Xiaomi Piston 3 Review
Thanks to GearBest for the sample.
First Impressions: Oh my word,
there is some serious effort having gone into the box here. Not that
the box is actually important but in giving a first impression, wow!
The thing is so perfectly put in to its packaging. So exquisitely
perfectly fitting. I am impressed. Taking them out, unwrapping from
their cable wrap thingy they just seem so achingly neatly wrapped. You
know there is no way they’ll ever go back in just the same. Oh and
look, the tip selection is hidden underneath. Tips look plain unlike
the Honor ones, though there’s a good chance I’ll just Comply’s on
anyway.
In the ears they go and the clarity right off feels nice.
Hmm bit heavy on the warmth, gosh there is a quite a bit. Lower vocal
ranges are somewhat boosted in weight, heavy thick cloying. Granted I
did put the Krall woman’s “Wallflower” on which isn’t likely what they
were made with in mind. Swapping to Twenty One Pilots “Stressed Out”
and the bass roars to life. Mids pushed back a bit but the instrument
separation feels super enhanced. Weird. Oh god there is a big dollop
of bass there isn’t there. Oh these are so tuned with bouncy pop in
mind. Lol, these are either going to boatload of fun or that bass is
gonna kill me. Hmm burn in time it is.
Source: FiiO E7/E9 combo, Hisoundaudio Studio V 3rd Anv., HiFiMAN HM-650, 1G Ipod Shuffle, Nexus 5 and Graham Slee Solo Ultra Linear.
Lows: There is a clear bump to the
bass on these. It’s quite a hefty bump but not so much it sounds
particularly imbalanced. Like something more “natural” but you’ve hit
the bass boost button. While these are a bit of a W shape with the bass
uptick the biggest. Actually it’s a little disjointed, there isn’t the
mid/bass bump you’d expect from a bassy and cheap IEM. Their bump is
lower down so it really doesn’t interfere with the vocals in the
slightest. I’m kinda impressed, someone’s clearly done this
deliberately and I think I’m little taken aback that what I think of as a
“phone” company has actually put in some serious effort and someone
clearly knows what they are doing. (Note I haven’t heard the 2 but I’ve
read it was considerably more bassy, too bassy.) Here the bass it’s
still large, not very much in the upper bass ranges but then rising
before the lower ranges trail off. It holds on quite well though and it
certainly likes to move some air. Slightly more bloomy than punchy
though the more power you throw at it the more punchy it gets.
Personally I’m fine with that, out of a phone it’s a little more soft
and dark. Abundantly dark and rich. It moves a bit much air for my
tastes but it’s tonally lovely. I like it much for vocally heavy, jazz
type vocals, Nora, Erasures “Union Street” album are glorious, laboured
and lingering, darkly swirling bass notes that drag out.
In more vigorously poppy stuff the bass
ratchets it up in a fashion not unlike that of Sony where it does that
punchy bloomy wallop. Like being smacked in the face with a big
heavy pillow. There is that impact but it’s not hard, that slightly
gentle initial impact but there is a lot of oomph behind it.
Mids: To go with its little W
shape, mids are very clear and unbothered by the elevated bass. I’ve
read the 2 had an issue here but the 3 is very clean vocally, much
instrument separation. For me I think this works nicely with the
Erasure album and anything by Nora. Still I suspect these are more
charty destined IEM’s so firing up Now 89. A little track skipping and
settling on “Fireball” with its big pounding bassline the vocals are,
well it’s not Shakespeare, still they are highly distinct and again it’s
the instrument separation. It’s really, really good on these. Vocals
no matter how meh or muffled they are shine through with ease, even with
that big, big bass pounding away.
Tonally they are a bit on the liquid and a fraction warm side.
Breathy they don’t really have in them but come on, they are so cheap I
can’t see them normally ever meeting much outside pop. They really
excel at giving a cleanly cutting vocal despite the mountainous bass.
