My Lin, My Rules — Hidizs Makes the Budget Tier Personal and wins

This Review was written by Kristina Savić

Disclaimer

Although there are some manufacturers of IEMs that I really like and respect, due to their constant quality implementation or build philosophy or development direction, I am always ready to accept there there are flaws and I am in no position to be stopped in speaking about it, so these are my thoughts, not compensated or influenced by anyone.

Introduction

Being in business for more than 15 years Hidizs have stated by their products that they are a big player in every term there is when you think of quality build IEMs, DACs, Amps and DAPs. Every product, may it be or not of your preference, is undoubtedly a high quality audio equipment with a background story to support the legacy. This time, Hidizs decided to go with a new idea with a character in front of the story.

A new character, a protector of their brand new product named My Lin is introduced in a flashy and recognizable way, Hidizs way. The original name for the protector of these IEMs is Lin (Ruo Xue Lin) and she is the embodiment of clarity, warmth and balance- the response you could expect from the sound signature of these IEMs. My Lin Special Edition comes in the beautifully printed box with Lin in the center of the attention. Inside, you come across very cool, Hidizs standardised presentation of nicely nested shells, eartips and nozzle filters. In the lower layers there is a plastic stand with a Lin character you can position as an accessory to spice up your personal space and microfiber cloth with a lot of stickers with the My Lin characters.

And finally, on the bottom, there is a leather bag /pouch (Hidizs recognizable style) with a high purity OFC (oxygen free copper) silver plated cable inside. For a product under $100 this is more than enough and very satisfying and practical.

And now, the star of the show. IEMs are made wonderfully. Considering that these are one budget IEMs, the design and the feel you get from looking and touching them is premium like. They are made out of the ZA 12 Zinc Alloy and the faceplate is decorated with nicely coloured resin material. One of the most beautiful finishes I encountered so far. The shape is so beautiful, attractive, durable and comfortable at the same time.

The nozzles are 6mm wide and average length. There are also pressure vents oriented on the front of the shells which are quite big and on the smaller ones on the back also. The purplish-stardust sparkly resin is such a nice contrast to that silver finish of the mirror finish of the shells. They look refined and they follow the theme of the Lin character perfectly. I don’t see any problem with the comfortability for even someone with smaller ears, because of the design and the dimensions and positioning of the nozzles. Just find eartips that you like the most and that don’t change the original sound too much. I prefer thinner ones, and the stock ones are just fine.

The sound is a warm V shaped with great vocals and nicely recognizable technical details, but you can spice the sound up a bit using different nozzles:

Red (for Balance) - Perfect for various genres. The perfect balanced signature- not too warm and not too energetic also. My favourite.

White (Crystal clear) - Very energetic and revealing.

Black (For lows) - great for R’N’B.

SPECIFICATIONS

Driver Configuration: 1 Dynamic Driver + 1 Balanced Armature -

Dynamic Driver Info: 10.2mm PU + PEEK DLC Coated Dual-Cavity Dynamic Driver - Balanced Armature Info: HIDIZS Silvercore™ BA Driver -

Magnetic Circuit: N52 Dual Magnetic Circuit - Tuning Filters: 3 Pneumatic Tuning Nozzles - Frequency Response: 20Hz – 40kHz -

Impedance: 17Ω -

Sensitivity: 111dB -

Connector: 0.78mm 2-pin -

Cable: High Purity Oxygen-Free Copper Cable -

Plug Options: 3.5mm / 4.4mm -

Shell Material: ZA12 Zinc Alloy with Carbon Fiber Faceplate -

Weight: Approx. 26g (without cable) -

Price: $99

IN THE BOX

- MY LIN Special Edition IEMs

- 3 Pairs of Pneumatic Sound Tuning Filters

- 3 Pairs of Ergonomic Silicone Ear Tips (Black – Balanced)

- 3 Pairs of Ergonomic Silicone Ear Tips (White – High Frequency)

- Detachable Earphone Cable (3.5mm or 4.4mm Option)

- User Manual

- Warranty Card

- HIDIZS Protective Pouch

- MY LIN Exclusive Emoji Sticker

- MY LIN Special Edition Acrylic Standee

- MY LIN Microfiber Cloth

THE ANALYSIS

The combination for MyLin was various, but I was most satisfied to run around with them paired up with HIDIZS AP 80 Max Pro. I tried them also paired up with EarMen Signature and SMSL C200, and the difference is minimal.

