for me was mids/vocals. If you want a lusher fuller body tonality, Duo is a great choice, while U12t delivers leaner and more detailed mids/vocals.
Duo vs CFA Solaris 2020 - Gotta remember to adjust the volume in this comparison, due to Sensitivity difference I had to lower the volume by about 17 clicks when switching to Solaris. I few people asked me to include this comparison, though these are quite different in every aspect. Solaris soundstage is wider with a more holographic imaging, while Duo does sound open but soundstage has more depth/height than width. Overall tonality and signature quite different as well, with Duo being warmer, smoother, and U-shaped, while Solaris being brighter, more revealing, and balanced with more mid-forward emphasis. Duo's bass definitely scales up in weight with sub-bass rumble being more elevated and digging in deeper, and with a stronger mid-bass impact, making Solaris bass sound almost neutral in comparison. With mids, Duo has more body and warmer tonality in comparison to leaner body and brighter and more revealing upper mids of Solaris. And the same with treble, Duo being clear and more natural, while Solaris being brighter and harsher in comparison to Duo. So, again, if you want a more revealing micro-detailed holographic sound, Solaris is a better choice here, while Duo delivers and more natural, detailed, smoother sound with a more analog bass and more intimate presentation of the sound.
Source pair up.
In each source pair ups, I was using a stock 3.5mm cable and stock SpinFit eartips. Duo is not that hard to drive, but considering low sensitivity of 98dB and 9ohm impedance, I had to push volume 8-9 clicks higher relative to my other IEMs. No hissing was detected. For your reference, these are very brief pair up notes. And by brief, I just focus on any changes related to signature and general tonality, without going into too many details about technical performance difference.
Lotoo LPGT - laidback smoother natural tonality with a U-shaped sound sig (baseline).
iBasso DX300 MAX SS - stronger bass (sub-bass and mid-bass) impact with a little brighter mids.
Cayin N6ii w/R01 - similar to 3Max SS, a stronger bass and a little brighter mids.
Hiby R6 2020 - similar sound presentation as LPGT, smooth and natural.
L&P P6 Pro - similar to LPGT but with a bigger soundstage expansion and more analog tonality, along with improvement in retrieval of details.
A&K SP2000 SS - nice articulate bass and detailed natural mids, but treble in this pair up is a bit too bright and shouty.
Lotoo LPGT and L&P P6 Pro were my favorite pair ups with Duo.
Conclusion.
As I was thinking about what to write in the conclusion of this review, I revisited my U18s write up from March of this year, and realized that I also offered my speculation about the picture of an open back grill IEM, keeping my fingers crossed for the next big flagship release. Maybe, this is just a part of our audiophile nature to wish for the next big thing. But in reality, we get excited just to hear the next “new” thing, especially from established brand like 64 Audio. And at $1,199, Duo is actually the cheapest universal hybrid IEM from 64 Audio that features all their signature tech, including tia, apex, and LID.
But what gets many excited about the hybrid design is usually a dynamic driver, and thanks to its 9mm bass DD, Duo can definitely satisfy a craving for that analog speaker like bass paired with a clear detailed tonality and extra sparkle of upper frequencies delivered by its tia driver. The natural, detailed tonality of this IEM has a non-fatigue relaxed tuning. And the open sound design with less isolation and minimum sound leakage, unlike typical open backs, makes Duo great for use in public places if you don’t need total sound isolation and instead prefer to keep awareness of your surroundings.
Actually, it doesn’t matter where you use Duo, indoors or outdoors, in public or in private. What matters is the laidback relaxed tuning and non-fatigue tonality with deep lows and clear detailed highs you can enjoy anywhere. Now, having said that, 64 Audio, we are still waiting for the next big flagship!
CT007
Duo > MEXT. Anyone agree..?
The product was provided to me free of charge for the review purpose in exchange for my honest opinion. The review was originally posted on my site, and now I would like to share it with my readers on Head-fi.
Manufacturer website: FAudio. Available for sale from Musicteck.
Intro.
I have to admit that prior to this review I wasn’t even aware of FAudio brand and their products, and only heard of them recently when Andrew of Musicteck asked me if I’m familiar with their latest Dark Sky flagship release. After Googling the company, I saw it was founded by former MiniWatt lead engineer, Fung Wong, in 2014, and their first official release was back in 2016. Based in Hong Kong, it seems they built quite a following in Asia, and had a few popular releases, such as Minor, Major, and Project Y. Dark Sky is their latest release, though I couldn’t find it on their site yet.
I was still contemplating if I should take a listen since a lot has been on my plate lately, but once I found out it is a single DD design, as usual, curiosity got the better of me. Single DD iems fascinate me because you have one building block, unlike hybrids, tri-brids, quad-brids, and you never know what to expect. I borrowed this pair without expectations to write the review, only wanted to hear a new flagship iem from a brand I never heard of before. At least that was the plan, but I got drawn in as I spent more time listening, switching eartips, trying other cables, and pairing it with different sources.
And while taking notes, I realized that I have accumulated enough material to start working on the full review, to share what I have discovered after spending the last few weeks with Dark Sky in my ears. So, here it goes!
Unboxing and Accessories.
As I have learned lately, the price of the product is no longer an indicator of unboxing experience. You can have multi-kilobuck IEMs that come in a modest brown cardboard box, or you can have something like Dark Sky at 1/6 of the price with a premium packaging and a flagship level unboxing experience. Arrived in a sturdy giftbox quality packaging box, the first surprise came after I removed the cover to discover Dark Sky along with a round leather case and 2 quality T-shaped cable adapters which reminded me of popular DDhifi adapters. With everything out of the box, let’s take a closer look at what was included.
As already mentioned, you get a nice round leather storage case, and it wasn’t some generic cheap case with a stamped logo. This is a nice quality textured leather case with a soft inner lining, in blue color to match the IEM shells and cable. Furthermore, you also get a soft cloth drawstring storage pouch and the same material piece of a cleaning cloth plus cleaning brush tool, along with a warranty card and user’s guide. You also get a double-pocket mesh storage. As you can see, FAudio paid a close attention to make sure you keep these safe and scratch-free during transportation.
And speaking of that, FAudio went one step further, also including protective soft silicone covers. Referred by FAudio as soft silicone earplugs sleeve, these use a skin-friendly soft material, have a perfect cutout for 2pin connector and vents, don’t add to much bulk, and very comfortable to wear with shells. I don’t know if the color will change over time, silicone DAP cases tend to get yellowish, and in theory you don’t have to use it. But considering all metal shell design, they make a good protective cover if you are planning to use them while working out or biking and need extra protection from scratches and drops.
I will talk more about the cable next, but cable by itself comes wrapped in a genuine leather organizer strap with a snap button. And considering cable was terminated with 2.5mm BAL plug, FAudio also included 2.5mm to 3.5mm and 2.5mm to 4.4mm short T-shaped adapters, as I mentioned already, similar in shape to DDhifi adapters. These adapters have a metal black housing and a very solid robust design with a secure mating of the cable plug. Their sound quality is actually very transparent, no coloration what so over. I verified it by comparing with my other high end PWA and EA adapters and pigtails.
Last, but not least, are 3 sets of eartips, set of white silicone (S/M/L) narrow bore tips, set of grey silicone (S/M/L) wider bore tips, and a pair of small size wide bore foam eartips. Not sure why only one pair of small foam eartips was included because I would have loved to try bigger size.
Cable.
I always consider removable cable as part of the accessories and was quite surprised here that $1k+ iem comes not only in premium packaging, but also with a premium wire material cable.
The cable design features 4 separate 24AWG thickness conductors and deep blue color outer Ultra Soft PVC jacket to match the color of the shells. Each conductor/wire features 7 core groups, wound with a specific ratio and multiple twists. The wire itself uses high purity Silver and Silver alloy and adds Gold-Silver alloy wires (silver immersed in gold). Also, only premium audiophile grade solder was used.
The hardware of the cable uses CNCed metal parts with a shiny chrome finish. 2.5mm TRRS BAL plug housing has a comfortable grip, matching finish and similar shape y-split with a matching chin-slider to complement the looks. You will also find a flexible pre-shaped earhook heatshrink close to 2pin connectors, also housed in matching finish metal shells with clear L/R labels.
Design.
The shells are very compact and lightweight, CNCed from T6061 aluminum alloy, and treated externally using manual grinding and anodized polishing finish which gives it a more unique textured deep blue look. The design itself is very ergonomic and I found shells to fit comfortably inside my ears, been using them for hours without ear fatigue. The shape and the size of the shells should work with any ear anatomy unless you are into CIEMs only.
From a visual perspective, faceplates are flat, with FA logo. Inner part of the shell is slightly bulbous and extends into a longer stainless-steel nozzle which has a vent at the base and mesh cover at the nozzle tip. Nozzle tip has a generous lip to hold eartips secure and to prevent them from sliding off. Another pinhole vent is located next to 2pin (standard 0.78mm) socket.
In the heart of the design is 10.2mm double diaphragm Dynamic Driver, using different material for each diaphragm. According to manufacturer, one is Fiber material diaphragm which supposed to provide a faster sound response, yielding tighter low frequencies and smoother mids. The other diaphragm uses D.L.C. (diamond like carbon) material, intended for better high frequency extension, to provide more clarity and details, higher resolution, and more expanded soundstage. The spec of this driver is 24ohm impedance and 114dB sensitivity with a wider range of frequency response covering 15Hz to 38kHz.
Surrounding this 10.2mm DD is a patented Triple Built-in Acoustic Chamber design (T.B.A.C.) to control the airflow pumped by this dynamic driver. This triple chamber design consists of 1) A separate acoustic chamber which houses the actual driver, 2) CNC aluminum housing of the shell with a built-in acoustic chamber to reduce any unnatural jitter and distortion, 3) Stainless steel nozzle sound tube which releases the air pressure into the ear canal.
The fit.
Sound Analysis.
I analyzed Dark Sky sound performance paired up with a neutral LPGT source while playing a variety of test tracks, such as Agnes Obel “The curse”, Sandro Cavazza “So much better” (Avicii remix), C-Bool “Never go away”, Ed Sheeran “Shape of you”, Alan Walker “Darkside”, Galantis “Hunter”, Iggy Azalea “Black widow”, Indila “Boite en argent”, Dua Lipa “Love again”, Counting Crows “Big yellow taxi”, David Elias “Vision of her”, and Michael Jackson “Dirty Diana”. I let it burn in for at least 100hrs before I started taking my notes. Also, was using white stock eartips.
I hear Dark Sky to have a W-shaped signature with a clear and transparent tonality. The tonality
is not exactly bright where it becomes harsh or fatigue, but rather vivid and relatively accurate with a hint of musicality accompanied by a powerful bass impact which prevents it from being dry and lifeless. In a way, it allows you to analyze details of instruments and vocals in non-analytical way.
There is definitely a healthy presence of deep extended bass with a clean sub-bass rumble and a bouncy mid-bass slam. The bass is elevated, but it sounds very lean and articulate, with a fast attack and shorter decay. It doesn't have a typical analog warm texture associated with DD drivers. Instead, it has a driving power of analog driver and technical performance of BAs.
Lower mids are neutral, not too lean, well separated from the bass and even contributing to some body in sound. But they don't contribute to the coloring of the tonality, and instead have a clean and transparent sound. Upper mids have a more forward presentation, very clear and detailed, and surprisingly not too dry considering their level of detail retrieval. It was refreshing to be able to analyze every sound detail without dealing with a fatigue of analytical harshness.
Treble continues with the same clean and clear tuning, providing a decent level of clarity and sparkle without being harsh or grainy (I know, I keep repeating myself). It sounds extended, with plenty of airiness and moderate level of crunch. Treble has a well-defined and vivid presentation, which, again, I never found fatigue during extended listening sessions, but you have to choose the right pair of eartips which can make or break the sound.
The soundstage is approaching 3D holographic level with an excellent imaging and relatively accurate placement of instruments and vocals. This 3D expansion in width, depth, and height felt natural, not exaggerated, with layers of sounds being well separated.
Some wide-bandwidth single DD iems could sound completely incoherent, almost like a hybrid with a detached bass and mids/treble, while I found Dark Sky tuning to be balanced and more coherent. The bass still stands out on its own as a separate layer on top of clear and vivid sound presentation, but it also finds its way to blend in better with the rest of the spectrum. I found the tuning to work well with any genre of music I threw at it, though have to say, if you prefer a more organic warmer tonality and smoother treble, or more emotional musical mids, the tuning of Dark Sky might be too “clean” for you. And the same goes for if you want a neutral bass, Dark Sky is not for you.
Eartips selection.
The selection of eartips is crucial to any universal in-ear monitors and will affect the sound, especially the bass impact/quantity which depends on the seal. Due to a large opening of my earcanals, I usually go for the largest size eartips to get a better seal. Also, please keep in mind, eartips impressions are subjective and will be based on anatomy of my ears.
stock grey - v-shaped sound sig with deep extended bass and bright crisp treble, mids a slightly recessed, creating a perfect v-shaped response. In pair up with Dark Sky, I found wider cap size eartips to tighten the seal while enhancing the bass, and wider bore opening to brighten the treble.
stock white - w-shaped sound sig where the smaller cap size eartips relax the seal and give the bass a more balanced response. Also, brings up mids a little more forward, and shifts and attenuates down the lower treble peak. Narrower bore of these eartips makes upper frequencies more natural.
AZLA Crystal/Xelastec - shifts more toward v-shaped sound, even more bass impact and crisper treble than stock grey eartips.
Final Type-E - performance is between stock grey and white, deeper bass though not as elevated, and brighter treble, though a little less harsh.
SpinFit CP145 - w-shaped sound with deep sub-bass and more mid-bass impact and crisp lower treble. Imaging takes vocals slightly out of your head, putting them more forward.
Symbio F - w-shaped sound sig with a more balanced frequency response across the entire spectrum. Bass goes deep but not as elevated, mids sound natural and more forward, and treble has great natural definition without being crisp or harsh, definitely more natural balanced sound.
For my personal taste, I preferred Symbio F and stock white eartips with Dark Sky.
Cable pair up.
I’m aware that some people don’t believe in cables and have very strong opinion about it. It’s not my intent to change those minds. Instead, I’m just sharing what I hear during my testing. What makes sense to me, a metal wire is a material with physical properties of resistivity, conductivity, purity, and unique geometry, all of which put together act as a filter between your source and headphones. Variations of these physical properties can affect the conductivity of analog signal, resulting in a sound change, from a subtle to a more noticeable level. If the talk about cables upsets you, please skip this section. Otherwise, enjoy these short impressions.
PWA 1960 4wire - more weight in bass (sub-bass rumble) and more body in mids. Good pair up.
PWA Monile ft 60 - very similar to stock cable.
Eletech Socrates - very similar to stock cable.
Eletech Aeneid - made upper mids and lower treble brighter.
Eletech Iliad - a deeper sub-bass rumble and smoother and more natural mids and treble. Liked this one a lot!
EA Code 51 - very interesting pair up since it didn't alter the sound too much, but it added a layer of analog texture, taking a "digital" edge off the sound while still keeping its vivid presentation. A good one too!
EA Centurion - very similar to C51, but with a little crisper treble and airier extension.
PlusSound PPH8 - very similar to stock cable.
I think Dark Sky stock cable is great to begin with, but if you want to scale up the sound, Iliad was my favorite pair up here.
Comparison.
The comparison was done using Dark Sky with a stock cable, white stock eartips, and LPGT and 3MAX sources; volume matched in every comparison.
Dark Sky vs CFA Solaris '20 - As soon as I started listening to Sky, a thought of Solaris crossed my mind, and when I had a chance to do a direct A/B comparison, I was able to zero in on similarities and differences. There is definitely some resemblance between the lower and upper mids of these two IEMs. When it comes to bass, Sky scales up in quantity across the sub-bass with more weight and rumble and stronger mid-bass punch. Sky bass is faster and with shorter decay, while Solaris bass has a longer decay. Treble is another interesting comparison where Sky lower treble peak is closer to 6k, giving the sound more clarity and higher definition, while Solaris lower treble peak is somewhere between 7k and 8k, which is pushing the sibilance more forward in poorly recorded tracks, making the sound a bit harsher and grainer up top while Sky sounds more natural. Soundstage expansion is similar.
Dark Sky vs DUNU Luna - this was another interesting comparison because despite Luna's pure beryllium driver, Sky performance felt as fast. The main differences between these two IEMs are in bass quantity where Luna is noticeably scaled down, closer to neutral level, while Sky is elevated, being scaled up across sub-bass and mid-bass regions. But the technical performance of the bass is very similar. The mids have quite a few similarities as well, though in upper mids I hear Luna to be more forward. With treble, both have a similar mid-treble response and extension, but lower treble of Sky is more forward and elevated in comparison to a smoother and a bit rolled off lower treble in Luna. The scaled down bass and lower treble response pushes Luna toward a more balanced and smoother tuning while Sky has a livelier fun w-shaped tuning with more elevated bass and more vivid lower treble. In this comparison, Sky soundstage is a little bit wider.
Dark Sky vs CFA Vega - Some would probably wonder, why would I bring up a 4-year-old CFA iem into this comparison? Well, they share D.L.C. dynamic driver tech, and I thought it would be an interesting comparison, especially since I haven't touched Vega in years. But I found a big difference in tuning here. First of all, Vega bass is more elevated and slower. The actually FR response is slightly scaled up when you compare both, but the characteristics of the bass is totally different, with Sky being faster and more articulate, while Vega being slower, with longer decay and more laidback presentation. Mids is where I hear the biggest difference, upper mids of Vega are completely scooped out to create a deeper V-shaped sig, while Sky mids are scaled way up to form W-shaped tuning. Surprisingly, treble has a lot of similarities, though Sky has a better extension. But due to attenuated upper mids, Vega sounds more like a basshead tuned iems, while Sky has a lot more clarity and resolution. Sky's soundstage is also wider.
Dark Sky vs Final A8000 - another huge surprise because both of these IEMs share a vivid presentation of the sound. As a matter of fact, the upper mids and the treble are close between these two monitors, both having a vivid and a very detailed tuning, with an exception of Sky scaling down the quantity and being more natural in comparison to harsher A8k. When it comes to bass, A8k sounds like a low shelving EQ filter was applied to Sky, attenuating down its entire bass. A8k bass is very neutral in quantity, despite a good sub-bass extension. Sky scales up the bass to a higher elevated level with a deep rumble and fast articulate punch. And that elevated quantity also extends into the lower mids of Sky that give its sound more body relative to a very lean A8k lower mids.
Dark Sky vs 64 Audio Trio – this comparison came to my mind based on similarities in bass I heard between these two iems. They both have a very similar deep sub-bass extension and mid-bass impact quantity. Bass response here definitely comes close, but Sky bass is faster and more articulate, while Trio bass is a little slower and with a longer decay. Mids are different, with Trio having a scooped out upper mids, bringing more focus to its treble, while Sky mids being more forward and higher in quantity. This is a key difference which brings Trio tuning to V-shaped while Sky being W-shaped. Trio’s treble is also brighter and crisper, while Sky scales it down with a more natural tonality, still vivid but definitely less “energetic” in comparison to bright tia treble in Trio. Also, soundstage of Sky is noticeably wider.
Source pair up.
In each source pair up, I was using a stock cable and while stock eartips. Dark Sky is very easy to drive considering its 114dB sensitivity and 24ohm impedance. No hissing was detected. For your reference, these are brief pair up notes. And by brief, I just focus on any changes related to signature and general tonality, without going into too many details of technical performance difference.
Lotoo LPGT – this as my baseline sound tuning with W-shaped signature, articulate layered bass with a deep sub-bass rumble and fast mid-bass punch, vivid detailed upper mids and clear extended treble.
Cayin N6ii w/R01 - this pair up takes Sky tuning into a more natural direction with deeper and more textured sub-bass rumble that gives bass more weight, a little more body in lower mids and a bit smoother upper mids, still crystal clear but with more natural texture, and similar treble as I found in LPGT pair up. Really enjoyed this pair up.
L&P P6 Pro - this pair up scales up N6ii/R01 to sound even smoother and with a more natural tonality. The sub-bass rumble is a bit more elevated than with R01, which also gives bass a little longer decay and more textured analog quality. Mids have fuller body and smoother tonality while still remains very detailed and resolving, and treble also sounds a little smoother with addition of some warmth. Another fantastic pair up
A&K SP2000 SS - similar bass presentation as LPGT, a touch more body in lower mids, while upper mids are similar to LPGT as well. The biggest change in this pair up was lower treble being smoother in comparison to LPGT, which made overall sound a little more natural.
iBasso DX300 MAX - the result of this pair up is very similar to LPGT, with the sound having a fast speed and vivid presentation, but I found 3Max to elevate the sub-bass rumble a little more, and expand the soundstage to a maximum holographic level.
iBasso DX300 MAX + Cayin C9 amp - was curious about this pair up to hear what effect C9 with its NuTubes will have on tonality of Sky. To my surprise, in combination of 3Max + C9, the Sky bass became more elevated and lower treble was also lifted up, not harsher but just higher in quantity. As a result, the sound became a little more U-shaped rather than W-shaped.
L&P W2 w/Samsung Galaxy S9 - very similar sound presentation and quality as when paired up with LPGT, very close.
Overall, I enjoyed the most a pair up of Sky with R-2R based DAPs, with LPGT and SP2k SS coming in second. More neutral and brighter DAPs will be OK, but might push the sound to be more vivid and less natural.
Conclusion.
It is always a pleasant surprise when you don’t know what to expect and end up with a discovery of a new pair of IEMs from a brand I never heard of before. Of course, everything is a matter of personal preference, but I enjoyed everything about these IEMs, from the tuning to the design, and all the included accessories. While I do have a handful of other single DD iems, I usually don’t spend as much time with those due to either a bright revealing tonality or the opposite with too much bass and poor retrieval of details. Here, in my opinion, FAudio found a perfect balance between a powerful articulate bass and a vivid presentation of clear and detailed upper frequencies. And considering its reasonable pricing, Dark Sky also has a good price/performance ratio. FAudio is definitely going to be on my radar moving forward.
Skullar
Thanks. Very informative as usual. How does it compare IE900 if you had a chance to demo one? Mainly interested in technicalities. Can it compete to hybrids in $1k-1.5k bracket?
Ace Bee
A very nice comprehensive review. Is it possible for you to give a comparison with CA Andromeda 2019? Till date I found its holographic imaging and stage unmatched, however, I did not find it engaging. Want to know how Dark Sky perform in that regard compared to Andromeda 2019.
The product was provided to me free of charge for the review purpose in exchange for my honest opinion. The review was originally posted on my site, and now I would like to share it with my readers on Head-fi.
Manufacturer website: Cayin. Available for sale on MusicTeck.
Intro.
I often say in my reviews that non-Android DAPs have a greater longevity because they are independent of Android OS and don’t rely on trending SoC. With Android DAPs the shelf life is shorter because as time passes by, they can’t keep up with all the latest OS releases and faster processors to support it, and become dated sooner. So, in today’s competitive market where many audiophiles obsessed with upgraditis, a 2-year-old Android DAP doesn’t make the news, even if it has a modular design. Yet, Cayin managed to get N6ii back into the spotlight.
It was a smart move for Cayin to go with N6ii modular design when it was introduced. After the releases of A01 (AKM), T01 (TI/Burr-Brown), and E01/02 (ESS) motherboards, the A02 (AKM Line Out only) card was supposed to be their last module. But they left the door open, just a small crack, when they said “… unless a very innovative and feasible idea comes up down the road…” Nobody expected it, but this idea became a reality when Cayin announced R01 module with an all-discrete resistor R-2R Ladder DAC.
It was unexpected and did breathe a new life into their 2-year-old N6ii DAP, making it the first R-2R Android DAP. And apparently, Cayin was so proud of the design that to commemorate it they also released a limited edition N6ii Ti version with a stock R01 card in a matching Ti finish and a full backward compatibility with previous audio motherboards. Now, after spending almost a month with R01, I would like to share what I found.
Unboxing and Accessories.
The unboxing experience of R01 will be identical to all the previous modules.
The module arrived in a compact black box with a foam cutout to keep R01 secure during the shipment. When you remove the module, keep in mind there is a protective rubber cover over the connector, and you will need to remove it before inserting R01 into N6ii. And just like with E02, I was happy to see that a black protective tape sticker was removed from inner side of the module. I mentioned in my previous module reviews, the sticker made the fit very tight, and functionally this tape sticker wasn’t even necessary. Surprisingly, that sticker was still included in the box by itself.
Furthermore, included were 4 extra screws inside of a small plastic capsule similar to the one included with E01 and E02. Personally, I went through dozens of times with module replacement, and still using original screws without a problem. A premium colorful screwdriver with Torx T5 bit was provided as well. I don’t think everybody has Torx bits, so it is a good idea to include one as part of the accessories, and also a manual with detailed instructions how to remove and replace the module.
Design.
As it was already mentioned, in N6ii audio motherboard cards E0x stands for ESS DAC, just like A0x corresponds to AKM DAC and T0x name goes along with PCM DAC from TI. R01 name reference came from R-2R Ladder DAC. In R01 design there are no DAC chips, like popular AKM, ESS, TI/PCM, or CS DACs. Here, the discrete R-2R Ladder DAC is made of discrete matching resistors. Cayin decision was to design 24bit discrete R-2R precision DAC which requires 48 pieces of resistors per channel, a total of 96 resistors for both Left/Right channels. And we are not talking about some generic off the shelf resistor. They all have to be matching and with a high accuracy tolerance of +/-0.01% (corresponding to +/- 1/10,000).
But R-2R Ladder DAC implementation also comes at a cost where there is not going to be enough room on the audio motherboard to implement both headphone and line out outputs. And using PO as pseudo LO is not ideal either since usually R-2R background noise goes up at high volume. Ironically, the previous A02 module was Line Out only, while R01 is headphone output only. To understand better what is “under the hood” of R01 module design, I will refer to a very detailed explanation Andy Kong/Cayin posted during the R01 launch.
The R01 audio motherboard consists of digital and analog sections with R-2R Ladder DAC bridging them. On a digital side of the design you have 4 main functional blocks: 1) Digital Audio Bridge – where you receive audio files in all supported formats from the main N6ii FPGA, 2) Oversampling Interpolation Filter – where you convert the digital data into left and right channel 24bit/768kH serial audio data, 3) Serial to Parallel Shift Register – where you convert serial data to parallel bits that going to control gates of R-2R DAC, and 4) 24bit Discrete R-2R precision DAC where you actually convert that parallel digital data to analog as it goes through resistive ladder of 48 resistors per channel. For a greater accuracy and less jitter, instead of using the master clock from the main board, a local reference clock (24.576MHz) was provided for blocks 1 & 2 above.
When we talk about DAC chips, we often refer to each one having its own sound signature. When it comes to Resistive R-2R Ladder DAC implementation, you are dealing with discrete components and the choice of Resistors will be the one affecting the sound signature. Apparently, Cayin went through months of trial, testing different Resistor values until they settled on R=5.1ohm and 2R=10.2ohm resistors from a brand name manufacturer (Viking), all ultra precision, low tolerance, and low TCR (temperature coefficient resistance) thin film resistors.
As many are probably aware, the final sound is shaped by the amplifier section of the circuit that follows the DAC. In R01, Cayin implemented the same head-amp design as they did in A01 and T01 cards with single ended and fully differential amplifier outputs. And similar to A01 and T01, they used a set of four opamps to increase the output current and to lower the output impedance which translates into a Spec of 4.4mm BAL output with 430mW power and 0.68ohm output impedance, and 3.5mm SE output with 240mW power and 0.45ohm output impedance. Furthermore, I was able to verify 10hrs 50min battery life using 4.4mm BAL output with med gain while playing FLAC files at normal listening volume.
The modular design and the handling of the audio motherboard modules is very straight forward.
Sound Analysis.
Before doing any critical sound analysis, I had R01 w/N6ii on burn-in for about 4-5 days playing various tracks in the loop. Afterwards, for a critical listening I used Oriolus Traillii to analyze the sound using my usual test tracks, such as Agnes Obel “The curse”, Sandro Cavazza “So much better” (Avicii remix), C-Bool “Never go away”, Ed Sheeran “Shape of you”, Alan Walker “Darkside”, Galantis “Hunter”, Iggy Azalea “Black widow”, Indila “Boite en argent”, Counting Crows “Big yellow taxi”, David Elias “Vision of her”, and Michael Jackson “Dirty Diana”.
In my opinion, the best way to understand and to describe the tonality of N6ii modules is by comparison of one to the others. And while it is convenient to have access to two DAPs for a true A/B comparison, I was actually able to do a module hot-swap. Cayin doesn’t recommend swapping modules while powered up, but it works without a problem and the DAP even remembers the last volume setting for that specific module. It took me literally a second or two to swap between modules when doing the comparison. But as a DISCLAIMER, do it at your own risk.
R01 vs E02
E02 has been my favorite N6ii module, so I was very curios how it will compare to a new R01. The first thing you notice is a more analog tonality, with the sound being noticeably smoother. I never found E02 to sound 'digital', but when you compare these two side by side, I find R01 to sound smoother and more natural. This is not the type of smoothness where you lose resolution or retrieval of details, and you shouldn't expect the sound to become warm and colored. The signature and the technical performance are on the same level as E02 with its Class AB amp, but the tonality of R01 is more analog, more natural, and smoother.
A closer listening shows E02 bass to have more impact, hitting stronger, and treble to be crisper, while the decay of notes being faster, making the sound tighter and the background blacker. In contrast, R01 sound is more relaxed, more natural and smoother due to a decay of notes fading into the background instead of being sharply cutoff. R01 bass has more weight, still an impressive impact quantity, but a little less than in E02. And the same goes for treble, R01 is a little smoother in upper frequencies, nothing rolled off, just taking the edge off the crisper treble I hear with E02. The soundstage expansion and imaging are very similar.
Another difference when comparing to E02, R01 background is quieter with sensitive IEMs. And in R01 when comparing 4.4mm to 3.5mm outputs, balanced output has a wider soundstage and a blacker background which is quite noticeable. But when looking for background hissing, while using CFA Solaris ‘20 and switching between E02 and R01, the background "waterfall" hissing is more noticeable with E02. Another thing to keep in mind, while lacking LO in comparison to E01/02, it was more convenient to have both SE and BAL output in R01 card.
In my E02 review I covered comparison with all the previous audio motherboards. To make R01 review fully complete, I decided to include copy’n’paste of that section below.
E02 vs E01 (AB) - E02 soundstage is a touch wider, and while I was impressed with soundstage expansion of single ended E01 output, E02 spreads L/R a little bit further apart. Bass (E02) has a bit more impact and more rumble with a velvety texture, mids have a little more body especially in lower mids while E01 mids sound more transparent and E01 treble is just a little bit smoother, making E02 signature more organic, placing E02 performance between E01 (A) and E01 (AB), though being closer to E01 (AB). But in general, E02 is not too far off from E01. Also, despite a rated difference in output power, regardless of IEMs or headphones, I hear a difference of about 5-6 volume clicks.
