Canon Yanyin Vid posted.
Old Written review here:
5 Likes
3 Likes
Great Video from No Borders Audiophile on the GS Audio SE12!
4 Likes
I can send you the original. I have a set
Holy smokes those skits at the end killed me 
1 Like
I definitely think the LinLong/LingLong is a very successful IEM from KZ. Definitely a departure from their typical, V-snapped, bloated tuning. Very nice video, man 
Hisenior Mega 5P
$399.00 Retail
$239.00 Current pricing
Single 10mm Dynamic Driver
4 BA
4 way crossover.
19 ohm impedance.
112 dB
10Hz-22kHZ frequency response.
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Preamble:
I’m a bit late to the party reviewing the Hisenior Mega 5P.
Originally released summer of 2022, here in North America they finally received limited attention around November of the same year, when they enjoyed a brief burst of reviewer and consumer praise and recognition.
Admittedly, despite mostly positive and enthusiastic commentary when I first became aware of the Mega 5P, I passed it over simply because it was an unfamiliar brand to me at the time.
It was only by good fortune and circumstance that I recently crossed paths with the HiSenior brand, when a fellow enthusiast loaned me his Hisenior T2 for evaluation.
I was immediately impressed by the T2. Following that experience, I decided to purchase the Mega 5P to further familiarize myself with what the brand had to offer. -
Fit, Build, Packaging, etc.
Fit for me is very good, I would identify the shells as mid sized, which is in keeping with general expectations for a 5 driver hybrid. They are molded with a mild “wing” on the shell. I know some don’t like these, but they typically work well for me maintaining proper alignment for nozzle angle, and this is the case with the Mega 5P
The metal nozzles are not overly long, but insertion depth is adequate for me to get a good seal and anchor using Large Sedna Xelastecs. The “standard” 5.5mm nozzle diameter (6.5mm at flange) means most 3rd party tips will fit, allowing for a wide and varied selection of tip options.
The build quality is nothing short of exquisite, the resin shells are smooth with no sharp angles or edges. The faceplates are fully integrated with the shell, the seam is invisible and undetectable. There is a single vent, that is professionally finished with a metal insert that is flawlessly flush with the exterior of the shell, you can run a fingernail over it and not catch an edge.
Hisenior dispenses with flashy packaging. Plain brown cardboard box, and inside is a sturdy “Pelican” style plastic case. The IEM’s and all accessories are inside.
The case is fitted with an insert to protect the IEM’s, and a zippered nylon pouch is secured on the inside of the lid for storage of accessories.
A nice assortment of tips, a two pin cable terminated 3.5mm, cleaning tool and cloth are included.
This is a case you can toss in your backpack or kit bag and subject it to daily abuse without worrying about your IEMs.
The only downside is; it is large enough that it is not readily pocketable.
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Equipment:
Hisenior Mega 5P Hybrid, 100+ hours aged.
AK SP2000T OP amp mode, 4.4 balanced.
Eletech Prudent 8 core SPC terminated 4.4mm.
Sedna Xelastec wide bore ear tips.
(Additional equipment used identified below under “sources”) -
Sound:
Mega 5P has a fairly balanced tuning.
I wouldn’t call it a fully neutral sound signature, but it isn’t heavily coloured in any frequency range, and for the most part, accurately follows the recorded source. There is a bit of sub bass boost that carry’s some warmth into the mids, and fills the head stage.
The dynamic driver allows the sub bass to extend low providing good bottom and mid/upper bass is full and thick with the ability to provide good thump and boominess when called on.
There is a bass “over reach” that fills the head stage, it’s there and carry’s some warmth, but doesn’t overwhelm. The mid/upper bass is well defined and detailed, on stringed bass instruments, you will hear string slap, and lingering string resonance with well recorded sources that take you there. Lower mids are recessed but upper mids recover nicely, and are clear and highly detailed. They are clean, open, and uncluttered, they extend nicely above the lows, but are not overly forward.
Vocals are clear, detailed and concise, with a natural and commanding presence. Beth Hart’s voice has a breathy, wispy timbre in her song “Without words in the way” and it sounds like she is in the room with you singing in your ear.
