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Tipsy Dunmer night elves, following the top spot on the E-Earphone list of 10,000 yuan in 2020, will be on the Head-Fi homepage again after receiving the award from the Japanese VGP in 2021.
This enduring product has won many awards and comes from the charm of a balanced and detailed product. The following is the original text of the evaluation, author: machinegod
Build Quality & Comfort
Like all Tipsy products, the Dunmer is handmade and the faceplate is polished to represent a night sky. The unboxing experience is suave and hip, you know Tipsy hails from the modern day and age and it shows in their packaging and design. The faceplate looks gorgeous. The surface of the shell is prone to picking up grease and fingerprints.
The cable is an 8 core Silver Plated Copper terminated with 3.5mm SE and 2 pin 0.78mm detachable on the connector side. The cable also features a robust y-split and a chin slider. The connector plugs are hefty and solid, with a chrome finish which complements the black color perfectly.
Regarding comfort, I have small-medium ears and they fit in my ears perfectly. Once in, they disappear entirely.
Amp Needs
The Dunmer features a 1DD rated at 16 ohm, 105dB/mW which makes it ridiculously easy to drive. You can drive this off your phone easily and since it's sensitive at 105dB/mW, you won't be needing to turn up the volume much either.
The Dunmer doesn't scale enough for me to recommend using external amplifiers or DAPs. But I do recommend using a dongle DAC to get the best performance. (check Dynamics section)
Sound
Bass
As someone who is allergic to bloated and slow bass or even huge quantity of bass, the bass on the Dunmer is a breath of fresh air. Is tight and very well executed. The subbass quantity isn't overdone and you feel it's hit all the time. Textural variances in this region is also brought about clearly. The bass speed is fast and plays in tandem with the rest of the spectrum.
The midbass region is where the elevation is clearly noticeable. Midbass slams hard which makes everything sound punchy and impactful. However when it comes to speed, it isn't the fastest out there and you can hear it's bloom with well recorded music. However, in most cases the midbass slam adds an energetic flavor to the bass response.
Midrange
The lower mids have a slight touch of warmth but the quantity of warmth is done tastefully and in no way does it mask details. The upper midrange is slightly muted which makes it forgiving of badly mastered shouty music and rock/metal in general. This muted character in the upper midrange makes well recorded intimate vocal performances lack a bit of "bite" and "shine" to them.
However, the positioning of vocals and midrange frequencies is almost perfect; not too forward, not too recessed.
Treble
The treble response isn't overdone, the overall coherence in this range is astounding. There is an emphasis in the 7kHz region which adds a shimmering metallic twang to the region which becomes evident in cymbal-ridden music. The highs are never sibilant, harsh or fatiguing. Other than its metallic timbre, the treble response is almost ideal for all genres of music thanks to its tuning.
Dynamics
Micro-dynamics is very good, aided by the tasteful fast bass and impactful midbass. The dynamics do improve noticeably when you move up to a cleaner and well implemeted dac. If you're listening off your phone, its noisy output stage could very well be choking the Dunmer's dynamics. A dongle DAC might be the best bet to get the Dunmer to it's full potential.
Soundstage and Imaging
Soundstage width is good. And the imaging is very good. The instrument separation is excellent. The soundstage isn't deep, but that's expecting too much for its asking price. The overall soundstage is more flat/2D like most IEMs in this price range (and even much more).
Conclusion
This is a solid IEM, and I consider it some of the best around the 100$ price point. It's sound signature is engaging, fun and tastefully executed with great technical performance which make it an exciting listen every time. In this day and age when brands are shoving 10, 20, or even 30 BA drivers as a gimmick, Tipsy shows the others what can be done with only 1DD. And it is because of this I have a newfound respect for Tipsy.
If your budget is around 100$, the Dunmer is a solid choice. Period.