The midrange is just extremely smooth. Vocals sound especially great with a slight touch of warmth combined with lots of separation and details. Its the clarity, the speed, the definition, and the micro details it's all there you are missing nothing with these earphones. The mids sit so perfectly in the overall presentation as well, they are beautiful, but they don’t fight for dominance they don’t suffer from an upper mid spike and the is absolutely zero encroachment into them from the low end.

To get a real sense of what is going on go through a range of stringed instruments. Einaudi, Sunga Jung, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Vanessa Mae. All the tracks I listen to just pop. You are assaulted with the sounds of clothing moving, fret presses, bow tapping, and pedal dampening. It's absolutely bizarre and addictive.

The Low end is equally as outstanding, but this is not a Bassheads earphone. It's fast and, yes you guessed it, detailed. It has texture and layer and separation and it has a substantial tight impact, but it isn’t a sub bass monster. The prominence of the top end and the overall crazy presentation of the P1 may initially cause people to dismiss the low end because your focus at first is drawn away from it. After a solid 10 hours on the head, you appreciate it, and the P1 are superstars and excellent performers with EDM music.

The soundstage is still inside your head, but it's impressive and most likely different from anything you have heard. Its an almost holographic assault of sound coming from every direction and some of the most clearly defined separation from earphones at any price. At any price? Surely I am joking the Tin Hifi P1 can’t compete with the top of the line IEM’s? Well, that’s why I have added a little extra below.

Select Comparisons - The Trifecta of Sound

I believe you have a tool for the job and a single set of earphones is never going to be perfect for every scenario or genre of music. So I split into those three categories as a priority for myself. For all out bass, I am still drawn to the IMR Acoustics R1. For large soundstage and just an incredible listening experience, I would take the Campfire Audio Solaris. So what then about the allrounder? A detailed earphone that sounds good with almost anything and delivers an authentic high fidelity experience. I think I’m leaning towards the P1.

Now you might be thinking a $150 headphone cannot compete with headphones up to and over $1000? I understand the thinking; people have it in their heads that a higher price means a better product, but I have stated for years that it means absolutely nothing in regards to quality in this hobby.

There are expensive products that suck in comparison to cheaper offerings (Looking right at you Ultrasone & Final) and conversely cheap earphones that outperform expensive ones. The main area where this giant-killing has raised its head has been inexpensive Chinese IEM’s taking on the mid-priced/low mid-priced earphones.

For the most part, a lot of IEM manufacturers pull their pricing model out their backside. Add a driver on the inside and tag on an extra $200 to the price tag. In recent years the hobby has gone off the deep end with what is considered acceptable pricing practices.

I honestly believe that Tin has put out this IEM with the view to compete in the low mid-priced range of the market but without realizing they have produced an earphone that can easily compete on sound with some of the most expensive earphones on the planet. It’s outstanding.

I know that a lot of people are going to disagree with this. I know that people want to believe that more money means you have a better product. I know people will throw accusations of shilling (I have had zero contact with Tin Hifi, and Linsoul are quite open about letting me have free rain to say whatever I want about the products they send over for review).

If you don’t want to believe me, then don’t. Its no skin off my nose but one of the best things about this site over the years has been finding products that stand out in giving ordinary people a chance to experience the best sound quality for their money. It is my personal opinion that this is the best value IEM in all of the audio right now.

Tin Hifi P1 Questions and Answers?

There seems to be a lot of interest in this IEM which I am glad to see and I have started to get a few questions already. I will add the ones I think relevant here with my opinions. If you have any specific questions or comparisons you want made then drop me a message on the Audiophile On Facebook page.

Are the P1 hard to drive because they are planar?

Not hard to drive per say as they are rated at 20 ohms but I am finding that the players used for this review required the volume turned up significantly over my Campfire Audio Solaris and Shure SE846. Roughly 1/3 extra volume. The DAP’s used were the Xuelin X8, SE100. Additional source were the Spectra X from Nextdrive and my 02 DAC and amp. Briefly they were put through a Burson amp but I didn’t do any significant listening with it.

They do scale well when moving to better sources and they don’t work well with poor source files. They really bring out anything bad so you might want to consider that when trying to get the most from.

Can they be worn with the cable down?

In theory yes but they are not meant to be by design and don’t work optimally without flipping them.

You compare them to high end IEM’s is this just sound or an overall package?

This is related to sound. Design wise they are OK. The build quality is good but the don’t look like offerings from Campfire, Noble, Shure etc. The cable is good but its an area I would personally switch out. Heck I wouldn’t rule out recommending you buy the T3 just for its cable and use it with the P1. That would bring them up a level in regards to the overall package.

Im worried about the bass

I had someone ask about these or the DM6 and in my opinion its these every single time. As far as I am concerned the 2 aren’t even in the same dimension. Bass is more than sub-bass although I understand where people are coming from. I myself have separate earphones when I am in basshead mode because they generally don’t work so well with other genres. The bass quality wise is exceptional on the P1 its very detailed and layered yet natural. Bass guitar and Andy form of stringed bass is presented beautifully. In regards to sub bass it has some but not a lot and anything above sub bass has good impact. I can more than happily listen to EDM all day on them (It is my preferred genre).

(Various) About saying they are better than TOTL IEM’s

I tried to be clear on this but its obvious that a few people get carried away and misinterpret the intent. No I am not saying they are better than the SE846, UE11, W80, Andromeda Etc. I am saying that they should not be dismissed against them when it comes to sound and that is assuming they were all priced the same. I would make a choice based on what suits my listening preferences, comfort and build requirements. I really can enjoy listening to these every single bit as much as those listed. In some areas one will win out and in others it will flip. When I do take price into the equation however it does seem like I would be paying 850ish more dollars just for better build or aesthetics and a brand name. Some people won’t buy that of course but they are no more right or wrong than I am in their opinion on the matter.

Conclusions - An Absolute No Brainer - Buy Them

I think I have been pretty clear in this review of the Tin Hifi P1 earphones that I am loving them. These are a unique set of IEM’s that sound right up there with the best of the best while costing just a fraction of what I expect to pay. I have no idea how this market is going to take them. I genuinely hope they don’t get overlooked, and they get their due credit because it would be a shame if so many people who can’t afford to pay the big bucks for Shure, Noble or Campfire overlooked the P1 because this is their chance to get that level of fidelity without leaving wallets lighter or melting credit cards.

When something is so good, and people praise it so highly, it often gets overlooked in disbelief that its a hype train, but in my mind, these are the real deal. I also believe that if Tin Hifi had realized just how exceptionally good the P1 are they would have been priced way higher out the gate. Maybe this was the plan all along, perhaps they knew what they had going for them and decided to turn the whole market on its head.

In my mind, these are the headphones to buy right now and to be clear; I am not saying they are the best headphones in the world right now. That is far to bold a statement because there is no single best headphone, but when looking at what to buy and price not considered they need to be considered alongside the flagships of any other brand.

The P1 are a massive surprise that I hope many many people get to enjoy them as I do: excellent sound, excellent price, outstanding earphones!

The Tin Hifi P1 are now available to buy on Linsoul for $169 and Massdrop for $149 introductory.