E02 vs T01 - T01 soundstage is a little bit wider, perhaps due to a brighter tonality with airier treble. T01 bass is faster and tighter, with shorter decay, mids are brighter, more revealing and micro-detailed while E02 mids are more natural and smoother, and have more body. The treble of T01 is crisper and brighter. The preference here will depend on the signature of IEMs/headphones and how it pairs up with either of the modules.
E02 vs A01 - E02 soundstage is a little wider. Overall tonality is similar, but there are some differences I’m picking up. E02 bass has more rumble and more analog texture. Mids are similarly smooth, but E02 has more organic layered natural texture. I went back and forth many times comparing these, focusing specifically on mids, and that texture and better layering and separation is what makes E02 stand out, especially when it comes to vocals. Also, E02 treble has a little more sparkle and airiness. Overall, E02 sounds like it has more analog texture, better layering, and improved sound dynamics in this comparison.
Comparison.
In every comparison I used Oriolus Traillii, volume matched while listening to the same test tracks between DAPs. Furthermore, I mostly focusing on the difference in sound as I hear it without going too deep into the design and functionality differences.
N6ii w/R01 vs A&K SE180 ESS – In my recent SE180 review I compared their ESS module against N6ii with E02, and found tonality to be very close. Moving up to R01 from E02, the tonality is not too far off either, though I do find R01 to be more analog, more natural, and with a tighter bass punch. But those are all fine-tuning details. What really does stand out and quite noticeable is a wider soundstage of R01 with a more realistic imaging in comparison to SE180/ESS which has more depth and less width relative to R01. Another difference was a blacker background of R01, giving overall sound a better definition. I also find fully open Android OS with access to Google Play in N6ii to be an advantage over A&K limited side-loading of apps.
N6ii w/R01 vs Lotoo LPGT - This was another interesting comparison because I use LPGT quite often in my testing due to its relatively neutral transparent sound quality. Comparing it with R01 demonstrated that R01 analog smoothness is not a result of extra warmth or additional coloring. It is due to a technical performance enhancement rather than changes in tonality. This comparison also shows that, unlike E02 with its slightly elevated bass impact and treble sparkle, R01 is more balanced in tuning and its smooth analog textured sound is still neutral and natural like LPGT. Last, but not least, have to keep in mind that N6ii is Android DAP while LPGT is audio playback only.
N6ii w/R01 vs L&P P6 Pro - If we talk about discrete resistor R-2R ladder DAC, you can't avoid the comparison with P6 Pro which also features R-2R discrete resistors DAC. To my surprise, these had a few interesting differences. They both share the same natural analog tonality, but while R01 has a slightly more laidback presentation of the sound with a little longer decay of notes, P6 Pro sound is tighter, faster, and with a blacker background. Another interesting observation was with vocals, where using Traillii I heard vocals being pushed slightly back with P6 Pro, and brought a little forward with more focus with R01. You do have to keep in mind P6 Pro cost 2x more and audio playback only non-Android player.
N6ii w/R01 vs Hifiman R2R2k (red) - Both have a similar wide soundstage expansion and imaging. The tonality difference is the first thing I noticed, with R01 being smoother, more laidback, while Red being more revealing, still natural but not as smooth, even a bit more digital when you do a close A/B comparison. One difference that really stood out for me was a high level of hissing of many IEMs with Red in comparison to R01 that handle it a lot better. Even with something like Traillii, zero hiss with R01 while it was quite noticeable with Red even in Low gain. I’m not even going to touch functionality comparison since R2R2k is very limited and primitive.
Pair up.
For consistency, all earphones and headphones were tested in Med gain (MG) unless noted differently. Volume level is noted with “V”, and please keep in mind that max volume is at 100.
IEMs.
Oriolus Traillii (BAL, MG, V34) – holographic soundstage expansion with 3D imaging. The sound sig is very balanced with a natural detailed tonality, deep sub-bass rumble, tight articulate mid-bass punch, natural, layered, detailed, revealing vocals, and natural well defined crisp treble. Traillii shines in every pair up, and here with R01 it demonstrated a natural detailed tonality, maybe just with a touch more revealing upper mids shine. No hissing.
Empire Ears Odin (BAL, MG, V31) – holographic 3D soundstage expansion and imaging. Deep and slightly elevated sub-bass with a tight mid-bass punch, above neutral quantity. Bass it tight and articulate, with a great sub-bass extension. Mids are very detailed, layered, more revealing, with a bit thinner lower mids and more focus on upper mids. Treble is also crisp and natural. I was very impressed with extra depth of sub-bass rumble and smoothness of EST treble. With hissing, I can't hear it in either of the gains. Often, I hear some waterfall hissing with Odin and other DAPs, but not here.
Cayin Fantasy (SE, MG, V38) - holographic soundstage expansion with nearly 3D imaging. The sound sig is close to J-shaped where you will find a neutral bass which extends and goes down to sub-bass level and has a fast mid-bass punch, but the quantity is neutrally flat. Lower mids are neutral as well, there is not an ounce of coloring to add to the thickness or warmth of the sound body. Where this pair up shines is in upper mids and treble, being micro-detailed, layered, very revealing, and with treble being crisp and airy. The benefit of R01 here is that upper mids/treble tonality is less sterile and a little more natural. It is analytical, no question about it, but R01 takes the edge off the digital coldness of the sound. No hissing, even with my "The curse" test track.
Vision Ears Elysium (BAL, MG, V43) – soundstage width is above average with a good height and depth, I typically complain about stock cable contributing to narrower soundstage, but here even with a stock cable it was surprisingly wide. Sound sig is balanced, even a bit u-shaped due to deeper bass extension and natural crisp treble energy which puts its detailed organic vocals slightly behind, relative to lows/highs. But vocals still come through as a shining star of this pair up. Also, Ely's treble can get hot, especially at higher volumes, but it was quite natural and non-fatigue here. No hissing.
Empire Ears Legend X (BAL, MG, V36) – wide soundstage with an imaging slightly out of your head. L-shaped sound signature with a hefty bass slam that extends down to an elevated sub-bass, stronger mid-bass punch, north of neutral lower mids, clear natural vocals, and natural clear treble sparkle. Bass is big, bold, heavy, speaker-like. But even with this level of bass, you can still keep a clear focus on mids. No hissing.
CFA Solaris 20 (BAL, MG, V22) – wide soundstage with a matching height/depth and close to holographic imaging. The sound sig is balanced with a little more emphasis on mids/vocals. Bass has a decent extension, goes deep and with a noticeable mid-bass impact, but it is scaled down, definitely above neutral but not as elevated. Mids/vocals are truly exceptional here, being clear, detailed, natural, layered. Treble is clear, crisp, and airy but not as bright as in some other pair ups, sounding more natural here. With hissing, if you are playing instrumental or vocal tracks with minimalistic instrument arrangement, you will hear some waterfall type of hissing. To reduce it, switching to Low gain helps.
R01 paired up great with every IEM I threw at it without any exceptions. But the one that truly stood out for me was EE Odin and how their pair up with R01 enhanced its sub-bass rumble and added a smoother touch to its EST treble. Along with a hiss-free performance, it stood out over a number of other DAPs.
Full Size headphones.
Meze Empyrean (BAL, MG, V52) - I was able to reach the optimal volume output without a need to push it harder. I noticed right away the expanded width/depth of the soundstage where the sound was more out of my head. The overall tuning was balanced, smooth, leaning more toward the warmer side, but still with a lot of clarity in mids/vocals. Bass was softer and more laidback, treble was clear, natural, rather smooth in tonality. Upper mids is where it was shining with more clarity and transparency, bringing vocals more forward.
Audio-Technica ATH-R70x (SE, MG, V65) - This is my most demanding 470ohm open back headphones, and R01 was driving them loud enough and to their full potential with surprisingly good transparency. As expected, the sound is very open and expanded, but with many other sources R70x sounds warmer and smoother. Here, the mids/vocals are more transparent and less colored, bringing more clarity and higher resolution. And as result of mids transparency, the bass has more focus and better articulation. The biggest surprise here was the clarity of mids.
Beyerdynamic T5p 2nd (BAL, MG, V42) - I hear soundstage with a good width and even better depth/height. I have heard T5p2 with a wider soundstage in other pair ups; here the width was a bit shy, but still above the average. The sound is very clean and detailed. Not bright, just very transparent, detailed, and layered in mids. Bass extends deep but the rumble and mid-bass are not as boosted, north of neutral but not too elevated, more polite and less aggressive. Mids/vocals sound natural, transparent, smooth and detailed, and treble is smooth and airy. In this pair up I felt like mids had more focus and better definition in comparison to some other source pair ups with T5p2.
It is true that I don’t have a big collection of full-size headphones, but with the one I tested above I absolutely loved how in every pair up the mids/vocals sounded natural, transparent, and detailed in comparison to many other DAPs. That revealing transparency is what really stood out for me.
Conclusion.
One of the main ideas behind modular DAP design is being able to futureproof your investment. So, when new modules become available, you can upgrade the sound of the original audio player instead of buying a new one. But even a modular design has its limits, exactly how it felt after the last Cayin release of A02 Line Out only audio motherboard. The R01 with its R-2R discrete resistor ladder DAC was a big surprise, giving a two-year old N6ii Android DAP a second wind with a new level of natural sound finesse.
This natural smooth sound tonality didn’t compromise resolution or retrieval of details. Instead, it gave N6ii w/R01 a more natural analog tonality, and truly set it apart from previous N6ii modules. Every N6ii module, except for A02, has a unique DAC/amp combo which offers a different signature and tonality. But especially between E02 and R01, it felt like listening to two different DAPs, and I didn’t even care about losing LO because I gained 3.5mm output, something I actually missed in E02.
There is also another plus when it comes to R01. After the AKM factory fire and recent shortage of electronic components following the pandemic year, using a discrete resistor DAC design frees you from being tied up to DAC chips and their procurement. Of course, you still need to get a supply of resistors, but you have more flexibility to choose different values and no longer have to compete with other DAP manufacturers fighting over the same DAC chip. I hope more manufacturers will follow this route.
twister6
@abheybir : my suggestion, if you already have N6ii and other modules, R01 is a must have to breath in a new life into your DAP. But if you are only after that discrete R-2R dac sound and want a fast Android DAP, Hiby RS6 is just around the corner. From what I understand, it is like R6 2020 with a discrete R-2R resistive dac ladder.
Balamani
Nice review...Thanks for the comparison to Hifiman R2R specially!
The product was provided to me free of charge for the review purpose in exchange for my honest opinion. The review was originally posted on my site, and now I would like to share it with my readers on Head-fi.
Manufacturer website: Vision Ears. Available for sale from various retailers like Musicteck.
Intro.
In recent discussions with my readers, I noticed two dominating trends. Some are on a mission to find a flagship all-rounder IEM that ticks all their boxes with money being no object. Others prefer a variety, especially when they can get their hands on different and more affordable IEMs with complementary tuning. And if you look closer into this variety, you will find that many latest releases are leaning more toward either a warmer or a brighter tuning. It is not often you come across IEM that skips the coloring in favor of the neutral clarity.
Being more familiar with Vision Ears (VE) Premium Line of IEMs, Elysium and Erlkonig, I was always curious about their standard VE Line, especially after hearing so many great things about VE8. And while I’m still not familiar with VE8 sound, I just had the opportunity to spend time with another Handcrafted in Cologne pair of IEMs, their newly minted VE7. As a spoiler, it looks like VE went straight for that missing link of neutral transparent tuning. Now, after spending almost a month testing VE7, I’m ready to discuss my findings!
Unboxing and Accessories.
When it comes to VE products, regardless if we are talking about $1.5k, $2.5k, or $4.5k IEMs, their packaging always has a strong touch of Handcrafted in Cologne pride. They literally spell it out once you flip open the magnetic top cover of VE7 box and read this message above the skyline of the Cologne, printed on the inner side of the cover. There are a lot of little details you discover looking around and inside of this rectangular box, like a glossy black VE logo pattern printed around the sides or the way how they used cardboard cutouts for the case and the accessories instead of foam. The unboxing experience of their packaging is always satisfying.
As part of the accessories, you will find a metal puck-shaped storage case with a threaded top cover and a laser etched VE logo. Inside the case, there is a foam insert with cutouts for IEMs fitted like a jewelry in a box. The foam insert is removable so you have plenty of room to store VE7 with a cable, a good and secure storage when traveling, though not as comfortable to carry in your pocket.
The accessories are in square area with a cover that reads “stay clean”, and under the cover you will find just that, a spray bottle with in-ear cleaner and a soft cleaning cloth – both are a great companion to keep VE7 faceplate shiny. You will also find a set of SpinFit eartips (XS, S, M, L), a cleaning tool, 6.35mm adapter (for studio and desktop equipment), a small dehumidifier container, and a detailed instruction manual.
Cable.
The included cable is very basic, featuring 4 twisted OFC wires. It has a single ended 3.5mm TRS plug, a very slim aluminum housing with a short strain relief, and a matching bullet-shaped aluminum y-split with a retractable plastic chin-slider. Moving up toward a standard 0.78mm 2pin plastic plugs with red/blue (right/left) id dots, you will find a flexible pre-shaped earhook formed using heatshrink which is always a plus since you don’t have to deal with metal memory wires.
There is not much to talk about the stock cable. This is a standard cheap cable intended for musicians and performers, rather than audiophiles. I will cover pair ups with higher end cables after the sound analysis, further in my review. But tbh, I was actually using this cable most of the time because it was lightweight, thin, flexible, non-microphonic, and easy to wrap around for storage.
Design.
As many would have guessed, VE7 model name refers to 7-driver design, all BAs in this case. It is actually a 5-way system, partitioning 7 BA drivers into: 2 Bass, 2 Low-Mids, 1 Mid, 1 Mid-High, and 1 Superhigh. This 5-way partitioning is grouped to come out of the 3-bore open nozzle design, no mesh cover so you can clean each bore easily with included tool or if you prefer to use one of those IEM vacs.
Despite 7BA design, the shell is very compact and rather slim with a custom-like shape on the inner side to fit better the concha area of your outer ear. I assume the material used is acrylic, very smooth, a dark blue semi-transparent shell finish with a non-recessed 2pin socket and a slim oval-shaped nozzle.
Despite of its oval shape, there are no issues using regular eartips with a round core. While Ely and Erl share a similar shell shape, I guess part of the Premium VE line with a bigger diameter round nozzle, VE7 has a slimmer design which is going to be more comfortable, especially for those with smaller opening earcanals.
But the focus of the shell is its limited-edition Fire Blaze faceplate design which looks layered and 3D. This multi-layered look actually reminded me of Odin faceplate, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was designed by the same company. And because of this multi-layered look, the faceplate design looks mesmerizing and 3D as you look at it straight or from an angle. With VE7 in your ears, it looks and feels like you are wearing CIEMs.
The pictures of VE7 faceplate I took with my phone don’t do it justice.
The fit.
Sound Analysis.
I analyzed VE7 sound performance paired up with a neutral LPGT source while playing a variety of test tracks, such as Agnes Obel “The curse”, Sandro Cavazza “So much better” (Avicii remix), C-Bool “Never go away”, Ed Sheeran “Shape of you”, Alan Walker “Darkside”, Galantis “Hunter”, Iggy Azalea “Black widow”, Indila “Boite en argent”, Dua Lipa “Love again”, Counting Crows “Big yellow taxi”, David Elias “Vision of her”, and Michael Jackson “Dirty Diana”. No burn in was necessary, though by force of habit I still let it play for a few days before I started analyzing the sound. I used stock SpinFit eartips and stock single ended cable in my analysis.
I find VE7 to have a neutral balanced signature with a revealing transparent colder tonality and a high level of clarity and detail retrieval. The overall sound has zero coloring, and the tuning is very coherent with all 7 drivers working in a unison of a perfect harmony.
Bass has a good extension, goes deep to a level of sub-bass rumble, but it is more neutral in quantity. We are talking about fast, tight, articulate BA type of bass, without too much texture or weight, but it has good accuracy and control. It still gives you a good sense of the toe-tapping PRaT rhythm, but it is on a leaner side and not the star of the tuning.
Lower mids are neutral, no added weight, just a touch of natural warmth, sounds very linear going from bass into lower mids. Upper mids are natural, resolving, layered. Not natural-organic, but rather natural-revealing. Mids do have a revealing edge with plenty of clarity thanks to a moderate lift around 2kHz and 4kHz, but they still sound natural to my ears.
Treble is airy, extended, on a brighter side, but well controlled and not overwhelming. There is a peak around 7kHz to give the sound higher resolution and to help extract more micro-details, but it doesn't contribute to any sibilance or harshness. And then another peak in upper treble around 12kHz injecting more "air" into the sound, helping with layering and separation between the instruments and vocals.
The soundstage is wide, definitely above the average, having more width than depth/height, creating sort of an oval shaped space around you. Imaging is not exactly 3D holographic, but still very accurate where you can distinguish and pin point every instrument and vocals in space thanks to a nicely layered and separated sound.
Eartips selection.
The selection of eartips is crucial to any universal in-ear monitors and will affect the sound, especially the bass impact/quantity which depends on the seal. Due to a large opening of my earcanals, I usually go for the largest size eartips to get a better seal. Also, please keep in mind, eartips impressions are subjective and will be based on anatomy of my ears.
SpinFit (stock) - baseline sound with balanced signature and neutral revealing tonality. The treble is bright and crisp, but not harsh.
Final Type E - the same as stock SpinFits.
AZLA Xelastec - a touch more sub-bass, otherwise the same as stock SpinFits.
Symbio F - a touch more sub-bass and more tamed down treble. Treble is still crisp, but Symbio F takes the edge of it to make it sound a bit smoother.
Comply TSX - more sub-bass and slightly elevated mid-bass. Treble is smoother as well, but it affected the treble extension and airiness. Also, I noticed the soundstage got narrower which I didn’t like.
If VE7 treble bothers you, Symbio F is a good alternative to tame it down. Otherwise, stock SpinFit eartips are good.
Cable pair up.
I’m aware that some people don’t believe in cables and have very strong opinion about it. It’s not my intent to change those minds. Instead, I’m just sharing what I hear during my testing. What makes sense to me, a metal wire is a material with physical properties of resistivity, conductivity, purity, and unique geometry, all of which put together act as a filter between your source and headphones. Variations of these physical properties can affect the conductivity of analog signal, resulting in a sound change, from a subtle to a more noticeable level. If the talk about cables upsets you, please skip this section. Otherwise, enjoy these short impressions.
stock to Eletech Socrates - a noticeable change in soundstage getting wider, though in this case I was going from 3.5mm stock to 4.4mm balanced which is a contributing factor relative to a source. Another change is a deeper sub-bass extension and stronger mid-bass impact.
stock to EA EVO10 - I thought the effect will be similar to Socrates, and indeed, the bass became stronger and deeper which I liked. But lower treble got a bit peaky and I started to hear a little bit of sibilance which I didn’t like in this pair up.
stock to EA Cleopatra - this was a good pair up with a noticeable change in bass extension and impact, going from neutral to elevated which changed the overall sound sig to even more balanced. For cable disbelievers this is a great example to try. Mids/vocals also have a fuller body and treble is a bit smoother. Soundstage all got a bit wider, though I went from SE to BAL.
stock to PlusSound Tri-Copper - I hear a very similar improvement as with EA Cleo, bass impact and extension change is quite noticeable. And so does a fuller body mids/vocals. But treble was also a touch smoother in comparison to Cleo. This was actually my favorite pair up that gave VE7 a more natural and musical tonality.
I didn't go into kilo-buck cable pair ups since some would have been more expensive than VE7 price tag. But between Cleo and Tri-Copper, which I enjoyed both, I preferred the pair up with the latter one.
Comparison.
The comparison was done using VE7 with a stock cable, SpinFit eartips, and LPGT source; volume matched in every comparison.
VE7 vs VE Elysium - This comparison was definitely a surprise, a tribrid design of Ely vs all BA VE7. With both using stock cables, I find VE7 soundstage to be wider, though Ely does scale up with upgrade cables. As expected, Ely's bass scales up in quantity, especially sub-bass expansion, but overall quality is very similar, just that VE7 quantity is more neutral in comparison. Treble also has a very similar brighter and more energetic tonality, though VE7 upper frequency intensity is dialed up a little bit higher. Now, the mids. Ely is famous for its DD mids, being very natural, musical, soulful. But here is a thing, VE7 mids remind me in a way of Ely’s. Perhaps, they don't have the same texture and definitely lacking the same warmth, but they have a similar natural quality. Also, due to sensitivity difference, it was a lot easier to drive VE7 while I had to raise volume with Ely.
VE7 vs Noble K10UA - Despite showing its age quite a bit, I find K10UA to be still relevant and it was an interesting comparison with VE7 since they are not too far off in tuning. The perception of VE7 soundstage is a touch wider, but I think it has to do with a fact that VE7 treble has a better extension and more air. K10UA treble is a bit smoother in comparison. Their mids/vocals tonality and presentation are very close, perhaps with VE7 upper mids being slightly more forward. Bass is a little bit different, not by too much, but K10UA bass is fuller and a little slower, while VE7 bass is more neutral, faster, and tighter.
VE7 vs CFA Andromeda '20 - Another big surprise actually since I found quite a few similarities in this comparison. Using stock cables, I do hear Andro to expand just a touch wider in soundstage. With bass, VE7 is more neutral, fast, tight, controlled, Andro's bass is warmer, slower, more laidback, a bit more north of neutral. With mids and vocals, I was surprised by how similar they sound, both in terms of tonality and technicality, being natural and leaning toward musical tonality with a good retrieval of details. Both also have a crisp and clear treble, energetic and sparkly, but with a few differences, such as Andro can get a bit sibilant with some of the poorly recorded tracks, while VE7 has more control in lower treble and more air in upper treble.
VE7 vs 64 Audio U12t w/M15 - I figured with an all-BA design some might be curious how it compares. VE7 soundstage is wider and quite noticeable. Bass is warmer and more elevated in U12t while, in comparison, VE7 bass is more neutral, tighter, faster. Mids in U12t have more body, which is noticeable in lower mids where VE7 is leaner and more neutral. Upper mids are relatively the same, though you will notice in vocals with U12t a thicker body while VE7 will be natural and leaner, more revealing. Treble is different as well with U12t being attenuated down in comparison to a lot more energetic brighter and airier treble of VE7.
Source pair up.
In each source pair up, I was using a stock cable and SpinFit stock eartips. VE7 is very easy to drive considering its 116dB sensitivity and 12ohm impedance. No hissing was detected. For your reference, these are brief pair up notes. And by brief, I just focus on any changes related to signature and general tonality, without going into too many details of technical performance difference.
Lotoo LPGT - baseline sound with balanced signature and neutral revealing tonality. The treble is bright and crisp, but not harsh.
Cayin N6ii w/E02 and ddhifi 4.4mm/3.5mm adapter - very similar to LPGT but with added weight in bass, especially deeper and more textured sub-bass rumble.
L&P P6 Pro - I do hear added sub-bass rumble and overall bass having more weight and texture. The same with mids and vocals, smoother and more textured tonality. Treble is still crisp, but a little smoother and more natural.
Hiby R6 2020 - the pair up is very similar to LPGT, would probably be hard to tell them apart.
A&K SP2000 SS - the sound sig is still balanced, but now it is more W-shaped where bass, mids, and treble came up. Bass is warmer and has more weight, goes even deeper. Mids are very similar, just with a touch more body. And treble because a little brighter, spikier, and even sibilant in a few tracks.
Lotoo LPGT + Cayin C9 - right away I hear a more expanded wider soundstage. Also, bass gained more weight and body, and mids/vocals also have more body. But unfortunately, I do hear a hissing in this combination, a background waterfall like white noise which I didn’t detect with any other sources. VE7 were dead quiet with all sources, but in this pair up it was noisy.
Conclusion.
Vision Ears put a lot of emphasis into promoting VE7 as their neutrally tuned IEM. But from what I have seen in the past, the reference to neutral sometimes turns people off because they assume it will be a dry lifeless sound. In this new release, it feels like VE gave neutral a whole new meaning where you can enjoy the sound without a need for a bass boost or a coloring. I would even go as far as saying that in the last few weeks VE7 became my EDC (every-day carry) companion while using it with a smartphone and a laptop.
You might already have your basshead tuned IEMs with a deep rumble and elevated impact or your crisp-tuned IEMs with analytical micro-details. Now, you can complement those with VE7 neutral balanced signature that focuses on clear detailed sound and revealing transparent tonality that bypasses the coloring. And they don’t just stand out because of their unique tuning, but also due to a more reasonable pricing and the ergonomics of the design that makes you feel like you are wearing CIEMs with a beautifully crafted custom faceplate.
14christ
Yeah that cable looks sad. Looks similar to the cable from the blon03 which is a $30 iem. Hopefully VE will get onboard like alot of the other flagship manufacturers have and include a good cable. The asking price is too high not to.
The product was provided to me free of charge for the review purpose in exchange for my honest opinion. The review was originally posted on my site, and now I would like to share it with my readers on Head-fi.
Manufacturer website: Unique Melody. Available for sale on Musicteck.
Intro.
Unlike DAPs, it is less common to see MKII versions of IEMs because a lot of manufacturers prefer to release new models instead of updates. That is why a recent Mest MKII announcement caught me by surprise, especially when you consider how popular and well received the original Mest (OG) was last year. Even today I continue to get questions after my reviews, with people asking me why I never featured it as part of pair ups or comparisons. The reason is because I never reviewed OG and only now had a chance to spend time with OG and MKII versions of Mest, to get to know both.
Actually, if you rewind back to my CanJam NYC ’20 overview, last year in February I had a brief chance to audition OG at the show and mentioned about it in my report. But as I found out later, after trying them with provided stock silicone tips in a crowded loud space, Mest sound was very eartips dependent and my initial impressions were skewed. Maybe the seal wasn’t good or the fit wasn’t right, but I felt the sound was a bit too revealing for my taste. After all, everybody has their own personal sound preference. But I continued to read one after the other positive reviews, and questioned my initial impressions.
Especially now, after reading that one of the MKII changes was a redesign of universal Mest shell, I figured the comparison to OG version will be essential in this review and requested OG loaner in addition to MKII review sample. There were quite a few interesting things I discovered which I’m sure will be helpful for the first time Mest buyers as well as those who already own the OG and trying to decide if they should upgrade. Now, let’s take a closer look at what I found after spending every day of the last week with a new Unique Melody Mest MKII model.
Unboxing and Accessories.
MKII arrived in a giftbox quality storage box with UM logo on top. Once a magnetic top cover is lifted, you are presented with a blue leather case, also labeled with UN logo. In the original Mest you had to remove the case to get to the bottom of the box to access the remaining accessories. In MKII, Unique Melody added a drawer at the bottom which slides out from the side to give you an easier access to the rest of the included goodies.
OG Mest accessories were great, but MKII steps it up to the next level. You will still find a blue leather brand name Dignis case with a zipper top, roomy enough for your IEMs and the cable and other extra accessories. Inside, it has a flexible velcro partition so you can separate shells and the cable. This is a premium brand name product, not some filler.
Furthermore, you will find a new PWA (Peter Wong Audio) brand name copper cable, which I’m going to talk about later. Next, a plastic warranty card (the size of a credit card), with a printed S/N, website address, and a service email. This card also includes a hidden flat usb stick (16GB) that flips open. The stick had nothing on it, but in the past, I found some other UM models to include additional info about the product. Either way, it is a free usb storage you can carry with you in the wallet.
There is a grey cleaning clothe/pad to keep those shells fingerprint free. Then, you have a complete set of eartips with blue-heart silicone S/M/L, brand name Comply TSX series SM/MG/LG, and a new addition to MKII – a popular brand name AZLA Xelastec SS/MS/M eartips. Those provide a superior isolation and a very secure fit. I was surprised the largest Xelastec was only medium size, since I typically use their large size tips, but due to a bigger nozzle diameter of MKII, M-size was just perfect in this case.
Last, but not least, UM’s custom Magnetic Earphone Clip (MEC) which you can use both for cable storage and as a shirt clip. Made from of soft leather material, there is a strong magnet to hold it together, and you can use it magnetically "clipped" to a shirt (sideways) or secured at the neckline of a t-shirt (pointing down). A little metal loop attached to MEC is where you put the cable through to secure its attachment to a shirt or a t-shirt. You can also use it around a wrapped cable to organize it for storage. Maybe not a big deal for some, but it is different and unique (no pun intended), compared to other shirt-clips I have seen.
To summarize, there are a lot of brand name popular accessories here, Dignis leather case, PWA copper cable, AZLA Xelastec and Comply eartips, and some other unique accessories such as warranty card with a built-in 16GB storage flash drive and custom Magnetic Earphone Clip which can be used for cable storage and as a shirt clip. Very impressive!
Cable.
Looks like Peter (Peter Wong Audio – PWA) has been on a roll lately, collaborating with many IEM companies! While we saw his popular 1960 2wire and 4wire being included recently with other IEM releases, MKII features their new copper cable. Labeled as UM Copper M2 this is 24awg gauge high grade OCC copper wire cable with 4 conductors, braided between the plug and y-split, and twisted in pairs going up above to IEM connectors.
The cable is referred to as a pure black addition, very flexible and soft, and features PVC coating. As many are aware, 1960 and other of their wires feature a tightly braided black carbon fiber sleeving which is microphonics when you move around. The new PVC coating reduces microphonics down to a minimum.
Furthermore, it features an all-new hardware with a uniquely shaped metal plug with UM logo and gold screws, a matching design with a metal y-split, also with logo and gold screws, a retractable matching metal chin-slider, and a matching metal 2pin connector housing with UM logo which is facing outside. You will also find a pre-shaped heat-shrink earhook.
A noticeable change here is a regular straight short-cylinder connector housing, unlike angled one in OG version that also had wrap-around design. Of course, it will depend on your ear anatomy, but the combination of a fixed connector angle and OG shell nozzle angle (different from MKII) caused some discomfort with my ears. MKII with a new cable and new shell design fixed that problem for me.
When ordering MKII, you have the option of single ended 3.5mm or balanced 2.5mm or 4.4mm. Try to futureproof your purchase by choose the right termination, and also keep in mind that you can use adapter to go from balanced to single ended. Otherwise, you will have to buy a replacement cable or another PWA x UM Copper M2 which I heard might be going for over $500.
Design.
While hybrids and tribrids been dominating IEM market for a while now, Mest made its mark as one of the first quadbrids (maybe not the first since I can’t keep a track of every single worldwide release, but definitely one of the first), featuring a total of 8 drivers grouped in 4 types: DD, BA, EST, and Bone Conduction. Just like the OG, MKII features 4way quadbrid design with a 5-way crossover, including DD bass driver, 2BA mid drivers, 2BA treble drivers, 2EST ultra high drivers, and one full range dBC dual sides Bone Conduction driver.
