7Hz x Crinacle Salnotes Dioko HiFi 14.6mm Planar Diaphragm Driver in Ear Earphone IEMs with CNC Aviation-Grade Aluminum Case, Detachable 4-Core Litz OCC Copper Cable for Audiophile Musician Studio

I don't often take the time to review my Amazon purchases (thank you to those of you who do), but I felt this product and the audio community deserves my contribution. I have never written a review of a piece of audio equipment before but have read thousands. Hi-fi is not my profession or field of study. It is a pursuit that has added a certain quality to my life over the years. What follows is my personal opinions and observations of these IEMs.TL;TR: It is a stand-out product, a definite must-buy at this price. Plan to use EQ, for sure.I have been seriously into hi-fi since I was a teenager. I bought my first pair of so-called audiophile speakers, a set of Snell K3s, back in 1989. I have had the good fortune to own quite a lot of higher-end equipment since. My living situation recently changed and I no longer have the space and privacy for large loud speakers and the heavy equipment to make them go. I am a late comer to the world of headphones (excepting the usual mass market/ANC/Best Buy stuff). I have been using a pair of Beyerdynamics DT 770 Pro Xs for the last few months. Great value for the money. I recently added a Chord Mojo 2 DAC/AMP. Yes, it is as good as they say.My only experience with planar drivers was a brief love affair with some mid-level Magepans in the early 1990s. I have had a real curiosity to listen to planar headphones. I have also had a curiosity to try IEMs. I did not know what to expect, so I limited my financial risk and bought these 7Hz x Crinacle Salnotes Diokos. I also sprang for the +$16 cable package deal including the Tripowin Zonie. I won't repeat all of the unboxing stuff you've already read and watched elsewhere. Suffice it to say, the carrying case is more than I would expect at this price point. The construction is very solid and appears to be aluminum and glass. The overall aesthetic is... uhhh... how shall we say a product that looks like it should be named "Pharrell x Queen Elizabeth II". What is up with the whole purple-rapper-antique-cameo look? It mystifies me. I try not to look at myself in the mirror when I have them on. The silver braided cable just adds another level of weird retro-bling. Audiophiledom is, if anything, function over fashion. I have made bigger sacrifices in the elusive pursuit of sonic perfection.I installed the new cables and let them break in a bit... watched some movies and let them play music for a few of days by themselves. At this point, I would estimate they have 200 hours of break in time.The Good:The sound stage is wide, the image is precise. The detail is very high. The Mojo 2 has a feature called crossfeed which allows the listener to blend a little of one channel into the other in order to simulate actual loudspeakers where each ear is hearing each speaker. I thought it was a gimic until I learned to like it. It allows me to bring the sound stage into a more coherent whole on the 770s. The image on the Diokos doesn't require it at all. In fact, with each click up of the crossfeed button, I can hear the sound stage getting incrementally more constrained. The presentation is extremely unified and detailed.Going through the usual tracks I have been using to demo speakers for the last 35 years, I have actually noticed details I have never noticed before. I can't emphasize to you enough my pleasure at the surprise of finding new sounds on a track I have critically listened to >1000 times. That was worth my $100 right there. The 200Hz-2000Hz range seems like the real sweet spot for these IEMs. I have never enjoyed listening to the piano as much as I have with these. Listening to Alice Sandra Ott play Debussy gave me chills. I can distinguish Billie Eilish's inhalations between her nose and her mouth. I can hear the sounds of the snow crunching underneath the horses' hooves at the beginning of Roger Waters "Too Much Rope". Some more than others, but I am enjoying getting to know each of my well-known tracks all over again.For what it's worth, they are very comfortable on my ears using the installed purplish-clear tips. Six more sets of tips are included, so I am sure you'll find something that works for you. They are not heavy-feeling on my ears like I thought they would be. I can wear them for hours and forget they are there. Your mileage will vary.The not so good:The sound stage is not deep. I have been enjoying the detail and precision along the x and y axis, but the z axis is largely absent. I am a headphone novice, but I would assume that, like with loudspeakers, sound stage depth comes at a high $$ price.The sound as the recording engineer intended will likely sound bright and harsh to you. I would guess it's in the 6KHz-12KHz range - it is too much for my comfort. Additionally the sub-bass (~<150Hz) is underwhelming. Long story short, in order to fully enjoy and appreciate the potential from these IEMS, I need to use EQ. I have never in my life advocated for the use of EQ under any circumstances until now. I could understand how this could be a deal breaker for a potential buyer. That being said, I have been very satisfied with the Mojo 2's EQ functionality vis-a-vis these IEMs.They are not warm sounding. If your preference is a nice, mellow, warm sound, these are not for you. The are precise verging on clinical. I knew, to some extent, what I was getting myself into with planars. I could see how someone might be disappointed if they were coming from some Powerbeats 3 expecting the same but better somehow. Planars are an entirely different animal.Conclusions:In my opinion, these are a fantastic way to experience planars without risking much money. The detail is exquisite. The midrange and sound stage alone are worth the price of admission. If you are on the fence, jump. I have spent money on some very questionable upgrades looking for better sound. I can say in all honesty, this is the single best sound-value-per-dollar purchase I have ever made.The real risk to be aware of here is that this $100 might end up costing you a whole lot more money down the road. I spent a few hours with the DT 770 Pro Xs last night and realized they don't do it for me like they used to. My ears are craving a better image with more precision and detail mow. This little planar experiment has changed my preferences altogether, but I am happy to have learned something new. I suppose that is the path of the audiophile. If you buy a pair, I hope you enjoy them as much as I am.

