Simphonio Dragon 2+ SWD2plus Dynamic Driver Audiophile HiFi Earbuds Earphone

I have owned the Simphonio Dragon 2 plus for a while now.

Great earbuds that can get loud. I received, and they indeed use the same body as the Yuin pk series; which makes them extremely comfortable for me. People complaining of the looks, the material is sparkly and feels solid/well built. Also the Yuin Pk mould they borrowed was made during the time when White earbuds got you targetted by thieves and pickpockets. These are premium products that can be used in the middle of the city with no concern. They seem to be similar to the pk1, but at maybe 90% of the pk1's capabilities.

The pk1 has a flatter bass, mids, and flat ear gain (bad low eargain) with more decay; are overall warmer sounding. But this is done with a sense of grain & distortion. The Dragon 2 Plus has much more subbass and less distortion.

The mids are about the same. But the lower mids may sound thinnish for transparency sake in the Dragon 2 plus.

The highs on the pk1 have more jump in your face feel; flat forward mids. While the Dragon 2 plus is more felt away from the stage with a small near simbilance good treble extension.

The pk1 has a smaller soundstage but more seperation in instruments (treble extension rolloff). The Simphonio are better in soundstage, but it gives notes a speaker feeling to it; not sure if a good thing or not. If you were to make a comparison, these are exactly tuned like the Seinhesser hd800!

I personally find the Pk1 super flat may be more enjoyable for some, but not a safe blind buy. Plus they really require an strong outputting player/source to drive them. Meanwhile the Simphonio can be used on any device or usb-c dongle; even used on my Nintendo Switch. The greater soundstage also makes them amazing for getting drawn into the environment when gaming.

Use the donut foams to help create a minimal seal for better lows. (Not the foams without a hole) . You want a seal, not a filter.

The leather case is really posh and lovely. Though, I would prefer a hard case to just throw in my chaos prone messenger bag; probably not a problem for those without a messenger bag.


Tl;dr: Work as intended and are perfect. Diffuse Field tuned; remind me of the Hd800S. Versatile, easily driven to work on any device. Soundstage/treble extension so big its almost speaker-like. Tilts more analytical rather than musical; that is an amazing feat for earbuds! The Hd800S of earbuds.

Many pictures from others so I will just show the box and instructions panel.

Simphonio Dragon2+

The Earbud with Clear and Spacious Sound...



Introduction:

Simphonio was formed by a group of professional and experienced audio engineers and young- innovative audiophiles, who have created a number of products. The company Simphonio is located in Dongguan City, Guangdong, China.

They have recently released two products, the Simphonio Xcited2 In-Ear Monitor and the Simphonio Dragon2+ an earbud with a 15.4mm diameter dynamic driver, which I will now review.

Webpage: www.simphonio.com

Disclaimer:

First of all, a big thanks to Simphonio for providing me a review sample of the Dragon2+. I am not affiliated with Simphonio or any third person beyond this review and these words reflect my true, unaltered opinions about the product.



The Price:

The Simphonio Dragon2+ is available on Penon Audio for 319,90 USD.

Purchase link: https://penonaudio.com/simphonio-dragon-2plus.html



Package and Accessories:

The Simphonio Dragon2+ comes in flat square shaped brow card box that has a patterned surface with Simphonio logo. This box is wrapped with a white paper packing that sports some Simphonio brandings on the front (logo & company) and technical information’s at the back.

This box contains the following items;

• 1 pcs x Simphonio Dragon 2+ Earphone
• 2 pairs x Full foams
• 2 pairs x Donut foams
• 1 pcs x 2.5mm female to 3.5mm male adapter
• 1 pcs x Leather carry pouch
• 1 pcs x Warranty Card

The Simphoni Dragon2+ comes with 4 pairs of foams tips (2 full foam + 2 donut foams), a 2.5mm female to 3.5mm male adapter, which is a nice addition and a leather carry pouch.





There leather carry pouch looks very premium and esthetic, but isn’t very protective against impacts.





