HZSOUND HEART MIRROR PRO: A Revamp Tuning Of A Legend

In the year 2020, In that fateful year for audio enthusiasts, HZSound Heart Mirror was storming its way towards the audio community scene and felt its presence on being indifferent compared to its competitors. A neutralish-bright tuning with a well-tuned balanced sounding set at a very affordable price which is quite a rarity on that price range, HZSound Heart Mirror is an IEM to behold and it really won many ears.

Despite that superb tuning of Heart Mirror, there is only one thing I consider its achilles' heel and it was its technical capabilities. It really baffles me to be honest and somehow sort of a disappointment that if HZSound Heart Mirror has good technicalities, it will be the best IEM in 2020.

What I have here is the successor model of the HZSound Heart Mirror, the HZSound Heart Mirror PRO. Like its predecessor, it has basically the same shell chassis, similar driver set-up albeit with newer generation of CNT (Carbon Nanotube diaphragm) dynamic driver and modular cable.

The shell chassis of Heart Mirror PRO is made of a CNC-milled aluminium alloy in a trapezoidal-triangular shape with a mirror-like finish. It encapsulates a 10mm CNT dynamic driver that offers a better driver speed, more  clarity and less distortion. Heart Mirror PRO uses a proven and durable 2-pin connector as its detachable socket on its modular cable.

The modular cable of this set is a 4-core silver-plated copper one and it is interchangeable to other termination plug aside from 3.5mm and these are all balanced types such as 4.4mm and 2.5mm.

The fitting of Heart Mirror PRO is cosy and comfortable as it rests well into my lug holes without any niggles. Its passive noise isolation seems decent enough that it manages to block some external noises from the outside.

Another good aspect for Heart Mirror PRO and it is a plethora of quality inclusions inside of its packaging box. HZSound really earn my respect on this one as I like audio companies being generous on including a substantial amount accessories to its product.

Here are some contents from HZSound Heart Mirror PRO:

■ A pair of Heart Mirror PRO IEMs

■ A 4-core high purity OFC SPC modular cable.

■ A mic-in SPC cable with 3.5mm termination plug.

■ 3 pairs of "Sony" ear tips of different standard sizes.

■ 3 pairs of black ear tips of different standard sizes.

■ 3 pairs of white ears tips of different standard sizes.

■ 2.5mm balanced output termination plug.

■ 4.4mm balanced outpur termination plug.

■ A black coloured, hard bound faux-leather IEM case.

■ A hanging clip.

■ Instruction manual.

With a sensitivity of 110db and a resistance rating of 32 ohms, Heart Mirror PRO should be an easy to drive set as it amplifies well on decent sources. But having a better source with better output and good quality DACs, its scales it pretty well as it has more dynamic sounding with added more power.

As for its tonality, Heart Mirror PRO has a mild V-shaped sound signature with more emphasis on treble and bass and a notch midrange. It has a warmer sound and somewhat a sound departure to the previous Heart Mirror which has more neutral sounding.

Here are some of my observations on HZSound Heart Mirror PRO on each frequency range spectrum.

LOWS/ BASS:

Without batting an eyelid, this is the most prominent part of Heart Mirror Pro on the overall sound spectrum in which it distances itself from its predecessor. The bass on it has a broad amount of slam, rigid and quite deep. It is more focused on mid bass rather than sub bass.

Sub bass has a decent depth and reverberation as I've tested some of my sub bass tracks usually from synth-pop genre which usually has that rumble and roll. The mid bass as I mentioned a while ago is more dense as it gives a full bodied sound on bass guitars, bass drum kicks and bass-baritone vocals. Bass guitars growls has this dull and weighty sound, bass kicks have a thudding but rather soft impact and bass-baritone has  a sufficient resonance and powerful low delivery.

Due to more mid bass texture, it has an evidently bass bleed that detail enthusiasts might frown about.

MIDRANGE:

Certainly that it has recessed mids but despite being presented in a depressed manner in the overall sound spectrum it has warm, lush and sensible texture not to make a leaner layout (I really don't like lean note texture either its a V-shape or U-shape) sound. It gives more body to male vocals and an energetic presentation on female vocals.