In contrast to a single side BC driver in OG, MKII now uses double sided piezoelectric bone conduction driver which is placed in between two supporting plates. At the center of that BC driver is the vibration board covered by ceramic coating on both the front and the back. Also, this dBC bone conduction driver now has a larger contacting area with the shell and has a wider effective frequency response range from 500Hz to 20kHz, in comparison to OG with BC that covered 1kHz to 16kHz.
I know many will be asking, can you “feel” the effect of dBC driver? It is hard to tell because based on the fit with my ears, I didn’t feel anything different, and to me this is just another sound contributing driver. BUT, when you are comparing tuning of OG vs MKII, there is a distinct presence of more body in lower mids and this could be a direct contribution of dBC driver extension down to 500Hz from the original 1kHz. Would have been cool if they added a switch to enable/disable dBC, to be able to hear the effect of this driver. But either way, it is unique, no pun intended, again.
Just like in OG design, the shell is lightweight, durable, and made from one piece carbon fiber. This is important because it improves the effectiveness of dBC driver due to its contact with a shell. The carbon fiber finish is infused with gold foils, a very nice look that goes really well with PWA all black cable with its hardware that has gold screws accents. And you will notice upgraded faceplate metal vent which controls the air flow going into the DD driver. OG vent wasn’t metal plated.
Another improvement is 2pin socket which is flush with the shell, better for aftermarket cables in comparison to 2pin convex socket which sticks out in OG design where they used cable connectors that wrap around it. Those convex sockets could be used with regular 2pin cables as well, but the cable connector will be sticking out too far out which could affect the fit of the cable over your ears.
But the biggest improvement was a smaller and more compact shell design with improved fit. While it was nice to see the inner side of the shell in MKII to be more custom-sculptured, the change in the angle of the nozzle from OG to MKII was a noticeable improvement for me. With OG I felt a little pressure while MKII was just perfect. Of course, it will depend on your earcanal anatomy, but in my case, it made a noticeable difference.
And last, but not least, the top of the metal nozzle, which is covered by a protective mesh, in MKII has a little bigger diameter. The difference is not huge, but it is bigger when you look closer. I think if you were OK with OG Mest, MKII will not be a problem. But if your earcanal is small, Mest offers both Universal and Custom versions of their IEMs. And for me personally, while I typically use large size eartips, I end up using medium size eartips with MKII due to a bigger diameter of the nozzle.
The fit.
Sound Analysis.
I analyzed MKII sound performance paired up with LPGT while playing a variety of test tracks, such as Agnes Obel “The curse”, Sandro Cavazza “So much better” (Avicii remix), C-Bool “Never go away”, Ed Sheeran “Shape of you”, Alan Walker “Darkside”, Galantis “Hunter”, Iggy Azalea “Black widow”, Indila “Boite en argent”, Dua Lipa “Love again”, Counting Crows “Big yellow taxi”, David Elias “Vision of her”, and Michael Jackson “Dirty Diana”. I let MKII play for about 2 days in a loop before I started analyzing the sound. I used stock Xelastec eartips and stock premium cable in my analysis.
I found MKII to have a mildly U-shaped signature with a natural-revealing tonality that has quite a resolving sound characteristic. Also, right off the bat, I found its sound to be VERY eartips dependent where the sound signature could go from a more pronounced to a mild U-shaped and even balanced W-shaped. The seal, material, and bore opening diameter of eartips could change the sound sig and tonality in a big way here. But if I would to characterize the overall common signature, it would be U-shaped with an elevated deep bass impact, natural-revealing mids/vocals, and extended, airy, energetic, non-harsh treble.
The retrieval of details is high, not on an analytical level, but the extra treble energy gives the sound higher resolution with a better layering and separation of the sounds. The sound is non-fatigue or harsh, but due to its more forward revealing nature, those who like a smoother and more natural tonality will have to spend time experimenting with different eartips in order to tame down lower treble energy. Furthermore, considering 4 different drivers, their overall interaction is actually quite coherent, to my ears even better than in OG due to a fuller body of lower mids and less fatigue lower treble. I wouldn’t go as far as saying all 4 drivers work in a perfect unison, but with the right set of eartips I hear MKII to be more coherent than OG.
The soundstage is wide, way above the average, and I would even go as far as saying its imaging approaches holographic level when it comes to placing instruments and vocals. But I felt that it was stretching wider left/right, creating a more of an oval soundstage shape where there was more width than depth/height in its expansion. Overall, to my ears and considering not a very deep insertion of the shell/nozzle, the sound space felt natural with less out of your head type of expansion, bringing you closer to the performer. The soundstage does scale up with some of the sources, stretching wider, but depth/height remained the same.
I found the bass to be the star of MKII tuning, having a deep extended textured sub-bass rumble, more elevated than in original Mest, building a solid foundation underneath of a strong and articulate rounded mid-bass punch. Bass is well controlled, has quite a noticeable presence, not overwhelming or basshead quantity level, but when called upon will elevate the low end with a textured deep rumble and strong rounded punch. This is unmistakably a DD quality bass with an average attack and decay, impressive weight, and analog quality.
Mids have fuller body than in original Mest, thanks to a meatier lower mids, but they are not too thick or too smooth. I do find their tonality to be quite natural and revealing thanks to more energy in lower treble that elevates the resolution and helps with layering and separation of the sounds. Mids are not too forward, and as mentioned already, depending on eartips selection can be more balanced or slightly pulled back in their presentation.
Treble is extended, airy, crisp, energetic, and yet not harsh or sibilant. This is another improvement from the original Mest where its notorious 6.5kHz peak is slightly attenuated down, still keeping the energy and the definition of the lower treble, but making it less fatigue and more controlled. Here, the eartips selections will be important as well because if you have a relaxed seal or use eartips with a narrow bore opening, treble didn't sound right to my ears, but with the right selection of eartips it was just perfect. The combination of EST and dBC drivers creates a perfect extended harmony of upper frequencies in MKII.
Also, I found MKII to work great with any genre of music I threw at it.
Eartips selection.
The selection of eartips is crucial to any universal in-ear monitors and will affect the sound, especially the bass impact depending on the seal. Due to a large opening of my earcanals, I usually go for the largest size eartips to get a better seal, but with a bigger diameter of MKII nozzle, in some cases I had to step down to medium size eartips. Also, please keep in mind, eartips impressions are subjective and will be based on anatomy of your ears. Here, I was analyzing the sound using LPGT and stock cable.
stock Comply TSX-500 - very tight fit to get these on; balanced W-shaped signature with a smoother natural tonality, a deep bass, more forward mids, smoother natural extended treble. The foam filter of TSX dampens the upper frequencies extra sparkle which brings mids more forward. Sound wise they are good, but personally, I don't like the comfort of Comply tips.
stock Silicone - seal here is a lot more relaxed; sound sig is U-shaped with more emphasis on bass impact and brighter lower treble, while the mids had a more pulled back presentation. Because of the more relaxed seal, treble sounds more piercing, and I noticed that wider bore opening of eartips also contributes to brighter upper frequencies of MKII. Of course, everyone's sound perception is different.
AZLA Xelastec - I typically use larger size tips, and have another Xelastec ML/L set, but since the nozzle of MKII is bigger in diameter, M size was OK and I still had a good seal. The sound sig I hear here is between U-shaped and W-shaped with deep textured bass and strong mid-bass impact, natural mids with slightly more revealing tonality due to a brighter upper treble which is airy and crisp but not piercing or harsh.
Symbio F - I tried L and M size, both give a good isolation and similar mids/treble, but the bass was attenuated with M-size, thus I switched to Large for a better seal, though I did feel a little pressure. The sound sig with Symbio F is mildly U-shaped with an overall tonality being natural and revealing. Bass goes deep, has a nice textured rumble but the rumble itself is not as high as with TSX Comply tips and mid-bass punch is strong and articulate. I actually prefer the bass with F over TSX. Mids are natural, revealing, layered, with plenty of body and without any extra coloring. Treble is extended and airy, revealing, yet natural and well controlled, absolutely zero harshness.
SpinFit CP100 - with these SpinFits the sound sig is a perfect example of U-shaped tuning where bass and treble are more elevated and upper mids sound more scooped out. With these eartips bass is scaled up in quantity, I hear a lot more sub-bass rumble and overall bass has more weight and more presence. With mids being more scooped out and bass having more weight, mids/vocals sound thicker and warmer, losing some of the resolution. Treble is crisp and bright, but not harsh, though the tonality of treble was a bit off, sounding a bit plasticy. Wasn’t too crazy about these eartips with MKII.
Final Audio Type E - another pair of eartips with a narrow bore opening, similar to SpinFit where I hear a similar U-shaped sound sig tuning. Bass goes deeper, has stronger punch, and overall, more elevated. Mids/vocals are not as thick or warm as with SpinFits, they are smooth but with a higher resolution. Treble is crisp and bright, not harsh but closer to my personal borderline of tolerance. While I find the treble here better than with SpinFit, the tonality is a bit off as well. Perhaps, it is all due to narrow sound bore of these tips.
Xelastec and Symbio F were my favorite eartips with MKII, but keep in mind, it is very subjective and relative to my ear anatomy. Bottom line, sound does vary with different eartips so don't jump into the final sound analysis conclusion until you experiment.
Cable pair up.
I’m aware that some people don’t believe in cables and have very strong opinion about it. It’s not my intent to change those minds. Instead, I’m just sharing what I hear during my testing. What makes sense to me, a metal wire is a material with physical properties of resistivity, conductivity, purity, and unique geometry, all of which put together act as a filter between your source and headphones. Variations of these physical properties can affect the conductivity of analog signal, resulting in a sound change, from a subtle to a more noticeable level. If the talk about cables upsets you, please skip this section. Otherwise, enjoy these short impressions.
stock to EA EVO10 - in this comparison I hear just a slight improvement in soundstage width and vocals being a little more forward. But overall tonality and signature are similar.
stock to EA Aries II - The main change I hear is mids being noticeably more forward, to the point where the signature changed from U-shaped to slightly mid-forward and as a result it affected the impact of the bass which now sounds lower in quantity. I didn't like that change.
stock to PWA No 10 - I hear the signature to change slightly, being more U-shaped due to bass being slightly more elevated and lower treble going higher in quantity, making the sound brighter and more revealing.
stock to Eletech Socrates - very interesting pair up where treble sounds the same but the bass is more articulate and sounds a little faster and mids are just slightly more forward in presentation.
Btw, while testing Mest OG with new PWA UM Copper cable, I heard more elevated bass with a deeper sub-bass rumble and a little harder hitting mid-bass punch.
I didn't go into cable rolling with my other higher end cables that cost more than MKII itself. If you have other flagship cables, go ahead, it never hurts to try, to see if you can bring more refinement to the sound. But considering a quality stock PWA copper cable and some other similar cables I compared it to, I don't think you need to invest into a cable upgrade with MKII, though Socrates pair up was the type of refinement that I actually enjoyed.
Comparison.
The comparison was done using MKII with a stock cable, Xelastec stock eartips, and LPGT source; volume matched in every comparison.
Mest OG vs MKII Sound Analysis.
I can hear from OG to MKII the tuning to be updated, but in a very precise and controlled way. MKII has a wider soundstage, both have the same soundstage depth/height, but the width perception spreads wider in MKII, which could be due to its new stock cable as one of the contributing factors.
MKII has more sub-bass rumble. Both have a similar mid-bass impact, but it is quite noticeable to hear MKII digging in deeper and with more elevated velvety sub-bass rumble. Mids are slightly recessed in both IEMs, creating a more U-shaped sound sig, but in MKII lower mids have more body which gives instruments and vocals more texture and more organic tonality. Another big change is in lower treble where the original 6.5kHz peak has been attenuated down. The treble is still quite energetic and crisp; its revealing tonality didn't change but with a peak being slightly attenuated, the treble sounds more under control and less harsh.
Other comparisons.
MKII vs FiR Audio M4 - MKII soundstage is wider and to my ears it is probably due to these new Mest iems having more air in upper frequencies, giving its soundstage a more open and expanded width. Their bass, from sub-bass rumble to mid-bass impact, has a lot of similarities, I can't say it is identical, but it is very close in weight and presence. Upper mids are very similar as well, making vocals sound very natural and detailed, but lower mids are a little less colored in MKII, giving mids more transparency while M4 gives mids even more body. But aside from that, the actual mids quantity is a little more recessed (scooped out) in M4 while has slightly more presence in MKII. With treble, MKII has more sparkle and air. Both have energetic highs, but MKII adds more air.
MKII vs 64 Audio Trio - Another interesting comparison due to how close these come in tuning, but still with some noticeable variations. First thing you'll notice is that MKII is more U-shaped while Trio is V-shaped, with mids being more recessed. Soundstage expansion is very close, maybe with MKII being just a little bit wider. Both have elevated DD bass with a deep sub-bass rumble and healthy mid-bass impact, but Trio scales up in quantity just a little higher, which could also be a part of the perception due to a more V-shaped sound sig. Mids are very similar in quality, but more recessed in Trio, while MKII mids/vocals are more forward, more present, and as a result of that - more detailed. Both have energetic treble with plenty of sparkle and airiness, but Trio's tia sounds splashier in comparison to more controlled MKII treble.
MKII vs Campfire Audio Solaris 2020 - Also an interesting comparison to another popular hybrid. Here I found Solaris being just a touch wider in soundstage while both have the same depth/height. The signature variation here is due to difference in bass impact: MKII is a little U-shaped while Solaris is more balanced. And all comes down to the bass impact where while Solaris has a deeper sub-bass extension and a good punch, in comparison to MKII its bass has a lot less weight and presence. MKII bass scales up in quantity to give you more sub-bass rumble and stronger mid-bass punch. Mids/vocals are very similar in quality, being more natural and detailed, but the quantity and presentation is higher in Solaris, bringing mids more forward. Both have a clear and sparkly treble, with plenty of energy, but MKII has a little more treble presence and also better extension with a little more air.
Source pair up.
In each source pair up, I was using a stock premium cable. MKII is easy to drive considering its 112dB sensitivity and 12.3ohm impedance. No hissing was detected. For your reference, here are my brief pair up notes. And by brief, I just focus on any changes related to signature and general tonality, without going into too many details of technical performance difference.
Lotoo LPGT - the baseline sound with wide soundstage, mildly U-shaped sound sig; deep extended sub-bass with an elevated mid-bass slam, natural revealing mids/vocals, revealing extended treble.
Cayin N6ii w/E02 - wide soundstage, more balanced sound sig; surprisingly bass notes are a little softer and bass is less elevated due to mids/vocals being more forward, still tuned to be natural-revealing, and treble being quite energetic, brighter, extended, but not harsh.
Sony WM1Z - wide soundstage, mildly U-shaped sound sig; deep extended sub-bass and powerful mid-bass slam, with overall bass being more elevated from sub-bass to mid-bass, natural soulful mids/vocals, and crisp airy extended treble, but not harsh.
Hiby R8 - wide soundstage, mildly U-shaped sound sig; extended sub-bass with a fast and elevated mid-bass impact, but the sub-bass is not as elevated as in some other pair up, it goes deep, but not as elevated in quantity; mids are natural and detailed, a bit less revealing because they sound more natural, and treble is airy and with plenty of sparkle but a bit smoother in comparison to other pair ups.
iBasso DX300 - wide soundstage expansion, more W-shaped balanced signature with a deep sub-bass rumble and stronger mid-bass impact, natural revealing mids/vocals, and extra energetic extended airy treble. Treble in this pair up had extra sparkle, but it wasn't fatigue.
A&K SP2000 SS - wide soundstage expansion, more U-shaped sound signature with an elevated bass impact and sub-bass rumble, sub-bass was very deep and textured. Mids were natural and very detailed, highly resolving for sure; treble was extended, airy, sparkly, but not as aggressive, more controlled.
Conclusion.
The reunion with the original Mest felt very similar to my experience with V3+ models of Mentor and Mason which I coincidentally misjudged as well during last year CanJam NYC show until I had a chance to hear them again when I borrowed it for review from MusicTeck last year. A proper eartips selection can make a big difference with these IEMs, as well as being able to hear them in a quiet comfort of your home. The same happened with OG version of Mest, but it also helped me to appreciate even more the new MKII shell design which I found to have a much better fit with my ears. And it wasn’t just the shell, but also the sound finetuning, the new PWA copper cable, and the bonus AZLA Xelastec eartips.
IMHO, bass is the star of MKII tuning, and it can please as equally a picky audiophile and a regular consumer. The quality of the bass can even put a smile on some audiophile bassheads. But when it comes to mids and lower treble, I noticed OG version to have a bit of a polarizing effect. MKII took care of that by adding more body to the sound and attenuating down the lower treble peak while still keeping the revealing and energetic nature of the original tuning, making it less fatigue and more tolerable during long listening sessions. This is still Mest IEM with its unique quadbrid driver config and fun tuning. But now UM took it to the next level with a more refined natural revealing tuning and more premium accessories such as PWA cable and AZLA tips in addition to Dignis leather case. Very impressive for an IEM under $1.5k.
The product was loaned to me for the review purpose in exchange for my honest opinion. The review was originally posted on my site, and now I would like to share it with my readers on Head-fi.
Manufacturer website: Astell & Kern, Available for sale directly or from on-line retailers like Audio46.
Intro.
Looks like I can’t use “when hell freezes over” anymore when talking about Astell & Kern DAPs. In October of last year, they finally introduced 4.4mm BAL output, in addition to Wireless LDAC protocol, in an all-new KANN Alpha DAP. And if you thought it was just a fluke or one-time thing, here comes the latest A&futura series SE180 modular DAP release with LDAC and 4.4mm BAL, along with 2.5mm and 3.5mm, on stock SEM1 and optional SEM2 modules.
SE180 announcement caught everyone by surprise, and not only because of LDAC and 4.4mm BAL output, but also a modular DAC/amp design and a reduced price. While A&K didn’t exactly reinvent the wheel here with a modular dac/amp design, they improved it and set a high bar to even challenge their current flagship. Years ago, DAP competition was less fierce. Today is a different story with a highly competitive market, and A&K responded with a highly competitive product release.
I received SE180 as a loaner for 2 weeks because this is the first and the only demo unit available in US now, and I appreciate the opportunity to test it. I didn’t have time for a lot of my usual pair up and comparison examples, but I still tried to cover as much as I can to paint a detailed picture of this new A&K DAP from A&futura series. So, let’s take a closer look at what I found.
Unboxing and Accessories.
I received SE180 without a packaging box, just the chassis and SEM1 and SEM2 modules, so there is nothing to write about the unboxing experience or accessories. I’m sure packaging will be similar to SE200 or other entry and mid-fi level A&K DAPs, probably including a manual, a few sets of screen protectors, and a premium quality charging/data usb-c cable. I don’t expect leather case to be included since I don’t recall seeing SE200 unboxing with a leather case. Would love to be proven wrong, but SE180 is cheaper than SE200 and I expect it to follow the same footsteps.
Design.
I think many audiophiles are well aware that A&K pays as much attention to the sound tuning as they do to chassis design of DAPs. All of their players have a unique signature look and solid build, and sometimes you don’t even feel like hiding it inside of a leather case. To me, their flagship A&ultima SP2000 has a more formal classy look, while their “entry” level SR25 A&norma pushes the envelope with a funky tilted screen and slightly tilted sides design. SE200 also has a unique tilt of the chassis when you look at the side profile and a sculptured wavy line around the volume wheel.
SE180 picked up a lot of cues from SE200 design. The same size screen (5”) and overall dimensions are close, 77x137.2x19.9mm, just a little taller and thicker due to a modular design which contributes to 380g of weight (100g more than SE200). SE180 also features tilted chassis sides and a little less pronounced wavy line around its LED volume wheel with multi-function light that lit up with red (16bit), green (24bit), blue (32bit), and purple (DSD) which can also be disabled. The wheel itself has a signature A&K watch crown design with a precise click action control as you turn the volume up/down using your thumb. But what I found atypical here is a single playback physical button with functionality of single click to play/pause, double click to skip forward, and triple click to skip back.
You no longer going to find 3 separate buttons on the opposite side from the volume wheel, and you also going to lose being able to fast-forward/back by holding separate skip buttons. It took me a minute to get used to this new multi-control button, typical control of wireless headsets. Afterwards, I found it quite intuitive and convenient since I was able to control the volume and the playback using my thumb due to their close proximity to each other. The only thing I was missing is pushing the volume wheel to turn display on/off. For that you have to reach to a power button located at the top of the DAP. I’m so used to SP2000, that I continued to push the volume wheel on SE180.
With volume wheel and playback multi-function button on the right side, the left side is empty. At the bottom of the DAP, you have usb-c multi-function port used for charging, file transfer, USB DAC in connection, and USB Audio out connection. Next to it is the spring-loaded micro-SD card slot to expand the internal storage. The top of the DAP is where you will find a new major element of SE180 modular design – that is where the actual module goes in. And at the top left and right corners of the chassis sides you will find small release buttons you have to push in to release the DAC/amp module. Unlike other modular designs with 2 screws holding the module down, here you don’t need any tools.
I will go into more details about the modules in the next section, but do want to mention that stock SEP1 module and optional SEP2 have the same look and the same ports, featuring single ended 3.5mm and balanced 2.5mm and 4.4mm headphone/LO outputs. Each module also has a power button used to turn the display on/off as well as power down/up the DAP. One thing to keep in mind, SEP modules are not hot-swappable. Once you remove a module, SE180 will power down and you will have to turn it back on after inserting a new module.
Under the hood.
As one can imagine, the first thing that stands out from under the hood is the modular design and 2 removable interchangeable modules. While SE200 had multi-DAC design, SE180 modular design allows you to completely remove and replace a card with another DAC/amp combo.
The default SEM1 module has ES9038Pro DAC and comes with 3.5mm SE (1ohm output impedance) and 2.5mm/4.4mm BAL (1.5ohm output impedance) outputs that can function as either Phone Out or Line Out. In addition to providing access to digital filters of corresponding DAC, for the first time I also see access to change the gain, either Normal (SE 2Vrm, BAL 4Vrms) or High (SE 3Vrms, BAL 6Vrms) which going to be useful for IEMs with higher sensitivity.
The optional SEM2 module will come with dual AK4497EQ DAC, and also has 3.5mm SE (1ohm output impedance) and 2.5mm/4.4mm BAL (1.5ohm output impedance) outputs that can function as either Phone Out or Line Out. Similar to SEM1, you have access to digital filters of corresponding DAC and access to change the gain, either Normal (SE 2Vrm, BAL 4Vrms) or High (SE 3Vrms, BAL 6Vrms) which going to be useful for IEMs with higher sensitivity.
It is not coincidental that A&K selected ESS module to be default since audio market is still recovering after AKM factory fire and experiencing AKM DAC shortage. Based on what I heard, while SE180 with SEM1 should be shipping soon, availability of SEM2 module is delayed until July.
Both modules yield about 10hrs of playback time on 3,800mAH LiPo battery. I didn’t have enough time to test battery endurance under different conditions, but from my experience of testing other A&K DAPs, this number usually holds true using average sensitivity IEMs from balanced output while playing FLAC files in the loop with display mostly off. This battery life is no different than SE200 using AKM output. Another thing to keep in mind, while both DACs support all the popular formats, such as WAV, FLAC, WMA, MP3, OGG, APE, AAC, ALAC, AIFF, DFF, DSF, MQA, SEP1 w/ESS goes up to DSD256 while SEP2 w/AKM goes up to DSD512.
The rest of the features are common, such as internal 256GB and storage expansion with microSD (Max 1TB). The touch display in SE180 is 5” like in SE200, but the resolution went up from 1280x720 to an impressive 1920x1080. You will also find a support of BT5.0 Wireless standard that includes both aptX HD and LDAC (while SE200 had BT4.2 and only aptX HD). Plus, now BT supports both Tx and Rx. Unfortunately, there is only 2.4GHz Wifi band, wish they would implement a dual with 5GHz to improve the connectivity. Still OpenApp support to load a number of popular streaming apps, but the Android OS is closed and if I’m not mistaken, based on Android 9.0 with additional sound optimizations.
GUI.
When it comes to A&K DAPs user interface, once you get familiar with one, you will feel like at home using all of their DAPs. Basically, they all share the same interface, even SR25 with its smaller display uses the same GUI, scaled down to fit its screen. But as soon as I powered up SE180, I noticed right away a new addition. Instead of a touch home button underneath the screen (no longer available in SE180), A&K added Navigation Bar at the bottom of the display with a name of a currently playing song, Home button, and Play/Pause and Skip buttons. It is always visible and makes it easy to get back to the main Playback screen or to control the playback from any other screen. The Floating Back button is still there and can be easily disabled by dragging it to the middle of the display or disabled in the Settings menu under Input Method. The button itself could be moved to anywhere along the left/right sides of the screen.
Once you press Power button, you are greeted with “A” logo and arrive to the main Playback screen. The embedded artwork (with cover art) window occupies top half of the screen, tapping on it expands the view and shows lyrics if one is available. Swiping artwork window left/right skips to prev/next song in your playlist. Above it you get a summary of song format (file type, bit depth, and sampling rate), with a link to Now Playing (where you can edit/modify from within) in the upper right corner and a link to Navigation Menu in the upper left corner. Right under the artwork window there is a thin strip of transport control to fast forward/back by swiping through it. You no longer have physical buttons to fast forward through the song, so it is either swiping the transport bar or holding the Next/Prev touch buttons. And in the lower half of the screen, you have a row of controls, additional song info, and playback touch buttons.
The Navigation menu, accessible by pressing “A” in the upper left corner, takes you to a list with various Sorting option (song, album, artist, genre), Playlist, Folder view, MQS, CD library, Services (streaming), and Settings. You can also access this screen by swiping display to the right from the main Playback screen, where youh can also swipe to the left and get into Now Playing screen. Under every sorting option you have other options to add songs to playback queue, different layout to view album (single, double, or triple columns), view artist with every album under each name, genres according to id3 tags, and my favorite Folder browsing which also gives you extra info about internal storage.
Settings menu is very important, but you can also access some of the shortcuts by swiping the screen down to see what’s available in Notification bar area where you can toggle Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, EQ, USB mode, external usb, AK connect, Line Out, Car Mode, Wheel lock, and shortcut to the main Settings menu. Many of these toggle options don’t just enable the function, but if you long press it will take you to the menu of that function. In the main Settings screen, you have Wi-fi, Bluetooth and Codec selection, AK Connect and File Drop, then Equalizer, Gapless, Line Out, L/R Balance, Playback setting, Notification Panel, AMP (normal and high gain), CD ripping, usb mode and usb audio, Car mode, DAC filter (digital filters associated with particular SEM# dac), and other system settings.
With EQ, you have one blank EQ preset and no other genre specific presets. EQ interface has two modes: Main and Advance. In the Main you have standard Paragraphic EQ sliders for 20 bands (30, 45, 60, 90, 120, 180, 250, 380, 500, 750, 1k, 1.5k, 2k, 3k, 4k, 6k, 8k, 12k, 14k, and 18k) where you can either slide the bar or use a precise 0.1 adjustment, as well as scrolling through available frequencies. As you adjust, it gets reflected in the lower right corner, showing the overall shape of EQ. Switching to Advance, turns EQ adjustment into Parametric EQ with a full GUI view of EQ shape where underneath you have FREQ band selection (a choice of 20), Gain selection in 0.1 and 0.01 steps, and Q bandwidth. Since bands frequency is fixed, I consider this to be semi-Parametric EQ. The interface looks great and the actual adjustment finally has a more noticeable effect on the sound.
Open APP Service.
Open APP Service is implemented in all A&K Android based DAPs, including SP1000 SS/CU, SP1000M, SE100/200, SR25, and SP2000 SS/CU, with SE180 being no exception. More info could be found here, where Astell & Kern goes into details about how to install and to use it.
When you start dealing with Android apps, in many cases you do need a Back button for navigation, so Floating back button come in handy when dealing with streaming apps. While Astell & Kern offers a built-in Tidal service (without off-line storage support), for a long time their customers been asking to add Spotify, Qobuz, Amazon and other streaming services. A&K latest DAPs do run on Android, but it's a heavily modified closed OS without access to Google Play. In a way, it's a blessing for a manufacturer to keep DAP performance optimized since you don't have to worry about customers installing and running other unstable apps.
If you decide to install a non-blacklisted app, you need to download APK file (use a site like https://apkpure.com/), copy it to Open Service Folder located on internal storage, go to Services on the DAP, and when you see the app being recognized and listed in there, click to install it. Keep in mind, for example, you will have to install Tidal apk if you want off-line downloads. Also, installed apps will not be updated automatically since you are not running Google Play. You will have to keep track of app updates and manually download and install new versions.
I installed and used without a problem Amazon Music HD and Qobuz.
Sound Analysis.
The sound analysis of SE180 was done using Oriolus Traillii, playing a selection of test tracks, such as Agnes Obel “The curse”, Sandro Cavazza “So much better” (Avicii remix), C-Bool “Never go away”, Ed Sheeran “Shape of you”, Alan Walker “Darkside”, Galantis “Hunter”, Iggy Azalea “Black widow”, Indila “Boite en argent”, Dua Lipa “Love again”, Counting Crows “Big yellow taxi”, David Elias “Vision of her”, and Michael Jackson “Dirty Diana”. I was told that each module had about 60hrs of playback time when I received it, and I put another 20-30hrs on each, thus plenty of burn in time.
I prefer to describe the DAP sound based on the comparison to other DAPs and pair ups with different IEMs/headphones since the DAP by itself doesn’t have a “sound”. What we hear is how it sounds through connected IEMs/headphones or the difference in sound relative to source comparison using the same pair of IEMs/headphones. This is my subjective opinion, describing how I hear it while analyzing the sound difference between SEP1 (SE180ESS) and SEP2 (SE180AKM). One thing to note, it will heavily depend on what you are testing it with since in some pair ups the difference was more noticeable while in others it was more subtle.
SE180ESS vs SE180AKM - AKM card has a more revealing tonality and more transparency in sound (less coloring) while ESS card sounds a little smoother. One of the reasons why I hear it that way because to my ears AKM card has more sparkle in treble while ESS card has a slightly stronger bass impact and smoother treble. From a technical perspective, AKM card sound is tighter, faster, with a blacker background and faster transient of notes, while ESS is more relaxed, laidback, more soulful in comparison to AKM card. Also, AKM card has a wider and more holographic soundstage while ESS gives sound a more intimate feeling with a slightly narrower soundstage expansion. ESS module soundstage is still wide, but relative to AKM module I found the latter one to be wider.
You will get two different tuning flavors depending on your pair up preference. And, each card has a full set of shared headphone/line out ports, normal and high gain setting, and access to digital DAC filters.
