DUNU KIMA 2: Simply An Organic Sounding Set

DUNU as an audio company has a very strong reputation in the audio community and is one of the oldest and considered pioneers in the portable audio industry in China. As you read some of my previous reviews on DUNU products, I always stated that their FALCON C was one of the first initial stage midrange set that I have encounter them in which I really cherish that moment and also their particular model, the SA6 Regular which has an all balanced armature driver configuration that leaves me a long impression that it is one of the most finely-tuned sets in the midrange audio market.

The set that will be the star of this product review is the successor of their well-received entry-level single driver IEM, The DUNU KIMA, and what we have got right now is the DUNU KIMA 2. Like its predecessor, it still retains the design structure of its shell and a single driver configuration but on its internal components and some of its included accessories, DUNU did some an improvement of its driver technology and introduced some new features that the previous model does not have before.

The DUNU KIMA 2 outfitted with a dynamic driver in which DUNU claimed that it is a newer type of a dynamic driver technology which is somewhat of a derivative of their Eclipse tech which is a staple driver on their flagship models like LUNA, ZEN, FALCON PRO and FALCON ULTRA. The dynamic driver has a dual-cavity structure with a strong magnetic circuit supported by high-grade neodymium magnet along with a DLC (Diamond-Like Coating) composite diaphragm that will deliver a cohesive, responsive and a well-balanced sound quality across the frequency range.

The driver was then encased in a CNC-milled stainless steel shell chassis which is quite compact to all ear sizes and it has a kidney-shaped outline on it. Its surface underwent an anodising and then sandblasting process to achieve that matte-like scratch-resistant finish. Like the KIMA, it still utilises a 0.78mm bi-pin connector as its interlocking mechanism which I think is more stable and sturdy as the attaching and detaching process on its removable stock cable to an earpiece will be much easier and less complex to do.

With the ergonomic design of its kidney shaped profile, The KIMA 2 offers a comfortable fitting and comfort within my lugholes without any discomfort that will affect our listening session. Depending on the ear tips that you will be pairing it on this set, the DUNU SnS is the best option in my opinion to give the best passive noise isolation to block some unwanted noises from the outside surroundings.

DUNU furnishes a high quality stock cable on the KIMA 2, and this particular cable model was marketed as DUNU Lyre Mini and this one can be purchased separately as this one might be a good choice of upgrading some IEM’s stock cable either of less quality or need for replacement. The cable has multi-strand high purity OCC copper Litz wires that were organised into 4-cores and sheathed with a gray-coloured nylon-fabric insulator. This cable also features a modular plug in which you can swap it with different types of interchangeable terminal plugs according to its usage for different analogue audio output, either a 3.5mm single-ended or a 4.4mm balanced output via DUNU’s Q-lock mechanism. In my daily usage, I don't encounter any issues like distortion or microphonic effects that might affect the clean audio transmission signal from source to transducers.

When it comes to product packaging, since this is a DUNU set and as we all know that DUNU is quite generous when it comes to quantifying the amount of accessories. And as we expected, the KIMA 2 is full-packed with inclusions that we can use aside from the earpieces and cable. The contents were packed in a medium-size packaging box with some illustrations of the product’s mascot and some information like specs and company addresses.

These are the following contents you can find inside of its packaging box:

• Pair of KIMA 2 IEM transducers
• DUNU Lyre Mini modular cable
• Hardened fabric canvas carrying case
• 3.5mm termination plug adaptor
• 4.4mm termination plug adaptor
• Three (3) narrow-bored silicone ear tips in different standard sizes.
• Three (3) balanced-bored silicone ear tips in different standard sizes.
• Three (3) Candy silicone ear tips in different standard sizes.
• Three (3) SnS ear tips in different standard sizes.
• Small IEM mesh bags
• A mascot’s PVC standee
• Paperwork like instruction manuals, Q.C. card and warranty card.

