So which are your impressions?
I think the overall tuning here is interesting and for the most part I like this set. I was waiting a bit to buy and try some tips before posting my impressions since my tip collection is pretty paltry as shown in the pic below and I donāt have any wide bore tips which seems to be the recommended type of tip for this IEM.
Iāve been listening to the UP from various sources like LG V60, HiBy RS2, Chord Mojo 2 & HiFiMan EF400. Overall, XENNS UP sounds a bit Mid focused to me with slightly Intimate Stage and good Bass presence. There is zero issues with harshness and sibilance with the sound and itās tuned in a way that does not sound dull or boring so thatās great.
Bass: The Bass here is Mid-Bass focused and almost perfectly tuned for my tastes. Almost, because I think a bit more elevation in the Mid-Bass region and also a bit more present Sub-Bass would have been nice for me. There is no Bass bleed with any of my sources so thatās also good.
Mids: The Mids are great and like the Bass, almost perfect for me. There is good body and decent texture for an IEM of this style of tuning. The āSā sounds donāt sound over pronounced even with some bright sources so thatās another good thing. The one issue I have is that sometimes, female vocals can sound like they lack some energy and sparkle.
Treble: The Treble is the one area that I have mixed feeling about this set and also the part that seems to be very tip and source dependent. For me, I would have liked a bit more energy and sparkle in this region. Itās not dull or boring but a bit more airiness and sparkle here would have been nice. As it stands, paired with some neutral to bright sources like Mojo 2 or V60, I donāt have anything else to complain about.
Imaging & Stage: The stage size is a bit Intimate but itās got some decent depth which gives it some nice layering. Separation is also good if not excellent. It took me a bit to get used to the Intimate presentation coming from the Hook-X but after getting used to the UP, I donāt mind the Intimate presentaition as much as I did initially.
Detail: Is Ok, itās capable of presenting good detail but I donāt think it can compete with some other sets that do a much better job. At the end of the day, I donāt feel like Iām missing out on anything and donāt find it fatiguing so thatās nice.
I see the XENNS UP as a secondary set that will compliment nicely a primary set of IEMs like the Mest MKII, Oracle, IE 600ā¦ e.t.c. rather than keeping it as a primary set. Itās not the most resolving, detailed set with wide airy soundstage but it is something Iām picking for long listening sections, infact about 3 days back, I listened to the UP for 5 Hrs and never felt tired or bored which is something I canāt say about many IEMs.
Iāll update here when I find the time to research and buy some tips and try them on the UP. Currently, Iāve already got the AZLA Crystals, Spring Tips & Spinfit W1 in my cart and am waiting to research a bit more on tips before making the purchase.
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P.S. for those who like to Cable roll. I tried the XINHS Hybrid Cable shown in the pic above and thought it smoothed out some detail which is not something that goes well with the UP. Other than that, it might have pushed the vocals back a tiny bit but the difference is very small and not worth thinking about.
A few said the JVC 09 tips were excellent on the UP so I have some incoming from Japan.
The EST took a bit to come foward If you believe in burn in at all then the UP gets more balanced. I keep giving them a listening rest just to keep confirmed what I hear. Thanks for sharing your impressions. Cheers.
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Finally got my hands on a Xenns up set through a trade. Oh man, theyāre excellent. Had some tri clarion tips, and they work great. Not sure why I hesitated for so long (price, treble).
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Iāve recently made the switch from Tidal to Apple Music and like the overall experience but since Iām on Android, there is no exclusive mode and I find the lack of bitperfect signal a bit annoying.
Iām considering getting a DAP with Android OS and lossless audio support (no android resampling), what DAP would you recommend for the XENNS? I like the DX170 currently, looks nice and seems to have all the features Iām looking for.
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Thereās a couple in the same price range as the dx170. I have not heard, but I imagine the class A amp module on the Hiby r5 gen 2 plays to the Upās strengths. Iām a sucker for the Shanling sound, and the Up sounds great on the m3 ultra. It does not have as much power as the dx170 or R5gen2 (great battery life though). The only complaint Iāve heard of the dx170 is a sluggish OS.
The Shanling m6 ultra is a bit more, but I can imagine they would pair quite well. Hiby also just released the r6 gen 3 for $499. No reviews yet though
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Thanks for the recommendation. Iāll also create a thread in the source section and see what other recommendation pop up.
Finally ordered AZLA Crystal Standarad, Spinfit CP145, Moondrop Chu (for Spring Tips), Tanchjim T-APB. The TRI Clarion were out of stock at the moment so will get them later on.
