TinHifi T2 DLC - A Comforting Serenade

 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: 

1. a pair of T2 DLC

2. 5N silver plate cable

3. a pair of foam tips

4. 6 pairs of silicone tips

5. paperwork

Very basic right? Don’t fret. It is sufficient to get you going and enjoy your listening pleasure mates. Moving on…

SETUPS:

1. LG V30 quad dac, Hiby music app, offline flacs, Centrance Dacport on low gain.

2. Macbookpro 2011, Foobar, Centrance Dacport

3. Macbookpro 2011, Tidal & Qobuz, Centrance Dacport

4. 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

While the neck strap is somewhat useful to some extent, I do appreciate the effort and concept. Though it needs some improvement for it to be fully convenient. Still, thanks to HiFiGO for sending these freebies.

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:

TinHifi T2 DLC

Amazon Link:

TinHifi T2 DLC

Cheers and catch you on the next one! As always, love the music more than the gear! God bless! 

Do you prefer watching rather than reading? Click here!