The KIMA 2 is relatively an easy to drive set that could be paired to any device even with a power output that usually ranges within a normal gain mode like most smartphones, dongle adapters, laptops and PCs. On an optimal and desirable listening level, this IEM is able to deliver a dynamic and a full range sound as it encompasses across the audio frequency spectrum.

As for its tonal signature, the KIMA 2 has a mild U-shaped sound profile as it has some balanced and a sort of a neutral tonality as it has some slight elevation on the low frequency and just a bit accentuated upper mids to the presence part of the high frequency section. And also, as I clearly remembered the first KIMA appears to have a similar tuning profile but there are some different emphasis on each frequency section good thing that I still have it in my possession.

LOWS/BASS:

This is what makes the difference between the previous KIMA and this latest incarnation that this one has a more mid bass texture emphasis that makes bass sound quality a bit more potent but still not on a bass head’s quality level of authoritative and vigorousness. It doesn't mean that it has a quick instantaneous decrease of its sub bass presence as I still felt the rumble and reverberations coming from these instruments with the likes of synthesisers, drum machines and low-tuned bass guitars and also, double-basses.

The mid bass texture appears to be sufficient that it was able to give a satisfying note weight on some selected bass-clef instruments and deep male vocals. Bass guitars have these sustaining and rasping sound while double-basses have a bit of a broad and resonant sound on every pluck and bowing and then, bass kick drums have a thudding and sonorous sound on every stroke of its drum head. As for male voices, both bass and bass-baritone vocals have that deep and resonating tone but it still sort of inadequate dark timbre and fullness as they sound a bit velvety.

MIDRANGE:

While the midrange of this one is slightly notched on its overall frequency range presentation, it still presents a well-balanced, a bit linear and transparent with some trace of warmth on it. With this kind of tuning, it makes the midrange sound more favourable towards female vocals and string instruments.

The male vocals, depending on the vocal types, they sound natural and adequately lush as the baritones have a smooth, mild and velvety sound in them although there some types of baritone vocals that needs that rich and warm tone like kavalierbariton, verdi, dramatic and noble baritone in which they should sound steely, copious and bold in which this set just enough to deliver it, tenors seems to have the clear and ringing sound with sufficient power which makes this one fare well to all types of tenor, and countertenors have smooth, tender and emotive vocal quality. When it comes to female vocals, contraltos have less rich and less plush on their chesty vocals as they sound less husky but still retains that smoky characteristics, mezzo-sopranos have these velvety and expressive sound with a round and rich tone on them, and the sopranos have silvery and creamy sound which make them more versatility to almost all subtypes of this particular vocal although on the coloratura one, you might look for more shining factor.

On how the instruments sound on this one, they really have an almost accurate tonal colour which is probably its strongest asset that makes this set more appealing to audio enthusiasts who want a natural tonality. The string instruments with the likes of guitars, violins and cellos, the guitars have a crisp and balanced sound from every strumming and plucking on their strings, violins sound sweet and clear sound on every gripping on its bowstrings, and the cellos have that sensuous, stately and cantabile sound. On woodwinds, concert flutes have the poetic and graceful sound while the piccolos sound lighter and delicate, clarinets have round and melodic sound on them, and saxophones sound sonorous and hollow. As for brass instruments, trumpets sound stately with some brilliance while the trombones have solid and round sound, and then the horns sound ponderous, sonorous and in some cases, sombre.

The pianos have a well-balanced tone as it has a sweet, rich and vibrant sound that makes them pleasant to listen to on every key note that the hammer and strings produce.

HIGHS/TREBLE:

It has that brilliance but not the type that will be too sharp nor piercing and it has that smoothness but not to be too dark sounding, that is how I described the treble quality of the KIMA 2 which differentiates itself from the previous KIMA. Satiny is the best description that I could tell of its treble response as it sounds well-balanced, smooth and with just enough gleam as it has some slight accentuation and then a gradual attenuation between the upper-mids and presence section. The slight prominent on those treble sections will be enough to feature some clarity and definition on vocals and attack notation on instruments without sounding too sharp, shrill or piercing.