Highs are bright, clear and detailed. Snare drums are crisp, and cymbals have nice sizzle, but highs do roll off early. This prevents any hint of harshness or sibilance in the high frequencies, but does limit micro detail, air, and energy in the upper registers to some degree.
Being somewhat treble sensitive, the highs work very well for me, but treble aficionados will likely want for more. -
Head Stage:
Width is just outside the head.
Height is good, sub bass extension draws it low, but the early roll of the highs does place some limit on airiness in the upper reaches.
Depth is average. Mids and vocals present only moderately forward which does limit 3D perception on the Z axis.
Imaging and layering are very good left to right and top to bottom. It is easy to place and identify individual instruments.
Separation is good, individual instruments and vocalists have “room to breath”. On complex busy tracks the head stage can become “close” but I never found it cluttered or congested. -
Technicals:
Tonality is very good and natural. Despite the sub bass warmth in the head stage I find overall tonality does lean slightly toward bright.
Timbre is also very good. Personalities of individual instruments are well defined and identifiable. Listening to a violin sonata from Silk Baroque it is easy to differentiate between individual violins by the notes played.
Dynamics are excellent, even with extreme differences in loudness between different instruments, each retains its presence and individuality. -
Summary:
For me the Mega 5P is a standout for build quality, and the sound quality and tuning suit my personal listening preference very well.
This is nit picking a wee bit, but a little less roll off on the ultra highs could add more micro detail and air.
And, there is room for just a touch more attack on Tom, Kettle, and Kick drums.
The Mega 5P is easy to drive, but not over sensitive, and it synergized nicely with all of the sources I paired it with. I also found it works well with a wide variety of genres.
I refrain from outright recommending any ear gear, there is too much subjective personal preference involved. What I like, may not suit someone else.
But imo the build quality, accessories, and sound of the Mega 5P qualify it as worthy of consideration.
I’m not shilling for Hisenior but FYI.
At the time of preparing this review Hisenior is offering an additional discount code and upgraded cable as part of their spring sale. Check it out if interested.
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Other Sources:
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iPhone 13 with lightning to 3.5mm adapter. Stock 3.5mm cable. **Streaming Apple Lossless on iPhone.
Mega 5P drives very easily straight off the phone. Good listening volume is attainable below 50% volume.
The bass is excellent, there is some reduction in detail and resolution in the mids highs, but still very good. -
iPhone 13 with Colorfly CDA M1, 3.5 mm stock cable.
The bass gains some additional definition and note weight. Mids and highs recover some detail and resolution. Not on par with DAP, but a nice improvement. -
iPhone 13 with FiiO BTR7 on AAC Bluetooth connection. 3.5mm stock cable.
For starters, better volume control on BTR7 than iPhone.
Bass is deep and rich with very good detail in the mids and highs. An excellent pairing. -
Shanling M9, low gain, 4.4mm Eletech SPC cable.
The Shanling is a warmer and more powerful DAP than the AK SP2000T. Bass is very full and rich, the tonality is a bit less bright but retains clarity and detail in the mids and highs. Head stage is more inside the head, but vocals are a bit more forward providing some additional stage depth.
Very nice pairing. -
FiiO M11Plus ESS, high gain, 4.4mm cable.
The FiiO is also a warmer source thanks to the THX amps. It is less powerful than the M9 so I upped the gain to high.
Very similar experience as the Shanling M9.
Another very nice pairing. -
A bit about me and the music types used for evaluation below.
If you give a cats meow about that stuff.
** note: I try to be objective, but I am biased somewhat by my personal preference for sound signature. I lean toward a more balanced sound with perhaps a slight mids forward bias, good bass, good mids, good treble.
I am somewhat treble sensitive in the 8-9K range.
I do NOT consider myself a professional/career reviewer as I have no formal training as a sound engineer or musician.
- i.e. the thoughts presented here are strictly personal opinion based on my hearing, your mileage may vary.
** My hearing taps out at around 12.5 kHz, I can hear 12.5 but it’s more a background sound. I think it is fair to note this.
“Air” is typically a reference to treble that is present above 12.5 kHz, it is therefore beyond my hearing capability. When I reference “air” in a sound evaluation I’m referring to where I perceive the positioning of the upper treble ranges, ie. where they present themselves within the sound stage/head stage.