2.5mm/4.4mm (BAL) vs 3.5mm (SE)
Just like in my testing with other A&K DAPs, the difference in power output is definitely noticeable when going from SE to BAL where I always have to lower the volume. Another noticeable difference is BAL output having a wider soundstage and blacker background. Other than that, the sound signature and tonality are nearly the same within corresponding module.
Comparison.
In every comparison I used Oriolus Traillii, volume matched while listening to the same test tracks between DAPs. Also, for a more meaningful comparison I tried to match other DAPs with either SE180 ESS or AKM based on similarities in sound signature. Furthermore, I only covering the difference in sound as I hear it, not the design and other functionality.
SE180AKM vs Hiby R8 - didn't expect it to be that close, but it was nearly impossible to tell them apart in a blind test. These DAPs have the same tonality, the same soundstage expansion, and the only difference I can pick up is a little more air/sparkle in pair up with R8, but I could be splitting hair here. In a blind test I got them wrong more than half of the times. Both use AK4497EQ x2.
SE180ESS vs Cayin N6ii w/E02 - nearly the same tonality, being smoother and more soulful, with the main difference of SE180ESS being a little more neutral and balanced while N6ii w/E02 having a slight lift in mid-bass, giving the bass more impact. Another variation is N6ii w/E02 having more width in soundstage (similar to SE180AKM), with the sound stretching wider while SE180ESS has a more intimate soundstage expansion where it sounds like you are a few rows in front of the performer. Both use the same ES9038Pro dac and have replaceable DAC/amp cards.
SE180ESS/AKM vs iBasso DX300 - this one is a little trickier because I feel like DX300 fits somewhere in between of comparison to ESS and AKM cards. The bass of DX300 has impact similar to ESS card, while its tonality is closer to AKM card due to having more sparkle and more revealing sound presentation. Also, DX300 soundstage is closer to AKM card than ESS. Thus, I couldn't narrow it down if DX300 with its CS DACs fits closer to ESS or AKM cards. SE180 has replaceable DAC/amp while DX300 has replaceable amp card only.
And last, but not least…
SE180 AKM vs SP2000 SS - SP2k has a better technical performance with more 3D soundstage expansion and better layering of sounds with more air between the layers. The tonality is very similar to AKM and a little more revealing than ESS. SP2k treble has more sparkle and air which improves the sound layering in comparison to both AKM/ESS cards. Also, SE180AKM has a slightly narrower soundstage while the gap in soundstage expansion with SE180ESS is even more noticeable relative to IEMs I tested it with. SE180AKM uses AK4497 while SP2k uses AK4499. And it actually makes you wonder that in theory they can make another dual AK4499 dac/amp card and tune it identical to SP2k.
Pair up.
Here is how SE180 pairs up with some IEMs and headphones. Unfortunately, this is going to be a very short section of the review because I didn’t have as much time to go over different pair ups and spent more time using Traillii for sound analysis in comparisons above. Thus, these are just brief notes.
I found SE180 to drive full size headphones, regardless if it is high impedance or planar or full-size dynamic driver, with the same authority as SP2000 SS. And with full size cans the gap in sound performance using SEP2 (AKM card) was less noticeable between SE180 and SP2000 SS. As a matter of fact, Meze Audio Empyrean (planar) was driven better by SE180AKM then SP2k, with tonality being more transparent and the sound being more detailed. But Audio-Technica R70x (470ohm) and Beyerdynamic T5p (2nd gen) were driven and sounded nearly the same between SE180AKM and SP2k.
With IEMs, I spent more time testing with Oriolus Traillii and enjoyed more revealing nature of SEP2 (AKM) module, but with IEMs it will come down to pair up synergy. Brighter and more revealing IEMs paired up better with a stock SEP1 (ESS) card, while I preferred a pair up of more neutral and warmer tuned IEMs with SEP2 (AKM) card. But either one worked fine. Of course, if you want to squeeze out every ounce of technical performance, SP2000 is still at the top, but compared to SE180AKM the gap was not as big.
And for those who are curious, neither SE180ESS nor SE180AKM hiss with sensitive IEMs like Campfire Audio Andromeda or Solaris.
Wired and wireless connections.
Besides being a portable DAP, you can expand SE180 functionality as a transport to drive external DAC/amp, to use external AMP, or to turn the DAP into wired/wireless usb DAC. And of course, you don’t have to be limited to wired headphones, and can take advantage of Wireless Bluetooth connection.
Wireless/Bluetooth.
I tested SE180 BT Tx with various headphones; SE180 paired up within seconds and had the acknowledgement message on the screen to indicate which codec was used. I was able to change volume from SE180 and from wireless headphones, as well as control the playback and skip tracks remotely. Wireless connection worked about 30ft away from SE180 in open area.
SE180 also has Bluetooth Sink Mode to enable BT DAC “Rx” mode to use SE180 as a wireless DAC. Once turned on, I was able to find and pair up with SE180 from my Galaxy smartphone and set LDAC codec.
USB Audio Out.
Connected to L&P W2 USB DAC/amp without a problem. In notification bar of SE180 have to be sure External USB is selected to enable USB Audio mode. Volume was fixed on SE180 at 150, and I can adjust it from W2. The sound characteristics was typical of W2 DAC/amp while using SE180 as a digital transport.
USB DAC.
Recognized right away by my ThinkPad T480s (Win10Pro). In notification bar of SE180 have to tap USB Mode to select DAC. Volume can be adjusted from Laptop or SE180. No need to install any additional drivers, and the sound was typical of SE180 headphone output.
Line Out.
Connected to Cayin C9, I had to select Line Out from notification bar and was able to control the volume from both external amp and SE180. If you need to color your sound with an external amplifier or need to drive more demanding headphones, access to LO is convenient. Plus, I was finally able to use 4.4mm to 4.4mm interconnect cable from SE180 without any adapters.
Conclusion.
You can probably sense from my review that I was impressed with this new release. Last year A&K stepped it up with SR25, and now did it again with SE180, blurring the lines between their entry, mid-fi, and summit-fi DAPs. There is no longer a big gap in performance based on the price alone. And if I were A&K, I would narrow down their product line to SR series as a small, portable, all-day battery, entry/mid-fi level pocket warrior. Then, combine SE and SP series as their swiss army knife modular flagship, including high resolution upper end modules to bring it closer to SP flagship level of performance. And keep KANN series for those who need a more powerful output to drive demanding headphones with a desktop level performance in a pocket.
Regarding SE180, A&K took the concept of their SE200 dual dac/output model and expanded it into a modular design while actually lowering the price, though SE180 with stock SEM1 and optional SEM2 modules cost nearly the same as SE200. The modular design has a clever release mechanism that doesn’t require screws. Furthermore, both modules come with 3.5mm SE and both 2.5mm and 4.4mm BAL outputs, something A&K fans been wishing and praying for years. LDAC wireless protocol is here to stay as well. Plus, you have other improvements not available even in some of their previous flagships, such as access to gain control and DACs digital filters, a more noticeable semi-Parametric EQ adjustment, and a brand-new Navigation bar. It is an impressive design and a great A&futura series update. Makes you wonder, if they put so much work into SE180, what are they going to come up with in SP series next?
Skullar
Nicely done as usual. Is wifi connection improved over sp2000 or is it same part time job to keep it working?
Interesting that you are saying it goes toe to toe with R8. Back when i auditioned se200 i felt like R8 has a slight edge is soundstage and micro detail. Se200 sounded a bit more compressed and forward.
So just wonder where se180 akm stands in relation se200 in line up.
It seems AK did not particularly care about the product tiers in here.
I suppose ability to improve se180 with modules, eventually it will become (if not yet) more advanced than se200. As will the price.
Would be interesting if it ever cought up with SP2K. This would mean that SP3k will have to be a significant improvement too.
Interesting that you are saying it goes toe to toe with R8. Back when i auditioned se200 i felt like R8 has a slight edge is soundstage and micro detail. Se200 sounded a bit more compressed and forward.
So just wonder where se180 akm stands in relation se200 in line up.
It seems AK did not particularly care about the product tiers in here.
I suppose ability to improve se180 with modules, eventually it will become (if not yet) more advanced than se200. As will the price.
Would be interesting if it ever cought up with SP2K. This would mean that SP3k will have to be a significant improvement too.
searchingtom
I had the SE180 for a day before I returned it. While the OS is clunky and relatively slow, the Bluetooth was horrible and the SD card reader played with noise. Very disappointed.
The product was provided to me free of charge for the review purpose in exchange for my honest opinion. The review was originally posted on my site, and now I would like to share it with my readers on Head-fi.
Manufacturer website: iBasso. Available for sale directly or other retailers like Audio46.
Intro.
As I mentioned in my previous iBasso DAP reviews, since the release of DX200 their new audio players have been very consistent and focused more on sound refinement rather than drastic design changes, especially when it comes to CPU, GPU, DAC, and even display. MAX was an exception where to maximize the performance and to introduce a dual battery, they had to compromise modular design and transport controls. I still consider it to be as one of the top sounding DAPs, but MAX always felt like a special edition release, rather than the next gen flagship to replace DX220. Plus, I’m sure iBasso grew tired of hearing the same complaint about when they are going to introduce new CPU/GPU. In non-Android DAPs this is not an issue, but with Android ones, sooner or later you will have to upgrade. And they did, in a BIG way!
We are talking about the all-new design, incorporating the best elements of their previous releases and adding new design elements to make it stand out moving forward. You are still going to find dual-boot operating system with Android and Mango OS, modular design with removable amp card, their own updated Mango app (in Android), and even dual analog and digital batteries like in MAX. But the new deign is bigger and bolder, literally, and built on a new optimized Android 9.0 with a fast Snapdragon 660 SoC, utilizes quad CS43198 DACs, introduces FPGA-Master to offload SoC processing, implements a single charger for its dual batteries, and introduces a new AMP11 module with a high-power output and all popular SE and BAL connections.
There is a lot to cover about this DAP, so it will be a long review/guide. But as usual, everything is partitioned and indexed so you can jump to different sections. I have featured DX300 in a number of my reviews already, and now it is time to take a closer and more focused look at this latest iBasso DX300 flagship.
Unboxing and Accessories.
DX300 arrived in a packaging box with a similar design as their DX220 DAP, featuring a silver open outer sleeve that slides in from the side and a fancy blue carboard giftbox with iBasso logo and name. The top cover of the box, with a foam lining underneath, swings up to reveal a tray with a soft velour-like foam lining, securely holding the star of the show.
With a top tray out of the way, you will find a number of included accessories, such as a short coax cable for digital SPDIF output, 2.5mm balanced burn-in cable, quality braided sleeve usb-c cable, screen protectors (film and tempered glass), warranty card, and a quick start guide. iBasso recommends at least 200hrs of burn in time and using their burn-in cable, which has a load built-in, is a lot more convenient and quieter since you don’t need to use the actual headphones.
A custom blue leather case was included as well. It’s a decent quality leather case to enhance the grip of DX300, with a fully open top where the DAP slides in, covered transport buttons on the right side and covered microSD card on the left side, and opening at the bottom to provide the access to 4.4mm, 2.5mm, and 3.5mm ports.
Design.
Starting with exterior dimensions, DX300 has been truly supersized to 162mm x 77mm x 17mm with a weight of about 300g. I referred to MAX as transportable due to its 700g weight and wider/thicker design. It is true that DX300 is taller, but overall size is still slim enough to slide in a pocket of your jeans or to hold it firmly in your hand. Thus, I’m referring to DX300 as a portable DAP, maybe not exactly pocket friendly for everybody, but it does feel more portable than MAX. As a matter of fact, due to its size and a gorgeous 6.5” IPS display (2340x1080 resolution, 19.5:9 aspect ratio, 397ppi) with In-Cell capacitive touch panel, I think iBasso stepped into a new category of Digital Audio Phablets. Btw, my review unit came in obsidian black finish, while they also offer a starry blue finish.
The front of the DAP is flat and occupied solely by a display, featuring a very narrow border where the screen is almost edge to edge. At the top of the display, you have a long indicator bar light (could be turned off in settings) to display color depending on song format and other functionality. The back is aluminum and wraps around left/right sides toward the edges, reminding me a bit of DX160. And while the general shape of DX300 is a rectangular bar with rounded edges, the right side is asymmetric with a sloped edge which enhances the ergonomics of the design for a more comfortable grip to access transport control buttons. All three buttons are the same size, narrow, rectangular, with a nice tactile response and a solid feel. They are not labeled, since the one in the middle will always be Play/Pause, while top/bottom could be flipped and reassigned under Audio Control Button customization setting for either forward/back or the other way around.
Right above the buttons you have a multi-function volume wheel which you can short-press for screen on/off or long-press to power the DAP. The wheel is not flush with the side of the DAP and has a non-slippery edge pattern, making it easy to turn with a thumb while feeling a click action as you turn it to give a more precise control of volume adjustment. I personally find the design and the placement of the wheel to be very convenient since it works great with a case, it is within thumb reach of playback buttons, and due to a large size of the dap you don’t have to move your hand to reach a separate power button to turn the display on after the timeout. Also, keep in mind, iBasso implemented a sensor under the display to enable double-tapping of the screen to turn it on. The left side of the DAP has a spring-loaded slot for microSD card so you can expand the storage with any large capacity flash card.
At the top you have a traditional iBasso setup with 3.5mm Coax output, not optical, electrical only. And usb-c port for charging, data transfer, and digital audio out if you want to connect the external dac/amp. At the bottom is where you host the modular amplifier card, similar to DX200 and DX220 but the card size has changed, providing more room for future expansions. For almost 4 years the module remained the same between DX200, DX150, and DX220. DX300 is a new platform, new bigger design, and it makes sense that module was updated as well. The new default card is AMP11 which has 3.5mm SE and 2.5mm and 4.4mm BAL ports, switchable between phone out and line out. With 3.5mm and 4.4mm having a golden metal plate ring around the port, 2.5mm becomes almost hidden, with some people might even missing it, but if you look closer you will see it between other 2 ports.
Under the hood.
In the heart of the DX300 design, iBasso decided to use four separate Cirrus Logic flagship CS43198 DACs, arranged in a quad DAC chips array. These 4 DACs now form a total of eight DAC channels, with DAC chips double-paralleled to achieve fully balanced output. On top of that, iBasso implemented Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 SoC 8-core processor, a HUGE step up in comparison to their previous platform. Along with 128GB ROM and 6GB LPDDR4x RAM and with optimized Android 9.0, DX300 benchmark results are very high, matching AnTuTu 3D Benchmark score of other top performing 660/Android 9.0 DAPs (R8 and R6 2020). Keep in mind, DX300 still carries the legacy of dual OS boot, and in addition to Android 9.0 it also supports 5th Gen Linux-based Mango OS. When it comes to playback, it supports most of the lossy and lossless formats up to 32bit/384kHz and DSD256, including APE, FLAC, WAV, WMA, AAC, ALAC, AIFF, OGG, MP3, DFF, DSF, DXD, and MQA (decoding in hardware).
Another addition to the design is in-house developed FPGA-Master. Of course, iBasso is not manufacturing their own FPGAs, but they did implement FPGA and developed FPGA-Master code to make it function as audio system controller to offload SoC processing by directly requesting audio data, as well as syncing and generating all audio clocks to reduce the jitter. DX300 is a multimedia powerhouse and managing resources between System and Audio Processing is important task in order to maximize sound performance. Furthermore, DX300 USB-C port supports USB 3.1 standard, and Wireless is covered by Bluetooth 5.0 with all the popular codecs and WiFi 802.11b/g/n/ac. Wifi also stepped it up with a dual band 2.4GHz and 5GHz and two antennas (2x2MIMO) to establish up to two streams of data with the receiving device. According to iBasso, with two spatial streams established, the data payload is divided across both antennas and transmitted over the same frequency band. And results speak for themselves, WiFi signal is strong and download/upload speed is on par and even better than on my Smartphone.
Adapted from MAX design, DX300 now features iBasso own patented dual battery power supply architecture. You will find 3.8V 4000mAh Li-Po for Digital application and 3.8V 2000mAh Li-Po for Analog application, mostly for AMP card. But unlike MAX where you need to use 2 separate chargers, here you only need one USB-C and can use either QC3.0 or PD2.0 quick chargers, or any other charger, though it will charger slower. In my testing using 4.4mm BAL output w/IEMs, middle Gain, Wifi on and streaming Amazon Music HD, while periodically turning the display on with 5min timeout setting to get more screen time, I was getting approximately 13.5-14hrs of playback time when analog side went down to 0% and digital was down to about 5%.
The last, but not least under the hood is a default AMP11 card, which is based on AMP8 discrete circuit design and secured in place with 2x T3 screws. The analog battery of DX300 provides +/-8V power supply to this amplifier card which has a max output current of 2.7A, providing both high current and high voltage of 7.1Vrms. As I was finishing up this review, iBasso announced AMP11 MKII, a minor update due to a component shortage (discontinued transistor), forcing them to slightly modify the AMP11, still with the same sound characteristics and overall performance (according to iBasso), except max current output is down to 2A now. The phone output of this card is very impressive, 4.4mm/2.5mm BAL out is 7.1Vrms, with a power of 1240mW @32ohm, SNR 125dB, and output impedance of 0.39ohm. For 3.5mm SE phone out you get 3.5Vrms, 350mW @32ohm, SNR 123dB, and 0.43ohm OI. The same output voltage is valid when you switch to Line Out, but if using BAL Line Out with external amplifiers, 7.1Vrms might be too much to handle for some, so a good idea to switch to Low Gain under LO to reduce output voltage.
GUI.
As already mentioned, similar to DX200/DX220/MAX, DX300 has a similar dual boot system design where you have access to either full Android OS with its Mango audio app or stripped-down Mango OS with a main interface being that audio app itself. Each one has its advantages depending on user requirements. With access to full Android, you have support of WiFi and Bluetooth, can load other apps, stream audio, etc, though you have to be aware that stock DX300 doesn't have Google Play. Instead, it comes pre-loaded with APKPure and CoolApk apps where you can search and download most of the apps to install on your DAP. But the easier way is to download and install Google Play straight from APKPure which I did without any issues.
Mango OS is a strip down version of operating system built around Mango app interface where the focus is strictly on audio performance without a waste of OS resources on other tasks. Switching between these two OS is very simple, when you boot up into Android and press'n'hold Power button you have a choice of Power off, Restart, or switch to Mango. When you switch to Mango, DAP is rebooted and will continue to boot into Mango OS every time until you go to Settings->Advanced and select Android System. Once Android System is selected, it will only boot into Android OS until you switch back to Mango OS.
DX300 comes with an updated version of Mango app, v2.7.2 which has a few minor yet still useful changes. There are a few differences between Mango app and Mango OS interface, they are not identical, and I will cover it later in the review, including differences in sound.
With a bigger 6.5” display, you have a better view of the embedded song/album artwork, if one is available. If not, a default image is displayed. As already introduced in v2 app of DX220, one change here is that you no longer have to swipe left/right to get to the file/song management and settings. The main playback screen has a more logical layout where you swipe the artwork display left/right to skip between the songs, and access song search and file management from a shortcut in the upper left corner and settings from a shortcut in the upper right corner. One brand new addition is in the lower right corner of artwork window, you have 3-dot shortcut to bring up NowPlaying list of songs to scroll through – very useful feature.
Below the artwork, you have track info (bit/rate/format) and a scroll bar to advance through the song where you can tap anywhere to skip. While in early versions of Mango app you had to tap and drag the current song position to a new one, starting with v2 you can fast forward/back by simply tapping on a timeline like you would on your smartphone. Unfortunately, this only works in Mango app, not under Mango OS. Below it, you have a shortcut on the left to provide a more detailed info about the song (including adding to playlist or to delete), and another shortcut on the right to switch between playback modes (play in order, repeat list, shuffle, repeat current song). Play/Pause and Skip next/prev buttons are big enough and located at the bottom.
In Music search and track management, you can search through your songs (since it is indexed) or by browsing the internal storage directory. Under indexed list, you can view All Music, or sort by Album, Artist, Genre, Now Playing, and Playlist. Any song you long press will give you an option to Play, Add to playlist, or Delete. You also have a setting (3 vertical bars all the way on the right) to specify exactly what you want to see in navigation bar or how you want music to be sorted and viewed. The level of customization details here is quite impressive. Plus, all the way at the bottom you have a small area to see the currently playing song and to control its playback with play/pause button. Tapping on it takes you back to the main Playback screen.
In Settings Menu, you have access to Gapless (on/off), Gain (low, medium, high), Play mode (order, loop, shuffle, repeat, folder play), EQ (on/off, brings you to Graphic/Parametric EQ screen), L/R Balance, 5 Digital filters, Media Scan, and Advanced Setting. In Advanced you can select Unplug Pause (Pause when unplug headphones), Indicator (to enable indicator light), USB DAC, Bluetooth DAC, Display Setting, Sleep Timer, and System info.
There is also Audio Settings menu under Android Settings where you can adjust the volume, changing the Gain (low/mid/high), change output from PO to LO, Digital Filter settings, set Volume limitation (up to 100), and set volume wheel control (when screen is off). Under Android Setting in Display section, you can find Auto-rotate screen function, Double-Tap screen to wake, and light Indicator on/off enable. As already mentioned, also in Settings under Audio Control Button menu you can enable/disable audio playback button or switch skip next/prev button assignment.
Notification bar swipe down is also VERY helpful where besides the usual WiFi, Bluetooth, and Auto-Rotate shortcuts, you can also change PO/LO, switch between 5 Digital Filters, and Change the Gain.
Mango app vs Mango OS.
I'm sure many will be curious how does Mango app (in Android mode) compares to stripped down Mango OS. Here is a summary of some of the differences I found while testing DX300. There could be more, but these stood out for me.
- Mango OS start up is faster, while Mango app/Android takes a little longer.
- Mango app (in Android) navigation is faster, while Mango OS has a slight lag.
- Mango app (in Android) has EQ and PEQ, while Mango OS has only EQ.
- In Mango app you can randomly tap on timeline to advance to any part of the song, in Mango OS you have to drag the pointer to a new position like in original DX200.
- In Mango app "Now playing" directory/list is accessible when you click in lower right corner of artwork window, while in Mango OS you have to tap upper left corner to get to music sorting where you view "Now playing" list.
EQ.
DX300 offers a traditional Graphic EQ (EQ) where frequency bands are fixed, and you only adjust the gain with a slider. In Mango app (Android mode) you also get Parametric EQ (PEQ) where you have a lot more control over which frequency is being adjusted, bandwidth of the frequency being adjusted, the type of the filter used to adjust the frequency, and of course the gain of the adjustment. Here are my observations while testing EQ and PEQ.
Graphic EQ (EQ)
- When enabled, drops the volume to create extra headroom for band adjustment (to avoid clipping).
- Relatively clean 10-band EQ adjustment (33, 63, 100, 330, 630, 1k, 3.3k, 6.3k, 10k, 16k frequency bands).
- Whenever you adjust a band, you can see it being shown graphically above the EQ sliders; great visual feedback.
- 5 genre specific presets are included where each one could be adjusted further and reset to its original state.
Parametric EQ (PEQ)
- Includes 6 custom preset settings.
- When enabled, volume doesn't drop.
- While adjusting, I didn't hear any distortion.
- Each preset setting has 6 assignable filters/frequencies to shape the sound where each one is represented by a different color on the screen.
- Filter types: low pass filter, high pass filter, band pass filter, notch filter, all pass filter, peaking filter, low shelf filter, high shelf filter - peaking filter will be probably the most useful.
- Each filter has: Fc (center frequency, from 33 to 16k), Gain (-20 to 20 dB), Q factor (0.3 to 20) where smaller Q makes the bandwidth wider and bigger Q makes the bandwidth narrower.
- Fc and Gain could also be adjusted on the touch screen by dragging the pointer left/right and up/down.
- The sound is adjusted/updated in real time as you move the filter peak and frequency.
Sound Analysis.
I analyzed DX300 sound with Traillii and IT07 IEMs while playing a variety of my favorite test tracks, such as Agnes Obel “The curse”, Sandro Cavazza “So much better” (Avicii remix), C-Bool “Never go away”, Ed Sheeran “Shape of you”, Alan Walker “Darkside”, Galantis “Hunter”, Iggy Azalea “Black widow”, Indila “Boite en argent”, Dua Lipa “Love again”, Counting Crows “Big yellow taxi”, David Elias “Vision of her”, and Michael Jackson “Dirty Diana”. As recommended by manufacturer, I let DX300 burn in for 200hrs using the provided balanced burn-in cable before I started sound analysis.
I prefer to describe the DAP sound based on the comparison to other DAPs and pair ups with different IEMs/headphones since the DAP by itself doesn’t have a “sound”. What we hear is how it sounds through connected IEMs/headphones or the difference in sound relative to other sources using the same pair of IEMs/headphones. As a result, this section of the review usually summarizes what I find in the follow up Comparison and Pair-up sections. Of course, this is my subjective opinion, describing how I hear it.
DX300 with its default AMP11 has a natural reference tonality with a detailed layered sound. It is more natural and even a touch warmer in mids than a typical iBasso DAP sound I'm used to. I still consider DX300 to be neutral, but this neutrality is tilted toward a more natural and smoother flavor. In many pair ups I tried, of course depending on the tuning of IEMs and headphones, I hear a tighter articulate bass, transparent and natural mids, and airy extended treble with extra sparkle. Also, I hear a relatively black background and a nicely expanded vertical dynamics of the sound which has a very good layering and separation. While being natural and a bit smoother, the sound is still of a reference quality with fast transient of notes on/off to make details pop out.
It doesn't hinder soundstage expansion, creating a natural space with a very good imaging, but I felt that it gave the sound a little more intimate feeling, bringing you closer to the stage, not in every pair up, but in some for sure. Even in those pair ups where the soundstage felt holographic and imaging was more 3D, it still felt like I was closer to the stage.
Mango App vs Mango OS sound.
Some might assume since we are dealing with dual OS on the same DAP, the sound will be the same as well. There are definitely a lot of similarities. While playing the same song at the same volume and with the same filter setting, soundstage is the same, technical performance is nearly the same too, and bass sounds the same as well. But in Mango OS I hear upper mids and treble to be brighter, vocals to be slightly more revealing and treble to have a little more sparkle. As a result, Mango OS "sound" is less colored and more reference to my ears, while Mango app under Android OS sounds a little smoother and more natural. I’m sure for many the deciding factor will be either Mango OS with audio only playback or Android OS with streaming capability, but for others it could also provide a choice depending on pair up synergy with their IEMs and headphones.
Digital Filters Sound Analysis
Digital filters are part of the DAC design, and DX300 offers you 5 choices to access it. Many people complain it is hard to hear the difference, and they are right. You need to have trained ears, listen very close, and have more revealing balanced tuned monitors to spot the difference. Usually, I find the difference between filters to be subtle as well, with an exception of NOS filter.
- D1 (fast roll off) - deep sub-bass rumble, natural detailed mids, crisp treble (baseline tuning).
- D2 (short delay, slow roll off) - more sub-bass rumble, a bit thicker body in lower mids, the same treble sparkle.
- D3 (short delay, fast roll off) - a little less sub-bass rumble, more transparency in lower mids, a touch more sparkle in treble.
- D4 (slow roll off) - a little less sub-bass rumble, more transparency in lower mids, the same treble sparkle.
- D5 (NOS no over sampling) - deeper sub-bass rumble, more organic mids, and smoother treble. It feels like NOS wraps the sound in a thin layer of a smooth blanket, very subtle, but it takes some digital shine off the sound, giving it a smoother laidback analog flavor.
Pair up.
In this section of my review, I will go over how various earphones and headphones pair up and sound with DX300. In each pair up I noted the gain (High Gain or Middle Gain, and Volume level). These are just very brief analysis notes to give you the basic idea.
Pair up with Headphones.
Audio-Technica ATH-R70x (HG, v58) - R70x are open back 470ohm headphones, but not every source can make them feel like you are sitting in an open room surrounded by sound, while that's how it felt in this pair up. Overall, tonality is very natural, bass has a deeper rumble while mid-bass sounds more neutral; mids/vocals sound very transparent, effortless, natural, and so does treble with a natural airy sparkle. I was very impressed with vocals in this pair up.
Beyerdynamic T5p 2nd (HG, v34) - despite these being closed back, soundstage was very open and exceptionally wide. The sound is very clean and detailed. It is not bright, just very transparent, detailed, layered. Bass has a deep rumble, mid-bass has a more polite punch; mids/vocals are natural, transparent, very detailed, but not too bright, and treble is crisp and airy. In this pair up, again, I felt like mids very shining and less colored.
MEZE Audio Empyrean (HG, v41) - again, not a surprise when it comes to soundstage, being holographic. The sound is balanced, fast, very clean and clear. Again, I hear a deeper sub-bass rumble, fast articulate mid-bass punch, very detailed and transparent mids/vocals, and crisp airy treble. A very clean uncolored pair up sound.
iBasso SR2 (HG, v34) - open holographic soundstage in this pair up. Very articulate fast bass with a deeper sub-bass rumble and fast tight mid-bass punch. Mids/vocals are natural, detailed, very transparent, treble is crisp and airy. It's a great example of headphones where the sound is very clean and transparent, and still sounds quite natural.
With headphones, in every pair up DX300 was driving them effortlessly, efficiently, with a big natural soundstage expansion, articulate tight bass, deep sub-bass extension, clean and transparent mids (no coloring), and crisp airy treble. The thing that stood out for me was transparency and lack of coloring I’m used to with some other DAPs and the same headphones. Perhaps, if you want to add more coloring to the sound in pair ups mentioned above, you can use external amp or wait for more iBasso amp modules.
Pair up with IEMs.
Empire Ears Legend X (MG, v36) - wide soundstage with imaging that positions sound closer to you, L-shaped sound signature with a heavy bass slam that extends down to an elevated sub-bass, stronger mid-bass punch, thicker lower mids, clear natural vocals, and natural clear treble sparkle. Bass is not as tight in this pair up, but it is big, bold, and analog, sounds like floor standing speaker. No hissing.
Campfire Audio Solaris 2020 (MG, v16) - wide soundstage with a good height and depth; balanced sound sig with a little more emphasis on mids, above neutral bass with a decent extension and noticeable mid-bass impact, but it is scaled down, not as strong; mids/vocals are the shining star of this pair up, being clear, detailed, natural, layered; treble is bright, with extra sparkle, airy, not harsh but it does have extra energy. With hissing, in this pair up you would definitely want to stay in med gain. If you want minimum hissing, switch to low gain; going to med gain adds more to waterfall hissing when idling or in less busy passages of the song. But when you switch to high gain, hissing is a lot more noticeable.
VE Elysium (MG, v43) - soundstage width is above average with a good height and depth; sound sig is balanced, even a touch u-shaped due to deeper bass extension and extra treble energy which puts natural organic vocals slightly behind relative to lows/highs. Due to Ely needing to be pushed harder, these need higher volume, and raising volume up makes treble even brighter. It was not harsh to my ears, but definitely has higher energy and could be borderline harsh for some where you might want to tame it down with foam eartips. No hissing.
