Hidizs, as a company, already has extended lineup of ultra-portable USB DACs to suit any taste and compatibility. Some were enhanced versions of the previous iterations, while others brought completely new form-factor and functionality. The reason for another generation of S8-series model is shifting again to Cirrus Logic DAC chips that impact the resulting sound more than the form-factor, design or sound tuning. Hope that one day Hidizs would release something like this based on the beloved AKM DACs that sound the most mellow and musical to my personal taste. Although, this review would shed some light on how or whether CRL DACs sound better or worse compared to its S9 Sabre siblings.

S8 Pro “Robin” sales has launched on 20th of May with $69 listing price. First 100 order would receive 5%OFF automatically, resulting in the price of $65.55. Additionally, even the first 100 orders as well as the consequent ones may use our discount coupon code ZMCR5OFF to bring prices down to $61.75 and $65,55 respectively. This all applies whenever the product is ordered in Hidizs official store: LINK

In the box:

S8 PRO (codename “Robin”) shares the box design with S9-series USB DACs – very compact and sturdy. High quality prints all around the wrap, full list of specs and features on the back side. Box itself is made of recyclable plastics, inside you’d find soft foam holding the DAC and small compartment underneath that stores all of the additional accessories.

Apart from the DAC itself, there are the next items included:

• “HiRES” stickers
• Type-C to Type-C cable
• Type-C to USB A adapter
• Type-C to Lightning adapter

Having the latter in the box provides the compatibility of S8 Robin with iOS devices equipped with the corresponding port.

Full specs of S8 Robin are as following:

• 1. Dual 32-bit High-performance DAC Balanced Architecture – CS43131×2
• 2. PCM Supports Up to 32bit/384kHz
• 3. Native DSD 64/128/256
• 4. 4.4mm Balanced & 3.5mm Single-ended Output
• 5. CNC Aluminum Alloy Integrated Molding
• 6. Practical Function Buttons (volume +-/filter switching)
• 7. Sampling Rate Indicator
• 8. 80mW+80mW@32Ω 3.5mm SE / 160mW+160mW@32Ω 4.4mm BAL
• 9. Compatible with All platforms: Windows/Mac OS/iPad OS/Android/iOS/Harmony OS
• 10. Hi-Res Audio Certification

Looking at the design – it also resembles previous generations of S8 and S9 DACs, with some new features and more complicated elements. S8 Robin case is made of aluminum with glass panels covering front and rear of the device. The newly designed are the decorative fins on the right side, and all buttons on the left. Pity is that the central crown is not a rotary element as it seems to be. It is a mere push-button that serves only one purpose – to play|pause. Other two buttons are for changing the volume (long press) / changing effect filters (simultaneously press both).

Since this DAC is fully balanced (2 DAC chips + parallel L+R circuitry) – it is equipped with 4.4mm Pentacon balanced connector along with single-ended 3.5mm one. USB type-C is used to connect S8 Robin to the source (Windows, Android OS, iOS, MacOS devices and HiBy OS DAPs).

S8 Pro Robin is very lightweight (only 17 grams), doesn’t require external power supply and doesn’t heat up notably which makes it perfect companion for phones, tablets or laptops.

In operation:

Undoubtedly, the central design element of this DAC is the semi-transparent logo at the front that also lights up with different colors resembling current sample rate and the chosen filter effect. To understand it, here is the list of color and corresponding meanings:

Effects:

• Red: High Pass Filter
• White: Wide Band and Flatness Mode
• Green: NOS Filter
• Blue: Deem Phase Filter
• Yellow: Fast & Slow Filter
• Pink: Phase Compensated Filter

Sample rates:

• Yellow: DSD 64/128
• Purple: DSD 256
• Blue: PCM 176.4/192kHz
• Red: PCM 352.8/384kHz
• White: PCM 705.6/768kHz
• Green: PCM 44.1/48/88.2/96kHz

I’ve paired S8 with Xiaomi Redmi Note 8PRO, Lenovo Thinkpad E14 laptop, DooGee tablet – all recognized S8 Pro as USB DAC straight away. But I would recommend to use some specific audio player apps on Android (like HiBy Music) and ASIO drivers for S8 Pro on Windows 10/11 (available at Hidizs official website download page) in order to bypass system mixers and get the best sound quality.

As to the power draw from a smartphone – S8 Pro is pretty effective. I’ve noticed around 3-4% increase during 2-3 hours of listening to music with the screen off.

Sound:

Lows:

There is a slight emphasis on the bass which gives a bit of warmth to the overall sound which is quite good for my taste. Just getting border of the crispy sound of the Sabre siblings. Bass extension is pretty good. Lows are apparently outlined, exhibit moderate detalization. Mid bass is tight and punchy with most of the sensitive IEMs and gets slightly dull with large overheads. This region is the most vulnerable for power-hungry headphones of any types. Anything below 72Ohms should be good to go but I would not recommend the most of the ultra-potable USB DACs for anything above that.

Mids:

I like how the warmth that bleeds in from the lows add the wight and timbre to the mids. Mids manage to stay close to neutral but the warmth make it feel more volumetric and standing forward. This also helps to keep the control of the upper mids which doesn’t exhibit sibilants or hissing. Higher resolution is evident here, separation and layering of the instruments are quite good. S8 Pro is definitely demonstrates the best performance in this range – rich, resolved, natural sound and appealing timbre.

Treble:

Again, treble is sensitive to type of the IEMs or headphones used. The best performance when there is no notable shading is with the armature-based sensitive IEMs while closed-back overheads might tend to dark sound when you’d obviously lack treble amount. I wouldn’t say that treble is not crispy or detailed enough. Neither it is not under-emphasized – presence is pretty balanced with the most neutral IEMs. But the rest – resolution, amount, crispness and extension is headphones-dependent, more than with Sabre siblings. Part of this comes from the overall slightly warm sound character. Again, with neutral of bright IEMs – treble feels excellent, with no fatigue and pleasant for long listening sessions even at high volume levels.

Conclusion:

There is almost a full lineup of USB DACs from Hidizs in my possession, as well as 5 other ultra-potable DACs from other brands (ColorFly, Audirect, etc). And among those my favorite ones are from Hidizs due to the combination of price/power output/sound quality. Recent S9 generations were based on ESS Sabre DAC chips with its prominent treble clarity and performance but I’ve always tended towards warmer sound and mellow timbre. That is why DAPs based on AKK ships are the main sound sources for me throughout the years. At last, Hidizs has made a DAC with the sound character much closer to such preferences. It sounds rich, warmer, puts a slight emphasis on mids, brings it forward, resolves lows pretty well and doesn’t make you feel tired after long listening sessions due to the reasonable amount of treble.

Hidizs S8 Pro “Robin” is available at official Hidizs store page: LINK

Use ZMCR5OFF coupon code to get 5% off the listed price.

Not very common review today since it consists of two interesting units from the same brand – Hidizs. This brand has been quite active and brought intriguing and worthy stuff for the past couple of years. Their latest MP145 planar IEMs made some noise before the launch and early bidders have already started to receive their parcels and supply own very positive impressions.

