A Comforting Serenade
PROS:
Comfortable fit
Disciplined U-shape tuning
Impressive imaging
Competitive price
Proper and correct timbre and tonality
Engaging vocals
Average technicalities
Well-controlled lows
Percussions and drums are lively and energetic
CONS:
Trebles lack grit and bite on some tracks
Shallow center presentation
Occasional hotness on female vocals
Not the most detailed set
INTRODUCTION:
Tinhifi has been around and is a well-known player in the audio community. The first product I’ve tested and owned from them was the T3 Plus. I loved that set despite having mix impressions from users and reviewers.
As per the company, this is an improved version of T2. I have not tried the OG T2 and comparing it to its predecessor would be pointless.
The T2 DLC is quite the versatile player and I truly enjoyed my listening sessions with it. Will it somehow make a stand in this vast sea of Chi-fi products? Come on and join me as I share my impressions from the perspective of a musician and an audiophile.
DISCLAIMER:
The gear on hand has undergone at least 10-15 hours of use before it was assessed.
No EQ is ever applied in my reviews.
For the sake of convenience, I use a stock setup. Not everyone has access to personal ear tips or cables. You will be notified if personal ear tips, cables, or accessories are used.
As I try to be objective, my claims inevitably will be subjective and biased to my personal preference. I cannot stress more that you should take this with a grain of salt for we have different perceptions to sound and what we hear.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Configuration: 1 x 10mm Dynamic DLC driver
Impedance: 30 ohms
Sensitivity: 103db
Freq response: 20hz - 20khz
PACKAGING:
T2 DLC is packed in a very simple yet appealing black box that I wished was the carrying box or protective case but it wasn’t. Inclusions are basic but all essentials are complete. Packaging includes the following:
a pair of T2 DLC
5N silver plate cable
a pair of foam tips
6 pairs of silicone tips
paperwork
Very basic right? Don’t fret. It is sufficient to get you going and enjoy your listening pleasure mates. Moving on…
SETUPS:
LG V30 quad dac, Hiby music app, offline flacs, Centrance Dacport on low gain.
Macbookpro 2011, Foobar, Centrance Dacport
Macbookpro 2011, Tidal & Qobuz, Centrance Dacport
All stock accessories are used namely tips and cable.
SOUND IMPRESSIONS:
Out of the box, T2 DLC sounded harsh on top and boosted on the lows. Too energetic for my preference. I took my time to burn it in and decided to let things calm down. It took one week and finally started to mature and reveal its true nature and sound.
Lows are well-disciplined and respectable to be tuned for mature listeners. Mid-bass managed to stay close to being neutral while sub-bass is ready to do good rumbling if called upon. I must agree with OspreyAndy that this set is one of the best mid-bass presentations in this price bracket. Punchiness and thump is evidently present which I personally prefer. I enjoyed my favorite tracks from Alan Parsons Project and Fleetwood Mac. Although not on a basshead’s level. Detailed and textured quite nicely.
Midrange is without any sense of recessed and tickled my mid-centric fetish. Vocals were rightfully placed slightly forward as they should be. Female vocals have a special leaning over males by a hairline. Very engaging vocals is one of the best traits of T2 DLC.
My favorite musical instruments like pianos, guitars, strings, snares and toms are very realistic and well-defined. Though not the most analytical and detailed, T2 DLC still managed to feed my craving for micro and macro details.
Safely tuned is what I would give the trebles and something treble heads might want to consider first. Honestly, T2 DLC had me confused on some tracks. With Fleetwood Mac, guitars and hi-hats are rewarding while Kokomo a rock album given to me by my friend OspreyAndy, left me cliff hanged on trebles. I think it is safe to say that rock heads will somehow be craving for more of that grit and bite on top. I am picky when it comes to my trebles as I desire that energy yet at the same time easily triggered by sibilance. Rest assured, 90% of the time, T2 DLC didn’t put a smirk on my face for it to be called a sibilant set. High ranges of female vocals had a tendency to be “hot” in some instances but very very rare.
Conclusively, I thought that this will be another typical u-shape tuning that the Chi-fi world is plagued but Tinhifi proved once again that they are capable to tune and know their stuff. Lows are very rewarding, mids are not recessed and highly detailed, and reserved trebles that will cater sensitives.
TECHNICALITIES:
At this price point, T2 DLC satisfied me with above-average technicalities. Let’s talk about it.
Sound stage is nothing special at the same time nothing to be despised of. With its small build, I expected headroom to be narrow yet surprisingly there is still a sense of space for elements. Intimate would be the word to go to describe here.
Imaging is probably the best technical aspect here. All elements of my tracks are rightfully placed and positioned. I always love following where instruments are when listening and this set is a joy to listen to. Change the World by Eric Clapton is one such test track for this and T2 DLC effortlessly did the job.