Empire Ears Odin (MG, v31) - holographic soundstage expansion, deep sub-bass with a tight mid-bass punch, above neutral quantity, mids are very detailed, layered, natural, and treble is also crisp and natural. Was surprised to hear the extra depth of sub-bass rumble and added naturalness of EST treble. With hissing, low and medium gain have some waterfall hissing, going to high gain raises the hissing level up, but you will be OK in med gain where it is mostly noticeable when idling or between the songs or in quiet passages of the song.
64 Audio U18s (MG, v35) - wide soundstage with the sound slightly out of your head; warm smooth tonality with a deep analog bass, smooth warm detailed mids, and natural treble sparkle. Very smooth sound, and bass is more relaxed in this pair up. No hissing.
Oriolus Traillii (MG, v34) - holographic soundstage and 3D imaging, very balanced signature with a natural detailed tonality, deep sub-bass rumble, tight articulate mid-bass punch, natural, layered, detailed vocals, and natural well defined crisp treble. Traillii shines in every pair up, DX300 wasn't exception, yielding a great combination of natural detailed tonality. No hissing.
iBasso IT07 (MG, v30) - holographic soundstage, deep visceral bass, smooth natural detailed mids, clear natural treble sparkle. Very clear, transparent, natural sound with a tight and punchy bass. No hissing.
Comparison.
In this test, I was using Traillii, Odin, and IT07. Each of these DAPs, besides a difference in tonality and pair up synergy, has their own Pros/Cons when it comes to features, all of which should be taken into consideration depending on your priorities if you need streaming or not, which balanced termination you prefer, how much output power do you need, your battery requirements, etc.
DX300 vs DX220 MAX - In most of the pair ups MAX takes soundstage width to the max, thus as expected its soundstage is wider in comparison to DX300. DX300 soundstage is wide, but not a match for MAX. Other noticeable differences are a blacker background and stronger bass impact when paired up with MAX in comparison to DX300. Again, MAX sets a bar very high, and in comparison, the DX300 bass is more relaxed and scaled down in quantity. Also, DX300 mids/vocals are a little smoother while treble has a little more air and sparkle in comparison to MAX.
Like I said before, MAX set a bar very high, but due to its weight/bulk I find it to be borderline transportable, while DX300 despite its bigger size is more lightweight, slimmer and thinner, and feels more portable. Plus, MAX is built on old DX220 platform, doesn't have modular design, and lacking transport controls. DX300 is built on a brand-new platform with a faster processor, newer Android, and overall super-fast performance. Plus, modular design of DX300 opens the opportunity for future amps with updated performance. And the last, but not the least, single usb-c charger of DX300 makes it more convenient, especially when traveling.
DX300 vs DX220 w/AMP8 - DX300 performance is somewhere between DX220 with stock AMP8 and MAX. The soundstage is wider than DX220 but not as wide as MAX. The background is blacker than DX220, but doesn't reach the same pure black background of MAX, but DX300 is certainly closer to MAX than DX220 w/AMP8. Relative to AMP8, tonality is closer, maybe with DX300 being a little bit smoother and more natural, including some improvements in vertical dynamics. Relative to sound performance, DX300 with its default AMP11 is a step up from DX220 with its original AMP8 (not EX version), giving DX300 a more natural tonality.
But when it comes to Android performance, the gap is wider due to DX300 featuring 660 snapdragon processor and later Android 9.0 version. DX300 is faster, more responsive, and also has a noticeable improvement in WiFi and Bluetooth performance. This one is no brainer, definitely a worthy upgrade.
DX300 vs DX160 - why am I comparing iBasso flagship to its entry level Android DAP (not counting DX120)? Because DX160 sets its own high bar in that price range with its sound performance and because it uses 2 out of 4 DACs like DX300. But it is a prime example of how DACs don't make up the sound, final amp stage is where the magic happens. DX160 is a great DAP, and I can even say that its soundstage a touch wider than DX300. DX160 tonality is a bit brighter in comparison to DX300. But when it comes to technical performance, DX160 is not a match for DX300, with DX300 having a more layered, more dynamic, more textured sound and a blacker background.
And similar to previous DX220 comparison notes, DX160 runs on an older iBasso platform with a slower processor and older Android OS, thus DX160 Android performance, including WiFi and Bluetooth, will be behind DX300.
DX300 vs Hiby R8 - When it comes to sound performance, there are some differences, and the one you find as better will probably depend on your pair up synergy preference. For example, soundstage expansion is very similar, but there are variations in tonality. DX300 bass is tighter and hits a little stronger while R8 bass with the same IEMs/headphones feels more neutral and slightly relaxed. Mids and vocals in DX300 have fuller body and a little colored while R8 is more neutral and more transparent. With treble, I hear R8 to have a little more sparkle vs DX300 treble being a little smoother, but that could be also due to a different tonality of mids. Both DAPs are very powerful and scale up well from driving IEMs to headphones.
Overall Android performance is nearly the same since both feature Snapdragon 660 and optimized Android 9.0. And both have a strong WiFi and BT performance. Also, both have plenty of power to drive anything from sensitive IEMs to demanding headphones. But DX300 has an upper hand with a modular design where there will be more amplifier modules in the future and also dual OS with Android and non-Android mode.
DX300 vs Cayin N6ii w/E02 - These two actually stack up very close in sound comparison. I ended up doing quite a few blind tests, and the only deciding factor here was N6ii w/E02 having slightly more bass impact while DX300 having a little wider soundstage. Otherwise, both have a very similar tonality around their mids/vocals, similar treble response, similar dynamics, and aside from some small variation in bass and soundstage, they come close. They even have the same level of waterfall hissing with sensitive iems.
In terms of overall performance, N6ii has a slower processor and older Android OS, so DX300 has an edge here. Both have modular system with DX300 featuring amp modules while N6ii having dac/amp modules. Also, overall power output is higher in DX300 which going to push harder some of the more demanding headphones.
DX300 vs Lotoo PAW6000 - Some might wonder why I included PAW6k in comparison, but due to the same price I received quite a few questions about it. There are quite a few noticeable differences here. PAW6k tonality is very different, being warmer, smoother, while DX300 has a better retrieval of details and overall sound is more dynamic and more layered. Also, soundstage is wider in DX300.
In this comparison, DX300 is a very fast Android daps where you can run any apps, has modular design, and has a lot more powerful output in comparison to non-Android PAW6k which is designed mostly for audio only playback driving IEMs and “easy” headphones. Another thing to note, Lotoo DAPs are well known for their Parametric EQ, but iBasso Mango app features its own powerful Parametric EQ as well. But if you want a pocket friendly small DAP, PAW6k will suite you better.
Other Wired/Wireless connections.
In this section of the review, I will go over various wired and wireless connections I tested and verified with DX300.
Coax out
Tested with iFi micro iDSD BL. I used the provided iBasso cable that worked well. I found the volume on DX3000 to be fixed, output volume adjustable using micro iDSD. The sound has a typical smoother natural tonality I'm used to from iFi micro iDSD BL dac/amp.
Digital audio usb-c out
Tested with iBasso DC03. It works with DX300 without a problem but you do need to install iBasso UAC app to control the volume of DC03, otherwise it will blast your ears when connecting earphones/headphones at full volume. DX300 volume wheel doesn’t affect DC03 volume, need to use UAC app. DC03 is a great sounding usb DAC/amp with a transparent and slightly more revealing tonality and a very big soundstage.
Tested with L&P W2. I found this connection to be more straight forward because W2 has its own volume control so no other app was required to install. And likewise, the wheel on DX300 wasn’t adjusting the volume, but luckily, I was able to do that from W2. The sound was neutral and natural, maybe just a little more revealing connected to DX300 in comparison to my smartphone.
Line Out
As I previously mentioned, you don’t want to be going into external amplifier with 7.1Vrms output, thus better of switching to low or med gain when in LO, low gain probably even better.
Tested with Romi Audio BX2. I set DX300 to low gain, volume at 50, giving BX2 some headroom for its own volume adjustment. With BX2 being a very clean transparent amplifier, it is a great way to checkout AMP11 "coloring" and DAC output sound. When comparing the direct DX300 phone output vs DX300 LO + BX2, the only difference I noticed was in treble, where straight from DX300 I hear more treble sparkle and airiness.
Tested with Cayin C9 in tube mode. This pair up takes the sound to a whole different level by spreading soundstage wider, adding more texture and impact to the bass, giving more natural body to the mids/vocals, and adding extra sparkle to the treble (treble wasn't as prominent when I paired up DX300 with neutral BX2). Just remember to keep DX300 gain at low in this pair up.
USB DAC
USB DAC mode needs to be activated in Advanced setting of Mango app. When activated, you have option to change the gain and digital filters. Win10 recognized it right away, no drivers were necessary. When playing the same song from my laptop + DX300 vs directly from DX300, I found the sound to be nearly identical, only slightly warmer playing directly from DX300.
Wireless Bluetooth DAC
This mode gets activated from Mango app in Advanced setting, and the pair up connection was fast and effortless. Also, I was able to confirm a close to 60ft open area operation until it started to stutter just a little bit. I was only able to control volume from DX300, not from the source. But to my surprise, this connection was only using AAC which I checked under Developer Option on my smartphone.
Bluetooth Wireless
Tested with Sennheiser HD1 M2 AEBT. I found the pair up to be fast and effortless, aptX codec was detected, worked 60ft across the open area without a single glitch. These wireless HD1 M2 headphones are VERY finicky due to higher sensitivity of their wireless antenna. Here, it was the first time I was able to walk so far away and still able to control remotely the volume and the playback from headphones, all that without sound glitches.
Tested with iBasso CF01/IT00. I found the pair up with these TWS adapters to be fast and effortless, and it worked 60ft across the open area, can probably go even further. Crystal clear sound (aptX option was available in BT setting), full remote playback control from CF01. Pair up with TWS could be finicky, here it was a solid effortless connection.
Since I don't have any LDAC wireless headphones, for confirmation I tested with a few wireless dongles and was able to connect using LDAC codec without a problem.
Conclusion.
I ended my previous iBasso DX220 MAX review with “… my imagination already running wild, thinking about what DX3xx could bring to the table.” In my opinion, DX300 release didn’t just meet but actually exceeded my expectations. People will always argue which DAP sounds better based on their sound preference and pair up synergy with favorite earphones and headphones. And there is always going to be an argument about the flagship DAPs pricing which today is all over the place and goes up to a multi-kilobuck level. But you will hardly see anybody arguing about the value of iBasso products, regardless if we are talking about DAPs or IEMs or even headphones. And relative to iBasso DX300, this flagship level DAP still has one of the best price/performance ratios.
In frequent discussions with my readers, I’m well aware that some prefer non-Android DAPs, while others can’t live without streaming. Some want more compact design with the best battery performance, while others don’t mind transportable design and don’t even care about the size or the weight. Thus, there is no single DAP which could be labeled as overall “the best” because everybody has different requirements and different criteria of what they consider to be the best for them. But if you are looking for a fast Android DAP, futureproofed with modular design, powerful amplifier, great natural sound tuning, and don’t mind a super-sized 6.5” multimedia display, it will be hard to find another DAP under $1.2k packing all these features. Now, the big question is when and what to expect in the next new AMP card!
CharlyBrown
@twister6 yes, thank you, and I was trying to repeat that in my answer
musicheaven
Amazing review as always. It’s a fabulous device, I’d say iBasso‘s best. The size is what surprises most, It’s big but damn what a kit!!!
Quickanddirty
Terrific review as always! Could you maybe do a quick comparison vs the AK SE 200 or the 1000M?
The product was provided to me free of charge for the review purpose in exchange for my honest opinion. The review was originally posted on my site, and now I would like to share it with my readers on Head-fi.
Manufacturer website: 64 Audio. Available for sale directly, as well as various retailers like Audio46.
Intro.
A month ago, 64 Audio announced 3 new 2021 products, teasing us with eye candy computer-generated images, and the rumor mill went into overdrive! In the past, 64 Audio used to spoil us with more frequent new releases, then after U12t, Tia, and N8 things slowed down a bit. Noir was a refined version of Fourte, and Nio was a logical universal step up from N8. Then, a year ago, A18s was announced and the pandemic hell broke loose. Unfortunately, lack of CanJams and other audio shows and custom-only nature of the design are kryptonite factors in audiophile world. Plus, “s” denoted studio version of this 18-driver flagship which could be misunderstood.
Similar to N8, it looked like A18s CIEM release was targeted more toward stage and studio musicians rather than consumer audiophiles. Yes, it felt like N8 déjà vu all over again, and I was afraid it will follow the same footsteps of us waiting 2 years for a proper universal version. But as many probably aware, 64 Audio makes uni demos of their Custom-only IEMs for audio shows and retailer stores. Those are not for sale, even so quite a few people in 64 Audio thread on Head-fi expressed their wishful thinking for one, even willing to buy store demos. Thus, demand was definitely there, and to my surprise 64 Audio responded swiftly with a new design supply.
Just to clarify one thing, I did receive the original custom A18s a few months ago, and quickly realized it wasn’t for my ears. Due to sharp first bend of my left earcanal, CIEM nozzles usually end up being super short which affects the tuning, especially when dealing with tia driver at the tip of the nozzle. When I requested uni demo of A18s and then compared it to U18s review unit, I was able to hear a noticeable difference to reconfirm my original suspicion. Now, with a proper universal U18s in my ears, I’m ready to share my impressions.
Unboxing and Accessories.
U18s arrived in a similar large size packaging as U18t and Fourte/Noir models. The removable sleeve has 3D like image of the shells with a focus on a new faceplate pattern and branded apex module. This was also the first 64 Audio product I received with a new logo which I think is very clever. The 6 and 4 are now interlocking where the number “4” extends into letter “A” while going through number “6”.
On the back of the sleeve, you have a zoomed in view of the shell design and every component inside of it. It is very interesting to see a compact shell, housing 18 BA drivers, including tia in the nozzle and also apex module. I was surprised a spec wasn’t printed, but there were highlights of the design with “apex”, “tia”, “LID”, TrueFidelity (foam eartips), and SpinFit (eartips) mentioning.
Inside under the magnetic cover you will find an inspirational message from Vitaliy Belonozhko, the founder and chief sound designer of 64 Audio. In the main storage area of the box things look totally updated in comparison to previous releases with a similar packaging. You have two round cutouts in a foam block, holding top and the bottom of the leather storage case. No more custom pelican-like case, those are used now with CIEMs intended for musicians who require a more secure storage. Universal IEM packaging is designed to appeal to consumers, and U18s features the same round leather storage case included with Nio.
The lid of a storage case features new updated “64” logo and was placed at the top of the box with a plastic eartips holder. The holder gives you a clear view and easy access to 3 types of included eartips, a set of wide-bore opening black silicone tips (S/M/L), a set of TrueFidelity foam eartips (S/M/L), and a set of SpinFit brand name eartips (S/M/L). That was a welcome addition to accessories. The bottom part of the leather case was holding a foam insert with U18s securely sitting inside, and a plastic holder for 3 sets of apex modules, MX and M20 in a holder and M15 in U18s shells already.
I noticed right away that 64 logo was printed on the top of apex module; surprised it took 64 Audio that long to finally brand their apex modules with a logo which looks great! Of course, foam insert is only to hold the shells without a cable attached, and it could be easily removed to use leather storage case which has plenty of room for U18s with cable attached and apex modules holder and even a few spare eartips. A sticker with a new 64 Audio logo was included as well.
Cables.
64 Audio stock cable uses ultra-low resistance flexible non-microphonic silver-plated copper (SPC) wires which come in either Professional or Premium versions. Sometimes it creates a confusion because people see different cable plugs/connectors in pictures without realizing it is still same wires. The main difference between these cables is in hardware where Pro version has a more basic 2pin connector mold which is compatible with recessed and non-recessed socket, red/blue indicator for sides id, and a plastic 3.5mm angled plug.
Premium cable uses the same wires, has a higher quality hardware with non-recessed angled 2pin sturdy connector and L/R letter indicator, memory wire, 64 Audio branded plastic y-split and a plastic chin-slider, and uses a premium quality brand name plug with options for 2.5mm, 3.5mm, and 4.4mm termination. These cables come standards with universal models, such as Fourte/Trio/U18t/U12t/Nio, and look more “premium”.
U18s comes with a New 8-braid Premium cable they refer to as “Silver”, but it actually uses Pure Silver Plated OFC wires, each with 65 strands of 44awg conductor, just a little bit thicker than original Premium wires. It is a very low impedance cable, 0.28ohm of total impedance. Despite 8 wires instead of a typical 4, the cable is still very pliable, relatively lightweight, and non-microphonic.
During Nio launch, 64 Audio also introduced a Premium Silver Hybrid cable. While this new cable is called Silver Premium, in reality it has a Silver alloy core surrounded by 200 Silver-Plated Copper strands. Basically, this is 26 AWG gauge ultra-low resistance 4-wire multi-core structure Silver plated OCC and Silver Alloy. It even uses a premium audio grade solder to make sure signal path is pure and has low resistance. So, this is not a pure silver cable but rather a hybrid of Silver and SPC material. This design was chosen to reduce the wire resistance without making the gauge thicker or doubling the number of conductors (from 4 wires to 8 wires).
It is a very nice-looking cable, very soft and flexible, non-microphonic, braided between plug and y-split, with all the same hardware as 64 Audio Premium cable, including non-recessed 2pin angled connector mold, memory wire (which I personally can’t stand and removed right away), 64 Audio branded y-split, plastic chin slider, and the termination plug of your choice, depending on availability. The cable is optional and cost extra. I will cover how it sounds in comparison to Premium SPC cable further in my review.
Design.
The U18s shell follows a traditional 64 Audio design shape, but to my surprise it was a little taller than U18t. In theory the have the same number of drivers, the same apex cavity, and tia driver in the nozzle. LID tech was added and maybe internal design and driver placement was optimized that resulted in a slightly taller shell, but it was still very comfortable to wear and had a very durable build with a shell machined from a solid piece of aluminum and all black matte stealth finish. It also features a non-recessed universal 2pin socket and a matching metal nozzle with a mesh at the tip to keep elements away from tia driver.
But what really stands out here is an all-new faceplate design. You will not find a traditional 64 Audio faceplate with an inlay insert like in previous releases of U18t, Fourte/Noir, U12t/Trio, and Nio. U18s features all metal faceplate with a cool 3D fractured pattern and sort of a dark gunmetal finish. And this pattern looks truly 3D, achieved with a shinier top surface and black filled pattern cavities. I tried to capture it in pictures, but pictures don’t do it justice. The faceplate look is enhanced further with a branded apex module.
Inside the shell you have all BA design featuring 18 drivers with a 4-way passive crossover partitioning 8 lows, 8 mids, 1 high-mid, and 1 tia high drivers. Balanced Armatures (BA) are typically self-enclosed with a single opening port, while you can think of tia as an open BA driver where one of the enclosure walls is removed, to enable direct-radiating of the inner diaphragm which no longer has a 4-wall confinement. Tia driver is usually positioned in the nozzle, next to the grill since it has to be closer to your earcanal. As a result, U18s doesn't have sound tube bores going to the nozzle, and instead has a mesh cover to protect from wax build up.
Another tech included with U18s, that wasn’t previously available in original U18t, is their Linear Impedance Design (LID) crossover where despite a low impedance (8ohm), U18s should be compatible and have the same signature when paired up with different sources, regardless of their output impedance. Of course, the tonality of the source will affect the pair up synergy and the sound you hear, but variation in output impedance is no longer a variable in U18s design.
And I’m sure by now everybody is familiar with 64 Audio apex (Air Pressure Exchange) modules, but just in case if you have been living under a rock, it is the interchangeable venting system that releases air pressure sealed in the ear canal for fatigue free listening. The included apex modules have a fixed sound isolation, based on the model number: MX (-10dB, black module), M15 (-15db, dark grey module), and M20 (-20dB, aluminum color module)
As I mentioned in the intro, I did receive A18s CIEM at first, and if you decide to take that route, especially if you prefer custom fit or want to customize the look of your IEM, 64 Audio has a very comprehensive tool to design your monitors. The one in my original CIEM had a transparent shell with an exotic wooden faceplate, and I decided to include pictures of it here in the review so people can appreciate the layout and placement of all these drivers inside of a compact shell.
The fit.
Sound Analysis.
I analyzed U18s sound performance paired up with LPGT while playing a variety of test tracks, such as Agnes Obel “The curse”, Sandro Cavazza “So much better” (Avicii remix), C-Bool “Never go away”, Ed Sheeran “Shape of you”, Alan Walker “Darkside”, Galantis “Hunter”, Iggy Azalea “Black widow”, Indila “Boite en argent”, Dua Lipa “Love again”, Counting Crows “Big yellow taxi”, David Elias “Vision of her”, and Michael Jackson “Dirty Diana”. By force of habit, I let U18s play for about 4 days in a loop before I started analyzing the sound. I used stock SpinFit eartips and stock cable in my analysis.
U18s has a fuller body warmer detailed tonality. The sound is smooth, natural, and quite detailed, not revealing like in U18t but rather clear and detailed in upper mids and treble. The lower frequency range has a fuller body with a warmer tonality and surprisingly good bass impact for BA drivers. But you have to pay close attention to which apex module you are using because they leave a noticeable effect on tonality and signature. In most of the 64 Audio IEMs with removable apex I prefer to use M15 because it has the perfect balance between bass impact and soundstage expansion, keeping in mind "15" referring to 15dB isolation. However, when I started to listen to U18s with a default M15 module, I found a lack of definition in lower mids.
As expected, going between MX, M15, and M20 changes the soundstage expansion, with MX and M15 being wider due to less isolation and M20 being narrower. But in terms of tonality, upper mids and treble sounded quite similar, while bass and lower mids did change. MX gave bass a more neutral quantity, making signature more balanced, with more focus on natural detailed mids and natural clear treble. Not your typical tia airy sparkle, but instead, a smoother well-defined treble. Moving up to M15, bass gained impact and rumble, but the decay of bass notes extended and blended in with lower mids. It wasn't bleeding into mids, but rather blending in a way that caused bass to lose its articulation and definition.
Then, I decided to switch to M20 and had a Eureka! moment. I did notice a trade-off with soundstage width shrinking down a bit. It was still above average but less expanded in comparison to MX and M15 modules. The sub-bass was as deep and had the same amount of rumble, maybe even a little more than when compared to M15. Mid-bass punch was stronger and faster, not basshead overwhelmingly strong, but just enough to tilt the scale of balanced sound sig into a slightly L-shaped territory. But the biggest benefit was a better separation of bass from lower mids. With M20 I hear the decay of bass notes to be shorter, giving bass more control and better definition. And with that, lower mids gained more clarity.
Now, with all this said, I still consider overall sound signature to be balanced (W-shape) because regardless of the bass impact it comes through with a noticeable quantity of deep velvety sub-bass rumble and punchy mid-bass impact, mids/vocals are not recessed, despite being natural, organic, and better than expected layered, and treble is well defined, clear, and actually extended without being too bright, crisp, or too airy.
I hear the overall soundstage to be above average, and as already mentioned, it gets wider with MX and M15 modules. But still, you get more depth/height rather than width when analyzing U18s. Typically, I find positioning and imaging of sounds to be better when tonality is more revealing. Don't get me wrong, I don't find anything wrong with accuracy of instruments and vocals placement when listening to U18s. But it was easier to pin-point sounds in less busy and more instrumental tracks while got a little more complicated in busy multi-layered tracks where I had to focus harder to zero in on some instruments. I do want to add, this was relative to M20 module, while switching to MX gave instruments and vocals more room to breathe. It was easier to pin point everything, but I was missing bass impact with MX, a trade-off you have to keep in mind.
In more details, bass is very responsive to apex module selection and I think many will prefer to go either with MX or M20, or maybe I'm just projecting my own preference. MX will give you a neutral bass impact, you can still hear the rumble and the punch, but the impact scaled down. M20 gives you a nice authorative slam, not an overwhelming basshead level but enough to cut through any serious EDM track with a strong rhythm. When you are listening to less aggressive music with natural instruments and no kick drums, bass comes into play with a deeper rumble to give instruments more natural fuller body tonality. And as I mentioned before, I found stronger impact with M20 to give bass more control and better articulation.
Mids and treble are natural, smooth, detailed, balanced, never falling behind the bass even with M20 module. You get a better definition and more forward presentation with MX module which puts more focus on mids. With M20 presentation of mids is less forward but still with enough focus. Mids/vocals are clear and natural, there is some layering, not as much as you would hear in more revealing tuning like U18t, but still enough to appreciate the expansion of vertical dynamics where the sound never felt compressed. Treble is clear and detailed, not crisp or sparkly but extended and with a natural airiness.
Eartips selection.
The selection of eartips is crucial to any universal in-ear monitors and will affect the sound, especially the bass impact depending on the seal. Due to a large opening of my earcanals, I usually go for the largest size eartips to get a better seal. Also, please keep in mind, eartips impressions are subjective and will be based on anatomy of your ears. Here, I was analyzing the sound using LPGT, M20 module, and stock cable.
SpinFit (stock, baseline) - deep bass impact, natural clear vocals, smooth detailed treble.
Silicone (stock) - more bass impact, smoother mids/treble, mids are slightly recessed.
TrueFidelity Foams (stock) - more neutral bass, more forward mids/vocals, even smoother treble.
Final Type-E - a touch less bass impact with mids/vocals being slightly more forward, and treble being just a little brighter. Good alternative if you want to make sounds a little more revealing.
AZLA Xelastec - similar to SpinFit but with a little more bass impact and rumble, and bass having more authority.
Symbio F - similar to Type-E where mids/vocals are being a little more forward, but the bass impact remained the same as with stock SpinFit.
Cable pair up.
I’m aware that some people don’t believe in cables and have very strong opinion about it. It’s not my intent to change those minds. Instead, I’m just sharing what I hear during my testing. What makes sense to me, a metal wire is a material with physical properties of resistivity, conductivity, purity, and unique geometry, all of which put together act as a filter between your source and headphones. Variations of these physical properties can affect the conductivity of analog signal, resulting in a sound change, from a subtle to a more noticeable level. If the talk about cables upsets you, please skip this section. Otherwise, enjoy these short impressions.
w/64audio Premium Silver hybrid - signature is W-shaped/balanced with enhancement of lows (more control, better articulation, faster), mids (more revealing), and treble (more sparkle).
w/Eletech Iliad - puts a little more emphasis on bass and treble, feels like tia drivers gain back some of their lost sparkle, but overall, it also makes the sound slightly U-shape due to perception of mids/vocals being a little behind.
w/EA Leo II octa - signature is W-shaped/balanced with enhancement of lows (more control, faster), mids (more revealing), and treble (more sparkle), very similar to 64audio premium silver cable.
w/PlusSound PPH8 - not much changes related to a sound sig, but I do hear more sub-bass rumble, mids remaining the same, being smooth and natural, and treble gaining some sparkle. Soundstage did expand a little more.
w/PWA 1960 4w - puts more emphasis on bass where I hear more sub-bass rumble and mid-bass impact, mids/vocals remain the same, maybe just a touch more revealing, and treble has more sparkle.
Comparison.
The comparison was done using U18s with a stock cable, SpinFit stock eartips, M20 (unless noted otherwise), and LPGT source; volume matched in every comparison.
U18s vs A18s
Custom 18s just didn't work out for my ears. As I have mentioned already, my left ear has a sharp first bend and as a result custom nozzle is usually trimmed down to look almost like universal, and right earpiece nozzle has to be short to match the left one. With some iems it works, but not with all of them. Doesn't mean U18s and A18s were tuned differently. It just means that custom shell with a very short nozzle skews the intended sound tuning where to my ears A18s treble was not as extended and upper bass and lower mids got thicker, giving the sound more body and some bloat, taking away from clarity and making vocals sound off. But when I got universal demo of A18s and later received the final U18s, their sound was nearly identical which makes me believe that U18s and A18s with an adequate nozzle will sound the same as well. And U18s will give you another level of sound tuning through tip rolling.
U18s vs U12t
The first big difference that stands out here is the treble with 18s being smoother and more organic while 12t being crisp and sparkly, more air and better extension. In theory they should have the same tia driver, but it is tuned completely different. Next, as you shift your focus to mids, you hear brighter vocals with neutral lower mids body, making vocals more revealing and thinner, while 18s has a lot more body with vocals sounding thicker and warmer. Using M20 module, 12t actually has a surprisingly deep sub-bass rumble and good mid-bass impact, though scaled down in quantity and with bass having shorter decay, thus lower mids being more neutral.
U18s vs U18t
This is a very interesting comparison because I'm sure people will expect a lot of similarities, while in reality there are more differences. Regardless of the module you use, tia driven treble is not the same between 18s and 18t, with 18t being brighter and crisper while 18s being smoother and more organic. Then, at the other end of the spectrum, you have a different bass tuning. The bass of 18t with M20 module sounds close to 18s with MX module, extended but neutral in quantity. Yes, you have to attenuate 18s bass by more than 10dBs to match it with 18t and M20. Also, I have a feeling that 64 Audio didn't change the mids tuning going from 18t to 18s, but due to sound changes related to bass and treble, the perception of 18t mids is more revealing, more forward, and with a better layering and separation of the sounds, while 18s mids sound more organic.
U18s vs Nio
Finally, a comparison where we have a closer match in bass. Until Nio, I was enjoying the sparkle of tia treble in other 64 Audio iems, but after spending more time with Nio, my ears adjusted to a smoother tonality of its treble tuning. I wouldn't say the treble here sounds identical, and I find 18s to have a little better extension, more refinement, and better controlled crunch while Nio treble is a bit raw and forward in presentation. Bass comparison here is interesting as well. We are talking about DD vs BA, and Nio with M20 is a bass cannon with a noticeable sub-bass lift and very strong mid-bass slam. Dropping Nio from M20 to M15, I still feel the bass quantity is higher than 18s with M20, and for my personal taste I prefer Nio with atom N10 (10dB module). In comparison, 18s bass is less aggressive, more polished, less raw. If you are closeted basshead, 18s might not fully satisfy your craving, like Nio with M20. When it comes to mids, 18s is more refined, better layered, and also a little more laidback.
U18s vs Fourte/Noir
I always had a love/hate relationship with Fourte/Noir. When it was released alongside the U18t, I preferred 18t tuning, but later made peace with it after I switched from silicone to foam eartips. To my ears with silicone eartips the Fourte/Noir treble is piercing, but it becomes smoother and less peaky with foamies, though I still find it bright, even brighter than U18t/12t. Fourte/Noir bass is velvety smooth and textured, not as aggressive in comparison to 18s stronger mid-bass impact (w/M20), but the sub-bass extension is quite similar with its deep analog quality. With mids/vocals in A/B comparison using stock cable, Fourte/Noir vocals sound hollower and more withdrawn in comparison to 18s. I do prefer Noir over Fourte because of its fuller lower mids body which gives vocals more natural tonality, but Fourte/Noir both have 1kHz peak which to my ears makes the sound a bit hollow and nasal, the reason why I prefer 18s/t in this comparison. All just a matter of a personal preference.
