yeah I love em. Penon PAC buds with Fiio UTWS3
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Alright, excuse my language but that is actually fucking sick.
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haha thanks! I really dig them and they work very well together imo. I like that I can pause them and hear everything around me like I am not wearing anything at all.
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If you want vocals, especially female, you can try spring tips or whizzer et100 (take one size above spinfit), as they take the bass compared to spinfits. I had a hell of a moment on Agnes Obel with these tips.
On gym I prefer blocking external sounds (especially the gymās own playlist) so I rather use iems
My current set is kbear ks1 mounted on bt20 adapters. Cheap and fun, perfect for the task.
Yeah thatās fair, plus itās probably not a good idea to bring pricy IEMs to a gym lol. Had my right earbud on my Sony earbuds get crushed between two plates somehow, still works though.
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To those having switched to different filters: did you clean off the glue residue of the first filters ? I donāt think itās impacting my sound though.
I did not and havenāt had any issues
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My Thoughts on the Olina SE:
After impatiently waiting about 2 weeks, Iāve finally gotten my Olina SEs, Iāve been using them for only a few days, so obviously my opinions are not final. Also gotta say these are my first āhigher endā IEMs, as what I would use before is a pair of KBear KS2, KZ-ZSN Pro, and Sony MDR-XB50AP (lovely naming as always Sony). They are all quite V shaped as you could probably guess. Outside of IEMs I practically live in my HD 6XXs, easily the greatest things Iāve ever spent money on. So I would say my preferred sound signature would be Warm Neutral.
Disclaimer: The most I know about analyzing sound is whether it sounds nice to me or not.
Packaging:
Comes in a nice simple box, pretty basic. You get your IEMs, cable, a little box for them, bud bits and filters. All the stuff is nice. I was kind of hoping the box youād get a pocket-able case for the IEMs, but itās not that big of a deal. Case doesnāt open that well, plus I thought it was twist to open and got my eardrums pierced for it.
Build:
Built very well, especially when compared to my other IEMs (which should be expected). Satisfyingly heavy and feel quite sturdy. The cable is pretty nice too, and doesnāt try to fight to stay a certain shape. In terms of looks there is better, but they arenāt bad at all. The all black with turtles is very subtle and clean, but Iām kinda a sucker for the more āsparklyā designs of stuff like the Moondrop Starfields and Tri Starseas.
Comfort/Fit:
Genuinely great fit. My right ear is a bit different from my left, and always seems to struggle with keeping something in compared to my left. But the Olinas fit just right, and are barely noticeable in the ears. I notice the cable around my ears more than the actual IEMs shoved in my holes.
Sound:
As you would have expected, they kick all my other IEMs/earbuds asses. You get far cleaner and clearer sound. Music doesnāt sound as close up/in your head as the others do, and there is separation in the instruments. Mids and Treble are given a ton more love and attention. Vocals sound lovely. My only complaint so far is that they donāt have as strong bass as I had hoped. They donāt have that āthump/kickā I was hoping for. But this could just be me still used to the V shaped buds. I heard that the original Olinas had a problem with their sharp treble at times. I can confidently say these donāt have that problem at all.
When it comes to my music tastes, I like more intense/energetic music. I mainly listen to Heavy Metal/Metal core, video game soundtracks, and piano by itself. When listening to Metal, you can tell the intensity is lessened in the drums. I donāt know if Iām on crack, but I feel like the bass on my HD 6XXs is better. Overall I still prefer the 6XXs over these in every way sound wise, but itās not really fair for the Olina SE since the 6XXs are my favorite audio everything. I live in those headphones.
The main two Metal songs I compared really showed it:
Dream Thief - Phinehas: the first 40 seconds donāt hit as hard when compared to all my other gear.
Hallucinate - The Devil Wears Prada: Everything sounds nice and impressive, except for the drums and bass.
But, non Metal songs overall are amazing.
