AUDIOSENSE DT200

I am new-ish to this hobby and specifically IEMs, I have heard the Aful Performers 5 and 8, Truthear HEXA, and the Truthear Zero:Red as far as IEMs go.

Build + comfort:
I love the design and build of this IEM, the body is made out of grey resin with a silver carbon fiber faceplate with gold branding. With its smooth body and shape, it fits perfectly into my ear and I don't get any discomfort after hours of listening. These are definitely built better than even some IEMs I've seen for $200+.

Overview:
Overall, these are warm, with deep bass, full vocals, and smooth treble. These have 2 Knowles Balanced Armature drivers, one for the bass and one for the mids and treble. Audiosense uses drivers from Knowles in a lot of their flagship IEMs and uses them well, they do much better than most BAs as they aren't plagued with the classic BA sound of being tinny or metallic


Bass;
This IEM has very good bass, especially for a BA driver. This driver does a great job mimicking a DD with its dynamics and texture. The only gripe I have with the bass on these is I wish there were more sub with slightly less mid-bass. Even though the graph looks like the bass bleeds into the mids, I never have any trouble separating the bass from the low mids. The bass has more punch than any BA driver I've heard, due to it still being a BA driver, it is not the fastest bass.

Mids:
The mids is what this IEM does best. The mids are very smooth and controlled, male vocals have a lot of body and warmth to them. I never find these IEMs to be shouty at all, and female vocals are very clear and smooth, though a bit recessed compared to the lower mids. Vocals and instruments sound very natural and aren't tainted with "BA timbre" like the HEXAs suffer from sometimes. The mids have great detail and separation, with rock tracks I can hear almost anything without struggling to find it.

Treble:
This set has some of my favorite treble tuning, it is smooth and non-fatiguing. The treble is also not tainted with any BA timbre, ie. being metallic or tinny. The treble is a bit laid back but still has plenty of air and I never find it to be "veiled." The treble's detail is great, especially for the price, I can hear cymbals and hi-hats through any mix. The best way I can describe these is clear, detailed, and airy, but still laid back and smooth.





Accessories:
The case this set comes with is like a small clear pelican case. For most people, it might be too big to carry day-to-day if this is the only IEM you take with you. If you have 2 or 3 IEMs to carry around, this case is great, it can easily hold 2 IEMs and a dongle and if you have the Zero:Reds, you can also toss your 10Ω adaptor in there.

The stock cable is okay, it's built well but holds its shape and it makes sounds when you move around.

Songs tested:
White Owl - Josh Garrels
Flight - Hannah Parrot
A Time For Love - Jamie Cullum
Oh Rosy - Milena
Smokeless Fire - Octave Lissner
Long After You Are Gone - Chris Jones
Love is In Love - Geggy Tah
Lovely - Billie Eilish
Ocean Eyes - Billie Eilish
Somebody That I Used To Know - Gotye
From The Start - Laufey
Flow - Bernth
海色 - AKINO from bless4

Gear used;
Apple USB-C Dongle
M2 MacBook Pro
Apogee Duet 2

"I love Audiosense and they love me back by returning it with five-folds."


Hello mates, and welcome to my another IEM review and I'll be doing an assessment of another IEM from an audio company, none another from Audiosense, again...(This is my fifth review item from them to be exact.)



If you want to check about Audiosense as a company and their other models that I've done a review, you can check out the links below.



Audiosense DT100: https://euphoniareviews.blogspot.com/2021/11/audiosense-dt100-unbelievably-organic.html

Audiosense DT300: https://euphoniareviews.blogspot.com/2021/09/audiosense-dt300-sensical-neutral-tunung.html

Audiosense DT600:

https://euphoniareviews.blogspot.com/2021/10/audiosense-dt600-majestic-purple-haze.html

Audiosense AQ0:

https://euphoniareviews.blogspot.com/2021/11/audiosense-aq0-noteworthy-decent.html

Audiosense T800:

https://euphoniareviews.blogspot.com/2021/10/audiosense-t800-audiosenses-first-born.html




And what I have right now is the Audiosense DT200. This model was released last year as a second model for their DT series line-up after the DT100. DT200 is an all-balanced armature driver set-up like its fellow sister from DT series. It has two balanced armatures from Knowles as we all know that they have a good collaborative relationship with Audiosense.