Glad to see that the feedback on the sample items the reviewers have shared this summer finally turns into pleasing satisfaction of Hidizs customers and supporters and the campaign turned out a success in overall.

This time I’d share my experience and impressions of spending several weeks with Hidizs S9 Pro Plus USB DAC|AMP dongle and the latest SDD IEMs – MS1 Galaxy. And since the devices create a great pair, I’d review those together in one article, starting with the dongle.

First of all, S9 Pro Plus (codename “Martha”) is a successor of the previous versions of S9 lineup: S8 -> S9 -> S9 Pro -> S9 Pro Plus. Currently, Hidizs is pretty strong in such devices and has a long list of dongles: S8, S9 series (3 devices), XO, S3 Pro. Previous S9 dongles were widely reviewed and commonly placed on top among similar products of other brands and S3 Pro even has been mentioned in New York Times as the best budget pick. Back to S9 series…

Personally, I would say that S9 Pro Plus is a direct successor of S9 Pro whereas the original S9 is a standalone product. The main difference is that the original S9 is built on AKK DAC while S9 Pro and the newest Plus versions share similar ESS ES9038EQM DAC chip. Here we can see all the difference:

Despite that architecture of S9 and S9 Pro is different, their design and some features are more similar to each other than between S9 Pro and S9 Pro Plus. Plus version now offers 4.4mm BL & 3.5mm SE ports instead of 2.5 + 3.5 combination, it now features physical buttons, different design layout and additional switching filters. And on top of that there is more than 30% gain in power comparing to the original S9 version.

Full S9 Pro Plus specs:

• Dimensions: 55×25×11mm
• DAC Chip: ESS9038Q2M
• DSD: Native DSD64/128/256/512
• PCM: up to 32bit/768kHz
• Outputs: single-ended 3.5mm and balanced 4.4mm
• Sampling rate indicator: yes
• Shell material: CNC integrated aluminum alloy
• Function buttons: 2
• Switching filter: 7
• USB interface: Type-C
• OS compatibility: Android, Windows, Mac OS, iPad OS, Harmony OS (Please note: a Lightning to Type-C cable with OTG function has to be purchased separately to support iOS)
• Net weight: 17g
• Colors: Black, Sliver, Blue
• Packing list: Type-C to Type-C Cable×1, Type-C to USB-A adapter×1, User manual×1, Warranty card×1

Audio:

Under 32Ω load:

• Frequency Response: 20Hz-40kHz
• Distortion: PO (3.5): 0.0019%, BAL (4.4): 0.0008%
• Signal-to-noise ratio: PO (3.5): 123dB, BAL (4.4): 120dB
• Separation: PO (3.5): 75dB, BAL (4.4): 115dB
• Output power: 138mW+138mW SE 3.5mm, 180mW+180mW BL 4.5mm

What has also changed is the design of the box – it became significantly smaller and features hard case with soft insert now instead of cardboard in previous dongles. Comes with the device itself, one USB type C -> type C cable and the additional USB A -> type C adaptor for older PC or Mac that don’t have type-C on board.

S9 Pro Plus has the dimensions of 55x25x11mm, consists of the aluminum chassis with front and back glass panels. Design is resembling all Hidizs products with its sharp edges put under different angles.

Another heritage is Hidizs logo at front which also acts as RGB LED indicator for sampling rates and different sound filters. Looks beautifully when active but I wouldn’t call it informative. I would prefer slightly more expensive dongle with OLED screen and full information about rates, filters and track quality. Anyway, here is the list of LED colors and their meanings:

Sample rate indication:

• Yellow: DSD 64/128
• Purple: DSD 256/512
• Blue: PCM 176.4/192(kHz)
• Red: PCM 352.8/384(kHz)
• White: PCM 705.6/768(kHz)
• Green: PCM 44.1/48/88.2/96(kHz)

Filter selection (pressing 2 buttons simultaneously during playback):

On the right edge we have 2 physical buttons now that are responsible for 2 functions: Volume and Filter. Pressing one button increases or decreases the volume respectively, while pressing two at once would change filter mentioned above. Each press of 2 buttons scrolls to the next filter and there is a change in LED color to identify which filter is currently active. Changing volume with dongle buttons is quite discrete and sometimes it is better to control volume from a source in order to get some preferrable values in between.

Top edge of the device contains 2 ports: 4.4mm BL Pentaconn type and 3.5mm SE. Since the technical design of S9 Pro Plus claimed to be fully balanced – BL port provides the maximum potential in terms of output power and sound quality. 180mW/channel is pretty high figure that is not expected from such a tiny device. Just for example: the most advanced Hidizs AP80Pro X DAP has 70mW per channel on SE and 190mW per channel on BL outputs which is much lower on SE and only ~5% higher on BL in comparison to S9 Pro Plus dongle. This is despite the fact that AP80 DAP is much larger, has its own LiON battery as power buffer and much more space under the hood for its schematics.

Bottom edge contains type-C USB port which is compatible with PC, MAC, Android and current iPhones with type-C ports. There is also Lightning to type-C adaptor that can be purchased separately to connect to the older iPhone versions. For Windows, there is a dedicated ASIO driver available on Hidizs website. Having such driver on PC is crucial for the best audio experience as it bypasses system mixers, utilizes bit-perfect stream and opens sampling rates up to 32bits/386Khz under driver properties to avoid the additional resampling.

This type-C port also used to upgrade S9 firmware, although I don’t know whether it would be available for public. I have been provided with the firmware upgrade for my early sample that replaced track switch function with volume buttons when dongle is connected to PC to its direct function: volume change. I assume that all final version devices would already come updated. But if interesting: FW change requires PC connection, PID finding and adding to special FW update app plus the FW hex file to push it to the device. Takes about 5-10 seconds to finalize, restart and get back to music.

In respect of the sound I can state that S9 Pro Plus is a huge update to a regular audio output of general Android, iPhone, PC, Mac or tablet; some addition to the previous S9 Pro version and make some subtle difference when compared to AP80 Pro DAP. Any regular phone or PC sounds less powerful, has notably lower mid bass slap, less layering and instrument separation as well as less resolution. S9 Pro Plus adds the clarity and defines the stage better, provides better control throughout all frequency range and is able to drive IEMs and headphones to a better extent. In comparison to S9 Pro, the newer dongle adds slightly in gain, mostly notable at mid bass and can provide the additional preferences when switching between different filters. Filters do behave differently, adding / subtracting from the mid portion and making the sound less / more balanced. In case with AP80 Pro DAP found some difference in resolution (AP80 Pro sounds more crisp) but this is quite subtle. I would say that S9 Pro Plus and AP80 Pro sound on par if certain filters are chosen on S9.

To summarize: I am impressed with the performance of Hidizs S9 Pro Plus USB DAC|AMP in most possible ways. It is small, lightweight, universal for most of the devices, has unexpectedly huge power output and sounds close to AP80 Pro DAP. It is quite and addition to upgrade the sound source in our pockets and can even be used in the desktop setup if larger and more expensive stationary items are not an option. It might been lacking more informative screen or smoother controls but it definitely doesn’t suffer in audio quality.

