TINHiFi T1S Review
The Smooth operator
Pros: + Warm and inoffensive
+ Plenty of impactful bass
+ Wide soundstage
+ Super comfortable and lightweight
+ Easy to drive
+ Detachable cable of good quality
+ Budget friendly
Cons: – Average detail retrieval and resolution
– Severe mid-bass masking
– Treble is lacking in extension and excitement
– Soundstage has below average depth and positioning accuracy
– Average passive noise attenuation
– A carrying pouch is not included
– Tight competition in an overcrowded market
The review sample was kindly provided by TinHiFi free of charge in exchange for my honest and subjective evaluation, I only paid import fees and tax.
I haven’t received monetary or any other kind of compensation and I don’t use affiliate links.
The retail price is $39 but you can grab it as low as $20 during some sale events.
You can order it directly from TinHiFi.
T1S
The T1S is an improved version of the T1 Plus with a re-tuned driver on the basis of T1 PLUS and for the T1S it is equipped with a re-developed acoustic silicon sleeve.
The T1S adopts a new, 10mm beryllium-coated Driver.
While designing it, TinHiFi engineers wanted to find the right combination of weight and stiffness/rigidity, so Beryllium was naturally one of the ideal materials for the driver.
It’s lightweight but also exceptionally rigid as it is 2.5 times lighter than titanium but three times more rigid.
T1S adopts one of the highest strength-to-weight ratios of all materials but with an affordable price thanks to the single sided driver that is 98% Beryllium-coated.
Design and comfort
The T1S has anatomically shaped ear shells that are made from hard plastic.
The faceplate is available in black, pink, white or green while the rest of the shell is transparent so you can actually see the driver and the cables.
Nothing too fancy but at 3.2g each, they are very lightweight to the point that you forget about watering them.
The shells are quite shallow so they fit very comfortably but not too deep and snug, as a result passive noise attenuation is moderate.
Cable
T1S comes with a detachable cable made of silver-plated wires using a 0.78mm recessed 2-pin connector that offers extra protection than usual connectors.
The cable is of good quality, it is not stiff, it doesn’t get too tangled, it has low microphonic noise and the 3.5mm plug has an aluminium outer jacket.
Left and right markings are difficult to discern both on the cable and the ear shells.
Accessories
The T1S comes with the detachable cable and six pairs of eartips (three narrow bore and three wide).
A carrying pouch is not included.
Listening impressions
As per usual practice the T1S was burned about 100 hours before listening.
The T1S is ridiculously easy to drive and most of the listening was done with the FiiO KA1, iBasso DC05 and Periodic Audio Rhodium.
The overall sound signature is warm and bassy without too much treble extension, lacking in overall resolution.
Sub-bass extension is pretty good for such a small driver while the rest of the low end is definitely emphasized all the way up to the mids.
Not a bass-head level of emphasis but still good enough to handle electronic music and without masking the mid-range too much.
What gets affected though is the clarity and definition of the bass range itself where the mid-bass gets fogged and overlapped by the lower bass.
This is not necessarily bad as long as you are not interested in critical listening because in the T1S transparency and definition are not its strong points.
On the other hand the bass is mostly controlled and not murky or boomy while it is quite visceral, impactful and dynamic with good timing making the T1S a great earphone for modern music and bassy tunes.
And not only for synthesized ones but also with vocals and real acoustic instruments because eventually the mid-range finds its way to sound present and clear with above average levels of presence and articulation.
It might not be the most detailed presentation but it has some nice warmth and a mostly natural timbre with satisfying harmonic saturation.
The treble is safely tuned, it is smooth and very controlled but not too much as to sound muted.
The T1S is an easy listen, treble sensitive users are going to love it, no brightness or harshness, no sharp overtones but at the expense of detail retrieval, overall resolution and the absence of too much of excitement.
This type of sound signature also has some side effects on the soundstaging properties of the earphone which is nothing too special when it comes to positioning accuracy, instrumental separation or depth layering.
On the plus side the soundstage is quite extended on the horizontal axis and it doesn’t sound congested.
In the end
The T1S has a warm and pleasant sound signature with plenty of impactful bass that is not that well defined but it doesn’t get murky or out of control.
Easy to drive, super comfortable and discreet is intended to become your everyday partner for casual music listening as long as you don’t have excessive demands.
Copyright – Petros Laskis 2022.