MUSIC

I gave them everything I usually listen to and test IEMs with. Mostly hard-rock and prog-metal, and they are more than enough for those genres. Energy they carry alongside with the pinch of warmth is a perfect match for the aggressive and sharp notes of the electric guitars or heavy drum parts. I am very satisfied. Very nice male tenors and male vocals.

Any instrument is safe with these IEMs. They don't change the natural timbre.

GAMING/MOVIES

Excellent choice for gaming. Enough details with no sibilance, wide and airy enough. Perfect match.

IN GENERAL

You won’t be sorry if you pick this set. Whether you are a beginner in this IEM world or an experienced audiophile you will appreciate what they have to offer, but from different perspectives. It has a lot of energy that is well controlled which positions them high on the ladder of successfully manufactured and implemented drivers and shells.

Everything somehow klicks. They do fit in the all-rounder group of IEMs and that is the second point that they excel and are definitely a potent competitor even for more expensive IEMs on the market. They are not an analytical set so you won’t be getting a full audiophile crystal clear sound micro-details vise. Yes they are very good in macro dynamics and clarity with a nice balanced sound and naturalish timbre. They are not 100% neutral sounding, but a bit leaning towards a warm tone. The sound is kind of organic, but you know organic when you hear one, and here it is not a full time organic timbre to all instruments.

But everything is controlled with a good sense towards musicality so the final verdict is that I see them as a 60% musical IEM. A very nicely tuned IEM with a pinch of warmth added to make things more emotionally charged. The cut-off for the note weight is right. Punctual. Note thinned and not rounded. I accept this as very satisfying. Sharp enough to provide just enough zest and bite when needed and elastic enough to be blended in the mix. Either way, the clarity never suffers.

You can always play with nozzles and try to emphasize the clarity, but the overall balance is the most important for me, so the red ones are my choice in combination with white eartips. Perfect.

THE TEST

BASS

You can most certainly enjoy the lows using this set. Not to be called a basshead IEM they sure can deliver all genres that are predominantly defined by the bass guitars and kick-drum full beats. So, we should call them nicely controlled and defined bass IEMs for their class. It is not an organic, atmospheric and naturally dragging bass, but rather faster and well textured bass that could lean on that natural sound and copy it by being nicely tuned so that IEMs bass tuning is very musical, full and punchy.

The resolution of those low notes is quite satisfying. And also they are cut precisely so the final effect is not smearing and not pillowy sounding bass notes. The bleed into the mids is ok and gives them a warmth they need, that is also an respectful organic approach in overall tuning. The density of the sub-basses is felt without smearing into the mix.

Mid-basses are very warm and solid in presentation that I must commend the layering in this area. It is given the freedom to bleed into the mids and be felt all the time without compromising the clarity of the midrange area but also giving the tonality its backbone and support. They managed to make those mid-bass notes decaying naturally with enough weight and edge. For me, the density and statement from this area is very nice.

MIDS

One of the most coherent midranges in general. Using the red nozzle, I heard notes with nice body, position and decay, so that we have a musical and balanced midrange, both separately and in the whole mix. Although the sound is spiced with warmth there is a crispness to the notes when needed so we get a clear midrange musicality. The line is nicely drawn to call out for the clear notes inside the warmth layer. So, the organic style wannabe continues in the midrange with nice layering and natural positioning of the elements in the midrange.You can hear that the separation is good enough by recognizing different instruments fairly easily.