If Hidizs S9 Pro Plus is interesting to you – here is the trick how to get it with the lowest price possible: the preorder for S9 Pro Plus in Hidizs official online store would start on November 16th, 2023 (9:30AM EST) and would end on Nov 30, 2023 (9:30AM EST). During this period first 100 units would be sold for 69,99USD and the rest for 79,99USD. You can also additionally apply our special 5% discount code: ZMCR5OFF (code would be available from Nov 15, 2023 12:00AM CST). Preorders would start shipping from Dec 5th, 2023.

Now, back to the newest least expensive Hidizs IEMs – MS1-Galaxy.

Similar to S9, MS1 Galaxy are not the first single DD budget-friendly IEMs by Hidizs. There were MS1 Rainbow and Seeds preceding Galaxy and I still honor Seeds as one of the best single DD IEMs with very accurate and delicate sound. Unfortunately, those have been discontinued and had one huge drawback – integrated audio cable. I even had 2 versions of Seeds at once – SE and balanced to switch between the sources. Therefore, Hidizs has the expertise to design and build good budget single DD IEMs.

MS1 Galaxy specs:

– High-Performance Dual Magnetic Circuit Dynamic Driver
– 10.2mm PU+PEEK Composite Diaphragm
– Optional Inline Control & Microphone
– High-Density German Makrolon Resin Shell
– Silver-Plated Oxygen-Free Copper Wire
– 0.78mm 2-Pin Plug
– Ergonomic Liquid Silicone Ear Tips
– Ergonomic Design with Comfortable Extended Wear
– Perfectly Aligned With The H-2019 Target Frequency Response Curve
– 3.5mm Gold-Plated Plug & Durable Metal Shell & Splitter
– Hi-Res Certification

FR Graph:

MS1 Galaxy comes in a small white box with the design and graphics resembling anime culture what makes them a desirable gift for younger generations. My 14 years old daughter spotted it on my shelf and tried to free me from this pair at day one after its arrival. I am not a fan of anime, but still the design is fresh and unique to my liking. Even my wife was starring at the box and IEM shells despite staying far from this hobby.

Box includes IEMs, 3 pairs of silicon tips, audio cable and some papers.

MS-1 Galaxy shells are made of transparent resin which already draws the attention. Front facing plates shine with different colors and remind of diamonds or stars. Cable ports and sound nozzles have golden finish and add to the entire aesthetics.

Chambers, cables and driver combination inside look accurate and neat. Sound output nozzles are covered with aluminum mesh for the additional dust/dirt protection.

Cable looks similarly gorgeous: silver braid in transparent isolator with aluminum housing on gold-plated jack and resin housing on 2pin IEM contacts. Additionally, it has ear guides formed of transparent heatsink material.

Nothing to be worried in terms of fit since the shape is the most universal for the majority of people, nozzles are quite long and ear guides secure IEMs and cable at place. Choice of ear tips is limiter to 3 sizes and only one material but the diameter is common and most of the aftermarket products would fit nicely if needed.

Now, the sound… I’ve tired MS-1 Galaxy with different sources: AP80 Pro DAP, tablet, PC, S9 Pro Plus DAC/AMP and my Android Xiaomi smartphone. In all cases the sound can be described as tending to warm with large bass presence, juicy mid bass, slightly recesses mids and fairly accented treble. Lows and mid bass are the strongest virtues of MS-1 Galaxy. Great presence, good texturing, good control and layering here. Mid bass has good dynamics. Mids are slightly less resolved and slightly pushed back. Male vocal sound pretty rich and natural whereas female vocals might suffer from hisses and sibilance with less capable sources (smartphone, for instance) and low quality tracks. The better the source is, the less this tendency to hiss is pronounced.

Treble, in its turn, is completely enough in presence but lacks in clarity and transparency. In overall, MS-1 Galaxy with its virtues and imperfections in sound still up ahead of many budget IEMs that passed through my hands and builds the impression of good musical IEMs. Perhaps, its warm signature creates this charm which goes smooth and easy on my ears. I would prefer such type of tonality over crisp and cold when it comes to everyday use. Furthermore, its signature fits ESS-based sources well, making the sound softer and more velvet-like while maxing out the resolution which the driver is capable of. But I wouldn’t use it with AKK-based sources or with tubes cause the sounds starts to feel a bit muddy.

In overall, Hidizs MS-1 Galaxy is a good budget IEMs, great for those who like bass and warm tonality and less interesting for analytical or precise listening. It wouldn’t irritate throughout the day, neither with its fit, nor with the harshness in sound. It feels warm, flowing and smooth, like lounge music that plays on background all day long, suitable and pleasing for everyone. Strong contender, with its pros and cons, excellent build quality, universal fit, relaxing sound, at very low price.

Hidizs MS-1 Galaxy already available at Hidizs official online store: LINK

Some time ago we have tested and reviewed some excellent HobbyWing products for FPV racing qauds — XRotor series motors and ESCs. We were impressed with how good those products performed. But today we would like to talk about R|C heli field and review the newest series of HobbyWing Platinum PRO V4 ESCs.

Many years since I’ve started flying R|C helis I was considering different brands of ESCs to match the motor and setup requirements for every certain model build. Shifting to larger class helis (550-700) significantly narrowed the available choice to only few best price-to-performance ratio power delivery systems due to the inevitable requirement to have governor function on board. Among those that had — the choice was even more squeezed to ESCs that had a reliable governor mode and would not tear the model apart in case if the initial gain settings were a way off (remember Outrage 50 cone gears problems  ?). Finally, I had to stick either to very expensive Kontronik ESCs with the best in the class gorvernor performance or/and to less expensive Castle products with much more complicated governor mode tuning when I was tight on the budget. In both cases the price bites but the result is achieved.

Someone might ask — why not using FBL governor function instead of ESC? My answer is always the same — best ESC logics would take current battery pack C rating into account while trying to hold THR output. It is not vital for those who have a constant access and funds to fly fresh battery packs but certainly a concern for those who doesn’t. My oldest packs were staying in use for 100-200 cycles and their electrical resistance was a way higher compared to the newer pack. Something in the setup should evaluate and compensate this difference. FBL would not. I would concentrate on that a bit later in text. And yes, I undertsand that FBL governor would consider such factors as pitch and cyclic angles and ratios to maintain the same RPM. But it would also impact the batteries dramatically.

My journey with HobbyWing ESC for heli has started 5 years ago when I had KDS Innova 600 model that bundled with HobbyWing 120A HV. Despite the fact that it didn’t have the governor (actually it had but the result was a way from being acceptable) it was a good product that managed more than 1000 flights and is still alive. That time I’ve used mini-V-Bar BlueLine FBL governor function with HobbyWing RPM sensor. Everything was great except the same high load on the different batteries which would result in very rare motor cutt-offs on the oldest packs. Later, I’ve switched to Kontonik Jive 80A HV ESC and enabled its excellent «Mode 4» battery-aware governor. No cut-offs, packs lived longer, no battery overheating… That was and still stays my preference. The drawback was that Kontronik products were traditionally expensive.