Highs: Quantitatively they are a
bitty behind the mids most of the time. Thankfully most of the poppy
things they will meet don’t really ever have much in the way of dazzling
treble and that’s for the best. While good for the money, the money is
so little when the treble starts to dominate it does break up, gets too
brittle and sharp for me. They just don’t have the resolution to do
them justice and when there is much else going on. You stick to that
blond girl singing about how fat she is, the 3 suits it well, rip
roaring bottom end excellent mids and passable treble.
Soundstage: Outstanding. These
sound huge for what I think of as el cheapo’s. Dynamics always sound
bigger than BA’s but these are really impressive. Great sense of size,
scale, power and then when you throw in the level of instrument
separation. They are so VERY distinctly and clearly defined. That
little bit of W magic, the bass sound off the stage with explosive power
and vocals are bang up front. So unencumbered by the bass, no midbass
blending no matter how crappy the “music” I threw at it, no matter how
appallingly bad the vocals they still sounded so cleanly distinct.
Impressive.
Fit: Great. They aren’t so
universal looking at their predecessors but up or down they worked fine
for me. I wore up almost all the time and so long you swap the left and
the right you’re good. The mic did sit a bit high that way but I don’t
care, wearing them up alleviates any tugging on the ear which I loathe.
Comfort: Ditto with the fit. In
the ears they went and that was they. I did opt to change the tips, not
that there was anything wrong with the silicon’s but I like foams more
and given the funny size, I think they might be the new T150 size, as is
the Senn Momentum In-Ears. So I didn’t have any but…… I had a Shure
olive and a little bit of push and a twist later, boom!!! Sure it was a
little bit a squeeze getting it on there but I love olives. They last
so much longer that Comply’s do and I like the tapered smooth shape
more.
Aesthetics: From pics alone I’m
inclined to say the 2 looked better than the 3. Not that the 3 is ugly
or anything but it’s a just a bit so so. Plain, nondescript and a
little uneventful. Though of course they do look considerably more
grown up than some of the 2’s like the gold one or the pink and crystal
backed one. These have a much more grown up sound and so they have
dressed the part.
Microphonics: Erm, none. Granted I
mostly wore up and with olives but even down there was not anything too
bad. Though down the mic will catch on a collar as they are want to
do, but then they all tend to do that. Not very much foot impact noise
due to being fairly open.
Amped/Unamped: The more power you
throw at them the cleaner and harder they become. While on paper that
translated as “better” but given they shift a great deal of air I found
my ears rathered them a little bit more tame. That hint softer rather
than powerful you get out of a weaker source. I’d still be inclined to a
cooler, crisper DAP as I found with the warm Iphone worm on warm gets a
bit suffocating. Not that I actually expect the Pistons to come into
contact with powerful sources in the wild anyway. They don’t
particularly benefit from an amp anyway.
Phone Use: It was a little bit
odd. The volume buttons didn’t work with the Iphone 5 or the Nexus 4
but were fine with the Nexus 5, Huawei P8 and the Lumia 735. Don’t ask
why or how because I don’t know either, I’m just reporting what did or
did not work. Otherwise everything was just as you’d expect and calls
worked fine. Not really a shocker seeing as they are made by a “phone”
company.
Isolation: A bit so so. As
dynamics you don’t expect tons and even with olives on these are
obviously fairly well vented. While that no doubt helps with their
prolific bass response the trade is lower isolation. With music it’ll
easily drown out most out and about noise but I’m not sure I’d be so
happy on a bus. Yeah it’ll drown out everyone else but I fear you might
end up being “that guy” blasting music out to the annoyance of others.
Maybe I’m being over cautious as they are still IEM’s but you know. As
ever, easily enough to get yourself run over with so please remember to
use your eyes when out.
Cable: Seems rather nice. It’s
all with a gentle weave coving that looks and feels nice, pretty
flexible too. Jack and Y splitter are both very nice too, metal I
think. It certainly looks and feels rather impressive for the money.
Build Quality: Exemplary. For a
company that clearly puts so much into design it shows. The build and
finish on them is as good as anything you might see at several times the
price. Quadruple the price and you’d still be very pleased. I think
it’s clear that the time of thinking “Chinese” as not meaning good
quality, is so well and truly over.