Family picture.
U18s vs Oriolus Traillii
To level the field in this comparison, I was using U18s with PWA 1960 4 wire cable. The soundstage depth/height are quite similar, but the width is different with Traillii being wider, creating more holographic effect while U18s being more focused and a little more intimate in soundstage presentation. When it comes to bass, both have a very similar mid-bass punch, perhaps with U18s being a little stronger while Traillii having a deeper and more textured sub-bass rumble. U18s sub-bass extension is no slouch either, but Traillii just has more quantity and more weight in sub-bass. Mids are actually quite similar in this comparison, with fuller body lower mids and natural detailed tonality of upper mids/vocals, though technically Traillii has better layering and separation of sounds in mids. Both have a natural well-defined treble without any harsh peaks, but Traillii has more sparkle and airiness in comparison to smoother treble extension in U18s.
U18s vs VE Erlkonig
There is a slight difference in soundstage expansion and imaging between these two where I find Erl to have a little wider soundstage while both have the same depth/height, but mids positioned a lot closer in Erl while being extended more out of your head in U18s. With M20 module, U18s bass also hits harder, mid-bass quantity is more elevated, while sub-bass extension is similar in quality, just a touch more elevated and textured in Erl relative to U18s. Both have a very similar natural detailed upper mids, but Erl lower mids are fuller and warmer in comparison to U18s being relatively slimmer. U18s lower mids are not lacking any body, but in a relative comparison Erl lower mids are fuller, giving its sound a thicker vocals. With treble, Elk has more sparkle and airiness. Both have a well-controlled natural treble but the upper treble sparkle and air is more noticeable in Erl.
Source pair up.
In each source pair up I was using a stock Premium cable with balanced termination (I have another Premium cable with 2.5mm termination, used with 4.4mm adapter if necessary) to keep everything consistent. U18s is easy to drive considering its 106dB sensitivity which might need only a few extra volume clicks. Also, due to its LID tech, U18s low 8ohm impedance didn’t seem to cause any issues with different output impedance sources, even 10ohm original R6. Also, I didn’t hear any hissing. For your reference, here are my brief pair up notes. And by brief, I just focus on any changes related to signature and general tonality, without going into too many details of technical performance difference.
Lotoo LPGT (baseline) - balanced sound sig, deep enhanced bass impact, natural detailed mids, smooth detailed treble.
Hiby R6 (10ohm output impedance, original model) - a similar signature, with a little stronger bass impact.
iBasso DX160 - a similar signature, just a little more revealing mids.
A&K SP2000 SS - a similar signature with a little bit more sub-bass rumble and some extra treble sparkle.
L&P P6 Pro - a similar signature with more sub-bass rumble, smoother yet still detailed vocals, and similar treble.
iBasso DX300 - a similar signature with a touch more sub-bass rumble, the same natural tonality mids and treble with a little more sparkle and air.
Hiby R8 - a similar signature with an overall slight enhancement of sub-bass rumble, more revealing mids/vocals, and more sparkle in treble.
Galaxy S9 (smartphone) - a similar signature, but leaning a little more toward U-shaped since mids/vocals are slightly recessed, while bass has more impact and treble has a little more sparkle.
Maybe there are some slight variations going from dap to dap, but overall U18s signature remained the same, thanks to LID tech which does work. In comparison, it was a different story with U18t where I heard more variation in sound.
Conclusion.
I know, U18s is just one of 3 new 64 Audio releases announced early this year. And I’m well aware of the reaction U18s received on Head-fi when details leaked out ahead of the official release. People wanted something all new and totally different, and I have a feeling it is still to come! From the image of 3 new releases shared during their new product announcement, we already know about U18s, and many are speculating that one in the middle could be a wireless model (just a speculation). There was also a 3rd model will an open back grill, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed for the next big flagship announcement. But it doesn’t mean that U18s release has to be discounted.
A/U18s finally got a well-deserved proper introduction, catering to musicians who prefer mostly CIEMs and audiophiles who go for both CIEM and UEIM versions. Also, I personally think that U18s wears two hats under that “s” suffix. With MX module you can look at it as a studio IEM with more neutral bass and clear focus on mids and treble that should work great for studio mixing and monitoring. But switching to M20 module turns it up to “eleven” with a sound signature for stage musicians and audiophiles who crave natural detailed analog tonality and powerful bass slam without overwhelming ear fatigue. Now, add to that a cool new faceplate design with 64 Audio logo branded apex modules and the package is complete!
The product was provided to me free of charge for the review purpose in exchange for my honest opinion. The review was originally posted on my site, and now I would like to share it with my readers on Head-fi.
Manufacturer website: Cayin. Available for sale from Musicteck.
Intro.
Some of you are probably going to find it a bit surprising that I’m reviewing an amplifier. I had to take a walk down the memory lane, trying to remember the last time I tested portable amps, just to realize it was 6 years ago, and coincidentally one of them was Cayin C5. Back then DAPs were not as powerful, their internal amp sections were more basic, and battery life was subpar, thus using external amp was beneficial to boost output power and to extend battery life of your portable source. But you also had to compromise the portability of your setup.
Then, DAPs evolved, becoming more powerful and more advanced, with some of the manufacturers offering modular design solutions with interchangeable amp modules or more advance interchangeable DAC/amp cards like in N6ii. It all comes down to having more choices and being able to use your favorite source with different sound-shaping options. And speaking of more options, another example would be N3Pro and N8 from Cayin where you don’t even have to replace the module, just switch from Solid State to Tube.
So, what is next for Cayin after DAPs with Solid State and Tube timbre or DAC/amp cards with Class A/AB amp modes? The announcement of A02 module for N6ii with Line Out only output was a big clue. At first some were confused about release of LO only card without headphone output, just to realize later that A02 was a preamble to the upcoming C9 portable amplifier. I was skeptical at first, thinking why do I need external amp, regardless of its advanced design. But this skepticism turned into a bit of an obsession in the last few weeks. Here is more about it.
Unboxing and Accessories.
The unboxing experience of C9 reminded me of the premium IEM packaging. The giftbox quality packaging box had a magnetic top cover to reveal a non-removable foam insert with a secure cutout for C9 and another magnetic side door for a sliding tray with accessories. I know, some will say, what is a big deal. But I found it to be very convenient to access the accessories without digging through and removing layers inside of the storage box.
In addition to the main attraction, C9 with its battery module already mounted inside, other accessories include pure copper single ended (3.5mm to 3.5mm, CS-35C35) and balanced (4.4mm to 4.4mm, CS-44C44) interconnect short cables, usb type-c charging cable, a capsule with 4 spare screws for a battery module and T6 screwdriver. Plus, you will find a user manual and rear panel glass protector.
Design.
The overall dimensions of C9 are 160x80x28mm with a weight of 550g. It’s a rectangular box, borderline on being portable/transportable due to its weight and considering it has to be stacked with a source (if you go with a DAP). A big part of its weight and the size is due to internal battery module and 4x included Sony VTC6 18650 batteries (3000mAh, 3.7V). The battery module tray alone has a weight of 282g and extends 82mm in length. Thus, half of the length and the weight of C9 is due to its 4x rechargeable 18650 premium batteries inside of a module tray.
The back of C9 has usb type-c connector for charging of batteries, and it supports anything from a standard 5V/2A charger to a higher voltage fast PD or QC3.0 chargers which cut down the charging time by almost a half from 6hrs to 3hrs. Also, next to usb connector you have 4 battery status LEDs to indicate charging status and remaining battery capacity. The unit is fully charged when all 4 LEDs are solid and stop blinking. Both, usb connector and LEDs, are part of the removable charging battery tray which you can use standalone for charging. Of course, you can buy your own battery charger, but Cayin will be offering spare charging tray for sale soon which should make it very convenient to be able to charge another set of batteries outside of C9 and then just slide in and out a new tray.
The bottom of the C9 has a glass surface with a protective film that was already applied on my review unit. I would have loved to see included some stick-on rubber feet to make sure the amp doesn’t slide across the surface. The top of C9 was crafted with two glass oval shaped “eye” openings to reveal a pair of Korg NuTube directly heated triode vacuum tubes when in use. The right side doesn’t have anything, and the left side has a Pre-Amp activation button, used as a safety measure in addition to Line/Pre-Amp switch. You will have to press and hold this button for 3sec until the blue led indicator next to it lit up, letting you know that Pre-Amp input mode is activated.
The front of the C9 is where you will find all the ports and switches placed around the volume wheel in the middle. The volume wheel, which controls 4-channel ALPS potentiometer, is 15mm in diameter and rotates clockwise to raise the volume and counterclockwise to lower it. The knob of the wheel is flush with the front of the C9 to prevent accidental turning, and easily accessible from the top through a generous cutout to be able to turn its diamond-cut wheel knob. The rotation of the wheel has a fluid motion and a nice resistance, just enough so you don’t turn the wheel by accident, and still easy to operate with a thumb.
Looking closer at the front of C9, you will find at the top left corner Line (controls output with volume wheel) and Pre-Amp (output is set to fixed level and you control the input to C9 from the source) input mode switch, H/L gain switch (6dB boost), Solid Stage (quad set of Toshiba 25K209 JFETs) or Tube (Korg NuTube 6P1 vacuum tubes) timbre switch, and Class A and AB (dual amplification operation – DAO) mode switch. In the lower left corner, you have Input ports, 3.5mm SE and 4.4mm BAL, and in the right corner you have Output ports, 3.5mm SE and 4.4mm BAL with a design allowing you to mix SE to SE, BAL to BAL, SE to BAL, and BAL to SE. In the middle of the front under the volume wheel you will find a power button with a status LED that blinks for a few seconds when you turn C9 on when controller initializes the device, and also when you switch between Solid State and Tube timbre.
Under the hood.
You can already get a good idea of what to expect under the hood from the Design section of the review. Cayin been in business of audio electronics for almost 3 decades, especially with a focus on personal audio products in the last 7+ years. C9 amplifier looks like a combination of their best design elements combined together in one package. And speaking of the design in general, some already asked on Head-fi “why amplifier only?” and if “Cayin planning to release DAC/amp version of C9?” The response from Cayin was clear, due to DAC and sw/fw dependency, DAC/amps get outdated faster than a pure amplifier that can stay relevant for a much longer time and be used with many different sources. And here is what you will find under the hood of C9.
First of all, you have a dual Input mode where you either select Line Input with the incoming signal from the source being fixed and you vary the amplifier output using C9 volume wheel, a more traditional headphone amplifier operation. Or you switch to Pre-Amp Input where C9 functions as a power amp with a fixed max gain level and you adjust its output by varying the input from the source. Some DAPs offer LO with an adjustable output controlled by a volume wheel, thus a name of “Pre-Amp” since you are adjusting the amp volume in pre-amplifier input stage. And because Pre-Amp output will set C9 to max gain level, as a safety precaution in addition to a switch you also have to press and hold pre-amp activator button on the side of C9.
After the initial input stage, signal gets timbre treatment depending on a selection of either Solid State (2SK209 JFETs) or Vacuum Tube (Korg NuTube 6P1). Yes, C9 is Solid State/Tube amplifier, but that part of the circuit is responsible for “coloring” of the sound prior to the actual headphone amplifier section. And as I already mentioned, this sound “coloring” will be applied to either SE or BAL inputs and C9 has a clever design to process audio directly through single ended or balanced path, as well as being able to switch from BAL to SE and SE to BA, considering amplifier offers both of these inputs and outputs.
The amplifier gain control is done in two stages. Primary Gain control is between Low (0dB) and High (6dB boost) gain selectable from the front panel switch. Secondary Gain control uses 4-channel ALPs potentiometer (volume wheel) with a pair of MUSES Series low noise, low distortion resistance ladder electronic volume (MUSES72320). Especially when using sensitive IEMs while keeping the volume low, I never experienced L/R imbalance with C9 volume control.
And last, but not least, the fully discrete headphone amplifier section with a selectable (by a switch) Class A or Class AB dual amp operation (DAO) mode. Many are probably going to remember that Cayin featured Class A and Class AB in their E01 card for N6ii. With E02 there was not enough room to have fully balanced circuit and both A/AB, thus E02 only featured Class AB. Here, C9 will give you both Class A and Class AB.
So, how does C9 amplification translate into the actual output power? C9 is rated at 700mW (@ 32ohm) from 3.5mm SE and 2,600mW (@ 32ohm) from 4.4mm BAL output jack. Of course, depending on headphones, with higher impedance the rated output power will scale down accordingly since it is inversely proportional. Considering this is a portable battery-operated amplifier, the power output parameters are quite impressive. And speaking of battery, the rating it from 5.5hrs to 15hrs and will depend on a mode of operation. Vacuum Tubes consume more current and will drain battery faster in comparison to Solid State. And you should expect to drain more battery in power hungry Class A or when using Balanced connection.
Thus, you can expect to go from Balanced Tubes and Class A with 5.5hrs to Single Ended and Solid State Class AB with 15hrs of battery life. And don’t forget, we are talking about components that generate a lot of heat, especially combination of discrete Class A and Tubes that make C9 feel quite warm. That is a reason why Cayin paid close attention to component layout to improve the air flow, even attaching PBS (pyrolytic graphic sheets) to those parts generating more heat. But overall, my typical C9 use was Balanced, Tubes, and Class AB where I was getting a little over 9hrs of playback time.
I have talked about Korg NuTube 6P1 (a dual channel triode vacuum tube) back in my N8 review. Just as a recap, while NuTube operates exactly like a triode vacuum tube, the tech behind it is based on a vacuum fluorescent display technology, like LED. These NuTube modules require less power than a traditional vacuum tube, smaller in size, have a much higher reliability with 30,000 hours of continuous life expectancy, all that while still providing a sound characteristics of vacuum tube sound. And just like with a vacuum tube, there is a warm up period, thus when you switch to tubes there is a short “warm up” delay. And similar to N8, to eliminated microphonics associated with these tube modules, Cayin designed a custom-built shock-absorption silicone housing and a spring-loaded suspension system.
Sound Analysis.
I analyzed C9 sound with Oriolus Traillii and Audio-Technica ATH-R70x while playing a variety of my favorite test tracks, such as Agnes Obel “The curse”, Sandro Cavazza “So much better” (Avicii remix), C-Bool “Never go away”, Ed Sheeran “Shape of you”, Alan Walker “Darkside”, Galantis “Hunter”, Iggy Azalea “Black widow”, Indila “Boite en argent”, Dua Lipa “Love again”, Counting Crows “Big yellow taxi”, David Elias “Vision of her”, and Michael Jackson “Dirty Diana”. I let C9 burn in for about 150hrs before starting my sound analysis.
Similar to my DAP reviews, I prefer to describe amplifier sound based on comparisons and pair ups, but not in the same way as DAPs. People buy amplifiers to replace internal amp stage of their DAPs with an external one through Line Out connection. In the follow up sections I will bring up a lot of brief pair up examples with various IEMs and headphones, as well as different examples of DAP comparisons with and without C9.
This sound analysis section usually serves as a summary of my findings in the follow up sections. And across all my comparisons I found a common improvement of soundstage being more expanded, both in stereo separation and improved 3D imaging. Also, as expected, overall tonality changed with a more natural fuller body sound, thanks to vacuum tubes, though solid stage amp also adds some organic coloring, though not to the same extent as tubes. Furthermore, while some might expect sound coloring with vacuum tubes to make the sound thicker and more saturated, to my surprise I actually found improvements in micro-dynamics with layers of sounds being more separated and less compressed (improvement in vertical dynamics).
The flexibility of C9 design gives you many different sound shaping options, like going between Class A and Class AB and of course, Solid State and Vacuum Tubes (Korg NuTube). I’m already familiar with Class A vs AB from E01 card, and quite familiar with AB from E02 card. In C9, you can clearly hear the difference when switching between Class A and Class AB where AB sounds tighter and faster with notes having cleaner edges, while A is smoother, more relaxed, with notes having longer decay. It is up to a personal preference, and I preferred AB since I like a punchier sound.
When switching between SS and Tube, the difference in tonality reminded me of switching between Class AB and Class A. SS timbre gives you a faster and tighter sound, with shorter and faster attack of the notes, while Tube timbre gives you a smoother and more analog tonality, also slightly laidback and less aggressive. The sound with Tube timbre still packs the punch, especially when you use it in combination with Class AB. That is a beauty of C9, you have lots of different options to customize your sound.
I’m sure some will be wondering about 3.5mm vs 4.4mm comparison. Here, I found tonality to be the same under consideration of using either SS or Tube, or Class A or Class AB. But 2 noticeable differences were the soundstage width, with BAL output sounding wider and more expanded, and the other one with BAL output having a blacker background which is also quite noticeable, most likely due to grounding of 4.4mm BAL TRRRS jack.
Also, I saw a discussion on Head-fi about different rechargeable 1860 batteries. Cayin already includes premium Sony batteries, and for comparison I “borrowed” 18650 batteries from Broadway S, “rolling” between stock Sony VTC6 3000mAh and replacement Panasonic NCR 18650B 3400mAh. I did hear with Panasonic the sound to be a little smoother and more laidback, while with Sony the pace of the sound was faster and the sound was a little more revealing. Of course, there is a little delay when you have to slide out the tray and replace the battery, but it was relatively quick for a “non-blind” A/B comparison.
As I was writing this review, a few people asked me if Interconnect Cables (IC) make a difference. Cayin includes a rather nice pure copper short ICs, both 4.4mm and 3.5mm, so I wanted to test it with a few other ICs I have on hand.
IC comparison:
Cayin stock copper IC (CS-44C44), DHC silver IC (Clone 22awg OCC Silver Litz x4, coaxial cable with 2 conductors and rhodium Eidolic plug), Romi Audio encryption series Sensation IC (pure silver core with silver-plated copper shielding), and Eletech Iliad 6W IC (24awg, 6wire with a full TRRRS connection including GND, Monocrystal Silver & Palladium Plated Silver & Gold-Silver alloy). I know, it is just a short piece of wire, but nevertheless, there is some difference in sound that I hear, maybe not night’n’day, but I do hear it.
Cayin to DHC - DHC IC sounds a little dense and warmer, giving the sound a thicker tonality while Cayin original cable has a little more air between the sound layers, giving it a little brighter tonality.
Cayin to Romi Audio - the improvement is quite noticeable here, and I actually had to lower the volume a bit since it was louder, most likely due to lower impedance of Sensation IC. The soundstage is a little wider, the sound has more air and sparkle, bass is a little deeper, and it also felt like I’m hearing further improvements in vertical dynamics.
Cayin to Eletech Iliad 6W – the improvement is also noticeable with sound having more air and sparkle, bass deeper, but overall tonality was still natural and organic. One interesting observation which I confirmed multiple times is that in addition to improvement in width I also hear some improvement in depth. This is the only interconnect cable I have with a proper wiring that has both signal pairs and GND connected between the plugs.
Comparison.
I know for some the comparison to other amps using demanding headphones will be very important. Unfortunately, I don’t have too many demanding headphones, or too many portable amps for comparison. But I was using ATH-R70x (open back, 99dB sensitivity, 470ohm impedance, 3.5mm SE termination) which is my hardest to drive pair of cans. Also, I used N6ii w/E02 as my source while switching between C9 ($1,999), Romi Audio BX2 ($850), and XI Audio Broadway S ($1,599) amps. With C9 and BX2 I was using stock 4.4mm interconnect to N6ii, while with Broadway S which has RCA inputs, I was using Audioquest RCA to 3.5mm cable and DDHiFi single ended to 4.4mm adapter (the one which uses only L+/R+/GND side) to connect to E02.
All three, C9, BX2, and Broadway S were able to drive R70x without a problem with enough volume headroom. I had all three amps in low gain and approximated the volume % by looking at the volume knob. Under all these conditions and with ATH-R70x volume matched, BX2 was at about 20%, C9 was at about 50%, and Broadways S was at about 75% of volume setting. BX2 has too much power for IEMs and optimized better for demanding headphones, while Broadway S (Single ended) was optimized for IEMs. This puts C9 to be somewhere in the middle, optimized for both IEMs and headphones.
Using R70x and a few other IEMs, I found BX2 to be more transparent, clean, uncolored, and maybe even a little colder while C9 (SS timbre) and Broadway S were being warmer, richer and more analog in tonality and also having a fuller body sound. When I switched C9 to Tube, the sound became even more analog and smoother, pushing farther ahead of Broadway S. Of course, these types of sound changes will depend on your IEMs and headphones, their sound signature and power requirements, and their pair up synergy with these amps. For me personally, it was a clear choice. BX2 has too much power and Broadway S only one “coloring” option. C9 was versatile to use with either IEMs or headphones and it gave me different options of coloring the sound, using either SS or Tubes and Class A or Class AB.
Another thing to keep in mind. Something like Broadway S (I only have single ended version since it is more IEM friendly) is definitely not a portable amp, and also not in a category where you will carry it around. It will be transportable to move from one desk to another without interrupting the playback since you are not plugged into the wall. Romi Audio BX2 is a portable amp, though in comparison to C9 it is only solid state and Class A. And while BX2 is shorter than C9, it also 10mm wider and a little thicker which puts it in-between portable and transportable. For my own personal preference, the width of the stack up is one of the deciding factors between portable and transportable because it makes it easier to grip.
Pair up – IEMs/Headphones.
When I was testing and taking notes of C9 pair up with various IEMs and headphones, I received a few questions from my readers asking about benefits of using C9 w/tubes vs N8 w/tubes. Thus, I thought it will be an interesting pair up comparison. Here, I was using N6ii w/E02 + C9 (Low Gain, Tubes, Class AB) 4.4mm BAL vs N8 (Low Gain, P+, Tubes) 3.5mm SE, volume matched in every example.
Also, the reason why I thought N6ii w/E02 + C9 vs N8 will be good in this pair up comparison because due to a similar pricing some might find adding C9 to N6ii to be a more cost-efficient upgrade than going to N8. The DAC choice is important, but from my personal experience I find the amplifier section of the source to make it or break it!
IEMs.
Here are some of my favorite IEM pair ups with C9.
Oriolus Traillii - Both C9 and N8 have a wide soundstage expansion and holographic imaging with Traillii, but the width spreads more L/R with C9, depth/height the same but stereo separation is wider. C9 tonality is a little warmer, with a fuller body, but it doesn't affect the resolution or retrieval of details. Another thing, while both have excellent macro-dynamics of vertical expansion, I hear better micro-dynamics with C9 when analyzing layering and separation of the sounds. When switching SE of C9, the soundstage is narrower in comparison to BAL, but it is still wider than N8 SE.
EE Legend X - Interesting comparison here. As expected, the soundstage is wider with C9 vs N8, while imaging is similar. Also, I hear a smoother and warmer tonality of mids in pair up with C9. But it wasn't just the tonality, being more analog and fuller body, but also the quantity of mids that came up, making the sound more balanced in comparison to N8 pair up where mids/vocals are pushed a bit back with bass being more forward. With C9 the signature of LX is more W-shaped than L-shaped. Also, in LX pair up with C9 the bass had more analog texture.
64 Audio U18t - In addition to C9 soundstage being wider in comparison to N8, C9 also improves the U18t imaging, making it more 3D holographic, positioning sounds not just wider but also with more 3D depth. Both C9 and N8 pair up well with U18t, give the sound more bass texture and even extra bass quantity, and they both give the mids/vocals more body and help treble with more natural tonality. Actually, C9 was a little bit smoother in this pair up, but to my big surprise, U18t had more clarity and better resolution with C9 than N8, despite being smoother. N8 is also quieter when it comes to hissing, C9 has a little more hissing with U18t, but I personally preferred a pair up with C9 here.
VE Elysium - Ely really does come alive with C9. Both have a similar 3D imaging on a holographic level, but there is something interesting about the soundstage. C9 is definitely wider than N8, but I hear more width in vocals. But the most noticeable difference is in tonality, with C9 mids being warmer and having a fuller body, while still being very detailed and layered. Ely strength is in the reproduction of vocals, and C9 scales up its quality relative to N8, giving vocals more analog vacuum-tube flavor. Also, adding more texture to the bass, especially to sub-bass rumble.
Here are a few IEM surprises where I actually preferred N8 over C9, in most of the cases due to hissing. But if you use iFi iEMatch, hissing goes away, dead quiet!
DUNU Luna - I do hear a wider soundstage when comparing C9 to N8, and the soundstage was even wider when I switched to 3.5mm of C9. I actually preferred using 3.5mm of C9 because 4.4mm had a bit too much power for Luna and hissing level was higher. With 3.5mm of C9 the hissing is lower and when music is playing, it is not even noticeable. When it comes to tonality, C9 does add more body and makes Luna smoothers, but I wasn't 100% sure if I like that because it took away some speed, making sound more laidback. Between C9 and N8, I preferred more transparent and revealing pair up with N8.
VE Erlkonig – this is a more sensitive iem where I do hear some hissing with C9 and N8, a lot more with C9 (BAL). Both have a very similar wide soundstage expansion and close to holographic imaging; I was expecting to hear a bigger difference, but it wasn't too far off. The tonality of C9 is warmer, especially with fuller body and slightly more textured bass, while resolution and retrieval of details is the same. Unlike Traillii, here the vertical dynamic expansion of the sound is very similar as well. The main difference is in tonality with C9 being warmer. Switching to C9 SE only yielded a slightly narrower soundstage expansion, while tonality remained the same, and it was still hissing.
EE Odin - I had higher hopes for this pair up with C9, but it wasn't exactly the best match in comparison to N8. C9 soundstage is wider than N8, even when I tried both 4.4mm and 3.5mm C9 outputs. But I was expecting a warmer and smoother tonality with a fuller body when comparing C9 pair up to N8, but surprisingly found the opposite where N8 pair up was smoother. That was one of the reasons I switched Odin to 3.5mm output of C9, but it didn't help. And on top of that, Odin hissing with C9 was noticeably louder than with N8. I preferred Odin pair up directly from N8.
Campfire Audio Solaris – this one going to be short. If you have high sensitivity IEMs, there is no way around it even if you switch to low gain. The hissing is there and it is noticeable. Of course, you don’t need amplifier for high sensitivity IEMs, but if you are still considering it, I wouldn’t recommend it if you are into instrumental or classical music where a black background is a must. Otherwise, you will get all the benefits of expanded soundstage and more natural body in sound.
Headphones.
The full-size headphones pair up coverage is not as extensive, since I’m mostly use IEMs, but you can get some idea how it pairs up with demanding high impedance (ATH-R70x), planar magnetic (Empyrean), and classic Tesla dynamic driver (T5p 2nd gen) headphones.
Audio Technica ATH-R70x - These are my hardest to drive headphones (470ohm impedance, 99dB sensitivity) so I was looking forward to this comparison. Right away I noticed soundstage being wider with C9, not just subtle difference, but quite noticeable, especially for open back headphones. Next, N8 in low gain wasn't driving R70x properly, and I had to switch to high gain and still raise the volume to 56 while C9 remained at low gain, though volume was at around 50%. Comparing the tonality, you can clearly hear N8 being a little brighter and less colored, while C9 added warmth and body to the mids without affecting its technical performance. As a result, pair up with N8 was more transparent and a little faster, while with C9 R70x sounded fuller, warmer, and slightly more laid back.
Meze Audio Empyrean - The soundstage expansion and imaging have a lot of similarities between C9 and N8, just a little bit wider in C9, especially when focusing on mids/vocals. Tonality had a bigger gap until I changed N8 gain to high, otherwise bass was very soft and mids were lacking clarity in low gain. But even in high gain, N8 doesn't reach the same level of sub-bass rumble as C9 which pushed Empyrean to have a better low end extension, which is noticeable. Still, with either C9 or N8 the Empyrean sounds smoother and more laidback, and C9 has a lot more headroom to drive these planar magnetic headphones more efficiently while N8 has to be pushed harder.
Beyerdynamic T5p 2nd - The soundstage width in this comparison is quite noticeable, stretching T5p2 width more to the right/left, giving the sound more holographic soundstage and imaging. Tonality didn't change as much, both C9 and N8 paired up with T5p2 give you a natural smooth balanced sound with extra velvety bass texture, natural organic mids/vocals, and just enough tremble sparkle to maintain natural clarity and resolution, but I hear improved micro-dynamics and a little more clarity with C9 and wondering if this could be due to improvement in soundstage width and imaging which gives vocals more room to breathe. It's not a night'n'day difference, but I did enjoy T5p2 more with C9.
Pair Up - DAPs.
When I started to share my C9 impressions on Head-fi, quite a few people also pinged me with questions about what is the best source/DAP for pair up with C9. It’s not a simple question because C9 will be connected to LO of your source, so in theory you have to determine which DAC output you like better. Different DAPs will have different DACs, and it will be a matter of a personal preference with quite a few variables in that equation. So instead, I decided took at a number of my sources (N8 was borrowed) and to compare each one directly between headphones output vs connected to C9. For this test I was using Oriolus Traillii, volume matched in every pair up comparison. C9 was set to Low Gain (LG), used with Tubes timbre and Class AB amp. I know these are brief impressions, but it clearly shows how consistent the performance of C9 when it comes to enhancing the sound of every DAP I tried it with.
Let’s start first by looking at Cayin “family” since I’m sure many will be curious about their N8 tubes/solid state DAP comparison or N8 vs equally priced N6ii w/C9 stack up.
Cayin N8 (HG, P+, tube, SE) vs N8 + C9 - more holographic soundstage and imaging, in both width and depth, fuller body with more textured analog tonality, improved dynamics. One thing I was truly surprised here is the change in the tonality because in theory we are talking about going from a single NuTube to a dual NuTube, but the discrete Class A/AB amplification modes of C9 in combination with dual NuTube have a different effect on tonality when compared to N8. Plus, Cayin acknowledged that NuTube circuit in C9 was redesigned.
Cayin N8 (HG, P+, tube, SE) vs N6ii w/E02 + C9 - after going back and forth, I can confirm that to my ears N6ii w/E02 + C9 (tubes, Class AB) is an improvement over N8 (tubes, P+) where I hear a wider soundstage, improvement in micro-dynamics, and a more analog textured tonality. The sound of C9 with a fuller body and warmer mids creates a perception of a more analog textured sound without losing resolution or retrieval of details.
If streaming is important to you, here are a few pair up examples with Android DAPs, where R8 and DX300 are currently the fastest open Android performers and SP2000 SS can be side-loaded with popular streaming apps.