A couple of years later I’ve started to notice that newest HobbyWing Platinum series ESC were gaining popularity very fast. Many positive feedback on international and local forums, many good pilots using them, many videos of their performance. At the same time, the same positive and massive feedback was noticed in R|C auto field… I’ve begun to realize that there are some market shifts and a new leader on the horizon in terms of price-to-performance. And only now, when I’ve finally got back to R|C heli hobby after a long break and copter racing — I’ve decided to give it a try starting with the latest Platinum PRO V4 60A ESC + Wi-Fi Express program module for my KDS Chase 360 build.

Note: to be able to access and tune ALL the available Platinum (or other series HW ESCs) ESC settings — you would have to buy either Wi-Fi Express module or LCD programming box. 

Platinum RPO V4 series consists of the following ESCs: 60A, 80A, 120A, 130A HV, 130A HV OPTO, 160A HV, 200A HV OPTO  

So, today I would like to review HobbyWing Platinum PRO V4 60A ESC + Wi-Fi Express program module. Starting with the:

Technical specifications HobbyWing Platinum PRO V4 60A ESC:

• Product Name: Platinum 60A V4
• Type: for Brushless
• Cont./Peak Current: 60A/80A
• Input Voltage: 3-6S LiPo
• BEC Output: Switch Mode: 5-8V, 7A
• Wires & Connectors: Input Wires: Red-14AWG-100mm*1 / Black-14AWG-100mm*1 Output Wires Black-14AWG-75mm*3
• Output Connecotors: 3.5mm Gold Connectors (Female)
• ESC Programing via: LCD Program Box, WiFi Module, Program Port (Throttle Wire)
• Firmware Upgrade Supported
• Size: 48.0 x 30.0 x 15.5mm
• Weight: 49g
• Applications: 450-480 Class Heli (Main Blade: 325-380mm）
• Excellent Motor Governing Speed: High-performance 32-bit processor with a running frequency of 72MHz combined with advanced algorithm optimizes the speed governing. Together with the adjustable governor parameters guarantees every pilot a precise control experience.
• High Voltage Built-in BEC: The built-in switch mode BEC with an adjustable voltage range from 5V to 8V, a continuous current of over 7A and peak current of 18A can supply enough power for your servos to operate efficiently.
• DEO Technology: The DEO (Driving Efficiency Optimization, or so called «Active Freewheeling») technology implemented in the ESC has multiple advantages: Quicker response to the throttle change. Higher driving efficiency, longer flight time. Lower ESC temperature and a more reliable operation.
• Four Brake Modes: This Platinum 60A V4 ESC has “Brake Disabled, Normal Brake, Proportional Brake and Reverse Brake” four brake modes. The brake amount is adjustable in normal brake mode; in proportional brake mode, the brake force will be automatically allocated based on the position of the radio throttle stick; in reverse brake mode, the motor rotation can be changed via a spare transmitter channel.
• Multiple Protections: Multiple protection features include, ESC thermal, capacitor thermal (HOBBYWING-patented technology), ESC overload, throttle signal loss (or Fail Safe), and low voltage cutoff effectively prolongs the service life of the ESC.
• Other Features: A separate programming port for connecting the programmer on this ESC allows user to program ESC, check flight data include minimum voltage, maximum temperature, standardized RPM and speed curve (in Heli Governing Store mode) of the flight data recorded by the ESC, upgrade ESC firmware with a multifunction LCD program box or a Wi-Fi Module & our Apple/Android phone App

Manual: HERE

Technical specifications Wi-Fi Express program module:

• Product Name: WiFi Express
• Working Voltage: 5V-12.6V
• WiFi Protocol: IEEE802.11 b/g/n
• WiFi Signal Effective Range: 0-10m (Open Field)
• Size: 25.7 x 25.7 x 8.8mm (LxWxH)
• Weight: 11g
• Applications: XERUN series & EZRUN series of car ESCs, PLATINUM series of aircraft ESCs, SEAKING PRO series of boat ESCs.
• Wireless Connection: The ESC can now use a wireless connection via the use of the HW WiFi express module for the following operating systems ; iOS/Android phone (using the HW LINK APP) users can easily and remotely (without leaving the control stand) program the ESC parameters displayed on the smart phone to their own preference.
• Intuitive Interface: The Wifi Module is a complete different concept from the way the HOBBYWING LCD program box works, all the parameters of the wifi module are displayed all in one via the graphical and interactive interface with dropdown menu’s and scroll bars. Now users can program their ESC in a much more user friendly interface without delay.
• Firmware Update: With this WiFi module, the end users can easily and promptly update the firmware of their ESC via their smart phone (with the HW LINK APP), which eliminates the use and carriage of a laptop pc.
• Compact Design: This WiFi module is smaller, smarter, lighter and only 1/6th of HOBBYWING LCD program box in size and weight. It has a hardwired programming cable to connect to the ESC not like the lcd program box which needed an extra programming cable to connect to the ESC.
• One-touch Factory Reset: Users can promptly factory reset their WiFi module via the Reset button at the bottom of the case.
• Wide Applicability: This module is applicable to work on the XERUN series, EZRUN series of car ESCs, and the Platinum series of aircraft ESCs, and SEAKING PRO series of boat ESCs.

Manual: HERE

APP Manual: HERE 

Download apps:

Too many features and information for both of the products. But what really attracted my attention is not the plenty of features stated above but all the market feedback that I’ve encountered on the different forums about the superiority of ESC governor performace and flawless overall operation. Moreover, ESC series are built to meet the requirements of the most demanding setups. As an example, let’s consider my target Chase 360 model: motor Scorpion HK 2520 1880KV with 50A peak and 38A continuous current which is the best you can get for this model, KDS N320S and N320T HV fast digital servos with a high torque but a bit hungry for power and KDS EBAR V2 FBL. Such setup requires at least 60A ESC and HV BEC capable of 4-7A power supply. HobbyWing Platinum PRO V4 60A meets both the requirements and have significantly exceeding power possibilities: 80A peak current for motor and 7A BEC output with 18A peak current output.

In the box:

First of all the box has counterfeit item protection special sticker which is very good to have nowadays when there are many fake items being sold by some popular but not very responsible shops.

ESC is neatly packed inside and comes with a couple of plastic zip-ties, heatsink and English user manual. Motor wires have 3.5mm bullet connectors already soldered and wrapped with a heatsink. Battery wires are prepared to be soldered but have no connector — this is left for a user to decide on its type.

Wi-Fi module comes in a transparent plastic box with the same counterfeit item protection label. It is packed in a soft foam and comes with additional servo Y-cable and English user manual.

So, no worries about both items during the transporation.

Materials, build and design:

Both products look perfect in terms of design and finish.

ESC case is partly made of aluminum to ensure the stiffness and heat disposal and plastics to protect connections and capacitors and bring the weight down. Perfect crafting and molding, very neat sticker attachment and case etching. Chosen wire AWG type for power input and output are a way enough to stand the passing current — 14AWG multistrand wire in modelling application may carry as much as 68A of current. We only have 30-40A at peak times per wire, therefore, there is a plenty of room left to keep power loss and cable heat low. Even the BEC servo cable is visibly thicker than I’ve used to see on standard-sized servos.

