TINHIFI T2 MK.II: Orthodoxically Neutrally-tuned Set
TINHIFI is one of the few audio companies out there that is quite consistent in the design language of their products. The original T2 itself is the testament on the reliability of its design although the MMCX-type appears to be a contentious matter among audio enthusiasts.
TINHIFI T2 MK.II is the latest model of the T2 series line as TINHIFI tries to pull out a nostalgia card once again as its form factor still garners some interest among its loyal fans. Like its original heritage, this set seems to follow its design language but with some slight modifications to have a modern appeal, metal shell chassis and MMCX-type connector albeit it has a different driver configuration as this model has dual dynamic driver configuration rather than the hybrid driver configuration that the original T2 has.
In its driver configuration, it has a 10mm dynamic driver for the low frequencies and a smaller 6mm dynamic driver for midrange and high frequencies in which each driver has some composite diaphragm for a cleaner, clearer and even more transparent sound . With the tandem performance of these paralleled drivers, it will deliver an accurate, fast and more natural sound quality. These drivers were encapsulated in a solid yet lightweight aluminium shell chassis in which it offers a comfortable wear for a long listening session with an assurance of its durability of its build quality for resistance to wear and tear.
Its shell design has more rounded and smooth contours as it is more similar to a conch shell. The shell's circular design appears to fit snugly into my lugholes as I don't encounter any fitting issues at all during my long listening session and at the same time it offers a decent passive noise isolation as it is able to block some noises from the outside surroundings. As I mentioned a while ago, this set has a MMCX-type of connector as TINHIFI justified on its flexibility due to rotating capability for angle adjustment and adaptability.
It looks like its stock cable seems to be of a decent quality for its price as it has a four-core OFC silver-plated copper that was twisted and braided with a straight 3.5mm termination plug. Although this cable is prone to entanglement, it is also less supple and in a leaner texture but still durable enough.
TINHIFI T2 MK.II product presentation still retains a minimalist approach like all TINHIFI sets that I've done a review before as minimalism is still their statement . It has elongated rectangular packaging where the contents are placed inside.
Here are the following contents that TINHIFI T2 MK.II have:
- Pair of TINHIFI T2 MK.II IEM transducers
- Stock cable
- Pair of blue-coloured memory foam ear tips.
- Three (3) pairs of balanced bore ear tips in different standard sizes.
- Three (3) pairs of narrow bore ear tips in different standard sizes.
- Paperwork like a contact card and instruction manual.
For having a 16 ohms of impedance and a sound pressure level of 16 ohms, TINHIFI T2 MK.II is definitely an easy to drive set as it is quite sensitive to amplification even with decent power output equates with low gain mode. With a sufficient power output, this set will give a full-range and vivid sound output to have a dynamic sound.
To determine its tonality, it appears that it follows its progenitor's tuning which is a neutralish-bright sound profile in a quite uncommon tuning in this price range up to this day. It has more emphasis on midrange up to high frequencies.
LOWS/BASS:
The bass response of this one is on the tighter side, as it is also more focused on the mid-bass texture while having a clean and articulate bass quality. This type of bass quality suits well with sets that aim towards a more neutral sound on its intended target curve but the majority of bassheads, they might find it lethargic and anaemic to their liking.
The sub-bass presence of this set is less perceivable and with less detail that it only produces a faint rumble from sub-bass focus instruments. As I mentioned a while ago that it focuses more mid-bass texture, it still sounds a bit transparent, a tad hollow and still on a leaner texture which has its less depth, volume and authority that affects the timbre of bass-centric instruments and male vocals. Bass guitars sound a bit dull and aspirating while bass kick drums have resonant yet soft sound and then bass to bass-baritone have lack of depth and dark tone on them that sometimes, they sound more like a lighter baritone singer to my ears.
MIDRANGE:
The midrange presentation of this one is quite forward, energetic and transparent on how it is defined by its perceived neutral presentation. Due to its inadequacies of warmth characteristic on this one, it gives a leaner note weight tone on vocals like baritones, tenors and contraltos which makes them a less natural sounding. But the energetic and clarity nature of this set will be more beneficial on countertenors, some mezzo-sopranos, sopranos, strings and woodwinds.
In vocals, male vocals especially on dramatic or deeper baritones have a lack of lushness and richness on their characteristics while tenors have less brassy but somehow it has clear and metallic sounding on them. Countertenors have smooth, tender and a tad dazzling which share similar characteristics with mezzo-sopranos. Contraltos sounds too light and hollow due to its lack of warmth to have that husky and rich sound in which they should have those attributes. Sopranos seems to fare on this set as it gives some openness and energy to their vocal qualities to sound glimmering and crystalline.
On instruments, strings like violins, harps and guitars, they sound vibrant, bright and crisp respectively. Woodwind instruments like piccolos, concert flutes, clarinets and saxophones, piccolos have brilliant and shrill sound, concert flutes have clear and bright sound, clarinets have bright and penetrating sound, and then saxophones sound expressive and incisive. As for brasses, trumpets have bright and vivid sound while trombones have blaring and intense sound on them. Horns have metallic and intense sound while Wagner tuba have hearty and menacing sound. On percussion instruments, snares have dry and sharp sound, field drums have dry and resonant sound that tom-toms share the same sound characteristics, then on kettledrums, they sound resonant, dead and dry. Pianos are on the brighter tone as it has brilliant and clear sound.
HIGHS/TREBLE:
The T2 MK.II is definitely bright as it has accentuated upper-mids up to brilliance treble region which gives more crisp, shimmering and quite airy for a co-axial dynamic driver set-up IEM. This type of tuning gives a more edgier attack of instruments and a more clarity and definition on female vocals. Any possibility of sibilance was kept under control but some female vocals might sound a bit piercing and shrill that treble-sensitive folk should take caution on the treble register of this one.