Due to a warm nature of Heart Mirror PRO, male voices in all vocal types have a more gruff, guttural and power that even gives a quality on an alto or falsetto. Female vocals were also beneficial on this one as it gives a luscious and "silvery" sound but here are some points that should be taken. In upper vocal registers from mezzo-sopranos to full range sopranos, it gives some shrill and a tad raspy when a singer hit the highest note range.

Instruments like percussives seem to reap on its inherent warmness like tom and snare drums and that heavenly sounding celesta in some classical tracks. Tom drums has a more sombre sound with ample hard hitting, snares seems to have metallic and penetrating sound then a lustrous and velvety sound of a celesta. Strings like guitar and violin have more of a warmer side rather than being crisp sounding, guitars especially on acoustic one is more of a warmer and "woody" sound and violins has this austere feel that it has an inadequate grit and attack on every motion on its bowstring. Piano is even warmer with overtones to make it sound more bloomy and rich sounding. Woodwinds like flute and fife has mellow and softer sound which I wish that it is more airy with brilliance and Brass like trumpets and horns has this rounded and robust with hint of being metallic sounding which somehow accurately capture that natural sound.

It seems that it doesn't really inherit some of bright and detailed midrange of original Heart Mirror but it delivers an opposite one.

HIGHS/ TREBLE:

Treble seems to be more on a balanced side rather than being too bright or too dark. Surely that it has some noticeable peaks on the upper mids that it somehow gives some hint of sibilance but it doesn't sound even further to be a strident one as it manages to have a smoother transition with enough details.

It appears to be that treble extension has an average airness that the sizzle on crashing cymbals seems tad lacking but it has enough glistening and metallic. Hi-hats do have a  shortened muted dull and buzz sound.

It is safe to say that Heart Mirror PRO on treble tuning is more on the safer side.

SOUNDSTAGE, IMAGING & OTHER TECHNICALITIES:

Like its predecessor, it has a similar approach when it comes to soundstage width and it is more of an average size, with even a midpoint depth and above average height just to make an almost equal proportion in spatial field to make a headroom just enough clearance. Imaging seems to be presented on two-dimensional, linear stereo panning just enough to hear certain elements on each part but not the most pinpoint on locating them.

Separation has decent spacing and gap between instruments and vocals. Layering is bit an improvement over the Heart Mirror original but still I consider it as a mediocre, both frequency and dynamic layering doesn't have any distinction on how it was arranged in a sonic canvas where if I play a more complex instrumental tracks, it turns out to be blurry and unhinged sounding.

Coherency of the driver responds fairly as it performs a moderate transient speed to have a sense of cohesion. Tonal colour of this one is more natural to the warmer sound.

Resolution capability of Heart Mirror PRO is quite average as it has more firm macro-dynamics with decent micro-detail retrieval. It has a less sharper definition due the intrinsic tuning of this set to sound a bit blunted.

PEER COMPARISONS:

TINHIFI T2 DLC

● Both its respective predecessors has a very positive and successful acceptance from audio community, T2 DLC has a DLC (diamond-like carbon) DD which has similar performance to Heart Mirror PRO's CNT. They even use the same shell design and material from its predecessors which are quite parallel to one another.

● T2 DLC is more neutral sounding as it sounds more balanced compared to Heart Mirror PRO which is warmer and more coloured. T2 DLC has more tighter and cleaner bass, Mids is transparent and more energetic than Heart Mirror PRO but male vocals has that lacking of depth and power that Heart Mirror PRO deliver it pretty well, Treble seems even better on T2 DLC as it has more shimmer and airier than Heart Mirror PRO.

● Technicalities on T2 DLC is tad better, as it has a wider soundstage with good depth and height. Seperation, Imaging and layering has almost the same performance. Coherency-wise, T2 DLC has faster transients and lastly, its detail retrieval has edgier and sharper definition.

BQEYZ TOPAZ

● Shells of Topaz is a composite one as it consists of aluminium alloy on its faceplate and a resin on the cavity base part which makes it lighter compared to Heart Mirror PRO. It's a dual driver set-up as its 13mm DD has piezo-electric plates on it to handle treble. Cable of this set is thicker and looks durable but Heart Mirror PRO is more versatile due to its modular termination design.

● Both have a warmer tonality but Topaz is more leaning towards a balanced-neutral sound signature. Bass is more boomy that exhibits more bass bleeds on Heart Mirror PRO compared to Topaz the fact that they focus more on mid bass rather than sub bass. They even have similar texture on mids but Topaz presentation of this particular frequency is more forward and detailed. Treble is even smoother and airier on Topaz but both sets have that lack of snap on the cymbals part.