Wi-Fi module is full-aluminum CNC block with LED status light at the top and a hole for reset button at the bottom. ESC connection cable (servo-type) and Wi-Fi antenna (which looks exactly like RX antenna) both come from the same case opening.

Connections:

ESC has the battery wires, motor wires, programming port, BEC wire and signal wire for motor reverse (needed to enable proportional brake function).

Motor wires could be connected to motor in any order because ESC can be programed to change motor rotation direction. Programing port would accept Wi-Fi module and LCD programing box.

Wi-Fi module has only one servo-type cable which in case of Platinum PRO V4 60A ESC should be connected straight to the programing port. In case of using with other ESCs you might need the provided Y-harness cable to connect to ESC properly. In is described in the manual. But the main rule: Wi-Fi module should be powered from the incoming wire and should be connected to the dedicated or other port cabable of programing.

 Locating ESC and module on the model:

KDS Chase 360 (360-380 class) is a model designed by Autsralian engineer Glen Kimpton who has done a great job especially concerning power parts location. ESC should sit at the dedicated place at front of the frame, with motor wires go up to the motor and battery wires go down under the frame where flight battery is located. Absolutely no problems here. Platinum PRO V4 fits there perfectly and the length of the wires are enough to reach all other components. Seems like as if this ESC was specially designed for Chase 360.

As you can see on the picture — Wi-Fi module is located on the right side of the frame, held by the double sided adhesive and antenna is passed forward to ensure that it is placed far enough from transmitter RX antennas that are at the back.

The longest (BEC cable) from ESC is passed on the left side of the frame all the way to EBAR V2 FBL.

Tuning ESC:

This part is the most inetersting and shows that HobbyWing company really catches up with the recent technology trends and makes outstanding products.

When ESC, motor and Wi-Fi connected we can power the ESC to start tuning it. I prefer to start with the current ESC FW version check and upgrade if necessary. In order to to that I would use Android OS phone and HWLink application from Google Play store installed.

Step 1: Install HWLink app for Android or iOS and run the program for the first time while connected to the Internet. It would check the latest database (FW upgrades) upon first run (you can force this app to check for the latest database version as described below) and would inform you if there was the new database upgrade and changelog.

Step 2: Power ESC. Wi-Fi module would show constant red LED when it is up and running.

Step 3: Go to Wi-Fi settings on your phone and discover new networks. You should find network with the name «HW-WIFILINK» and connect to it using «12345678» password. You would be able to change network name and password later in the HWLink app on your smartphone.

Step 4: When connected, you can launch HWLink app and press on the ESC icon at the upper right corner to start talking to ESC. This icon would change to ESC indicating waves — it means that it is discovered and connected. Now, you can start using the app.

you can follow the procedure of connecting Wi-Fi module to your smartphone described in the manual of Wi-Fi module.

Step 5: Check whether you have the latest FW in the ESC (go to Screen «5. FW update» beneath.)

Step 6: Calibrate your ESC: as usually, power ESC off, THR stick fully up, power ESC on and after you hear motor signal that ESC entered calibration mode and saved upper THR point — THR stick down and weit for another set of beeps. Calibration done.

Step 7: Reconnect your smartphone to Wi-Fi module.

Using HWLink application:

HWLink is very useful application that would let you do the following:

• Update app database (download latest FW for ESCs and changelogs)
• Tune ESC and import/export/reset settings
• Upgrade ESC FW
• Check some logs after flight|run
• Find, download and read ESC manuals
• Check the latest HobbyWing news
• Change Wi-Fi module network name and password

Let’s go over each screen:

1. Loading

2. Main screen where all the functions are listed.

3. Settings:

this screen would let you change:

• App language: English or Chinese
• Choose running mode: DEMO or ESC-connected
• Wi-Fi module settings: SSID name, password
• About: information about app version and database version, pressing on either info would call update function for the corresponding item (you have to be connected to Wi-Fi network with Internet access to complete this task).
• Help: read the description of this app

4. News:

just a basic inbuilt app browser that directs us to HobbyWing site.

5. Firmware Update: 

lets you check what FW version does the connected ESC have (current FW), shows the latest available FW to upload to ESC (Target Version). By pressing Update button you would start to upload the newest FW to your ESC. It takes about 3 mins to upgrade Platinum PRO V4 ESC FW and I would recommend to keep smartphone close to Wi-Fi module and keep the screen awake during the process.

6. Data Record:

the first screen here gives us a selection between cars and aircraft models and leads us to this screen:

where we can see some flight|run data for the last 20 flights|runs at most (newest would replace oldest after 20 tracks are exceeded). And there is a «CLEAR» button at top right to delete all records.

one note as it is stated in the ESC manual: this ESC would show the logged data but won’t keep it in memory. Therefore, in order to see the data a user should connect to ESC after the flight without cutting ESC power. 

Data for aircraft profiles:

• MOS Temperature — max MOSFET temperature (°C/°F)
• Cap Temperature — max capacitors temperature (°C/°F)
• Voltage — min flight|run battery voltage (V)
• RPM — governed motor RPM during flight (those revs are electronic. We have to use the following formula to calculate the real RPM = Electronic revs / number of poles / 2 / gear ratio * THR% )

Data for cars:

• Max ESC temperature
• Max Motor temperature
• Min battery voltage
• Max motor speed (electronic revs)

Update: HW just released their HW Link app update (1.2.16) that brings a new cool feature for the Platinum V4 (and HW) ESC users — now, you can monitor performance of your ESC in real-time.  In order to see this — you would have to enter Data Record secion, select Aircraft and press Real-time data at the top right corner of the screen. The app would ask you to input Gear Ratio and Motor Poles for the correct calculations and you would see such screen:

As you can see — here we have the real-time data:

• RPM
• PPM Throttle %
• Current A
• PWM Throttle %
• MOS Temp in Celsium
• Voltage V
• CAP Temp in Celsium

You can also see the graph and can select which parameters would be on the graph’s x-axis.

7. Support:

this screen has 3 choices:

Download and read user manuals: if you would donwload any manual — it would be stored locally and you would not need to redownload it every time you want to read it. Very handy feature.

Manage files: you can see, rename or delete your exported *.txt profiles and settings here

Manage photos: you can see, rename or delete your exported graphical profiles and settings here.