ā¦con lentitud poderosa - Chris Christodoulou: My favorite piece of music of all time, and these IEMs do it justice. Everything is crisp and lovely.
These sound great playing weeb shit. I love listening to Kick Back - Kenshi Yonezu (Chainsaw Man op) with these.
Overall thoughts:
Iād say they are quite worth it. If youāre looking for a solid fun to listen to IEM, you canāt go wrong at all with these. I canāt say for sure if they are the king of the $100 range with my lack of experience, but Iād absolutely recommend them.
My biggest issue with getting these, is that I may have awakened that money spending maniac in me. I have a habit of spending too much money the more I get into a hobby. If I can find a pair with similar vibes to the Olina SE, but with better bass, then I probably will have found my endgame IEM. Now Iām even more curious of trying out IEMs like the HBB Kai, Tri Starsea, Moondrop Starfield, IKKO OH10, and the Penon Serial. I blame all you bastards for this lol.
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HA! I just enjoyed your write up, brother. Iāll say that I have the same issue as you, my right ear is so different that I sometimes need different tips for my right ear specifically.
Iāll say this, the IKKO OH10 is a great set if you want a tasteful V-shape. I know a lot of people claim itās a bass head set and Iāll have to go ahead and say itās not. However, great bass, great details and really comfortable fit for sure.
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Glad you enjoyed the write up lol. Definitely gonna keep the IKKO OH10 in mind. I would prefer to stay in the $100 range, but then again, making my wallet lighter does make it easier to carry around.
Iām super biased but Iād say Triā¦(yes, I did it!) the Starsea if you have to scratch the itch. It deserves way more love, cause itās pretty awesome!
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Looks like your preferences and library are close to mine.
I had a 6xx and Fidelio X2HR but sold them recently to have portability with IEMs.
Now I have Olina SE (amazing for jazz, acoustics and vocals) and Mangird Tea 2 (goes for rock, metal and progressive part of my library). Iām very happy with both.
I know that Tea 2 is above your budget (around $300), but worth the consideration for maybe a future upgrade.
Check @nymz review about them:
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Sorry I wrote my reply last night fairly drunk lol
I meant to say this in my comment, I found my OH10 Second hand for $80 - keep a look out on the second hand market, head-fi mostly, Iām sure youāll be able to find a pair of OH10s for close to $100 as theyāre about 3 years old now. If you can, pull the trigger - theyāre great for that money.
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Not gonna lie, they are tempting to get simply for how gorgeous they look. Itās like a cool ass geode.
Thanks for the recommendation, Iām planning on selling my Schiit stack. So thatāll give me around $250 hopefully, and I could possibly use that cash for another pair. Another thing is I ordered the new Sony Xperia 5 IV (a phone with a headphone jack hallelujah!) bundle. So itāll come with basically a free pair of XM4 earbuds, another thing I can sell for my IEM addiction.
So far the Mangird Tea 2 and Penon Serial are my main 2 interests for stuff in the higher end ($300 range). Do you have any experience in returning IEMs? Just wondering if it is not going to be problematic.
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I live in Brazil, so the only option to buy IEMs is from AliExpress and their returning policy is a pain in the a$$.
If I donāt like something I put on sale or try to exchange in some local audiophile groups.
I know that Amazon has a very good returning policy and some guys here can talk more about it.
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Tripowin x HBB Olina SE
Iām in love with this setā¦ some of the best tonal balance Iāve heard yetā¦
Pros:
Balanced, extremely well for my library
Good quality treble
Best DD iem Iāve heard to date
Cons:
Not bass head level bass
Not treble head level treble
Not planar level separation (but close, damn close)
This is one of my top 3 favorite setsā¦ tuning is the closest to āneutralā Iāve heardā¦ if I were to have a target curve it would be close to thisā¦ real closeā¦ like, maybe a couple db more bass and airā¦ thatās itā¦ and like Iām talking one or two db more, zeos styleā¦ haha but thatās nit picking.
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This is the shortest review Iāve ever read. Even I make them longer 
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