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Topping Hane IEM Review

Rate this IEM:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 16 8.2%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 45 23.0%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 135 68.9%

  • Total voters
    196
Among reviewed iems , TE Zero:Red and 7Hz Zero 2 surely show a smoother higher region, with Hane more resembling original 7Hz Zero:
Please consider that the Harman target curve is the result of some reasoning. It is possible to revert the decission making. Observe the peaks and troughs in the respective exemplary diffuse/free field amplitude frequency responses at the eardrum:


Which one to choose? In comparison to this that little peaks in IEM responses are irrelevant, me thinks.
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the peak is too narrow to be managed via a simple circuit working on impedance (i suppose) and requires dsp.
You can't do it with DSP either as both the measurement and actual response depend on insertion depth. You can certainly play around and put in some attenuation but then you don't know how all music is mixed in that regard. It is unknown after unknown here.

Also, note that I boosted the bass which provides more balance for any excess highs.
 
Not a huge fan of iems but performance-wise this thing surely excels. I await Topping's over-the-ear offering :)
 
Please consider that the Harman target curve is the result of some reasoning. It is possible to revert the decission making. Observe the peaks and troughs in the respective exemplary diffuse/free field amplitude frequency responses at the eardrum:


Which one to choose? In comparison to this that little peaks in IEM responses are irrelevant, me thinks.
.
You can't do it with DSP either as both the measurement and actual response depend on insertion depth. You can certainly play around and put in some attenuation but then you don't know how all music is mixed in that regard. It is unknown after unknown here.

Also, note that I boosted the bass which provides more balance for any excess highs.
Personally speaking I wouldn't bother at all trying to correct it, as said i like slightly bright signature and indeed I thoroughly enjoy og 7Hz Zero as it is without any eq.
 
Thanks for the review!
I am in the market for some new wired IEM. anything under $300.
 
Great performance but not something I would buy, compared to other offering it is twice the price or more and the sensitivity, or lack of, rules most the sources I use daily with my 4 pair of IEM’s. The switch seems to me like a totally useless addition.
 
That feeling when you can't wear in-ear monitors because of your ear canal sensitivity :rolleyes: and you wish that full-size open-back headphones would catch up with them.
I used to have this sensitivity last time but over time wearing it became better on the ear canal however the chin slider that touches the chin to me is still uncomfortable.
 
Somehow I have the impression that Topping used the same driver as Linsoul ($30 Tripowin x 0diBi Vivace):

graph (30).png
 
Somehow I have the impression that Topping used the same driver as Linsoul ($30 Tripowin x 0diBi Vivace):

View attachment 417321
They are reported to have different driver materials, so no. We should refrain from making such assumptions based off frequency response alone, as many of the iems today overlap in that regard
 
Two identical graphs could still sound differently in your own ears. The reason is varyingly shaped IEMs interact differently with varyingly shaped ears, basically. So it's fine IMO to let your subjective impression decide what you like better even if the graphs are similar, or EQ'd to the same target curve.
 
Two identical graphs could still sound differently in your own ears. The reason is varyingly shaped IEMs interact differently with varyingly shaped ears, basically. So it's fine IMO to let your subjective impression decide what you like better even if the graphs are similar, or EQ'd to the same target curve.
Ok, but in this case no need to spend $130 if you get the same basis for EQ (if this is even needed) for $30 (Tripowin Vivace) or $25 (Salnotes Zero 2).
 
Ok, but in this case no need to spend $130 if you get the same basis for EQ (if this is even needed) for $30 (Tripowin Vivace) or $25 (Salnotes Zero 2).
That would be a bit reductive for me. I think there are a number of $20-80 IEMs one could potentially daily drive, even for discerning ears. Personally Zero 2 refuse to fit securely in my ear. So if a higher or lower priced IEM works better in fit and subjective sound that's all that should matter. It's not a race to the top, neither a race to the bottom.
 
Personally speaking I wouldn't bother at all trying to correct it, as said i like slightly bright signature and indeed I thoroughly enjoy og 7Hz Zero as it is without any eq.
Yes, Harman starts from the diffuse field. See above how big the deviations from the direct or free field are in detail. In my opinion, there are few good reasons for choosing the diffuse field. However, after the basic decision, the target curve is subjected to a subjective evaluation by test persons in order to obtain a statistical mean. The spread of individual assessments is huge.
Accordingly, the final harman curve should not be regarded as sacred. I seem to prefer it, but the question was about the details that are not included in the Harman curve in the first place, because it is necessarily heavily smoothed by various mechanisms.

Appropos, the problem is different than with over ear headphones because IEMs bypass the parts of the ear that have a significant influence on the ripples in question.

One consolation is that they are too difficult to compensate for because you can't find them in situ, because they don't really interfere ...
 
I've always been a bit confused with this market. I have some zero2's that sound great but I hate having to be tethered to my phone and accidentally pull it out of the phone and I HATE the sound of the cable moving or cable thump. Yes, you can fix this when seated at a desk but then I'd just rather use my desktop monitors and sub to get the sound out of my head. So when I want headphones I just reach for my airpod pros every time. noise cancelation is amazing with zero cable thump, never pull them out of the device, and get passthrough audio when I need to hear my surroundings, can answer my phone and go right back to consuming whatever content I was consuming, can switch from my laptop to my phone audio or even my apple tv if it's late and I need to be silent with the tv across the room.

My Zero 2's have been relegated to ps5 vr2 duty and even then I like to have my open back headphones so I can hear when someone needs me or the phone rings etc.
It's crazy cool that the performance is where it is for the price but I just don't understand the use case.

Why do you guys like them and use them? I'm genuinely curious.
Because this different product that you’re describing. No TWS IEM has ever sounded as good as my Zero:Red or even the Zero:2.

And yes, I have the AirPod Pro 2 and even the Beats Fit Sport. Both are great but they aren’t the same as a dedicated IEM.
 
You can find a similar-sounding IEM to almost any tuning option of the Hane. But this also can be seen as a feature to find out where your true preferences lie.

As I said, SuperReview recommended to go for the Moondrop LAN ($39) which is very close to the UDDD configuration but less hot from 8k upwards.

So, I am not saying that it is wrong to go for the Hane (I think @Heinrich misunderstood me here). This is an impressive IEM for sure. I just gave a fair warning to people who are sensitive to upper treble, as I read more than once that users found the treble quite hot.

(Disclaimer: Personally, I neither heard the LAN nor the Hane yet.)

Edit:
By the way, I am aware that there is a specific filter where you can reduce the amount of treble. It starts at around 3k though, so the relation between lower treble to upper treble always is tilted towards the upper treble.
 
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