This is not a detailed midrange, the focus is in natural positioning and nice tuning for overall natural effect with a pinch of emotion coloration. The lower-mids a bit recessed, but the density of the notes kept the presentation as realistic as possible. The edginess on strings in this area is not top notch all the time, and sometimes the instruments won’t be as dominant as I would like, but that is a very subjective opinion.

For the sake of tuning we are in for the warmth and weight of the notes that infuse fullness rather than neutral precision. Upper mids are definitely more forward than low-midrange notes and keep the humidity and the weight of the notes so we don’t get a dry and sterile region that could emerge from the BA configuration changing the whole signature of the IEM and natural-like timbre to its components. For most of the instruments, this area is revealing enough and for the female vocals is really complementing.

TREBLE

Not the brightest of them all. I mean brilliance vise. Easy going brilliance so to speak, which complements the sound of the midrange more than it is intended to shine. So, they have managed not to cause the fatigue coming from this area and to keep the tuning alive by opening its upper frequencies. The edge the treble infuses to the upper midrange is appearing when needed. Percussions are well supported also, without unnecessary, prolonged vibrations. The lift in the treble area frequencies is very much needed to maintain the order and balance to the basses by providing a reasonable sense of openness without feeling dry.

The tonal balance is very nicely arranged with the possibilities of the drivers. Every adjustment is done so that, even though the extension has its spikes in the upper treble, the final mix has its natural timbre signature maintained. It doesn’t feel artificially boosted, but I can conclude that it is very tastefully controlled so that the bite and the glare have borderline crisp to them. This is categorizing them as one of the spicy, energetic IEMs that are not fatiguing even for a longer period of listening.

They are leaning towards smoother treble tuning, although when certain frequencies align the noise could emerge (in very detailed and chaotic tracks). Detail retrieval is average and that is all to it, as I have previously explained. This is one musical set first and then a detailed one.

SOUNDSTAGE/ TECHNICALITIES

Just enough it's what you get from the soundstage here with My Lin. Nothing negative about it, as for me, but it is adjusted to just fit its purpose, nothing suggests that there is more space left. Everything is quite nicely measured and nicely molded. They are definitely not the IEM that I would look out for as an instrument separation reference, but it is decent for instruments and vocals altogether. The highly complex tracks with multiple aligning bass instrument frequencies are definitely not the terrain for them to be tested on an instrument separation. In every other case, they are pretty good. The imaging is also very good for under the $100 IEM drivers.

The layering is quite nice so that the natural order of instruments in placing them spatially is easy. Again, as for the detail retrieval, they do not excel. They are tuned not to be analytical and some details have just blended in the final mix. They are musically oriented IEMs and there is nothing that is crucially missing even though they are not detailed monsters.

LET’S SUM IT UP

They are fitting into that all-rounder group of IEMs, for sure. They are very compatible with bass oriented songs ( just not some very complex ones) - they carry the energy and the rumble that is very satisfying and felt not just heard. Very busy tracks are not especially good friends of theirs due to an average detail retrieval. Songs that are vocalist oriented are very pleasing to the ears. Energetic music is definitely supported well with My Lin. Even heavy metal. Pop, country, hip-hop and R&B each have their own place with My Lin. Where you don’t need to mix them are complex musical pieces that could be found in Jazz, or some musical experimental pieces that emphasize complex basses or highly detailed treble. What we have here is one musical IEM that is very energetic, bass oriented in a V-shape tuning that is ready to give its all.

PROS

- Excellent performance for price

- Unboxing is so much fun

- Durable, beautiful and comfortable. One of nicest faceplates and shape in general

- Different tuning nozzles

- Making difference just a pinch where intended

- Very realistic sound considering everything

- Nice rumble from the sub-bass and mid-bass area. Very fast also

- Midrange clean as slate, especially nice for females. Musicality over technicality

- Open treble, borderline bright and sharp

- Imaging is excellent

- Nice soundstage

- didn’t expect more. Just a perfect fit for the driver combo

CONS

- Upper bass towards mids give them warmth that could veil details in some cases

- Borderline sharp and bright, so it could get a pinch noisy in some tracks

- Not an analytical IEM