Tin Hifi P1 ortho iem review

Tin HiFi P1

I was going to include this in a review roundup of budget neutral ish iem’s but it got long enough to be its own review and when I read someone say there are no reviews of this iem on SBAF I thought I’d post it separately and include it in my roundup as well if that ever happens.

The P1 is a very neutral iem (one of the most neutral I’ve heard, probably only bested by the CA Ara) with excellent tonality throughout the whole range except for some rough treble that makes itself heard basically only on clean cymbals but ruins them for me. Great detailed bass that has good but not perfect extension. Flat lower midrange which is very rare with headphones. Congested soundstage with only mediocre instrument separation which is strange because separation is usually something orthos are great at. Sounds are smeared together and bleed together in an unfortunate way. Creates a kind of "wall of sound" effect. The plus side of this is that it gives them a speaker like sound, not in terms of soundstage but sounds are not totally isolated all around your head, there’s a little mixing going on. Doesn’t really bother me a lot even though it is technically a weakness and I prefer the presentation of other iem’s that have better separation and space between notes.

Treble
They’ve got the rough treble problem that vintage orthos suffer from! This actually makes me happy because it means the problem isn’t from age, it’s something else (I haven’t figured out what causes it or exactly how to fix it yet though I know how to improve it). I don’t hear the peak everyone talks about I just hear a tonality issue. But it’s only rough on smooth cymbal work. Otherwise it’s not much of an an issue. Also I should note that I’m very sensitive to this rough ortho treble after all my time tuning orthos. I didn’t hear it at all when I first got into modding orthos. When I got my mods closer to perfect, suddenly I heard it and have never been able to unhear it. It bothers me more as time goes on. (Note it’s not an ortho problem in general, my modded T50rp has some of the cleanest treble of any headphone. So it’s something that can happen with orthos. Purrin thought it was ringing. Could be. It can be made better with the right damping materials. I’m guessing it happens when the driver’s treble rolls off naturally and you try to damp the driver to push them into creating treble extension that they don’t naturally produce.

Midrange
Great tonality and very neutral. Must be one of the best midranges among iem’s. The whole FR is very flat throughout lower mids to lower treble. Rare flat lower midrange. Excellent. A+

Bass
Very well controlled and detailed and extends down almost all the way effortlessly but not quite all the way. There’s a bit of roll off in the last bit of sub bass. But in hindsight after returning them I think different tips would fix this slight sub bass roll off. Note: it’s slight. The volume just goes down a bit as the bass reaches sub bass. But again, I think different tips would fix it. The P1 has better bass than all BA iem’s I’ve heard. (Except for the Solaris but that’s dynamic driver bass not BA)

Fit
Terrible. They’re heavy and small and require deep insertion to stay in your ears but the shells don’t make that easy, and even then they kind of hang off your ears. No pain or discomfort though. I use Sedna earfit light tips with them. The regular version, not short. These tips reach to my ears far enough to hold them. They don’t fit well enough for the nozzle to get into your ears so I found I needed long tips. But in hindsight I may have been wrong about that because of the way they hang on the ears (don’t sit against outer ear, they hang off) I think shallower tips would be possible.

Detail
I think they are fairly detailed especially for the price but the smearing effect of instruments kind of ruins it and they don’t wind up sounding as detailed as they could.

Thoughts from an ortho head
I’m going to guess about what causes the 2 major problems keeping these from being exceptional.

Rough treble
Probably the driver doesn’t extend high enough and theyre damping it, possibly with the wrong materials to bring up the treble. This is complete conjecture as no one knows what causes this phenomenon with orthos.

Smeared imaging
Orthos should have exceptional imaging and separation. I just drove these from my iPod touch. But I know that source well, I have millions of hours logged listening to much harder to drive vintage orthos with an iPod Classic. They still have great Instrument separation. So I’m curios if the driver is aligned in a bad way in the shell. ie not pointed directly at the nozzle opening. This could cause this kind of smearing especially with an ortho driver. The enclosure is a strange shape. It’s strangely small given the huge ortho iem’s from monoprice and Audeze. The shells could easily be bigger, possibly allowing for a bigger driver, which might give them better treble, and better driver alignment/housing. The smearing could also be because of weird damping materials. Different damping materials have a drastic impact on all aspects of the sound.

But who knows just complete conjecture. I wish they were openable and I could have my way with them.

Ps. A little bird whispered in my ear that the P2 is coming soon. This could be an exceptional iem if they improve everything and fix the 2 main problems.

 

Agree about the name. Someone should tell them that it’s not a good descriptive word for sound...

