DUNU TITAN 1 Quick Review

DUNU TITAN 1 Quick Review

Thanks to DUNU for the sample.

Brief:  DUNU make an open backed IEM

Price:  £90 or I found for $115 (I presume that’s US$)

Specification:  Driver: 13mm Titanium Diaphragm Dynamic Driver, Impedance:16Ω, Sensitivity: 90+- 2dB, Reproduction Frequency: 20Hz-30kHz, Cable Length: 1.2m, Plug: 3.5mm Stereo Mini, Weight: 18g

Accessories:  All of the accessories.  9 pairs of tips, shirt clip, attached cable wrap thing, a 6.15mm to 3.5mm adapter and a hard little case.  Case is particularly functional.

Build Quality:  It’s a DUNU, they are always excellent and this is no exception.

Isolation:  Erm, more than buds but it’s probably the least isolating IEM I’ve encountered.

Comfort/Fit:  It’s got a funny shape but worked perfectly in my ears, worn up or down it was effortless and comfy.

Aesthetics:  Reasonably pretty I think.  I always like when makes do a little red and blue splash so you can tell the ears apart too. Pretty and practical in one.

Sound:  As big sounding as any IEM as ever done.  So much air and so much space, the symphonic sense of scale these can deliver is superb.  Close your eyes and you can practically feel an entire orchestra before you, so vast and yet so close it all feels just a hair out of arms reach.  Such immense space and air yet retain an intimacy that all sounds so natural.  Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good” sounds like your there.  The big open driver gives you that air.  It also give you epically deep bass with oodles of agility like a big open can, can, yet due to being so close to your ear it doesn’t roll off.  It goes down to the point I think it’s my hearing that gives out.  The mids, are beautiful.  Airy open and delicately expressive.  Sadly it’s a bit behind the bass in quantity.  Then the treble, oh god they have airy and flighty treble like fairies dancing across the surface of a pond.  It’s however way too abundant for my ears and I needed the treble reducer EQ option and that was with comply’s on.  Treble junkies I’m sure will be falling over themselves to grab a pair but for me, they spike in the lower treble and edge towards sibilance.  That with the rest as they extend, my ears got very tired very quickly.  Combine that with being so open, so little isolating, that you naturally want to crank the volume.  My ears did not like that, just too much treble for me.

It’s awesome for soundstaging and for offering that big can, open backed flavour in IEM form.  DUNU are living up to the Unique in their name in that regard here.

Value:  Sound capabilities here for the money are excellent as DUNU’s normally are.  The issue is, treble quantity aside, these isolate so little and normally people pick IEM’s for outdoorsy use.  You want sounds blocked and these don’t really do that so it’s a bit of a queer duck.  I’d only really use these in doors alone, where I could just use proper big open cans.

Pro’s:   So vastly open.  Epic bass depth.  Dazzling treble.

Con’s:  Negligible isolation. Too much of that dazzling treble.