*** I have large ear canals, and typically the stock tips included with most IEM don’t fit well for me. I have a selection of third party ear tips that fit well in most cases so I default to these. I will identify my tips of choice, but unfortunately, seldom can I comment on the stock offerings.
- Music:
varied selection of tracks from my playlists played from SD card. FLAC 44 through 192 and DSD 2.8 (64) through 22.4 (512)
My mainstay are Blues, Rock, Jazz, Country, Classical.
I also streamed Apple lossless for electronic, R&B, Death Metal, etc. to get a well rounded experience of how well this IEM handles a variety of genres.
7 Likes
TRN ROSEFINCH
A feast of sibilance.
$38-43.00
12mm Planar
32 ohm impedance
105 dB sensitivity
7 Hz - 40 kHz frequency range.
- Preamble
I’m not going to do a full out evaluation on Rosefinch, and very frankly, it’s because I wasn’t enthused about having them in my ears that long.
Rosefinch takes a bit of power to drive them. They sound pretty good straight off my iPhone 13 using a lightning to 3.5 adapter and streaming Apple Lossless. But I was 60% minimum volume, and, depending on recorded source, I was often able to push 80-100% volume. It was loud but not so loud I wanted to rip the IEM’s out of my ears. Other phones may fair better, but Rosefinch is a bit power thirsty.
Due to Rosies thirst for power, for this evaluation, I chose the AK Kann Max, 4.4mm balanced out, set to high gain.
Packaging is nothing out of the ordinary for a budget offering. Other than a rather nice SPC, modular cable (3.5mm termination only included). Kudos to TRN for including a decent cable.
Fit, I thought was going to be problematic for my ears, short nozzles, and bulbous shell shape was somewhat reminiscent of the Blon 03, which wouldn’t stay in my ear no matter what I tried. But, the Rosefinch fits comfortably, and seals and anchors well with Moondrop Spring XL tips.
Build quality is good for the price, the resin shells are smooth with no rough or angled edges, and they are lightweight.
-Equipment
TRN Rosefinch aged 25-30 hours
AK Kann Alpha 4.4mm out, high gain.
TRN 4.4mm balanced 16 core SPC cable. (Note: stock cable used with iPhone)
Moondrop Spring XL ear tips.
Bass presentation is good. It is capable of good thump and punch and sub bass can pull low, but it’s not prominent. Bass is more mid focused.
(I played a 20Hz bass test track, and yes it goes there, but not a powerful presence)
Mids are recessed.
Upper mids recover and are bright with decent detail.
Vocals, depending on track, can be subdued, or, elevated and forward. Both male and female are prone to sibilance.
Highs are bright with good detail retrieval. They are prone to sibilance. Violins can be extremely bright, cymbals can be sibilant with a touch too much sizzle.
Dynamics are good through out. Individual instruments stand out among the others and sound mostly natural.
Timbre in the lower ranges is good. Stringed bass instruments have good bottom and fullness, drums have good thump and fullness.
Once into the mids, upper mids, and highs the Timbre is on the bright side. Toms and kick drums have good attack, but snare drums can be a bit too crisp at times. Stringed and wind instruments can sound unnaturally bright to me.
Head Stage has average width, height, and depth. I don’t find the dimensionality (xyz axis) to be anything more than average. However imaging is reasonably good on well recorded tracks. I find it can congest a bit on busy or complex tracks.
- Summary
I am a bit treble sensitive so the sibilance that is quite noticeable to me, may not jump out at others.
It is also possible the driver may mellow with more hours on it.
Overall for a $40ish IEM these sound pretty good overall, and have pretty good technicalities.
I don’t see them becoming a “go to iem” for myself, but they may well be someone else’s perfect cup of tea.
1 Like
(10chars)
Good graph, thanks for posting it here. 
I had trouble finding a graph, other than the one TRN released.
ENCOUNTER VIDEO IS UP Sample#1
3 Likes
So basically “we messed up, but it’s not what you think, and if you’ll keep you Waner Li we’ll give you two freebies to save ourselves”. Am I reading this right?
So I should just keep my Waner Li and sign up for the next ones, eh?
3 Likes
I asked for what i bought a real version.
Probably going to sound the same anyway.
I think the freebies are going to be super cheap Probably not worth the compensation.
3 Likes