Design, Fit and Build Quality:

The Simphonio Dragon2+ earbud has a very familiar looking housing, with a pretty similar shape to the Yuin PK. The surface of the plastic housing is in dark grey and has a glimmering texture, which differs it from regular eabuds with plastic housing.



On the top of the Dragon2+ are 2 small channels, from what one is closed and the other seems to be open.



The inner side of the housing sports the brand name printed in white color.



On the outer side of both housings are left & right markings.



The cable of the Simphonio Dragon2+ is made of 6N purity OFC (Oxygen Free Cooper) material. The cable is made of two separate cables; one with black plastic coating and one with transparent isolation.





The metal Y splitter has the Dragon+ branding.



The Simphonio Dragon2+ comes with a 4 pole 2.5mm TRSS balanced headphone jack, which has a strait profile. This headphone jack has a strait profiled metal housing, which sport the Simphonio branding and a sprig like strain relief.



The 2.5mm female to 3.5mm male adapter is made of the same wire material and is a nice addition.



The housing profile of the Simphonio Dragon2+ is one of my favorites, which is sits very comfortable in my ears.





Technical Specifications:

• Driver: 15.8mm Dynamic Neodymium magnet
• Frequency Response：20-25000 Hz
• Impedance: 16Ω
• Output Sound Pressure Level：110±3dB/mW
• Maximum Input Power：3mW
• Cable Length: 1.2M 6N OFC
• Weight: 14g

Sources:

a) In Ear Monitor : Simphonio Dragon2+, Astrotec Lyra Collection, Shozy BK (Balanced

b) DAP/DAC : Cayin N5II, Chord Mojo, Hifiman HM603s, Sony WM1A, Fiio M7, Hidizs DH1000







c) Albums & Tracks used for this review:

• Celine Dion – Power of Love (Spotify)
• London Grammar – Interlud (Live) (Flac 24bit/44kHz)
• Laura Pergolizzi – Lost On You “Live at Harvard and Stone” (Tidal Hi-Fi)
• Minor Empire – BulbulumAltinKafeste (Spotify)
• Casey Abrams – Robot Lover (Tidal Hi-Fi)
• Vivaldi – Le QuarttroStagioni “The Four Season” (Tidal Hi-Fi)
• Steve Srauss – Mr. Bones (Flac 16bit/44kHz)
• Otto Liebert& Luna Negra – The River (DSF) – Binaural Recording
• Future Heroes – Another World (Tidal Hi-fi)
• Lorde – Team (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
• Tom Player – Resonace Theory “Album” (Tidal Hi-Fi)
• Liquid Tension Experiment 2 – Acid Rain (Spotify)
• Opeth – Damnation (Tidal Hi-Fi)
• Metallica – Sad bu True (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
• Megadeth – Sweeting Bullets (Tidal Hi-Fi)
• Porcupine Tree – Deadwing “Album” (Spotify)

The Sound:

The Simphonio Dragon2+ is an earbud with a pretty balanced sound signature that tends to sound slightly bright. The brightness of the highs and the upper midrange tuning leads to a very wide soundstage.



Bass:

In terms of subbass, it extends pretty well and doesn’t show aggressiveness or dominance in the overall presentation. The Simphonio Dragon2+ sounds very control and has good speed. For example, it is possible to follow the bass lines of the song Acid Rain, performed in Liquid Tension Experiment. But please not that it is producing bass within the limits of an earbud.

The rendering of detail and texture is on a high level and fulfills the price that is asked for.

Quantity wise, it can’t handle some sort of music, which needs weighty bass like techno, rap or hip-hop. The midbass region adds some thickness and warmness in an acceptable level and they don't dominate the rest of the sound spectrum.






Mid:

The most accurate word, which could describe the midrange of Simphonio Dragon2+, is "Crystal Clear". Midrange of the Dragon2+ is very revealing and transparent and there is an excellent detail retrieval, which is presented in a natural way. Although they have forwardness, they are not replaced right in front of the listener or they are not too far from the listener in terms of positioning.