Cymbals strike sounds bright and glistening while hi-hats have a buzzing sound though there are some instances that it exaggerates to add more sizzle. Glockenspiels have a shimmering and striking sound while celestas have a bright and sweet sound on them.
SOUNDSTAGE, IMAGING AND OTHER TECHNICALITIES:
While it has above-average to wide lateral span on its perceived sound field, it has less depth while its height ceiling appears to be decent which in overall sound/speaker dimension within my headroom gives me a moderately spacious. Stereo imaging gives me a rather linear two-dimensional stereo presentation where I can locate and pan out some location of instruments in a spatial point accurately. It maintains a good separation although its layering isn't that impressive at all.
The cohesive performance of its co-axial dynamic drivers are quite excellent as it gives a homogeneity performance with fast transients without any out of phasing and distortion issues at all. Resolution capabilities of this one is good given it has a good macro-dynamics while it has decently sharp micro-detail retrieval to extract nuances and detail like notation attacks and vocal ends.
PEER COMPARISONS:
TINHIFI T2 DLC
- The second variant of the T2 series but this time it has only a single dynamic driver which has DLC on its diaphragm. Like all T2 it has a metal shell chassis but its connector uses a 2-pin one.
- As for tuning, it seems that it has a mild U-shaped sound profile that makes this set a bit more coloured in terms of tonality. It has more emphasis on sub-bass, a bit recessed yet energetic midrange presentation and similar bright treble register.
- On technical capabilities, both sets have more similar performance with the exception that this set has less width span but its depth and height is a bit better.
TRIPOWIN KAILUA
- Another set with dual dynamic configuration with similar drivers set-up. It also has a metal shell but it uses a standard 2-pin connector.
- As for its sound signature, it has a warm, V-shaped which makes it a contrasting sounding to T2 MK.II that makes it more coloured and musical sounding. It has more pronounced bass response, a recessed yet warmer midrange, and a less brighter treble response with meagre airy extension.
- Regarding its technical performance, compared to the T2 MK.II, KAILUA has a smaller sound/speaker staging, not so defined instrument separation and layering, and less resolving on resolution capability particularly micro-dynamics.
CCA DUO
- CCA's answer to last year's answer on the popular trend of releasing dual dynamic drivers set-up on IEMs at the entry-level segment. It uses 2 micro dynamic drivers rather than the usual implementation of dynamic drivers in different sizes. It has a composite shell chassis and still uses the QDC-type connector just like all CCA and KZ sets.
- The DUO has a mild U-shaped sound signature as it has more focus on sub-bass response but mid-bass texturing is ample enough, a bit recessed but linear and energetic midrange, either smooth or brighter treble response depending on ear tips you are using. It has a decent brilliance extension if using silicone ear tips but at the expense of instances of piercing and shrill sound on female vocals.
- As for technicalities, the DUO has a smaller dimensionality in terms of sound/speaker staging but it has good height and depth, good layering capabilities and somehow, it has similar sharpness on micro-detailing aspect.
To conclude this product assessment, it seems that TINHIFI is quite conservative on how they will market this set as it is more of a recurrence of their previous highly regarded product as it still follows its tuning philosophy and design language. To be honest, I'm a bit of a fan of the previous T2 as it was also one of the few sets that aimed toward a neutral sound back then.
To whom I will recommend this set? if you are a type of an audio enthusiast who wants a neutral-sounding set that is quite affordable at the entry-level pricing segment. I'm glad to recommend this one to you as it sounds clean and clear sounding with good resolving capabilities.
TINHIFI T2 MK.II is now available at LINSOUL, check out the unaffiliated link below.
For more TINHIFI product reviews, just visit the product catalogues with links down.
SPECIFICATION:
MODEL: TINHIFI T2 MK.II
IMPEDANCE: 16Ω
SENSITIVITY: 103dB
FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 20Hz – 20KHz
CABLE LENGTH: 1.2m
PIN TYPE: MMCX-TYPE CONNECTOR
PLUG TYPE: 3.5mm
DRIVER UNIT(S): (2) DYNAMIC DRIVERS
PROS:
● Solid construction of its metal shell chassis.
● Its ergonomic compact design fits well and will also offer good sealing.
● Three choices of ear tips to choose from.
● Neutral sound
● Clean and precise bass response for neutral-heads.
● Linear, clear and energetic midrange
● Forward vocals, good for vocal tracking on countertenor, mezzo-sopranos and sopranos.
● Crisp and bright sounding on strings and woodwinds.
● Good treble air extension for an arrayed dual dynamic driver set.
● Above-average to wide lateral span on its perceived sound/speaker stage.
● Excellent cohesive performance of its co-axial dynamic driver set-up.
● Good resolution capabilities.
CONS:
● Absolutely not for bassheads as it has a lack of authority and impact.
● lack of depth, texture and tone colouration in most male vocals and some instruments.
● MMCX-type connectors are still a contentious issue among audio enthusiasts.
● Might sound too lean to some listeners.
● Its bright tuning might be too sensitive to some treble-sensitive folk out there.
● No inclusion of a carrying case.
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 *
Ottoman Mehter - Hucum Marsi *
Diana Damrau - Mozart: Die Zauberflöte*
Type O Negative - Black No.1 *
Felix Ayo - Vivaldi: Presto **
Three Tenors - Nessum Dorma *
Mercyful Fate - Witches' Dance *
P.S.
I am not affiliated to KIWI EARS 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 send my gratitude to MS. KAREENA TANG of LINSOUL for providing this review unit. I truly appreciate her generosity and trust towards me and other reviewers.
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