Tin HiFi T2 - $50 Ticket Into Hi-Fi - A Consumer's Perspective

[jiyeon]

 

Ever since I dove into the audio world, I've been after getting some nicer, sharper, clearer, premium audio quality from my next audio upgrade. I was on the search for something with a small footprint, and in-ear, as I found over-the-ears to be quite fatiguing after a while, and I like the low profile of earbuds, so I elected to go IEMs, and at a budget of around less than $70. This is where the TIn HiFi T2 IEMs introduced themselves.

 

The Tin HiFi T2 features a dual dynamic driver setup, which on paper is great for bass enthusiasts. Which I certainly found odd at my initial research for these in-ear monitors as dynamic drivers generally favor the low-end, but I was recommended these for the mids and highs.

 

I recently picked up the Tin HiFi T2 in-ear monitors from Amazon for the low admission price of £44.99, which was an easy pill to swallow for something that I read was easily a diamond in the rough in the world of audio and specifically in-ear monitors. I read that these IEMs were particularly exceptional at vocals, mids, and high-ends, with the bass not being overbearing, which is exactly what I look for in IEMs, so I ultimately decided to give them a shot.

I've been using these for just over a week now and I can wholeheartedly say they are an amazing pair of budget IEMs, but for a certain target market.

 

 

 

First things first, the design is quite minimal and understated, with the IEMs themselves being small enough to house the drivers whilst also having a design which is still able to stay in your ears, albeit not very well. My T2 IEMs came with blue comply foam tips out of the box, but the tips were too big for my ears so I eventually switched to small silicone tips which were also supplied with the IEMs.

 

They also feature a removable MMCX cable which has been beautifully twisted and also features a robust and minimal barrel-shaped splitter. There is also a transparent bead that locks into place to hold the cables together, as pictured below under the IEMs to keep the IEMs together. It's a nice touch.

 

 

What's also just as beautiful is the gorgeous gold-plated 3.5mm jack which has a faux carbon fiber black vinyl on it, just for the aesthetics, I guess, as it's not textured. For $50 IEMs, these small details were nice touches which add to the experience of using these IEMs.

 

 

 

Highs:

The highs are easily the strongest point of these monitors. There is crispy and sharp detailing in the highs with minimal hissing. Fifth Harmony's 'Worth It' is a great example of clear highs. The saxophone melody in the instrumentals of the song are greatly detailed and clear. The girls' vocals and in particular Camilla Cabello with her chirpy vocal range are sharp and clear too.

Female vocals and high-ranged instruments like sharp piano keys and violin chords would be excellent to pair with these in-ear monitors as I believe the highs are where this pair of in-ear monitors shines the most.

 

Mids:

The mids are similar to the highs in that they are fairly detailed and also cold. There is a little sibilance in this range, and instrumentation separation can be a hit or miss depending on track and what type of composition it uses. David Guetta's 'Titanium' is a great example of mids and instrumentation separation, the background instrumentation is well-detailed and clear, and the vocals of Sia are able to clearly distinguish themselves in the highs.

The mids are certainly not as rich and pronounced as the highs, but the mids still managed to be prominent enough to seperate themselves from the highs.

 

Lows:

The lows are the troublesome area for the Tin HiFi T2. I couldn't for the life of me get decent bass reproduction, whether I tried larger eartips, different ear insertion, or modifying my EQ to favour the lows. The lows are very often unpresent, quiet, and shy to the party. Even the bassiest songs like Post Malone's 'rockstar' and The Weeknd's 'Pray For Me' are uncharacteristically weak on the ears with the bass nowhere near as punchy as it could sound. Even when the low-ends are present, they are particularly tinny and muddy, and not very pronounced at all.

I definitely would note recommend these in-ear monitors to anybody who seeks crispy and pronounced bass, as the Tin HiFi T2 just outright lacks any low-end re-production.