There is an exception for female vocals, which may become prominent thanks to Dragon2+'s upfront upper midrange presentation. For example, there is no harshness during Celine Dion is saying "the sound of your HEARTBEATING" or "I' m your LADY", which could fatigue your ears. The Female vocals are more successful and sharing more emotional than those of male ones and there is also no remarkable sibilance despite of the pronounced upper midrange, well done Simphonio!

One more thing that should worth to mention is that electro guitar strings and riffs are very realistic and energetic, which makes the Simphonio Dragon2+ very suitable with genres like progressive rock or metal music.

The midbass region of Dragon2+ is not thick or too thin in terms of tonality, which shows also nice sparkle, especially in acoustic songs. The overall timbre tends to stay in the north of neutral that carries quite amazing micro detail.

Treble:

Airiness is the key word regarding Simphonio Dragon2+'s treble region. Dragon2+ has a well extended and crisp treble presentation, where instruments like cymbals and flutes sounding lifelike, with a slightly hint of thinness.

It’s possible that some people can find the treble presentation slightly bright, but it doesn't show harshness at all, depending the type of music. The upper treble range is the star of the show, so that additional airiness can be heard in genres like metal music and sub genres. Instruments like crash cymbals are have good extension in song like Megadeth’s “Sweating Bullets”. But when pace of music increased, they become a bit distorted. However, treble region is not fatiguing, even in the album "Deadwing" by Porcupine Tree (This album's record is a little bit bright and it may be sounded harsh with earbuds that tends to sound bright).



Soundstage:

The soundstage of the Simphonio Dragon 2+ has a headphone-like expansive soundstage, which results in excellent imaging and separation of instruments. There is enough space for positioning of vocals and instruments thanks to its impressive depth and width, even in complex songs like Alboran Trio's Cingue Lunghissimi Minuti. The Dragon2+ is a very good earbud for electronic music and binaural recordings, which benefits from a wide and deep soundstage.

Comparisons:


Simphonio Dragon 2+ vs Astrotec Lyra Collection

In terms of sound, those two earbuds are quite having a quite different sound signature with similar technical capabilities. The first difference is in their tonality, where the Simphonio Dragon2+ shows a relative bright and the Astrotec Lyra Collection a warmer presentation. None of them can be called as neutral because both of them have coloration in specific areas. For example, the bass of Astrotec Lyra Collection has more quantity than those of the Simphonio Dragon2+. The midbass are of the Lyra has additional body in comparison with Dragon2+.

The Simphonio Dragon2+ has the faster bass response, which is a good ability with genres that need speed in this area.

Midrange of both earbuds is pretty upfront, but the Dragon2+ has more forwardness, than those of the Lyra Collection, especially with female vocals and sharing a detailed and transparent midrange. The Dragon2+ sounds slightly more transparent thanks to its airier presentation and more capable imaging. Instruments like piano sounds slightly more realistic with the Lyra Collection because of the additional body that comes from the midbass area. The Astrotec Lyra Collection sounds more realistic and emotional with acoustic guitars, while the Dragon2+ excels better with electric guitars because of the more energetic and crispier presentation.

The treble range of the Simphonio Dragon 2+ has more presence than those of the Astrotec Lyra Collection, which result in to an airier presentation and additional sparkle, especially in upper treble region. When it comes to detail retrieval, both earbuds have great ability to give high level of detail, but the Dragon2+ is superior to the Astrotec Lyra Collection in overall performance.

When it comes to the soundstage performance, I can easily say that both of this earbuds sharing a very spacious and out of the head presentation. The Astrotec Lyra Collection has the wider stage, while the Simphonio Dragon2+ performs better for soundstage depth.

Simphonio Dragon2+ verus Shozy BK (aka Shozy Stardust)

It's not fair to compare these earbuds but I think that Shozy BK is a quite capable earbud independently of its price tag.