I think it would have been ok actually because of the way they hang diagonally off your ears and don’t lie against or parallel with the outer ear like every other iem. So I think I could have used this angle to use shorter tips and get deeper nozzle insertion which would have fixed the sub bass and maybe helped the treble, but it wouldn’t have fixed it.

just a weirdly shaped iem esp since theyre kind of heavy

 

You're probably thinking of the Planamic. I sorta liked them but listening to two pairs one had very flabby lousy bass and the other better, I think QC on them is terrible. But yes planar IEMs have potential!

 

I don’t hear a peak in the treble of the P1 despite what many people say. I think they’re mistaking the rough tonality for a peak. I’m sensitive as hell to treble peaks. But this is Interesting.....

P1


My modded Yamaha Yh3 With intentionally extra treble rolloff because it also has rough treble (and I prefer to just not hear it)


Uhhhh... the treble response is eerily similar if crinnacle’s graph is correct. @purr1n has said iem fr measurements aren’t reliable in the treble.

calling @dBel84

 

I find these types of IEM's using EST and planar tech to be quite interesting, and since these Chinese companies have started making them, they are quite affordable. I've recently gone on a hybrid IEM spree with the KZ ZS10 Pro, CCA CA16 and Tri Audio Tri I3, and I have the BGVP Zero on the way.

I'm keen on this Tin HiFi P1 as well and I'll be honest, I'd more likely than not get it as well (umm, perhaps if it were truly bad, I might reconsider). I'm looking into getting a proper DAP for my IEM's, got an old HFM HN901s, but want something with newer interface......like a HiBy R3 Pro perhaps. Regardless, I'm also using my IEM with my iBasso DC02 as I love the idea of turning my old spare phones and my tablet (Tab S5e) into music transports with the dongle acting as a DAC combo (thinking of getting a Dunu DTC100 for my tablet).

I love that Chinese companies have started making such IEM as branded mainstream counterparts would be quite cost prohibitive. No, I know they're not in the same league as the more mainstream branded ones, but I'm willing to spend on such ChiFi offerings than to spend an inordinately large amount on a single pair of IEM's. I have a CA Jupiter, Fitear Parterre and an IE800 (got 'em when I was just starting on this headfi adventure), and what I've spent and will spend on the ChiFi IEM's I'd mentioned, including the P1 constitute just over half the price I'd paid for my IE800 spends volumes to me.

Gosh, I just keep rambling on, don't I? Anyway, keeping an eye on this thread as I'm keen on the P1 too.....

 

Yeah you should get them they have a lot of strengths. Keep in mind I wrote this as a die hard ortho fan who may have heard things others wouldn’t. I spent a number of years dissecting orthos.

 

The Planamic possibly? I pull mine out still - the driver has potential and with some EQ, they hang with my "favorites" which is basically anything that doesn't bother me enough in any-one way to let-go. It's sort of in my Nighthawk / Noble X / HP3 / Empyrean kind of wheelhouse/vibe - but with the EQ it can really be interesting. Same thing sort of applies to my LCD-i4, but its kind of the opposite. They sound more akin to Stax 009 without EQ.

 

Preaching to the choir here, very much an ortho man myself, when it comes to full sized cans that is. I have a HFM HE4, HE560, HE4XX, HE1000 as well as the iSine10. Had an Audeze LCD2 too, but the rather dark sound sig wasn't my cuppa.....I like my treble sparkly.

 

I’m talkin 70’s orthos Not quite the same I’m not a hifiman or Audeze fan. But I’m glad to see the ortho love!

 

Haha you dislike that I’m not a hifi man or Audeze fan? Go back to head-fi

 

I just got my P1 and it burning in the unit the last 2 days with different kinds of music. They look well-made, there are no sharp "points" that will hurt the ear when worn. Its heavy compared to the "plastic" earphones I own (and I have quite a number). I have tried them on and they seat very comfortably in the ears, better the the AKG N30 and the Shure SE425.
The only negative is the cable, looks and feels "cheaply made". Will probably changed it later. Will see how they sound after another day of burning in.

 

Very interested in a follow-up to these. The P1 do seem really nice from what I've read, but I do not like the shiny silver look at all. Also the high weight sounds like the'll only be good to use for half an hour or so at a time..
Make a P2, fix the slight sound issues and make them light and a nice dark nickel/titanium color, and I'm in on those..

 

P2 was shared in their FB page, some say it's a open/semi open iem unlike P1

 

Did you see Zeos’ review of the P2 yet? TL;DR he thinks they’re the shit. Not that I take his opinions seriously, but thought I would pass it on. A potential data point at least. Granted he also loved the P1 though, but he thinks these are better balanced with better / more highs and better bass, and that they need a lot of power. Also he loves the cables. They’re also more expensive than before like $320.

FWIW

 

I just asked them if they are willing to send a pair for review and possible loaner tour. I’ll let you know what they say. Thanks for the heads up!

I offered to give them feedback on the P2 before release too bad they didn’t take me up on it.