warp08
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2010
- Posts
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Introduction
The HiPhone OEM replacement in-ear monitor with remote and mic is specifically designed to provide a higher sound quality than the Apple-supplied accessory shipped in the box of both the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4.
Design
Those of you not yet familiar with HiSound; based in Mainland China, this company has been in business for several years, recently making inroads into the US market for some time now in addition to Asia, Europe and other markets. Up until recently, they have released a number of portable music players such as the ROCCO, AMP3 and the Studio 1. Their corporate goal is to provide affordable, high-quality, audiophile-grade products that compare favorably to the best in their respective market segment.
The HiPhone’s design principle, packaging and build quality easily compares to the original Apple earbud it was meant to replace. So much so, that it seems to use identical cabling, 3.5 mm connector and inline remote/mic unit. This has proven to be both a blessing and a curse, because although it is made of the same, high-quality plastics and rubberized, flexible cable, there is no improvement over the standard level of microphonics experienced with the Apple product.
The termination point to the actual driver shell is where the similarities end, however, because the HiPhone uses a single driver, in-ear design with a single universal silicon tip.
This contrasts sharply with the standard Apple earbud’s over-the-ear, loose fitting design, which simply does not work very well due to the following three reasons:
- Doesn’t provide the seal and noise isolation universal in-ear monitors do, so higher volume levels must be utilized to compensate at the risk of hearing loss
- Low-frequency rendering is practically nonexistent causing a huge negative impact on overall sound quality
- The earbuds simply do not fit the shape of the outer edge of the ear canal of some people, causing the earbuds to simply fall out
So, why don't we examine whether the HiPhone has been able to address these shortcomings of the Apple product.
Ergonomics
Before I finally settled on custom IEMs, I have purchased and attempted to use a wide variety of universal IEMs from Apple, Shure, Westone, Ultimate Ears armed with all kinds of custom tips made from a variety of materials. Typically, I had bad experience with silicon tips, due to their relative lack of comfort compared to Comply tips, for example. I admit, that I have initially found it to be alarming to see that the HiPhone IEMs ship with a single pair of silicon tips mounted.
Actually trying them on, however, turned out to be a pleasant surprise. During several hours of comparative testing, I have never had to realign them or even once experienced discomfort. I even had them tested by my girlfriend, who is notoriously difficult to please with earphones due to having small, somewhat uneven ear canals. Somehow, this single tip proved to be very comfortable for the both of us, which is somewhat of an enigma.
It is entirely possible, and would be a reasonable expectation, however, to have the production version ship with a few spare tips, and a cleaning brush just in case, that my review units did not have.
Also, integrating a metal filter into the top-end of the sound tube to prevent any wax accumulation or other debris enter the tube itself would be a welcome improvement. The $80 retail Apple Premium IEM unit does have this feature.
The inline remote/mic supported all the standard functionality of its Apple counterpart, including Voice Control.
Sound Quality
As I have indicated earlier, I am not a fan of the Apple earbuds, especially due to their sound quality, which is far removed from anywhere near the audiophile realm. After several hours of comparative testing against the HiPhone using an iPhone 4 with no EQ enabled, it had quickly become harder and harder to listen to the Apple earbuds.
Regardless of genre, in both 320kb lossy and Apple Lossless format, the HiPhone consistently provided a very pleasant, musical rendering in the entire spectrum. The bass was powerful—no doubt, aided by the satisfactory seal of the silicon tip—although sometimes a bit overpowering, slightly forward mids and well-defined highs with barely a hint of sibilance. The quality of the lower bass rendering was slightly rolled off, but this is a well-known characteristic of the “iPod sound” signature. The overall sound quality improvement was quite evident in any genre, but especially rock, pop and jazz. In acoustic and vocal tracks the difference was somewhat less pronounced, but still present. In fact, the overall sound quality has proven to be quite sustainable with no listening fatigue over several hours of continuous listening, and not once having felt the urge to terminate the experience. This is no mean feat considering that my IEM “daily drivers” are currently JH13 Pro and JH16 Pro customs.
Conclusion
The HiSound HiPhone is such a new product that the manufacturer’s website has not even been updated to list specifications and suggested list price. I have contacted HiSound for these details and I will post updates to this review once this information is provided.
For now, I believe it is safe to state that the HiPhone is a substantial improvement over the standard, $30 MSRP Apple accessory and—although I did not have one on hand for a direct comparison—based on past experience, I would easily pick it over the $80 MSRP Apple Premium version as well, especially if the retail HiPhone unit ships with spare tips. Not yet knowing what the suggested MSRP and warranty period is, I cannot offer a final value analysis, however, I would have a hard time picking any competing products offering similar features under $50-$60 over the HiSound HiPhone.