The Shozy BK sounds warmer than Simphonio Dragon 2+, but it is not that Astrotec Lyra kind of warmness. In terms of subbass depth, they are almost identical, the main difference is the midbass quantity, which is adding more body to the overall presentation of the Shozy BK, but not that much body as Lyra Collection has. The tonality of Shozy BK's midrange is thicker, fuller and near analogue sounding, while the Simphonio Dragon 2+ is more transparent, detailed and it portrays more technicality rather than musicality.

Their upper midrange presentation is pretty identical, so that both earbuds are very good with their vocal presentation. The Simphonio Dragon 2+ sounds slightly better with female vocals, while the Shozy BK sounds thicker with male vocals. The difference of vocal performance between the two is pretty identical.

Treble region of the Simphonio Dragon 2+ is more pronounced than those of the Shozy BK, which is adding more air and sparkle to the overall presentation. When it comes to detail retrieval, the Dragon2+ is superior o the Shozy BK, which is otherwise very talented for its price tag. The Shozy BK's treble characteristic makes it more suitable for longer listening periods with a wide variety of music genres.

When it comes to soundstage performance, the Simphonio Dragon2+ has the wider and deeper sound presentation. Technical abilities like instrument separation and imaging is better with Simphonio Dragon2+ thanks to its superior upper frequency performance. The difference in the price tag shows itself most in this regarding.






Conclusion

The Simphonio Dragon2+ is a very capable earbud that has very transparent midrange and can produce high level of micro detail. The bass tuning is not appropriate for certain genres, but is good enough for genres like jazz and acoustic music. Expansive soundstage and amazing instrument separation is the strength of Simphonio Dragon2+, along with its fatigue free treble presentation.



Pros and Cons:

• + Excellent clarity and detail retrieval
• + Good treble & upper midrange control
• + Wide Soundstage
• + Fit
• + 2.5mm Balanced jack + Adaptor

• - Bass is missing slightly depth
• - It’s not the cheapest earbud

The Simphonio Dragon 2+ is the culmination of function and form. This is a top tier earbud that pushes the limits of its own design.



**Disclaimer, the Simphonio Dragon 2+ was provided for my honest review with the help of Penon Audio.**


https://penonaudio.com/simphonio-dragon-2plus.html


Brief History:

Simphonio is a fairly new name to the audiophile world, however the company behind it, Sunrise Audio, has been a player for a while now. Sunrise Audio has had past hits with the Dragon name before. Including the SW-Dragon and the newest SW-Dragon II. So, as you can tell, they like putting the Dragon name on their high end earbuds. Sunrise Audio has also produced some well reviewed earphones as well. That tradition continues with Simphonio's Xcited2. But this article is all about their best earbud.






Specifications:

- Brand: Simphonio
- Model: Dragon 2+
- Driver: 15.8mm Dynamic Neodymium magnet
- Frequency Response：20-25000 Hz
- Impedance: 16Ω
- Output Sound Pressure Level：110±3dB/mW
- Maximum Input Power：3mW
- Cable Length: 1.2M 6N OFC
- Weight: 14g





Contents:

- Simphonio Dragon 2+ Earphone
- 4 pairs of foam eartips
- 2.5mm female to 3.5mm male adapter
- Leather carry pouch

Th leather pouch with its embroidered logo, is quite premium in material and feel. I do wish for this price point that Simphonio added some alternate color foam eartips, like maybe a bronze to match the cord. Also, the addition of some earhooks would be a nice welcome as well.





Build:

The Dragon2+ takes the basic design of the earbud and pushes it to level 11. Starting from the bottom, the 2.5mm plug is crafted with precision as it extends itself with tough flexible strain relief. The 6N OFC copper cable is braided neatly from end to end. The Y splitter provides a nice added weight and uses the same casing as the 2.5mm plug. The housings themselves look to be just a simple black paint at first glance, but on further inspection, they have coating that projects a beautiful luster at close range.

The 2.5mm to 3.5mm adapter includes the for mentioned 6N OFC braided cable. The black adapter piece while made from metal (and not from plastic as I first thought), is of solid construction, but it is angled design seems to stand out from the flow of the rest of the build. I would have also have liked to have seen a slightly more serious 3.5mm plug.