Hiby R8 (HG, BAL, Turbo) vs R8 (BAL LO) + C9 - soundstage width expansion was noticeable, not exactly night'n'day, but you can definitely hear the difference. Also, the tonality change was more subtle but the improvement in retrieval of details and layering and separations of the sounds was the first thing I noticed right away after switching to C9 connected to LO of R8. The sound was cleaner, tighter, more resolving, and with improved dynamics.
iBasso DX300 (HG, BAL) vs DX300 (BAL L0) + C9 - improvement in soundstage width is probably the first thing I noticed, and not just the soundstage but 3D imaging. Tonality change was there, not very drastic, but C9 does add more analog texture to the sound and a little more body. The biggest improvement was in dynamics which improved the layering of the sounds, literally felt like more air between the layers of the sound.
A&K SP2000 SS (BAL) vs SP2k (BAL LO) + C9 - while comparing direct HO output of SP2k vs paired up with C9, I hear the improvement in soundstage width, quite noticeable, and also tonality got more analog with a tube flavor when using C9 with NuTube output. SP2k by itself has a very clean precise sound, C9 adds a nice analog texture touch to it.
If you don’t care about running apps directly from your DAP and OK with Bluetooth/LDAC pair up to your smartphone, P6 Pro, LPGT, and WM1Z are some of the non-Android top choices which can also benefit from C9 stack up.
L&P P6 Pro (HG, BAL) vs P6 Pro (BAL LO) + C9 - in this comparison the change was more subtle. I do hear the improvement in soundstage width when paired up with C9, it is noticeable but not necessary night'n'day change. Also, with C9 one improvement I did notice was bass texture, impact, and articulation improvement. Connected directly to P6 Pro Traillii bass was a little softer while gaining more authority with C9.
Lotoo LPGT (HG, BAL) vs LPGT (BAL LO) + C9 - the improvement here was noticeable. Soundstage width expansion was definitely expected, with C9 the sound is more holographic. The tonality change was more subtle, but the technical performance improved with a noticeably better retrieval of details, improvement in layering and separation of the sounds, and also improved dynamics.
Sony WM1Z (HG, BAL, direct sound) vs WM1Z (BAL HO) + C9 - since WM1Z doesn't have analog LO, I had to use BAL headphone output, so we are talking about double amping here. Adding C9 to BAL HO did widen the soundstage and of course boosted the output power, but also improved the bass impact, giving it more authority with a little mid-bass boost, and adding more analog texture to the mids/vocals. I had all the effects off when comparing to direct WM1Z connection, and the effect of adding C9 reminded me of Vinyl Processor "standard" preset, just a little bit clear and more resolving. But the biggest surprise here came when I switched to Pre-amp, letting WM1Z volume control the output. I heard a similar improvement in soundstage and bass, but in additional to a more analog texture, the sound was also more resolving, cleaner, tighter, and with improved retrieval of details. In general, WM1Z and 1A are underpowered DAPs thus adding amp is no brainer. But I also found C9 to benefit 1Z more than some other DAPs, especially using Pre-Amp input.
Conclusion.
I have a little confession to make: when I received C9 amp, at first, I wasn’t sure how to approach this review. As many are aware, I have a lot more experience with DAPs and IEMs, don’t have desktop or portable tube amps, and don’t use power hungry high impedance low sensitivity headphones. Yet, in the last few weeks while listening to music when working from home at my desk, I found C9 to be so addictive that I couldn’t stop swapping different DAPs to see how C9 enhances their performance with my favorite IEMs.
And then it dawned on me. While not exactly the same as cable rolling, it was a very similar experience of trying to improve the synergy between various DAPs and IEMs, except the variable here was the source. And instead of a subtle refinement, I was able to hear a more noticeable improvement with an expanded soundstage that pushed the sound to a more pronounced stereo separation and 3D imaging, a more natural fuller body detailed tonality colored by vacuum tubes, and improved micro-dynamics.
If you think about it, the two main audio building blocks of any DAP is the DAC and the amplifier section, and manufacturers have to deal with a limited board space which puts a constraint on the design of amp section. That is one of the reasons why audiophiles look into external amps to enhance their source. C9 offers many different options for such enhancement, from a solid state to a vacuum tube, Class A or Class AB, single ended or balanced, serious output power, and even replaceable batteries. With a price tag of $2k C9 does cost more, but also offers a lot more than any other portable amp. And while DAPs come and go, C9 should last you a while to enhance any source you pair it up with.
Marat Sar
Jesus hell twister... is that an Iliad interconnect? INSANITY!
searchingtom
Great review. I will purchase a used one down the road for sure.
The product was provided to me free of charge for the review purpose in exchange for my honest opinion. The review was originally posted on my site, and now I would like to share it with my readers on Head-fi.
Manufacturer website: iBasso. Available for sale directly or other retailers like Audio46.
Intro.
Back in pre-pandemic days when we had CanJams and other audio shows, new releases were spaced out to make sure every product gets plenty of attention. Today, I have no idea how manufacturers are managing this, definitely not an easy task. And as a result, some new releases end up flying under the radar, like what I think has happened with iBasso flagship 7-driver hybrid IT07 IEMs. They enjoyed some spotlight right after the initial announcement, but then everyone’s attention shifted to the upcoming DX300 flagship DAP. And now with DX300 already in hands of consumers, everybody is focused on the next new iBasso release.
Actually, I’m still getting used to saying “iBasso IEMs” since I associate this manufacturer with DAPs. But it doesn’t take away from the fact that they already released a number of popular and affordable IEMs. Then, IT04 flagship from a few years ago surprised everyone with a more mature audiophile tuning. The new IT07 takes it to yet another level. When I received IT07 last month and started listening to them, I was already thinking ahead about the review and had a few other IEMs in mind for comparison, though all in a higher price bracket. Now, the review is done and I’m ready to share with you about iBasso IT07 latest flagship hybrid IEM.
Unboxing and Accessories.
I do appreciate how iBasso pays close attention to packaging, making higher end models stand out from their other mid-fi and entry level products. Here, while the outer packaging is just a plain all black cardboard box with iBasso Audio glossy print, inside you are treated to a more luxurious jewelry like box with a vinyl exterior and suede inner lining. From the moment you lift the cover up, you know right away this is a flagship level product. It has a nice presentation that sets a premium tone from the get-go. In general, these fancy boxes are not as practical since people keep IEMs in a small carry case, but nevertheless, it is a premium unboxing experience and that is what matters.
Similar to IT04, inside you will find all metal aluminum puck storage container with laser etched iBasso Audio on the cover and a soft velour insert under the cover to showcase these IEMs without a cable like a jewelry on the display. Again, another example of a premium presentation, but I'm sure many will remove the insert to place IT07 inside with a cable attached, and probably will switch to their favorite pocket friendly slim case when on the go.
Furthermore, inside of accessories box you will find a cable and the adapter, and a ton of included eartips. Everything from M/L pairs of foam tips, to 4 sets (S/M/L each) of silicone eartips varying in shape, material type, cap springiness, and bore opening. I will go over the difference in Eartips Rolling section of my review after sound analysis. You also get a warranty card, a quick start booklet with lots of useful info, and a set of interchangeable screen filters.
A pair of silver ones already come by default with IT07, and in addition to that you get a stainless-steel plate with 3 sets (silver, black, gold) sets of screen filters which you unscrew from the plate. I will go over these in more details later as well, but that stainless-steel plate with filters setting is like a cherry on top of the unboxing experience.
Cable.
Besides IEMs and DAPs, iBasso product line also has cables and adapters which they include with their IEMs or sell as separate accessories. In the past they only featured pure copper, silver plated copper, or combined hybrids, all with mmcx connectors as standard in iBasso IEMs. And with every new cable the quality of wires and the cable hardware went up, along with a default 2.5mm balanced termination and matching cable pigtail single ended 3.5mm adapter.
IT07 is no exception. Here, iBasso included their own custom premium cable, but this one features a brand-new high purity silver litz wires. The wires are thin, lightweight, flexible, and a little springy when wrapped. You will find 4 loosely braided conductors which get twisted above the split and feature pre-shaped heat-shrink earhook toward the connector. The 2.5mm gold plated plug is inside of a slim metal housing with a stainless-steel type of finish and a short strain relief, and a matching finish y-split, chin slider, and mmcx connectors with L/R marking and Blue/Red color coding. Pigtail has 2.5mm female plug and 3.5mm made plug, all with matching finish housing and the same 4 braided wires.
The mmcx connectors are standard universal and make a tight and secure connection with shell connectors. When attached, they don’t turn around easily, almost making it feel like a 2pin connection, and I don’t see any gap at the joint. Also, despite a metal connector housing which is usually slippery, here I was able to get a good grip and was able to disconnect the cable without a problem. I didn’t sense any major microphonic effect, maybe just a little bit, and in general the cable was very comfortable to wear.
If would have been nice to include 4.4mm adapter as well, but if you don’t have one already, something like iBasso CA04 pigtail adapter (high purity mono crystal copper with silver plated shield) with right angle 4.4mm plug should work great. One other optional accessory really caught my attention, their new CB16 cable with high purity silver copper alloy wires.
This optional CB16 cable is already terminated with the right-angle low profile 4.4mm plug, has a very soft 4 wires in a cool purple jacket, uses a matching finish y-split, retractable chin slider, and matching connector housing with Red/Blue color coding, and no memory wire or pre-shaped earhook so you can also wear it wire down with other supporting IEMs. And to my big surprise it comes in a nice wooden box. For those who are interested, here is a more detailed comparison of stock silver and optional CB16 spc cables.
IT07 stock silver vs CB16 spc cable.
Based on what I'm hearing, stock silver cable has a little wider and airier soundstage expansion in comparison to CB16 spc cable. I hear the sound with CB16 being a little smoother and slightly more relaxed, while with stock silver cable the sound is tighter, faster, and more revealing, especially more micro-detailed in mids. Not a huge difference, but I can hear it and was able to pick one cable vs the other in a blind test. Regarding aesthetics, I do like CB16 cable better because of its unique purple color, softer wires (vs stock cable being a little stiffer and springy in comparison), and low-profile L-shape 4.4mm plug. But the stock pure silver cable gives IT07 higher resolution and crisper details, especially when it comes to mids and vocals. One cable is not better than the other, but rather a matter of personal pair up preference.
Design.
Being quite familiar with 4 driver hybrid design of IT04, I was expecting 7-driver hybrid version of IT07 to be bigger, but instead it turned out to be just a little taller and more compact. IT07 uses 7 drivers partitioned into 4 groups according to crossover split with 10mm high magnetic flux dynamic driver for bass and 6 Knowles BA drivers covering mids (Knowles 30989), upper mids and highs (Knowles 31785) and ultra-highs (Knowles 30017).
iBasso also paid close attention to IT07 4-way crossover design, using audio-grade high tolerance thin film capacitors and metal film resistors instead of ceramic capacitors. Inside, drivers are arranged based on iBasso patented acoustic structure, referred to as “root tube structure”, including a nozzle that uses coaxial structure to optimize the dynamic driver performance.
Also, while iBasso continues with their custom universal shell design, in every new release they apply more tweaks to improve the ergonomics for a better concha fit. I never had issues with any of their previous acrylic shells, but IT07 feels even smoother with a new polished glossy swirling-blue finish. And again, though IT07 is a universal IEM, it looks and feels like a Custom IEM, very comfortable to wear, though they do stick out a bit from my ears. Both shells still feature the InTune logo, a name behind ITxy letters.
On the inner side of the shell pointing down you will find a pinhole vent and also another pinhole vent toward the nozzle, assuming both are for DD. The actual nozzle is all metal and features interchangeable threaded mesh guard screen similar to IT01s and AM05. This screen also designed to be a filter that changes the sound characteristics. iBasso provides 3 pairs of these screens: Silver, Black and Gold. If you look under the light, the mesh has a different opening density which is easy to see and which affect the sound, covered in the next section.
The fit.
Sound Analysis.
I analyzed IT07 paired up with MAX and LPGT while playing a variety of test tracks, such as Agnes Obel “The curse”, Sandro Cavazza “So much better” (Avicii remix), C-Bool “Never go away”, Ed Sheeran “Shape of you”, Alan Walker “Darkside”, Galantis “Hunter”, Iggy Azalea “Black widow”, Indila “Boite en argent”, Dua Lipa “Love again”, Counting Crows “Big yellow taxi”, David Elias “Vision of her”, and Michael Jackson “Dirty Diana”. Due to a hybrid design, a more critical sound analysis started after about 100 hours of standalone continuous playback, and I used stock silver cable and stock whirlwind eartips along with silver filter.
As it was already mentioned, IT07 comes with 3 sets of replaceable mesh guard screens like in other iBasso IEMs. From a default Silver (the most open mesh) to Black (medium opening) the change is more subtle where I hear a bit narrower soundstage with a deeper sub-bass and vocals being a bit denser and slightly pushed back. Going to Gold (least open mesh) from Silver was more noticeable with sub-bass going up and getting thicker and mids/vocals going down and being less focused. Basically, going from Silver to Gold the signature changed from more W-shaped to more L-shaped. For my sound analysis, and personal preference, I was using Silver filter.
Upon closer listening, I hear a very wide soundstage with a natural depth/height. Not exactly holographic, but naturally expanded with a decent imaging and separation of sounds in space. Tonality is rather natural, yet still quite detailed with a relatively accurate timbre of instruments and vocals. The signature is balanced and distinctly W-shaped due to a good extension and impact of low end, detailed natural tonality of mids, and clear, natural, extended treble with just enough crunch to give the sound a good definition. The retrieval of details is pretty good, not exactly on analytical level, but I hear a very good level of clarity.
Regarding the coherency of this hybrid 7 driver IEM, I was going back and forth with my assessment. The W-shaped sound sig of IT07 has a distinct focus on lows, mids, and treble, especially lows/bass. They all work together very nicely, but they don't necessary blend in together in a unison of a single driver like you would hear it in IT04. I think this is due to the bass standing out on its own in IT07 tuning. Often in hybrids you have a cut in lower mids for a better separation between DD lows and BA mids, but not in IT07. Here, the bass impact is elevated but without overpowering the mix. And the same with treble, it blends in naturally, yet you can still shift your focus to its organic sparkle which stands out on its own. Thus, while I'm not saying IT07 has a coherent unison tuning that blends all drivers together in one, I would rather call it a W-shaped tuning that creates a coherent balance between lows, mids, and highs.
Looking further into sound details, low end really stands out in this tuning. This is not a basshead IEM and the bass is not overwhelming or overpowering, but it is one of the first things I noticed, especially after listening to IT04 prior to switching to IT07. Bass extends and goes down pretty low, down to sub-bass rumble that tickles your ears. And it is not just the extension but also the lift in sub-bass, not overwhelming but something you can clearly hear and feel. For a dynamic driver, the punch of mid-bass is articulate and slightly rounded with an average attack and decay that gives it a better control. You can clearly hear the authority and the speed of DD driver, and will not mistake it for BA.
Mids are natural, detailed, and with plenty of clarity. Lower mids are not too thick or too thin, definitely have a fuller body but it is average thickness, just enough to give the sound its organic tonality. Upper mids are natural and detailed with a focus around 2kHz and 4kHz peaks that give the sound its clarity and definition. All the sounds are well separated and layered, and as expected for this type of natural tuning there is not too much air between the layers. Treble is well extended, non-harsh at all. There is a moderate amount of crunch but it is well controlled and quite natural.
Eartips selection.
The selection of eartips is crucial with any universal in-ear monitor and will affect the sound, especially the bass impact depending on the seal and the soundstage depending on insertion depth. Due to a large opening of my earcanals, I usually go for the largest size eartips to get a better seal. Please, keep in mind, these impressions are subjective and relative to my ear anatomy which affects how I hear the sound.
Stock foam tips – even though I was use large size pair of these eartips, I think the seal wasn't as tight, thus bass was less elevated and mids were more forward, including a little more air in treble. It actually works out as a good alternative to those who prefer less bass.
Stock narrow bore silicone tips - these give IT07 a perfect W-shaped sig with emphasis on deeper lows, a little more forward natural details mids, and airy, crunchy, extended yet still natural treble.
Stock wide bore silicone tips - these eartips bring out more bass and make mids/vocals and treble sound smoother.
Stock turbo whirlwind wide bore silicone tips - similar to wide bore stock silicone tips, but with more details in mids/vocals and treble.
Type-E eartips – these change the tuning to a more extreme V-shaped, especially with more piercing treble. Didn't like this pair up at all.
Symbio F eartips - excellent balanced W-shaped sound sig where in addition to deep and powerful bass impact and clear and detailed mids, treble also has a little more sparkle and air without being harsh. As a result of treble improvement, the sound has a little more resolution and even better layering.
AZLA Xelastec eartips - these eartips help with additional sub-bass rumble, going even deeper than any other eartips. Sound sig is still W-shaped and balanced, with a powerful bass impact, natural mids/vocals, and well controlled natural detailed treble.
I liked stock Whirlwinds, Symbio F, and Xelastec tips in pair up with IT07.
Comparison.
The comparison was done using IT07 with a stock cable, MAX and LPGT sources, CA04 balanced adapter, and also volume matched in every comparison.
IT07 vs IT04 - quite a noticeable step up going from 04 to 07. Starting with soundstage, the depth and height are similar, but width spreads a little more to the L/R in 07. The presentation of the sound is more laidback, neutral, natural in 04, and more forward, W-shaped, and more energetic in 07. The improvement in bass performance is probably the first thing you will notice. 04 bass is more neutral, more relaxed, not as tight or articulate, while 07 scales up in both quantity and quality. From a deeper and more elevated sub-bass rumble to a tighter, punchier, and faster mid-bass the overall bass performance is a lot more articulate, better layered, and with more control. The tonality of mids and treble are not too far off, but 04 mids/vocals are pushed slightly back while 07 is more forward, and 07 treble also has a little more sparkle and air. Technical performance is what sets mids more apart in these two, 07 mids have better resolution, layering, and improved separation of sounds. Treble in 07 has a little more sparkle which improves the resolution and the layering. Overall, 04 sounds more laidback, mellow, slower, and more coherent, while 07 is faster, tighter, and more fun, especially thanks to its enhanced bass performance.
iBasso did a big step up going from IT04 to IT07, doubling the amount of genuine Knowles drivers (those are not cheap), implementing new bass driver, adding pure silver cable, introducing optional screen filters, having a serious improvement in bass performance, and while mids/treble are not too off, their technical performance (resolution, retrieval of details, etc.) scaled up as well.
IT07 vs Campfire Audio Solaris '20 - maybe not exactly an upgrade, but definitely a very interesting side-grade based on this comparison. Both have a very similar soundstage expansion. The sound sig of these hybrids is also quite similar, being W-shaped, though Solaris is a little more balanced. While they have similar sub-bass rumble, the mid-bass impact is lower in Solaris and a little more elevated in 07, giving its bass a faster punch. Mids/vocals between these two IEMs have a very similar tonality and presentation, maybe with Solaris being just slightly more forward. The biggest difference here is in treble where 07 is more natural and with a better control while Solaris upper mids/lower treble are brighter and splashier in a relative comparison. I already mentioned that going between these two is more like a side-grade that will depend on a personal sound preference. If you want more punch in your mid-bass and more natural and still well-defined treble, IT07 will be the one for the job. But if you want more relaxed bass and more treble energy and air, Solaris '20 will fit the bill.
IT07 vs Meze Audio RAI Penta - another interesting hybrid comparison. Here, the first thing that stood out to my ears was how much wider 07 soundstage sounds in comparison to average width Penta; it becomes quite apparent when you go back'n'forth between these two IEMs. Bass of Penta is closer to 07, sub-bass rumble extension is as deep but mid-bass punch of Penta is slight less in quantity and not as tight or articulate like a faster punch of 07 mid-bass. 07 mids/vocals are more forward, more revealing and have better layering, while Penta's mids are more distant, being out of your head, and a little smoother in comparison. Treble has a similar tonality and quality, but for some reason I felt it was a little distant just like Penta's vocals. Overall, RAI Penta has a different presentation of the sound, being more distant, more out of your head, and with a little narrower soundstage, while 07 brings the sound closer and more forward, expands soundstage and improves the imaging.
IT07 vs 64 Audio Trio - this was another comparison which I found to be interesting. Soundstage expansion between these two was quite similar. Now, starting with bass, finally we have a matching quantity and quality, though to my ears 07 mids-bass is a little tighter and faster. Presentation of mids is a little different, with 07 bringing it more forward, giving the sound W-shaped sound sig while being pushed a little back in Trio which gives its sound a more V-shaped sig. I also noticed 07 lower mids having more body which gave vocals a little fuller tonality while Trio vocals are a little thinner. Treble is where I hear the biggest difference since Trio is brighter, crisper, and even a bit splashier in comparison to a more natural and smoother 07 treble. Both of these IEMs do sound like hybrids, these are not super coherent IEMs where all the drivers blend in. But their signature will differ and those who find Trio treble energy to be a bit overwhelming for their taste will appreciate a more natural yet still detailed treble of 07.
IT07 vs 64 Audio Nio (w/N0 module) - didn't expect these two being not too far off. Soundstage expansion here is very close, I would be splitting hair looking for a difference in width, depth, and height. Of course, if you are using other apex/atom modules you can get bass more elevated, but with N0 which is my preferred module here it’s very close in sub-bass rumble quality and quantity and also matching mid-bass quantity, maybe with IT07 having just a touch faster punch. I hear a bigger difference in mids/vocals where 07 is more revealing and layered while Nio has fuller body and smoother tonality. The same with treble, IT07 having just a little more sparkle in comparison to a smoother Nio treble. Fuller body mids vs more revealing brighter mids is the biggest difference here, while everything else is pretty close when comparing IT07 to Nio w/N0.
Pair up.
In each of these pair ups I was using IT07 w/stock cable and whirlwind eartips. With impedance of 16ohms and sensitivity of 108dB, IT07 is very easy to drive. Also, haven’t noticed any hissing. Another thing I would like to mention, my pair up analysis doesn’t go into a deep sound analysis, that’s what sound analysis and comparison sections are for. Here, I take quick notes for you to see if any of the sources affect the overall sound signature and what changes you can expect due to source variation in power, output impedance, or selection of DAC.
LPGT - wide soundstage, natural detailed tonality, W-shaped signature, deep bass impact, natural vocals tonality, clear detailed non-harsh treble. This is usually my baseline sound analysis.
DX220 MAX - very similar sound to LPGT, but with a little stronger mid-bass impact and more air and crunch in treble. Also, relative to LPGT, I hear a blacker background with MAX.
DX160 - very wide and even more holographic soundstage, but the sound presentation is a little different, with the overall sound being more revealing, a little brighter, faster, and mids/vocals being more forward which takes away a little bit from bass impact and also gives treble more crunch.
DX300 - here the sound is somewhere in between DX160 and MAX. Soundstage is still very wide. Overall sound sig is W-shaped, balanced, with bass impact being similar to MAX and LPGT, but mids being a little more revealing, closer to DX160, and treble having more crunch and air which is more typical of DX160 pair up.
Hiby R8 - wide soundstage, natural detailed tonality, W-shaped sig, deep bass impact, maybe even a little more sub-bass rumble, natural vocals tonality with more organic texture, and a little more crunch in treble. This is a smoother pair up example.
FiiO M11 Pro - wide soundstage, natural detailed tonality, W-shaped sig, deep bass impact, detailed mids with natural vocals tonality, clear detailed non-harsh treble.
Shanling M6 - very wide soundstage, natural detailed smoother tonality, W-shaped sig, slightly elevated bass with more sub-bass and mid-bass impact, natural organic mids, and clear detailed non-harsh treble.
A&K SR25 - wide soundstage expansion, natural detailed tonality, W-shaped sig leaning a little more toward V-shaped since mids are slightly pulled back. Bass is deep and punchy, mids are natural, smooth, detailed, treble is clear detailed non-harsh.
Cayin N3 Pro tube output - wide soundstage expansion, natural detailed smoother tonality, W-shaped signature, deep bass impact, natural organic mids and vocals, and clear detailed treble with a little more airiness.
Samsung Galaxy S9 - to my pleasant surprise this was a good pair up, wide soundstage, natural detailed fuller body tonality, still W-shaped signature, deep punchy bass, fuller body natural mids and vocals, and clear detailed non-harsh treble. Overall sound was a little more laidback and a touch less resolving, but still very enjoyable.
DC03 + Galaxy S9 – in this pair up with a volume limiting UAC app (from iBasso), the sound quality scales up to DX160 level with a more articulate faster bass, more revealing detailed mids and vocals, and crisp and airy treble. It was nearly on the same level as listening to DX160, a big step up in tonality, soundstage, and technical performance when compared to being connected directly to my phone.
Conclusion.
iBasso is not the first DAP manufacturer who added IEMs to their product portfolio. But based on what I have heard in the last 4 years from their debut IT03 and follow up releases, iBasso did come a long way. IT03 and IT01x were focused on a more “fun” tuning, IT04 pushed it toward a balanced audiophile tuning, AM05 took a side step to appeal to audiophiles with more focus on vocals. IT07 demonstrated a very mature W-shaped balanced audiophile tuning that can compete head-to-head with other more expensive IEMs from manufacturers who only focus on designing earphones and headphones.
Personally, I find it impressive for a company who is well known for their audio players to pay as much attention to IEMs design and tuning as they do to their flagship DAPs. I did enjoy IT07 natural and rich tonality with a good retrieval of details and a spacious wide soundstage sound. The balanced W-shaped tuning of these IEMs does stand out with a powerful, deep, yet well controlled bass impact complemented by a detailed natural tonality of mids and a clear natural sparkle of treble. Especially for those who felt IT04 were lacking in bass, they will really enjoy IT07 tuning.
1clearhead
How much better can a review get?...Nice!!!
PS. Beautiful photos!
Cheers!
PS. Beautiful photos!
Cheers!
samandhi
This is a fantastic review! I love that you are very thorough and detailed about every subject you write about. If you add in all the research that you had to do on some statistics (which I can say is very accurate), you have one full and cohesive (and enjoyable) read. As always your reviews are spot-on. Great job!
TheHelper1964
Thank you for a great review and pictures. Made me pull the trigger and get a pair, so glad I did as they are fantastic.
The product was provided to me on loan from MusicTeck for the review purpose in exchange for my honest opinion.
Manufacturer website: Oriolus Japan. Available for sale from MusicTeck.
Preamble.
The only time I use preamble in my reviews is when I talk about cables because I find that discussion to be a rather controversial topic which needs some additional explanation before the Intro. So why would I start IEM review with a preamble? Because I need to address the elephant in the room, the price tag of Oriolus Traillii which is $6k. When I heard how much it cost, a thought ran through my mind that we crossed yet another price threshold and now entering a new chapter of premium IEMs. But is this really a new chapter?
Every time I review flagship IEMs, I get asked about different premium cable pair ups. And some of my readers are well aware of Nic’s thread on Head-fi where I see a lot of discussions from head-fiers who use their kilobuck IEMs with high end cables. The price of Traillii is not for everybody, but there is a number of audiophiles who already own $5k-$6k IEM/cable combos because they want to squeeze out every ounce of performance, don’t mind diminishing returns, and still find it cheaper than 2 channel home systems where a power cable alone can cost as much.
So, let’s put down pitchforks and torches, and if you are still curious about this new IEM release from Oriolus with a premium PWA cable, proceed further to read my review of Oriolus Traillii latest hybrid flagship.
Intro.
Actually, this review feels a bit like a déjà vu from 2018 when I visited Oriolus/Hyla table at CanJam NYC and heard Oriolus Mellianus for the first time. I couldn’t get its tuning out of my head and just had to review it. Now, 3 years later, I continue to use and to feature Mellianus in a number of my reviews as part of comparison and cable pair ups. Fast forward to 2020, and I saw the announcement from MusicTeck about a new Oriolus Traillii flagship which of course caught my attention even before I read the price.
My original plan was just to hear them without a commitment to review, and I was happy for the opportunity to spend a few days with Traillii. While I’m trying not to use the word “spoiled”, I do feel a bit jaded after having a chance to hear and to review so many different flagship IEMs, to the point where it is hard to get excited about another one. And as usual, I didn’t know what to expect, but after putting these in my ears, I immediately asked MusicTeck if I can hold on to them for a few extra days so I can write full review.
Another interesting thing was Traillii being released under Oriolus and not Hyla name. For those who are not familiar, Oriolus was formed in 2015 under the umbrella of Cyras Co. in Japan, and had a number of successful IEMs, DAP, DAC, and Amp releases. In 2017, Cyras added a more upscale line of IEMs under Hyla name, though this latest premium flagship release ended up under Oriolus name. But regardless of the name, what really counts here is how this little bird sings, so let’s proceed to find out more.
Unboxing and Accessories.
Arrived in a smaller size plain carboard box, inside you will find a custom VanNuys storage carry case which is pretty much the whole packaging of the product. VanNuys (Japan) are well known in audiophile world and usually hard to find outside of Japan. This ballistic nylon multifunctional case with Oriolus name on the cover has a padded poly mesh inner lining and adjustable velcro partition to make a separate pocket for storage of other accessories like eartips. Plus, it comes with a twin-tube double sleeve (in red) to separate earpieces so you can keep them apart and secure during transportation. Though I do like VanNuys storage case, it is not exactly pocket friendly.
Other included accessories are a set of S/M/L regular wide bore silicone eartips, a set of M size double-flange eartips, and a set of S/M foam eartips. You will also find a cleaning tool, and a removable cable shirt clip, though the spring-loaded mechanism to attach to the cable won’t work with the included thick PWA cable. I assume this cable clip is a standard stock accessory for use with thinner cables.
Overall, the packaging and accessories are practical, but at this price the unboxing lacks a wow-factor.
Cable.
The stock cable is a customized version of a popular PWA (Peter Wong Audio) 1960 4-wire (8conductors) cable which retails for over $2.2k by itself. As I mentioned in my EE Odin review where they also used PWA 1960, these cables are quite popular and in demand even considering their premium price.
The cable uses 26AWG gauge wires and FEP jacket for a positive signal (as part of the core) and 24AWG gauge thicker wires and PVC jacket for a negative signal (as part of the shielding). The wires are insulated and combined under a tightly braided black carbon fiber sleeving which has a nice touch and still feels very flexible. Don’t expect a see-through jacket which showcases the wire. This cable is not about pretty looks but performance and isolation, using UPOCC Litz Copper premium wires presumably sourced from Cardas.
Since positive and negative signal wires are combined under the same sleeve inside of a coax cable design, you can only see two Left and two Right wires, thus a name of 4-wire cable, but you have a total of 8 separate conductors, 4 on each side. The cable comes with a brand name genuine Pentaconn 4.4mm plug, carbon fiber black y-split, and PWA signature wooden round chin slider designed to minimize microphonics effect. Toward the connectors you have a flexible clear heat-shrink earhook going into PWA 2pin connectors with red/black ring marking and red/black short strain relief to indicate Right/Left sides.
Design.