Separation is very decent as instruments never sounded overlapping. Bleeds of frequencies are almost none hence giving me a clean and well-separated stage.
Speed is adequate and keeps up with some of my complex tracks. Not as good as my other analytical sets like Kinera Idun Golden but still commendable. Not super fast on my insanely quick transients but not sluggish to make everything muddy and blur.
Details must be the least of its technical aspect as I crave more of it on some of my intricate pianos. Some details are smoothened or tamed to my taste but for its asking price, it is what it is. We got to manage our expectations when we are talking about entry-level gears.
A nitpick on this set is it sounded a bit shallow at the center. It is a bit left and right oriented leaving the center behind by just a bit. I noticed this as OspreyAndy and I are exchanging impressions on T2 DLC as we both have this set. This is just a nitpick and nothing to be overly cautious about. It still didn’t hinder me from enjoying my tracks and I hope you will not be able to discern this.
Conclusively, this set proves to be technically capable in all aspects. Some cons here and there but minuscule. I must say this set is aimed toward music enjoyment rather than the purpose of analyzing music. My listening pleasure has two sides as I’m a professional musician and when it comes to songs that I must decipher and study, there are other options for me than T2 DLC. I would pick this set for music appreciation rather than for my work-related purposes.
FIT & ISOLATION:
One of the most comfortable sets I’ve worn period. Being light and small at the same time sturdy with its aircraft-grade metal shell really comes with its benefits. As a musician on the go, some abuse comes with the territory and I am with no worries even if I drop this accidentally. At first, I was skeptic about its “bullet style” design and gladly I had no adjustments to make. I remember I mentioned something like this with the company’s T3 plus and it seems Tinhifi is keen on making their customers as comfortable as they can be.
SOURCES AND GEARS:
LG V30 Quad dac
Hiby Music player
UAPP app (USB Audio Player Pro)
Tidal Masters subscription
Qobuz Studio subscription
offline FLACS
Hidizs AP80 pro
Centrance Dacport dongle
VE Megatron DAC-AMP
MacBook Pro 2011
iPhone 7 plus
Here are some tracks I usually listen to when reviewing:
That’s the way of the World by EWF
Africa by TOTO
The Girl in the Other Room by Diana Kral
Balmorhea album All is wild, All is Silent
Sila by Sud
Smooth Escape by D’Sound
Never too Much by Luther Vandross
P.Y.T by Michael Jackson
Ain’t no Sunshine by Eva Cassidy
Shoot to Thrill by AC/DC
Another one bites the Dust by Queen
Good times bad times by Edie Brickell
Alice in Wonderland by Bill Evans
Ain’t it Fun by Paramore
Redefine by Incubus
Far Away by Nickelback
Lovesong by Adele
Lingus by Snarky Puppy
Harvest for the World by Vanessa Williams
Love Bites by Def Leppard
No Such Thing by John Mayer
As by Stevie Wonder
Whip Appeal by Babyface
Ain’t Nobody by Chaka Khan
Futures by Prep
Landslide by Fleetwood Mac
Every Summertime by NIKI
SADE tracks
AC/DC tracks
Queen tracks
And many more… I always listen to High resolution format, being the least quality 16bit/44khz FLACS be it offline or online.
BONUS:
HiFiGO was kind enough to send me freebies that came with T2 DLC. A neck strap and a cable organizer. I just want to share its uses and purpose here briefly. It still has room for improvements concerning its convenience but nonetheless I use it quite frequently. Below are some pros and cons
My IEMs hangs instantly when I unplugged them off my ears
Neck strap saves me from putting my IEMs back to pocket or bag
Neck strap doesn’t have enough weight to stay on my neck
Putting back my IEMs to my ears sometimes makes the neck strap up to my face
Cable organizer is very convenient with its magnetic clamps
VERDICT:
Wrapping this up, T2 DLC is a competitive set out there that can stand on its own. I honestly think it deserves more praise than what it is getting now in the audio community. It is a good balance of tuning and technicalities and not just another typical mediocre u-shape release.
This set is aimed for:
mature listeners who want a fun-sounding set
vocal-oriented tracks as well as instrumental tracks
to those in search of a versatile player
treble sensitives
on a budget consumers who want to start diving to mature tuning
I am a bit saddened while wrapping this review as this set will be taking a bit of rest as I catch up with my backlogs on review units. Yet I will be spending time with it soon and definitely will be part of my weekly rotation.
I would like to thank HiFiGo for sending me this unit in exchange for this review. Purchase links below.
PRICE: 60$
HiFiGo link:
Amazon Link:
Cheers and catch you on the next one! As always, love the music more than the gear! God bless!
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