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I have the DX160 and the two together are great the Cirrus Logic chips are great synergy.
I dont play games on my DAP and it runs just fine people who say it runs slow are doing stupid shit on thier music player instead of listening to music.
UAPP search is not slow.
Thatās good to hear. I have been reading up on the DX170 and have zero doubts that it sounds good. I am however worried about UI and music load up speeds when using streaming services though, especially Apple Music because Iāve seen posts from 2 users complain about slow UI speeds with DX170 & Apple Music.
@ToneDeafMonk any chance you have tried Apple Music on your DAP?
On to the main topic, I forgot to say this before but in my post about the XENNS UP impressions, I was using the Spinfit CP360 as that sounded the best when compared to the other tips I had like the stock tips, Type-E, Campfire Foam, KZā¦
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I have not tried apple music on it no.
I reason O mentioned UAPP misic app was because people also said the same thingb that 3rd party apps or launchers were slow. But I didnāt see that with the DX160.
Maybe we just need to learn to move slower , sit back and enjoy the music.
And I will take music over function any day.
Same reason i liked the AKM Geshelli Labs J2 over way more expensive Sources with fancy stuff and remotes.
Music first and i can figure out two buttons without a remote. Yup I will take that trade off.
TDM.
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my guess is some people are hitting the ram limits, with my hiby r5saber spotify/uapp/vlc are fine but deezer would freeze for 3 or so seconds every time I switched songs/unlocked the screen
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Has anyone compared the Up and the Penon Volt?
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Got these yesterday.
I have been tip rolling a bit since then with the LG V60 as a source and currently, Iām liking the Spring tips a lot with the UP, followed closely by the CP360.
The Spring tips liven up the treble nicely for my tastes without sacrificing the Bass. On some tracks, the Spring tips can increase the preception of āsā sounds which can sometimes be an issue and thatās were I like CP360, their treble presentation is inbetween the Spring tips and the darker treble of CP145, AZLA & stock black tips. This to my ears is bringing a nice Balance to the sound. Overall, the CP360 sound similar to the stock white tips that come with the UP but with slightly more open/energetic treble and more grippy texture.
The thing is, even before the new tips got here, The UP was slowly growing on me and with some tip rolling, Iām really like this set a lot. Itās not perfect but thereās a lot of good sound here and it doesnāt get fatiguing even after long listening sessions
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Definitely take a look at the link from @Rcayn from our chats. I did some pretty extensive A/Bāing at the time. Not many other comparisons of the two floating around. I no longer have the Volt to compare further. Of the two, beside the UP hit my target more, I found the UP to be more unique and special. Unfortunately I think both are overpriced in the current market. The only reason today the UP would ever be recommended by me is if you got a chance to hear it and it vibes well with you. Which is why Iād pay the price for it twice over if my went bad. However, if technicality, resolving or imaging/separation are part of your hunt skip āem.
The UP is all about lovinā thicā peanut butter and smooth strawberry jam on fresh baked bread. And the thicker and smoother you like it, via volume or power increase, the more enjoyable it becomes.
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And this right here is one of the reasons why it still reigns supreme in my collection. Even with the volume cranked I can listen for hours. The counter to that is, in my opinion, itās not that great of a choice if low volume listening is your thing. Not saying you need crazy amounts of volume but, it does open up more and shine as you feed it power or volume.
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Yes I noticed that, I donāt know if itās because it needs more power to sound itās best or if the tuning here is such that it needs higher volume to sound right, might be a mix of both 
. I also noticed that with the wide bore tips, I donāt need to crank the volume as much and that it does not sound as closed in, only trade off is that with the wide tips on some tracks the āsā sounds can be a bit accentuated, this to my ears somewhat messes with the tonality of Mids. Everything else like air, detailā¦ is somewhat improved in return. Itās easy to swap tips and change the sound to my preference or mood so I have no complains about that.
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Bang on description but now I am hungry for a PB&J
TDM
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Iāve been enjoying the XENNS UP a lot for the past few days. So much so that I donāt feel the need to upgrade as much as I used to with other IEMs in the past.
The one area which might make me look for other IEMs is the sounstage width, itās not very wide. Some time back, I got the IE 600 and ended up not liking it. It had a fairly wide soundstage but lacked the Bass impact and Natural timbre that the XENNS UP has.
Out of curiosity, have you guys found any other IEM that has a mostly similar type of tuning to the XENNS UP but with a wider soundstage?