8. Parameters:

this screen gives us a selection of type of the ESC first and leads us to the profile selection screen:

selecting the existing or new profile would lead us to the ESC settings screen:

Parameters for Platinum V4 PRO ESC:

General:

• Flight mode: Fixed-wing, Helicopter (Linear THR)/Elf Governor/Store Governor. Last two would govern the speed but Elf mode would take the battery C rating into account by evaluating packs at the beginning, setting RPM higher or lower according to pack health. This is the most preferred type of THR governing for me.
• LiPO cells: Auto calculation (default), or set the number of cells manually. This ESC would count the number of cells with beeps upon initialization. So, we would know that it has calculated it right even if the «Auto» is chosen.
• Voltage Cutoff type: Soft or Hard. Depends of the model. Helicopters need soft cutoff.
• Cutoff voltage: 2.8 — 3.8V in steps of 0.1V
• BEC Voltage: 5 — 8V with the steps of 0.1V (depends on the electronic equipment you have on your heli model — servos, FBL, RX and other… I have everything capable of feeding 8V — so, I set 8.0V)
• Start-up time: 4 — 25s (how long would it take ESC and motor to reach the desired RPM)

Throttle control:

• Governor P: (part of governor PID setup, proportional gain, 0 — 9, how good ESC keeps the target RPM, strength). I use default
• Governor I: (part of governor PID setup, integral gain, 0 — 9, how fast ESC would get back to target RPM after slight RPM change). I use default
• Auto-restart time: 0 — 90s. Time period in which THR% brought to 25 and less would cutoff RPM and raised above 40% would result in rapid RPM gain to the desired level (rapid means time to reach target RPM set in the next parameter — Restart acceleration time). If THR% brought to 25% and less, cutoff effected and THR moved to 40% and above beyond this time period — it would result in soft start process. Only works for governor modes.
• Restart acceleration time: 1 — 3s, 0,5s steps. Time it would take to reach the target RPM after RPM cutoff.
• Break type: Disabled, Normal, Proportional, Reverse. Not needed in heli, but proportional means that THR% of 20 to 0 on radio would result in brake strength 0 — 100% in ESC. Reverse means that RPM cable from ESC can be turned to reverse signal cable. We should setup a channel on the radio so, that 0-20% means that we have normal motor rotation direction, and 20-100% means that motor would start to spin in the opposite direction.
• Break force: only for normal brake mode. 0-100, 1 intervals.
• Timing: 0-30°, 1° step.
• Motor rotation: motor rotation direction
• Active freewheel: DEO (driving efficiency optimization) HW technology to ensure quicker response to THR change, longer flight time and lower ESC temp. Should be enabled in governor modes and can be on or off for linear THR or fixed-wing modes.
• Startup power: 1-7. 1 point step.

The default parameters are marked with «*» in the app and can be found in the ESC manual.

You can rename the profile and select profile picture at the bottom of this screen.

Moreover, you have 4 additional buttons on the left:

• Connect/Disconnect to/from your ESC
• Import: import settings from the file that you’ve saved previously
• Export: export your profile and settings to *.txt editable file or photo file to share with others
• Default: reset all settings to their default values.

Just to understand how HWLink application looks and works:

ESC protection technologies:

In order to make sure that everything would go butter-smooth in flight, HobbyWing have added several protection layers to Platinum PRO V4 series ESCs:

• Start-up Protection: The ESC will monitor the motor speed during the start-up process. When the speed stops increasing or the speed increase is not stable, the ESC will take it as a start-up failure. At that time, if the throttle amount is less than 15%, the ESC will automatically try to restart up; if it is larger than 15%, you need to move the throttle stick to back the bottom position and then restart up the ESC. (Possible causes of this problem: poor connection/ disconnection between the ESC and motor wires, propellers are blocked, etc.)
• ESC Thermal Protection: The ESC will gradually reduce the output but won’t cut it off completely when the ESC temperature goes above 110°C. Maximum reduction is about 50% of the full power to ensure that the motor can still get some power and won’t cause a crash. The ESC will gradually resume its maximum power after the temperature lowers down. In addition, the ESC temperature cannot exceed 70°C when it’s powered on. Otherwise, it cannot be started up. (Here we are describing the ESC’s reaction in soft cutoff mode, while if in hard cutoff mode; it will immediately cut off the power.)
• Capacitor Thermal Protection: The ESC will activate this protection when the operating temperature of capacitors goes over 130°C. It protects capacitors in the same way as the ESC thermal protection does to the ESC.
• Throttle Signal Loss Protection: When the ESC detects loss of signal for over 0.25 second, it will cut off the output immediately to avoid an even greater loss which may be caused by the continuous high-speed rotation of propellers or rotor blades. The ESC will resume the corresponding output after normal signals are received.
• Overload Protection: The ESC will cut off the power output or automatically restart itself when the load suddenly increases to a very high value (possible cause to sudden load increase is that propellers are blocked.)

Sounds nice and makes me feel comfortable. This is important because I remember the case when one of my 600-class heli motor bruned in flight and caused Kontonik ESC to go into deep protection mode. I’ve managed to land heli on ground with no crash. I was very happy that ESC didn’t burn together with the motor that cought short-circuit in flight. But the drawback was that I had to send my Kontronik to Germany to release it from deep protection mode it stayed in. Anyway, this was quick and cheap. Much cheaper than buying a new one.

ESC performance:

Power delivery: smooth. With the current setup (Scorpion HK 2520 1880KV, 13° collective) + ESC settings and running on the Bonka LiPO 6S 1,500mAh 75C batteries my Chase feels great in the air. No power loss, no cutoffs, no visible power drops. I’ve registered as much as 45A peak current once, but it wasn’t noticed in the model behavior from the power delivery equipment.

BEC power supply: no problem here as well. My HV servos are silky smooth in flight and there wasn’t anything bad noticed in their performance. Total current draw from all onboard equipment reaches as much as 6,5A with couple of servos stall but this is an extreme situation only checked to ensure that one stall servo would not lead to BEC voltage drop or BEC reset. The BEC is capable of 7A continous amd 18A peak power which should be enoung to run powerful servos and stand the peak current they produce in a position of stall. I’ve also tried to check whether some back induction voltage that many current servos generate during quick movement cause any BEC problems (back induction voltage might cause BEC voltage increase from, for example, 7V to 14V or so which would result in BEC cutoff or else)… For this, I was moving all servos very fast for a long period of time. I haven’t spotted any misbehavior in this aspect. Some very famous names in this industry like Georges Van Gansen (Scorpion Power Systems) insist on having additional capacitors to act as a buffer… But I would give it a try with no additional capacitors.

Governor at work: very good. I am using 13° collective and checked governor performance in Elf mode during the pitch-pumps with full collective stick deflection to both sides to ensure the max load. At the same time I was measuring head speed change with FrSKY RPM sensor to check if there is any significant inclinations from the RPMs at hover after take off. I’ve found that RPMs would stay consistent throughout all input loads with very minor change in extreme points (~3.5%) but with very quick target RPM gain when released. Which is much better already than using linear throttle with 15% THR change to maintain the same RPM with the extreme pitch angles. Moreover, I think that dialing «I parameter» a little bit more would make the situation perfect. Please, note that there could be some measuring errors due to Pitch stick logging vs RPM logging intervals. But the graphs shows what I mean — RPM stay close to expected under load. At least with fresh and new 75C new battery packs. I believe that RPM inclinations from target would grow larger as battery would deteriorate and gain more per cell resistance but I cannot measure older packs now because I don’t have one. I would update this review later, after 50-70 battery charging cycles.