DT200 shells are made of a high quality, clear resin material that was moulded via 3D printing as its smooth surface is very skin-friendly. It has a metal faceplate laminated with resin which its design has a silver carbon fiber pattern which looks aesthetically masculine in my opinion which I really like. Inside of the shell has an individual tube that connects from each balanced armature towards the nozzle as it channel different audio frequencies from each specified BAs. The nozzle is made of an aluminum alloy to provide better rigidity and better grip on any kinds of eartips. Suprisingly, despite that this is an all-BA driver set-up, it has tiny vent hole near at the MMCX connector. It is also noted that it has a crossover circuit which also serve as a capacitors that provides better handling on vibration and regulating the current to avoid electronic interference which translate less distortion and better delivery of current from the sound of each audio spectrum.





Like all Audiosense products, it uses a MMCX connector for flexibility and adjustability reason. The size of its shell is in small to medium scale as it perfectly fits to almost ear sizes. Due to its semi custom IEM-like contour, wearing of this IEM is very comfortable and able to use it for a longer listening session as it fits snugly into my medium-size ear as it is insertly well into my lug holes very stable and without any sense of wobble.






Since this is a mid-tier model from DT series, we expected that it has a substantially number of included accesories from its packaging box that is identical to other higher tier models like the DT300 and DT600 albeit slightly different illustration of IEM models at the front.



The contents inside are the following:

- A pair of DT200 IEMs

- Some stock black ear tips of usual three standard sizes in pairs

-A set of memory foam ear tips (6 pieces)

-An 8 strand 19-core 6N single crystal copper cable

-Some paperworks like warranty card and instruction manual in three languages

-A Pelican-like waterproof IEM case





Audiosense also included some bonus accesories like MMCX remover tool, extra filters for nozzle and a huge tweezer.



When it comes to scaling capability from sources, Audiosense DT200 is actually easy to drive like all its previous and recently models. It has a decent sensitivity number and low impedance rating that even a smartphone can properly power them up but putting them with better sources with good hifi DAC and high quality amp sounds even more better as it will show its fullest capability like better dynamics and fuller sound output.





The general tonality of DT200 is more on balanced-neutral sound signature as it has an enough bass elevation as its transition towards on a linear, neutral mids and then just ample emphasis on uppermids and lower treble.

This is indeed sounds very natural with good overall smoothness on it.



Here are some of my description on its sound characteristics of each audio frequency spectrum.



LOWS/BASS:

Despite that this is an all-BA driver set, the BA woofer manage to deliver a good quality bass. It is tight, precise and agile as I still amaze on how Audiosense manage to tune the BA that almost mimics the tonality of a dynamic driver.

Sub bass has an decent depth reach just to have an enough rumble to be heard. Not the best sub bass that has a better depth retrieval, more impactful and sustaining ones that you usually hear it on single DD but for a BA woofer, it does its job just to have at least a presence.

The midbass is well-textured that it gives good amount of body on instruments such as bass kicks, bass guitar and male vocals like bass-baritones. It is also noticeable that it is well-controlled that it doesn't bleed across the midrange. Bass kicks has that sustaining and thudding sound, while the bass guitar has that growl and resonant as I hear those plucking, fretting and slapping on its strings and that deep and guttural vocals of a bass-baritones.

This might not be the basshead's bass but this kind of bass in both quality and quantity is sufficient to an audiophile.



MIDS:

This is one of the key strengths of this IEM, the overall quality of midrange as it is neutral, clean and smooth. One of the soothing smoothness that I've listen in this price.

Vocals on both gender has that natural and pleasant sounding on how it renders a resolution on each vocal type. Male voices retain that strong, resonant and throaty that I discerningly hear in very particular manner while female vocals is more opened, displaying a good clarity and "syrupy" especially on high octave ones and yet they still sounds pleasant and sweet.

When it comes of instruments, despite of the smoothness, it still sounds natural and life-like on how I listened on a live band gig. The acoustic guitar and even the electric ones sounds crunchy and articulate as I hear clearly the strumming and plucking of each string, the impactful, precisely and penetrating sound of a snare strikes, the intense stridency and brilliant sound of wind instruments such as sax and trumpets and lastly, the rich and sumptuous note of a piano tone.

