TONALITY: 7.5/10
TECHNICALITIES: 8/10
TIMBRE: 7.5/10
SOUNDSTAGE: 8/10
IMAGING: 8/10
MUSICALITY (subjective): 7.5/10
CONSTRUCTION: 8/10
SOUND VALUE: 7.5/10
Tinhifi is a well known IEM maker from China that has released very popular budget IEMs like the Tinhifi T2 and T3plus as well as a good amount of planar IEM.
I still consider their P1plus as the best sub-200$ planar for technical performance, but the housing design makes the fit cumbersome so I don’t tend to use it often for this reason.
The first P1max improved the design ergonomy for smooth fit and comfort but chose a warmer neutral tonality than the more vivid and resolved P1plus.
Today I will review the P1max successor humbly called P1max 2.
Priced 140$, the P1max II is supposed to use an upgraded 14.2mm planar driver and promise a ‘’wider soundstage, clearer sound and crystal clear note’’.
Let's see in this review if these planar earphones offer a worthy musicality and performance among the numerous other planar offerings under 200$.
CONSTRUCTION&DESIGN
The construction is made from 3D printed high precision resin plastic. It’s lightweight and very smooth. The ergonomics are very same as the first P1max but use a different back plate design which is really beautiful.
The nozzle is on the short side which means no deep insertion possible.
On top of housing we have a non recessed 2 pin connector that feels solidly embedded.
The included cable is of nice quality but comes in single ends which isn’t the best choice for planar IEM that benefit from extra power or balanced output. It’s a 4 strands silver plated braided cable that fits well the overall IEM look.
In terms of packaging, it’s cute and minimalist. The accessories are minimalist too since we don't have carrying case. So we have the cable and 5 pairs of silicone eartips and 1 pair of memory foam. This is OK for the price but a carrying case would have been appreciated.
SOUND IMPRESSIONS
Overall tonality can be described as bright V shape with thick thumpy bass that feel speedy and round, forward upper mids that favor presence over substance but doesn’t sound overly thin and sharp, vividly crunchy treble that add sense of air but don’t offer a lotta sparkle and clean brilliance.
This is quite a big departure from smoother and more warm neutral P1max and crisper more analytical, clean and lean sounding P1 Max.
In fact, we are in rather common V shape territory here, since the Max2 sounds very similar to Letshuoer S12 and doesn't offer anything new or particularly special to planar games which feel stagnant lately. Yet, it doesn’t mean these are bad, technical performance is still excellent for the price and they are easier to drive than S12 as well as a notch bassier, more dynamic.
So, we have a fast euphonic bass boom that offers both punch and speedy rumble. It’s not the cleanest bass since we have hints of warmth that glue kick drum and bass line in the same sound envelope. This adds slam weight and dynamic heft, which is very weighty and tactile.
The sub bass is vibrant, a bit compressed in extension which make bass line thick but not very accurate in note release extension, which is more an issue for double bass with lean reverberation that will go suddenly louder and more boomy than cello which will earn lushness and appealing density to it’s attack sustain.
Simply put, the bass favors the impact over its fine resolution and positioning, the kick drum sound colored in timbre but gain in punch, so these are good contenders for rock, pop, R&B.
The mids are warmed by bass, this makes male vocals full sounding while it steals air and definition edge sharpness, yet both male and female vocals are still bright and edgy enough due to upper mids boost that forwards their presence.
This can make female vocals a notch intense in loudness and borderline shouty. But at least it doesn’t sound thin and it’s abrasive in texture, which impacts transparency negatively. We have a bit of planar fuzzy grain that adds noise to air.
There is no clean air around the instrument which affects positioning clarity.
Tenor instrument and vocal will sound more natural and lush, cello being at top of its game here as well as saxophone while for violin planar timbre and harmonic intensity affect timbre fullness by favoring the attack bite.
The treble is focused on the lower part and boosts mostly the presence grain and edge of instrument and percussion without achieving proper snap and sparkle or a clean crispness that will add a well perceived variety of timbre polyphony.
Past 10kHz, the treble seems to roll off rather fast, so highs offer more thick attack crunch than fine speedy snap and bite that would sharpen attack lead impact and add macro dynamic amplitude variety. In that regard, P1max 2 sure isn’t feeling W shape, dynamic has 2 steps to it, bass in package+upper mids and highs in package.
Think about balanced armature highs and you get similar attack sustain-release as well as diffuse euphonic timbre. It’s no end game in terms of treble refinement here and shows to what price range this planar IEM belongs.
The soundstage is very wide, average, tall and not deep. It’s not very holographic and open sounding and acts like a wide sound tapestry with lively dynamics that go towards center stage, where all sound info concentrates to the point of stealing all air in the space.