The quality of the brilliance section of this one is rather modest with just the right amount of intensity of its sparkle. Cymbals have these undulating and lustrous sound, hi-hats have that shortened buzzing tone of its distinctive chick-y sound, celestas sound sweet and ethereal and glockenspiel have that bell-like sound on either in a keyboard format or mallet-type one.

SOUNDSTAGE, IMAGING AND OTHER TECHNICALITIES:

The technical performance of this one is somehow fairly decent but if I will compare to its predecessor, at least it has some slight improvements, particularly on the stereo imaging aspect. It has perceivable average to above-average sound field dimensions within my head room as it has a rather middling width on its lateral span, acceptable height reach and a reasonable depth from front-to-reach on its sonic spatiality. Stereo imaging on this one presents a two-dimensional stereo presentation in a linear manner but it has a better than average layering and separation but still a capped one due to the limitation of driver technology as there some instances its struggles a bit on multi-instrumental tracks from the genres like jazz and philharmonic orchestral recording.

As for its driver coherency, it has a pretty responsive dynamic driver as it was able to execute a fast transient speed for bass response and clean and clear midrange and treble without any distortion at all. Resolution capability of this one somehow above the norm as the quality of the macro-dynamics and micro-detail retrieval of this one seems contrasting as it has a solid and responsive changes on highlighting dynamics of varying volume degree on instrumental passage and choral lines on the former, and a less sharper definition on extracting finer details, nuances and subtleties from an audio tracks like vocals ends, instrumental reverb tails and spatial audio effects on the latter aspect, in which defines the overall dynamic processing like limiters, compressors and expanders of an audio track’s production quality.

PEER COMPARISONS:

DUNU KIMA

• The predecessor of this model and the first one of the KIMA series, it shares a similar build design and driver implementation to its successor model.
• It uses a bit older dynamic driver technology  as it also has a DLC-coated diaphragm on it then it was encased in a metal alloy shell.
• This one is well-packed with accessories like more choices of ear tips but unlike the KIMA 2, its stock cable doesn't have a modular termination plug feature.
• The KIMA also has a U-shaped sound profile but it has more sub bass presence on its overall bass response, a bit leaner and a tad energetic midrange and a  lustrous treble response but its brilliance air is rather meagre.
• On its overall technical performance, it has similar performance with the KIMA 2, but it has less define layering and separation with less resolving resolution capability.

LETSHUOER D13

• LETSHUOER's single driver IEM was released in 2022. And like the Kima 2, it also has a metal shell but in a different shape.
• It also uses a larger dynamic driver with a DLC diaphragm and it was enclosed in a circular shaped aluminium alloy shell.
• The product packaging of this one is fairly packed with a quantifying amount of accessories but the cable isn't a modular one.
• Since this one has a detachable tuning filter nozzles in which this set offers two tuning profiles, a warm V-shaped which has strong bass emphasis and a bright V-shaped which more focused on highlighting the crispness and bright tonality of its treble responses while attenuates the bass quality.
• Regarding its technical capabilities, it has an average head stage, less refined layering and separation of its two-dimensional stereo imaging presentation and less resolving.

MOONDROP ARIA (DEMO)

• One of the MOONDROP's well-known product in the audio market and like the KIMA 2, it has a single driver set-up and it also has metal alloy shell.
• It uses a dynamic driver with LCP diaphragm and then it was housed in a metal alloy shell.
• Since I only tested this one for a few minutes, I don't have any idea of its inclusions inside of its packaging box but according to some reviews, it has only one type of eartips, a carrying case, some extra nozzle filters and a tweezer.
• The tonal profile of this one is U-shaped in which aligns with Harman-ish tuning, rumbly but a bit hollowed bass response, lean, recessed and energetic midrange and a tad bright but less airy treble response.
• The technical performance of this one is rather less impressive in my opinion from soundstage size up to less resolving on its resolution capabilities.