As a midcentric, I want my mids more affront, detailed and well-defined tonal aspect of its respective instruments, And DT200 manage to deliver it exceptionally even though it has more on smoother side though it still carry a good resolution.



HIGHS/TREBLE:

Treble has a natural and smoother transition from mids. It has an ample brightness on it as it gives some decent airiness and glistering on its treble range.

Upper mids has a sufficient emphasis or peak just to give enough energy and gleam that I don’t hear any sibilance or harshness whatever tracks that I'm playing with even with those sibilant-laden tracks.

Cymbals strikes sounds very natural as DT200 shows it a shimmer and crisp nature. Hi-hats distinct chink sounds was quite audible across the tracks.

To hear upon the treble quality on this IEM, it is safe to say that this will be recommended for treble sensitives that who want a good tolerable type of treble that will give them a pleasant experience.



SOUNDSTAGE, IMAGING & OTHER TECHNICALITIES:

As I perceive the scale of the dimensions of its soundstage, it has an above average on width, good depth and good height ceiling as I imagine that I’m in a medium-size theatre house and feels semi-holographic one.

Imaging is one of the impressive on this one as I can pinpoint the positioning of the instruments and vocals accurately. Another phenomenal aspect is that I can even spatially feel its distance and range of each spacing and gaps, that separation and layering prowess as astounding and comparable to some more pricey ones from midrange segment.

Coherency of both BA drivers plays well without any sort of distortion and muddling that causes mismatching on its sound frequency. Transient capability on its BA drivers are very agile that it could cope up some complex, fast tracks.



My verdict on this review on this product, how will it fare and is it recommendable to other audio enthusiast?

If you are a type of listener who wants a more a warm, v-shaped tuning that appealing to most consumer then this set is not for you. And if you are more of an audiophile/ audio enthusiast who wants a neutral, smooth, clean sounding with better technicalities that aren’t too dry and analytical to listen, just for relaxing listening session then this set is perfectly for you, mate.






SPECIFICATION:

MODEL: AUDIOSENSE DT200

IMPEDANCE: 14Ω

SENSITIVITY: 99dB

FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 20Hz - 22KHz

CABLE LENGTH: 1.25M

PIN TYPE: MMCX CONNECTOR

PLUG TYPE: 3.5mm

DRIVER UNITS: 2 BALANCED ARMATURE DRIVERS





Some Tracks Tested: ( * = 16-bit FLAC, ** = 24-bit FLAC, *'* = MQA, '*' = DSD, *'= .WAV)


Alison Krauss- A Living Prayer *

Debbie Gibson- Foolish Beat *'*

Led Zeppelin - When The Levee Breaks *'*

Santana - Europa *

Europe - Final Countdown *

Guns N' Roses - Patience *'*

Eric Clapton - Tears in Heaven '*'

Barry White - Never, Never Ever Give You Up

Pearl Jam - Daughter **

Roselia - Hidamari Rhodonite *

Agent Steel - Bleed for the Godz*

Metallica- Fade to Black **

Camouflage - The Great Commandment *

Queen - Killer Queen **

Michael Jackson - Billie Jean *

Bad Manners - Just a Feeling *

Riot- Warrior *

Mariah Carey- Love Takes Time *

Layla Kaylif - Shakespeare in Love *

Stone Temple Pilots - Plush *

David Bowie - Heroes **

Prince - When the Doves Cry *

Exodus - Metal Command *

Marduk - Blond Beast *

P. Diddy - Last Night *

Bone Thugs-n-Harmony- The Crossroads*



P.S.

I am not affiliated to AUDIOSENSE nor receive monetary incentives and financial gains as they provide me a review unit for an exchange of factual and sincere feedback from yours truly.



Once again, I would like to thank Elaine Wong for providing this review unit, I truly appreciate on her generosity towards me and other reviewers.



If you are interested this IEM product from AUDIOSENSE, Just check out the link below:



Shopee: (ASEAN market): https://shopee.ph/audiosense.ph

Ali Express: AUDIOSENSE Official Store

https://a.aliexpress.com/_mLa0Bfg

Audiosense DT200's Review

Intro

Audiosense is no stranger in the Chi-Fi scene. The T800 which is praised by many reviewers garnered a lot of positive feedback. This model that i’m going to review today is not a new model, it was released last year. I’ve had the AQ0, although the driver config is different compared to DT200, i kinda like the tuning of Audiosense, so let’s see.

