I've had the opportunity to review and test out several Tin Hifi products prior to their release and this new set is no different. The Tin T1 Plus is a ultra-budget IEM that retails for $29.99 USD and is available now at Linsoul.com.
I'd like to thank Linsoul and Tin Hifi for allowing me to test out several pre-releases of this unit and then getting an opportunity to review the final tuning.
Unfortunately, due to several other reviews and a super-crazy-busy work schedule lately, I was not able to review this prior to its official launch, but I am now able to provide more of a review than any of the initial impressions I posted on the various forums or on Discord servers.
Unboxing
First off, the T1 Plus's main attribute is that it features a beryllium-coated dynamic driver, which seems to be the hype these days in the headphones and IEM world. Some companies have been using beryllium as its a lightweight and highly stiff metal that provides a nice rigid and stiff body for highly-controlled sonic vibrations. While some companies like Focal, Dunu and Final Audio have used full beryllium metal drivers, others have found a more affordable route using a thin coating on a plastic diaphragm material instead. This does not result in the same material properties, but it does improve the stiffness of the typical plastic driver materials used.
Anyway, the T1 Plus comes in a choice of 4 translucent plastic shells: black, green, pink and white. The set I received in each of my 2 beta units and the final production unit is a black shell with sprinkles of glitter in it to give it a starry night look (not the painting, but just a night-time starry look).
The shell is pretty small and super lightweight making these very comfortable to wear and they feel like I am not wearing anything at all to be frank. This is definitely one of the more comfortable IEMs I've worn.
The cable it came with is a black braided cable that is simple but effective. I had no issues with usability: they don't tangle much, and their lightweight and easily maneuverable. The cable uses 2-pin connectors which is different than previous Tin products.
Sound Impressions
The T1 Plus units I've received in the past were in two different spectrums. One had a flat-ish bass response with roll-off, similar to the T2, and the other had a bass boost but more relaxed treble. This final version kind of took bits and pieces of both the two test units and made it a bassy IEM with a upper-midrange emphasis, while relaxing the treble a tad, giving this a very intimate and forward sound that's not quite a V-shape sound signature, since treble is a bit on the dark side.
I'd say overall, this IEM is warm and heavy, but not to the point where I'd call it a basshead IEM either. It is definitely accentuated but I also don't think its super punchy and there's not a great deal of subbass extension either -- it actually rolls off around 100Hz. Bass region is more about quantity than quality, of course, and especially at the price offered, I wouldn't expect it to compete well with my top of the line gears.
That said, its still a warm and pleasant sound, and tuned to really emphasize music with lower end vocals and warmer body. This isn't the IEM you want if you want to hear a large soundstage or an airy atmosphere. I don't find it the best for a lot of the music I listen to, but I do think it sounds acceptable for rock music and pop genres.
The upper-midrange does get a bit of an emphasis, which does give this IEM a forward sound and makes voices stand up front with clarity. It's not to the point of any sibilance or any harshness -- again-- the T1 is more of a laidback sound.
In many cases, I do find the T1 to sound a bit compressed both in soundstage, imaging, and resolution. But, I can't fault it too much for the price point. It's quite comparable and pleasant enough to enjoy, however I do feel this one is a bit behind its siblings for not much more -- Tin T2, T2 Plus, T3 and T4 are all higher quality IEMs at a small bump up in price.
The T1, however, is my favorite for comfort and fit, and that's got some importance to the whole equation. I'd love for this type of IEM shell design to be their new standard, as opposed to the weird pseudo bullet designs, or shallow-fit stuff, as I could never fit any of the Tin products with any confidence for a long period of time or with a lot of movement. This is the one next step forward.
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