I'm going to start with the negatives so right off the bat I have to say they look horrendous. Not only are they relatively big, oval and purple but they had to add glass so you can top it all off with the sun blazing out the sides putting your fingerprints on blast. You also need something with power or your experience will suffer. I have been using it with the Tempotec Sonata V to get the best portable experience. My normal dongles seemed to struggle giving power to the bass and would lose control if turned up. The Sonata V seems to be about what you need to get everything out of the Dioko without sacrifices being made. The cable looks great in pictures but it's incredibly cheap feeling. The material feels incredibly cheap and the metal parts feel like they are as thin as the walls of a soda can but filled with plastic. It looks much less nice in person. To be fair it is a perfectly fine cable listening wise. Its resistance is the same as my after market cables and I notice cables that measure the same tend to sound exactly the same. The included tips are just a mind bender. Random colors, random sizes and not a single complete set. Not only are the accessories a mess in my opinion but its packaged poorly. The iems are free to roll around banging against each other in the packaging so who knows what happens during shipping. My last complaint is the case specific sibilance.Despite all those complaints the Dioko is an easy 4 stars at $100. Out of the iems I tried close in price like my favorite the Tin T3+, Olina, Aria, Titan S, Simgot er2 and a couple others it's clearly a category above. The only reason I didn't score it above those here is because it can be prone to sibilance. Right out of the box it was just tolerable with those preinstalled "sticky" tips. Those "sticky" tips even seemed to add a hint of sibilance to other iems I tried them on. Much like the T3+ the tips can make a noticeable impact on the sound. The yellow ones with the small bore brought the bass up but didn't do much if anything for the sibilance. The red medium bore tips helped a lot. The red tips seemed to knock a couple db off that 8k peak making the majority of the music I listen to perfect or at least close. Imo tips with a medium to large bore and a short stem are what is needed to make these shine without having to tolerate sibilance as often. Long stem tips seem to increase the treble and makes sibilance a problem while small bore tips seem to make the bass somewhat uncontrolled.Outside of that 8k peak the Dioko sounded very different than the graphs or reviews that I have seen. I constantly seen things like thin, bright, safe, boring and lacking bass. Looking at the few graphs out there it made sense but that isn't what I am getting most of the time. Maybe one out of ten songs I will get that experience where the volume seems to be much lower and all dynamics disappear. It's odd because those cases will sound like they are overly warm with the treble completely smoothed over. Despite the warmth the bass will be weak. Most of the time though I get an exciting presentation with tons of dynamics and plenty of body in the vocals. The graph made me think some vocals would sound thin or artificial but that couldn't be farther from the truth. That was a pleasant surprise and even with the tips that boosted treble I didn't notice the vocals losing body, so I am not sure what some are hearing.Hip hop, EDM, Trap and pop sound amazing on these. Songs that have a lot going on under 100hz become powerful exciting moments. You get this powerful textured rumble with impact that's allowed to stay separate from everything giving the rest of the action its own space. The rumble from some old Dre songs is just ridiculous. As long as you have the power you can try to rattle your fillings out and still get crispy detailed treble with full bodied textured vocals shining through clearly. Imo if you like the type of music I mentioned above you will love the Dioko. Its subbass focus gives a different take on what you may have heard a thousand times on other iems. A lot of rock or heavy metal sounds amazing as well but of all the categories those seem to be the ones I notice the lack of midbass with the most. You lose the power of the drums and focus seems to go to the bass guitar. It isn't always the case, but it is more common than with other genres. Even that can be engaging though. You can easily hear the plucks of the strings and it's another interesting take that's different from the norm.For me the $100 and below range was dominated by the T3+, ER2, Olina, Titan S and the Aria. The CCA CA16 should be in those talks but I don't think people gave them a fair shot. The T3+, ER2 and CA16 were my favorites but they all now feel like a category below the Dioko. The ER2 is the only one that gets close to the Dioko with resolution but from the lower mids down it falls below the Dioko noticeably. The T3+ and Olina are technically identical to me with the only difference between the two being tuning. They both feel a category below in resolution but both can stand toe to toe in small specific categories. The T3+ and ER2 actually sound equally as good as the Dioko with EDM. I can actually see many preferring the ER2 here. It might be the second best technically of the group and does some amazing things with EDM and hip hop. The T3+ actually surprised me considering how much difference I noticed with other genres. I didn't expect it to step up in one particular genre like it did. The Olina doesn't have the same punch and is slightly brighter making it incapable of having that shining moment with EDM. Acoustic stuff was very competitive between the Olina and the Dioko although I would probably argue this is also where the Titan S shines more and might even be a better option than the Dioko for some. The resolution isn't close but the tuning and sound stage fits acoustic perfectly.Hip hop is where things fall apart a bit and become preference. The T3+ is good for hip hop. If you are a hip hop head and own the T3+ you are in a great place. It doesn't do anything bad with hip hop at all. Imo it is competent with everything. With that said the ER2 is arguably better with maybe a hint more texture in the bass and clearer more exciting treble. Despite the KZ/CCA driver "scandle" the CA16 was my favorite for hip hop. Much like the Dioko the CA16 needs something with power. Idk if it is a voltage thing or a current thing but they can become tight and detailed when properly powered. When powered properly they are like the Tripowin Mele except with much more detail and nothing lost in the treble. The amount of bass those things put out while still keeping everything controlled and separated is impressive.They are super engaging with the big powerful bass and full bodied vocals. The more power I give them access to the more natural they sound and the more detail achieved. They are pure enjoyment if you are a basshead that likes a warm natural sound that keeps all the detail and separation of a bright set. Out of everything here they are the least fatiguing having nothing offensive at all.Since this is already the longest review ever, I might as well ramble on and go for broke. Compared to the iems I mentioned there really isn't any competition for the Dioko. The only area where the Dioko loses to all of those other iems is with the layering of instruments. There just isn't much depth to the imaging. There are songs where it can surpass all of them but more often than not the layering isn't really present in comparison. It seems to make up for that deficit by making the left to right sound stage wider and precisely placing instruments within that 2D plane. Much like its resolution the imaging left to right is astonishing for the price. The fact that instruments are very detailed and given its own space almost makes up for the lack of depth. It is song specific at times so don't be surprised when you do get that depth and it becomes a holographic experience. Like the title says the Dioko can make magic at times. It doesn't always execute perfectly but when it does you can't do anything but be appreciative of the way it presented the music. The Dioko has faults like most things, but those faults help it give you some amazing new experiences with music you have heard a thousand times.If you are someone who doesn't mind using eq then you have to buy the Dioko. Every fault it has can be easily fixed with eq. It responds really well and seems almost limitless in potential. If you have the power to give it you can bump up that mid bass, pull down the 8k peak and remove any argument against the Dioko being a category above the current $100 options. With eq I actually prefer the Dioko over the OH10 which says a lot for me. Strangely when you bump the midbass up and adjust for that 8k peak the depth shows up and layering becomes more apparent making the Dioko sound even better technically then it already was. It becomes incredibly clean, detailed, powerful and engaging unlike anything I have heard in an iem. Keep in mind that the Oh10 is the most expensive iem I own and my personal favorite. Its frequency response fits what I like, it's very technical and you aren't missing out on a better experience without eq. I can listen to everything on the OH10 without eq and without something above a cheap dongle to power it. For portable those are a must so the OH10 remains my go to when the setup needs to be simple. I absolutely love that set but power and eq can make the Dioko better so your experience with the Dioko kind of depends on you. Finding the right tips will get you the best iem at $100 but eq will get you thinking that at $200.