DT200 is using two Knowles BA, one for handling the high, another one for the mid and low.




Specifications




Packaging

The unboxing experience is not not mind blowing or anything spectacular, but it came with a pelican like storage case, which is a plus point, two different types of silicon tips, and the cable and IEM itself. The storage case is what I like the most as it’s fairly big and you get plenty of space for other items as well.


Build/Comfort

Build quality wise, they are average i would say. They’ve got a nice faceplate and they do pay attention to details. Comfort wise, they are really top notch. Even after a few hours of listening session, no discomfort can be felt at all. With the right eartips, the noise isolation is very good, even at low volume, I can barely hear my surroundings, providing a noise cancellation kind of experience.




Source

Cayin N3 Pro (Tube - Ultra Linear) -> DT200 with Kotori Silicon Cable (With Audiosense S400 Tips)
Foobar2k -> E1DA 9038G3 -> DT200 with Kotori Silicon Cable (With Audiosense S400 Tips)

Sound

The overall presentation is smooth and organic. Very pleasant to listen to. I find it very smooth and there is nothing harsh coming from DT200. It is just smooth and very hard not to like it. (Personally speaking, your mileage might vary).

As you can see above where i pointed out i am doing this review in non stock form,i’m sure you’re curious in how it sounds in stock? Well, in stock form, it is quite good, i will be brief

• Bass is fast and tight, punchy and have good note weight
• Vocal is slightly pushed back, just slightly compared to when it’s paired with Kotori’s cable
• Treble and detail retrieval is average (better with Kotori’s cable but still nowhere near critical listening’s level)

Bass

As expected from a pure BA setup, bass extension is not DT200’s strong point. However, it does provide enough quantity for you to enjoy the music. The bass produced is fast, clean, controlled and tight. You can hear the sub bass, but definitely not the rumble that you’re used to produced by DD driver. Basshead will want to stay away. The bass reproduction is good enough for me.


Mids

Very smooth. Very very very smooth. I have to say it several times because it is by far the smoothest mid-range I've ever heard. There are some other pure BA setup where the mids are shouty at times. Billie Eilish’s vocal presentation literally gave me goosebumps when i'm listening to her new album via DT200. It is smooth and sounds very organic and not harsh at all. Switching to another track to try listening to male vocals, Born This Way cover by Orville Peck, the rendition is as stunning as female’s vocal. Very enjoyable. To me, this kind of vocal rendition is to die for.


Treble

Natural and nothing harsh. Buttery smooth. I do hope that the treble can be extended for a little bit, then it will give some air and sparkles on the top end, which I think will be very good if this can be achieved. As of now, it lacked some air and sparkles, hence this is what we perceive as being smooth, and there is nothing wrong or bad with that, its personal preference after all. For me, I like it with a little more air and sparkles.


Soundstage/Imaging

Soundstage is average in terms of width, however the depth and height are above average.
Imaging wise, instruments can be heard clearly where they’re coming from, on certain busy tracks, it can sound a little congested due to its soundstage’s width.


Driveability

DT200 is very easy to power, they can be driven straight off a smartphone and achieve listenable volume, however it does scale with better source of course. Amping is not required to get the best out of it.


Final Thoughts

Personally, I really liked DT200’s sound signature, i don’t get the wow factor when i first listen to them, but they kinda grow on me. The more I listen to them, the more I grow to like them. They’re just smooth and i find that they’re fairly neutral with a little, just a little bass boost. Not to mention the timbre is also very natural and I can't hear the metallic kind of timbre which can be heard on some pure BA setup.

It is not analytical, it is not fun, but to me, it does have that audiophile kind of tuning and it is very suitable for when you just want to pick it up and listen to music for as long as you want.
I listen to a wide range of genres except for EDM and Kpop, and DT200 is holding up pretty well.

Highly recommended for anyone who’s looking for a smooth listening session. Definitely not for bassheads.

*Bought this at subsidized price from Audiosense’s Shopee Store in Malaysia. Do check out their official store and follow them for any upcoming new release or promotion. Once again, a big thanks to Elaine for the opportunity.