● Technicalities-wise, Topaz is superior in most category.wider soundstage, better separation, resolution and coherency. Imaging and layering are similar as they are presented in a linear stereo panning fashion and just average layering capability.

HZSOUND HEART MIRROR REGULAR:

● The regular version is way cheaper but it does have lesser quality inclusions like cables and IEM case.

● Tonality of these sets have a definitive distinction on what these two products separate and have its different approach regarding its tuning on one another, Heart Mirror regular has that reference-neutral tuning with brighter timbre compared to a more coloured, fun sounding successor unit. Bass is tighter, midranger is more forward, detailed and even more spacious as vocal quality on Heart Mirror regular is the best for high range sopranos. Treble is even more shimmering at detail but airiness seems eerily similar as both have average extension.

● Technicalities are basically almost identical from soundstage to layering but Heart Mirror regular has edgier definition and better micro-detail and nuances retrieval.

As I put a conclusion of my review in HZsound Heart Mirror PRO, I unequivocally render my percipience towards this set is indeed a departure to the original Heart Mirror which we used to fall in love with its neutral tuning. With better included accessories and more musically tuned to be more versatile to most genre out there, Heart Mirror PRO is indeed an evolution for some listener who wants to step up from their previous consumer-level friendly tuning ear gears but as for tuning aspect, it's more of a step back rather than a progression in my honest and humble opinion.

HZsound Heart Mirror PRO is currently available to purchase and you can order it via KEEPHIFI. KEEPHIFI is always available online and ready to take care of your order with best possible customer service. You can click the non-affiliated link HERE.

SPECIFICATION:

MODEL: HZSOUND HEART MIRROR PRO

IMPEDANCE: 32Ω

SENSITIVITY: 110dB

FREQUENCY RESPONSE:  10Hz – 40KHz

CABLE LENGTH: 1.25M

PIN TYPE: 2-PIN CONNECTOR (0.78MM)

PLUG TYPE: 3.5mm

DRIVER UNIT(S): (1) DYNAMIC DRIVER

PROS:

● Same proven shell chassis from the original.

● High-quality stock cable with modular capability.

● Warmish, organic tonality and fun sounding set.

● Impressive array of included accessories

● Punchy and substantial bass

● Quite to scale well on better sources with good power output.

CONS:

▽ Still has an average technicalities like its original counterpart.

▽ Recessed midrange.

▽ Certainly not a tonal upgrade for a Heart Mirror fan.

Some Tracks Tested: ( * = 16-bit FLAC, ** = 24-bit FLAC, *'* = MQA, '*' = DSD, *'= .WAV)

Alison Krauss -When You Say Nothing At All *

Jade Wiedlin - Blue Kiss**

Led Zeppelin - When The Levee Breaks **

Mountain - Mississippi Queen *

Queen - Killer Queen **

Guns N' Roses - Patience *'*

Eric Clapton - Tears in Heaven '*'

Sergio Mendes- Never Gonna Let You Go '*'

Pearl Jam - Daughter **

Roselia - Hidamari Rhodonite *

Assassin - Fight (To Stop The Tyranny)*

Celtic Frost- Visual Aggression *

New Order - Blue Monday *

The Corrs- What Can I do (unplugged version) *

Jimi Hendrix Experience - Voodoo Child *

The Madness- Buggy Trousers *

Metallica - Motorbreath **

Mariah Carey- Always Be My Baby *

Destiny's Child - Say My Name *

Malice Mizer- Au Revoir *

Mozart - Lacrimosa *

New York Philharmonic Orchestra - Dvorak- Symphony 9 " From the New World." *

Eva Cassidy - Fields of Gold (Sting cover)*

Michael Jackson - Give In To Me *

Exciter - Violence and Force *

Diana Krall - Stop This World **

Debbie Gibson - Foolish Beat *'*

The Sisters of Mercy – Lucretia My Reflection**

Suzanne Vega – Luka **

Lauren Christy – Steep *

P.S.

I am not affiliated to HZSound nor receive monetary incentives and financial gains as they provide me a review unit for an exchange of factual and sincere feedback from yours truly. 

Once again, I would like to KEEPHIFI for providing this review unit. I truly appreciate their generosity towards me and other reviewers.