 

 

Song 1 - Gfriend (여자친구) - Time for the moon night (밤) (Ballad K-Pop)

• Intro: The beautiful chirpy female vocals of Eunha are greatly detailed and clear, with the piano making the most of the excellent highs and mids of these in-ear monitors. When the rest of the orchestra enters, they are all beautifully detailed and sharp, with no hissing or sibilance. The low kickdrums however are low and muted, and contribute nearly nothing to the composition.
• Verse 1: Similar to the intro, the female vocals are where the Tin HiFi T2 shine, with the vocals being rich, far forward, and clear. The background instrumentation is also nicely-detailed and clear, but suffers from too much noise and muddles itself, it feels uncomfortably claustrophobic.
• Pre-Chorus: The highs regain the ground for the song with once again their amazing re-production of the female vocals. The instrumentation appears to have raised an octave which puts the highs in full force and makes for excellent detailing and clarity.
• Chorus: There is a beautiful blend of the highs and lows here, with the female vocals being beautifully clear and far forward in front of the instrumentation, which is equally as sharp.
• Verse 2: Similarly to the first verse, the instrumentation tends to favor the mids and highs with the vocals being once again the main point of contact and are beautifully clear throughout the entire song.
• Bridge: The low notes of the piano in the bridge here aren't too defined and therefor don't have the kick that the producers probably expected them to have when using the Tin HiFi T2 in-ear monitors. The highs as expected are once again greatly detailed and shine in front.

Song 2 - WJSN (우주소녀) - Boogie Up (Bubblegum K-Pop)

• Intro: The heavy rich high guitar notes in the intro are tremendously detailed and punchy.
• Verse 1: The female vocals shine far in front of the instrumentation, which is also equally as sharp and detailed as the female vocals. The low notes of the guitar are nearly non-existent and tinny.
• Pre-Chorus: The lows in this section of the song are weak and muted which flattens the tempo and mood of the pre-chorus, especially since the female vocals here are beautifully conveyed.
• Chorus: The chirpy, catchy Summer beat of the chorus is so nicely detailed and bubbly, the highs are great at this section. The short bursts of female vocals add to the sweet and fun nature of the highs and is a great display of what the highs are capable of, whilst not producing too much hiss or sibilance.
• Verse 2: The female vocals here stand out beautifully similar to the first verse, with the rumbly low bass in the first half of this second verse not being too pronounced nor punchy, but also not enough to be present and fails to be a strong point once again.
• Bridge: The beautiful and bubbly high notes from the female vocals are fantastic to hear using these in-ear monitors and prove once again that they are what makes these in-ear monitors excellent. The background instrumentation is once again also equally as clear with them not overpowering the female vocals.

Song 3 - BTOB (비투비) - Beautiful Pain (아름답고도 아프구나) (Korean Ballad)

• Intro: The intro to the song (at least when viewing the YouTube music video) is full of nicely-detailed mids in the piano, with the lows of the piano not being too punchy or even present.
• Verse 1: The male vocals this time around are far forward in front of the piano, with the lows of the piano and the kickdrum in the latter half of the first verse still a bit calm and muted. Vocals remain a strong point of the Tin HiFi T2, even if it is inherently husky, low-end male vocals. I wouldn't hold my breath that the male vocals would sound the same on more premium in-ear monitors.
• Pre-Chorus: Similar to the first verse, the background instrumentation is nice and detailed, with the vocals easily still being the focal point with the clear and concise detailing.
• Chorus: The chorus' high piano notes are tremendously detailed, with the male vocals of course being the stand-out point with great clarity. The instrumentation separation between the vocals and the instruments are also nicely detailed.
• Verse 2: The guitar here is nicely detailed but the low-end of the guitar fails to come through using these in-ear monitors. The vocals are once again nice and forward.
• Bridge: The lows of the guitar are quite muddy and quiet here. The naturally husky vocals of Hyunsik and Minhyuk are quite shallow. However the instrumentation here is once again nicely detailed.

 

 

So after owning these for a week and going through countless hours of Apink, BTOB, some English artists, I can safely commend these IEMs for being exactly what I imagined; Amazing, crisp clear highends and treble with female vocals in particular being especially clear and pronounced, no muddly bass - although bass is slightly muted and shy in these IEMs in my experience - and the soundstage being not too wide but wide enough for vocals to shine through.

These IEMs would be ideal for singers who don't rely on busy and loud background instrumentation and need to reproduce their own voice as crisp and clear as possible. These IEMs never go wrong with vocals but can struggle if a background instrumentation is too busy and overpower the vocals.

 

The universal fit of these IEMs means that they will not fit everyone even with the right set of eartips, these are not the most comfortable thing in the world and I find I don't get a 100% exact fit with them due to their design, the MMCX connection area is a little too short to overcome my ear and therefor it always sticks out just a little, not sealing the IEMs into my ears correctly. I'd give them a 7/10 for fit, because while they do fit, they don't do it comfortably enough.

 

For $50 IEMs, these are IEMs I will enjoy for years to come, provided they don't break after nine hundred hours worth of Korean pop and ballads.