This means imaging is average too, instruments lack proper clean space between them but can be layered fastly without mixing in overtone (apart bass). Classical quartet is easier to read than Symphony which goes blurry in fine instrument cutting, percussions can get lost in the mix due to sustained blur, bass is warmed by its impact which make it hard to pinpoint precisely too. In other words: these aren’t adequate for monitoring purposes.
COMPARISONS
VS NICEHCK F1pro
The F1pro is more W shaped and bright, the treble is spikier and airier, the timbre is more noisy and typical planar like…
The bass is more boomy and resonant, less round and warm and thick than Max2 which has more vibrant and colorful rumble too with less scooped upper bass-lower mids so transition into mids is warmer and more natural. Max2 has more mid bass punch and weight and it's less boosted in sub bass, less resonant and wide in slam, thigher but warmer too.
This means P1max feels more mid centric even if balanced V shape and darker on top, we don’t have this extra treble edge that negatively texture balance and put harmonic overly forward, this makes both male and female vocal smoother, lusher and more natural and bodied. F1pro mids are thinner but crisper and more open sounding, it can’t handle a wide variety of vocal style due to scooped lower mids so it's more about bright presence boost, this makes resolution and layering cleaner, less colored with warmth that affect transparency of Max2 more. Edgier and harsher are the mids of F1pro, smoother and wider and denser in presence and as well as more weighty in note impact is the Max2.
Treble is smoother, leaner and more organic in balance but not as sharp, airy and crunchy. Percussions are thinner, brighter and more spoil with planar timbre with F1pro, it sounds half cooked while round and full but not as upfront with the Max2. Highs are spikier and harsher with F1pro, it tends to add unwanted sound info in mids instruments too. Treble heads will prefer F1pro while those seeking lush balance and fluid musicality will prefer Max2.
Soundstage is wider and deeper with F1pro, in that regard Max2 feel intimate and overly compressed in center stage, you are into music with Max2 while center stage is more recessed U shape way with F1pro.
Imaging is superior with F1pro, sound layering is more transparent so macro dynamics don’t feel as mushy and dark.
All in all, musicality and warm tonal balance as well as timbre naturalness go to Tinhifi P1max2. NiceHCK F1pro is more technical but more unpleasant musicaly, timbre is thinner, dryer and harsher, vocal can be sibilant more easily and percussions are overly forwards due to spikier treble response.
VS HIDIZS MP145
The MP145 is more U shape, crisp and airy in tonality, what hit first is how more open and gigantic the soundstage is and how cleaner and more holographic the imaging is.
The bass is faster and thinner, more transparent, less thick and more energy in slam and punch which is wider, more transparent and resonant. Bass lines are better articulated and deeper. Their less lower mids warmth and slam is better layered. Max2 feels quite muddy bass wise compared to those and the mid bass definition is more mushy.
The mids are edgier with MP145, timbre is thinner and brighter, less smoothen in sibilance, less lusher and warm than darker and thicker mids of Max2 which again feel mushy and lacking in air and proper definition but we have more lower mids and male vocal are more upfront and fully bodied with the Max2, that's about only advantage it got since mids are more open and crisp yet not too thin with Mp145.
The treble is notably airier, sparklier and snappier with the MP145, percussions are sharper in definition and more energetic in attack, we have more micro details and texture info, we have more air around instruments, we have more attack lead accent and well everything feel less dark and foggy.
The Soundstage is way wider, taller and deeper, no competition here.
Imaging is superior due to more space between instruments as well as more transparency and space between sound layers levels, again non competition here.
All in all, the MP145 is superior in both tonal balance and technical performance and feels from another league as if MP145 was mid tier planar and Max2 an entry level one.
CONCLUSION
The Tinhifi P1max II are more than decent sounding planar IEM but come a bit late in the game and doesn't represent consequent performance upgrade among other planar offering.
If you were hoping for a more V shape and energic sounding P1max, this could be the musicality sidegrade you were waiting for.
As well, the wide soundstage promise aren't achieved by this IEM, so if you seek very open and spacious musicality, it's not the IEM I would suggest, for that regard, Hidizs MP145 still is the benchmark.
The P1max2 is a fun and bassy sounding earphone with thick bass and mids and a well rounded tonality that is cohesive and free of harsh spike, and at 130$ it might not be as competitively priced as Artti T10 but still is a valuable contendor for audio enthusiast.
Semi Recommended.
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PS: I want to thanks Tinhifi for sending me this review sample. As always i'm not affiliated in any form to this company and these are all subjective audio impressions and opinions.