Very high quality sound and comfortable

Please know that this is based off of my ears, other people may have different opinions but honestly, I was not impressed by the sound quality. I will give Crin credit, he did his best in tuning them, but I was honestly not impressed by the sound. I will say, I was impressed that 7Hz/Salnotes managed to make Planar IEMs for $99, but it really comes down to the tuning. They sound clean for sure, but overall I was not impressed by the tuning.

For reference I am a mild audiophile. Ive never been satisfied with any car stereo own and have always upgraded to aftermarket. My home audio includes Yamaha advantage amplifiers and Polk lsim towers.There is ALWAYS better when it comes to audio, but at what cost?At the gym I need a good earbud that fits well and not too bulky. However, every single Bluetooth earbud sucks. The new apple AirPods Pro 2 is one of the best for a wireless earbud, yet it still lacks .Here’s all you need:$100 Bluetooth dac headphone amp$100 Dioko earbuds hereThe sound BLOWS every headphone I’ve ever had out of the water by a long shot. It was so clean I found myself walking around my house with the headphones in on the first day, just going through every one of my Spotify songs and being amazed at how good they sound.You can always get more bass with a larger headphone, but I don’t think you’ll get much more out of any other earbud due to the size.I can’t repeat this enough: these headphones sound INCREDIBLE for $100 especially, yet I’d be surprised if you could do better for $200-300.Also for reference I listen toTop 40EDM, trance, mostly above and beyondHard rockAlternativeChristian