T-FORCE/TANGZU YUAN LI

• TANGZU's inaugural IEM model and again, like the KIMA 2, it has a single driver configuration and a metal shell chassis.
• It's another set that also utilises the dynamic driver with DLC diaphragm enclosed in a mirror-finished aluminium alloy shell.
• This set is also jam-packed with quantifying amount of accessories but again, its stock cable doesn't have a modular termination plug feature.
• It has a U-shaped sound as it has rumbly and punchy bass response, a well-balanced, clean midrange and with a sufficiently bright but less airy treble response.
• The technical performance of this one is quite good for single DD which is quite similar with KIMA 2 but it is a bit better when it comes to resolution capability as this one is quite resolving and highlighting more micro-details.

To sum up my assessment on this one, the DUNU KIMA 2 indeed has a noticeable refinement as DUNU takes some feedback from audio enthusiasts regarding the previous KIMA tonal performance in which part of the audio frequency section that they want to improve in which they are able to deliver it while retaining a natural and pleasant tonal profile. But there are some questions on why I should recommend the KIMA 2 to other fellow audio enthusiasts? first was it's the tonality itself on how it was tuned well-balanced yet musical and with some organic timbre on them that it proves the tuning prowess of DUNU's well-experienced audio engineers, second one is this product is pretty well-packed with accessories especial many choices of ear tips to choose from and a modular termination feature in its stock cable which is also a high quality, last but not the least, the build quality itself as DUNU products are known for its exceptional solid construction of their units.

DUNU KIMA 2 is now available on HIFIGO, I just provided a non-affiliated link below after this statement.

LINK:

https://hifigo.com/products/dunu-kima2

Interested in other DUNU products? Check out my previous reviews of their previous products.

■ DUNU KIMA 

■ DUNU SA6 MK.II

■ DUNU FALCON ULTRA

SPECIFICATION:

MODEL: DUNU KIMA

IMPEDANCE: 20Ω

SENSITIVITY: 108dB

FREQUENCY RESPONSE:  5Hz – 40KHz

CABLE LENGTH: 1.2M

PIN TYPE: 2-PIN CONNECTOR (0.78MM)

PLUG TYPE: (MODULAR) 3.5mm, 4.4mm

DRIVER UNIT(S): (1) DYNAMIC DRIVER

PROS:

● Still retains the excellent build quality from its predecessor.

● It has a well-balanced weight on its shells that allows it to be worn for long listening sessions.

● As expected of a DUNU product, a lot of quality accessories.

● 4 types of ear tips to choose from, including one of the best ear tips in my opinion, SnS ear tips.

● Fitting it with SnS ear tips will give you the best comfort and a passive noise isolation.

● Inclusion of the DUNU Lyre Mini as its stock cable as this one has a modular termination plug feature.

● It has a well-balanced sound with relatively natural tonality on it.

● Adequately punchy and clean bass sound.

● Smooth, clean and balanced sounding midrange.

● Quite an all-rounder on rendering on both vocals’ and instruments’ tonal colour to sound natural as it could be.

● It has a lustre treble response as it has enough brightness that doesn't sound aggressive that treble-sensitives will find it acceptable on their threshold.

● There are some slight improvements to its layering and separation aspect compared to its predecessor.

● Fairly versatile to almost all types of music genre.

CONS:

● Absolutely not for bass heads it doesn't have an authoritative and boomy bass response

● Can’t even recommend it to ardent treble heads to inadequate brightness and airy extension.

● A bit intimate head stage projection. (if you like to have that perceive wide soundstage) 

● Somewhat, it is sort of less resolving and a bit scant of its detail retrieval capability.

TESTING TRACKS: ( * = 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 *

P.S.

I am not affiliated to DUNU 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 send my gratitude to Mr. Kerwin Wu and Hermine Qiu of HIFIGO and also to [USER=176477]@DUNU-Topsound[/USER]  for providing this review unit. I truly appreciate their generosity and trust towards me and other reviewers.