I  would say that HobbyWing Platinum PRO V4 governor in «Elf» mode is performing very similar to Kontronik Jive 80A HV ESC set to «Mode 4» which is really great considering the price difference. Definitely, governor logics in HobbyWing V4 ESC is excellent and can be treated as the golden standard. A huge improvement over older HW 120A HV ESC that I had long time ago. New ESC logics makes current HobbyWing products to lead the market and to satisfy most demanding pilots. As the matter of fact, it is much better than Castle 80A HV ESC governor I’ve used to fly. It either broke my cone gears with some higher PIDs or it wouldn’t hold the target RPM at loaded manuevers at lower gains… HobbyWing does a great job out of the box and despite the default gains.

Flight video would come along a bit later.

Temperature: as HobbyWing reports on their website — current V4 PRO ESC series are colder than its precessors.

I never had V3 series but I can confirm that ESC comes quite cold after each 3 minutes of flight — about 35-41°C at 22°C ambient temp which is much better than I’ve used to when was using Castle ESCs or Kontronik without a dedicated cooling radiator. But the direct comparison is not right in this case… models are different and power draw is also different. The only thing that I am certain about — Platinum V4 stays cooler than expected.

Wi-Fi module signal and RX signal interaction: no problems here. Haven’t noticed any drops in RSSI value of my RX connection to radio. Seems that Wi-Fi module would not interfere with RX radio downlink. It has very limiter range of ~10m which makes it secure to use always powered on.

Overall conclusion:

HobbyWing Platinum PRO V4 60A ESC is an excellent product that has deserved to be called a leading-class ESC. It has many modern technologies implemented, can be programed over the air, has outstanding battery aware governor math, competes perfectly with very expensive products like Kontronik and YGE but also provides more features and finally — it has the best price/quality/performance ratio. Other good brands and a way more expensive…. And some cheaper rivals like YEP and other YGE clones have no such build and electric component quality (many YEP ESCs were burned at flight in my practice) to compete with modern HobbyWing products. I would say that Platinum V4 can be objectively called «the best choice on the market» currently. And the Wi-Fi module is a great supplement to ESC in terms of ease of setup. Now, I understand why there are so many positive feedback about this series of ESCs on the market.

Well done, HobbyWing!!! Platinum PRO V4 series ESC impressed us the same way XRotor motors and ESCs for FPV racers did! Hope that the future products for helis, cars, boats, planes and copters would continue to lead the way!

We want to thank HobbyWing and Direct Distributions (HW rep. company in Ukraine) for landing us those products for test and review.

The best way to keep in touch with the audience is to find the most popular product among numeruos IEMs and make it a starting point in further evaluations of other models. This ensures that the initial perceptions coincide and builds a good ground for future comparisons or suggestions.

Moondrop Kanas Pro seems to belong to one of those rare examples that would bear much of hype, resulting in many requests to be compared against whenever something new is reviewed. No chance for me to avoid this trend and here is my own evaluation of Kanas Pro IEMs.

Moondrop Kanas Pro is available at PenonAudio store

Moondrop Kanas Pro technical specifications:

• Type: single dynamic driver IEMs
• Driver: 10mm
• Magnet: N48
• Diaphragm material: DLC diamond carbon
• Coil: 0.035 mm-CCAW
• Impedance: 32 Ω @ 1k Hz
• Connector: 2pin, 0.78mm
• Cavity material: zinc-magnesium alloy
• Cavity technology: metal injection molding integrated casting
• Cable: 1.2m (Lyre Acoustics)
• Audio jack: 3.5mm, straight

Other features:

• The Kanas Pro Edition has a more balanced distribution of three products and a greater volume of ventilation than the regular Kanas version, based on high quality and high standard of ultra-wide response and HRTF. The resulting sound quality not only has a strong resolution and open sound field, but also has a more natural timbre texture than the regular version.
• The internal cavity structure added to the generating unit combines the air flow from different positions of the basin frame to an air hole with acoustic damping, so that all parts of the diaphragm bear air damping are equally, so as to make the energy of high, middle and low frequencies more balanced.   

Packaging, design and build quality:

Kanas Pro IEMs come in small black matt box with very strict and minimalistic approach to its design. No other elements and information apart from silver brand logo and name imprint on the top cover and small sticker with technical specifications on the back.

Box space is split into two parts. IEMs rest on special soft poduim while other accessories are located below in the additional compartment.

Box contents:

• Kanas Pro IEMs
• audio cable
• 4 pairs of silicone eartips
• soft pouch

Not that much of accessories for the declared price. Many other brands would also include extra silicone or foamy eartips, storage case and even some adapters…

Kanas Pro shells are made of zinc-magnesium alloy. Further polishing process gives it clean, shiny and attractive look which is very complicated to capture on camera cause it is catching too many reflections at a time 

There are two compensational openings per channel and pretty long output nozzles protruding from the shells. Nozzles are covered by protective grills.

2pin connectors are drawned inside the shells and have very tight fit when connecting the cable.

Stock cable is made of copper and sliver-plated copper cores, equipped with flexible earguides, 2pin connectors in plastic housings, plastic Y-splitter and plastic+carbon fiber 3.5mm jack housing.

Fit:

Very good fit. Concerning how many people like it — Kanas Pro are highly universal IEMs. Perhaps, the main reason is the length of output nozzles — less comfortable models would usually have smaller length. Can’t tell anything specific about the shape ergonomics but the combination of eargudies and length of the nozzles removes any discomfort and lets concentrate on music.

Sound:

Instead of following the same path of describing all frequency ranges one by one, I would shortly describe the sound and focus on the comparisons to my small fleet of IEMs in the same price range. There are lots of reviews of Kanas Pro and most of them are accurate in terms of sound description. The only difference that forces me to give my own evaluation is the combination with HiBY R6Pro DAP as a source.

First of all, I wouldn’t call Kanas Pro sound neutral despite the smooth AFR graphs. It has some very slight U-shaped tuning, with a bit elevated lows, a little bit accented treble and slightly recessed mids. Though, the approach to tuning by Kanas is quite accurate, not overemphasizing treble but leaving enough thickness and body to mids while adding good clarity and feel of transparency.  Female vocals are perceived bit more upfront but not suffering from the excessive brightness and not producing piercing sounds on high notes.

Lows are quite textured, with good reach of deep bass, nice control and precise countouring. Presence of bass is big in the entire presentation is might even overwhelm om some tracks. No problems with midbass dynamic and power, though.

Treble shows a good balance between the extension and thickness. It is not that thin and sonant to be icy cold but has enough extension and clarity to improve the perception of the entire resolution.

Stage is perceived a little more than average due to good separation between instruments in mid range, decent layering of frequency ranges and enough influence of treble that provides the feel of transparency.

In overall, Kanas Pro sound is quite weighted, mature and having enough warm timbre to polish out any harshness. Despite slight recession, mids are still well exposed.

Now, moving to the comparisons to other IEMs. I would compare to all more or less popular IEMs that I have in $130 — $260 range. The full list looks like that:

• Kinera Idun
• iKKO OH1
• Whizzer Kylin
• LZ HIFI A6Mini
• Hidizs Mermaid MS4
• Shozy & Neo CP
• Anew U1
• Tanchjim Oxygen

Comparison to Kinera Idun:

Type: Kinera Idun is hybrid model, based on 2 BA units + one 7mm dynamic driver.