Accessories: You get 4 pairs of
tips and I can’t decide if the case and cable wrap innards count as
accessories or not. They are of a size that you could certainly use
them as such if you wanted. Personally I hate cable wrap things but if
you wanted you could just pull that out and use the case on its own.
Though there isn’t a fastener so it doesn’t really hold itself closed
very well. Still once more, for the money I can’t complain, if you want
a proper case hit up ebay.
Value: There really is no option
but to say they represent quite spectacular value. I mean, just under
US$15 or a hair over £10 and that’s delivered. I mean how do they even
cover the postage costs never mind make a profit on the things???? Are
Xiaomi maybe selling these at a loss to build up a bit of a brand name
in the West? I mean I know you can get somethings crazy cheap in the
capitalist behemoth that is modern Cathay but even still, how??? So
yeah why not buy a pair, they are so stupid cheap and remarkably good, I
mean they genuinely sound good. I’m sure these must be selling at a
loss.
Conclusion: Wow. Yeah I know that
Xiaomi have been getting some stellar commentary about the Pistons
since their v1 launch and while I was interested, I wasn’t wildly so. I
mean they are el cheapo’s and even the most amazing el cheapo’s are
still going to be a come down from most of the stuff I use. Now they
are a bit of a jump down for me, you know I have the Oppo PM-3’s two
feet from me sitting and duh, they aren’t on the same planet sound
quality wise. Lol, I mean the total cost of the Piston 3’s wouldn’t
cover the posting of the Oppo’s in their box, it likely wouldn’t buy you
their case with or without postage too. Yet the Piston’s in so many
ways hold their own. Not in an A/B’ing session but as I listen to them I
am not wretching in horror. You know I’m actually liking them. Sure
they are too bassy for me and they are bit over eager to move air low
down but it’s good.
In absolute term the bass is a really skilful blend of scale, exuberance, bloom and pith.
It works, it works with almost everything too. Granted for
aggressively bassed pop it’s too much for me. Their inclination to
wallop you with its soft impact but backed up power wore me out. I was
more at home with letting it roll and linger more rounded bass notes.
Thick, weighty, lingering and dark. That plus the rich, focused vocal
ranges really sang with the likes of Mr Buble. It also glossed over the
craply mastered treble in his tracks. The 3 isn’t too forthright with
the treble and given it hasn’t the skill to perfectly reproduce his
scratchy cacophony of treble, it was more a gently warm wash of
shimmer. It’s really how you want poor treble to be glossed over making
it highly forgiving of such things.
The bass. I don’t know if it was
my imagination but it seemed to grow as time went on. I can’t tell if
it was some weird burn in issue but I suspect that it was down to its
vigorous air movement. They raw amplitude of that movement doesn’t seem
massive, it’s clearly well elevated of course but it seems to move so
much air that the power feels stupendous. That sound stage, that
breadth, that scale, that vast abundant power. It all grew tiring on my
little ears. Still I suspect the mainstream individual will adore
that. (A brief audition by a friend confirmed that adoration.) You see
I’m used to strictly hearing bass, not so much the feeling of that air
movement on the rest of the ear so I believe that’s what Xiaomi have
done here. It’s potentially an incredibly skilful thing to do.
So, should you buy one?
Well let’s be clear these are nothing short of a miracle. I mean I get
that things for years have been getting ever cheaper. Not so much
“better” but the price for the same sort of quality has been getting
battered downward. Now I don’t know if Xiaomi simply see these as an
accessory to their phones, so they don’t care if they make a penny on
them. Maybe that’s why they are so cheap? Either way it feels like a
value shift has just taken place. I mean, they are built really nicely,
they look alright, they sound really good, they come with a mic at
seemingly no extra cost and then they come in priced as they are. It
just doesn’t add up. How can Xiaomi and a retailer and the postal
service used make a profit on these? Is it a temporary introductory
price they just haven’t mentioned? It all just seems too good, I can’t
help but feeling like there must be a catch somewhere that I’m missing.
It doesn’t seem like they can be so cheap and yet so good but they are.
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