The Dragon2+ is a handsome earbud that looks the part of a luxury earbud.





Sound:

Before I breakdown the signature of the Dragon2+, I want to say that clarity is beyond impressive. The sound quality is silky smooth from top to bottom. This is an amazing earbud that can produce magical music representation.

I also want to say that I took the advice of Earbud Collector Extraordinaire @golov17 and burned in the Simphonio Dragon 2+ for just about 200 hours before doing any critical listening.

Bass - The lows are quite reserved and do take a backseat to the mids and highs. Tuning for this earbud was clearly focused for the mid-range. With the Dragon2+ you never have to worry about any bleeding from the lows. The restraint in the bass helps to give this earbud its clean character in playback. What is left over are lows that portray an authentic, yet subtle version of the original intention of the sound engineer.

Mids - As have already stated, the mid-range is showcased with the Dragon2+. Putting on "Sad Lisa" by Cat Stevens leaves a truly haunting impression. Vocals are accurate, strings are crisp and keys are powerful. Songs of this nature show off the extremes in transparency that this earbud is capable of producing.

Treble - Playing with the overall feel of cleanliness. The highs are a big part of the Dragon2+ signature. While the upper range is on full display and all of its glory I never found these earbuds to be overly harsh or bright. It gives you all the details without any of the pain or fatigue.

Soundstage - Wide, ultra wide. The Dragon2+ has wonderful depth and in return helps to provide great instrument separation.





Driving and Source Selection:

Being an earbud of this magnitude, one might assume that you would need a fancy rig to get the most out of the Dragon2+. While there is no denying that almost any product would befit from the highest quality sources, it really is not as big of a factor with this Simphonio earbud.

I used the Dragon2+ with a plethora of DAPs, Amps and DACs, I can tell you that this earbud excelled with every interaction. While I could go over each individual source in further detail, in the end it does not really matter. This is a very easy earbud to drive. One of the few I have tested over the years that just did not care if it was a $100 Micro DAP, or a $2000 DAC/Amp pairing. The Dragon2+ has its distinct sound signature that just makes the best possible impression with whatever I threw at it.





Comparisons:

*Note, the other earbuds in this comparison cost about 1/3rd the price.

One of my favorite earbuds of all time is ‎Wong Kuan Wae's "Blur". I find it has an excellent close to neutral balance, also with great clarity. When listening back to back with the Dragon2+, the two both show great range. Though the Blur does include a more noticeable quality sub-bass, while the Dragon2+ has a hint of sparkle up top. Wong Kuan Wae's earbud is not finicky, but does like to be used with higher end, more powerful sources. Both of these show off why I am in love with earbuds with their palpable signatures.

Another interesting earbud is the NICEHCK EBX. It is in quite the contrast of the other earbuds in this comparison. The EBX is a full metal, detectable cable, heavy hitter. Build materials are top notch and heavy. Fit is very different from the light housings of the Dragon2+ and this can factor in when thinking about both comfort and extended use. Sound wise, while the EBX is pleasant and similar in signature to the Dragon2+, Though to my ears, the EBX lacks ultimate character that the Simphonio portrays.





Overall Thoughts:

The Dragon2+ is an expensive earbud. How does one justify this extravagance when looking to purchase? For me, it is their versatility to stay true to their designed tuning with all types of music and sources that shines through. Not many earbuds out there can show this type of clarity in multiple setup scenarios.

Any "downsides" would stack up to personal preferences with sound signatures and output assignments. For those looking for a neutral sound or something with more bass and a dedicated 3.5mm plug, then this might not be the earbud for you. Though I would be willing to bet that anyone that does want their own Dragon2+ already has a set purpose in mind for this wonderfully made Simphonio product.



My rating: 4.5/5

The Dragon2+ is an excellent earbud. It sounds fantastic and looks amazing. It will hit your wallet hard and is not intended to be end game, neutral monster. Instead it knows what it does well and sticks to it strengths. For what it is and what it can do, the Dragon2+ gets one of my highest recommendations.


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