Fit: Kinera Idun shape belongs to pseudo-custom shell type and has the perfect fit. Most of the IEMs with this type of shells are superior to any other model. Very comfortable even during the workouts (if you want to destroy expensive and good IEMs very fast  )

Sound: Kinera Idun sound is more soft and neutral with less emphasis on bass. At the same time, treble is more extended, crisp and thin. It also has better mirodynamics and good tuning to keep it delicate instead of piercing. Lows are less exposed, bass lacks the extension and presence (that is why Idun Delux model was released). Mids sound more thin but have better resolving potential. In overall, the presentation created by Kanas Pro is more full-bodied and emotional with better engagement. Kanas Pro sound doesn’t feel as something is missing like the lows in Idun.

Comparison to iKKO OH1:

Type: iKKO OH1 is another hybrid model, based on 1 Knowles BA unit + one 10mm dynamic driver.

Fit: no problems with iKKO OH1 fit as well. Good ergonimics of shape, good earguides and enough length of output nozzles. Pretty similar to Kanas Pro and even less protrusion from ears due to thin profile.

Sound: IKKO OH1 sounds brighter. Treble range is more extended and detailed as well as more emphasized. It does sound crisp and sparkling while influencing other ranges more by its presence and immense clarity. This results in thin-sounding mids, some rare biting sounds on female vocals and sharper details in overall. Lows are quite similar — with good deep bass reach, enough of presence and powerful midbass. The only difference to Kanas Pro here is the lack of texturing on lows. I would say that iKKO OH1 is great contender if you want more emhpasis on treble and less attention to lows.

Comparison to Whizzer Kylin:

Type: Whizzer Kylin is one more hybrid model, based on 2 Knowles BA units + one 10mm dynamic driver.

Fit: Not perfect in case of Kylin IEMs. Output nozzles are quite short and have cone shape that prevents from deep fit. Had hard times trying to find the best positions of IEMs and ended up with holding it with my fingers to evaluate the sound.

Sound: despite getting lot of attention by many people, Whizzer Kylin sounds quite strange — good performance on mids and treble and inadequate behavior of lows. Treble is decent, with great extension, clarity and resolution. Mids are fairly thick and very detailed. No problems with female vocals either… Lows are overemphasized, bass sounds a bit smeared and desynchronized with other ranges. It results in good layering but ruins the perception of complete music picture. Kanas Pro is free of such deficiency and builds a better listening experience in overall.

Comparison to LZ HIFI A6Mini:

Type: LZ HIFI A6Mini is another hybrid model, based on 1 piezo-electric + one 10mm dynamic driver.

Fit: Good but not the best one. I would say that Kanas Pro have better fit due to longer output nozzles.

Sound: LZ A6Mini sound may vary from fairly neutral to very bright and crisp which depends of the filter option. This gives you a possibility to tune the sound to own liking and makes A6Mini a very good choice among other IEMs. Anyway, I would say that treble has better extension, it is more crisp and clear. Mids also sound less exposed, thin and tend towards bright and cold side. Lows are not that accented, textured or extended and feel quite concised. I would say that Kanas Pro sound is more open, warmer and more enjoyable for longer listening.

Comparison to Hidizs Mermaid MS4:

Type: Hidizs MS4 is hybrid model, based on 3 Knowles BA units + one 10.2mm dynamic driver.

Fit: Excellent fit. Similar to Kanas Pro, thanks to the overall shape and long output nozzles.

Sound: Hidizs MS4 sound is outperforming Kanas Pro in many ways: it has higher resoltuon in overall, similarly good texturing on lows, excellent midbass reproduction, great exposition of mids with no tendency to bring forward or shout on female vocals, enough warmth and body to all sounds and very extended and resolving treble. Kanas Pro can’t compete with its single dynamic driver in terms of instrument separation, entire resolution, treble extension and microdynamics. Anyway, this is logical as the comparison is not very fair due to higher price of Hidizs MS4 ($219 during KS campaign).

Comparison to SHOZY & Neo CP:

Type: SHOZY & Neo CP is a representative of pure BA IEMs, based on 3 Knowles BA drivers.

Fit: Excellent fit, better than Kanas Pro due to different shape and less weight.

Sound: Shozy & Neo CP sound is quite different and softer. BA woofer lacks the deep bass extension and presence but highly accentuates the texturing of lows. Midbass is not that powerful but the dynamics and articulation is better due to speed of armature drivers. Mids are well exposed, have warm timbre and good resolution. No shouting, no sceweness between male and female vocals either. Very good instrument separation but the stage still feels more narrow due to lack of deep bass. Treble is quite delicate with more than average extension but not as bright and crisp as expected from BA units. I would say that Kanas Pro sound is more full, engaging and enjoyable. It doesn’t suffer from lack of lows or midbass insufficiency as a result.

Comparison to Anew U1:

Type: Anew U1 is dynamic model, based on single 10mm dynamic driver.

Fit: Good but not the best fit. First, Anew U1 have some driver flex and second — not the best shape either. Pretty comfortable but not that good as Kanas Pro.

Sound: Anew U1 sound more neutral and calm. There is no evident elevation on lows and less pronounced treble. At the same time, bass is equally deep and extended while the treble is almost as clear and detailed. Yes, lows lacks some additional texrturing, treble are not that exposed and upper mids are a bit more prone to shouting in rare cases. Timbre is qute warm as well. I woul say that Anew U1 lower price tag is noticeable when it comes to overall resolution and texturing or lows. Kanas Pro does a better job on that.

Comparison to Tanchjim Oxygen:

Type: Tanchjim Oxygen is another single dynamic option, based on carbon driver with two shell cavities.

Fit: Not the best fit due to short output nozzles. Having hard times with that.

Sound: here comes the battle. For me, Tanchjim Oxygen is the best model among all IEMs despite the cost, amount of drivers or fit. It sounds so good with HiBY R6Pro DAP that I don’t care about minor shortcomings of this model. And no — Kanas Pro is not a competitor. All pros of Kanas Pro should be multiplied while all cons should be removed to form and describe the sound of Tanchjim Oxygen. Bass extension is deeper, excellent texturing on lows, even more body to mids, similarly warm timbre, less accented treble while the clarity and extension stays the same, better instrument separation… Just more balanced and neutral sound with the same virtues. If not the problems with fit — I would shout about Oxygen superiority in $0-300 range at each corner… Anyway, logical outcome and unfair comparison again because Kanas Pro IEMs are significantly cheaper.

Conclusion:

I must admit that the hype about Moondrop Kanas Pro is reasonable and logical. Those IEMs are probably the best in $100-200 range concering all virtues of sound together with build quality and comfortable fit. The combination of high resolving potential, accurate tuning and full-bodied delivery creates the mature and engaging picture. This model is highly recommended in <$200 budget as the most capable one and free of major flaws. It is a quite secure choice, standing between neutrality and balance of audiophile preferences and engaging drive of audio fan expectations.

Moondrop Kanas Pro is available at PenonAudio store