Before I go into the design details, I want to point something out. Often, people make assumptions that a flagship IEM should have a fancy look. If you Google “Traillii” you will see that it is a type of a small flycatcher bird that looks rather plain from outside, until it starts to sing. As Wikipedia says “… their song is the only reliable method to tell them apart in the field” from other similar birds. That pretty much describes how I felt about Traillii when I put these small shells in my ears and let them sing! Don’t know if this is what Oriolus guys had in mind, but it sure does make sense to me. While Traillii doesn’t look as flashy, once you hit Play you will hear a BIG sound.
The IEM itself has a 12driver design with a 3-way crossover that partitions drivers into 2BAs for lows, 6BAs for mids, and 4ESTs for highs. And despite 8BAs and quad ESTs along with voltage transformers, everything is squeezed inside of a very compact clear shell with a unique brownish/reddish faceplate finish covered in hairlines of fiber strands. Oriolus also offers a selection of 36 alternative custom faceplates, but they do have a warning it will delay availability of Traillii if you decide to customize it.
What is interesting, despite packing a more advanced hybrid design config inside, Traillii shells are nearly the same, and maybe even a touch smaller than all-BA Mellianus. The body of the shell is made using Photopolymer material, and as I already mentioned, the shell design is very compact with a transparent body and standard universal faceplate selection which can be customized. The nozzle is a bit thick and shorter, has a secure lip at the top, and has one large bore opening and 3 smaller ones. Also, 2pin socket is recessed, just like in Mellianus.
The fit was very comfortable and secure with stock eartips, and with shells being so lightweight I didn’t even feel them in my ears. I do know that some people prefer CIEMs, but I’m not aware if one is available for Traillii.
The fit.
Sound Analysis.
I analyzed Traillii paired up with LPGT while playing a variety of test tracks, such as Agnes Obel “The curse”, Sandro Cavazza “So much better” (Avicii remix), C-Bool “Never go away”, Ed Sheeran “Shape of you”, Alan Walker “Darkside”, Galantis “Hunter”, Iggy Azalea “Black widow”, Indila “Boite en argent”, Dua Lipa “Love again”, Counting Crows “Big yellow taxi”, David Elias “Vision of her”, and Michael Jackson “Dirty Diana”.
To my ears, Traillii has a big open sound typical of full-size dynamic driver headphones with nearly a holographic soundstage expansion. The soundstage and the imaging are the first things that stands out when you start listening, feeling like you are right in the middle surrounded by the sound, able to pin-point and "touch" every single element in space due to a rather accurate and realistic placement of instruments and vocals. And thanks to a very good layering and separation of the elements in 3D space, every sound, every nuance is easy to distinguish and to focus on.
I usually don't start my sound analysis with soundstage description or the talk about layering and separation. But since I did, some could probably assume that Traillii might have a more reference quality analytical sound. After getting over the initial soundstage impression, you realize the tonality is very natural, with a full body organic sound which at the same time has a rather good level of detail retrieval approaching nearly a micro-detail level, not a typical combination for IEMs which don’t have analytical tuning. We are talking about a natural tuning with a balanced W-shaped signature where the bass, mids, and highs stand out in their own domain and blend in a coherent harmony.
To break it down further, each bass note is weighted with a deep textured sub-bass rumble and tighter dynamic-driver quality mid-bass punch. During my listening sessions, quite a few times my brain got tricked into thinking I'm listening to a dynamic driver bass performance even though Traillii has 2BAs to cover low end. The bass was so visceral and hitting with such well-articulated authority that for a second, I felt like I was listening to a powerful dynamic driver. But at the same time, while bass is powerful and elevated, it is not overwhelming to a point where it overpowers the mix. The bass is there, it hits hard with authority and control, and it does feel like DD performance with a little slower attack and longer decay but without spilling into lower mids. This is not L-shaped tuning, it is W-shaped, though I still think it will satisfy equally bassheads and audiophiles with a basshead fetish, but stay clear if you want a more neutral bass.
Mids are very natural, soulful, organic, and at the same time quite detailed and layered. Lower mids are above neutral, giving a fuller body to the sound and also helping bass to blend in more naturally with upper mids. It has just the right amount of quantity and tuning quality to make sure the overall sound is not muddy or veiled considering the organic nature of the tuning. Upper mids are very detailed, I rare combination of being close to micro-detailed level without being cold and analytical. Vocals sound very natural and realistic as well, regardless if it is male or female. And again, after the extended listening I almost forgot that these are BA drivers because of the organic texture of the sound which is more typical of DD performance.
Treble has a very natural balance of clarity and airiness, excellent extension, and a well control sparkle without a hint of harshness. It was hard to believe there are 4xEST drivers because the tonality of the treble was so natural, so well defined and well controlled without any harshness or sibilance, and yet fine-tuned to be extended, super clear, and well balanced with the rest of the frequency spectrum. For me personally, Traillii treble tuning really hit the sweet spot because I’m really picky about the treble and harsh upper frequencies drive me nuts.
The two things that really stood out for me was a natural holographic soundstage and the coherency of the 12-driver hybrid tuning where BA-bass, BA-mids, and EST-treble were in a perfect harmony, sounding like full size open headphones with one large dynamic driver. And also, I was impressed how well the sound tuning scaled up at low and high levels of volume. With some IEMs raising the volume up brings mids more forward, or while listening at lower volume pushes mids back and brings up bass more forward. Here, the relative tuning balance stayed intact as I was varying the volume up and down.
Eartips selection.
The selection of eartips is crucial with any universal in-ear monitor and will affect the sound, especially the bass impact depending on the seal and the soundstage depending on insertion depth. Due to a large opening of my earcanals, I usually go for the largest size eartips to get a better seal. Please, keep in mind, these impressions are subjective and relative to my ear anatomy which affects how I hear the sound.
Stock silicone tips - gives sound the best balance between lows, mids, treble; my baseline natural detailed tonality.
AZLA Sedna - adds more sub-bass rumble and lifts mid-bass higher, great if you want even more bass impact.
JVC Spiral dot (original) - these shrink the soundstage a little bit; soundstage is still wide but not as wide which loses the holographic effect.
Final Type E - the narrow bore opening here messed up the sound, vocals became congested and a bit muddy and soundstage was narrow.
Symbio F - was surprised how well these fit Traillii thick nozzle; and found a very interesting effect of bass being a little attenuated, especially sub-bass, while mids/vocals being a little brighter, more forward, and more transparent.
SpinFit - similar to Symbio F, bass has a little less sub-bass, bringing more focus to mid-bass, and vocals are a little brighter, more forward, and more transparent.
After I shipped out Traillii, I realized that I forgot to take pictures with various eartips.
Comparison.
The comparison was done using Traillii with a stock PWA cable, stock eartips, LPGT as a source (High Gain, balanced output), volume matched in every comparison. In this test I tried to compare Traillii to a handful of other premium IEMs with a specific premium cable in each pair up, noting a price of each combo so you can see that in some comparisons it is not too far off from Traillii price.
Traillii vs 64 Audio Fourte Noir w/EA Horus X - Both have a similar soundstage depth and height, but Traillii spreads even wider, making the sound more holographic. I specifically used Noir in this comparison because regular Fourte doesn't have as much body in mids, though you have to keep in mind that with Horus X cable Noir cost even more than Traillii. Here, the overall signature and tonality are very close, especially when I use Noir with foam eartips to tame down the treble sparkle. Both have a balanced W-shaped signature with a fuller body more natural tonality. And 2BA Traillii bass has an even deeper sub-bass rumble than DD Noir. Treble of 4EST Traillii matches very nicely with TIA Noir, but I did have to use foam tips with Noir. Mids is where they vary and it is quite noticeable. While both have a natural organic tonality, the presentation is different with Noir mids being pushed a little more back, more confined (narrower), more colored and thicker, and by far not as layered or separated as in Traillii where mids are more detailed, more layered, a little more transparent and more expanded in width. Fourte Noir with EA Horus X cable retails for $6.3k.
Traillii vs 64 Audio A18s M15 w/Eletech Iliad - Here, the soundstage depth/height is quite similar, but the width is different with Traillii being wider, creating more holographic effect while A18s being more focused and a little more intimate in soundstage presentation (tuned for studio and stage performing artists). In this pair up I picked A18s instead of U18t since A18s is a better match for comparison with its fuller body more organic tuning. When it comes to bass, both have a very similar mid-bass punch, but Traillii has a deeper and more textured sub-bass rumble; A18s sub-bass extension is no slouch either, but Traillii just has more quantity and more weight in sub-bass. Mids are actually quite similar in this comparison, with fuller body lower mids and natural detailed tonality of upper mids/vocals, though technically Traillii has better layering and separation of sounds in mids. Both have a natural well-defined treble without any harsh peaks, but Traillii has more sparkle and airiness in comparison to smoother treble extension in A18s. A18s with Eletech Iliad cable retails for $4.8k.
Traillii vs VE Elysium w/EA Code 51 - This was another interesting comparison, and to start off, the soundstage expansion in width/depth/height is actually quite similar here; maybe with Traillii expanding a touch wider but it is a minor difference. When it comes to bass, Ely can get you deep and with a nice punch, but it is scaled down when compared to Traillii. Ely bass has rumble and well controlled BA bass, but Traillii sub-bass rumble and texture is on a whole different higher level of quantity, hitting harder and with more visceral authority. Now, here comes the best part of the comparison. I always hold Ely Dynamic Driver mids in a very high regard, and Traillii mids sound very close to Ely's, which goes back to my sound analysis where I felt like I was listening to DD driver. Traillii mids/vocals actually sound a little smoother and a touch more organic but this is due to a difference in treble. I know, we are comparing 2EST (Ely) vs 4EST (Traillii), but the tuning of Ely treble is brighter, more vivid, crisper, while Traillii treble has better control with a more natural revealing tonality which is not as vivid. Elysium with EA Code 51 cable retails for $5.2k.
Traillii vs FIR Audio M5 w/1960 4wire (w/2pin-mmcx adapter) - Both have a similar soundstage depth/height, while Traillii spreads wider, giving it more 3D holographic spacing. Also, both share a very similar mid-bass impact typical of a dynamic driver where M5 lows are actually covered by a dynamic driver while Traillii got BAs pushing the bass. But when it comes to sub-bass, Traillii still goes deeper with more elevated textured sub-bass rumble that surpasses DD here. Mids in Traillii have a fuller lower body, giving mids/vocals more organic warmer tonality in comparison to M5 having lower mids a little south of neutral, still above neutral but a little thinner in comparison. Both have very detailed layered upper mids, but the fuller body of Traillii gives vocals more natural organic tonality. Also, the presentation of mids/vocals is a little more forward in Traillii, while slightly pushed back in M5. Treble response is very close between these two, both are well controlled, natural, and airy, but Traillii is a little smoother in comparison. M5 with PWA 1960 4wire cable retails for $4.8k.
Traillii vs EE Odin w/1960 2wire - Finally, we have a soundstage match with a nearly identical width/depth/height 3D holographic expansion. But other than that, there are quite a few differences in tuning. Odin has double DD bass but it wasn't tuned with the same impact and depth as their Legend X, and that is where Traillii has the advantage if you are craving deeper rumble and more authorative impact. In a way, Traillii takes Odin bass and scales it up in quantity across sub-bass and mid-bass. In mids comparison, Traillii has noticeably fuller lower mids, adding a lot more natural body to the sound, to the vocals, while in comparison Odin has more neutral body. Upper mids are more micro-detailed and with a more precise analytical layering and separation of the sounds in Odin, while Traillii has a more natural more organic tonality of upper mids with a very good layering and separation but not with the same surgical precision as Odin. Treble also follows the same direction, being brighter and crisper in Odin and more tamed and natural in Traillii. Both have next gen quad EST drivers covering the treble, but Odin follows a tuning theme of a more revealing micro detailed sound while Traillii gives you a fuller body more natural sound while still reaching for micro-detailed technical performance. Odin with PWA 1960 2wire cable retails for $3.4k.
Traillii vs Oriolus Mellianus w/PS PPH8 - I know, Traillii little brother is not in the same league, but I still wanted to give this comparison a shot after enhancing it with PPH8 cable. Mellianus comes with a premium silver cable and that pair up is smoother and more neutral, but PlusSound PPH8 expands the soundstage, improves retrieval of details, and improves the overall technical performance of Mellianus. Traillii still stretches the soundstage wider, even when I tried Mellianus with PWA cable. Mellianus bass has a good sub-bass extension with a rumble you can hear but it doesn't go as deep or has as much quantity as in Traillii. And the same with mid-bass punch, Mellianus is still closer to neutral, not exactly neutral (above it), but the punch of Mellianus bass doesn't have the same authority or articulation as Traillii. Both have natural detailed mids/vocals, but Traillii has fuller lower mids body which gives overall sound more natural coloring while Mellianus is relatively thinner and a little brighter in comparison. Surprisingly, treble has a lot of similarities, just a little smoother in Traillii. The big difference in this comparison are in quantity/quality of the bass and fuller body of lower mids in Traillii. Mellianus with PPH8 cable retails for $4.4k.
Traillii vs MMR Thummim – I don’t have Thummim with me at the current moment, but very recently spent some time with it, took lots of notes and measurements, so it is still fresh in my mind to compare with. Both have a wide holographic soundstage expansion, but due to a thicker sound of Thummim mids, in comparison the Traillii soundstage perception spreads a little wider, making the sound more open and expanded. Both have a powerful bass impact with a deep rumbling sub-bass and strong mid-bass, but Thummim sub-bass is more elevated, making its bass thicker, while in comparison Traillii mid-bass punches a little stronger with better articulation and more control due to a shorter decay of bass notes. Both have a fuller body lower mids, though Thummim is thicker and meatier with more recessed upper mids while Traillii adds just enough body to give the sound more organic tonality while still keeping it transparent, less colored, and with a better retrieval of details in upper mids/vocals. When it comes to treble, Thummim has more sparkle while Traillii is smoother and at the same time extends a little further. Thummim with its stock Plato cable retails for $4.5k, and those who prefer to pair it up with Eletech Iliad cable could bring up to $6.3k.
Traillii vs Vision Ears Erlkonig LBE (switch setting #2) - The first thing you notice in comparison is Erl being more sensitive, requiring me to lower the volume by about 12-13 clicks. Starting with soundstage, there are some noticeable differences. Traillii soundstage spreads wider left to right and has a little more depth with sound being just slightly more out of your head, placing you farther away, while Erl brings you closer to the sound and also slightly narrows down the left/right spread. As a result, Traillii gives you a more holographic soundstage presentation while Erl give you more intimacy, though both have excellent imaging with accurate placement of sounds in space. Both have a natural fuller body organic tonality, but when you start analyzing the sound closer, it is easy to spot differences. Both have a big bold bass with a deep sub-bass rumble, though Traillii has a little more lift in subs, while Erl has a little stronger punch in mid-bass. Upper frequencies vary with Traillii having a little more sparkle in lower treble, lifting upper frequencies with more natural definition in comparison to Erl being a little smoother. But when it comes to treble extension, Erl's treble goes further and has a little more air in upper treble. The biggest difference is in lower mids. The bass and the treble difference are something you need to focus in order to spot it, with lower mids it is clear from the moment you start listening and comparing. Erl's lower mids are thicker with more body, giving overall mids and vocals a smoother fuller body organic tonality. Traillii lower mids are a little leaner, still having a full body but it is leaner in comparison to Erl, which makes Traillii upper mids and vocals to sound more revealing and more transparent (less colored). But overall, both have detailed resolving natural tonality mids. I didn’t go through cable rolling, Erl used in this comparison ($5k retail price for Limited Black Edition) had its stock pure silver cable, and as many are aware, Erlkonig has been discontinued and completely sold out.
Source Pair up.
With Sensitivity of 112 dB and Impedance of 21 ohms, Traillii is very easy to drive and has a great hiss-free pair up with many sources. In some pair ups it needed a few extra clicks of volume, but nothing too extreme.
Lotoo PAW Gold LPGT - holographic soundstage expansion, balanced W-shaped signature, very natural fuller body detailed tonality. Deep sub-bass rumble, authorative visceral well controlled bass punch, natural organic layered mids/vocals, and well defined airy treble extension.
A&K SP2000 SS w/AKA 4.4mm adapter - nearly identical to LPGT, just will a little more sub-bass rumble and slightly warmer upper mids.
iBasso DX220 MAX - I would say this pair up takes Traillii performance to the "MAX". The soundstage is still holographic, but I hear the bass being tighter and more articulate, with cleaner blacker edges, mids/vocals still being natural and detail, but now even more resolving and more layered, and treble has a little more sparkle and airiness relative to LPGT.
Hiby R8 (w/Turbo) - nearly identical to LPGT, just with a little more sub-bass rumble and slightly warmer upper mids, similar changes as I heard paired up with SP2k SS.
L&P P6 - very similar to LPGT with a natural detailed tonality, but the sub-bass tickles you with more rumble, going even deeper. Also, mids/vocals are a little smoother and more organic which affects layering and separation a little bit, but also makes the sound more musical and even more natural.
Cayin N6ii w/E02 - another "variation" of LPGT pair up, but with N6ii I hear an even deeper, more textured, more velvety sub-bass rumble, making bass sound like a floor standing speaker. Plus, I also noticed that treble is a little smoother here, less sparkle; still well defined but just a little less sparkle and airiness.
Conclusion.
As I started to write Conclusion to this review, Traillii was already on its way to another lucky listener waiting to audition these IEMs, and as you can probably sense, I miss them and looking forward to borrow again. I heard and reviewed many different flagships and usually very neutral and restrained without any overhyping emotions, but spending a week with Traillii was a different experience. It is almost misleading when you see a pair of small hybrid BA/EST iems, put them in your ears, and do a double take because you don’t expect such a big and bold sound.
Traillii is not exactly basshead tuned IEM, yet its double BA lows produce a powerful authorative bass slam and a deep sub-bass rumble you would expect from full size dynamic driver headphones driven by a proper desktop amp or from the floor-standing speaker. Its mids are smooth, natural, organic, with a full body sound that surprises you with a high level of detail retrieval and layering which is again atypical for BA driver performance. Its quad-EST highs are very natural and still airy and resolving. And on top of that you get a big holographic soundstage.
The price tag of Traillii will put these premium IEMs out of reach for many audiophiles, that is just a fact. But if you have a collection of high-end IEMs and cables, it is also a fact that you probably spend as much on your pair up combos as Traillii which comes with a special edition PWA 1960 4wire (8conductors) cable. And based on what I’m hearing after spending a week with Traillii, there are not too many other IEM/cable combos that match or overlap its performance. So, if you can afford it, give Oriolus Traillii a listen because its tuning is very addictive.
dsrk
Makes sense.
I don't usually read IEM reviews especially that are way out of my league. Just saw your review on the home page, wanted to check the overview found it interesting. Just went through the whole review.
I don't usually read IEM reviews especially that are way out of my league. Just saw your review on the home page, wanted to check the overview found it interesting. Just went through the whole review.
Mcleenx
Great review and very enjoyable reading!
The Oriolus Traillii is so at the top of my list that I can't ever reach it!
The Oriolus Traillii is so at the top of my list that I can't ever reach it!
The product was provided to me free of charge for the review purpose in exchange for my honest opinion. The review was originally posted on my site, and now I would like to share it with my readers on Head-fi.
Manufacturer website: Hifiman.
Intro.
I was a bit surprised when Hifiman asked me if I’m interested to check out their upcoming TWS800 true wireless stereo earphone considering that I mostly focus on testing and reviewing higher end wired IEMs and DAPs. Besides, I wasn’t even familiar with their previous TWS600 model, but the more I thought about it, the more I became curios and decided to give it a shot! Once TWS800 arrived and I spent the last week with them “glued” to my ears, I decided to put together a write up because it wasn’t just another generic pair of consumer-grade TWS. As a matter of fact, TWS800 shares Topology Diaphragm advanced driver design similar to RE800, perhaps the reason why this wireless model number is also 800.
Now, without further ado, let’s take a closer look at this brand new TWS earphone from Hifiman.
Unboxing and Accessories.
Prior to receiving TWS800 I tried to Google the spec, but only gathered bits and pieces since it was not officially listed yet (that was back in September, right before the official release). Thus, I was looking forward to see the packaging, in hope of reading the actual spec, but to my surprise it was quite vague as well. The cover of the compact box it arrived in had a clear picture of TWS800 and the case and mentioning of “amazing sound quality”, while the back had a few bullet points about functionality. This made me only more curious about it.
Inside, you have a soft foam insert with cutouts for IEMs and the charging case. And I mean it when I say IEMs because they did look like higher end IEMs, even kind of reminding me of their RE1000 CIEMs. With foam insert out, you can see a number of included accessories, such as usb-c charging cable, a storage velour drawstring pouch that was big enough to fit charging case, a warranty card and a very detailed manual, and a ton of eartips. Hifiman mentions 8pairs, while I counted 9 which could have been due to one already on earpieces. Those were S/M/L black silicone, M wide bore black silicone, S/M/L double flange black silicone, L triple flange black silicone, and L deep single flange white silicone tips.
Keep in mind, manual is VERY important since TWS earphones have different controls, so make sure you don’t throw it away.
Design.
As I already mentioned, the exterior design of the shells has a more “audiophile” look, typical of higher end IEMs rather than airpods clones or fancy consumer earpieces that fit entirely in the concha area of your ear. The faceplate has a stainless-steel finish, matching the charging case, with a Hifiman logo and multi-color LED indicator. The inner part of the shell has rubbery-plastic material that changes to SS finish toward the nozzle which has a lip (to secure eartips from sliding off) and a mesh cover at the tip. There were also 2 charging contacts toward the edge, and L/R marking. Obviously, this is not a heavy SS but rather some lightweight aluminum alloy or whatever the material is, just with SS finish.
The earpieces itself are pretty lightweight, only 6.9g each, and the size is just average, around 25.6 x 20.2 x 27.6 mm. What I found to be quite useful is the actual shape of the faceplate and the shell, allowing me to hold these earbuds with a secure grip without pressing the touch control on the faceplate. And the same goes when TWS800 were in my ears and I needed to tap the faceplate, being able to grip the shell with two fingers without accidentally touching the faceplate. I know, we don’t always think about this aspect of design ergonomics, but with some of the other TWS I tried in the past I always end up touching controls when pushing shells into my ears. Here, I didn’t have any problem at all, plus, they stayed securely in my ears even while moving around.
The charging case is a nice-looking clamshell with a matching SS exterior finish. Inside you have 2 cavities for earpieces, aligned with charging contacts, deep enough to accommodate TWS800 with different size/shape eartips, and with a strong enough magnet to hold them securely inside while charging. There was also 4-LED indicator to show the status of charging case battery. My complain with a case is about charging LED indicator being visible only when case cover is open. When it is closed, you don’t have access to see any LED indicators and don’t know if case is charging or already done. Plus, it would have been nice to have Qi wireless pad charging capability in addition to usb-c charging port. Neither of these are showstoppers, but at least LED indicator would have been nice to have.
Regarding what is “under the hood”. As I already mentioned, there is no full spec about actual drivers or wireless chipset, almost like Hifiman wanted to treat TWS800 as a “black box” so people would focus on the sound rather than components. But I was still able to find some info about the design. Don’t know how relevant this is, but TWS800 drivers actually have 150ohm impedance, more than double of RE800 IEMs 60ohm impedance. Of course, impedance doesn’t matter because you are not driving it from your DAP. But instead, these TWS use a built-in independent amplifier to drive TWS800 to its full potential as intended by Hifiman design.
One thing Hifiman did mention about drivers, they use Topology Diaphragm, similar to RE800/RE2000 design. I know RE models use 9.2mm DD, but I don’t want to speculate if TWS800 is the same. What makes these drivers unique is Nano particles coating (based on Dr Fang Bian Ph.D. thesis) applied in special geometric patterns. What Dr Fang discovered is by varying the surface pattern and using different Nano materials (each with its own unique property), you can control the acoustic performance of the driver. If you think about it, you literally micro-tuning the sound by applying a different Nano coating pattern. Plus, the structure of Topology diaphragm also reduces uncontrolled distortion typical of dynamic drivers.
And last, but not least, is the battery performance. At full charge earpieces will last about 4.5 hours of playback, and the charging case (with its 800mAh battery) will give you another 27 hours. Basically, you can get close to 6 full charges from the case. The total charging time of earpieces with a case is up to 2hrs, and you also get 120 hours of standby time.
The fit.
Functionality.
I wasn’t able to find what exact wireless chipset TWS800 is using, but I do know it supports Bluetooth 5.0, Class 2, and also 2 codecs: SBC and AAC. I don’t know if this is a limitation of the chipset, but it would have been nice to see support of aptX like in other TWS. Actually, to my surprise, even AAC yielded pretty good sound performance which I going to cover in the next section of the review.
Regarding pair up itself, it was effortless. With TWS, once you take them out of the case, they go automatically into pair up mode and you can easily discover and connect with any and every source I tried. Plus, I was able to have a solid connection about 30ft away from the source in the open space. And it also worked through the wall when I went into another room, around the corner from where the source was sitting.
I used TWS800 with apps playing local audio files, streaming Qobuz and Amazon Music HD, watching YT, Netflix, etc. The audio and video were always in perfect sync, and in most of the cases I was able to control playback and adjust volume remotely without a problem. I will cover that also in more details later in my review.
And speaking of controls, I was pleased that TWS800 offers playback (play/pause/skip) and volume controls. Volume adjustment seems to be rare with TWS. Also, while reading the manual, it says that triple tap on R side skips Next, while I found the opposite which is less logical but still not a showstopper.
During phone calls, which, btw, have just an average quality with TWS800:
- L/R – single tap to Accept/End the call, press and hold to Reject the call.
- L/R – press and hold for 2 sec to activate phone’s voice control.
- L - single tap Play/Pause, double tap Vol-, triple tap Next track
- R - single tap Play/Pause, double tap Vol+, triple tap Prev track
Sound Analysis.
I analyzed TWS800 sound performance paired up with my Galaxy S9, Hiby R3 Pro, and A&K SR25 while playing a variety of test tracks, such as Agnes Obel “The curse”, Sandro Cavazza “So much better” (Avicii remix), C-Bool “Never go away”, Ed Sheeran “Shape of you”, Alan Walker “Darkside”, Galantis “Hunter”, Iggy Azalea “Black widow”, Indila “Boite en argent”, Dua Lipa “Love again”, Counting Crows “Big yellow taxi”, David Elias “Vision of her”, and Michael Jackson “Dirty Diana”. From my experience with RE800, their dynamic driver needed at least a few days of continuous burn in, so I didn’t jump to any conclusion until a few days of listening. And as I continued to listen more, I noticed the soundstage opening up and the sound becoming more transparent.
Like with many other universal IEMs, eartips selection is crucial not just for comfort and secure fit, but because of sound variation due to seal and insertion depth. Thus, please pay close attention to select the right pair of eartips. Personally, I found eartips with a narrower bore opening to yield more clarity and better retrieval of details.
TWS800 tuning has a balanced sound signature with a clear and natural tonality and a rather good retrieval of details for this type of tuning. Not exactly analytical or micro-detailed, but natural organic details. Nothing stands out as exaggerated, you will not hear elevated bass or recessed mids or extra treble spikes, typical of other TWS or similarly priced IEMs. I’m hearing just a nicely done non-fatigue natural detailed tonality which I was able to enjoy during extended listening sessions.
The technical performance is not bad either. Though the layering of instruments and vocals is average since treble airiness is a bit reserved, the overall clarity and resolution was decent for TWS wireless pair of IEMs. Also, soundstage is wide, for sure above average, opening up even more after burn in, though I found it to have more depth than width. Nothing is congested and instruments and vocals have a relatively accurate positioning.
In more details, I hear bass to be articulate with a good sub-bass extension and deep rumble which comes out to play when called upon (like Iggy’s Black Widow). Mid-bass is fast and punchy with a good control and without spilling into mids (works great with any genre). Lower mids have above neutral body, giving the sound its natural tonality (vocals sound natural and soulful). Upper mids/vocals are transparent, natural, detailed - not too smooth or warm, and at the same time not too cold or analytical. Treble is well defined, natural, detailed, without any offensive peaks or harshness. Perhaps, treble is not too airy or super extended at the top end, but still well balanced with mids.
Comparison.
Since I don’t have too many TWS iems, it is hard to think of the best comparison. I have tried a number of TWS before, especially back when I attended CanJam NYC early this year, but I’m not a fan of A/B comparison by memory. What made sense to me is to compare TWS800 to its wired sibling RE800 gold/silver since they share the same driver tech.
TWS bass is a happy medium between RE800 gold and silver, more mid-bass punch and deeper sub-bass rumble than Gold, but not as elevated and with a better control and articulation than Silver. TWS mids have more body and sound more natural, not as lean and cold as Gold/Silver mids & vocals. Plus, TWS mids are not as distant and out of your head like in Gold/Silver, instead they bring you closer to the music, closer to the singer/performer. TWS treble has a good definition, though not as crisp and resolving as Silver and definitely more natural and less fatigue than Gold treble. The main difference is that Silver has a more V-shaped sound signature while Gold is more mid-forward due to its neutral bass. In contrast, TWS600 has a perfectly balanced W-shaped sound sig with even emphasis on lows, mids, and highs.
Source pair up.
When it comes to wireless earphones and headphones, and especially TWS, many often forget that it doesn’t matter what DAC or amp your source has. None of this matter because your source will digitally encode and transmit the sound and TWS earphones will decode and drive the transducer inside the shell. Here, what important is the codec being used and protocols being supported. And relative to TWS800, built-in amplifier Hifiman implemented. In theory, everything should work the same, but I did find some variations with sources I tested. Here is a run-down.
The following sources have been tested and verified to be able to control remotely the playback (Plays/Pause/Skip) and the volume (raise up/down). Plus, they all yielded a similar sound with a wide soundstage and relatively transparent detailed tonality while paired up using AAC codec (the highest supported by TWS800):
- Samsung Galaxy S9
- Hiby R8
- Hiby R3 Pro
- Cayin N6ii
- Cayin N3 Pro
- A&K SP2000 SS
- A&K SR25
- Shanling M0
- Sony WM1Z
- Lotoo LPGT
- Lotoo PAW6k
- Hidizs AP80 Pro
Conclusion.
I’m not going to pretend to be TWS expert, but I have tested a handful of true wireless stereo earphones and found manufacturers trying too hard to appeal more to consumer crowd by either pushing a bloated bass, or having a v-shaped tuning with enhanced bass and treble, and not paying as much attention to tonality balance or overall resolution. Some manufacturers “enhance” their TWS releases with higher end drivers, but they are driving it directly from Bluetooth chipset, not using amplifier, thus limiting audio tuning capability.
What impressed me with TWS800 is that Hifiman put in effort to make it look and sound like an audiophile quality IEM, not another consumer TWS to use while exercising or binge-watching shows on your phone. This TWS has a balanced signature with a good level of natural clarity and smooth retrieval of details without too much coloring. For its asking price (MSRP $299) it is a rather good sounding IEM to begin with, and TWS is just a cherry on top.
